drink racing fuel and die

from nbc.com

A pair of Tennessee teens are dead and two others were hospitalized after police say they possibly drunk a concoction of Mountain Dew and racing fuel.

The Greenbrier teens are believed to have ingested the fuel-laced soda last week. Logan Stephenson, 16, died last Thursday, and J.D. Byram, also 16, died Tuesday morning after being hospitalized at Vanderbilt Hospital in nearby Nashville.

Racing fuel, used for drag racing, can be easily purchased online and at some convenience stores.

"A lot of people refer to it as 'moonshine on steroids.' A lot of people call it 'Dewshine,'" Greenbrier Police Chief K.D. Smith told NBC News of the Mountain Dew and racing fuel mixture.

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I am very sorry about the teenagers dying. But drinking racing fuel? Really? Who dreamed that one up? What idiot thought that that was a good idea and made it a "trend"? "Yeah, hey, let's drink some racing fuel. We can mix it with soda. Then, we'll drink some gasoline, we can mix it with urine. Yeah, it's a new trend. And then we'll wash it all down with fucking arsenic! Yeah, let's do that, it'll be fun" Let's NOT do that. And it WON'T be fun. Racing fuel is for race cars, not for drinking. Hey, teens, some shit can KILL you. And if you do something that kills you you won't have any more teenage fun - ever - because you'll be fucking dead. And you'll be dead for the rest of your life. So if someone suggests you do something that might kill you, just say NO. And walk away.

starbucked

Ill-fated lovers are called star crossed.

What are ill-fated coffee lovers called?

Star bucked.

insurance company rapes old people

I'm old. I'm on Medicare. On January 21, 2016 I got a letter from my Medicare Supplemental Insurance company, Blue Shield of California. They informed me that my premium for this year was going to increase. The increase is a huge 11.5%. Wait a minute! They are just NOW informing me of a huge rate increase - AFTER the open enrollment period is over? AFTER it is too late for me to change insurance companies for 2016? AFTER I am now stuck with this insurance for another entire year and can't change companies and am stuck paying 11.5% more? Coincidence? Hmm. Total bullshit? Total deception? Rate Rape? Hmm.

Let's take a closer look. The inflation rate for the entire U.S. in 2015 was 1.6%, less than 2%. So why is Blue Shield of California raising my annual premium a whopping 11.5%??? That's more than seven times the rate of U.S. annual inflation! That's an annual rate increase of over 700%!!!

That's "rate rape". Blue Shield of California is raping old people with rate increases. Blue Shield of California is raping old sick people. Blue Shield of California is raping old sick people who are living on a fixed income and can't AFFORD an 11.5% rate increase (for me that's $22 a month). And Blue Shield of California rate raped its members AFTER it was too late for members to avoid it (the last day to change plans was December 7, it's now January 21). Shame on Blue Shield of California! And shame on the government agency that approved the rate rape!

don't burn, baby

from MyNewsLA

"Much of the Southland will be under a “no-burn” order Thursday, and will be again Friday, meaning indoor fireplace use and outdoor wood burning will be prohibited due to pollution concerns.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued the order for all residences in the South Coast Air Basin, including the greater Los Angeles area, Orange County and the Inland Empire. Friday will be the third consecutive day of the no-burn order."

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Yes, they really do regulate your fucking fireplace! Three straight days of banning fireplace use? Didn't they do this just last month? Yes. "No Burn" days. Yet another example of government trying to regulate EVERY area of your life.

The weather report for tonight in Los Angeles is "cloudy and in the 40's". Perfect weather for a fire in the fireplace, except it's prohibited, banned, by a government agency.

UPDATE: The order was extended until midnight Sunday, which will be its fifth day in a row. That's five cold nights without a nice fire in the fireplace.

UPDATE: For the eighth consecutive day, much of the Southland will be under a “no-burn” order Wednesday, meaning indoor fireplace use and outdoor wood burning will be prohibited due to pollution concerns.

Is government interference in our lives endless? You decide. Oh, wait a minute, we, the people, don't get to decide ANYTHING anymore in America. It's the GOVERNMENT who decides what we can, and can't, do. TAKE BACK YOUR COUNTRY. TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE!

money mouth

"Put your money where your mouth is" is an old much-used saying. It's time to stop using it. Why? Because if you literally put your money where your mouth is you'll likely be licking a lot of germs. And cocaine. According to Time.com: "Studies show that a solid majority of U.S. bills are contaminated by cocaine. Drug traffickers often use coke-sullied hands to move cash, and many users roll bills into sniffing straws; the brushes and rollers in ATMs may distribute the nose candy through the rest of the money supply. Also found on bills: fecal matter. A 2002 report in the Southern Medical Journal showed found pathogens — including staphylococcus — on 94% of dollar bills tested. Paper money can reportedly carry more germs than a household toilet."

Money is dirty. Filthy. It has germs, cocaine and fecal matter on it. Fecal matter? Ew! You don't want to put money anywhere near your mouth. Maybe we should change that saying to "Put your money where your ass is."

Billion Dollar Lottery

Nobody won the $900 million jackpot for the Powerball lottery. On Wednesday the new jackpot will be $1.3 billion. Yes, billion.

I will buy a reasonable number of Powerball tickets for Wednesday's billion dollar drawing. Probably 20 tickets. Or maybe 100. It doesn't much matter how many tickets one buys as the odds are still ridiculous. The odds of winning for one ticket will be like 300-million-to-1. Buy a ton of tickets and the odds go down to maybe 299-million-to-1. Still ridiculous. But I don't care about the odds - a billion dollar prize is worth throwing a couple of dollars at!

When I win (you notice that I said WHEN not IF) I will take the $800 million cash payout. And have a ton of fun. I think I will start window shopping NOW! Let's see, I will need a new house, a new car, furniture, curved ultra-hd TV, maid service, landscapers, sexy girls, and lots of Viagra. And a personal assistant to coordinate and manage it all for me. Coordinate and manage everything. Except maybe the sexy girls, I'll want to handle them myself.

People's Choice

The People's Choice Awards 2016

People's Choice Awards winners 2016 include:

Favorite Dramatic TV Actor: Taylor Kinney
Favorite Dramatic TV Actress: Ellen Pompeo

Who are these winners??? I don't know. I never heard of them. I guess I never heard of them because I never watched either of the TV shows that they are starring in. What can I say, I'm a dinosaur.

I noticed that the show used the term "winner" and posted a list of Winners. I thought that, in liberal PC America, we are no longer using the word "winner", as there are not supposed to be winners and losers as that is not Fair and Equal. Instead, all the nominees for the People's Choice Awards should have been awarded Participation Trophies!

I also noticed that the award show had categories for "actresses". For shame, Hollywood! I believe the word "actress" is a microaggression, demeaning, sexist and a word-weapon in the War on Women. Word-weapon? OMG, I think I just invented a new word! Fantastic! Now, liberals can add "word-weapon" to the Vocabulary of Political Correctness.

sugar, baby

The new 2015 U.S. government dietary guidelines (from the HHS and USDA) reduces daily sugar intake to a maximum of 48 grams.

The current average daily sugar intake in the U.S. is 126 grams.

That's an immediate 62% reduction. Good luck, America!

Here's an idea. How about, instead of calling the salaries of government HHS and USDA workers "pay", we call it "sugar" and immediately reduce it by 62% and see how THEY like it?

tampon tax

from TeenVogue

"Two legislators in California want to save the women in their state from paying sales tax on a very basic necessity — feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and menstrual pads.

Dubbed the "tampon tax," Democrat Cristina Garcia and Republican Ling Ling Chang joined forces this week to introduce a new measure to exempt feminine hygiene products from the California sales tax. They're arguing that the extra cost is an undue burden on women, especially poor ones, and that tampons are an unavoidable purchase for most women. Garcia and Chang also see the measure as a move to bring "gender equity to California’s tax code."

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The tampon tax? This is what State of California legislators think is a critical issue facing California residents? What about job creation, poverty, unaffordable housing, crime, horrific traffic congestion? No, the tampon tax is more important? Really? Guess what, condoms are taxable in California. Hey, California legislative ladies, what about us men? We men are subject to condoms being taxed. The Trojan Tax. Like the tax on tampons the Trojan Tax is a burden on men, especially poor men. Men want gender equality and fair and equal taxation too. If you legislators are going to dump the Tampon Tax you have to dump the Trojan Tax too.

UPDATE: On June 2, 2016 The California State Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would make tampons and other feminine products exempt from sales and use taxes at the state and local level after its author said it was unfair to penalize women. Next,the bill goes to the California Senate for action. There is no exemption in the bill for condoms, thus giving females special treatment and discriminates against males.

UPDATE: In September 2016 The tampon tax bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. But then, he's a guy.

Twilight Zone nostalgia

I grew up in The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling's hometown in Upstate New York. As kids, he and I rode the same carousel in the same park (albeit in different eras).

carousel building

The Recreation Park carousel was built in 1925. According to Wikipedia: "This carousel, the gazebo, and in fact, the entire Recreation Park served as inspiration to Rod Serling's classic Twilight Zone episode entitled "Walking Distance."

carousel scene from "Walking Distance"

Serling is honored with a bronze plaque in the floor of the gazebo as well as with beautiful paintings, depicting memorable scenes from The Twilight Zone, on the carousel. Recreation Park is as close to the Twilight Zone as one might get, without crossing over.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992."

Starting at age 5, as an elementary school student, I walked through Recreation Park every day to get to and from school.

Yes, even in winter

It is now many decades later and I am, once again, at this point in my life, giving thanks and realizing how truly blessed and grateful I am in having had a truly idyllic outdoor childhood.

how to stop bullying

The following is solely my own opinion, based on my own experience and the experience of others and as such it shall not be considered to be a rendering of legal, medical or psychological advice.

Bullying has been around for millions of years. It is, and has always been, part of human nature. Not a nice part of human nature but, unfortunately, a normal human action. And, no, I am not condoning bullying, or violence, I am only stating the facts, the reality, and how best to deal with that reality. If you think you can stop bullying and change genes, DNA and human nature with political correctness, good luck to you. It doesn't work. It won't work. Sorry. And if you refuse to, or can't, deal with reality then stop reading this and go stick your head back in the sand ... and let your children suffer from bullying.

What doesn't work
Passing rules or laws outlawing bullying does not work. Why not? Because kids who bully are not interested in, or capable of, properly controlling their behavior. They are not adults. They are children, or young adults. They have not yet developed a social conscience. This is not an excuse, it is simply a fact of life.

Parents (or teachers) telling or teaching their kids not to bully doesn't work either. For the same reason. Yes, it might work for 5 minutes then the kid reverts to being a bully. Kids may simply be incapable of controlling these types of impulses.

Why do bullies bully?
When bullies bully they get a sense of power, of control, a big dose of it ... and, even though bullying is bad, to a bully it feels g-o-o-d.

So, how do you stop bullying? You don't. You can't. What you CAN do as a parent is teach your children how to REACT to being bullied. When I was a kid, MANY years ago, like many other kids in my age group I was bullied by older bigger kids. Big kids used to demand my lunch or my money or just push me around or hit me. For them, it was fun. For me, it was not fun. I suffered this for most of my formative years. On my own, I tried different things. I tried to ignore the bully. I got hit anyway. I tried to run away. They ran faster, caught up to me, and punched me anyway. I tried to make them laugh. Occasionally this worked but mostly I ended up on the ground. I also befriended the toughest kid in town. That helped. Eventually, at about age 10, I fought back. One day, after school, in front of a crowd of kids, a bully approached me and started to taunt me. He pushed me. He slapped me. He raised his fists. I hit him. Hard. I punched him. In the throat. He fell on the ground coughing and unable to breathe. He stayed on the ground, defeated, for several minutes. Everyone saw it. Word got out. And I was never bullied again. And, no, I was not scarred for life because I was bullied. I got over it, because I could defend myself, all by myself.

Cyber bullying is different. Often, it can be anonymous and can be difficult to find out who started it. I have no experience with being cyber bullied as they didn't have computers or cell phones when I was a kid. However, I believe the same solutions to bullying can apply to cyber bullying, though more indirectly.

How do you stop bullying?
There are 3 effective reactions to bullying. First, you try to talk yourself out of being bullied. If that doesn't work, you turn and walk away. If that doesn't work, you have no other choice but to fight. If I had a child, as a parent I would make sure my child understood the realities of bullying and being bullied. Then, I would enroll that child, male or female, in karate class. And, no I am not affiliated with any self-defense organization. After enrolling in a self-defense class, within a matter of a few weeks that child, as a last result, would be able to physically defend him or her self. And would be equipped to stop any physical bullying, to themselves or others. And, when you think about it, that might also tend to stop cyber bullies too, before they even start. I am not condoning the use of violence and, hopefully, the child would not ever have to use their self-defense skills. Often, just having the skills (and other people knowing you have those skills) means you won't have to use them but if they had to use their self-defense skills they could. It is also human nature that people generally will not ridicule or bully another person if the other person can kick their ass. And, as an additional positive result, that child would also develop a strong healthy sense of self-esteem and self-reliance, which would last a lifetime and would help prepare that child for whatever they had to face in life. Regarding being bullied, this I would do for my child or children, starting the first time I learned they were bullied. What will you do for your children?