Designer's Ass

You can take this post title anyway you want.  Does it mean the designer IS an ass? Why, yes.  Does it mean the designer HAS an ass?  Yes to that, too.

On an episode of The Fashion Show on Bravo, the competing designers were tasked with designing "for real women" and make those real world women look good.  Ha HA! I exclaimed to the TV screen. Even fabulously famous designers CAN'T DO THAT!!

The reaction of the contestants spoke screamed volumes of all that is wrong with the fashion industry. They cried (really they did), they bitched, they moaned, they insulted their models. Evidently, the shape of real women bodies isn't mentioned even in passing in fashion schools anywhere. But we already knew that. Most of the crap hanging on department stores racks was designed for the dozen size 00 super models existing on the planet.

If the fashion industry EVER figures out that making average women look good would increase their market, they'll see off the chart sales and put Microsoft's revenue to shame.

But I digress --- and am not holding my breath.

Amazingly, the two female wannabe designers with the BIGGEST ASSES of all the wannabe designers on the show were the most vocal about their models big asses. Are you freaking kidding me, I yelled at those bitches on the TV? Have you looked in the mirror lately? You're one of us!

Then, Danielle (one of the wannabe designers with her own sizeable ass) covered her face with her sweater and wept tears of despair that she didn't know where to start.

Aw. Fashion school failed you, dearie. 90% of the female population have booties and hips and boobs! We're a huge market that the fashion industry ALWAYS fails.

But I digress again -- and I just exhaled.

The ironies of the episode conclusion are that weeping Danielle won the challenge, and that her winning design is really quite good. I'd buy that, I mumbled to the TV screen.

Maybe, just maybe, there's hope for the fashion industry yet.

Or not.

Closed Minded Liberals

Yyyyeeah. I'm surprised more than you are that closed minded liberals exist. Flabbergasted. And dismayed.

I've always known that the right had no stomach for opinions or news that conflicted with their world views. Really. It confuses them. Riles their blood pressure, too. That's why Fox News is so important to those folks. That's why they've got Fox News on in the background practically 24/7. It's their security blankie.

An aside here, the very fact that Fox News viewers keep the tube on ALL the time is the reason that that cable channel's ratings sound high.

A recent discussion among my liberal people on HuffPo befuddled me. The topic was Anderson Cooper's AC360 ratings -- his poor ratings. I maintained it's because Cooper's show is pretty center. CNN itself strives to be center. Well, go see for yourself what others wrote about that.

Those supposedly liberal posters say they don't like CNN because - gasp - they aired an interview with Cheney. Holy mother of earth!!! That is "unforgivable".  Apparently just mentioning both sides shows bias.

These supposedly liberal people watch MSNBC almost exclusively. Because MSNBC tells them the truth (IE - what they wanna hear), because they like Olbermann. They like Maddow. See. I like Maddow. too. But she's a pundit.

MSNBC is the left's answer to Fox News. Those "news" networks are on opposite ends of the political spectrum. I maintain that neither are news outlets. Not by a long shot.  If you don't DISAGREE with anything from your daily "news" sources, then it isn't news. And it sure as hell isn't balance and fair.

It's like Groundhog Day and The Twilight Zone all wrapped into one nightmare. First, I was disturbed that my liberal people couldn't tell the difference between pundit (Maddow) and journalist (Cooper).  Second -- and most disturbing, is the need of my liberal buddies to hear only their own side of every issue.

I'd say it was 15 to 1 against CNN as having a conservative/Republican/GOP agenda -- Fox Lite was a popular term.

One poster on HuffPo even accused the MSM (main stream media) of protecting the GOP for the last 40 years. I am NOT making this shit up! Now, compare and contrast that statement with the crap el Rusho and gang spout off daily re: the drive-by MSM being a liberal industry.

CNN didn't lick the boots of Bush/Cheney and got trashed by right wingers. Now CNN won't lick Obama's wing tips either ... and the left wing starts the same shit.

Are you starting to see my disgust? My dismay? My disappointment with my liberal people?  Uugggh. I just don't believe it!

Liberalism means to be open-minded, to be capable of listening to all sides of a subject or news story without blowing a gasket. Maybe even, horrors of horrors, change your mind on a topic when evidence warrants. 

Liberalism is NOT sticking your fingers in your ears and la-la-la-ing the opposition away!  Liberalism is NOT shouting down the other side and name calling. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.  That is the domain of set-in-their-ways good ole boy Republicans.

I was oblivious to my liberal people thinking that partisan MSNBC is real news. Geesus! That's what Fox viewers think about Fox.

We're being reduced to a country where one side throws stones at the other side -- with a no man's land in the center.

Can an American BE center and NOT get stoned to death?

Well, CNN ratings tell us much, don't they?

American Al Qaeda's Jihad

On the news that Dr. George Tiller was ambushed and gunned down May 31, 2009, we get the following statement from Dave Leach, editor of Prayer and Action News* (an anti-choice newsletter):

"To call this a crime is too simplistic.  There is Christian scripture that would support this."

Dr. Tiller's murderer, Scott Roeder, contributed to the oh-so-Christian Prayer and Action News* mentioned above.

Dr. Tiller performed services within the letter of the law of the United States of America. Yet the Christian right boldly say that their holy book fairy tales supersede US law. What does that remind YOU of? Al Qaeda carrying out their Jihad, perhaps?  Yeah, me, too.

 

This is Mr. Dunkle, author of a wacko newsletter.

He's standing outside of a doctor's home with this sign. Inciting violence? I'd say yes.

Just like wacko Al Qaeda believes themselves doing the work of their god, so do wacko Christians believe themselves carrying out the "lord's work" in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Yep. I'll just call Christians American Al Qaeda from here on out. They are nothing if not terrorists.

{* Careful if you Google the newsletter. The site has a virus.}

Home Sweet Leveraged Home

A lot of history books discuss how the Founding Fathers managed to orchestrate a government that protects citizens, as much as possible, from excessive governmental power. The three branches of government, Constitutional rights that cannot easily be overturned -- all set up to protect us from the evils of power. Very little, if anything, is said or written regarding the development of the fledgling nation's monetary system.

Well, allow me to {cough} add my two cents if I may.

With a quick glimpse at the Constitution as originally written it's fairly clear to me that the Founding Fathers of the United States of America abhorred "unfunded paper". They weren't keen on agricultural systems either --- tulip bulbs anyone? Nope. Their preference was gold and silver coin aka precious metals.

A few quotes from 1787, warn us that our monetary system is critical to the survival of our nation.

• George Washington wrote in a letter "If ever again our nation stumbles upon unfunded paper, it shall surely be like death to our body politic. This country will crash."
• Thomas Jefferson said "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a money aristocracy that has set the government at defiance."
• John Adams warned that "All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in the Constitution or Confederation, not from a want of honor or virtue so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."
  

So, one wonders what the Founding Fathers would think of the system we have today. Rolling over in their graves, I'd imagine, at the very thought of sliced and diced mortgage CDO's, and hedge funds that amount to nothing more than gambling with hard earned wages. Likely, they'd be aghast at abandoned homes, overgrown with weeds while citizens live in tents down by the river like third world refugees.

While we mere peasants argue ad nauseum the nuances of free speech, the right to keep arms, and the separation of church and state, Wall Street separated us from our money. And, to add insult to injury, Wall Street controls the very value of the dreaded paper currency from which the Founding Fathers warned us away.

The paper currency ship has sailed. I really don't think we can go back to precious metals. The hit on paper values world wide would be even more catastrophic.

What to do. What to do. Well, our government is attempting to wrench control of our national fiscal policy away from the banks ... trying to take back the hen house from the wolves, but those wolves, those banks, will not cede power easily. And I'm not certain that our government is strong enough to battle the howling pack of beasts. And, like many citizens, I'm not so sure the wolves haven't infiltrated Congress, as well.

No. I think it's up to citizen activism in the free market. Yes!!! We still have the freedom to choose the banks, if ANY, with which we do business. That is where our power lies.

The first step is doing your homework.

Sites like ehomemortgage allow you to compare mortgage rates and run YOUR budget through a mortgage calculator (don't, for Pete's sake, believe what a broker TELLS you you can afford!). Yeah, I know, that pool and four car garage look tempting. Just turn on CNN to see all the people who now live under a bridge after living a life of luxury they couldn't afford. Hmmm?

Step two. Make it a priority to investigate your small local banks and credit unions. It's my personal opinion that too big to fail is too big. In fact, I'm against big in any industry. I love indie. Small businesses, and small banks count as indie, don't they?

Step three is related in theme to step one -- live within your means. That translates to putting down the credit cards. ALL OF THEM. Paying interest for 15 years on your daily 4 buck cup of coffee is INSANE! Stop it! Pay cash. If you don't have the cash, let it go.

And don't give up on our government. We MUST stay put as a thorn in our senators and representatives sides. We MUST keep score and use that score during primaries and on election days.