The Herman Cain fuss...

I see news articles all over about Herman Cain and his apparent sexual escapades in the past.  As posted by other bloggers, this seems remniscent of Clarence Thomas.  Looking at the accusations, I see no criminal complaints and a number of people who were happy to accuse and take payment to shut up.  Which they then failed to do.  The latest is stating that he had a 13 year relationship with her and she knew that he was married.  A paragon of honesty and trust.  Today one of my co-worked asked me if I thought he actually committed these indiscretions.  My answer was, much like when Gary Conduit was under the gun, do I care?  Really, if a politician cannot keep his zipper shut, that is an issue between them and their spouse.  What concerns me is, can he do the job? 

While I can't say that I agree with his entire platform as presented so far, he has several things in his favor.  First, he has a college degree in math.  That in itself is enough to put him head and shoulders above the pack when reviewing our current government fiscal situation.  Second, he has proved that he can successfully run a large corporation, which in reality is what our government has become.  Third, if he can pull off all of the afermentioned sexual shenanegans and still have time to run a major coporation successfully, he should be able to do far more in office than Bill Clinton was ever able to with the interns on his presidential staff...

Your tax dollars at work...

While I applaud Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologizing for his director of communications over-reaction to a tweet made by a high school student, I really would like to think that this employee has more important things to be occupying her time.  Looking at The Wichita Eagle, I see all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Twitter that could possibly be more important, but sadly that was not her priority.  I really think that she needs someone to go ahead and send her a copy of the Constitution including the Bill of Rights, since apparently her copy seems to have lost the first page.  I'd loan her my copy, but I doubt she would delve too deeply...

Entertainingly, the student in question is 18 and eligible to vote as are most of her friends.  Just food for thought to the Governor and his staff...

UN Department of the obvious...

The UN released a shocking report that there have been crimes against humanity in Syria. This was surprising to... well no one, really.  I continually wonder why we fund this collection of simpletons and thieves.  The net effect of this report will be zero.  It will be (at best) discussed in session and then promptly lost among the other graft and unerring reports on the obvious.  I read several opinions about wanting to evict the UN from US soil with the US Marines conducting the proceedings.  I have met many marines and I have to say, they would be too polite and professional.  I would like the proceedings to be conducted by the Hells Angels, with various chapters competing to see who can clear a floor the fastest.  Pull up cargo vessels to the edge of the FDR East River Drive and load it all in without even stopping traffic.  Then get top dollar to demo the site and build new hi-rise buildings.  I know, one can dream...

Red Saturday...

No, I'm not talking about the various acts of stupidity that happened around the country on Black Friday trying to get amazing deals on, well, anything. I'm talking about everyone looking at their credit card and bank statements (or bail and hospital charges depending how your day went) and realizing how much they "saved". Some people I know save so hard they take until next Black Friday to pay it off. I stayed home and enjoyed myself. No stress, no charges (financial or otherwise).

Uh oh, now I gotta look like I know what I'm doing...

So I am doing my morning day off ritual, enjoying my cup of coffee and checking my blogs.  What do I find when I wander over to check for DGC (dead goblin count) entries but that Jay has listed me in his blog roll.  Hmm, now I have to look like I know what I'm doing, or (as I tell my boss) create the illusion of knowledge and skill...  Thanks for the link Jay!

May you fly on dragons wings...

Anne McCaffrey has passed away.  Unfortunately, I was never able to meet her, so my books will remain unsigned.  I did once get to sit with a group who had coffee with Harlan Ellison and he recounted the time at a writers workshop when he was less than generous in his review of what she had written for the group.  He admitted that she seemed to do well in spite of his opinion.  My daughter just got done reading the entire Pern series in my possession.  Maybe I'll follow that lead and re-read them too.

Occupy Oakland fail.

So I watched the news reporting on the Occupy protest in Oakland yesterday.  All that I could think was, what a bunch of morons.  They shut down the Port of Oakland, shut down sections of downtown Oakland and "stuck it to the 1%!".  Except they didn't.

Most of the businesses that were shut down were not "greedy bankers" or other 1% evil doers.  Most of them were small or medium businesses.  None of them can afford to take the hit to their bottom line, but they had to because history has shown them the probable consequences of having open doors during a protest.  The port was shut down, so 70 dock workers couldn't get to work.  None of those people are big greedy fat cats.  The truckers all had to park their trucks, so they got thrown behind on their schedules.  As a former truck driver, I can assure you that the owner/operators were not happy to see their truck payment being held hostage by these protesters.  On the other hand, the union drivers were happy because they were getting paid no matter what.  The union port workers likely got paid too, but I didn't see any of them bragging about it on the news. 

One business did stay open (Whole Foods, historically very good to their employees and customers) and they were rewarded with having their building defaced, their furniture thrown/upended and their trash/recycle bins with a new paint job.  BofA and Wells Fargo were both closed and both got damaged.  So much for peaceful.   Funny tho, they have (evil) insurance, so they will not have to pay for the damage.  You and I will with our insurance dollars.  And the bank employees had to use vacation time to cover their lost shifts, if they had it.  As far as hurting the banks, I guarantee that people just went to other branches to do their banking.  So the only evil bankers that suffered were the hourly wage tellers who really can't afford to have their hours cut.

And in the end, last night they ended up trading firebombs and flashbangs with the police.  So, in the end, the 99% end up taking it in the shorts but the protesters didn't care.  Shocking.