A Question Not Answered

The links below are required reading. Enjoy!

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/network.asp
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/a-question-not-ignored/

I love fact check dot org...

It is amazing to me how many people don't pay attention to what is going on in a television interview. The fact that this kind of crap, the chain letter, is used to rile up people who watched the same program we all did and should know better, is testament to the sad state of the average American's attention span and intelligence. You would think that with as many people pay homage to the idiot box for hours each day they would be a little more attentive and know what is said on their lord and master, TeeeeeeVeeeeee. There's is a school of thought that one needs to practice something for 10,000 hours to be a master or expert at it. By my estimation we live an a sea of masters of the T.V. Act like experts America. ( I'm now engaged in a disappointed head shake.)

This all can be summed up with to old adage, 'Don't believe everything you read.' Especially when you read it on the internet in the form of a chain letter. Since when did people start taking chain letters seriously anyway?

I am exasperated...

Beaten With A Peace Sign

Fall is here, the air is starting to get crisp and the leaves are falling. With more of the day spent in darkness it's the perfect time of the year for mischief and today I was fortunate enough to find some.

Today I was in need of some push pins so I decide to walk a few blocks to the office supply store and pick some up. On the way I happened a cross a gaggle of hippies with anti-war signs. Their most aggressive signs where speaking out against the war in Afghanistan. I'm no war monger or right wing religious anti-Muslim fanatic and on some levels I sympathize with there cause. But they where so damn into themselves I couldn't let the opportunity to fuck with them slip by. So as I walked past them to the supply store I made a plan.

On the way back home from I stopped to mingle and get into position for the fun I was to have. I said a few casual hellos, pumped my hand and yelled "End the war man" and identified the leader of the group. As soon as the arch-hippie was picked out I sauntered up to him to engage.

"Hey man. I know how we can end all the wars over seas, Man!" I say.

He looks puzzled but answers anyway. "What's your thought brother?" He says.

Now the trap is sprung time to blow his mind and I proceed to share my thoughts.

I reply. "Ya ever here of Dresden man?"

Immediately I went from being in the presence of peaceful hippies to an angry peace sign wielding mob. All manner of insults are hurled my way. Baby killer, fascist, monster, thug just to name a few. To top it all off I was in fact struck with a sign promoting peace. I think there's more than a little irony in that.

Not to worry though, while they where rather angry, having been vegans for so many years I'm sure there bones where to brittle for real combat and I was able to escape laughing hysterically.

What did I say? Trust me this isn't over. Rush, the master of hyperbolic bullshit that he is, will turn this issue into a carnival side show of an event in no time. My heart goes out to those who inflict themselves with his rhetoric everyday. I wonder, Rush listeners, what's it like to listen to an entire Limbaugh show? Are you conscious for the whole thing? Or do you eyes roll back into your head as you go into convulsion and foam at the mouth while you speak in tongues about politics? Read on...

ST. LOUIS -- Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh blames others for being dropped from the group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams.

On his syndicated show Thursday, Limbaugh said he was approached by St. Louis Blueschairman Dave Checketts earlier this year about participating in a Rams bid. He also said Checketts assured him his involvement as a minority investor had been vetted by the NFL.

"I said to him at this meeting, 'Are you aware of the firestorm?' He said 'We wouldn't have approached you if we hadn't taken care of that," Limbaugh said.

AP Photo/Photo courtesy of Rush LimbaughRush Limbaugh is blaming the players union in part for his being dropped from a potential Rams ownership group.

Limbaugh added that Checketts had told him his involvement had been cleared at the "highest levels of the NFL."

Despite getting sacked, Limbaugh said he still loved the NFL and would probably be "the biggest non-paid promoter of the sport."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell andIndianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay both expressed misgivings this week about Limbaugh's involvement. On Wednesday, Checketts said Limbaugh had been dropped from the bid.

During a 15-minute counterattack at the start of his show, Limbaugh said he believes he's been made an example by a players' union seeking leverage in talks over a new collective bargaining agreement. And he believed what happened to him was an illustration of "Obama's America on full display."

Racially insensitive remarks from the past brought down Limbaugh, who in 2003 was forced to resign from ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" broadcast after saying of the Eagles'Donovan McNabb: "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

According to transcripts posted on his Web site, in 2007 Limbaugh said: "The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

Limbaugh blamed DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA, whom he called an "Obama-ite," and the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, whom he referred to as "race hustlers," for Checketts' decision a day earlier to drop him. He said his sacking was an example of the political clout wielded by the Obama administration.

"What is happening to the National Football League, what is about to happen to it, has already happened to Wall Street, has already happened to the automobile business," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said he was victimized in the media by "misreporting, lying, repeating the lies while also saying 'Limbaugh denies,' repeating the made-up quotes, the blind hatred."

"Believe me, the hatred that exists in this is found in the sportswriter community, it's found in the news business, it's found in the race hustler business," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said Checketts telephoned on Tuesday, asking him to withdraw from the group. Limbaugh responded that he wouldn't withdraw and that Checketts would have to "go public and fire me," and thought the news would be made public Thursday morning.

Smith, the NFLPA head, last week voiced his objections to Limbaugh's bid with NFL commissioner, and urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid. Sharpton and Jackson also attacked Limbaugh's involvement, asserting that Limbaugh's track record on race should exclude him.

Limbaugh said the real reason he's out is the NFLPA's attempt to influence negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. He said Smith warned he would bring the White House into negotiations if necessary.

"It's designed to intimidate the owners, frighten the owners, and say 'We're running this league now, gang, not you," Limbaugh said. "This little warning shot fired across the bow to the owners, to say 'Get ready, here we come for the next collective bargaining agreement,' so we'll see how it all unfolds."

Limbaugh said he's "lost nothing" over the episode and vowed to continue being the "biggest non-paid promoter of the sport."

"On the other hand, our country has lost a great deal. A lot more than most people realize at the moment," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh said the Checketts group had previously lost its lead owner, which must have at least 30 percent equity. He speculated that the lead investor had been global financier George Soros.

Limbaugh said Checketts and Soros were previously partners in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers and added Soros was "known politically for his left-wing slants."

"His politics fits in perfectly with what the National Football League is becoming," Limbaugh said.

The Checketts group is among a reported half-dozen bidders for the Rams, and would keep the team in St. Louis. The children of the late Georgia Frontiere, who inherited the team upon her death in January 2008, announced in June that they had hired the investment firm Goldman Sachs to review assets of the estate including the football team.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The Gladiators are butting heads with a rich Pseudo politician throwing the weight of his gold around in the world of business to make a political statement. Brilliant PR tactic, Julius would be proud. This will surely be fodder for his radio show for the next several weeks. The NFL won't be hurt by appealing, even if in a nuanced way, to all the lefties out there in T.V. Land. Maybe they'll give football a chance now that they realize how progressive the NFL owners are. In the end this turns out the most equitable situation for all parties. Read on....

Rush Limbaugh is expected to be dropped from a group bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams, according to three NFL sources.

Dave Checketts, chairman of the NHL's St. Louis Blues and the point man in the Limbaugh group attempting to buy the Rams, realizes he must remove the controversial conservative radio host from his potential role as a minority member in the group in order to get approval from other NFL owners, the sources said.

Three-quarters of the league's 32 owners would have to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Earlier this week, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh's potential bid would be met by significant opposition. Several players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's potential ownership position, and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.

Ultimately, the sources said, Checketts must reconfigure his group and find another investor to make his bid more viable.

Exactly when Limbaugh will be dropped is uncertain, though some familiar with the situation said it could be within the next week. It is unclear if the two sides even have spoken.

Earlier Wednesday, on his syndicated radio show, Limbaugh was defiant, holding on to hope that he still could be part of the ownership group that buys the Rams.

"I'm not even thinking of exiting," Limbaugh said on his program, according to a transcript provided to ESPN. "I'm not even thinking of caving. I am not a caver. None of us are. We have been betrayed by too many who have caved. Pioneers take the arrows. We are pioneers. It's a sad thing but our country over 200 years old now needs pioneers all over again, but we do."

Without Limbaugh, Checketts and his group would have to find a financial substitute to replace the sizable investment that Limbaugh intended to make. At the NFL owners meetings this week in Boston, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed Limbaugh's potential involvement in the league and said "divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about."

Goodell added: "I've said many times before, we're all held to a high standard here. I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL -- absolutely not."

In 2003, Limbaugh was forced to resign from ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown after saying of Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb: "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report

TeeeeVeeeeeeeeee.

Glen Beck is a massive tool. Some one should abduct, Rush, Ed from MSNBC, Neal Bortz, Rachael Maddow and any other "political" annalists we can get a hold off. Then drop them in a caldera of a long dormant volcano with a box of rusty silverware and let 'em fight it out. We'll need to have cameras there so all of us blood thirsty savages can witness the carnage as we cram greasy fist fulls of snacky treats betwixt our over weight jibs. Sorry Rachael, I like you the most and I hope you win. However, I'm fair and balanced so you and all your colleges must be thrown under the bus together.

Television and what Americans call entertainment becomes more depraved and boorish everyday. Those among us that claim to be leaders have allowed themselves to become a part of the fray too. Politics is just as nasty, disingenuous and sickening as the garbage entertainment that's mass produced and sandwiched in between boner pill adds for our enjoyment. Politicians shouting at the President, posturing and stacking lies to the celling in congress, massive muscle bound direct descendant of neanderthals smashing each other faces with fists in a cage, skinamax, daytime talk, "Real house wives of (pick a county). It's all there for you. Dive in and get a free frontal lobotomy courtesy of Dr. Television. Don't forget to buy all the shit they advertise. You need more useless consumers goods that will make life that much better. Can you say snuggie?

As bloody and inhumane as my idea may sound, that being to pit talking heads against one another in a battle royal scenario. I think it could actually help. Perhaps if all television viewers where forced to watch the gore, after the smoke had cleared and everyone had a chance to think about what they had just witnessed there would be a rush to regain our dignity, honor and civility as a nation. Or after the credits roll people would just ask each other if there's going to be a new episode of Glee next week now that this season of News Anchors of Death is over.

Don't get me wrong I'm not above this. I love the violence channel. But all things in moderation. Honestly, Brothers and Sisters turn of Fox or MSNBC or what ever it is your watching. Read a book and come up with some of your own opinions. Have a little faith in yourself. Public school didn't make you that dumb. Trust me...

Face Book makes my brain hurt

Face Book has given the faceless masses a voice that wines, boosts, exults, complains and chatters incessantly about the most mundane tripe the human mind can possibly create. I must say to all of those tragically hip face bookers that no one gives a shit about your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, ankle biting offspring, what you had for dinner, your new black berry, the asshole you ran into in traffic on your way to work, or any of the other routine bullshit that every single person in the world experiences each and every day. None of these anecdotes are that interesting. I think as a sociological experiment I'll post updates on my bowel movements in my face book status. It's my opinion that that will be just as interesting as the regurgitation of creativity of others in the form of song lyrics and quotes from popular movies and dietary journals that dull eyed automatons scrawl on face book walls every day. Some people have no business expressing themselves, most of them have face book accounts.

I would just cancel my face book account and spare myself the torment but how would I tell my extended circle of friends how much I enjoy not having a face book account.

We are the Roman Empire

I've often said it and only half meant it, America is the new Roman Empire. I have come to believe that there is more to that than I ever imagined. The Democrats are the Plebes, the Republicans are the Patricians and the empire is in turmoil. We have no tangible enemy, just some bearded boogie men that terrorize us form time to time. The lack of the a real enemy or serious struggle is forcing us to turn on ourselves. Television, fast food and stupidity are eroding the national character and destroying the American dream .

Just some anecdotal facts before I unleash my conclusion. Fact, 67% of people 20 and over are obese, 44million are functionally illiterate, 80% of people polled last year said they had not read a book for entertainment, the average American watches 6 hours of T.V. a day. I hope these facts are shocking.

America's days of dominance are numbered and it won't be a bearded dialysis patient that lives in a cave, Obama's 'socialist' plans, illegal immigrant, swine flu or the Chinese that are the cause. Much like Rome, the Republic will be torn to shreds by fat, stupid, lazy, mush brained from to much T.V. American citizen's. I hope I'm wrong.

Extreme!

I like to challenge myself. Doesn't matter if it's choosing Mathematics as a major because it's hard, walking up a hill instead of using the stair chase or dating crazy women. I like my life to have a constant element of difficulty. Maybe it's because Mommy didn't love me or perhaps I'm just a sadist. The fact remains that I enjoy a challenge, the more difficult the more rewarding.

The most recent challenge I have taken on is marathon training. To many marathon is a four letter word. I must admit that I didn't register for my marathon until I had been training for 2 months because the schedule seemed insurmountable and I wasn't sure if I could hack it.

As I trained the physical obstacles fell quickly but the one element of marathon training that has proven to be the most difficult thing to overcome is the mental aspect of long distance running. It's one thing to build up the stamina and cardio to run for three hours. To build up the patience to run for three hours is a whole different story. It's been a necessity to come up with distractions, games if you will, to keep my mind occupied during my long runs.

I've been fortunate enough to live in several Southeastern cities with major Universities. This has been a great advantage for overcoming mental barriers. The tactic is simple. Run until I observe an attractive coed and then follow after her and enjoy the gifts evolution has endowed her with. A little creepy, I know, but harmless. My runs have purpose ogling beautiful young women is just a fringe benefit.

Believe it or not that only worked for about a month. As the runs have become longer I've had to searched for other games to play. Today I found a gem. It has been a particularly rainy day in Chapel Hill North Carolina today but when you're training for a marathon there's no such thing as a rain day. As I ran in search of a coed I thought to myself, 'This is nasty weather. Anyone running today must be pretty extreme like me'. Eureka! I had discovered a new game. I now ran with a new goal in mind. When I saw another running passing by I would make the my eyes as large and deranged as possible, scream, Extreme!, in a deep guttural jock voice and attempt to high five my newly discovered running buddy.

Things where going well until my last encounter. My run was almost done and I had made a number of people question my sanity at this point when I spotted yet another runner to share my newly found greeting with. As I approached him I shouted my greeting, Extreme!, and swung my hand his way for the obligatory high five. That's when disaster struck. He must have thought that I was going to hit him because he immediately turtled and ate shit in a big mud puddle. Now here's the part where you would think that I'd stop to help and we'd have some sort of profound conversation that would make us both better people. Nope. I quickened the pace and yelled back over my shoulder, Sorry. I didn't have time to help him. I'm training for a marathon Goddamn it.

EXTREME!

Maybe we're all a little pompous and faggy.

Today I had a conversation with a man who said he did not like NPR because, "All those smart people on there sound pompous and faggy and it makes me mad." I think he shouted something about a tea party and death panels shortly after that.

Wow! Sure some of the guests could be held accountable for fits of smugness from time to time. But for the most part, NPR provides a quality product. A healthy daily dose of NPR keeps a person informed and engaged. Many NPR programs are a valuable part of my day. I even give $10 or $15 every year to help support their programing.

While my initial reaction was to defend NPR. Later, when I was able to reflect on the exchange I realised it wasn't about NPR. At the risk of sounding like a stoner. 'It goes deeper than that, MAN!' My friend disliked the content because of its focus. Programing with intellectual value is distasteful to him.

It's as thought being thoughtful, well read and intellectually active are considered threats to many. We see it in political campaigns when one candidate calls the other an 'elitist' or implies that an opponent is to 'intellectual'. It can be seen in day to day interactions like mine. Even the school yard, where the 'smart kid' gets picked on by the (insert stereo type here).

The cries of snob, elitist or pompous faggy type make me think twice about tipping my hand. Dare I tell anyone I'm interested, engaged, a reader, a thinker or even worst college educated. I don't want to be considered feminine, faggy, pompous or weird by my neighbors and coworkers. Are there others out there like myself. Closet intellectuals, night time polymaths, back room book readers.

What should I do? Keep thinking I guess.

Fear and Loathing at the Indy 500

The Indy 500, largest spectacle in motor sports. Droves of 6th grade graduates, trailer dwellers, bikers, dirt bags and average people like myself flock to the event to watch the race and compete in a race of their own.

The days leading up to the race are a party unlike any I have ever seen. Music festivals like Bonnarroo and the like all pale in comparison to Indy. There are somewhere on the order of 500,000 people there. Indy is held over labor day weekend. The central Indiana air is just starting to show signs of summer with healthy doses of heat and humidity. The area around the track smells like exhaust, ethanol, Busch Light and Porto-johns. Streets, Fields and parking lots filled with tents, campers, buses, cars, people and Jumbo BBQ turkey leg stands. Fried food, scam artist vendors, ticket scalpers, hustlers, drunken hillbillies and all manner of humanity crowd the streets. The sense of mayhem in the air is palpable. It would be interesting to know how much CO2 is created, how many breasts are photographed and how many people get the shit kicked out of them by other race fans and or the police.

So far the picture painted looks like the recipe for a weekend of fantastic debauchery. For most it is. However, for those unlucky enough to run into the Neo-Nazi, Gestapo law enforcement agencies of greater Indianapolis the weekend becomes one filled with risk and ominous overtones of grave personal danger at the hands of these pigs.

As I'm sure you can guess this is building up to the tale of my encounter with this ruthless gang of thugs I speak of. First a few tales of viciousness must be related.

Date line May 2009. Several officers are involved in a high speed pursuit with a suspect accused of some sort of miss deed. After an extended chase the decision to PIT was made. The opportunity presented its self and the maneuver was executed. As a result the car rolled three times and the suspects body was ejected from the window and his head was crushed by his own car. If the story was to end here it would be an unfortunate accident or perhaps even a tragedy. But it doesn't. After the accident, as the suspect lifeless body lay on the ground with brains and blood pouring form his skull onto the asphalt, 5 police officers exited their vehicles and engaged in a sadistic Lord of the Flies style blood orgy and beat the mans lifeless corpse with their law enforcement clubs.

In the defense of the officers, the dead man could have been resisting and they did just start new steroid cocktails that morning so their testosterone levels were higher than that of a full grown bull African elephant.

Weeks earlier a man was tazed to death by the over zealous Indianapolis Metro PD. While the details of this encounter are bit more hazy. The fact remains that tazing someone to death is a sign of excessive force. We've all seen the footage of douche bag news reporters and drunken rednecks on COPS being tazed. To the best of my knowledge they all lived. Some even got up and continued to fight. Call me crazy but I think he may have been tazed by several of those blood thirsty mutant hall monitors of the world.

So here I am walking through the drug, alcohol and ethanol induced scene from Sodom and Gomorrah in Speedway, Indiana. As I walk around I'm treated a glimpse of the animal nature of humanity. Around one corner is a mass of people flocking to a man with a PA, a microphone and loud music blaring. " I need some bitches in front shakin' their asses or I'm turning the music off, " he says into the microphone. Happily females emerge from the crowd and gladly comply with his demands. It's amazing how much power loud music and a microphone gives a person.

Around another corner girls are flashing ' Titties for beads'. " Hell yeah, Show 'em," yells toothless Joe from the crowd. When did this become Mardi Gras, I think to myself. Of course I love seeing random girls flashing their breast so I don't offer any objection. There's a good chance I yell 'Show 'em' once or twice myself.

Minutes later I come across a man on the ground who has been beaten bloody and unconscious by multiple assailants. At first I thought he was dead as he lay on the ground leaking hemoglobin. When he miraculously sat up and started spitting up teeth and blood I was relieved that I didn't have to preform CPR and moved on.

Now it's to the edge of a main road to see who's crazy enough to drive through this madness. Here there's another band of goons surrounding cars full of girls that pass, rocking them back and forth and screaming the Indy 500 Battle cry, 'Show 'em bitch'.

Being in the middle of all this made me feel anonymous. The copious amounts of Coors light and the situation I found myself in called for the indulgence in herbal medicine. Seeing all the lunacy around me I felt there would be no need to conceal my activities.

Step 1) Roll Doobie

Step 2) Smoke Doobie

Only minutes after the first pull from my glorious jib I had painstakingly rolled I'm surrounded by Indianapolis's' most dangerous gang.

"More a muscle and I'll break your fucking face with this flashlight, cocksucker," barks officer Roid Rage.

I'm caught like a deer in the head lights. Wasted, high and completely unable to explain myself. The situation seem like a bad dream. Most of what I recall after that is verbal abuse and rough treatment. I've dealt with many law enforcement agencies and never have I been afraid for my personal safety. You could smell the testosterone and see the violent glee in their eyes. Like a pack of Hyena's waiting for me to run or show weakness so they could tear my flesh from my bones and eat my organs. Looking for any excuse to attack. The only thing that can describe this kind of behavior is the need for sexual gratification through gang violence or perhaps they had started yet another new steroid cocktail that morning.

At one point a call came over the radio that a 16 yr old girl was resisting and back up would be required. Who knows what resisting means? I think in Indiana consciousness may constitute resisting arrest. When officer Roid Rage heard the call his eyes lit up. "Damn I'd love to get my hands on that one." I'm not sure if he wanted to beat her or fuck her. Just as quickly as his eyes lit up with excitement you could see the joy begin to fade and his posture start to slump as he realized he'd miss the bust.

From there I was taken to a processing facility. The rest of the story is 20 hours of boredom and exhaustion. But what was striking to me was how many people in jail where beaten, bloody and battered by the hands of the police at the race track. Of course all of them claim that their injuries where for nothing and lamented police brutality. When you hear one or two stories like that in jail you tend to take it with a grain of salt. When it's 15 or more identical tales you start to question the integrity and the tactics of the police force.

My experience leads me to believe that there is a dangerous animalistic element in the Law enforcement agencies of Indianapolis. Officer Roid Rage is among the worst. It's only a matter of time before he strangles and fucks to death some helpless suspect he has in cuffs.

Stay away from Indianapolis. It's a city filled with thugs for police and it's largest industry is the judicial system. I always new I hated Indiana, now I have a good reason.

The situation isn't over yet. I've made bail and fled to Virgina. I go back to learn my fate in September.

TO BE CONTINUED. (Trial set for September 16, 2009)