The Colorado Fever

Precisely my point

2007-01-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

Barrymore wants everybody to lighten up - Yahoo! News

From the tone of her interview, Barrymore seems to acknowledge, if unknowingly, the reason driving much of the gossip. People like playing with other people's lives without risk to their own, so talking about their personal lives makes it much easier for them to not focus on their faults. You can say that getting trashed is wrong, but it's a bit hard to do when the person who is doing it is your friend. It's quite another when you don't know the person. And stars take just as much advantage of that to boost their own fame.

A mathetmatical approach to "dead beats"

2006-12-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

KXAN.com - Austinite On List Of Top Child Support Evaders

You may have seen this list in your own town with different names, but each with enormous amounts of debt listed in their name and with a bullseye on their head. These men are wanted deadbeats and should be picked up at any cost. But really, do you know what the amount that you are looking at really is?

From the article:

The number one offender, John Vines, owes his ex-wife, Dolly, $130,000. She lives here in Austin, and their son needs help with his tuition at Texas State University.

Attorney General Greg Abbott says these criminals continue to make their situations worse month by month.

"When they are initially ordered to pay child support, for John (Vines) and these other people, it's a couple hundred dollars a month," Abbott said. "[That's] an amount of money that, if they're out of jail, if they have a job, they should be able to come up with that amount of money."

First off a sidebar: hopefully these men have actually been "convicted", else this station faces a defamation case. And a conviction can only be done by a judge. They may be wanted on suspicion of contempt to pay child support, but unless they actually have a conviction, that is false.

But onto Abbot's wildly inaccurate claim that these men are ordered to pay "only a couple of hundred dollars a month". Okay, let's look at John Vines, who owes 130796 to his wife. Note: she has said that her son is about to enter college.

Taking that 130,796 and dividing it by 200, we come up to a total of 654.88 months, or approximately 54.57333333333333333 years. That's right, if John's son can wait a little more than 11 years, he can collect social security. Now some may accuse me of being a little too literal with the DA, but even if you double the amount, $400, it comes to about 28 years. Now, he could have waited around about ten years to enter college, but I don't think they mean that.

Now, let's look at what would happen if we calculated the other way. John's son is entering high school, so that approximates 18 years. Giving the custodial parent and the DA the benefit of the doubt and saying that the debt was accumulating for 18 years, it comes out to approximately $605.53. The last time I checked, a "couple" meant two, three if you were stretching, not six. Minimum wage (and again, we're being real generous with the DA and the CP by assuming that the current federal standard existed all those years) comes out to approximately $892.67. Two thirds of a minimum wage job is eaten up by child support, and the costs that child support is intended to pay that could have been covered with the NCP's own costs (such as heating, utilities, and some food which can be shared) must now be doubled.

But the real world rarely goes all one persons way. The DA is being fundamentally dishonest with the public. Child support has several factors that some people may not know about and would sway a public towards some if not total sympathy with the parent that is behind on debt.

Child support can be figured retroactively, in some states back to the birth date of the child, whether or not a person knew of or should have known of the existence of the child of if the custodial parent blocked the other parent from participating in the child's life by denying DNA tests.

Child support can be "imputed", or set upon an amount that the courts think the non custodial parent should make if they think that ncp is "voluntarily underemployed". This can go on even when the parent in question was dismissed for whistle blowing (as with John Mutari), or the non custodial parent has a terminal disease (William Street, who died on his second day in jail for failure to pay the child support).

Child support has an interest rate which the states are free to use for as long as the debt remains.

Child support cannot be reduced or forgiven retroactively by the courts, even when the debt stays where it is because the courts have not acted speedily on the modification in order to avoid future harm to a parent in financial straights.

Custodial parents can often become "stay at home moms" or "stay at home dads" with no requirement to do anything but sit back and collect the child support.

So the next time you look at one of those debts, think about exactly how it is being calculated. That "couple of hundred a month" the DA freely talks about seems to occur several times in that month.

Can anybody understand parody anymore?

2006-12-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_fe_st/teddy_bear_attack

The gist of the story, a judge reinstated two teenagers because of a parody put on the internet. While she may have reinstated them, she felt compelled to give a morals lesson to the two teenagers.

From the article:

"School officials need to know you've learned a lesson," Barker said.

You have it slightly wrong and backwards, your honor. The school officials don't need to know that the kids learned a lesson; they need to have a lesson in the First Amendment given to them.

Parody and satire are important parts of our country. Without them, people in positions of power have no fear that they will be called to account for misdeeds. Without the tools of parody and satire to take someone down a rung or two, we are in danger of falling over a cliff with our leaders because somebody didn't speak out and say, "No disrespect sir, but you're an asshole on this issue."

The kids may not have liked that particular math teacher, but they didn't go the length to which civil sanctions were appropriate. Your job, your honor, is to decide whether the kids were in line with the law, not to go about giving morality lessons simply because somebody's feelings were hurt.

If you wanted to address somebody, you should have started with the school board members, principle and staff, by explaining to them that the little document they teach in civics class called the Constitution does have power, and it cannot be put aside just because of the speaker's age.

If the boys had wanted to apologize on their own, then so be it, but that is far from the school officials "needing to know (the students) had learned a lesson." The only thing they need to know is that they cannot do this, and the next time it comes about there will be financial penalties for flouting the right to Free Speech.

If there's a case from the prosecution, I can't wait to hear it.

2006-12-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

SI.com - More Sports - Defense: Duke accuser misidentified attackers - Thursday December 14, 2006 7:35PM

I guess the third time is the charm for the prosecutors and the police, especially if you make sure that everybody in the lineup was there.

Proof that Americans are smarter than their leaders

2006-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/christmas_greetings_poll_dc

In other words, Americans know the difference between a greeting and forcing religion down a person's throat. Too bad we can't say the same for commentators on either side of the political spectrum.

Divorce Parties

2006-12-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=739"
rel="bookmark" title="Permalink"
‘Tis the divorce season? Holidays’ dark side by
href="http://zdnet.com" Donna Bogatin -- Tis' the
season? Along with 'stocking stuffers,' 'divorce parties' is among the
top six searches today. No need for divorce to dampen a festive
mood! />

Wonder if this would be acceptable if was male oriented.

Working with a WinTV Card

2006-11-14T04:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, just to set down the steps that I used to get my TV Card up and going:

After installation, run Yast. After Yast has detected the card and run its part, Open /etc/modprobe.d/tv in emacs or any text editor you have.
Change the tuner type from 4 (no tuner) to 39. Note your mileage may vary on this. 44 worked, but the picture was all black and white. 39 worked better for me.
Save, then restart your computer.
Run Yast again, bring up the tv card, click edit, and go to the section where you find the channels. Note, if you are in the US, you use NTSC (some manuals will say NTSC M, but most of the time in the states the M is dropped)
Bingo, you have your MTV, or whatever.

I'm going to stick up for K-Fed just this once.

2006-11-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

Dumped by text? K-Fed joins growing club - Wireless World - MSNBC.com

Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and actually stick up for K-Fed, slightly:

First off, the story

Let me say I have no love for K-Fed, either his music or the way he's gone around in public. The man has shown up looking like a meth user on the red carpet, and I think we can all say that this union should have been taken out back and put out of its misery even quicker than her 48 hour alcohol-fueled marriage. But to end your marriage via text?

Quite simply put, if that's how it went down, that's bush.

This coming from a guy who's been on the end of a divorce myself. Hey Brit, this isn't some boyfriend you're breaking up with. As much as this makes me wanna gag, this is the FATHER OF YOUR CHILDREN and your HUSBAND. You know that grid on the bottom of the phone? Yeah, that's for talking. Break out a call to him, stop avoiding a confrontation, and deal with it in a grown up manner. Hell, even letting the process server show up is a lot warmer than this, and a lot more mature.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, we can all go back to cracking on K-Fedex or whatever his new nick is.

2006-09-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Dlisted: Dog the Bounty Hunter Arrested!

Of course they got a petition up. This is the Internet age. Tough tacos, Dog, thanks for playing, now time to do yours in a Mexican hole.

Penn and Teller: Bullshit! 12-Stepping

2006-09-09T15:47:00.000-07:00


Penn and Teller destroy they 12-step program. Absolutely awesome

Brad Pitt: I'll marry when everyone can - Yahoo! News

2006-09-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Brad Pitt: I'll marry when everyone can - Yahoo! News

Why not, if that means he actually has to marry that freak, I'm for it. Let's let everybody marry everybody else and we're all just one big happy family.
Brad, I know that Angie's making you do all this human rights stuff just so you can tap that every night, but try to think about the words coming out of your mouth first off

2006-09-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs waives extradition, will face rape charges in Utah on CourtTV.com

Let's get this straight: if Warren Jeffs did what he did, he's a monster.

Despite what you feel about polygamy, there is no excuse for marrying 14-year-old girls to 30 or 40 year old men. There certainly is no excuse to make said 14 year old girl go back to the "husband priest" and submit to whatever he tells you.

HBO featured a documentary on a polygamy, and I suspect that this issue, along with gay marraige, will come up more and more in our society as we go along. We will have to have an intelligent, reasoned discussion regarding polygamy with both opponents and supporters on both sides with their own facts and figures. That is clear. Utah was bullied into banning polygamy, with Colorado being the clear winner in terms of land.

But proponents of polygamy would be wise not to use Warren Jeffs as their poster boy, much like fathers rights groups would be wise not to use Darren Mack as theirs. Polygamy or monogamy, a marraige can and must only be entered into by agreeing and willing adult participants. Putting children into this is sick, and cannot be tolerated in a modern civilization.

FindLaw's Writ - Cassel: The Demise of Conservatism, and The Rise of Authoritarianism A Review of John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience

2006-09-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

FindLaw's Writ - Cassel: The Demise of Conservatism, and The Rise of Authoritarianism A Review of John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience

I think John Dean here would be better served if he mentioned the new conservatives, the libertarians, who are offering a message of hope for conservatives who want the government to stay out of people's lives and still bemoan the welfare state.

2006-08-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Who's your daddy? Paternity tests put doubts to rest

Indeed, this is probably the worst case that you can think of, doubting the validity of your child. And there's that old chivilric impulse. What type of a man denies he's the father? But when the child isn't yours, that becomes an issue of fraud.

2006-08-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

entertainment.iafrica.com | news Osama 'wanted to marry Whitney'

Okay, all I have to say about this one: he had to be talking the pre-crack Whitney Houston. I don't care how long you are out in the dunies or how long you spend in Africa, you'd turn to "manlove" before you tapped that.

2006-08-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/us/18gibson.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1155873600&en=77f3e84264890da6&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin

So Mel gets to go to some bad meetings, swill coffee, and confess that he is "powerless" around alcohol (and apparantly Jews as well). Nice, real nice. Can we get an atheist in Malibu to protest this slap on the wrist. Seriously, the guy endangered other people's lives. If that had been any of us, we would have been bent over the bunk while Bubba let us "develop a personal contact with our Higher Power".

What a freaking joke.

2006-08-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Promoting Fathers Rights and Helping noncustodial (ncp) Mothers Win in Family Court for Custody, Visitation and Lower Child Support

This law is one of those that debinitely needs to be passed, and if it is passed in North Dakota, hopefully, we can get one like this in the Ballot in Colorado. However, it is no surprise that the governor would opposte it. Somebody obviously got in his ear and told him money would decrease.

Why? The federal law doesn't require you to declare a non-custodial parent. It just says that child support payments should not be greater than the costs requried to raise a child. Nothing about that law is in violation of the Federal statutes.

2006-08-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

Promoting Fathers Rights and Helping noncustodial (ncp) Mothers Win in Family Court for Custody, Visitation and Lower Child Support

2006-08-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ms. Suares:

I am writing in regards to your child support enforcement
article (http://www.wlbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=5271171&nav=menu119_3)
, which seemed, like several I have read in this area, very biased and
one-sided against the non-custodial Parents, highlighting the efforts to track
down these "deadbeats" and give them forty lashes in the town
square. However, you failed to ask
several questions in this case:

1. Specifically,
of the $810 million you mention in your article that remains uncollected, about
how much of that is principal and how much of that is interest and
penalties? Also, how much of that $810
million is determined based upon imputed income, which is highly skewed and
assumes full employment at a job that the judge and the custodial parent imagine
that non-custodial parent is at (or should be at).

2. You also fail
to mention the response of many of these non-custodial parents, who often times
are beaten down and cowed by a system that seems to favor the first to the
courtroom door and plagues the other sides with demands and accusations,
oftentimes forcing the NCP into a situation where hiding from the system seems
to be a better option. Of course this
could be understood.
"Deadbeats" and "fugitives" do not always find their
way out to talk to reporters like yourself.

3. You also
finally fail to mention the other side, parents who want to pay their child
support but who have found themselves on tough times economically. What about them? What options do the Mississippi Department of
Human Services give to the parents that lost the custody battle? All you have is a single statement from a
custodial parent "I encourage everyone who is a single parent to come out
and DHS will support you," [Single Mom Angela Robinson] says. By the way, I find it oddly amusing to see
the sanctity that you invest the title Single Mother with, even going out of
your way to make it a proper noun while you leave the "deadbeats" and
"fugitives" with much more common nouns.

Finally, if you do have a response portion of your show,
a question from me in response to this quote:

MDHS Director Don Taylor has a message for parents:
"You need to look at what you're doing now and ask yourself, 'Is this how
I want my child to remember me?'"

Mr. Taylor, how do you want the children to remember the
non-custodial parent? As somebody beaten
down by the system, existing paycheck to paycheck but making sure you and the
other fat-cats down at the public trough get yours?

I'm sure you will be quick to respond to this letter, but
in case you do not, I am publishing this letter online as I will any response
you wish to utter. I am, after all, fair
and objective, something that seems to be lacking in your story.

Mr. John Meyer

Non-Custodial Parent

Pueblo, CO

P.S. If you are seeking a telephone number for a
confirmation of this response, I will be more than happy to send you one should
you want to use this letter.

WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Child Support Enforcement Month

2006-08-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1155120845141&col=1053692575155&call_page=TSS_MoreSports&call_pageid=969907740050&call_pagepath=Sports/MoreSports

Two things I love about this article:
1. The fact that he had a bulletproof vest and loaded weapons. I'm sure we all roll with our heat locked and loaded just in case we get transported to towntown Beiruit.
2. The fact that this dude is constitutionally incapable of "staying in his shoes". Stay in your shoes for a year, you'll come back as a backup or something.

2006-08-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

Senate rejects GOP estate tax cut - Politics - MSNBC.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14176214/

Well, once again, the American people get the shaft. While this austere body has raised its own
wages time and time again, American workers are still strung along at a rate of
$5.15 an hour. Since the last increase
in 1997, Congress has raised its own rate from $133,600 all the way to $165,200
(a increase of 24 percent), not to mention the health benefits subsidized by
the American government. At that same
time. The buying power for that hourly
rate has decreased in buying power by 15%.
This does not count the increase in health care premiums that have been
laid upon working families.

It's time to call on Congress to increase the minimum
wage. While they are taking out their
billions for both NCPs and CPs, they are giving themselves fat pay increases
(and making sure that dead billionaires aren't burdened with taxes). In fact, this partly isn't true. Congress hasn't voted for a pay
increase...they don't need to. It's
written into the law that their pay is increased according to inflation.

And this is not only the rant of somebody at the
bottom. The chief of Wall Mart has
called for an increase in the minimum wage http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/25/news/fortune500/walmart_wage/ Businesses have taken tax cuts and contracts
while promising millions of jobs, only to stick the American public while they
run overseas with the good jobs, leaving Americans to go on the public
dole. If they take the tax increases,
they can take a couple of minimum wage increases.
You will hear the whinings on the right that an increase in the minimum wage will hurt entry level jobs and cause employers to shutter up. But I cannot see how an increase of only $2/hour, when the wages have been held so artificially low, will cause much, if any, loss of jobs. Furthermore, this has a fatal flaw in the arguement, somehow that companies will get the same rate and productivity out of lower paid workers than they will out of higher paid workers. Cities that have increased the wages because Congress have not have not found that jobs left; if anything, they have found that the jobs that stay are quality jobs.
And if a job or two leaves. Well, I'd quote Samuel Gomper in this one: "if a company cannot aford to pay its workers a decent wage, maybe it shouldn't be in business in the first place." Until a raise is passed. Congress should vote
to forego the next increase in their own wages.
And if they don't, then the American people should tell them to hit the
streets and look for their next job.

NO PAY RAISE FOR THE PEOPLE = NO PAY RAISE FOR CONGRESS

2006-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountain News: Local

So, remember all you NCP's check your bank accounts for theft and fraud....not what the state of Nebraska is perpetrating on you, mind you.

2006-08-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

NYS Child Support Collections Top $1.5 Billion

The words "fraud" "harassment" and "uncaring" come to mind. A system where lawyers have risen to the top and the non-custodial parent is now treated as a cash cow. Let's look at this article. From the text:

More than 6,700
families have been enrolled in access and visitation groups across the
state. The goal of this initiative is to improve parent’s individual
and cooperative parenting skills and to improve the non-custodial
parent’s attitudes leading to greater compliance with child support
obligations. Over 11,800 children have benefited from the programs.

The goal here seems not to seek input from the non-custodial side, but to "improv the non-custodial parent's attitudes". The message here is simple and clear: if you are an NCP you are a cash cow; speak up, and you're a deadbeat and we'll do anything and everything in our power to "improve your attitude." We're not interested in your opinions, we're not interested in you, shut up and fork over the money.

2006-07-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

USMC sniper metes out swift death in Iraq - Yahoo! News

This is an article you have to read to believe. Good read, and tells the story of a sniper in the marines.

One shot, one kill, all the difference in the world.

Oh Snap? What the Fuck is that about?

2006-07-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Being the lover of all music atrocious and simply god-awful bad, I had to see the video by Fergie, "London Bridges". Needless to say, the video lived down to expectations. The sheer brutality of the song, the fact that Fergie drawls out the fact that she "dances like a hooooooooo", just simply irrevivable. That being said, even I had to say "what the fuck" when they substituted in "Oh Snap" for "Oh Shit".
What? You mean to say you are going to allow that abortion on the air, yet hit it for two words. What crack baby logic inspired that move. If you are going to let that video see the light of day, then let all of it see the light of day. Besides, we're talking about the networks that unleashed, Real World, Celebrity Deathmatch, the Hills, and other horrors that have about as much to do with music as do...well, Paris Hilton and Fergie.

2006-07-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Lance Bass of `N Sync reveals he's gay - Yahoo! News

But tapping a reality show man-slut? I mean, WTF is up with that?

2006-07-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Congress spanks naughty sex sites | Tech News on ZDNet

A good point that one of the people made at the end: this _might_ be a problem if these web sites are on US soil, but what about the sites that are not? I have no problem wtih going after web sites that are intentionally made to deceive children into sex acts, but what types of sites will those be? I doubt they will be the ones that this law is intended to go after. I think, in fact, it will trap a lot of satire sites who's intent is to mock current society, which may be what takes this law down.

2006-07-21T23:13:00.000-07:00

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All I have to say is watch the trailer at the end, that is seriously effed up. One last mission for Snake, one last volume to clear all of this up and end it all. Right now all I can say is whatever I must do, I have to get that game. That is the perfect ending to it all. We finally get to see what happens to all of the players in this game.

2006-07-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.securitypronews.com/insiderreports/insider/spn-49-20060721EFFLawsuitAgainstATTCanContinue.html

Well, it looks like the Bush administration found one judge who won't roll over and let state secrets immediately trump the right of the individual to be free from governmental intrusion. Note this isn't a complete victory for the plaintiffs, it just says that upfront, they won't dismiss it. But it is a victory in that the government and the corporations that serve them can't immediately run and hide behind the mantra of state secrets to dismiss all claims.

2006-07-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Senate OKs expansion of stem cell research - Jul 18, 2006

Well, you can say this much for Dubya, he stays the course. Unfortunately, so did the Captain of the Titanic. I don't know much about stem cell research, but I think this president would look a little less like a Texas retard if he got together a panel of scientists, ethicists, etc, to back his claim.

2006-07-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

CNN.com - Police: More arrests likely in alleged gang rape of 11-year-old - Jul 11, 2006

All I have to say is how fucking drunk would you have to be if you did that? You'd have to be pretty much gone. And again, like I said in the Duke Case, these men are entitled to the presumption of innocence before trial. Of course, if I get accused of that, I'm calling up every paper, TV station, and radio station saying "I didn't do that I didn't do that!". There's a reason to keep your mouth shut, I know, but by god, that's one accusation that would (and should) send everybody screaming.

This is probably going to bring up the arguement of, if these guys are guilty of this, what is the proper punishment? 10 years, 20, 30, life? The needle? I'm against the death penalty for several reasons, but I am hard pressed to see any sort of arguement for a sentence of under 25 years, at least, if you were involved in this action for any reason.

Man sues dontdatehimgirl.com

2006-07-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Man sues dontdatehimgirl.com for libel.

This is an interesting case. On the one hand, we have freedom of the press, and on the other, the First Amendment is no defense against libel. Plus, Ms. Joseph's site, however reprehensible, does seem to have protection in terms of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which affords sites a large defense against libel, specifically, refusing to name them publishers.
In other words, I think that lawyer is going to have a much better case against the women who actually posted. It might not seem good, since Joseph is the one with the money, but a few $50 million dollar lawsuits will tend to chill libelous talk.

2006-07-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Promoting Fathers Rights and Helping noncustodial (ncp) Mothers Win in Family Court for Custody, Visitation and Lower Child Support

So, here we have a situation where the father abides by the rules, and the mother wins, largely because she has had ample time to brainwash the children. I can tell you if the father did this, there would be no mercy for him, none at all, but hey, be a man, stan, take some responsibility and pay out those child support checks.

2006-07-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dickey: U.S. Nationalism Run Amok - Newsweek Christopher Dickey - MSNBC.com

Okay, a pretty good comparison of nationalism vs. patriotism. Basically, if I were to sum up the difference, it would be this:

Patriotism: my country right or wrong, but my country nonetheless
Nationalism: my country, right. Your country, wrong.

I have a pretty good patriotism streak going. Even though I am an opponent of the death penalty, I do not buy the notion that "because other countries don't have the death penalty, we shouldn't." First off, they do; they just call it an "assasination". Secondly, this is an American arguement; it's an arguement about morals, about proportionality and about ultimately wisdom, but it's an American arguement to have.
However, I do not believe in the rantings of national zealots who seem to blindly ignore the abuses at Abu Grahab, or those that dismiss the suicides at Guantanamo as "asymetric warfare". Rush Limbaugh once referred to Abu Grahab as "no worse than a high school hazing", which tells you either he went to a very sick high school, or that he has no comprehension of the evils that were perpetrated.
Another form of this is the people that get on blindly and say "where's Amnesty International when our three soldiers were tortured and killed". Actually they put out a treatise the day the story broke, but let's assume that didn't. You're right, we don't treat our soldiers and the enemy as moral equivalents. We don't expect Al Qaeda to act in a humanitarian manner. We do expect our soldiers to behave that way, however, and when they don't, when they allegedly go into a house and rape then kill a woman and her family, we hold them as responsible for their behavior as we should. The soldiers will get a fair trial, and they should, and if found guilty, they should be punished.
A nationalist will never say that. To a nationalist, all actions, any actions, carried out by the troops must be for the common good, and any attack of those actions is akin to terrorism. Same with the New York Times/Wall Street Journal/LA Times story about wiretapping bank accounts. The calls for trials of sabotage are quite frankly, inane, and those that are calling for them should be ashamed of themselves. They point to the fact that the story said that the actions were legal. Well, maybe they were, but that still doesn't make them right.
But a nationalist will not see, will not even attempt to see the other side. They betrayed the administration in power, they should hang.

"Opposition to tyranny is obiedience to God"

The Skeeter

2006-07-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

While you're on your vacation
Mark What you see
When the skeeter starts feeding on your knee
You feel a bump
You Feel an Itch
You raise your hand
You think "What a Bitch"
But see what truth in those words there may be
For the skeeter feeding on you is a she
So if you get west nile, be consoled with this
She may have stolen from you, but she did it for the kids

--John Meyer

I'll take my time, as I drift and die

2006-06-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Forgotten thoughts of yesterday
through my eyes I see the past

Well I don't know I don't know I don't know why
I Believe I Believe I Believe in the truth, from inside
go away go away go away from me
leave me alone
ignorance spreads lies
how much will money bye
Well I'll take my time as I drift and die

Unwanted live my life a shame
Who's to blame for my mistakes

[Chorus]

as I drift and die [x2]

ignorance spreads lies
how much will money bye
Well I'll take my time
As I drift and die [x5]

--Puddle of Mudd

Chris Hansen, government snitch?

2006-06-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you have heard about Chris Hansen's pet project, "To Catch A Predator". Don't get me wrong, I think what Chris is doing is important work. I don't even mind him going to Congress to testify. I may disagree with him, I may think he's getting a little bit too self-righteous, but that's not the point.
What the point is is that Chris is now working with government agents in pursuing his cases. You've seen it, guys get into the house, hoping to get it on with an underage person, and then after an embarassing interview, are then out on the street when the police make an arrest. The original shows were not done with police cooperation, but now, they are.
Does anybody else find this a bit disturbing. The press, the guardians of an independent voice, working hand in hand with the government to catch predators. One gets the indictments, the other gets an Emmy. And how can NBC then call a halt to these little cooperative exercises with the government? A lot of you say, "but John, these are child molesters." Okay, they may be down on the evolutionary scale, but who they are targeting is not the point. Imagine NBC and the cops going into cooperation on interrogations, or on other stings?
I may be the only voice criticizing Chris Hansen about this, but I am. I'm not criticizing what he's doing, I'm criticizing him sitting out there with a bunch of cops. He's acting as an instrument of the police, and that is tainting his program. Of course, I probably am the only one to see the journalistic ethical questions involved with this, but there are serious issues that Chris needs to take into consideration.
And oh yeah, I don't go for pre-pubescent girls, period (or lack of it...awwscrewit, you know what I mean).

What a concept?

2006-06-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

http://ancpr.com/blog/archives/373#more-373

A judge gets reassigned simply because he suggests that women have a sense of entitlement. Trust me, if it had gone the other way and he had said that men have a sense of entitlement to leave their wives and kids by the road, he would be looking at a promotion.

Got back from the lawyer

2006-06-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, the basics are this: In as far as I know, I've gotten it down to the lowest amount that I will be able to. $293. I also got the person to agree to a $25 past arrears amount. Now, however, I've got a couple of other issues.
First off, the wifey says that Adams County has been badgering her to close the case and take it to Denver. From my end, Adams County told me they won't close it. So, somebody's got something screwed up.
Oh and yeah, the garnishments are screwed up, have to call back on those. I almost feel like I'm between a bull and a bear, about to get eaten up here. So, I'm gonna go look on rentacoder and some other places for some quick cash to make up the difference.

Is there any wonder why there aren't any more Darren Macks in the world

2006-06-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

Update:
Apparantly, they'll take a 20 percent deduction if you pay off 100 percent (after going round and round with her, the basics was an 80 percent offer in compromise). If anybody in Colorado knows of better terms than that, please let me know.
Just got through talking with my CSE agent about my arrearages (up to $5,000) and my driver's license suspension, and she's asking me, "well, can you pay an extra $100 a month?"
BTW, I'm going through my paystubs for the past two pay periods (88 and 77 hours respectively). Now, After child support deductions, which can't even go up to the level that they will be after the modification (the law says that the max they can get is 65 percent), my monthly net is $396. Take away _just_ $200 a month for groceries and $96 for student loans, and I am left with $87. This does not even amount for clothes, or glasses, or therapy for my depression. In other words:
I can't afford it!

Speaking of things I can't afford, I talked to an attorney, will keep you updated on that. To all you NCPs out there, keep up hope, and to Darren Mack, if you are reading this somewhere, come on in. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't, but you can show them that you will stand for your actions. The system screwed you over royally, and you snapped. They're talking about you like your a millionaire, but any of us who have been in family court know just how "fair" the system is (rolling eyes). You can prove you are better than the system and better than the judge that did you in.

Well, I'm about ready to kill somebody, and I don't know who

2006-06-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Guess she doesn't have to declare that income. Fuck, so basically I should just write down "spousal support" on the next check instead of child support. Right. Well, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I can start up my own business. Oh wait, CSE will come by and say I have to declare that income. I'm trying to find the good in this shit. I guess I'm not a positive person right about now. Believing in a God would be so fun, but you know something, screw that. Screw blaming others. Fighting's the way to go. And no, I don't want any bullshit about "you fight when you surrender". What sort of narcassistic paternizing bullshit is that. Keep coming back Bill, the lie works if you work it, so work it like we're worthless (and on the way out, try not to throw the sewing machine at anybody).
Well, tomorrow, I do three things. First off, I call the psychologists, next, comes CSE where I ask them about that just to see what comes about it. Secondly, I file on the rest of my bankrupcy papers. And finally, I file. I'm tired of this shit. She's dragged me down, so time to cut dead weight.
A little bit of drama down at the old call center. Two girls got into it over a guy, one decked the other, and the mother came by and threatened to kill one of the girls to the cops. Nice, real nice. It was a fun scene, a couple of cops in the lobby, security trying to sort everything out.
And a coworker pulled the classic joke on one of the other workers. Got the TL in on the joke, made it look like she was fired. Classic, even I believed it for a while.
Right now, on my desk, is Vengence, a book written in 1984 about "Operation Wrath of God", where Israelis stopped feeling like proverbial victims and started using a bit of terror on them. In case you're interested, go read this, then watch Munich.

Well, found out I need glasses.

2006-06-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Again, jeez is this some sort of on again off again in terms of my blindness?
I've just been told I need glasses by the DMV. This after I've passed their test twice! without them. Either I got real lucky or somebody at the DMV doesn't know how to administer eye tests. Two people. Okay.

Sometimes, it seems difficult to decide

2006-06-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Should I stay on at Convergys, or should I try to find something better? I have nothing against Convergys, it's just that with the garnishments and all, I'm not gonna be able to live on this. I'm staying, giving Convergys all I have but I put up my resume. It's gonna take a very strong job to lure me away. 1. Instant benefits (health, etc). 2. higher pay (obviously).

Online library is puffing away

2006-05-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

126 books, 92 authors. That's a lot of typing. So far, so good. I'm thinking about dropping the edition number. Really doesn't mean much, anyway, and I can't figure out that stuff, so yeah, I'll drop that shit.
As far as my own writing goes, it's stinking. I probably should kick my ass into gear on that crap. A lot of people think Redd and the Golden Assasin is pretty good. Maybe I will.
In any event, I need to fix up a few things. Add a search engine, that would rock. So much to do, so little time.

Online library is up and running

2006-05-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Now I need to build in the search functions, as well as the sortation on the author (which might be a bit daunting). I probably should do this as a template-code design, but since I'm the only one who's ever going to use this site, as Neatley said, "Oh well, what the hell"
Also working on writing, bit by bit. Got another idea for a character in my head, a spanish looking dude with salt-pepper black curly hair and a vulture as his partner. his name hasn't come to me yet, but it will, eventually.

Started a new e-mail group for child support

2006-05-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Subscribe to ColoradoChildSupport

Email:

style="background-color:#ffcc33;padding:2px;border:2px outset #ffcc33;">

Browse Archives at groups.google.com

Basically, it's a clearing house for information about the child support system in Colorado. I'm hoping to gather up a lot of materials including court forms, worksheets, etc. Maybe even transform a lot of them into the OpenDocument standard.

Took a bit of a slip, but hopefully I'm back

2006-05-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Depression gets to all of us sometimes, in my case, it's usually a lot more suicidal and self-destructive. Thankfully, I'm back on the right track, and I'm ready to start things over, or start back up on them. My second story should be up here soon, as well as a few other works I'm doing right now.

Kicking my ass into gear

2006-04-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Gotta do it sometime, hope that I can push through the last pages. Maybe I'll just write it all out, then type it up. That might help a little bit with my reluctance to type it. Start one way, end it that same way. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, a real good idea.

Found a way to get my ham radio license back

2006-03-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Turns out there is a way to get my ham radio license back without taking the test again. So, next week I should be back on the air as quickly as possible. I should have a list of repeaters and on air meetings here as fast as possible.

The worse part of writing...

2006-03-27T15:14:00.000-08:00

Is transcribing the fucker into the computer. God I hate that. It's like doing data entry. I know I have to do it but good lord is it tough. Tough enough to write the tale, even tougher to type it again. I guess that's part of writing.
"Redd and the Endowed Fairies" is coming along nice, however it might be shortened (the title) in the future. This tale will be set outside of Cibola, largely because it would be near novella length if I took it from the Castle that it starts all in. I also have a phrase "Otta da Fey!", which is code for "Where's the pussy?", which the Fae repeat consistantly. That tells you where my mind is going on this tale.

More than this

2006-03-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

I finished one story, and struggling on another. You know, I think that's the first fictional short story I've actually completed since college. I'm a little proud of myself on that point. But pride will make you lazy, if you don't watch it, you've gotta work, you gotta get yourself up and moving on another tale.

And the next one, it's a doozy. A tale of a lot more sexual innuendo than the last one, to give you an idea of where I am going, I'll give you the title of it.

Redd and the Endowed Fairies

I think you get the idea, I'm in this one for the sexual laughs and hijinks. And I'm going for something a little bit more on this one. I think I'll put together a book when I'm done. I don't know how many pages will be in it, I have to figure that one out, but I think I will do it. I just have to get away from the morose nature of my soul and get something done.

Version 1.7 is up

2006-03-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

Redd and the Golden Assasin
I might be done with this story for a little while. A little be of refining and that's it for this one. I've got two other stories going in my head, slowly congealing:

Redd and the Big Dicked Fairies

Metal Sedai Solid

I finally finished a story.

2006-03-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Redd and the Golden Assasin.

Phew, nothing good is ever easy, but by God it feels good to get a short story finished and out there. There's nothing quite like it. I don't even think an orgasm feels as good...okay, maybe it does

The hard part now is the criticism. You'll feel like you taped yourself doing it, and pal, you look like fucking Gumby.

Published three parts of my short story

2006-02-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

http://home.comcast.net/~john.meyer/reddandthegoldenassasin.pdf

As you can see, it's only two-thirds of the way there, but it's getting there, slowly but surely

Do you ever think about the archtypes of fantasy writing?

2006-02-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

The alcoholic wizard, the slave who's actually a princess, the thief with the heart of gold. Those images are cliched, because they are so powerful. They are the contract of what we expect and what we experience in life. I'm currently working on smashing the last one. Redd, my protagonist, is a thief, and I'm also giving him a psychopathic, vindictive side. This is not a man who is a clean shaven thief who's victims deserve to be cheated (although I'm not going to give him all innocent victims). He's a man who will knife people who cross him, people who get in his way, no matter how innocent or righteous their reasons are. And that's what I'm working on in this latest tale. The Ortans that he takes in are going to betray him, and he's going to get them back. I just want to put motives in their heart that are understandable. I'm still going to kill them at the end, but they are going to have good motives, motives we can understand.

Chapter 1 for "Mort the Magician"

2006-02-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

In the land of Gilead, on the shores of the River Eld, there lived a wizard named Robert Longshanks. Robert was considered the preeminent wizard in all of Gilead (and thus, the world, since Gilead did not let any of its wizards leave, and no other nation had wizards). He went far in the Tower, and eventually Robert became the King's most trusted counselor and friend. In time, Robert courted and married the King's youngest daughter, Rina, and she became pregnant with his child.
On the day of the birth, Robert paced back and forth in front of the room like an angry cat. The eight-legged spider on his back, the symbol of his profession, seemed to move as he paced. Even among the citizens of Gilead, he was much taller than most other people, and his long legs ate up the distance quickly. "Where is she?" Robert demanded. "She was supposed to be here at the last bell, and now?."
"I'm here," a youthful voice said. She was one of the youngest Seeresses that Robert had ever seen in his life. She had the gray robe, but that was all that was gray about here. The woman was barely out of her childhood, and her green eyes and blond hair would have had most men courting her, instead of seeking her out for childbirths. She bowed to him. "I am Seeress Samantha of the Sisterhood, and I have come for the Seeing."
"Is this what the Sisterhood sends me?" Robert demanded "A fledgling? For the birth of my firstborn?"
"Watch your tongue," she snapped, "The Sisterhood sends who they deem will have the vision, and it is not your place to question them on the why or how. Or did you expect an old crone?"
"I expected a...," Robert began. The piercing cry of a child silenced him. Robert rushed inside. The midwife had the child in a white blanket already. "It is a boy, your Wisdom," she told him.
A boy! He looked over at his new heir. Finally, a child of his own, a sire to raise and teach everything he knew. Robert was close approaching his fortieth year, and some had thought he would never marry, let alone raise his own child. He had watched his friends do the same, and now it was his turn. Marcus. Yes, Marcus was a great name for the child. "His name will be...", he began.
"I feel the Sight upon me," the Seeress intoned. She quickly moved towards the baby, and, taking it up in her arms, looked down at him. Robert held his breath as the Seeress looked at the child. Eternities stretched out in those moments, until she handed the child back to the midwife.
She looked up at the crowd, and for a brief moment, Robert saw a fear so thick and silent in her eyes that even he was struck cold by it. Then it was stuffed down, and her eyes were light and merry.
"The child is a true blessing to you and your wife," the woman said, all smiles. "He shall lead Gilead in war and to glory and honor, and in time his fame shall surpass even that of his father." With that, she bowed, and quickly ran out of the room.
"Did you hear that, my beloved," Rina said. She looked down at her child with a beaming pride. But Robert was already striding out of the room to catch up with the Seeress. He got caught up in the crowd of people and servants offering their congratulations. "Out of my way!" he growled, running past them.
He caught up with her about halfway down the hall towards the entrance.
"What do you want?" she snapped at him, and then fell back from that piercing gaze of his.
"I want the truth, woman, not the dung heap that you dumped in there," he said. "Do not try my patience, or I will make you weep for your own death."
"Pray for your own!" she replied in a cry that made her sound younger than she was. Then, looking this way and that., she motioned for him to move off to the side. Robert did. Samantha rose up on her toes.
"I'll tell you if you promise not to harm me, or to tell anyone what I am to tell you now, or act upon it," she said.
"Why would you not want me to act upon it if it were bad?" Robert asked her.
"Because, more than likely, you would make a worse mess of things than they are now, although I can't even imagine that," she replied. "Promise me!"
"Wizard's oath, child," he said. A blue wisp of Air wound itself around him, binding the words to his very bones and soul. Now he could no more break the oath than drink the entirety of the River Eld. She sniffed.
"Okay, contrary to what you may think, everything I said in there was true. The child will lead Gilead to war, but it will be war against each other, and against him."
"War against my child?" Robert asked weakly.
"Yes, I saw famine and pestilence in the land, although whether your son brings it or not is unclear to me, but it will happen. Gilead will see a time that it has never seen before. Fighting in the streets, an army besieging the land, and people will eat each other alive. It was so horrible," she said, tears coming down her face.
"I can't see any honor and glory in that," Robert muttered.
"Neither can I," Samantha continued, "But I saw it as a very faint light at the end, something that must be in order for us to survive. Not that it will be all that pleasant. His name will be death, and his hands will be full of death. When he grows into his own, he will invent new ways of killing, ways so horrible that I can scarcely describe them. He may shatter the dreams of one, and in that, he will shatter the dreams of us all. Your blood will eventually be on his hands, and he will kill men as easily as you or I breathe."
"Death," Robert said. In a few short moments, the light of his life had descended into a madness of destruction. How could this happen? He looked back the way he had come. If the child stopped breathing in the middle of the night, well, that happens a lot these days, and...
There must have be something in his face, because Samantha grabbed his dark beard and yanked his face down so he was facing her. "You must not kill the child!" She told him. "He may be death, but if you kill him, the result will make death seem like a comfort. He must stop the Demon, even though he himself will be demonized. I saw that too, and his rise was paled beside what would happen if that did." She gave him a look that told him she would not recall that path.
She walked by him towards the gate. "One other thing I should tell you," she said. "In spite of everything I told you, the child will truly love you." And she made her way out. Robert stood in the middle of the hall for a moment. It wasn't true, the Seeress was just mistaken. Yes, that was it. She was mistaken, it was because of her youth, that was all.
Yet he knew that he was lying to himself. Seeresses saw truly-that had been known for eons-no matter what there age, and all of them were sworn to tell the truth, though they apparently didn't have to tell it all. He walked back to the room.
The crowd was looking at him expectantly, and Robert realized what he had done. "I apologize, I forgot to properly thank the good Seeress," he said. The crowd oohed and aahed at his reverence and manners, and made a path for him to return to his wife.
He found her cradling the child-funny, that he should refer to his son as "the child"-and her father, the King, looking on nearby, along with his court. His name shall be Death, and his hands will be full of Death. He could not imagine it happening.
"What did you say, dear?" Rina asked him.
"Mort something or other," The King muttered. "Oh, I get it. You want to name him Mort. A fine name for a magician." And one of the servants ran out to announce the news.
Il Nomme Mort, ti il Ferna fuerde Mort. He had spoken in the Wizard's Tongue. He took a few steps to stop the man, and then decided against it. Why not? The Wizard's Tongue was only known to Wizards, and all of them had sworn not to disclose that tongue to anyone who did not wear the Spider. He laughed at the private joke, and motioned to one of the servants.
"Bring me a barrel of our best wine and have it set in my study in the southern tower," he told the man, who bowed and left the room. Mort. Death. Well, that part of the Seeing had told true, what about the rest?

A week later, Mort claimed his first victim. The servant came running into his study with the news. "Your Wisdom, the Seeress Samantha has hanged herself," the man proclaimed. "It's surely bad luck, your Wisdom."
"Nonsense, Col, you mind your mouth," a second servant said before curtsying. "It's just a coincidence."
"Your pardon, your Wisdom, my wife does not mind her manners," Col said, "I shall leave you now." And the two continued arguing all the way out the door. What neither of them realized was that the High Counselor to the King was too drunk to reply, but there was one thought that echoed through his head.
Col was right, it is bad luck for us all, he thought, refilling his cup.

Revised Second Part of "Redd and the Golden Assasin"

2005-11-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

The night air cooled Redd's blood, if only a little. He quickly spotted the Ortan running towards the north and made after him. The Ortan jumped one alley after another, forcing Redd to keep up. Redd nearly missed one particular jump, and had to grab the edge of the rooftop with his fingers to keep from being squashed on the street below. "Gods, I hate the rooftops," he muttered.
The man was wearing that loose-fitting, dust brown robe characteristic of his people, but there was something wrong. Redd flicked his wrist towards the assassin; a knife flew from his sleeve to the silhouette ahead of him. The Ortan dodged the knife at the last possible second, splitting his legs and dropping on one arm. The knife whistled harmlessly above his bald head. He looked back.
Before Redd could get out one of his hand knives out, the Ortan sped off, leaving Redd cursing. Redd ran off after him. "Come back, you son of a diseased whore!" he said. The Ortan kept running, veering off towards a spiral tower of a High Lord. Redd was gaining on him. And suddenly Redd realized that if the man had been able to sprint off like he had, he should have easily lost Redd by now. Unless, he didn't want to lose him.
The man threw his hand towards the spire as he leapt off the last roof. He jumped past the spire, falling to a certain death...and then jerked around the spire at amazing speed. A thin line connected him to the spire. Redd watched, dumbfounded, as the man wheeled around and kicked him flush in the chest. Redd slammed back, and only a chimney saved him from going over the edge.
Redd looked up, and a silver crescent fell towards his head. He slammed up a notched sword-breaker at the last second, and struggled against the man's strength. The Ortan was smaller than Redd by a good hand, but he was deceptively strong. He didn't even show any signs of tension on his face.
Redd rolled away, and silently cursed the fact that he had not brought at least a rapier with him. In an alleyway, or close quarters, A sword was much more of a hindrance than a help. But up here, with open room...he might have to rethink his opinion, if he got off here alive.
Only quick reflexes kept the sword out of Redd, He had to get that sword out of the Ortan's hand. Summoning the years of training Cenn had beat into him, he diverted the blade high with his sword breaker, feigning him into a low attack. Come on, you bastard. Redd thought. It worked. The Ortan slashed down low, expecting to cut Redd off at the knees. Redd jumped over the blade, then came down hard on it. He had expected the blade to break; it didn't, but the force so shocked the man that he dropped the blade. In an instant Redd had the knife to the man's throat. The man smiled, and it didn't occur to Redd until much later to wonder why.
"I don't know why you took my target, but...," Whatever Redd was going to do was cut off by a loud bang. Redd grunted; he felt like he had been stabbed in the side. But no one was around, except the Ortan and himself, and he had seen the man's hands. He looked down at his right side, blood flowed down it. He looked up; another Ortan, similarly garbed but with shortly cropped black hair, was kneeling with a stick in his hands pointed at Redd. The end of the stick was smoking.
"You may die now," the first Ortan said, pushing Redd down. He slid more than fell down the pointed roof. He was going to break his neck. All these years, and he had been cut down by...what? The last thought he had was that he wouldn't be able to tell Cenn about...

Part two of Redd and the Golden Assasin

2005-11-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

These walls

2005-11-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

These walls, these walls, they spread around
they're three sizes too large, just like my head
I live in an empty house, large enough to hold my screams
too hollow to hold my heart
too empty to hold my dreams

First part of "Redd and the Golden Assasin"

2005-11-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

"Redd and the Golden Assassin"
John Meyer

Night descends upon Cibola, and the City of Gold takes on a new name; la ragno, the Spider. It's many streets and alleyways hold danger as poisonous as a black widow, and it ensnares the unwise and unwary, leaving their bodies on the streets for the guards to catch. It takes a brave man to face the dangers of the dark even with the City Watch guarding the night. That, or a stupid one, if there is a difference.
A prosperous merchant, wearing a fancy green cloak with white lace at the collar and on his sleeves strode down the Primio Via, confident and sure of the lamps and the guards. His dark hair rolled down to his shoulders in intricate curls, framing a solid face with brown eyes full of his worth. Giovanni Sarcona, preeminent merchant of the Merchants Quarter if he did say so himself, strolled gracefully alongside the western side of the Main Way, admiring the stars. Occasionally, he deigned to doff his cap to a stone-faced guard in golden dress, then went merrily on his way.
And why should he not be happy? He was to be named to the Council of the Coin tomorrow, the highest office among merchants in Cibola. He hadn't been voted in, yet, but it was merely a formality. He had impressed the right people, increased his profits considerably, and shown that he could bring more business to Cibola. And with the title of Councilman, he would be entitled to a seventh of all taxes collected. Not to mention being able to hold his fellow merchants accountable to his standards of quality work. A smaller man might have used such power to grind his enemies into the paved roads, but Giovanni believed a higher power would call his enemies to account. Much higher indeed.
He fancied himself somewhat of an amateur astrologer, and strolled along, contemplating the fate of his competitors in business. There, to the west of the third planet, The Guardian fell; clearly Georgio would be betrayed by his hired guards. The Lover rose into the eight planet; Latelle, that hussy merchant who had swindled, would clearly begat herself with child, and so be out of his way. Sarducci, that odious ass, he would...
Whatever he would be was knocked out of his head, as well as the rest of his thoughts, as a blackjack caught him upside the head. In an instant, in the moment when the two guards that would have seen him, might have intervened, the shadows dragged him back into the alleyway he was passing. The shadows lightened about halfway back, revealing a young man in a red tunic and breeches, wearing a black cloak and cap. His blonde hair was cut squarely at the shoulders. Giovanni Sarcona had the honor of being knocked unconscious by Redd, prince of cutthroats. He looked down at the green cloaked man, and shook his head.
"Afraid you chewed your thumb at somebody once too many times," he whispered, and went to his secret stash of ropes. Somebody had paid a good deal of money to see him roughed up a little, than robbed of everything he had. Redd always regretted the beating, at least. A little violence when needed was one thing, but he couldn't bring himself to enjoy breaking the ribs of a man, much less an unconscious one. But the money was too tempting; at least the merchant wouldn't feel it while it was happening.
Redd turned his head for a second to adjust the ropes and felt more than saw a swoosh. He looked back; the man he had just knocked unconscious was gone. Redd bit off a curse. He hit the man hard enough to knock him into next week. His hands went to his side in a flash, and in a second he produced two large, very ugly and serrated knives. Where had he gone? And if he could move that fast, why had he not been able to dodge Redd's blow?
Something soft and chunky hit the top of his hat, then another thing soft, along with a liquid careening off the side of his hat. Redd looked up just in time for a piece of red flesh to hit him in the face. He stepped back in disgust, looking at a waterfall of blood coming down from over the side of the building. Something was wrong with the meat, though; it came over too regularly, almost as if...a face peered over the side, that of a bald man, though young. Dark eyes peered out of a golden face, and then he was gone.
Redd wasted no time. Giovanni had been his attack, and his orders had been clear; no killing. Whoever the client was, he or she had wanted Giovanni humiliated. Running to a corner of the dead end, he quickly scampered up the wall and onto the roof. Over to the right, he saw Giovanni's body. His head lay in the v- of his legs, which were also split from his body. The gouges in the legs made it clear where the meat came from. The contract had been offered on honor; all money paid up front. Redd had two options; come back with the killers head, or come back without his own. And Redd liked where his head was, thank you very much.