Rule 5 -- Juliana Moreira!

My Arizona Immigration Adventure!

Boycott Arizona?  Now there's a new idea.  Because it worked so well the last time...

1976, I was a brand new Democrat (having cast my very first Presidential vote for James Earl Carter) on top of being a terminal nerd.  Arizona had just refused to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).  Pulp writer turned self-promoting "speculative fiction" author Harlan Ellison had decided America had to punish the evil rednecks via Iguanacon, a regional SF convention in Phoenix.  He called on fans from all over the country to come to the convention but not to spend one penny on anything in Arizona.

Being 20 years old, a New Yorker, and a brand new Democrat, and thus being blithely certain I knew exactly how the world worked, I set off to Phoenix to teach them cowboys a lesson by my principled example, armed only with my sleeping bag, two boxes of Granola Bars and a Greyhound Bus ticket.

Now, because I was going out there to stand up to the Man, man, and because I had seen not only Billy Jack but also The Trial of Billy Jack, I knew what those evil western lawmen could get up to.  And also because I was a New Yorker, and didn 't drive, I didn't have a driver's license.  So I brought my passport, so I could legally identify myself in case the heat came down, man.

Once upon a time, Greyhound actually was a cheaper alternative to airline travel.  You had to make two minor tradeoffs, one in travel time and the other in the fact that you were traveling with all the other people looking for a cheaper way across the country.  In my case that translated into two and a half days and a kindly little old grandmother traveling to join the Perfect Master Maharaj Ji, who thought it would do her good to bring along a convert.

So after two and a half days of having Maude Frickert try to enlighten me, I stumbled off the bus in Phoenix to discover a) that I was hungry and thirsty, b) Phoenix was frigging hot and had a negative humidity index, and c) Harlan Ellison's idea of boycotting a state involved a fully-stocked camper in the parking lot and meals paid for by the convention.  Thus after the first day my principled example evolved into "Screw it, I'm buying a cheeseburger and a coke and that Wally Wood Sally Forth collection I saw in the dealer's room."

After a couple of nights crashing in the all-night film show and under draped tables in the halls, I climbed on the bus back to NYC.  Phoenix seemed largely unchastened by my gesture.   The only seat left on the bus was in back with a bunch of people speaking Spanish.  Being 20 years old, a New Yorker, and a brand new Democrat, and thus being blithely certain I knew exactly how the world worked, I said to myself, "Hey, Puerto Ricans" and thanked God they weren't eyeballing my chakras.

We motored out of Phoenix, having a high old time, sharing food and drinks (granola bars receiving a mixed reception), changed buses in Albuquerque, motored on happily... until the whole freaking world turned flashing red and blue.  State cops, country cops... and INS, who boarded the bus and started removing my seriously bummed Hispanic buddies.  It slowly began to dawn on me that these folks just might not be Puerto Ricans after all... especially after a couple of them produced expired Guatemalan passports.

However, that train of thought immediately derailed upon the appearance of a gut, a badge, and a holstered Chief's Special about six inches in front of my nose and the demand: "Let's see your ID, sir."

Now.  Did you ever try to explain to the INS why you need a US passport to travel between Phoenix and New York with a bunch of illegal Guatemalans?  The Harlan Ellison story carried surprisingly little weight.  The word "coyote"was bandied about rather freely and in varying tones of loud until we were finally able to agree that most coyotes probably didn't get on the bus with their customers and that my round trip ticket from NYC probably supported my story, since it was unlikely I would have to travel all the way to Arizona to score my illegals for whatever purpose.  The muttered question, "Yeah, but does he know that?" might have done some damage to my self-esteem, if I was minded to complain, which, um... I wasn't.

They did like the Sally Forth collection, though.

Since then, I've been somewhat skeptical of the value of organized boycotts.

Rule 5 -- A Joan Jett MiniFestival!

Armed Forces Day

Happy Feet Friday -- A Ziefield Tribute!

In Memoriam for Doris Eaton, Last of the Ziegfield Girls!

John McCain - “Doctors Make Too Much Money” (1984)/John McCain - 'Medicare Cuts...irresponsible...a price Americans should not be asked to pay." (2009)

HT: Take Back Medicine:

"My activism, such as it is, begins with those very words, on the very day they are uttered

The year: 1984. The Reagan Administration is at the helm. I learn that the newly instituted Prospective Payment System(“DRG’s”), which pays hospitals a flat fee based on theadmitting diagnosis of a Medicare patient, irrespective of length of stay or intensity of service, is creating significant problems with respect to proper medical care. A physician tells me he fears a patient died due to these novel cost control measures. I learn of a woman who cannot walk across her hospital room because she has not been provided with the oxygen she requires.
The Maricopa County Medical Journal, Roundup, mentions John McCain, saying he is a “friend” of Medicine.

In my untutored, apolitical, naïve state, I decide to alert this man to a problem I fear he does not - could not - know exists. (After all, I still believe the Government is here to help us.) Learning that McCain will speak at an open public forum at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, I make my first foray into the public arena. Sitting on the balcony, one of my Medicare patients at my side, I express my concerns about the deteriorating care caused by this novel rationed payment system (for hospitals - NOT doctors) known as DRG’s.

After I speak my piece, the first words out of McCain’s mouth are these: .

''Out of Control Medical costs are “all doctors’ fault.” ‘Medical care is chewing up a larger and larger percentage of the national budget, hampering our competitiveness as a nation.’ He says ‘we need to solve the problem.’

I rebut, telling him I agree that we have to help control costs, which is why, from my first day in practice, I have told patients who inform me of a financial problem, to “pay what they can afford” of my fee.

The red-faced McCain shrinks one foot on stage. People ask me for my card when the meeting ends. Shocked and surprised by McCain’s unexpected vitriol, I plan a speech to the hospital staff, imploring them not to join the Health Plans that are just beginning to inundate Arizona. My ‘mission’ begins."  -- Joseph Scherzer, M.D.

John McCain, 2009 -- “Today I introduced my amendment to address the Democrat’s drastic and dramatic cuts to the Medicare program under their so-called ‘health care reform’ legislation,” said Senator John McCain. “My amendment would send this legislation back to the Finance Committee with instructions to report the bill to the Senate without these irresponsible cuts...Simply put, these Medicare cuts will impacts senior’s access to quality care. This is a price that American’s should not be asked to pay.”


Just say anything, Johnny... we'll never notice the difference.

JD Hayworth's link is down below.

Bush & Cheney Get Off Scot-Free!

NYT: "Women, Minorities, Moonbats, Truthers, ANSWER members, Democrats, Otherwise Unemployable Actors and Progressive Bloggers Hardest Hit."

Barking Lefty series Law and Order has been cancelled, and Bush and Cheney never spent a day in jail.  In spite of the show's impassioned portrayal of all the crime in New York City being caused by A) Angry White Men, B) Angry White Christian Men, C) Angry White Christian Men working for Homeland Security and/or "The Administration", or  a distant D) Persons of Color Driven to Violent Despair by Angry White Christian Men working for Homeland Security and/or "The Administration", the show was never able to make it stick... and now it's too late.

Pinko stock-jobber Sam Waterston, shown here being frog-marched

 off the set by agents of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.  A T. Rowe-Price spokesman was quoted 
as saying: "Sam Who?"

HT: The Camp of the Saints

Steve Poizner for California Governor! Pt 2

Poizner talks about the budget, cutting costs, immigration, his record in government, the unions, the Constitution, health care and much more.

Steve Poizner for California Governor! Pt 1

Meg Whitman is slandering a good man that California needs!  This video was recorded at a 5/10/10 townhall in City of Industry CA.  Compare Poizner's answers to Whitman's lying attack ads.  Even the Los Angeles Times is calling her a liar.

Sorry for some of the shaky camera handling, it was jostle city down there.

Poizner talks about the budget, cutting costs, immigration, his record in government, the unions, the Constitution, health care and much more.

Open Season! Mollohan Out in West Virginia Primary!

Long time Deomcratic kleptocrat Congressman Allan Mollohan, scion of generations of thieving West Virginia Mollohans in Congress, lost his own party primary by a vote of 56-44% in favor of his challenger.  Mollohan reportedly "never saw this coming" even after the farce of having his own committee that he chaired investigate him for corruption.

Mojave Veterans' Cross Stolen!

Despite Supreme Court ruling declaring it legal.

Yeah, quote me Roe v. Wade again sometime soon...

"The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday.

Veterans groups say they’re outraged at what they consider the desecration of a symbol that was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to honor World War I dead."

HT: Deborah Leigh  Link: This Ain't Hell...

Arlen Specter Supports GOP!

Now trailing Sestak in  the PA Dem senatorial primary, the nasty ole backstabber has forced the Democrats to pour buckets of  money and manpower into a race in what has been a traditionally safe Democrat state in recent years.

Between Specter and the Tim Burns lead in Kickback Jack Murtha's fief,  Pennsylvania is becoming a deep money sink for an embattled party facing challenges nationwide.

So don't give up the ship, Arlen! You have not yet begun to fight!

Harvey Lembeck Nominated to Supreme Court...Oh, wait...

Noted comic character actor Harvey Lembeck,
known to audiences for decades from his appearances in everything from Sgt.Bilko to his signature role as biker gang leader Eric von Zipper in Roger Corman's Beach Party movies,  has returned from a long seclusion and "medical convalescence" to accept Barack Obama's nomination to the United States Supreme Court.

"The operation was a complete success, considering what we had to work with," said Lembeck's personal physician Dr. Bjorn Svensson Bjornsson (Mrs.).  "But we're amazed and astounded that even Barack Obama would be gullible tolerant enough to fall for this one..."

An Important Public Service Announement from Three Beers Later!

Having a few small fiscal adventures IRL.

You'll notice I've added Amazon Associate ads to the site. You'll also see the green Infolink text ads scattered throughout the posts.

To paraphrase H.G. Wells' "The Boss" from Shape of Things to Come...

"CLICK! CLICK! You've never clicked enough!"

I know I already did my Rule 5 for this weekend... but Oh Mah Dear Sweet Lord...!