Gore Redux - Can we get him to run again?

By Eleanor Clift

Newsweek

Updated: 4:26 p.m. ET April 28, 2006

April 28, 2006 - A movie about Al Gore giving a PowerPoint presentation about global warming doesn’t sound all that exciting, but if you liked “March of the Penguins,” you’ll love “An Inconvenient Truth.” Gore is as relentless in his travels to save the planet and faces almost as many obstacles as those penguins making their way across the tundra.

Getting the country to face up to global warming is his life’s mission, and it could be his ticket to the presidency. Voters yearning for a principled leader who truly believes in something may find what they’re looking for in the former vice president. Gore told NEWSWEEK that he’s in the middle of a campaign, but it’s not a campaign for a candidate. “Been there, done that,” he said.

Nobody believes him. By not playing the overt political game, Gore may be putting in place the first issue-driven campaign of the 21st century, one that is premised on a big moral challenge that is becoming more real with soaring gas prices and uncertain oil supplies. A senior Democrat who once ran for the White House himself but harbors no illusions the party will turn to him in 2008 looks at Gore and marvels, “This guy is running the best campaign I’ve seen for president.”

Whether he is or isn’t running almost doesn’t matter. Gore has the luxury of waiting until late in the political season to announce. He has universal name recognition, a proven ability to raise money, and he can tap into the MoveOn.org machinery to launch a grass-roots campaign. Unlike front runner Hillary Clinton, there is no doubt about where Gore stands and what he believes in. He opposed the Iraq war, he was against the Patriot Act and he spoke out forcefully against President Bush’s torture policies and warrantless eavesdropping. Gore has become the darling of the left, yet global warming is not, or shouldn’t be, a partisan issue. The days when the first President Bush mocked Gore as “Ozone Man” are over, relegated to the dustbin of history. Conservative evangelical Christians see themselves as stewards of the earth. When asked at a screening of his film in Washington this week what he would say to Bush’s claim that global warming needs further study, Gore quipped, “I hope he finds the real killer,” adding quickly, “I shouldn’t have said that.”



Yes, it does give me hope and I need all that I can get, especially after reading what Liz put up about the Rabbi and his concern about 'angry atheist', although personally I think the world could use a few more atheists in positions of power. Life would be a lot less scary that way.

Sunday is A Fun Day To Talk About God

My Sunday Sermonette will try to answer Rabbi Marc Gellman's Trying to Understand Angry Atheists in Newsweek.

I like the Rabbi and I enjoy his column with Father Tim Hartman in Newsday every Saturday and television show when they appear as The God Squad.

Unfortunately after studying so much about the Christian/Catholic Church after earning my MDiv in 1992, I lost interest in religion all together-- possibly because it has such a violent history led by the supposed followers of Jesus who more or less like any other religious leaders sought to oppress the flock by using laws to squelch the human spirit and using fear to control the masses. Where was Jesus in all this mayhem that ensued? Why did they persecute the Jews so much when after all we wouldn't have Christianity if it were not for the Jews? I also believed with all my heart (but no psychology training) that most the saints and supposed "great Christians" were schizophrenic. The Catholic Church canonized people who should have been locked up in loony bins.

Rabbi Gellman wonders

"...there is something I am missing about atheists: what I simply do not understand is why they are often so angry."

"So we disagree about God."

Everyone disagrees about God. That's been the story since the beginning of recorded history. Great wars have been always fought in the name of God. That is why there are thousands of religions in the world. That is why the early Church split and that is why Martin Luther couldn't take much of the nonsense that ensued after hundreds and hundreds of years of christian bastardization of Jesus' message. That is why there were the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, passion plays, slave ships, the holocaust. How many versions of Christianity, Judaism and Muslim are there now? It appears that the "believers" have been the angriest in history and caused the most turmoil in history. Angry atheists aren't ruining the fabric of society.

"I'm sometimes at odds with Yankee fans, people who like rap music and people who don't like animals, but I try to be civil. I don't know many religious folk who wake up thinking of new ways to aggravate atheists, but many people who do not believe in God seem to find the religion of their neighbors terribly offensive or oppressive, particularly if the folks next door are evangelical Christians. I just don't get it."

Don't talk to Yankee and Red Sox fans during the season. They are not always civil and the rivalry leads to much heated anger. If people can't be civil regarding athletics, one certainly can't expect them to be civil about their core beliefs.

Perhaps Rabbi Gellman doesn't read the news as much as many of us do. In fact, many religious leaders in this country and the world are doing their darndest along with the fascists in governments, to take away our freedoms, to oppress women, homosexuals and minorities, to completely discount science, urging the flock to check their critical thinking at the door, to speak hatefully in a public arena and declare war, all in the name of God. That particularly angers a lot of atheists and true believers as well. In fact, Rabbie Gellman ought to consider all the hatred being spewed by God's supposed followers. Turn on the tv to one of the cable news shows and see how much hate and intolerance is regurgitated in the name of God.

They use fear to energize their followers into a hateful frenzy. You don't even have to be an atheist to see what a radical new movement has been gaining ground over the past 25 years or so. They are threatened by Darwin, women, critical thinking, science and tolerance. I was a Christian when I realized that true Christianity had been hijacked by fanatics. That's why I decided to study theology. I needed to know what real Christianity was, where it came from and how it compares and contrasts with other beliefs. Fortunately, I learned more about spirituality than anything written and taken literally in ancient holy books. I learned great mysteries that are not at odds with most thoughtful atheists. I also figured out that the Bible is a dangerous book in the hands of those who are mentally unstable. I excommunicated myself from Catholicism after I graduated.

"Perhaps their atheism was the result of the tragic death of a loved one, or an angry degrading sermon, or an insensitive eulogy, or an unfeeling castigation of lifestyle choices or perhaps something even worse. I would ask for forgiveness from the angry atheists who write to me if I thought it would help."

Perhaps it's true that the angry atheists had a terrible trauma that led them away from God and most likely it's because they had the wrong impression of God's existence in the first place. And whose fault is that? They expected God to do something and He didn't. How many religous people do we know who don't really love God, but fear His wrath? If you were God, would you want people to love you out of fear or love you out of respect? A sane person wouldn't want to be loved out of fear. (I'm assuming here that God can be personified as many people think.)

"Religion must remain an audacious, daring and, yes, uncomfortable assault on our desires to do what we want when we want to do it. All religions must teach a way to discipline our animal urges, to overcome racism and materialism, selfishness and arrogance and the sinful oppression of the most vulnerable and the most innocent among us."

A good civics class can teach people how to cooperate in society too. Does fear of jail or hell really need to be a part of living in a good society? Fear is merely a tool used by oppressors. When I taught religion to youngsters (yes, can you believe it?) I often strayed away from the religion book in order to teach the kids compassion... such as "How would you feel if someone did this or that to you?" and then I would go on to tell them that God wants us to think before we act and society wants us to do the same because it makes for a better world. I taught my students that we must learn to forgive those who hurt us and not repay them in kind because there would be nothing but anger and hatred in the world... it would make for a pretty lousy life.

Why oh why does believing in God need to encourage people to take off their thinking caps?

My belief system is that we are to look out for each other and love each other as we want to be loved. (It also happens to be what Jesus taught in a nutshell and is also the crux of the Old Testament.) I don't need to be religious or even believe in God to understand that universal cooperation, tolerance, love and compassion are the keys to a relatively happy existance on earth. We still have Mother Nature or Acts of God to endure and we really need each other in those times and that is when God or goodness really manifests God's or goodness' self to everyone including non believers.

Anyone can figure it all out with some critical thinking- if we all tried to be patient and tolerant, to try to come to compromises with each other, we wouldn't even need laws. Jesus thought so too. We wouldn't have maniacs like George Bush or Osama bin Laden waging wars to satisfy their mean streaks. At least we wouldn't allow them to.

I think that too many laws tempt people to break them, if nothing else. I am a prime example of that. Religions made stuff up that made people act worse towards each other than if they had just shut up and stuck with the Jesus theme. Their laws made us neurotic.

"Some religious leaders obviously betray the teachings of the faith they claim to represent, but their sacred scriptures remain a critique of them and also of every thing we do to betray the better angels of our nature. But our world is better and kinder and more hopeful because of the daily sacrifice and witness of millions of pious people over thousands of years."

Some religious leaders? Only some? I disagree. The ones who betray the teachings of their faith are the ones who are getting all the media attention and forcing politicians to legislate oppressive policies that alienate our most vulnerable, in order to get campaign funds and votes. That pisses off anyone with a sense of humanity. Everything good that happens in the world may be as a result of how God created us or maybe it's just a mutation in evolution. There is no reason to argue that point if everyone is trying to get along whether they believe in God or not. The anger that abounds from the Christian left, the Jewish left and the atheist left stems from their outrage at the crimes against humanity that are committed daily in the name of God.

Amen.

I hope that helps, Rabbi Gellman.

(comments)

Happy Mission Accomplished Day Mister Pwesident

From the Blondesense Archives

HEY Parents - Unplug those ipods - These kids need to start reading the FINE PRINT!

Most kids don't know about Watergate -- and that was only HOW many years ago? Holy Crap! Yes, History does repeat itself - but this is happening WAY to quickly for me. Our kids are WAY to plugged in, or should I say WAY TO UNPLUGGED to reality. The MSM has become their reality and they need an "adult" to pull the plug and wake them up.....NOW!!

PLEASE pass this editorial around:

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT SHEER

"Nothing Prepared Me for Bush"
By Onnesha Roychoudhuri AlterNet

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042806G.shtml

You Can't Count on the Press to Be Honest. Yay Colbert!

Bush lampooned himself at the Press Corp Dinner, but the best part of the evening was when Steven Colbert got to lampoon bush, his staff and the news media. The president and the mrs. were not amused. Perhaps they didn't want to face the truth. Good. My favorite part of the presentation was when Colbert told the President:"I was vying for the job myself. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people."

From Editor and Publisher:

Noting those low ratings, Colbert advised, "The glass isn't half empty - it's 68% empty. There's still some fluid in there, but I wouldn't drink it."

He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “They are re-arranging the deck chairs--on the Hindenburg.”

Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”

He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, as well as " Valerie Plame." Then, pretending to be worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, "Uh, I mean... Joseph Wilson's wife." He asserted that it might be okay, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was probably not there.

Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurriance disasters, and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face.

Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."

He closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he runs fleeing from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.

Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides—the president’s side and the vice president’s side."

Also from Editor and Publisher, some "Cocktail Chatter With Clooney, Plame, Snow at D.C. Bash"

Valerie Plame was there. She said, “I’m wearing Armani.”
George Clooney on the food in Darfur: "Don’t eat the goat. It took revenge on me.”
Joe Scarborough quipped that the late-breaking “Hookergate” scandal, "will keep reporters and columnists busy this summer.”

At a Reuter's party they were serving this drink: The Cheney Shot—made with Wild Turkey.

You can watch the video at CrooksandLiars.com
Transcript at DailyKos

We need a Blondesense Still

Ethanol and Estrogen -- The Future!

This ethanol additive sounds so simple and inexpensie, and if this article is true, can save quite a bit at the gas pumps.

Why haven't we been doing this - what am I missing here?

(Liz - I also think I need to get my bottle of "blonde" out today!)


http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=060429&cat=frontpage&st=frontpagereynolds_ethanol_060428&src=abc

An Amusing Trip Down Memory Lane- if only

New Anger-Powered Cars May Revolutionize The Way We Drive
February 4, 2004 | Issue 40•05

"The theory behind the anger-powered engine is actually quite simple," said Keith Cameron, chief engineer on General Motors' Project Instigator until January. "The average motorist traveling a clogged American highway produces hundreds of kilowatt-hours of negative energy per infuriating drive. The Instigator motor converts this emotional energy into kinetic energy by a process most drivers—people too goddamn stupid to use their goddamn blinkers when they change goddamn lanes—will never be able to understand. Just trust me, dumbasses, it works.""

and

"This bitch's bastard's whore went like a goddamn raped ape with me at the wheel," said Car And Driver's Brock Yates, who test-drove Daimler-Chrysler's Dodge Rammit pickup. "The vitriolic-assist brakes barely worked, the rear-view mirror found my bald spot every time, and the voice-response OnStar system mocked me for writing the script for Cannonball Run. I was getting 107 miles to the gallon when I T-boned that bus."

The whole article is a a hoot. I love the car names: Chevrolet Tantrum, Buick Umbrage, Lincoln Frown Car, Plymouth Violent and Fury, Dodge Rammit pickup

hat tip to CommonSense

This Week's Episode of Boo Fucking Hoo

Lush Bimbo turned himself in after a 3 year investigation into "doctor shopping" for pain meds. He probably won't face jail time if continues to stay clean for 18 more months. Hey we're only human and I wouldn't rip him a new one for this situation even though he is a big fat hypocrite... just every single other thing about his radio show which deliberately misinforms millions of people every day. He has admitted that he had a drug problem so what is the big deal that his surrender made the news? Some of my most favorite people have been busted for drugs.

But please, check out the spin on this story. It appears it's all the "liberals" fault, that he had to endure this... funny thing is that his drug bust 3 years ago may have spared his miserable life. Was he not going deaf too? And who said that all law enforcers and prosecutors are liberal anyway? Do Republican prosecutors not deal in drug charges? Did not the Reaganites have that whole campaign against drugs? Meanwhile the CIA... nevermind.

I found this site that attempts to condemn liberal bias in the news. Apparently if the news reports a liberal being busted for drugs, then it's no big deal, but god forbid the news reports that a conservative is busted for drugs.

Newshounds recounts Lush's arrest as discussed on the O'Lielly Factor. "O'Leilly expressed sympathy for poor Bimbo because the Leno and Letterman will be laughing at him tonight but Napolitano assured him that Lush would keep all his listeners. O'Leilly made sure to stress once again that it was all politically motivated."

I'm betting there is a lot more spin out there which blames liberals and politics for Lush's plight.

Maybe THAT'S the reason some folks want a fence along the U.S./Mexico border:

To keep us in, instead of the Mexicans out

"Mexico proposes decriminalizing pot and cocaine"
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - "Owning marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by the Congress."

And a tip of the hat to "somegirl" at Allspinzone who has some good comments.

PNAC f/u - Hey look!!...they ARE talking about the "project"

f/u (follow-up, that is...) to the previous PNAC post the other day:

Stephen Stephen STEPHEN!!

The most brilliant "snark attack" I've ever seen - You were ON FIRE!

OK, so it's "only" comedy central, but I hope a few more people will look up what the PNAC really is. Check out the celebrity interview with
Bill Kristol

It's Friday, So Let's Talk Sex

As many of our faithful readers and posters know, here at BlondeSense we like to use Fridays for our let-it-all-hang-out discussions about sex. There's nothing like a good tradition, so let's keep it up.

Well, hallelujah and pass the potato chips ladies, it looks like the medical world has gotten a clue and is now working on male contraception. No, not better rubbers, but real, live birth control pills for men. Now, I'm hoping that the conversation is going to get freaky, and maybe even a little raunchy (after all, we do have Petey, and I can't wait to hear what some of the regular male commenters are gonna say about this) but I want to be serious for a minute and ask you to contemplate what this might mean.

We lament a lot here on BlondeSense that birth control has always the woman's responsibility. This could change the entire equation. No more "if she gets pregnant, well, that's just tough shit, because she is a tramp for screwing around and therefore deserves what she gets." No more men whining, "she trapped me into marriage by getting pregnant on purpose." No more, "I'm not getting a vasectomy because no doctor is cutting anything near my manhood." And, this is the really good part ladies, the men get to stick the all those hormones and chemicals in their bodies for a change. Heh.

So, have at it. Let's say this birth control pill for men gets approved by the FDA and is on the market. Will it be successful? Will men actually step up to the plate and take their fair share of responsibility for birth control?

Hope for Pennsylvania

That is if all the electronic voting machines we are being forced to use this election don't 'mysteriously' hand the election to Mr. Fetus in a Jar:


On Tuesday, Santorum was host to a "Professional Women's Conference on the Hill." It was a day long forum with speakers such as Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Lynne Cheney.

Santorum invited 3,000 community leaders, university officials and other Pennsylvania women only 90 showed up. That's only about 3%.

EVEN BETTER: For months opinion polls have showed Santorum, who is unopposed in the GOP primary, trailing Casey by double digits. The percentage of voters who think he deserves re-election is only 36 percent.



ALSO ON THE PLUS SIDE: Illinois, California and Vermont all have motions in their state legislature to impeach Bush.

In a resolution that will be sent to U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., the Berkeley council accused the president and vice president of, among other things: defrauding the country and Congress regarding the Iraq war; authorizing torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions; ordering secret surveillance of U.S. citizens; and failing to quickly respond to the Gulf Coast hurricane

Of course all the State Legislature can do is pass their motions on to the House of Representatives, where the Rethuglican lead judiciary committee is sure to bury it, but people ARE starting to pay attention.

AND JUST FOR A LITTLE BREAK, A WEBCOMIC YOU MIGHT LIKE Its called "Crap I Drew During Lunch" - Jin is definately OUR sort of girl here are some samples:


http://crap.jinwicked.com/?comic=154
http://crap.jinwicked.com/?comic=161
http://crap.jinwicked.com/?comic=185
http://crap.jinwicked.com/?comic=198

And don't call me an anti-Semite

First read Robert Fisk's United States of Israel?

Then Read Molly Ivin's Let's call the Israel lobby the Israel lobby

Israel receives the most US aid. Why can't we talk about Israel without being labeled "anti-semites" and why is it a crime to discuss the politics of Israel and their influence on American government? The Israeli's discuss it all the time- sometimes heatedly. I've discussed it with bonafide Israeli's. They didn't call me an anti-semite. What gives? The more someone tells me to shut up about something, the more suspicious I get.

And what is it with the Christian right and Israel?

Shall we buy food or fill up the car?

Are you driving more or less?
Have you dusted off your bicycle?

How can we be an "ownership" society when we can't afford to own anything?

People are complaining that the high cost of fuel is not in their budget. When you factor in the cost of transportation, you have in effect taken a pay cut. And most likely you haven't had a decent raise since the bushistas seized power. Sure, in the cities, you can take a bus or a train, but in the suburbs and rural areas, it's not like buses are coming by your corner every 10 minutes, if ever.

Check it out: In Great Britain, they are paying close to $7/gallon. Taxes there account for 66%
But then again, all their citizens have access to free health care. What do we get?


UPDATE: Morford as usual has a nifty take on how our leader spent Earth Day.

Look, see those tire marks? That ungainly footprint? Feel that breath of humid doom upon your skin? Yes, the president was just here. Up in Napa Valley, riding his official Trek Mountain Bike One over the rocks and down the trails and through the cool California mud, a small army of handlers and Secret Service agents and emergency medical personnel by his side and/or rumbling along behind him in big black SUVs.

...

He talked about how he enjoyed mountain biking because it had such minimal impact on the pristine, wild surroundings. Shockingly, lightning did not strike him dead on the spot.

Come you masters of war

You that never done nothin' But build to destroy
You play with my world Like it's your little toy
-Bob Dylan

The good folks of Bulgaria are not hip to Ms. Rice's plan to plop 3 military bases in its territory so they protested. Rice will sign an agreement with the Bulgarian government today anyway. The US is moving bases closer to the Middle East according to WaPo. But naturally, the move is diplomatic because as Rice said earlier this week, "...Iran is not Iraq."

yadda yadda yadda.. let's take a trip down memory lane.

"Why We Know Iraq is Lying" A Column by Dr. Condoleezza Rice January 23, 2003

Living With War

is streaming at NeilYoung.com today. I'm listening to it right now from another browser window. It streams in its entirety from start to finish, so don't expect to pick and choose what songs you want to hear until the album is available for download at online music stores next week and eventually available as a physical CD.

The album was written and recorded in a hurry less than a month ago. It shows. It's raw and crunchy. The urgency however is what makes it so compelling. I'm not putting on my music reviewer hat today because it would only take away from the message of the album which is that the majority of Americans are tired of being the silent majority and we're fed up with all the lies. If the Fox News Polls are showing bush ratings plummeting in the 30's, you know that even the Koolaid drinkers are throwing away their pitchers with the happy face. This is big.

Imus and others were making fun of the lyrics yesterday before they heard the music. Sure they seemed simplistic but I wasn't going to make a judgment call until I could listen to it in context. I'm listening to "Let's Impeach The President" right now. It's both a ditty and an anthem. It will take you only a few minutes to learn once this song gets airplay. That's the genius of Young. It features bush quotes and his famous flip flops. Fabulous. The last song is "America the Beautiful".

Is the next "Ohio" on "Living With War"? Could be.

UPDATE: True Majority urges you to sign their petition and let your senators know that you want to bring the troops home. They also bring you the streaming Neil Young Album.

I Was Abducted by Aliens...

but it seems my tinfoil headgear was throwing off their Galactical Positioning System. You see there was this little article about a plane crashing in Afghanistan the other day. Did you see it or did it slip below the radar? A State Department leased plane crashed into some mud huts after a truck drove across the runway when the plane was landing. Here's the story.

It doesn't sound like much except that the vehicle was a Russian cargo plane and the fatalities could have been worse if the men had been in the huts and not out working the opium fields. Now why would the State Department have to rent a plane from the Russians? Is the United States so strapped it can't spare a plane to fight the war on drugs or is the Russian plane a cover. If it is a cover then what is it a cover for? As for the opium workers living at the end of the runway all I can say is how convenient that must be for all concerned.

The report states that the two Ukrainians were killed, other coverage of this story claims they were the pilots. Eleven people on board the plane were Americans leaving three of unknown nationality. Supposedly the people on the plane are "anti"drug agents but the story doesn't pass the smell test and brings to mind the Eugene Hasenfus affair that exposed Iran-Contra.

Military helicopters were brought in to transport the injured but Reuters reports that the British Secretary of Defense John Reid was delayed when one of his planes was sent to help out in the emergency. My guess is that they had to quickly take care of the "cargo". I knew there was some reason Ollie North was hanging around Afghanistan posing as a Fox News correspondent, what a great cover. Robert Parry reported on it back in the eighties and it's the same gang of criminals in positions of power today. I would love to see this story grow some legs and kick the shit out of the Bush crime family. No pardons this time around boys it's lockdown time.


(thanks cabana boy for throwing that float to me in the deep end of the pool)

The new "Certified Humane" food label

"People are more concerned about where their food comes from," he said. "People are very, very concerned. There is no reason why animals shouldn't be treated in a reasonable manner."

"We sit back and we see the demand at the retail level and at the food service level," Radlo said. "And people want this. We just are giving people what they want. People are even willing to pay more."

If you could afford to pay more for food that was treated in a "humane" way, would you? I am totally against cruelty to animals, but bottom line -- I would still EAT the poor thing, even if it was brought up in the finest henhouse around.

Is this a bit silly or am I just mean? Read the story here.

May 1 immigrant boycott aims to "close" cities

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists say a national boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood U.S. streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it debates reform.
...
They vow that America's major cities will grind to a halt and its economy will stagger as Latinos walk off their jobs and skip school.

read on

I'm curious as to what you readers think and how do you think the "media" will portray it.

Need a Joke?

I know I do so here it is, I hope Peter and the other gents won't take offense (btw, the mathematical answer is 8.306 but I have a feeling that is NOT the answer you were looking for, was it Petey ;-) my guess would be 8 (ate) something )


THE LONELY BRAIN CELL

Once upon a time there was a female brain cell which, by mistake, happenedto end up in a man's head.

She looked around nervously because it was all empty and quiet.

"Hello?" she cried, but no answer.

"Is there anyone here?" she cried a little louder, but still no answer.

Now the female brain cell started to feel alone and scared and yelled at thetop of her voice,

"HELLO, IS THERE ANYONE HERE?"


Then she heard a faint voice from far, far away..............




"We're down here "

What an Effing Day

Its been a bad day already, and not just in politics. Life is harder than its ever been for most of us, people are loosing their minds; attacking one another verbally and physically. I've seen more and more people coming into the ER and clinics due to beatings, mal-nutrition and depression than I have EVER seen in my life, save a few instances with MSF in South and Central America during wars and an African Famine/Drought.

We need a mental / emotional / spiritual break. Unfortunately I don't see one coming any time soon. I find myself growing increasingly depressed and pissed off on a nearly constant basis. This isn't me, I am by nature a rather content person, I bloom where I am planted be it with weeds or with roses. However I don't seem to be able to keep that growing pain inside of me anymore. I find that I can no longer ignore the idiots who are enabling these criminals, wether by assisting or ignoring what BushCo and his ilk are doing.

It is Spring here in the Poconos. Heating oil should be going down, its gone up. Of course it dropped to 30 degrees over night just a day or two ago. (but I'm sure that's god's will, not a reflection on how messed up the global ecology has become).

I don't know, maybe we (collectively as a country / species) need to go through this to get people to open their eyes and pay attention. For them to realize that what YOU do here and now has the ability to affect others for years to come. Cut down that forrest to create homes and for the next several hundred years we will be paying by losing oxygen and green filters for our air, by losing a temperature regulator, by losing habitat for the creatures that inhabit those forests who will now either die out or become 'pests' by trying to use our homes to replace the ones that were stolen from them.

RSB is absolutely right, people do not see the big picture, they don't connect the dots. Some of them are too worried about making it from day to day, just trying to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. Some are just selfish arses who think that the world is here for their benefit and theirs alone. I don't know how to make them understand. I don't know how to get through to them. I've given up hope for most of them. Unfortunately there won't be a way to separate the wheat from the chafe when things get worse.

We are all in this together as the human race, it doesn't even matter what country you are from anymore. If Iran gets nuke'd is anyone REALLY so ignorrant as to think the wind will not carry those radioactive particles across the globe? There are still placed in AUSTRALIA where people will not farm because of the Cherynobyl fall out, red sands from the Saharah are brought to the shores overnight by winds, crossing the ocean it still stains the Australian dirt with its ruddy hue. Do people honestly not realize that this globe is interconnected? Do they think we as Americans are so insulated that Nature will bow to us and leave us out of her vicious path?

Tornadoes doing things they shouldn't do (sideways, upside down at one point just last week), hurricaines that cut swaths of our coastline back into the sea, blizzards in places that never used to get snow, doughts in one section, torrential rains and mudslides in another, the ever present threat of earthquakes and volcanoes....How blind are we as a species? Or is it just stupidity? Or maybe arrogance?

New Warning from Homeland Security - I missed this one....

Hubby just got this e-mail from the travel agency that books their company's business travel flights.....

UPDATES: NEWSLETTER APRIL 27, 2006 The following is a warning from the Department of Homeland Security for private aircraft owners. If your company owns or utilizes corporate jets, please distribute this notice to the appropriate individuals. To everyone else, although the implications in this warning are directed to private aircraft owners and passengers, the information provided here is worth reading to re-educate ourselves of the many things that we should always be on the alert for in our travel environment. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 601 SOUTH 12TH STREET ARLINGTON, VA 22202 APRIL 20, 2006

On April 13, 2006, a message posted in Arabic on a web forum explained how to identify private American jets and urged Muslims to destroy all such aircraft: “Destroy private American aircraft…We call upon all Muslims to follow and identify private civilian American aircrafts in all airports of the world…It is the duty of Muslims to destroy all types of private American aircrafts that are of the types Gulf Stream and Lear Jet and all small jet aircraft usually used by distinguished (people) and businessmen.”

The message also advised readers how to identify American aircraft and provided the tail number of a private aircraft allegedly used by the CIA. TSA reminds general aviation aircraft and airport owners and operators to review the security measures contained in the TSA Information Publication, Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports (available at http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/editorial/editorial_1113.xml), and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Airport Watch Program materials (available at www.aopa.org/airportwatch).

In addition, general aviation aircraft and airport owners and operators are encouraged to consider the following: · Secure unattended aircraft to prevent unauthorized use. · Verify the identification of crew and passengers prior to departure. · Verify that baggage and cargo are known to the persons on board. · Where identification systems are in place, encourage employees to wear proper identification and challenge persons not wearing proper identification. · Direct increased vigilance to unknown pilots and/or clients for aircraft rental or charters – as well as unknown service/delivery personnel. · Be alert/aware of and report persons masquerading as pilots, security personnel, emergency medical technicians, or other personnel using uniforms and/or vehicles as methods to gain access to aviation facilities or aircraft. · Be alert/aware of and report aircraft with unusual or unauthorized modifications. · Be alert/aware of and report persons loitering in the vicinity of aircraft or air operations areas - as well as persons loading unusual or unauthorized payload onto aircraft. · Be alert/aware of and report persons who appear to be under stress or the control of other persons. · Be alert/aware of and report persons whose identification appears altered or inconsistent.

The theft of any General Aviation aircraft should be immediately reported to the appropriate authorities and the TSA General Aviation Hotline at 866-GASECUR (866-427-3287). In addition, persons should report any suspicious activity immediately to local law enforcement and the TSA General Aviation Hotline.

The CIA Discovers the Blogosphere -

NOW whatta we do?

Big Fat Profits

Surprise Surprise

Exxon Mobil profit rises on soaring prices

"Net income in the first quarter was $8.4 billion, or $1.37 a share, up from $7.86 billion, or $1.22 a share, a year earlier."


What does recently Lee R. Raymond, the former chief executive and chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp., who recently received a compensation and retirement package worth nearly $ 170 million, have to say about corporate greed?

"Gulp gulp chomp chomp gurgle gurgle gag gulp chomp chomp burp ahhhh"

Will John Q. Public Ever Connect the Dots?

So, the latest polls once again show that support for the current White House criminal continues to drop. To blame? At least according to this source, higher gas prices. I'm hearing a lot of bellyaching from the other side of the aisle that the policies of the current (mal)adminsitration cannot be blamed. Now, I readily admit that I am no economist, but as Liz showed with her post the other day, No Virginia, There Isn't a Gas Shortage, the availability of crude is not really the issue. Nor, I think, is it solely the fact that Big Oil is keeping prices artificially high. And yes, there is rapid economic growth in China and India that is keeping demand quite high. But c'mon folks, let's face it, probably the single biggest factor affecting the price of crude these days is regional instability in the Middle East. And financial markets, where the price of crude is set on a daily basis, hate instability.

Iraq is in tatters and oil output has not returned to pre-invasion levels. One must recall that even pre-invasion, Iraq was not pumping out oil at capacity, since its oil sales were controled under the UN Oil-For-Food program. The world has not enjoyed (if that's a good word to use) full oil production from Iraq since before the 1993 Persian Gulf War.

Then, of course, there is the whole Iran affair. Sure, Iran is pumping now, but what with all the saber rattling and rumors flying that the criminal in the White House is on the verge of nuking the country, who knows how long the spigot will remain open.

So, John Q. Public sits out there and grouses about the $50 or $60 price tag to fill his Ford Expedition, and he seems to sense in some vague way that the gubment ought to be able to do something about it, although what he cannot exactly say. Does it ever occur to John Q. Public that if the US had even a semi-sane foreign policy, this shit might not be happening, or at least not to this extent? No, I don't think so.

Now, it makes me want to puke when I hear Republicans say that these problems affecting gaoline prices were years in the making, that the Democrats are to blame for all the environmental restrictions, that we need to drill in ANWR, that the soaring prices cannot be laid at the feet of the criminal in the White House. Well, excuuuuuse me, but I'd like them to name me one other person who has almost single-handedly created the sort of insane clusterfuck we've got going on right now in the Middle East.

Someone put me straight: am I right or wrong? Or some of both?

Innocent In Gitmo

What do innocent prisoners in Gitmo do to kill time? The military refused to give the men a garden, they can't go home, but the human spirit prevails. From Wilting Dreams At Gitmo- WaPo

"We planted a garden. We have some small plants -- watermelon, peppers, garlic, cantaloupe. No fruit yet. There's a lemon tree about two inches tall, though it's not doing well."

"The guards gave you tools?"

He shook his head.

"Then -- how do you dig?" I was struggling to grasp this.

"Spoons," he said. "And a mop handle."

The soil in Camp Iguana is dry and brittle as flint. And I've seen the spoons they give our clients.

"But the spoons are plastic -- aren't they?"

Saddiq nodded. "At night we poured water on the ground. In the morning, we pounded it with the mop handle and scratched it with the spoons. You can loosen about this much." He held his thumb and forefinger about a half-inch apart. "The next day, we did it again. And so on until we had a bed for planting." He shrugged. "We have lots of time, here."

"But the seeds?" I asked. "Did they give you seeds?"

After four years at Guantanamo, Saddiq rarely smiles, but his face seemed to brighten then. "Sometimes, with the meal, they give us a bit of watermelon or cantaloupe to eat. We save the seeds."

Go NH ! -- "Live Free or Die"

New Hampshire can stop the coming federal police state

By KARL BEISELAnother View - The Union Leader - Manchester, NH

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE Senate will soon vote on what might be the most important bill to protect our freedoms in many years. House Bill 1582, which the House overwhelmingly passed last month, would preclude New Hampshire from participating in the REAL ID Act, a federal law passed last year establishing a de facto national ID card.
The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 as a part of a "must-pass" military appropriations bill, though it had nothing whatsoever to do with the military. It requires that all states comply with certain federal requirements in the creation of driver's licenses, and would likely include a microchip containing information such as a digital photo, Social Security number and digital biometric information like the fingerprint or retinal scan of the license holder. It would force the repeal of several important privacy protections currently in New Hampshire law.
If a state doesn't comply with REAL ID, its residents risk being forced to purchase passports just to drive in other states or enter federal facilities. Thus, it reveals itself to be a Soviet-style internal passport.
History has shown that national identification systems are one of the critical pieces of infrastructure needed to foist complete tyranny upon a nation. They are used as the basis for tracking movements, purchases and monitoring activities.
Most Americans have heard of the "no fly" list designed to keep terrorists off of commercial flights. However, most Americans are completely unaware of another list, the "no buy" list, similarly established to prevent terrorists from doing business with any U.S. citizen. The law effectively mandates that every individual involved in any business transaction be checked against the list, called the "Specially Designated Nationals" or SDN, which is published by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
It applies to every purchase, from banking services and automobiles to candy bars at your local convenience store. Failure to comply with this law is a felony. Never heard of it? Most people haven't, including most business owners, and few businesses comply with it today. The federal government doesn't enforce it except on certain big-ticket purchases and on banking services, because even they realize it is impossible to enforce in most situations.
REAL ID would likely change all that. With a quick swipe of a customer's REAL ID card, merchants would be able to check the customer against the federal "no buy" list. Meanwhile, the record of the transaction could be recorded in the REAL ID database and noted by federal law enforcement. It's only a short leap from there to having the federal government record every item and service purchased by every American. Think it will only be used against terrorists? Think again. Powers granted to law enforcement under the Patriot Act, which Americans were assured would only be used against terrorists, are increasingly used to circumvent constitutional protections in common criminal investigations.
Complying with the "no buy" list or future versions of it will effectively require that every person present their REAL ID for every purchase. Conceivably, REAL ID could be used to prevent citizens from buying or selling anything without presenting their card. The tyrannical regimes of Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and Bathist Iraq could only have dreamt of such a capability.
Harder to believe still is that this scheme is being cooked up right here in America, and the people of the "Live free or die" state have been cynically targeted as the first guinea pigs for this technology.
The New Hampshire Senate has an opportunity to stop this Orwellian law from taking effect by passing House Bill 1582. Keeping New Hampshire out of this national ID scheme would send Congress a clear message: there will be no police state in New Hampshire.

Karl Beisel of Manchester is on the board of directors of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance


(U F B ! -- I never heard of it - did you?)

He who has the biggest gun wins.

How do you vie for the Republican nomination for governor of the great state of Alabama?
Why you stand up for the second amendment, of course and make damn sure that a gun lobby endorses you.

Schools? bah. Health care? bah. Public services? bah.
Wer's mah gun, maw?

Gov. Bob Riley is endorsed by the NRA.
Former Chief Justice Roy "Ten Commandments" Moore is endorsed by Gun Owners of America.

Memorable quotes from the article:

"It's quite curious that the NRA endorses my opponent without seeking my position on the subject," Moore said. "I'm an avid gun owner. I have three boys who all have guns."

"I think the right to keep and bear arms is one of most valuable rights in the bill of rights," Moore said Monday.

I wonder if he realizes how lucky he is that angry liberals aren't weilding guns. Yet.

Gov. Riley told the crowd about the day his father gave him a .410 gauge shotgun when he was 10 years old. "We'll do everything we can to never let anyone infringe on your right to own and bear arms," Riley said.

Boy those endorsements wouldn't fly in my neck of the woods. Children with guns. oy vay. Give them a goddamned book to read, would ya?

What do you want to be when you grow up, Billy Wayne?
I wan' to be an Army man!
Well then, you just read this contract and sign it.
I cain't read that! But watch me shoot this here gun.
-----

Not everyone in America agrees with the sentiments of Republican Alabamians and the NRA. NYC Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fed up with the illegal gun problem and held a summit in NYC with mayors from many American cities. We're talking about illegal guns here, not about law abiding gun owners. Naturally, the NRA thinks this is all a big publicity stunt.

Memorable quote from the article:

"The mayor's answer is an elitist national campaign on the backs of law-abiding gun owners," said Chris W. Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist. "Believe me, the rest of the country does not want Mayor Bloomberg's elitist gun policies, because they don't work."

PS. I am not making fun of the good people of Alabama. I am pissed off at their leadership for making sure that the fine people are uneducated enough to believe that the 2nd Amendment is more important than anything else in their lives. Rise up Alabama! Say no to gun sodomites!

In this week's episode of "Boo Fucking Hoo"

"Enron was a victim of a media "witch hunt" that ultimately sent the financially strong energy giant on a path to bankruptcy, former Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay testified at his criminal trial on Tuesday." (reuters)

Lay asserts that "a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal, undermined investor confidence in the company, which he was convinced was in sound financial shape." (USA Today)

Tell it to zee hand, Kenny boy.

Snow Job

The White House's new spinmeister will be named on Wednesday. Hey that's today! It's Fox's Tony Snow. Who didn't see that coming?

UPDATE: Speaking of Snow Job's

From American Prospect:

BUSINESS INTERESTS OVER NATIONAL SECURITY, PART 84.
The top story in this morning’s CongressDailyAM (subscription only) began:

"A coalition of industry groups is mounting an aggressive lobbying campaign to persuade House Homeland Security Committee Republicans to oppose an amendment that would require all cargo to be scanned at foreign ports before being shipped to the United States."

Then, just a few hours later, in this afternoon’s CongressDailyPM:

"Senior Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee said today that they did not believe it would be practical to require all U.S.-bound cargo to be inspected at foreign ports…"

unbelievable.

A modest proposal

Here. Read this LA Times OpEd. Need a pension? Say, `I do'

It makes sense to me to match liberal do-gooder boomers with New Dealers. Not all liberal boomers are going to be able to retire before we're dead because there will be no pension and maybe no SSI for many... at least not enough to live on. Why not find a match who has a pension that can be inherited by a spouse... before the bushistas take that away too.

Your favorite beggar strikes again...

And for once, it's not about my gawd-awful extra-from-"Deliverance" teeth.
These are old pictures of my Blonde Niece.

Found out yesterday that they're shipping her to Afghanistan (LA National Guard) in September, for EIGHTEEN FUCKING MONTHS.

So, basically I'm polling the BlondeSense blogosphere to find out who has a nice pad in Canada, where nobody will notice me dragging a duct-taped and extremely pissed-off blondish girl in from the truck, 'cause I'm planning on kidnapping her ass. Soon.

Any tips/hardware hints/ideas?

And if I can, I might also kidnap her daughter from the sperm donor, so that even though Blonde Niece will be an expatriate/defacto deserter, she'll still get to raise her own kid, as opposed to missing years four through six.

Wouldn't y'all?

Just how f*cked up is America?

NATIONAL DIAGNOSIS?

Quote of the Day: Robert Jenson’s analysis of America’s national character from ZNET:

”What if, for purposes of analysis, we treated the nation as a person? Scan the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (the bible of mental-health professionals, now in its fourth edition) and one category jumps out: Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

DSM-IV describes the disorder as "a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy" that can be diagnosed when any five of these nine criteria are met:

1. a grandiose sense of self-importance.

2. preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.

3. believes he or she is special and unique.

4. requires excessive admiration.

5. sense of entitlement.

6. interpersonally exploitative, taking advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends.

7. lacks empathy.

8. often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.

9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

Narcissistic tendencies to self-aggrandize are not unique to the United States, of course. But given the predominance of U.S. power in the world, we should worry most about the consequences of such narcissism here."

From News Dissector

That is certainly the impression that Bush, Dick and Fox News gives to the world. It just breaks my heart because the American people are good. They've just been too busy trying to feed their families to notice.

Bluey the Body Rights Thingy

A good entry from punkass, its a quick read on the subject of forced body donation and how to handle those idiots who feel that a woman 'deserves' to be 'punished' for participating in sex (freewill or forcibly)

It goes back to Dawn Eden and her vile ilk claiming that the fetus is the only creature in the universe with rights, rights that supercede every and all other forms of life.

I could go off on a tangent, and I'm half tempted to, but I'm in a pissy mood and it would only be counter productive for me to start.

while your at punkass, check out the link to "Your Government, Your Body".

Groundhog Day II - Bin Laden Pipes UP.....AGAIN!

OMG - I can't take it anymore....17 times now! How many times did Bill Murray wake up in Goundhog's Day?? I feel like I'm living in the middle of a bad dream that I CANNOT wake up from - or mabe it's a bad movie that I'm living in - shit - I don't know anymore.

What's reality, what's hollywood, what's funny, what's satire, what's news, what's religion, what's parody, what's political, what's right, WTF!!!!!!!!

We should all brainstorm and write a screenplay (sell to highest bidder and donate to our cause) -- This wild camel chase with Bin Laden is well....I don't know....my last straw?! I think we should cast, create a story line, and write the next BLOCKBUSTER Brought to you EXCLUSIVELY from BLONDESENSE.

Anyone up to the challenge?

FYI - An Editorial worth a read

I'm passing this one around ....

Is US Being Transformed Into a Radical Republic?
By Lawrence Wilkerson
Sunday 23 April 2006

The End

We have set ourselves above all. The animals with whom we came into being are now all underneath us. The one species that has no controls on it's own population has put itself to the task of controlling the numbers of every other species. (Of course, mistakes do occasionally occure, it's only human. And so we currently have to dispose of some twenty million dogs and cats in this country every year. At least they do not all go to waste. Some have a second glorious coming in the promisingly colorful pencils and gars that help make a woman look her best.) We prefer not to know what happens before and after, just that the surplus is gone, removed quietly in the night like our garbage, and disappeared, a verb used most aptly in the case of those enemies of a military regime who vanish suddently without being heard from again. It's usage here may offend, but really, what could be more appropriate when this human junta will brook no opposition, offer no recourse, to the finality of its condemnations?

Meanwhile, the memorials are eloquent in their way, if you know were to look: the cans of lubricant, the bottles of shampoo, the boxes of Jell-O and jars of pills all stand in their rows, ready to bear their testimony and to make the cupboards of our homes an appropriately poignant cemetery for these unknown millions dead.

We are happiest not knowing. Just don't tell me anything, please. It will ruin my day.

Like the website for the equine sancturary that warns visitors with weak stomachs to go no farther lest they see, by the way of some video footage, what really goes on in a horse slaughterhouse, there is a warning here. Do not proceed if you prefer not to know what happened to your reining horse after he progressed through three owners, finally to come up lame as the possession of someone who really needed to recoup some money if this was going to be it. Or what happened in September to the ponies adored all summer long by the girls at camp (Oh, my Smokey Boy...) or where the Amish's buggy horses find themselves when there is no more to be gotten out of them by those gentle, frugal people, or where all manner of damaged show horses, racehorses, backyard horses, wild horses, hack stable horses, urban carriage horses, Premarin horses, old horses, go when they go to their end.

We wouldn't eat our friends. The thought appalls us, discomforts us, disturbs us but we don't mind if others do, just as along as they stay on their foreign shores. Airplanes, right now, hold beneath the passengers feet the refrigerated remains of our most noble and exalted companion. Order your cocktail.

This is what the end looks like. Up to thirty-six hours in a trailer without food, water, or exercise. Confusion, untended injury, fear. Electric prods toward a trip through a chute from which escape is impossible but frequently tried. At some point, realization----uncanny, onlookers agree, how you know, absolutely, that they know. A bolt in the head. Maybe another, or two or three. A chain around a hind footlock, then up -------hanging by one leg, still alive technically, but soon bled to finality. The only way to became safe for the dinner plate.

"I have some serious concerns that some of the oldest herds with the real true ancestral blood have already been flushed down somebody's toilet in Europe. The colts often are not worth anything because they are so small. So they usually would just knock them in the head and throw them in the gut wagon. A mare might be just about due to foal and it didn't matter. A real difficult thing for me to talk about was the time I was in the building and I happened to look down because I heard a big ruckus in the chutes. There was this black wild stallion that they were trying to get up the chute. But he was real smart. He knew what was coming. And he reared. He turned around and tried to crawl over the top of the other horses to ge back down the cute. So they got all the crew out there. And they used electric prods on him to prod him up. They used ropes around his neck to jerk him up. And they did everthing they could. They finally got him into the chute where they could use a stun gun, which is just a bullet that goes straight down into the top of the head. And finally the guy on the kill floor came up, running upstairs, laughing. And he says, "you know that son of a bitch just didn't want to die." He said, "But we got him. He got loose on the kill floor after six shots and they had to take a rifle before they could finally kill him." And when he said that, it made me so sad to think that that kind of spirit is what we kill every day and we don't even think about it."

-Spoken by an anonymous "killer buyer" (slaughterhousebroker)

We decide who lives and who dies. The worthless die.

"You can't fire someone for web surfing"

You'll have to figure out a different way to get fired:

"AN AMERICAN judge has told the New York City council that it cannot fire an employee who was doing his work well just because he was sneaking a peek at the Internet."

Full Article

The Missiles Are Flying! Halleleujah! Halleleujah!

The fog of Bush's mind.

President Bush today said he had tried to avoid war with Iraq "diplomatically to the max."

Speaking to a business group in Irvine, Ca., he admitted mistakes were made in planning for the Iraq invasion, but he defended the troop level, saying "it was the troop level necessary to do the job," and he would commit the same number if given a secondchance. (image stolen from www.darrelplanet.com) The remarks came as another former general joined seven others who in recent days have called for the resignation of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, saying he had mismanaged the planning and execution of the war. Bush also explained, in unusually stark terms, how his belief in God influences his foreign policy. "I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true," he said. "One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free. "I believe liberty is universal. I believe people want to be free. And I know that democracies do not war with each other."

President Bush reads like a freshman political science essay written by a dope smoking frat boy in way over his head. Wait, he is the perennial dope smoking frat boy freshman.

These remarks are made as if his handlers put random quotes on a piece of paper, cut them into strips and allowed him to draw them out of a hat and then say them out loud.

The president as random policy statement generator.

What a desperate statement. Is he appealing to his delusional base of support or does he really believe this nonsense?

I watched Fog of War tonight. Could Bush follow it? Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson told President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis that the president was wrong. Could anyone tell Bush he is wrong and could Bush hear that he is wrong?

He also said that our enemies "know, and it doesn't take much to realize, that when you put carnage on our TV screens, it. He also said: "It's not easy work, by the way, to go from tyranny to democracy. We had kind of a round go ourself, if you look back at our history. My Secretary of State's relatives were enslaved in the United States even though we had a Constitution that said all were -- that believed in the dignity, or at least proclaimed to believe in the dignity of all. The Articles of Confederation wasn't exactly a real smooth start for our government to begin. And what you're watching on your TV screens is a new democracy emerging."

What in hell does he mean? What is he saying? There is no relationship between The Articles of Confederation (reads like a bad compare/contrast essay on a final exam he forgot he had to take) and Iraq. What the hell does slavery have to do with Iraq? Is he just throwing words and hoping something sticks?

It would be easy to make the statement that Robert S. McNamara somehow compares to Donald H. Rumsfeld. That would be easy and incorrect.

Bush puts our troops in harm's way because he believes that he should make foreign policy decisions because he believes there is a God? Okay, so there is a God. Did He really tell Bush to kill hundreds of thousands of people? Why? Is Bush God's instrument on Earth? Is Bush supposed to bring about war in Armageddon?

Are Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins writing the president's briefing books?

This is obscene. It is arrogant and alcoholic and just ridiculous. And dangerous. And it isn't new or even in response to generals' calling for Rumsfeld's retirement--although responding to these retired generals might cause a shift in the perception that we have civilian control of our military--Bush has always spoken like a millennialist since he tripped onto the dry drunk on religion scene. And he does it because it gets him elected. He hasn't dealt with his alcoholism because it is clear he is still delusional and grandious. With the ability to end life as we know it on this planet because he believes he is right and his critics are wrong and it makes him really angry to be told he is wrong.

And how doubtful is his religious conversion? If he was really concerned about the dangers of alcohol, why are his daughters well-known drinkers? Why didn't he have some sort of discussion with them? If Laura could tell him, "It's me or Jim Beam," why did she raise two hell-raising lushes?

Bush's view of religion is nothing more than an extension of his arrogant, delusional dry drunk belief in himself. And we are enablers. Forget Donald Rumsfeld. Impeach Bush.

Did you Know ?

I had NO idea our embassy "compound" in Baghdad was this huge.....

Two States seek to impeach.....


(found at):Stopthelie.com

On the Cover of the Rolling Stone -- WANNA BUY FIVE COPIES FOR MY MOTHER!!

A picture's worth a thousand words:

"Now it's all designed to blow our minds but our minds won't really be blown...
Like the blow that'll getcha
when you get your picture
on the cover of The Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone,
wanna see my picture on the cover
Wanna buy five copies for my mother (Yeah!)
Wanna see my smilin' face, on the cover of The Rolling Stone

(Hey, I know how...)
(ROCK AND ROLL!)
(Aww, dats beautiful)"

In case you missed it on Lifetime...

Searching For Angela Shelton

Sooner or later, I'm gonna get the DVD, when I recover from the initial emotional vivisection.

For all of the Angela Sheltons out there.

It's not easy to watch, and it's certainly not that light-hearted.

But we all know somebody who's been affected by rape, incest, assault and/or abuse.

Which means that violence against women truly affects us all, no matter how much Dumbya & crew steal from the funding of programs that help survivors and help educate others to prevent it.

No Virginia, There Isn't a Gasoline Shortage

Senator Arlen Specter on oil companies:

"They get together, reduce the supply of oil, and that drives up prices," he said. "In the short run, it's hard to deal with it for tomorrow. But I think windfall profits, eliminating the antitrust exemption, considering the excessive concentration of power are all items we ought to be addressing."

Specter is backing legislation that would strengthen antitrust laws on oil company mergers after his committee held a hearing last month examining the growing consolidation of the oil industry. The nation's largest oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., have denied their industry size has affected prices.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi says Oil price level not a supply problem:

"The market determines the price," Nuaimi said on his arrival in Doha for an informal meeting of the 11-member OPEC on the sidelines of an international energy forum.

"You know and I know that the reason for the price being where it is is not shortages of supply."

More on Mumps

Still a long ways off from the panic and worry phase, but I thought this was interesting nonetheless:

PENNSYLVANIA has 2 confirmed and 3 suspected* (pending labs) cases of mumps this year. All 18-25 year olds, NONE with connections to the Mid-West.

The source of the outbreak is unknown. However, the mumps strain has been identified as genotype G, the same genotype responsible for a continuing outbreak in the United Kingdom that has sickened 100,000 people, mostly unvaccinated young adults.

Gerberding said there should be sufficient vaccine for those who need to get a second dose. Also, mumps vaccine maker Merck has donated 25,000 doses to help protect the uninfected.

Now, I have to ask myself. Why is this happening? Is it the cut in funding of free vaccination programs? Is it a viral DNA marker that is being 'tested' on a slice of our population (I DO find it interesting that the majority of the cases are 18-25 year olds, prime Armed Services Age). Or is this a way to get more people 'vaccinated' with what we are told is a mumps vaccine. Or is this Mother Nature's way of bitch slapping us into awareness?


* Disclaimer, if I am reading the report properly, the Pennsylvania cases were in February and March, so they are a case of retrofitting a diagnosis by doing COMPLETE labs.

News that makes you say hmmmm

If you're depressed and sickly... The secret of being in rude health is intercourse

- Scientists are discovering that sex, can offer protection from depression, colds, heart disease and even cancer.

- Sex can lower blood pressure.

- Sex probably burns off about the same number of calories per minute as a brisk walk.

- Studies show "penile-vaginal intercourse is the only sexual behaviour consistently associated with better psychological and physiological health".

Such sex has been linked, in women, to a heightened emotional awareness, possibly because the "love hormone" oxytocin is released. One study even found that semen is a mood-enhancing ingredient.

-Psychologists have found that people who have sex once or twice a week have levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) that are up to a third higher than their more restrained peers. IgA is an antibody that boosts the immune system and is the first line of defence against colds and flu.

-Recent studies suggest that men who have orgasms twice a week are half as likely to die early as men who orgasm less than once a month.

- The more frequently men ejaculate, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer, and if middle-aged men have sex twice a week or more they also have a lower risk of heart attack.

Advice Column
Dear Sebastian, I'm currently having the best sex ever. Unfortunately it's with someone I think is boorish and stupid, but wants a proper relationship. How can I keep it purely sexual?
Answer here


The women who think housework is better than sex

THE average British woman spends more than 16 hours a week cleaning her home, a regime that “makes her feel in control of her life”, according to a survey.
She devotes 2hr 23min each day to cleaning, compared with 52min a day on her personal appearance.

Sex not such a happy experience in male-dominated societies

- The study found that people reported the greatest sexual satisfaction in four countries, led by Austria, and followed by the United States, Spain and Canada.

- The research indicated that fewer people reported satisfying sex lives where men have a dominant status over women, such as nations in East Asia, and the Middle East, and in poorer countries, but the gender gap of 10 points remained consistent across the world.

Asexuals Unite
You don't even have to be alone if you're asexual!

"A small but growing movement believes that asexuality is an orientation as valid as straight or gay."

Republicans And Strippers

Oh my man, I love him so
He'll never know
All my life is just despair
But I don't care!


Wanna know what conservatives believe caused the downfall of marriages today?
No, it's NOT the remote control or 24 hour sports on television or beer.
IT'S WOMEN!

We just can't keep our legs closed and ourselves firmly planted at the stove or the washing machine where we belong. We are all on welfare and causing the economy to collapse! And we are being enabled by the Republican Congress! How dare they. Let's not vote for those suckers ever again. I'm voting Democrat.

Check out this article by david r usher. Marriage Collapses Under GOP Congress
Here's an excerpt:

Republicans wonder why so many Americans are unhappy with them. The reason is plainly visible on Page 1 of the newspaper every day. Just read about all those single-mom strippers, imputed rapists, spousal murderers and child sexual abusers (of both sexes), and messed up children.

Damn feminist sluts. I thought that we were unhappy with Republicans because they put corporations before people, are war mongering pigs, they fight the idea of paying living wages to American workers, that they hate Mexicans and treat women like shit, that they are dissolving the middle class or that they support a psycho moron in the WH.

Women would not be stripping for a living after becoming destitute single mothers if government did not lead them down the reprehensible path of feminist greed, spending billions of other people's money debauching women's natural reproductive desires down to the lowest moral denominator. Men would not settle for cheap girlie entertainment or give up on marriage if Republicans had not spent the past 12 years pimping women straight out of the marriage market.

Well I never!
At least he didn't blame Clinton for men's desire for cheap girlie entertainment. I think it was around maybe even during the Reagan years.

When he let's me watch my show,
He'll never know
How gooey is his chair
But I don't care!


UPDATE: Today's Newsday Cover Story is about a single mother who was on public assistance, who then got a skilled job but still was among the nation's working poor... she piled up debt (and no, she didn't become a stripper but who could blame her if she did). She was given the opportunity through the federal Section 8 program to improve her life and now she owns a home on Long Island, which is no easy feat these days.

I'm The Decider

Koo koo ka choo

play it loud

Your government at work

Mr Pretzeldent took a bike ride in the redwood forest to honor Earth Day. He says, "I still ride the mountain bike primarily to help settle the soul and to burn off the excess energy one gets when you're living life to its fullest." The excerpts from this article give you an idea of how those around bubble boy live life to the fullest as well.

"Bush recovered from a near spill on a fast downhill, but four riders behind him went down in a Tour de France-style pileup, leaving them caked with dirt.

Bush settled into a steady rhythm on the way back up _ an ascent he said pushed him to near his physical limits. His heart rate monitor-wristwatch reported he achieved a maximum heart rate of 176 beats per minute _ just off his maximum, 183."

...

"The president set the pace throughout the ride, with four Air Force men, a White House legislative aide and Secret Service agents tightly bunched behind him.

...

"A long convoy of SUVs and off-road vehicles rumbled behind the group, carrying medics and security agents with machine guns."

...

"Generally when I ride it is the one time when I feel alone, even though I know people are behind me," he said. "I ask people a lot of times not to be in my line of vision because all I can see straight ahead is, you know, space."

Often, he said, when he is riding with his usual group near Washington he plugs headphones into his ears and cranks up his iPod, "and it's like I'm alone."

Sauce for the goose....

First I offer the following letter exactly as it appeared in this a.m.'s Iowa City Press-Citizen:

"Shooting controls deer population"
"The overpopulation of deer has long been a problem in Iowa City. The Iowa DNR and a deer task force in Iowa City are being challenged with the best way to regulate our deer populations and the safest and most humane way of doing this.

"Those who oppose regulation believe that killing deer is cruel and inhumane and the use of sharpshooters to regulate the population should be banned. Yet the reproduction rate of deer could lead to the population doubling in two to three years, which can become very dangerous for our local highways.

"I applaud the approach and the methods Iowa City has chosen. The city examined many methods of population regulation, and using sharpshooters was the cheapest, most humane and safest for the citizens.

"But I would like to hear your opinion. Do you agree or disagree? Any response will be very helpful. Please contact me at: deerregulation@yahoo.com
Natalie Kerns
Iowa City"

To which I replied:

"Perhaps the best way to respond to your request is to return your words to you as written with only slight editing for a different perspective:

"The overpopulation of (humans) has long been a problem in (the world). The (United Nations) and (the U.S. Armed Forces) are being challenged with the best way to regulate our (human) populations and the safest and most humane way of doing this.

"Those who oppose regulation believe that killing (humans) is cruel and inhumane and the use of sharpshooters to regulate the population should be banned. Yet the reproduction rate of (humans) could lead to the population doubling in two to three years, which can become very dangerous for our (food supply).

"I applaud the approach and the methods the (U.S.) has chosen. The (country) examined many methods of population regulation, and using sharpshooters was the cheapest, most humane and safest for the citizens (who are not "useless eaters").

"But I would like to hear your opinion. Do you agree or disagree? Any response will be very helpful. Please contact me at: deerregulation@yahoo.com

Natalie Kerns
Iowa City"

"Maybe these (revised) ideas are not so far-fetched after all--but only if the killing is instantaneous. The practices of beating people to death in prison cells, starvation, burning them to death with napalm, and submitting humans to the long, slow agonizing death caused by Depleted Uranium radiation poisoning are all woefully inefficient (although quite lucrative monetarily for munitions manufacturers). Carpet-bombing the Middle East with nukes would of course be a much more humane way of addressing the situation, but that method would naturally pollute the oil supply. No oil, no gas. No gas, no automobiles. Wait! That's it! No automobiles means our highways would be safer. And highway safety was your main concern, was it not?"

(Signed Peter of Lone Tree)

Who would you pick for 3rd Party candidate?

I missed this one at Huffpo. Great comment section.

It is depressing that this has become a very difficult question to answer. I have noticed that alot of times the "just joking" suggestions aren't really a joke anymore, considering our current POTUS. Our POTUS IS a joke. Any suggestion today would not be unrealistic by any means....

Who do you like?

Sunday Reads!! Ya gotta take a look at these 2....

Video - wow!


Joe B. essay:

Okay, here's a plan...

We get the DCC or the DNC to hire six flatbed 18-wheelers, load 'em up with giant Marshall & EV amps & monitors (speakers), and put these two songs on an infinite loop.

Pink (has the biggest brass ovaries that I've seen in many a day.)

Neil Young

Have the semi's circle the White House, 24/7, until we run the rat, squeaking for his Mommy, out of our government.

(Hey, if they can torture Noriega {another BushCo. employee-of-the-month, btw} into surrendering, with hair bands and cheap amps, then this has GOT to work!)

Big brass ovary attachments to Rene' and Mick for the tips/links.

(And before y'all start bitching me out about not being around lately, well, I've had a lot of shit to handle, and I'm working on something. So nyeh.)

Newsy Items

Man, the 'stuff' keeps flying doesn't it?

Harriet Myers, America's sweetheart, who bush touted as the best person in the whole wide world for the SCOTUS, is under Josh Bolten's scrutiny. Could she be replaced as bush's counsel?

This is typical of our current government- making scientists look like radicals. The FDA says that "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana, contradicting a 1999 review by a panel of highly regarded scientists.

A CIA official stated that the WH told him that they didn't care about WMD information right before the US bombed the living shit out of Baghdad, that they were interested in a regime change and not intel. But we already knew that.

Ted Koppel will probably be smeared this weekend for talking about the nation's news media: “they have almost surrendered even the pretense of civic responsibility. That is not just a shame, but a travesty.”

Only the WH is supposed to leak information, silly. The CIA fired an employee for leaking the story about the secret gulags to Dana Priest of WaPo. God forbid anyone should know what the government is doing.

Did Condolieza Rice leak national defense information to a pro- Israel lobbyist? Her spokesman says, no, she didn't. Ok, that settles it. I was worried that a cabinet person would do such a thing.

Immigration: I found this good article in today's Newsday: Internet hoaxes and immigration statistics

I mentioned the other day that the Border Patrol in Arizona that my son has had run in's with is not a government agency. Some readers disagreed with me, but it is a privately funded concern and those who stop people on the highway just south of Tucson do not work for the government. I don't know why people have to stop for them. Cuz they have guns? I need to find out more. Someone?

I have to go through my pictures to find it, but on Rt 10 just north of Tucson I saw the most amazing billboard... I mean we don't even have them in NY... It read: "September 11, 2001: Stay focused, America." The motto of the border patrol down there is "We must take our country back ... before there is another 9/11." Sure, there is an immigration problem that must be addressed... and fairly of course... but to equate Mexican immigrants with 9/11 is ludicrous and I must protest. US Foreign policy and 9/11 would be more like it.

And one other thing: everyone I met in Tombstone Arizona told me that they are living there because it's the "real America" when I told them I was from NY. (mind you, Tombstone is one of those old west re-enactment tourist destinations and they all dress like Wyatt Earp.) I told them that I will be sure to call Osama bin Laden and tell him where the real America is and thanks for the tip.

What else is newsy today?

Zzzzzzzz

Not only did Dead Eye Dick wear sunglasses for the ceremony with President Hu, he later fell asleep after a press briefing.

Cheney's peeps insist he was reading notes... well maybe he WAS reading notes at one point... but that man's sleeping. That shit would have put me to sleep too. Well at least he didn't get a BJ.


hat tip: Think Progress

Contact Wearers, FDA Warning

JUST AN FYI - No comments are necessary:

Preliminary Public Health Notification - Fungal Keratitis Infections Related to Contact Lens Use

Updated: April 21, 2006

Dear Healthcare Practitioner:

This is to provide updated information on the recent increase in reports of a rare but serious fungal infection of the eye in soft contact lens wearers in the U.S. The infection, a fungal keratitis caused by the Fusarium fungus, may cause vision loss requiring corneal transplants.

New Information
On April 13, 2006, Bausch and Lomb announced that it is withdrawing all ReNu with MoistureLoc products and is recommending that consumers stop using ReNu with MoistureLoc immediately.

Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to investigate reports of fungal keratitis in an effort to determine all contributing factors and/or products that place contact lens wearers at increased risk for Fusarium keratitis. This Notification will continue to be updated as more information becomes
available.

Updated Recommendations For contact lens wearers:

Stop using Bausch and Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc products and discard all remaining MoistureLoc solution including partially used or opened bottles. Consult your eye care professional concerning use of an appropriate alternative cleaning / disinfecting product.

Consider performing a rub and rinse lens cleaning method, rather than a no rub method, regardless of which cleaning/disinfecting solution used, in order to minimize the number of germs and reduce the chances of infection.

Remove the lenses and consult your doctor immediately if you experience
symptoms such as redness, pain, tearing, increased light sensitivity, blurry
vision, discharge or swelling.

Poll-Taking Time:

Further down, in the comments to her "Danger, Will Robinson!" post, Liz asks,
"...yeehah! Ya comin' to the end of time orgy?"

and in order to generate some enthusiasm for this affair, we are asking readers:

Do you prefer:

1) A Perverted Orgy?
or,
2) A Depraved Orgy?


("Perverted", of course, means that you use feathers.
"Depraved" means you use the whole chicken.)

Granny Peace Brigade goes on Trial Today

Yep, a group of 80 and 90 year olds, some of whom are great-grandmothers are going on trial today, as a group for disturbing the peace while demonstrating against the war.

The defendants, some supporting themselves on canes and walkers, entered the small courtroom that was packed with about 75 supporters. They are each charged with two counts of disorderly conduct stemming from an October 17 protest against the war in Iraq outside the Times Square military recruiting station.

They are being tried as a group before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Neil Ross. There is no jury.

Yep, those grannies are the heart of terrorism huh?

You Don't Know Me

If you don't have the soundtrack to Brokeback Mountain or Willie Nelson's, You Don't Know Me, the songs of Cindy Walker, I pity you. I've spent the last week listening to nothing but music and fondling my favorite books. I have nothing to offer right now. My cup is empty.


From one of my favorite books: The Velveteen Rabbit

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept."

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." ------Margery Williams


You Don't Know Me by "the dean," Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold is as good as it gets. I'll miss you, Miss Cindy, RIP.

You don't know me....

You give your hand to me and then you say hello
And I can hardy speak my heart is beating so
And anyone can tell you think you know me well
But you don't know me

You don't know me

For I never knew the art of making love
Though my heart ached with love for you
Afraid and shy I let my chance go by
The chance you might have loved me too

You give your hand to me and then you say, "Good-bye,"
I watch you walk away beside the lucky guy
To never, never know the one that loves you so
No, you don't know me

(And no, I'm not drunk) I'll see you guys on the Dark side of the moon.

For Iraq Coffin Makers, Business Booms

Apparently, it's about the only portion of the Iraqi economy that doesn't suck right now.

No further comment needed.

Titanium?

Mark Morford discusses $500+ dildos.

-------

Do you need a custom Christian throwback jersey? Of course you do.

-------

There is a link between eating meat, farting and global warming. Just thought you should know. ABC News


Tip o' the hat to Lalock for the last 2 links.

Boo Hu

Clink clink.

After yesterday's visit to the White House, Chinese President Hu Jintao would probably give bush a 1% approval rating and that was for the food.


Bush was saying: China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely, and to worship.

The WH gave a press pass to a Hu heckler who spent a full 3 minutes screaming on the WH lawn before security took her away for speaking freely! Wow they don't give American protesters that long. Not fair. The Chinese warned the WH about being careful as to who was admitted to the ceremony on the lawn.


When Hu was leaving the stage via the wrong stairs, bush yanked him by the jacket and tugged at Hu's sleeve. I believe that is faux Texan for, "Excuse me sir, but please step this way." Hu was not amused.

Memo to bush administration: When you are hosting a world leader, learn the name of the fucking country your guest is from. China was called Taiwan yesterday. oy.

You can read about all the protocol breaches (and there are quite a few) in the WaPo article that will only serve, once again, to embarass the hell out of you as an American tax paying citizen.

Bush had to apologize to President Hu. When it was time to discuss politics, Hu wasn't willing to make concessions. WaPo reports, "In negotiations, he gave the U.S. side nothing tangible on delicate matters such as the nuclear problems in North Korea and Iran, the Chinese currency's value and the trade deficit with China."


There were plenty of protesters in DC yesterday.

Oh this is good... Bush and Hu took questions from reporters. Hu gave a really long answer to one of the questions and Bush tapped his foot waiting for him. Can you imagine? I wonder if he did that stupid face he did at the first debate with Kerry? Where's the picture?


Afterwards, Hu stood up and proclaimed that the US and China had reached "a broad and important agreement on China-U.S. relations," which wasn't true but it made for good theater.

I have read elsewhere that Chinese television will censor the part of Hu's visit where he got heckled. Now that really isn't fair because I am sure the Chinese would enjoy that... and they can't even watch it on the internets because the internet is censored there too. Well I guess it's still better here than there.

American Dreamz - Opens Tomorrow!

THIS ONE LOOKS MOST EXCELLENT!!

I know where I'll be this weekend........

http://www.americandreamzmovie.com/index1.html

Danger, Will Robinson!

We are all gonna die on May 25, 2006 when a comet collides with the earth. Well maybe we won't all die. (yahoo news)

Julien argues that the kinetic energy of even a 'car sized' fragment will impact the Earth with devastating effect. He concludes the May 25 event is tied in to the Bush administration's policy of preemptive use of nuclear weapons against Iran, and the effect of nuclear weapons on the realms of higher intelligences.


Julien predicts that the comet collision will occur in the Atlantic Ocean between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer, and generates 200 meter waves. Julien concludes that "each person with this information has to take responsibility to warn potential victims."

Warning, warning.
Oh my god. Where is the tropic of cancer? Is it near Lawn Guyland? How big is a meter?

Tip of the hat to Actor 212 for warning me of this grave danger.

The Cost of Faith

I'm sure (or at least hope) everyone here is aware of the huge amount of money being wasted on 'faith based initiatives' the most alarming is the abstinence only program. The one that has caused a HUGE upswing in STD, mostly because of unprotected intercourse and the foolish idea that if you can't become pregnant via that orifice, it doesn't really count. (insert eye roll here)

NOW we have a woman in California, in an URBAN area with Bubonic plague (yes, this does occasionally happen in rural areas but it is still uncommon). And the mumps outbreak has passed the 1,000 mark, infecting 9 confirmed states and another possible 5 states. I wish I had the CDC release on a website as the email is far too long and dry to post here, but the short of it is, people are NOT getting their childhood vaccinations as recommended, many due to 'strong religious beliefs'. Now I do not pretend to understand what religion and vaccines have to do with one another. If you have concerns regarding mercury or live vaccines (like, say, polio) then that I can reason with.

What I have been seeing lately in medicine and science is a complete breakdown of procedures and reality. This goes beyond the creationist/intelligent design bull. These morons are litereally invading the real world of medicine, refusing to allow us to practice and, more to the point, ADVANCE our craft.

We already know what the fundies have done to the scientific community. Refusing to listen to REAL experts on global warming, evolution, pharmaceuticals, et al. Now they want to dumb down the people who are responsible for keeping you healthy and saving your life. They want to make it illegal for medical practioners to even mention the morning after (plan B) pill to rape victims who come into our Emergency Rooms. They want to block the production and administration of the vaccine that may well prevent thousands of women from getting cervical cancer.

And I can almost see the writing on the wall...we were talking about the wall some people want to build between Mexico and the USA. Several of us are afriad that that wall would be used to keep us in as opposed to keep others out. Well what about using a manufactured epidemic? Mumps isn't good enough, what about a panic with the avian flu? Rope off a few states, maybe during election time? Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe I shouldn't have eaten that curry at 3am this morning, maybe I should sleep before I blog, but maybe I'm on to something.

What do you think? Tinfoil hat time or time to worry?

Thinking of Moving?

Lalock sent me this link to the Yukon Government website in case we want to bail. Unfortunately the temperature is seriously lacking in BTU's but imagine all the cute scarf, gloves and hat sets you can own? And boots!

They make more money than other Canadians and have a lower unemployment rate. They have 61 doctors and 16 dentists. They have small classes in the schools. The median age is 37. They have 4 newspapers, 2 tv stations and 6 radio stations. I hope you can get satellite or you can always start a company. They have high speed internet access in most areas and they have a college. There are plenty of artistic outlets. There seems to be a lot of gravel roads but most folks drive trucks and SUVs anyway, and it might be fun. There is a great tourist trade. If you move there, there are jobs to be created.

Silly Minutemen

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox has a message for President Bush: Build new security fencing along the border with Mexico or private citizens will.

Simcox said Wednesday that he's sending an ultimatum to the president, through the media, of course - ``You can't get through to the president any other way'' - to deploy military reserves and the National Guard to the Arizona border by May 25.

The National Guard and Army Reservists are busy defending my big fat NY ass in Iraq, you silly geese! Read the paper!

Or, Simcox said, by the Memorial Day weekend Minuteman Civil Defense Corps volunteers and supporters will break ground to start erecting fencing privately.

Knock yourselves out. I'm all for legal immigration too and I'd feel better if you didn't patrol the open borders with rifles anyway. Maniacs. You don't have to freaking shoot the people yearning to be free. sheesh.

``We have had landowners approach,'' Simcox said in an interview. ``We've been working on this idea for a while. We're going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise.''

You are misunderestimating the purpose of the current regime, Mr Minuteman, sir. Simplicity and money saving is not in their vocabulary. No no no... it's got to be built by corporations, silly.

They also plan to put up video cameras along the border that can be monitored from home via computer. Can you picture that? What a life you lead when you are riddled with paranoia.

Access to land literally on the border is an issue because so much is state-leased trust property or federally owned, he said.

``You may have to deal with a situation where private property owners erect their own fences and may be faced with the president sending the National Guard to prevent them from protecting their private property,'' Simcox said.

This is very interesting. I had no idea. So the government is really trying to stop fences from going up? And private citizens are willing to pay for it out of the goodness of their hearts? Or is it that they need to print some more money and pay Halliburton to erect official government fences? Or is it because the congresscritters need illegals to do housekeeping for $2/day? I want to know more!

------

My son was annoyed repeatedly in Arizona by the border patrol just last week (and it's not a gub'mint agency by the way, nor is the border patrol in question set up near the border. It's kind of close to Tucson) because he had a NY license, his last name is Smith, he is of fair complexion and was driving a friend's car registered in Arizona because he's too young to rent one for himself. My boy has long hair too. Out of the car, kid. Beaner check. Indeed. Pretty soon we'll have to carry laminated birth certificates which are USDA certified.

Everyone gets checked each day unless it's raining and then the wusses stay home and blog about them illegals who are stealing their jobs. But it appears that they have created jobs for themselves.

Each time I ever drove past the border patrol hang out when I was visiting, they were breaking for lunch or it was sprinkling. I never had the opportunity to interview them. Darn. They really need to speak to me. Last year, while my son was driving his girlfriend's grandmother's car, the border patrol thought that the tire gauge in the front seat was a hash pipe. How would those fine Americans know what a hash pipe is? Out of the car, hippie.

It's really less of a hassle to live in the NY metropolitan area.

Coming Out

This season's Soprano's is more interesting because they have been more topical than usual... including current events and a bit of politics into the story line. For me personally, I find it hilarious watching "goons" give their opinions about what's in the news. Yeah, and they are bush supporter types too.

One of them, Vito, has been outed as gay this season. Of course, he's married with children but sneaks out dressed as one of the Village People to gay night clubs. Naturally, the other guys in the 'family' feel that he should be whacked except for Tony who has had a tiny change of heart since he came out of his coma, and feels that since Vito is a top earner, he should be spared. I think you'd call that corporate compassion.

The highlight of Sunday's show, for me anyway, was when Tony was talking to his shrink about homosexuals. He explained that man on man sex is okay if you're in prison, because, well, what are you gonna do? Indeed. Then he went on to tell the doctor that he goes along with that Sanitorium guy... if gays can get married, "pretty soon we'll all be fucking dogs." Now that was brilliant writing. Tony says gay sex is ok when you have no other choice, but if it's gonna lead to gay marriage and then to fucking dogs, then it's just wrong. Poor doggies.

Newsday today has an article about Long Island gay men speaking out on this episode where Vito runs away to NH because he is afraid of being killed for who he is by his "family". They think the episode was hopeful for their cause. Well yeah, no, maybe... you kind of feel something for Vito in the story line... but not really... he's a murderer after all and getting a taste of his own medicine. Hardly a sympathetic character. We discover that he is a good husband and father though (according to his shocked wife), and lately he hasn't even been shtooping his mistress. I really don't think one's living in a closet has to do with becoming a criminal though. Vito has worse emotional issues than being attracted to men. My point is that while the gay community finds the social issue of homophobia coming up in entertainment a good thing, I wouldn't jump on the "Save Vito" bandwagon so fast.

From Newsday's article there is a good point though:

A spokesman for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media monitoring group based in Los Angeles, reacted positively to the story line.

"This character really does create an interesting and complex story that isn't often told," said GLAAD entertainment and media director Damon Romine. "What it does, in an unconventional way, is tackle the subject of homophobia."

Both McDonald and Kilmnick said the plot line that had Vito flee to New Hampshire challenged homosexuals to be true to themselves. In the episode, Vito arrives in the state during a threatening storm but awakens to brilliant sunshine, then spots a license tag that carried the state motto, "Live free or die."

"I think that was the most powerful message," said Kilmnick. "Live free, be yourself or else you die inside."

Absolutely Mr. Kilmnick. A lot of the overall unhappiness in the country today certainly stems from the homophobic culture we live in, but let us not forget that Vito cannot be a hero for the cause because he is, afterall, a fucking murderer.

I would just like to see that story line deal with a more sympathetic character. But that's my opinion and I could be wrong.

Petrol Pain

With all the other bad news this morning I figured I might as well add this and take a bit of a poll as well.

We all know we are being slowly, or in some cases not so slowly, strangled by the economic practices of the administration. Gas prices have risen yet again, they've gone up over 30 cents this month alone and I believe they went up almost that much the month prior. Add to this the record profits reported by petrol companies and I still don't see why citizens are not rioting in the street.

But back to the poll. I would appreciate it if everyone could post their city or metro area, state and the price per gallon of gasoline. It's going for about 2.85 in the Poconos

I shouldn't even post this... but

I can't sit here and be sickened all alone after another punch in the stomach by the bushistas. Please... share my pain.

New WH Policy Chief Was "Brooks Brothers" Rioter
By Justin Rood - April 19, 2006, 1:31 PM
To the Burberry ramparts!

The man Bush tapped to fill Karl Rove's spot as his policy wizard is none other than Joel Kaplan, who took part in the infamous "Brooks Brothers riot" of 2000. That's when a bunch of Washington GOP operatives, posing as outraged Floridians, waved fists, chanted "Stop the fraud!" and pounded windows in an effort to intimidate officials engaged in the Florida recount effort.

In George Bush's Washington, there's no shame in staging a fake protest to undermine a democratic election, apparently: last year, the Washington Post's Al Kamen noted that "the "rioters" proudly note their participation on resumes and in interviews." Kaplan was even the one to cheekily dub the fracas the "Brooks Brothers Riot."

"McKinney fiasco shakes Capitol Police, officer knew her"

That's the headline in Reddingnewsreview.

Here's the text, and while you're reading, bear in mind that some conspiracy theorists(Who? Me?) contend that she was targetted because she's one of the few if not the only member of Congress who thinks the government's 9/11 report is a pile of lies, distortions, misinformation, disinformation, and bullshit. 'Course, maybe other Congresscritters think the report is a pack of lies also, but they're too chickenshit to say anything:

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2006, (Updated at 10:00 a.m., April 19) -A source said an officer, who says Rep. Cynthia McKinney struck him in the chest with a closed fist, knew who she was, and claims the incident has caused infighting among U.S. Capitol Police. The source, who is close to the ongoing grand jury investigation of the March 29 scuffle, said Paul McKenna, a third year officer in the U.S. Capitol Police, was given a picture of the congresswoman in training. "No one believes that a man with a name that similar to hers would not know who she is," the source told Redding News Review. "He clearly knew who she was and what she looked like but stopped her anyway."

McKinney faces charges that she assaulted McKenna, who the source says is white, while entering a House office building last month. The Democrat, who has changed her hairstyle from her trademark corn rows, has said she was not wearing proper identification.
She has since apologized for the misunderstanding, which she first hinted may have been racism.
The source - who did not want to be identified in fear that they might lose their job - also said that the incident has resulted in "fighting and heated arguments between white and black officers."
"This case is tearing the department apart," the source said. "The blacks say the whites were screwing with her, but the white officers are saying that she should have stopped."
Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman, denies that there is dissention among black and white officers.
"It sounds more like like gossip rather than fact," said the spokeswoman, who would not deny whether officers had been recently reprimanded for fighting.
She also referred all question about whether McKinney was recognized by McKenna to the U.S. Attorney's office, which is investigating the case.
The department, which protects Congress, has had a history of rifts between its black and white officers dating back to 2001. There is currently a class action complaint still pending.

Christ almighty! The woman was a candidate for Democratic nomination for President. And this simple son of a bitch says he didn't recognize her?

And thanks to Mack over at MackWhite.com.

Carl Bernstein. My Hero

Once again he comes up to the plate and proves that he was the brains behind the Watergate debacle. But then again we figured out recently what Woodward really is.

In his scathing article in Vanity Fair, Bernstein calls for a Senate investigation of the most corrupt administration in American history. It's long, but it's very informative.

Bernstein writes: "One of the similarities between Bush and Nixon is their contempt, lip service aside, for the legitimate oversight of Congress. In seeking to cover up his secret, illegal activities, Nixon made broad claims of executive privilege or national security, the most important of which were rejected by the courts."

We saw a fine example of Bush's contempt for Congress, the constitution, military leaders and the American people when he declared yesterday that he alone is the "decider".

Scottie Finally Quit

Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections. link

Update: Al Franken was talking about Scottie and asked if you could imagine that in 6 months, Scottie would lose 30 lbs, grow his hair back and appear on Leno and be hilarious.

Crooks and Liars has audio from Franken's Tribute To Scottie.

Inventions

As a full service website, we aim to arm our readers with information on all current events including advances in technology.

Ball Tattoo. “Ball Tattoo makes it possible for anyone to put their name on their balls with expert results, and do it so permanently that their name will not wear off, rub off or even file off their ball.... “For years people have resorted to using felt-tip markers on balls, but they don’t work very well – the name wears off easily and the hand lettering is detracting.” "

It IS very distracting to see unprofessional hand lettering on balls.

The TV-advert enforcer. "If a new idea from Philips catches on, the company may not be very popular with TV viewers. The company's labs in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has been cooking up a way to stop people changing channels to avoid adverts or fast forwarding through ads they have recorded along with their target programme."

And I would like to invest in an invention that would override this one.

Virtual Sex. "What is very likely to be present before 2016 would be a multi-sensual experience of virtual sex... There is a possibility of developing erotic materials for yourself that would allow you to create a partner of certain dimensions and qualities, the partner saying certain things in that interaction, certain things happening in that interaction."

By 2016, that will probably be the only way for me to get my jollies.

"People who use it are just blown away," said Steve Rhodes, president of Sinulate Entertainment, which has sold thousands of Internet-connected sex devices over the past three years. "This is not something that just the lunatic fringe does."

Damn, back in the 90's my cousin and I were contemplating inventing a "penis port" for the computer as a sort of hands free way of navigating porn sites or having cyber sex. Perhaps the time has come?

Hat tip to the lovely Auntie Roo for researching and forwarding this vital information on Virtual Sex.

PNAC

Their "Project" really is playing out as planned, isn't it?

Why aren't these guys being exposed by the intelligent, good, and decent people of our country?

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE that I have asked this question of: "Have you ever heard of the PNAC?" has no idea what it is or who they are. I know quite a few people - intelligent, good, and decent people.

Can we FORCE people to learn about the PNAC? And if we were able to, what would their comments and feelings be?

How come we can connect the dots?

Would others be able to connect the dots if they knew the background of the PNAC and their mission? or better yet, would they be willing to?

What am I missing here?

http://www.stopthelie.com/main_page.html

The Great Decider

"I say I listen to all voices. But mine's the final decision. And Don Rumsfeld is doing a fine job. He's not only transforming the military, he's fighting a war on terror — he's helping us fight a war on terror. I have strong confidence in Don Rumsfeld.

I hear the voices. And I read the front page. And I know the speculation. But I'm the decider and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."
- President Bunnypants in the Rose Garden, April 18, 2006

He hears what voices?

Tom Cruise Open Thread

Have at it.

9/11 for Dummies

and by dummies

If you couldn't get through the whole 9/11 Commission's 500 pages of uselessness/spin/coverup/excuses for bush's incompetence and want to understand the official explanation about what "really" happened but all that reading is just, well, too complicated...

You can now get the 9/11 Commission's Report in a comic book! yay!

Yowzers! You mean I can get the whole gist of the 9/11 Commission Report in a mere 144 pages complete with pictures, graphics and very little text?

Yes you can, silly American, who cannot grasp concepts unless they are in the form of entertainment media.

This is all brought to you by "Sid Jacobson, who created the Richie Rich comic series, and illustrated by Ernie Colon, who worked on comics including Spider-Man, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman." Wow, it's world class propaganda to boot. Yessirreeebob

"In one graphic depiction of the events on United 93, the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania, passengers are seen bloodied and battling hijackers wielding knives.

""We've got to stop them! Two planes crashed into the World Trade Centre," one passenger says, about to land a punch on a hijacker who has stabbed a passenger in the back with a knife.

"In another panel, a passenger calls his father just before the second plane crashes into the World Trade Centre: "It's getting bad, Dad ... a stewardess was stabbed ... they seem to have knives and Mace. I think we're going down ... my God, my God ..."

"Publisher Thomas LeBien of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus, Giroux, said to the New York Post, "I think we have taken a terribly important document, which I wish every American would read, and done it in a way that makes it far easier for people to grasp." "(from the Herald Sun in Australia)

Sadly. He may be right.

RIP Billy

My baby brother would have been 48 today had he survived his adolescence. He left this world in 1979 exactly 2 months shy of his 21st birthday. It tore me apart.

What did I learn from his death?

Children watch their parents very closely even when it appears that they aren't paying any attention. Children may see their parents pour a martini every time there is a semi-crisis, or see their parents have a few highballs each and every night and watch their parents get rip roaring loaded and laugh the night away when they are with their grown up friends. Kids notice this stuff. They learn how to handle their problems from their parents.

It doesn't matter where you are from or what social class you belong to. It doesn't matter if you live in a high class town where social life revolves around the clubhouse at the links, where all the daddy's make a great respectable living and mommy's shop while their husbands are at work, where public education is tops and the children are offered scholarships at the best universities or daddy pays for you to go to an ivy league university even if you're a so-so student, where your daddy's can always buy a judge or hire the best lawyers or the best child psychologists. Never assume that all our kids will be smart enough to be repelled by our stupid behavior and not emulate it.
/sap

Duke Lacrosse

They arrested 2 boys from the Duke Lacrosse team. One of them is from my original home town, Garden City, land o' plenty.

The boy's attorneys say that their clients are absolutely innocent. I guess this all remains to be seen. Interesting article though.

Forecast of Tropical Storms

I'm sure you already guessed this, but the news is NOT good.

The TMP forecast predicts 17 named storms, nine hurricanes and five "intense hurricanes"—defined as a storm that's category three or stronger—during the Atlantic hurricane season, which lasts from June to November. Since 1950, the average forecast foretells about 10 named storms, about six hurricanes and about two strong hurricanes.

So we're looking at what? 50-70% increase over a 50 year period. And with the ice caps and glaciers melting and adding more fresh water into the oceans (which decreases the salinity and creates a wider swing in temperatures) the storms promise to be larger and more intense with each passing season.

So, anyone planning on moving inland? I'm hearing that many residents will not be able to get insurance anymore, but hey, you can always rely on the government to help you out, right? /snark

But in all honesty I DO want to hear from those of you who live in the traditional paths of hurricaines, tornadoes, fault lines and other natural disasters - are your plans any different now than they were pre-Katrina? Are you able to get/afford insurance. Will your plans for this season be any different from last years?

Have At It

See another picture of President Bunnypants here.
And this one is a rip too.

Some days it's so hard to select which picture to post. There are so many good ones. I'll miss this guy some day. Not.

Bwhahaha

Ok, so maybe the evil laughter IS a bit over the top, but I did make very nearly that sound when I read this:

A physician at the public health school of University of Newcastle, New South Wales, defines disease mongering as the deliberate expansion of a diagnostic gray area to encompass conditions that would not normally be considered abnormal, and then prescribing expensive medications for those borderline sufferers. He offers the marketing of the drug Viagra as a prime example.

That's right, my lovelies, SCIENCE IS STRIKING BACK. We have known for quite some time how dangerous the over usage of antibiotics actually is; how it is setting us up for a huge, broad-spectrum resistant bacterial mega-bug. And now, we have people being treated for diseases that don't 'really' exist, at least not by reasonable medical standards.

So we have more drugs, more side-effects, more pharmaceuticals in the water system (you didn't REALLY think the sewer treatment plants could get them all out, did you?), and less access to healthcare to treat the fall out from the aforementioned issues. Well, I'm sure you can see were this is all heading.

For those of you who are interested, the Head of Infection Control will be sending out an update on the Avian Flu sometime Monday, I'll post some highlights here later in the day, but until they start documenting human to human transmission its little more than a distraction / interesting story.

WH: If you were thinking about quitting. Do it now.

Dead Eye Dick and Donald Rumsfeld aren't resigning. But Joshua Bolten, the new bush chief of staff who recently replaced Andy "Mr. President, the country is under attack, but we want you to just sit there and read about the goat" Card, is shaking things up in the White House. He has been authorized by the boy king to replace presidential aides during "this challenging time during a war on terror."

Big deal. Unless Rove gets the boot, there will still be a bunch of mewling "yes men" surrounding el presidente.

Scottie Mac responding to questions about the refreshing change to the staff on the horizon said Monday, "There are a number of people that have served this president for a long period of time, and so you have to balance change with continuity."

This blonde has no freaking idea what that meant. I thought the idea was to stay the course. balance change with continuity
balance change with continuity
balance change with continuity
balance change with continuity
balance change with continuity
balance change with continuity

The Duke Case

The Duke Lacrosse Case is getting heated up. Perhaps there is reason to doubt the accuser afterall, yet the prosecuter says he's got a case. The defense says they have evidence that the accuser was bruised and drunk before she got to the party. Jesse Jackson says he'll pay the accused's tuition even if it turns out she is lying.

For more on this, I suggest Talk Left for a good analysis of the situation as it plays out.

The Rosetta Stone of 9/11?

This is on the cover of this morning's Newsday

An untold story of 9/11
BY MICHAEL DORMAN
Newsday Staff Writer

April 17, 2006

Former federal terrorism investigators say a piece of luggage hastily checked in at the Portland, Maine, airport by a World Trade Center hijacker on the morning of Sept. 11 provided the Rosetta stone enabling FBI agents to swiftly unravel the mystery of who carried out the suicide attacks and what motivated them.

A mix-up in Boston prevented the luggage from connecting with the plane that hijackers crashed into the north tower of the trade center. Seized by FBI agents at Boston's Logan Airport, investigators said, it contained Arab-language papers revealing the identities of all 19 hijackers involved in the four hijackings, as well as information on their plans, backgrounds and motives.


The luggage saga represents what the former federal authorities describe as an untold story of 9/11 -- offering explanations for questions long unanswered about the investigation of the tragedy, such as how authorities were able to identify the hijackers so soon after the attacks. (continued)

Interesting that we are just hearing about this NOW.

I KNEW that the Iran situation HAD to be about OIL

Steve Forbes on Fox News:

FORBES: Well, it’s interesting. And about $15 a barrel on the price of oil today is worry about Iran, that crisis.

HOST: So, without Iran, the price of oil would be $15 less per barrel is what you’re saying.

FORBES: Yes, it would. There is real uncertainty, huge producer. But the bottom line with Iran is, when we have the confrontation, which we will have, we can really deal with that crisis. Then the price of oil will come down. The longer we let it fester, the higher the price of oil will stay.

From Think Progress

Will America Turn Blue

Was this the Democrats plan? To sit back and let the GOP hang themselves?
That was going to happen anyway, but they really ought to come up with a real plan. I'm just saying.

WaPo "Angry voters turn out and vote their anger," said Glen Bolger, a pollster for several Republican congressional candidates. "Democrats will have an easier time of getting out their vote because of their intense disapproval of the president. That means we Republicans are going to have to bring our 'A' turnout game in November."

...

The premise behind the Democrats' hopes this year is simple, though not easy to quantify: People impassioned by anger or other sentiments are more likely to vote -- even in bad weather and in relatively low-profile races -- than are those who are demoralized or less emotional.

"In a midterm election, motivation is the biggest factor," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), head of his party's House campaign efforts this year.

...

The intense opposition to Bush is larger than any faced by Clinton. For all the polarization the 42nd president inspired, Clinton's strong disapproval never got above 37 percent in Post-ABC polls during his presidency.

we need to blow up Iran in order to save it

Get out your DVDs of Dr. Strangelove (Kissinger, McNamara, Rumsfeld, what's the difference?) because you must capture that whole mindset to fully understand the drum beat toward a confrontation in Iran.

We have been looking for an excuse for years.  Since 1979.  The very people who called Jimmy Carter an ineffective wimp for the failed attempt to rescue hostages will site the hostage crisis as one of the more obvious reasons we should have bombed Iran.  Bomb them then, bomb them now. 

When the latest swarthy man, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (learn to spell it and get used to it),
took office in Iran, which, by the way means, Land of the Aryans  (no shit),  former American hostages said he was with the group of students held them.  (Remember the allegations that the Reagan administration struck a deal with the Iranians not to release American hostages so Carter couldn't secure their freedom and his re-election?  Did Reagan/Bush strike a deal with this guy?  Is this another act that has come back to bite us in our collective asses?  Saddam, on our payroll, Osama, on our payroll.  Or is this another adventure Oedipal housecleaning? "Daddy Bush wasn't manly enough to take out Saddam.  I will.  I got two terms, he didn't.") The actual student/terrorists say Ahmadinejad wasn't with them and that they are his opposition. Who knows?  And you can bet you won't know anything that contradicts the new script that Ahmadinejad is Hitler.

Yes, Ahmadinejad has said some pretty awful things about Jews and Israel.  That isn't surprising.  And we are going to be pushed to believe that he wants to wipe Israel off the map for the poor Palestinians.  Really?  Israel has about 500 nuclear weapons so Ahmadinejad would need more than the glow-stick's worth of uranium that he has to do the job.  So we have to bomb  them with nuclear weapons of our own because we don't have enough troops to occupy Iraq and Iran.  As if we wouldn't need to occupy it after we bombed it?  What are we going to do with all those refugees?  Do we have enough burn beds to handle the--er--fallout--collateral damage?

When your numbers are in the toilet and everyone thinks you are an idiot, bomb something.  Is that anyway to conduct foreign policy?  Is there an election soon?  Are the Republicans going to use everything they have, including fear, (which is really all they have) to hold on to the House and Senate?  (Don't look to them to stop this nonsense.  President Kennedy said they would follow the guy with the biggest bomb.)

As long as we are talking about military might, might we mention Hillary?  This would be an excellent opportunity to depict her as weak on defense if she opposed the use of nuclear weapons.  The argument will run something like Truman's use of the bomb against Japan--it saved American lives.  In other words, why draft young men when we can use nuclear weapons. Also, Truman's use of nuclear weapons kept the Soviets from invading Japan.  We didn't have to share it with the Russians like we were sharing Europe.  Are we so insecure about our ability to dominate world affairs that we have to use nuclear weapons?  Do we want to show China and India that they will not move into the Middle East oil race because it has become an American military installation while gas hits four dollars a gallon this summer?

Another October Surprise to save the November elections?

I Guess We ARE The Angry Left

I really never thought of myself as angry, and liberals usually aren't perceived as angry, but now that I think about it, I'm perpetually pissed off, but that is not to say that I don't enjoy simple things in life, my friends, family and of course my garden, my art and my music. Yes, my cat too. When it comes to even thinking about the state of the country, the mentally ill piece of shit in the White House, the right wing religious bigots and the murdering military industrial complex, I want to scream. You know that I also believe there is a special place in hell for the Catholic Church.

If I didn't hear your screaming too, I wouldn't be here.

Maryscott O'Connor of My Left Wing was the highlight of this morning's WaPo on the front page. It starts with

WAPO- SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes and realizes that her president is still George W. Bush. The sun has yet to rise and her family is asleep, but no matter; as soon as the realization kicks in, O'Connor, 37, is out of bed and heading toward her computer.

The article goes on to say that she is angriest of all... maybe, maybe not. I'm a bit older and I've been avidly pissed off since the late 60's. But she and I have similar lives and I'm sure many of you do too. We do the family thing (and the job thing) and then we read the news and find a place to blow off steam... usually online and it's better than bars. She is more popular than most of us other lefty bloggers but she is just great and speaks for many of us, so more power to her. She doesn't lose her cool when she appears on Fox News. I think I would do nothing but spit if I had to talk to John Gibson.

Read her post today about the experience of being interviewed by a WaPo writer. It's quite amusing and interesting that he practically lived with her for a few days. The writer also felt it was somewhat important to point out that she smoked while blogging (how shocking) and once had a problem with alcohol. feh. What the hell does that have to do with anything? It also sucks that they selected a rather unattractive picture of her for the paper, when in reality she is very attractive. But then again, an attractive woman with brains and passion is inconceivable to the corporate media and threatening to some men.

Couple-a-things

I've been saving this stuff on my bookmarks bar.

Did you know that you can get all the latest scoop on voting irregularities and what is or isn't being done about it at Bradblog.com? Talk about dot connecting and vast right wing conspiracies. It's all there.

There's a great story about everything you need to know about Jack Abramoff at Rolling Stone. It fills in the blanks nicely and is also horrifying about what he has been involved in. If this guy ever talks he could bring down the whole government.

If you haven't watched Hijacking Catastrophe 9/11, Fear, and the Selling of American Empire.
You really should, if you have a high speed connection or have time to download it or you can read about it here.

As much as this Rabbi Shmuley Boteach irritates me, he is having a reality show called "Shalom in the Home," and his interview at WaPo is astoundingly right on. What the hell is wrong with families? The parents.

Stu Blue California stopped by on the comments to leave a link to this eye opening movie, "9-11 Loose Change". It does all make sense when you watch it. It's over an hour. I've watched half of it already and it only reinforces my initial beliefs about what really didn't happen on 9/11.

Isn't it just amazing how you can watch movies online?

In keeping with the resurrection them this week, if you didn't see my post about this previously, check out Afterlife It's beautiful and haunting and be sure to click on the little crosses after each season and move your mouse across each picture.

You can play Battleship online if you have flash.

Coup d'etat in the U.S.?

A very interesting read over at The Chimp. The comment section to the article is just as good. I would be most interested to hear your take after reading both.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=25684&mode=nested&order=0

is Bush pro cancer?

The first time my cousin, we will call her, Keri, had sex with her new boyfriend, she got pregnant. Her father was an absent fellow, even when he was present. He and Keri's mother had a miserable marriage. He was depressed and in denial. His wife was unmedicated and bi-polar and both were very unsophisticated about mental illness and marital problems. They were so self-involved with being uninvolved in anything other than their own problems, they rarely knew where their children were and when they did, they told them repeatedly to "shut-up" and "go to your room." They allowed their daughters to smoke dope in their rooms because, well, wasn't it better than letting them smoke it somewhere else? When he learned he was going to be a grandfather he also learned that he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had so much scar tissue from the bleeding and healing that it appeared he had been seriously ill for several years. But he chose not to know it. He was dying. No wonder Keri wanted to keep the baby. It was a chance at some unconditional love from the baby and from a man. She wanted to be the mother she never had.

The boyfriend, who her mother thought looked like Tom Cruise, married her because she didn't even tell anyone that she was pregnant until well into her second trimester.

They of course had a terrible time. She is a rather unsophisticated woman who did poorly in high school. He didn't graduate. He works construction and repairs cars. She loves children and worked in day care centers. There was never enough money and when her husband started abusing their son, Keri didn't know that it was abuse. After all, that is the way she lived all of her life with her parents.

Well, the husband, we'll call him Tom, left Keri because Keri thought that may be they could be a family instead of a household where he drank and cussed their child. She had talked with some co-workers who told Keri that her life didn't feel good because it wasn't good.

Tom went to live with Keri's mother. The one that had swooned over her daughter's good looking husband. Then he moved on.

Keri took him back and promptly found, during a routine pap smear for her birth control pills at Planned Parenthood, that she had HPV and cervical cancer. Seems she got it from Tom who was as we say Tom-catting around. How many other women he infected he won't say.

Keri had major surgery. She recovered and later bore another son. But she could have died.

A beautiful, brilliant, sophisticated woman I knew in college also had cervical cancer and underwent treatment in graduate school. She was adopted and lived in the most loving and attentive home of anyone I knew. She had been infected by her boyfriend who was beautiful, brilliant, sophisticated and an attorney. She recovered and became an attorney and bore two beautiful sons.

HPV or Human Pappillomavirus doesn't care about the circumstances of the person it affects. But the Bush Administration does. Bush's ultra right wing followers and supporters believe that if a woman has HVP she is promiscuous and she should have kept her legs crossed so she wouldn't develop cancer and die. Bush has appointed people from the fundamentalist group "Focus on the Family" to the vaccine's advisory panel working with the Center for Disease Control.

Bush supporter say that 10 year olds should not be vaccinated because they don't want 10 year olds to think that they are immune to the dangers of premarital sex. Well, marital sex gave my cousin cervical cancer, not because she broke her wedding vows, but because her husband did. Is she supposed to die for his sins? I don't think we even have to tell 10 year olds they are getting a shot to prevent HPV. Do they understand the Polio vaccine they are given? They will understand that they were given a vaccine to prevent cancer. And if they are not and they learn that there was one, they are going to wonder why they weren't when they are undergoing cancer treatments.

These two women were lucky. They lived and they did not require a radical hysterectomy so they were able to children. Which is really impossible without a uterus or if they are dead.

Fundamentalist Christians do not get to forgo vaccines for their public school attending children. The state requires the vaccinations. But if the state is governed by fundamentalist Christians, the state can simply change course and ignore the public's health. May be they can lay hands on infected uteri and hold prayer meetings to cure cancer.

"Why Wait Until They Retire"

Follow-up to flame's post below
flame - if these retired generals can't stir up things - what are we going to do?

ARE WE ALL SCREWED?

Top News
Rumsfeld Stays, Says Commander-in-Chief
Updated 5:22 AM ET April 15, 2006

At least twice during the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld offered President Bush his resignation. On Friday, amid growing criticism of his stewardship of the war from retired generals who waged it, the issue never came up.

In a private phone call, Bush offered Rumsfeld his full support. And at no time did Rumsfeld offer to step down, according to a senior defense official familiar with the call.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the call was private, said the idea of a resignation "wasn't even in the same stadium as the discussion they were having. That's not where anybody's head is."

Instead, Bush said, Rumsfeld's stewardship at the Pentagon was crucial for the United States.
"Earlier today, I spoke with Don Rumsfeld about ongoing military operations in the global war on terror," the president said. "I reiterated my strong support for his leadership during this historic and challenging time for our nation."

Bush's strong endorsement, conveyed in a statement released by the White House while Bush was at Camp David, Md., for the weekend, appeared designed to blunt a clamor from within the ranks of retired commanders for Rumsfeld's ouster.

Six retired generals have called for Rumsfeld to resign, accusing him of mishandling the Iraq war, ignoring advice of field commanders and having an arrogant management style.
In an interview aired Friday on Al-Arabiya television, Rumsfeld said he planned to stay on the job.

"The fact that two or three or four retired people have different views, I respect their views," he said. "But obviously if, out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round."

A senior administration official said Bush issued a formal statement because of the "type of voices" engaged in the latest criticism of Rumsfeld. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to more freely elaborate on White House thinking.

Similar statements of support are unlikely for other officials whose time on the job may be limited, such as Treasury Secretary John Snow, the official said.

Joshua Bolten took over from retiring Andy Card on Friday as White House chief of staff, and several administration personnel changes were widely anticipated, perhaps as early as next week.

The timing of Bush's statement on Rumsfeld seemed designed to tamp down speculation, particularly in Sunday newspapers and on weekend television news shows, that Rumsfeld might be on his way out.

Bush's statement also contradicted some of the retired generals who said Rumsfeld ignored military recommendations from his commanders on missions in Iraq and in the broader war on terrorism.

"I have seen firsthand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how to best complete these missions," Bush said. "Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this period.
"He has my full support and deepest appreciation."

Earlier Friday, retired Gen. John Batiste, who called for Rumsfeld's resignation, said the recent criticism is "absolutely coincidental" and said he did not know of any coordinated effort to discredit the defense secretary.

"I have not talked to the other generals," Batiste said on NBC's "Today" show. But, he said, the demands for Rumsfeld to step down are "happening for a reason."

Rumsfeld supporters in the Pentagon said they expect the criticism to continue, and expressed concern that it could have a damaging effect on officers who deal with Rumsfeld on a daily basis.

The senior defense official said the criticism from the generals makes it look as if general officers play no role in decision-making and don't offer any advice to the civilian leaders. "It makes them look like bystanders and they're not bystanders."

Also calling for Rumsfeld to resign were retired Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs, retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton and retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold.

Associated Press Writers Tom Raum and Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.

Good Friday Indeed

ROME Apr 13, 2006 (AP)— Pope Benedict XVI Thursday recounted the Biblical betrayal of Jesus by Judas, calling the apostle a double-crosser for whom "money was more important than communion with Jesus, more important than God and his love."

Quite frankly when I heard about this last night, I remarked that the Pope is a politician, not a theologian. Furthermore, when the Pope was known as Joey Ratz, he was the PR/spin guy/Karl Rove for the Vatican.

The delightful Mark Morford asks, "how does the new and improved Judas story pinch the ass of our collective mythology?" Read it here: The Bible's All Wrong, Again
The surprising Gospel of Judas proves you just can't be too sure about all that God stuff.

How may I help you?

When you have to speak to a customer service person on the phone, do you ask them where they are?

I have always done that... mostly because I am kind of chatty and I ask about the weather or something. Nowadays, I mostly speak to people in India. They are very polite people and they love to tell me about life in India, but usually they don't have a clue what I am talking about if it pertains to something in this country and I can also hear them paging through their manuals looking for answers. Sometimes, I think they should just put the damn manual on line.

Gee, I never get to the point, do I?

From USA Today Blog:

Full disclosure? Airlines may have to fess up on overseas call centers

The Senate Commerce Committee is now considering a bill that would require call-center employees to disclose their location when they talk to customers, Travel Weekly (free registration) reports. The bill, S.2553, would make it mandatory for workers who either initiate or receive telephone calls at overseas centers to tell customers where they are located.

I've read around the internets that the bill seems mean spirited. It is proposed by Senators Kerry and Kennedy I believe. Maybe their point is to point out to the American people that their potential jobs are being sent overseas? I don't know. But the politically correct right wing doesn't think that disclosure is a good idea.

That’s become an increasingly hot topic in the airline industry as several U.S. carriers have outsourced reservations agents to overseas locations. That’s angered many travelers who say the foreign-based agents often struggle with English and can have a limited knowledge of U.S. geography –- a key concern when making travel plans for flights within the USA. Even without the bill, however, some airlines and travel companies are already reconsidering international outsourcing as customer discontent grows on outsourcing. US Airways, for example, followed its merger with America West by halting its program that sent call center duties to locations in Mexico, Central America and the Philippines. Travel site Expedia has also decided to bring some of its call center functions back to the USA from the Philippines.

Yes it is a huge problem when you are speaking to someone about flight plans and they don't know their US geography. It's bad enough that most Americans don't know geography. It's the blind leading the blind. Literally.

This is a good time to rant. The other day I took my son to American Airlines at JFK for his flight to Dallas and then to Arizona. It was the MOST exasperating experience. I won't get into all of it.. but this irked me-- none of the employees in the building had a full grasp of the English language-- the AA employees and the TSA alike. What little English they did utter was almost unintelligible except for when they were barking orders. It is interesting that the TSA employees who are federal employees acted and sounded like they just arrived in America that very day. (Don't get me wrong. I love foreigners (literally), but don't put me in touch with newbies when time is of the essence).

We entered the building from a sort of side entrance and we got stuck on a long line and could have missed the plane. I walked over to a woman wearing an AA uniform to ask where the self service check in machines were (as my family always travels with carry on bags only). She told me to write to AA to complain about the lack of check-in clerks at the counter causing hundreds of people on line to panic as they missed their planes. Where the hell were those little machines where you swipe your credit card? She didn't know.

Well the husband finally parked his car and took the shuttle back to the terminal in time to run around for us and find the self check in while I waited with my son who was on the verge of losing his cool. We then scooted the 200 yards or so around the bend to find them. It was completely empty there. EMPTY I tell you. I guess no one knew where they were. They worked amazingly well. Much better than people.

The search and seizure line was long too. The first class line was empty. I asked the TSA clerk at the first class line if my son could scoot through there cause his plane was leaving in 10 minutes and the gate was a half mile away. The only words she knew in English were: "This line is for First Class only. Show me your ticket." She pointed to the entry point of the common people's line which was a quarter mile away. Fortunately my boy is 20 and energetic. I saw older people having heart attacks and strokes.

I don't know how I go off on these tangents...

Anyway... what do you think about the bill that would require telephone support people to divulge where they are?

Maybe it's a good thing (even though it's a waste that our senate is wasting time on this stuff when the country is going straight to hell) because you can then tailor your questions accordingly knowing full well that the person on the other end has no clue about American idioms, slang, pop trivia, what the company's commercials say, etc ... and be further pissed enough to write to your congress critters about jobs being sent overseas which Americans would gladly take even at minimum wage.

PS: While Southwest Airlines has the squishiest, most uncomfortable planes with no leg room whatsoever, the terminal they use is in British Airways at JFK. The service there is impeccable. Self service machines abound in well marked areas and are overseen by polite employees who want to help. The parking is right outside the door. If you're running late, they whisk you through the First Class search and siezure line with a smile. feh.

The GOP Hates NY. The feeling is mutual.

After 9/11, the EPA determined that the air quality in lower Manhattan was dangerous. No one got that message because the WH told them not to release those findings. Story after story has come out since 9/11 about people getting cancer or dying from mysterious illnesses after working on the rescue mission. Many times those stories were blown off as conspiracy theories. Well there was a conspiracy if the WH tells the EPA not to release news that the air wasn't safe to breathe. That was not a theory. In fact, Sen Clinton vowed to do something about it and State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer was suing the EPA. I never heard or read about anything after that.

All I know is that a huge coverup went on immediately after 9/11. It's reprehensible that the government would allow rescue workers to risk their lives and their health and not be given the proper warning and breathing apparatus. How the NYPD and the NYFD can still support the bushistas is beyone me. The bushistas hate NY and they laughed in our faces when they brought their RNC here.

The story to read is this one in today's NY Times: Debate Revives as 9/11 Dust Is Called Fatal
What debate? This is despicable.

I've blogged about this too many times. Here are a few I dug up.

NY Heroes Have To Sue For Justice Revisted
9/11 Recap for Out of Towners
Shrub says "Fuck You" to New York
White House Blocked Health Risk Information for New Yorkers
EPA Says Fuck you to science mandate
Bush Hates NY. Bush Hates Our Heroes
9/11 and the EPA
Judge Slams Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11

More War on Easter and Other Distractions

Well, we finally have it on tape, the actual beginning volley on the 'War on Easter' tm. And, as I'm sure we could have all guessed, Faux Spews wins the booby prize.

Well, I'd like to join in. My first blow would be to the date...pick a freaking date and stick to it, would yah? None of this 'the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox' tripe, its just too confusing and its hard to plan the egg hunt from year to year. Could be snowing, could be warm,.... Why can't they just figure out the day Christ died? After all the fundies keep telling us they 'know' what God/Jesus would do, want, say, decide. So why, after nearly 2,000 years can't they figure this little nugget of knowledge out?

Second, change the name. WHY are you naming a Christian holiday after a Pagan Fertility Rite? (although I find it rather amusing that the first several hits to Easter + Pagan on google is right wing sites insisting that NO, they are not) . Come on guys, we have LOTS of intelligent, creative people reading this blog. I'm willing to bet any of you can come up with a better, more descriptive name for the period of time that inspired Mel Gibson to film his snuff film.

Oh, and if anyone wanted to check out the waroneaster.org website, forget it, it appears the 'war' has been so sucessful that the site has been snafu'd. Of course I'm sure that will just give these martyr wannabe's something else to blame on the 'godless hoards' that roam the Earth.

So, what say you good people any name and date suggestions?

Why Wait Until They Retire?

I believe we need a fresh part in the Pentagon. We need a leader who understands team work, a leader who knows how to build teams, a leader that does it without intimidation. A leader that conforms and practices the letter and the law of the Goldwater-Nichols Act. - Maj. Gen John Batiste


So, if all of these high ranking Generals have been having so many qualms about Rumy and his lack of foresight, ethics and respect for those on the front line WHY O WHY don't they speak out when they have the power to do something about it? Why do they wait until they retire to tell the world about all the travesty that the US Armed Forces has become?

Over the past few days we have read about Colin Powell first telling us in 2001 that Iraq had NO WMD, then in 2003 that Iraq did in fact have WMD and was a threat to the ENTIRE WORLD, to this week when he admitted that no, Iraq never did have WMD.

Now today, we have Maj. Gen John Batiste, who refused a third star and a promotion (if he would go back to Iraq) who has resigned and who has called for the dismissal of Rumsfeld. The FOUTH General to do so in a rather short period of time. He joins retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, retired Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni (former chief of the U.S. Central Command), and retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold.

Now I have two questions to ask here, but I must preface them with what I BELIEVE. I believe these men to NOT be cowards, I believe that these men have working brains, I believe that they have at least some understanding of what the 'on the ground' troops are going through, I am uncertain as to their morals as I don't know them.

So, question one: WHY did they WAIT until retiring to publically speak their minds? My mind boggles at the possibilities. Could be career worries, but then why turn down a cush job and an extra star. Could be loyalty to their troops, but then why speak out at all. Pressure from above perhaps?

Question two: WHY aren't more people listening to them?

What are your thoughts and ideas? Can you bring anything to the table?

Screwed

hat tip to whomever created this graphic which I've seen all over the place today.

Yay!: War On Easter

After surviving the War On Christmas, I am gung ho for the War on Easter... and I have not one, but two reasons for supporting this war.

I've been reading about and watching clips from Faux Spews concerning this phenomenon. It appears that the Easter Bunny himself is under attack and they are unnerved by this. Well they are just stupid because the Easter Bunny is not Christian and the word Easter is not Christian.

Now if I were a practicing Christian, I would be warring against the commercialization of the most holy day of the year. It appears that all the pagan customs of Ishtar are more important than the blood sacrifice of the lord and savior. There is nothing in the bible about bunnies and Peeps. I might consider for a moment, if I were a religious person, that the Jews celebrated Passover to give religious meaning to the season and then the Christians celebrated Jesus' resurrection for the same reason, (just like Hannukah and Christmas coincide with the pagan rites for the shortest days of the year). But I probably wouldn't have a problem with that because it would be a good thing to outshine the pagans (if I were a religious person).

My second reason for condoning a war on Easter is all that candy. I have a chronic sweet tooth. There is just too much good candy out there this time of year. It's too tempting. Two months or so of sheer temptation (right after Valentine's Day) that sends my blood sugar reeling and rocking. How dare they tempt me with candy just short of swimsuit season? I can barely stand on line at CVS with a bottle of Advil without reaching out for some Cadbury eggs. Oh, the thrill of biting the ears off a chocolate bunny. Easter candy be damned and blamed for all the cavities I had as a kid and all the crowns and bridges I have as an adult.

I will be performing an experiment this spring by creating a pagan shrine out of Peeps, if I don't eat them first. I expect that once it hardens, it will stand the test of time. Be prepared for a photo essay.

I'd much prefer to celebrate the fertility ritual of spring and have lots of sex.

Find out where your political compass is pointing.

This is a great site. When you have a moment (supposedly 5 - 10 minutes) this is an amazing "test" to see where you really are on the political compass. It took me much longer than 5 - 10 min. because I had my head in the dictionary quite a bit. I knew alot of the terms and references used in the questions, but needed it "spelled out" to really be able to put it into context so I could answer some of the questions with certainty. I also tend to over analyze. I think most of you here though will be able to buzz through this quickly.

Have Fun.http://www.politicalcompass.org/

How To Deal With The Narcissist

Wanderer has inspired this post. His suggestion is prolly the best advice of all but if for any reason you're having to deal with a narcissist that isn't in his/her "happy place" here's a few suggestions.

1) Butter Him/Her up.
Nothing works like flattery, a time honored way to manipulate a narcissist. And lots of "you poor thang." "You're just too wonderful for words." "Without you, we're lost."

Of course, you'll have to stomach your own servility.

2) Let Her Be The Center of Attention.
Narcissists' self-confidence has no basis in reality. In fact, one study showed that coworkers generally rate narcissists as below-average performers. However, they do tend to do well when all eyes are on them, and the opportunity to look like a Star is ripe. Their immunity to self doubt means that unlike most of the rest of us, they aren't afraid to be the center of attention. Stage fright isn't a big issue for these megalomaniacs. For the average person, pressure gets in the way of achievement. But the narcissist is very happy in the moments of glory. It has to be glory, though. They are not team players. If you've got a Barry Bonds on your team, give him the chance to excel----and to be admired----and then get the hell out of the his way!

3) Be Clear On The Quid Pro Quo.
When a narcissist is in charge, she'll feel no compunction asking for a lot and providing very little in return. She'll be totally focused on her vision for the project, cuz, well, it's all about her/him. Make clear the project is all about her. Make clear the rules of the game, because she's not going to play fair.

4) Don't Cross Her/Him.
If you're fool enough to disagree with just how "special" a narcissist is or if they feel they aren't getting enough respect, you MUST do it gently and be prepared for them to pull they're horse out of the race..
In the lab, they are willing to punish other experimental subjects when they think they're not getting that "special" treament they so richly deserve. They're also not above playing the victim if it will garner them attention.

5) Keep a Sense Of Humor
One upside: Narcissists can be entertaining, if you keep a sense of perspective. Frederick Rhodewalt, a professor of psychology at the Unviersity of Utah in Salt Lake City, describes one assistant professsor who joined the department softball team.. "Although he had no experience with ball and bat, his background in tennis gave him enough of an edge that he won the batting title for the league. "And for a few months, every time I saw him in the office, he'd be carrying the trophy," Rodewalt laughs.

6) And then there's Wanderer way of dealing, which I truly believe must be the best suggestion of all. Ignore them.

A Field Guide To Narcissism -- Super Jerks

These days I don't lose sleep over the possible Bird Flu epidemic that could sweep across our nation but more and more I do believe we have a much more serious epidemic and it's called narcissism. We all think we can spot a narcissist--the cartoonish self-absorption, the cast-iron sense of pride and entitlement. Scratch the surface, though, and you'll find surprises: Alluring charm, charisma, and radical insecurity. The following article is by Carl Vogel, a writer for Psychology Today.

There's the groom who wouldn't let his fancee's overweight friend be a bridesmaid because he didn't want her near him in the wedding pictures. The entrepreneur who launched a meeting or new employees by explaining that nobody ever gets anywhere working for someone else. The woman who had such confidence in her great taste, she routinely redecorated her daughter's home without asking. The guy who found himself so handsome, he took a self-portrait with a Polaroid every night before bed to preserve the moment. As Ted Turner put it: "If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect."

But narcisssim isn't just a combination of monumental self-esteem and self centeredness. As a personality type, it ranges from a tendency to a serious clinical disorder, encompassing unexpected, even counterintuitve behavior.

The Greek myth of Narcissus ends with the beautiful young man lost to the world, content to forever gaze at his own reflection in a pool of water. Real-life narcissists, however, desperately need other ppl to validate their own worth. "It's not so much about being liked. It's much more important to be admired. Studies have shown narcissists are willing to sacrifice being liked if they think it's necessary to be admired," says Roy Baumeister, a social psychologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

The deep desire to be at the center of things is served by extreme self-confidence, a combination that makes a narcissist attractive and even charming. Buoyed by a coterie of admiring friends and associates---protected by the armor of positive self-regard---someone with a mild-to-moderate case of narcissism can float through life feeling pretty good about him or herself. Since they feel entitled to special treatment, they are easily offended, and hold grudges, forever. Yet narcissists are often very POPular--at least in the short term.

The beauty of being a narcissist is that even when disaster stares you in the face, you feel neither doubt nor remorse. This is particularly true if you suffered childhood trama.

In a recent study, for example, reserchers asked a pair of participants to undertake a task that was rigged to fail. Most people tend to protect their partner, sharing either the credit or the blame. "But the narcisssists would say, 'It's totally the other persons fault.' They're completely willing to step on someone," says narcissism resercher Keith Campbell, associate professor of social psychology at the University of Georgia.

Intensely narcissistic people often live tumultuous lives, as few ppl can tolerate them long. But having a milder version of the personality type comes with many side benefits. Subclinical narcissists are happy. They are less likely to be depressed, sad or anxious, and rate their subjective well-being more highly. They're less reactive to stress, and recover more rapidly from it.

Mild narcissism also seems to help ppl recover from accidents or other trauma----it gives them an unrealistic sense of their own invulnerability, and they believe that they will be able to handle whatever life throws at them. As one resercher put it, being somewhat narcissistic is like driving a huge SUV: You're having a great time, even while you hog the road, suck up extra resources and put other drivers at higher risk.

A narcissist can be hard to identify, in part because she/he is likely to be much more fascinating than you would expect for someone so self-absorbed, and in part because you wouldn't think someone with such self-regard could be so defensive and needy.

Kudos to California

Hollywood celebrities (and other California consumers) can pamper themselves without risking their health, thanks to the state's Safe Cosmetics Act. Passed last fall, the new law is first in the country to require cosmetics manufactures to disclose the use of chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive problems. Health and eviromental groups were the key supporters of the bill, citing studies that have show up to 70 percent of beauty products ---- from deodorant to hair spray that contains phthalates, industrial chemicals that may cause birth defects.

I've been buying what few cosmetics I buy, (cuz I'm a natural beauty) at the local heath food store for years but it's expensive. I've justified it with the fact that becoming sick from all the industrial chemicals is more expensive in the long haul.
If your interested in more information, visit safecosmetics.org

Fool's Gold

A Canadian mining company wants you to pay for its mess and Chimp Boy and his buck buddies could care less.

All that glitters may be gall. Arguing that a California law requiring mining companies to clean up their deleted open-pit mines amounts to a seizure of property, Canada's Glamis Gold has filed a claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement demanding $50 million in compensation from the United States.

At Glamis's proposed site in Southern California, excavated rock would be piled up and drizzled with cyanide, a toxic solvent that bonds with gold. Such "heap leach" mining is cheap but environmentally costly, leading to cyanide spills and contaminatied water. Glamis's operation would move at least 280 tons of earth to produce just one ounce of gold, creating a pit a mile across and 880 feet deep.

Now here's the kicker. California passed a law in 2003, that requires that Glamis fill its pit once operation have ceased and restore the site. Such "backfilling" is one of the best ways to control acid-mine drainage and damage to waterways.

Glamis, however, claims that the cleanup rules are, now get this, "tantamount to expropriation" as dined by the trade pact. A three-member tribunal will decide the merits of the case, probably sometime later this year. One would have to be concerned that a win for Glamis would restrict the ability of any sovereign government to protect its citizens.

This case sorely need some friends. Defense of California's rules in the international forum falls to the bush administration, which we all know has a history of siding with mining interests. It should come as no surprise that in 2001, Interior Secretary Gale Norton reversed a Clinton-era decison blocking Galmis's plan. But hey, it's only $50 million dollars and in this dysfunctional corporation known as the United States, that's pop change to the the drunken sailors that now sail the ship.

Menu Blogging: Jesus Christ is Risen Today, Pass the Jelly Beans

We eat candy for breakfast on Easter Sunday. I started this tradition when my son was old enough to chew, because I could finally live out some of my childhood fantasies when I became the matriarch... so report me to the Pope, see if I care. I was merely trying to play down the Christian Blood Cult theme.

I also thought it might be interesting to have 'woast wabbit' for dinner with a side of Peeps, but no one was really interested in eating cute little bunnies, so we just pretended we were eating 'woast wabbit' with jelly bean sauce.

Check out this live journal with an hilarious photo recipe for disaster Chocolate Cake which replaces chicken eggs with Cadbury Cream Eggs. Mmmm.


What do you do with Easter Candy?

Surprise Surprise: Bush Lied

According to an article in WaPo, even though a team of experts hired by the pentagon determined that those trailers we saw on the satellite view of Iraq back in '03 were definitely not biological labs and not only that, their final report stated unequivocally that the trailers were unsuitable for weapons production. We never heard about that report even though it was sent to Washington on May 27th, 2003. On May 29th, 2003, BUSH LIED and declared that "We have found the weapons of mass destruction," when US and Kurdish troops captured the trailers.

It really makes you wonder what Valerie Plame was working on. WaPo doesn't connect the dots between this breaking news and Plame's outing by the administration. Robert Sheer does and reports that in fact Colin Powell told him that he and other experts never believed that Iraq posed an imminent threat and that it was all Cheney.

Well screw you, Colin Powell and may there be a hell for you to burn in. I didn't believe Powell's testimony to the UN. He looked to me like he was reciting a script and his heart wasn't in it. I was ridiculed by anyone to whom I dared to reveal my intincts, and for wishing that the weapons inspectors for the UN would have a chance to finish investigating, for hating my country. I do not hate my country, dammit. Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Ronald Dumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George Bush hate our country.


PS: Did you read that Cheney was booed loud and long at the National's opening ceremony when he threw the first pitch? Most of the press is playing it down and even criticizing the fans for playing politics at a baseball game.

UPDATE: Wow Judith Miller, of all people actually reported the results of the experts regarding WMDs and questioned the WH's decision to go to war. Soon after that, she became a pawn in the neocon game. See Raw Story for the scoop.

Is Doomsday Coming For U.S. Forces In Iraq?

That's the title. Here's a few quotes:
(With an update at the bottom)
"Remember, however, this is only "scuttlebutt." Do not take it as fact but as food for thought, and perhaps as a warning.

"In Iraq, many, perhaps most, of the American forces in the forward operations areas are essentially pinned down.

"They are literally stressed and terrified out of their minds, and most of them are also physically ill, many seriously so, from the effects of Depleted Uranium poisoning.

"Their having either engaged in or witnessed daily massacres of civilians, including women and children, will leave them broken for life in the deepest parts of themselves.

"In many of the Forward Operations Bases or Camps, American soldiers do not dependably receive enough daily drinking water, let alone water enough for washing...

"The annihilation of Fallujah, and the U.S.'s massive slaughter of innocent civilians there, increased support for the resistence to almost 100% among the Iraqi people. It is most accurate to say that the American combat forces in Iraq are now largely fighting a defensive war".

Read the entire article at Signs-of-the-Times.

UPDATE: SINCE DOUBT HAS BEEN EXPRESSED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION ABOUT THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF DEPLETED URANIUM RADIATION POISONING, I HAVE DECIDED TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

From an article entitled
"DU Death Toll Tops 11,000"
"Nationwide Media Blackout Keeps U.S. Public Ignorant About This Important Story"

"The death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known as depleted uranium (DU) has reached 11,000 soldiers and the growing scandal may be the reason behind Anthony Principi’s departure as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department.

"This view was expressed by Arthur Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter".

Rest of article at http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/du_death_toll.html.

If further research is desired, there are 168,000 hits when googlesearching
11,000+dead+gulf +war+I+veterans at http://tinyurl.com/q6pob

Dying in the bondage of homosexuality

Ah, jeez. Look what we missed last Friday. Shucks.

April 6, 2006

Operation Save America, formerly known as Operation Rescue, will conduct a press conference at South Rowan High School to expose GLSEN's (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network) sinister objectives to cut parents and teachers, who do not agree with the radical homosexual agenda, out of the lives of their children and to paint them all with the broad brush of bigotry.

The Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) has made its way into the South Rowan High School in Rowan County, North Carolina . That's Right! Young and very naïve high school kids are being used by GLSEN to spread its agenda of hatred toward God, parents, and teachers.

GLSEN so frames the argument that it appears that homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender identity will become the next great human rights and civil rights campaign. This is a lie from the pit of hell! A moral wrong must never become a civil “right.”

Homosexuality is not only out of the closet and parading its sin publicly in the hallways of South Rowan, it demands all bow down and be subject to it, or be sued. Friends, if we do not fight this battle now when we have a good chance of winning in Jesus' name, we may find ourselves having to fight when there is little or no hope of victory, realizing that it is better to die free than live under the bondage of homosexual slavery.

It is time for God's Church to rise up, come out of the closet, and confront this giant in the name of Jesus Christ. The theology of the Church must become biography in the streets.

“Will someone remind me again just how the radical homosexual agenda has free reign in our high schools, while Jesus has been expelled from school and banished from the school yard?” Rev. Flip Benham, Operation Save America

What: Press Conference
Where: South Rowan High School, 1655 Paterson Street, China Grove N.C. 28023
When: Friday April 7, 2006
Time: 7:30 AM
Web: www.operationsaveamerica.org

hat tip to Jesus Politics

Welcome to America. Bang.

It's inspiring to see all the immigrants rallying across the country. These people aren't terrorists , for gawd's sake. I think Mexicans are the coolest people. I just love their culture and traditions. They work hard and yet most of them are still poor. All this bullshit about them stealing jobs from Americans is just that. Bullshit. All this bullshit about them taking the jobs American's don't want only proves that the minimum wage ought to be raised and someone ought to crack down on companies that pay shit wages. Who will pick the fruit? Hell, I'd pick the damn fruit if it paid. Maybe we should boycott the damn produce companies where the workers are paid slave wages?

Who wants to work a 40 hour week and still be poor? Immigrants will do it. Legal or not. Actually, most of our nation's poor do have jobs. How sad is that? It's inhuman. It's also sad that some Americans are sitting by the borders day and night weilding shotguns. Welcome to America. Bang.

Message to knuckleheads in congress: Poverty and Crime go hand in hand unless you are a CEO or a congress critter and you think white collar crimes don't hurt anyone.

I'd like to see the same fervor coming from progressives across the nation. Man, what does it take to get those born here to get off their asses and wave flags demanding a voice?

I'm Not Dead Yet

I am not as insecure as I was when I was ovulating.

This is a follow up to Jersey Cynic's post 2 down about being an older woman. 50 something isn't exactly old. It's time to have some fun and do stuff you kept putting off and one of these days I will do just that. (Remember that 30 something show? I couldn't stand it. What a bunch of drama queens.) Menopause doesn't mean having to say you're sorry. I liked menopause except for the mood swings, new facial hair and thigh growth, failing eyes and hot flashes. I felt liberated from the sex object classification. The mood swings and the mania just made me a more interesting sex partner. heh. The best thing is that I am not intimidated in any way by anyone else. Ever.

So check out this interesting essay, Sex and the Older Woman, by Joyce Marcel. But Marcel takes apart another article by New York Times Sunday Magazine pundit Daphne Merkin who wrote, "What's So Hot about 50," who trashed Gail Sheehy's new book, "Sex and the Seasoned Woman."

And the Lord sayeth, "Ask her about her sex life"

And Pat Robertson obligeth.

It just wouldn't be Passover/Easter season without an hilarious story told by Pat Robertson reacting to something the Lord directly asked him to do.


Pat Robertson and Rita Braver on CBS News Sunday Morning April 9th.

PR: ... Well-- well anyhow, they thought she was demon possessed. And these women are in the conference, and they said, "Go cast demons out of her." And I ignored it and ate dinner and went on to the meeting.

And then the next night, they had moved this poor woman out of the hotel. She was crying out for mercy and saying, "Oh God, help me," because she had such bad asthma. So-- I had to go see her. But fortunately I had my wife with her, so we went to another hotel-- in the heart of Jerusalem and knocked on the door.

And here, this haunting woman, she looked like-- she really looked like she was terrified-- very attractive-- striking brunette, 45 years old, you know thin, 5'8" kinda thing. And-- she had this look in her eyes. And-- so I went in, and my wife was with me. And they took the two chairs and I sat on the bed.

And I said, "Tell me about your problem." And she said, "I've got this asthma." And I said, "Have you been to the (LAUGHTER) doctor?" And-- and she said, "Yes. The doctor said my asthma was caused by praying with nuns." And I said, (LAUGHTER) "A doctor?"

RB: That sounds--

PR: "A doctor?"

RB: --that sounds like-- (LAUGHTER) you should've advised her, "Maybe go see another doctor."

PR: There was-- (LAUGHTER) well see-- the-- "A doctor told you this?" (UNINTEL) said, "Yes, that's what my doctor told me." And I says, "There is no way that praying with nuns is gonna cause you-- asthma." And then I prayed. And I said, "Lord, what's wrong with her?" I just prayed silently. And the Lord said, "Ask about her sex life." And--

RB: The-- the Lord said that to you?

PR: Yes, He said that to me. And I said, "There's no way I'm going to ask a strange woman about her sex life." So I said-- (COUGHS) "Excuse me for-- being personal, but would you tell me about your marriage."

She said, "Oh, I have a wonderful marriage." I said, "You do?" She (UNINTEL PHRASE), "A wonderful husband, wonderful marriage. It's just absolutely marvelous." I said, "You do?" She said, "Yes." So I prayed again. (LAUGHTER) I said, "Lord, what's the matter?" And she-- He said, "Ask her about her sex life."

RB: I-- it's hard to imagine the Lord--

PR: The-- the--

RB: --saying this to you--

PR: --the Lord say-- well He did. And I-- and I said-- "You know, please forgive me if I'm being personal, but tell me about your sex life." And she said, "I don't have any." And I said, "Well, I thought you had a wonderful marriage." And she said-- "I do, but I don't have any sex life."

And I said, "How long has that been going on?" And she said, "Two years." And I said-- "And that's when your asthma started, isn't it?" And she said, "Yes." And I said, "Well it's obvious that you're blaming yourself-- for this condition. What's the problem?" And she said, "My husband's impotent."

And I said, "You think it's your fault." And she said, "Yes. It's-- I think it's my fault." And I said, "Well it isn't your fault. And it may be that he's working too hard. He may be having a physical impairment. But-- there's something in his life, that this isn't your fault." And she said, "It's not?"

I said, "Absolutely not." And I said, "Okay, now let's pray for your asthma. And she said, "Okay." And we prayed. And God healed her asthma just like that. And--
RB: You-- you know that--

PR: There's--

RB: --that's a tough one for people to swallow.

PR: I was there. My wife was the witness. And thank goodness she was there. I never woulda done this otherwise. But that woman went on her ma-- her way rejoicing. And it took maybe max, 10 minutes.


Oh my Lord, was that just the most adorable story? Hallelujah, Praise Jesus, Amen...
The Lord is such a card... asking the second holiest person to ever walk the earth to probe into a woman's sex life only to find that she doesn't even have one (laughter)... and that was what gave her asthma (laughter) and she believed it was her fault that her husband was impotent (laughter) and I wonder how she got that silly notion? Probably the devil told her that (laughter). Sometimes the Devil is such a trickster... Wee doggies... whew... oh Lordie, I just popped another rosary bead from laughing so hard.
/snark attack

Encountering The Old Stranger In The Mirror

An all-time Ann Landers favorite found in the box in the basement (I'm almost down to the bottom):

"Dear Readers: My cousin sent this to me, and I have no idea who wrote it. Every senior citizen (and some junior citizens) will see him - or herself and laugh a little. I Laughed a lot. Enjoy!"

SENIOR SENTIMENTS

A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day she was.

She is a clever old lady and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her. And whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is, hogging the whole thing, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body. This is very rude. I have tried screaming at her, but she just screams back.

If she insists on hanging around, the least she could do is offer to pay part of the rent, but no. Every once in a while, I find a dollar bill stuck in a coat pocket, or some loose change under a sofa cushion, but it is not nearly enough.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me. I go to the ATM and withdraw $100, and a few days later, it's all gone. I certainly don't spend money THAT fast, so I can only conclude the old lady is pilfering from me.

You'd think she would spend some of that money to buy wrinkle cream. Lord knows she needs it. And money isn't the only thing I think she is stealing. Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate - especially the good stuff like ice cream, cookies and candy. I can't seem to keep that stuff in the house anymore. She must have a real sweet tooth, but she'd better watch it, because she is really packing on the pounds. I suspect she realizes this, and to make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scale to make me think I am putting on weight, too.

For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my closets when I'm not home and altering my clothes so they don't fit. And she messes with my files and papers so I can't find anything. This is particularly annoying, since I am extremely neat and organized. She also fiddles with my VCR so it does not record what I have carefully and correctly programmed.

She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do, and blurs the print so I can't read it. And she has done something really sisister to the volume controls on my TV, radio and telephone. Now all I hear are mumbles and whispers.

She has done other things - like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier and all my knobs and faucets harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge. Lately, she has been fooling with my groceries before I put them away, applying glue to the lids, making it almost impossible for me to open the jars. Is this any way to repay my hospitality?

She has taken the fun out of shoping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing-room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in some of those outfits, plus, she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver's license, and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me! No one is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is me.

__________________________


Years and years ago when my mom cut this out, I read it and thought it was very amusing. Boy, I can really relate to it now - and I am laughing a lot harder than I did when I first read it.

Hope you like it.

A Meth Lab, 40 Acres, And a Mule

Leave it to the Great State of Missouri to come up with a solution to our Methamphetamine problem. That's right dear readers, we'll now have a meth lab in everything neighborhood. Now isn't that special?!?!
The funds have been cut to fight this insidious drug.
The top five methamphetamine states are Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some of the stupid white men and the women who love them have been reported as saying "But we don't have a problem in our neighborhood" or "I don't know anyone that is using meth." Oh, you just wait, you dear ignorant ones. You're number has just come up. Don't worry, the rest of us do not want you to feel left out. Just keep doing nothing and it will find you. The great thing about meth is it does not discriminate. It doesn't care if you are a mon or dad, brother, sisiter, son or daugher, butcher, baker or candlestick maker.

How can we be leading the nation in meth labs and have funding for anit-meth programs cut? I suppose it really shouldn't come as a surprise. This back-ass-ward state is leading the nation on cutting funds for programs our most vulnerable need the most. And all the while our Senators and Representives are voting to increase their own benefits.
So now the state and federal government wants to tie the hands of law enforcement. They have decided that the money could used someplace else. Hummm......can't imagine where, can you?

Well I have a plan and I think it just might work. If you are a meth-cooker, please locate your elected officials and move into their neighborhoods. Bring all your friends.....the more the merrier. Taxpayers don't want to be selfish and keep you to oursleves. We would like to share our "wealth" with the ones that think we don't have any problems. Oh, and while we are at it, let's give the elected officials who voted to discontinue health benefits for 100,000 Missourians, approximately 40,000 of whom are children, an HMO with a $5000 deductible. That's the least we can do for them, isn't it? Oh, and please move a meth lab onto any of the three homes Matt Fuckface Blunt ownes. Maybe he'll share his special love of Jesus with ya.

Assicons

Better than poopy old emoticons like :-) and :-(

(_!_) a regular ass

(!) a tight ass

(_*_) a sore ass

{_!_} a swishy ass

(_o_) an ass that's been around

(_x_) kiss my ass

(_X_) leave my ass alone

(_zzz_) a tired ass

(_E=mc2_) a smart ass

(_$_) Money coming out of his ass

(_?_) Dumb Ass

I'm sorry I couldn't help myself. It's holy week and we shouldn't be too too somber. (_x_)

Wanna Know What Our Military is Up To? Visit An Afghan Bazaar

U.S. Military Secrets for Sale at Afghan Bazaar
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
April 10, 2006

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — No more than 200 yards from the main gate of the sprawling U.S. base here, stolen computer drives containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses are on sale in the local bazaar.

Shop owners at the bazaar say Afghan cleaners, garbage collectors and other workers from the base arrive each day offering purloined goods, including knives, watches, refrigerators, packets of Viagra and flash memory drives taken from military laptops. The drives, smaller than a pack of chewing gum, are sold as used equipment.

Read on. It gets worse

The Gospel Truth

This is an important commentary from Elaine Pagels regarding the Gospel of Judas and the National Geographic special which aired last night.

Snippet from The Gospel Truth

Yet those early Christians who loved and revered such texts did not think of themselves as heretics, but as Christians who had received not only what Jesus preached publicly, but also what he taught his disciples when they were talking privately. Many regarded these secret gospels not as radical alternatives to the New Testament Gospels, but as advanced-level teaching for those who had already received Jesus' basic message. Even the Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus explained things to certain disciples in private, entrusting to them alone "the mystery of the Kingdom of God."

If so, Jesus would have been doing what many other rabbis did then, and most teachers do today. Many of the gospels not included in the New Testament claim to offer secret teaching: Thus the Gospel of Thomas opens, "These are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke, and Didymus Judas Thomas wrote them down." The Gospel of Mary Magdalene reveals what Jesus showed Mary in a vision, and the Gospel of Judas claims to offer a spiritual mystery entrusted to Judas alone.

From the HFS Files On Modern American Christianity

Since the hell when did being a Christian give you a right to be an bigoted asshole in a secular country? This shit would never fly in NY. It would be laughed out of court.

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies
Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue.

ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.

Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.

Man, what happened to civilized society? How dare this dame use christian faith as an excuse to be hateful?

With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian."

Oh now this is just wrong on all levels. Now you can't practice your christianity unless you can harrass those who think differently than you do? Sure that will win hearts and minds... of Nazi's.

This broad ought to get a job in a soup kitchen and learn a thing or two.

Grade School Kids Write Bush's Apology

No, I'm not joking, but its not what you think either.

A rather clever teacher had some 7-10 year olds use their creative writing skill. She asked them to write a speech in which W apologizes for his lies and mistakes. Even better, she then had a professional Bush impersonator record some of the best speeches and she placed them on her website for all to hear.

Give it a shot, brighten your day, pretend we have a humble, intelligent person as president and not some idiot living in his own little pretend world, believing that he is King of the Western World and God's Left Hand. (yes, the left one, that's the smiting side)

People Over 35 - How Did We Make It?

Article found in box of favorites - thought I'd pass it along. Don't know who wrote it...

"According to today's bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s probably shouldn't have survived.

* Our baby cribs were covered with lead-based paint. We had no childproof lids, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.

* We rode in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

* We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

* We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died.

* We spent hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

* We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

* No one was able to reach us all day. No cell Phones!

* We didn't have PlayStations, Gamecubes, or X-boxes. No video games, no 99+ channels on satellite cable, videos, surround sound, or computers.

* We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and somethims the ball would really hurt.

* We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. No one was to blame but us.

* We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms.

* We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home every day and knocked on the door, rang the bell, or just walked in.

* Athletics had tryouts and not everyone made the team. We had to deal with disappointment.

* Some students weren't as smart as others or weren't ready, so they failed a grade and were held back. Tests were not adjusted for any reason.

* Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out was unheard of. They actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all."


What the hell has happened? - and so fast. I think we are PAST the plateau.

"Too much knowledge will destroy the Universe" (? )- I think I read that in HS english lit. class - Along the waters of Babylon (?) -- can't remember.

The Iran Plans

Why yes, bush is planning to nuke Iran

Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
The New Yorker

a snip:

A government consultant with close ties to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if it is not stopped. He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” He added, “I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, ‘What are they smoking?’ ”

oh and another snippy snip

Speaking of President Bush, the House member said, “The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision.”

snippety

The attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he added, and some officers have talked about resigning.

Anyway, read it and prepared to beat the shit out of people who voted for this maniac.

C-SPAN 2 SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY APRIL 9:

12:00 pm (NOON) General Assignment: Hugh Hewitt, Painting the Map Red: The Fight to Create a Permanent Republican Majority
1:00 General Assignment: Mark Crispin Miller, Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One Too (Unless We Stop Them)

Complete schedule for the entire day at http://www.booktv.org/schedule/

"Mark Crispin Miller is a professor of media studies at New York University, where he directs the Project on Media Ownership. He is the author of The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National Disorder (Norton)."

THE ATHEIST JEW: PENN AND TELLER: THE BIBLE IS CRAPOLA

THE ATHEIST JEW: PENN AND TELLER: THE BIBLE IS CRAPOLA

for those of you who don't read the comment section, and want a little education and a big laugh, try this, but hurry, I don't know how long the video will stay up, bandwidth is NOT cheap. While visiting the bacon eating atheist jew, search around, he's got some good stuff going on there.

Some More Blonde Sense

How cool is it that the Gospel of Judas was hiding in a safe deposit box at Citibank in Hicksville, Long Island, just minutes from where I live? It came from Egypt, along the Nile where it was discovered in the 1970's. It traveled around the world and ended up right here under our noses crumbling and deteriorating in a vault.

It's been quite interesting to read what various clergy-people make of the discovery of the Judas Gospel. Some are horrified by it and consider it blasphemy while others welcome the proof that there many different types of Christianity were being practiced in earlier times. Not all clergy are biblical scholars though and they only know what was taught to them. I tend to go with the scholars although you have to be wary of who is really a scholar these days because apparently anyone can write a book and even fundies have special fundie colleges teaching god only knows what.

Early Christians known as Gnostics (meaning "knowing") practiced a more mystical, new age-y sort of religion. When I learned about Catholic saints, many of them also experienced deeply profound mystical visions. Gnosticism was dismissed as heresy by the early church patriarchs thus many ancient scrolls were tossed when the bible was being compiled by powerful men. How wonderful it is that these scrolls are being unearthed and bring new light to early Christianity. Personally, I like the Gnostic gospels. I don't find them terribly at odds with the 4 gospels of the accepted bible if you study carefully the teachings and parables of Jesus.

Jesus taught things that were hard to grasp in the form of parables. Commonly the parables likened the kingdom of heaven to something on earth... but not exactly. Jesus explained in mysterious ways how justice in the afterlife is not the same as earthly justice. Most of these concepts are too hard to explain in worldly speak. It was also common in those times since information was passed on orally to make knowledge into a story that was easy to remember. The gospels were written based on oral traditions. Many early Christians also believed that Jesus' loving forgiving God was a different God than the angry vengeful God of the Jews.

Some say that Gnostics were a strange sect and weren't part of the mainstream. Some say the Gnostics had an axe to grind. Why not consider that the early church patriarchs had an axe to grind? They insisted that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute despite there being no evidence in any scriptures to support that theory. In fact, the Gospel Of Mary Magdalene asserts quite the opposite notion and is also at the heart of the Dan Brown DaVinci Code debate. I didn't learn about the missing scriptures very much in the seminary, but what I did learn about modern biblical and theological scholarship goes along with the Gnostic gospels pretty well-- that is, God is within us all and the kingdom is here already.

In my opionion it's quite likely that Jesus and Judas had a plan as per the Gospel Of Judas. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the gospel story will be read in churches across the world about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Contemporary theologians mostly agree that Jesus knew what fate would befall him when he rode into town that day despite the throngs of disciples joyously waving palms at him. Jesus had a choice at that moment to change his fate. He wasn't handcuffed to the donkey.

If Jesus knew intrinsically that he was a special messenger and that he was to fulfill a divine plan, and didn't turn around and high tail it to another city to save himself, then why is it impossible to believe that Judas was also part of the divine plan? If Jesus didn't ride into town that day, if Judas didn't betray him days later and turn him over to the Romans and he didn't suffer, die and rise again, we wouldn't even have Christianity today. Jesus would go down in history (if that) as a great rabbi, but not the Christ.

The whole point of Christianity is the resurrection - the hope for everlasting life- a life beyond this one. And don't we all hope for something better?

The great commandment of Christianity and of all religions is to love another as you love yourself. There wouldn't be a need for any other laws if people knew how to truly love and stop getting hung up on rules. God, the higher power, the universe, the creator, the force, whatever you call it wants us to look out for each other. That's the point of almost any holy book including the Bible.

-----------
One of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question, testing him. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." Matthew 22:34-40

One student asked me, "How do I love God with all my heart and soul and mind? I mean, what do I do?" I answered, "You must love all of creation."

Rabbi Hillel was reportedly asked by someone to explain Judaism while standing on one foot. Hillel replied "What you find hateful, do not do to another. This is the essence of the Law. Everything else is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 3id

"Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state." Analects 12:2, Confucianism

"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5,1, Buddhism

"This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you." Mahabharata 5,1517, Hinduism

"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Sunnah, Islam

"Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss." Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien, Taoism

"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5, Zoroastrianism

How would Faux News Portray the American Revolution

Just in case anyone has NOT seen this yet. Take a good look at it, very clever with LOTS of interesting bits towards the bottom, especially the adverts. King George indeed. If you go back to the main site, please pay attention to any video or link marked (NSFW) - Not Safe For Work. They are NOT kidding, esp that Burger King one. o_0

Marvel Super Hero(s) Back Science

Can I tell you all how much I ADORE Stan Lee? His creations got me started on a love of science and medicine that have taken me all over the world. His characters are full of depth, complex and live firmly in the human condition, (even, or perhaps most especially, the non-human ones) Which is why I am so happy to see this:

The screaming began as soon as the hordes of school children stepped onto the elevator going up to the "Marvel Universe." And it didn't stop. In fact, the kids were instructed to scream like the sonically gifted Banshee when they entered an area dubbed the "Danger Room," after the X-Men's training facility. Just outside, a handy chart compared the decibel levels for various sounds and the length of time the human ear can withstand them before sustaining damage—for instance, the ear can handle up to two minutes of the 110 dbs pumped out at the front row during a rock show. Interestingly, the chart didn't measure the decibel level for the collective pitch of 10-year-olds hell-bent on shattering the anti-mutant Sentinel robot onscreen. I'd peg exposure before injury (or psychosis) to be 30 seconds, tops.

What youngster wants to linger by a plaque covered with technical information when he could take a ride courtesy of a synthetic fiber that mimics the strength of arachnid webs or channel his inner Spidey on a climbing wall? Meanwhile, in the X-Men's lair, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning—which gleefully declares, "We're ALL mutants!"—hosts exercises in genetics, states of matter, biotechnology and magnetic fields, a nod to their chief antagonist, Magneto.

Yes, The Marvel Universe, one of the best and close to the oldest of old schools; the place I first learned to suspend logic and believe that anything can happen (and that it doesn't have to involve faeries, wee folk or our infamous 'good' neighbours) in the world of mortals and science.

So kudos to Stan Lee, Marvel, and the California Science Center.

?? Yay for a Church??

Yep, you read it correctly. (I'll wait while you recover your breath and wipe off the monitor)
It seems the UCC (remember their WONDERFUL commercial last year? The one with the bouncers at the 'other' church that turned away worshippers?)

Well praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, cuz the only sect of Christianity that I have any respect for is at is again.

After years of turning the other cheek, the United Church of Christ, among the most liberal of the mainline Protestant denominations, has recently staked out a more pugnacious stance toward the Christian right.

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the denomination's president, has sharply criticized the Institute for Religion and Democracy, a conservative religious watchdog and advocacy group, for supporting groups within mainline denominations that would further a conservative theological and political perspective. And the church has undertaken new advertising and e-mail campaigns to combat more conservative forces.

"I.R.D. is using church members, and even outside groups, to disrupt and ultimately control the mainline to promote its own political agenda," Mr. Thomas said last month in a speech at Gettysburg College.

In the e-mail campaign, the denomination is accusing the ABC News political program "This Week" of booking far more conservative Christian leaders than moderates for the Sunday morning broadcast. The network has called that assertion "unfounded and not based on fact."
And after stirring up publicity in late 2004 with an advertisement about tolerance, the church is distributing an even more pointed commercial that shows people who might not be considered mainstream, like a single mother and a gay couple, being shot through the roof of a church from an "ejector pew."

"God doesn't reject people," the commercial says. "Neither do we."

Critics of the United Church of Christ, including the Institute for Religion and Democracy, assert that the church tries to silence those who do not agree with its liberal interpretation of Scripture.

"In Thomas's case, I'm seeing an advancing case of paranoia," said Steve Rempe, the content editor for the institute's Web site. "He sees this vast conspiracy centered around conservative political motivations and doesn't seem to see the possibility that these people might have a legitimate pastoral concern for their churches."

The United Church of Christ appears to be battling two trends: the influence of the Institute of Religion and Democracy within mainline denominations and the influence of the religious right, particularly its influence with the news media. entire article here, NYT (need password) or this one MAY work without the password thing

Now you all know me and my view on religion and politics mixing, however I may well send some moohla in their general direction over this alone. If for no other reason than having the balls to take on the neo-con, jezzus-twisting assholes that have stolen religion and government from the hearts, minds and control of the people.


SPEAKING of those asshole xtian, neo-cons, anyone else catch the video of a 70 year old granny being roughed up by Delay's rethuglicains? I am SOOOOO glad someone got this on film and onto the internet. Just goes to show how bad things have gotten in America. I would love to think that this is limited to just Texas, but as my own recent experience has shown, that is far from the case.

Now Where Have I Heard About Something Like This Before?

"Feds Try to Seize Gold From Suspects' Teeth"

"Government lawyers tried to confiscate the gold tooth caps known as "grills" from the mouths of two men facing drug charges, saying the dental work qualified as seizable assets. They had them in a vehicle headed to a dental clinic by the time defense attorneys persuaded a judge to halt the procedure."

Oh! That's right! During the Holocaust, before people were sent into the gas chambers and ovens, they were relieved of all their valuables including their gold fillings. Maybe our current crop of dummies ARE "learning from history".

Rest of the article's in the Associated Press.

Aikane sends jokes

A man enters a bar and orders a drink.
The bar has a robot bartender.

The robot serves him a perfectly prepared cocktail, and then asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man replies "150" and the robot proceeds to make conversation about global warming factors, quantum physics and spirituality, biomimicry, environmental interconnectedness, string theory, nano-technology, etc.

The customer is very impressed and thinks, "This is really cool."
He decides to test the robot. He walks out of the bar, turns around, and comes back in for another drink.
Again, the robot serves him the perfectly prepared drink and asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man responds, "about a 100."
Immediately the robot starts talking, but this time, about football, NASCAR, baseball, supermodels, favorite fast foods, guns, etc.

Really impressed, the man leaves the bar and decides to give the robot one more test.
He heads out and returns, the robot serves him and asks, "What's your IQ?"

The man replies, "Er, 50, I think."

And the robot says... real slowly... "So............... ya still supportin' Bush?"

My New Hero

From Think Progress: Harry Taylor slipped into a Bushista town hall meeting in North Carolina. Bush said he wouldn't apologize.

HARRY TAYLOR: You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you’d like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are –

THE PRESIDENT: I’m not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what’s your question?

HARRY TAYLOR: Okay, I don’t have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I — in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and –

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec — let him speak.

HARRY TAYLOR: And I would hope — I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I’m saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.

THE PRESIDENT: It is, yes. (Applause.)

HARRY TAYLOR: And I know that this doesn’t come welcome to most of the people in this room, but I do appreciate that.

THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate –

HARRY TAYLOR: I don’t have a question, but I just wanted to make that comment to you.

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate it, thank you. Let me –

HARRY TAYLOR: Can I ask a question?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m going to start off with what you first said, if you don’t mind, you said that I tap your phones — I think that’s what you said. You tapped your phone — I tapped your phones. Yes. No, that’s right. Yes, no, let me finish.

I’d like to describe that decision I made about protecting this country. You can come to whatever conclusion you want. The conclusion is I’m not going to apologize for what I did on the terrorist surveillance program, and I’ll tell you why. We were accused in Washington, D.C. of not connecting the dots, that we didn’t do everything we could to protect you or others from the attack. And so I called in the people responsible for helping to protect the American people and the homeland. I said, is there anything more we could do.
...

The Science Guy Freaks Out Believers

Understanding the planets, the stars, the moon and the earth shouldn't shake someone's faith. They must not have very much faith if a scientific description of how the cosmos works freaks them out.

Bill Nye the Science Guy spoke to a couple of eager audiences in central Texas. This is a nice article, by the way... but here's the part that amazed me (and I just can't wait to hear the backlash after the Judas betrayal story in the news)

The Emmy-winning scientist angered a few audience members when he criticized literal interpretation of the biblical verse Genesis 1:16, which reads: “God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”

He pointed out that the sun, the “greater light,” is but one of countless stars and that the “lesser light” is the moon, which really is not a light at all, rather a reflector of light.

A number of audience members left the room at that point, visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence.

“We believe in a God!” exclaimed one woman as she left the room with three young children.

Someone ought to take that uneducated woman aside and explain that the earth isn't flat... maybe show her a globe or something... And what was she doing at a science talk in the first place.

In the BLOGOSPHERE for a whole week straight!!

WAY TO GO MARKOS!! What a perfect way to end this wild week of non-stop bla bla bla BLOGGING. Loved your spot with Colbert. I'm glad you took a "few" notes. I especially hope you wrote that idea of ONE BIG PARTY down on your paper - and paste it on the Daily Kos site for all of us double-minded flip floppers out here. and Steven, you are most genius to take w's only "good" trait (and in such a compassionate way) and put it where it should be: "Hey, at least his opinions don't change -- even when the facts do". Ain't that the truth spoken -- SPOT ON! Oh, and we BLONDES appreciate that you have come to the realization that EVERYONE at the airports should be searched - except the blondes. You're right, we could save alot of money that way.

I have been just about EVERYWHERE during this "BLOGGESCAPE" that I have been on. I most definitely need a shower very badly, I forgot what a good meal was like, and I am very sleep deprived. I have laughed waaayy too much, cried so many other's tears, and wish I could go on forever. But... My wrist is - I think - still there - cause I can see it. My ass, I don't know -- I can't feel it ; and my neck - well let's just say TG for heat wraps!

I'm now going to go about the daily routine. I'm really going to try very hard to work 1/3, play 1/3, and sleep(oh sweet Jesus please) 1/3. I say Jesus because that's the "name" that I get the feeling most bloggers recognize as having existed some 2000 years ago. I think most of us here believe that some "wise" person tried to get the word out all those years back. And now I think that if we could all get on some "bisexual" level here(need to work on that fine line of kinky, porn, preditor crap that's around), we could deal with the age old problem (?) of gender, roles, etc............
Don't we all have some of each others hormones at various times in our lives? TG for the y/y!!

I think I'll worship the SUN as my god. I'm with Carlin on that one. Even the sun can hurt you if you get too much.

I hope that we, as a society (in the USA anyway) haven't plateaued. Sadly, though I think that we may have. I have many thoughts on how we should
ride out this plateau....what are some of your ideas? First I want to take racism out of the dic. and put a double entry in for HUMANISM. I like the idea of turning off the cable channels, tuning into a calming, "one person talks at a time" radio station, listening to the muzak with my headphones and eyemask on, and BLOGGING BLOGGING BLOGGING. Oh, and MARKOS - rip up that other note you took down from Colbert - you know, the suggestion that you could raise some money with "a buck a hit" ( hee hee hee). Let's just laugh that one off and put a jar near our computer screens labled "A penny for your thoughts". Oh THEY BETTER leave that one alone - I- I - I don't even want to go there today.

Oh yeh-- and I think I'm going to read a few more books:

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider."...found it while reading, "How to Read and Why" - Harold Bloom (spent a lot of time at this site)

And that never ending quest of mine to find "The meaning of Life" in that song lyric - all the different composers and all the different "opinions" in their words. Music makes the world go 'round.. so they say. I'm still trying to find that perfect song for that poor man who got in trouble for playing that music in the taxi cab. I need to get back to that thread..... When I left the house with that question you asked, Dylan came on the radio singing um.. um... (my head is fried) it was something like - You got a lot of nerve da da da, to say your da da da - NOW I can't turn that off in my head (just heard it - and it's completely gone - help!!) I wanted to find the words and put it here (enjoying this cut 'n paste feature on the computer!), but after going into a Bob Dylan site -- you go try to find a song with just a few words and no title - JMJ he wrote alot of stuff!

Anyway, came upon this classic - thought of my blondes here. (I promise I won't post anymore lyrics - those sites are making me crazy right about now)


SHELTER FROM THE STORM
Words and Music by Bob Dylan
1974,1976 Ram's Horn Music

'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail,
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed.
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love.
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine.
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

TTFN

Tom DeLay's Sugar Land, that shining city on a hill

Republicans in Sugar Land, Texas assaulted a 70 year old woman in front of Sugar Land City Hall today during Nick Lampson's press conference. Click here to go to Juanita's link to the video of the assault. For another account of the incident, visit Fort Bend Now.

Lampson had called a press conference to ask Governor Rick Perry to call a special election to replace resigning Tom DeLay. Perry will not call the special election and Tom DeLay sent constituents a letter today saying staff would be in place through November to continue to serve them.

Dear Jaye:
For the past 21 years as your Congressman, it has been an incredible honor to represent you and your neighbors within the 22nd district of our great state of Texas. style="font-size:100%;">When I started in public service, I was inspired by the optimism and conservative principles embodied by one of our greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan. Since coming to Congress in 1985, America has moved closer to the "shining city on a hill" that he so magnificently described.

Together, with my colleagues, we put policies in place to renew America's security, prosperity, and families. We adopted tax relief year after year, reformed welfare, banned partial-birth abortion, and started the effort to defend our homeland in the war on terror.

Here in the district, we have worked hard and accomplished dozens of major priorities, including building a robust infrastructure for our region with a booming port, medical and energy base. We've cultivated a vibrant Texas Medical Center, revitalized NASA and our human space program with a new mission and priorities, provided the Houston region with the vision and resources to achieve world class mobility and receive critical transportation corridors, and created tens of thousands of new jobs. And we've done it all on the enduring strength of our principles and our ideas.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve you, the constituents of the 22nd congressional district, in this the people's House.

Now, however, after many weeks of personal prayerful thinking and analysis, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to close this public service chapter of my life. It's time for me to begin pursuing new opportunities to engage in the important cultural and legislative battles of our day from outside the arena of the U.S. House of Representatives.

You and the other constituents of the 22nd district of Texas deserve a debate on the vital national and local issues that you care most about and that affect your life every day, and now we can be sure you'll have that debate. So today, I am letting you know of my intention to resign my seat in the House effective sometime before mid-June. Between now and the date that I leave the House, I will continue to focus on the legislative priorities of the 22nd district.

Please rest assured that after my departure this summer, there will be staff in the Washington and district offices providing the same constituent services that are available now to assist you with any help you may need with federal agencies.

I am excited about the future, which holds, as always, America's brightest day. May God continue to bless you, your family and our great state of Texas.

Sincerely,
Tom DeLay
Member of Congress

The 70 year old woman, a retired Child Protective Services employee, Marsha Rovai, was assaulted by Republicans who answered the call in the form of an email from Tom DeLay's campaign manager Chris Homan.

We would meet tomorrow morning at 9:45 am on the first floor of the parking garage attached to the Marriott. Please get folks to call our campaign office 281.343.1333 and let us know they can do it – or e-mail Leonard Cash (in the cc field above) so that we can get some head count. Let’s give Lampson a parting shot that wrecks his press conference.

Photo courtesy www.FortBendNow.com

deconstructing bitches, Couric, Clinton and Rice

Consider this survey of one week in the continuing saga of women in popular culture.

From this morning's Washington Post:

In the e-mail, addressed "To whom it may concern," the [Duke University Lacrosse] player says he has "decided to have some strippers over" to his dorm room, "however there will be no nudity."

"I plan on killing the bitches as soon as they walk in and proceding to cut their skin off," the author of the e-mail says, adding in vulgar terms that he would find the act sexually satisfying. The e-mail was signed with what police said is the player's jersey number.

Katie Couric to anchor CBS Evening News. Last month dean of the ultimate ol' boys network, journalism, Walter Cronkite noted that women's voices were not pleasing in broadcasting because their voices "modulated at the wrong" pitch. Other sources say that Cronkite was not critical of women as anchors but dismayed at his own hearing loss. Higher pitches are difficult for the 89 year old to hear. He is of course, this month, "delighted" that Couric, who's beauty had "striken" him, is anchoring at CBS. Was he "delighted" that Dan Rather took the helm after him? Did Ed Morrow's looks render his audience "stiken?" Was George Stephanopolis, former Rhode's scholar hired for his intellectual ability or his ability to draw an audience on his widely reported appearance?

Sharon Stone, expert on self promotion, gave political, woman to woman advice to Hillary Clinton this week. Clinton, Stone notes, shouldn't run for president yet because she is still sexually powerful and therefore intimidating to men. Stone, famous for showing her pubic hair in B-movies and is no doubt aware of how to earn a living by pleasing men is now giving political advice to a woman famous for showing her brain in courtrooms, campaigns the White House and Congress. Fine Christian American, ex House Majority Leader and disgraced former represenative Tom DeLay, noted of Senator Clinton "there is nothing worse than a know it all woman." It doesn't sound like her sexuality frightens him.

Secretary of State Condoleesa Rice gave her bed to Jack Straw and slept on the floor of her air plane. Obviously a government plan