I cannot stress enough, for those who want to compare Kilpatrick with Clinton...this isn't about sex. It's more like Nixom & GW Bush, people who think they're above the law.

---

Judge orders Kilpatrick to post $7,500 bond to remain out of jail


Judge Ronald Giles of Detroit's 36th District Court changed Kilpatrick's bond from a personal bond in his criminal perjury case to requiring him to post $7,500 cash with the court to remain free.

[snip]

The judge said it does not "matter whether investigator White was pushed or thrown ... the fact that defendant Kilpatrick decided to inject himself into this situation where the officers were attempting to lawfully serve a subpoena ... defendant Kilpatrick had no right ... to come into contact with investigator White or say anything to investigator White."

"I have locked up defendants for approaching or saying things to witnesses for a lot less, let alone touching them," Giles said. "I'm at a loss to defendant Kilpatrick's behavior here. It's irrational."

[snip]

Speaking directly to the mayor, Giles told him he is being held to a higher standard.
"You're a licensed attorney. You're a public official. Everything you do, every step you take, every word you say is somewhere recorded for everyone to hear," he said, as the mayor nodded. "You need to keep that in mind."

[snip]

White, a detective with the Wayne County Sheriff's Department and the officer in charge of the criminal case against Kilpatrick, testified that Kilpatrick assaulted him, swore at him and made racial comments Thursday afternoon when White tried to serve a subpoena on a friend of the mayor at his sister's home.

"This underscores a problem that perhaps he's not taking this as seriously as he should ... you can't bully police officers," Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran said, adding that in another case he might ask for a defendant to take anger management classes.

[snip]

Have you ever been in handcuffs?
yes

Who was the last person you had a phone conversation with for more than 5 minutes?
Customer Service at work

How old will you be on your next birthday?
[cough]ty-One

Where is one place that you'd like to visit?
London, England

Kissed anyone with the name starting with K?
They had names?

What was the last piece of clothing you bought?
Cap (looks like a bandanna...the kind you tie down)

Dark hair or light hair in the opposite sex?
Dark hair always looks better

Did you ever watch "The Big Comfy Couch" when you were young? Who was your favorite character?
The what?!?

Does it bother you when you text somebody and they take forever to text back?
How do you text

Last person you ditched class with?
hubby...

Would you ever consider piercing your lip
OWW...no!

How is your room looking?
"Lived in"

Do you toss & turn for hours at night or fall right to sleep?
Yes

Have you ever used a bow and arrow?
Yup

Has anyone ever hung up on you?
Yup

Do you have unlimited texting?
No, .25 each (see above...)

Do you live with both your parents?
NOPE

What is it you truly want right now?
Ambition & dreams

Do you prefer call or text?
See above re: Text. Don't like to call, either.

Do you have any siblings?
Yup

Can you go on MySpace from work/school?
Yup

Do you wish at 11:11?
Why?

Do you think you'll be married in 10 years?
"The future is unclear..."

Where were you at 9pm Friday night?
Where I am everything at 9pm...Home, watching TV

Is your family just a bundle of fun?
Kinda

Do you laugh at all the wrong times?
Sometimes

Have you ever not been able to get someone off of your mind?
Yup, and got the footprints to prove it

Have you ever had a good feeling about something?
Yup, but this is a family channel

Do you ever wish you were famous?
No, we eat our celebrities

Are you currently missing someone?
No

Have you had alcohol this week?
Does vodka count?

Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?
And more...but once you're done, your done.

What was the worst mistake of your life?
Coming down out of the trees...oh, you mean me personally?

A Co-worker sent me a "humourous" story that has probably been making the rounds of the Republican set. How simplistic...but to make a point simplicity plays better than complexity. Thinking about it I saw where a little change could show the other side of the coin. Here's my modified version:

Sometime back, I was talking to this little girl, Catherine, the daughter of some friends, and she said she wanted to be President someday.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there with us and I asked Catherine, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

Catherine replied, 'I would give houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow, what a worthy goal you have there, Catherine.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President. You can start now by coming over to my house and cleaning up all the dog poop in my back yard and I will pay you $5 dollars. Then we can go over to the grocery store where that homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $5 dollars to use for a new house.'

Catherine (who was about 4) thought that over for a second, while her mom looked at me seething, and Catherine replied, 'Why don't you ask to the homeless guy come over and clean up the dog poop and you can just give him the $5 dollars?'

'Ah', her mother said, “Welcome to the Democratic Party.”


( Here's the original version )

LOVETT: It's priest. Have a little priest.

TODD: Is it really good?

LOVETT: Sir, it's too good, at least!
Then again, they don't commit sins of the flesh,
So it's pretty fresh.

TODD: Awful lot of fat.

LOVETT: Only where it sat.

TODD: Haven't you got poet, or something like that?

LOVETT:No, y'see, the trouble with poet is
'Ow do you know it's deceased?
Try the priest!

that_grr has pointed out a screenshot purportedly of a post from me in a community called Sick & Disturbing Sex Acts (not providing a link...).

I can disavow this post because checking the actual community the posting is was put up by someone called charpuppy.


0807.13: Update: Nevermind....

Adonai, I am still learning to grow in your love. (Today what choices have been inadequate reposes to your love?)
Defensiveness about the “hijacking of parts” e-mail;
“Bad mind” rehearsing negative conversations ;

Monday I joined Netflicks for the 1 title at a time / unlimited per month ($8.99/month). In part because when I go to Blockbuster the selections are mostly new releases that are mostly dreck not worth paying to rent.

The first movie was The Spiderwick Chronicles! This is getting a recommendation. It is a pleasant kids-fare fantasy. By involving classic fairy creatures Brownies / goblins / hobgoblins / ogre instead of making up their own gave the story a degree of verisimilitude. They had their own delightful and quirky personalities (the rhyming Brownie or bird eating hobgoblin).

And at the end, the main character (Jared) won because of a sudden opportunity / inspiration instead of a thoroughly plotted plan. Kind of like the way that life actually works.

The Spiderwick Chronicles are, evidently, a series of books and it shows just a bit. There’s at least one scene that, seemed both necessary and extraneous to the story.

Next up…The Gay Decievers (1969), for someone else. We saw this once before, it’s a Vietnam era movie about a couple of draft dodgers pretending to be gay. I’m not so sure it would work today and it’s not really worth seeing again.

Examen: Intention
Adonai, open my eyes & ears to be more honest with myself.
Today, what do I really want for myself?
* To not feel like I’m carrying a heavy barbell;
* To read, and understand, my book: Soulfully Gay [Joe Perez]
* Work on the “values” section of the planner method

---

Examen: Examination
Adonai, show be what has been happening to me and in me this day
Today, in what ways have I experienced your love?
* Helping Mom with her trash (to come)

Today, what am I most thankful for?

Joining Netflicks;;
Recieving Pet Shop Boys Nightlife cd;

Adonai, I am still learning to grow in your love.- Today, what choices have been inadequate responses to your love?
Talking about the CS co-worker (at another location) who told us at 11 am about a customer shut down on Monday (on a part that she has known about for two weeks!)

Intention: Adonai, open my eyes and ears to be more honest with myself. (Today, what do I really want for myself.)
I want to be able to answer this question.

---

The Examen is intended as a daily practice, but I'm going to start by tackling it over 5 days because these are questions that are challenging me to answer. All 5 in a day, every day, are too much for now.

Spent Sunday afternoon with family. Some came in from Denver for a graduation party for one of their kids. Shortly after this four of us went out on Uncle Ray's motor boat (one of hte kids being hauled behind on a tube...)





( Pictures with Mom )




it beats taking more pictures of the pussycat

How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

( Answer )

It always makes me feel more than a little ill when I find myself agreeing with GOP Partisans (State Chair in this case...) MI-GOP Spin

Obama boycotted Michigan for nearly year and took his name off the state's Jan. 15 Presidential Primary ballot under pressure from state Democratic political bosses in New Hampshire and Iowa. Only after Obama had all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination did he schedule a campaign stop in Michigan last month.

Obama just doesn't get Michigan and that's why he's trailing John McCain in the polls.

Additionally: Before he led the boycott of Michigan he chastised the main industries of the state for the way they conduct buisness and the products they make (rightly or wrongly). Most people don't take kindly to chastisment from out of state politician's on their livlihoods.

I believe that he will lose Michigan for the Dem's.

Why Dunkin' Donuts shouldn't have caved in the controversy over Rachael Ray's 'kaffiyeh' scarf. By Lorraine Ali | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Let's face it, the real danger here is not the girly scarf charged with being a kaffiyeh, or that jihadists are purportedly using Dunkin' Donuts as a backdoor into America's malleable consciousness. It's that the cries of a few commentators indulging in the worst form of racial stereotyping—and their demonization of an entire culture—was enough to spook a giant corporation. As for dangers lurking beyond the kaffiyeh controversy? Beware of Dunkin's Blueberry Cake Donut. At 290 calories with 16 grams of fat, it's more deadly than a paisley scarf in spring.




'Nuff said...

Found out that I have one of the few Dell models that are not backward compatible with Windows XP. So I sent off this letter:

---

Dear Sirs;

I received the replacement machine, but you have again sent a machine that is inoperable. I will use the tags provided to return the original machine.

I want to make a return on my purchase and receive a full credit because of Dell’s inability to deliver a computer capable of operating continuously without re-booting without warning.

I will not make any further attempt to call your customer service center since my previous calls to return these defective computers were deliberately and maliciously disconnected. If you provide a name and direct contact information I will make another attempt to call an individual to arrange a return of this product.

Your company makes substandard machines, and I am taking every opportunity to direct co-workers, friends, and family towards other computer manufacturer’s who can deliver quality products.

---

Amazon Review:
I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1720, refurbished, and it has been nothing but trouble since the box was opened. During the “Computer Set-Up” Vista crashed & rebooted the machine. It kept randomly rebooting, without any rhyme or reason: While I was looking at the installed programs; When I tried some of the pre-packaged games (solitaire); When I was online using Windows Explorer; When I was using my Firefox browser. It would restart with multiple programs or a single program running.

It was even replaced with another refurbished machine which crashed just as frequently and inexplicably.

The obvious fix was to upgrade to Windows XP. Except that this machine is engineered so that it is not backwards compatible with any OS prior to Vista.

There has not been one PC in my possession that has not needed serious effort to get to work at the most basic level, and this machine continues that experience. Save your money & aggravation…sell your internal organs or children and buy a Macintosh.

---

I'm through with this company...and if they actually give me my money back (yeah, that'll happen) I won't have enough to buy a new computer.

While I'm busy at work (job) on my computer "I'm going to smack the hell out of somebody" has joined "What the bloody hell?!?" as the most common utterance to myself.

Tech Nightmares

Calling Dell to return their defective products they put me on hold for the manager, after about 40 minutes the system hung up on me. At first there was music, which then disappeared to a quiet humming. Probably hoping that I'll go away in frustration and they can keep my money (but I've got two of their paperweights).

Two weeks, two reburbished computers, and neither of these mf'ing machines is stable. I tested the new machine by starting Solitare, and sure enough it crashed. It would be very easy to live without solitare but what about the uncertainty of other programs? When will MS-Works go kaput? If I put AOL on will that crash it? Or Semagic (LJ client) or Firefox? That is way more uncertainty than I'm willing to live with.

Jim, who talked me into buying a Dell in the first place, said the Vista system is still new & buggy that could be the root cause. He won't upgrade from XP until the first major service pack comes out...but I hardly have the money to go out and buy a new OS on top of paying for this machine!

The other buyer assistant position was eliminated. CS is being combined with our other facility. An engineering position was eliminated. The internal auditor position was eliminated.

What next? Where to from here.

The gas tax holiday is a joke, and an unfunny one at that.

1: What is the likelihood of the big oil companies passing along that price decrease? It is more likely that they’ll simply add it to their ongoing records profits. It’s not like the American Public can really do anything about it. And when the holiday ends in the fall, the price will spike another .18/gal as the tax is added back onto the windfall profit…what would that do to an already weakened economy? (Can you touch one thing in your house that wasn’t moved at some point by gas powered motors prior to your acquiring it.)

Even if gas companies did pass it along, I wouldn’t know where to spend my $1.44 per week windfall. (If I had a monster truck with a 20 gallon tank I could get close to $3.60 per week.)

2: Laws of supply & demand have not been repealed. As a writer on the BusinessWeek website noted, simple economics would still apply: Decreasing the cost of gas would lead to an increase in the demand, leading back to a price increase.

3: It doesn’t address any long term solution. Use less, use something else, and make more domestically are the obvious solutions and a tax holiday doesn’t address any of these issues nor have I heard anything from the politicians proposing this as a short term fix.

4: It would, if you’re Sen. McCain, reduce revenue that is used to maintain the transportation infrastructure. Would bridges come crashing down or highways fall apart? Probably not, but are your roads so good that maintenance spending can be reduced?



Once upon a time oil producing nations were afraid that high fuel costs would drive conservation & alternative fuels in the US…but all that seems to happen is that we complain, loudly, about how much is costs to fill up our SUV’s.