Check out the site The Political Hat (www.politicalhat.com).  This writer has a strange fixation on the antics of every fringe group from transexuals to those who have the most bizarre fixations imaginable themselves.

One recent post focused on an individual who has a strong sexual attraction to cats
...yes, that common miniature feline creature often kept by many as pets.  Yes, sexual attraction.
Most interesting reading if you're up to that sort of thing (October 10th post).

For those more into reading more sensible fare catering to common sensibilities, you might prefer sticking to the likes of www.susanlapin.typepad.com or www.ianwelsh.net. 

                                      Musing For Today

I remember, hitchhiking around the country back in the 1980s, being in the McDonald's in Berkeley California---the one on University.
On the wall a sign that read "30 minutes maximum while consuming food and drink".  But on the counter they had copies of the Oakland Tribune as a "house paper".

Like, who would ever have time to read beyond the comic section, or a page or two of the front section, in 30 minutes or less?  Keep in mind back then newspapers were full-size and, even during the week, had multiple sections to look through.






                                      Another site to check out: www.blackfemlens.blogspot.com

  The Rock and Roll Hall of ...Phooey

Great news!!!  The illustrious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is FINALLY considering nominating Chicago, Yes, Jethro Tull and The Steve Miller Band for possible inclusion in their official display of musical memorabilia representing "Rock and Roll's roots and greatest achievements".

Thank God for that!!!  That means I can, once again, start listening to those groups again, KNOWING that now they're actually OFFICIAL "icons of rock and roll".  Up until now I felt sort of "funny", you know, liking groups and performers like them, even remembering hearing them a lot when I was in my teens and twenties, but questioning their validity.
But now that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognizes them all will be fine.  We all know what a barometer the "Hall of Fame" is for establishing the history of rock and roll.  Otherwise how else would we have known that, among the "pioneers of rock and roll", the likes of Madonna, Mariah Carey, and 2 Live Crew deserve to stand alongside Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, and Ray Charles?

I mean ...a TRULY balanced historical perspective of a pop music genre...
it's not like rock and roll, perhaps, ALREADY has a history of its own.  Everything must be "validated" by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

                                   High-Tech Worship

Why do modern-day 21st century people even bother with the rituals and perfunctorisms of church-going or worship
...when they have long since acquired the ultimate "secular God" of all times?

Mainly...fancy small high-tech gadgets!
The iPhones, iPads, digital cameras.  These are the REAL "gods" of modern times, and the multitudes of users are quite religious about their micro-contraptions.
They worship these hand-held entities even more intensely than the "Inquisition"-minded terrorist group ISIS does the "unadulterated" "uncompromised" version of Islam.

                                    Traffic Light Conspiracy

You know, when you're out walking and you get to an intersection and have to wait out the light and it finally changes and flashes "WALK", it would make sense if the "WALK" light lasted for more than ten seconds.

Ten seconds isn't quite enough time to give a person to cross over four lanes worth.  And, let's not forget there are a lot of people strolling around with walkers, canes, and in wheelchairs.
Do you think ten seconds is adequate enough for them to get all the way across?

Traffic engineers are either retarded or they're crafty conspirators.  There can be no in-between on this.  It's either one or the other.

                       WARNING

If you or a loved one took the blood thinner XARELTO and experienced: 
internal bleeding 
hemorrhaging 
or even death 
You may be entitled to a substantial lump sum settlement.

XARELTO is a blood-thinner medicine used by heart-valve patients that's been linked to hemorrhaging and internal bleeding events.

If you or a loved one have taken XARELTO and experienced: 
internal bleeding 
hemorrhaging 
or even death as a result 
Call the law offices of Amber, Lance and Chaser.

Our trained professional staff of lawyers are on standby day and night.  And our trained staff of mediums ensure contact with those who've experienced death as a result of taking this blood-thinner medicine, enabling them access to the same claims and potential awards and entitlements as well.

You're late for work and in a hurry to get to the office.
Two miles out, as you come upon a set of railroad tracks, here comes a 40-car freight train as the gates come down just as you approach the tracks.
The train's going slow enough you figure you should have enough time to beat it, so you weasel your way around the gates and proceed to cross ...only to get your left front tire stuck in a damn pot hole between the tracks.
You scurry out of your brand new pickup as quickly as you can, making it out just in time to see your "precious baby" crushed into a flat clump of scrap metal.  You are completely heartbroken at the very sight.
Even more heartbreaking: You then get in touch with your insurance company and they refuse to reimburse you for the price of your brand-new truck, double your monthly rates, and even threaten to drop you altogether.
How can these people be so insensitive?  Are they not human themselves?  They've never made any mistakes in their life?

To all landlords/landladies:

    Why, when an apartment has been vacated and you get it "ready for" the next tenant, do you not invest the time and money in fixing whatever's damaged, or repair/replace worn-out plumbing, electrical fixtures and appliances?
Some landlords/landladies don't even repaint the walls, or fix loose fixtures or loose tiles (and the like).

    The tenants have to take it upon themselves to do "spot repairs" in a lot of places.  Even buy batteries for smoke detectors (in one place I know of the tenant had to buy a smoke detector himself).

    As harsh as the rules and bylaws are where "the responsibilities of the tenant(s)" are concerned, shouldn't the burden of such responsibilities be 50/50 between all parties?

    And the way some places hand their tenants a "laundry list" to fill out in which they (tenant) "note any and all damages or defects they spot in the place", isn't that rather condescending, trying to either "guinea pig" or "test the honesty of" said incoming tenant?
    Why not simply have the god-damn place ALREADY fixed up and ready to occupy?  If there are any damages or obvious abuses afterwards, THEN said landlord/landlady has a case.

    The worst of it:  the level of authority landlords/landladies (or any OTHER type of official or "in-charge" types) have.  And the way us poor underlings are so vulnerable to "taking the blame" or of "being under suspicion" for anything "out of place".  Often things we have no control over.
  

      "All Lives Matter"?  A Very Subjective Notion

Doesn't whether or not another person's life "matters" depend a lot on different variables?

For example:
If some stranger walks up randomly and makes sexual advances toward your lover, would you consider that other person someone who "matters" or would you just consider them a nuisance or even a potential threat and just want to "beat the crap out of them"?

If someone committed identity theft against you and you found out who that person was, would you be revering them as someone who "matters" or would you be wishing you could "find a rope and a second-story balcony" and "hang 'em high"?

Just how much do YOU "matter"?  To the government, to your boss, to your landlord, to society in general?

Isn't it true that the only lives that "matter" are those of whoever we're intimate with, good friends with, or those we admire for their accomplishments, abilities, or meritable traits?  As well as whoever treats us decently?

In an overpopulated capitalistic world comprised of republic-style societies any person's "worth" is determined solely by how said person "benefits" said society.
If that person is a bit heretical, becomes a threat (either real or perceived), or just doesn't wish to "contribute" to the society in any way, then said society is not likely to think that individual's life "matters" much.

One more thing:  If someone else doesn't think your life "matters" chances are their life probably won't "matter" much to you either.