SCOTUS/DOMA

Why have legislators?

The Next Generation

When I was a kid I was out there collecting snakes, with today's kids it's the iPad. Playing on Mom's smartphone the next gen is gonna be more techno-literate than I was. Having this discussion here recently should the Gov't teach kids about sex or Mom and Dad? Well today there's a third option - Siri.

Amateur Herpetology

During the warm summer months along the Saw Mill River in Westchester County NY you should always look towards the edge of the bike path while walking. Just sayin'.

The Government/Verizon data-mining I was going to say scandal

But it's clear that many don't even see it as a scandal and I'm even reading those on the Right like John Podhoretz who actually seem to support it.  OK so millions of Verizon customers have had the duration but not the content of their phone calls tracked, the numbers of both parties are even on the record and the times of day but ultimately there is just too much to sift through so some pretty advanced NSA computers analyze the metadata to look for what are called "suspicious patterns" and then if that turns up then the feds can go further in their pursuits.  Didn't prevent Boston but I'd like to know what a suspicious pattern is and as for the millions of other customers of the other major carriers they're probably in the Database too but the government hasn't said so yet.  Simple rule here though - if Obama does it it must be good but if Bush did it then it's bad.  The major players like Microsoft and Google are fully cooperating of course, it's yet another corporate/government Leviathan monster arising out of the ocean and as for myself as regards my phone I just do what I gotta do the government be damned.  Life's too short and the government bureaucracy being what it is they're gonna fuck it up anyway.

I don't care what you do (but I also don't wanna know)

Call it libertarian respect, a kind of social compact/truce that has worked down through the years.  A few famous people these days seem to be applying the Angelina Jolie Template customized of course to their respective diseases/ailments (mainly cancer though) and we hear all about the nexus of their disease and their lifestyle choices.  Let's say in an interview a well-known person, some household name says "every time I hang upside down and someone sticks a thumb up my ass I get cancer,"  don't wanna know, not a public service imo.  Don't wanna hear PSAs about every sex act known to man.  IF Celebrity Q a woman likes to guzzle it down like a milkshake but then it gives her problems down the road, cancer of the stomach kind of deal DON'T WANNA KNOW.  Bob Dole was brave on the battlefield but I don't think he was brave about ED, he was just TMIing.  So I walk in the supermarket the other day and the newsstand is right there and I'm just standing there for about 15 or 20 seconds looking at the cover of one of the papers and the produce guy and I are talking about IT.  People call it heroic I call it TMI.  The Angelina Jolie Thing stands on its own don't try to use it, that's her you just like to share.  The orals the anals don't need it on the cover of TIME or Newsweek when I'm checking out.  Let's nip this one in the bud before it pops up all over the place.  Look I don't care but I also don't wanna know ok?

St. Francis with an iPad

The Backlash Against Technology -- Lately in conversating with some old-timers there seems to be an anti-technology feel out there, a kind of anti-modernist vibe.  It irritates me at first, can't these codgers get it that you can't have the '50s forever but then I ponder for awhile and there's a point to be had also.  Some are fond of saying we were better off before the TV but as a device the TV is neither good nor bad.  It's not the TV's fault that most of what's on is pure crap, it's not the apparatus that's evil.  Texting and driving and cyberbullying, it's not the technology that is good or evil in itself it's how you use it.  Just 'cause your relatives or friends come over with their iPads and smartphones and start using them instead of honing their social skills well that's just incivility plain and simple and in the right hands tablets and Androids are wonderful devices.  There's Internet porn and bomb-making recipes on the 'Net of course but for every negative on the Web I can point to a positive, it's a yin/yang thing.  I recently learned some online groin pull/sciatica stretching exercises that I'm convinced fast-tracked my road to recovery so for every old-timer who says technology, the Web/smartphones, whatever is not good for your mind I would point out the ability to increase knowledge in a good way is right now at your fingertips.  I also had this thought today, I think we're in for another bubble bursting down the road, the smartphone bubble.  Half the population has these gizmos it seems and it no longer seems to depend if you've been wise with your money throughout your life and have made responsible decisions to allow you the finer luxuries.  I had to wait for my prescription yesterday in a lower-income part of Yonkers and you get to observing.  You got teens coming out of rather seedy apartment complexes with smartphones, not cells but smartphones and I'm thinking besides the cost of the device itself there's coverage right so how can these young'ens afford it?  I think something has to give down the road, it's natural economics but for now at least everyone's a technodude.  The new Pope even has an iPad and the other day I saw a photo in Catholic New York of some prelate showing him how to use the new Vatican app.  Point in closing -- if the dark side of Technology bothers you so much make the decision to use it for Good.

Rumblings that Big Labor is going against Obama

Voting for Obama is like having bought a smartphone that you're disappointed in.

Why conservatives should be against the death penalty (but they aren't)

The perverse Jodi Arias jury, deadlocked now and can't decide whether she lives or dies.  Lost track of how many days they've been deliberating her fate, there's been a devastating supercell tornado in an Oklahoma suburb and the blanket media coverage of the aftermath days after and they STILL haven't arrived at a decision.  I was pondering all this on my walk today and I think it's a fair guess to say most conservatives these days like to be known as libertarian to varying degrees, to different shades and their animating principle is of course they're against increasing the Power of the State and don't even like the power it already has.  The State however has the power and authority to imprison you, that's a major power but they also in some cases, in many cases have the power to also put a person to death.  That's an awesome power, a disturbing power.  For me my personal opposition to the death penalty has nothing to do with sympathy for the criminal in most cases but more a disturbing sense of the Power of the State, it bothers and nags for some reason.  Dunno what the official libertarian position on capital punishment is, I mean I know their position on that other kind of capital punishment (ka-ching ka-ching) that Obama represents but where they come down on putting a criminal to death I really don't know or haven't gotten the memo yet.  Yeah you'll say but it's in the Constitution and that's true but I've been wondering too of late should the Constitution be the be-all and the end-all? our Bible especially when it kinda contradicts libertarian tenets at times and while we all revere the wisdom of the Founding Fathers but being human and all and not the demigods we make them out to be they could've been assholes on occasion (see eminent domain).  Yeah I haven't talked about the death penalty all that much here down through the years primarily because people's minds are mostly made up and what's the point but have finally crystallized at least why it bothers me so much.  IMHO it should also bother your average conservative.  Maybe Rand Paul can tweet it:) 

When government turns on itself

This is interesting, the FBI may investigate the IRS over its targeting of conservative political groups filing for tax-exempt status but then who then investigates the FBI, the CIA?  Obama has recently castigated the IRS for the scandal, will the IRS then audit Mr. Obama?  I must've missed the smoking gun where the President ordered the IRS to go after the Tea Party movement but conservative commentators are acting like this is so.  I'm sorry m'am, just the facts.  AG Eric Holder didn't know his deputy authorized subpoenas for all those AP reporter and editors' phone and interview records, that's interesting an underling having more power than the boss.  Of course there's still Benghazi but allow me to say something about Brooklyn Federal Judge Edward Korman.  I've been reading about him in the paper of late and he's the one who struck down all age restrictions and prescription requirements for the Plan B morning-after pill.  It's not really his decision that struck me, it's to be expected but his reaction to those dissenting parties including the Obama Administration that gets me.  He's one of the most hubristic judges I've ever heard about acting like he's the final arbiter on a contentious social issue and doesn't seem particularly keen on the right to appeal (his decisions that is) which is a cornerstone of our democracy blasting HHS Sec'y Sebelius and anyone really who disagrees with him and he just seems to me to be off the rails, off-center from a judicial temperament pov.  Did you hear Chris Matthews' latest rant about conservative criticism of his beloved president? he's still pushing the racism angle that old yellowed dog-eared card and it's funny but people like him never seem to get laryngitis.  Tawana Brawley had a fundraiser the other day, did you give?  Lingering question though, will the IRS audit those rogue FBI agents?

Another medical thread - Angelina Jolie

There's been an outpouring of public and celebrity support for her and the Twitterverse really cares.  Hollywood is really patting itself on the back but let's get one thing straight, Angelina Jolie is not coming across as your typical Hollywood airhead and not too many celebrities can even write a decent Op-Ed piece in the Ole Gray Lady.  Writing about her recent decision to get a preventative double mastectomy she's definitely adding substance to the discussion and I find her much more useful than K-Dash or even Madonna.  She's also hopefully helping us move past our national Hefnerized adolescence, a culture obsessed with boob jobs and longtime love interest Brad Pitt is coming across as noble, as being a good character.  I don't have a good knowledge of this area, BRCA 1&2 and the 87% chance of breast cancer and 50% chance for ovarian and all that so I'm rendering a nondecision here.  IMO breast cancer gets far more press and attention than say prostate cancer, that's another issue but having said that I find her quite articulate in her cause.  This ain't a case of Sean Penn writing down his deepest thoughts with crayons or Rodman palling around with the North Korean Psycho and so since we've been covering alot of medical ground here lately I've been thinking of starting the Z-man Foundation for the Research and Cure of Tinnitus.  I also never got the whole current conservative fixation with reading NY Times editorials, as an old Times ad used to say read what you like.

Facebook Follies

Let's face it Mark Zuckerberg was a genius and social-networking trailblazer but lately there was the FB IPO which sucked and now in business news AT&T has decided to sell the brand new Facebook Smartphone for just 99cents since that turned out to be a flop on all fronts including even the software and apps.  Facebook has also had troubles and controversy of late with some pedophiliac-themed pages which have popped up every now and then and well anyway now the next big kid on the block is Pinterest and while I don't think Facebook is gonna go the way of MySpace (MyWho?) anytime soon I really think he needs to give the big Ralph Kramden brainstorms a rest for now.  In other news Ariel Castro he of the infamous and bizarre Ohio kidnapping case now says he should have just stopped at two women as sex slaves.  Yeah you got greedy bro!  Also some big ABC News producer, the he became a she and walked on the wild side and the marriage is kaput with two kids in the mix.  Used to be you could practically go days on end in the news cycle and it was boring now it's offensive, strange for some reason but in an interesting way.  I used to like Pink but her songs are now like crabgrass on the radio, new songs every week and I've kinda had my fill and who is this Phillip Phillips guy?  They made a big deal over what Justin Bieber wrote in that Anne Frank guestbook over in the Netherlands but I categorize it probably as a brainfart, basically an expression of a thought you can't even explain or express properly and I thought what people write in the logs at museums and galleries is kinda private anyway.  Got a buck? I wanna go get me a new smartphone, maybe ten.

Thoughts on NJ Gov. Chris Christie's lap-band surgery?

How ironic that he chose to do this and now the nearly extinct TWINKIE is about to make a big comeback. Has the hallmark of a classic Twilight Zone, Burgess Meredith on the steps of that post-apocalyptic public library after having just broken his only pair of glasses with which he loved to read - It just isn't fair!

The moral puzzlement of ObamaCare

Company XYZ, a major business makes the deliberate decision to cut all part-timers' hours to under 30 per week so as not comply with the federal ObamaCare mandate. Is moral blame to be placed squarely on the company or instead on the President? Union ABC has always supported Obama and his policies but why if in this case it will make the country's underemployment situation worse? Great free-market questions.

Smartphone techno-geek support forums

Since I still have some technical questions/issues with smartphones in general I've been browsing some of the more popular online tech-support forums of late.  They're a real hoot to read, basically the geeks are having nervous breakdowns 'cause they don't understand their smartphones.  Look it takes time and one of the more common complaints you'll see is when they use their WAP browsers to roam the mobile web they hit on a site they really like and up pops the ever-annoying "Page too large - open mobile site."  I'm kinda resigned to this by now and am still playing around with my own mobile settings but have come to the conclusion for serious computer work you probably shouldn't even be using a cell in the first place, at least get yourself a tablet.  The other day another common complaint I saw was some folks were having trouble connecting to WiFi using a certain product although it could be any product it's just a general techno-geek angst out there and when somebody does answer their technical questions or tries what's funny is nobody really has any answers or real solutions it's just moral support from fellow geeks-in-suffering.  Guy was having trouble logging onto Wayport at Mickie D's or something and I'm thinking are you just gonna sit there at that table and hog up the space for an hour or more after eating your cheap burger that you didn't really want anyway but it was just an excuse to go to a local hotspot and some family wants to sit down and enjoy their value meals but Dorkman is still experiencing technical difficulties.  When I encounter problems I don't understand more likely it's something I don't get yet rather than it being the smartphone company's fault and there's just the hint, the merest whiff of a Corporate Conspiracy at work among some of these posters like they're deliberately programming cells to give you a hard time so you'll buy more Airtime cards or something.  I just came up with a good expression though - My brain is experiencing technical problems, please stand by. 

I'm now in favor of medical marijuana

...provided you put it in pill or capsule form.  Isolate the main medicinal analgesic element in pot and put it in a tablet and folks will quickly lose interest in it as an issue.  You'd think we didn't have good pain management until weed came along.  What's Oxycontin anyway a pussy drug? it's good and all but you can't smoke it.  It's all about getting in touch with your inner Munchhausen, your purported bad back now gives you an excuse to go to the medical dispensary in states where this is legal.  Help your cancer management and alter your mind at the same time, the two work in tandem and that's the whole point.  Smoking medical weed as opposed to taking a pot pill is kinda like seeing a sex surrogate instead of consulting a textbook to work out your sexual problems and save your marriage - "I'm doing this for us honey."

Bitcoin - techno-libertarianism?

Digital currency with no fixed rate, no real value. One business in NYC is starting to accept Bitcoin payments. So maybe after your next night on the town you can scan your restaurant bill with your brand new RandPhone.

The McBlog - a couple of thoughts on the go

Is it a sign of age when you spend most of your time on the computer looking up medical ailments? The failure of gun control - conservatives would rather you have a nuclear shoulder launchpad than risk a government takeover. Lovingly from my mobile device.

The Boston Marathon Bombings

One of my first and earliest thoughts in the tragic wake yesterday was Mayor Bloomberg needs to stop worrying about stupid stuff.  My other feeling was we've been lulled of late, no major domestic terror since 9/11 really and the few thwarted plans within the last few years were obviously concocted by amateurs (e.g. shoe bombers, undie bombers) and so there probably wasn't that heightened security at such a major event as there should have been not that there wasn't any security but you know what I'm sayin'.  Learned from some of the experts interviewed on the news yesterday that just like in the movies it is possible to detonate a bomb using a cell phone so maybe you can chalk up another negative into the cell phone/techno-addiction corner ("today's mayhem brought to you by Droid").  John Miller I like and will always stop while channel-surfing at such a time and see what he has to say, insightful and well worth listening to.  During his first address on the subject President Obama it was said made a deliberate decision to not yet use the word Terror even though CBS's Scott Pelley and some others were freely using the word so that seems to be some kind of early initial reflex on the part of the president following such events so make of that what you will.  Lastly Mayor Bloomberg needs to stop worrying about Stupid Stuff and if God forbid something like this should happen in NYC again many folks are gonna look back and say too much time spent on the Big Gulp:) 

Pro-abortionism, the quicksilver in the debate

Trying to nail down what exactly is pro-abortionism since everyone denies it so I've come up with this by way of example.  Let's say I'm against affirmative action or "reverse discrimination" as it's been called, now I think I can come up with a fairly respectable and intellectually legitimate defense of my position but let's say to make my case I then relied almost exclusively on the arguments made by avowed white male racists would it be a fair assessment among the folks-at-large to say I'm a racist or bigot, that the reason I'm against a quota system is because I hate blacks?  In the same way if I say I'm not pro-abortion but pro-choice but rely almost exclusively on pro-abortion argumentation, the pro-abortion worldview re the fetus in making my case then I think it not a far-fetched conclusion to say I'm also pro-abortion in addition to being pro-choice, nay probably pro-abortion first and foremost.  It's not really just another abortion thread just a caveat regarding semantics that when making your case be careful whose arguments you choose to use.  IF a pro-choicer uses the same material that a hardcore pro-abortionist uses and does this time and again know what I'm sayin'? 

Some more post-Newtown thoughts,

since it's still percolating out there and the state of CT has just passed some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation.  I only thought I'd do another Newtown thread if I have any fresh insights and so let's begin with the mathematics of Newtown.  Now all these massacres of late within the last several years are being lumped together somehow but in the vast majority of shooting massacres grown adults are the victims.  That's tragic enough but what happened at Sandy Hook is on another level totally IMO, a kind of existential quirk.  In fact it's bizarre and I don't think there's a snapshot anywhere of Adam Lanza where he's not a bug-eyed bastard, such a joyless individual.  Now the math angle, if you gun-controllers want to prevent another gun massacre ok but if your goal here is to prevent another Sandy Hook you're trying to prevent something that may not happen in another 150 years or ever for that matter.  Another point - how did the post-Newtown debate/discussion somehow evolve into ONLY talking about guns and gun control with a healthy side of mental health and no mention of DRUGS whatsoever?  meds, PCP, bath salts, prescription abuse, airplane glue, whatever but it's high past time authorities lay it all on the table so maybe we can have that other discussion.  One senses just another generic post-gun massacre political debate with an angle or two being deliberately suppressed and I've been wondering why.  Lastly since I'm trying to be fresh in this blog, to look at these things from another angle when you post comments I'd like some fresh and original thoughts too, maybe give yourself an aerial view of the issues instead of same-old same-old, left/right-wing talking points.  NRA Bad, ok we get that but how can you legislate exactly against or to prevent the tragically bizarre which is what Newtown was?  Conclusion: I'm not disagreeing with you about gun control per se but could Sandy Hook have been prevented?  I'm gonna go with a no:)