The day after turkey day.

    I hope that this Black Friday finds you all in good spirits. (No more All Fridays Matter jokes, please.) I swear that free and cheaper stuff will do more to cause the downfall of America than any terrorist ever could. But I digress. 

Anyway, there has been a lot happening in these divided states of America since I have been out of pocket for the past few days.

As I type this post I am watching an "active shooter situation" on CNN from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Apparently some loon was in the Planned Parenthood building shooting at police officers and possibly worse. (More on that to come.)

Donald trump (He doesn't deserve caps for his name) has now expanded his campaign of hate to include the disabled. He actually made fun of a disabled man to the delight of his minions, and then had the nerve to say that our eyes were lying to us because he did no such thing.

Then, to make matters worse, he told even a bigger lie by saying that he doesn't even know the reporter who he made fun of.

"I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence,” Trump said in a statement Thursday, misspelling the maligned reporter’s last name. “I don’t know if he is J.J. Watt or Muhammad Ali in his prime — or somebody of less athletic or physical ability.”
Trump had gone after Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis that limits the movement of joints, at a campaign rally on Tuesday, flailing his arms in apparent mockery of the journalist’s movements.

“Now the poor guy, you ought to see the guy,” he said as he gestured."

I know that this will not  move his supporters to reconsider voting for this boorish ignoramus, but as I said above, he lied.

"The reporter Donald Trump claims he's never seen before says he spent a whole day with the bombastic billionaire while working for the Daily News — and he's drawn Trump's ire before.
Serge Kovaleski, now a New York Times reporter, said he closely covered Trump's launch of an airline in 1989.

"I spent the entire day with Trump, along with some other reporters, on the inaugural voyage of the Trump Shuttle, which Trump bought from Eastern Airlines in the late 1980s," Kovaleski told The News in an email on Friday.

“Flying out of La Guardia, we spent a big chunk of the day flying up and down the east coast with Trump chatting with me and the others on the plane." [Source]

I don't know about you, but I find the disable guy more credible than the guy who told me that he saw thousands of Muslims cheering in New Jersey from his apartment in Manhattan after 911. 

Then there are the marches going on in Chicago. Folks in that city are rightfully outraged over the actions of the police towards citizens of color over the years, and they are making their feelings known by taking to the streets.

And staying in Chicago, I am glad that the animal who allegedly executed the poor nine year old child in that city has been apprehended. He deserves everything he has coming to him. To take the life of a child in such a manner is truly baleful and malevolent.

Having said that, the timing of his arrest has me saying, hmmmm. I am guessing that they 9the authorities) knew who they wanted for this murder for some time, and that they knew where to go and get him. Holding that large press conference today to announce his arrest when they did just seems like the Chicago PD playing politics to minimize the backlash from the alleged murder of Laquan McDonald.

I hope you all enjoyed bonding with your family yesterday. I know that I did.

Thanks for al the kind words and your contribution to the blog while I was away.

*Pic from CNN







     

"Brawlmart"

And now comes to the stories.

Shots fired at a parking lot at a Kohl's store in the Chicago area, a melee at the Franklin Mills Mall here in Philly, some dude shot to death in Las Vegas while trying to go home with his big screen television, and countless fights across the country to beat the next sucker shopper to save a few dollars on that toy that little Junior wanted for Christmas.

And it's not just us crass Americans. They are getting their brawl on over these commercial items across the pond as well.

The fights and mayhem that ensues have gotten better than the deals themselves. You can track these things on twitter now. People acting "like animals" while they try to scoop up a good deal. Actually, this is not fair to animals.

That company from Arkansas, of course, is where I lay a lot of the blame. The Walmartification (I know that's not a word) of America has taken this thing to a whole new level. And as they continue to rake in the dollars, we can expect other big box stores to follow their lead.

"Brawlmart", as one publication is calling them, is where most of the action

seems to go down these days. People will stop at nothing to beat the other shopper to the deal. 

"Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Walmart, said Friday morning that the Black Friday sales on Thursday were "bigger, better, and safer than ever from coast to coast.

"It's been the safest Black Friday with millions of shoppers at our 4,000 locations across the country. There were some isolated incidents that were resolved quickly through the help of our store associates, and in some cases with the help of local law enforcement. We're very happy with our safety plans and how they worked," Buchanan told ABC News.

The company said it had some 22 million shoppers come through its stores in a four-hour period on Thursday night."

22 million in a four hour period! Where is the recession? Anyway, this clown says that he is happy with their "safety plans". What else is he going to say? We have created this monster and we are not sure we can control it. But it's making us so much money that we will just ride out the bad publicity until there is a real serious tragedy associated with it.

Finally, I think this Rev. Manning dude might have been in one Black Friday brawl too many and he hit his head a time or two.

"Reverend James David Manning of the Atlah World Missionary Church claimed this week that Miriam Carey, who was shot and killed by authorities after crashing her car into the U.S. Capitol building last month, had been assassinated by President Barack Obama because she had given birth to his illegitimate daughter.

On his radio show The Manning Report, Manning called for a paternity test of Carey’s fifteen-month-old daughter, who was in the car with Carey when she led police on a chase that ended in gunfire on the Capitol steps.

The theory, which appears to have originated with a Russian website, alleges that before a May 2011 graduation address to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Obama stopped at the dentist office where Carey worked as an assistant, because a piece of pistachio shell had become lodged in his back moral.

While there, according to the theory, Obama struck up a friendship with Carey, who became pregnant shortly afterward. The website claimed that Carey refused Obama’s request to have an abortion, at which point Obama “lured” her to Washington and had her killed. (Even more bizarrely, the site goes to claim that Obama was out trolling for extramarital action because Michelle Obama was actually born a man.)

Manning accused the “entire world media” of refusing to investigate the incident, and chastised Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, women’s rights groups, academia, and the courts for “refusing to come to the aid of this slaughtered woman, which means that they are protecting something that they feel far more important, which is Barack Hussein Obama. Case closed.” [Source]

*I hear Twilight Zone music*

I am still not cool with the way this poor woman was killed, but.....let's just say that if you are a member of this guy's church you might need to start watching and praying.

Commercialism takes down another day.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Brown Thursday....hold up, BROWN THURSDAY?!

I know that we live in America and that commercialism rules the day, but this whole Brown Thursday thing seems a bit much. Now, sadly, Thanksgiving (a day I have some historical issues with to begin with) has gone the way of so many other holidays in this country.

It's hard to believe that folks can't take one day away from shopping to spend time with their families, or, to just chill out and watch a damn football game. I guess nothing beats spending your hard earned dollars on electrical gadgets and toys. "That apple pie looks good Aunt Jane, but I have to run. I have to get a good spot in line at Best Buy."

In America shopping has become a combat sport. (I know, I live with shopping hall of famer) buy my goodness, when is it enough? This culture of crass commercialism has taken over these divided states like nothing else. Christmas has gobbled up poor Thanksgiving and the turkey day never saw it coming.

Every holiday is now an opportunity to market a sale. "PRESIDENT'S DAY BLOWOUT", "COLUMBUS DAY REDUCTIONS", "MARTIN LUTHER KING MARKDOWNS"...enough already!

I guess there is irony in all of this is that this is what the country we are celebrating has truly become. America has no soul. No conscience. Materialism rules the day.

As I sit quietly in my office this Friday morning, and I reflect on the joys of family and what it means..."Honey, my sister and I are going to run to the store and do a little shopping, did you need anything?

Unbelievable! 

Black Friday, Sam's wish, and TJ's dilemma.

I think I survived Black Friday. Believe me, with Mrs. Field's sister in town playing shopping Robin to her Batman, it wasn't easy.

Nothing says American capitalism and declension like a bunch of people spending Thanksgiving night in line (instead of with their families and loved ones) to get a big screen television at half price.

Sorry, all the tips in the world won't get me to participate in this form of madness. No matter how good the deal seems to be, I am going to take a wild guess and say that you will probably be able to get the same deal sometime next week.

One person who probably won't be taking part in the Black Friday festivities is my man Sam Koivisto. Sam is probably saving his money because he is going to need it. Why? Because Sam just quit his job as a police officer in Jacksonville, Florida.

"Former Jacksonville police officer Sam Koivisto, 57, quit his position after he told fellow officers that he would volunteer to kill President Obama if given the opportunity, reports the Florida-Times Union.
Koivisto who admitted to being upset that Obama was re-elected, said that he wouldn’t mind doing something about it:

“If an order was given to kill Obama or something, then I wouldn’t mind being the guy.”

Upon further questioning by an integrity unit, the 26 year veteran also said that if a nuclear explosion killed everyone in the northeast United States who voted for Obama, he wouldn’t care. Speaking about Hurricane Sandy, he said he wouldn’t mind if it had “killed them all” because of the region’s liberal leaning demographic.

“The statement I made in the office was something of the nature — I think Ms. Field at some point said, ‘You know, the poor people up north just got hit by one storm and now they’re hit by another,’” Koivisto said. “And I made the statement, ‘Well, you know, the whole Northeast just generally has voted Democratic, voted heavily Obama, got him elected. And so I said something to the point, ‘Well, if a nuclear bomb exploded and killed them all, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings any.’ That’s what I said. Didn’t make any statement about hurting anybody or anything of that nature.” [Source]
 

Sam has a right to speak his mind, but I sure hope that the Secret Service has a special file with his name on it.

Finally, according to my man Richard Prince, Mrs. Field's favorite television talk show host has decided to break his "N- word pledge".

"CNN anchor-turned-BET host T.J. Holmes said Wednesday he had broken a pledge he made in an essay for the Grio in July: to stop using the N-Word.
"As soon as I walk out of this room, I'm probably going to drop it 20 times before I get downstairs" [video] Holmes, 35, said on "The Breakfast Club" on New York's WWPR-FM, which calls itself Power 105.1. "I went through a thing about giving up the N-Word," but "I had to bring it back." Holmes agreed with one of the show's hosts, known as "Charlamagne Tha God," that "there's just certain folks you run into and there ain't no other word you can come up with . . . We all know it's a vile, it's a disgusting word and I don't think it necessarily should have a place."

He added, "We have normalized and sanitized the word in such a way. There's young white kids, they don't know anything about civil rights or struggle. All they know is they hear their favorite rapper using it all the time, so it must be all right."

In his Grio essay, Holmes had written, "Still, even if a younger generation of non-blacks doesn't fully understand the history of the n-word, everyone understands a general rule: we (blacks) can say it, and you (everybody else) can't. Beyond that, I really can't give you a good reason why I use it. I like saying it? It's the most accurate way of describing certain people? It's how I want to express my deep affection for my male friends? None of those reasons really fly. [Source] 

Poor T.J.; he is just another Negro caught up in this N-word dilemma that won't go away.

*Pic from Politc365

  

Green Friday, and Andrew Sullivan wants to bring back the Bell Curve.

Today is Green Friday in A-merry-ca. It is a day of crass commercialism designed by merchants and corporations to get gullible shoppers into stores. Prices have been marked up so that they can be slashed right back down with coupons and promises of price cuts in the stores.

Of course, as we all know by now, it's working. Pepper spray, shootings, bomb threats, and mobs at every box store door. I don't think that Jesus wanted us to prepare for his birthday quite like this. Professional shoppers (see Mrs. Field) have been preparing for this day for months. (15,000 at the Mall of America!) So for all of you amateurs out there, you shop at your own risk on days like these.

I tried to brave the "madding" crowd today. (Today. Not early this morning. Not last night. Today!) People watching was interesting, but I just couldn't take the crowds after awhile. I will get whatever gifts I have left online. It's a shame God didn't have two sons who were born months apart. Oh well, Cyber Monday is just a few days away.

Finally, I used to respect the writings of blogger Andrew Sullivan; he was one of the few conservative writers in A-merry-ca who I considered relevant. So imagine my shock when I read what Jason Johnson penned over at Politc365 about Sullivan's contribution to the Bell Curve debate. At first I thought that Johnson's take on what Sullivan wrote might have been misguided, but then I read Sullivan's post for myself and I....well, read it for yourself:

"Two points: research is not about helping people; it's about finding out stuff. And I have long opposed the political chilling of free inquiry into any area of legitimate curiosity or research. I'm not going to stop now. Secondly, I agree that there would be very little, if any, use for this data in our society, apart from the existence of affirmative action. But when public policy holds that all racial difference in, say, college degrees, are due to racism, a truth claim has already been made. So the p.c. egalitarians have made this a public and social issue by a statement of fact they subsequently do not want to see debated or challenged using the data. That's an illiberal position, in my view.

I remain gob-smacked by the resilience of IQ differences between broad racial groups, controlling for much other data. Maybe if we understood what was going on - which particular and subtle combination of genetics, culture and generation makes this the result - we could help increase equality of opportunity. Maybe racial categories themselves have become so fluid and opaque the whole area is now moot. Maybe we should accept that differences in outcomes among racial groups have some element of irreducibility to them. Maybe the answer is to abolish racial affirmative action and replace it by class-based forms. Maybe the answer is to abolish affirmative action altogether (my preferred outcome). But all these questions depend on a thriving research culture which has been chilled by politics. That's what saddens me." [Source]

Holy s^%*! Johnson was right! A big WTF? for my British friend.

I have more of an appreciation now of how Johnson ended his post:

"Because everyone’s work proves that their people are the smartest. In fact, even when Roland Fryer, a brilliant academic at Harvard showed what a farce IQ tests are, his work was largely ignored. Less than 4 years ago Dr. Fryer’s research showed that IQ levels, which are supposed to be immutable, are equal for African American and White children but differences only show up on tests once they’ve been in public schools for 2 years proving that the impact of racism and schooling is muting IQ scores more than actually assessing them.

Of course, his research was largely ignored by the press and pundit mags because it didn’t support the sexy self-aggrandizing narrative that people like Andrew Sullivan live by: Whites are smarter than Blacks, but it is their extreme benevolence that leads them to allow us to play house in the societies ‘they’ve’ created."

Not all of us Mr. Johnson. Some of us still choose "to play" in the fields.

I guess this is why they call it "Black Friday."

"Walmart worker trampled to death when shoppers burst through the doors this morning, taking the doors off the hinges. Really, what could be worth trampling a man to death at Walmart?These are some sick mofos." ~~Sfd928~~

"In college, I worked a black Friday at Macy's. I was stocking a Christmas wrapping sales display near a doorway. The boss said, whether you're finished or not, get yourself off the floor before the store opens, go drink coffee for awhile. Well, I didn't notice the thousand women outside the door & I was still stocking when the doors were unlocked. They came at me in a mob grabbing wrapping out of my hands, pushing at me. I struggled through the crowd, went to the lunchroom, the boss was there reading a newspaper, took one look at me & said, 'I warned you."' ~~ Bob~

Those two comments from my previous post were prophetic and sad. Imagine working your 9-5 at Wal Mart, earning seven bucks an hour to help make ends meet, only to lose your life to a bunch of assholes who are trying to save a few bucks on some cheap appliances. I mean I know that New Yorkers are supposed to be rude, but this is ridiculous.

So now we are reduced to this; literally killing each other in the name of commercialism. And I am going to keep it real with you: (Don't I always?) Look at the people in that picture. Can someone tell me why the hell my cousins love material shit so much? We should be the last group of people in this economic climate out spending like there is no tomorrow and trampling people to get to shit, but there we are; PlayStation or bust!

But of course, this madness is not limited to one group of people. As I said in my previous post, it is an A-merry-can phenomenon, and it seems like this kind of stuff happens every year. (Is there something in the air vents at Wal Mart ?)

And where does the responsibility of these large box store companies begin? When is it too much to say that I am going to give away ten flat screen television sets to the first ten people who come through the door? At what point do we hold these clowns accountable for their actions?

"Witnesses said he tried to hold back the crowds as they took the doors right off their hinges in the dash when the store opened at 5 a.m. this morning for Black Friday:

'He was bum-rushed by 200 people,' said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. 'He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back.'
A pregnant shopper who made her way inside the store with the masses was pushed to the ground and suffered a miscarriage, a witness said. Sadly, no one stopped to help the victims:
Before police shut down the store, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the store clerk's life..."

I don't know what the worker's compensation laws are like in New York , but here is hoping that the family of that poor Wal Mart clerk gets themselves a damn good lawyer. And here is hoping that everyone of those sick clowns who bum rushed that store has a conscience, a conscience that doesn't ever let them forget.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of a good deal.

Like so many other A-merry-cans, my life is full of contradictions. I like nice clothes, but I hate crass commercialism. I consider myself a world citizen, but I am not crazy about NAFTA and I think it's better to buy A-merry-can. And speaking of buying A-merry-can; I have a lot of empathy for the A-merry-can auto worker and the folks in Detroit, but I drive a foreign car. I wish my government would do more for those who are less fortunate than the rest of us, yet I bitch and moan come tax time. So yes, I consider myself somewhat of a hypocrite, but I am not alone.

Tomorrow is Black Friday, and we A-merry-cans will once again give in to the lure of crass commercialism because of our thirst for all things material. What recession? And if there is one is this how we fight it? We will be swiping our credit cards and buying on credit right up until Christmas Eve, because god forbid little Johny and Tyrone don't get those play stations, and those little motorized toy cars they always wanted. I always wondered what it was about A-merry-ca that made us embrace commercialism so much. It is the one ism that I guarantee you will be with us right until the end of the republic.

Any challenge to A-merry-ca's spirit of consumerism will always fail. Think Prohibition, Puritanism,Ralph Nader's consumer rights movement, and even the Socialist loving radical counter culture of the sixties; they all went down. Nothing, not the depression, not the gloomy seventies, and not the frat boy's recession prevented or will prevent A-merry-cans from being materialistic. Materialism is the A-merry-can way. It's why the frat boy told us to go out and shop after 911. Let those crazy ass Muslims kill themselves and blow up buildings, we A-merry-cans will just keep rocking our "True Religion" jeans and our Nike's, it's what we do.

This is how your worth is judged in A-merry-ca. By how many things you have, and who designed them. Not by what type of person you are.

Many A-merry-cans (including Mrs. Field, no clean hands in this family) will be out at the crack of dawn. They will be trying to load up on their already large stash of material things, all because the smart retailers were able to figure out that if you mark something up 100%, and then mark it down 50% from that, the deal loving A-merry-cans will bite. If you think I am lying try to get into any popular retail store tomorrow and do a little shopping. I guarantee you that it will be one of the worst experiences you will ever have. But, as is always the case, you will probably try to talk yourself into thinking that it was all worth it. After all, you wouldn't be a real A-merry-can if you didn't.

Ready to shop?

Today is "Black Friday" in A-merry-ca. And in case you are visiting from another planet and think it's a day when A-mery-cans go to an NBA game, or it's an extra day that was created for black people because February only has 28, it's not. "Black Friday" is a day when A-merry-cans lose their natural minds while shopping to save a few dollars.

Mrs. Field wanted to get the field out shopping this morning, but I would rather spend the day locked in a room full of black republicans than set foot in a mall or a box store today.

Whose idea was this anyway? The day after stuffing yourself with Turkey, you get up at five in the morning, run to a store, and wait in line to save $30 on a freaking T.V. set. Only in A-merry-ca. Just what we need, another day dedicated to shopping, and crass commercialism. This dumb ass day has card companies written all over it. I bet we will be seeing a section of the card store dedicated to "Black Friday" soon. "Happy Black Friday", Happy Shopping Day" "May All Your Shopping Days Be Happy Ones". Give me a break!

"Black Friday", of course, might not sell like all the other phony ass made up holidays that's been sold to us. That's because A-merry-cans don't like that word, "black", too much. A-merry-cans usually associate the word black with bad things, so I am not sure if the retailers and card companies will want to keep that name. They might want to consider calling it "Retail Give Day" or some shit like that. That way A-merry-cans can shop until their hearts content without the stigma of that word, black, being associated with it.

Still, whatever they call it, it won't stop A-merry-cans from shopping. A-merry-cans love to shop, and any excuse to shop for them is always welcome. --- And we wonder why we owe all those other countries so much money-- Credit crisis my ass. As long as we can save a few bucks on that "play- station", who cares?

Before Mrs. Field left to play "extreme fighting" shopper's edition, she told me to keep my cell phone on and with me at all times; just in case she happens to find something at the store that I might like. My phone will be on, but it won't make a difference. Mrs. Field like other A-merry-cans will be caught up in the shopping frenzy known as "Black Friday", and the only thing that could possibly stop her is an act of God.

"Black Friday"

Well, another turkey day in the books, and we Americans have once again given thanks for all that we have been blessed with here in the home of the (some) free and the land of the brave. I, like everyone else, ate my fair share of turkey, and gave my thanks to the creator for all that he (or she) has blessed me with. So excuse me if I go back to the real world now.

I want to start with this immoral and senseless war taking place in Iraq. Because while we were chomping down our turkeys, and stuffing our already fat guts with gravy and cranberry sauce, over 160 Iraqis were blown to bits in yet more sectarian violence in Iraq. It would be way too easy to me to jump all over the frat boy again. After all, this is his war, and for better or for worse. No scratch that. There is no better here. This war has defined the frat boy's Presidency and he will go down in history along with James Buchanan, as the worse President to ever lead our republic. But again, jumping all over the frat boy would be too easy.

I want to focus on those who were complicit in allowing this illegal and immoral war to take place. Those of you in the media, and the opposition. The people who were charged with looking out for the interest of the American people, and not letting our democracy get hijacked by a bunch of neo cons in back rooms, and a high profile television station (masquerading as a news agency) with token Negroes, blond bimbos, and fancy graphics and trailers. Yes, you have all failed us. The press was silent, and looked the other way, while the frat boy and his minions dared us to challenge him. Dared us to call him on his lies and deceit. And dared us to scream at the top of our lungs that the Emperor had no fuck***g clothes. The opposition party failed us. They were too busy trying to read the polls, too busy trying to get reelected, and too busy not wanting to be seen as unpatriotic and all too willing to "cut and run".

So thumbs down to you Hilary for your gutless stance and your vote for this war. I hope the voters in the Democratic primary never let you forget. And all the triangulation in the world won't allow you to take back that vote. The sad thing is,we know you didn't mean it, we know you are smarter that that, and you knew this war was ill fated and wrong from the jump. But we also know that you are a political animal, and your political instincts-like your husband-always trumps your convictions. So we weren't surprised when you took a position that you thought would be popular. Well, it's not popular anymore, and I am enjoying watching you try to use pretzel logic to justify your initial stance, and your sudden change of heart when you see that America has finally seen that the Emperor is naked. "I voted for this war but not for the way this war has been prosecuted..." Well f**k you! I hope the Democrats vote for your opponents and your sorry ass never makes it out of the primary. But it's not only Hillary, it's most of her democratic colleagues, I am only picking on her because she is the standard bearer for the party right now.

But maybe I am being too hard on the former first lady. To be fair, we all were somewhat complicit, we all were afraid to be called unpatriotic, and we all were afraid to seem like we were not supporting our troops. Of course, if you were like your truly, and actually had loved ones who were put in harms way, and who left their blood and a pieces of their body over in Iraq, you would know better. I heard from the horses mouth that it was a fu**#d up war, and that many of the soldiers over there knew it. That they were walking around like sitting ducks while the criminals running things played political games with the war and with their lives. That they wanted the war questioned, because it was the only way that those on charge of prosecuting it would see the error of their ways.

So here we are three years later, almost 3,000 of our precious young men have lost their lives, and billions and billions of our tax dollars have gone down the drain, and still, there is no end in sight. Over 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead(650,000 if you believe one recent estimate) A war that is supposed to be fighting terror is creating nothing but terror for those poor Iraqi women and children. How pathetic is the frat boy? Now he has sent daddy's friends to find a solution to help bail him out, and daddy was moved to tears to defend his incompetent son at a recent conference in the Middle East. But again, it's too easy to pick on him. He lost the midterms, his approval rating is still in the thirty percent range, and his scandal plagued party is in disarray. He is a lame duck in every sense of the word, and now when I see him I actually feel pity. (Damn I'm getting soft!)

So most of my ire today is directed at the American people. Maybe it's watching all those people dashing to the malls to spend more money on gifts, maybe it's my own sense of guilt at being so blessed while those children in places like Iraq, and Darfur are living a form of hell right here on earth. Maybe it's seeing how the media has made headline news out of the fact that Rosie O'Donnell and Kelly Ripa are feuding openly about an incident that took place on Ripa's show. I mean really, who gives a f**k? But this is America for you, so shallow, so happy, and so focused on all the wrong fuck**g things!

So today is "Black Friday"; but for me, it's black Friday for totally different reasons than it is for you. And as I watch the funeral procession pass through those Shiite slums, and those poor people burying their dead one after another; I suspect it's "black Friday" for them too. But unlike you and me, they won't be getting any deals at Wal-Mart anytime soon.

***Before I go, you might have noticed I changed my logo. Yes folks that good Maroon fighter I was using was lifted from another source. (Given my profession I should have known better than doing such a thing) So anyway, rather than face a lawsuit down the road, I decided to use my own likeness. I will miss my Maroon fighter but this was the best and safest way to go.

Besides, all that time spent in the gym should be good for something ;)