2013 Highlights and Low Lifes

Biggest thing for me - I got the hell out of that ice hole known as Wisconsin.  Louisiana is as backwards as a state can get, but my goodness, what a nice climate!  And also, it is so rich in history and culture, I'm constantly amazed at how alive this state is and how it embraces its cultural diversity.

I discovered Cajun cooking.

I know my way around Baton Rouge and New Orleans; enough to be a somewhat confused tour guide.

ObamaCare was enacted into law.

Pot is legal in a few states - and it should be legalized everywhere, as well as taxed so we can pay down the horrendous deficit.

Jindal won't be governor much longer.

One of the Koch brothers got swindled out of 5 million bucks for some bogus wine. 

My tenant back in Milwaukee is absolutely a perfect person to have living in a house I desperately need to sell soon, because I'm never going back there to live.  Period.

No hurricanes passed through Louisiana this year.

Low Lifes:

The republicans shut down the government, costing us and future taxpayers billions of dollars.  Here's hoping every voter remembers this come election day. No wonder the republicans are so anti-abortion. 

Some backwoods yokel with an A&E show got away with not only stupidly racist and homophobic comments, he got the governor of Louisiana to stand up for him and for a cable network to back down on taking a stand against this type of behavior.  A&E must stand for a$$holes egregious.
Won't ever be tuned in on one of my televisions.

Let's hope Miley Cyrus is just young - and will develop something bordering on class and taste someday.

BP continues to f*ck over the citizens and environment of Louisiana.

All in all, a pretty standard year for a very sick society.

Koch Sucker Wine

Anybody want to do a joint venture with me on a vineyard somewhere in California.  We could make a most delicious wine, label it with ancient paper and sell it to the Kochs.

You'll have to put up all the money, run the operation and buy all the equipment.  For my part, I will taste the wine religiously, forge the labels and run the con. 

In fact, Koch Sucker wine is such a great name, I think I'll copyright it.  That might be a smarter marketing ploy; put a little Koch Sucker in every fine wine store in Manhattan, Palm Beach and the Hamptons.  The poor may not have money, but we have very creative ideas on how to embarrass and humiliate the rich.

Recall Congress? How about giving a tax break to intelligent voters?

With the approval rating of the current congress at less than 30%; shouldn't there be some mechanism to kick the butts out of office for these time/money wasters.  Let's send them back to their congressional districts, where they could be beaten to a bloody pulp by the locals who didn't vote them into office.

I think this country only operates on a monetary reward system, so I feel anyone who can prove they didn't vote for a particular moron posing as a congressional representative should get a $10,000 tax credit.  For the voters who elected them, well, a lack of any measurable intelligence seems fitting enough as a punishment.

Everyday, the paperboy brings more. 

I know a business would fire their entire executive staff if their productivity ratio was at less than 30%.  Why can't we fire congressional members for nonperformance?  Why don't we have term limits?  Why is there nothing the citizens of this country can do to outsmart a bunch of lunatics who call themselves our leaders?

I like to be in Amerika.
Okay by me in Amerika.
Everything free in Amerika.
If you are crooks in Amerika.

Face it.  We're a nation run by thugs, money grubbers, and corrupt imposters.  Costa Rica --- Looking Better Every Day!

The United States is Untied

Just watched 60 Minutes and saw some footage of indoor pot growing operations that will be regulated, monitored, sold for recreational purposes and taxed appropriately in Colorado.

Last night on the news here in Louisiana, the biggest story was a big pot bust --- well, they did get weapons and cash, too, and probably some narcotic painkillers, but the pot bust was the big news. 

I think it is completely weird to live in a country utterly schizophrenic.  I can smoke pot and marry my same sex partner in Colorado, but I'll be arrested if I do it in Alabama? 

I think its time we move beyond the powers given to the states, and start thinking on a national, normal and sane level.  If we have to have separations, lets separate by zones, i.e., anyone living in states that get a lot of snow, states that are completely arid, states that are bounded by oceans, states that are so boring people cry when they have to drive through them, etc.

The United States is muddled in its answers to big questions and its scary to think about how much firepower we have when it appears we don't have very much brain power. 

Billionaire Koch Brother Bilked

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

One of the stupid Koch Brothers spent a small fortune on "French" wine which was made in a California kitchen a few weeks ago.

So he goes on television to complain about it.  Does he REALLY think anyone on the planet would feel any sympathy for someone who spent upwards of five million dollars on a cellar full of fraudulently labeled grape juice?

I say drink that wine, Mr. Koch.  I can't think of anyone more deserving of a mouthful of sour grapes than you, you sanctimonious butthole.

Kick BP out of this Country NOW!

BP, that wonderful company who brought you the worst environmental disaster in the history of environmental disasters, needs to get their a$$ kicked out of this country.

They are still lying about the damage, refusing to pay legitimate claims, and engaging in fraud, malfeasance and disgusting corporate behavior.

But Bobby Jindal's biggest concern as of today is the Duck Dynasty debacle over anti-gay, anti-black statements.  No wonder Louisiana falls at the bottom of every survey for good works.  The state motto here seems to be, "If it Makes (a few of) Us Money - F*ck All, We're In".  Sheesh.  I'm becoming more and more of a g.d. yankee by the second.  I look around and realize I should run for public office.  I seriously doubt I could get much legislation passed to improve the lot of your average Louisianan, but I certainly could embark on a feeding frenzy at the public trough that would humble the paltry efforts of Ray Nagin. 

Alas, being a crook is not on my accomplishment list.  But I won't watch Duck Dynasty again, even though it had its moments and was pretty funny.  A&E must be terribly embarrassed by the ignorant mutterings of Phil Robertson; but the rest of the country is definitely offended by these senseless remarks. 

Maybe becoming a millionaire makes one stupid.  Certainly, becoming a governor does.  Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Sarah Palin. 

Someone nominate me for governor of Louisiana.  I promise pot in every chicken!

Seriously?

Dennis Rodman going to visit his bestie, Kim Jong Il in North Korea?  What the hell is wrong with Dennis Rodman, that he would align himself with a little pr*ck like Kim Jong Il?  Obviously, Dennis Rodman is a publicity whore who can't get any attention except by doing something outrageous and inappropriate.  Why are so many "celebrities" willing to sell themselves out to stay in the public eye?  Glad I'm a nobody when I see someone like Dennis Rodman behaving in a truly disgusting way.
I truly hope he makes a serious faux pas with Korean etiquette and ends up in one of Kim's jails.  Then he'll be crying for the State Department to help him out.  I also hope the cell they put him in is very, very small and they feed him muddy rice with worms in it.

The Duck Dynasty guy hating on gays?  Just further proof you can give a backwoods cracker his own television show, but you can't regulate his small-mindedness --- no matter how much money is involved.  Backwoods cracker is as disgusting a term as anything he might have said about gay people, so I just want him to see how it feels to carry a totally erroneous and mean label.

Is it really Christmas next week?  It's 75 degrees here today.  I have foregone putting up a Xmas tree this year.  Not feeling the season at all; which is about right for a Unitarian Universalist.  I like the exchanging of presents and I respect the story and the beliefs of Christians, but I've reached a point where it's more of a solstice celebration for me.  We'll be at the casino on Xmas day, where I hope to win the little red Fiat so I can give it to my daughter-in-law.  Tim has always won big money on Xmas day at the casino, so let's hope that trend continues.  Better yet -- it's my turn to win big.

No coverage in the media here about the big explosion we heard the other night.  Rumors are that it was a meth lab blowing up somewhere in the bayou.  I hated Milwaukee news stations, because they would get 10 stores, and regurgitate them all day long, calling it a news program.  At least they got the news.  Down here, well, nothing about it at all.  No info.  Very interesting.  If it was an explosion at a chemical plant, well that's a bit of a concern to me that it was not covered by the media.

No ideal place to live on this planet, which is such an amazing and sad thing.  Here we are on a garden planet and all we're planting is greed, intolerance, firepower and misery.  And it's fertile here, those things have really taken off.  Sure wish we'd have some alien intervention. 

New Things to Appall Me

Being a retired person, I surf the net.  A lot. 

So here's a couple of rants for today:

1.  Sarah Palin is going to host a red, white and blue outdoor show.  Why can't Sarah Palin just go raise her family and get out of the public eye.  Publicity is like heroin, I guess, and Sarah's hooked.  She is such an abominable human being, I can't imagine anyone tuning in to watch her shoot something, unless it's herself in the foot.  Which would make a great episode 1.

2.  Everybody hates the pop ups.  You go to read an article that looks interesting, but first, you have to watch Jennifer Aniston hawking some cheap skin lotion, that we all KNOW Jennifer Aniston would NEVER use.  Jennifer Aniston, mediocre as she is as an actress, has made millions of dollars.  Why does she have to hawk anything?  How much money is enough for someone like Jennifer Aniston?   Apparently, she'll never know.  And, as she ages, I predict she'll start hawking all the trappings of age; LifeAlert, Depends, Constipation Nation, bone calcium.  Whatever, I just get so damn sick of pop ups, especially the ones starring Jennifer Aniston.  Does anyone who lives in a ginormous mansion in Beverly Hills REALLY need to sell Aveeno skin lotion.  Methinks we've got a needy seedy greedy here.

3.  The Milwaukee Urinal, the local paper in that bastion of boredom, southeastern Wisconsin, really has a Viagra induced six hour hard on for Mary Burke --- Scott Walker's sure to be nominated challenger.  The Urinal is a very right-wing publication (can't bring myself to call it a newspaper), and they certainly have always championed that bubble brained Walker.  Mary Burke is the absolute best choice to topple the Walker F*ck Dynasty.  So citizens of Wisconsin, prepare yourself for pee yellow journalism (and I use the term "journalism" very loosely here) in the next gubernatorial election.  And of course, the Koch(sucker) brothers will get into the slander seat, as well.  Mary Burke is going to need true grit.  Let's hope she's got it.

4.  Vanity Fair magazine and the New York attorney general have exposed Donald Trump's higher education school of how to be a wise investor as so much schlock and fraud.  Boy is the Donald mad about that article.  Even madder about the litigation against him and the contention that he defrauded an awful lot of yup and comers out of their tuition money.  I've never liked Donald Trump.  He's always been a horse's a$$, except horse's a$$es have better hair.  It will be kind of fun to watch the Donald become the exposed grifter.  Now if he opened up a research lab that could conjure up the greed gene and offer to stick it in your A$$ for $3500, that might be an entrepreneurial path well worth his pursual.

Okay, feel better now. 

The Most Reviled Humans in America

Hands down --- the Koch Brothers.

I detest this family and everything they stand for.

Americans for Prosperity is about as accurately benevolent to the average citizen as a Nazi inviting you to take a shower. 

I'm so sick of these disgusting human beings, I retch whenever I see their ignorant propaganda.  The blatant lies their money affords them are despicably cloaked in their very strong and accurate belief of American ignorance.  Unfortunately, America is ignorant and these parasites are exploiting that ignorance to their full advantage.

I despise the Koch's.  I think I speak for entire classes of people when I say that.

Mourning Nelson Mandela

It is always difficult when a great human being dies.  Nelson Mandela's passing leaves the world in sadness, but his legacy changed the world - for the better.

We don't appreciate, respect or assist the great leaders in the world --- probably because there are so very few of them. 

That didn't matter to Nelson Mandela, though.  He just did the right thing.  If only the human race could get a clue about how to have principles of decency and quietly, or loudly, live them out. 

We are such a global band of self-indulgent, self-important, and self-serving selves.  Nelson Mandela is my hero because "he" was the least of his concerns.  It takes a remarkable person to get past the "I" of all things truly valuable in this life.

Scott Walker a Frontrunner for GOP Presidential Nomination?

This entire country is insane.  Well, the entire republican slanted country is insane.  If Scott Walker is a legitimate candidate for president of the United States, well, somebody yank my arm because I'm stuck in a John Steinbeck novel.  Even someone as mentally challenged as Hazel in Sweet Thursday understood his limitations better than Scott Walker will ever understand his.  Maybe I'm stuck in a Jersey Kozinski novel.  Chance the Gardner goes to the White House, and the media paves the way.  Wherever I'm stuck - it leaves a whole lot to be desired.

Give me a break - give all thinking people a break.  This could be good news because if Scott Walker is Hilary Clinton's opponent, there is absolutely no contest.  So yes, I do hope Scott Walker is the GOP nominee.  Scott Walker couldn't find his a$$ with both hands.  Scott Walker would get utterly confused signing a bill into law with multiple pens; the man is just not capable of multi-tasking.  The man is not capable of single tasking.  Why do I keep calling him a man?  He's a little dick who thinks ego can override competence.  What bothers me is that there are people in this country whom are STUPID enough to have any confidence in this cocksure little chicken of a man.  Talk about the end of the empire.  Halcyon days?  I think not.  More like Thorazine days and someone surely has tampered with the scotch supply to which republicans must be partial.

Everything Scott Walker thinks he has accomplished in Wisconsin, as governor, is in the courts and being challenged.  Even his campaign is under a more serious investigation now for irregularities.  Do we really need an ideologue sitting in the oval office.  Scott Walker should sit on something oval, alright, and try to crap out the toxic waste that has invaded his already dismally small brain.  This is one politician who continues to spread manure over democracy and call it sweet pea.

I guess the thing that I find most maddening is how stupid Americans are.  Why am I stuck in this ignorant, incompetent country?  I certainly deserve better - and so do you.

Freaky Phone Calls

Alright, now I'm just a tad bit worried.

I got a phone call from someone who identified herself as a survey person wanting to ask me questions about my community (which I've lived in for 3 months).  I advised her I was a poor subject for her survey, but she insisted I'd do just fine.

The questions were pretty innocuous at first, what did I think of the city, did they do enough for the citizens, blah blah blah, and I couldn't really even honestly answer; I just don't know yet.

But then the questions took a turn that was really scary; all about the petro-chemical plants that dot the highway where I live.  Did I know what to do in case of a toxic release?  Where would I get my information during an environmental emergency?  Who should notify me that deadly toxic fumes are invading my neighborhood, the city or the chemical plant?  Do the chemical plants do enough to protect citizens?  It just went on and on and I'm now totally freaked out about what safeguards these companies do take, and what Louisiana does to protect its citizens as opposed to what Louisiana gives companies to build their potentially deadly plants here.  To err on the side of caution, I said the chemical plants aren't doing enough and need to do more and that the environment was my number one concern, not jobs or salaries.

So, at the very least, I may have a different shade of skin or eyes in the next decade.  That wouldn't be so bad in my opinion.  However, I may drop dead when I walk out the front door from some toxic release at a chemical plant accident; and the city nor the plant could decide who was going to let me know not to go outside; that I'd be safe in my house for 45 minutes or so before death came creeping in.

Life is challenging here in Louisiana.  It's like you're given an option -- be healthy or get a pay check; no compromise.  Very unsettling.  Very Jindal.  Very bad.

Random Annoyances

Lately, I love the music but cannot stand the musicians.

Why do all Hollywood actresses look as if their heads are too big for their bodies?  Seriously, the west coast is really starting to look like Mars Attacks.

No painting is worth 143 million dollars.  I say so.

The Pope is so utterly passé.

Fashion is best left to the well proportioned young.  The rest of us should try for tasteful, well-tailored and age appropriate.  Unless you live in New Orleans. 

What's with all the television commercials for comfortable, lubricated catheters.  Is there some pee problem happening in this country that I'm not aware of .  What is it?  Enlighten me.

The mantra that finally worked for me in giving up cigarettes is Puff the Magic Dragon.  I don't really understand why I'm afraid I'm going to become an opium addict now, but I am.

Is it actually possible that someone can write a freaking 2000 word essay on nail polish?  And get it published?

Why do lawyers talk about representing car accident victims on television constantly.  Are they causing all these car accidents?  Someone needs to look into this.

I live in a place where they talk about tides all the time.  High tide, low tide, time of tide, tide ebbing, tide neaping.  It's fascinating.  What the hell does it mean?

Is it ever a good idea to tell the IRS to go f*ck themselves?  Apparently, not.

Does anyone else lie at the post office when asked if there's anything liquid in the box?  I feel bad about myself but how else am I going to send perfume to someone?

I don't want to go to my book club on Saturday because I recommended the book and it turned out to be an awful book with awful characters and an awful ending.  It did get good reviews in The New York Times, but obviously the reviewer was a more miserable bastard than the people in the book.  Hard to imagine.  Guess I'll suck it up and apologize.

Feeling Too Nice

I've neglected this blog as of late.  The weather in Louisiana is just too nice; I spend time outdoors rather than in front of my computer.  When it does cool off, I'm in the kitchen making some of my cold weather specialties.  And frankly, the political news, nationally, in Wisconsin and in Louisiana has left me feeling unsettled.  I'd rather feel nice, so I've been avoiding it.

Health care is in the news, especially the problems with the Affordable Care Act.  I'm saddened that something designed to help all Americans is off to such a rocky start; and sadder that republicans and red states are capitalizing on implementation issues as proof positive this law is a bad thing.  I live in a red state now, and the slant and bias in the news is very annoying to me; especially the odd-headed woman on channel 33 who smirks when talking about the problems with health care for everyone.  She could have her flat top, bulgy sided head fixed, which could also improve her conservative rhetorical ideas.  Misshapen skulls obviously lead to misshapen brains.  At any rate, unbiased reporting in Baton Rouge is not exactly a journalistic ethic anyone here follows. 

Scott Walker wrote a book?  Has Scott Walker ever read a book?  I think he might have read "My Life as a Geisha".  That fits perfectly.  Walker has turned down federal funding for implementation of the Affordable Health care Act in Wisconsin, but is now talking about moving Wisconsin citizens off Medicare and onto plans under the health care act.  Be sure, the advantage in doing so would cause harm to Medicare recipients and help Scott Walker's unbalanced budget and unbalanced nature.  I would love to see Scott Walker get his bony a$$ kicked out of Madison in the upcoming election.  Note to self:  contribute to Mary Burke's campaign.

I can't decide if Bobby Jindal is a light-skinned black, addicted to tanning booths or spending the kick back $750,000 from nursing homes doing some island hopping.  One theory is that Hitler was Jewish, which is an insult to Jewish people everywhere; but maybe Bobby Jindal is a black man, which is, also, an insult to black men everywhere.  I apologize. 

I see the Koch brothers are flooding the market place with their "Americans for Prosperity" ads attacking Obamacare.  A pox upon them!  Really - or how about a flesh eating disease to give them a first hand lesson in parasites.  Americans for Prosperity my a$$.  These are rich people united to protect other rich people, and nothing more.  No prosperity for the average Joe.  And no health care either. 

I heard people lined up to get Sarah Palin's book at a bookstore somewhere in Wisconsin; probably the Fox Valley, but I forget.  If that isn't the ultimate show of dumb, f*cking Americans anywhere in the world, then I'm a princess of Bahrain.  Sarah Palin's book writing talent is second only to Scott Walkers.  Neither of them has a brain cell firing in their vacuous heads, so what they put down on paper is as mindless as the people who buy this trash. 

Anyhow - 75 degrees today in Baton Rouge.  Too nice to be inside and too annoying to read anymore or watch anymore biased news "reporting". 

F*ck America's Politics.  It's my mantra.

Why Bobby Jindal Needs the Boot

Louisiana has a natural defense against flooding; a very good thing in a land where hurricanes are regular visitors.  The bayous along the coast have been protecting New Orleans and the rest of the coastal communities for centuries.  Until now. 

Oil companies have sucked Bobby Jindal's brain cells right out of his head.  He allowed them to come in, divert waterways, destroy natural resources and basically screw up the entire coastline.  Bobby Jindal loves oil company money; much more than he loves Louisiana. 

Is it safe to say that republican and environmental moron are interchangeable terms?  I believe it is.  Louisiana is doing relatively well in terms of jobs and economic status for residents.  On the highway that leads me to New Orleans, there are so many oil refineries, petro-chemical producers and all the businesses supplying those corporations that the average pay at one of these places is about $70,000 annually for a skilled worker.  That's a lot of money for an hourly wage earner.  And I'm glad people are employed, paid well, and doing better than average.

I'm not glad, however, that the cost of business is the destruction of Louisiana's coastline.

Bobby Jindal must go.  He loves cash more than he loves the state.  No big surprise.  Republicans are nothing if not short-sighted. 

On the bright side, based on what's happening in the Virginia elections this year, it is becoming vividly apparent that the republican party has shot themselves in the head with their radical extremist politics. 

Let's get rid of the republicans and take back the environment.  Vote for anyone except Bobby Jindal.  Why can't I ever live in a state with a good governor? 

America's Silent Depression

Back in the 1930's, things were pretty dismal in the United States.  There were bread lines and soup kitchens.  People starved to death.  Families were destroyed.  People lost their homes and farms and became migrant workers, exploited and abused. 

Supposedly, we put in safety networks to insure that this would never again happen in the land of opportunity.

But, those safety networks are being dissolved, one by one, by people who don't believe we need this sort of thing in the land of opportunity.

By republicans.  By the tea party.  By the 1% whose wealth is so vast, contributing to a national health care network would not make a bit of difference to their bottom line.

There is a silent depression going on in this country right now.  People are starving.  People are unable to get quality health care.  People are losing their homes.  The United States ranks 34th in health care delivery in the world; a very sad commentary on our nation's greed, for-profit health care and opportunistic parasites determined to suck the blood out of any form of socialized medicine.

Everyone knows I'm not a fan of today's America.  Wave your flags all you want.  The proof is in the doing.  America is an imperialistic son-of-a-bitch and continues to destroy itself.  I'm afraid that the old red, white and blue will be what's left of America, a bloody, bruised and nearly dead shadow of what it could have been.

Happy Halloween!

Zombies walk.  (Zombies were originally conjured by hoodoo practitioners - not infected by a virus).  Going to look for a few in New Orleans on Friday.

Ghosts Fly.  Anyone who has known me knows I lived in a house for a lot of years that had a ghost.  She was friendly and helpful, once she got used to us.

Witches are nothing more than women men are afraid have too much ..... whatever...... fill in the blank.

Vampires ---- come in all sizes and shapes.  And you're lucky if your blood is all they're after.

Mummies.  My favorite television episode was called "Mummie Daddy".  I can't even remember what stupid little Twilight Zone like show this was on, but it was just a great and fun 30 minute vignette.

Scariest Thing of All:  Mitch McConnell saying anything.

If You Love Me, Kill Yourself!

That bastion of right wing political immorality, Paul Ryan, is now calling for the Health & Human Services Secretary to resign her position.

Why?  Because there are glitches in the software on the Affordable Health Care Act website.  So what?  Obviously, Paul Ryan has never implemented new software, or seen the difficulties in moving from a test prototype to a live-action program.

I'm betting Paul Ryan doesn't know what software is, how it's designed or what can go wrong.  Believe me; I once was part of a team that implemented new payroll software.  Everything can go wrong, and does go wrong, and eventually gets fixed.  But this is just one of many things to add to the ever growing list of items of which Paul Ryan is completely ignorant.

Here's an idea, Ryan.  Based on the republican mucking up of the works in Washington for the past several weeks, why don't you and your fellow air heads do the lemming thing.  Why don't you all jump off a cliff or drown yourselves in the interest of the American Public.  That's a resignation worth calling for, and a destiny most Americans can live with, for you and your unholy alliances.

Bizarre People of Wisconsin

Ron Johnson, the republican senator who misrepresents Wisconsin in the Senate, doesn't believe in climate change.  Sun spots, he says.  This man has age spots on his brain matter.  There is so much scientific fact to debunk the sun spot myth, I can only surmise that people who insist on buying into that line of hysterical rationalization are scared to death to be intelligent.  This is a common curse in Wisconsin; a fear of intelligence.  One just needs to look at the political climate in that ice hole to figure that one out.

And Scott Walker, who thinks he skated away from a recall election and a John Doe investigation is now up to his a$$ in alligators with yet another John Doe investigation.  Since Scott is so stupid he can't figure much of anything out, let me use this forum to give him a head's up........there are people after you, Walker.  But go ahead, maintain your no comment status and your no action governorship.  The rug underneath you is ripe for pulling.  The very saddest part in all this is Scott Walker thinks he's presidential material.  In short, Scott Walker thinks all Wisconsinites are as dumb as he is.  I know several smart people in Wisconsin.  So there. 

And where's that pork-fed Jim Sensenbrenner  of late?  Usually his pig-like face would  have shown up all over the media in the Washington controversy and government shut down.  They must have had a three-for-one sale at Old Country Buffett on the beltline for the past few weeks.  Or he's on an alcohol binge again.

Sheriff Clarke of Milwaukee County has also gone strangely silent since his public service announcement advising people to arm themselves as a better option than calling 9-1-1.  Apparently, those people in charge of his next campaign for office have told him to stifle himself.  For someone like Clarke, this is akin to telling dysentery patients to stop crapping themselves.  Yet, methinks I smell a little fear in Sheriff Clarke about losing a job he's ill-suited for.  Enough fear that he's bought 144 pairs of socks and stuffs a new one in his mouth every morning.

Well, who else can I pick on in Wisconsin?

Oh I suppose I'll just leave it be at three yokels with too much power for the good of themselves or their constituents. 

The Check is in the Mail

I agree completely with the rest of the country that John Boehner and Ted Cruz should foot the bill for the government shut down.

These yokels have cost American citizens beau coup bucks, and they should be made to cough up the cash or get the hell out of Washington.  Far worse, though, is the peace of mind these radical extremists, America's own Taliban, has robbed from the U.S. population.  We have no idea what will come out of their addled ideology next; but we do know that they have a proven capacity for mucking up the works. 

I'd say these two were behind the problems with Obamacare's website, but I cannot begin to believe that either one of them has an ounce of technical savvy.  I'd find it hard to accept that, working together, they could screw in a light bulb.  Yet, look what they managed to do.  Screw the entire population of the United States in two weeks.  They've run up the national debt by billions of dollars.  For the party that touts fiscal conservatism, this is more than ironic.  It's idiotic.

I remember when a picture of Osama bin Laden's face caused visceral reaction in most American citizens.  Boehner and Cruz have attained that status, too, judging by the derogatory items in my inbox, sent everyday by concerned citizens.  Oh well, it's Sunday, and I'm supposed to practice tolerance.  Not easy.  What tolerance did they show us?

I Surmise

Saw a picture of Ted Cruz today giving two thumbs up to the camera.

I can only believe that other republicans helped Ted pull his thumbs out of his a$$, and washed him up.  Poor Ted.  He had to have his thumbs up there to hold the $hit for brains inside his head, and so that we all can recognize yet another Neanderthal politician from Texas when he walks onto the senate floor.

Send Lawyers Guns and Money

Well, the republican party is certifiable.  What - two weeks of a government shutdown at $300,000,000 per day?  14 x 300,000,000 = Throw These F*ckheads Out of the Country.

I have personally had it.  These republican tea bags have damaged our country to the point of treason, and I say, arrest these pukes, try them as insurrectionists, and then deport them to Syria so they can see the follies of civil war.  Syria wouldn't want these people --- too crazy for them.   We may just have to send them to Guantanamo Bay.  Can there be anything more scary to a tea bagger than a steady diet of refried beans and fish tacos?  These are steak and potato idiots; you can tell by the fat in their heads.

I keep looking for sanity in Washington, and I keep coming up empty. 

Anyone out there want to fund my revolution?

Send lawyers, guns and money to CITIZENXTRISH!

Ted Cruz - Your Rock is Calling

Now we have a member of congress marching on the White House carrying a confederate flag?

What the hell kind of slime ball is Ted Cruz?  How dumb are the people who live in Texas, the biggest armpit in the nation?  Maybe that question is better left unanswered in order to avoid a national panic attack.

The eighty or so people behind the insanity in Washington D.C., whom shall forever be known as The Crazy Eighty, ought to be put in pillories and turned into an interactive museum where tourists get to throw things at them.  And f*ck tomatos, lettuce and other rotting vegetation; we ought to be able to throw lead pipes, M80's and canned vegetables. 

Ted Cruz, please go back to the ugly rock you crawled out from under.  Texas - why don't you secede from the union, you're an embarrassment to the rest of the country. 

I cannot stand living in this land where some of our leaders have the integrity of a child molester, a human trafficker and a serial killer.  I say we all show up at any political rally involving The Crazy Eighty and start throwing things.

More Information on Pooperville

This large area at the south end of Baton Rouge, which I refer to as Pooperville because of it's particular stink, has become enmeshed in controversy here.  But not for the reasons you might think.

The people who live in this rather large swatch are trying to incorporate themselves into a city, the City of St. George.  The driving force behind this action is to remove themselves from the Baton Rouge tax roster, and insulate themselves from paying taxes to help the poor, the felonious, and the people who can't afford to live there.

So Baton Rouge has it's own little ocean-free Hamptons with man-made, aerated ponds.  It would be rather amusing if it weren't so damned selfish and self-serving.  I don't particularly like paying taxes to fund skirmishes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but I can't incorporate myself into a village to avoid it.  These people shouldn't be allowed to do so, either.

If this City of St. George becomes a reality, it just promotes segregation and isolates a large number of people; lulls them into a sense of security and promotes tax evasion.

I say, if this new city is allowed to incorporate, it must take a name that adequately describes it.  Not Saint George, but Saint Stinker.  Pooperville is big with me.  Crap Myrtle.  Middle-class Earth.  Tax Haven.  Egret Regret.  Anything but St. George.  Not being a catholic, I don't know who Saint George is or what he did to get sainthood.  But the people who are pushing for the secession from Baton Rouge are really not following the Christian rule of helping their fellow man.  How about Saint Lucifer?  Has a nice ring.

Interesting Photo Shops

I have received no less than 20 photos of politicians with their heads up the a$$es today. 

So true, since the crux of the shut down is ObamaCare, and it's already a law; not to be negotiated.
Do Americans realize that our lawmakers do not have a clue about "law"?  Law is not negotiated.  Good or bad, it's law.  It's there to stay until its taken off the books, legally.

This is perhaps the problem with America; we have a bunch of people in jobs they are unqualified to perform.  No where is this more apparent than in congress. 

Case in point, Senator Ron Johnson(R) Wisconsin.  This yokel has not done one (read it - 0) thing to govern the United States since taking away the job from Russ Feingold (D), a person whose congressional record is rich with meaningful action.

This can only mean one thing.  A great number of Wisconsin residents are as stupid and lazy as the people they elect to congress.  No surprise there.  And I'm so glad I don't live there anymore.  Here in Louisiana, politics are exactly what they are in D.C.; a way to steal, bribe, cheat, and lie.  It's pretty blatant and in your face.  I kind of like this.  It is a great example of how capitalism has begun its descent into total destruction through greed, just as Karl Marx predicted. 

Obviously, the TSA is suffering from the shut down; evidencing a nine year old boy stealing a suitcase, a lunch and a seat on a plane to Las Vegas.  Gotta love the TSA.  My husband never fails to comment about the fact TSA is "security theatre" whenever we're standing in a screening line at an airport.  We have an understanding that if he's arrested for his defiant and blatant disrespect, I will continue to our destination without him and he can sit in the cell and call his lawyer.  At any rate, apparently TSA is very good at keeping 8 oz. of shampoo off your plane, or a container of spreadable cheese (classified as a liquid), but a few suspicious characters might just slip onto your aircraft, unnoticed and unscreened.  Since the 9 year old in question here had previously stolen a large truck and crashed it in downtown Minneapolis, he is a classic example of "problem child".  Too young to criminally charge, but never too young to wreak havoc.  This sums up congress today.  Too enmeshed to criminally charge, but wreaking havoc in very expensive ways.

Pay Up you Stupid Americans!

Wisconsin = Titanic

Well, well, well, J. B. Van Hollen isn't going to seek another term as Wisconsin's Attorney General.  Seems to me that the rats are deserting the ship. 

Van Hollen really doesn't have a clue about the legal soup Scott Walker has cooked up, and on his best day, he'd have trouble dealing with straightforward legal issues, so this really is no surprise.  Scott Walker's administration is just so much proof that you can fool some of the people some of the time, most of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all of the time. 

I am sincerely hopeful that Scott Walker's enormous ego (which he flaunts in place of minimally average intelligence) will lead him to the presidential campaign.  This man has done nothing for the State of Wisconsin except make it a proving ground for how tea party politics can never work.  Case in point - the government shut down.  More bad ideas from dullards and ideology stuck non-thinkers.  However, with Scott Walker as the republican candidate for president, democrats are guaranteed a win in the next election.

Go Scott Walker!  Straight into political obscurity.

Atchafalaya Day

Well, despite the fact that all the national parks are closed, my husband and I are going to explore the biggest swamp in the United States today just because it's real sunny and warm here (prior to Karen churning in) and we've been wanting to do this trip for awhile.  It's National Atchafalaya Heritage Month here, so there are a few cultural programs being sponsored despite the lunacy happening in Washington.

I'm hoping to see lots of birds, a few alligators, and my favorite, spooky Spanish moss hanging off live oaks.  I am hoping seeing some natural beauty will take my mind off the ugly face of American politics. 

I would like to see this horrendous display of ridiculous behavior by our congressional members come to a swift end.  It's like wishing I'd win the lottery; a nice thought but probably not going to happen.  Wait - I'm supposed to have faith!  I'm a spiritual person.  I'm part of the force  Okay; let me ask the force for help and for the force to render a big dose of intelligence to the clowns on capitol hill.  HA HA HA.  Instead, the force can designate me a lottery winner so I can move out of this crap country and enjoy never thinking about the large number of idiots who live and vote here ever again.

Sorry my fellow Americans.  I just can't tolerate morons as my leaders and idiocy as my doctrine.

Crazy Inifinity Driver in D.C. no Crazier than Republicans

Not sure why anyone would take on a battle with the Capitol Police with her toddler in the car, but obviously another example of the failing delivery of mental health services to Americans. 

However, when you look at how crazy this session of congress is, it's not hard to understand why funding of mental health services is so sadly lacking.  First rule of craziness:  when you're truly nuts you don't recognize it.  That about describes our current congressional incumbents.

I'm as frustrated as every other American with the political ineptitude in Washington D.C. today.  Not that I would ever vote republican, but can anyone with any degree of intelligence think of supporting this party of anarchists any longer?  Come on; get a clue. 

Everyday here in Baton Rouge, I go swimming.  I have a beautiful big pool all to myself every afternoon, and I just backstroke my frustration out for forty-five minutes.  There is something very soothing about being in water; like a return to womb weightlessness.  Alas, I have to come home and turn on the five o'clock news and watch the same crap being regurgitated by our supposed leaders.

Does anyone get that there is no leadership in congress today? 

Whatever Americans do, their first order of business should be to check the NO box for every incumbent representative and senator on the ballot next election.  I've had it with this screwed up, stinking country.  And you should too!

The Radical Right is the Downfall of Democracy

Speaker of the House John Boehner has everything in place to win America's A$$hole of the Year award. 

I can hardly believe he has the audacity to appear in public these days, much less open his stupid mouth to orate even more stupid ideology.

His face says it all.  That's a face that is saying:

"I F*cked up, but I won't back down.  No I'll stand my ground.  No I won't back down.".  (Apologies to Tom Petty)
 
I say, back down or get knocked down Boehner.....you've made a name for yourself and now you're stuck with it.  Don't try for A$$hole of the Universe.  You might have a chance at that, too!

Well, it's been kind of fun watching the republican party shoot themselves not only in the foot, but the hand, chest, and head, too.  This party has fallen so far off the track, it should rename itself Crackheads Amalgamated. 

The GOP isn't just the ruination of America, it's the laughing stock right now, except it really isn't funny at all, is it?

And don't think people won't forget it come election day.

I Love Obamacare

Can you believe $300,000,000 per day is what the government shut down will cost Americans. 

$300,000,000 per day because some filthy, and I use the term literally, rich white people can't stand the thought of every American being entitled to health care coverage.  Loathe to accept that they might have to contribute some funds to the good of man instead of to the idiot pawns they enjoy electing to congress.

$300,000,000 per day because the clowns we elect to congress haven't got the ability to find their a$$ with both hands, much less spell or define progress or cooperation.

$300,000,000 per day.

America needs to be taken apart as a system that is not only dysfunctional but out of time, out of place and out of money.

At the very least, this shut down should significantly establish that the only thing that needs to be shut down is the current congressional session.  Permanently.  Every congressman, senator, and their assorted band of useless aides needs to be recalled, sent home and forbidden to ever seek public office again. 

BP and the Evil Empire

Frankly, I'm not surprised that a corporation like BP is fighting, tooth and nail, every possible fine and payout they were ordered to make.  No culpability seems to be the multi-national conglomerate mantra these days.

This corporation did untold damage in the Gulf of Mexico by having a blow out at one of their deep water rigs, and now they are trying to find ways not to compensate gulf coast residents for their huge mistake. 

I've always thought pouring oil over the heads, bodies, families and homes of all BP executives; forcing them to live an oil saturated life for the next decade would be an excellent remedy and a cautionary example to avoid future catastrophes like this.  However, I like to live in a poetically just world, which is somewhat difficult on this plane of existence.

So, let's hit the ba$tards in the wallet and fine them appropriately; force them to make reparations for the extensive damage they've inflicted.  Unfortunately, this does little good to brown pelicans, who have trouble opening bank accounts without appropriate identification.  Shrimp, dolphins, sharks, red snappers and sea turtles suffer the same indignities.

Billion dollar corporations  like BP think they are above the law; they don't believe they owe anyone anything, (except, of course, themselves and their shareholders).  They actually do believe that the money they lost during the accidental pumping of 210 million gallons of crude into the gulf is punishment enough.

It's time Louisiana and the United States of America kicked British Petroleum, and other foreign corporations out of our coastal waters.  Exploitation is a crime and corporations like BP are just exploitative, fueled by insatiable greed.  Certainly we can do better, or at the very least, we can do less harm.  Maybe that's what our mantra should be.  "We won't hurt you as much".  Yes, it stinks, but it is still better than the arguments being put forth by BP in their weaseling attempts to renege on their compensation agreements. 

PooPooville and the Speed Trap

I live on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, so I have to drive a bit to get to the grocery store, or anywhere for that matter.  Baton Rouge, as I've said, is growing by leaps and bounds.  The traffic in the city is pretty horrendous during rush hours, and it's not all that much better any other time except Sunday morning, when everyone seems to be in church.  I spend quite a bit of time in my car taking in the sights while dodging the horrible drivers who have all moved to Baton Rouge.  On my way into town there is a fancy schmanzy subdivision where the speed limit drops to 30.  This is the only stretch of Baton Rouge on which I've ever seen a cop.  I guess it pays to have a big house with palm trees. 

The housing developers are straining to keep up with the demand for housing, and what was a soybean field yesterday is going to be the next subdivision tomorrow.  On this speed trap stretch, there is one such subdivision being engineered right now, close to the Albertson's where I do some shopping.  It's a large tract of land, and when I drive by it, it smells like crap.  My husband and I take turn naming this subdivision; PooPooville, Stinky Acres, Odoramaland, Gatorfartown, Pugh Palisades, Scratch, Sniff and Scream .... you get the idea. 

So I continue to think that the environmental issues here in Louisiana are a can of worms waiting for me to open them.  There's no reason soil that's been turned over should have the offensive stink it has in PooPooville unless someone was either dumping solid waste there, or spraying gray water.  I'm anxious to get to the Unitarian Church this Sunday and see what kind of environmental issues they're involved in.  I certainly hope someone's involved in environmental causes here.  I almost dread delving into this.

The bit of research I did so far has indicated that dumping treated sewage into a swamp and trying to sell the idea its healthy for the swamp is pretty much as bogus as building a subdivision on a mountain of $hit and calling it Sweet Blossom.

But I still like living here, I've just carefully avoided scratching the surface. 

I wonder what kind of death fills the rail cars that go by a couple of times a day from the chemical plants to the south.  A whole other mailbag of concern.

No place ideal.  All of this stuff is still 100% an improvement over living in Wisconsin with Scott Walker as governor.  That's a heaping pile of maniacal fan splitting $hit if there ever was one.  Of course, Jindal could well be his twin brother, so I look on the bright side....no shortage of things to rant about here.

Tea Party Plan to Keep America Stupid

It's easier to enslave people if they don't know you're doing it. 

I was going to avoid Louisiana politics as there's just too much fodder to fathom, but I cannot honestly believe that Bobby Jindal would actually oppose common core standards for Louisiana's public schools.  What is the point of educating young people if we don't have measurable standards? 

Tea party freaks like the "no common core standard" policy because it serves them.  They say they want smaller government and less regulatory interference, but that's just a deceptive cloak they stand behind.  Keeping the populace dumbed down has long been a plan by those who have it all.  An illiterate group of laborers can keep the machine cogs turning and the haves enjoy believing that these exploited workers are actually thankful to have some stinking, dangerous job that pays just enough to insure there will be no chance of any of them moving into the neighborhood.

Does anyone smell the strong odor of $hit Creek here? 

And speaking of $hit Creek, there is an article in the local paper today about pouring treated sewage into the swamps in southern Louisiana; such plan being touted as environmentally sound.  I don't know much about sewage treatment, and perhaps this is a viable idea.  I'll have to do more research on that.  Frankly, though, pouring anything into a natural swamp in the hope that the swamp will continue to clean the sewage as well as feed the swamp and keep it healthy sounds suspicious to me.  More on that when I've got a chance to study it. 

I don't have to worry about finding causes down here.  It's just so easy not to get involved though.  I've been enjoying being oblivious in this very summery climate!

Hold Your Tongue and Say It

Okay America, everybody hold their tongue and say "Killings at the ship yard".

Jesus H. Christ, when are we going to get a freakin' clue that this country has too many guns, too few controls, and has become a total shit yard?

All you gun toting fanatics out there, spare me your bull$hit comments about your right to bear arms - what the f*ck about my right not to get f*cking shot?

I despise these yahoos and their bullets, truly. 

My next super power wish would be the ability to turn everybody's firearm into a pop out flag that says "bang, oops, and I better run my cowardly a$$ on outta here".

What's It All About, Sammy?

It's actually comical to live in Louisiana and try to follow politics.

Every single day, there is a news story about some politician or other, from local to federal, being indicted for malfeasance in public office.  They steal.  They lie.  They cheat.  They slide on their bellies like reptiles.  They get released from prison and run for public office, again.

In reality, it would seem to me that our entire government is made up of incompetent thieves, intent on getting their's (whatever their's is) and making sure the rest of us pay for it. 

I suppose one must be a little reptilian in order to enter politics - having a prehistoric skin would be very helpful in Washington D.C.  or any state capital.  Politics as we know it is a dysfunctional process that does very little to better us, as a nation.  In fact, it seems to work against us at every turn.

So I Say:  LET'S TRY THE JURY DUTY PROCESS.  We pick our senators, congressman, governors, mayors, president, vice president, ad infinitum, the same way we send notices to people who have been picked for jury duty.  I believe that the first incarnation of a government picked that way would be 100% better than what we're all stuck with today.

Ugh - My First Altercation in New Orleans

My husband was drawing outside Café du Monde in New Orleans this weekend, while I walked around looking for certain items I wanted to buy at the various antique stores. 

Around 2 p.m., when the smells of the French Quarter restaurants were really whetting my appetite, I went back to collect him and drag him off to lunch.  That's when I encountered old drunk white lady, sitting next to my husband and complaining about how "nigger kids" had stolen her purse and shoes. 

The balloon man, who was the object of my husband's drawing, was busy making balloon animals for some kids, who just happened to be black, and old drunk white lady started to make comments about how much she hated "niggers".  Balloon man told her to shut up, but she belligerently stood her ground in racist comments.

Unfortunately, I had had enough and the black family standing, waiting for the balloons was very uncomfortable, but too polite to say anything.  So of course, I had to say something.  I simply told her that she had said enough, and that she needed to stop immediately.  When she continued, I again told her to stop, in a much louder voice, and asked her to take her hateful venom somewhere else because it wasn't welcome there.  Balloon man then flagged down an officer on a segue, and had him talk to the woman, who promptly left the area.

It was very unpleasant.  Obviously, old drunk white woman was also old drunk white mentally ill woman, and I try to abstain from conflicts with the mentally compromised.  You can never win because they're stuck in their emotionally charged loop of craziness and you just get taken for a ride that goes around and around.  But I'll never forget the blatant show of racist crap and the fact that I jumped into the fray, much to my husband's discomfort.  At any rate, it was an ugly little episode and I am a little sorry I got into it with this woman - maybe had I given her some money or a pair of shoes, she would have been better off, but I kind of doubt it.  In this day and age to see that display of ugliness shocked and saddened me.

Sheriff Clarke No Show at 9/11 Memorial Ceremony?

I don't know who is running the PR for the Sheriff's Department in Milwaukee County, but they have their hands full with Clarke at the helm.

Two years in a row, the Sheriff is a no-show for a 9/11 memorial ceremony?  He was at a doctor's appointment?  Hopefully, he was having his head examined.  Sheriff Clarke is a public relations catastrophe.

What possible reason could the Sheriff's Office come up with that not one person from that agency would attend and so obviously disrespect a memorial service?

I'm in Louisiana now, and the politics here are every bit as crazy as Wisconsin politics.  In Lafayette, there was vandalism of the 9/11 memorial by so called "truthers", who believe that the U.S. government engineered the attacks on New York City.  It's a scary thought to think that the radically right-headed Sheriff Clarke might share the beliefs of this group.  I can't think of a single other reason that he would show such sincere disrespect to a 9/11 memorial gathering.

September 11th

Today is my husband's birthday, and we were picnicking at an old castle on the Dingle Peninsula of Ireland when the first plane hit the World Trade Center.  Obviously, we were clueless.  Laptops were just becoming popular, and we would have never thought to stay connected on a beautiful fall day, on the beautiful Irish coast. 

On the way back to our rented cottage, we stopped at Inch Beach to buy gifts for our family.  As I browsed the aisles, I kept hearing about planes being hijacked out of Boston and New York from a television set at the clerk's station.  I found my husband and asked if he was listening; we both looked at each other and then went to the counter to ask what the hell was going on in the United States.  We were watching the television screen when the second plane hit and we were stunned senseless.  Leaving our purchases behind, we returned to the cottage and watched, in horror, like every other person in Ireland and the world, the beyond belief story unfolding in front of us.

It was a long time ago.  But I remember the devastation I felt and the unbelievably emptiness in my heart, that something like this could happen.  To us.  To America. 

We learned that the airspace over the United States was closed down (except for the Saudi royal family, who was allowed to leave).  We were scheduled to go home the next day, but that was out of the question.  It was impossible to reach the airlines.  Our wonderful landlord, who had rented the cottage to us, showed up and told us we were the last of the summer tourists and we could stay in the cottage as long as we needed to --- no charge.  Such a nice man, Sean Foley.

It took days before we could reach someone on the phone at the airline, and get on a flight to America.  The best we could do was Baltimore, but it was home, and we would eventually make it to Milwaukee.

Shannon Airport was a nightmare.  There were people everywhere; some had been there for days and days.  Student travelers were out of money and begging for food, chips, anything.  I remember thinking that I was a racist as I nervously checked out everyone at our gate to make sure they weren't Arabs.  It was my first experience with having my body and my luggage searched before proceeding to the gate.  The whole trip was uncomfortable, the plane was packed, the babies were at a full throttle howl and the flight attendants seemed harassed and tired.

Perhaps the most eerie thing I've ever seen in my life was O'Hare Airport, a complete ghost town, when we finally arrived in Chicago.  If you've ever traveled though O'Hare, you know what I'm talking about.  Only two flights had arrived at the airport the day we got back; it was dark, it was empty, it was quiet, and it was the most incredible reminder of just how much things had changed in four days.  There was one bus to take us to Milwaukee, in a deserted parking lot that seemed to stretch for miles.

This year, is a happier birthday for my husband.  We're living in Louisiana now, we're enjoying the start of our golden years together in a brand new house and we're going out for Japanese food tonight; because there will be plenty of opportunities for southern cooking on Saturday, when we take the short drive to New Orleans.

But forever, September 11th has sad meaning for us, because of the awful tragedy that we suffered at the hand of a bunch of miserably misguided terrorists; an awful tragedy for my family because my dear brother-in-law died in a motorcycle accident on September 11th, years earlier, and a sad day because no matter how much we try to be happy on my husband's birthday, the reminders will always be there of that awful, history changing day.

C'est la vie.  Happy Birthday anyhow, to a man who never lost patience while spending four days on the phone, trying to get us home.  I wonder, sometimes, if it wouldn't have been better to stay in Ireland.

What Would Eddie Munster Do?

Paul Ryan came out against President Obama's proposed plan(s) to deal with Syria and its use of chemical weapons against its citizenry.

Big Surprise.  Paul Ryan immediately opposed anything intelligent simply by virtue of the fact that it came from Obama.  Ryan definitely went to the school of adversarial academics.  He criticized the president for wanting to explore diplomatic solutions, while stating that military strikes would be ineffective.  God Forbid Paul Ryan ever would be president, because this joker can't come up with any plan for anything, except a plan to be negative and wishy washy.

I wish I had Paul Ryan's crystal balls, because I'd kick him so hard his past would be his future.  And his past shows him to be a very sore loser. 

I, along with most Americans, are sick to death of the oppositional politics of the GOP, especially members of the GOP who are not based in reality or committed to working harmoniously to solve problems.  The Paul Ryans and Scott Walkers of the country are key in destroying everything that makes America great.  Then again, the Ryans and the Walkers promise to be the downfall of the GOP, and in that regard, we can all rejoice.

Elysian a Big Bomb

My husband was excited that I suggested we go see the movie "Elysian".  It sounded pretty good as a premise; earth in a post apocalyptic anarchy, and the rich people living in a man made paradise on a space vehicle high above the chaos.  Oh, and the rich desperate to keep the rest of mankind off.  Sounds sort of like the Hamptons, or Beverly Hills.  At any rate, I went to see it and it stunk up the theatre.  Truly, I do not understand how Hollywood can take ANY creative idea, turn it into a bloodbath with Ironman hardware suits, and call it a movie.  I was truly bored, but now my husband owes me two chick flicks, so I guess suffering through it was worth it. 

I think the movie evaded the bigger question, at least for the super rich.  How will they keep out the riff raff?  I'm sure they spend lots of time thinking about that.  If this movie had addressed that issue, it might have been worth seeing.  Jodie Foster was a formidable stiff, reminiscent of Barbara Bush in her attitude toward the lower classes.

In other weird news, Iowa is going to pass a bill to allow people who are legally blind to have guns.  Glad I don't have any family in Iowa, which is short for Idiots Out Walking Around.

The debate rages on about what to do about Syria and its crazy leader.  I guess America should ask itself what the population would do here if Obama decided to use poison gas against its citizens. 

And just a personal note here, I'm so pi$$ed that the Packers failed to kick the a$$ of the 49ers yesterday, I've decided to become a Saints fan for the 2013/14 season.  Well, that's not true.  I'll always follow the Pack, but it was a disappointing season opener for cheeseheads everywhere. 
Hopefully, when the playoffs finally roll around, Green Bay will give them a drubbing they'll never forget, complete with a game ending bad call.
 

People Who Live in Big Houses Shouldn't

Well, I thought I've seen it all; but Giselle Bundchen's (or whatever the hell her name is) and Tom Brady's new house in California is just so over the top, I can't stand it.

Alright, if you have the money and you can afford to buy all the furniture it would take to fill a museum sized home, more power to you.  I don't really care about flagrant, in your face, shows of status and money unwisely spent.  If it makes a person happy; better to be happy than unhappy.  I just sort of sense an emptiness about those big places that fills me with a strange, unexplainable sadness.  I really wouldn't want to live in one.  I lose my glasses too often to want to get that much exercise looking for them.

What's funny about the house that the Supermodel/Quarterback share is it's supposedly built to the highest green standards.  Excuse me?  Going green means going less.  When one considers the cost of air conditioning on a house that size, sorry - there's nothing green about it.  Just enormous consumption of valuable natural resources while most people in the world don't even have clean drinking water.  Alas, happiness does come at a cost, usually built on some misery of faceless others.  Or at least, status does.

It's hot in Louisiana this week.  My energy efficient house is nice and cool, and it costs me about $72 a month to keep it that way.  I would not trade this cute little place for any mansion in Bel Air or anywhere else.  I would simply feel like a very large pig, hogging the slop tray.  That sounds so Charlie Manson and I don't mean I think rich people are pigs.  I just think they are ignorant about what's truly meaningful. 

Walker and the GOP Sickeningly Transparent

Scott Walker recently reneged on a $500,000 grant to a sportsman group in Wisconsin (that had supported his gubernatorial campaigns).  I guess when you set your sights on the White House, you can't afford to be seen giving taxpayer funds to your cronies.  Nevertheless, Walker would have given the money to this group, because this is what the Walker's of the GOP always do.  They complain about big government and how citizens can't afford it, but as soon as they're elected they distribute billions of dollars to their friends, while cutting social programs.   Citizens of Wisconsin simply can't afford Walker.

In more news, Walker admitted he erred in giving the Capitol Police Chief a huge raise.  Duh, ya think? 

I am so sick of the republican party and their insistence that they are out to save money and cut government spending.  Bull$shit.  They're out to steal as much as they can from people who have little to begin with.  This is their plan - kill off the poor and turn America into the amusement park of the rich.  As if the rich had any creativity or even were capable of being amused. 

GOP --- Get (to) 0 Poor.

Fried Chicken Anyone?

Okay, so I just saw the doctor, who wants me to eat properly, exercise more and be mindful of getting certain tests done to insure continued good health.  I liked him - he was practical, personable and obviously a very good physician.

So my answer is to go out for a fried chicken dinner tonight.  Bad Bad Bad, but I'm doing it because southern fried chicken just can't be obtained anywhere except in the south (and a good friend of mine's house in Wausau, Wisconsin).  I think my friend must have been a slave cook in a past life, because her chicken is comparable to the chicken here.  She's not afraid of hard work either, which just proves my point that we all live many times before we get "it", whatever "it" is.  I'm sure I was a princess in a past life because I'm very comfortable with the royal treatment.  Obviously, I learned nothing valuable from that life.

I digress.  Fried chicken in the south.  Maybe I'll add coleslaw and red beans & rice, just to make it a little healthier.  All I know is that I smell chicken frying all over this town, and it sets my tongue to dripping.  It's Pavlovian.  My husband was going to come home tonight and make a tofu, noodle, vegetable dish, which I requested; but instead, I got a whiff on my way home of chicken frying, and just like that, our dinner plans have changed.

Now, you can eat shrimp cocktail.  You can eat lobster cold.  You can eat sushi, all relatively good for you.  But the only way to eat a chicken is to coat it and drop it in boiling grease.  I am not sure who figured out how to do this first (probably my friend in Wausau when she was a slave cook) but I'm glad it was figured out. 

Bon appetite!

Any Ditch'll Do?

Here I am in Louisiana, where I'm a little unhappy about the town I'm living in not having a recycling program.  Any Ditch Will Do?  Apparently, I can voluntarily recycle items, but I have to pack them up and drive them to a center.  Ah well, no place is perfect....but for a progressive city, not having a recycling program is a big negative to me.

Nevertheless, I'm out of Wisconsin, it's horrendous politics, it's apathetic citizenry and it's 65% of the time really intolerable weather. 

So far, I'm loving it.  Yes it's hot and humid.  Yes, Baton Rouge is very congested, especially at rush hour.  And yes, you cannot expect to drive up the road I live on during an LSU game because the people here worship football and the Tigers.  But I went to a Zydeco festival in Cajun country, and had an absolutely delightful time.  I've skipped Summerfest in Milwaukee for at least the past decade, because it seems to bring out a large group of bozos who ruin it for everyone else.  At the Zydeco Festival, everyone was having fun; dancing, singing along and behaving as you would expect people to behave in a civilized society.

And people smile and talk to each other - apparently, there's no such thing as a stranger in Louisiana.  At least, that's my experience thus far.

For a small city, I've managed to get lost a few times.  But I've found an absolutely fabulous Italian grocery store, a gigantic shoe store (my downfall - but I just unpacked my shoes and there will be NO more shoes) and a nice green market.  Tomorrow, I have a doctor appointment in a part of town that I've not been too, and I'm expecting I'll find other delightful places.

At any rate, I'm out of Wisconsin.  I'll keep up with the idiot Governor for entertainment value, and I sort of am putting off delving into Louisiana politics.  I guess the corruption here is so blatant, it's refreshing.  No one even bothers to hide their indiscretions behind closed doors.  But more on that as I become more familiar with the lay of the land.

The Baton Rouge Advocate Gets it Wrong

I had one of many lazy moments today where I sat down to read the newspaper, and had to laugh when they referred to Scott Walker as the Governor of Florida.  Well, its an easy enough mistake, I guess.  Florida is probably on a par with Wisconsin when it comes to stupidity in politics. 

I drove across Baton Rouge today during the end of rush hour --- a total mistake.  This city is so congested, it's unbelievable.  Felt like I was trying to drive across Los Angeles in a shriner car with a flat tire.  On the plus side, I got to look around more, and notice the differences in the neighborhoods.  I'm living in a new development just outside Baton Rouge's southwest side.  Everything around me is brand new, very elegant homes and planned communities.  It was nice to look around the older part of town, which has amazingly gracious homes.  There were some really blighted neighborhoods, too, sort of back to back with the nice ones.  Makes me really glad we decided to live outside of town.  I found the Whole Food Store and the tres chic mall. Also found L'Auberge casino, which is as elegant as anything in Vegas, and has a beautiful terrace overlooking the Mississippi.

At any rate, the city clears out after rush hour ..... I don't think Baton Rougeians go out at night. Probably too exhausted from the drive home from work.  I drove downtown and looked around, then drove back home through LSU.....very little traffic at all.  Very Milwaukee like.  For a big university town, I thought there would be more happening.  Oh well.  I know where to go for happening when I want to.  I could have made it to New Orleans in the time it took me to drive across this city and that's pretty funny.  I must remember not to drive through LSU when there's a football game.  People here really love the Tigers.  I've never seen such a big football stadium. 

I think I'll become a Saints fan, now.  At least, I think I can afford to go to one of their games, unlike taking out a loan to go watch football in Green Bay.  But then, I can't really ever let go of the green and gold and I don't even know the Saints' colors.

Out of Milwaukee - and Feeling Good!

I'm about halfway to Baton Rouge, spending the night in Arkansas with a cat who is madder than hell about a 9 hour road trip.  Ah, well.  We're halfway there.

I felt very sad about leaving my friends and my family, and a few tears rolled down my cheeks, but when I hit Racine County, I was just ecstatic.  I don't ever want to live in Wisconsin again, and I feel like I'll never have to.  Making the initial move was incredibly burdensome, but now that it's made, I really am beginning to understand I no longer have to live in a city I really don't like, in a state that's lost all of its charm (for me).  This feels very good and by the time I reached the Illinois border, I was in full joyful mode.

The cat, not so much.  He's really upset and when he's upset, he poops on the floor to let you know.  My car will never be the same.  It's not like the cat box wasn't available, he just was having his usual catitude, and alas, I'll get more of the same tomorrow.  Oh well, he doesn't know it yet, but he won't miss winter either.  Cat brains are very small. By tomorrow morning, it will all seem like fresh torture to him.

Got very tired somewhere in the Missouri boot heel and had to drink a gigantic coke for the caffeine.  It really helped, but physically, I feel just awful from it.  Giving up Coke was good for my health and if I didn't have a rotten little cat with me, I'd stick to coffee, but I have to time my pit stops to less than the 3 minutes it takes for the car to get unbearably hot.  So fun to travel this way. 

Oh well.......I have a free pass to all things unpleasant, icky, boring, weird or just plain stupid for at least the next two years.  My husband will have to do it.

RYAN BRAUN AND A REALITY CHECK

I'm watching another day of awful, violent news stories here in Milwaukee.  People shot to death overnight.  Armed robberies.  A dead infant, killed by his father.   A Dean of Students arrested for drunk driving and driving the wrong way on the freeway.   But what story dominates the news?  Ryan Braun's use of prohibited performance enhancing substances and his lack of making a public apology.

Frankly, I could care less about Ryan Braun or his apology.  His actions are neither important to me or of any particular interest.  The elevation of sports figures to some God-like status has always annoyed me, and I'm certain it also annoys the sports figures.  No one needs that kind of idolatry, persecution or scrutiny ---- unless they're feeding off the public trough of taxpayer monies.  So if Ryan Braun makes a public apology matters very little to me.  The news stories already have exposed him as a liar and a cheat.  What does one say after that?  I'm sorry?  Just doesn't really matter, does it?

Is anyone outraged over the street violence here in the city?  Hardly seems like it.  On Sunday, I'll pack up my car and head south.  I'll avoid the apathy that is as thick in this city as beer is abundant.  I'll leave all of this town's problems behind me and hope that my family members who remain here are able to stay safe in an increasingly dangerous and violent city.

Waiting for a statement from Ryan Braun?  Get a life.  Get a clue.  Get involved in making Milwaukee a better place, because frankly, it's an awful place and I'm glad I'm escaping.  Intelligent life is sadly lacking here.

WALKER DISTORTS TRUTH

When the conservative rag known as the Milwaukee Journal prints a headline stating that Scott Walker, that lazy-eyed, low IQ, poor excuse for a governor, is actually distorting the truth, well, you would think people would stand up and take notice.  But we all believe what we want to believe, don't we?  Oops.  Who am I kidding.  Most people believe whatever is convenient.

Walker's latest skip though the valley of deceit involves his jobs records.  We all remember Scott Walker's campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs here in Wisconsin in the first term of his governorship.  Not exactly happening, but here's what he is saying today:  "Wisconsin has seen its best two year job growth in a decade". 

The Journal goes on to disavow that claim, providing stats and actual job numbers. 

Yet, Scott Walker perpetuates the lie.  Well, politics as usual, right?  Wrong.  Scott Walker spins the truth because he is a liar.  And liars simply cannot stop lying.  And there isn't a group quite like liars when they lie, because they consistently swear they are telling the truth. 

I guess Scott Walker fits perfectly the description and motivation of a pathological liar.  These people lie because they are completely paralyzed by fear that the truth might be discovered.  Scott Walker's truth is that he is unintelligent, unprepared, and unsure of the place he finds himself in, which place he had very little to do with actually attaining.

I do wish liars pants would start on fire with every lie they told.  We'd be a nation of charred a$$es.  The stink of burned fat would be everywhere.  If I wished I had a superpower, it would be to make people choke on the words of every lie they tell. 

Blame Anyone and Avoid the Truth

I found it very interesting that Robin Voss has a huge editorial in the Milwaukee Journal this morning about how the violence in the City of Milwaukee is attributable to poor policing.

Uh.... not really, Mr. Voss.

Mr. Voss, and other like-minded republicans, enjoy blaming the police department for the high number of violent crimes occurring in the city.  They decry paying police overtime as a method for curbing the violence.  They criticize police operations and methodology.  They blame the Chief of Police and the Mayor.  They point the fingers at everyone, except themselves.  And they are the true fan that flames the fire of inner city violence.

Milwaukee has lost jobs, manufacturing jobs, mostly.  Those jobs provided a source of income to many inner city residents, who are now forced to take minimum wage jobs, if they can find them.  It is impossible to support a family on a minimum wage salary.  So we have a loss of jobs.  Then comes a republican administration, which basically gutted any social safety net available to people who could not earn enough money to support their families and survive. 

What is happening in Milwaukee is reflective of what happened in Detroit.  People are desperate.  Most republicans have never been desperate, unless you want to include in that description desperately apathetic.  So let me educate republicans about what desperation looks like.  It looks like Detroit.  It is starting to look like Milwaukee.

People will do what they have to do to survive.  That is, they will take jobs that are horrible, for pay that is inadequate.  When even those low level jobs are no longer available, their lives are devalued and they have nothing more to lose.  This is when desperation sets in.  Since non-inner city folk, mostly white, have no idea how it feels to desperately need money, food, bus fare, new shoes, medication, etc., they have no clue what kind of corner the desperate folks have been backed into.

But they're going to find out.  Violence will continue to escalate here in the city.  The Robin Voss' of the world will continue to blame the police instead of the real culprit, a totally dysfunctional and apathetic society of haves not giving a rat's a$$ about the have-nots.  These people will continue to spout off their ignorant rants that if you work hard, anyone can make it, and inner city folk are just lazy.   You can't work hard if there are no f*cking jobs.  You can't "make it" on $8.00 per hour.  Period.  End of story.

I am leaving Milwaukee and moving to a very economically viable city in the south.  I don't want to watch the devastation that has fallen over this city, and I don't want to witness first hand the suffering that the republican party has inflicted on an entire race of people here in this city, with their narrow-minded and cruel economic plans and policies. 

Most importantly, I don't want to watch the desperately violent stories that pour out of my television during the six o'clock news.  I think, though, it will be harder to watch what happens when desperation brings about the end of the world as we know it, though.  Hitler rounded up the Jews and other "undesirables", herded them into concentration camps and methodically murdered them.  Is what we're doing that much different?  Starving people?  Killing them by providing no access to health care or medication?  Insuring that the cycle of poverty continues by gutting educational funding to public schools? 

Trust me, Mr. Voss, these desperate people will take matters into their own hands and there will be violent and bloody clashes between the haves and the have-nots in the near future.  Think you live in a safe neighborhood, immune to the violence of the inner city?  Think again.

Scott Walker Loose & Free with Taxpayer Funded Appointments

Ah, yes, Cynthia Archer back in the news with yet another high-paying job in Scott Walker's administration. 

It's amazing how Scott Walker hands out government jobs in his administration like a big fat banker hands out lollipops to a millionaire's kid. 

Now if only Scott Walker had enough compassion to hand out some Badger Care benefits to people who desperately needed them.  We all know Walker is as compassion-less as any other Nazi.  Bereft is the best word to describe Mr. Walker when it comes to any fundamental human emotion associated with caring.

If we are loading up the government here in Wisconsin with Scott Walker sycophants, Wisconsin is doomed to fail on every level.  Scott Walker is a hopelessly lacking human being with no real plan and no real clue.  Those that buy into his ideology seem to be cut from the same material; lightweight and diaphanous.  How long can this band of non-thinking demi-gods hold Wisconsin hostage?  I guess as long as the non-thinking blind faith voters continue to believe in Mr. Walker's house of cards.

Racists Entrenched in the GOP

Comparing illegal immigrants to Satan, Steven Kreiser, assistant deputy secretary at Wisconsin's DOT (a Scott Walker appointee)  has been fired from his job.  This is less about his bigoted rants than it is about damage control by Scott Walker.  You see, in the GOP, you must think the way Kreiser thinks, but you mustn't verbally express it.

Kreiser further wrote that a "stream of wretched criminals" is crossing the border without obstruction and they "completely ruined" entire states and industries.  Well who would know better about criminals and ruined states than a Scott Walker appointee.

My point, here, is that this person, appointed to a $96,628 position with the Department of Transportation, has the moronic sensibility of a gnat.  He is even more ignorant than our un-illustrious governor.  Why are these people in public office?  How did this country fall into a state of complete intolerance and blatant hatred for all things non-white and non-Christian?

Is the GOP the party of hate?  It certainly seems so.  Scott Walker is so busy handing out high-paying appointments based on political connectedness that he can't see the crooks for the pay-offs.  Scott Walker is as small-minded as Krieser, he just hides it better.  Perhaps Krieser will have to cross the border into Mexico to find a job to support his family.  I hear the big drug cartel down there is looking for new members.  I'm sure they would love to welcome someone as bigoted and full of hatred as Mr. Krieser. 

The big issue here, though, is not that Krieser is a bigoted racist, it's that he got appointed in the first place.  Yet another example of Scott Walker being incapable of homework.

REALLY TOO MUCH STUFF

In this moving process, I have purged a great deal of stuff from our lives.  Still, I have way too many material possessions and am now paying to have it shipped across country.

Yes, I like/love most of the stuff, but not enough to fill a smaller house with it. 

Here's my solution.  Every time a guest in my new home remarks that he/she likes something, I'm going to wrap it up and give it to them.  No strings attached.  Just get rid of it.  Please take it.  Use it in good faith.  If the guest was lying about liking it, well, tough.  The stuff is now his/her problem and that will teach him/her to open his/her mouth.

Although my decorating style can best be described as eclectic (with warm and cozy undertones), I am going for a minimalist approach in my new home.  Simple lines.  Clean walls.  No clutter.  By the time I'm living in the Garden District of New Orleans, I should be down to bare bones.  Pretty much how we all end up, anyhow.  I'm just expediting the process. 

Scott Walker a Real Butthole to the Sikh Community

There Scott Walker's picture was in The Milwaukee Journal, speaking at the Sikh Temple remembrance of the violent rampage that occurred there one year ago, costing many people their lives. 

Complete with a Sikh turban on the ever vacant space he calls a head.

How does someone who promotes gun violence, is in bed with the National Rifle Association, an advocate for concealed carry laws and opposed to assault weapon bans have the unmitigated gall to stand up in front of a roomful of people he (for obvious Baptist reasons) believes are going to hell anyway and speak to their sorrow, their pain and their loss.  If this isn't political prostitution, than political prostitution simply does not exist.

Scott Walker should stick to kissing the A$$es of his political contributors, and leave innocent victims out of his repertoire.  The man has no conscience and no political savvy.  If he did, he'd realize just what a hypocrite he always comes across as.

People are Randomly Funny Everywhere on the Web.

So, just when I think I have heard it all, I heard this:

If there isn't one really ugly person in your group of friends, you can be pretty sure you're the one.

Ha.  Made me laugh.  Don't know why.  Kind of mean.  Still, people are so clever in their attempts at sarcasm, satire and ways to make others smile.

Dog-Trotting Joggers Drop Dead

I am about at the end of the monumental task of packing up a two story home by myself.  I will move in less than three weeks.  It is Sunday, and I am taking the day off.....read two newspapers all morning (and cut the grass), but will spend the rest of the day soaking in my daughter's pool and letting her wait on me because I, more than anyone, deserve a day off.  I'm finding it a little difficult to not pack something, not clean something, not toss something, in short, not do something to facilitate a cross country move.

As I finished reading the NY Times Magazine, I glanced out my (perfectly clean) living room windows and noticed a fabulously healthy specimen of a young women, jogging past with two smallish trotting dogs on leashes.  I don't know what annoyed me so much.  Her perfectly bouncing blond ponytail.  Her spandex running suit.  Her athletically appealing form.  Her spotless shoes.  Don't know.  I just wanted to walk outside, push her down on the sidewalk and kick her.

Here's the thing.  For two and a half months, I've worked very hard, very diligently, and for the most part very happily, knowing I'm escaping Wisconsin.  I've toted, lifted, and dragged more junk then Lamont Sanford ever did in however many seasons his show was on television.  I've yanked weeds, washed windows, crawled on the floor with a mini-vac to remove cat hair.  I've driven across town a dozen times to unload stuff I don't want, need or ever want to see again (most of it my husband's).

So I put on my swimsuit and looked in the mirror.  Oy vey.  You would think that all my efforts would have had some effect on my swimsuit physique.  Maybe my arms are a little less doughy.  Maybe my thighs are a little slimmer.  But the rest of me looks pretty much like I looked when we got the call to come to Louisiana -- comfortably aged woman whose clothes are more about fit than style.  More about hiding than flaunting.  What is it going to take?  Well, a time machine, I guess.  Or an Olympic sized swimming pool and a daily commitment to spend at least an hour each day being wet.  Liposuction, lifestyle lift and breast re-perking.   If only I had that kind of money.

Regardless, happy jogger with her dogs isn't such a goddamn big deal.  I looked good at thirty too, with minimal effort.  Here's the challenge; how will I ever look good when this move is over?  Because right now I look tired, under nourished, and as flimsy as one of my cardboard boxes.  I need to get my teeth cleaned, my hair cut, my toes pedicured, and a full body massage for at least two hours.  Or will I automatically lose ten years off my face escaping the frozen wastelands for the gulf coast?

I bought myself a new Bobbie Brown lipstick and a pair of Clark sandals on the yellow dot table at Boston Store.  This will have to be enough for now.  It's no image miracle, but it's something.

How Do Other Governors TalkTo Scott Walker at the Milwaukee Governor's Conference?

Real Slow.

WE Energy Customers going to get Gouged Again

Everyone knows WE Energies is a terrible company; from the rates they charge to residential households, to the bonuses they pay to their top executives; these guys are the greediest whores in Wisconsin. 

They just lost a huge account with a mining company in northern Wisconsin, who has the ability to purchase their energy from an upper Michigan electric service provider.  Don't worry; this won't hurt WE Energies at all; they'll just pass this multi-million dollar loss onto you, the residential customer.

Here is why I hate this company this morning:

I'm moving to Louisiana, where my husband has resided in our new house for the past two months.  It's summer, it's southern Louisiana, so the air conditioner runs pretty much non stop.  He got our first month's energy bill yesterday, which was approximately $70.  If he pays it on time, it goes down to $62.    Granted, our house in Louisiana is brand new construction, built to the highest green standards, with a super efficient HVAC system.  But still, Louisiana is very hot and humid in the summer, so getting a bill for $62 for a month's of energy usage pretty much astounded both of us.

WE Energies, on the other hand, costs me approximately $2700 per year.  I haven't run my air conditioner at all because it has been, for the most part, a very cool summer.  I'm in the process of closing up the house and joining my husband, so I use very little energy here - no one is doing laundry, no one is watering the garden, in short, we are moving out. 

WE Energies charges one of the top rates in the country for it's electric/gas service.  Unfortunately, for the people in southeastern Wisconsin, we don't have a choice on where we purchase our energy, it's a monopoly and it represents all the reasons why monopolies should not be allowed in a free enterprise system. 

Frankly, I don't understand why people don't DEMAND accountability on the part of WE Energies.  It is unreasonable to assume that these rates for power are reasonable or fair. 

For my part, I'm leaving this hellacious city and this regressive state for greener pastures.  There truly is no utopia on this planet, but there certainly is a wide selection of hells, and WE Energies brings their particular hell to life each month via your energy bill.

Despicable People

One of the big news stories in Milwaukee today is the sentence of seven years that a man received for killing his girlfriend's two year old daughter.  Front page news, as he walks out of court with a smirk on his face, happy to have gotten it over on the system one more time.  The girl's mother also pleaded to lesser charges and will walk out of prison in a short time.

I guess I have to assume these two people are junkies or worse; it takes some kind of a morally bereft, brain addled person to beat a two year old to death unless you're coming off a high or trying to enjoy the heroin that has just entered your vein, and the two year old wants something to eat.  Ooops......did they forget to feed her for a day or two?

The mother has three other children, all of whom had been assessed by the Bureau of Child Welfare, and abuse charges found to be "unsubstantiated".  My a$$.  Abuse charges unsubstantiated were probably based on the path of least resistance for these workers to actually collect their paychecks while not doing their jobs. 

So, the two year old is dead, the three other kids are in foster care, and the mother and her a$$hole boyfriend are going to prison for what can only be considered a sweetheart of a plea bargain.

These stories really upset me and bring out a rage inside me that is hard for me to accept as my own.  I do hope these two get to prison and become instant targets for anyone inside who is a real hardened criminal; someone who killed/maimed/tortured other adults and not babies, some gang banger with full blown psychotic features.  Baby killers should have their lives destroyed by bigger bullies than themselves.  That front page smirk on the murderer's face makes me want to see him bloodied and brain dead; forced to live in a hospital bed while he fills his diapers with the rotten stink of whatever is inside him.  Terrible to feel this way, but that smirk inspired me.  I'm despicable for feeling this way, I know.  But may poetic justice prevail here and may these two end up as dead as that toddler.  Two less vermin on the earth.