Apparently Laws Don't Apply to Celebs... WTF?!?!

Are you f*cking KIDDING ME?? Read this: "...Lohan was charged earlier in the day with seven misdemeanors stemming from two drunken-driving arrests in the last four months..." Not one but TWO DUI's!!

Then get this: "...Lindsay Lohan reached a plea deal Thursday on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges that calls for her to spend one day in jail, serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug treatment program..." (bold letters mine)

Here's another one: "...LOS ANGELES - Nicole Richie was released from jail Thursday after serving 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of drugs..." (all bold letters, again all mine...)

I'm really naive. I thought that with the rise in alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities, stiffer penalties were being designed to deter (dare I say, PREVENT!?!) driving while drinking or doing drugs or whatever... What kind of message does this send out, especially to our younger generation? I can't see how Loser Lohan or Ritchie (or goofy Paris) can get away with behaving like lunatics, endangering life and/or property and let's face it: breaking the law by driving drunk!! This infuriates me beyond words!! I mean, check out Ritchie's mug shot... someone tell this chick this is not a fashion photo shoot!!

Doesn't look to me like she's very worried - or very guilty about breaking the law...

My heart goes out to all of you who have lost someone to a drunk driver... Apparently our government is no closer to establishing harsher penalties than they've ever been and so those out driving around drunk and who manage to get pulled over, apparently all you have to do is drive by the jail and your case will be stamped 'time served'. Sheesh.

Civil Rights: A Rant.

Madseason has her rants. I have mine. I tend to piss people off with my opinionated self. If you are easily pissed off, don't read it. Be accountable for your choice.

A while back I was reading a bit in a book entitled "The Politically Incorrect Guide to History." Let's face it, I don't trust mainstream media or what they teach in schools. When the founding fathers get little more than a page in history that bothers me. Let's just say some things stick with me and this is one of those things I have been mulling over for a while.

The chapter that I was reading about was about Civil Rights. To be totally honest I have had an issue with the fact that if I were to go out and say "I'm proud to be white" I would be called a racist when in fact I am no more a racist than green is red. The Civil Rights Amendment of 1964, in and of itself, was momentous. I think that the fact that this legislation reached into the personal lives of Americans by prohibiting acts of segregation in public facilities and private establishments catering to the public. I am not saying that segregation is good but what I am saying is that the attempt for government to dictate personal action is wrong. It opened the door for federal authority over private behavior that continues to grow.

One other comment... notice that the Civil Rights Amendment never lists specific race, color or sex. Think about it. To hire someone just because they are purple is racial discrimination just as much as having an employment policy of white only. In fact, the percentage of blacks employed in upper end management did not improve in 1967 from where it had been in 1964 or 1964.

It was not until the creation of affirmative action that we see that a quota system implemented. What benefit did affirmative action have? According to this book by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., "The affirmative action programs started in 1971 (under President Richard Nixon, contrary to popular belief) were accompanied by an improvement in the condition of blacks at the higher end of the earning spectrum, while those least advantaged lagged further behind. Similar stories could be told about Asian and Hispanic employment." Bottom line, there was no benefit experienced by the Civil Rights amendment or affirmative action that were not already in effect.

One other little tidbit of information: democrats as a whole were against passage of the Civil Rights Amendment and interestingly enough over the last 20 years black migration has been away from the North and toward the South. Why? According to the majority of the blacks polled: because they feel they were treated equally. Funny how these things are not mentioned in textbooks or by mainstream media.

You want true equality, eliminate the questions concerning race and sex from all applications for employment and education and allow the individual be judged based on their accomplishments, talents, and abilities. What the color of my skin or whether I have a dick or not should not weigh into the equation of whether or not I can do a job. To judge me on either of those two precedents is an insult.

Elvis & Me

I don't usually blog here. It seems to be Madseason's world and I love reading her blogs. I have, on more than one occassion, laughed out loud and then been taken to the very other end of the emotional spectrum. So, please indulge me this brief blog.

Make no bones about it, I am a product of the 80's. Those were the years in which I was in high school and knew such words as Reaganomics, when Walkmans were cool and you were the something if you had a VHS player. That means I spent my childhood in the 70's. I can remember cars without seatbelts, riding my bike without a helmet and spending all day outside playing because being in the house meant chores. That was also a time of Elvis. I LOVED ELVIS. I was probably the only girl in elementary school that was not ga-ga over Shaun Cassidy. Instead I had a poster of Elvis over my bed that I kissed every night (on a side note, I must confess I did covet my brother's Farrah Faucet poster). Go figure. I wore our the ONLY Elvis album (that's right - ALBUM) that I had, 'Burning Love'. When my Dad and step monstor went to TJ's (the local watering hole) and gave me a quarter I always knew what two songs that I would play: 'Burning Love' and 'I'm all Shook Up'. When they took those off of the juke box I cried.

I also remember the day that Elvis died 30 years ago tomorrow. I was in Tappahanock, VA visiting my step monstor's sister for the summer. I remember hearing the news on the radio and it was as if time stood still. Rose (the sister) cried. I felt numb.

A few years ago I visited Graceland and at that time in complete denial that I was EVER a fan of Elvis. That's a shame. A person should always stand up for who they are.

I look back now and see things a little differently. It doesn't matter how big someone gets, how popular or how famous they still have their vulnerabilities just like the rest of us. They can get lost just as we can lose our way. Money, fame, fortune cannot change the very fact that they, just like any other person walking this earth, are human. So, to all of you that may read this I wish: "May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human enough hope to make you happy.”

As for my hope for me... in the words of Sinatra & Presley: "For what is a man, what has he got; If not himself, then he has not; To say the words he truly feels; And not the words he would reveal; The record shows I took the blows; And did it my way."

-Fathead

I guess everyone DOES have a price...

I saw this today on Yahoo! News and thought "A-HA!!! Now THERE'S a way to get the loser, deadbeat dads to finally be honest!" Years ago, my sister had two precious baby girls by a loser- drug addict-husband and once she finally divorced him, I'm not certain the guy paid a total of $1 U.S. dollar towards his court-ordered child support. My sister struggled with supporting the three of them for years (with a little help from myself and the rest of my family) and did an amazing job. Yes, she tried to hunt him down, had his wages garnished through social services... but just about the time she would be expecting her first payment, he'd quit his job and run. Years later, my sister met and married a guy who wanted to adopt the two girls as his own. Loser-deadbeat guy adamantly refused (and if you are wondering, YES, she HAD to ask his permission!! What a crock...). My sister and her hubby-to-be presented the loser-drug addict-sorry-excuse-for-a-father with the following option: give up his parental rights to both daughters and his growing back child support debt of $36,000 + will be erased.

He jumped on the offer.

Oh, he's still in touch with the girls... and yes, both girls being teens have been told what their birth father did. I think he's still being a DNA-donor and has fathered other children since. My suspicion is that he didn't learn anything and could care less. And if he still has two brain cells alive in that empty, irresponsible head of his, I'd be surprised. Fortunately, both girls are AWESOME despite their rough start in life and lack of fatherly support - both financially and emotionally - and have a family that they love.

If our government has found another way to force losers to step up, then I'm all for it. The fact that these losers have to be backed into a corner like this speaks volumes as to their own lack of values and self-worth. Wanna fly to the Caribbean for a vacation? Then PAY YOUR FUCKING CHILD SUPPORT, YOU MORON!

MadSeason <---stepping down off soapbox...

Psssst... can you tell I'm a little sensitive to this subject?!?!

And you thought YOU had it bad...

::trying to find the right words::

Check out the Post Secret site... The video brought tears to my eyes!! What did you think of it??

Thanks for the link, Crystal!!

Of Bloody Marys and Furniture...

I had the bestest weekend! Did nothing supremely special - yet the weekend itself was SPECIAL. Saturday, Fathead and I finally went to see the latest Harry Potter flick (and noticed that there was not one youngster in the audience! Everyone was a grown up! How cool is that?!?!) I had been promising Fathead a movie for many, many weeks and finally made good on it. It was worth it and was a great flick!

Then Sunday, having no plans - and yes, I have to admit did NOT plan to get the motorcycle out since it has been so friggin' H-O-T!! - we broke out the Bloody Marys fairly early. Yummy! Sitting around, sipping on the straw, munching on the olives, Fathead and I look at each other and say "Hey, let's rearrange the furniture!!" Geez. This became a production - and consumption of several more Bloody Marys ensued. We have some heavy stuff so there was the inevitable finger smashing, grunting, groaning... placement and re-placement of things... "How's that look there? A little more to the left? Your left or my left?" "Ok... lift with your legs, not with your back..." "Bite me!" Fathead made me laugh harder than I've laughed in ages... The deep, cleansing, side splitting laughter that causes you to lose your breath and makes your cheeks hurt... Eventually we finished, were pleased with the results and collapsed onto the sofa to veg out the rest of the afternoon.

Definitely a 5-star weekend!! Note to self: drink Bloody Marys AFTER rearranging furniture next time.

Amazon.com Continues to Fight the Bad Fight

The Humane Society of the U.S. is asking for a combined effort to appeal to Amazon.com to discontinue sale of magazines and videos that publicize animal fighting. I won't begin a rant about this because frankly it makes me so sad. I have been a frequent customer of Amazon.com over the years but apparently I am so naive that I didn't realize there are publications out there that market dog fighting, cock fighting and God only knows what else. It breaks my heart. If you feel as I do, you can email Amazon.com directly and let Jeffrey Bezos, Amazons' CEO know how YOU feel about their continued support and sale of these publications that condone animal fighting and abuse. It's up to you how you react - I am also naive enough to believe that each of us can help accomplish things.

Here is how to do it: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/US_2007_amazon_fighting3/in6e7xg2vijinn6?

With all the madness in the world... and then there's Matt...

... I stumbled upon this and it made me smile. For all the craziness in the world, you can't help but watch this guy do his thing and feel a little more light-hearted...
You GO, Matt!

He's apparently doing this for no reason but tends to draw people in (I especially love the shots where people start dancing with him!!) He has no hidden agenda, readily admits he's a 'deadbeat' but the part that I enjoy is he looks like he's having fun! FUN! Remember that concept?!?!

...and I suddenly don't feel so self conscious about the horrible way I dance anymore! LOL!

You can learn more about him here.

Turn Signals Are Not Optional!!

Ok... another rant. It's Monday after all and there would be a ton of subjects I could pontificate on (Thumper encountered one of my own pet peeves just recently so I won't revisit that one... yet...) one repeatedly annoys me on a daily basis...

I drive to work ~ 30 miles each way which gives me lots of time to review and critique the driving habits of others. On my stretch of I95 in northeast Florida, no matter the time of day you will see many vehicles with tags indicating various points of origin. I find myself wondering if these folks are headed toward their vacation destination, headed home from vacation, off to visit family members, heading south for the heat or heading north to get away from the heat... whatever. Those NOT from the state of Florida tend to invariably ride in the middle of the 3 lanes - whether they observe the posted speed limit or not. Around here, 18-wheelers are directed to use only the middle and far right lanes for travel. I have a lot of respect for truck drivers and try to stay out of their way, give them as much space and notify them of my intentions well in advance. It does not seem to be the practice of all other drivers, however, and we are all admittedly different in our driving habits and style.

But when you have a massive multi-ton truck behind you, in the middle lane, on your a$$, then you should MOVE and move quickly. Engage in a battle between your car and their truck, you will NOT win. They are bigger, they weigh dozens times more than your vehicle and are far less controllable than you. Do yourself a favor - MOVE. Find an opening and change lanes. When you see their grill in your review mirror, it is no longer a battle of arrogance - the truck wins. And do you have any idea how much these guys (and their respective companies) pay in road taxes?? As a matter of fact, they do own the road!!

But I digress...

The original purpose of this post was to identify a fact that has failed many, MANY drivers even as I was on the road this morning: your turn signals are not a suggestion!! How difficult is it to reach down (...yes, that's right... if you aren't on your cell phone, this would not be a hassle!) and flip that tiny little lever up or down to turn your blinker on to let those who follow know your intended path of travel?!?! A simple gesture, really, and one that indicates that you don't have your head up your a$$, you have come to terms with the fact that you are not the only driver on the planet and the world does not revolve around YOU. It is considerate. And I suppose in some places, a LAW.

And Part B of this rant - for God's sake, don't leave the turn signal on blinking incessantly as if you are in a perpetual state of left-hand turning... It's just stupid. It's like a little blinking indicator to all those behind that the driver of the vehicle is admitting "I'm a moron... I'm a moron... I'm a moron..."

It's dangerous, too. Take it from someone who rides a motorcycle and who relies heavily on the consideration and forethought of others. Be considerate. Use your turn signals - and remember to turn them off. We are all on our way to somewhere and a little courtesy can make for safer travels for everyone.