Just in case you were wondering, in New York State (California, too, among others), it’s illegal to eat your cat. We know this, thanks to our friends in Western NY.

Police stopped Gary Korkuc, 51, of Cheektowaga, N.Y., when he allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign Sunday night. Officers heard meowing coming from Korkuc’s trunk and investigated. They found the man’s black-and-white cat, Navarro, in a cage, covered in oil, chili peppers, crushed red peppers and salt.

Police said Korkuc told them he had intended to cook the cat because it had been “mean” to him.

So much for that Kitty Pot Pie recipe, I guess. Sorry, Solvay.

Cheektowaga, BTW, has long been one of my favorite names for a town – particular given its prominent position in the Cheektowaga-Lackawanna-Tonawanda triangle.

President Obama (the original “terror baby” – assuming you believe he was actually born here in the first place) last night defended the right of people to build a House of Worship on privately owned land.

Yes, this is really what it’s come to in this country. You know what? How’s about we let people build all the Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques they want, but we take away their tax exempt status? You know, render unto Caesar and all that? I see no reason why I should subsidize your delusional beliefs. Come back after you legalize pot, and then we’ll talk.

The NFL season is in full swing, and we got to see Donovan McNabb in action with the Washington Redskins last night against the Buffalo Bills. McNabb looked pretty good, and it’s nice to see him away from Philly – whose fans never really deserved him. Buffalo looked, well, like they’d eaten a few too many cats before the game. Hopefully they’ll continue to suck during the regular season.

Here in Syracuse, yesterday was Orange Football Fanfest. Since the first game isn’t until September 4th, we’re currently undefeated and hoping for (if not quite expecting) a winning season (maybe even – gasp – a bowl game?). This may all change by Halloween, of course, but for now, we can dream (and while I don’t expect them to be undefeated, that doesn’t mean I won’t be disappointed when they lose).

Oh well, time to go about my day, I guess. Not sure what I can do, though. I can’t do any work around the house, and I can’t drink beer. I seem to have lost all reason to live.

But at least my shoulder only hurts a little bit.

I got around to watching the first episode of this year’s “Hard Knocks” on HBO last night. For those who don’t know (or care), the show follows an NFL team through training camp, and this year it’s the Jets. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a lifelong (if not partially closeted) Jets fan since I was about 7 years old, and even have an olde-tyme Jets bobblehead (back before they were called bobbleheads, though I don’t recall what they called them back then) among other Jets stuff (used to have a #12 Jets helmet, too, but that’s long gone to wherever it is that things go when they’re no longer around, and it was pretty tight on my big fat head even when I was twelve; if I still had it, I’d probably make a lamp or something out of it). Plus the Jets training camp is in my backyard – just a couple exits south of here in Cortland. Last year was their first year up here, and it nearly resulted in a trip to the Super Bowl, so we all have high hopes for this season. As you can tell, this is pretty darn exciting stuff (at least when compared to the rest of what I laughingly refer to as my “life”). And the show was fun to watch (though from what I read, Rex Ryan’s mom called him up and told him to clean up his language; Rex is a bit of a potty mouth).

I don’t know if y’all caught “The Daily Show” the other night, but if you did, you may have seen Jon Stewart refer to the orange-colored John Boehner as the “former Syracuse mascot.” Pretty funny, but – much as I detest him – even ‘Otto the Orange’ isn’t as bad as the Boehner.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, head out to a National Park. Admission is free. Oh, sure, you’ll be supporting socialism and subverting the right of private ownership to buy land and turn it into strip malls and expensive estates for rich people, but, still.

Oh well, it’s Friday the 13^th, so you all be careful out there today.

Once again, I have my Internet connection back at home. Turns out, of the cable that ran from the pole to the house, there was a little tiny piece still hanging on the pole, and another little tiny piece left hanging on the house. Everything in between? Well, it’s probably still hanging on whatever the hell took it down. I reckon that’s a valid reason for having no signal. Still, I need to get back to my bamboo strainer wifi antenna project so I can use the Panera network in case of the next emergency. I have the strainer and the USB adapter. Just need to get a really long USB extension cable so I can mount the sucker on the roof (otherwise I’ll have to climb up there every time I want to check my e-mail – kinda like Oliver Douglas making a phone call). Still, it was really nice to be able to pop a Lortab and drift off to my old time radio again last night.

Speaking of Lortabs, the old shoulder is much improved, if not totally pain free. I’m still keeping ice on it in the morning and when I get back home from work, and there’s a twinge now and again (some things outright hurt, like turning a door knob), but I can raise my arm above my head and can wash my hair with two hands (as long as I don’t get too vigorous with the right one). So hopefully things will continue to improve, and I’ll be “all better” soon. Not that I’ll know what all better is. I mean, I wasn’t exactly perfect to start with. At this point in my life, I’m just shottin’ for “good enough.” The hard part is that the Lortabs are narcotics combined with acetaminophen. Both are no-nos as far as combining with alcohol (one for the risk of liver failure, and one for potential of, like, respiratory failure). So, I haven’t had a beer since last Friday, and I must confess that my life feels very incomplete without it (though I’m saving quite a bit of money; so far, I’ve more than half-paid for the Kindle 3 I ordered the other day).

Good luck to Mr. Soupy and the cataracts today (good name for a band – Soupy and the Cataracts). My mother-in-law just finished getting the second one done, and she wishes she’d gotten it done sooner, because her eyes are working much better now. Personally, I hope to never have the experience, but it’s starting to become clear to me that my body appears to be going the way of my 1998 Chevy Astro Van. Neither gets used enough these days, and being sedentary is causing them both to fall apart, bit by bit.

Vernon, I hope you’re over you’re feeling better now. Remember, unless it’s St. Patrick’s Day, stay away from the green pepperoni.

I may have mentioned back on August 3rd or so that our brave NYS Legislature had finally passed a budget. Well, turns out, no they di-int. The NYS Assembly sent the wrong version of the bill to the Governor, who then promptly signed it. Oops. Somebody figured out the error, and yesterday everything got set straight. Supposedly.

Daniel Radcliffe (aka, Harry Potter) is on the cover of “Out” magazine. I’m not sure what that is, but I think it’s got something to do with camping.

Some July economic indicators are due out today. The employment numbers are projected to be terrible. Home foreclosures are up 6% over last year. Some 30,000 people turned out in Atlanta yesterday in hopes of getting low-income housing vouchers (13,000 applications were turned in).

I think the plan to make America suck so bad that Mexicans will no longer try to sneak in is really working out nicely.

Speaking of Mexicans, Chuck Schumer was in town yesterday to tout a $600 million ’emergency’ spending bill to “address illegal immigration along the Mexican border.” Because up here – some 1,500 miles away from Mexico – we really give a shit. No word on which direction of travel they’re trying to crack down on, but, assuming they want to keep the evil Mexicans out, all they’re gonna succeed in doing is wasting our tax dollars in order to maybe keep enough Mexicans out to raise the price of lettuce, apples, and grapes.

Hey, beats Universal Health Care.

Well, I guess it’s about time to get ready for work. It’s amazing how much faster the morning goes when you have an Internet connection. Too bad it looks like pretty soon the only sites we’ll be able to get to will be the ones that can afford to bribe Internet backbone providers to give them the fastest pipes. Get used to shopping at Wal-Mart online and getting your news from Fux.

Have a good one.

Well, once again (or, still) I am without Internet access at home. After I contacted them yesterday morning, they told me there was a problem, but had no resolution estimate. Well, as long as they knew about it, I figured that’s cool. When it was still out after work yesterday, I called and they had no idea what was going on. WTF? So, they’re sending somebody out today “between noon and 5:00.” And of course I have to figure out how to get home to deal with it. This could be the last straw to make me jump over to FiOS (even if it means I’ll need to start paying for it myself again). No Internet, and I can’t drink beer due to the high levels of Ibuprofen I’m taking. This sucks. On the bright side, it actually makes me glad to get to work. Aint that a revoltin’ development.

I managed to make it out to the Ortho guy yesterday, who told me I most likely have impingement from the bone spur on the acromion (aka, the front edge of the shoulder blade, which is over and in front of the head of the humerus, and is not very funny). So, when I move my arm, the acromion rubs (or “impinges”) on, the surface of the rotator cuff. It’s also possible there’s a tear in the rotator cuff, but that would require an MRI to see. So, I don’t really think this is a job for Tiger Balm. Instead, I got a cortisone shot in the shoulder, and made sure to get a script for more drugs. Lortabs and coffee – the breakfast of champions. If it isn’t better in a couple of weeks, I’ll have to get an MRI and see what to do from there. Things aren’t totally pain free yet, but I have much more range of motion, am no longer in constant agony, and can even get some sleep. So that’s good. But, to add insult to injury, our Internet connection went down yesterday evening, and still isn’t back up. So here I am at work, without time to talk about my new hero the Jet Blue flight attendant, or about how horrible it is that Michelle Obama took a vacation. Maybe tomorrow.

Thanks to Vernon for letting us know who yesterday’s boobleheads were. I’d hoped to be back home in time, but things didn’t quite work out as planned. Oh well, nothing ever does. No work for me today, so I think I’ll go back to bed. Turns out, having Lortabs for breakfast makes you kinda sleepy.

Hope you’re feeling better. This is a defiantly why bother booblehead day.

State of the Union With Candy Crowley Immigration, healthcare, the economy: Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm (D-Mich.), Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.); Gulf oil disaster: Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen (ret.). 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. CNN

CBS News Sunday Morning Arizona’s controversial immigration law; polo player Ignacio Figueras; Barbra Streisand; theater camp for kids. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Fareed Zakaria GPS The economy, politics: former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. 7 and 10 a.m. CNN

The Chris Matthews Show Bush tax cuts; gay marriage; Obama’s 2012 running mate. (N) 7:30 a.m. KNBC

Meet the Press Gulf oil disaster: White House advisor Carol Browner; 2010 congressional elections: Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). (N) 8 a.m. KNBC, 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. MSNBC

This Week With Christiane Amanpour Iraq troop drawdown: U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno; soldier suicide epidemic: U.S. Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli. (N) 8 a.m. KABC

FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace Gay marriage ruling: Plaintiff’s attorney Ted Olson;. 2012 presidential race: Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.). 8 a.m. KTTV

Reliable Sources Coverage of the Prop 8 decision. 8 a.m. CNN

Face the Nation Gulf oil disaster: Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen (ret.); same-sex marriage debate: Tony Perkins, Family Research Council. (N) 8:30 a.m. KCBS

60 Minutes The high cost of intensive care; Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church. (N) 7 p.m. KCBS

Feel free to kill at will,

Definitely down to one arm now. Not much sleep, but at least i’m catching up on my recorded teevee shows.

My shoulder has gotten really bad (down into my elbow now), so I can’t really type much (which should make work really pleasant today). Too bad, too, ‘cuz I could talk about the Jets training camp (and who wouldn’t want to hear about that) and how Joe Namath (who is responsible for the mostly miserable 45 or so years I’ve spent as a Jets fan, and who is still a hero to me – OK, not hero, really, but I thought it was pretty goddamn funny – for getting hammered and hitting on Suzy Kolber on national teevee) was here (well, not here, here, but in Cortland, which is close enough to here to call here) talking about bringing a Super Bowl Championship back to NYC (well, to NJ really, but close enough) after last year’s AFC Championship game appearance (never mind they kinda backed into the playoffs – thanks to losing 6 out of 7 games in one stretch – courtesy of the Colts, which is rather ironic given that whole Super Bowl III thing).

Speaking of NYC, I could also have talked about how Ed Koch will be in town today to promote his Albany reform group “New York Uprising,” which I find kinda odd, ‘cuz I didn’t think Ed Koch even knew there was anything north of Hoboken and west of the Hudson, let alone lower himself to actually come up here (except for during his ill-fated, Rupert Murdoch-backed – or at least encouraged – run for Governor back in the 80’s, when he talked about Upstate residents “wasting time in a pickup truck when you have to drive 20 miles to buy a gingham dress or a Sears, Roebuck suit”).

Sorry, Ed, but I’ve got a Hyundai, it’s less than a mile to the closest Sears (I can even walk there, but I gotta be careful crossin’ the Boulevard, what with all them dang old pickup trucks whizzin’ by ever’ whichaway), and anyhow, I buy my suits from JC Penney and Granny buys her gingham dresses off that Interwhatsit thing all the kids are talking about. But good luck with that whole reform thing, ‘cuz I really respect your f*cking opinion, old man.

If it wasn’t such misery to type, I might even have mentioned Elana Kagan being confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice (and how she kinda looks like she could be Rachel Maddow’s “Aunt Laney” or something; can’t you just picture the two of them together smoking cigars and playing poker or out in a boat fishing?).

Or I might tell you that Granny dropped something or other on her foot, so between her foot and my shoulder (talk about a precarious position), last night the two of us were gruntin’ & groanin’ (in agony, not ecstasy – get your minds outta the gutter), cursing (lots-o-cursing) and hobbling around like a couple of ancient cripples, putting ice packs on our various afflicted parts (a little bit of ecstasy there) and lamenting about how it sucks to get old (if I ever start talking about how my BM was this morning, somebody just shoot me).

I would probably also mention that today is the 65th anniversary of the first time nuclear weapons were used in war, as Pilot Paul Tibbetts (played by Sidney Poitier in “In the Heat of the Night” and its sequel, “They Call Me Mister Tibbetts!”) and the Enola Gay (named after his mommy; what a good son) dropped “Little Boy” over Hiroshima, ruining what by all accounts was a very pleasant morning.

But my shoulder’s killing me, so this is about as much as I can manage. And, speaking of ruining a perfectly pleasant morning (other than the shoulder agony, of course), I reckon it’s about time to head off to work.

On the bright side, at least it’s finally Friday.

As everybody’s heard by now, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that California’s Prop 8 ban of same-sex marriage violaes the equal protection and due process rights clauses of the US Constitution. Well, duh. How this could be considered “controversial” is beyond me. As long as people are allowed to marry other people, nobody gets to discriminate between different “types” of people. You may not like who other people choose to marry (such as, say, when 26 year old Anna Nicole Smith married 89 year old J. Howard Marshall), but it’s really none of your goddamn business. Of course, this isn’t over with, and the case will be appealed to the 9th Circuit, and eventually to the Supreme Court, where, if there was such a thing as “justice,” they would not only rule that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional, but that there is no need for laws “legalizing” it, because it’s already legal for two humans to get married. But I don’t really associate SCOTUS with “justice” these days.

Speaking of SCOTUS, Elana Kagan is expected to be the fourth woman confirmed to the Court today, over the objections of all but five or so Republicans and “Democrat” Ben “The Wig” Nelson, and without the backing of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund.

“This rare decision comes because Kagan’s record as an attorney is too ambiguous for MALDEF to make an informed determination about her current knowledge and potential understanding of Latino legal concerns,” the group’s president, Thomas Saenz, wrote in a commentary written for the online news Website the Huffington Post.

I don’t expect Kagan to turn out to be a flaming liberal (hopefully she’ll at least be to the left of Fat Tony Scalia), and therefore will not be in the least disappointed if (or when) she votes to uphold California’s Prop 8.

If you’ve got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, be careful about where you surf.

The iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touches running iOS versions 3.1.2 or higher have a critical security flaw that allows malicious code to be loaded through Safari (the web browser) to give hacker’s full access to infected handheld devices.

The finding has been so serious that the German government issued an official warning in which it sited “two critical weak points for which no patch exists.”

On the bright side, you can use the same technique to “jailbreak” your phone.

Of course, this isn’t the first security issue with these devices, nor is it likely to be the last, and Apple already says they’ve got a fix for it, which they’ll release when they get around to it.

As long as there are smart people with a lot of time on their hands, they’ll always be able to figure out a way to screw with these things – whether they’re Linux or Windows-based PCs, Macs, or iWhatevers. It’s just nice to see that Apple now has enough market share with their stuff to make them attractive to hackers. They’ve been pretty well known in the past for not bothering to fix known (but unpublicized) vulnerabilities in the past, then vilifying those who make the exploits public out of frustration with Apple’s slow response. Maybe this will shake thing up out there in Cupertino.

And, finally, I’d like to say Happy Birthday to my wife. Happy Birthday, Granny!