barbara friedland

Taxes

If you don't pay them, or complain about paying them, cheat the IRS or establish off shore accounts, then you hate this country.

Period.

All you false patriots, pay up.  

Somehow love of America is predicated on a double standard.  Support war, won't fight.

Or brag about liberties and freedoms and then eradicate same.

Waving a flag, voting Republican and opposing anything President Obama does is not proper citizenship.

Such actions won't contribute to the greater good.

By the way, there is plenty to rail against in regard to the new President.  As refreshing as it is to have someone actually elected, with IQ points in the triple digits and ostensibly sober, many of his policies do not portend well.

But I digress.  

Pay your taxes and be quiet. 

Craig T. Nelson was recently on the Glenn Beck show.  

So many questions.

Who authorized putting this man on television.

Why isn't he locked up?  I'm thinking mental hospital.

Beck.  But now I am considering that Nelson needs therapy.

How come anyone on the planet would watch this tripe?

(BTW, I saw the video clip online.)

And lastly, this is a combination question- who cares what Nelson thinks

and why associate with the likes of Beck.

I'm curious what contribution has Nelson made to the entertainment industry?

He was on a mediocre television series and has voiced some cartoon films.

Okay.

I remember reading a long time ago that he was on government assistance.  I thought it was food stamps

but according to the source, Nelson himself,  welfare as well.

In a screed on the Glenn Beck comedy hour, Nelson imploded about taxes and he is sick of paying them

Is he actually working?  

In said tirade he referenced that he had been on welfare and food stamps,

Craig T-  may I call you moron- such services are paid for by taxes.  

As well as wars, unless they are put on the credit card.  Like Bush did.

Roads, schools, police and fire personnel, mail as well a million other functions

are underwritten by taxes.

Including monies to Halliburton for substandard work.

Somebody audit Nelson's last 5 tax returns.

Indict Bush.

You people

I just found out that "you people" is an insult.

I really, truly did not know that.

It was clear that this idiom was redundant at the very least.

Lazy language.  Insipid argot.

Perhaps because you can be singular or plural, folks are always trying

to add a tail when it refers to more than one individual.

The Southerners say "ya'll"  which I guess could be directed to a person or

the entire invading Union army.

Maybe the pronoun sounds incomplete.  You guys.  You folks.

You people.

I was having a discussion with a Safeway employee.  By the way, I have given them

almost as much money as my mortgage company.

I have a teenage/male/athlete who seems to eat every few seconds.

It still takes a village to feed him.

But now he is not doing organized sports. 

Before, after three hours of wrestling practice, Jonathan would 

begin consuming food upon arriving home.  And not stop.

Until he went to sleep.  Each time I asked him if had brushed his teeth, the reply was

always the same: "I'm not done eating yet."

But I digress.  Sufficient to say that after a dearth of supermarkets in my neighborhood, 

Safeway arrived and I shopped there a lot.

Most folks who work there recognize regulars by sight.

They have a policy that one must write 8 checks each year until one can be for more than the amount due.

In other words, to get cash back.

I use a debit card and never write checks.  Until my debit card gets eaten by the ATM machine

and I need to pay for groceries and get some spending money.

But not at Safeway.  Giant, yes.  Returning after years, with a shopper's card, I was able to

write a check for $50 over the purchase amount.

Safeway, not a penny.  And there is no point in using checks for 8 consecutive times, because

that ritual has to be repeated annually.

So there I was, unable to get cash from a store that I had partially supported.

They'd put my face on milk cartoons when I wasn't there for a few consecutive days.

I took the problem to customer service.

I was arguing with the woman, who was black and this is germane.  I commented something to the effect that you people make it very hard.

Her back went up and she demanded to know what I meant by "you people."

I was astonished.  I was talking about corporate policy, thus Safeway folks.

It wasn't black people preventing me from getting an additional 40 bucks.

Really.

Later I asked around and apparently you people is an insult in that it groups diverse people

together under stereotypical assumptions.

As in Republicans, you people are both stupid and evil.

By the way, when I want to insult someone, as in the case of the GOP,

I am not subtle.

So mea culpa.  She finally specially authorized my check so I could get some money back.

  

I guess Safeway has trouble with bounced checks.

Indict Bush.

JCC-

The JCC of Greater Baltimore- that is the Jewish Community Center, has recently instituted Saturday hours.

Why don't they just start serving ham sandwiches?  Or provide tatoos?

I guess now is the time to begin wearing crosses and handing out rosaries.

Disclosure, I am culturally Jewish and do not observe the Orthodox traditions.

My family, when growing up, never did as well.

I have a dear friend from childhood who transmorphed from being ethnically Jewish to

devout as an adult.  Without being able to cull from her youth, she created her own traditions

and followed strict rituals.

My father hated all mindless rote.  He was a mathematician.  Black and white.

A concrete thinker.

He did have a sense of whimsy and enjoyed beauty and art.  

But religion, never.

What ever loose iteration of Jewish holiday fun- or fasting- did not make it to my own household.

My mother tried to imbue a sense of Jewish law and history to us.  Both of my parents were

proud of our race.  Just not separating milk from meat at meals.

My mother eschewed pork products and crabs because she found such victuals disgusting.

Not because there were traf- non kosher.

So why I am upset that the JCC is breaking Shabbus when I have never observed that day?

Because traditions must be kept intact somewhere. Not only specific groups, but institutions

need to be repositories of ritual.

In deciding to open the JCC on Saturday, or the Sabbath, the board stated that members

were clamoring for it.

Well, let them go elsewhere on that day.  

One does not order Italian food in an Indian restaurant.  Can't buy shoes at a hardware store.

Don't make the Jewish Community Center break sacred beliefs that have enveloped our people for

centuries.

Especially for traditions that I don't follow, I am comforted knowing that they are preserved in

a pure form. Somewhere

Breaking the Sabbath thus begins the disintegration distinguishing Jews and others.  It pulls away from

the identify of this complicated religion/ culture/ race.

Now that the JCC has determined to be open on this sacred day, perhaps more changes are in the offing.

Christenings and baptisms.  How about NASCAR rallies?

Boutiques offering merchandise at retail.

Pretty soon Moshe and Moshe Jr. will be running around.

BLT sandwiches on Yom Kippur.

Let's do services in Ebonics.  Why not celebrate Christmas?

Better yet, Easter.  Folks can sit around and discuss how the Jews killed Christ.

Certain traditions should be scraped, like voting Republican.

Others that define a group, need to be respected.

Indict Bush.  And the other goyim of his criminal administration.

www.jcc.org

What is so rare as a day in June?

There is a theory derived from anthropology, or pop psychology, perhaps economics

that what is rare is coveted.

Which makes me question Jessica Simpson's popularity.  Seriously, she is everywhere.

No mas.

Of course, iterations of this theory has been evidenced throughout history.

It is easy to visualize rarity equaling value in terms of tangible objects.

Gold, diamonds, honest bankers.  All things to cherish.

But small numbers does not always indicate desirability.  Around

22% of the country, giver or take, identify themselves as Republicans.

This does not make the GOP important or needed.

Sometimes stupidity or not seeing the imminent climate change

can cause ranks to decline or disappear.  Like Republicans or dodo birds.

Trends can account for public acceptance.

I believe one of the reasons that the elderly are not treated better in our country,

writ large, is that so many live longer. 

Certainly, when someone crosses the 100 year old threshold, there can be limited interest.

Now, if the average life span in this country was the same as many developing nations,

people who lived to 60, 70 or older would be revered.

As in times of famine and scarcity, those with extra poundage are considered beautiful.

Okay fat folks.

Here, in America, where food is available, thin is the more desired look.

In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

Which brings us around to marketing.

Once upon a time, in a land only a few generations ago, marketing was fairly simple.

Depending on budget and target market- there were ad buys, in TV, radio or newspaper.

Perhaps a few billboards or sponsorships.  Done.

Now a  6-year old can roll out a media campaign.

Between Facebook and twitter, blogs, websites and linkages, guerrilla marketing and email-

products can be launched without using traditional means.  Or in collaboration with non

electronic interactive media.

But if the theory of scarcity holds constant, then it will be the quiet campaigns that will garner more interest.

The product or service that no one is vlogging about, becomes the hot item.

If everyone can tweet, then all is lost in the noise.

Presently, even being literate does not stop anyone from opining on-line.  

Less does become more.  

Indict Bush.

Jon and Kate and no sense from either of them...

plus all the shows that they launched.

Where to begin?

My mother used to say that it impossible to know someone else's relationship.  Except theirs.

Jon and Kate's.

First a digression.  The reality show about this couple and their 8 children is responsible for spawning

more of its ilk.  All of those television programs about too many kids.

There is an organization, now called ZPG, nee Zero Population Growth.  Too many folks misunderstood

its mission and the non-profit had to reemerge under a different name.  Their focus is a sustainable

world population.  One of the tactics to reach said goal is to suggest that couples only have two children.

Thus each parent is replicated and growth is contained.

Our planet does not have the resources to support massive population surges.

Back to our heroes.  Jon and Kate already had two children, twins, when they decided to have more.

In a way that God had never imagined.  Oh yes, they are religious.

So these folks had six, SIX, more and then had to feed them.

What to do?  How about pimping them out on television?

There was trouble, in my mind, right from the start.  Now grant you, I have never seen this

show.  But enough data has osmosised into my consciousness.

I thought raising one child took a great deal of effort, energy, wisdom and money.  With multiple 

offspring, the challenges grow geometrically, like a Baltimore City parking ticket.  One day,

you are issued a $32 citation.  Six months later you owe a cool 450 dollars.

I don't understand it.  They have their own accounting methods.  

Back to the issue at hand.

Again, I have never viewed this show but have seen clips as presented on The Soup.

Another digression.  My son and I are going to the Meyerhoff this Saturday night to see Joel

McHale perform.  It is something that we share, a love of humor.  My son and I.

I believe the host of the The Soup and I both loathe stupid people who must live their lives

on television.

McHale has Tivoed some codas to JK plus 8 that make you wonder why Jon never slapped her,

let alone just left.   As McHale says, he has no reason to live.

Continually being humiliating on national television.

While raising 8 little consumers.  And who is actually rearing them?

The mother is on a book tour and allegedly ogling her body guard.

Or more.

He is dallying with a young teacher.

Even before trouble in paradise, there were problems.  Where were the in-laws and extended

family?  Aunts, uncles, grandparents?

Not a good sign when blood relatives go AWOL.

Just like Bush during his so called military service.

Jon and Kate plus 8.  A disaster waiting to happen.

Indict Bush.

thank you Stacy, I do like this outfit

Do I have enough friends to be selected to appear on What Not to Wear?

It doesn't matter since I have too much pride.  And besides, I think I dress

very well.  Even taking in account budgetary and time constraints.

Some my sartorial splendor is directed derived from WNTW.

I had been making mistakes, such as wearing longer blouses and tops.  I 

now understand that cropped is far more flattering.

The show has provided some interesting tips and techniques.

I never would have mixed patterns before, but sometimes, with

the right ones, up to three can be combined in one outfit.

However, I don't want to be humiliated on national television.  Stacy London

is not going to trash, literally and figuratively, my wardrobe in a ratings sweep.

I love my clothes, culled from once top boutiques and now thrift stores and

sales at Talbots.

The hosts of this program are right.  If you look good, you feel better.

I get dressed up everyday to go to work, and my office consists of three

people, including myself.

My mother's rules for quality still apply.  But all her other advice is sadly dated.

There is white before Memorial Day and once fall has begun.

Basic colors can be mixed and matched.  Thus black and brown, together.

Hues close together on the color wheel can be put together, such as coral

and burgundy.  

My mother would be horrified.

And of course, mixing patterns, if done skillfully.

Sometimes I think I would like to be chosen.  I would hide most of my clothes and only trot out

a linen pant that is too big and a top with horizontal stripes.  (Actually, my mother was correct

about that.)

She, however, would not understand having a shoe color that pops an outfit, and is not

found in the rest of attire.  

Back to my fantasy.  I am ambushed by the two hosts.  On a bad day.  

I bring a few items to New York.  Because 5000 dollars is not a lot of money

to replace an entire wardrobe. 

Casual and work clothes.

Dressy outfits.

Exercise pieces together with shoes, bags and coats.

Plus, one must pay taxes on the gift, so ponying up around $1400 on April 15th.

Thus, I must make a lot of money to hire stylists to privatel glean their advice. 

Fashion minus disparaging remarks and clothes hurled into trash cans.

But another concern is how to assemble all the people for the initial ambush and

finally the reveal at the end of the show.  It appears as if folks have hundreds of friends

and relatives.

I know people.  My family is either gone or living far away.  My son would never agree to

part of such a thing.  

A cherished friend from childhood resides on the opposite coast.

Others, who are here in Baltimore, work and have a plethora of obligations.

How can I round up enough people to shriek and cry when I am transformed?

Thus, no What Not to Wear for me.

Indict Bush.

George W. Obama

I know that it is early.  He has only been in office a few months.  We should not judge his performance prematurely.

However, I want to be on the record.  If the only major differences between the 43rd and 44th Presidents of our country are some African blood, style and 100 IQ points, I will be very upset.

Ah yes, Obama did not chose Satan's minion on earth as his running mate.

I am nervous.  Folks are already saying that President Obama has never been liberal.

From where I sit that is tragically apparent.

I also grant you that in terms of character, 44 appears to have forged his life on hard won principles and

a moral ethos.  43-  George W. Bush, is a coward, a failure, who is lazy and stupid. 

Character they say, is destiny.  But what if belonging to one of history's most elite coteries- Chief

Executive of the United States, trumps everything else.

Bush threw money at the criminals on Wall Street.  Obama too.  Of course there is a stimulus package 

that seems to be better than just straight bailouts, but basically the scenario is identical.

Reward those who created the collapse.

The wars are continuing in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And still not properly run.

There have been reports that our soldiers in Iraq need drinking water.  It is summer there,

130 degrees and military can carry up to 100 pounds of gear.

GET THEM THE SUPPLIES THEY NEED.

President Obama is tap dancing around mental torture- i.e. indefinite containment with the 

possibility of a trial.  Actually, he has come right out and advocated such.

His style in regard to gays is different. But the effects are similiar.

Obama has not used this group as electoral diversions.

But the pastor he chose to give the inauguration sermon is no friend of the this group.

As for gays in the military-  good luck.

And the same wishes for the polar bears.  As they huddle on diminishing ice caps, it is irrelevant

who is President and if they believe in global warming.  

DO SOMETHING.

Yes, President Obama has to pick his battles.  Of course, the clueless moron and his evil running mate

destroyed the country and planet in every conceivable way.  

There is no aspect of public policy that these two- Bush/Cheney- did not corrupt or harm.

So President Obama is in clean up mode.  Still, the omens loom.

Even as a Senator, Obama supported the FISA bill which gave a too wide latitude for electronic

eavesdropping.

As Cheney drones on, it becomes clearer that he is not that far removed from the present administration.

By the way, one way to distance oneself from pure evil, is to arrest him.

But that has not, and I would bet my house, will never happen.

President Obama has a nice family.  He actually won the election.  He can formulate sentences in  an articulate manner, pronouncing the individual words correctly.

Our current Chief Executive does not antagonize or insult foreign leaders.

I am not saying the the two are twins separated at birth.

I am just very wary.

And if Henry Kissinger is invited to the White House for consult, then we have entered the twilight zone.

Indict Bush and Cheney.

TLC

 TLC. The Learning Channel.  Okay not quite.  Not even close.  Probably miles away from the zip code of education.

I only watch one program on TLC- unfortunately, I am bombarded by promos for the 47 other horrific shows.

I mean really.  Staring open mouthed as someone buys a wedding dress?  Seriously.  Are people's lives that empty that they could wile away the hours watching others trying on clothes ?

And believe me, there is nothing compelling about the 30 or so seconds clip designed to lure me to tune in.

After that, there seems to be an infinite amount of shows about families with too many kids.  

As well as said folks being extremely pious.  Again, my only source of information is from the short clips complied for the promotions.

Except for Jon and Kate plus 8.  Now an alternative version of their lives is in almost every gossipmagazine and newspaper.

By the way Kate, i am so astonished by your horrific behavior, that I have memorized how to spell Gosselin

so I could write about you.  Although, according to some reports, that might not be your surname for much longer.

Even before it was reported that you were dallying with the bodyguard, the way you treated Jon seemed to preemptively excuse any extra martial affairs.  

I also see small segments of the JK+8 on The Soup with Joel McHale. Kate seems to continually berate her stud source, I mean husband about everything.  

There is nothing warm or inviting about this woman.  And apparently she has time to write several books. 

And then go on a speaking tour.  

Jon can hang out at bars that attract college students and hit whatever clubs are nearby.

With 8 kids???!! Who is watching them?

And why does Kate need a bodyguard?  Are ZPG and folks who believe in sustainable living stalking her?

One of my rules of life is to be suspicious of people who distance themselves from family.

No, not just the fact that neither parent seems to be with the 8- but in laws, siblings and extended family

appear to be missing.

Sadly, I was able to glean this from 30 second clips.

Although, I am tempted to watch the season premiere, where J and K and presumably 8, all reconnoiter.

But I will probably only return to TLC for What Not to Wear.  Learn some style techniques while simultaneously cleaning the master bathroom. 

In other words, no need to sit glued in front of the TV set for the entire hour.

On weekends, TLC seems to morph in the National Examiner or worse.

Again, I am subjected to countless promos.  Please stop.

But some of this television  can not be watched while eating.

The 2 ton man.  I was pregnant for 40 years. Or better yet, I gave birth to my twin sister.

Plus there are the Little People shows.  Are they so different that I have to watch them raise their kids?

Really.

I won't even deign to discuss the baby beauty pageants.  But why hasn't someone called Social Services?

C'mon TLC- get classy.

I think the trend to watch large, dysfunctional families is reaching an end.

Cancel the whole lot of them.

Indict Bush.

Lucy Gordon

 Lucy Gordon, considered one of Britain's most promising young film stars, was found dead in her Paris apartment after apparently killing herself, say French police.

Gordon, 28, had a dozen screen roles to her credit.

I once read in a pop psychology based email that we face three types of problems:  health, money and relationships.

How so very shallow.

I have found that all do- it- yourself mental health and success gurus present jejune and aborted tenets of Buddhism. 

So come to the source.  Read the teachings, both of Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Dashonin.  They proffer a primer on life and how to overcome the obstacles that we all face.

Of course such things as distilled above are important.

But those fighting for health and money while quite alone, can be very happy.

In fact, in Buddhism, absolute happiness can be found within regardless of external circumstances.

Also, it is important for one to discern their overarching life mission.  To discover how the mundane

intersects with the profound to find one's true purpose.

And then there is the inexplicable.  The Richard Corys who seemingly have everything but the ability

to continue.

I do not remember seeing the young actress Lucy Gordon.

By all reports she was talented and loved.  Her pictures show a pretty woman, who was achieving success

as an actor, a difficult task certainly.

She was also bilingual, presumably well off and had a boyfriend. He slept as she hung herself.

Lucy's family is devastated.

 Unlike some who dies from drug overdoses with murky questions about intent,

tying a noose around your neck to have it strangle you is fairly overt.

It was not a mistake of grabbing too many pills, but a deliberate action to end one's life.

That is why practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is so important.  To find a true sense of happiness

regardless of how bad, or good, the circumstances of your life are.

Indict Bush.

Poor George W. Bush

Ah pity George W. Bush.

He stole an office with responsibilities that he was incapable of executing.  

Who could possibly have predicted it.  Well, anyone, including Poppy and Barbara Bush, who witnessed a life unrivaled in failure, apathy in addition to inherent and substance induced stupor.

His babysitter/running mate, who was supposed to add maturity and experience, hijacked the office.

Filled with paranoia and evil, Cheney has branded the Bush years as venal and incompetent for the rest of

time.

But pity poor George.  It wasn't his fault.

Rumsfeld, folks are now saying, brought this Presidency down.  

It was 9/11.  A war in Iraq.  An economy inherited from Bill Clinton.

Wait, let's parse these excuses.

George W. Bush appointed Rumsfeld, stood by him and only cut the DOD Secretary loose

after the GOP suffered large interim Congressional election losses.  The very next day.

So dumb George managed to create the the worst possible scenario.  He appeared disloyal

and political motivatied in firing Rumsfeld.  But could not do it earlier to possibly

save some Republican seats.

9/11.  Who ignored the intelligence memos?

The Iraqi invasion.  And where did this idea germinate and develop?

And which folks lied to the American public to execute it?

The Clinton economy, a surplus.

There are no excuses.

Bush failed.  If he ceded power to Cheney, he is still responsible.

Bush might be dumb, lazy, ill informed, quick to anger, otiose and craven, but

he was the President.  If others took over,  it is his legacy that will be reviled,

W.'s entire life has been one that pinballed from failure to excuses to being bolstered by

money and connections.

He has never taken responsibility, or worked hard or found a moral compass.

IW. is the dumb, high kid in the car who drove his friend, let's call him Dick, to the

convenience store for cigarettes not knowing the latter was planning on robbing the

place.  And killing the clerk.

aWol was just waiting in the car and all hell broke loose.  Dick is careening from the

7/ll, a fist full of money, blood on his shirt and a gun still smoking in the other hand.

W. takes the car out of park and peels away.  A Texas court could sentence him to 

death.

Even if he starts whining that it wasn't his fault.

Just like a war crimes tribunal could find him guilty.

Guilty.  Guilty.

Indict him.