Origin Of The Species

According to the Bible, we are all related, all in fact descended from the same two people, whom most Chritians, or at least most fundamentalists, assert lived anywhere from six thousand to ten thousand years ago.

Amazingly, according to recent findings of a study conducted by scientists, the statistical probability is, they are more likely correct, to a point, than has previously been imagined. In fact, they might be off by as much as anywhere from one thousand years, or even more.

In fact, according to this research, the one single ancestor of every human being now living-and therefore, by extension, of every single human being that will ever live from this point-may have lived as recently as the time of Christ, two thousand years ago.

Yeah, I know that’s a real head spinner, but note the caveat. The ancestor of all humans now living-not the ancestor of every human that ever lived.

So who was he-or she-and where did this person live? Well, according to the genreral consensus, more than likely this person hailed from somewhere in East Asia, and more specifically probably from the areas of either Siberia, Malaysia, or Taiwan.

Note, the projection as to the land of origin is probably based on a comparison of genetic samples compiled over a period of years. The time frame of this persons life-anywhere from 2000 to 5000 years ago-is basd on this as well, in combination with statistical analysis.

And it’s easy to see why, once you multiply your ancestry by the method of doubling it for every preceding generation. Figuring an average of four generations per century, you will find yourself coming to an unbelievably daunting number. You have, of course, two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents, etc.

To illustrate, I took it back to the 1720’s, at which point my earliest known ancestor arrived by ship to this country from Ireland as a young stowaway lad of about twelve or so. This young boy, who was my ancestor, was only one of such that lived in this time. In fact, of all my ancestors I could conceivably trace back to this time, roughly three hundred years ago, Lawrence Kelley was only one of 4096 of my ancestors that lived then.

Even taking into account the potential for double or even triple ancestry due to cousin marriages, prevalent in earlier days, or even to marriages between spouses who were unknowingly at least distantly related, it is still reasonable to arrive at the rounded off figure of 4000 ancestors for myself, just in this time span-a mere 300 years. And remember, this would be the number of ancestors I would have not in total up to this time-but those that lived just in this general span of time. Take it to just the preceding generation, and suddenly I have an extra 9092 ancesotors, at least nine thousand once rounded off for the reasons I described.

Keep going to just one thousand years, and then two thousand, and it is esy to see how it is practically impossible for every person on earth to not be related, to at least a small extent, which would naturally mean, eventually, a common ancestor.

And this person may possibly have lived in the time of Christ? For some strange reason, despite the suppossition this ancestor probably lived in East Asia, the DaVinci Code keeps popping into my head. Could we all possibly be descended from one of the Caesars? The Herods? Or even-

But seriously, whoever the person was, chances are he was wealthy, powerful, and had many wives, and a prolific number of children which would be considered astronomical, maybe even irresponsible, in our day and time, regardless of the persons wealth. If so, a cataloquing of such known individuals, and the testing of the dna of their known descendents, might conceivably mean his-or her-identity could be one day known to us, if only with limited certainty.

Playah Nerds

One of the most troubling aspects to law enforcement when it comes to infiltrating various gangs, such as the Bloods, the Crips, and others, is the degree of time and effort it takes to establish a rapport with a targeted member, just on the outer periphery, without attracting suspicion. By their nature, gangs are insulated, and territorial, yet due to this they are traditionally limited at least somewhat in scope.

Now, however, this too has changed, thanks to the Internet. One of the most troubling trends in recent years from the perspective of those who track gang activities, hate groups, etc, is in the ability of gangs to interract over the internet.

Some even have special web-sites, though these usually won’t be listed in the name of the group, but instead will be listed as owned by an individual who is a member of the gang. Some gangs use public sites, such as the popular and these days controversial MySpace.com.

Because of this recent trend, George W. Knox, the director of the National Gang Crime Research Center, has been training police officials on how to cull intelligence in such areas as gang membership, rivalries, territories, and even the coded language different gangs use.

Of course, as gangs get more sophiticatd, the harder they become to conduct surveilance on. Coded language, for example, can be relatively easily changed to adapt to these surveillance methods. From now on, an ordered hit, a drug transaction, or delivery, can all be ordered from the relative security of the Intrnet, as the more savvy of these gangs certinly aren’t going to be too careless.

And this isn’t even touching on membership drives, the prospect of which just became a bit more disconcerting.

Aryan Nation

As if the Pentagon didn’t have enough worries in regards to how it’s going to maintain troop levels over a long period due to the demands of the Iraqi and Afghan Wars, while still maintaining the capabilities to respond to other needs, it seems that they’ve been force fed an extra helping of anxieties.

First, there are ever growing reports of American troop involvement in atrocous activities such as reported in the town of Haditha, where a number of civilians were outright murdered, execution style, by American troops. In addition to this, a fourteen year old Iraqi girl was raped, and then executed. Her father, mother, and five year old sister were also murdered in what seemed to be a planned assault.

Then, it came out that a ot of these activities were covered up as reports went up the chain of command.

In addition to the problems in attracting and retraining recruits, Pentagon bureaucrcy has been responsible for one soldier being called back into active duty, who was supposed to be relieved from this obligation as of 2001. Be that as it may, he went, asumming the call was correct, served some time on a bomb disposal unit, and though he was lucky to make it home alive once the mistake was caught, he now suffers from bad knees and diabetes. This soldier from Ohio is now looking for an attorney in an effort to receive the full retirement and health benefits to which he feels he is now entitled.

The reson for the snafu? He was listed on two different military documents, one of which had him listed as a soldier, the other one-the relevant one which he knew nothing about- which identified him as a captain.

Now it turns out an appreciable number of enlisted personnel are members of various white supremacist organizations, or “Aryans”.

Well, maybe. I have my share of skepticism about this, though it has been reported that various forms of white supremacist graffitti has turned up on public buildings in Iraq. The supposed problem with this is not only the problems it can cause with Iraqi civilian/American military relations, which of course are not that good to begin with –let’s just say they are currently strained, at best-but the future implications. The fear is due to the prospect that these Aryan soldiers might learn combat techniques and weapons skills which they can then use to train other white supremacists, creating a future potential domestic terrorist problem.

Of course, it could also be that they are looking for potential scapegoats for incidents such as Haditha, scapegoats that could be portrayed as outside the mainstream of American opinion as far as relations with Islam and Muslims go. If true, they are due to run into a slight roadblock. Aryans, who prefer these days to call themselves white racialists, are if not in the majority against the Iraqi War, are at least divided concerning it, and to a great extent blame the Israeli lobbyists such as AIPAC, and their political supporters in Congress, and for that matter Bush, for promoting this war, which they feel is unjustified.

Therefore, while there might be a small degree of truth as to this Aryan infiltration of American armed services, and the potential problems this might cause,concerned parties would be well advised to do a little fact checking before they try to make too big a mountain out of this molehill.

The Obrador Challenge

It looks like Calderon is the winner of the recent Mexican Presidential election, and since he is from the same party as current and soon outgoing President Vincente’ Fox, it is all too easy to assume that all will be business as usual.

That, however, is not necessarily the case. Obradors Party now has a larger share of seats in the Mexican Congress than at any time previously in it’s history, so they are now in a bargaining position like never before. Add to that the prospect of collussion with the once dominant Party that once held a monopoly of power-and which in this last election polled only twenty two percent of the vote-and you have some potential for change. That old party would so much like to regain some degree of status it might be willing to form a coalition when it comes to issues and initiatives that are popular with the Mexican people. Calderons Party would then be in a real bind.

Of course the real problem is not necessarily the parties, or the candidates who lead them. It is the Mexican system, which amounts to a feudal state disguised as a democracy. It is not going to go away easily, and even gradual, incremental change is going to be hard to gain.

It might yet, due to this reason, come down to riots, strikes, and even civil war. If this happens, I hope the US has the border guarded sufficiently, because a bloody civil war in Mexico would almost certainly encourage as much as a doubling or more of the current refugees from Mexico in the form of illegal immigrants who would in every way be as much refugees from war as from poverty and corruption.

Here's one thing you can count on for sure. If the situation in Mexico were to deteriorate to massive unrest, or even civil war, the vast majority of resultant refugees won't be headed in the direction of Nicaraqua.

Those Sensitive Nazis

Leave it to the hypersensitive from all walks of life to make an isue out of a throwaway line that was meant to be an attmpt at humor, but suddenly has been morphed in this politically correct age we live in as an allegedly prejudiced remark of insensitivity.

When Joe Biden, Senator of Delaware and so far the only officially announced candidate for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, remarked that you have to understand Asian Indian accents to go to any Seven Eleven store in Delaware, it was actually meant to convey the message as to how vital and important a part of American life is the immigrant community in general, and in this case the Asian Indian immigrant community.

What’s really ridiculous is the idea that Biden, a distinquished Senator with a long history of public service, should have to lower himself to responding to this self-serving ignorance. What is wrong with these fucking people? Whatever it is, I see nothing defamatory about his remarks. When you get right down to it, his statement is a simple observation of reality. In fact, I will go so far as to say I’m happy to see that immigrants from India have finally branched out from the hotel/motel industry.

It’s kind of similar, really, to the way Chineese coolies branched out from being railroad workers to first laundry owners, and then restauranteurs. Since the latter move, incidentally, I miss not having my shirts starched in that expert way, but I do think I know what that “ancient Chinese secret” is-rice.

This all reminds me of a joke I heard on Leno the other night by George Carlin, about the difference in heaven and hell.

In heaven, the Italians are the lovers, the French cook the food, the Swiss run the hotels, the English are the police, and the Germans are the mechanics.

In hell, the Italians are the mechanics, the French run the hotels, the Swiss are the lovers, the English cook the food, and THE CHERMANS ARE THE POLEESE!!!!!

I guess it’s good for Carlin he didn’t include in this list any minority ethnic groups, there would be calls as we speak to destroy all his recordings.

A Split In Conecticutt

Joe Liebermann is paying the price for playing the lice in the Bush. Democratic activists and other leftists have denounced him roundly and soundly to the point that he now faces a serious challenge for his partys primary to retain his seat as Senator from Conneticutt. The challenger, one Ned Lamont, is running mainly as an anti-war candidate, and to the ire of Liebermann, the Joementum toward New Mexico was put into reversal a couple of nights ago due to the urgent need to face the challenger in a debate.

It was classic Liebermann, all at once petulant, arrogant, yet at the same time whiny and ingratiating. He knows he might be in serious trouble, for there's a chance he could lose to Lamont, who by all accounts ran as if he were the incumbent, knowledgeable and dignified.

It's of concern to the Democratic Party as a whole. Chuck Schumer, the Senior Senator from New York, is on record as saying that he will support Liebermann, even should he run as an independent against Lamont in the general election. Most Democrats say they will support whoever wins the primary, out of respect for the wishes of the Connecticutt party members. At the same time,however, they vow to support Liebermann in the primaries. Certain of them, such as Barbara Boxer of California, and Joe Biden, from Delaware, have caught a lot of heat for supporting Liebermann even to this extent.

Still, they are in a bind. If Liebermann follows through on his vow to run as an idependent if he fails to secure the party nomination-and he has begun a petition drive to do just that in the event-he could conceivably win the election. If he wins in that manner, the Democrats would of course hope he would continue to caucus with them, though at the same time they have to realzie that as an independent, he might have more of a free hand than ever to be just that-totally independent. And the party who retains power in the Congress could easily have the biggest pull on his loyalty, for the good of his state. This would be all the more ironic in that he could be responsible for the Repubicans retaining majority status in the Senate, if he does run as an independent and thus splits the Democratic vote.

He could make the claim that he was being targeted for elimination by the leftist elements of his own party, and that might be slightly justified. By the same token, the degree of support Lamont has gained from the liberal wing of the Democratic voters is indicative of the fact that Liebermanns Joementum has just been leaning too heavily for the right for quite some time, and to far too great a degree for them to feel comfortable with or good about.

There is a reason after all that Ann Coulter has gone on record as supporting Liebermann, even going so far as to advise him to become a Republican. The worse thing she has said about him lately is that if he were to do that, "he wouldnt be our best Republican".

And the facts are Liebermann is as he claims in many ways a traditionalist liberal Democrat. He is pro-choice, pro-civil and gay rights, pro-environment and pro-labor, if but moderately so.

My main bitch at him isn't his votes on Homeland Security, which he originally co-authored, or on the Iraqi War, or the "War on Terror". His votes along those lines were not so different from most Democrats, who also voted for these things, before they, of course, voted against them. Lieebermann at least has been consistent. No, my main bitch at him is his vote on issues like the bankruptcy bill, and his pandering to the religous elements of society, something I find personally abhorent.

That, and his conduct in the 2000 Presidential campaign,when he ran for Vice-Preisdent. If I didn't know better I'd swear that Liebermann was sitting there besides Cheney during this "debate", and all the while jacking him off under the table. He just comes across as ingratiating, as even servile, in the effort to exude a positive appearrance. If he had lived in Germany during Nazi times, Goebbels could have used him as two different characters in his propoganda films, as one character the arrogant, scheming Zionist Jew out for his own welfare at the expense of everything and everybody else, in another the servile, ingratiating type of Jew that would eaily colaborate with the Nazis as a way of saving his own neck.

And while that might seem extreme, it's worth pointing out that Connecticutt is not only Liebermanns home state, it is also the home state of the Presidents father, the former Preisident, George H. W. Bush. Who knows what shadowy connections the two of them might share? Connecticutt is an old money state, where family heritage goes back many years, and is deeply ingrained in the fabric of the society.

And if there is one thing that can bring Democrats and Republicans together, it's money.

Lay Down In Hell

I don't really know whether I believe in hell or not, but if the gods truly exist, they ought to invent one just for the likes of Kenneth Lay, the late former CEO of Enron. This guy and his cronies ruined more lives than anybody in recent memory, in America. He may actually take the grand prize in that regard .

Everybody knows about how he ripped off his investors and his employees, who were rpetty much forced to buy Enron stock, and as a result lost their 401 k's, while this turd had the temerity to encourage them to buy even more, knowing the stock was worthless.

Most people tend to forget that he almost bankrupted the state of California, holding the state hostage with Enrons predatory energy pricing policies, and engaging in a series of blackouts that amounted to almost a hostile takeover bid of the states infrastructure. He should have been prosecuted for this alone, yet he had friends in high places, in both the Clinton and the Bush Administrations.

Now, he's dead. Some people don't believe it,and some people think he was murdered. Take your pick.

* He committed suicide to protect his familys finances
*His wife murdered him; see reason stated above
*He was murdered by orders of someone in the Bush Administration in order to protect Bush from being confronted with the potential for the public release of Lays knowledge of his culpability in criminal actions.
*He was murdered by some of his own business associates, to protect their own skins.
*He faked his death. He is living somewhere high on the hog right now, laughing at all of us.

Well, he's dead, so I advise you to forget about that last one. I tend to think he simply died. He was an old man, under a lot of stress, was not that healthy to begin with, and may have overmedicated.

On the other hand, nothing would really syrprise me.

Crooks In Business Cults

The Big Business philosophy goes beyond the mere assumption that if you offer a customer a good product at a fair price, he will come back for more. Big business wants to make sure you have no say in the matter, and will get over on you any chance it gets. This has been proven time and again.

Now it's been proven quite visibly with Cingular Wireless, who have now been seen to have given poor service to lower grade customers in an effort to get them to upgrade their service at a higher price. Yep, their asses have been caught up with. But they are not the only ones. I am having the same experience with my local cable company, Charter Cable.

I recently downgraded my service from expanded basic cable to just basic, as a result of which I no longer get Fox News or MSNBC. Boo Hoo.

I get the local channels, including two PBS channels, in addition to C-Span, so that's good enough for me. I also get CNN and ESPN. Or, that is, I am suppossed to get them. The sound quality of CNN is static, and the visual quality of ESPN is likewise. All the other stations come in fine. So, yesterday I finally got around to calling Charter, and after spending quite a few minutes getting connected, I spent even more time being put on hold, before I was finally routed to an agent, who put me on hold while she went to check to "see what the problem is." I was eventually discnnected from her, whereupon I was informed I must go through the proces again.

I hung up in disgust. Fuck Charter, I decided. I am not, under any circumstances, going back to expanded basic, or any of the other packages. I might, however, think about Dish Network, if they don't straighten up their fucking act.

Rare Blood

Now here's some news that is indicative of the progress of science if ever there was. It concerns a certain Northfield Labs. What have they invented, and why is it so great? Well, it's a substance called, Polyheme, and it is-ready now-artificial blood. Synthetic, yet which can if successful adapt to a human blood supply. The uses and benefits are endless. No longer any need for dependence on human blood donors, many of whom may unknowingly or not carry diseases which might in cases go undetectd, until it is too late. A potential complete cure for blood diseases, should this substance eventually be able to replace a humans entire blood supply.

The problem is, of course, it is still in the testing phase, and will probably require some time before it is finaly if ever approved.

Now here comes the scary part. It has to be tested on humans, of course, before it can be certified as being safe. And it is being testd on humans, at various hospitals, who have gotten permission to conduct these tests without having to adhere to usual standards requiring informed consent.

In other words, if you go in for treatment, they don't necessarily have to tell you if they are testing this shit out on you. One hospital that is on the list of facilities involved in the teting of this synthetic blood is University of Kentucky Medical Center.

Thanks to Microsoft Word deciding to act up on me at the worse possible time, I no longer have the list of all the other hospitals that do, but you can find out which ones are involved by going to ABC News.com, the proper url to which I have also temporarily lost. But it should be relatively easy to find.

If you have to go to the hospital for anything more compicated than a flu shot, you might seriously want to think about looking for this list first, or especially if you have an older parent, or a siblign or child, or friend, etc. What you don't know can sometimes hurt you in more ways than you might ever imagine.

UPDATE: I've now recovered the url for the original story on ABC NEWS.com. Go there and read the story, and you will see that, if you live near one of the listed hospital,and find yourself having to avail yourself of their services, you can opt out of having a blood transfusion with this new synthetic blood by asking to be given a blue wristband, which will identify you as not willing to participate. Otherwise, you might very well find yourself in the unfotunate position of receiving what is still an experimental substance that your immune system might eventually reject. And who knows what the consequences of that might be.

I almost forgot to add, the link is in the post title.

Who Would Have Guessed

Now somebody has finally come out and verified the obvious, what I have known for fucking years now-tanning beds are dangerous. Yeah, it has something to do with the ultraviolet light, which seems, amazingly, can give you fucking skin cancer. Well, you could have knocked me over with a fucking feather.

Now that these finding have been released from a study conducted by doctors in Belgium, I wish I was still around some of the same people that used to look at me like I was a fucking idiot when I was telling them this shit TEN FUCKING YEARS AGO!!!!

And what kind of pussy wants to go to a tanning bed anyway, I thought the whole point of a tan was to look like a stud, or a sex siren, or some kind of shit like that, so-ooh, I guess that's it, you don't look so fucking sexy at first so you don't want nobody to see you until you are sufficiently brown, so you have to hide in a tanning booth. I get it.

Tanning booths have a real good game going. It's actually cheap to go for a series of visits. Where they stick it to you is selling you these fucking lotions, specialized scents and all, some of which are quite stimulating, I hear (no I haven't nor ever will try it). One small plastic container about three times thesize of a thimble will run you five dollars and more. A whole like 16 ounce bottle? Usually more than twenty.

Buy yourself a bottle of coppertone and go to the beach, idiots.

Lets Reevaluate DDT

Fuck Microsoft Word.

Anyway, I was recently over at Lemuels blog, Hillbilly White Trash, where he made the point about how the banning of DDT has in the long run proved detrimental to a far greater extent than it's use had ever allegedly been.

Now, personally, I had always been of the mind that DDT was banned due to the potential health hazards to humans, in particular, it could be a cancer causing agent. I'm still unconvinced it's banning by the then young EPA was necessarily a bad call.

What I do think, and know, is that there is enough of an impetus now to warrant restudy on the issue. I give two reasons for this:

West Nile Virus-this disease, which is carried by mosquitos, would be potentially all but eradicated if DDT, a highy effective mosquito killer, was now in use. According to Lem, it's banning has lead to a resurgence of malaria throughout the world, particularly in the Third World, among other things.

Japanese Beetles-Is the third new problem that might be solved by DDT, in fact, might only be solved by it. Japanese Beetles are so desructive to epecially small family farms they could in time lead to an econmic disaster not far removed from the epic proportions of locust plaques.

They eat fruits, in addition t flowers, are extremely prolific breeders, as well as eaters, and there seems to be nothing that can abate them for long. DDT might well be the answer.

The EPA needs to look into this, and once everything is weight=ed inthe balance, the pesticide might well prove useful. If it'sreported harmful effects are indeed exaggerated, as Lemuel and others claim, to not do so would amount to a criminal act, in my view.

Virtual Prey

Louisiana has just become the 21st state to ban Internet hunting, a "sport" that involves, for the payment of a fee, the ability to access the web-site of a preserve which contains deer. Through streaming video, you can see the deer, and through the click of a mouse can enjoy the magic of "hunting".

You simply point your mouse at the desired game, which produces a virtual crosshairs target. You then click the mouse, which somehow is attached to a rifle which is fired somehow, killing the animal. You then have the option of having the animals stuffed hide and horns delivered to your doorstep, there to adorn the walls of your den.

Well, as sorry as this is, I guess it is an improvemnt over the Dick Cheny style of hunting, which seems to be pulling up in your car to where the game is, and casually blowing away as many as you can (in his case game birds) from the comfort of your air-conditioned or heated automobile. At least here you don't have to worry about shooting your friends.

Still, it's good this has been outlawed. If you want to hunt, by God go out in the wild and walk and stalk your prey and hunt, like a fucking man. Leave the fucking armchair bullshit for the Sunday NFL.

Tata-An Old Crow

When Tata, the worlds oldest known living crow was born in 1947, Saturn was in the same position in the Zodiac that it is now. By the time he recently died, at the age of 59, the planet had made, in fact, two trips around the sun. And, when he died, Tata the crow was older than most baby boomers, the generation of Americans who began in 1946.

He had fallen from his tree, as a young crow, and was found by a tender hearted person there on the ground at the Long Island Cemetary. He was cared for by the Manetta family until 2001 when, at the age of 54, due to their own declining health, he was handed over to the care of Kristine Flones, a wildlife rehabilitator in Woodstock New York, in the hamlet of Bearsville. By that time, Tata was blind from cataracts.

According to Kevin McGowan, an ornithologist at Cornell University who has studied crows for more than 20 years, the oldest crow that he has proof of is one that he has tracked for fifteen years, though he has heard claims of one that had lived to be 29 or 30.

Still, according to McGowan, the age of Tata is certainly understandable given his relatively easy lifestyle, particularly the lack of predators, communicable diseases, and the relative security from fatal accidents.

The last few years of his life, according to Flones, Tata would in the spring call out loudly to the crows outside, befinning at five a.m. Sometimes he would be quite loud.

Although I don't know if it's true, I have heard that by splitting a crows tonque will enable it to talk in much the same manner as a parrot. Also, if you point a broomstick at a flock of crows flying in formation, they will ignore you, as they can tell the difference btween a broomstick and a rifle, the sight of which will cause the leader to cry out a warning to others, whereupon they all will scatter.

It would be interesting to know what would have been the result if he had been released at the age of four, perhaps. Would he have returned to what would have been the relative comfort of his adopted home, or wouldhe have elected eventually to stay in the wild? What if he could have been mated with a female crow? Coul they have been bred, and eventually produced a breed of tame crows? I've often wondered about this as regards to owls.

Whatever, I just thought this was a nice little story, though kind of sad. And when you think about it, tatas passing might even be seen as a symbolic allegory of the baby boomers whose arrival he accompanied. The coming passing of a bunch of 0ld crows who started out wild and free, and ended up caged, and all too tamed, yet calling out impotently to their successors in hopes of what can never be.

Ole' Toro

It takes an idiot to do certain things, and one of those things is getting out in the middle of a very narrow cobblestone street, say just for example in Pomplona Spain, and try to outrun a herd of frightened bulls that have just been released. For one thing, these bulls are pretty much being herded toward their deaths, and while they might not necessarily be aware of that, they know something is definitely not right, and boy are they scared, and boy are they pissed. At this exact moment, the last thing they want to see is a human being, who they do know, I’m sure, is responsible for their plight.

I’m not one of these overly sensitive types who think hunting and meat eating should be outlawed. I think meat eating in moderaton is fine. After all, as animals ourselves, humans are merely lucky enough to be on the top of the food chain, and meat eating at this stage of our evolution is not only acceptable, it is desirable, and this will be true for millenia to come, doubtless.

Hunting, as well, is beneficial to the balance of nature, so long as it is regulated and done responsiby.

This, however, is barbaric cruelty for no real reason other than the pursuit of tourist dollars, though it says more about the tourist in question than it does the Pamplonans who understandably are all too eager to avail themselves of their currency. Unfortunately, it is probably the only thing that keeps this ancient Spanish city above ground financially.

Every now and then, somebody pays a hefty price. This last time out, one tourist ended up paralyzed from the waste down with only partial use of his arms. And he is yet in serious condition, though his family has hopes that he will recover, due to his overall peak physical condition and state of health. And he wasn’t even involved in the main running of the bulls that transpire on the streets of Pomplona, an event which usualy inevitably results in some participants being trampled, or gored, or both.

No, this person was in the bullring with a herd of female cattle, taking part in some minor event, and got his ass trampled. Well, I hope he recovers completely. These people aren’t necessarily bad people, they are just stupid.

Matadors, that’s another question altogether. I know it’s their culture, the way they were raised, I know it’s their career, etc. But it’s the bulls life, and he is an unwilling participant. Givn my choice between the two, I will root for the bull eveyrtime.

Ahhh Those Were The Days

This is absolute proof that pornography has been around for a long, long time. I’m guessing from the Victorian Era, anywhere from the 1870’s to the 1890’s. What is more to the point, notice how the woman doesn’t have the mans dick in her mouth, that it is in plain sight, while at the same time hiding her face. Yet, you can see her mouth is wide open as though ready to insert it.

It is hard to tell if this was geared toward a male or a female audience. But I suspect it was for females, only because of the prominent display of the dick, as oppossed to it being in the womans mouth. Had it been aimed toward men, my guess is that it would be wholly and obviously in her mouth.

On the other hand, the look on his face speaks of an attitude of a successful triumph, nearly arrogant. Note that he is somewhat muscular, thogh somewhat bowllegged, the body of a sportsman, I think. He has the body of I am guessing a tennis player. It’s too bad, really too bad, that the womans face is hidden. I wonder why that is, but I am suppossing she might have been married. She was very well buildt, beautiful actually.

These were upper class people, I think. They certainly weren’t poor. Maybe what would in the day have passed for upper middle class. Possibly even aristocrats.

I post this not only out of just general interest and curiosity, but to point out a little known fact about the Victorian Era. There was quite a bit of pornography, actually, although most of it admitedly was written prose. A typical story, based on an even older one by the Marquis DeSade, revolved around a convent in which occurred sexual shenanigans with a priest, a gardener, and every single nun in the convent, one of whom was a new arrival, and, of course, a virgin-though not for long.

The Victorian Era as wild and raucous in it’s own time sexually as is our own. This is the era after all that gave us Jack The Ripper, whose chosen victims were all Englsih prostitutes, of whom the numbers were obviously considerable.

This is the era in which upper class males in many cases in addition to maintaining a marriage and family, had outside the home what were termed as “kept women” for their extra marital pleasures. In not a few cases these women were presented the wholesome task of initiating their lovers teenage sons to the mysteries of sex.

And this is the Era from which this picture originated, which I acquired from another blog, and which is only one known survivor of what was obviously many more. What a treausre trove were they still around, yet to be disovered.

As for the blog in question, it unfortunately hasn't been updated since December of last year. Were it updated on a regular basis, it would be a definite addition to the Blogroll. Still, if you would like to view "Vintage Erotica", this Blogspot blog may be accessed in the link via the post title.

Ahhhhh, yes-the good old days, indeed.

Michael Jackson-Psychic Vampire Update

Update-Please note, this is an old post. For the latest Michael Jackson post, posted in the days following the demise of this extraordinary individual, please see this post.

Michael Jackson has been existing in the Neverland of financial limbo for some time now, and seems ready to reemerge from the shadows of darkness back into the light of who gives a fuck. He has or will be moving to Europe, while maintaining a home in Bahrain, in order to be in proximity to music industry figures. In other words, he is planning on releasing another album, sometime over the next year.

His spokeswoman, Raymone K. Bain, in what might be an unfortunate descriptive choice of words in Jacksons case, explained that his “creative juices are flowing”. That might be interpreted as “lock up the kids, especially the boys, Michaels back in town”, except of course Michael is still wildly popular, supposedly, in Europe.

In the meantime, in an apparent effort to restructure his finances, which have been on very shaky ground the last few years, Jackson has fired his Bahrainian lawyers, as well as his long time accounting and business partners, the firm of Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman, and Sloan, and has hired L. Londell McMillan and The McMilan Firm. And he’s not finished yet. Well, he hopes not anyway.

Unfortunately, vampires, like Disney characters, never age and they never grow up. And I still hold that Michael Jackson is a psychic vampire, as I did a year ago in this earlier post on the subject. I don’t know what the inspiration is for the recent resurgence of his “creative juices” beyond the apparent desperate necessity to reestablish his career and finances. I would imagine though there were a lot of little cute Bahrainian boys running around the estate of Michaels Bahrainian prince friend, at right about the time his now fired Bahrainian lawyers announced he had restructured his finances in a deal with Sony. The result of this is that company now shares ownrship with him of his musical cataloque, including the Beatles songs.

Be that as it may, Micahel, like all the undead, may soon arise from the grave, reaching out to a child near you.

The Times They Have A'Changed

Neil Young has lately gone on record as bitching about the lack of “protest” singers, of current artists ready and willing to stand up to the evil ways of the Bush Administration. He has evidently been hanging around former Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash. Crosby has earlier bemoaned the lack of what he calls the “modern troubadour”.

I think all this is questionable myself. An acquaintance of mine has just recently explained to me, in voicing his agreement with Young, that this generation is just not “standing up”.

But what exactly is it they are not standing up to? What it seems to amount to is, when you get right down to it, Young wishes there were modern young rock artists who would devote the entirety of their careers to protesting the policies of the Bush Amdinistration. I mean,that has to be what he’s getting at, because there are certainly artists who have protested to some degree. You have not only the Dixie Chicks resurgence in popularity, but Green Day, and even the Rolling Stones, a band who at their height of creative influence and fame, in the sixties and early seventies, were not exactly known as protest singers, or for that matter even slightly socially conscous (though they did dabble a bit).

And outside the realm of music, you have of course other performers, the so-called Hollywood elite, who for the most part are obviously progressive or liberal, and as often as not self described as such. George Clooney, for example, has had no problem finding work in Hollywood, and last year saw two of his films nominated for Oscars-“Syrianna” and “Good Night And Good Luck”.

Nor do Hollywood artists seem to have any problem “standing up” on any various number of issues, for the most part liberal, but some conservative as well. Of course, I understand that Neil Youngs area of concern is that of rock music, but the plain fact is, this ain’t the sixties anymore. Meaning, most people don’t really care about political statements in art, in my opinion.

I should clarify that, though. It’s fine to make a political statement. But nobody wants to hear it all the time, neither from Hollywood film or television stars, or from rock musicians. Most people that like rock music, and top forties pop, want mainly to be entertained. They can appreciate a message song, or an issue oriented song, being included here and there. But to put it bluntly, they more often than not arent going to be influenced by it one way or another.

Nobody is likely to change their mind on an issue because their favorite artist pontificates on the subject. At best, their favorite artist might offer them validation for beliefs they all ready hold, and I guess in some cases they might sway somebody that is on the fence, or make somebody think about an issue they have previously not considered that much. And that’s fine. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

The bottom line is, up and coming artists of today are concerned first and foremost with their careers, and they are going to put out what people want to hear. If they make it far enough up the ladder to where they have the option of creative control of their output, then they have obviously done something right, and they aren’t likely to tamper with success. They are doubtless going to grow creatively,and evolve, which is normal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to turn their music, their art, into a forum for political punditry or issue advocacy. The minute they do that, they are probably approaching the twilight of their careers, truthfully.

And before that career finaly ends, they will find themselves faced with an ever dwindling audience, as, in all truthfulness, they will have by their own design limited the scope of their appeal to a smaller audience. Now, no sensible group of people are going to get all that worked up about an artist who voices an opinion, however controversial, on any subject, either by word or by deed or by song. But again, that is not what I’m talking about here. And that is most certainly not what Neil Young seems to be talking about. What I am talking about, and what he seems to be talking about, are those artists who would base and revolve their entire careers on it.

I’m talking about the limited scope of artists who devote the entirety of their careers to protest and issue advocacy, or who are thought of as such. I can think of two examples, from the early days of folk and rock. One is Pete Seager. The other is Jonathon Edwards, who in the early seventies had a hit song called “Sunshine”, from what is only one album in what has been described by one reviewer as “the best of a miserable body of work”. Yet, to hear “Sunshine”, it is obvious Edwards was talented as a singer and songwriter, yet despite a pretty voluminous output, this was his one sole hit. And this as much as anything had to do with the way he put himself across, which, to paraphrase the same reviewer, amounted to a sanctimonious preachiness that heaped scorn on anyone who did not agree with the aritsts views.

The same could be probably said for folk artist and icon Pete Seager, who never made it beyond the scope of his chosen genres limited appeal, and who was considered outside that world as self righteous and sanctimonious as they ever came. Yet, to the folk music crowd, he is practically a god. Yet, these are the same people who turned on Bob Dylan, the penultimate protest singer, because he dared to branch out, which offended their sense of folk music purity.

Yet, though they disdained Dylan for this, he achieved a degree of success that went far beyond any of the purist crowd heroes ever has or will achieve. There are aritsts who have a talent that just can not be kept in bounds, and Dylan, like Springsteen, Lennon, and yes, Neil Young, belong in this category. Which makes it all the more surprising that Young would take this incomprehensible position. Does he or anyone seriously believe that he or any of the major artists I have mentioned would have lasted long if they had confined the majority of their output to political punditry or issue advocacy?

I think this is frustration speaking here, and a longing for the long gone, supposed good old days, which no longer exist, and in which artists influence were greatly exagerrated anyway. They were mainly preaching to the crowd to begin with, which in some cases was the reason for their appeal, in that they offerred a degree of validation. But the rock music fan of today is not the monolitihic entity it may have been in the sixties. Now, if an artist criticises Bush, he mght discover a good percentage of his fan base might not really care, or even actually not agree with him. A few of them might even think George Bush is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Therefore, again, why should they limit their audience appeal?

But more importantly, again, the bottom line is, people want to be entertained. They might at the same time appreciate some message songs every now and then-so long as the songs in question are good. But nobody wants to listen to an artist who utiizes the bulk of his or her creative output to sing the fucking editorial pages at them.

Flaming Flags

I guess you fucking idiots on the radical left are happy, now that the United States Senate has failed to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag. It was close, though, it only came up one vote short. But for now, I guess the issue is over and done with as a partisan national issue, until, say, the day of the 2008 Republican Convention.

Until that day, you fucking morons, I have an idea. There are a few issues where I am in pretty much agreement with you on the left. I would like to see these issues put forward. And, though a lot of theAmerican public are skeptical, I think enough of them are on the fence that they might, if we approached it the right way, be convinced to come over to our side. With that in mind, I suggest we go all around to the different communities, hold rallies in support of our common issues, and when everybody gathers around to hear what we have to say-

WE BURN, DEFILE, OR OTHERWISE DESTROY A BELOVED NATIONAL SYMBOL!!!!

Yeah, that’s bound to get them on our side, you fucking half-wits. And that is exactly why this issue is going to stay an issue, everytime there is an election on or just this side of the horizon. And that’s why you never have to be worried, not in the least, that this constitutional amendment is ever going to become law.

Just look how this damn thing was set up for failure by the Republican Party. This bill was oppossed by no less powerful a Republican figure in the Senate than Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConell, the senior Republican Senator from Kentucky, who spoke out against it on the grounds that it would be an abridgement of the first Amendment guarantees of Freedom of Speech.

That, dear fools, is because, in my opinion, the Republicans had to make sure their bases were covered in case just enough Democrats crossed over in support of the bill, that it actually might pass, therefore depriving them of one of their number one bullshit issues. There are a few Republicans who can afford to take the position of spoiler, so long as the overall Republican position is solidly on the side of protecting “Old Glory”. Why?

Because if it ever passed, again, it’s no longer an issue. Therefore, if any of you flea bags ever decide, from that point on, to set flames to flag, your asses are going to jail, and no Democrat will jump to your defense. Their asses are covered, from that point on. But the way things stand now, McConnell and all the other Republicans know full well that, whenever the American public sees you engage in this infantile, moronic act of abject stupidity, they aren’t going to necessarily say, “hey, look at those commies. They must be members of that leftist Workers World Party. Or maybe Code Pink. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of leftist punks who just want to be a part of an “event”.

No, a substantial number of them, if not the majority, are going to be saying, LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING LIBERAL BASTARD DEMOCRATS!!

Then, after you are shown over and over again on the mainstream media, and Republican campaign ads, and presented as examples of “liberal” ideology, a large number of voters are going to run, not walk, to their polling places on election day and VOTE REPUBLICAN.

And so, in conclusion, my final request to you brain dead fucks is, the next time you decide to hold a rally in favor of gun control, or against the death penalty, or in favor of open borders and against strict enforcement of our immigration laws, please, by all means, do me the favor of burning the American flag. You have my blessing.

I Bitch Out Kentuckys Best

I used to know a lady in Cincinnati Ohio who used to talk to her cigarrettes. You would see her all over the place, in restaurants. White castles, Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonalds, etc., there she would be, at any given time, her pack of Pall Mall keeping her company along with her coffee. You never knew exactly what she was saying to them, despite the fact that sometimes she all but yelled at them. Then, she would go back to talking quietly. “Normally”. Then, she would start yelling again. Sometimes she would spank them. And, of course, she would smoke them. Nobody ever hardly said anything to her. I know I sure as hell wasn’t about to.

I heard once that years ago she set her apartment on fire, and then left her hsband and kids there, all who died as a result. According to this story, the veracity of which I cannot vouch for, she then went insane. I wonder sometimes if she is still alive. It’s been going on ten years now since I last lived in the Cincinnati/Covington area, though the last time I saw her, she seemed like she had actually started to get a grip. She seemed sane. But I will always remember her for those cigarettes, and the way she would sometimes jab her fist in her mouth suddenly, as if in realization of some sudden, sickening horror that was indescribable.

And so, in honor of “Crazy Betty”, I am now going to have a conversation with my cigarrettes. I am going to here transcribe the conversation. Just for posterity.

ME: God damn you. Why won’t you leave me alone? Will I never be rid of you?

KENTUCKYS BEST: It’s you who wont leave us alone. I’ve never seen you before you just waltzed into the store and bought me. I had no say in it. You must have me confused with another pack of Kentuckys Best cigarrettes. Like maybe the one you just finished smoking before you opened me up.

ME: Fuck you. You are a fucking pack of cigarrettes, you are all the same.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Bite me.

ME: Now I’m hooked on you and I can’t quit. All because the people who make you made you even more addictive than you would normally be, and the politicans used to support them. Now that I’m hooked the politicans have turned on me and other smokers and are trying to capitalize off our addiction. I hate them all.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Admit it, you love us, though.

ME: Yeah, right, according to the Surgeon General even your second hand smoke is dangerous to the other people I’m around. The no-good bastard is saying the science is now indisputable, supposedly. Soon, more and more people are going to ban smoking in indoor facilities. More and more states and municipalities are going to enact restrictions. No more smoking in restaurants, not even in bars. Not even smoking sections. No more smoking in any work places. And they keep making you more and more expensive, trying to make me quit, supposedly, yet deep down hoping I don’t so they can keep raking in the extra tax money for their stupid wasteful programs.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Come on, take a drag, you’ll feel better.

ME: It’s just wrong. It ain’t fair. I hate politicians. And I hate that lousy fucking Surgeon General. It’s all the fault of these motherfuckers who want to use politics to enforce their own values on the rest of us. Some employers are now going to more and more fire workers who smoke due to increased insurance costs. Before long they are going to try to ban it in your own home, suppossedly because it can harm your kids and other non-smoking relatives.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Can I ask you a question?

ME: All these motherfuckers should die. Hopefully from cancer.

KENTUCKYS BEST: I SAID CAN I ASK YOU A FUCKING QUESTION????!!!!!

ME: WHAT THE FUCK IS IT????!!!!!!.

KENTUCKYS BEST: WHY ARE YOU SO GODDAMNED PISSED OFF???? I’M THE ONE THAT’S GETTING FUCKING BURNED HERE!!!!!!

The Ugly Tourist

Joe Mikelik, the manager of the Minor League baseball team the Ashville Tourists, put on quite a show in Lexington Sunday when his team played the hometown Lexington Legends in the last game of a five game series. He objected strenuosly to a call on second base when one of his players, unable to reach third, tried to return to second, and was thown out. Mikelik thought he was safe. And that was when the fun began.

First he got all in the second base umpires face, in no uncertain terms. After some few minutes of furious, impotent ranting and raving, he dug the second base out of the ground. Then, he flung it as far into right field as he could. Then, he got in the umpires face again, then headed for home, where he got in the homeplate umpires face. Then, he decided to kick around homplate, which he eventually covered with dirt. Then, he went to the visting Ashville teams dugout, bitching and cussing all the while to anybody that happenned to be standing in proximity to him.

He was far from finished. He returned, with a pitcher of water, which he proceeded to pour over the mound of dirt that yet covered home plate. He then proceeded to kick at the muddy concoction, until the homeplate was now uncovered. I’m thinking that he might have been advised to uncover the plate he had covered with dirt, but maybe not. What happenned next, however, I’m reasonably sure he wasn’t advised to do by anyone. Having returned to the Ashville dugout, he then threw, one at a time, all the bats out of the dugout and onto the infield.

The Lexington Legends went on to win the game. It has been opined that Mikelik wil probably be fined and suspended for these actions. While that would certainly be appropriate, I hope the man doesn’t lose his job, and hasn’t ruined his career, over this stupid display of temperament and bad sportsmanship.

For one thing, I love shit like this. I especialy love it when an irate player opens a good solid can of whup ass on a particularly obnoxous fan, and think they should be rewarded for this if anything, certainly not punished. I love to see a good fight between oppossing players, so long as no one is seriously injured. And nothing is likely to make me roar with laughter more than did the hilarious site of Tommy LaSworda, in the playoffs I think two years ago, furiously throwing himself at a member of an oppossing team, who proceeded to dodge him while pushing him by his head on toward the gorund.

The only thing I hate along these lines is fans who start shit, and especially the parents of young child athletes who go ballistic. Them I want to see their asses kicked, right in front of their kids. But this was nothing I found reason to see objectionable. Neither did the Lexington area reporters who covered the story, all ofwhom really seemed as delighted as did I. Face it, there is something about this that is funny, and most people enjoy it. Well, I do anyway.

One thing though, if you ever get a chance to fuck Joe Mikeliks wife, you damn sure better hope he doesn’t walk in and catch you.