Chunkymom Stalks Frankenstein Government

I am not afraid to talk about this.

So a couple of months ago, a friend of mine tells me about this internet dating site. It was free- so I signed on.

What happened next was completely predictable. My friend Jim, after a month, removed his profile from the site. When I asked him why he had done that, he said, "I have never seen so many fat women in all of my life. I am not interested in dating "BBW's" or whatever they call themselves." When I pressed Jim about all of this he confessed. He had actually been on 4 or 5 dates with these women and managed to stop just short of a second mortgage to pay off his Diner's Club card. And so it was that Jim pushed the delete button and preserved some dignity in his life.

BBW stands for Big and Beautful Woman. Very often I have seen them lurking at Chinese buffets and Walmart. I have included a photo of a BBW from the BBW wiki entry. This particular BBW is what I would call an entry level or petite BBW. On some dating sites, this is referred to as a "few extra pounds" which means something less than 80.

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For women (and oddly enough, single women) Plan B becomes the BBW marketing agenda. They don't want to lose any weight because that takes discipline and effort. Instead I suppose, they are hoping to woo some attractive rich guy with nothing more than a promise to offload that extra 100 pounds.

You wanna hear the best part? Some of those on line love wanted ads actually ask, "Where have all the good men gone?" Some of those men it seems, have gone to the gym.

Oddly enough, I did not find "Chunkymom" at the gym. That is the cyber handle she gave herself. You cannot make something like that up. In fact, anyone who calls themselves Chunkymom will most likely intrigue me to such a degree that I will be forced to open their email. I am simply fascinated at that level of unconsciousness or honesty. That is how our dialogue started. Chunkymom seems like a nice enough gal. She can dish out some shit- which of course I enjoy. The problem for me, is that an extra 125 pounds on a 5'7" frame doesn't exactly get the reduced testosterone levels in my old body sloshing around.

I grew a little silent about the time Chunky asked me out for coffee. I confess, I just don't see a future here. Now she's a little miffed at me as though I signed some service agreement.  

Look, this growing old isn't for pussies. Nobody at my age is looking for perfection and I damned sure don't want to date someone who is 30 although I am not gonna rule that out at this point. Going to the gym- hurts. I hurt every day. But I would rather hurt than buy up another waist size. As for this online dating stuff?

On line dating is a great theory that would seem to make sense until you actually engage in it. It's a frustrating playing field where your ego gets bruised and beat up by people you know nothing about. It just seems desperate to me. I think that's the worst part actually. The desperateness of submitting yourself to some online meat market and emailing back and forth in perpetuity. 

It's hard to preserve any kind of dignity in an environment like that. Jim did.

Has Cancer Been Cured?

I am still pondering the link below. Is this true or is this some internet gibberish? I'm not sure because I am firmly in the camp that if a cure for cancer were found and greedy corporate America couldn't find a way to monopolize it somehow- they would bury it instead. Which is precisely what may have happened here.

There is something reprehensible about drug companies making vast sums of money at the expense of the sick and dying. The government and its cozy arrangement with the pharmaceutical industry is the very definition of crony capitalism. Wouldn't you just chuckle if the holy grail of medical cures were something so widely available that the oligarchy couldn't figure out a way too monopolize and steal us blind?

At any rate I stumbled onto this link. http://www.moneytrendsresearch.com/scientists-cure-cancer-but-no-one-takes-notice/

Look, Frankenstein Government is still one of the best values on the web. Priced competitively. I do not push alleged cancer cures but here's a link http://puredca.com/  or two http://www.pharma-dca.com/usa/index.html

* Update. Thanks for the following tip, Irish!
 
Here's a guy that initially says... this is all bullshit. Then he states, well maybe there is some truth to this. But it's his last paragraph that captures the essence of big pharma and government. Even if the stuff works, why would anyone initiate clinical or trial studies when there is no MONEY in it? No kidding and like a good English 101 paper, I will end this here. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/dichloroacetate_and_cancer.php

Looks Like The Ladies' Room

Bank of America "Too Crooked to Fail"

I saw this posted at Dave's, "Golden Truth."

At any other time in history, Matt Taibbi would probably be getting a Pulitzer Prize for exposing all of the crooked bankers and their thieving ways.

In the new America, nobody gives a shit.  Read this and see if you do. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bank-of-america-too-crooked-to-fail-20120314

Obama, Willing To Try Anything in Desperate Re-Election Bid, Releases Strategic Oil Reserves* Updated

This story is just breaking now. From Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/15/us-oil-reserves-idUSBRE82E0UM20120315

Obama is simply the slimiest politician I have ever seen. Gawd we need to send him back to Chicago, Indonesia.

*Update. Oil price- already vastly over priced- simply yawns at the big bilateral oil sale. Futures flat. Seems everyone likes the extra dough and Obama finding out just how important he really is.

Eventually, I Will Get This Blog Format Sorted Out

For the 19 years that we were married, my ex-wife ordered the ham and cheese omelet. Every time we ate breakfast out. Without fail.

Oh let me guess, I would say....

And then I met Ross a couple of years ago. Everywhere we go, every time breakfast is still available... Ross orders the ham and cheese omelet. I picture Ross and my ex-wife together. Eating omelets until they puke.

Me, I'm a change guy. I have eaten every item on the menu. I will order some shit just to say I've eaten it. I will re-arrange furniture, clothes, anything. Unfortunately, every once in awhile I screw things up by changing them. That's why Ross and my ex ate the same thing every miserable day. Because one day they knew, if they ordered something different, they were gonna hate it. It had happened to them. Maybe in a previous life.

That's fear baby. These people live rigid and structured lives and they don't want someone screwing that up.

So a few weeks ago, I screwed with the format of this blog. That was a dumb thing to do. I liked the old blog format. So I keep trying to get the format back to something aesthetically pleasing and colorful. Only it's not letting me. I have lost the original template. I keep thinking I will get this sorted out but now I am beginning to wonder.

So forgive me while I try to find something I like. Right now, my ex and Ross are looking pretty smart.

Winter Update, Gold and Silver Slaughter, Elantra Update

Winter never arrived in Boise this year. I used my golden shovel once. This week, it's been raining every day and pretty miserable.

I thought about going to Butte for St Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day in Butte is complete chaos, debauchery, and drunken-ness. I'll tell you this. I will find some corned beef and cabbage- somewhere. Now that I think about it, I have these giant 4 leaf clover earrings that I am going to wear and Butte might not be the best place to do that.

A little about commodities. Gold and silver are getting slaughtered. I cannot tell you how sick I am of watching those manipulated markets. Can you imagine the plight of bankers if they were not able to control these markets with paper leverage? Imagine if physical gold and silver were allowed physical price discovery? Prices would be twice what they are now. I buy gold anytime it cracks 1400. Silver if it gets below 30 is a buy. I have this giant urge to fire up a new trading account but I simply can't participate in a game where the players can steal your money and get away with it. Like MF Global did with thousands of account holders.

Oil inventories shot up today just as I predicted in "Top Calling the Oil Market." The price went down a buck or two. These ridiculous prices are just not sustainable. I read an article last night that stated two giant east coast oil refineries and one in the Caribbean have been shut down because of non compliance with some EPA bullshit. These refineries account for 50% of all east coast gasoline consumption. That means we will have to ship gasoline hundreds and thousands of miles from Indiana and Texas. Interesting note. No sooner had the IEA stated on a public website that the EPA was responsible for the refinery shutdowns...and thus the rise in gasoline prices, than the report was redacted. Hours later, the same report was present with nothing being said about the EPA. Odd? Three words. Obama. Election year.

The Hyundai Elantra has exceeded all of my expectations. I am currently averaging 35.5 MPG. I will save over 4000 dollars this year in fuel costs. I paid 15,800 for my stickshift version which will pay for itself in 4 years. If gas goes up from here, that time horizon will go down. I am trying to envision the idiot who buys a Chevy Volt. Really. I saw this piece of video last week where this guy is drooling all over his Volt like Obama himself cast this character. Even the media kind of half ass tries to promote the Volt.

The Volt and Obama are quite similar. The hype on both was large. Both have failed to deliver any kind of success. Obama says he's gonna buy a Volt in 5 years. He'll be buying a used one.

Cop Haters

Tonight, I stumbled onto an old cop hating thread published by a guy in Payette which is just a few miles west of Boise. I am not going to link it. I found it too unlikeable. Which means, I left a nasty note but stopped short of calling the guy a fucking idiot. It's the new me.

So forgive me for sticking up for law enforcement. Just this once. 

I spent 25 years in law enforcement at the local level. I am including my first year which was all volunteer. During that first year, which was just exiting the 70's, I was congratulated by people waving their middle finger at me and calling me pig. I have to tell you, there were a couple of times when I thought, "maybe I should do something else."

I wanted to be a cop for a number of reasons. I liked the freedom of the job and the fact that it wasn't boring. I really believed in the idea of catching bad guys and serving the public back then. I actually believed that schtick. Twenty five years and some conscious reflection would change many of those beliefs that I held in 1982.

Who dislikes the police? People who break the law or cannot live their lives without police intervention. It's really that simple. In my twenty five years of listening to gawd-knows-how-many cop-hating rants...time and time again that was the common denominator. People whining about how they were treated unfairly. Or their speeding ticket. Or the never ending, cops in the middle, custody disputes. I had one that lasted for three years. Every weekend when those two exchanged the children- we had to be present. I never lifted a finger to those two morons. Yet I know they hate cops to this day. Of course, the cops aren't the problem- they are. But that level of unconsciousness is something I could do little about. Some folks might call them stupid. I think that's wrong. It's unconsciousness.

That level of unconsciousness is precisely why we have cop haters to begin with.

Let me explain something that a lot of people don't stop to consider. There is no other occupation on earth that is more thoroughly researched, screened, and investigated than that of a prospective police officer. A typical newly hired police officer will undergo criminal checks, oral boards, background checks, credit checks, reference checks, drug tests, psychological examinations and testing, physical fitness exams by doctors, physical fitness qualifications, and then top it off with a polygraph test that asks you about every criminal activity that you have ever been engaged in- as far back as you can remember.

Many apply, few are chosen.

Because the entry qualifications are so difficult- by the time someone gets hired in a competitive law enforcement agency- they truly have had a microscope stuck up their ass. The people hired in law enforcement these days- are the best people- morally and ethically available. I believe that because I have witnessed it. Boise is one of those cities. They will bounce you out of the selection process at the first sign of trouble.

So when the cop haters want to stack up their life's credentials against the credentials of the men and women getting hired as police officers now- I know which side I'll land on.

When I read or hear someone talk about hating cops, with almost 100% certainty, I am listening to somebody that routinely has broken or continues to break the law. They will characterize cops as this or that, focus all of that negative energy on anyone but themselves. I used to ask people who had the balls to tell me they hated cops- why don't you like cops? I might add that most of my friends, the non law breaking variety, didn't have that same psychosis. Time and time again, with laser like precision, I would eventually draw out the stories and scars about how cops screwed each of them over. How they had been arrested or treated poorly. Of course, they were all victims.

This is what I hope. I hope there never comes a day when this oppressive government starts locking up its citizens and violating their rights just because it thinks it can. My one worry about law enforcement is that cops will simply and unflinchingly do the dirty work of a government that declares our Bill of Rights null and void. This is Frankenstein Government. Federal agencies like the FBI, DEA, IRS, and TSA will become the enforcers of an oppressive government that does what it wants. Our government is working very hard to render the Constitution useless.

I never got into law enforcement to rip anyone off, to get rich, to beat up anyone, or screw anyone over. I thought helping people would be a decent thing to do. You don't help people by letting them off (and I am not talking about speeding tickets here) and enabling them to continue acting like miscreants and misguided missiles. You help people mostly, when you draw a hard line. When you say to a wife beater- I can't let you do that any more. Mostly I think, the wife beaters get that. The rest become cop haters.

Not Ready For Slime Time*Updated

By now you've probably read about "pink slime." This is the gelatinous ooze that is found in 70% of the hamburger sold in America. http://news.yahoo.com/pink-slime-choice-schools-230530972--abc-news.html

I gotta tell ya. I was a little pissed off to read about that slime. Why? Because we pay billions for a Food and Drug Administration who I was under the impression- policed shit like this. And if not the FDA, what about the USDA?

So our government has criminally charged people for selling whole, unpasteurized, and safe milk. But grinding up God knows what and sticking it in our food- well that is apparently fine.

So in addition to getting gouged 5 bucks a pound for the worst, ground up pieces of a cow, they throw in what- veins, fat, ligaments, and what ever else...just exactly what are the ingredients in pink slime? The specific parts, please. Good luck finding that information because I can't.

I have a friend that has been buying commercially raised elk. No fat, hormones, no ground up hooves. Cheaper and a lot healthier. Just some food for thought.

*Safeway will no longer sell pink slime. I wish they had stores here. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/safeway-stop-selling-pink-slime-textured-beef-103644102--abc-news.html

Banker Leaves Goldman Sachs, Verifies What We Already Know

I started this blog because of Hank Paulson, the Great Thief who arrived via Goldman Sachs.

If I had only one wish in the world, it would be for three minutes in a dark alley with that banker slime.

Bankers have a culture of greed and arrogance. Many are sick and sociopathic. This defecting banker had the balls to say so. I believe him. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html

Thanks For Stopping By

After posting "Does Anyone Read This Blog"... I received about 25 comments and 4 emails. There were about 150 page views. That ratio, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-1, seems about right. The four emails primarily had to do with commenting or more personal things.

I breathed a sigh of relief actually. I was prepared to call it quits. I have two loves in my life that have always remained constant. People and writing. But I cannot write junk or play off key. There is some sense of responsibility about that I think.

I have one other secret to confess to. I have a profound weakness for helping people- helping people to feel good or better about themselves. That includes myself. If I can feel just a little bit better about myself I think- maybe I can help others find some happiness. These are the things I focus on when I am mostly out there in the world but sometimes in here.

I have always had my priorities right. People come first. I cling to that idea with the faith of a man receiving last rites. Faith that I have just one thing right.

Hopefully, I can make all of these subjects converge in a moment.

I am one of those people that has never felt totally comfortable in my skin. Maybe we all feel that way, I'm not sure. Over the years, I have found that the problem is far more widespread than I had originally thought. At one point, early in my life, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. That is simply not true. Individually and collectively I think, the problem is far worse than any of us honestly imagine.

It is a vast cultural problem that we have, this emotional dishonesty, and it is manifesting itself in the obvious and depressed ways- but it is also manifesting itself in far more subtle ways. Subtle things that people cover up. Because they feel like they need to. This sense of emotional dishonesty that we teach ourselves. How are you doing? "Good" we always say... even when that is an absolute lie.

There is no cure or solution in denial. Maybe this cancer will just go away we think. It is hard enough to just get to some sober, rational point in our lives where we are aware or conscious of the fact that we have never felt completely right. Unfortunately, many of us don't even make it that far.

I have talked with thousands of people in my life. People who desperately try to appear right but really aren't. They may have even mastered some art or craft or several- but the rest of their lives are in emotional chaos, perhaps limited disarray or seasoned with malaise. They just don't feel good about themselves and any success that they may feel- is fleeting.

They cannot feel grateful because they have no way of measuring that. Our means of measuring that has been forgotten.

Here's where I try to tie all of this together.

I think it's ok to be honest. To try and help people feel a little bit better about themselves. I think it's alright to be honest, and to write and convey honest thoughts and emotions. That includes failures, personal failures. Anybody can talk about success- egos love that sort of thing. But failures and personal mishaps? That takes courage.

I think it is absolutely mandatory that at some point- we- meaning our emotionally dishonest culture, starts discussing the things that we cover up and pretend don't exist. To get over that sense that we must never let the world see our faults- that somehow we must present this perfect package to the world even though we don't feel right inside. We can't fix a problem if we all collectively agree to and subsequently pretend it does not exist. We have lost our sense of purpose. That is a problem. People should always come first. Human kindness and decency. When we fix ourselves- all things seem possible after that.

And so I am here writing at five in the morning. An imperfect writer trying to master the craft. Some street musician trying to string a couple of chords together. Thankful and grateful that anyone shows up here at all.

Retired Police Officer and New Age Girly Man, Beats System

Finally a happy ending.

After a quarter century of law enforcement, a quickie retirement party and a not so quickie divorce, there were a few things I wanted to do. Adventures, bucket list things.

One of those things involved riding my motorcycle all over the United States and spending the better part of a year in New Orleans. I loved New Orleans so much, that I wanted to get a big, giant fleur de lis tattoo on my back to commemorate the experience. The best tattoo artist in town was moving his "studio" days before I was preparing to return to the highlands. Thus and sadly, I have no tattoo. Instead, I poked holes in my ears. From those holes, I dangle many different styles of earrings and studs, many of which are fleur de lis designs.

Now you're not going to meet a lot of ex cops or ex police chiefs of the male variety wearing designer fleur de lis earrings. Law enforcement is just not a big target for the earring market. Let me let you in on one other little trade secret. Cops do not like men who wear earrings. Do not forget this lesson.

How I began to notice this phenomenon was quite by accident. Every time I got stopped, I got a ticket. I am very intelligent despite my outward appearance and thus I started to look for common denominators while receiving speeding tickets. The first thing I noticed was that in every incident, I was speeding. The second common denominator I noted was that I was wearing earrings each time. Cops tend to notice things like men wearing earrings and big boobs, items that tend to stick out and grab our attention. Law enforcement is still a macho profession dominated by conservative men and women. Policy manuals prevent uniformed men from wearing earrings. Thus it occurred to me, after collecting my third speeding ticket, that after I finished traffic school I would never ever allow another cop to view my earrings- up close and personal- while conducting a traffic stop.

It has never occurred to me to just quit speeding.

This morning, it happened. I got the opportunity to test my theory. There I was... blasting along...when one of those dreaded motorcycle cops bounced a radar beam off of me. I was driving at a speed that every self respecting cop on the planet has deemed an appropriate speed at which to write a ticket. I was 16 MPH over the posted speed. I was in deep shit. Being that I had just gotten off of work and the Sunday graveyard shift, I was sporting my crystal cross dangly earrings. I had both of them off and in my drink holder in the same amount of time that it takes a bullet to pass through a paper target.

The cop dismounted. The motorcycle cops here cut speeding motorists zero slack. If they get you, you are going to greet the court clerk cashiers. That's just how it is. That is how our conversation began. It ended without me getting a ticket. Trust me when I tell you this. That happy ending occurred due in large part to me hiding those earrings.

I remember how it was. 

The "Sixteen For One" President

I see that El Presidente' has now blocked a voter registration law in Texas. This oppressive law is designed to do two things which El Presidente' hates. 1. It is designed to prove who you are. 2. It does this in an attempt to weed out non-citizen or illegal alien voters, people who are disqualified due to foreign status. Folks just like our President. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-objects-texas-voter-id-law-161037385.html

For years, as I was looking at the criminal history of illegal aliens and or other criminals, I would very often see multiple social security numbers for the same individual. This is a direct result of using what ever number pops into your head as you fill out some common but required document, say for food stamps or for foreign aid, forever linking that number to your name. Maybe on a document requesting entry into a California college. That is the history of social security numbers or more precisely- why you might have multiple numbers attached to one man. As most legal citizens can attest to, we have filled out a shitload of documents asking for our social security numbers over the years. Those of us with only one legal number, like me, used the same number over and over again. To fill out things like draft registration cards. Thus there is only one number assigned to my name.

Many folks, those without an assigned number, just picked random ones and wrote them down. They don't care. It's not like you are going to be elected President of the United States... for hells' sakes.

Here's a great read on El Presidente's 16 social security numbers. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2442166/posts

You thought you elected one man. You got sixteen. 

Top Calling the Oil Market

On Thurs., March 1, I stuck my neck out and said oil has to go lower. Unlike every parrot on the internet, I use actual data points when making my outlandish predictions. I used to play in the options sandbox and while I am no professional trader- I can hold my own.

There is absolutely nothing to support current price levels. Nada. Not consumption. Not fake recoveries. Not even rumors of war from Iran or us. It is complete bullshit. That these price gouging levels have been maintained for the last 12 days...defies belief. Gasoline demand has fallen off a cliff- the greatest decline in 21 years...a clip from the Wall Street Journal.

The weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed declines in demand for gasoline and distillate, a category that includes heating oil and diesel fuel. The data suggested that high prices are only adding to a long-term trend of declining domestic fuel consumption.

EIA data showed four-week gasoline demand fell 7.8% from a year earlier, the biggest ever year-over-year decline since records began in 1991.

Still, crude oil inventories rose by a modest 800,000 barrels, a relief for some traders after the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said late Tuesday that stockpiles rose by 4.6 million barrels last week.

Tony Rosado, a broker with GA Global Markets, cautioned that weak demand and rising stockpiles should keep a lid on prices.

"We seem to be well-supplied," he said.

This week, come Wednesday, I expect to see another big build in inventories while storage capacity has become a big concern. Where are they storing these 5.5 million barrel inventory builds and how much are they sending overseas? The Baltic Dry Index, the ships and shipping, has fallen 53% during this past year. The BDI is bouncing off multi year lows. The BDI like everything un manipulated- does not seem to be supportive of the recovery meme echoed by anyone seeking re-election or their mainstream minions.

What we are witnessing now is a commodity priced with a reserve currency that is quickly becoming non-relevant. The world realizes that the dollar no longer has the implied strength it once had for a variety of DEBTZILLA related reasons. Oil is being priced according to the value the world is attaching to the counterfeited dollar. That is really the only explanation I can think of for an oil market that has truly left the rails. In a normal functioning, non stagflation scenario with anybody but Bernanke at the controls, oil would be priced well below 70 bucks a barrel. 

On a personal note, I parked my Ford F 250 two months ago. I have traveled 3000 miles since then in my new Elantra. Those three thousand miles would have cost about 280 gals. of gas @ 3.25 gal. or about 900 bucks. In the Elantra, it has cost me 85 gals. of gas or about 275 bucks. I have saved 625 dollars. After the car payment, I still net a savings of 75 dollars a month.

Oil demand should continue to fall- it will be interesting to see if oil prices can continue to go the opposite direction.

Boobs, More Boobs, and Money Worshipping Boobs

I have been going through this prolonged period of my life which is most commonly described as being "single." This is that period of time in your life when you think you want some sort of relationship with a member of the opposite sex, you find it, and then realize you don't want it.

During the procreation years, roughly 18-40, this is serious business. Members of both sexes are seeking the very best DNA they can find to try and enhance their gene pools. At my age, I'm not sure any of us care anymore. I'm just looking for a gal with a set of jumper cables and a disability check.

As I surf the web daily for hours at a time, I can't escape noticing the superficiality of our culture. When precisely did we turn into the slut fashion capital of the world? Did Madonna usher in this era? Is that her legacy? Will it ever go away?

The flip side is here as well. Men like George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Not only are they good looking but they have money. If cleavage and boobs attract men, then looks and money surely attract women.

So when we boil down the accoutrements http://www.thefreedictionary.com/accoutrements, we find that our culture has an extensive and exhaustive list of obsessions and wants. I have placed them in alphabetical order.

Boobs, maybe fame and looks, and certainly money. That's it.

It's not that I am against boobs and money, I'm really not, it's just that I'd like to think that there is more to American life than those two things. Boobs and money never dominated the top of my wish list...but I know quite a few people who worship those things. I have to tell you... we may have had a serious dumbing down in America. Television, print (magazines), and web homepages. Let's show some cleavage, some boobs, some celebrities and their big homes. I find it all quite nauseating.

Really? This is what we prize and value?

If I never saw that idiot Kardashian or her family family again in my life- I would be fine. Or any other number of slutty and self absorbed socialites and singers. Lady Gaga? Twenty million people are following her on twitter? I listened, just once, to Lady Gaga on some late night show. I am not sure that I can precisely describe what she said or how she said it. I will call it flip, smug, and self absorbed. Everything she said that night was something designed to be glib and cute. Lady Gaga may have ushered in the end of times.

Just as I was working on this rant, this piece popped up. http://tv.yahoo.com/news/jon-hamm-slams-kim-kardashian-paris-hilton-231630259.html

Seems one other guy has noticed our national fascination with idiots. Isn't a culture supposed to advance, evolve, get more intelligent over time? What happened to ours?

Does Anyone Read This Blog?

I started this blog sometime in 2009. At that time, I had just witnessed lame duck President George Bush, Hank Paulson, and Congress literally steal a trillion dollars worth of taxpayer money and deliver it to their banker friends. I was incensed when Paulson told Congress not to worry about who got what. Really. Except for some grumbling- people apparently didn't care. I was amazed.

That's when I started this blog. I had just retired. I had been a cop and I know grand theft when I see it- even when the suspects call it something else.

So I guess I've been writing here for 3 years. Tonight, loyal reader Fredd asks a fair question. Does anyone read this blog? And if they do- why don't they ever comment?

A few commenters have told me that they have attempted to leave comments but were not able to do so. I restructured the commenting box- hoping that I had fixed the problem. That was months ago. When I went to the new flipcard system I went from 250 pageviews to 1500 but I'm not sure the commenting problem was ever really solved. The lack of comments has left me bewildered. Even nasty ones. I used to get more comments when I wrote on a smaller site- most of those were the caustic, anonymous, and chicken shit variety. So...

I would like to ask you for one small favor. If you have read this page, would you please try to leave a comment? Anything, even a letter will work. If that fails, would you please send a brief email to letfreedomringagain@live.com? Maybe describe the problem...I promise not to sell your addy or get in some flame war with you if you are honest and say the site or my writing simply doesn't interest you.

I am going to leave this up for a few days- while I try to decide whether to continue to write here. I want to thank all of you who will take the time to comment or write. I also want to thank Fredd for asking a fair question.

Brian