Adrial White to Get New Trial

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/12/02/local_news/doc4935a409c1eb1197796119.txt

Frankly, I am very surprised by this ruling. Of course, if the powers that be in Racine had not gone out of their way to make Mr. White a scapegoat for their failures, and had just tried him on the merits of the case, all of this insanity could have been avoided. Now we get treated to the spectacle of another circus trial. Plus we get to pay for it. How much has this already cost us? How much more? What will it cost us when the city settles the lawsuit that Adrial will bring? All of this so that some good old boys could save face . . .

Meanwhile, the citizens of Racine are at the mercy of criminals, and people who torture two-year-olds to death face 6 years imprisonment (maybe). What a farce, and what a sad commentary on crime and punishment in Racine, Wisconsin.

Idiot Tax III, the sports edition

This is an Idiot tax/Semi-Darwin award story involving probably one of the best (soon to be former) receivers in the NFL. What a colossal ass. Many of us dreamt of having just 1/10th of the athletic ability of someone like Plaxico. Why so many of them just piss it all away will always be a mystery to me.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022008/postopinion/editorials/the_perils_of_plaxico_141772.htm

Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us

Taking a cue from Orbs, here is some information regarding Festivus


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma879--VKrI&eurl=http://www.vidlit.com/festivus/&feature=player_embedded

"City Council to discuss praying before meetings"

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2008/12/02/local_news/doc4934962232615722938992.txt

"Both the Racine County Board and Congress say a prayer before their meetings, Maack said." He alludes to the largest collection of professional criminals in the nation as a model? Ha ha ha.

Personally, I think that prayer before betraying the public trust is a good thing. Such hypocrisy adds the spiritual texture of blasphemy to the proceedings and invites divine retribution against those taking part. I suggest that the public confessing of sins also be added to every meeting.

Don't forget to include some Muslim and Buddhist prayers, too, or there will just be another lawsuit against the city.

Geeky Christmas Cards

The Telegraph had a collection of geeky Christmas cards...I thought this one was notable for us.
Links are provided to buy many of the cards they feature.

What Crappy Xmas gift are you?

A fun little quiz......

ok.. the wonderful people who always edit my messed up posts.....
(got you covered... no prob, kk)

here is the link

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcrappychristmasgiftareyouquiz/

I used the insert link and it never seems to work for me...

The Hubble Advent Calendar

The Boston Globe's Big Picture is putting up a Hubble Advent Calendar. Each day from now until Christmas, a new Hubble image. Here is the first one.This is a star called V838 Monocerotis. This normally dim and obscure star had a big brightness outburst in 2002 and got about 600,000 times brighter than our Sun for a brief time. It is now back to its normal boring dimness. What we are seeing here is called a light echo.

When the star got really bright, it gave off light in all directions. Some headed toward us (which we saw already) and some that headed off in different directions bounced off dust in the area and got reflected toward us. Since this light is taking a longer path to us, it takes longer to get to us. That is what we are seeing in this image: the movement of the light echo.

The light echo gets dimmer as time goes on. You may notice the background stars appear brighter in the later images. Since the light echo is so much dimmer, they take longer exposures to see the light echo and the background stars appear brighter. In reality, they have not changed and would look the same if you kept the same exposure time (but then you wouldn't see the light echo which is what they are interested in!)

I won't be able to blog every one, so check back every day for the next picture on the Hubble Advent Calendar.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

James Bond at the Very Large Telescope

Previously, I blogged about the movie Quantum of Solace being filmed at the Very Large Telescope. Unfortunately, you didn't get to see the telescoped in the movie, but rather the astronomers living quarters. You can watch a video about the filming here (sorry, not embeddable).

I saw the movie last weekend...I wouldn't have recognized the place since I have never been there! Wish I had seen this before the movie. I would have appreciated those scenes more.

The Mayor's surgery

We may disagree with him politically (often and loudly), but I sincerely wish Mayor Becker a speedy recovery from Kidney surgery. A little research indicates that Kidney cancer is usually found by accident and is often wrongly diagnosed as a kidney infection. Beware, as is often stated, what do you call someone who graduated medical school with a "D" average? Answer: "Doctor".

Journal Times Promotes & Perpetuates Amish Heater Scam

These are electrical heaters manufactured in China. Obviously, the Amish have nothing to do with electricity or this product, but the Journal Times, Parade Magazine, and who knows how many other publications continue to run this scam advertisement. Just Google Amish heaters scam to get the facts: $400 for a "free" HEAT SURGE® (i.e., electric) space heater. (As I typed "Amish heaters" into Google's search field, it auto-filled "scam" - lol.)

Or you can buy one at Wal-Mart for $25.

A full page ad of lies, lies, and more lies brought to you by the newspaper of record in Racine county.

Happy Monday!! Open snowy blog...

They've got the right idea, just cuddle up and stay warm!!

The Grand Conjunction: Sunday Night Photos

Just thought I would post my best two photos from tonight of Venus, the Moon and Jupiter.



Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

The Festivus Pole is up and Ready....

Let the "Airing of Grievances" begin!

Now be nice...

Here is mine, “That f&%k’in White Mans Club, who is blaming chemicals on the pumping system so now the children of Racine can not run and play in the water fountain by the lake”! I have to stop here otherwise; I will use some real potty words.

FACEBOOK - do you use it??

OK, a friend from England (a lizard guy) sent an
invite to join Facebook to me.
My kids do facebook, alot of people do facebook,
am I missing something or what??
Do you use Facebook? Are you a facebook junkie?
What's the draw? What's the deal? I just started
but I really don't get why it's such a big thing,
I need your input.
Do you facebook?
Why or why not?

And This Weeks "Nice Going Klutz" Award Goes To.....

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > U.S.

Ohio Police Chief Shoots Himself While Teaching Daughter Gun Safety

Saturday, November 29, 2008

MONROE, Ohio — Police in southwestern Ohio say a police chief mistakenly shot himself in the thigh after giving his daughter a gun safety lesson.

A police report says 54-year-old Middletown police Chief Greg Schwarber was preparing to clean his Glock .45-caliber pistol on Friday and didn't realize the gun was still loaded.

The report written by officers from neighboring Monroe says the bullet entered Schwarber's leg just above the knee.

When officers arrived, they found the chief lying on the floor with a towel covering his leg. Schwarber was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The hospital had no record of Schwarber being treated or admitted. A home phone number for him couldn't be found

Reminder: Venus-Jupiter and Moon Conjunction

Just a quick reminder that Venus and Jupiter are converging in the western sky after sunset. They are the two brightest things out there, no telescope necessary. Their closest approach is tomorrow night (Sunday) but based on the forecast for Racine, you might want to check it out tonight.

Sunday night (if you catch a break in the clouds) the Moon will be below the two planets and Monday night the crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter will be spectacularly close together.

If you have a pair of binoculars, try them. You should be able to see Venus is not a circle, but has phases just like our Moon. You might even catch a moon or two of Jupiter depending on the size of your binoculars.

And to wet your appetite, here is an image from Spaceweather...be sure to go there and check out the other photos!

Football in 3D!

3D television is the next big revolution and December 4th, the NFL is going to broadcast the Chargers-Raiders game in 3D. Unfortunately, it is the Chargers-Raiders game which means you probably won't be too disappointed to learn that it is only being broadcast to theaters in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles (and only big muckety mucks are invited).

In answer to your question, yes, you still have to wear the silly glasses!

Reminder: Buy Nothing Day is Today

Okay, I slept in and with the time zone out here, this is probably way too late for most, but today is Buy Nothing Day, a day to strike back against conspicuous consumption and maybe even to remember Christmas is about more than getting loot (or so I am told). Besides, the best bargains are going to come later as desperate retailers cut prices.

So relax and enjoy the day (easy for me to say...partly cloudy and getting into the mid 60s here today!)

Napoleon Dynamite and the $1 million Netflix Challenge

I listened to last week's edition of On the Media and heard they did a piece on the Netflix Prize. The Netflix Prize is a $1 million prize being offered to a team who can improve the engine that drives the Netflix movie recommendations by 10%.

For the unititated, when you rent from Netflix, you can rate the movies you rent. Netflix then recommends movies you might like based on your answers. That's how they keep you coming back. You can imagine it is pretty important to have a good recommendation system.

There are several teams getting close to the magical 10%, but progress is very slow. It turns out that one movie accounts for 15% of all the missed recommendations: Napoleon Dynamite. That just blew me away: Out of the tens of thousands of movies, one accounts for 15% of the misses! Most of the rest of the errors are caused by a few similar quirky indie flicks.

If you can figure out how to predict if your friends will like Napoleon Dynamite and write some comptuer code, you could be on your way to $1 million!

flying turkeys

Wild ones fly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iafzqOCaxA4&eurl

Make Sure Your Turkey is Tender Today

That's a BUTTer ball turkey!

Mayor Becker to have Cancer Surgery

http://news.racinepost.com/2008/11/mayor-becker-to-have-cancer-surgery-dec.html

Best wishes to the mayor for a full and speedy recovery.

Better have them double-check your liver while they're in there - you only have one of those.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, childrens, hello! Happy Thanksgiblet to you all!

I thought I might not make my deadline this week. All because of a shameless hussy, namely Lisa Marie, a local “phychic” who runs the ad at right in the Journal Times.

How dare she horn in on my territory without even the courtesy of a how do you do? I called this scammer up and made an appointment under an alias. You should’ve seen the look on her face when she saw me, Mme. Zoltar, sitting in her parlor. “I don’t care if you were married to Wacko Jacko,” I yelled as I flung Serbian beetle dung dust at her, “you don’t dis me in my hood without paying the price!” Things deteriorated rapidly from there. By the time the police and fire department arrived, I was running late. I astral projected out of there and to my personal computer to get this blog composed. Before I left, though, I got in a good shot to her jaw, saying, “I get 20% off the top, bitch, or they find you at the bottom of a wishing well.” Needless to say, I predict prompt submission of my royalties.

I am so glad that I made it back in time to respond to a question from the resplendent Ms. kkdither, who wrote:

Dear Madame,

I am somewhat anxious about the upcoming cook-a-thon. I haven't had the responsibility to make the whole shebang myself in years. The turkey already almost broke my finger (frozen heavy #$%^ came between me and the grocery counter) I'm wondering if you have any forboding as to the outcome of this spectacle... Specifically, how will my guests react when I "give them the bird?"

Sincerely anticipating your response,
kkdither
p.s. I'll save a drumstick for you

Dear kk, you will be fine. The food will be fine. Your guests will be fine. Everything and everyone will be fine, except, of course, the bird, which will be cooked. Thank you for being one of millions of tireless souls who labor so hard in our kitchens that millions more may share in a Thanksgiving meal.
P.S. And a little stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberries, too?

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that we all find much in our lives to be thankful for.

Don’t forget, you can always contact me about your concerns or questions at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

See you next week, dearies, or be L7.

JTI Forum?

I was messing around and created a JT Irregulars forum on a free hosting site: http://jtirregulars.21.forumer.com/index.php. It is a phpBB forum and it's currently set to require registration to post, but anybody can read. As I understand it, ads will soon start popping up on the site to "finance" it. Anyway, I wouldn't suggest using your primary email address to register. I have no idea if anyone will be interested in anything like this, so you can poke around and try it out if you want. If you have any suggestions for subforums, or anything else, please don't be shy. Anything can be created. Moderators can be appointed for subforums. This type of board has private messaging.

I put a link to it in the Features section on the sidebar so that it can be easily accessed. We'll see if it catches on.

Angry conservatives

Why is it when a liberal debates a conservative, 95% of the time when things get angry, it's the conservative releasing smoke? Name calling, threats, anger, it all comes to the surface. Recently I attempted to find a middle ground and was told bluntly there was no middle ground. Even when I moved to the Right in my possition, the conservative couldn't or wouldn't move at all from his steadfast possition. During the discussion the next thing to happen was the Wolf Pack attack.

I'm getting tired of being steam rolled and the one thing I've seen is that people with Liberal persuasion just stop the debate once the level of abuse gets so far. During this talk, a person I've resapected and admired out of the blue lashed out that I "Lusted to take away his wealth." I've always felt he worked hard for it and deserved it. We weren't even talking about such things, but off the wall this came out.

On another website Obama was being maligned as not being worthy of being a President because he had no experience in the military. I pointed out that Bush went AWOL for a year which got covered up by losing his records (Now how many of us have had our records lost?), and there were questions about McCain's version of the Forestal fire and his leaving the ship on a helicopter full of reporters without permission to do so. Palin needed five colleges to get her degree and had no military experience either. The venom that unleashed was shocking.

Something that has been said and repeated is that (oh gosh) Obama is the ANTICHRIST and we're all in for it now. When it is pointed out that the Rapture hasn't happened and shoots that bit right in the foot, it's again, anger and cries that I must be a liberal. Huh? A Liberal atheist that knows the Bible better than a psuedo Thumper?

If the rhetoric is questioned, fight it with flame. If the facts don't bear out, fight the truth with flame. If someone tries to find a middle, fight that with flame. When I've been shown I'm wrong, I make a change and relook at what I believe. I have never seen a conservative give an inch. No, that's wrong. It happens so rarely it feels like never.

Interesting enough, one conservative said that he found that Supreme court justices that changed the interpretation of the constitution were all liberals. That gay marriage should be banned on a constitutional level. That anyone that claimed the constitution was living and breathing should play poker with him. He'd make sure the rules we played by were "living and breathing" also. I told him "I'd be glad to play when he told his wife she was a second class citizen and didn't deserve the vote. I mean what better example to show that yes, the constitution has been changed and today we take it for granted, but at the time conservatives fought tooth and nail because to allow the female vote would hurt them in some obscure way." Whoa, the venom that statement unleashed.

Just getting tired of our divided country. Tired of fingers in the ears LA LA LA LA refusal to consider anything but the lockstepped Rush Lambaug conservative platform. When people are asked to defend their views, a general assertion that"Its just wrong or right" doesn't cut it. Be prepared to say why you think it's wrong or right and defend that possition. Denying another the same freedoms you expect should have a much better argument than, "God, you must be a Liberal."

The Big Picture: The ISS

Look, enjoy. The Big Picture: The International Space Station.

Penn and Teller: Magic With a Message

I am in Vegas now and saw Penn and Teller last night. Wonderful show, but two segments stood out in particular.

The first was an illustration of the tricks of the trade for psychics and people who claim to channel the dead and such mumbo jumbo. Penn made quite clear his opinion of these people (they are lying slime taking advantage of people) before illustrating multiple ways they do readings with audience members. Each time he used joke books and had people randomly select jokes. His cold reading was amazing...the guy was visibly nodding and shaking his head, totally subconsciously, allowing Penn to zero in on the joke he choose.

The second part stated with a U.S Flag onstage. They took it down and folded it (in the little triangle just like you are supposed to). They took out a copy of the Bill of Rights and wrapped it around the flag. They then set the flag on fire (not really...they switched it out for a bunch of flash paper) and he said, "The Flag is gone, but the Bill of Rights remains." Which one is more important...which would you rather lose? They then took out a sheet of clear film to represent China's Bill of Rights (there isn't one) and repeated the trick. At the end, the flat magically appeared on the flagpole again and they were both looking at it reverently as the lights blacked out. It has mercifully been a few years since a bunch of yahoos have tried to get that Flag burning amendment passed. Next time it comes up, Penn and Teller should do this routine for the entire House and Senate. Anyone who votes for an amendment banning flag burning after seeing this is too stupid to serve in Congress.

Will Ya Look At That......I'm Dead

Have you ever glance at the obits or death notices to find your name listed?

"Government announces new loan programs"

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioHc80xKMiATnqCpK0cDKJzk_nPQD94M2QCG0

In related news, the government also announced that "a thousand gazillion jillion megabillion dollars" are going to be rocketed into the sun in an effort to jump start solar power.

According to one unidentified Treasury official, "We're not going to stop until every last penny of America's money is spent in one way or another. You can rest assured that we are responding to the economic meltdown by mortgaging your and your descendants' future as rapidly as we possibly can."

Thanksgiving open blog! What are you thankful for?

This being the week of Thanksgiving, here's your soapbox
to give thanks from :)

How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?

This is complements of Lizardmom....

Brand New Angel

Gov't Mule is a side project for Allman Brothers Band guitar extraordinare Warren Haynes. Formed in 1994 with Matt Abts on drums and Allen Woody on bass. I was fortunate to see this line up in concert where they backed up Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes at the Marcus Ampitheatre in Milwaukee on 6/29/2000. Allen died two months later.

The band carried on looking for a new bass player. This search resulted in three LP's worth of music containing famous bass players like Roger Glover from Deep Purple,Les Claypool from Primus,Jack Bruce from Cream,Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers,Jason Newstead from Metallica,Phil Lesh from the Grateful Dead,and many many more. They settled on an unknown bass player Andy Hess. Danny Louis joined the fold as the keyboardist.

They recently released a live DVD, A Tale of 2 Cities,which I acquired about 2 weeks ago. This song is on it. It also can be found on their 2006 classic,High and Mighty

My friend Irregulars,I present Brand New Angel. Enjoy!



More information on Gov't Mule.
Information on their setlists
The LP's I recommend are:their debut LP and High and Mighty.

The Big Picture: Dubai

Dubai has been getting a lot of press coverage recently (at least in the press I read and listen to!) due to its extraordinary growth and wealth. This week's Big Picture from the Boston Globe focuses on Dubai. Of the many remarkable images this week, perhaps the most striking is one of the Burg Dubai.
It is already the world's tallest freestanding structure and will be 2684 feet tall (over half a mile) when complete. Looking at all the images in this collection, I wonder how much longer until they have a crash of epic proportions...or replace the U.S. as the land of conspicuous consumption.

The Process of Choice and Our Fickle Brains

I just listened to the new episode of Radio Lab and the theme this week is choice. How do we make choices in life? How can marketers and politicians influence these choices? How much free will do we really have?

One segment highlights Baba Shiv's work on fruit and cake. Which would you choose if offered a piece of chocolate cake or fruit salad? Okay, now what if you were distracted? What Shiv did take two groups of people. One group was asked to memorize a seven digit number and the other group a two digit number (the subjects were told this was a memory experiment...one thing I remember from my college sociology courses is that you always lie to the subjects about the purpose of the study!) After they memorized they numbers, they were offered a choice between cake and fruit salad. The peope that memeorized the longer number were much more likely to choose cake. We all know that fruit is better for us, but when you distract the brain by asking it to memorize a long number, then the impulsive side comes out and we do things we know aren't quite so good for us.

Another segment focuses on Lawrence Williams research on the connections between physical sensations and emotional judgements. He has subjects hold a cup of hot or cold coffee as they read a description of a person. The people holding the hot coffee described the person they read about as having a "warmer" personality. Could your opinions of Obama and McCain depend on whether you were drinking a cup of hot coffee or an ice cold soda when you watch their speeches? Research says yes.

Another segment was on how casinos keep players gaming. Casinos use those loyalty cards to keep track of how much people lose before they quit playing. As you near that limit, that is when the casino sends someone over and offers you the free tickets or dinner or some other little incentive to make you happy, forget your losses, and keep playing (I am going to Vegas for the first time tomorrow due to the fact that hotels are criminally cheap right before Thanksgiving...however, I know the odds and don't gamble and the only coins I am going to drop into a machine are going to be at the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum).

I am sure most people like to sit back and think they are too smart to fall for such tricks. However, it is important to remember that you are not even aware of the most effective ways people manipulate the choices you make. The very layout of stores is designed to get you to spend more (to say nothing of the maze that is your average casino!) I am very analyitical but Shiv's research shows one way to get to me is to overwhelm me with information.

As prevelant as these techniques are in our world, they receive very little coverage outside of academic journals. Media has little interest in covering them since they make their money from advertisers who frequently use these techniques! With our current economic downturn, you can bet retailers are going to be emptying their arsenal in the next few weeks to part you from your dollars.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

A JTI Candidate

What can I say, The few, the proud, the insane...

Thanksgiving Quiz

Hope you enjoy this little quiz.

Let's see how much you know about Thanksgiving

Turkey Quiz

The Coordinator's Report - what fun!!

We had a great time tonite!!
Not a bad turn out but those of you that didn't make it sure missed it!
Our bowling was fun, we threw things, things fell down, all in all,
a great time.

Logjam... we waited for you...
AA, eventually you will have to come out of hiding...
Beejay, HaleBopp and Whynot, you have to come sometime!
The rest of you - it's time to get on board already!

Our next outing will actually be an 'inning'
Date and time - Mark your calendars NOW
Saturday, January 10th, 4pm
Highlights of the evening -
1st annual Irregular Christmas Party
Potluck/game night/Christmas Party/Christmas cookie eating contest

Watch for more info as to HOW to get hooked up and be part of it,
info to follow closer to actual Christmas!!
Any questions, email me anytime

lizardmom@wi.net

From your humble coordinator...

Russian Bar Trio

All I can say is WOW!

Hamster On A Piano (Eating Popcorn)

That's one mellow hamster. Why can't he get up after he falls off the key?

Rust in Pieces, Yugo

The last Yugo, the car that became the joke of a generation, is about to roll of the assembly line. If you are like me, you are probably finding yourself amazed that they still make those things.

And you think Detroit has problems, look at the Yugo!

Name that Rover (18 and under, some restrictions apply)

NASA is having a contest to name the next Mars Rover, open to students. The new rover, to be launched in 2009, desperately needs a new name as it is currently known as the Mars Science Laboratory.

This beefed up rover will be nuclear powered and focus on whether Mars is or has ever been a place hospitable for microbial life. More power means more science instruments and a greater range for more exploration.

The winning entry gets a free trip to the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena (where they build the rovers). Pass this on to teachers you know so we can get a lot of entries!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicst Blog.

One Can Shy of a Six Pack

This post was inspired by Drewzepmeister with his post of "Sounds like this lady is a burger patty short of a full burger" on the goofy lady from Oregon post. And in my past post of "What two things will end at midnight" I think it was he that came up with "Sounds like the cheese is sliding off the cracker." (or was it Orbs?). Anyhow, what snappy repartees do you have in your arsonal? (If you rather not divulge them now and save them later for the appropriate moment that's fine). Just no quoting the "Grumpy Old Men" movies......there are ladies that read these blogs!

From your events coordinator... Confirmations needed!

Hi guys, time for roll call for Friday nights get-together.
You should have received the info and invite,
if for any reason you didn't,
** please email me ASAP at **
lizardmom@wi.net

Now is time for corrections, updates, forgotten RSVP's, etc.
This is who I have coming...
ORBS, KK, SER, DREW, ABBY, LIZARDMOM, LOGJAM, and CYNDI

Those that I know can't make it -
the hibernating Beejay :)~ ,
Whynot, HaleBopp, also hibernating in warmer climates...
and AA. If you are on the list in either category and need to change it
please let me know. If you haven't responded yet - hint, hint...
EMAIL ME SOON!!!
I probably have too many lanes reserved but don't want to give any
up unless I'm sure we won't need them.
If you forgot what's going on, again, please email me soon!!

Thanks for you help, hope to see more of you Friday!!

***UPDATE***
I am going to correct the number of lanes needed down to 4, but will
insist on keeping them those nearest the door,
watch for our sign, anyone from the picnic should recognize it well

First It Was "One Small Step For Man". Now It's "Oh Great"

This from Fox News:

'Oh Great': Astronaut Loses Tool Bag During Spacewalk

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453845,00.html

Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper was working on a solar panel when her grease gun exploded. As she was wiping the grease off her face shield, she let go of her tool box which floated off into space. Kinda like your wife or girlfriend dropping your Craftsman rench down a sewer.

Change – What is it?

The 36th President Lyndon B. Johnson was in office when I graduated from high school. I turned 18 in May graduated in June and 5 day later received my draft notice.

LBJ was going to change the world. Since we have had several changes in Presidents. Nixon, Ford, Carter, then the people of the United States wanted a big change so Ronald Reagan was elected.

Then came Bush, Clinton, Bush and now President elect Obama. All of them where or are out to make change.

In the mid to late 60’s and early 70’s many protest songs where written and recorded. One which comes to mind is “Eve of Destruction”. This song is a protest song about political issues of the '60s, this song was banned from many radio stations for its antigovernment lyrics, but still managed to hit #1 in the US. The song takes on racism, hypocrisy and injustice.

Imagine that, racism, hypocrisy and injustice, look around, its 2008 where is the change.

I believe it’s time people, politicians in particular, add the word “hope” or “pray” in front the word “change” every time they use it!

Some feel the song Eve of Destruction was written “before it’s time”. Please listen to the song and you decide, where’s our change.

More about the song can be seen at Eve of Destruction.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hi, my friends! It’s good to be with you again.

I’ve decided that this week I would tell you little about my family background. The picture below is of Grandpa Emilio Zoltar, the first psychic to foresee the Great Depression and throw himself off of a Wall Street window ledge because of it:
Before he made his grand exit, though, Grandpa Emilio married. He was a strange man with strange tastes. He fell in love with a wax dummy named Marge:

It was love at first sight. They melted into each others arms. Their connubial bliss produced a son, the man I later married, Karl “The Reptile” Zoltar, known for his cold, almost mechanical, mannerisms:



Our union produced a son, Karl “The Robot” Zoltar, Jr.:



Unfortunately for everyone involved, Karl Sr. is a piece of trash lowlife who can’t keep his pants on. I had to divorce the lying scumbag and raise Junior on my own. It’s pretty funny to listen to Karl talk about “doing” versus “intending” in that video. He was always “intending” to pay the child support, but never “doing” anything about it. So I had to come up with a way to support myself and our son. Thus, Madame Zoltar was born. I tapped into my personal psychic sources and became a legend. Today Junior is successfully engaged in his YouTube career and paint huffing activities. We live a modest suburban life, but don’t really lack for anything. I owe it all to you, my faithful friends and fans, and my many loyal customers. Thank you for making Madame Zoltar your Guide to the Spirits and the Stars.

Please remember to send you comments and questions to me at madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Thank you for letting me chat with you today. I look forward to doing it again next week. Until then, farewell my friends.

$700 billion? What the Frak?

If you are like me, you have been hearing a lot of numbers thrown around with all the bailouts of banks and what not. Trying to keep a running total in my head, I started thinking, hmmm...that sounds like more than $700 billion to me.

Turns out my powers of estimation served me well, but not well enough. CNBC has been keeping track. They came up with a number of almost $4.3 trillion for all the bailouts! That's off by about a factor of 6! This really is a government operation complete with huge cost overruns.

Today Must Have Been "National Idiots Day"

In a earlier post we saw a woman in Oregon pee away 400 grand on a Nigerian e-mail scam. Later today a postal worker in Milwaukee was arrested for delivering more than mail.

lhttp://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/34714699.htm

Tuesday Noon Grin

POWER OUTAGE DURING A MAMMOGRAM

I actually kept my mammogram appointment. I was met with, 'Hi! I'm Belinda!' This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, 'All I need you to do is step into this room right here, strip to the waist, then slip on this gown.

Everything clear?

I'm thinking, 'Belinda, try decaf. This ain't rocket science.'

Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors.

With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, 'Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?'

Fine, I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off?

My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob wedged between those two 4 inch pieces of square glass) when we heard, then felt a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off!

'Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag.' Belinda headed for the door.

'Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone are you?' I shouted.

Belinda kept going and said, 'Oh, you fussy puppy...the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be right back.'

Before I could shout 'NOOOO!' she disappeared.

And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men extraordinaire, found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life, and the other part smashed between glass!

After exchanging polite 'Hi, how's it going' type greetings, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off.

Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible 'Uh, yes, yes I did thanks.'

'You bet, take care ' Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store.

Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin. Making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said, 'Oh I am sooo sorry!' The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?'

And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps...

How About Coming Up With a Ban of Your Own

With a new batch of legislators headed of to Congress, Madison, and Municipal Boards around the country, you can bet something is going to be targeted to be banned. Kenosha is instituting a ban on texting while driving. In Madison they are thinking about a ban on bisphenol A in plastics. I'm not saying all bans are ill thought out or stupid. It's something we are going to see a lot more in the future. Knowing the JTIs, this is a group that could come up with bans; some serious, some darn right....well you know. Perhaps one like this: Banning driving while operating a motor vehicle.....