"In U.S. Overtures to Foes, New Respect for Pragmatism"

That's the New York Times headline. MY headline would be:

"Buttwipebreath Gets the Message From the People Who Are REALLY Running Things"

The article begins: "In the span of just two weeks, the United States has agreed to hold high-level contacts with Iran and Syria, and to start down the path toward formal diplomatic recognition of North Korea.
"Has the Bush administration gone soft on its foes?"

I'd answer that question, "Well, sorta, but maybe it's a question of necessity".
Here's what happened in about a three-day news period: There was the CNN/BBC fiasco where it's revealed that newspeople announced the collapse of Building 7 before it actually happened, there was an attempted "hit" on the V-P, stock markets tanked all over the world (A LOT of them are still headed into the shitter), and 4 generals and 1 admiral threatened to resign their commissions. So, here's a thought about what's really going on: Maybe the Powers That Be are sending messages that say, "Hey, Dildobutt; back it down a little; we'll letcha know when we want the world blown up. And it'll be on OUR timetable, not yours".

Behold, The Lost Americans

I'm in the mood for Morford today.

Who are the 13 percent of us who've never heard of global warming? And how can they be stopped?
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Behold, this bizarre demographic. Behold this odd and simmering and rather shockingly large hunk of the American population because chances are very good that at least some of them live right next door to you and breathe the same air and steal your parking spaces and often don't shower for six days at a stretch.

And maybe, just maybe you should be painfully, dreadfully aware of them because they are -- in their quiet, seemingly innocuous way -- far more deadly than any gay evangelical preacher or meth-lab gang-bangers and far more frightening than chicken-flavored soap bubbles for dogs and far more disconcerting than Britney Spears' barren skull.

They are, in short, the deeply uninformed. The inexplicably ignorant. The wondrously numb, the disconnected, the way, way out of touch. And they are, apparently, legion.

Let me be clear. I am not speaking merely about the ideologically lopsided and the intellectually misshapen. I am not speaking of, say, those armies of happy blank-eyed red-state 'Merkins who only read NASCAR-themed Harlequin romance novels and only drink Hooters-branded energy drinks (real products, both) and who like to bury their gay sex fantasies under mountains of happy homophobic sing-along God-fearin' megachurch denial.

Oh my god. Who are these people then? Read the rest here

Today's News With Dizzifying Spin

We'll talk to them before we bomb the shit out of them afterall
The president had become less weenie-ish by avoiding talks with his uber-enemies according to the NY Times, "... the United States would take part in two sets of meetings among Iraq and its neighbors, including Syria and Iran, is a shift in President Bush’s avoidance of high-level contacts with the governments in Damascus and, especially, Tehran." Dr. Rice will be in attendance.

Surviving a Market Crash
Good advice: watching your money too much makes for lower returns on your investments

Don't panic. This is a good time to reassess your investments and diversify if you hadn't done so since 9/11/01
Read: Survive a market drop - and make it work for you

Deadly Pakistani Kite Festival
Eleven dead after Pakistani kite festival: two throats cut by wire kite strings; five dead from celebratory gunshots; two electrocuted; two fell from roofs. story in NYTimes

Honeybe crisis: they vanished
“Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee to pollinate that food,” said Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation.

Attacking the messenger
Those groups that call themselves "Think Tanks" but they are really "Smear Tanks", and who are desperately fighting against the idea of global warming because it will foil their plans to take over the world, attacked Al Gore and published supposed "facts" about the vast amount of electricity he uses in his private residence claiming that they got the data from Nashville Electric Service. When asked, a spokesperson from Nashville Electric said that no one asked them for this information. Figures. A Gore spokesperson said, "Gore purchases enough energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs." Story here.

Weenies. The Democrats Are Complete Weenies.
They are backing off of their anti-war cry

Instead of cutting off funding for more war, the Dems think that they are going to embarrass Bush into abandoning his war strategy. What a hoot. You have to have a conscience or a soul to suffer embarrassment. (link)
Wisconsin's Russ Feingold says the Iraq bill his fellow Senate Democrats are working on is so weak that it "basically reads like a new authorization" of the war. (link)
Bush "hasn't to date done anything we've asked him to do, so why we would think he would do anything in the future is beyond me," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey D-Calif. (link)

Walter Reed Backlash
“Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m., and that they must not speak to the media,” the Army Times reports. Soldiers said an official told them “they must follow their chain of command when asking for help with their medical evaluation paperwork, or when they spot mold, mice or other problems in their quarters.” (Think Progress)

STORIES SENT IN BY READERS

WTC&: I thought that this was old news, but apparently it is not.
If you were watching CNN or BBC on 9/11 in the late afternoon, it was reported that the WTC7 had collapsed before it actually collapsed. I noticed it at the time. Someone pulled the videos from Google when the story resurfaced yesterday. Hmm. Now I have to look through my tapes from 9/11 to find it. More here.

A Looming Police State? Gosh, I hope that this is all wrong. (Sometimes I like when stuff is wrong, don't you?)

Another coverup of a soldier's death (a la Tillman)
How can someone die of self-inflicted, non-combative wounds and yet not call it a suicide? Her corpse showed signs of a struggle. Hmm.

Jimmy Carter's Book Hoohah
I think I am going to have to find the time to read this book. Jimmy Carter says majority in U.S. support views in book. I wouldn't know because I haven't read it. Quite honestly, I believe that this man is without guile. We'll see.

What else is interesting in the news?

Watergate Redux

Tue Feb 27, 6:31 PM ET

CONCORD, N.H. - Burglars have broken into Democratic Party headquarters.

Burglars have broken into Democratic Party headquarters. No, you're not having a flashback to 1972 and the infamous event that ultimately led to the greatest scandal in U.S. political history and the downfall of Richard Nixon's presidency.

Instead of Washington's Watergate complex, this burglary took place at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's headquarters over the weekend. Neither police nor party officials will comment on what was stolen and whether the break-in was politically motivated.

Office workers reported the break-in to police on Monday. Concord Police Sgt. Mike McGuire said some items were taken, but he declined to be more specific. The assessment was the same from Kathy Sullivan, the chairwoman of the state Democratic Party.

"Some things were taken, but I don't really want to get into that right now," Sullivan said on Tuesday.

There was no indication that any personal financial information was taken, said party spokeswoman Kathleen Strand.

"We want to assure our donors that their personal financial information, as far as we can tell, has been protected, and we hope to find out who did this soon," she said.

So anyone want to take guesses as to what was taken and who it centered around?

I can't find my chart!

That "headline" is a partial message from a friend who asked me to post the following war news. Hell's Bells, Woman! YOU can't find your chart? I can't find my scorecard.

"The Arab League said three Arab Gulf countries have denied Israel use of their air space to strike Iran."

That story is HERE.

"Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike"
"Israel is negotiating with the United States for permission to fly over Iraq as part of a plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, The Daily Telegraph can reveal"

That story is HERE.

"3 Gulf states agree to IAF overflights en route to Iran"
"Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran in case of an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa reported on Sunday."

That story is HERE.

Shit's gittin' thick, folks. Might post some more later. Right now I gotta go shopping for some hip waders. Got rid of the ones I had when I gave up sheep farming.

Academy Awards for the Real World by Susan C. Walker

Best Picture - Little Miss "Stock Market" Sunshine. Clearly, 2006 was the year for the stock markets that just couldn't stop smiling.

Best Foreign Film - China Stock Market. The Shanghai Composite Index filmed a beautiful screenplay in 2006, rising exponentially from around 1100 to nearly 3000. But there's something to be wary of in this movie,

Best Actor - Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman. Bernanke has done the superb acting job expected of Fed chairmen by making everyone feel good about the economy and inflation.

Best Live Action Short Film - "Bonus Baby" by Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. Why a short film? Because Blankfein has been CEO of Goldman Sachs for only six months, stepping into the top job after Henry Paulson left to become Secretary of the Treasury.

Lifetime Achievement - Warren Buffett. He's beloved and he's not dead yet (à la Monty Python), but he sure knows how to give his money away, having pledged $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Best Costume Design - John McCain. McCain wins for his quick costume change over the past year. He started by wearing the Western cowboy costume of an independent maverick, but now the Arizona senator has donned the mainstream Republican cloth overcoat for his latest role as frontrunner in the presidential campaign drama.

Best Film Editing -All the CEOs who backdated their stock option grants. Film editors know how to look at a long piece of film and cut it to make the action come out perfectly.

Best Makeup - National Association of Realtors. After a few great years of constantly expanding housing starts and higher home prices, the folks at the NAR have had to dig deep into the makeup kit to learn how to paint a happy face on each month's increasingly negative housing statistics.

Best Original Song -"Patience" from Dreamgirls. If you are trying to sell your house in one of the nation's markets that's gone sour, you have got to have patience in abundance. "There's a river to cross, And a mountain to climb, Patience, patience, It's gonna take some time."

Best Director - Gerald Grinstein, Delta Air Lines. When most of the business world figured Delta was down and out in bankruptcy court, U.S. Airways figured it could steal a march on other airlines by acquiring Delta.

Best Supporting Actor - Ted Wells, Scooter Libby's attorney. He injected drama into the end of the four-week trial of Scooter Libby, former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Wells oozed sincerity and caring.

Best Supporting Actress - Secretary of State Condi Rice. She's the rising star in the Bush Administration, despite having to jostle with the seasoned veteran, Dick Cheney, for her own close-ups on camera. The question is, will she take a chance on a bigger role as a candidate for president in 2008?


Read the rest here at The Daily Reckoning

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

Congratulations to AL GORE, member of the REAL real world for winning Best Documentary -- AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH!!!

Maybe we shouldn't ask if the water's shallow or deep;

maybe we should just start bailing:
China stocks sink 8.8 pct on crackdown fears.

It's kinda gruesome all over.

OMG! Wait a minute! Hank Paulson will save us! Neo-cons always come through for us...don't they? Yeeeaahh. Silly me. Hit that link and find out all about the PPT (otherwise known as the "Plunge Protection Team"). I feel shitscar...uh, er, safer already.

Today's News With Incredible Spin- I'm getting dizzy

Imagine my surprise (not) last night when the LOCAL news came on after playing all those snippets of news during your program that make you not want to change the channel when it's over. "Will Tehran attack New York City?" Oh you should have heard me cursing out the television before I changed the channel. They showed the police commissioner giving speeches and all that crap. Naturally today I am sick to my stomach after thinking about all the homeland security funds that went to East Armpit. Still and all, this is bogus piece of shit "journalism" is meant to scare people, although NYers are rarely frightened these days of Muslim terrorists- NY is a target for American fear mongering mostly. But we'll take all the anti-terrorism funding, thank you very much.
---------------

Did you hear about this? This ought to take the heat off the homosexshuls for a while:
Documentary shows possible Jesus tomb Let me tell you something. The resurrection of Jesus IS central to Christian faith. Without it, there would be no christianity. The story of Jesus' resurrection is what kept Jesus alive for lo these past 2000 years. Easter is the most important christian holy day. Not Christmas, which was invented by people to offset the winter solstice extravaganza. I'm sure that Big Religion will do all it can to dispute this story whether or not it can be proven because there would be complete chaos worldwide as billions of christians attempt to convert to Judaism.
------------------

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

Neil Bush is making nicey nicey with the Saudi's. Water de-salinating technology or something like that. Obviously he's using his brother's and father's connections to do business with the Saudi's who are Sunni's (remember al Qaeda?) Neil admits that he, like his father, do not discuss politics with George W. Will Georgie throw a tantrum?

The Saudi's, by the way, supply more ammunition, weapons and aid to the insurgents who kill and maim 92% of our troops, while the Iranians may be responsible for about 8%. Because Israel has a bone to pick with Iran, the US is shoring up excuses to start a war with Iran. I find this totally unacceptable and I am having a hard time keeping my mouth shut when it comes to my feelings about Israel at the moment. Just the fact that it is so taboo to express any doubts as to the motives of the Israeli government and not taboo to express my doubts about any other government on earth, including my own, makes the whole damn thing even more suspect.
------------

God bless her, may she rest in peace, but my mom ate raw garlic every day to ward off high cholesterol. She downed all sorts of pills from Vitamin World too. But I gotta tell you, that riding in the car with her, between her weird cigarettes and garlic breath, made me want to puke violently out the window. And when I did open the window to put my head out, my poor dad, may he also rest in peace and may god bless him, would complain about the "gale" wind.

Imagine my surprise (not) when I read this: Garlic Won't Lower Cholesterol
So if you're eating raw garlic to lower your cholesterol, give your friends and family a break.
----------------



This poor chubby child in Britain may be taken away from his mom for being fat.

"LONDON - Authorities are considering taking an 8-year-old boy who weighs 218 pounds into protective custody unless his mother improves his diet, officials said Monday. Social service officials will meet with family members Tuesday to discuss the health of Connor McCreaddie, who weighs more than three times the average for his age."

I dunno. I am thinking "police state." What a dilemma. Read the story. I know parents of fat children and they are at their wit's end.
------------------

The First Lobotomy lied to Larry King last night. There are over 100 insurgent attacks every day in Iraq. Laura Bush: Much Of Iraq Is ‘Stable,’ There’s Just ‘One Bombing A Day That Discourages Everybody’
-------------

GI's have petitioned congress to get them the hell out of the war because it's not working and they are getting killed. For nothing. Meanwhile General Pace has declared the the US military capability is eroding and cannot possibly take on another war.

He IS the devil

Biggus Dickus OK after Afghan Blast; 14 killed

Whose side are the Bushistas on anyway?

U.S. Funds Being Secretly Funneled To Violent Al Qaeda-Linked Groups

It's a long, but important read:
THE REDIRECTION Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH

See also the Guardian's take on the story.

I thought that al Qaeda were the bad guys. Our country couldn't possibly support Sunni terrorists. Could they? Makes you wonder who was really behind 9/11, doesn't it? I reported recently that the Sunni's are responsible for 92% of the casualities in Iraq. We are going to attack the wrong country. Again.


We're so fucked that even John Negroponte is too moral to follow Cheney's commands.

CNN's WOLF BLITZER: Near the end of your article, you have this explosive point in there about John Negroponte, who is now going to be the deputy secretary of state, as opposed to the head of U.S. intelligence.

You write this: "I was subsequently told by the two government consultants and the former senior intelligence officials that the echoes of Iran-Contra were a factor in Negroponte's decision to resign from the National Intelligence directorship and accept the position of deputy secretary of state."

Explain what you were hearing, because that is obviously a very explosive charge.

HERSH: Yes. It is probably the single most explosive, if you will, or depressing — or distressing sort of thing I discovered in the last few months, which is simply this. This administration has made a policy change, a decision that they are going to put all of the pressure they can on the Shiites, that is the Shiite regime in Iran, the Shiite — and they are also doing everything they can to stop Hezbollah — which is Shiite, the Hezbollah organization from getting any control or any more of a political foothold in Lebanon.

So they essentially, I quote the — I saw Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, and he described it this way, as "fitna (ph)," the Arab word for "civil war." As far as he is concerned, we are interested in recreating what is happening in Iraq in Lebanon, that is Sunni versus Shia.

And in looking into that story, and I saw him in December, I found this. That we have been pumping money, a great deal of money, without congressional authority, without any congressional oversight, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia is putting up some of this money, for covert operations in many areas of the Middle East where we think that the — we want to stop the Shiite spread or the Shiite influence.

They call it the " Shiite Crescent." And a lot of this money, and I can't tell you with absolute certainty how — exactly when and how, but this money has gotten into the hands — among other places, in Lebanon, into the hands of three — at least three jihadist groups.

There are three Sunni jihadist groups whose main claim to fame inside Lebanon right now is that they are very tough. These are people connected to al Qaeda who want to take on Hezbollah. So this government, at the minimum, we may not directly be funneling money to them, but we certainly know that these groups exist.

My government, which arrests al Qaeda every place it can find them and send — some of them are in Guantanamo and other places, is sitting back while the Lebanese government we support, the government of Prime Minister Siniora, is providing arms and sustenance to three jihadist groups whose sole function, seems to me and to the people that talk to me in our government, to be there in case there is a real shoot-'em-up with Hezbollah and we really get into some sort of serious major conflict between the Sunni government and Hezbollah, which is largely Shia, who are basically — or as you know, there is a coalition headed by Hezbollah that is challenging the government right now, demonstrations, sit-ins.

There has been some violence. So America, my country, without telling Congress, using funds not appropriated, I don't know where, by my sources believe much of the money obviously came from Iraq where there is all kinds of piles of loose money, pools of cash that could be used for covert operations.

All of this should be investigated by Congress, by the way, and I trust it will be. In my talking to membership — members there, they are very upset that they know nothing about this. And they have great many suspicions.

We are simply in a situation where this president is really taking his notion of executive privilege to the absolute limit here, running covert operations, using money that was not authorized by Congress, supporting groups indirectly that are involved with the same people that did 9/11, and we should be arresting these people rather than looking the other way…

BLITZER: And your bottom line, Sy…

HERSH: … and could lead to a real mess…

BLITZER: Your bottom line is that Negroponte was aware of this, obviously, and he wanted to distance himself from it? That is why he decided to give up that position and take the number two job at the State Department?

HERSH: He — that is one of the reasons, I was told. Negroponte also was not in tune with Cheney. There was a lot of complaints about him because he was seen as much of a stickler, too ethical for some of the operations the Pentagon wants to run.

As you know, this Pentagon has been running covert operations. I think Mr. Gates' job and one of the things he wants to do is get some control over it. But under Rumsfeld we were running operations all over the world with who knows what money and who knows what authority, because most of those operations were not briefed to the intelligence committees.

And the Pentagon has basically been open about it in saying, hey, this is military stuff that has nothing to do with CIA operations. We have nothing to do with them. We are running military operations. And the president has the authority to do this.

But Negroponte was unhappy about — in general about some of the things. He also, I don't think, liked — he may not have been terrific at his job, that is another factor. But certainly John Negroponte went through this issue, Iran-Contra in the '80s, when we had the first big debate over the use of unlawfully obtained money to buy arms.

We know, the whole arms-for-hostages business was to generate cash to fight the war — the Contra war against the Sandinistas, that mess that we had. Negroponte was ambassador to Honduras there, very sensitive to the issue that took place 20 years ago. He did not want a repeat of it.

And I frankly — it is something that I think to be asking him in congressional session or whatever. But I have that — you know, I understand this is very serious stuff. And my magazine understands this is very serious stuff.

And we have really taken a lot of time with this story and couched it as carefully as we could and with all of the caveats, this is serious business.

BLITZER: The article is entitled "The Redirection: Is the Administration's New Policy Benefiting Our Enemies in the War on Terrorism?"

That is the subtitle, the author, Seymour Hersh.

Sy, thanks very much for joining us from Cairo.

HERSH: Thank you.

I think I am going to be sick. Not that any of this is surprising. Not that I hadn't figured this out already. It's just that I really would have liked to have been wrong.

From A Texas Republican Congressman I Would Expect Nothing Less

"Republican calls for email and IM monitoring
ISPs would have to keep records of emails, IM and website visits"

A bill introduced to the US House of Representatives would require ISPs to record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely.

The bill, dubbed the Safety Act by sponsor Lamar Smith, a republican congressman from Texas, would impose fines and a prison term of one year on ISPs which failed to keep full records.

"A crime is still a crime, whether it occurs on the street or on the internet," said Congressman Smith.

"In this age of increasing digital and technological sophistication, cyber-crimes and cyber-terrorism pose a serious threat to the US. Law enforcement and the private sector must be prepared to deal with these crimes."

The bill includes a separate clause that would force the owners of sexually explicit websites to include warning labels on their web pages, or face jail.

Also included is a 20-year "jail tariff" for anyone ordering child pornography that crosses state borders, with a $150,000 fine for the ISP that allowed the transaction to take place.

(LINK)

Blow Jobs for Peace (and quiet)

Another significant survey has been completed. 5000 men were asked to complete a survey on what they like best about oral sex. Here are the results:

a. 3% like the warmth.

b. 4% enjoyed the sensation.

c. 93% appreciated the silence.

You can't ague with science!

Sunday's Homily -- "THE SNEETCHES" by Dr. Seuss

Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.
Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small.
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.

But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort
“We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!”
And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking.

When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball,
Could a Plain Belly get in the game? Not at all.
You only could play if your bellies had stars
And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars.

When the Star Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
They never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetches
They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches.
They kept them away. Never let them come near.
And that’s how they treated them year after year.

Then ONE day, it seems while the Plain-Belly Sneetches
Were moping and doping alone on the beaches,
Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars,
A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars!

“My friends”, he announced in a voice clear and clean,
“My name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean.
And I’ve heard of Your troubles. I’ve heard you’re unhappy.
But I can fix that, I’m the Fix-It-Up Chappie.


I’ve come here to help you.
I have what you need.
And my prices are low. And I work with great speed.
And my work is one hundred per cent guaranteed!”

Then, quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean
Put together a very peculiar machine.
And he said, “You want stars like a Star-Belly Sneetch?
My friends, you can have them for three dollars each!”

“Just pay me your money and hop right aboard!”
So they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.
And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked.
And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!
When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars!
They actually did. They had stars upon thars!

Then they yelled at the ones who had stars at the start,
“We’re still the best Sneetches and they are the worst.
But now, how in the world will we know”, they all frowned,
“If which kind is what, or the other way round?”

Then up came McBean with a very sly wink.
And he said, “Things are not quite as bad as you think.


So you don’t know who’s who. That is perfectly true.
But come with me, friends. Do you know what I’ll do?
I’ll make you, again, the best Sneetches on the beaches.
And all it will cost you is ten dollars eaches.”

“Belly stars are no longer in style”, said McBean.
“What you need is a trip through my Star-Off Machine.
This wondrous contraption will take OFF your stars
so you won’t look like Sneetches that have them on thars.”
And that handy machine working very precisely
Removed all the stars from their tummies quite nicely.

Then, with snoots in the air, they paraded about.
And they opened their beaks and they let out a shout,
“We know who is who! Now there Isn’t a doubt.
The best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without!”

Then, of course, those with stars got all frightfully mad.
To be wearing a star was frightfully bad.
Then, of course, old Sylvester McMonkey McBean
invited THEM into his Star-Off Machine.

Then, of course from THEN on, as you probably guess,
Things really got into a horrible mess.

All the rest of that day, on those wild screaming beaches,
The Fix-It-Up Chappie kept fixing up Sneetches.
Off again! On again! In again! Out again!
Through the machines they raced round and about again,

Changing their stars every minute or two. They kept paying money.
They kept running through until the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
Whether this one was that one or that one was this one. Or which one
Was what one or what one was who.

Then, when every last cent of their money was spent,
The Fix-It-Up Chappie packed up. And he went.
And he laughed as he drove In his car up the beach,
“They never will learn. No. You can’t Teach a Sneetch!”

But McBean was quite wrong. I’m quite happy to say.
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day.
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether
They had one, or not, upon thars.

Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.
Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small.
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.

But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.”
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort
“We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!”
And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking.

When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball,
Could a Plain Belly get in the game? Not at all.
You only could play if your bellies had stars
And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars.

When the Star Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
They never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetches
They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches.
They kept them away. Never let them come near.
And that’s how they treated them year after year.

Then ONE day, it seems while the Plain-Belly Sneetches
Were moping and doping alone on the beaches,
Just sitting there wishing their bellies had stars,
A stranger zipped up in the strangest of cars!

“My friends”, he announced in a voice clear and clean,
“My name is Sylvester McMonkey McBean.
And I’ve heard of Your troubles. I’ve heard you’re unhappy.
But I can fix that, I’m the Fix-It-Up Chappie.


I’ve come here to help you.
I have what you need.
And my prices are low. And I work with great speed.
And my work is one hundred per cent guaranteed!”

Then, quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean
Put together a very peculiar machine.
And he said, “You want stars like a Star-Belly Sneetch?
My friends, you can have them for three dollars each!”

“Just pay me your money and hop right aboard!”
So they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.
And it klonked. And it bonked. And it jerked. And it berked.
And it bopped them about. But the thing really worked!
When the Plain-Belly Sneetches popped out, they had stars!
They actually did. They had stars upon thars!

Then they yelled at the ones who had stars at the start,
“We’re still the best Sneetches and they are the worst.
But now, how in the world will we know”, they all frowned,
“If which kind is what, or the other way round?”

Then up came McBean with a very sly wink.
And he said, “Things are not quite as bad as you think.


So you don’t know who’s who. That is perfectly true.
But come with me, friends. Do you know what I’ll do?
I’ll make you, again, the best Sneetches on the beaches.
And all it will cost you is ten dollars eaches.”

“Belly stars are no longer in style”, said McBean.
“What you need is a trip through my Star-Off Machine.
This wondrous contraption will take OFF your stars
so you won’t look like Sneetches that have them on thars.”
And that handy machine working very precisely
Removed all the stars from their tummies quite nicely.

Then, with snoots in the air, they paraded about.
And they opened their beaks and they let out a shout,
“We know who is who! Now there Isn’t a doubt.
The best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without!”

Then, of course, those with stars got all frightfully mad.
To be wearing a star was frightfully bad.
Then, of course, old Sylvester McMonkey McBean
invited THEM into his Star-Off Machine.

Then, of course from THEN on, as you probably guess,
Things really got into a horrible mess.

All the rest of that day, on those wild screaming beaches,
The Fix-It-Up Chappie kept fixing up Sneetches.
Off again! On again! In again! Out again!
Through the machines they raced round and about again,

Changing their stars every minute or two. They kept paying money.
They kept running through until the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
Whether this one was that one or that one was this one. Or which one
Was what one or what one was who.

Then, when every last cent of their money was spent,
The Fix-It-Up Chappie packed up. And he went.
And he laughed as he drove In his car up the beach,
“They never will learn. No. You can’t Teach a Sneetch!”

But McBean was quite wrong. I’m quite happy to say.
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day.
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches.
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether
They had one, or not, upon thars.

What's Your Favorite Show?

It was long day yesterday, driving to "Live Free Or Die" (I love New Hampshire) to take a night class, which was fabulous, by the way and I can't wait for more fun today and tomorrow. Back in my hotel room I plopped in front of the television waiting for Bill Maher to come on HBO (but I fell asleep before the end of the monologue.)

I've only recently begun to watch television somewhat regularly besides Comedy Central at 11 or MSNBC at 8. What's your favorite show or favorite shows on television?

I am attracted to political satire and offbeat series. Currently, my very favorite is Boston Legal. The cast is outstanding and sharp. Shatner slays me. I also find myself strangely attracted to James Spader's character.

It's cold, icy and windy up here in the land of the free, home of the brave and tax free shopping. I'm off to the workshop now. I'll see you later.

HPV Follow-up Post

A few weeks ago,I posted Govna Perry's questionable "order" to mandate the HPV vaccine for all schoolgirls. As always, we worked through our thoughts and ideas
in the comment section.

(Here are a few more feature articles on the HPV vaccine controversy and cervical cancer)


As you are probably aware, other states are now jumping on the bandwagon. I think I had better stop denying the fact that I am living in CT now and not NJ. Seems I missed an opportunity to attend a public hearing this past Wednesday at the CT Legislative Office Building regarding the bill which will make the HPV vaccine mandatory for girls entering sixth grade here in CT.

I think I'll put myself in touch with
this CT blogger who seems to share the same concerns I have regarding the HPV vaccine. She has several posts on the subject.

(Time to face the hard cold reality that I am living in the same state as (I) Lie Joe now.)

Since my last post, I have come across another interesting "website" (?), or maybe I should say "advertisement."

"The big news in the war on cervical cancer is the new vaccine recently approved to prevent the disease. But another major change that will affect millions of women is also under way, though more slowly and quietly:."

I came across this advertisement for the HPV Test (not vaccine) while over at Mydd.com -- check it out -- very intersting



According to this article from the NYTimes:

"The test was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, and its use has grown steadily, partly spurred by advertising by the test’s manufacturer, Digene. The company, based in Gaithersburg, Md., says about seven million Americans are getting the test each year, which is one-fifth of those it believes would be eligible. With Merck now calling attention to the role of HPV in its advertisements for its new vaccine, Digene executives expect interest in their test to grow."

There are two sections - over 30 and under 30 and many other FAQS and news items at this site. Example:

"The reason is that HPV infection is very common in young women, but usually goes away on its own or is suppressed by the body before it causes any problems."

"Both the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ACOG) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) agree that routine testing for HPV at this age is not necessary or useful. The reason is that HPV infection is very common in young women, but usually goes away on its own or is suppressed by the body before it causes any problems."

Here is the link to Digene -- the company that developed the HPV Test. I'm still trying to figure out their role in all of this. On one hand it appears that they just wish to replace the PAP test, yet on the other it appears that they will benefit greatly with Merck, since their HPV vaccine does not protect against all of the HPV virus strains, women will still need to be tested.


Even though I have decided not to vaccinate my kids, I did speak to my Gyno yesterday regarding their viewpoint. She read me the stats that argue for giving the vaccine. She said from a practitioner's standpoint, her office is recommending it. She said as a mother, she wouldn't be rushing her 10 year old into the pediatrician to get this vaccine. Interesting.....

The American College of Pediatricians opposes this legislation but I know of several pediatricians who are urging their patients to get the vaccine. One in particular is a young, pro-active doctor who feels that prevention is the best medicine. In addition to the usual pediatric check-up, this group discusses issues such as driving safety, sex, drug, and alcohol with their teen age patients --in private. I commend them for their efforts because there are a lot of parents out there who still don't stress the importance of educating their children in these matters.

I am sorry if I seem to be all over the place here, but there seems to be a lot of info and still too many questions. I still have a lot of reading to do.

Here are some other interesting items to add to my suspicions about the HPV Vaccine and vaccines in general:

Seaweed extract blocks HPV cervical cancer virus, scientists discover



Indigobusiness put up an interesting post: Dangers from vaccines Here is the full story:
Why You Should Avoid Taking Vaccines

Time Magazine's story about Vaccines


And this one just put me over the edge:

"Polio has not been eradicated by vaccination, it is lurking behind a redefinition and new diagnostic names like viral or aseptic meningitis.......According to one of the 1997 issues of the MMWR, there are some 30,000 to 50,000 cases of viral meningitis per year in the United States alone. That's where all those 30,000 - 50,000 cases of polio disappeared after the introduction of mass vaccination"--- Viera Scheibner
Here are Viera's thoughts

Dear Senator McCain,

I have been following you in the Senate for quite a few years because it is well known that you have presidential aspirations. As a former Republican, I believe that anyone is better than our current president but I also have my doubts about your candidacy because you appear to have an ever shifting stance on so many issues that are of grave importance to the American people, most of whom do not have corporate ties or interests and do not wish to watch you play politics.

I read with interest your statements in Seattle on Friday, February 23rd, 2007. When asked by an audience member if you are "sucking up to the religious right," you replied with "What's wrong with sucking up to everybody?" While that is a cutesy answer, it's not what those of us who are waiting with baited breath to what will happen to our country if another far right wing Republican were to take office. After all the years of blunders by the bush administration, all in the name of "politics," your answer left me very nauseous.

Do you or don't you support the agenda of the religious right? Do you understand the ramifications of that? These so-called "christians" who have such a hold on the Republican Party pose a great threat to freedom "of" or "from" religion by the majority of the American people who get along just fine without the input of extremists wishing to impose their ill-educated notions via legislation on the rest of the country who are mostly responsible enough to let their own consciences be their guide. All you have to do is open a history book or look at the middle east currently to see what happens when a religious group attempts to influence government.

You also said, "I believe that if we fail in Iraq, you will see chaos and genocide." You also said that Iraq was in danger of being overtaken by "Iranian-backed Shiite" forces due to the British retreat. First of all, chaos and genocide are already taking place in Iraq thanks to the political blunders of the this administration- it is no secret to those of us who read and pay attention. Secondly, believe it or not, we are also aware that Arab backed Sunni's are the people who attacked our country and my city on September 11, 2001. Arab backed Sunni's have killed 92% of our troops in Iraq. Your stance on the Iraq situation will have an effect on your political career, just as you suggested that it did with Tony Blair- however your political suicide will be for different reasons. Your position on Iran will also greatly influence voters and polls. I urge you to pay attention to the facts and react to them honestly.

Forget playing politics for the rest of your campaign and let the majority of the American people really know where you stand because the majority oppose this war in Iraq and oppose the evangelical "christian" right. Your double speak and pandering to every group has become tiring. Say what you mean and mean what you say, for the good of the country you claim to love so dearly.

That's all for now.

Sincerely
Mrs. Liz Smith
-----------------

See also the next recipient of my constrained (at the moment) wrath: Joe Lieberman -he who has also kissed the devil and a master of flip-flops. He dares to imply that he actually knows what he is talking about when in fact, he too is playing politics at a time when most Americans are not in the mood for games.

Have you ever heard the old aphorism: "Like father, like son"?

Well, that old saying just wouldn't work here. So I've decided to title it,
"LIKE DUMSHIT, LIKE DUMSHIT".




Read the gruesome details at Signs-of-the-Times.

So Sexy it Hurts

What I'm wearing to watch the Oscars. Whaddya think? Smart, sassy, exotic, and oh so sexy, eh?

Anybody wanna guess who the stud muffin is or where we are?

Thats all.

"Am I with it or what? Not bad for an old broad."

That title above is taken from the comments to my post below entitled "Blogger Gets 4 Years for Insulting Islam". And to which I respond by offering the following letter written by one of the more literate member of our species:

"Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745). June 25, 1745" (Link)

My dear Friend,

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

i. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!

Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend.

Activism

Congress has some lame bill coming up demanding a paper trail, but that is not the same thing as paper ballots being the official record of our votes. Demand that Congress legislates paper ballots and if your critter is against it, ask him or her WHY. Take action here.

The most outrageous thing has come to light. The Democrats agreed to allow Fox News to cover their debates in Nevada. This is sure proof that the Democratic Party needs to be reclaimed from the hands of tyrants. It's our only hope. You can speak at here at MoveOn.Org
or you can look up the Nevada Democrats here and give them a ringy dingy to ask them what they've been smoking on the job.

I heard Scott Ritter on Thom Hartmann yesterday. He would like us to call our congress critters or just the Capital Hill switchboard and demand that they do not allow the president to use money allocated for Iraq or Afghanistan in order to invade Iran. This will force the president to go to congress before he decides to invade Iran, which is the correct way to start a war. Please do this. Please blog it. Please pass it around.

Planned Parenthood will buy out your existing cell phone contract and sign up with a new company which will donate 10% of your bill to Planned Parenthood Federation. Check it out here.
------------

I'm heading to NH in a few minutes with a stop at Jersey Cynic's for lunch because today's her b-day and we have to plot more blonde activism. Happy Birthday, Jersey baby, even though you live in Connecticut now.
I'll be taking a weekend polymer clay workshop with the fabulous Christie Friesen who's coming all the way from sunny Californ-I-AY. My hotel has wi fi so maybe I'll check in here at night.

Thursday Night Smut

Sometimes you have to put on your hipboots and go wading through the muck of misinformation because occasionally you find a real stinker.
In this case a headline stating South Korean gets five years in oil-for-food-case. The South Korean is Tongsun Park, now 71, of Koreagate fame. He got $2 million from Iraq to influence UN and US officials and as the judge put it "blatently disregarded the law".

The thoroughly disgusting part of this story comes on page two when this same judge dismisses charges on Bayoil Supply and Trading Limited "a Bahamian company owned by David Chalmers" because the law it violated only applies to "American firms and people".

Hmmm...According to this story in the Washington Post from April 2005 Bayoil is a Houston-based company and Chalmers is a Texas oilman. And while Tongsun Park faced charges that could and did result in the maximum 5 years incarceration, Chalmers was looking at "62 years in prison, $1 million in fines and seizure of at least $100 million in personal and corporate assets". Sounds like he might have done something bad. No,no,no, you forget HE'S A TEXAS OILMAN.

Here's some juicy background courtesy of Wayne Madsen.

I didn't check to see if good ol' David Chalmers is a Bush Pioneer but I'd say the odds favor it. Good thing he didn't throw a cup of ice at a car, that's a crime you can actually go to jail for.

Do you want to know the real reason they threw the book at Tongsun Park.
Thirty years ago he gave some money to some democrats.

UH-OH!

"Blogger Gets 4 Years for Insulting Islam"
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
The Associated Press
Thursday, February 22, 2007; 12:28 PM

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- "An Egyptian blogger was convicted Thursday and sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and Egypt's president, sending a chill through fellow Internet writers who fear a government crackdown."

Whaddayathink, Liz? You s'pose His Geekship will figure if it's a good idea for the Egyptians, it's a good idea for the Americans?

Should we tone it down a little? No more references to Jimmy/Jeff Gannon/Guckert? If so, what'm I gonna do with this marvelous essay I just wrote entitled, "GargantuanGutwrenchGobblerGeorge Graciously Invites Gigi to stay the night"?

Jesus H. Christ. Let's just get our troops out of there.

This story just makes you wonder. Just the first paragraph got me.

"Paul E. Cortez, 24, wept Wednesday as he became the second U.S. soldier to plead guilty to charges in a case considered among the worst atrocities by U.S. military personnel in Iraq."

Worst atrocity? Yes, it's pretty awful but the worst? It's just not the fact that our troops heinously raped a girl and murdered her family, because you know and I know that a lot of families were murdered in cold blood in Iraq by our troops who were brainwashed to follow orders... I don't know for sure if rape was on the list of orders, but it seems to be a popular past-time throughout the history of war... but what about white phosphorus, DU and all the other atrocities like abu ghraib? Who's responsible for those orders as well? And how come you don't hear about charges against our troops who rape their female counterparts? But you never read about any commanders being charged. So is this how we liberate a country and make them free?

""I lifted up her skirt and took off her stockings while Barker held her hands with his knees," he said before admitting that he raped the teenager as she screamed. "After I was done, myself and Barker switched spots."

"Cortez offered no explanation for his involvement in the rape and murders, only saying that his intent was to rape the girl. The killing of the family was originally reported to be the work of insurgents.

"Another soldier, former Pfc. Steven D. Green, shot the girl's father, mother and younger sister in the bedroom, Cortez said. Green raped the girl in front of Cortez and then shot her multiple times in the head, he said.

"Cortez also testified that the soldiers attempted to burn the girl's body, burned their clothes and threw the murder weapon, an AK-47, into a canal in an attempt to get rid of evidence."

And people thought I was some weenie liberal. feh

Sometimes I imagine that the real terrorists are too busy laughing to bother to attack us again because it seems that their goal has been met. It appears that this nation has an ongoing collective case of PTSD since that fateful day in 2001 which I will never forget, thank you very much. I hate to be an "I told you so," so I won't because my predictions are written all over this blog for the past 3 years and a couple of yahoo groups anyway, but I will state once again my prediction that the term "terrorist" will be overused to a point whereby anything abnormal will be perpetrated by "terrorists" or called "terrorism." The whole trauma of being terrorized has become diluted now and most people think that they are still being terrorized by the likes of bin Laden and yet they haven't a clue as to what it means to be truly terrorized. That insults me because New Yorkers, New Jerseyians, DC area denizens and Connecticutions were indeed terrorized on 9/11 and the rest of the country hopefully will never have to endure anything like it- the helplessness, the fear of the unknown, and the nausea that wouldn't go away for months and months- not to mention the EPA further terrorized the city itself.

You've heard the bush crime family spouting about all these terrorists they've apprehended coming into our country and the trolls on blogs going around talking about how our government is keeping us safe against 'terrorists'. It turns out that the Justice Department included cases like these in their numbers of thwarted terrorist attacks and there weren't any real terrorists included:

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors counted immigration violations, marriage fraud and drug trafficking among anti-terror cases in the four years after 9/11 even though no evidence linked them to terror activity, a Justice Department audit said Tuesday.

Overall, nearly all of the terrorism-related statistics on investigations, referrals and cases examined by department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine were either diminished or inflated. Only two of 26 sets of department data reported between 2001 and 2005 were accurate, the audit found.

It figures that they were pumping up the numbers. They have a war in Iraq to support. Meanwhile the real war on real terrorists wages on in Afghanistan and it's escalating. The corporate media does a fine job of keeping American people afraid though- of Mexican immigrants and the fear that Britney might not ever be truly rehabilitated. The real terrorists must be laughing their asses off.

How dare anyone insinuate that Democrats and northeastern liberals support the terrorists. How dare anyone insinuate that liberals want to roll over for the terrorists? I want to kick my liberal elitist NY boot up their ass until it comes out of their throat.
I want to spit when I hear the likes of Dick Cheney accusing Democrats of aiding the terrorists, when in fact it's his ilk is keeping them in business. Fuck oil. If Americans want to fight terrorism, they ought to turn off light bulbs, turn off street lights, lower their thermostats in the winter and raise them in the summer, use mass transit, drive fuel efficient vehicles and only when necessary. We can hit their countries where it hurts. Let the fucking middle east eat sand and drink their damn oil. I don't want it. They can rot for all I care. I am NOT for aiding the terrorists. I hate them. I will never forgive them for terrorizing us and I will never forgive the powers that be in this country for allowing it to happen.


UPDATE: Did you know that Dick Cheney accused Nancy Pelosi and 192 million Americans of supporting al Qaeda just hours after Nancy Pelosi's brother died?

I Didn't Know That

I try to keep myself informed about what is going on with our government. So many things that King George and his cockroaches do is shrouded in secrecy, so there is a need for constant vigilance. As they wrap themselves in the flag and proclaim their patriotism, ever they work to destroy our democratic foundation: reading our mail, listening to our calls, searching our houses, holding citizens without charge or trial, all under color of law. All designed to concentrate power in the hands of the unitary executive, a nice eupehmism for dictator.

And here is yet another example, slipped into last year's defense budget, never debated in public:

"The provision, signed into law in October, weakens two obscure but important bulwarks of liberty. One is the doctrine that bars military forces, including a federalized National Guard, from engaging in law enforcement. Called posse comitatus, it was enshrined in law after the Civil War to preserve the line between civil government and the military. The other is the Insurrection Act of 1807, which provides the major exemptions to posse comitatus. It essentially limits a president’s use of the military in law enforcement to putting down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion, where a state is violating federal law or depriving people of constitutional rights.

The newly enacted provisions upset this careful balance. They shift the focus from making sure that federal laws are enforced to restoring public order. Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any 'other condition.'”

I wonder what the Amercian public would think about this, if they knew? Undoubtedly, a significant minority wouldn't understand why this is such a big deal. I also wonder what the army would do if called out to put down a "domestic insurrection". Would they fire on Amercian citizens? Perhaps when we gather next month to once again protest the misbegotten and illegal war, the King will decide we are a threat and send in the National Guard. He seems to be channeling the spirit of Richard Nixon, so it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

We are well on our way to dictatorship. I am sure King George fancies himself some latter day Caesar.

In the words of the immortal Obi-Wan Kenobi: We must be cautious.

Ron Paul -- A must see video of him addressing the House Financial Services Committee.

Here is the video of his address on C-SPAN 2/17/2007

Amazing man.

Here is an excerpt of a similar speech he gave in 2003:

Paper Money and Tyranny


A fiat monetary system allows power and influence to fall into the hands of those who control the creation of new money, and to those who get to use the money or credit early in its circulation. The insidious and eventual cost falls on unidentified victims who are usually oblivious to the cause of their plight. This system of legalized plunder (though not constitutional) allows one group to benefit at the expense of another. An actual transfer of wealth goes from the poor and the middle class to those in privileged financial positions.

In many societies the middle class has actually been wiped out by monetary inflation, which always accompanies fiat money. The high cost of living and loss of jobs hits one segment of society, while in the early stages of inflation, the business class actually benefits from the easy credit. An astute stock investor or home builder can make millions in the boom phase of the business cycle, while the poor and those dependent on fixed incomes can’t keep up with the rising cost of living.

h/t to sa rose at bibliosquirrel
(I agree sa rose -- this section scares the crap outta me too)


Hey - how about a Paul/Nader ticket?

Catch Nader on TDS with Jon Stewart (3 parts)

These two men, IMO, are EXACTLY what this country needs -- ASAP


crossposted at BigBrassBlog

WH Newspeak: This means the war is a success

Blair to announce Iraq withdrawal plan

Actually the Brits accomplished what they were supposed to do in Basra- train the Iraq's to take over.

Something did strike me in the article though. Bush's attempt at starting WWIII was so pathetic. Not only were our troops ill equipped from the get go, I wouldn't call this much of an "all for one and one for all" coalition. Check out these current coalition forces: S. Korea (2,300 troops), Poland (900), Georgia (800), Romania (600) and Denmark (460). Britain currently has 7,100 and Australia has 550. The Italians and Slovaks have left, and the Danes and the South Koreans want to start withdrawing.

This just in from ABC News.
Dick had something to say about Britain's withdrawal while in Tokyo.

"Well, I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well," Cheney told ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

and this

"I want you to know that the American people will not support a policy of retreat," Cheney told the soldiers.

and this utter crap:

"I think if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we will do is validate the al Qaeda strategy," Cheney told ABC News.

"The al Qaeda strategy is to break the will of the American people, knowing they can't win in a stand-up fight, try to convince us to throw in the towel and come home and then they win because we quit," he said.

"I think that is exactly the wrong course to go on," Cheney said. "I think that is the course of action that Speaker Pelosi and Jack Murtha support. I think it would be a mistake for the country."

When will he commit accidental suicide on a hunting trip?

This is my brain on insomnia

I started writing a rant this morning to take apart something that happened on Hannity and Colme's on Fox News. I had to scrap it because I couldn't make my point without sounding like I agreed with it. Indeed, our public school system is very fucked up but I wouldn't compare it with al Qaeda or teachers with terrorists (except for a few that I came across here and there)... and the man who Hannity was agreeing with wrote Brainwashing 101, so there is really no reason to even argue with such a nut. But I thought you'd get a kick out of it anyway.

Mardi Gras Stories and Pics

Here we celebrate Fauschnaught Day (Doughnut Day) but everyone knows the real party (at least North of the Equator) in in New Orleans, LA. This year the Proteus parade (on Lundi Gras) had the theme of "Legends and Lore of the Deep" and while very, very small this years (and apparently with a huge shortage of bathroom facilities) Madri Gras continued on.

Roxanne over at Pandagon also has some Mardi Gras footage, along with some footage of 12 year old blogger Kalypso's family and their lives since Katrina. She especially noted the lack of beads this year and the fact that donkeys (instead of tractors) were pulling some of the floats. Her father has a pretty interesting blog of his own too.

Heh, heh, a family that blogs together.......

You Gotta Love This Country

Although I find the MTA Subway design on the wrapper a bit un-sexy, NYC Condoms are free. That's right. Free! There will be 18 million of them distributed- 18million less chances of contracting HIV or paying child support for the next 21 years.

Dire Situation Avoided
The men at NY Mag suggested that the condoms are 2mm smaller than the ones you buy in the store, after unrolling them and laying them out side by side next to name brand condoms, and were assured by the NYC Health Department "that the NYC condoms are the same, standard LifeStyles lubricated sold everywhere." It's ok guys, they didn't short change you. Your wee-wee's aren't smaller than average. Whew.

Balls
And while I'm on the subject, what is the big deal about the word, "scrotum" in children's literature? Since when is it a taboo word that librarians don't want to be forced to explain to children? An Newberry Award winning book has been banned in school libraries (as in censorship) over the word, "scrotum." Wouldn't you think that by the time a child can read that he would know what those dangly things between his legs are called? ( I haven't read the book and I cannot comment on how the word is used in context, but it's a children's book, for gawd's sake.)

A Moment of Silence
While we're on the subject of men's issues, I'm sad to tell you that the man who invented the remote control has died.

Losing and...losing

From Baghdad Burning: "The Rape of Sabrine..."

"Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile."

The Entire Article is NOT recommended for the squeamish. It IS recommended for trolls.

Hap tip to Richard at The All Spin Zone.

They're Baaaack

But seriously folks, there is an awful lot of talk on the news and in the papers that al Qaeda has regrouped in Pakistan and will come back stronger than ever against the coalition forces in Afghanistan. Not only that, they are supposedly planning worldwide attacks. Good thing bush decided to invade Iraq and piss all our money away. not. Meanwhile, the plans to attack Iran keep leaking out. Another ship reached the gulf. So are we fighting a war on terror or a war against nations we don't like that have oil (and may or may not have nukes)? Meanwhile, Pakistan and India are waving their nukes at each other. What if something were to happen to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf? Who'd be in charge of their nukes and where would they be pointed at?

Obligatory Friday Sex Post (a bit late)

Sex in fast lane halts traffic on road
Sun Feb 18, 12:24 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police investigating why a car was blocking traffic in the fast lane of a major highway Sunday found a couple inside having sex.

A police spokesman said the female driver and her male passenger gave in to their passions without pulling over to the side of the road, causing congestion and leaving other motorists having to swerve to dodge their stationary vehicle.

A patrolman gave the woman a ticket for holding up traffic.

American Justice?

In a nutshell: Aggravated woman from North Carolina, who was cut off by the same car twice, throws a McDonald's cup full of ice into another car on I-95 in Virginia. The law in Virginia states that anything thrown into an occupied vehicle is considered a missile. The woman was found guilty of maliciously throwing a missile, a felony, and lands in prison. She was also found guilty of reckless driving and assault against the occupants of the other vehicle. The people in the other car were not hurt. The minimum sentence as per the jury is 2 years. She has spent a month in prison so far. She now deems Virginia a "fly-over" state.

Details: It was hot and the traffic was moving slowly back in July. Jessica Hall, the driver had her 3 children in the back seat on their long drive to NY to see family, and her pregnant sister was sitting next to her having early contractions. Every time she had to brake abruptly for the car that cut them off twice, she worried that her sister would hit the dashboard. Still- it's no excuse to pull off on the shoulder, speed up and throw a "missile" at another car. The woman agrees that she lost it and shouldn't have done it.

She is poor and was supposed to start nursing school the day after she landed in jail: "According to court documents, Hall is unemployed and, with her husband's salary, the couple takes in $30,384 a year. She receives $388 a month in food stamps."

Her husband is serving in Iraq for the 3rd time.
She misses her 3 children.
Did I mention that she was black?

So This Is How We Boost Troop Morale, eh?

Updates below for Monday and Tuesday

This morning I was completely disgusted by the news coming out of Washington. It hurt my head to read how some Senators view any dissent of the president's "plans" as a morale killer. That's the oldest propaganda line in the books, for god's sake. If the legislative branch of the government gave a shit about our troops, they would take care of those returning (not to mention the ones that are over there fighting with not enough armor or ammunition).

Please read how the president's budget will shortchange the veterans. Greatly.

It's so heartbreaking. As much as I am opposed to war and the war profiteers, I don't fault men and women for signing up to "defend their country" because that is ingrained into our heads the second we're born. It's supposed to be the greatest thing one can do. Being a person who rarely takes anything at face value, I never bought into the idea of marching around in a uniform and learning how to shoot a gun, but to each his own... whatever floats your boat... and part of the price of living in America is that my tax dollars pay for the military. I expect that my tax dollars will take good care of those who serve.

Our president and congresscritters insist that the troop's morale be considered at all times during a time of war. Hogwash. I care about the troop's morale and well being more than anyone in DC does. Those who fight for this country ought to be treated, at the very least, as well as defense contractors- especially those who come home mentally or physically injured -even for the rest of their lives if needed. Veteran's services should be figured into a war budget just as much, if not more, than the profiteers.

Which brings me to this article at WaPo this morning. Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility Good heavens. Walter Reed Hospital Army Medical Center is in a shambles:

On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of "Catch-22." The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of suicide.

Disengaged clerks, unqualified platoon sergeants and overworked case managers fumble with simple needs: feeding soldiers' families who are close to poverty, replacing a uniform ripped off by medics in the desert sand or helping a brain-damaged soldier remember his next appointment.

"We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it," said Marine Sgt. Ryan Groves, 26, an amputee who lived at Walter Reed for 16 months. "We don't know what to do. The people who are supposed to know don't have the answers. It's a nonstop process of stalling."

UPDATE Monday: In today's WaPo, The Hotel Aftermath-- more heartwrenching stories of returning troops staying at Mologne House on Walter Reed's grounds... stories of how their family members fight the Army day in and day out, pleeing for help with what is left of their loved one. In some cases, the Army doctors insist that there are pre-existing medical conditions and that the fact that the troop was blown up in Iraq had nothing to do with his current disabled condition. Some amputees received celebrity status are showered with gifts from corporations and movie stars, while at the same time, others don't have decent clothes to wear.

UPDATE Tuesday: Amazingly, MSNBC covered quite a bit of the stories last night. In other news, NY Senator Chuck Schumer announced that that "he will introduce a bill after the Senate returns to session next week to bring benefits for troops in the reserves and National Guard in line with those of active-duty soldiers." I had no idea that the reservists and guardspeople were getting shortchanged. Read more.

Hijacking with a happy ending

"The hijacker ordered the pilot to fly to France, but the crew told him there was not enough fuel. Morocco denied a request for the plane to land in the city of Djala in the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, so the pilot headed for Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, the original destination.

"Speaking to the gunman during the hijacking, the pilot realized the man did not understand French. So he used the plane's public address system to warn the passengers in French of the ploy he was going to try: slam on the brakes upon landing, then accelerate abruptly. The idea was to catch the hijacker off balance, and have crew members and men sitting in the front rows of the plane jump on him, the Spanish official said.

"The pilot warned women and children to move to the back rows of the plane in preparation for the subterfuge, the official said.

"It worked. As the plane landed on Gran Canaria, the man was standing in the middle aisle when the pilot carried out his maneuver, and he fell to the floor, dropping one of his two 7mm pistols. Flight attendants then threw boiling water in his face and at his chest, and some 10 people jumped on the man and beat him, the Spanish official said." - The Independent

I have often wondered how 4 planes could have been hijacked by men wielding box cutters.

Sunday's Homily

A true or false quiz/opinion poll:

1. The US is supporting an illegal millitary occupation.

2. Israel claims it is defending itself from terrorism caused by jealosy, race, or religion. What they do not mention is the illegal military occupation.

3. Israel builds racially segregated settlements into Palestine. These "settlements" are for Jews only.

4. This is an army fighting civilians.

5. The Israel government is not fighting terrorism. They are creating it by engaging in it themselves.

6. Suicide bombers are a backlash from ethnic cleansing not Islam. The illegal occupation is the source of the conflict not a reaction to it.

7. We should be supporting humanity not flags.

8. Labeling and name calling is Israel's only defense aside from fear and deception.

9. Fighting Zionism is no more anti-semitic than fighting the Nazis would be anti-white

10. It's not anti-semitic. It's patriotic to support life and liberty.

Stop profiterrorism.

Divest now.

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

I took these talking points off of a video over at anti-neocons. It was most difficult to watch. I'm sure you will see what I mean. The video above it was VERY interesting. It's an old video of, in their words "Wolf Blitzer former AIPAC employee promoting Zionism."

DISCLAIMER: This message represents the official view of the voices in my head.

The Originator of this post is not liable for the transmission of the information contained in this communication, unless they are the originator in which case they probably are liable and rightly so considering the content of the aforementioned communication.

Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

"There is no place for chicanery at a time of war," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell - Senate Gridlocks on Iraq War Resolution

The Senate gridlocked on the Iraq war in a sharply worded showdown Saturday as Republicans foiled a Democratic bid to repudiate President Bush's deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops.



"There is no place for chicanery at a time of war," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "Even some of the president's most strident opponents know that. They know that the only vote that truly matters in a vote on whether to fund the troops."

CHICANERY - the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them) [syn: trickery] -- trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry

Alrighty, I got that word down. Now, would someone help this blonde with a stupid question... Is McConnell using the right word here? He is supporting the troop surge right? Thursday he said “We are disappointed the Democratic leadership will yet again block a vote in the Senate to fund our troops in Iraq.

“Though it’s disappointing the Democrat leadership blocked votes and debate on troop funding, and have criticized the new security plan without a positive alternative, we will soon have a chance to back up rhetorical support for the troops with real funding. We will have the opportunity for the Congress to vote not just on a non-binding resolution, but on real legislation that will fund our troops in the field.(from McConnell's statement on Wednesday)


Aren't the ones who support w on this 'surge' using CHICANERY?

What am I missing here? Who does he think is using Chicanery here -- dems or repubs? or those for the troop surge or those opposed to it? I'm confused. Father Tyme, I think your right -

We're on the Eve of Destruction (well done youtube video)

From 1965, Barry Maguire. A little prophetic.


"The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction."

The White House Press Whores Roaring in Laughter

The president refuses to answer questions at a press conference yesterday and the hilarity ensues.

So what if three of the top administration officials outed a CIA officer? (Laughter)
So what if the president refuses to say whether or not he authorized it? (Laughter)
So what if he once said that he would fire whomever was involved in the outing? (Laughter)

Aw, he's such a down to earth regular guy, how can you bug him with tough questions?

Contrast and compare a press conference during Watergate vs now at The Horses Mouth. See the Press Whores roll over and laugh for more.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

I once thought that FixedEarth.com was a satire site. They don't believe in evolution or revolution (of the earth.) Hence the title of the site, "The Earth Is Not Moving"

“Indisputable evidence — long hidden but now available to everyone — demonstrates conclusively that so-called secular evolution science is the Big Bang 15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion.”

It claims that evolution is a Jewish conspiracy, of which Copernicus was associated, to undermine the Bible (Genesis' creation myth, which I thought was written by Jews?)

FixedEarth.com claims to "confirm that the Copernican Model of a rotating, orbiting Earth is a factless, observation- denying deception that is the keystone which is holding up all of modern man’s false "science" and "knowledge"." They want to make it illegal to teach evolution in schools. They claim that Christian Zionists are poised to dictate middle eastern policy based on the Bible.

Georgia Legislator, Rep. Ben Bridges believes it and sent a memo to a Warren Chisum, the second most powerful man in the Texas legislature and head of the appropriations committee, who then forwarded the memo to the rest of the Texas legislature. Here is the cover letter from Chisum and here's the memo from Bridges. oy vay.

The Texas Legislature condemned the memo and the ADL found out about it and the shit hit the fan. Warren Chisum pretended to apologized for insulting Jews and claimed that he didn't know about that part nor did he actually read the website, “I read it, but he didn’t ask me to edit his memo,” he said. “It does not reflect my opinion.” oh really? That seems totally irresponsible. He should be fired.

There needs to be a TDL (Texas Defamation League).
Texas legislators are steamrolling the citizens of Texas. Texas Jaye in a post here on Blondesense February 12, details the horrifying statistics proving that Texas legislators give less than a shit about children, the middle class, the education and the environment of Texas. It's a disgrace. And more disgraceful is the bill Chisum has coming to vote on Monday, according to Burnt Orange Report:

"Children with no health insurance, Texas families who can't afford state colleges, crumbling schools -- to Chisum they are about as important as Pluto, a heavenly body no longer even called a planet. I am not advised whether Chisum believes in other planets.

"House Calendars has set the vote on Chisum's HB2 for Monday afternoon. The bill would strip about $6 billion from general revenue to fund a big hunk of a massive 2008-2009 property tax cut for the wealthy. (The rest of the $14 billion windfall for the wealthy comes from the puny business tax passed last year that has fallen way short of funding the property tax cut as promised.)

It's clear Chisum's god, Craddick, doesn't want to fiddle around with open and public debate about whether the Legislature ought to stop strangling of the middle class before it tightens its grip on our throats and transfers more middle class money to the rich.

The last thing Texas needs is to cut property taxes of the wealthy. It's clear that "christianistas" in government in many southern states know all about conspiracies. They ARE the conspiracy to undermine the people, tax the hell out of them, oppress them, dumb them down in the name of the Bible or religion all for the benefit of the wealthy few. The flagrant oppression of the middle class and the predominance of the undereducated working poor in states like Texas is unconscionable.

Here's more on the subject (with fascinating comments), and more here from TPM, where we find out that Rep Bridges, a retired HS teacher (gawd help us), according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, says he agrees with the Kaballa anti-evolution conspiracy more than Darwin or the Big Bang.

Not content to wage war against just the human race...

...colostomybagbreath and his neo-conservatives have decided to stamp out EVERY living thing on earth:

UPDATE: Parasite infects 80,000 Md. trout

UPDATE 2: Suppressed report shows cancer link to GM potatoes

The frogs are dying:

Ponds and swamps are becoming eerily silent. The familiar melody of ribbits, croaks and chirps is disappearing as a mysterious killer fungus wipes out frog populations around the globe, a phenomenon likened to the extinction of dinosaurs.
Scientists from around the world are meeting Thursday and Friday in Atlanta to organize a worldwide effort to stem the deaths by asking zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens to take in threatened frogs until the fungus can be stopped.

The honeybees are dying:

Something is killing the nation's honeybees.
Dave Hackenberg had 3,000 hives and figures he has lost all but about 800 of them.
In labs across the nation, researchers have been stunned by the number of calls about the mysterious losses.
"Every day, you hear of another operator," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state apiarist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. "It's just causing so much death so quickly that it's startling."
At stake is the work the honeybees do, pollinating more than $15 billion worth of U.S. crops, including Pennsylvania's apple harvest, the fourth-largest in the nation, worth $45 million, and New Jersey's cranberries and blueberries.

And the birds are dropping dead all over the earth, and in Houston, Idaho, Maine, Iowa.

So, how do you want to go?
Freeze to death? Starve? Die of thirst? Asphyxiate? In a hail of gunfire? Or some long, lingering, torture-ridden, pain-wracked illness? I heard once that with radiation poisoning sometimes you can shit yourself to death.

blonde number crunching

The US made nice with N. Korea (no oil) this week.

LA Times: "Until this week's pact, U.S. officials had insisted that North Korea dismantle its nuclear program and disarm before a deal could be reached. In the end, North Korea agreed only to begin disabling its nuclear facilities in exchange for about $400 million in aid and other incentives. For now, North Korea will keep its nuclear material, which U.S. officials think is enough to make eight to 10 bombs."

So we're giving them "$400 million in aid and other incentives" and they get to keep enough to make 8-10 bombs? Hmm. We've got ships in the Gulf poised to attack Iran because the US claims that weapons made in Iran have killed about 170 coalition troops. Iran insists that it isn't enriching uranium to make nukes to start a nuclear war in the middle east and now there is speculation that Iran will want to make a deal with the US similar to the one made with N. Korea. Conservatives see this as a problem. Why? Because we would have no excuse to go to war with them. But maybe this is not so. Maybe bush can give another one of those speeches...
Bush repeated the story we heard when he was gearing up to invade and occupy Iraq:

"Asked what assurances he could give about the accuracy of the intelligence on the Iranian explosives, Bush said: "We know they're there. We know they're provided by the Quds Force. We know the Quds Force is a part of the Iranian government. I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said to the Quds Force, 'Go do this,' but we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government."" -LA Times

If this is so, even if Bush isn't lying (yeah right) and even if the Iranian government is in on this, only 8% of our troops have died as a result. The Sunni's killed the other 92% of our troops (2,265 have been killed since June of 2004) . The Sunni's make up 85% of the world's Muslims. Al qaeda is Sunni. Who funds the Sunni's? Why, it's the Arabs. But we can't possibly attack them and the DC think tank guys need to start another war.

Where do you think that the idea to engage Iran in a war came from? I mean, come on, it couldn't be because 8% of our troops died as a result of their alleged involvement in Iraq. It doesn't make sense if you crunch the numbers (100% - 8% = 92% ). And Gawd forbid I be accused of being an anti-semite and offend the delicate sensibilities of a particular government that the US is tied to by the balls... so let's just read something from the time machine and do some dot connecting: Plan B, by Seymour Hersch, The New Yorker, June 21, 2004
--------------

PS. Remember that war we started in Afghanistan? read this.

Chinese New Year Begins this Sunday

I'm working like a DOG today, and probably through the weekend, cleaning my house like a mad woman. (And what a mess it is -- too much blogging lately) I always attempt to get the homefront in order in preparation for the Chinese New Year -- tradition you know.

I'm starting with the fridge. Since I have a lot of leftovers, and I hate to waste food, today's menu will be a ham and cheese omlet for breakfast, a BLT for lunch, and the rest of last night's pork dinner. Whew -- just in time too, cause we are approaching the the year of the pig, and the pig is the one sign in China's traditional 12 animal zodiac that Chinese Muslims could probably do without.

This is due not only to the Muslim aversion to pork but also to the historical derision that Muslims have endured in China for not eating the nation's preferred meat.

I was born in the year of the pig. Any other pigs out there?

People born in the Year of the Boar are honest and tolerant and make good friends, but tend to expect the same from everyone else, and more often than not they end up disappointed. (I'm working on this one.) They thrive in the arts as entertainers. They are regarded for their chivalry, pureness of heart and their ability to make true friends, often for life.


Has anybody been watching Colbert this week? He has also been celebrating this week and has been in rare form!!

He interviewed Sheryl WuDunn the other night. You can catch it here. She has written a book -- China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power Check it out.

Stephen puts out some great questions to Sheryl. Are we friends of China or the enemy -- maybe the frenemy?

Will we ever see a democracy in china?
(Love how he answers his own questions!)
"That's up to google & microsoft since they ARE helping the Chinese government restrict their own people's access to the internet --so they're just a little bit pregnant with the chinese government"

He even askes her if she thinks we will see another Tiananmen Square

There are quite a few of these videos now up at Commedy Central.

This one was my favorite:

Stephen answers the public's questions, such as: why do the Chinese play checkers with marbles? Check it out here. It's beyond hysterical.

All kidding aside, I do practice a lot of the Chinese traditions and I highly respect their philosophies

Oh, btw, did you hear about the big meeting China had with Russia and India the other day? Giants meet to counter US power


Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

Thank you Rep. Murtha

Here is the AP Story - "Murtha Moves to Forefront of Iraq Debate"
by Anne Flaherty

and.........

here is the same (?) story, by the same writer that was on my ATT e-mail home page. It did have the ap logo, but reads a bit different. Not sure how that works. Since I like this one better, here it is in full, along with a link to a live briefing of his strategy.
(Oh, btw, the FOX news "intro" to the same story referred to it as "The Democrats slow bleed strategy to choke off support for our troops")

Murtha Seeks to Restrain Action in Iran
By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON (AP) - A leading Iraq war opponent threatened Thursday to try prohibiting any U.S. military action against Iran without congressional sanction as House Republicans used military veterans within their ranks to oppose a resolution renouncing President Bush's Iraq troop buildup.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would seek to tie future deployments in Iraq to troops meeting high standards of training and getting enough rest between combat tours. Murtha said he believes the Army may have no units that can meet those standards, meaning that Bush's attempt to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq would be effectively thwarted.

Murtha, who has been among Congress's foremost opponents of Iraq war policy, also said he is considering attaching a provision to a looming war spending bill that would bar U.S. military action against Iran without congressional approval.

"We don't have the capability of sustaining a war in Iran," Murtha, chairman of the House panel that oversees military spending, said in a videotaped online interview.

President Bush, in a speech on the war on terror, also weighed in on the House resolution, saying it comes just weeks after the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.

"This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle," Bush said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, meanwhile, the Senate will hold another test vote Saturday on the Iraq resolution.

The Senate has been unable to begin debate on Iraq for two weeks because of partisan bickering over the procedural terms. Democrats would need 60 votes to bring the resolution back up when Congress returns after a week's recess.

"We demand an up-or down vote on the resolution that the House is debating as we speak," said Reid, D-Nev.

Earlier, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., complained that the Senate "is about to become irrelevant," adding, "What we have here is close to anarchy."

Back in the House, Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, led a group of military veterans among the GOP ranks in protesting the House resolution disapproving the deployment of the additional U.S. forces to the battlefields of Iraq. He was joined by other Vietnam War veterans in saying such opposition from Washington sends a signal of retreat in the war on terrorism.

"This nonbinding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the Democrats' political base and lowering morale in our military," said Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Ky., a West Point graduate who was a flight commander with the Army's 82nd Airborne.

Democratic Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, on the third day of House debate on the resolution, countered that the victory to be won in Iraq "is not a military conquest."

"The victory we seek is earned through the restoration of America's role as peacemaker, not warmonger," Clyburn said.

It appeared certain that Democrats, who took control of Congress last fall in no small part because of growing public disenchantment with the war, would carry the day in approving the resolution when a vote takes place on Friday. On Wednesday, 10 House Republicans gave speeches indicating they would vote for the resolution.

Clyburn estimated that between 15 and 20 Republicans would join Democrats in voting for the resolution. He expected to lose only two or three Democrats.

The resolution is nonbinding, but Democrats already are turning to the more consequential debate next month over Bush's request for nearly $100 billion more for the war, a request that promises to become a new battleground over his Iraq policy.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the Democratic resolution was the first step in a longer campaign to end U.S. participation in the nearly four-year-old conflict.

In a letter to the president on Wednesday, Pelosi and Reid, D-Nev., said, "thousands of the new troops" being sent into Iraq "will apparently not have the armor and equipment they need to perform the mission and reduce the likelihood of casualties."

As the House debated the Democratic resolution for a second day Wednesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker said protective gear for troops in Iraq was not a problem.

"Obviously, we are not going to put any force into theater that isn't properly trained and equipped," Schoomaker said.

Bush has asked for $93 billion in additional spending to finish paying for the war through Sept. 30, and Democrats could rewrite the legislation to require that troops sent to Iraq be fully equipped.

Bush, meanwhile, shrugged off Democrats' attempt to voice opposition to the troop buildup and turned his sights on the $93 billion spending request.

"I'm going to make it very clear to the members of Congress starting now," Bush told a news conference. "They need to fund our troops, and they need to make sure we have the flexibility necessary to get the job done."

Reid has announced plans to try for a vote in the Senate on an identical bill in the next few weeks, but prospects there are uncertain.

___

Congressman Murtha holds an exclusive online briefing for MoveCongress.org on his strategy to use the president’s Iraq funding request to stop the surge and begin the redeployment of troops from Iraq. Watch/listen here

Are You Going to the Fair?

What is "fair"?

• ~ free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; or conforming with established standards or rules;
• ~ impartial: showing lack of favoritism;
• ~ not excessive or extreme;
• ~ carnival: a traveling show; having sideshows and rides and games of skill etc.
• ~ fair(a): attractively feminine; "the fair sex"
• ~ gathering of producers to promote business; "world fair"; "trade fair"; "book fair"
• ~ a competitive exhibition of farm products;
• ~ free of clouds or rain; "today will be fair and warm"
• ~ fairly: in conformity with the rules or laws and without fraud or cheating;
• ~ bazaar: a sale of miscellany; often for charity; "the church bazaar"
• ~ fairly: without favoring one party, in a fair evenhanded manner;
• ~ (used of hair or skin) pale or light-colored; "a fair complexion";
• ~ MASSIVE ARMS FAIR due to open in the United Arab Emirates next Sunday. Saudi Arabia alone is said to have a shopping list that runs to almost 50 billion dollars, including fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, attack helicopters and more than 300 new tanks. Other Arab countries, including Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, are expected to spend heavily in the coming months.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is said to have earmarked 8 billion dollars for missiles and a rapid reaction brig, missile defence batteries, airborne early warning systems and aircraft. Sunni Arab States Loading up on weapons of war.
• 

Add Your Quote

And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva, in the brain of Jupiter. -Thomas Jefferson

Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. -Robert A. Heinlein

Men have ascribed to God imperfections that they would deplore in themselves.-W. Somerset Maugham

Creationists make it sound as though a theory is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night. -Isaac Asimov

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. -Thomas Paine

So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. -Bertrand Russell

The blackest billingsgate, the most ungentlemanly insolence, the most yahooist brutality, is patently endured, countenanced, propagated, and applauded. But touch a solemn truth in collision with the dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will soon find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your eyes and hand, and fly into your face and eyes. -John Adams

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion—several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight. -Mark Twain

This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religions in it. -John Adams

A divinely inspired book, admirably suited for the needs of one’s neighbors. -Ambrose Bierce, Devil’s Dictionary

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. -Galileo Galilei

Maybe this world is another planet’s hell. -Aldous Huxley

Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought. -Graham Greene

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. - Voltaire

Make your own church sign here.
Thanks to citizen spot for the link

Would You Vote For This Man?

I Am Spartacus

In solidarity with our friend at Shakespeare's Sister.

And greetings from London.

Another thing to be thankful for:

And that is, that one of the regular posters here at Blondesense is a Doctor of Divinity, thus enabling me to every once in a while say,

"AAYY, WHAT'S UP, DOC?"



Check out Yahoo News to discover how the Germans are helping to alleviate world hunger.

oh shit

President Bush said Wednesday he's convinced that the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons to fighters in Iraq, even if he can't prove the orders came from the highest levels in Tehran.

More important, Bush said in his first news conference of the year, is protecting U.S. troops against the lethal new threat. "I'm going to do something about it," Bush said.

Valentines Day or Anti-Valentine's Day?

Anti-Valentines are now big business: The cardmakers are getting into the Anti-Valentine's Day sentiment. feh.

Think Twice About Giving Roses

Flower Industry Isn't All Roses, Workers Say
From ABC News, Justin Rood Reports:

Roses are a symbol of romance to many people -- but not to Beatriz Fuentes.

Like many of the roughly 90,000 workers on giant South American flower plantations, Fuentes helps pick most of the roses and other flowers that are sold in the United States.

But she says she is paid less than $50 for a six-day week of demanding labor, often under difficult -- some say illegal -- conditions, including contact with dangerous chemicals.

Many of the roses sold in the United States each Valentine's Day are actually grown in South America.

ILRF's Nora Ferm says the typical South American flower picker is female, unmarried, has an elementary school education and three or more children. Since 2003, Ferm's group has backed an effort to organize South American flower pickers into unions and improve their working conditions.

Fuentes is to testify before Congress this morning about the working conditions she faces. Read the rest here

Our Christian Nation

BBC: Unicef reports that the only place worse to raise your kids than the US is the UK.
See also this story at BBC

CHILD WELL-BEING TABLE
1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom
Source: Unicef

The report categories were 1 Material well-being, 2 Family and peer relationships, 3 Health and safety, 4 Behaviour and risks, 5 Own sense of well-being [educational] and 6 Own sense of well-being [subjective]

Unicef report in full: An overview of child well-being in rich countries PDF (1.5MB)

Once you're born, we don't care about you.- American Christianistas

Supporting Our Troops

Soldiers who return from the battle front early due to mental and physical injuries are expected to pay the government back for their enlistment bonus money. Really.

US Military Lowering its standards.
Not enough red blooded, all American good boys are enlisting in droves to fight Muslims (over there so we don't have to fight them over here). The only way to fill the ranks is by granting waivers to those who were charged with felonies and misdemeanors so that they can fight for my freedom- about 100,000 so far in the past 3 years have been granted waivers. Nothing was mentioned about enlisting homosexuals without criminal records.

The Grammy's and, uh, Al Gore

Here's a review from Slate --

I didn't watch the awards. Al Gore presented the Best Rock album of the year to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I don't have anything else to say, except

AL GORE is STILL my main man.

Skippy the bush kangaroo
seemed a bit perplexed also. Apparently, Al professed his admiration for the musical community for being at the forefront of change. I don't know Skippy, Maybe Al and Tipper will be able to reach out to those artists who are pushing the envelope with lyrics these days?

Whatever........

GO TIPPER!! If I can help in any way, let me know.

Exploratory Committee THIS!

It seems like I've been just that much too late for every great invention of the past century. They invented the automatic dishwasher just after I'd discovered the joy of paper plates, large-screen TV's just after I deemed there was nothing worth watching, and now that I'm stuck in this marriage with Long Suffering, they come up with the idea for the Exploratory Committee. It seems as if no one is actually running for the job of President of the United States, they're busy exploring the job with committees. Why didn't I think of that?

It happens every year. I'll be walking out of church full of the joy of the Lord and Ellen Morrison will catch me in mid-handshake to ask me if I'll be chairman of the fellowship committee. True, the fellowship committee does nothing. I mean, either we like each other or we don't, and no committee's gonna make much headway to improve or detract from 40 years of just living with each other. And that's exactly what makes the job so frustrating....creating opportunities for fellowship among folks who've already make up their minds to dislike each other.

But Ellen knows that I can't stop in the middle of "the handshake of peace" and say no to fellowship, so I'm always stuck. If I'd only have known about the advantage enjoyed by our presidential candidates and simply said, "Ellen, I can't give you an answer to that question right now. I must first form an exploratory committee." And I mean, after all, the woman's a Methodist. How could she possibly disagree with forming a committee?

East Jaysus Junior Cadets always knock on my door this time of year to sell me their cookies. I have nothing against Juniors or Cadets or even door knocking, but the last thing a couple of elderly, artery-clogged, old poops need is a carton of sugar, fat and chemical additives. I swear that they pick the cutest little waif in town to knock on my door. She looks up at me with those pleading eyes that seem to imply that her puppy will die if I don't buy her Hoody-Ho's and I'm hooked. Throw them away, you say? I've got all the willpower of a congressman on a junket to Honolulu, hons. Like a bad replay of the movie "Field of Dreams," build the cookie and I will come and eat it.

If only I'd have known about The Committee. "Honey, I'd love to buy your Peanut Butter Patooties but the economy and my health being what they are, I'm afraid that I'll first have to form an Exploratory Cookie Committee. Check back with me next week."

I might even put it on my answering machine. "If you are calling with gossip, press 1 and I will answer immediately. For prayer chain requests, please press 2 and I'll drop to my knees. If you are trying to sell me something, press 3 and speak to my exploratory committee. And don't expect a fast response. It takes a very long time to explore jerks and idiots."

Here I've spent all these years being put into tight situations with my learning disability (I'm a soft touch) when all I really had to do was take the chicken-hearted way out and claim to be forming a search committee. Oh, the agony I could have avoided so easily.

The Presidential Exploratory Committee is actually just a harkening back to the days of the candidates' high school proms. Any teen worth his aftershave knows that you don't just come out and ask a girl to prom. You explore the territory first before offering the official invitation. You ask a friend of a friend if he'd ask her friend if maybe she might want to sort of go to the prom with you. Anything to avoid the shame of rejection. Like a presidential candidate, you form your own private exploratory committee whose sole purpose is to find out "Does anyone like me?"

Which brings me back to Long Suffering. The reasons for our matrimony are lost in the wicked mists of history and poor circulation, but I'm sure that if I'd have known then what I know now that I'd be living in a condo on Maui with someone who can make a longer sentence than "Uh-huh" and "Sure, whatever." Long Suffering would now be blessed with a wife who likes to cook and thought that breaking ice for two hours a day was just pure bliss.

They will stop at nothing.

Our administration is frantically trying to build a case for war against Iran.
Don't let them. Write letters.

You've read that "the "highest levels" of the Iranian government have directed use of weapons that are killing U.S. troops" in Iraq. White House reporters wanted to know more but Tony Snow fluffed it off, "Look, the Department of Defense is doing this. What I'm telling you is, you guys want to get those questions answered, you need to go to the Pentagon." General Pace had also said, contrary to this claim, that "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."

WaPo followed up on it and guess what?

A call to the Defense Intelligence Agency brought a referral to the main Pentagon press office. That office referred a caller to the Washington office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, which responded with an e-mailed copy of Sunday's briefing slides -- containing no mention of the "highest levels" allegation and a request for questions in writing. Written questions brought no response. An official from the Pentagon Joint Staff said last night that Pace had seen the briefing slides but had "no personal knowledge of any senior involvement by senior Iranian officials."

Could this just be disinformation by our very own government in order to build up a case against Iran? Let us not forget that the Sunni's are responsible for killing our troops as well. The Saudi citizens are funding Sunni Iraqi insurgents by truckloads. Literally. The Saudi government warned Dick Cheney that they would fund Iraqi Sunni's if the US pulled out. So I wonder, will we also invade and declare war on Saudi Arabia for the same reasons or because the president of Iran doesn't make nicey nicey and hold hands with our president, we will just invade Iran? And furthermore, why not invade Pakistan while we're at it since the Taliban is operating its attacks against US troops in Afghanistan? And why haven't we declared war on North Korea yet? If we're out to get the bad guys, then let's get all of them

UPDATE: More evidence that no one is listening to the commanders and the build up to war on Iran is being fabricated by someone: On CNN, February 13th, CentCom Commander William Fallon, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, was asked about the administration’s claim. Fallon said, “I have no idea who may be actually with hands-on in this stuff.”

Tony Snow: homina, homina, homina

HENRY: Well, I don’t see that in this particular quote, but I —

SNOW: Well, no, no. He said that there’s, there are weapons that are coming from Iran —

HENRY: He says that there are projectiles manufactured in Iran.

SNOW: Alright, so, ok, so there’s no doubt about that, correct?

HENRY: Right.

SNOW: There are Iranians in Iraq. There’s no question about that, correct?

HENRY: Sure.

SNOW: Alright, so where’s the credibility problem, in terms of the — are you saying

HENRY: In terms of the Iranian government being behind it. That’s not — nobody’s disputing whether it’s manufactured in Iran. That’s what you keep changing what my question is.

SNOW: No, no, I’m trying to clarify your question, because I think this is the –

HENRY: I don’t need it clarified. I’m trying to tell you — I know what my question is, and basically, he’s saying that he doesn’t see evidence that the Iranian government is clearly behind it. That’s my — I’ve asked that three or four times, you haven’t answered that.

See also From Think Progress: Top Cheney Aide: 2007 Is ‘The Year Of Iran,’ U.S. Attack ‘A Real Possibility’

You can now read Diane Sawyer's interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from this morning at ABC online. They talk about Palestine, Iraq and nuclear weapons. What do you think?


And I really really really hate it when I read stuff like this:
"... al Qaeda's No. 2 in command, Ayman al Zawahiri, denounces Bush as "an alcoholic, liar and gambler with an addictive personality.""
When the bad guys use the same complaints against bush as many American's do, this becomes a PR nightmare.

Comments?

This is how we "Support Our Troops"

From what I've been reading since day 1 of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the following is old news. But it's in the news again and probably buried in the middle of the newspaper:

WaPo: The Army is working to fill a shortfall in Iraq of thousands of advanced Humvee armor kits designed to reduce U.S. troop deaths from roadside bombs -- including a rising threat from particularly lethal weapons linked to Iran and known as "explosively formed penetrators" (EFP) -- that are now inflicting 70 percent of the American casualties in the country, according to U.S. military and civilian officials.

The Army never had enough Humvee armor. By now, you would think that someone would get with the program. This is no way to conduct a war. Don't they have planners? The troops had to devise their own vehicle armor and learn welding in a snap while under fire. When this was addressed to Rumsfeld a few years ago, the press acted like some sort of commie liberal put the young man up to the question.

How does the president support the troops?
Bush is planning to cut funding for veterans' health care two years from now. "The cuts come even as the number of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is expected to increase 26 percent next year." And they wonder why young men aren't signing up in droves to fight the next war in Iran. It is suspected that these cuts were ordered in order to balance the budget.

This country really ought to just give up the imperialist business and go back to manufacturing things that don't "go boom." It would be "Christian" thing to do.

Is it love? Is it infatuation? Is it obsession?

Whatever it is, a new romance brings on almost intolerable levels of chemical reactions in our bodies that eventually subside and leave us blue.

An Affair of the Head by Neely Tucker at WaPo explains the brain chemistry- dopamine: romantic love, norepinephrine: infatuation. Love chemicals affect the same part of your brain that a cocaine rush does. It's something that is programmed not to last either. And it's a good thing that it doesn't last. The species wouldn't survive if we were always head over heals "in love." When you're in love, everything is moved to the backburner of life. Consider this:

Abelard to Heloise: "So intense were the fires of lust which bound me to you that I set those wretched, obscene pleasures, which we blush even to name, above God as above myself."

She to he: "Even during the celebration of the Mass, when our prayers should be purest, lewd visions of the pleasures we shared take . . . a hold on my unhappy soul."

Oh my. Love is obsessive compulsive. The best love songs and poems are written under the influence of dopamine and norepinephrine and:

Serotonin, another neurotransmitter in the brain associated with obsession, depression and racing thoughts, was greatly affected -- right down to the molecular level -- by romance and surging dopamine. People newly in love and people with obsessive-compulsive disorder showed the same lowered levels of the "platelet 5-HT transporter." In other words, dopamine appears to suppress serotonin, which in turn triggers obsessive-compulsive thought patterns.

And it's no wonder we are so let down and "blue" when these feelings go away. And it isn't the fault of your beloved or your fault. It's science: "Oxytocin and other chemicals kick in, running around your brain to make you bond with your lover, producing a mellower, more sustainable relationship." Mellow? After all that? Then the best "You don't love me anymore" songs are written. A whole musical genre was born: The blues.

"Dopamine leaves the scene of the affair, now running off into the nucleus accumbens, the insular cortex, the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, research by Fisher and others shows. Jilted lovers' brains now light up in these areas when they look at pictures of their former flames -- this brain matter is associated with taking big risks, addiction, physical pain and obsessive-compulsive disorders. This is why, researchers theorize, people become obsessed with lost love, and are driven, in extreme cases, to stalking, suicide, homicide, rubber tubing."

Oh my. Oh my. Now aren't you happy that you aren't "in love" this Valentine's Day?

Something told me it was over
when I saw you and her talking,
Something deep down in my soul said, 'Cry Girl',
when I saw you and that girl, walking out.
I would rather, I would rather go blind boy,
Than to see you, walk away from me child, and all.
Ooooo So you see, I love you so much
That I don't want to watch you leave me baby,
Most of all, I just don't, I just don't want to be free no
-Etta James

Atheism -- CNN "panel" -- and Paula Zahn

Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.....

Last week Paula Zahn, CNN anchor, did a story about an atheist family. (I could swear I saw this same panel discussion ages ago, but I have been confused a bit lately)
Here is the youtube video.

After commercial break (too bad we couldn't see the sponsors) she continues with a panel discussion:
Here is that youtube video.
Quote from Onegoodmove:

"Can you imagine a conversation like this one about any other group not raising calls for the host's job. Just imagine three atheists discussing Christianity on her show. It would never happen. Paula Zahn you're a tool. And Paula, are African American's tactics too militant, are Women's tactics too militant, are Gay's tactics too militant. Would you have that banner behind you if you were discussing any other group?"

Last night on CNN, In honor of Darwin Day, the discussion continues:

Onegoodmove has the story. Again, a panel discussion, and then the remarkable Richard Dawkins. You'll have to view these ('save target at') at onegoodmove, as they are not yet up on youtube. It's a quick download and a quick discussion from both. That's what I don't get. We can have 3 continuous days of non-stop Anna Nicole Smith's boobs (oh, that's right - it IS the boob tube, I forgot) but we only get a total of maybe 3 - 5 minutes for this most important discussion.

Quote from Onegoodmove

"After a repetition of first part of Paula Zahn's segment on atheism from last week came her interview with Richard Dawkins. There was no red meat, but I believe Dawkin's message was the right one. The panel on the other hand featured a Christian who was anything but, he constantly interrupted and talked over the other guests. The segment was too short as usual, but it was the Christian who came off as as the least tolerant. In the finest tradition of Fox News CNN uses the it's-only-a-question banner. Do Atheists Bring Intolerance On Themselves? Good question CNN, by insisting that others keep their sabbath day holy (blue laws) do Christians bring it on themselves? By claiming their definition of life is the only definition, do Christians bring it on themselves? Do Christians bring it on themselves when they attempt to have their theology taught in science class. When they work to prevent stem-cell research, to interfere with a women's right to choose, to forbid people to choose to die with dignity, do Christians bring it on themselves? And yes by insisting that we honor their gods on our money and pledge allegiance to our nation under the thumb of their god do the Christians bring it on themselves? In short don't Christians bring it on themselves when they subvert our Constitution? When they confuse a nation with a majority of Christians with a Christian nation, tell me CNN, tell me Christian apologists, do they bring it on themselves?"

Here is a comment from the Paula Zahn/youtube video. I have been thinking the same thing ever since Father Tyme mentioned E Pluribus Unum a few days back in one of our comment threads.

"And the opening statement about "in god we trust". Would that be the the national motto that replaced the 180 year-old "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one) in 1956 during the anti-communist frenzy, Paula? That was 1 minute of fact checking! How did she get a Pullizer?"

I've been lost in the Origin and Meaning of the Motto Carried by the American Eagle ever since.

Commission on the Status of Women

"The fifty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 26 February to 9 March 2007. In accordance with its multi-year programme of work for 2007-2009, the Commission will consider “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child” as its priority theme. Based on this theme, an online discussion was held from 14 August to 8 September 2006. DAW, in collaboration with the UNICEF, also organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on this theme. The EGM was hosted by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, Italy, from 25 to 28 September 2006."

Hit this www.un.org/ link for more links and information.

Caught this originally over at the Rigorous Intuition Discussion Board.

Cronkite decries push for profits

EX-CBS ANCHORMAN DESCRIBES PRESSURE BY MEDIA BOSSES AS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
By Anick Jesdanun
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Pressures by media companies to generate ever-greater profits are threatening the very freedom the nation was built upon, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite warned this week.

In a keynote address Thursday at Columbia University, Cronkite said today's journalists face greater challenges than those from his generation. No longer could journalists count on their employers to provide the necessary resources, he said, ``to expose truths that powerful politicians and special interests often did not want exposed.''

Instead, he said, ``they face rounds and rounds of job cuts and cost cuts that require them to do ever more with ever less.''

``In this information age and the very complicated world in which we live today, the need for high-quality reporting is greater than ever,'' he told journalism students and professionals at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. ``It's not just the journalist's job at risk here. It's American democracy. It is freedom.''

Cronkite said news accuracy has declined because of consolidations and closings that have left many American towns with only one newspaper. And as broadcasters cut budgets and air time for news, he said, ``we're all left with a sound-bite culture that turns political campaigns into political theater.''

The former anchor urged owners of media companies -- newspapers and broadcast alike -- to recognize they have special civil responsibilities.

``Consolidation and cost cutting may be good for the bottom line in the short term but that isn't necessarily good for the country or the health of the news business in the long term,'' he said.

Michael Copps, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, later said that looser broadcast regulations -- such as those that had required stations to regularly prove they serve the community interest -- have resulted in less local coverage, less diversity of opinion and fewer jobs for journalists over the past quarter century.

The FCC is considering relaxing the rules even more. The agency decided in June to reopen the hotly disputed issue of ownership limits, which currently restrict the number of radio and television stations that one owner can have as well as cross-ownership between newspapers and broadcasters.

--------------------------------
"There is no such thing in America as an independent press... There is not one of you who dare to write his honest opinions, and if you did you know beforehand they would never appear in print... You know this and I know it... We are the tools and vassals of rich men... they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents... our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." (US newspaper editor John Swinton, 1883.)

"The press plays a very significant role in maintaining and strengthening and justifying racism at all levels of society, providing a cover for racist activity." (The Runnymede Trust, London, 1989.)

"We do not need a censorship of the press. We have a censorship of the press." (G.K.Chesterton.)

"Those fellows in the CIA don't just report on wars and the like, they go out and make their own... They spend billions of dollars on stirring up trouble so they'll have something to report on... It's become a government all of its own and all secret. They don't have to account to anybody." (Harry Truman, quoted by Merle Miller in "Plain Speaking.")

"President Reagan and his news handlers have been making, shaping and faking news. This is an administration that has thought as much about news management, and practised as much disinformation as any in peacetime history. The milestones of its progress _ yellow rain, the El Salvador White Paper of 1961, the Pope plot, KAL 007, Sandinista gun running, stretch through the years." (The Wall Street Journal.)

"The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enable it to organise and sway the emotions of the masses, and to make its tool of them." (Albert Einstein.)

"Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return."
(William Randolph Hearst's correspondent Remington sent to Havana. 1890.)

"Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war."
(William Randolph Hearst, in reply to his correspondent Remington in Havana. 1890.)

"The freedom of the press throughout the world where the capitalists rule, is the freedom to buy up newspapers, the freedom to buy writers, to buy and manufacture public opinion in the interests of the capitalists." (Lenin 1921.)

Don't Mess With Our Kids

by Texas Jaye

David Dewhurst, the Lt. Governor of Texas, told a scowling Fox Noise talking head today that we don't want no sex predators messing with our children. "Don't mess with our kids," he said. No really. He really said it.

Can you see the bumper stickers now? Don't mess with Texas kids, pederasts.

Dewhurst and quite a few legislators want mandatory minimum 25 year sentences for sexual assault of a child and if the predator somehow survives his or her prison stay and assaults a second child, he or she gets the death penalty.

Dewhurst thinks that predators will think twice about assaulting that second victim.

Experts suggest that what the predator will actually think about doing is killing the victim so they can't testify against their abuser.

Many, many child abusers are never reported, never prosecuted, never convicted and are not strangers to their victims. Many children depend on their attackers for food, clothing, and shelter. Do children want to send their fathers to prison or death row? Do they want one of those "A sex offender lives here" signs in their yards? Do they want their uncles to wear one of those GPS tracking devices for the rest of their lives?

If Dewhurst and the Lege really want folks to stop messing with Texas children they could start by addressing the following issues:

Texas ranks 35th in the nation in high school graduation rates.

Texas ranks 49th in the nation in children who are immunized.

Texas ranks 48th in the nation in spending on child protection.

Texas ranks 1st in the nation in the number of uninsured children.

Texas ranks 5th in the nation in children living in poverty.

Texas ranks 1st in the nation in people living without health insurance.

Texas ranks 3rd in the nation in people living without Medicaid.

Texas ranks 3rd in the nation in people living below the poverty level.

Texas ranks 5th in the nation in teenage births.

Texas ranks 46th in the nation in spending per pupil.

Texas ranks 47th in the nation in SAT scores

Texas ranks 50th in the number of persons with a high school diploma.

-- On average in 2003, each Child Protective Services investigative caseworker had 31 cases per month, more than twice the recommended amount of 12 cases per month according to the Child Welfare League of America. On child protection, Texas spends $135.19 per national average is $303.95 per child.

-- 1 in 10 children in Texas lives in extreme poverty, a 10 percent increase since 2000. The threshold for a family of two adults and two children living in extreme poverty is $8,731 a year.

-- Texas spends $7,142 per pupil annually. Annual expenditures per prisoner in Texas prisons is $20,232.

-- Texas funds only 34 percent of need-based financial aid, as opposed to 89 percent by the top-investing states.

-- In 2002, 86 percent of nursing homes in Texas did not meet federal standards governing quality of care. 94 percent of nursing homes did not meet minimum staffing levels, and 39 percent of facilities had a violation that caused actual harm to nursing home residents or placed them at risk for death or serious injury.

-- More than 825,000 people were added to the uninsured population in Texas between 2000 and 2004. 21 percent of children in Texas were uninsured in 2005, compared to 11 percent nationally.

-- Texas requires low-income families, those in the bottom 20 percent of the income scale, to pay more than three times as great a share of their earnings in taxes as the wealthy.

--- Texas does not require schools, nor does it provide state funds, to give students information on HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or pregnancy prevention education.

In air pollution emissions, Texas is 1st.

In the amount of greenhouse gases released: Texas is 1st

In the amount of toxic chemicals released into water: Texas is 1st

In the amount of toxic chemicals released into air: Texas is 4th

In the amount of recognized carcinogens released into the air: Texas ranks 1st

In the amount of recognized carcinogens released into water: Texas ranks 7th

Texas is Number One in the number of Clean Water permit violations.

And yet, child molesters get more attention and more headlines than these issues. Legislation to help children recover from their attackers in the way of therapy, insurance, medical attention, medication is not at issue in the rush to execute child molesters. If parents opt out of Governor Perry's vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, young girls can get cervical cancer from their molesters but may not be insured to discover that they are in fact infected.

By Texas Jaye

The UK has the right idea

They just need to broadened this law to include politics

Hotels, restaurants and online shops that post glowing reviews about themselves under false identities could face criminal prosecution under new rules that come into force next year.

Businesses which write fake blog entries or create whole wesbites purporting to be from customers will fall foul of a European directive banning them from “falsely representing oneself as a consumer”.

From December 31, when the change becomes law in the UK, they can be named and shamed by trading standards or taken to court.

The Times has learnt that the new regulations also will apply to authors who praise their own books under a fake identity on websites such as Amazon.

Can you imagine how many sites would suddenly turn to vapour if it was illegal to post and work for the same people? Suddenly some of those freepers would have to add disclaimers that they are being PAID to write (dis-inform) and these may or may not be their real opinions and that facts unfavourable to their keepers have been omitted or outrighted lied about.

Either that, or they can let the citizens of the blogosphere "name and shame" them in our own 'special' way.

If Only.....

I can't help but to sometimes think of what our country would be like today if Gore had taken the reigns of power.

Can you imagine it? Instead of a dry drunk, cowboy wanna-be, frat boy with nominal intelligence a nasty smirk and delusions we could have an intelligent, articulate, Nobel-nominated president. One who actually DOES know what the greatest threats to this country and the world in general are.

Would 9/11 even have happened with him in charge? I can't imagine he would have suddenly turned a deaf ear to his security guru's and the former president's counsel. And even if it did happen, can you imagine Al Gore flipping the bird to the rest of the world, snubbing their outpourings of sympathy and offers of assitance just for the chance to show he had a bigger dick than his father. (Oh, wait, Gore doesn't NEED to prove anything).

What about Pre and Post Katrina? Would the Corps of Engineers had their funding cut so deeply for so long that the levy(s) would have been let go? Would he have sat back and waited to see if the city actually flooded? And say if there was absolutely no way to avoide the flooding and carnage, would it have taken him five days to get his arse down there and let the first responders in? (Troll, don't fuck with me on this, we had a team of first responders down there in less than 16 hours, they were physcially kept out of the city by the military for days). Would we still have thousands of people scattered across the country in a state of perpetual limbo?

And considering some of Mr. Gore's pet peeves, do you really think big business and oil tycoons would be granted such leeway? Petroleum companies showing their biggest profits EVER while the middle class scrapes to get by? National forest put up on the block to be sold to the highest bidder to do with them as they please? Education left in the dust, fights over the validity of evolution, the encroachment of theology into science and medicine?

Would his administration be on trial (well if the Rethugs run the Congress, yes it would, I'm sure they'd find and investment of Tipper's to hand over to Ken Starr). Would undercover spies have their identities blown in the national media over a "how dare you not cow-tow to my whims" temper tantrum?

Would over 3,115 service members be dead in Iraq? Not to mention countless civilians killed, wounded, displaced and disenfranchised. Would America be the laughing stock of the world?

Damn, but its amazing what a difference ONE CHOICE and ONE VOTE can make, isn't it?

Meanwhile, Closer to Home

School District fights in Federal Court, states that it is NOT responsible for the safety of students while they are at school.


CASE HISTORY

ALLEGED: Allentown School District officials failed to act substantively after a 12-year-old boy with a history of behavioral and psychological problems raped a first-grade boy in a Central Elementary School restroom. (4 rapes/attempted rapes - ed)

ARGUED: Federal law does not obligate the district to protect its students, so the lawsuit should be dismissed.



Yep, you read that right, Allentown School District, is currently involved in a multi-million dollar lawsuit for failing to protect four first graders in one of their poorest schools. From what you may ask; stray gun shots from gangs, being knifed in the halls, failing grades, domestic abuse? Nope, from being raped by a sixth grade student.

It seems the student in question, a 'special needs' student, was transferred into the ASD from another unmentioned school. The teachers, as per the law's dictates, were not told of the reason for the transfer, just that the student had some difficulties and was covered under the broadening umbrella of the person's with disabilities charter. While there he was interupted during the attempted rape of a 6yo first grader by a teacher who took him to the principal's office, informed them of what had happened and was told it would be handled appropriately. Apparently, according to the law, the teacher is not allowed to be kept in the loop or informed of the outcome of any events regarding these students. (It seemed the decision made was that the 12 yo (F.H.) was to use the upstairs bathroom away from the younger students - of course no teacher, aid or other responsible adult was provided to make sure this happened).

Over the course of the next few months, 3 other boys were attacked with at least one of them being penetrated. Needless to say, parents are outraged and many blame the principal of the school and the superintendant who is supposed to be kept in the loop about such things. Some are even going so far as to blame the parents of the victms for not going to the police. (In fairness to them, they were TOLD the police had been notified by the school, this is also the poorest school in the city and many of the students and their parents do not speak English).

In response to this, a legislator now wants to pass a new law making sure that schools are held responsible. (after all they suspend students for wearing 'hoodies' and carrying cell phones, citing 'safety' concerns). However the school district lawyer has warned that if the schools are not granted immunity, lawsuits will increase and so will school taxes in order to pay legal fees and awards.

Now here is my questions to you -

1. How do we balance the rights of disabled children with the rights of the population in general?

2. At what point did being unable to control your anger become a disability? Isn't that a character flaw? Are we making every bad decision and every personality flaw a disease now? (And yes, I do realize the rapist was abused but that does NOT give him the right to abuse others)

3. Will/Should the rapists parents be held accountable for what has happened?

4. If your children were in this school district, what would you do?

Brace yourselves; he's headed South again:

"Bush plans South American tour"

It's a UPI STORY, which is Moon's outfit, and that means it's...well I'm sure "I Snot" will chime in and tell us whether to believe it or not.

Point is, last time buttfuckboy headed south, all hell broke loose in NY, DC, and PA. Ya s'pose dem tearists wait until our supreme, exalted, courageous, fearless leader is outta town to pull off their death-defying antics?

Aw, wait a minute. Maybe he's just going down to check out the little ranchero in Paraguay. 99,000 acres? Little ranchero? Well, yeah; I'd say by gigologeorge's standards, it is.

Tomorrow Is Darwin Day

Sunday Sermonette

"I'm a Christian, so I cannot believe in science or Darwin. Take Genesis, the creation..."

If you're a Christian, then you don't have to "take" Genesis. You don't have to "take" Darwin either but it couldn't hurt to consider natural selection. You are a follower of Jesus Christ and the Gospels, not a pagan creation story invented thousands of years ago when they believed that the sky was a moving dome over the flat earth. Oy vay. Do you see Jewish people renouncing science in the name of Genesis? How can the fact that dinosaurs roamed the earth billions of years before humanoids arrived hurt one's faith? Did the creator not create the earth and all its mysterious that will take hundreds, if not thousands of years to discover?

Since when did it become vogue to check your brains at the door in order to have faith in a higher power? Yes, critical thinking is hard work but leaving it to others with suspicious motives is folly and you will surely get what you paid for. If there is a God, she couldn't possibly demand that you practice a religion or she would have told you which one to practice. She created humans, so she should know how ridiculous they can be and they wouldn't get the joke. Some say that the Bible is the handbook for religion. Oh yeah? Then how come there are hundreds of different religions based on the Bible? God made a big error if she thought that the Bible was her handbook for all time.

You've got people reading the Bible in English and thinking that they are taking it literally when in fact the only thing they are taking literally are the current meanings of the English words in the translation- and you can ask a thousand people about a particular chapter in the Bible and get a thousand different answers and those people will swear their lives on their interpretation based on their situation, location and time. Religion is propaganda created by power hungry men- and in fact power hungry men decided which books went into the Bible and which ones were tossed. Those that were tossed were the ones that didn't fit with their patriarchal agenda. feh.

"Christians" who don't know anything ought to heed what the savior admonished: Matthew 25:31-46 and Mark 12:28-34 and there wouldn't be any more religion, division, wars, class distinction, weapons races, poverty and hatred. People would know Christians by their love, not their hate.
------------------------------------

I’ve never understood how God could expect His creatures to pick the one true religion by faith—it strikes me as a sloppy way to run a universe.
-Robert A. Heinlein (Jubal Harshaw in Stranger in a Strange Land )

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion—several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight.
-Mark Twain

"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet."
-Napoleon Bonaparte.

"Hell is paved with priests' skulls."
-St. John Chrisostom, 345-407

"The world holds two classes of men - intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence."
-Syrian poet Abu'l-Ala-Al-Ma'arri, 973-1057

When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.
-Peter O’Toole

connecting the dots is hard work

how do you fix this mess?

• • Envoy: Iran poses no threat to Israel
• • Gates: Prisoner abuse scandals hurt U.S.
• • Gates dismisses Putin remarks as blunt spy talk
• • Accord proves elusive at North Korea talks
• • U.S. helicopter down north of Baghdad: residents
• • Suicide car bomber kills 12 near Baghdad
• • Iran says wants to stay within nuclear rules
• • Putin: USA acting on its own has made world more chaotic
• • Suicide bomber attacks Iraq police headquarters
• • Iran rejects proposals to suspend nuclear work
• • Blast kills U.S. troops hunting for weapons
• • Suicide bomber kills 30 near Tikrit
• • U.S. officer: Iran sends Iraq bomb parts
  
• • NATO: Afghanistan on road to stability
  
• • U.S. set to assert evidence against Iran
• • Australian leader: Al-Qaida wants Obama
  
• • US defence chief to Putin: 'One Cold War enough'
• • US lawmakers gird for the battle over Iraq
• • No deal yet in 'tough' North Korea nuclear talks
• • U.S.: N. Korea Talks Down To Single Issue
• • U.S. Mulls Divulging Iran-Iraq Intel
• • Putin: U.S. Force "Almost Uncontained"
• • Olmert: Unity gov't must accept Israel
  
• • U.S. mulls release of intel on Tehran
• • NATO chief predicts Afghanistan stability
• • Petraeus: Iraq 'doomed' if mission fails
• • Envoy: Iran no threat to Israel
• • Gates says U.S., Russia must cooperate
• • A Deal on North Korea's Nukes?
• • The Struggle to Isolate Iran
• • Up in arms: Booming India becomes big market for weapons makers
  • U.S. Alleges Iraqi Bombs Linked To Iran
  • U.S.: N. Korea Talks Down To Single Issue
  • Ahmadinejad Defiant On Nuclear Program
• • US Government blocks official debate on sending 'surge' of troops into Iraq
• • American court awards $16 million to Jewish man hurt during 'terrorist attack' in Israel
• • Robert Fisk: Iraqi insurgents offer peace in return for US concessions
• • UK Government promises new law blocking war-crimes trials against Israeli citizens
• • Iran Threatens U.S. if Attacked

The 'SURGE'

After reading this article that our reader and US Veteran Patriot sent me, I can understand how this father and family have found solace.

Both of these are beyond sadness. I am numb at the moment.


EXERPTS from both:

'Imagine packing up the house ... paintings .. documents, assembling a few valuables and delivering them along with the children's pet bird, to your sister's house ..telling the children you do not know when they might return ... instructing the neighbour's gardener to guard the house .. imagine arguing with your weeping children about what they can take with them, locking the gate ..' Imagine, imagine, imagine: justified by the venal, oil grabbing, shameful, stomach turning, discredited, disgusting words : 'liberation, freedom, democracy'.

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

For weeks, Chief Warrant Officer Jason DeFrenn's family awaited his homecoming, a trip planned as much more than a simple respite from his second tour in Iraq: The nine-year Army veteran was returning to South Carolina to help his wife give birth.

Instead, his loved ones are making plans for the 34-year-old Army pilot's funeral. DeFrenn's Apache helicopter was shot down on Feb. 2 -- two weeks before he was supposed to be back in his native state.


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

Twenty-three Marines and soldiers have died in helicopter crashes in Iraq since Jan. 20. Most, like DeFrenn, are believed to have been shot down. The latest, which killed seven Marines when their transport helicopter crashed Wednesday, remains under investigation. Four American civilian contractors also were killed in a recent crash.

The deaths have raised questions about whether insurgents are using more sophisticated weapons or whether U.S. tactics need changing.

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

As the Palestinians before them, Iraqis who flee either abroad, or under 'liberation's' ethnic cleansing, take with them the keys of their homes, the deeds of their home and land, all they have of their precious, only place on earth. As the Palestinians, how many generations will dream of the right to return? Sixty years after Britain's establishment of the State of Israel and the ever ongoing displacement, Britain, with the support of the biggest bully on the block, is playing the same game. And Palestinians in Iraq, safe for generations, too, flee yet again, with other nationalities who have lived there equally long, accused of being 'foreign fighters'. Sorry, 'foreign fighters' R us (U.S.)

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

His father said the military gave DeFrenn the excitement he had sought as a boy while hunting and fishing near their hometown of 5,000 about 60 miles south of Columbia.

"When he was young, he had a spirit of wanting to be a hero," Garth DeFrenn said. "He was one of those kids who wanted adventure."

The DeFrenns are now making plans for Jason's funeral in the small town of Barnwell. He'll be buried in his family's plot, as his father believes he would have wanted. The governor plans to grant a request to lower the state's flags.

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

'I gave them a good boy and they sent me back a monster', said the Mother of a Viet Nam veteran ( the indispensable 'Four Days in My Lai - a war crime and its aftermath', Michael Bilton and Kevin Sim, Penguin.) Nothing has changed. America, Britain, take your monsters home. Illegal invasion, illegal 'surge', illegal executions, illegal oil grab. Just go away - and take your discredited politicians with you.

___________________________


Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

You Know Your Empire is Crumbling When...

Thirty-Six Sure-Fire Signs That Your Empire Is Crumbling
by David Michael Green

"You know your empire's crumbling when it's considered an achievement to pretend that you've halved the rate at which you're adding to the massive mountain of debt you've already accumulated."

So. You've built yourself an empire, eh?

Well, bully for you!

What's next, you ask? Well, now you've got to do what everybody does when they have an empire, of course. You've got to worry about it falling apart, mate!

But how to tell for sure? Let me see if I can be helpful. Here are some rules of thumb to keep in mind, thirty-six sure-fire indicators that your empire is falling apart:

You know your empire's crumbling when the folks who are gearing up their empire to replace yours start blowing up satellites in space. And then they don't bother to return your phone calls when you ring up to ask why.

You know your empire's crumbling when those same folks are cutting deals left, right and center across Asia, Latin America and Africa, while you, your lousy terms, and your arrogant attitude are no longer welcome.

You know your empire's crumbling when you're spending your grandchildren's money like a drunken sailor, and letting your soon-to-be rivals finance your little splurge (i.e., letting them own your country).

Read the rest here at the Daily Reckoning

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

The author, David Michael Green, is widely published on the internet and is my son's favorite political science professor at Hofstra University. My favorite article is: It’s Munich In America. There Will Be No Normandy.

His website is The Regressive Antidote

The Week In Review

Printed with permission from Comandante Agi-- The Pime

The Liberal Media

The meme that the media is "liberal" has been spread by the media ironically and yet no one can point to any proof that it is. Just because something is true doesn't mean it's liberal. There are journalists who are decidedly left leaning, but taken as a whole, there is no media organization that is liberal. Furthermore, 'liberal' is not a dirty word. I related to people who believe that the media is liberal and we cannot even discuss it because I am met with non sequiturs about Clinton's blow job and them asking me why I hate America.

And now a word and challenge from reader, Father Tyme:

The MSM is a liberal leaning organization!
We've heard that since 1994 or maybe 1960.

Maybe someone out there on the right could provide those things known as "facts" about the media being liberal. You don't have to provide many since they are so left leaning that examples should pop up like Republican Talking Points. Let's hear for those of you who have been supporting the right and complaining the media is liberal.

I'd say 50 current (last 6 years should do)examples of definitive liberal bias - with citations (for those on the right who never heard of a citation, it's providing names, dates, publication names and dates, references and any other pertinent information that can substantiate your claims so the rest of us can check your work) should allow conversion of the most hardened liberal to a conservative point of view. Since the media is SO liberal, there shouldn't be ANY problem with you providing examples.

Oh, and you can't use things like, "My Nascar Daddy says you're a bunch of liberals" or "Everyone knows the media is liberal."

Pat Buchanan was asked to do this a couple of years ago and said that it's an accepted conclusion. That's fact!!"

Not only do I know that there won't be anywhere near 50 responses (probably less than 10 if that), but I expect all kinds of rationalizations from you on the right rather than answer me. Either that or glib quips (at least ones YOU think are glib.)

Simple question for simple answers...show me the proof.

Anyone care to answer Father Tyme?

Good Luck Barack -- you're gonna need it!!

I sincerely mean it when I say good luck. BUT I still think you're too young, and I'll admit it, it's probably because I'm older than you and I haven't realized it yet -- mentally that is. If you had a few more accomplishments (good ones that is) under your belt, I would consider you. I would also consider you because this country is due for it's first black or first woman president (but not Hillary). Even over-due, maybe. I am a white woman who buried the racist hatchet years ago when I was able to leave home and live on my own and not under the racist influence of my parents.

You're going to need all the luck in the world today, because we all know what you are facing. I truly wish it was only the age thing. But unfortunately it's not. It is for me, but for the rest of this EVER SO RACIALLY DIVIDED COUNTRY WE STILL LIVE IN, it's the "race card". What has got me furious -- AGAIN -- is that people like Debra Dickerson keep this racial divide alive and well. It was on the way out, IMHO. OK, this woman makes her living writing about Blackness (I can't believe there's a wiki entry) and being black. She writes for Salon, and Slate.

Check out this Slate article she wrote: 'First Class - Is it possible to raise rich kids who don't have a sense of entitlement?' I'll answer that right now for you Debra -- No it's not possible. I'm a mother and am experiencing the same issues now. I choose to call it lower class. It's all part of the Haves and Have-nots. As far as I am concerned, YOU keep racism alive and well when you write Books titled "The End of Blackness". I had never heard of you until
last night when I saw that you were on Stephen Colbert. Stupid me thought hey great, finally a black woman getting her chance on national TV to talk about putting an end to Blackness. Finally, I thought someone (and a black woman - even better) to say let's just stop this black/white thing right now. Let's put AN END to it.

Was I in for a suprise!! I guess I shouldn't have been suprised though. It's never going to end is it? Here's the link to the Colbert Show

THANK YOU STEPHEN -- you got her good!

Here's a few notes I took from the show:

Debra opens by saying Barack is not black. "In the American political context, black means the decendants of West African slaves brought here to the US." -- (learn something new everyday -- she probably wrote the wiki entry)

She says we need a new name. He' s not white either. He's an African African-American. (yes, that's African African, not a type-o by me)

Stephen suggests "nouveau black" or "a late to the scene black"

She says with a new name "you can say you voted for an african of africa-american stock". (STOCK? -- Unfucking believable -- I hate that word.)

She says "He's still a brother to me, but really only an adopted brother."

Stephen says: "kinda like the red-headed step child. you can slap him around a little and no one would really care."

Stephen argues: "since he doesn't have the burdon of the black experience - descendant of slavery - maybe he could just carry the torch and you could just piggy-back on him?"

She think's this is what's going to happen, cause it's not a critique of him.
It's just a critique of white self-congratulation -- saying that we're embracing a black person

Stephen says, we're not really: "if you hadn't told me he wasn't black I would
have thought I was supporting a black person, but now I won't, because
he's not."

Then she says: "Then that would make you a racist" (lot's of noise from the audience) then he says "if I were white".

Stephen says: "I'm so not a racist. I don't see race. I've moved beyond that. People tell me I'm white - I believe them -- because I think that Barack is black."

Debra: "He's an african african-american"

Stephen: "So, it seems to me that you're judging blackness on the color of skin, not on the content of their character, which...I think....realizes Dr.King's dream..... in a very special way"

Debra: "I don't think you mean special -- I think you mean perverted."

Shecontinues: "it's not the content of our character it's the content of our history and what we're doing by calling him black is obliterating the culture of this Kenyon father."

THEN Stephen says (you are brilliant my man) "Maybe THIS would make it more acceptable to the black people -- Maybe we could enslave him for a brief time -- you know -- nothing racist -- maybe give him to Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton for a bit, you know -- for the experience. then he could be freed -- no harm -- and then he gets all the street cred he needs!"

END

Well, actually I think I will end this post with the words of Mary Curtis, from the Charlotte Observer.

Here's the NPR interview link

Commentator Mary Curtis is tired of people telling her she doesn't seem like a black person — as if there was only one way to be African-American in the United States. Recent debate over whether Sen.Barack Obama is "black enough" to garner the African-American vote made her think about the issue again.

She says it's all based on stereotypes and it's silly.

"All races deal with it. Yes, it is worse with African American's. It's as if you trade in your culture for success."

"I don't hear anyone telling president bush he's authentically white. Oprah gets accused all the time of abandoning her blackness to appeal to her white audience."

"Let Obama be Obama without trying to parse every line he utters for evidence of racial solidarity."


Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

"The Lives of Others"

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!! But I'll have to, cause I'm going to see "Because I Said So" first. Due to budget restraints, I must pick and choose (and spread them out). Besides, I never heard of "The lives of Others" until yesterday when I was out driving around listening to this NPR story on 'All Things Considered'.

It's funny because I initially started out looking for a good radio station to tune-in some music (forgot my CD's). As usual, nothing but rap, crap, thumping and bumping, misogynous lyrics, TURN THIS SHIT OFF stuff -- you know what I mean? It makes me crazy! I don't know why I bother working the dial anymore. I think I'll program all the buttons to NPR now.

Filming the Effects of Art on an Inhuman Regime by Howie Movshovitz

This year's European Film Award for best movie was won by an unknown Austrian, who beat out established directors like Pedro Almodovar and Ken Loach.

The Lives of Others is set in East Berlin in the years before the fall of the wall, when the secret police — the Stasi — kept files on nearly 6 million East German citizens.

In the film, a Stasi agent has a change of heart about his country's repressive regime — in part because of a beautiful piece of music.

Writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck says that he began thinking about such a character in 1997, and five years later two things finally compelled him to get to work: he figured that if it had been on his mind for so long, the story was worth telling, and he also realized that its essential questions are still with us.

"The issues of privacy, or freedom," is what his film is about, von Donnersmarck says. "And in a way the East German secret police is just an institutionalized violation of privacy."

The film, Germany's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars, has already won seven Lolas, Germany's version of the Oscars.

For writer/director Florian von Donnersmarck, the story is also about a man who encounters great art for the first time in his life, and how it changes him.

"I personally have been changed by great works of art," von Donnersmarck says, "and I think if someone listens to a beautiful piece of music, and he's prepared in the right way, then I think that can make him a better person.

"That is why Lenin was so scared of the "Appassionata." He basically shut off the right side of his brain, and his heart, and went for it. This is the story of a man who fails in that goal."

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

Click on the above link and listen to the writer and director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, discuss the filming. There are a few links. Both interviews (NPR's and Fresh Air's) are great -- incredible lessons in history. I highly recommend them!

It was AWESOME. One of those driveway moments (froze my arse off, but it was sooo worth it!)

THE SCIENCE OF EVIL AND ITS USE FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES

Canada’s Red Pill press has recently published psychologist Andrew M. Lobaczewski’s book Political Ponerology (Red Pill Press, Canada, 1998 and 2006) in which the author expounds on his observations that during his years of clinical work in Poland, he noticed a high correlation between acts that most people would label as "evil" and various pathologies. The most apt diagnostic labeling of these individuals in modern psychological jargon would be sociopathic, the most important characteristic of which is the seeming absence of a conscience or empathy in relation to other living beings. Lobaczewski and some of his Eastern European colleagues working under Soviet rule decided to take this study to a higher level and researched how sociopathy was playing out in government, in business, and in other social groups.
URUKNET

Yet Another Rare Shark Caught in Japan

Remember last month when the Japanese caught a deep-sea Frilled Shark?

Well another deep sea mystery has surfaced, the Goblin Shark. Now my paranoia side is making me wonder what is suddenly causing deep (and I mean deep 2,000 feet or deeper) sea animals to come to the surface. But regardless of any of my misgivings, they are fascinating creatures and these captures are rare opportunities to research and discover more about our world and the animals we share it with

Condi Rice Raps

I couldn't resist. I went to youtube just now to fetch a video for the troll and this was today's youtube feature. Anyway troll - look for your special video in the comment thread where you were earlier this morning. I know I shouldn't feed you, but I guess you're hungry this morning?

Top news story (i.e. distraction) headline today: Consumer Confidence Hits 2 1/2-Year High

All is well in the world -- just keep spending!!


Consumer confidence climbed to a 2 1/2-year high with people feeling even better about job prospects, the current economic climate and investment opportunities.


I was wondering if anyone of our readers has ever been "polled".

I reeeeally would like to tell a pollster (is that what you call them) exactly how I am FEEEEEELING at this moment, but no one ever seems to call me. Cripes sake.....Story of my life!!

A Badly Conducted War and More To Come

From Foreign Policy: Matthew Yglesias outlines one scenario that could lead to war [on Iran] without Congressional authorization:

"Say Israel bombs Natanz and Bush supports the Israelis diplomatically and warns Iran against retaliating. Then in Iraq there's some dramatic attack against US forces. In response, the President proclaims that the attacks were organized by Iran and orders, without first asking congress, a retaliatory bombing of Revolutionary Guard facilities. The military is going to obey that order, right? And congress isn't going to impeach and convict Bush, thus removing him from office, replacing him with Dick Cheney, right?"

------------------------------
Ex-Rice Aide: Memory Lapse on Iran "Really Quite Curious"
No one "remembers" the document from Iran in 2003 offering comprehensive talks with the US. How convenient.

It's kind of like no one remembering that Saddam did offer to leave Iraq after he was threatened with shock and awe. Well that's all water under the bridge, isn't it?

------
We don't have military interpreters because we fired them.
Duh. And Condi didn't even know that.

After hearing Condosleeza emphasizing the importance of recruiting qualified language experts to work in the agency, Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) brought up something we've blogged about quite a bit here but was ignored by the liberal media: Why not hire back all the gay linguists and translators who were fired because of their sexual orientation? Well Condosleeza didn't know about that:

From Frontlines: Service Members Legal Defense Networks

"I'm not aware of the availability of people, but I certainly will look [at] what we are doing right now," Rice responded.

"But maybe you might find some of those competent people among those who are recently unemployed," Ackerman replied.

But it was the Congressman's clear disguist for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military ban that led to those dismissals, that has everyone in Washington buzzing:

"Well, it seems that the military has gone around and fired a whole bunch of people who speak foreign languages — Farsi and Arabic, etc.," Ackerman said. "For some reason, the military seems more afraid of gay people than they are against terrorists, but they're very brave with the terrorists. ... If the terrorists ever got a hold of this information, they'd get a platoon of lesbians to chase us out of Baghdad."

Perhaps it is the United States that needs the platoon of lesbians, however, given recruiting problems, retention problems and mounting concerns about meeting calls for an even bigger military in the year ahead."

How come I knew about all the firings of gay translators and she didn't? And why isn't this story in the liberal media? Oh that's right, a famous white woman died.
---------------

Surprise Surprise

And this morning's WaPo offers a story that we already knew but bears repeating:
Official's Key Report On Iraq Is Faulted 'Dubious' Intelligence Fueled Push for War

Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" that supported the political views of senior administration officials rather than the conclusions of the intelligence community, according to a report by the Pentagon's inspector general.

Feith's office "was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda," according to portions of the report, released yesterday by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.). The inspector general described Feith's activities as "an alternative intelligence assessment process."

...and as we all know, there was no relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.

---------------------
I'm sorry folks, but this war and the future war against Iran are really getting to me. One of the first things that the new Democratic congress ought to do is something about the media. We need a fair and regulated median so that corporate shills for this administration no longer run the show.

Obligatory Friday Sex Post

Thank god for the Village Voice.

Can sex toys be dangerous? Why yes indeed, claims a model who discovered that phthalates, chemicals that are added to vinyl to make it more pliable, can leach out of a dildo.

"I spread lube on one end and began to slide the dildo into my ass... As the head slipped inside, my ass suddenly felt like it was on fire." From Dangerous Dildos, Part 1
---------

Excerpt from a letter from a reader:

"... lately our vanilla sex life is suffering. When it's playtime, he always wants to come in his diapers. When it's not playtime, he lies there like a lump. Now he's decided that he doesn't want to have sex unless it's playtime. The past three months, when I explained that I would like my turn, he came too quickly for me to have any enjoyment. I know he can hold off longer— he always does when in diapers—and I'm getting really frustrated. He says he knows he's being selfish, but he's just not interested in regular sex. Then he cries and says he's a freak..."

I just love the answer to this letter and you'll have to read it in Beware the Karmic Rule of Kink

Friendly Fire

I'm still trying to understand how The Sun obtained the video tape from the cockpit of the American Air Force jet that killed British soldier Matty Hull in South Iraq, in 2003. I read the brief story last week in the paper which pretty much centered around the word FUCK; well, it read F_ _ _.

Last night I listened to the heart wrenching NPR story Is Friendly Fire Preventable?


Guests:

Julian Borger, reporter, the Guardian

Claire Leger , mother of Canadian soldier Sgt. Marc Leger, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan

Sarah Sewell, director of Carr center for human rights policy at Harvard

(You will never be the same after you listen to this segment)

Did you know that friendly fire was the cause of 15% of all deaths in WWII? Did you know that 148 died in the 1st gulf war and 35 were friendly fire?

Did you know that for years, Matty Hull's family had been told there was no cockpit video of that attack? This may remind some of the way the military handled Pat Tillman's death -- first his family was told he died heroically in a fire, then it came out he was killed by another american soldier.


here's the recent youtube posting of the Sun's video


AND HERE IS THE SUN'S FULL 15-Minute "SHOCKING" video

I have no words......

(I tried to post USA Today's 30 second video segment on the same topic also, but all that plays when I hit Matty Hull's video is the Anna Nicole Smith fiasco)

Breaking news: Young woman meets sudden, tragic death

I borrowed the headline and the photo below from ATTYTOOD. Part of his text reads:

"...tonight, there is one story that is so important that we are going to suspend all regular blog coverage, and ignore everything else that is going on in world, from the presidential race to the gridlock in the halls of Congress to the indictment of the most powerful politician here in our hometown of Philadelphia.

"This breaking news story is about the sudden, unexpected, and tragic death of a young woman, not to mention the family that she leaves behind."

Hit the link for the rest.




Jennifer Parcell

Douchebag of the week

Sen. David Schultheis of Colorado

Denver Post: "... The lawmaker from Colorado Springs stunned a roomful of people in a Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing recently when he asked the sponsor of a bill requiring hospitals to give information on emergency contraception to rape victims how doctors "determine that a person actually did incur that sexual assault. Are they going to take the word of that individual?" asked Schultheis. "You could see individuals coming in that just wanted to make sure that last night's stand didn't result in a pregnancy and basically say that they had been a sexual assault" to get the contraceptive.

So many douchebags, so little time. What a ridiculous question... but then again he's from Colorado Springs.

Anna Nicole Smith Died Today

She just collapsed in her hotel room.

I know, I know, she was tabloid fodder and a national laughing stock but for some reason I feel rather sad. I was sad for her when her 20 year old son died right after her new baby was born. I was sad for her when everyone laughed at her because she gained weight. I'm a big old wuss and I think she was just a sad, sad person who was in pain and looking for happiness. May she rest in peace.

On a side note, the news recently focused on a lawsuit against Ms. Smith and Trimspa for making false claims.

The Christo-fascists vs John Edwards

We're a little late getting in on the discussion regarding Melissa a/k/a Shakespeare's Sister and Amanda of Pandagon , both of them fantastic bloggers, and their adventure into wingnut land after being hired by John Edwards' campaign (and I am planning on voting for him, so I hope he doesn't let me down.)

The "religious" right wing went nuts over the ladies' previous comments on their blogs regarding the religious right, particularly Catholic League President William Donohue who called them "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash talking bigots." The women are actually not bigots but 'pointers out of hypocrisy.' But let's not forget that Mr. Donohue is a bigot, "...Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It‘s not a secret, OK? And I‘m not afraid to say it. That‘s why they hate this movie. It‘s about Jesus Christ, and it‘s about truth. It‘s about the messiah. Hollywood likes anal sex...." Scarborough Country 2004)

Donohue also criticized Shakespeare's Sisters post concerning President Bush's "wingnut Christofacist base," as if that is some sort of untrue smear. I sincerely doubt that Shakes Sister will post comments in that vein on Edward's blog and I doubt that her comments on her own blog will sway anyone who would vote for Edwards'. The religious right already hate him because he was a lawyer. (right, NC Gal?)

Looks like Edwards will back the bloggers according to CNN (but there have been stories published to the contrary.)

So, you know I'm not a poet, but I am a realtor!

From one post below --

MIKE WHITNEY you are SO NOT doom and gloom. You are SO SO SO right on the money!!

I just left the orthodontist's office and was able to read the WSJ. Front page headline today:

IN HOME LENDING PUSH, BANKS MISJUDGED RISK

I can't produce the whole article yet. I'm sure someone will have it up soon.

In the meantime, WSJ online has been gracious enough to post
a few bullets here

Also, Nouriel Roubini's blog has some of it up also.

I took some notes from the paper at the Dr.'s office:

HSBC Borrowers Fall Behind on Payments.....

HSBC Hiring MORE COLLECTORS (my bold). They have hired a whole fleet of people to seek payments from borrowers. If they can't get it now, they are willing (my italic) to work out repayments - case by case.


HSBC is the world's 3rd largest bank by market value and one of the biggest sub-prime lenders in the U.S. (Washington Mutual is another one in trouble). Sensing opportunity in the bottom end of the mortgage market, the giant british bank bet big on sketchy credit records. "We made some decisions that could have been better" says Tom Detelich (?sp), the HSBC exec. in the US spearheading an effort to clean up this mortgage portfolio.

HSBC acknowledged that it erred in the way it assessed such sub-prime mortgages. "What is now clear is that FICO scores are less effective or ineffective when lenders are granting loans in unusually low interest rate environments" says Douglas Flint, HSBC's finance director. A spokesman for Fair Isaac says: "It's up to lenders to decide how to use them" -- (FICO scores that is). THAT'S RIGHT -- But most likely no one (judges) will take this into consideration. These smaller sub-prime lenders are filing bankruptcy left and right. Now, how is that possible I'd like to know?

At first, way way back in the year 2005, these lenders thought their default numbers were increasing because in 2005, a lot of homeowners bailed, right before the bankruptcy laws changed (there was a big spike in'05). But, according to these lenders, this "spike" kept on going. (I'm not making this shit up.) Come 2006, they said now these owners could not refinance because the interests rates were higher and the owners aren't seeing any equity building up in their homes anymore. (These lenders, AND realtors told the buyers that they would be able to do this down the road). Ooops bad call -- oh well. Now, these homeowners have to default.

These bankers aren't just "preditory lenders" --

THEY ARE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH

Did you know they don't even verify employment anymore? Yes, you have to produce a W-2. That's about it. They don't even call the "employer". When we bought our house a few years back, we were amongst those "fraudulant buyers". We knew hubby's unemployment was running out soon. As long as we had the W-2 for the closing we were able to get into the house. Yes, we took a HUGE chance, but we couldn't resist the 4.7%. I knew we'd never see that again. He was marketable, and luckily got a job not too long after we closed. It's been close a few times over the years -- he's in manufacturing and has, so far, avoided the quarterly lay off's.

I stopped selling real estate last year for this reason. The only way the majority of my buyers were going to get into a house was with zero down and a lot of "creative" financing. I got sick of using this selling technique. These kids had no business buying a house yet. Plus, I knew what was going on. I was a realtor. If I wanted to make any money, it was better I kept my "knowledge" to myself. I remember buying our first home way back when. You signed where ever they told you. You did whatever they said you had to do during the loan process. YOU WANTED THAT HOME! And I got even sicker putting the hard sell on for the homeowners for which I had the listing for. By now ('06) there was no easy way to convince a seller to price their home realistically. They had plans for all that money.

I quit, hence the job search now. Yesterday, I passed up a great offer with the Corporate Relocation department at the same brokerage company I was with. Corporate Relo is BOOMING -- they're the only ones with the money now. They're now becomming the #1 buyer of homes today. If they want the employee -- they have to buy them out of their home.

Maybe the corporations will save the housing market!


BTW, did you know that one of Hillary's biggest campaign contributors is the NAR (nat'l assoc. of realtors). I can't access the article over at the housingpanic blogspot at the moment. I'll put it up shortly.

Thank You, Trolls

Uh, this isn't another "PoLT's lost it again" posts.

No; but like I was tellin' the babes the other day in an e-mail every time the trolls start slithering through the blogsites (and they're out all over the place), that's the clue to me that the right-wing hate/disinfo/misinfo machine is up and running again in high gear. And THAT tells me that something big may be about to happen, or is happening, that the neo-cons don't want us to notice.

The two BIGGEST "smoke and mirrors" stories I've come across lately is the "Astronaut Nowak" fiasco and "John Edwards bloggers" business. Gawd! As I write this, that last is the lead story at GoogleNews. When I sniff a story like that in first place, the first thing I think of is that someone's trying to discredit the blogosphere; the second is that I figure somebody's trying to smoke me.

Suggest folks take a look at Something strange about Astronaut "love triangle" over at Rigorous Intuition.

So thanks again trolls. I'll continue to look at the headlines at GoogleNews to see what I'm supposed to believe is the news; then I'll drop on over to Signs-of-the-Times to get the real news.

Here's a couple more interesting news sites:
URUKNET
IRNA

I'm not a poet, and I sure do know it.....

but Ezra Pound was the "poet's poet"
and an insightful man was he.

"And how much liberty have you [Americans] got, anyhow?” Pound said on an Italian radio broadcast on July, 1942. “And as to the arsenal --- are you the arsenal of democracy or of judeocracy? And who rules your rulers? Where does the public responsibility end and what race can mix in America without ruin of the public stock, the American brain? Who is organized? What say have you in the choice of your rulers? What control of their policy?" And in May of 1943, "Every day of war is a dead day as well as a death day. More death, more future servitude, less and less of American liberty of any variety."

Did you know that four of Ezra's protege's were given the Nobel Prize for Literature after he personally added to their work? There was Hemingway and Yeats. T.S. Eliot dedicated
The Waste Land to Ezra, and he also edited James Joyce's Ulysses.

Quite an intense crew, eh? What minds!!! Yes, some of those minds snapped. Even Ezra was locked up for a time in an insane asylum. I think his wife had some kind of "nervous disorder" also. Gotta be careful 'bout what you say -- if ya know what I mean.... They still lock you up today ya know! (Kentucky Teacher Placed In Psych Ward For Declaring 9/11 Was An 'Inside Job')


Following his release, Pound was asked his opinions on his home country. He famously quipped: "America is a lunatic asylum." Subsequently he returned to Italy, where he remained until his death in 1972. Pound was conceited and flamboyant, not to say obsessive, which in psychiatric terms became "grandiosity of ideas and beliefs."

According to his last living "pupil" Eustace Mullins, back in the 1940's-50's, Ezra assigned Mullins to go to the Library of Congress and research the Federal Reserve, as he had many suspicions regarding the creation of our "central banking system".

Check out:
Eustace Mullins: The Neo-Zionist Order.

Here in this interview, he argues that ... the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, drafted by German banker Paul Warburg and others in a secret meeting, defies Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 5 of the US Constitution by creating a "central bank of issue" for the United States. Mullins goes on to claim that World War I, the Agricultural Depression of 1920, the Great Depression of 1929, and Adolf Hitler's rise to power were brought about by international banking interests in order to profit from conflict and economic instability.

I think Mullins messed up a bit in the interview when he said --although Ezra Pound never received a Nobel, they did make a movie out of his book For Whom the Bell Tolls. Let's just cut him some slack right now. That was quite a bit of indigestion he let out there right before that comment! So he confused Ezra with Hemingway? -- the guy is 84. All in all, he did pretty well.

I started this post today with Ezra Pound
(I'm happy to see he's been absolved), because it was my original intent to post an article about the housing bubble -- a week ago! Guess what? I got lost, as usual. (It took me a while to get through The Waste Land)

Anyway, Mike Whitney is at it AGAIN with the doom and gloom (that's been just around the corner for quite a while now) with his recent post:
The Mother of all Bubbles. I stumbled upon Ezra Pound's name in the comment section of this article. That's where I got lost. I'm beginning to notice a pattern though. In the course of finding my way back, I seem to always return home only to find out that the AIPAC and the Central Bank appear to be the root of all this insanity going on in our world today. Israel and the Fed -- same shit, different day. Since neither are going away, how does one keep from going insane?

I sort of felt some kind of "nervous disorder" brewing yesterday when my insurance agent told me it will cost me $1400 extra to put our son on the car insurance policy for 6 months. He's 17 - just got the license. "Sorry honey, no can do...I know you've been waiting patiently for this day for a long, long time but it seems that every kid is getting the priviledge of driving a car cause every other mother is out of the home working and can't wait for the kid to drive himself everywhere now. And since 9 out of 10 boys get into an accident their first year of driving we will be rated "high risk" for a while. Oh, and sorry, you're not going to work to pay for a car. Get A's and B's on your report card and they will discount it quite a bit for us. Besides, if you don't get your A's and B's, you're not going to get into a "desireable" college unless we get some scholarship assistance. We don't have an extra 25 grand x 4, (actually 6 cause now you need a master's to get your foot in the door). I don't want to saddle you with a $100,000 plus loan when you start looking for a job. You'll have to make due at the community college for now -- nothing wrong with that. I'll be hearing about a few jobs I applied for and that will help us get the car, pay for the insurance and gas her up so you can drive to school. I'll find a bus route for my job. I hate driving around lately anyway. Everybody's in such a rush. I'm on the verge of hurting someone too. I actually rolled my window down today and stopped traffic in front of the school while I went off on some parent (in a big SUV) who dropped her kid where you aren't supposed to. Her kid slows everybody else down in the "requested" line cause he crosses in front of us. I really wish I could have experienced the horse and buggy as a means of transportation. I know you have to feed a horse, but right about now, I don't think I'd mind that too much. Besides, it may become a necessity again. I have already told my kids we are part of the Have-Nots, not the Haves (great NPR special series going on this week -- got lost here too).
You're just going to have to learn that you can be happy. It's a state of mind. It's inside of you. It's been there all along. It's called finding God.

How the hell can the Fed keep this scam up for much longer? If we don't take it to the streets pretty soon, we'll all be in the streets fighting each other if this Great Dollar Crash of ‘07 does really happen.


So, I've decided that to keep myself from going insane (or locked up, or both), I had best keep my mouth shut. I think I'll take that job down the street at this yummy eatery for now. All I really want out of this wonderful experience called life is a decent meal -- especially if someone else makes it. Now that's a bonus!!


Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

Thursday Blonde Joke

A lawyer and a blonde woman are sitting next to each other on a long flight. The lawyer asks if she would like to play a fun game. The blonde is tired and just wants to take a nap, so she politely declines and tries to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists, insisting that the game is a lot of fun. "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5; you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500." This catches the blonde's attention, so to keep him quiet, she agrees to play the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The blonde doesn't say a word, reaches in to her purse, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer. Now, it's the blonde's turn. She asks the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?" The lawyer uses his laptop, searches all references. He uses the Airphone; he searches the Net and even the Library of Congress. He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows, all to no avail. After one hour of searching he finally gives up. He wakes up the blonde and hands her $500. The blonde takes the $500 and goes back to sleep.

The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes her up and asks, "Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?" The blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5 and goes back to sleep.

War on Iran? Guess who's back?

Why it's the neocons who brought you Iraq. And you hoped that they went away after the failed war on Iraq.

Read From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq by Craig Unger for all the details. And you know that if Grover Norquist is on the same side as I am, it must be bad:

“Everything the advocates of war said would happen hasn’t happened,” says the president of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, an influential conservative who backed the Iraq invasion. “And all the things the critics said would happen have happened. [The president’s neoconservative advisers] are effectively saying, ‘Invade Iran. Then everyone will see how smart we are.’ But after you’ve lost x number of times at the roulette wheel, do you double-down?”

Think Progress points out 2 important things from the article:

1) Retired Defense Intelligence official Patrick Lang told Unger that Bush has ordered StratCom — the military command responsible for “nuclear weapons, missile defense and protection against weapons of mass destruction” — to draw up plans for a “massive strike against Iran.” Lang noted that the shift away from Central Command “to StratCom indicates they are talking about a really punishing air-force and naval air attack [on Iran].”

2) Former CIA officer Phillip Giraldi said, “I’ve heard from sources at the Pentagon that their impression is that the White House has made a decision that war is going to happen.”

God help us all.

Billions Down the Money Pit

It sure took the congress long enough to investigate the billions that went missing in Iraq. How surprising it is that the previous "conservative" congress ignored requests for an investigation. Not. But real conservatives do care... and anyone with sense.

Remember the missing $12 billion?
The new Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Henry Waxman is investigating L. Paul Bremer III (Presidential Medal of Freedom winner) who was accountable for billions in Iraqi funds, yet couldn't account for it. Bremer's excuse was that it was only Iraqi money. It came from a UN oil-for-food program and seized Iraqi assets and was supposed to be spent to help the Iraqi's. But how could he be so irresponsible? Bremer said, "I arrived in Baghdad at a time when much of the city was burning. Looting was still widespread. My responsibilities were to kickstart the economy."

Waxman is concerned that the money fell into enemy hands and wants to know what happened to it. Republicans countered that this is just old news and that the money was needed in a rush to prevent a collapse of the economy. Indeed it is old news, but it was never investigated. Waxman revealed that "$12 billion in Iraqi money was converted to dollars, held in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and shipped in pallets to Baghdad that totaled 363 tons." Inquiring minds want to know what happened after that.


Let's look at the "old news".
Back in October 2005, American Conservative Magazine reported:

Once in Iraq, there was virtually no accountability over how the money was spent. There was also considerable money “off the books,” including as much as $4 billion from illegal oil exports. The CPA and the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Board, which it controlled, made a deliberate decision not to record or “meter” oil exports, an invitation to wholesale fraud and black marketeering.

And even worse:

Money also disappeared in truckloads and by helicopter. The CPA reportedly distributed funds to contractors in bags off the back of a truck. In one notorious incident in April 2004, $1.5 billion in cash that had just been delivered by three Blackhawk helicopters was handed over to a courier in Erbil, in the Kurdish region, never to be seen again. Afterwards, no one was able to recall the courier’s name or provide a good description of him.

Paul Bremer, meanwhile, had a slush fund in cash of more than $600 million in his office for which there was no paperwork. One U.S. contractor received $2 million in a duffel bag. Three-quarters of a million dollars was stolen from an office safe, and a U.S. official was given $7 million in cash in the waning days of the CPA and told to spend it “before the Iraqis take over.” Nearly $5 billion was shipped from New York in the last month of the CPA. Sources suggest that a deliberate attempt was being made to run down the balance and spend the money while the CPA still had authority and before an Iraqi government could be formed.

I know that I will keep this story in mind as the investigation continues.

Among my many perversions...

...is the disgusting habit of eschewing cellphones. I thought, however, that I would pass along this slightly edited e-mailed message I received this a.m.:

REMINDER: ....9 days from today, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls.
...YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:
1-888-382-1222 .
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time.
It blocks your number for five (5) years.

You must call from the cell phone number you are wanting to have blocked.


HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS OR GO TO:
www.donotcall.gov.

Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell's "Fiddle and the Drum", her choreographic collaboration with the Alberta's Ballet opens tomorrow in Calgary. (Feb. 8)
The singer-songwriter has recently recorded enough new songs for an album which she plans to call either "Strange Birds of Appetite" or "If". I can't wait. It's been two decades since Joni has recorded a "album."

Jean Grand-Maitre asked her to help as an artistic Director for the Alberta Ballet's 40th Anniversary Season. Unbeknown to Mr. Grand-Maitre, after a 10 year hiatus, Joni had began writing new songs. Seems she was spurred on by something her grandson had said while listening to family fightings:"Bad dreams are good--in the great plan." Ms. Mitchell was stunned. "How did he know that?" she wondered. "That's an amazing thing for anyone to know at that age."
The line just stuck. When the war in Iraq began her grandson's words resonated in her mind and she "gave birth," as she described it, to four new pieces.

"Mr. Grand-Maitres invitations seemed like an opportunity to present that music in a new context." "Humbly, I hope we can make a difference with this ballet," she told him, speaking of her outrage about foreign and environmental policies of the United States.

"It's a red alert about the situation the world is in now. We're wasting our time on this fairy tale war, when the real war is with God's creation."

Not only did Joni agree to the project, she took it over. The Fiddle and the Drum features two of her own new songs: "If", based on the Rudyard Kipling poem about war and stoicism, and "If I Had a Heart, I'd Cry," criticizing what she calls the current "holy war". Referring to the ballet's title song, Ms. Michell explained "I was using the fiddle to symbolize peace and the drum to symbolize militancy." "My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species", she said.

See Ralph Run. Run, Ralph, Run

Ralph Nader was on with Wolf Blitzer this past Sunday and has left open the possibility of a presidential run in 2008 if no one runs that he would vote for. He believes Americans should have an option that would "break up this two-party elected dictatorship that is becoming more and more like a dial for the same corporate dollars".

He has spent his whole life taking on big business and is not afraid of a fight. When General Motors went digging for dirt to use against him they came up empty-handed. I admire Mr. Nader for pissing off corporate shills on both sides of the aisle.

A votenader2008 website has been created by GOP operatives to mock him and his supporters. Now I know some of you will howl that GOP'ers never make fun of people or engage in dirty campaign tricks or smear anyone that threatens their power and to that let me just say "Wake the hell up".

Who would Ralph Nader vote for? Mike Gravel of Alaska, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Bill Moyers are the names he mentioned.

Praise Jaysus! Ted's Good To Go

After three long weeks of rehab Rev.Ted Haggard is now "Completely Heterosexual." The lawd works in mysterious ways! Who knew?

Iran: Déjà vu

Before the US does anything to engage Iran in a war or military action, congress should have to actually declare war on Iran and make it official. No more loopholes should be made available for this president. I fear that all the money he's asked for in the budget for Iraq will be shifted to Iran at some point. He did it with the war on Afghanistan money- shifted the funding to Iraq without anyones approval.

So far, most of the rhetoric coming out of the administration regarding Iran is unprovable. We've been down that road before. There is talk of "diplomacy" however I don't read about anyone in this administration talking to an Iranian leaders. Have I missed something? When the shit was hitting the fan between Israel and Lebanon over the summer, did you read of any diplomacy taking place? Condi flew around the world talking to her allies and friends. I'm tired of this "we don't talk to evil" nonsense spewed forth by this administration. They ought to grow the hell up and talk to the "axis of evil" face to face and quit giving speeches laced with threats. This is not high school.

Ahmadinejad is very unpopular in Iran, much like Bush is unpopular here in America. Are two nations going to be dragged into a war just because they are held hostage by war and power crazed leaders? Sure, it's happened before throughout history, but this is the 21st century, for gawd's sake. The Iranian people are calling for impeachment of Ahmadinejad just as Americans are calling for Bush's impeachment. If anyone is going to go to war here, it ought to be the leaders of the two countries. Let them fight it out themselves in an arena. I'll buy the popcorn.

The nerve.

Like angry teenagers cutting off their own noses to spite their faces, the Senate Republicans yesterday reminded Americans to un-elect them in the next elections as they successfully blocked a full fledged Senate debate on bush's Iraq proposal. The nerve.

But it was a non-binding resolution anyway and bush has said that he wouldn't be swayed by a non-blinding resolution just as he isn't swayed by the wishes of the American people when he doesn't pay attention to the polls.
source AP

Never too early to think about gifts

Liz' post about jewelry got me to thinking about meaningful gifts from the heart. And so, even now I am preparing to enroll in a binding and weaving class so that I can present the ultimate in hand-crafted gifts to all o' my beluved blahndz. Some of my first efforts will be to construct...well, here's a photo of what I hope my finished product may look like:

FOR "SHORT TRIPS"


(Cabana Boy wuz tellin' me he wants one too; guess he expects a heavier work load than usual.)

Quick Review by Music Junkie

The former king of wardrobe malfunction, the artist currently known as Prince kept his clothes on at the Soup Bowl half time festivities yesterday. I thought the show was great and how cool was it that he played Purple Rain in the pouring rain on the purple stage? Loved that guitar in the shape of his "sign."

photo: Miami Herald

Heartbreaking

On the day they first got to know each other, Mikayla Wiener and Alexis Wahl were quick to figure out they had more in common than their age -- 7 -- and where they were from -- Long Island.

"Where's your daddy," Alexis asked, as her mother, Maricela, listened.

"He's in heaven," Mikayla replied.

"Oh my gosh," Alexis said. "How did he die?"

"He died in Iraq," Mikayla said.

"Oh, just like my daddy," Alexis said. She turned to her mother. "Mommy, her daddy died like my daddy in Iraq."

Read more of Their way forward

Picture of the Day

This was the scene yesterday at Long Beach here on Long Island.
Talk about a quick dip, eh? The temperature was in the 20's.
Sorry I missed it. Not.
The Long Island Polar Bears were raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation.
photo: Newsday

"Soldier in court martial for refusing to serve in Iraq"

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington Published: 03 February 2007

"Along with many Americans, Lt Ehren Watada considered joining the army in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. He signed up shortly after the US invasion of Iraq, expressing "a desire to protect our country".

"But when he learnt he was to be deployed to the Middle East he researched the origin of the invasion and spoke to returning soldiers. He concluded the war was illegal and in January last year he tended his resignation, claiming the war breached international law and the US constitution.

"On Monday the 28-year-old will make history as the first commissioned officer to be court-martialled for refusing to serve in Iraq. He faces up to four years in jail when he goes before the military court at Fort Lewis, Washington state, where the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is based."

It MIGHT make the American media, but you'll find this story in the British Independent.

Sunday Funny

MENOPAUSE JEWELRY

My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.

We've discovered that when I'm in a good mood, it turns green and when I'm in a bad mood, it leaves a big frickin' red mark on his forehead.

Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond.

Thanks to my good friend Pat B. who knows how to make me smile.

Bush's Budget: More Defense Spending. Less Domestic Spending

I'm no economist, that's for sure, but this new budget reeks of fascism.

Bush says that the upcoming budget proposal would emphasize restraint on domestic spending while throwing billions into the Pentagon and defense contracting. "Cutting the deficit during a time of war requires us to restrain spending in other areas," he said.

Bush claims that his budget proposal will show that the deficit could be eliminated by 2012 while the tax cuts (to the wealthy) would become permanent. "Congress needs to make this tax relief permanent, so we can keep America's economy growing. Pro-growth economic policies also play a vital role in our plan to balance the federal budget," he said.

Bush says he would increase domestic spending by 1% though. But the inflation rate of 2.5% would amount to a decrease in funding, says WaPo.

Bush spoke about eliminating wasteful spending, but not on the part of the Pentagon. While suggesting that we get rid of earmarks to save money, Bush wants to "reign in" those "entitlement programs" like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Bush wants to "sqeeze 70 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years while adding 10% to the Pentagon budget bringing it to $481 billion. These people are NOT conservative.

Standard Meme: We gotta support the troops, don't ya know:

An administration official has said the president will request a total of $245 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through late 2008.

Source Reuters

Bloomberg News Reports:

Bush will request a $716 billion for defense spending and the global war on terror in his fiscal 2008 budget next week, according to a Pentagon document. The military funding request is greater than the annual gross domestic product of all but 14 countries.

The request to Congress includes $93.4 billion in additional money for fiscal 2007 to cover costs of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The remaining $622.6 billion would cover the year ending Sept. 30, 2008, and includes $141.7 billion for the wars.

All these news stories speak of billions and billions requested for defense even if they don't all match. But nevertheless, they have all these billions to spend on wars, but somehow can't come up with the money for take care of Americans at home.

Luckily, some in Congress promise to scrutinize some spending for non essential stuff like "$389 million requested to buy two Lockheed Martin Corp. Joint Strike Fighters that won't be operational until 2012 to replace F-16 fighters lost in Iraq." You can only imagine how much more spending is promised to defense contractors for stuff that is not essential.

------

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. "
~Benito Mussolini

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group."
~Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Fascism is capitalism plus murder."
~Upton Sinclair

"Unless you become more watchful in your States and check this spirit of monopoly and thirst for exclusive privileges, you will in the end find that the most important powers of Government have been given or bartered away, and the control of your dearest interests have been passed into the hands of these corporations."
~Andrew Jackson, farewell address, 04 March 1837

Sign of Fascism #4:The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.

Sign of Fascism #9: Power of corporations protected. Although the personal life of ordinary citizens was under strict control, the ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The ruling elite saw the corporate structure as a way to not only ensure military production (in developed states), but also as an additional means of social control. Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of “have-not” citizens.

from 14 Signs of Fascism

You WERE planning on having HAM next Thanksgiving, weren't you?

"Turkeys culled to quell bird flu outbreak"

"Tens of thousands of turkeys were gassed and restrictions were extended on the movement of poultry on Sunday to try to prevent the spread of deadly bird flu from a farm in Suffolk.

"The discovery of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian flu on a farm run by Europe's largest turkey producer surprised experts and raised questions about how the virus had been introduced into a sealed shed."

Check out the article at REUTERS.

Bush is trying to make nice with Democrats

Yesterday, bush told Democrats:

"You know, I welcome debate in a time of war and I hope you know that," Bush said in opening remarks at the guest speaker at a retreat that drew about 200 lawmakers to a Virginia resort.

"He said disagreeing with him over the war — as many in the room do — does not mean "you don't share the same sense of patriotism I do."

"You can get that thought out of your mind, if that's what some believe," the president said. "These are tough times, but there's no doubt in my mind that you want to secure this homeland as much as I do.""

I hate the word, "homeland." It sounds so Nazi. Anyway, Bush ought to tell his minions this tidbit, if he really believes it, don't you think? It makes you wonder who Tony Snow is speaking for.

"Bush told Democrats in private that he empathizes with their anguish on Iraq, saying the war is "sapping our soul," according to two officials who attended the session. They spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a closed meeting."

The Democrats were so happy to hear this. Supposedly. Now will the Democrats back down and stop fighting Bush on escalating the war?

What would you have said to el presidente if he had said these words to you, based on everything you have read coming from this administration in the past few months?

You Say Toe-May-Toe, I Say Toe-Mah-Toe

I was arguing with a friend the other day over whether The Decider is going to take us to war with Iran sometime soon. I said yes, she said no, but in the case of Iran, invasion might be justified. I noted how similar the rhetoric is today to what it was in the lead up to the Iraq war. In 2002, we first heard what a bad, bad man Saddam was. Then we heard about how Iraq was de-stabilizing the region. Then we heard how Iraq was exporting terrorism, with the strong implication of, if not direct responsibility, the certainly facilitation of 9/11 type terrorism. And always, there were the WMDs, the WMDs, the WMDs ad nauseum. And yet all the while, the constant insistence that invasion was not a foregone conclusion, that international condemnation should be brought down on Iraq, that sanctions should be applied, yet the refusal to engage in negotiations because the decision to go to war had already been made. My friend and I used to talk then (in 2002) about how insane the whole concept of attacking Iraq was, that there were bigger threats to our safety than Saddam.

Now that we know pretty much all of the arguments used as pretext for the Iraq War were bullshit, I was pretty surprised to hear this same friend say that she is scared shitless of Iran!!

"Waaaaah?" I said, "Whaddya mean?" To me at least, it seems pretty clear that the rhetoric being aimed at Tehran is remarkably similar to that of 2002. Lather, rinse, repeat, in fact.

Her reply was that Iran wants to be a regional superpower (which I agree it does) and therefore it is funding and supporting the Shia insurgency in Iraq. Certainly true, said I, that Iran is doing so, but then again, the Saudis are funding the Sunnis, so does that mean we should invade Saudi Arabia?

Well, she notes, Iran is sending fighters to Iraq in large numbers, and the Syrian government is helping Iranians fighters to cross the borders, and those guys are killing American troops. Maybe, I said, but weren't the vast majority of the 9/11 attackers who killed thousands of Americans from Saudi Arabia? Moreover, I said, the large numbers part is not true, and further, Saudis fighters also are crossing the borders to support the Sunnis in Iraq, and the Saudi government is not stopping it.

This is different, she said, because in Iran's case, the funds and fighters come directly from the Iranian government. Well, I replied, the Saudi government knows its private citizens are funding the Iraqi Sunnis through religious organizations and aren't moving to prevent that either. That's different, she said, because if the Saudi royals move against the clergy, they will be overthrown and the country will be run by religious nutjobs. Again, I asked, how is that different from Iran? Further, I asked, does she understand the connection between the Saudi royals and the religious nutjobs in Saudi Arabia?

She insisted it is different because the Iranians really hate Americans since the 1979 revolution. I pointed out that the Iranian people were being brutally oppressed by the Shah, whose power was assured for a period of time by military weapons and support provided by the United States, much as the Saudi royal family is clinging to power now through their alliance with the very religious nutjobs my friend is so scared of.

Finally, she hauled out the big enchilada: Iran has nukes. Not yet, said I, and even if you accept the premise that Iran's nuclear program is indeed being created for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons, that is the sole distinction between Saudi Arabia and Iran in this context. At least, so far as we know, the Saudis are not developing nukes. (Or are they?) Of course, Saudi Arabia isn't being threatened with invasion every ten minutes, so perhaps they feel less need to have that particular "deterrent".

Now, I ain't the smartest Redhead in the world, so I hope someone can point out to me where I'm wrong. After all, I don't want to ruin a long-standing friendship. However, until someone can point out to me a material difference between the two, I don't want to hear any talk about how the US should invade Iran unless I am hearing the same rhetoric about invading Saudi Arabia.

It is Friday, isn't it?

Alright ya'll, it's Friday night and my vacation has just started. Dinner is done, the critters are fed and I've got a shot of Wild Turkey under my belt. I come to Blondesense and find everybody is working late speaking truth to power. Not even a whiff of s-e-x.

Well you know what they say about all work and no play...so here's a joke for you.

A man and a woman were sitting in the first class section of an airplane. The woman sneezed, took out a tissue, gently wiped her nose, then visibly shuddered for five to ten seconds.

The man went back to his reading. A few minutes later the woman sneezed again, took her tissue and wiped her nose, shuddering again.

Assuming that the woman might have a cold, the man was still curious about the shuddering. A few more minutes passed when the woman sneezed yet again. As before she took a tissue, wiped her nose, her body shaking more than before.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said "I couldn't help but notice that you've sneezed three times, wiped your nose and then shuddered violently. Are you ok?"

"I am sorry if I have disturbed you" she said. "I have a rare medical condition; whenever I sneeze I have an orgasm."

The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious. "I have never heard of that condition" he said. "Are you taking anything for it?"

The woman nodded, "pepper".

Texas Gov. orders anti-cancer vaccine

This DOES NOT sit well with me at all.

Bypassing the Legislature altogether, Republican Gov. Rick Perry issued an order Friday making Texas the first state to require that schoolgirls get vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

When I first heard the news that a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer was now available, I thought -- Great!! But, this is a vaccine that only prevents a girl from the sexually transmitted virus (HPV) that can cause cervical cancer. Yes, HPV is now the leading cause of cervical cancer, so I guess this is good news? This is not a vaccine to prevent all cervical cancers though.

Since I am, by nature, a paranoid person, I am not going to rush my two daughters to the pediatrician to get this vaccine. And especially now, hearing what is going on in Texas, and the connections to Merck and "Women in Government". (Perry has ties to both)

The long term side effects of this vaccine are not known, and that is a HUGE consideration for me. I am also very suspicious of all the vaccines that are given to children. Here is the current list of other “mandatory” immunizations: diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, Hepatitis B, and chickenpox. Now, which one of these caused the autism epidemic in children? And which ones are still Mercury and/or aluminum based (or is that laced)?

A very close friend of mine has a daughter with autism, who was completely normal until age 3 or 4. She was born in 1989, a member of the Thimerosal Generation -- those born between 1989 and 2003 -- who received heavy doses of mercury from vaccines.

I have also wondered, for many years now, why girls seem to be developing much earlier (and much bigger ALL OVER) than previous generations. I've heard it said it is because of all the excessive hormones in milk, chicken, beef, etc. I still question what is in the vaccines. Seems I'm not the only one wondering Are New Vaccines
Laced with Birth-Control Drugs?

Even Women to Women gives Gardasil guarded reviews


So, am I being paranoid?

What do you think?

Oh, and for the heck of it, what are your thoughts on depopulation?

Crossposted at BigBrassBlog

Hillary Clinton calls Iran a threat to U.S., Israel

(Cross-posted at the Dark Wraith Discussion Forums):

From The International Herald Tribune. Sounds like if she gets elected, it'll be "business as usual" (shit, maybe worse):

Calling Iran a danger to the U.S. and one of Israel's greatest threats, U.S. senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with that nation.

"U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," the Democrat told a crowd of Israel supporters. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."

Clinton spoke at a Manhattan dinner held by the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Some 1,700 supporters applauded as she cited her efforts on behalf of the Jewish state and spoke scathingly of Iran's decision to hold a conference last month that questioned whether the Holocaust took place.

Maybe she runs better head than gigologeorge, though, that being the talent that some segments of our population find the most qualifying characteristic for the job of president. More at the link.

Husband's underpant tantrum destroys home

An angry husband who threw old clothes into the garden and set fire to them because he couldn't find any clea underpants accidentally burnt his home down.

Ivo Jerbic, 55, from Prikraj, near Zagreb, told police he had lost his temper after failing to find any clean underpants in a closet full of old clothes.

He had thrown them all in the garden and set fire to them.

He told police: "My wife never throws anything out, I just lost my temper."

But the fire spread to the house which burned to the ground.

Local news agency Hina reported that Jerbic could end up in jail for up to eight years for putting other family members in danger, even though no one was injured.

from ananova.com

It's Official: Climate Change is the fault of Humankind

It's melting! It's Melting! Save Me!

Blame for global warming placed firmly on humankind
February 2nd will go down as a day in infamy. Twelve hundred scientists from 40 nations on the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report say there is 90% certainty that the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are driving climate change. Many scientists have argued that the percentage should be 99%. According to the LA Times, China does not agree with this. Of course they are completely reliant on fossil fuels to build their economy. But they have fucked up a lot of things. They don't have enough females to breed their next generation and the cities in that country are soooo polluted that you can literally see the air. Poo on them. Nevertheless China and India will surpass the US economy suggests an article in the Independent. Investment bankers are growing worried about the report and its effect on businesses. The US could learn a lot from Europe's emissions legislation and hopefully improve it.

Talk about sabotage. Guess who is undermining the scientific report? Big Oil!
Exxon Mobil, buddies with the Bush administration, is offering CASH to scientists to refute the UN report. This is for political gain and nothing else. This article is a must read. The AEI, the conservative think tank has so far received 1.6 million from Exxon Mobil and more than 20 members of its staff work for the Bush administration. And even more disgusting, "On Monday, another Exxon-funded organisation based in Canada will launch a review in London which casts doubt on the IPCC report."

Just in: See Laura Bush defend her husband on the Today Show this morning and read Think Progress' refutation of her comments. oy vay.

Gavin Newsom, You Ain't Nuthin' But A Hound Dawg

If you're a politician or someone in a position of public trust (such as a priest), I generally don't care, regardlss of whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, what you do in your personal life. But whether you're a very public politician or just a private citizen, it's just wrong to be poppin' your very good friend's spouse. Even if you are a cutie.

NEWSPEAK: from Henry Kissinger -- ARE YOU READY? Here is what he said:

"I am convinced, but I cannot base it on any necessary evidence right now," Kissinger told the senators, "that the president will want to move toward a bipartisan consensus" to stabilize Iraq through diplomacy.


Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was suspicious of such assurances. "Is there any place that you're familiar with where the administration has articulated this strategy?" he asked.

"I don't know any place where the administration has articulated this particular strategy," the octogenarian diplomat admitted. But he added: "From my acquaintances with some of the people, I think it is possible that they will com