Friday, December 04, 2009

WTF!!!!


I'm not usually a cusser. (Full disclosure: I have been known to use a common vulgarism for excrement when I hit or pinched a finger, dropped a glass or spilled my tea, but that doesn't really count as cussing.) Yesterday morning, I came in to work, looked at a fax that had come in overnight and cussed. WTF!!!! Only I didn't use the initials.

What caused me to cuss was a fax from Newt Gingrich's organization, "American Solutions for Winning the Future," addressed to "John." The first sentence was as follows: "Thanks to the help of business leaders across the country Newt has begun to get our message across that the Obama Administration is bad for America and bad for businesses like yours." What?? "OUR message?" As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger when the they were surrounded by Indians and the Lone Ranger said, "We have to do something," "What do you mean, 'WE, keemo sabe?'" The Obama Administration is bad for MY business? MY business is suing people. So what bad thing have they done for MY business?

The fax goes on to say, "I hope you don't mind but I went ahead and personally recommended you to Newt to become a member of his high level, 'Jobs and Prosperity Task Force.' This is Newt's group of top advisers from the Business community and I think you would be a terrific addition to the group!" So, you hope I don't mind that you personally recommended me to Newt. Yeah, right, dipshit. I mind and you better personally tell Newt, that Crockhead is pissed!

That wasn't even the worst part. The fax goes on to say,
"We would like to send out the attached Press Release to your local paper announcing your appointment and run a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal with your name in it endorsing our 'Jobs Here, Jobs Now, Jobs First Campaign,' which includes a complete abolishment of the 'Death Tax'."

What??? A press release announcing my appointment? Even our local Republican rag would use such a press release for toilet paper. (Well, actually they wouldn't because it would clog up the sewer, but you get the point.) Endorsing the complete abolishment of the "Death Tax?" For your information, ass wipe,the so-called "Death Tax" only applies to estates larger than 3.5 million dollars in 2009, and Congress is in the process of passing legislation to extend that exemption indefinitely. So, exactly how is it that letting people who inherit (not work for, but INHERIT) 3.5 million dollars not pay any taxes on it, help create jobs? The same way the Bush tax cuts for the rich created jobs?

My son, who is working two jobs to keep himself and his wife clothed, sheltered and fed and can't afford health insurance, has to pay taxes on what he EARNS. So, why should heirs who do nothing but exist,have their multi-million dollars be exempt from taxes? And, how exactly does that create jobs? The same way that the Bush Administration's tax cuts for the wealthy created jobs? How stupid do you think the American people are? (On second thought, don't answer that question.)

The last page in the fax was a mock-up of the full page Wall Street Journal advertisement with my name at the top of the list of "business leaders." I called the number in Washington (1-866-716-3386, if you want to personally tell Newt Gingrich what you think of him) and demanded to speak to the person who had sent me the letter. "He is busy," the telephone operator said. "Please, personally give Newt this message from his friend, John," I said (actually, I wish I had said, but everything else in this post is true:)
"Newt, you swine. You vulgar little maggot. You worthless bag of filth. As they say in Texas. I'll bet you couldn't pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel. You are a canker. A sore that won't go away.
You are a putrescent mass, a walking vomit. You are a spineless little worm deserving nothing but the profoundest contempt. You are a jerk, a cad, a weasel. Your life is a monument to stupidity. You are a stench, a revulsion, a big suck on a sour lemon.

"You are a bleating foal, a curdled staggering mutant dwarf smeared richly with the effluvia and offal accompanying your alleged birth into this world. An insensate, blinking calf, meaningful to nobody, abandoned by the puke-drooling, giggling beasts who sired you and then killed themselves in recognition of what they had done.

"I will never get over the embarrassment of belonging to the same species as you. You are a monster, an ogre, a malformity. I barf at the very thought of you. You have all the appeal of a paper cut. Lepers avoid you. You are vile, worthless, less than nothing. You are a weed, a fungus, the dregs of this earth. And did I mention you smell?

"You snail-skulled little rabbit. Would that a hawk pick you up, drive its beak into your brain, and upon finding it rancid set you loose to fly briefly before pattering the ocean rocks with the frothy pink shame of your ignoble blood. May you choke on the queasy, convulsing nausea of your own trite, foolish beliefs.

"You are weary, stale, flat and unprofitable. You are grimy, squalid, nasty and profane. You are foul and disgusting. You're a fool, an ignoramus. Monkeys look down on you. Even sheep won't have sex with you. You are unreservedly pathetic, starved for attention, and lost in a land that reality forgot.

"And what meaning do you expect your delusionally self-important statements of unknowing, inexperienced opinion to have with me? What fantasy do you hold that you would believe that your tiny-fisted tantrums would have more weight than that of a leprous desert rat, spinning rabidly in a circle, waiting for the bite of the snake? You are a waste of flesh. You have no rhythm. You are ridiculous and obnoxious. You are the moral equivalent of a leech. You are a living emptiness, a meaningless void. You are sour and senile. You are a disease, you puerile one-handed slack-jawed drooling meatslapper.

"On a good day you're a half-wit. You remind me of drool. You are deficient in all that lends character. You have the personality of wallpaper. You are dank and filthy. You are asinine and benighted. You are the source of all unpleasantness. You spread misery and sorrow wherever you go.

"You smarmy lagerlout git. You bloody woofter sod. Bugger off, pillock. You grotty wanking oik artless base-court apple-john. You clouted boggish foot-licking twit. You dankish clack-dish plonker. You gormless crook-pated tosser. You churlish oil-brained clotpole ponce. You cockered bum-bailey poofter. You craven dewberry pisshead cockup pratting naff. You gob-kissing gleeking flap-mouthed coxcomb. You dread-bolted fobbing beef-witted clapper-clawed flirt-gill.

"You are a fiend and a coward, and you have bad breath. You are degenerate, noxious and depraved. I feel debased just for knowing you exist. I despise everything about you, and I wish you would go away. I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you are. I mean rock-hard stupid. Dehydrated-rock-hard stupid. Stupid so stupid that it goes way beyond the stupid we know into a whole different dimension of stupid. You are trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid. Stupid collapsed on itself so far that even the neutrons have collapsed. Stupid gotten so dense that no intellect can escape. Singularity stupid. Blazing hot mid-day sun on Mercury stupid. You emit more stupid in one second than our entire galaxy emits in a year. Quasar stupid. Your writing has to be a troll. Nothing in our universe can really be this stupid. Perhaps this is some primordial fragment from the original big bang of stupid. Some pure essence of a stupid so uncontaminated by anything else as to be beyond the laws of physics that we know. I'm sorry. I can't go on.This is an epiphany of stupid for me. After this, you my not hear from me again for a while. I don't have enough strength left to deride your half baked comments about unimportant trivia, or any of the rest of this drivel. Duh.

"The only thing worse than your logic is your manners. Maybe later in life, after you have learned to read, write, spell, and count, you will have more success. True, these are rudimentary skills that many of us "normal" people take for granted that everyone has an easy time of mastering. But we sometimes forget that there are "challenged" persons in this world who find these things more difficult. If I had known, that this was your case then I would have never read your fax. It just couldn't have been "right". Sort of like parking in a handicap space. I wish you the best of luck in the emotional, and social struggles that seem to be placing such a demand on you.

"You are hypocritical, greedy, violent, malevolent, vengeful, cowardly, deadly, mendacious, meretricious, loathsome, despicable, belligerent,opportunistic, barratrous, contemptible, criminal, fascistic, bigoted, racist, sexist, avaricious, tasteless, idiotic, brain-damaged, imbecilic,insane, arrogant, deceitful, demented, lame, self-righteous, byzantine,conspiratorial, satanic, fraudulent, libelous, bilious, splenetic, spastic, ignorant, clueless, illegitimate, harmful, destructive, dumb, evasive, double-talking, devious, revisionist, narrow, manipulative,
paternalistic, fundamentalist, dogmatic, idolatrous, unethical, cultic, diseased, suppressive, controlling, restrictive, malignant, deceptive, dim, crazy, weird, dystopic, stifling, uncaring, plantigrade, grim, unsympathetic, jargon-spouting, censorious, secretive, aggressive, mind-numbing, arassive, poisonous, flagrant, self-destructive, abusive, socially-retarded, puerile, clueless, and generally Not Good.

"In other words, go away."

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Fox News: We Exaggerate; You Decide

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Jon Stewart: An Antidote For The Craziness

Jon Stewart is an absolute genius. Even if you're drinking the kool-aid being handed out these days by Republican wackos like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Baughman, Sarah Palin and the whole Fox News network, this has to make you laugh.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Block That Hyperbole!

I really am not in a foul mood this morning. But something about a letter to the editor in this morning's local newspaper struck me as ironic, if not just plain weird. The letter writer writes that she accidently left her purse in a cart at a Wal-Mart last week. A Good Samaritan found the purse and arranged for its return with nothing missing. She goes on to say, "My faith in humanity is restored thanks to this kind person."

Really?? That's all it took? She now has faith in all of humanity, including the Cheney family, Al-Queda, Barry Manilow and Paris Hilton? For a purse and its contents? Wow! Makes me wonder what would have happened if someone had found and returned something really valuable like a diamond ring.

Sorry I'm so cynical. I'll get off my duff and go to the Farmer's Market. Maybe some fresh vegetables will restore my faith in humanity

Will The Stupidity Never End?

I have long ago stopped being surprised at the latest developments in Bush/Cheney perfidy. So, why should I be outraged at the latest Cheney lie? I don't know, I just am.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Movie Report: The Informant

I was interested in seeing The Informant, Steven Soderbergh's new movie with Matt Damon for several reasons. The events it depicts, the whistle-blowing scandal of Mark Whitacre at the giant food processor, Archer Daniel Midland, located in Decatur, just 30 miles west from here, were familiar to me as an avid newspaper consumer. I have a soft spot for whistle blowers, having represented several of them in the course of my work as a lawyer, and I know how difficult life can be for them.

Whistle blowers, almost by definition, are misfits, odd ducks who do not fit in to standard corporate culture. The people who fit in do not blow whistles because they are too comfortable. Whitacre was the archtypical whistle blower, a brilliant scientist, a congenital liar whose motives for blowing the whistle on ADM were so mixed with self-interest that they were impossible to sort out.

It turns out Whitacre was stealing from ADM, how much even he couldn't keep straight. In the middle of his lies, he wound up turning in ADM for price fixing and courageously wearing a wire at work to get the evidence. But, ironically, Whitacre was sentenced to more time in prison for his larceny of millions than the top ADM executives ever served for their stealing of billions from American consumers through price fixing.

Steven Soderbergh, the director of The Informant, made the iconic whistle blower movie with Erin Brokovich in 2000. In many ways, The Informant is better than Brokovich in that it paints the various protagonists in more realistic shades of gray, than the black and white of a righteous woman up against a corrupt corporation. For the same reason, the movie is less satisfying. There is less emotional release when the movie does not delineate who the good guys and the bad guys are and it is less certain that good prevailed in the end.

As good as Damon is, however, I would always rather watch Julia Roberts with her perky good looks and push up bra, so between the two Soderbergh whistle-blowing movies, I would have to rate Brokovich higher. Not to mention that the whistle-blower's lawyer comes off much better in Brokovich than the doofus from Taylorville in Informant.

I gave the movie four stars out of a possible five, meaning it is above average, but not brilliant.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Keep Him Away From My Funeral

Okay, it's time to blog again. (Don't complain about the long absence, just be thankful for what you get.)

Today, I went to the funeral of an uncle by marriage. The uncle who preached the funeral sermon was another uncle, a brother-in-law of the uncle who died. He started out by saying that M. had a gift for spotting other people's faults and pointing them out to them -- in love. Sheesh. I thought a funeral was when you said good things about people.

Reminds me of a funeral of an old family friend I went to in that same church a few years ago. The minister, who was rather far from being a gifted speaker, said that you're supposed to say something good about the deceased, and he had thought and thought and thought and then came up with this idea. Old A. was known for driving very slowly down the highway on his way to the coffee shop in town, with his car half on the shoulder and half on the highway, while a big line up of traffic crawled along behind him. And that just made the minister realize that we should all take a lesson from that and slow down in life.

With love like that, who needs hate?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A Wonderful Wedding Weekend

I don't think I've mentioned it on this blog before, but Son Number Two got married this past weekend on Long Island in New York. It was a wonderful wedding and we had a great time partying at a rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception. The ceremony and reception were held in the back yard of the Bride's uncle. Here are some pictures:




Friday, August 07, 2009

But Now Everything Is Fine

So, I'm in Portland, Oregon, now with my friends from 45 years ago. Everything is beautiful. Here are pictures of Marv and Carlene's house and gardens. Later today we're going to take a trip to the Pacific coast.















Another Humorless Rant

Anyone who thinks that the private sector is always better at running things than the government should try to take a plane trip.

Last week, Son Number Two and his fiance were going to join us in a family vacation for a few days in Pentwater, MI. I arranged for them to fly out of LaGuardia in NYC early in the morning on Thursday, get to Pentwater about noon, and then they would have two and one-half days with us before flying back to New York on Sunday morning. The plane was to leave at 6:00 a.m. and it takes them an hour to get to the airport, so they had to get up at 3:00 a.m. in order to get to the airport an hour ahead of departure, like you have to do these days. Delta had their telephone number to let them know of any last-minute changes. So, what happens, they get to the airport only to find out the flight has been canceled because of mechanical problems (the weather was fine.) Another flight was canceled too, and the passengers for both flights had to go to the same single window to get rebooked. They wound up waiting two hours to get their new flight information. Their plane finally did leave late that evening, about half an hour after the scheduled time, and they got into Grand Rapids at midnight, so the first half day of the two and one half days was gone.

Yesterday, I flew from Chicago to Portland, with a connecting flight at Salt Lake City. We were scheduled to leave at 5:20 p.m. The pilot made an announcement 10 minutes before departure time telling us that we were going to be leaving on time and that the plane was full, so people with two carry-on pieces of luggage should stow one under the seat and one in the overhead bin so there would be room for everyone's luggage. About 10 minutes after we were supposed to have left, the pilot came back on the intercom to tell us that the plane was overloaded because more people showed up than expected (remember just 20 minutes earlier he had told us the plane was full) so they needed 18 volunteers to get off in exchange for $600 in Delta money and accommodations for the night. Lights went on all over the plane as people jumped to volunteer. About 10 minutes later, they told us they had enough volunteers and as soon as the paperwork was processed, we would take off.

After another 15 minutes, we were told they were still processing the paper work, and as soon as it was done, we would be leaving. After another 15 minutes, the pilot was back to tell us they had decided that nobody needed to get off after all because they would take off in the opposite direction than usual on the runway. They hoped the extra wind speed would enable us to get off the ground. They HOPED? Let me off!!! I'll walk to Portland.

The long and short of it is that we did take off and got to Salt Lake City more than an hour late, which would have been too late for the connecting flight, had Delta not graciously decided to keep that plane on the ground until we got there. So, those people weren't too happy to see us, even though I was happy to see them.

This is no way to run a business -- any business.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Remember Me?

I promised a friend I would start blogging again, so here goes. Don't ask me why I stopped writing at the end of May, I just did. It didn't seem like I had anything new, creative or interesting to post. It still doesn't. But, I need to write, so I'll just post boring stuff until my creative juices get flowing again.

Right now, I'm waiting at Midway Airport in Chicago for my flight to Portland, Oregon, by way of Salt Lake City. They have rocking chairs in the concourse C waiting area. Fantastic!

Last week, we were in Pentwater, MI with The Wife's family. We had a good time. The sunsets and weather were spectacular as usual.

Next week, Sun Number Two gets married on Long Island, NY. That will be exciting. I will get back from Portland on Sunday night, work two days and then head off to NYC on Wednesday, back the following Monday. The Wife's school starts the day after we get back, so she's skipping the trip to Portland.

Okay, I kept my promise; I posted. I'll try to make it interesting next time.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Jimmy Johns Thinks I'm Too Serious

Two posts below, on May 15, I went on a mini-rant about the Jimmy Johns commercial depicting hostages calling for Jimmy Johns sandwiches, while cowering under furniture in what turns out to be a bank, not a school, and vowed to eat no more Jimmy Johns. Now, some anonymous commenter from Los Angeles, who was involved in making the commercial, takes me to task for taking myself too seriously, saying the commercial is meant to be funny. Here's the comment:
"This was in fact a bank robbery situation, and I know first hand as I was involved in the making of this commercial. It is meant to be humorous, and I believe it achieved that. Now you can either laugh at this commercial and make your day much better, or you can choose to take yourself way too seriously and add years of stress on to your life for worrying about things like this.

7:13 PM, May 29, 2009"


I'll leave it up to regular readers to decide whether I take myself too seriously or not. What I'm interested in is whether people think the intention to make something humorous and the author's subjective belief that it, indeed, is funny, is sufficient to label any critics sour pusses who add years of stress to their lives (another interesting question: which is better to add years of stress to your life or live a shorter life? I think the Anonymous commenter meant that I will shorten my life because of the stress, not add to it, but precision in communication is not Mr. Anonymous's strong point, as you will see if you watch the commercial.) I guess Mr. Anonymous's point is that everything is fair game, as long as the author intends it to be funny. So, what commercials is Mr. Anonymous working on next? Starving children in Africa finding a cell phone in the sand and using it to call for a Jimmy Johns delivery? Airplane hijackers diverting their crash into the World Trade Center at the last minute because they want to finish their Jimmy Johns sandwiches before going to Paradise?

I'm sorry, I don't believe my only choice is to laugh at the commercial and make my day better or lengthen (actually shorten) my life by taking myself too seriously. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to continue not taking myself too seriously and laughing at myself. I'm also going to continue to be outraged at stupid commercials that are not funny, no matter what the inarticulate authors of it intended. And, I'm still not going to eat Jimmy Johns sandwiches. Ever. Again.

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

JACK Report: Playing This Weekend in Chicago and New York

If you're in the Chicago area, you can catch the JACK Quartet Saturday night at The Music Institute of Chicago. The Wife and I are going up, hoping to catch a glimpse and a word or two, maybe even a meal with Son Number Two. Sunday night, the Quartet is back in New York City, playing at (Le) Poisson Rouge, opening for The Respect Sextet.

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Friday, May 15, 2009

No More Jimmy Johns

I don't watch much television, so I am probably naive about what is considered acceptable these days. Last night, the commercial for Jimmy Johns sandwiches shown on our local NBC station during The Office shocked me as I haven't been shocked for a long time. It depicts a Columbine school massacre with masked terrorists shooting up a school as children and teachers scream and try to hide. While cowering under a desk, a teacher pulls out a cell phone and calls for a sandwich delivery from Jimmy Johns. The delivery boy shows up, and the terrorist rips off his ski mask and says, "Who ordered Jimmy Johns?"

Is nothing over the limit these days? What's next, an ad for shampoo that keeps hair looking gorgeous through a 9/11 disaster? A spot remover that can take the blood and brains off Jackie Kennedy's jacket?

Since the Supreme Court's ridiculous decision giving First Amendment free speech rights to corporations, such despicable advertising is legal and cannot be made illegal. But there is no law that says I have to eat Jimmy Johns sandwiches, ever again. And I won't. Here's the ad, if you have a strong stomach:

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

JACK Report: The DVD is Out

Mode Records on Monday released JACK Quartet's first album. I haven't heard it yet because I have been promised a free copy by Son Number Two. You can buy directly from the record company for $14.99 for the CD; $19.99 for the DVD. You can get it from Amazon for as low as $16.74 plus $3.00 shipping. Or, you can order it from Netflix. I have to warn you though, that this is not easy listening music.

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