February 22, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: February 22, 2015, my old coffee maker.
Five years ago today: February 22, 2011, pizza “in moderation”.
Nine years ago today: February 22, 2007, a man called Horst.
Random years ago today: February 22, 2004, a man called Horst.

MORNING
           Yes, I’m aware the banksters are beating the price of silver back below $15 per ounce. I was at home all day after the second trip also threw me into dozy-mode. Believe me or not, it is jet lag. In the news, a friend of mine is following a trial in Canada. They have lots of Stalin-era show-trials in Canada so their government-owned media can put on a show for the world. Pretend how liberal they are, but that's America-style liberal. You know the type, play Liberal for the television cameras only and back-stabbing ugly bastards at street level, back home, and in person.

           The event is some guy charged with sexual assault by adult women who repeated hung out with him, sometimes for years, while these encounters were supposedly taking place. At this point, the trial interests me because it now has entered the phase of the Ernst Zundel debacle and the Charles Vernon Meyers fiasco. Where truth and facts not only do not matter, anyone who dares to speak such things in a Canadian courtroom can be severely reprimanded. It is not uncommon for Canadian courts to disallow truth if it contradicts their motives. This is not conjecture, you can look it up yourself.
           Well, this Ghomeshi seems to have realized that his guilt has been decided behind closed doors and either way, his life and career are over. So, he’s doing the one thing Canadians hate. He is using the kangaroo trial, at least partially, to reveal to the world the corruption and double-standards behind the [Canadian] legal system. How many times we gotta tell you, if your accuser is a policeman or a woman, kiss your ass good-bye, there is no justice for you.

           I have never been a believer in the “repressed memory” syndrome, most probably because I’ve never seen a believable instance of it. It’s always as realistic as a banker, thirty years later realizing he is a failure at life who suddenly “remembers” that he was robbed. And they are never robbed by just anybody, but somebody who has something they want. Ghomeshi, see photo, got the women cross-examined under oath where they essentially admitted they had ongoing voluntary relations with him after these so-called assaults. This included sending him steamy text messages. They were obvious lying through their teeth.
           But, it is Canada. The police cannot be sued for false arrest. The liars cannot be sued for defamation. And Ghomeshi can, and likely will, be held in jail and fined for conducting a spirited defense. Canada could do a Meyers, charge him with the same crime again again and try him in secret with an appointed judge. Or pull a Zundel, that is, firebomb his house, publicly disgrace his defense team and witnesses, and deport him. Ghomeshi needs to be taught an Ottawa-style lesson. The RCMP always get their man and it is always a man.
           The prosecution pointed out that in Canada, “after the fact behavior” “does not alter the fact that she was assaulted.” Yeah, like dating the guy for two more years and sending him sexy pictures. No bearing whatsoever. And you can trust a Canadian whenever they say anything like that. I’ve seen it. The case should never have gone to trial, and apparently, although the original charges were dropped, Ghomeshi now faces the secondary round of indictments that often follow-on whenever a defendant has the brass to offend the Crown. When they are done, he'll wish he'd falsely pled guilty.
           Read my lips. There is no such thing as a fair trial in Canada.

Wiki picture of the day.
Flying waste of money.
NOON
           I spent the day in limbo or off kilter, when I was awake, I was yawning constantly. This, I thought, was a message that I was supposed to tell the world what I actually do in that condition. Okay, I read a book on boxing and I guess I’ve been doing it all wrong. By never boxing, I mean. And I watched a few documentaries. Like this machine that made clothes pins. And this other machine that made french fries. It was hard to tell the difference. Many people prefer the taste of the clothespins.

           Trivia. The video says the clothespin reject blanks are made into mousetraps. Here’s how to make fancy wooden hinges. And bubble gum and yes, Virginia, these days gum is made from flavored plastic. The video tells you why bubble gum is pink. Here’s how the make bowling balls. Last, a video on making magnets that is so low-tech I laughed.

           Dang, I missed that article on robots taking jobs. And like all MSN web article that has any cerebral content, it disappeared before I could get across the room with my coffee. Ah, if a machine can take your job, it was not much of a job to begin with. Speaking of coffee, the coffee maker I got at the Goodwill made one pot and quit. Maybe it just needs resetting, but still. Have you ever tried to get the right user manual for a Kenmore product?

NIGHT
           On this recent trip, I took 275 pictures, though I have not yet sifted through to see which may be blogworthy. We took a detour and backtrack to the town of Mulberry. That’s where we found this gem, a house that I happen to like. But it sold for three times what I have. We heard somebody inside pounding away. Still, that is my idea of a great retirement home. A room for your piano and another for your books. Beware that such houses are an ongoing financial strain.

           And Mulberry is not out of the contest. I was right, it is more like a suburb of Lakeland. It also has neighborhoods on three sides that are totally unfit for inhabitation. Further, there is land for sale that you cannot develop. We met a family that had bought some, now they cannot build. It is illegal to fill or drain the land.

           If I was in charge, I would jail the people who sold them the land, because the land was unsuitable for its intended purpose and the seller knew that. Everybody in Mulberry knows that. The seller should be obligated to reveal such things, otherwise it is a scam. Laws are invisible and it should not be entirely the burden of the buyer to conduct infinite research. Due diligence is not entitlement to conceal known defects. The house on Oak we looked at y'day had new aluminum siding expertly installed over a crumbling foundation.
           The only “country” house we could find was an abandoned gas station. So there is one departure from what you’d find in Texas. By now, we’ve been on most of the secondary roads and there is a complete absence of farmhouses, or any older structures for that matter. I’d say the most memorable experience of this trip, other than that barfight on Saturday night, would be how we are now encountering the seediest, oily, scumbag near-felons of the real estate trade. Simply because we are not prepared to be upsold into an overpriced mainstream Chinese drywall edifice.


Last Laugh
Not this guy again.


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