Europe Still Sucks In Many Catagories

A couple of other bloggers have voiced their opinions on the Roman Polanski thing.
First, and best, out of the box is Brian, who's mincing no words:

The crime in question involved drugging and raping a 13-year old girl. But really, the girl's age is really rather beside the point, isn't it? The point is that he raped her. It would be no less infuriating if she had been 23 or 33 at the time.

And yet...the reactions on the other side of the pond I keep hearing fall along the lines of "it's a shame they've arrested such a great artist," and "really, this isn't that big of a deal."

Read the rest.

With the exception of "Rosemary's Baby", I've never seen a Roman Polanski film. The thought of the guy kinda creeped me out early on, and I was on personal boycott. And as you who know me know by now: I enjoy European films, and have seen more than my fair share for blue-collar white guy.
Not even "Chinatown" guys. Sorry, but I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway.

Anyway, back to the point... I still remember back in the early 80's, when it was expected that Polanski might receive and Academy Award for "Tess" starring Natassja Kinski, whom he was also fucking 'engaging in a romantic relationship with' when she was only 15. This when he was in his 40's. Obviously, this dude is just a little too creepy to score often enough with women who are old enough or sober enough to say 'No.'

Back then, it was said that maybe the Justice Department should give him a pass to receive his award. It was all in the past, after all. (Actually, it was less than 3yrs, but I guess Hollywood has different standards on some things when they pertain to certain people).

It looks like nothing has much changed. Hollywood values are still retarded, and Europeans still give a pass to child rapists if they are famous enough.

And The Meme Still Goes On... .

Taken from Night Writer and Mr. Dilettante. Now it's my turn.
Woo Hoo!!!

1. The phone rings. Who will it be? I don't know. I rarely, as in: mostly never, answer it.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Nope. That's a union job.

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? I'm a listener. Been that way since last October, and it's damn near killing me.

4. Do you take compliments well? I do better with assaults on my character.

5. Do you play Sudoku? Should I?

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? For a while. If I had warm enough clothing, and a sharp knife, maybe a little longer. I'd like to think so, anyway.

7. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? Nope. I don't know anybody else who did, either.

8. What was your favorite game as a kid? Actually, there were two hugely popular games among the neighbor kids, depending on the weather. "Sploosh Ball" was played whenever a Nerf football got left out in the rain, or ended up in someone's pool. Just like ball tag, but wetter, and could hurt more.
The other was (you asked) "Shit Ball" (seriously, that's what we called it). Whenever a wet Nerf wasn't available, a volleyball was smeared with dog feces. Again, just like ball tag, but you ran much faster and dodged more acrobatically.

9. If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew she was married, would you? "Was" is past tense, ain't it?

10. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you? That's usually how it happened.

11. Do you like to pursue or be pursued? By whom, and for what?

12. Use three words to describe yourself? Take your pick.

13. Do any songs make you cry? Openly? No. But "O Sole Mio", when done right, may cause an inner stirring. Chalk it up to my family's agricultural history, what the words mean to them, and how those emotions were, in turn, taught to me.

14. Are you continuing your education? Aren't we all?

15. Do you know how to shoot a gun? Not a clue.

16. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Not that I recall.

17. How often do you read books? On a daily basis, not at all. Generally, I'll buy one, and not put it down until finished, a few times a year.

18. Do you think more about the past, present or future? Yeah, something like that...

19. What is your favorite children’s book? Why do I need one?

20.What color are your eyes? Grayish-greenish, I think.

21. How tall are you?Somewhere round 5'8", maybe a little higher, but not by much.

22. Where is your dream house located? In the center of the Ozarks, on 1000 acres or so, a few miles from town, enclosed with an electrified fence, ringed by a 50' deep moat stocked with hungry crocs, guard towers with sharpshooters, and equipped with anti-satellite technology so The Man can't see what I'm up to.

23. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed? Mamie

24. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden? Probably ten years ago.

25. Where was the furthest place you traveled today? Garden Grove, about 50 miles away. Met a friend for lunch.

26. Do you like mustard? No

Iran And The Bomb

AS the only nation to ever engage in atomic warfare, and who still maintains a large stockpile of nuclear weaponry, I think it's more than a little absurd to expect another nation, especially one seeking prestige such as Iran, to fore go any nuclear ambition.

Whatever you may think of their current regime, the Iranian people have a proud history of tremendous accomplishments. It's for good cause that they may feel a need to finally be recognised by the West as something other than a rag-headed backwater.

I think we are playing a fool's game,here. Give it up, and deal with it. We can start by minding our own business for a change.

From Bad To Worse?

I underwent the gamma knife procedure in, what... February was it? As part of the follow-up and monitoring I was to have an MRI every three months for the first year, followed by one MRI every twelve months... forever.

I never got that first 'three-month' MRI. Having to do with the insurance provider dragging it's feet with approval, combined with lack of openings at their network MRI provider.
Part of the hassle is my requirement to be put to sleep for the procedure. They hate that, as it costs a lot of extra money. But anybody who's had to lay through an MRI can understand why, when my brain is the target, heavy sleep-style sedation would be a necessity. (For those who haven't: place your head in a five-gallon bucket full of foam, and lay perfectly still while strapped to a wooden bench for about 90 minutes. And don't you dare fidget!)

By the time I'd actually had my 'three-month' MRI, it had been six months.

Today, the doctor's office called to re-schedule a follow-up visit (following up on the 'three-month' MRI that was three months late.) I can't see him without prior-approval either, and they just got around to approving it.
The next opening is ...
you ready for this...
November 13th.

And they are working on getting my 'nine-month' MRI scheduled for November 30th. Reasonably on target this time, IF everything works according to plan. Sayeth the office: still waiting for approval to schedule the next MRI, but they've reserved that date in hopes that it will happen. Approval request has been submitted, and re-submitted, and re-submitted... every week since the last MRI. Expecting a non-rejection any week now.

But, the next office visit opening (post next MRI) is December 14th. Would you like to reserve that spot? (pending approval for said office visit, of course).

I possess, because I've paid for it, what some of these politicians might be referring to when they deride "Cadillac Health Plans". Generally, I have a better package of coverage than the receptionists (health care workers) who manage my case. I know this because they tell me so. You can see that I'm not some piker with a poor man's package of left overs.

Now here's the rub:

The talking heads say ObamaCare will leave us in a Canadian-style health care system, with six-month waits to get an MRI, months-long waits to see your doctor, rationing of services, rising tidewaters, swarms of locusts, piss-water beer and dead kittens.
It appears we are half-way there already.

It's Beautiful Day In America

I've long been called a racist for my failure to patronise. The willingness to call what I saw, and defend it when challenged. In recent years it just got old, and I stopped defending myself. (Just call the word; you know you want to; feel better?; now shut the fuck up.)
I admit, it's also fun to speak the words others fear to breath aloud.

I remember back during the election campaign, when a lot of normally center-minded, and even right-of-center-minded voters thought that voting for Obama would demonstrate a blow against racism. And may even be the end of racism itself, at least as a political force.

I caught some flack (on other blogs, notably about seven of them)for attempting to point out some flaws in their choice of Anointed Black Man. For the most part, I was concerned with his political past,his parental/familial history, his lack of experience, and absolutely no real evidence that he was a centrist, come-together kinda of policy guy.
In short, if you just want a unifying black man to lead the nation, pick a real descendant of slavery with a little bit of cred in center-minded, unifying consensus area. Cred that extends to when the teleprompter is turned off.
In return, I was labeled a racist. It didn't bother me personally. I just saw it as the end of discussion. A discussion others were either not ready for, incapable of, or unwilling to engage in. That's fine.

When challenged, it was never explained how voting for skin color wasn't itself racism, but challenging the legitimacy of his unifying blackness was.

Fantasies and dreams of what you want to be are often difficult to snuff even when presented with strong evidence that contradicts the possibility of the dream ever taking place. I'm guilty of this as well, so I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. I'm just noting a common human failing.
And as skilled politicians of either stripe do, a bill of goods was presented to willing and gullible buyers, who responded accordingly.

Now, it looks like America's "chickens are coming home to roost", to borrow a phrase from a Obama's spiritual mentor.

Racism, as an accusation, is now bigger than ever. It has become the mantra of Obama's defenders. Criticise the president, and you are a racist. Doesn't matter on what grounds, what policy, or whatever. Only racism drives these people, you see?
The same nation that eagerly desired a Black skinned president is now angry that they have a Black skinned president.
Naturally, this protection from dissent will have to extend to any future Presidents, of either color, or that would be racist,right? I encourage further outting of racists everywhere.
Let's drag them all out the closet, shall we?

Come on, you too. Yeah, you know who you are.
Step on out.
Do you currently enjoy the President's policies? That's Ok. At some point in time, you may find a topic of disagreement, and if not this one, then the next will likely piss you off about something.
Come join the fun. You're a racist,too.

When certain words are overused they tend to lose their meaning. "Racist" has become one of those words.

Nobody can be a racist anymore, or we are all racists.
Doesn't really matter now, does it?

Thank you, to President Obama, and those well-intentioned racists who voted for him.
"Racism" is finally dead in America.
Let us rejoice.

Bears-Packers, Week One

I know all you "Grumpy's" are just waiting to hear my side of the story. I hope yer takin notes...

I've been hopeful, but guarded, since the Cutler-for-Orton trade and the windfall of promises that came with. Though I sincerely hoped I was mistaken, it looks like maybe I won't be.

With Cutler's four INT's, it was looking more like the return of Rex Grossman last nite in Green Bay, instead of the second coming of Sid Luckman.
And I saw nothing better than Orton would have delivered.

Yessir, it looks like Bears fans will have to wait to see the 'explosion of Offense' that was all but promised to us with the acquisition of Jay Cutler at QB. I still remain hopeful, but... ya know... I won't be hoisting the purple dixie cup anytime soon.

And then comes the news that the mighty Urlacher is out for the season. Could last night have been any worse?
For sure, I would've expected 'last night' to have happened last year, but not this year. But before you Cheeseheads get all swaggerish, just keep reminded that an ineffective Bears Offense, and a less than stellar Defense was beating you, and was close to sealing the deal, at Lambeau.

Your Packers will have to do better than that when you hit Favre House. It should be a good show, either way.

On a side note:
Former Bear, traded for Cutler, now a Bronco, Kyle Orton threw for a TD when it mattered most, and put the W in the column.
For sure, Orton doesn't bring the level of promises that Cutler does. He also doesn't fall so short of them,either.

Week One Dilemma

I subscribe to the NFL Sunday Ticket, the service that broadcasts every game into my man cave.

Needless to say, I can always find an interesting game watch.

So, here I am, half hour before kick off, and still haven't picked a game from too many interesting choices.

Do I watch a local boy, Mark Sanchez, who's career I've been following since his high school days (and who my son played against) start his rookie season at QB for the Jets?

Or the Broncos play the Bengals. I'm not too big on either team, but I liked Kyle Orton when he was playing for the Bears, and would like to see him do well with his new team, the Broncos. If he starts blowing it, I'd be changing channels real quick.

Then there is the game that is sure to get some over saturation in the media: The Minnesota Favres take on the Cleveland Browns. Maybe I won't even need to actually watch it, being so heavily covered maybe I can get to see the all the 'good parts' later when the talkers do their talking?

Fifteen minutes left before kickoff...
I better get me a beer and then flip a coin.

He's Swinging A Wide Rope

I'll let KingDavid speak for himself:

While many blogs with multiple posters are geared towards one topic; here at Grumpy Old Men, we will be taking on all aspects of civilized (and uncivilized) life on the planet. I've been reading each of their individual blogs for years, and they all seem to have their own areas of expertise and a passion for what they write about.


So, if you get a little tired of reading about politics all the time, and Powerline, Townhall, Malkin and Coulter, the Drudge Report, etc, etc; get to be a little too much---come visit Grumpy Old Men for fun and view what's going on in the world through the eyes of some average Joes, and examine the philosophy behind being fairly contented 30-40-50 somethings in this mad, mad, mad, mad world we call planet earth.

In his reckless abandon, KingDavid has seen fit to risk it all with the addition of one lone,California outsider. Or maybe it's his charity of heart.
Either way, I'm there, as well as here.
You'll no doubt recognise some of the other Grumpy Old Men as frequent visitors here.

This will still be my main site, but expect some cross posting, as well as some contributions unique to either page.

*There is an open invitation to anyone who admits to being a Lions fan, if you can pull him out of the closet, to join us.
If you can can find one, send him over. If you find them both, that's even better.

Again????

I really think it's time to stop giving prime-time campaign readings and just get to work on fixing the shit that's broken.

Isn't that what he was elected for?
More 'do'. Less 'talk'.

How 'bout it?

Maybe I'm missing something... but why don't the ObamaCare universal health care designers just extend Medicare to everybody?

Problem solved, all in one, simple, two sentence bill.

As The Years Slip Away...

...my baby girl turns 21.