He’s like the person who makes a nasty remark and then says, “I was just joking, man”.

At his Arizona State University commencement speech last Wednesday, Mr. Obama noted that ASU had refused to grant him an honorary degree, citing his lack of experience, and the controversy this had caused. He then demonstrated ASU’s point by remarking, “I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson. I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA brackets. . . . President [Michael] Crowe and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.”

Hilarious.  Not.

just got run over by four old whores from Baltimore.

Roly, poly, tickle my hole-y,
Smell of my slimy slough.
Then drag your nuts across my guts,
I’m one of the whorey crew.

Red State is a diseased bordello, but I think we just found a leader.

Wit . . .

3a. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.

3b. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.

Also . . .

3c. A skill Brian @ The Cheek of God lacks.

See? I cannot even come up with a witty way to say I’m not witty.

All this has been confirmed for me thanks to Twitter. Consider this recent tweet by yours truly . . .

Because, you know, like, in that movie The Shining? Where the family gets snowed in? And the guy goes bananas with the pick axe?

Yeah. I know. Lame. Maybe not so much because of the content, or my intention, but more because of the way I wrote it. There’s no punch. No pizzazz. Nary an ingenious syllable in sight. I wouldn’t even give myself an A for effort.

So, sorry to disappoint you, Dear Tweaker, but I am not witty. I recently admitted as such . . .

. . . and at least one person joined me in my self-deprecation.

She is far wittier than me, you can trust me on that. And so are all of these fine people, whose recent tweets had me . . . er . . . ROFLMAO:

I can’t complete with all that, tweople. Not only are these some very witty and comical tweets, IMHO, but there is NO way I could ever reply in any sort of equally witty manner. I tried to reply to this . . .

. . . and failed horribly:

I screwed up the emoticon. Damn tiny buttons on my BlackBerry. And besides? It’s . . . lame. See, my son is taking German, and I asked him to translate it for me. Which he did. And we laughed. And he said he was going to take it in to class the next day and ask for extra credit. And maybe get a laugh. And . . .

See? That’s the problem. Most of my replies have to be qualified. Or lack context. All impossible to provide with only 140 characters. I’m long winded that way. And . . . well, I’m just not that funny.

Here’s an illustration of why I don’t generally reply to witty tweets, courtesy of @realdadshangout:

Mike is a great guy. Loves to laugh at himself. And he was kind enough to let me include this little exchange to illustrate my point. Unlike Mike, I would need a mulligan every time.

(Lame . . .)

So, I’m trying to fix the problem subliminally . . .

I give up. Even this post is lame. The very definition of NOT witty. So carry on without me, internets . . .

(Special thanks to these fine folks. If you’re on Twitter, do yourself a favor and follow them all: @realdadshangout, @OutnumberedisMe, @BinaryDad, @PetCobra, @JettSuperior, @jurgen_nation, @prayingtodarwin, @redneckmommy, @MartinFitz, @mommywantsvodka, @DebJorge, @MyBottlesUp, @theGoatandTater, @zanger, @uhura13)

P. S.

I did find at least one person who thought I was funny:

She’ll get over it soon, I’m sure . . .

Alright I was one of those weird ass chics I still am. I talk about random sh*t thats why blogs and twitter fit into my daily life. My birthday week was awesome,Christmas will be too! Ok enough about that. I noticed how every popular Vietnamese person’s last name is Nguyen. People probably are like “How the f*ck do I say this sh*t?” It doesn’t matter just make sure you don’t call that Vietnamese person a Jap,Korean,philli,or malaysian and they’ll never be offended.

So what’s your favorite dinosaur? Mines is a Muthaf*ckin T-rex yes. :] they make me happy.(I wasn’t lying when I said I was weird) but yes the amazing T-rex. Oh how I love your little arms and your huge head with them thick thighs. I always wondered…if a T-rex could masturbate…how could they do it? I mean is that why they are always shouting and being angry? I know no damn female dinosaur wanna hop on that,and the muthaf*cka can’t even hit it from the back because he don’t got nothin to hold on to he’ll just f*ckin fall. I know T-rex’s be getting sexually frustrated…I would be too if I had some little ass arms and couldn’t reach down to my crotch area,and what makes it worse is that I can’t even fuck anything…smh they must have been some depressing ass creatures…”RAHAHHHARR!! SOMEONE FUCK MEHH!!! RAAWRWRR!!! I CAN’T REACH MY DIIICCK!!! WTFFF!!!” Gettin mad and sh*t.

Exactly.

Year One (2009)
★ / ★★★★

“Year One,” written and directed by Harold Ramis, was another one of those movies that looked really funny on the trailers but was actually devoid of laughs in the actual film. Jack Black and Michael Cera star as Zed and Oh, respectively, as they traveled from their village to many different places mentioned on the Bible. It also had other references from the Bible such as the forbidden fruit and popular characters such as Cain, Abel, Isaac and others. As a Bible farce, this was extremely disappointing because there were so many things that the filmmakers could have done to make the story funny and smart. Instead, it degraded itself into slapstick comedy and we literally see the characters urinating on themselves, tasting feces, and other things I won’t mention. Don’t get me wrong–I think Black and Cera are usually very funny comedians but I don’t know what they were thinking when they decided to sign up for this movie. Just the script itself was so bad; it was random, it lacked energy, and it didn’t have a powerful enough story to drive it forward and for us to ultimately root for the characters to succeed on their mission. At times I wondered whether the actors were literally making stuff up as they went along. The constant winking at the camera annoyed me greatly, which was tantamount to that pesky mosquito that kept buzzing at your ear when you’re trying to sleep. The only thing I liked about this movie was Paul Rudd as Abel, but he was in it for barely two minutes. Other actors such as Vinnie Jones, Hank Azaria, David Cross and Olivia Wilde didn’t add much to the picture because their characters were also one-dimensional. I really wanted to like this movie because every time the trailer was shown in theaters, it never failed to bring a smile to my face. Unfortunately, it was just so mindless to the point where I thought the director didn’t care about his movie. If the passion is absent, why then should the audience care? When I say that this movie is bad, consider it an understatement. Save your precious time and watch or do something else. I wish I did.

Christmas bonuses are generally a bad thing.

For me, this week was spent doing a lot of extra things for people in the workplace.

Due to some medical issues of a co-worker,  I am still performing all of the duties of my old job along with trying to get started on my new one…without a job description…I am making it up each day.

With the new job, I just send out a mass email telling everyone what I am starting and if someone doesn’t want me doing it…just tell me to stop.   It is allowing me to build my job into someone no one would EVER want to do themselves…taking on big problems and finding ways to fix them.

Water shooting 10′ out of the ground?

I got it.

Eight homes mysteriously no longer have natural gas?

I am on my way.

Today I was driving through a remote neighborhood and saw a very high-ranking person and their wife standing out in their yard and looking around.     My instincts as a homeowner, husband and father told me that there was something big happening here.   They had the same look that I had when power went out a few weeks ago.

My instincts also told me to not speak to anyone…just drive away and let the property managers deal with the situation.

I stopped.

They had just lost power to half of their house.

I am really not supposed to be dealing with residents, so after listening to their story, I fired off an email to the other important Blackberry people who I was dealing with a VERY important person and the situation at hand.

Power was indeed out to half of the home and after 10 minutes, I could tell that this was an issue outside…and underground…in a span of 500′ underground.

This was not going to be an easy fix.

My new job is an advisory position only.   It was going to be an hour before I could get the property people to get an electrical crew on site and I could tell that this remotely located home was going to be without power until mid-day Saturday…24 hours.

The general practice in a situation like this would be to offer the residents a hotel room until this was repaired.

I thought of another possibility.

I spent 30 minutes moving circuits around and getting the refrigerators running, the boiler producing heat to the registers and power in selected areas of the house.

This gave the residents an opportunity to stay in their home if they desired.

And they did.

It wouldn’t be comfortable…but they would be at home.

Needless to say, this very important resident was very impressed that someone from “The Company” made it there before they even called in a service request…but I just happened to be driving by their home.  “The Company” is still trying to figure out how this all happened…

Although the initial stop wasn’t my “job,” the call would have come to me eventually…probably about now (11pm on Friday night) and it would have been another day before all of this got figured out.   My “Chicken Little” instincts just kick in sometimes…or all the time.

My old job, on the other hand, I am doing secretly…or just not broadcasting it to everyone.   All of the managers know to come to me for all of the stuff just as they have for the past four years…the old job (same company…different division) isn’t paying my salary any longer.

But…back to Christmas bonuses sucking.

They are cancer.

As much as you tell everyone NOT to talk about them…they still do…and what they received.

I was one of the “new job” offices when they were being handed out…and it came with normal celebratory fanfare.   I am sure that the comparisons of amounts began shortly thereafter…they always do.

And everyone will come in on Monday pissed off…despite getting EXTRA money.

My years of experience tell me this is what happens…along with a call from the “old office” on the way home about their bonuses.

It was the normal “he-got-this-she-got-that-I-this-I-bet-he-got-that” thing that doesn’t allow me to get a word in the stop the nonsense before it gets started.  I end up having to talk someone, or multiple people “off the roof.”

The funny part of this whole thing is that in the shuffle between the “new job” and the “old job,”  everyone must have assumed that the “other” group was going to be giving Morethananelectrician a bonus. because…

No one did.

My previous years bonuses have gone directly into pre-paid education plans for my three kids…and they are already completely paid.   We have never planned on a bonus…they are always a “surprise” and treated as such.    Never squandered.

I take great pride in whatever I out my hands on and in the regional salary structure, I probably rank somewhere around  15th of 200 people…we are doing alright here.

So…I had to laugh as the “former” co-worker complained about her bonus to someone who didn’t even get one.

I didn’t say a word and just let her vent.

EVERYONE gets a bonus…even if you were hired last week, so this was just an issue of no one making sure I was taken care of like I made sure that couple was taken care of this morning.

Mrs. Morethananelectrican isn’t as blase’ about the way things turned out, this bonus was going right into the “emergency fund” we use for car repairs, education plans for the kids,  broken appliances and miscellaneous household things that come up…we like to keep that at a certain level and it is where all of our tax refunds and bonuses get stashed.

I will wear this “lack of bonus” as a badge of honor…being the only person in the company without one.

It is the way my sick mind works.

I can’t wait for Monday to get back to work to prove myself all over again.

In fact, I won’t even wait until Monday…I’ll be working right after I hit “publish.”

12/06/09

Something where I’m not trying to be funny – weird (well, except one joke). Just so you know, I don’t consider myself a good Christian – but my chief beliefs as a ‘wish-I-was-better-Christian-slash-person-in-general’ are: 1) we’re all dumb; 2) try to be nice to everyone.

I’m Super, Thanks for Asking

There once was a man who was gay and Christian.
His ‘lifestyle’ made him worry of arousing suspicion.

Every day he was gay he was worried that was a sin
But he didn’t look without, instead he looked within

“Yes, I’m told that it’s wrong to think and be this way.
“But I’m nice, and I try to help people, and enrich others every day.

“And I volunteer with that group of single mothers from church.
“And when the pastor admitted he was addicted to porn I said he’s human, let’s not besmirch.

“And I go on group-church trips to help addicts back from the verge.
“And I talk to teens about love before lust, real feelings aren’t an urge.

“Sometimes I go with the church to the bad part of town to help the homeless (and they often take our help for granted).
“And I welcome back old members who’d been gone for a while, or folks from other churches supplanted.

“I’m not an expert on the Bible, so I don’t want to cherry pick lines
“But it seems we’re embracing the ’sinners’ without reserve, without motive, without fines.

“So why is it that so many feel what I’m doing is so wrong?
“When they’re so ready to help others but when it comes to ‘my sin’ they’re stringing us along?”

Christianity isn’t a hobby if it’s done right
It’s a trial (that’s impossible) to love all people all day and all night

Heavy drinking, out-of-wedlock, addicted, lying, idol-worshiping, money-seeking, gossiping, judging, and gay
Are the sinners you should love in your congregation today.

Because NBC cannot fill its coffers solely with inappropriate primetime sexual jokes, Leno takes the path of second to the least resistance and exploits the Teacher Sinner.

This clip is on par in unfunniness with the rest of the show’s usual chaff. In it, a high school teacher who can’t answer a simple question becomes Leno’s stalker and ultimately meets a violent death while driving in his POS car, presumably all he can afford on his teacher’s salary. Wow. Killing a teacher is so amusing. I’ll be sure to tune in tomorrow night for more.

I have news for you Leno and NBC, most of us regular teachers are not idiots or sociopaths. The Teacher-Hate is strong with this one.

You can watch it here: Jaywalk Gone Wrong

Hi,
I’ve got a guest post up on the f-word about the rise of the phrase “facebook rape” and what can be done.

-Alex

1.

Students stand to gain a lot from federal student aid legislation in Congress, but lenders have assembled an arsenal of PR campaigns, lobbyists, and campaign contributions.   By Erin Rosa
December 2, 2009

Banks and loan corporations have quietly declared war on students this year, using an arsenal of more than two dozen lobbyists, an ambitious public relations campaign, and millions of dollars to kill legislation that would make college more affordable.

Lenders seem to be terrified of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), a bill in Congress that seeks to reform federal student loan policies by putting lending power and oversight into the hands of the government through the exising Direct Lending Program and ending the tax-subsidized Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program. By saving money through the elimination of a private middle man in lending to students, the proposal would free more funds for improving college access and completion rates. The bill that the House of Representatives passed in September is supported by the Obama Administration, and is expected to be addressed in the Senate following the health care debate.

The student loan industry, led by lenders like Sallie Mae and Nelnet, which have posted increased stock earnings on Wall Street, is doing everything it can to stop such reform. In October, SAFRA opponents introduced a website called Protect Student Choice, a public relations campaign run by Qorvis Communications, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm specializing in “corporate communications on national and international levels,” according to the company’s website.

“This is very much a grassroots campaign,” says Don Goldman, a partner with Qorvis. But there no indication of who is sponsoring the campaign on the website, and the ProtectStudentChoice.org domain name is registered to an anonymous proxy service based in Portugal. The only way to contact the campaign from the website is to sign on to a petition against SAFRA.

“I guess our feeling was that you could join the campaign with e-mail and we could get back to you,” says Goldman about the elusive nature of contact information on the site. “Or I think we’ve been written about a fair amount, about how we’re the ones who’ve sort of organized the campaign. We’re not trying to be anything but transparent on this.”

rest of story here

1.

This is more proof that the signs are clear. A 17 year old boy killed is 10 year old brother even though his brother pleaded for his life. Well, here you go….Andrew Conley of Indianapolis did just that…and then went to visit his girlfriend. Andrew strangled his brother, a prosecutor maintained. He would go on to dump his brothers body off like trash in a park. Andrew maintained that he felt a kinship to the character “Dexter,” who Is a TV serial killer. The murder comes a mere six weeks after 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante murdered a 9-year-old just because she wanted to know what it was like. WOW! Now, here is what Andrew did to his brother. They were wrestling and Andrew put younger brother Conner in a headlock. Conner passes out and then ol’ Andrew drags his brother into the kitchen, puts on gloves and chokes him. When he sees blood dripping out of his nose, he decides to finish things off. He puts a plastic bag over his face and locks it with duct tape. His brother’s last words were “Andrew, stop.”

 On top of it all, dude considered killing his parents the day he did this and stood over his sleeping parents with a knife. The end is near! Get right!

drey:  can’t blame 2pac nor mnm 4 this one…dexter…hahahahaha…

1.

?

Al has a neighbor at Chip Bee Garden. He told me two weeks ago that there was an accident where their son’s girlfriend fell through the roof over the car porch and was badly hurt. She smashed both heel bones, injured her spinal and left arm. Apparently she was on the roof trying to sweep the dried leaves and the roof couldn’t take her weight.. Worse thing is there is no case against JTC and they even have to pay for the roof repair.

We all learnt from experience but it doesn’t take an experience to tell you that such kind of roof top can’t take a normal human being’s weight.

I have always kind of considered myself a Jack of all trades. Unfortunately the rest of the phrase applies as well, “Jack of all trades, master of none”. When I look back at all of my interests in different things, I would work on new topics, get the gist of things, become bored, then move on to something else. I know a little of a lot, but not a lot of one thing. This is definitely a curse of mine. I especially realized this as a curse when my childhood was ending and I had to pick something I wanted to specialize in for the rest of my life. I absolutely had no clue what I was going to do. Nothing had held my attention long enough for me to become really good at. So when I was offered the opportunity to move to Orange County and saw that OCC had a good film program I figured film was my best bet.

I looked at all of the things that I dabbled in and picked out my favorites. I like being creative, working with my hands, meeting new people, and liked movies. Sounds like a film maker to me. I reinforced this decision of mine with the memory of my best friend and I making little animations and short adventure films from Jr. High. I remember I edited one of our movies with two VCR’s. I would hit play with the master tape then hit record on the blank tape. A lot of fast forwarding, rewinding, and re-recording was done and made the quality get worse and worse, but we enjoyed the final cut and had received a good grade on it.  Little did I know this was my first introduction to linear editing. This would lead me to Video Tech in high school, then eventually lead to Avid editing in college, then finally end up in cutting for Extinct Attractions. Where there I would come to the conclusion that I hate editing other peoples stuff that I’m not interested in.     …..lame….    I just spent a couple years getting really good at something that ended up to be a hobby.

So where’s Jack now? I’m dabbling in new things once again. At work I’m a camera operator, certificates guy, and backup graphics. I’m working on drawings, paintings, and have been wanting to glue stuff together. I read up on news that involves board games, sports, video games, world news, art, science, and pretty much anything that’s out there.

Sometimes I feel like I’m back to square one. Like maybe I could have been at this state of mind right when I got out of high school. Maybe I should have set my mind on something else. And if I had, then maybe I could have been much further in life right now. But who gives a shit? Right? I am where I am right now because I made the best decision that I could have made at that time. I trust myself enough to be happy with what my “past me” decided. And also, with the decisions I made, I have the coolest friends, the coolest job, and the coolest girlfriend. Yeah, maybe sometimes there are a few bumps in the road, but isn’t it like that with everybody? And money doesn’t determine your quality of life, I think people choose what to surround themselves with to determine their quality of life. And I surround myself with hard work and great people.

So, “Jack of all trades, master of none”? Maybe so, but I guess that’s me.

I’ve heard a little about what you’re telling me, but please, tell me more. I love learning new things.

Sorry, my PC is a bitch. Had to draw on MS paint.

By Jesse Muhammad

Army Corp of Engineers partly responsible for Katrina disaster

(FinalCall.com) – In what is being hailed as a ground breaking decision, a federal judge recently ruled that the Army Corps of Engineerswere directly responsible for flood damage in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina, due to poor management of maintenance at the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet(MR-GO).

“The failure of the Corps to recognize the destruction that the MR-GO had caused and the potential hazard that it created is clearly negligent on the part of the Corps,” said U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. in his ruling on Nov. 18.

The judge’s ruling in a civil lawsuit could result in the government handing out $700,000 in damages to the plaintiffs, which includes three residents and a business in those areas. The ruling includes some 100,000 homes and business in the defined areas.

“Furthermore, the Corps not only knew, but admitted by 1988, that the MR-GO threatened human life. Yet it did not act in time to prevent the catastrophic disaster that ensued with the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina,” said Judge Duval in his ruling.

“This is huge. This was a surprise but a pleasant one. I hope the decision will open up the floodgates for others to file lawsuits against the federal government,” said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

“This ruling highlights the fact that Hurricane Katrina’s damage was exacerbated by the failure of the Corps of Engineers to properly operate and maintain water resources projects in Louisiana,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal.

“I hope this decision will serve as a catalyst for the corps, Congress and the administration to aggressively move forward on hurricane protection and coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana,” Gov. Jindal said.

The legal team representing the plaintiffs is pressing the Obama administration to move swiftly to compensate their clients and the other impacted residents.

“It’s time that we stopped litigating and we started negotiating,” said Los Angeles-based attorney Pierce O’Donnell, who co-represented the plaintiffs.

“The day that the first explosion was delivered to the cypress forest to begin digging and developing the MR-GO was the first day of public outcry that this was going to be the ruination of St. Bernard Parish,” said Craig Taffaro, St. Bernard Parish president.

“In terms of the judicial process, this decision is revolutionary. In terms of social justice, it’s a start but it’s not enough. It’s not over yet,” New Orleans activist Mtangulizi Sanyika, told The Final Call.

“It’s a bittersweet victory in the sense that: yes, we are at the table, yes, we are grateful for the judge’s ruling, for the legal team to deliver us to this point. But what a shame that we had to go through such devastation and destruction to get here,” said Mr. Taffaro, who hopes his parish will also receive compensation for damages reportedly exceeding $1 billion.

“The Justice Department could continue the scorched earth policies of the prior administration and stonewall the people of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish for years to come,” said Mr. O’Donnell. “Or the new president and his Justice Department can honor (Mr. Obama’s) campaign promise and his recent promise in New Orleans to do the right thing by the people of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.”

Mr. O’Donnell led the legal team along with attorney Joseph Bruno of New Orleans. Following the ruling, both said any settlements should also include compensation for residents and businesses of other flooded areas not included in the ruling.

“The department is currently reviewing Judge Duval’s decision,” said Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller. “We have made no decision as to what the government’s next step will be.”

The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court if necessary. If that appeal hampers the brokering an out of court settlement, the attorneys are prepared to ask Judge Duval to certify the case as a class action suit. This would include issuing a direct judgment against the corps to ensure they are liable for claims filed against them.

“In the coming days, I will be working directly with President Obama to ensure that his administration understands the implications of this decision and the immediate need for the government to reach a final resolution for the people of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Community leaders see this as a much needed victory against the federal government that could set the stage for compensating thousands of victims for billions in claims filed the last several years. They are also worried about the damaged areas being exempted from the judgment, because Judge Duval said MR-GO did not affect the levee systemprotecting areas such as eastern New Orleans.

“I think the judgment is a small step in the right direction, however, what about those who live outside of the Lower 9th Ward, which was impacted by the breeches of levees inside the city that were supposed to protect it? The lawsuit doesn’t benefit them,” Willie Muhammad of the Nation of Islam told The Final Call.

“Although I am happy for my fellow Katrina survivors who will benefit from this ruling, I need compensation too. I was left out along with thousands,” said Kimberly Robinson, a native of east New Orleans now residing in Houston.

Ms. Robinson told The Final Call she lost her home four years ago and “has yet to recover. I have been struggling psychologically and financially. So I hope down the line all of us will be compensated. The government owes us all something.”

Mr. Sanyika, who resided on the east side of New Orleans, lost everything in 2005. He would like to see this judgment result in a class action suit that includes everyone impacted by floodwaters.

“Many are not pleased that the judge did not see fit to include the east side,” said Mr. Sanyika, who heads the African-American Leadership Project. “We will be meeting in the next few weeks with officials to see how we can get others included.”

In August of 2005, over 80 percent of New Orleans was submerged underwater, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands dispersed in over 40 states throughout the nation. Former President George W. Bush and his administration drew harsh criticism from across the world as scenes of floating bodies, stranded Black families atop roofs and dying elderly streamed across the television and internet.

“I would have liked to have seen the judge rule against the 1928 federal law that grants the corps immunity against lawsuits for inferior work. Basically they have a law that protects them from their own inferior work,” said Mr. Muhammad.

“The buzz in the community is that we would have loved for it to include the east side residents because they suffered too,” activist Malcolm Suber told The Final Call.

“We have been burned so many times with promises, that even in the wake of this judgment, people have a wait and see attitude. But compensation would be great,” said Mr. Suber, who is with a coalition helping residents to get jobs.

“For the people of Greater New Orleans who lost their loved ones and their homes during this horrific storm, this news is too little too late,” commented Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). “But perhaps this decision can serve as a warning for the future and as a means to help bring some form of relief to the victims of this storm.”

“This decision also confirms my belief that we need sweeping change to flood protection, coastal restoration, and water management for our cities, large and small, in Louisiana,” said Sen. Landrieu “The Corps of Engineers can no longer be relied upon as the lone agency charged with protecting our coastal communities.”

1.

I don’t know what this advertisement is for (The Debt?), my french is not good enough to get it. It has a website but the camera angle (too close) didn’t capture it.

It matchs my PAGE “The Country of the Blind” H.G. Wells.

I’m going to copy it over there now.

There are some days I am ready to disavow being any part of organized religion.  While I wasn’t paying attention some right-wing Christians are being scary [again.] It’s a benign sounding message, “Pray For Obama: Psalm 109:8″ which is being sold on T-shirts and other merchandise on websites like CafePress and Zazzle.

During the presidential election, I recall listening to an All Things Considered interview where people from the African-American community were expressing their fear of Barack Obama being killed. I was sitting in the parking lot of my local grocery store remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. JFK and Bobby Kennedy and others who had been murdered for their more liberal stance and I felt and understood the fear being described.

The UK telegraph reports that since Obama took office the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent  for Obama compared to George W.  Bush . . . Most of the threats, however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts.

But it is not evangelical Christians like the media is saying, but the Religious Right that is branding Barack Obama as foreign, brown, Muslim, or “not a real American.”

The message on the material is Pray for Obama: Psalms 109:8, innocuous right?  Wrong.  I do not think we can dismiss this as distasteful humor.  It is in no way funny.   Especially since the next verse reads, “May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow.”  The passage goes on in terrible ways.   This Prayer for Obama does more than want him to leave office at the end of one term, it entreats God to destroy our president.

CafePress, says they will listen to public discourse.  If it is being construed as threatening to the President, they will revisit the decision.  If you think these stickers are threatening, and not funny, you can let CafePress know that here.  Since the issue has raised such publicity Zazzle has since removed the merchandise.

Deborah Lauter, director of civil rights at the Anti-Defamation League says for the message to be considered hate speech, it “would advocate actual violence or cite scripture that was more clear in its message.”

Earlier this week, former President Jimmy Carter was interviewed by Brian Williams on NBC.  Here’s what he said (emphasis mine):

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he’s African-American. I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that shared the South’s attitude toward minority groups, at that time particularly African-Americans. That racism, inclination, still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the South, but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country.”

And Rachel Maddow interviewed Frank Schaffer this week, to explain whether or not the citation of this Biblical text “means something less threatening to people hearing this in a Biblical context.”

No. Actually, it means something more threatening. I think that the situation that I find genuinely frightening right now is that you have a ramping up of Biblical language, language from the anti-abortion movement for instance, death panels and this sort of thing, and what it’s coalescing into is branding Obama as Hitler, as they have already called him.

His final and emphatic plea was this:

Obama supporters had better start speaking up in support of him and not sniping at him all of the time because he’s not moving towards change as fast as we’d like in every area. This is serious stuff. The chips are down, he has real enemies–some of them are violent–and as far as I’m concerned it’s time to support our president, stand with him and not only wish him the best, but pray for his safety in the face of these religious maniacs….There are not many steps left on this insane pattern.

It’s un-American. It’s unpatriotic. And it goes to show that the religious right, the Republican far right have coalesced into a group who truly want American revolution. If it turns out to be blood in the streets and death, so be it. It’s not funny stuff anymore. They cannot be dismissed as just crazies on the fringe. It only takes one.

I urge you to take this seriously.  I urge decent, loving Christians to speak up about the need for supporting our president and for civility in our churches.  This is no laughing matter.

All day, my mind kept returning to St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I believe this is how a Christian is to behave : the exact opposite of what we are seeing my these conservative Right Winger.

St. Francis’ prayer is a brave request for strength to give of ourselves to meet the needs of others.  This is a situation that requires peace, consolation, and hope.

A Highland Park teenager was shot to death execution style after he confessed to inappropriately touching his 3-year-old half sister. Detroit police say Jamar Pinkney Sr. barged into Jamar Pinkney Jr.’s home, where he lived with his mother, and beat the boy before ordering him to strip naked. He then led the frightened 15-year-old out into a field where he shot him to death. 

Lazette Cherry, Jamar’s mother said she was only trying to teach her son discipline when she called his father and told him what the boy had done. “I called and told his father this isn’t something you sweep under the rug,” Cherry said Wednesday. 

Pinkney Sr., who was separated from Cherry and lived with the 3-year-old and her mother, rushed to the home with a gun. 

“He started beating him right here,” Cherry said from her living room. “I said, ‘No, please stop!’ “ She said Pinkney Sr. marched the boy naked out of the house — in full view of neighbors — and ordered him on his knees. 

“He got on his knees and begged, ‘No, Daddy! No!’ and he pulled the trigger,” Cherry said from her home on North Street in Highland Park. “There wasn’t nothing that my son wouldn’t do for his father. He loved his father so much.” 

Jamar was shot once in the back of the head. Pinkney then calmly drove away. He was arrested 3 hours later and charged with one count of first-degree murder, three counts of felonious assault and one count of felony firearm. 

Cherry said the 3-year-old’s mother took the girl to a hospital to be examined Sunday. She said Jamar told her he never raped the child and kept his clothes on.  A physical exam showed no evidence of sexual trauma.   Pinkney is being held without bond.

I’ll be quick with this post and get it out of the way.

I have been working in a system that I helped create for 14 of the past 15 years.

It worked well because every one had their place…and those who bucked the system…weren’t around for very long.

The group of people who worked together really had formed our own society where the greater good of the collective was most important.   We were all working toward a common goal and we have all moved up the chain of the companies we worked for as a group.

When a company folded because they squandered the millions we made for them, we would regroup and show up somewhere else intact.

I separated from the group in 2004 and that was a tough year.

The transition away from my group was supposed to start last week, but there is no one to handoff to…so I am doing what I was doing for the last four years AND trying to get started with my new duties a the same time.

The feeling is weird because for half of the day I deal with people who are accountable for their actions and take care of their responsibilities and the other half is completely the opposite.

In 2004, I simply put my head down and worked through the mess with 16 hour days at work, four hours of work at home and then to bed for four hours…just to do the same thing each week.

In nine months, I was wasted.  And the group of people came back together in a new place.

I am five years older now.

Five years more experienced.

And, with that, a little smarter.

It is time for me to build my own group.   I may not lead this group of people…if I can recruit someone above me to join me on this quest, then it will be a little easier.  I have always done an excellent job at making those above me shine a little brighter.

That might be what it takes for me not to repeat the mistakes made in 2004.

That was a year that I assumed a new role as a manager of construction projects instead of someone who punched a time card and ran one crew at a time.

Some days, this new position seems to much for me to handle…and I might be right.   I can’t do this thing alone.

There is a sports analogy here…we’ll go with football.

Most quarterbacks are right-handed.   When they drop back to pass, their back is exposed to the rush of the defense for their “blind side.”

The man responsible for protecting the blind side of the quarterback is the Left Tackle.

I am a “Left Tackle” in life.

Every play.

Every day.  Practice or game.

Protect the blind side.

Sure…wide recievers and running backs score the touchdowns, get the glory and the paychecks to match.

But Left Tackles are important too.

Right now, I feel like a quarterback for a bad team…no blindside protection.

After a conversation with my old boss today, I saw, in his eyes, the same troubles that I am experiencing…

We both are quarterbacks without a Left Tackle.

Here’s an excerpt of a conversation between Senator Lindsey Graham and Attorney General Eric Holder at yesterday’s Senate hearing, where even NPR reported that Holder was unprepared:

GRAHAM: If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?

HOLDER: Again I’m not — that all depends. I mean, the notion that we –

GRAHAM: Well, it does not depend. If you’re going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.

That all depends?  Are f-ing kidding me?  This from the guy whose boss said he’d

Read the whole outrageous thing.

Here’s the NPR report on the subject.

More evidence that these guys simply are not nearly as smart as they think they are, as they fail to consider even the most rudimentary unintended consequences.

– uo

Alright I was one of those weird ass chics I still am. I talk about random sh*t thats why blogs and twitter fit into my daily life. My birthday week was awesome,Christmas will be too! Ok enough about that. I noticed how every popular Vietnamese person’s last name is Nguyen. People probably are like “How the f*ck do I say this sh*t?” It doesn’t matter just make sure you don’t call that Vietnamese person a Jap,Korean,philli,or malaysian and they’ll never be offended.

So what’s your favorite dinosaur? Mines is a Muthaf*ckin T-rex yes. :] they make me happy.(I wasn’t lying when I said I was weird) but yes the amazing T-rex. Oh how I love your little arms and your huge head with them thick thighs. I always wondered…if a T-rex could masturbate…how could they do it? I mean is that why they are always shouting and being angry? I know no damn female dinosaur wanna hop on that,and the muthaf*cka can’t even hit it from the back because he don’t got nothin to hold on to he’ll just f*ckin fall. I know T-rex’s be getting sexually frustrated…I would be too if I had some little ass arms and couldn’t reach down to my crotch area,and what makes it worse is that I can’t even fuck anything…smh they must have been some depressing ass creatures…”RAHAHHHARR!! SOMEONE FUCK MEHH!!! RAAWRWRR!!! I CAN’T REACH MY DIIICCK!!! WTFFF!!!” Gettin mad and sh*t.

Exactly.