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2006 Archives
January 2, 2006:
Colin Powell:
What a difference! He was being interviewed by Stephanopolous
recently. First he tried to answer questions about Bush and his
bungling. It was difficult, because he did not want to betray
the president, but Stephanopolous does not leave much wiggle
room. He was still trying to wiggle around that weapons of mass
destruction lie. He also pretended to think it was okay for George
to continue spying on Americans, but it did not wash. The lack
of animation on Powell's face is all you needed to see to know
he was hedging.
Later, Powell got to talk about the Colin Powell center at
City College in New York. What a profound difference. He was
simply transformed. Here he was talking about something he really
believed in. His eyes lit up, his face was alive and his whole
demeanor showed eagerness and pleasure. What a shame he let himself
get caught up in the political arena with the mad king. It is
not just Powell who is culpable here. All of us are to some extent.
Why do we prostitute ourselves? In the long haul we gain nothing
but pain.
A Trial:
According to the Detroit Free Press, the trial of Ken Lay will
commence on January 30, 2006. It cannot be too soon for me. Lay
is charged with seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. In another
case, he is charged with one count of bank fraud and three counts
of lying to banks. He is accuse of conning the banks on how he
was to use the money he borrowed.
My guess is he will get a couple of months in a rest farm
and be turned loose. I personally hope he gets stripped of al
of his assets and gets life in a hard time prison. If it were
my choice there would be no rest farm prisons. All time would
be hard time. It would be the same for all felons. In my thinking
there would only be four kinds of prison. There would be two
separate children's prisons, one for girls and one for boys.
In addition, there would be two separate adult prisons for men
and women, but all time would be hard time. There would be no
conjugal visits or frills of any kind. It is time for us to get
it clear. These people are going to prison because they are criminals,
not because they were naughty and threw food at each other. Coddling
criminals is insane!
No New Releases:
The media tells us there have been no new releases in Christmas
music since Jay Livingston and Ray Evans gave us "Silver
Bells" in 1950. I thought about that and I think I know
why. I wondered about the last time I hear any new good music
of any kind and all I could remember was "Fiddler on the
Roof." It's not just Christmas music, it's all pop music.
What they give us now is hard rock, hip hop, rap, and cat litter.
It's all about the same, loud, vulgar, and obnoxious.
Most of the really good release came out when we had singles.
Do you remember? We bought one tune on a black plastic record
and the flip side was always something we did not really want.
Now, to get one piece we want we have to buy a CD with 15 tunes
that we do not really want. The pushers are bound to take advantage
of the situation to unload a lot of crap with a hot number. This
is kind of like if we could only buy books in twelve volume sets.
How much crap would we get then?
The Cost of Crime:
It seems the federal courts may have to consider the appeals
of convicted terrorist because George broke the law in this spying
scandal. It has yet to play out, but the possibility remains
that known felons could walk because of that fiasco.
Acting Stupidly:
It's getting easier in some Michigan communities. Once again
we are rewarding irresponsible behavior. Now there is a group
of do-gooders in Midland Michigan who are offering to take a
drunk home and also tow his car home all for free. Say what?
Only once in my life, when I was under 30, did I get drunk enough
to not be allowed to drive. The parking lot attendant refused
to give me my keys. I had to take a cab home and pay for it.
I also had to go back and get my car the next day. It was not
easy or fun. It was damned embarrassing. It should not be easy
to act stupid. There should be a penalty.
Snow Baby:
Mrs. Gaffer brought to my attention an item in the December 30,
Detroit Free Press. A crazy woman had severely beat her1 year
old child and thrown him into a snowbank. It is not clear what
the husband was doing at the time, but it seems he did call the
police. The kid will live. The officials speculate that he will
probably go to a foster home when he is released from the hospital.
How in the world can there be any doubt? Where else could the
kid go, back to the woman who tried to kill him? They did put
this loony woman's other three kids in foster care when she was
arrested. Will they stay in foster care? Who knows? I have misgivings.
We can hope for the best, but the social services record is not
exemplary. Too often they put kids back into deadly environments
out of some misguided notions about the home and hearth.
News to Me:
Remember John W. Hinckley? I had forgot about him too. He is
the piece of crap who shot Ronald Reagan along with James Brady
and two law officers on march 30, 1981. Now I discover, in a
news item, that this pile of scum is being allowed to visit his
folks on weekends. It turns out he is not in prison as I thought.
He is in a loony bin. I say crap. I don't care if he can pretend
to be crazy. I will insist that assassins are by definition crazy.
So what? Except in self defense, anyone who tries to kill someone
is crazy. This evil person should be doing life in solitary confinement.
He is a criminal. He should not be allowed weekend vacations.
That is patent crap!
Predictable:
The president's men are going after the New York Times for publishing
the news about George's spy caper. They are threatening to send
the editors to jail. It's the old game they just finished playing
over the indiscretions in Cheney's office. They will try to get
someone and create enough smoke to hide George's criminal activity.
I hope the Times does not cave in like the magazine editor did.
What Did You Do?
What did you do on New Year's Eve? We knew the crazies would
be out so we did what we do every year. We shared a bottle of
wine and wished each other health and joy. Our home is about
1/4 mile off of the road so we did not need to take any precautions
against drunk drivers. There are plenty of trees in between.
Otherwise I would have parked my old 1993 pickup across the end
of the driveway. Let them hit that if they must hit something.
So Ends 2005:
Perhaps a few years from now we will be able to look back and
say what we gained and what we lost. Right now, it is too painful
for me. It seems to me we have gained nothing and we lost so
very much.
Who is Maxwell's Demon?
This is your puzzle for this week. Do some research. It's fun.
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2006 Archives
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