Month: May 2012

This has been a fun month. On May 9th of this year North Carolina passed the Amendment 1 act. This fun bit of whimsy was designed to ban gay marriages. Well, that’s what they said. Much to your surprise, they lied. As it turns out they have limited all spousal and related rights to only heterosexual married couples. That means, children of divorced parents have no rights. Children of single parents have no rights. Non married abused women have severely reduced rights. Gay people? Well, they need to move to…

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Listen to Bill McCormick on

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Do you remember the fad to spare every child’s feelings? No child will ever be a loser? Which led to every child getting a “Second Best Tryer” award. And it led to each and every child being woefully unprepared for any kind of life that involved interacting with humans. Let’s not forget the laws of Prohibition here in the U.S. in the 20’s. Thanks to a group of sanctimonious losers the Mafia became stronger and more lethal than ever before. See “War on Drugs” for an example of how to…

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You don’t have to delve deep into the bowels of the internet to find people screaming about the confusing world of sales. Once, to win a bar bet, I stretched six different insurance offers in a row so that the end result was that the final company owed me $50 per month to insure me. I got that result by taking the comparisons (35% less than our competitor, we can save you $250 per year ….) until I got the result I wanted. Obviously that would never happen but you…

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I love a good crime. By that I mean the kind where no one gets hurt and the bad person gets brought to justice, such as it is these days. I’ll admit that I would prefer there be no crime at all but that doesn’t seem very realistic. I also happen to like a good conspiracy theory. One of my enduring faves is the whole sub-culture of UFOligists who claim to have been threatened by the men in black. They all point to the story of Dr. Herb Hopkins as…

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Back in 1984 author David Brin began exploring the concept of artificially, either via surgery or genetic manipulation, increasing the intelligence of simians and, later, dolphins. Unlike the many works of fiction on that subject, ranging from the story of the Golem to Frankenstein, Brin took an optimistic view of how things would work out. It wasn’t all Pollyanna, but it held more hope than you might expect given the subject matter. There is a character named Fiben Bolger, an uplifted chimpanzee, whom I would buy a beer if he…

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It takes a certain amount of self control not to become a class “A” jag-wad when you feel superior to others. When I quit smoking back in December I promised myself I wouldn’t become “that guy.” You know who I mean. That guy who reminds you, with every puff you take, how parts of your lungs are being slowly turned to coal and how your breath smells like the inside of a moldy shoe and how your clothes are ruined for all time and on and on ….. all unsolicited,…

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Don’t worry, this is not going to be one of those preachy articles that’s full of treacle and snappy bon mots that amount to nothing. If you want useless crap like that, go read The Secret. Or, if you like a meaningless plot with your drivel, I can readily suggest the Celestine Prophecy. But if that’s what you want, then this is probably not the page for you. Regular readers know to expect a collection of idiots (today will not disappoint), something Floridian (gotcha covered) and, maybe, a personal vignette…

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As a race, humans tend to put a happy face on things. And, in the main, that’s a good thing. We want to see the best in those around us. It’s better if we’re hurt when we’re disappointed. It shows that we still care and strive for better. It also reassures us that we can look in a mirror and know that we would not behave like that. That can be a powerful reassurance in troubling times. For example, a while back I wrote about a mom who dressed her…

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Good morning campers. Here’s hoping you’re all having a wonderful day. As many of you know summer is coming up and it is the traditional time for weddings. Many people, clearly having missed the memo on my love life, ask me for ideal wedding gifts. Women are easy to buy for; expensive jewelry and chocolates are never discarded. But what about the guys? There’s only so much beer and porn seems inappropriate for this occasion. Luke McKinley may have just the answer; the spring loaded genital noose lovingly known as…

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