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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That Was The Week.....

No matter how you want to take the news, this past week was a remarkable week….a week that, in the truest sense of the word, WAS.

Between the decimation of the voting rights act and the striking down of DOMA, Supreme  Court sounded more like the Supremes singing’ their broken hearts out: 

·You Keep Me Hangin' On by sending affirmative action back to the lower courts

·Everybody's Got the Right to Love – and now we might even have the right to federal benefits

·Stop! In the Name of Love – Prop 8 is an unconstitutional challenge.

·Your Heart Belongs to Me …but your DNA belongs to you.

In the end, it’s all about class. Is this a class…and does it warrant equal protection under the law? When the LGBT community began to exert its influence as a class rather than a movement, the wheels on the GOP Hate Bus started to fall off.  The discrimination was so blatant that even Justice Roberts had to side with them…but don’t let that fool you. Neither the striking down of DOMA or the refusal to  overturn Prop 8 contained an opinion that members of the gay and lesbian community have a constitutionally guaranteed right to marry. Scalia was apoplectic:

All that, simply for supporting an Act that did no more than codify an aspect of marriage that had been unquestioned in our society for most of its existence— indeed, had been unquestioned in virtually all societies for virtually all of human history. It is one thing for a society to elect change; it is another for a court of law to impose change by adjudging those who oppose it hostes humani generis, enemies of the human race.

All SCOTUS did with Prop 8 was to state that they would not overturn the Californian courts nor the 9^th Circuit because the challengers had insufficient standing to bring the suit…not that the class is experiencing discrimination. In fact, the fight to prevent it has already started up again. As for DOMA, the only thing the court ruled on was the extension of federal benefits to a same-sex spouse. SCOTUS did not to touch on whether or not a same-sex couple can be legally bound in the United States.On Friday, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) has introduced a federal amendment to the Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage across the country. The scope of both decisions is extremely narrow and still leaves the door open to banning same sex marriage no matter what Justice Scalia intimted

in that unique piece of street theatre. These decisions are less about letting people find partners and share legal responsibility than they are about setting up a chain of events in which personal freedoms will continue to come under attack. This is but the tip of an iceberg liable to for a couple of decades since the chief justice is only 58 and this is a lifetime appointment. Given that people live and work longer, it’s not inconceivable that he will still be heading the court in 2033 when he is 78 years old. Chief Justice Roberts is cagy…and crazy like a fox. 

Sit back, relax....and wait for it. 

Aunty Bonny & Uncle Mike

Meanwhile, all this talk has turned my thoughts to marriage markers. This past weekend, I was at a 50^th Anniversary party. Bonny and Mike aren’t just friends; they were our family here when we didn’t know we had any family here. They are godparents to our kids. They’ve been at every simcha….and they stood with me and the boys at the saddest time. Aunty Bonny and Uncle Mike are part of the skeletal structure of this family and I was rather overwhelmed at the party. I saw people I’d not seen in many years (including one who asked, “Hey! Where’s Steve? Is he out parking the car?” I laughed. What else could I do? It was a surreal experience, but I would not have missed being there...even though it was held across the river. It was reassuring to see Bonny and Mike with the kids and grandkids. I listened more than I talked…it was hard to say anything that didn’t include Steve…and that was just  a tad harder than I anticipated. But no matter. I was just glad to be there and boy, did I laugh a lot!

We don’t always view anniversaries with the same awe as we do birthdays. I think anniversaries are even more august because it means two people have survived living together and not killing each other. My folks, come November, will have been doing this for 70 years. Talk about astounding!

This week would have been 36 for me and my old man. We had our moments, our highs, and certainly our share of lows….no marriage is ever perfect….but I guess the one I had worked out okay. 

Wifely Person’s Tip o’the Week

Just because it hasn't rained for a couple of days, it does not mean your lawn is dry.

The Elephant In The Room

Well, it’s been a Spartacus kinda Sunday over at Beit WP. I obtained a new lightweight, cordless, rechargeable, easily manageable weed-whacker, I caulked the kitchen window frame from the outside since it sprung a very minor leak during Friday night’s monsoon, and I fixed the toilet in my father-in-law’s bathroom. Junior son stopped by and see if Grandpa’s old shower head was salvageable (it wasn’t) but I was prepared with a new one which he easily screwed on because these arms too short to box with overhead plumbing. And besides, he offered.

For the record, he also brought back the BIG GIANT weed-whacker, but if you must know, it’s a heavy, temperamental two stage thing with buttons and levers and oil+gas mix and I said, “Feh! Forget it. You can keep it. I’m keeping the new one.” The delighted look that flickered in his bright blue eyes told me he painted this very complicated, bleak picture of weed-whacker maintenance so I wouldn’t want to keep it. But that’s fine. Frankly, I hate two stage motors; they’re a pain in the butt. He can deal with it. The new thingee is more than adequate to handle the grass around the mailbox that I can't get to with Deere John.

© Peter"big bassoon" Douglas

Meanwhile, the actual highlight of the week was Thursday night, when the Misha Siegfried Band came to town for a show at Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis. His coterie of adoring fans, including not one but TWO rabbis, made up most of the house, but we were a fair sized lot, ate and drank, and generally whooped it up. A lot. A good time was had by all, and I had the unmitigated pleasure of having lunch on Friday with Misha and Grandpa before he and the band headed out to a show in Rochester (MN not NY).) Nothing cheers this band mom more than getting to hug her bluesman son every so often. 

[End of Spartacus Mommy blog]

Meanwhile, back at the Supreme Court, SCOTUS is busy handing down decisions...or non-decisions. Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the case arguing affirmative action is no longer warranted got lobbed back to the lower courts for re-evaluation. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only dissenter on the decision, saying that the lower courts had indeed fulfilled the task given to them, and that the only reason the Texas "Top Ten" diversity program was effective was because of “de facto racial segregation" already present in Texas neighborhoods and schools. In her dissent, Justice Ginsburg wrote: 

I have said before and reiterate here that only an ostrich could regard the supposedly neutral alternatives as race unconscious....As Justice Souter observed, the vaunted alternative suffer from "the disadvantage of deliberate obfuscation."

Texas' percentge plan was adopted with racially segregated neighborhoods front and center stage.See House Research Organization, Bill Analysis, HB588...(April 15, 1997) ("Many regions of the state, school districts, and high schools are still predominantly composed of people from  single racial or ethnic group. Because of the persistence of the segregation, admitting the top 10 percent of all high schools would provide a diverse population and ensure a large, well qualified pool of minority students was admitted to Texas universities."

What struck me about the decision was not that it got sent back to the lower Circuit Court in New Orleans, but that it was a 7-1 decision. Of course, Justice Kagan had recused herself since she had been Solicitor General during earlier stages of the case's progress through the courts, prior to her elevation to the Supreme Court bench. Justice Clarence Thomas (of Anita Hill infamy), in his concurring opinion, compared affirmative action at the university level to segregation and slavery. He wrote:

"Slaveholders argued that slavery was a 'positive good' that civilized blacks and elevated them in every dimension of life," Thomas wrote in his separate opinion on Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. "A century later, segregationists similarly asserted that segregation was not only benign, but good for black students.....

“...Unfortunately for the University, the educational benefits flowing from student body diversity—assuming they exist—hardly qualify as a compelling state interest. Indeed, the argument that educational benefits justify racial discrimination was advanced in support of racial segregation in the 1950’s, but emphatically rejected by this Court. And just as the alleged educational benefits of segregation were insufficient to justify racial discrimination then … the alleged educational benefits of diversity cannot justify racial discrimination today.”

Maybe it's just me, but that was just a little strange. Not just the comparison to slavery, but the part about educational benefits not really existing. Clearly he doesn't view discrimination as a real part of living in this country, either. I have to wonder how the air is on Planet Thomas. Must be awfully rarified up there because last time I looked, racism was alive and thriving, especially in Washington, D.C. Okay, racism as an issue make you uncomfortable; how about elitist classism? Would that work better?

The schools in Texas may not be officially segregated, the reality it very different. Without programs like Top Ten, outstanding kids in lesser schools would never get a shot at affordable higher education. Come on, folks. We're talking about public education. The people in those school districts pay taxes just like everyone else. Living in a particular district should not in any way, shape, or form work against a kid getting into state university. 

Justice Ginsburg was right when she said you have to be an ostrich not to see that the alternatives aren't race unconscious. Her stand, that sending this back to the lower courts is a cowardly not to mention blind response, will probably come back to haunt the court when the case rises again...and it will. 

And if this doesn't make you shake your head and wonder what exactly these people on the bench are thinking, this should send you over the edge. In the fall, the court will hear National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, No. 12-1281, involving the constitutionality of President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Board. 

Now, recess appointments have been the prerogative of presidents since the Second World War. According to the Congressional Research Service, these are the numbers:

Ronald Reagan - 240 

George W. Bush-171

Bill Clinton - 139

George H.W. Bush - 77

Barack Obama -32

And suddenly the GOP wants know if it's constitutional?????????????????

The elephant in the room isn't the GOP; it's their less than discreet form of racism. These guys make Paula Deen look like Freedom Rider. 

Enough. It's really time to put an end to this constant obstructionism. It's unbecoming We, The People. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Don't mow the lawn while wearing a dress -
the weird factor is definitely less traumatic than the sweat factor.

Been There, Done That, Still Paying the Bills

I can't begin to tell you how much the president's decision to send arms to Syria thrills me. I didn't think I had it in me to be completely disappointed with President Obama,  but this pushes me closer to any edge to date. I cannot fathom how he could change his position ...even the use of chemical weapons. According to a whole lotta news sources, about 93,000 Syrians have died in this conflict. The NY Times  article on June 13th states:

The announcement said that American intelligence officials now believed that 100 to 150 people had died from the attacks, but officials cautioned that the number could be higher.

Let's see: 150 out of 93,000...that's about .16129032258064516% give or take a few decimals. Now 150 people are a lot of people, no argument there. But suddenly, the President is talking about arming people, supposedly with whom we have "relationships." I would strongly suggest Mr. Obama read a brief history of Afghanistan before our invasion. There's a lot to be learned from the last time we armed a tribal state. 

With Hezbollah now firmly implanted in Syria, and both Russia and Iran supplying weapons and military advisors to President Assad, it's clear to the rest of the world that if the rebels are to succeed they will need help. But would that help be best offered from other Islamic nations like Jordan, Egypt, or the Saudi Arabia? As co-religionists and as Arabs, they have a vested interest in the stability of the regions and if they believe Assad is a wild card, they are the ones who must step up to take him out. NOT a western coalition whose motives are, even in the very best light, suspect.

It's not like the rebellion is organized; it is not. There is no "Rebel Alliance" or other Hollywood-esque unified movement. It's like any other partisan action: ad hoc and unpredictable. The examples set in Libya and Egypt are pretty good indications of what to expect if they manage to topple the Assad regime: neither country has a functional government. And considering the length and breadth of this civil war, there is so much work to be done that unless a rebel alliance is formed, sectarianism similar to Iraq and Afghanistan will destroy what little is left. 

Meanwhile, just so you get a better idea of how desperate the things are, on June 8th, a man was brought to the Israeli border with a note in Arabic pinned to his clothing. It began, "Hello distinguished surgeon,"  went on in great detail outlining what procedures had been done and ended saying, "Please do what you think needs to be done. Thanks in advance." The man was taken to a hospital inside Israel where he recovering from additional surgery. The Israelis now have a field hospital at the Golan border to assist with wounded Syrians. Other Syrians crossing the border in search of medical assistance are treated and returned. Can you imagine an Arab hospital doing that for an Israeli? 

Which brings us back to the aid to Syria proposals. How about the US sending humanitarian aid so desperately needed? Can we get involved in sending in food, clothing, and medical aid?  How about stepping up to demonstrate what the word humanitarian really means?

We, the People really do need to be very clear to our legislators that we are not going to stand for a pissing contest between Russia and the US. We should be done with pissing contests right about now. They are standoffs, ridiculous, and childish. Do we really need the McCain /Cheney War Machine back on the  road?  

Just a note here: I would also point out that all of a sudden the usual warmongering suspects are calling President Obama a warmonger when just last week they were calling him spineless and a coward.  Can you pronounce obstructionism, boys and girls?

The rest of the world had also better make it pretty damn clear to Mr. Putin that arming Syria is not exactly in his best interest, either.  That…and he really should return the Super Bowl ring. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Despite what my children may tell you,

I brake for turtles. 

Our Lady of the Pond

Peekaboo! They See You!

Last week, my friend Handy found himself a news messenger bag...it's Coach, a great dark blue canvas, and he got it for a steal. I countered by saying the messenger bag of my dreams is also canvas and leather, but from Ghurka. There was a discussion, and I googled the Ghurka website so I could send him a link.

No sooner than I had sent said link did I notice a new ad on the side my Facebook home page. Now Ghurka is not exactly Kate Spade, and few people are acquainted with the brand out here on the tundra, yet...... 

Currently, there’s a storm over the NSA information gathering on Americans. This is all part of the powers extended by the Patriot Act. At that time, Ziggy declared this to be a slippery slope and that the very nature of privacy would be challenged. "The Founding Fathers never thought of this one," he would say again and again. And he was right; they could not have thought this one up at all. 

The truth is that there is no electronic privacy. There never has been and never will be. The minute you write it online _someone_ you don't know has access to it. If you use any "check in" function, someone you don't know knows where you are. If you search for something on the web, your computer knows, your search engine knows, and your server knows. ....and all of them will immediately begin tailoring that which it shows you in the ad slots. 

Let's say you ordered a bunch of plumbing pipes and some fertilizer from Home Depot. Need uranium? You can order some right from United Nuclear easily enough.  Not only does the retailer know what you bought, the manufacturer does, too. Did you remember to click "doesn't want emails" on or order? Well, even if you did, the email address you used is now in the marketing pipeline. And you can bet your last Molotov cocktail the government knows, too. 

If you're not  terrorist, the NSA or whomever is watching, eventually figures that out. 

But what if you are a terrorist?

How do you think the spooks find the terrorists? Through tips from little old ladies like me?   Surveillance is what's used to keep the lunatics from blowing up the asylum. It seem to work most of the time, but not all of the time. 

The internet and electronic media has changed the entire nature of the game. No matter how many pseudonyms you use, you are never really anonymous. Every electronic entry can be followed back to a server. Mountains of data are no longer sifted through by humans; it's all done with algorithms and massive amounts of computers. It a never ending search for that needle in a haystack.

Now, you get to ask yourself: what is the price national safety? What constitutes personal privacy versus the public good?

This is not the easy question one might think? 

Did the government fail in not fingering the Marathon Bombers? There was tons of information that was missed because the powers that be asked the wrong questions. Should they not have had access to the cell phone and server records?

What goes on in a bedroom between two consenting adults is a matter of privacy. But what if an online child pornography site leads investigators to a bedroom where one of the participants is neither an adult nor consulting? Is that an invasion of privacy?  What if it's a predator luring young girls on Facebook (recent case too close to home....the cops got there in time and the child is safe) should that not be permitted?

Understand, I'm an not advocating for a nanny state here, but I do think the legal definition of privacy is about to change. I believe that SCOTUS will have to decide if information posted on the web is to be considered private. Is there a difference  between paper and data? What will constitute secure v. public? A safe deposit box in the bank may be quite private because it's  physical location,  but what about a blog with a password for entry? Is that to be afforded the same protection?

Fresh Philly photo by LMP-S

By the way, the Constitution does not, contrary to popular belief, guarantee privacy. The closest it comes is in the 9th Amendment which states, rather amorphously at that,

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Uh, I don't see privacy mentioned specifically there...but then again, most jurist seem to think the right to privacy is one of the "certain rights" mentioned. 

Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide which bothers me more: that one simple search on Google has totally impacted what I see on Facebook....or that the government harvests our cell calls. I'm not sure which is the bigger privacy issue.

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Living in turtle country during egg laying season?

Keep a broom in the car so you can hurry them across the street 

without picking them up.

Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Any Stranger......

My personal all-time fave

Well, well, well, Madame Bachmann is calling it quits. Amazing. She announced her decision not to seek re-election at 2:30a.m. central time on May 29th while she was on fact finding mission in Russia (there is nothing you can say that hasn't already been said even more snarkily) ....and no, I don't think it was a 60th birthday offering to Steve(z"l). Nope, she's got her eye on a different prize...maybe on the other side of the capitol. 

I think she thinks Al Franken is a good target. I think this might not be a bad thing. "WHAT? "you say.  "ARE YOU NUTS?"

Mazel tov, Al and Franni!

Not in the least. If she is going to run for something other than animal control warden in the 6th district, let it be a senate seat. The GOP will never nominate her because she's a well established moron. They'll nominate some piece of white bread to stand there and pretend he's running. She'll get her like minded, little brain friends to put up for a true TeaBag nomination. That will split the GOP vote faster than Lincoln could split a rail...and Al and Franni go back to Washington where he does a fine job representing the sane side of Minnesota and she can show off grandbaby pictures.

Meanwhile, back on the tundra.....

Now that Madame isn't running, neither is Jim Graves. Seems he thinks that just not having her as congresswoman is enough and he no longer feels compelled to waste his money on a run in what is a traditionally very conservative district....even before the gerrymandering. The current speculation is that since a Republican is the likely winner in any race out there, the Dems aren't going to waste their $$$ in the 6th.

See that hump at the top of the 2nd?
That's us. 

The 2nd, however, may be another matter.  A big chunk of the suburban St. Paul area was part of the 5th, with Betty McCollum serving as our fearless leader in Congress. I like Betty. She has her head in the right place...on top of her shoulders instead of up her butt like so many of members of the House of Representatives. But that was a problem for the GOP who decided to gerrymander Minnesota. In an operation worthy of Dr. Frankenstein, little Mendota Heights was brutally severed from our delightfully urbane St. Paul 5th District and unceremoniously appended  onto the the rural 2nd where former career Marine John "I never had a thought that wasn't paid for" Kline is our representative. Semper Fi?  More like semper fi ad pecuniam vestibulum.

In all fairness, I've signed up for his emails and have even attended one of this "telephone town hall" meetings. Good Lord! That man can spend an entire hour talking and say absolutely nothing.  I sent him a query asking about his position on firearms background checks. In his boilerplate reply advising me to read Minnesota state law on the topic, the following sentenced also appeared: 

However, we must not legislate in haste after a tragedy; instead, we must take a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to addressing violence in our society. 

He never mentions what that might happen to be. Why would he? He has no idea.

Back in the last go 'round, the Dems ran Mike Obermuller...but he forgot to campaign in Mendota Heights. No one knew who he was, much less what he stood for. He had ZERO name recognition in our neighborhood. In fact, some people said they were horrified to hear Kline was running unopposed! It took me a dozen phone calls and emails to get a lawn sign. One might think.......

Now, they're talking about running him again. Oy. Better they should light the campaign war chest on fire and toast marshmallows over the flames. That would be a better use of the money. 

But wait, there's more!

Weird emails started showing up in the Wifely Person inbox.  I was a little taken aback. Okay...I laughed. I thought it was funny. The best of the lot said,  "If we formed a 'draft the Wifely Person' committee,' would you be interested in running against John Kline?"

Excuse me? 

No one has ever "drafted" me for anything more critical than lawn raking or garbage detail, although both might be useful skills in Congress. As my big brother astutely pointed out, politicians have to know when to keeps their mouths shut. If you read this blog, you know that's not my strong suit.

Still, it's very flattering to be asked by more than one person, and to the best of my knowledge, none of them are related to each other or to me.  For the record, the short answer to the above mentioned question is a resounding "Not Happening!"

I'll keep you posted. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Some days you just have to suck it up and mow the rice paddy in the back anyway. 

Wait too long, and you're gonna have to hire a thresher. 

The Hornswoggle, The Boondoggle, And the Fall of Constantinople

The Hornswoggle: to bamboozle; deceive; to attempt to get the better of 

someone through deception

So, John McCain took it upon himself to go to Syria. I damned near fell of the stool in the kitchen when I heard that one. He “sneaked” across the Turkish border to meet with rebel commanders? Is this some kind of joke? This is like Geraldo Rivera sneaking around Iraq. It is high on the list of seriously stupid things to do. 

McCain wants to open up another front. He's said as much. It’s not enough that we’re wasting American lives in Afghanistan. It’s not enough that a string of bombs throughout Iraq today killed at least 53 and wounded over 200 Iraqis once again demonstrating how effective our nation building strategy has been in their country. And now McCain wants to bring that same high level of success to Syria?

Note to Syrians: Run, run, run as far away as you can from this guy.

We have no business intervening in the Syrian civil war. None. Nada. Zilch. We don’t belong there. We should not be arming anyone. We should not be advising anyone. Do we really want to get in a pissing war with Hezbollah? This has disaster, death, doom, destruction, and dumb written all over it.

John McCain wants to take more American dollars and waste them in another nunfunded war when we need every damn dollar here to rebuild our own military wounded from the last two ill-fated adventures he was supporting. What? He have some sort of messiah complex that he thinks he’s the savior of the world?  Clearly the man is dealing shy of a full deck these days if he thinks embedding more American soldiers in Arab wars has some kind of return on investment. It does not. Never has, never will. 

Note to We, the People: Just say no.

The Boondoggle: a project that is considered a useless waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy motivations.

Just to get my blood pressure down, I spent a fair amount of Monday reading tax codes. Yep. You read that right. I was tripping through IRS stuff in an attempt to better understand the phrase “tax exempt.” This is no easy thing to do. People go to law school and accounting school to do this. And even then,  not too many of them come away with a thorough enough understanding to actually be able to competently guide someone on the issue. But what I did come away with are some opinions that may or may not be valid…but they’re my opinions so if you know I’m wrong, write and tell me why…but be prepared to support your assertions with examples and, if necessary, case law.

The reality is there is no IRS scandal. The scandalous part is behavior of the people who are saying there is a scandal. The IRS in Cleveland was doing its job. Flooded with applications for 501(c)(4) status, the worker bees did what all worker bees worth their weight in  beeswax do….the batched like applications. Similar applications means you’re doing the research once, applying to each application as needed, and moving on to the next thematic batch. I would guess they do the same thing for community playground groups or Jewish groups or Baptist groups or Muslim groups or even the dreaded Democratic groups. It’s what you do in every single business anywhere in the world. You batch like functions together; to do otherwise is absurd and wasteful.

Just so we’re clear, here’s what 501(c)(4) means:

Title 26 USC § 501 - Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc.

(c) List of exempt organizations:  The following organizations are referred to in subsection (a):

(4) (A) Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality, and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.

       (B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an entity unless no part of the net earnings of such entity inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

In a NY Times article,  Groups Targeted by I.R.S. Tested Rules on Politics, former IRS exempt division lawyer Kevin J. Shortill, said:

“My experience has been that the agents immediately start Googling to see what the organization is doing outside of the application…“And that explains why you get these requests for information like, ‘Please print out your Web site and send it in.’ ”

Official Congressional Moron

Isn’t that what anyone in 2013 would do? Come on, folks; the laws maybe on the books since before the inter-web, but it is fair game to use modern technology to research this stuff.

There is no scandal…only morons in Congress who would rather waste time and money than to govern our nation. Remember this at mid-terms Do everyone  favor and don't send them back to the House. 

And the fall of Constantinople

I'm not sure too many people will observe the 560th Anniversary of the Fall of Constantinople To The Turks on May 29th, but it always was an important holiday in this house, celebrated with steaks on the grill and chocolate frosted angel food cake. Well, there maybe steaks....we'll see...but no angel food cake. Just can't do it. 

But I will be remembering what it was like. 

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Never offer to order things online for other people.

Just say no.