Category: WTF?

Posted on

Is it Just ME????

I ran across several articles recently talking about the DOJ telling us that saying bad things about muslims was a violation of civil rights.

Granted some of the first articles were from very conservative sources. I managed to track back to what appears to be the original source article.This piece is far less sensational.

This article was the first one I found, Then I ran across this one. Here’s another piece from Breitbart

The first two are designed to inflame passions and put their own spin on the material. The Breitbart piece is less spin and more Wait a minute, yep this is happening.

Even so the original piece is still worrisome.  

NewImage

You can just imagine my confusion at seeing a story that an US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is warning people that speaking ill of muslims could violate the Muslims civil rights.

I found my self asking, “What happened to the First Amendment?”

You know that little Amendment that guarantees all Americans the right to free speech?

Technically, I’m protected in what I say on this blog by that amendment right now.

I can put a crucifix in a bottle of urine and it’s protected under the 1st amendment.

I could call the Pope a pedophile and condemn all practitioners of Catholicism as pedophiles too. And that would be protected speech. (I actually like the current Pope and Don’t think he’s a pedophile. Apologies your Eminence but I’m making a point here, Please bear with me.)

I can say that all Baptists are snake handling Red State Morons and that’s protected under the First Amendment.

It’s perfectly OK for me to climb to the tallest building with a bullhorn and call the United States of America and evil imperialist regime headed by a group of lying corporate stooges, who are selling this country out from under us faster than Judas sold Christ out to the Romans. And that too is protected speech.

NewImage

But along comes the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee and suddenly Muslims a specially protected class of people!

What The Fuck

I know that most Muslims are decent hard working people. I would never in a million years seek to restrict their ability to build places of worship or prevent them from practicing their religion. In fact It’s far more likely that I’d be trying to quiet then disperse an angry mob outside a Mosque.

Gods, house no matter the name of the religion is Gods house.

One of the oldest rules among civilizations world wide is that All Houses of worship are sanctuaries.

In times of war, the young, the old, and the women could reasonably expect to be safe within the walls of their Church / Temple / Mosque… They were clearly non-combatants if they’re inside praying. Only absolute Barbarian Animals would violate the sanctity of a house of worship.

(I’ve always found it fascinating that Muslims will cry foul if American bullets strike the walls of a Mosque accidentally, but Sunni will blow up a Shiite Mosque and not say a damn word.)

You just don’t mess around with the spiritual center of a people.

Not only is it bad JuJu…

When you create martyrs you’ve given your enemies something to rally around. That often ends badly for the aggressor.

I’m a believer in the constitutional concept of freedom of religion so much so that I’ll protect a religion even if the religion isn’t something I agree with.

I’m also a believer in constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

Which leads me back to WTF?

If I choose to point out that Islam is responsible for the Cultural & Scientific retardation of what was a jewel of civilization, that’s in violation of Muslims civil rights?

NewImage

I can equally and defensibly say that the Catholic Church was in part responsible for the destruction of cultures worldwide. Inca, Easter Island, Several Native American Tribes, and the remnants of the Aztecs just to name a few. Saying that isn’t a violation of Catholic civil rights?

We can arguably say that it’s far more likely for a follower of Islam to blow themselves up in a crowded marketplace, or to set off bombs at the end of Marathons, or to lob shoulder fired missiles or rocket propelled grenades randomly into Israeli neighborhoods.

This is not a violation of civil rights, this is not so called hate speech!

These are observations of fact. These events are irrefutable and we’ve got the video to prove at least one case of each. Yet the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is going to look at these statements as a civil rights violation?

Where the fuck are my civil rights?

I’m not calling for violence against Muslims.

NewImage

However all it would take for Muslims to put a price on my head would be for me to insult Muhammed or draw an image, flattering or not of Muhammed.

The US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee better step the hell back, and carefully consider what he’s saying. My badmouthing Muslims, Catholics, Baptists, Buddhists, Wiccans, Agnostics, or Atheists had damn well be treated exactly the same.

Either we’re all free and equal or none of us is. 

You’d think that a US Attorney from any district in the country would know that.

Posted on

This is such a major WTF I can’t believe it.

NewImage

I was reading about the Manhunt for Christopher Dorner.

This is the former LAPD officer that is supposedly is running around on some kind of vendetta. I personally think that there’s a lot more to the story than we will ever know.

What we do “know” right now is that in 2009 Dorner was fired from LAPD for making false statements.

NewImage

Say What? LAPD makes false statements all the time usually when answering brutality charges made against them!

Yes Dorner has clearly lost it, but you have to ask did he lose his mind because he was pushed beyond a breaking point and saw no future or hope?

Nothing justifies Droners current course of action and god knows killing those young people in Irvine was wrong. I’m reminded of the old biblical injunction about the sins of the fathers…

Whatever you think about Dorner the “CURE” is perhaps worse than the disease.

NewImage

Thus far we’ve had two women in Torrance shot by Police because the police saw them driving a pickup truck that looked like Dorners.

Later and again in Torrance we’ve had police open fire on a man who was driving a pickup truck that looked like Dorners. I’m avoiding Torrance for the time being and that would be doubly true if I was driving a pick-up truck of any kind.

There has been one LAPD officer wounded in Corona, and two Riverside officers shot, one of them died, the other is in critical condition.

Thus far the tally is 5-3 shootings 3-0 deaths. Dorner leads. It’s only a matter of time before the police shoot and kill an innocent civilian.

My tally doesn’t include the emotional trauma caused an elderly man in San Diego who was tied up when Dorner allegedly tried to steal his boat. The theft was aborted because Droner got the prop fouled with an errant rope. Remember that Dorner is an Ex-Navy reservist.

imagesReally? The guy couldn’t launch a small boat without screwing it up?

Now this guy is supposedly in the Southern California mountains. I have to ask how many more people are going to be shot or injured by mistake before this guy is caught?

Maybe we need some real police not the Keystone cops from LA looking for this man. Clearly, he’s well beyond the LAPDs skills.

It’s only a matter of time before gun control gets tied into this, I cringe at the prospect but know it’s going to happen.

Posted on

Another week has gotten behind me

How did that happen?

I guess some of the time was chewed up dealing with trying to find health insurance. What a nightmare!

Transitioning from the Obscenely expensive COBRA Plan to something less obscene isn’t as easy as you’d think it would be.

I can’t imagine what people do. I’ve been quoted as much as 1200 a month.

I’m Healthy!

But due to my age and the fact that I’m actually addressing some of the age related issues, health insurance feels that they need to rape me.

When one of them quoted me $1200 I lost it. I mean really? That’s my house payment! It’s also 600 a month more than COBRA.

NewImage

Then theres the HIPAA plan which is supposed to make sure that everyone has access to health insurance. And it does that…. At rates that are more obscene.

Basically I’ve been quoted rates form 202.00 a month to 1200 a month.

How the hell is that reasonable? I’m looking for nothing more than the ability to go to my doctor, keep getting the prescriptions that I need, and have hospital coverage. I see my doctor maybe twice a year and haven’t been in a full on hospital since I was 16.

I’ve had minor outpatient surgery once in the last 4 years and that was to tend to an issue before it became a problem… You know, the way it’s cheaper and easier to replace your brake pads before they destroy your brake drums or rotors on your car. No reason we shouldn’t look at our bodies the same way. Fix minor stuff while it’s minor. Dental care is a prime example. Get the filling… before you need the root canal. It just makes good sense.

I find myself wondering,  is this yet another situation where my having been a responsible individual is screwing me? 

Because I’ve taken care of myself and work at remaining healthy, am I paying the price for all those people who haven’t? 

I can’t even explain how frustrating this is. 

Ironically, the most expensive of the insurance options is the HIPAA plan. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

In what reality can someone coming off of COBRA possibly still unemployed, or returning to the workforce in a part time position or to a company that  doesn’t provide group insurance afford 700 – 1200 a month in health insurance?

NewImage

COBRA and HIPAA are the two main reasons that I question the efficacy of the Obama Care plan.

Both of these “services” are made available and administered due to government intervention and regulation.

Yet they are without question the most expensive options. It’s a pretty funny racket too. Before you’re eligible for HIPAA you have to exhaust your COBRA benefits. After exhausting your COBRA benefits then you get to pay higher rates to maintain a  HIPAA plan.

It doesn’t make any sense at all since our politicians run around wringing their hands about how “Our Children” don’t get the care they’re supposed to.

Those same politicians seek to criminalize the lack of health care insurance but at the same time they do nothing to reduce the cost of the government mandated plans. 

Better questions are why does health insurance cost so much? What is driving that cost?

NewImage

Why can I go see a doctor pay cash for his services and pay less than the negotiated insurance rate? Why do doctors and hospitals always charge the maximum negotiated rate to Insurance providers?

Is it really all about the administration costs that doctors incur, while insurance companies screw around trying to deny claims?

If that’s the case then the problem isn’t the cost of services being rendered. The problem is that the patients, AKA consumers are caught in the middle.

Perhaps the solution isn’t a 16 trillion dollar health care plan that just stokes the fire allowing more and more abuses driving the cost of even basic services up. Perhaps the solution is to terminate all health care insurance.

NewImage

We’ve seen what happens when an artificially inflated price for goods or services collapses. It was called the housing bubble. Maybe it’s time for a similar “correction” to happen in healthcare and health insurance.

I can tell you that if my only choice is a 1200 a month health care policy, the insurance companies can put it where the sun don’t shine.

I’ll go without insurance pay straight up for my doctor, and the prescriptions I need and if it comes to me being hospitalized I’m guess I’m going to die.

After all I’m just a useless, misogynistic, testosterone poisoned, moronic, dumbshit, racist, republican, gun totin, white man, who’s responsible for the oppression of all the other races, global warming, inflation, and who deserves to die horribly.

Isn’t that the Über Liberal party line? Did I get it right?

If Obama wants to criminalize me for not having medical insurance… well he can come and arrest me. 

NewImage

At least then, I’ll have 3 hots & a cot… ohhh and state supplied health care.

Posted on

It’s that time of year again

DSC0011

I live above the snow line. 

That means that unlike a lot of Southern California I really do see a change in seasons. Well usually, this year has been a very strange year.

We’ve had a couple of snowfalls and that’s great for the ski resorts and for the town itself.

The down side of having snow is that the traffic on the weekends is nightmarish.

I think it’s actually worse than Huntington Beach on July 4th. I can say that because I lived in Huntington Beach for a number of years and while I love the town and the ocean, I planned to be gone during the Summer.

There were days when it could take 45 minutes to drive 4 blocks. If I wanted a carton of ice cream, I walked because that was the only way to get home with the ice cream unmelted. 

Yep, walking to the grocery store was faster than driving.

I have the same problem where I live now.  Only it’s magnified a bit, see there’s only one major road coming into town and all it takes is one idiot who thinks they don’t need chains on an icy road to screw everyone.

The other problem that we have is people who think it’s perfectly ok to drive up into a neighborhood, park wherever they want and let their children run rampant through yards to go play in the snow.

IMG 0221

Aside from the general damage done to landscaping, there’s the liability issue. If one of these uninvited assholes gets hurt on my property, technically i’m liable. If they get hurt on the private road, my neighbors and I maintain, then all of us are liable.

So I find myself in frequent exchanges with our uninvited guests.

I want to give them a chance to leave of their own free will and hate to bother the Sheriff. But if they don’t leave I’ll make the call.

The exchanges always go one of two ways.

ME: Can I help you?

THEM: No we’re just here to play in the snow.

ME: That’s nice, there are several public play areas down just off the highway. You’re parked on private property and the rear of your vehicle is blocking the road.

THEM: We’re just going to be here a few minutes. We have children who’ve never seen snow.

ME: If the lady whose property you’re parked on, or the residents up the street who can’t get past your car decide to call the police you’re going to be towed. It really would be better if you went to the public play areas and then you could spend as much time as you want.

THEM: The traffic is really bad down there on the highway. Besides there are 50 people just down the block playing in the snow.

ME: Your choice, you’re telling your kids that it’s ok to invade a neighborhood without permission to do what they wish,  but that’s your business. Stay the hell away from the fence line my dogs don’t like strangers. Dogs on queue start barking.

The second way this conversation goes is 

ME: Can I help you?

THEM: No comprende

ME: No es amusment publico, Estans Casas private, Por favor vamanos.

THEM: FUCK YOU, We have a right to be here.

ME: Not really. This is a neighborhood and these driveways are cleared by the residents so that they have a place to park not so that strangers have parking.

THEM: Fuck You, come on lets go play up on that hill.

DSC0035

I soft peddle it a bit because on more than a few occasions the visitors have gone to their car or truck and pulled a gun on the homeowner asking them to leave. This hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’m sure that it will at some point in the future.

Sadly it’s the nature of the people we’re dealing with. Which is not to be construed as racist. It’s more a statement about people that feel they don’t have to play by the rules.

What bothers me is the subtext of these exchanges.

(I’ve even fallen for it a couple of times because I can see the little faces pressed up against the windows of the car and I really do understand how excited they are.

In the situations where I’ve fallen for it I’ve let the people park in my driveway and sent them out back to play. I’ve been repaid for my kindness with trash on my lawn, and in one case dirty diapers left on my deck.) 

The first exchange type, these people assume that I haven’t heard this story before.

I do understand the kids. They should have an experience and I really am torn about telling them no. It’s that old programming my parents gave me. Children are to be protected and cherished and is it really any skin off my nose to let ’em play in the snow out back?

But come on, You’re using your kids to con me… 

DSC0044

I didn’t have anything to do with making your kids. Perhaps if you, or your wife / girlfriend  offered to entertain me I’d feel differently.

Like all men I’m about a little sexual gratification. Someone on their knees in front of me, might persuade me to change my mind.

You’re telling me that traffic is bad?

Look dumbass I know traffic is bad because I can’t leave my house!

Weekends and holidays I plan to stay put because I know that it’s going to take me minimum 2 hours to get home if I go more than 20 miles away.

The second exchange type is just as bad if not worse.

They start the conversation with a lie. They try to make the dumb white guy think that conversation is useless because they “Don’t understand what he’s saying”. 

When I try to converse with them in Spanish suddenly we have a miracle… They speak English just fine.

In both cases these people try to justify their actions (which I contend they know are wrong) by using the teenage fall back

“Everyone else is doing it” 

I’m so tempted to tell these folks what my Mother used to tell me.

“20, 50 or 100 people it doesn’t matter, if they all jumped off a cliff would you?”

Recently we actually had a proof of that statement at a lake near here.

As it turns out the answer is yes for some people. There was a situation where people were sledding down a short embankment then out onto a partially frozen lake. 12 of them ended up in the water and one of them almost drown / froze to death.

The amazing thing about it is that there are signs in multiple languages saying that the lake is dangerous and that you shouldn’t walk on the ice.

Even as the ice on the lake was cracking and people were falling through into the water below. More and more people were walking out onto the lake to see what was going on. Some of them obviously stepping over cracks in the ice. 

DSC0039

I digress, the message these people are giving their kids is that they’re entitled to take what they want.

They’re saying that it’s ok to violate the social contract that says you respect other peoples privacy and property, if you’re tired of sitting in traffic and you want something.

At the same time these people will bitch loud, long, and hard if they feel even the slightest affront to their perceived rights.

Implicitly, these people teach a double standard. Their rights are important but no-one else’s rights matter.

Worse they’re teaching the very racist message; “because you’re brown you don’t have to obey the rules.“

It’s been suggested that everyone in our town pick another town down the mountain on a particular day. Then we saddle up with our picnic baskets and our bathing suits and simply occupy an area. 

We’d go have a nice party in some random neighborhood, use their pools and park all over the place, in driveways, on the streets, wherever.

Then when the cops showed up … and they would. We’d show the homeowners pictures of our driveways, and streets in the Winter time.

Maybe that would drive the point home.

More likely, my whole town would be in jail…

Posted on

What a racket!!!!

NewImage

Ok this is a rant. It’s probably not very coherent but I’m madder than hell!

I live in a recently rebuilt house. That means that I now meet the Kalifornia standards for new construction. You’d think that would be a good thing wouldn’t you?

Well it’s not!

Because of California code, I had to add more overhead lights to save energy…

Don’t ask… someone seemed to think that if you had nasty assed fluorescent lighting in the ceiling you’d be less likely to have actual lamps in your house, BOY WERE THEY WRONG!

The builder fought me about putting skylights in the bathrooms because the building inspector “Might” not like them. GO Figure!

I still don’t get that.. I was trying to be energy efficient and they fought me tooth and nail even when I asked why there had to be x number of fluorescent light fixtures in the house, when fewer fixtures obviously translated to lower building and lower overall energy costs. the answer as it turns out was… It’s the law. (Re: those nasty assed fluorescent lights… If I keep this house I’m ripping those things out and replacing them with LEDs.)

Add to this,  I also by law have to have a fire suppression system, and basically the hands of our Komrad Kalifornians are well and truly up my ass with no lubrication.

The previous house had a fire suppression system too.

Every year I dutifully had the system inspected and certified pursuant to the law referenced here .

It is completely arguable that the fire suppression systems FAILURE was entirely due to these annual inspections.

See a few years back, when my house had burned, I came under suspicion because the fire inspector found the fire suppression was actually turned off.

Yep, I’d paid for inspections and maintenance which left my home with a NON-Working suppression system. Fanfuckingtastic!

The water company sends out these notices yearly about having your system inspected.

I’m frankly at odds about the whole thing. Given my personal experience… I wish I didn’t have a sprinkler system. After all it’s just another useless yearly expense and maintenance hassle because I own a home.

Truth to tell, I’d rather have a house without a fire suppression system. It’s like living under a loaded gun.

I can’t tell you how many homes up here have suffered water damage because the fire suppression system malfunctioned or the pipes froze. Well, I can tell you about my next door neighbor…

But when you don’t have your shit inspected exactly on time the water company sneaks up on your doorstep and hangs a little bullshit tag on your door. They threaten to turn your water off if you don’t have the inspection.

Say what????

Ok so lets get this straight, you’re going to turn my fucking water off, to force me to have a fire suppression system inspected, a system that REQUIRES WATER to operate?

These MORONS are essentially going to disable a fire suppression system to force me to have an inspection???

Where the hell is the sense in that? I pay my fucking water bill every month, I’m never late, I don’t even raise my voice when I get bills from them that say (1) I’m late, and (2) I’m 6 months behind! When I call them, they call up the account and say, “Isn’t that strange, your bill is paid and has been for the past year. This is a billing error I’ll notify accounting.“

And yet the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection forces new homes to have these systems, then they force the homeowners to pay every year to inspect and maintain them.  There’re penalties for disabling the system too. Prison time for example.

Humm, I wonder if I could have the asshole arrested who turns my water off?

By definition that person is disabling a fire suppression system. Now there’s a thought!!!

And the insults go on.

Recently, the State sent out a notice that they were going to start billing those of us who lived in rural settings an additional $150 to $200 per year to pay for the additional fire support. Excuse ME??? What about my taxes? What about the fact that my Fire department is paid for BY the County?

Oh and there is no-one more attuned to the issues of Fire safety than the people in the mountain communities. WHY? Because in the past we’ve seen these communities burn to the ground.

Sadly those fires were entirely preventable but the “Smart guys” at the State level refused to listen when these communities suggested that the fire threat could be mitigated simply and efficiently. The solution was start clearing the sick, dying, & dead trees out of the forests. 

Well the smart guys in Sacramento told everyone they were stupid for making such a suggestion.

Then there was the Arrowhead fire. Nature cleared the sick, dying, and dead trees for us. 

The communities that fared better were those where the people had paid out of their own pockets or their community coffers to remove the hazard. Sacramento got all up & arms because these communities had cut trees that were in some cases inside a national forest. Cuttng dead and dying trees in a national forest is bad… even if the State or federal government won’t allocate the funds to take the preventative steps themselves. But they’ll pay a fortune in fire fighters and risk lives and property when the fire breaks out.

It was all about Sacramento having the last word and refusing to admit that the locals actually knew what they were doing.

It’s statist crap. The government always claims it knows better than YOU do.

I’m sick and of Nanny governing!

NewImage

I’m also sick and tired of the Golden State Water Company. There is the particular person who delivers these notices. He likes to sneak up on your porch and hang the notice in hopes that he can escape without having to deal with an angry person.

I’ve been trying for at least 2 months to get this inspection done mainly because I don’t want to have to deal with the hassle and bullshit. It’s just really difficult to find a certified inspector that will haul their asses up here. 

In my opinion the fucking water company should be doing it FREE! After all they claim that they’re protecting the water supply from the antifreeze in the system. You’d think it would be in their best interests to deal with it. But no… 

It’s an opportunity to have the plumbers with the right certifications come out to your house, charge you $150 for the house call and potentially leave your system off. I come from a place that says “If it ain’t broke… don’t fix it”

I’m really starting to believe it’s time to leave.

More and more lately I find myself thinking about just putting this place on the market and leaving this town, this state, and I swear… Even this country.

Hell, I seriously doubt that there much difference between living in California and oh say any EU country in terms of the regulations and controls the average citizen has to deal with.

I want to be free! I thought I lived in a free country… I suppose the only places that are truly not under the government thumb are the “Flyover States”. Of course that’s only because the snooty fuckers that like to impose their will on everyone else know better than to get too far from the city.

Well 20 years ago when I moved to this town… I was far enough away from the city that we lived pretty much according to our own thoughts and as long as we didn’t hurt anybody everyone pretty much minded their own business.

Now, I guess it’s time to move on… It’s a real pain to say ahead of people who are “smarter and know” more about my life than I do.

Now wheres’ that map of the “Fly Over” states?