The Story of ‘ISM

Eastwood Made My Day plus 60 Shades of Barack

I have been reading and listening to the critiques of Clint Eastwood’s speech/soliloquy. I don’t watch political conventions so I never saw the live version.  But an advantage of the Internet is you don’t have to. After watching Eastwood all I could say was – awesome! All of us can only hope -assuming we even reach his stage of life- that we could go out and ad-lib a sketch as he did at the Republican Convention. My guess is that many of the detractors of his speech -and there were several from both the liberal and conservative media factions- if they ever do reach Mr. Eastwood’s age,  is that they will be lucky if they are not sitting in some nursing home in a urine-filled Depends while grunting to get the night nurse to change them; instead of standing in front of a huge live and televised audience hammering home your opinions. In fact other than  Bill Clinton, I doubt if there is a major political speaker, within my voting lifetime, that could have pulled it off at all. Certainly our current POTUS could not. He has trouble speaking, even with the teleprompter assisting him with his normal speeches. Not only was Mr. Eastwood able to get his points across, he did it in a humorous and entertaining manner. Face it most politicians would have fumbled the Eastwood piece to the point the audience in the convention, and at home, would have lost interest in the speech within the first couple of minutes. Bravo Mr. Eastwood, you certainly brought the beef and in a manner most people half your age could not have accomplished.

In another interesting political moment, it seems that a painter has created a portrait of current POTUS Barack Obama. The artist has painted Obama shading totems analyzing 60 of President Obama’s defining moments since he took office. There was no mention in the article by Liz Klimas, if President Obama plans on obtaining it, to use as his Presidential Portrait for display in the White House. The article and a depiction of the portrait can be found at this link.

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• Dotty Old Clint Eastwood Gave the Best Speech of the Week (reason.com)
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Andy Griffith Dead at 86

No Time for Sergeants (1958 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another comic legend has died. Andy Griffith has passed away at the age of 86. I suppose most people will always remember his comedic charm as Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry or as the charismatic lawyer Ben Matlock, whom like the more stoic TV-Lawyer predecessor Perry Mason, usually manged to solve the case and protect his client by outwitting the real culprit during cross-examination. They were both excellent programs that played to Griffiths southern charm. Of course he did have a movie role in 1957 called “A Face in the Crowd” where he played a character that wasn’t likable. I saw the movie on late night TV once, I enjoyed the movie. But for me, the acting part I will always remember Griffith for – was his movie, “No Time For Sergeants“. In that movie he plays an affable country boy drafted into the Air Force. It also included his Mayberry deputy, Don Knotts, in a small, yet hilarious part. I believe I read somewhere it was the movie that spawned the idea for the television series Gomer Pyle, USMC. The movie has always left me laughing in stitches.

RIP Andy Griffith.

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Stirring the Pot of Legal Shades of Gray

Mug shot of Rod Blagojevich. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, so I was reading the articles on QCOnline, by Kristy Mergenthal, covering the trial of the Geneseo woman whom faked being ill with cancer and flimflammed local citizens into donating around a $100,000 dollars to assist her with living. If there is anything that is as sure as death and taxes in my family – it is almost assured that if a member of familial-Scoundrel lives past the age of 50 they will probably face a battle with some form of cancer before they are eventually called home to be with God in Heaven. In these more of familial-Scoundrel tend to win more and more of those battles than they did in past decades. So I have to admit I find it extremely reprehensible that anyone would fake the set of tragic events actual Cancer victims and their families must endure, in order to scam money and seemingly in this case, some sort of broken-wing syndrome for attention.  Still, as I was pondering the story , I was bemused by remembering an old television commercial – (in fact I believe it was used by her current attorney) – talking about how the legal system is many shades of gray.  And despite the fact that were I the judge, I would literally throw the law book at the defendant and hit her solidly in the head with it – before sending her to incarceration along with Illinois Gov.’s Ryan and Blagojevich – I have decided to extrapolate upon the incident in “shades of gray”!

One of the things that seems to be an irritating ulcer on this case is that the defendant lied for personal gain. And if the storyline is correct she told some whoppers.  Uh  not  that doesn’t happen on an everyday basis in the real world. If I had a dollar for every time I witnessed a lie someone used for personal gain I would have so much money I would belong to the 1% of societies well-to-do instead of milling around with the most bottom-seeded of the 99% sifting through the leftover coffee dregs of worlds money pool. If there is a reality of life – it is that people lie a lot, every day.  They lie to strangers, they lie to friends, family and most of all they lie to themselves so that they can rationalize all the lies they have told in order to leap through the rings and hoops of life’s daily obstacle course. I have read several different estimates but most seem to hint that the average person lies four or more times a day. Heck I have seen salesmen/women lie four times in a matter of minutes.  But I guess that wasn’t for personal gain.

Perhaps it is the amount of money involved. Okay that is a lot. But then how is her lying about her health, to gain large amounts of cash,  any different than the panhandling guys or gals holding signs at the numerous road intersection asking for money. Sure they only get a few bucks at a time. And many of them are in dire need of the money they take in standing in the sun all day, while begging. Still, I also remember being shocked by an old newspaper article, from a few years back, where one of the people interviewed was making more annual income standing at crossroads a few times a week – than I was putting in 40-50 hours a week at my fulltime job. So it was certainly evident his homeless signage wasn’t all that truthful. In all honesty some dude annually making between $20,000-$30,000 tax-free dollars a year, with a phony sign, isn’t all that different than what this Geneseo lady is accused of doing for personal gain. Her lies were just more hurtful. But basically her crime was just another form of panhandling.

In fact what is she accused of  – that people don’t shell out $20 or more per person every time they enter a movie theatre. She told a lie. She told a lie that was a story. She created a fantasy that entertained people by making them feel good about themselves as altruists and humanitarians.  Kind of like walking in to a movie theatre except instead of putting mega bucks into the pockets of Hollyweird elitists, some poor woman bettered her life with assistance of would-be philanthropists –> just needing aa cause to rally behind. She evidently needed the money and put it to use to better her family. And how many people would have run to help her if she had just said – hey I need some cash and the milk of human companionship in order to survive.  Probably not many. She would have had better luck standing on Billy Wolf Road with a sign saying homeless – need money to buy food. Of course then Big Brother Government Child Welfare Agency would have been all over her looking for reasons to take her kids.  It’s not like she bilked multiple millions of dollars from Dixon, Illinois taxpayers to build a horse farm or something. Though I am guessing that is something a Government Bureaucrat might do.

I am not excusing what she did. I am not saying she is some innocent victim. Nope she is the perpetrator of a crime not a victim. But when you look at what she is charged with how is her actions  any different than what is usually classified as the public nuisance of panhandling. What makes her crime anymore worse than the panhandler pulling 20 G’s a year holding a homeless sign.  And if we are convicting her for lying – are we next in line for the numerous deceptions we perpetrate on society?  Hey maybe she should have hired me for her legal defense instead of Jack “Many Shades of Gray” Schwartz. I’m no lawyer but I did once sleep and conference at a Holiday Inn – so I must probably be some kind of expert. Nah, she wouldn’t want me as her attorney- I’d still throw the law book at her and lock her up with Ryan and Blago.

That finishes this Stirring of the Pot while playing at Devils Advocate.

QCOnline Story by Kristy Mergenthal

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Bits and Pieces Seen from the Darkened Shadows

Dark Shadows (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I haven’t been blogging much lately but I have been skulking and observing in the darkened shadows of anonymity that surfing the Internet offers. In my previous post I questioned the decision of the Dispatch/Argus on their changes to their QCOnline formats. So far I have not noticed any unacceptable limitations on my accessing their website, as a newspaper subscriber, other than my previous login no longer works for posting comments on their articles. That is as much my fault as theirs as I have chosen not to re-register a name with their new partners in monitoring their comment section. I have noticed that they seem to have experienced a decrease in their comment sections since the change. When doing a 25 comment search the log often has to go back two days to find 25 comments. That probably means less work for their comment moderators – though I am unsure how it will effect their revenue share for advertisement royalties with what seems a considerable amount of lessened comment area traffic.

I have to admit I am glad the Republican Primary is tailing off – it was getting to be pretty much a sleep-inducing repeat of the Clinton/Obama Political Wars of 2008: sans any birther issue. I can’t say I am a fan of any of the finalists and since Gov. Huckabee (the only individual of any party that truly interested me) did not run; My vote still belongs to anybody but fellow Illinoisan, the False Prophet Obama.

After setting my all-time record length as a Grumpy Curmudgeon, this month, my diverticulosis lessened up enough I took in a movie. I went out to the Moline Great Escape and saw the Hunger Games. I liked it! It nicely combined action with drama while attempting a Rod Serling like approach of including morality narrative as part of the storyline background.

Before the movie there were the usual movie trailers of upcoming events attempting to seduce the theater patrons back for new movies. It looks like another banner summer for Marvel Comics in the movie industry. Their were trailers for two of their comic books that have been turned into movies. The Avengers as well as a new Spiderman release are due out soon. There was also a trailer for the late 60′s soap opera Dark Shadows that has been made into a movie.

Okay, I have been a Dark Shadows fan since the early 1990′s. I was introduced to the original 1960′s series and the 1990′s remake of the original when the Sci-Fi channel first came on the air in 1992(?). For the first several years of Sci-Fi Channel’s birth they played Dark Shadows daily sometimes they played they re-aired the same episodes in the morning as well as the evening. This came in handy when power outages interrupted my VCR recording sessions. I had looked forward to the upcoming Dark Shadows movie when I heard the original rumors. I was less excited when I heard it would star Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. If what I have been reading on the Internet and what little I could tell from the trailer are true indicators – my building dissatisfaction is warranted. It looks as if Burton is turning what was a classic Gothic Soap Opera Drama into a Campy production. That does not please this Dark Shadows fan. Plbttt! It also makes me waver considerably at the idea of choosing to pay to see it at a movie theater, where it will cost mega-bucks – when I can just wait for it to come out in DVD and watch it from the comfort of my home for less money.  I was saddened to read that the original actor that played Barnabas Collins, Jonathon Frid, had died on April 14 of this year.  He along with several of the other original series actors played party guests in a scene from the upcoming movie.

On a blogging note the last few weeks has seemed like Akismet must be running overtime for the load of SPAM I have found in my Spam section of the blog. Much of it from the same loons. What a waste of time for everyone -including the loony SPAMMERs- as the garbage never even sees the light of day.

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March 14 an Esoteric Holiday

Caution the following post includes adult information

Despite my extensive 29+ years on this planet, I still stumble upon events or items that I had never heard of. The latest event I learned of when opening my email box, was an obscure, perhaps even esoteric holiday. It seems that today March 14 is celebrated by some individuals as the male emulation of Valentines Day -called Steak and Blowjob Day. Evidently San Diego celebrates a similar, yet individualistic holiday on March 20 – they call Steak and Knobber Day! Perhaps it’s a Navy thing. Well I don’t think anyone is going to get a legal paid holiday for the event – so pardon my ambivalence and disinterest towards either obscure holiday, other than to admit my total ignorance that some would be shallow enough to attempt creation of such a holiday. In all fairness -at least for theScoundrel- to even know that these holidays pretend existence is TMI!

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Let the Bustos-Aguilar-Gualrapp Debate Begin

Yes it is a long post, even for me! Yes it contains my bizarre humor, satire and hyperbole. If you like it, enjoy. If not, I’m easy like a hooker, just go buy tickets to Bill Cosby, because once he is gone – finding quality comedy will be  like looking for water in the desert. All the rest pale in his shadow.

I was reading the dead-tree version of QC Online, the Dispatch/Argus and read where the chosen one, Cheri Bustos, will actually compete in debate with her challengers. Of course the appearance will give her the advantage of home court, considering the venue’s – WQPT Public TV -, connections with the state/local Democratic Politburo Powers That Be. The paper was asking for questions to be sent in for the candidates, that debate selection committee could consider asking during the debate. With that in mind here is my almost-psychic scoundrely Fantastic Voyage miniaturized version of the possible Debate Questions for the candidates; sans candidate replies, to protect the not so innocent among them. (Hey make-up your answers if you absolutely need them. They are probably as good as you would come away from the debate with.) let the (fantasy) debate begin.

Welcome everyone with the first round of questions we will start with Mr. Gualrapp.
DM (Debate Moderator): Mr Gualrapp in your decision to run for the Congress you stated your agenda was to bring jobs back to economically challenged Northwestern Illinois.

In order to display to the voters, your knowledge of what it takes to inhibit, stop and reverse the Rust Belt pattern of the 17th district of Illinois; please explain pros and cons of the Keynesian economics theories versus more classical theories such as Say’s Law. In your answer please include your preference and how you would lead our dysfunctional Congress to implement the changes necessary to right our sinking ship? To help you with your display we have included a practical Buhl 90 series overhead projector and marker. You now have 90 seconds to respond.

DM:  Mr Aguilar, a lot has been made by your supporters, about the fact that you are a director of events  at the local college Augustana.

As a member of the House of Representatives you might be called upon to make important decisions involving our military technology and funding for such – so could you explain, using the applications of special relativity, the advantages of accuracy offered in modern day missile technology versus the carpet bombing methodology used in past warfare.  We have included a a genuine Glenn Beck Chalkboard to help you with your explanation. You now have 90 seconds to respond.

DM: Ms. Hare err. I mean Bustos, alarmist detractors, including several posters on QCOnline articles,  have inferred that like your predecessor, Phil Hare, though slightly more attractive – you seem a cold, political, and calculating loose canon placed on a short lease by the Dick Durbin worshiping Rock Island Politburo; plus during your time servicing East Moline you  often voted to increase taxes on an already struggling region- including five votes to raise  the water/sewer rate. So that you may display to those detractors that you are not the tax and spend puppet many believe you to be, please answer the following difficult and tricky question.

If you are charged  $70 for an overnight visit at a local hotel and the city charges a 12% hotel tax on top of the base, what will be the total cost for your nightly stay – excluding meals, masseur, extra amenities or mini-bar charges that you can charge to your government expense account. Due to the difficulty of this question we have placed a Del Inspiron 17R series laptop computer with 17″ screen, a 2nd gen Intel® Core™ i7 processor, 1TB hard drive, and upgraded graphics we have also installed Microsoft Office Word, Excel, Power Point and One Note software for your convenience and Internet access. Due to the complexity of this question we will allow as much time as needed to calculate your answer.

Candidates thank you for your responses. Though we were sadly disappointed in the brevity of the answers to Mr. Gualrapp’s and Mr. Aguilar’s questions, which led to an incomplete understanding of how voters can hope for them to represent them in the US Congress. Ms. Bustos your response of $78.40 was exactly correct – we realize  that your question was extremely difficult, but due to the time constraints of this televised debate a quicker response would have been preferable. Round two is coming up and the questions may be pointed toward personal strengths and/or liabilities and probably will be slightly more difficult. You may continue to use the equipment we provided in the first round. We will start round two with Mr. Aguilar.

DM:  Mr. Aguilar we know that you are active in solving the challenges represented by the undocumented immigrant issues in the region. We considered that one helpful solution might be for citizens of the US to embrace the spirit of Magellan, Columbus and early American pioneers, which would create more opportunity for naturalized citizens as well as immigrants seeking new lives and/or asylum from ruthless dictators like Castro and Chavez. For your next question we would like you to figure out the costs of materials, energy and labor – plus the time scale needed to assemble exploration and colonization of the newly found planet Kepler-22b. Please include an advertising cost factor for promoting this exploration and colonization to the US Citizens and interested immigrants.  We have added a slide rule to your accessible tools to perform any needed calculations. Due to the slightly more complexity of this question we will give you an extra 30 seconds of time added to your original 90 seconds. You may start now.

DM: Mr. Gualrapp despite the fact that Dickey Durbin has endorsed your competitor, Ms. Hare err. Bustos and then attempted to intimidate you, and now independent candidate Eric Reyes, out of the competition – many are still worried that if elected,  your past association with Durbin may have a negative influence on your ability to fix the economy of the 17th district of Illinois. To assuage the worries of possible voters please answer the following business oriented question. The media has reported that the Chinese are planning to construct a moon base in the near future, possibly as soon as 2020. Some individuals are claiming that this is a land grab move by China in response and made possible by the US decision to cut back on its space program. Our question to you is; in a John Kennedy/Lyndon Baines Johnson approach layout a clear and precise financial plan that will get the US back into the space race to establish our own colonies and manufacturing bases on the Moon as well as Mars. As with Mr. Aguilar we will give you an extra 30 seconds for this question.

DM: Well I am afraid the last two answers were once again, disappointing. We had really expected better from two such distinguished candidates. We are looking forward to Ms. Bustos’ enlightened answers to renovate this debate.

Ms. Bustos many of the voters are worried that you are inexperienced and nothing more than the remodeled version of your predecessor Politburo Puppet Phil Hare and his extremist views that mirror the Chicago Machine Politics that has crippled the State of Illinois financially. With this question we would like to offer you the chance to display to those voters you are not just another mindless puppet whose dance strings are being pulled, by Extremist Left Wing power Brokers,  while repeating their endless spin. Your question is as follows; Lingerie  – Victoria’s Secret or Fredrick’s of Hollywood?  You may use the laptop and software and Internet connection we made available to you to construct your answer. Like Alex Trebek – We realize the importance of phrasing your answer in the proper form, so please take all the time needed to offer up an elegant response to enchant our viewers.

DM: Well thank you Ms. Hare, err. (I keep messing that up) Bustos for a truly enlightening response to our questions. We had planned another round of questions but due to the time constraints we will be forced to cut this debate short. Like Jerry Springer, we would like to leave you with our last word:

Voting, though it could be said it is mostly an Un-American practice, is an important right of US citizenship. And for those who do practice the hobby of voting – it is important that voters educate themselves about each candidate (hmm, another mostly Un-American practice) rather than being influenced to cast their vote by advertising gimmicks and Political Party pandering and/or organizational arm-twisting (a definite American Tradition). So we would like to end this debate with a line from a John Denver song. Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Stone. We know the Truth is Hard to Come By, and this debate was definitely an analogy of those John Denver lyrics. As impartial media personalities we can tell you to go out and place an educated vote but we cannot tell you how to vote. Still as the song says; Sometimes the cold wind leaves a chill in our bones and some of tonight’s responses did so. We would like to thank all the candidates for showing up to this debate. We would also like to thank Ms. Hare, err. (I am sure I will get this right before the fall elections)  Bustos for her progressive thoughts on the very tough questions we pressed her with. We would also like to give a huge hug and kisses to the Rock Island Democratic Politburo for allowing her to compete in this objective arena. Goodnight and Good luck from TV land! Vote Chicago Style -> Vote Early and Vote Often!

USA-USA-USA

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Illinois Treasure Hunt – Legislator Wants a Vice Tax on Strip Clubs

Illinois legislation just doesn’t learn from its mistakes. They have spent decades making the State of Illinois unfriendly to high-paying manufacturing  jobs to the point - that companies still considering US locations, like Caterpillar Inc, for building industrial plants turn and run the other direction. So the State has had to begin to rely on tourist and entertainment venues to replace the lost income.  Traditionally those industries do not offer workers as lucrative salaries as the manufacturing jobs they are replacing. That means less money for the workers  and less income tax revenues for the State. So you would think the State would be seeking to avoid over taxation of those industries, especially the few that pay their workers on a scale similar to those industries that the State has run off. Nope, My Bad,  this is Illinois where our State legislators looks to milk every nickle and penny possible from any industry fool enough to locate inside the State.

In a a legislative treasure hunt -hidden inside a worthy cause- Illinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson seeks to add a $5 per customer pole (vice) tax to strip clubs around the state, to help fund rape crisis centers and other sexual assault assistance organizations. She stated that her reasoning for singling out strip clubs was: “If you’re going to sell sex and alcohol, then bad things sometimes happen, I’m hopeful they’ll work with me to take some of the stink off their name.” Bad things happen. Why yes they do. However strip clubs are just one of many entertainment sources that promote sex and/or alcohol. But that is hardly a reason to identify Strip Clubs as the source to dam a river of human evils created by numerous tributaries. Perhaps she should start adding a $5  per person vice tax to stores that sell Playboy, Hustler, Penthouse and a host of other adult oriented magazines. Those tend to get heavily sexually graphic and suggestive. Most, also  contain stories intended to stir-up the human libido. Since I mentioned stories -why is she neglecting bookstores and libraries across the State from this tax. Many of he books in both institutions contain sexually graphic material, some also contain sexually violent content.  And don’t forget lets hit all stores that sell or rent mainstream movie videos rated above a “G” rating with that vice tax. Movies and their ratings have evolved to the point – where sexually charged material can even be seen in movies suggested for kids under 17. And many “R” rated movies have reached the point where in past years they would have been slapped with an “X” rating, now changed to a more PC title of “NC17″. Two easily come to mind. One, the highly touted Tom Cruise movie -Eyes Wide Shut- which was filled with Bondage/Sadomasochism references as well as hints of Snuff material. A more recent sexually charged movie release was the acclaimed Natalie Portman/Mila Kunis movie, named Black Swan. The psychological thriller was filled with a battle for a dancers soul between repressed sexual behavior versus hedonistic behavior. The movie contains a very explicit lesbian scene between Portman amd Kunis. Yet I have yet to hear Hutchinson call for a vice taxon theaters and stores that offer up the movie to the public.

Hutchinson went on to lament, well this is all about protecting women. Okay. But protecting women from what? There is nothing anymore sexually charging that happens in a strip club that you will not find with similar intent in any of the venues I mentioned. The what is the vice tax really about? It is about what all taxes are about – the government getting their hands on more money. It is about a possible 44 million dollars that state could get their hands on by taxing the industry. An industry that already makes big bucks for the State treasury through taxes and an industry where the workers actually make a better than average living wage. And if the tax were to be applied evenly it might even be salable as do-gooder intended. But the tax is explicitly aimed at one adult  industry; an industry that is easy to attack because of the sex stigmas that surround it. A stigma that is also a part of every other venue I mentioned. And though Hutchinson hints it is really all about providing services for abused women; knowing past Illinois history, we all know that is a pile of Bullcrap! Just like with the profits from the Illinois Lottery -which was sold as a way to rebuild Illinois Schools- the revenue from any vice tax would be placed into the general funds where legislator thugs would spend-spend-spend on their pet pork projects while the organizations needing the money would still be begging for the funds that were diverted away from their intended sources. Sadly, spin-spin-spin, next take-take-take then spend-spend-spend  is the Illinois way. 

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I Shopped on Cyber Monday

It was not as exhilarating of a roller-coaster ride experience as braving Black Friday can be. But then I didn’t have to waste my Thanksgiving Holiday by joining feral  mobs gathered outside in the freezing cold, while surviving on rations of rodent tartar and pooled cement pond liquids foraged from the parking lots/Tent City/Outhouses of the Big Box Stores. Nope. Instead I waited until Monday and from inside the heated comfort of my home with two bathrooms; I was consuming mass quantities of Mt. Dew, hot meals, Moon Pies and Almonds while I spent Monday Afternoon surfing the Internet to purchase Christmas presents. And a process that normally creates days upon days of endless shopping, eating numerous inedible fast food meals plus generates an expense approaching a kings ransom to keep my vehicle traveling from store to store comparing bargains was over 80% finished – using the less excruciating experience of Cyber Monday. Nor was I crowded up against shoppers – unhygienic from living 24 hours or more  in a Big Box Shanty.  Neither was I pushed, shoved, attacked or pepper-sprayed during my online shopping excursion. Did I get the big bargains I would have by going out on Black Friday – probably not. But 29+ years on this planet have taught me that bargains are mostly in your head, as most sales are just the same numbers regurgitated in a different configuration. That is one of the reasons companies can feel  comfortable offering price guarantees on their products.  Are there some huge one-of-a-kind savings during any shopping frenzy? You bet there are always some great buys used as leaders to attract crowds. More often than not those products -though a great bargain- are outdated and/or limited quantities. The only real loss for me is that I actually get fascinated when observing the shopping madness that turns shy little soccer-moms and walker-grannies into raging Godzillas in search of the next Blue Light  Special; as long as the violence is controlled and kept below the Ali-Frazier “Thrilla in Manila“.  But since I Cybered Monday, I will be done with my holiday purchases in a manner of days. That means I will have plenty of time to wander the Big Box Stores at a distance, practicing the Star Trek Prime Directive of non-interference, while I observe and ponder the holiday shopping rituals of  humans regressing to primeval states of existence and survival tactics.

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

Prospero:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits, and

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capp’d tow’rs, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on; and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.

We now take you from our Shakespearean amusement to the real theatrical world of Rock Island County Illinois.

Can you smell in your dreams? It sure smells like a putrid stench of nepotism is currently enveloping the Rock Island Co. Democratic Politburo! During a high level of US unemployment, where the average time between jobs is around 40 weeks, and in a job climate where many professional workers are taking jobs that they are overqualified for – just in order to put bread on their family’s table; the son of RICO Democrat Politburo heavyweight and former US Congressman, Philobluster Hare- has a new job as Assistant Warden  at the East Moline IL Correctional Center.    -It is probably only a coincidence that the head warden of the prison is also the head of the Rock Island Democratic party.-      According to a QCOnline article Philobluster’s son – Lou Hare, whom has a Masters Degree in theater, managed to be hired (or should we probably say – appointed?) to this high level position at the prison, after only a month of unemployment! I can easily imagine in this current job environment that there are many learned people with law enforcement and correctional backgrounds asking themselves – how did an individual like Hare‘s son , versed in a thespian background, manage to leap and bound over other individuals more practiced in dealing with issues abound in a Medium Security Prison! It surely smells like the RICO Democratic Politburo’s, Good Ol’ Boy Political Nepotistic Network, hard at work. Good Ol’ Boy Politics- surely, The stuff that dreams are made of.