Obamacare Sign-Up Old-School

Remember way back in the day when there were only three major networks on TV (four if you count PBS)?  Remember Saturday morning cartoons (do they even exist anymore)?  Remember when news programs devoted the majority of their time to reporting actual NEWS?  Remember late night movies, before cable when the only time you could catch a movie on TV was on the local channels after the 11:00pm news?  I remember all those TV ads where you could order stuff like the Mr. Microphone (Hey, good lookin'!  I'll be back to pick you up later.), the Super Slicer (It slices!  It dices!  It juliennes fries!), or the "Hey Love" compilation of R&B music that you could get in vinyl, cassette, or 8-track tape (Naw, naw, my brotha.  You got to get your own.).  This was all before the internet was a reality in most homes and you had to either send a check or money order to the address shown on the TV, or pick up the phone and call the 1-800 number they give you.  Sure it took 6 to 8 weeks to get your order, but once you got it, boy were you proud of yourself.  You saw something on TV you wanted, took the initiative and ordered it, and once you got it you immediately threw it in a corner where it's been collecting dust ever since.  Back when I was living at home I remember my mom ordered one of those "Bloomin' Onion Makers" in my house.  You know, the thing where you can make those Bloomin' Onions like they sell at Outback Steak House?  To date not only does this device have yet to produce so much as one bloomin' onion, I defy anyone in the family to tell me where it is.  But I digress.

GOP Shutdown: NOW can we have TERM LIMITS?!

The partial government shutdown is about to enter its third week.  To top it off, we're only days from defaulting on our bonds for the first time in this country's history.  And yes, it's the Republicans' fault.  Not because they're a bunch of slimy racist old bastards (they are, but that's beside the point), but because they're afraid of a group of even slimier and more racist old bastards...the Tea Party.  Mainstream Republicans see what's happening to their party in the polls and, like President Obama, they want this thing to end, but they also want to keep their jobs.  And because the Tea Party has apparently pledged to be against ANYTHING that Obama wants, any Republican who even hints at compromising faces a primary challenge from the Tea Party.  All because the top priority for politicians in the House and the Senate -- for BOTH parties -- isn't doing the job, but keeping it.

Ya think we can start talking about term limits now?

Republicans vs. Obamacare: Now What?

I've been working in IT in some form for just over 20 years.  Starting as a PC tech (which back then meant installing Word Perfect from 5 1/4" floppy disks), and working up to what I do now (programming and systems administration).  If there's one thing that I've learned is that users do not like it when you take things away from them.  Whether it's a software application, or their old monochrome monitor, even if you replace it with something better, they react as if you're taking away one of their children.  Once people start using something, and get used to using it, good luck trying to get it out of their hot little hands.

Our country is in the midst of a government shutdown.  Spurred by their Tea Party caucus, the shutdown started off as the latest volley in the Republican Party's futile effort to repeal, replace, de-fund, delay, whatever, the Affordable Care Act, or as I proudly call it...OBAMACARE, but has now become one long tragedy, or sitcom depending on whose side you're on.

Never Forget...

Today we take a moment to commemorate the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 (or as I like to call it, Dick Cheney's favorite holiday).  On this day we should remember the victims, the policemen, the firemen, and other first responders who lost their lives on that day, as well as send our prayers and hopes to their families.  We should never forget them, nor should we ever forget the tragedy of this terrorist attack on American soil.  However. among the choruses of "God Bless America" and chants of "USA, USA" coming from the right, there are some other things we should never forget about 9/11.  Things that people like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, their apologists on the right, and their media patsies would like for you to forget.

RNC's Hillary Protest - Don't Call It A Boycott.

This past Friday the Republican National Committee, under the leadership of Reince Preibus, voted to "boycott" NBC and CNN because of their respective plans to air programs featuring Hillary Clinton.  Their plan is to not air any of the 2016 GOP Primary debates on those networks.  Looking at this, a few things come to mind right off.  First, a "boycott" is actually supposed to cause some level of monetary damage to the person or entity being boycotted.  It's pretty hard to see how this hurts these two networks, since advertisers don't really pay much for ad space on debates.  NBC, being an entertainment network, stands to make more money on reruns of The Voice than from political debates.  Second, there really is supposed to be a goal involved in a boycott.  The idea is to force the target of your boycott into some kind of concession.  Does the RNC really think they're going to force NBC and CNN to drop their respective Hillary plans?  No.  They don't.  That's because this isn't really a boycott.  This is an attempt to hide the crazy.

My Advice To Anthony Weiner: Just Do It

Anthony Weiner's dream of becoming mayor of New York is quickly becoming a nightmare because of new revelations of inappropriate on-line relationships.  It turns out that he was still sending out pics of his "Weiner" even after his disgraceful exit from the House of Representatives when these allegations first surfaced.  The really sad thing is that this is how Weiner will ultimately go out...over pictures.  No sex.  Just...pictures.

Dear White People: No! You Can Not Use The N-Word

Racists in America are always looking for new and exciting ways to excuse their racism, especially against African Americans, even before the Zimmerman verdict.  Since then, they've clutched at  just about any straw they can to explain away their racist support of Zimmerman, who actively profiled, stalked, and confronted Trayvon Martin, then gunned him down when the young man decided to fight back.  It's only Wednesday as I write this and we've already heard Martin's marijuana use, youthful run-ins with the law, provocative poses on Facebook, etc., used as justification for calling him a thug, a troublemaker, and claiming that he deserved to die (yes, some have said this).  Additionally, these same racist constantly go out of their way to state the fact that Zimmerman is half Hispanic, which is pretty much the same as saying, "Some of my best friends are Black."  Of course the fact that if Trayvon was White they'd be accusing him of being an anchor baby and demanding his deportation goes totally without saying.  A somewhat more recent phenomena involves the use of the N-word.  Racists have taken to the idea that because they hear it in Rap music and in Black conversation (and movies) that it's ok for them to use it.  "Because, after all, racism doesn't really exist anymore, so we can be as racist as we wanna be."