They're out there.

The Conservative Political Action Conference is a wonderful event. It lets right wing nuts attack each other and make absurd comments. It gives Sarah Palin the chance to read her latest ghost written speech as if she understood what it meant. It allows Jeb Bush to bloviate and act as if he didn't notice all the walk-outs. And, of course, it is the ideal event for muskrat-headed Donald Trump to continue his obsessive rant about Obama's birth. Best of all the participants can feel free to express their racist views among like-minded people. And in the evening the guys can get together in someone's hotel room to have a circle jerk while watching Bedtime for Bonzo.  One of the highlights this year was Scott Walker's comment.When asked how he would deal with ISIS, he said, "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world". Apparently he feels that rights-demanding American workers are just as dangerous and threatening as decapitating foreign terrorists. With statements like that how can anyone question whether this sleepy-eyed dormouse is qualified to be president. 

It's too much to ask.

Even if Rafael Cruz were qualified to be president, which he isn't. Even if he were honest, which he isn't. Even if he had integrity, which he doesn't. Even if he could develop charm, which he can't. Even if he would control his big mouth, which he won't. Even if he were decent, friendly, modest, fair-minded and refined, none of which he is. I still wouldn't be willing to look at the homely pie of a face for four years.

Despicable.

There are lots of nasty, unpatriotic, greedy creeps in this country, and this woman, Brooke Alexander, is one of the worst. She doesn't really care if America gets fracked to death as long as she can sashay through these profitable commercials.. Her upbeat, optimistic pitch is a complete deception. What she is pushing is the destruction of the land, the pollution of the rivers, the illnesses of thousands. The line, "A majority of Americans say that should change." is an outright lie. Is it any wonder that this harridan once worked for Fox News?

Beyond explanation.

There are some things I will never understand. And one of the most mystifying of all is this: What makes Matt Lauer worth $20 million a year? He's bald, not overly attractive, remarkably sycophantic, not particularly interesting, and one would think his being in drag as J-Lo would have gone against him. I'm sure there are dozens of anchors all over America who are better looking and more charming than this 58-year-old cheerleader, but there he is, all teeth and very little substance. Yet rolling in money and perks. Oh, well, more  power to him.

MK45

Megyn Kelly, the Axis Sally of cable news, recently said that Jon Stewart is not good for the country and has gotten nasty in "his later years". One wonders what she means by later years since Stewart is only 52, and Kelly is 45. By "not good for the country "she obviously means not good for Fox News, since Stewart has been continually exposing their lies and holding them up to the ridicule they deserve. In doing so he has been better for the country than any of the network anchors who serve their masters and don't make waves. As I have said before, Kelly is rather a pathetic figure, a very attractive, well-spoken anchor who delivers nothing but right wing propaganda to her viewers. I'm sure there was a time when she would have wanted to be with a reputable network, but failing that she sold her soul to the devil, became the darling of Fox News, and surrendered any kind of credibility she might have had. There was a line in a popular 30s film noir, in which the detective hero realized the blond bombshell was deceitful and dangerous. His description of her also fits Kelly, "The poison in the pastry."

Sure loser.

Good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Department of Justice will not be filing charges against cold-blooded killer George Zimmerman who murdered 17-year-old Trayvon Martin three years ago. Federal prosecutors, who must be very unimaginative, concluded there was not sufficient evidence to prove Zimmerman intentionally violated Martin's civil rights. The good news is that we, the law-abiding citizenry will get to see Zimmerman's constant brushes with the law until his ultimate death at the hands of someone who was a bigger bully than he. It'll be like a crime program. His arrest for abusing a girlfriend. His being stopped for drunk driving. Shoplifting. Getting into a pissing contest when he was too pissed to win. So many different brushes with the law and each time he'll be fatter and fatter. Can't wait.

Think about it.

One of today's HuffPost headlines is "Most Republicans don't think Obama loves America." Is that supposed to be a surprise? Then these comments will floor you. "Most Republicans don't think blacks are their equal." "Most Republicans don't think women deserve to earn the same salaries as men." "Most Republicans don't think women can be trusted with their own bodies." "Most Republicans don't think poor children should have nutritious meals." And, finally, and most significant, "Most Republicans don't think."

Governor's wife. Mayor's addict.

Columba Bush, Jeb's wife is finally enjoying some spotlight. And it seems it's rather blinding since it includes so much jewelery. While his diminutive Mexican wife insists she was mortified when detained and fined by custom agents in 1999 for misrepresenting her $19,000 in purchases while in Paris, she didn't stop there. It seems she couldn't stay away from Mayor's, Miami's premiere jewelry store, and over a 14-year period spent more than $90,000 at the store. A Miami Herald article reported that Columba "...would trade 20 society galas for one juicy Spanish soap opera savored in the comfort of her South Dade County home." which I guess suggests she didn't buy all those jewels and her Rolex for state affairs, but to admire on the coffee table while she watched Timeless Love. Over the years Jeb has tried to control Columba's spending with very little luck. He did get a break when the local Mayor's closed.  Of course the Bushes have every right to indulge their every whim. After all thy can afford it thanks to all their past oil connections, insider trading and lucrative sweetheart deals. But the American citizens shouldn't think for a minute that Jeb Bush is any kind of down-to-earth regular guy, or that he can run a country when he can't even control his own wife.

You never know.

Scott Walker says he doesn't really know if Obama loves America or if Obama is a Christian. I guess he's right. You can't know what's in another man's heart. I don't know if Scott Walker is a homosexual or a member of a secret Nazi cult. I don't know whether he's a cross dresser or an obsessive masturbator. I wouldn't know if he has a collection of stolen women's underwear or has copraphiliac fantasies. I wouldn't know whether he's into bestiality. He may be a an atheist or someone who hires a dominatrix to beat him while he wears Pampers that need changing. You just don't know. Although, I must admit, he does have a kind of odd look about him. Makes you wonder.

One in a million.

One of my biggest gripes with the American people is that they are such sheep about commercials. I am convinced that the broadcast media, to make even larger profits, airs far more commercials than are necessary but viewers never complain. Last night, while I had no interest in the Academy Awards, I did have enough curiosity to tune in when there were breaks in my other programming. But each time I did I only got to see one or more commercials. I never once managed to switch during the actual program. We are deluged, inundated, swamped, suffocated and oppressed by commercial messages. Now I have learned that the networks are speeding up certain programs so they can slip in one, two, or three added commercials. At what point will the average American viewer say, "Hold it. That's too many!"?

Another scumball has been heard from.

First we have nutbag Rudolph Giuliani saying that the president doesn't love America. Next up is unctuous Scott Walker making his cowardly statement that he doesn't know whether Obama loves America. And now the slimiest one of all, Darrel Issa, rushes in, covered with excrement, to further vilify our president. Of course they're all liars and racists. They know damn well that Obama loves America because he has proven it with his actions. They know it because he has sincerely stated it many times. And they should sense it from the adoring American crowds who respond to Obama's love. I would suggest one of the surest ways to show you love America is by abiding by its laws. This is something Darrel Issa has not done. He is a car thief and an arsonist, two crimes no decent American would be guilty of. So I don't think anything he thinks about this recent discussion is of any value at all.

The best.

I have no interest in the Academy Awards. I haven't for years. Actually I lost interest 52 years ago, in 1963, when Gregory Peck won best actor for To Kill a Mockingbird. No question he was brilliant in the role, but far more deserving was Peter O'Toole for Lawrence of Arabia. I realized then that  the winning had no meaning. Still I liked seeing such glamorous stars as Audrey Hepburn, Susan Hayward and Robert Mitchum.  I hardly know any of today's so-called stars, although most seem to be very talented.
I also never go to a movie theater anymore because they are obscenely over-priced and unbehaved audiences spend too much time looking at their lighted phones instead of the silver screen. So I don't care who wins this year of what film gets the most honors.  I don't doubt that Selma is brilliant, that American Sniper is disgustingly jingoistic, and The Imitation Game is disturbing. Obviously Cumberbatch, Cooper, and Redmayne are all superb actors. However, the appeal of Steve Carell has always eluded me and I'm sure it always will. Then, of course, there is always the turn-off of sitting through five hundred commercials. So while I have no interest in this year's awards, I am rather pleased to see that one of the nominees is an actor that I have regarded as America's finest actor for years. To me he'll still be the best of the best whether he wins or not.

More shameful than Rudy.

Scott Walker has made a huge mistake. For a man who wants to be president he lacks the most basic common sense and logic. The wisest thing for him to have done was to repudiate Rudy Giuliani's bitter and moronic comments and to proclaim Obama a man who obviously loves his country. He could have expressed his regret at having Rudy made such acerbic and false comments at the governor's private dinner.  He could have even shown some pity for the irrelevant and misguided ex-mayor. But being a fool, and having no integrity, he instead said, when asked if he agreed with Giuliani's contention that President Obama does not love America, "I don't really know what his opinions are on that one way or another." What a lying sack of shit. Yes, he does know because Obama has often stated his love for America. Obama has constantly shown his love for America. And he has often proven his love for Americans in a way that Giuliani and Walker never have. So when Walker got the perfect opportunity to display some kind of honesty, some degree of patriotism and honor, he caved to petty partisanship and, in doing so, admitted that he is coward and certainly not qualified to ever lead a nation.

"Future street person?"

As Americans we very often allow insane people to pretend to be normal. This is particularly true if they have some kind of skill like writing or public speaking and their mental illness isn't immediately apparent. Because we do allow this, many deranged individuals are accorded the same respect we give to mentally competent people and are often in the public eye. The media, which has no standards,  particularly appreciate these persons since they often say outrageous things that people love to read or view. Sadly when one of these people goes off the track we don't acknowledge that they should be put away, we cover their madness as if it were normal and acceptable. Once again the media make large profits from examining or repeating the crazed outburst without  ever identifying the person as crazy. Lately it seems that these persons are given more and more leeway in their madness and continued to be accepted as normal when just looking at them one can see they are not.

What's Spanish for "dork".

Republican officials, desperate to protect their new Senate majority are pushing Florida Senator Marco Rubio to seek reelection to Congress next year. But the balloon-headed Rubio, inflated with a sense of his own importance far in excess of his basic insignificance is under the delusion that he could actually be president. One wonders why this renowned plagiarist would assume he could win the heart of a nation when he's not all that popular in Miami. I personally expect to meet Mr. Rubio some time in the future and I know exactly what I will say to him, "A colada please."

Note: I will have to say in Rubio's favor that he was the only Republican this week who defended President Obama from the slurs of Rudy Giuliani. That certainly makes him a better person in my mind, but does not in any way make him a more valuable politician.

What a bitch!

This nasty meretricious drag queen goes all over the country bitching about President Obama. She obviously has some kind of sexual fascination with him otherwise why would she behave so "as a woman scorned?"She accuses him of not loving his country, not loving her, and of not being brought up the way she was (which included a loan shark enforcing father in Sing Sing). He/she/whatever is now on her third beard and trying desperately to gain back the respect she had for a brief moment after 9-11. Poor darling.

Here we go again!

The grifters who made a fortune with the fraudulent Heaven is for Real have inspired lots of other con artists to come with their own scams. The latest is Luke Ruehlman, a 5-year-old (who doesn't believe a child?). His claim in a series of interviews is that he lived a past life as Pam Robinson, an African-American woman who died in a fire at the Paxton Hotel in 1993. I guess when his mother (or parents) were inventing the story, they wanted something really different. Wisely, they figured the fire would be a dramatic touch if they're lucky enough to buffalo movie-makers into filming Luke's tale. And why not? The Burpos made a fortune with their little scam. Even today gullible Christians all over America are inspired by the book and movie about Colton's visit to Heaven. Meanwhile the good pastor and his crooked family are laughing their rich and unChristian asses off. I know one thing. One of these days I'm going to sit down and write what happened to me during my cataract operation: Hell is for Real.

His own man....not.

Baby Huey made his first speech on national security this Wednesday at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, and true to the Bush tradition his blathering speech was full of errors. He did start out by telling us how much he loved his mass murderer brother and dithering dad, and added that he kind of, sort of, somewhat loved his mother too, if that was all right. But mostly he tried to assure us that, "I am my own man."  On display was the Bush hubris, the belief by these fact-challenged dodos that they are qualified to run America, despite all the painful evidence to the contrary. Speaking of the violent extremist Nigerian group Boko Haram, he must have confused them with a French tea party since he referred to them as  "beaucoup Haram". Like his moronic brother, he has not learned the difference between Iraq and Iran. And, like Georgie, who was never good at figures, he mistakenly increased the strength of ISIS by a mere 180,000 terrorists. Needless to say the lazy broadcast news networks did not fault him for is clumsy speech, they were too busy suggesting that, of course, he should be president because his Colonial-era mother has changed her mind and thinks there should be another Bush in the White House.

Instrumental.

Hmmm. I felt bad for the family of this woman, a mother of four, who was killed after a road rage incident. Based on the first reports, I believed her to be an innocent victim who was followed by the killer and shot in front of her house. Now I read that she and her son, who was armed, went in search of the other driver and, after following him, he followed them. Gunfire was exchanged and she was shot to death in front of her combative family. The bad news is that so many people who are stupid and common have guns, but no control over their emotions. The good news is that I no longer feel sorry for Tammy Meyers or her gun-toting family.

War criminal, mass murderer, drunk.

Tell me this guy isn't back on the booze. George Bush is only 69 years old. Not being a humanitarian like Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton he doesn't have a thing to do with his endless free time. He probably spends his days playing golf or watching tv, his pretzels nearby. There is no reason he should look this bad. He's flushed like most drunks, and has that dazed look of someone who has had more than a few drinks. This guy was a loser before Karl Rove fell in love with him and manipulated him into the White House, and he's still a loser. What a disgrace he has been to America.

Future American families.

One of the most depressing things about modern technology is that it has made it possible for the tech savvy scum of the earth to steal fortunes. Which means in the not too distant future many of the world's richest people, including many who are influential, will basically be thieves, having gained their fortunes through hacking, stolen i.d.s or another nefarious means. This week alone a hacking ring has stolen up to $1 billion from banks around the world.  I doubt if law enforcement will recover much of that money or that the thieves will be caught and punished. Not at all. They will be the smug, arrogant, seemingly innocent people staying at the best hotels, dining in the best restaurants, driving the most expensive cars, and playing a role in society.  And you won't be able to tell these lowlifes from people who made their fortunes honestly.

The one thing you can do now.

Global warming is real. The Republicans deny it, because to acknowledge it would require remedial  action, and that would hurt the enormous profits of their good friends and supporters: Big Oil, frackers,  the oily Koch Brothers, and all their polluting for profit pals who couldn't care less about the future of this country. But it's real. And some day in the not too distant future it will begin to affect you, like it's affecting Boston right now. And when global warming starts hurting your country, your city, your family, and your way of life, you will realize how little the Republicans protected you, and you will begin to hate them. My suggestion is to get a head start and begin hating them now.

They're nice to dogs.

Well another admired institution has failed to come through. TD Bank. They promote themselves as "America's most convenient bank" and for a while I believed they were. They have long hours, nice people, water dishes for dogs, lollipops for children. But unfortunately their phone service is just as maddening, user-unfriendly, and exhausting as everyone else's. The back of my TD bank card says I can call and reach Real People by calling a certain number. Totally not true. Went through the usual nightmare of recorded messages, then had to wait 17 minutes to talk to a real person, a chilly young woman with an attitude who seemed hell bent on making sure I couldn't get the information I needed. When I dared to raised objection to her many roadblocks, she hung up on me. Too bad TD. You were one of my few heroes in the world of business.

Fetching, very fetching.

It is astonishing that a religion as ridiculous as Mormonism has survived and thrived. It is a scam dreamed up by a con man, full of some of the most hilarious beliefs imaginable. Among them is the
church's garments. Ill-fitting, uncomfortable, often itchy reminders of your devotion to god. Who comes up with tenets like these? The garments, which have been used since the earliest days of this totally invented religion, were originally worn by the pious pioneers and were one-piece garments that covered everything from the ankles to the wrists. Over the years the undies became short, and eventually split into two pieces in the 1970s. Now if god wanted you to wear the full enchilada in the pioneer days, when did he say, "Ah, make it two pieces and shorter" and who was there to take his order?  I guess the same person too whom he finally said, "Ah, let the blacks in."

"Jeb Crushing GOP Money Race" Huff headline

Jeb's rolling in money for sure.
Because all the men who want war
Really and truly want more.
And buying more guns by the score
Will certainly go to insure
That the money they put into Jeb
Will give them a war they'll adore.
After all, a Bush did it before.

I see that H & R Block has 40% off coupons for new clients. I guess this means that they have no desire to offer any consideration to loyal clients who have been using them for years.

Murdered in plain sight.

On Friday county coroner in Southeastern Washington said he plans to order an inquest into a deadly police shooting. Huh? An inquest? Why waste the money?  We all saw the trigger-happy copy shoot the unarmed citizen.  We all saw it. He shot. The unarmed man died. Who needs an inquest? We need an arrest. Or is this going to be yet another case of a cop getting away with murder? The victim Antonio Zambrano-Montes was not armed. He had been hurling rocks earlier, but even if he had one in his hand at the time, he didn't deserve to be murdered.

Dumb and dumber.

Apparently Jeb Bush, terrified of having to deal with too much of his brother's idiocy says, "I won't talk about the past. I'll talk about the future." Apparently Baby Huey is not aware that the future is greatly dependent on what happened in the past. So he can pretend that Georgie didn't get us into a fake war, kill thousands of our finest young people, plunge us into debt, and make live miserable for millions. But parts of that destruction are still out there and cannot be ignored. So while he's at it, he might want to ignore brother Neal's savings and loan offenses and his sexual peccadilloes. He might want to forget his  mother's patrician attitude and callous comments during Hurricane Katrina. He might want to litter box his own family's many embarrassing messes. Or he just might want to accept that he's kind of a dodo just like his brother and forget any political plans he had for the future.

Suspension? Yeah, sure.

As most American seem to know "NBC Nightly News" announced that Brian Williams will be on a six-month suspension as the network tries to make itself worthy of viewers' trust. But as Bill Maher has said, Williams didn't lose our trust with his narcissistic lies, but just by being the anchor of crappy news show. Let's face it all the network news shows suck. ABC is constantly promoting Disney movies,  NBC and CBS have all kinds of stories somehow related to their specials. There's very little actual news, but lots of weather, sports, accidents that local news could cover, and financial reports on how well films did at the box office. Worst of all the commercials are taking up more and more time from the trivial stories they're paying for. Generally we Americans know very little about what's happening in the world because we don't actually have any in-depth news reports. But ask us what Jennifer Aniston is up to, and see how current we are. 

An amazing picture. Not.

Shallow and skimpy as it is, I rather enjoy reading Huffington Post. They do, however, have lots of annoying habits. Like superfluity. To them everything is the best, greatest, strongest, most amazing, most hilarious and most most. They also make a lot of typos. I think a lot of their writers are tyros who are also hacks. Plus HuffPost is amazingly chauvinistic, constantly commenting on actresses figures, necklines, breasts, and sexual peccadilloes. The photo above was just one of today's oddities.  It was shown with the headline There's More To This Astronaut Than Just His Amazing Picture While I didn't read the article, I was perplexed as to why they called this an amazing picture. Yes, he's attractive and looks like a nice guy. But surely there's nothing amazing about two dogs showing affection to man, even if he is in an astronaut suit. So if someone can tell me why this pictures is amazing, I would be grateful.

How sweet it sort of isn't.

Well it's Valentine's Day again, and once again Americans get—for the most part— a choice of two candy brands, both ordinary: Russell Stover and Whitman's. True there are other brands, but these two seem to the best most ubiquitous. I wonder why since they both taste waxy and artificial. True, they still look good in their heart-shaped boxes and the diagram of contents promises delightful tastes, but it's kind of a empty promise. This year I did notice a brand called, of all things, Elmer's, which I wasn't willing to try. I do like Lindt, but I couldn't find chocolate selections just boxes of foil-wrapped mints. Of course one could always head for Barnes and Noble to buy over-priced and overrated Godiva chocolates, which I don't think are much better than Whitman's. I could be remembering it wrong, but I used to love Candy Cupboard chocolates. I haven't seen them in years. Chocolates, like everything else, are just not as good as they used to be.

Suspended? Give me a break.

When people like Brian Williams are out of a job, there seems to be a lot of talk about how they will earn a living. I never understood that. These people are shamelessly overpaid for years and years, making millions of dollars. I don't understand why they would ever to work again if they didn't want to. And while no one is more overpaid than the vin ordinaire wimp Matt Lauer, I don't see Brian worrying about how to pay his electric bill.

He not only looks stupid.

Scott Walker's droopy eyelids are not the only part of him that's half closed. His brain is as well. Asked if he believed in evolution, he said I'll have to punt on that one. Does this neanderthal actually believe that America in 2016 would elect a president that doesn't even know if he believes in evolution. It is a mystery why the residents of Wisconsin would elect this moron twice, thus leading him to the delusion that he could win the presidency. But hopefully America at large will see what a dope this guy really is.

The state book for Hawaii?

I read today that a Tennessee state legislator has introduced a bill to make the Bible the official state book after two other Southern states considered similar moves in recent months. As an atheist I don't object at all. I think every state should have the right to name a work of fiction as their state book. I suggest that Kansas choose The Wizard of Oz; Oklahoma The Grapes of Wrath (they can fight it out with California); Georgia, Gone with the Wind; Maine, Pet Cematary, Massachusetts, Little Women; and so forth. It's none of my affair, but I would suggest to Tennessee that a much better choice for state book is James Agee's Death in the Family since it's not so ridiculously unbelievable as the Bible. And I don't think Utah could choose a more hilariously imaginative tome than The Book of Mormon.

"Hmmm. Maybe I shouldna done that."

To all those apologists who tell me that Jeb Bush is far smarter than his brother, I say "not far enough." It seems this dodo "in the spirit of transparency" posted all of the e-mails during his governorship. For some bizarre reason he thinks this was a good thing. However, some of of these e-mails contain home addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers of Florida residents. Many even include personal information that the writers may not like Jebby sharing with the world.  If this doesn't help convince voters that there is no room for Baby Huey in the White House, I don't know what will. Of course I repeat from an earlier blog, Jeb has said he admires his brother George—he most damning information of all.

They all do it. Yes, even him.

When I was a child, or at least a teen, the network news anchors were the epitome of correct grammar and diction. They spoke beautifully and did not have regional accents. Today that seems to be over. I don't know where I was when the word came down that you no longer had to pronounce t's. As far as I can see, or hear, all of today's anchors say innanet, innavew, Atlannic, winna (the season), romannic,  gennel, authennic, etc. ABC even thinks it's own program is called Twenny, Twenny. To them it's not longer "our" language, but "aar" language. And nobody ever pronounces candidates correctly, it's always cannadits. To hear David Muir and others speak, you would think there are no two-syllable words.  Today's newcasters add an extra syllable to hundreds of words such as gambelling, sparkelling, grumbelling, and hundreds of other two, and only two, syllable words.  Another sad loss is the difference between "a" and "an". As a child we were taught that "an" went before most words that begin with a vowel. Now news reporters say, a apple, a ocean. It sounds terrible. And how do they get away with it? Because nobody notices and nobody cares. Sadly even that Republican pain-in-the-ass William Safire is gone, so there are no arbiters of taste. Too bad because I think, "I was at our nearby beach in the middle of winter, eating an apple and looking out at the setting sun sparkling on the calm Atlantic Ocean." sounds so much better than, "I was at are nearby beach in the middle of winna, eatin' a apple and lookin' out at the settin' sun sparkelling on the calm Atlannic Ocean."

Keep your night job.

So Brian Williams is standing down from the news for awhile. Sure he is. Like Dan Rather took a short leave. I am not interested in this story so I don't have much to say. Other than I was finding Williams very annoying with his pathetic attempt to become a comic personality. It's a mistake for any newsmen to let you know too much about them. It seems that Lester Holt is filling in for Brian. Lester is another newsman I admired and liked until he told me more than I wanted to know about him and I could never respect him again. What did he say? Well, when asked his favorite film, he answered, Dumb and Dumber. 

Scam artist.

This person is a very successful writer. She looks pleasant enough, but I find her a despicable creature for being involved with two of the most disgusting frauds of our time. In 2009, she ghost wrote Going Rogue, An American Life, causing millions of moronic and gullible Americans to think that Sarah Palin was capable of writing sentences, much less a book.  But even more offensive she was involved in creating, with Ted Burpo, the fraudulent book Heaven is for Real, another best-seller that fed the idiocy of delusional Christians who wanted to believe this goony dad-manipulated brat went to heaven. Naturally being a person who will sell out to anyone, she is a Republican. Lynn Vincent may be  a very successful writer, but I think she really sucks as a human being.

The Crusades continue.

President Obama is getting a lot of flack for telling the truth. During the National Prayer Breakfast, he reminded us that, "...during the Crusades and Inquisition people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ".  Amen. But  today thousands of so-called Christians are still committing terrible deeds in the name of Christ. How many children are suffering under obsessively evangelical parents who see every childhood action as sinful and deserving of severe punishment or home imprisonment?  How many Americans are victims of hate crimes from Christian zealots who don't approve of their way of life?  I have read dozens of true crime books and they are populated with sadistic Christians, vindictive ministers, murderous rabbis, and pederast priests. Many serial killers seem to have gotten their start from abusive fathers who all too often reached for the Bible just before they reached for the strap.

Despite being gay, almost all my childhood crushes were on female movie stars. I was in love at one time or another with Mona Freeman, Diana Lynn, and Gigi Perreau. But my greatest passion was for the actress I still find absolutely fascinating when I watch her old movies: Lizabeth Scott. While many compare her to Lauren Bacall and Veronica Lake, I think she was much more exciting than they were. Altogether she made 22 films, mostly playing the cliched bad girl with a heart of you know what. She co-starred with Kirk Douglas, Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and many others and often stole the scenes from her leading men. Probably her most famous role was in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, but my personal favorite is the 1948 film Pitfall with Dick Powell. It seems like yesterday I was entranced by her beauty and that fantastic husky voice. But, sadly, it wasn't, because Lizabeth Scott died January 31 in Los Angeles at the "I outlived almost everyone" age of 92. 

No better. No worse.

So Brian Williams made up a heroic story, and he lied. Who cares? The news hasn't been known for integrity and honesty for years. They cover nothing of importance. They spend lots of time promoting gossip, politics, human interest stories, scandals, nonsense. ABC has a charming, and probably honest, host, in David Muir, but his diction sucks and the network spends too much time promoting Disney films. The network news at least is vapid, empty, dishonest, shallow, incomplete, commercial-ridden, and not nearly as valuable as Bill Maher,  Jon Stewart, and John Oliver. Should they fire Brian Williams? No. He's attractive, speaks well, and so what if he is an egocentric jerk who thinks he's much funnier than he is. His lie is a very small crime.

What's in a name.

If you're a classic movie fan or loved early TV, then you've seen this actor many, many times. But I'll bet you don't know his name. He was tall, handsome, blond and a very dependable second fiddle. Sadly he was never a leading man. He did come close as Katherine Hepburn's fiance in Pat and Mike, but even in that he lost her to Spencer Tracy. Actually the most interesting thing about this actor was his name. It seemed so wrong for him. I wonder if that didn't affect his success in the movies—always playing the supporting role despite his good looks. He should have had a strong Anglo-Saxon name or at least something very American like Scott or Trent, but alas his name was, are you ready? William Ching.

Great cars. Dumb commercial.

A new Mercedes-Benz commercial starts out with the line, "You hear a lot of jokes about the weather." This so they can go on and say that bad weather is no joke. The only problem: You don't hear a lot of jokes about the weather. I can't think of one. Can you? So they started this spot with a comment that isn't true so they can end with the line, "And that's no joke". This is the kind of commercial I especially detest because it's so obviously written and by someone who isn't even interested in truth or logic. You might as well say, "You hear a lot of jokes about badgers". Then you could end the spot with, "The car nobody has to badger you to buy."

You're damn right, they don't.

There's no question about it. Comcast is the most incompetent, unpleasant, unresponsive, disorganized, and dishonest company in America. I am trying to remove some of my services, but getting through to these bozos is nearly impossible. First of all they ask too many questions. You lose the line and you have to answer them all over again. The wait time right now is 14 minutes. That's to add services. To remove them, which I tried to do, involves them hanging up on me three times. I just received a bill from them. Naturally it did not include credit for the many hours this month that they were unable to connect me to the Internet. I would guess Comcast is responsible for millions of ulcers and fists through walls than any other company.

Take a tip from Emily.

During my 40-year advertising career I worked with many brilliant art directors like Bill M. and Bill G. But I had to deal with lots of less than talented ones as well. One of the most annoying traits of these lesser talents was their desire to avoid any kind of promotion for the product in print advertising. They were reluctant to use  type larger than 12 point and detested including a telephone number. (One vapid designer said, "Big type is ugly.") They regarded "their ad" as a work of art and didn't want to spoil it with information. I still see that today. Of course it doesn't affect me in advertising any more, but it annoys the hell out of me in another area: business cards. I must have at least six cards for doctors, insurance companies and suppliers where the type is so small one can barely make it out even with reading glasses. And often the designer has chosen such an "artistic" font that it's often hard to tell a 6 from an 8 or a 5 from a 2. My advice: Look at your business cards. Can your phone number be read by someone without 20-20 vision?

The smile of a liar.

In his pathetic desire to be president, Mike Huckabee said on Sunday that he has plenty of gay friends, just as he has friends who drink, curse, and enjoy ballet. In making this statement—which is more than likely completely untrue—he has more or less said that he not only looks down on gays but also people who drink, curse or enjoy ballet. Since even Republican voters drink, curse, and often enjoy ballet he has already alienated most of those he thinks will support him. He says he has "plenty" of gay friends.First of all any gay person who is friends with Mike Huckabee would have to be a moronic masochist to associate with someone who so publicly reviles homosexuality.  Of all the Republicans hoping to be president, Mike Huckabee, homophobe, evolution denier, evangelist, racist, bigot and big, fat liar is the worth of the lot.