The Future of Torture

   The waters are already being muddied. Is what we did torture? Even if it was, was it effective? Some say this, others say that.

   We either accept that torture is, rationally, a poor way to get information, or we don't. We either consider it an immoral crime against humanity, or not.

   We won't. We will learn to accept it as the new norm. Yeah, we're that shallow.

   Funny thing. The defenders of this new reality are more often the people that claim that there are moral absolutes. That society is sliding backwards because of gay rights, or pot, or disrespect for authority, or "Hollywood Values", or liberalism, or whatever.

   I would think that we would be more concerned about the law becoming meaningless when we can make such a mockery of human rights in favor of raw power.

   But, we won't.

  We now get to witness the end of democracy and civilized society. Brought to you by people that went to the finest schools and dressed in the finest clothes.

GOP Nominee Pt. 1

  The nominee for President will not be Ben Carson. He may even be encouraged by his standing after Iowa, though I doubt he will make it even that far. His brand of lunatic rhetoric won't play to any but the basest of the base in the GOP.

  It will be among Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and a handful of other "moderate" candidates. I put the word "moderate" in quotes because....well... you know... The hard core clown car, starting with the likes of Rand Paul and getting more extreme and insane from there, will devour each other. It will be fun to watch. But a tempest in a pot full of teabags (so to speak).

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/ben-carson-bizarrely-attacks-cnn-to-defend-likening-u-s-to-nazis-stop-focusing-on-the-words/

Darren Wilson Will...

...cash in on this whole thing if he wants to. Ghost writer to write "his side", a publicity campaign...He's famous now. The all-American dream. Fame for all the wrong reasons. Wealth will follow.
Somewhere, more than a few people are working the angles on this thing already.

Indictment?

9:09 EST awaiting the decision from Ferguson. My guess? Wilson will not be indicted. If George Zimmerman got off, why even try a cop?

Any moment now...

Update. No indictment. I got it right. Whoop-de-doo. Me and EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD...
Now we get to see if the real fun begins.

Bond Villains

http://www.cbsnews.com/media/10-of-the-worlds-most-expensive-homes/10/

If there were any justice, or "karma" in the world, we would come to know all the billionaires of the world as villains in a James Bond movie, and we would have a Bond or two to take them down.

But we refuse to recognize them for what they are. And our "Bonds" are people like Edward Snowden, and whistleblowers all over the world , who are thought of as radical outcasts and lawbreakers.

There is no "karma", there will be no justice. And the Blofelds, Daxes, and Goldfingers of the world will just gain more wealth and power.

Christian Projection

No gay rights advocate has ever killed, nor beheaded a Christian in the name of gay rights. Can anti-gay rights Christian activists claim the same thing about gays? Oops. Fuck-twit.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/donnie-swaggart-says-gay-rights-activists-would-love-behead-christians

Complaints Department

Let's have everyone quit all this complaining about it being such a cold winter. This is NOT a cold winter. I repeat, THIS IS NOT A COLD WINTER!
(It's still fall, and it's one fuck of a cold fall!)

The Future Sucks

The world seems to be coming apart. It's getting to the point where I can't tell insanity from stupidity anymore, but I know there's far too much of both. And we're set up for much more to come. And there's not a god-damned thing we can do about it.

2016 rolls around, and this country will be dumb and confused enough to actually elect a Santorum or Huckabee to the White House. Mark my words. Watch this space.

If you think this is too cynical, you're not paying attention.

In the Stock Market?

Find undervalued companies and buy like crazy right now. In five months, start selling and shorting the market. The Dow is going to go nuts on the GOP victory and their hubris will create a bubble that will crash the economy again pretty damn quickly.

Pit Bulls and Hockey Moms

There's a new Sarah Palin on the prowl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7X-LSoIb3c

And if she doesn't run for a higher office, she could hang out as the Senate resident idiot for a long time, and do a lot of damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln0rBJEppfU

Ebola

  I was thinking to myself, gee, this thing really could slip out of control. Woke this morning to news that a second healthcare worker from the Dallas hospital tested positive.
  How many undiagnosed cases in Africa? How hard is it for West Africans to travel to other parts of the world? I'm not saying a Stephen King/Robin Cook horror story here. But this thing has legs.

Of course, I'm sitting here in Ohio, and posted this before I saw this:

WKBN 27 Youngstown OH

5 mins ·

Were you or anyone you know on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas-Fort Worth on Monday? Call the CDC at 1-800-CDC INFO (1-800-232-4636), then call our newsroom at 330-788-2456. Or, if you or any of your relatives were in Akron between Oct. 8 and 13 and are worried about Ebola, give us a call.

Update:
And, as 9/11/01 caused much more damage than just the original attack did because of the idiocy of the American electorate and our propensity for over-reaction, this crisis will damage us in ways far beyond the reach of the virus itself:
http://www.wfmj.com/story/26825697/hazmat-crews-called-to-detain-flight-at-youngstown-warren-regional-airport

Ohio Governor's Race

I will haul my tired and cynical ass to the polls to vote for Ed Fitzgerald this November. He will get his ass kicked, though, by John Kasich, the Wall Street thief.
Kasich- 65%
Fitzgerald-32%

Posted three weeks before the election.

Actual results?
 Kasich 63.8%
Fitzgerald 32.9%

This ain't no chimpanzee you're reading here...

October 1st, 2014

Okay. This one's too easy. Pat Boone will be proven wrong. And bad at politics and predictions. And reality. (Most of us already knew that).

Pat Boone’s ‘Bombshell’: Obama’s Birth Certificate Will Be Proven Fake By September 2014

Malaysian Air 370

Instant loss of cabin pressure knocks everyone out at once. Loss of transponder and communications at the same time? I don't know. But there seem to be a lot of coincidences that hit at the same time. Odds were not good, but not out of the question. But it's way too early (and ALWAYS will be) to jump to the supernatural, or to consider outrageously ridiculous claims of conspiracy theorists.

We don't know. We may never find out. We likely will, but there's a chance that we just won't know.But the leap into woo-woo is not called for. The woo-woo will come, because we have so many people that naturally want to go there. But let's keep our head in the game.

One thing is for sure. Some charlatans are going to make bank out of this.

The Onion already went there. Remember everyone! Before you get your panties in a bunch. This is satire!

Future of Ukraine

I have no idea. But I think Mother Jones does. Therefore, I'm going to turn the responsibility and prediction over to them:


http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/03/wee-prediction-about-ukraine

Arizona's Right to Discriminate Law

http://www.stonekettle.com/2014/02/arizona-goddam.html?spref=fb

C'mon. Seriously?
Two possibilities. Brewer vetoes it. Or Brewer signs it, and the courts overturn it. The odds that this becomes the law in Arizona? Nil. Ain't going to happen. No how. No way.

The whole thing is sheer insanity.

http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2014/02/arizona-really-i-mean-really.html

Nye/Ham

  Ken Ham wasn't able to finance the completion of his Noah's Ark exhibit in Kentucky. He was fading away into oblivion. While we pat ourselves on the back for the Bill Nye "obvious and overwhelming victory" in the debate, I predict that we're going to be subjected to much more publicity for Ken Ham, his attendance will go up @ his "museum", and he's going to finish his scam of an exhibit. And he almost faded away into obscurity...

http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2014/02/quick-thoughts-on-nyeham-debate.html

Death of the GOP?

They had one very bad, extremely bad, day. Kind of showed all their cards. Were enough of us paying attention to be able to do anything about it? Let's hope. I think not, but I think they were slightly wounded...
http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2014/01/gop-on-parade.html

Extortion

http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2014/01/markets-and-sotu.html

Either way, it's a win-win for the richest and most powerful, and a lose-lose for all the rest of us.

Meteorologist

I ain't one.

I Predicted This

Elizabeth Warren Isn’t Running so Hillary Clinton Will Face No Dem Opposition in ’16

  But it seems, not here. I'm giving myself a "win" on this one, though. My FaceBook postings will show that I said this well before this article. Warren will have much more influence in the Senate for the next 14 years or so, or as long as she wants. She is the new progressive "Lion of the Senate" as is befitting of the Ted Kennedy seat she holds.

   I would like to see her get more help by Russ Feingold rejoining the Senate. We could get some shit done, there...

Cleaning Up

It's time to check in on my "hit" record on these Wild Ass Guesses. Why? Because it's late, I'm up, and I just went through the past posts to review.

Let's see....:

Rhino Virus. Missed by a mile. My cold came and went within a week, and I had time to catch another 48 hour bug that passed with a bit of distress about a month later. I'm an old wreck of a human being, but the colds are at bay at least.

"Off" and "On". Meh. About average. I'd call it close.

Celebrity Deaths. What did you expect? Of course that one is on. That's not a guess. That's statistics (an art I'm not even close to understanding, BTW). Whatever. There's a lot of old celebs. And young reckless ones.

TV News Distraction Alert. Never heard another peep about it. Anyone else? Miss.

Next Ten Years. We have a ways to go. So far, so good.

Readership. Comes and goes depending on my diligence, which is always lacking. Mostly goes... Meh.

MacGillicuddy's Reeks. I just hope someone enjoyed the tune.

Paul Simon Was Right. Well, what did you expect? Of course he was.

Nontipping Homophobe. Screwed that one up entirely. Never expected the server to be a duplicitous psycho.

Dr. Ben Carson. Dead on.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/ben-carson-nazi-germany_n_4761388.html
My Right Wing Competition. I'm not doing so great, but they set the bar low. Piece of cake.

Speaking of Prognosticators. She's still dead, last I heard. The other two? We probably won't get that lucky.

THIS is Our Future. Still pending. But, yeah.

Sylvia Brown, Fraud, Con is Dead. Still dead. I'm not privy to her book sales tallies, but I'm sure her necrophiliac fans are keeping her corpse financially afloat.

Snowfall. I'm no meteorologist, that much is certain.

NCAA Football Champions. Nailed it. Still don't know or care who won.

$60,000. Nailed it. Still under-reported environmental rape going on all over the place. Still no damage to the bottom line of any company or anyone going to jail.

Memo to many in West Virginia: Don't drink the water

Prison Population Will Continue to Grow and Show Profit. Well, yeah. Lobbyists will win when there's money to be made. There is no vocal opposition here of any consequence, and probably won't be.

Death of Religion. Maybe 4 or 5. But it's coming faster than we think.

Battle for $15. Should be for $28, but no, it's not going to win. We're going to be screwed. It's the American Way.

The others are from this year. I may update or not... Thanks for watching.

Bridges Rethought and the GOP in '16

I'm probably overstating my case. Politics is no longer about chances. It's about money. And even a losing campaign makes a shit-ton of cash. And a cash flow that continues long after the run. Even (and here's where it gets interesting) campaigns by people that are not actually running. Think Sarah Palin. No. I can't back up a damn thing here. I may have overstated it. Call it a hunch. A working hypothesis. Another angle. We will probably never know. I'm saying Christie would not have run. And even if he ran, he would not have RUN...I could be wrong. But the math and the history, and the situation would say he would still be happy in the Jersey Governor's Mansion.
There's more coming out about the bridge story. Rachel Maddow tonight made a good case that the Mayor of Fort Lee was not the target, if there was a target, or a motive. This may be more serpentine than we can even guess yet. One way or another, Christie may not be out of the woods yet. Or we may be reading the whole thing wrong...
Perry, Santorum, and Cain...Any of them could publish a book about anything they want....Cain? A book about numerology where all the answers to everything prove Douglas Adams was wrong with "42". Everything is "999"... Perry could publish a book called "My Wonderful Summers at N*****head." Santorum? Well....fill in your own jokes... And they would all find buyers and money on a lecture tour. Santorum may be stupid enough to think he was a serious candidate. The others? ...Politics as performance art.
There is no road to the White House from anyone in the GOP that is part of the noise machine, or the clown car. The guys that really scare me are the ones just under the radar, the money guys that are not necessarily darlings of the tea baggers, but haven't pissed them off yet. Kasich and Thune come to mind. They would be the toughest. But come the general, and they will have to take on, or at least answer to, some of the wing nut baggage.

Christie's Bridge

   Is it just me? No. It's the 24 hour total news cycles on far too many networks. Laziness and cost analysis vs actual old-school journalism. A local newspaper cracked the story, the e-mails are leaked, the Governor is firing people and making apologies. There may possibly be more to the story, but until there is, we'll be getting more of the same thing, over and over and over...

  But the heart of the story, the thing that makes it a story, is what affect it will have on Christie's chances in the 2016 presidential campaign. I'll tell you right now. The affect is zero.  There are several reasons possible as to why.

  1. The electorate, particularly the GOP, is very forgetful. By the time the political season starts heating up in anticipation of the Iowa straw polls, the details of this fiasco will be swept under the rug.

  2. Those that will remember will be very forgiving considering that to them the only issue of any bearing is to defeat whatever "godless commie" the Dems will put up.

  3. And most importantly, Christie never had a chance in the first place, and likely was smart enough to know not to even bother to run. He's thought of as a "moderate" among Republicans, and in the current vernacular, to the GOP, he probably is. But he isn't. Not in any real sense of the word. Yet, he's "moderate" enough to lose support from the true believers in the furthest fringes of the party. And those furthest fringes are what control the message of the party. And the bifurcation of the GOP won't let him run to the right or to the middle.

  He's going to have to couch his rhetoric to different tones to different groups, and that kills his image of the shoot from the hip guy that tells it like it is. Which, BTW is nothing but image. He's both the beneficiary and the hostage of his own bluster. And I'm pretty sure he knows it. And I make this prediction. He won't run.

  The bridge controversy pretty much kills any thought he may have had. But the truth is, he was never going to run in the first place. He can make his amends to the State of New Jersey, maybe. He may be able to heal the wounds and save his governorship. Even that is touch and go now. But he can do the national math. That was never in his grasp in the first place.

  He may even make a play at Iowa, or New Hampshire, but it will be halfhearted. There will be financial backers that may insist he show up. He will be trounced before he gets out of the gate. The GOP is not in the mood to award or encourage "moderates" after Mitt Romney. They will go down in flames, but they will fall on their glorious sword with a true believer. Nuttiness will rule the day, and we're looking at an assured GOP defeat.

  Forget the current polls. The front-runners going into Iowa will be Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, and Paul Ryan. And if the GOP decides to not go full blown "Ray Comfort" (look it up) , it will be John Kasich, who scares me more than any of the others.

   Richard Cohen seems to agree:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-christies-tea-party-problem/2013/11/11/a1ffaa9c-4b05-11e3-ac54-aa84301ced81_story.html

The Pseudo-pros Take on 2014

I'm just doing this as a lark, and I'm not doing so great (as expected). But here is what "professional" psychics and seers are predicting for 2014. It'll be here to check over at the end of the year...
http://paranormal.about.com/od/prophetsandprophecies/tp/Psychic-Predictions-for-2014.htm

On the Coldest Night of the Year

http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-naked-man.html

Randy Newman:

The Famous Naked Man

  It's sub-zero freezing in Ohio. Not as bad as much of the country is going through. Certainly not as bad as the homeless are dealing with.

  We have two, maybe three days of this to deal with in Ohio, then temps move up to more reasonable, seasonable degrees. We'll get a mid-winter thaw at the end of the month. Maybe see the mid-50's. We'll almost forget this shit-frozen wasteland. For us, it's next to nothing. Temps will dip again before the end of the season, but not this bad. We'll remember this as a mild winter, excepting this anomaly.

  Thus I speak. Thus will happen. (Eh, 50/50, or worse...)

  "The winter time is coming, the windows are full of frost"

  Currently reading -7 according to Yahoo.

  Updated at 2:45... -11.

Predictions for the Coming Year

Seems to be about average. I have a few things I'll disagree with.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2014/01/what-will-happen-in-2014-a-bluffers-guide.html

1. Can he? Sure. Will he? The author hedges his bets. A lot of things are happening in the world, many out of the President's hands, but seemingly his fault. Some things he's just not going to do right. Cards on the table? I'm going to generally like what he does, but his approval numbers will be flat or down by the end of the year.

2. Nope. The economy and politicians will focus on Fed policy instead of jobs, minimum wages, and economic inequality. As the bottom and middle lose buying power, a trend I predict will continue, any economic growth will be illusory.

3. Nope. It's way too easy to attack for all the wrong reasons, and there are powers that have strong motive for such attacks. We should have single payer. No-muss, no-fuss.

4.  Again. Can they, or will they? I think they can. But they will trip over their own tongues. The extremists are all that's left steering their ship. They can't shut up. So, no.

5. Yes. No brainer.

6. Whether they do or not depends less on us than we think, and more on their Arab neighbors. And the insanity that is Islam. So, I'm going to call this a coin flip that leans toward no.

7. No. For all the reasons the author states, plus, the insanity that is Islam.

8. A brief cease fire, maybe. Lasting and meaningful peace? Be serious...

9. Yes.

10. I have no idea. Never seen one. Never seen anyone buy a drink at a bar with one. Out of my realm.

11. Yes. Eventually. This year? Coin flip. But the underlying problem of speculation rather than rebuilding a viable working class will doom any real stable growth, and no one is really going to attack that. I refer you to this article:

http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/01/02/killed-red-lobster/

12. Who knows?  Most popular sport in the world. A lot of people care. I'm not one of them. Who won the last time?

Happy New Year. I'm Going to Party Like It's 1984

http://realitybyalex.blogspot.com/2013/11/cbs-news-sells-out.html

We are sinking faster into a corporate fascist state with no protections. Happy New Year. The trend will continue to accelerate, and we won't know that we did ourselves in. Have a wonderful 1984/2014.