Nov
11
2011
I just read the Grand Jury report…. Horrible! The question is being asked “Why didn’t McQueary stop the child rape when he walked in on it? It’s a great question.
Sandusky was something like 50 when McQueary walked in on the act. Mcqueary was the 28 year old ex-quarterback and could have easily beat Sandusky to a pulp. Maybe that’s what he should have done. It’s what I can imagine myself doing if I walked in on something like that. But I know how attached and loyal players are to their coaches. This relationship was almost certainly like a father and son relationship.
I was trying to think of other reasons why McQueary didn’t stop the rape, and, after I read the pdf, I noticed something. McQueary does not seem to have told his boss Paterno exactly what he saw.
Assuming that is indeed true, here is my thought.
Is it possible that McQueary was also a victim of rape by Sandusky? That is pure speculation on my part, but given the details and the break-down in the communications between McQueary and others, if the grand jury testimony is indeed accurate and all are telling the truth, that would go a long way to explaining a lot.
Nov
9
2011
The Congressional Republican are offering a budget “compromise“:
“Republicans say the new revenue would come from limits on itemized tax deductions”…
“The breakdown, according to aides: $250 billion from limits on itemized tax deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction on second homes, and about $40 billion in money the government would save by changing the way it calculates who qualifies for government benefits (“chained CPI”)”.
OK. Sound like something I’ve recommended, tax simplification, or at least the start of that process.
So what’s the problem?
“The money captured from the tax overhaul would be used to lower the top individual tax rate to 28 percent and toward deficit reduction, aides say.”
WTF?????
Does anyone think the elimination these few deductions will not only pay for yet another tax reduction on anybody AND also be able to contribute at all to any deficit reduction?
They know damned well that the Congressional democrats will never go for yet another tax rate reduction for the rich! And I forgot to mention that the other poison pill in this thing is a provision to make the Bush tax cuts permanent! This is just as bad as the crap Obama pulled during the so-called budget negotiations last time around where he slipped a huge tax increase in at the last minute, knowing the Republicans would outright reject it.
I am so sick of this shit.
People…. Can we PLEASE stop voting for people with either a “D” or “R” next to their name and vote independent? We need to show the politicians on BOTH SIDES we are absolutely sick of being jerked arouns like this!
Nov
5
2011
I’ve been trying to explain it and clarify it for some Conservative friends of mine, but I’ve quite gotten to the nub concisely.
Matt Taibbi said it the way I wanted, and couldn’t quite spit out. Quote:
This whole notion that the financial crisis was caused by government attempts to create an “ownership society” and make mortgages more available to low-income (and particularly minority) borrowers has been pushed for some time by dingbats like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, who often point to laws like the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act as signature events in the crash drama.
But Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are at least dumb enough that it is theoretically possible that they actually believe the crash was caused by the CRA, Barney Frank, and Fannie and Freddie.
On the other hand, nobody who actually understands anything about banking, or has spent more than ten minutes inside a Wall Street office, believes any of that crap. In the financial world, the fairy tales about the CRA causing the crash inspire a sort of chuckling bemusement, as though they were tribal bugaboos explaining bad rainfall or an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth, ghost stories and legends good for scaring the masses.
But nobody actually believes them. Did government efforts to ease lending standards put a lot of iffy borrowers into homes? Absolutely. Were there a lot of people who wouldn’t have gotten homes twenty or thirty years ago who are now in foreclosure thanks to government efforts to make mortgages more available? Sure – no question.
But did any of that have anything at all to do with the explosion of subprime home lending that caused the gigantic speculative bubble of the mid-2000s, or the crash that followed?
Not even slightly. The whole premise is preposterous. And Mike Bloomberg knows it.
In order for this vision of history to be true, one would have to imagine that all of these banks were dragged, kicking and screaming, to the altar of home lending, forced against their will to create huge volumes of home loans for unqualified borrowers.
In fact, just the opposite was true. This was an orgiastic stampede of lending, undertaken with something very like bloodlust. Far from being dragged into poor neighborhoods and forced to give out home loans to jobless black folk, companies like Countrywide and New Century charged into suburbs and exurbs from coast to coast with the enthusiasm of Rwandan machete mobs, looking to create as many loans as they could.
They lent to anyone with a pulse and they didn’t need Barney Frank to give them a push. This was not social policy. This was greed. They created those loans not because they had to, but because it was profitable. Enormously, gigantically profitable — profitable enough to create huge fortunes out of thin air, with a speed never seen before in Wall Street’s history.
BINGO!
The whole article is here.
Nov
4
2011
How Justin Beiber plans on hiding from the man if they charge him with rape….
PS. Yes, that is a real print ad for the Boy Scouts, pointed out by beard the loving Andrew Sullivan.
Nov
4
2011
“Pardon me, do you have any Gray Poupon???”.
“Don’t Lase Me Bro!!!!”
Even more stunning was the audio playback, in which the contemplative testicle head was heard asking “Hey, did any of my little guys hit their mark?”.
From here
Nov
1
2011
I’ve been having a problem with my bridge pick-up. From all appearances, it’s a Seymour Duncan Duckbuckers SDBR-1. It doesn’t make a sound when in switch position 5. I’ve had the problem before, and I’m certain it’s a wiring issue, not a dead PU. This has been a recurring problem. The last time I took the pick guard off to fix it, it started working again. I was lazy and didn’t dig into the problem further. I’m thinking the white wire from the pick-up to the 5 way switch needs to be re-soldered. It just doesn’t look like a very good solder joint. Here is the wiring as it stands pre-repair.
Yes, I’m going to clean that up a bit. I found the wiring diagram for this pick-up, and noticed a problem. The red wire from the pick-up is grounded to the volume pot, but, according to the diagram, it looks like it should be soldered onto the switch with the white wire. But the official SD diagram features different wire colors. Here’s the diagram.
Now, I work around electronics on a regular basis, so I’m fairly certain I’m right. However, I have no problem getting advise from those with more experience than I on matter of guitar repair before I make the change. After all – I’m lazy, and the last thing I want to do is have to tear into the guitar yet again because I screwed up something that was right to begin with.
PS. My strat is “vintage” Japanese mid 80’s, and has the single row switch. While I’m in here, any cheap mods I should consider???
PPS. Here is the SD pick-up tone page, which contains audio samples of the different pick-ups. I do like mine a lot.
Oct
31
2011
C, E flat and G walk into a bar and the bartender says: “Sorry we don’t serve minors”, so E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.
D comes in and heads for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me. I’ll just be a second.” Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, “Get out! You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.”
E-Flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, “you’re looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development.” Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural.
Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.
Oct
28
2011
Well, it took eighteen some years, but I finally finished this lyric. It’s a song about losing a friend, someone you really cared about, and not getting to mourn “the right way” because you missed the service. Here is the backstory.
Now, if my neighbors stupid car alarm that’s screaming through my window will just stop going off, I might be able to record the scratch track.
JUST ONE TEAR
Who’s to say, that the road we take
is the one we should be traveling
Who’s to say, that the road we take
is the road we should be onI can say I knew you, you were a friend of mine
Who’s to say, that the dreams we dream
won’t bring us our prosperity
Who’s to say, that the dreams we dream
is a life that can never be(solo-ish thing here, slide guitar, will need help)
Without you here, life has slowing down
and any sense it made’s unraveling
Without you here, things are left unsaid
of the dreams that can never beI can say I knew you, you were a friend of mine
I never got to say goodbye, I’m left alone to wonder why
There must be something I can say
But I guess it’s better off this way.Things would come out fine
If I could cry just a little
Things would come out better,
If I could cry just a little…Just one tear You were a friend of mine
The police report is here, in the middle of the page.
Victim See larger view one (Robert Paul Johnson) (PDF) |
Victim See larger view two (Robert Paul Johnson) (PDF) |
Victim: Robert Paul JohnsonDate: April 24, 1993
Address: 3200 Mission Boulevard |
| Synopsis: Robert Paul Johnson, age 27, lived in Mission Beach and was the manager of his apartment complex. On Thursday evening, April 22, 1993, Johnson attended a dinner party with a friend. After the party, Johnson got a ride home from his friend, arriving at about 11:30 pm. Johnson’s friend was the last person to see him alive.Johnson failed to show up for work for the next two days. Johnson’s boss, concerned over his absence, eventually contacted one of one Johnson’s friends, who went to Johnson’s apartment on April 24, 1993, to check on Johnson. Johnson’s body was discovered in the bathroom of his apartment. He had been strangled to death.
Johnson was very friendly and frequently invited people he met on the Mission Beach boardwalk to his home. |
||
Oct
28
2011
Here is my wonderful black Peavey Dyna-Bass 5’er I call Aldo II, along side most hideous bass in the world, the barely P-Bass Spider Queen, complete with frets pulled out.
And yes, for all you Linux freaks like me, that is a Gnome Desktop strap!!!
PS. Aldo I, a black Dyna 4 string I had for many years, got stolen back in 2000. Still miss that bass.
Oct
28
2011
“Do you think I went a little heavy on the base???”