Thoughts Over Catnip

Hello My Dear Friends! Happy Friday! Last night, 15 minutes before the NFL Draft began, video surfaced of a top draft choice, Laremy Tunsil, sucking on a gas mask bong. Tunsil, who was expected to be drafted first or second, dropped all the way to 13th overall. Lucky for him there wasn't a video of him hitting a woman or he may have dropped to 15th! You've got to love the NFL!
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner called Presidential candidate Ted Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh" and also said of Cruz, "I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life". Not a fan, John? In other Cruz news, Cruz named Carly Fiorina has his running mate. I like Carly Fiorina but Ted Cruz naming a running mate is sort of like the Buffalo Bills naming their starting quarterback for the Super Bowl...a tad premature.
A 25-year old man, who threatened to blow up the Baltimore Fox TV Station, is recovering after being shot by police. The suspect, who had a flash drive he wanted aired on the news, was dressed in a panda bear onesie with a surgical mask and sunglasses. I can see why officials took the threat so seriously! Turns out that the "bomb" was a bunch of candy bars wrapped in plastic with wires sticking out and the flash drive contained a video of the suspect ranting about the government. I can understand the anger over the government but, what I can't understand, is why they make panda bear onesies for men!
About 20 raucous protesters were arrested after a Donald Trump rally in Costa Mesa, California last night. The anti-Trump protesters blocked the road after the event, attended by some 18,000 Trump supporters, damaged vehicles, including police cars, smashed windows, sprayed graffiti and then waved Mexican flags and posed for selfies. Classic! Is it any wonder why Trump is so popular.
The 'Bathroom Wars" continue. Nearly a million people signed a petition to boycott Target stores over their position on allowing customers to use the bathroom/fitting room that matches their gender identity. Target doesn't care. As you may recall, last year there were calls to boycott Target after they removed the signage separating "boys" and "girls" toys. In 2012 a boycott was called for against Target when they starting selling tee shirts to support the Family Equality Council, a group opposing the Defense of Marriage Act. In each case the boycotters got bored after a week or two and moved on. I suspect the same will happen here. Target ranks 92nd on Forbes Most Valuable Brands list with about $74 billion in annual sales. I doubt that a dust up about bathroom assignments is going to change that but, if it really bothers you, try peeing before you leave the house. Enjoy the weekend!
Po

The Beat Goes On

Hello My Dear Friends! I often wonder if there is a light at the end of this tunnel of insanity that has become our day to day existence! Hillary Clinton, in a recent speech, called on Donald Trump to come out of his ivory tower and listen to the common folk. She then went home to her modest little $2 million Westchester Estate, or was it her $2.85 million Washington, DC colonial, maybe the NYC condo. I don't know. I do know that hypocrisy never rests. In other insanity, Ted Cruz and John Kasich have "joined forces" to beat Donald Trump. I've got news for you boys. The windshield doesn't care if it's one bug or two. The windshield always wins. Anyway, enough about politics.
Beyonce's new single "Sorry" has her Beyhive, as it's known, cyber slashing women they believe are "Becky with the good hair". If you're smart enough to NOT know what I'm talking about, the aforementioned "Becky", according to the song, had an affair with Bey's hubby Jay Z. Now, I actually care less about this than I do the Kardashians, however, cyber-bullying is a real problem today and, instead of condemning it, Beyonce seems to be basking in it. Her loyal followers first thought "Becky" was designer Rachel Roy. Well, some of them did. Others confused her with Rachel Ray and started attacking her. Can you imagine Rachel Ray with Jay Z? LOL. Anyway, both Rachel Ray and Rachel Roy were overrun on all social media forums by The Hive. It was brutal. Now they've turned their sights on British singer Rita Ora. When celebrities don't condemn their fans bad behavior, they become responsible for it. Cyber-Bullies, like the Beyhive and Beliebers, adopt a pack mentality and try to one-up each other with their crudeness and cruelty in an attempt to catch the attention of their idol. The problem is, Cyber-Bullies don't just attack celebrities. They attack everyone. 9 teen suicides this year alone have been directly connected to cyber-bullying. It's a real problem. People like Beyonce should be using their power over their followers to stop Cyber-Bullying, not re-tweeting their venom and encouraging the behavior. It's a damn shame when someone as popular as Beyonce will use the Super Bowl halftime show to glorify the Black Panthers but she can't muster the courage to ask her fans not to act like animals.
Po

The Trouble with Protesters

Hello My Dear Friends! As many of you know, on Saturday, the Captors attended the Donald Trump rally at OnCenter. Everyone expected protesters to be on hand, and they were. The problem is, protesters today have no idea what they're doing. Now, I love a good protest as much as anyone. Protesting in an American tradition. People need to be heard. However, on Saturday, we noted the following reasons why today's protesters are just wasting their time and yours. Let's begin outside the event. Prior to the doors opening, there were literally thousands of people in line. The line stretched about a quarter of a mile. Yet there were only about 5 protesters scattered about and one of them was the standard "Repent" guy that goes to everything. At the end of the rally there were hundreds of protesters but they missed their mark. The point of protesting is to change people's minds. The time to change people's minds is before they get where they're going!. Before they absorb the message At the end of a rally, people are energized by what they've heard and on their way home after a long day. Protesters, at this point, are simply a nuisance, a backdrop, white noise. No one is listening. No one cares. So, lesson number 1 protesters, you need to get up and out of Mom's basement a little earlier to affect change. Next is your signage. This goes for both inside and outside the event. I'm not even going to begin to address the grammar and spelling issues since, apparently, these are no longer a priority in our society. You have one chance to get your message across on a sign because most people are walking past you. So, your message needs to be clear and concise. Writing a paragraph on a piece of cardboard is a waste of time and energy (not to mention wasting a tree, which many of you seem to be really concerned about). No one is going to stop and read a long, scribbled message. Print neatly and, PLEASE, make sure you actually have something to say. "Trump Sucks" is not a message. it is, at best, a tee shirt. Next, and this is REALLY IMPORTANT, know your audience. Writing "No Trump" on the American Flag is a really stupid thing to do. To be clear here, WRITING ANYTHING on the American Flag is a bad idea. No matter what you write, if you write it on the American Flag, the only message people see is "I'm a disrespectful little cretin". Seriously, you should know better! Back to the message. There were about 8-10 protesters inside the event. Kudos to those of you who stood around for 5 hours just to get thrown out. At least you showed some commitment to your cause. However, with that kind of commitment, you should have put a little more effort into your "protest". One guy pulled out his hidden sign and jumped up to shout "Trump funded Hillary". Duh! Everyone knows that goober. He even talks about it during his speech. Actually, two guys came to share that revelation. One guy, and this still baffles me, Jumped up with a sign that said "Ambiguous Blvd". You stood around, and I do mean stood, there were no seats, for 5 hours to tell everyone that you could go either way? Wow. Now, I gave this sign way more thought than I should of and I can only come up with this; you meant Ambivalent. You were trying to say that Trump keeps flipping on issues but what your sign said was that you couldn't make up your mind. Oh well, maybe that was worth 5 hours of your time. Finally, and I can't stress this enough, if the best chant you can come up with is "Hey hey, ho ho, (fill in the blank) has got to go", don't chant at all. The sixties called. They're over. You really need to put a little more effort into your anger. So, in conclusion, protesters of today, you're lazy and lack creativity. If you really want to make the world a better place, why don't you start by becoming better protesters!
Po

Thoughts Over Catnip

Hello My Dear Friends! For the past week and, I suspect, during the week to come I have been receiving 3-4 political calls per day. Most are robo-calls asking for push-button answers to a host of stupid questions. I, for one, always give the opposite answer of what I believe or, if given the chance, choose the most outrageous option available. I do the same thing with "where are they now" questionnaires from college and the like. The last one of those I filled out I said I was studying the cotton-top tamarin monkey in the rain forests of Colombia. I never heard from them again. I do this, not just to mess with them, but because I don't think it's any of their business. Today an actual human being called to ask about my political views. Oh Joy! The conversation went something like this:
Goober: If the election were held today, who would you vote for?
Me: For whom
Goober: I beg your pardon.
Me: You said who would you vote for. It's for whom would you vote.
Goober: Okay. So who would, or, er, um whom would it be.
Me: Bernie Sanders, unless it's raining, then John Kasich
Goober: Ooookay, so Bernie Sanders?
Me: Unless it's raining. It's bad luck to vote for Socialists in the rain. Even Democratic Socialists.
Goober: Thanks for your time...click
We didn't even get to talk about the issues! Oh well, next time.
Remember when television commercials were entertaining? Many of them now are just baffling. Take Liberty Mutual Insurance. There message appears to be "Hey, we'll insure any idiot on the road"! Have you seen the one with the couple who claim to have had "a perfect driving record" until one of them hits a food truck. They're upset because their insurance company raised their rates. You hit a freaking food truck! Do you know how big they are? You're a hazard. You shouldn't even be on the road. Then there's that on-line University of Phoenix commercial where the girl is singing to the tune of "If I Only Had A Brain". A verse in it says "took two bullets to the chest, got three kids, I never rest, and I've also got a brain". Really? LOL! Could have fooled me. I have no idea what that has to do with choosing a University but more power to you!
Finally, the debate over White Privilege roars on with many Universities holding workshops and retreats to address the issue. For those of us who are clueless to our obvious White Privilege, Mount Holyoke College has cleared it up for us. Excerpts from their website, "White Privilege is a set of advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from on a daily basis. The inability to recognize that many of the advantages that whites hold are a direct result of the disadvantages of other people. It's about thinking that your clothes, manner of speech, and behavior in general, are racially neutral when, if fact, they are white. It's about not having to assume your daily interactions with people have racial overtones." I hope that clears it up for you. Now, go and enjoy the weekend!
Po

You Think That, Do You?

Hello My Dear Friends! There's a new "campaign" afoot, calling themselves "Democracy Spring". It's not so clever spin on the "Arab Spring" which, as you know, ended in disaster. Hundreds of protesters marched from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. to stage a sit-in at the capitol. About 400 of them were promptly arrested because, in their quest to change the laws, they forgot about the law against illegal assembly. That aside, I watched in amusement as speaker after speaker educated the crowd about how this Democracy should work. What amused me most is the fact that none of them seemed to know that we don't live in a Democracy. The United States of America, last time I checked, is a Republic, not a Democracy. The difference? A little thing called the Constitution. Apparently they don't teach this in school anymore so indulge me. In a Democracy, like India, majority rules, period. There are no individual protections. This is never good for the minority. American is a Republic, governed by the rule of law. Both forms of government use a representational system where citizens elect politicians to represent them. However, in a Republic the constitution protects individual rights that can not be taken away by the government. In a Democracy the majority can impose it's will on the minority. One way to look at it is: A Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what's for lunch. A Republic is two wolves deciding what's for lunch and a well armed lamb contesting that decision. Anyway, my point is, before you demand a change in government you should probably find out what type of government you actually have!
Now, from Democracy to Hypocrisy! On Saturday at the Inner Circle, which is a media roast of politicians, NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and Hillary Clinton closed the show with a little skit. In the skit, Hillary says to DeBlasio, "You could've endorsed me a little sooner Bill" to which DeBlasio replies, "Sorry Hillary, I was running on C.P. time". A reference to the incredibly racist "colored people time" implying chronic lateness. After some awkward laughter they went on to say "cautious politician time". Everyone had a good laugh and that was the end of it. Can you even imagine what would have happened if that same exact skit was performed by Donald Trump? Once again proving it's not what you say, it's who says what.
Finally, let me address these "bathroom" laws that have passed in North Carolina and Tennessee and are pending in South Carolina and other states. Supporters are hiding behind a "religious freedom" smokescreen. That's nonsense. I can't even fathom what religion and urination have in common. They're spouting off about predators posing as transgendered people, sneaking into bathrooms to accost little girls. Seriously? Unisex bathrooms are a necessity for many reasons with transgendered people being a small part. Mothers with young sons or fathers with young daughters need a place to go. It's far more unsafe to send a small child alone into a public bathroom than it is for their opposite sex parent to be in said bathroom. Also, there are elderly people who need assistance. If an elderly couple is out and the one who needs assistance has to go, what are they supposed to do? If not for unisex bathrooms they would have no where to turn. But the haters don't care about these folks. They're focused on persecuting people they simply don't understand. So, in their infinite ignorance, they pass laws that punish and discriminate. Let's face it people. You can call it religious freedom or gender protection but you're not fooling anyone. It wasn't about the water fountains in the 50s and it's not about the bathrooms today. It's about ignorance and hate. Stop hiding behind manufactured fears, reasons and causes. If you want to be a hater, just stand up and be one.
Po

Thoughts Over Catnip

Hello My Dear Friends! Happy Friday! It's currently 31 degrees and snowing in Syracuse. Thank God for wine, weekends and catnip! So, a 20 year Pittsburgh TV news veteran was fired last week after a post she put on her personal Facebook page was deemed "racist". Wendy Bell wrote, after a mass shooting at a backyard cookout that left 6 people dead, that, among other things, "You needn't be be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers. They are young black men in their teens or early 20s. These boys have been in the system before. They've grown up there. They know the police. They've been arrested before". The problem is that, at the time she wrote this, police hadn't named any suspects and no arrests had been made. As it turns out, the "persons of interest" in this shooting match Bell's description to a tee but, because she assumed the shooters were young black men, she is a racist who can not be allowed to work. Go figure.
Moment of Zen: When you use a bottle opener, you become a bottle opener.
The post office announced that, for the first time in 97 years, they were lowering the price of a first class stamp from $0.49 to $0.47. This would be great news but for the fact that they didn't bother telling anyone as they sold them Forever Stamps at $0.49 apiece. A little heads up would have been nice Mr. Postmaster!
4 Mexican gunmen, who were dressed like Federal Officers and driving a vehicle painted and outfitted exactly like an official vehicle, were arrested in Michoacan by the real Feds. What gave them away? They misspelled the word "division" on the side of the car. It's nice to know that every Country has stupid criminals, not just ours.
Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta told CNN that, if Mrs. Clinton is elected, she will have all of the Government's alien related documents regarding Area 51 in Nevada declassified. Says Podesta, "That's a commitment she intends to keep and that I intend to hold her to".  Podesta went on to say that, "There are a lot of planets out there, Americans can handle the truth". Yikes! A Couple of thoughts here. First, Mr. Podesta, I think you've misunderstood the current controversy over aliens in America. Second, Mrs. Clinton does have to declassify any documents, she can just email them to you. And, finally, Mr. Podesta, I would think you would be aiming for a lower profile while this whole Panama Papers scandal works itself out. Why? Because, as you will learn as this story unfolds, one of the key players in hiding these ill-gotten gains and lobbying Washington on behalf of the players, is none other than Mr. Podesta's brother Tony. Stay tuned! Enjoy the Weekend!
Po

Grab the Rope!

Hello My Dear Friends! Sometimes I hear people speak and I can't help but wonder when their tether to reality slipped away. I just pray that said tether is not out of reach, Please consider the following: 

President Obama boldly proclaimed that his signature healthcare law: “is working exactly as it's supposed to.” Really? Ever since the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) became law, a panoply of problems have plagued it, the most pernicious of which is fraud. Obamacare requires verification of applicant data for federal subsidies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is in charge of that. But, a report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) in February found that, “CMS does not track or analyze aggregate outcomes of queries.” That means that, just because the information you supplied was false, you still get approved! The GAO found that in 2014, 431,000 applications with $1.7 billion in subsidies had unresolved inconsistencies. CMS failed to resolve Social Security number inconsistencies for about 35,000 applications totaling $154 million in subsidies and incarceration inconsistencies  (that would be prisoners) for about 22,000 applications worth $68 million. So the GAO ran a “secret shopper” investigation to test whether the system was able to detect and prevent falsified applications from being accepted. Out of the 12 fictitious identities that applied for taxpayer subsidies, 11 were approved. That’s a 91% failure rate. Is the Government aware of the problem? Well....

A December 2015 report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that CMS could not verify whether advance premium tax credit payments were only going to those who had actually paid their premiums.
A September 2015 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said that Obamacare exchanges were unable to send accurate tax data to the IRS.
An August 2015 HHS OIG report discovered that the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, failed to verify the citizenship of new enrollees.
An HHS OIG report on June 16, 2015 found that at least $2.8 billion worth of Obamacare subsides were paid out without any verification at all. Who knew that was “exactly the way it was supposed to work”! Grab the rope Mr. President, reality may not be out of reach!
A black student at San Francisco State University accosted a white student because he had dreadlocks. The aggressor, Bonita Tindle, accused the other student, Cory Goldstein, of "cultural appropriation". She actually put hands on him while attempting to "educate him". Tindle claimed that dreadlocks were her culture, not his, and he had no right to wear them. Now, let's assume that no one knows that dreadlocks actually trace back to ancient Greece, and not just Ms. Tindle. Let's also assume that hairstyles are actually cultural. Does this mean that every African American that straightens and colors their hair is a racist? Of course not. It means that Ms. Tindle is nuts and should be treated as such. Grab the rope Bonita, if it's not already out of reach.

One more...At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee yesterday, outside of a Donald Trump town hall meeting, there was a group of protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement. The leader of the protest stood on the American flag and said (I am quoting here) "F*uck this flag, f*uck this Country, this red, white and blue sh*t is the new swastika".  What can I say. That ship as sailed and there isn't a tether long enough to pull that guy back. Oh this new generation! The future is just so bright! I can not wait until they're the ones running the show!

Po