The *New* Bill of Rights

Dec 20, 2008

The *New* Bill of Rights

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an
attempt to help everyone get along, restore some
semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our
nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the
blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our
great-great-great grandchildren, hereby try one more
time to ordain and establish some common sense
guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden,
delusional, and other liberal, bed wetters. We hold
these truths to be self-evident: that a whole lot of
people are confused by the Bill of Rights and are so
dim that they require a Bill of No Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big
screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to
you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is
guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be
offended. This country is based on freedom, and that
means freedom for everyone not just you! You may
leave the room, turn the channel, express a different
opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and
probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from
harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to
be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer
to make you and all your relatives independently
wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and
housing. Americans are the most charitable people to
be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we
are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation
after generation of professional couch potatoes who
achieve nothing more than the creation of another
generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health
care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public
housing, we're just not interested in public health
care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically
harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally
maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the
rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the
possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce
away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be
 surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you
away in a place where you still won't have the right
to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that
our children risk their lives in foreign wars to
soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive
governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from
going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy

parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so
much of our time battling each and every little tyrant
with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of
us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly
help you along in hard times, but we expect you to
take advantage of the opportunities of education and
vocational training laid before you to make yourself
useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness.
Being an American means that you have the right to
pursue happiness -- which by the way, is a lot easier
if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic
laws created by those of you who were confused by the
Bill of Rights."

Merry [Blank]!!!!

Dec 16, 2008

Merry [Blank]!!!!

Current mood:aggravated

I do not celebrate Christmas in the 'traditional' sense. I have my own way. Not trying to one-up anyone. I just try to keep the secular stuff out of my own beliefs, as much as possible. Don't be misinformed. I believe the tenents of Christmas. That the Yashus became flesh and lived amongst us. I just do not do the secular stuff - Christmas tree, the commercialism of the present frenzy.

Listening to the radio today, I heard yet another story of schools changing lyrics of Christmas songs be cause - and it is always this way - one parent complaining. Could not find that particular news story (who knows. If the news made a big deal about this, then possibly parents who care about their kids, would finally rise up in revolt).

Found this one. Its generic, but a good example of what the government, schools, and now the churches are doing, to appeaze the ACLU, atheists, and the like.

We appease the Jews. We appease the muslims. We appease the atheists. No one is willing to appease Christians.

I used to go to Corale concerts when my neice's and nephews were singing. Instead of enjoying myself, I would sit there and get aggravated, and they sang Kwanza songs. Jewish songs. Everything but songs that mentioned Christmas. And the parents SAT there and took it.

I blame the parents and the voters who allow this kind of stuff to happen.

Read this carefully. If you have your kids in Public school, you are guilty of destroying their lives. Your kids are learning about drugs. Pre-maritial sex. Socialism. They are being taught to hate this country. Do anything. Do not be concerned with the consequences. Its someone eles fault. Nothing that they do, can't be blamed on society. The government. Some 'ism' or 'obia' (racism, sexism, homophobia. Whatever) is always the reason that someone is not just standing over your head dropping grapes into your mouth.

Jewish? Don't like us singing about Yahsua? Tough. Go dredel yourself a airplace ticket to somewhere else. Funny how Black Friday is not a national Holiday yet. Kwanza? A racist seperatist Holiday celebration. Who would have thunk? Muslim? Go decorate a severed head. Elsewhere. Or strap on a bomb, gather your friends and family around, sing your holiday songs, and detonate yourself in the middle of them. Atheist? You got bigger problems than you will admit to. Or realize.
Good enough?

Its not 'Happy Holidays'. It is Merry Christmas. Bother you? Offended? Are your panties in a wad? Spotting and cramping? Move to where you can be happy. And kiss my entire ass on the way out.

Politically correct Christmas carols censor 'king', 'son' and 'virgin'

Churches are making traditional Christmas carols politically correct by removing words such as "king", "son" and "virgin", it is claimed.

 

By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:54PM GMT 12 Dec 2008

Enduring favourites such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen are being altered by clergy to make them more "modern and inclusive".

But churchgoers say there is no need to change the popular carols and complain that the result is a "festive car crash" if not everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

It comes just a day after a Church of England vicar banned his congregation from singing O Little Town of Bethlehem because he believed its words do not reflect the suffering endured by modern residents of Jesus's birthplace.

Another clergyman has rewritten the Twelve Days of Christmas to include Aids victims, drug addicts and hoodies.

Steve Goddard, co-editor of the Christian website Ship of Fools, which is running a competition to find the worst example of a rewritten carol, said: "It's a festive car crash.
"Half the congregation sing familiar words from memory, while the rest stumble over revised alternatives. Our readers are telling us straight – for some new versions there should be no room at the inn."

Among the "theologically-modified, politically-corrected" carols encountered by visitors to the website are Hark the Herald Angels Sing in which the line "Glory to the newborn King" has been replaced by "Glory to the Christ child, bring".

The well-known refrain of O Come All Ye Faithful – "O come let us adore Him" – has also been changed in one church to "O come in adoration", both changes apparently made for fear the original was sexist.

"[One reader] wrote in asking if the original line was considered too gender-specific," Mr Goddard said. "But as he rightly pointed out, Jesus wasn't hermaphrodite, neither was he a girl."

Churchgoers at one carol service will not be allowed to sing the words "all in white" during Once in Royal David's City in case they appear racist, while another cleric has removed the word "virgin" from God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.

Goodbye, Pretty Lady

Dec 12, 2008

Goodbye, Pretty Lady

Damn near every kid, of my generation, grew up with Bettie Page, though they might not have know it. Sneaking a peek at a dog eared copy of Playboy, back in the day, your chances of seeing her, were pretty good. She brought a easy to take face to adult pictures. She had a little of that girl next door look to her. Others have tried to follow her lead (Dita von Teese comes to mind) but no one could ever replace Bettie.

1950s pinup model Bettie Page dies in LA at 85

By BOB THOMAS Bob Thomas – 5 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controverisal photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, died Thursday. She was 85.

Page suffered a heart attack last week in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness, her agent Mark Roesler said. Before the heart attack, Page had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia.

"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," Roesler said. "She is the embodiment of beauty."

Page, who was also known as Betty, attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and see-through lingerie that were quickly tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere, where they remained for years.

Her photos included a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of then-fledgling Playboy magazine, as well as controversial sadomasochistic poses.

The latter helped contribute to her mysterious disappearance from the public eye, which lasted decades and included years during which she battled mental illness and became a born-again Christian.

After resurfacing in the 1990s, she occasionally granted interviews but refused to allow her picture to be taken.

"I don't want to be photographed in my old age," she told an interviewer in 1998. "I feel the same way with old movie stars. ... It makes me sad. We want to remember them when they were young."

The 21st century indeed had people remembering her just as she was. She became the subject of songs, biographies, Web sites, comic books, movies and documentaries. A new generation of fans bought thousands of copies of her photos, and some feminists hailed her as a pioneer of women's liberation.

Goodbye, Monster Man

Dec 6, 2008

Goodbye, Monster Man

Current mood:shocked

[Damn, found this by accident. I grew up reading Famous Monsters of Filmland, and still have my collection in my closet. He was one of the greatest supporters of horror/Science Fiction material ever. His collection of movie stuff was beyond impressive. His MS profile is on my friends list, if you want to take a look. He will be missed]

Sci-fi's grand old man, Forrest J Ackerman, dies

By JOHN ROGERS – 2 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Forrest J Ackerman, the sometime actor, literary agent, magazine editor and full-time bon vivant who discovered author Ray Bradbury and was widely credited with coining the term "sci-fi," has died. He was 92.

Ackerman died Thursday of heart failure at his Los Angeles home, said Kevin Burns, head of Prometheus Entertainment and a trustee of Ackerman's estate.

Although only marginally known to readers of mainstream literature, Ackerman was legendary in science-fiction circles as the founding editor of the pulp magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. He was also the owner of a huge private collection of science-fiction movie and literary memorabilia that for years filled every nook and cranny of a hillside mansion overlooking Los Angeles.

"He became the Pied Piper, the spiritual leader, of everything science fiction, fantasy and horror," Burns said Friday.

Every Saturday morning that he was home, Ackerman would open up the house to anyone who wanted to view his treasures. He sold some pieces and gave others away when he moved to a smaller house in 2002, but he continued to let people visit him every Saturday for as long as his health permitted.

"My wife used to say, 'How can you let strangers into our home?' But what's the point of having a collection like this if you can't let people enjoy it?" an exuberant Ackerman told The Associated Press as he conducted a spirited tour of the mansion on his 85th birthday.

His collection once included more than 50,000 books, thousands of science-fiction magazines and such items as Bela Lugosi's cape from the 1931 film "Dracula.
"
His greatest achievement, however, was likely discovering Bradbury, author of the literary classics "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles." Ackerman had placed a flyer in a Los Angeles bookstore for a science-fiction club he was founding and a teenage Bradbury showed up.

Later, Ackerman gave Bradbury the money to start his own science-fiction magazine, Futuria Fantasia, and paid the author's way to New York for an authors meeting that Bradbury said helped launch his career.

"I hadn't published yet, and I met a lot of these people who encouraged me and helped me get my career started, and that was all because of Forry Ackerman," the author told the AP in 2005.

Later, as a literary agent, Ackerman represented Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and numerous other science-fiction writers.

He said the term "sci-fi" came to him in 1954 when he was listening to a car radio and heard an announcer mention the word "hi-fi."

"My dear wife said, 'Forget it, Forry, it will never catch on,'" he recalled.

Soon he was using it in Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine he helped found in 1958 and edited for 25 years.

Ackerman himself appeared in numerous films over the years, usually in bit parts. His credits include "Queen of Blood," "Dracula vs. Frankenstein," "Amazon Women on the Moon," "Vampirella," "Transylvania Twist," "The Howling" and the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. More recently, he appeared in 2007's "The Dead Undead" and 2006's "The Boneyard Collection.

Ackerman returned briefly to Famous Monsters of Filmland in the 1990s, but he quickly fell out with the publisher over creative differences. He sued and was awarded a judgment of more than $375,000.

Forrest James Ackerman was born in Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 1916. He fell in love with science-fiction, he once said, when he was 9 years old and saw a magazine called Amazing Stories. He would hold onto that publication for the rest of his life.

Ackerman, who had no children, was preceded in death by his wife, Wendayne.

Can anyone drive me to drink?

Nov 20, 2008

Can anyone drive me to drink?

Current mood:bummed

You folks, on the outside, have no idea. If you did, for even a moment, you would shake your head so hard, your necks would break.

Who ever termed the word Anal retentive, must have been working in our Department. I have zero doubt in my mind.

I live in a 'Check in the Box' world. Some chief, generates a report, or a training request; sends out some e-mail blast, and then sits back, and awaits the replies to come back, so that he can put a check in the box: accomplished. Notice that I said nothing about reality, or accountability. Or even common sense. Do this - NOW - so that Ican tell someone else that you did as I was told, sovthat a multitude of checks can be put in a multitude of boxes, justifying their existance. We guys on the low end of the food chain, get it from all directions. We are actually stopped, midstride, in one project, to put a emergency check in a box for another. I have actually been pulled off of numerous projects/duties, so that some e-mail can be sent to say we have 100 per cent immediate compliance. Imagine if the guy cooking the burgers at 5 Guys, just up and walked away from the grill, to wash a window. Same sort of lunacy...

The higher up the food chain the more detatched from reality life gets. Its like a real time Peter Principle exercise morphed into one of those Japanese Kubuki plays.

Where I work, we are beholden to a bunch of people. Inbred, if you will. And our being, depends on their being happy with us, and our allowing them to put their own checks in their own boxes. The Nuclear folks are closely tied in with us. The onsite department, with a functioning ladder truck, is part of their certification requirements. Our relationship with them is superb.

However, or 'but' if you will....

Our ladder is worn out. too many years of too many hard miles driven on roads on the compound, that the roads are completely worn out, have rag babied the thing out. Things reached a head last year, when the ladder just broke. Thin about the car in the Blues Brothers that flies apart, when it is parked at the Assessors office. When the nuc folks found out that the ladder was tits up, in a major fashion, they did what any red blooded super grade's would have done. Picked up a cell phone, and diverted a ladder heading to another post, to us.

However, or 'but' if you will...

The clowns at another part of our happy go lucky Region got word of that, and redirected the ladder from us, to their place. Needless to say the nuc super grades are still plotting and scheming their revenge about that.

Fast forward to yesterday, when the ladder got put on life support, again. Some of our guys went to the post to pick up the ladder that we were supposed to have in the first place, and the damned thing happened. Or so the story goes.

From somewhere, in the deepest darkest part of his ass, one of the major check in the box chiefs proclaimed that we could not have that truck, since it is now a requirement that anyone who drives *ANY* piece of Fire Apparatus is to be EVOC qualified on *that* piece. A nice made up on the fly excuse to keep us from stealing back our truck. Our District Chief was supposed to have blown a gasket when that word came back. And calls were made to the Nuc supergrades, informing them, that they could not meet their requirements now. High level teeth grinding ensued.

This is not the first time this super chief has opened mouth, inserted foot. At my old station, we have a washer/dryer in the upstairs. the units were moved, and that resulted in the exhaust hose being where it could not be reconnected to the dryer. So, whenever it was used, it blew lint all over the upstairs. I got tired of cleaning the mess up, and fixed it. Got a worn out pair of pantyhose, cut one of the legs off, and attached it to the end of the hose. Weeks later, that superchief came to the station, looked around, and wrote a report that we have phallic objects in ouor station, and what the hell were we thinking. I guess the dope has never seen that trick with a dryer vent done before, so he had no idea what was going on.

Instead of taking the thing off, someone tied a short piece of rope with two monkey's fist knots on the ends of it, and draped it over the hose - creating a huge brown dick and ball set.

One day, we had to do a quick move of the truck into the stall, and with all of the confusion going on, we did not get the exhaust system hooked up on it in time, before he walked in. Instead of doing one of those on the spot corrections, he went back to his office, fired off e-mail reporting us for a health and safety violation. That e-mail channeled itself up and down the food chain, and I had to go see the BC and tell him what had hapened. He is like a snake in thegrass. Universally hated with in the department. [And is the same cock breath that instead of doing something about the rampant theft that was going on in the stations, of both personal, and government property, ordered the investigation covered up, so that the Department would not have to answeer to a IG Investigation.]

Going back to the evoc thing. That was some whopper of a story. It hits on many basic levels, depending on who you talk to. They run the gammet from who actually work here, being able to say that we work for idiots, and this proves it, to departments on the outside now being able to say, with a high probability of correctness, you guys work for idiots and this proves it. No matter how, or whoever looks at it, we appear to be idiots. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Sigh. I am lacking in my own needs, it appears. I do not have the required evoc certification, to drive myself to drink. Can anyone give me a ride?

I figure I earned that....

Nov 11, 2008

I figure I earned that....

Current mood:thoughtful

It was the 11 day of the 11th month, at the 11 minute of the 11th hour, when the armistice was signed to end the war to end all wars. Of course, that has not been the case. But in a time of idealism and enlightenment, it was thought so.

Somehow, I bet that kids today do not know the how fors and particulars of that event. After all, its just another day off from school. Or work, for the parents. Its a day of Hollywood's view of glamorized war, in the movies, on the TV.

Those of us who wore the Uniforms know this. Some were called against their will. Others walked in with their eyes wide open. All started as children. And all of us walked away as men.

My time was in the Medical Corp. MEDDAC. In the term of things, I was a REMF. Spent my time in basic, schools, and fixed facility hospitals. We were between the endless wars, so while I am a vetran, I do not have 'war' status.

In my day, the Russians were still the bad kids on the block. And they did not play fair with the other kids in the neighborhood. We stood the line. Ready to go and fight for something that we believed in. Were we childish or idealistic? Only history will tell us.

Since I left, and then found my war into the Fire Department, there have been countless wars. Countless young men and women have served. Most came home. Some have not. But, in all, we hold a brotherhood. Unlike anything someone on the outside could ever understand.

I remember as a kid, when the guys from Viet Nam came home. Hurt. Bruised. And mistreated by the very people they served. It was years before I raised my hand. Yet, even then I could not understand how a people could turn its back on them. How they could treat them with such distain.

I've made the trip to Arlington twice now. And with each visit I make, my understanding of just what these men, and women gave, to protect us, grows stronger in me, with each passing day. I know. I now understand. And I know that better men than I am, are not here to teach me about life. A lesson that all of us could use.

No one wants to talk about their own passing. Its a natural human emotion. Yet, all of us know that it will eventuallly come. To ease my own fears, I tell folks that the only thing I am taking with me when I go are the fillings in my teeth.

With that, I am at peace. But one thing does stick with me, and I will not compromise about it. A small folded flag. I earned it. It is mine. The last thing that I can say with any certainy, that I finished the requirements for. I am reminded of that flag on a daily basis. I can see the one that my father earned. There is not a day that goes past, that I do not walk past it, and glance up at it. It is a small thing. Really it is. A small piece of cloth of many colors. yet, to a Veteran, it is larger than the sum of its parts.

I fly a flag on my porch every day. For better or worse, it is my flag. And it means the world to me.
When you see a soldier in your travels. Thank them. They are the ones on the line, while you sleep in your beds at night. And even the dead, do not complain.

Democratic flavored Kool Aid being served NOW!

Oct 14, 2008

Democratic flavored Kool Aid being served NOW!

Current mood:ashamed

Anyone can be a Liberal Hypocrite Democrat simply by not thinking and voting that way. But if you want to be a GOOD Liberal Hypocrite Democrat, there are some things you must believe:

1. You have to believe the AlDS virus is spread by a lack of Federal funding.

2. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex.

3. You have to believe that guns, in the hands of law-abiding Americans, are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese communists.

4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding.

5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical, documented changes in the earth's climate, and more affected by yuppies driving SUVs.

6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being homosexual is natural.

7. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.

8. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.

9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony activists from Hollywood do.

10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

11. You have to believe the NRA is bad, because it supports certain parts of the constitution, while the ACLU is good, because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.

12. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.

13. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides aren't.

14. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge.

15. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and sex offender belongs in the White House (from '93 through 2000)!

16. You have to believe that homosexual parades should be constitutionally protected, and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.

17. You have to believe that illegal Democratic Party funding by the Communist Chinese, Iranians, etc. is somehow in the best interest of the United States.

Vote for Liberal *Hypocrite* Democratic's ... It's easier than thinking!