I know that many of my OS colleagues have given up hope on President Obama.  Yes, we are all disappointed in the flaming disaster that the health care bill has been.  However, it now looks like Obama has made a significant midcourse correction and actually started looking presidential for a… Read full post »

It isn't very often that you actually see big history begining to be made from a seemingly small seed, but this is what happened to me today.  First of all, thanks to the internet everyone in the world can listen to KPFK-FM on kpfk.org in Los Angeles.  The show that I… Read full post »

One of the OS posters said that this week's health care summit was kabuki theater, and this is true.  However, with any theater there are things that you see and things that you don't see.  And the things that you don't see in this case will determine exactly what kind of… Read full post »

The American healthcare system started this whole story.  I was stuck in Eugene waiting to go to the Ducks' roasting at the Rose Bowl, and I needed my prescriptions for six months while I was in the remote.  I went to my doctor, and he heard my story, giving me electronic… Read full post »

What Barack Obama does this week will have long term consequences, not only for his administration, but for the American empire and the entire future course of human history. While this might be one of those instances where you're inclined to say, "Doh!," my statement is true, but more thought about… Read full post »

When we landed in Ejido Wonderful, boy did we get an eyeful!  Hurricane Jimena did only about a medium pizza pie's damage to our roof when a branch of the mesquite bumped up against it in the 120 mph winds this September.  But the real problem was the acre of grass… Read full post »

There are times when the news is just too quiet.  This is one of those times.  One memorable time when this occurred before was just before 9/11 happened.  Now the quiet is coming from the White House.  The ship of state continues to steer towards that iceberg.  We can see it… Read full post »

They don't look like they're here now, but once upon a time -- when the land was wilder than it is now, the stories they told! For a long time, seeing UFOs was no more rare than finding a penny on the sidewalk.

Of course, some of it really is  just atmospheric activity, but… Read full post »

Get lost in La Paz.  (go back 1 space)

The military checkpoint passes you through without stopping. (move ahead 3 spaces)

The cow is in the middle of the road.  ( take a caution card)

For some reason, there is a fire burning in the big box in the back of… Read full post »

One of the things that people don't pay very much attention to, but which is extremely important in politics, world affairs, and the life we live is the fact that almost everyone on the planet internalizes the President of the United States.  By that, I mean that each of us takes whoever… Read full post »

The story of Playa Perro is the story of all mankind.  And believe me, it's a very, very sad story indeed.

According to the Bible, Paradise (or Playa Perro) was created on the fourth or fifth day, and it remained unspoiled by mankind for millions of years.  About 7,000 years ago the… Read full post »

 You can have a million dollars, and not pay any taxes!  How can you do that?  It's easy, I say.  First take a million dollars.  Then go to the IRS and say, "I'm sorry.  I can't pay any taxes."

Steve Martin

I thought I'd take some time to explain to you… Read full post »

I've been working very hard lately.  There's a lot of digging to do in my garden, and the growing season is pretty short before the heat waves set in.  I'm in a place I call Ejido Wonderful, not because it really is, but because it's not in the United States.  On… Read full post »

When we talk about terrorists, we talk about young men who are loners, losers, and social malcontents.  These people are totally mad at the world, and they adopt an extreme lifestyle based on violence. They become Crips.  Oops! I meant terrorists.  But what's the difference?

Crips kill… Read full post »

We've seen the first 60-40 procedural vote setting up passage of some kind of health care legislation through the Senate, possibly by Christmas day. For most readers of Open Salon as well as myself, the whole process has been a vast, deep disappointment.  And we can truthfully say that we've see… Read full post »

Hi Everyone !!!

This year sure has had its ups and its downs! We've had some good times, and we've had some bad times, so the wifey and I thought that we'd drop you a few notes in our Christmas card to tell you how things have been going in the… Read full post »

Eugene, Oregon is the slow news capital of the universe.  I mean, we're so friggin' well adjusted because 40% of our population is old hippies, and the other 40% is people moving up from California or wherever because they want to chill out. As a result, we're famous for our smug… Read full post »

It's that time of year.  Here I am, stuck in Eugene, OR waiting for the little woman to get her dental work done.  You know how it is when you get to be the interstate speed limit zones.  You can watch your body parts fall off in the rearview mirror, and… Read full post »

Michael Cleese was in town tonight, and he gave a wonderful retrospective of his life in comedy. His favorite part of the show is always taking questions from the audience, and I had given much throught beforehand to what question I would ask.  I hurried down to the microphone, and got… Read full post »

I was reported in OS first that the Democrats had defenestrated the public option  in both  the House and Senate.  Even wizened old political hacks like me -  are really shocked at the depths and depravity this system enforces upon its general population.

If we… Read full post »

If you want entertainment, watch the Worldwide Wrestling Federation.  If you want a very bad (but expensive) imitation, go to the US Senate. This has certainly been the case lately.

The first example of very bad slapstick was the "courageous" decision by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) - NV to in… Read full post »

Yes, it's true.  It's probably the biggest, best thing I ever did in my life.  I DID help stop the war in Iraq, for at least six months all by my lonesome self.  This is an object lesson on the state of American intelligence.  It also gives some clues as to… Read full post »

I'm sure I've already brought attention to myself.  One doesn't park for an hour on the CIA's website copying book titles without garnering attention.  In fact, after a while my computer began to beep vigorously and continuously.  The cybercops were notifying me that I was loitering, a… Read full post »

Looking beyond the health care debate, it is still highly likely that the public option will make it through the legislative maze for Obama's signature.  This could come as late as January or February, 201o given the number of obstructions that the Congressional coneheads and their pimps are thr… Read full post »

If the GOP right wing loves their country so much, and they're concerned about Nazis in Washington, DC, why don't they team up with the ACLU to get rid of Guantanamo and the PATRIOT Act? But then, they didn't have any problem with this as long as a Republican President was… Read full post »