3.29.2008

Tricks My Husband Used

My husband, before we were married, would tell my boyfriends that I used to be a man and if they looked carefully they could see the five o'clock shadow, that I robbed drug stores using the alias "Pinkie", and that I had a glass eye that "glinted" when I was lying.

And you know, some of them actually believed it.

3.23.2008

Katrina and the Housing Crisis - A Conservative Philosophy

The disasters of Federal policy seen in the handling of Hurricane Katrina and the mortgage crisis have one common origin: the faulty belief that there is no Federal role in the national affairs of the United States. It's time to admit it. There are issues that are too big to be left to one state or the short-sighted greed of our financial community to manage.

The Bush Administration's "let the state handle it" philosophy did so poorly by the residents of New Orleans that even third world survivors of a tsunami felt bad for them.

Now the stability of our nation's economy is in jeopardy because we had a Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, who believed in the same limited role of government. Coupled with a President content to experiment with state's rights at the expense of our poorest residents, and these disasters are the result.

Have we had enough of "I believe in the free market" and "I believe in state's rights" as an excuse for greed and inaction? Probably not. Because as soon as their interests are hurt, people will find a sincere big-government liberal in their souls.

3.17.2008

It Takes More Than Divorce To Create a Hooker

Linked to this post is the People magazine article on Ashley Alexandra Dupre. Read it. Absorb it. I'm no expert on the causes of prostitution, however it seems to me that it takes more than divorce to create a hooker. Enough said on that front.

Who are these 'friends' that are quoted in the article? I know that Ms. Dupre has been complaining that people in her old school are trying to cash in on her "media moment." Do they have permission to speak to People magazine on behalf of Ms. Dupre? My guess is not.

Then do any of you ever wonder what your high school classmates would do if you were caught up in a sex scandal? Ugh.

3.13.2008

I Feel Bad for the Hooker

Ashley Youmans is a prostitute that most likely never planned on making national headlines as a call girl. Her dream is to be a singer.

She describes her past as including abuse and a broken home. I believe it. Certainly that is the track record for most hookers. It puts prostitution in a new light. He was a very powerful man who was using a girl for sex who was alone, unsupported and had no family to rely on. Or none worth mentioning, anyway. Ashley Youmans' mother was quoted as saying that her daughter probably didn't know that Spitzer was the Governor "but is smart enough to handle it." How's that for a supportive Mom? It's probably what she said when Ashley was a girl being abused, too. And it sure doesn't sound like she even talking to her daughter.

In the end, I really feel sorry for her, not Gov. Spitzer. He'll be able to live this down and go earn a living somehow. He tosses away a career and respect for what? All so he could indulge in some fantasy of having a hot, young girlfriend being into him.

Way to go, Elliot Ness.

3.10.2008

Russia Travel: An American in Moscow

Don't think being an American will protect you in Russia.

Paul Klebnikov, an American editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot to death outside of his offices. Forbes had been working on publishing a series of articles, including a list of the richest Russians. Klebnikov also had articles published exposing organized crime.

After he was shot, he was left to bleed to death in the lobby of the hospital. No one was ever arrested for the crime.

That's the New Russia for you.

3.07.2008

Have YOU Seen this Criminal?

No, you haven't. Look at the video footage by clicking on the title to this post. Why bother to have security footage at all if it looks this fuzzy? If you really want to secure your property, how about video footage of high quality?

This is not a slam at WalMart. I see it all the time on the news. Some grainy footage of a crime in progress, and no one could possibly recognize who it might have been. If you want to really prevent crime, get some quality cameras in there.

Travel to Mother Russia!

So Russia is spending big bucks, according to the Washington Post, to improve its image abroad. And it might even work.

Forget Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who was killed for reporting about the use of torture by the Russian government. Or the Russian editor of Fortune magazine who was gunned down in the lobby of his office building and then help was delayed until after he was dead. Forget the Russian expat who was murdered in London.

And that's what will happen. No one will remember or care that good, decent people who spoke out for basic human rights were killed by the Russian state. They won't think about the implications of that for their own lives, either.