McClellan's Book and Speaking The Truth

There has been much commotion about Scott McClellan's book, "What Happened." In case you have been living in a cave the past few days and haven't heard about it, I'll give ya the same description Amazon.com gives it:

Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.

George W. and the rest of his Republican cronies think of McClellan as a turncoat and/or coward. They come out, of course, to say he is the one who is lying.

I've read excerpts of his book and it seems like it would be a good read, although the deal about the search for weapons of mass destruction was something I knew was a outright lie long before most of the other hairless monkeys in this country figured it out.

These are a few quotes or observations from Scott McClellan's book:

-Bush favored propaganda over honesty in selling the war, leading us down the primrose path.

-Cheney steered war policy behind the scenes, leaving no fingerprints.

-Bush and his team repeatedly shaded the truth, manipulated public opinion, and sold the Iraq situation in such a way that the use of force appeared to be the only feasible option.

-Contradictory evidence was ignored or discarded, caveats or qualifications to arguments were downplayed or dropped, and a dubious al-Qaida connection to Iraq was played up.

-The Bush administration didn't check their political maneuverings in at the door after the win - instead, they maintained a permanent campaign mode, run largely by Rove.

I was watching the Today Show yesterday and Meridith Viera was interviewing McClellan about the book. You could tell he was nervous. Maybe he thought his life was in danger. Maybe it is. I don't know. Anyway, she was pressing him hard about the book and he was giving answers that seemed kinda vague to me. I'm not sure if he was doing this because he was nervous and couldn't think straight or that he was intentionally doing it so people would buy his book instead of him telling the nation, word-for-word, everything the book contained.

Viera told him, directly, that he was a coward for not blowing the whistle on the Bush Administration while he was working for Bush. I feel that he refrained from announcing the administration's lies and deceptions because he didn't want to lose his job. That was harsh, I thought. True, however. But, at least, he did come out with the truth.

I, on the other hand, would have told what I knew to the media, the media that is not controlled by the government (if there is any) and resigned afterwards. I couldn't work for an organization that tells lies that involve the theft or killing of people. But then I've always been a whistle blower. I've angered quite a few upper management types in my day by pointing out what was wrong in many situations. Some co-workers would say, "Aren't you afraid of being fired?" And I would always say, "I'm more concerned with telling it like it is than being burdened with living with something that is wrong."

For me, wrong is wrong. It doesn't become right just because you have kids to feed or you're afraid your supervisor is going to give you a verbal warning or worse. By the way, the "kids to feed" and "bills to pay" excuses are a cop out. Employers have controlled their employees with those sentiments for generations.

And before you freak out on me for not knowing how it is because I do not have children, consider this:

You are not setting a good and moral example for your children, mate or whoever by knowingly upholding what you know to be wrong. And you are upholding just that- when you do nothing about it. When you allow " the wrong" to go on and on with even a word. When you do this, especially for the almighty dollar, I have absolutely no respect for you.

Weirdness Aplenty Around Here

Maybe it is the screwed up weather we're having here. Or the economy going into the crapper. Or the downward spiral it seems society is taking in terms of sense and reason.


I'm talking about the strange behavior folks are demonstrating in towns close to where I live. I fear it may be contagious. I fear it may be hitting my town soon. We can't have that. Hell, I'm already insane enough. It wouldn't take that much to push me off my cracker. Just ask my closest friends. They will cheerfully regale you with stories of my demented, sordid past. I'm not bragging. Just stating facts.



Anyway....

The following news stories happened just recently, not far from here:

An Ohio seventh grader by the name of Angelica Hummel came to school with red highlights in her hair. The officials at Bowling Green Junior High told this 13 year old girl she had to dye her hair back, because the school's dress code prohibits hairstyles that bring undue attention or make the wearer conspicuous.

This is stupid. Do these imbeciles know what year it is? There are thousands of girls her age dying their hair.

The officials have banned Hummel from school until she removes the dye out of her hair. The 13-year-old says she doesn't like being stuck at home and wants to return to school. But she says her punishment is unfair, because other students have highlights, too. Parents Mike and Michelle Hummel say the school is wrong and they support their daughter's decision to keep the red coloring.

Good for them. I agree.

Bowling Green Area Schools Superintendent Hugh Caumartin is siding with the school, saying the dress code cuts down on distractions.

All hail the fascist Bowling Green Regime.


Next, we move on to the curious story involving a sleepwalker and a homeless man.

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted a homeless man accused of raping a college student while she was sleepwalking near her home, by the highway. The woman, a 23-year-old student at the University of Cincinnati, woke up during the attack and fought back, but could not get away. It has been reported that she didn't consent to sex and anyone seeing the woman in her sleepwalking state would have known that something was wrong.

This is according to the prosecution.

I'm not blaming the sleepwalking woman, certainly, but one has to question her reasoning for not placing measures that would ensure that she could not leave the house in the middle of the night. I mean, if I knew my sleepwalking antics were that extreme, I think I would have all my doors and windows loaded with dead bolt locks. Maybe I'd even entertain the idea of placing an armed guard near my door. Or have someone live with me? How about installing a security alarm? I don't know. I'm sure it wasn't the first time she went travelling beyond her house. If I suddenly woke up, in the middle of the night, near a highway, a few yards away from an oncoming semi truck, I'd be so scared shitless, I would take one or two of the options I've mentioned already to ensure my body parts remained intact.

But hey, that's just crazy me.

Dexter Ford, 52, was indicted on two charges of rape, attempted rape, kidnapping and felonious assault. He faces up to 46 years in prison if convicted on all counts.


And now, further proof people will go to great lengths for a few dollars more.

A rash of sewer grate thefts around northern Kentucky has police worried about safety has scavengers seek scrap metal to sell.

At least 26 sewer grates have been stolen this month from streets in Newport, Covington, Fort Thomas, Wilder, Southgate, Bellevue and Dayton.

The grates are typically made of cast iron and can weigh up to 180 pounds. It costs at least $120 to replace and reinstall each stolen grate, although they fetch only between $10 and $30 apiece at scrap yards.

When it comes to scrap metal, the thieves have stepped up beyond just acquiring sewer grates. Police say they're also known to break into vacant houses and steal copper piping, cut catalytic converters from vehicles, take manhole covers from city streets and steal aluminum lampposts from the side of highways.

Batten down the hatches, everyone! The loonies will be coming for our metal paper clips next!

Who Is Really In Control?

This video is a real "must see" in my eyes. It talks about the corruption of our current government. RFID chips that will track the movements and actions of all Americans. And the real reason we've sent our soldiers to fight and die overseas. Whether you believe some, none or all of what you see and hear in this video is up to you. Personally, from what I've researched, I feel a good percentage of it may be factual.

If the information contained in this video is true, all Americans should be outraged.

I borrowed this video from my blog friend, Jared, from boldlygo.org. You can check out the piece he wrote about it by clicking on the link below.

http://boldlygo.org/blog/real-id-how-were-choosing-to-be-enslaved/

Movies With Good, Bad And Absent Endings

My wife and I see a lot of movies. If we're not seeing them in theatres, we're renting them from the video store. We usually go to the matinee before 6 in the evening. That's the cheap way of doing it, plus it makes you feel that much better if you wind up spending less on something that turns out to be crap.

I'm going to share some lists of movies that we have seen the last six months. No detailed descriptions will be given in case you want to see them for yourself. The opinions given are my own. Feel free to disagree. Let me know what ya think.

The following movies are good but have bad and/or sad endings:

I Am Legend
Death Sentence
The Mist
30 Days of Night
3:10 To Yuma

These movies are decent but neither one has an ending:

The Golden Compass
No Country For Old Men

Movies that are total crap and should stay away from like the f**king plague:

Sweeney Todd (annoying musical that had me screaming)
2112: Doomsday (annoying and boring)
Eastern Promises (so boring we both were snoring)

Great movies with real endings that are satisfactory:

No Reservations, Rambo, Stardust, The Bourne Ultimatum, AVP: Requiem, The Invasion, Live Free Or Die Hard, Ironman, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull, The Brave One, Spiderman 3, The Simpsons Movie and Resident Evil: Extinction

Here's a list of movies that are coming soon and that I look forward to seeing. The dates beside them are for the U.S. only.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (in theatres now), The Dark Knight (July 18th, 2008), The Mummy 3 (August 1st, 2008), Quantum of Solace (new James Bond film that comes out November 7, 2008), The Strangers (May 30th, 2008), Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (July 11, 2008), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (?????)

Hot Air Released From The Valve

In the mid to late 1990's, I was writing a zine called "Psycho Carnival". A zine is a self published small magazine. It can contain editorials, cartoons, stories or whatever. I would get mine altogether every 3 months and sell it to people around the country buy placing advertisements in other zines. It was a small mag that I put together to rid myself of all these ideas and thoughts about bad government, big corporations and psychotic clowns named Jeepo. You know, the usual. Anyway, I never made any kind of profit off it but it was a cathartic experience. A valve opening to let out hot air. Which some think, I may be full of.

It was an enjoyable, sometimes difficult time. But some things are well worth the effort.

Here's the poem I created for the zine. It was on the back of every issue that came out during those 3 years. It kinda sums up the jibe of PC, both in zine and online form. Nobody has ever told me what they thought of this poem. Maybe I'm too subtle. Heh, yeah.

LAUGH

From the natal gate
You're pushed out and into
This insanity-go-round
Where dizziness and gaiety abound

Come experience the wonder
Become awed by the hate
Join us in our apathy
Of which I'm sure you'll appreciate

Place your cookies in the oven
Listen to them bake
Pour yourself a cup of envy
And pretend that it's a steak

Oh it's going to be a bumpy ride
Oh it's awfully ironic inside
When you are thrown by this rotating pie
This carnival

Stomach Pump Surprise

I was perusing the net, attempting find a decent recipe for risotto, when I stumbled upon some recipes that seemed to require a stomach pump after consuming the cuisine. For your enjoyment, I kept a few of them to display to those of you with the more discriminating palette.


BEAVER IN SOUR CREAM

1 Beaver, skinned and cleaned
1 ts Salt
1/2 c Vinegar
1/4 ts Paprika
1 tb Salt
1/4 c Butter
2 qt Water
1 md Onion, sliced
2 ts Soda
1/2 c Water
1/2 c Flour
1 c Sour cream

1. Soak beaver overnight in solution of 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt in cold water to cover.
2. The next day, remove the beaver from the brine, wash and cover with solution of 2 teaspoons soda to 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse beaver and cut into serving pieces.
4. Dredge each piece of meat thoroughly in the seasoned flour.
5. Melt butter in a heavy fry pan and brown the pieces of meat.
6. Transfer meat to a greased casserole, slice onions over top, add water and bake at 325 degrees F. until tender.
7. When meat is almost tender, add 1 cup sour cream to the casserole. Stir well and continue cooking until tender. Serves 4.

Yes, but, where can I go to find fresh beaver? Oh, dam!



The following dish could be described as both a hearty desert and tasty entree.


TUNA TWINKIE SOUFFLE

1 Tbl rendered chicken fat, divided
12 Hostess Twinkies
Salt
White Pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
4 eggs, separated
2 cans tuna in oil, drained, reserve oil

Preheat oven to 350 F

Grease a 7-inch soufflé dish with 1 tsp of chicken fat and 1 tsp tuna oil. Slice Twinkies in half lengthwise. Remove and reserve cream filling. In a large food processor, combine Twinkie cakes, half of the Twinkie filling, and the remaining chicken fat and tuna oil.

Blend until the mixture has reached the consistency of a thin batter. Transfer ingredients to a medium saucepan and cook over low heat. Stir in salt, white pepper, and mustard. Remove from heat. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Fold in tuna. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into tuna mixture. Pour into greased soufflé dish. Bake in 350 oven 40 to 45 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Top with remaining Twinkie cream.

Serve with a tossed salad.
Including the tossed salad in with this meal ensures that you'll be engaging in healthy eating.


Weird Ant Brood Tacos Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Pound Ant Larvae and Pupae
3 Serrano Chilies, raw , finely chopped
1 Tomato
finely chopped Pepper
1 handful Cilantro, Chopped
Taco Shells

To Serve Procedure: Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the larvae or pupae. Add the chopped onions, chilies, and tomato, and season with salt. Sprinkle with ground pepper, cumin, and oregano, to taste. Serve in tacos and garnish with cilantro.

Eeeeeeeeeew, that sounds spicy.


NORTH CAROLINA CANKER WORM SORBET
And finally, a delicious desert to top it all off.

1 cup canker worms- toasted, this can be done in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes turning half way through.

Canker worms should be gathered in the early spring before April 10th otherwise they become too large and tough. Be sure to remove all silk threads they use for dropping from the trees as these impart a bitter taste.

2 cups of tomato juice
1 egg white
1 tbsp of tomato paste
Juice of 2 limes
½ cup sugar
1 cup of water
6 tbsp minced basil leaves
Fresh basil leaves for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of Tabasco, if desired
3 oz Vodka

In a bowl, lightly beat the egg white. Whisk in the tomato juice, tomato paste, canker worms, lemon juice, sugar, basil, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Transfer the mixture to an ice-cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Scoop the mixture into serving dishes and garnish with the canker worms and basil leaves. Serve the sorbet with a dash of Vodka.

Hope these recipes whet your appetite, everyone!

Pack Rat Fishing Master

Surrounded by heaps of books, rubber bands, fishing gear, compact discs, old baseball cards, toilet paper and all things manly, I am writing this post. Hell, and I've mentioned just a few things in this little room I affectionately call the "computer room". It should be called the "Heaps O' Infinite Shit Room".

My wife threatens to throw it all out the door, at least once a week. My response is, "Yeah, but I need all this stuff". That doesn't even earn a laugh from her anymore, just the usual look of disgust. I'm a huge procrastinator. I'm consistently telling myself I'll clean this little room out but I can't seem to lift my ass up to get it done. There are some things in here, I actually DO need. Well. the toilet paper, for one. I think the wife would agree with me on that one. After all, I can't pick up one of my hairy cats and use them. That particular action could cause them a wee bit of stress. Not only that, but one of them might get a bit testy with the deed and hook a claw in my tender buttocks or scrotum.

Then I would not be a happy camper.

Since I mentioned fishing gear, I would like to mention I've been getting lucky with the fish, as of late. And when I say "lucky", I don't mean I've been getting into their pants. Not that I believe fish wear pants. Uh.... let's move on. Anyway, on my first fishing trip this year, I caught 12 large mouth bass. On the second trip, I proved myself to be an even bigger manly man by catching 13. This last time, however, I was only able to subdue, hook and snare eight of them.

The sun was in my eyes. You know.

My friend caught this whale of a catfish. It was around two and a half feet long. That's right. I'm American. I'm too good for the metric system. So there! Anyway, this monster had a belly on him. Later, the audience that came later, were witnesses to what was in that belly and part of it looked like shiny, grey silly putty. There was some green gravy and blood coming out of it's guts, too. My sister was the one who pounded the big nail through it's head on the board, then skinned and filleted him. I came over at one point, during the flesh carving and saw something curious. I pointed at this white, apple sized sac inside the catfish and asked, "What the hell is that?" She replied, "I don't really know." "Poke it!", I shouted, with childlike glee.

And so she did. And we heard a faint whoosh come out of it. The white sac deflated. It was the lungs. Mystery solved.

I wish there were some moral to this tale to tell but there isn't. I just thought it was kinda cool.
You know. How it went whoosh.

Toxic Culture

Isn't it startling to see, hear and read of the various ways we are being poisoned in this era? It makes one wonder why there isn't more accountability involved when these abominable health hazards are discovered.

Take for instance the story about the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. plant forcing cows, that could no longer stand, into the slaughterhouses. There was an undercover video, now in the hands of the Humane Society, of what took place at Westland/Hallmark and it shows the cruelty inflicted upon these animals. The actions contained in this footage constitute a violation of federal animal cruelty laws as well as food safety legislation. Animals that can't stand -- so-called "downer" animals -- cannot be used for human consumption without the approval of an Agriculture Department inspector; the inability to stand can be a symptom of mad-cow disease, and it can also lead to wallowing in pathogen-containing feces.

The animals were so badly tortured and beaten down, they had to be fork-lifted into the production chain.

As a result of being discovered, the plant voluntarily recalled 143 million pounds of beef, including 50.3 million pounds that had been sent to federal nutrition programs, including those that serve schools. The case raises important questions about the integrity of U.S. food inspections.

Remember the toxic toys fiasco?

Last year, Mattel Inc. recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys on fears they were tainted with lead paint and tiny magnets that children could accidentally swallow. Mattel’s own tests on the toys found that they had lead levels up to 200 times the accepted limit.

Not long after that, toxic chemicals were found in lipstick and other forms of cosmetic products.

It seems the testing being done on practically everything we use or consume these days is either grotesquely inadequate or nonexistent.

Maybe you don't know about this:

The water you are drinking is loaded with chemicals you are completely unaware of.

Drug companies now target about 500 known biochemical receptors in the human body. That number is soon expected to jump as much as 20-fold--to 10,000 targets, says Environmental Protection Agency scientist Christian Daughton.

According to Daughton, the enormous array of pharmaceuticals will continue to diversify and grow as the human genome is mapped. The large number of drugs being introduced is adding exponentially to the already large array of chemical classes, each with distinct modes of biochemical action, many of which are poorly understood.

Researchers say drugs reach rivers and streams the old-fashioned way: With each flush of the toilet, body wastes containing traces of pharmaceuticals leave for septic tanks, which too often leak. Or they flow through waste water treatment facilities that don't scrub pharmaceuticals from water. From there, the water that once sat in toilets and bathtubs eventually rejoins rivers and lakes, especially when storms rush in, overwhelming storm and sanitary sewers.

What does this mean for the animals on this planet, including hairless monkeys like you and I?

A lot of these chemicals are designed to deeply affect humans' physiology. Therefore, Daughton says, it wouldn't be surprising if they affected fish, birds, frogs and insects, as well. Yet, unlike pesticides, these drugs--as well as shampoos, sunscreens and other personal care products rushing down the drain--aren't examined for their effect on the environment before they're placed on the market. "This is surprising," Daughton says, "especially since certain pharmaceuticals are designed to modulate endocrine and immune systems." Hence, they "have obvious potential as endocrine disruptors in the environment."

Some products, meanwhile, have "very high acute aquatic toxicity," Daughton reports. It's impossible to predict how many of the pharmaceuticals would affect nature. After all, scientists don't even understand the process by which some drugs affect humans. After Canada's federal environmental agency, Environment Canada, found high levels of estrogen and birth control compounds in the effluent of sewage treatment plants in 1998, a Trent University researcher replicated these conditions in a laboratory, reports Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly. Some fish developed characteristics of both sexes.

Lots of water sources are apparently affected. Field studies conducted at waste water treatment plants in California, Arizona and Texas found in their recycled sewer water a substance called organic iodine--a chemical used in medicinal X-ray examinations, says Joerg E. Drewes, associate director of Arizona State University's National Center for Sustainable Water Supply. These seem to be slow to break down in the environment; they were still found at high concentrations in groundwater six to 12 months later.

Here's a link that details how certain members of the scientific community actually profit from the pharmaceutical companies by showing false negatives with their "research" and coming up with other devious means to give big business what it wants.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135408

The article is thought provoking and disgusting, all at once.

I find it appalling how some scientists, big companies and the people that are supposed to be keeping us safe choose money and/or indolence over our safety. Every day, it seems another news story pops up about chemicals in common products that pose dangers in our lives. There should be accountability but it seems to come at either a snail's pace or not at all.

What do you think?

There Are Other Life Forms 2

Found this video off Google. It's intriguing.


I still say that if you declare you are 100 % sure there are no other life forms in this universe but those that exist on this planet, well then, you are one arrogant gringo or gringo-ette.


Some of the things you will find in this vid:


Testimonials from reputable UFO witnesses and high ranking military officers

Video clips of UFOs hovering and zig zagging around

Me, holding a banana, naked and grinning sheepishly


Ok, that last one was creepy. Thankfully, you won't find that in this vid.


Anyway, enjoy.

Been A Long Time

Yes, it has. I make no excuses. For those of you I have befriended in the blogging community, I regret not keeping in touch. I wish I could say I'm back on track, but unfortunately, it's not the case. I want to keep on keeping on but....

Anyway....

My friend and I went on a pleasant nature hike in the back woods of my apartment a month ago. We took some nice shots. It had been awhile since I have tangled with the low hanging limbs and thorn bushes of the woods. I am completely out of shape. Not to mention, somewhat out of my mind these days. Nevertheless, it was invigorating. I think my buddy thought, at times, I was about to have a stroke.

He confided to me that he wouldn't be able to heave my hefty ass back to civilization should I collapse. I laughed at that, for many reasons.

Here are a few of the pics we took of the woods and park nearby during our walk.

It's kind of hard to tell, but I'm holding a deer antler I found in the woods in one of the photos above.

My advice: If you need relief from the chaos and stress from this modern world, nothing beats a walk in the woods to clear your head and give your spirit a little boost.