Holy Incompetence, Batman!!

So the nice lady at Social Security left me a message on our land line telephone stating that I needed to supply them with a certified copy of my birth certificate because I had lost my old copy in a basement flood. No, she said when I called her back, I could not provide copies of all of those documents that I have that are based upon previous presentations of the lost birth certificate. I had to re-prove my birth, in case I was trying to establish a false identity and steal my own meager benefits. So I contacted the City Clerk for my esteemed home town of Woonsocket, RI and found that I had to send a check via the USPS to get a copy of the birth certificate. No, there is no way to order via the internet or telephone or fax. No, a credit card payment is impossible. Send a check in the mail. OK. I received said birth certificate. Unfortunately, it had no birth date on it. How in the hell can a city clerk's office send out a birth certificate without a birth date on it? Of course, each person with whom I spoke at the clerk's office refused to take responsibility for omission and blamed a "part-timer" for the mistake. There was no answer as to who was supposed to check the "part-timer's" work. In any event, the clerk's office would get a complete copy in the mail, if I would just repeat my data to them. I offered to fax the date-less copy to them, but they stated that their fax machine did not always work. Would they send my new document via overnight mail? No, they do not have that capability. Because it was the city's mistake, however, the office would send two copies of the document in today's mail. Let's hope that they put the same date on each!

Who Framed Roger Clemens and the Fountainhead Follies

Oh my god, they are trying to frame Roger Clemens!! Wait, maybe he did lie! What, a Texan lying? A Texan doing drugs? Roger is just like W??!!?? You mean that both of them are not holier than thou? (Dabottadem in RI-speak) You mean that they are as fallible as you and me? Say it ain't so, Joe!!!

As the economy continues to tank, even TV commercials are picking at the scab. Allstate insurance has their current spokesperson (the former President of the USA - at least on "24") mentioning a "recession" (it's on TV so it must be true). The upshot is that Ayn Rand's crackpot theories as expressed in her minor science fiction novels "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" have been shown to be the malarkey they truly are. That so-called leaders such as Andrea Mitchell's husband (didn't he used to be somebody?), Phil Gramm, W, Slick Willie, Robert Rubin and the rest of the Chicago School of Economics devotees and Ayn Rand boot-lickers should quickly and publicly apologize for their errors and withdraw from polite society. (Oh, there are many others, but space and hunger prevent me from naming them all, including the many so-called liberals among them.) Deregulation has been a freaking disaster: energy (remember Enron? Gramm's spousal unit was a Board member - any jail time for her? I think not); airlines; banks (remember the Hatch-St. Germain Act and its aftermath; plus the current Gramm sponsored debacle?); telecom; etc. Sure, telephone calls are cheaper than the 70's, but last I checked Ma Bell was re-assembling here dismembered parts and now these bums are beyond the law). I could go on, but low blood sugar is attacking me! But I rant and rave...and I saved another $100 in shrink fees!

Remember the Keating 5

As IndyMac tanks and FreddieMac and FannieMae teeter on the brink of collapse, please remember this: Neil Bush (yes, W's brother) was bailed out and John McCain (yes THAT McCain) was absolved of complicity in the bank failure that was such a horror in Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma and Rhode Island, amongst other places, in decades gone by. W does not want to see any lenders get bailed out this time (Oh, really!?!?!?!?!?) - after all, Neil and Jeb are into other things now and Happy Jack is running for W's seat. Interesting to note that McCain, a war hero, and John Glenn, a space hero, both managed to wriggle out of the Keating mess. Can't have our heros dripping in doo doo, can we??? C'est la vie!!