As several weeks of winter approach the Northeastern United States, whatever form they assume (last year's winter blow proved timid, of course), readers may observe a decrease in blog posts here. Those of a far left political bent would both encourage and cheer any proliferation of days lacking my rant about President Obama & friends, so those folks should beg for weeks of snow and ice. In any event, should this be my only entry for December, may I just say. . .
IF YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS OR HANUKKAH in peace, then let the season be everything it means to you. If you embrace atheism, live as an agnostic or favor any number of personal commitments of peace, keep doing what you're doing, but please don't interfere with the religious beliefs or displays of those who worship without harming others.
EXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY: "They May Be Windmills" heralds the December 5 entry for the blog De Void by journalist Billy Cox (see link). We love everything Billy writes about UFOs -- particularly because he's current and his accomplished writing style leaves me in awe -- and I simply wish to thank him for using a word that most of his colleagues routinely shun. The word is smegma, and I must say, as an old Air Force medic, seeing that word on the screen brought a tear to my eye. No, I wasn't crying, I was just reacting as one would to stepping on an automobile-flattened skunk in the road. Oh yeah, smegma is one disturbing word, and if anybody's gonna use it in an article, I'm glad it was Billy. I can't actually report that I've ever heard that word associated with Washington's attitude about UFOs in the past. What's that you say? You don't know what that word means? Look it up. . .before you read Billy's article. I’m seriously thinking a Pulitzer is called for here.
THE BENGHAZI HEARINGS BEGIN at last with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton scheduled to answer questions. Now that more than sufficient time has elapsed so all the main players can get their versions of the truth straight, this should end up as a yawner with no fingers ultimately pointed in an impeachable direction. Shame.
DISC-LOSURE IN THE MODERN WORLD: Major articles have appeared in recent days via The Washington Post and other sources regarding the Obama White House's increase in secrecy, a far cry from the open policy he promised, and about the possibility that our e-mails and other forms of communication may be monitored more stringently than ever, thanks to thumb-screw legislation making its way through the Senate. Keep this in mind when and if Steve Bassett organizes another biggie UFO conference in Washington, D.C. or in parts yet unknown -- and he does have plans. But official disclosure as The Result? Craparoni, I'm getting too old for best intentions and the road to hell on which they travel. But good luck.
SUPER CRIMINALS OF THE UNITED NATIONS: A successful vote to let governments control the Internet surfaced yesterday. Of course, the U.S. will fight the international criminals who voted for this, but make no mistake – our government drools over more and more Internet spying on its own citizens.
THE RIGHT TO WORK IN MICHIGAN: Like Wisconsin, Michigan has become a right-to-work state, presumably allowing people to gain employment without compulsory union association, interference or the payment of union dues. Michigan would appear to be the last place where this could happen, yet there it is. Natch', in his own words, President Obama opposes right-to-work states, hardly surprising when one notes constant union boss White House visits (they should give union higher-ups a room and bed already. . .). It could be argued that Mr. Obama's visit to Michigan just before the vote was accomplished ultimately assisted in the promotion of violence by union muscle. Nobody should dump on the good things unions have accomplished and the reason why unions began, but when one looks at the skeleton of Detroit and other primarily cozy Democrat / union-run cities falling into oblivion, it seems a little self-reevaluation is called for, because this tidy combo, in place after place, has poisoned once vibrant communities to death. Word is that the Dems spent so much to keep Obama for another four years that the campaign money for the future is way down, and this won't help. Apparently, right-to-work states, despite a load of b.s. propaganda circulated in Michigan this week by the unions, do very well in terms of employment, wages and employee satisfaction. Didn’t Wisconsin actually hire more teachers as expenses diminished and unionized obstacles went away?
Also, though major TV networks seem not to have cared, there was a fair amount of union thug – mob -- action in Michigan, leading to violence as well as harsh words. No wonder – once again, Democrats, long propped up by unions, have lost a major source of campaign funding, as a significant amount of union dues end up in Democrat Party bank accounts. Those few agencies which still exist to handle organized crime might use the word, extortion, in cases where union members are forced to hand over their money, having no choice regarding its destination. Folks have endured this sort of thing for so long that, sadly, looks like nobody remembers the days when people negotiated their own employment without being instructed that they MUST join a union first.
BROADCAST BOOMERANG IN AUSTRALIA: It's interesting that the British press -- the same sort of people who assisted in pursuing Princess Diana to a tragic highway death -- are out there (in the "public interest," of course) screaming for the heads of those two Aussie disc jockeys upon whom humor took a terrible twist.
In recent years, I undertook the annoying task of digitalizing hundreds of aging LP records and tapes, many accumulated while serving in the Air Force decades ago. Whether I'll live long enough to actually enjoy them all from start to finish is uncertain, but if not I'm sure they'll make a wonderful addition to some neighborhood garage sale's free box one day.
Among the recordings were some LP albums on the Dot Records label featuring the late comedian, book and song writer, Steve Allen. As the first host of the original "Tonight" show, Allen was known throughout his career for his humor and comedy stunts performed on various TV shows. Though many of his fans knew he wrote some great music as well, few probably realized that Allen wrote somewhere around 2,000 songs, only a few of which ended up on his own records.
But music aside, Allen and Dot Records produced two very different albums during the early sixties. At that time, Steve Allen was riding high as the host of his own nationally syndicated late-night TV show out of Los Angeles, and while popular musical LPs with Allen, frequently accompanied by the Donn Trenner Orchestra, flowed like water all over the country, there were diversions. The diversions were entitled Funny Fone Calls and then More Funny Fone Calls. Utilizing the talents of celebrity guests such as Jerry Lewis, Mel Brooks and Shelly Berman, Allen and guests made prank phone calls to Just Plain Folks all over the country, all pretending to be somebody else calling about common issues, injecting humor and sarcasm, and these calls were a staple of his program. The audience roared.
I guess, at least in the increasingly over-regulated U.S., making prank calls isn't what it used to be, because the FCC at some point mandated that the person called must be informed in advance what is going on. Too bad, some of that humor was quite inventive. But now people may be offended by such calls. And now Australian disc jockeys. . .
My first thought was, what's up with the Royal Family's security in Great Britain? By now, wouldn't we expect that palace security personnel would be intercepting all phone calls intended for Duchess Kate at the hospital? Seems pretty basic to me.
But the nurse unknowingly accepting the prank call is dead, a suicide they say. Maybe the Indian culture from which she emerged had something to do with it. More likely, she had other issues or demons just waiting for some precipitant. Some reports indicate that she was constantly taunted and ridiculed by other hospital staff members, even before the call. And probably hounded mercilessly after. The two disc jockeys? I absolve them of any blame whatsoever. They did what they were paid to do -- what they were expected to do -- and they pulled it off. A phone prank. Just like Steve Allen and his comedic posse. Nobody died after Steve Allen called. Hell, he even sold record albums because people wanted to hear the funny calls. The prank calls. Funny phone calls.
So anyway, England is in shock over shock jocks, while Australia searches for some sort of punishment to rupture the very fabric of the universe, when in reality there's nothing to be done at all. The DJs, deeply disturbed over the death, were fired by the same management which had approved the call -- this coming after Australian government fascists-in-waiting called for new laws against prank calls.
If she wasn't a nurse and instead was, say, a bouncer at a bar, nobody under the Queen's flag would give a rip. But the lady was a nurse attending to matters Royal, and when you think of a nurse you think of a kind soul dedicated to serve humanity's medical needs. Well, that's nice. . .
But let's not have a short memory. Numerous are accounts of nurses discovered to have murdered a slew of bedridden patients with drugs after several years of honored employment at hospitals. For all the honest, hard-working, caring nurses in the world, there's a small percentage of the opposite, masquerading as something better. For all the nurses who let favorable emotions guide their work, there are others whose emotions drive them nuts, preparing them poorly for patient care.
The inner workings of hospitals can exemplify the art of bullying to extremes. I know. But that's a personal story that won't be told in this blog.
I've known great nurses, good nurses, fair nurses, poor nurses -- and even a nurse with homicidal tendencies whose dangerous outbursts got her booted from an Air Force hospital so fast that nobody had a chance to say goodbye or ask where she was going (this petite young woman tried to attack a corpsman friend of mine with a knife one evening, a surprise to all).
Should governments clamp down on global freedoms based upon the influence of a mentally ill nurse who – according to the usual over-the-top media fantasies – took her life merely because of 5-6 seconds on the phone?
As usual, government officials will over-react regarding the Australian prank, and the global thumbscrews will be turned a little more and a little more, all because of an emotionally charged situation pounced upon by nanny politicians attired in fascist clothing. Any port in a storm, and any reason to control our lives.
DICTATOR LOVE: Obama says nothing to condemn the new Egyptian dictator Morsi and, in fact, is intent upon sending more money and a few F-16s to our wonderful friends in Egypt. About the only thing that could stop the Muslim Brotherhood now is a killer mummy uprising. Probably unlikely. The Egyptian people are on their own, Obama won't help. White House crickets were the only sounds stirring when Iran's people took to the streets, and Egypt's wretched population will hear the same, as the new dictatorship takes its wrongful place.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Get ready for more talk of world taxes and Things We Must Do. Obama will continue to pedal this stuff hook, line and sinker, as long as the United Nations feeds it to him -- and wow, are those UN thugs ever ready to grab more of your money to fund their dreams. Meantime, I'm sticking with all the scientists who deny man-made global warming because they still comprise many thousands. Climate change is ongoing and natural, with or without our help. Sorry Al Gore, not a consensus.
PSY: Why the surprise? There's no way this South Korean entertainer wasn't going to perform for Obama and Co. I have a feeling that if I went out and sang songs about killing Americans and military folk, as did he a few years ago, I might be invited to the White House, too. Apologies are so-o-o-o-o easily accepted by this bunch. Unapologetically.
THE DOCTOR RESCUED IN AFGHANISTAN: It's tragic enough that so many Americans have perished in the Middle East, and particularly so because a Navy SEAL member lost his life after the rescue of a physician working for a "charity." Doc, your dedication toward the good people of Afghanistan is all well and good, but not at the cost of jeopardizing an American military crew in a country destined to fall into radical hands and hate us all over again as soon as we leave. Haven't you heard? Charity begins at home.
THE PLOT TO KIDNAP JUSTIN BIEBER: We wouldn’t bother with this if it weren’t so disturbing, but, like a multiple car accident on the highway, we can’t drive by without having a look. According to tabloid TV shows, the intent among some guys (pictured on the Internet) who will never qualify as male models on the fashion runway was to (1) kidnap, (2) strangle and (3) castrate the young singer. My immediate thoughts dictated that it seems just about any boy band would wish to do the same to the popular Bieber, but then I became more analytical about the plot. Now, I’ve heard Bieber’s music, just as I’ve encountered the creations of Jonas Brothers (God help you if you say “the” Jonas Brothers) and the like, and I have to say – it all sucks, and five years from now all their CDs will be collecting dust in the bargain bins of moldy, ceiling-leaking discount stores housed one floor below the public restrooms of dilapidated cities.
Murdering Justin Bieber seems a tad over the top, but apparently the quality of his so-called performances had nothing to do with it. Indeed, there was some fan worship thing going on here, and one of the alleged kidnappers even had a tattoo reading Bieber placed upon his skin.
Oh dear, this is all so confusing. Anyway, one of these men even, reportedly, had a working pair of shears or loppers ready to go – and now I’m thinking, oh wow, isn’t this getting into cattle mutilation territory? No, wait. . .that would involve lasers or scalpels or something, whilst these are gardening instruments intended for harvest in the Bieber cornfield.
But, this is really crazy. The lopping would occur after the murder? For what purpose? Souvenirs? I don’t get it. However, the trouble with potential kidnappers is always the same, no culture and no appreciation for art or history. Look fools, I would say directly to them as they languish in prison, getting letters of thanks by the ton from teenage girls’ boyfriends all over the planet, don’t you guys know anything about boys’ choirs of ages past? It was once routine to castrate young boys in order to maintain their soprano-range voices, an asset which deteriorated rapidly when puberty came-a-knocking. Now, I don’t know about the brutal strangling plan, but I’m pretty sure that, properly anatomically equipped or not, Bieber’s voice, music and act will remain the same for years to come – and I have to say, if forced to listen to that stuff for hours on end, I’d take the damned loppers to myself. And I’m not getting a Bieber tattoo, either.
