Sarah Palin supports North Korea

In an interview, former Alaska governor and vice president candidate Sarah Palin declared her support of America's ally, North Korea.

She really should check her facts before she writes them on her palms.

Lead by Example

With all the talk about sexual molestation at the nation's airports, by TSA agents, in recent days, it is convenient for the country's leaders to say that such invasive techniques are required to secure the nation's airways from potential acts of terrorism, while at the same time enjoying the freedom to travel around the world molestation-free on the taxpayers' dollar.

It's kind of a kick in the balls. (Pardon the pun.)

I think it would go a long way to diffuse this unfortunate situation we find ourselves in tonight. The TSA should make a video showing the President of the United States undergoing the same invasive pat-down that American fliers are currently being subjected to in airports across the country. It is not a way to degrade the office of the president, but it is a way to show that we sometimes have to lead by example rather than hollow words.

In addition to the president, perhaps the Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can get in on the action, too. They can demonstrate to the nation exactly what the pat downs entail and what its ultimate function is.

Although many people object, personally, I would elect to go through the body imaging equipment. While it is completely invasive, the person who is viewing the image of my naked body is not even at the airport; thus, he/she cannot see what I look like off of the body imaging software. I think this is a less invasive method of getting through airport security and onto your flight!

I'm just saying!

US Postal Service delivers debt

The United States Postal Service has delivered well on its debt for the fiscal year ending on September 30. The USPS lost more than $8 billion dollars, which is grossly more than it did last year during the same time.

The USPS credits lower volumes in mail as one reason it is losing money. I credit its own self-importance as another reason.

Recently, I mailed a package to an address in California. I told the postal guy I wanted to send it as cheap as it would go. I was in no hurry. He told me it would be $16.70! I almost laid down and died right there on the floor. I know that California is 2,000 miles from where I live, but let's get real.

I declined the USPS service and selected UPS. UPS can deliver the same package in two days, instead of seven days, for half the cost. Why does the USPS think it is so invincible and needed? It better face that fact before it is too late.

Morons in Kentucky

Who in their right mind would vote for Rand Paul?

He has already been declared the winner of Kentucky's Senate seat by the major networks. I'll just go ahead and say it, "What the fuck!"

United States Postal Service (USPS)

The United States Postal Service is the only self-sustaining government agency (well, sort of). It delivers untold pieces of mail each year.

So why can't it deliver mine?

I had a package sent to me on Monday, which was the 18th, via First Class mail. Today is the 23rd, and its still undelivered. The package originated in Pennsylvania, which is not that far from here. (It has a tracking number on it, so I can see clearly when it was sent by tracking it online.) It left from its pick-up point in Pennsylvania, where it stayed in limbo for two days. Then magically it turned up in Cincinnati, which is less than 100 miles from here and that is where it has been ever since the 21st.

I just knew I would get it today. I went to the mailbox to check and no package. I just checked online to see where it is. Guess what? It's in Cincinnati, Ohio!

If the USPS really wants to compete with FedEx and UPS then it better step up its customer service. They have commercials equating their services with the companies I just mentioned. In my experience they are not even close. They can deliver a letter quickly, but never a package.

In the future, I will request that my packages be shipped via FedEx or UPS!

Barack Obama: a homophobe?

Yesterday, the Pentagon issued orders allowing military recruiters to accept openly homosexual recruits for the first time in the history of the nation's armed forces. In a step backward, however, Barack Obama's administration applied for a stay from the same San Francisco federal court that declared "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" unconstitutional.

I find this completely unacceptable. The government should be working to enforce the court's ruling that lifted the stigma of hate and exclusion against the gay community. Instead, they cite that the ruling may compromise the armed services in some way.

That is bogus!

President Obama, you do not know your ass from a hole in the ground! Although, you are a Democrat, like me, I never supported your rise to power! Hillary would never have petitioned the court to reverse its ruling.

Flu Shot

Yesterday, I voluntarily agreed to get a flu shot. I was visiting the doctor for some routine stuff, and he suggested I get a flu shot. Usually, I protest and turn down his offer. But this time, after some mild coxing, I relented and received my first-ever flu shot!

Now, I have heard horror stories of people getting the actual flu from the shot, but after getting my shot, I did some research and found out that the the viruses they use are utterly dead; therefore, there is no chance of becoming infected via the injection. Although, it is my first flu shot, I am glad that I accepted it. I do work in a setting where I am exposed to countless viruses and bacteria on a daily basis. Lord knows I should have caught it by now, but I haven't yet! Perhaps, this year will be a chance for a new yearly event.

Even though I detest needles, I detest being sick even more!

Don't ask, but feel free to tell

The Pentagon issued orders allowing recruiters of the armed forces to accept gay and lesbian enlistees. While the recruiter may not ask about candidates' sexual orientation, the candidate may declare if he or she is homosexual without being disqualified.

Wow! People can actually be honest about who they are and die for their country in the process!

Too Sad: Christine O'Donnell

Republican fiasco-Tea-Party-loving candidate Christine O'Donnell, who is up for Delaware's seat in the United States Senate, seemed to have murky knowledge about the First Amendment. She was shocked to find out, during a debate, that the First Amendment does guarantee separation of church and state.

Way to go Delaware!

Red State Update: Rand Paul

In an attempt to get Rand Paul elected as the Kentucky's next senator, the RINO Hunters of Central Kentucky hired Red State Update to create a political advertisement.

Aqua Buddha lover Rand Paul declares Bible is a hoax

If we didn't get the memo in 2008, anyone whose last name is "Paul" is probably a moron with radical ideas about our country. If Ron Paul wasn't enough, now Kentucky--for some odd reason--has Rand Paul, who is running for the state's seat in the United States Senate.

Like his father, Ron Paul, Rand Paul is an extreme radical whose ideas are completely out of the mainstream. Only in the Republican Party could you have dabbled in witchcraft, like Delaware's Christine O'Donnell did, or declare the "Bible a hoax" and state that your god is "Aqua Buddha," like Rand Paul. Of course, these candidates have the full backing of the (Tea Party) Republican Party.

In the past, Republicans tried to say it was Democrats who had whacky notions, but this year's pool of Republican nominees has blown that notion out of the water!

Christine O'Donnell (aka, the Witch)

Republican Christine O'Donnell, who is running to fill Vice President Joe Biden's old Senate seat has come under some scrutiny since she discussed her affinity for different religious beliefs and practices. (Even if it was a few years ago. You know what they say about skeletons in the closet at election time!)

In her own political ad, she declares, "I'm not a witch! I'm you." She is just an average American, who never went to Yale University, nor did she inherit millions from her family. That does sound typically American, but she is fighting the fact that she tried, or at least thought about, witchcraft in the past. Now, that past is catching up with her, and you know Republicans feel about any religion that isn't there own (i.e., full-on, dogmatic Christianity)!

Here's O'Donnell's honest-to-goodness ad:




Then, here's Saturday Night Live's spoof of her ad:

10/10/10

I like uniform dates. I remember most of them. I think the world was supposed to end on 6/6/6. Then, something was supposed to happen on 9/9/99, too. But what I can't remember.

It's just fun!

Stephen Colbert & his Brazilian

I watched the opening statement of Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report," before the House's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security on YouTube, regarding immigrant workers.

I couldn't stop from laughing as he went over how Americans cannot abide by the thoughts of a Mexican picking their tomatoes. They require an American to do that job, while the tomato then goes through a litany of Latin American hands before reaching the American palate. He also submitted a video of his colonoscopy into the Congressional record, regarding the diet's need of fiber.

Colbert stated: "I want a tomato picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa, where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."

Barbara Boxer is a millionaire. Et tu, Carly?

In another "Carly for California" ad for Senate, Carly Fiorina declares that Barbara Boxer is a millionaire while Californians are suffering with high unemployment.

I just wonder if that is a bit of the kettle calling the pot black! After all, as the former C.E.O. of HP, Fiorina received a multi-million dollar severance package, after driving that company into the ground.

Now, who is best for California, and the United States Senate?

Carly Fiorina & Barbara Boxer

This morning I saw an advertisement for Republican Carly Fiorina's bid to unseat Barbara Boxer, the Democratic senator from California.

The advertisement itself was a bit odd. It shows Senator Boxer asking a general in the United States armed forces to address her as "senator," during a Senate hearing, rather than as "ma'am." Fiorina's ad asserts that Boxer, who has been in the United States Senate for 28 years, really doesn't deserve the title of senator. Is it because she is a woman or a Democrat?

I personally do not see the disparage in requesting to be addressed by one's title. Yes, if you are a member of the Senate, then you ought to be called "senator," whether you are a Democrat or Republican.

Doctors

When I was younger I had never heard of a physicians assistant or advanced nurse practitioner.

As a consumer in the medical field, I expect to get what I pay for. I am quite verbal about this issue, in and out of the doctor's office. A few years ago I had an experience with an advanced nurse practitioner. I went to the doctor with a bladder infection. It burned when I urinated, yes it was embarrassing, but I was okay with it since I was going to my doctor for treatment.

I waited in the waiting room, then I waited longer in the exam room. The door opened and someone I had never seen came in to talk to me about my bladder, and how it is uncommon for men to get bladder infections. Yes, I am quite uncommon. I was very nice as I asked the million dollar question, "When is the doctor going to come in and see me?" After all, I was paying to see a physician, not a less trained professional. She told me that she would be taking care of me. Then I got a bit brutal.

It hurt to piss, after all.

I said, "I think I'll wait and see the doctor." I was quite sure of my position. "He won't be able to see you today, because he is with other patients," she said. First of all, I called and made an appointment with the doctor, not a prescription-pad-toting Nurse Ratchet. Second, I don't like people telling me what I will do.

By this time, I had my little plastic cup in hand for the urine sample. I calmly explained that I would expect to see the doctor after I filled-up the cup to the line--no less--with my liquid waste. She was pretty certain she would be doing the post-piss diagnosis. By that time I was using words like "insurance fraud." I did, yes, ask if I got a discount by seeing her. The cost was the same. That just didn't set right with me.

(I am a teacher. I am required by law to perform my duties in and out of the classroom, not my teacher's aide. Naturally, it seemed to me that the doctor should be performing his duty to his patients, not his assistant. I don't care how gifted she is with a stethoscope.)

To make a painful story short, the doctor was the one who gave me my diagnosis and wrote the prescription. My self-advocacy as a consumer had won the day! I'm sure, however, my bitchy attitude played a small part in my victory.

As a result, I no longer see that doctor. I feel it is the height of poor manners to expect your patients to accept a substitute when they seek medical care. I now have a doctor who does not even employ physician's assistants or advanced nurse practitioners.

Good for me!

Iraq War Over

A war that should never have been has finally ended after seven bloody years! President Obama declared the war in Iraq essentially ending today at 5pm EST.

This war cost us the lives of Americans, our integrity and respect among the international community. Now it is time to end the disgraceful war in Afghanistan. Both wars have come at a high price. The greatest casualty of all is our dignity as a nation.

Birthers

Birthers say that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Personally, I believe he was born in Hawaii, on August 4, 1961, which is clearly after the state's statehood of 1959.

Even though it isn't anything new, there are those who say he wasn't born in the United States. I have heard everything from Indonesia, where he did live for a short time as a young boy; Kenya, where his father was born. I've even heard Iraq.

Let me say, I am not a "birther." I do not buy into the whole conspiracy theory that Barack Obama is an Islamic fundamentalist, who has been planted into the highest echelon of our nation's government to destroy us from within; however, I do not see any reason why a presidential candidate would not produce his/her birth certificate for public scrutiny. It is a constitutional requirement to be a natural born citizen of the United States, after all. It should be on file, for every candidate, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

If running for president, would I show you my birth certificate? Yes, without reservation. It shows that I was born in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was admitted into statehood in 1792, as the 15th state. (I've got facts.) I do not see the problem with showing the document to quash any question about my constitutional qualifications.

It may not dispel all rumors and innuendo, but it would prove to the intelligent among the electorate that I am who I say I am. The same holds true for Barack Obama.

Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional

California's ban on same-sex marriage was declared unconstitutional by a United States District Court.

Laws that deny equal rights to gays are certainly unconstitutional!