SOUND THE AIR RAID SIREEEEENS, IT'S THE FRIDAY FOLLIES!

LOCK UP THE WOMEN AND CHILLUN, GET THE CANNED GOODS, SOUND THE AIR RAID SIREEEENS, it's Friday Follies time again!



1) Justice Is A Dish Best Served Cold: Gotta love this! In the wake of genius-boy Not So Speedy Gonzalez's resignation (the ONLY person still defending him was George DUMBaya), looks like the Justice Department's Inspector General, one Glenn Fine has been freed up to investigate whether this sniveling incompetent was in fact lying to or misleading Congress with his testimony regarding the firing of several US Attorneys and the illegal warrantless surveillance program. I say, GO GET 'EM GLENN!!! Senator Patrick Leahy's letter to Mr. Fine raising concerns on a number of issues was not wasted apparently, and though I'm no fan of the Democrats, I do at least give 'em credit for wanting to hold these shamelessly amoral bastards accountable for politicizing the Justice Department (I just wonder where was the outrage when Janet Reno was pulling one spectacular blood-drenched screw-up after another while covering Clinton and Gore's a$$es). One could only hope this leads to the Bush Gang going down in flames eventually. More details HERE. And some comments from Senator Leahy HERE



2) GOP - The Party In Denial; How did it happen? How did the Republicans go from being the party of Lincoln to the party of intrusive big government, out of control spending, SHAMELESS LACK OF MORALS, intellectual bankruptcy, celebrators of incompetence, puppets of corporations and not a clue as to what's really happening around them. Yeah, I know, it's too big a question to ponder in one blog post, but the signs are obvious and numerous. This past week, it came to light that one GOP-er by the name of Larry Craig got himself deservedly busted for lewd conduct in the men's room of a Minnesota airport. He plead guilty (amazingly enough), now he comes out saying he shouldn't have plead guilty and that he's not gay. Uhhhhh, yeah, right buddy.


This is just typical of many GOP types anymore, on the one hand, they trumpet themselves as beacons of honesty, morality, small government etc, but in reality, have demonstrated themselves as anything but that, and the denial that anything's wrong is just mind-blowing! The Republicans can blame "liberals" and "terrorists" all they want for their problems, but the fact is, they've got only themselves to blame for their descent into mediocrity, amorality, incompetence, greed and stupidity. Last November, after the Republicans got massacred in the elections, one no less than a raging hypocrite in Newt Gingrich (who while going after Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair was cheating on his own wife), wrote an unusually honest appraisal in the Atlanta Journal Constitution as to why the GOP lost so spectacularly. He admitted that people got power hungry, greedy, threw competence out the window and became all too willing to compromise morals to get what they wanted. The shenanigans of ruthless and shady characters like Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, Mark Foley, George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzalez, John Ashcroft, Larry Craig, Harriet Miers (who once remarked that "George W Bush was the smartest man she's ever met". HUH????????????), Michael "You're Doing A Hell Of A Job" Brown and numerous other incompetent and amoral slime should be evidence enough this party needs to be annihilated altogether, ALONG WITH THE DEMOCRATS for much the same reasons. Time for some fresh thinking, we need more folks like the Libertarians or The Constitution Party and others to step up to the plate, time to end this unfair duopoly of the Republicrats who seek to stifle innovation and forward thinking at all costs.


3) This Can't Be True #381: In Russia, a man was arrested for, get this, STEALING A BRIDGE!!!??? Yes, it really happened, some nimrod with nothing better to do used some kind of construction vehicle to steal a 5 meter bridge span, after which he chopped it up and sold it for scrap metal. Here's the story


4) Location, Location, Location!!!: In Karlshoefen Germany, one unfortunate Manfred Sedlazek has found his house being smashed into by errant cars and trucks on a repeated basis (10 times at last count). It didn't exactly help that he built his house at the bend of a VERY busy road. You'd think he'd get the idea after the first smashup or two. More HERE


5) Some SERIOUSLY Hungry Spiders?: Looks like some spiders have taken web-spinning to a whole new extreme, going so far as to engulf a 200 yard stretch of walking trail in Texas with their webs, trapping numerous mosquitoes, more HERE

6) Further Proof They Do Things Big and Over The Top In Texas: Take the example of one Kinky Freedman, a true Texas original who can claim many things on his resume, including singer/songwriter (among his other songs, "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore"), one-time Independent candidate for the governorship of Texas (he lost but still did something very successfully, namely convinced over 600,000 Texas voters to register and vote Independent), author of 25 fiction books (he has a thing for detective novels set in New York), fixture on the lecture circuit and purveyor of such memorable quotes as these;

"Every great artist should be ahead of his time and behind on his rent"

"Musicians can better run this state than politicians. They won't get much done early in the morning but they'll work late and be honest"

Tonight, he'll be the keynote speaker at the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur GA which should definitely be fun and very head turning.

Read up on him HERE and check out his groovy WEBSITE

And Happy Friday To Y'all

Hoo Hooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm Gone for Five Days and---------

IIIIIIII'MMMMMMMM BAAAAAAAAACCCK!

It was a great 5 days on the West Coast for this Owl, between hooking up with some old friends, some jamming (small bit of recording too), LOTS of ocean air and some swimming in the Pacific, bike riding on Newport Beach, BBQ-ing and more, it was a much needed rest for me. Truth be told, it was hard to come back. Thankfully, Atlanta's horrid heatwave had lifted some by the time I got back. And kudos to Delta airlines for very good service and on-time departures and arrivals, this Owl appreciates it to no end. Maybe some of you'se numbskulls over at Northwest (who I had the misfortune of flying on once) could take a tip from the revitalized Delta.

And while I was gone, a few interesting things took place;

1) Keith Richards Demands Apology for Bad Review of Stockholm Stones Concert; Awwwwwwww, poooooorrrr baaaaayyyybaaaaayyy. Is he a corpse in denial or what? In response to a review that among other things described Keith Richards as being super-drunk on stage (like that's anything new), good 'ol Keith (or what remains of him) loudly demanded an apology. Geez Keith, since when should people apologize and bow down to you for telling the truth??! And besides o' decomposing one, your band is DECADES past its prime and should've called it quits 30 years ago! The hilariously sordid story HERE

2) Justice Served Again, Not-So-Speedy Gonzalez Resigns: Looking very much like a frightened passenger on a train about to derail at 90mph, our hapless, lying sorry excuse for an AG Alberto Gonzalez announced his resignation, effective next month. His shallow, scripted resignation announcement on live TV was something else, did you notice how FAST he bolted off the stage (probably leaving the director and producer saying "$#%@, how are we gonna fill airtime now?") as if saying, "I'm gettin' offa this train wreck!" Well Not-So-Speedy Gonzalez (whose NEVER tried a case of any type), just because you resigned doesn't mean you're off the hook 'cause you have LOTS to answer for buddy boy! And not only that, unless Howdy Doody can find some spineless yes-man to replace him and cover his a$$, he's lost his last line of defense against investigation and impeachment (one could hope at least). I can only hope this utterly amoral, spineless, hapless, greedy and incompetent administration goes down in flames like the Hindenburg as a result of this particular event. Watch a CNN Video HERE

3) Michael Vick Goes To The Dogs: It's one thing to publicly apologize but man, this brainless male bimbo just goes on and on and on! Worse yet, like other idjiots and no-gooders (Paris Hilton and Manuel Noriega for example), he tries to play the old "I Found Jesus" card (or some variation thereof), in order to try to get off the hook in people's eyes. Ain't gonna happen, and besides, Jesus Himself does NOT appreciate being used as a means of manipulation. He seems to only partially take responsibility for his heinous misdeeds. It'd be poetic justice if Vick found himself attacked by a mob of angry dogs one day. One could only hope.

4) MORE Band Names: Still in a quandary about naming your band, well, the Owl has a few more for ya:

Xerox Atrocities
What Do You Want For Free?
Hot Air Enthusiast Club
The Clean Cut Hagmans
Police Donuts
Mal O'Propism
Oxy-Limbaugh
Lunesta Death Moth

The Friday Follies Two Days Early

Well folks, the whole reason you get The Friday Follies Two Days Early is that I'm going on vacation for a few days in Southern CA, visiting an old friend I've known since 1980. He now owns a successful satellite TV business (Sky Tech Communications). We'll be going up to Idyllwild (near Palm Springs for a camping trip, along with just hanging out and doing some jamming (he plays bass) and visiting some old friends.

So, let's plunge in!

1) Uhhhh Which Way Did He Go George?: Not that this should surprise any of us, but our good 'ol CIA (who are making the Keystone Kops look competent) got themselves torn a new one in a recently de-classified report indicating that they missed and screwed up a number of opportunities to nail Al Queda. A few more details HERE and another fine example of your tax dollars taking a FIVE Martini Lunch.

2) The Great Wayback Machine Debate Rages On: I guess this is one topic that scientists for decades and centuries to come will be exploring, and that being is it possible to travel through time? Still,. maybe luckily for mankind at large it's still only theoretical (the idea of playing God with something like this is too frightening to contemplate sometimes. Watch the movie "PRIMER" for a look at this question). But in any case, some scientists now believe that time travel is theoretically possible although even the potential technology is still centuries away, at least it doesn't have to involve the use of theoretical exotic matter capable of creating negative energy/mass to facilitate bending local space/time with a time travel device. In any case, a news story HERE and a thought provoking little video segment HERE might get your gray matter buzzing on this one a little. Personally, this is one area of physics/science that maybe we should leave well enough alone, as the consequences of playing God with history and such are too frightening to grasp right now. Maybe we'll NEVER be able to pull it off in the first place, which may well be a good thing.

3) People With Issues #697: In Vernon CT, some nimrod actually apologizes then robs the same store TWICE anyway! Gotta keep supporting his local heroin dealer I guess, story HERE

4) What I'd LOVE To Do To Al Gore: How about this folks, gather up literally TONS of fallen tree stumps, wood chips and the like and deliver it to Al Gore's doorstep at his rather expansive manse in TN, just to remind him of another one of his flaming hypocrisies, that being his rather prodigious spewings in print regarding global warming and other junk-science and alarmist things about energy use all the while his TN mansion uses more gas and electricity in ONE MONTH than most people do in over a year! Maybe Al Baby needs a little reminder of all the trees HE killed to print up his hypocritical pseudo-scientific spewage. MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

5) Someone Didn't Get The Memo #6285: Remember the era of $900 toilet seats and $400 hammers? Well, someone didn't get the memo it appears. Cost of 2 washers, $0.19 each, cost of shipping them, $998,798!!!!????????? The sordid story HERE

6) You Want Hilariously Acerbic Social Criticism, Ya Got It!: A very good friend of mine re-introduced me to someone I had nearly forgotten about, and used to listen to on NPR back in the 1980's when I lived in the L.A. area. This was one Ian Shoales, professed "Acerbic Social Critic" whose hilariously acerbic criticisms and observations on subjects as far flung as temp jobs, the perfect city, hobbies, taking the National Writers Test and more had me in stitches more times than not (and how could you not love someone who listed their favorite sport as strangling mimes). In reality though, Ian Shoales is one of 3 alter-egos of one Merle Kessler, a ridiculously gifted comedy writer and actor based in San Francisco. Among his many involvements was the legendary Duck's Breath Mystery Theater comedy troupe which lasted from 1975 to 1990 (although in 2005 they did a one-off reunion show). In any case, my friend loaned me his copy of "I Gotta Go", a collection of Ian Shoales commentaries that was published in 1985, it's CLASSIC stuff that will have you laughing hysterically. Unfortunately, it's currently out of print, although used copies pop up on Amazon these days (click HERE for listings). Kessler's other alter-ego was the assistant/announcer to Dr. Science as in "Ask Dr. Science" (another regular NPR/All Things Considered feature). Thankfully, the Ian Shoales persona is still alive and well and still acerbic as ever, as can be heard on the Ian Shoales WEBSITE (includes full streaming audio section).

AND FINALLY

A little gem another old friend passed along to me:

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930s, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... .WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!


The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this i s a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. For the rest of us...pass this on


SEE YA IN A FEW DAYS FOLKS!!!

Companies and Services I'd Like To See

A guy can dream, can't he?

When It Absolutely Has To Be There, BEFORE YOU SENT IT!

We LITERALLY Take A Bite Out Of Crime

The Other Newman Brings You a Salad Dressing

With A Decidedly Adversarial Flavor.

Sound The Steam Whistles, It's Friday!!!

Happy Friday Once Again!! And welcome to this week's collection of newsworthy items and oddities from all corners of the world; (click picture at right to hear the whistle)

1) I'm Dreaming Of A LOUD Christmas; Next time you're in York PA around Christmas-time, be sure to stick around for an annual event that is a great source of pride to this little burgh. Perched on top of the New York Wire Company's factory is what is now officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World's Records to be the world's loudest steam whistle. And as if that weren't enough, every Christmas-time, someone very skilled in the art of manipulating a whistle-sounding mechanism (variable slide I believe) plays Christmas songs on the whistle (a Lunkenheimer and Crane Mockingbird whistle) for all to hear. Click HERE for a news story, and click HERE for actual video footage of said whistle in action. It's a haunting sound you'll NEVER forget.

2) We Need Another CDC: In this case, a second CDC should stand for Centers For Dumbass Control! It's not enough the CDC gave more praise to its bean counters and bureaucrats than it's hard-working scientists and field investigators. Then they can't account for several million dollars of missing property and the wasteful use of a jet. Ohhhh no, then they have a facility that's prone to losing power, one that contains deadly organisms in refrigeration. Oh, and let's not forget, practically giving the shyster lawyer with tuberculosis a free pass, And now they top it with this, construction crews BLASTING (as in with explosives) within 30 FEET of a building that contains vials/cultures of deadly organisms like Ebola and what not. Sheeeeeeeeeeeer, geeeeeeenius, it's all I can say, More of the story HERE. Your tax dollars taking a 4-Martini lunch.

3) What Hath Apple Wrought?: I'm just CACKLING at this one! AT&T, so far the only carrier servicing the brand-new iPhone (from Apple) sure loves detail, so much that their iPhone customers (already having shelled out $500+ for the phone itself) now are getting their phone bill shipped in A BOX! That's right, the iPhone bill is several dozen pages (at a minimum) long and up to HUNDREDS in some cases. It's not the monthly charges that have people ticked off though, it's the sheer volume of paper and gratuitous data-transfer statistics that get put in the bill, it's nothing short of OVERKILL! The story HERE.

4) IT IS BAAAALLLLOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!; Quote from the "Bye Bye Balloon" episode of F-Troop notwithstanding, the folks at Worldwide Aeros Corp. are doing their part to bring back the passenger carrying dirigible or zeppelin in a newer form, the Aeroscraft ML866. No, it WILL NOT be inflated by hydrogen nor painted with a flammable aluminum based paint like the Hindenburg was. It will use helium, and be customizable to carry freight or passengers ranging in number from 2 to 20. No price has been set yet but it's said that it will be competitive with that of most private jets. With a projected range of 3100 miles (NOT designed for ocean crossing though), a maximum altitude of 12,000 feet and a top speed of 120mph, this would be a perfect machine for folks who want to travel in style that aren't in too bad of a hurry to get there or carrying large payloads to places that a normal plane couldn't land. Test flights are set to begin in 2010, and more details HERE

5) Alice In Blunderland: How do you like this for convoluted BS and another example of government gone horribly out of control? A class-action lawsuit brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of an AT&T customer against the government, more specifically the oh-so-secretive NSA over its unconstitutional warantless wiretapping operations against American citizens, under the guise of "fighting terror". The arguments alone by the governments lawyers are so pathetic and ridden with so much paranoia about secrets being revealed that the three appeals court judges are beside themselves with confusion, amazement and disbelief over all this nonsense. Things like this are just one more reason in my mind to impeach Bush and Cheney. See if ANY of this makes sense to you, more HERE

6) It Looked Good On Paper #277: In the mid-1950's the Air Force was trying to solve a particularly annoying problem with then new jet-fighters/interceptors. That being, how to get quicker acceleration that prop driven aircraft were famous for yet be able to achieve jet speeds. Well, some folks at Republic Aircraft came up with a novel idea, why not take a jet fighter body (in this case, that of a Republic F-84 Thunderjet) and power it with a specially designed prop capable of operating at supersonic velocities? Sure looked impressive on paper, and they set about trying the idea out. Using a somewhat widened F-84 body (fitted with a T-tail) they just barely crammed in a nearly 6000hp turboprop engine (actually 2 engines connected to a common gearbox) that had been prone to numerous problems in other experimental airframes, a special 3-bladed prop (which spun at 3000 rpm, over 3 times the normal rotational speed of most props) and even an afterburner. What followed was something less than stellar. End result?

• 11 out of 12 test flights ended in emergency landings due to vibrations of the outrageously long drive shaft



• Top speed of just barely over 500mph



• Became infamous for being the LOUDEST plane ever built. This was due to the prop's outrageously high rotational speed. The prop tips were constantly breaking the sound barrier unleashing constant sonic booms, and as if that weren't obnoxious enough, these sonic booms resonated off the ground creating subsonic pulses which sickened and nauseated the ground crew, not to mention cracked windows.

I read somewhere of a former AF officer who lived about 10 miles from the base where it was tested could easily hear this hellish beast revving up from that distance. It was nicknamed "Thunderscreech" with very good reason. When flying overhead, it was reputed to sound like a screaming creature from Hell itself. Needless to say, the program was scrapped. Today, only one of two prototypes has survived, currently on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton OH. A detailed article HERE, another HERE

ON THE PLAYER:

MILES DAVIS - IN A SILENT WAY

A gem from 1969, and at this point, Miles had completely broken away from straight jazz and was reaching for something genuinely new. With drummer Tony Williams (who would leave the Davis fold to form his own revolutionary Lifetime band shortly after), keyboardists Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and a young unknown guitarist from Britain by the name of John McLaughlin, Miles conjured up a strangely beautiful, alternately rocking and hypnotic album of constantly shifting colors, long loping melody lines and inspired improvisations. The only resemblance to jazz it bore was that there was improvisation, it's only resemblance to rock was electric instruments. The rest had roots in African percussion ensembles and seemingly Impressionist composers as far as some of the harmonies went, but the sum total was something far more that couldn't be described in words. This is something just perfect to throw on late at night over a good glass of wine or tea and just let it wash over you. Highly recommended

HAPPY FRIDAY FROM THIS OWL!

A Few Good Deterrents Against Crime

1) Neighborhood Police Patrols: As many metropolitan police forces have found themselves at times stretched to the limit, many suburban and urban neighborhoods have taken a smarter approach, and that is, hiring (for a reasonable annual fee per resident) private neighborhood patrols and in some cases employing off-duty officers. The result so far has been beneficial in reduced crime and the police being able to give themselves to some weightier cases that require more attention. A number of Atlanta neighborhoods for example are adopting this novel approach, one story HERE Another instance in NYC (see this NY Times article) illustrated clearly the need and the prevalence of neighborhood and community policing. There are some that are worried about some private patrols exceeding their rightful bounds (see this Washington Post article), but I tell you, I'd rather have them a little overzealous than leave an area vulnerable to dangerous criminals.

2) Reclaiming Our Second Amendment Rights:

Amendment II

Right to bear arms

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

For FAR too long, liberals have been hell-bent on a misguided notion that somehow eliminating the right to own guns will eliminate crime and violence. It's plenty obvious to anyone with half a mind that it just ain't so. One of the best deterrents to crime is an armed citizenry. OK, I also know that NOT EVERYONE should have firearms, either because of prior criminal activity and/or mental illness, but it can be VERY well documented from many sources that a quick thinking responsible citizen in posession of a firearm may well have prevented a major tragedy.
Click HERE for a list and a number of true accounts of this.

I for one believe it's high time we started not only fighting back against the liberal assault on our constitutional rights (and I'm also including the wimpy liberal Republicans in my disdain) but also, we need to start fighting back at the criminal element as well. Simply put, we don't need to get tough on crime, WE NEED TO GET MEAN AS HELL WITH CRIME AND CRIMINALS! We need to strike back with a clear indication that their destructive actions, parasitic lifestyle and terrorizing innocent people will carry a VERY HEAVY price tag, up to and including their very lives. Yes, you read right, I think we need to start putting more of these punks in a pine box! We need to untie the hands of our police and allow them to do their jobs, and stop punishing/criminalizing them when they take out some punk who kills, rapes, robs and steals. They should be getting medals for this! Personally, I think we need to have more "Harry Callahan's" on every police force that aren't reticent to use necessary deadly force to stop crime and save lives. No, I'm not advocating people being trigger-happy (it'd be a sad day for us if people started getting executed for parking tickets), but I am saying we DO need to fight back at the violent/psychotic/destructive type of criminals that have become more prevalent. Personally, I believe the following crimes should carry the death penalty:

• Murder
• Rape
• Kidnapping
• Armed Robbery
• Production/Distribution of Meth/Coke/Crack/Heroin
• Home Invasion
• Chld Molestation
• Treason
• Membership in a criminal gang, Mafia or terrorist organization.

Sadly, only 11 states out of 50 have "Self Defense" or "Stand Your Ground Laws" where an ordinary citizen, if threatened by a criminal has the legal right to fight back with anything necessary to protect their person and loved ones, up to and including use of deadly force without fear of prosecution or lawsuit. C'mon you other 39, what's your major malfuncton!!!????

In short, we've been too afraid of the criminals, now it's time to make them literally scared to death of us.

3) Keeping Our Police Honest: Theres another side to this dilemma, what about the occasional police officers that become the very thing they swore to fight against. Sadly, it does happen, a good cop goes bad, like this sad example of an Atlanta cop who led a double life as a vicious drug-gang leader. Sometimes, the allure of easy money and lots of it becomes too much for some to resist. Sometimes the frustrations of the job can be too much, some are seriously underpaid and underappreciated, and sadly, some just have NO morals and/or capacity to feel remorse. In any case, our police departments always need to keep a VERY watchful eye on their own too.

One very tragic example of a lack of accountability and/or bad leadership happened this past Novermber 2006 in Atlanta. In the Narcotics section, several officers conducted a no-knock drug search that escalated into a violent episode, in which an elderly woman, Kathryn Johnston was shot to death (I guess it didn't help that she pulled out a gun to defend herself). It turns out that the officers involved coerced a drug-dealer/informant to plant drugs in this person's home, lie on their behalf to obtain a warrant. Worse yet, it was all done in the interest of impressing the brass and fulfilling a quota in a system under the incompetent leadership of one police chief Richard Pennington (who by all rights should've been fired). Pennington denied that there was something wrong, but later conducted a purge of the narcotics unit in a desparate attempt at making himself look respactable. Here was an example of why a quota system is a bad idea, namely because, Pennington assumed the absolute worst of his officers (that's REAL good for morale GENIUS!) and imposed the arrest quota system under the assumption that officers would do nothing otherwise. WHAT THE HAAAAAIIILLLLL!!!!?? Well, because of this bit of incompetence and stupidity, a woman lost her life, 2 officers are doing time and the Atlanta PD found itself in great disrepute. Not a good thing. I can only hope that the APD will learn from its bungling and do the right thing by FIRING and/or prosecuting Pennington over this whole mess.

In NO way do I disdain our men and women in blue, I take my hat off to them for willing to be in harms way on our behalf. It's just we need to be more watchful and decisive in dealing with those occasional bad apples.

Monday Madness

Just random stuff of various sorts this Monday. What can I say, it's hotter than Hell outside (temps getting near 100F this past week with no relief in sight) and the coffee is just starting to kick in.

1) Extremely Silly Thought #21: If bears played instruments, I honestly think many would take to the Baritone Sax. How could you go wrong with that gravelly ursine sound and the sheer uniqueness of this instrument in a solo context. Listen to folks like John Surman, Harry Carney (played for years with Duke Ellington) and the uncharacteristically smooth Gerry Mulligan, you'll see what I mean.

2) Karl Rove Resigns: Yet another in the George Dubbaya Bush Cavalcade of Stars to turn in his resignation, THANK GOD!! Apparently, he'd been contemplating it for about a year (what took you so long?????), Good riddance I say to the one who some referred to as George Bush's "brain" (hows that for an oxymoron?), and of course, who could forget his well-known involvement in the Valerie Plame case (and how he escaped prosecution but should've been hanged) and I'm sure a ton of other underhanded, sleazy goings-on with the George Dubbaya crew (including a certain matter of 8 US attorneys being fired under rather questionable circumstances). Read about this sorry excuse for ahuman being HERE

3) Doin' It To Death: This weekend saw the passing of Merv Griffin at age 82 from prostate cancer. Merv was definitely the type of man that sternly refused to retire until death beckoned. In his life, he went from being a $100 a week radio big band singer to a multi-millionaire from things as far flung as television shows (his own Merv Griffin Show, Jeopardy, for which he also wrote the theme song, Wheel Of Fortune, Dance Fever and more) hotels, real estate and more. A story HERE. I have to note 2 things, one of which was the remembrance of watching his anything-goes talk show growing up, the man GENUINELY embraced diversity and absolutely LOVED the element of the unpredictable on his talk-show. I'll also have to watch a certain Seinfeld episode in which Kramer somehow finds the original stage-set for the Merv Griffin Show in a dumpster, brings it home and converts his apartment into the set, and acts disturbingly like a talk-show host all the time. So long Merv and thanks for many wonderful memories and laughs!

Don't Touch That Dial, It's The Friday Follies!!

Happy Friday EVERYONE!

Much more this week that seems worthy of note, so Ill plunge right in.

1) Good Luck With That!: In what has to be one of the most controversial and utterly puzzling business decisions ever made in a while, the recently gone private (by way of Cerberus Capital Management) Chrysler Corporation has decided to put in the CEO driver's seat, none other than Bob Nardelli!!!!??????? That's right folks, the guy who nearly expanded and just about wrecked Home Depot is being entrusted with Chrysler at a rather fragile juncture in its existence. Isn't this kind of like trusting a fox in the hen house? Yeah, I know, some argue that Bob has a lot of Mr Fix-It skills (he did do a pretty good job at GE in their transportation wing) and all. However, there are major red flags that it looks like Chrysler's turning a blind eye to:

A) His abrasive micro-managing style

B) His unabashed "I DESERVE IT ALL" mentality when it comes to his rather odious sense of entitlement in the compensation realm. Simply put, at Home Depot, he was getting paid big bucks to screw up (and he sure did, between killing employee morale, sending HD's stock price plummeting, not showing up at a stockholder's meeting and disallowing dissent of any type before getting himself canned and despite that, getting one of the most outrageously UNDESERVED severance packages in modern corporate history).

C) A COMPLETE lack of experience in the automobile industry. He must be thinking, "I didn't have any retail experience before Home Depot hired me, why should it matter here?' I hope someone gets the compunction to tell him, WRONG 'EM BOYO, it DOES matter!

Chrysler has made clear though, that Nardelli's salary is dependent on his performance (so they say), but we'll see. Who knows, he might actually help Chrysler in certain respects, I just hope the damage is minimal (of course, that's a relative term). Read more HERE

With all this going for him, could a White House run in 2012 be impossible (hey, it worked for George Dubbaya)?

2) I'm Not Alone #618: Syndicated columnist Richard Reeves is definitely echoing my feelings about who our enemies and friends really are. More and more, I personally have come to the belief that Saudi Arabia is really our WORST enemy in many ways, not the least of which is the fact they have and continue to actively support terrorist organizations and principles all the while trying to convince us they're our friends (and George Dubbaya is predictably stupid and brainless enough to fall for it). It doesn't help that Howdy-Doody and The Penguin gave these duplicitous turban-crowned pirates and murderers a free pass after 9/11 happened (personally, I think we should've declared all out war on Saudi Arabia in short order if we had any sense or cajones). This pointless incursion into Iraq, which had ZERO to do with any real terrorist threat was merely a distraction to hide the real facts about Saudi involvement and complicity in terrorism, and of course to keep the oil flowing at high prices. In any case, Richard Reeves hits the major points HERE.

3) Customer Service Inaction: Laughing hysterically at the irony of this one! A German supermodel known as Dora signed on with Deutsche Telekom to be their high-profile spokesperson in their ad campaigns. And dang it, Dora did EVERYTHING within reason to hold up her end of the bargain. And what does this dear woman get for her trouble? A THREE MONTH DELAY IN GETTING DEUTSCHE TELEKOM SERVICE AT HER APARTMENT, that's what! She's now at the point of threatening to go with another provider if it isn't resolved quickly. The story HERE

4) They'll Turn ANYTHING Into A Musical Nowadays: As if musicals about menopause and the oft-recycled "Bat Boy" story in the National Enquirer aren't odious enough (yes, I absolutely CANNOT STAND Broadway musicals, no thanks to one Carol Channing and her obnoxious signature show "Hello Dolly"), some moron in London HAS to go and produce a corny pointless and TASTELESS musical about Osama Bin Laden, one that doesn't exactly have critics raving either, more HERE

5) Panhandling, Where DO You Draw The Line?: A thorny issue to be sure. I'm all for helping those in need through unfortunate circumstances and do it as much as I can, as should any decent human being with a heart. However, the other side is that some unscrupulous people who, through a series of inexcusably STUPID, criminal and destructive life-choices and/or just plain LAZINESS feel that the rest of us who work for a living in some manner have to just hand over what they never earned. The stories are endless on both sides of the issue, but today, one in particular grabbed my attention. Portland Oregonian columnist Margie Boule' wrote a very compelling article on the 10 year plus saga of one panhandler (referred to as "David") who somehow has bamboozled many with a recycled story of his truck breaking down and needing $10 to get back home. One Portland resident had enough after extensive investigation of his own and at one point decided to bring a class-action lawsuit against "David" after being conned himself. Eventually, this rightfully angry citizen dropped the suit, only because of the immense difficulty of proving criminal intent under current laws (it would've been easier if this guy had been selling shoplifted goods or something like that) and that this "David" would NEVER have been able to pay restitution to his victims to start with. However, the fact that this man kept a blog and was on several news stories by itself should serve as a public service/warning to be on the lookout for unscrupulous scam artists like "David". Click HERE for the full story and HERE for the outraged citizen's blog

Here in Atlanta, it's near epidemic unfortunately. There is an anti-panhandling law but the enforcement is LAX at best. I personally witnessed some joker panhandling on the MARTA train, and the second he got off, pulled out wads of $20 bills, and then only to be BUSTED by the MARTA police right there and then (a rare instance of actual enforcement). There was another instance where a pair of panhandlers gave this one commuter at a MARTA station the mega-sob story. He gave them some money, and much to his dismay, not even 30 seconds later, these 2 jokers pull out of the station parking lot in A LATE MODEL SUV!!! And dear readers, DO NOT EVER fall for the story of someone having just gotten a job and needing some money. One incident that really got me tweaked was some MORON having the nerve to ask me for cash and blatantly admitting that he lost his wallet after getting drunk at a strip club (good going there genius!), it took a lot of willpower and inner strength for me to not punch out this dumbass. Sorry folks, but I AM NOT in the business of rewarding bad/stupid behavior.

All this is why nowadays, with rare exceptions, I WILL NOT give out cash to panhandlers, but rather I will give money to organizations and such that can actually give long-term help/counseling/treatment for this malaise. I WILL NOT unwittingly support destructive addictions or criminal activity, PERIOD! Giving money to a panhandler is at best only a band-aid and in some case could do more harm than good. There has to be a better way.

6) Well Blow Me Down!: Amazing, a rather important part of my early childhood that I never stopped liking has been lovingly restored to DVD (BIG kudos to Warner Video for great picture and sound, PLUS lots of good bonus material), namely the Popeye cartoons that were produced from 1933-1938, the ORIGINAL, and STILL THE BEST! Max and Dave Fleischer created a definitive piece of Americana based on the Thimble Theatre comic strips of the early part of the 20th Century. Between the hilariously improbable action, the screamingly funny mumbling and muttering you could actually understand, the crazy story lines, the sometimes 3-dimensional scenery, the wisecracking Bluto, the perpetually broke and hamburger addicted Wimpy and the highly dysfunctional and co-dependent relationship between the loyal anvil-armed sailor and the shallow, reckless and fickle Olive Oyl (psychologists could have a field day with these cartoons), how could you NOT be entertained? How could you not convulse with side-splitting laughter? Check out the Amazon page, this thing got MAJOR rave reviews.

HAPPY FRIDAY FROM THE OWL'S NEST

Cults In Our Midst

They come in all shapes and sizes I guess. weird cults and sects that worship everything from Snickers Bars to giant statues of Ray Charles., and of course the more extreme/tragic examples like The People's Temple and Heaven's Gate, plus money-grabbing and mind-controlling scams like Scientology, The International Churches of Christ /Kip McKean and others.




While glancing through today's Atlanta Journal Constiution, I chanced upon a group that makes staring directly at the Sun a lifestyle. Hmmmm, isn' t that supposed to make you go blind? In any case, it sounds like someone's followers getting quite literally robbed blind, the story HERE


Faith is indeed a wonderful thing, but PLEASE be careful of people who would exploit that faith to line their pockets or worse yet use it for some evil/destructive purpose.

If you know someone who is possibly involved in some kind of a cult or abberant religious group, here are a few informational resources:

Rick Ross Institute
Right Cyber Up
Wellspring Retreat Center -- the nation's only residential treatment facility for recovering cult victims
Warning Signs Of A Cult 1 2 3
Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind

Teeth and Cajones?

1) Could it be, that Congress (in some quarters anyway) just might be growing some teeth claws and cajones? There are resolutions to be introduced (S Res 302, H Res. 625), to censure BOTH Bush and Cheney (AKA Howdy-Doody and The Penguin) for williful deception of the American people regarding the need to invade Iraq and the mismanagement of said invasion. The other set (S Res 303, H Res. 626) is aimed at Bush and AG Alberto Gonzalez (or Not-So-Speedy Gonzalez) for undermining the separation of powers and "authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of American citizens and making “misleading” statements about the application of the a sweeping 2001 anti-terrorism law (PL 107-56)" More of the story HERE.

2) The Further Misadventures of Howdy-Doody and The Penguin: Amazing to stop and think that right after 9/11 happened, these two said that getting Osama Bin Laden was high prioority. And not long after, it ceased to be one altogether. Well, I bet, after Democatic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama's bold threat of military action against Pakistan if it didn't do its part to stop terrorists (and if he was President, would he have the cajones to actually do it?), Howdy-Doody decides to have a little get together at Camp David with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the whole terrorism thing. Howdy-Doody then issues the greatest no-brainer in more ways than one, and I quote; "--the U.S. and Pakistan, if armed with good intelligence, can track and kill al-Qaida leaders". DUUUUUUHHHHH!!! Well, we all know that George Bush and Intelligence are two things that are EXTREMELY mutually exclusive. Look what this so-called "intelligence" did for us with Iraq. More of the story HERE

3) Brave Crazy AND STOOOOOPID!: In Estonia, a man was arrested for erratic driving. Nope, it wasn't because of alcohol/drug impairment, IT'S BECAUSE HE WAS BLIND! This guy was behind the wheel while his passenger gave him directions and instructions. Needless to say, he in a whole heap 'o trouble, the story HERE

4) Pot, Let Me Introduce You To Kettle: Democratic Presidential hopefuls Obama and Edwards recently took Hitlary to task for defending lobbyists, but really guys, are YOU any different or better than her in that regard? This Owl is curious, more HERE

Some Things That Just Ain't Normal or Right

It's Saturday morning and even without coffee (yet), I've gotten the notion to highlight a few rather bizarre occurrences that can't always be readily explained by logic or pure science, here goes:

1) In Italy, a 61 YEAR OLD MAN WHO IS STILL LIVING WITH HIS MOTHER found himself getting his house keys and allowance taken away, and to top it off, getting hauled into the local police station for staying out late. The dispute was eventually resolved, his keys and allowance restored. Most interesting, Apparently in Italy, it's not unusual for people to live with their parents well into their 30's. The story HERE.

2) Holy Temporal Displacement Batman!: A couple so dismayed at how the world changed after the 1950's has made a defiant stance and decided to live in their favorite decade, utilizing its technology (rotary dial phones for example) furniture and fashions. ABC News Video footage HERE (click on "Time Warp Couple--")

3) No Secret Here: Not that many of us are shocked, but it still isn't right, statistical data bears out the fact that bad bosses are far more often promoted than punished for their misdeeds, the story HERE.

4) Justice Gone Awry: From News Of The Weird,
Judge Harold Kahn of San Francisco thought probation was enough for a woman who had claimed the identity of another (through stolen credit cards) and run up six months of bills and bad credit, and even though the thief was already on probation. (Bonus fact: The victim had collared the perp herself, following a chance meeting, and handed her to police.) [San Francisco Chronicle, 6-15-07]

5) Would You Like Extra Sauce With Those Handcuffs Sir?: I believe this occurred in 2004 in Atlanta, some nimrod calls a Pizza Hut, orders a pizza and then says, "this is a robbery, bring all your cash with the pizza". Bright-Boy then gives his address, and predictably of course, the PO-LEECE were there to haul this Sesame Street dropout to the slammer. If that isn't the most hilariously incompetent attempt at a crime I don't know what is! It darn near sounds like an outtake from Woody Allen's 1968 comedy "Take The Money And Run"


More to follow I'm sure

GRRRRRR - It's Friday And---

It's Friday, I haven't had my coffee yet and I'm really struggling to think of enough disparate, far-flung oddities to highlight for my usual Friday Follies, GRRRRRRRRRRRRR! But, I'll try anyway, so bear with me.


1) More Than A Bad Commute: First off, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families who lost loved ones in a tragic bridge collapse that took place in the Minneapolis/St Paul MN area this week. I hope, if nothing else, this serves as a much needed wake-up call to states, cities and towns everywhere to stop screwing around and pay a lot more attention to the condition of of your infrastructures, don't wait for a tragedy to happen before you do the right thing.

2) What's Wrong With This Picture?: PLENTY, believe me! This has actually become a far more common sight than we as Americans are willing to fess up to. Gadget obsessed sorts we are, we've let the convenience of wireless gadgets somehow become an intrusive prying-eye monster. Worse yet, we've done ourselves and our families a HUGE disservice on a societal level by CONSTANTLY bringing work home with us. Last year, I read an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the invasivenes of the office and gadgets in the home, and it truly disturbed me! Personally, I think it's a crime and a tragedy that a married couple cannot even enjoy making love without being constantly "on-call" and wearing those stupid "Blue-Tooth" earpieces that make you look like you've just been assimilated by The Borg. It gets me ticked off enough that I will NEVER EVER use one of these infernal things! You've gotta draw a line somewhere! That boundary for me is sacred and God help the fool that crosses it!

Even more so, we've gotten to a point that even when people are supposedly "on vacation", they still remain shackled to the office, which is a VERY unhealthy thing to put it mildly. OK folks, pay attention, listen carefully, a vacation is supposed to be a time of rest, fun, relaxation and GETTING AWAY FROM THE OFFICE/JOB, NOT DRAGGING IT WITH YOU!! This on-call mentality (outside of the medical profession, certain government positions and emergency/first-responders) has gotten completely out of control! Call me old-school if you want, but dang it, unless it's a screaming life or death emergency, WORK DOES NOT COME HOME WITH ME, PERIOD!, EVER! For me to remain a sane, healthy balanced individual, I MUST have an inviolate boundary between my work and personal life. More Americans used to have this mindset but with the advent of global instantaneous communication and all the attending gadgets, we've lost our way, allowed that boundary to be repeatedly violated at our own shame and peril. Not only does all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, it could turn Jack into a raving nutcase. Sadly, this is one of the consequences of rampant greed and the Yuppie movement's mentality of "extreme success at ANY cost". The toll exacted on families, children and spouses is hardly worth it.

HERE is an article on how to prep oneself to get away from the office and actually have a vacation.

3) Ron Paul's Longshot Presidential Campaign: I have to take my hat off to one Ron Paul, a lawmaker from southeast Texas (a former Ob/Gyn doctor and Air Force flight surgeon) who is mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. Running on a basically Libertarian platform of small government (he'd LOVE to do away with the Dept. of Education, the IRS and the equally useless Energy Department for starters, which I wholeheartedly support, and why don't we get rid of Homeland Security before these bastards REALLY start acting like Gestapo/KGB wannabes), reduced foreign intervention and lower taxes. He's also running on the Republican ticket only for the fact that it allows him access to funding and resources he wouldn't be able to get at otherwise. But make no mistake, on many issues he differs very sharply with the Republi-Crats, opposing the Iraq War and in the grand scheme, vigorously championing the letter and spirit of the US Constitution and the rule of law, fiscal responsibility and respect for individual liberty , things the Republicans AND Democrats both have failed miserably at, let's face it. I may not agree with him on absolutely EVERY position (he opposes the death penalty, which I am VERY heavily in favor of restoring, and I don;t agree with his opposition to military appropriations, simply for the fact we need to rebuild our military after Slick Willie pretty much emasculated it), but all told, I find MUCH about Ron Paul's platform to recommend for itself, and HELL YEAH, I'd vote for him, he far outshines the wimpy mediocre Republican offerings and the sugar coated Socialism of the Democrats.


Ron Paul's Website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/


A recent AP Article

4) What's Old Is Cool Again: Talk about ironic and being the LAST thing I ever expected to develop a taste for! Somewhere along the way, I have developed a liking for some of what used to be known as "Easy Listening" or "Lounge Music" in some circles. YES, that stuff that some of our parents wined, dined and danced to in the 50's and 60's. Whod've thought it!!??? Well anyway, I've somehow been captivated by the exotica of Martin Denny (famous for bringing together jungle sounds, erotic melodies and the sounds of other lands), the quirky stereo experiments of one Juan Esquivel, the oddly compatible jazz/vocal chorus stylings of Dave Pell , and of course, being a huge fan of the Hammond organ, folks like Lenny Dee, John Buzon , the exotic Korla Pandit and Ethel Smith scratch that itch in the lounge world. The variations and strains are a whole universe unto themselves. Of course, I'm not going to like EVERYTHING in this realm (between the extreme sappiness of Ferrante' and Teischer and the odious supermarket corniness of The Ray Conniff Singers) but by and large, the Exotica/Lounge/Easy Listening universe has yielded some very interesting treasures, among some of my other favorites are film music by Lalo Schifrin and Quincy Jones, and the whole Crime Jazz realm with people like Stanley Wilson, Leith Stephens and more.

To find out more if you're curious, try out this informative website: http://www.spaceagepop.com/

I also take my hat off to one Cassie and her local Atlanta show Martinis Con Queso on Saturday mornings broadcasting from GA State University's station WRAS. She posts here notes and playlists every week RIGHT HERE. Good fun indeed, so light up that Tiki Torch and grab your favorite cocktail.

And that's about it for right now folks, hopefully next week will yield far more results!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

The ACLU Does Something Remarkable and Actually GOOD For Once

I NEVER thought I'd see the day! The ACLU, an organization that normally causes me to just about lose my lunch and practically call for their unceremonious lynching is actually pursuing a case that's worth something, that actually DEFENDS the constitutional rights of taxpaying individuals like us.

The hapless and cowardly Bush Administration has once again gotten caught with its pants down. The administration has an "advice manual" it refers to (and of course, it wrote it), that covers among other things the regulation of the makeup of audiences/crowds at publically funded events where George Dubbaya and/or Dick "The Penguin" Cheney were present, so that in essence, NOBODY critical or disagreeing with the Bush administration will be allowed to participate in these events. The reasoning goes that if no protesters are there, the media won't see/hear them and the Bush Administration will always be proven right and justified in its positions, no matter how stupid, immoral illegal and just plain wrong. The ACLU's contention is that because these are taxpayer-funded events, the administration has NO RIGHT to exclude anyone from them on the basis of their political views. I never thought this was possible, I actually AGREE with the ACLU on this one. To me, this is another in a long series of disturbing assaults by Bush on the Bill of Rights and The US Constitution, and one that must not go unpunished!

Amazing, aint it, poor George Dubbaya is so paranoid and afraid of ANYBODY disagreeing with him that he has to be this manipulative and controlling, not ot mention intellectually dishonest. But then again, when someone as utterly stupid and lacking in intelligence as George Dubbaya thinks he has much to lose (namely getting his already fragile ego bruised), it should come as no surprise that he always has to be righ at all costs. File this under grasping at straws.

The full story HERE from the ACLU website.