On A Positive Note…..

Thank you to everybody who have sent your thoughts and prayers, please know it really does mean a lot to us. Things are crazy, and there’s about a million things I should be doing right about now besides blogging, but it’s kind of therapeutic, and something exciting happened last night that I wanted to share that gave us a little lift out of the funk.

A friend of the bmac family was sitting with the Bush family at last nights SOTU speech.

Will Milam is a member of the Coast Guard, he works the Bering Sea, and he’s a bona-fide hero.

On a cold, dark February morning a year ago, Milam, a Coast Guard petty officer from Kodiak, jumped from a helicopter into the 45-degree waters of the Bering Sea to rescue four fishermen stranded on a life raft.

Milam, a 42-year-old rescue swimmer, was awarded one of the Coast Guard’s top honors: the 2007 Coast Guard Foundation Award for Heroism.

Will was also my wife’s teenage boyfriend, and they have stayed in touch throughout the years. He called us last week to tell us he had been invited to sit with Luara Bush, in recognition of a daring rescue he made last Febuary.

On February 10, 2007, Petty Officer Milam responded to a distress signal in the Bering Sea. When arriving on location, he located a life raft from a boat that had sunk an hour earlier. Petty Officer Milam deployed into the 40-degree water to rescue four individuals who were mildly hypothermic. Even though Petty Officer Milam began to feel numbness in his legs due to the cold water, he was able to successfully rescue all four survivors in the life raft. Petty Officer Milam’s military decorations total nearly 45 awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, three Letters of Commendations, the 2007 Coast Guard Foundation Award for Heroism, and 2007 Captain Frank Erickson Aviation Rescue Award.

Will is standing right next to Barbara.

Needless to say, we’re incredibly proud to call Will Milam our friend.

Will’s quite a character, and my wife was just a little worried he’d do something silly. (He didn’t.) Just to give you an idea of what he’s like, he told us the thing he most wanted to do during his visit to Washington:

Poop in the White House.

In the bathroom of course. Just to say he did.

We haven’t talked to him yet, so I’m not sure if he accomplished that lofty goal, but I really hope he did. He said he’d settle for a picture of himself peeing there if he had to.

In the bathroom of course.

Here’s what Will does in his free time:

Yes that’s a real bear, yes he killed it, and yes he’s a badass.

Congratulations Will, we’re proud of you! And it appears G. has great taste in men.

A Death In The Family

Early Saturday morning, we lost my wife’s mother, Victoria. It was not unexpected, as she has been seriously ill for the last 3 years, but still, you’re never fully prepared for that, and I’m not sure it’s really even sunk in yet.

Actually, it’s a kind of a blessing. Victoria was a Christian Scientist. (NOT a Scientologist). Christain Scientists do not believe in the use of medicine, or doctors, and without going into the gruesome details, Victoria was suffering the last few years without so much as an asprin to ease her pain. That pain is finally gone, and for that, we’re grateful. I will say this, no matter how you feel about religion, the power of prayer is real, and I’ve seen what it can do over the last 3 years.

On the other hand, my wife has endured the mental pain of seeing, and knowing her mother was suffering every day for the last 3 years as well, and not being able to do anything about it beyond creature comforts. She has been amazing through all this, there just are not words to describe how much I love and respect her. She chose not to be a Christian Scientist when she turned 18, but she was raised that way, and she respects the religion, and she respected her mothers devotion to it, as did I. But it’s not easy. 

It’s been a tough 3 years.

It’s kind of strange the way things work out. I’m also in the process of closing my business after 3 years. I’m choosing to look at that as a blessing too. Just decided to do it about three weeks ago.  Everything is happening at once, but that’s life isn’t it?

Right now, snarking about politics and news just don’t seem so important, so blogging will be light, and probably a bit more personal in the coming weeks. Our lives are changing dramatically as I type this, so I have no idea where everything is headed right now, it’s like living in the middle of a tornado. Has been for awhile, I’ve just chosen not to blog about too much personal stuff. That’ll probably be changing, because I consider some of you guys friends. Fake internet friends, (joking) but friends nonetheless, and we need all the friends we can get right about now!

Dull Blade

Reading this thing about Wesley Snipes tax problems, I just can’t help but laugh. From my understanding, Snipes got involved with tax protest groups, who seem to have convinced him that the Government cannot legally make you pay taxes.

Wesley Snipes has earned $38 million dollars in the course of his career. A huge accomplishment, no matter what you may think of him. He was obviously talented enough, and smart enough to become incredibly wealthy in a career that most of the people who attempt, will never even be able to make a living in.

How is it he could be so ignorant with something so obvious? How could you be so competent in one thing, and so unbelievably naive and stupid in another?

Co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn, founder of the tax protest groups American Rights Litigators and Guiding Light of God Ministries, and Douglas P. Rosile, who allegedly prepared Snipes’ false documents, face up to 10 years.

Prosecutors say Snipes paid taxes in the ’90s, but changed his mind after meeting Kahn in 2000. He allegedly stopped filing returns, illegally sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes paid and drew fake checks to pay the U.S. Treasury.

How, on Gods Green Earth, did he think he was gonna get away with this shit? Does the name Wille Nelson mean anything to you Wesley? Then there’s this:

Actor Wesley Snipes, in a letter sent to the Internal Revenue Service after his indictment in 2006, declared himself “a nonresident alien” of the United States and claimed the Internal Revenue Service seeks to “terrorize, enslave, rape or pillage” taxpayers, according to a report in the Ocala Star-Banner.

That’s a good idea, call the IRS “terrorists” when you’re in tax trouble.

The “Blade” star sent the letter on Dec. 4, 2006, following his indictment earlier that year on tax fraud charges. He also delivered a stern warning that continued prosecution would result in “significant personal liability” for federal employees who pursued him, according to the report.

“Warning – pursuit of such a high profile target will open the door for your increased collateral risk,” Snipes wrote in the letter, which was read into the court record Thursday at Snipes’ trial. “I certainly don’t believe this is in your best interest.”

Wow. Why didn’t he just say “Hey guys, make sure you look under my mattress, cause I’ve got a couple million in cash, and there’s some offshore accounts you might want to look into as well, and please be sure to attach all my future earnings, that is, if I don’t go to jail wink wink.”

I don’t get it man, I just don’t get it. He’s not exactly a bankable star anymore, I would think his biggest earning days are behind him, so good job Wes, antagonize the IRS, and make sure future producers and directors know you’re batshit crazy.

Smoking Bans (Again)

I’ve blogged about this quite a few times, and Ryan over at Pro-Patria blogs about this frequently. Sorry if you’ve heard all this before, but it’s a big issue with me, and not because I’m a smoker. This is important, and while it’s already too late to stop it, we should at least think about what we’ve gotten ourselves into with these bans.

I firmly believe these bans pass, not because people are concerned about second hand smoke, but because it’s their one chance to vote into law, a ban that will stick it to people they don’t like. It’s 100% personal. What other ballot questions really give you the chance to do that? To directly say fuck you, with your vote, to an entire group of people?

For the chance to do that, people are more than happy to give up a right or two in the process. In fact, I’d say they’re so consumed with hate, it never even dawns on them to consider for example, that we can have smoking, and non-smoking restaurants and bars. It never even occurs to them that having a choice is better than not having a choice, no matter how you feel about the choice in question. This also applies to the ban on Trans Fats. Because fat people are also easy targets. Two down. You think it’s gonna stop there?

Do you think for a minute, government hasn’t noticed how easy it was to get voters to happily vote away choices? California has taken the ball and run with it, imposing bans on smoking in apartments and condos, and even on the beach. Now they’re trying to get control of homeowners thermostats. (It was killed…..for now)

What if it was the opposite? What if every bar and restaurant had to allow smoking? How would you feel about that? Because there’s no difference.

I live in Las Vegas. Vegas has an unbelivable amount of bars. Not on the Strip, but local bars. There’s one on just about every corner. I’ve never been to a city with more bars, there must be several hundred, easy, in a relatively small valley. There are so many bars because they make thier money on gaming. If you can’t get a gaming license, don’t open a bar in Vegas. The drinks and food are loss leaders for the bars here.

I’m not talking about the big clubs or the casino’s, these are mostly locally owned and operated small businesses. In 06, a smoking ban appeared on the ballot, a smoking ban for bars that serve food, even if that food is a microwaved basket of fries. All the bars serve some kind of food. Of course the ban passed.

The result? Instead of fighting a costly legal battle, most of the bars closed the restaurant portion ot their establishment, as gamblers really like to smoke while they lose the rent money, which means a lot of people lost their jobs, and we now have more drunk drivers on the road, because people can’t chase that shot of tequila with a greasy cheeseburger, the way God intended.

Oh, and we lost one more choice.

Bono Will Save Africa With Giant Sunglasses

I hate to just always bitch on this blog, but hey, isn’t that what blogging’s all about when you get right down to it? Nobody really wants to hear bitching in person, not even me, because….it’s depressing. But on a blog, bitching can be viewed as creative criticism. Yeah, creative criticism, I like that. I am a creative critic.

I just can’t help myself, so many things just seem so stupid to me. Where a normal person views an event with relative “meh,” I view the same event as an assault on my intelligence, and I’m not even close to what I would consider intelligent. I do feel I have an abundance of common sense however, which is very different from intelligence. Anybody who reads this blog has to be able to sense that I don’t have a college education, not that I’m ashamed of that, but I’m sure it comes through, especially to some of the very smart people I know that read this blog. Just the way I put together sentences is probably an affront to anyone who had an English class in college, but what the hell, I’m just putting my twisted view of the world out there, and I hope I make some observations you may not have, albeit in a pretty sarcastic tone.

Speaking of which: Frigging Bono. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick to death of Bono, and his quest to fix Africa. He just visited the Pentagon to discuss Africa, and if your gonna talk to someone about Africa at the Pentagon, who better than the lead singer of a rock band.

You know, because as a billionaire world famous celebrity, he’s got the story of what’s really going on. Nobody could ever possibly mislead the mighty friggen Bono about poverty in Africa, because he’s probably got people for that. People who vet all the information given to the mega famous, super wealthy, giant sunglass wearing singer. He just has to be the absolute best possible authority on the subject of poverty in Africa, because you know, he goes there a lot. And he was in Live Aid. And most of all, he cares. He really, really cares.

Let’s not talk about the fact that Live Aid may have taken more lives than it saved,as ruthless dictators used much of the food to feed their militias. That’s not important. What’s important is that Bono and Bob Geldof shed tears, for Africa, and damn it, they did something. They found time in their busy schedules to help people. Might have been the wrong people, but let’s not nitpick. Caring is what matters, and people like Bono and Geldof care more than you.

 

Bono, or Geddy Lee?

We should acknowledge that caring by having Bono be the keynote speaker at every important facility or event, regarding the subject of Africa, because nobody remembers who Bob Geldof is, and let’s face it, he’s probably broke these days, and washed up pop stars opinions are not as informed as someone who’s last album went quadruple platinum, and to my knowledge, Geldof doesn’t own a even single pair of giant sunglasses.

Has Bono helped people? I’m sure he has, and that’s a good thing, but for a mega pop star to be the “go to” guy on the subject of an entire continent, is just stupid, in my humble opinion. Not to mention the fact that many responsible African leaders have called for a stop to some of this global welfare, so that Africans can begin to take a more active role in their own survival.

See? Creative criticism. Not bitching.

Another Celebtrity Is Killing Herself…….Yawn……

Amy Winehouse was filmed smoking crack, and we should all be alarmed….or something. This stuff is really getting tired. If she wants to kill herself, can’t she do it in private, like rock stars used to do?

This is exactly why Rock n Roll is dead. All the mystery is gone. Hell, when I was a teenager, I didn’t even know what the dudes in Pink Floyd looked like, let alone what their politics were, or what they ate for breakfast, or where they hung out. The music did the talking, and it still is. Not knowing a bunch of superfluous details made them more interesting.

Can you imagine Jim Morrison chatting online with every drooling moron who wanted to talk to him on MySpace? How about Jimmy Page blogging the notorious Shark Incident? The stuff those guys did was legendary precisely because we didn’t have video of thier antics. Rock stars in those days had very strict control of their public persona’s, for the exact purpose of retaining mystery. For example, you never saw a picture of Robert Plant doing something mundane, like eating a cheeseburger, it was better if you just assumed he ate the hearts of sacrificed babies. 

 

That kind of secrecy made the music all that much better, and left it open to all sorts of interpretations, and the fact that the music from those days lives on 30 years later is testament to how powerful a little mystery is. In 30 years nobody is gonna give a damn about Amy Winehouse, or her music, or just about any artist today that we know way too much about.

The Cult Of The Child

I decided to put up an old post, from August, because A: I think it’s pretty good, and B: I got nothin’ today. So please enjoy my laziness.

                                                                                                                                                             

More nanny state buffoonery from Colorado, where a school has banned tag. Only two parents complained about the ban. Two. I guess most of the parents want their kids to grow up to be terrified pussies just like them.

Using kids to implement ridiculous bans is very convenient these days, as we all have to sacrifice for “The Children.” In fact, when banning smoking in bars that serve food here in Vegas, one of the big selling points for the anti-smoking lobby, was that people couldn’t bring their precious Children to a bar to eat. To a bar. To eat. Because you know, bars should be Kid-Friendly.

When did this asinine over-protection of kids start? I live near probably 5 or 6 schools, yet I never see kids walking to school, ever. Every precious little prince and princess have to be chauffeured to school now. I rarely even see school buses, I guess because they don’t need em anymore. You have a better chance of seeing a Yangtze River Dolphin, than to see an American kid outside. On the rare occasion you actually spot one, they’re wearing a gigantic BackPack, containing a small version of their room, because God forbid, they leave the house without 20 video games, an iPod, a cell phone, and a couple bottles of water. And maybe a helmet in case they have to step off a curb. When I was a kid, if I wore a helmet to ride my bike, I would’ve gotten my ass kicked.

I can only guess that this is the result of a combination of things:
1) Lawyers- Being a lawyer isn’t like being a doctor, that is, any tool can become a lawyer, and now we have an over abundance of them, guaranteeing a zillion frivolous lawsuits based on a Child being injured, (easy money, juries love Children).

2) Single Mothers- The “Oprah-ization” or celebration of single motherhood, has made it not only acceptable to be a single mother, but desirable. If you’re a single mom, you get a lot of “You’re so brave!” and ” I have so much respect for you, that’s really hard!” You get so many more “props” than if you’re actually married to a man. This is actually kind of an epidemic in this country, boys being raised only by women, and we all know how they over-protect.

3)Media- The media loves to scare the crap out of parents, with endless horrible stories about Children being hurt or worse. I doubt crimes against Children have dramatically risen in the last 50 years, but the media would have us believe there’s a child molester behind every mailbox, just waiting for you to take your eyes off your kid for one second.

4)Parents Who Want To Be “Friends” With Their Children- This is a weird phenomenon that seems to have happened as a result of adults not wanting to grow up. I see it all the time, parents having debates with 5 year-olds, cause they want to be “cool,” and not yell at their little buddy. The most important thing, above all else, is that they’re friends with their kids. Or to prove to their kid that they are just as hip as them. Something that I see all the time now, is a 4 or 5 year-old kid with a Mohawk. The parent using the kid as a prop, to prove how cool they are, because they refuse to grow up and be a parent.

Sorry, got a little off topic with that last one.

George Carlin has a routine about this, in which he says (Whiny voice) “The children, the children,” and then,”F*ck the children!” and goes on to describe swimming in polluted water when he was a kid, and how this over-protection is screwing up natural selection. He did this routine in Vegas, and a bunch of people got up and walked out, I assume because how dare he say something like that about The Children.

Views On 1/20- A Tale Of Two Bushes

Bush’s last year is upon us, and the WPBA are doing a little roundup if you will, of Bush’s Presidency. Here’s my contribution.

When we talk about Bush’s eight years, we have to take into account the fact that he has had to deal with two major events, 9/11 and Katrina, that no other American President has ever had to face. The worst attack on American soil in our history, and the worst natural disaster to ever strike our shores.

That being said, he dealt with one beautifully, while totally botching the other. I was proud of George Bush in the months after 9/11, he emerged as a leader, and he was inspiring. In fact, his first term was near brilliant. I would go as far as to say, he was on track to Reagan like greatness.

It’s his second term that went horribly awry.

It’s like the second term Bush was a different man. One gigantic miss-step after another. It almost seems to me, after getting elected the second time, his blue-blood arrogance finally kicked in. He proceeded to snub his nose at all of us that supported him through the tough times, all of us that took crap on his behalf during his first term, all of us that fought to get him elected again.

He started with Harriett Miers. Under relentless attack by the media and Democrats, Bush chooses to completely anger and frustrate the only people left who support him. That was a tough one to understand, even for the most fervent Bush supporter.

And then….Katrina. Look, I know the mess in New Orleans was 100% the fault of local and state government, but still, 5 days to get help out there is a bit ridiculous, especially considering Bush’s standing with the American people at the time.  

I know logistics in that situation were….complex, but I also know what people are capable of, and help could have gotten there a lot sooner than 5 days. If Shep Smith and Geraldo Rivera could get there, Bush probably could have made something happen. Katrina was a national disgrace, and “Great job Brownie” didn’t cut it.

For the next two years, Bush just continued to anger conservatives, until the final straw, the Amnesty Bill, last summer. The phrase “Jobs Americans won’t do” just kept spilling out of his mouth, over and over. It was so unbelievably offensive.

Bush’s second term has been…….. a head scratcher for me. It seems like after all the relentless attacks on him from the left, from the media, all the BDS, he still somehow wants their approval.

I desperatly wanted Bush to shine in his second term, to show all the nay sayers they were wrong about him, but so far, that hasn’t been the case.

Let’s hope his last year is his best. Although I’m not gonna bet on it.

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Romney Wins Nevada….I Guess

Here in Las Vegas, it’s 10:23 A.M., and Romney has been declared the winner of the Nevada caucus.   

I’m a little confused. I have to be honest, I don’t really understand how cauci work, (is that the plural of caucus?) But many people haven’t even gotten to them yet. Seems just a little pre-mature, but what do I know?  I can’t participate because I’m an Independent. I can understand he’s polling high, but so was Kerry on 04. The local news is still telling us to find out how to get to the caucuses….caucaseses….cauci…whatever, so I’m pretty sure it goes on all day.

I can understand why he’d win, Nevada is chock full of Mormons.

On a related note, we have been absolutely bombarded by Hillary and Obama TV commercials, and the common thread is, they’re both promising healthcare for every American. Dispicable.

Oh, and Change. Lot’s and lot’s of Change.

Update: Courtesy of Enas Yorl who voted in the caucus:

I went this morning at 9:00 and we were done in about 30 minutes or so. It’s not an all day thing. We met at a high school nearby and we had about 26 people there for my precinct, including the guy running the meeting. 8 people volunteered to meet and vote at the county caucus next month – I’m an alternate. Then a few people spoke for their candidates and we marked our selection on a paper ballot. And if we wanted to we could write down what we thought was important for the republican party to focus on – I put down illegal immigration and no amnesty. Then we tallied up the results of the paper ballots: 15 for Romney, 6 for Ron Paul (the guy running the meeting was a Paulbot), 3 for Fred!, 2 for McCain. And that was it. I don’t know who the 8 delegates are pulling for and they are not required to go with the group results. “It’s just a straw poll” we were told. So there ya go.

Thanks Enas, as I said, I didn’t know how it worked, and there it is!

 Hope you don’t mind that I posted your comment!

George Clooney Named “Most Awesome Dude In The World”

I just don’t get what the big deal about George Clooney is.   The U.N. wants him as “Super Sexy Messenger Of Peace.” They keep talking about him intervening in the writers strike as well. There’s even talk of him running for office.

Have I missed something here? Clooney can barely sell movie tickets. Seriously, quick, name the last big George Clooney movie, and Oceans 11,12,or 13 don’t count, they were ensemble pieces. The best I can come up with off the top off my head is “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” which came out in 2000.

  Clooney…….really. It’s him.

Why is everybody on this guys jock? Sure he’s handsome and charismatic, but what makes anybody think he’s some kind of master negotiator or diplomat?

Just curious.