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A La Carte Huh? The Blonde Goddess Is Confused West Virginia Political Sweatbox
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YOU NEVER WRITE! expressivecynic[at] yahoo.com |
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August 8, 2008: Good Government Protects The People Over the past few weeks, everyone has probably heard or read the stories about Nalisha Gravely or Brenda Yeager’s murders in West Virginia. Nalisha Gravely’s death resulted from domestic violence, and Brenda Yeager’s death resulted when she was killed in the line of duty as a social worker. These constitute incredible tragedies. Nobody doubts our communities must devote efforts to preventing these crimes against people. But the question remains: How do we, the people of West Virginia, ensure our safety? I’m certainly not advocating vigilantism, so the answer to our communities’ safety rests with West Virginia’s law enforcement agencies and their efforts in protecting us from harm. As our top, elected leader of West Virginia, Governor Manchin must faithfully execute the laws of this state. I’m confident that was Governor Manchin’s exact understanding of his duties as our leader, too, when he decided on filing his “friend of the court” brief with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals following a jury’s $382 million verdict against Dupont in West Virginia. (That occurred last month--within days of Nalisha Gravely’s murder.) Governor Manchin also appreciates that the law requires that everyone--including a large, multi-billion dollar corporation such as Dupont--must receive due process in our courts, and that’s why he’s articulating his opinion before the highest court in West Virginia. I know, too, that Governor Manchin understands domestic violence plagues West Virginia, and so I do not doubt his commitment to preventing needless violence, homicides and/or suicides in our state. That’s why I’m struggling to determine why it is that I have yet to hear or read anything from Governor Manchin expressing any concern about these recent tragedies we’ve experienced in this state. Maybe I’ve missed his press release--that’s entirely possible because I don’t subscribe to every RSS feed, and, if so, I offer my profuse apologies. But it sure seems to me that with the surge in murders and the continuing trend of domestic violence in West Virginia that our leader, Governor Joe Manchin, should devote at least as much of his efforts spreading the word and taking action toward preventing violence--the “help” that he promised “is on the way”--as he has in ensuring our state remains “open for business” and committed to due process for large, multi-billion dollar corporations. Again, maybe I’m missing something--and if I am, I sure hope somebody will inform me--but why is our top public executive not being more vocal about this needless loss of life that’s been happening in our communities? Perhaps Governor Manchin should consider what promising “help” really means. After all, it’s impossible to do business in a place when there’s nobody left alive to mind the store.
August 6, 2008: America’s Got Chuck Norris! First, let me give a big shoutout to my friend, Barbie Girl, for helping to inspire this blog entry on television shows that could be improved* with the addition of Chuck Norris. Now on with the post! 1. America’s Got Chuck Norris: We’ll keep Piers, Sharon and The Hoff as the talent judges--but we’ll eliminate all the contestants except Chuck Norris who will swallow swords, break cinder blocks with his head, perform magic tricks, sing a cappella, perform ventriloquy with a frog hand puppet, and make use of roundhouse kicks to play the banjo--all at the same time, of course. 2. Chuck Norris’ Big Give: Unlike Oprah, Chuck doesn’t need to beg anyone for donations. He just looks at people and they sign away everything they have to his favorite charities. 3. Heroes: Chuck Norris plays himself. 4. CSI: Chuck Norris doesn’t need forensics because all the criminals immediately confess when he’s on the case. 5. Who Wants To Be Chuck Norris: Everyone! 6. Lost: At the end of the final episode, the reveal shows Chuck Norris is in charge of everything that has ever occurred in the series because it’s Chuck Norris’ island, and Jack and Locke just live in it. *Every television show that has ever aired could have been improved simply by the addition of Chuck Norris.
August 5, 2008: Hassling The Hoff Dept. Memo to Piers, Sharon and The Hoff: After waterskiing around it for the past couple years, you’ve officially jumped the shark with tonight’s show. Refusing to advance the guy who splits blocks with his head is one thing; failing to advance that fifteen-year-old girl who sings and plays piano in favor of the nine-year and four-year old kids constitutes a complete and utter disregard for real talent. I suggest you rename your circus America’s Got Cute and Freaky and count us out as regular viewers. Oh, and by the way: Screw you!
August 3, 2008: Talkin’ Baseball (Obvious Publicity Stunt Edition) While all those YouTube kids continue to punk yours truly, I thought I’d share this gem with you:
I kinda dig Gary Coleman, actually. Here’s hoping he stages a real comeback someday.
August 2, 2008: Read It. Read It Good. Those of you with eagle eyes may have noticed the recent addition of Shelfari’s widget (lower right quadrant) to my weblog’s usual minimalist web design. As as rule, I’m not really fond of installing any widgets on my weblog--especially advertising links and other pleas for your hard-earned moola. Since I first launched this weblog back in the day when Bob Wise was still our clogging governor, I vowed I would never “sell out” and accept advertising. Of course, with only a couple dozen regular readers, I don’t need to worry about that ever happening, but I can absolutely guarantee you that if this weblog were to experience a sudden surge in popularity, I would still not accept moola. And if I did, then I promise you that I will admit that I am an incredible hypocrite while I make all those big bank deposits. But shtick aside, I really wanted to give props to Shelfari, which along with its growing community proves reading--and sharing books--rocks. (Thanks, Scarlet!)
July 29, 2008: Yabba Dabba Doo! I Love Being Married To YOU!
July 28, 2008: Everybody Knows (Homework Edition) Just so we’re crystal clear on my previous post and what’s going on here, Governor Manchin has filed an “amicus brief” with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in a case involving a $382 million dollar judgment against Dupont for polluting the town of Spelter. I really encourage everyone to click on the above link and listen to the radio report. It will only take a few minutes of your time, and nobody’s going to hit you up for money. And if anyone knows of a similar situation when a sitting governor has filed an amicus brief with a state’s appeal court, I’m sure we’d all love to know. If you’re shy about leaving a comment--and, hey, who wouldn’t be--feel free to send me an e-mail.
July 26, 2008: Everybody Knows (West Virginia Politics Edition) Everybody knows Joe Manchin spent over $3 million dollars renovating the West Virginia Governor’s mansion that included the purchase of a dozen flat-screen television sets, a wet bar and a media center. Everybody knows Joe Manchin refused to prevent the sacking of Fred Armstrong from his 22-year post as director of West Virginia’s Archives office. And everybody knows about this little controversy. But does everybody know this story yet? Lincoln Walks first mentioned it over three weeks ago, and the only other mention I’ve heard since then was yesterday when West Virginia Public Radio broadcast its story. From Lincoln Walks, here’s his earlier “scoop”: Governor Joe Manchin has asked West Virginia's Supreme Court to take in DuPont's appeal of a nearly $400 million judgment against it, to review its punitive damages portion if for no other reason. Did you catch that? Everybody knows Governor Manchin promised us “Help is on the way.” Everybody knows he told us “West Virginia is open for business.” Everybody--everybody--knows. Cue the Leonard Cohen.
July 23, 2008: Things That Make Me Feel A Certain Shame, No. 187 Watching this.
July 23, 2008: Stop Hatin’ On My Donnie Darko Video You know who you are.
July 23, 2008: I Love A Good List! And this is a great one. Thanks, Barbie Girl!
July 22, 2008: I Love A Good Contest! And this is one of the funniest I’ve ever seen. Thanks, Jenny!
July 20, 2008: Happy Birthday, Kiddo It’s hard to believe that you’re 37 today. Time flies when you’re having fun, huh?
July 19, 2008: Ok, So I Didn’t Get To See Batman Yesterday That was the plan. I’m waiting with baited breath for The Dude’s take on the Dark Knight. In the meantime, here’s a rather enjoyable review I found today courtesy of the internets [sic].
July 19, 2008: It’s Not A Motorcycle, It’s A Scooter, Baby They’re rocking out with them everywhere--Charleston, Columbus, Detroit, St. Louis, Montpelier and, of course, Texarkana. So who cares about being one of the cool kids when you can save on rising fuel prices? Really. I just might have to get one to go with my blog before the summer’s over.
July 18, 2008: Moving On From My Bitter Library Post To More Mundane Matters I’ve been playing a bit of Texas Hold ‘Em on Yahoo! And I just wanted to mention that in the past day, I’ve been dealt pocket kings three times and pocket aces on another and I lost every hand. Let this be a reminder to all of us who plan to play table games when they finally open in Charleston that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. And, of course,legislators who raise their own salaries.
July 17, 2008: It’s Not Stealing. . . . It’s Really More Of An Indefinite Borrowing! This morning, the librarian told us my client would not be allowed to have her purse in one of the library’s rooms. Folks have been stealing books, you see. A few things bothered me about this incident: 1) I’ve known this librarian for almost 20 years. This person knows I would never steal anything from the library--much less permit my client--who is within my view at all times during our meeting--to do so. And it offends me that she would apply this policy to me and my client. 2) Even if this librarian did not know me, it still offends me that this person would apply such a policy under the rationale of “theft.” I might understand a policy prohibiting certain items based on a safety rationale. But telling someone she cannot take a purse into a room because she might steal something does not prevent theft--as anyone who has watched this can attest. 3) The room we met in had several cameras positioned overhead on the walls. How much money did this library spend on them? And why could this library not have devoted this (or any) funding to theft prevention devices near the entrance/exit? You remember those kind of theft prevention devices that sound alarms when someone leaves the library with a book that is not properly checked out? They go BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. . . . They have these at Kanawha County and Cabell County libraries. (That’s so we’re clear on where I wasn’t today.) 4) The idea of borrowing a book from a library flows from the very nature of trust, itself, right? If we cannot trust someone to take a purse into the library, then why should we even trust him or her to return a borrowed book--much less pay the fine for not returning it? Every time the library loans out books, it takes a risk that it will never see them again or collect the fines/price for the stolen--er, borrowed--books. But most of the time that doesn’t happen. I don’t know. Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren about the good ol’ days before our libraries instituted the full body strip searches.
July 14, 2008: Little Reminders I’ve been listening to quite a bit of old New Orleans jazz. It stems from my reading a biography of Louis Armstrong. I’m enjoying the book, and as I delved more into the life of Satchmo, it piqued my interest in his early recordings. Unless you collect old “78s,” finding early jazz recordings is not easy. I’ve listened to several on YouTube that jazz enthusiasts have uploaded, and in the process, I remembered I had a disc with some of Armstrong’s early music. My dad had selected it for me after I first acquired a taste for the music, and it was one of the last gifts he gave me in what turned out to be the last year of his life. For me, a parent is immortal, and the death of an immortal changes your world. Not a day has gone by since my dad’s death that I have not thought about him. So after I listened to Satchmo and Jelly Roll Morton and King Creole, I decided on a whim to perform an image search on Google to see if I could find any pictures of my dad. I’d performed these searches many times before, and every time I’d never find any pictures of my dad. But this time, I still decided to do another search anyway. I believe that everything happens for a reason. But I have absolutely no empirical proof for my belief any more than I could convince an atheist that there is a God or a supreme being or some “higher power” that explains or provides some meaning to our universe. But yesterday when I found these pictures posted by the Parkersburg Library from the 1972 library dedication, it gave meaning to what’s happening in my life.
July 12, 2008: A Few Good Little Donuts
July 12, 2008: My Sitemeter Is Either Broken Or I’m Getting A Lot Of Spambot So after I got all those hits from that American Street post, I installed a sitemeter to track the visits. I haven’t used a sitemeter on this site in a long time, but I wanted a confirmation of what I think’s happening--I’m still averaging between 20 and 30 referrals from that post for anyone who’s interested. And what I discovered is probably more interesting than the matter of the referrals. That’s because according to my sitemeter, this site averages about 22 hits a day. My sitemeter statistics do not surprise me. It may surprise a few of my blog buddies, some of whom have expressed disbelief when I’ve expressed my opinion that very few folks read my ravings anymore. But if you don’t believe me, then take a look at the numbers for my YouTube videos, and you’ll see the proof. (By the way, my most popular YouTube video is my riff on the Donnie Darko sequel, which, truth told, is not one of my better videos. It’s not a “one-star” video like that guy who hates my quilt thinks, but then again it’s no “four or five star” one, either.) Anyhoo, take a look at the views on the ol’ YouTube and you have a pretty good confirmation of the paucity of visitors here to Donutbuzz. My ISP statistics tell a different story. Its reports reflect this site averages between 200 and 300 visits a day. Yesterday, for example, it reported I had 303 visits. It also claims the site had more than 400 page impressions that include: 1. 262 RSS syndicated visits; and 2. 134 visits to the main page you’re looking at now. So here’s what I don’t get. If sitemeter says I received about 20 visits to this page and my ISP tells me this blog received around 300 visits with over 400 page views, somebody’s not telling the complete story. I’ve wasted enough time on this, and I need to go search for my lost pants.
July 12, 2008: My Wife Found My Glasses. . . . and they were in the back seat of her car underneath our little boy’s safety seat. I suppose I must have placed them there when I adjusted his chair. Since I lost my glasses, I’ve been wearing my Big Glasses™. They’re big and heavy--and incredibly nerdy. They’re so big, in fact, that when I wear them they prompt comments from others. I told one of my co-workers the reason I was wearing them was because I lost my glasses--to which he replied, “No, Hoyt, I think you found them!” Years ago, wearing the Big Glasses™ would have made me feel very uncomfortable. It would have bothered me that anyone might think I looked like a nerd or ugly in them. But I can honestly say that after nearly a month of wearing the Big Glasses™ that what other folks think about how I look in them doesn’t bother me. That’s because I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks. I’m still wearing my smaller glasses today, though. Those Big Glasses™ really pinch my big schnozz. Now if only my wife could find my lost pair of my favorite khakis. . . .
July 8, 2008: Tuesday Night Family Vlogging
July 7, 2008: Daydream II or Another Conversation With Myself Sometimes I imagine I could return to the past and talk to myself: The Me from about 20 Minutes in the Future: Hey, whassup? The Present Me: Shit, man! You scared the hell out of me! You gotta stop just appearing out of thin air like that ! The Me from about 20 Minutes in the Future: Sorry, dude! But I’m kinda worried about you after you left your credit card at that steak restaurant on Saturday night. Present Me: Yeah. Me too. I still can’t believe I lost my glasses at some hotel on our way to Myrtle Beach. The Me from about 20 Minutes in the Future: Yeah. Hey--wanna know why that hotel didn’t have your glasses when you went back to check for them on your trip home? Present Me: Um. . .why? The Me From about 20 Minutes in the Future: Because you should have asked them if they found any pants. Your glasses are in the pocket of those favorite khakis you’ve been lookin’ for.
July 7, 2008: Maybe Someone Out There Can Explain This For the past month or so, I’ve been receiving dozens of hits from here every day. It really boggles my mind because as far as I can tell, my site isn’t linked in the post. You think somebody’s trying to tell me something?
July 1, 2008: Yes, We Can West Virginia I’ve read several accounts reflecting the belief that as far as states go that West Virginia is a solid state for McCain. But let’s look at the numbers from May’s primary, shall we: McCain received 49,382 votes to Obama’s 46,568. But overall, the Democratic candidates received many more votes. Here are the totals from the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website: DEM Hillary Rodham Clinton 107763 DEM Barack Hussein Obama 46568 DEM John Reid Edwards 13117 REP John Sidney McCain III 49382 REP Michael Dale Huckabee 6776 REP Ronald Ernest Paul 3349 REP Willard Mitt Romney 2939 REP Rudolph William Giuliani 1579 REP Alan L. Keyes 836 REP Jerry Ralph Curry 375 Total Votes (All Parties): 232,684 Now recall from Lincoln Walks’ post above that Senator Obama has raised oodles more money than McCain. And let’s not forget that our Secretary of State lists 347,760 West Virginians as registered Republicans, 665,234 West Virginians as registered Democrats and 156,199 as Independents--there are only 931 persons registered with the Mountain Party and 13,371 listed as “Other”. So let’s look at the math: As of April, 2008, West Virginia has 1,183,495 voters. If every registered voter were to vote in November, then the winning presidential candidate would need 591,748 votes to win. (Well, actually a few more hundred votes would be better because we all know that anyone who wins by a margin of a few hundred votes or less will certainly prompt another Very interesting, isn’t it?
All original content copyrighted by HG 2004-2008 except for photos of celebrities that are obviously not mine. |
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COMMENTS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF A WEBLOG --Abraham Lincoln
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Read it. Read it real good. |
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