Good Day World!
Once a year I take a one-week blog break. It helps charge my creative batteries. I’ll be gone from September 9th through the 16th.
I would like to point out that the right side of this page offers viewers a number of options to explore.
I have articles from when I was a columnist for The Times-Standard newspapers in Eureka California, prior blog posts going back to 2008, links to my book Rafter’s Redemption, a fiction book in progress, and social media links.
I sure would hate to be a taxpayer in Kentucky – especially lately – with a county clerk (Kim Davis) that refuses to do her job, but expects to get paid while she square-dances with religious zealots like Mike Huckabee and Mat Staver (representing the well-documented hate group Liberty Counsel).
After the judge released her today – taking some wind out of the Release Kim Davis Day, she promptly lumbered up some steps of a hastily-erected grandstand and told her fans she wasn’t done yet.
Translation for taxpayers: she is NOT going to do her job and she expects you to pay for her 15-minutes of fame. The judge warned her to not hinder the five deputy clerks now issuing everyone marriage licenses.
Mind you, Davis doesn’t have her name on these newly issued marriage 
licenses, but that doesn’t matter. She now feels emboldened to further defy the laws of the land (of which she took an oath to obey) and says she doesn’t even want any marriage licenses to gays being issued out of “her office.”
Apparently Davis feels pretty safe to flaunt the Supreme Court decision in a county where being country clerk is a family affair. As a matter of fact Davis has visions of more airtime (extending her 15 minutes of fame to 30 minutes).
As long as there are other hypocrites (Davis whose been married to four men, basically violating the tenants of the very church she goes to) and religious zealots jumping up and down waving posters depicting her as a crucified Christian woman, she’s going to ride that wave of intolerance for everything it’s worth.
Meanwhile, the taxpayers in her district have to continue paying her salary while she seeks sainthood.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
Most people associate Greek college fraternity's with wild parties, and not much else.
You can’t blame them. When was the last time you heard a story about a college fraternity doing something really positive?
But that could be changing soon.
Imagine having a Buddhist fraternity as an alternative to Greek? Guess what?
Planning is underway for a Buddhist fraternity and sorority at a school known for its partying reputation; San Diego State University.
Credit Jeff Zlotnik, founder of the Dharma Bum Temple in downtown San Diego with this idea. Instead of learning how to guzzle beer in prodigious quantities, members of this new frat could be learning how to focus better and get good grades!
I like the way he thinks.
His vision is a marked contrast to what’s currently available. He plans on offering classes in Buddhism and meditation to help college students cope with stress, anxiety and depression.
But don’t worry. This isn’t a sneaky backdoor attempt to recruit Buddhists disguised as a fraternity.
"We're not looking to start this heavy religious organization," Zlotnik told The San Diego Union-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1NbV83R). "This is a cultural organization. We're not trying to create ordained Buddhists."
But why stop with just a Buddhist frat?
This is the 21st century. How about an Italian fraternity (can’t you just see hand gestures becoming a trend)? I bet you could probably come up with a few yourself.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
It was only a matter of time.
Finally, a social network for stoners.
As an old hippie, I never thought I’d see the day when the majority of Americans were for marijuana legalization.
With 23 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC and Oregon becoming the fourth state to legalize recreational marijuana, the writing is on the wall: Legal marijuana is finally having it’s day in the sun.
Sometimes I feel like pinching myself when I read stories like this stoner network article:
“MassRoots (^MSRT), which launched in 2013 and went public on the over-the-counter market in April of this year, has filed an application to have its shares listed on the Nasdaq.
The company bills itself as one of the "largest and most active communities of cannabis consumers," a place where people can find smoking buddies, share experiences and connect with local dispensaries.
MassRoots hopes a move to the Nasdaq will help it garner more interest from institutional investors and help bring legitimacy to a burgeoning legal American marijuana industry that’s still operating in the shadows even as public sentiment toward the drug is changing.
But MassRoots still has to win the Nasdaq's approval, a process that can take weeks and requires the company's share price to rise above $3, among other requirements. MassRoots shares were trading at around $1.38 a share on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of around $60 million.”
FOR THE RECORD
There’s two other cannabis-related companies, GW Pharmaceuticals (^GWPH) and Insys Therapeautics (^INSY) — both medical marijuana companies — that already trade on the Nasdaq.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
It’s time for a massive overload of cuteness!
We love out pets in America. Taking care of them is a billion dollar industry. Taking pictures of dogs and babies is guaranteed to be popular. Enjoy:
(Google common images)
At sleep, or playing, these adorable pals set the bar on cuteness.
(Google common images)
Left – Ready to party! Right – A room with a view
(Google common images)
First encounter: these two already see eye-to-eye!
(Google common images)
Left – Surprised Pug meets new member of the family. Right – Hoodie pals forever!
(Google common images)
Left – These buddies are ready to fly. Right – these two cuties show how to share at mealtime.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Kim Davis, the controversial Kentucky clerk who decided not to issue gay marriage licenses in spite of the law, has a hate group supporting her.
They call themselves Liberty Counsel, although their interpretation of liberty is pretty narrow. Liberty Counsel has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Davis claims that her decision to break the law by ordering her office to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples “has never been a gay or lesbian issue.” Either she’s lying, or she doesn’t know about Liberty Counsel’s goals.
What’s happened is that Liberty Counsel has found a martyr for their homophobic mission. They’re using her to claim that Christians in America are not only facing oppression, but have no need to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage.
Chairman for the hate group, Matt Staver, argues, if Davis wins then other elected officials can turn their counties (or cities and states) into “sanctuary cities” safe from gay marriage.
“If they come out with a decision that is contrary to God's natural created order,” Staver said before the court had ruled, “I personally will advocate disobedience to it ... and collectively, we cannot accept that as the rule of law.”
Staver is no stranger to anti-gay activism, as he has predicted that President Obama will impose “forced homosexuality” upon the nation, regularly likened gay people to terrorists, labeled the gay rights movement as “demonic” and defended countries that outlaw same-sex relationships.
Liberty Counsel is fundraising for theor newly appointed saint Kim Davis, with a goal of $100,000 (she only makes $80,000 yearly) to support her while she lingers in a jail that only she has the key to!
How convenient. A blatant payoff under the guise of religious freedom. Kind of like Judas selling out Jesus, but I doubt she regrets her decision.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
(An image from the video game "Trumpéalo", currently in a Beta version users can access and try. It is being developed by the Mexican app developers Karaoculta.)
Good Day World!
I think Donald Trump is clueless.
He’s definitely wrong about getting support from the Hispanic community. He likes to say Mexicans love him, and he has thousands who work for him.
First off, working for someone doesn’t mean they love you.
Trump’s argument sounds like pre-Civil War rhetoric coming from plantation owners who had slaves...”my darkies love me. I feed, house, and cloth them.”
The only thing Mexicans love about Trump is he can be entertaining. Just ask the makers of piñatas in Mexico and the United States. Trump piñatas are the rage.
But it doesn’t stop there.
"Trumpéalo," created by Mexican developers KaraOculta, is a new parody game in which players follows a cartoon Trump around and throw shoes, soccer balls, and an assortment of items at him to prevent him from exiting the stage.
The game currently is in a Beta version (test version) and people can download it for free here.
Who knows what those merry Mexicans will come up with next?
One thing is for sure, The Donald will continue to come up with zingers like a… “country sending its rapists and criminals over the border.
Jorge Suarez, CEO of KaraOkulta told a Mexican newspaper Milenio that after Trump's statements one has to find the humor in things. "It turns out people have loved it (Trumpéalo)."
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
I’m counting the days until Stephen Colbert is back on the air!
The political satirist is taking over the host duties for new The Late Show which premieres Sept. 8 at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.
I admit I’ve been going through Colbert withdrawals since he ended his legendary show, The Colbert Report, on December 18, 2014. That nine year run provided me – and millions of others - with endless hours of laughter.
When I ran across this video of Colbert mocking Jeb Bush prior to his appearance on his show, I laughed once again with wild joy!
That’s my boy.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
(Xenia Ignatyeva Fell 30 Meters, But Was Killed By Electrocution. Image credit Terra)
Good Day World!
Believe it or not, there can be a dark side to selfies.
On any given day and any digital platform that shares photos you can find people (and animals) showing off their selfies.
But selfies can be deadly as a Houston man recently found out when he accidentally shot himself while posing for selfies with a handgun. It wasn’t a suicide attempt either.
Perhaps the real story was …why was this guy playing around with a loaded handgun in the first place? The fact that he had to record his stupidity is really tragic for his family.
Just last month there was a similar circumstance when Oscar Otero Aguilar, 21, lost his life when he tried to take a selfie with a gun for his Facebook page. The Mexican gun enthusiast accidentally shot himself in the head and didn’t survive.
Then we have Xenia Ignatyeva who took a selfie from a bridge 30 feet off the ground to impress her friends. The 17-year-old Russian girl lost her balance and fell. But the teenager didn’t die from an impact. The girl fell on a cable, which electrocuted her.
The Inquisitr recently reported a Polish couple who fell to their death whil
This photo (right) is a selfie snapped by a famous Mexican reggaetón musician Jadiel (also known as El Tsunami), uploaded to Instagram moments before he had a fatal motorcycle crash in New York in May, 2014.
I don’t see the selfie trend slowing down anytime soon.
What I would like to see is a safer approach to taking selfies. I recommend having a friend take it for you.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is no flake.
He’s more of a throw-back conservative in the Barry Goldwater tradition. He really understands how to look at the big picture in politics.
Two Examples:
* In 2013, he joined the bipartisan Gang of Eight to craft a comprehensive reform bill that included a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Earlier this August, he was the only Republican accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry to Cuba to preside over the reopening of the U.S. embassy after a 54-year diplomatic freeze.
* Flake vowed to consider the Iran deal with an open mind, and for more than a month, even as every other Senate Republican came out against it and anti-Flake attack ads began airing on Arizona TV, that’s exactly what he did.
Eventually, on Aug. 15, Flake announced that he could not, in the end, bring himself to support Obama’s Iran pact. But at least he really studied the situation and didn’t follow the rest of the sheep who jumped the moment Obama’s name was mentioned.
WHY FLAKE IS GETTING THE “DEAD EYE” FROM OTHER CONSERVATIVES
Simply put, Flake doesn’t think that “scraping back the veneer” and “uncovering a lot of pent-up rage” is an effective approach to governance.
He doesn’t consider it particularly conservative to overturn the 14th Amendment, or send drones to the Mexican border, or promise enormous levels of growth with no supporting evidence whatsoever.
But the thing that really rings the bell for reason is Flake’s recognition that running the United States is ultimately about working within the system, persuading the skeptics, and accepting difficult compromises.
Flake developed a reputation as a honest broker who was willing to go against the GOP grain on issues as diverse as Cuba, immigration and gay rights. (Flake has voted to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”)
I have just one question; why doesn’t Flake run for president? He’d beat out all the sorry GOP candidates who are making a circus out of the primaries.
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Good Day World!
The state of Illinois is messing with people’s dreams.
It’s committing fraud against lottery winners whose prize is over $25,000. Instead the state is passing out IOUs.
So what’s going on?
In a nutshell, Illinois lawmakers have not passed a budget so they aren’t paying their bills.
Under state law, the state comptroller must cut the checks for lottery winnings of more than $25,000. According to lottery officials lawmakers have yet to pass a budget so the comptroller's office does not have legal authority to release the funds to the big lottery winners.
To make matters worse, the state is nowhere near passing a budget. That leaves the big winners wondering when – if ever – they’re going to get their rightful winnings.
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, has been a frequent critic of the state's handling of the lottery and said this is just another example:
"Our government is committing a fraud on the taxpayers, because we're holding ourselves out as selling a good, and we're not — we're not selling anything," Franks said. "The lottery is a contract: I pay my money, and if I win, you're obligated to pay me and you have to pay me timely. It doesn't say if you have money or when you have money."
How about that?
It’s typical: if you owe money to the government they’ll shake you down like a rat until they get it. But reverse the situation – where government owes you money – and it’s okay to give lame excuses and pay whenever they feel like it.
Don’t you just love our democracy where the people come last?
Time for me to walk on down the road…
Six Republican Governors have gathered to warn their residents against the evils of unionization which they claim would threaten their jobs...
