Guilt

Yes, you heard me right Buster…..I'm taking a break from Facebook. Mebbe I'll be back, mebbe it'll be a LONG time before I return, mebbe a short time, but for now, I've had just about enough, if you know what I mean and I think you do. After nearly a lifetime of living and working in Sonoma County, California, I retired from the public law enforcement profession and left (more like “fled”) Sonoma County. It had changed dramatically in the decades I had lived there, and I didn't like what it had become. I moved around quite a bit, and lost touch with old friends and acquaintances. That's what happens to those of us who are somewhat rootless. We lose touch with people who are, or were, important to us in some way at some time. It's sad. Facebook to the rescue!! I became a member and re-connected with all those old connections. What a great deal!! But………. Turns out, people behave differently on Facebook than in real life. Who could ...

Trump.  If Donald Trump’s the answer then we need to re-evaluate the question.  We have no need for a draft-dodging, mobbed-up blowhard plutocrat anywhere but on reality TV (which I don’t watch).  We certainly don’t need this punk in the White House. If the choice comes down to Donald or Hillary, I’m going to write in Bill Pullman.  Yes, Bill Pullman the actor.  He played the president in Independence Day, and when the Earth was being invaded by space aliens, he personally got into a fighter jet and kicked their asses.  Now THAT’S the kind of president I can get behind.

OK then. I am a REALLY long term Republican. Those who think that there is no difference between the current crop of Democrats and the current crop of Republicans just aren’t paying attention. There’s a difference. Consider this.....Obama/Romney. See? Different. Anyone who thinks that Elizabeth Warren is a mainstream Democrat is wrong. If you think that Rand Paul is a savior you're delusional. But what really bothers me at this juncture is that the only big name candidate for the upcoming campaigns of both major parties who has any military experience is Rick Perry. Everyone else, apparently, just figured that is wasn’t their responsibility. Not their deal. Too big a bother. Might interfere with their attending an institution of higher learnin’. Might be dangerous. Might be scary. Whatever. It just wasn’t their responsibility to the body politic. Someone else can do it. To say that I'm appalled, shocked, or even surprised that almost all of the ca...

I think that before media employees (all of them, but particularly those in the employ of MSNBC) begin to exercise their 1 st Amendment rights, they should all be required to do the following: Take a state-run class consisting of the theory, dangers, definitions, and responsibilities of speech Take an additional state run class in the practical aspects of the exercise of speech Pass a state examination to display all the necessary abilities to correctly and lawfully exercise speech Then..... Pay a fee to the local jurisdiction wherein you desire to exercise speech in order to obtain your license for speech Be fingerprinted Wait for your background investigation to clear Be issued a license to exercise public speech (provided you pass all your classes and your background investigation) that will have to be renewed on it's expiration date Repeat for each state or other jurisdiction in which you wish to exercise speech If you are identified by law enf...

I live on the border between Oregon and Washington.  I get my local TV news from Portland, Oregon but live in Vancouver, Washington.  Vancouver is the poor cousin in this relationship. As election day gets closer we are inundated with television campaign ads (just like everyone else, I imagine).  Here in Washington, the candidates and incumbents don’t have to declare their party affiliation in the TV ads.  Which is interesting. Here’s what is happening at every commercial break---Every incumbent (regardless of party affiliation) running for re-election has the same pitch, to wit:  “I been fightin’ da’ man all along to get you folks sumpthin' good and keep da' man from doin’ sumpthin' bad.  Reelect me so I can keep fightin’ da’ man.”  The Republicans generally say that they are, in fact, Republicans.  The Democrats generally say nothing about party affiliation.  Like I said--Interesting. The kicker, though, is that the incumbents seem to...

As a retired law enforcement guy (32 plus years) one might be forgiven for believing that I am automatically against the legalization of marijuana. I forgive you. I’ve advocated for the legalization of weed for a really long time. Back when my peers thought I was nuts--OK, many of them still do, but no longer for this specific reason. My only beef is that the advertisements during the election season that push for legalization laws always include an interesting array of fictions. They perpetually claim that a repeal of criminality associated with marijuana will somehow free up the police to catch more child molesters and rapists (thereby making a vote to legalize marijuana a women's issue). Frankly, I'd like to see some stats from Washington and Colorado to see if that's actually the case. Or that nasty little lie that the extra taxes that will be generated (to replace the sin tax on tobacco, I guess) will help fund schools (another women's issue), and...

Having nothing to occupy myself this morning, I turned on the high definition wide screen Sceptre and launched the Xfinity programming guide.  To my delight, I found that Comedy Central (which, frankly, isn’t all that comedic most of the time) was showing Animal House.  What a grand way to kill the dead time between awakening and the start of the Giants baseball game. Animal House is a hoot.   Comedy Central..........not that much. Endless commercials.  This is why I seldom watch regular TV and mostly stick with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Pub-D-Hub Gold, and other offerings from my beloved ROKU box.  Via the ROKU box, I also watch some advertiser supported programming, like Crackle, Popcorn Flix, and Moonlight Movies but the ads on such, um, “channels”, I guess, is not nearly as annoying.  Don’t really know why, but part of it is that there just aren’t quite as many and they aren’t quite as pervasive. Back to Animal House.  I’m watching and hoot...