I had my first getaway in a long time to Las Vegas with a super duper buddy from Tuesday through Thursday night.

What did I get out of the experience?

Well, this resulted in a major personal epiphany today...realizing my true self worth, realizing how much I don't appreciate myself for the person I am and my capabilities, refusing to be a victim and/or allow myself to be victimized by others, refusing to agonize over things and deal with them straight on...

The big news yesterday was that President Bush (just like Sen. John Kerry) had a spill from his bike while in Crawford, TX. Upon learning this, Sen. Kerry in front of reporters and cameras "Did the training wheels fall off?"

This type of politicking really disappoints me and shows that John Kerry is not ready for prime time. It is in bad taste, doesn't advance political debate, and shows that Sen. Kerry is a vile, petty, sniveling, politician with a big ego.

We need to find a viable and intelligent third party candidate QUICK!

Unfortunately, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi is not too far from the truth!


WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) delivered an attack aimed at President Bush both in a Capitol Hill news conference and in an interview given to her hometown newspaper Thursday afternoon.

Pelosi's remarks stood in sharp contrast with those of the president who made a trip to Capitol Hill yesterday to deliver a message meant to rally Republican lawmakers.

"I believe that the president's leadership and the actions taken in Iraq demonstrate an incompetence in terms of knowledge, judgment, and experience," Pelosi told reporters gathered to hear her remarks.

"This president should have known ... when you decide to go to war you have to know what the consequences of your action are and how you can accomplish the mission," Pelosi said.

The House Democratic leader added, "There was plenty of intelligence to say there would be chaos in Iraq following the fall of Baghdad."

"The results of his action are what undermine his leadership, not my statements," she said. "The emperor has no clothes. When are people going to face the reality?"
In a separate interview granted to the San Francisco Chronicle, Rep. Pelosi went even further, saying, "Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon."

"Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there," Pelosi said.

"In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none," she added.

Unfortunately, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi is not too far from the truth!


WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) delivered an attack aimed at President Bush both in a Capitol Hill news conference and in an interview given to her hometown newspaper Thursday afternoon.

Pelosi's remarks stood in sharp contrast with those of the president who made a trip to Capitol Hill yesterday to deliver a message meant to rally Republican lawmakers.

"I believe that the president's leadership and the actions taken in Iraq demonstrate an incompetence in terms of knowledge, judgment, and experience," Pelosi told reporters gathered to hear her remarks.

"This president should have known ... when you decide to go to war you have to know what the consequences of your action are and how you can accomplish the mission," Pelosi said.

The House Democratic leader added, "There was plenty of intelligence to say there would be chaos in Iraq following the fall of Baghdad."

"The results of his action are what undermine his leadership, not my statements," she said. "The emperor has no clothes. When are people going to face the reality?"
In a separate interview granted to the San Francisco Chronicle, Rep. Pelosi went even further, saying, "Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon."

"Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there," Pelosi said.

"In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none," she added.

Awwwwwwwwwww..........poor baby.....

I wonder how Nicholas Berg is feeling this morning...

LONDON (Reuters) - A third Briton detained at Guantanamo Bay told a newspaper he was mistreated by his U.S. captors and said guards at the camp in Cuba filmed his beatings.
Tarek Dergoul, 26, from London, was one of five Britons released from the camp in March. Four others, said by Washington to be more dangerous, remain captive.
He told The Observer newspaper Sunday he had been repeatedly assaulted by Camp Delta's punishment squad, the Extreme Reaction Force, during his 22-month imprisonment.
'They pepper-sprayed me in the face and I started vomiting,' he was quoted as saying. 'They pinned me down and attacked me, poking their fingers in my eyes, and forced my head into the toilet and flushed.
'They tied me up like a beast and then they were kneeling on me, kicking and punching.
'Finally they dragged me out of the cell in chains...and shaved my beard, my hair and my eyebrows,' he said.
'There was always this guy behind the squad, filming everything that happened,' he added.
Last week, two other British inmates wrote an open letter to President Bush, saying they were beaten and accusing U.S. military officials of deliberately misleading the public about interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo."

Please read this while humming to yourself Queen's classic song, "We Are The Champions."


Bremer says U.S. will leave Iraq if new government asks

The Associated Press
Updated: 8:36 p.m. ET May 14, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. administrator of Iraq told regional officials Friday that the United States would leave Iraq if requested to do so by the new Iraqi government although he thinks such a move is unlikely.

L. Paul Bremer told a delegation from Iraq's Diyala province that American forces would not stay where they were unwelcome.
If the provisional government asks us to leave we will leave," Bremer said, referring to an Iraqi administration due to take power June 30. "I don't think that will happen, but obviously we don't stay in countries where we're not welcome."

The United States plans to keep substantial military forces here after the June 30 handover, prompting critics to question whether Iraqis will gain genuine sovereignty."

This is so wonderful. We go in...have 700+ soldiers kill, get everyone to shoot at each other.

Way to go, Shrub!

An online acqaintance tonight said something so right about the situation in Iraq:

I'm a simple person, but it just really pisses me off when the government we elect can't fulfill it's job to protect it's citizens. I understand troops and war and the deaths that result from that. But senseless murder is just to much for me. I'm getting my life on track, feeling good about myself after 40 something years of feeling like crap and now this. I'm ready to cry.

On the other hand...what in the hell was Nicholas Berg doing in a country whose inhabitants pervert the philosophy of Islam? I wish more people would figure out that we're dealing here with whacked out fanatics who only understand strong arming and showing who is boss. So many people around the world have no comprehension about the indiscriminate, violent nature of Islamic extremism and the threat it poses to the civilized world.

As an editorial in the Dallas Morning News so accurately said, "This is who the enemy is. This is what our nation is up against.... But it is important that our readers see in as much detail as reasonably possible what the Islamists have done to an innocent American civilian. It's important because this is the fate al-Qaeda and its allies intend for every one of us in the West, and for the many Muslims who oppose their plans. (Though Arab media have generally downplayed this atrocity, it's actually more important for the world's Muslims to see what is being done in their name.) ... It is meant to bring perspective to events in Iraq, to refocus the nation's eyes on the larger picture of the war against radical Islam, and its stakes.

Nick Berg was but the latest victim in the terrorist war on civilization. Al-Qaeda doesn't intend him to be their last. To paraphrase British Prime Minister Tony Blair, al-Qaeda members killed one, but if they could have killed 100,000, they would have rejoiced in it. Look what they did to this young Pennsylvanian, and understand that this is why we Americans fight, however imperfectly, and that this is why we dare not lose faith in the justice and necessity of our cause. (Emphasis by Ivars)

I guess that Catholic priests abusing countless of children doesn't count...nor does the Spanish inquisitions. (see emphasized text).


Vatican Says Prison Abuse Said Bigger to U.S. Than 9/11

ROME - The scandal of prisoner abuses by U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) has dealt a bigger blow to the United States than the Sept. 11 attacks, the Vatican (news - web sites) foreign minister told an Italian newspaper.

In an interview published Wednesday in the Rome daily La Repubblica, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo described the abuses as "a tragic episode in the relationship with Islam" and said the scandal would fuel hatred for the West and for Christianity. "The torture? A more serious blow to the United States than Sept. 11. Except that the blow was not inflicted by terrorists but by Americans against themselves," Lajolo was quoted as saying in La Repubblica.

Lajolo said that "intelligent people in Arab countries understand that in a democracy such episodes are not hidden and are punished ... Still the vast mass of people — under the influence of Arab media — cannot but feel aversion and hate for the West growing inside themselves." And, he added, "the West is often identified with Christianity." The remarks were not the first by Lajolo on the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In the wake of the scandal, he had said that a democracy should punish those responsible and their direct superiors. The Vatican paper, L'Osservatore Romano, has also run some harsh comments in the past days. On Monday, it criticized what it called a Pentagon cover-up and took sharp aim at the photograph of a soldier holding a prisoner by a leash. In Wednesday's interview, Lajolo said the coalition's priority should be "putting as soon as possible at the head of the Iraqi executive an Iraqi leader who speaks to the Iraqis in Arabic and not in English."

HOLIDAY FOR STRINGS

(Refrain)
When I see you smile at me,
I hear a haunting melody,
And I surrender to the tender thrill it brings,
A holiday for strings,
Sweet music all around me,

Softly as the song begins,
I hear a host of violins,
Or can it only be my lonely heart that sings,
A holiday for strings,
Because your love has found me,

Through the night,
A love song fills the air,
I hear it everywhere,
So sweetly telling me
I’m yours completely,

Breezes sigh,
A new born rhapsody,
When you are close to me,
There’s music,
Never heard such lovely music,

When you’re gone it fades away,
But when we meet i hear it play,
As from above, a song of love comes sweet and clear,
Whenever you are near,
The angels play a holiday for strings.

Lawmakers Say New Abuse Photos Even Worse

(AP) The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops went beyond the photos seen by most Americans, shaken lawmakers said Wednesday after viewing fresh pictures and video that they said depicted forced sex, brutality and dogs snarling at cowed prisoners."

Hearing some of the sexual fetishes of some people there might be some people who would love to exchange places with the prisoners who didn't appreciate it!

I agree wholeheartedly...

Hey, hey...ho, ho, Rumsfeld's gotta go!
Hey, hey...ho, ho, Rumsfeld's gotta go!

Or something like that....I'm not going to be a good future rap star.



Kerry Suggests Replacements for Rumsfeld

"WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday any number of people, including Republican Sens. John McCain and John Warner, could replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, rejecting concerns that a change in Pentagon leadership could hurt the war effort.

'If America has reached a point where only one person has the ability in our great democracy to manage the Pentagon and to continue or to put in place a better policy even, we're in deeper trouble than you think,' Kerry told broadcaster Don Imus. 'I don't accept that. I just don't accept that. I think that's an excuse. The fact is that we need a change in policy.' "

When will this guy just do like the rest of U.S. Presidents...serve and just fade away? Problem is his ego will not allow him to... Pres. Clinton was not bad, but still will be always overshadowed for his horrific and terribly failed "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy towards gays in the military and his shenanigans with Monica.

America needs a REAL leader....neither President Bush or Sen. Kerry have the mettle, in my opinion, to provide real leadership.


Clinton Lends Support to Anti-Bush Groups
NEW YORK - Former President Clinton lent his support Tuesday to two interest groups that have sharply criticized President Bush while raising money to help Democrat John Kerry White House bid.
Clinton, along with AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, spoke at an Apollo Theater event held by the MoveOn.org voter fund and Voices for Working Families.
Clinton criticized Bush on his economic policies, particularly his tax cuts, and said the president had reduced after-school programs and the number of police on streets.
'You have to believe that your children and grandchildren will live in an America that will be shaped by whether we ratify the course for wrong, or go back to the one that's worked for eight years.' "

I rarely agree with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. But he has really made sense in his comments about "political meanness."

Senate minority leader sees 'startling meanness' in politics

JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle decried Monday what he called the 'startling meanness' of American politics.
The South Dakotan, who has been Senate Democratic leader for nine years and is seeking re-election in November, said campaigns were especially ugly in 2002 and that the ugliness continues.
'Today, enormous new challenges confront each and every one of us,' he said. 'We will not meet those challenges or seize those opportunities if we indulge in the brutal politics of division, if we attempt to silence those who have other ideas.'
Daschle spoke to about 500 people at Kansas State University as part of the Landon Lecture series. The series is named for former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 1936, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won the second of his four terms.
Daschle noted that Landon's daughter, former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, while a proud Republican, worked with Democrats in 1996 to pass health insurance legislation.
'There are things that matter more than political parties,' Daschle said. 'There are lines we should not cross regardless of the advantage we think it may give our party at times.'
He continued: 'Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does not resolve differences.'
As examples of the meanness in politics, Daschle noted that two Democratic senators, South Dakota's Tim Johnson and Georgia's Max Cleland, were compared in television ads during the 2002 campaign to terrorist Osama bin Laden. Cleland, a decorated veteran who lost three of his limbs in Vietnam, was defeated in his bid for re-election.

Daschle said the political left is responsible for some attacks, too. He cited a recent ad on the Web site Moveon.org that compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler.

"America has real enemies in the world," he said. "Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer, it makes us more vulnerable. And trying to bully and intimidate others into silence or compliance does not lead to progress. It leads to increased polarization and eventually paralysis."

I respect a man who stabs me in the heart with a knife, than a man who is cowardly and has to stab me in the back. I pity him.

So while everybody keeps on yelling and screaming about the oh-so-poor Iraqis who in this case were apparently in a "detained" status at the Abu Gharib Prison and refusing to cooperate with coalition authorities about the continued terrorism perpetrated onto American/Britsh and 25 other countries participating, there is no talk about...

* The execution and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

* The execution and murder of four American humanitarian workers in Iraq, and how their bodies were strung up on the side of a bridge as Iraqis men, women and children chanted and danced around them in glee.

The time has come for President Bush to take control of the situation and attempt to bring former General Norman Schwarzkopf back in a leadership role. And it is time for him to stop being so apologetic. to these savages. Did the Arabs/Muslims blubber on and express their contrition for these deaths, and the deaths of 700 other Americans?

I frankly am getting so sick and tired of everyone in the government and the Iraqis whining about the prison abuse at the Abu Gharib Prison in Bagdhad. Why aren't Americans talking and showing the same level of repulse for prison rape and assaults in the United States...that it has gotten so bad that the U.S. Government has had to legislate from the floor of Congress a plan to address this little spoken of travesty that has gone on for years and years and years?

The Iraqis THEMSELVES and the Arab/Muslim world have NEVER had any basic human rights in prison.

Human Rights Watch Testimony

Video documentation of the problem


If the so-called "liberals" in this country are so concerned about human compassion and human rights, why are they not addressing this problem than their oh-so-tiresome trashing of the President?

Teresa Heinz Kerry Nearly Had Abortion

"In the interview, Heinz Kerry, 65, also said she won't release her personal income tax records because she doesn't have the right to share her sons' records with the public. Some of their records are commingled with hers, she said, adding that she is working on separating the records so she can release her own tax information. "

Liberal Democrats accuse Republicans of every aggregious and nefarious plot (just short of black helicopters). I guess in this case it is "Do as I say, but don't do as I do."

I'm getting increasingly worried about the future of our country....the Republicrats are truly in country...special interests line their own pockets, but never mind about the little people who don't have their pockets lined. The way I look at it whether it George Bush or John Kerry...they are the same person (except that John Kerry has a lot more money).

Everyday now Americans are being subjected to the pictures of the alleged abuse of Iraqis at the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. President Bush goes on Arab TV crying big elephant tears and expressing regret over the situation, as does the new Army general do his blubbering in front of TV cameras.

My question is this....when are the IRAQIS GOING TO APOLOGIZE for......1) Killing numerous American and coalition soldiers with car bombs, etc.
2) Killing and torturing four Americans on a humanitarian mission to their God-forgotten country.
3) Not speaking up and turning in the Iraqi Muslim extremists who are perpetrating the continued havoc and chaos?
4) Not starting to try to help themselves?

Wars are not won by blubbering. They are won by showing who is boss and dropping a few bombs to build future parking lots.

I frankly don't understand what the big la-dee-da over Howard Stern is... While I guess he is a ratings winner, there is really no place for his 13-year-old style potty jokes on the public airwaves....ratings or not. If he wants to be on the air, he either reworks his show or go on pay radio. Simple as that.

He has continuously pushed, pushed, pushed the envelope with his brand of entertainment, and finally he hit a road block as far as he can go.

I don't consider myself to be holier-than-thou or to be pure as the driven snow, but there is nothing bad or wrong about a little decorum. Howard Stern with his grossness is NOT excellence in broadcasting.

Iraq War Veteran Criticizes Bush on Radio

"'Despite many challenges, life for the Iraqi people is a world away from the cruelty and corruption of Saddam's regime' and 'we will finish our work,' Bush said. "

Maybe it's more like we're going to finish off Iraq?