Obamacare Upheld Entirely

Article here.

So much for the survival of the Republic. Now that government intrusion into every facet of life is justified as long as it is considered a “tax”, anything and everything can be justified. Anyone who believes this to be a center right nation needs to look long and hard at the United States, for it has drifted firmly into the hands of the left. Tyranny has risen and will continue to rise unabated.

I wish I could feel more emotion about this than I do. But it is hard to when the writing has been on the wall for some time. What is surprising to me is how many on the right thought the Supreme Court would defend the Constitution like it was supposed to. That has not been the case for many decades.

It is fascinating that taxation was used as the justification for the package of laws called Obamacare. This country was founded by a rebellion against unfair taxation and so it seems appropriately ironic that it dies by taxation. People never learn that governments are infinitely greedy and have a hunger for taxes that is insatiable.  I pity the small business owners who will be crippled financially by all this.

There are those who believe this will be repealed. That is pretty much impossible, but running on that will give Romney the win in November.

I wonder if anyone still believes George W. Bush was a conservative after his biggest court appointee went hard left on the most important ruling in a generation?

Ticked Off

I went to the local clinic today and the suspicion is that I have a tick born illness -- possibly Lymes Disease. Results will not be back in until the end of the week at earliest. In the mean time, I am on antibiotics. Fun and games, eh?

No Longer a Cubs Fan

After not following the team in any serious fashion for several years, I am officially giving up on the Chicago Cubs. The sad thing is that they could get into the World Series next year and it would not get me back. Enough is enough and I do not have the energy or inclination to invest in losing propositions any more.

So that leaves me wondering if I am going to give up on Major League Baseball altogether. About the only option is to become a Minnesota Twins fan, but there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm being felt. With the local stations being Brewers oriented, watching games is pretty much out and there is no way to afford going to the real thing.

Oh how I miss the days of the Eighties, when I used to watch Harry Caray and Steve Stone every day on WGN. The beginning of the end was when the games were moved to limited local cable in an extremely foolish move aimed at milking more money out of the fans. The ownership change has not been impressive and frankly I think the wrong consortium won.

Ah well, at least there were some good memories in there. But I realized that I do not care a whit about the team anymore and the sport itself seems to have gone downhill. Time to let go.

Running to God

As I write this, sacrament meeting will be starting shortly at the La Crosse Ward. Too ill to be there, I find myself missing it like I always do when my health acts up. This time it is not quite as bad, because of something that happened last night.

One of the things about being a real film buff is the desire to reacquaint oneself with films seen decades earlier, especially ones seen when young. The changes in perception and understanding can be very profound, I have discovered. In fact, one film I loved as a teen, Cool Hand Luke, I now despise greatly. Deciding to be an adult is a conscious decision in our society these days and making that choice changed a lot of things for me.

Back in the early 80s, a movie won best picture and became an unlikely hit. Focused on runners in the 1920s trying to medal for the United Kingdom, Chariots of Fire is most remembered for its amazing theme by Vangelis. I remembered seeing the movie a couple of years after release and having a favorable opinion of it, but that is about it.

Anime Honorable Mentions

Having a brain as sharp as a brick this week, I omitted some animes from my worth watching list. While not up there with the rest, they did entertain me. So with no further adieu, here they are:

• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
• The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
• Mushi-shi
• Robotech: Macross Saga (yes, I know the purists hate that one)
• Full Metal Panic (all versions, content warning on the final series)
• Vampire Hunter D (content warning on that one too)
• Outlaw Star (Firefly ripped off a lot of elements from this)
• Lensman (not faithful to the books, sadly)

One thing I have noted is that creativity seems to be dead compared to the 1980s and 1990s. Very few risks are being taken and the moe movement has done a lot of damage in pushing the superficial, if not sleazy, aspects to the fore.  Changing male leads from headstrong confident types to perpetually embarrassed wimps has been another thing I have noticed. This has not been healthy, but it does pander to the Japanese otakus who drive the business model.

Resurrecting the Dead: The Subaru Lives Again

After five months of tinkering, bending metal, and hammering, the Subaru Outback is running again. Oh there are a host of problems needing fixing yet, including the non functioning fog lights and hood catch, but it is being driven again.

Health 6-22-2012

I hate posting about my health. So on with it so I can be done with it.

It has not been a good week. The right bronchial has been suffering congestion and things morphed into a sore throat last night. The “rash” is most likely a spider bite with a bad reaction, which would explain the increased pain and muscle stiffness in the neck. Proving just how random my body can be, the left middle finger is swollen and painful in the outermost joint – for no perceivable reason.

Going out for pizza Wednesday night turned into an ordeal of having trouble breathing due to the congestion, though I haven’t ruled out a cascading reaction to the bite. At least I have been able to get some sleep the last two nights despite the pain. No walks this week and I am unhappy about it.

It looks nice out, wish I could enjoy it.

Anime Worth Watching: An Opinion

A comment from Hanny has me thinking about which anime I like and how to go about recommending them. The problem is the style and content varies so much that they are hard to compare to each other. If I were an otaku it would be so much easier because I would like every new piece of trash that comes down the pike. But since I am just an entertainment lover and anime is just a minor subset of what I watch, my likes are very different.

Then there is the problem of trying to rank TV series against theatrical movies, which causes my brain to melt down. But hey, I like tilting at windmills, so here goes. My top three TV series are tied at number uno, so things get messy right off the bat:

1. Fractale, Area 88, Kimi ni Todoke
2. Spirited Away
3. Summer Wars
4. Only Yesterday
5. Squid Girl
6. Princess Mononoke
7. Howl’s Moving Castle
8. Porco Rosso
9. Castle in the Sky
10. C: Control
11. Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth
12. Space Brothers
13. Bleach
14. Kiki’s Delivery Service
15. Tiger and Bunny
16. Whisper of the Heart
17. Bubblegum Crisis Toyko 2040
18. The Cat Returns
19. Denpa Onna
20. FLCL
21. Akira
22. My Neighbor Totoro
23. Nausicaa Valley of the Wind
24. Hellsing

Bleach Ep. 16: Encounter, Renji Abarai!

As the first season draws closer to its end, Ichigo finds himself crossing blades with another Soul Reaper. Why?  Because Rukia’s past has finally caught up with her. While the daft humor is still present in places, the situation is becoming much darker for Ichigo and friends.

For the entire season, there has been a brooding undercurrent of fear radiating from Rukia even as she has tutored Ichigo in the art of Hollow battling. With this episode, we find out why she was afraid and it turns out the diminutive Soul Reaper had good cause to be. Kiss those light hearted school days goodbye as the story descends into darkness.

Summertime

Aside from being a great tune, that is what today is. Summer has officially arrived with the solstice, but the weather has actually moderated compared to the past few days.

The corn is growing and so are the weeds. For the moment, the thistles have the height advantage.

Health 6-19-2012

The pain I have been suffering has been slowly getting less intense. There is an odd rash on my neck that popped up around the time this started and it has gotten larger. Part of the pain at night has been an abnormally stiff neck and coughing. If it does not go away, time to see a doctor.

Something I forgot to report: A couple of weeks ago, I stayed overnight with some friends who had the air conditioner cranked up beyond what I was used to. Despite having covers and a blanket, I began shivering violently. While I have had this happen before when cold, the severity was a new experience – as was actually generating significant heat from it. This is interesting and a positive change, I think.

My suspicion is that the H202 therapy I went through changed quite a few small things in my system. It made me tolerant to rice, it has helped my circulation, helped stave off bronchitis, and I did not have a bout of eczema this winter. I’ve thought of CFS as being a “death by a thousand cuts” kind of illness, so it is strange to experience something positive working along the same lines.

Odds and Ends 6-16-2012

I have spent some time going back through old review posts and have done some minor editing to improve layout and add needed tags. Tagging is still underway, because I had previously thought of it in a master index way instead of how people actually use tags. If a tag is used to look up other posts, it is off of the post, not the side bar and I finally got that through my thick skull. New genre categories of science fiction, fantasy, comedy, and classics have been introduced to help with that.

One consequence of looking over the older reviews is finding the need to rewrite or update seven of them. In one case, that will require a newer and better DVD, but fortunately that will be under ten dollars to do.

Health 6-15-2012

The last few nights have been ones of utter misery as pain has made sleeping very difficult. Swelling in the head, pinched nerves, and muscle pain have combined to make for a nasty mix. Add in a slight cough to make things interesting and I am not pleased.

There is much to do this weekend, even if the weather does not cooperate. Speaking of that, it may be the wildly fluctuating weather fronts that may be causing the pain. Time will tell.

Health 6-13-2012

Rain, rain, go away!

Being a human barometer is annoying, for every time a significant front goes through the pain index shoots up like mercury in a thermometer on an August day. Last night featured quite a drop in temperature, so sleep was fitful at best.

At least I got my Civilization V strategy testing over with yesterday afternoon. That was a pain of a different kind, one of playing a game you do not like to find a way to beat it and yes, it cost me hours of sleep the past week.

Why do I mention it in a post on health? Because the Civilization series is the most dangerously addictive games I have ever played. In fact, I removed Civilization IV from my computer due to becoming addicted to it.

The good news is that I am burned out on gaming other than with friends online, which is sporadic. Other than that, it is time to take a break from it. After all, summer is nearly here.

Insecurity

The more we connect electronically, the more we invite crime it seems. This past week, I have had to change my passwords to LinkedIn and lastFM – the latter I had only tried out briefly in 2009. Both services have suffered cyber break ins with millions of passwords compromised. League of Legend European site had user data stolen along with passwords as well. After logging in on another service on a friend’s laptop, I was so appalled by his meager security and use of shady pirating sites that I changed that service’s password once I got home.

An over reliance on antivirus and firewall software, deleting browser history and cookies, and running malware scanners is no substitute for smart browsing in the first place. While useful tools, they mostly are of use after your system has been compromised. IP filtering via service such as OpenDNS is more proactive, but no substitute for avoiding where you should not be in the first place.

Yet there is no real protection once you sign up somewhere online for something. At that point, you are at the mercy of the security employed by that service. It turns out that a lot of them are not that secure. With so many people willing to hack for money and kicks, the attacks are escalating. That is not even counting what is going on with cyber attacks from government, China in particular.

So you can add cyber dangers to the economic insecurity we are already feeling. Get used to it, it will not be getting any better. No wonder some of the white nights in cyber warfare have bailed out.

Culling the Herd

While I am no longer active on Facebook, I did go back today to remove the remaining hundreds of “friends” I accrued while gaming there in past years. As it stands, I have 67 people left, most of whom I know in reality or through politics. Read what you will into that.

I doubt I will ever be active again there, as I forget it even exists until someone brings it up. Meanwhile, Google + is a bust, which can be of no surprise to most. Over at LinkedIn, I had to change my password due to the massive hack attack that exposed many passwords.

Social media sites, or the Web 2.0 as the wits dubbed it, are losing their luster since they are inherently superficial. But the greatest threat is the lack of security and the fact that hackers are targeting their databases more and more.

Blogging at least allows coherent thoughts to be put up, so I am content to write here where nobody pays attention. I would rather post substance and be ignored than to post twaddle and have “likes” dinging it up!

Thoughts on the Scott Walker Win

What can be learned from the fiasco that was the recall effort?

First, the Democratic Party will do anything to win. There is no depth too low, no line that cannot be crossed, and no limit to their harassment/bullying. Locally in La Crosse County, brand new roofing nails were tossed into driveways of residences that had Walker signs up. Signs were stolen, vandalized, and I directly know of one renter who had her sign taken by her landlord and replaced with a Barrett one.

So much money, time, and emotions were invested by the unions and their puppets in the Democratic Party that things got more than a little out of control. The image of Barrett being slapped for conceding illustrates that in a way no words can. All of this rage only netted State Senate District 21 for the Democrats, which gives them control of the Senate. However, that will most likely end in November due to redistricting. I should note they got another seat to flip in earlier recall elections, so they got two. Unless there is a special session called, they will not even meet until after November.

Ray Bradbury Died

One of my favorite authors, Ray Bradbury, died last night. While he lived a good and long life of 91 years, I still feel sad that he is no longer in this world. It was The Martian Chronicles that introduced me to his wonderful writing style that evoked moments of time so familiar to me even as a child. But my favorite work of his would have to be Dandelion Wine, which is about a momentous summer for a young boy in a small town in the nineteen twenties. Thanks to my sister, Ann, I have this in a leather bound edition from Easton Press.

While he wrote Fahrenheit 451 as a warning against television wiping out literacy, he was prolific in that industry. The Ray Bradbury Theater series is available on DVD and I recommend that highly, as it was the author’s chance to adapt his own stories after being disappointed with Hollywood’s attempts.

I will end with the opening from Dandelion Wine, for it is one of my favorite openings to any book:

It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer.

Hopefully, Bradbury is enjoying his first morning of true summer.

The Cocoanuts (1929) Review

This wildly inconsistent movie catapulted the Marx Brothers to fame on the eve of the Great Depression and heralded a new form of utterly insane humor. Long before Monty Python or even the Goon Show, the Marx Brothers brought savage wit, inspired lunacy, and irreverence toward all authority to the big screen. Over eighty years later,  are they still funny?

The Marx Brothers burst onto the scene and achieved stardom quickly, or so it probably seemed to the American people of the 1930’s. Instead, the Marx family had spent many years traveling and performing while grooming their sons for success on the Vaudeville circuit. Sons of immigrants, they were part of a Jewish invasion of American humor, much like the British invasion of pop thirty years later.

The Cocoanuts was their first film and an adaptation of a smash hit on Broadway, not to mention anywhere else they toured with it. Fast talking, absurd sight gags, and a mocking hostility toward authority were their trademarks and Americans ate it up. Yet superstardom would not have been possible for them except for that great innovation in cinemas: sound. The timing was perfect for Groucho’s quips and Chico’s flimflamming to hit the big screen. Then there was Harpo’s mute horn honking and harp playing to add to the madness. Oh yeah, there was Zeppo to play straight man, if anybody noticed him at all.

Health 6-4-2012

A bad weekend followed a good week of increased activity. Having been successful at getting in a walk a day, my body decided it was time to get a cold on Friday night. So I missed out on gaming night and church. Instead I ended up playing video games and reading.

Hopefully, things will go a bit better today.

After more than twenty years of slamming my head against the proverbial brick wall, it finally occurred to me that if endurance is the main problem exercising, maybe I should cut back on the length of the walks and weights sessions. I fell into the trap of trying to do that the minimum that a normal person can do and never got out of that mindset. Since my endurance does not increase despite exercising and, in fact actually crashes downward, it is time to let go of any attempt at normalcy.

Meanwhile, the changeover to a primarily rice diet has resulted in much more stable bowels, less appetite, and seems to working out well.

Spring 2012 Anime and More

UPDATED

Just when I had given up on anything interesting showing up in the genre, the current crop of shows have been a welcome change. While it is too early to declare anything to be a classic, entertainment is to be found for all age groups. What follows is some short thoughts on the better shows, all of which are available on legal streaming services:

Space Brothers (found here)

A rarity in current anime, a story starring adults feauturing adult life, Space Brothers follows two brothers in their quests to become astronauts. Actually, it is only one brother’s quest, since his younger brother already has made it. Set in the near future of the 2020’s, the struggles and doubts of the main character, Mutta, are easily related to by adults dealing with hard economic times. Set to run 48 episodes, it has a breezy, laid back charm that is given additional warmth by flashbacks of the brothers growing up together.

Recommended to adults, those struggling in life, and lovers of serious science fiction/space exploration.

In Memoriam

Here in the United States, it is Memorial Day. This holiday was set aside to honor those who fell in service to their country, thereby making the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of their fellow countrymen. So please stop to think about what you have and enjoy, then about the people who have died to make that possible.

I am grateful to the fallen understand that freedom is purchased at a very high cost. Sadly, too few appreciate this today, if the ceremonies locally are any indication. While a local auditorium was packed, the average age of the attendees had to be in their sixties or higher.

So if you are treating this as just an extra day to the weekend, I implore you to stop and think on why the holiday was established.

Finding Brett Kimberlin

Today is a day about defending freedom of speech and exposing a man who will go to any lengths to suppress information about what he has done, including threatening people. That man’s name is Brett Kimberlin and I do not expect you to take my word on it. Instead, I will give you links to search engines for you to explore for yourself:

Google

Bing

Ask

Check them out and come to your own conclusions about who Brett Kimberlin is and why this is important.

Blogger Flees Home Due to Left Wing Activist’s Threats

That is a pretty sensational headline and sounds inflammatory, doesn’t it? It also happens to be true. Beyond the idea of having to go on the run for your own safety reflecting the decay of America, this is a fascinating story of how a convicted terrorist and conman became influential in the Democratic Party. His nonprofit (for whom, I ask) has been heavily funded by some big name leftists such as the Tides Foundation, the Heinz Family, and Barbara Streisand.

I suggest people read up on Brett Kimberlin and ponder just how dysfunctional our society has become when people like him are allowed out of jail and into positions of influence. There has been a call to blog about him on Friday, but I felt the need to jump the gun in this case.

And people wonder why firearms sales are up.

UPDATED

The story gets worse as another blogger reveals how he has been harassed by Kimberlin and his cronies, including having an armed SWAT team sent to his house by placing a fake murder call to 911.

Basically everyone who posts about this thug are risking their livelihoods, if not their lives. While I am not even a small fry and will not be noticed, it does not matter. Unlike others, I really have nothing to lose, so I really appreciate what the bigger bloggers are doing by tackling Kimberlin.

Kimi ni Todoke Ep. 3: After School

Sawako’s fledgling efforts at making friends begin to pay off, while Kazehaya attempts to get closer to her. It is an uphill battle, but he has a secret weapon in reserve. Everything seems to be going well in this beautiful episode…

I am not a lover (or even a liker) of chick flicks, but I find myself utterly smitten with this lovely story. Slow moving and heartfelt, there is  purity to it that has sadly gone missing from our modern world. It does not hurt that I went through most of school being the outsider and turned from an extrovert to an introvert for a good chunk of years. I can remember that slow coming out of the shell even decades later.

Health 5-21-2012

That was not a fun week to get through. Sinusitis, headaches, bouts of nausea, sneezing fits, and chills ebbed and flowed across the days. At first I thought it was allergies causing fits, but then remembered that they never make me nauseous. Multiple naps a day meant that I spent a lot of time in bed. It is hard to tell if it was a virus or if it was CFS reacting to my increased walking and other light exercise.

Since my life is one never ending cycle of frustration, you would think I would be used to this by now. At least I feel a little more energetic (relatively speaking) today and need to spray the gigantic weeds that have popped up over the past couple of weeks.

Area 88 Ep. 3: Viewfinder in the Blue Sky

A hunt for treasure inflames the greed of the mercenary pilots, yet that only serves as a backdrop  for the main story. With Makoto’s stalking of him getting to Shin, he decides to take action to find out why he is a target. But a close call rattles the young Japanese pilot as the mystery around him deepens.

It is time to get back to writing reviews to sharpen my skills of observation and writing. At this point in the series, the base and the desert are almost becoming characters unto themselves, lurking constantly in the background and adding atmosphere to all the proceedings. That was my thought after watching the opening to this tense episode. Neither location is a comfortable one and if there is one word to describe the mood evoked by this installment it would have to be the word uneasy.

Mormon Patriotism and Washington D.C.

CNN’s Belief blog has a very well written article on Latter-day Saints in the nation’s capitol worth checking out. I can say from personal experience that the leadership principles taught in the Church were of great help in political organizing in many ways, but especially on running meetings where the delicate task of balancing focus and creativity is a priority.

This quote from the article addresses something I have been pondering about current politics with its “interesting only when winning” attitude I see in so many people:

Young Mormons also hone leadership skills by serving missions away from home. The missions last from one and half to two years and happen when Mormons are in their late teens and early 20s and often include intensive foreign language training.

Chaffetz, whose son is serving a mission in Ghana, says the experience is the perfect preparation for political careers.

“They learn rejection early on,” he says. “If you’re going to be in politics, that’s a pretty good attribute.”

I would say that also helps in a lot of situations in life, not merely the political. My older friends remark on how bad the younger coworkers are in dealing with people and it usually boils down to their being unable to handle opposing viewpoints. That is a pity, for having your beliefs challenged is the best way to find out what they actually are.

One thing I would like to note is that the Washington D.C. Temple was the closest one to members in this area until the Chicago Temple was built. It served the entire country east of the Mississippi when it opened, so it was very important in Church growth. Now we have one in St. Paul so the traveling is a lot easier, thankfully.

Anyway, read the article.

High and Low Technology

To start with, I do not have enough money to be a true gadget freak or enthusiast. That said, I love clever devices whether they be complicated or simple. So it was an interesting day when my latest box from Amazon arrived this afternoon. Contained within were two devices, one a sophisticated work of silicone and metal, the other harkening to simpler days despite being electrically powered.

Having succeeded in reviving my video card from failing this winter, it was with great disappointment (and financial pain) that I realized the fix was not going to work in the long run. For the past several weeks, the card has been running hotter and hotter with the occasional glitch. Time was clearly running out for the old beast, which had given very good service. Since I have a smallish case, a top of the line replacement was out of the question – and out of reach of my bank account.

After checking around for the best bang for the buck that would actually fit in my case, I settled on a Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD7750 that is factory overclocked. From my studies, it would be more of a horizontal upgrade (according to some benchmarks) with hopes that it would actually perform a bit better. Best of all is the fact that it consumes far less electricity and runs much cooler. Heat is the enemy of electronics and I liked the idea of having the entire PC run cooler.

So far the new video card is doing just that. Throwing my best games at it resulted in maximum temperatures that are twelve degrees Celsius less than what the old one idled at. The massive fan also is dramatically quieter for an added bonus. Fancier video decoding, deinterlacing, and scaling have impressed and eventually I will get a second one for the media center in the living room.

The other item in the box was a rice cooker that doubles as a vegetable steamer. Since I only used it to steam asparagus tonight, I will not go into detail on the little appliance other than to say it is highly reviewed. That and I cannot remember the name of the company that makes it at the moment.

It will be used heavily if things go according to plan, for making rice a regular staple is on my agenda of improving my diet. Steaming veggies is also part of the goal and it did a good job on the first experiment. So while writing more about the high tech item, it is this simple device that I am the most excited about.

I must be getting old.

The Avengers (2012) in Theater Review

After multiple solo films, Marvel’s heroes band together for a cinematic spectacle that may be the best superhero movie made so far and one of the best action films ever put on screen. UPDATED for 3D.

Yeah, that basically says it all. Go see it.

What, you want more than that? Fine…

The cast is terrific (even Scarlett Johansson does a great job), the effects are convincing, the writing excellent, character moments and development everywhere, and that final action sequence puts other blockbusters to shame. With Loki as the main villain, the drama and psychological battles equal any of the physical combat. This added much to the film and made me look forward to every scene he was in. Not since The Dark Knight has there been as fascinating a bad guy to watch.

If there was one awkward thing about the film, it would be the way it starts. The structure feels like the first act was skipped and we are dropped into the second act already in progress. In a sense the previous solo movies are collectively the first act, so it was slightly disorienting until I figured that out.

Every character gets good development and the interactions between the disparate personalities is played to entertaining effect. Stark and Banner’s “bromance”  is a highlight, with Stark and Loki’s back and forth a close second. Captain America gets some terrific lines as the elder of the group trying to adjust to the modern world, while Thor radiates guilt and frustration at not properly protecting the planet he has grown fond of. Meanwhile, the “normal” humans, Hawkeye and the Black Widow, have some very good moments dealing with personal loyalty and adjusting to the escalating weirdness around them.

The special effects deserve a comment or two. Not once did they pull me out of immersion in suspension of disbelief. Given how big and spectacular the set pieces were, this surprised me a great deal. WETA did a fantastic job.

Various themes are interwoven throughout the story, with freedom being the biggest one. Redemption, control, trust, narcissism, and self sacrifice are just some of them in this densely packed movie.

Expect to be highly entertained and left wanting more.

I need to see this film again and soon – this time in 3D.

UPDATE:

Well, the 3D did not disappoint like it usually does for me. Instead, I was highly impressed by the organic feel of the effects and felt it leant a lot to the movie. In fact, the 3D version was better to my surprise. Check out any sequence involving the Tesseract (still the Cosmic Cube to me) to be very impressed. The Stark tech holograms looked fantastic and made me want to see a 3D redo of Iron Man.

Also, I now have to say this is the best super hero movie so far. The Dark Knight is a more brilliant movie and true art, but part of its success is that it was a better James Bond movie than any since Sean Connery’s era. Which is to say it was not a comic book come to life on the big screen in the way The Avengers is.

Health 5-8-2012

I thought I should record that after much careful stretching and alteration to sleeping positions, the new back problem has settled down to a dull ache. Of all things, it was watching my cats stretch that clued me in on how to do it properly.

Other than that, nothing much to report other than I will continue to tinker with my diet to improve things. A rice cooker has been ordered and I will be making that a mainstay in my eating. Also, I will start NADH (aka Enada) again next month after making enough room in my budget to afford it. It helped a great deal with CFS related cognition problems and I hated giving it up due to expense years ago.

Sears Roebuck and the Blues

Just a short post to link to a fascinating (but all too short) article on the birth of the Blues and its connection to the old Sears catalogs. Since my father worked at Sears as a repairman for twenty years, I tend to notice anything written about the company. I would like to see this expanded into something bigger, for the article only just scratches the surface of how cheap products from Sears mail order enabled some famous musicians to get started.

Let’s Twist Again

To all those who are so insulated by wealth and luck, it will come as a shock when things do fall completely apart economically. Part of being insulated from reality requires having limited and/or censored information to look at that reinforces willful ignorance. Watching how the media distorts and outright lie on many things has been rudely educational for me.

So when when the employment participation rate plummets to its lowest level since Reagan took over from Carter’s disastrous presidency, I was not surprised to see attempts to twist things into a rosier picture:

Still, the report was not all negative. The government revised upward its earlier estimates for payroll growth in February and March by a combined 53,000.

That was the best they could do, given the grim numbers, but hey, they tried. The emphasis on the unemployment rate has been deceptive because it is artificially lowered by not counting those who have given up on finding a job.

Sadly, I cannot exclusively blame a dishonest government and a dishonest media alone. With most people being intellectually lazy in the States, they do not bother with digging for information themselves. Heck, we are lucky if the masses even pay attention to superficial sound bites on serious issues. The excuse I always hear is that “nobody has time to.” Yet they have time to watch Dancing with the Stars or other things of little import. Entertainment is the priority now, which is another twisted thing in my opinion.

Facts and statistics are twisted in every possible way these days and I suspect the horror of fully realizing how bad it is may be too much for people to confront. But you cannot hide from reality forever for it will confront you eventually.

And people wonder why I put faith in God above that of the efforts of man…

Fly Like an Eagle

Living out in the countryside has many benefits with one of the more interesting ones being the variety of wildlife that inhabit the area. Bald eagles have been making a comeback over the past couple of decades and lately have been moving into the Yucatan area. For some reason I never have a camera when one is around. Today that changed, though I was not able to get good pictures in the end.

My father came downstairs and announce he had been watching quite an aerial show. Puzzled, I asked if a crop duster was in the area again. No, he had been watching a bald eagle fight with a turkey vulture over a carcass and had not bothered to let me know it was going on…

Fractale English Dub Arrives in July

The best part of the release is that it will be a combination Blu-ray and DVD set. I have to say that Funimation did a great job with the trailer for it, since it captures how serious and dark the series really is.

Between this and the final set of Kimi ni Todoke, I am going to be broke in July. Broke but happy.

Back Off! or Health 4-25-2012

You know that temptation to scream “BACK OFF!” (or the more profane variation) when somebody annoys you now end and will not shut up?  That is how I feel about my back right now, pun intended. If I could remove the thing and still be a functioning carbon unit, I would.

For the last couple of months, new and creative pinched nerves have popped up and on Monday I discovered one in my middle back. How? I dared to open the fridge door and try to push it open more. No, I could not have some dramatic story about lifting a car off of someone or going too far in a workout. Instead it had to be something ridiculous.

Anyway, it was not just the usual pinched nerve, but the blinding pain kind where my vision blacked out momentarily. Excruciating is the word to describe it and it simply would not stop. Hobbling into the living room bent over like Quasimodo, I collapsed into the chair with the shiatsu massager on it. Even that did little to relieve the pain or instant locking of all my back muscles.

Now it is two days later and I can at least use my left arm again and the pain is down to a dull ache. Twinges still happen, but at least I can lift things again. Sadly there is still no way to tell one’s own back to “back off!” – though I am working on it.

The Slow Death of the Minnesota GOP Isn’t So Slow Now

Back when I was in the leadership of the Houston County Republicans, I used to lock horns with the state organization and quickly learned they did not have a clue how things were in outside of the metro areas. Initially a strong proponent of the caucus system, once I actually saw how it worked I realized that it allowed very small groups vast power over candidate selection which allows for abuse. On paper it looks wonderfully democratic, but it is not in actual execution. A much fairer process is the primary system.

Those thoughts have resurfaced ever since the precinct caucuses to bedevil and annoy me. After reading that twenty of twenty four delegates are now bound to the very liberal Ron Paul, I have zero doubts about being correct in thinking the caucus system is a failure. It is not the first time I have seen superior organization put forth an inferior candidate here and I am sure it will not be the last.

Meanwhile, the state GOP has been served with an eviction notice. Yeah, that shows how well organized the state level has been. While the new chair cannot be faulted for the financial problems, the following email I received trying to downplay it does not inspire confidence:

The Prisoner (1967) Ep. 1: Arrival

In 1967, a surreal and cerebral television show unlike anything seen before debuted to the amazement of viewers worldwide. Ostensibly about an unnamed spy kidnapped and confined to a strange community on the sea, Patrick McGoohan’s deeply personal project delved into themes of individuality, totalitarianism, paranoia, conformity, brainwashing, and the struggle to be free. Still debated over nearly forty-five years later, it is arguably one of the best dramas ever put on TV, if not the best.

A first episode is always a tricky thing for a series and that is doubly true for one that aspires to be anything more than average. With the incredibly popular series, Danger Man (Secret Agent in the USA), wearing thin on him, McGoohan had a desire to do something different. Different only scratches the surface in describing The Prisoner and Arrival establishes that very quickly.

An extended version of the title theme by Ron Grainier (he also created the original Doctor Who theme) plays over a montage of a man (Patrick McGoohan)  in black driving a Lotus Seven roadster to a government building. Once there he angrily storms into an office while the sound of thunder accompanies his rant, which we do not hear. In fact, no sound other than the soundtrack is heard during this intense opening sequence. Slamming his resignation down on his superior’s desk, the man drives off while we see his record amended and filed away in ominously impersonal fashion.

Health 4-18-2012

One of the “joys” of having chronic fatigue syndrome is all the little infections I get, most of them being some form of upper respiratory problem. The latest has gone on since last Friday and is an inner ear issue with my right ear. Occasional dizziness has always been a part of the illness for me, but having the room swim around when I move my head is not.

So far no pain, so I refuse to waste anymore of the taxpayers money on a visit to the doctor. Instead, the H202 doses have gone back to daily and that has helped. Also, not taking my generic Zyrtec to allow the allergies to run wild should help burn the infection out. There has been improvement and I though I had it licked yesterday, but it is being mildly annoying today.

However, I am dead tired from a busy weekend and have not recovered at all from it. One way or another, I will make it to church on Sunday to substitute teach Gospel Doctrine. That should be fun, since I have not had the opportunity to do so before.

That reminds me, one of the odd bits about the dizziness is that it is worse sitting than standing as teaching Gospel Principles showed me this past Sunday. Weird. Bending over is not fun, of course.

The weather looks nice outside, wish I felt like taking full advantage of it.