Recently in Blatantly Speaking Category

People make me angry. Maybe I should say some people make me angry. VERY angry! But I'm not self-righteous enough to sit here thinking I am never guilty of the very same behavior which pisses me off in others -- I know I do. Believe me, I chastise myself, too. My daughter and I have an agreement that when one or both of us is complaining about something utterly stupid, shallow, superficial and/or greedy and are being completely short-sighted, we say, "You know, some people don't even HAVE 'fill in the blank'". We remind each other about how blessed we really are.

So what's got my panties in such a bunch right now? Well, people like Linda Bollea, who has the nerve to announce to the press, as if it's breaking news, that she wants her soon-to-be ex Hulk Hogan jailed because -- now get this -- he hasn't paid his share into the purchase of a 4.2 million dollar condo in Vegas! WTF??? There are people DYING in this country and losing everything they own due to floods, tornadoes and heat waves, and she's pissed because he hasn't kicked in his 2.1 million bucks! Oh no, what a freaking tragedy! NOT! There are men and women being killed in Iraq and families living on the streets right here in the good ol' USA, and SHE wants her condo! Well heaven forbid Linda shouldn't get her condo in frickin' Vegas! Stop the presses, people, this is BIG news! Hulk hasn't shelled out his promised amount of money to his skanky wife who is now dating a NINETEEN YEAR OLD! I say good on'ya, Hulk!

Linda, get over yourself already. We don't care!

Hulk Hogan, Terry Bollea, Linda Bollea

In Durango (here in Colorado), police are telling a liquor store owner to give shoplifters the boot, the shoe, and any other footwear he's acquired from shoplifters.

You see, Gabe Fidanque was tired of losing $1,000 worth of merchandise every month, so he started telling shoplifters he caught in the act of stealing from him that they had two choices: Give him one of their shoes or he'd call the police.

Well, a handful of them gave up a shoe. But Durango police have told Fidanque to stop the practice, or he could find himself facing felony robbery charges.

Felony robbery charges???? Yep, felony charges for taking footwear from the people who were blatantly stealing from HIM! Shoplifting, in contrast, is a misdemeanor. Now what kind of twisted logic is that? A person stealing from a hard-working, honest person is charged with a misdemeanor, while said hard-working, honest person is charged with a felony for making them leave their shoe! Unbelievable.

Authorities ordered Fidanque to return the shoes to their owners - if he can find them. He says his method of keeping shoplifters out was working, because people were too humiliated to return and ask for their shoe back. Frankly, I don't see the problem.

Durango, Colorado Law, Shoplifting

Did you see where Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 3 years in prison for three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns? Yeah, that was the maximum requested by federal prosecutors.

Now, I have a problem with that. You know why? Because you can hurt a child in this country and walk away with probation or eighteen months in jail, but OMG, commit a crime which involves money and you'll get the book thrown at you! I see it happen time and time again, and it really makes me sick! Am I the only one who thinks the priorities here are more than a little skewed?? God forbid we should commit a crime against the almighty dollar! But yeah, get charged with simple assault or drive drunk and you'll be out in no time! Where's the logic? Where's the justice???

CNN, Wesley Snipes Sentenced, Justice

I read something extremely troubling in our local newspaper a couple of days ago, and decided it was definitely something I should share with all of you.

A young girl of only 13 years died very suddenly last week. She lived in Guam with her family, but had previously resided in Colorado, as well as Missouri, Texas, Virginia, Connecticut and Georgia. She has family who live here where I do, which is why her obituary appeared in our newspaper.

I am always deeply, deeply saddened when I read of a youngster's death, as I'm sure you are, as well. As anyone would, I wondered why this tragedy occurred. I thought perhaps it had been a car accident or she had been ill, but then at the very bottom of the obituary I saw a link to a web site where one can make a donation in her memory. The site is called The DB Foundation. In case you're wondering, the "DB" in the title stands for "Dangerous Behaviors". It is a web site entirely dedicated to Dangerous Adolescent Behavior Education. The page to which the link I clicked in her obit took me was entitled "Choking Game ~ Pass Out Game ~ Fainting Game ~ Black Out". You can immediately deduce from the title what this poor girl's cause of death was. I continued reading the page and became really scared by what I was reading:

Unaware of the risks - Kids think The Choking Game is 'safe' and have been heard saying "It's just passing out! Noone ever dies from Passing out."

Only 25% of parents know about The Choking Game - 75% of children DO

I had no idea. Not that the game existed, but that kids die from it. I was immediately taken back to my elementary school days when the newest "cool" thing to do was to make yourself pass out. And believe me, guys, that was a long time ago! Evidently this thing has been around for quite some time. Even back then it seemed like everyone was doing it. So, one day after school I went across the street to the park with some of my friends, and we watched as some other kids did this cool new "thing". I'm not going to describe here the manner in which it was done, even though I know what they were doing was significantly different than how and why it's done today, but it had the same dangerous result. I don't want any other kid to be as stupid as we were. Yes, "we". I was stupid enough to actually do it. I made myself pass out, and I hit the ground HARD. When I came to, I didn't immediately realize what was going on or where I was, but when I regained my senses I realized very quickly that what I had done was enormously reckless and stupid. I never did it again. I had no idea until I visited the web site listed in that poor girl's obituary that children die all the time from this activity. It sent chills down my spine.

I immediately felt compelled to blog about this activity and its dangers so that we, as parents, can open up a dialog with our kids about it and let them know how very dangerous it is. I know for a fact that when we were doing it all those many years ago, parents had NO idea it was going on. And keep in mind that we were doing it directly across the street from the school, right out in the open! Not ONE person said anything to us about it or even asked what we were doing! I feel very stupid for having done it, but also very lucky for not having had anything bad happen to me as a result of that stupidity. Mostly, though, I feel an urgency to get the word out there into the world -- yes, it's definitely a global thing, considering she died in Guam -- so that no other innocent young people tragically die from an activity they think is fun and cool and simply the "new thing" to do.

Please, talk to your kids. Tell them to talk to their friends. Blog about it. Tell your friends and fellow parents and tell them to tell their friends. You could be saving someone's life!

Choking Game, Pass Out Game, Fainting Game, Black Out Game, The DB Foundation

What do you think about women who have breast enlargement surgery done? Have you had it done? Would you have it done if you could? I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can see both sides, so to speak. ;)

If I were a woman who was extremely flat-chested, I would definitely have breast augmentation done. It's a self-esteem issue, right? Sort of. Some would ask why we women allow our breasts to define our sense of self-worth. To those people -- mostly men -- I'd ask why you let your penis define your sense of masculinity! There are, of course, women who ask that question, too, but more times than not they have no need for breast enlargement themselves. Everyone needs to walk a mile in those shoes before judging, you know?

I do think, however, if a woman is going to have it done simply because she doesn't think she has anything else to offer, then she should probably seek counseling, not a cosmetic surgeon. And speaking of surgeons, I think we all know we should find a board-certified surgeon with excellent credentials and references, right? There's a place in the U.K. called Make Yourself Amazing, which has some of the most experienced surgeons in the world performing Breast Enlargement surgery. Not that many of us can hop a plane for the U.K., but I have wondered about other countries and what they have to offer. It's interesting, don't you agree? And just think, all it entails is two small incisions and an overnight stay in the hospital. One week later your stitches are removed and you're back at work!

Look, I believe we're all born amazing, but the fact is that the world and society put so much emphasis on the human form and what they say it should look like, that many women are left feeling pretty cheated and rather embarrassed. There aren't many of us who can truthfully say we aren't the least bit vain, right? If it makes a person feel better about how they look in clothes -- and out of them -- then why not go for it?

What do you think?

Make Yourself Amazing, Breast Enlargement

I had an encounter yesterday that really bothered me. Well, it wasn't really an encounter .... more like something I saw/heard.

I was sitting in my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot with Riley and Pippin, while Callie and Darin (her bf) ran in to get a couple of things for me. The parking space directly in front of me was empty - until a big pickup pulled in. A dad and two little boys got out. The boys were maybe 3 and 4 years old; both very young. Anyway, the younger of the two was crying and fussing and the dad was trying to distract him by drawing his attention to my dogs, which I thought was cute. I smiled at them. Well, about fifteen minutes later they were coming back, only this time the boys were inside a cart, but the younger one was still fussing - this time because he wanted to get out of the cart and walk. They went right by my car and I heard the dad say "no, because I can't trust you". I can't trust you??? Um, does a 3 year old know what trust even is? And if he does, which I highly doubt, should you be telling a little guy like that that he's untrustworthy? I think not! There are MUCH better ways to convey why he couldn't get out of the cart and walk, like letting him know you love him so much that you don't want him to get hurt, and that's why he can't run around the parking lot! So anyway, he puts the boys into the pickup then goes around to the driver's side and opens the door. As he's climbing in I hear him say, "They're fuckin' ...", and that's all I could make out. It made me sick! Who talks to toddlers like that!! I glared at the guy and gave him a crusty. I hope he saw me. What a jerk!

The news tonight is that the mother of a little 2 month old girl is going to be allowed supervised visitation with her daughter even after her 19 year old husband tried to kill the baby, and she says "the devil made him do it". Um, yeah, right. Let's just have a look at the story:

Last Thursday, Joshua Mauldin, 19, was alone in the motel with his baby when he called for help.

“The father called down here, asked us to call 911, claimed that the child had a bad sunburn and was bleeding,” hotel manager James Marx said.

Marx said he didn’t seem distraught at all.

Mauldin later told police it wasn’t a sunburn, but that he had accidentally spilled boiling water on the child.

Then his story changed again.

“The first time, he tripped,” Galveston Police Sgt. Annie Almendarev said Wednesday. “Then he said, no, he was drinking it and spilled it. There were just too many inconsistencies. He just couldn’t keep his stories straight.”

A tip then led investigators to the hotel room’s microwave, where they discovered the baby had been placed inside.

Mauldin then confessed, saying stress had driven him to burn his child.

“There was no expression. There was no expression at all. No remorse,” Almendarev said.

The baby girl was rushed to Shriners Hospital, where she’s undergone two skin graft surgeries and is in critical but stable condition.

She suffered severe burns to the left side of her face and left hand.

“I’ve been doing this for a lot of years and actually it brought tears to my eyes,” Galveston Police Sgt. Annie Almendarev said. “The baby is burned on the left side here and it’s just really bad. Her hand is so swollen – if you’ve ever touched something hot you know you get that big boil on your hand – it looks like she’s holding a ball in her little bitty hand. It was just heartbreaking.”

Investigators believe the child was in the microwave for ten to 20 seconds.

“I’m sitting there looking at the pictures and I’m sitting there looking at him, and there’s nothing I could really do about it but just keep my composure,” Almendarez said.

Mauldin had checked into the hotel last week along with his baby, his wife and his mother.

Police said he came to Galveston from Arkansas in search of a job as a minister.

“He’s the worst scum of the earth. I can’t … It makes you want to have cameras in the rooms,” Marx said.

At the time of the incident, Mauldin’s wife and mother were reportedly picking up dinner at a nearby restaurant.

According to police reports, he told investigators God ordered him to go to Galveston.

Mauldin was being held in the Galveston County Jail facing felony charges of injury to a child. His bond was set at $250,000.

Prosecutors said, if convicted, he could face anywhere from five to 99 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

I hope to God he gets 99 years!! And I don't care if the devil made him do it or not - he did it, so he pays for it!! As far as I'm concerned, he IS the devil! Not only did he microwave that poor child, he also put her in the motel room refrigerator and shut the door, then put her in the room safe and shut the door, then finally in the microwave - and all of that AFTER he had beaten her in the groin!! He's a sick son of a bitch and deserves to die! But first, let's beat HIS groin and put HIM in the microwave! And PLEASE let them be smart enough NOT to give any kind of custody back to that worthless so-called mother! She's making excuses for her teenage husband and only talks about him and herself, never about the baby - except in the context of when she's talking about herself and their "family". Did you know when she gave an exclusive interview to a Galveston TV station she would only do it if they didn't show her face? You know why? It wasn't because she was ashamed, guilt-ridden or afraid. She told producers it was because she "doesn't look like the old pictures they're showing on TV anymore". VANITY!

Take the baby away from that woman FOREVER!!

Joshua Mauldin, Father Microwaves Own Baby, Galveston, Texas

I interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading for this announcement:

I have a couple of things to say to the person who emailed me last night -
First of all, you're a chicken shit. You used an email anonymizer. What's the matter, you can't say what you want to say without hiding? Well, I'm out here in the open telling you that not only are you a chicken shit, but you're also an idiot. Let me educate you --

When a person buys a domain name, all you are purchasing is the domain; actually, all you're really buying is the extension. For instance, my domain is prismofwhispers.com .... someone else out there could buy prismofwhispers(dot)net, or (dot)us, or (dot)tv, or (dot)info, and so on and so on and so on. When you buy a domain name, it's not yours forever (unless you keep paying for it every year - or every 5 years or whatever - the point being you're merely leasing it) and it's not trademarked or copyrighted! Actually, retrieverbreedsonline(dot)us, retrieverbreedsonline(dot)org and retrieverbreedsonline(dot)biz are all available! If you want 'em you can buy 'em! No biggie, and no problem!

In conclusion, next time before you open your big mouth behind your big anonymous email address again, EDUCATE YOURSELF FIRST! Otherwise, I'll just have to show everyone what an idiot you are all over again, and it really is rather boring.

Now, for everyone else, you are invited to visit MY new domain and forum, Retriever Breeds Online! We're a friendly bunch of dog-lovin' people. (Don't worry, all the meanies went the other way)

OK, you may now continue your regularly scheduled blog hopping. Sorry for the crude interruption!

EDIT: Oh my, it seems Mr/Mrs/Ms Idiot is reading my blog! Yay! More hits for me! Thanks for helping my ranking! Just wondering, oh invisible one, did these people steal it? Geez, if there couldn't be any web sites with the same name, the web would be a VERY small place! Like I said, educate yourself before opening your mouth. And by the way, your emails are even more ludicrous since you insist on hiding behind your veil. There's nothing more pathetic than a so-called bully too afraid to take credit for their words!! Get a life! And grow up already!

Idiots, Domain Names, Internet, Email Anonymizers

You know, this whole Walter Reed Hospital thing leaves me with such a feeling of outrage and contempt, I just want to scream! (Read these 7 letters to the Editor of The New York Times; there you will get a very real sense of what it is like to be treated there!) What is wrong with our Government?! And then, to make me even more furious, I find 2 articles produced today on the 9News web site describing how the Army wants to claim eminent domain over land in Southeastern Colorado, forcing ranchers and farmers to sell so that they (the Army) can have more room to train soldiers, and the second telling of how the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver is turning away patients with weak immune systems!

OK, let's start from the beginning:

It is impossible not to feel fury at the shameful neglect of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed’s outpatient facilities, just a few miles from an oblivious and neglectful White House. Many have been housed in rooms coated with mold and infested with cockroaches and mice. They have been swamped with confusing paperwork and forced to take responsibility for managing their own medical care. And when they or their family members have complained, their pleas for help have been callously ignored.

In a desperate scramble to mute public outrage, President Bush yesterday named two political veterans to lead a commission charged with investigating conditions throughout the entire system of military and veterans’ hospitals. The choices seem to be good ones: Bob Dole, a veteran wounded in World War II and a former Republican Party candidate for president, and Donna Shalala, who ran the Health and Human Services Department for President Bill Clinton.

There is plenty of blame to go around. Officials at Walter Reed were egregiously negligent. The Army’s high command, and the Joint Chiefs above them, were too weak-kneed or obtuse to demand adequate resources for medical care — just as they were too fearful for their own careers to demand adequate troops to fight the Iraq war to begin with.

But the fundamental responsibility rests with the president and his former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who stubbornly insisted on going to war without sufficient resources — and then sought to hide the costs of their disastrous mistakes from the American public. (read the rest here)

Feeling angry yet?

The people and lawmakers of Colorado are fighting back with regard to the Army using eminent domain in forcing area farmers and ranchers to sell their land:

DENVER (AP) - A panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday said Colorado should tell the Army that it can't force landowners to sell land in order to triple the size of its Pinon Canyon training site.

Members of the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs voted 7-4 in support of the proposal (House Bill 1069) even though they weren't sure if the state has the power to stop the Army from using eminent domain if it moves ahead with the expansion.

"Despite the fact that we're virtually powerless, I believe we should move forward as best as we can," Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R-Berthoud) said.

Ranchers from southeastern Colorado said the Army hasn't proven why it needs more land and praised the vote. Despite the legal questions, they think the measure sends a strong message to Washington that Colorado is concerned about the expansion and that could make it harder for the Army to win approval for it.

Well, we can hope so, anyway! Further,

Fort Carson uses the site to train its soldiers and last month got permission to go ahead with an in-depth environmental study of the proposed expansion. Ranchers worry Army will use eminent domain to force them to sell their land, shutting down ranches that have been in families for generations and hurting area's agriculture-based economy. (read it all here)

And then, to further fuel the fire of my outrage, I read:

Patients who have compromised immune systems cannot stay at the VA hospital; they have to be shipped to another city or they have to be referred to another practice,” said Montague.

The hospital spokesperson, Christina White, says there is a mold spore in the building called aspergillus.

“We don't state that aspergillus is a direct relationship with cleanliness, it is found in the environment, it is a fungus and it's a challenge because it is in the environment,” said White.

The hospital has been taking steps to deal with the fungus since it was discovered in 2001, when some patients became ill from the mold spore. It says the aspergillus is likely coming from a dirt sub-basement floor." (read the rest here)

Ummm, it's been SIX YEARS??? *shaking head in disbelief* And the Government is CUTTING Federal funding for VA Hospitals??? Yeah, that makes sense.

The New York Times story sums it up best:

The revelations have flushed out disturbing complaints about shoddy treatment throughout the military and the veterans’ medical system and about a hostile process for determining disability benefits. None of this can be tolerated. The soldiers who have sacrificed their health and limbs to a misguided and mismanaged war deserve the best possible care when they return — for a lifetime, if necessary. And the president needs to learn that the horrors of this war can no longer be denied or hidden away.

Right on!!!!

Now, let's see if I understand all of this ...... The Army wants to force farmers and ranchers in Southeastern Colorado who have owned and worked the land for generations to sell to them so they have more room to train more soldiers to send to war so that when they come home wounded they can put them in rat-infested and moldy hospitals for so-called medical care for their bravery and sacrifice. Is that about it?

I'm just sayin' .....

technorati tags: Army, Federal Government, VA hospitals, Walter Reed Medical Center

I used to like Eddie Murphy. But of course, I didn't really know Eddie Murphy. I just liked the man he put out there for us all to see. That is, until he left the woman he got pregnant and is denying it's his baby. That gave me and the rest of the world a pretty good inkling that he's a scum, and last night his behavior at the Oscars cemented it. As reported by Us Magazine:

Is Eddie Murphy a sore loser? After failing to nab the award for Best Supporting Actor to Little Miss Sunshine’s Alan Arkin, Murphy tried to brush off the loss, telling Us, "It's fine. It happens. It's OK."

But clearly it wasn't. Shortly thereafter Murphy, 45, and girlfriend Tracey Edmonds left the show in a huff and didn’t return. Thanks to the early exit, the actor didn’t see any of his Dreamgirls castmates perform and missed out on costar Jennifer Hudson’s win for Best Supporting Actress.

I am SO glad he lost! He is a self-serving, self-important jerk! Maybe this loss will deflate his ego a little bit, but I doubt it. People like that ALWAYS think they're better than sliced bread, no matter what!

Now, regarding my previous post, I want to thank you all for your sweet, thoughtful and supportive comments. Terry advises me to "Just write out one thing that is getting you down, one little step at a time, and maybe it will get easier". I think that is very good advice. I will try to give it a try. ;) Thank you.

technorati tags: Oscars, EddieMurphy, SoreLoser

I'm just in one of those moods, so am gonna rag on some stuff! First, I want to YELL about doctors and how they fail their patients! According to The New York Times,

.... a new survey has revealed that a disturbing number of doctors, at the presumed pinnacle of the health professions, feel no responsibility to inform patients of treatments that they deem immoral or to refer them to other doctors for care. Although the close-mouthed doctors claim a right to follow their consciences, they are grievously failing their patients and seem to have forgotten the age-old admonition to “do no harm.”

(Read the entire article here)

Ya' know, it's sad but true, you simply can not trust ANYone these days! And doctors ... well, they're a breed unto themselves. Oh sure, there are some good ones, but many of them have God complexes and think their patients should just shut up and do what they're told! Not me! I want to know EXACTLY what they're doing to me and WHY! I demand to know! I remember when my sister was in the hospital in Ft. Collins and my other sister and I were staying up there in a hotel so she wouldn't be alone. The doctors were not very forthcoming with information - in fact, we never saw the doctors, and neither did my sister! All communications from the doctors were relayed through the nurses. Well, my other sister and I weren't gonna have any of that! LOL So we asked the nurses what time the doctors usually made rounds, and she told us some ungodly hour of the morning, but we got up and went to the hospital the next morning and you should've seen the doctor's face! LOL He was shocked as hell that we were there! And not only there, but DEMANDING more tests be done, and literally telling him that she was NOT going to be discharged until we had a definitive diagnosis! You know what? He did the tests!

Next, I want to bitch about politicians. You can't believe a single one of 'em! Their campaigns are described openly as strategies, and how they have to change their strategies so that the American public likes what it is hearing and will vote for them. Now, what's wrong with that picture? When I hear the word 'strategy', I think of the TV show Survivor, where they are constantly strategizing (read lying) in order to win, stabbing everyone else in the back along the way! I don't want my vote to be manipulated!! And don't even get me started on all the back-pedaling Hillary and Rudy Giuliani are doing with regard to her vote in 2002 in favor of taking military action against Iraq and his stance on abortion (The latter of which really disappoints me. I hate to see him "changing his strategy" [there's that pesky phrase!] and playing "the game" that way!). Once again, according to The New York Times,

At nearly every stop in New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, has been greeted warmly but has been met by skeptical voters asking pointedly about her 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq. On Sunday in Nashua, one person told her that her explanation “doesn’t fly,” while another asked why she did not simply say that the vote was a mistake.

Yeah, really! At least John Edwards came out and apologized for his vote in 2002, saying it was a mistake (which I highly respect him for). But not Hillary!

Mrs. Clinton’s refusal to use clear, categorical phrases — “I’m sorry” or “I made a mistake” — has created an opening for Mr. Obama and another rival, former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who has openly apologized for his identical 2002 vote.

(Read the entire article here)

That brings me to Barak Obama. I like him. A lot! Admittedly, I have not read much about John Edwards - yet - but what I have read leads me to believe that he may be a little more honest and down-to-earth than your average politician. Barak, though, seems extremely sincere and genuine, and very real. He is someone I am going to be watching very closely, and I absolutely hope he takes the nomination away from Hillary! *gag* (Did you know there are people who are so small-minded and ignorant, they say they won't vote for him because his middle name is Hussein? Idiots! Does that mean every man named Jack is going to murder prostitues like Jack the Ripper?? )

Well, I guess that's about all for now (don't cheer too loudly, you'll hurt my feelings ). Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

There are some really sick people in this world, huh. I never, ever thought anyone would even THINK to create a video game depicting the Columbine High School massacre. What kind of damage does a person have to have in order to even contemplate such a thing, let alone actually create it!? Thank God there are sane people in the world - take for instance the people behind the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. According to the news:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A film festival that also showcases aspiring video-game developers has caused controversy by rejecting a game depicting the Columbine High School massacre.

The move by the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, prompted a key sponsor from the University of Southern California to withdraw in protest, and six game makers pulled their creations.

The festival said it had moral obligations to consider.

At least they have a moral compass!! But what's up with the "key sponsor from the University of Southern California" who withdrew in protest?? And the six game makers who pulled their creations?? Is everyone losing their mind? Is everything sick and disgusting supposed to be acceptable as long as it's in the name of technology?? Damn!

Now get this -

Danny Ledonne, who created "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!", says he wanted to make a game about an important event and believed it would spark serious discussion about the shootings in Colorado in 1999.

Are you kidding?!?! I think there has been PLENTY of serious discussion about those shootings, and people don't need shit like that to spur intelligent and meaningful dialogue about such things! What a sick, insensitive, greedy, morbid person!! I can't even comprehend it. God forbid anyone he knows and loves should go through something like that and then have someone make a game out of it! Sick bastard!

I'm going to try to get through this without puking. It will be enormously difficult.

I'm sure most all of you have heard about O.J. Simpson's new book deal, right? I'm not going to dignify it by naming it. And now I find out that FOX is going to air a two night event (event? more like DISGRACE!!!) on the 27th and 29th, wherein O.J. will be interviewed by Judith Regan, who happens to also be the publisher of his disgusting filth called a book. FOX says:

Simpson describes how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, "if he were the one responsible."

Okay, here's where I'm going to puke. Hold on. The only thing left to say is that I hope his children get psychological counseling SOON, and get away from their sick, demented, psycho father FOREVER!!!! O.J. Simpson doesn't deserve to live. He should've gotten the chair 10 years ago. I wonder how those jurors can live with themselves!!

Alright, People, a call to action!! Go find your local FOX affiliate, then inundate them with phone calls, letters, emails, WHATEVER IT TAKES!! Tell them you will boycott their station and their parent company if they air that sick, twisted interview!! I've already emailed mine, demanding them NOT to air that despicable interveiw by that EVIL so-called man! Who's with me?

Well, at this late hour (12:50am), we are still waiting for the Virginia and Montana votes to be completely tallied. Both races are too close to call, but at the moment the Democrats are edging-out the Republicans, which makes me as pleased as punch. No, I'm not a registered Democrat; nor am I a registered Republican; I am a registered Independent. Or, as I have now begun calling myself, a Republicrat. It looks like House leadership will go to the Democrats for the first time since 1994, which I am SO happy about! I think it's a pretty clear-cut message that Americans are SICK of what the Republicans have wrought over the last few years, especially the last 2, with the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the Foley scandal. Not to mention that George Dubya' is a buffoon. And, for the first time in history, the Speaker of the House will be a woman. No, I did not vote a straight ticket (with all due respect, I think anyone who does is just nuts!); in fact, I think I probably voted about half and half, but am nonetheless pleased with the success of the Democrats. We here in Colorado elected a Democrat to be our new Governor, which I am very happy about as well. Bill Ritter is a native Coloradoan (as is his entire family, consisting of TWELVE siblings, who all still live here) who served for 12 years as Denver's District Attorney and was very well-respected. He's unusual in that he happens to be a Pro-Life Democrat, so that should be interesting. ANYway, I think Colorado and the country as a whole are in for some much-needed and hopefully very wonderful changes!

So as I was sitting here this evening, I noticed that I had two "Breaking News" emails from two separate news agencies (one of them being CNN!), so I naturally expected them to be about the elections and the problems some precincts were having in Colorado and elsewhere in the country, but no, the BREAKING NEWS was about -- get ready for this -- Britney Spears filing for divorce! Are you kidding me???!!! As if I care! And why should anyone else??? And WHY is it Breaking News, especially on election day???!!! I think that's pathetic! People in the entertainment industry get married and divorced every day! It isn't news - it's standard operating procedure! I'll tell ya' who I feel sorry for - her two children. One of them is only 2 months old. Speaking as someone whose parents divorced when I was just 10 months old, it totally sucks. But as far as Britney and Kevin Federline are concerned, I couldn't care less!! (They would be the losers )

I guess that's all I have on my mind right now. Guess I'll go watch TV some more and wait for the last winners to be named. Ciao!

See? I told you so!!

(for some reason this doesn't render quite right in Firefox *booo*)

Now that we have that settled, let's move on .....

This is destined to be a hit! LOL Especially 'round these parts! Hell, I'm hurting my brain trying to think of someone I can send to the auditions in Lincoln, Nebraska! Seriously, I am stoked to see this show! I wanna see what city girl wants to live the farm life - that is, until she finds out what it's really like! It sure ain't an easy life, that's for sure, and NOTHING like city livin'! It's a good life, but hoooweee! That girl will REALLY have to know how to adjust!

Now for the serious stuff .....

My sister and I were discussing this earlier this evening, and we both agree that it was pretty chicken shit of Ted Haggard not to address his former congregation in person. He did it by letter that someone else read. What'sa matter, Teddy, ya' scared? Yeah, probably so, just like your advisors who are forbidding you from making any public appearances or doing any personal interviews for ONE YEAR! Gosh, you'd think they were trying to hide something, wouldn't ya'. And now he's going into counseling and "restoration". Restoration?? Restoring him to what? The "perfect" person he was before? Before what? Before he realized as a young adult that he's a gay man but decided to live a lie? Ain't no such animal as a perfect human being, and being gay isn't evil or from the devil, either! Hopefully he'll realize that someday, and know that God still loves him.

OK, now I think I'm finished. Until later, anyway.

As we all know, good ol' boys are alive and well in America. Small towns are no exception. Sometimes, though, I think small towns are even worse. In fact, I know they are. If you've never lived in a small town, then you don't know what I'm talking about and I can't really describe it to you. There's just a certain "mentality" that exists in small towns that you don't find anywhere else. My town certainly fits the bill. The heated and contentious race for Sheriff is a perfect example. There have been the unfortunate and seemingly typical mud-slinging going on from both sides. Plus there's been a lot of clouded innuendo and insinuation, always from unnamed sources as they are afraid to go completely public. Most of them are employees of the Sheriff's Office and are fearful of recrimination. Well, the clouds have lifted, thanks to a report by Denver's 9News. They came to town the other day to find out exactly what was going on here. Their report will air on tonight's 10:00 news, and is reported on their web site as well. I was completely disgusted when I read it. I always knew Bollish was a self-impressed womanizer, but never knew how sexually intimidating he and his officers had made the workplace for the women employees. It makes me sick! I am SO GLAD it's all out in the open now!

Read for yourself:

KUSA - Since 1979, a Bollish has been sheriff of Logan County. Donald Bollish served until 1995, when his son, Bob Bollish, was elected.

Yet in August, Bob Bollish lost the primary to Brett Powell, then a patrol sergeant. Bollish said his disappointment was mirrored by voters who approached him and asked how he could keep his administration going. His solution, Bollish said: A write-in candidate.

"They asked what we could do and I told them that I would select the best person," Bollish told 9NEWS, "which was Walt Page."

Page, a lieutenant, agreed to run, and named Bollish as his undersheriff.

Yet things were not that simple.

On October 15, a female detention deputy filed a complaint against Page and two other deputies for sexual harassment. Now Bollish, the sheriff, has found himself in the middle of a hornet's nest of accusations--aimed at his running mate, and at how he, Bollish, has handled the situation.

In her complaint, the female deputy said Page has repeatedly harassed her. He made remarks about her breasts; she said, asked her to sit on his lap and, in front of a witness, used crude slang to offer her oral sex. The woman asked 9NEWS not to show her face or use her name for fear of future retaliation.

"I think women deserve to be respected, women and men," the woman told 9NEWS through tears. "I mean, we're here to do a job and that's it. And, just being treated like this, it's uncalled for."

When asked about the allegations, at first Page said he didn't know. Later, he told 9NEWS, "Well, there may have been some remarks made with this young lady, but they were in a joking manner, and many of those remarks were initiated by her initiating the conversation."

A witness to one incident named in the complaint said that was not true.

"All she said to him was, 'Hi,'" said the woman, who asked not to be named because she was afraid. "She said hi, and he made his comment. And I'll tell you right now I don't think he was joking."

9NEWS has learned that this is not the first time Page has been the subject of scrutiny on the job. In 1989, he was fired from the Fort Morgan Police Department after his supervisors determined that Page, who had an affair with a dispatcher, did not meet department standards.

"At the end of his probation, there was an evaluation done, and it was not a favorable evaluation," said Harold Davisson, who served as chief of the Fort Morgan police department from 1981 until he retired in 2000.

"We decided this person does not meet our standard for being a police officer," Davisson said, adding that such a decision was not made lightly. "I called all of his supervisors, and they said, 'Don't keep him.'.We do everything we can to salvage an employee. But if they don't meet our standards, we don't keep them, either."

When told that Page was now running for sheriff, Davisson said, "I don't know how he's changed. I know people can change. If he's changed, that's great."

When asked about what happened at Fort Morgan, Page at first declined to answer whether he had an affair on the job, saying, "My private life is my private life." Later, Page said, "I made a lot of mistakes."

"I was a 21-year-old kid," Page said. "I thought I knew everything. I was married, I destroyed my marriage, absolutely my own fault, but the important thing is what did I do with my life after that."

Page said he is qualified to run for sheriff since he has been in law enforcement for 17 years, and that by age 27 was the chief investigator at the Logan County Sheriff's office. He wanted to continue the work of Bollish's administration, he said, which has put a lot of drug dealers in jail, especially in northeast Colorado.

He told 9NEWS that he felt the sexual harassment complaint was politically motivated.

"The thing you probably ought to know is the people that are involved in this campaign are desperate people," he said, "who will stop at nothing to take over the sheriff's office."

Bollish echoed that thought. The woman making the complaint, he said, said she has been repeatedly harassed for a year.

"And it's just been brought to my attention at this particular time in the political campaign she has taken offense," Bollish said, "and reported it a week before the election. That really bothers me."

Asked about the timing of her complaint, the female deputy said it was because on October 11, Page harassed her one final time. Upset by the incident, she said, she went to a victim's advocate, who told her she would be supported if she came forward. After agonizing over her decision, the deputy said, she filed the complaint four days later.

"It's hard to turn in people who are higher up than you," the woman said. "Because those are the people you are supposed to look up to, they're supposed to give you direction and supposed to show you leadership. They're not supposed to do that to you."

Now, despite great pressure by some to drop her complaint, the woman said, she is standing firm.

"I feel like I have a duty to the citizens of this community to let them know what Walt's really like," she told 9NEWS. "If he's not afraid to act like this around women right now, what's he going to be like if he does get elected sheriff? That's pretty scary."

Sheriff Bollish said of the three complaints filed by the female deputy, only one has been formally investigated. As for the other two-including the complaint against Page-the sheriff says he's conducting an investigation on whether or not to open an investigation-against the man he's running with in the upcoming election.

"We take severe measures around here," Bollish said. "We are very serious about sexual harassment."

The woman's husband, Logan County sheriff's Sgt. John Japp, disagrees.

"I believe with Lt. Page's status in the office, and him running for write-in sheriff, I believe it should have been handled by an outside agency," Japp said.

Japp said that when the sheriff asked to meet with him, he secretly recorded the hour-long conversation, conducted at the Village Inn on October 23.

In the tape, obtained by 9NEWS, Sheriff Bollish can be heard telling Japp that Page, who remarried, had promised to "clean up his act."

"He told me, when he married.he'd clean up his act," Bollish can be heard saying. "He was gonna be straightened out. But he still has the-if you want to call it-a potty mouth."

Bollish then went on to tell Japp that he believes in the female deputy who filed the complaint.

"I tell you, I think the world of your wife," Bollish said. "Your wife is dedicated and she's honest."

He then told Japp that Page did not mean his remarks, and that he, Bollish, would handle the situation.

"Let me guarantee you something-anything that Walt says is in fun, because he is not serious about it. I'm watching that guy like a hawk. He's got a mouth on him. And if he did something what I heard he did, I'll smack him up against the wall, if he learns from it."

The entire situation angers Japp.

"The sheriff has known this has been a problem with Lt. Page for a long time--and he said it on tape," said Japp, who added that he doesn't understand how Bollish can continue to support Page. "If this is becoming a problem, why do you want him as write-in sheriff?"

Bollish declined to answer questions about the conversation with Japp, other than to say he did describe Page as having "a potty mouth." Bollish said he continues to support his running mate, and defended Page's language.

"Well, I guess I could call half of Logan County, or I guess I could call several people a potty mouth, because people sometimes say things they shouldn't say," he told 9NEWS.

"I guess one off-color comment has turned into a mess."

Meanwhile, the man who won the primary, Powell, resigned from the sheriff's office in order to campaign.

"The reason I'm running for sheriff is to try to bring back the morals and integrity of the Logan County Sheriff's office," he said.

Yet Powell admitted that he had an incident of improper language in his own record, when he called some jail employees a sexual slang term.

"I said that, I didn't say it directly to a person, I said it to somebody else," he told 9NEWS. "It got back to the sheriff."

Powell said he was reprimanded, and that it was the only such incident in his time as a deputy.

He is qualified to be sheriff, he said, because he has been in law enforcement for nine years and spent four years in the military, including serving in Operation Desert Storm.

"There were a lot of people in the community that were looking for a change," Powell said, "so I stepped up to the plate and decided to run."

Page is as disgusting as Bollish! All he's doing is trying to win the election so he can hand the Sheriff's Office right back to Bollish. Do they think we're stupid??? That rumor, now fact, has been circulating for a long time now. They're both sexist pigs! Bobby Boy (Bollish) says that whatever Page says is all in fun?? How repulsive!! Maybe he should ask the women to whom his remarks were directed just how fun it was!! What an ass!

I have to say I'm disappointed to find out that Powell was reprimanded once for remarks he made, too, but it sounds like he learned his lesson and has since watched his mouth and "flown right". Walt Page, on the other hand, obviously can't control the crap that comes out of his mouth. Without a doubt, he has no respect for females at all. I need to stop now or I'm gonna throw up! *gag*

(If you're at all interested in seeing what others in my town have to say about this, go here [our local newspaper online] and read the comments.)