Bill Ayers speeches cancelled in Naperville

Current UIC professor and former Weather Underground lowlife Bill Ayers recently had speeches cancelled in Naperville, Illinois. One speech was scheduled at a book store, the other at a high school. Linkage is available through your favorite search engine.
Ayers, as some may recall, was the subject of some controversy when Barack Obama was running for president. Critics claimed Obama's association with Ayers showed a tacit endorsement for the tactics Ayers used while he was in the Weather Underground.
Once some high school parents got word that Ayers was scheduled to speak there, they protested quite loudly to school administrators.
Some free speech advocates say what a shame it is that administrators caved to the parents.
Is it?
I call it a victory for common sense.
I think folks generally try to do what they feel is right. I think they try to raise their children the same way. I think parents want to show their children folks they believe to be good role models, folks who succeed by doing the right thing.
Imagine their horror at bringing in someone who broke the law and whose group committed murder. Imagine their disgust at seeing this person succeed. Imagine their disgust at seeing how truly unrepentant this person, and I use the term loosely, is.
Would you really want your child to hear what this person has to say?
Heh. Defeat for free speech. What about the free, protected speech of the parents of the school district? Isn't their speech just as important as Ayers?
I call this a victory for the protected speech of those who protested Ayers' appearance.
There are those that will argue, well, wouldn't it be good for the students to hear what Ayers has to say and question him? That's a fair point. Some might question him. Some might support him.
That said, as long as these kids are living with their parents, they have to live by their parents' rules.
Personally, I'd like to see more communities stand up to Ayers.

The bunny chronicles: fun with grooming

Part of pet ownership is the occasional grooming bit, i.e. brushing the fur and clipping claws when necessary. For rabbits, I've recently learned the claws should be clipped about once a month.
The beast is naturally thrilled when this happens.
We've established something of a routine. I go over by the cage, open it up, and start to pet her, trying to calm her down. She knows that I'm trying to butter her up for something, so she grudgingly tolerates the petting.
Then, I extract the beast from the cage. This happens after she bolts to a corner of the cage. After the cornering, I push her toward the cage door. She tries to dig in, but I'm usually able to secure her. She flails around a bit, bracing herself against the cage to prevent the extraction. Finally, I'm able to remove her.
Then, she sees the clippers.
That's when the fur flies.
I try calming her down, but she doesn't believe me at all. So, she goes into panicky bunny mode, squirming every which way, trying to get away.
At this point, I figure it's best to let her tire herself out before the clipping. I do this by picking her up by the scruff. Naturally, she doesn't like this and she tries to get away, squirming even more. This usually takes about 30-60 seconds, after which she pretty much gives up.
Tired bunnies are better to deal with.
Upon tiring the bunny out, I cradle her in my left arm while clipping the claws with my right hand. I have a flashlight nearby to more closely examine the claws, ensuring I don't harm her by cutting the quick along with her claw. Cut the nail too short, and the animal will bleed and feel pain.
Though tired, the bunny will still try pulling her paw away just as I'm about to clip the nail. This results in several failed attempts to clip the claw.
After every clip, I'm sure to tell the rabbit just how she's been, what a good bunny she is.
You'd think I'd be good with this lie by now.
After the ordeal, I let the rabbit go. Naturally, she hops away quickly. Often, she'll leave about a dozen little turds near the front door for her troubles. Can't say I blame her. At least it's easy to clean up.
Upon returning to her cage, I give the beast a treat, you know, as a reward for flailing about and making the job of clipping her claws such a joy. She snatches it away with proper bunny glee, then lets me know it's time for me to pet her.
Rotten little beast.

More political scandal in Illinois? Say it ain't so!

Before former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich got thrown out of office, he decided to appoint perennial laughingstock Roland Burris to the senate seat vacated by President Obama.
A little bit of history: the last time Burris held elected office by voter mandate was when grunge was still popular and gangsta rap was still up and coming. It took a governor accused of trying to sell his power to finally get him back into elected office.
Even his own party didn't want him to become senator, because they knew how vulnerable that seat would be once it comes up for election next year.
More recently, Burris has faced scrutiny over his testimony during Blagojevich's impeachment proceedings. First, he said he didn't have any dealings with anyone related to Blago. Then, there was a conversation with his brother. Now, it turns out, there was talk of Burris raising money for Blago's potential reelection campaign as Blago considered who to appoint to the senate.
There's no linkage here. I simply recommend using your favorite search engine to find news reports related to Burris.
Burris, as talkative as he is, hasn't been talking to the press recently. I personally recommend a rather hilarious radio clip from WBBM 780 AM in Chicago. Reporters were trying to get Burris to talk, and some ignorant fool defends him, saying that the people put Burris in office. When it's pointed out to her that the disgraced Blagojevich put him there, she still defends him, claiming Burris is some sort of champion.
Heh. Maybe Burris can add that to his tombstone. "Appointed champion by crooked gov." Again, I recommend using your favorite search engine, utilizing the keywords "Roland Burris tombstone." Hilarity will surely ensue.
I'd say Burris should quit, but I'm scared of what sort of opportunistic, self-serving criminal will replace him.
Times like this, I'm glad for the second amendment.

You decide to open the left door.

After a brief hesitation, the scent of fresh, cool air washes over you. Nothing is obvious beyond the doorway except what appear to be a sunlight beaming down into a dark room. There is just a faint hint of dust, but little else. It reminds you of an interrogation room.
You enter the room, knowing that certain death waits mere moments down the hall. Someone once told you that you never really can expect betrayal, because you would never trust someone who would betray you. There was relief in the memory of that conversation. You close the door, and attempt to stay as quiet possible.
The room was mostly bare, with the exception of a skylight that seemed quiet far above you and a single green mushroom-shaped push button on the wall. You figure that must be the light switch.
As you contemplate pushing the button, you hear the faint and muffled commotion on the other side. The reality of your escape must be setting in on your former second-in-command, as yelling turned to pleading frustration and bullets bounced off of the metal door. The goons that now ran with that scumbag couldn't open the door, try as they might. You slouch and breathe a sigh of relief.
You decide that to gain the upper hand if they do make it through the door, it would be to your advantage to shut the light off. With that, you slam your palm on the green button. The sound of mechanisms coming to life began, but something else happened that you did not expect- the floor began to elevate towards the skylight! The door and button on the wall quickly zip below the floor and you head towards certain freedom.
As you rise, you reflect on the day now behind you. Your vision, creating a moment to oust the corrupt ruler of her secretive dictatorship, and the elegence of your strategy to do it, simply relied on too much trust. Next time, you will be better at vetting your command. The floor is raising quite rapidly now. You smirk with the sense of luck that you feel for the escape.
Except that you don't escape. When the elevator floor reaches the correct height, you are knocked to the floor by a mesh of barely visible diamond cutting wire. You only have the time to realize it when the wire starts moving, slicing through your skin and musculature. Within seconds the saws contact the bone, and seconds more through the bone itself. The pain shoots through you like a universe of fire. Your screaming is cut short quickly as the wire slices efficiently through your vocal cords. The last sight your eyes register is the spraying of your blood as you are torn to shreds.

Macabre Story Endings

Someone was once explaining to me that there was a guy who would present a group of writers with a story climax and give them two pages to write the denouement. Thing was, the ending didn't have to be -explicitly- gruesome, it just couldn't end well. You didn't really have a developed, well, anything (plot, character, enviroment), it would just be a statement like "You decide to open the left door."

I think I'm going to try that. My next post will be the story ending for "You decide to open the left door."

Dentistry Episode III: The Phantom Appeal

Got yet another mail from my former dental insurance provider. This one states they received my appeal for a denial of claim payment for services in Auguest 2007.
Problem is, I never filed an appeal.
So, this means my former dentist has failed to file paperwork, and is now attempting to cover their asses by posing as me. Nevermind the whole false claim that they filed from August of 2008, for an appointment that I never had with that office.
I've given up being mad about this and decided to just be entertained by this place's continued bungling and stupidity. Do they think that I won't get notified by the insurance company? Really? All this for less than $200? For something that should have been taken care of if the office was even remotely competent? Really?
I have to shake my head and laugh.
For a relatively small amount of money, this office has guaranteed that not only will I never do business with them again, but that I will recommend any and everyone I know to avoid them. Further, they've made me want to toy with them. Insurance fraud can be a big deal, and I'm sure they don't want to deal with an investigation into this.
Yep. Come normal business hours, the plan is to contact the insurance company and find out about all interactions between them and my dentist, procuring paperwork along the way.
Let's see if the dentist's capable staff asks me for help out of this one.

Inauguration Thoughts From D.C.

*Why did they keep saying that it's a celebration of "peaceful transition?" Would not saying it mean that -chaos- would engage the country? Or is it, more to what I expect, a subtle Orwellian gesture of "the gov't really has you by the short and hairies?" "Peaceful because dissent is silenced?"

*Seriously, WTF with the poem. Maya Angelou's trainwreck, now whatever this idiot blathered?

*Perlman, Ma, etc. Great performance, horrible arrangement, utterly lost on the crowd of sheeple.

*Let's see if Obama can CHANGE the performance perception of modern Illinois politicians.

*How long will it be before Mr. President will be called an Uncle Tom by the black community?

*To Micheal Nudow (or whatever, I don't care enough to look up your name): Cram it, loser!

I have a new boss now!