Month: September 2026

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Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt’s embarrassing gaffe regarding Jack Smith is more than a little puzzling. The sparse evidence Schmitt possessed confirmed absolutely nothing that Schmitt thought he had evidence for.

  1. Even if Smith had gone to the game, it only proved he was in Atlanta. Schmitt didn’t have any evidence that Smith had talked to Fani Willis — just that he was in Atlanta at the same time as Willis. This is Schmitt’s best case scenario and, if true, he would have had to provide evidence that the two actually met which he clearly didn’t have. So why would he even pursue this line of questioning is mind boggling?
  2. Given this slim gruel of evidence, Schmitt projected Smith into a meeting with Willis based solely on proximity. If Smith had said yes, I was at the Atlanta Hawks game and I was in Atlanta — this hardly proves he talked with Willis. Ok, Smith was in Atlanta, so what?
  3. Schmitt, because he had so little evidence, could have approached his questioning more as an inquiry instead of an accusation. In this way, he could have sussed out whether he did indeed have the goods on Smith and saved himself from looking so stupid. A polite question to Smith about where he was, and seeing Smith’s confusion regarding the question, he would have had an opportunity to suss out his next move. If he had listened to Smith, he might have even had realized that their was a problem with his thinking and to proceed with caution. Instead, he was so convinced he had his Gotcha Moment, he didn’t even listen to the confused Smith who was trying to figure out what Schmitt was talking about, and he barrelled a head into ignominy.
  4. The worse part of this whole brouhaha is that nobody stopped to think that there was no there there. They had sketchy and, as it turns out, incorrect evidence that Smith was in Atlanta and none that Smith met with Willis. This was the whole basis of the Gotcha Moment and nobody looking at this sparse evidence and said this doesn’t really add up. I mean I can accept that one Senator from Missouri might be dim, that is a given, but a whole staff of paid professionals just shook their heads yes and said gotcha.

Then, to hear that Eric Schmitt is being considered as a potential Vice-President candidate. Yes, I realize that Donald Trump as set the bar so low that almost any idiot can clear it but even the Republicans surely can come up someone better than Schmitt.

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I feel compelled to remark on the linked letter I found in the Slate advice columns.

The run down is six years ago she wanted to bring her new born baby home and she only wanted family to greet her. This means her husband had to 86 the nanny who was taken care of her older daughter. When she arrives home her nanny is leaving in tears because she thinks the woman doesn’t want her to met the new baby. So instead of enjoying the baby, she had to comfort the nanny. Six years later she is still mad about the nanny ruining her special day.

Really? I mean REALLY. This is a problem.

First, the nanny was already at her home, taking care of her other kid. Her husband had to ask the nanny to leave so only family would be there when she arrived. Now, I grant the husband may have botched asking the nanny to leave but she put the husband in a difficult position in the first place — a family only guest list which could have been ruined in any number of ways. A neighbor could have come by with food at the same time or been working in the yard as she drove up. Those are two off the cuff examples. Given some more time, I am sure I can think of some more. The point here is there is no way to control other people even on your special day. One of life’s little lessons is to learn how to roll with the punches.

Second, the nanny was at your house already. She had to be asked to leave. It’s awkward. If I were the nanny, I might feel a little insulted at the request. Does it really ruin your special day if the nanny hung around to met the new baby that she will soon be caring for. The nanny could have had quick cootchy cootch coo and left. But no, the nanny had to be gone are it would ruin your special day. Ruin it. Her special day.

Third, I have heard of wedding days being a special day for the bride and birthdays although there should be an age limit on that one. But bringing home the baby from the hospital? When did that become such a special day to the point where the mother tries to control the guest list for her arrival home. Her expectations are way too high for the occasion involved.

Finally, six fucking years ago. This happened six years ago. Give it a rest. You have two kids looking up to you to as a role model. Try not to model behavior that will make them into whinny ninnies

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One of the more illuminating revelations of the Epstein Sex trafficking scandal is that when given a choice between protecting children from a billionaire predator and enjoying the same billionaire’s lavish hospitality that most, if not all, people will accept the sexual predator’s hospitality with nary a word about the young women wandering around the party without their parents.

At best, they enjoyed Epstein’s food and liquor while ignoring the suspicious presence of teenage girls at these adult functions. These people claim ignorance about what Epstein was up to but it is willful ignorance given Epstein’s reputation with young women. They weren’t just a tiny bit suspicious that Epstein was up to no good. These rich and powerful people said absolutely nothing.

Mind you, this is the best case scenario — willful ignorance. From there it descends horribly given the participation of the person in Epstein’s fun and games.

This, in and of itself, is troubling but it gets worse. These are the same people entrusted to make important decisions for government and business. It should be concerning that they behaved so badly when tested. They don’t seem like a group that would be particularly motivated to protect Anne Frank from the Nazis.

One thing I do know for sure is that they don’t care one bit what happens to your children.

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The Middle East is a problem of the West’s making and, because of that, the West bears a good deal of responsibility in sorting the problem out.

Why it is our responsibility can be summed up in one word — oil. The West’s economy runs on oil. If there is no oil, the economy grinds to a halt. The West has known, for at least 100 years, that the Middle East sits on top of a large patch of oil thus making it very important piece of real estate.

This also explains why we have been fucking about with the Middle East. The US, in particular, has been stirring up trouble there for a number of years. Installing governments, reaping the whirlwind when those governments are overthrown, going to war numerous times to ensure that the right government is in charge of oil production. Supporting Saddam Hussein one moment and the next one we oppose him. Saying we want democracy in the region while propping up a medieval monarchy in Saudi Arabia. The Taliban is good give them arms. The Taliban is bad go to war with them.

The one overriding factor in our strategy, if it can be called that, is who will keep the flow of oil running. None of this is based in any real commitment to the people of the region. This incoherence, if nothing else, makes it clear to people living in the region that our commitment is to one thing and one thing only — oil.

Very little comfort can be taken by people living in the region when Americans say it is just business don’t take it personally. This may work if you are looking at an Excel spreadsheet in Washington DC; on the other hand, if you’re facing a firing squad in Baghdad, you might feel a little more alarmed. It certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to risk his life for the USA.

Part of the reason alternate energy sources were pushed was to make the West more energy independent so we wouldn’t have to worry about the Middle East and perhaps take a stand there that might remotely be called moral and civic minded. Instead, and for reasons beyond me, alternate energy sources have become a hair shirt for eco-weenies. Why do we need alternate energy sources when we have plenty of oil. All we have to do is maintain a huge armed force to make sure we keep that oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz.

So we are back to where we started — dependent on oil which is both dangerous and expensive.

Do you get it? Neither do I.

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Every so once in awhile I am reminded that the two countries with the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons are led by narcissistic idiots. The fate of the world is in the hands of two men who stopped developing mentally at 12 years of age.

Neither one seems to understand warfare in the way they rest of the world understands warfare. Putin has refused to say he won’t use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine which may, and I am using the word may here very liberally, make sense if Russia didn’t border the Ukraine. Is wind so difficult of a concept for him to realize that Russians would be in danger if he shot a nuclear missile into the Ukraine? Worse still is the possibility that he thinks it is perfectly willing to devastate parts of his own homeland in order to defeat the Ukrainians. Given the amount of Russians he has sacrificed already, I am afraid it is the later.

Then there is Trump who talks about invading countries, blowing up countries as if it is a school boy’s war games. His understanding of strength boils down to killing anybody and everybody unfortunate enough to live in a country he is angry with. Since he never follows through with it, thank God, he looks increasingly like the guy at the end of the bar who is telling war stories that nobody believes. Yeah right, Donnie, you charged up the hill and single handedly won the battle, are you buying another round?

Because there growth was stunted in early adolescence, it is impossible to talk to them like you would talk with another adult. If you try to talk sense to them, you are dead politically in Trump’s case and dead in reality in Putin’s case. And all any of us can do is whistle past the graveyard.

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I am irritated about all the falderal surrounding Macklemore’s Free Palestine comments.

Macklemore has every right to say what he said.

Ed Sheeran, or whoever it is that made the decision, has every right to remove him from the tour for saying what he said. Free speech has consequences. You have every right to say it but then I have every right not to listen. I do not have to provide you with a platform for your free speech.

Macklemore can continue to say Free Palestine in the numerous places willing to give him a platform. Given the controversy stirred up as a result of his actions, he seems to be doing fine with these new options for free speech. So how has Macklemore’s free speech been hindered by his removal from the tour?

He can’t say it in front of Ed Sheeran fans. Well, and I am just guessing here, a good many of them don’t want to hear controversial political statements at a concert. They just want to enjoy some music.

But they really need to hear what Macklemore is saying. Maybe. Maybe not. If, as an audience member I wanted to hear about Palestine, I would have gone to a Free Palestine protest instead of an Ed Sheeran concert so Macklemore is forcing his opinions on an audience who didn’t want to hear a Free Palestine speech. If the concert was advertised as a an Ed Sheeran and Macklemore concert with a little pro-Palestinian speech then I would feel a bit more uncomfortable about the removal of Macklemore from the tour. It wasn’t.

The free speech being practiced here is a one way street. Macklemore is speaking and his captive audience are listening. In this way, concerts are a terrible place to engage in political speech. It is all monologue and no dialogue.

Macklemore rolled the dice and he lost but spare me the tears and the beating of the breast.

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Not much shocks me. I personally think shock is an overused word because given the last fifty years of movies and television can anyone say that they are shocked by naked genitalia or blood soaked massacres. That is so 1960’s. On the other hand, running photographs of an athlete who shits herself during a competition did indeed shock me.

By the way, I am consciously not linking to any stories about this incident because I think the woman has suffered enough and while I want to comment on her experience I will leave it your Google finesse to find the pictures if you must .

Now, first, I will admit there is a news story here. The woman continued competing despite the mess she found herself in. It was unwise and unhealthy for her to continue. For this she is responsible and for this she paid — she had to surrender the title she won.

I think most people can figure out what happened without the photographic assistance. The picture helps no one and it further embarrasses the athlete who already has enough trouble with people lambasting her questionable decision making process.

For the press to show pictures of her laying on the ground with her shit stained shorts is unnecessary and cruel.

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I was reviewing the top 10 list for the Daily Beast today and I was surprised to see the following headline:

First, how is Bill Belichick and his girlfriend still getting these headlines. This is really old news in more ways than one. Bill Belichick, I would think, should disappear as top pick in grabbing headlines anymore. He is a college football coach — not even a professional football coach — a university’s football coach. Shouldn’t this drop him to the bottom of the list of people honored to receive headlines.

Second, it is about a rumor that seems very unlikely to be true. Hudson is trying to become the general manager of the University of North Carolina’s football team. Belichick may be a love struck senior but I hardly think he is a complete idiot. And, even if he was, I am sure that the people who run the University might run interference on this decision

Every time I think I am too hard on modern journalism, the fourth estate prove me wrong. I am not hard enough. What a ridiculous waste of precious journalism space. But hey ho, it is nice to know that a well healed senior citizen can still grab a voluptuous young lass’ attention. What a surprise.

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The reoccurring SNL skits called the Californians amuses because every conversation, even murder plots and infidelity, devolves into a conversation about the best way to navigate traffic. I have lived here for over 30 years and it is one of the most dependable topics of conversations I know. Other than the related conversation topic which is parking.

We talk about traffic constantly. It is as if we think someone will have the answer to cure our traffic ills. They don’t.

There is 1,000 miles of freeway and 17.5 million people in southern California. It is highly unlikely that one of these miles doesn’t have, at least, a fender bender. This seemingly small accident can throw the whole system out of wack.

GPS has made the situation a bit better — occasionally you can catch the traffic slowdown before you leave your house and take alternate routes. The problem with alternate routes is that everyone is using GPS. So while GPS might redirect you to a faster route, by the time you find out about the alternate route, every other driver has also have received exactly the same information. Now the alternate is jammed.

Which brings me back to the Californians. It is satire that is so close to reality that it hurts.

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Simon and Garfunkel’s “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her” isn’t for everyone. The lyrics borders on the saccharine but I still managed to find myself on the side of the border where I can recommend it. Garfunkel is a strong singer and this song gives him an opportunity to show how good a singer he actually is. He nails it and beyond. He is almost too perfect with his tenor voice bordering on the angelic which is where Simon’s guitar playing comes in. Simon blunts some of the sentimentality of this song with some aggressive guitar playing towards the end that redirects the song to a less lofty, more human plain.

I have to admit I need to be in a mood to listen to it but when the mood hits, it is the perfect song for a rainy day when you want to wallow in the sadness of life. You do need those days some day.