Episode #156 - The End of Year Three

This is WP Episode #156. Yep. 3 X 52 blog entries personally designed by moi to illustrate, illuminate, and entertain. This thing started as a stream of consciousness and has turned into a left-wing-nut-ball-fest…at least if you ask the junior son who thinks his mother is a fruit loop. This may actually be the case, but if it is, there’s a whole lotta people seem to like fruit loops.

So it stands to reason that, when asked by two different very reliable sources, if I would be interested in The Good Judgment Project, I was curious. I submitted my name and promptly forgot all about it. Then, about a week and a half ago, I got an email telling me I had been accepted to the project and I would be receiving instructions for a survey which would have to be completed before I could be assigned to a team. 

Survey, my ass. That was an IQ test! Being a news junkie and all, my expectations for the survey was that it would be challenging but nothing could’ve prepared me for the depth and dimension of what I got! Everything from obscure Malaysian politics to language to (spare me now) a string of what-comes-next-in-the-series questions….enough to make me wonder why I was volunteering for this. But I got into it. 

In some sections, you even had to rate how sure you were of your answer.  Jeez Louise, I felt like Yul Brynner in the King and I singing A Puzzlement: 

Rodgers and Hammerstein's
The King and I

There are times I almost think 

Nobody sure of what he absolutely know. 

Everybody find confusion 

In conclusion he concluded long ago.

And it puzzle me to learn

That tho' a man may be in doubt

of what he know

Very quickly he will fight...

He'll fight to prove that 

what he does not know is so

By the time I finished, and it was a long, long time, I thought my head was going to explode…but I felt pretty smug about the whole thing. Clearly the people who were egging me on must think I’m pretty smart….that, or a congenital idiot. Not sure which one yet. Now, I’m awaiting my team assignment and my password. We all get time to work on sample projects before we begin in earnest later this summer.

I’m nervous and excited, and I promise to keep everyone posted as it goes along.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, summer has arrived with a vengeance and it seems that the media is busy bringing us up to date on all manner of leftover things since both Congress and SCOTUS are on hiatus at the moment. Loosely translated, this means while neither of those august bodies can do anything egregiously stupid for a few weeks, life as we know it continues. 

Fer instance, down in Florida, the George Zimmerman trial is underway. This is turning out to be a far more interesting a piece of courtroom theatre than expected. By referencing the 911 call, you guess race is a huge issue, but we’re not going to hear that in the courtroom. The judge has already ruled statements about racial profiling will be severely limited. This may not necessarily be a bad thing in the broader sense. So far, the case hasn’t been prosecuted as a hate crime; it’s really about the validity of stand-your-ground laws, and if one is serious about removing criminally dangerous laws from the books, race is not the right way to go. You have to approach it as a very level playing field in order to have the greatest impact. It's gotta be bad for everyone. 

Florida State District Attorney's Office

There are huge holes in Mr. Zimmerman’s version of events. The medical examiner said his wounds were not consistent with the repeated beating he said he was given by Mr. Martin. How did Mr. Martin grab is head?  His hair is buzz short; did he grab him by the ears? Why doesn't Mr. Zimmerman's DNA show up under Mr. Marti's fingernails? 

And speaking about things less credible: let’s have a round of applause for the State Department and their astounding bungling of John Kerry’s vacation. The guy comes home for a few days of R&R over a national holiday weekend…and the State Department can’t seem to say the guy is in constant touch while he’s in Nantucket or on his boat.

What century are they living in over by Foggy Bottom? The Afghan 21^st…which looks remarkably like the US 19^th or are they in the American 21^st century?  This administration has enough problems with transparency, honesty and nitpicky stuff like that. Could the DoS possibly do anything less smart with all their technology than what they just did? Can they possibly undermine themselves even further? Apparently so.

Mr. Kerry deserves a break from the madness. Really, folks; one can be in the jungles of Peru and be in constant touch. And before you start jumping up and down, I would've said the same thing about Condoleeza Rice. 

There are times I think this administration is either too naïve and too devious to exist. I don’t know which, but the end result is the same. The support staff is too stupid to be in positions of responsibility. That is so disappointing.

Hey! I just had a thought. If you have to pass a stupid test to work there, I might qualify after that GJ intelligence survey. Can anyone say "career change?"

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

comes from Big Brother Bruce

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