That's Right, Let's Make The President Special

Ever known a wedding not to attract gate crashers? How about a corporate function with a few folks who've lost their name tags? Annoying, yes. Few bucks lost. Probably. Criminal?

Apparently, a couple decided that they would crash a state dinner at the White House. Why they did it, who knows. They might want to cash in on the fame for having pulled off an audacious gate crashing. They might just have been really big fans of President Obama, but since they don't write checks large enough to the Democratic Party, they weren't on the invite list.

Now, because all they did was shake hands with the president, engage in some chit chat with foreign dignataries, and probably eat drink at the public expense, people are calling for their heads. On the Sunday news shows, Democrat and Republican talking heads provided for your consumption all called for their prosecution, probably for trespass.

Prosecuting them? For real? I mean, don't we have bigger things to talk about? Like, perhaps what we are doing about Health Care? Iran and nuclear weapons? or perhaps unemployment?

Presidential security, in my opinion, is over done these days. We've taken to treating the President like he is somehow irreplaceable. Quite frankly, very few president's in our history have been irreplaceable (in my opinion the list has 2 names on it: Washington and Lincoln).

But, we're going to keep doing this. And the Michaele and Tareq Salahi will probably be prosecuted.

Because that makes so much sense. To arrest and prosecute two people for wanting to meet a celebrity. Ridiculous.

Are People Seriously Stupid When It Comes to the "Elderly"?

Ok, let's start off with one thing. I think the elderly are overly-coddled in this country. I think they get too many special perks. And I really, really don't like the AARP.

I think if you really want to help the elderly, you do it early. You make sure that kids get educated. You make sure that you create the right environment for jobs to be created. You give incentives for people to save.

Yes, I do believe that there should be some assistance, but I think it is wrong for the elderly to think that they are entitled to assistance simply because they are elderly. I love my grandparents, but I still question the wisdom in the government doling out Social Security benefits to them every month given how successful they were during their working years.

I think that if there are any benefits paid out to the elderly, simply because they are "elderly", then there should be a means test. Yes, I know it gets into the whole "Well I paid into social security for 50 years with my taxes" argument. I really don't care. We have already said in this country that its ok to subsidize people because they don't earn as much or can't find a job. I do not think its ok to simply to subsidize their incomes because of their age.

And, in case people have not noticed, people are living longer these days. Back when Social Security was first rolled out, life expectency was about 62 years. For men it was actually about 58. Meaning that most of the people would die before or just after they started to be elligible to collect their benefits. However, we, in our infinite wisdom, have failed to take into account this fact and still give out the benefits as if people were going to live for the same number of years as they would back in the 1930s. Currently, life expectancy is about 75 years.

Apparently, though, this is not enough. Apparently, someone wants to do away with taxes for people over the age of 55. This little bit of insanity is brought to you be Lee W. Olsen. Not content to ending income tax for people over 55 (and quite frankly 55 is just middle age these days, not elderly), he wants to do away with property tax and any other sort of tax on people over 55.

So let's see if this makes sense. Let's make schools so unaffordable that if you are able to secure the funding, you will end up paying off debt for the next two or three decades. Let's also decrease the tax pool, putting an even greater proportion of the tax burden on one group of people. Then, lets also demand that this group of people pay for the subsidization of the elderly.

I guess in a way it does make sense. By the time you hit 55, you'll be broke, or been bankrupted by the whole thing so you'll need to have a subsidy to tide you over.

Yeah, I know, this is really cutting into my street cred with my progressive friends. I look at it as if you live in this country, and in this state, you have to kick in your fair share. What that share is, that is another question. But I see no reason to simply exempt a group because of their age.

Dancing With The Stars Finals Reveal Show

So let's start off with this: Samantha Harris is hated no more by the hair department, but she is hated by the wardrobe people. She is a painfully thin woman who has been clothed in a way to make it look like she has no waist and weighs about the same as me. And my BMI is not in the good zone.

Final dances:

Kelly's final Viennese waltz was great. She had a little hesitation right near the end that kept it from being perfect. But marked improvement. If it was a regular round, I could see 9/9/10.

Mya and Dmitri did a jive. Now here's the thing. That jive was much better than their open.

Donny drew the final slow of the night. He and Kym made a second try at the Argentine Tango. Here's hoping that there will be no wardrobe malfunction this time. And to make sure, they cut down on the amount of clothing on Kym. Everything except the end move was good. What is it with everyone this week? Get to the finals and forget to finish?

And the judges rewarded Donny over Mya. How weird. I had it down Donny 1st, Mya 2nd, Kelly 3rd. And they agreed. Whats up with that?

As we're watching the reveal, it looks like Donny is actually nervous and Mya thinks she has it in the bag. Either that or she knows something rest of us don't.



Congrats to Donny and Kym (its been long over due for you Ms. Johnson).

Finals Madness (DWTS Finals Recap)

I guess since its the final, they gave Samantha Harris a break and let her look good. Either that or someone got fired.

Mrs. Angrybell wants to know what Carrie Ann wearing. "It looks like it has little balls on it."

Kelly draws the lousy spot of going first. Always makes it harder when you become the meter/yard stick. Doing the Argentine Tango. This looks better than the last time she tired this. Mrs. Angrybell thinks she looks quite nice in the outfit. Little stumble, but looking good over all. Thank goodness there is no lift police, I am liking this dance. She is completely in character in this dance, not showing her nervousness. As Mrs. Angrybell says "you can't tell its Kelly this time in the dance." Wasn't flawless, but should be good enough to keep her close enough. Bruno was a little over critical. That 8 was ... not right. What should have been a 27 became a 26.

Mya and Dmitri followed this up. Can someone please explain the eyeblack? Angrybabybelle's Lil'Gramma wants Dmitri to put a shirt on (she phoned us to say that this). Alright, now I understand the eyeblack, but in the Paso? Really? Dmitri, please, go to the gym. Little stumbles right afte rthey came off the risers. Something went wrong with the hand holds there, I am not sure what. Mrs. Angrybell doesn't get this, "She's dressed like a dominatrix, he's dressed like a refugee from Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band playing football on Sunday." I was not blown away by this, so I'm wondering about the judge's effusiveness. Sounds like a perfect score, even though I think it was not fluid all the time. I almost feel like the fix is in. Sure enough, a perfect score.

Donny and Kym come limping in. Why limping? He's had two bad weeks in a row. He's been looking tired. Let's be clear, the only thing that got him to the finals is his fan base. Danny and Kym decided on the Cha cha cha. The beinging is a bit uneven with the between the legs bits. Too much shoulder action, not enough hip action. I think he feels like he is back in the seventies and not on a ballroom competition. Now the hips have come out. He is such a performer. Mrs. Angrybell just had flashbakcs to her father dancing when he and Kym were doing the last few combinations. It was nice, mostly clean, but I wouldn't call it perfect. Mrs. Angrybell thinks there is a bit a crush going on there from Bruno. The nines were right on.

Too bad it looks like the fix is in for Mya, at least with the judges.

Now there is the Mega Mix challenge. So its formation, identical dances. This will be interesting. Mya is a half beat behind everyone. Now she is more than a beat behind them all. Kelly then gets off beat. Now they are all back on the same page. And Kelly looks nervous as she falls behind. The jive is hurting Kelly. But then Mya had problems.

Ok so what does that mean? Mya was off beat in the smooth. But when it shifted to the jive, it was Kelly who fell behind. Donny and Kym on the other hand looked like they were the most consistent. I really think that the judges blew the call on this one. I could see Kelly cominging third. She had trouble on the jive. However, Donny and Kym did the best overall and should have been rewarded for it. Yet, the judges seem to have decided that Mya should win.

Next up: Freestyle time.

Kelly and Louie go first. They drew a good song: I Will Survive. Mrs. Angrybell;'s thought on seeing the outfit" She looks like a space age Rocky." Little of time when she gos in open. Oops, there goes the fall. And then the nice cover by Louis. Nice spin at the end. Lacked a wow factor. This was one fo the first times that Louis has choreographed harder than she could perform, which is unlike him. He pushes to the edge, but usually knows exactly where their line is. Mrs. Angrybell agrees with Carrie Ann. When she talked, I heard the Charlie Brown teacher. Straight 8s is harsh, but she did fall.

My and Dmitri with their "historic" open dance. They say they want to make history. What I am seeing so far is fairly safe, even with the first lift. It almost looks like he is showcasing himself, not her. This is reminding me of the Stacey Keibler open dances from a few seasons ago. Where was the wow? This was like a second rate routine from Hairspray. And then Carrie Ann agrees with me. And Len, plus he says what I forgot to say. We waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Dmitri just left the door wide open for Donny and Kym. Make no mistake. Mya did her part. Dmitri ... just ... I'm not sure what to call it. It's a blown save that's for sure. The straight nines were right, especially since they gave Kelly the 8s.

Donny and Kym with a chance to send this to extra innings. Kym wants to go for Broadway. This might work, because Donny can perform that, better Mya. Hell, Donny's been on Broadway before. Little off time with each other. It was fun. Low on the wow factor. Little rough in a few places. But he made it look better than Dmitri's Hairspray routine. Surprise, surprise, Bruno loved it. Well, I am a little surprised that they got a perfect score. Then again, the other two routines had more problems.

Alright. So who to vote for? My view is this: Donny. Pains me t0 say it in a way. But he should win based on tonight.

Did We Suddenly Go Back To 1969?

Is Nixon in the White House again? Then again, I guess it was only a matter of time before the UC Berkely students decided to take over something. This time its Wheeler Hall. How many times does this make it that Wheeler Hall has been taken over by students and is this now a record for a school building most often lost to protestors?

So what are they protesting? Darfur? Nope. Arab terrorism? Nope. American Imperialism? Nope.

They're protesting having to pay for their education.

Horror beyond belief I know.

Reminds me though of a funny story. Back in the 1960s, I forget which year, the students at the University of Cambridge decided that the Americans and French were having too much fun with their sit-ins and takeovers of school buildings to protest Vietnam and the rest of the social ills. So the student revolutionaries decided that they would take over Senate House. They figured by grabbing Senate House, which is where the University is headquartered, that they would bring the University to a halt.

Only one problem with that theory. The University of Cambridge works on a federal type system that has been analogized as being very similar to Switzerland's. Yes, its one university. No, its actually many different entities. Yes, the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor are in charge of the university. No, the member colleges don't have to actually adhere to anything. Its weird, wacky, and fun.

What it all meant was that a bunch of student revolutionaries grabbed the Senate House, and inconvenienced almost no one. According to a professor who was a student at the time, you had to really be aware that it even happened at all.

Google's Latest

So I started hearing about it yesterday. And quite frankly, I dismissed it as not being that big. However, now that I'm looking at it, I have to say I'm sort of blown away.

And yes, this is a geeky thing.

So what am I talking about? Google has gone and added legal opinions to its Google Scholar options. Now, big firms, and even not so big ones, usually spend an exoritant amount of money on Westlaw or Lexis. And for good reason. Westlaw and Lexis do give a good product. They also include a number legal treatises.

However, for smaller firms and solos, the cost is pretty high. Especially when you don't need it that much. At the times I really need the information, I tend to go to the law library (yes, its a hassel and yes, its ludditey) but its more cost-effective (barely) than paying what Westlaw and Lexis demand.

On the other hand, there are a lot of times when I just need a case or two. And there has been a few other sites that give you the cases. However, their search engines are well... kinda sub par. And their version of sherphardizing is, well, lousy.

But from my little test this morning, Google seems to have improved on all that.

Now I just wonder how long its going to last before they start charging for it.

The downside to this is that more people will think they can be their own lawyer now. And yes, it is true what they say about someone who is their own lawyer. They do have a fool for a client.

What the hell just happened here? (DWTS Reveal)

The audience, in its infinite wisdom has spoken. The smoking hot model, who has proven that for Dancing With The Stars she can dance, home short of the finals. In her place, the mental daughter of the Prince of Darkness has been voted into the finals next week.

Huh?

Ok, let's get something straight. Since week 1, I have been a Kelly Osbourne fan. However, as she admits, her own worst enemy is herself. Also, while she has been very good for the show's competition, Joanna Krupa was the better dancer.

I know this is the nature of the show, especially because of the way scoring works. But to send home Joanna in favor of Kelly... when perhaps it should have been Donny who went home.

I have to wonder what Louis thinks of all this. He's had better performing partners in the past who were as good or better dancers, who were not nearly as mentally self-destructive. And he did not make to the finals with any of them.

All I can say is th Kelly has been given a gift by the fans. Now she owes us to not meltdown and turn in the kind of dance we've seen her give us, albeit in brief flashes, throughout the season.



With Joanna out of the way, I find it hard to believe that Mya won't win it all. Donny is leaking oil, and if wasn't for all of Utah voting for him (hey, it is the core of his fanbase!), he probably does not make it into the finals. The real question is whether Dmitri is going to follow the Cheryl example of Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy, of if he is going to do a Cheryl What a Feeling type routine. One is a vanity routine. The other wins competitions.