From Francesca's Liberal Wingnut Corner:

"Grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, find the fifth sentence, and post the text of the following three sentences on one's own blog. Anyone who hunts down an "intellectual" book from some box down in the basement is disqualified!"

When a babe like this (her photo's on the blogsite) commands, I perform. All females of the species may take notice.

Anyhow, here goes (I'm going to cheat a little because the "three sentences" called for, from a linguistic point of view, aren't sentences.):
"Second Wave systems are in crisis. Thus we find crisis in the welfare systems. Crisis in the postal systems. Crisis in the school systems. Crisis in the health-delivery systems. Crisis in the urban systems. Crisis in the international financial system. The nation-state itself is in crisis. The Second Wave value system is in crisis." -- Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave, 1980.

Bin Laden Enlisting Al-Zarqawi for Attacks

Here in the zee Fahzerland.

24 minutes ago at yahoo.
Yawn.
Another story from the Ministry of Truth.
Did bush give Bin-Hidin' Al-Zarqawi's number?

"Listen Osama, the Murkan's aren't takin' kindly to my social security reforms and they're all pissed off about Iraq. We've gotta get Al-Zarqawi on to something different. Murkans seemed to have forgotten 9/11. Perhaps they need a little r'minder."

LIONS AND TIGERS AND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, OH MY!

Question for readers: There isn't an election going on somewhere that I don't know about, is there? That's the only reason...wait a minute! You suppose the Gannon/Guckert fiasco is heating up and the folks in Washington are trying to distract our attention? Americablog and the Newshounds as well as others even in the mainstream are really doing a nice excavation on that whole sorry mess.

Anyhow there's this from my local rag:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New intelligence indicates that Osama bin Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his top operative in Iraq, to plan potential attacks on the United States, federal officials said Monday.

Catch the rest here.

Who is governing the USA?

"It certainly isn't George W. Bush. He doesn't even know what he is speaking about. "

I just read that line in this article Putin Answers Bush Word For Word By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey for Pravda. He says, regarding freedom to ask the Kremlin about journalistic guidelines, "I even contacted the Kremlin asking for such guidelines and the answer was "we cannot give you guidelines. You must write what you want to write. It is your affair, not ours". "

Imagine that? Freedom of press. It's a good article worth reading and discussing.

White House Must Charge or Free Suspect

How refreshing that a federal judge (you suppose he's a freedom-hating Democrat?) has said that the law of the land is the Constitution, and NOT the man who fancies himself the emperor. Now if someone would only remind the man who fancies himself the emperor that he is merely an employee of the people.

Here's the beginning of the article:
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Monday to either charge terrorism suspect Jose Padilla with a crime or release him after more than 2 1/2 years in custody.

Catch the rest here.

Some Democracy

by blondesense

I lost my breath after reading about our leader blasting his buddy Vladimir for not practicing 'democracy' the American way. I'd like for America to practice democracy the American way too. Do you ever wonder when you are going to snap? I do. The idea of having to wait until it's too late is not good. I don't want to be an "I told you so" when the world goes to hell because of the bushistas. I'd rather that the macho working class red state men who like to shoot things, read the bible literally and drive fast just open a history book and read about the last time fascists tried to take over our country and Europe so that we can get on with our lives and kick the bastards out of DC. Fat chance.

I'd like to know how come the moral values people aren't freaked out over that fake journalist in the WH. He was a gay whore, for biblical abomination's sake. And these morons worry about cartoon characters?

It would be good if the press corps asked the president real questions too. I read a great article at S.Chimp by James Boyne about questions for the president. He poses some great questions for the pres, not that the pres would know what to do with questions since he nevers answers questions. Here's a good one:

"Mr. President, 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants cross our southern border and sneak into America each and every year to settle permanently in our nation. This creates a tremendous strain on our educational system since they bring their children with them; and it creates an enormous financial strain on our health care system since once here they have no means of health care insurance. You say that they fill the need for jobs that Americans won't take. The other side of the coin is that these millions of illegal immigrants also take the lower level, lower paying jobs that many Americans normally use as a safety net when needing a part-time job, a temporary job, a summer job, a job to supplement their Social Security benefits when retired, or a job needed out of desperation at the prospect of not finding meaningful work after being laid off from a high paying job. Many illegal Mexican immigrants fill jobs not only as radish, lettuce, and apple pickers but also as waiters and waitresses, construction workers, sheet rockers, roofers, carpenters helpers, plumbers assistants, apartment and condo maintenance workers, clerical and secretarial help, truck drivers, maids, telemarketers, retail store clerks, and Wal-Mart store associates. There still are 9 million American citizens unemployed and 11 million American citizens classified as "long term unemployed" that have been unable to find work after their unemployment benefits have run out, as you know, Mr. President. My question, Mr. President is this ----if 3 million illegal Mexican immigrants crossing our border every year is good, would 60 million be better? How many is too many? Why do you do nothing to control the flow of immigrants into our country? How could you ever expect to stop terrorist from entering our country at will, when we have an totally open, porous border that you are actually encouraging foreigners to use as an entry point into America?"

Yeah, I'd like to know the answer to that one. Faux News doesn't address these issues. What good is TV news? What would you ask the pres?

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Mental Derailment

Sometimes it seems as though I’m just about ten crossties short of a mental train wreck. That was yesterday. All the lights were blinking and it was up to me to avoid the collision. I was driving the train and I had to do something to stop what I could see was about to happen. I was so close that I seemed to already be able to feel the jolt. It seemed as though the perfect storm of emotions was occurring. The frustration of world events, the shock of death swooping in so close, and the time of loneliness that could not be expressed.

I needed to change tracks and quickly. I tried to watch the Oscars, but to be blunt, I discovered I didn't give a shit who won or why. As an adult I have never been a fan of movies. Once in awhile there will be one that catches my attention but that's a rare occurrence. It was one of those nights when nothing seemed to allow me to concentrate on anything for more than about four seconds. After that four seconds had passed I could once again hear the warning signals and see the flashing lights. Around three o'clock I dozed off and slept until five this morning. I got up feeling that maybe I had avoided the mental crash. Then I read an email that I had received sometime during the night and it wasn't good news. Oh shit, the damned flashing lights are back, and the silence is so loud I can't hear anything. Once again, the mental train wreck looms ahead, and it's going to take a lot of work to turn this thing around. To quote commenter, Anntichrist S. Coulter, " life has a shitty way of broad-siding you with fucked-up shit, doesn't it?" Yes, Anntichrist S. Coulter, it surely does.

And then there's this. A hundred people were killed in Iraq last night or yesterday or whenever the hell it was. One hundred more free dead souls, and for what? When do you classify what is happening in Iraq as a civil war? I thought they said if we pulled our military out of Iraq there could well be a civil war and that's why we had to stay. How many more or how many less would have died in the past twenty-four hours if we had brought all of our soldiers home? When is enough, enough? When does someone admit that the US has royally fucked the dog? What's the cut-off number? Is this what a victory looks like? The Iraqis may have voted but maybe they were hoodwinked into thinking they could save their lives with their vote.

Now We Have It, What Shall We Do With It?

by pissed off patricia

What is Blogging?

Blogging is an awful lot of people all talking at once. The voices are silent but many are heard. Many of us are "getting it out of our system". We are blogging our feelings about a myriad of events, thoughts, situations, and emotions. It may be the new therapy. If you are a blogger, you know how good you feel after you post. You gave yourself the opportunity to type what you were thinking whether anyone reads it or not. You made your statement, and with making that statement you have released something from inside yourself. This is very similar to attending a therapy session. You tell the therapist what you are feeling and they listen. With blogging, you tell cyberspace what you are feeling and perhaps someone will listen to your silent voice.

As for blog readers, they get to pick and choose which voice they will hear and which they will not. The voices can be heard at any time and in any order, and you get to hear them all if you choose. You mostly read blogs as you would choose friends. You like to read likeminded opinions and you hope they will bolster and support your own emotions and decisions. From a political point of view, left-leaning blog readers tend to read left-leaning blogs. It's natural to seek support for your beliefs. That's what friends do for one another. But it would also seem wise to see what other not so likeminded bloggers are saying. That's much easier on the internet. On the internet you may enter a room of not so likeminded bloggers and discover what they said today and often times what they said many days ago. You can be "a fly on the wall".

How strong an influence do political bloggers have, especially in the world of the news media?

That is yet to be determined. Many claim a strong influence and boast about it often. Perhaps some time down the road blogging will receive a chair at the big table, but for now it seems bloggers are relegated to the smaller children's table. That's not to say that blogging can't mature and grow. Subtle changes are already apparent. Some bloggers seem to have gone from being content with their position to casting a yearning eye at the adult media table. Some believe they have already made the move due to one event here or there. They will site the Dan Rather fiasco as proof. One report does not a professional journalist make, but to many it's a beginning and perhaps they're correct. How big and how strong political blogging will become, no one knows yet, because it's still growing. The media has been resistant to accept political blogging as anything more than gossip for a long time. Now many in media are blogging too. We've come that far. The media sees that the blogging audience is growing, and they want a piece of the action.

What's next?

So here we are. We're all communicating with one another in a new and amazing way. A blogger can talk when everyone else is talking and still be heard as an individual. Where else can that happen? A blogger can talk today and be heard a week or a year from now. If we want political blogging to be not only heard, but also respected, we must try our best to be factual with what we say. With blogging, there are no rules. The lack of rules may be a problem for bloggers, because as of now you are not responsible for what you write. There is no waiting to speak, and so far, no rules about what you may say. That may be a present blessing or a future kiss of death for blogging. The freedom to say anything you please about anyone has a dangerous edge. What about trust and integrity? If political bloggers are diligent and dedicated to getting it right, they can move up, but if they become nothing more than emotional, angry writers using fiction rather than fact, they stand the chance of losing the respect of one another. Any aspiration of ever being recognized and listened to seriously will be only a dream they once had.

Organization might well be considered by bloggers. Not order but organization. Perhaps political bloggers need to come together and set out their own standards and direction before someone else does it for them. Bloggers should protect their rights and set their standards, because everyone knows the bigger you become, the bigger target you also become. It might be wise for bloggers to speak to this idea before it's too late. We have this wonderful tool and we need to use it wisely and protect it, because there may come a time when the government feels we don't merit such responsibility. Only if we join together and marshal ourselves will we continue to be able to all speak at once and have our silent voices heard.

Getting Out of The Slammer

Well finally. Martha is getting out of the slammer. Why in the hell did they go after this women in the first place? Insider trading? Right. It's was just plain unfair. She's rich. Rich people, they talk to other rich people. So what? Yeah, the talk about rich "stuff," like stocks and bonds, and which island to buy.

The Neo-Cons had it in for the woman. She didn't really do anything wrong. Everybody does that insider trading. Broke people do it, too, just on a different level. Hey, we all got hookups. One of the Tammy's has a kuz'n who works for Wal-Mart. She calls Tammy all the time. "Girl, don't buy that today. It's going on sale tomorrow. Two for one, it's gonna split."

Basically, Martha went to prison for talking to the feds. So much for your cooperating with the authorities. Now, what have we learned? Don't say a damn thing without your lawyer present. I wouldn't give a rip if a sleeper cell was living next door to me; I wouldn't tell the government about it unless Johnnie Cochran was standing beside me. I think that little kiss-ass, big-mouth broker, Peter Bacanovic, is the one who called, alerting her that the Waksals were selling their stock. "Yeah, baby, thanks for the tip. It saved me thousands and it got me time in the slammer."

The trial was a witch hunt. Prosecutors brought out testimony of Martha "yelling" at people on the phone, trying to make it seem that Martha wasn't a "nice" woman. What the hell does that have to do with the charges? Do you think for a Missouri moment they would have done this if she had a penis? Stewart is a powerful woman; she probably does yell from time to time.She's the boss Queen too. Donald Trump yells at somebody every damn week on national television and fires them too. Chit, we love it.

They sacred Martha to death. During that season entire companies come out of hibernation just to teach the public how to lie to the government. But do we prosecute them? Hell no. See, I think they went after Martha because they were pissed off about all the things she can make out of everyday items that they can't. I know Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh wouldn't have a clue what to do with a skein of maple weaver's yarn/ But should Martha have be reviled and punished because she can make a damn quilt, a hammock, and truss turkey out of the same skein? I think not. Maybe I'm just starting to identify with rich women more these days. I used to identify only with poor women. Thank Gawd money cured me of that sickness.

My advice to anybody thinking about committing a federal offense: Do it quickly. Get locked up in Camp Cupcake. You know it's going to be nice. They place is all spruced up now. That woman could figure a way to break you out if you got bored. That woman can make anything. And it won't be any of that nasty, tunneling-your-way-out, ruining-your-cloths shit. Martha will have you walking out of there clean and neatly pressed.

By Missouri Mule
--------------------

Missouri Mule, an ardent follower of the Martha Stewart philosophy poses in front of her recently remodeled bathroom. Coming soon, photos of the Pompeii style mosiacs over the throne.

A Tsunami Of Porn

I just love how the so called "moral" wingers use tragic happenings to further their agenda of restricting the rights of Americans. First, everything was "terrorism" and now "tsunami" is the word du jour. I also wouldn't consider Playboy, porn.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families (NCPCF), is warning parents across America that their cell phones may soon become 'cess pools' because Playboy is offering content via the cell phone. Maybe it's not such a good idea to give your children cell phones, they claim. If I were a paranoid morality obsessed American parent, or even just a regular parent like myself, I have access to the cell phone bill of my child, since I pay for it. I think I would notice if my child was subscribed to Playboy and I would simply cancel it. duh. double duh.

This adult blonde is rather sick and tired of all the restrictions that 'moralists' try to impose on us because of 'the children'. We've always had adults and children. There were always differences between adult and child entertainment. I can't listen to Disney songs anymore. I did my time. If I want to subscribe to sexy adult type content on my phone, I should be allowed to if it's offered. If I have an impressionable child at home, it wouldn't be a good idea though. So I might consider passing on the offer or put a lock and key on my phone. Why don't these people preach to those who don't bother to monitor what their kids are doing? That would be the place to start rather than trying to turn the whole country into a Puritan nation. How about parent training?

And another thing, why do these 'moral' people keep voting for Republicans who only exist to support the corporations? Corporations need to make too much money and sex sells. It's ironic that they support the very administration that helps to make corporations free from any restrictions.

Wal-mart watch

One of our nation's most evil corporations, Wal-mart, whose employees rank among our working poor, reported that sales rose 4% in February. The southeast was the strongest reporting region for food items while the northeast sales were not as strong because of all our snow storms in the past week and we were shopping at the other evil empire, Home Depot.

Speaking of the northeast, particularly the island called "Long" that I live on, Rego Park Developers told Wal-mart to stuff it because their employment practices are not good for the community citing anti-union practices and the negative impact it would have on small businesses in the borough. Cheers for Queens, NY!

I'd like to know how Wal-mart got into my community. What's up with my county? The parking lot there is crowded every single day and this is not a poor neighborhood per se but there are a lot of senior communities nearby and Wal-mart affords them less costly goods and shitty part-time jobs. We are inundated with stores on Long Island. Shopping is our past-time. I know it's hard to resist a stereo for 5 bucks and the food is cheap, but we've got to remain strong and support mom and pop's across America or the fascists will have won. Why do conservatives hate our democracy?

It was also reported that there is a healthy demand for Easter items at the evil empire, because after all, Jesus suffered, died and was buried in order to rise again so that people could eat candy shaped like eggs and bunnies. yum.

From the "it's about time" files

Wal-mart pays its employees such low wages that they still qualify for welfare in Montana. It turns out, according to the Independent Record in Helena, Montana, that tax payers end up paying Wal-mart employees the difference between their Wal-mart salary and a living wage. oF course you and I know that this how it was planned by the corporate pigs. But there is a new bill that would impose a gross proceeds tax on "big box" companies such as Wal-mart.

"Wal-Mart had net income of $7.1 billion last year and paid its chief executive officer $12.4 million a year or $5,980 an hour. But the average Wal-Mart worker, he said, is paid $13,694 annually for 32 hours of work weekly and has to wait two years to be eligible for insurance."

This totally sucks. People who work should make enough to live on at the very least. It's no wonder that some people milk the system. What's the incentive to work if you're going to be poor anyway? We'd sure have a lot less crime in this country if people could manage to live on what they earn.

We're Gonna Party Like It's 1984

According to the NY Times, a Kansas prosecutor is investigating and demanding all late term abortion records in order to prosecute criminal cases because abortion after 22 weeks is illegal in Kansas unless the woman's health is at risk. It's quite possible however that he is going after doctors who perform illegal abortions and also trying to keep tabs on 10, 11 and 12 year old rape victims, but then again, it sounds like we've reached a new level in fascism because a woman's medical records should not be used to see whether or not someone committed a crime and that is what he is doing.

Faux News

From MediaMatters

Krauthammer falsely claimed an "absence of angry demonstrations" during Bush European tour. Go read how many demonstrators there really were, but here's what Krauthammer said.

"From the February 24 Special Report with Brit Hume:

"KRAUTHAMMER: The biggest event in Europe was the absence of angry demonstrations against our president. Which showed a cooling of the hostility and sort of an evening of the temperature. And that's about it."

Be sure and read the comments that have been left there by the readers. The folks in Germany tell you what it was really like and why.

It was a Hell of a Party!

I was in here early this morning cleaning up the place. I recycled all the empty bottles. Wow, you guys made a hell of a mess. The floor was sticky and well, I won't mention what I found under the table. Oh, is someone missing an article of intimate apparel? I found one and there's also this lacy black thong too. Speaking of lost and found, did anyone find an article of intimate apparel with the word "Thursday" on it? If so just email it to me and I'll get it to it's rightful owner, I know her.

Who thought it was a good idea to remove the lampshade from the lamp? Did you actually wear it on your head?

I'm most curious who left their phone number written on the wall. You know, the one with the message that said, "I'm cheap and I'm easy". Then someone added, "he really is."

On, it's okay! Impromptu parties are the best of all. But next time please be sure that everyone goes home before you lock the doors. I found something that looked like a heretik sleeping by the frig this morning. When I woke him up he said he needed to "get back to work", and he rushed out the door.

Yeah, even with all the mess it was fun! Come back anytime and we'll do it again. The nicest part of a cyber-party is you can attend in your jammies and you don't have to drive home afterwards, plus no one sees you when you get so drunk you fall asleep on your keyboard and roll off onto the floor.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Here are some quotes taken randomly from the transcripts of a June 18, 2001 meeting between Bush and Putin. The first two make me laugh because, well, you'll see. The rest I put together just for fun. I found all these at CNN.com

Putin - "In this regard, as they say in cases like this, reality was a lot bigger than expectations, because this was not only a confidential discussion, but extremely and all the way to more than what you could expect from frankness, because President Bush, as a person who has studied history, proposed a very global, wide-scale approach and view to history."

Bush - "The president is a history major, and so am I. And we remember the old history. It's time to write new history in a positive and constructive way."

History major? Bush? Who knew?

These are random and totally out of context, but they worked for me. What's going on here?

Bush - "These will be fruitful discussions, and I believe what people will see is a joint strategy."

Putin - "In this regard, as they say in cases like this, reality was a lot bigger than expectations...."



Putin - "Yes, I'm going to lay it out for you."

Putin - "Look, here it is."



Bush - "It's much bigger than that."

Bush - " Everybody is trying to read body language."

Bush - "And I believe that the people who watch carefully our relationship will see that it grows and emerges."

Bush - " And from that basis, we can begin a very fruitful relationship."

Now we move forward to this week.

When asked if he would invite Chirac to his ranch, bush responded, "I need a good cowboy."

I guess it didn't work out these past four years between he and Putin. Now he wants to try a French cowboy.

Springtime for Bushie In Germany

Bush went to Germany this week, as you know. Before bush came out to speak to the US Troops were were stationed there, cheerleaders entertained the troops. Everyone was happy.


Bushie didn't do so well in Mainz, Germany where thousands showed up to protest.


Now on Wednesday, bush was planning to have a "town hall" style meeting as he loves to do in the USA because it reminds him of his favorite dictators. This was supposed to be the main highlight of his trip. And you are gonna love this next part...

"But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week? " -good article here

Bwahahahahahaha

WOW Connecticut

Nears OK of Gay Civil Unions
Boston Globe

''The language in the bill is the same as same-sex marriage," said Deacon David Reynolds, legislative liaison for the Connecticut Catholic Conference. ''The benefits given to same sex couples are exactly the same as the benefits from marriage. It looks like the Legislature was afraid to use the term marriage in our state right now, so they opted for civil unions instead. We're going to talk to elected officials and the governor's office and just educate people about what this really means. It's not going to stop at civil unions."

The civil unions bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee by a 25-13 vote, a near 2-to-1 ratio that surprised even some of its supporters. Two years ago, when a similar bill came before the committee, it was defeated by an equally wide margin. That turnaround has led even those who oppose the bill to concede its chances of passage are formidable.

IRAQ: Ramadi residents flee city after latest US-led attacks

From Reuters

"But citizens, exhausted by ongoing violence, are afraid and are choosing to leave before the situation worsens. "They want to destroy the whole area and build a New York City there, and for that they are tearing down everything. We want to live in peace. We are tired of fighting and bombs. God, please protect us," Muhammad Farhan, a father of five, who was fleeing the city with his family, told IRIN"

There's more if you can stand to read it.

CONGRATULATIONS

TO ALL THE 2004 KOUFAX AWARD WINNERS


As bush would say it.
Conspicuously missing from that winner's list is Blondesense. That's fine, they didn't get the nomination because they were looking for WMD or for regime change. They were nominated because they wanted to spread democracy all over the world. They were nominated because they knew that freedom was the Almighty's gift to all people.

As we would say it.
Thank you to everyone who cast your vote for Blondesense. Because of the nomination I believe we have expanded our visitor's list and hopefully made some new friends too. We'll keep working and we'll keep having fun.
We also want to issue a very special congratulations to MyDD, the winner of the Best Group Blog award.

Bartender's Psychology

Before you order a drink in public, you should read this!

Seven New York City bartenders were asked if they could nail a woman's personality based on what she drinks. Though interviewed separately, they concurred on almost all counts.

The results:

Drink: Beer
Personality: Causal, low-maintenance; down to earth.
Your Approach: Challenge her to a game of pool.

Drink: Blender Drinks
Personality: Flaky, whiny, annoying; a pain in the ass.
Your Approach: Avoid her, unless you want to be her cabana boy.

Drink: Mixed Drinks
Personality: Older, more refined, high maintenance, has very picky taste; knows EXACTLY what she wants.
Your Approach: You won't have to approach her. If she's interested, she'll send YOU a drink......

Drink: Wine (does not include White Zinfandel)
Personality: Conservative and classy; sophisticated yet giggles.
Your Approach: Tell her you love to travel and spend quiet evenings with friends.

Drink: White Zinfandel
Personality: Easy; thinks she is classy and sophisticated, actually, she has NO clue.
Your Approach: Make her feel smarter than she is...this should be an easy target.

Drink: Shots
Personality: Likes to hang with frat-boy pals and looking to get totally drunk... and naked.
Your Approach: Easiest hit in the joint. You have been blessed. Nothing to do but wait, however, be careful not to make her mad!

Drink: Tequila
No explanations required - everyone just KNOWS what happens there.

-----

THEN, there is the MALE addendum ----
The deal with guys is, as always, very simple and clear cut:
Domestic Beer: He's poor and wants to get laid.
Imported Beer: He likes good beer and wants to get laid.
Wine: He is hoping that the wine will give him a sophisticated image to help him get laid.
Whiskey: He doesn't give a damn about anything but getting laid.
Tequila: He is thinking he has a chance with the toothless waitress.
White Zinfandel: He's gay


I'll have a mixed drink and a beer back, please. What are you drinking?

( Those in recovery need not reply)

Blow Jobs For The Needy

The giving of the "Promise" has become the Sweet Potato Queens' rite of initiation. Once a woman has been elected for a position in the court, the Boss Queen, namely me, will choose a quest and a knight for her to practice on. The entire court will accompany her on her virgin mission. It is a very moving occasion.

A few years ago, at the initiation of Tammy, which was being held during happy hour at Hal & Mal's, we spied at the bar a certain high muckety-muck from the Carton -Ledger, the largest newspaper in Missouri. And we----rather, I---decide that it would be a good thing if he would ensure that there was a large, full-color, above-the-fold, front-page photo of the Sweet Potato Queens in Sunday's paper following the parade on Saturday. And so our newest Tammy went over to him, accompanied by the full court of Queens. Now he, not living under a rock, knew full well who we were, what we wanted, and what we were about to say to him in order to get it. So did everybody else at the bar, which, of course, did make him the Man of the Hour----lucky bastard. Still, not being accustomed to receiving such attention, he was slightly flustered and flushed. Meanwhile our girl Tammy, former president of the Junior League and former Queen Regent the Girls' Auxiliary of the First Baptist Church of the little town where she grew up, was in an equal swivet at the prospect of actually delivering the Promise to this man, in full view and earshot of a hundred or so people, all of whom were respectfully silent in keeping with import of the occasion.

All I can say is: I know have that large, full-cover, above-the-fold, front-page photo framed and hanging in my office.

Whenever possible, we like to make the Promise in a group. It seems to heighten the excitement for the guy. We're all laughing fit to kill, and he knows on some level----like his conscious, rational min---that it is never going to happen. But on some other level, usually a little farther south, hope springs eternal, and we are all fro keeping hope alive, especially since it serves our purpose so well.

Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love

Proud parents of another drone

by Missouri Mule

Here's another segment of the bumper-sticker population that ought to be locked into portable toilets and set on fire. the ones who want us to know how well their kids are doing school. Doing well, that is, according to today's lowered standards:

"We are the proud parents of an honors student at the Franklin School." Or the Middale Academy. Or whatever other innocent-sounding name has been assigned to the indoctrination center where their child has been sent to be stripped of his individuality and turned into an obedient, soul-dead, conformist member of the American consumer culture.

What kind of empty people need to validate themselves through the achievements of a child? How would you like to live with a couple of these blockheads? "Say, Justin. How's that science project coming along?" "Fuck you, Dad, you simpleminded prick! Mind your own business and pass the Froot Loops, fucking dork."

Here are a few parental bumper stickers I'd like to see:

"We are the proud parents of a child whose self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn't need us promoting his minor scholastic achievements on the back of our car." That would be refreshing.

"We are the proud parents of a child who resisted his teacher's attempts to break his spirit and bend him to the will of his corporate masters." A little Marxist, but what's wrong with that/?

Here's something realistic: "We have a daughter in public school who hasn't been knocked up yet." And, for the boy: "We have a son in public school who hasn't shot any of his classmates yet. But he dose sell drugs to your honors student. Plus, he knocked up your daughter."

And what about those parents who aren't too proud of their children? "We are the embarrassed parent of a cross-eyed, drooling little nitwit, who, at the age of ten, not only continues to wet his bed, but also shits on the school bus." Something like that on the back of the car might give the child a litttle more incentive. Get him to try a little harder next semester.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Death is Also in the Eye of the Beholder

We were told the military couldn't and didn't keep a tally of how many innocent Iraqis (collateral damage) were killed when we were doing the killing, but now that the "insurgents" are doing the killing, we know within minutes how many Iraqis are killed after every roadside bomb explodes and after every suicide bomber strikes. Most times we are told how many Iraqis were killed before we hear the death toll of American soldiers.


US killing Iraqis.......good

Insurgents killing Iraqis.....bad

Or so they would like us to believe.



On sort of the same insane thought wave, why is the lunatic far right working so hard to keep Terri Schiavo alive while being so delighted to send our soldiers to die in Iraq?

GOD HATES WOMEN

A LOT MORE THAN HE HATES FAGS
And the Bible is a dirty book

We'll start with Genesis and go through the whole bible in the next week, thanks to Skeptics Annotated Bible. (It's a real bible with snarky commentary as you will see below.) With this knowledge in your pocket, it will become clear to regular people why those folks who follow Bible religions in the supposed "Bible Belt" are so screwed up, so sexually repressed, so obsessed with genitalia and so easily swayed by the neocons. Get yer bibles out. or not.

~ GENESIS ~

God fashions a woman out of one of Adam's ribs. This was necessary since Adam couldn't find a "help mate" in any of the animals that God made for him. 2:20-22

Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the serpent. 3:12-13

God punishes Eve, and all women after her, with the pains of childbirth and subjection to men. 3:16

Adam is also punished, although less severely. He now will have to work for a living because he "hearkened unto the voice" of his wife. 3:17

Lamech is the first of a long line of biblical men with more than one wife. It seems that God approves of such marriages. 4:19, 23

Finally, sometime in the next 800 years, Adam begat some daughters. These nameless ones are the first (and nearly the last) girls to be born in the Bible. 5:4

"The male and his female ..." Notice that in the Bible female animals are the property of male animals, as women are the property of men. 7:2

Abram makes his wife lie for him, by telling the Egyptians that she is his sister. But at least it was half-true, since she was his half-sister. Such incestuous marriages are condemned elsewhere in the Bible, but god makes an exception for Abram and Sarai. (See Gen.17:15-16 where God blesses their marriage.) 12:13

Sarai is the first of a long line of barren women who were desperate for children. (In the Bible, it is the women who are barren, never the men.) She sends Abram into her handmaid, Hagar, so that she can "obtain children by her." Abram gladly complies. 16:1-4

Sarah, who is about 90 years old and has gone through menopause, laughs at God when he tells her that she will have a son. She asks God if she will "have pleasure" with her "Lord" [Abraham], when both are so very old. God assures her that he will return and impregnate her at the appointed time. 18:11-14

Lot refuses to give up his angels to the perverted mob, offering his two "virgin daughters" instead. He tells the bunch of angel rapers to "do unto them [his daughters] as is good in your eyes." This is the same man that is called "just" and "righteous" in 2 Pet.2:7-8 .19:8

Lot's nameless wife looks back, and God turns her into a pillar of salt. 19:26

Lot and his daughters camp out in a cave for a while. The daughters get their "just and righteous" father drunk, and have sexual intercourse with him, and each conceives and bears a son (wouldn't you know it!). 19:30-38

Honest Abe does the same "she's my sister" routine again, for the same cowardly reason. And once again, the king just couldn't resist Sarah -- even though by now she is over 90 years old. (See Gen.12:13-20 for the first, nearly identical, episode.) 20:2

God gets angry with king Abimelech, though the king hasn't even touched Sarah. He says to the king, "Behold, thou art but a dead man," and threatens to kill him and all of his people. To compensate for the crime he never committed, Abimelech gives Abraham sheep, oxen, slaves, silver, and land. Finally, after Abraham "prayed unto God," God lifts his punishment to Abimelech, "for the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah." 20:3-18

God "closed all the wombs" because Abimelech believed Abe's lie. 20:18

"And the damsel was fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her." (Oh boy!) 24:16

"Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah." Abraham already had a wife (Sarah), and an abandoned concubine (Hagar). 25:1

Abraham had several concubines. 25:6

Isaac uses the same "she's my sister" lie that his father used so effectively (see Gen.12:13 ,20:2 ). 26:7

Esau "takes" two wives. 26:34

Esau, who already had two wives ( 26:34 ), "takes" another. 28:9

Jacob offers to work for seven years to pay for Rachel. As it turns out, he is tricked into having sex with her sister, Leah, instead, so he has to work for another seven years so in order to pay for them both. 29:18-30

Jacob is tricked by Laban, the father of Rachel and Leah. Jacob asks for Rachel so that he can "go in unto her." But Laban gives him Leah instead, and Jacob "went in unto her [Leah]" by mistake. Jacob was fooled until morning -- apparently he didn't know who he was going in unto. Finally they worked things out and Jacob got to "go in unto" Rachel, too. 29:21-30

As part of the deal with Jacob, Zilpah and Bilhah (Laban's slaves) are handed over to Leah and Rachel. 29:24, 29

Laban gives Rachel and Bilhah to Jacob. 29:28

Since Jacob hated Leah, God decided to "open her womb" and make Rachel barren. (Like he did to Sarah and Rebekah.) 29:31

Leah conceives and bears three sons. And it's a good thing, too, since her husband hated her until then for not giving him any sons. 29:32-34

Give me children or else I die." Rachel considers herself worthless if she cannot produce children for her husband. 30:1

But luckily she has an idea. She says to Jacob, "Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her." She solved the problem the same way as did Sarah ( 16:2 ). 30:3

Leah, not to be outdone, gives Jacob her maid (Zilpah) "to wife." And Zilpah "bare Jacob a son." 30:9

Leah thinks her husband will honor her now that she has given him six sons. 30:20

And finally, "God remembered Rachel ... and opened her womb. And she conceived and bare a son [surprise, surprise]." 30:22

"Then Jacob ... set his ... wives upon camels." Jacob had four wives (or two wives and two concubines -- this distinction is not clear in the Bible): Rachel, Leah, Billah, and Zilpah. There is no indication that God disapproves of this arrangement. 31:17

Jacob has two wives and two concubines, continuing the biblical tradition of polygamy. 32:22

Laban, Rachel's father, is hunting for the "images" that Rachel had stolen from him. Rachel sits on the "images" and says to her father, "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee: for the custom of women is upon me." She knows that no man will come near her when she is menstruating. 31:34-35

Jacob has two wives and two concubines, continuing the biblical tradition of polygamy. 32:22

Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, is "defiled" by a man who seems to love her dearly. Her brothers trick all of the men of the town and kill them (after first having them all circumcised), and then take their wives and children captive. 34:1-31

Dinah's brothers, to justify the massacre of a town for the rape of their sister, say: "Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?" To the author of Genesis, rape is clearly a crime against the honor of men rather than against a woman. 34:31

Rachel dies in childbirth; but at least she had another son. And in the Bible, a woman is expected to die happily as long as she has a son. 35:17-18

"Reuben went and lay with his father's concubine." I wonder why God wants to tell us about it. Maybe he figures that "inquiring minds want to know." 35:22

Esau (Isaac's son) had several wives (continuing the tradition of polygamy, with no editorial comment from the Bible). 36:2, 6

"And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite ... and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceived, and bare a son; and she called his name Er. And she conceived again [I guess Judah must have went in unto her again] and bare a son; and she called hi name Onan." (It seems that the probability of having a biblical daughter is considerably less than 50%.) 38:2-4

After Judah pays Tamar for her services, he is told that she "played the harlot" and "is with child by whoredom." When Judah hears this, he says, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt." 38:24
----------

Blonde commentary: My favorite character in Genesis is Lot, the piece of shit who should have been the one who turned into a pillar of salt when the tar pits exploded due to natural causes. Lot was not only a liar and drunkard, but protected his visitors from rapists at the door by offering his "virgin" (but really married) daughters to them instead to show what a model parent he was and to be the first to show true family values to those who read his story. The sin of Sodom, by the way, was inhospitality towards visitors. Lot is deemed righteous throughout bibledom because he protected his visitors from being raped by the inhospitable Sodomites. Lot's visitors were supposedly 'angels' or 'giants' depending on your bible translation. They were aliens in my book.

Later on after the wife was pillarized, the daughters get Lot drunk and knocked up by him. What were the bible preachers saying about Sponge Bob?

I found this cool hi resolution painting of Lot and His Daughters here. Not safe for work if your co-workers consider incest and titties indecent.
-------------

Barf, discuss, lament, gasp... Who is your favorite bible character from Genesis and why?

Bush tried pot and so will I

Bush is exaggerating

It's not even that big.
But I digress.

----------------

In those secret tapes that were published, bush revealed:

“Do you want your little kid to say: ‘Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will?'” ... That’s the message we’ve been sending out. I wouldn’t answer the marijuana question.”

“... It doesn’t matter if it’s LSD, cocaine, pot, any of those things, because if I answer one, then there will be another one. And I just am not going to answer those questions. And it may cost me the election.”

"What you need to say time and time again is not talk about the details of your transgressions but talk about what I have learned. I've sinned and I've learned."

Wow, he must have been some fun at parties, eh?

Bill Clinton should have used those excuses regarding his blow jobs. "I will not talk of my transgressions. I've sinned and I've learned."

The True Magic Words To Bring World Peace

by Missouri Mule

Since y'all seem to be such potty brains today, lets take a look at what really makes the world go round. Yes, indeed. Blow jobs make the world go 'round, just in case you still thought it was love. Everything that happens, good or bad, in the entire world, can ultimately be traced back to a blow job, either given or withheld. Men have two states of mind that can be best illustrated with two crude drawings: one is a big, smiley, happy face; the other of a big old scrow. The accompanying captions would read "Blow Jobs" and "No Blow Jobs." Properly timed and executed, blow jobs given to the right personnel on a regular basis would no doubt bring world peace. Perhaps we should unleash all those beauty pageant contestants who are always clamoring to work for world peace. Put' em out there where they can do us all some real good. Save the Wales, the children, the rain forests, the oceans, the ozone layer, the owls, the beach------everything! Save' em all! They've got to organize! A union is what they need.

But we know the secret truth. The Promise of a blow job works just as well as the real thing, at least from our perspective. We deduced this important principle from a tip I read some years ago in "Hints from Heloise." One clever mom had discovered how to avoid the sticky mess that always occurred when she gave her children ice cream. She swore they were just as happy with an empty cone! I recall thinking those must be some serious dumbass kids if they couldn't tell the difference between ice cream and no ice cream. Turns out she was 100 percent correct. And so it is with the utmost confidence that we recommend to only make the "Promise of the Blow Job" to you. According to Tammy, Queen, and In-house Counsel, the Promise is not enforceable in any court of law. Believe me, if it were, with as many lawyers as we've used it on, we'd have heard about it by now!

Sweet Potato Queen's Book of Love

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"The Bush Administration had more than four years to build a house that would keep America safe and at peace in a world of madmen. That house was never built. And now, the bitter-hot winds of war are coming. And we have no choice but to walk through the maelstrom to the other side, where the next tragedy of our leaders' failures will surely begin." -- The Dark Wraith

A Blow to the Sex Toys Industry

You've no doubt read about the sex toy ban in 'Bammer. Residents of the state must cross state lines to get their sex toys as it's illegal to sell them in Alabama. This gets even better though. You didn't think it could, did you? The Supreme Court doesn't want to touch this with a 10 foot pole. "Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that said Alabama had a right to police the sale of devices that can be sexually stimulating." I don't blame them. What a can of worms. This is a state thing and we don't want any other states to get any ideas. This is what happened last year:

"The sexual devices covered by the statute have many recognized beneficial uses and are used by consenting adults in deeply private acts that are beyond the reach of government regulation," argues the filing on behalf of Sherri Williams, an adult novelty retailer, and seven other women and two men.

A divided three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. It said in a ruling last July that siding with the sex toy merchants could open the door to the legalization of undesirable sexual behavior such as prostitution.

"If the people of Alabama in time decide that prohibition on sex toys is misguided, or ineffective, or just plain silly, they can repeal the law and be finished with the matter," the court said.

"On the other hand, if we today craft a new fundamental right by which to invalidate the law, we would be bound to give that right full force and effect in all future cases including, for example, those involving adult incest, prostitution, obscenity, and the like."

....and pot smoking causes heroin addiction, kissing causes pregancy, etc etc. One thing leads to another, as they say. Better not allow anything because it might lead to something.

Absurd

I was going to write up a summary of this article. But it's just too too... You just gotta read it and consider the absurdity, my dear, bright, well informed readers. This is supposed to be a good news article because other countries involved in this clusterfuck of the willing are sacrificing a couple of hundred troops for the cause. Whew. That should really relieve our troops, eh mate?

Aussies to guard SDF troops in Iraq
The Asahi Shimbun

Profuse thanks poured from Japanese politicians Tuesday following an announcement by Australian Prime Minister John Howard that his country was dispatching 450 additional troops to southern Iraq to safeguard the Self-Defense Forces providing humanitarian assistance there.

``We are extremely grateful,'' said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda. ``The government of Japan welcomes and applauds the decision.''

Providing security for the 600 SDF members based in Samawah had been a major headache for the government ever since the Dutch announced they were pulling out their 1,400 troops in March.

Britain, which is in charge of overall security in the southern half of Iraq, had agreed to step in by dispatching about 600 troops to provide security for the SDF. But, with the announcement by Australia, Britain will now likely send only about 150 troops to join the 450 Australians.

Hosoda said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called Howard asking for Australian troop assistance following discussions with the British.

``Koizumi contacted (Howard) because the British said that Australia would be willing,'' Hosoda explained.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura also released a statement Tuesday praising the Australian decision.

``We will hold discussions on the specific ways in which Japan, Britain and Australia can cooperate,'' Machimura said.

Some Japanese officials had maintained local Iraqi law enforcement could provide protection after the Dutch pullout.

In addition to the general unrest throughout much of Iraq, some feared anti-British sentiment in the region stemming from its past history over there.

In Canberra, Howard said he made the decision to send additional Australian troops after receiving requests from both Koizumi and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Howard was quoted by The Associated Press as saying: ``I believe this is the right decision. It will make a significant contribution to the coalition effort; it will make a significant contribution to the rebuilding of Iraq.''

Although Australia has been solidly behind the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, the decision to dispatch troops to Iraq was never popular with the public.

``This has not been, is not and will not be an easy decision for the government; I know it will be unpopular with many,'' Howard said.

About 300 Australian troops are presently providing security around Baghdad, while another 600 are ferrying supplies to Iraq from the Persian Gulf.

The new detachment will include a cavalry squadron, an infantry company and a team to train local forces, Howard told a news conference in Canberra.

Howard said it would take about 10 weeks for the new troops to prepare for their trip to Iraq and that they would likely stay there for a year.(IHT/Asahi: February 23,2005)


(hat tip to antiwar.com)

More absurdity

Liberal and Proud found this gem:

An artist, Ed Stross, is being prosecuted in Detroit for a mural he painted on the outside of his studio.

"City officials say they gave the 43-year-old artist permission to paint on the wall but explicitly told him he couldn't use letters or paint genitalia."

The mural depicts Eve with breasts and the word 'Love'. uh oh. The L word. It's a take on Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man". The judge put Stross on probation, ordered him to pay a fine and take the word 'Love' and the breasts off the mural. The artist also faces a 30 day jail sentence! The artist plans to argue that breasts are not genitalia. heh. The artist obviously forgot about the horrendous 'Nipplegate' tragedy at last year's Super Bowl. And gosh, the word LOVE sounds so commie and 60's, doesn't it?

It gets better. His lawyer is Carl Marlinga, who is awaiting trial on charges of campaign finance violations. I'm sure the judge will be happy to see him in court too.

Marlinga, who was county prosecutor for 20 years, resigned last year after he was indicted, and has returned to private practice. He has pleaded innocent and his trial is scheduled for later this year.

"This artist has had kind of a running feud with the Roseville City Council," Marlinga said Friday. "Much of that time period I was the prosecutor, so I was always aware of his tendency to push the envelope and drive everyone a little crazy."

"a little crazy" is an understatement for sure.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

From the LA Times
The title of the report is:
Company's Work in Iraq Profited Bush's Uncle
William H.T. 'Bucky' Bush earned $450,000 on stock options with defense contractor ESSI.

Best line: "Having a Bush doesn't hurt," said Kreher..."
I'll just leave it there. I won't even have any fun with a name like Bucky Bush. Nope, no way, not even going there, but you can.

Piss Off

Missouri Mule wants you to read this article. Hint below:

Piss Off: A Belgian novelty shows what the good people of Brussels really think about George W. Bush.
The newest Belgian fad--a Bush urinal sticker.

WHEN JOHAN VANDE LANOTTE, Belgium's Vice Prime Minister, goes to the toilets today, he finds the urinals in the offices of his ministry decorated with stickers. They show an American flag and the head of George W. Bush. "Go ahead. Piss on me," the caption says. Vande Lanotte is one of Bush's hosts in Brussels. Is peeing on your guest's head appropriate? In Belgium it is. After all, Brussels' best known statue is that of "Manneken Pis," a peeing boy.

The F word

Gosh, I have been vilified since I guess, 2001 and the Patriot Act, for calling a spade a spade. I thought, 'Holy shit, if little old I can spot a fascist regime rising, then we are in big trouble.'

American Conservative Magazine, regularly runs anti-war articles and articles about how bush is ruining our country fiscally.... and now this: A real story about the rise of fascism in our country. (The rise of fascism, mind you. We're not completely there yet as you know or I wouldn't be writing this and you wouldn't be reading it.) You must read Hunger for Dictatorship. We are so in deep shit.

What a joke. What a bunch of hypocrites.

CAMILLA BANNED FROM WHITE HOUSE

GEORGE Bush has banned Camilla Parker Bowles from the White House - because she is a divorcee.

The unprecedented snub has effectively sabotaged Charles's plan to take his bride on a Royal tour of America later this year.

The trip would have been the pair's first official tour as a married couple.

But the US President - a notoriously right-wing Christian and reformed alcoholic - told aides it was "inappropriate" for him to be playing host to the newly-weds, who are both divorcees.

The decision was made even though the late President Ronald Reagan was divorced.

A Government insider said: "It was relayed to us from Washington that Mrs Parker Bowles would not be welcome at the White House.

Here's the rest of the story.

-----------------------
I think that the progressives ought to make a big stink about divorce, urge it to be banned in our country since Jesus did expressly condemn divorce in many instances. I think we ought to stick religion to the righteous real good. Let's write to our politicians and DEMAND that they include a ban on divorce in the Defending Marriage Amendment as Jesus would have wanted it that way. Let's also demand that since divorce is not recognized by Christ that those who are on their second marriage may not receive equal benefits as those who are still on marriage number one unless the previous spouse is dead. Oh I can play the religion card if they want it.

This is a gem

"Nassau County police said Christian Morales placed a gas-soaked scarf in the gas tank of his stepfather's 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser, one of three cars parked in the garage of the Peters Ave. home."

Did you notice the boy's name?

They showed his mugshot picture on TV with "Christian Morales" written under it. Somehow it caught my eye. I wonder why.

Moral people view Shrek2 as a problem

I wonder just how much Focus on the Family people and the Traditional Values Coalition people were beaten as children? Probably a lot and probably for just trying to be who they are. Sometimes children who were beaten grow up and have their own kids and beat the hell out of them too. Others grow up and start "values" groups which serve only to be a cog in the wheel of progress and the bane of existence to others as some sort of revenge for not being allowed to be human as children. Others grow up like me ... total pacifist (riddled with guilt).

The Traditional Values Coalition sees Shrek2 as a problem. There were some gender issues in that movie.

Shrek 2 "featured a male-to-female trans- gendered bartender whose voice is that of talk show host Larry King. The bartender had 5 o'clock shadow but was clearly shown to be a woman wearing a dress. In addition, Shrek 2 revealed that Pinocchio is actually a secret cross- dresser who wears women's underwear.
At the end of the movie during a dance sequence, the transgendered bartender jumps on Prince Charming and both tumble to the ground. In addition, Prince Charming is voiced by openly homosexual actor Rupert Everett and his mother, the Fairy God Mother, is voiced by openly homosexual actress Jennifer Saunders. Prince Charming is shown to be effeminate in the film."

Oh god forbid. An effeminate man. God forbid we see in a movie such stuff that we see in real life. Gender issues have always played a part in entertainment. It's not a Jewish, gay, Hollywood phenomena like the falwell's of the world say. It's just people. Why are people so hung up on this gay and transgender thing lately? It's always been in entertainment. What kind of relationship did Gilligan have with the Skipper anyway? What about Mickey Mouse? Did people not used to howl when Milton Berle dressed up as a woman? Gimme a break.

These Traditional Values people believe that sexual identity problems should not be tolerated. You can read their big hissy fit here. I don't see what is wrong with allowing people to be who they are as long as they are not predatory perverts, dangers to society, murderers, etc. We'd probably have a lot less mental illness in the world if people didn't have to live secret lives.

My mom would NOT let me watch the Donna Reed Show or any shows like that when I was growing up. I liked that show but she wouldn't let us watch any of those happy family shows. She said that they were all fake and that no one lived like that. No sane women happily cooked, cleaned and dealt with family problems while perfectly coifed. Furthermore, she stated that it was a crime to show a woman in a dress, stockings and pumps vacuuming or mopping floors. How's that for a progressive dictator?

Bitchin' and Snarkin'

by pissed off patricia

What's O'Reilly going to do with all his "Boycott France" bumper stickers now that we have seen Jacques Chirac and bush holding hands, or as manly men would say, shaking hands?

Why doesn't Hillary, McCain and Lieberman just all get married and produce some kids who are clueless about their party affiliation. Screw this let's all go to the middle shit. We're going left and we aren't looking back!

There is a website that is disturbing. DailyKos has an excellent comment about it and of course they're are having fun with it at Jesus' General. Here's the website that's so disturbing Like you needed to hear about something else disturbing, right?

What the hell was the secret service deal all about yesterday in Brussels? I mean inside where bush was speaking, the SS boys surrounded him while he was shaking hands with the audience. WTF? Did he think someone in that audience was going to do him harm? I didn't see anyone else with their security service running around like three times three blind mice. I guess a guilty conscience can cause a lot of paranoia.

Laura bush says she wants a chef for the white house who can showcase real American dishes, like Bar-B-Q and TexMex. TexMex? No, she wants to pander to the south and Latinos. Uh, Laura, there are a bunch more states in America besides Texas and Georgia. Plus just for the record, I don't believe Mexico is a state, well not yet anyway. Do they have oil in Mexico? Because we probably could speed up the qualifications for statehood if they can show a stream of oil oozing up somewhere.
Laura, If you're looking for real American food, try tuna flavored cat food and canned Alpo dog food. Thanks to your husbands plans, seems these two may soon be the real American dishes of last resort.

Chalabi has decided he's out of the political game in Iraq. Well, somebody decided he is out of the game. Who is writing the rules of this game? Oh yeah, that would be the US of A. The same US of A that went to war based on Chalabi's lies. Yeah, that would look a whole lot like a dirty, nasty US fingerprint on the Iraqi government if the country who paid Chalabi, flew him over there and basically covered his ass for him every time he committed a crime, put him in charge of the whole ball of wax and sand. God, even the powers in DC know that wouldn't pass the stink test even for the littlest sniffer.

losing my joe-mentum

While I was working yesterday I had the TV on and someone turned on CNN. Not me. I heard in the background that bush was dining with Jacques Chirac. I get so embarrassed for our country when bush refers to world leaders by their first name. That is a deliberate insult. Then again it could mean that he was never taught any manners. "Every time I meet with Jacques, I get good advice," said president bimbo. He's also looking forward to meeting his old pal Vladmir this week. How come bush is schmoozing with Europeans? Did he threaten to nuke them too if they didn't comply with US imperialism freedom spreading?

Over at Yahoo this morning I read that The US Army can't meet its goals for recruitment. I simply cannot understand why so few young people are interested in an exciting military career.

I'm glad that Wolf Blitzer is the Buzzflash hypocrite of the week. Wolf "Shall I call you Jeff or Jim" Blitzer is the king of soft ball questions when it comes to protecting the bushistas. What does CNN see in him? They should hire me. I would have asked him if he is indeed the gay version of Fred Garvin and did he model himself after Dan Akroyd's SNL character. Fred Garvin didn't have the benefit of the internet as Guckert/Gannon did for his business so he had to pose for his "janes" when he got there. Ironically, Dan Akroyd also reported fake news. Hmmm.

The Pig's Act Didn't Fly

by pissed off patricia

They carefully applied some lipstick to the pig to make it appear to be smiling and then for good measure they placed a Peace Rose over its ear.  They stepped back and looked at the finished product.  They assured themselves that the pig looked pretty good.  The pig was ready for the show.

Then they crated the smiling pig, along with some other similarly adorned pigs, and shipped them off to Brussels.

When the time came, the lipsticked pig walked before the audience to show itself and its new look to the world.  As the pig danced and pranced, the lipstick began first to smear all over the pigs face and then it faded away completely.  The rose began to wilt during the performance and soon fell from the pig's ear and onto the floor.  The pig continued to dance, and as it did, it danced right over the rose and tore it to shreds.  The pig didn't seem to care that it had lost its makeup and now was seen for what it truly was, a pig. 

Those in the audience whispered to one another about what they observed.  They began to fear the intentions of the pig and wondered why it felt the necessity to disguise itself.  The pig paid them no mind and continued his act.  Many of those back home who had created the new look for the pig refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong, because to them the pig had always been beautiful.  The only reason they had given it the smile and the rose was because they thought it would be easier for the pig to sell its act to the world.

When the pig's performance was over, it walked into the audience with all its security pigs surrounding it.  No other pig seemed to feel the need for such security.  But, the pig who came to town wearing an artificial lipstick smile and only a reminder of peace, knew deep inside that there was a chance it hadn't fooled anyone and it might need protection from those in the audience who saw it for what it really was, a pig with no smile and no desire for any notion of peace.  

This was the same pig it had always been, and it wondered why it had even needed a smile or a rose.  The pig thought its act was that good.

 

 

Our Leaders Speaks to Air About Social Security

I was just wishing my sister in law a happy birthday on the phone and we were yapping about how much we fear the fascist takeover and junk like that. She lives in Maine and works in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a favorite city of mine. She told me bush was there last week at Pease Air Force base to talk about social security and that the cover of the local paper showed a picture of bush talking to a mostly empty auditorium. Sweet.

I went online to their local paper to find the picture and here it is. It does my heart good to see such a sight. I just love New Englanders: Good, hardworking, no bullshit, country folks.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest. But he also shit in our nests, and that was the crime that history will burn on his memory like a brand. By disgracing and degrading the Presidency of the United States, by fleeing the White House like a diseased cur, Richard Nixon broke the heart of the American Dream." -- Hunter S. Thompson

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

From Information Clearing House.

Under my heading of, "Please don't let this be true"

"02/19/05 --United for Peace of Pierce County (WA) - - Scott Ritter, appearing with journalist Dahr Jamail yesterday in Washington State, dropped two shocking bombshells in a talk delivered to a packed house in Olympia’s Capitol Theater. The ex-Marine turned UNSCOM weapons inspector said that George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and claimed the U.S. manipulated the results of the recent Jan. 30 elections in Iraq."

Read it all, if you dare.

From ICH By Mark Jensen: Scott Ritter Says U.S. Plans June Attack On Iran

If you want the straight poop from a military man, listen to Scott Ritter. The first time I ever caught Scott Ritter's act was on Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now". Amy's another one who's in the habit of giving you all the facts and no baloney.

02/19/05 --United for Peace of Pierce County (WA) - - Scott Ritter, appearing with journalist Dahr Jamail yesterday in Washington State, dropped two shocking bombshells in a talk delivered to a packed house in Olympia’s Capitol Theater. The ex-Marine turned UNSCOM weapons inspector said that George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and claimed the U.S. manipulated the results of the recent Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.
Read the rest here.

Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West

There must be about 11,500 books targeted to children's who love horses, and I read most of them. They were as expendable as bubblegum (at least, once it has been chewed for the full forty-five minutes), although forty years after reading it, I discovered that the little blue-and-white paperback 'More Horse Stories' had so deeply screwed itself into my brain that I could close my eyes and finish every line in the book.

But the Shakespeare of the genre, we all recognized, was Marguerite Henry. Her's were books you would save up for and buy in hardcover, some with jackets bearing an embossed gold sticker to show they had won an important award. Parents picked up on the rays of desire emanation form their progeny towards these volumes and, if they were the least bit caring, fulfilled the desire at least once.

My younger sister received 'King of the Wind, the story of the Godolphin Arabian', one of the three foundation sires of the Thoroughbred. It's color pictures opened onto an exotic world, all turbans and tassels and djellabas. It was a master of the dash of danger, the soupcon of flavorful character, the cup of moral rectitude.

But the one my parents gave to me seemed more an omen than a gift; it was a signed copy, with a legible signature and horseshoe in felt-tip pen on the title page. The book was 'Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West'. It contained on of the few Henry female protagonists, and its equine star for once was not an individual but a whole race of endangered animals.

I did not necessarily identify with Velma Johnston, the real-life heroine, although when she was described as a little girl who had to wear a body cast for months due to polio-----as near to my harrowing dread fear of being buried alive as I could stand to read about---I made myself think I could feel what she felt. But it was when Velma grew up, on the verge of transforming herself into Wild Horse Annie, that I felt the punch of identification---with the horses, that is ---right in my gut, and it knocked the wind out of me.

The book describes how the young woman was driving near her Nevada ranch when she noticed something about the slat -sided truck in front of her: It was dripping blood. She followed it to the rendering plant, thinking how could anyone treat cattle or sheep that way, and as a good western girl who had grown up with horses for friends, she was shocked to see the horses were what the truck contained; wild horses packed as if to presage their upcoming future as the contents of a can. The detail omitted from the children's book version of this transformational event was that the blood was flowing largely from one source, the body of a colt who had been caught under the hooves of this truckload of frenzied animals. Even without it I felt a bit faint. It was worse when I got to the part where it showed how the wild ones where hunted down, with planes and trucks and hundred-pound tires lassoed around their necks. There was a burning in my lungs and incredulity in my heart; how could they? How could anyone? This was beyond anything that had ever occurred to me as possible, and I wanted to believe, as the book's ending said, that Wild Horse Annie had succeeded in her crusade to save the American wild horse---after all, there was now a law with her name on it, and one declaring the mustang a National Heritage species. That would make them too important to ever be killed again. Once people KNEW what had happened to these brave and beautiful creatures, they could never again countenance the carnage that had almost wiped them from the land. Because once people knew something they could never again pretend they didn't know.

We are Hemorrhaging open space, but we have figured out a way to ease the loss. Symbols, unlike land, fit into shopping carts. And although wild horse in the true wild land , are not long for this world---the eradication campaign in the United States is headed by the government at the behest of the cattle ranchers cabal, under the faultless guise of necessary population control; in Namibia, in 2000, the feral horse population was dying from drought, and in other places stories are different, but always end the same---domestics are adaptable enough to feed the hunger for the great yonder and the uplifting sight of its ground-eating denizens. There are now over 5 million horses in this country, up more than 50,000 from last year before. Equestrian housing developments--ride you horse right past the front door of your mansion, which is guarded by sentries outside the electronic gate---are being advertised in every locale. One feed producer is opening by the dozen the type of fancified country store it has envisaged will cater to "ruralpolitan" markets, and boarding stables and riding camps are full up. They can't build stalls fast enough. We are living in horsey times indeed.

President's day rant

by blondesense

Who remembers when Feb 12 was Lincoln's Birthday and the teachers used to hand out an outline of Lincoln for kids to color? Who remembers when Washington's Birthday was February 22nd and you had to color a profile of Washington and maybe a picture of a young man holding an axe? I wasn't paying attention when it all became one holiday. I was still working in the bank when there were 2 separate holidays. Of course I didn't mind 2 paid days off in February.

The kids in NY have this upcoming week off. Why? This vacation week was started during the time when there was an oil crisis. It was assumed if the schools all closed for one week every winter than a zillion barrels of oil would be saved. Now that everyone in the northeast drives an SUV with a DVD player, it seems rather stupid to pretend to save fuel, but the reason for the week off has been lost anyway. Now it's ski week for the wealthy and annoyance week for working parents who have to figure out what to do with the kids.

When's Clinton's birthday? We should have a national holiday for that and have the kids color a picture of him holding a cigar. That would really rile Jerry Falwell. Maybe it would give him a heart attack.

This article was posted on CNN.com on last sunday. I missed it. There is something sooooo wrong with this story. Reservist with 11 children headed to Iraq Does anyone in the media feel responsible for this dolt's decision?

Oh My Gawd, I've Been Ranting About Shit For A Year

I just realized that I started this blog one year ago today.
I'll wait while you finish applauding

This blog, my co-bloggers, the great commenters and other like blogs turned out to be the saving grace that made me realize that I wasn't alone in the world after 9/11. The media did a great job of convincing me that everyone believed the lies and made me wonder if I was losing it (like I don't have enough problems). I certainly didn't buy the story that bearded cave men hate our freedoms and now we must blow them up to ensure that we will be safe and free. I may be a lot of things but I'm not stupid.

Anyone who has read this blog for a year has pointed out to me what a raging bi-polar personality I have... as if my shrink didn't already diagnose it. duh. But that's why it's so fun to come and read this blog, I've been told. You never know what position I will take next. Is she an atheist today? Or agnostic? Thank goodness for stable co-bloggers.

I'm so happy to have patricia, Jaye, Petey and Mule as additional writers here these days, and the great commenters, you, that keep me thinking and looking at things differently. I love that people come from different parts of the country/the world and add more perspective to each other's views. This has been great. Thank you.

Better Latent Than Never

This is the part of the week where I post links to stuff that people have sent me. Thanks people.

He not only got a press pass, he got a secret service press pass using an alias. He got scoops. Who is his boyfriend in the White House? One Good Move has quicktime excerpts from Bill Maher Show featuring Joe Biden, Robin Williams and Leslie Stahl. Hey there's nothing anyone can do about this unless the Republicans want to investigate how someone infiltrated the White House with no qualifications. Well at least this story is making headlines in alternative media. And big time.

And here's a link to Rigorous Intuition's photo essay on Bush's bald head fetish. The Smoking Scalp. oy. Julius Blog has even more graphic pix of bush rubbing some chrome. Sumbody he'p me. Bush's being a gay fetishist creeps me out almost as much as bush being a heterosexual. Where will it end? And where is the progressive version of Linda Tripp when you need one?

Even if there was a new Linda Tripp, it would mean nothing with a bush supported main stream media. Read The mole, the US media and a White House coup

Good article in Salon (and it's not that bad to get a day pass because Salon has great articles) by Sidney Blumenthal ( I read all his books) called Midnight cowboy in the garden of Bush and evil The phony journalist in the White House is the most bizarre example yet of the administration's efforts to thwart an independent press. And Joe Conason's article made me depressed when it revealed how that P.O.S. Gannon/Guckert (rhymes with Fuckert) did so much to get Tom Daschle unelected. And you know there had to be some sort of subversive thing in SD because I watched his opponent, Thune on Meet The Press and realized that Thune is dumber than shit. It still bothers me that SD has 2 Senators. My county has more people and diversity than that whole state. Anyway, while you're at Salon, read Gannon: The early years
Before he was buttering up Bush at White House press conferences, "Jeff Gannon" was doing the GOP's dirty work in attacking Tom Daschle By Joe Conason

Have you read the Secret Bush Tapes this morning? Interesting read. You decide.
--------

God and a soldier all people adore
In time of war, but not before;
And when war is over and all things are righted,
God is neglected and an old soldier slighted:
-Anonymous


I have seen men march to the wars, and then I have watched their homeward tread, And they brought back bodies of living men, But their eyes were cold and dead'
-Edmund Vance Cooke


When a whole nation is roaring patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom."
-Robert Frost

All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it
-Alexis de Tocqueville

Quotes from Information Clearinghouse.

Poor White Folks

King Of Zembla has posted an essay by Joe Bageant: Down Here in Yemen
Poor, White and Pissed: A Guide to the White Trash Planet for Urban Liberals


It's a looooong essay but worth a read. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's thought provoking. It's interesting to find out what southern poor people think about so called urban liberal elite people. There are lots of misperceptions out there. Maybe I didn't read the article correctly but I got the impression that somehow it's all the liberal's fault for not appealing to them and that is why they vote against their own interests.

I am curious as to whether or not there are any actual wealthy liberals out there who actually give a shit and are willing to put their money where their mouths are and challenge the fascist mainstream media in our country. Without a fair media, I find it pretty impossible for any changes to be enacted. Ted Turner was pissed off about what happened at CNN, but I don't see him doing anything about it. I'm still disheartened that more progressive people weren't willing to march on DC after the stolen elections. Americans are still too comfy to give too much of a damn. Even the progressives.

More Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

From the LA Times
 
Opponents of 'Clear Skies' Bill Examined
"The GOP sponsor of legislation championed by Bush asks two groups to turn over financial records. One official calls it intimidation.
 
The chairman of a Senate committee that oversees environmental issues has directed two national organizations that oppose President Bush's major clean-air initiative to turn over their financial and tax records to the Senate.

Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), who heads the Environment and Public Works Committee, asked for the documents 10 days after a representative of the two groups criticized Bush's "Clear Skies" proposal before a Senate subcommittee. Inhofe is the leading sponsor of the administration bill, which is deadlocked in his panel."
 
You need to read the entire article.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

 CPAC Honors Swift Boat Vets   
Read it and hurl.


Yeah, you read it correctly.  The Conservative Political Action Conference honored and gave an award to the Swift Boat Boys. 

"We thought this sort of example of citizens stepping forward under adverse conditions should be recognized," Lessner added. "They are impressive." Former Georgia Sen. Zell Miller will present the "Courage Under Fire" award to Adm. Roy Hoffman (Ret.), founder and chairman of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, at CPAC's annual Ronald Reagan banquet in Washington, D.C.

I read that as saying that lying is an admirable trait and one that is rewarded by the party of Jesus and George.  Hey, what the hell is a sin amongst the sinners?  Apparently it's a damned good thing!  Why don't they tell it like it really is, the freakin' false ad campaign that bought bush the election.  The Fraud Award.  

New Voting Legislation In The Works

I think it's a pretty good idea to hold elections on weekends. They do that in Europe but god forbid we do anything that the pinko-commies in Europe do.

Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have proposed that Election Day be a national holiday. If that national holiday is on a Friday or a Monday, you can rest assured that everyone will go away for the weekend. Election day used to be a holiday here in NY. I know because I worked for a bank. I liked November. Lots of bank holidays. Then it became a holiday only for presidential elections. Anyway, you can rest assured if election day becomes a national holiday that most of the blue collar workers will still have to work anyway. Wal-mart'll probably extend their hours.

I'm all for election reforms. Politicians with ties to voter technology should be either sent to jail or ordered to walk the plank in the middle of the ocean. Hillary and John's bill didn't include that. That was my idea.

Anyway, here are the rest of the reforms:

"In addition to creating a federal holiday for voting, the bill would:

--Require paper receipts for votes.

--Authorize $500 million to help states make the changes in voting systems and equipment.

--Allow ex-felons to vote. Currently an estimated 4.7 million Americans are barred from voting because of their criminal records.

--Require adoption of the changes in time for the 2006 election.

Boxer said the bill "is meant to ensure the election debacle of 2000, and the serious election irregularities of 2004, never ever happen again."

Both parties have called for changes to ensure a more accurate vote count. Republican efforts have centered on reducing voter fraud, while Democrats have called for making access to the ballot box easier and simpler."

The Seattle Times also added this part about the Republican version of the bill, for your enjoyment.

"A Republican bill, also introduced yesterday, would require voters to present a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot and would establish a pilot program for use of indelible ink at polling places — an idea growing out of the ink-stained index fingers displayed by Iraqis in their election last month."

All my fingers except for my middle finger are allergic to ink stain. I hope that's ok.
I also have a disability in that my tongue sticks out when someone points a camera at me. I hope that's ok too.

--------


I know that many people don't like to hear the expression "has got balls" in conjunction with women. Here in my neck of the woods, it's a common expression. (Y'all have expressions about animals, guns, bibles and shit. We have balls expressions. This is NY. So deal.) My mother even claimed to have balls. She said she worked her balls off. If we called her to task, she mentioned the balls of her feet. heh. Anyone can have balls in NY. If you've got brass ones, you probably traded in your Caddie for an SUV. Jewish women on Long Island are noted for their balls. So now that you know that having balls is not demeaning to women in the limited sense, but a compliment (and fuck you if you argue with me) in NY, I'd like to express that the only Democrats with balls are the females. The men are sniveling babies afraid of their own shadows.

------
Blogger has been acting screwy for the past few days. I apologize for the weird posting.

411

By Pissed Off Patricia

I received the following email last night from Craig Nelson.

"You are amazingly misinformed. In a world where the information is
available you must try to be so misinformed in order to conceal some
deeper neurosis. You would need to be the classic catch 22.

FYI"

So someone help me. WTF is Craig talking about? I read it last night and again this morning and I'm clueless. Maybe it's a result of my "deeper neurosis". Anyway, if someone can explain this to me, I would be grateful.
I can make Craig's email address upon request. I sure can.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

(Note to readers: It's just what it says--"by pissed off patricia"; Petey bin hangin' aroun' blondes to long, can't figger out how to git it NOT to say "posted by PeterofLoneTree". Duh.)

Dream Event

Just when I thought Ann Colture couldn't make a bigger ass of herself than she has so many times before, she surprises me. She was the guest on C-span's call-in program this morning. She went so over the top that she was more painful than usual. She tried to change the rules of the show, tried to have callers cut off, and made a mockery of the entire show. I guess it takes all kinds, but I'm not sure her kind is what it takes.

My wish would be to have a televised debate between Ann Colture and commenter, Anntichrist S. Coulter. This would have to be on HBO or some such station because my favorite commenter, Anntichrist S. Coulter, would have to be given free rein to take Ms. Colture apart verbally, one piece at a time. The FCC would have a meltdown. I'd pay the price of "pay per view" to see this debate, and I've never ordered anything on "pay per view". Oh please let it happen!

If you didn't read the comments at Jesus' General yesterday, you should. As usual, the satire and sarcasm there is about as good as it gets. Yesterday, a female named Sherri waltzed in evidently not knowing about the sarcastic flavor of the usual commenters. I suppose Sherri thought she had wondered into a religious website and had found some kindred spirits. She wanted all bloggers to come together to save the life of Terri Schiavo. Sherri's words could cause diabetes. Anyway, Anntichrist S. Coulter read Sherri's entry and shot back as only she can do. I love that woman. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

NY Wants New Slogan

It took me 25 years to figure out what "Big Apple" meant. It will take me another 25 years to understand the new slogan:

"The World's Second Home."

This slogan will just give the bush supporters in red states more reasons to hate us and the terrorists a better target. whoopie.
I don't want NY to be the world's second home. It's too crowded here. Try the French Riviera.

Mind Blowing

A Social Justice Quiz: Twenty Questions

- by Bill Quigley

1. In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour. How much would the minimum wage be today if it had kept pace with inflation?

2. In 1965, CEOs in major companies made 24 times more than the average worker. In 2003, CEOs earned how many times more than the average worker?

3. The US is composed of 3,066 counties. In how many of the nation's 3,066 counties can someone who works full-time and earns the federal minimum wage afford to pay rent and utilities on a one-bedroom apartment?

4. How much must the typical US worker must earn per hour hour if they dedicate 30% of their income to housing costs.

5. How many million workers in the US earn poverty-level wages of less than $8.20 an hour?

6. What are Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Tennessee?

7. What are Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia?

8. In 2001, the average financial wealth for black householders was about what % of the average for white households?

9. The median financial wealth for blacks is how much of the corresponding figure for whites?

10. Over the entire 28 year history of the Berlin Wall, 287 people perished trying to cross it. In the ten years since the Clinton administration implemented the current U.S. border strategy with Mexico, how many people have died trying to cross?

11. Where does the US rank worldwide in the imprisonment of its citizens?

12. In 2004, the direct reported US military budget was how much for each second of the year?

13. In 2003, the US military budget was how many times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender?

14. In 2003, the US military budget was how many times as large as the combined spending of the seven so-called "rogue" states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria)?

15. The difference in income per head between the richest nation and the poorest nation in 1750 was about 5 to 1. Today the difference between the richest nation and the poorest nation is what?

16. Of the 6.2 billion people in the world today, how many live on less than $1 per day, and how many live on less than $2 per day?

17. The richest 1% in the world receive as much income as what percentage of the poorest?

18. The Congress under President Bush has been more generous in helping poor countries than under President Clinton. In 2003, the US increased official development assistance to poor countries by one-fifth. Where does the US contribution rank in the top 22 countries in proportion to our economy?

19. Americans give how much per day in government assistance to poor countries?

20. Americans spend how much on soft drinks each day?

ANSWERS

1. The minimum wage would be $8.70 today if it had kept pace with inflation. Brennan Center, NYU Law School, November 3, 2004.

2. In 1965, CEOs in major companies made 24 times more than the average worker. In 2003, CEOs earned 185 times more than the average worker. "Wages" in State of Working America 2004-2005, Economic Policy Institute, www.epinet.org

3. In four of the nation's 3,066 counties can someone who works full-time and earns the federal minimum wage afford to pay rent and utilities on a one-bedroom apartment. New York Times, "Study Finds Gap in Wages and Housing Costs," December 25, 2004.

4. In fact, the typical US worker must earn $15.37 an hour if they dedicate 30% of their income to housing costs. New York Times, "Study Finds Gap in Wages and Housing Costs," December 24, 2004.

5. How many people in the US earn poverty-level wages of less than $8.20 an hour? More than 30 million workers. William Quigley, ENDING POVERTY AS WE KNOW IT: Guaranteeing A Right to A Job at a Living Wage, 24 (Temple 2003).

6. What are Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Tennessee? The total population of these states represents the number of people in the US living below the official poverty line. William Quigley, ENDING POVERTY AS WE KNOW IT: Guaranteeing A Right to A Job at a Living Wage, 23-24 (Temple 2003).

7. What are Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia? The total populations of these state populations must be added to the states above if you count all the people below 125% of the official poverty line, a total of 22 states. William Quigley, ENDING POVERTY AS WE KNOW IT: Guaranteeing A Right to A Job at a Living Wage, 23-24 (Temple 2003).

8. In 2001, the average financial wealth for black householders was about 12% of the average for white households. "Minorities," in State of Working America 2004-2005, Economic Policy Institute, www.epinet.org

9. The median financial wealth for blacks was $1,100, less than 3% of the corresponding figure for whites. "Minorities," in State of Working America 2004-2005, Economic Policy Institute, www.epinet.org

10. Over the entire 28 year history of the Berlin Wall, 287 people perished trying to cross it. In the ten years since the Clinton administration implemented the current U.S. border strategy with Mexico, more than 2,500 people have died trying to cross. Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego. Marc Cooper, "On the Border of Hypocrisy," December 5, 2003, LA Weekly.

11. Where does the US rank worldwide in the imprisonment of its citizens? First. The US imprisons over 700 persons per 100,000. Russia is second with 584. Sentencing Project, Facts About Prisons and Prisoners. www.sentencingproject.org

12. In 2004, the direct reported US military budget was over $399 billion, $12,000 a second. www.globalissues.org

13. In 2003, the US military budget was more than 8 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender. www.globalissues.org

14. The US military budget was more than 29 times as large as the combined spending of the seven "rogue" states (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria). Even if you add China and Russiaís military spending to that of the seven potential enemies, all nine nations together spent $116.2 billion, 27% of the U.S. military budget. The US military budget is more than the combined spending of the next twenty three nations. www.globalissues.org

15. The difference in income per head between the richest nation and the poorest nation in 1750 was about 5 to 1. Today the difference between the richest nation, Switzerland, and the poorest nation, Mozambique, is about 400 to 1. (David S. Landes, THE WEALTH AND POVERTY OF NATIONS, xx, W.W. Norton 1998).

16. Of the 6.2 billion people in the world today, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day, 2.8 billion live on less than $2 per day. 2002 UN Human Development Report.

17. The richest 1% in the world receive as much income as the poorest 57%. 2002 UN Human Development Report.

18. The Congress under President Bush has been more generous in helping poor countries than under President Clinton. In 2003, the US increased official development assistance to poor countries by one-fifth. Where does the US contribution rank in the top 22 countries in proportion to our economy? Last. Nicholas D. Kristof, "Land of Penny Pinchers," New York Times, January 5, 2005.

19. Americans on average give how much per day in government assistance to poor countries? 15 cents. Nicholas D. Kristof, "Land of Penny Pinchers," New York Times, January 5, 2005.

20. Americans spend how much on soft drinks each day? 60 cents. Nicholas D. Kristof, "Land of Penny Pinchers," New York Times, January 5, 2005.

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing" oriented society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies." Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time to Break Silence," April 4, 1967.

How The U.S. Murdered a City

Fallujah: The Truth at Last

Doctor Salam Ismael took aid to Fallujah last month. This is a report of his visit.

02/17/05 - - "IT WAS the smell that first hit me, a smell that is difficult to describe, and one that will never leave me. It was the smell of death. Hundreds of corpses were decomposing in the houses, gardens and streets of Fallujah. Bodies were rotting where they had fallen-bodies of men, women and children, many half-eaten by wild dogs.

A wave of hate had wiped out two-thirds of the town, destroying houses and mosques, schools and clinics. This was the terrible and frightening power of the US military assault.

The accounts I heard over the next few days will live with me forever. You may think you know what happened in Fallujah. But the truth is worse than you could possibly have imagined.

In Saqlawiya, one of the makeshift refugee camps that surround Fallujah, we found a 17 year old woman. "I am Hudda Fawzi Salam Issawi from the Jolan district of Fallujah," she told me. "Five of us, including a 55 year old neighbour, were trapped together in our house in Fallujah when the siege began.

"On 9 November American marines came to our house. My father and the neighbour went to the door to meet them. We were not fighters. We thought we had nothing to fear. I ran into the kitchen to put on my veil, since men were going to enter our house and it would be wrong for them to see me with my hair uncovered. "This saved my life. As my father and neighbour approached the door, the Americans opened fire on them. They died instantly."

Read the rest HERE and then join me in calling down a curse on the name of george bush for a thousand years.

Evolution or Revolution?

We must be doing something right or they wouldn't be pissed off. I have known all along..... it was that last Wild West. Blog while you may.

Bloggers, Right And Left, Have Become Modern Vigilantes
From courant.com
February 17, 2005

Q: Prof. News, what lesson can be learned from the abrupt departure of CNN news chief Eason Jordan?

A: In the age of blogging, what you say or do can be used against you quickly and repeatedly until you surrender.

Bloggers - meaning those who maintain Web logs, or "blogs," on the Internet - hammered Jordan for what they were told he said about the taking of gunfire by journalists in Iraq. I'm sure he wishes he had chosen his words more carefully at an international forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

A blogger who was there posted an item quoting Jordan as saying the U.S. military targeted journalists and killed 12 of them. The posting was immediately picked up by conservative bloggers who detect a liberal bias at CNN and got wide distribution. What Jordan said, or was supposed to have said, was denounced as a slur against our forces. Later Jordan said what he meant was that American forces mistakenly shot at some journalists.

No one was able to verify exactly what Jordan had said because the forum was "off the record," and the organizers were refusing to release a tape. Which leads me to wonder: Why was a news professional participating in an off-the-record forum? Journalists should be fighting to put newsworthy comments on the record, not going along with keeping them from the public.

In any case, the online outrage grew to firestorm proportions, and Jordan resigned. He said he did not want CNN "unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq."

In fact, 54 journalists from various countries were killed in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, according to Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee To Protect Journalists. At least nine of them died from American fire, she said.

Read the rest here.

Still Dogging Novak

by pissed off patricia

There's only one answer that I can come up with as to why Novak is safe right now. He must have been promised immunity from any legal action and entanglements if he would publish the Plame story. Perhaps the other reporters refused the deal and that's why they are in the mess they are in now. They wouldn't do the mystery person's bidding and as a result they now find themselves in the hot seat.

If this is the case, who would be in a position to make such a promise and enforce it? Who among the culprits has the power to give immunity?

Question Of The Day:

Question: Why do all Republicans and some Democrats have glass belly-buttons?

Answer: So they can see when they have their heads up their asses.

Think about it

What if it were suddenly deemed that the US was a Christian country. Whose Christianity would be the ruling religion? Would it be the majority? Catholics? Would it be one of the hundreds of Protestant factions? Which one? Who would decide? What if a crackpot like Jerry Falwell got to decide? Or a cokehead like king george? Then what?

What if it became ok to talk about your religion at public school? How much blood would be shed on the playground? What if it became ok to pray aloud in public school? What would everyone pray for? Who decides?

We are lucky enough to be able to practice whatever religion we want to in this country. Think about what would happen to that freedom if it became part of public school.

posted by Blondesense
(not Patricia, sorry for mixup)

Snarky Thursday

by pissed off patricia 

What's up with this, doc?

This really is, mean eye for the sweet wabbit guy. Last night the new image of Bugs Bunny was revealed.  The new Bugs looks evil.  He looks like an X-bunny.  He's going to be a bad ass now.  Elmer Fudd could not be reached for comment.  It is alleged that Elmer may be talking to North Korea about buying weapons to fight this new killer wabbit.

Is it a coincidence that bush has chosen today to finally roll out his new intel czar?  Maybe not.  Might be this wascally wabbit has a new crime-fighting gig.

Halloween and Groundhog Day in Mid February

Yesterday Goss, Rumsfeld, and others jumped out from behind the curtain and yelled, Boo!  Americans saw the shadow of fear and returned to their spider holes for four more years.  Funny how they tell us that we are safer due to the war in Iraq, and then they say we have al Qaeda cells right here in the US.  Ha, even Iraq couldn't brag about that.


Laura's in the House

Laura bush has her very own little mandate.  She asserted herself and fired the white house chef who had been there for eleven years.  Man, we're talking one gutsy woman, huh?  No wonder her favorite little male cheerleader assigned her to bring street gangs under control.  Any woman who can fire a chef can certainly handle street gangs. 

Either we get Stupid or we Loose

The question among the pundits is since Democrats tend to be well educated, how can they appeal to Americans in the red states and middle America?  Hey, I have an idea.  How about we show them how they can be well educated too.  Of course I suppose we could all pretend to be real stupid, but heck, we would lose there too because the Republicans already have a leader of their party who doesn't have to pretend.
 
in and not a snark

John Negroponte is bush's choice for the US Intelligence Czar.

There are some interesting facts about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Negroponte

9/11, New Warnings, Gannongate

It's no surprise that there are new terror warnings. What with Gannongate hitting mainstream news and the Daily Show last night, Iran and Iraq having no WMD's and dear leader itching for more war, they had to think of something now didn't they?

I read this piece in Common Dreams and got to thinking. Occassionally I like to regurgitate what it was like living here around the time of 9/11 and for months afterward. While the rest of the country was keen on bombing the shit out of Afghanistan and got back to their lives as usual, we were burying loved ones, holding vigils, being inconvenienced to the max by road blocks galore and scared shitless. We weren't scared of Aghanistanis. We were scared of bush. We were scared of the lying media. All you had to do was live here to know that the news and reality were 2 different things.

Notice that NY, Cal and DC didn't vote for bush's re-election. NYC, LA and DC are cities that are supposedly targeted by terrorists. Did no one else get the hint? No, we're not gluttons for punishment. The media hoodwinked the tv watchers.

Logic tells me that if blue states were hit by terrorists again, that would mean that the terrorists either support the bush administration or the terrorists are the bush administration. Cheney told us that we had better vote correctly or risk the danger of more terror attacks. Uh oh.

New Yorkers know what happened on 9/11 and so do informed people everywhere. We don't believe the 9/11 Commission or those other fake explanations put forth by this administration. We also know that we are at risk.

I still wonder if the 'red staters who support bush' knew what we know about 9/11 if it would make a difference?

The vilification of the blue states that was beautifully articulated by the Republicans, the MSM and hate radio personalities, is burnt into the psyche of bush supporters. They claim 9/11 as their own, as they rightfully should, yet they spit on the victims of the terror they pretend to support. feh.

Maybe foreign terrorists have read the papers and found out that the progressives in the blue states want nothing to do with bush's foreign policy. If the terrorists actually had the means to carry out a massive terror attack on their own, it should be the red staters doing the worrying. The media splashed the red state support all over the place after bushie's victory making progressives in those states furious but no one cared. Those of us stuck in the "lib'r'l" states know that we're still targets anyway.

NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED:

Worried about glacial warming?
Go here

AP Top News at 6:00 p.m. EST Officials warn of future terror attacks

WASHINGTON(AP) - "Speaking with one voice, President Bush's top intelligence and military officials said Wednesday that terrorists are regrouping for possible new strikes against the United States."

So say the headlines and lead sentences of the Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen. Feeling in a particularly smartass mode today (as opposed to the folks in Washington who are nothing but dumbasses) I fired off this e-mail to both publications:
"Is this anything like the 52 warnings our government received about suicide hijackers prior to 9/11 and which the American people received no notice of? Why didn't the American people receive notice about the warnings proior to 9/11? Is it because President Bush and his "top intelligence and military officials" are a bunch of blundering incompetent imbeciles or is it because they wanted the 9/11 "new Pearl Harbor" disaster to happen? And in case your readers accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist, perhaps they should note the fact that when I entered "new Pearl Harbor" into my Google search engine I received 2,430,000 (two million, four hundred thirty thousand) hits. Of course, some political parties would say 2,430,000 hits still doesn't constitute "one shred of credible evidence". I agree, because with the present administration in Washington, any credible evidence has probably already been shredded."

One final question for my readers: Is there an election coming up that I didn't hear about? That's the only reason I can come up with for increased terror warnings. OOPS! Wait a minute! You suppose the dumb sumbitches are trying to distract us from the Gannon/Guckert/Wilson/Plame scandal that is getting uglier by the day? My final comment for now on the exposure of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA agent (with a little help from Patrick Henry) is this:
THIS IS TREASON, AND WE WILL MAKE THE MOST OF IT!

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Ah, Dr. Frankenstein, you might want to step into the lab and take a look at this.

That's the way it seems in the world today. We are in the midst of performing an experiment and it seems we too are creating something that has the potential to be very frightening. Was that taken into consideration before we began? What will be the outcome? Are we proving that we can be successful or that we can't?

While fighting in Afghanistan, we added in a part from the war in a Iraq and now we may by adding in parts of a war in Iran or Syria or maybe both. With this many bad parts coming together we seem to be well on our way to creating a monster. If we do successfully create the monster of all monsters, what do we do with it?

Once the monster rises from the table in the laboratory and leaves the facility, we no longer control him. Will he torment the world or will he turn on those of us who created his awful being. Will we try to appease him by lauding his praises? Will we be blind to his awful features and instead pretend to admire his appearance? Will we deny his dangerous presence and ironically name him Peace?


Before this monster rises on his own and we lose control, we had better decide whether or not we want to complete the experiment. We may not be able to live with the results.

New that makes you shake your head in amazement

I can't even begin to list the ridiculousness of the latest GLBT news.

It turns out that the suicide rate among GLBT folks is two to three times higher than heterosexuals. I hope that gays understand that sane heterosexual people are on their side and also being marginalized by their insane families and the federal government.

Ironically, the same federal government that is steering even more hatred towards GLBT folks has a branch called Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that is proposing a conference on suicide prevention for GLBT's.

On the suicide prevention program is a talk that was titled "Suicide Prevention Among Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Individuals." But the SAMHSA folks said, "Oh no, you can't use those 4 words, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered" in the title of the talk. It's not PC and is offensive... even though that is what the session is about. Can you fucking believe this? What century did we go back in time to 5 years ago? I ask you.

They came up with alternatives like "sexual orientation" but that is stupid because everyone has a sexual orientation and this talk does not include slave state dad's who like to have sex with their daughters while mom drinks in the kitchen wringing her hands. They decided to call gays "vulnerable populations" because that is not "offensive". Oh no, gay people won't be offended if they are called vulnerable populations because the federal prudes can't even bring themselves to write the words 'gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered' even though a great deal of people in federal agencies would fit in this category and they are the biggest bunch of hypocrite assholes on earth. excuse my french. I'm not sure how they plan to market this conference without explaining who the vulnerable population is. Will they have to whisper under their breath? "They're queers but don't say anything. Don't tell them I told you."

Apparently because this program is federally funded SAMHSA doesn't want to offend tax payers who hate GLBT people. We must protect the most hateful of our society at all costs, you know. They are the religious people and have god on their side.

Fool me once, you're an asshole

The US again is not listening to the IAEA (UN weapons inspectors). Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said recent evidence does not substantiate claims that Iran is working toward a nuclear bomb. This goes against what the US wants to hear. These bastards tried to say the same thing about Iraq but we invaded Iraq anyway to show them... that they were right. oops.

Nothing new has been discovered in Iran in the past 6 months according to the Washington Post article. The US isn't too keen on using diplomacy with Iran as the Europeans are proposing. Perhaps they don't want to get suckered in to another coalition of the willing fiasco. In my opinion it is because plans are already in the works to blow up Iran. I am also surprised that the US hasn't released reports to the MSM that ElBaradei is a gay child molester. I suppose that will be in tomorrow's headline.

Meanwhile North Korea, feeling left out, has announced yet again that they have nuclear weapons. ElBaradei suggests that we talk to them but the US is more concerned about Iran.

----
Speaking of nukular....As a side note, sukabi, at All Spin Zone points out that the same picture of a nuke sight is being shown on CNN for Iran, Iraq and North Korea. It's as if the 3 countries built identical plants. Amazing.

The State of Hell Address

by pissed off patricia

Because no cameras are allowed in hell, the devil gave his State of Hell Address via audio airwaves. The devil revealed his plans for the ongoing expansion of hell. Due to activities on earth, the devil announced that he would be outsourcing his building efforts. As of this week all construction contracts will be given sans bids to American corporations. There will be no requirement to track the work of these companies, and there will be no penalties if the work is not completed to the satisfaction of the stated contract. There are rumors that the devil is working with his close friends in these corporations and knows that eventually they will be his very close neighbors.

The devil also revealed his budget for the coming year. Many cuts had to be made to meet the rising demand for housing space in hell. The cuts were made in departments such as health care. There will no longer be a burn unit in hell. Rising heating costs due to facility expansion require reductions in the torture oversight committee. All future torture plans will go unchecked. The devil stated that he feels that torture, no matter how harsh, is required in order to continue hell's long-standing reputation. He hinted that he might consult some high-ranking Americans for new ideas. The easiest cuts will be in the advertising department. Advertising is no longer necessary due to the fact that many seem to desire to go to hell rather than having to be tempted. Sin is on the rise just about everywhere. Now days the advertisement is mostly by word of mouth. Americans in particular are telling everyone to go to hell, all around the globe.

The devil also revealed his rather lengthy list of possible future occupants of hell. Many of the names were very familiar, especially to Americans. He said that there seems to be a high demand by Americans to dwell in his facility. Some of the reasons he feels that Americans are working their way to hell include abuse of their environment, war, greed and total disregard for their fellow man. The devil said he welcomes all to hell, no matter their race or stated religion. He wanted the world to know that everyone can go to hell, especially those who boast of their religion while stepping on the lives of their fellow man. Seems there is a special place in hell reserved just for them.

In conclusion, the devil extended a personal invitation to those waiting for the Rapture. He promised that if the Rapture did not occur, these folks who have screwed the earth, their fellow man, and their own lives would be allowed to move to the front in the never ending waiting line to hell. He assured the Rapture community that although they wouldn't be naked in hell and they wouldn't get the thrill ride of floating to heaven while waving bye-bye to the "unsaved", they would get exactly what they truly deserved. However, he did not provide any details of what this entailed. Later when questioned about this the devil responded by saying, “let's just say this really is a burning issue", and then he laughed like the devil.

I See Miracles Every Week

by Missouri Mule

I have been volunteering at a therapeutic riding center five years now. Today, a doctor with a microphone is was describing how hipotherpy is a prescription he will write down on a pad, just like an antibiotic, it can be good for so many ills, they still haven't cataloged them all yet: autism, cerebral palsy, juvenile delinquency, drug addiction, afflictions of the heart and body both. I watch as he talks.

The horses have just come off the jumping course; this is a first for them. The two little girls have cerebral palsy; they cannot walk. Each joins together with a horse to form one being. The human borrows the horse's locomotion, and for the first time her body experiences the sensation of moving on its own, the spine undulating, the muscles and bones rocking and rippling. (The wheelchair may move her from place to place, but in it she herself remains motionless; only the horse allows her to get this feeling into her bones so that they may come to remember it, perhaps into her bones so they may come to remember it, perhaps so to replicate it.)

As they go around the ring, tiny packages of flawed flesh perched atop massive beings of perfect form, the doctor is saying how horses are such excellent therapists that if they could become doctors, he'd be out of business. You can tell from the way he says it that this is not meant as a joke.

The literature is in fact filled with anecdotes amounting to as much proof as you could want: the child who for years has not spoken and up there on top of a horse says her first word; the boy whose neuromotor damage causes him to twitch almost continually, becomes calm and stately on the back of a horse. Miracles and more miracles, the parents say. The horses are silent, going bout their work. Everyone agrees, though, they, too, are somewhat transformed: They instantly, intimately, identify their cargo through means known only by them. Take even the ornery mount, watch him become gentle and slow, but only for the damaged ones. He will still kick YOU, strong predator, in the teeth. They can hear you breathing, and they know your mind.

Horses have taught me so much. For me , the way you ride, amounts to nothing short of the an entire philosophy of living. People who are not horsepeople are simply unable to understand a very important part of me.

When you ride, the ways of relating that you depend upon, and in fact cannot be truly accomplished without, the following, absolute free flow, the removal of internal and external impediments to both mind and body, honest and sure communication and complete trust in the horse's ability to reverse the flow of information back to you so long as you listen with an open, reflexive mind.

With a horse you must mean what you say--that my demands are unequivocal, that I don't fuck around. I mean what I say because that is the way you talk to a horse, the way you must talk to a horse. I don't do so well with the humans, but with horses the path to illumination, the way to attaining a moment of limpidity, leaving confusion behind. (As much as to say ; leaving most of life behind.) You simply can't be confused on a horse, or it all goes to shit. Amazingly fast. They can hear you breathing and they know your mind.

Remember that Environmental Party that We Can't Attend Tomorrow?

Check Out What We May Be Doing Instead
by pissed off patricia

Tomorrow while most of the world celebrates the signing of the Kyoto Treaty, we won't Tomorrow while most of the world celebrates and their hope and determination to work for a better and cleaner environment, we won't. Guess what we'll be doing. We'll be mourning if the following passes.

(From the Florida PIRG newsletter)
"This Wednesday, the Senate Environment Committee is scheduled to vote on the ultimate Valentine's Day sweetheart deal for our nation's polluters, the Bush administration's so-called Clear Skies initiative. The bill would dismantle the public health protections in the Clean Air Act by allowing the nation's oldest and dirtiest power plants to continue polluting at high levels for a longer period of time."

How about emailing these folks and pointing out how bizarre it would be for them to pass this bill on the very day the rest of the world is pledging it's stewardship for the a cleaner environment
Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: James Inhofe (OK), John Warner (VA), Christopher Bond (MO), George Voinovich (OH), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Lisa Murkowski (AK), John Thune (SD), Jim DeMint (SC), Johnny Isakson (GA), David Vitter (LA), James Jeffords (VT), Max Baucus (MT), Joseph Lieberman (CT), Barbara Boxer (CA), Thomas Carper (DE), Hillary Clinton (NY), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Barack Obama (IL)

What's News?

Great post from the Poorman today on the keyboard warriors for bush.
Here's a Tidbit:

“It’s like this,” said Goldberg said, grabbing a fistful of Cheetos from his pack. “I believed in this fight, and my country needed me. They needed able-bodied men – doughy, able to handle the rigors of sitting in a swivel chair for seven, eight hours at a time, and not afraid to put on a little TV make-up when the shit gets heavy. So I signed up.” He spit Cheetos-orange on the carpet. “Any man who won’t opinionate for his country and what he believes … well, I don’t call that a man at all.” At that he pulled up the sleeve on his regulation-issue Tommy Hilfiger powder-blue dress shirt to show me the tattoo on his meaty, girlish bicep. 'Born to Bloviate', it read, emblazoned on the bulging tummy of the Pillsbury Doughboy - the symbol of the feared 101st Fighting Keyboarders.

----
Have you been following Americablog? He's got the goods on Gannon-Guckertgate. With pictures for the non-faint hearted. I haven't written about the story since others are doing a great job on covering it. Not everyone is happy with Americablog's coverage but something has to be done about this administration and if Guckertgate is what brings it down, then so be it.

Rude Pundit would agree.

"You may ask how these things are connected, Guckert and Guantanamo (and elsewhere), other than through the act of sodomy. All of one's lies are entangled, ultimately. Al Capone couldn't be caught on a murder rap. Instead, the government nailed him and destroyed him because of tax evasion. If what finally brings down the Bush administration is the revelation of a secret cabal of homosexuals trying desperately to stay in the closet, then so be it."

Amen

There's hope!

I received an email this morning from the National Council of Churches USA. I have no idea why, but I'm glad I did. Finally there is a tad of hope for the environment. I have always said that if the churches would get involved with protecting the earth from environmental destruction there might be hope. If they believe that God created the earth, why wouldn't they want to protect God's creation? Seems they do and it's about time. Please be sure to read the open letter, "God's Earth is Sacred". That's where I found the hope.
'God's Earth is Sacred'
In Open Letter, Theologians Warn of 'False Gospel' on the Environment, Call Christians to Repent of Sin
In an effort to refute what they call a “false gospel” and to change destructive attitudes and actions concerning the environment, a group of theologians, convened by the National Council of Churches USA, released an open letter Feb. 14 calling on Christians to reject teachings that suggest humans are “called” to exploit the Earth without care for how our behavior impacts the rest of God’s creation. The statement, “God’s Earth is Sacred: An Open Letter to Church and Society in the United States,” points out that there is both an environmental and a theological crisis that must be addressed. Read more about development 'God's Earth is Sacred.'.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Gay Penguins and A Snark About Saving the Penguins

Seems some penguins in a German Zoo need to hear the word of God. The little rascals might be gay.

A spokesman for the zoo said, “The zoo concluded the penguins might be gay after seeing male penguins trying to mate with other males and trying to hatch offspring out of stones."

So they are going to bring in more female penguins and see what happens. They haven't decided if the penguins are gay or just got together "because of a lack of females."

Maybe instead of bringing in female penguins they could read the bible to these fallen creatures. If the penguins are gay, I'm sure it was a choice they made. Probably something happened during their childhood that caused them to "decide to become gay".

I suggest a little revival meeting under the tent. Bring in some Southern Baptist ministers and let them explain to the little penguins that they will burn in hell if they continue this hedonistic behavior. If there is one place a little penguin never wants to be, it's near extreme heat.

Personally I think we should remove these penguins from public view and keep them in a closet somewhere until we are confident they have all been persuaded to see the sinfulness of their ways. We know that these penguins will try to convince the other animals to become gay. That's another way gay-ness is spread, straight penguins are convinced to become gay by recruiter gays. We can't allow recruiter gay penguins. First the gay penguins and then which animals will be next? There have been some signs that the penguins have gayed-up a few chimpanzees already.

Being convinced to become gay is often spread by word of mouth, not by the holy word of God. As all righteous people know, God forbids homosexuality and he also forbids killing, but we aren't so concerned about the killing part. In fact we are getting pretty good at justifying killing. We are positive it is our responsibility to stop gayness for god's sake. We must step in no matter where, no matter what, and by God, eradicate the world of anything that we are too stupid to understand and anything that doesn't line up with our holy agenda. We preach the gospel, and gay penguins be damned!

Yes indeed, do something about these possibly gay penguins quick. Get them out of the picture before the holy human flock begins to see the truth. Get them out of the picture before they cause the dumbed-down public to see that homosexuality is a fact of life and nature, not a fact of a holy sin created and sold by fools and idiots. Save the gay penguins, but not for god's sake.

"I have never seen this level of corruption and cronyism." said William Hartung, representing Rep. Waxman.

Whistleblowers Detail Corruption and Fraud at Halliburton during Senate Hearing hearing

This is about the Senate Hearing that I mentioned yesterday in a comment. I'll warn you, if your blood boils easily, this might not be the article for you to read. It details some of the contract waste, fraud and corruption that has taken place during this war. Just reading this will make you want to bitch slap the whole damned administration. Republicans were invited to the hearing but they decided not to show up. Why?

"Senator Durbin hit the nail on the head: "Why are we here on Capitol hill, if it’s not to serve as an oversight of these activities. Historically Congress has done that." During WWII a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress launched the Truman Committee and uncovered the truth. "And yet we find with a Republican President and a Republican Congress, no Republican is willing to step forward and ask the hard questions. Why? How can we explain this? I don’t think there is an explanation."

And to everyone sporting the magnet on the rear end of your SUV, proclaiming that you "Support our Troops......"

"Representing Rep. Waxman, William Hartung said that this corruption is also harming our troops. They don’t have the supplies they need while money is being wasted through this corruption."

Go outside, rip that silly-shit magnet off your car and then write a letter to every damned Republican member of Congress and tell them to stop this shit. Stop handing our money over to bandits and thieves and let's get down to the serious business of doing something about these crimes and criminals

There is also a link at the bottom of the page so you can watch the entire Hearing, if you dare. I saw it live yesterday and I'm still fuming.

From Dahr Jamail's website more
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI), an international peoples initiative seeking the truth about the war and occupation in Iraq.

"Suarez testified that he was first told by the Pentagon that his son died from a gunshot to the head, then that he died in an accident, and then that he had died in 'friendly fire'.
On inspecting his son's body Suarez said he discovered that his son had died from stepping on a cluster bomb.

"I never had the truth from them," Suarez added. "I found the truth, and the truth was very simple. On March 26 the Army dropped 20,000 cluster bombs in Iraq, but only about 20 percent exploded. The other 80 percent are in the cities and the schools and acting like mines."

There's more and you must read the entire article.

Happy Valentine's Day to Everyone!

from pissed off patricia

Today is such a fun day if you have a sweetheart and I believe everyone does. Your sweetheart doesn't have to be a human being. It can be whatever you love. Your cat, dog, bird, plants, etc. all qualify because you love them.

I love all my sweethearts who share my life and home with me, and you know what? I believe they all love me too. Don't bother arguing with me and telling me that cats and dogs can't be sweethearts, because I believe this with all my heart, and hearts are difficult to change.

How do you know when you're in love? I know when I'm in love when I'm willing to put someone else or something else before myself. Yep, that's how I know. Like on a thirty-eight degree morning when I wrap up and go outside to feed the little stray cats in the woods. Like on a similar morning when I stand outside with my little dog, Murphy, and wait until he does what little dogs do when you take them outside. I shiver and I shiver and I watch as he sniffs and smells the entire yard. I love him that much. I will be cold to tend to his needs and the needs of the little stray cats in the woods. As for my human sweetheart, I would give my life for him.

Love makes you smile. Love takes some pain away. Love is just the most wonderful feeling in the world. Some would say that everyday should be Valentine's Day, and I might agree, but isn't it nice to have this special day to celebrate the love you share all the other days?

Speaking of little dogs, and let's include all dogs. Tonight is a fun night for all dog lovers. The Westminster Dog Show begins tonight. When the non-sporting breeds parade around the ring, Murphy and I will be cheering for the bichon frise and booing all the others. If the poodle wins again we'll sure cuss and we'll fuss, but it's all just in fun.

If you tuned in today to hear me bitch and moan about the Iraq election results, the bomb in Lebanon, the budget bomb that will be dropped around the time of the next US presidential election, well sorry, not today. Today is just too sweet a day for me to get angry. I can't do it. Instead today I'm a big old love sap.

I awoke this morning at five o'clock to find my sweetheart in the kitchen cleaning up last night's cocktail glasses and bringing the kitchen back to its tidy self. He had already fed the pets and taken Murphy out. These are routinely my morning chores. I can tell you he would have much, much rather have been snuggled in the bed and sleeping, but he did this for me. I know he loves me, because I know how much he likes to sleep and what he did this morning he did just for me. What a nice way to begin this day.

When I see the sweet little red alabaster heart that he gave me as he asked, "Will you be my Valentine?”, I cannot help but smile. This is the same man who puts up with my quirks and my faults. God knows, there's a stack of each. He puts up with my soft heart and small brain. He knows that for some reason I cry when I see cute little puppies and kittens. He knows that I'm probably more nuts than he would want to admit. He knows that often times words come out of my mouth that have never been sifted through the sieve of my better judgment. I guess he figures it's all just part of who I am, and for some reason he loves me anyway. He is just the very best, and it's so wonderful and so easy to call him my sweetheart, especially today.

Yep, sweethearts can be anyone or anything. And the sweetest sweethearts of all are the ones you call your own.

Fight Fire With Fire

I was just reading Richard's great article at All Spin Zone about the Mainstream Media being part of the big problem in the country. He then mentioned hearing the Dean scream on the news when they reporting his position as the head of the DNC. The scream is not news anymore.

Here's my idea. Gather the phone numbers of all the media you watch, listen to or read. Keep it handy. When you hear the Dean scream or read about it, call them at once and complain. Demand that they play Condi stating the title of the August 6th PDB or something.

I am convinced that the Dean scream replay was a conspiracy during the Democratic primaries to put Kerry in the lead as Dean was too dangerous. He still is. The political Dems are just as afraid of him as the Republicans as Dean actually cares more about people than corporations. He's a doctor. Not an MBA. The Democratic party needs reform. Dean is probably the person who can save it if the media doesn't subvert the cause. We must be vocal when the media attempts to vilify him. Please do this. Tell everyone to fight fire with fire.

When Parents Throw Their Queer Children Out

Our society is so sick that it sometimes makes me feel helpless and want to run away to an island somewhere and forget everything I ever knew. On the other hand, it empowers me to go out there and point out these ills to anyone who is willing to listen.

Remember Allan Keyes who called Cheney's daughter a hedonist? His own daughter is gay and recently kicked out of the house for her gayness. She is 19. Can't be a hypocrite and have a gay kid around while one is spewing hatred for gays and touting the importance of family values. One thing that lesbians aren't: hedonists. They seem to have more nesting instinct than heterosexual women. But that is besides the point.

When my son was small, idiots asked me what I would do if he turned out gay. I'd usually come up with some good answer. "March with him in a gay pride parade?" "Make sure that he had AIDS education to the max?" "Have the best hair style on the block?" Morons for even asking.

This "family values" crock of bullshit agenda going around the country subverts the family rather than embraces it. Somehow this grew into a movement of people programmed to hate their own children in the name of God. My brain want to explode when I think of families who have cut off their children because of their inherited sexual orientation. Did they think that their own self loathing and latent homosexuality wouldn't be passed on to their offspring? Well yes, they probably were stupid enough to think that.

We've got to shove tolerance education down the throats of Americans at any cost. I'm sure of it now. The ignorant boobs are going to fight it and use God as an excuse but we can't back down now. Parents are putting their own kids out no matter how lovely and gifted they are because of their sexual orientation. Parents are sending their kids off to fight for oil and riches that they will never see. These same people oppose abortion violently. This makes no sense to the sane. The gene pool is tainted with hateful people. I'm just sick about it on this Valentine's Day.

Those weren't UFO's. Those were 'Murcans

Today's news from the middle east confirmed my suspicions that someone in the US is hell bent on starting a war with Iran, even if it isn't Donald "no knowledge of U.S. military activities in Iran" Rumsfeld or Condi "no plans to attack at this time" Rice.

For the past year or so, the conspiracy web sites have been claiming that there is much UFO activity in Iran. The Iranian newspapers also made these claims frequently. I didn't doubt that something was flying covertly over Iran. Even the Russians got scared. I followed the stories and the theories about a stargate located in Iraq that the US Gov was supposedly out to uncover. Although I didn't buy their conclusions, I suspected that the US was flying something over Iran to scare the people as the US Government just looooves to scare people.

Today's Washington Post declares the US was indeed flying surveillance drones over Iran for some time. An intelligence official reported that the US was spying on Iran. The Post reported that "aerial espionage is standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also employed as a tool for intimidation." No one told Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld about this however. oy

Iranian officials reported that they believed that they were being coaxed to turn on their radar so that the US could detect what kind of defenses they had. The Iranian's decided not to turn on their radar since "half of them" were trained by the US and knew what the US tactics were. Uh oh.

It turns out that the US didn't get much information from the drones afterall. I wonder how much that cost us? And it's no wonder that "intelligence" is so "not intelligent" because one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. You can read the story at the Wash Post.

SO WHY ISN'T RICHARD CLARKE SECRETARY OF STATE? ANSWER BELOW

'01 Memo to Rice Warned of Qaeda and Offered Plan

"A strategy document outlining proposals for eliminating the threat from Al Qaeda, given to Condoleezza Rice as she assumed the post of national security adviser in January 2001, warned that the terror network had cells in the United States and 40 other countries and sought unconventional weapons, according to a declassified version of the document. The 13-page proposal presented to Dr. Rice by her top counterterrorism adviser, Richard A. Clarke, laid out ways to step up the fight against Al Qaeda..." Read the rest in the NY Times.

Answer to Richard Clarke question: Apparently he's not as good at being a dongdiver as Dr. Rice. Which reminds me of Petey's Rule #1 For Business Success:
"If you wanna get ahead, you gotta give head".

We Are So Honored

to have been even nominated for Best Group Blog in the universe.

We're all a titter that the Rude Pundit voted for Blondesense. PoP positively had the vapors. Thank you so much to those of you who voted for us.

Today, please vote right here if haven't done so yet. It's so easy and only takes a minute. Just type in "Blondesense".

We won't let you down.
We will continue to bring you all the news that we feel like reporting and lots of commentary complete with swear words and sarcasm to satisfy your needs.

We're here to share our love with OB-GYN's across this great land. And so should you.
Who could have possibly envisioned an erection — an election in Iraq at this point in history? Only Americans could.
We would like to thank our blessings.

Love,
Blonde Lizzy, Blonde Patricia, Blonde Jaye, Blonde Mule and Petey from the great state of Iowa, our token male.

Tired of Excuses That Restrict Freedom

I'm so sick of the "this is the 9/11 world" excuse for restricting general freedoms in the country. I think it's a bunch of crap. The fascists are crying wolf a bit too much and it is really getting on my nerves. I don't think they realize that Americans aren't going to stay scared and stupid forever.

Al Hill pointed out an article in Boing-Boing about a photographer being stopped from taking pictures in San Francisco because of a non-existant law. The photographer was lied to about the law! This is typical.

I believe that Mykeru was stopped from taking pictures in DC a while back. I was taking pictures of a musician at a tiny train station on Long Island in March 2003. It was about 2 days before we bombed the shit out of Iraq. He was standing near the tracks with his guitar case. I shot the pics. Trains went by. We moved. All of a sudden we were surrounded by cops who told us that it's illegal to take pictures at train stations. It was state property. I was taking pictures of the cute musician for his website, not the train tracks. Furthermore, the state wouldn't have property if tax payers didn't pay for it. So technically, it was my property too. The cops ran a check on us. We both have blonde hair and light eyes. We are certainly not exotic looking. We don't fit the profile of Arab terrorists. I know it's not PC to single out Arabs, but darn it, leave the American born blondies alone and show us where the laws say that we can't take pictures anymore.

JUST ABOUT THE TIME I THINK THERE'S HOPE FOR IOWANS:

"No taxes for Iowans under 30? Proposal is dead, lawmakers say
02/11/2005
A proposal to abolish state income taxes for people under age 30 is likely to die young, Senate Republicans conceded Thursday.
"I would say the under-30 proposal won't pass," said Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson. "It has sparked discussions - that's the bottom line."

Some simple-minded, dumshit Republican (yes, I know I'm being redundant) comes up with:

"Lawmakers look at taxing groceries
02/11/2005
Many Iowans would pay sales tax on groceries, but no longer be taxed on corporate and pension income, under a proposal to overhaul the state's taxing structure unveiled Thursday by a state Republican senator."

Oh hell, if you have the stomach for it, it's all in the Des Moines Register.

Fuck the poor!

When times get tough, the poor get clobbered even in this most Christian of all nations on God's earth that He created for Americans.

"Mr. Bush, who proposed cutting or eliminating scores of domestic programs in the budget he introduced this week, did not put forth any specific cuts then beyond 2006. But the White House projections define a path to keeping spending flat through 2010:

¶Spending on veterans' medical care would drop 16 percent after inflation, despite an expected surge in costs from veterans of the war in Iraq.

¶Education and vocational training, an area that grew rapidly during Mr. Bush's first term, would decline 15 percent.

¶Basic scientific research would be reduced 13 percent.

¶Nutritional assistance for impoverished mothers and their small children, provided through the Women, Infants and Children program, would be cut by 9.6 percent; some 740,000 fewer people would receive assistance. "
NY Times.

Do you think gay men would embrace bush if he came out?

Nah. He belongs in a category of his own.

Thanks to All Hill in the comments section for this morning's links to articles of interest.

Stirring the White House Honey Pot. You have to read this whether you're gay or straight. The comments section there offers more information.

None of this will surprise most of our readers here because we have already figured out that the more self righteous one is, especially in Republican politics, the more kinky and perverted they are. They're real good at projecting too. I have nothing against kinkiness but I don't like perverts. They are the ones who pretend to be better than everyone else.

Now this is strange. Al gives us a link to Shlonkom Bakazay, with some really scary sordid shit happening between a church and the military down south. Just go and look at the pictures if you have a fast connection or have a cup of something while the page is loading.This stuff at Shlonkom Bakazay reminds me of the KKK, the mafia, the Nazi's and the young republicans. Sometimes I wonder if it was a good thing that I woke up.

You think you are just suffering from paranoia when you suspect that the government is the link to drugs in this country, that religion is a front for subversive activities and that all in power are out to deceive the masses. Then you read the whole newspaper with a critical eye, talk to others who are reading with a critical eye and realize that the insane were the sane ones all along.

And of course there's more on the impending draft from Rolling Stone. With the army desperate for recruits, should college students be packing their bags for Canada?
Why hell yes. I'm not sure that it's been all that easy to recruit young men into the service after this cluster fuck from hell in Iraq. You must be pretty desperate and desperately misinformed if you enlist now. If you know anyone desperate enough to want to enlist, save them. If they give a war and nobody wants to fight in it cause they are in Canada... well you know.

Swiped from Doomocracy
Nice Job.

Death Of A Salesman of Human Values

A giant has passed. His courage, honesty and wisdom should be inculcated in the popular culture and passed on like mother's milk to the young.

Arthur Miller, Legendary American Playwright, Is Dead
By MARILYN BERGER
Published: February 11, 2005

Arthur Miller, one of the great American playwrights, whose work exposed the flaws in the fabric of the American dream, died Thursday night at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 89. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Julia Bolus, his assistant.

The author of "Death of a Salesman," a landmark of 20th-century drama, Mr. Miller grappled with the weightiest matters of social conscience in his plays. They often reflected or reinterpreted the stormy and very public elements of his own life, including his brief and rocky marriage to Marilyn Monroe and his staunch refusal to cooperate with the red-baiting House Committee on Un-American Activities.

"Death of a Salesman," which opened on Broadway in 1949, established Mr. Miller as a giant of the American theater when he was only 33 years old. It won the triple crown of theatrical artistry that year: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Tony Award.

But the play's enormous success also overshadowed Mr. Miller's long career. Although "The Crucible," a 1953 play about the Salem witch trials inspired by his virulent hatred of McCarthyism, and "A View From the Bridge," a 1955 drama of obsession and betrayal, would ultimately take their place as popular classics of the international stage, Mr. Miller's later plays never equaled his early successes. Although he wrote a total of 17 plays, "The Price," produced on Broadway during the 1967-68 season, was his last solid critical and commercial hit.

Read the rest

NOT ALL REPUBLICANS ARE DUMSHITS; OR...

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE HE'S FROM IOWA:
WASHINGTON,Feb. 10 - "A day after Canadian officials suspended the use of a hyperactivity drug amid reports of deaths associated with its use, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa contended that United States health officials had asked the Canadian regulators not to do so.
Senator Grassley, a Republican, said on Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration had made the request of Canadian health officials because the F.D.A. could not handle another "drug safety crisis." Mr.Grassley said he was basing his contentions on reports from whistle-blowers within the agency."
Here's the rest.

Quote of the day

You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.
– Abraham Lincoln

You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.
– George W. Bush

The Celebration We Can't Celebrate

by pissed off patricia

There will be a very big celebration next Wednesday, but we aren't going to the party. We can't celebrate, but we can cry. See, next Wednesday large countries and small countries will have something to be proud of and brag about. They will be the proud signers of the Kyoto Treaty. That's the day the treaty goes into effect. One hundred forty-one countries have come together with a desire to preserve and defend the environment. Bush has decided that uniting hits the wall when it comes to joining the rest of the world in this endeavor.

Three industrial countries will have nothing to celebrate. Neither Australia, nor Monaco, nor the United States are allowed at the party because these three countries said no to the treaty and no to a healthy environment. The US apparently feels that industry's money trumps the dire consequences of global warming.

Will the Kyoto Treaty end global warming? No, but it's a beginning and that's how any journey begins. Bush refuses to admit the journey is necessary. Many, even in the face of mountains of evidence, believe global warming to be some sort of hoax or myth. There is such proof that one must wonder why would anyone believe this to be a hoax or myth. The answer is simple. They don't want to face the changes that would be required to turn things around. Industry would rather destroy than preserve. Good luck Mr. Industrialist. All the money in the world will not shield you from the changes that are occurring in our atmosphere. You aren't exempt.

What a waste this is for the United States. It would make such an amazing statement if the country who espouses liberty and freedom for all also joined with the world to show that we recognize that without joint effort regarding the future of the world's environment, liberty and freedom will not be needed. The US owes it to the world and to its citizens to sign the Kyoto Treaty. As if we didn't already look like jerks to the rest of the world, now once again we're proving them to be correct. That has to make you sad. All these other 141 countries coming together and agreeing that global warming is a threat, yet the United States doesn't accept the scientific data. This isn't mystic science. It's true science. Why would any country refuse to do what it can to preserve life for all countries?

So next Wednesday when countries around the world are celebrating their unity in trying to reverse the atmospheric damages we have all had a hand in, we will not. The only thing our country can brag about is being the biggest polluter on the globe. Perhaps we can also celebrate being responsible for producing about one quarter of the world's greenhouse gases.

No, next Wednesday we have nothing to be proud of and surely nothing to celebrate. Due to the insane decisions made by our president, we aren't invited to the party.

Bitchin' Happy!

by pissed off patricia

Hey everyone, guess what? With your help we made the first cut at Wampum for The 3rd Annual Koufax Awards. We made the TOP TEN in the Best Blog Group category. Thank you, you put us there. Thank you! Thank you!

Now we need a little more of your time and effort, we need you to vote for us again. We want to win! We know the competition is tough, but we're blondes so we know all about swimming upstream. We will work hard for this and with your help, we just might make it happen.

You can vote here

And don't forget to vote for All Spin Zone for Best Blog Category

With Sincere Gratitude to all who voted for us then, and everyone who will vote for us now.
patricia (not one bit pissed today)

A DARK DAY

I just heard on democracynow.org that Lynne Stewart has been convicted and disbarred on terrorism charges. We have no journalists in this country soon we will have no lawyers as well. The darkness deepens. Sleep on oh ship of state!

NEW YORK -- Veteran civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart has vowed to fight her conviction on terrorism charges. But her case has already left some of her colleagues on the city's legal scene clearly shaken.

"It's a dark day for civil liberties and for civil liberties lawyers in this country," attorney Ron Kuby said on Thursday following the verdict in federal court in Manhattan. "In the post 9-11 era, where dissidents are treated as traitors, it's perhaps no surprise that a zealous civil rights lawyer becomes a convict."

Full story

Jolly good show

Guantanamo Torture Show
Talk about reality shows. This one is from England.

"Using an east London warehouse and declassified internal documents obtained from US sources, programme-makers mocked up conditions as they are inside Guantánamo, before subjecting seven volunteers to some of the milder forms of torture alleged to have been used by US authorities.

The programme exposed the volunteers, three of whom are Muslim, to 48 hours of "torture lite" including sleep deprivation, the use of extreme temperatures and "mild" physical contact.

As at Guantánamo and more vividly in Abu Ghraib, the volunteers were also subject to periods of enforced nudity and religious and sexual humiliation.

The seven male volunteers, one of whom withdrew after just seven hours suffering from hypothermia, were recruited initially by adverts asking how "hard" they were.

After psychological testing there were then told what the programme was about and the list whittled down to seven. All were offered counselling after filming was finished."

It's Okay to Swallow What You Floss

But don't eat a mule if it's had sex with someone else.

The Ayatollah's Book of Etiquette
Harpers Magazine (and more at the link):
From “A Clarification of Questions,” by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, published in 1985 by the Westview Press. Khomeini's treatise sets out his position on 3,000 questions of everyday life. Translated by J. Borujerdi. Originally from June 1985.

• 64. Evacuation is unlawful in four places. First, in dead-end alleys. Second, on the property of a person who has not given his permission. Third, in a place assigned to a specific group of people, such as some schools. Fourth, over the graves of the faithful, if it would be considered disrespectful.
• 145. If a host, while eating, realizes that the food is unclean, he must inform his guests. But if one of the guests realizes this, it is not necessary to inform the others, unless his relations with the others are such that as a result of remaining silent he himself becomes unclean.
• 462. Divorcing a menstruating woman is void.
• 464. If a woman begins menstruating while praying, her prayer is void.
• 2,629. It is not unlawful to swallow the food that exits from between the teeth as a result of flossing if one's nature has no aversion to it.
• 2,631. It is loathsome to eat the meat of a horse, a mule, or a donkey if someone has had coitus with the animal.
• 2,858. The prizes that banks give to encourage borrowers, and those that institutions give to encourage buyers and customers, are lawful. The thing that sellers put inside their merchandise to attract customers and increase buyers, such as gold coins in boxes of shortening, are lawful and of no concern.
• 2,874. It is not unlawful to introduce a man's semen into the uterus of his wife with devices such as suction cups.

We should have our leader write up something like this for our edification.

And while you're at Harpers, you will discover that "The Devil often reveals his presence through electric devices." So says an Italian exorcist in The Telly of the Beast

Woo hoo!

Blondesense blog is a finalist for the Koufax Award for best group blog at Wampum! We are so thrilled to be there. We are twirling our long blonde hair around our fingers... well maybe Petey isn't. Would you please vote for us today?
And vote for All Spin Zone in Best Blog Category. k? Please?
Pretty please? We love you.
Thank you.

I picked a fine week to give up drugs

Don't sign up for the armed services.

"The whole Iranian nation is united against any threat or attack. If the invaders reach Iran, the country will turn into a burning hell for them," he added, as the crowd, braving heavy snow blizzards, chanted "Death to America!." Wow

I'm staying right here Mr Iranian man.

It's not safe in America though. Lalock sent me this link. This Gannon guy was very close to Scotty Mac and had a gay porn ring too. What a story this is turning into. Wouldn't it be loverly if one of these stories that would impeach old bushie would stick? Wishful thinking. I know.

But if you've had enough of these goddam politicians, check out what Jesus looked like as a child.

Things that Drive You Nuts

by pissed off patricia

Let's leap off the political Titanic for a moment and get into the sea of some important, earthshaking stuff. Let's talk about our pet peeves. You know, the thing that you cannot do anything about but it drives you nuts, and insane, and makes you want to inflict some sort of bodily harm.

My major pet peeve is someone smacking or cracking gum. It makes my nerves sizzle and everything in me wants to yell, spit out the gum, do it now and no one gets hurt. Second on my list is someone in a store talking on the kind of cell phone where you can hear both sides of the conversation. Third is anyone who tosses stuff out the window of their car, especially lit cigarettes.

Fuck Only Reading

Don't you get tired of this simpleminded Laura Bush nonsense about children reading, or reading to children, or teaching children to read, or reading to children about teaching or whatever the fuck it is? What is it with these Bush women? His mother----the big silver douche bag---was into the same sort of nonsense. These women should not be encouraging children to read, they should be encouraging children to QUESTION what the fuck they read. Content is far more important than the mere act of reading and dragging your eyes across text. By the way, I noticed that, apparently, the idea of teaching children to read didn't work when Barbara tried it on George.

Wisconsin Or Bust

I was reading the paper to the cat last week. She tries to keep up on current events, particularly stories about Ivana Trump and alien landings. We got to a story where a few obscure animal rights groups were calling for the nation's 66 million pet cats to be kept indoors for life.

"Why?" asked Miss Kitty.

"Well," I answered, "this says that free-roaming cats kill from 8 million to 217 million birds a year in Wisconsin alone."

"My, I had no idea there were that many birds in Wisconsin."

"Yes, and one person was quoted as saying, "We don't want our house companions going out and killing other animals.""

"What about mice?" asked Miss Kitty, scratching behind her ear.

"They don't say, but they are also worried about you being eaten by coyotes."

" Then why don't they keep all the coyotes indoors for life? It's like making people bolt and bar their homes and stay inside during prime shopping hours. Why don't they just keep all the criminals indoors for life?"

"Good question, but they say cats are domesticated animals and coyotes are wild animals, and they don't want to appear anti-wildlife."

"Mice are wildlife, so are birds; it's all part of the food chain."

"They apparently want to remove cats from the food chain. For your own protection, of course."

"I thought it was to protect the birds," said Miss Kitty, ever vigilant to flaws in my logic. "And besides do they really enjoy that odoriferous cat box in the laundry room? It's bad enough to walk around in a Tupperware toilet if you're a cat. I've always envied camels. Sand as far as you can see. Go anytime you please."

"They suggested that humans who want their cats to spend time outdoors need to invest in an outdoor enclosure, or walk their cats on a harness."

Miss Kitty got indignant. "You ever tried to walk a cat in a harness! We are not dogs, you know! I've spent a lifetime keepin' your place free of rodents and vermin, and this is the thanks I get. So I eat a bird now and then. And another thing, I've lost more friends to car tires than coyotes. Why don't they have speed limits slow enough to let the cats get out of the way?"

"Wait a damn minute," I protested. "It isn't me, it just a story in the paper."

"Sure, she huffed, "but some self-appointed cat lover will weasel or badger you into makin' me a house cat. You'll fall for it and take me prisoner. Next thing I know, you'll be takin' me for walks in a cat harness. Not for me, buckaroo. I'm leavin'."

"Wait," I pleaded, "Where will you go?"

"Well," she said, "I've always wanted to see Wisconsin.

Question Lady is in the House

by pissed off patricia

Okay, I have questions. If, as it reads on the MSNBC website, "Federal Aviation Administration officials received 52 warnings prior to Sept. 11, 2001, from their own security experts about potential al-Qaida attacks, including some that mentioned airline hijackings or suicide attacks..." WTF happened?

If they knew there were these many warnings, did the white house know? If they did, why didn't Condi, et al, alert to what Dick Clark had told them and start shaking things up? This new revelation sure does fit nice and snug with what Dick Clark said in his book, doesn't it? He and President Clinton told the new administration that the biggest problem they would have to deal with was al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden. If you were told that, and then these warnings started coming in from the FAA security agents, wouldn't you be able to put two and two together? If the FAA's security experts knew, what about the experts at the CIA? Did the FAA share their info with anyone else? Were the FAA security experts the only ones to find this information?

Also from MSNBC's site, "The commission report, written last August, said five security warnings mentioned al-Qaida’s training for hijackings and two reports concerned suicide operations not connected to aviation." Remember Condi testified something to the effect that they never could have imagined terrorists flying planes into building. What real difference would it make what they would fly planes into? This was going to be bad no matter what. Remember the military had a drill involving a plane flying into the Pentagon. So the idea of al-Qaida flying planes into buildings wasn't such a stretch. Perhaps with all these warnings it would have been wise to take some serious precautions BEFORE it happened, instead of afterwards.

And finally from MSNBC, " Al Felzenberg, former spokesman for the 9/11 commission, which went out of business last summer, said the government had not completed review of the report for declassification purposes until recently." Hmm, how recent would that be? I'm guessing sometime AFTER, Nov.2, 2004.

One of Those Days

by pissed off patricia

Did you ever have one of those mornings when you awoke with a bad-assed attitude, the kind of attitude that makes small furry creatures scurry back into the woods when they see you coming? Well that's me today.

What caused this monster transformation? I have no idea. Maybe it's because I'm feeling old. Not old enough to dash out to some place like Denny's for the "early bird special", just old, sick and tired of what I see happening every day. Seems every day is ground hog day in the news. Americans are getting killed in Iraq and Iraqis are getting killed in Iraq. Another of our governments hidden sins is exposed and another of our governments hidden sins is ignored by those with purple lips and mustaches. And, guaranteed there will be a "hot news item" on TV today that we read about on the net about a week or so ago. Sometimes it seems that TV news is on a seven-day delay. Maybe it is. Maybe the FCC doesn't want a news malfunction. Who the hell knows? They sure as hell aren't holding the news back until they can verify its veracity. Ha, Ha, Ha! Okay, just thinking about the media digging around for the truth and then sharing it with us makes me laugh in an evil Cruella de Ville sort of way. As if that sort of reporting on TV would ever happen. I think it used to, but it was so long ago that I can't remember it.

Hearing that Charles and Camilla are getting married didn't do much for me. I think they have been in love a long, long time. If that's the case, it's nice they can finally get married. Good for them.

North Korea is screaming that they have nukes. I think they have such awful conditions in their country they are willing to bait us into invading so we'll have to rebuild their country for them later. They're willing to let a few Koreans die in order to get a makeover for the survivors. Or, maybe not.

Yesterday, the Fox news-ettes were talking about Condi Rice running in the 2008 presidential election. They said, in so many words, that she would be a winner. They said if she ran and Hillary ran, Condi would win hands down.


Oh, maybe that's the reason I awoke in such a funk today. It's because our fucking country's bus is racing down the path of complete lunacy and the driver is blind, deaf and dumb! The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, but I don't like where they're going.

Dang Rich Folks on Long Island

They move here from I don't know where.
They are newly rich and decide that they need an ocean-front mansion. These mansions dot the barrier islands, on the tony east end of Long Island, which are merely sand bars. Sand bars move. Winters are rough on Long Island as far as erosion goes. Nor'easters wash the sand out to sea especially on the narrow east end of the island. The mansions are now close to the waves because of this year's storms and the rich folks are freaking out.

God made the barrier islands.
They protect the big island. There are millions of regular people living on the big island who pay more taxes for their services than the few, the obnoxious, the rich who insist on living on sand bars. There is plenty of waterfront property on the big island. But it views the bay. Apparently that is not good enough for the filthy rich.

The story goes on and on every year.
Someone is suing the county and the Army Corps of Engineers is called in to fix the sand. When they fix one area, another area gets sand starved. Mother Nature created a natural drift of sand on the barrier islands. But some human beings refuse to be hampered by natural occurrences.

We are among the highest taxed counties in the country.
Since we are highly taxed, we expect something for our tax dollars. I'll be damned if our tax dollars are going to the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge sand and build jetties to protect the wealthy.

"The groins and the jetties block the natural drift of sand from the east to the west, preventing erosion east of the walls but accelerating the process to the west. Several Sagaponack homeowners -- who include "Jaws" star Roy Scheider -- say they're frustrated that government officials have done little to solve the problem." - Newsday Story

Boo hoo. Roy Scheider should know better than to live too close to the water anyway.

Crime Doesn't Pay

The cover story of Newsday is what caught my eye.


They caught the Spelling Bee Bandit. He robbed banks on Long Island.

What distinguished him was that his notes to tellers had spelling errors. He thought that his misspellings would throw the police off his trail. He is dumb.

Going Back To Bed

Woke up this morning.
Turned on the news.
The FAA was warned about terrorist attacks before 9/11.

52 times between April and September 2001.
They did nothing about it. I wonder why?

Bush Administration tried to cover up that information.

Fucking assholes.

NYTimes Story
Associated Press Story

No "Pending" allowed

Okay, censorship is not funny! Having said that and believing it with all my heart, I'm laughing.
If you haven't visited Jesus' General today, go right now.
What has happened to him stinks like most everything stinks these days, but the message he received is wet your pants funny. He has been accused of "Pending Hate". Ah, yes, that's correct. He is accused of "Pending". Is he alone with this accusation? You better check it out because you just might be a pender too.

Wacky Gallup-ing Numbers

Were you shocked when you saw the latest Gallup poll showing bush's approval rating at 57%? Yeah, sure the elections in Iraq might have given him a boost, but this much? Well ladies and gentlemen, there's more to the numbers than meet the eye, and less Democrats too. Steve Soto at The Left Coaster explains these screwy numbers.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Pond scum appears to be running and ruining the world of science. The fingers of government have dipped into more than a bottle of purple ink.
From the LA Times this morning

"More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says."

and

"More than half of the biologists and other researchers who responded to the survey said they knew of cases in which commercial interests, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies, had applied political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions deemed harmful to their business.

Bush administration officials, including Craig Manson, an assistant secretary of the Interior who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, have been critical of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, contending that its implementation has imposed hardships on developers and others while failing to restore healthy populations of wildlife.

Along with Republican leaders in Congress, the administration is pushing to revamp the act. The president's proposed budget calls for a $3-million reduction in funding of Fish and Wildlife's endangered species programs.

"The pressure to alter scientific reports for political reasons has become pervasive at Fish and Wildlife offices around the country," said Lexi Shultz of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Mitch Snow, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency had no comment on the survey, except to say "some of the basic premises just aren't so."

and

"Sally Stefferud, a biologist who retired in 2002 after 20 years with the agency, said Wednesday she was not surprised by the survey results, saying she had been ordered to change a finding on a biological opinion.

"Political pressures influence the outcome of almost all the cases," she said. "As a scientist, I would probably say you really can't trust the science coming out of the agency."

There's more if your stomach can take it.

AP: U.S. Aims to Oust U.N. Nuke Official

Wednesday February 9, 2005 11:16 PM
By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The United States is lobbying allies in a bid to oust the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, perhaps as early as the end of the month, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

That's the headline and lead sentence. Read the rest here.

Tnx to POP for the headsup.

Holy Shit

Seriously, read this. The natives are getting restless. This is somewhere between scary and bizarre. Here's an appetizer from the Christian News Service, Guest Commentary, "The Forgotten War" by Joe Murray

"But with 4,000 unborn children perishing daily, Jack Kevorkian knocking on the doors of countless elderly persons, and the celebration of the sexuality explicit on the airwaves of our nation, this question must be posed: where is the Commander in Chief whom this country elected to fight the cultural war? He, my friends, is in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now potentially Iran and North Korea. In a quest for a global hegemony unwanted by the rest of the world, this President has abdicated his post to fight the cultural ills that afflict a weary populace at home, and, even further, may be violating the very doctrine he now espouses."

Rep Louise Slaughter speaks up!

Thanks to Buzzflash for this link

"NEW YORK- Jeff Gannon, the controversial reporter for conservative Web site Talon News who drew complaints for gaining access to White House press events, resigned from his job last night amid liberal blogs' allegations about his real name and his personal and professional life.

Today, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to President Bush asking him to "address the matter" in light of "mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies."

There's more

US wants chief UN nuclear inspector replaced

From Google News

... They want someone in charge who shares their view of which nations constitute nuclear threats and what to do about them. But ElBaradei has challenged those ...

I can't get to this site and I'm not hearing any of this on TV. If anyone can find out more, please share. Thanks

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"The elections in Iraq are no cause to celebrate in any quarter of the free world, for no election is free and fair that is held in the shadow of an empire's occupation force. It is the fruit of a poison tree, and those who seek nourishment from it shall surely suffer the fate of all throughout history who have somehow seen freedom in the menacing barrel of a gun and peace in the ironclad thunder of war.

All we have done is traded the lives of good young men and women for a moment's swagger in the village of matches we have created; but mark my words, ours is a short-lived and Pyrrhic victory: the poison we have sewn upon this good Earth will yet come back to smite us, as it already has smitten the lives of all those good young men and women.

They did not deserve to die for an empire of poison trees." -- The Dark Wraith

At The Movies With BlondeSense

Bring back the propaganda movies

In the 1930's young people learned that they can't get married if they have syphilis in the movie, Sex Madness. It was a pretty racy movie though and probably caused many kids to squirm in their seats, if you get my drift. Young people learned that they could go insane if they smoked pot in Reefer Madness. Movies like this helped our parent's generation live long enough to fight in WWII. (One of the actresses from that movie just died at 94. See? She didn't take drugs so she lived a long life.) I watched Reefer Madness again on the internet, but it wasn't as funny as it was in the Uniondale Mini Cinema where you could get high just breathing the air. The more recent anti-drug release (1951) of The Terrible Truth was more revealing and more terrifying as it showed the link between smoking pot and becoming a heroin addict.

In the 1950's and 60's kids were subjected to many many "health" and etiquette movies like this one- Dining Together. It taught them to be good Stepford children. There are a whole bunch of early Stepford movies available for you to view here. These children were kept alive long enough to fight in Vietnam and grow up to be polite and productive Americans. It was considered very bad to be a juvenile delinquent back in the old days, although the JD boys were kinda hot. So a whole lot of anti-juvenile delinquent films were made to squash that trend in dating.

No one can forget The Last Prom. This was the reason to take driver's ed. That was the movie that kept the majority of my generation alive to fight in Vietnam and to raise children who can fight in bush's wars. The message of this movie was so great that it was updated in 1980 for modern kids. "The Last Prom" did for alcohol related deaths of teenagers as Fatal Attraction did for cheaters.

I just found this gem, Mother Takes A Holiday. It's an early pro-feminist/pro-electric film (1952) It shows how electricity emancipated women. This film shows how a dad was hoodwinked by his daughters to agree to buying an electric washer and dryer for his bride who never had time for anything except cooking and cleaning. Blame Edison and Whirlpool for the breakdown of the family, you chauvinist pigs out there! Electric appliances made it easier for my parents to start cocktail hour a bit earlier each day. Mother Takes a Holiday Part 2 is also available for your viewing pleasure. Both films were funded by Whirlpool.

In the Suburbs is an exploitation film made by Redbook for advertisers and manufacturers who want to target innocent young couples who moved from cities to suburbia and entice them to buy stuff. So much stuff that by the next decade, moms had to start working in order to pay for all this stuff that they had to have. More people working, more tax revenues for the guvmint and more money to fund wars.

Now the reason that there were no unwanted pregnancies in the olden days of the 50's and 60's was because of movies like this one. Teenage Mother.

This film showed an actual child being born in living color. Now if that didn't scare the shit out of young women, I don't know what would. Of course the young woman had a great time kissing boys and dancing on the beach in a 2 piece bathing suit. The blood and gore associated with an actual childbirth left early female audiences "eeewwwwww-ing". Boys didn't like this movie.

I didn't see this film because I attended Catholic School and I was already threatened with the fires of hell and eternal damnation if I put out for a boy. This movie must have been for public school girls. We were shown this movie instead: "So You Are Menstruating- The Devil's Plan for All Women" now re-released for Southern Baptists. I was so scared I didn't have a baby until I was 30.

Happy viewing.

Observations Followed by a Personal Note to CR

by pissed off patricia

We've all heard people say they felt like a female trapped in a male body and vice versa. Well, I believe Joe Lieberman is a Republican trapped in a Democrat body. Same goes for McCain. Only he's a Democrat trapped in a Republican body. Perhaps there's an operation to free these two fellows too.


Ms. Mule wrote about reality shows yesterday (see below Republican Realty TV). If a station wants to air a true reality show, they might film the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. >From what we hear, that's a true Survivor show.

Would Jesus attack Head Start Programs under any circumstances? Of course not. Would Jesus diminish veteran’s benefits? Of course not. So if bush chats with god, I'm betting he's going to get a Texas-sized earful and a reaming out about some of these proposed budget cuts.

I watched a rerun of a hearing about tort reform and malpractice cases that was held in the House yesterday. Don't believe a thing the administration tells you. Instead listen to the victims. Listen to the lady from California, the state that is supposed to have the state of the art tort reform. This isn't tort reform. This is insurance company robbery. Since this new tort reform went into effect in Texas, the physician's malpractice insurance companies' profits have grown. Go figure. Could it be because they keep charging the doctors the same premiums and now they get to pocket the money that should be going to the victims? Yes dear, I believe that's the reason. Now instead of giving victims what they need to survive, they give them a pittance and explain to them which government programs they may be able to qualify for in the future. In other words, you and I will pick up the tab for someone else's carelessness. See? It's not tort reform. It's a financial responsibility handover to the taxpayers. Don't let them get away with this!

I don't know if Rove is any more powerful today or if they are just announcing what he has been doing all along in the shadows. I'm guessing it's the latter. They're getting kinda gutsy now that they carry the big mandate banner. Kind of a, what the hell can they do about it now, attitude.

The more I think about it, the more bizarre that deal was where the Republicans dipped their fingers in purple ink. They weren't the one's who placed their lives and asses on the line to vote in Iraq. I don't believe a single one of them did any time serving in the military in Iraq. So what the hell? What gives them the right to wear the purple badge of courage?

And finally, Aikane said something in the "comments" yesterday that I totally agree with. He said, "When his presidency was saved by 9/11, he was allowed to declare an endless war against terrorism." That's absolutely the truth. Tell me how in the hell we will know when the War against Terror has been won. Will it be when the last person who dislikes our country has been killed? At the rate we are going at making enemies, this could take a while. How can you declare victory over an emotion? How do you know when everyone's hate and fear has been eradicated?

Personal Note to C. Rice
Condo-release-us Rice, we need to chat. Why is it that you only move from the knees down when you walk? No other part of your body ever moves, not your hips or your arms or anything. You appear to be holding something between your knees at all times. Are you and what is it? Where's a little female movement Condi? Where's a little hip sashay action, Madam Secretary of State chick? Also Ms Rice, I believe you must have gotten a hefty pay raise with your new position, so how about getting a new do. That Mary Tyler Moore, flip deal is so 60's. Let's try a new look, sweetie. And finally, try real hard to hold your head still when you are speaking. I have trouble listening to your words, because all I seem to find myself doing is watching your head bobbling around. Before I know it, I'm laughing at your imitation of a Condi bobble head doll, and that just negates your message all to hell.

I would like to thank you for your attention to these matters Ms Rice. Now please excuse me as I'm off to pour myself a lovely saucer of milk and then I shall locate my scratching post.

Who can you trust?

My tax dollars pay for the EPA, the FDA and the US Health Service. I expect that they will be sort of looking out for us in matters that I cannot take full responsibility for because I have no freaking clue. Of course it didn't take a rocket scientist to tell us that New York's air was deadly after 9/11 despite the EPA's claim that the air was safe to breathe. That was my big wake up call that the fascists are ruling the US.

This morning I read in the LA Times that my son's childhood vaccinations contained mercury. 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish. That was the dose for a 6 month old baby. The fascist bastards. I was doing all I could to take care of the baby and keep him safe, warm and well fed while trusting that whomever was in charge of vaccinations knew what the hell they were doing. That is what our government is supposed to do. That's why we pay them. Not attack and blow up other countries and kill our young men that we tried so very hard to keep alive for 18 years. And oh yes, we wore our mandatory seat belts so we wouldn't die from a car crash which would bleed the poor insurance companies.

Does The Pope Shit In The Woods?

The Guardian clears that up.

Is a bear Catholic?

Even the fascists agree with Ted Kennedy on this one

Get the troops out of Iraq. Even if it turns to chaos there, it isn't going to hurt us and they won't be making WMD's. Read John Derbyshire at NRO "Nice Election. Now Let's Get Out Of There."

The Mule makes a stand...

On a recent trek through western bush country, the Mule faced a test of her loyalty, determination and fearlessness in the face of danger. Stalked for hours and finally ambushed by the threatening predator, she threw her rider and went into attack (defense) mode, stomping and biting and throwing the cougar around like a rag doll.

Surpassing the call of duty, the mule demonstrated the importance of standing ones ground; of defending the rights and freedoms won through the blood and suffering of ones forebears; of never ceding territory to the treacherous beasts whose ultimate goal is the unchallenged control of the countryside.




Cousin Paulyne, who provided this picture, is a Texan of more than seventy years who knows a thing or two about fighting her way through the crooked, winding trails of the perilous bush country. Like the mule, she remains undeterred in the mission to retake occupied territory and make the country safe again.

Click photos above for larger picture.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

It's not all about the children - it's about adults who behave as children.

Yeah, why do we have to wear our seat belts? Well, it's because as adults some of us aren't mature enough to drive sensibly. I wear my seat belt because I don't want to know what my face would look like after it went through a broken windshield filled with jagged glass. I have seen what that does to a person.

Yeah, why do we make the kids wear helmets when they ride their bikes? Well, it's because as adults some of us aren't mature enough to drive sensibly and kids are kids. Why not put helmets on their little heads and do everything we can to protect them from spilling their little brains due to their own bad judgment or the bad judgment of irresponsible drivers. How can it hurt if we can prevent them from hurting?

Yeah, why can't we drink alcohol at some events? Refer to my answers for the previous two questions. Yep, some of us are idiots and we drive drunk. The results are innocent dead people that the drunk driver smashes into on the way home. Prevention trumps funerals every time. Why wait until someone is killed to admit the danger was there and went unchecked.

Hey, why do we have stop signs and traffic lights? Well it's because if we didn't, a whole bunch of ass holes would never stop at an intersection and allow others to cross the street. During the time most of my town's electric was out after the hurricanes, the traffic lights were all out. All crossing streets were to be considered a four way stop. You bet, the ass holes showed up and whizzed right through the intersections without even slowing down. You took your life in your own hands if you assumed the bastard approaching was going to stop when it was your turn to go.

It may seem like it's all about the children, but I believe it's all about adults who behave as children.

The Republicans complain about too much government in our lives. The Democrats make laws to protect us.

In conclusion, my theory is that if all adults were mature, sane, reasonable, sensible, and not ass holes, thoughtless and selfish, maybe we wouldn't need so many damned rules and laws. However I see no reason to believe that we can do anything about these jerks. So until then, someone has to protect us from ourselves. Buckle up!

HHS Withholds Study Results Showing Head Start Is Effective

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to publish two reports that show Head Start is effective in raising the academic performance of low-income children. The National Head Start Association (NHSA) recently leaked the data, noting that the Bush administration continues its efforts to dismantle the program. Head Start advocates have been fighting the administration’s proposals to restructure the program for more than two years."

They not only tell you a bunch of crap; they also don't tell you what isn't crap.
Here's more.

Republican Reality TV

What could be more fun than getting through the Invented Ruler's years by watching Republicans take over all the reality shows as well? Here you go, boys and girls. These will keep ya busy for the next four years.

REPUBLICAN EYE FOR THE LIBERAL GUY

Five snappy Republicans take a hapless Democrat and clean up his act by dabbing crude oil behind his ears, teaching him how to order steak at every meal, dressing him in polyester, and putting pictures of George and Laura in every room in his house.

OUTSOURCED!

Six people are taken out of their jobs in Utah and flown to India, where they are placed in a large telephone answering service company and paid one hundred rupees a day.


AMERICAN IDLE

Here we spend hours and hours watching eight unemployed people stand on welfare lines trying to get to the open window.


MARRY A TRILLIONAIRE

It's so like a Democrat to think that a million dollars is enough money to live on---just the cars, houses, and cosmetic surgery alone cost more than that. Here ten lucky women compete for the chance to marry a really rich eighty-seven-year old man. (Sequel: Divorce a Trillionaire)

TRADING TAX BRACKETS

Two families, on in the 40 percent bracket, one in the 15 percent bracket, trade places. The hidden trick is that one of these families has actually never paid a cent in taxes-----guess which one!

SURVIVOR---MANHATTAN

Twelve normal Republicans are taken out of their homes in Tulsa, Oklahoma, placed in a trendy Manhattan loft with lots of abstract art, and forced to go out every night , eat raw fish, stay up until 4 a.m., and dress in really nice cloths. Who will survive?
(Sequel: Survivor----Paris. Now that's really cruel.)

What Do We Say To The Little Ones?

I'm very concerned about the effects of the Bush administrations is having on the minds and hearts of our kids and grandchildren, and on their well-being now and in the future. It isn't always easy to balance the need to protect our children from anxieties about an unstable world with the need to give them truth and strength. But truth and strength is what they need, along with humor, compassion, and a keen sense of justice learned early on.

These are some things I would say.

1. I lived through Nixon, you will make it through the Bush years.
2. Bullies sometimes win, but only in the short run.
3. You too could sound like the president if you don't work hard in school
4. Religion is about not what you say but what you do and how you treat others.
5. Everyone is entitled to equal rights. Everyone.
6. Treat the Earth and all its inhabitants with gentleness and great respect.
7. Regardless of the president's words and actions, we are global citizens and should act accordingly.
8. We are a country of many religions and beliefs------no single religion rules.
9. Who do you want for bedtime reading tonight------Al Franken, Molly Ivins, or Garrison Keillor?
10. Next time our country will get it right.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Heaven, I'm in Heaven

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak;
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When I gaze at Hubble pictures like a geek.


large picture here
more pictures from Hubble here

The bastards didn't allocate enough money to save the Hubble. They always seem to allocate enough money to bomb the middle east or pay some corporate crony. The bastards. My joy is looking at these pictures and imagining looking far enough back in time to see the beginning of the universe. Oh wait. That might disturb the creationists. Science goes against some religious beliefs you know. If science proves a particular religious is wrong, that could spell disaster.

They scrapped saving the Hubble because of safety concerns and money. What's a measly billion dollars these days? What happened to intrepid explorers who risked life and limb? Why is everyone so afraid these days? Oooh, someone might die. Heaven forbid.

How the hell do people think we got this far in civilization? It sure wasn't because people were concerned about their safety. Lewis and Clark didn't sit by the fire afraid to go out because they might get hurt.
-----------

Special Feature
Blondesense bonus rant :

We had better ban selling beer at Jones Beach State Park Concerts because someone might get drunk and get into a car accident on the way home. Has anyone ever been killed in a crash after a concert in the past 40 years when they did sell beer? No, but someone might get killed someday so we had better ban it now. Put those helmets on the kids. Make it a law. They might get hurt on their bikes. Make it a law that people must wear seat belts. Fine people heavily if they risk their lives driving unharnessed in NYS. Second hand smoke might be bad for you. It isn't proven but let's pretend that it is and make a law to ban smoking so that no one breathes bad air. Like anyone can avoid breathing polluted air in NY. And let's allow corporations to do whatever they want to us though. That's different. Stop those lawyers. And don't forget about the children. The children. The children. We adults better not do anything adult ever. Because of the children, you know. All this legislation means diddly if an earthquake or tsunami happens and wipes out a huge segment of the population. But that's ok because God willed that devastation. Apparently God doesn't mind thinning the herd on earth. I don't think people really believe in God at all.

What a bunch of weenies we are unless we are sending poor kids to Iraq to blow up brown people.

I'm surprised that I am still alive. Aren't you?

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

Thou Doest Whoop it Up Too Much

It looks like Dr. Howard Dean will be the new head of the DNC. Fine by me. The Republicans are whooping it up and saying that this marks the end of the Democratic party. They are whooping and flailing around in their glee so much that you have to wonder why. Maybe it's because they're trying to cover up the fact that his leadership of the party scares the bejeezus out of them. They saw his success with raising money via the internet. They heard him protest the war in Iraq. They know he doesn't make a habit of butt kissing. They know he isn't intimidated by the bush administration. They know he isn't afraid to say what he believes. They also know that the wrong kind of microphone and the unending repetition of one moment by the media were all that knocked Dean out of the race last year. Remember many in the media later admitted they played the moment to death and explained what had happened with the microphone. Of course, by then it was too late.

When someone goes overboard telling you how happy they are, nine times out of ten, they aren't happy at all. They are most likely hiding their unhappiness and sadness behind a smile. I believe that's what's happening here. Don't let them fool you.

So go for it Republicans. Play the so-called "Dean Scream" over and over. Play it real loud if you want to. Freeze frame it at the part where it shows Dean at his most unattractive moment. Do whatever you want to if it makes you feel happy and keeps a smiley face on your party. We know what you're up to and you know that the DNC has a new leader who scares you to death. The more you whoop it up, the more convinced we become that this development is the last thing in the world you wanted.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

During an early stage of the occupation, US papers reported young kids in Baghdad shaking hands with the Marines. What these newspapers did not report (because the journalists did not speak Arabic) was what the kids with a smile said to the marines; 'We hate you, motherfucker.'

Catch all of Ali's remarks at Counterpunch.

If You Had to Decide Today

by pissed off patricia

Today on "Crossfire", once again Jerry Falwell represented the Right as he co-hosted the show. When asked who he would like to see run for President in 2008, his first answer was Rick Santorum. (Are you back from throwing up? Shall I go on? Are you okay?) Remember seeing Santorum behind bush as bush took the oath of office at his coronation? Imagine that face, that man, his words, that homophobic piece of trash, guiding our country for four years. No, on second thought don't get that mental image or you too shall have haunting dreams tonight.

So anyway, it made me think about what if we had to choose a Democratic Candidate right now, this very minute, to run for Pres. in 2008. Who would you pick? My first instinct is Senator Joe Bidden with Barrack Obama as his vice president. I don't always agree with Bidden and I like that. I agree with him more than I disagree. I trust Bidden and I like his style, plus he sure as hell doesn't hold back when he feels things are going to hell in the national hand basket.

Your choice would be? Why?

Bwahahahahahaha

Will we have to invade Iraq again since they are itching to be a theocracy? No wait, I bet bush'll declare that this was what he really meant by democracy.

NY Times

"Leading Shiite Clerics Pushing Islamic Constitution in Iraq
By EDWARD WONG
Published: February 6, 2005

AJAF, Iraq, Feb. 4 - With religious Shiite parties poised to take power in the new constitutional assembly, leading Shiite clerics are pushing for Islam to be recognized as the guiding principle of the new constitution.

Exactly how Islamic to make the document is the subject of debate.

At the very least, the clerics say, the constitution should ensure that legal measures overseeing personal matters like marriage, divorce and family inheritance fall under Shariah, or Koranic law. For example, daughters would receive half the inheritances of sons under that law.

On other issues, opinion varies, with the more conservative leaders insisting that Shariah be the foundation for all legislation."

Sweet Dreams

You have heard about the nicotine patch causing vivid dreams. It's so true. I have the wildest dreams and I just love it. Who knew that quitting smoking could be such a hoot? It used to be such a pain in the ass. I love dreaming and the side effect of ridding my lungs of harmful carcinogens is merely an added bonus. Sure, I can be cranky during the day, but that is probably only because I miss dreaming.

In last night's story, I was sort of having an affair and also working with Tim, the Toolman Taylor. I was friendly with his kids who were not his TV kids. They didn't know that he and I were having an affair though even though we didn't do anything in the dream. It was implied. His wife Jill knew about it and she and I finally made peace while she was in the shower. She leaned out of the shower and lit up a cigarette and spoke to me. She told me she had her period. He was pissed when he heard that I told Jill I wouldn't come around there anymore out of respect to her. What a nasty face he made at me. Wow. They had the coolest trees outside their house too. So unusual for Long Island. I don't think those banyon trees grow around here. What a trip that dream was! I don't have TV dreams normally.

In my other dream last night, I moved to Los Angeles. I had a pool in the back yard. A volcano erupted across the street and spewed lava in to my pool. I was disappointed because it was hot that day and I would have liked to take a dip. Meanwhile I had to go to some state building to have my produce inspected. The man in front of me showed me his gypsum plants. If you squished them, powdered gypsum spewed out. He was a manufacturer of sheet rock. Yowza! I am still trying to recollect what plant I brought in. Gypsum. Man oh man.

I feel like taking another nap to see what predicament I get myself into this time. Every morning my cheap thrill is to try to recollect the dreams of the night before.

A half time show I could relate to

Last year, even before the tragic wardrobe mishap, I was snearing at the half time show and decided to read blogs instead. This year, I HAD to watch Sir Paul (and discuss whether or not he had his eyes done). I told my son that Paul could have been his daddy had I been a bit older and actually had met the man. (I ended up being a huge Lennon fan.)

The music afficianados in the room didn't care for his choice of songs, although I kinda liked them. Live and Let Die is one of songs I'd hoped he'd perform. It's a kooky song but I always liked the arrangement. That's about the only Wings song I could tolerate anyway.

So Paul played it... for me. There were rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air during the song. It looked like Baghdad during shock and awe during the refrain didn't it? If you didn't watch it, trust me it looked like Baghdad. The lyrics were so fitting. I'm sure Paul picked that song on purpose.

When you were young and your heart was an open book,
You used to say live and let live.
(You know you did, you know you did, you know you did.)
But if this ever changing world in which we live in,
Makes you give in and cry... Say live and let die. (Live and let die.)
Live and let die. (Live and let die.)

What does it matter to you?
When you got a job to do you gotta do it well.
You've got to give the other fella hell.

He then played Hey Jude which was the bane of every tall girl at a dance when it first came out. I used to have to sit out the slow dances with the other tall girls because the boys came up to my shoulder and God forbid they would dance with a tall girl. I still love the ending of that song. Juday juday juday juday juday waaaaaaaaa!

Oh yeah, and the Patriots won.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

This Bowl was Sanitized for Your Protection

Yesterday's Super Bowl was sanitized for your protection. All the "nasty" stuff was removed, cleansed, and disposed of so you wouldn't become a child of sin and the devil. You could almost see the little strip of paper that had been placed across the seat of the Bowl, stating that all the bad things had been cleansed away to keep you safe from becoming a sinner. Okay, there were a few tawdry moments during the game. The ads for FOX's weekly shows like the one that showed some guy grabbing some ladies butt during a promo for "That Seventies Show" were just plain tasteless. But since the ad was for a show that appears on FOX, I guess it was okay. I guess the FCC trusts FOX to be fair and balanced with acceptable as well as unacceptable programming. To be fair and balanced, you need a little of each. The slimiest shows seem to be on FOX, but that's just one heathen's opinion.

The game was good as Super Bowl games go. Being a Boomer, I liked the half time show and wished it could have been longer. Do you believe that, after the careful microscopic examination they did of every word and movement prior to McCartney's gig, that they allowed him to use the phrase, "for some California grass". I mean, oh my goodness, did they know what California grass meant in the song? Seems their tight scrutiny went up in smoke on that one, or perhaps it was a vocabulary malfunction?

I don't know what happened to the Eagles at the end of the fourth quarter. They played in slow motion and wasted precious seconds. That is obviously not the way to win a Sanitized Super Bowl.

why are you here?

My son is taking political science again this semester. Naturally they are talking about US foreign policy and the war in Iraq in his class. A number of my son's classmates indicated to the "liberal" teacher that they support what the president is doing in Iraq. The teacher asked those students why they were in college and not the military. The smart kids giggled and the rest of the class was silent.

Sounds like my kind of teacher.

You support the troops? Why are you here?

You're more patriotic than the liberals? Prove it. Enlist.

Put up or shut up.

Rummy on MTP

I sort of paid attention to Meet the Press this morning. I was doing something else, but this exchange caught my ear. It seems that the media pulled an "aaaaargh!" or a "I voted for the war before I voted against it" on Rummy. What do you think?

Meet the Press 2/6/05 Transcript

(Videotape, December 8, 2004):

SPC. THOMAS WILSON: Now, why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

And if you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can be blown up. And you can have an up-armored Humvee and it can be blown up.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Now, Specialist Wilson did acknowledge he worked with a journalist in crafting that question.

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: Yeah, but wait a minute. Let me get into this a little bit.

MR. RUSSERT: Sure.

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: That was unfair and it was selectively taking out two sentences from a long exchange--there it is--that took place. And when you suggested that that's how I answered that question, that is factually wrong.

MR. RUSSERT: No, we...

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: That is not how I answered that question.

MR. RUSSERT: But, Mr. Secretary, it clearly represents the exchange and...

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: It does not.

MR. RUSSERT: All right. What is missing?

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: You want to hear the exchange? There is it. It's right here. I'll read it to you.

MR. RUSSERT: I just...

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: If you're going to quote pieces of it, I'll give you the exchange. He asked that question, and I said, "I talked to the general coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they're not needed, to places where they are needed. I'm told they are being--the Army is--I think it's something like 400 a month are being done now. And it's essentially a matter of physics. It's not a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the Army's desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it. As you know, you go to the war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

"Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce armor necessary at a rate that they believe--it's a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously but a rate that they believe is the rate that can be accomplished. I can assure you that General Schumacher and the leadership of the Army and certainly General Whitcomb are sensitive to the fact that not every vehicle has the degree of armor that would be desirable to have, but that they're working at it at a good clip.

"It's interesting. I've talked a great deal about this with a team of people who've been working hard at the Pentagon. And if you think about it, you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and the tank could still be blown up. And you can have an up-armored Humvee and it can be blown up. And you can go down and the vehicle--the goal we have is to have many of those vehicles as is humanly possible with the appropriate level of armor available for the troops. And that's what the Army's been working on. And, General Whitcomb, is there anything you want to add?"

Now, that answer is totally different from picking out two lines. And I think it's an unfair representation and it's exactly what some of the newspapers around the country did. Now, let's go back to Susan Collins' comment, Senator Collins...

MR. RUSSERT: Well, let me just finish on the Humvees because...

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: You bet. OK. I'll tell you right now where we are. By February 15th, nine days from now, there will not be a vehicle moving around in Iraq outside of a protected compound with American soldiers in it that does not have an appropriate level of armor.

MR. RUSSERT: Which is a pretty dramatic change, because Newsweek had said that, of the 19,000 Humvees in the Iraqi theater, according to the Army's latest numbers, only a quarter were fully armored. So the fact is that Specialist Wilson's question in front of his troops in which he was cheered was helpful in getting people to truly focus and respond to this. Fair?

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: I didn't criticize his question. I thanked him for his question.

MR. RUSSERT: No, but is that a fair statement?

SEC'Y RUMSFELD: Well, you saw my answer. We'd already been focusing on it hard. I mean, I answered it by saying we had teams of people in Washington working on it, General Whitcomb was working on it.

-------------

There's a lot in that transcript and more on Rummy's attempt to resign. Lots of talking in circles as per usual.

joe college can't read and neither can your nurse

I opened my e-mail from the college today and the following is a letter from a student.

> Hello Proffesor Jaye Sutten. This is [your student] from last semester. I'm
> applying to Nursing school this semester. Would you be interested in writing me
> a letter of recommendation. If so please send me a reply.
>
> Humble Thanks
>

This is the reply I sent:

Mr. [former student]:

I don't want to be rude but I cannot write a letter of recommendation for you. The reason I can't is that in your request, you misspelled "Professor" and my last name. You ask a question, but do not use a question mark. You capitalize "Nursing" when there is no need to do so.

I realize that English may be you second language, but it will be the language you use in the medical profession. You will have to write to communicate with doctors and other nurses. I cannot recommend you to a program that concerns the life and death of other people when it is obvious that you are not yet ready to use careful language skills. I am not a particularly good speller, but in the medical profession, misspelled words mean the difference between various types of medication and procedures. Frankly, such mistakes can kill someone.

Should you enroll in a grammar course and review your basic English skills, I would happily revisit the issue of a letter of recommendation.

I mean no disrespect, but you must address this problem before any institution would consider you. [the college] has done you a considerable disservice.

My every best wish for your success,
Jaye Ramsey Sutter, J.D."

I sincerely hope that you think about this the next time you are in the hospital.

This past week a young lady in one of my classes did not understand that there are two houses of Congress. She didn't understand why there are two minority leaders and two majority leaders if there is one Congress. I showed her a photograph of the Capitol and explained that the House meets on one side and the Senate meets on the other.

Another young woman asked me after she watched the State of the Union, if those were the new laws the president had just announced. This is after my lecture on the State of the Union and how Congress passes laws and can actually introduce their own legislative agenda. Congress doesn't have to follow the president's suggestions and can ignore him.

These are community college students. These are high school graduates. This is why things are as bad as they have ever been.

I don't believe that education is really any worse than it was 100 years ago. My grandfather, who dropped out of school in the third grade because he had to work, did not believe that we had gone to the moon. He couldn't grasp it. Today's students also have to work to survive and like my grandfather don't read books because that notion is so far from their world as to overwhelm them.

I can't tell you how many times students told me privately, "Thank you for making me read that book. I have never read a book before now."

It isn't the schools. It is the culture. And the schools reflect it. And the politicians hope for it.

Do you remember the scandal of Ted Kennedy cheating on a Spanish test by having someone else take it for him? Well, FAIR/EXTRA has exposed that indeed the New York Times killed the story on George W. Bush's "push to talk" receiver under his coat during the presidential debates. Read it over at The Raw Story.

We are in hella-trouble and it starts with how we live our own lives, not how other people live theirs.

Take the SS Reform and Shove It

The Bushistas pissed away money like there was no tomorrow and there may not be at this rate. There are billions of dollars missing in Iraq. Bush's Medicare plan was a disaster. So why on earth should anyone trust this boob to even think about revamping Social Security? Even if you don't understand the markets or anything related, common sense tells us that this administration doesn't know its ass from its elbow. Agreed? Agreed. I'm so intellectually insulted that our government thinks that everyone is gonna buy this garbage. ;-)

I just read a ridiculous article by a guy who gives stupid reasons why there will be SS reform.
The article says "America has changed. Americans are no longer afraid of stock and bonds. They are invested in them." Bullshit. We all know people who lost their shirts in the late 90's. Americans on average are not fearless. Maybe there are more Americans invested but most Americans don't have a clue how it works and would screw it up if left to their own devices. Furthermore, someone is going to make a killing on that lack of knowledge and it won't be Joe Average Citizen when he gets a hold of his retirement account. I only bring this up because an argument like this only feeds the fantasy of the wannabe's.

There are so many in bush's base who don't belong there at all. They have bought into the bush-rovian concept of the American dream and are so eager to get there that they will support the bushistas only because they hope to one day be a "winner" even if the policies only make the elite rich for now... cause after all maybe one of us might get lucky enough to join the big boys. eh?

Republican wannabe's hoping for a lottery win or that big promotion- Oh Lordy, Lordy. Save us from our greedy dreams and learn to be content with what we have while fighting to help those with nothing get some food and a roof.

WND News

Gosh I have so much fun reading World Net Daily. Man, if anyone with the mindset of those folks lived in my neighborhood or made my acquaintance, they would sure be in for my New York tongue lashing. idiots.

This article is a hoot On the 'sin' of sending kids to public school.
Here's the juice... it seems that evangelical kids leave their church within 2 years after they graduate from high school. Don't most kids stray away from religion after high school? These kids aren't supposed to do that! Anyway, the Southern Baptist convention urges parents to home school their children so that the kids will grow up just as stupid as their parents and hate all the things that their parents teach them to hate.

They warn that "our children are being forcibly indoctrinated to believe that homosexual behavior is acceptable." heh. Yes they do a clockwork orange thing to the kids in public schools here in NY and hold their little eyes opened with toothpicks and make them watch gay men hold hands until they make the conscious decision to either become gay or merely decide not to beat the shit out of gay people. NOT.

I can't wait until the WND writes about the N.Y. Judge who today declared that NYC Must Allow Same-Sex Marriages . heh. That should make them insane. Oh NYC is Babylon! The whore! All those GOPers who came to NY should feel dirty and defiled now for decending on Sodom and Gomorrah during the RNC.

Buh-bye bigots. Don't let the George Washington Bridge hit you on the ass on your way out.

Pentagon sites:

Journalism or propaganda?

Here's an appetizer.

"The U.S. Department of Defense plans to add more sites on the Internet to provide information to a global audience -- but critics question whether the Pentagon is violating President Bush's pledge not to pay journalists to promote his policies."

and

"At first glance, the Web pages appear to be independent news sites. To find out who is actually behind the content, a visitor would have to click on a small link -- at the bottom of the page -- to a disclaimer, which says, in part, that the site is "sponsored by" the U.S. Department of Defense."

Mac Bragging Rights

Have you ever met a miserable Mac user? Hardly. They are some of the most enthusiastic computer users on earth and they are not trying to keep Mac a secret. We want everyone to share our joy. We are the liberals of the computer world.

Have you ever met exasperated PC users? Of course. I can't imagine having to put up with a PC. I don't have the time. I do think that the Windows frenzy is very much like the conservative America hoopla. People just want to go with what's perceived to be popular. There is no doubt that Bill Gates is a marketing genius, the Karl Rove of computing if you will. He has hoodwinked millions into buying his seriously flawed operating system for years.... cause it's cheaper and supposedly more useful but it's not at all. It's cheaper when you buy the junky machine at first, then you have to constantly put in new junk because they don't come with the stuff that you need from the get go. You end up paying more than you would for a Mac in the long run and while I am cruising the web, the PC user is still trying to figure out how to uninstall some program and then reinstall it.

Excuses I hear from people who complain about their computers after I tell them to simply get a Mac mostly consist of: "I need a computer for business applications." What a crock. That meme is still going around? That is like the "I voted for George Bush because of abortion" nonsense. It's just a talking point with no validity.

What is with all that trojan horse shit? What's a virus? What the heck is spyware? What do you mean you had to reinstall your whole computer? What do you mean you needed a graphics card? Oy vay.
You can tell that I know a lot of computer jargon, eh? Not. I don't need to. Make your life easier. When your puter craps out, get a Mac and give yourself a break.

Morford has more to say.
Of course.

Still Bulldogging Lt. General, it's fun to kill people, Mattis

by pissed off patricia

Seems prior to the General making his egregious remarks about the glee he received at the taking of human lives during war, he had a fine record in the military and therefore he gets a slap on the wrist. I remember someone who told a lie about his sexual escapades and regardless of his fine record as President of the United States, he was impeached, although not asked to leave the office. The General deserves something more than a slap on the wrist.

General Mattis said that he should have chosen his words more carefully when he made the statement about it being fun to kill people. By the way, he was not speaking to his troops, he was speaking to a gathering of defense contractors.
So how do you say it's fun to kill people in a more politically correct way? How do you do that?.

Bitchin'

by pissed off patricia

The American, The Game

Sometimes it seems as though we're all playing some sort of game like "The Apprentice" except in our case the name would be The American. On "The Apprentice" there are two competing teams and each week both teams are assigned the same task. The team that most successfully completes their task is safe for another week. A member of the less successful team will suffer the ire of Trump, as he looks one member of their team in the eye and states, “You're fired!” That person then tucks tail and leaves the competition.

Our game, The American, is similar in that we have two teams, the Liberals and the Conservatives. Where our game differs from "The Apprentice" is that each week the Liberals are given a task and the Conservatives are given a pass. The tasks assigned to the Liberals involve subjects like the environment, women's rights, fairness, peace and many more. The Conservatives are allowed to decide which tasks the Liberals must face each week and the Conservatives will also determine whether or not the Liberals have successfully completed that task. The Liberals try their best to complete their task. They work their asses off for their task. They fight back. They swim upstream. It seems no matter how determined they are, the Liberals are sure to be declared unsuccessful by the Conservatives. The Conservatives taunt the Liberals' loss and all the Liberals suffer the ire of the administration. Each week the bush administration looks all the Liberals in the eye and states, “You're fucked!” But, unlike the loser on "The Apprentice", the Liberals of The American refuse to ever leave the competition. They never tuck their tails and even when they are dead tired, they never quit. The odds of winning may be stacked against the Liberals but they are determined to never stop playing the game.

Irony Watch

The other night our leader stated that Iran is "the world's primary state sponsor of terror."

Here we go again. Bushie's Kissing Partner of State says that invading Iran isn't on the agenda at this point. At this point. She'll be assessing the European's take on the Iran situation this week. It appears that the European's prefer diplomacy over sanctions, which is bushie's favorite punishment next to invasion.

At her Senate confirmation hearings last month, Rice said the United States wants "a regime in Iran that is responsive to concerns that we have about Iran's policies, which are 180 degrees" antithetical to America's interests. Yahoo news

Are we (America) a bunch of international bullies or what? How come we are the only country allowed to build nuclear weapons? And doesn't Condi realize that American policies are 180 degrees antithetical to the American people's interests at home? Oh that's right, they don't care what we think.

On begging

Yesterday Missouri Mule posted a very touching story on this blog (scroll down to "They Sleep In A Car").

Today I have blatantly ripped off something from the comments here on the blog.
By GD Frogsdong

In many cultures, begging is viewed as a job with a social benefit. You have a daily opportunity to help another human being in need. It is all well and good to take care of yourself and your family, but if you extend your family and begin to help your friends, you can extend it a little and help your neighbors too. If you can help your neighbors, you just need to loosen up your definition of a neighbor, maybe even of a friend, and before you know it, you can help a lot of people you never thought to help before.

So begging is just a way to loosen the definition of friends and neighbors and make you feel good about yourself. All for the price of a quarter.

Begging isn't so bad, is it? And at least someone who begs for a living isn't necessarily stealing for a living, beating others with sticks for a living, or doing something else that isunacceptable, like playing sports for a living or selling insurance to poor people when you know the company will never pay a claim.

I know that Frogsdong wrote this with his tongue planted in his cheek, sort of, yet he touched on an important "christian" tenet: "Whatever you do for the least of my brother, you do unto me." -J. Christ. If you're