My Sick Mind

Kitty is sick. It's hard to tell with cats. One minute he seems OK, and the next he seems like he needs a wheelchair. I think I've said it here before, but I wish they had a 10-word vocabulary so they could communicate with us. Pain, yes, no, happy, sad -- stuff like that. It would make the chore of pet ownership a bit more tolerable. I stress because I care, and I know he can't help himself. I remember a similar situation when I was married. The cat was sitting in the same spot when I came home for work as he was when I left, and his food bowl was untouched. Not quite the same as now, but eerily similar. I start to worry when he doesn't eat. The ex figured we should just let him deal with it. My reply to that sentiment was, "He can't drive himself to the doctor, so it's up to us to make that decision for him." Sometimes she was too cold-hearted for her (or my or the cat's) own good. Needless to say, I drove him to the vet. He's losing weig...

After Sears posted a surprise quarterly loss, a Barron's report on August 24 stated the stock could fall another 50%. Sears Holding Corp. CEO Lampert shot back with a letter claiming the article was "inaccurate" and "biased." Jeff Matthews of hedge fund RAM Partners says facts are facts: Shopping at Sears remains a lackluster experience, five years after Lampert bought the company and merged it with Kmart. "They've totally lost touch with the American consumer," says Matthews, who has no position in Sears stock. Ooops . Among others who might be surprised at the downfall of Sears/K-Mart is TV loudmouth Jim Cramer , who told his viewers that Sears Holdings would be the "next Berkshire-Hathaway" and advised them (us) to invest in the stock about a year ago. Fortunately for me, I have neither the money nor the respect for Cramer to listen to his screaming. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner , host to an ev...

People like me are called cynics. It's from the latin, cynicus : One who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest. That's about right. The latest example comes from the money grabbers who produce music CDs. In this case, it's Apple Corps, Ltd. There is yet another re-packaging of some 40 year-old music in the form of a 13-CD boxed set of re-mastered (and re-priced) Beatles albums. Didn't we go through this once or twice already with The Beatles catalog? And it's only $180 . In their day, the entire set of 13 vinyl LPs would have cost you around $60. I know, inflation and all, plus look how tiny the CDs are. It takes a lot of technology to put stuff in that small a package. You need a magnifying glass to find all the people on the Sgt. Pepper's cover. Whatever happened to album art? I'm a dinosaur who is old enough to have been through several incarnations of music formats: vinyl, 2 different kinds of tapes, CDs and mp3's. Ever...

WASHINGTON – Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as divisions among Democrats undercut President Barack Obama's effort to regain traction on his health care overhaul. As Obama talked strategy with Democratic leaders at the White House, the one idea that most appeals to his party's liberal base lost ground in Congress. Prospects for a government-run plan to compete with private insurers sank as a leading moderate Democrat said he could no longer support the idea. Just so we agree, let's assume that people without health care are (a) unemployed (b) poor or (c) people with shit jobs who can't afford or aren't offered heath insurance. Agreed? Good. So now, our government says, "Let's fine people for being poor or out of work." Nice. Sometimes I'd like to tell people I'm from Europe. Earlier, a judge in Delaware sided with big-time sports in an effort to b...

President Obama addressed the kids at school today and no schools blew up, no kids were sent home sick (at least not over the speech) and they're all at home now playing Wii or watching Entertainment Tonight while their homework sits and the plaintive cries of their teachers go virtually unheeded. We make a big deal about such events - or at least some people do - and the ones who make a big deal out of it draw attention to something that probably would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the furor created. In other words, it was a news event because it was made into one. Otherwise, it was another speech by the president. This time, instead of it being addressed to adults who pay taxes, it was addressed to kids who are going to be a part of the country when the rest of us are in nursing homes wiping drool off our chins. Mostly, adults are afraid of what other adults tell their kids, and the higher up the social totem pole they are and the further from their family, the more...

"I'm an American. I don't have to see something to know it's stupid." - Tom Smothers President Barack Obama is going to address public school children today in a televised address that some are opposing ... before they heard it, which I suppose is one of our inalienable rights as um ... Americans. The White House released the text of the speech on Monday, but for the two weeks or so prior, that didn't stop right-thinking Americans (emphasis on the right) from speaking out in opposition to something they have only heard about. "As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education - it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality," said Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Steve Russell. "This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq." Some conservatives, driven by radio pundits and bloggers, are urging schools and parents to boycott the address. They say Obama is using the opportunity to ...

Monday is Labor Day, the most ironic holiday of them all. Since I am fortunate enough not to work in the service or retail industries, I have the day off. It's not a National holiday, since we don't have National holidays (not even Independence Day) it is a legal holiday. Legal holidays give employers the option to give employees the day off, or keep the business open. I think there are way too many businesses open on legal holidays in this country. Generally, the holiday is an excuse for a [Name the holiday] Sale, with incredible bargains that can only be had on the other 15 holidays and selected weekends that the store is open. God forbid, we can't get 15% off the price of a pair of shoes unless we shop on Labor Day. The irony lies in the fact that generally, labor doesn't have Labor Day off. As usual, the crap gets thrown to the workers at the lower end of the wage scale, while the rest get the juice. On Monday, my local bank will be open, as well as the local co...