— Bjørn Stærk has done gone over to the dark side. See The People’s Blog – Countdown to the Revolution, with Bj?rn St?rk I quit writing on the web when I realized that nobody cares about the ignorant hate speech of a right-wing nut. He’s ahead of the rest of us – by several hours.
— Bjørn Stærk has done gone over to the dark side. See The People’s Blog – Countdown to the Revolution, with Bj?rn St?rk
I quit writing on the web when I realized that nobody cares about the ignorant hate speech of a right-wing nut.
He’s ahead of the rest of us – by several hours.
— I wonder what the effect would be on the insane daily suicide bombings in Israel if Mr. Sharon was to announce that every time a civilian is killed by a terrorist, Mr. Arafat will lose a body part. Bomb a civilian, off goes a hand or a foot. Bomb two civilians, say bye-bye to … Continue reading “Peace proposal”
— I wonder what the effect would be on the insane daily suicide bombings in Israel if Mr. Sharon was to announce that every time a civilian is killed by a terrorist, Mr. Arafat will lose a body part. Bomb a civilian, off goes a hand or a foot. Bomb two civilians, say bye-bye to an arm or a leg. Bomb three, off with his head. Perform the amputations on Palestinian TV (should be better than Porn, right?).
Once Arafat is history, they can go on down the list of Palestinian leaders. It’s a thought.
— Dr. Weevil raises the question that’s on everybody’s mind: “Does a female martyr get 72 male virgins?”
— Dr. Weevil raises the question that’s on everybody’s mind: “Does a female martyr get 72 male virgins?”
— High among the reasons Californians are the laughing-stock of America is the talent of our state legislators for pushing ridiculous agendas to absurd heights, as John Vasconcellos did with his silly self-esteem program. The latest example of this remarkable exercise in unintentional reflexivity is a bill by one of the most rotund members of … Continue reading “Fat senator’s fat tax”
— High among the reasons Californians are the laughing-stock of America is the talent of our state legislators for pushing ridiculous agendas to absurd heights, as John Vasconcellos did with his silly self-esteem program. The latest example of this remarkable exercise in unintentional reflexivity is a bill by one of the most rotund members of the legislature to tax soft drinks as a cure for teen obesity (Senator’s bill calls for levy on soda)
SACRAMENTO – With obesity increasingly becoming a problem for California’s schoolchildren, one state lawmaker is proposing a tax on soda to discourage consumption and pay for programs intended to guide kids to healthier living.
Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, said her legislation will help highlight the growing trouble children have controlling their weight while at the same time offering schools an incentive to drop lucrative contracts to sell certain brands of soda on their campuses.
“All I’m saying is let’s have them (soda drinks) made available in other places than schools,” Ortiz said. “Our children are there six and eight hours a day. They are a captive audience there.”
Ortiz is regarded by her peers in Sacramento as the dimmest of the many dim bulbs beneath the dome, and she’s also one of the heaviest and most acne-ridden. There’s a personal reason behind each of Ortiz’ bills, many stemming from her childhood with a single mother on welfare. In her forties and still unmarried, she wants to raise all the children of California as if they were her own. No thanks, Debby.
Google “Ortiz soft drink tax” and you’ll see a nationwide sneering campaign already in progress from New Mexico to New York.
My daughter who lives on Long Island asked me how people like Ortiz get elected, and I had to tell her the story of term-limits and its many consequences. Ortiz was first elected to the Assembly seat formerly held by Phil Isenberg, one of the brightest lights in the Democratic Party, and she subsequently ascended to the Senate seat formerly held by Leroy Greene, the most common-sense member of the legislature and its only engineer. While nobody would ever argue that former Isenberg aide and city council-member Ortiz can’t fill a seat, she’s all calories and no nutrients, as are so many of the ersatz citizen-politicians who’ve gone to Sacramento since term-limits passed.
— The dogfight between Ken Layne and Matt Welch on the frogs and the decision by Ashcroft to charge Moussaoui with the a death-penalty offense brings to mind this prophetic column of Ann Coulter’s: Attack France! If this is a war against terrorism and not a Eurocentric war against Islam, the conclusion is ineluctable: We … Continue reading “Of dogs and frogs”
— The dogfight between Ken Layne and Matt Welch on the frogs and the decision by Ashcroft to charge Moussaoui with the a death-penalty offense brings to mind this prophetic column of Ann Coulter’s: Attack France!
If this is a war against terrorism and not a Eurocentric war against Islam, the conclusion is ineluctable: We must attack France. What are they going to do? Fight us?
The froggies say they aren’t turning information about the 20th hijacker over to us because of our barbaric death penalty.
— My old buddy Sen. Ray Haynes describes Gray Davis’ approach to solving major public problems in an editorial titled: Error of our ways in the OC Register. It is not a difficult strategy. The first step is to come up with several solutions. The second step is to test those solutions with focus groups … Continue reading “Gray Davis’ problem-solving method”
— My old buddy Sen. Ray Haynes describes Gray Davis’ approach to solving major public problems in an editorial titled: Error of our ways in the OC Register.
It is not a difficult strategy. The first step is to come up with several solutions. The second step is to test those solutions with focus groups to see which solution is the most popular with “the people.” The third step is to market the solutions with the special interest groups in Sacramento to see who will get the angriest. The fourth step is to throw out all the first solutions and start with step one again. This process is repeated until all time has run out and something has to be done.
He nails it.
— In response to my remarks on her article on Russell Yates, Cathy Young says: I’ve seen some conflicting reports on how much time Andrea Yates was spending alone with the kids just before the murders; there was some mention of the fact that a decision had been made to increase that time and have … Continue reading “Cathy Young’s response”
— In response to my remarks on her article on Russell Yates, Cathy Young says:
I’ve seen some conflicting reports on how much time Andrea Yates was spending
alone with the kids just before the murders; there was some mention of the
fact that a decision had been made to increase that time and have Russell
Yates’s mother come in somewhat later than she had been coming in previously.
One might also argue that when we’re talking about a mentally ill woman with
suicidal tendencies being alone with five children, an hour a day is an
extended period of time — extended enough, certainly, for major trouble to
happen. It would have been bad enough if Yates had slit her own throat in
the children’s presence.
She also mentions some hate-mail from fathers’ rights folks who express themselves abusively. Many in that movement are their own worst enemies. Dianna Thompson, director the ACFC, wrote a longish letter to the Boston Globe critical of Cathy’s piece, blaming Andrea’s doctor for not reporting her to child protective services as a danger to the children:
It is also important to note that the professionals to whom Russell Yates
took his wife, have a legally mandated duty to report any potential threat
to the children, to child protective services. As they did not do so, it can
only be assumed that there was no imminent danger evident. Why then,
is the media holding Russell Yates to a higher standard than that of
trained professionals?
It’s hard to predict the behavior of crazy people in any specific way, however — that’s what it means to be crazy — but you certainly wouldn’t HIRE somebody with a full-blown psychosis to look after your children, would you? That’s the point. As bad as public school and day care are, at least they don’t routinely murder their charges.
— According to O’Reilly Press’ David Sims: I find webloggers bright and interesting folks, and I tend to agree with them much of the time. But they’re hardly representative: like me, they lean toward the geeky and they lean toward the left. Tech bloggers live in their own, carefully crafted little delusion.
— According to O’Reilly Press’ David Sims:
I find webloggers bright and interesting folks, and I tend to agree with them much of the time. But they’re hardly representative: like me, they lean toward the geeky and they lean toward the left.
Tech bloggers live in their own, carefully crafted little delusion.
— mostly for what they didn’t do: sneering anti-Bush rants.
— mostly for what they didn’t do: sneering anti-Bush rants.
— A couple of issues have been brought to my attention recently that will be of interest to those divorced fathers and mothers paying child support who’d like to get involved in the California political process. First, Assemblyman Rod Wright (D, Los Angeles) has a bill that will make it harder for the wrong man … Continue reading “Political activism opportunities”
— A couple of issues have been brought to my attention recently that will be of interest to those divorced fathers and mothers paying child support who’d like to get involved in the California political process. First, Assemblyman Rod Wright (D, Los Angeles) has a bill that will make it harder for the wrong man to be identified as the father of a child born out-of-wedlock. This ensures that the appropriate party can participate in raising the child, and with supporting the child and its mother. The bill is AB 2240 Paternity Testing. Here’s the summary:
AB 2240, as introduced, Wright. Paternity testing.
(1) Existing law provides for a voluntary declaration of
paternity. Existing law requires that declaration to be executed on a
form developed by the Department of Child Support Services
containing specified information, including a statement by the mother
that the man who has signed the voluntary declaration of paternity
is the only possible father.
This bill would require the Department of Child Support Services
to consult with father’s rights advocacy groups upon further
development of that form.
(2) Existing law authorizes specified persons to bring an action
to declare or determine the existence of the father and child
relationship, as specified.
This bill would require specified persons who bring an action
pursuant to that provision to sign a declaration under penalty of
perjury that the defendant is the only possible father.
(3) Existing law authorizes a local child support agency to issue
an administrative order requiring the mother, the child, and the
alleged father to submit to genetic testing to determine paternity in
any civil action or proceeding in which paternity is a relevant fact
and a contested issue.
Existing law authorizes a party in a civil action to make a motion
to vacate a judgment within a specified period of time.
This bill would set forth procedures whereby certain persons may
move to vacate a judgment establishing paternity entered by a court
of this state after the expiration of the period of time in which a
party may generally move to vacate a judgment, as specified.
The other thing concerns an advisory panel of fathers who will meet with the state’s Department of Child Support Services once a quarter to provide input on the operation of the child support collection system.
If you’re interested in either of these things, drop me an e-mail and I’ll tell you how to get involved. You can comment on the bill by simply clicking “Comment” at the link provided.
Note to the squeamish: People bring these issues to me because there was a time when I was a fathers’ rights activist, but I’ve retired from that avocation. So if you’re an affected party and you think you can sit back and let somebody like me perform your citizenship duties for you, you’re mistaken. Either you do it yourself, or it doesn’t get done.
