Coal In Your Stockings, Blackhearts

At some point, you have to say there are many millions of people in this country who care only about themselves. How else can you explain the black hearts of the following:

1) Those who supported tax cuts for the rich. We were talking about a measly four percent higher tax rate, actually exactly the same as the Clinton years when the super rich got richer and richer without the tax cut. How could four percent be so horrible? That bunch doesn't know how to spend the money they have now. And don't tell me they're the "job creators" and they will hire now that they know how high their taxes will be. Not true during the past 10 years when they had their oh-so-important tax cuts. Does anyone remember the term "robber barons."

2) President Obama. There are many reasons for wanting coal in the stocking of our country's CEO, but I will stick with the wars that he continues to fight with the help of volunteer soldiers who can't get jobs anywhere else. (The wars would have ended long ago if there had been a draft.) Not only do we have wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are military actions (wars) also in Yemen, Africa, Pakistan, and Colombia. Where else we have only to guess.

3) Anyone who didn't want Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed. What are they afraid of? If you were in the military, how would you like it if your loved one could not see you off to fight in a far-off war or visit you openly in the hospital if you were injured? This issue was much like back when blacks could fight but couldn't be included in white squadrons and the like. I'm straight and I'm married and I'm not afraid of gays threatening either in any way. To think otherwise would be part of a mental illness.

4) Anyone who doesn't think about how others might be living. If you have a nice home, eat well, wear good clothes, drive a good car, etc., why would you think everyone else does or could have the same? Only someone with a black heart would not think about the poor children, disabled (including those with mental illness), the homeless, the homeless animals.

5) Anyone who continues to fight the Civil War, hoping over and over that blacks will once again be pushed to the back of the bus.

6) Politicians taking credit for passing the 9/11 health bill, all $4.3 billion of it over 10 years, making 430 million per year available to help. How far do you think that will go when it's to cover health issues for thousands of first responders to the New York City attacks in 2001? Only ones to benefit will be early claimants. The rest are screwed.

My list could continue, including aforementioned politicians and the rest who I believe to be experienced liars and nothing more. But I'll stop here and instead give you a short list of those who should receive sweets from Santa because they don't follow the sheep, don't think only about themselves. In other words, they have kind hearts.

1) Anyone who donates to an individual or family in their community who won't have enough to eat this weekend or who can't ever participate in holiday gift-giving.

2) Anyone who adopts an animal that won't make it through the holidays otherwise.

3) Anyone who hopes 2011 will see an end to the wars, to the maiming and killing of American soldiers along with civilians who live in the countries in the middle of "nation building."

4) Anyone who doesn't harbor petty jealousies. We wouldn't have many of the money problems we have now but for those who spend what they don't have to try to look like the rich. Who wants to look like the rich or have what they have? They're blackhearts, not to be admired.

Happy, happy to everyone for the new year.

Straw Tax Men vs. the FairTax Plan

Your sarcastic hyperbole is duly noted, Cassandra.

Cutting taxes (like next year's delightful move to cut the Social Security payroll tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent) is only half the picture. The other half is, of course, cutting spending. A government that doesn't spend as much is a government that doesn't need to tax as much.

In any responsible and sane conception of government, taxes must be collected to pay for certain services. The question that divides the country is which services are legitimate purposes of government. Maintaining an armed force for national defense is a legitimate purpose, as is providing social safety nets for the downtrodden and the hapless. Subsidizing corporations and markets in the private sector (like farms, auto factories, and banks) is not a legitimate purpose of government. There are hundreds of other illegitimate, unjust, and harmful acts in which the government is continually engaged--but statists and Left-wingers practically never discuss those acts in any serious way.

Maybe one day, this country will do away with all taxes on income and earnings, and instead tax consumption in a well-managed, sensible way. I'm a new proponent of the FairTax (www.FairTax.org). Let's hope that HR 25 and S 296 are passed, and that a new era of prosperity, legitimacy, fairness, and responsible spending is ushered in.

Tax Cuts, The Final Solution

Ask any Republican, and now any Democrat, what should be done to boost our economy and create jobs, and the answer is always tax cuts, in particular extending the Bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003. After all, they've done a heckuva job, haven't they? We should keep what's working, shouldn't we?

Let's say tax cuts really are the end all, be all. Then why not eliminate all taxes. Think how great the economy would be then. Everyone who wants to work would work again. Everyone who wants to buy a house will have the money to buy one. All workers could keep all of their money, not pay those pesky Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, income taxes. They wouldn't have to pay property taxes, gasoline taxes, on and on.

Lots of pluses to this no-tax solution: No politicians, no wars, no subsidies, no unemployment compensation, no schools, on and on. Why, I ask, is anyone fighting these tax cuts? So simple, so easy.

My Fifteen Favorite Movies

At least for the time being . . . .

The Golden Coach (1953)
The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

Henry V (1944)

Hana & Alice (2004)

The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Fist in the Pocket (1965)
Ugetsu (1953)
The Letter (1940)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Earrings of Madame de ... (1953)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Morocco (1930)
The Big Sleep (1946)
His Girl Friday (1940)

Impeach President Obama II

There are those who challenged my last post about firing President Obama. They ask whether I have any legal reasons for impeachment, if I was being histrionic, if I was being reactionary. I'll leave the last two characterizations for others to decide.

As to reasons for impeachment of a president, we learned at the end of the last century that it's not necessary to have strong, even legal, criteria for such an action. Nowhere in our laws will you find listed a blowjob in a side room off the Oval Office of the White House as a reason for a presidential impeachment. Yes, I know, the stated reason given by the Ken Starr investigation was that President Clinton lied about the affair. Wouldn't you? Besides, how does a lie about a sexual act compare to starting a war based on lies -- no impeachment for Bush, was there?

Following are actions Obama has done to warrant my wrath, none of which may satisfy legal requirements for impeachment. But I can hope, can't I? This is hard for me to say because the last president and members of Congress, both Republican and Democratic, are such liars and have done so much to destroy this country. Still, it's Obama who's in office now. Here is my list about Obama's wrong choices:

1. Has not ended either war, in fact escalating the one in Afghanistan and drone bombing in other countries.

2. Has not ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- first American injured in Iraq war was a gay Marine (lost his leg 3 hours after war started and his livelihood when he came out).

3. Has not signed by executive order a dictate to end (he can do it) the discharging of soldiers who have been outed.

4. Has not closed Guantanamo.

5. Has not ended CIA rendition.

6. Has not established new (protected) wildlife refuges, parks or forests.

7. Kept Bush's Secretary of Defense.

8. Named Geithner and Summers to Treasury, knowing they were part of the Wall Street establishment that helped to lead the financial collapse.

9. Bailed out General Motors and Chrysler instead of letting them fall as real capitalism dictates.

10. Continued to bail out banks and insurance companies even though TARP started under Bush.

11. Created Cash for Clunkers, against free market ideals.

12. Named Cabinet members who are not qualified, much the same as was done under the Bush regime.

A dozen reasons are enough for now. There are at least a dozen more to follow at some point. If you have reasons for liking what the president is doing, let us know.

Impeach President Obama

This week we learned that the military is sending the biggest tanks ever into Afghanistan to continue fighting that insane war. Such tanks have long been part of combat in Iraq, but they've been kept out of the Afghanistan War efforts until now. Why I don't know, except perhaps they were all in Iraq until recently.

President Obama is commander in chief of military forces and operations. He would have been consulted on the deployment of the tanks and he would have given his OK to such a tactic, which I believe will further escalate casualties for American soldiers and Afghan civilians.

I was a big supporter of Obama in 2008. I mean, who wouldn't want someone as our president who said he would correct the abuses, fraud and downright crimes of the Bush administration? But he was a liar then and he's a liar now. He is doing exactly what Bush did only with more thievery, pillaging and warmongering. We can wait until he loses in 2012 or we can hope to get rid of him now. I choose now. With Republicans leading the House in a few weeks, impeaching Obama might very well be at the top of their list of things to do.

With that said, there is one problem to all of this: Joe Biden. He would become president if Obama is impeached. Biden is a loser beyond belief. He never did anything as a senator for many years and has done even less as vice-president. Even worse, what he does do is against American interests. For example, these days he's going around the country, sometimes with his pal, turncoat Joe Lieberman, expounding the wonders of the scan machines at airports because he and Lieberman have "friends" who own the company that produces the machines. (Former Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff represents the company, as well.)

So you see, even though Obama could be impeached -- possibly -- we're still screwed. Will Sarah Palin win in 2012? I don't know. But I do know that if she does, we will know what we're getting. Fool me once . . .

Comparative Disadvantages

I part company with the Libertarian-minded on the issue of international trade.

As long as the United States has minimum wage laws, there's no way to stop offshoring under any plan to remove trade barriers--as Obama and hundreds of business leaders are trying to do. We have wage and hour laws in the United States to create and maintain a middle class, and to establish a basic standard of living. For good reasons, we don't want to be a sweatshop economy, to revert to the way things were in the early decades of the Industrial Revolution.

The problem with free trade is that it forces Americans to compete with factory workers in low-wage countries. Tariffs--taxes on imports--help rectify the imbalance: they are designed to neutralize the "comparative advantage" created by economies overseas that pay large sectors of their work force 40 cents an hour.

These tariffs would be targeted--they would not apply to countries with minimum wage laws, such as Canada, Germany, Australia, Britain, France, or Japan. Once these tariffs are in place, we Americans could--and should--once again build manufacturing plants in all sorts of fantastic new industries generated by private sector ingenuity and research.

Technology does replace people, in any robust economy. But in a protected domestic economy, those people would be hired for other work in the flourishing industries. When free trade policies with sweatshop economies in Asia, Indonesia, South America, and Africa send American workers home to collect unemployment checks, does it really matter whether the president and all those business leaders crow about "growth"?

Georgie, Porgie, Puddin' & Pie

War-lover George The Second is out there trying to pump up his legacy after leaving office as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. Does he think that we've all contracted amnesia?

I read about Georgie Boy BEFORE he ran for president. In one book he is quoted as saying that if he ever had the chance, he would go back into Iraq to complete the job he thought his daddy left unfinished in the first Gulf war. He said the worst day in his life -- up to that point -- was the day his daddy said he wouldn't go into Baghdad because it would mire down U.S. forces. Bush had plans to go into Iraq long before September 11, 2001. (For those who have lost all reasoning, no one from Iraq had anything to do with the September 11 attacks.)

On a tour to promote his new book, W tells a different story about why he sent troops to die and be maimed in Iraq. None of it makes any sense, of course, but that's never bothered the boy born and raised in New England and who pretends to be a Texan. Everything is a fantasy world to Bush. That's not surprising because drunks and dry drunks rarely tell the truth. Lying is part of their day-to-day life. He looks so honest when he's talking about plain old dog shit, doesn't he? Wouldn't you like to share a Texas-sized burrito with him? He's just like you, right?

Needless to say, I won't be buying such a book of fiction. And anyone who does has the memory of a gnat.

Let's Get It Right: Libertarians and War

"With your strict Libertarian ideals and values, where you are against all foreign wars, I await your actions in the Senate ..."

Let's get it right, Cassandra. There is no Libertarian tenet against "all foreign wars." You have mischaracterized Libertarianism. There is a fundamental Libertarian tenet against initiating force -- which applies to both individuals and nations -- but clearly that wouldn't affect a person's or a country's legitimate right to self-defense.

Rand Paul said that invading Iraq was the "wrong thing to do" not because it was a foreign war but because it was, in his view, an initiation of force. Paul did support the initial attack on Afghanistan, believing it was a legitimate use of force as a response to an attack on American soil.

In the eight or nine years since the invasion of Afghanistan, Paul, like so many other Americans, thinks that the Afghan War has turned into a policing and nation-building mire. Paul's views on the wars in no way contradict classic Libertarian politics.

Countin' On You, Rand Paul

I can't wait.

Mr. Rand Paul, you will be sworn in as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky in January. With your strict Libertarian ideals and values, where you are against all foreign wars, I await your actions in the Senate where you will do everything you can to block funding for the two wars now being conducted by the current president. With the crazy Senate rules, where one senator can block any bill (even anonymously), you will have an opportunity to stop providing billions of dollars for the no-end-in-sight wars in the Middle East.

Oh, and Mr. Paul, I understand you are against agriculture subsidies. I await your action to stop all such subsidies and giveaways to big business.

If you work things right, you may be the best person to fight the corruption in D.C. I'll reserve judgment about other issues in our nation's capitol and how you fit into the equation. Good luck.

I'll Trade Ya

Gee, look at all the great contracts being inked between U.S. and Indian companies.

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/06/india.obama.trip/index.html?hpt=T2

Does anyone really believe that increased trade will benefit American workers? (It may benefit American consumers, but even they don't much like trying to understand the impenetrably thick accents of the phone operators in the overseas call centers.) These overseas presidential junkets cost U.S. taxpayers a lot of money. That's a scandalous injustice because these trips are almost always intended to negotiate trade deals in foreign countries, which, as everyone knows, result in MORE offshoring and MORE layoffs here at home.

Since the big honcho CEOs in the story support this trade trip, let THEM pay for it.

Heal Thyself

Friends ask me why I don't go to doctors. I do have osteoarthritis in my knees, which prompts the next question about why I don't have replacement surgery. My answer to both questions is that I want to give my body the chance to take me as far as it will without all the prodding, pills and punctures.

I enjoy a wonderful quality of life, rarely if ever thinking about my health. Except for the knees, I'm amazingly healthy with only an occasional cold. My thinking on the subject is this: If I were to discover some disease or major illness, the rest of my days would be spent fretting and dealing with such a diagnosis (or misdiagnosis). And even if it were real, I find letting things be gets me from day to day with a great outlook on life and a feeling of peace.

It's not that I've never gone to physicians or that I have a phobia about seeing them. After all, I've had five major surgeries, the latest almost 30 years ago. And the last time I went to see a doctor, almost four years ago, I had a suspicious mole, which my GP removed. (Biopsy showed it was benign.) What I don't do are the yearly checkup and the tests that include blood work, blood pressure check and the like. I wait for something specific to occur before I make an appointment.

To set the record straight about my medical preferences, I do think that psychiatrists and chiropractors are quacks. Close family members have been treated by both and I believe the methods of such doctors are suspect at the very least. GPs are my favorite doctors, especially those who actually listen to patients. Beyond that, the more basic medical treatments the better for me. I grew up going to country doctors only for such things as pneumonia or a deep cut from barbed wire. Too many tests these days. Too many procedures.

For many years, I said that if I were to reach a certain age -- no, I won't say what age -- that everything after that would be gravy. I reached that age three years ago. We'll see what the future brings.

Growing the State

Yet another Liberal has put himself in hot water, and by doing so has betrayed the ideals of his political philosophy.

Charlie Rangel's been busy, by all accounts: failing to declare hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, shadily raising money to build a private center named after him, taking expensive trips to the Caribbean on the public dime.

Liberals obviously don't believe in liberty. They believe in control. And to increase control, they favor the exponential growth of the State. It amazes me that people I know--including our very own Cassandra--rail against the corruption of the government in one sentence, but in the very next, advocate the increased growth of the State by every possible means, including the centralizing of huge industries and the raising of taxes.

The only way to control the corruption that is inherent in the State is to control the size of the State. How many times does that need to be said before benighted Liberals get it?

Wrong Is Wrong, But Wright Is Right

That abrasive jackass Jeremiah Wright is in the news again for spewing racist cant from the podium a week or two ago.

That's not surprising, of course, but the accuracy of one of his statements actually is.

Wright apparently said that the American education system is built to poorly educate black students "by malignant intent."

Well, he's half right. As everyone knows, the education system is built to poorly educate ALL students by malignant intent.

Washington: Stop Centralizing!

Joe Barton and Michele Bachmann both made excellent points during last week's Congressional shakedown of BP. Barton's forced apology was hollow and pointless. Washington is supremely incompetent, intrusive, and deleteriously antagonistic toward private business and the free market, and the Feds have no business administering a $20 billion escrow fund for the victims of the oil spill. The fund, as Bill O'Reilly and Laura Ingraham noted, should be overseen by the state governments directly involved, including Louisiana and Florida.

The Obama Administration always jumps at the chance to move in on the private sector, sacking the free market and saddling it with choking regulation and bureaucratic red tape, whether it's banks, investment firms, health insurance companies, or family-owned small businesses.

The last thing the oil spill disaster needs, now or ever, is an escrow fund "czar." Hundreds of fishing and tourism businesses in the Gulf have complained, practically in tears, about the interference that results when their requests for aid have to be cleared through dozens of federal agencies, each with its endless rules and forms. The federal government had the same problems getting decisions made quickly and aid sent on time during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

So back off, Obama & Co., and let the locals deal directly with BP without having to obtain clearance from the EPA or other federal agencies first.

Movie of the Week: 'Iris'

Getting old ain't fun. In addition to the physical changes that come about for even the most ardent exercisers, there's always the worry about the mind going, Alzheimer's settling in. The dreaded disease is the theme for "Iris," which is based on the life of British writer Iris Murdoch and stars Judy Dench and Kate Winslet.

Iris was a free spirit, bedding numerous men in the Oxford area of England. She wrote more than 20 novels with the theme being sexual discovery and relationships. As she aged, maybe in her late 60s, she had what she thought was writer's block. Of course, it was the early signs of Alzheimer's. Neither she nor her husband, professor John Bayley, put any importance on cleanliness and organization when she was well. As the disease set in, their house became a shambles with garbage and collections of all types building up around them.

My grandmother had Alzheimer's, and I believe the movie captures the hell both the victim and those who love them go through as the days and years become grayer, more fearful and less connected for the ill one. I recommend "Iris" for anyone who likes good acting and substance in a movie.

Catching Up

First, it was my rotator cuff out of whack. Second, it was my husband's surgery. And third, it was my baby cat's illness after her dental surgery. All good reasons why I haven't posted anything for so long. So here goes with a few short thoughts.

1. Why would anyone marry Rush Limbaugh, he of Viagra and Oxycontin abuse? Oh, right, the bucks. She will earn them.

2. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues and the animals and birds keep dying. Obama says he has ordered 17,000 National Guard troops to the Gulf. Where are they? Where is the oversight of Big Oil? Republicans, Libertarians and, yes, Democrats have gutted regulations in recent years, regulations being a big, bad word much like liberal. Speaking of big and bad, where is Dick Cheney these days? He's usually out in front of cameras bashing Obama. Like his slick, slimy, fellow politico Sarah Palin, he looks like a complete fool and traitor when he has chosen to side with Big Oil over America's interests. Does he hate America? Does Palin hate America?

3. It didn't take long for those who hate big government to come running for handouts, did it? Folks like little Bobby Jindal, for example. And even run-at-the-mouth Michele Bachmann has asked where the government is down in Louisiana, why didn't Obama commandeer boats to help with the spill. Commandeer boats? Well, isn't that government takeover? Whose boats would she commandeer? Another loony who speaks before she thinks. Oh, yes, I forgot. She can't think.

4. Why are so many men puffing up their military history? One guy running in Connecticut, another in Illinois, both of whom were actually in the service but didn't do what they said they did. No doubt they're trying to draw in the fruit loop voters who never served but who promote veterans as heroes so they can keep wars going for nefarious reasons. Those of us who had loved ones in the service -- many in my immediate family -- know that they did their duty because they were forced to by the draft. They never considered themselves to be heroes and wanted to get the hell out as fast as they could. They don't hate those lying these days about their military service. They hate those who lie to get us into wars and those who never served but call for more wars.

5. What's with idiot Rand Paul? He had it made, winning the primary in Kentucky. He had the teapot crowd backing him and all he had to do is sit back and win in November. He may win in November -- it is the south, after all -- but now everyone knows what he really thinks. In a way I feel like a fool because I agreed with about 80 percent of what Libertarians espoused. Now I know they're just racists, bigots and haters like the Limbaughs, Becks and others. Paul never saw the time when someone couldn't get a sandwich at a lunch counter because they were born with a certain skin color. The Whites and Colored drinking fountains at county fairs and parks. He never saw the time when a black man and his wife couldn't get a room at a motel for the night. Paul doesn't care about those times. He cares only about businesses and what they want, no matter how discriminatory all of it might be. I hope he loses, but as I said, it's the south.

Enough for now. Time to get back to the book I'm reading, "The End of the Free Market" by Ian Bremmer. I usually have my nose in an English mystery, but this one caught my eye because of the way world economies are crumbling. Will let you know how it ends.

All for Nothing

My cousin Ronnie was 19 years old when he died in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. He arrived there in August 1969. Forty five days later he was dead, drowned in a rushing river while trying to cross it with a heavy pack on his back.

Recently I checked for Ronnie's name on www.VIRTUALWALL.org, where names and basic information are available through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It shows, for example, that he was in the 11th Infantry, his body was recovered, he was a ground casualty, he received a posthumous promotion, and where his name can be found on the Wall in Washington, D.C. All of this is informative, but it doesn't help to bring back the cheerful, intelligent boy I remember so well from the many times we visited him and his family on their Wisconsin farm.

I ask anyone to tell me why he died so far away from home. Does anyone remember why the U.S. went to Vietnam? Why we stayed there? Why we allowed the years to go by as young men died and were maimed by the many thousands? When anyone can answer those questions truthfully, I ask why we went to Afghanistan and Iraq, why we stay there, and why we allow the years to go by as young men and women die and are maimed by the many thousands.

Ronnie would have been 60 years old this year. He did not die to defend our country. He did not die to protect his family. He did not die working on the family farm like his uncle Jerry did. He did die to protect the military industrial complex. He did die to protect politicians. He did die to protect oil interests. He did die to satisfy old men's fantasies. My cousin's death, all for nothing.

Ronnie's mother died a few years after her son, at age 48, a heart attack, they said. We all said she died from a broken heart.

Have I Got A Deal For You

The wild ride the stock market took this past week was reported by major news outlets with some anchors and reporters asking if 401(k)s are at risk. Duh.

The stock market is gambling, pure and simple. People put their money in the market because they want and expect a greater return on it than what they can get at an FDIC-protected bank. They gamble that over the long run they'll get more out of the market than in a CD, for example. They gamble that they are too uninformed to make good judgments about their own money. They gamble that others are so very smart and will keep their own best interests in mind when handling their money.

Personally, I don't like giving over my money to someone else to decide where they want to place it. I did at one time, just like so many, many others. But these days there are too many variables, too much uncertainty, too many crooks, too many liars. If I want to gamble, I'd have a lot more fun going to the casinos where they offer great buffets and free drinks. At least there I'd have the fun of pulling the slots myself and not giving over everything to Wall Street and Main Street charlatans to play around with, making themselves rich. Cowardly, maybe. Able to sleep soundly each night, for certain.

The Devil Is in the Details

To those idiots who want the federal government to run healthcare and health insurance, energy, the economy, housing, banking, employment and labor, retirement income, education, urban planning, domestic and international trade, and just about every other human activity under the sun, I say wake up and smell the coffee.

I pull a mailer from the U.S. Postal Service out of the mailbox telling me that Saturday, May 8, is the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, run by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the USPS. What is this, I ask myself. I read that the USPS letter carriers will be collecting non-perishable foods to help hungry and poor families in the community. The mailer asks us to put our food donations next to our mailboxes on Saturday, May 8, before our letter carriers arrive with the day's mail. The carriers will take the food to the Post Office, where it will be sorted and then delivered to local food banks and pantries.

What a nice idea, I say to myself. I figure that I have a bunch of canned food I can donate, and head in to bag it up.

And then it hits me.

What day do you suppose I get this mailer delivered to my mailbox?

Drill, Baby, Drill

The recent oil rig explosion and resulting spill were and are very unfortunate. Lives were tragically lost and the environment has been at least temporarily harmed. Today's oil drilling industry takes numerous precautions to safeguard the drilling "footprint." No system is foolproof; accidents will always happen. The pertinent question is, How often? In the case of offshore explosions and spills, not often at all.

But listening to the uproar over drilling offshore, one would think those critics never bought gasoline, ink, crayons, bubble gum, dishwashing liquid, deodorant, eyeglasses, CDs, DVDs, tires, ammonia, or even heart valves.

Cleaner energies should be developed, and they will be. That is the direction in which the developed world is moving. But before these newer, cleaner, more efficient energies are implemented, we can't just stop using oil, willy-nilly.

Today, here and now, we need oil, and so we have to continue looking for it and drilling -- and buying it from other countries. Sensible people would rather not have to buy oil from other countries, especially since most of those countries are not very friendly to us otherwise. So let's keep drilling for oil, while doing our best to safeguard our refinery crews and our landscapes.

Slimeballs All

I had written a four-paragraph post about the oil spill, the upcoming environmental destruction in the Gulf, the drill-baby-drill mentality of Limbaugh, Gingrich, Palin, and more. But once I finished, I felt like I had been slimed by the words of those idiots. I just couldn't post it. Plus, the thought of looking at pictures of Palin, Limbaugh or one of the other crazies to include along with my post grossed me out.

That said, I do look forward to Sarah Palin flying into Louisiana to clean oil off the beaches. Can't expect her to clean up the animals because she kills them, evil person that she is. Ultimately, I look forward to the day when that witch (hopefully covered with oil) slinks back to Alaska where she will shut up and have another four or five kids.

Glass Houses

The SEC-inspired rampage against Goldman Sachs is mob mentality at its scariest. When a mob goes wild, not only does it often wield injustice against the innocent, it also becomes completely blind to its own failings.

How many American consumers have asked themselves personally, in the midst of their feeding frenzy on the blood of the multinationals like Goldman and A.I.G., whether they should have been buying more house than they knew they could afford? A long era of disgustingly easy credit (it was the Age of the Credit Card Offers), low interest rates, and the asinine and irresponsible government policies (including subsidies) to push home ownership on absolutely everyone gave millions of consumers that buzz, that pleasurable anticipation of gluttony sated.

Every one of you who put little to no money down for a first-time -- or a bigger and flashier -- house, regardless of how meager your actual income may have been, share the blame for the collapse of the real estate market and, by extension, the world economy. You took irresponsible advantage of home value bubbles from 1998 to 2006 by borrowing against the equity you had for more and more credit. And for what? For Land Rovers, for swimming pools, for Carnival cruises, for home entertainment centers with 60-inch televisions . . . for brighter, flashier toys than your neighbors had. When you were mortgaged or leveraged to the hilt and the value of your McMansions plummeted, you lost your toys and your homes and even your jobs (because your employers don't operate in a vacuum).

Did you look yourselves in the mirror and say, "I shouldn't have bought all that" or "I shouldn't have borrowed so heavily" or "I shouldn't have eaten every last bit of equity I spent years acquiring"? Nope, you just blamed the Other Guy. And you're blaming him still.

Steeped in Tradition

The tea party participants have been taking it on the chin -- and worse -- for a year. The Left accuses them of bigotry, racism, and physical violence. The reprehensible, tendentious Rachel Maddow likens them to mass murderers in her recent MSNBC special on Timothy McVeigh.

Tea party critics never address the fundamental and solidly traditional view of the movement: A government that seeks to increase its power over the citizenry in the interests of ensuring their safety and security is no legitimate government at all but a tyranny. If the tea parties constantly bring up the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, it's because the philosophical principles of government and liberty are at the very heart of the tea party movement, and Washington's dangerous straying from those principles animates their anger and anxiety.

My Hero of the Day: Binghamton, NY Mayor

Matthew Ryan is the mayor of Binghamton, NY. He's sick and tired of the cost of both Middle East wars, the Afghanistan war being the longest in American history. He's tired of having to make decisions about what to keep open in his city, schools or police stations, fire or library. He has determined that the citizens of Binghamton have spent millions of dollars for the wars. So he has decided to install a digital "cost of war" sign in a prominent place to show how much the wars are costing local, state and federal taxpayers. A peace group is paying for the sign.

Good for you, Mayor Ryan. Sometimes I wonder if we're still fighting the wars because no one even talks about them. Fortunately, our local paper lists the dead soldiers from both wars on an almost daily basis. And the national cemetery nearby has weekly interments for dead military. Otherwise, not much is said or done regarding the wars. Congress OKs many billions every few months to keep the slaughter and defense thefts going. And President Obama should be ashamed of himself for lying about pulling out a brigade a month from Iraq 60 days after inauguration and not mentioning that he would direct a surge in Afghanistan. Like his predecessor, he must have no conscience regarding all of those dead soldiers and how the wars are destroying our treasury, all for nothing.

Mayor Matthew Ryan: A hero for our time.

God's Gonna Get Ya

Comments are often the best part about reading a story on the net. Today, CNN featured a piece about a "massive fireball" over Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and other parts of the Midwest. It particularly interested me for two reasons: 1) I've lived in Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. 2) I've seen a large meteorite burn itself out as it crashed in the sea near the Cliff House in San Francisco. But the best part of that story was the comment section. These are my two favorite comments from the many offered:

"I am a member of the Tea Party and I think God is using the fireball to punish the Midwest for being too liberal."

"I'm a liberal and I think god is using the tea party to punish America for being too dumb."

A Breath of Fresh Air

Peggy Noonan, the invaluable columnist for The Wall Street Journal, wrote a stirring, satisfying column the other day on what one wishes Charles Prince (the former CEO of Citigroup) would have said in his testimony in the Financial Industry Inquiry Commission hearings:

"Let's be real. This is what happened the past ten years. You, for political reasons, both Republicans and Democrats, finagled the mortgage system so that people who make, like, zero dollars a year were given mortgages for $600,000 houses. You got to run around and crow about how, under your watch, everyone became a homeowner. You shook down the tax payer and hoped for the best.

"Democrats did it because they thought it would make everyone Democrats: 'Look what I give you!'

"Republicans did it because they thought it would make everyone Republicans: 'I'm a homeowner, I've got a stake, don't raise my property taxes, get off my lawn!'

"And Wall Street? We went to town, baby. We bundled the mortgages and sold them to fools, or we held them, called them assets, and made believe everyone would pay his mortgage. As if we cared! We invented financial instruments so complicated that no one, even the people who sold them, understood what they were.

"You're finaglers and we're finaglers. I play for dollars, you play for votes. In our own ways we're all thieves. We would be called desperadoes if we weren't so boring, so utterly banal in our soft-jawed, full-jowled selfishness. If there were any justice, we'd be forced to duel, with the peasants of America holding our cloaks. Only we'd both make sure we missed, wouldn't we?"

Peggy again:

"OK, Charles Prince didn't say that. Just wanted to get your blood going. Mr. Prince would never say something so dramatic and intemperate. I made it up. It wasn't on the news because it didn't happen.

"It would be kind of a breath of fresh air, though, wouldn't it?"

Wouldn't it, though?

My Heroes of the Day: Jesse Ventura and Ron Paul

Former governor Jesse Ventura sat in for Larry King one night last week on the CNN talk show. During one segment, he asked his guests if President Obama is a radical. Each of them gave their opinions, then Jesse gave his. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that he thought the last president, George W. Bush, was the radical. He then outlined his reasons for such thinking, including Bush's lying to get us into a war with no end. Guest Ron Paul added how America is bankrupting itself because of the war costs. (And I add how horrific it is that so many thousands of precious lives were lost for nothing, absolutely nothing.)

All of this reminded me how perplexed I am these days when I hear Republicans whining and moaning about the cost of health care for American citizens while never uttering a word about free health care for Iraqis, new schools for Iraqis, roads for Iraqis, new hospitals for Iraqis, etc. etc. Do they ever stop to realize there would have been no need for rebuilding such a country without American bombs and guns destroying it in the first place, destroying it to satisfy the military industrial complex? I must also ask the right wing if they hate Americans. If they don't, then why not want the same for American citizens as Iraqi citizens? Don't the red, white and blue of our flag mean as much to them as the colors of the Iraqi flag?

Easy Cooking: White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce

I created this fabulous dessert for a birthday dinner several years ago. Any berry, fresh or frozen, works well for making the sauce, but raspberries provide both the perfect color and flavor accompaniment to the rich mousse.

2 large eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 pound white chocolate, chopped

1 cup whipping cream, very cold

Raspberry sauce:

1 basket fresh raspberries

3 tablespoons white sugar

For the mousse, whisk the eggs in a saucepan until they're blended. Stir in the 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice and cook over medium-low heat, stirring the mixture constantly until it's thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the white chocolate until it melts. Set mixture aside to cool, stirring it occasionally.

To whip the cream, put the bowl, beaters of electric mixer and cream in the freezer about 30 minutes before whipping. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cool white chocolate mixture. Put in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving; overnight is OK.

Make the raspberry sauce by cooking the raspberries in a small saucepan over low heat until they're soft, about 10 minutes. Press the cooked raspberries through a strainer to get the juice. Then place the juice and the 3 tablespoons sugar in the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring the mixture constantly until it's slightly thickened.

Serve the mousse in small dishes or crystal stemware with raspberry sauce in a small pitcher to pour over. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Census Schmensus

If you haven't filled out the Census for reasons that include mistrusting the government, please consider trashing the form. I live in a Blue State. Because of irresponsible politics, we pay high welfare costs for Red State residents who makes lower salaries than we do. If those of you in a Red State destroy your Census form, that will mean one, two or more fewer people who might be able to get more money out of me sometime in the future. Go for it.

If you reside in a Blue State, and you resist providing stats for the Census, you're probably a Tea Partier, Libertarian or Republican. The fewer of you counted for representation in state and federal government, the better. No need to get out your guns to harass a Census worker, as threatened by CNN spouter Erik Erikson. Just don't answer the door. Of course, I can't say what happens to those who don't fill out the form. I mailed mine in two weeks ago so I'm not concerned. Still, I hope there's a way you can legally figure out how to keep from doing what the big, bad U.S. government asks of you.

That said, I want you to know how much I respect you for refusing any government assistance of any kind, be it Social Security, Mediare, Medicaid, VA benefits, FHA home loan, etc. More power to you because it will leave more for me in the future. You also might want to stay off the public highways because you won't be counted toward future needs in that area either, consequently depriving your area from road repairs and installations. More for me and my Blue State. Hey, this hating the government stuff could be good for me in many areas. Thank you.

Rack 'em Up

Sarah Palin calls for her supporters to "reload." Rush Limbaugh tells his listeners to get rid of the "bastards" and "take out" the liberals. Fox "News" belittles liberals, comparing them to everything from Socialists to Fascists, making them targets for people who take their words literally. Tea Party groupies attend rallies armed with guns in holsters and others strapped to their backs. Yesterday, Heidi somebody, a blonde radio talk show host in Vegas, said there were 20,000 Tea Partiers in Harry Reid's Nevada hometown last weekend with "40,000 guns" among them. Yikes, 40,000 loaded guns in such a small area.

Of course, this Heidi person exaggerated the numbers because pictures of the event show far fewer than the number of people she boasted about. Still, thousands of guns being paraded about by people looking to eliminate liberals make for a rather frightening prospect for those who admit to being liberal, aka progressive. I'm not really scared. I don't do much to bring on the wrath of anyone. However, I do find it interesting that far right conservatives think they're the only ones with guns. We're armed, too. We just don't parade around with our guns, showing everything we have. And, unlike Palin, we don't put people in our crosshairs.

A friend, who's proud to say he's a bleeding-heart liberal, gave me a gun to protect myself and my loved ones. He has numerous guns and he knows how to use all of them. Almost all of my liberal friends have guns. With right-wing militias increasing in numbers throughout the country (are there left-wing militias?), it's best to be prepared, don't you think? Time to get that piece of steel out of its hiding place, polish it, oil it and get 'er loaded.

In Memoriam

On this day in 1827, one hundred and eighty-three years ago, Ludwig van Beethoven passed from mortal life into immortal memory. Years of illness had taken their toll on his body and spirit. With his profound reserves of strength, however, Beethoven composed masterpiece upon masterpiece in the final decade of his life: the last five piano sonatas, the Diabelli Variations, the Ninth Symphony, the Missa Solemnis, the late piano Bagatelles, and the final string quartets.

Friends and family gathered round the bed in his rooms at the Schwarzspanierhaus for the deathwatch. Surgery was performed on Beethoven's swollen abdomen; more than 25 pounds of fluid were drained by tapping, or puncturing, the belly. The abdominal pain worsened and Beethoven stopped eating entirely. The emaciated tone-poet signed his final will on March 23 and took his last sacrament on the following day, lapsing into unconsciousness soon thereafter. Death at long last released Beethoven from the unendurable pain.

Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Vienna for the funeral procession to the Wahring cemetery. The composers Hummel, Czerny, and Schubert served as pallbearers or torchbearers. The poet Grillparzer wrote a poignant funeral oration, which was delivered at the burial by the actor Anschutz.

Easy Cooking: Bean-Couscous Salad

It's spring, time to roll out simple recipes to make and take to potlucks and barbecues. I've made a version of this salad for many years, using different couscous mixes and veggies for a great vegetarian dish that can double as a main course because of the beans. You can, of course, cook up dried beans instead of using the canned. But I find the latter to be perfectly fine for this recipe and much less work, thus fitting the category of easy cooking.

Be sure to add chunks of fresh tomatoes when they're in season. Other additions or substitutions might be asparagus, avocado, artichoke hearts, green bell peppers, celery, and carrots. Basic couscous can be used, but the seasoning packet included in the various mixes adds good flavor.

Note: My recipes entitled Easy Cooking include more specific directions for those who are new to cooking. Not to say the recipes aren't for experienced cooks. I use them all the time and I consider myself to be an experienced cook.

1 package toasted pine nut couscous (Near East is a good brand)

1 1/4 cups water

2 tablespoons butter (or margarine if you're vegan)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon rice vinegar (or what you have on hand, except balsamic which darkens couscous)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 bunch green onions, chopped (most of tops, too)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 can (16 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (16 ounces) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Salt and pepper to taste (go low at first and add as you need)

Bring water, margarine and seasoning packet from couscous to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in the couscous, cover the pan and remove it from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, cumin, and sugar. Add green onions, red pepper, cilantro, corn, and beans. Toss mixture to coat beans and rest well.

Using a fork, fluff the couscous well, breaking up any chunks. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate salad until ready to serve.

Serves about 8.

A Shaggy Dog Tale

I went to the Social Services office this morning to sign up my dog for welfare.

The woman at the desk said, "Dogs aren't eligible to draw welfare." My eyes widened.

I replied, "My dog is unemployed, lazy, can't speak English, and has no clue who his dad is. He expects me to feed him, provide him with housing and medical care, and to feel somewhat guilty that he was born a dog."

She looked through her policies and procedures manual, trying to track down requirements for qualification. After about ten minutes of reading, she put down the manual and looked up at me.

My dog gets his first check on Friday.

Dying With Deliberation

We can't choose when we're born. However, with luck, we can choose when we die. Of course, accidents and short-term illnesses void any chance of deciding our day of death. But long-term illnesses can be ended when we want in three of the United States and certain other places, including Zurich, Switzerland. I live in Oregon, one of the three states with a law that allows assisted suicide, a definite plus for living here, I think.

A recent Frontline report on PBS showed an American man who elected to escape his life of suffering by going to Zurich to participate in Dignitas, an assisted suicide program. He chose the day he wanted to die. His wife helped him to make arrangements because he was suffering from ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. He couldn't use his hands, he could barely speak and he was paralyzed.

Frontline showed the doctor who signed the prescription for the lethal cocktail and two men from Dignitas, one who would help to administer the drugs and one who made sure all went as promised by the organization. It was amazing to watch all of this unfold, everything from how attentive his wife was to the man's wishes, to how gentle the man who gave the drugs was, to how peaceful the surroundings were (although a bit seedy in a Zurich apartment house).

At the agreed-to time, the man was given a drug that would allow his stomach to receive the fatal drugs. Without that drug, he would simply throw up the stuff he needed to end his life. That drug and the next one were nasty, he said, and he asked for apple juice. He took the juice and drugs through a straw because his disease prevented him drinking from a glass. It took several attempts for him to get down all of the special cocktail, with sips of apple juice in between.

Finally, it was done. He asked for his choice of music to be played -- Beethoven's 9th Symphony. He had been told the drugs would put him to sleep within four or five minutes. It didn't take that long. After only a minute or two, his eyes started closing. Next his head fell toward his chest somewhat. But it was several minutes longer before the man who had given the drugs examined him for a pulse and said he was gone.

Swiss law dictates that a film be made of the entire episode to demonstrate that the man chose to end his life, that he turned off the switch to the machine that provided air to his lungs, that he said he wanted to die. The police were called immediately after and an investigation started, as prescribed by law. How deep such an investigation is can't be known, but it's my guess that a file is opened and closed quickly.

The main advantage the man had in going to Switzerland over being assisted in suicide in the U.S. is that here (at least in Oregon) such a person must be within six months of dying and there are fewer and fewer physicians who will sign off on such an effort. We have our wonderful pets "put to sleep" (don't you love that euphemism?) because we don't want to see them suffer. Yet we continue to see our loved ones, our family, ourselves, suffer without wanting the same. How much religion plays in such thinking is unknown, at least to me, but I would guess it figures in quite heavily. I can only hope that will change -- eventually.

One more reason to end it all by way of assisted suicide is to put a stop to paying horrendous fees for hospital stays, tests, and medications. End-of-life tactics can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not the millions, all for nothing, just a few more days, weeks or months of physical and/or mental suffering. Cremation is starting to push aside the traditional casket, in-ground burials. It's time for assisted suicide to replace the traditional procedures we have now, which is expensive and still terminal.

Easy Baking: Irish Soda Bread

This easy-to-make bread, named for the baking soda you mix with the flour and buttermilk to make the bread rise, is good any time of year, but it's perfect for St. Patrick's Day because it's considered to be the bread of Ireland. I make it almost every year for my Irish husband. Occasionally, I will buy smoked salmon and Irish cheeses to serve along with it. However, most of the time we eat it with sweet butter for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will stay fresh for up to two days.

No special equipment is needed, not even a bread pan. The soda bread bakes up crusty on the outside, moist on the inside. As always, use the freshest ingredients.

4 cups all-purpose or bread flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and have ready a lightly floured baking sheet.

Place the flour in a large bowl with the baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix together with a fork. Pour in the buttermilk and raisins. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until everything comes together. Knead the ball on a floured board for a few seconds and then put the dough on the baking sheet.

Cut a deep cross on the top, all the way down the sides. This lets the bread rise evenly. Bake at 425 degrees about 45 minutes or until it's nicely browned and it sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. Place the baked bread on a rack to cool or slice immediately.

Major Faults in Earthquake Reporting

I don't know whether any of you had the misfortune to see Geraldo Rivera's evening show on Fox News the day of the Chilean quake. He has to be the single worst professional journalist on all of television: he is inappropriately chummy in interviews, often calling guests "bud" or "pal"; he is grossly uninformed on virtually all scientific matters; he is prone to using phrases and figures of speech that titillate and give a completely mistaken impression; and he habitually brings poor guests aboard--quite often those who have absolutely no knowledge of or background in the story's subject (in this case, earthquake and tsunami science). He leers and smirks, feigns crocodile tears, licks his chops, and caps everything off with an appalling punchline. He is insufferable. I hate to say it, but he seems right at home on the Fox network.

Rivera's show on the Chilean quake and tsunami was filled with the most unimaginable and irresponsible pseudo-science and quackery. The rest of it was a baffling series of non sequiturs. Herewith a sampling:

• What happened in Hawaii was a tsunami "false alarm."
• A quake of magnitude 9.5 will sooner or later occur in Southern California.
• Sediment seen off the coast of Hawaii the day of the quake was transported from the coast of Chile.
• No tsunami occurred that day in Hawaii. It "passed them by."
• The tsunami in Sumatra and Thailand in 2004 was only 8 feet high, but "pushed several miles inland."

I think this garbage requires the scientific community to publicly correct Rivera and Fox news. This bumbler does too much harm.

I'll tell you who was impressive--scientifically--that evening. His name is David Shuster and he's on MSNBC. In his questions to guests and his comments to the viewer, Shuster displayed a solid layman's understanding of earthquake and tsunami science, light years ahead of any of his colleagues at MSNBC, Fox, or CNN. Even his more casual verbiage throughout the broadcast revealed an awareness of important scientific distinctions (such as that between Richter and moment magnitude).

I betcha he's read Susan Hough's book Earthshaking Science.

Musings

My stress levels hit the roof this past weekend when I did our yearly taxes. While our returns are rather simple compared to many, they're ridiculous enough to make me very angry. For example, in figuring how much of our Social Security is taxable, I must do a full-page worksheet that is perhaps the most disgusting form yet for the IRS. You take one half of one line, add it to another line, then multiply that by .85 percent, then take the smaller of that line or the other one and add to a line at the top of the page, etc. For your own amusement, check it out on the irs.gov web site. Further, I think all income tax rules and regulations have been written for some particular person or entity. There can be no other reason for such nonsense. A flat 10 percent tax for every person and corporation would solve this and perhaps many of our financial problems. And it would greatly reduce one government department. By the way, do any of us think that either political party will ever reduce government? Federal employees vote too, you know.

Americans constantly decry human rights violations in China. There are, of course, such problems there. At the same time, a recent story shows that the Chinese actually might think more about endangered animal species than American environmentalists do. A man in China shot and ate the last Indochinese tiger in a certain part of the country, if not the entire country. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and those who helped him cut up and eat the animal were sentenced to 3 or 4 years. Do you think that would have happened here? Never. He and they would have been put on probation at the most with no real punishment for eliminating one of nature's beautiful animals. Yes, I'm an animal lover, but I'm also a person who believes in delivering proper punishment to those who break laws meant to protect citizens. Eliminating one species of animal breaks the delicate chain that will ultimately affect everyone left on the planet.

I'm enjoying the Winter Olympics. True, I liked the every-four-years event better when I thought the participants were mostly amateurs, not the millionaires who compete these days. Still, I was on the edge of my seat at the end of the 30 km cross country, men's figure skating, and men's speed skating. No interest at all in the hockey, halfpipe, skeleton, or super G. And please tell me why anyone with a DVR or even an old VCR would sit through the Olympics with all the ads and not record the shows to watch the next day? In fact, I can't imagine why anyone would watch any ads with the equipment available to cut them out.

Recently, a story in our local paper featured a woman who said she had to hit up area food closets to supplement the $640 per month she received in food stamps to feed herself and three small children. If that woman knew how to cook, she wouldn't need the food closets. The food stamp amount is more than enough to feed her family. It's my guess that she buys prepared foods, cold cereals (wonder if her kids have ever eaten oatmeal), boxed entrees, expensive meats, and so forth. She could cook beans and rice and make everything from burritos to huevos rancheros. She could slow-cook inexpensive meats in a crockpot with fresh vegetables and serve it all over whole-wheat noodles or brown rice for several meals. She could make pots of soups and stews. Cooking is a lost art and it's such a shame, not only because people don't eat as well as they once did but because financially it can be a disaster. We all pay for the laziness of others.

Crime and Punishment

I pass the local high school often. Today, I saw a sign hanging on the chain-link fence: Minor drinking, major problems.

It didn't cost much--maybe $15. It was one of those vinyl banners reinforced with stitching. The printing can be done anywhere.

But it's of no value whatsoever. Who but a prattling social-engineer lefty would think it effective? Who believes most "public service announcements" on TV or radio are effective? There is only one way to stop teens from drinking and driving: the sure threat of swift and severe punishment. And even that only lowers the likelihood; it's no guarantee. But it's the only hope society has of decreasing the number of drunken teen drivers. People who are hell bent on engaging in some irresponsible activity are not going to see a banner hanging somewhere or watch a PSA and suddenly see the light. But they might--they just might--curb their inclinations if they know of a certainty that they will be punished severely if caught.

So instead of hanging banners and playing touchy-feely with beer-filled 17-year-olds, let's start sending them to jail for a year AND revoking their driving licenses for ten years. Let's see what preventive effect that has on the skyrocketing numbers of drunken driving "accidents" (and let's stop calling them accidents and start calling them crimes).

Of course, severe punishments have an even greater value than crime prevention. Such punishments also remove the reliably violent idiots from our midst so that the rest of us have a slightly better chance of enjoying long, happy lives.

These are draconian times; they require draconian punishment for violent crimes.

Tiger in the Lions' Den

Why is everyone in such a hooha over Tiger Woods? He's front-page news everywhere because he apologized. Does everyone really care about his marital shenanigans? The press feeds our own prurience and turns millions of us into crazed voyeurs and exhibitionists. We have no actual stake in the relationship between Tiger and his wife.

Cover his performance on the golf course. That's of genuine, legitimate interest. But this other business is only of wide value if he's running for political office. Otherwise, who cares about his character? As far as we know, he's not a felon. He's just a jerk. It's time for the whoring news outlets to cover something with actual news value.

Easy Money: Limited Government

Just heard the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union speech. Governor McDonnell of Virginia again pushed the Republican mantra of limited government, running away from big government, whether it's state or federal.

I agree with McDonnell. And I think the first place to start with limiting government is to eliminate the governorship of Virginia. Any politician pushing for limiting and eliminating government should look no further than his own office to delete from the political landscape. None of the governors -- or congressmen, for that matter -- is necessary. Who would miss any of them, either party?

What a great way to cut the budgets of state and federal government. In my state, the small legislature meets only every other year. We think that's enough for them to do harm to us. If they didn't show up for their jobs, we'd all be better off.

You've only been in office 11 days, Gov. McDonnell, but that's enough. See ya.

Do You Hear Us Now?

Tone-deaf Democrats whine and moan about this week's Massachusetts loss for Senator. Their excuses range from them (the majority in both houses of Congress) not passing health insurance reform to Martha Coakley being a poor candidate to voters simply not understanding the issues. While it's true that some of those reasons are plausible, there are other more important ones.

Listen up, Democrats, starting with President Obama. YOU HAVEN'T DONE A DAMN THING FOR ANY OF US IN THE PAST YEAR!!!!!!!! That's why Coakley lost and Republican Scott Brown won. How can you expect anyone to vote for you when you do nothing? I believe that many voters in that state really didn't want to vote Republican. But what other choice did they have? With the two parties controlling everything, a vote for a third-party candidate would have been wasted.

I'll list a few things you, the Democrats, haven't done, but which voters elected you to do:

1) End two wars. The day President Obama announced sending more troops to Afghanistan was the day I knew we weren't going to get the change we believed in.

2) End Don't Ask, Don't Tell. What kind of a disgusting, bigoted law is that?

3) Protect the environment. Naming Colorado rancher Salazar was plain stupid.

4) Not bail out big banks. Coming out this week with rules for the banks is too little, too late because you've done everything for them for a year.

5) Not bail out Detroit automakers. We don't want their cars. Let them fail.

6) Consider, even briefly, making an attempt to do something for your base. You lost your base in Massachusetts. It was all about the base for the previous administration and Congress and it worked for them for quite some time.

7) Do what you could to help people save their houses. After all, your friends in the banking and mortgage industries were largely responsible for people getting loans they shouldn't have in the first place. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd share major blame in this area.

8) Do something about jobs. The stimulus program was too slow and covered everything from simply giving raises to government employees to installing insulation. I mean, what the hell?Where are the jobs? It's a year late, but doing something now would be a start.

President Obama, it's time to stop with the speeches and get to work. Like your predecessor, you spend too much time out on the golf course. The difference, however, is that Bush had Dick Cheney to do his work. For some reason, you've shoved Vice-President Biden back to his Naval Observatory residence and you rely on speeches to keep voters in line. We're tired of speeches.

If you and the Democratic Party don't change your way of doing business in Washington this very instant, you've only just seen the beginning of a complete revolt come November. It's not a possibility, it's a certainty. Will you hear us then?

Fixing a Fault in Quake Reporting

There's a major scientific error in a side article on the Fox News page about the Haiti earthquake.

In one section of the article ("Earthquake Science: The Haitian Quake Explained"), the following statement is given about earthquake magnitudes: "Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake would release 10 times as much energy as a 6.0-magnitude temblor."

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Somebody -- geologist or (more likely) reporter -- is asleep at the switch. The increase in energy released from a 6.0 to a 7.0 (or any single whole number on the magnitude scale) is about THIRTY-TWO (32), not 10.

You see this mistake made a lot in news reporting after a big quake like the one in Haiti. The AMPLITUDE of the measured waveforms is what increases by a factor of 10 with each magnitude step. But the energy release -- and therefore the destructive capacity -- is much greater.

Easy Money: Thrift Store Shopping

I used to be a thrift store shopper, always looking for an item to finish off or add to a collection. I tend to wear my clothes until they are almost threadbare, therefore I always bypassed the clothing aisles. Then again, I'm not sure the selection would have been as good as it is now. So many of today's consumers seem to buy so much more than they need. Depending on how you look at it, that's unfortunate for them but fortunate for stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent dePaul, and independent thrift stores.

Have you shopped at a Goodwill or Salvation Army store in recent years? If you haven't, you're wasting your money, especially if you like to buy designer clothes or even well-known, less-expensive brands. Of course, the majority of clothing at such stores might not fit into these categories, but an increasingly larger portion of it does these days.

Just in the past month, my son bought the following at Goodwill stores in Southern Oregon: Bruno Magli wallet, new (99 cents); Pendleton long-sleeved shirt, new ($3); Bostonian black dress shoes with full leather lining, look new ($8); and Eddie Bauer long-sleeved shirt, new ($3). He bought some great-looking items with a value of more than $300 for less than $15 paid out. And even though it isn't a famous label, he also bought a great-looking, new Leather Works jacket for $5.

Yes, you must check frequently to get such buys. And occasionally you'll find a flaw when you get the item home. Still, anyone looking for real bargains, trying to budget wisely while wanting name and quality, can find thrift stores offering something new every day. For myself, I don't find shopping to be as much fun as it once was. But if those cravings ever return, I'll be hitting such bargain-wise stores.

One more thing: My son visited friends in Sacramento recently. While there, he browsed area Goodwills, which sold what he described as "beautiful suits and ties."

Fatty, Fatty, Two-By-Four

A dating site for beautiful people has dropped thousands of those looking for love because they gained weight over the holidays. When the registered "beautiful people" posted their new photos, with the extra pounds easy to see, the founder expelled those he called "the fatties."

It's his site, therefore he can do with it what he wants. But I must ask, why would beautiful people need a dating site? Wouldn't they be able to simply walk down the street and potential mates would fall at their feet? If people are using beauty as the only criterion for finding a partner, wouldn't this bunch of gorgeous folks be the first to be chosen and in no need of such an impersonal dating mechanism?

Tell me why this dating site exists. What am I missing here?