Technorati Tantrums-Or, Why I (Sometimes) Hate American Big Business

Two sites I have almost decided I can definitely do without are Site Meter and Technorati. Why? The simple, short answer is, they have no respect or appeciation for the value of their customers time. True, they are both “free sites”, so in a sense you could make the argument I don’t really have a complaint coming. Or, I could stop being the fucking cheap ass that I am and pay for the upgraded versions of both sites. But this isn’t so much about the sites themselves as much as it is what I consdier to be the reaon for their shoddy, poor service, especially Technorati. And, while I’m at it, I might as well add yet a third offender to my list of oppressive sites-Yahoo Mail.

I have spent an hour today, at least going back and forth between these three sites and have accomplished next to nothing. I’ll take that back. Somehow, though it took superhuman reserves of patience, I managed to keep from tearing my hair out. It was an effort though.

So what is the problem with these sites? And why is Tehnorati generally the worse of the three? The problem, in my opinion, can be answered with just one word-advertisements.

The next time you are on one of these sites, or any other “free” site, for that matter, notice how long it takes a fucking page to load. Notice what happens if you, out of frustration, click on a link before that page completes loading. Notice what happens when you angrily click on that link three or four times in sucession.

In the first case, the more complicated the ad, if it ever eventually appears, the longer it takes the page to load. If you end up with an ad that is flashing or rotating or doing any number of crazy things meant to reach out and grab yourattention, you are in for a real problem. You see, if you fail to wait to see the ad in it’s entirety, you quixkly find, in a lot of cases, you are a captive audience. And you have no choice but to wait, or back out of the page, with the hopes, as often or not the vain hope, that you can start all over and the bug will straighten itself out. Alas, this is all too often not the case.

All too often, you will get a page that will urge you to try again, the page is not loading, the site might be too busy, the page was reset, etc. The best thing to do is not to click on the little tab at the bottom of this box, more often than not, on most of thesesites, you wil just get a repetition of the first time. The best thing to do is back out of the page, then try again. And this, unfortuately, is where Technorati becomes the worse of a bad, sorry bunch. It’s almost impossible to back out of these motherfuckers. It’s like they have purposely set up their site so as not to allow you to do that. You may well end up having to just x out, then start al over again. Good luck. If you haven’t given up in disgust by now, you are either a real trooper, or a real gluttonfor punishment.

But this is only the beginning of Techoratis lack of professionalism. I sent an angry e-mail off to them once, about a coupl of weeks ago, compainng about their slowness, and in particular pointing out to that they could afford to cut down on their steps they make you gp through to arrive at any given page. I also pointed out that I, for one, tended to not look kindly on businesses that set up their advertisements insuch a way as to make me waste my time, which is valuable to me, and that maybe they might want to point that out to their advertisers. I mean, it should be a simple matter to tool these ads in such a way that it doesn’t take you forever to get from page to page, right?

Well, since then,the people of Technorati have demonstrated exactly what dicks they are, and can be. I have made two updates since that time, and have been credited for neither one. The last update for The Pagan Temple, was, in fact, almost a month ago, according to them, the last time I WAS ABLE TO CHECK. Yet, my true last update was not quite two weeks ago. They are refusing to reflect the accurracy of my updates on their pages. That is called being childish dicks. Because I contacted them to lodge acomplaint, I am being punsihed. I am being given the cold shoulder.

Site Meter is not really much better, in the speed department. I used to have to wait tow or three minutes for this one fucking ad to load before I could proceed, wit any assurrance of moderate speed. When it finally loaded, it was more often than not an ignorant amateur quality film of some fat ass bitch with a dog on a leash, who suddenly lurches forward and pulls hr flying into the air. The only thing funny about this, to me, was that it was supposed to be funny, so much so that you should want to pay to download this and other such crap from whatever company this was. What wasn’t a bit funny was the time I had to spend waitingfor this tripe before I could proceed.

Thankfully, that ad has been removed, doubtless through lack of interest. But that has not solved the problem with site-meter. Now, the worse offender on this site is from Monster.com. It also has sites from Napster and Coke, but thankfully they aren’t as bad as Monster.

In general, I have a philosopy. If a company pisses you off, don’t patronize them. And I for one encourage everyone who has experienced these difficulties to adhere to that philosophy. It says a lot about American business that they think so little of their prospective customers time. For so long, American business had the entire American population all to themselves, and in the heyday of America business competition, this encouraged a rush to come up with the best possible product. Over time, however, American business grew ever greedier, and worse, ever lazier. American consumers began to pay more and more for less and less. “The customer is always right” philosophy became gradually replaced by,” if you don’t like it fuck you”.

So the American consumer began buying Toyota, and General Motors and Ford blamed the unions for their problems. And they still haven’t learned. They still are working under the asumption that the American public is a captive audience, and if they can force us to sit throug their fucking commercials, whether we like it or not, whether this is on television, or now the internet, somehow their messages will resonate into our subconscous despite ourselves. They actually think, what is worse, that we can be brainwashed into accepting inferior quality, while they pay their workers less, and at the same time their CEOs and other corporate bigwigs draw ever bigger salaries, and wreck the environment in the process. What’s the big surprise about that? They pollute the airwaves, and bandwidth, the same way they posion the earth, air, and water.

At times, I think they don’t merely advertise on sites like Technorati, I think they own them

Jolie Will Dump Pitt, Marry Bono

Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt have recently reftuned to their California mansion courtesy of the private jet of Tom Cruise, at a cost of 250,000 dollars. In the meantime, Cruise is reportedly engaging in an attempt to proselityze the coupleto the rlgion of Scientology. No word as of yet as to the degree of interest expressed by either Jolie or by Pitt, who is soon to begin filming yet a second sequel of the poular movie series Oceans Eleven.

So, in true pagan witch fashion, I’m going to do something a little different from the ordinary, for me, I’m going to make a prediction as to the future of these celebrities the world can’t seem to ever get enough of.

Jolie, I feel, will express some initial interest in Cruises attempts at conversion, but wil quickly coo to the idea. Pitt, however will maintain a degree of interest, to the point that he may well end up finding himself swept up in the movement, if a little bit at a time.

If true, this may not bode too well for his relationship with Angelina, who aside from an occassional mvie and her African charity work wants no more than to be a mother. In fact, she has expressed an interest in one day having yet more children.

Not that the two will just drift apart from lack of interest. Far from it. Pitt will find himself ever more drawn to keep their two worlds as much as one as possible, but alas, it just isn’t meant to be. He may find himself becoming more and more possessed by the ghost of Tom Cruse, to the dismay of our heroin, who will seek silent refuge in other friendships, and in her work for United Nations African charities.

And it is through this that she will meet her future true love of the year-the Irish rock star Bono. Really, who could possibly make the more perfect couple? I say their wedding is a virtual assurrance, if for no other reason than being a calculated publicity marriage which would garner an amount of attention second only to that of Prince Charles and Diana. Cruse will be at the wedding that he inadverdently helped bring about. Pitt, who will have by now settled into an reserved acceptance of thesituation, will not be in attendance. He will probably, however, take the opportunity at this time to promote his latest movie, havig by now made a number of mostly forgettabel ones of mostly moderate box office success. This one wil turn out like his present and soon to be ended marriage. A lot of promise, a lot of hype-but in the end, a flop.

Not that he won’t try to salvage the relationship, but perhaps not in the best of ways. Word will get to him of the ever growing bonds between Bono and Jolie, and he will come to realize that a then current U2 hit had been written by Bono as a romantic ode to Jolie. He will eventually confront the two in a bistro, and an altercation will ensue, resulting in Bono having a teeth-or a cap-knocked loose, before they are seperated by their security personnel. This will happen indoors, at a posh club, free from the pryings of the papparazi, which will initiate a lawsuit against owners of clubs that ban cameras and recording equipment inside their environs, one that will be summarilly and huffily dismissed.

Cruse will try to patch things up between the two, to no avail. Within a period of a few short moths of this event, the by now legally seperated couple will finalize their divorce. Two months or thereabouts later, Bono and Jolie will be married.

The two of them can then travel the world together, meeting with heads of state and advocating on behalf of various African initiatives of pressing urgency. They will adopt many African children, and will have some of their own, and will even establish their own village there, a self sustaining enterprise devoted to feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of Africa, and becoming a center for medical treatment and research. They will receive myriad humanitarian awards, including a Nobel Prize.

Pitt and Cruses friendship will soon falter, and they too will go their seprate ways, following a shared movie flop disaster. Cruse will then devote his time to his by now legally insane wife, in the aftermath of at least two half-hearted suicide attempts, while Pitt will hit the Broadway, and then the Dinner Theatre, circuits.

In the meantime, Jennifer Anniston and her then current husband, will maintain their status as Hollywoods most boring couple.

The Private Life Of Laura Bush

There are times when the silliness of Washington descends to the level of a Hollywood gossip magazine. Still, I have to admit, it’s fun, if pointless, to join in on the speculation as to the priate life of public figures. Lately, certain people have made much ado about the nothing, that could be something, pertaining to Laura Bush’s recent excusions to a Washington area hotel, the Mayfield, where she spent at least one night.

Curious though this is, I find even more amusing the conclusions some have jumped to pertaining to George W. Bush and Condoleeza Rice. Actually, they are late to the bandwagon on which I have been neary the lone rider for months. I’ve always wondered at the degree of closeness between Rice and Bush, though this can be traced back really to the elder President Bush, who established a murual friendship and loyalty for Rice that goes back to possibly H. W.’s days as Vice-President., or maybe before, and seems to have originally been based on her credentials as a Soviet expert and scholar.

Still, Boy George is indeed fond of Ms. Rice, and may in fact be as much of a rock to the Presidents emotional stability as is his wife. So yes, there could be something here. Or, there might not be. Whichever, it’s a little much to reach this conclusion based solely on the appearrance fo Laura Bush at a hotel, which could have come about for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are innocent. Some not so innocent. Some, if they turned out to be he case, would be disturbing, could even be sisister. I now present to you my list fo possibilities for Laura Bushs brief stay at the Mayfield Hotel.

1. This put her in convenient proximity either to an early morning function or event that she was due to attend, or to transportation to same.
2. A great many of her personal quarters were in the process of being renovated.
3. Some important official though closed function was on-going at the White House, one of a serious nature, and for whatever reason she did not want to be around.
4. There have been recent figures at the White House she is having a problem with, may be uncomfortable around, or even greatly dislike.
5. Her and Bush could indeed have been fighting over any numbers of issues, singly or in combination.
1. His womanizing, his aduterous sexual daliances, with Rice or others
2. His dry drunk temperament, which can be arrogant, and possibly even physically, emotionally, and/or verbally abusive.
3. He may have actualy resumed drinking, which under the circumstances would not be a shock.
6. This is potentially the most serious. She could discover that Bush is ideed culpable in any number of questionable, illicit, or immoral activities. She may be distraught at this, angry at it, or just desirous to distance herself from any involvement in it.
7. Finally, here is the one explanation which, though seemingly the most unlikely, is possibly the one I most like to imagine, and I can’t understand why no one else has thought of it. And I do not intend to beat around the bush (honestly, no pun intended) about it. This reason:

LAURA BUSH WAS GETTING FUCKED.

I mean, come on, look at her. Forget she’s Bush’s wife. If you were a straight man-wouldn’t you? Who the hell wouldn’t, honestly? Do you honestly think the thought never occurred to Teddy Kennedy, when they were working together on Bush’s second rate at best education proposal, early on in his administration? Or Clinton?

I’m telling you, this is one hot fucking woman, in my opinion, and I would be willing to put money on the notion that her and Bush’s sex life has been all but non-existent over the last few years of his Presidency.

Okay, I admit, it’s not likely, but it damn sure isnt impossible. It’s likely, however, not to be a political opponent of the Presidents, though,come to think of it, what better way to stick it to Bush than by sticking it inhis wife. More than likely, though, if she has been engaging in such shenanigans, it is with nobody of any importance, probably no public figures, no friends of the Presidents.

Come to think of it, though, what better way to gain support for a Presidential initiative, or whatever Bush might needs support for, than by fixing up a potential, sought after ally with-but no, nevermind.

It’s probably a foolish idea. Laura Bush would, no matter where she was at, have no chance to engage in sexual dalliances, with anybody, no matter how high up and well placed, or how ordinary and commonplace.

After all, she is constantly surrounded everywhere she goes.

By Secret Service Agents.

Jersey Girls And Adams Apples

Ann Coulter has to a great many finally stepped well over the line of good taste, but she don’t mind, it seems. In fact, it could well be argued that she prefers that position. In her recent book, Godless, she has placed the widows of 9/11 on the same par as Cindy Shehan, yet another set of poster children that can speak for the liberal philosophy in such a way that the average conservative can not dare to question their integrity or motivations. Of course, making such an insinuation to Ann Coulter is like throwing red meat to the wolves, and Ann Coulter is ravinish in her displays of contempt for all matters liberal, and for those liberals who promote them-nomatter who they are.

On a recent appearrance on the Today Show, however, she seemed genuinely stunned, and even thrown off balance, by the questions of Matt Lauer. She never quite recovered from his acussations of insensitivity to the 9/11 widows, though she insisted that their loss, their grief, did not give them a free pass to, for example, support John Kerry in the last Presidential race, and not be questioned for it.

But what she never explained to my satisfaction is exacty why they should not have a right to support any position they choose, without having their integrity questioned. She made some vaque remark about being used by either the Demcoratic Party, or the Far Left, or both, as though they were purposely sought out, recruited for this, much like Cindy Shehan seems to have been recruited by Micharel Moore and MoveOn.org, after having initially met with Presidnt Bush and expressed a belief that he was sincere in his grief for the loss of her son Cassey.

In Shehans example, one could conceivaby make such a case. In the case of the 9/11 widows, however, she offers no evidence of any kind of collussion, of any kind of opportunism, other than the evidence of what she considers the apparent symptoms, that being their support for Democrats and their oppossition to the policies for the Bush Administration.

Well, the only problem with that idea is, a lot of times what might appear to be the symptom of one ailment might well turn out to prove to be something entirely different. And, sometimes, a symptom that might obviously point to one malady might in fact turn out to be just what it is.

An example of the first deceptive type of symptom might be what has been construed to be an adams apple that adorns theneck of Ms. Coulter, which some wags have suggested is an indication that Ann Coulter in reality is, or at one time was, “Mann Coulter”. A cleverly ingenious satire of this theory is to be read in this article. Of course, the adams apple is either not truly an adams apple, or if it is, it is an obvious anomaly, perhaps some kind of birth defect, which is a misleading symptom, one pointing toward a different explanation than tothis one that is often profferred in satire, more often than not malicoulsy so.

An example of the second type of symptom might be applicable to these particular widows of the 9/11 disasters. Until proven otherwise, it should just be surmised that their liberal sympathies might be an indication of-surprise, surprise-they are democrats, with a liberal predisposition. Nothing more, nothing less. In some cases it may or may not be at least a partial result of the 9/11 disaster that they sufferred through so traumatically. That is certainly understandable, if so.

And, it is fine to disagree with their position. It is quite another thing to question their motivations, or their integrity.

The Love And Reality Of Nicholas Berg

I was all prepared to disparage a letter recently written by the father of the late Nicholas Berg, the unfortunate young American who two years back had been brutally executed by the terrorist thug Zarqawi, based on having read two or three lines of excerpts from the letter, in which he seemed to express disdain for President Bush, blaming him for his sons death, while seeming to not only forgive his sons killers, but to offer some seeming degree of sympathy towards them.

Then, I got around to reading the letter. The entire letter. And let me say, this is a perfect example of how merely reading two or three carefully chosen lines can serve to cause you to see these lines completely, or at least somewhat, out of context.

This is a man that is obviously, to this day, heart sick over the loss of the son he so loved and admired, and this comes through in the letter, at least it did to me. And he is obviously to a degree correct in assigning a great lot of the blame for his sons death to Bush and his Neo-Con crowd, to the extent that it has become obvious quite some time ago the war was an unnecessary diversion from, not an integral part of, the war on terror, and more importantly, was entered into ill-advisedly, without the proper planning, troop levels, and supplies, amd may have been enterered into on the strength of false allegations, if not outright deceptions on the part of various members of the Bush Administration.

Still, that does not explain exactly what his son was doing there to begin with. Nicholas Berg was not in Iraq in any sort of offical capacity. He was not even there as a part of a recognized contactural enterprise such as Halliburton. He was, in effect, a free agent, on his own, travelling about the country with no degree of protection or any kind of assistance. He believed too strongly, it seems, in the innate goodness of all mankind, that he could be a force for peace and understanding, in at least a small way. It seems to have never occurred to him how it might look to a typical Arab Muslim, for an American Jew to be travelling their country in an attempt to make money in the aftermath of the American overthrow of their government.

Nicholas Berg had some admirable, if in this case misplaced qualities, and doubtless he derivedsome of these attributes from his family upbringing. Perhaps it is understandable that the senior Mister Berg can’t bear to look at his own contribution to his own sons demise, in what seems to have amounted to a suicde mission for peace, only conducted by a person unwilling, and perhaps as unprepared and ill-equipped to face the realities of the situation as were the American forces in those initial first months.

Yes, all parties bear some share of the burden for the death of Nick Berg, but none more so than Nick Berg himself. I hope his father, for his own sake, can come to grips with this reality, and find some solace in his sons life and beliefs, his dreams, out of place though they were in this one instance, fatally so.

He also did not totally forgive Zarqawi and his band of merry murderers. He called them what they were, thugs and killers. Yet, in the aftermath of the death fo Zarqawi, I find it interesting,the comparison he made to Bush and to these heinous men. Bush,he said, never looked into his sons eyes. His sons killers did, and he felt certain that, in those brief last few minutes, after having spent so much time with him, they knew they had a good man in their midst, and, in those last few seconds, a part of them regretted, did not enjoy, taking his life.

But actually, they did take his life, bottom line. Furthermore, having viewed the film of his execution, for the first time it was shown up to the exact second Zarqawi began hacking into Bergs neck with that thick, dull blade. They pounced on him, pinning him to the ground, in a manner of seconds. It was like releasing hungry lions in the vicinity of a helpless moose, one they had been restrained from for several weeks, while salivating over it.

Killers who respect their prey, to even a small degree, tend to be somewhat merciful. There was nothing merciful about Zarqawis sadistic execution of Nicholas Berg. Maybe one day the elder Berg will be able to come to grips with the reality of his sons true fate. But I can’t really fault him much for not being able to deal with it right now, or for that matter, if he ever does.

The Death Of Al Zarqawi

Americans have good reason to applaud the death of Abu Mussaub Al Zaquari, and many of them have. This is true even among many of the Far Left, though with reservations, in many cases. The death of this vile human cancer, unfortunatly, may be somewhat like the removal of a tumor that has already metastisized, and spread. The major harm that he may have been doing, however, was not merely to any potential middle east peace hopes, which are already slim at best, but to the reputation of Al-Queda as a force for the protection of Islam in the hearts and minds of a good many Arab Muslims, at least among the more traditionalist minded Sunni populations.

His targeting of not only Shi’ite but Sunni civilians, particularly in Jordan, but in Iraq as well, and the massive causalties among all Arabs that he was to a large degree creditied for, had earlier brought about a reprimand from number two Al-Queda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who cautioned him that he might be turning Muslims against the cause in ever increasign numbers.

Yet, not too long before his ultimate demise, Al-Zawahiri issued a videotape, in which he briefly mentioned Zarqawi as a valued friend and ally of the cause. This almost can be construed as a cover to hide any involvement in the procss by which the Jordanian terrorist mastermind was betrayed to the American forces by a close associate, who informed him of Zarqawis whereabouts.

Hopefully, the 25 million dollar bounty that this informant would have been entitled to will not by him be turned over to some degree to the Al-Queda organization. Even two or three million dollars, to say nothing of ten or twenty million, would greatly serve to bolster and enhance any one ongoing terrorist cell operation, whether that might be in Iraq, Europe, or here in the US.

It would certainly go a long way toward possibly enabling the cancer that is a metastises of fundamentalist Islam to seek to engage in it’s own brand of radiation and/or chemical therapy.

Despite this, no one should question that it is a good thing that this vile excuse for a human beig has been destroyed, and there can be no question that he has been. Yet, some have questioned it, wondering aloud how it is that the DNA tests that confirmed his identity were done at a far more rapid rate than would normally be the case, a matter of a couple of days as oppossed to the two week orlonger process that isusualy required. I can only assume that samples of his DNA have all ready been tested and compared, which made the process much easier than normal.

Nor do I take too seriously reports that Zarquawi, initialy alive, was brutaly beaten upon his recovery by the American forces. In fact, I absolutely don’t believe it in the least. The troops who recovered Zarqawi were relativly fresh, the operation amounting to the mere dropping of two five hundred pound bombs on his hideout. There was no huge, high pitched, hard scale battle to force up the adrenaline of American soldiers to dangerous levels, so there would be no reason to suppose that their professionism was compromised, as it may have been in a handful of unusual cases.

The worse thing about all this is, it may be too little too late. Someone will rise to take Zarqawi’s place as leader of Al-Queda in Iraq, though hopefully this will be someone without the former leaders operational and planning skills, charisma, and brutality. At any rate, the violence is likely to continue, and may temprorarily even worsen as his followers seek to exact revenge as a statement of their unwillingness to surrender. They will continue, and will make that obvious.

Still, operations already in the works have been compromised by the discovery of computers, hard drives intact, which seem to have vital information stored. Also, Zarqawis main focus, the driving of further wedges between Shias and Sunnis, in the hopes of instigating all out civil war between them in Iraq, may as well have been serously thwarted, at least in the long run.

But for the time being, there is going to be little apparent difference.

The Politics Of Murtha

In one very surprising move, Pennsylvania House of Representatives member John Murtha has announced he intends to run for the postion of Democratic House Leader, which would make him House Majority Leader shoud the Dems take over the House after this falls election.

It couldn’t be bad for the Democrats if he were to win, in fact it might signal a return to control by the faction that made the Democratic Party great, back when they actually legitimately represented the dreams and hopes of average working class Americans, a class which now has little to no legtimate representation by either of the major parties. But, the fact that current Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, a longtime friend and sometime ally of Murtha, has offerred no known objection to his intentions to run, demonstrates that, if true, she is not too worried over the prospect.

I tend to wonder if Murtha might not be eyeing an even bigger prize-a potential second spot on the Democratic 1908 Presidential ticket, possibly behind Hillary Clinton.

It would certainly explain his recent out of character behavior. The usually hawkish Congressman, known to be heavily pro-military, has come out forcefully against the slaughter at Haditha, well before all the facts were actually known. Of course, if the facts as presented are correct, it is not only the politically correct thing to do-it is the right thing to do. Yet, Murtha seems to have arrived at his conclusions before all these facts were legitimately validated, and the fact that he has done so publicly is even more stunning than his earlier pronoucemnts against the war he had early on so strongly initially supported.

Of course, Murtha, as he pointed out, has the trust of the top military brass, in addition to the rank and file military personnel, so he is in a position to know the facts, more so than most, certainly more than most if not all Democrats. And this I can assure you would be the major point to be made for his inclusion in any Dmeocratic Presidential ticket.

He has gravitas as a Demcorat noted as a friend of the military, one strong on national security,the military, and defense related issues. And, thanks to his positons over the last year, particularly now, he could conceivably be someone the left wing of the party can not only accept, but maybe even heartily endorse.

Patrick Buchanan On Immigration And Bilbray versus Bisbey

One of the strangest about faces I have ever known of occurred last week on the PBS news show, The McLaughlin Group, a featured regular of which is conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan. As someone who has hrough the years been ver vocieferous as to the dangers of ilegal immigration, yo would think that he would be among the first to tout the recent defeat of Democrat Diane Bisbey in the San Diego area special election for U.S. House of Representatives by the Republican Bilbray.

This had all the earmarks of a classic political upset, and comeback. Initially, Bilbray was far behind Bisbey in the polls. However, when Bisbey made a number of ill-advised statements concerning the legal rights of illegal immigrants being on the same level as that of not only legalized immigrants and naturalized citizens, but of American citizens in general, Bilbray pounced on this, particularly playing up apparrent Bisbeys suggestion that undocumented immigrants should even have the same voting rights.

Though Bilbray was accussed by the left of playing the race card, a case could be made that he was merely playing the hand he had been rather clumsily dealt by Bisbey. There was even a falling out with Arizona Senator John McCain, and a scheduled appearrance for Bilbray was canceled at the last minute.

Bilbray was in effect voicing support for the US House of Representatives version of the immigration bill, which is much more stridently pro border security than the Senate version favored by McCain, and President Bush, which is more oriented toward a long term goal of working out a goal of eventual citizenship for illegal aliens, while containing more modest support for border security enforcement in comparison with the House version. The Senate wants to take an incremental approach, and a simultanoeus one, to both, while the House is more adamant that border security should be implemtented first, and as quickly as is possible.

The result, of course, is that the election was turned on it’s head. Bilbray won, by a margin of about ten per cent, in the first election in at least recent memory that such a margin has been termed, by media pundits and Pro-immigration advocates, as modest.

Despite this, when this reality was pointed out, Buchanan, during last weeks segment of McLaughlin, chuckled at the suggestion, and then went on to suggest that the big untold story of the election was the taxation factor.

It was incredible for me to witness this, and makes me wonder about Buchanans motivations. After all, why would the taxation issue on it’s own make a heavily favored Bisbey lose an election by as great a margin that she was in some cases favored by? Why would this not have manifested in the earlier polls, i which she was heavily favored? Why would Bilbrays supporters suddenly remember the tax issue, seemingly at the last minute, while ignoring the hot button issue of illegal immigration that was in reality the focal point of the election?

Has Buchanan sold out on this issue? If so, it is an amazing turn of events. He has campaigned, as a Prsidential third party candidate, and to a large degree this was one of his major issues od concern, as far back as the year 2000, when he ran as the candidate for the Reform Party. Also, he, like Michele Malkin, has made apppearrances, lectured, and even wrote books expressing his concern about the matter. That is why for him, of all people, to deny the implications of this California special election, is so incredible.

The only question that remains is, if he has sold out, then for what-and to whom?

Bears, In And Out Of The Woods

There have been a lot of bear sightings in Eastern and Souteaster Kentucky lately, and visitors and residents have been appropriately warned against feeding them. More ominously, they have been advised to not leave food out in the yards, either in garbage cans, or even dog food, fo rvery long at a time. A lot of these bear sightings have, in fact, been not in the woods, but in peoples yards.

Amazingly, one area resident in the course of a local television news report expressed the pinion that the return of bears to Southeastern Kentucky was good for the area.

Oh, really? Good for who, I wonder? Good for hikers and campers to the area? Hard to see how. In fact, the more the bear population profligates, the less of them I see coming to the area, and what ones do, the less time I envision them spending. So, it can’t be that good for the local communities, which to a large extent are dependant on tourism, while not as of yet having the facilities that might be afforded in more popular areas such as the Smoky Mountains. Thus, there is not the degree of monitoring of either the tourist population, or that of the bears.

Or perhaps he was referring to the hunters who might be attracted to the propect of a weekend bear hunt, while availing themselves of the comfort of a forrest hunting lodge. Well, Kentucky is not quite as advanced as Romania, in that regard, and bear hunting so is illegal. In fact, it is illegal to kill bears, for any reason, including, evidently, in self-defense.

A year or so ago, a Kentucky native was awakened by the sound of what turned out to be a large bear trying to tear his way into his front door, presumably in an effort to get to his dog. The homeowner killed the bear, shot him several times, and was almost immediately charged with a violation. Suppossedly he should have ran out the bak door and got away, and returned after the bear had satisfied his primeval urges. The bear, you see, at least i Kentucky, is a protected species. This story faded from the news after some time, and I don’t know how it ever turned out, whether it was settled, the charges were dropped, or whether he was quietly fined or jailed or both. All I know for a fact is, the local news stopped covering the story.

At any rate, any propsective hunter of bears would be advised to start out from Bucharest, as oppossed to Buckhorn.

The only other advantage I see to the burgoning bear population is the potential environmental impact. They do indeed provide a necessary balance of nature, and help to thin out the herds of deer, and now elk, that mght otherwise defoliate the forrest areas. Hunters, of course, have helped nicely in this regard, it’s hard to see how bears are that much of a necessity.

Still, I will concede that they do make a vital addition to any forrest eco-system, under ordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, these days, the Kentucky forrests are becoming more and nore denuded by the encroaching of civilization, and by the stated need of mountain communities to expand beyond their traditional environs. Thus, in addition to many moutains being levelled,there are less and less forrests being restored, and less and less original land contours being maintained. This means, of course, that there is ever less land to provide for ever more bears. So, if you live in Eastern or Southeastern Kentucky, you can soon expect to see them in a backyard near you.

Of course, I guess you could make the minimal argument that the less people there are that go traipsing about in the woods, the less likely there are to be forrest fires due to carelessnenss, or outright arson. The only problem with that is, the kindof people that are either low down or stupid enough to engage in this kind of reckless behavior are precisely the kind that would love to set out food for the bears, no matter how often they are advised as to the dangers of such activity.

No, an increase of the bear population is not a good thing for Southeatern Kenucky. A moderate number in keeping with availiability of habitat is a good thing, no doubt. But too much fo a good thing quickly turns from being beautiful and interesting, into dangerous and wreckless.

The Great Fire Of Livingston Kentucky

When a raging, out of control fire destroys a business, home, or organization, as recently happenned in Livington Kentucky, there is not much that can be done but to salvage what mght remain, with an eye to rebuilding and eventually starting all over again. If that person, business, or organization has insurance, good isurance, and that insurance pays off in a timely and honorable manner, then the recovery can be a relatively swift, if not all togther painless, process.

If the home, business, or organization does not have insurance, however, then that is a different story. The recovery process will take much longer, will be that much more painful and stressful, and might even require the aid of some charitable undertaking.

Perversely, it was precisely the lack of insurance, and thus the need for a charitable funding drive, that was the direct cause of the fire that destroyed one of the most important organizations within the city of Livingston Kentucky. This organization, in an effort to raise money, had the intention of having a fish fry, and to that end, had acquired a fish fryer, evidently a deep fryer, which it tested, and then stored overnight in their building.

What happenned one night, the night of the fire, is a little murky. Maybe the machine had faulty wiring, and in the course of the testing got way too hot, or maybe someone had accidentlly left the machine plugged in, though thinkig it was turned off. Maybe there was enough grease inside the machine that it overheated and began to burn, becoming both a grease fire and perhaps causing an electrical fire at the same time.

Whatever happenned, by the time the fire was discovered, and finally extinquished, a great deal of damage had been done, in fact it was almost total destruction. The organizations building was all but destroyed, as well as most of the equipment. One thing that was greatly damaged, though evidently not destroyed beyond repair, was the organizations one vehicle.

As for the fish fry, that would still be on, though it would probably be delayed. Unfortunately, the object of the fish fry would now be geared toward not the continuing of operations, but in rebuilding. It was just too bad, very unfortuate, that the City of Livingston Volunteer Fire Department found itself unable to put out the blaze.

Luckily, the fire truck seems not to have been that badly damaged.

A Clark County Murder Trial

David Dressman is a young man in his early twenties, who might be looking at the prospect of spending the next twenty years or more of his life in prison, if convicted of the charge of murdering Dianne Snelling, the mother of his girlfriend, Stefanie Olsen. Stefanie was herself recently convicted of the charge, and has herself begun serving twenty years for her part in the murder, which she was complicit in instigating for, according to prosecutors, the urge to be free of her mothers dominaton, while at the same time acquiring what would have been her rightful inheritance of a 200,000 dollar life insurance policy.

Still, as of today, a monkey wrench might have conceivably been thrown into the works by the testimony of Timothy Crabtree, Dressmans and Olsens alleged accomplice, who early on in the case plea bargained for a six year sentence, in return for agreeing to admit to his involvement and to that of the other two defendants.

In court today, he testified that he was coerced into making these statements, it was the only way he could get this reduced sentence. He went on to state that he had no part in the crime, and knew of no role by Dressman and Olsen in it as well. The prosecution was aware of this, it’s not like they were blindsided, but they explained their decision to call him by saying it was the only way they could call to the stand a former cellmate of Crabtrees, who told of his confession to the crime.

Crabtree was upset, even crying at times, according to the informant, and expressed concern as to Dressmans ability to hold up, fearful that Dressman would in fact do as he ended up doing-testifying for the state against him and Olsen, in return for a lesser sentence. He even proposed killing Dressman, and then disposing of his body, on the land owned by his cellmates parents.

Still,the fact that this is a jailhouse informants testimony will of course call into question the integrity and motivations of this witness. If Dressman is inexplicaby found innocent of the crime, can a retrial for Stefanie, and possible acquital on appeal, be far behind. It seems unlikely, yet certainy possible.

Dianne Snelling was murdered three years ago in her Clark County Kentucky home. She was stabbed twenty-seven times. When a friend of Dressman and Olsens informed them of Dianes murder, they were both high on pot. According to her, Dressman seemed visibly shaken, upset. Olsen, however, seemed deathly calm, and even cold. Not exactly an expert psychological testimony, true. Still, it is chilling.

They Wait In Darkness

I just saw a report on the NBC affiliate WLEX Lexington news that would make anybody shiver, in fact, this is the stuff that horror movies are made of. Think of “The Birds”, and then think of “Willard”. Need I say more?

The setting is Race Street in downtown Lexington, in what appears to be a run down, predominantly black neighborhood. Yet, the woman who is the main human subject of the story is white. This one lone old white woman has the entire neighborhood up in arms, and yet, in the grip of fear. Because, her house is full of rats. Everywhere. They are living there, and breeding there, and dying there. Her floors are rotted, and under the flooboards, there are dead rats. And, there are living rats.

She feeds them. Every day. A ten pound bag of dog food. There are so many rats, they go through this ten pound bag of feed in just a little over two hours. Then, they start to get active. There are so many of them, she places the full bag inside a big plastic garbage can, into which they climb. By the time they are finished, the container is laying on it’s side on the ground, and has been moved several feet from where it started.

The rats wander about the neighborhood. They seem to be immune to rat poison. The police say there is nothing they can do about it, as the woman has really broken no laws they know of. Other neighborhood residents insist the house should be condemned, burned down, destroyed. Ah, but then, where would the rats go?

So why does the lady feed them? According to one of the area residents, the woman claims the rats are her pets. Truthfully, if she said this, it may have been in sarcasm. When asked why she continued to feed them, her answer was curt,and to the point.

“So they won’t bite me”, she replied.

As Dark Clouds Gather Over Brazil

A woman Brazil was recently acquitted by a jury of the murder of her husband based in large part, suppossedly, on the testimony of a psychic who claimed to have channelled a letter from the murdered mans spirit, which was read in court, and which absolved the accussed woman of any guilt in her husbands death. He did bitch her out though, and declared that he had inteneded to leave her. No word on who the real kiler is.

Don’t bother starting over at the beginning, you saw it correctly. She was acquitted, based at least in part due to this testimony, by a jury. Well, why not, hell, the judge allowed, as a matter of fact, the prosection didn’t even object to it.

Who knows, maybe they have too many pressing issues on their minds right now. The recent gang violence in Sao Paulo, for exampe, where there has been open warfare being waged between criminal gangs and the police, based on gang attacks and in which police have kiled, as of last count, some thirty five gang members. Still, the open attacks, many of them conducted in broad daylight, right in the middle of the city, goes on unabated, with no solution yet in sight.

Some of them might be considering the broader impications of Brazils recent successful indoctrination into the seemingly ever growing nuclear club, as they have recently announced their successful results at experiments at enriching uranium.

All this, and not a word from the U.S. Yet, we’re all so worried about Iran.

Mexican Voodoo

An interesting story from out of Mexico involves presidential politics and, of all things, voodoo dolls. A citizen of Mexico can now, for a fee, be involved in the electoral process to an extent never before possible, it seems. The purchase of a doll as a representative image of the Mexican presidential candidate of your choice can serve a variety of functions. All you need in addition to the doll is a needle, a little bit of faith, and a whole lot of resentment toward politicians. That last part should be easy enough, if the truth were known much moer so in Mexico than here. Nevertheless, here is how it works.

If you stick a needle in the dolls eye, it will insure that the candidates true intentions will become transparent.

If you stick the needle in it’s heart, it will make your candidate sincere in his promises.

If you stick the needle in the dolls right hand, it will make him always tell the truth.

There might be something to this. I recall how during the last presidential election, it was pointed out that, over the last few election cycles, the major candidates had been represented by bobble head dolls,which are offerred for sale. In all elections that this has been observed, the candidate whose bobble head doll sells the most units, is invariably the winner of the election. In the last one, George Bush’s bobblehead easily outsold John Kerrys. So much for Diebold.

In Mexico, it might well work in reverse, so whoevers voodoo doll sells the most might want to take special pains at being truthful and sincere, at being as open and transparent as possible. Of course, politicians are skilled at that anyway, for the most part.

Maybe they should just shove it up its ass, or into it's crotch, and hope they don't get shit on and fucked like they usually get in that shitty little country.

The Right To Privacy And Dignity

Imagine just for one moment that your mother has died. You are at her funeral, trying your best to cope with your distraught emotions, trying to keep it together, yet at the same time wanting to grieve, to let it out. Your friends and other family members are there to comfort you. They are grieving too. Not as badly as you are, perhaps, but they share to a limited extent your pain, your barely consolable grief, your anguish. You try to remember the good times, to remember her in all those positive ways. It’s hard, but you try, even though, at times, this makes it only worse. You also feel a sense of guilt. If only you hadn’t had that last argument. If only you had told her how much you loved her, how much she had meant to you over the years, how much you appreciated the sacrifices, the values she had tried to instill in you. You hope that she was proud of you, and more importantly, you hope she knows beyond any doubt how much you truly loved her.

You look out over the crowds of consolers, and you notice a male figure approaching, dressed in a suit. You have never seen him before, do not know who he is, but that’s okay, your mother was a well loved, respected woman. Certainly not perfect, by any means. Like all human beings, she has make her share of mistakes. But she was a good woman, a loving mother, a woman admired and respected by all those who truly knew her. And so, it makes sense that some strangers would arrive to pay their repects. Strangers such as the man you see now, approaching your mothers open coffin, with a determined look on his face, a glint of what you can ony describe as anger in his eyes. Anger at the cruelty of death, perhaps, for having taken one so well loved, so caring, at what many might consider to be well before her time?

He approaches your mothers form, then turns to approach the podium. He seems intent on giving a eulogy, yet it is not time. Still, he announces his presence to the whole of the people assembled at the small town funeral home, with a loud and actually somewhat arrogant sounding harrumph. He addresses everyone as lades and gentlemen, and then he intorduces himself., His name, he says, is the Reverend Fred Phelps. That’s odd, you think. Has he for some reason had to replace your pastor at your mothers service. But why? Soon, as he speaks, his intent becomes all too clear.

“This woman”,He says. “Was nothing but a low down,no account whore. This slut, whom you people are pretending was the salt of the earth, was one the biggest bitches in this town. Was her entire life. Any man could have her, and by god, just about any man did. All her children are bastards, conceived in sinful adultery. This is the kind of woman, and these are the kinds of children, who are going to bring the judgment of God down upon America. You shouldn’t cry at her passing. You should rejoice that she has been no doubt sent down to the pits of hell where she belongs.

“Rejoice and repent!”, he concludes as he waves his arms and, outside the funeral home. you hear a chorus of people. Looking out the window in stupefied shock, you see men, women, and children, carrying signs, some with your mothers name followed by words like “slut”, “whore”, “bitch”, and others with an admonishment to turn from such sins, and declarng Gods curse on America for condoning such lifestyles.

Soon the whole congregation joins you in an expression of outrage, combined with shock and grief at the audacity, the cruel, cold heartedness of this action.

I guess you’ve figured out by now this is my way of saying I am all in favor of the law passed to limit protests at military funerals to within a certain spot and to an hour before and after the service. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the exact same scenario. The fact that one of the funerals is conducted with military honors is to me an incidental irrelevance. Such actions would still be intruding on a families private grief, and should not be allowed in either case.

Besides, this isn't about freedom of speech. There are privacy issues involved here. Their may, however, be one aspect of our constitutional rights that may be pertinent here. The real issue here, in this case, is freedom of association. And if any family decides, in the throes of their very real and very painful private grief, that they do not want to be associated with the likes of Fred Phelps, for good or for ill-including the right to not have him in their presence in a threatening, harrassing manner- then so be it. Their wishes should be honored.

Divine Instigations

Something has got Fred Phelps on this wagon train to nowhere, and after giving it some thought, I think I’ve decided I think I know what it might be. It’s too obvious to say that he is just an insincere jerk, wanting to rattle peoples chains for money and publicity. That would be way too easy. His fame almost immediately crossed over into the line of infamy without a backwards glance, and though he is certainly well known, what good will that do him?

I would submit that Fred Pheps is the William Hung of Conservative Christian ministers. It is the very fact of the intensity of his hatred, which is so absurd, that it stands out in a crowd, though otherwise his words and deeds would be as forgettable as his talent and ability.

When Matthew Shepherd, a young gay student, was brutally beaten and murdered, left to die strung up along a fence on a Montana farm, way out in the middle of nowhere, Fred Phelps had been an almost totally unknown preacher probably barely eking out a living. Even by the standards of the surrounding communities in Kansas in which he lived and practised his faith and profession, he was probably relatively small time. He might even have been the butt of jokes,known by all as that old hellfire and brimstone preacher Phelps. Before this event,he may have even been somewhat moderate by comparison. But one thing for sure-he was definitely small time, and destined to forever remain so.

But Matthew Shepherd changed eveything for Fred Phelps. Matthew Shepherd had achieved a degree of fame he could only pretend to admire from a distance, could only barely imagine emulating.

Matthew Shepherd had been crucified. Now, after sufferring through his horrid ordeal, he was in the process of being deified. The crime against Matthew Shepherd was a crime of hate, and was being identified as such. Fred Phelps identified with that hate, for he felt it himself, and when he saw Matthew Shepherds photograph, and considered how he was now being given honor and dignity in death, how this crucified gay man was now being ressurrected and deified, he could not stand silently by and watch his ascension to heaven in the mind of his followers and sympathizers. It made the bile rise up in the heart and mind of Fred Phelps, and it utterly disgusted him. It made him sick. And he could just not stand idly by and allow it to go unchallenged.

After all, he had followed in the footsteps of Christ, in his own meager way, to the best of his all too limited ability, and had received no thanks for it. Indeed, he had many times received scorn. But now, Fred Phelps understood. A special calling had been reserved, just for him. Now, he could truly follow in Christs footsteps. Yes, he would still have scorn heaped upon him, yes he would still be ridiculed. But the lord his god had prepared him well for this mission in life. And he would fufill his destiny come what may.

Where In The World Is Jimmy Hoffa

He’s been buried under pro football field endzones. On other occassions, he has been buried under apartent buildings, high rises, and various other sundry construction projects. He’s been weighted down and/or stuffed into various receptacles and dumped in lakes, rivers, ponds, and oceans. He’s been ground up with a meat grinder. One time, after this occurrence, he temprorarily became an ingredient in the nationally known dog food brand Alpo. A few times before and after this, he was run through a scrap metal compacter, once or twice while inside a junked vehicle. He was incinerated, at least once or twice. His body has been chopped up and scatterred all over the place. At other times, he was left intact and buried in graves, some shallow, some very deept, and left to rot, thogh from time to time after being treated with lye to hasten decompisiton and minimize the scent of decay.

He is of course Jimmy Hoffa, the former Teamsters Union boss and Maffia racketeer asociate, who disappearred in 1978, never to be seen again. NEVER-I repeat-to be seen again. You see, when Richard Nixon pardoned him during his first term, it was with the understanding that he would seek no further ofice with the Teamsters or any other Union, and would stay away from gangsters. This deal was said to have been brokered by Nixon supporter Frank Fitzsimmons, Hoffas sucessor as head of the powerful Teamsters Union. Hoffa didn’t like the deal, and was detemrined to make a comback. This probably was not why he was killed, of course, he was killed because, in the course of it, he seemed detemrined to make waves.

This of course, was basically the same kind of thing that got Johnny Rosselli a trip to the Gulf of Mexico in his own private one man oil drum. But you see, Roselli, the notorious Las Vegas mobster repsonsible for the presenceof Howard Hughes in Vegas in earlier years, was discovered due to a simple fluke. Or, perhops he was meant ot be found, as a warning to any peson that might consider testifying before the Congress, as Roselli was suppossedly scheduled to do soon bfore hisdemise. Otherwise, it could just easily have been assummed that Roselli, not exactly a household name, simply skipped off for parts unknown.

This od course is something that could never be assummed about the highly popular and influential though controverial and corrupt Hofffa. And that is why Jimmy Hoffa will never be found. Precisely because they know this.

They know you’re looking for him, still, after all this time.

Vacation Aruba-A Year Of Getting Away With It All

It’s been a year now, and those bones are still ot ther somehwere in a remote spot of Aruba, screaming to be found. Well, okay, they’re not screaming. They’re not even stinking any more. Not even if they were all long ago turned to animal shit. But when the kalpoe Brothers and Joran Van Der Sloot, in my opinion, dumped the dead body of Natalie Holloway, whom they raped, and continually drugged until they accidentally killed her, in a remote area of the small island, surrounded by trees and bushes, possibly just dropping her from their car fromtheside down a hilly slope into oblivion, they knew she would never be found. All tey had to do, if they were questioned at all, about thir association with her, was lie, insist they had dropped her off. If she were later found and seen to have sufferrd a blow to the head from when Joan hit her, they would explainthis ahead oftime by saying that as she left the car, she stumbled and fell flat onher face. Brilliant plan. Just point out that there are niggers o the sland, in fact ty saw one fo them, a security guard, escort her to her feet, and out of their sight. And yes, of course she had sex with them willingly, they would say, hell, if you find her body you’ll probably find semen with our DNA all over it. But it was consensual, you see.

Yes, it’s been over a year, and still the well in the yard of Paulus Va Der Sloot, the father of main suspect Joran, has yet to be searched. He will not allow it to be searched. Of course, by now, it is probably too late. After this one full year, there is probably nothing left in the well, no bloody item of womens clothing, or a male gym shoe. They may have been retrieved long ago, if possible. But why don’t they look? Just for the hell of it? Why aren’t they allowed to look?

Whatever the case, probably nothing left but a few old bones, scatterred here and there, the rotting flesh and muscles and fat and organs long ago gnawed away, the remainder scorched by the sun, the heat, the wind, the rain.

Missing: Breanna Eversole

An attractive fourteen year old from Richmond Kentucky, Breanna Eversole has now been missing since May 21^st, twelve days as of the writing of this post. So far, the only thing I’ve heard about this is a ntice in my local newspaper. I’ve seen nothing about it on television, nor have I seen any amber alerts issued. Yes, she is a white girl, a very pretty one. One that I would imagine would easily catch the eye of the many potential predators that inhabit the envirojs of Richmond, including but not limited to the sizeable population of Eastern Kentucky University, to say nothing of the many passers-by to the area by way of Interstate 75 and surrounding counties, for many of whom Rchmond is the closest “west state” in which they can legally purchase alcohol.

Yet, despite all these considerable factors, I have yet as to hear cetain things that should be publicly explained. Where was she last seen, for example. At what time. Who was the last person known to have seen her, and when and where. Did she frequent the Richmond mall, or any fo the many stores and shopping centers, restaurants, etc. Yet, none of this informationhas been made availiable.

All of which leads me to question is this girl possibly a runaway? Is this just a desperate attempt to try to find a young girl who may, as far as I know, have pulled this knd of stunt before.

Still, twelve days is a long time for a girl this age to be missing, with no clue as to her whereabout, or evidently, her associations. And it might be appropriate to point out, in this and other such cases, that a good many of the times, runaways have one important fact in common with kidnapping victims. They can both easily end up raped, murdered, and their remains disposed of in out of the way locations.

And Now-The Rest Of The Story

Famed radio broadcaster Paul Harvey recently commented on the town of Mt. Vernon Kentucky, and though I never heard the broadcast myself, you can bet it created quite a stir. A sheriffs candidate for Rockcastle County, in fact, has made mention of the broadcast in his run for office. It is a reason, he says, why he should be considered not only qualified for the office, but the only viable alternative to replace current incumbent Darrell Doan. Having been a ecetn arrival to the county, he says, he owes no one anything.

You might have figured out by now that harveys comments were not positive. If so give yourself a cigar, or a kewpie doll, or whatever. You might have, if you have seen some of my prior comments on my home county, assume that I am solidly in agreement with Harvey’s comments that, as he put it, “if you want to commit murder and get away with it, just go to Rockcastle County Kentucky.”

If so, hand back the kewpie doll. If you’ve already smoked the cigar, however, don’t worry about it, I will make allowances for the possibility that Harvey might have been engaging in a bit of heavy handed hyperbole.

Outside of hyperbole, however, the statement has no basis in fact. For all the problems I have seen in this area, only a few of which I have noted on this blog, this not only does not belong in the litany of complaints, but it could, if miscontrued-or accurrately construed, as the case well may be-be a negative force that is not in the least helpful to any long term county improvement.

In fact, it crosses the line greatly. Out of all my knowledge of Mt. Vernon and Rockcastle County Kentucky recent history, I have endeavored to remember a time when a murder in this area was committed, in which the perpetrator has gotten away with the deed, a time, in fact, in which there was never a prosecution. I have honestly tried to remember, but alas, I can not honestly remember such an event.

And it has not been for lack of occasion. There have indeed been murders in the county over the last several decades. But I can honestly think of no circumstance in which a known murder was committed that the perpetrator was not caught, and sucessfuly prosecuted. And it has been of no consequence to what station in life the victim belonged.

About a decade ago, one of the local low-lifes was murdered and buried eight feet underground. The perpetrators were cpatured and successfully prosecuted, though it did take some time before the crime actually came to light. But once it did, that was the end of the road. It turned out to have been drug related.

There have been times that convicted murderers did not, in my opinion, get their just deserts, and Harvey could legitimately be referring to such events as a man who, having shot his wife twice with a loaded gun, claimed the shooting was accidental. He received, I think, a total of two years for manslaughter. There were other instances of people murdered in the course of drunken card gams in which the penalty may not have been severe enough, but you can put this down to being spur of the moment crimes committed in the heat of anger, to lack of premeditation.

The one murder in the county I can think of, in fact, that was never sucessfuly prosecuted, was the murder of a man who seems to have been present during a great many of these card games, in at least two of them, in fact. He was shot dead in the yard, where he lay in a drunken stupor, of a friends house, where a party had been held, suppossedly by an unknown, passing motorist. To my knowledge, no suspects were ever arressted.

Be that as it may, violent crimes of this nature, while they do occur here, do so with no more frequency than in other areas of similar size and population, and what is more, the number of arrests and sucessful prosecutions for the crime are at least the equal to other areas, and possibly on the average higher. Which is why I take humbrage with Mr. Harveys comments.

Many years ago, at last fifty,and possibly more, an old man on his death bed confessed to having kidnapped and murdered a young girl who had years before this dissappearred without a trace. He gave directions to the wooded area where he had left her, and sure enough her bones were uncovered. This was another occasion of an unsoved crime, the only one I can think of, but like I said, this was at least fifty years ago.

For the one and only other unsolved murders in the county, that I can recall as of now , you of necessity need to go back to the nineteenth century, some years after the Civil War. A handful of men had recently been convicted of burning down the then Mt. Vernon courthouse. Two of them were abducted and hanged outside of town, by men reputed to be the Ku Klux Klan. The ringleader of the group had somehow managed to escape this mob justice, almost by the skin of his teeth.

For the lynching of the guilty parties, and the attempted abduction and murder of the third man, who sneaked out the back of his home as they approached from the front, no one was ever, to my knowledge, brought to trial. In fact, no one was ever identified as the Klan members supposedly responsible.

Yet,the story does come full circle, and illustrates the real problem with the county, one that has lasted up until this day. The very man who was convicted in a court of law, of burning down the old court house, the same man who had barely eluded Klan justice-all because he wanted to destroy evidence pertaining to another crime he had committed which was stored there, was indeed held to a kind of account by the citizens of Rockcastle County.

He was elected County Judge.

And so it goes. With money, with connections, the worse of the worse can acquire and maintain elected office. That is nothing new, nor, however, is it a phenomenon that is limited solely to the environs of Rockcastle County Kentucky, sadly.

Not that all of the countys elected officials are this bad. For the most part, they just have an attitude of entitlement, and a lackadaisical attitude toward making any needed changes or improvements to the County. And this needs to be pointed out,and changed. Unfortunatey, hyperbole such as Harverys, however well intentioned, is all too easy to be misconstrued, taken literally, and therefore,makes no positive contribution toward that much needed change.

Page Two, please?

Coroners Request

Rockcastle County Coroner Billy Dowell has finally been granted something by the Rockcastle County Fiscal Court that he hasn’t had in his entire thirty years of service to the county-an official coroner vehicle. That is the only good thing about this story, which does little to mitigate the fact that the request was granted after much heated discussion. The worse thing about it is that Dowell even had to make the request.

Yet, for the last thirty yeas, Dowell has been forced to use his own vehicle to transport patients to Frankfort for the purposes of autopsies, when these were deemed necessary when deaths occurred under suspicous or unknown circumstances. He has even been forced to use his own vehicles to transport dead bodies, in some rare instances, which were the subjects of massive decomposition due to having been dead for long periods of time before their doscovery, in some cases bodies that were greatly mangled.

Admitedly,this is not as bad as it sounds at first glance, as Dowel is the successful business partner in one of the area funeral homes, Dowell and Martins, and so was able to avail himself of one of the business vehicles. This, however, is beside the point. It is one thing to expect a person to do so much in the line of civil duty. But this is really beyond the pale, especially as I am even unsure as to whether he was reimbursed gas mileage. I would like to say he was, but as of now I can’t say that. And, of course, there is also maintenance to consider.

This is especially galling when you consider that, up until just a few short years ago, Billy Dowell, as County Coroner, was paid less than what is normally paid for the office of dog catcher. The county is lucky, by the way, that he has been willing to perform this function for the last thrity years, under these conditions, with no complaints up untilthis point, so far as I know.

It makes you wonder just what kind of person would even consider running for office in Rockcastle County. Constable, for example, which technically is a kind of law enforcement, though very limited in range, as is the pay, which I would only describe as minimal at best. In fact, until recently, it was limited solely to an award for every ticket written that was collected on. It still is not much better than that, really.

I understand the need to cut corners and meet basic expenses, and the desire to refrain from raising taxes, especially as the tax base of the county is not so great to begin with-a situation which could be easily remedied by making the county wet, for example. But these problems are precisely why the same people seem to get elected to office and keep it year after year. They have their ways of making it pay off, and nobody is inclined to rock the boat. I guess Billy Dowell, for all his selfless civic mindedness, had finally had enough. And I for one don’t blame him.

As his daughtrs pointed out in a letter to the editor of the town paper, The Mt. Vernon Signal, if county money isn’t going to be used for valid purposes such as this, what is it to be used for, to be kept back to make a few road repairs during election years?

Ernie Fletcher And Joseph Lambert-Balancing Checks

Ernie Fletcher just cant seem to move a muscle without bumping into controversy, and this time he has been joined in this display of accident proneness by Joseph lambert, the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, whose wife, Debra lambert, is the sitting judge of my districts Family Court.

A law was recently passed which stated that a retired judge who decided to leave retirement, upon assumming office, can no longer draw both his pension and the salary for his or her current post. So therefore, if a judge is drawing 250,000 dollars a year, and also a pension fo 30,000 dollars a year, then he must forfeit his judges salary, or a portion thereof, to where he is drawingno more than one complete salary. This kind of practive has been an on-going, though certainly not that common, controversial practice known as “double dipping”.

It sounds like a reasonable law to me, and Ernie Fletcher agreed, and so after it was passed by the Kentucky legislature, he signed it into law. Joseph Lambert was of the opinion that it was so good a law, in fact, that it should be implemented immediately, and told Governor Fletcher so. Previously, Fletcher had been disposed towards waiting until after the next election cycle bfoe it takes effect. Therefore, it would not apply to any judges currently sitting, or who might be elected during the next election. Thanks to Lamberts influence, however, Fletcher utilized the line item veto to excise this item out of the bill, therefore making th elaw immediately applicable.

All well and good, so far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, there’s a hitch. The man running against lamberts wife, Debra, for the Family Court Judges seat this election, is a man who has come out of retirement to run agains the controversial Judge Lambert. And he and his supporters are outraged.

And really, I could care less about whether this candidate, were he to win, would be able to engage in the practice of double dipping. In fact, I think it’s a practice that should have never been allowed. But he does make a point that Jospeh lamberts influence on the Governor in this matter is a definite conflict of interest, and an obvipous one at that. Yet, stupidly, Fletcher played along with it, and wonders why his administration is considered the most corrupt in recent Kentucky history. And believe me, it takes some doing to reach that level. Kentucky has had some real doozys.

And besides, this is blatantly unconstitutional, on every level. Joe Lambert, a sitting Justice, an official of the Kentucky judicial system, has no business interfering or inserting his influence into a matter of state business on the legislative or the gubernatorial level. His opinion on these matters is welcome only when a matter pertaining to them appears before his court. Otherwise, he should shut his fucking mouth.

Fletcher vs. Pence

Things could scarcly get any worse for Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher than they are right now. He himself has been indicted for abusing the states hiring system, and has been roundly criticized for issuing blanket pardons to anybody else in his administration who might be indicted. As of now, a number of sealed indictments have been issued, and quite a few of Fletchers cabinet and administrative staff have resigned under a cloud of suspicion. Now, Liutenant Governor Steve Pence has announced that he would not seek re-election as Lieutenant Governor in 2007 as Ernie Fletchers running mate.

This was discussed between Pence and Fletcher beforehand, and evidently Fletcher was fine with this. But what came next has sent the entire state ito a tailspin. Pence has said he will not as of now support Fletcher for re-election, and is himself leaving his options open.

In response to this, Fletcher personally asked Pence to resign. But Pence has as of now refused to do so. As he explains, the people own the offices towhich they are all elected, the public servants are merely temporary occupants of the offices. He had been elected to serve four terms, and he intends to fulfill his entire term.

Flethcer for his part has said, both personally and through spokespersons, that it would be best for the state if Pence resigns, that his administration is in need of a team player, which Pence no longer is.

I personally find it curious that Pence, a former prosecutor noted for targeting polticial corruption, has made no comments about the on-going state hiring scandal, only it seems obvious that this is the genesis of the problem.

So is he planning on running for governor? I don’t know, but I am guessing , he probably will not, and will possibly opt for a run at a U.S. House of Representatives seat, or may be looking ahead for a potential primary run against Senator Jim Bunning. Of course, the thing about it is, if things get any worse for Fletcher, or he fails to resove thecurrent issues with which he is afflicted, Pence, a right wing Christian conservative, may be the state Republican Partys only saving grace in the coming election. He might indeed be the only possible alternative to Fletcher as far as the Repubican Party keeping the governors seat. It’s hard to imagine Fletcher winning re-election at this stage of the game.

On the other hand, a primary battle between Fletcher and his Lieutenant Governor is likely to split the Republican Party wide open. Yet, in a poll conducted yesterday by WLEX Lexington, an NBC local affiliate, those who thought Pence should remain in his office totaled 79%. Those who though he should resign totaled a mere 17 %. Only four percent of respondents were undecided or unsure.

Pence is playing with a strong hand, while Fletcher is hemorhaging. You are tempted to ask, how could Pence not remain, not run against Fletcher in the 2007 Republican primaries. It would certainly draw a lot of attention, as would the following general election. In fact, this might, if it comes to pass, be one of those odd times where a primary election drawsmore interest than the genral election. Sort of puts you in mind of the old days of pro football, when the NFC championship was all but guaranteed to be a better game than the Super Bowl.

Pence has to pay it by ear, of course. On the one hand, he could alienate a lot of the Republican Party power brokers, both on the state and national levels. On the other hand, if he plays his cards right, this might be his one best shot at national stature, and eventual office.

On the other hand, I've always said that the alliance within the Republican Party between the corporatists and religous right was at best a marriage of convenience, at worse a marriage made in hell, and might well result one day in anything from an amicable seperation, at least on the surface, to a full fledged heated divorce. What is going on in Kentucky might well be the first symptoms of this rupture.

The Curse Of The Pussy Eating Vampire

The following short story I first sent to my Yahoo Group, Paganbitchslap. No, it's not a true story, though I couldn't resist trying to con my fellow group members into thinking it was. Just added to the fun, I guess. To this end, I used my own true real name as the name of the main character.

It's kind of rough, it's really just a first draft, one I have as yet to edit, yet which does need editing. Here it is in it's entirety, the way it was originally presented, typos and all. Hope you enjoy it.

The Curse Of The Pussy Eating Vampire

by

Patrick Kelley

It started with a loud series of knocks at my door, mind numbingly
loud, the kind that seem to go through your soul. Though the door
was locked and I was inside I could see her outside the door,
accompanied by a small number of individuals of indeterminate
appearrance. I hide to hide, but before I could execute this
strategy, there she was. I knew who she was, in her not quite
kneelength black, tight skirt with matching black top, black shoulder
length, wavy thick hair, medium complexion and dark brown eyes that
pierced through my soul as she sneered condescendingly and, nodding
her head in accentuation of each syllable, said in a gravelly voice
from the deepest pits of hell, carried by the north wind, -

"TAKE HER OUT TO EAT!"

I woke up in a sweat, chilled to the bone, and scared to death. It
was the kind of nightmare you have that seems real for minutes after
you wake up, and makes you afraid to go back to sleep. I looked at
the clock. It would only be three and a half hours before time to go
to work anyway, might as well stayed up. I fixed a pot of coffee,
drunk half of it, took a shower, drunk the other half, put on another
pot and, by the time I fixed and ate breakfast, I was over the
initial horror, though still transfixed by the reality of it.

I would think long and hard, I swore to myself, before invoking
Hecate for ANYTHING!

By the time I had been to work for a couple of hours, I was somewhat
at my old self, until I saw the reason I had invoked Hecate to begin
with. There she was, standing in the door of the store, winking and
smiling seductively, only because she knew it drove me batty. The
cutest little Goth chick in town.

How do you like my hair? she asked me. She had changed it from
purple to jet black, with brighjt red lipstick. She was dressed all
in black, with fishnet stockings. The perfect appearrance of a
vampire. I hit the cash button prematurely. whn she whirled around.

"It's, uhh, n-n-n-nice," I stammerred like an idiot.

The ritual worked, I realized. Or had it? Hecate in the dream had
been dressed more like a businesswoman, albeit one who had not
discarded her sense of style or sensuality. Raven was something else
all together. But what was it Hecate had said?

When she made it back up to the register to purchase her hanging
basket, I blurted out -

"I would like to take you out to eat".

My co-worker stiffled a laugh as he began stocking a nearby shelf.

Raven paid for her basket - which is to say, I hit the cash key - and
she said, with a winsome smile, " I'm just going to have to think
about that"

She made it to the door, then turned and said, "maybe later on this
month"

Strangely, she kind of laughed and went out the door.

Owen, my coworker, walked up to me and said, "you need some fucking
therapy, my friend," but he smiled and giggled as he sjhook his head.

I don't know what my thing is about Goth chicks. I'm not in the
least bit interested in becomming a part of this sub - culture, but
the women drive me to distraction. So who better to invoke, I
thought, than Hecate, the Underworld goddess who is the mother of The
Impussae, who are themselves spirit vampire - like creatures of the
Underworld, who enter the beds of men at night and drain their
energies through sexual seduction.

A number of weeks went by, and I didn't see Raven, and in facr began
to put even the horrifying dream of Hecate out of my mind. Then, one
night, about two and a half weeks later, came a resoundingly loud
knock at my door.

It was Melissa, a young lady recently moved from my apartmnent
building, along with my parents, who had recently entered her first
year of college at the University of Northern Kentucky. Me and her
parents had been fairly good friends, and so had the two of us in a
cordial sense, but I wondered what she was doing here now. She
seemed genuinely happy, and relieved, to see me. I invited her in
for some coffee, and she cheerilly agreed.

She began to bemoan her life at the University. "I never should have
let my parents talk me into taking those business courses. I hate
it."

Can't you change your major?" I asked.

Yeah, I probably will", she replied. I don't know what to yet"

I soon found out there was a point to her visit. She was desperate
to borrow twenty dollars, though she wouldn't tell me why, only that
she had takenm a week off fromn her courses, was visiting some
friends, and her parents didn't know about it. This didn't sit too
well with me, but she swore to me she would return next week, she
just needed the week off. She swore she didn't want the money for
anybody else, or for drugs, she just wanted it for emergency needs.
I didn't get it. But she was cute in - wait a minute - her black not
quite knee - length skirt, her matching black top, her dark brown
eyes, her shoulder length thick wavy dark hair. I want to take you
out to eat, I started to say. But, it came out -

"I want to eat you"

"What!"

"I want to take you out to eat", I quickly corrected myself

"NO, I want to eat your pussy is what you meant to say. Admit it. I
know you, Patrick Kelley," she insisted. "So, my good friend, my
parent's good friend, will give me twenty dollars. Tweny lousy
fucking dollars. Provided I let him kiss and lick and suck around on
my pussy."

Shje said this in such a prosecutorial masnner, I felt I had no
choice but to admit the awful truth.

"Yep, that's aboiut the size of it", I admitted.

To my surprise, she dropped her skirt, and then down came the panties.

"Do you understand now why I need some money?", she demanded. "It's
a few ddays early, and I have to have some money. So if you want to
eat it, eat away."

I saw the spots of blood. She was on her period. Her panties in
fact were drenched with a great big old spot of dried blood and
mucous. She needed something bad or it looked as though she would
soon be trailing blood all the way down the hall and out onto the
street.

Then she began to change from an angry _expression to one of what I
can only call a dare. She was breathing heavily. She was staring at
me, intensely. Her voice was gravelly. Gutteral. Hellish, even.

I need the money, so eat me, motherfucker.," she demanded.

"EAT MY FUCKING PUSSY, GODDAMN YOU, EAT MY FUCKING PUSSY!"

She was shouting now, and I knew she could be heard all over my
building. Suddenly, she lowered herself on the floor. Did I really
want to do this, after all? She seemed to be gushing.

I lowered my mouth to just inside her left knee, and began to slowly
suck there, moving upwards as I did so, slowly, slowly. She was
moaning, groaning, until finally I made my way with my mouth up to
her pussy. She screamed as I began the great work with my mouth
grinding and my tongue flickering against the entrance. She was
crying as her body heaved and trembled.

Now, to be sure, it was a ghastly taste, the hot blood and mucous and
female juices all mixed together in a salty, bitter explosion of
slimey sweltering rancid taste and smell. But once I started I could
not stop. She was pulling wildly at my hair as she thrusted her
abdomen upwards in a uncontrollable fury of desire. I spread her
blood soaked pussy lips apart as I thrusteed my tongue deeper and
deeper. Soon, she was pulling my body upwards with a strength which
I can only describe as maniacal. She was now ripping at my pants.

Soon, my hard, throbbing dick was plungin deeply into her, and I
began to fuck her harder and harder, until I finally exploded inside
her bloody pussy.

I know she told me she loved me a hundred times, or pretty close to
it, by the time we both went to sleep that night in each other's
arms, right there curled up on the floor, on a pillow, covvered in
nothing but two sheets, a light blanket, and I would suppose about a
half gallon of blood and mucous.

She remained with me for a couple of days. I didn't do it again, and
strangely, she didn't seem to mind that much, though she did seem a
little dissappointed. But when I came home from work, there she
would be, the blood problem now solved with the Kotex i had
supplied. She sucked my dick the night before she informed me she
would have to return to school.

I discovered she didn't return to school at all, but in fact dropped
out, and had moved in with some friends. She had a boyfriend who
supposedlly was in a band, and otherwise performed a variety of jobs,
going seemingly from first one to the other. I didn't care. I put
her, and the entire situation, out of my mind.

A couple of months later, I was sitting at the park down by the Ohio
River. I had just quit my job, and didn't know what I was going to
do about finding another one, but I tried not to worry too much about
that, though I was now a couple of months behind in my rent, and was
trying to avoid the landlord until I could come up with enough to
make at least a respectable partial payment. There at the park was
Raven. Her hair was now green. It was also spiked. I didn't care.
It was nice to tak to her though, as I was in a blue mood. We talked
for awhile, then she asked me to walk her to the club on Scott street
where she hung oput on Tuesday nights. It was getting dark, so I
thought, well, why not?

We made it to the club, I walked in with her. There were a handful
of other Goths, but she seemed to avoid going to them right away.
Have a drink with me, she asked.

"You buying?", I asked.

"Sure", she said. ""Two Heinekens, Charlie", she said to the
bartender.

As we sat and sipped and listened to first one tune after another by
Megadeth, Alice In Chains, etc. a couple of the Goths came up and
started talking to Raven, pretty much ignoring me, which suited me
fine. Suddenly, the third one called for the others, "Let's go"

She was all decked out in vampire like apparrel and make-up. It was
Melissa. When she saw me, she ambled over just as the other two were
starting to leave. She looked at Raven, then at me, then back to
her, and said,

"You better watch him raven, he as a big appetite, but he likes to
eat and run"

They left then, and Raven just looked at me with the oddest look you
could imagine.

"Oh, really now", was all she said.

Later that night, after I made it up to the apartment as quietly as I
could in the dead of the night, I climbed into bed, and when I
finally dozed off in a state of near exhaustion, I could have swore I
heard a distinct, maniacal female laughter, as though from some
shadowy underworld.