Tin-Foil Hat Time: By my count, at least five senior generals

and admirals have been demoted, fired or forced to step down just in the past month:

Admiral Charles Gaouette - http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2328294
General Carter Ham - http://www.westernjournalism.com/general-in-benghazi-scandal-suddenly-retires/
General William Ward - http://thegrio.com/2012/11/13/general-william-kid-ward-demoted-for-lavish-travel-spending/
General John Allen - http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-john-allen-petraeus-jill-kelley-20121113,0,5237129.story
General David Petraeus (Retired from U.S. Army and currently was serving as CIA Director)

This is truly some scary shit. I'm wondering if we dodged the bullet of a military coup d'etat and, if true, whom we should be thanking (besides President Obama).

If you're a Private First Class (Bradley Manning), you get solitary and forced nudity. If you're

a 4-star General (Be-Tray-Us), you get to resign and keep all your pension benefits.

Un-friggin-believable.

Depressing thought of the day - 48% of the country voted for a

Sociopath.

That is some truly scary shit.

My rant about our horrible local television news - I just posted this

on my local CBS affiliate's Facebook page:

I knew there was a good reason I had stopped watching your channel during the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. I happened to have my TV tuned to your local news tonight at 11 p.m. and was flabbergasted to see your reporters presenting the presidential race as essentiallly still too close to call. What exactly are you smoking? Romney leads in only 1 battleground state, according to the latest polls. His surrogates (Rove, et. al.) have already started assigning blame for his coming defeat. So to present the race as still too close to call means you haven't changed one iota from 2003. You all are liars, plain and simple. Obama is headed toward a landslide on Tuesday and his eventual triumph will leave Angelenos with even less reason to watch your pathetic drivel.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSLA

***********************

I usually don't watch local news because it is so dreadful. Happened to leave it on CBS when the Mentalist ended at 11 p.m. Thank God for DU (and DailyKos) is all I can say.

Bwa-ha-ha. A little Halloween humor for you from Richard Pryor:

Avery -- when not just any binder will do:

"As a wife and mother, I LOVE this binder. It keeps me in my place, allows me to get dinner ready on time, AND only costs 72% of the more masculine version. Some people might think it's sexist, but sheesh, I'm not binding my feet, just my brain. Extra bonus, if you sit on it just right, it can act as an effective method of birth control! Full disclosure: I submitted this under my husband's account, with his full permission. He is the head of our household, and the owner of the binder."

http://www.amazon.com/Avery-Durable-Binder-EZ-Turn-17032/product-reviews/B001B0CTMU/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Really clever postings here, some no doubt by DUers, judging from the level of wit displayed.

Enjoy!

Brief requiem for Occupy Los Angeles

Today Alma and I heeded the warnings on television and went down to the Venice Boardwalk rather than going to the 1-Year Anniversary proceedings of Occupy Los Angeles downtown. (Forecasters were predicting dangerously high temperatures inland and even unseasonably high temps along the beaches. They were wrong about the latter.)

To honor Occupy, I wore my 99% T-shirt (generated by the t-shirt operation at the original Occupy Los Angeles that screen printed many t-shirts and distributed them for free). Alma and I walked on the boardwalk for almost 4 hours and not one person had anything to say about the '99%' prominently displayed on my t-shirt. Not one person. Wow!

Oh yeah, and Alma and I saw two separate instances where the destitute were eating discarded food scraps right off the pavement of the boardwalk and one instance of a person fishing through a trashcan to retrieve someone's discarded beverage to drink. This all within spitting distance of beachfront residences that start at $2 million and go up from there.

And to think I actually thought Occupy was going to change things for the better. I actually thought it was going to be my generation's 1848 or 1917. Doesn't look like it. Charles Dickens is spinning in his grave.

Oh yeah, and the LAPD drove their patrol cars up and down the boardwalk (and bike path!) with lights flashing. Who knows why?

Great, so now Muslim- and Islam-bashing is allowed by DU. See transcript below:

At Sun Sep 30, 2012, 11:25 PM you sent an alert on the following post:

It wouldn't surprise me if Muslims believe that Jews murdered the hijackers on 9/11... (n/t)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1443016

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

YOUR COMMENTS:

How is this anti-Muslim slur any different from anti-semitism?

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Sun Sep 30, 2012, 11:29 PM, and voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT ALONE.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: We don't need this kind of hate at DU.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: I don't think it's meant to be a slur. It's based on the article.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given

Thank you.

**********************

Well, at least 3 DUers found that my objection had grounds. Not sure what to think about the 3 who didn't find the remark objectionable. I guess tie votes go to the bigot now.

When You Need to Take a Break (My First Photo Essay):

The Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu are distant in the far horizon and, depending on the season and one's vantage point, it sometimes appears as if the sun sets into these mountains and not into the ocean.

The Washington Blvd. Pier - One Minute 'til Sundown



This pier marks the boundary between Venice Beach and Marina del Rey. Although the pier no longer functions as a pier for boats to dock, many fishermen go out on it to fish as do walkers and gawkers.

Sundown








Lifeguard Stand - Five Minutes after Sundown



There are lifeguard stands about every 50 yards on the beach. During the high summer months most of them are open daily but, after Labor Day, most of them are closed.

Lone Seagull - Ten Minutes After Sundown



It's a seagull's world. We just live in it.

If you have any comments, I'll be sure to pass them along to my wife. Here's hoping everyone enjoys and relaxes this upcoming weekend.

Questions about the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (LLFPA) of 2009 and its impact\effects:

1) What exactly does the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 do?

2) Will the LLFPA produce equal pay for equal work by men and women? If not, what will its impact be?

There's a raging debate on FB right now and I do not trust much that I read there. I do trust tremendously what I read here.

I will try to respond to all substantive responses.

Thanks in advance.