Starting The Day Off Right

Reading about the Senate's confirmation hearings this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself agreeing with our prospective Attorney General. Jeff Sessions claims that the U.S. was built on "Biblical principles." Yes, genocide and slavery are found throughout the Bible.

My Cold, Dead Hands

People have been asking me to comment on the Fort Lauderdale shooting.
Well . . . . Okay.

What is there to say? We live in a democracy and the people have spoken. Apparently, the majority of Americans would rather risk getting shot than risk what they see as even the slightest chipping away at our sacred gun rights by prohibiting a mentally-ill terrorist suspect from flying with a gun.

Fine. Deal with it.

BTW: Like most Alaskans, I am a gun owner. I believe in sensible gun controls and I'd join the Girl Scouts before I'd join the NRA. I'll stop using this laptop to argue for a sane approach to gun ownership in America when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Putin Envy . . . On The Rise

There's much speculation going on over Trump's infatuation with Vladimir Putin. He is undoubtedly impressed with Putin's macho bearing and autocratic mode of operation. Putin's reckless aggression in Ukraine and Syria might even meet with Trump's approval, but probably holds little of his interest--along with anything else in the world that doesn't relate to himself.

I'm guessing that Trump is more taken with Putin's imprisonment of Pussy Riot. The all-girl band was sentenced to two years in jail for merely singing songs that poked fun at their nation's leader. Now that's something that our misogynistic, humorless, self-obsessed president-elect can understand.

If Trump could have his way, I'm sure that he'd have the cast of SNL whisked off to Gitmo.
And the scary part is that a growing number of Americans wouldn't object. For many of our countrymen, democracy has come to mean electing an iron-fisted dictator who thinks exactly the way they do--the formula for fascism throughout history

Putin Envy among some of our "patriot" groups claiming to support American democracy isn't just ironic--it's a real cause for alarm.

Just A Pushy Pair O' Pussy Pokin' Peas In A Pod

Leap Of Faith

One of the interesting ironies of the modern world is that it's rapidly requiring a greater "leap of faith" to believe in science than in religion. Strangely, I have no trouble accepting the science, but I can't accept religion.

I am told that the seemingly solid desk I'm writing on is composed mostly of empty space with some invisible particles randomly whizzing around. This sounds ridiculous and is contrary to what I perceive with my senses. But I believe it. The Big Bang, black holes, unseen dimensions, and anti-matter are even stranger ideas--but they are part of modern science and I believe in them too. The ultimate nature of reality as described by Einstein, Hawking, and other physicists features concepts as fantastic as the parting of the Red Sea or any other miracle in the Bible. Still, I am able to make the leap and accept these scientific principles--while dismissing Biblical stories as fairy tales.

Maybe it's the personnel.

Watching Stephen Hawking slumped in his wheelchair, I am more willing to accept his mind-numbing idea of a 13-dimensional universe than anything coming from a big-haired televangelist in a $5,000 suit and Rolex watch begging me for money.

Trickle Down On Me Once, Shame On You. Trickle Down On Me Twice . . . .

Q. What's the difference between ISIL's War on America and Donald Trump's new Tax Plan for America?

A. ISIL targets all Americans for destruction. Trump's Tax Plan targets only 99% of Americans.

Don't Let This Make You Sick . . . You Probably Can't Afford It

Congress came back yesterday, which means that you're going to be hearing a lot about fixing or gutting Obamacare. You're going to be fed a huge load of crap about why our medical care is so expensive.
Here are a few of the real reasons:

Aetna CEO, Mark Bertolini, salary . . . . . 17.3 million
Cigna CEO, David Cordani . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3 million
United Health CEO, Stephen Hemsley . . 14.5 million
Anthem CEO, Joseph Swedish . . . . . . . . .13.6 million
Humana CEO, Bruce Broussard . . . . . . . .10.3 million

The annual salary of just one of these parasites would pay for 20 MRI machines or 300 nurses. The next time you need a high-tech diagnosis or a dressing changed, go see Mr. Bertolini (below)--I'm sure he'd be a big help.

Until we decide as a nation that the purpose of medical care is making Americans well, not making insurance companies rich, IT'S ALL JUST PISSING IN THE WIND.

$48,000/Day

$43,000/Year

Divine Intervention . . . Thanks!

I see that one of the nation's leading homophobes, Franklin Graham, is back in the news. He has declared that the "hand of God" is responsible for the election of Donald Trump. Apparently, Reverend Graham expects the new administration to be more appreciative of his relentless gay bashing.

People like Graham fascinate me. Given the opportunity, I would ask the reverend one simple question:

Do you really believe that homosexuals are perverts--but people, like yourself, that spend their lives preoccupied with homosexuality are normal?