Well played capitalism!

This past Saturday, congress ended unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans who were long-term unemployed. The longer you go without a job, the less likely you are to get a job. And, if you do get a job, it's going to be for less than you were making. This is true.

This is business. You can't blame an employer for taking advantage of an opportunity to lower payroll costs.  And really, since all rich people are now called "job creators" no matter what they do or don't do to create jobs, we really have to stand up and applaud them when they take advantage of such business opportunity- as long as it doesn't happen to us, that is.

Well now, what sort of selfish attitude is that?! I really question the commitment of anyone to God, capitalism and the flag if they are not willing to cut their own pay for business.

On Facebook threads where various outlets discuss current events, people have severe opinions on this. It sorta kinda depends on which site you go to but, even moderate sites can get a little harsh. It seems like a lot of people think enough is enough- take a job at McDonalds and don't even THINK of whining for more pay when you get there! You had your vacation, now get back to work! In some cases they're calling for suicides for those who can't/won't get with the program. Not a whole lot of that, mind you, but, enough to let you know we are a Christian nation. Point is. people are pissed. The same folks who crashed the economy by forcing banks to loan them money to buy homes they didn't deserve and could afford, are now- FINALLY- looking for work. 'Bout damn time!

You know what jobs they should get? The one's of every internet asshole who, despite The Great Recession, determined that getting a job was easy. You just need to take whatever they give you. Take their job. Tell their boss that you will cheerfully do their job, for HALF what they were making.

That might seem cold but, these people would have to step back, slow-clap, and respect your move. "Well played..." By their own rules they'd have to respect that.

Of course they wouldn't but, we already knew they were disingenuous assholes. They should respect this though.  It is doing whatever it takes to survive. It is exactly what you expect others to do. Others, who are not you. Others, that everything happens to. Not you.

I think that is the bigger picture of the teapublicans and their quest to end unemployment benefits completely. Pretty much everyone is expendable. We saw this happen in construction with illegals. It's tough to ask for more money when your boss can get a guy to do it for a lot less. I never understood why people embraced that when it didn't actually lower what they paid for a job.  The contractors profits went up as his labor costs went down and you paid the same. "Well played, contractor!" I guess?

I also never understood how people didn't figure this money-saving business acumen couldn't play just as well in the white-collar world. If you are currently paying someone $80,000 a year to push papers, wouldn't you save $60k by paying some desperate kid just out of college in a tough job market, $20k to push those papers? Is my math right? I didn't go to Math School but, I have toes when I run out of fingers.

Well, everybody thinks they are so special and valuable. Of course you can do the job better than that kid just out of college but, your boss doesn't care. The payroll savings is worth the price of admission, even if it isn't. Not all bosses are Math School graduates and many of them do think that two employees, both working at half the price of one employee make the boss richer, even if it takes them longer. They maybe went to Math School on football scholarships? Or played without a helmet?

They really don't care. And, they are glad you don't really care either...

First they came for the trade unionists....

SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER DAY: THE REBUTTAL

Today's special guest blogger is "Mikey " who often disagrees with me about everything.

We live in a country whose economy is so fragile, that people buying houses they could not afford, plunged the entire country into the worst recession since The Great Depression. The most brilliant Wall Street minds could not prevent that!

Our president- Kenyan born, BTW- is openly try to get the entire nation on welfare and will most assuredly confiscate all weapons, as early as tomorrow. (HUGE Dick's sale on ammo, BTW. Better stock up so the government hurts their backs confiscating that ammo!)

And in this nation, clearly a Christian nation as the founders intended, you can't even wish someone a MERRY CHRISTMAS because of pending Sharia Law or the ACLU or something! The point is, you can't have a Nativity scene, on city land and that means your house is next.

I could go on and on about Obama. Did you know we the people pay for his vacations??!! Yep! He flies on AIR FORCE ONE with his family and with Secret Service personnel that WE pay for! What the fuck??!! Bush used to drive his own self down to Crawford to clear brush on his ranch. Reagan stayed home with mommy. Sheesh. Stop the spending already!

What I'm trying to say is, Obama is taking away our light bulbs! We are having those CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lights(?) not Canadian Football League as originally reported) shoved down our throats again. Not literally. Not yet.....but, ouch! That can't be good going in or coming out.

Did you also know that the government is SPENDING MONEY??!! They never did this when Reagan was in charge! It's become quite clear that they have been collecting taxes to have this money to spend. This development is in no way a good thing.  They take the money from middle class people and redistribute it to the poor people when common sense says the poor should pay something since they get so much free stuff. Like free visits to the Emergency Room and prison which has cable TV.

The point is (and I'm just alleging that there is a point because democrats will refute this) that we can make this our last annoying election if we just do the Christian thing and vote in ALL teapublicans in '14 and, of course, for POTUS in '16. It's the one sure way of eliminating the disgusting voter fraud perpetrated by democrats at a shocking rate of .0044%. We can eliminate that. Did anyone notice that Blacks- who had historically only voted for White candidates in presidential elections- suddenly voted for a BLACK Barack Obama in '08? Coincidence or racism? He was supposed to be a "uniter"? As if.  Look what he did. We were all getting along so well until he ruined everything.

We have got to take back our country now before Obama takes it away. That can happen as soon as tomorrow.

Whose life is it anyway?

These days many of us have two lives. There's the real life with real friends and family and all the usual trappings of reality I shouldn't have to tell you about. I'm going to assume you're familiar with all that.

But, many of us also have an internet life completely different from our regular life, by design and desire or just to be careful. The internet is a good place to be all you can be and to present a portfolio of having been there, done that. You know- bullshit. Just like real life bullshitters, only easier to do on the internet. Abraham Lincoln famously said: "Ninety percent of what you see on the internet is lies!" That figure just seems high to me. Maybe 70 or 80%? Abe was, perhaps, more cynical than I?

My life as a Ferrerman on the internet is far more chaotic than my real life. I wouldn't have anything to do with these terrorists in real life. They just wouldn't happen to me. I've married crazy before, worked with crazy before and certainly seen crazy on the street and in the bars. Crazy is better- not as bad- on the internet. It's safer anyway.

You don't have to suspend common sense to be on the internet, but people do. I've been around liars all my life so, I'm naturally a little jaded and suspicious by experience. I like a pretty avatar but, I'm leery of what's behind it. Most good looking women are smart enough to not post their actual photo on a message board avatar. It's just kinda obvious, ya know? A pretty picture usually spells "creepy dude" anyway. I know beautiful women in real life. None of them have to troll for men on message boards. Common sense dictates to those that are beautiful, don't advertise! Just like unattractive women don't ruin the fantasy by advertising how plain they are. The same should go for men as well. If you're going to post about about yourself being a God's gift to women that, blessed with an accommodating wife who- knowing your wonderfulness first hand- shares you with other females, don't post your picture. At least try to keep people believing that, yeah, maybe he IS a corporate-stud-lawyer on a Harley....

It takes all kinds to fill up the threads. Well, it seems like all kinds... Maybe five or six kinds?  I don't know but I keep meeting the same people over and over and over....

Track shoes! And you too!

Evidently credit reporting agencies are tracking the porn you watch. I guess they might see dedicated porn viewers as bad risks? Or they need suggestions for good sites?

Well, who isn't interested in everything we do? People get upset about the NSA and their interest in everything we do but, do they care about our porn choices? Maybe. Hopefully in a pedophilia vein or the trafficking of underage persons but, I don't think that the Credit Agencies are busying themselves fighting crime in their spare time. I think they are just busybodies!

Last week I began using a feature from Ad Block, those wonderful folks who keep you safe from annoying, internet ads. Their Ghostery service blocks and alerts you to tracking cookies installed virtually everywhere in this virtual world- even the Ferrerman blog.

Well, don't look at me! I didn't do it! Google has three tracking cookies on the blog. They are Google+1, Google Adsense and Google friend connect.  I don't know what they do but, I now know they do it all over the 'net.  As I type this, Google Analytics is showing as being found (but blocked) on this part of my blog. Google Analytics also showed up on Pornhub, which, you might have guessed, is a porn site. It's a rather popular, mainstream one at that. Interesting, but only two cookies show up there. The other one is "Doublepimp", found on 100 sites (porn). Google Analytics is found on ONE MILLION sites, like Reddit, Twitter and The Huffington Post. In other words, everywhere.

Facebook doesn't show any trackers at all. I thought there had been a couple. Maybe they gave up because they had been found out and foiled? There aren't any on my personal page. Your personal page might be different. I'll check....no, it's worse! I'm seeing 35 cookies! Just kidding! Once we go to various other sites, that's where the real tracking comes in. They want to know where you go and why. I was actually stopped by Ghostery  when, via Facebook I clicked on a cat video a friend had liked. It doesn't usually do that but, when it does, it gives you the option of continuing with or without the cookies. Who knew that cat videos exist to track advertising info? On a few other sites it did a similar thing with comments gathered by a site called Disqus which turns out to be a commenting service for some reason. I googled them and Wiki said Disqus will share your info with absolutely anyone. They'll follow you all over the internet and share everything you do everywhere else.You probably signed something somewhere at sometime saying in no uncertain legal terms that you were OK with that.

Topix is leading the league with sixteen (16) trackers, most of which are advertisers. They go as high as 18, at times. I recall in pre- Ad Block days being on a thread and I brought up the book/film "To Kill A Mockingbird." Within a minute or two the ads atop the page changed to places to buy  To Kill A Mockingbird related items. Spooky! Evidently they do this with your email too but I haven't experienced that. With the Ad Block I miss out on so much! And with the Ghostery I now know what else I'm missing out on.

It's awful that the government spies on us as they do, as we keep finding out from Eric Snowden and from Wikileaks. Is it any less awful that corporations do the same? The politicians want to privatize absolutely everything. They've pretty much privatized government, particularly over the last 30 something years and that helps them get everything else.

Remember the movie, "Dave", where Charles Grodin plays 'President' Dave's accountant friend? He looks over the books and says: "If I ran my business like the government, I'd be outa business!" Conservatives love that! You read imaginary people on the internet saying that about their imaginary businesses all the time.

Well, if you privatize government  and run it like a business, you get Stalin's Walmart. They've already got the marketing department going....

But, um, you didn't read that here folks!

Eyes Wide Shut

Special Guest Blogger Day returns with this offering from Special Guest Blogger, Ann Onymous:


Great insight, Ferrerman! I think the most obvious thing about Topix now that it's doing the fast swirl is how easy it's become to spot the ringers. The desperation is really showing and they're trying way too hard. I'd call them trolls but real trolls wouldn't appreciate their inclusion in the club, largely because most are far too boring.
Here are a few examples of this that any normal human being would realize is a farce, if not abnormal. Recognizing this would require the sycophants and those desperate to be part of a group to take a pill in order to tone down their ass-kissing reflex, but we know they're far too dedicated to do anything like that. We won't worry about the gullible. They choose to be lost.
Easily seen lately is the performance art of Billy R and his incestuously close twin sister Princess. Is there a day that goes by when they don't mention they're twins or that he's married? Because he is, and no one should forget it. I've seen them roll out their act with virtually the same lines on several forums, but most days it's just reruns on Offbeat.
Of course it's normal to have endless repetitive conversations with a close family member on a public forum! Who doesn't do that? (Nearly everyone?) That must be what makes them so special considering they've kept it up for years now. I'd have to get paid to do that.
These are salt of the earth good people. Just ask the ass-kissing suckers who believe and hang on their every word and jump to their defense like the trained monkeys they are. Of course it's all true! Of course someone running a "successful" business has all the time in the world to drone on about nothing for hours a day and even more time to brag about how many "lady friends" he talks on the phone with despite being desperately in love with his wife. Anyone who doesn't believe all of this is just jealous. (That's so much more convenient than admitting they're using logic, right Willy?)
When haven't we seen real life examples of all of the above? Why, I can think of a number of folks who manage all of that and more!
This morning the female twin chose to converse about real life things with her husband on Topix rather than use the phone like most of us would do, but then we're not invested in proving something to the Topix faithful. We're not there to perform. Take a minute to think about that. Or not, if you prefer to be hoodwinked and keep your Topix love safe from harm.
She says she knows her brother has at least three phones but still, it seems she prefers posting to him on a public forum. Topix conversations are just so rewarding and work really well for them? Actually, she probably has nothing to say to him after all the fangirl fawning she puts out daily. She's got to be thankful "Trina" (Cousin It) is more than willing to take over the stroking duties now and then. *Big Smile*
Step back from the Topix haze, people, and see this kind of thing for what it is. Watch how hard they're working to defend themselves, if nothing else. Some days their defense takes the form of bumping several threads and writing dozens of posts, and they do it while not caring! Can't you tell?
Wise up, folks! It's fake and meant to lead you down a path of sweet inclusion. That being said, the Blunder Twins aren't the only ones doing this. They're just the easiest, most obvious example. There are people just like them on other forums. These are people that work an agenda really hard and then disappear for weeks at a time, blaming bad feelings or trolls. They might say it's because of work, but better to leave with bad feelings only to reappear and start all over again. That way they can immediately begin soaking up yet another welcome from the faithful while doing their best to disparage their perceived trolls, who in reality barely give them the time of day.
It's all right there in front of your faces, but you have to not want what they're selling if you're going to see it for what it is. So, just how fucking desperate are you?

Anti-social Media

Dedicated non-readers of this space know that Topix has been steadily tumbling downhill like a load of misplaced socks, for a couple years now. Their business model appeared to be distinctly troll-centric. They seemed to be letting the inmates run the asylum, possibly thinking that this gave them control and erroneously believing the same and that it was also a good idea. It wasn't.

When I first visited the Chicago Forum in '08, that forum at least, was tied into the Chicago Tribune newspaper with all of it's media savvy and resources. With local and national news and sports, it was pretty damn interesting every day, offering something for everyone. The dregs had their advice columns to obsess over. Depending on the season there was always a yesterday's game to be dissected. There was crime and politics to fret over as well. It was like a digital version of the Trib and that was the future.

At some point the Chicago Tribune realized that and, like every other newspaper in America, created their own digital version of them self. In 2009 the Trib bailed and left Topix to fend for itself. It absolutely killed the Chicago Forum but I don't think the rest of Topixland noticed at all. It was probably business as usual on Offbeat which had always been a troll mecca anyway. And the thousands of small town forums that truly make Topix what they are, also carried on as per usual.

These days, everyone but the coolest kids are on Facebook. The cool kids might be on Instagram or something I haven't heard of and my nieces and nephews won't tell Mean Old Uncle Ferrerman because old people like him really ruined Facebook!  Every TV show has a page that fans can comment on. There are political sites galore. If you want to discuss it, it is there. You probably noticed that.

I understand, BTW, that kids think we ruined Facebook. If the internet had been around when I Was A Teenaged Ferrerman, I wouldn't have wanted my aunts and uncles on there with me. But, Facebook evolved into a world-wide, all inclusive media sensation because that made good business sense.

Topix opted to devolve into trolling for fun and profit. Mind you, these FB sites whether they are political or of some reality TV show are heavily trolled. The thing is, people fighting amongst themselves is not their business model. It just happens- and happens a lot- because people are basically assholes. I watched a video yesterday of a scientist at Chicago's Field Museum lamenting the bizarre, sexist comments on Youtube videos that she makes. She's just trying to educate people about dinosaur poop or something and nerds are hitting on her. But, people have been mean too. That's the internet.

It's ironic- fucking ironic, I must say- that the one thing Topix tries to do right is one of it's major handicaps. You can't swear on Topix. They have filters that kick out the common bad words and keep most posters from getting a post through with them. I think mods can over-ride that though or, people who are friendly with mods can get away wit a fuck or shit here and there. I see a lot of the usual suspects getting away with language on a fairly regular basis. It's amazing and amusing because I've seen people swearing on the NPR site. Any site really and I suppose you could complain but, no one seems to care. Like asking the nerdy scientist lady to wear more provocative clothing, it's just the way the internet is...

Fucking ironic indeed! Topix managed to get out-topixed by everyone else on the internet!

Topix is email with an audience. It's Princess Billy talking to his imaginary twin sister about how women adore him, hoping that people post back about what an obnoxious sissy he is. Topix is the Clique gang harassing a silly woman in North Carolina, hoping to  destroy her marriage and drive her off the threads. Topix is Sublime detailing his perceived life as one to be coveted by all persons who are- sadly-  not-Sublime. Topix is fake internet therapists infiltrating groups of posters for reasons known only to fake internet therapists. It is tribes, making war on Ferrermen and Hegel's and anyone who dares post with them. I would imagine it's a similar scenario on every podunk forum throughout Topixland. To paraphrase my old friend, AMC, it's folks puttin' on their fightin' hats. It's all about trolling.

The mods, like the Chicago Police at the 1968 Democratic Convention, are not there to create disorder, they are there to preserve disorder. There is less and less to preserve each day.

Well, I'm off to check my Myspace page! See ya there!

Minimum rage

"The minimum wage was never intended to fund a household!"

I checked the two most common sources of talking points- The Bible and The Constitution, and could not find anything about the intent of the minimum wage. I really doubt that Congress in 1938 invented the minimum wage "for teenagers" or had any admonitions about it not ever being intended for a career either. I think they were just saying that this (I think it was 25 cents per hour) was the least amount one could pay a non-farm working person. Twenty five cents. We've added a whopping seven (7) dollars to that! WOW!

Your grandfather managed to get by on 25 cents an hour and YOUR whiney ass complains about getting TWENTY NINE TIMES THAT!!!!

I'm surprised that no one has seriously used the grandfather defense of corporate thrift but, they have come close. It could have been grandfathered in.... They do cite that, before a communist minimum wage law ruined the country, our  forebears negotiated their own pay. By this though, they mean that they got whatever the bossman was paying. Don't kid yourself. It's teapublican's jobs to kid you. Many of them- ironically- do it for free! How 'bout that!?

I've been reading that Australia is enjoying a robust economy and that their minimum wage is $15 an hour. By the way, worrywarts, a Big Mac is only about 40 cents more expensive in Oz than here despite doubling the worker pay to make one. It can be done!

Ya know what can't be done in Australia? You can't get a job at Walmart. Because of the minimum wage being $15 an hour, no Walmart. Remember when Washington DC raised their local minimum to $12.50? Walmart balked at opening two stores and convinced the whore of a mayor to veto the bill. I only say he's a whore because surely they paid him to do this. I doubt the guy is a slut who did it for free. Anyway, the mayoral whore thought it would be a "job-killer" so, he vetoed it. And, DC got it's Walmarts. Profits were saved! Could you imagine the Mayor of Sydney lowering the minimum wage just to get a Walmart in town? Damn communists...

So, of course, it can be done. Internet idiots argue that prices will go up if the minimum goes up. Well, prices have gone up while wages have stagnated over the last 30 years so...maybe labor costs aren't the reason after all...

The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation either. Most experts agree that it should be about $15 an hour. Well, shit- you can't just double something like that because Congress forgot regular raises for the people they (allegedly) represent so, you've got to ease into it. Cooler heads are asking it be bumped up to $9 an hour. The problem with that is conservatives think that is "too much"! In fact, every minimum wage since 1938 has been fought as "too much". For a lot of them, that there is a minimum is offensive. Never mind  wanting to raise it, they want NO minimum wage! They argue that you shouldn't want it either because it (and Unions) are holding you back. You can negotiate your own wage and do better than a minimum or the maximum that a Union could get you... They want to pay you more- they just want it to be on their terms... Just give them a chance....

They really expect you to believe that. Worse, I think they believe it makes sense.

If the best a McDonalds worker could hope for, working off the Dollar Wage Menu, because others were willing to work for this, was one dollar, would the price of a Big Mac drop in relation to that payroll savings? Would the price of anything?

Well, of course not. Here's how business works: Charge as much as you can, as cheaply as you can. That's it. That's capitalism. We had slavery in this country for over 200 years! When people wanted to put an end that, we decided to kill each other in a war! After the initial investment of purchasing an employee, you just had to feed them enough that they survive and, that was it. That's pretty simple labor costs. And though it takes time, you could actually grow your own labor force....

People are still bitter about that historical labor development to this day.

But, we've come a long way, baby, since slavery. We now pay people. We just try to pay them as little as possible. Not quite slavery but, you can see it from there. 

Department Of Corrections

Well, it seems that the ex-Marine, New Jersey, lesbian waitress might not have been as discriminated against  as we were led to believe Let's go to the videotape:http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/Gay-Server-Tip-Lifestyle-Receipt-Discrepancy-233040811.html

The couple seems legitimate. They weren't identified and thus ridiculed in the initial story and there stepping up  now is in the shadows. They aren't looking for 15 minutes of fame in silhouette and, since the public doesn't know it was them and they've been wrongly outed as homophobes,   it's not as if they could sue the restaurant for damages.

I think they are just coming clean because a disturbed individual created a ruckus for their own self-aggrandizement.

As a Ferrerman, I deal with that a lot. You may have noticed. Lots of sick puppies out there, on and off the internet.

I'm also wondering if we got the real story with the Richie Incognito bullying scenario. I began to wonder about this actually shortly after the story broke and I caught part of an interview with Incognito. (Ferrerman note: Can you help but smile at that name? Sounds like a name for a kids cartoon,  "Richie Incognito- Boy Detective!") Anyway, Incognito seemed dazed and confused by the allegations and he was actually quite a bit more well-spoken and presentable than I would have expected.

There was a brief national dialogue about bullying and how bad it is. But, it never really took off. Maybe it was hard for us to grasp that guys as big as Jonathon Martin could be bullied. For the record, I stand by my assessment that bullying is often psychological and that that can trump size any day. There is no standard scenario here. Even republicans didn't seem too interested in condemning liberals and Obama for making America weak by giving every loser kid a plastic trophy for showing up for Little League.

So, it could have happened but, I'm wondering if it did. The locker room culture of the NFL was brought to the forefront and I can see that being a factor there but hardly anywhere else in life. Incognito's black teammates may indeed see him as one of them- "an honorary nigger".  That's their problem if they self-identify like that. I'm sure there is a certain way pro football players talk to each other just as there probably is a certain way soldiers talk to each other and I know there is a certain way construction workers talk to each other. And none of these are commonly acceptable amongst strangers on the street. One man's fightin' words might be a pro footballer's greeting and salutations.

So, though uncouth and vulgar, it's probably the way they do things, at least among the Miami Dolphins. That doesn't justify, it just explains. It might just be that Incognito is an acceptable jerk in one environment but, not in public, and that Martin wasn't open to that and probably has other issues. He left the team and, to my knowledge, hasn't given any interviews. I thought that was kinda odd. He must really have wanted to be left alone. How unusual. That's a trend in itself maybe?

Topix Taliban

Everybody knows that, if you don't like a conversation on the threads, you just scroll on by. Some people actually do this even. My haters do this. They just stop long enough to ring up a few negative icons and then they move on, usually without comment. There motto is:

I don't care what Ferrerman says, I offend his right to say it!

What a stupid motto! But, it kinda fits.

I don't mind people telling me that I'm wrong. I just would rather hear why I'm wrong rather than some cheesy, weak icons.

The Topic Taliban exists everywhere on the threads and elsewhere on the internet. They are anywhere someone is discussing something that someone else just doesn't want to hear about. Some people can't scroll. They want to control.

I see this on Facebook on various news sites quite a bit. Inevitably, someone posts: "WHY IS THIS NEWS???" The odd part is that it's often on a news site like the NBC page. Have they ever watched the news on TV or read a paper? It's been like this since the beginning of time. It can't always be hard news, can it? Some people like fluff as well as less newsworthy stuff like school closings or obituaries.

If you spot some fluff on the NBC site on Facebook, move on! You don't have to read it. Whining about it will not help. News just might be like pornography. I don't know what it is but, I know it when I see it. The other side of the "why is this news coin" is the "Why ISN'T this news???" that reichwingers commonly refrain when the Lame Stream Media doesn't cover their made up, anecdotal stories about Black people getting away with killing white people now that Obama is in office. Story for another day. Ya just can't please everybody!

But, pleasing everybody is not the goal of most folks whose motto tends to be, "me, Me, MEEEEE!!!" Those folks just can't scroll. They must control!

Topix is chock full of people I have little or no interest in reading. I scroll like a motherfucker, to coin a phrase. Save for a handful of friends, there are few names I view that cause me to click and read. I hate to break troll hearts (that's a lie: I love to break troll hearts!) but, there are no good trolls out there with marquee value. Frankly, there aren't even any good republicans with interesting takes on politics.  Why do I do this then? Well, I like to fight and I'm good at it. Topix can't be all reichwing hatred and bullying ya know.  It could also be more interesting? Maybe?

I don't know about that. Too many factions see it as personal email for their sect, a way of keeping in touch with others and knowing how they are doing. (It turns out, they are doing OK. Yay! How 'bout you?) The Chicago Dregs thread is like that. It's boring with intermittent spurts of interesting that are usually squelched by someone complaining about the direction the posting is taking. Back in the day, one girl used to almost literally jump in screaming "STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!!!" if someone dared get political. They had set up separate threads for things like politics and sex talk and everyone could go there...or else....

People would but, ya know, it's just not the same when dialogue is channeled like that. Who needs a traffic cop saying: The Vietnam War, Civil Rights and the Kennedy assassination and it's effects on both? Oh, that's not here. You need to take that kinda talk there, not here. You can take it there and anyone who has an opinion on that can go along there because some don't want to talk about that here, now. You understand, don't ya? By the way, how are you? My lumbago has been acting up lately....

I just like conversation better when it flows, when it just happens in the moment. It seems a lot more interesting without parameters and gatekeepers controlling or stifling.  Of course, I'm a liberal democrat. How clueless, nuts and spam is that!? 

Political football

The Sunday morning shows. It's hard to tell the political talk shows from the NFL TODAY-type shows that follow. It's the same format, with men in suits sitting down at a table, talking about the game, looking at video clips, analyzing each move. Pontificating. What's gonna happen today? What's next? Who is gonna win? What do you think, Chet?

Politics is entertainment just as sports are. Or, sport is, as Mitt Romney- former QB for the GOP in the '08 Election Bowl, might put it.

Politics is a team sport. We just watch and buy the memorabilia. I'm really no more a democrat that I am a Chicago Bear. You may think you're a republican but, I don't see you in the Senate Chambers.

We all just watch and root, Root, ROOT for our home team. We want them to win because if they win, WE WIN!

Politics seriously means as little in life as a Bears win or loss. And I think we have as little say in  politics as we do on the gridiron. We do not play the game. We just watch and hope. We want our team to win. More importantly- and you White Sox fans know what I'm talking about- we want the other team to lose. And lose badly. Story for another day but, Sox fans would rather hear that the Cubs lost than watch the Sox win.

Kinda obscene, eh? But, that's the way most republicans look at politics these days. If you can't win at all costs, pray for the other team to lose, at all costs. If they lose, you *win*. An entire nation of republican fans wants nothing less than the President Of The United States to fail! They hope Obama loses! This is like setting fire to your house because you are tired of your mother-in-law living with you and you want her out...NOW! Burn that fucker to the ground so she can't bother you anymore. GO TEAM!!

Day in, day out, the two sides compete seemingly against each other for our entertainment dollar and- unlike the Bears and Packers- supposedly for our benefit. Sorta. If Obama and the democrats fail, and fail miserably and- for example- we have another recession and- even better- an actual depression(!) the republicans win and get the ball back! How 'bout that!?  GO TEAM!!!

Politically, some people are tired of play after play of each team running the ball in the middle, picking up a yard or two. We want big plays! Republicans at least, want their team to run up the score, annihilate the democrats and let the people have candy for breakfast! Victory! GO TEAM!!!!

Some really don't seem to want the competition anymore judging by what I read not only on Topix but on just about every internet site about practically anything these days. It's pretty vicious out there. A link might be about "Batkid" and all that happiness folks in San Francisco put together to make that child's young, short life a a dream come true, but, before you know it, Jokers will be ruining the love with comments about Obama and those awful, awful liberals....

Well, that's the hardcore fanatics of he fans. There's @310 million people in this country. I don't know how many follow the NFL. Ten million? That's a lot but just a fraction of the country. Double it and it's still nowhere near a majority. 50 some million people vote in presidential elections. Nowhere near that number watch FOX, MSNBC  the Sunday shows or post on Topix or reichwing sites combined. Politics, we're just not that into you.

Should we be? The fate of the nation does rely on what our politicians do and it would really be nice if more people cared but...when they do they paint their faces, go bare-chested in December weather and scream to kill the other side. It's hard to tell the Tea Party from Giants fans. I don't think I just differentiated them.

Our politicians are going to do what they are paid to do, on the behalf of those who pay them to do. Them is not us. We're just the fans. We fill the seats and pay the bills but, they don't do it for us. They do it for themselves. And if our favorites don't do it this week, they'll get 'em next week. Or next year? Whatever, they still get paid.

And I don't watch the Sunday shows or the NFL Today. They both ruin the game for everybody, don't they?

Identity Crisis..

They sure can pick me!

Is it 'they' though? Are we dealing with super-villains? Or just a super-villain in the singular case?

Personally, I think it's one not-so-super-villain of many 'faces' on Topix, of course. Dedicated non-readers know that original troll went by Angelique 770. Her off Topix name at the time was Angelique DeSaussin. Well, that and an email address will get you a fake avatar on the threads and then you become Angelique770- but, Angelique DeSaussin to your off-Topix friends. It's not very exclusive. Kevin Knoop had like a hundred avatars. Ya know, for all I know he was/is Angelique 770. Nothing is impossible on Topix.

I'm fairly certain that A770 became Sam. They both had the same obsession with me and Sam has shown a penchant for posting an entry from EEE's dead blog of three years ago, with her take on the old kerfuffle from the Dregs thread. It was a pretty obvious connection as an idiot like Sam would not have known of the blog in the first place. Sam was either A770 or had been given the info by A770 for trolling purposes.

You have to take people at the face value that they 'show' on the internet. Gender is one of those intangibles that you just have to roll with. As time went on I had to seriously question A770's womanhood. There was just stuff that didn't seem womanly. Feminine- but not womanly. I figured a gay man. You can wonder why a gay man would infiltrate what was largely a group of women on the internet but, why does anyone do any of the crazy things we hear about on the 'net? The short answer, I guess, is because they can.

Yep, just like why a dog licks his balls. Same premise!

Well, I think they actually do that to keep their balls clean, but, I digress. A770  was water under the troll bridge a few years ago. She became Sam who didn't act any less odd when he decided to make stalking me his life's work. He was vicious in a very bitter way as if scorned. He claimed it was because I had been rough on his friend, Craig, a poster of many names, and another in a long line of phony Topix Vietnam combat veterans. Sheesh.... Can a grown man admit to such a mission of vengeance? Sam did.

Why is it all my trolls seem alike, regardless of alleged gender? How is it that they all know each other? Lately someone often named "Michael" has been trolling me. He doesn't bother to say 'why'. At this point does a reason matter? Of course it's another incarnation of A770/Sam. Why should there be a third fucking idiot who dedicates their life to trolling me for some internet slight? I can't be that special, can I? There are a lot of disturbed people in the world but...what are the odds...  I guess some people take political ass whuppin's harder than others, Yeah, that must be it. I'm a democrat and I must be stopped at all costs... With Michael that cost means posting my name and a Facebook photo of me and Ernie Banks, on Topix when he feels bold. Sports fans know Hall Of Famer  Ernie Banks as Mr. Cub. Trolls, evidently, don't know him at all.

Anyway, Michael gets frustrated easily and he vents by doing things like that. Yikes. How do you combat a badass troll like that?  Well, it's the internet- what can you do? The punk hides pretty well. I assume others like Carla Burgess or maybe Michael Pruden might know who Michael/Sam/Angelique 'really' is. They might only know one of the characters anyway. I'm sure they giggle when he posts my name and photo. It's no big deal  to them but, I gather they delight in this vicariously. It seems to be all they have. I seem to be all they have. And don't get me started on Princess Billy and his twin sister!

Who will she/he think of next? I don't know but this shit never ends.

The infringement of regulations

In the mindset of the founders and their time, why was the 2A necessary? Clearly it was for militias to fight the British or any other threat. I'm inclined to believe it was also about those militias putting down slave rebellions. Now- given the times- what it is NOT about is the founders seeing a need for men to be running around with guns all the time, just because they felt men should always be armed. Every see any paintings of our founders going to church or dinner, armed? With hunting as THE way to put meat on the table, at the time, it was obviously not about hunting or any efforts of the time to eliminate that. And looking at the way we stole this country from the Indians, it should be very clear that every farmer at the time also needed guns to protect himself and to prevail over the natives. So, people need to stop thinking of the founders as fortune tellers or men of supernatural vision who looked into the future and saw a time when every American should be armed to the teeth...against other Americans. I'm pretty sure they saw better things for this nation than the macho bullshit of every accountant walking around with a fully automatic rifle and a couple of handguns. Full auto wasn't a misprint. What part of "...shall not be infringed" do you not understand? Gun nutters misunderstand the entire phrase. They think it means NO regulation, at all!  What part of "well regulated militia" are they missing?  A writer for Guns & Ammo magazine was recently fired because he stated that American gun owners should realize that ".... all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be." That's a fact. Here's the 2A in it's entirety: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." So, "well regulated" is in there and so is "shall not be infringed". "Pick one" is not in there however.  The G and A writer,  Dick Metcalf, angered a lot of the readers and, worse perhaps, the gun manufacturers who financially back the magazine by saying there is a need for regulation. Fightin' words? Guns are a business. They are the only business seemingly Constitutionally endorsed. Well, no, they're not but, that's really the point here. Left to their own devices, gun manufacturers would love no restrictions on their product and, like any business would, they would sure love the wording of the most important document in the nation's history as their marketing and legal department! So, they have people running around screaming, "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!" and even acting like they'd like to go to war with America if the gun makers are infringed. That's some customer loyalty not seen since Tareyton asked their smokers if they'd rather fight than switch. It's one thing to have the Bible so open to interpretation when it was co-authored by so many, so long ago and translated from languages that no one really speaks any more. It's really crazy to adapt that to 21st century life. It seems to me a word here and a phrase there  could be a real game changer if interpreted loosely. same with a couple hundred years past, in English, in our Constitution. Many people today cannot comprehend "regulated" and "shall not be infringed". We need to make it a bit more in tune with the current times. See, I seriously doubt that our Founders envisioned a future of machine guns anymore than they thought of airplanes and space travel. Quotes from "Shane" aside, guns were necessary, if not cantankerous, tools of the time. I can't see where the founders envisioned the need for guns ever being questioned except, perhaps, in a we might need militias in the future to protect us from other countries, kind of way. And frankly, some folks think the militia wording was included for putting down slave rebellions.  http://truth-out.org/news/item/13890-the-second-amendment-was-ratified-to-preserve-slavery I think it's pretty clear they figured Americans- of the non-slave and non-native variety- white people- would always need guns. But, they didn't delineate it as such now, did they?  Why? I think it was because they were talking about militias. That other stuff was a given. It took years to write the Constitution. It wasn't because they were arguing about whether slaves should have guns or not. I think they all agreed on that. Golly, what part of "...shall not be infringed" did they not get? That verbiage, concise as it is, is also wide open. Full Metal Jacket gun nuts think the 2A provides for armed rebellion if "government gets too big for its britches". I gather that's how they see the 'militia" part? Sheesh, they must have translated from the original ancient Hebrew written between the lines in invisible ink to get that. Well then it should follow that "...shall not be infringed" would seem to dictate that prisoners can have guns. And babies.  And insane people. Criminals too. Everybody! Well, except slaves, of course as they were but 3/5ths of a person at the time. But, other than slaves, what part of "...shall not be infringed" are folks NOT understanding when they deny babies, criminals and others guns?  It seems to me the 2A seems to be saying: "GUNS FOR ALL AND ALL FOR GUNS!!! WOO HOO!!!!!"  Not allowing folks to have fully automatic rifles and flame throwers would seem to infringe as well. These people think paperwork in the purchase of a weapon or in order to carry a weapon is infringement. In short, ANY regulation at all is infringement. If it "goes without saying" that prisoners (and all) can't have guns then, guess what? That's regulation! If you (rightly) think that prisoners give up the right to bear arms in prison because of laws and common sense, that's regulation AND infringement! Complicated? Only if you want it to be. And only if you realize that, if guns are your business, you want complicated. Complicated is good for business. The vagueness of the Second Amendment turned out to be marketing genius. Regulation. How can law and order be such a bad thing for some people? That's business! And business is good. It's all in how you interpret it.

Tipping in the time of Sodom and Gomorrah

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Gay-Restaurant-Server-Stiffed-Tip-Customer-Do-Not-Agree-Lifestyle-231998211.html

This seems to be happening a lot lately. By a lot, I mean about once a week. Church folks are rising up against the tyranny of the homosexual lifestyle in the restaurant industry and telling gay and lesbian servers that they are getting stiffed- and not in the good way- for their gayness! They are being told in no uncertain, passive/aggressive terms written on receipts that, "NO TIP FOR YOU!"  is today's special!

Is their something in the Sunday sermons about this or are these people just cheap?

This Ferrerman tended bar for about 15 years. No one ever not-tipped me and said it was for gay reasons. I know this because I'm not typing this from the prison library having received a life sentence for beating the hell out of the scumbag... Not everyone tips a bartender. You just accept that. Some don't out of ignorance. Some are cheap. Some are all that plus assholes.

Really, only one instance when a customer did not tip and explained why stands out in my memory. Some piggish-looking guy had been taking up space at the bar, drinking Southern Comfort Manhattans. He wasn't a regular of any sort. We were located near a shopping center. I had never seen him before and would likely have never seen him again. He chatted me up a fair amount about this and that. Rather unremarkable until, upon leaving he scooped up his money and stated: "Well, times are tough! Gotta keep track of every dollar..."

I lit into this sorry bastard pretty good. I didn't care about his two dollars like he did. Take your money and walk away from the bar with no explanations. There are no reasons in this situation. Well, no good ones. If you give a dance, you gotta pay the band. If you chose to go out drinking, you should tip. If you can't afford to tip, stay home with a bottle. At least keep your mouth shut when you leave. 

It's not like people had more tact back then. I knew waiters and waitresses who had chased non-tippers outside to berate them. As a bartender, I made $5 (usually in cash) an hour plus tips. This was in 20th century dollars, I might add. I dealt with a volume of people, most of which tipped something so it all added up and the money was good. But, a server works their ass off for pretty much each table and the hourly rate they get is a wash with taxes. They survive strictly on tips. Do not fuck them. Poor service sure enough does happen and one is under no obligation to reward that but, take it up with the manager. They need to know what is going on with their employees. Some people leave a penny to show their dissatisfaction rather than nothing which might mean they 'forgot'. I couldn't do that. A server usually knows when they are incompetent or having a bad day. It'll come up in conversation. Even so many years removed from the business, I can tell poor service, from a bad night, from incompetence pretty easily. If the server blames the bar or the kitchen for their fumbling, you can pretty much bet your life you're looking at THE problem. Blaming the bar was how waitstaff was trained at one place I worked. Larry Mysterioso and I were standing behind a nearly empty bar one Saturday night when the Greek pig owner came out to yell at us for being "slow" in our service to the staff. A new waiter had blamed us for his incompetence. The Greek pig noticed right away that we had absolutely nothing to do but, he was never one to let outrage go not unleashed. He screamed and went back to expediting in the kitchen. Later he came out and sorta apologized and asked us to keep an eye on that server. Duh! Their training had been known to us for some time. One of my better waitresses told me of hearing another waitress schmooze-talking to one of her tables for ten minutes and then walk about 4 steps over to the next table and, with a straight face, explain that she was late in getting there to take their order because the bartender was slow! Unfuckingbelievable. Who knows how often that happened? Probably most people failed to see through it.

There was also an incident recently where a Xtian took the time to write out something about their giving the Lord 10% so why should they give the server that or more?

Again: STAY HOME!

Back in the day, a girlfriend dragged me to one of those mega-churches. It was non-denominational and had a rock band and audiovisuals that made for a very pleasurable service. The 'preacher' had been chaplain to the Chicago Bears at some point. I'm not religious, having been forced to attend church as a child but, I did enjoy the show for everything it was not. This was in the Northwest suburbs and it was a kick to see the decidedly monied crowd with their furs and jewelry for a Wednesday night service. There were often a few Chicago Bears in attendance. The church didn't do weddings, baptisms or any of the usual church stuff. I think they just printed money. The young preacher had no problem proclaiming that they had hit the $50k the previous Sunday so, PRAISE THE LORD, THE LOOT's BEEN PASSED! I didn't care for the hypocrisy but, this guy gave good sermons!

One night he chastised the congregation for stiffing the servers at the local restaurant. Evidently large groups had been doing this for awhile at a nearby pancake house. His whole sermon that evening was about this. I, of course, was a bartender and my girl was a waitress so this thrilled us both. He went on about how hard servers worked and how they depended on tips. It was his best sermon since the one where he wanted to meet the person who was spreading rumors about him and his wife being adulterers, in the parking lot of the church, to beat the shit out of him. There would be no turning the other cheek except to punch that other cheek or kick that other ass cheek! This appealed to my most primal Ferrerman instincts. Does your minister talk like that? It was pretty neat.

WWJD?  Jesus would probably address tipping like this: "Render onto Flo or Alice, 15% for decent service and 20% for really good service. And judge not Terry for his gayness for it's not like he's doing it in front of you. He's just trying to make a living bringing you food. Is that so wrong?"

And, yay verily, don't piss off that Ferrerman behind the bar! Hell hath no fury....

I added the last one myself.

So, IDK if it's an organized effort on the part of the Xtian reich or if it's just an internet thing that has caught on with the cheapskates. You may think your server is gay or lesbian but, what's that really got to do with your dining experience? If they got your food out right and timely, do you really have to care how they take their genitalia when they're off duty and tip or not tip accordingly?

Amen.  

Try ta get me go to Rehab...

I enjoy the program, The Rehab Addict. I love old houses and that's all the host, Nichole Curtis, works on. She's a quirky little blonde woman who seems pretty capable. She'll wear sandals on the job and refuses to wear a tool belt so, she has little choice but to work for herself because no one in their right mind would let an employee work like that. Well, no one that provides and pays for Workman's Compensation, that is. The tool belt isn't a job requirement- officially- but, unless you're the boss you are not going to get away with borrowing tools from your co-workers for very long. There's a reason carpenters wear tool belts. That's where the tools are!

It's a TV show though and, you have to suspend reality a bit because of that. One thing I have admired about her program is that she doesn't pretend to do an entire kitchen in a weekend like some shows do. Evidently, even if her show had the budget to throw an army of paid pros at a job, she wouldn't do it.

She prefers squads of unpaid amateurs. On her Facebook page she'll put out a call for volunteers in the area to stop by and paint, or clean up, maybe rake leaves. She's even asked for paint that people might have lying around that they don't need....

Not a lot of shows do that. Actually, I don't know of any shows that do that. It's not Habitat For Humanity. It's her job. She buys, rehabs and sells houses. For a living...

Free labor is a republican wet dream. Nothing keeps labor costs down like not paying people. Payroll eats into profits! That's why the American worker has been on a diet since Reagan. The bigger the spread on the table for the wealthy, the better the crumbs for us. That's Reaganomics.

She makes a living at this. How good of a living, I don't know. She claims that it's all her money involved in the construction aspect of the show and that this gives her creative control. I'm assuming that she could get a pretty nice operating budget and the kind of support that other hosts on HGTV/DIY get, if she wanted it. She doesn't want it.

Most of the people you see working on her show are getting paid, by her. I'm thinking not at their usual rate but at a special 'I'M ON TV!!!' rate. I don't see the usual suspects from job to job on her show. Maybe most contractors quickly tire of the demands of television. I read that, because of those demands, the PBS show, Hometime pays extra for contractors to indulge them. I don't think Nichole pays extra for anything....

But, this is her living. Other people have to make a living too. We are all interconnected in this aspect. She claims that, since she's doing these homes in shaky neighborhoods she's helping to revitalize them and working with a very thin profit margin because of those same shaky neighborhoods. She may not be buying the worst house on the block like real estate experts advise but she is selling the best house on the block when she's done. Those other houses must appreciate that.

So, it's bargain-basement remodeling, I guess. Try doing that the next time you buy a house to fix up and make a few bucks off of or just want to remodel your own. Ask folks from the neighborhood to donate materials and labor because you're not gonna make a lot on this but you are "improving the neighborhood". Unless you're a cute blonde with a spankable bottom and a TV show, you're probably not going to get a lot of help.

Teamwork

When I heard that an NFL player was bullying another player, my first thought was (after seeing Richie Incognito- the bully) was that his victim had to be a punter or maybe a safety. A smaller guy.

But, the victim, Johnathon Martin is 6'5", 312 pounds. He's a lineman just like Incognito.

It doesn't seem to fit until you consider that, in real life size doesn't always matter. They could both weigh 110 pounds soaking wet and one could still bully the other. Bullying is always psychologically based. Size certainly can be a factor as big kids bully little kids all the time and even into adulthood but, Incognito v. Martin highlights the mental aspect of it. Incognito got over on Martin as easily as he would someone half his size. Clearly he has a more dominant personality. Though linemen all are roughly the same size, fighting abilities aren't the wash it would seem. Bullies count on the promise of violence more than the actual act. If you make someone think you can kick their ass, you already have. That is bullying.

A bully usually is willing to ruin his day along with yours. He (or she) counts on the fact that you don't want the trouble that fighting in school can bring and- of course- you're none too thrilled about the bruising and possible bleeding. So, they do the dance of intimidation. They keep looking until they find the right partner.

I don't know these two guys. I'm gonna guess that Martin is a quiet guy, perhaps kind of a loner. Some people perceive that as weakness.

And Incognito is surely a loud-mouthed asshole. I've only read stories and seen pictures. I'm gonna bet I'm right. Any of you little shits wanna step up and PROVE ME WRONG??!! I DIDN'T THINK SO- YA FUCKIN' PUSSIES!!!!

OK, relax. I was just play-acting, to prove a point! As a Ferrerman, I took an oath to only bully the bullies. But, that little outburst did change the dynamic of this post for a bit, didn't it?

Bullies are almost always "on". They tend to be jagoffs 24/7/365. The anger is always there, even if it's not always showing. Real people may occasionally erupt in anger for various reasons but the bully wallows in it. Few people want to join him there.

My second thought about this was, why were the other players letting this happen, particularly the black players. Incognito  regularly used the nigger ("n-word) word. Why did they put up with that?

Teamwork, I guess. From Pee Wee leagues on up, football players are taught to be tough, hit hard and exploit others weakness's. I'm guessing that many of them looked down on Martin too- for whatever reason. And, I think it's a given that some also feared Incognito. I'm going to guess that Incognito wasn't bluffing about violence like some schoolyard bullies might be. No doubt he can bring it and, well, some of those other big, tough guys probably didn't want to find out that Richie could own them too. So, they went along with it, perhaps thinking: "Better him than me." Evidently, cowards come in all sizes just like bullies. And sometimes- like politics- it's a matter of teamwork. Life is all about which team you choose. Good v. Evil. It happens every day in the schoolyard of life.

But, seriously folks....

Thanks to teapublican efforts to cut spending on things that don't promote republican friends and relations, some 900,000 veterans are going to have their benefits cut, as detailed here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/11/01/oh-snap-veterans-get-dissed-by-the-gop/

What the teapublicans did- probably on their way home from standing shoulder to shoulder with veterans in protest of THE MEMORIALS THAT REPUBLICANS HAD SHUT DOWN(!!!!!)- was kill a temporary increase in benefits for all Americans in the SNAP program. It was temporary like Civil Rights. We don't need special laws about Civil Rights in this post-racial America and lazy people don't need extra handouts in this post-recession America. Get over it, losers! This is NOT The Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy that were for ten years- in perpetuity, if you will. And, you will! It wasn't like that.

Here's the thing about military service, I guess, according to the GOP. It's not a career. Like McDonalds, it's a part-time job for young people. It doesn't pay well. You are NOT supposed to make a living at it, for God's sake! Sheesh- it's also a government job! No wonder teapublicans hate it! If you want job security in the national security business, start your own militia! Be a job creator! No one gets rich being a private in the government army. Start your own! It's damn near Constitutional....

Though not verbatim, I expressed that over-the-top sentiment on a liberal site where I was pretty confident my brilliance would be met with much support and many likes. Some guy commented right away and it had sailed right over his head. I made some allusion to sarcasm and hoped I was being diplomatic and kind in doing so. One Ferrerman's ridiculous hyperbole is some teatard's actual manifesto. Dedicated non-readers here know me but, out there on the mean streets, I'm open to interpretation. Yep, even among like-minded folk. To be Ferrer....we're all used to reading crazy shit from teapublican posters and politicians that, if you've got an open mind and a sense of humor takes you back a bit and makes you wonder about the sincerity of the speaker. There are some reichwingers on Topix that I think really might be liberals sabotaging the GOP in their own wacky way. Sadly, they're just actual idiots not playing at all.

So, I can see some good people falling  victim to Ferrerman. I'm pretty good at this, ya know. I'm in the Hall Of Fame!

I went to check for likes ('cause I'm needy that way) maybe ten minutes later and noticed the post was gone! Yikes! I wasn't bounced from the site but, there was no explanation. Just comment and replies, gone with the wind. I'd have to guess that from the initial post to postpocalypse was not even 20 minutes. That's pretty fast service!

Oh well. I should have put it on a reichwing site. It'd be fun to hear people support the troops AND the cutting of their funding in the same breath. And what entrepreneur could argue with privatized armies? Our military is about as socialist as  liberal communism gets, ya know. That's gotta change. Can't have that in the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!!

I'm Not Kidding!

Bill Maher and Ann Coulter are friends. That would seem an unlikely pairing because he's so liberal and she's so ridiculously rightwing. But, if you think about it, how common is it for senators from opposing sides of the aisle to dine together and maybe hang out with each others families, off the clock? Very common because most of these people are just phoning it in anyway. That's politics! Fighting in the Senate chambers in the afternoon and then fighting to see who picks up the check at dinner. Not much of fight really as the taxpayers get the tab, regardless.

I saw a short clip of Bill interviewing Ann, last night on his show, and he told her that he's often asked by his fans if she's serious about her stuff. She said this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=644604735559757&set=vb.62507427296&type=2&theater

So, yeah, she's faking it. She's faking it all the way to the bank. I've never thought she was particularly good at it either but, she really doesn't have to be. In her case, she knows that hyperbole pays really, really good and the republican side of the political coin invites hyperbole. All she has to do is look at an issue through her conservative eyes, light it afire, and she entices both her fellow arsonists and those who have the hearts of firemen.

In other words, people love her and love to hate her. It all pays the same. Being a conservative, especially a crazy one is recession-proof. Literally! Your side can cause a recession and you've got gasoline and matches to...well, burn, because of it.

Seriously, the big money is in complaining. If a republican gets elected you can rejoice but, mostly because now you can continue to complain about how awful the democrat predecessor was that you complained about for the previous 4 to 8 years but, it's different because now he's made everything hard for your guy....so you blame. These people still pin things on Jimmy Carter! He's the guy that set the table for the Reagan years they are so fond of. And Bill Clinton left GW Bush a surplus to go to Crazy Town with and they hate him for that. All Ann has to do is convince idiots that that was bad, probably because of the blow jobs. You can forget that your business probably did just fine under Bill because here's someone telling you that anything that happened later was Bill's fault probably because of who was under Bill at one time....

I think Bill Maher is a serious liberal. He gave a million of his own dollars to reelect President Obama. As a comedian, a president Romney would have paid off a lot better. A LOT better.

So, I think he's serious. While we're at it, how come their aren't any high-profile, hyperbolic, bat-shit crazy democrats? Who comes to mind when you think of crazy republicans? Palin. Coulter. Cruz. Limbaugh. Everyone on FOX- the list goes on.

Who comes to mind when you think of batshit crazy, hyperbolic democrats?

All we've got is Chris Matthews. He's really pretty tame. All they remember is him saying something weird about a "tingle in (his) leg" about Obama. I know they like to portray Rachael Maddow as looney tunes but, she's one of the smartest people ever to comment on politics. She's no Ann Coulter. No one on our side is. There's a reason for that.

If you vote republican in your twenties, it's because you have no brain. If you're still voting republican in your fifties it's because you have no heart. It's just easier being mean, isn't it? It's lowered expectations personified. It's sad but, it pays well because enough people want to hear it. No kidding....

Billy Club

A couple of years ago, I got a PM from BillyR on Topix. I wasn't supposed to get it. I don't know who was supposed to get it but, it wasn't supposed to be me!

BillyR was advising someone that a graybox poster called "Mr Wadds" was Ferrerman because- you know- the Illinois ISP! AND HE'S A PERVERT! WITH THE WOMEN-SPANKING THING!!!! That was the gist of the message. While Billy Rubin is an idiot who has told me that I'm other posters (whether I liked it or not!) he had never done this in PM form before. Billy portrays himself as THE expert in who's who on Topix. He's more of a decider like GW Bush was, because Cheney told him he was a decider. For some, saying it makes it so. Whoever was supposed to get the PM was being instructed to believe Ferrerman was Mr Wadds.

Prior to that, I had figured that Wadds was an invention of *Sam*, the stalker troll. I didn't bother reading much because it was creepy, Human Sexuality Forum stuff but, I knew that *Sam* was trying very hard to pin Wadds on me. He was always following up his Wadds posts at the time with vainglorious, melodramatic threats to Ferrerman that, if Ferrerman didn't quit harassing women on Topix, he would run Ferrerman off!!!! Stupid shit like that, that only idiots could believe. Typical Sam shit.

Well, after the PM I knew it was now typical Billy shit. Sam is Billy. Duh.

So, I've known this for some two years now. If you think two retards pushing the same stupid agenda that Ferrerman IS some scumbag named Mr Wadds is "thin", you probably think that I am every Illinois poster. Topix isn't that simple but, many of it's poster's are. See: Paisley Posley. Sure...the government controls the weather....why couldn't Ferrerman control every Illinois post on Topix....?

It's been interesting. BillyR as BillyR fancies himself a champion of women who all adore him- platonically, of course, because he's married to Mrs Billy and they take their child- The Cho- out for ice cream because the weather in South Florida (where they live, of course...) is quite lovely....

He invites abuse because of gay shit like that. It's very annoying. A bit disingenuous too when his characters like Wadds and Sam and some of his friends, like Laura Beth, attack a few of these women he cherishes so... I enjoyed taunting him about his failure to curtail these other assholes from tormenting Lifelover and Paula, for example. He never had an excuse for that. No reason why it was OK for some of his friends to abuse other friends. A simple, "I like Sam better than Lifelover and respect that he taunts her about her dying husband. That's his right! I don't tell my friends what to do- unless it's what to believe about Ferrerman, of course! Everyone in Billyland must be on the same page about that!  Instead he did nothing. Not very brave, this BillyR. No wonder he needs characters.

Clearly, he uses personas like Sam, Wadds, Michael and various combinations of those (and others?) to harass other posters besides me. As if his BillyR persona weren't creepy enough, he has to be those others too? Sheesh. It's like "FIGHT CLUB" for the internet.  As if the whole, ultra creepy twin bullshit with Princess isn't ultra creepy enough....mom always liked you best....

Yikes.

Ferrerman's Troll-fighting Tips

When being trolled, it's always a good idea to take a look around the room and notice who is NOT there.

Now, that might seem like a tall order and a lot of head-counting but, it's not. These people tend to roam in packs- cliques, if you will- and it's pretty easy to match up who is who. They don't put a lot of thought into it. So, if a Ferrerman tweaks a BillyR and the next thing ya know a rabid troll is going crazy with alleged Ferrerman PI, isn't it odd when BillyR doesn't make a sound?

Odder still, his imaginary twin sister, Nancy Teller Denton, does. To be fair to Nancy, she did sorta kinda try to stop him. She told him he was "better than this". Turns out he wasn't! Who knew?!

He put up a Facebook picture of me and Hall Of Famer, Ernie Banks. Mr. Cub and Mr. Ferrerman are in different Halls Of Fame together, if you're scoring at home.  It was a profile pic I used for awhile on Facebook. The asshole troll did this via Photobucket. Here's another Troll-fighting Tip: Hit the report abuse icon and the pic goes away! This action will piss the troll off but, LIFE pisses the troll off so, there's that.

I reported the pic to Photobucket and they informed me it wasn't a registered user. It was just some idiot who posted the same pic several times, wondering why it kept going away....

To their credit, Topix banned the offending IP but, they admitted that was all they can do. He was going to do it again...

Well, we all knew that. Flustrated by the pic being pickled, he went and posted some personal misinformation. Close but, no cigar. It's the thought that counts though.

Google is your friend. I googled some non-friends and found the home addresses and phone numbers of Dean Davis and James Denton. These guys are friends of my stalker. Might even be my stalker. Who knows?

And well, who cares? One lives in Ravena, NY and one lives in Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Big deal. I could be wrong about that, right? Do you believe everything you read on the internet? Should you? Marie Henson claims to have killed a guy. But, Marie Henson also believes that anybody with an Illinois ISP IS Ferrerman. She has no concept of proxy servers even though most all her friends use them. So, how reliable about anything is Marie Henson? I'd have to say, not very! There's a lot of Marie Henson's BTW. Not just in Indiana either. So, ya know, who knows?

Anyway, you look around the room and you notice who's missing. Then they show up like nothing happened....

Typical.

The Chicks are not right

Ask a simple question....

Per my post the other day about sin taxes, I posed the question of tea party interest/noninterest to the mistresses of a Facebook site called: Chicks On The Right.

Remember  a few weeks ago when some guy organized a trucker drive on Washington? I think it was called "The Million Trucker March" or some nonsense. A few hundred trucks might have made the occasion. Nowhere near one million. Well, the Chicks put up a photo on their page that showed a couple hundred trucks making a mess of traffic and headlined it as one of those events that the lame stream media doesn't want YOU to know about.

Well, the problem was, the photo in question was an aerial shot of an ITALIAN TRUCK STRIKE FROM 2008, not an anti-Obama trucker fiasco in 2013. Oops!

So, I posted on their wall asking if they had put that pic up. "Nope", they responded. One of their fans also replied that, simply responding "nope" was the time-honored response to trolls, when they ask trollish questions. And then the conversation went south from there.

I had caught them with their pants down. I think you dedicated non-readers know what happens when a Ferrerman catches a lady with her pants down. For you new non-readers, what happens is spankings! Sometimes literal but, usually just political. Dammit.

Anyways, what ensued was the usual back and forth one would find when engaging 'tards in political battle on Topix. Same shit, different venue. The internet is full of reichwingers.

The Chicks site is the usual vitriolic anti-Obama fluff you can find anywhere. For example, there was a "you'll only see it here" story about some dumbass 19 year old who was plotting to lose his gay virginity in public and call it "art". Some foolishness like that.

The Chicks think one in a row is a trend and and cited this as yet another reason why the country was going to hell under Obama. Their fans agreed!

For all I know, the gay virgin artist story is as true as their trucker strike lie so, I was rolling the dice. I thought I'd pose my question about the laziness of sin taxes and get an actual answer as to why the various tea parties  never mention these taxes as being abusive or even wrong.  It's probably because not too many 2 percenters smoke so, the tax means nothing to them. It's for little people. But, I was curious as to why this never comes up. It's my contention that the taxes that are killing folks are local and state wide rather than Federal. Sales, property, license plates, etc. etc. are always going up. There's no deductions for them. No credits. You have to pay. Yet you never hear the various tea parties scream about that. I think it's because there is no black democrat in charge of those taxes. I mean, in many parts of the country the tax on a pack of cigarettes exceeds the price of the product. Whether you smoke or not, the severity of the tax should piss you off, at least a little. First they came for the smokers but, I was not a Marlboro man....

So, I think I asked them if they knew of any sites that were political since they seemed to be more interested in the usual anti-Obama fluff n' stuff rather than political shit  like taxes. They had distanced themselves from the various tea parties, as well. There are so many, you'd think they'd like at least one. They just claim to be "conservative".  Oh and all their posts are anti-Obama and anti-liberal. But, they're not political...

BTW, I checked and they aren't satire. You have to do that these days when the likes of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann spout off things that make the writers at The Onion say, "Why didn't we think of that??!!"

So, the Chicks fired me. I can no longer comment on their site. I can look but, I can't touch.

I don't blame them. Who needs someone mucking up their site with politics? It's their right to keep it politics free!

The singer, not the song

There are just some people that simply do not like anything Barack Obama says or does. It's nothing personal. They are just more astute than anyone else is and are therefore able to readily recognize that everything he says and does actually IS wrong and WILL lead to the total destruction of America as we know it. It's nothing personal and it certainly isn't racist because, they don't feel that way about all niggers, just him.

Really now, how could everything a president says or does be wrong? What are the odds?

Honestly, in the threads Ferrerman was getting the same treatment. I was was always "clueless, nuts and spam" no matter what I posted! Imagine that! What are the odds?

I noticed that not all democrat posters were treated that way. I always was though. So, of course, it had nothing to do with the quality of my posts. It was just cheap, anti-Ferrerman sentiment. A couple of people- for their own psychotic reasons- had chosen to dedicate their lives to putting negative icons on every post Ferrerman- or a suspected Ferrerman- makes on Topix!

Well, we already knew that. DUH.

The thing is, anti-Obama sentiment is the same as anti-Ferrerman sentiment. It's all hated-based and nothing else. In my case and in Obama's, politics is used to justify hatred for an individual. This is weak. It's not to be respected or feared. When opinions are hate-based, they cease to be opinions. They are merely vulgar expressions of fear.  Atticus Finch would  not debate a rabid dog.

If it wasn't so generic and perfunctory, it might be taken more seriously. What a surprise that a teabagger is against something Obama wants to do! What a surprise that a teabagger is against Ferrerman saying "hey" to an attractive,  blonde, English chick! The bastard! I don't know if that post even got iconned. It was pulled, literally inside of five minutes. It's hard out there for a Ferrerman when one of your trolls is a Topix mod. Just sayin'....

So, it's hard to take Obama detractors or Ferrerman detractors seriously. It's interesting that they tend to be cut from the same soiled cloth of misplaced patriotism.

One of the reasons I retired Ferrerman from Topix was, there was barely anything resembling polite, political discourse. No matter what brilliant insight I posted, it was captured in reply by various socks calling me names. I would rarely post to these miscreants anyway but, they'd see "Ferrerman" on the index and swarm like flies to honey. Whether it was one person with 50 *personalities* or five with fifty, theirs is an exercise in futility. They need to hate. And Topix needs the clicks. It's a match made somewhere south of Heaven. I don't think we ever have to worry about these haters getting better, in thought or deed.

Not Taxed Enough Apparently

The various tea parties, if they wanted the backing of a Ferrerman, would do well to address the ridiculous taxation of cigarettes, particularly in Chicago, that hotbed of Black, community activists who go on to become President Of The United States. It would seem to be right in their wheelhouse because the "TEA" in Tea Party allegedly means: Taxed Enough Already.

Sin taxes are the epitome of lazy government. Raising taxes on cigarettes or alcohol is phoning in government. They are barely giving a nod to the heroic "saving of lives..." anymore. You think cigarettes kill? You want to save the lives of men, women and children? MAKE CIGARETTES ILLEGAL. How can you tax/profit off of something that kills people? (Well, see: guns & ammo but, story for another day! Could you imagine the uproar if ammunition was taxed like smokes!)

Why pussyfoot around with saving lives lip service by allowing a product that people evidently like and want, when it kills people? Why are cigarettes so dangerous that they can only be battled via taxes? Why aren't cities and states legalizing crack, meth and heroin and taxing those things to save lives? And, uh, make a few bucks....

Mayor Rahm Emmanuel wants to raise the city tax on a pack of smokes $.75 making the total tax on a pack $7.42. That includes state, federal, county and city taxes. So, with cigarette company costs/profits, and the store's markup- you are paying @$11.59 for a pack of Marlboros? Most of your expenditure for that tar and nicotine pleasure goes, not to Liggett Myers but, to various governments that want you to quit....for your own good...

I guess they want you to quit so they can tax something else?

The government never- EVER- says that not enough people are quitting smoking so, because of that failure of the people, government is forced to raise the cigarette tax- AGAIN- to encourage people quit....

They never say that. Actually, people quitting is part of the reason they meed to raise the tax. There's some yada-yada in there about health related costs but, they barely go through the motions about that because, the money doesn't go to healthcare. It goes to running the broke-ass cities and states. Except for millionaires, when do taxes ever go down? If a city or state is used to getting income from something, they budget for that. If income goes down because more people stop using the taxed product, that money has to be made up somewhere. They either also tax something else and/or they raise the tax on that product.

With cigarettes and other sin taxes, it's a no-brainer. No one speaks for the smokers and the drinkers who get taxed every time they turn around. Having no voice themselves, they just roll with it. Or roll their own....

Golly! If only there were a political group- focused on unfair taxation- to speak for these disenfranchised folk! If only...

Apparently, the Koch brothers don't smoke. They founded and fund some of the tea parties. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: They are billionaires- they can well afford to smoke! They probably quit when they were millionaires and, with the money saved, became billionaires.

Yet they are against taxes. It's just that one of the most egregious taxes of all goes unnoticed by them for some reason. Mind you, this is not a Chicago or Illinois thing. Prices and taxes vary. That same pack of Marlboros will cost about $5 in Kentucky, the lowest of the 48 contiguous states and, a tobacco growing state. Less that ten years ago I did some work outside Louisville and paid $2 a pack. Even the tobacco friendly states are getting in on the gravy train of saving lives through taxation.

This is why I cannot take the tea parties seriously. Fighting to keep the super rich from being taxed "too much"(?!) but completely ignoring the near-sodomizing tax of the poor and working class because they smoke? By default they must think the sin taxes are just and fair. I'm certain some smoke and must be aware of the taxes. They simply must not care. I wonder what they might tax if they were ever to gain control of government?  My guess is, anything but wealth.

Kids say the darnedest things

http://lotoflaughters.com/the-13-creepiest-things-a-child-has-ever-said-to-a-parent/

Yikes! Creepy indeed. Some of these were very frightening.

Here's some more:

http://www.rosehope.com/weird-stuff-about-kids-round-two/

I found the latter researching the former. I'm more intrigued about the kids speaking matter-a-factly about past lives that saying weird stuff. A lot of people and some cultures believe in reincarnation and the recycling of lives. I've always kinda leaned towards it myself. Of course, that's because I taught reincarnation in a previous life, in Salem, Massachusetts before I was burned at the stake for heresy... As far as I know, I made that up because I'm a damn Ferrerman after all. Still, I do have a distinct fear of fires and will not step into them EVER.  So, ya know?

The kids in question here all seem very young, like 2-4 years old, rather that precocious eight year old's displaying their imagination. It seems like they just blurt this out and do not speak of it again. You may have done it at that age. What do you really remember since before you were about five? It is around that age that our earliest clear memories are usually formed.

We're not talking false memories here like folks might have as adults after years of television, movies and reading books. If I feel like I was a cowboy in a past life, it's probably because of TV and movies and that, I wish I were a cowboy. If a three year old remembers being a Viking and executing someone...you might want to listen. How much TV have they seen at that age- without you?

I'm not sure what the method to the madness is here. By that I mean, life. Is the point to serve God, worship him and get to heaven? And if you don't do that, spend eternity in Hell? Kinda doubt it. Are 1.5 billion Chinese really going to hell because they are not Christian? I've heard that. Your actual results may vary, depending upon religion. With so many non-Christians in the world for so many years, I think even a God would have given up long ago.

But, perhaps there is a God and he's far less needy and far deeper than portrayed. What if we are deeper than portrayed? Why not recycle souls for the purpose of education or redemption- even punishment?

What's the method to the madness with reincarnation? I don't know. I doubt anyone ever will. The little baby you might be holding in your arms today might know a bit about where he's been and he may even be trying to tell you but, it could be that he's entering a new world and leaving behind his old and that where he's been is not as important as where he is now. I'm wondering if this is always kept in the family lineage. Can a blonde haired, blue-eyed Swede in Stockholm have been a Masai warrior? Vice versa? Anecdotaly, people who have *died* and *come back* have reported the bright light and being greeted by a deceased relative and told that it's not their time. Heaven? Maybe. Sorta. Could be sort of a waiting room. Eternity lasts a long time. There are a lot of places to go and a lot of people to get there.

When you're a proctologist...

A 12 year old girl, bullied by classmates, leapt to her death from a three story cement plant structure. One of her tormentors wrote on her Facebook page: " 'Yes ik (I know) I bullied REBECCA nd (and) she killed her self but IDGAF (I dont give a f---)." Keep an eye on that kid- she may be running for Congress soon.

More than likely though, she'll just age and comment on Topix and elsewhere on the internet, along with the other assholes. She's in the farm system now...learning....

Topix aside, if you've ever been on any site where people are welcome to comment, you already realize that there are a lot of assholes out there. It's not like Topix where there are just several dozen assholes on any given forum. Most any news site or political site gets far more traffic than a Topix Forum and none of it is posters are saying "hello" to each other or have mods posting about their lunch.

There are some seriously deranged people out there and, I'm not going to lie to you- 99% of these assholes are teaparty/republicans. The little bitch that gave her classmate the verbal shove off of the cement tower- and bragged about it- is never going to reconcile her adult self supporting any sort of benefits for under-privileged folks.

If the various tea parties stand for anything it's that it's OK to be an asshole, as long as you wrap yourself in the flag. Just feel free to hate everything and everybody as long as it smacks of "liberalism". I'm sure that on some sites- right now- people are posting that the dead child was "weak", "surely a liberal", or (from an intellectual) "a product of a soft, liberal society where every child gets a trophy so that their widdle feewings don't get hurt..."

It hardly matters what the subject is. Liberals are to blame for everything. They're the ones that think the Washington Redskins is offense to Native Americans. I looked at a site earlier that had the Redskins flag, alongside the Confederate battle flag and the Nazi flag. This was on a conservative site mind you. They weren't complaining that the Redskins football team was unfairly being lumped (somehow) with those two, mind you. They were putting it on an equal footing with the others. Think I'm kidding? Have you seen the Confederate flags at rightwing political events lately. You don't usually see Nazi flags but....you do... Two conservative chicks equate it with the stars and bars. I didn't see any cons complain...

And you never see Confederate or Nazi flags displayed at democrat events. Libs are so closed-minded!

Our children are not mentally progressing. How can they? We aren't either. We have an entire political party dedicated to denying people things because they don't like them. They say certain Americans are losers and don't deserve things that others have. They are not only talking bad about these losers among us on the internet, they are at times, getting physical with the losers, up to and including killing them. See: Trayvon Martin.  See the backlash about his death and how unfair it was to the guy who murdered him....

There are 300+ million people in America. Untold  millions of them are fucking assholes. They vote for assholes who will promote their asshole agenda. And they have little problem letting the nation know their evil ways.

I don't want those losers at my lunch table!

"Ted"

There is a scene in the film, "DAVE", where Kevin Kline, who plays Dave (who is playing the President of the United States) is going through the Federal budget with his buddy, Murray (Charles Grodin) who is an accountant.  Dave notices an expenditure of some ridiculous amount in a government program that, in his estimation, makes people 'feel good about the American car they already bought'. It's a waste of money.

Well, the teapublicans just blew TWENTY FOUR BILLION American dollars making the delusional fools who follow them feel good about the insane, anti-American activities they have been at since the very moment Barack Obama was elected President. That's a pretty hefty price for the rest of us to pay. In the fictional '93 film, tens of millions of people bought American cars that they already probably felt OK about. In the reality of 2013, only a few million people feel good about tea party tactics. It was a very expensive and unnecessary sermon to the choir.

Oh, I know that they believed they would gain some converts. They also believe Obama was born in Kenya and didn't go to college, as well as a thousand other easily checked tidbits about his life. I won't go through those because they are stupid. Suffice to say, they have been brought to us by the same folks who brought us the shutdown though. And that speaks volumes. Billions really.

For their time and our money, House teapublicans got nothing. None of their demands were met. The ACA (Obamacare) is still the law of the land and all the other demands they piled on in hopes of getting Obama to settle for something were not met either. They got nothing.

This was terrorism. Economic terrorism. Hostages and demands- just no gun play. The tea partiers like Cruz are simply terrorists who don't like the finality of airplanes. Al Queda surely took notice. One of their stated goals is the financial destruction of the US. 9/11 and a few terrorist attacks have caused the government to spend untold billions on anti-terrorism. They likely view that as a "victory". We view it as something to spend money on.

Our own House republicans shut down the government and nearly bankrupted the nation, something Al Queda could only dream of doing.

I'd like to know why. They've been acting like jilted lovers since Obama's first election. The GOP- the Grand Old Party- for a party that fancies itself  the party of patriots, they haven't cleanly won an election since GH Bush waaaaaay back in the 20th century. This whole thing reeked of: "If I can't have her- no one will!" That's no way for a patriot to treat Lady Liberty.

Whether it's greedy Wall Street bankers orchestrating a recession for fun and profit, or a party in part of the legislative branch of the government trying to...do whatever they were trying to do, there is no greater threat to the US than us. We've got the right guy in charge. I'm just not so sure we've got the right country.

Ted Cruz, by the way, was born in Canada to a Cuban father who fought alongside Fidel Castro in the communist revolution in Cuba. True story. Ted just led the shutdown of the United States government. His followers believe our president is Kenyan and not qualified to serve as POTUS.

You can't make this shit up. If it were a movie, you'd walk out. It just wasn't worth $24 billion.