I read an article on CNN about median incomes. The current highest state is Maryland, with $65k.
My current base pay is about half that… I voluntarily traded income for the security of a steady paycheck plus benefits.
Now I find myself struggling to pay off debt accumulated during the period when I had the extra income.

I watch our government take our rights, destroy our economy and collect data on individuals without benefit of court orders, and then hide behind “state secrets.”
This makes me angry almost beyond reason, not because the people in office are power hungry, and seem to be there solely to benefit the major corporations. This I expect from politicians….. but because I find myself impotent in this matter.
We elected Democrats in a pathetic attempt to change things…… They lied
Any changes have been, at best, minuscule. No politician will ever give up power.

I find I have fewer and fewer friends. Some moved, some died, and some I simply don’t see anymore.
I leave the house only under protest, not because of the sheer number of idiots on the road, but because I find it to be an imposition. It disrupts my sitting in the dark, in front of my computer, essentially doing nothing.

At work, they no longer invite me to go to a place like the Rio for their parties, they know I won’t show.
Why they think I would enjoy going out with a bunch of married women who are half my age, I cannot fathom.
Still, for some completely illogical reason, I miss being invited.

My problem is me.
I’m getting old and no drug on the market will change that.
I’m fat, but food is one of the few things I enjoy.
I’m single by choice, and now that I sometimes think I would like someone to talk to besides the cats, I find I have become set in my ways, and have trouble envisioning my changing.
I have little to offer a potential mate, and yet I remain selective about the company I keep.
I’m in a rut, but, that rut, is more comfortable than the physical effort or emotional risks required to make a change… This is also depressing.

According to this item in the NYT, Jack McClellan is in more trouble:
A self-described pedophile said he would leave California after a judge ordered him to stay away permanently from places where children gather.
Mr. McClellan, 45, came to the attention of the authorities because of a Web site where he posted photographs of children in public places and discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls congregated. His Internet service provider took down his Web site more than a month ago.

Mr. McClellan maintained he started the site as a form of therapy and would not do anything illegal. He has never been charged with molesting.

Is he a pedophile who’s never been caught?
Is he a pedophile who lacks the will to act?
Does he simply crave attention?

No matter how you answer these questions, Jack McClellan remains well outside the norm. As a result, he will forever be persecuted, whether or not, a crime has been committed.
The blame, however, remains with him, and his apparent need to tell the world that he is a deviant and proud of it.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Blasphemous balls anger Afghans
In the Islamic world people fight and die over the meaning of a single passage.
I’m certain our ground troops are aware of the delicate nature of the situation. But, as ever, the people in command of our troops haven’t a clue, and have once again demonstrated their complete and utter lack of even the most basic understanding of the local culture and beliefs.

A friend asked me how I came up with the domain name for this site. The truth is.. I haven’t a clue.

The domain I wanted was taken. This led to typing almost random combinations of words in the Godaddy domain name search engine.
This eventually led to a name that suits me.
I have yet to decide on a central theme, perhaps I never will.

The items I choose to blog about are things that strike me as interesting, unusual or that have crossed the line into madness.

The dancing Philippine prisoners are unusual.
The self described pedophile… is most certainly mad.

Perhaps describing this site… or deciding it’s intent, is a project best left for late night.

Does anyone else remember when the Democrats swore they would fix the way things were done in congress… All we had to do was vote for them…. as if anyone but a brain damaged five year old expected a real change.

They said they would stop earmarks, by forcing members to put their name on them.

Earmarks now generate both pork and bragging rights. With the numbers now visible, the race is on to see who has the most juice. Whoever brings home the largest number of unnecessary, and wasteful projects wins.

The numbers are amazing even by political standards.
Nancy Pelosi earmarked $63 million for her pet projects. Primarily in her home district.
Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense, obtained $163 million in pet projects — more than anyone else in Congress and more than his own previous record of about $100 million.
…Ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

The Democrats are still pikers when compared to the Republicans in 2005, but they are trying.

The Democrats said they would change the rules… right up to the day, that they would have to give up the power of the committees they now control…. Or the power to give friends, relatives and large donors, wheel barrows full of money.
Earmarks… the ultimate friends and family plan.

I stumbled across this in Al Jazeera:

These prisoners in the Philippines look like they are practicing for a dance recital.. and they are.

Some of the 1500 inmates at Cebu now perform mass choreographed dance moves to the strains of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Queen’s Radio Gaga and a number from the hit film Sister Act among others.

Byron Garcia, a security consultant at the prison, says the thinking behind the move was “by music we can communicate more to the inmates. Penetrate their psyche … the end goal would be discipline”.
He said they began the dancing routines last year after he noticed that very few of the 1,600 prisoners were taking part in the calisthenics and push-ups that the jail was offering for their exercise.

Dressing up as a nun wearing make-up would normally be considered risky behaviour inside prison walls but that’s exactly what Wengiel Resane does.
He is the lead in three of the inmates’ 12 routines, including their interpretation of Sister Act, the film starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Garcia initially put videos of the routines on the internet to show other jailers alternative ways to instill discipline and allow the inmates to have fun at the same time.
He never expected them to become hits but a video of the inmates performing Thriller clocked up an amazing 1.9 million views on YouTube.

I have never experienced prolonged incarceration, but from people I have met, I can tell you that the prolonged, unbroken, periods of boredom cause more problems than any other source.
Imagine, being locked up with the same faces day in and day out, with not much of anything to do.

This alternative to push-ups, provides an alleviation of the boredom and a chance to do something with others… Man.. after all, is a pack animal.

There is no danger of this revolutionizing the way correctional institutions are run, or of it becoming the next hit “reality show.” But, for now it seems to help.

Although, as reality TV, it could hardly be worse than the drivel the networks produce now.