I Was So Clueless That I Didn’t Know What ‘Yellow Face’ Was!

Good Day World!

Do you know how clueless I was?

I wasn’t aware of “yellow face” until I read this story and watched the video.

I’ve heard of “Black Face” and understand it’s now politically incorrect in the 21st century. Basically humor from the last 100 years ago, or so, is politically incorrect in today’s culture.

I find it sad that The Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan opera set in feudal Japan, won’t continue to be available to another generation of opera-goers because of racism charges.

Political correctness is going too far.

Chris Rock and Larry the Cable Guy won't book college gigs because, in their view, young people have been so indoctrinated in the PC mindset that it's not worth the agitation.

The "PC Police" patrol the world - mainly through social media these days - clamping down on anyone who makes comments they view as offensive or disparaging.

Author and filmmaker Jon Ronson wrote a whole book about it, called "So You've Been Publicly Shamed."

I may be publicly shamed for admitting I didn’t know anything about “yellow face,” but that’s the least of my worries…I need to know…are there “brown face” taboos too?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

 

Douche Bag Walking: Drug Company CEO Was Too Greedy and the Public Responded

The smiling man in this photo is one of the biggest douche bags you’ll ever meet!

Let me introduce you to former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli – fraud, cyber hacker, stalker, and all-around liar. 

Before reading his brief backround bio I want to point out why he’s in the news, and why a presidential hopeful is calling for legislation against people like him.

Shkreli made headlines this week when it was revealed that his current company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, boosted the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill (!) after buying the drug from Impax Laboratories in August.

Shkreli jacked up the price of Daraprim 5,500 percent overnight, claiming he had to in order to make money. The reaction was immediate;

Presidential wannabe, Hillary Clinton, responded to the move by calling Shkreli’s action "outrageous." Clinton's comment, and her vow to introduce a plan to control drug prices overall, sent biotech stocks plummeting Monday.

In response to the indignant public outcry, Shkreli changed course:

Drug CEO Will Lower Price of Daraprim After Hike Sparked Outrage

For the record; the average cost of brand-name medications rose 13 percent in 2013, according to a report from the Prime Institute at the University of Minnesota. New cancer drugs now cost over $100,000 a year.

In addition:

Read the affidavit claiming harassment by Martin Shkreli and see the related documents here.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

GOP Senators Fail to Infringe on Women’s Rights Today

I’m sick and tired of Republicans playing politics with women’s health.

They tried to pull a fast one in the Senate today but failed. The senate Republicans couldn’t get enough votes to pass their draconian ‘protection act” that would have implemented a federal 20-week abortion ban with incredibly limited exceptions.

When is the GOP going to learn that families, workers, and the economy should come before their silly ass politics that are plump with partisanship?

Right now we’re forced to watch a long line of show votes on an unconstitutional, dangerous bill to restrict women’s health and rights, and on defunding Planned Parenthood while taking away critical health care services millions of people rely on each year.

If a new budget is not approved by midnight on September 30, the government will shutdown, just as it did in the fall of 2013 when Republican leadership refused to initially negotiate on a budget deal that did not include defunding the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

We can thank the original idiot boy Ted Cruz (2013 shutdown instigator) for being the leading voice, of the Tea Party faction of the Republican party which has said they will not agree to any budget that does not include ending all federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

Two things Cruz and other Republicans fail to talk about:

1) The majority of funding Planned Parenthood received from the government goes towards Medicaid reimbursement. 

2) By law, no federal funding may be used towards abortion care. So what’s the problem? Hint: irresponsible ideology boosted by lies seeking to take away more women’s rights.

The entire Republican party should be ashamed of themselves if they hurt our economy again with another senseless shutdown where everyone looses except the rich pundits!

Time for me to walk on down the road… 

How Do You Get To Your Happy Place and Stay There?

Good Day World!

Today, I’m asking what makes you happy and how do you stay that way?

First, here’s a quick test to see what floats your boat!

Positive psychology guru, Martin Seligman studied happiness and found these characteristics of happy people.

Part of the reason happiness often feels so elusive is that we don’t spend time really focusing on what we need in order to cultivate that happiness.

When we’re bogged down at work or flustered with unsuccessful attempts, more often than not we mostly just wallow in those feelings of frustration and hopelessness, rather than taking a moment to question what needs to change.

Change that. Take the time to explore what you really need to make yourself happy.

Here’s another helpful article:

How to Find Out What Makes You Happy

Life’s too short to be unhappy. Don’t you agree?

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

What do you look for in a news story?

                                Good Day World!

When I was a newspaper editor back in the late 1970s the already old adage; “If a dog bites man – no story. But, if man bites dog – then you have a story,” was used to teach journalism students the basics in news gathering.

That 20th century advise has been given steroids in the 21st century.

Journalism students today must compete with other extreme (man not only bites dog, but eats dog and wears it skin over his face) stories that need gotcha headlines.

What does it take to get your attention? Perhaps some of the examples listed below may apply:

Meth Lab Found in Taco Bell

Newly Released Dashcam Video Shows Police Shooting of Jonathan Ferrell

Man Accused Of Masturbating In Driveway 3 Times In A Week

Woman Tries Eating Crack Cocaine In Front Of Cops, Police Say

Florida Man Chews Off Fingerprints In Hopes Of Not Being ID'd

Headline writing has always been an art. Reading the evolution of headlines is a fascinating study into our culture. Try reading headlines from newspapers in the 1960s, or the 1880s, to see what I mean.

We are being bombarded from more news sources than ever before thanks to the internet and social media. The competition for your attention has never been greater.

If headlines today don’t instantly shock, disgust or amaze, they might as well be written in invisible ink!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Oh baby, baby! You’re looking good!

                               Good Day World!

How about a few pounds of cute? These babies are guaranteed to make you smile. Enjoy:

 

Left: this smiling Hedgehog baby has a grin that won’t end! The sleeping porker on the right is happily night night! Pics via Brain Jet

 

Left: baby Panda Bear saying hi! And this little owl on the right has eyes that are out-of-sight! Pics via Amazist

 

Left: wild kittens defy gravity, while this frog mom takes her offspring for a ride in the pond. Pics via Baby Animals

 

Left: a curious fox cub checks out his world and it’s bottle time for this long-necked baby giraffe. Pics via Amy Top

 

Left: friends of a feather – duckling and owl pals. This worried looking little kitten seems to be standing guard over the puppy. Pics via Shine On

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Misstatements, Stumbles, and Exaggerations: Where Was The Beef?

Good Day World!

Wednesday’s GOP debate was a meaningless function full of misstatements, stumbles, and exaggerations.

The format gave 11 presidential hopefuls a chance to tell Americans what they would do if they got elected.

That’s not exactly happened. It was more like Romper Room.

Viewers found out that:

* Donald Trump is so anti-vaccine (and clueless on the issue) that he was caught bullshitting about a two-year old boy who supposedly got a vaccine shot which gave him autism.

Study after study has shown no possible way that vaccines could cause autism, even in supposedly vulnerable children. You can read more about that body of medical research here.

* Some pundits say Carly Fiorina won the debate. I’m not sure how they arrived at that conclusion. All I know is she really exaggerated when she said she grew jobs while CEO of Hewlett Packard after a merger.

* Chris Christie flat out lied when he said: "I was named U.S. attorney by President Bush on September 10th, 2001," as a way of proving his 9/11 credentials. He was actually appointed U.S. attorney by George W. Bush on December 8, 2001.

Then there was the dull, plodding Ben Carson looking bored most of the time. Compared to his old job of shilling snake oil it was a dull gig. 

In case you didn’t know, Dr. Carson has shilled for a modern snake oil nutritional supplement company Mannatech (yes, manna-tech, they wanted the religious overtones of naming it after the miraculous God-bread that fell from the sky in the Old Testament, combined with, y’know, modern science and technology).

What’s wrong with Mannatech? That’s a good question, one that the folks over at the National Review have answered.

Viewers were left wondering what any of those clowns would really do in the Oval Office. They were all in lock-step about defunding Planned Parenthood, but what about our countries crumbling bridges and roads?

What about a foreign policy? They made the mandatory threats about Iran as pabulum for the clueless on world affairs, and assured us they were all conservatives (like that was something to brag about).

Sigh.

Timer for me to walk on down the road…

Back by Popular Demand! Meet the Booger Family

Good Day World!

The Booger family is back by popular demand!

It seems thousands of readers couldn’t get enough of this reality show when it appeared last June. So, in case you missed it here’s your chance to weigh in on this popular new reality show:

MEET THE BOOGERS

Travel through Texas with the Booger family as they gross out restaurant patrons throughout the Lone Star state.

Watch as Pa Booger, Ma Booger, daughters Mandy and Randy, and son Jim Bob blow diners minds with well-timed Booger battles. Listen to Booger family members as they explain their existence. Their mission in life.

Pa, a retired preacher and classic Booger collector, wants the world to know that there’s a place in the world for Boogers. He’s best known for his long stringy boogers.

Ma constantly catches her kids off-guard and blows a booger at them when they least expect it.

Twins Mandy and Randy have an ongoing argument over which has the better booger blower and which is the most accurate.

Jim Bob likes to eat boogers. And he’s not too particular.

Viewers will get to follow their adventures weekly as they travel about in their custom Bogermobile bus. At the end of every episode, viewers are asked to send in the names of restaurants they’d like to see them appear at.

Related video:

See the world’s biggest booger!

Time for me to walk on down the road…

I’m taking a blog break but there’s still stuff to view for you

                                       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.

 

Taxpayers are Paying for Kim Davis’ Hypocritical Run for Sainthood!

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…