14) Thirsty for Oil?

4 May, 2007 - The link is to yet another Paternity Fraud article - http://www.yorkdispatch.com/pennsylvania/ci_5818095

Yesterday, I paid $3.29 per gallon for Regular Unleaded fuel here in the LAX area (ARCO) which is at the least .14 cents per gallon cheaper than any other station in the vicinity. Before I lost my job, I'd always subscribed to the fact that buying Premium fuel enhanced the performance of my vehicle and thereby I needed to visit the filling station less often; I'm having to buy the cheap stuff until I get back to work which, God help me, should be soon. The fever pitch across the country about gasoline prices I find distracting in the big picture of life on Earth; what we're all going to need in the not-too-distant-future is more water! And nowhere else on this planet is this better demonstrated than guess where? That's right, The Middle East leads the world in the number of Desalination Plants (See photo) Personally, I have never understood why we don't have Desalination Plants all along our coasts in America and in my research on the subject I found that we have Biwater Advanced Environmental Water Technologies right here in Pasadena, CA. The infrastructure to move drinking and potable water is already in place. All we would have to do is to link the desalted water from near the ocean into our existing water supply delivery system; it is my view that this should be done immediately. According to an article generated by Biwater Technologies, this could be achieved economically by utilizing the less expensive Reverse Osmosis or Nano-Filtration techniques of today which use membranes to treat the salt water within the desalination plants; it is my position that construction of these plants should commence right away! Until next time.....Peace

13) What's Next?

2 May, 2007 - My two older daughters pictured -

Here's one from New Mexico just this morning - Why am I not surprised?

Woman indicted in scheme to collect child support
In Albuquerque a woman accused of forging birth certificates and other records to collect child support has been indicted. A grand jury indicted 54-year-old Viola Trevino on twenty-four counts, including kidnapping, perjury, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit forgery. She is accused of creating an imaginary child to get more than twenty-six thousand dollars from her former husband. The couple divorced in August 1999. See the Clip here: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2a2451e124
For the first time in my working life I am without comprehensive medical benefits; not a comfy feeling for sure. I spent seven hours in the Emergency/Urgent Care area at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center yesterday so that I could have the condition of my slowly healing ankle region assessed by an MD; I'd seen my Chiropractor on 1 May, and he advised me to have it checked for ligament or tendon tearing which he could not do with precision. From time to time while sitting in the waiting area at Harbor, I felt I knew what it must be like to be in the Green Room of the Jerry Springer Show; weirdos man, weirdos! But hey, waada ya gonna do? The apparent class and cultural differences present in the waiting area were most profound: Young, some Preppy, medical professionals and clearly established senior Medical Staff mixed with every homeless street urchin in the area and every country south of the American border well represented at Harbor 24/7. I found it striking and trust me, I've been around plenty of "low" people in my life and do not look down my nose at anyone. Refreshingly, the staff proved to be excellent and for me, surgery is not going to be required, I am most happy to report. During my wait, a very attractive young Hispanic looking woman was looking for a seat; I had my X-Ray envelope and Sony Walkman sitting in the chair next to mine. The young gal and I made eye contact and we nearly simultaneously glanced at the chair with my stuff in it; I moved my stuff - she said thank you and sat down.

"Brenda" was obviously nervous and wanted to talk: She explained that she'd been sent there following a visit to her dentist earlier in the morning; it was 11:30 AM when I arrived at Harbor. She went on to say, that a wisdom tooth had been giving her problems and that she'd gone to have it extracted. The Dental Assistant went to numb her and while looking at her wisdom tooth region called the dentist into the room. "Brenda" had Thyroid Cancer in 2000 with surgery and radiation following surgery to remove her Thyroid glands in her throat area. "Benda" said that lately she was having trouble swallowing and that her entire cheek and jaw on her right side was in pain. Being a cancer survivor myself, I could empathize. I was fortunate to have impeccable and caring support in 2005/2006 when I went through it, this youngster was by herself in a clinic for crying-out-loud! Anyway, I wrote down my oncologists name and told her about the incredible "Wellness Community" I also told her she mustn't mess around with this. She hasn't had treatment or follow-up since her final radiation treatment years ago. Well, it was just one of several scenarios played out in front of my eyes yesterday- It made me wonder about our country and the health care industry specifically. Maybe the people who have been calling for a National System have been right? I don't know, but I do know I've worked just about all of my adult life and just had my medical benefits end April 1, 2007. And, "Brenda" needs an oncologist/endocrinologist, makes $8.00 per hour, has kids four and seven years of age, and is frightened. A shitty combination really.....Onward

12) Surprise? Not!!

29 April, 2007 -

The link I've posted this time- http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBOMUQI11F.html - is a must read article; another single mother household injuring, and nearly killing, the custodial child! I hope that Mr. Clary has the resolve to go the distance; research and data confirm his concern is concrete. Children are, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 24 times more likely to be killed in single mother households than they are in single father households, yet the Family Law Industry continues to award mothers primary custody 90% of the time. Seems the Industry remains more interested in Dad's income (Read- Child Support) than they are in the mythical "best interest of the child"....
And what about this chick, Linda Nowak, in this post's photo? On 5 February, 2007 this mother/idiot was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently charged with the attempted "kidnapping" of U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. If Nowak had been a Dad, she'd be incarcerated pending trial on attempted murder charges. Nowak was released on bail, pleaded "not guilty" to the charges and requested a jury trial. Nowak's assignment to the space agency as an astronaut was terminated by NASA effective March 8, 2007 yet she is working full time at NASA's Corpus Christi, Texas facility! If there are any Virgina Tech alum employed down there, why aren't they demanding she be removed and or detained? Mark my words; this chick/mom/idiot is a time bomb!

11) Damn it!

28 April, 2007 -

The civilian in this picture has just had the bracelets put on as a result of yet another "sting" to round up "Deadbeat Dads" who are behind in their child support payments. But guess what? Not only is this guy "Deadbroke" he isn't the biological father!

..........Below in quotes, is a tiny excerpt from a February 25, 2007 letter written by Dr. Stephen Baskerville and printed in the Fargo Forum in response to a one sided article the Forum had published. As nearly always, Dr. Baskerville's words say it all: "Forcing parents to part with their children and then charging them with exorbitant “debts” they have done nothing to incur, on pain of incarceration, is not solving a problem; it is creating one. The unsurprising fact that ever-more invasive measures result in higher collections for the government hardly means that the system is “working.” "

10) Huh??

27 April, 2007 -

Wondering how many divorced Dads are dealing with personal nightmares today; thinking of you all. Michael Jordan, Sir Paul McCartney, Rudy Giuliani and all the other high profile dudes, wish you'd go public with your experiences, perspectives, and opinions on the Family Law Industry pit.

The guy pictured shooting over the Laker's Lucius Allen during the 74-75 season was my man, "Pistol" Pete Maravich (DoB: 6/22/47 DoD: 1/5/88) He remains the all-time NCAA scoring leader despite the fact that Freshman were ineligible to play varsity ball and there was no three point shot during his college career; good thing for all the UCLA haters too as it would have meant at least another two titles for Coach Wooden had Freshman been eligible. A "bad white boy" Pete was, maybe the baddest though Rick Barry could possibly argue. During a time frame when black players justifiably dominated this style of play, in my opinion Pete was one of the few white guys who could hang with the style in the 70's when "Showtime" type basketball was beginning to gain mainstream popularity. Not to mention, he was a big 6'5". The Anglo European players of today, or Americans for that matter, with all due respect couldn't hold the proverbial candle to guys like Pete, Jerry West, or Rick Barry. Simply put; the white players who enjoyed the Showtime style were better then in my opinion.....Ankle more and more colorful....Where are the comments on my bolgsterette?

Peace........

9) And so?

26 April, 2007 -

To date, I've failed to mention what in my opinion is the finest non-human companion known to mankind; the Irish Terrier a fine example of which is pictured here. My dear Irish Terrier, Terry would have been fourteen years old now; a rare blood based tumor on his liver took him down far too young. The diva loved him, and as she used to call him, he was the true "Irish Rogue"; he loved his beer, women, and music - really! While this picture is not of Terry, it is very close to what he looked like, except Terry's tail was a wee bit shorter than the fine pooch in this example.

My ankle is getting nice and purplish, a veritable rainbow of color it is with increased mobility returning a bit at a time.

A piece in the news today says that Larry Birkhead is now free to move about the country with he and Anna Nicole's baby. Typically, I do not ingest tabloid fodder but hey, he's a single Dad! Do you think if Mr. Birkhead had passed away, Ms. Smith would have had to submit to a DNA test to determine who the father was? Or that any of the recurring hoopla would have been initiated simply because a dad passed away? Understanding that Anna Nicole was a celeb and Mr. Birkhead was/isn't; the disparity between fathers and mothers in these scenarios continues to fly under the radar of general consciousness; it's bullshit actually. Dads should count too!

8) Ouch!

25 April, 2007 -

I knew I was starting to "get up there" when last September a young guy I was working with didn't know who the gal in this picture was; Yikes!

Today, I'm hoping to get positive word on a job that I interviewed for last week; the interview was very positive as I may have alluded to previously and I can step right in and contribute which is a good feeling. The hiring manager is a recent transplant (She arrived 9/06) to So Cal from Kansas and we had some things in common. So, if she is as genuine as she appeared and sounded at the interview, in respect to wanting me there, I'm in; we shall see. Yesterday was spent trying to get my Achilles healed up ASAP. Iced it nearly all day then went to a friend's jacuzzi; this morning it does feel a bit better and more flexible. I haven't had a "real" vacation (I know, many of you out there haven't) since the mid 90's and if it weren't for the nightmare that is my ex-wife number 2, I'd be really enjoying this time off and scrutinizing my job search for the proverbial Holy Grail of employment; if such a thing exists for a fifty year old without a degree and who's line of work for most of his life has been super highly specialized aircraft work. Oh well, not to whine, things definitely could be worse.

If you have a chance, click on the link from my post on 23 April, 2007. That article has sparked a tremendous amount of debate (As all articles on child support seem to do) in the "comments" section of the publisher; I love it! Anything that raises awareness of the Divorce and Child Support Regimes I'm all for; time to vote em out............Have a good day!