Vatican: Catholics May Vote For Kerry

You might be thinking, so what? Well there are about 66 million Catholics (24%) in the United States. Catholics are the largest religious denomination. There are more Protestants (52%) but Protestants are broken up into smaller denominations. Southern Baptists are the largest of the Protestant denominations and there are about 16 million of them. I've read that there are 40 million evangelical (Bible) Christians and I figure that the Baptists are part of that estimate. Catholic belief focuses on social justice issues just as much, if not more than pro-life issues. The right wing politicians have been courting the evangelicals and some US Bishops seem to be courting the right wing politicians if you've kept up with the news. You've read about some Bishops like Archbishop Burke and Bishop Sheridan who refuse to give communion to Kerry and any Catholics who support pro-choice politicians. This is NOT the official stand of the Catholic Church though.

The official Catholic stance is that it should be non-partisan when it comes to politics. It's also the law in the United States. The Vatican also knows and declares that communion should not be used as a sanction. American Bishops got together recently though and ended up agreeing to disagree however and decided that some Bishops will take a harsher stand in their diocese and tell their flock that they had better not vote for pro-choice politicians if they want to receive communion. If these Catholics are not made aware of the official Vatican stance, this could very well sway the vote towards Bush in those areas and this is a problem.. but then again, Catholics are not that stupid... I hope.

The official Vatican stance is that a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil only if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion. If a particular Catholic votes for a pro-choice democrat because this particular candidate is for universal health care, is anti-war, is for improving the schools and helping lift the poor out of oppression which are social issues that are in keeping with Christian values, then this is not against Church teaching at all. It's actually okay to Vote for Pro-Abortion Politician. Voting for Kerry in order to rid the United States of the evil Bush Administration is not against the Catholic Church. This proves that the Vatican is not stupid. The Pope knows that the Republicans pay lip service to the devoutly religious by being pro-life, anti-stem cell research and pro-family values while every single other issue is decidedly unChristian and possibly intrinsically evil.

The Catholic Church, or any church for that matter is not allowed to tell church goers who to vote for. It's illegal under IRS rules. (What 501(c)(3) Corporations can and cannot do in regard to political activity. very interesting.) Of course proclaiming that its church adherents must not vote for a pro-choice candidate leaves the members of the flock with only one choice since Democrats are the pro-choice party. This is a sneaky way of churchmen getting around the 501(c)(3) corporation restrictions.

Check this out from Nathan Newman, Senator Dick Durbin: Rating the Catholic Senators: "Kerry had the highest domestic rating of any Catholic Senator (95%)"

Here's the Catholic Bishops Faithful Citizenship Home Page.

Here's the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Home Page.

An Uzi Up Your Liberal Nose

The gun lobby can't wait to blow stuff away
Who cares if the assault-weapons ban is about to expire?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, June 30, 2004

"Machine guns. Aren't they just the cutest things?

And isn't it just so sweet and fall-down uproarious how the NRA and all its knuckle-draggin' right-wing pals in the U.S. Senate are all cheering right this minute, as the much-loathed 10-year-old ban on assault weapons, the one outlawing Uzis and TEC-9 semiautomatics and AK-47s and all other way-cool manly guns that have no other purpose in this world than to annihilate crap at 200 rounds per minute, is about to expire? "
Read the Whole Thing

Cheney Gets Bronx Cheer

The usual NY-Boston rivalry turned against a bigger villian Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium when Dick the "Prick" Cheney's face was shown on the big videoboard during the 7th inning stretch and the crowd went wild and booed him unmercifully so that they had to quickly switch to another shot... that didn't keep the Bronx crowd crowd quiet though.. they kept booing.

Cheney was sitting with Gov Pataki (boo) and former NYC Mayor Guiliani (boo). It's times like this that being a New Yorker makes me so proud, it brings tears to my eyes. The Yankees beat Boston 11-3, but most of all, the Yankee and Red Sox fans showed Cheney that this is NOT Cheney/Bush country. NY is not known for its impotence.

Instead of saying "Fuck"

You can say "Cheney"!

Go Cheney yourself!
Cheney you!
Cheney me!
I Cheneyed up
Wanna Cheney, baby?
He was a lousy Cheney.
I'd never Cheney him again.
Go Cheney yourself in the ass... sideways
We're Cheneyed in the ass.
He Cheneyed me good.
Cheney for a dollah, sailor?
Dick Cheney Cheneys goats
George Bush Cheneys Dick Cheneys ass.
isn't this fun?
you can beat spam filters now
beat the FCC
fight impotence.

2006 Pentagon Budget as Sacrilege

"Indeed, Cheney belongs in Ripley’s Believe It or Not: he may be the first man who suffered several heart attacks and does not possess a heart. "

From Saul Landau: Counterpunch:
Bush Invests National Treasure in Death and Destruction

"Congress, following the President’slead, hardens the American heart by making weapons a priority over housing, health, education and jobs. The budget they pass each year awards billions to the swindlercorporations that produce the lethal instruments: General Dynamics, Lockheed and the other household names of mass weapons production. Think of the fortunes by the schnorrers who sold SDI to the late President Reagan! Or how Reagan took money from the hungry and homeless – “it’s their choice,” said Reagan – and handed it to the fakirs who pretended that could stop incoming missiles.

The Bush presidency has taken military spending (wasting) to new heights (depths). More frightening, a military culture has emerged that includes military language in everyday speech – yes sir. The military that carried low social prestige until World War II has become a highly respected institution. Its recruiters have become as ubiquitous on high school and college campuses as ivy on the walls. At graduation ceremonies, some high school administrators don military garb alongside those with traditional black robes. But, wait a minute! In a republic, a professional military merits minimal status. Indeed, republics need citizens’ militias, not standing armies at a time when a foreign state poses no immediate threat to US security.

Indeed, Vice President Dick Cheney, a warmonger, liar and draft dodger -- “I had better things to do” than serve in Vietnam -- represents the new heart of the nation. Without disclosing his evidence, he continues to insist that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Qaeda and keeps secret his minutes – executive privilege -- with the dishonest Enron officials, one of whom laughs about overcharging "those poor grandmothers" in California. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who will use such evidence on tape to prosecute Enron officials for rigging energy prices to bilk Californians, claims "this is further evidence of the arrogance that was so fundamental to the business practices of Enron and the other energy pirates who acted so rapaciously” (Business Report, 6/06/04).

For Cheney, rapaciousness is as American as apple pie. Indeed, Cheney belongs in Ripley’s Believe It or Not: he may be the first man who suffered several heart attacks and does not possess a heart. Cheney stands as an allegorical reference to the nation’s morality in the early 21st Century. "

Read the rest.It's good.

Uh Mr President You Aren't The Ruler of the United States

The preznit keeps forgetting that he was not elected but appointed and not only that, he is rather unsure of what the constitution says and what it means. He has little or no regard for history and has the manners and class of someone who was raised by animals. It's rather embarrassing when he goes overseas to represent us, wouldn't you say? eeek. (Even Nixon had class.) How many years would you say he set back our country?

And now the news...

NY Times: In Classic Check and Balance, Court Shows Bush It Also Has Wartime Powers: "It was Justice Robert H. Jackson who first noted 52 years ago this month, in another wartime election summer, that a president is not commander in chief of the country, only of the military. Justice Jackson wrote that in his concurring opinion overturning Harry S. Truman's seizure of the American steel industry during the Korean war, and Justice David H. Souter cited those words approvingly in his concurrence on Monday."

And you don't rule Europe either!

Guardian Unlimited: Angry Chirac puts Bush in his place: "Jacques Chirac bluntly told George Bush to mind his own business yesterday when the US president urged European leaders to give Turkey a firm date for starting EU membership talks later this year.

Ignoring the determined effort to celebrate improved transatlantic relations after the Iraq crisis, the French president publicly rebuked Mr Bush at Nato's Istanbul summit for calling for special treatment for the Turks."

Reflection on Fahrenheit 9/11

I didn't want to be right about what has happened since 9/11. I wanted to be proven wrong and I would actually have felt relieved. Seriously. I understand why there are people out there slamming F9/11 because they don't want to be wrong. It sucks to find out you were wrong. It's so odd that those of us who know the truth wish we were wrong and those who believe the lies are afraid to face it.

When all the truth comes out, yeah, I'll be vindicated... but big deal. This isn't the kind of stuff that you want to be right about. It only makes you feel worse.

Fahrenheit 9/11 connected dots I didn't want to connect willfully. I tried not to think of it but the dots kept creeping back. I wanted the USA to be the greatest country in the world and the country that was revered by all the world. I just wish that those who fear reality will find the strength to join the rest of us. We will welcome them and then we will all do what needs to be done. Together.

"If America ever passes out as a great nation, we ought to put on our tombstone:  America died from a delusion she had Moral Leadership."  ~Will Rogers

"Defense of Marriage Act"- Defending what?

A BlondeSense Commentary:

Why do they call it the "Defense of Marriage Act"? Supposedly the "Defense of Marriage Act" is to reaffirm traditional marriage: one man and one woman. It says so in the Bible so it must be true. The Marriage Nazi's say that allowing gay people to marry is very dangerous to "THE CHILDREN".

The president said:
"And the preservation of marriage rises to this level of national importance. The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honoring -- honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith. Ages of experience have taught humanity that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society. Marriage cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society. "-President Calls for Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage

Traditional marriage is also detrimental to "THE CHILDREN". It also reflects the INSTABILITY of society because you have so many people running around getting married, divorced and remarried. If you look at some statistics that I dug up earlier, it looks to me like the people who are pushing for this "Defense of Marriage Act" are likely to have been divorced, are looking to get divorced or really unhappy in their marriages and wish they were divorced.

Why do they want to deprive gay people of such bliss? she asked snarkily

I have posted the whole article complete with statistics on this page. It shows that the very same people who are pushing for this constitutional amendment statistically fall into the same category as those who are serial monogamists. These are people who get divorced and remarried the most. These folks just happen to be conservative Christians. According to their Lord and Savior, divorced and remarried people are committing adultery. Adultery as a sin falls into the same category as homosexuality in the Bible. Blondesense connects the dots.

Proof that the June 30th Iraq Handover will be a FARCE.

Take Back The Media: "U.S. Immunity in Iraq Will Go Beyond June 30th

"The Bush administration has decided to take the unusual step of bestowing on its own troops and personnel immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts for killing Iraqis or destroying local property after the occupation ends and political power is transferred to an interim Iraqi government, U.S. officials said.

"The administration plans to accomplish that step -- which would bypass the most contentious remaining issue before the transfer of power -- by extending an order that has been in place during the year-long occupation of Iraq. Order 17 gives all foreign personnel in the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority immunity from 'local criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction and from any form of arrest or detention other than by persons acting on behalf of their parent states.' "

Why do Arabs hate America?

Iraq Combat - What It's Really Like Over There

Read this.

Billions of Iraqi Funds Missing

Billions of Iraqi Funds Missing: "LONDON (AP) - Billions of dollars belonging to Iraq is not accounted for by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which was given responsibility by the United Nations for the country's finances, British lawmakers and aid activists said Monday.

There are glaring gaps in the handling of $20 billion generated by Iraq's oil and other sources since the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein ended last year, according to reports from the Liberal Democrats, Britain's third-largest political party, and Christian Aid.

The Christian Aid report also said the majority of Iraq's reconstruction projects have been awarded to U.S. companies, which charge up to 10 times more than Iraqi firms.

There was no immediate reaction from coalition officials to the reports. "

It's Fahrenheit 911 on Long Island

Newsday'Fahrenheit 9/11' stirs emotions on LI:: "A sure-footed Republican and self-described 'ardent Bush-Cheney supporter,' Alan Wilenski found none of his other right-leaning friends and family willing to go along with his Sunday afternoon plans.

"But the Alan Wilenski who stepped out of the Farmingdale Multiplex Cinemas yesterday afternoon, after the 12:40 showing of 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' was a different man. Hands in pockets, his expression contemplative, he left with more than a new perspective. He left with three more tickets to a later showing of Michael Moore's politically combustible documentary criticizing the Bush administration and the war in Iraq."

It was pretty amazing to see this story right inside the cover of today's Newsday. Long Island is a Republican stronghold. I didn't see any radical looking people on line to see the movie on Saturday either. Everyone looks like a Republican on Long Island.

"F911" also was the number 1 movie in America this weekend. I was checking out statistics, because I am a nerd, and I noticed that "White Chicks" (which looks pretty funny) was number 2.

I also noticed that "F911" only opened in 868 theaters while "White Chicks" opened in 2,726 theaters. "Dodgeball" the third place movie opened in 3,020 theaters.

Now that is an accomplishment. Most people don't even rush to see a movie the weekend it comes out because they figure there will be crowds. I am anxious to see how the movie does in coming weeks.

I'm sure we'll be hearing about all the lies in the movie too. Newsday has an article written by some guy who thinks the whole thing is a lie. He probably didn't even see it. heh. The most ardent critics of the movie that I have met, didn't even see it and don't want to. That's just plain dumb. It shows you the kind of people who support Bush.

Odd News Du Jour

BBC: Iranian woman 'gives birth to frog': "An Iranian newspaper has reported the controversial story of a woman who claims to have given birth to a frog.

The Iranian daily Etemaad says the creature is believed to have grown from larva to an adult frog inside her body.

While it is unclear how this could have happened, the paper carries quotes from medical experts who say there are human characteristics to the animal.

The 'so-called frog', as the newspaper puts it, has yet to undergo precise genetic and anatomic tests.

But it quotes clinical biology expert Dr Aminifard as saying: 'The similarities are in appearance, the shape of the fingers and the size and shape of the tongue.' "

I wanna see pictures!

Sex Pros On Hand For RNC

New York Daily News: Sex pros get ready for party: "With thousands of Republicans set to invade the city this summer, high-priced escorts and strippers are preparing for one grand old party.

Agencies are flying in extra call girls from around the globe to meet the expected demand during the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 gathering at Madison Square Garden.

'We have girls from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week,' said a madam at a Manhattan escort service. 'It's the week everyone wants to work.'

'It's going to be big,' agreed one operator at a midtown escort service.

Charging from $300 to upwards of $1,000 for an hour of companionship and a whole lot more, escorts said they can always count on conventioneers for big business.
...
Political conventions have long been a boon for the sex industry"

Oh my gawd, we sooooo need a documentary film maker in NYC for this. Who wants to do it? Write to me.

A Guide to the Memos on Torture

The New York Times: A Guide to the Memos on Torture:
The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have disclosed memorandums that show a pattern in which Bush administration lawyers set about devising arguments to avoid constraints against mistreatment and torture of detainees. Administration officials responded by releasing hundreds of pages of previously classified documents related to the development of a policy on detainees."

Whistle Blower in 9/11 Case Gets Some Support

I wrote previously about Sibel Edmonds a former FBI translator that was ordered to shut up after she appeared on 60 minutes on October 27, 2002. During the 9/11 commission hearings in March, Edmonds said "that the bureau had "real, specific" information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened." Her testimony to the 9/11 Commission was kept private.

In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

Even those in congress sought to keep her quiet. Why? She testified before congress and they got mad at her. The Motley Rice law firm is representing the families of the 9/11 victims and wants Edmonds testimony.

I wrote on May 20th about the Justice Dept coverup. The Justice Department had retroactively classified information it gave to Congress nearly two years ago regarding Sibel Edmond's testimony. It's unheard of to Retroactively classify documents!

Edmonds is not allowed to testify in any case because the government quickly got Bush-appointed Judge Reggie B. Walton to attempt to permanently silence Sibel Edmonds.

Well now, the Project On Government Oversight , POGO, is suing Ashcroft and the DOJ because they can't oversee the DOJ's actions due to the retroactively classifying important documents which is unconstitutional and unlawful. This case will probably go before, you guessed it, Judge Reggie B. Walton.

POGO claims: "This information was presented by the FBI during two unclassified 2002 briefings held by the Senate Judiciary Committee and was referenced in letters from U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to DOJ officials. The letters were posted on the senators' Web sites, but were removed after the DOJ reclassified the information. POGO has the letters and wants to post them on the Web to initiate public debate."

Until Sibel Edmond's testimony is revealed as the whistle-blower testimony needed to unveil the secrecy behind what really happened on 9/11, the 9/11 Commissions findings will not prove very much of anything. The few congressman who support Edmonds are being silenced. What's going on?

Why does John Ashcroft hate America?

Bush Backs Condom Use to Prevent Spread of AIDS

The United States was ushered into the twentieth century on June 24th, 2004. Yes I meant the twentieth century. Thanks to the foreward thinking country of Uganda, Mr. Bush said that we in the United States should 'learn from the experience' of countries like Uganda in fighting AIDS and embrace the use of condoms to prevent its spread.

"We can learn from the experiences of other countries when it comes to a good program to prevent the spread of AIDS, like the nation of Uganda," Mr. Bush said. "They've started what they call the A.B.C. approach to prevention of this deadly disease. That stands for: Abstain, be faithful in marriage, and, when appropriate, use condoms."

Mr. Bush was perturbed by the Reagan Family's blast against him for not backing stem cell research. Bush decided it was high time to retaliate and do something Reagan wouldn't do... pay attention to the AIDS crisis. While backing condoms may help prevent the spread of AIDS, activists feel that the government has done too little. The administration promised $20 million for a program to obtain drugs for AIDS patients in 10 states that lack money for therapy. Activists say that the admininistration wastes taxpayer money on expensive drugs produced by powerful pharmaceutical lobbies and the money will be spent too fast.

What else is new?

Bush vs. A Real Journalist

Wow! Bush met a real journalist from Ireland in the White House for an interview before he headed to Ireland. Here's the interview in MP3: Carole Coleman Interview With George Bush MP3
in case you haven't heard the whole thing. It reminds me of when American so called "journalists" used to ask President Clinton pressing questions about his sex life. Oh wait, they still do!

Then Bush went to Ireland and they were considerably less than pleased to see him.

Fahrenheit 9/11: Why Does Bush Hate America?

Saw the movie. Wow. If you haven't seen it yet, you definitely should. I was particularly perturbed by the 2000 stolen election by Bush and the aid from his brother. What really freaked me out was that no one and I mean no one tried to stop it. Not even the Dems. Wonder why they didn't want Gore to be President?

A lot of readers of this blog would agree that Bush's agenda in the middle east has to do with money, power, greed and most of all, OIL. We've been saying it all along and have been told we were delusional or crazy. The movie exonerates us and gives us even more dots to connect.

The crowd in the theater I attended was a mixed crowd of all ages. Plenty of older people were there. There wasn't too much laughter during the movie. It was too serious a movie to even laugh when there was so much tragedy and so much deception. The contempt of America by George Bush and his oil cronies is overwhelmingly horrifying.

Here are some links I have kicking around in my Bookmarks: (I don't necessarily agree with everything in every article. You don't have to either.)

Bush at Booker Elementary School on 9/11 - THE VIDEO This has been kicking around the internet for years. It's in the movie.

5-Minute Video of George W. Bush on the Morning of 9/11 Another one.

Bush reveals first thought: There's one terrible pilot: "'I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on - and I used to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot.' And I said, 'It must have been a horrible accident.'' "

Congress Not Advised Of Shadow Government March 2, 2002: "Key congressional leaders said yesterday the White House did not tell them that President Bush has moved a cadre of senior civilian managers to secret underground sites outside Washington to ensure that the federal government could survive a devastating terrorist attack on the nation's capital. "

WAPO:FBI Knew Terrorists Were Using Flight Schools : "Sunday, September 23, 2001- Federal authorities have been aware for years that suspected terrorists with ties to Osama bin Laden were receiving flight training at schools in the United States and abroad, according to interviews and court testimony. "
... A senior government official yesterday acknowledged law enforcement officials were aware that fewer than a dozen people with links to bin Laden had attended U.S. flight schools. However, the official said there was no information to indicate the flight students had been planning suicide hijacking attacks."

The White Van: Were Israelis Detained on Sept. 11 Spies?: "According to Cannistraro, many people in the U.S. intelligence community believed that some of the men arrested were working for Israeli intelligence. Cannistraro said there was speculation as to whether Urban Moving had been 'set up or exploited for the purpose of launching an intelligence operation against radical Islamists in the area, particularly in the New Jersey-New York area.' "

NY Times 9/30/01: Fearing Harm, bin Laden Kin Fled From U.S.: " WASHINGTON- In the first days after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, Saudi Arabia supervised the urgent evacuation of 24 members of Osama bin Laden's extended family from the United States, fearing that they might be subjected to violence."

Tampabay: TIA now verifies flight of Saudis: "TIA now verifies flight of Saudis. The government has long denied that two days after the 9/11 attacks, the three were allowed to fly."

Dark heart of the American dream: "On 11 September, while Al-Qaeda's planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Carlyle Group hosted a conference at a Washington hotel. Among the guests of honour was a valued investor: Shafig bin Laden, brother to Osama."

Was Invasion of Afghanistan Pre planned?: "The official story is that Afghanistan was invaded to get rid of the Taleban, the 'assisting party' in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America. There is a school of thought which argues the invasion of Afghanistan was planned well before the occurrence of 9/11."

America's Link to the Taliban, Nov. 1996: "What is the relationship between Washington and the Taliban movement? The appearance of the Taliban and its victory over warring Afghan factions is, in fact, the result of a secret operation whose threads were woven by the White House, the United Nations, the CIA, and the centers of military and political power in Islamabad. The operation involves international objectives that run deeper than just restoring peace to Afghanistan."

Taleban in Texas for talks on gas pipeline, 12/24/97: "A senior delegation from the Taleban movement in Afghanistan is in the United States for talks with an international energy company that wants to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan. A spokesman for the company, Unocal, said the Taleban were expected to spend several days at the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas. Unocal says it has agreements both with Turkmenistan to sell its gas and with Pakistan to buy it.""

The Oil Connection: Afghanistan and Caspian Sea oil pipeline routes: "On December 19, 2000, the UN Security Council imposed additional sanctions against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement (which controls around 95% of the country), including an arms embargo and a ban on the sale of chemicals used in making heroin. These sanctions (Resolution 1333) are aimed at pressuring Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden, suspected in various terrorist attacks, including the August 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania "

Afghanistan plans gas pipeline: "Afghanistan hopes to strike a deal later this month to build a $2bn pipeline through the country to take gas from energy-rich Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India "

Bush, Enron, UNOCAL and the Taliban: "The Bush Administration's entanglement with ENRON is beginning to unravel as it finally admits that Enron executives entered the White House six times last year to secretly plan the Administration's energy policy with Vice-President Cheney before the collapse of the Texas-based energy giant. Meanwhile, even more trouble for our former-Texas-oil-man-turned-President is brewing with reports that unveil UNOCAL, another big energy company, for being in bed with the Taliban, along with the U.S. government in a major, continuing effort to construct pipelines through Afghanistan from the petroleum-rich Caspian Basin in Central Asia. Beneath their burkas, UNOCAL is being exposed for giving the five star treatment to Taliban Mullahs in the Lone Star State in 1997. The 'evil-ones' were also invited to meet with U.S. government officials in Washington, D.C."

Getting used to the idea of double standards: "The underlying maxim is "we will punish the crimes of our enemies and reward the crimes of our friends". According to Afghan, Iranian, and Turkish government sources, Hamid Karzai, the interim Prime Minister of Afghanistan, was a top adviser to the El Segundo, California-based UNOCAL Corporation which was negotiating with the Taliban to construct a Central Asia Gas (CentGas) pipeline from Turkmenistan through western Afghanistan to Pakistan."

Osama bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth: " Some months ago, a book was published in France entitled 'Osama bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth.' The authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasique, described a connection between the September 11th terrorist attacks and a stalled plan to build a pipeline to exploit the vast natural gas fields along the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan. Their story pointed damning fingers at American petroleum companies and the Bush administration, citing instances where U.S. anti-terrorism efforts were thwarted in order to smooth the way for the pipeline deal."

President Bush Holds Press Conference, March13,2002 : "Q: Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden....
THE PRESIDENT: ..So I don't know where he is.You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you...."

Exposing the New World Order and Government Sponsored Terrorism: "The CIA and Saudi Arabia, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Did their connections cause America to turn a blind eye to terrorism?"

Yet Another Opinion on Michael Moore

I kind of like this Counterbias.com website. They have this article that attacks Michael Moore. It's a satire but the weird thing is that I know people who would agree with the article completely.

Michael Moore: The Traitorest of The Traitors

Such a word almost sounds French. Well, what a perfect descriptive adjective for Michael Moore, in the sense that not only is he a despicable traitor, but a Frenchie bastard one at that.

But does the word “traitorest” even exist? No, according to my fabulous Microsoft Word spell checking mechanism, or even dictionary.com. But computer types and intellectuals have a way of turning everything in their favor politically—yes, extremely liberal—so I’m certain it’s a case of rewriting history (or the language, in this case).



They’ve taken the word “traitorest” out of the English lexicon so that us patriots are suckered into believing that the word is unacceptable for use in describing these liberal ‘heroes’, such as Moore and John Kerry.

I’d go as far as to say that Michael Moore is a bigger traitor than John Kerry, who spit on our soldiers, threw his medals in the faces of patriotic grandmothers, makes a fortune selling ketchup which is used to smother French fries, married a traitorous Communist woman who was born somewhere in Africa, and even tried to bring Great President Reagan down!

Yes, Michael Moore is a bigger traitor than the despicable villain I've just described. Hard to believe, but such is reality.

I haven’t seen Fahrenheit 9/11 yet, but the fact that Moore made a movie criticizing Our President just makes me sick to my stomach. Let’s hope he is either censored or defeated by Patriotic Organizations, whose aim is to shut Moore the hell up, for good reason.

If you’re stifling the free speech of an America-hating Commie madman, who wants to criticize the greatest President since Reagan, you’re doing something positive for the country. You’re saving America from turning into the last bastion for Communist filth, terrorist vermin, and anti-American hippies.

Would you want fat, baseball-cap-wearing uglies such as Moore running America, parading in their fabulous fits of flabby flatulence while killing American soldiers and babies? Or would you prefer handsome, sexually attractive go-getters such as the immensely patriotic, America-loving George W. Bush? The answer is obvious.

Michael Moore is a traitor. He must be shut up before America sees his movie and is taken over by his relentless thought-control methods!

That fat bastard hates America, for heaven’s sake!

Before Americans decide to watch this piece of lie-filled, unfiltered propaganda, they have some choices to make.

Do we want dead babies, or freedom?

Communism and homosexualism, or freedom?

Mass torture, or freedom?

Joseph Stalin, or freedom?

Michael Moore, or freedom?

That’s what it all comes down to. It’s a simple choice.

I haven’t seen Fahrenheit 9/11, nor do I plan on seeing it, but it’s full of lies, and it sucks!

Holy Shit!

ANOTHER ONE FROM THE EEEEEWWWWW FILES:
By way of Jesus' General, we find this article at Smoking Gun:

Bounce Oklahoma jurist for "pumping it up" on bench

" JUNE 24--While seated on the bench, an Oklahoma judge used a male enhancement pump, shaved and oiled his nether region, and pleasured himself, state officials charged yesterday in a petition to remove the jurist.

"... Visitors to Thompson's Creek County courtroom reported hearing a "swooshing" sound coming from the bench, a noise the court reporter said "sounded like a blood pressure cuff being pumped up." [Judge Donald D.] Thompson, the complaint charges, even pumped himself up during an August 2003 murder trial."


If trials turned him on that much, why did he need the pump? Just asking.

Czech Out Marijuana Flavored Liquor

From the Ewwwwwwwww Files: Czechs Roll Out Marijuana Flavored Liquor: "A large alcoholic drinks manufacturer has launched a marijuana flavored liquor, the company said Friday."


It's been a long time for me but did we like the taste of it? This stuff doesn't have THC and it's only 16% alcohol. Why bother?

Angry Cow

Mad Cow Never Entered Food Chain: "Consumers of U.S. beef need not be alarmed after an animal tested positive in a preliminary screening for mad cow disease because it never entered the food chain, agriculture officials say."

oh goodie, they caught one before it entered the food chain. whew.

BlondeSense Stalked By Woman Haters Club

Oh my Gawd the president of the "He-Man Woman Haters Club" mentioned BlondeSense in his blog today. He's the one who took over the club after Alfalfa retired and ended up marrying Darla anyway even though she treated him like shit.

I wondered why the traffic was so enormously high and I checked to see where it was coming from. It came from the blog of 'he who thinks women are at the root of all evil in America'. Ya know... that guy that looks like the devil?

Be gone ye woman haters and people who don't know the difference between capitalism and corporatism, democracy and fascism! I command thee in the name of the Lord!

I don't care if my blog traffic dwindles back to it's usual 20 million viewers a day.

Conspiracy Du Jour

Actually there has been a lot of buzz lately about meteors crashing into the earth. I thought we survived the most recent "end of the world" prophecy last weekend.. but nooooo. Now they are talking about the 29th of June. When the hell is that?

More Coverups Of Cosmic Impacts? : "People who control the news are vary wary of current cosmic activity, and are deeply concerned about the effect this will have on public consciousness. "

Shopping List: duct tape, plastic, tin foil, comet repellant

New Bible translation promotes fornication

WorldNetDaily: New Bible translation promotes fornication:

"'Instead of condemning fornicators, adulterers and 'abusers of themselves with mankind',' says Ruth Gledhill, the London Times religious affairs correspondent, 'the new version of his first letter to Corinth has St. Paul advising Christians not to go without sex for too long in case they get 'frustrated.''"

Well yeah, baby.

"The One organization that produced the new Bible translation is dedicated to "establish[ing] peace, justice, dignity and rights for all." It is also focused on "sustainable use of the earth's resources," challenging "oppression, injustice, exclusion and discrimination" as well as accepting "one another, valuing their diversity and experience."

Finally!

"Here's how Williams, the top Anglican archbishop, describes the new Bible: "Instead of being taken into a specialized religious frame of reference – as happens even with the most conscientious of formal modern translations – and being given a gospel addressed to specialized concerns … we have here a vehicle for thinking and worshipping that is fully earthed, recognizably about our humanity." "

Absolutely

" "The new version, which Dr. Williams says he hopes will spread 'in epidemic profusion through religious and irreligious alike', turns St. Paul's strictures against fornication on their head," adds the Times."

I like this man. TGIF.

Incubus: Kewl Band

My son informed me he will be seeing Incubus tomorrow night at the Nassau Coliseum. I checked out the band. I approve. he's almost 19 so it really wouldn't matter anyway if I didn't

Newsday: "It's hard to believe this amiable young rocker has become a lightning rod for political controversy. But Incubus' latest disc, 'A Crow Left of the Murder' (Epic), is loaded with references to terrorism, censorship, an out-of-control government and a cynical news media. The single 'Megalomaniac' is only one example: Its hard-rocking refrain ('Step down! Step down!') seems aimed directly at President George W. Bush, and its eye-catching video, featuring a politician using a gas pump as his podium, has been banished to late-night rotation on MTV.
...
"The director, Floria Sigismondi, used collage- style animation to create images of falling bombs, a flying Adolph Hitler and a book labeled 'Ye Holy Buy Bull.' 'I wanted to show dictators from past and present, and how they abuse their people,' says Sigismondi, who has directed videos for Marilyn Manson and David Bowie. 'I wanted to make an anti-war video.' That plainly frightened MTV, which was still reeling from its involvement in the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in which Janet Jackson's breast was exposed. There was no sexual content in Incubus' video, but MTV decided to air it at night only. 'Which was a bit comical to us,' Boyd says. 'We thought it would take somebody in the White House' to banish the video. 'Instead, it took the breast of Janet Jackson. Like that was the final straw?'"

Wow I like this guy. I'm trying to find the video on the web. I found the MP3. I would go see the band, but I know if I did, my kid would have a cow.

Incubus had another song I really liked (forgot the name) and modeled one of my songs on my album after it... rhythmically, sort of.
Blonde Lemon Pledge: Ride You (MP3). (this is rather hip-hoppy. my producer played the scratchy record player)
"Ride You" is written by and ©2001 Elizabeth Smith, All Rights Reserved
Produced marvelously by Will Angeloro
Lead Guitar masterfully employed by Dave Isaacs

Lady Liberty Fireworks

Interactive Flash Fireworks Thingy

This is pretty cool. Almost like being there without all the smoke and little sparky things that fly all over the place. One thing about NYC July 4th fireworks, it's a world class extravaganza with so many fireworks displays for miles and miles that evententually you can't see anything because of all the smoke. I kid you not.

Hollywood Fundraiser for Kerry

From: Newsday.com - Election 2004: "Comedian Billy Crystal called it "Woodstock for really, really rich people" as Hollywood's artists came out to raise $5 million to put Democrat John Kerry in the White House.

Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond performed their 1978 hit 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' together for the first time in 24 years."

Oh my gawd. This is serious fundraising.

You don't bring me flowers
You don't sing me buttuh
You never sing to me anymore
You just pass me in the store
I don't exist? oy vay.

Court: N.Y. death penalty unconstitutional

New York State no longer has the death penalty.
but don't go having a party over it yet.. they will do everything in their power to make sure that they can follow in Bush's footsteps, I'm sure...

"Less than nine years after it was reinstated at the urging of Gov. George Pataki, the state Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the 1995 law violated the state constitution. The 4-3 decision means the four remaining men on death row - three from Suffolk and one from Queens - will be resentenced and that the nine defendants around the state who were facing the death penalty if convicted no longer will."

"‘My reaction to this is, ‘Oh, Lord help me. Unless you’ve walked a mile in my shoes and have had a loved one murdered, you would think differently about overturning it.’ - Ruth Brown "

"‘. . . We have to fix this . . . I am in favor of the death penalty, but I definitely want to see it done the right way.’ - Assemb. Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) "

Read the rest at Newsday.com

Blondesense is not a Pataki fan. We can thank Howard Stern for Pataki. Stern was originally running for governor, then changed his mind and pushed Pataki instead. We lost Mario Cuomo who was a very decent and brilliant man and got a dumbass. Pataki, a supposed Catholic, wants the death penalty. I wonder if he receives communion? Does anyone remember Pataki on TV after 9/11? Useless. He just stood there like a lump.

Mooning Our Elected Officials

The Gadflyer: Moon Over Washington: "Why are some of the capital's most influential power players hanging out with a bizarre Korean billionaire who claims to be the Messiah?

"Should Americans be concerned that on March 23rd a bipartisan group of Congressmen attended a coronation at which a billionaire, pro-theocracy newspaper owner was declared to be the Messiah %u2013 with royal robes, a crown, the works? Or that this imperial ceremony took place not in a makeshift basement church or a backwoods campsite, but in a Senate office building? -John Gorenfeld, 6.09.04"

dayam!

Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon?: I'm _____________ and I approve this Messiah A Work of interactive investigative journalism in bite-sized chunks by John Gorenfeld.
With lots of pictures and video clips. You gotta see this.

And this...

The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception (washingtonpost.com): "More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be 'reborn as new persons.'

"At the March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head."

Yep that was the congressman holding the crown for the coronation. This was a federal office building by the way.

Moon owns the dreadful Washington Times... and one of his moonies runs the World Tribune, which is referred to by Limbaugh, Fox News and O'Reilly.

From The New Yorker: "....[says] Rush Limbaugh, for instance. “There’s a piece in the World Tribune today—one of the papers in the United Kingdom—exactly as theorized on this program early on,” he said on his radio show. “It’s unconfirmed, but it’s a story that many of the weapons of mass destruction are at present buried in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon.” Fox News, catering to a similar demographic, enlisted a military analyst that evening to discuss potential ramifications—military intervention in Lebanon?—on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

"In fact, the World Tribune is not published in the United Kingdom, nor is it, to be precise, a newspaper. It is a Web site produced, more or less as a hobby, in Falls Church, Virginia... Its editor and publisher, Robert Morton, is an assistant managing editor at the Washington Times and a former “corporate editor” for News World Communications, the Times’ owner and the publishing arm of the Unification Church, led by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon."

disinformation plee-us

remember when they used to have real journalists and they would tell you what a kook this Moon guy was and what a criminal he was (he definitely was)? look how long this stuff is investigated on the internet before any mainstream media picks it up. well heck, it certainly shouldn't matter to taxpayers that our elected ones are crowning some Korean guy as the messiah. nah. no biggie.

'Embedded Patriots': Good Good News

Oh my god, this is good.

From The Nation: "A series of explosive leaks--closely held documents and well-informed tips--have altered the course of politics and might very well influence the outcome of this year's presidential election. Yet we don't know whom to thank.

"Who gave the Justice Department's 'torture' memorandum to the Washington Post? Who provided the International Red Cross's letter of complaints on prisoner abuses to the Wall Street Journal? Who confirmed for the New York Times that Iyad Allawi, the newly appointed Prime Minister of Iraq, had supervised the CIA's terrorist bombing campaign in Baghdad a decade ago? Who informed U.S. News & World Report that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld had authorized the holding of a 'ghost prisoner' in violation of international law? Who--someone close to the President?--leaked the 'torture' memo written by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales? "

They Can't Raise Kids and They Can't Stick to Their Platform: Repubs

Blondesense commentary regarding: Push to Allow DVDs to Be 'Sanitized' Alarms Studios

Interestingly the very political party that seeks smaller government and wants the media deregulated is still responding rather hysterically to the national trauma caused by the Janet Jackson Breast Incident at the Superbowl:

As part of that continuing crackdown, the Senate on Tuesday attached a "decency" provision as a rider to its annual defense bill. The measure would increase penalties tenfold for radio and TV broadcasters that violate federal indecency rules. Approved 99 to 1, the bill would allow the Federal Communications Commission to raise fines from a maximum of $27,500 to $275,000 per violation, up to $3 million a day per broadcaster.

Give me a break. So it's still not indecent that our media feeds us a sack of lies dictated by the Liar in Chief, but god forbid someone utters a foul word or bares a disgusting part of the anatomy on the TV. No one cares that the media spin on the lead up to the invasion of Iraq was indecent?

This LA Times article proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Republicans in the house are held hostage by their own bratty spawn:

Called the Family Movie Act, the bill awaits action in the Judiciary Committee, where it has won an endorsement from the influential chairman of the panel, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R.-Wis.). No comparable bill has been introduced in the Senate.

The legislation was introduced in response to a fight being waged in federal court in Colorado by the studios, the Directors Guild of America and 16 prominent directors against ClearPlay Inc., a Utah company that sells filtering software and DVD players with special filtering features built in.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, told a congressional committee last week that such editing without the input of the directors and studios "disfigures the original vision of the creator."

Oh who cares? If people are so hung up on what's offensive, then screw them if they miss the point of the movie because of their electronic devices. oy.

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood) mustered a different argument against the legislation, saying it would send the wrong message to parents. "Technology should not become an excuse for avoiding the hard work of parenting," he said.

Well yeah. Movies have ratings. Use them. When I was a kid, we had to check the Long Island Catholic for the official Catholic position on a movie before we were allowed to go an see it. Good rating, ok. Bad rating, no. End of story.

But Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Texas), the bill's chief sponsor, suggested that Berman's position didn't reflect the challenges facing households in which kids are constantly being bombarded by the media.

"It's unrealistic and impractical to expect parents to monitor their children's video habits 24 hours a day," Smith said. "They need help."

Well fuck hell no, Mr. Smith. It's still up to the parental units to decide what their kids watch and if it's questionable, don't bring the stuff into the house or turn on the TV if they are not sure if a program is appropriate. If the government wants to do something about the media, how about rolling back all the fascist deregulation of the media and allow independent companies to own some of it thus allowing democracy to flourish, duh.

The studios and the Directors Guild contend that Smith's bill, by removing dialogue and scenes, can ruin entire films.

I have earned the right at my age to watch filth and listen to swear words. And goddammit, I don't want my movies, that I pay for, filtered because some parents who can't take the time to raise their children properly won't do their jobs. Screw them.

Some poor excuse for a liberal I am. I raised a good kid. He watched mommy approved shows, listened to mommy approved music and watched mommy approved videos. If he didn't want to watch or listen, then we had books and Legos. We had parks, playgrounds, the beach, the backyard. All mommy approved. Sure it was work, but so was making sure that his homework was completed, that he was eating properly, that we made it to church on Sunday, took Karate, joined the Scouts, visited the grandparents, etc.

Speaking of the unmitigated gall by these right wing hypocritical pieces of shit, I could not turn on the evening news in my kitchen during most of Clinton's presidency because of Ken Starr. That pervert and his investigation of Clinton's private activities with a consenting adult permeated the airwaves. Every other word out of the nightly newscasters was "oral sex". I had a pre-teen at home at the time. We watched the Simpsons instead of the news for years.
For god's sake, I didn't hear anyone complaining about how the news was hijacked by the soft core porn industry starring the President of the United States. Hell no! Why? Because the wingnuts enjoyed that sort of porn so that they could be self-righteously indignant and feign disgust. Reminds me of when I was in my all girls Catholic HS and someone would bring a Playboy to school and we'd be reading it and saying things like "Eeeeeewwwwwwww" and "Disgusting!" yet not wanting the girl who brought it to turn the pages too fast.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) has not taken a position on the House bill. But he hinted that it might be best for both sides to forge some sort of compromise. "The fastest and surest way to protect and promote family-friendly viewing rights," he said, "is for artists and consumers to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution."

No Mr Hatch. No compromise. Tell your lazy pathetic excuses for parents in your constituency that not all art is appropriate for all audiences. If a film has questionable material, then easily offended families should be turned off by the ratings and the review. End of story.

Nowhere is it written that every work of art, be it a film or a painting or a musical composition must be family-friendly.

Consumers have a role to play too. The laws of supply and demand dictate that if there is no demand for something it will go away. If it's still around even though you don't buy it, obviously others are buying it. You still don't have to. Free country. remember?

Are the wingnuts turning commie or what? Who would have thought that the right wing would want their morals legislated and entertainment censored yet I, the flaming liberal, don't need mine legislated or censored because I know the difference between right and wrong and so does my son.

UPDATE: Morford: Who Will Save The Children?! Aww, heck. The FCC says curse words now cost $500,000! And your child might just hear one, and explode!

UPDATE AGAIN: Benito Musolini, widely regarded as the founder of modern fascism, claimed; "Fascism should properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." By deregulating the media, the corporations who support the Bush administration are also in charge of what we see and hear on the airwaves.

Why the music sucks so very much: In 1996, the FCC ruled for deregulation removing the cap on how many radio stations a corporation is allowed to own. Today, Clear Channel has grown to over 1200 radio stations and has more than 50% of the radio market in the US. Deregulation has turned more than 50% of the US radio stations into a propaganda annointment utensil. Look at the crap that is being spoon fed to your kids over Clear Channel radio! Britney? Give me a break. We tried to put on a music festival here on LI and it was stopped by you guessed it, Clear Channel. They own it all.. all the trash, all the crap. The CEO of Clear Channel, L. Lowery Mays, is a very good friend and one of the largest contributors to George W Bush.

Independent artists used to be heard on the radio. New artists would break with a new sound... Now, nothing but the same old crap, artists in the same mold, same damn beat... all corporate crap. So when you're bitching about the disgraceful music videos and the way your daughters are dressing.. just know that one of the 6 huge corporations plus Clearchannel that owns all the media and your government are behind it. That's fascist. Quit blaming the liberals. Your republican house and senate approved of this nightmare.

And one more quick rant... the reason people are file sharing is because the music is so shitty, no one wants to buy it. There may be one good song on a whole album, if that. Why buy the whole thing? I don't blame kids for dissing the industry. The industry is insulting their intelligence. When I buy music, I buy it from independent labels and artists.

The Republican Party, Highjacked

Today over at Doomocracy, Billydoom analyzes the Republican Party's official philosophy. You will be shocked and awed! Why? Because it isn't all that radical. Billydoom believes that the party's been hijacked. You decide.

Today Billydoom is flying to Atlanta (Lanner) and then driving to Alabama (Bammer). Good luck, Billydoom. Do not speed in the south.

Name Your Guvm'nt Program

Mad Kane, the webs most notable song parody writer has posted a contest to rename the Food Stamps Program because the government has replaced 'stamps' with a fabulous new 'Debit Card'. Mad dares you to come up with a suitable new title for this government program. BlondeSense readers are so witty and sharp, it should be a no brainer for any of you to think of something great, post it on her comments and win the prize. When my brain fart has passed, I'll think of something too. I'm thinking that since the US has created so many homeless refugees in the Middle East, that the new card ought to have the words "hummus" or "kabob" in the title... I'm very forward thinking, you know.

Blondesense is deeply honored to be linked from Mad Kane. Mad is one of my heroines because my alterego, BlondeLemonPledge.com is also a satirical song writer. My other most favorite musical satirist in the NY area is Sonny Meadows, the King of satirical songs on Long Island. He's been called the male, Blonde Lemon Pledge and I've been called the female Sonny Meadows. His songs are very political. Mine are not, believe it or not. I haven't written a political song since the Vietnam years. I'm just politically incorrect. period.

Repeal Media Rules

Remember when news really was fair and balanced? Remember when there really were journalists who asked tough questions? Remember a time when we didn't have to rely on reading a whole book or waiting until a documentary came out to find out what was really going on. Luckily we have the internet now. (But seriously, for you young whipper-snappers, there were journalists who were really committed to disseminating the truth! And they did it on national TV, on the evening news and in mainstream newspapers too.)

The reason everything is so screwed up now is because of corporatism and deregulation. There used to be regulations that wouldn't allow one company to own both a newspaper and a tv station or radio station in the same market. This was a good thing. In order for a Democracy to survive, we need to regulate certain industries so that one company doesn't take over a whole market. Without regulation, then the big guys come in and put the little guys right out of business and fascism seeps right in. Less regulation means regular people don't stand a chance. In 1985 there were 50 companies that owned media outlets. Now there are 6. With further deregulation that number could sink further. These are big conglomerates that have allegiance to stockholders not you.

That's why the news sucks so much. That's why most of America was led to believe that the war in Iraq was just. That's why most of America believed that Saddam had something to do with 9/11. Right now the media is just interested in serving the interests of those who will benefit them financially or politically.

Check out the Big Media Ownership Chart at Media Channel. It's a big chart. If you have a dial up modem, it may take a while to load. This one is smaller: Who Controls the Media Chart but it leaves out the newest one, Vivendi-Universal. This is a good website for more information about what happened to the media since the Reagan years: Take Back The Media

The FCC has rules that make it really easy for large media conglomerates to expand. The New York Times says the President and speaker of the house naturally want to preserve these rules and that is probably because these corporations are donors to their campaigns. These corporations also report whatever the White House tells them to report.

Well here is the sort of good news from the Times article. It seems that the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia is blocking those bad rules adopted by the FCC. "By a voice vote, the Senate approved a provision to repeal the rules and restore tougher restrictions. Supporters of the effort said that the Senate's decision provided them with a backstop in case the appeals court did not rule in their favor. But the legislation still faces formidable political obstacles ..."

Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota and Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine are co-sponsors of a bill to roll back the rules. This is something we should all be following in the news (if it gets covered). We should contact our Senators and urge them to ROLL BACK THE FCC RULES. Fascist governments have media like ours.

"Last June, the F.C.C. performed one of the most complete cave-ins to corporate interests against the public interest in the history of the country. When the number of people and corporations who control what 293 million Americans see and hear in the media shrinks to just a relative handful, democracy suffers,'' said Senator Dorgan.

Book by C.I.A. Officer Says U.S. Is Losing Fight Against Terror

The New York Times: " The author expresses 'a pressing certainty that Al Qaeda will attack the continental United States again, that its next strike will be more damaging than that of 11 September 2001, and could include use of weapons of mass destruction.'

'After the next attack,' he adds, 'misled Americans and their elected representatives will rightly demand the heads of intelligence-community leaders; that heads did not roll after 11 September is perhaps our most grievous post-attack error.'"

Wonderful.

The Lard's Feet Must Never Touch the Ground

Bohemian Mama pointed out that when Bush was in Normandy last week or whenever the hell it was, the US had to pay about $100,000 so King George's feet wouldn't touch the ground. The NY Daily News said at W's D-Day speech "The red carpet price tag wasn't anticipated by Pentagon planners, so the $100,000, which has already been paid out to the civilian contractors who did the work, will have to be scrounged from somewhere else.

"That money will have to come out of some account that otherwise would be spent on soldiers," according to a source familiar with the situation.

White House officials said a precise cost for the bridge could not be determined, because it was part of a much larger cost of preparing the site for the President."

Preparing the site for the president? Mr. "Brush Clearing On the Ranch President while the Soldiers are being killed in Iraq". Jeeeeeeez. When King George came to Long Island to do fund raising, he included a ground breaking ceremony at a park across the street from me where they are building a monument to the 300 who died from my area on 9/11, he also demanded that his feet didn't touch the ground. By attending that ceremony, he was able to get the tapayers to foot the bill of his campaign fundraiser that day. And we called Clinton slick? heh.

The Christification of America Encounters Roadblocks

We learned from Jaye at winding road in urban area , a few days ago, that the Texas Republican Party affirmed that the United States is indeed a Christian Nation. Jaye made the great suggestion that we "go back to crucifying people" as well. In keeping with Bible ideals and mores, I think that would be perfectly fitting as well. The Texas Republicans also want to "dispel the myth of separation of church and state", allow the 10 Commandments to be placed in public areas and of course still give religious institutions tax exemption yet allow them to receive government funds! It sounds to me like they would like to just do away with the US Constitution and put Jeeeeeesus in its place.

Just when my "Jesus Loves Me" thong was getting damp, it turns out that some party pooping Jewish Texans asked the Republican Party in Texas to stop calling the United States a 'Christian nation' in its platform. In addition to long-established Jewish communities, Texas is home to a sizable population of Muslims, members of what experts say is one of the fastest growing religions in America. The Anti-Defamation League was dismayed, to say the least, about the document that describes separation of church and state as a myth.

"America was founded on the belief that freedom of religion requires that the government take no official stance on, or participate in, religious activity or religion," the group said in a letter to Tina Benkiser, the chairwoman of the Texas Republican Party.

Tina Benkiser said that "Our platform is an acknowledgment that most of our nation's founding fathers had a deep faith in God," and "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation, and the public acknowledgment of God is undeniable in our history,"

The "official" US Republican Platform states "That the preservation of our Nation and the security of our citizens depends upon the Constitution, the laws and the courts, and the respect for them is the responsibility of every individual. On the other hand, our commander in chief has said, "There's America, and then there's Texas." Well ain't that the truth. I'm thinking of Kyle on Southpark singing, "Oh it's hard to be a Je-ew in Texas"

In other roadblocks against the Christification of America news, House Ways and Means Committee scourged at the pillar and then crucified the 'Safe Harbor for Churches' Measure a proposal that was "intended to give clergy members freedom to endorse candidates for political office without endangering the tax-exempt status of their congregations" according to Wapo. These tricky folks in the religious right are trying to dismantle the separation of church and state in order to elect Bush.

Not to be out-Christified by the Protestants, the Catholic Bishops had a "private retreat" last Friday and decided that "Catholics should not honor or give awards to politicians who defy "our fundamental moral principles" on abortion and other issues." The Catholic Bishops are very divided about whether or not to give communion to dissenting Catholic lawmakers. We heard about the St Louis Bishop, Raymond Burke said he wouldn't give communion to John Kerry and then we heard from Bishop Sheridan in Colorado who said he wouldn't give communion to any Catholic who supported pro-choice politicians. He didn't say anything about "death penalty" politicians or "unjust war in Iraq" politicians however. As far as Bishop Sheridan is concerned, we just have to get those babies born and then we can kill them.

The Vatican was a bit concerned about the US Bishops being divided so Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, met with a group of U.S. bishops visiting Rome this month and discouraged them from using the sacrament as a sanction. As it turns out though, the Bishops decided that they will decide for themselves and for their jurisdictions what the rules are. How do you like that? So if you don't like your Bishop's stand regarding communion, you can move to another diocese and have a different Bishop and different rules! Oh what the hell.. just do what you want.

It should be noted that not ALL Democrats are for abortion rights. Not all Republicans are anti-choice. They do represent their constituents in America. We still have separation of church and state and this is still a secular nation. See what a mess it turns into when they try to Christify the United States?

Take a look at the religious demographics of Christians in the US. You've got 63 million Catholics and lots more Protestants. But look at how the Protestants are so divided! There is no way we can be a theocracy. No one would ever decide which religion would be in charge. People would go positively nuts. 14% of the nation are other than Christian and there's no telling how many so called "Christians" actually live strictly by their religious doctrine.

Abortion Statistics show that 43% of women getting an abortion claimed they were Protestant and 27% claimed they were Catholic. So much for Christians being so actively "Pro-life". Statistics also show that 95% of abortions were for birth control reasons. You want to stop the murder of 1.3 million fetus' every year in the US? How about some more effective birth control lessons? I think when you find yourself

more blondesense

You guys must have come across opinion pieces whereby "liberals" are painted with the broad brush stroke that depicts anyone to the left of the neocons as a terrorist sympathizer, complicit with the beheadings of civilians, spending too much time dissecting the crimes at Abu Ghraib and the truth behind 9//11. These liberals according to the wing-nut pundits are ruining America. Of course, we all know that except for the neocons who are robots with pre-programmed brains, everyone else is entitled to their own opinions and thought processes. You most certainly cannot just throw everyone who doesn't agree with wing-nut philosophy into the same category. But in the black and white world of wing-nuttery, that is what they see. These people hate critical thinking. I love critical thinking. Don't you?

For me the Abu Ghraib torture scandal is important because we are paying for it and the US military is representing us. I want to know what they are doing with my money, thank you very much. What is so liberal about that? I think it's rather fiscally conservative. Personally, I would prefer that they would spend less money on torturing, I mean, extracting information from innocent civilians and taking pictures of it. It's also illegal, sick, perverted, demented and goddammit I don't want my money being used in this way.

Of course, I feel for those civilians who were captured and burned, beheaded, tortured and put to death. Of course I am. Should I jump on the "let's nuke the middle east" bandwagon because of that? Isn't that a little bit reactionary? Aren't the liberals supposed to be the ones who overreact? How come the same people aren't freaking out that over 800 of our kids were killed in Iraq? I want our troops to come home. NOW.

I thought the neocons were allied with the religious right. I don't think Jesus would be happy if we nuked the middle east, ya know? This kind of reminds me of the south when a black man would supposedly commit a crime against a white person and then everyone hated all black people as a result. Every time something bad happened, they blamed it on a black man. What's happening now is just neo-racism. There was a Boondocks comic strip from late 2001 where the kids are all excited after reading in the paper saying that the blacks have moved to number 3 as the most hated race in the U.S. They were so happy. We are Number 3! yeah! It seems the Muslims pushed them back. We are kind of Nazi here.

I've written a couple of times in this blog about how it felt to be here in NY on 9/11 and afterwards. It truly was terrifying and it felt like we would never ever be normal again. It was freaky to see soldiers with guns all over the place and roadblocks for months on end. It was an alternate universe. Holy Checkpoint, Batman! I have to admit, reluctantly that there was a tiny couple of moments there that I was wishing that torture was legal. I wanted those bastards who did this to be tortured, not killed. I was informed that the US doesn't do that. LIke I said, it was a few moments that I was in shock and upset and then I of course, I realized that they'd probably torture the wrong people anyway. Then I was over it.

By the time, we invaded Afghanistan, I was back to being an anti-war person and nothing on tv convinced me that bombing a place where you couldn't tell the difference between the before and after pictures was going to do any good. A lot of liberals didn't see anything wrong with the invasion of Afghanistan though. I was somewhere in the middle. There was no black and white. People had all sorts of opinions on it.

I felt sorry for the poor Afghanis who were so oppressed. I watched all those documentaries that were on CNN and MSNBC. I didn't think "Let's carpet bomb the shit out of that country" though. Others disagree with me. You're allowed. I just hope that someday when the fascists really take full control of our country that some other country doesn't watch a documentary about us and decide to carpet bomb us in sympathy.

My point is that neocons are completely wrong when they lump everyone who is not like them into one category. Radical lefties piss me off just as much as the neocons as a matter of fact. They got smoking banned in New York State and I hate them for it. Their politically correct bullshit nauseates me. There's not much difference between the fascists and the commies.

That's just my opinion on this muggy summer day in New York.

Father's Day with The Preznit

Father's Day Dinner with the G. Dubya Bush Family
Starring: Dubya, Laura, Barbara and Jenna as the twins

Twins: Happy Father's Day Daddy. We got you a book for Father's Day.

Dubya: You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.
I'm glad the First Lady is here. It's an unusual job where all you've got to do is walk down from your living room and come to work. I'm really proud of Laura.

Jenna: Mommy taught us to read.

Dubya: She is a fabulous First Lady. I was a lucky man when she said, yes, I agree to marry you. I love her dearly, and I'm proud of the job she's doing on behalf of all Americans. Just like I love my brother.

Barbara: Daddy, you love me don't you?

Dubya: I think Jeb and I were touched by what it means to be sitting at a table with a daughter who has said, I've got a responsibility to my mom.

Twins: Daddy we hope you like the book we got you. What was your favorite book of all time?

Dubya: Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of "Hop on Pop".

Jenna: Quite frankly Daddy, I think you spend entirely too much time thinking about Granddaddy and Saddam. I learned in college that this war thing is so bogus.

Dubya: After all, this is a guy that tried to kill my dad at one time. God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did..

Jenna: But Daddy, I miss spending time with you!

Dubya: I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war.

Laura: George!

Barbara: I'm looking forward to working in Washington this summer. I can't wait to finally have a real job.

Dubya: The best way to relieve families from time is to let them keep some of their own money.

Jenna: We only get to keep some of it?

Dubya: When you have your own money, it means you've got more money to spend.

Jenna: huh?

Laura: You know what your father says. "...work is incredibly important. Work leads to dignity."

Jenna: You just want me to be too tired to go out at night.

Laura: Your secret service agents are exhausted, girls.

Barbara: Dad, how is the war in Iraq going? Are the Iraqi's happy to be free now?

Dubya: I think war is a dangerous place. Freedom frightens people who are terrorists.

Barbara: Dad, I'm scared for the future of our country... for the future of the world.

Dubya: God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear.

Jenna: b-but... people are dying.

Dubya: We can help somebody who hurts by hugging a neighbor in need.
One of my hardest parts of my job is to console the family members who have lost their life.

Laura: It's so nice that we can spend Father's Day together as a family. Our twins are all grown and have graduated from college.

Dubya: Yes, that's a -- first of all, Mom, you're doing -- that's tough. But it's -- I appreciate that. I appreciate the idea of you wanting to give your children the education from you and the mom.

Laura: You're welcome?

Dubya: And it all starts with the human element, the thing that matters most in life, and that is our faiths and our families and our respected loves as dads for our daughters.

Barbara: What about the environment, Dad? People keep saying that our family doesn't care about it. I want to do something good for the environment.

Dubya: I'm so thankful, and so gracious -- I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well.

Laura: I am too George. How about you, Jenna?

Jenna: I hope to snag a rich guy, get married and have lots of babies.

Dubya: It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.

Jenna: huh?

Barbara: Can we go fishing in the cement pond after dinner?

Dubya: I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.

Barbara: Daddy, I'm concerned that some people think you don't know what you're talking about.

Dubya: I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe -- I believe what I believe is right.

Jenna: Yeah, people say you're a war monger.

Dubya: I know all the war rhetoric, but it's all aimed at achieving peace.
We're in for a long struggle, and I think Texans understand that. And so do Americans.

Barbara: I don't think Americans understand what we believe in Texas.

Dubya: There's America, and then there's Texas.

Barbara: That's what I'm talking about.

Dubya: I like to tell people, Laura and I are proud to be Texas -- own a Texas ranch, and for us, every day is Earth Day.

Barbara: But Daddy... I have a question for you...

Dubya: I'm the master of low expectations. If I answer questions every time you ask one, expectations would be high. And as you know, I like to keep expectations low.

Jenna: Dad, is there a chance I could be president some day? Maybe after my kids are grown? I worked hard in school. I'd like to make a difference in the world.

Dubya: I can assure you, when I was a senior in high school, I never sat in an audience saying, gosh, if I work hard I'll be President of the United States.

Laura: The twins take after me, George.

Barbara: You were right, Jenn. We should have given him "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".

All Bush quotes were actually said by our president at one time or another. They were taken out of context much like the religious right takes the Bible out of context. -The Mgmt.

Newdow Schmoodow

Before you jump on the Michael Newdow bandwagon because he is supposedly 'one of us', Trish Wilson's Fisking Michael Newdow makes it clear in her analysis that:

(1) Michael Newdow LOST joint legal custody, thereby he does not have standing to take this case through the court system. He has been telling the media that he had custody when in fact he had not. He lied.

(2) He is not concerned with how thrusting his daughter into the center of this maelstrom against her will can harm her.

(3) He is only concerned with himself, giving the thumbscrews to his ex-girlfriend, and basking in his 15 minutes of fame. The Supreme Court justices could see all that, so they ruled against him.

While it's fair to argue that "one nation under god" is unconstitutional, Michael Newdow is in this to screw his ex-girlfriend and get his 15 minutes of fame. Trish Wilson gives an excellent, well thought out expert analysis.

I am not sure if Trish is blonde. You would think so by the quality of her work. She was at least blonde as a child.
- the mgmt.

a day in the life

I'm awake really early because it was cool last night and I didn't need the air conditioner. The damn birds woke me up before 5am. If it's not the birds, it's the neighbors dogs. I think they are running a kennel over there. If it's not the birds or the dogs, it's the automatic sprinklers. As soon as the water goes on, I have to pee. Such is life in suburbia. I didn't get the Newsday or the WSJ from the curb yet as I am still in my jammies. I don't know what kind of crap the world is up to yet.

Did I ever mention that I live in a cartoon episode? It's surreal. It's several different cartoon episodes all laced together too. I should put a Warner Bros logo on the peak of my house.

The underlying drama is always the cat vs mouse show which I will tell about this morning. I'm the lady in the episode where you only see her legs and hear her voice. We have these teeny tiny leetle meeses that are smarter than god himself here. Their mouse holes are literally undetectable to the human eye. Not to the cat's eyes though. Picture my white persian cat napping on his victorian tapestry sofa (it's his because no one else can sit on it unless they want to be covered with fur) and suddenly one of his eyes opens. It looks around. Then the other eye. The tiger cat's ear flinches... then her head perks up too. In a split second the 2 cats, normally arch enemies, become allies in the great war that takes place daily in the nether-regions of this sprawling suburban ranch home.

The cats stalk the meeses for hours on end by crouching, aiming in one position, pointed towards their prey, unflinching, not breathing... staring at the closet underneath the kitchen sink where all the mouse traps are. Sometimes they stare at the baseboard heating. These meeses are smart. They can gingerly eat the cheese without setting the traps too.... sometimes. After several hours of stalking the meese, the cats eat their din din and the meese come out, grab a piece of cheese, take it back to their hole and the cats go back to sleep. This happens every single day.

This past weekend we did catch 3 meese via traps. The cats got 0. They are 2 for 5. I am thinking of firing them.

The cast of characters:
White Persian Cat (male): The Cat Formerly Known as Prince (sometimes Tom)
Tabby Cat (female): Tiger (sometimes Sylvester)
Mouse 1: Jerry (sometimes Ralph)
Mouse 2: Jerry (sometimes Alice)
Mouse 3: Jerry (sometimes Trixie)
Mouse 4: Jerry (sometimes Norton)
etc
etc
bidibidibidibidibidibidibidibidibidibidi
That's all folks!

a blonde moment...

It's Always About Sex

I watched McLoughlin Group, Meet the Press and 60 Minutes today. When they talked about Clinton, all they talked about was sex. Meet the Press was just awful. What a bunch of self important idiots. I would bet you that the only thing they remember about his presidency was the Starr Report. I am sure that they got off on it too, if you know what I mean. People that are overly interested in others sex lives usually are closet pervs. It's true. My mom taught me that.

Bill Clinton did a great job on 60 Minutes. They edited it so that most of the interview touched on his sex life, however they did delve into his childhood a bit and allowed a few minutes about other things that happened in history during the Clinton Administration to seep through. Bill Clinton probably hates Ken Starr more than I do. I never read the Starr Report. I wouldn't listen to it either. Honestly, it was none of my business. I heard enough about it on the evening news back then anyway.

I wish someone would interview that dick we have in the white house now about his sex life. I'd like someone to investigate how Karen Hughes gives it to Bush. I don't want to know the details cause I'd vomit, but what's fair is fair. I'd like to see Clinton vs Bush on Jeopardy too. The World Politics edition. heh

Evangelical Leaders Reexamine Christian Principles

The National Association of Evangelicals are advocating responsible Christianity. This is a wonderful thing if it's really true. It's no secret that I have been more than perturbed at the conduct and values of the religious right. Their public persona of late has been rather intolerant, selfish, overly judgmental, discriminating, hateful, bigoted and downright not in keeping with the Gospels. For any non Christians out there, the Gospels, taken in context, advocate the opposite of how evangelicals associated with the religious right have been presenting themselves.

I know many evangelicals are hell bent on condemning homosexuality and abortion, but there is a lot more to being a Christian than these 2 issues and what's more, especially concerning abortion, you have to begin to change how society views life before you attack abortion. This is something I have been advocating for over 2 decades. A woman's right to choose and homosexuality is really none of their business as far as politics goes. But I suppose if you are totally hell bent against abortion and truly view it as murder, I can sort of understand why they are making it a political issue. I'm not going to discuss that now though. You can put comments and debate it in the comments section if you so desire. Abortion in the Bible is very debatable as well as homosexuality. Evangelicals are more concerned with what the Bible says literally than what modern reason/philosphy/science coupled with ancient traditions reveal to us today.

If churches want to keep their tax exempt status, then I recommend that they keep out of politics. If they want to pay taxes, then they can voice their opinions like the rest of us who pay taxes. If they want to tell their followers not to have abortions and not to be gay, that's fine with me. That's why we have religious freedom in this country and we better keep it that way. They better keep politics out of church and church out of my politics. My religion told me not to eat meat on Friday and we didn't go around telling people to vote for those who don't eat meat on Friday. Whatever gay men do behind closed doors or in their private communities, is their business. I don't think about what they do anymore than I wonder what Republicans do in the bedroom. There are some in this country who spend an awful lot of time thinking that morality only has to do with sex and that is just a teeny tiny miniscule part of what morality entails, isn't it? Of course it is.

From the LA Times: Evangelical Leaders Reexamine Principles:
[The National Association of Evangelicals] affirms a religiously based commitment to government protections for the poor, the sick and disabled, including fair wages, healthcare, nutrition and education. It declares that Christians have a "sacred responsibility" to protect the environment.

Wowie zowie Batman! Now that sounds like Jesus-speak to me. Caring for others, caring for the earth, caring for the poor.

But it also hews closely to a traditional evangelical emphasis on the importance of families, opposition to homosexual marriage and "social evils" such as alcohol, drugs, abortion and the use of human embryos for stem-cell research. It reaffirms a commitment to religious freedom at home and abroad.

In the midst of a presidential election year, war and terrorism, the framework says Christians in their devotion to country "must be careful to avoid the excesses of nationalism." In domestic politics, evangelicals "must guard against over-identifying Christian social goals with a single political party, lest nonbelievers think that Christian faith is essentially political in nature."

I sincerely doubt that any Americans are against families and raising decent kids who don't grow up to be drug and alcohol abusers, criminals, idiots and spreaders of STDs. This doesn't need to be legislated. This is a family thing that should be taught at home first. Most schools also teach kids the difference between right and wrong. The terrorists who taught my child in public school also covered drugs, alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and such reinforcing what I had already taught my son at home. Stem cell research should only be discussed by those who understand it. It's easy to misunderstand it and explain it improperly as the president has done on this and so many other issues.

I am flabbergasted over this quote: "must be careful to avoid the excesses of nationalism." Taken out of context like that it seems to be an anti-fascist statement. I would have to read the whole thing to see what they are really saying. It sounds too good to be true. The part about not identifying with a single political party is a good thing, but not necessarily for the reasons given. It's a start though.

Evangelicals have been assiduously courted by President Bush, who recognized that they could be counted on in large numbers to vote Republican. Bush, a born-again Christian and member of the United Methodist Church, has won plaudits from both evangelicals and Roman Catholic bishops for opposing abortion, expanded use of human embryos for stem-cell research and gay marriages.

Bush also has advocated government funds for faith-based charities and other outreach to serve the needy.

This is all wrong. It's unconstitutional and it doesn't take into account the fact that just about everything else about Bush is decidedly anti-Christian. So what are they going to do about it?

But the framework before the national association looks beyond local charity programs and declares that evangelicals and the government must look at the underlying government policies and economic practices that could institutionalize poverty and injustice.

"When social structures result in such gross disparities and suffering, the Bible writers envision structural solutions, such as periodic land redistribution so that everyone can have access to productive resources and be dignified members of their community," the draft states.

This is the really Christian part... yeehah!: "look at the underlying government policies and economic practices that could institutionalize poverty and injustice."

Both political parties are guilty of institutionalizing poverty and injustice. The Reagan Era brought new meaning to it. Bush is so busy being a "war president" that even the middle class is in danger of becoming extinct. The constant talk about privatization of government agencies that once helped those on the margins of society, the elderly and our children will only serve to make corporations richer. The outsourcing of jobs to other countries is condoned by the Bush administration. Bush's allegiance to his corporate cronies and contempt of the American people and other leading nations of the world puts our country in great danger and the risk of world war is growing graver daily.

But under the new public engagement framework, evangelicals may find themselves sometimes at odds with political allies in the culture wars that have buffeted the country for two decades. Genuflecting to political realism, the new framework calls on evangelicals to seek to work with whom they disagree in common cause. The framework also recognizes that in the give and take of political compromise, they may frequently have to settle for "half a loaf."
...
"I think it will be a surprise to those who have a very stereotyped idea of what evangelicals are," Knippers said. "I also think that it helps the media understand evangelicals more accurately."
It is also a recognition of the tensions within evangelicalism.

This is a mouthful because it is not what we expect to hear from evangelicals, is it? It seems that they are willing to call for a compromise politically. Good. This is a secular nation. Everyone is compromising somewhat in order to live peacefully. This is a huge step for any large religious group to take... but it's necessary. If separation of church and state isn't held up, we are in for a civil war in this country and the bad guys are going to end up being the so-called religious right. What an oxymoron.

The March poll, for example, reported that although 37% of white evangelicals said moral values were of most concern, 41% of all African Americans and 34% of all Hispanics said they worried most about the economy and jobs.

This poll doesn't explain exactly what the 37% of white evangelical people who are concerned about moral values actually believe are moral values. Are they talking about advocating for social and economic justice which are moral values according to the Gospels or do they think moral values only have to do with sex and gayness? Jesus spends the majority of his ministry according to the Gospels advocating for the poor and condemning the rich. Careful reading of the Bible would lead a critical reader to only one assumption: Love God, love one another, take care of one another, especially the poor. The rich are going to get their rewards here on earth while those who advocate for economic and social justice will live forever is consistent with the Bible.

Ranting about gay marriage is not doing any good for the poor. Neither is forcing pregnant poor women to have babies they can't afford. Changing societal values and advocating for life across the board, including prison reform, education reform, government jobs programs, health care for all and offering all Americans an equal chance at living outside the realm of poverty is most likely to make abortions become rarer. People are just going to have to learn to tolerate homosexuals because they keep being born to heterosexual couples who love them very much. The war in Iraq is debatable among Christians.. probably because the real story behind the war is so garbled, constantly changing and secretive. There is a "Just War" doctrine and this blonde doesn't think that the Iraq invasion would fall under this doctrine. It's not even constitutional.

I printed out the whole LA Times article in the BlondeSense Annex.

Other posts of interest:
The Beatitudes: This is what Christianity is all about. For real!
My Letter To Bishop Sheridan: He wants to deny Catholics, who support democrats, communion.
The Christian Wrong: More of my rantings.
The Right To Life: It doesn't end at the moment of birth.
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly: Interview with Mario Cuomo

Fathers Day

On Fathers Day my dad used to take us all out to dinner and spend the day with us. He never slept on a hammock all day, like those stupid cards like to insist. He always told us he was very grateful to have the opportunity to be a father. He showed that sentiment everyday he was on earth. I miss him very much now that he is in heaven. He didn't leave me wondering if there was anything else I could have done to please him. Lots of fathers do that. Don't be one of those fathers who do that even if your dad did that to you. Stop the chain. Be there. Talk. Be encouraging and most of all communicate. Your kids need you. All kids need a dad. Take this opportunity to be one of the great ones so your kids won't end up on Jerry Springer complaining that you weren't there.

Happy Fathers Day.

Fascist "Patriotism"

From Doomocracy:

"...this kind of patriotism is divisive, hateful and perjurious by definition and makes most people uneasy, intimidated and fearful. This kind of patriotism takes away the most basic freedoms enjoyed by free societies. This is the patriotism that singles out your children in school, if they wear inappropriate tee-shirt (with a peace sign) or your house in a suburban neighborhood (if the flag is not flying for the war). You would lose your job if the corporation is supporting the ruling government and you voice opposition, get evicted from your apartment if you actively and revealingly seek freedom and democracy because your landlord is a contributor to the governing party; be thoroughly searched if your skin is a dubious color at airport security, get beat up for publicizing your dissent to government policy , get deprived of truth in news broadcasting and be labeled as 'liberal baby-killer' 'traitor' 'un-American' 'unpatriotic' every time you voice opposition or criticism of your government."

Friends sing Ray Charles' praises at funeral

"Friends of Ray Charles sent the late singer off on a high note Friday.

B.B. King, Glen Campbell, Stevie Wonder and Wynton Marsalis performed musical tributes to Charles, who died last week at 73, during a joyous funeral service at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Charles' son, the Rev. Robert Robinson Sr., started the service with a rousing tone, clapping his hands throughout a reading from the Old Testament. Then the Rev. Jesse Jackson added a New Testament reading threaded with his own inspirational message.

'Now heaven has a maestro,' Jackson said. 'Ray, when you first get there, before you meet Count (Basie), before you meet Duke (Ellington), before you meet family and friends, there's a man over there, across the river who is giving sight to the blind!'"

See Newsday's photo coverage of the funeral here and here

Rest in Peace Ray. Pray for us.

Bush playing into Bin Laden's hands

Bush told he is playing into Bin Laden's hands: "Anonymous [author of new book, "Imperial Hubris"] believes Mr Bush is taking the US in exactly the direction Bin Laden wants, towards all-out confrontation with Islam under the banner of spreading democracy.

He said: 'It's going to take 10,000-15,000 dead Americans before we say to ourselves: 'What is going on'?' "

Hum Theme from Jaws and Read This

My most favorite Texas blogger, winding road in urban area again makes it clear to me that this Yankee would not BLEND in Texas... as much as I would really love to try the barbeque.

Read this post from Winding's blog on the "Texas Republican Party Platform recently adopted by seriously disturbed people in Texas."

I mean no harm to the sane people from Texas... but damn! Is this thinking widespread? Aren't you scared? Here's a taste: "Our Party pledges to exert its influence to restore the original intent of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and dispel the myth of the separation of Church and State.” There is so much more to make your hair stand on end.

Then read StoutDemBlog to get a feel for what's it like to live in Dallas and oppose the preznit. A Bush supporter called a "Mom against Bush" on the phone and " threatened to come to my home, cut off my head and 'shit down my open neck' if that's what it takes for me to shut my stupid mouth."

Ok then. Scratch Texas from potential places to move. This all kind of makes me wonder what kind of crimes people are imprisoned for in the Lone Star State. Check out Criminal Justice: Texas Style where I point out some interesting Texican statistics that show if Texas were a country, it would have the highest incarceration rate in the world easily surpassing the US, Russia and China.

So basically they have lots of folks in jail and they want to make more laws so that more things can be illegal so that they can put more people in jail. And I was whining about Noo Yawk.

Message from a NooYawkuh: Yooz guyz in Texas... Yooz gotsta doo sumthin' aboud dose maniac Republicans. Waddaya dooin'? Get some prozak put in the waw-duh, then kick dere assiz owda dere or fuggeddabowdit. Yaw gonna bee history.. Goddit? Now get duh hell outta heah.

SLUTS-A-POPPIN'

Mark Morford, my favorite SF Gate Columnist touches on a favorite topic of mine today: SLUTS. In Defense Of Sluts / You know what the world needs? More sluts.

Men love sluts. They will agree with a woman if she tells a man that so and so is a slut. "Oh yes, she is just a slut," he will say as his eyeballs are falling out of their sockets as the slut walks by. He thinks, "Man, I could do her." Well yes, he could and so could everyone else. I was never threatened by sluts because men rarely have serious relationships with sluts because 1. Sluts don't want a serious relationship (another column) and 2. Men have a double standards.

Morford brings up sluts because of this headline: MADONNA BRANDED A 'SLUT': Queen of Pop Madonna has been branded a 'slut' by Michael Jackson's Jewish adviser Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

I am sure Madonna is freaking out cause some guy named Shmuley thinks she is a slut. He's some guy who also happens to advise Michael Jackson. oy vay. Morford thinks that Madonna hasn't been a slut since the Reagan years. I would have to agree with him on that... but then again we don't know how much of it was actual sluttiness and how much was just for show. I contend that a lot of it was for show which would make her a media slut.

Morford: But it raises an eternal question. "Slut." Still potent. Still a deadly stinger of a word. Still being bandied about like some sort of ultimate conviction, a nasty hammer blow, a definitive curse. Like a woman sharing her sex with unbridled abandon is unethical and wrong and dirty and, well, slutty, whereas if a man does the same he's considered, well, Colin Farrell. Is this still true? Is this still where we are?

Me: Well technically, yes.

Morford: And it ain't just men slapping this label around. In fact, as any female with a vociferous circle of friends can attest, women can be far, far nastier than men in their condemnations of their own. Women call other women sluts (and worse) all the time, savagely, brutally, meaning it in the most degrading way possible. And then they drink too much Diet Pepsi and steal their best friend's boyfriend. But that's another column.

Me: How did he know about my diet pepsi?

Morford: Which brings me to my flawed theory as to why there exists such a nasty double standard, why there will always be a double standard, why men who have tons of unbridled wanton sex are considered hunky lotharios and women who have tons of unbridled careless stupid sex are considered sleazy unwanted harlots barely more highly evolved than a rat snake.

Morford: Here it is: Because women are more powerful.

Me: Shhhhh. Not so loud.

Morford: Because women control and contain and embody the most potent of energies this world has to offer: its sex, its reproduction, its libido, all about Earth and the divine feminine and cycles of the oceans and the moon and birth and death and men can only stand back and kneel down and buy flowers and candy and go, wow, and damn, and oh my god,
and then beat each other up and instigate wars.

Me: What do you want, Mark? A sandwich? Do you want me to look for the remote?

Morford: That is to say, women do indeed have a higher degree of responsibility with their sex because it is their most potent and divine strength, a dazzling and eternally alluring hunk of mystical magic, just as men have more responsibility not to abuse their physical strength and their awesome ability to barbecue meats or parallel park.

Me: I am going to take a nap if you don't want anything to eat now.

Morford: This is my dime-store theory. Isn't it nice? Doesn't it sound all flattering and luscious? I thought so. I thought I was being all attuned and progressive. I thought I was all over the modern pro-slut feminism thing like whipped cream on a soy mocha.

Morford: I was wrong.

Me: Just kill that big bug in the bathtub for me, would you?

Morford: I have been set straight, more or less. I have been informed by some very smart very attuned young women with whom I shared the idea for this column that if I offered up this theory, that if I were to humbly suggest that women do, in fact, have a bit more accountability with their sexuality, I would be smacked upside the ideological head. By women. Smart women. Powerful women. Cool women who know things.

Morford: Here's why: Because my little theory ain't exactly something they need to hear. Because that sort of "all-powerful goddess-y controller-of-the-sex attuned-with-the-tides" thing is, in truth, just another ideological ruse, just another manufactured burden, just another contrived role we assume women want to assume.

Morford: This slut thing is, apparently, very tricky.

Me: (yawning)

Morford: "Slut," of course, still has power. Is still packed with derogatory meaning, loaded with baggage. But you have to be careful, I am told, not to completely reverse its meaning, either, and imply that women are these radiant omnipotent sexual deities, as though they are some sort of alternative being, some sort of mega-loaded creature who embodies all these impossibly grandiose concepts that only, in truth, limit and annoy them.

Morford: It is, in its way, just another trap. It is, once again, putting the responsibility for sex and sluttiness and the procreative potency back onto women who don't necessarily want it or need it or feel like they have to embody anybody's inflated sexual notions of anything.

Me: (yawning) Get to the point.

Morford: This is what they say. Just leave us the frick alone, let us play with our energies and strengths how we see fit, let us be just like men, not judged and not put upon, and let us be free to define ourselves how we want to, for good or ill, as guys seem to get to do, as the world has refused to allow us to do for, you know, millennia. To which I say, hell yes.

Me: Good one. I almost fell for it.

Morford: So, then, let's put it this way: You know what the world needs? More sluts. Not the limited ones and not the judged ones and not the ones that little dink-monkey rabbis get to point a scraggily little finger at and go, icky icky icky.

Morford: Rather, we need more of the self-defined sluts, luminous or divine, ugly or silly, egregious or annoying, regularly nonjudged sluts who can do whatever they want and sleep with whomever they want and who don't have to worry about what the hell "progressive" men or "enlightened" columnists or gum-snapping bimbo "Bachelor" bait have to say about it.

Morford: There. That is indeed, truly, what the world needs. Also, world peace. And lots of free lube. And less religious puling. Is that too much to ask?

Me: Nice try.

blonde ramblings du jour

I referred earlier this week to an event I attended at the I'lle d'Koolaid where most of the attendees had been drinking Koolaid for five or six decades. We were introduced to a woman in her mid 60's who seemed nice enough at first, actually she was pretty nice, who lives in Huntington, Long Island, where Sean Hannity lives (she says she sees him often around town).

Before we had a chance to find out that she is a huge Sean Hannity fan, we remarked about what a liar he is. ooops. I think we also said that it's a good thing we don't run into him. heh.

The Center for American Progress has good information about the lies of Sean Hannity that we should probably print out and keep handy when attending social situations or just memorize. I think I would like to carry some handy printouts to give out when my intelligence is being insulted. Media Matters also covers lots of information about Bill O'Reilly.

STILL ALIVE? FBI Mixed Up on True Identities of Perpetrators

STILL ALIVE? FBI Mixed Up on True Identities of Perpetrators: "At least six men the FBI says were part of the ring of 19 hijackers who seized passenger jets with box cutters on Sept. 11 and crashed them into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon are 'alive and well,' report Mideast officials."

I've read this stuff before. Some of the hijackers are alive. What else is new? We don't know who really hijacked the planes. I don't buy the FBI story. We don't know exactly why we were attacked on 9/11 for sure. No one is asking and no one is telling.

I am still wondering though... almost 3 years later... how come we only saw the video of one hijacker going through the gate at an airport on the morning of 9/11? Where were the other ones? Doesn't this seem fishy?
I want to see the videos of all the hijackers on the morning of 9/11 going through the gates at the airports.

I am Strong... I am Invisible

Susumu Tachi, invented an invisibility cloak which works by projecting an image onto itself of what is behind the wearer. Isn't that cool? A computer generates the image that is projected, so the viewer effectively sees "through" the cloak. The key development of the cloak was the development of a new material called retro-reflectum. It allows you to see a 3 dimensional image too.

Instead of women wearing burkas made of regular fabric, they should wear these things so they can be totally invisible.... and I bet it would be really easy to steal stuff too. Rob your oppressors blind! And you know those days when you just feel shitty and don't want anyone to look at you when you go shopping or to the office? voila! Become invisible! Spy on your husband/wife, go into a life of crime, become a spy, fly for free! Imagine the possibilities... hmmmm?

BUSH SAVING SENIORS

Our Preznit is holding tent revival meetings selling a little magic card to senior citizens complete with little old ladies willing to testify ... yes I said TESTIFY... on behalf of the Lord Bush, and his plan to save... Save... I said Good Lord Almighty... the seniors are going to SAVE money. Yes you heard it here. Bush's plan is going to SAVE SENIORS money.

Bush met with seniors in Liberty, Missouri where he proceeded to confuse senior citizens even more about the use of the prescription drug card but assured them that in the end their money would be SAVED.

The president started out his speech assuring the little old ladies that we are teaching the world about peace by invading countries such as Iraq and showing them what it means to be a free country. He calmed anxious minds as he explained we will be a more secure country after we "Bring Freedom" to those in other lands who do not espouse our concept of "Freedom". He threw in a line about 9/11 to reiterate the fact that the war we are in and 9/11 are not related.

"And we've got to keep the military strong to make the world -- to help the world be a peaceful world. It's incumbent upon America to lead and work with other nations to spread freedom. Free countries are peaceful countries. And I believe we have an obligation to work toward freedom and peace, not only for our own security, not only because we must never forget the lessons of September the 11th, but because, in this nation, we understand that freedom is not America's gift to the world, freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world." (Applause.)

Bush had little old ladies flown in to testify about the little prescription card. The President said, "And I'll tell you, who best to testify is Wanda -- Wanda Blackmore. She and I, as I told you, we just went to a pharmacy. She -- I was going to say, you whipped out your card, but you left your card there before, right? Anyway, they had her card, and she bought some drugs that is -- a blood thinner."

"...She got her card. The first time she used it was June 7th. On a prescription that usually cost $10, she paid $1.14. That's called savings. It looks like -- we kind of did some rough math, didn't we, and it looks like you're going to save about $750 this year. And that's a lot. That's an awful lot for some people in this country. And I'm telling you this thing is working.
And I appreciate you coming to testify."

Wanda Blackmore rose up from her wheelchair and proclaimed, "I can stand! I can stand!"

The White House aids hushed her, slipped something in her purse and told her that this was a Medicare Card revival meeting, not a faith healing meeting. Wanda told reporters she gets a little confused sometimes.

A little voice was heard from Ms Cole who was waiting patiently on the stage for her turn to TESTIFY, "Mr. President, I can tell you that your drug card is working." The President in his best 'it can core a apple' speak asked her, "How?"

"Well, because I went and got my medicine that I had to give $120 for, and when I got through, I gave $20-something for that same medicine. (Applause.) So there's no doubt in my mind that it is working, and working quite well.

The audience gave a thunderous applause. Ms Cole had testified that she saved $100, praise the Lawd. Ms Cole also explained that her false teeth almost fell out when she realized how much she'd been saved. The President reminded her that false teeth are not covered and advised her to try Fixodent, which is not covered under Medicare.

Ms Cole dropped her crutches and said, "So I'm sold on it, and anytime I can tell you people out there that are of our age, try it out. See if it fits for you. And then if it don't, well, fine. But you need to at least try it and see."

The grateful president replied, "There you go. I appreciate you, Gladys. Thanks, very much, for sharing that." (Applause.)

Ms Blackmore was so elated that she blurted out "This is the only time I've been glad to be poor."

The President then asked, "Who's writing your material for you?"

"Why your office, sir"

Source: Medicare Drug Discount Cards Help Seniors Save on Drug Costs

Can I Stop Complaining Yet?

I guess someone saw my previous headline. Ten Harvard Law professors drafted a letter to congress (it was signed by 300 law professors nationally) that urges Congress to address human rights violations in Iraq.

The letter cites current international humanitarian laws that authors say are being violated in Iraq, including the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The letter said that though executive branch officials have admitted that interrogation methods used in Iraq may have violated international and domestic law, the prosecution of lower level personnel has been insufficient....

The letter also calls for the prosecution and punishment of those who violate humanitarian law, asking for the “impeachment and removal from office of any civil officer of the United States responsible” for these crimes. -Boston Globe 6/16/04

I'm no Star Jones, but from what we witnessed during the Clinton Administration, I still maintain that this administration needs its butt kicked. There will be people out there of course who say that torture isn't as bad as a blow job but that is a lie because most men would agree that nothing is better. But I digress.

Interestingly, Ted Kennedy isn't going along with this plan to impeach anyone as he feels it's best to just elect John Kerry. Well that would be one way to do it if we were assured that our electoral process wasn't so flawed.

One good thing is that people in high places are finally speaking out. "We all believe that current administration policies have failed in the primary responsibilities of preserving national security and providing world leadership," said a statement signed by the 27 retired officials. "We need a change."

This criticism came from a group that included members of both major political parties, two former ambassadors to the Soviet Union and a retired chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff. They didn't call for impeachment like I did. I don't understand why they are so reluctant to call for that but they did say this:

Bush has maintained an "overbearing" approach to foreign policy that relied excessively on military power, spurned the concerns of U.S. traditional allies and disdained the United Nations.

"It justified the invasion of Iraq by manipulation of uncertain intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, and by a cynical campaign to persuade the public that Saddam Hussein was linked to al Qaeda and the attacks of September 11," it said. "The evidence did not support this argument."

That's true and I covered this in my last post yesterday. It's even been proven by Bush's own 9/11 Commission. I doubt we'll see any of this on Fox News, but then I won't be watching that channel because it puts both my TV and my health at risk.

More lashes at BushCo: "Ronald Reagan's family is criticizing the use of the late president's image in a conservative political ad endorsing President George W. Bush."

Ron Reagan Jr became my hero last week at his fathers funeral when he said, "Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians - wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference."

Impeach the Bastards Already

Today the Bush selected 9/11 Commission finds that there was NO al Qaeda cooperation with Iraq, contrary to what Bush and Cheney keep saying. Read the article. There are no ties between al Qaida and Iraq. The commission also reported that there is NO evidence that any government financed al Qaida. Not Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, not Afghanistan, not the Taliban. We already knew that but tell your friends who believe the lies to read it too.

Even yesterday, George Bush was still bullshitting it up and told reporters at the White House, "Zarqawi's the best evidence of a connection to al Qaeda affiliates and al Qaeda... He's the person who's still killing."

And Cheney in a speech Monday in Florida, raised eyebrows by reasserting claims that Saddam "had long-established ties with al Qaeda."

If we could impeach a good president for lying about a blowjob, surely we can impeach a weasel president for lying about al Qaida-Iraqi ties and starting a war over it, killing thousands of people and making the US the laughing stock of the world. I am so sick of all this bullshit.

Please contact your representative in congress and senators. Ask them when the impeachment proceedings are going to begin. I don't want to be the only person doing this daily to Hillary, Chuck and Carolyn. Have everyone in your office and your family call your representatives every single stinking day. Enough is enough.

Bringing the New Kind of US Discipline into Your Homes

This is from The Guardian. I wish I wrote this. I gleaned it from Prairie Angel. It's too funny not to print in it's entirety.

THIS WON'T HURT MUCH
by Terry Jones (Monty Python)

For some time now, I've been trying to find out where my son goes after choir practice. He simply refuses to tell me. He says it's no business of mine where he goes after choir practice and it's a free country.

Now it may be a free country, but if people start going just anywhere they like after choir practice, goodness knows whether we'll have a country left to be free. I mean, he might be going to anarchist meetings or Islamic study groups. How do I know?

The thing is, if people don't say where they're going after choir practice, this country is at risk. So I have been applying a certain amount of pressure on my son to tell me where he's going. To begin with I simply put a bag over his head and chained him to a radiator. But did that persuade him? Does the Pope eat kosher?

My wife had the gall to suggest that I might be going a bit too far. So I put a bag over her head and chained her to the radiator. But I still couldn't persuade my son to tell me where he goes after choir practice.

I tried starving him, serving him only cold meals and shaving his facial hair off, keeping him in stress positions, not turning his light off, playing loud music outside his cell door - all the usual stuff that any concerned parent will do to find out where their child is going after choir practice. But it was all to no avail.

I hesitated to gravitate to harsher interrogation methods because, after all, he is my son. Then Donald Rumsfeld came to my rescue.

I read in the New York Times last week that a memo had been prepared for the defence secretary on March 6 2003. It laid down the strictest guidelines as to what is and what is not torture. Because, let's face it, none of us want to actually torture our children, in case the police get to hear about it.

The March 6 memo, prepared for Mr Rumsfeld explained that what may look like torture is not really torture at all. It states that: if someone "knows that severe pain will result from his actions, if causing such harm is not his objective, he lacks the requisite specific intent even though the defendant did not act in good faith".

What this means in understandable English is that if a parent, in his anxiety to know where his son goes after choir practice, does something that will cause severe pain to his son, it is only "torture" if the causing of that severe pain is his objective. If his objective is something else - such as finding out where his son goes after choir practice - then it is not torture.

Mr Rumsfeld's memo goes on: "a defendant" (by which he means a concerned parent) "is guilty of torture only if he acts with the express purpose of inflicting severe pain or suffering on a person within his control".

Couldn't be clearer. If your intention is to extract information, you cannot be accused of torture.

In fact, the report went further. It said, if a parent "has a good-faith belief [that] his actions will not result in prolonged mental harm, he lacks the mental state necessary for his actions to constitute torture". So all you've got to do to avoid accusations of child abuse is to say that you didn't think it would cause any lasting harm to the child. Easy peasy!

I currently have a lot of my son's friends locked up in the garage, and I'm applying electrical charges to their genitals and sexually humiliating them in order to get them to tell me where my son goes after choir practice.

Dick Cheney's counsel, David S Addington, says that's just fine. William J Haynes, the US defence department's general counsel, agrees it's just fine. And so does the US air force general counsel, Mary Walker.

In fact, practically everybody in the US administration seems to think it's just fine, except for the state department lawyer, William H Taft IV, who perversely claims that I might be opening the door to people applying electrical charges to my genitals and sexually humiliating me.

So I'm going to round up all the children in the neighbourhood, chain them and set dogs on them. I might accidentally kill one or two - but I won't have intended to - and perhaps I'll take some photos of my wife standing on the dead bodies, and then I'll show the photos to the other kids, and finally, perhaps, I might get to find out where my son goes after choir practice. After all, I'll only be doing what the US administration has been condoning since 9/11.

· Terry Jones is a writer, film director, actor and Python

E tu Popus?

oh Jesus, oh Lord, we are so fucked. I was going to write an article implying that the Vatican was too smart to fall for Bush's tricks. I was going to say that the Pope still had enough brain matter to know he was face to face with THE anti-christ in the Vatican 2 weeks ago. I was hoping that the pope wouldn't be bedazzled by the shiny medal that Bush gave him. Even though I'm an ex-pat Catholic, I still hold out hope in my heart that the Catholic Church will do the right thing once in a great while.

We know that the Pope was not with Bush on the war thing in Iraq over a year ago. See Vatican to Bush: Iraq war would be 'disaster' and we know that the Europeans were really pissed at Bush when he visited the Pope in early June, see President Bush got a sharp dose of Europe's opposition and we learned this: Vatican calls prison abuse a bigger blow to U.S. than Sept. 11

I visited the site of the Vatican Post this morning and these were the freaking headlines!



Obviously Bush got to them. Now they are trying to play down the fucking Spanish Inquisition. I am going to take a long morning walk before it gets too hot and humid. When I come back I will deal with the issue of Separation of Church and State some more as the Catholic Hierarchy begins to make my blood boil.

Speaking of God.... Please pray for my Power Mac G4 which is in the shop. It got soooo zapped right through the surge protector when workmen were doing stuff at my house last week. My life is on that puter. I do have a service contract.. but my data.. oh my data!

Is Blondesense the New Jerry Lewis?

Ok listen, the French have Blondesense under surveillance. I have to be careful not to give away any government secrets. I have to pretend that our American leaders are not ignorant imbeciles with half a brain cell shared amongst them all. It's going to be hard, but it's my patriotic duty to pretend that we think George Bush is not insane and is not the anti-christ. ok? ok.

Would someone who speaks "Anti-American" please translate this for moi? Merci.
From Netlex Blog:

Edouard ( Salebete ) a écrit à propos de Blonde Sense ..... the 6th Sense :

"j’ai trouvé le site marrant de Blonde Sense, une blonde qui habite la banlieue de New-York, dans la Long-Island (devrait-on écrire l’Île Longue ?) et qui a la langue un peu verte elle aussi "
Blonde Sense qui s'étonne de cet intérêt soudain dans un post dont le titre ne manque pas de poésie : The French blog 'Sale Bete' mentioned moi

Le problème, c'est qu'elle ne sait pas très bien si le post d'Edouard est bien intentionné ou pas.

Dans le doute, à défaut de s'abstenir, mieux vaux prendre ses distances, ce qui donne :

"These French people are rather interesting... but why write about me? I am no Jerry Lewis. "
Evidemment, il n'était pas gravé dans le marbre qu'Edouard est un américain écrivant en français.

Aussi, pour savoir de quoi, il retourne, rien de mieux qu'une traduction des propos du nouvel admirateur, ce qui donne chez Blonde Sense :

"I traveled to the maudlin site of Blonde sense, a blonde who habitates the banality of New York and dances on Long Island (should one write Isle de Long Tongue?) in which the language is perverted, she is a bit aussie (1)."
Il faut lire le post de BlondeSense en entier pour savoir si sa "fourche a langué".

Les commentaires des lecteurs de l'article de Blonde Sense qui tentent de la persuader des bonnes intentions d'Edouard ajoutent encore à la saveur de ce quiproco.

Mon anglais étant trop hasardeux pour expliquer à Blonde Sense qu'en français, avoir " la langue verte " (2) ne signifie pas qu'on vous soupçonne de voter pour Ralph Nader ou de soutenir le Green Party , allons directement à l'essentiel pour dire à Blonde Sense :

"We love your weblog. Your humor is corrosive, and your language, sometimes...is rather coarse !".

Cheers

UPDATE 6/16: Ooh la la, the blonde makes another French blog Je Blog. Love that title!

A Big Break

The following story is not meant to put down soldiers. I would never do that and I don't think that. This is just something that happened to someone I really care about.

There is a wonderful young man I've known since he was a baby. He is my son's best friend and was a fixture in our neighborhood for 18 years before he entered the Marines a year ago. I suppose I freaked out about the Iraq war more than a lot of people because of this young man. I didn't want him to go and shoot people, nor did I want anyone to shoot at him. It's a mom thing.

We just got word that he is being medically discharged from the Marines before he gets a chance to go to Iraq. Can you imagine my glee? I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. Of course, this young man is upset about the outcome because he worked very hard in the Marines and I admire his determination to become a soldier, if that is truly what he wanted to be. As a mom, I can't tell you how fucking happy I am that he is coming home. yay.

I just may hang out my flag on the day he comes home.

Michael Moore Gets Big O

Imagine my surprise to read over at Fox News a favorable review of Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore got another standing ovation last night at the NY premiere of his latest movie. Roger Friedman of Fox wrote "It turns out to be a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail.

"As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, "F9/11" — as we saw last night — is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty  —  and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice."

I continued reading the list of luminaries who attended the show at the Ziegfield last night after I picked myself off the floor. My hero, Martha Stewart was there. Friedman mentions the 11 minutes that Bush sat in the classroom in Florida on 9/11. I guess he didn't know about it. Probably because his employer knowingly kept that information from the public for almost 3 years. And people wonder why those of us who know stuff are angry. We aren't necessarily radical liberals and we definitely aren't anti-American... we just bothered to find out the truth. Duh.

I also read that Michael Moore had footage of Prisoner Abuse in Iraq but chose not to use it. He had the footage long before 60 Minutes broke the story. I don't know if this is a rumor or not but I heard somewhere that Michael Moore also interviewed Nick Berg. This is going to be one hell of a movie.

Since we don't have any real journalists working in journalism... at least we have someone with a working set of balls like Michael Moore.

New Clinton Portraits Unveiled at White House

Psssst off Patricia at Public Domain Progress described Bush's expression while Clinton spoke this way: "He looked as though he might be experiencing a colonoscopy with a red hot poker as he sat there listening to someone who so blatantly and innocently exposed the difference between an intelligent man and a goofball cowboy.
You sort of wonder, when the time arrives for the portrait of Bush to be painted, will he insist that Cheney also be in the picture?"

Heh, good one!

Simmie Knox, the first black artist to paint an official presidential portrait [Bill Clinton], is a self-taught artist, best known for his portraits of black celebrities like baseball legend Hank Aaron and comedian Bill Cosby, also will unveil a painting of the former first lady, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Way to go, Simi! Great job.

I Do Declare!

A terrible shocking thing happened to me and my girlfriend today. I can barely type this as it makes my hands tremble and my face is blushing a hot hot red. We were walking down the street shortly after noon about 1 block from Bill O'Lielly's moms house and we noticed a man sitting on the ground in the bushes wearing fishnet stockings while playing with his wee-wee. I didn't notice the magazine he was holding but my friend noticed that he was reading a magazine. (I imagine if we had stopped and talked to him that he wouldn't have needed the magazine.. but I digress)

We sped up and crossed the street as our mothers had taught us to do many years ago. While on the other side of the street, I looked back curious to see whether or not the guy was following us. He was standing up near the corner wearing a gray sweat outfit by then but still waving his ding dong at me. I told my friend to look at it, but she is a fine Christian woman and took my word for it. I looked a few more times just to make a mental note of the sin he was committing.

My mom always told me to ignore flashers because they are just looking for attention. This was my first flasher/self abuser with the fishnet stockings touch. I guess it's never too late in life to experience and old perversion in a new way.

It took me about a minute and a half to find a picture of a guy wearing fishnets on the internet (the devil's playground). See above. I pixelated his penis cause he had all sorts of junk hanging on it and it was gross. He was ugly so I cropped off his head. Imagine if we could do this to people in real life?

Why did 9/11 happen?

The War on Terr'r has taken the collective mind of America off what happened on 9/11. The Bush Commission is pretending to find out where the failure was. As of yet, no one has bothered to find out who killed almost 3,000 people that day and why. Surprisingly the press doesn't even seem interested. Here are 10 Things You Didn't Know About Mohammed Atta which will add to the mystery. This is interesting stuff, folks.

While we are talking about Bush bullshit, there's another new book out called "Bush on the Couch." From Wapo:

"Rx for W- Electoral Surgery: ...President Bush exhibits "sadistic tendencies" and suffers from "character pathology," including "grandiosity" and "megalomania" -- viewing himself, America and God as interchangeable. "

Talk about preaching to the choir.

UPDATE: On 4/14/04, George Tenet committed perjury when he stated repeatedly he had not met with President Bush in August 2001. In fact, they met 3 times - including a 6 hour meeting at Bush's ranch on 8/24/01.

From Democrats.com:: "Tenet's perjury and resignation presents Congressional investigators and a special prosecutor with an unexpected opportunity later this summer to finally get to the truth of what the President was actually knew and when he knew it. This is also, of course, the Bush White House and the Republican's worst nightmare."

These Koolaid Times

From The LA Timesthis morning: "A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November." Good. Keep it coming baby. My inner blonde gets all giggly when I see stuff like this.

The Times also has an article called A Nation Divided? Who Says? regarding this book, 'Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America.'

"The book presents evidence that voters in red and blue America are not far apart. Majorities in both places support stricter gun control as well as the death penalty; they strongly oppose giving blacks preference in hiring while also wanting the government to guarantee that blacks are treated fairly by employers. They're against outlawing abortion completely or allowing it under any circumstances, and their opinions on abortion have been fairly stable for three decades. Virtually identical majorities of Blues and Reds don't want a single party controlling the White House and Congress.

"The two big surprises in our research," Professor DiMaggio said, "were the increasing agreement between churchgoing evangelicals and mainline Protestants, even on abortion, and the lack of increasing polarization between African-Americans and whites. Evangelicals have become less doctrinaire and more liberal on issues like gender roles. African-Americans are showing more diversity in straying from the liberal line on issues like government programs that assist minorities."

This is interesting. I just may read this one at the beach this summer. The so called liberal media is always saying that this country is polarized. Maybe it really isn't all that polarized. I am trying to hold to the faith that perhaps in November, people with heads on their shoulders will consider that 'Bush politics and religion' is a bunch of crap no matter what side of the center you live on. I seriously can't imagine that the vast majority of Americans are married to their political party, right or wrong.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
read about my visit to Koolaid island here...

Yesterday, blogger Billydoom and I found ourselves on the Isle de Koolaid. It's a swanky island situated between the north fork and south fork of Long Island. You can only access it via ferry (it keeps out zee riff raff). Billydoom had an invitation to a party on the island. I have reclusive relatives living there who find themselves now sitting on multimillion dollar waterfront properties. I spent a great part of my childhood there and can navigate the east end of Long Island and Koolaid Island quite well. (that's where I learned counter culture activities plus waterskiing, sailing and fishing in the 60's, man.) We visited my uncle in the morning, then hit Billydoom's party.

I put Bacardi in my Koolaid and then switched to Cuervo Gold as the Karaoke got worse and I saw an 'O'Reilly Factor' hat on one of the party people. We were told by a Sean Hannity lover that the war in Iraq was necessary because Saddam gassed his people and was truly the answer to the war on terror despite this. Billydoom, while excrutiatingly handsome in that continental Fernando Llamas/Ricardo Montalban sort of way, also has a leftover 'anti-American' accent and my being an outspoken ex hippy chick... well, it was best that we had our say (and we did), flipped out some old ladies and hit the road before dark... back to the big island... the Island of La Long.

No Stopping Michael Moore

One of my faithful readers informed me of this wingnut movement:
There is a paranoid website devoted to stopping Michael Moore. It is seen as a recruiting video for al Qaida. yawn. The site urges wingers to write, call and fax the theater owners who plan to show the movie this month and tell them to stop it. According to What Really Happened, some theater owners received death threats.

This is obviously an important movie. I doubt it will be stopped because money talks as we all know... the winger news is always looking for a controversy to whine about which in turn gives the cause lots of publicity..... let's keep our ears to the ground and see where this is leading and if necessary flood the theaters with support for the flick.

Find a theater where you can see F911 in your area. We only have one stinking theater listed for all of Long Island. They have crappy parking too. I'll have to do some activism.

From Wapo: "In one of the film's most dramatic moments, we watch the president attending an elementary school class on that ill-fated morning of Sept. 11. An aide whispers to him news of the plane crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The look on Bush's face is stunned, as any person's would be. A clock ticks away. The president looks as though he'll never get up from that seat. The minutes tick by."

I've seen that video clip over and over and over on the internet and to this day it speaks volumes to me. It's the clip that woke me out of my 9/11 shock. It is in fact the video clip that told me either Bush is a complete fucking moron who doesn't deserve to be the commander in chief of the most powerful nation in the world OR he knew exactly what was going down. No 2 ways about it. I'm anxious to see this movie.

Irony of Ironies

This is the stuff that gets my lacy thong in an uproar: In December 1983, Rummy went to see Saddam and secretly made a deal to arm him with WMDs to fight Iran. The US ignored his use of chemical weapons against Iran and also the use of chemical weapons on the Kurds in Iraq. Reagan was in on the whole war with Iraq against Iran and urged Saddam to step it up. The US knew about the atrocities and war crimes of Saddam as early as 1982. In the first Gulf War, Bush 41 was also aware of Saddam's earlier war crimes but did not punish him for them.

But by Bush 43, the very Christian US is filled with moral outrage and indignation at Saddam's war crimes and invaded Iraq in 2003 to overthrow Saddam, yet simultaneously praises Reagans accomplishments in 2004 for a solid week, labels him the greatest president of the US, even though he helped create the monsters we are fighting. Read "Ronnie and Saddam"

So in actuality Reagan was bad in creating Saddam since Dubya is sacrificing our kids to overthrow Iraq and Saddam, yet we are worshipping Reagan all week for being such a fab president (which he obviously wasn't). The media spin is excellent.. but they didn't make me dizzy and fall down yet.

The French blog 'Sale Bete' mentioned moi.

'Sale Bete' had to say this about Blonde Sense:

"j’ai trouvé le site marrant de Blonde Sense, une blonde qui habite la banlieue de New-York, dans la Long-Island (devrait-on écrire l’Île Longue ?) et qui a la langue un peu verte elle aussi."

I never studied French but my blondeness and my knack for foreign languages will allow me to make a rough translation, so here goes:

"I traveled to the maudlin site of Blonde sense, a blonde who habitates the banality of New York and dances on Long Island (should one write Isle de Long Tongue?) in which the language is perverted, she is a bit aussie."

These French people are rather interesting... but why write about me? I am no Jerry Lewis. Long Island looks more like a fish than a tongue. Wait.. come to think of it, it looks like a forked tongue. hmmm.....

Stem Cell Research May Stop on a Dime

Quick Lesson on Stem Cell Research
Even if your friends are Reagan/Bush lovers, you can convince them that Nancy Reagan would prefer that Bush would permit funding of stem cell research rather than waste millions of dollars converting coins or bills to depict her husbands image. We need to get Republican Congressmen to vote for Stem Cell Research funding. Tell your Republican friends that even William Safire thinks this would be a victory for his hero, Ronald Reagan.

Scientists believe stem-cell research could lead to treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal injuries, heart disease and muscular dystrophy. Today, millions of embryos are being thrown away that could save millions of people who are suffering from one of the diseases... possibly someone we love. Earlier this year, Mr Bush who has no clue about anything, let alone science ejected two from his Bioethics Council and replaced them with religious guys who can't think their way out of a bag. I studied moral theology in the seminary. Real live 'moral theologians' are usually doctors, lawyers and theologians simultaneously. I'm sure Bush's "scientists" were knuckleheads who read the Bible, not exactly your scientific answer to bio-ethics.

Even Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Gordon Smith did their legal, medical, religious and ethical homework and want Bush to permit federal funding for research.

Stem cell research doesn't cause abortion. Blastocysts are regularly discarded and are optimum for stem cell research because they multiply more rapidly than adult stem cells from bone marrow, for instance. Blastocysts are not babies. They occur about 5 days after the zygote and are a group of about 150 cells.

Current rules put in place by the Clinton administration allow federal money for stem-cell research using embryos if the work is funded by private money and the embryos come from fertility clinics and would otherwise be discarded.

Secondly, we don't want to look at Ronnie's mug on our money. Reagan actually quoted FDR, Alexander Hamilton, and Andrew Jackson. He liked them... especially FDR. Nancy believes Ronnie wouldn't want to be on the dime. Let us respect her. [sic] and oh my god, FDR, I learned about him in school, he was a great man.. what is wrong with these nuts in congress? who voted for them? jeebus. help me.

Links:
Stem Cell Science : Frequently Asked Questions
Center for American Progress

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Huge 9/11 Coverup

INTRODUCTION

I've been gathering and saving articles about Sibel Edmonds, an FBI translator who was hired after 9/11 to translate documents and then fired when she got too close to exposing some very sensitive information about that infamous day, who discovered international drug cartel like activity and money laundering on a grand scale. (Maybe it's no coincidence that the Taliban were overthrown because they had stopped poppy production in Afghanistan. Now heroin production is safely on the rise) I saved news articles on the Saudis and investment markets, the flow of oil (why the outing of Valerie Plame?), Skull and Bones (why Howard Dean had to be stifled), world domination by a bigger force than the US, why the Iraqi quagmire happened, the falling of the WTC towers (what was Mohammed Atta doing before 9/11, what did David Rockefeller have to do with this) and a potential CIA coup. I have articles that link the higher ups in the so called Christian Right to some of this activity. But we already guessed that they don't have any interest in God.

Most thinking people have already figured out that the "terrorists" don't hate us for our "freedoms". Most thinking people don't buy it that George Bush is a "moral and Christian" man. Most thinking people know full well that our Constitution is being ripped apart and that our government was hijacked. Now we just have to figure out why. This isn't conspiracy theory. This is conspiracy and we just have to tie it all together.

PART I: Some Background on the Sibel Edmonds Story -The DOJ Gag Order

We first found out about Sibel Edmonds on October 27, 2002 when she appeared on 60 Minutes with Ed Bradley.

Ed Bradley: "Lost in Translation is the story of hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign language documents that the FBI neglected to translate before and after September 11th because of problems in its language department, documents that detailed what the FBI hear on wiretaps and learned during interrogations of suspected terrorists. Sibel Edmonds, a translator who worked at the FBI's language division, says the documents weren't translated because the division is riddled with incompetence and corruption. Edmonds was fired after reporting her concerns to FBI officials. She recently told her story behind closed doors to investigators in Congress and to the Justice Department. Tonight she tells her story to us."

Interestingly, this episode of 60 Minutes claims that the FBI was backlogged with untranslated documents because there weren't enough translators, yet Edmonds claims now that she was then told by superiors to work more slowly, go out to lunch more and not to translate certain documents. She was threatened if she went public with some of her information. When I heard Sibel Edmonds on the Laura Flanders show recently on Air America however, Ms Edmonds indicated that there were in fact plenty of capable translators in the FBI and there was NOT a backlog. So what's going on here?

60 Minutes showed that cases since 9/11 where people in the FBI who were involved in misconduct and were not, let alone reprimanded, were even promoted. Edmonds was fired from the FBI in March 2003 for general reasons. She filed a whistle-blower suit to get her job back, but US Attorney General Ashcroft asked the court to dismiss it on grounds it would compromise national security. Read Transcript

During the 9/11 commission hearings in March, Edmonds said "that the bureau had "real, specific" information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened."

In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

Edmonds testimony to the 9/11 commission so far has been private. It wouldn't back up the Bush Administration's official story of blaming Clinton or that credible evidence wasn't available. It wouldn't back up Condi Rice's "historical" information claim about the August 6th PDB. The US intelligence community received a flood of spectacular threats during the summer of 2001. Richard Clarke and some CIA officials who knew about the threats were frustrated at the lack of concern by Tenet and they asked to be relocated or just wanted to resign. The Bush spin machine went to work on many people and Jamie Gorelick. Had Edmonds testimony been made public, or had she been allowed to testify in public, the Bush administration's testimony would have been seen as blatant lies from the get go. But after Edmonds testified, Keane did say that government failure led to 9/11. He just left out the part that the government failure may have been on purpose and it wasn't because of anything Jamie Gorelick caused.

I'm disappointed in journalists. Someone should be piecing this together. sigh. I'll keep doing it the best I can in my spare time.

On May 20th, I brought up based on a NY Times Article (now archived) that the Justice Department retroactively classified information it gave to Congress nearly two years ago regarding Edmonds who charged that the bureau had missed critical terrorist warnings. The article said:

"Law enforcement officials say the secrecy surrounding the translator, Sibel Edmonds, is essential to protecting information that could reveal intelligence-gathering operations. But some members of Congress and Congressional aides said they were troubled by the move, which comes as critics have accused the Bush administration of excessive secrecy.
...
"I have never heard of a retroactive classification two years back,'' said an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the subject is classified.

"It would be silly if it didn't have such serious implications,'' the aide said. "People are puzzled and, frankly, worried, because the effect here is to quash Congressional oversight. We don't even know what we can't talk about.''

Senator Grassley said, "This is about as close to a gag order as you can get."

The F.B.I. denied the accusation.

"We're not imposing a gag order,'' the F.B.I. official said. Members of Congress have the information, but have to treat it as classified, the official said. "The problem is that while these pieces of information may look innocuous on their own, you put them all together and it reveals a picture of sensitive intelligence collection, and that's a security problem.'' -NY Times, May 20, 2004 .

Ms Edmonds made a statement about the gag order on May 21st. She will be holding a press conference anyway with Daniel Ellsberg at 3rd & Const. Ave. this Monday, June 14, at 9:30 AM in front of the Court.

The Motley Rice legal firm subpoenaed Edmonds for it's legal suit on behalf of 9/11 victims' families, the government quickly rushed to Bush-appointed Judge Reggie B. Walton who is attempting to permanently silence Sibel Edmonds. At the moment she can only describe events in broad brush strokes and not give details. Some in congress don't want her to go public. Hmm. We'll just see about that.

Edmonds vs DOJ (PDF)

In Part II of this series, we'll look at a Florida drug case may shed some light on Sibel Edmonds claims. In future parts, we'll look at 9/11 in terms of drugs, money, oil, Mohammed Atta, Arabs, investment bankers, the Christian Right, Florida, flight schools, al Qaida, the bin Ladens, Bush family friends and more... juicy stuff.

This isn't a war on "terror". This is about war profiteering, spies and intrigue, a world wide drug cartel and of course greed, power and world domination.

Reagan should be on $3 bill

While the media swoons over Reagan, Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin tells it like it is a la New York style.

... Ronald Reagan belongs on a $3-bill.

You are supposed to honor and respect the dead. But you also must respect the truth, and live for the living - and this funeral has gone on for almost a week....

This man Reagan was 93 years old and out of it with Alzheimer's for many years and I don't see how anybody can summon grief. They proclaimed it a deep religious ceremony. Which it is not. His whole weeklong funeral is cheap, utterly distasteful American publicity.

The great American news industry, the Pekinese of the Press with so much room and time and nothing to say, compared Reagan to Lincoln and Hamilton, they really did. This is like claiming that the maintenance man wrote the Bill of Rights. And almost all the reporters agreed that Reagan was the man who brought down Russia in the Cold War.

Just saying this is absolutely sinful. The Cold War was won by a long memo written by George Kennan, who worked in the State Department and sent the memo by telegram about the need for a "Policy of Containment" on Russia. Kennan said the contradictions in their system would ruin them. Keep them where they are and they will tear themselves apart. We followed Kennan's policy for over 40 years. The Soviets made it worse on themselves by building a wall in East Berlin. When they had to tear it down and give up their system, Kennan was in Princeton and he sat down to dinner.

I thought that children were taught this. Instead, all week, reporters told us that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. Beautiful.

Ronald Reagan was an actor. He was as real as the line he used to keep his fame alive. "Win one for the Gipper."
The line was complete Hollywood, down to agents who fought over it.
...
In government, he was as real as his trademark line. He was a callous man with a smile who cut taxes in 1981 and left this city and state without funds for such things as help for dependent children. He proudly hurt the boroughs of this city more than anyone before or after him. If you live in Brooklyn, the record shows that Ronald Reagan hated children. The city and state had to raise taxes to make up for money lost because of Reagan's great conservative movement. Reagan then raised taxes six times. He walked off, leaving us an enormous deficit but with a smile on his face that even the Gipper's fakery couldn't help us with.

PS.Gorby had lead role, not Gipper in bringing down communism.

Ray Charles- A Real American Legend died today

Ray Charles was very influential in my musical life. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform live one time, and I will never forget it. He was a real American artist, a real contributor to American culture and a great talent. His is best known for his jazz meets gospel style of music. He was totally hip, totally cool, always smiling and enjoying the music. God bless him for bringing such joy into our lives.

Ray Charles always had high approval ratings.
Long Live Ray Charles!

UPDATE 6/11/04: Newsday gets it.

Newsday.com: Ray Charles Audio Clips

Newsday.com: Eulogy

Newsday.com: Ray Charles photo gallery

Newsday.com: Ray Charles' Awards & Achievements

Newsday.com: Ray Charles Autobiography

America the Beautiful: Flash video

Swing States

Blonde Editorial: Why are the Republicans trying to win swing states? It appears to be way off their agenda especially since they are so hell bent on preserving marriage. I imagine that swingers don't exemplify the moral values that Republicans would like us to live up to, in fact it seems a bit kinky to me. I am surprised that Mr Bush would even tempt his Christian soul by even campaigning in a swing state. I can understand that Mr Kerry would campaign there being that he is a hell bound Catholic, but why even bother campaigning in a swing state? Swingers seem to be quite liberal and are most likely to vote Democrat anyway. So what is all the hoopla about anyway?

UPDATE: This blonde is so embarrassed. I got a vast amount of email explaining to me that swing states aren't for swingers. Swing states are for people who go both ways. Now that is really kinky.

Rogue Bush Backers Prepare Terror Attacks?

This Webster Griffin Tarpley article starts like this:

Intelligence patterns monitored here now point conclusively to the grave threat of an imminent new round of ABC (atomic-bacteriological-chemical) terror attacks in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and possibly other nations. These attacks could include nuclear detonations, radiological dirty bombs, poison gas and other chemical weapons, or biological agents, to be unleashed in such urban settings as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Vancouver BC, or London. The goal of these operations would be to produce a worldwide shock several orders of magnitude greater than the original 9-11, with a view to stopping the collapse of the Bush administration, the Wall Street-centered financial structures, and the US-UK strategic position generally.

The attacks would be attributed by US/UK intelligence to controlled patsy terrorist groups who would be linked by the media to countries like Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia, thus setting these states up for attack. The organizers of the attacks would in reality be substantially the same secret command cell in the United States which set up the 9-11 events and its associated networks, which have been able to continue in operation because of the abject failure of all 9-11 investigations to date to identify them. These forces are now in a desperate flight forward to escape from their current increasingly grim position. Their goal is now to establish a neocon fascist dictatorship in the United States, complete with martial law, special tribunals, press and media censorship, and the full pervasive apparatus of the modern police state.

I wouldn't put it past these maniacs but this is more conspiracy theory (I hope). See yesterdays post about the CIA Coup D'etat. Maybe they do know something. Maybe I need a vacation.

10 Super Foods You Should NEVER Eat!

Bad bad naughty foods include Quaker 100% Natural Honey Granola, Nissin Cup Noodles, Campbells Condensed Soups, Burger King French Fries... wow what artery cloggers! Entenmanns Donuts. sigh. I thought those were better than Krispy Kreme's nazi donuts. You can't even trust your food anymore.

Daily Mislead

BUSH CHANGING HIS STORY ON PRISON ABUSE SCANDAL

President Bush has claimed that the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib was
"disgraceful conduct by a few American troops,"[1] and had nothing to do
with broader administration policy. But according to a March 2003 Pentagon
memo, Bush administration lawyers issued legal justifications for torture,
specifically claiming, "President Bush was not bound by either an
international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal anti-torture
law."[2] The revelations have now forced the President to backtrack from his
previous denials of culpability, with the White House yesterday admitting
for the first time that Bush did, in fact, "set broad guidelines"[3] for
interrogation in Iraq - a tacit admission that Bush himself "opened the
door"[4] to the torture tactics in the first place.

Now, the U.S. Senate is demanding the full Pentagon memo from the Bush
administration. But the President has refused, instead dispatching Attorney
General John Ashcroft to tell "lawmakers he won't release or discuss"[5] the
memo, even if he is cited for contempt of Congress. This is the same
Ashcroft who "conveniently declassified"[6] internal Justice Department
memos in an effort to slander 9/11 commissioner Jamie Gorelick. It is also
the same Bush administration that leaked the classified name of a CIA
officer[7] in an effort to intimidate a former ambassador who had debunked
their false WMD claims.[8]


Sources:

1. Presidential Speech, White House Website, 5/24/04,
2. "Lawyers Decided Bans on Torture Didn't Bind Bush", The New York Times, 6/08/04
3. "Memo on Torture Draws Focus to Bush", The Washington Post, 6/09/04
4. "The Roots of Torture", Newsweek, 5/24/04
5. "U.S.'s Ashcroft Won't Release or Discuss Torture Memo (Update 2)",Bloomberg.com, 6/08/04
6. "Mr. Ashcroft's Smear", The Washington Post, 4/20/04
7. "Mission to Niger", townhall.com, 7/14/03
8. "White House "warned over Iraq claim", BBC News, 7/09/03

Visit www.Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion.

Top Injuries in the News

Britney Spears injured her knee during a video shoot and was hospitalized for arthroscopic surgery.

Yankees hunk, Derek Jeter, sidelined by tightness in his left groin came back to hit a 7th inning home run to beat the Rockies 7-5 but then Kevin Brown was forced to leave
after only two innings because of stiffness in his lower back.

Ronald Reagan, comforter of the comforted, afflicter of the afflicted is still dead..

Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult

Wayne Madsens article- Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult at Counterpunch.org raises serious questions that a number of progressive bloggers have been asking all along... how can a so called Christian place more of an emphasis on death than life? How can a so called Christian and his Christian buddies place so much emphasis on the wealthy while burdening the working class when Jesus' whole ministry was to help the poor? If Jesus was his favorite philosopher, Bush certainly has a problem with reading comprehension. Christianity is all about the New Testament and the Gospels. If you meet folks who claim to be Christian, but talk Old Testament and St Paul, chances are you've met a fundamentalist or a Christian cultist. This is not true Christianity. If you challenge them on it, be careful.

During Bush's tenure as Governor of Texas he presided over a record 152 executions, of which 40 took place in 2000, the year he was elected. Fred Allen, an execution chamber "tie down" team member quit in disgust that year. Fellow born again Christian Karla Faye Tucker, a convicted murderer who later led a prison ministry begged for an appeal yet Bush mocked her appeal. In an interview with Talk magazine, Bush imitated Tucker's appeal for him to spare her life - pursing his lips, squinting his eyes, and in a squeaky voice saying, "Please don't kill me." The Pope and the World Council of Churches asked Bush to spare her life. He wouldn't hear of it. Bush reportedly ignored DNA evidence many times and executed mentally retarded people as well. No matter how many times he says he is a Christian and supports a right to life, he is so full of shit, America should be stinking to high heaven. This man is no Christian.

According to the article, Bush's has given the CIA authority to assassinate those deemed a threat to U.S. national interests. Bush has virtually suspended Executive Orders 11905 (Gerald Ford), 12306 (Jimmy Carter), and 12333 (Ronald Reagan) which prohibit the assassination of foreign leaders. Bush's "Christian" blood cult sees no other option than death for those who become his enemies. This doctrine is found no place in Christian theology.

Bush, his advisors and the US military, sat back while the Baghdad and Mosul museums and Baghdad Library were ransacked and destroyed. Cult leaders have historically attempted to destroy history in order to invent their own. The ransacking of Iraq's historical treasures is explainable when one considers what the blood cult Christians really think about Islam.

Billy Graham's son, Franklin Graham [Bush's buddy] has called Islam a "very evil and wicked" religion. He then announced he wanted to go to Iraq and baptize Muslims to his very unchristian form of unchristianity. In the last Gulf War, Graham could not get away with this. Schwarzkopf, stopped Graham's plan to send 30,000 Arabic language Bibles to U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia. No one is stopping him today. In fact, Graham stands to receive US Government funds to proselytize in Iraq!

Vatican sources claim that the Pope is concerned about Bush's blood lust. The article also says that people close to the Pope claim that he suspects Bush may be the anti-Christ of the Book of Revelations. They say that the Pope wishes he were in better health to confront the possibility that Bush is in fact the anti-Christ. If I were the Pope and believed this, I would step down and let someone else battle the anti-Christ. Or maybe he has someone else handling the job. Hope it's not Cardinal Law. It is also revealed that the Pope thinks 9/11 was known in advance by Senior Bush officials. Well I knew that.

If you've been reading the news lately, it's pretty obvious that Bush, Rummy, Ashcroft, et al were looking at ways to torture prisoners without being held accountable. Then you have some Bishops admonishing their flock to vote for pro-life politicians... well here they are... here are your so called pro-life politicians. Religion and politics do not mix. The right wingers sure know how to play up to the religious folks though... they are sure simple minded if they are buying this stuff too. Bush doesn't go to church. Bush doesn't pray for all the innocent people who have died because of his blood lust. Don't tell me he is a Christian.

Coup D'etat: Probably Too Good To Be True

From the Wildnerness Reports::

"A former CIA official told Madsen that between the Plame leak and the Abu Ghraib torture affair, the Bush administration is facing something that will be 'worse than Watergate.'

If both Bush and Cheney are removed or resign, what happens? Madsen reported that lobbyists and political consultants in Washington are dusting off their copies of the Constitution and checking the line of presidential succession.

One lobbyist said he will soon pay a call on Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens, who, as President pro tem of the Senate, is second in line to House Speaker Dennis Hastert to become President in the event Bush and Cheney both go.

It is one of the greatest ironies of the Plame affair that the Bush administration, spawned and nurtured by oil, might have committed suicide by vindictively, cruelly and unthinkingly exacting personal retribution on an intelligence officer who had committed no offense, and who was, quite possibly, providing the administration with critical oil-related intelligence which the President needed to manage our shaky economy and affairs of state for a while longer to squeak through to re-election. In our opinion, nothing better epitomizes the true nature of the Neocons."

If that was intriguing, then definitely read the beginning of the article.

Conspiracy Theory Day

Rogue Bush Backers prepare Super 9/11 False Flag Terror Attacks

9/11:Cleveland Airport Mystery

Flight 11 - The Twin Flight


There's always some truth in these conspiracy theories. Since the 9/11 Commission was such a bogus affair and it's become more and more obvious that 9/11 was allowed to happen, I wouldn't put anything past these neocons. Keep an open mind.

The Covert Kingdom:Christian Reconstructionists

It's important to understand where this nation is going from the standpoint of Bible Christians/Reconstructionists. Whether you are a believer or not, this is what we're up against in this country. Wondering why hard working people who won't benefit from Republican economic policies still vote for them? Read this:

Christian Reconstruction is blunt stuff, hard and unforgiving as a gravestone.

Capital punishment, central to the Reconstructionist ideal, calls for the death penalty in a wide range of crimes, including abandonment of the faith, blasphemy, heresy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, sodomy, homosexuality, striking a parent, and ''unchastity before marriage'' (but for women only.) Biblically correct methods of execution include stoning, the sword, hanging, and burning. Stoning is preferred, according to Gary North, the self-styled Reconstructionist economist, because stones are plentiful and cheap. Biblical Law would also eliminate labor unions, civil rights laws, and public schools.

Leading Reconstruction theologian David Chilton declares, "The Christian goal for the world is the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics" Incidentally, said Republic of Jesus would not only be a legal hell, but an ecological one as well---Reconstructionist doctrine calls for the scrapping of environmental protection of all kinds, because there will be no need for this planet earth once The Rapture occurs... -Joe Bageant: The Covert Kingdom.

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah

It didn't take long before some nut decided to propose to congress that Reagan's mug be carved into Mt. Rushmore. It's not like the congress had anything better to do on these lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. It's not like the Chimperor hasn't been flying around the world pissing people off with his black briefcase containing the launch pad for a nuclear war or anything... let's continue to desecrate the once sacred mountain of the Native Americans... let's continue to shit on them some more.

It's not like Ronald Reagan wasn't the best president ever or anything... he only had one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of America, second only to the present one. It's not like Reagan wasn't responsible for high taxes, unemployment and poverty during his administration... no, that doesn't count.

I've been trying to actually work today, believe it or not. Since I had photoshop open anyway, I was moved to depict Mt Rushmore in all it's glory.

Can you help me with a caption, dear, brilliant readers?
Much obliged.

-Your Blonde

But he was better than Bush. sort of.

The Ronald Reagan Era in government was the beginning of the end of civil rights, social and economic justice. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. I bought my first house in late 1981 and paid 17% interest on the mortgage! The deficit hit one trillion dollars in the first year of his presidency and that's when the Republicans became reckless spenders and Democrats gave up the title for good.

Unemployment skyrocketed, homelessness was epidemic and Reagan's approval ratings were low during his Presidency. The sick got sicker and many of them died because Reagan did not want to do anything about AIDS as it was linked to mostly gay men at the time. It is widely disputed that he ended the Cold War. Corporate deregulation brought us the S&L debacle and the end of mass media we can trust. The loosening of pollution requirements for corporations are also part of his legacy. Reagan's buddy Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurds under Reagan's watch too. There's so much more... oh yeah.. he had Alzheimer's while he was Prez. My dad had it too. I know that disease when I see it.

I compiled a bunch of factoids about Reagan from the Internet and posted them here. I left out a lot of stuff but the list is stupefying. Seriously.

Billydoom over at Doomocracy remembers Reagan too! Not so fondly. Most of us remember being in debt up to our eyeballs, sky high interest rates and using this new fab expression in our daily lives, "I can't recall".

It's Reigning Men, Hallelujah!

Photo:Studio 925

Dark Window has a chilling account of Vox Day, a Christian Libertarian's article over at WND called "Why Women Shouldn't Vote". oy.

The article starts with this: "An ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 70% of men favored smaller government, but only 48% of women believed the same way. So men are far more likely to view big government as part of the problem, not the solution. It's pretty clear to me that one of the most destructive forces in our society has been women's suffrage." [emphasis mine]

Vox Day read the poll results wrong because the poll showed that 70% of men don't know what smaller government actually means to them, while only 48% of women don't know. Women win. Hey, we want our husbands, fathers and sons to get high paying jobs and succeed in the world. You think smaller government is going to help our nation? Get real. Read a newspaper and a history book.

World O' Crap quotes Day, "It's a simple question, actually. Is the nation better off or worse off as a result of women's suffrage? If so, how? It's a tough case to make, unless you want to argue that divorce, illegitimacy, homosexuality and falling real wages are the historical signs of a healthy society."

Gawd. Yes of course, women love to have children who might someday turn out to be persecuted homosexuals (mothers always love to see their kids persecuted, you know), or their daughters become battered wives, or poorly paid Burger King workers because the stupid white men running the show continually fuck up the economy. Oh yes women are the cause of all divorces too. We just love to raise a family all alone. All we ever wanted was to steal your house and your car as part of our secret "Steal house and car" agenda. And illegitimacy... yes women are the sole cause for that. But God forbid one of us has an abortion.

Vox has a blog where the comments by his minions are positively sick. You can find the links to his blog at the sites I linked to above. Then I surfed over to Feministe and discovered via Trish Wilson, even more dumbasses out there who blame women for the evils of society. Sheesh. There is some sort of "He Man Women Haters" club out there with Alfalfa at the helm. Did these guys have mothers or what?

Father Jake's blog refers to an article by Nancy Myer Hopkins called "Fear of the Feminine" that deals with homophobia and misogyny in the Church. Well it's no secret that the Bible, then the Churches were clearly patriarchal and it's a problem we have to deal with today. Perhaps it should just be outlawed that women even learn to read or be required to attend school. How's that? We can just be "breeders." NOT!

Of course, Blondesense believes this all goes back to penile issues. Maybe we should have World Wide Penis Day, worship the darn thing and get this over with once and for all and deal with the truly important matters of life. Some men think women are jealous of the penis. Not true. Boobs are more powerful.

I still have to do more dot connecting...

Military Covers Its Ass Regarding Torture Practices

Photo From The Memory Hole

From Nicholas D. Kristof of the NY Times Op-Ed we learn of Specialist Sean Baker, 37, Air Force Veteran and member of Kentucky National Guard who was recently an MP at Guantanamo Bay. He was told to pretend to be a prisoner in a training drill where 5 soldiers could practice extracting information from an uncooperative inmate in January of 2003. The soldiers were told that Baker was a genuine detainee. Here's where the fun begins. He talked to a Kentucky TV station recently:

"They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down. Then he — the same individual — reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor. After several seconds, 20 to 30 seconds, it seemed like an eternity because I couldn't breathe. When I couldn't breathe, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise, which was `red.' . . . That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me. Somehow I got enough air. I muttered out: `I'm a U.S. soldier. I'm a U.S. soldier.' "

...Baker began suffering seizures, so the military sent him to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for treatment of a traumatic brain injury. He stayed at the hospital for 48 days, was transferred to light duty in an honor burial detail at Fort Dix, N.J., and was finally given a medical discharge two months ago...

...Meanwhile, a military investigation concluded that there had been no misconduct involved in Mr. Baker's injury...

...Most appalling, when Mr. Baker told his story to a Kentucky reporter, the military lied in a disgraceful effort to undermine his credibility...

...Mr. Baker, who is married and has a 14-year-old son, is now unemployed, taking nine prescription medications and still suffering frequent seizures....

If the U.S. military treats one of its own soldiers this way — allowing him to be battered, and lying to cover it up — then imagine what happens to Afghans and Iraqis.

Statistics Sunday

As of today, the War in Iraq has cost my county, Nassau County, NY about $873,400.

Nassau County has contributed more to the war than any of these whole states:
Delaware, Alaska, Montana, Nebraska, Mississippi, Maine, Iowa, Idaho, Hawaii, South Carolina, Rhode Island, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, West Virginia, Wyoming, Vermont and Utah.

You can play with statistics for your area and find out what else this money could have bought for your community right here: CostOfWar.com

Fun Facts About Nassau County, Long Island, New York:

Population: 1,334,892 larger than some states!
Female/Male ratio: 100/92
Population density: 1,797/km (4,655/mi). We're squished.Water on 2 sides.
Square Miles: 287 it's little..14x20 miles....good beaches, boating, sailing

High School Grads: 87%; College Grads: 35% 11 colleges in Nassau County
Median age: 38

Median Income: $72,000; Median Family Income: $81,246
Male Median Income: $52,340; Female Median Income: $37,446 the bastards
Living below Poverty Level: 5.2%

79% white; 10% black; 10% hispanic/latino; Foreign born: 18%

Homeownership: 80%; Average household size: 2.93; Average family size: 3.34.
347,172: families ; 447,387: households; 35.30%: families with children under 18

Religious Affiliations with more than 10,000 adherents:
Roman Catholic: 694,389; Episcopal: 16,153; Jewish: 207,000; Methodist:17,284

People are most welcome to visit Long Island and many people do. Just don't move here unless you are a company that promises to hire lots of people and give medical benefits. There is no more room for new residents. See above for proof. So just come visit, go swimming, sailing, support local musicians, eat out often, spend lots of money in mom and pop stores and then go home with our fondest regards. We need money, the Rethuglicans almost bankrupted us.

Fun facts gleaned from here, here and here.

LI MAP: Nassau County is outlined in Orange. Suffolk is everything to the east. Queens and Brooklyn to the west.

Make THEM Sweat For a Change

There is a very good, but long article at The Nation Under the Banner of the 'War' on Terror by William Greider. The author outlines the tragic results of BuscCo's amazing [irresponsible] response to the events of 9/11. My well informed readers already know these things, but it's nice to recap them on occasion because it's necessary to have these points ready in your mind for that special time and place when your brother-in-law at a bar-be-que, a little bit drunk, starts explaining to everyone why our country is so great since 9/11.

Greider reminds us, as most of us have already figured out, that "terrorism" isn't an enemy that we can invade because it's a "tool" to achieve a political end much like the "War on Terror" itself. This leaves the door open for years and years of war. But we already knew that cause Rumsfeld said so. Of course, Rummy will forget he said that someday.

The author tells us, "A society bingeing on fear makes itself vulnerable to far more profound forms of destruction than terror attacks. The "terrorism war," like a nostalgic echo of the cold war, is using these popular fears to advance a different agenda--the re-engineering of American life through permanent mobilization. The transformation is well under way. The consequences, if left unchallenged, will be very difficult to reverse." He is so right on. He lists the ways which I will briefly list and you can read the whole article if you need to know more:

1. Politics collapsed- the most incredible part of this was that dissent was silenced and the media was the voice of propaganda 24/7.

2. US foreign policy turned upside down- no longer forming alliances with other major superpowers (except for the UK), the US naively decided if democracy was brought to the mideast, that terrorism would cease to exist. Intellectual elitists know however (Iraq War, Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan, Israel) that it won't work.

3. Terror blew the lid off the Pentagon budget- nuff said.

4. Homeland security may lead us to a semi-military style of everyday life. Think 1984. Think constant surveillance.

5. The national economy is changed and has become an opportunity for industrial opportunity. "The development capital provided by taxpayers to these "war" industries can be thought of as "terror pork," Says Greider.

Greider asks, "Why have most people submitted so willingly to a new political order organized around fear? Other nations have confronted terrorism of a more sustained nature without coming thoroughly unhinged." Greider suspects that Americans actually "enjoyed "Bush's "terror war" more than they wish to admit. Feeling scared can be oddly pleasurable, like participating in a real-life action thriller, when one is allied in imagined combat with a united country of brave patriots....The contest, as framed by Bush, invites Americans to indulge in a luxurious sense of self-pity--poor, powerful America, so innocent and yet so misunderstood. America's exaggerated fear of unknown "others" is perhaps an unconscious inversion of its exaggerated claims of power." Think about that!

Americans need to seriously think about what we've gotten ourselves into and question, question, question. Americans have got to stop waving the flag for a minute and stop allowing themselves to be led like sheep into exaggerated fear, elect a new president and learn from perhaps America's biggest mistake - allowing George Bush to steal the Presidency in the first place. And second of all, question this: Bush knew that a plane hit the WTC on 9/11. He went into the classroom anyway without checking to see if NORAD was policing the skies, the second plane hit while he was reading the goat book. He sat there for 20 more minutes and attended a photo op. He could have saved the second tower from being hit and the Pentagon. He still did nothing about NORAD until it was too late. There have been no questions answered about NORAD to date. Why won't anyone demand the answer to this? This was Bush's Pearl Harbor.

Let's wake up our neighbors and friends at bar-be-que's and picnics this summer. Tell them you love them and you care about them. Tell them you care about the future of their children. That always gets them. If you live in a battle ground state, arm yourself with truth and facts, ready to answer charges against Kerry and know all of Bush's Flip-Flops.

Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides

Is this the face of a sane person?

Many bloggers have been writing about this article in Capitol Hill Blue. We're not sure how reliable this is. It's not that progressive bloggers doubt that Mr Bush is a few fries short of a happy meal, it's that we're not sure that White House staffers are really concerned that Bush is behaving erratically in the West Wing and if they are, that they would even say anything about it to anyone.

It's no secret that Bush has 'cheating husband syndrome' (meaning he accuses others of doing exactly what he is doing), or that he likes to play dress up boy, or that he is a dry drunk, that he can't speak in public, that he doesn't understand American history and the US Constitution and doesn't seem to care or maybe, just maybe he picked up a newspaper by accident and found out that he isn't as popular as he thought and simply lost it. Maybe some cops in one of the cities he visited forgot to stick some protesters in the very American "Free Speech Zone" and Bush got to see the truth. Who knows?

President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”

Knuckleheads in '69

Neo-nazi's Dick and Rummy in 1969.
Eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

A recent Mother Jones article explains in Civil Servants As the Enemy that Dick "Slick" Cheney and Donald "Rummy the Dummy" Rumsfeld have been in cahoots for privatizing goverment agencies because everyone in the agencies hated Rummy. heh.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Rumsfeld, a 37-year-old congressman from Illinois, to head the Office of Economic Opportunity, which was responsible for overseeing the War on Poverty. Nixon wanted the agency restructured, and Rumsfeld, with the assistance of his chief aide, Cheney, quickly began bringing in management contractors to do the work of the agency's top civil servants.

In The Shadow Government, a 1976 book about the federal consulting industry, Daniel Guttman and Barry Willner quote Cheney as saying, "Don found himself with a bureaucracy that hated him.... [He] was forced to seek outside help. I remember Don reciting to me the Al Smith statement, 'If I don't look to my friends for help, who do I look to, my enemies?'"

Heartbreaking Ballad Paralyzes Trucking Industry

This is so amazing. As some of you know I am a singer/songwriter. It's always been my goal to write the most heartwrenching song known to man/womankind that would literally stop the world and make it cry. It seems that someone has already done it. My hat is off.

NASHVILLE, TENN—The interstate trucking industry, already beset with rising fuel prices and a shortage of qualified workers, was dealt another blow last month, with the release of the agonizingly sorrowful country ballad "She's Gone Back To What She Calls Home," by Cole Hardin.

"At any given time, day or night, an estimated 45 percent of the nation's over-the-road truckers are idling on the shoulder, in waysides, or in truck-stop parking lots, listening to Mr. Hardin's ballad of infidelity, loss, and heartbreak,"

"'Scuse me a moment," Knutson said. "Sorry, but I must've gotten something in my eye just then."

Last week, the Department of Transportation reported business volume down 60 percent, manifest damage up 9 percent, and worker productivity down across the board, as drivers complain of heartache, loneliness, and the she-ain't-never-comin'-back-again blues.

"Unfortunately, country-radio stations nationwide have 'She's Gone Back' in heavy rotation," NTSB spokesman Howard Stivoric said. "The steel guitar's wail invokes that cold, hard, lonely road she's taking back to where her heart'll stop breaking, and, well, that makes anyone who hears it want to turn right around and get on back to where they came from. For a country that transports 85 percent of its perishable goods by truck, a heartbreaking ballad like this one is bad news."

Due to the song's popularity, the average trucker is spending as many as 3 hours per day sitting motionless in the breakdown lane. Travelers on the nation's highways are growing accustomed to seeing dozens of semis pull over to the side of the road whenever the song is played.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only hope and pray that my songs would stop world progress someday. [sniff] In the meantime, here are some soundclips to some of my songs that may or may not wrench your heart...
Teenage Vegetable-MP3
PreMenstrual Blues - Real Audio
More BlondeLemonPledge Soundclips

God'll Show Them What We're Made Of!

He is a well spoken, handsome lawyer, just a year older than I am. He worked as a diplomat who coordinated NGOs and foreign governments in order to bring aid to his country during the sanctions.
He was detained and accused of being a spy for Saddam Hussein, even though he is not even a Baathist.
He was hung from his ankles for hours in Abu Ghraib, until he passed out.
I ask him what else happened to him in there. He pulls up the legs of his trousers to show me two electrical burns on the inside of his knees, and points to two more on his elbows.

...At the Airport prison (which Iraqis refer to as Guantanamo Airport) he was interrogated five times, then ten more times at Abu Ghraib. At each place he was beaten until he passed out, forced to beat other detainees, deprived of food and water (he lost 25 kilos while in detention), offered no medical care, received threats on his life, was threatened that his wife would brought in and raped in front of him, had rats and cockroaches as cellmates. He was kept in a cell 2 meters by 1.5 meters.

...Maybe you didn’t hear that the lead CIA man who tortured him referred to himself as “Satan.” Or that while he was praying and reading his Koran female soldiers came in and flashed their breasts at him, then sexually humiliated and abused him.

...His home was destroyed while he was in detention.

... Then there is his aunt... A kind, 55 year-old woman who used to work as an English teacher. She was detained for four months, in as many prisons: Samarra, Tikrit, one in Baghdad and of course, Abu Ghraib. She was never allowed to sleep through a night, she was interrogated, not given enough food or water, no access to a lawyer or her family. She was abused verbally and psychologically.

But that isn’t the worst part. Her 70 year-old husband was detained and beaten to death. But that took 7 months.
She’s crying as she speaks of him... as are Abu Talat (my translator) and I.
“I miss my husband,” she says, standing up and addressing the room. “I miss him so much.”
“Why are they doing this to us?” She doesn’t understand what is happening. Two of her sons were also detained, her family completely shattered. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” she sobs. -Dahr Jamail Via Pissed Off Patricia

You Know You Want It! Tell Me You Want It!

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Discuss the possibilities below.

Who Can Turn The World On With Her Smile?

Who can take a nothing state
And suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's Herseth and you should know it.
The Indians made sure the Dems didn't blow it.
Rethuglicans are sore and bigoted snakes, It
Will take more than luck, Rethuglicans fake it
Democrats will make it afterall.

What Liberal Media? (and a bunch of other thoughts)

In early March of 2003, I was shooting an album cover near a quaint Long Island Railroad station. The hot musician friend of mine looked great against the rails and the old fashioned depot. I took a lot of shots there. A few trains came by and we moved back. Suddenly we were met by several police cars who surrounded us. They asked us what we were doing. Uh duh. I was standing there with a camera and my friend was standing there with a guitar case and I was obviously taking a picture of him at the station. WTF does it look like, officer?

We were then informed by the officers, who took our ID's, filed reports about us, then called the FBI, CIA and local police, and ran checks to see if we had any priors, that we must get permission to take pictures at any public property. huh? I politely asked why? We were told that this is almost war time. Mind you, dickwad in chief hadn't even declared war yet. I politely asked what that had to do with taking a picture of someone at a train station. The cops said that I could be a terrorist taking pictures of the tracks in order to plant an explosive device. ohhhh! I see. Now mind you, I was out in East Armpit, Long Island and this would be the last place on the planet any terrorist would think of making any impact. If a terrorist set off an explosion there, the rest of the world would say, "So?" but I digress...

We waited.. the FBI called back and told the cops to let us go. By the way, my friend and I are both blonde. He has blue eyes, I have green. We look Scandinavian. Yah. Not your average terrorists.

So about a few days later, free from my nightmare of police interrogation, the idiot in chief declared war on Iraq and I curled up into my mandatory fetal position and withdrew from society. I had no one to talk to at all about it who would understand me or take me seriously, there was nothing on the news that supported my opinion that this was wrong, there was nothing in the paper that was contrary to Bush's opinion that this was the right thing to do. I seemed to be the only person on earth that I knew who knew that the whole damn thing was 100% bogus. I was more terrified when the war in Iraq started than I was when we were attacked here in NY on 9/11 because I saw greater repercussions. I didn't know where to go online at the time either to find solace and solidarity.

Many people I knew watched the bombing of Baghdad on TV and told me I was crazy to think that we would ever need more troops or that there was a chance we would ever need to draft anyone to fight the war. They all said it would be over in a snap. The conservative folks were complaining about the "liberal" media to me. I couldn't understand how they could call it that when the media was 100% complicit with the war and Bush's ideology all along. George Bush certainly wasn't liberal. I swore I was living in Russia during the cold war. Where was my Radio Free Europe?

One Saturday night last spring, while I was plopped on the couch barely able to move my fingers to change the channels, I flipped onto CSpan and there it was, a dream come true... an anti war rally in DC. I wasn't crazy afterall. There were people like me. I watched speeches by intelligent famous people who said exactly what I was thinking. I jotted down website URL's as they came up on the screen too. I was brought to tears. No lie. After it was over, the programming went back to the horror and the Nazi propaganda of the Bush Cartel. Yet for a brief moment in time, I saw sanity on the television and I felt good there.

Well if you read that whole stream of consciousness thing above, Goddess bless you.. I was getting to this piece: Think Again: 'You Call this 'Liberal?'' - Center for American Progress by Eric Alterman.

PS I have to dig up pics from a photo shoot I did at an abandoned insane asylum on Long Island. I was shooting a very young rock band there. It was haunted. I kid you not. I have pictures of ectoplasm. We met up with some funky security guards there too and ghosts who didn't want us there. Oh the joys of photography.

Preznit Looks Goofy at the Vatican Today

You idiot, wipe that smirk off your face before I do.
God said, "Thou shalt not kill! Get it?"

The AP story about the Preznit's visit to the Vatican is the biggest bunch of crap I have ever read. You can read it if you want. It says nothing. I don't believe it.

Factoid de Blonde:The Yahoo story left out the part where the Pope brought in his finest exorcists and had the smirk wiped off Bush's face which is clearly, in terms of Catholicism, the mark of the anti-Christ. (unfortunately, the exorcist fell down a huge gilded flight of stairs afterwards) It's a little known fact about the smirk being related to the anti-christ, known mostly to Catholics.

You see, when Hitler was in power, you couldn't really see his smirk that much cause it was covered by his mustache... but it was there. He was another anti-christ. There were many anti-christs. When Catholics were in control of the Bible, they erased that sentence too cause it would alarm too many people.

Some people think that the sign of the anti-christ is some sort of blotch on the forehead.. but that is not true.. it's the smirk. 'Blotch' and 'smirk' in Bible-ease are very similar and often mistaken, especially by radical fundamentalists.

Liberals:Good - Conservatives:Baaaaaad

Even the Wall St. Journal says so. So there.

On the defensive for more than a generation, the American left is seeing signs of political revival. Recent polls show more Americans are calling themselves "liberal" -- a term that had been considered something of an epithet -- and fewer are identifying themselves as "conservative." Liberal groups, from the National Organization for Women to Moveon.org, are enjoying a big fund-raising surge. The flagship publication of the left, the Nation, claims to have captured the highest circulation of any weekly political magazine.

...last month's Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed 42% of voters identifying themselves as Democrats, compared with 39% who say they are Republicans. Two years earlier, Republicans had a 37%-to-36% edge.

Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby

Quick! Dial 696969 and an ambulance will come screaming to your door, bearing the logo of a large red condom with wings, bearing a 10 pack of condoms hopefully in time to save you from an unwanted pregnancy or an STD.... well that is if you live in the cities of Stockholm, Malmo and Gothenberg, Sweden.

Parenting Tips

An irate mom decided to not only sell her 13 year old son's Playstation 2 on Ebay but she listed all the bad stuff that he did over the weekend that pissed her off so much that it drove her to auction off his prized possession. (her 13 year old drank beer, champagne and bad stuff like that.)

You gotta see this.

Ditto Dat

Rude Pundit covers the Jose Padilla case today and why he deserves a trial and why they have to prove that he was planning to do what they say he was going to do because that is the way we do things in America, dammit!

Then the Rude One goes on to explain why we don't give money to churches in this country... well that's also because we don't do that in this country either, dammit. Uh that would go under 'Separation of Church and State', not to mention that THEY DON'T PAY TAXES!

"In other words, George Bush and his minions demonstrate, over and over, that what they are after is not a "return" of the United States to anything that existed in the past. It is the transformation of the country into something else. And whatever that something else is - theocracy, more rigid autocracy - it ain't the United States. It's another country, one most of us did not sign up to live in." -Rude Pundit

He's absolutely right (but left out fascist dictatorship) and this is another reason why my head nearly explodes when I see Bush throwing the constitution out the window at his whimsy. It's just plain wrong and Bush is NOT going to get away with this. I hope to see Hannity, Rush, O'Reilly, Coulter, et al blow their cranial bloodvessels over the liberal backlash before it happens to me. Now that's justice, baby.

I Can't Resist Another Bush Speech

Sometimes when I read the news about BushCo, I can just imagine the little Dustin Hoffman character from "Wag the Dog" telling George what to say. It makes my brain hurt.

Yesterday when Bush spoke at the Air Force Academy commencement. Here are some excerpts from the whole speech. (I have to make snarky comments cause It's MY bloggy and I'll snark if I want to)

"Like other totalitarian movements, the terrorists seek to impose a grim vision in which dissent is crushed, and every man and woman must think and live in colorless conformity. So to the oppressed peoples everywhere, we are offering the great alternative of human liberty."

Now just wait a minute. What about "free speech zones" in our country? If you don't agree with the President, you are relegated to some zone out of sight from any public gathering. If you aren't carrying a protest sign, you could be a terrorist with a strap on bomb and be allowed to stand curbside as the President passes by. duh.

"For decades, free nations tolerated oppression in the Middle East for the sake of stability. In practice, this approach brought little stability, and much oppression. So I have changed this policy. In the short-term, we will work with every government in the Middle East dedicated to destroying the terrorist networks. In the longer-term, we will expect a higher standard of reform and democracy from our friends in the region."

I hope he holds Israel and Sharon to that standard too.

"And we're working toward the goal of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace." (Applause.)

ah! How much money are you going to give the Palestinians? And how much top soil are we going to ship there?

"Prime Minister Sharon's plan to remove all settlements from Gaza and several from the West Bank is a courageous step toward peace." (Applause.)

It's about time. Talk to me about the West Bank, Prez.

"His [Sharon's] decision provides an historic moment of opportunity to begin building a future Palestinian state."

His decision? I don't believe it.

"This initiative can stimulate progress toward peace by setting the parties back on the road map, the most reliable guide to ending the occupation that began in 1967. This success will require reform-minded Palestinians to step forward and lead and meet their road map obligations. And the United States of America stands ready to help those dedicated to peace, those willing to fight violence, find a new state so we can realize peace in the greater Middle East." (Applause.)

Yeah yeah

"Some who call themselves "realists" question whether the spread of democracy in the Middle East should be any concern of ours. But the realists in this case have lost contact with a fundamental reality. America has always been less secure when freedom is in retreat. America is always more secure when freedom is on the march."

Yes we are less secure because our freedom is in retreat because we are moving towards a fascist state as democracies tend to do if Mr Bush ever opened a history book.

"For four years, you have trained and studied and worked for this moment. And now it has come. You are the ones who will defeat the enemies of freedom."

Uh oh. That means you will have to overthrow BushCo if they steal the election this November boys.

"Your country is depending on your courage and your dedication to duty. The eyes of the world are upon you. "

That's for damn sure.

Know Your Hubris

Well it finally is proven that Enron traders deliberately drove up prices and manipulated the market by ordering power plants shut down in California a few years back. Remember those rolling blackouts in California? Remember how the rest of the country was threatened with a similar fate? Tapes have surfaced with vulgar dialogues between traders hoping if Bush was elected that he wouldn't put caps on energy prices. Sure enough on May 29, 2001, Ken Lay's buddy, President Bush said he would oppose price caps. And here comes the hubris du jour:

"Both the Justice Department and Enron tried to prevent the release of these tapes. Enron's lawyers argued they merely prove "that people at Enron sometimes talked like Barnacle Bill the Sailor." " -CBS News

UPDATE: I almost forgot about this part. Back in October of last year, Greg Palast made the link between Schwarzenegger and Enron's Ken Lay. [Kennyboy] It seems that Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante were planning to fight to get back the 9 billion that Enron and other power companies bilked from California. Arnold and Ken Lay had a super secret meeting... Bush had to charge the power companies with conspiracy but only pay back 2 cents on the dollar because Bush's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is headed by Ken Lay's friend... oy.... but then Gov. Davis said "no way Jose" and then they conspired/planned to get Davis recalled, smeared Cruz Bustamante, got Arnold elected and made California eat 8 billion. whew. Read it here

Are you waving your flags yet? Are you singing "god bless america, land that I love..."

Pope vs Preznit

The President is expected to meet with the Pope for the 3rd time this Friday and "set aside their differences" we are told by a bogus AP article which also claims that the Preznit is closer to the Pope than Catholic John Kerry, which is such a lie, I'm surprised lightning hasn't destroyed the offices of the AP. Yeah, like the Preznit is going to explain and convince the Pope that the war in Iraq was the Christian thing to do... "Yeah, Pope, it was a crusade. That's Catlic, right?"

I suspect in reality that the Pope has been taking lots of vitamins, saying his prayers, has his top exorcists ready at the helm and expects to do battle with the long awaited "anti-christ" himself this Friday. Stay tuned.

Know Your GOP

If you've got any diehard GOP friends, it might be a good idea to review Maureen Farrell's "Revisiting the 2000 GOP Platform: 20 Outrageous Assertions, Shameless Lies and Broken Promises" over at Buzzflash.com. It's really a doozie. You can read how the GOP denounced Clinton all over the place and then topped him time after time since they took office and disgraced our nation. This is good stuff to have under your belt for your favorite brother-in-law at a summer cook out. Then for back up, you can actually review REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2000 over at CNN. It's still online.

It's pretty sad though we've come to this. But this is war, as the preznit says. It's our job to wake up the Republicans we love or once loved.

Know Your Evil Doer

Do you ever watch the Sopranos? The character development in that series is enormous. The flaws in their characters are enormous and dumbfounding. What truly adds the element of evil to the dastardly deeds perpetrated by Tony's "business family" are the tidbits of everyday humanity that they exhibit at the same time. For instance, Tony has fatherly love for his children and loves his wife although he cheats on her regularly. He can have someone murdered and then attend a religious service minutes later without flinching. He has panic attacks when he thinks about his mother. He experiences guilt over the strangest things and has no conscience when it comes to having a close friend murdered. Where he is vulnerable, he reacts with violence. Tony sees a shrink, takes antidepressants, does have a soft side (sort of) and that is very disturbing.

By watching the episodes, you kind of get a feel for how he got this way and that is an interesting insight into the human psyche. The show might be tedious if you only watched the "family" commit horrific acts each week. It's the essence of the characters that keep audiences interested. I'm not sympathetic to Tony Soprano at all despite the conditions that supposedly made him the way he is. When Tony Soprano cracks a joke with his family, I don't laugh. We all have choices to make in life. Tony chose to be a monster.

I use Tony Soprano to prove a point; we should know more about great monsters in history like Hitler, Stalin and bin Laden. But it's ok to know if they were charming in person with their friends and family or loving sons or fathers. We should also learn more about what was happening politically, historically and economically at the time of their rise to power. This won't make us sympathetic. This will make us more aware of what is happening in our own time and signs to look out for.

There's a great commentary in the LA Times called Human Faces for Our Favorite Evildoers where the author touches on this subject:

For years, popular history has coasted along on the myth that the Nazi, Soviet and Maoist regimes were murder sprees organized by a single madman. But historians of tyranny have two missions: to inform readers how and why these people ruled and killed, and to deliver warnings from the past. If we simply present Hitler and Bin Laden as one-dimensional satanic psychopaths, there is no warning; we learn nothing about them, their cultures, why those nightmares happened.

The intimate approach to Stalin is also key to creating a new paradigm of that regime. It turns out the personal approach is, in fact, the correct way to understand Leninism-Stalinism. The new archives show that even though the leadership was made up of fanatical Marxists and enthusiastic killers, power was personal, informal and based on patronage.

The old picture of Stalin is absurd. If he had been merely a charmless psychopath, he would never have risen to power, let alone maintained it. He was grotesque all right, but also a complex and subtle bundle of contradictions. The devil is in the details.

It's important to understand how some other famous bad guys did major damage. Some of those bad guys were charismatic or were perceived as regular guys at first. Does not our President seem like a guy you'd like to have a beer with? But he is a figurehead of a corporate oligarchy poised to replace democracy with a fascist regime and perhaps years of oppressive religious wars in the middle east. Get the picture?

Character is not just about readable fascination. Character matters because responsibility matters: Germany redeemed itself because it faced the truth of Hitler's charm, popularity and criminality. Stalinism, on the other hand, continues to overshadow Russia: no truth, no redemption.

Tony Soprano's wife Carmella will only redeem herself when she faces the truth about Tony. Oh yeah, she knows what he is but she is playing dumb and her living expenses are paid for with blood money. How many Carmella's have we elected to Congress and the Senate?

Is The Corporate Media Softening?

Today, Billydoom at Doomocracy lets us know that CNN, the "Corporatus Mediasaurus" is waking up:

I woke up this morning then almost choked on the first sip of my coffee, seeing on CNN a debate about "the lies in Bush's negative ads about John Kerry", and almost prolonged my four day weekend taking another day off from work to celebrate this "awakening" that would make Robin Williams proud and Jon Stewart jealous of our Corporatis Mediasaurus . All the frustrations of the past, foamings at the mouth and screamings at the TV screen were gone in a second and I was ready to forgive even Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh for all the Clinton bashing throughout the ages.

Billydoom is nicer than I am. Hannity and Rush aren't going to ever stop bashing the liberals and the funny thing is they label everyone who isn't a nutcase a "liberal" and I find that offensive. They would have to apologize to the masses before I gave either one of them the time of day.

Long Island, Not for the Middle Class Anymore

I live on a "fish shaped" island just east of Manhattan. Right next to Manhattan Island are the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. They are geographically on Long Island but are considered New York City and not Long Island. Nassau and Suffolk Counties are considered Long Island. The Hamptons are way out east on the south fork (fish tail). I live just north, about 11 minutes, from the world famous Jones Beach. I live, I am told, just far enough inland so that if there is a tidal wave, I will escape a flood. I don't escape hurricane damage though. We have more people in tiny Nassau County than a lot of states. The island is about 120 miles long (including Brooklyn and Queens) and about 20 miles wide at the widest part. We had Blue Angels at Jones Beach over the weekend. You can see some cool pics here.

Today I was reading in Newsday about Charles Wang who started Computer Associates here on Long Island. He wants to build a planned community in the last remaining parcel of land in Nassau County. When I tell you we are squished here, I am not kidding. I thought every inch was developed, but apparently not.

This is his idea for the community. Looks nice. I took the poll and said I would be interested in it. Then I read this:

Now Wang is starting a new career -- big-time real estate developer -- with a plan to turn one of the last major undeveloped properties in Nassau County into a new village filled with homes, shops, offices and a deluxe hotel.

Kamer estimated that townhouses in the project would cost about $700,000 and that rents would start at $2,182 for a one-bedroom apartment. "These are affluent people who are going in here," she said, predicting that the average annual household income in the complex will be $224,000.

Holy cow! $700,000 for a townhouse, Batman! The upper middle class people can afford to live there but they already have homes in posh communities. Maybe they can buy homes for their kids. The hard working stupid ass middle class Republicans better put additions on their houses cause there aren't any jobs for their college graduate children and the cheapest houses on Long Island cost about $300,000. You can't even work in retail since Home Depot, Walmart and Borders Books came to Long Island. We are raped monthly by Cablevision, LIPA, the heating oil companies, the phone company and now the fuel oil companies. You can't go anywhere on Long Island unless you drive. Home Depot used to pay well when they first hit Long Island, but since they put every last hardware store, lumber yard and paint store out of business, they screw their employees and we all know how Walmart treats its employees. All the cute little bookstores closed. Everything closed when the big stores came here. The big businesses outsourced the customer service jobs.They replaced people with machines and telephones at the banks. If you want to commute to Manhattan, that's cool. That pays. About 8 million others want to do the same thing. Good luck.

I was reading this article about a million dollars not buying much of a house here. It's true. You can buy a rather crappy looking 1 or 2 bedroom house on the water for a million bucks. It will most likely be a couple of feet from the next crappy looking house.. but you're on the water! Flood city! The mandatory flood insurance will cost you a bundle too. Inland a bit, you can get a nicer looking house for the same million but you only get a 3 or 4 bedroom house for all that money. A really nice house in a very lovely area with good schools would cost a few million. Hell you can buy a condo in Manhattan in a high rise for 10 million.

I live in a regular middle class neighborhood. I paid $50,000 for the house years ago. It's worth about $400,000. It's a starter house community. Not a hell of a lot of young families are moving in here. The taxes are about $5,000-$8,500 around here and some bigger houses are valued at $700,000. Bill O'Reilly grew up in the block right behind my house. I didn't grow up here. O'Reilly's mom still lives behind me. This is not Levittown as he would like you to believe. We are in East Meadow School District which is a fairly good School District although I sent my son to private high school and glad I did.

I live across the street from 3 golf courses and a huge park. It's a nice buffer zone. This is the park I walk in everyday. It's really flat terrain. It used to be potato fields here until after WW2. There probably are a lot of pesticides in the ground which account for the high cancer rates. There used to be farms around here when I first moved here. Now they built really ugly subdivisions where the farms were.

I never lived anywhere else. I like the salty breezes. I love the beaches, the sand, the waves, the ocean, the channels, the bars by the bay at night with the reggae music. I like the smell here. I don't like the traffic. The people are pretty cool. There's no "one type" of person here. We are very mixed. Sure we had Joey Buttafuocco here but he moved to LA as did Tony Danza. Jessica Hahn moved to the Playboy mansion. But we also have artists and intellectuals here. Walt Whitman lived here. We have the famous priest scandals too. The women don't all have big hair and talk like bimbos. It's very interesting how you can hop from town to town and see so many different cultures, lifestyles and versions of NY accents. Fuggedabowdit. You can always head out east to see the lifestyles of the rich and vapid right next to the Indian reservation where they are oppressed and have rancid water in their wells.

Blog Stuff and Anyone Need Hosting?

I want to change the template for this site desperately. I don't want to lose the comments that are already on here from haloscan and I'd like to get rid of the blogspot banner on the top. If I put the blog on my server then all the links to my blog from other sites will stop working, and that's not cool since I spent 4 months getting to be so very popular. heh. :)

Does anyone know if my haloscan comments will go away if I switch templates? I would put the code back in the new template though. Anyone know the secret to getting the banner off the top if I stay on blogspot?

If anyone is interested in webhosting, I have a server and I am a webhost. I charge by the year. $180 if you get regular traffic..But if you get tons of traffic, we'll talk. What's good about my hosting service is that I answer emails the same day if you have a problem. I may even give you my cell phone number. Those cheaper hosting companies.. forget about it.. it takes days to get a question answered.

email me at blonde(at)blondesense(dot)net