George Zimmerman: Wanted $10,000 Reward

I thought that the commercial news media pushed the Zimmerman - Martin shooting over the top.  I still think that's true, but I've revised my estimation of just where the top is.

George Zimmerman vs. Trayvon Martin: No Winners

On Sunday, February 26, 2012 at around 19:17 hours George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin to death.  Relying on the commercial news media for something bearing a close resemblance to unbiased reporting in this case is every bit as futile as Mad Jack trying out for the US Navy SEAL Team.  Carefully picking out facts among the garbage yields a few clues to the incident as it happened, most of which is being ignored by commercial media in favor of racist outrage, screeds about police cover-up and sensationalism at its finest.  Adding fuel to the fire is the omnipresent, opportunistic Brady Bunch (spit spit) and aided by Al Sharpton.  What a field day for commercial new media.

The question isn't whether or not Zimmerman shot Martin.  Ostensibly, the real question deals with the justification for the shooting, but I think the real question is: What are the ramifications of the fallout?

Centenarian Update

As of this morning Centenarian is out of the hospital and back home.  During what was supposed to be her last evening at the hospital, Centenarian fell out of bed and landed on Main Lady.  Both women are okay, but the hospital staff decided to keep Centenarian for another night.

During the intervening time, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail arrived.  One by air, one by bus and one by Interstate 80-90.  Ding Bat flew into town sometime last night.  I could tell because the ducks in the park started spinning in the water.  Counterclockwise.

Hospice came by and delivered a hospital bed and a wheelchair, which is nice.  Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail tried to put the hospital bed together and Mopsy got her fingers pinched.  The delivery man came back and had the bed together in ten minutes.

Centenarian is doing pretty well at times, not so well at others.  She feels vaguely nauseous most of the time, which I'm told is caused by some of the medication she takes.  Some of it has codeine in it.  I suggested we each take a few pills, chase it with some whiskey and go play with my gun collection.  The Hospice worker was horrified.  Ding Bat was terrified.  Main Lady started to laugh and quickly smothered it.

It was real nice to see Main Lady's eyes light up and see her smile again.

Rant: Crap We Should Never Put Up With

Without working at it, I was meditating over the roar of the idiot box the other night when I remembered that The Anointed One had actually done something that would make life marginally better for the people he's supposed to be representing.  Himself had signed the CALM Act last December which is supposed to force television broadcasters to lower the volume of the commercials on TV.  Right now the volume is designed to blast the viewer back into beta state brain waves from the flat line that is the result of watching ten minutes of the average situation comedy.  It must work or they wouldn't do it.  Naturally the restrictions are formulated by the FCC and the TV broadcasters have one year to figure out how not to comply - so this isn't any better than nothing at all.

The thing is, The Anointed One was going to do all kinds of good things for the great unwashed once he moved into the double-wide on Pennsylvania Avenue, but he hasn't.  Here are a few suggestions for Himself that, if implemented sometime prior to November of 2012, would likely guarantee His re-election in a historic landslide.

Family Rant

As they say, you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family.  I have often wondered if I'm truly related to Shotgun Bob, or if he'd really adopted.  Maybe Mom found him in a garbage pail and took him home.  That would be just like Mom; she's always doing nice things for people.

Some time back I got a nice surprise in the mail which brought home the differences between the relatives I have and the ones I wish I had.

Latest News: Centenarian

In brief, the fire is out.  At 5:30 this morning Centenarian woke up and demanded her breakfast.  She evidently healed up during the night and is back to her old self.  She'll be evicted from the hospital tomorrow morning.

I am happy, but not nearly as happy as Main Lady, who is attributing this miraculous recovery to Divine intervention.

Well, what else?

I predict that the fallout from this one is going to be amazing, as Ding Bat tries to cover up and deny any bad behavior just before going into damage control, and Main Lady concludes her shopping on Amazon for a suitable attack dummy for Excellent Rachmaninoff to practice on.  Me, I'm shopping for a top shelf bottle of bourbon.

My sincere thanks to everyone for your wise words, kind thoughts and prayers.  

Here is a tip of the old fedora and a hoist of the happy hour bourbon glass to you, one and all.

Latest News

Centenarian is in the hospital with congestive heart failure, so lately I've been a little preoccupied running thither and yon to fulfill Main Lady's needs as best I can; she could do worse for a gopher than my mother's favorite son.  The prognosis is that Centenarian will be discharged Monday, March 19.  The old lady is sleeping a lot and has trouble waking up; her heart is functioning at 10% and she doesn't want to eat.  All of you who have been through this scenario one way or another don't need to be told where this is headed - and it doesn't involve a spur of the moment trip to Disney! in Orlando.

Main Lady made the phone calls to the family yesterday, and that's when the fun started.  Lord give me patience.

Events Around the Yard

Things haven't been going so well lately.  For openers, Que Bee One and Cottontail had to put their dog Banana Nose to sleep.  If you have a dog or a cat, you'll very likely outlive your best friend.  This doesn't make things any easier, but that's what you should be telling yourself before you adopt that dog you've always wanted.  Anyway, I was sorry to hear about Banana Nose.

Still on the subject of bad news the cat, Mojo, isn't doing well either.  I wrote about Mojo here: Of Dogs and Cats.  In Mojo's case he was adopted when his owners couldn't care for him, and he's had a very good life since then.

Then there's Zeus.

Danny Brown: Injustice Rally

I read the Toledo Free Press every once in a while.  For one thing the price is right.  This morning I stumbled across a worthy cause and thought I'd give it a free plug.  Here's a link to the story:  Jurich: ‘I am Danny Brown’ by Stacy Jurich

In 1982... Brown was wrongfully convicted of a murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 2001, he was released based on DNA results...

Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates refuses to exonerate Brown and yet will not retry him. His case now rests in limbo...

On Friday, March 16th at 8:00 AM there will be a rally for Danny Brown at Third Space, 137 North Michigan Street, Toledo, Ohio.  At 9:00 AM demonstrators will march several blocks to the Lucas County Courthouse and encircle the courthouse.  On Saturday, March 17th at 3:00 PM there will be a fundraising party to help Danny Brown publish his memoirs.   The fundraiser will continue until 5:00 PM and will include light refreshments along with a question and answer session with Danny Brown.  The organizers suggest a minimum donation of $5, but if you can give more than a fin they won't turn it down.  There's more information below the fold.

Rant: The Obvious

They say that when a high-brow meets a low-brow

Walkin' along Broadway

Soon the high-brow

He has no brow

- Crazy Rhythm

Music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn, lyrics by Irving Caesar

I read Slash dot once in a while, although I don't know why.  Call it amusement, but it's likely closer to relief from boredom.  The site is supposedly a refuge for the more intelligent among us, the presumption being that all the other folks are either screwing around on facebook, downloading free music from the pirate site du jour or surfing porn sites.  Slash dot users have a very high opinion of themselves and their ability to contribute to world order as we should know it, but that's nothing new.  Today, for instance, I learned that the average person is too dumb to make democracy work, among other equally vacuous topics.

Congratulations to the Sylvania Township Police

Sargent Robert Colwell of the Sylvania Township Police Department was off duty when he saw a suspicious vehicle pulling out of a parking lot.  Sargent Colwell followed at a discrete distance, and when opportunity presented itself Sgt. Colwell called for a uniform car to pull the suspicious vehicle over.

Busted!

You can read all about it in Off Duty But Alert.  My sincere congratulations along with a tip of the old fedora and a hoist of the morning bourbon glass to Sargent Robert Colwell for an outstanding job.  I also congratulate the men and women of the Sylvania Township Police Department.

You guys are great!