Said in my most comforting and motherly tone, "That which does not kill us merely maims us. Or something like that.

Long Suffering and I are about to become grandparents again. Our grand-daughter, Grace, is due to arrive in early September. My son told me he has written a birth plan to present to the obstetrician at their next checkup.

What is it with men and birth plans? Do they love devising these birth plans because it gives them something to do in the waiting room besides pretending to read the magazine articles their wives keep shoving at them. ("Jack, read this about inverted nipple syndrome: it's fascinating!")? However, birth plans do distract men from dwelling on the age-old question of why some women seem to recruit armies of small, whiny children to bring with them to every appointment.

My daughter-in-law asked me about my birth plaln, and I said it had been real simple. "Really?" she said. "Your son has several pages of plans with supporting documentation and footnotes. He's amazing. Did you manage to keep yours under two pages?"

"Well, uh, we didn't really write that much down," I said.

Did I have the heart to tell Mary the truth? That my "birth plan" consisted of one line hastily scrawled ont he back of a maternity pantyhose carton? That it read "Drugs. Lots of 'em and keep 'em coming"?

She thought I was kidding and began to chuckle. And then she said in that hormones-are-eating-my-brain-out way that pregnant women say: "Oh, I don't want any drugs. I just want to have as natural an experience as possible. I don't want to miss a single second!"

Sure you do. Listen to me. If I could have, I would have been sitting on the third-base at Royals Stadium, roughly three thousand miles from that hospital, eating a sausage dog and swilling Bud Light during my kid's births.

You don't want to miss a second? True. You want to miss hours. I'll let you in on a little secret, hons. The whole delivery thing is vastly overrated. Sure, you think you're going to lie up there with Mozart softly playing from the portable CD player hubby so thoughtfully packed. He's going to be rubbing your back with tennis balls rolled up in a sock while you speak in loving tones about the wonderment that is taking place in your body, your lives.

He's going to gently spoon ice chips into your alarmingly dry and crusty mouth while murmuring that you are, without a doubt, the bravest, most wonderful woman in the world.

As the time draws near, you experience some discomfort, surely, perhaps even some pain, but this is more than countered by the presence of your dear partner telling to you to "Breathe, darling, just like in class."

A doctor will enter the room, and softly say, "It's time." Then, after a few soap-opera birth-scene squeals, for which you apologize profusely, presto-whammo, you've got a baby.

Birth plans are silly because they give the illusion that you have any control at all over a situation that is completely beyond your control.

I didn't say this to Mary, who has watched way too many episodes of 'A Baby Story' on the Learning Channel and is convinced she wants a water birth. At home. With a midwife.

Mary is insisting on wearing regular cloths throughout her pregnancy just because "all the pregnant celebrities do it."

Mary isn't alone. Although I was happy to see the demise of the "BABY" shirts with the arrow pointing crotchward and the dancing bear casual Bo Peep-collared business wear that used to define maternity fashion (as though just because we were pregnant our IQs had inexplicably plunged 75 points), tight clothes on pregnant women look, well, well,.......like pregnant women in tight clothes.

I saw Jane Leeves (Frasier's Daphne Moon) at the Emmys once stuffed in a painted-on sleeveless sheath that made her look like a cover girl for White Trash Weekly. All she needed was some Vi-enna sausages and Saltines and a True Story magazine. ( Not that there's anything wrong with Vi-enna sausages and Saltines.)

Mary said she was proud for the world to watch her blooming body. I told her that while she thought she looked chic and fabulous, she really looked just like the tired-ass boa constrictor at the zoo right after he had his once-a-month bunny rabbit lunch.

I finally gave up. Mary was granola. I knew she would plant the afterbirth under a tree (on our farm, they live in an apartment) and nurse Grace until she was using works like "pontificate."

Then she insisted on a couples baby shower. I've been to a half a dozen of these now, and the men always wear that frozen look of horror that is usually reserved for when they discover that ESPN's showing the world figure skating championships.

Men have no place at baby showers. They can never figure out how to retrieve a mini-pizza from beneath the puffy fold-out stork centerpiece and it'll break you heart to watch 'em try.

Recently, I took my son aside and gave him some tips. "Here's the drill. You open the gift, hold it up, and squeal something like, "It's beautiful. Oh, thank you so much. It's exactly what we wanted.!"

I even told him how you have to pass it on to the person beside you so it can make the long, strange trip around the room and everyone can repeat the exact same comments. ("Why, yes! This IS the most precious and darling breast pump I've ever seen!")

The dad-to-be finished his beer, burped, and said, "Huh? Yeah, okay. Got it."

My duty done, I returned to my chair and watched him help his wife open an adorable bib. He held it aloft---so far, so good----and said, "Wow. Where the hell did you get this thing" This is why no man should be at any party that ends in the "shower" word.

It's not their fault. We've had practice. At bridal showers, we women can gush worthy of an Oscar over a crocheted toilet paper cozy.

The men who go these showers always abandon their buddy at the first announcement that it's present time. Utter the phrase "mucus plug" or debate the merits of Baby Bjorn over Snugli and they leave him like a wounded animal, fleeing to the room with the big TV or the deck, where they can bond over a few foamers.

My son had done better than most of at their shower, probably because, as Mary frequently pointed out, "He is very much in touch with his feminine side," causing his buddies to snicker and make tent tits by pulling on their Polo knits.

As Mary's time draws near, I feel I must tell her the truth about unrealistic birth plans. That's all I have to say about that tonight. I'll write about that tomorrow.

Maybe this is why Arnold said "No" when boygeorge wanted him to send more troops to the Mexican border

Maybe Arnold figures he'll need the troops for cleanup.

Earthquake Rattles Southeastern California
"BRAWLEY, California — A small earthquake rattled a rugged mountain area in southeastern California, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage."
Read more.

Then, if you're interested in knowing what earthquakes have been happening, how big, and where, go to the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. (Click on the maps to localize.)

Bush Had Little Reaction to Supreme Court Ruling

Wonder why? This morning's WaPo has a good analysis of the War Criminal in Chief's defeat by the SCOTUS.

For five years, President Bush waged war as he saw fit. If intelligence officers needed to eavesdrop on overseas telephone calls without warrants, he authorized it. If the military wanted to hold terrorism suspects without trial, he let it.

Now the Supreme Court has struck at the core of his presidency and dismissed the notion that the president alone can determine how to defend the country. In rejecting Bush's military tribunals for terrorism suspects, the high court ruled that even a wartime commander in chief must govern within constitutional confines significantly tighter than this president has believed appropriate.

For many in Washington, the decision echoed not simply as a matter of law but as a rebuke of a governing philosophy of a leader who at repeated turns has operated on the principle that it is better to act than to ask permission. This ethos is why many supporters find Bush an inspiring leader, and why many critics in this country and abroad react so viscerally against him. Read on...

I think you ought to take this into consideration too when you think about the boy king:

"George W. Bush, following the briefing at his Crawford, Texas, homestead on Aug. 6, 2001, about a CIA memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." Upon listening to the CIA briefer, Bush says, "All right, you've covered your ass, now." Bush proceeds to go fishing… " -Ron Suskind

Clarke on the Big "Leak"

Terrorism Czar, Richard Clarke opines in today's NY Times what we had already figured out- The Secret the Terrorists Already Knew

Big excerpt:

Going after terrorists' money is a necessary element of any counterterrorism program, as President Bill Clinton pointed out in presidential directives in 1995 and 1998. Individual terrorist attacks do not typically cost very much, but running terrorist cells, networks and organizations can be extremely expensive.

Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups have had significant fund-raising operations involving solicitation of wealthy Muslims, distribution of narcotics and even sales of black market cigarettes in New York. As part of a "follow the money" strategy, monitoring international bank transfers is worthwhile (even if, given the immense number of transactions and the relatively few made by terrorists, it is not highly productive) because it makes operations more difficult for our enemies. It forces them to use more cumbersome means of moving money.

Privacy rights advocates, with whom we generally agree, have lumped this bank-monitoring program with the alleged National Security Agency wiretapping of calls in which at least one party is within the United States as examples of our government violating civil liberties in the name of counterterrorism. The two programs are actually very different.

Any domestic electronic surveillance without a court order, no matter how useful, is clearly illegal. Monitoring international bank transfers, especially with the knowledge of the bank consortium that owns the network, is legal and unobjectionable.

The International Economic Emergency Powers Act, passed in 1977, provides the president with enormous authority over financial transactions by America's enemies. International initiatives against money laundering have been under way for a decade, and have been aimed not only at terrorists but also at drug cartels, corrupt foreign officials and a host of criminal organizations.

These initiatives, combined with treaties and international agreements, should leave no one with any presumption of privacy when moving money electronically between countries. Indeed, since 2001, banks have been obliged to report even transactions entirely within the United States if there is reason to believe illegal activity is involved. Thus we find the privacy and illegality arguments wildly overblown.

So, too, however, are the Bush administration's protests that the press revelations about the financial monitoring program may tip off the terrorists. Administration officials made the same kinds of complaints about news media accounts of electronic surveillance. They want the public to believe that it had not already occurred to every terrorist on the planet that his telephone was probably monitored and his international bank transfers subject to scrutiny. How gullible does the administration take the American citizenry to be?

The American Values Agenda

Just in time for Independence Day celebrations and in an election year, the GOP's "Values Action Team" or VAT, announced its "American Values Agenda" this week to appease those voters who hold "American" values dear. I would have had quite a few more suggestions for our representatives in Washington, but apparently an amendment to ban pre-emptive war based on lies and an amendment to hold oil companies responsible for raping drivers is not a "value."

Dennis Hastert:
“The American Values Agenda will defend America’s founding principles. Through this agenda, we will work to protect the faith of our people, the sanctity of life and freedoms outlined by our founding fathers. Radical courts have attempted to gut our religious freedom and redefine the value system on which America was built. We hope to restore some of those basic values through passing this legislative agenda and renewing our country's commitment to faith, freedom and life.”

What is the Agenda?

The American Values Agenda

• Pledge Protection Act (HR 2389; Akin)
Summary: Protects the Pledge of Allegiance from attacks by activist federal judges seeking to rule it unconstitutional. failed

• Freedom to Display the American Flag Act (HR 42; Bartlett)
Summary: Ensures an individual has the right to display the U.S. flag on residential property. passed

I was shocked. I had no idea that my right to wave my flag on my house was in jeopardy. Well it really wasn't afterall. It turns out that some voters in Bartlett's district were having problems with their condo associations regarding the placement and size of their flags. So, by all means, let's make a law. It passed. Whew.
The Flag Protection Amendment failed however. Our First Amendment right to desecrate the flag is saved. hmmm.

• The Public Expression of Religion Act (HR 2679; Hostettler)
Summary: Ensures local officials and communities do not face financial ruin to defend their rights to free speech under the Constitution (provides that when state or local officials are sued over public expressions of religion, no monetary damages, costs, or attorney's fees may be awarded).

The Christian right loses most First Amendment battles (Christmas tree wars) and is forced to pay the legal expenses of the other party (mostly the ACLU) as it stands now. I can sort of see the point to this on one hand, but on the other hand, the way things stand now, it kind of makes people think before they waste time with frivolous law suits. But then again, it may scare people away from suing big corporations.

• Marriage Amendment (HJRes 88; Musgrave)
Summary: Constitutional amendment declaring marriage to be between a man and a woman. failed

• Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (HR 356; C. Smith)
Summary: Requires that those performing late-term abortions inform the woman seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child feels pain, and ensure that if she chooses to continue with the abortion procedure, she has the option of choosing anesthesia for the child, so that the unborn child’s pain is less severe.

Um, I don't think that will appease values voters, guys.

• Human Cloning Prohibition Act (HR 1357; D. Weldon)
Summary: Bans human cloning and the importation of products derived from a cloned human embryo (e.g. stem cells).

• BATFE Reform (HR 5092; Coble)
Summary: Reforms the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (BATFE) to protect citizens’ rights.

• Internet Gambling Prohibition (Leach/Goodlatte):
Summary: Addresses the issue of illegal internet gambling by making gambling laws apply equally to the internet.

• Permanent Tax Relief for Families
Summary: Likely series of votes on the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, tax incentives for adoption, and other priorities for American citizens.

• Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (HR 5013; Jindal)
Summary: Prohibits governments from using federal funds to confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens during emergencies.

James Dobson: "The House leaders are to be commended for demonstrating their commitment to the issues American families hold dear: marriage, life and freedom of religion. The announcement of the 'American Values Agenda' and its 10 priority bills signals that the GOP leadership in the House is in touch with the concerns of the values voters who sent them to Washington."

His base must not read the papers or watch the evening news.

What kind of "values" amendments would you like to see?

Crafting with Lizzy Part 1

The kids are home, long weekend, raining, bored, whining... why not make lovely garden junk for your backyard? (click images for larger picture)

Materials
Old bowling ball or a kids rubber ball
Small plastic animals or doodads
Glue (hot, crazy or white)
Sandpaper
Spray paint, preferably metallic
Acrylic paint-turquoise, blue, white
Sponge

Instructions
Rough up the ball with some sandpaper so that the glue and paint will stick. Wipe off the ball. Prop the ball on a bowl to keep it from rolling away. Artistically glue tiny plastic lizards, bugs, frogs, army men, worms, whatever, on the ball -evenly distributed, of course. Wait for the glue to dry before turning it over. (hot glue worked the best, crazy glue worked well too, but my fingers stuck to the lizards, white glue took really long to dry)

When the doo dads are secure, take the ball outside or into the garage and spray it with metallic paint. I used copper on one and bronze on another. You can use whatever you have on the shelf. Wear protective glasses and something over your mouth and nose to keep from breathing the paint. If you're outside, spray down wind. Wait for it to dry before you add another coat if necessary. I balanced mine on an old plastic cup.

If you like the way it looks, you can leave it at that, but this crafty lady's agenda was to make it look like weathered copper so I mixed up some turquoise and blue paint with some white and water and sparingly dabbed the paint all over the ball. (They also sell patina looking paints at the craft stores and neato sea sponges.) Test it on paper before you glob up the ball. You can use some paper towels to blot excess paint off the ball.

I glued a painted plastic cup to the bottom of the balls so that they could rest above the foliage or flowers in the garden. The point here is to have fun and be whimsical. Use primary colors if you want. Glue macaroni on the ball and spray it gold, whatever.
Send your results to blondesense (at) optonline.net

For future projects: Don't throw away any toy trucks. Keep saving little doodads, charms, trinkets. Don't throw away broken dishes or china. Don't throw anything away, just yet.

CAT KILLER

First, Aretha the dwarf hamster died because I didn't separate her from my evil killer hamster Uma fast enough.

The next week, I murdered a squirrel because he ran out in front of my truck faster than I could hit the brakes.

Then, two days ago, I cranked the truck & put it into gear to pull out of the parking lot here at Hotel du Fucktards, and I hear this horrible THUMP!, but nothing fell out of the transmission or the engine block, so I assumed that it was more vandalism by the mouth-breathers that have been attacking my truck, its antenna, and my sticker collection since I moved into this hell-hole.

Then, yesterday, came The Smell. Something between a skunk that's been dead a month and raw garbage in the July sun. Jake goes out to examine the interior & exterior of the truck, to see if I'd run over something and didn't know (which couldn't really happen, I don't think) or if we'd left some old Taco Bell bags in the truck.

He comes back in and tells me that he had discarded the carcass of a dead possum (that's "opossum" to you nit-pickers) from the engine block, because it had been caught-up in the engine fan the day before, hence the thump and the smell. He got rid of the evidence, I hosed-off the fan today, no more smell, no problem. Possums are vile, vicious, snarling, hissing, garbage-eating, dog-harrassing, food-stealing nasty greasy little verminous MONSTERS, so I wasn't too too torn-up over it.

Then we get into version #9,875,999 of the same schizophrenic fight that we've had over the past year (well, as of July 13, it'll be a year. Friday the 13th, I should've taken the hint.), and he blurts out that he'd lied about the possum.

It was this little orange stray cat that hangs around our dumpster, and who we occasionally feed when we can afford to.

I'm a cat-killer.

I didn't think that I could fuck anything up as badly this year as I did the Toofus-Re-Doofus fund (four dentists, money gone, no progress, no toof, one badly-mangled root canal that resulted in a cracked tooth), but now I'm officially John Wayne Gacy. Former "professional" clown who kills several small animals.

If anybody needs me, I'll be under the bed, nursing a half-pint of JD and trying not to think about cats.

SCOTUS says Bush went too far

From CNN SCOTUS rules that Bush 'overstepped' his authority regarding Gitmo

Oddly Enough, I DO Feel Safer

As I am sure you have heard, the weather in my little portion of the world has been a bit dangerous lately. My general area has received between 8 and 12 inches of rain over a period of 4 days. Toss us some flotation devices 'cuz they are calling for more.....

We have bridges underwater, roads eaten away, houses (whole and in pieces) floating down rivers, rock slides, land slides, more flooding than I can recount and loss of power and other vital services. And you know what? We're doing okay.

In Pennsylvania (at least as of Wed night) there has been one fatallity, an older man in his car. That's it. We have had to evacuate over 200,000 (two hundred thousand) people from Wilkes-Barre, and you know what? Aside from the aggrevation of traffic, everything went smoothly with no major issues or interventions.

You want to know what else? Its pissing off the MSM and a few of the powers that be. Wolf Blitzer 'interviewed' the Mayor and asked him "Why are you evacuating the town, don't you have faith in the Army Engineer Corps?"

Ya gotta luv the Mayor. His response was simple, quick and unarguable. "Listen, we have what could easily turn into the Northern version of Katrina, no one HERE wants that. My decisions are made on the information I have available and with the safety of our citizens being my topmost priority. I have given the order for mandatory evacuation and if faced with the same scenario I will do the same thing again."

My little town was just as forceful with their decisions. Most of Jim Thorpe is a series of large hills and small mountains with a surprisine amount of creeks, lakes and, of course, the Lehigh river running through it. We have had a good amount of flooding and debris being carried down the mountains and into the streets. Part of Route 209 was under water from Monday until this morning. We have nothing but volunteer services here, volunteers who were kept busy pumping out homes and businesses, rescuing stranded motorist and doing their best to prevent any further damage. The town and the mayor were behind them 100%, people were asked to evacuate, they evacuated; they either went to a neighbouring firehall or other families took them in. We were asked to stay indoors and use our cell phones to call numbers to report emergencies, these numbers were broadcasted constantly over the radio stations. Police scanners also announced the number once every 20-30 minutes as they knew many towns people have and listen to scanners.

Our mayor was a real hoot, he made it very clear that we didn't need "rubber neckers" coming up to look at the damage. If you were caught there once with a car your info was taken down and you were given a warning, do it again and your car was impounded and you were delivered to a shelter for the duration. I have no idea what, if anything happend to anyone who walked downtown.

Now admittedly, some people may feel this is a bit draconian, but to be honest it didn't feel that way. It was a community working together to take care of its own, we knew who was in charge, the chain of command was not only clear but PRESENT. Everyone knew what they were expected to do and they did it, wether that meant operating heavy machinery, feeding evacuees and first responders, or just staying inside and out of the way.

This was the complete opposite of what happened in New Orleans, LA.

Both had prior knowledge that levvees (in our case, multitudes of earthen dams) could be breached. Both areas have many large and small bodies of water, both had the same technology, and aside from climate both situations were very similar. The biggest difference is the size of the population and the area effected (NOLA bigger population in a smaller area, NorthEast bigger TOTAL population but spread out).

So, what do you think? Apparently we, the people, have learned from Katrina, even it the Federal Govnmt and MSM have not. We, the people, have shown that we can work together to help one another out, that we can be counted on to use common sense and that we can pull off a wide-spread operation over a period of days under harsh conditions. What has the government learned?

For Your Edification

Eight ways to kill someone using an iPod Nano according to Marine.

So, what do you guys want to talk about today?

Blondesense Accuses Bush Of Diverting Attention from Penis Pump Trial

Bush is out there blabbing about Democrats who want to wave the white flag of surrender in Iraq even though 3 years ago he declared that the war was over and he's pretending that the news of the US' spying on bank records was a secret even though he talked about it a number of times. Supposedly spying on bank records was a "vital tool" in fighting the war on terra, says our leader. Everyone else in the country wants the Republicans to shut the hell up and talk about getting our troops out of Iraq, lowering the gasoline prices and getting cameras into the penis pump trial in Oklahoma.

The judge who was arrested for using his penis pump behind the bench while conducting trials is having his day in court much to the giggling amusement of the jurors in the Oklahoma town who have seen both the defense attorney and the prosecutor mimic masturbation in the courtroom and also demonstrate the "sh-sh" of air through the "white handled sexual device".

Thompson's former court reporter, Lisa Foster, wiped away tears as she described tracing an unfamiliar "sh-sh" in the courtroom to her boss. She testified that between 2001 and 2003 she saw Thompson expose himself at least 15 times.

"I was really shocked and I was kind of scared because it was so bizarre," said Foster.

She testified that during a trial in 2002, she heard the pump during the emotional testimony of a murdered toddler's grandfather.

The grandfather "was getting real teary-eyed, and the judge was up there pumping on that pump," she said. "It was sickening."

/snark

Starting the weekend early:

Robot Bartender

A man walks into 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, and the Kama Sutra.

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 about NASCAR, supermodels, hunting, beer and women's breasts.

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 gonna vote for Bush again?"

Guess What He's Talking About

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), yesterday on the senate floor:

I was asked this afternoon by a large body of media: Is this the most important thing the Senate could be doing at this time? I can tell you: You’re darned right it is.

Need an appetite suppressant?

View this montage from Media Matters of St. Ann Of The Codpiece's recent whoredom, an entire collection of her batshit-crazy ravings & blatherings in order to shill her new abortion-in-print "book."

This critter is proof that evolution has made a few hard left-handed u-turns.

And if you're not reduced to bowing before the great white porcelain god, dry-heaving up your toenails from watching shim, then you're probably as demented as I am, and you laugh very heartily before you start to cry.

The mere fact that this crusty sore from the anus of hell is allowed to EXIST is proof that there is no "god", no benificent deity that cares a flying rat-fuck about any of us. But the further horror that shim is allowed to PROSPER by shim's lies, insanity and pure-dee EVIL --- that right there ought to be enough to pass manditory-birth-control legislation, if not manditory STERILIZATION legislation.

And yes, I'd want to be the one to perform the retroactive abortion on this great bony glob of afterbirth.

(I'm just so thankful that transsexual transvestites aren't fertile. Tim Curry ought to rip shim a new one with a "theft of artistic property" lawsuit. IF it could be proven that shim has ever actually ATTEMPTED cosmetic improvements, anyway...)

Adulterers: GOP Frontrunners

Hillary Clinton wasn't the one who was caught in an adulterous affair, yet conservative writers just cannot leave her personal relationship with her husband out of the equation. What I think really pisses off the conservatives is that despite her husband's extra-curricular activities, is that they are still together as a couple. Why that is completely unheard of in conservative politics- it's ok if you're a cheater and a Republican, just as long as you divorce your wife and marry the other woman. Or is it?

Serial monogamy is the name of the game in God's Own Party (as long as the press doesn't dwell on it) despite the fact that Jesus expliticly mentioned that once you get divorced because of your own unfaithfulness, you will live in the state of adultery for the rest of your life should you have a relationship with anyone else. Luke 16: 18. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery. But those are just silly details and the 7th commandment is soooo Old Testament.

I don't care what people do in their private lives, but don't go around telling everyone how "christian" you are when your claim to fame is your "family values" platform. It's the hypocrisy that really pisses off the liberals, not the polyamory. I had been meaning to point out that the Republican presidential candidate front runners are adulterers but Steve Benen of Washington Monthly beat me to it in "Adulterers in Chief". I was wondering just how the 'values voters' were going to take to this and if they don't mind, will they ever forgive Hillary?

Benen writes:

Lurking just over the horizon are liabilities for three Republicans who have topped several national, independent polls for the GOP's favorite 2008 nominee: Sen. John McCain (affair, divorce), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (affair, divorce, affair, divorce), and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (divorce, affair, nasty divorce). Together, they form the most maritally challenged crop of presidential hopefuls in American political history.

Both Guiliani and Gingrich have had affairs while in public office, Gingrich being the most hypocritical because he was cheating on his wife during his "Let Our Family Represent Your Family" congressional campaign in 1978. He divorced his first wife during her bout with uterine cancer. He has allegedly had quite a few mistresses and had a young one during the time he was lambasting Clinton for his affair.

Guiliani, as New Yorkers know asked his wife for a separation during a press conference and was seen in public quite often with his mistress including a parade. Guiliani, America's mayor didn't go around telling everyone how moral he was, however. He's not running for president, but NY's former senator, Al D'Amato who spent the better part of his last term in the senate investigating Bill Clinton's infidelities, doing nothing for his constituents, was granted a divorce because he fell in love with gossip columnist Claudia Cohen in 1995. New Yorkers are more concerned with gay rights and women's rights. I wonder how the rest of the country will view Guiliani's rather liberal views?

Steve Benen wonders if these GOP front runners with adulterous pasts will face the music from the press, Democrats, or stragglers in the race for the GOP nomination who are "faithful" husbands. He wonders how the press will be beaten into reporting the news and if they do report it how will the right fight back? By saying it's just old news? Just how mad will the Democrats be? How about actually sincere Republicans who because of religious beliefs stay in their marriages until death do them part even if they are miserable? That could be a force to be reckoned with.

It's still pretty early to tell, but if the right keeps touting their values, someone is going to bring this up in the mainstream media. No?

"Had Enough?"

Gary!! Your new favorite blog is now MY new favorite blog! Orwell's Grave. If you have not read this speech from Barack Obama, Gary has all the links to this on his blog. It is great!

All of the posts at Orwell's Grave are wonderful. I was particularly interested in the Unity08 post on June 4th. I thought Mr. McArthur handled the comment thread quite well. I wish I knew about this site before I spent time running around in circles trying to understand unity08.

Thanks Gary. Nice find.

New Study: Women responsible for gayness in men.

If you're gay, it's probably your mother's fault for having too many sons, says psychologist.

Study Links Male Gays, Birth of Older Brothers

Having one or more older brothers boosts the likelihood of a boy growing up to be gay — an effect due not to social factors, but biological events that occur in their mother's womb, according to a study published today.

In an analysis of 905 men and their siblings, Canadian psychologist Anthony Bogaert found no evidence that social interactions among family members played a role in determining whether a man was gay or straight.

The only significant factor was the number of times a mother had previously given birth to boys, according to the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

I can think of dozens of exceptions to this, but on the other hand a number of my gay friends have several older brothers. Anyway, I love these scientific studies because next week, something will come out that contradicts this week's studies.

Shooting The Messenger

The news last night was all abuzz with the story of the bushistas outrage that the NY Times dared to print the story regarding the government tracking our bank transactions. Peter King wants to sue the Times for treason. oy vay. The press has been pretty darn accomodating to the bushistas over the years and basically sold out the American people to the fascists. Somehow, according to the Republicans, this big secret that the Times revealed, that the US inspects banking records, which is supposedly legal, is harming our national security. yawn. If I hear, "We are in a time of war" one more time, I'm gonna hit someone. The war ended 3 years ago. We're in an occupation now. duh.

If it's legal that the government can spy on our bank records, then how is it illegal that the NY Times would report it? It seems like a lousy excuse. The government doth protest too much. This is what the press is supposed to do according to Thomas Jefferson.

They are just embarrassed that yet another incident of how the government has trod over our civil rights has been outed. So they are listening to our calls, monitoring our call history, inspecting our bank accounts... and what's next? We'll find out that they are also monitoring our health records? Sorry, but divulging that our government is spying on us, is not hurting the war effort. It's hurting the effort by the fascists to end democracy.

Terrorists with E.D.

Does Darryn Kagan have to report this on CNN this morning? Eeeks. (I hate the guy, but holy shit) Makes you wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye.
Bottle of Viagra Gets Limbaugh Held at Airport

Abstinence Education: Girls Don't Like Sex

You have got to read this article at alternet, "Abstinence Double Standard Threatens Girls' Health" because it's a mind blower. This is a cause I can jump on because it's chock full of lies and outdated social mores. It's dangerous. There's no mention of birth control other than abstinence, which doesn't work, and it has no effect on the spread of STD infection. Nice.

Shame based abstinence education is what the government is funding and it has no health value and NO redeeming social value to boot. It teaches that "boys will be boys" and girls just have to control themselves, say no and never to "tease" them by wearing sexy clothing. It's up to girls to stop kissing the boy when things get heated up, because after all, girls don't really like sex anyway. Girls have to STOP sending the sexy messages to boys. Boys simply cannot control themselves so if a girl gets pregnant or ABUSED by a boy, it's her fault.

It almost seems like whomever is writing these "health" books has also written, but not published yet, new rules for who has to pay child support when the girl forgets to say no and gets knocked up- why the girl of course. If a boy sexually abuses a girl, it's her fault. The boy couldn't help it. So if a girl gets AIDS, HPV or other STD, it's her fault for not stopping the boy. "Waddaya gonna do?" There's no actual health and safety information.

Where do they come up with this shit? In their rich fantasy lives of life in ancient times? Our tax dollars are funding this crappy excuse for sex education? And it doesn't work either. Trying to fight nature with nonsense is a losing battle. They had better come up with something that works. Why do they think that boys and girls got married at 14 before the modern era? It's no easy task to delay what nature urges human beings to do. The government is funding a curriculum rife with misinformation- our children are unarmed and dangerous.

June 27th - "National Day of Action"

Last week, Lt. Ehren Watada refused to deploy with his unit to Iraq. I was very touched by this open letter from his mother.

Here are some locations around the country that will be supporting Lt. Watada on the 27th. I thought I would pass it on in case anyone was interested.


billy boy and rush must be having a field day with this -- Has anyone caught any MSM reporting on this?

Movements against partisan politics

I am finally reading more and more about people who are fed up with our political parties in this country. This morning, I read about a group of recent graduates from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, who launched a new website. Here is the article and a link to their site.

"The website is part of a budding movement against partisan politics, driven largely by college students and playing out primarily on the Web. The most prominent of these groups, Unity08, intends to hold an online convention to nominate a bipartisan presidential ticket in 2008....."

I had not heard of Unity08 until I read this story. Here is the technorati tag link to Unity08:
. Lots of good reads! WOW!!! What do you think of this group (founded by several washington insiders)?

Well, I wonder how this will play out. I'm kinda thinking that the internet plugs will be pulled on all of us in the very near future. In case that happens, I just want to say that it has been a pleasure conversing with ALL of you and I wish you the very best (in heaven or hell); until then -- party on dudes!

How's by you?

Not only do the nation's politics suck, the weather sucks too.

I am soooo sick of watching television, I could scream. It's off today. I don't care. I'll go out back and see how my studio and all the projects held up. It would have been a great sky watching weekend with the new moon and all... Sure I caught some interesting movies, nature shows, decorating shows and documentaries and of course, I could have been doing other things for the past few days, but this dismal, dreary excuse for summer had me laying on the couch all weekend. And muggy? My hair curled. I missed out on the usual excitement of setting pots all over the house to catch the rainwater because the intrepid testosterone twins(TM) did a pretty good job of sealing the roof around the chimney and where the 2 levels of house meet during the last deluge a few weeks ago (when I discovered pots and pans I had long forgotten about). Look honey, it's the indoor fountain you always wanted!

I read that the west is having record heat. Not sure I'd prefer that either.

Silliness

At the Last Chance Democracy Cafe, the question was asked, "Could I Love A Republican?" He is talking about romantic love and a love that you choose, not your relatives who happen to be Republican. I suppose it would all depend on what type of Republican you are talking about. If it's one that doesn't really follow the news, thinks the war in Iraq is wrong and is truly compassionate when it comes to social justice, there's a possibility that a love connection could be made. I find it unlikely that a liberal political newshound and activist could fall for a Faux News watching, Lush Bimbo listener and a Weekly Standard Reader unless that person is also turned on immensely by controversy.

Waddayathink?

For Our Edufacation: Know Your Fascist

Drives me nuts when the wingers call bloggers, liberals or anyone but themselves, Fascists. But then again it only proves that liberals are smarter than wingers and paid attention in school.

The 14 Characteristics of Fascism
by Lawrence Britt
Spring 2003
Free Inquiry magazine

The 14 characteristics are:

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottoes, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

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

“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power” -Benito Mussolini

Democrats: Stay With the Program or Lose

Jonathan Alter points something out in "How To Beat 'Cut And Run'"that most Democratic strategists haven't figured out as of yet- Rove goes after Democratic strong points and makes them look like weaknesses. With all this "cut and run" hooha going on, will the Democrats change their focus? Alter posits that if the Democrats drop the Iraq fiasco from their political agenda because of the labels put on them by Rove and the Republicans, then the Republicans have won. By name calling, the Republicans continuously bully the Democrats into retreating on the most pressing issue of the day. Right now, the Iraq quagmire is the most important issue on people's minds. Will the Democrats seize the moment?

Alter says it's not that hard to do either. They don't have to state every detail of their plan- just that they had one. (Most Democrats will tell you that they do have a plan and that the media is not reporting it. I say, then keep the message simple.) Nixon claimed to have a "secret plan" for getting out of Vietnam and the voters bought it. Democrats need to drive home the fact that Iraq is a distaster and it's all because of the Republican's failed policy. Alter writes: "Unless things improve dramatically on the ground in Iraq, Democrats have a powerful argument: If you believe the Iraq war is a success, vote Republican. If you believe it is a failure, vote Democratic."

He's right about that. It's NOT unpatriotic to criticize a president or a war. In fact, it's only under Bush that war critics have been labeled 'unpatriotic'. Remember when Clinton took military action, you couldn't hear enough anti-war criticism from the right (and the left too). No one was called "unpatriotic". We know that there is nothing unpatriotic about criticizing our government. In fact criticism is good for the republic. We can keep the fascists at bay.

So what can we do? Keep the heat on the Democrats to do the right thing and keep their focus on the war. Call them, write them, bug them. What the hell, bug the Republicans too. If they want to keep their jobs, they better focus on the important things- like pointing out all the policy failures and sticking to it.

The Great Divide?

Newsweek wants you to take this Baby Boomer survey if you're a baby boomer. (1946-1964)
If you're not a boomer then take this one.

I guess that they expected to see a big difference or a "divide" in the political views of boomers and non boomers. There really isn't much of a difference except that boomers were greatly influenced politically by Vietnam and non-boomers chose 9/11.

Try the survey and see what you think about the results. It's not really a scientific survey. It's like when Fox does an online survey- of course the results will be skewed towards Fox type viewers and Newsweek readers are probably more like me than say Time readers.

Evil Overlord List

Just a fun little list to help pass some time. I know we've all seen these movies and most of us have groaned and gnashed our teeth at how stupid the bad guys were to allow so-and-so to do this or to build a huge doomsday device and never take any precautions, like, say, pluging it into a surge protector.

So for all you horror and Sci-fi fans out there, the top 100 things an evil overlord must remember. (and you can click on cell block A for 101-250)

John Stossel - The Myth Buster

'20/20' Busts Ten Body Myths:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2109291&page=1


Nothing Will Age You Faster Than the Sun
You might think it's just the sun that causes premature wrinkles and ages your body, but a growing body of research shows your own anxiety levels can take years off your life.

There's a Wrong Way to Breathe
It turns out there's actually a better way to take a deep breath than what you're probably doing.

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! All we really need to do is breathe the right way and get rid of the stress in our lives.

When Does Life Begin? A Poll

After reading Liz's post below, and then jaunting over to Pharyngula and reading some comments regarding abortion rights there....well my mind is now swimming between thoughts of life and death and all that those events can mean.

Now, of course, it is fairly easy to determine when something is dead. (Sans a Terri Schiavo-like tragedey) however when life begins is fair more iffy. So I was wondering, what is your view? When do you think human life actually 'begins'? Is a newly fertiziled egg the same as a 2 day old infant? At what point would an embryo/fetus obtain the rights of a child, or would it obtain those rights, or do you think that a fetus is a fetus and only obtains the rights of a living person once it is separated from the mother's body?

I have C&P two posts from Prof. Myer's blog regarding the Raving Atheist who seems to be more of a Raving Lunatic for Jeebus. The conversation quickly turned to reproductive choice and I thought these two comments were simply wonderful:


Basically, outlawing abortion means that right of the fetus to live trumps the right of the pregnant woman to have a say in what happens to her body. By that logic, not only should organ donation be mandatory, but living organ donation as well. Everyone should be tissue typed for possible matches to people needing liver, bone marrow, or kidney transplants and forced to provide if a match is found, because the right of the sick person needing it to live trumps that of another person who would just suffer a short inconvenience to his/her body. Same argument.
Posted by: Carlie

Precisely, Carlie. We must distinguish between moral/ethical obligations and legal ones.
I would say that everyone has an ethical obligation to donate useful organs when they die in order to help others, but no one has the right to force others to make that choice, whether they are part of the legal system or not.

The legal system permits us to do many things that we really have obligations not to do, and it does not force us to do many things that we really have an obligation to do. That is precisely how things should be.
Posted by: Caledonian

So, what are your thoughts? When does life begin? When (if ever) is the fetus' rights more important to that of the mother. And while we're at it, how much of a say should the father (sperm donor) have in its care prior to birth? At what point could/should society intercede (say a crack-head mother, sky-diving mother, constantly drunk mother, etc) or at what point does society's rights and concerns supercede the mother's rights to do as she pleases?

Discuss and don't feed the trolls. ;)

So Who's In Hell Anyway?

Newsweek recounts a nifty poll taken at beliefnet.com about your prospects of going to hell. And naturally more conservatives think they are not going to hell than liberals. Of course conservatives have a pretty good idea who is going to hell. Conservative christians generally believe that what one believes determines their salvation. Catholics said it was because of a person's immoral actions. It just shows you how people like to play "god". That's pretty much the ongoing beef between protestants and catholics anyway: deeds or faith. It depends on how you interpret that very ambiguous book that God supposedly inspired.

For a moment here, I am going to pretend that I am a christian who believes in the god that we created. The christian god is pretty 'human', you know, yet he is most merciful because after all, he created all of us and he doesn't want his creatures to 'fry'. Not even Jerry Falwell or Osama bin Ladin. Would you want your children to burn in hell? Of course not. You'd want to give them every chance possible to redeem themselves right up until the last second. You'd pretty much give them every opportunity to show some sort of inkling of respect for you before you threw them to the wolves and even then, you'd still probably like to give them another opportunity to change their hearts, take them into your house, albeit a less luxurious room in the back of the house with no view, until they got their act together.

If I were a believer, I'd tend to go along with the Catholic Church's theology concerning hell. Contrary to all the stuff Catholics tell you about going to hell, the church really takes a broader view and you're not going to hell for eating meat on Friday's during lent (unless you really want to). It's really what's in your heart that determines if you will have a happy afterlife.

In Catholicism, you have to absolutely positively reject God consciously when you do something immoral in order to be hell fodder. It has to be pre-meditated too. You have to wake up one morning and tell yourself that you don't care what god thinks and don't care if you ever meet him in heaven because you are going to commit a particular immoral act that day regardless of the consequences and you will never ever think twice about your heinous action or regret it.

Now that's a pretty hard thing to do, isn't it? Most people do terribly immoral things on the spur of the moment and probably don't even think of their afterlife when they're wrapped up in their passion. And according to Catholic theology, god still gives you a chance at your last moment on earth to repent even if you did consciously do something immoral to deliberately set yourself apart from god. If you still reject god's love at the last nanosecond, then you will be separated from god for all eternity. And that's hell. It's YOUR choice. Not God's. The only thing god actually judges is whether or not you really, really have chosen to be separated from him at that moment. God is very sad when you choose to exist without God after your time on earth.

A lot of thinking and theology went into that Catholic doctrine (which I will not go into here) and it pretty much makes sense from a human perspective unless you're really really mad at someone at the moment and you want them to burn for all eternity for hurting you. Luckily it's not other people's judgement that determines your spiritual future. Only God knows what is in your heart and you probably have a good idea of what's in your heart too regardless of what you may project.

And that ends this brief sermonette. Go in Peace.

For more information on the Catholic Church's position on hell, you can read this brief talk given by Pope John Paul II to a general audience on July 28, 1999 where he talks about God's mercy.

As Flame Might Say, "Distraction Much?"

We haven't talked too much here about those scary Miami terrists arrested the other day. From what I've read, these guys couldn't terrorize themselves out of a paper bag. They sound like your garden variety knuckleheads, sitting around popping off at the mouth, visions of glory dancing through their heads. The so-called Al-qaeda contact, who was really an FBI agent, had to supply them with a rental car for surveillance, a map and, I kid you not, boots. It used to be that when the government went that far in supplying the means for the commission of a crime, it was called entrapment. Anywho, this looks to me like more of the usual, "hey, look over here, terra, terra, mumble mumble, fight 'em there before we have to fight 'em here" bullshit.

I mean, does anyone really buy this shit anymore? Do any of y'all think these guys were for real?

Friday Sex Post

Get your freak on.

World Cup sex toys!

I'll give you an enemy of democracy

...The guy who wrote this column in WAPO entitled Jon Stewart, Enemy of Democracy?
who claims that The Daily Show may poison democracy because it may keep youths from the polls (even though young people generally vote less than other age groups anyway). So a study was done having a group of college students watch the corporate CBS evening news which most likely reported what they were told to report and The Daily Show which actually analyzes the news and politician's double speak.

The results showed that the participants rated both candidates more negatively after watching Stewart's program. Participants also expressed less trust in the electoral system and more cynical views of the news media, according to the researchers' article, in the latest issue of American Politics Research.

"Ultimately, negative perceptions of candidates could have participation implications by keeping more youth from the polls," they wrote.

There is SO MUCH WRONG with the above paragraphs because there is no proof and there are no numbers supporting that informed young people would stay away from the polls after watching TDS. And what is wrong with American citizens being less trustful of their government and political candidates? The political candidates in 2005 were jerks. What is wrong with questioning our governments policies? Why, that is quite American. Naturally that scares the powers that be. They expect everyone to quietly take in the ass what they dole out without asking any questions. Now that's unamerican.

Drama in DC- Why do the bushistas hate NY?

NY and DC on 9/11 provided the bushistas with opportunities to make their cronies very wealthy and powerful. Why slap the cities in the face?

According to Dana Milbank of Wapo, in Republicans Gone Wild, two very unhappy mayors, Anthony Williams (DC) and Michael Bloomberg (NY) spent some time yesterday at the House's Homeland Security Committee hearing ripping the Department of Homeland Security representative, George Foresman, a new one for for slashing counterterrorism funds by 40% to NYC and DC.

What was astounding to Milbank, was that it was Republicans who were going off on the DHS and Peter King and others were talking about forcing the administration to restore funding to 2 of America's most vulnerable cities to terrorist attacks.

Long Island's only Republican congressman, Peter King, who must be up for re-election, led the assault on the DHS. Not only that, James Sensenbrenner also ripped the administration and the DOJ for failing to provide them with documents pertaining to the NSA's telephone surveillance.

BYU Physics Prof Finds Thermate in WTC Physical Samples, Building Collapses an Inside Job

"Based on chemical analysis of WTC structural steel residue, a BrighamYoung University physics professor has identified the material as Thermate. Thermate is the controlled demolition explosive thermite plus sulfur. Sulfur cases the thermite to burn hotter, cutting steel quickly and leaving trails of yellow colored residue."

Portland Independent Media Center


It's a little easier to understand now if Grove's Transcript is to be believed.

They did it for the money.

I'm so askeered, I'm gonna vote Republican.

Seven people were arrested in Miami for plotting to blow up the Sear's Tower, yadda yadda yadda,there are WMDs in Iraq, oh wait, they are from before 1991, yadda yadda yadda and fortunately the gubmint caught the bad guys in Miami, but oh wait, there were no bomb making materials in the building in Miami and there were no ties to al Qaida, but I'm still askeered anyways and gonna vote for a Republican to keep me safe even though the ninja guys in Miami stood in front of the building in plain site of everyone pretending to guard, um, nothing, but they had a Murkan flag flying on their building so how bad could they be? I know it's an election year and I know that the Republicans count on me being askeered, but, but, but, what if they are right this time? Oh I don't know what to do. What if gay people get married? Then people will marry animals and oh my. I better vote for a Republican so I won't be forced to have an abortion some day.

MRSA

A few post below, I gave a CDC update on the bird flu, and Jo asked about MSRA and Jo is right, it is far more of a pratical concern than H5N1 Avian flu. And since most readers do not know about this disease I thought I might give a VERY broad overview of what it is and why it is dangerous.

Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA for short, is a type of staph infection. And while most staph infections are rather bothersome they can easily be treated with antibiotics and of course, many (20-30%) healthy people do have the Staph bacteria in their bodies with no ill effects. The problem, however, is that MRSA is antibiotic resistant, (it was accidentatly 'bred' in hospitals due to the wide spread use of antibiotics in patients), and can spread via contact in many cases.

It used to be pretty much confined to hospital settings, but with the prevelance of 'day' surgeries and the rise of immunocompromised patients (HIV/AIDs, Cancer, Transplant, etc) it has now taken hold in the general population. Its spread has been most noticeable amongst the immunocompromised, prison populations, military members, and amongst atheletes. The atheletes seem to be two pronged; the close proximity of players (on the field, in the shower, sharing equipment, etc) and also due to the use of steriods which do effect the immune system.

Just as an FYI, the CDC has a special classification for MRSA that is contracted outside of the healthcare setting, CA-MRSA. However they are still on the survelliance and research part of the job with no set 'guidelines' for CA-MRSA. Factors that have been associated with the spread of CA-MRSA skin infections include close skin-to-skin contact, openings in the skin such as cuts or abrasions, contaminated items and surfaces, crowded living conditions, and poor hygiene. Some Staph can also be spread via coughing or sneezing, causing pneumonnia, but that one is a bit less of a concern for the moment.

At this point in time there are 3 genetically distinct strains of CA-MRSA in the community and the outbreaks tend to happen in clusters. (And contrary to popular myth, the flesh eating bacteria is NOT among them, that one is STREPT, not Staph). CA-MRSA is treatable via several methods (depending on the type and where the infection is) anything from a lancing and drainage to hospitalization with IV antibiotics can be required. And as ALWAYS, basic hygiene is the first and best prevention.

I would strongly suggest that anyone who is concerned about this disease read the articles via the links I have provided. I have done my best to find appropriate articles written in everyday language and if you have any further questions or if you think you or somone you know has this disease please contact your healthcare provider immediately. I should also add that many people have had CA-MRSA and have mistaken it for a 'spider bite' that becomes infected, per the abstract via the CDC.

Factoid of the Week:

The typical worker's compensation averaged just under $42,000 for the year (2005), while the average CEO brought home almost $11 million.

There's a Reuters article on it at Yahoo.com.

Myth Busters

LiveScience.com: The Most Popular Myths in Science
There IS gravity in space.
Lightning can strike the same place more than once.
Your hair and nails do stop growing after you die.
It doesn't take 7 years to digest gum.
Cats don't always land on their feet.

Take the tour on Live Science to get the facts on popular myths. We blondes already know this information, but it's good for the rest of the population to be up on all this stuff.
(Click on the 'browse images' buttons on each page to learn more)

Seems there's a story along these lines every day or so.

I've lost track. There was the VA. Then FedEx. Maybe more. Now this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A computer hacker may have stolen "personal identity information" for 26,000 current and former Agriculture Department headquarters employees, agency officials said.

I'm reminded of that old Godfather's Pizza ad: "I know where ya' live".

Reuters


UPDATE:
Visa says ATM breach may have exposed data

"SAN FRANCISCO - Visa USA on Tuesday confirmed an ATM security breakdown has exposed more consumers to potential mischief, the latest in a long line of lapses that have illuminated the often flimsy controls over the personal information entrusted to businesses, schools and government agencies.

"The latest breach dates back to February when San Francisco-based Visa began notifying banks of a security problem affecting a U.S.-based contractor that processed automated teller machine transactions."

Hey Wingers! Good News

Army takes older recruits

People can now volunteer to serve in the active-duty Army or the part-time Army Reserve and National Guard up to their 42nd birthday after the move aimed at increasing the number of people eligible to sign up, officials said.

It marked the second time this year the Army has boosted the maximum age for new volunteers, raising the ceiling from age 35 to 40 in January before now adding two more years.

Isn't America great? We don't have to rely on only our kids taking the brunt of Bush's folly. Y'old farts who voted for bush can help win the war on terra. Yeah, you might get killed cause you're all slow and everything, but it's the thought that counts. Really.

Where do they come up with this stuff

Tuesday night, while half asleep, I caught Stephen Colbert conducting an interview with a nut from the WSJ

HENNINGER: This is a footnote to our gay marriage discussion: A woman in India last week married a snake. I would like to ask the proponents of gay marriage--which violates, after all, traditions going back through all of human history--to now absolutely, positively guarantee that the next movement is not going to be allowing people to marry their pet horse, dog or cat. And you know What? Given the "anything goes" culture we live in, I don't think they can deliver that guarantee.

Naturally Colbert went on to say that he has no problem with people marrying snakes but he condemns people marrying gay snakes.

Honestly, ladies and gentlemen, how do people with these sorts of opinions get jobs where they have to speak in public? Even here in Gomorrah, such an aberration was never brought up. Lots of things happen in India that never happen here.

I wonder where these ideas of human/animal relations come from among politicians and conservative pundits? It's quite shocking for me to even entertain these ideas in jest. Yes, I've heard about goat fuckers (I had never heard of it before the internet), but they are hardly the norm in first world countries and I can hardly imagine that Americans who support gay rights would also support human/animal relations. Gay relations take place between human beings. How dare these idiots even compare gay marriage to animal relations?

The perverse allegations that spew from the right sort of makes you wonder, don't you think?

How do Republicans teach their young that lying is wrong?

rom the New York Times

WASHINGTON, June 20 — House Republican leaders today abruptly canceled a planned vote to renew the Voting Rights Act after a rank-and-file rebellion by lawmakers who say the civil rights measure unfairly singles out Southern states and promotes multi-lingual ballots.

Well, duh? That is where black Americans and white Americans were murdered for registering to vote and if we can buy products with instructions written in Japan or Germany in French, Spanish, and English why should we fret about multi lingual ballots. (Republican looks the same in any language. JEB BUSH is pretty easy to understand in Vietnamese, right? Don't forget Neil Bush's fondness for Asian women.)

This is unbelievable.

What else is unbelievable is that it probably won't get as much attention as Jolie-Pitt's obsession with adopting children from hell-hole countries when they could adopt children from right here in the good ol' US of A. What the hell is wrong with American kids? Not exotic enough? Not saving the world enough? Not getting in the newspapers enough? (She reminds me of Mia Farrow. Doesn't anyone realize that she isn't changing those diapers? And neither is Pitt. ABC's Nightline was wondering this week just how gay is Superman? We all know that there is something going on with Batman and Robin, not Clark Kent. And don't even discuss The Lone Ranger.)

The media is making us stupid. And we like it.

If the Republicans defeat the bill and keep control of all three branches of government this fall and retain their ownership of the deregulated Fourth Estate, then we can just stop calling ourselves a democracy. And if things in South Dakota with their abortion ban go as well, women might as well stop going to college and to work and marry that man with the three jobs and no health insurance who promises to love her forever, ever, ever.

This isn't a stunt. These Republicans are serious. They think the poor South has been picked on enough and that everything is just great in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Why black people are literally falling over each other to get to the polls.

Remember the 2000 presidential election when blacks were turned away from the polls because they were on a list that said they were felons? Never mind they had never been arrested. They were on the felon list, usually because they shared a name with a convicted felon--in other states! They couldn't vote. Never mind that armed police are going into elderly black homes to "investigate" voter fraud. Never mind that the ballots are so confusing--in English--that well educated people can't use them. Oh, well thank God for Diebold. You don't need any pesky paper ballots, the machine will count your vote for you. Whether you actually voted for that candidate or not.

This would be surreal if for the reality that we are living in the day when if you don't support the president you are a traitor. If you don't support the war, you hate America. If you don't denounce the terrorists while mourning dead Americans then you support the terrorists.

If this bill fails, will someone finally notice that the ship has sailed and we haven't been a democracy or even a republic for quite sometime. We impeach a man because he lied about a consensual sexual relationship but we can't impeach Bush over lying about Iraq. How do Republicans explain to their children that lying is wrong? How are they going to explain that everything is so rosy in America that we don't need no stinking civil, reproductive or voting rights?

In This Week's Episode of Fuck The Poor

The Senate has killed a Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage gradually from the $5.15/hour to $7.25/hour. The proposal has been defeated repeatedly by the Republican led Senate for the past several years.

Let's do the math: a worker making $5.15/hour working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year (that's right, no vacation, who could afford one on that wage) would make $10,712 a year before federal and state income taxes, and before FICA contributions.

Honestly, words fail me.

Republican Talking Points

Wasn't the big one this week and last week, "If you are not with the president, then you don't support the troops"? And wait, the other popular one is "If you don't support the war, you're with the terrorists"?

What are the other ones going around? Where's Orwell when you need him?

Empathy:

The ability to put oneself in another's shoes.

Not everyone is born with it. Some people have to be taught to empathize, others learn it throughout their lives by experience, maturity and even by their religious upbringing.

Having empathy enables us to learn to avoid certain potentially aggressive situations. ie: how would you feel if someone did that to you or to your child? (On the other hand, showing ones empathy for others may spark aggression from those who have never experienced the emotion. Perhaps their moms never held them for some reason. Yesterday, Lush Bimbo told his heartless listeners to condemn those who condemn the war. His heartless minions were sent out to hurt those who hurt for the families of the victims.)

Empathy is good. Too much empathy is not good. No empathy is a really bad thing. It's not human. As in all things, moderation is key.

My first emotion upon seeing the photo's of the 2 young men who were tortured and beheaded by evil people in Iraq was one of empathy for the families of these victims. I felt their pain immediately. Perhaps, being a mom of a young man who is around the same age made it really hit home. Our children are OUR children always no matter how old they are. Looking back at when I was that age, I have to admit that although I thought I was such a grow up in my 20's, I was just a kid too. You live and learn a lot over half a century on earth. Perhaps knowing that some of my son's childhood playmates are or were in Iraq is what brought on the pain yesterday. It was real pain. I wrote from my heart when I condemned those who put our youth into such a terrible situation where they are subject to such heinous acts and furthermore, taught to inflict such pain on others as well. Have you ever looked into the eyes of parents of convicted killers?

When a mother holds her baby in her arms, she wants no harm to come to her angel. Ever. The mother's of the terrorists surely felt the same way when they held their babies. The mother's of the soldiers who tortured inmates in Abu Ghraib would never have wished that their precious angels would grow up to inflict pain on others. Mother's don't have babies only to wish they'd grow up and become killing machines and risk being killed. Even if you are part of a military family, the mother certainly doesn't want their child to have to face war. You want your kids to live long, non violent lives. How can your heart not cry out when you see pictures like this? Would you ever in a million years want to be the parent of the these babies or the ones who killed them?

How can we believe there is a god when our children must endure the results of nothing but greed on the part of world leaders?

As you grow older you begin to see the puppet strings leading right up to the puppeteers. God sure as hell isn't the puppeteer. That's where righteous indignation comes in. You don't need talking points to tell you how to feel once the truth is revealed to you. Only the truly heartless, who never learned compassion or empathy, need to rely on talking points and they are merely pretending to feel anything.

You don't have to be a parent to feel empathy. I was empathetic before I was a parent. There is something about war that makes parents feel so very betrayed. To those parents who have children in the service, I also empathize with you. You most certainly do not want to think for one minute that it was all in vain. I understand. God bless you.

Happy Summer Solstice

I took this from the resident poet commenter here at the blog:

What a lovely first day of summer.

Children are dying, mothers are crying, Shell Oil is buying,
troll-shit is flying, Mother Mary is sighing, and I keep on trying,
and trying, and trying not to lose hope.
-kablooie

Latest on Bird Flu

I figured I'd keep you up to date to prevent any rumors or mis-information. There has been LIMITED human-human transmission, but nothing that is unexpected at this point.


The epidemiology of H5N1 human infections has not changed significantly since February 2004. Therefore, CDC recommends that H5N1 surveillance in the United States remain at the enhanced level first established at that time. However, this revised interim guidance provides an updated case definition of a suspected H5N1 human case for the purpose of determining when testing should be undertaken and also provides more detailed information on laboratory testing. Effective surveillance will continue to rely on health care providers obtaining information regarding international travel and other exposure risks from persons with specified respiratory symptoms as detailed in the recommendations below. This guidance will be updated as the epidemiology of H5N1 changes. Note: CDC is revising its interim guidance for infection control precautions for avian influenza A (H5N1). These will be issued as soon as they are available.


Current Situation

The avian influenza A (H5N1) epizootic (animal outbreak) in Asia has expanded to wild birds and/or poultry in parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa. Sporadic human infections with H5N1 continue to be reported and have most recently occurred in China, Egypt, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and Djibouti. In addition, rare instances of probable human-to-human transmission associated with H5N1 viruses have occurred, most recently in a family cluster in Indonesia. So far, however, the spread of H5N1 virus from person to person has been rare, inefficient, and unsustained. The total number of confirmed human cases of H5N1 reported as of June 7, 2006 has reached 225. The case fatality rate for these reported cases continues to be approximately 50 percent. As of this date, H5N1 has not been identified among animals or humans in the United States.


The epizootic in Asia and parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa is not expected to diminish significantly in the short term and it is likely that H5N1 infection among birds has become enzootic in certain areas. It is expected that human infections resulting from direct contact with infected poultry will continue to occur in affected countries. Since no sustained human-to-human transmission of influenza H5N1 has been documented anywhere in the world, the current phase of alert, based on the World Health Organization (WHO) global influenza preparedness plan, remains at Phase 3 (Pandemic Alert).* In addition, no evidence for genetic reassortment between human and avian influenza A virus genes has been found. Nevertheless, this expanding epizootic continues to pose an important and growing public health threat. CDC is in communication with WHO and other national and international agencies and continues to monitor the situation closely.


THESE ARE THE RISK GUIDELINES WE ARE CURRENTLY USING:


A) History of travel to a country with influenza H5N1 documented in poultry, wild birds, and/or humans,† AND had at least one of the following potential exposures during travel:

• direct contact with (e.g., touching) sick or dead domestic poultry;
• direct contact with surfaces contaminated with poultry feces;
• consumption of raw or incompletely cooked poultry or poultry products;
• direct contact with sick or dead wild birds suspected or confirmed to have influenza H5N1;
• close contact (approach within 1 meter [approx. 3 feet]) of a person who was hospitalized or died due to a severe unexplained respiratory illness;

B) Close contact (approach within 1 meter [approx. 3 feet]) of an ill patient who was confirmed or suspected to have H5N1;

C) Worked with live influenza H5N1 virus in a laboratory.




As you can see, at this point it is still a non-issue, so if the machine starts cranking out warnings and hysteria, please inform others of what the CDC has released 6.20.06.

PS
There is a SUSPECTED, and as yet UNCONFIRMED, case of H5N1 in a Canadian fowl, but we are still waiting lab results. But still, the chance of human-human transmission is low and there is no need to panic, basic hygene will keep most people covered. So wash your hands and stop touching yourself (no, silly, I meant your face). ;)

Note to Democratic Politicians

It's the war, stupid. Like the trolls who visited us yesterday, the Republicans are all about the politics of distraction, division and distortion. There are great factual arguments to refute every single talking point they have, of course, but when you do that, you are engaging them on their own terms. Bill Clinton, for all his faults, intuitively understood the value of staying on message, and for that he was rewarded with two terms, the only Democrat re-relected to the presidency since Truman. So you guys and gals, get a clue, take a lesson from Bill.

It's the war, stupid.

Think of It as Troll Bait

BlondeSense commenter Terrible makes I think a very astute observation in a thread below: The liberal blogosphere seems full of trolls today, which makes him wonder whether there aren't some new pathetic poll numbers out for His Heinie King George, so the trolls have been told to fan out and spin, spin, spin. We get some interesting trolls around here, and they're pretty good at sticking assiduously to the Neocon talking points. The timing is so, well, coincidental, it almost makes one wonder whether they might be professionals.

Well, I haven't seen any bad polls over the past couple of days, but damn, the news from the glorious war in Iraq sure ain't good. Obviously, there is the grisly torture death of two more American soldiers. And there is the quite ordinary daily bombings. A few American soldiers were charged with murder of Iraqi detainees. The Japanese are pulling their troops out. And the Iraqis who work for the American embassy in Baghdad are scared shitless.

Oh, and George Bush is out raising money for Republicans.

I'm sure all of this is susceptible to a logical Neocon explanation. So, bring it on. I really want to hear this one.

From the comments section in Liz' post below:

"Wow, even Red State Blues is a hateful leftist who engages in personal attacks without knowing who I am. Is that the only argument you have? A lame chickenhawk argument? You're the ones making claims about the administration and the fighting of the war without listing any of your credentials. If you believe that your moral authority can only be backed by your bona fides, then let's see them. Come on, don't hide behind your purse." -- Don Rumsfeld

My great-great grandfather and great-grandfather built railroads throughout the American midwest during the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American wars.
My grandfather was postmaster of the town during World War One.
My father entertained troops during World War Two.
My Godfather was a decorated veteran of the South Pacific during World War Two.
My father-in-law was a Korean War veteran who guarded P.O.W.s
My son is a decorated veteran of Gulf War One who came home with a case of depleted uranium poisoning.
During the Vietnam War, I worked in a midwestern steel mill, where the "end uses" on some of the orders that I processed were: "Humvee parts", "hand grenade handles", and "ammunition boxes".

"Bona fides" in order? 'Course, some of us are still alive, Don. Perhaps in order to qualify for your idea of authenticity, we would have to be dead. Is that your idea of a "hero"? Or is it someone who has his Daddy get him a position with the Texas Air National Guard so he won't have to see combat?

Finally, the people on this blog are among the best friends I have ever had in my life and just remember one thing: When you speak to one of them, you are speaking to me as well.

He's Just A Kid!

You fucking bastards in DC. You think of reasons to start wars so you can profit from them, and then you cowardly pieces of shit send our kids to fight your battles for you while you sit on your fat asses in air conditioning. Rot in hell, all of you.

On the left is Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, one of the boys who was believed to be "killed in a barbaric way." The other boy was Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

And there by the grace of god go all the college republicans to their orientations this summer. Yeah, support the barbarians who are sacrificing your former classmates so that you can drive SUV's to campus.

UPDATE: interestingly the right is more concerned about the liberal's outrage at the senseless killings of these young men, but not angry at the terrorists. They hate us more than they hate the terrorists! Can you imagine? Check this out: The right is claiming that the left is happy about the deaths. Liars! Where the hell do they come up with this shit? Oh yes, the master of disinformation: Lush Bimbo

Me thinks our trolls listened to Rush today.

Comments

I Want to Have Bill Maher's Babies

If my uterus would still cooperate. I'd settle for a good snogging. His take on the state of the nation, and in particular, Gore's loss in 2000 and whether Ralph Nader is at fault:

I don't blame Ralph Nader at all. Please. The people who are to blame are the Democrats for not having the Ralph Nader platform. Ralph Nader is right. I would welcome the Democratic Party co-opting Ralph Nader instead of blaming Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader's big issue is that America, our democracy, is being slowly strangled by the influence of corporations and lobbyists and money in politics. And that is the root of all our problems. Nothing in this country ever gets done without somebody getting paid off. Everybody talks about how everything changed after 9/11. No, nothing really changed after 9/11. We don't really have adequate protection of the homeland because it's still a matter of pork-barrel politics.

Damn straight, Bill. You da man!

I personally don't care for Nader because I think his run over the past two elections was more about his ego than what is good for the country, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is absolutely right about this issue.

Meanwhile NYC Is Going To Hell in a Handbasket

Update: Actually, no we are not going to hell because we are the politest city in the world, goddammit.

Here in Gomorrah, where homosexuality runs free and abortions are legal, the crime rate is up. Not the kind of crime you are thinking of though. Jay walking is out of control. Motorists are chatting on cell phones despite the NYC ban on handheld devices. The cops are so busy pursuing smokers of cigarettes that the stoners are back. Scanners have to be used at the doors to public schools because kids are trying to sneak cell phones in. People seem to be eating illegal hotdogs from unlicensed vendors. It won't be long before motorists think that they can turn right on red. I shudder to think of the chaos.

New Yorkers Don't Let a Few Laws Get in the Way

Coincidence?

I was paging through Newsday this morning when I saw a photo of the opening of "The Devil Wears Prada" a new movie. Hmmm. I looked it up at IMDb: "A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly."

Priestly, huh? Coincidence?
Do you remember this article at Newsweek? Fashion: The Pope Wears Prada
His cute little red loafers are made by Prada. And there's lots more about the papal designers in that piece. The new pope ditched the tailors that were creating priestly vestments for the Vatican for the past 200 years. Maybe they just weren't in keeping with the Jesus meme. I don't know.

--------
OT, but speaking of movies, how can you not adore Johnny Depp?

Cheney woke up from his nap long enough to spew more lies

Cheney 5/30/05: The Insurgency Is "In The Last Throes”…
Cheney 6/19/06: “I Do” Believe The Insurgency Is In The Last Throes...
and of course the ever popular bushista line, "no one could have anticipated "the violence that the US has seen in Iraq...
Bloomberg via Huffpo

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, the 2 missing soldiers turned up... dead
May they rest in peace along with the other 2500 soldiers who died for our freedom here in the US. The weenie Japanese are pulling out their troops from Iraq. Don't they care about my freedom from terrorists?

Democracy and The Press Go Down Together:
Thanks to media conglomeration, Americans still have the wool pulled over their eyes about the invasion and occupation of Iraq, sometimes called the War On Iraq. The FCC is about to cave to media consolidation again if we don't let them know that we want a free media. Visit StopBigMedia.com The FCC is yet another enemy of democracy.

One of the results of ridiculous reporting by big media is that the 15 year old girl, Ava Lowery of Alabama, my heroine, is receiving death threats because of her anti-war videos at PeaceTakesCourage.com. Just how cracked are people when they are misinformed?

The Real Issues at Stake.

Earlier this month, "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one," said Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. "I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." (Senate set to reject gay marriage ban)

On Saturday, Governor Blanco signed a law that would ban all abortions in Louisiana: "The ban would apply to all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, except when the mother's life is threatened."

This morning's breaking news from Louisiana: National Guard ordered to New Orleans

Gov. Kathleen Blanco ordered National Guardsmen to help police patrol the city for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, following a bloody weekend that brought fears of crime disrupting the city's delicate reconstruction.

...

Frustration over a rise in crime reached a tipping point on Saturday when five teenagers in an SUV were shot and killed in the city's deadliest attack in at least 11 years. Police said the attack was apparently motivated by drugs or revenge. Also, a man was stabbed to death Sunday night in an argument over beer.

The killings brought this year's murder toll to 53, raising fears that violence was back on the rise in a city that was plagued by violent crime before Katrina drove out much of the population last year.

See what happens when you don't ban abortion soon enough? Look what happened after the Senate rejected the gay marriage ban. If you don't stay on top of the pressing issues of the day, crime runs rampant.
/snark

The SPP and NACC

This is a follow-up to the NAFTA Superhighway post the other day. One of our readers, llih, commented at the end of the thread about an organization we have not heard about: http://www.spp.gov/ -- Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America

In case you did not return to that post, here is part of the comment:

Its all part of the SPP, open borders, new world order, United States of North America and the Amero. The SPP is being pushed by Bush and his globalist friends. The combination of the US, Mexico and Canada into one large corporate controlled economic zone.

The SPP link lead me to this organization, NACC:
UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO LAUNCH NORTH AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL

Thank you llih. Let's see what our readers think about these two groups.

RFK Junior on Ohio

If nothing else, maybe this will rid politics of Ken Blackwell.

PRWeek: This story didn't have a 'smoking gun'; was there one person coordinating this entire operation?
RFK Jr: There's never going to be 100% certitude that the election was stolen, because the only way you could get that is by recounting the ballots, and the recount was illegally derailed by Republican operatives. The mastermind behind the efforts in Ohio was Kenneth Blackwell, along with…[Toledo elections official] Bernadette Noe. But on a national level, it's [Republican National Committee chairman] Kenneth Mehlman and Karl Rove.

PRWeek: Is there a next step?
RFK Jr: I've been meeting with attorneys... to devise a litigation strategy. And I would say that very soon we'll be announcing lawsuits against some of the individuals and companies involved.

PRWeek: Who exactly would that litigation be targeting?
RFK Jr: I wouldn't say, right now.

PRWeek: The election is over. Is it too late now?
RFK Jr: There's another election soon. And as the Times [just] reported, the same people are up to the same shenanigans.

read the whole interview here

Big Baby Wussies in DC

Our government thinks too darn highly of itself. "Continuity of government" exercises be damned.

On Monday, June 19, about 4,000 government workers representing more than 50 federal agencies from the State Department to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will say goodbye to their families and set off for dozens of classified emergency facilities stretching from the Maryland and Virginia suburbs to the foothills of the Alleghenies. They will take to the bunkers in an "evacuation" that my sources describe as the largest "continuity of government" exercise ever conducted, a drill intended to prepare the U.S. government for an event even more catastrophic than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Guess they don't have much confidence in their diplomatic and/or warring skills, eh?

If our country was attacked again, why on earth would we want our present government to stay in their jobs? It's not like you or I had anything to do with the bad blood between the neocons and the oil nations. Would anyone miss the neocons? Doubtful.

And what an utter waste of time it is to pretend that the government would be capable of governing anything in a time of crisis. What good were they when New Orleans needed help? and New York?

2,996

Carl has a post about a project which will memorialize the 9/11 victims across the blogosphere.

Blogger, D.C. Roe says:

[O]n September 11, 2006 you’ll post your own tribute to that person. It can be anything you want it to be: a photo tribute, an essay, a remembrance, a poem…it’s up to you. Then link back to a page I will create which will give the names of all 2,996 victims and links to the blogs that will remember them that day.

But, and this is critical, I don’t want any of us to remember the murderers. Do not refer to the terrorists. Or their organization. Or their goals. Let them fade into nothing. Let them be forgotten. Remember those worth remembering.

Find out more at 2,996

A Sign of the Time

A quote from 'Father Tyme' in the comments section over at the Dark Wraith's latest rant about his posts being deleted and the bullshit he has to go through to get them reposted:

"We joke about a dark age to come; make sure you're prepared for anything and make sure willing to do whatever is necessary or you may as well sell out now.
I feel for the generation to come not only because of their coming repression but for their naivete, ignorance and apathy.
Pity the children's world. Pity the world's children." -- Father Tyme

To which the Wraith responded:

"The children are well-prepared, Father Tyme.

"When I was at dinner with a group of seventh graders a while back, among the items on their excited and giddy conversation list were the stories of the massive police sweep into their school a few weeks earlier. They thought it was funny that some kids had to lie on their stomachs while the dogs sniffed them. They also thought it was funny when lockers wouldn't open so bolt cutters and crowbars had to be used. They got a huge laugh talking about the teachers who freaked out (the teachers weren't warned this was going to happen) who herded all their kids into a classroom and barricaded the door, thinking some kind of terrorist teenage assault was underway.

"The kids thought it was all funny. Especially the girls giggled about the Dobermans sticking their noses in some girls' crotches; that must have been a hoot.

"I casually asked, "How many cops were there?"

"Shoulders kind of shrugged, and one girl said, "I don't know."

"Another piped in, "They were, like, everywhere."


"Yes. That's the idea: to believe they're everywhere.

"Those kids will do fine, Father Tyme. In fact, you'll know that for a fact when they grow up to deal with us just like we've treated them.


"The Dark Wraith says, "Now that's a hoot."

Rove's big fat ass

Everyone's talking about what Murtha said on Meet the Press

MURTHA: He's in New Hampshire. He's making a political speech. He’s sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside-saying stay the course. That’s not a plan! We've got to change direction. You can't sit there in the air-conditioned office and tell troops carrying seventy pounds on their backs, inside these armored vessels-hit with IED's every day-seeing their friends blown up-their buddies blown up-and he says stay the course? Easy to say that from Washington, DC.

What was Rove's military service again?

What's Up Doc?

Would some guys rather have a beer than hop in the sack? Is this a trend or has it always existed? Is it because they worry about women's expectations or their own?

Good article here and the comments are interesting. Men Who Love Burgers and Loathe Sex

Favourite Sayings

Apparenty everyone else is having a Monday like mine. Although hopefully they have been spared the painful sunburn and post watermellon trauma (don't ask).

So a quick post that requires a LOT of reader participation. WHAT is your favourite saying? Mine is "A Scholar's ink lasts longer than a Matyr's blood" I have it on all my personal cheques and it illicits a good amount of response and questions.

What about you? What sayings strike a chord with you?

The Drag Queen is Dragging the Country Down

I don't mean to beat the dead horse, (if the shoe fits) but a couple of things became very clear to me in the past week. The more I thought about it and the more I read opinions and listened to Coulter, I had a eureka moment- she knows full well that she's full of shit. She is the Madonna of the right wing- shocking, but making money preying on people's baser instincts and doing a heck of a job to boot.

There are millions of Americans out there afraid to think for themselves. You and I know them. You can't escape them- they're afraid of everything and need to be told what to do and what to think. These are Coulter's audience because she tells them what they need to hear and need to read in order to direct their anxiety at a straw man rather than at the real villains.

Case in point, I read a couple of letters to the editor at USA Today here. Two of them perfectly depict the mindset of those who dare not think. One writer declared:

As they clawed their way to center stage to blame America for 9/11, the four widows who became known as the "Jersey Girls" marketed their grief to the largest TV audiences, served as mouthpieces for John Kerry and others, and used the money donated by a nation to leave their kids home to heal themselves as they hit campaign trails and engaged in disgraceful public conduct at the most important investigative commission hearing of our time.

We know perfectly well that whenever someone comes out in opposition to the government, that it was mostly likely their idea, because the Democrats couldn't organize a movement to save their lives. These gals didn't work for the Democrats and most Democrats just kept silent while the 9/11 Commission made a mockery of our country. I find it amusing when the Coulters and O'Liellys assume that the left has talking points memos to read every morning.

Coulter was complaining to Jay Leno the other night, that "the Democrats" "put out" all these victim type, regular people to speak out against the government because they know that no one can talk back to them. Hilarious. Like the Democrats could ever come up with a Rovian plan like that.

Another writer said of the Jersey Girls, "they are the ones who made a decision to move to the political arena and therefore must endure all that comes with it."

And what was 9/11 if not political? I find it disturbing that more victim's families aren't speaking out especially when the RNC came to NYC to exploit the tragedy and the victims for their own political gain. Everything about 9/11 was for political gain and when a few women come out and call them on it, they are accused of doing exactly what the accusers are doing.


Coulter is thrilled with the publicity she's gotten lately as her book is #1 on the NY Times Best Seller List. She's acting like she's upset by the little people trying to make money off her hateful book. She's not stupid. She knows what she's saying and you know darn well, she's laughing her ass off behind the scenes.

Worthless little cable TV shows with teeny-tiny audiences, ridiculous legislators and tabloid newspapers are all trying to make a name for themselves off the profundity of "Godless."

Her big complaint and she mentioned it on Jay Leno was that liberals are not upset that she's accusing them of being GODLESS. He forgot to tell her that when your god is evil, vindictive, jealous, money hungry, deceitful and politically motivated, what do you expect? That liberals would worship the same god? I could make the same case for Coultergeists saying they are GODLESS too.

Coulter, in her latest column, decided to fall back on the usual Hillary and Bill bashing making wild accusations and then accuses Rahm Emanuel (a Democrat with balls who called her on her bullshit) of being a ballerina, because that's what some bullyish type men do when they want to put down another man, accuse him of being a fairy. (Ann is not a woman, by the way.) She calls the Democrats, the party of rapists. Anyone who can read knows that the GOP has the highest number of sex offenders and the so called, "Godly" people do too.

This is my favorite part of her column and this is the clincher. It's proof that Coulter is pandering to the mindless base that Pat Robertson and his ilk have set their sites on:

Back when there were only three TV stations and no Internet, talk radio or Fox News, it used to be so easy for the MSM to destroy reputations -- Joe McCarthy, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Robert Bork, Dan Quayle, Oliver North, Clarence Thomas, Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, Paula Jones and Linda Tripp, to name a few of the MSM's prey.

Whew. I have to stop laughing before I can type anymore... Linda Tripp? She forgot Katherine Harris.

... ok. back from the floor. Yes that nasty MSM smeared the criminals and fascists she pretends to idolize in order to sell books. But the MSM also smears good guys. (I know that you know that, Ann.) The MSM doesn't smear Coulter as much as she deserves and it's probably a sexist thing: they aren't sure if they should treat her like a woman because they aren't sure what she is. Silly MSM, you don't have to worry about any women rising up to defend Coulter if you attack her. Women know their own.

Sure the non-thinkers are an easy market. The so called "religious right" is making out tremendously as well as the winger pundits who write books intended to scare them. Normally, I wouldn't care about it because "there's a sucker born every minute" as PT Barnum exclaimed. But those who prey on willfully ignorant are encouraging them vote against their interests and the interest of the country as a whole, providing an easy path for the rise of fascism. I will just have to keep beating the dead horse.

A Plot to Attack NYC Subways in 2003 Revealed

We recently had a rather heated discussion here because I was angry that the DHS cut funding for anti-terrorism to NYC because it was determined that NYC had no monuments to blow up according Michael "Skeletor" Chertoff. Apparently Kentucky bingo got anti-terrorism funding as well as a Mushroom festival in Texas. I guess that it's not fair that the rural areas shouldn't be scared too.

If it's true that al Qaida planned a NYC Subway Attack with Cyanide in 2003 and that the terrorist cells are still in this country, then why the hell was funding cut?

Newsweek reports about a new book by Ron Suskind which describes an al Qaida attack on NYC Subways with cyanide which was to have taken place in 2003. Newsweek investigates the claim:

The counterterrorism officials also confirmed Suskind’s reporting that U.S. intelligence indicated that the subway attack was called off personally by Zawahiri. Though the officials said U.S. intelligence was still not certain why the attack had been cancelled, one former official said some feared that Zawahiri had cancelled the subway attack because Al Qaeda was planning something even more deadly and spectacular inside the United States—an event that, if planned, so far has not materialized.

The devices to attack NY subways were rather crude according the article, but could have proved quite deadly nevertheless. It made me wonder how al Qaida pulled off 9/11 all by themselves.

Tymeless Images:

In the comments of a post below, I clicked on Father Tyme's "homepage" link and found...well, judge for yourself. It's called "Idiocy and Deceit"

He can bite me

Karl Rove: "The Internet for the Left of the Democratic Party has served as a way to mobilize hate and anger -- hate and anger, first and foremost, at this President and Conservatives, but then also at people within their own party whom they consider to be less than completely loyal to this very narrow, very out-of-the-mainstream, very far Left-wing ideology that they tend to represent."

Me: "So?"

HT Think Progress

Quote of the Week

When asked what he thought about a certain FauxNews female hate-monger,
Phil Theefokker replied:

"You know, if I had a face like that, I'd cut off my own head,
hang it on a fence and throw shit at it".

How We Support The Troops

Yesterday Randi Rhodes was playing excerpts from the House floor earlier in the day regarding the sham for a debate of the Iraqi Invasion and Occupation, the Republican talking points sent to the Republican Senators ordering them to simply "swift boat" John Murtha and repeating the meme that you are "either with the president or you hate the troops", I felt a sudden urge to go to happy hour and I did.

Then when I came home, before I passed out, I read even more horrific proof that if you ARE with the president, then you DO hate the troops over at Huffington Post. It's a good thing I wasn't watching CSpan yesterday as I like to keep my blood pressure at manageable levels so I keep busy in the backyard and allow the sun to lighten further my long, flowing naturally blonde hair.

GOP Senators Defend Proposal That Gives Amnesty To Terrorists Who Kill US Troops

Huffington Post

TED STEVENS - "IF THAT'S AMNESTY, I'M FOR IT:" "I really believe we ought to try to find some way to encourage that country to demonstrate to those people who have been opposed to what we're trying to do, that it's worthwhile for them and their children to come forward and support this democracy. And if that's amnesty, I'm for it. I'd be for it. And if those people who are, come forward... if they bore arms against our people, what's the difference between those people that bore arms against the Union in the War between the States? What's the difference between the Germans and Japanese and all the people we've forgiven?" - Sen. Ted Stevens


MCCONNELL SUGGESTED A RESOLUTION COMMENDING IRAQIS FOR GIVING TERRORISTS AMNESTY. "...might it not just be as useful an exercise to be trying to pass a resolution commending the Iraqi government for the position that they've taken today with regard to this discussion of Amnesty?" - Sen. Mitch McConnell


ALEXANDER COMPARED IRAQI AMNESTY FOR TERRORISTS TO NELSON MANDELA'S PEACE EFFORTS. "Is it not true that Nelson Mandela's courage and his ability to create a process of reconciliation and forgiveness was a major factor in what has been a political miracle in Africa...Did not Nelson Mandela, win a - the co-winner of - a noble Nobel Peace Prize just for this sort of gesture?" - Sen. Lamar Alexander


CORNYN: IRAQI AMNESTY DEBATE IS "A DISTRACTION." "It makes no sense for the United States Senate to shake its finger at the new government of Iraq and to criticize them... it really is a distraction from the debate that I think the American people would want us to have." - Sen. John Cornyn


CHAMBLISS: AMNESTY IS OK FOR EX-INSURGENTS AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON OUR SIDE NOW. "Is it not true today that we have Iraqis who are fighting the war against the insurgents, who at one time fought against American troops and other coalition troops as they were marching to Baghdad, who have now come over to our side and are doing one heck of a job of fighting along, side by side, with Americans and coalition forces, attacking and killing insurgents on a daily basis?" - Sen. Saxby Chambliss

So this is how we SUPPORT THE TROOPS? Whatever it takes to allow Iraq to become a democracy is ok with the senators... even if it means forgiving those we call insurgents or terrorists (depending on what the debate du jour is) who attack their liberators, while the US builds a base larger and more extravagent than Vatican City in Iraq which means that the US is planning to live there permanently (some democratic government) and the senate also debates giving amnesty, god forbid, to Mexicans who came over the border to work in our country... but it's ok to kill the US troops (those expendable, easy to brainwash kids) because after all, it's a volunteer Army, so what the hell do they expect? Aargh.

Meanwhile, Americans are not buying this bullshit.

Gallup asked Americans if the war in Iraq had made things better off, the same, or worse off for six entities: the American people, the Iraqi people, the strength and preparedness of the U.S. military, the war on terrorism, the prospects for democracy in the Middle East, and the image of the United States around the world.

The result for that final category was the most clearcut: 6 in 10 Americans said the image of the U.S. was "worse off," with only 11% saying "better off."

Your president keeps telling us that it's only because we keep seeing the violence on our teevee's. Have any of you seen the violence on your teevee? I see missing white women.

Meanwhile, in good news, First United Methodist Church of Tacoma has declared itself a sanctuary for servicemen and servicewomen who don't want to go to Iraq.

Do you read "Odd News?"

I do. Here's a doozy for Friday:

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A former Nazi officer living on a Wisconsin farm has built a memorial to Adolf Hitler in his bunker-like tractor storage shed, much to the chagrin of local officials.

A court order was being sought to stop Ted Junker, 87, from opening to visitors a 30- by 50-foot (9- by 15-meter) concrete building that he has spent $200,000 outfitting with photos of Hitler, a swastika-emblazoned flag and other items.

read on

NAFTA's Superhighway

I first read about this over at stopthelie.com but did not post it. I could not imagine putting up an article that was on a website that was promoting Coulter's book (The National Conservative Weekly )
(sorry - just try to focus on the middle of the website - turn off your peripheral vision)

I just googled NAFTA Superhighway and now there are more references to the article: Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway


I hope we have some readers out there who are familiar with this superhighway. I have never, ever, heard about it. Maybe because I am on the East Coast? Maybe I just wasn't paying attention if I ever did come across it. Is this a big issue in the Heartland? I don't know how to react to this. Check out some of the comments to the same articles over at the google site, particularly these:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1647796/posts
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=145586

I am not sure what to think. What do you think? What do you know? Is this good, bad, or ugly?
I wonder what the Unions are doing about this...

Here is a link to the NAFTA Superhighway Coalition


Life is a highway -- I want to ride it -- ALL NIGHT LONG
(love that new version by Rascal Flatts --it's on the radio now. I've had it stuck in my head for days now and it WON'T leave.....HELP!)

John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations

From Counterpunch:

Bolton Bolts from Oxford Protests
By MICHAEL CARMICHAEL
http://counterpunch.org/carmichael06142006.html

Perhaps most dramatically, Bolton presented a stark message to his Oxford audience: the UN exists to institutionalize inequalities of power, wealth and national security. In his view, the UN should be a club for powerful nations to manage their relations with poor nations by denying them any real power. As an agent of corporate wealth and institutional power, in his Oxford remarks Bolton focused exclusively on justice for capital and repudiated the notion of a democratic basis for the UN. Bolton demanded that the UN should remain a gated community devoid of power-sharing with its small clique of five Security Council members wielding veto power over the remaining 190 members of the General Assembly.
During the question period, Bolton recognized a law student who politely asked him to justify the application of a double standard in the Middle East that favors Israel over Syria or other Muslim nations. Detecting the student's accent, Bolton pointedly asked, "Where are you from?" The student was Syrian. On that note, Bolton refused to answer the question, and instead he criticized Syria for what he deemed to be its unwarranted interference in the Middle East and Lebanon even though they withdrew their final 15,000 troops ..............


I guess my idea of what the UN should represent has never been correct?Maybe I am still stuck in my grade school idea of what it is supposed to embrace. Every nation in the world coming together for the the greater good of the world -- such childish thoughts.

This walrus/man should be xxxxxx and xxxxx for HIS oil. (oops - I hope I don't get tagged for saying that). What a creep....

Have I Got a Blonde Joke for You

Bubba and Junior were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up. A blond lady walked by and asked what they were doing.

"We're supposed to find the height of the flagpole," said Bubba, "but we don't have a ladder."

The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down. Then she took a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement & announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.

Junior shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a dumb blond? We ask for the height, and she gives us the length.

Bubba and Junior are currently doing government work supervising the reconstruction of those New Orleans Levees.

Heh.

life sentence?

Have you heard this story?

Last year, Hahn, a 26-year-old Los Gatos felon with a rap sheet full of residential burglaries, anonymously sent police some stolen photographs -- photos that showed a man molesting a toddler. Using the photographs, police found and arrested John Robertson ``Robbie'' Aitken. Last month, Aitken pleaded no contest to molestation charges and received a 30-year sentence.

But Hahn, who was later arrested for a burglary spree after he turned in the photos, is facing a prison term that could be longer than Aitken's. The latest series of burglaries was Hahn's ''third strike,'' and prosecutors have decided to seek a life sentence. His trial could begin this month.

Pretty interesting story to read for more details. What do you think?

If you're on dial-up...

...like I am, well, start the download and, as my friend Janet says, "Go have sex, take a shower, get a nap, whatever, and then come back." Or, y'know, just take the nap.

THIS IS WORTH THE DOWNLOAD.

Henry Rollins writes a letter to St. Ann Of The Codpiece.

Privacy Alert:

The Fat Lady Sings is pissed.

In a post over at the Dark Wraith Discussion Forums entitled Tonight's Edition of "Why I'm Paranoid", she says, "I'll see your paranoia and raise you one....Evidently ALL of our personal info is now posted online thanks to our county and state government’s idiocy....There everything was for all the world to see - our mortgage records, bills of sale, tax records - complete with SSN, home address and phone number, copies of our signatures - everything, in fact any good identity theft ring would need to set up a counterfeit me."

At the end of her well-justified rant is a link to THE VIRGINIA WATCHDOG which begins:
"Before you read anything else on this site, please read this... Then click here to see a sampling of legislators' and other's SSNs that have been made available via the internet already. This is happening all over the U.S., but why have so many states' legislators allowed these records with lots of personal information to be made available online? The answer: To serve a few lazy title examiners, real estate attorneys, mortgage companies, data brokers...and the "press" which has played a huge part in getting these records online in Va. and in many other states. Virginia's lawmakers passed a special law allowing it. Fourteen of 122 Circuit Court Clerks in Virginia are offering "remote access" right now to a veritable treasure trove of SSNs, minor children's names, mothers' maiden names, DOBs, digital signatures, and financial account numbers... and others are going online every month. Most people do not have a clue that a "governmental" agency is giving away their SSN via the internet."


UPDATE: (TRYING TO SET THINGS RIGHT)
Jesus! Little did I know that people would get so pissed off and depressed when I posted the above. Well, to make up for it, here's a cheerful little piece I lifted over at Mack White's Website entitled "The No-Work List":

"Hidden in the immigration reform bill is something known as the "mandatory employee verification system." Ostensibly this system would enable employers to verify whether or not potential employees are citizens or legal residents. However, like the infamous no-fly list, which prevents two-year-old children with the “wrong” name from flying, technical snafus could prevent innocent people from working. Naturally, there is a “solution,” and naturally it is even scarier than the problem: Give the government more personal information. The following article discusses this in more detail:

'No-work list' predicted: Employee verification system would affect all workers, privacy experts say (Link at Mack's site)

"I should add another potential problem not discussed in the article …

"Originally, the no-fly list was supposed to prevent “terrorists” from boarding aircraft, but in practice it has been used against peace activists and others whose only crime is non-violent dissent. Therefore, it is conceivable that the criteria for a no-work list might be expanded as well. US citizens opposed to the war might find themselves unemployable. One more means of discouraging dissent."

Reminds me of something The Dark Wraith once said (slight paraphrase): "We already endure great indignities just to take a ride on an airplane. Think what we might be forced to endure in exchange for a plate of bread".

There now. Feel better? Goodbye 'Brave New World'. Hello Shitbox Universe.

Well, Well, Well

Hillary was booed yesterday at the Take Back America conference, a gathering of liberal Dem activists. The booing began as she addressed the issue of a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

It's been a while since we've tackled these questions here, so let's tee them up again: do you love her or hate her? If she runs for Prez, can she win?

Red White and Blues

Happy Flag Day




Not only does wearing the flag make you look fat (horizontal stripes), it's illegal in DC.

It might also get you arrested in the District, under Section 4, paragraph (d) of the Federal Flag Code, Public Law 94-344 -- which specifically declares such "public display" in D.C. a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.) WaPo

Have you ever thought of how utterly modern the design of our flag is? It's assymetricalness was not in keeping with the art and design of the Founding Father's time. Read all about it in the design section at Washington Post: A Grand Old Flag And Very Modern Art

Did you know that a self waving flag has been invented? Live and learn.

Game On

I am pleased to say that Virginia voters yesterday picked a good candidate to face off against George Allen in the Senate race in November. The Democratic candidate will be James Webb, the former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan.

Webb is one of the few politicians who has changed parties from Republican to Democrat; lately most party changes have been going the other way. I know that some Virginia Dems are a little skeptical of his Democratic cred, and some who also think he may be a tad too conservative for our liking. However, there is no question in my mind that a Dem needs to be a little on the conservative side to be competitive in Virginia. In addition, Webb is a former Marine, with combat experience in Viet Nam. It seems like almost every male in his family for several generations served in the Marines, so let's see a chickenhawk like Allen (who I believe has no military service under his belt) make something of that!

Webb's opponent in the primary was a long-time state Democratic activist who really is a good man. Unfortunately, he also is a lobbyist for the telecom industry, so he probably was not the best person to be carrying the Democratic banner this November. Webb won the primary by six points, despite a huge disadvantage in fundraising. I hope the Democratic party will now unite behind him, and that the national party dumps a shit pot of money into the race. Allen has about $7 million in his re-election fund, so it's going to take a whole lot of money for Webb to win.

In any event, I am pretty excited that we have a very respectable candidate facing off against Allen, who truly is one of the most insufferable of the Republican lot. So, go Jim Webb go. Let's turn Virginia blue!

MUST WATCH THIS!!!!!

Coulter AND GEORGE CARLIN are on Leno tonight!!!


and a big thank you to the Professor for the heads up

I miss real journalists

I agree with John at Crooks and Liars. If you watch Jon Stewart interviewing a 'talking point neo-con' he easily debunks them with the facts and pointed questions. While it's amusing to see Stewart take them down, it's also quite unsettling that the only place in the media you can watch neocons attempt to answer the hard questions is on Comedy Central.

Watch Jon Stewart with Ken Mehman: "You're the guy who has to spray perfume on these turds"

Hurry up already.

Plan B, emergency contraception is still being held up, despite its scientific approval, because the FDA can't decide on how to enforce the sale of the drug.

disastrous disaster relief?

This AP story about FEMA funds being wasted on fraudulent claims doesn't surprise me. This is nothing new and not the first time this has happened with a government agency. I'd like to see congress investigate what happened to the missing billionS regarding the Iraq invasion and occupation. Wouldn't you?

Meanwhile, Raw Story reports that on Michael Brown's application for employment for FEMA, the word "Department" as in Department of Homeland Security was misspelled twice (yeah, and?) and he wasn't given a drug test.

All he needs is a moustache.

Life, immitating art... ?








Huge gut-laughing thanks to Terrible.

surprise! surprise!

Bush snuck into Baghdad to surprise Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a 5 hour photo-op.

Better Living Through Blondesense

We make sense of health news by connecting the dots and spinning them around until you get dizzy.

The male life span is increasing says the CDC. The life expectancy hit 75.2 which is now only 5 years less than a female's life expectancy. Way to go! Maybe viagra gave older guys a reason to live.

I wonder if the discovery that the "compound xanthohumol, found in hops, which inhibits a protein in the cells along the surface of the prostate gland" has had any impact on the male life span? If you drink more than 17 beers/day, it may prevent prostate cancer. Eating more tomatoes for the lycopene has also been linked to prostate cancer prevention. So is a diet of beer and pizza a possible life saving measure for men?

But what about liver damage from all that beer, you say? Well research has shown that drinking coffee cuts the risk of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol! When you're sobering up, you are actually healing yourself. One cup a day reduced your chances of getting cirrhosis by 20% and four cups reduced your chances by 80%

And what about obesity from all that pizza? Well sometimes being fat is a life saver too. A hefty German man who was run over by a car lived to tell about it. His weight saved him being that he probably weighed more than the Volkswagen Polo.

Worried about diabetes from eating all that pizza? Keep drinking that coffee, baby. Reaserchers have found that coffee has a protective effect against the type-2 diabetes. "People who were inactive and overweight but who drank seven or more cups a day were half as likely to develop the condition as those who drank the least number of cups."

Just stay away from fast food joints which makes you 1/3 fatter than other foods with the same calories. It's those nasty transfats. ew. If you're a 1/3 fatter than other fat guys, no amount of viagra will get you the babes. Stick with pizza.

And while you're sitting around drinking beer and coffee while eating pizza to prevent diseases, you might as do it at the beach because Vitamin D research has confirmed it protects you against colon cancer or pre-cancerous colon polyps, breast cancer, prostate cancer risk and ovarian cancer. And see to it that your teenage daughters get plenty of sun at the beach because “Exposure to vitamin D at the time breasts are developing, particularly around adolescence, might be important,” said lead researcher Julia Knight of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.


And keep an eye on your Vitamin B12 and folate to prevent dementia and alzheimers when you get older. You might forget where you put the viagra. B12 is found in foods such as fish, meat and dairy products, while spinach, peas and grains are rich in folate. If it's too late to start eating food that will help you prevent dementia because you are nearing 75 and almost dead, there is an Alzheimer's vaccine that looks promising. Hang in there.

And if you're a smoker due to all that drinking and dieting for healthy living, you might want to take folic acid to prevent throat cancer. And folic acid may also prevent laryngeal cancer too. Those oral smokeless tobacco's called "snus" which are popular in Europe may save you from lung cancer, but it may cause cancer of the pancreas and the mouth. Maybe we should just try to quit smoking.

Zyban reduces the cravings for nicotine and is prescribed to those who want to quit smoking. Interestingly Zyban is the same drug as Wellbutrin and Wellbutrin (an antidepressant) has just been approved by the FDA to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder. So if you decide to quit smoking around the new year, you will be less depressed about it.

Meanwhile those prissy college students prefer their iPods to beer. Get with the program kids.

The business of blogging

Excuse my lack of knowledge regarding blogging lingo. LIZ ?? Blondesense is a blog - that I know. You are the Host(?) - correct? We are all called bloggers - right? I contribute (post) to your blog. A lot of comments (discussions) about the posts are written by other bloggers and a lot of comments are written by people who do not have their own blog. Are the commentators that don't have their own blog also called bloggers?

I am still amazed at how many people I know that have no idea what blogging is or how to do it. I have always thought of myself as computer illiterate, but now I am finding out that I actually know a lot more than I think I do. At first, all I thought I was capable of doing was "clicking" where highlighted. I ended up in places I never knew existed. I read so much that somedays I would start on a site and end up wondering "How the hell did I get here?" having completely forgotten where I first started.

This article, "Should You Quit Your Day Job to Blog?" caught my eye. I have always wondered how the blogging business worked. Well, I kind of know, but I am one who never notices the advertisements and I guess that's where the business of blogging comes in. Are there really that many people out there in the blogosphere who pay attention to ads and are influenced by them? Maybe it's the subliminal message-type ads that are out there that affect us some way?

This article is about Amanda from www.Rocketboom.com - a vlog (my new word for the day -- I had no idea!). I have never heard of the site. I checked it out; it's o.k., but something I probably would not add to my favorites. She makes a shit load of money -- good for her! I just don't understand why a company would pay her $85,000 per week to show their ad.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2067433&page=1&technology=true

Turd Blossom is Off The Hook

Karl Rove won’t be prosecuted in CIA leak case
Top White House aide was under scrutiny over disclosure of agent’s identity


WASHINGTON - Top White House aide Karl Rove has been told by prosecutors he won’t be charged with any crimes in the investigation into leak of a CIA officer's identity, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Attorney Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of one of President Bush’s closest advisers. Rove testified five times before a grand jury.

Fitzgerald has already secured a criminal indictment against Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

“On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove,” Luskin said in a statement.

“In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation,” Luskin said. “We believe the special counsel’s decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove’s conduct.”

Gibson Gone Beserk

Yes, I know, I know and I readily admit it. At one time I adored Mel Gibson; back when Mad Max and William Wallace and buddy/cop movies were his thing. I know he REALLY pushed the limits with Braveheart, but I don't exactly look to Hollywood for accurate portayals of historic figures, so I didn't cause a fuss. I even gave a pass on THE PATRIOT, as I do expect a great deal of dramatization in Hollywood. (Yes, I was making excuses for him, but I'm a sucker for blue eyes, so sue me)

HOWEVER, when he started getting into these snuff films, even I had to shake my head and walk away. We are all familiar with The Passion of the Christ and how he pulled biblical passages out of his ass, supplemented them with old fables and mythos to create the greatest snuff film of all time and got it pass the rating board by slapping religious superstitions all over it. But apparently that was not enough. Yes, dear readers, Mad Mel is at it again, ANOTHER snuff film, this time cashing in on the 2012 end of the world Mayan mythology.

For a look at what some idiots are actually thinking about this, check out this website. Now mind you this is not exactly a new concept, I've been hearing about this since the late 70's. It's changed over the years, of course, as any good urban legend does. I did a little googling and came up with over half a million hits with Mayan + 2012. Last I heard, our computers, appliances, etc will turn on us and destroy us all.

Of course my twisted mind pictures the kitchen being the epicenter of the carnage. Microwaves chasing family pets and toddlers to play 'poodle in the oven' and the food processor looking for fingers to slice and dice and so on. However the sad thing is, a lot of people DO believe this will happen. (I put this down to a lack of education, rational thought and the loosening of reality)

And of course, that brings us back to Mel, who has chosen to DO A FILM about the end of life come 2012. Yes, you read that right... coming to theatres Dec 2006, APOCALYPTO

I'm heading off to get drunk now, the world might make more sense that way.

In My Happy Place

Well, not quite 'the' happy place, that would involve handsome young men in kilts dancing on a mirrored floor and me with a leaf blower, but I digress....

Its been a rough few days for the powers that be, including Christofacists. Even Fox News has gotten its fill of at least a few of them. You need quicktime for this video clip of a Fox interview. It is propably only one of a literal handful of times that I have cheered on a Fox employee. Oh and consider this fair warning, the beast she's interviewing could give George Romero nightmares.

And our ever lovely Rude Pundit has gotten a hat tip from HuffPo, it seems he has caught mAnn Coulter in the act of plagiarism . Well done, RP, well done. And he's not the only one beating mAnn down just Google her name and see what comes up.

Santorum had to edit his book to tone down some of the more controversial points, his Spanish language website has different immigration on it than his English one and that is just the bullshit he got caught up in THIS week, and its only Tuesday. (I SO cannot wait to toss his arse out of office)

Frist's cat killing is coming back to haunt him in a new and hopefully painful way. Both his lying to the ASPCA to 'adopt' the little furballs and his complete lack of empathy when killing them. Not to mention the nearly orgasmic high he got when he felt the last few beatings of a dog's heart that he was holding in his blood soaked hands. (ok, a little melodramatic there, granted, I know what you have to do in med school, but I don't know of anyone who took quite so much pleasure in it as this putz)

Specter is stating that he is prepared to call telephone company officials to testify about a domestic wiretapping program if he doesn't get cooperation in talks with the Bush administration. And the first of many lawsuits against the illegal wiretappings started on Monday. And Verizon was hit with a 20 billion dollar lawsuit for assisting the Feds in their illegal activities. And now I read that Microsoft has been doing the same thing for years. Thanks Unka Bill...its a good thing he donates so much to charity, it tempers my outrages against him.

Mary Cheney's book has sold under 6k copies. Remember last month when she kept bringing up Kerry's reference to her during the debates, guess it really didn't help sell the book. Maybe she should talk to her mother, I'm sure a hot lesbian sex scene would help sales.

And, speaking of a few years too late. More and more journalists have been coming forward to FINALLY report on the voting discrepancies of the LAST presidential election.

Granted things could have gone better, but I think we're off to a good start this week. Fundies are getting nervous and turning on one another. Batshit crazies like Coulter, Santorum and such are being cast into the wind; it seems as if it is only a matter of time before others start to wake up and realize what has been happening. Of course that is when the Neo-cons will be at their most desperate and dangerous.

Message From Miss Mule

Missouri Mule's computer had to go to the comp E.R. today, so she's gonna be incomunicado for a few days. She just wanted me to let y'all know, so don't worry, she's still alive & kickin', she just can't blog or do e-mail right now.

And if she goes too long without calling, I am fully prepared to send my Ninja Mormon Missionaries out there to check on her & the critters.

(She woke me up this morning and wouldn't shaddup until she was sure that I couldn't go back to sleep, so she may get Mormons anyway.)

Violent crime rate is up

Violent crime (murders, robberies, aggravated assaults) is up in America for the first time in five years reports the Washington Post. It's not a huge increase but it's the largest percentage increase since 1991. (Detroit, Los Angeles and New York were among several large cities that saw the number of murders drop.) The biggest spikes were in these cities:

Murders jumped from 272 to 334 in Houston, a 23 percent spike; from 330 to 377 in Philadelphia, a 14 percent rise; and from 131 to 144 in Las Vegas, a 10 percent increase.

What's going on ?

"We see that budgets for policing are being slashed and the federal government has gotten out of that business," said James Alan Fox, a criminal justice professor at Northeastern University in Boston. "Funding for prevention at the federal level and many localities are down and the (National Rifle Association) has renewed strength."

Violent crimes peaked at 1.9 million in 1992 and fell steadily through the end of that decade. The number has been relatively stable for the past six years.

Crime last year increased in all regions, although the 5.7 percent rise in the Midwest was at least three times any other region's. These states make up the Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, here on Long Island, local educators are wary of the Violence Report Card which is due out today. It's said to be the most accurate ever. I'm curious too, but I don't think I'll be shocked as to which districts have the most crime (the poor ones). There also seems to be a discrepancy as to what some school administrators consider a 'crime of violence':

The state's reporting system lists more than 20 types of offenses, ranging from homicides, assaults and robberies to minor altercations, vandalism and false alarms. School consultants on the Island say it's difficult to get uniform reports, because some administrators report even hallway jostlings, while others ignore such incidents.

As Americans we value life

Even in an experimental prison setting like the Stanford Prison Experiment, prisoners experienced extreme despair and emotional breakdowns, so it's really no wonder that Guantanamo prisoners would attempt suicide. They weren't even charged with anything, there was no trial, nothing. Why is anyone shocked?

One of the men who committed suicide was set to be released but no one had told him yet.

"These people are told they'll be 50 by the time they get out, that they have no hope of getting out. They've been denied a hearing, they have no chance to be released."

I'm no al Qaida sympathizer, believe me, but I would have to agree that charges should be brought against 'detainees' even if they are the most despicable swine on the planet. The guards are supposed to check on 'detainees' every two minutes and apparently they didn't. The reason for the check up is to ensure that the prisoners don't try to kill themselves... because after all, the US always tries to err on the side of life. oy.

"What I would say is that we are always concerned when someone takes his own life, because as Americans we value life even if it is the life of a violent terrorist captured waging war against our country."

Some Ohio Families Refuse to Claim Bodies

"...a disturbing trend: bodies going unclaimed because relatives are either unwilling or unable to shoulder the responsibility or expense of burying the dead.

"Funeral costs average more than $6,000...

"...sad commentary on just how weak family ties have become..."

A sad commentary also on the American way of li..., death.

Rest at Associated Press.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind
Abu Musab Zarqawi blamed for more than 700 killings in Iraq

By Jim Miklaszewski
Pentagon Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:14 p.m. CT March 2, 2004

With Tuesday’s attacks, Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant with ties to al-Qaida, is now blamed for more than 700 terrorist killings in Iraq.

But NBC News has learned that long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself — but never pulled the trigger.

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

“Here we had targets, we had opportunities, we had a country willing to support casualties, or risk casualties after 9/11 and we still didn’t do it,” said Michael O’Hanlon, military analyst with the Brookings Institution.

Four months later, intelligence showed Zarqawi was planning to use ricin in terrorist attacks in Europe.

The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

“People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president’s policy of preemption against terrorists,” according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq.

The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

The United States did attack the camp at Kirma at the beginning of the war, but it was too late — Zarqawi and many of his followers were gone. “Here’s a case where they waited, they waited too long and now we’re suffering as a result inside Iraq,” Cressey added.

And despite the Bush administration’s tough talk about hitting the terrorists before they strike, Zarqawi’s killing streak continues today.

See also

Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi

Jordanian Painted As Foreign Threat To Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 10, 2006; A01

The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program. The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

See also

US 'allowed Zarqawi to escape'
The United States deliberately passed up repeated opportunities to kill the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, before the March 2003 US-led invasion of that country.

Stop the U.N. Gun Ban

Has anyone heard about this 4th of July "party" at the UN?

"...These dictatorships, terrorist states and so-called “free” nations of the world plan to meet on our home soil to finalize a U.N. treaty that would strip all citizens of all nations of their right to self-protection, and strip you of your rights under the Second Amendment."

http://www.stopungunban.org/

Is this just PR put out by the NRA?

I can't imagine our right to bear arms EVER being removed - can you?

I hate guns. My dad was a cop years back. Whenever he would clean them, I really got the creeps big time - made me VERY nervous. I never took an interest in learing to shoot a gun. Hubby had a shot gun when we first got married. He traveled a lot and he wanted me to learn how to use it. I told him "NO WAY" and instead, got a big dog to sleep with and she has guarded me with her life ever since.

I think I want to buy a gun now......

This Song Remembers When

Being a huge fan of Trisha Yearwood, one of our premier female vocalist of country music, I just dearly love this song. Anytime a song can transport me to another place or time, I am moved. The song, "The Song Remembers When" is one that does it for me everytime I hear it. It's a song about lost love and remembering it.
The first time I heard it I really was literally "rolling through the Rockies" and it moved me to tears. So here's a song for all the lost loves and the memories that sometimes rise again.


THE SONG REMEMBERS WHEN by Trisha Yearwood

I was standing at the counter
I was waiting for the change
When I heard that old familar music start

It was like a lighted match
Had been tossed into my soul
It was like a dam had broken in my heart

After taking every detour
Getting lost and losing track
So that even if I wanted I could not find my way back

After driving out the memory
Of the way things might have been
After I'd forgotten all about us
The song remembers when

We were rolling through the Rockies
We were up above the clouds
When a station out of Jackson played that song

And it seemed to fit the moment
And the moment seemed to freeze
As we turned that music up and sang along

And there was a God in Heaven
And the world made perfect sense
We were young and in love
And we were easy to convince

We were headed straight for Eden
It was just around the bend
And though I have forgotten all about it
The song remembers when

I guess something must have happened
And we must have said goodbye
And my heart must have been broken
Though I can't say just why
The song remembers when

Well for all the miles between us
And for all the time that's passed
You would think I haven't gotten very far

And I hope my hasty heart
Will forgive me just this once
If I stop to wonder how on earth you are

But that's just a lot of water
Underneath a bridge I burned
And there's no use in backtracking
Around corners I have turned

Still I guess some things we bury
Are just bound to rise again
For even if the whole world has forgotten
The song remembers when

The song remembers when
Yeah, and even if the whole world has forgotten
The song remembers when

Oh goodie. Cheek cancer.

Big tobaccy is introducing smokeless tobacco you stick in your cheek when you're in non smoking places. Ick.

Buh-Bye, Mr. Bugman

We won't be missing you. I wonder which K Street lobby shop he'll end up in.

I saw an interview on Hardball last night in which The Former Hammer Who Shall Not Be Named (TFHWSNBN) said that the war in Iraq is going well. Still drinking the Kool-Aid right to the bitter end. He did say one thing I totally agreed with, which was something to the effect of he's not too worried about the Dems taking control of the House or Senate, since they're too scared to stake out a position on controversial issues and stick with it. Fuck ya!

Unfortunately, TFHWSNBN is moving to my home town. Still looking for volunteers to help me teepee his house.

The Religion and Politics in American Life Survey

This survey is about attitudes towards religion and politics. Some people think that this country is becoming too secular. They want to see more people in government who share their values. Other people think that religious groups have too much influence in politics. They would rather keep religion and politics separate. We are very interested in your thoughts on this matter. What do you think about religion and politics in the U.S.?
Click here to take the survey:

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Erin Cassese (Stony Brook University) at ecassese@ic.sunysb.edu


This is a real survey conducted by Stony Brook University students and we will publish the results when we receive them here at BlondeSense

It Has Been Requested that You Don't Write Anything In the Comments Under This Post

Bistec con queso? Por favor -- Sorry, no cheesesteak for you...

"This is America. When ordering speak in English," proclaims the sign at Geno's Steaks.

Owner Joe Vento put up in the window of his shop six months ago. "Your loyalty should be to America and America only," Vento said. "All I did was quote Theodore Roosevelt, 1907." When immigration reached a record 1,285,000 that year, President Roosevelt said: "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room but for one language here and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality; we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people." In Philadelphia, 2006, Vento said he was referring to the growing Mexican population."......
"bilingual education and service at stores will ultimately hurt immigrants in the end. "

"Having an English-only policy at Geno's, a Philadelphia landmark, makes us seem small-minded and provincial, and undercuts efforts to have Philadelphia recognized as a world-class city."

"So what kind of an impression does Geno's sign make on visitors?
As one ex-Philadelphian who brought a friend sniffed, "It would never happen in New York." Ouch! *"

So, here we go again -- what a mess! This is really starting to annoy me. It's almost humorous, sad to say..

To Libertarian or Not To Libertarian

That is the question. At least, I think it is.

We've had a running debate going on for a couple days in one of the threads below, wherein some folks responded vigorously to (some might even say we ganged up on) a new visitor to BlondeSense. I think peace has been restored and thankfully no innocent lives were lost in the process. However, our new guest has a couple of questions for the readership, to wit:

1. Are we reverse snobs? Our guest wonders whether we unfairly prejudged him by assuming he was a rich (or at least well off) "I got mine now you get yours" type of guy. Turns out he's not, but he wonders whether his opinions would be any less valid if he were rich.

2. Our guest also thinks that private citizens can mobilize and affect greater social change without the bureaucratic obstacles presented by the big government/big business/big charity cabal.

What do you think?

I'll start. I don't think I'm a reverse snob, but because I come from humble means, I do find myself more than a bit skeptical of people who have had their paths smoothed in life by mommy and daddy's money. I do not find myself believing that they can truly empathize with the plight of lower class or lower middle class Americans who live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Maybe they can and this is a prejudice I need to get past. I will acknowledge that it is completely unreasonable to judge, without more, someone solely based on economic status. Indeed, it is completely unreasonable to judge anyone, without more, based on any [fill in the blank] status. (Okay, I'll make an exception for Focus on the Family members.)

On the second question, I am not entirely sure what I think. There are a fair number of well intentioned government programs that get totally fucked up in the implementation phase. Sometimes just the paperwork required to ensure the program is not subject to graft and corruption is formidable, yet still doesn't serve the intended purpose (e.g., government contracting). On the other hand, I would have to say that for all their failures, some of the largest social welfare programs have worked reasonably well: social security and medicare come to mind. I do not believe the private sector could have provided (and indeed did not provide) for the most vulnerable senior among us. I get totally jazzedwhen I see the philanthropy of, say, a Bill and Melinda Gates; however, I'm not sure there are enough Bill and Melinda Gateses in the world to meet the huge (and growing) need. I guess the bottom line is that I think there are some societal needs that can only be met by the government.

Repent Or Burn

I referred recently to my favorite Christian website, Talk2Action.org and the series which discusses the Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game which pits so-called "christian" forces against NY'ers (heathens) after the "rapture".

Quite honestly, I thought that Hollywood was the 'sin capital' of America according to the 'christianistas', but then I quickly remembered that NYC is the Jew and queer capital of America (snark), so where better to pit the battle of good vs evil if you are christo-fascist? It upsets me because I live in NY and I am one of those people who doesn't want to be raptured with the crackpots. I'm waiting for the other heaven with the nice people. I was looking forward to lighter traffic on the Belt Pkwy and I certainly hoped that all the "christianistas" would be gone and then we could all live here on earth happily ever after where the lion lays down with the lamb, etc.

Guess who is the 'enemy' in the game? The Antichrist's Global Community Peacekeepers and the UN. Ironic isn't it? Mark Morford called it "Grand Theft Auto" for the Rick Santorum set in his recent article: Jesus Loves a Machine Gun.

But why, if you are obsessed with other people's 'salvation', would you want to kill them? I don't remember reading anything about this in the 4 Gospels. Would you want to rush the unraptured to hell (because you're afraid that they will have a good time on earth sodomizing each other without your input)? Sounds a bit self-righteous to me. If coercing NYers at gunpoint to convert doesn't do the trick (it wouldn't work on me), wouldn't changing the strategy be the more "christian" thing to do? How about Jesus coming down to have a talk with the "left behinders" to explain that it's ok to follow him and all is forgiven? That would make for a boring video game though, wouldn't it? And why would "God" want people to love him out of fear? God sounds just as much like a tyrant as the Antichrist." Love me or we'll blow your brains out. Praise the lord.

Do read the third part of the series on the video game here. The real life christianistas are claiming that the game isn't so bad and they are attacking Talk2Action.org for their series on this game. Well the game certainly is bad; it's very unchristian at the very least.

Pray. Shoot. Kill. Pray. Convert or eliminate all your opponents. "Praise the Lord!" Anyone who does not convert must be an opponent. The game's designers declare: "They cannot remain neutral." New Yorkers cannot remain neutral. Convert or die. Pray. Lock and load. Ready. Aim. Fire. Kill. "Praise the Lord!" Eliminate your opponents. Practice Christian supremacy. Win. "Praise the Lord!"

If all the "christians" are raptured, who are all these nutcases (Tribulation Forces) with machine guns left on earth daring those 'left behinders' to choose between 'conversion' or going with the Antichrist? Who is the Antichrist anyway? (I think that the antichrist in the game is the real Jesus, but shhh, don't tell anyone) And why would we want our children to play christian terrorists in the jihad against the 'left behinders?' Wouldn't we want our sweet angels to live happily in heaven with us? Who would these parents be that they would want their kids to play this horrible game? This stuff could go to their heads and they could have the crap beaten out of them at the playground if they try to pull this holier than thou nonsense on their classmates. Oh wait. These kids are probably home schooled.

Obligatory Friday Sex Post

'Cept this is not one of those cutesy ones we all can get a good laugh from. Y'all may recall that singer R. Kelly is accused of statutory rape and child porn arising out of one or more incidents in which he had sex with a girl as young as thirteen. The scumbag videotaped one or more of these "encounters". His trial will start shortly.

The girl, now 21, is now gettin raped again, this time by the presiding judge, who has ruled that the sex tape can be released to the general public, despite requests from both the prosecutor and defense that viewing be limited to the parties and the jury.

Can someone please tell me why the judge should not be charged with distributing child pornography too?

World Cup 2006

I am very worried about my 16-year old son. His high school finals are next week and the kid really has to work hard to get those B (and c) grades -- and bless his soul, he does work hard at it. I don't know how he is going to pull it off this year; his only passion in life (at the moment, hopefully) is soccer -- I really can't complain. I do wish he would get a little bit of a life though. He eats, sleeps, drinks, breathes SOCCER. He watches every game he can possibly find on cable. If he can't see it, he tapes it. He watches some games over and over and over.

My whole family for that matter (except me) lives for the game. I'm one of those 'dump and run' moms when it comes to soccer -- hubby keeps the schedule. They started with Kindergarten Kicker's and have not stopped. I do try to get to some of their games. The games are more exciting now that they are getting older. I don't know the first thing about the game and I have missed most of their goals because I wasn't paying attention or was chating with someone. Maybe I'll tune in this year and see if I might get caught up in the excitement.

My man/boy has been waiting for this World Cup for a long time now (1/4 of his life) so I am going to keep my mouth shut and just tell him that he is about to have his first shot at time management -- I'm letting him call the shots here. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Anyway, I really just wanted to post Pierre Tristam's recent posts about the World Cup - I think he's a soccer fan..... no; he's the ULTIMATE SOCCER FAN.

For all you fans out there, I suggest you put Pierre Tristam on your favorites this week.

Wonderful post from Tuesday:
http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/Archives/C060606.htm#1

And today's:
http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/Archives/CN060906.htm#1

Also, I must pass on this delightful post from Matt Cheplic at Huffpo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-cheplic/you-can-ignore-the-world-_b_22486.html


****MUSIC ADDITION******

Great tunes to get you in the soccer mood:
Maradonna - Life is Life http://www.metacafe.com/watch/58956/life_is_life_maradona/

Brazil team in the locker room with their happy feet moving the ball around to Sergio Mendes/Black Eyed Peas playing Mas Que Nada http://www.metacafe.com/watch/110649/brazil_team_dance_the_samba/%20

Man I LOVE the Black Eyed Peas. Here they are doing Mas Que Nada with Sergio ( Hip Hop mixed with Samba - awesome!) http://www.musicvideocodes.biz/song_32661_Sergio_Mendes-Mas_Que_Nada.html

I hope they load ok for you - ENJOY!

Jocelyn Elders for President!!!

In case you missed tonight's Bullshit! episodes, Penn & Teller did some great stuff about "abstinence-only" (Penn renamed: "IGNORANCE ONLY!") sex (non-)education and the glorious heaps of bullshit in the Judeo-christian bible.

Jocelyn Elders is not only still working her ass off, and speaking very eloquently about the subjects of sex, masturbation, sexual health and public education --- she's still busting her ass to re-establish REAL sex education and to spotlight the lies and maniuplative bullshit of the IGNORANCE-ONLY "sex ed" being pushed by the right-wing fucktards who obviously have gone 40 or 50 years without ever once enjoying an orgasm. They must still believe what their mommies told them about their "naughty parts" being dirty and evil and wrong, etc.

And now she's going to have a TALK SHOW!!! Dr. Ruth, WATCH OUT!

And yes, firing Jocelyn Elders is yet another thing for which I will never forgive Bill Clinton. Sure, sure, we had an economy then, but he fucked up on Jocelyn (and should've taken more of her advice, obviously) and Rwanda, and a helluva lot more. So no, I wouldn't vote for him again. Al, I'd vote for any fucking day, but not Bill.

Hell Has Officially Frozen Over

The FDA finally got one right (but don't hold your breath for it to happen again anytime soon). The HPV vaccine has been approved.

Our prayers to The Flying Spaghetti Monster have been answered.

Senate blocks cut to estate tax

yay

Boo hoo hoo, Mr Frist thinks that the estate tax is very unfair and wants to get the bill before the president this summer because it's an election year.

Um. 1.17% of Americans left a taxable estate in 2002. It's not like that's a whole lot of voting base but then again, these heirs may be future fascists of America. But then again maybe not. I had to pay estate taxes when my parents died and I never voted for a Republican president (they did) .... but my heavens, what a bunch of loopholes they have so you don't have to pay a huge percentage... and it wasn't like I was going to lose the family farm if I had to pay full pop. That's a crock. No one has lost the family farm because of estate taxes. The Repubs have got middle class, hard working Americans terrified of this estate tax and it's just plain disgraceful. As long as the country is living on borrowed money, it seems ridiculous to cut more taxes, especially to the wealthiest among us and especially since they already got their tax cuts. I mean, come on!

Somalia Update. Some Surprises. But Not Really

Have you been following Somalia? It's interesting.

Remember when the warlords drove Americans out of Somalia in 1993? Now they are our friends. Ellis Henican in yesterday's Newsday had piece about Somalia today. "Backing the enemy in the fight against terror" Seems the CIA is funding the warlords and the warlords are losing. It's a good opinion piece.

"Black Hawk Down" was more than a best-selling book and a gripping war film. It was a bloody assault on American soldiers by a band of heartless thugs.

So have you met our new friends in Somalia?

Yes, they're the same ol' copter-shooting, corpse-dragging Somali warlords.

Nice to see you guys again!

In todays NY Times, we learn that Efforts by C.I.A. Fail in Somalia, Officials Charge

One American government official who traveled to Nairobi this year said officials from various government agencies working in Somalia had expressed concern that American activities in the country were not being carried out in the context of a broader policy.

"They were fully aware that they were doing so without any strategic framework," the official said. "And they realized that there might be negative implications to what they are doing."

...

Indeed, some of the experts point to the American effort to finance the warlords as one of the factors that led to the resurgence of Islamic militias in the country. They argue that American support for secular warlords, who joined together under the banner of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism, may have helped to unnerve the Islamic militias and prompted them to launch pre-emptive strikes. The Islamic militias have been routing the warlords, and on Monday they claimed to have taken control of most of the Somali capital.

Some don't see the Islamic groups as the enemy. On NewsHour this discussion took place the other night, regarding how the Somalians embraced the Islamic Alliance and are holding their own against the CIA funded warlords:

ABDI SAMATAR (University of Minnesota): ...The reason why the Islamic courts and the population have been able to succeed in doing this is because there are three groups who are involved in this business: One is the Islamic court; the other is a huge number of very successful businesspeople who have tremendous amounts of weaponry; and, thirdly, there's a very widely distributed civil society movement.

It's these three groups who are holding the fort, so to speak. And the reason I think they have been successful in defeating the warlords is because the people of Mogadishu and Somalia have gotten sick and tired of the violence which has been visited on them, as Secretary Cohen earlier on. And finally they decided they had enough of this and, therefore, decided to go along with the Islamic people.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, could you explain, Professor, why the business community in Somalia is supporting the Islamists? That might seem to, you know, outside observers a contradiction.

ABDI SAMATAR: I would like to call these people Islamic practitioners, rather than Islamists. Islamists has the connotation that they are incredibly politicized and of the kind that you can expect from the Taliban's.

These folks, in my estimation, are far away from that and quite different. The reason why the businesspeople have decided to join forces with this is because the businesspeople have to protect their businesses and their property, and so they literally have to have their own security systems.

If there was a state and if there is peace in Mogadishu, then they wouldn't need all of that. And, secondly, they were also the victims of the warlords, in terms of prosecution, looting, and what have you.

The civil society groups have joined the Islamic courts in large measure because they are the ultimate victims of the war in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country, so you have a coalition of people spearheaded by the Islamic courts who are doing this at the moment.

FBI says, “No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”

No Shit Sherlock! Sorry to keep beating this dead horse folks, but....
here are some updates on the 9/11 mysteries:

Coverage of the meeting in Chicago by the NY Times (whatta you know)
"500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11"
(I dislike the headline - could have just read "Over 500 gather to Seek the Truth of 9/11") Anyway, it's a pretty fair piece all in all.

Here is coverage of the event from NY911truth

And here's the latest from Muckraker:

FBI says, “No hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”

"And on those few rare occasions when a 9/11 dissenter has made it upon the airways, why has the mainstream media ridiculed the guest as a conspiracy nut, rather than listen to the evidence that clearly raises valid questions about the government’s 9/11 account? Why is the Big Media Conglomeration blindly content with the government’s 9/11 story when so much verifiable information to the contrary is available with a few clicks of a computer mouse?

Who is it that is controlling the media message, and how is it that the U.S. media has indicted Usama Bin Laden for the events of September 11, 2001, but the U.S. government has not? How is it that the FBI has no “hard evidence” connecting Usama Bin Laden to the events of September 11, 2001, while the U.S. media has played the Bin Laden - 9/11 connection story for five years now as if it has conclusive evidence that Bin Laden is responsible for the collapse of the twin towers, the Pentagon attack, and the demise of United Flight 93?

…No hard evidence connecting Usama Bin Laden to 9/11… Think about it."

Juicy

George Bush Sr. asked retired general to replace Rumsfeld

The former president's secret campaign to oust the secretary of defense was rebuffed by President Bush, a source says.
By Sidney Blumenthal

"Jun. 08, 2006 | Former President George H.W. Bush waged a secret campaign over several months early this year to remove Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The elder Bush went so far as to recruit Rumsfeld's potential replacement, personally asking a retired four-star general if he would accept the position, a reliable source close to the general told me. But the former president's effort failed, apparently rebuffed by the current president. When seven retired generals who had been commanders in Iraq demanded Rumsfeld's resignation in April, the younger Bush leapt to his defense. "I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain," he said. His endorsement of Rumsfeld was a rebuke not only to the generals but also to his father.

The elder Bush's intervention was an extraordinary attempt to rescue simultaneously his son, the family legacy and the country...."

read on...

Ding Dong Zarqawi's Dead

Again.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid

The announcement came six days after the Jordanian-born terror leader appeared in a videotape, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias are raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a house 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said.

Meanwhile, Oil falls below $70 on death of al Qaeda's Zarqawi


UPDATE: Bush hails operation to kill al-Zarqawi

"Now Zarqawi has met his end, and this violent man will never murder again," Bush said as he announced from the Rose Garden the U.S. airstrike against the man considered the most dangerous terrorist plotter in Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi coordinated a loose coalition of militants numbering at least in the hundreds. Osama bin Laden called him the "emir," or prince, of al-Qaida in Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday called him a terrorist mastermind.

"I think arguably over the past several years no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands," Rumsfeld said at a meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels.

Republicans Pray the Problem Will Go Away

Carl posted a thoughtful essay today Democrats Work For Solutions over at Simply Left Behind.

"It's never been more true than during this, the fifth Bush year, and barring a turnaround in Congress, I don't see it ending anytime soon.

Take a look at the world around you, take a look at the big challenges and problems we face: Iraq, global warming, diseases, terrorism, Iran, China, Russia. Look at this administration's response to these problems.

Now look at what has their knickers in a twist: gay marriage and illegal immigration.

These are the issues the Republicans choose to focus on: non-problems. And boy, do they ever plow an enormous fount of energy into these suckers! Bill after bill after bill, all designed to eliminate a non-problem.

Gay marriage, for example. Who cares? My slick answer when asked about gay marriage is, "Sure, why should they get special treatment, let them be as miserable as the rest of us," but in truth, my feelings run pretty deep on this. Jesus tells us to accept people for who they are, and so long as there is love, we really don't have much to say in someone else's private affairs (Absenting children, of course, as Jesus was pretty clear how he felt about kids.)

Apparently, for Republicans, gay marriage ranks right after nuclear holocaust as a force that will destroy America. Using some bizarre calculus based on disparate Biblical passages, they actually have Jesus attacking homosexual behavior.

That's not the Jesus I know."

Read on...

Senate Rejects Bid For Same Sex Marriage Ban

The Federal Marriage Amendment failed in the Senate, 49-48, thankfully.

Results:
For cloture (who not to re-elect)
49 senators including two Democrats: Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Against cloture:
48 senators including seven Republicans: Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins of Maine, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, John McCain of Arizona, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John Sununu of New Hampshire
Did not vote:
Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, John Rockefeller, D-West Virginia
Source: U.S. Senate


Here are some quotable quotes:

Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana): "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one."

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.): "If it's up to me, we'll have a vote on this issue every year."

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.): "We're making progress, and we're not going to stop until marriage between a man and a woman is protected . . . protected in the courts, protected in the Constitution, but most of all, protected for the people and for the future of our children in this society."

It's Not the Heat, It's the Stupidity*

So, yet another state bites the dust, with Governor Kathleen Blanco saying she will sign the latest abortion law passed by the Louisiana legislature. No rape or incest exception.

Nice, huh? With Democrats like this, who needs Republicans?


*Caption shamelessly stolen from commenter SaltyC at I Blame the Patriarchy.

First Frist . . .

Now Sam Brownback. Y'all might remember the adoring article the Washington Post published a couple of weeks ago about Bill "Cat Killer" Frist, complete with picture of him operating on a gorilla at the national zoo. Now get a load of this "humble enough for higher power" bullshit on Sam Brownback (R-Land of Intelligent Design).

What's with all the political handjobs the Post is giving Republican presidential wanna-bes?

I E D -- Intermittent Explosive Disorder

What do you think about this?

"Our new study suggests IED is really out there and that a lot of people have it,"

The authors said their findings suggest two disturbing trends that will require additional study—that IED is on the increase among teenagers and....

The study found that the rage disorder typically begins at age 13 in boys and 19 in girls, increases rapidly in the teen years, is less prevalent among respondents in their 40s and becomes even less so among people in their 60s.

Lots of talk about this - I'm still taking it all in. I thought this story by a Tribune science reporter was pretty fair.

The AP story is obnoxious with its Russell Crowe reference. Others focus on young boy rage.

So now, road rage has a new name (most popular headline - figures)

Me personally -- well, I have explosive rage 'thoughts' (a la Ally McBeal style) in my head all the time. I guess I am able to control my rage so far.

Kidding aside folks -- this is serious stuff. I do see young teens with uncontrolled rage. Is it on the rise? I don't know -- I saw just as many explosive tempers when I was a kid. Maybe it's on the rise because it is finally getting some attention?

Here is the study:

Are You Psychic?

Today's Part II cover story in Newsday is about psychics who are getting rich because so many people are interested in the paranormal.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe in the paranormal, which includes extrasensory perception (ESP), communication with the dead and channeling spiritual entities, according to a poll last year conducted by the Gallup Organization. That's up from the half or more Americans who said they believed in the paranormal, according to a similar Gallup poll done in 1990.

With the state of the world as it is today, it's really no wonder to me that people are turning to religion or psychics to get answers. I don't believe that true psychics charge for it.

9/11 Wives Respond To Coulter's Slander

Crooks and Liars has the response from the wives to the drag queen's slander on the Today Show.
-------

Comedian, Kathy Griffin had some words with Al Roker about the hateful bitch:

Kathy Griffin: "I like to make fun of everybody. I think nobody is sacred, everybody can be ridiculous. And I love making fun of just all of celebrity culture."

Al Roker: "So you basically have gone after, you, you've made Steven Spielberg angry, now you're going after Oprah."

Griffin: "I go, although I'd like to go after Ann Coulter. I saw that nut-ball on the show earlier."

Roker: "Oh please. Okay."

Griffin: "What's she doing wearing a cocktail dress at 7am in the morning for? She got home from the party last night? Doesn't she just make stuff up Al?"

Roker giggling: "Kathy."

Griffin: "Who fact checks?"

Roker: "I, I don't know."

HT: PeterH

Whatta fucking buzzkill.

6/6/06 my wide, white, gelatinous tattooed fanny.

Nobody likes a fucking TEASE.

Allllllllllll of the bible-banging sociopathic batshit-crazies have been swearin', up & down, all year, that the Rapture was a'comin' today and that we'd finally be FREE of the self-proclaimed-christian INFESTATION that's been driving this country into the two-holer with turbo-boost.

And here it is, 12:32A on 6/7/06, and NUTHIN'.

Not a one of 'em goin' "missing". No ugly nekkid people floating up into the air and freeing up the parking spaces. No Swaggart/Bakker/Roberts/Robertson mansions goin' begging for new inhabitants.

Not one blessed moment of silence from the speaking-in-tongues, snake-handlin' hand-wavers and the pompous, plugged-up pricks who think that they were put here to remind women that all your uterus belong to us.

I want my money back, gawddammit.

Prufrock In Hadila

This poem is by Robert Boldt from Democracy for Missouri. It reminded me of what is being done in our names. Can you imagine Chimp Boy ever feeling ashamed or shedding a tear over the slaughter in Iraq?


Prufrock In Hadila

One moment I fly on the wings
Of dawn over a cornish beach
Next I wipe blood
Of a Iraqi child
From the edges of my screen
Were even Virgil's eyes ever meant
To move so effortlessly from
Paradise to Hell and back
In a mouseclick?

I cannot believe the angels
Of a creator god
Ever crafted nerves in patterns
Designed for such a diet

Today I wept to see a real landscape
Over a lush summer-green
Missouri landscape
I knew it was real
Not virtual
And yet, I also knew that
Beyond those clouds
A world away
Real men, women, children
Who had never in their lives
Wished me ill
Were emptying out thier life blood
In my name
And for my sake?
I will never know them
On my small screen
Feeling their virtual pain
And my virtual shame

Estate Tax Pyramid Scheme - Editorial by Robert Reich

I was depressed at the prospect of student loans going up 2% after I read about that several posts down. My 3 are not in college yet -- soon though. I wonder what the rate will be in a few years....

Then I read this -- now I just throw my hands up in the air. I guess I just have to "suuuck it uuuuup.."

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/06/06/estate_tax_pyramid_scheme.php

Ah, Liberty

I see that another 1400 Iraqi men, women and children were liberated from Mother Earth last month in Baghdad. I'll bet they're glad they were freed from the evil clutches of that madman Saddam Hussein. Mind you, this is just the number of bodies that have been brought to the Baghdad morgue, and so does not include casualties that may have been buried by there families, and does not include civilians killed in insurgent bombings. Nor does it include the remainder of the country like Basra, where the violence was so bad last month that the regional governor declared martial law.

There is no "good" spin that can be put on this. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There are no more corners to be turned. There is no more good that the US military can accomplish. Three years in, theis war is more of an unmitigated disaster than ever. The madness must end.

Bring 'em home. Bring 'em home NOW!

Pope Agrees That Gay Marriages Hurt Families

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Tuesday that gay marriage, abortion, lesbians wanting to bear children and a host of other practices it sees as threats to the traditional family were signs of "the eclipse of God".

A 60-page document, called "Family and Human Procreation," was issued just days after U.S. President George W. Bush urged the Senate to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The document strongly restated many of the Roman Catholic Church's positions on sexuality, marriage and life but went further, saying the family today was more endangered than at any time before in history.

Quite honestly, God hasn't been giving families much of a boost, unless you believe that God wants us to have children so that they can grow up and be soldiers who are sent out to fight pre-emptive wars against people of other faiths, based on faulty evidence.

It said the family was under attack around the world, even in traditionally Christian cultures, by what it called "radical currents" proposing new family models.

It listed these threats as homosexual marriages, giving gay couples equal legal recognition as married heterosexuals, lesbians demanding the right to bear children through artificial insemination and gays who want to adopt children.

They may be trying to humiliate (but it won't work) homosexuals back into the closet because the rate of men joining the priesthood has dropped substantially since "tolerance" started to rear its ugly head.

Divorce is a threat to families. The Catholic Church constantly drumming it in your head that sex with women is a yukky necessity that should not be enjoyed, is a threat to marriage.

I didn't read the whole thing but I am wondering if the pope brought up this big threat to marriage- Adultery. Adultery often causes divorces. And remarriage after a divorce is considered adultery according to Jesus. Adultery is right up there in the 10 Commandments as a sin. Even thinking about it is a sin.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery." Mark10:11-12

Another threat to marriages are money problems. If there were social justice in the so called "Christian" world, we wouldn't have so many families living below the poverty line in industrialized countries. But then again, having poor people serves the military's interest.

I don't know what the problem with gay people getting married and raising children is unless the powers that be believe that gay couples might raise children unwilling to join the military. Could that be it?

God is a Baseball Fan

Who knew? Not content to be Colorado's team, or even America's team, the Colorado Rockies are "God's Team".

Seems God's not that much of a fan though, since the teams is under .500 and dead last in the NL West.

Here's my favorite quote:

"I don't want to offend anyone, but I think character-wise we're stronger than anyone in baseball. Christians, and what they've endured, are some of the strongest people in baseball. I believe God sends signs, and we're seeing those."

Yeah, I got your sign, pal.

Blech. Where do people get these weird ideas?

Unintended Consequences of Holding Up Plan B

Amazing story. A 42 year old Virginia woman, who is married with children, couldn't get a Plan B prescription within 72 hours of unprotected sex with her husband. She ended up in an abortion clinic. Read it.

Coulter on 9/11 Widows: ‘I Have Never Seen People Enjoying their Husbands’ Death So Much’

From Think Progress: The infamous drag queen shouldn't have even appeared on network television this morning. Disgraceful.

DHS Funding: The Outrage Is Still Strong

The two cities that were attacked by terrorists, NYC and DC, had homeland security funding drastically slashed. Giuliani Blasts NYC Anti-Terror Fund Cuts
and the lastest news is that Mayor Bloomberg of NYC suggests that funding cuts may be payback for embarrassing the DHS last year.

Questionable projects funded by DHS include $202,000 to install 70 video surveillance cameras in Dillingham, Alaska, a fishing village of 2,400 people, and $100,000 to provide Washington, D.C., sanitation workers with a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. Others included $36,000 to prevent terrorists from raising money through bingo in Kentucky and a $30,000 medical aid trailer for the annual Madisonville, Texas, mushroom festival. In addition, Charlotte got $8,970,000 for security spending, Omaha received $8,330,000, the Louisville Area, $8,520,000 and the state of North Dakota gets $10,788,443.

Meanwhile: WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- U.S. officials fear a domestic terror attack is likely before the end of the year, as activity by "homegrown" cells is increasing, CBS News reported Tuesday.

when you use 'feudalistic fundamentalist' give me credit

From the gifted Wayne Slater in the Dallas Morning News

SAN ANTONIO – Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell offered a greeting to delegates to the Republican convention. "It's great to be back in the holy land," the Fort Worth native said to the cheers of the party faithful.For the 4,500 delegates at last week's biennial gathering, it was both an expression of conservative philosophy and religious faith, a melding of church and state.

At Saturday morning's prayer meeting, party leader Tina Benkiser assured them that God was watching over the two-day confab.

"He is the chairman of this party," she said against a backdrop of flags and a GOP seal with its red, white and blue logo.

The party platform, adopted Saturday, declares "America is a Christian nation" and affirms that "God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom." "We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and state," it says.

Just off the convention floor, among the warren of booths selling buttons and T-shirts denouncing Democrats, the table for WallBuilders – founded by outgoing party vice chairman David Barton – was piled high with books and DVDs extolling religion in government. The Keys to Good Government was one DVD. America's Godly Heritage was another.

I don't blame the GOP for doing this. They have found a way to get their tax breaks for the rich by getting people with an obsession with religion--such an obsession that they ignore reality and logic and anything else that gets in their way--to vote for welfare for the wealthy.

Never mind that most of these zealots do not qualify for those tax breaks they eagerly support in the name of "returning" God to American government.

I blame every perfectly nice person I know, who doesn't believe this nonsense, yet doesn't vote. They are the people I work with, the people I went to law school with, the ones taking their kids to Little League. They are either not registered to vote or as one college colleague said to me, "I just try to stay out of this. It wears me out." Their stupidity, which obviously has crossed the line into their ability to protect their own interests, knows no bounds.

And as Ron White, comedian and genius compared to these fools, says, "You can't fix stupid."

I have a perfectly nice woman friend who lives in a very nice home, has a very nice sum of money invested in the market, has a very nice retirement. She is terrified that the Mexicans are going to take over government and "our way of life." Her house is much nicer than mine so I am not sure if she means her way of life or my way of life, too.

She should be worried about these feudalistic fundamentalist who have taken over our government. What is their obsession with returning this country to 13th Century Europe and the Dark Ages? Was life really better then? What makes them think that the Founders really were religious? Have they read anything?

Who is worse? These historically illiterate people and don't get all snippy, they can believe whatever they want and I defend their right to worship a Maytag wash machine if they do, but keep that flat earth, king worshiping, the sun moves around the earth, tax money to the church, our president as God's favorite, crap out of my government. We are not a Christian nation. And if we are, then why are we at war and children are hungry?

Who is worse? The perfectly nice people who let it happen by not voting against what they know is wrong?

The Power of Nightmares

A MUST SEE BBC documentary. (available via order or peg-leg discount)

A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.

The article comes in several installments, but the video is extremely powerful.

The rise of the politics of fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neo-conservative movement that dominates Washington.
Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together.

The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neo-conservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision.

They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see.
The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to "see the truth"'.

How frighteningly familiar is this? We've all stated and reminded each other time and time again that there is no 'quick fix' to our current problems and that the neo-cons have been plotting for years, but even I was shocked to see how far back and how deep seeded their plans run. But once you read the articles and/or see the documentary a LOT of things are going to click.

It also leaves little doubt (for anyone who was still on the fence) that 9/11 was orchestrated from within as much as without. It also goes to show that those fundie xtians, neo-cons and islamifacists ARE all cut from the same cloth.

Darwin's Natural Selection Still At Work

Lioness In Zoo Kills Man Who Invoked God. KIEV (Reuters)

"A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in KIEV Zoo after he crept into the animals enclosure, a zoo offical said on Monday."

"The man shouted "God will save me, if he exists," lowered himself by a rope into the enclouseure took his shoes off and went up to the lions the offical said. "A lioness went stright for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."

Evolution still rules! Praise the possum!

pardon my french, but

Chimp: "Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society."

What a crock.
And where does he think gay people come from? The stork?

Some Senators think it's a crock too, but will support the constitutional amendment because it will bring out those sick fucks that vote for them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Speaking of the sick fucks who vote for the GOP against their interests, Richard Cranium (All Spin Zone) warns people with student loans to consolidate by June 30th because the interest rate will go up 2 percentage points because of the the deficit-reduction act. Richard says, "Let's call this what it clearly is: a tax increase on the middle class to pay for Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy in the midst of the most expensive war in American history.

"Why do I say it's a hidden tax increase on the middle class? Think about it. Who takes college student loans? The working poor and middle class - both parents and the students themselves. Wealthy folks don't take student loans."

Indeed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Dark Wraith today hints that things in the bush marriage are not as rosy as you may think. And uh, whose marriage is rosy?

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Stephen Colbert gave a commencement address at Knox College this weekend. I think he was brilliant especially this part after he tells the students to say "yes" after they graduate:

Now will saying “yes” get you in trouble at times? Will saying “yes” lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes” leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say “yes.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Beating Bush (with a stick?)

Talk about the shit hitting the fan o_O Below are several articles addressing Bush, the war and his distraction parade.


AMERICAN BAR ASSOC INVESTIGATING BUSH

The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously yesterday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.

Meeting in New Orleans, the board of governors for the world's largest association of legal professionals approved the creation of an all-star legal panel with a number of members from both political parties.

They include a former federal appeals court chief judge, a former FBI director, and several prominent scholars -- to evaluate Bush's assertions that he has the power to ignore laws that conflict with his interpretation of the Constitution. Bush has appended statements to new laws when he signs them, noting which provisions he believes interfere with his powers.

Among the laws Bush has challenged are the ban on torturing detainees, oversight provisions in the USA Patriot Act, and ``whistle-blower" protections for federal employees. The challenges also have included safeguards against political interference in taxpayer-funded research.
Bush has challenged more laws than all previous presidents combined.

The ABA's president, Michael Greco, said in an interview that he proposed the task force because he believes the scope and aggressiveness of Bush's signing statements may raise serious constitutional concerns. He said the ABA, which has more than 400,000 members, has a duty to speak out about such legal issues to the public, the courts, and Congress.


INVOKING SECRET PRIVLIGES

Facing a wave of litigation challenging its eavesdropping at home and its handling of terror suspects abroad, the Bush administration is increasingly turning to a legal tactic that swiftly torpedoes most lawsuits: the state secrets privilege.

In recent weeks alone, officials have used the privilege to win the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a German man who was abducted and held in Afghanistan for five months and to ask the courts to throw out three legal challenges to the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.

But civil liberties groups and some scholars say the privilege claim, in which the government says any discussion of a lawsuit's accusations would endanger national security, has short-circuited judicial scrutiny and public debate of some central controversies of the post-9/11 era.


AND OF COURSE, NAKED HOMOSEXUAL FLAG BURNING IS DESTROYING THE COUNTRY

I can't even pick a piece out of this article, its all that fabu and a definate MUST READ

The Shit Has Hit the Fan

Probing a Bloodbath
The Marines were well prepared for war, but not for insurgency. Did some of them snap—and slaughter innocent civilians in cold blood?
By Evan Thomas and Scott Johnson
Newsweek

Excerpt:
... Though no one is talking openly at Camp Pendleton, Marines and their families are buzzing about what might have gone wrong inside Kilo Company. The wife of a staff sergeant in the 3/1 battalion, who declined to be identified because she doesn't want to get her husband in trouble, told NEWSWEEK that there was "a total breakdown" in discipline and morale after Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani took over as battalion commander when the unit returned from Fallujah at the start of 2005. (Chessani's friends in his Colorado hometown defended him as a dedicated, patriotic, religious Marine.) "There were problems in Kilo Company with drugs, alcohol, hazing, you name it," said the woman. "I think it's more than possible that these guys were totally tweaked out on speed or something when they shot those civilians in Haditha."

But Lucian Read, a freelance photographer who spent seven months with Kilo Company, both in Fallujah and Haditha, did not see warning signs. "Their morale wasn't bad, it was more fatalistic; this is the grunts-get-screwed-every-time," he said. "They were not happy, not pleased, but not angry, either," Read said. "Nothing they ever did or said even hinted at this kind of event. I never saw it coming. No one saw it coming."

When Marines of the Thundering Third returned home to Pendleton this past winter, they were given sensitivity training and told to stop using some of their more-offensive call signs, like "Slayer" and "Killer." They were also admonished against the usual growling retorts of a Marine grunt, a kind of "rrrrr" sound. "Everyone was wondering, 'Why this soft stuff?' " says the wife of the 3/1 staff sergeant. Since the Haditha scandal broke, however, all Marines—not just the ones in the 3/1—are being required to spend more time learning "core values."

how do you like your blue-eyed boy president now America?

with all due respect to e.e.cummings for Buffalo Bill's

From the today's Associated Press:

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush urged Congress again Saturday to support a constitutional amendment banningsame-sex marriage as the Senate prepared to vote on the "MarriageProtection Amendment" next week.The president used his weekly radio address Saturday to renew his backing for the measure, which would amend the Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and woman.The president said the traditional definition of marriage between a man and a woman is being attacked by activist judges who have overridden state legislatures and discovered a constitutional right in same-sex marriage.

Why wasn't the president's weekly radio address about this:

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, June 2 — Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha last November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initiallyreported, but the officers involved saw no reason to investigate further, according to a senior Marine officer. The commanders have told investigators they had not viewed asunusual, in a combat environment, the discrepancies that emerged almost immediately in accounts about how the two dozen Iraqis died, and that they had no information at the time suggesting that any civilians had been killed deliberately.

But the handling of the matter by the senior Marine commanders in Haditha, and whether officers and enlisted personnel tried to cover up what happened or missed signs suggesting that the civilian killings were not accidental, has become a major element of the investigation by an Army general into the entire episode.Officials have said that the investigation, while not yet complete, is likely to conclude that a small group of marines carried out the unprovoked killings of two dozen civilians in the hours after a makeshift bomb killed a marine.

How do you like our president who was supposed to "restore dignity" to the White House as Maureen Dowd noted today? The photographs of the bodies of dead children probably killed by U.S. Marines, since shell casings found around the murdered children's bodies were U.S. issue, are widely available on the web. Were these children a threat to the United States Marines? Were these children somehow less precious than those Mr. Bush would not abort?

Mr. Bush would rather use his "bully pulpit" to push for discrimination written into our Constitution but would not address the murders of innocents committed quite possibly by U.S. troops. Does he really think that keeping gays from marrying is the most important issue facing the people and the government of the United States of America? The most powerful government and military on Earth?

There will be Americans who attempt to justify this incident like those who justified My Lai by saying that our troops don't know who the enemy is, in a culture they don't understand, using judgment honed by video games used by the military to train soldiers.

Our troops should know that infants and toddlers are not the enemy.

Not only should the troops who may be found guilty of murder serve the rest of their lives in Leavenworth, but their commanding officers who may have covered up this bloodbath should serve with them.

What does it say when the president who states he believes in the holiness of life does not address what has been done in our name? Even if he stated, "If American Marines did this, they will be punished"--which quite possibly he mumbled this week in a photo op designed to show us that while it is hard to be the president he can get his picture taken. While we tell Iran, "Okay, the world thinks it would be pretty shitty if we bombed the hell out of you for your uranium program, so why don't we talk? We will propose something, Iran will reject it and then having disposed of those pesky talks, the bombing can commence before those mid-term elections."

Didn't Bush say that whomever leaked Valerie Plame's name, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it, would be punished?

Values start at the top. We have tortured people, we have murdered children. There is an atmosphere that fosters this activity. If you aren't denouncing it, you are supporting it. We are now sending grown men and women in uniform to classes in "core values." That sounds like a program straight from the public school system. If you have to teach American soldiers not to murder children, then isn't the values presidency really over?

Bush said the following in his address:

As this debate goes forward, we must remember that every American deserves to be treated with tolerance, respect, and dignity. All of us have a duty to conduct this discussion with civility and decency toward one another, and all people deserve to have their voices heard. A constitutional amendment will put a decision that is critical to American families and American society in the hands of the American people, which is exactly where it belongs. Democracy, not court orders, should decide the future of marriage in America.

This is marvelous code language. The Right is still smarting over that infamous "court order" in Brown v. Board of Education to desegregate the public schools. Many, many Americans have dissolved their own marriage with such incivility that it takes court orders to have child visitation and child support. Many, many men really dislike the courts ordering them to parenting classes and courts ordering them to pay child support.Oh yeah, the statement that this puts the decision in the "hands of the American people" is rich. Does this mean that we are going to have a referendum on the matter or that 38 state legislatures would ratify Bush's marriage amendment? Has Cheney told him? A duty to conduct this discussion civilly? With no violence? While Bush cuts U.S. funding to the U.N. efforts to fight AIDS? That is fairly violent. And not civil.

Honey, I Shrunk The Preznit

The way Americans like their war

by Robert Fisk

Could Haditha be just the tip of the mass grave?

The corpses we have glimpsed, the grainy footage of the cadavers and the dead children; could these be just a few of many? Does the handiwork of the United States' army of the slums go further?

I remember clearly the first suspicions I had that murder most foul might be taking place in our name in Iraq. I was in the Baghdad mortuary, counting corpses, when one of the city's senior medical officials, an old friend, told me of his fears. "Everyone brings bodies here," he said. "But when the Americans bring bodies in, we are instructed that under no circumstances are we ever to do post-mortems. We were given to understand that this had already been done. Sometimes we'd get a piece of paper like this one with a body." And here the man handed me a U.S. military document showing with the hand-drawn outline of a man's body and the words "trauma wounds."

What kind of trauma is now being experienced in Iraq? Just who is doing the mass killing? Who is dumping so many bodies on garbage heaps? After Haditha, we are going to reshape our suspicions.

It's no good saying "a few bad apples." All occupation armies are corrupted. But do they all commit war crimes? The Algerians are still uncovering the mass graves left by the French paras who liquidated whole villages. We know of the rapist-killers of the Russian army in Chechnya.

We have all heard of Bloody Sunday. The Israelis sat and watched while their proxy Lebanese militia butchered and eviscerated its way through 1,700 Palestinians. And of course the words My Lai are now uttered again. Yes, the Nazis were much worse. And the Japanese. And the Croatian Ustashi. But this is us. This is our army. These young soldiers are our representatives in Iraq. And they have innocent blood on their hands.

I suspect part of the problem is that we never really cared about Iraqis, which is why we refused to count their dead. Once the Iraqis turned upon the army of occupation with their roadside bombs and suicide cars, they became Arab "gooks," the evil sub-humans whom the Americans once identified in Vietnam. Get a president to tell us that we are fighting evil and one day we will wake to find that a child has horns, a baby has cloven feet. Read On

I thought this was a good piece to talk about here.

Activism

Note: This was originally posted on 5.31. Tomorrow is the day that Bush will speak on behalf of the The Federal Marriage Amendment Act. I've added some more information below the original post.

Bush (may) hold a press conference on June 5th to press congress to enact the ridiculous affront to decent Americans, The Federal Marriage Amendment Act, which would, in fact, negate any states laws that allow gay marriage (Massachusetts at this time and it looks like NY is coming around too). At a time like this in history, it is unconscionable that our representatives would even be thinking of such nonsense during an ill conceived war, a gas crisis and when millions of Americans have no healthcare benefits, let alone decent wages. This is a purely political move on the part of the GOP to appease the closeted gay religionists. It is reported that the Republican Senate is not united on this subject.

From 365Gay - The amendment was introduced by Senator Wayne Allard (Colorado) and reads:

"Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."

How dare he try to impose his own personal bigotry and fear of his own gayness on the whole country?

Call your Congress-critters and Senators.
Write to your newspapers.