Buh-bye, Rush!

Well, if you were hoping that the individual mandate would declared unconstitutional in the health care bill that the Supreme Court just issued their ruling on, I'm sure that you're disappointed that the Supremes left it in. But fear not!  There could be some really awesome things that come out of this!  We might be finally rid of Rush Limbaugh because of this!

According to the Huffington Post,  back in 2010, Rush Limbaugh had said that if this particular health care reform bill passed that he would leave the country and go to Costa Rica.  Well, it passed!  Start packing your bags, Rush!  Oh, and sorry Costa Rica.  You were a great place to vacation, but if that windbag is going to be there, there won't be a whole lot of room for many vacationers.  But good luck with that!  The audio of him making this proclamation is below.  Behold! 

 

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They Know They're Fat

I ran across this story in the LA Times yesterday.  Essentially, it says that "...a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling".  You know, to rein in the fatness.  And really, it wouldn't be that big of a deal what the advisory panel said except that since Obamacare has been ruled to be constitutional (don't get me started), part of that whole deal "...requires adoption of certain recommendations from the task force, such as this one on obesity."

Now, I'm way more into preventative health care than I am just letting people's bodies go completely to hell and then trying to maintain some semblance of "normal" living through medication.  I'm not so sure how I feel about "intensive counseling", but that's kind of only because I don't know what in the hell that means.  But here's the part where I realized that it's likely going to be some utopian effort to try and change something that might not be changeable.  It's the part that said "...a recent study that found that more than half of all obese patients had never been told by their physician that they needed to lose weight."

More than half of all obese patients?  Soooooo...someone is obese and because they were never told by a doctor that they needed to lose weight....that they what?  They didn't know that they were obese?  They didn't know that it's not normal to wheeze and gasp for air every few steps?  They didn't know that using their Fry Daddy for all three meals each day (and snacks) was a bad idea?  Because no one TOLD them they needed to lose weight, they just assumed that they didn't?  Is that what I am supposed to take from that?  Or am I supposed to be blaming the physician for the fatness of the patient?  Either way, no matter which answer I get to that question, it's not good.

Since when did we need to be told everything to do?  I understand giving people nutritional counseling, I suppose.  It can get a little complicated at times if you're really trying to improve your health.  But if you're obese, I'm pretty sure that you can figure out why you're obese without someone telling you.  And I'm also going to find it difficult to believe that an obese individual doesn't know that it's not good for them to be obese.  Do you really think that an obese person can't figure out that they (most likely) would lose some weight if they ate less? 

And please do not email me your stories of obese individuals that you know or are related to and tell me all about their "thyroid problem" or their other metabolic condition that prevents them from losing weight.  Even IF that was the reason that those particular individuals are obese, those people make up such a small percentage that it isn't even worth discussing.  (It's funny how all of those thyroid folks eat fast food and Ding Dongs all the time, isn't it?  Must be part of their "condition".  Go figure.)    Also please refrain from the emails and comments telling me that I must hate fat people.  I don't.  What I hate is people unwilling to take responsibility for anything that they do to themselves and then blaming the government or someone else for their "misfortune".  Granted, I hate the government enabling those people more than I hate the unwillingness of the people in the first place.  But I gotta focus on something.  And right now, my focus in on the government thinking it can fix things that it can't.  Good Lord, we're doomed.

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Where Are His Pants?

I ran across the cartoon below today.  While I'm a little tired of the whole "From Penn State to the State Pen" witticism, I thought that this cartoon was interesting only in the sense that the artist made it look like Sandusky isn't wearing any pants!  I can't imagine that this was on purpose, but come on!  Doesn't it look like he's pantless?!  You know it does. Behold! 
  

 

And again, I realize that it's not a misrepresentation of anything that went on, it's just weird. And kinda funny. That's all I've got.

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Loophole!

If I were a lawyer (and I think that we can all breathe a sigh of relief that I am not), I think that I could help this woman that was arrested in Florida (of course) the other day.  I'm pretty sure that I could get her off on a fairly glaring, yet rather subtle, technicality.  See if you follow me here. 

What we have is a 400-pound woman, a one 52-year old Patricia McCollum, who was sitting at a bus stop in Fort Lauderdale.  She allegedly decided that she needed to change clothes, perhaps to something more summery as the seasons have changed, and felt that the best place to do so was right there at the bus stop.  She is currently sans home, so I guess that changing right in the middle of everything was the best that she felt that she could do?  I don't know.  Me, I'm thinking, what's the rush?  Wait until it's dark outside before you go off doing something like that.  Find someplace besides a bus stop for cryin' out loud.  Other people sit on that thing.  I'm pretty sure they don't want someone's bare arse on it.  But I digress. 

So you've got a naked, homeless, 400 pounder at a bus stop.  Naturally, she got arrested.  The charge?  According to UPI, she was charged with "...exposure of sexual organs in public".  Hold it.  Wait just a minute there.  Exposure of sexual organs?  For real?  Is that even possible with a 400-pound woman sitting on a bus bench?  I'm not so sure that it is!  I'm not so sure that would be possible without some sort of a series of levers and pulleys in order for things to be exposed.  400 pounds is a whole lotta woman.  And while she may not have been clothed, I'm going to go ahead and guess that her sexual organs were not exposed to anyone (and probably haven't been for quite some time).  

I realize it might not be the best defense anyone has ever come up with, but it certainly can't be the worst one either.  And really, the solution to things like this is to simply not change your clothes in public no matter how much you weigh.  But I'm thinking that if someone weighs 400 pounds and is naked in public, you're going to have to come up with something a little bit more applicable than "exposure of sexual organs in public"  because that simply didn't happen.  Naked or not, it didn't happen.  

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I Do(nate)

Let's say that you have a birthday or a wedding or even an anniversary coming up in the near future.  And let's say that you want to make sure to really irritate all of your potential guests and possibly sever relationships with them for quite some time.  Well have I got the solution for YOU!  Now, for what I'm going to presume is a limited time, you can sign up for the Obama Event Registry and instruct your would-be guests to donate to his campaign in lieu of getting you a gift!  Doesn't that sound great?!  And by 'great', I mean 'really freaking weird'. 

I seriously thought that this was just some sort of an Internet rumor when I first read about it.  But no, it's right over yonder at Barackobama.com  It simply (while ignoring the weirdness of it all) says: "Got a birthday, anniversary, or wedding coming up? Let your friends know how important this election is to you—register with Obama 2012, and ask for a donation in lieu of a gift. It’s a great way to support the President on your big day. Plus, it’s a gift that we can all appreciate—and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl. Setting up and sharing your registry page is easy—so get started today"  I'm not so sure that donating to his campaign is going to get you more than you'd get out of a gravy...bowl?  Isn't it a gravy boat?  What the what is a gravy bowl?  Never mind.  I digress.  (But I'm pretty sure it's boat, not bowl.) 

I'm going to go right ahead and say that this is pretty tacky.  How the Obama campaign can even think to ask to be a gift recipient for someone's special occasion is beyond me.  I realize that people sometimes choose a charity or an organization that they'd prefer that people donate to instead of giving a gift.  These people I collectively think of as saps (provided it isn't for a funeral).  But to just come right out and ask that people consider collecting money, cleverly disguised as a gift, for your campaign is just flat out weird.  It kind of has the slight stench of desperation as well. 

Here's the main reason why I think it's just a bizarre thought:  It seems to presume that every single one of your friends that  you would even consider inviting to such an important life event has the same political affiliation that you do.  What a great way to create a huge divide between yourself and your friends with different political views than yourself!  Is the Obama campaign so narrow minded that they think that everyone only has a group of friends and acquaintances that think the exact same way that they do?  Good Lord, could you imagine bringing up something like this at Thanksgiving dinner?  I'm sure that your older and more conservative relatives will just relish in joy of your requesting to make a donation to the opposite of their beliefs.  Because who doesn't like good old fashioned political talk at a wedding?! 

Why stop at just birthdays and weddings and anniversaries?  Why not include graduations in that mix as well?  Oh, and in lieu of having flowers sent to a funeral, how about you just instruct them to donate to his campaign instead?  And for God's sake, don't just stop at your own birthday.  Make sure that's what your children's friends do as well.  Besides, having all of those gifts around just clutters up the party space, right?  Riiiiight. Don't forget the Tooth Fairy!  Might as well include Santa and the Easter Bunny in all of that too, wouldn't you think? 

I would love to have statistics on how many soft heads out there actually participate in this particular campaign of giving or whatever you want to call it.  (I want to call it one of the weirdest and tackiest things ever, but that's just me.)  I've said it several times before, he's not a Muslim; he's a socialist.  Keep your eye on the ball, people.  He's coming after your gifts!  Run!  RUN!

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It's Back

I think that I said a while back that if things like the "bling" in the picture below caught on that we were all doomed. 

Well, it's happened again.  Welcome to doom.  Behold! 

Since he has sunglasses on, I can't tell if it's the same guy or not.  It could be.  And if it is the same guy, I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.  In a way, I suppose that it would be better because it's just one asshat who is out there with Bedazzled boxes of cereal draped around his neck.  And in case you were wondering, yes, his pants are on backwards.  I guess he's trying to make a Kriss Kross komeback or something. 

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Always Wear Sunscreen

Stories like this one make me want to strangle someone.  What we have here is a couple of kids who were at school and they went on a field trip.  They were outside for five hours, but the children were not allowed to put on sunscreen.  Why not?  Because according to either the "school policy" or the "statewide law" (it's a little unclear as to which means of asshattery was involved her) "...teachers are not allowed to apply sunscreen to students and students can only apply it to themselves if they have a doctor's note."  What the actual eff is going on over there? 

According to the Huffington Post, a one Jesse Michener of Washington had two of her children come home from a school field day with sunburns that were so bad that they "hurt to look at".  After seeing pictures of the kids, I'm going to have to agree with that assessment.  Behold!

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The kid on the left looks just miserable.  Not that the kid on the right has fared any better.  But holy canoli, is that a bright red sunburn she's got there.  Ms. Michener has documented this incident on her blog, "Life. Photographed." She says that after contacting the principal and asking why her children were not provided with sunscreen for the outing, the response "...centered around the the school inability to administer what they considered a prescription/medication (sunscreen) for liability reasons."  And this is where my head starts to explode.  See, if you buy something in the store and you don't need a (wait for it) prescription in order to purchase it, then it is by definition NOT a "prescription".  And since when is sunscreen considered to be a "medication"?!  It's sunscreen, for cryin' out loud!  But wait!  There's more! 

 

In the telling of this tale of administrative idiocy, she mentions that during said field trip, "...their teacher used sunscreen in her presence and that it was 'just for her'."  Oh, so the teacher knew enough to put sunscreen on herself, but wouldn't put any on the children for fear of some sort of liability repercussion?!  You have got to be kidding me?  How much of a sheeple is that teacher?  Good Lord.  Follow the policy to the letter of the law or else!  Never mind whether or not it's an asinine rule that will do more harm that good!  That's what it says, so God forbid if you actually do some thinking on your own and do something about it!  Nope, just let those kids get massive sunburns and then you can sleep well at night knowing that you followed the ridiculous rule because that's what you are supposed to do!  Good job, moron.

Now, maybe you're sitting over there and I haven't quite incensed you just enough yet.  Maybe you're sitting there thinking, "Well, if they couldn't wear sunscreen, they should at least have worn a hat to keep the sun off of their faces."  You'd think that, wouldn't you?  But guess what?  No, really.  Go ahead and guess!  I'll wait.  Did you guess?  OK, if you guessed that hats are not allowed at school even on field trip days, step forward and claim your prize!  That's right.  They don't allow hats and they don't allow kids to use sunscreen unless they have a prescription and put it on themselves.  (Have you ever seen a little kid put on sunscreen?  Let's just say that they're not very good at it.  You know why?  Because they're little kids!  They're not good at much!  They haven't been around very long!)

As you can imagine, this received quite a bit of attention, mostly from Ms. Michener being angry as hell that she had stupid people in charge of her children during the day.  She actually received a call from the Director of Elementary Education in Tacoma Public Schools. According to her blog, "...a new law – just on the books since June 7 – allowed for districts to make their own distinctions about what is and isn’t allowed at school with regard to sunscreen and other over-the-counter medications."  And while all of that is fine and good, let's just back up a little bit.  At some point, I'm guessing that more than one person came up with the previous policy.  And more than one person had to have said, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea.  I think it's good that the kids need a prescription from a doctor in order to put on over the counter sunscreen.  And if they're out in the sun for an extended period of time and they don't have a prescription, I think it's a fabulous idea that they not be allowed to use any.  I completely agree with this policy.  Let's implement it immediately!"  And they DID.  Who ARE those people?  They need to be removed from their jobs because they are so concerned with "liability" that they can't DO their jobs effectively.  What sort of liability could their be with sunscreen?  Is the kid going to be too slippery for a little while?  I don't get it. 

People that are in positions of authority and decision making who only go by the rules in the book should not be in those positions.  It goes without saying that if something is going to be run by the rules in a book, then why bother having the person there in the first place?  Just follow the rules and things will be fine.  There's no need for personal intervention.  It's all right there in the book.  We are fast becoming an over-regulated society which is void of people who are able to think for themselves and on their own.  Couple that with a bunch of morons who make non-sensical rules and regulations in the first place and it's a recipe for the sort of disaster that Ms. Michener's small children got to experience first hand.  Doomed, I tell you.  We're doomed. 

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Guilty As Charged

As I'm sure that you know by now, that pig Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 counts of child sexual abuse that he was charged with.  That seems about right.  I just have a few final thoughts on this. 

I've been thinking about Sandusky's wife and whether or not she knew what had been going on for all of these years.  Naturally, she claims that she didn't know anything was happening, let alone happening in her own basement for years and years.  While I would like to believe her (as it sickens me to think that she really knew and just let it happen to all of those boys for so long), I'm having a hard time believing that she was the only one around him who was clueless.  Everyone else seemed to know and everyone else seemed to inexplicably keep their mouths shut.  I don't know that she was any different. 

But let's just assume for the sake of assuming that she didn't know.  Can someone explain to me how she could sit there through all of the testimonies of all of those victims and listen to the vile and atrocious acts that her husband committed against them and after hearing all of that, repeatedly, how could she still take the stand and testify in his defense?  How?!  Because even if she didn't know about it before then, she certainly knew about it after all of that.  Why on earth wouldn't she just say, "You clearly did it.  You're a sick, sick pervert and there is no way in hell that I'm getting up there and saying nice things about you."  Why wouldn't she do that?  Why would she instead get up there and sing his praises?  Why would any of the people that testified for the defense still agree to get up there in defense of him?  Shouldn't they all have been barfing in disgust after hearing those heartbreaking testimonies?  There are so many things so wrong on every single side of this case that it is simply unbelievable how people act in the face of sexual abuse.  Absolutely stunning.  And another example of how we're doomed. 

 Last I had heard, Sandusky was on suicide watch.  Perfect.  I'd love to watch him commit suicide.  Show me to my seat.  What's that?  It doesn't mean that?  Huh.  Well, that's unfortunate.  I'd really enjoy it if it was.  Bummer.  I guess that means I just have to wait until sentencing where I continue to hold out hope that this will be the very first sentence of death by stoning handed down in the United States.  In the meantime, I will take small pleasure in knowing that Sandusky is about to realize that showering with inmates is going to be an awful lot different than showering with young, helpless little boys.  A lot different. 

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Nice Hat

I saw this story over at ABC News, but it was linked within a different story that had absolutely nothing to do with it and it won't let me link directly to it.  Just take my word for what happened, OK?  Besides, the point I'm about to make is rather pedantic anyway.  What's new, right? 

There long and short of it is that an 87-year old woman (who also happens to be a grandmother) was arrested for selling cocaine.  She ended up getting 18 months in prison and it was implied that it was due to her age.  Whatever.  If you're dumb enough to be selling cocaine, I don't care how old you are when you get caught.  The point here is her mugshot. Behold! 

Nice.  What in the world is on her head?!  Is that a nightcap?  Is she a Looney Tunes characters? When was this picture taken?  Is this the late 1800s?  People still wear those?  For reals?  I only remember them being worn in Little House on the Prairie.  This was the best picture that I could find to back up that memory.  Behold! 

 

Ignoring the fact that Laura has it pulled up as if she might secretly be one of the Coneheads, it's essentially the same.  At least Half Pint wasn't selling drugs.  Maybe if this woman felt the need to emulate those from the 19th century, she could have noticed all of the not dealing of cocaine that they did and gone with that instead of the wacky hat.  Just a thought. 

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This Is Why People Don't Come Forward

The Sandusky case has gone to the jury. I was looking for a different video when I stumbled upon this one. Holy crap. This woman is a danger to society. I appreciate wispy little Anderson Cooper sticking with his line of questioning and keeping just enough of an incredulous tone in his voice to get across that he thought she was nuts, while at the same time downplaying his disgust with her enough so that she would continue answering questions with her more than bizarre justified answers. This woman is exactly the sort of person who makes it terrifying for those who are sexually abused or assaulted to come forward and face their perpetrators. This woman is exactly the sort of person who allows these sort of horrible crimes to continue on and repeat themselves over and over because she is in too much denial to see the facts and to accept the truth. If you know this woman and you're ever sexually abused, don't expect her to help you. She will simply explain away all of the reasons why you're wrong and go about her business. Try not to throw anything at your monitor when you watch the video. If it doesn't play, try clicking here and watching it over at CNN.

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