The Forkes Report - Social Responsibility

Falling Through the Cracks

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:01:00 -0600

For most of the past 30 years I’ve told anyone who cared to listen the Veterans Administration health care was far more preferable to the private sector health care system for the simple reason the V.A. health care system put the needs of the patients ahead of every other consideration. The health insurance industry has one priority: making a profit. Therefore, their system rewards doctors who don’t provide treatments and otherwise save the insurance companies money by denying patients care. The stories of how people have died from curable conditions because the insurance companies denied treatment have been told over and over again on news programs for decades now. The Veterans Administration was different.

Not anymore. Our government is abandoning our veterans, especially if they have been in the V.A. system before 9/11. It blew my mind Friday when my V.A. health care provider, the same woman I’ve had for ten years now, ran down the list of services I would no longer receive and then she said, “They are making it easier for you to fall through the cracks.”

The V.A. will no longer automatically set appointments, as they once did; they will no longer mail out notices and make reminder phone calls for upcoming appointments, as they once did. They will no longer suggest treatment for conditions that arise after the veteran leaves the military, as they once did, all in an effort to purge the system of the veterans who have been in the system before 9/11.

When a vet calls the V.A. now, we still here the “Hang up and call 9-1-1 if this is a medical emergency” message, but then they say, “If you are a returning Iraq/Afghan war veteran, press one.” Everyone else has to stay on the line and follow through the various prompts, as has been the case.

Never before has the Veterans Administration differentiated between the various eras of vets using the V.A. system. Certainly not in the 30 years since I’ve been in the system. Yeah, in the past, they directed vets who thought they might be affected by Agent Orange to certain prompts and more recently those who suspect they suffer from Gulf War Syndrome. But never have they set one era of veterans apart from the rest in order to make that one era a priority over the others.

How did this all come about? Easy answer: President Bush and his Republican Congress. In 2003, just before Bush launched his war in Iraq, Congress — a Republican Congress — cut President Bush’s budget for the V.A. by nearly a billion dollars for fiscal year 2004, just when the first casualties from the Iraq War would start coming into the V.A. system. And it called for another 10 billion in cuts over the next ten years. Just when the V.A. itself estimated they would increase the number of veterans they would be servicing by 10% or more.

In 2005 Congress, controlled by the Republicans, past an Iraq War supplemental bill that cut funding to the Veterans Administration to the tune of over 16 billion dollars over a five year period beginning with fiscal year 2006.

What did they do? They added enrollment fees the vets must pay before getting any benefits, cutting cash payments to vets with service-connected disabilities and conditions, cutting pension benefits and payments, reducing the vocational rehabilitation and education benefits and increasing the fees to veterans who apply for V.A. home loans.

So, in 2007, when Bush gushed about “raising” funding for the Veterans Administration by 7%, all he really did was stop some of the budget slashing mandated by these earlier budget cuts. In fact, in 2006, before the Democrats won control of Congress, such as it is, Bush’s plan was to drastically cut benefits and increase fees and co-pays for veterans starting in 2008 and then every year thereafter, increasing the cuts well beyond his presidency. In fact, the Bush Administration called increasing the V.A. budget “hurtful” to national security.

That’s the legacy of the party that claims it supports the troops louder than everyone else. Why my fellow veterans have overwhelmingly thrown their support to Bush and the Republicans is beyond me, but Americans, veterans or otherwise, often vote against their own interests, mainly because the Republicans know what buttons to push: anti-gay marriage, anti-flag burning amendments, and let’s not forget, “Wanted: Dead or Alive” and “Bring It On.”

Even while he was running for a second term in 2004, talking all about “supporting the troops” and not cutting and running, he was cutting the V.A. budget and running the military into the ground. Thanks George Bush. Thanks Congress. That’s sticking by the troops.

If you’re a veteran but not in the V.A. system yet — and you’re not an Iraq/Afghan vet — good luck getting any benefits now.

•••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• ••••

Friday, one of my favorite journalists, Tim Russert, passed away. He made Sunday Morning an important time to watch TV. He was unequivocally fair to all the people he grilled on Meet the Press and I often thought he was too hard on my favorite politicians.

He wasn’t perfect and many people consider Russert to have been a shill for the White House because he was one of the first — if not the first — to call Florida for Bush in the 2000 election. Ironically, before he got into journalism, Russert worked as a lawyer for the Democratic Party. But you wouldn’t know that from watching his program every Sunday. He was the consummate professional.

Addicted to the Drug War

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:01:00 -0600

News story Monday Night: more than 500 pounds of marijuana was found in a Phoenix home, still in the bales used to transport it from Mexico. The illegal drug trade. The effect it is having on America — the negative effect — is nearly beyond comprehension.

Some people will look on the seizure as a good thing, that the authorities made some great headway in this great war on drugs. A war that was declared in 1927 and has only grown in size and financial drain. Conversely, the amount of illegal drugs being imported and used in this country has grown exponentially.

Maybe the drug war isn’t working.

In 2007 the budget for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was over 2.3 billion dollars. That’s about half of what President Bush spends in Iraq every week. That figure doesn’t count what the states, counties and local municipalities spend in their efforts to “combat drugs.” Nor does it count the money spent to incarcerate people arrested and imprisoned for drug busts and it certainly doesn’t count the money — meager as it is — to fund drug and alcohol rehabilitation. So, as a nation, we are spending far more than that on the illegal drug problem.

And that’s the problem. As we spend and spend and spend money in this “War on Drugs,” the drug kingpins keep making more and more money. The more shipments we snag, the more shipments they manage to get through the borders and onto our streets. Of course, politicians will tell us we have to fight this War on Drugs smarter and that by doing the same thing over and over again, we will eventually get different results.

Einstein is credited with saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Every year our politicians pour more and more money into this drug war — essentially doing the same things — expecting a different result.

In reality though the usual result is what we get: huge expenditures of tax dollars for results we can show on TV. Drug busts make the news in the localities where they occur and of course the authorities, along with the local media, sex up the stories by adding “also seized were guns.” Once in a while they show an arsenal with enough weaponry to successfully assault Rhode Island. But most of the time it’s a couple firearms and I’m left wondering, what does a shotgun, a deer rifle and a Glock have to do with anything?

Back in the ‘80’s, when Reagan really amped up this phony war by sending our tax dollars into Columbia to blow up drug labs, we saw on the national news footage of U.S. agents (troops) assaulting cocaine processing plants with the usual fiery explosions and pyres of burning blow. Much to the chagrin of all involved — including the media that so loves stories with stuff blowing up — the trade in illegal cocaine didn’t subside: it increased. Imagine that. We were sending our people into harm’s way and the result was just opposite of the stated goal!
 Hey! Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, the Bushies said the Iraqis would love us for getting rid of Saddam and our troops wouldn’t be there longer than five months. Oops. Slight miscalculation.

Once the national news machines realized they were covering a losing effort, they stopped reporting on the U.S. interdiction in other nations, with the notable exception of when our troops invaded Panama to assault Manuel Noriega.
 That was planned and took place during the Bush 41 administration if you recall. The irony, no, the hypocrisy, being that less than ten years earlier George H.W. Bush was in Panama shaking hands with Noriega thanking him for his efforts on the part of assisting the U.S. in the drug war and Noriega’s assistance in Reagan’s illegal war against Nicaragua. That’s the war that produced the Iran-Contra scandal that nearly crushed the Reagan Administration.
 Thankfully for them, the chickenshit Democrats didn’t push for impeachment, even though President Reagan came out and said he was responsible for what had happened, that over 200 Reagan Administration people had either been convicted or indicted for related crimes.

The phony war on drugs is just a front for other preoccupations for some administrations.
 Hey! Where have we seen that again? Oh yeah … the war on terror switched from Afghanistan, where the terrorists had their base of operations, to Iraq, where our troops are bogged down in a war with no successful conclusion in sight. The “War on Terror” was just an excuse to invade Iraq.

In countries where drug use is legal, drug-related crimes are non-existent. In the U.S., where drugs are very much illegal, we have the largest penal system (per capita) in the world. And most of the criminals doing time are there for drug-related crimes. The amount of money spent to house these drug offenders is astounding. Billions spent by federal, state and county governments, not to mention courts so overloaded by the drug cases, true justice is nothing more than legend handed down in middle school civics books.

Which brings to mind the town of Tulia, Texas. Of course it’s gotta be Texas. In 1999 a “Gypsy Cop” by the name of Tom Coleman claimed to have bought over 100 packages of drugs from 46 people in the small Panhandle town of just over 5,000 people. All but six were African-Americans. Coleman had no records of his “buys,” none of those arrested were found with drugs, drug related money, drug paraphernalia or weapons. After the first few defendants were sentenced for stretches that included sentences of over 300 years, most of the others pleaded guilty for lesser sentences.

Even though several defendants were able to secure acquittals after proving Officer Coleman had lied about buying drugs from them, the other convictions were not over turned.

Eventually, civil rights lawyers stepped in and eventually secured the release of all those imprisoned by Officer Coleman’s fraudulent claims. Coleman eventually was convicted of perjury for his testimony.

A rogue cop, whose history would make your head spin — there was an arrest warrant for Coleman for theft and skipping out on his debts while he was conducting his so called sting operation in Tulia — had the ability to imprison 10% of Tulia’s African-Americans essentially without any evidence or corroborating testimony. For phony drug crimes.

What was Swisher County’s (where Tulia is located) motivation for hiring Coleman for this drug sting program? Federal grant money. Show some results in the “War on Drugs” and the federal government will give community money to carry on police operations.

Even though most people in government (with the exception Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona), publicly and privately, admit the “drug war” is unwinnable, all agree it is imminently fundable. Throw money at policing the drug war and most Americans think that’s a good thing.

General Barry McCaffrey, the “Drug Czar” under President Clinton, even went on TV to tell everyone the authorities were winning the war on drugs, even though every agency and private organization that is involved with the illegal drug trade said heroin use was on the rise. Clinton’s stature declined for me after that little white lie.

The real money though isn’t our tax dollars being spent. It’s the lobbyist dollars from the legal drug manufacturers who see illegal drugs as competition for their legal trade. It’s always about the money. I could write a month long series just on the CIA’s involvement in the cocaine and heroin trades just so they could fund little escapades like the illegal war in Nicaragua.
-- Here’s a little fact, the brother of Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, is the biggest opium/heroin producer in that country. Karzai is our ally by the way. Think we’ll ever go after Karzai and his brother … oh wait, we went after Manuel Noriega even though CIA Director William Casey told Noriega he could engage in the cocaine and marijuana trades as long as he let the U.S. use Panama as a base of operations for their illegal war in Nicaragua.

Legalize drugs. It’s about time.

Let’s Be Asses

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:54:30 -0600

It’s no secret, I like Maureen Dowd. As a columnist. She’s a looker alright, but I save my lechery for Playboy models, although Maureen could probably teach me a thing or two about … err … just about anything. Maureen, for those who may not know, is a regular columnist for that most hated of “liberal” rags, The New York Times.

Quite often — too often really — I’m tempted to plagiarize her material, but then it would be found out and there goes whatever credibility I may still possess. Not that a lowly unknown such as myself has any credibility outside my small circle of friends who actually read this blog.

For the past few hours I’ve been reading through her editorial columns, siphoning whatever information I might find useful to put into my own editorial column. Her latest column is titled “Nepotism Tango” and concerns the possibility of a 28-year span of Bushes and Clintons in the White House. Hard to tell if she’s seriously dumping on Hillary Clinton or not; makes you wonder if Maureen got a curt “no” when she asked for a few minutes of time with her Junior Senator. Of course I’m just speculating. Who says “no” to Maureen Dowd?

Dick Cheney … oh yeah, forgot about him for a moment. And the rest of the White House.

This started with Ms. Dowd because of her preceding column about the rude treatment the president of Iran received when he spoke at Columbia University. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may not be anyone’s favorite world leader outside of the small coterie of mullahs and sycophants that control Iran, but he was invited by the president of Columbia University to speak and the simple lessons of decency dictate Lee Bollinger treat his guest with respect. Bollinger first called Ahmadinejad a “petty and cruel dictator.” Bollinger then went on to catalogue all the ills of the regime in Tehran. His introduction was anything but warm. To much applause as well.

One of the legacies of the Bush years is a return to boorish behavior. Indeed, it was the bellicose attitude of the president and his masters that started a war in Iraq that benefited Iran more than any other. Diplomacy was turned into a soapbox for chest thumping nationalism and obnoxious behavior, sort of like Nazi Germany in the early 1930’s and like the Hitler, Bush found himself the Commander-in-Chief in a war he could not win, depleting the military of its most valuable resource; the people.

In the 2004 campaign, the main theme was that President Bush — the draft dodger — was a tough guy, a real man and his opponent, Senator John Kerry — the decorated war hero — was not. Kerry and the Democrats were adopting a “strategy of retreat” and that Kerry couldn’t win a war (Iraq) he thought was a mistake. Here it is three years later and the war drags on, not with fewer U.S. troops in Iraq, but significantly more and there are no plans to reduce that number for at least eight months.

Tough guy sound bites may win elections, but they aren’t diplomacy and they obviously do not win wars, mistaken wars or otherwise.
 One of the funniest (at the time) was Bush’s use of the term “evil-doers.” This is the president of the United States? Despite the gravity of what had just happened two months earlier, the attacks on September 11, 2001, hearing the president, in a nationally televised speech, refer to a group of people as “evil-doers.” I about fell off the couch with laughter.
 That was back in the day when the president assured us Usama bin Laden was going to pay for his crimes. He even went so far as to term the “war on terror” as a “crusade” and that this was, for Bush, a mission from God. Bush wanted bin Laden “dead or alive,” invoking the largely mythical portrait of the old American West, a Hollywood vision of what America might have been if the world had indeed been a black and white world where the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. Interestingly, two of the most famous “good guys” of the Old West, Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, both wore black hats.
 By 2002, Bush said of bin Laden, “I am truly not that concerned about him” and he told Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes bin Laden was “… not a top priority use of American resources.”
 Toppling Saddam Hussein and creating a Middle East version of Bush’s vision of America in Iraq was the top priority.

Unfortunately, when a president talks like a schoolyard bully and displays the behavior of an ugly American in a Parisian bistro, a large enough number of American citizens follow suit and that becomes the world’s view of American attitudes and values.

How many Germans, normally decent human beings, got pumped up and followed the jingoism of Hitler in 1932, when he promised a new Reich in which Germany would be the pinnacle society in the history of mankind? It isn’t popular to compare our president to the man who started the worst, most destructive war in human history, but how can we ignore the parallels?

Besides the nationalistic jingoism, the president and his minions have convinced a large enough percentage of Americans that diminishing our civil liberties is good for the country, pretty much has Hitler did in 1932 when he grabbed power and began his fascist regime.

And like Hitler found himself in 1939 when the entire world was stacked against him, except for a few allies, only one of them being a world power (Japan), the United States has been on the defensive around the world since the president started his war in Iraq. They haven’t taken up arms against the United States, but we find ourselves with few allies in the “war on terror” and even fewer still in Iraq.

Iran is not a beacon of freedom or hope and Ahmadinejad has been a boorish leader. He held a two-day conference for holocaust deniers two years ago. He has led his nation during one of its most severe eras of repression; journalists, academics and other dissidents have been jailed for what they have written or said. But is that any reason to debase ourselves with rude and boorish behavior? Bollinger didn’t need to treat Ahmadinejad so childishly, the Iranian leader’s own words pretty much put the traffic pattern engineer (he holds a PhD in traffic management) in the light we so often view him.

What Bollinger’s introduction did do is confirm to the rest of the world the United States is a country that prefers bellicosity to the edicts of decency and hospitality. In Iran they berate (and jail) visitors who speak out against the regime. We should set a higher standard of conduct and civility. Unfortunately, under this president, civility is a word not heard in his vocabulary.

Free Speech Anyone?

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:55:04 -0600

Is freedom of speech dead?

In Florida a student is tackled and tasered for getting long-winded in lecturing Senator John Kerry while trying to ask the former presidential candidate a question about the Iraq War. To his credit, Senator Kerry called out to let him answer the student’s question, but the police nevertheless did what they did. If you watch the video, the student, Andrew Meyer, is obnoxious and takes far more than the two minutes he said he wanted to for asking his question. When the police start removing him from the auditorium, he resists.
 Okay, even if you are wrongfully arrested, resisting arrest isn’t going to magically make the police say, “Gee, we oughta let this guy go!” Nah, quite the contrary. It generally means to the police, “Okay, let’s beat the muthahfuckin’ crap outa this guy, spray him with mace and what the hell, pop a few rounds in his sorry fuckin’ ass.”
 I’m not supporting false arrest or even the arrest of Andrew Meyer, but in my 50+ years of living, there’s never been a case where someone resisted arrest and the police let’em go on the spot. In just about every case, the arrested gets pummeled senseless and often sprayed with mace or pepper spray—and here in Sandy Eggo, they’ll pop a few rounds in your misguided ass just for making them put down their donuts. I know it sounds so … conservative … but realistically speaking, resisting arrest has bad, bad consequences! Don’t resist arrest, no matter how bogus the arrest.

People at a recent Hillary Clinton rally were ejected for wearing t-shirts denouncing the senator’s role in starting this war in Iraq. They weren’t even speaking, just wearing t-shirts. Of course, the Bush 2004 campaign was famous for screening participants to the president’s campaign stops and forcibly ejecting people who, in any way shape and form, had some disagreement with Dubya. In Denver, three people at a Bush rally (Alex Young, Leslie Weise and Karen Bauer) were ejected from the event because they had a bumper sticker on their car that said, “No More Blood For Oil.” They weren’t speaking or even wearing anti-Bush t-shirts. They just had the wrong bumper sticker.

And let’s not forget former Virginia senator George Allen, the guy who thought it was funny to use a racial slur while campaigning, even looking straight into a video camera while saying it—that’s freedom of speech alright! — The former senator had a protester in a hotel roughed up and forcibly tossed from the hotel when the guy started asking him pointed questions about his record.

Then there’s Isaiah Thomas — LOL — He ought to win an award for his hubris! Hell, the Bush Administration should hire him for Attorney General! He’s being sued for sexual harassment.
 Isaiah Thomas is the coach of the New York Knicks basketball team. When he played with the Detroit Pistons they won the NBA Championship. At that time he had the reputation for being a likable guy.

So, Bush … I mean Thomas … apparently starts every sentence (to women anyway) with the word “bitch.”
 “Bitch, I don’t give a fuck about corporate sponsors …”
 “Bitch I don’t give a fuck about these white people …”

That’s not even the funny part. In a videotaped deposition, when asked about his use of the word “bitch,” Thomas said it was okay for him to call any woman of any ethnic background “bitch” but it was not okay for whites to call a black woman “bitch.”

It gets even better. On Hardball yesterday Chris Matthews had on the Reverend Al Sharpton and White House Senior Black Lackey, radio talk show host Armstrong Williams, talking about this topic.
 Williams, you may recall, was outed for having received payments from the White House for talking favorably about the president’s policies on his radio program. In Armstrong’s defense, he would have supported the president regardless, but what the hey, I’m just jaded enough and sleazy enough to take payment for talking favorably about my favorite presidential candidates. Hell, I’ll switch stripes and talk about John McCain or one of the other Republicans if the money is right. Someone — PLEASE — get this blog into the e-mails of the various campaign chairs.
 TIM FORKES! MOUTHPIECE FOR HIRE! As my friends will tell you, I can go pretty low! No debasement too humbling for me!

So, besides the “N” word, White people can’t use the “B” word when speaking of African-Americans. Actually, I’m of the opinion we shouldn’t use the word “bitch” at all when talking about our fellow human beings. It’s a practice I have excised from my speech, but not my writing, bitch.

Back to Hardball: Both Sharpton and Williams said calling any woman a bitch was wrong, but Williams—and his logic is so entertaining—said that Isaiah Thomas grew up in a culture where the use of the word was common so he (Williams) was personally not offended by Thomas’s use of the word when speaking to the woman who filed the law suit against Thomas. Her name, BTW, is Anucha Brown Sanders. She was fired from her executive position with the Knicks organization.

So, let’s say I grew up in a culture of ethnic cleansing where rape, torture and murder were common, everyday practices … you know, that’s just too sick for even me to explore any deeper. If we excuse harmful and cruel behavior because we grew up in a culture that — allegedly — fostered bad behavior, then where do we draw the line?
 There are people, family members in particular, who might—who do—consider my fascination with young women models to be harmful behavior, but I can say unequivocally, I didn’t grow up in a culture that fostered my fascination … that’s not exactly true; the collective “we” have been using sex to sell everything since … well, before I was born so obviously I was born into it! But, Mom was against it. Read my blogs from August 23, 25 and 26 for more on that!
 On the other hand, the women I ogle want to be ogled and consider my ogling to be a compliment. Therefore, it stands to reason (and as pointed out in a blog from last year, once someone pulls out the “it stands to reason” rationale, that person wins the debate) my ogling is for beneficial and positive purposes only!

Isaiah Thomas will get a pass because he’s a sports star, superstar even, and there will be plenty of people lining up in support of him and his behavior. Armstrong Williams is just one. Saw the same thing with Michael Vick after his arrest for the dog-fighting ring he and his compadres operated. Saw it with Don Imus, even though he got canned from the CBS Radio Network and MSNBC, he will be back on the air—and it won’t be satellite radio either.

Free speech still survives, barely, in America, but the real question is, are you ready to live with the consequences of your speech? Don Imus has a right to say anything he wants on his radio program, and for many years he got away with it. By the same token, CBS Radio has the right to hire and fire whomever they want and if Imus becomes a problem for them, then they have the right to remove him from their airwaves.

Isaiah Thomas is not likely to lose his job over this lawsuit. The Knicks already proved which side they are on when they fired Anucha Brown Sanders. If Thomas loses his job, it will be for performance reasons, like a repeat of last season:
 33-49 overall record, 3-13 division record, a 14-27 record on the road, it was just plain ugly!

Free speech is alive and well for those who can afford it. Or, if you’re like me, so far under the radar no one of any consequence notices.
 Actually, it would be nice if more people noticed and clicked on the ads you see adorning this page.

This was going to be another blog about celebrities; Jeez, O.J. Simpson arrested again, Britney Spears ordered to go to parenting classes and submit to two random drug tests per week. Lindsay Lohan … she’s not even getting bad publicity lately! I’ve been looking for an excuse to post the photos of Britney and Lindsay going commando, but that will just have to wait for another day.

I do, however, have a picture of a different Lindsay, this one being a nice girl from Arizona going to school to be a pediatrician! She’s so cute! Lindsay — her hair anyway—was on a recent episode of The Girls Next Door; the scene where everyone is gathered on movie night to watch the premiere of … the latest installment of the spoof Scary Movie, I can’t remember which one it is. Holly, Bridget and Kendra are in it—clothed unfortunately—but it could be the cult classic for Playboy addicts.
<3 Lindsay!

Angi, Hal, Francessca and Chelsea

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:06:14 -0600

This past week has been one of those that ought to be forgotten, left in the back ridges of the memory where dementia will eventually grab them and filter the images into a miasma of unremembered and ambiguous flashbacks. That could backfire of course and fill my golden years with the unrelenting horrors of night sweats and nightmares.

On Saturday I took a test for the job of TSA screener — and failed. I’m not as smart as the man or woman asking us to take off our shoes at the airport? “Fuck me,” as the saying goes.

There was a bit of entertainment though. The conspiracy guy who has irrefutable proof 9/11 was an inside job also has irrefutable proof Bill and Hillary Clinton were highly paid lackeys of the most powerful drug lord in the United States and that this drug lord funneled millions of dollars in cocaine and arms through Mena, Arkansas wilst Bill was governor. Why didn’t Ken Starr get all of this in front of that grand jury? Well, he was probably part of the conspiracy too, bought and paid for by the same drug cartels that own the Clintons.
 You think young Chelsea is bought and paid for too? You know she’s a looker, now that she’s graduated college and making her way in the world. Wonder if she’d ever consider posing for Playboy? somebody ought to ask.
 Ask anyone who knows me, I’m a bad, bad man. I see an attractive, accomplished woman, young or older, doesn’t matter, and my first thoughts … well maybe my second or third thoughts … are always carnal in nature.
 Looking at a picture of Chelsea, I’m thinking, “full bush, landing strip or the full Brazilian?” I’m fantasizing the Brazilian (Social mores prevent me from illustrating the difference with photos).
 Chelsea is in the corporate world now, working in high finance. The training will come in handy when she takes over the family drug distribution business.
 Wonder if she’d be interested in an older guy, kind of a slacker, but cooks real good and can appreciate her physical beauty as well as her brains … maybe not even in that order! And he voted for her dad twice and will even vote for her mom, if that will seal the deal.
 The election process is so … my vote is up for sale: cash, gas or a piece of ass. Damn, I shoulda e-mailed that to John Kerry’s daughter Alexandra during the 2004 Democratic primaries. She’s in the movie business, but she looked real good in the black dress that hid nothing in the klieg lights. You never know, I coulda got lucky … eh … I voted for her dad anyway in the general election.

Conspiracy nuts are nothing if not entertaining. One thing for certain, they’re generally bi-partisan in their alarm! Bush ordered the attacks of 9-11, the Clintons are a major drug dealing syndicate and I’m just a poor schlub not bright enough to see the truth, unable to connect the dots and put it all together, this One World Order … well, the conspiracy nuts may have a point on that one; I did fail the test for TSA screener … (sigh) …

An apology should be in order, but it won’t be forthcoming, not today anyway. I’m in a funk and today (last night really) we were treated to our latest Cyber Girl of the Week. That usually puts me in a randy mood. This week it’s Francessca, also known as Valerie in her Casting Call portfolio. Muy Caliente! I had near fatal urges when her Cyber Girl photos were published!

But this month my heart belongs to Angi, another Chicago girl. She’s very nice but can be a bad, bad lady! A lethal trait for a bad, bad man such as myself, but if I can go out with a smile, WTF.

We get to vote on our favorite weekly Cyber Girls each month and then the winner is featured, four months later, as Cyber Girl of the Month. So this month I’ll vote for Angi, although Francessca really made me pause for a moment. There’s something to be said for a great personality and Angi is all that and more! She’s an artist, painting and installations from what I’ve seen, so she has a very fertile and creative mind. I gave her an idea, she may even try it. Anyway, who can focus on the sham that was the General Patraeus testimony (orchestrated by the White House) when there are important decisions to consider; Francessca or Angi? I’m sticking with Angi.

Besides, my pal Harold Effin Annen demands more bunnies. Harold is a bad, bad man as well. We were roommates once and did a fine job of corrupting a third roommate, Tom, who was younger and quite frankly, impressionable. We took full advantage of Tom’s naiveté at every opportunity, but now, 20 years later, Tom still likes us, or so Harold says.
 I call Harold “Hal.” As in Hal Breier, one time police-chief-for-life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hal — Breier — was the typical “do as I say, not as I do” public official, who was a law and order guy publicly, but was the chief of one of the most corrupt police forces in America. Oh, and one of the most racist too. So, when I wanna yank Harold’s chain, I call him “Hal.”
 In 1987 I took Harold Effin Annen to his first Grateful Dead concert; June 26, Alpine Valley Music Theater in Troy, Wisconsin to be exact. It was a great night, we danced — Harold and I danced — and had one exemplary spiritual moment, in my case without the aid of chemical import. I still remember the moment during the “Estimated Prophet”-“Eyes of the World” jam (“Estimated Eyes”) we were holding each other’s arms, jumping up and down, screaming in a Jack Kerouac On the Road fashion: THIS IS FUCKIN’ GREAT! That remains a priceless moment of my history. Youth wasn’t wasted on us, we reveled in the moment.
 Hope you appreciate the shoutout — HAL!

Remembering 9-11

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:57:28 -0600

The question this morning, as we mark the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — 9-11 — was what to write about this sad day in history. 2,975 people have died as a result of those attacks, one of those deaths ruled as lung disease as a result of the dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

There is of course the legacy of 9-11, or the lack of a cohesive legacy. What has our government done in response? Most notably, the president started a war in Iraq, against a tyrant that had no hand in the attacks whatsoever. We are fighting the Taliban and their Al Qa’ida masters in Afghanistan—after letting the leaders of that terrorist organization escape into Pakistan. Probably the worst legacy of 9-11 is the demise of the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the federal government’s failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina and the collapse of the levees protecting New Orleans.
 As if the levee disaster of New Orleans isn’t enough to boggle one’s mind, the Army Corps of Engineers, the group responsible for the levees, before during and after Hurricane Katrina, rebuilt the levees pretty much as they were before the hurricane and in their report, concluded the levees were no more capable of withstanding the same pressures again if another Hurricane as powerful as Katrina were to strike.
 And, they warn, Katrina wasn’t a direct hit on New Orleans. If that should happen, the results would make the disaster of New Orleans pale in comparison.

When the 9-11 Commission released its report in 2004, most Americans looked at it as a catalyst for change, yet nothing really has changed — well, maybe things have got worse. The Department of Homeland Security was created, bringing with it a huge logistical and bureaucratic horror. FEMA was put under the control of DHS and the first order of business appeared to be gutting the emergency agency’s authority and resources.

The airports are no more safer, certainly the ports aren’t the least bit safer, nuclear and hazardous chemical sites aren’t any safer, but we do have to remove our shoes when we go through airport security!
 One of the more humorous things I’ve heard in regards to “Homeland Security” is this idea that terrorists are crossing the border illegally with all the Hispanics pouring across the border.
 Now, there is no proof this isn’t happening any more than proof it is happening, but Sheriff Rick Flores of Webb County, TX, which includes the city of Laredo, says with absolute authority it is happening; said so on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.

 My first question then, as a reporter, would be, if you know this is happening, what are you doing to investigate the terrorists you have identified? How do you know they are on the watch lists? Of course, Anderson Cooper didn’t ask these questions. In fact, he didn’t question the sheriff’s statements at all. Anderson, you failed as a reporter.
 The truth is, Sheriff Flores has a gut feeling, one that ought not be ignored, that our porous borders are far to easy to beat and terrorists can use that to their advantage.
 The other truth is, no terrorist has ever been caught trying to cross the border “illegally,” in the sense that they would cross over through the desert without going through any checkpoints. The only terrorists ever caught trying to enter our country were trying to enter legally, or at least with documentation. The 2000 bomber nabbed in the state of Washington comes to mind, spotted by an alert border agent. The terrorist was on his way to blow up LAX.
 One other truth about Sheriff Flores and Laredo, TX is that its sister city right across the border in Mexico, Nuevo Laredo, is almost entirely controlled by drug cartels and the violence that takes place daily in that one time fun tourist town has begun seeping over into the United States, most notably Webb County, which is the responsibility of Sheriff Flores. For that reason alone the Border Patrol needs to do a better job of controlling the borders.

One other legacy of 9-11: the conspiracy theories. If you have e-mail or are on MySpace or other social web sites, you’ve no doubt received the messages concerning the “inside job.” Mainly, the United States government orchestrated the attacks. I actually bought into that stuff a few years ago, mainly because scholarly people like professor Steven Jones of Brigham Young University had thunk up a lot of intriguing questions — and their answers — in scholarly papers which were then published.

He also became a member of the group, Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group dedicated to proving the three towers of the World Trade Center came down, not because terrorists crashed planes into two of them, but because demolition charges were set in all three. The proof? Professor Jones claims he found traces thermite, used for explosives, in some of the debris tested at BYU shortly after the terrorist attacks.

To my knowledge, none of his colleagues at BYU support his claims and when asked if he had submitted his paper for peer review before publishing it on BYU’s physics web site, Professor Jones pulled his paper off the site. Apparently his paper won’t stand up to rigorous review by his fellow scientists.

Jones isn’t the only one of course, but he’s probably the most notable because of his academic and scientific credentials. No one — NO ONE — has any credible proof the attacks on 9-11 were an “inside job.” What we have is lots of speculation, coupled with some facts about the melting thresholds of glass and steel and some blurry video of people standing in the impact holes in the World Trade Center and some artsy animations created to prove how pre-positioned bombs were used—could have been used—to cause the collapse of the three skyscrapers.

Then there are the theories about United Flight 93 being shot down instead of being intentionally crashed by the hijackers when they could no longer keep the passengers from taking over the plane. No evidence to prove the plane was shot down, just more speculation because body parts were found miles away from the crash site.

Then there is the “evidence” a cruise missile was used to hit the Pentagon, not a jumbo jet. Actually, it isn’t evidence, just more speculation fueled by a former Air Force and airline pilot who claims he, as an experienced pilot, couldn’t fly that jet the way the terrorists did to crash it into the Pentagon. Then there is the grainy, not too conclusive bit of video that shows the jet hitting the Pentagon. That’s what piqued my interest: the plane hitting the Pentagon. No crater in front of the impact zone of the plane, the hole in the side of the building is too small and then that grainy video that doesn’t really prove what hit the building.

Yet, all of this speculation has been refuted by the scientific community and the proponents of the 9-11 Inside Job theory will tell you it’s all part of a massive cover up to keep the “truth” from the American public. In fact, I recently received a message from someone who said our government did it at the bidding of Israel and the Mossad.

That’s probably the greatest travesty to come from these attacks; such blather fills the air instead of the reality of 9-11 six years later: the president and his policies have made us more vulnerable than ever before and we aren’t even talking about that today.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

A list of organizations that have debunked the various 9/11 conspiracy claims.

Popular Mechanics

About.com

About.com

Purdue University

Snopes.com

The list could go on.

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Just a late addendum to this blog: Hunter S. Thompson is one of the greatest — if not the greatest — writer of my generation. He killed himelf a few years ago rather than face the rest of his life with deteriorating health.

In my morning MySpace bulletins was a message from the folks who think 9/11 was an inside job; they also think the government, or the Mossad ... (sigh) ... murdered Thompson and made it look like a suicide. Thompson is famous for his apocalyptic humor and something he wrote lends all the evidence the conspiracy people need to “prove” it wasn’t suicide: “They'll make it look like suicide.” Honestly, I think Ole Hunter was fuckin’ with the people who would take that seriously!

Let the man rest in peace.

Heavy

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 10:53:33 -0600

Does anyone remember Dick Cavett? Probably a very few, but Dick had some excellent talk shows back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s; with such astounding guests, like Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison. Dick has to be older than Moses by now so it’s a good thing he doesn’t really do television these days. Who wants to see a wrinkly old man on TV!

I’d much rather see someone like Kathy Griffin – by the way, another “reality” show I enjoy a lot; My Life on the D-List – on TV rather than Dick Cavett. Griffin is a hottie and newly divorced! She’s rich and lives in a trey bon Hollywood Mansion and if you ever get tired of Kathy, she has a fine, fine assistant, Jessica. Kathy is very single, Jessica has a live-in BF and now, reportedly, a GF she hooked up with through MySpace. I just love Hollywood!

Actually, Cavett wouldn’t be so bad on TV, probably a lot better than Larry King –
Did you see Dick Cheney on Larry King last night? What a creepy old man. Larry actually tried to ask tough questions, but in his wimpy, “I don’t hate anyone” kinda way. Eh

So having Dick Cavett on TV isn’t such a bad idea, what with the passing of Tom Snyder – Tomorrow was the best thing on TV for many, many years – we could use some intelligent television again. I would hope Dick (Cavett, not Cheney) would dig a little deeper into the hot topics of the day, like: are Nicole and Paris really friends?

Dick Cavett is a topic today because of his recent column in the opinion section of the New York Times. He’s discussing how FAT we are as a nation. Guilty as charged. I’m at least 60 pounds over weight and it’s far more than a vanity issue, it severely impacts my health. My heart has a difficult time pumping blood, I’m in the beginning stages of type-2 diabetes – I’m a third heart attack waiting to happen. Thankfully, I’ve been steadily losing weight for the past few months – the past year really – but it’s a difficult task given my proclivity for Carl’s Jr. and the Mexican shoppe down the street with the killer carne asada burritos.

Cavett wrote some tough words about the fatness of our nation, citing some alarming trends. We see fat people a lot in commercials; we have fat people promoting themselves as being ok with their weight and appearance. The message in all this, as Cavett points out, is that being fat is ok. Which, for health reasons, isn’t ok. Fully one third of our nation is dangerously obese and the health problem, and the subsequent cost to the nation, is not ok.

According to the National Institutes of Health, “Obesity has risen to epidemic levels in the U.S. It causes devastating and costly health problems, reduces life expectancy, and is associated with stigma and discrimination.”

“Currently, approximately 65 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight (BMI of 25 or greater) or obese (BMI of 30 or greater). The increase in obesity over the past 30 years has been fueled by environmental, social, economic, and behavioral factors, acting on a background of genetic susceptibility.”

The acronym “BMI” stands for Body Mass Index. If you’re a man with 25% (or more) body fat, you are considered obese. For women, that number is 30%.

Cavett’s commentary isn’t the least bit politically correct. He refers to those of us who are obese as fat. Obese talk show hosts, obese comedians –
There is a show on the Oxygen network called Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. Chance in which five obese women compete for a $50,000.00 prize in a modeling competition. For Mo’Nique, the premise is to make fat women feel good about themselves, to love themselves. Indeed. One of the many factors that contribute to our overweight nation is low-self esteem – which is a major contributor drug and alcohol addiction. Well, good for her and the five contestants, but do we want to celebrate being dangerously obese?

Obese guests on television shows such as Jerry Springer which celebrates the lowest of our culture, obese or otherwise. Obesity is epidemic in our culture and that is Cavett’s point and by featuring obesity in commercials and other advertisements, we are accepting this health epidemic as if it is ok.

Do fat comics have a right to make a living as other comics? Yeah, can’t really deny it. Occasionally, Louis Anderson is funny, but I don’t watch him, nor do I watch Mo’Nique’s various projects. Forget whether or not being fat is appealing, obesity is bad for our health.

If you’re overweight and would like to change that, it can be done. I’m slowly losing weight, a few pounds a month, but there are a multitude of web sites that can help and give you ideas and inspiration to get started and stay healthy, like This One. It isn’t the only place to get help, there are plenty of organizations dedicated to good health – not to mention all the companies willing to help us slim down for a price. I was tempted to join the plan used by Dan Marino and Don Shula. You’ve seen the commercials. Not only will slimming down improve your physiological health, it will improve your emotional and spiritual health as well.

That’s my rant.

It’s Okay

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:29:54 -0600

My how things change …

The Spaniard on Team Discovery Channel is now the proud owner of the Tour de France yellow jersey. If he continues to lead the tour for another three days, the rookie Tour rider will win this most prestigious tour of bicycle racing.

Some might question Alberto Contador’s title, but the young man worked for his position in the tour – worked damn hard – and any inference that the yellow jersey wasn’t earned is completely false. As it turns out, Michael Rasmussen, who had worn the jersey, failed to show up for two doping tests – in May and June, claiming he was training in Mexico – and his team, Rabobank, kicked off the tour. All Alberto had to do was stave off all the other challengers to the jersey and the honor was his. He did so. The man right behind Alberto is Australia’s Cadel Evans, riding for the Predictor-Lotto team, and Contador’s team leader Levi Leipheimer.

Cadel Evans of Team Predictor-Lotto

At the very least, both Team Discovery riders will be on the podium in Paris come Sunday, the only question is, can they maintain their positions. Cadel Evans is an excellent rider in time trials and Saturday’s time trial will be his best chance of taking the yellow jersey from Contador.

Cheating is the major issue in sports today. Baseball’s Barry Bonds, the man about to break the home run record of 755, set by Hank Aaron some 30 years ago, has widely substantiated rumors of having used banned substances to increase his size and strength. Will there be an asterisk beside his name when it goes into the record books? That’s up to the league to decide, but it’s quite clear the commissioner, Bud Selig, isn’t too thrilled about attending the games that might feature Bonds’ feat. Hank Aaron refuses to even get involved.

An NBA official is now alleged to have bet on games and to have even “fixed” games to satisfy debts owed to mob-controlled bookies. Jeez, can the league handle that kind of scandal? Big questions remain to be answered: how many others were involved; officials, players and coaches? Many commentators in the past have questioned officiating in games and this latest scandal now adds weight to the once unsubstantiated claims of game-fixing.

Basketball lost its allure with me years ago when it began turning into a haven for thugs. The brawls, riots and people like Latrell Sprewell really make basketball unappealing. To his credit, after Sprewell was ejected from the league, and then reinstated, he changed his ways and became a popular and successful player. But what does it say about the league that he was reinstated at all? He dragged his Golden State Warriors coach, P.J. Carlesimo to the floor by his throat and choked him for nearly 15 seconds. Fighting, apparently, is okay in the NBA. Has been since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar punched Kent Benson and later that same season (1977) Kermit Washington busted Rudy Tomjanovich’s face with a punch.

Then there’s Michael Vick and the allegations of running a dog-fighting ring. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’s also alleged to have killed dogs, in gruesome and painful ways, that didn’t measure up to Vick’s “standards.” People are saying that regardless of the outcome of his trial (Vick pled not guilty), he will never play in the National Football League again. Maybe the NFL has more integrity than the NBA and bicycle racing, maybe not. Riders are getting ejected or suspended from the sport over the cheating.

Vick’s charges aren’t about cheating, but all of these problems are a symptom of a larger malady, gripping not just the sporting world but society in general. Win at any cost and screw anyone or anything that gets in the way – with the notable exception of the San Antonio Spurs, the current NBA champions known for their great demeanor and strict adherence to the principle that it’s all about the team, not the individual.

As fans we condone it by continuing to watch and support the games; I love watching baseball, football and of course the Tour de France. The point is, at least in America, we approve of breaking the rules, rebelling against authority and doing whatever it takes to make it, as in become rich, flamboyant and famous. It’s a national obsession and the proof is in the number of “reality” shows that now constitute television programming.

On a personal level, how many times have we tried to prevent someone from cutting in front of us on the freeway, or, better yet, rationalized driving 10-20 MPH over the speed limit (or more here in California) because A) everyone else is doing it and/or B) I’m in a hurry and I’m a good driver so the law doesn’t apply to me. We elected a president based on our collective belligerent attitude – “bring it on” – and now we find ourselves stuck in a quagmire called Iraq that has no good solutions.

How many have called the homeless and unemployed lazy or worse; how many people said the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 9th Ward had it coming because they were/are too lazy and/or stupid to leave.

All we can really do is hope that the decent athletes in these sports prevail, but that really won’t happen unless we as a society change our attitudes about cheating and bad behavior; remember that war and violence are always the last options and not the first and that to remain united as a nation, as a society, we have be loving and tolerant of others, regardless of who makes it to the next exit on the freeway first.

**************************************************

Melody

That’s my friend Melody. No reason to put her picture here other than to spruce up this drab page. I like Melody a lot! She might be a Cyber Girl or Playmate someday! If you think so too, Click Here and let Playboy know.

Hello!

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:05:44 -0600

The Beach

It's been six weeks since my last post. What a six weeks too! Technically, I'm homeless! Not living on the street (yet), but staying with friends. I'm doing this from the library and I only have 28 minutes to finish!

Dick has decided no laws can touch him, Dubya thinks he's a dictator and Michael Bloomberg wants to be president! Out here in Duncan Hunterville ... it's all Bill Clinton's fault. Seriously, everyone wants to blame Bill. Did you see the funny campaign commercial he and the senator made, spoofing the final episode of The Sopranos?

And what was up with that final episode??!!

Okay, David Chase has a sense of humor, now we call all sit around and wonder, did the Soprano family survive? Did Tony get indicted? Did AJ join the Army?

So, here it is, 10:15 a.m. on Saturday Morning and I should be trolling the Internets for a job ... I actually have a job (I think) but it's hard to to tell ...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, great beach weather and that's probably where I'll be this afternoon. Ah ... the beach! Most of my friends avoid the beach: too crowded! Not me! I love the beach when it's crowded! Actually, my goal is La Jolla Cove for some snorkeling!

Speaking of which, the water is relatively clean, which brings up the global climate change. And there are (still) people who want to claim global warming isn't real. ¡usted está tan loco!

Melanie Morgan was on Hardball Friday debating the issue with Robert Kennedy, JR, who is one of the leading authorities on the climate and other environmental issues -- and she just lied, flat out lied and even Chris Matthews had to comment about her gross exaggerations.

Something to think about as we head into the heart of summer and all the fun activities we will engage in while enjoying the great outdoors! Just remember our men and women in harm's way in Afghanistan and the illegal war in Iraq.

Are you interested in good health and pharmeceutical-quality supplements? Get back to me, do I have a deal for you!

Sad Truth

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:28:19 -0600

On MySpace.com, if you have a page, you can post a blog there; I often post this one there as well, although on MySpace … well, everything about MySpace is nearly discouraging. It’s so popular it crawls at snail’s pace when you want to check in on someone’s page or read messages or load a comment on to a friend’s page.

But I have a lot of hotties on my friends list and that makes up for all the detractions I find with MySpace.

When posting a blog on MySpace, you can attach little thingies to your post, like, “what are you listening to” (right now I’m listening to the finches in the trees outside my window), “what are you reading” (Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller) “what are you watching” (nothing) and what is your mood. Right now, my mood is depressed. Things have not been going great for the past few months and all day I’ve been engulfed in fear; fear of my financial future primarily, and the fear of being alone I guess.

That last fear surprised me. I’ve never been married, but had a couple live-in girlfriends. Having a life-long mate has never been a dream, priority or even a passing consideration and it probably isn’t now, but once in a while, on the dark nights I’m glad there’s an Internet.

Richard Jeni

The sadness was perpetrated by the un-spoken news that a cyber-friend didn’t get something she really wanted. My first thought was that I had something to do with her disappointment. You know the syndrome: the whole world revolves around what we say and/or do. As it turns out, her sadness had nothing to do with me. Imagine my disappointment with the news that I’m not the center of the universe. Nevertheless, I share her sadness.

One thing about fear and sadness is that taken together they can breed depression. That’s a clinical disease we as a culture treat as an aberration, a pariah, something to mock, especially if the depressed person, like comedian Richard Jeni, ends that depression in suicide.

Britney Spears is the latest laughing-stock since shaving off her hair. That girl must truly be depressed and addicted to some substance; I’m guessing either alcohol or prescription narcotics, judging from the way she fell asleep at a party she was “hosting” New Year’s Eve. Or maybe both, which can be a lethal combination. But that’s just a guess.

This morning I made one of my M.D. visits to the V.A. medical center and what struck me — and has caught my attention for the past three-plus years — are the number of young men and women Britney’s age and younger hobbling in on prosthetics and/or crutches, rolled in via wheelchairs; or they’re missing arms or wear eye-patches or walk so carefully with canes for the blind. That’s depressing.

Are you aware of what’s going on in this world? Do you know anyone who has to make regular visits a V.A. hospital due to injuries incurred in Iraq or Afghanistan? For most Americans, the cost of this war is non-existent. There is no draft and with Bush’s war in Iraq, the wisdom of having a draft has become apparent. If more Americans had to shoulder the burden, it’s not likely this war would have started, or dragged on for so long.

Hillary Clinton just said that if elected president she would keep American forces in Iraq, in smaller numbers than are now present, but still that diminishes her chances of winning the Democratic nomination. I have to give her kudos though, she knows she’s going against the rising tide in the lefty, progressive, Democratic ranks, but she’s sticking to her position, right or wrong.

More young men and women, for years to come, will be required to visit the V.A. medical centers around the Nation. A large percentage will suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which, for many, will go undiagnosed for years to come. They will join the ranks of the chronically depressed, made the butt of jokes, like the “humorous” stereotype of the Crazed Vietnam Veteran. Don’t know many Vietnam Vets who are crazy, but PTSD is synonymous with Vietnam Veteran.
 Do you know what the symptoms of PTSD are? Probably not, but you saw enough TV shows, sitcoms and otherwise, so you think you know. The West Wing covered PTSD over several episodes after the assassination attempt wounded Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford). They tried to capture one category of symptoms in that arc, and did a decent job for a television series.
 Symptoms fall into three categories: A) Reliving the event; B) Avoidance and C) Arousal, as in arousal of anger and/or hostility.
 You can read up on PTSD on this page from the National Institutes of Health. Don’t act like you know when in fact you don’t. Educate yourself. Ignorance is not a virtue.

Many of these young people, who once had promising futures, will find themselves sleeping on cement walkways in places like La Jolla because their disease will render them incapable of interacting with the rest of American society. And we think so little of our veterans — we treat them with such distain — they have no where to turn. Our lawmakers continue to cut the V.A. budgets and we see abominations like the Walter Reed Hospital scandal, and do nothing.

What have you done for our service men and women lately? Putting a little ribbon sticker on your motor vehicle doesn’t count. One of my favorite Playmates, my first Playmate, Cynthia Myers (December 1968), makes regular visits to the V.A. hospital near her home. She’s a peach! Sweet and always brings a smile!

So, chin up Miranda! You’re a peach too! Party like a rock star, enjoy the beautiful beaches in your neck of the woods and remember: we will always have A Doll’s House.