Forced pooing proposed in West Virginia

Tea Party Republicans purport to be champions of property rights, but even that claim is falling to rack and ruin.

The Republican-dominated West Virginia legislature is proposing a bill that would require homeowners and farmers to allow natural gas companies to drill on their land without having to get permission first. The policy is often called forced pooling - but I call it forced pooing. Just because.

The plan is being pushed by Chamber of Commerce officials and right-wing politicians. Landowners would be required to cede access to their property for drilling if 80% of surrounding landowners agree.

West Virginia Republicans have become among the most ideologically driven of late, even praising the suitably named Arthur Laffer's discredited recommendation of abolishing progressive taxation.

What was the point in West Virginia seceding from Virginia if they're just going to do this?

(Source: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/article/20150904/GZ01/150909741/1419)

Religious fanatic kills pregnant woman in Arizona

It isn't only ISIS that kills people over religion.

So-called Christians are starting to wage war right here in America. Of course, these self-anointed religious warriors really aren't very Christian. Like ISIS, they are extremists who distort religion to meet their ends.

A religious fanatic in Phoenix, Arizona, named Anitra Braxton has been arrested for shooting and killing a pregnant woman over religion. Braxton then kept the victim's body on her couch for 3 days as a "shrine from God."

This is what America is up against in the era of Fox News and the Tea Party.

(Source: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/arizona-woman-shoots-victim-in-eye-for-not-believing-in-god-and-then-keeps-body-on-couch-as-shrine)

More Jim Gooch stupidity

As Kentucky State Rep. Jim Gooch Jr. switches parties, he's been ramping up the stupid in the process.

Today, Gooch issued a rambling statement blaming President Obama and everyone else for just about everything. Gooch even said of Obama: "His divisive policies of class warfare will continue as he punishes those who dare to work hard and be successful. After all, it is their fault that others are less fortunate."

That's hilarious! About the only thing as bad as Gooch's climate change denial is his income inequality denial. He thinks it's either 1997 or Facebook if he expects not to be called out.

It's no wonder most of the Democrats are actually glad to see Jim Gooch gone. Ironically, the Democrats needed to get rid of its right wing in order to grow the party.

Meanwhile, Republicans have issued a statement welcoming Gooch - after Gooch's own statement that was full of bigotry and finger-pointing.

Kentucky GOP using undemocratic means to seize House

If no other members of the Kentucky House switch parties or are appointed to other posts, the chamber could conceivably be split 50/50 after upcoming special elections - even though voters gave the Democrats a 54 to 46 majority in the last cycle. The Democrats won that majority despite gerrymandering and election fraud that favored the Republicans - and the fact that the Democrats didn't run a candidate in many seats.

With climate change denier Jim Gooch joining the GOP, the Republicans' task has been made easier. If they pull it off in the House, it would mirror the coup they pulled off in the Kentucky Senate some years back. Republicans gained the Senate by the same undemocratic method: Lawmakers waited until after being elected as Democrats to switch to the GOP.

However, in order to have a 50/50 split, the Republicans would have to win all 4 upcoming special elections. As I said, that assumes nothing else changes.

After Matt Bevin's flurry of much-ridiculed, illegal executive orders, this would be a strange time for a politician to switch to Republican. But you'd think 1995 would be too, yet that didn't stop a lot of politicians from switching then. Is there much that does stop them? We have a media that paints the Republicans as doing no wrong and divinely entitled to unlimited political power.

California highway department posts pro-Trump sign

In my career of exposing right-wing follies, I've never said most of our high-ranking government officials haven't been more interested in rightist ideological pursuits than in governing. It was bad enough when "Diaper Dave" Vitter introduced a bill to establish a national Tea Party day, or when counties in Kentucky accepted free services (i.e., a payoff) from a right-wing legal foundation to defend union-busting laws, but this story is as flagrant as it gets.

The California Department of Transportation has posted an electronic sign on Interstate 15 in Corona endorsing Donald Trump for President. On Christmas night, motorists saw that the sign read, "INLAND EMPIRE SUPPORTS DONALD TRUMP. MERRY XMAS. VOTE DONALD TRUMP."

Naturally, Trump's cultists are praising Caltrans on website comment sections for spending taxpayer money on this endorsement.

This is part of the revolving door of right-wing patronage. Who says the Evil Empire wants to tear down government? Instead, they mold government for ideological ends.

A person bunkerooed on Christmas (imagine that!)

Would you believe that someone cracked some bunker blasts at an important family gathering on Christmas Day? It's true, it's true, it's all true!

Flatulence was the story of the day, continuing a long, noble holiday tradition. Many SBD's were detected yesterday. These were good ol' standard stinkers. As is often the case, cries of accusation sprang up around the room, but no suspects could be indicted for this crime against humanity.

They sure did stink!

Grant County finally abolishes prohibition

It's hard to believe any county in Kentucky in 2015 would still prohibit alcohol sales - but Grant County is a dry county. Republican support for "limited government" doesn't apply to alcohol, it seems. Only 3 small towns in the county allow alcohol sales - and only at large restaurants.

Until today.

Today, Grant County voters voted 56% to 44% to end prohibition.

Hopefully, Matt Bevin won't issue an executive order to overrule the voters like he does on everything else.

Bevin uses executive orders to gut pretty much everything

If you're a Republican governor, you can abuse executive orders to gut pretty much every law that ever passed before.

That's Matt Bevin in a nutshell. He's issuing reams of executive orders to reverse progress on every issue you can think of. Despite claiming to support restoring voting rights to people convicted of nonviolent felonies, Bevin has reversed former Gov. Steve Beshear's order that would have done so. Bevin has even released an order reversing a minimum wage increase that applied to state agencies.

Time to impeach.

(Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/22/bevin-orders-clerk-name-off-marriage-licenses/77765182)

West Virginia! Virginia! North Carolina! It's a great place to start!

Like the macho superman I am, I've finished posting 60 Roads Scholarin' photos from November's trip to North Carolina. Since I have just about zero energy remaining, this may be the last fact-finding mission for some time.

So peep these photos now before they opt to peep you...

http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/nc15a.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/nc15b.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/nc15c.html

Tea Party supporter charged for shooting up mosque

Last month, a mosque in Meriden, Connecticut, was hit by a hail of gunfire. Three bullets penetrated the building.

Now federal authorities have charged a nearby resident - Ted Hakey Jr., 48 - with the attack. Court documents say Hakey used a high-powered rifle to shoot up the mosque. A text message on Hakey's phone way back in July said, "I want to take the jewzi and unload on Muslims. I'm in a target rich environment."

The charge carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Go check out Hakey's Facebook page. I dare you. You'll find that he supports a lot of Tea Party and other right-wing sites. Big surprise.

(Source: http://wtnh.com/2015/12/18/arrest-made-after-bullets-hit-meriden-mosque)

New Mexico governor calls cops on herself over loud party

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R-The Media) makes Matt Bevin look like - forget it, Bevin's hopeless.

This past weekend, Martinez staged a loud party at a hotel in Santa Fe in which bottles were thrown off the balcony. The inn warned her repeatedly to pipe down, since it was the middle of the night. When she didn't, the clerk called police to make her leave. Then Martinez called 911 herself and argued with the cops. She repeatedly asked them who complained, and grew more and more belligerent when police didn't tell her.

Needless to say, it was pretty damn funny.

This follows a far more serious scandal in the New Mexico GOP, in which Secretary of State Dianna Duran was forced to resign because of a corruption and identity theft probe. Duran has been convicted of some of the charges and sent to jail.

(Source: http://nmpoliticalreport.com/23417/audio-governor-calls-911-after-hotel-asks-her-to-be-escorted-off-property)

Embarrassing political career haunts Bevin appointee

So David Dickerson - who Matt Bevin appointed to head Kentucky's powerful Public Protection Cabinet - is a conspiracy theorist, right-wing hack, and Tea Party leader. But Dickerson also has his own humiliating career in elected office.

Dickerson used to be Barren County Judge-Executive - the county's top elected position - before being defeated for reelection by a 2-to-1 margin. Dickerson - a member of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition - was having an affair with a teacher at a private religious school.

Now - in his first 3 days since taking his post in the Bevin regime - Dickerson has been calling up important people back in Barren County to tell them they're "cut out" from the new administration.

Lots of folks - smart folks too - seem to just assume that either the entire Bevin administration will be hounded out of Kentucky soon or the Republicans will be beaten so badly in 2016 that it won't matter. Given the inaction on challenging the election results, media bias, and other factors, I'm not very confident of this. The GOP is the party that enjoyed a 5-year streak of wave elections when they should have been put on trial for crimes against humanity. If I knew for sure the Kentucky GOP would be held accountable soon - instead of having to wait until today's youngest voters are 65 - I wouldn't have planned my Detroit move.

Bevin appoints right-wing conspiracy theorist

Kentucky's Public Protection Cabinet covers numerous agencies ranging from the Department of Housing to the Crime Victims Compensation Board. It is one of the top appointed positions in Kentucky government.

So naturally, Matt Bevin appointed a far-right hack named David Dickerson to this post. Dickerson's specialty is his claim that President Obama's birth certificate was falsified and that Obama's father was actually political activist and journalist Frank Marshall Davis, who Dickerson says was a communist. Dickerson has left an electronic paper trail on Facebook as long as a roll of toilet paper consisting of mind-numbingly idiotic ravings.

This is the current state of The Media's preferred political party. Every time I point this out, I feel like Archie Bunker complaining to Edith, "Once again, your side of the family." Of course, Archie wouldn't be bigoted enough for today's Republicans.

(Source: https://pageonekentucky.com/2015/12/16/a-look-at-a-major-bevin-appointee)

Bevin appointee mismanaged Lexmark's taxes

Matt Bevin has only been in power for a few days, and there's already a major scandal in his administration.

On Monday, Bevin appointed former Lexmark International bigwig Daniel Bork as Kentucky's Commissioner of Revenue. It turns out that Bork left Lexmark amidst an accounting quagmire that forced the Lexington-based tech company to spend millions overhauling its internal financial controls.

Bork mismanaged Lexmark's taxes, and now he's in charge of collecting taxes for Kentucky?

Meanwhile, public support is growing for hundreds of workers at a Lexmark factory in Mexico who were fired because they demanded a union and better wages.

(Source: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article50025640.html)

Now you need government permission to form a union?

The city of Seattle has just passed a law allowing drivers for services like Uber and Lyft to form a union.

Good.

But the real story here is pretty disturbing. Why did drivers need to have a new law passed to let them unionize? In my America, you didn't need a law like this. If you wanted to unionize, you could unionize. The right to unionize used to be already protected under other laws. I thought it still was. What happened?

Workers are being forced to beg cities to pass laws to give them rights that they already have under the Constitution?

Tea Party finally loses library lawsuit for good

It wasn't reported in major media, but on Thursday, the Tea Party's frivolous lawsuit against libraries in Kentucky was finally put to rest for good.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in March that the suit was without merit, and this week, the Kentucky Supreme Court finally weighed in. The high court refused to reconsider the appeals court's ruling - thus letting it stand - and rejected the Tea Party's motion for discretionary review.

Get lost, Tea Party.

Right-wing thugs firebomb mosque

Today there was a terrorist attack in the United States. It was fueled by hatred and intolerance - and there's hardly a word about it in the media.

This afternoon, a mosque in Coachella, California, was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail. The bombing caused significant damage to the building. There were people in the mosque when it was struck.

We're living in an era of stupid - because people don't fight back against Fox News groupthink.

(Source: http://usuncut.com/news/mosque-firebombed-people-inside)

Tea Party activist almost shoots up university

Today, Arkansas State University just narrowly avoided being the site of a mass shooting by a Tea Party activist.

An armed man named Brad Bartelt drove onto campus after declaring on Facebook that he intended to kill people. But police were able to stop him before he shot anyone. Bartelt was then arrested.

It turns out Bartelt's Facebook page is full of Tea Party and other right-wing material - much of it complaining about the "war on Christmas" that Fox News is always hyping.

Authorities actually went to Bartelt's home yesterday because of his Facebook threats. But I guess they didn't take him that seriously. I guess nobody wants to believe a Tea Party supporter would act on their violent threats. If he was, say, an Occupy member, he would have been hauled off to the slammer on the spot. I guarantee it.

Stronger gun laws? Let's start with the Tea Party. They've proven they can't responsibly handle any weapon more powerful than a toy Star Wars Lightsaber.

Racist crap in Bellingham

This is an example of the garbage that goes on in America because of Donald Trump and the rest of the Tea Party encouraging it with their hate speech...

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/video-catches-men-shouting-n-word-while-attacking-a-white-woman-on-a-date-with-a-black-man

In case you can't read the link, here's what happened: A gang of 3 racist thugs assaulted an interracial couple in Bellingham, Washington. The attack was caught on video.

The assault wasn't carried out by just a lone nut. It was a trio - an organized effort.

Also recently, a pair of Boston brothers senselessly beat a homeless man - and one of the assailants said he felt inspired in part by Trump's comments bashing immigrants. White supremacist David Duke gloats that Trump's campaign has given raw bigots more cover for their actions than at any time in 20 years.

Right-wing terrorism lurks large in today's America, and the biggest culprit is the Tea Party itself - which has backed the Donald's candidacy. How can we solve the blight of fascism on America's landscape? I could give you some ideas, but it might not matter, since everyone is too wussified to act on them.

'Pail Polls are comin' at ya...

...The paddle's on the way! (That's an inside joke. Some of my grade school classmates will get it.)

I have 2 new 'Pail Polls that I'm gonna keep up until mid-January. They've been prompted by a couple of controversies I've argued with people about lately.

The first poll asks whether I should continue with my plans to move out of greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. I proposed Detroit as a likely new home, but it could be other places too. The reason I planned to move was that ideological allies locally expected me to do all their work for them, and I don't have much patience left. They need to step up to the plate too. As it is now, I have to coach them on everything - like when a teacher has to stand over a really smart kid who won't do their coursework.

When I announced recently I planned to move out of town, they doubled down and insisted that I stay. I guess that's because if I left, they'd have nobody around to rescue them, since they won't do their part.

The second poll asks whether I should switch my political party affiliation from the Green Party back to the Democratic Party. Lately I've been asked to run against Thomas Massie as a Democrat. But I doubt I have the energy to run a high-profile race like that. I switched to the Greens in the first place because of the right-wing takeover of the Democrats at the hands of the DLC and Third Way - which manifested itself in right-wing policies like Bill Clinton's support for school uniforms. But the Tea Party grew into the Republicans from the right and eventually took over the party. Why can't we expand into the Democrats from the left and capture that party?

Or is it just another of The Media's many double standards?

If I ultimately stay in this area or return to the Democrats, concessions will have to be made - and not by me. I already provided a list of rules that must be met if I stay in this area. If I return to the Democrats, the party will not be allowed to advance a right-wing agenda. Political extortion from the Third Way bullies will not be tolerated. Otherwise I'll leave the party again and split the Democrats' voter base. I can make things very rough if I want to. Those are the rules. Cooperation is expected.

Also, these polls require a yes or a no. You must be decisive and not wishy-washy. There is no "if poo" option.

Have no fear, the December ish is here!

Do you know that the December issue of The Last Word is now published? Sure. Sure you do, boys and girls.

This ish talks about loads of important things. For instance, it has a lengthy reminisce about typewriters - those revolutionary machines! It also has a hilarious in-depth investigation of who farted in 5th grade. And there's more bad hotel reviews! This edition has it all!

So point your pooper here before your pooper points you here...

https://www.scribd.com/doc/292843164/The-Last-Word-12-2015

Cincinnati bans conversion therapy

Don't look now, but Cincinnati has just passed one of the most progressive laws in America.

Today, Cincinnati City Council voted 7 to 2 to ban the discredited practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a form of quackery that claims to "cure" gay teenagers of homosexuality. It was already illegal in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and the District of Columbia.

With today's vote, Cincinnati becomes the only municipality in the nation outside D.C. with its own ordinance on this matter. The only council members to oppose the ban are Republicans Amy Murray (who tried to shut down Occupy Cincinnati because of its views) and Charlie Winburn (known for his support in the '90s for flogging graffiti vandals). Tea Party members also showed up at the council meeting to oppose the ban.

Like conversion therapy, the rest of psychiatry is also quackery. Accordingly, there should also be stronger laws cracking down on the psychiatric racket's other follies. One of the top priorities now should be going after the psychiatric industry's human trafficking and coerced drugging.

The Scholaring where I buyed mill-mill

Up, up, and away!

My photos from a local Roads Scholaring in October are finally up, and this one went as far as Sedamsville.

You might peep. You might weep. You might even oggle-beep! But one thing is for sure: You're gonna point your pooper here for these 21 Scholarin' photos...

http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cinsw15.html

Workers robbed to pay for stadiums

It never ends with these right-wing fucks, does it?

County employees in Hamilton County were supposed to get a pay raise this year. Democratic Commissioner Todd Portune has championed this raise, pointing out that the county budget can easily cover it. But the raise was blocked by Republican commissioners Chris Monzel and Greg Hartmann - who demanded that the money for the pay raise instead go into the fund to pay for the Reds and Bengals stadiums.

All this after the Bengals and Reds have spent the past 19 years fleecing the taxpayers to pay for their stadiums? All this after the Bengals decided they weren't even going to use their stadium for all their "home" games, preferring instead to play in England of all places? All this after county workers have already suffered a 10-year-long wage freeze to pay for the recession the Republicans caused?

Hartmann and Monzel say the money should go into the stadium fund in case the sales tax doesn't bring in enough revenue. If the sales tax isn't enough, TOO FUCKING BAD!!! Let the zillionaire sports team owners pay for it themselves. Maybe they need to get a real job like everyone else.

Chicago suburb relies on right-wing stink tank for legal advice

A government jurisdiction is depending on a right-wing think tank for legal advice. Doesn't this sound familiar?

It's all going down in Lincolnshire, Illinois - a Chicago suburb. Lincolnshire is on the verge of becoming what is likely the only place in Illinois to enact its own misnamed "right-to-work" ordinance. Town trustees have already officially endorsed right-wing Gov. Bruce Rauner's economic platform.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a ruling saying it's illegal for towns to pass their own right-to-scab laws. Court decisions say the same thing. But - instead of listening to courts and state officials - Lincolnshire is relying on the far-right Illinois Policy Institute for legal advice.

Maybe we really shouldn't be surprised, because this is the town with the much-ridiculed Par King, after all. But it's ironic that such an anti-worker law would pass in a town that was named for Abraham Lincoln, who would certainly oppose this law. It's kind of like how the Northern Kentucky Tea Party gathered in a park named for a Kentucky governor who had much more in common with Occupy than with the Tea Party.

(Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20151128/business/151128952)

Our hopeless media won't call it terrorism

There is no hope - at least not for the media.

Robert Dear's rampage that killed 3 people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs was domestic terrorism. There's no other phrase for it.

But I haven't seen any major media outlet call it that.

When ISIS attacked Paris, it was rightly called terrorism. I don't know anyone who would deny that it was terrorism. But why is it so easy to see international terrorism but not domestic terrorism?

And make no mistake: Dear's attack was inspired by the misnamed Center for Medical Progress's fraudulent editing of its Planned Parenthood videos. The CMP was also cheered on by Republican politicians - which is hardly surprising, because the GOP long ago abandoned pursuit of facts.

From the standpoint of electoral politics, this is a big deal, because - decade after decade - the media has doubled down on its efforts to install Republicans in public office. The GOP wasn't always this extreme. I can't imagine, say, Gerald Ford throwing bombs at Occupy marchers. But the GOP of 2015 is a different matter. Likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been described as being to the right of even the heroin-dealing Tea Party - because some in the Tea Party at least were smart enough to sanitize their fascism before broadcasting it. The more extreme the party gets, the more the press seems to support it.

The party that encourages domestic terrorism is the party that the media thinks is entitled to win votes without having to earn them. That's the state of American politics in the 2010s.

GOP officials team up with neo-Nazis for anti-refugee events

I thought the Republican Party couldn't stoop any lower, but just in the past couple weeks, they have.

Republican leaders in Pennsylvania are teaming up with outright neo-Nazis to organize rallies against Syrian refugees. Leading GOP activists Mary Ann Benitez and John Rentschler - along with the Tea Party - are joining forces with the neo-Nazi group Keystone United to put together the protests.

The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Keystone United a "racist skinhead extremist group." Its members have been in trouble for a long series of crimes, including murder, racketeering, and vandalizing a Vietnam War memorial.

Two anti-refugee rallies in Pennsylvania were attended by Republican leaders, the Tea Party, and Keystone United. During a rally at the State Capitol, Rentschler gave a speech where he was backed by Keystone United's Ian McCorts. A highway overpass rally in Scranton was organized by Keystone United members and joined by local Republican committee members and leaders. One GOP committee member, Steve Smith, was busted for ethnic intimidation and assault in the early 2000s. Smith is closely allied with the Tea Party, which has joined protests with him many times before. He is also a former Aryan Nations member.

Such is the current state of the party The Media wants running the country.

(Source: http://usuncut.com/politics/republicans-and-neo-nazis-protest-syrian-refugees-in-pennsylvania)

Kentucky restores voting rights to former felons

Amazing! Kentucky is obeying the Constitution!

Today, outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear issued an executive order restoring voting rights to most people convicted of nonviolent felonies. This brings the Bluegrass State in line with most other states and with constitutional protections of the right to vote. About 180,000 Kentuckians will be able to vote thanks to this order.

Lawmakers had tried to pass a bill to do this, but Republicans in the Kentucky Senate had blocked the measure.

(Source: http://www.wcpo.com/news/state/state-kentucky/kentucky-gov-steve-beshear-restores-voting-rights-for-some-felons)

Black Lives Matter activists shot in Minneapolis

Violence against Occupy was endemic during that movement's heyday (before Occupy surrendered). Now that the political world's talking heads are ramping up the rhetoric, the Black Lives Matter movement is being targeted too, and lives are on the line.

Last night, 5 people participating in a Black Lives Matter event in Minneapolis were shot when a gang of 3 masked white supremacists opened fire on their encampment. The attackers had previously been harassing the activists and had been asked to leave.

The shooting victims are expected to survive, but many fear that the next victims might not be so lucky. The Far Right's lie-fi town criers will inevitably gin up more violence like this - because that's all they ever do lately.

(Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/24/457214142/5-people-are-shot-at-site-of-black-lives-matter-protest-in-minneapolis)

Election fraud suspected in Ohio referendum vote

The outcry over the Matt Bevin campaign stealing the Kentucky election has expanded to Ohio.

This month, there was a referendum in Ohio called Issue 3 - which would have legalized marijuana but would have also subjected it to a rigid monopoly that would have limited production to only a few sites. Many folks who support legalization didn't support this measure, because it would have protected monopolies.

So when the referendum was defeated by 2 to 1 on Election Day, I thought it had just plain old lost. You can argue that it was so poorly written that it deserved to lose. On the other hand, I know voting wasn't completely on the level, considering America's recent history of rigged elections - and the fact that Republican "poll watchers" had threatened voters in Cincinnati neighborhoods. But 2 to 1 seems like it would have been a wide enough margin that it would have lost regardless.

But not so!

Benedictine University's Ron Baiman says the results of that referendum "are not only impossible but unfathomable." Polls actually did show the measure passing. Baiman - who teaches statistics - says that the odds for it to lose by 2 to 1 are "one in a trillion." That's million with a T. Even if every undecided voter went on to vote against the measure, it still shouldn't have lost by 2 to 1.

If the result of a referendum with no party labels can be off by that much compared to pre-election polls, you can only guess how badly partisan elections are rigged, considering party labels are programmed into the machines. It's much worse than it appears, because pollsters weight their polls to account for past rigged elections.

(Source: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/expert-says-ohios-vote-against-pot-legalization-was-statistically-impossible)

More about Diaper Dave's extremism

Here's a sample of how extreme David Vitter is.

Diaper Dave says he will not seek another Senate term next year, but the Louisiana senator has already disgraced himself enough. In 2007, he tried to earmark $100,000 in federal taxpayer money to a Religious Right group called the Louisiana Family Forum. Then, in 2009, he introduced a resolution that would have designated April 15 of each year as National Tea Party Day. He even proposed a bill that would have gutted 'Net neutrality.

I guess we can expect this from the guy who used to represent David Duke's old district in the Louisiana House. But he's Louisiana's fascist, not Kentucky's.

Diaper Dave loses governor bid in upset

You wouldn't expect Louisiana to provide the highlight of an election season, but I guess having Diaper Dave around changes things a bit.

Louisiana's gubernatorial runoff was today, and fascist Sen. David Vitter - the Republican candidate - has gone down in defeat to Democrat John Bel Edwards.

Surprised? Actually, there's a history in Louisiana of Republicans underperforming in runoffs just after the party trumpeted its victories elsewhere. My theory is that it's a voter backlash. On the other hand, if Louisiana uses the same voting machines that Kentucky has that are easily tampered with, we'd expect the GOP to do much better.

Unfortunately, folks in Louisiana still have to deal with the diaper fetishist embarrassing their state in the Senate. And it's not as if today's runoffs are completely on the level, since - as in Soviet Russia - the only 2 Attorney General candidates are Republican.

Huge scandal devours Grant County GOP

Even the ultraconservative Cincinnati Enquirer has had its fill of the corruption and political favoritism that defines the Republican machine in Grant County, Kentucky. I'll take the rare step of letting you read about it from the Enquirer first...

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/your-watchdog/2015/11/20/crude-comments-age-behind-firing/75941114

Among other things, county officials - including Republican Judge-Executive Stephen Wood, who is Grant County's top elected official - are seen discussing firing a payroll clerk who supported Democrats. They also suggest replacing the clerk with someone younger who has "big tits."

As a result of this firing, the payroll clerk has asked for lost wages from the county, and may file a lawsuit.

This follows a separate scandal in Grant County government that involved now-defeated Jailer Terry Peeples. Peeples, who called himself the conservative candidate in his 2010 campaign, went on to be sued by several employees who alleged he had ordered deputies to lie under oath, committed sexual harassment, and forced employees to engage in sexual activity. Peeples had also been accused of child molestation in Oklahoma.

Far Right incites violence against refugees

Now the Far Right has really done it.

Kentucky has been able to accept Syrian refugees before Matt Bevin could seize power and force them out. But Bevin's extremist rhetoric has already incited violence against them.

Refugees who have been resettled in Louisville already report being the victims of hate crimes - incited by the likes of Bevin. A refugee was attacked on a bus by someone yelling, "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

To be sure, there are many folks in Kentucky and elsewhere who welcome Syrian refugee families. But there's lots of folks in lots of places who think lots of things - and don't always prevail, no matter how right they are. For instance, Congress had only a 5% approval rating, but most of Congress was re-elected anyway.

Meanwhile, agencies in Kentucky say they will continue to settle refugees in the Bluegrass State - until someone orders them to stop. But Matt Bevin telling them to stop might not be the only worry. Now these newcomers to America's shores are forced to contend with violent hate crimes - all because of Bevin and other right-wing robots.

(Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/11/19/syria-refugees-land-kentucky-amid-backlash/76042584)

Lexington resists Tea Party by increasing minimum wage

Don't look now, but Lexington just raised the minimum wage to $10.10/hour - joining Louisville as the second place in Kentucky to approve a minimum wage higher than the federal level.

The Tea Party is pooping a hole in its diaper as we speak.

Kentucky counties will be audited for election irregularities

If this is done properly, the wheels will fall off the Republicans' Radio Flyer much quicker than we'd ever expect.

Today, the Kentucky Attorney General's office announced 6 counties chosen at random - Bullitt, McCreary, Clark, Hardin, Morgan, and Harrison - to undergo independent audits for irregularities in the recent "election."

This itself wouldn't be unusual, because state law requires random audits after each election. The difference this time is that the pre-election polls provide a clearer smoking gun than ever before. If voting machines in these counties are like those in some states, any political operative can just park outside the polling place on Election Day and doctor the results by remote control.

Maybe you never heard the outcome of past audits because this election fraud technology is relatively new. If they had this technology 35 years ago, we would have seen it on The Dukes Of Hazzard sooner or later.

It isn't just the pre-election surveys that were off by 14 points. An exit poll in Boyle County was off by about the same margin - so you can't attribute it entirely to a turnout gap. (The Media promised statewide exit poll results, but those never materialized. This is the same stunt they pulled nationwide in 2002.)

How many indictments will result from the audits? There's no guarantee the audits will nab any individuals for election fraud. But one thing is certain: The audits will prove that fraud occurred. And it's not the Green Party that committed it.

County guts bill because Tea Party told it to

Does Campbell County Fiscal Court always kowtow to the white supremacist Tea Party, or is that only on days ending in y?

Recently, commissioners presented a resolution listing guidelines for public use of county administrative buildings. The document said you can't use these government facilities for political fundraising. But then the Tea Party told commissioners to change the resolution so they could continue using the buildings for its fundraising activities.

The resolution now says that any money raised must go to a "charity" - which would be fine if they actually meant real charities. But the county attorney says that means any organization that files as a nonprofit - including the Tea Party, which abuses its nonprofit status.

So there ya have it! Campbell County has just officially declared the Tea Party a "charity."

(Source: http://rcnky.com/articles/2015/11/19/campbell-co-resolution-changed-accommodate-tea-party-retirement-campus-moves)

Anti-refugee crusade not an empty threat

Most of the nation's Republican governors are announcing they will refuse to accept refugees escaping Syria's civil war - and Indiana proves this isn't an empty threat. It appeared to be merely chest-pounding at first, but now the threat is real.

Fascist Gov. Mike Pence - fresh off his antigay campaign - has made Indiana probably the first state to carry out its warning against refugees. An article at Daily Kos says Pence "has won the prize for biggest piece of shit in America." Two Syrian refugee families who had been cleared by the federal government to resettle in the United States had been scheduled to arrive in Indianapolis - but now Pence has forced them to cancel their plans. A state agency sent letters to the organizations resettling the refugees that the resettlement program had been placed on hold. One of the families had been waiting 3 years to come to the United States.

Aren't the Republicans supposed to be the "family values" party?

Incidentally, Pence is violating federal law - namely the United States Refugee Act of 1980. This is an impeachable offense. Also, one of the families is being resettled in Connecticut instead. Once they settle there, will Pence stop them from moving to Indiana afterward?

When was the last time America had a coordinated persecution campaign like this by public officials? Why are we letting our country and our states be defined by the bigotry of the white supremacist Republican Party?

(Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-syrian-refugees-indiana-20151118-story.html)

The fight to sell books never ends

Some of you know that I've had 2 books published through Lulu.com - The Fight That Never Ends (2005) and A Mind's Smithereens (2010). These books were ostensibly released to mainstream bookstores - in addition to being sold online.

The 2005 title was a generally serious work about my struggles with being harassed at school. The abuse I suffered from ages 11 to 16 was so bad I couldn't encapsulate it in any format other than a book. It's just not possible. It may well be the absolute worst series of school assaults ever - in any society.

I'm serious. It was that bad.

Unlike works by other local writers, the local media never promoted my book. They wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot-tall Sesame Street sign. Despite this cover-up - and the fact that the attackers paid off authorities to not be punished - the book probably led to the "retirement" of 2 school administrators.

Unlike that book, my second book was intended to be uproarious. This "book about nothing" consisted largely of humorous anecdotes about a Michael Jackson-themed high school art project angering my teacher, a neighborhood kid stealing candy from Walgreen's, my newsletter scaring the DLC, and more.

People buyed these books. But not nearly enough.

So what I plan to do soon is offer a PDF of the books on Scribd at a discount. In other words, they will be available as an e-book. Nobody ever heard of Scribd back when the volumes were first published, but now it's used extensively.

Of course, you'll still be able to buy the books in convenient book form (as Metro Graphic Arts would say).

You're gonna peep, weep, and oggle-beep 'em until your face flies off in public.

Right-wing bill opens moon for mining

Even on the moon, you're not safe from the hug-a-thug Tea Party - which thinks it owns everything.

The House has just approved a Republican bill called the SPACE Act of 2015. If it becomes law, this bill will give private corporations the "right" to open up the moon, asteroids, and other celestial bodies for mining.

The problem with that is that it's not theirs to mine. There are no property rights in outer space. The United States is a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which declares celestial bodies are an international zone not open to ownership by private companies or even an individual country. It's much like international waters being free from private ownership.

The SPACE Act also attempts to give itself the power to trump challenges from other countries. If a country tries to challenge a corporation's "right" to mine the moon, the SPACE Act tries declaring itself Judge Judy and executioner.

Gives a whole new meaning to "Oh no, R2!"

(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2015/11/18/how-property-rights-in-outer-space-may-lead-to-a-scramble-to-exploit-the-moons-resources)

Kentucky election fraud scandal still growing

The scandal that the Courier-Journal and Herald-Leader continue to ignore...

Pro-rape bill pending in Congress

I absolutely, positively cannot believe a bill like this was recently introduced in Congress.

In July, a pro-rape bill called the Safe Campus Act was introduced by several Republicans in the House: Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Arizona), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and Rep. Kay Granger (also R-Texas). This bill would prohibit colleges and universities from investigating cases of rape and sexual assault on campus - unless the victim reports the crime to outside law enforcement. In some cases, colleges would even be forbidden from expelling offenders.

Why shouldn't the victim be allowed to report the crime to whatever agency is willing and able to investigate it? It shouldn't matter whether it's the local police or some school agency that's set up to investigate such crimes.

The lawmakers' whiny excuse for this bill is that they want to make sure rape defendants are tried fairly. If that's the case, why doesn't it also protect those accused of less serious crimes on campus?

As it turns out, the misnamed Safe Campus Act was lobbied for by fraternities and similar organizations. They spent $200,000 this year lobbying for the bill. However, many student government bodies have passed resolutions opposing the bill, and rape victims' advocacy groups oppose it too. Some officials point out that the bill conflicts with Title IX.

You know what really would reduce rape investigations by college authorities? If people didn't commit rape. I guess all this free-floating "less government" business spewed by the Tea Party means people can commit violent crimes with impunity.

My friends, this bill is nutty.

Dayton! Bellevue! Dayton! It's a great place to start!

Much to the chagrin of the Evil Empire, I've finally gotten September's Roads Scholaring photos posted! It was a minor event in Dayton, Kentucky, involving the Peace Bike and you. Some of you will peep, some of you will weep, but all of you will oggle-beep, as you point your pooper here...

http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/dayky15.html

Will safe space save the day?

As I make plans for my move to Detroit, it's not too late to cancel if some progress is made towards meeting the guidelines I put forth for me to stay in this area. It's only in recent days that America is discovering a movement that may help satisfy some of these demands. I only learned about it because of right-wing websites bellyaching about it.

I'm talking about the safe space trend.

The aim of a safe space is to provide safety to people who might be persecuted or marginalized. In modern America, few groups have suffered more persecution than the political left. Thus, we on the left should create a safe space locally that protects us on the left.

As things stand now, safe spaces are found primarily on college campuses to protect students from spoiled, entitled troublemakers who attack them. Safe spaces aren't intended to turn people into hermits. The idea is largely a response to right-wing violence that has been perpetrated against students. The shrillest critics of safe spaces are the very people who'd make safe spaces unsafe!

But safe spaces shouldn't be limited just to campuses. There should be a safe space strictly for the left in this area. Fact is, most of the United States is a safe space of sorts for the violent right. It is more than safe for the right, in fact, for dissent is not tolerated, period. These right-wing safe spaces also impose views on an unwilling public. Being subjected to it is like being forced to stick your head in the toilet in a public restroom and leave it there indefinitely.

I propose acquiring either a building or a vacant lot to serve as a progressive safe space. No amenities are required. I also think it's fair that government should fund it - just as government subsidizes what are effectively right-wing safe spaces. I also believe government should set aside perhaps a city block or neighborhood for use as a safe space for the left - but a single lot would be preferable to nothing at all.

Government pays for everything the Far Right does. The Bush regime looted Social Security to fund an illegal war. Local government continues to finance pet projects like luxury housing and a new clubhouse at the golf course - despite officials' claims to be taxpayer watchdogs. So it's only fair that they fund our safe space too. The lunatic right complains that those of us on the left have everything handed to us, but that's a lie. I've never had anything handed to me - ever. But the right has. Entitlement is central to the right wing in modern America.

A safe space would likely pay for itself many times over. Yet it doesn't audit rigged elections. That too was a requirement for me to stay in the area. It gets done, or I leave.

When Rand Paul's thugs stomped on a person's head

Remember this moment from the 2010 campaign?



So if I see a Tea Party event anytime soon, they've got one coming. That's a promise.

Study confirms it's normal to laugh at rich people's misfortunes

What does Mother Nature say about the gutter cult of worshiping random rich guys? Nothing positive.

A new study published in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience journal says it's only natural to feel less empathy for people who have a higher status in life. Researchers asked 22 people to undergo a sensory test to see how they'd react to the idea of people of various social statuses appearing to be poked with needles. The results were not favorable to the elite.

This study backs up past research that also showed people are less empathic to those of a higher status.

The Far Right cries that we want to "punish success", but - in a society like ours that is not a meritocracy - it's only natural. Those among the Far Right who want to make us revere people just for having more money are fighting nature.

(Source: http://www.wcti12.com/lifestyle/health/envy-at-work-decreases-empathy-in-your-brain/36338362)

Bevin administration to hire only "conservatives" for state jobs

Anyone who denies that folks in Kentucky are being blacklisted from employment over their political views can slam their yip tight now.

Matt Bevin's website has added an application for state jobs. But the site says Bevin "desires to attract and select" applicants who "share his conservative values." The form also asks applicants their party affiliation.

This is the exact same thing Ernie "Hey Bert" Fletcher got in trouble for. (Not like this matters, because Fletcher ultimately got out of having to serve any prison time.)

Grant County hamstrings heroin program

This story is a perfect example of right-wing county officials running roughshod over cities' local control.

Despite Tea Party complaints, Kentucky recently authorized needle exchange programs for heroin addicts. This is one of the most effective measures for reducing health threats posed by heroin abuse.

The town of Williamstown in Grant County was prepared to open a needle exchange. But so far, Grant County Fiscal Court has refused to approve the exchange.

How many people will die before the county lifts its thumb? This is also an illustration of why cities need to be given more autonomy from the counties' misrule. That's kind of the whole point of having cities.

Ohio GOP busted for fuzzy math

The Ohio Republican Party claims to support fiscal responsibility, but that's another lie, because they can't even get their own stupid checkbooks in order.

The Federal Election Commission has been repeatedly sending letters to the Ohio GOP asking them to explain theirselves and their shoddy accounting practices. The numbers on the party's accounting reports don't add up, and keep mysteriously changing.

Earlier this year, the party's federal campaign account experienced a suspicious $40,000 increase in receipts - and nobody could explain why. On another occasion, the Ohio GOP had a discrepancy of thousands of dollars between the amount on hand at the end of one month and the beginning of the next month - as if there's some gap between that's not part of any month. The FEC also found another month containing over $70,000 in undisclosed donations.

This isn't new in the Ohio GOP. During the previous 2 years, similar problems were found, and the party blamed its computer and staff turnover.

The FEC has repeatedly warned the party that if they don't turn over a new leaf, they may face "audit or enforcement action." This is always followed by more reporting discrepancies by the party.

Of course the Republicans don't report their finances properly. Most criminal gangs don't.

A person bubbled at Kroger

Today at Kroger, some guy bubbled.

List of demands to thwart Detroit move

I decided Tuesday I was moving out of town - most likely to Detroit. I even changed the current city on my Facebook profile to Detroit.

Then people suddenly decided they didn't want me to move. Who can blame them? If I move, there won't be anyone left to do all the work they talk about doing but won't do. They're like the kid in school who was really smart but had to be coached by the teacher to do their coursework.

So I'm coming up with some very simple demands.

Demand #1: More stable employment, because I'm not making enough money from my blogs, book projects, and other websites to justify staying in this area. I went on 4 different Facepoo pages to ask if any small businesses here were hiring for maintenance jobs, and almost all the replies I got were people criticizing my "scary" Facebook profile photo. Leftists with knives frighten the Establishment. Tough toilets. What you see is what you get.

I don't want to accept handouts to do nothing. I was brung up with the belief that almost any task is worth doing right. If anyone supports handouts and sloth, it's the fascist fucks in the Tea Party.

Demand #2: Additional pay to stay in the area. Just living here actually is work. Just living in most places in America actually is work. I mean that literally. We live in the Golden Age of Treason, and it takes actual work to clean up the Tea Party's heroin dealing and other messes. I calculate that if I'm hired for conventional employment again, my going rate for extra pay should be another $694.08 a week (negotiable). Ideally, the Tea Party would pay it, but the money has to come from somewhere.

Not being paid to stay in the area is actually worse - economically and morally - than the cancer scam that I sued over. By far. A few weeks of living here is valued at more than the amount I lost to that swindle. You can reasonably argue that the cancer scammer has a very real medical condition - drug addiction - and that there's no evidence they wouldn't pay me back in full if they cleaned up. (Not like I expect them to clean up.)

Demand #3: An official audit or legal action against recent election results in Kentucky. In anything resembling a democracy, this is how we do.

These are binding guidelines for me to stay in the area. Comply or don't whine.

Another website covers Bevin election fraud

Unlike the Louisville Courier-Journal, which doesn't have the guts to stand by its own polls that showed Matt Bevin losing handily, some websites fight back.

Here's the latest of many...

http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/miscellaneous/did-teabagger-matt-bevin-cheat-in-kentucky-gubernatorial-win-evidence-suggests-so

Meanwhile, the exit polls we were promised are missing in action.

Reverb Press latest to pick up Kentucky election scandal

Daily Kos and several other leading websites have picked up the story, but no official action has been taken (big surprise)...

http://reverbpress.com/news/election-fraud-ky-bevins

Obama kills Keystone pipeline!

Tough toilets, conservos.

President Obama has just rejected a permit for the remaining portion of TransCanada's job-killing Keystone XL pipeline - citing concerns about climate change. It was actually reported in 2012 that Obama would kill this project - possibly because of Occupy's urging - but now the pipeline is finally dead.

It's a done deal.

Bill would require zillionaires to fund Social Security raise

It's another year of dog food for Grandma, as Social Security beneficiaries are once again receiving no cost-of-living increase for the upcoming year.

Congress says this is because there has been no (whoosh...whoosh) inflation this year. That appears to be a lie, for CEO's of America's 350 biggest corporations received a 3.9% raise in their salaries - which is reminiscent of the stagflation of the 1990s and 2000s.

But the legendary Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) wants to correct this high-handed larceny. Warren has filed a bill called the Seniors and Veterans Emergency Benefits Act that would increase Social Security and veterans' benefits by 3.9% - and pay for it by taxing these rich CEO's. It would provide a onetime benefit of an extra $580 to each person on Social Security.

The bad news is that Republicans will obstruct this much-needed bill. Why wouldn't they? It's clear there's no electoral consequences, no matter how unpopular their actions are. Which is why these traitors need to be toppled in a coup.

(Source: http://www.occupydemocrats.com/warren-files-bill-to-make-ceos-pay-for-seniors-stolen-cost-of-living-increase)

Yet another website picks up Kentucky election scandal

This story has legs.

Yet another leading website has picked up the story about the Kentucky election being rigged, and it's even more blunt about it than the others...

http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/evidence-mounts-that-kentucky-governors-election-may-have-been-rigged/22969

And in other news: Evidence mounts that poop may stink.

Michigan! Wisconsin! Minnesota! It's a great place to start!

Remember back in August when I goed to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan?

Welp, that trip yielded a staggering 135 Roads Scholarin' photos and videos, and you're gonna bip 'em until your bip bone falls off. So point your pooper here...

http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15a.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15b.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15c.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15d.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15e.html
http://www.bunkerblast.info/roadpics/ir15f.html

Daily Kos picks up Kentucky election fraud story

And boom goes the bubble gum...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/11/05/1444821/-Questioning-the-Unverified-Computer-Results-of-Kentucky-s-Governor-s-Race-BradCast-11-4-2015

Crooks & Liars goes there

Uh-oh, a leading website is going there. And by there, I mean there...

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/11/heres-what-bothers-me-about-kentuckys

That's the very definition of there.

Tea Party selling something a little stronger than tea (a blast from the past)

Boston was the home of the real Boston Tea Party, but the city isn't immune to the astroturfed Tea Party movement that the CIA and the Kochs have helped prop up. And the notion that the modern-day Tea Party sells heroin isn't brand new.

Back in 2011, participants at a Tea Party event in Boston were arrested for selling heroin. The defendants reportedly pleaded not guilty, but it's unclear what happened to the case after that.

The incident wasn't widely publicized. Of course.

Governor Bert

On a lighter note, I've just noticed something funny in Matt Bevin's Wikipedia biography, but nobody outside greater Cincinnati will get the joke.

I've pointed out before that Bevin resembles Bert from 'Sesame Street', with that huge forehead and wide smirk and all. Well, I discovered something biographical about Bevin that will only be true for 2 more months that sort of relates to this, and you're gonna burst out laughing when you see what it is.

Time to overthrow Tea Party

I'm gonna lay it on the line.

It is time to overthrow the Tea Party.

Yes, I said overthrow. Like any other country would do.

Well, I gave you your chance

Well, friends, after the disaster in the 2014 "election", I gave you your chance: Put up or shut up.

I met with some of you, had some meals, and had some intelligent conversation. But in the end, no follow-through.

Now I can honestly say this: You're screwed, and you got what you deserved for sitting on your hands. So screwed. You had a chance, and didn't take advantage of it.

It's just like the people I sued because they wouldn't pay back the money they owed. I gave them many chances to pay it back, and they didn't do it.

Is it my fault? No. Seriously, what are people thinking that they can just do nothing and a problem will magically fix itself?

To be sure, I'm going to be looking at some out-of-town apartment listings over the next few weeks. I want to be around real activists, not posers.

Have no fear, the November ish is here!

A brand bizcream-bustin' ish of The Last Word is now pub, and you're gonna read it until your face falls off in public!

This edition talks about a local politician's alleged involvement in a cancer scam, an old public service film about a hi-fi that destroys antique records, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/doc/288283548/The-Last-Word-11-2015

When Fred Thompson made a televised funny

With today's death of Republican former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, I'd like to recall a memory of the man himself.

One year during the Republican National Convention - I believe it was 1996 - Thompson gave a televised speech in which he touted the notion that Congress had banned gifts to its members. Following this, I wrote in The Last Word that this meant Jim Bunning wouldn't be getting any 'Sesame Street' coloring books for Christmas! At least I think that was the joke I made. It was either that or something very similar.

Also, years before his Senate career, Thompson was an actor in an episode of 'Roseanne'. If you get old 'Roseanne' reruns in your area, watch for Fred Thompson sometime.

Bevin causes another national laugh fest

As electoral victory for Matt Bevin slowly sinks into the sunset, he was due for another of his weekly scandals, and now he's living down to expectations.

The Republican candidate for governor tried to save his flailing campaign by sending out a letter to Kentucky's public school teachers soliciting their support. He somehow got a hold of the teachers' work e-mail addresses - which suggests that one of his campaign operatives infiltrated the schools and got their addresses somehow. The letter blames the Democrats for the teacher pension crisis - even though it was the Republicans' fault.

In any event, the letter violates Kentucky election law by directly soliciting contributions from public employees. That's not to mention laws that were broken by his campaign workers who work for school districts who obtained the e-mail addresses. And yes, from my experiences, I would believe that Kentucky school districts would hire Bevin operatives.

Hastert convicted in hush money case

As Tea Party Republicans are about to anoint the laughable Paul Ryan as the new House Speaker, a GOP House Speaker from the past still haunts.

The disgraced Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of making numerous bank withdrawals to pay off an unidentified person to keep quiet about Hastert's sexual misconduct. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, but the prosecutor is seeking a lighter sentence of up to 6 months.

This is a plea deal that may keep other embarrassing details about the case from being revealed.

But Hastert is gone and in disgrace.

Kentucky elections loom, and GOP is as idiotic as ever

I'm about to utter some words I thought I'd never say...

Gee, I can't wait to vote for Jack Conway!

As Kentucky's Democratic Attorney General inches towards a near-certain victory in the gubernatorial election on Tuesday, November 3, the Republican field is every bit the cavalcade of stupid we've come to expect. Conway is one of several statewide Democrats with clear leads in polls, and the Republicans deserve to lose as never before.

I've been urged to consider each race individually instead of voting a straight ticket. Despite this, I'm voting Democratic in each race. Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin - a Tea Party fave - has averaged a scandal a week, and lies every time he opens his mouth. Independent candidate Drew Curtis ruined his credibility by endorsing the laughable Donald Trump for President. (These days, independent candidacies often seem to be merely fronts for a precleared agenda, so why should we be surprised that an independent would support a right-wing billionaire?)

The GOP is also in shambles downballot. The Republicans run on hate, bigotry, and "right-to-work" fascism. They offer nothing positive. Not one damn thing. They offer much that is negative, which includes their ongoing corruption and crime.

Democrats this time do offer something positive - even if only timidly. Jack Conway says he'll support Kentucky's successful implementation of health care reform and oppose right-to-scab laws. Incumbent Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes plans to introduce online voter registration. Democratic Agriculture Secretary candidate Jean-Marie Lawson Spann supports allowing medical marijuana and is a leader in the popular effort to require labeling of genetically modified frankenfoods.

Hopefully, Kentucky won't emerge as another Kansas or Texas on election night.

Paper adds...In your mailbox...

Busted!

I paid pretty close attention to local pop radio in my youth, and I've found some old articles in the trade magazines about paper adds. A paper add is a record that a station claims to have added to its regular playlist, even though the station actually seldom if ever plays it. Some of the trade papers said they would drop a station from its reporting panel if the station had paper adds - and would monitor stations to make sure they accurately reported their playlists. There was even talk of bringing wire fraud charges against offending stations.

WKRQ (Q-102) in Cincinnati used to be the local top 40 giant. But playlists there were narrow, and Q-102 was usually late in adding new music. A song could hit #1 nationally but not receive regular play at Q-102. I know this, because I heard this station enough to know.

And whaddya know, 30 years later, I've discovered Q-102 was reporting paper adds. For example, the record added at #30 on Q-102's playlist of September 21, 1984, was a paper add...

http://las-solanas.com/arsa/charts_view.php?svid=57960

I never heard "The Lucky One" on Q-102 outside of American Top 40. Everything else on that playlist seems accurate to the best of my recollection - because I remember things like that. Yes, Q-102 really loved Chris de Burgh (even if he did look like Dr. Shrinker). But make no mistake, Laura Branigan was a paper add. Other Q-102 playlists on that website reveal "Run Runaway" and "Send Me An Angel" as likely paper adds - unless those songs were relegated to ungodly dayparts.

Conversely, Q-102 added "Borderline" by Madonna very late and began playing it constantly, but the song doesn't appear on any Q-102 playlists on that site.

None of these songs had any lyrical controversy that I know of. The station simply deemed these songs popular enough to report as an add but not popular enough to actually play - or vice versa.

I worked in radio later, and I know how this stuff works. In pop radio, there's usually a method to the madness of what a station plays. Most stations don't just take a big stack of records and play them randomly. Music flows are supposed to be carefully balanced. If you listen to a station enough, you can sometimes detect a pattern.

Somehow, I don't think Billboard is going to go back in time and correct its record charts from 30 years ago just because a station with paper adds was on its panel.

Right-wing dictatorship coming to Portugal?

Many of the world's leading nations are rejecting right-wing tyranny. Canadian voters, for instance, just ousted Stephen Harper's Conservative Party following 9 years of Harper's authoritarian temper tantrums. And in Greece, the left-leaning SYRIZA has emerged victorious on repeated occasions this year.

But now that a left-leaning coalition has cleaned up in Portugal's parliamentary elections, President Aníbal Cavaco Silva is barring the coalition from taking power because he doesn't like its views. He says the conservative minority should be allowed to stay in power just to appease the European Union, its authoritarian austerity program, and Big Business. He objects to the new coalition's support of Portugal dropping the euro as its currency.

All this in "democratic" Europe. The EU's stated policy says member nations must have democratic governments, but we know that's a sham, after the EU tolerated Italy's right-wing dictator Silvio Berlusconi. And make no mistake, Berlusconi was a dictator. If, say, Russia or China had a leader like that, people would admit it was a dictatorship. Why is it any different for an EU country? And why should it be any different if it happens in Portugal now?

(Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/Portugals-Anti-euro-Left-Barred-From-Taking-Power/2015/10/24/article3095038.ece)

Colonel Sanders likes Cincinnati chili

Yesterday, the Peace Bike and I went Roads Scholaring in Sedamsville, and on the way home I detected a celebrity-look alike!

I went downtown and picked up a cheese coney at Skyline Chili near Occupy Cincinnati's Piatt Park. While I was in the restaurant, I noticed there was a guy eating in there who strongly resembled Colonel Sanders!

Obama vetoes wasteful defense bill

Today, President Obama vetoed a defense bill passed by Congress.

Why?

For a very good reason: The bill was wasteful.

Media "coaxed" Gulf War support (a blast from the past)

The right-wing media's manipulation of public opinion isn't new, and sometimes it lingers for years after an event takes place.

As late as 2001, Gallup still polled Americans about their support for the 1991 Gulf War, and Gallup's own 2001 synopsis is very revealing. The summary reads in part, "Despite the eventual popularity of the Persian Gulf War, Americans had to be coaxed into support for that effort." It says that in August 1990, a majority of Americans "opposed the United States' initiating military efforts to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait." By November, opposition stood at an astounding 51% to 37%.

But this report reveals that after the George H.W. Bush regime beat its war drum, public opinion swung by 27 points to favor this campaign.

Plus, right before the war began in January, Gallup showed that public opinion had made a 16-point swing towards Bush's position just since December because "the Bush administration had made considerable progress in persuading the public about the importance of forcing Iraq out of Kuwait." Support apparently increased much more during the war.

Nonetheless, in February, Americans still opposed a ground war by 74% to 17%. But after this phase of the war was launched and The Media's "rally effect" took hold, Americans ostensibly supported it by 84% to 11%.

I blame The Media because it was they who gave the Bush regime the soapbox to wheedle support from the public. If the press wasn't so one-sided, most people would have never relented in their opposition to the war.

In the ensuing decade, support for that war never declined much. This helped encourage the later Iraq War.

If public officials insist on basing their actions on polls, they should base them on what the polls said before The Media opened its billering trap. Not like the Bushes ever cared much about public opinion. When the people weren't on their side, the Bush crime family would feed their talking points to the press until they were.

Tea Party now committing elder abuse

For decades, it's seemed like northern Kentucky has been on the cutting edge of looting public assets to pad corporate and personal profits, and the shutdown of Northern Kentucky Senior Services drives home this point.

Thanks to Tea Party misrule, Northern Kentucky Senior Services - a nonprofit that has served local seniors for a half-century - will be closing down this week, leaving your parents and grandparents to their own devices. The agency has run out of operating funds.

This nauseating news comes just after local counties have reauthorized an unconstitutional program that lavishes taxpayer funds on private schools that can afford to pay for their own transportation. It also comes while Boone County is spending badillions defending its unconstitutional "right-to-work" ordinance in court. And, as far as I can tell, Campbell County is still giving public money to a luxury high-rise development by exempting it from property taxes. If local governments have money for luxury high-rises and defending ideological pursuits like "right-to-work", certainly they should have money for senior services. That's part of what living in a society is all about.

The Tea Party should be charged with elder abuse lickety-split.

School uniform rightists caught stuffing ballot box

Listen to what happened in Volusia County, Florida!

In the wake of a Tea Party-backed effort to require students in public schools to wear uniforms, the school district posted a survey on the Internettage about it. According to the final results, 49% of principals, teachers, and parents favored uniforms, while 47% opposed them.

That seems a little off, since most surveys in other communities show overwhelming opposition, but a report from WMFE-FM makes things a little clearer. It says, "Results showed more principals took the survey than the number of principals there are in the district."

In other words, uniform supporters stuffed the ballot box. As usual, facts aren't on their side, so they cheat to win.

(Source: http://www.wmfe.org/survey-volusia-county-students-dont-want-school-uniforms/53404)

Drug warriors fiddled while northern Kentucky burned

If you support the War on Drugs in the manner it's been carried out, you're soft on crime, and this story proves it.

In recent months, I've been the victim of a classic cancer scam - a scam that everyone falls for, without exception. I eventually discovered beyond a shadow of a doubt that the con artist was actually buying illicit drugs. I have probable cause to believe this includes heroin - the scourge of northern Kentucky in the 2010s. The police now know about this swindler, and I've filed a lawsuit in small claims court in a long shot effort to force reimbursement.

As things stand right now, it's not important for me to publicly identify the defendant just for the sake of doing so. The greater crime was committed by the drug warriors who have spent the past 35 years mortgaging civil liberties, demonizing dissidents, destroying careers, promoting prejudice, and padding the prison industry's profits.

Remember a few years ago when the right-wing media wanted to enact laws to require a prescription to buy over-the-counter allergy medicine, saying it would completely eliminate meth labs? Except there have never been any meth labs in Campbell County. In a county with 90,000 people, no meth labs have ever been found. Not one. And places that did enact such restrictions saw an increase in meth labs. Kentucky was teetering on the brink of passing such a law, but finally settled on a so-called "compromise."

The battle in Kentucky - and elsewhere - took everyone's eye off the ball. The press was trying to make criminals out of anyone who found a booger in their nose, but heroin abuse was skyrocketing and nobody was even noticing. I'm not interested in throwing the book at someone for using heroin. Addiction is an illness - and shouldn't be considered a crime on its own. If anyone must be prosecuted, I'd be more interested in going after the big drug pushers - the organized criminals who never get caught because the drug warriors are too busy going after people who smoked a little weed 15 years ago.

Recently, it came to light that Republican county officials in northern Kentucky rejected an offer from the federal government that would have designated the region as a high-priority heroin area and provided some money to fight this plague. Some said local officials rejected it simply because they didn't want to work with the Obama administration. Rejecting it for that reason would have been bad enough, but the real reason is that they didn't want their Tea Party donors caught for their heroin dealing.

Lastly, some in high places have been shooting their mouths off about what they think is behind the rise in opioid abuse, when anyone familiar with northern Kentucky demographics should know better. Not only did these statements possibly fan the fires of bigotry, but they too have taken people's eye off the ball.

I'm shocked that a drug-linked case that I'm personally familiar with fell right into prosecutors' laps, and nothing is being done about it - after 35 years of people doing hard time for offenses that weren't nearly as bad.

I don't expect to win my lawsuit, but I'll make sure justice is served. I will make sure other local voters know of my experiences, and how public officials are going to amazing lengths to cover their cronies' asses. I also think the actions of the defendant are fair fodder for an e-book.

The Far Right doesn't like it when I Kro for it

I've been faced with another encounter with the same type of ultra-right-wingers who attacked Occupy.

This morning, I posted here about how I was forced to abandon a cart full of groceries at Kroger last night. It wasn't anything against the Kroger chain in particular. It was because I wasn't getting any service at that location. In fact, I went to another Kroger afterward and got fine service. I also posted this morning's entry on Facebook - which used to be automatic, before Facepoo abolished that feature - and it was shared to at least one Facebook group.

Facebook later deleted it from the group where it was shared - which isn't too surprising, because they've deleted my posts before. (Way to privatize Usenet, Facebook!) But not before the unexpected deluge of right-wing venom that I received in response!

This is how the Tea Party thought police acts. When they see someone challenging an established corporation, they will try to ruin the person's life. Just like what they did to the guy who made the video of himself ordering water at Chick-fil-A. When he posted that clip, he instantly became a villain in the minds of the right-wing media. He fielded countless threatening phone calls, received shit in the mail, lost his job, and found himself being rejected for new jobs. The reaction to last night's Kroger incident has been no less vitriolic. (Never mind that the abandoned cart contained no perishable items - and even if it did, it was the store's fault if they spoiled. I waited a good 20 minutes before I had to abandon the cart.)

In response to my entry, a person replied...

"I guess you are an asshole and proud of it. Good luck with karma."

Another said...

"Next time shop elsewhere Kroger dont need your business or want it."

Still another declared...

"I think this guy needs a serious psychological evaluation. No one in their right mind would think this is funny. I wonder what high school this criminal attended."

Hahaha, a "criminal"? The county won't prosecute someone who wrote me a series of bad checks, yet I'm the one who's a "criminal"? But the upside-down manner in which incidents involving me are handled is not new. It goes back decades. I've been the victim of many crimes that have gone unpunished, but authorities wasted absolutely no time in catching me for "trespassing" for using a university library that was open to the public, or nabbing me for the "crime" of using washable sidewalk chalk on a sidewalk (just because they didn't like the message).

If the heroin dealers in the Tea Party lay one finger on me, they get broken bones. End of story.

I goed Krogering the cool people way

Last night, I did a funny at Kroger because they didn't have the mill-mill I like.

I regularly go to the Kroger supermarket in Bellevue, and I seek whole chocolate milk each time. I have hypocobalaminemia, so I'm supposed to drink whole milk. But lately, this store has been out of this moo-moo - even though they always have several shelves of watered-down skim milk staring down at me.

Last night was no exception. The shelf for whole chocolate milk has been empty for a couple weeks now. Recently, store employees have told me that people always buy up all the whole milk but someone in the dairy room keeps canceling the orders to replace it. When I Krogered last night, I could see that they actually had some in the dairy room behind the shelves where I couldn't reach it. But there were no employees anywhere in sight to fetch it for me.

I seriously considered barging into the dairy room - a restricted area - and getting it myself, but it looked like I'd need a key. Now, by that time, I had already filled my cart with several items. So instead I pushed my cart to near the front of the store and just abandoned it, with all the items still in it. I trudged up to the Kroger in Newport instead.

Kroger in Bellevue must have pooped a hole in its pants when the abandoned cart full of groceries was discovered just sitting there!

'Twas kinda neat!

War on Halloween comes early to Connecticut this year

Once again, dominionist whack-a-doos get their way.

In Milford, Connecticut, school officials have already announced their intent to cancel Halloween activities this year. Why? Because some right-wing Bible-thumpers told them to cancel it.

There really is no limit on how far people will go to accommodate these extremists, is there?

A person just plain old bunkerooed

Last night, at an important family gathering, an SBD bunker blast was detected. It was what we call a standard stinker. Outdoors, no less! This is all the more notable, because usually the wind blows the stink away.

A person bunkerooed at the libe

For once, I thought I'd make it through a visit to the library without detecting the uproarious audio of a loud-and-proud bunker blast.

But who was I kidding? Ronald Reagan.

Today I went to the Newport libe. I was almost done there as I was walking towards the shelves near the back, when I heard it. Yes, a backdoor breeze. An air biscuit. Someone cut the Colby! I thought it was a person walking behind me, but this has not been proven, so no suspects can be indicted for this hilarious wafto.

Fox News, tear down this wall!

Oh the stupid. It burns.

Monica Crowley is a far-right commentator for the white supremacist Fox News Channel. And because Fox News has unrealistic ideas about everything, Fox News supports the costly and unpopular wall being built along the Mexican border.

Today, Monica Crowley highlighted this point by sending out a text blast saying, "At the Berlin Wall last week. Walls work." It was accompanied by her standing in front of a brightly painted wall.

She was at the Berlin Wall last week? Uh, hate to tell you this, Monica, but the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. The wall she was standing at damn sure wasn't the Berlin Wall.

And even if it was, how do "walls work"? I guess they really do work - for a dictatorship.

Scientists want climate change denial industry busted under RICO

The worst criminals in America are climate change deniers.

But if there's even a shred of justice left in this land, the climate change denial industry will be prosecuted under RICO. A group of 20 scientists has penned the Obama administration, urging the government to prosecute the industry for racketeering under the RICO law.

The climate change denial racket is a practitioner of organized crime and fraud. The petitioners have likened the industry to Big Tobacco - which was also targeted under RICO. A RICO probe got the tobacco industry to stop deceiving consumers about the hazards of smoking.

Corporations that are part of the denial racket must be prosecuted to the fullest. The list of Gestapoey actions the denial industry has committed goes on and on. For years, they've faked data in an attempt to enrich itself. Not only have they profited from their deception, but they've also threatened violence and economic ruin against those who challenge them. They've even engaged in a long-running conspiracy to commit perjury.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) has already backed an effort to investigate the industry under RICO. RICO is meant to punish people who conspire to harm other people - which is exactly what the denialists have done.

Do we actually expect RICO to be unleashed on the denial racket? Don't count on it, considering my high school was never prosecuted under it. RICO is one of the most underused laws on the books, but would be one of the most effective if it was used more. If the Tea Party's heroin dealing is prosecuted under RICO, I'll have more faith in RICO being used against other corporate thugs.

(Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/21/1423309/-Scientists-ask-for-prosecution-of-climate-deniers-under-RICO-law)

Oregon college shooter was right-wing Republican

The shooter in the Umpqua Community College massacre has been identified as one Chris Harper Mercer.

On a dating website, Mercer had listed his political views as "conservative, republican."

Is anyone at all surprised?

Bill Straub blasts Massie

This is hilarious!

You're gonna love the latest Bill Straub column at the Northern Kentucky Tribune. In this piece, Straub blasts local far-right congressweirdo Thomas Massie for his ongoing complain-a-thon...

http://www.nkytribune.com/2015/10/bill-straub-whiz-kid-thomas-massie-just-out-of-his-element-in-congress-is-mainly-good-at-whining

Notice how Massie acts like every general election is a Republican primary (even though Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 4th District despite Boone County gunking things up). Massie's definition of "the people" includes only the Tea Party.

Work-for-Less Jamie might run for Congress

With 11-term far-right Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) announcing his retirement today, an all-too-familiar name may vie to replace him: embattled Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer.

This is the same Jamie Comer who ran for governor and has been embroiled in a domestic violence scandal.

Will Kentucky's 1st District send a domestic violence offender to Congress? Why is somebody like this even a serious candidate?

Tea Party animal cruelty case ignored

Why did the media cover up the fact that a leader in Campbell County's Tea Party was busted for cruelty to animals back in 2013? That's in addition to the Oxycontin charge the previous year.

Is the Tea Party selling heroin?

The Tea Party in its current form began in 2009.

The current heroin pandemic also began in 2009.

This rash of heroin addiction is more prevalent in the Midwest and South - and less so in the Northeast, where the Tea Party is less powerful.

Coincidence?

Who or what is funding the Tea Party? Even the Kochs can't afford to fund this much Tea Party activity for this long. We know the CIA has propped up the Tea Party, since the CIA has a history of destabilizing governments - and of selling drugs.

Is the Tea Party itself selling heroin? There's just too many coincidences to say they're not.

So, yes, we can accurately say the Tea Party is selling heroin.

Someone let one rip yesterday

Yesterday at an important family gathering, beans were served. You can imagine how that ended.

I detected the faint audio of a bunker blast! It was a Quiet Riot, if you will (or if you won't).

Boehner to resign from Congress next month

Just received word that longtime House Speaker John Boehner will resign his seat in Congress in October because of Republican infighting.

The suburban Cincinnati congressman's resignation is sending shockwaves throughout American politics. Surprisingly, he isn't just leaving the Speaker post: He is leaving Congress altogether after 13 terms.

Presumably, a special election will be held to replace him in Congress, but the big question is, who will be the new Speaker? Odds are, the Republicans will pick a Tea Party favorite as Speaker - representing another step in making the GOP a fringe party.

This story is somewhat reminiscent of the resignation of Newt Gingrich. The embattled Speaker Gingrich resigned from Congress altogether after the Republicans lost seats in the 1998 midterms - setting off a scramble to replace him that embarrassed the entire party.

(Source: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/25/house-speaker-john-boehner-to-resign)

Campbell County superintendent arrested

Thirty years ago, the Campbell County Schools were generally agreed to be the worst in the nation. Not just the worst in northern Kentucky. The worst in America. Needless to say, the loudmouth fucks who now compose the Tea Party considered it a model school district.

I don't know if this school district is as bad as it was in the '80s, but the latest scandal sure doesn't help. Yesterday, Campbell County Schools Superintendent Glen Miller was arrested for domestic violence. He was jailed and released on bond today.

The Campbell County Schools had a history of solving problems with violence, so who's surprised?

(Source: http://www.rcnky.com/articles/2015/09/24/campbell-co-schools-superintendent-arrested)

Have no fear, the September ish is here!

Have no fear. The September edition of The Last Word is finally here!

It's the Back-to-School ish, but it also discusses many fi things. For instance, we talk about our hilarious trip to Isle Royale, how the destroyer of a lawn chair gets their comeuppance, and the Campbell County bubble gum bandit!

So point your pooper here before your pooper points you here...

https://www.scribd.com/doc/282313058/The-Last-Word-9-2015

More stuff got plopped at Ploptoberfest

For at least the second day in a row, items were plopped at Ploptoberfest. Yesterday was nothing earth-shattering. Just a plopping!

I went to the Sunday installment of Ploptoberfest yesterday and discovered that someone had thrown a stick of underarm deodorant into the toilet. I'm quite certain this has happened before, but plopping has such a long tradition at this annual festival that I guess it was inevitable that ideas for ploppings were going to be recycled.

And so, another Ploptoberfest is in the history books!

Stuff got plopped at Ploptoberfest

What do we call Oktoberfest? Oktoberfest.

What do we call Oktoberfest in Cincinnati? Ploptoberfest! That's because items get plopped every year - without fail.

Today was no exception to this time-honored rule! When I used one of the portable restrooms at Ploptoberfest today, I noticed that someone had taken one of those big tan envelopes with a bubble wrap lining and put it in the toilet. Just think what bubble wrap will do to Rumpke's toilet cleaning machines!

Later when I used a portable restroom again, I noticed someone had taken a marker and drawn a penis on the wall.

But there were no Sam Adams cutouts this time, because Ploptoberfest organizers finally figured that they were just getting stolen and abused.

Indiana school district makes drug tests mandatory

The Constitution is taking a beating in the New Albany-Floyd County school district in Indiana.

Today, the school board voted 5 to 0 to approve drug testing of any student - not just those in extracurricular activities. One thing is clear: A lawsuit looms. In 2001, a federal court ruled that schools in Lockney, Texas, could not have such a policy. (Right-wing extremists tried to run the plaintiff out of town for suing the school.)

Or maybe people will wuss out and sit on their hands in the hopes it will "fix itself."

(Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/2015/09/14/floyd-school-board-vote-drug-testing/72253722)

Massie wrong about Iran deal (imagine that!)

How long are we going to keep electing this silly clown?

Local authoritarian right-wing congressmoron Thomas Massie (nice gerrymander there) is the only member of the House who voted present on a far-right effort to gut President Obama's popular Iran deal. Massie's reason for voting present is just as ridiculous as if he had voted with the rest of the Republicans. He says the deal is actually a treaty that requires two-thirds of the Senate for ratification.

Haha. No.

Massie has made a spectacle of himself more and more lately. He has defended Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis's antigay bigotry and lawbreaking, and he has signed a letter demanding a government shutdown unless Congress cracks down on Planned Parenthood.

This is the congressman who didn't get an opponent in 2014 until the very last minute?

Kentucky GOPer accused of fraud

Another scandal in the Republican Party of Kentucky?! You've got to be kidding me!

Steve Pence was lieutenant governor under the disgraced Ernie "Hey Bert" Fletcher. Now Pence is being accused of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC says Pence made misleading statements to auditors when he headed a staffing services business and that he was acting as a front for a convicted felon.

In 2011, the Louisville Courier-Journal identified Pence as a fraud conspirator - but this damning discovery was ignored by the rest of the media. The GOP had some elections they needed to win, ya know.

(Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2015/09/09/ex-lt-gov-steve-pence-accused-fraud/71933420)

81 photos and videos from Cleveland trip posted!

It's time once again to lean back, relax, blow some BG, and peep some brand new Roads Scholarin' photos!

Last month I went to Cleveland, and the event yielded 81 items. Read 'em now before it's too late...

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cle15a.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cle15b.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cle15c.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/cle15d.html

Absolutely nothing happened at Rip-off-fest

...except I smuggled in Pepsi, violating their precious Allowed Cloud.

Kentucky Fried Colonel

Don't insult the '70s, when commercials from the '60s were far more ridiculous.

Some years back, I told you about an absolutely laughable International House of Pancakes commersh from 1969 that used absurd Chipmunks-like vocals - for no apparent reason. Now I've found another restaurant ad from the '60s that's just as preposterous. It's a 1967 commersh for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and you're gonna guffaw uncontrollably when you view it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJ2eBFHxyc

This ad - like many other Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials of the era - featured Colonel Sanders himself. Not a cartoon, and not an actor playing Colonel Sanders. It had the real Colonel Sanders! The Colonel is seen strapped down in a torture device that looks like a combination of a polygraph and an electric chair. Several old-fashioned housewives demand that the Colonel divulge his secret recipe, but he just gives smartass answers and laughs maniacally. He might as well have just answered, "Because it bips." His answers cause him to be tortured some more.

But that's not even the most ridiculous part of the ad.

The ending of the commercial is downright uproarious! It features two close-up images of the Colonel filling the whole screen and blending into one - while a hilarious music bed plays. You've got to see this!

This is like if IGA made a commercial where someone farted real loud.