Benefit Concert

Memorial Day

Ford Taurus, as safe as you can be!

When the new Ford Taurus and Taurus X arrive on the Ricart Ford showroom floor this summer, the world will be a much safer place. No, the Taurus will not negotiate world peace, or prevent major hurricanes, but it will keep you, your family, and your friends safer than any other family car available anywhere! As a matter of fact, the 2008 Taurus is the only large family car to earn top honors as a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the highest possible five star crash rating in all test categories by the U.S. government. The IIHS “Top Safety Pick” rating is only given to vehicles which perform best in side, frontal, and rear impacts, and also offer an electronic stability control system, which Ford does with Advance Track on the Taurus and Taurus X.
The 2008 Taurus is bringing even more good news from the safety front to our showroom in a few weeks, with the first ever two-row Safety Canopy side air bag system along with architectural changes with crush zones to channel energy more effectively around the passenger compartment, and away from the passengers. The new Taurus also boasts an air bag control system capable of determining whether a seat is occupied, along with the size of a passenger, to allow the air bag to deploy, or not deploy, to provide the best possible protection. The new 2008 Taurus and Taurus X bring safety, style, space, and comfort together in a package which has never before been presented to drivers and their families before, especially in a vehicle that offers such great value to boot! Peace of mind is hard to find at any price…only Ford manages to bring it to you with your budget in mind, and you can get your without breaking the bank this summer.

Ford Focus fords flood

It was a dark and stormy night…Okay, it was actually a gray and rainy morning, but the previous night certainly was dark and stormy, which is why the parking area for the townhouse we live in was a lake by dawn, and it was still raining. Sure, big honkin’ trucks with twelve feet of ground clearance were able to drive through the water with the wake flowing after them like an inboard towing a couple of water skiers, but anything smaller would surely be doomed attempting to ford the flood. At least that’s what I thought.
Being of hardy New English stock, I surveyed the situation, and decided that a little flood water would not keep me from driving in to work, so I climbed into my Ford Focus, backed out of my parking space, and headed for the shoreline. It was then that I noticed the Police had barricaded the street to the left, so I had no choice but to turn right around my neighbor’s house…and it was then I saw a Honda Civic and Toyota Tercel stalled in another massive pool of water. They didn’t make it through, and probably should never have tried.
By this time, I had no choice but to press on, through the same lake which now had two import islands, one white, the other gold. Water was actually flowing over the hood of my Focus as I descended into the water, and I tapped the accelerator and tried to avoid the fate of Atlantis as I increased my speed. It was one of those driving situations that has you saying a prayer that begins with, “God, if you let me make it…”, and ends with a promise to give up some vice.
Despite my best efforts at reenacting “The Poseidon Adventure”, my Ford Focus made it through like a champ, unlike the Toyota and Honda that are still stuck where they stalled.
I love my Focus!

Biden the Bonehead

Time for a recipe from the Joe Biden Cookbook.

Today , it’s Joe’s own creation, roasted Rockport le’ orange.

Take one size 11 Rockport shoe.

Add a stupid-ass remark about Sen. Obama of Illinois being the only “articulate”...”mainstream” …”clean”…(and a few other niceties) African-American to run for President, while you are declaring your own candidacy.

Open your gaping pie-hole, and shove the shoe in!

Uhh, Joe, I think you’ve gotten your campaign off on the wrong stride here dude…you should always lead with the foot that’s not in your mouth!

BTW- It's just over two weeks from pitchers and catchers! Let's Go Mets!

Bush The Decider, Fear, and a Whip-or-will's Ass

Back in the dark days of the Soviet Union, virtually every government agency and group had a political officer who oversaw all the activities of those groups and agencies to make absolutely sure they were following the dictates of their leader to the letter. That is how the Premier was able to control all (or at least most) of the actions of “his” government, truly making him “The Decider” of everything.
So…what would you think if a U.S. President were to do the same, placing political appointees into the various government agencies to be “Policy Officers” who would make sure that The President’s will is executed to the letter? Would that worry you at all?Doesn’t this sound an awful lot like what the Soviets did? Well it has happened. Bush signed an executive order a few days ago granting himself the power to do this. Check the New York Times for more details in this article.

I knew I guy back when I was in college. He was a tall and lanky redhead named Wilbur. Wilbur had a God given gift…he possessed a bull shit detector, and when that little light when off in his head and he knew you were feeding him a line, he would always interrupt you by saying, “Your lips move like a whip-or-will’s ass in a windstorm!”
Every time Bush opens his mouth, the windstorm is deafening. Whenever he puts pen to paper, the intent is always at least damaging, and oft-times evil. I still do not understand why working people voted for this clown for a second term? Yeah, actually I do. As a nation, we slide further and further into the abyss of fear every day, and until we pull ourselves out, we will never take our Nation back.

SOTU and Surges

I know, I know...it has been way too long since I posted anything, and so much has happened since the last time. Bush came out in his little pre-SOTU talk and tried really hard to convince us that even more troops are needed to not lose the war in Iraq. It's rather interesting to hear the White House Hoodlums placing the war and the surge in the context of not losing as opposed to winning.

Bush looked horrible for his "surge" speech, and not a whole lot better for the SOTU, which contained themes about as predictable as The Groundhog seeing its shadow on February 2nd. If you are naive or dumb enough, I suppose you could believe that if a rodent fails to see its shadow spring will pop up weeks before it is due. Kind of like the ignorant 30% of this nation's population who believe that Bush is right in forcing the troop increases in Andar and around Baghdad. Of course these are the same people who Jesus will return for the second coming riding atop an Abrams tank with an M16 in each had, and a few grenades in his mouth. Nothin says lovin' like overwhelming firepower, right?

Our great leader mentioned a few more points in the SOTU that are sure to piss off the majority of people in this country, but what the Hell does he care? Uh...he doesn't!
The first issue to come to mind was actually during the final part of the speech, the part about the war. In this section, Bush talked about creating a corps. of civilians trained in areas paramount to keeping a modern army fighting. These citizens would be called upon, during wartime, to go overseas to do what ever little skill they have for the military in whatever country we happen to be fighting in...like having a draft without actually having to draft people, only for folks with higher skill levels. I have to ask...would you ever buy a used car, or even a bag of weed from Bush or Cheney or Condi, or any of White House Hoodlums? Before you answer, consider this next proposal from the SOTU; tax people who receive health insurance coverage as a work benefit.
That's right, what Bush meant when he said there should be a tax to raise cash to help increase the number of people insured in our country, he meant that anyone insured through their employer as a part of a benefits package, would have to pay tax on the benefit! For a family of four, that tax could cost thousands of dollars a year. That seems fair, doesn't it? Of course it does, especially when the suggestion was made in almost the same breath that Bush praised the ruinous tax breaks for the very rich he and the last three Congresses have given to their friends and themselves. Bastards!

On the Scooter Libby trial front, looks like things could be getting a bit heavy for the White House Hoodlums soon...Rove has gotten a subpoena, and it looks more and more like there is strong evidence that Dark Lord Cheney was at the center of the leak...like we haven't known that all along! I bet he resigns for health reasons by the end of February. ( I actually got that tid-bit from a rather moderate friend who has many Libertarian tendencies!)

If you only get your news from the MSM, you probably aren't aware that today, January 27th, there is to be a huge Peace Rally and March in D.C. I really wish I could be there, and wish the marchers and protesters good luck...and stay safe!

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Surge and Sacrafice

I'm now counting down the hours to Bush's big "change of plans" speech this coming week, in which it has been reported that he will call for thousands more troops to be inserted into Baghdad to, uh, to, err, um...who knows? There have been reports that the number will be in the 15,000 to 30,000 range, but CBS reported last week that we have but 9,000 people immediately available for this surge. I can think of two more kids he could send, Jenna and Babs2. Why not? The military was such valuable training for their old man, or would have been had he actually showed up when he was required to do so. If he had served honorably, maybe he would view our soldiers as people, and not "boots on the ground"! (Remember that snappy little catch-phrase?)
The Joey Gates theory for the surge, and the planned prolonging of this hopeless situation is simple and selfish. Bush wants to dump this lost effort into the lap of whomever sits in the White House after the 08 election. In his little mind, he must think that we will (and history will) forget who got us into the mess, and blame his replacement for losing a war. I don't think we will.
Now, everything we have been hearing could be wrong. When he opens his mouth for the speech, maybe Bush will say that he has made a mistake, and we have been fighting a war we never should have started, and then map out a plan for our withdrawal. Then later that night, we can all sit down with The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, and The Great Pumpkin to watch a little tube. Yeah, it'll happen.






One of the reasons I'm a Liberal...my Mom.

Ready, Set...

I have spent a few years editing other people's work for a few different sites, but decided recently to put my stuff out there and see what happens. If by chance you found your way here via some of my other work, then I do not have to warn you about my tendency to be a smart-ass. O.K., perhaps tendency is not strong enough...nor is smart-ass for that matter. My literary hero has always been Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and I strive to take the "no prisoners" approach to everything I write.
So, what will you find here on Stark Raving Madman, other than dancing monkeys and lactating weasels? Well, to be honest (and I will always try to be), you won't see any weasels, or lactating either...but watch out for those damnable monkeys! Politics, society, and life are what you will get big doses of here, so stop in now and again and get your fill.