There’s the old joke about the heartless corporation that is so bad it will do anything to collect a debt. Well Macy’s in Sacramento, California seems to have taken this to a whole new level. It all began when Ken and Patty Blomberg got into a dispute with the store over the purchase of some rugs that they never got but Macy’s still wanted them to pay for. That dispute went along for a while until March 2009 and then Macy’s tried a new strategy. They declared Ken dead. Despite...

Those who read my postings know that I am not a fan of either Rush Limbaugh or Keith Olbermann and I often am critical of the crap they spew from opposite ends of the political spectrum. I’m also not a very big NFL fan so I really don’t care who owns what team.  But I have been bothered by the recent controversy where people said that Rush should not be allowed to buy a team because of his political views. I may not like Rush but he has a right to his views and I support anyone who says...

For anyone who is, like me, a Monty Python fan, this is a DVR alert. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the legendary group and over on the Independent Film Channel they will be airing a 6 part documentary which will offer a look at the best of the best and the story behind the story. It starts this Sunday the 18th and continues all week. So get those DVR’s set and put the Spam on the stove ! Until then enjoy a couple classics.

As I’m sure you all know the Dow closed on Wednesday above the 10,000 mark, the first time it has done so since October of 2008. The boost was largely the result of good earnings reports from Intel and JP Morgan/Chase. Certainly all of these things are good and I am not going to try and dismiss them as otherwise. I firmly believe that good news is good news no matter what. However at the same time I am a bit concerned about the overreaction we are getting from some people. Good news is good...

One of those too bizarre to believe stories. A man sleeps through his house burning down and is awakened by the fireman doing the post fire walk through. Amazing

With all the celebrating going on over the Finance committee vote today you would think that health care reform was a done deal and we were all going to have free coverage tomorrow morning. The truth is that this is only one fairly minor step, though admittedly getting it past this committee is a step, it is only one step. As I previously wrote, I am relatively pleased with the proposal passed out of Finance today and I am hopeful we will eventually get a decent bill. But there are a lot of things...

In case you were not aware, today is National Coming Out Day and the event is being marked by a large Gay Rights rally in Washington DC (check out C Span for live coverage). Thousands of people have marched through the streets of Washington and are now at the US Capitol building. This is one of the largest gay rights events in many years and the speakers are encouraging everyone to support the basic right of everyone to live and love without being discriminated against. Today it is possible for someone...

Being on the west coast sometimes means you react to news stories a little behind the curve and since others had already posted I thought I’d wait a bit to gather my own thoughts on this issue. I think most people who read my posts know that I did not vote for the President last November and while I agree with him on some subjects I have also expressed my dismay over the growing deficit and other policies that I think could be harmful to the country. At the same time I’ve expressed the...

Let me make it clear that I do not think this skit represents even a tiny bit of the Australian people. But I am stunned by the blatant racist nature of the skit, and even more shocked at some of the comments which either defend the act or use it to attack the US. WARNING: The skit is quite offensive.

It was announced today that NBC has canceled the police drama Southland two weeks before its scheduled Season Two premiere. The show was well received by critics and did reasonably well in the ratings for a mid season replacement during its shortened first season earlier this year. The program was seen by many as offering a very realistic view of police work as seen through the eyes of rookie cop Ben Sherman (played by former OC star Ben McKenzie). It also featured a gay character as his partner,...

Over the past few weeks I have been spending much of my driving time listening to the audiobook of David McCollough’s book on the Johnstown Flood. It is an absolutely fascinating story (and read by Edward Herrmann, who has a perfect voice for such readings). So for anyone looking for an interesting story I highly commend either the audio or print version of the story, which tells not only the story of the flood itself but the full background of the construction of the dam, the settlement of...

This story out of Wales. A couple of presumably drunk street thugs saw some drag queens on the street in the town of Swansea and decided that it was their job to go over and take care of the guys they saw as wimps. Well it turns out those guys were a couple of cage fighters. They proceeded to beat the crud out of their attackers. Just goes to show that homophobes shouldn’t be so sure that all gay men are weak….. Can’t wait to see them explain this to their buddies.

NOTE: I hope to periodically post on pending cases before the Court to give those who don’t follow the law an idea of what is going on. I will try to keep things in English but do need to use some legal language to explain what is going on with cases. I’d appreciate feedback as to whether my writing is too technical or if it is helpful Thanks. The late Justice Hugo Black was known for being absolutist when it came to the First Amendment. His policy was that if the Constitution said ‘Congress...

I must confess that I have not been a huge fan of Dancing With The Stars, my viewing is usually limited to catching highlights if they happen to have a contestant I find interesting. I’m also not particularly a fan of former Congressman Tom Delay, I found him to be arrogant in his attitude towards his peers and his rivals. However when I heard he was going to be on DWTS this season I was interested enough to check things out and was surprised to find he’s actually pretty good. Not as...

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) spent much of the Bush administration questioning just about everything they did as giving too much power to the Executive branch. Today he called the Obama White House to task for some of the people he has named to act as Czars. Of course he did excuse many of the appointments, something which I doubt he would have done in the Bush years, but at the same time he has been one of the view voices on the left to question if Obama has gone too far. His statement is here

Popular Republican Congressman Mike Castle is running for the US Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Joseph Biden. This is a big recruiting catch for Senate Republicans and a big downer for House Republicans. Castle’s House seat is now likely to go Democratic in November 2010 but he is at least an even bet, if not a slight favorite to pick up a Senate seat for the GOP. Democrats are waiting to see if State Attorney General (and Vice Presidential son) Beau Biden, who is back from Iraq,...

For those who are not aware, the first Monday in October is the traditional opening day for the new session of the United States Supreme Court. While not all of the cases are going to be groundbreaking we are likely to see a few major decisions between now and the closing of the session in June or July of 2010. Although Justice Sotomayor is sitting for her first full session it is not likely that this will represent a major change in the direction of the court as her judicial philosophy is close...

The Olympic Committee has voted to eliminate two cities from contention for the 2016 Olympics. Tokyo, Japan Chicago, Illinois. Chicago was actually the first to go, followed by Tokyo This leaves Madrid and Rio, with Rio being a favorite as there has never been an Olympics in South America. Madrid however does have a good set of facilities ready so they should not be counted out.

We don’t always cover the entertainment world here at TMV but it’s the start of a new TV season and I like to try and find one show each year that is truly worth watching. For me this year that show is the Fox Series Glee. If you aren’t familiar with the program, it is set in a typical High school and focuses on the Glee club. In addition to having the typical school tv show stuff (hard working lead character, idiot principal, irritating co worker, etc) the show also features some...

Funny how he was ok with it when he was making money off of them. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20309404,00.html

Word coming in now that the death toll in Indonesia could be in the thousands…..

As some of you have probably heard, Florida Congressman Alan Grayson has declared that Republicans want everyone to die quicker because they do not support single payer health care. When asked to apologize he basically refused, instead again attacking the GOP. Now when idiot Republicans like Joe Wilson or Jean Schmidt say stupid and outrageous things, they are quite properly condemned by both sides of the aisle and those who support them are properly placed in the right wing nut category. But when...

Let me begin by saying that I don’t really have strong feelings one way or another when it comes to President Obama heading to Denmark to push Chicago for the Olympics. But as the story has developed I’ve heard some things that do make me wonder about the whole story. When I first heard the reports that he was going to make this trip I assumed it would be for a few days and would probably involve meetings not only with the Olympic committee but also probably consults with various European...

Seems the planet is a bit cranky this week. Another massive earthquake, this time in Indonesia, has killed at least 75 people and the toll is likely to exceed 100. In this case the quake was close enough to land that there does not appear to be any risk of tsumani.

Here’s the picture, a stay at home mom offers to help out her neighbors by keeping an eye on their kids for the 15-40 minutes between when the parents head to work and the school bus arrives. The kids are all friends, the mom is just trying to be a good neighbor. Well according to the state of Michigan she’s a lawbreaker, illegally operating a day care. The fact that she seems to do it for free and only for a little while in the morning doesn’t seem to matter. Nor does the fact...