Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sent President Vaira Vike-Freiberga a letter in which she expresses concern over plans to ban the sale of Coca-Cola in Latvia’s schools. Vike-Freiberga’s spokeswoman, Aiva Rozenberga, said the letter has been passed on to the Latvian Health Ministry with a request to provide an opinion. In her letter, Albright criticizes the decision for singling out a single producer – the U.S. company Coca-Cola. The draft provisions, announced at a meeting of state secretaries, would prohibit selling schoolchildren drinks containing unnatural coloring, sweeteners, preservatives, caffeine and amino acids.

Gosh, could Madeleine Quarterbright now that she is out of office be in the pocketbook of Coca-Cola Corporation? Nahhhhhh.... All Democrats are upstanding individuals who NEVER EVER compromise themselves to major corporate interests when they are out of office...or even in office. Democrats are ALWAYS for the common man and NEVER compromise their ethics....only Republicans would sell out themselves.

At least so many of my far left Democrat lemming friends would try to convince me....

This is truly an effective use of e-mail spam which I received tonight:

Светка, привет!
Как ты там в Москве?
Бросай все и лети отдыхать:
Я не жалею, что сорвалась. Настроение и самочувствие резко изменились.
Проблем как не бывало:Вообщем, все супер: Мои тоже не жалуются: погода-
класс. Зайди посмотри мои фотки http://natalym-24.narod.ru/photoalbum.html

Когда соберешься в Турцию, не забудь купить сим-карту. Мне Сашка
посоветовал. Спасибо ему. Не пожалела. За 400 рублей купила комплект с
сим-картой и 25 минут разговоров с Россией. Даже в Турции таких цен нет.
Обязательно купи, они доставляют бесплатно, тел. 85014791675.
Желаю хорошего настроения.
Вперед на отдых.
Целую, Наташа.

Tonight I prepared to turn in my phone to Sprint to get a replacement and purchase at a highly reduced rate a super duper phone with a lot of high tech features (camera phone, videocamera, etc.). So I decided to clean out my phone number list which has phone numbers of persons who have wanted regular communication with me and otherwise...which led me figure from which states telephone contacts were deleted from.

ALASKA (1)

CALIFORNIA
San Diego (5)
Orange County/Los Angeles (3)
Palm Springs (2)
San Francisco (1)

COLORADO
Denver (1)

GEORGIA
Atlanta (1)

PENNSYLVANIA (2)

A good friend sent this from his camera phone taken at the Cleveland airport.

President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he thinks Israel is pursuing wider goals in its military campaign against Lebanon than the return of its captured soldiers.

"However complicated the questions are, maximum efforts must be applied to resolve the situation in a peaceful way and I think all efforts have not been exhausted," Putin said. "However, it is our impression that aside from seeking to return the abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing wider goals."

Why doesn't someone just tell this little nymph to shut up? It is as though that Russia hasn't pursued "wider goals" itself? Some people.

Being realistic is one thing.
Being fatalistic is another.

What if you invited a whole bunch a people to a party and no body came? That is the impression that I'm getting now that anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the rest of the Hollywood lefties such as Susan Sarandon, her hubby Tim Robbins, and nutritiion guru Dick Gregory are now participating in a fast in Washington DC to bring about an American troop pullout from Iraq. Except for a bit of coverage in the national media before it started, it would seem that the antics of North Korea shooting missiles and them fizzling everytime is stealing the media spotlight. Just as it is fun watching the Democrats saying they are about to claim victory in the November mid-term elections, they are sniping at each other like never before. And this is the alternative leadership that they want to give us? Thanks, but no thanks.

What has me also snickering is watching the city council of Berkeley, CA wanting to hand over a referendum to the voters in November to impeach President Bush. Like a lot of the maniacs who want this, they don't even give thought that if President Bush is impeached, then Vice-President Cheney becomes President, and then Congress Majority Leader Dennis Hastert becomes Vice-President. This is the typical shortsightedness of the whacked out left that is anti-war and anti-Israel. Just let the Palestinians (who are in constant chaos themeselves) push the Jews into the Black Sea....that's right...what about the rights of Jews to their homeland?

I don't think so...and that is someone who is slightly right of center who never votes a candidate on party affiliation, but uses the anti-moron standard of picking the candidate who will do the least harm and potentially the least mess.

My letter to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on his interview with Sen. John Kerry:

Dear Bill,

I very much enjoyed your thoughtful "no spin" interview with Sen. John Kerry. Despite all of the bleach and whiteners you added in order to get him to answer questions in a straightforward manner, he still came off as "permanent press."

Ivars Bezdechi
El Cajon, CA

An online friend tonight confided in me about his ongoing conflict between his religious upbringing and his sexual orientation. It led me to do quite a bit of thinking about that concept and how the masses can be led into a certain believing certain things, and when it is repeated enough times it becomes "the truth." We are all children of God. He made white, red, black, yellow, thin, fat, short, and tall people in his image. It is man and his man-made structures -- physical and emotional -- which hold us down. God loves us all no matter as we are. It is dogma in order to corral the less intelligent that is artificial and is truly in conflict with God's word and his power.

Catholics believe God is a Catholic, Baptists believe God is a Baptist. The TRUTH is that God is God...his words is the Bible...and those who have come and preach in His name are interpreting those words.

God wants us to live our lives the best we can...and does not expect us to be perfect. The only people who are going to hell -- are the people who scream and yell threatening other people who are going to go to hell. It is THEIR judgement...and the only one who can validly make judgement on us is God Himself. God gets pissed off when someone gets in His way.

THE MOST STUPID PHRASES IN THE AMERICAN VERNACULAR

OK...The time has come for me to spout on about some of the most stupid phrases people use these days in their speech to pretend they are saying something meaningful which they can easily conveniently duck out of but still sound good and come off as a being "kinder and gentler" human being. In short, all of these phrases mean really nothing, but sound good as they don't require true commitment on the part of the speaker.

Are my views cynical? The answer is a loud "yes" -- but it is all true.


1. "LET'S DO LUNCH SOMETIME"

In my 25 years of active life (out of 43 -- or 185 in dog years) I have NEVER had anyone who said this to me ever follow through with this statement, and when you followup with them they are nowhere to be found, supposedly never got your message, or are just leaving on a business trip to Antartica where their dying aunt next door neighbor lives.

2. "I FEEL YOUR PAIN"

President Clinton made this one famous...sounds good...but did he say this when he romped (schtupped) with Monica Lewinsky in the White House with his warm cigar? He also made famous "I didn't inhale" but he still smoked marijuana. This is what Pres. Clinton will be remembered for in 50 years.

3. "I SUPPORT YOU"

It sounds like someone is ready to do a personal blood letting on your behalf when you're going through hard times, but does not need commitment. Most conveniently the speaker can say this and disappear after he or she has left the impression that "they care."

4. "IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, DON'T HESITATE TO ASK."

After going through a devastating personal tragedy recently, I heard this so many times that I could have slapped the utterer of the phrase silly. Everytime that I really needed something, they always had a "reason" that they couldn't fulfill your need at the moment. With one bright exception, the worst offenders were acquaintances two or more time zones away.

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

A good acquaintance of mine sent me this poignant letter:

Dear President Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. All government forms need to be printed in English.

4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.

5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.

7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from President Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws.

13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that President Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,

NAFTA lover

"Serve God and join not any partners with Him, and do good to your parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer, and what your right hands possess, For God loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious."
Quran 4.36

So how does Islam differ from Christianity?

....the cruel cold and viciousness and malice of Father Time.

I lost my momma four weeks ago.

She doesn't hear the first song of the mockingbirds,
the green smells of early spring,
the warmth of a young sun...

You really know that Latvia and the other Baltic States have become members of the world community when they are actually considering bans on public cigarette smoking.

Smoking kills, should be banned in public: Latvian health minister

Fri Mar 17, 11:47 AM ET

Smoking is a major killer in Latvia and must be stubbed out, Health Minister Gundars Berzins said as he proposed a ban on smoking in public places. "I believe we have to introduce a total smoking ban in public places as of next year," Berzins told AFP. "This is an urgent matter: heart disease and lung cancer are widespread in Latvia, and it's mainly because of smoking," he said Friday. "Since 2004, we have specially designated smoking areas in cafes, but I believe this does not protect non-smokers and staff from smoke.

"Everybody knows that smoke harms children and pregnant women, even if they're in a non-smoking area. And I'm also totally against smoking at any sports events," Berzins said. Around 47 percent of men and 18 percent of women in Latvia smoke, according the National Health agency. Recent polls have shown a ban on smoking in public would be supported by some 70 percent of the population.

Berzins' ministry planned to submit amendments to the law governing smoking to the government in one or two months, the health minister said. "Personally, I think smoking should only be allowed in basements," Berzins concluded.

The Democrats are so going to lose the upcoming mid-term elections. The Democratic party has gone schizoid...they consistently lose their bowels over everything, are anti-Israel, and have totally forgot about the 3000 people who perished in the World Trade Center attack. As a political fence sitter, when I see has-been Hollywood actors like Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin, Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss spout out their venom, all it does is want me to stay with the political status quo.

War is hell. In the words of Senator McCain, I would rather wars be fought across the Atlantic, not here a home.

What is the Iraq war about?

It IS about oil so both the Republican and Democrat lawmakers can continue to fill their pockets and so you can have 18-year Britney Spears wannabees with naval rings and too much makeup running around in their wasteful Hummers.

It IS about keeping the price of gasoline low so it doesn't go up to $8 a gallon and bankrupt the working class of this country.

It IS about going after a Islamo-fascist Hitler-like despot tyrant who has killed thousands and thousands of people who disagreed with dared to disagree with him. What benefit was it for the United States to liberate the Nazi death camps in World War II?

I was chatting with a friend online today when he offered up the following wonderful thought:

Any idiot can take something crucial and make it complicated. It takes genious to simplify the complex without losing essential detail in the process. The trick is figuring out what to keep and what to disregard.

I couldn't say it any better.

It pains me to see one of the world's greatest belief systems being maltreated and perverted by fascists within in the religion.

Religion is about TOLERANCE, folks...

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS (Reuters) - After backing calls by Muslims for respect for their religion in the Mohammad cartoons row, the Vatican is now urging Islamic countries to reciprocate by showing more tolerance toward their Christian minorities. Roman Catholic leaders at first said Muslims were right to be outraged when Western newspapers reprinted Danish caricatures of the Prophet, including one with a bomb in his turban. Most Muslims consider any images of Mohammad to be blasphemous. After criticizing both the cartoons and the violent protests in Muslim countries that followed, the Vatican this week linked the issue to its long-standing concern that the rights of other faiths are limited, sometimes severely, in Muslim countries.

Vatican prelates have been concerned by recent killings of two Catholic priests in Turkey and Nigeria. Turkish media linked the death there to the cartoons row. At least 146 Christians and Muslims have died in five days of religious riots in Nigeria. "If we tell our people they have no right to offend, we have to tell the others they have no right to destroy us," Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's Secretary of State (prime minister), told journalists in Rome. "We must always stress our demand for reciprocity in political contacts with authorities in Islamic countries and, even more, in cultural contacts," Foreign Minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo told the daily Corriere della Sera.

Reciprocity -- allowing Christian minorities the same rights as Muslims generally have in Western countries, such as building houses of worship or practicing religion freely -- is at the heart of Vatican diplomacy toward Muslim states. Vatican diplomats argue that limits on Christians in some Islamic countries are far harsher than restrictions in the West that Muslims decry, such as France's ban on headscarves in state schools. Saudi Arabia bans all public expression of any non-Muslim religion and sometimes arrests Christians even for worshipping privately. Pakistan allows churches to operate but its Islamic laws effectively deprive Christians of many rights. Both countries are often criticized at the United Nations Human Rights Commission for violating religious freedoms.

"ENOUGH TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK"

Pope Benedict signaled his concern on Monday when he told the new Moroccan ambassador to the Vatican that peace can only be assured by "respect for the religious convictions and practices of others, in a reciprocal way in all societies." He mentioned no countries by name. Morocco is tolerant of other religions, but like all Muslim countries frowns on conversion from Islam to another faith.

Iraqi Christians say they were well treated under Saddam Hussein's secular policies, but believers have been killed, churches burned and women forced to wear Muslim garb since Islamic groups gained sway after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Christians make up only a tiny fraction of the population in most Muslim countries. War and political pressure in recent decades have forced many to emigrate from Middle Eastern communities dating back to just after the time of Jesus.

As often happens at the Vatican, lower-level officials have been more outspoken than the Pope and his main aides. "Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It's our duty to protect ourselves," Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Vatican's supreme court, thundered in the daily La Stampa. Jesus told his followers to "turn the other cheek" when struck. "The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century, mostly for oil, and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights," he said.

Bishop Rino Fisichella, head of one of the Roman universities that train young priests from around the world, told Corriere della Sera the Vatican should speak out more. "Let's drop this diplomatic silence," said the rector of the Pontifical Lateran University. "We should put pressure on international organizations to make the societies and states in majority Muslim countries face up to their responsibilities."

Yes, right now the president is going through a momentarily lapse of insanity (not to mention those when it comes to dealing with the U.S./Mexico border.

It would seem that he has TOTALLY forgotten about the 3000 Americans who lost their lives at the New York World Trade Center, and that the hijackers/terrorists came through Dubai.

Bush Says Ports Deal Will Stand

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

Lawmakers determined to capsize the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates said President Bush's surprise veto threat won't deter them.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defense of his administration's earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

The sale's harshest critics were not appeased.

"I will fight harder than ever for this legislation, and if it is vetoed I will fight as hard as I can to override it," said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. King and Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record) of New York said they will introduce emergency legislation to suspend the ports deal.

Another Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, urged his colleagues to force Bush to wield his veto, which Bush — in his sixth year in office — has never done. "We should really test the resolve of the president on this one because what we're really doing is securing the safety of our people."

The White House and supporters planned a renewed campaign this week to reassure the public the sale was safe. Senior officials were expected to explain at a press conference Wednesday what persuaded them to approve the deal, the first-ever sale involving U.S. port operations to a foreign, state-owned company.

The sale — set to be completed in early March — would put Dubai Ports in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. "If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward," Bush said.

Defending his decision, Bush responded to a chorus of objections this week in Congress over potential security concerns in the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

Bush's veto threat sought to quiet a political storm that has united Republican governors and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee with liberal Democrats, including New York Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Schumer.

This is not what liberalism is not supposed to be about....about being downright rude. From Richard Dreyfus to Alec Baldwin and even Former President Carter who saw fit to launch into a political screed against President Bush at Coretta Scott King's recent funeral. Now Chief Justice Scalia is at the other end of liberal rudeness:

(AP) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia grew tired of a persistent heckler Tuesday and asked organizers of a legal seminar to do something about the outbursts _ gently.
"Don't use force," Scalia told American Enterprise Institute workers as they grabbed the young man's arm and nudged him toward the door. The workers then let go and the man walked out. It was unclear what Aaron Yule, 23, of Boston, was asking when Scalia turned to organizers and said, "Can you, somebody ..." Earlier, a microphone had been snatched from the man's hand when he tried to engage the justice in debate. Scalia had asked him whether he had a question, "apart from insults."

After the man left, Scalia answered questions for about 15 minutes but repeatedly declined to engage anyone who asked questions, even of an apparently friendly nature, that he felt were not related to his topic _ the use of foreign law by U.S. courts. "I feel really bad about it," said Veronique Rodman, an AEI spokeswoman. "There's no excuse for rudeness."

Topics raised by questioners ranged from U.S. policy in the Middle East to Vice President Dick Cheney's recent hunting expedition during which he shot at a quail but wounded a companion. Scalia and Cheney have hunted together. Scalia generally bars television cameras and sometimes other press from his events. Allowing the talk to be televised live on C-SPAN was a rare move for one of the court's most conservative justices.

All good things, I guess, have to come to an end.

Judge Sides With City In Battle To Evict Boys Choir Of Harlem


The final note may have sounded in the battle between the city and the Boys Choir of Harlem, as a Manhattan judge on Friday refused to issue a restraining order to block the Department of Education from evicting the choir from its school offices and rehearsal space. Judge Karla Moskowitz says she could find nothing illegal about the decision to kick out the choir. The city locked the group out of the Choir Academy of Harlem on Tuesday. The choir has been practicing in the school rent-free since 1993 in exchange for providing choral instruction. Lawyers for the city say choir officials didn't live up to a January 2004 agreement to make administrative changes after a sexual abuse scandal. The choir said on Thursday it would start looking for a new rehearsal space.

The parents of Boys Choir students filed a civil rights lawsuit against the DOE earlier this week. The lawsuit accuses school officials of trying to destroy the choir academy, acting out of "petty jealousy and issues of control." To help get the choir's financial house in order, former Mayor David Dinkins and Congressman Charles Rangel have raised more than $1 million. However, donors only pledged the money with the understanding the Boy's Choir of Harlem would stay where it was, and choir supporters say the eviction now puts that money, and perhaps the choir's future, at risk.

I am such a man of contradictions.

On one hand after a week since the SuperBowl was played, I still don't know what teams played or who won. I don't understand when guys (and gals) go into a football stadium with their faces painted the colors of their favorite team...or wear fan paraphenaila like a loaf of cheese.

Tonight my face is maroon, white and maroon -- the colors of Latvia's flag.

Tonight...the Latvians forced the US hockey team into a draw at the Winter Olympics in Italy....YAY!!!!!!!!!

U.S. Men Stumble in Opener, Tying Latvia

By IRA PODELL, AP Sports Writer

With a full roster of NHL players, it took a late goal by Jordan Leopold to salvage a tie against Latvia in an opening game for the U.S. hockey team that felt more like a loss. When the final horn sounded, the Latvian players raised their arms in triumph while the Americans slowly gathered around goalie John Grahame. "We were not expected to win or even get the tie," said former NHL goalie Arturs Irbe, who made 39 saves — 18 in the third period for Latvia. "We were big-time underdogs in this game in everybody's eyes except our own people. "You can say that this probably means more to us than to the American team."

Latvia, with only two current NHL players, rallied from an early two-goal deficit and proved U.S. coach Peter Laviolette had every reason to be worried about this opening matchup in Olympic Group B. Latvia had the luxury of playing mostly as a team in recent weeks, while the U.S. squad was scattered around North America. Only two American players were in Italy by Monday, and the team had just one practice before hitting the ice Wednesday night. On the flip side, their opponents — who finished ninth in Salt Lake City four years ago — had practiced together since Feb. 5. "A lot of guys just got off the flight yesterday. There's no excuses but that's the reality," Grahame said.

The United States will play Thursday against Kazakhstan. Latvia will face Slovakia. Latvia's biggest offensive star was Anaheim defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, who had two assists in his first game since November. He was sidelined by a knee injury and then was in the league's substance-abuse program until being reinstated Tuesday. "I was pretty excited," he said. "Just the usual feelings."

The Latvians had a chance to win the game in the third when Mark Parrish took a 4-minute high-sticking penalty, but their power play was cut short by a penalty. Then they just had to hang on as the United States charged. "The game was going full speed, and they turned up all cylinders," Irbe said. "It was very hard for us to survive a game like that, but that's why there was good news that there were only three periods." Grahame, who made 22 saves, got the start despite not being invited to the Americans' orientation camp in September.

All seemed right for the United States early when Brian Gionta scored a power-play goal 9:44 in, and Craig Conroy doubled the lead and made Irbe look bad just 54 seconds later. Atvars Tribuncovs cut Latvia's deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal in the first period, and Latvia took over in the second. Poor defensive coverage by the United States yielded numerous odd-man rushes. Grahame was forced to dive on his stomach in the crease to grab the puck and stop the pressure with just less than 6 minutes left in the second period. Brian Rolston was sent off for tripping, and Latvia — in the Olympics for just the third time — took advantage.

Dressed in road whites, the Latvians moved the puck from side to side high in the United States zone. Tribuncovs finally slid a shot past heavy traffic and under Grahame to tie it. That sent the Latvian fans into a frenzy as they rose en masse behind each goal. They were still standing 40 seconds later when their team took the lead. "We're not happy with the outcome, obviously," Grahame said. "We're just going to keep playing. We're trying to stay positive." The 1980 U.S. team also started its run to the gold medal with a tie, against Sweden.

It is kind of funny for me to watch how the Democratic party is seemingly trying to isolate and tip-toe around my gal pal pearl-of-a-girl Cindy Sheehan by nicely asking her to "step aside" and keep on playing and give lip service to her whacked out left-wing dingbat followers.

Washington -- California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer today urged anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan not to challenge the state's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, in the June Democratic primary. Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, has been actively considering a campaign after criticizing Feinstein for refusing to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

But Boxer, a liberal former Marin County supervisor who strongly opposed the war in Iraq, said Sheehan might actually hurt her anti-war cause by jumping into the race against her fellow Democrat who is entering her 14th year in the Senate. "I don't think having her in the Senate election helps her at all," Boxer told a roundtable of California reporters this morning. "I think it might have the opposite effect."

"Maybe she's more valuable out there not as a candidate," Boxer said of Sheehan and her anti-war effort. Feinstein and Boxer were both elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 - the "Year of the Woman" in national politics - but they have not always seen eye-to-eye on issues. Feinstein voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq if the country refused to comply with U.N. weapons inspectors, while Boxer was one of 23 senators who voted against it. But Boxer defended her Senate colleague today, saying Feinstein has been a critic of the administration's war policies and favors withdrawing troops as soon as possible. "Sen. Feinstein and I are very involved in trying to figure out a way to get the troops back," she said.

Sheehan, who was arrested and removed from President Bush's State of the Union speech last week for wearing an anti-war T-shirt, spent part of her time in Washington asking Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, whether she should run for the Senate. A former Vacaville resident who now lives in Berkeley, she told the Chronicle she was leaning toward entering the race.

"What I hope to do with it would be to energize other anti-war candidates," Sheehan said in an interview before the State of the Union speech. "If I entered it, it would bring attention to the fact that there are many, many races where pro-peace, anti-war candidates are running."

It is usually recognized that President Jimmy Carter was the WORST president ever. It is so sad to see that he is quickly becoming known for the WORST ex-president. Just look...when it came to aiding the victims of the Indonesia Tsunami or fundraisers for the victims of the Katrina Hurricane, it was President Bush (the elder) and President Clinton who were at the forefront of fundraising....not President Carter who was for some reason snubbed. Now good ol' peanut brain is once again trying to get his 15 seconds of fame by ragging and spouting off about President Bush.

Ah yes...President Carter...the one American president who embarrased two nations simultaneously when he spoke in pidgin Polish about his "carnal love" for the Polish people. Despite being a self=professed professional Christian, President Carter is really coming off as a mean, sour, and crotchety old bitch who still doesn't understand the modern world....yet there has been proof that he allowed wiretapping during his administration.

HENDERSON, Nev. - Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law.

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision — we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Carter told reporters. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act."

So this is what this guy lived for...the ultimate in a life achievement...

Incredible.

UPDATE

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. - An alleged attack at a Massachusetts gay bar, the killing of an Arkansas officer and the slaying of a mother of three — Jacob D. Robida left a streak of unexplained violence that ended in a fatal shootout with authorities.


Robida, 18, was mortally wounded when he opened fire on officers following a chase through the Arkansas hills at speeds in excess of 90 mph. He was shot twice in the head and later died at a hospital Sunday.

GASSVILLE, Ark. - Two days after a violent rampage at a gay bar in Massachusetts, authorities said the teen suspect fled 1,500 miles to Arkansas where he fatally shot a police officer and a 33-year-old woman.
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Jacob D. Robida, a high school dropout who friends said glorified Naziism, was shot twice in the head in a gun battle with police Saturday, officials said. He was critically injured.

After Thursday's hatchet-and-gun attack at Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., which injured three people, police said the 18-year-old fled in a green Pontiac and picked up Jennifer Rena Bailey, at her Charleston, W. Va., home.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing worth war is much worse.

A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight: nothing he care about than his personal safety:

is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

(John Stuart Mill)

It is interesting how the leader of a minority group who just can't get themselves together -- riddled with self-imposed poverty -- black-on-black violence -- drugs -- just to name a few problems dares to complain about others about their self-imposed enslavement. So many black Americans have achieved so much, yet Julian Bond goes on criticizing them...

As a side note...this morning San Diego news reported that there had been no murders in South Central LA in the month of January -- compared to 67 last year... A dubious achievement, to say the least.

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as "tokens."

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Calling President Bush a liar, Bond told the audience at the historically black institution that this White House's lies are more serious than the lies of his predecessor's because Clinton's lies didn't kill people.

What about the lies being perpetrated and the issues not confronted in the hierarchy of the black political movement, huh?

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Cindy Sheehan said she will be part of the live audience during the president's State of the Union speech to congress Tuesday.

Bay Area Congresswoman Lynn Woosley gave anti-war activist a gallery pass late Tuesday, just hours before the planned State of the Union speech. Sheehan was in Washington to protest the president during his national address, but then came word she was invited to see the speech live.

A spokesman for Sheehan says she decided to accept the invitation two hours prior to the speech. The spokesman also said that Sheehan will be respectful and listen to the address because she is a guest of a member of congress.

Sheehan is expected to fly back to Berkeley Wednesday. She announced over the weekend that she is considering running for Senate against Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

It is Cindy Sheehan's extremely bloated ego which is considering to run against Sen. Feinstein...

Some "wow we" facts about water....

• The brain is 75% / Moderate dehydration can cause headaches and dizziness
• Regulates body temperaturs
• Carries nutrients and oxygen to all cells in the body
• Protects and cushions vital organs
• Helps to convert food into energy
• Helps the body absorb nutrients
• Removes waste
• Bones are 22% water
• Muscles are 75% water
• Cushions joints

Source: bottledwater.org

I was raised in a time when it was inculcated to me that when you don't come on top in whatever situation that you do everything not to appear as a "sore loser." While there may be a lot of pain, you leave a situation with your head and nose held high. So why doesn't this apply to Sen. Kerry and Vice-President Gore?

Despite the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is supported by a majority of Americans, the latest news is that Sen. Kerry wants to do a filibuster to be obstructionist and embarrass President Bush and block any vote that might approve the appointment of Judge Alito. This despite the fact that several very liberal Democratic senators including Sen. Byrd of Virginia are planning to vote for the confirmation of Judge Alito.

Then you have preachy Vice-President Gore criticizing all of the moves of the President at every step of the way...to the point of saying once, "If I had been elected President I would have...."

Puhleeze....don't you guys have any dignity left? Or did you sell it to a lobbyist?

This so reminds me when President Reagan could never acknowledge the existence and growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS during his presidency.

BUSH: NO 'BROKEBACK'
Mon Jan 23 2006 17:09:44 ET

President Bush has so far skipped BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN -- the Hollywood hit about two homosexual cowboys.

During a Q&A session at Kansas State University today, a student asked Bush: "I was just wanting to get your opinion on BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN if you'd seen it yet."

The crowd laughed softly before the student said loudly: "You would love it! You should check it out."

"I haven't seen it," Bush said flatly. "I'd be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie," he said to laughter. "I've heard about it."

The president waited a second or two, then said, according to a transcript: "I hope you go -- (laughter) -- you know -- (laughter) -- I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm, is what I was about to say. I haven't seen it. (Laughter, applause.)"

Jay Leno made the comment the other night how the icons of the American Western would never quite make it if they were paired together in the cinema blockbuster, "Brokeback Mountain."


(Camera opens on a clearing in a mountain pass. Horse neighs in the background)

John Wayne: "Hey, Pilgrim....love is a force of nature...I wish I knew how to quit you...."

Clint Eastwood: "Go ahead, make my day.... Show me your six shooter...we'll see who draws first...and draws best...."

(Clint looks into John's eyes and snorts. John Wayne reaches over and grabs Clint's hand and puts it on his hard six shooter.)

Clint: "What the hell?"

(Sounds of belts unbuckling and pants sliding down....John Wayne grunts as Clint introduces him to his six shooter.)

(Camera cuts to a two shot of both and scene fades to black as Clint and John make there way into their tent as the sun sets in the background.)

(Fade to black with more grunting coming from the tent)

Jay Leno made the comment the other night how the icons of the American Western would never make it if they were paired together in the cinema blockbuster, "Brokeback Mountain."


(Camera opens on a clearing in a mountain pass. Horse neighs in the background)

John Wayne: "Hey, Pilgrim....love is a force of nature...I wish I knew how to quit you...."

Clint Eastwood: "Go ahead, make my day.... Show me your six shooter...we'll see who draws first...and draws best...."

John Wayne reaches over and grabs Clint's hand and puts it on his hard six shooter.

Clint: "What the hell?"

(Sounds of belts unbuckling and pants sliding down....John Wayne grunts as Clint introduces him to his six shooter.)

(Camera cuts to a two shot of both and scene fades to black as Clint and John make there way into their tent as the sun sets in the background.)

(Fade to black with more grunting coming from the tent)

This is why progressives aren't being taken so seriously by the general public when you see quotes like these from public officials:

Nagin also said the hurricane that devastated New Orleans was God's way of showing displeasure about U.S. involvement in Iraq. "Surely God is mad at America," Nagin said in a speech Monday. "Surely He's not approving of us being in Iraq under false pretense. But surely He's upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."

Here's a link to the full story

Just as I understand how conservative Americans can make those on the "left" irritated, I happened to come across a program on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation main channel (there are two: one is news/talk and the second is classical music).

There was a commentator repeating all of the usual diatribe how Pres. Bush "lied" to get into the war, there was no connection between Al-Queda and Iraq, etc., of course totally discounting that three thousand Americans were killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. What gets me is how all of these people keep repeating the urban legends surrounding the war, yet NOBODY has gone definitely to back up their claims.

This Canadian commentator kept on going on with all of his anti-American screed, while all I can say how the Canadians are going to be yelling blue murder when the terrorists attack Toronto's or Montreal's vast subway system during rush hour, bomb Toronto's massive "Eaton Centre" shopping mall, or bring down their much heralded "CN Tower." It will happen....and then we can start criticizing Canada how the government openly abuses native Canadians with their policies, etc.

Well....America's own public crazy woman Cindy Sheehan (my favorite target!) is at it again thinking that we really care about her and think she is the next Sister Bernadette. GIVE IT UP CINDY! YOU HAVE USED UP YOUR 15 MINUTES OF FAME!

A similar forum in San Diego drew a wopping 25 people! Woohoo! Now that sounds like a real beginning of a movement. Not only that her epic book released last November ranks today at #116,397 in sales/popularity on Amazon.com.

Cindy, go do something truly productive and volunteer for Habitat For Humanity or some other charity in the name of your dead son -- and stop try to bring on publicity for yourself to fertilize your insane ego. (By the way, you might want to renounce your membership in the Revolutionary Communist Party of the USA for PR sake.)

Sheehan Urge Supporters to Take Action

(AP) SACRAMENTO, Calif. Activist Cindy Sheehan told supporters at a peace forum Saturday that troops would get out of Iraq if millions of U.S. citizens took the simple step that she did outside President Bush's vacation home last summer. "Anybody could do what we did in Crawford, Texas. We just went down and sat down," Sheehan told the crowd of several hundred people, with Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn in the front row. She urged them to lose their apathy and do something. "We have to get so freakin' fed up with what's going on that we all go and sit down," Sheehan said.

Sheehan, a Berekley resident whose 24-year-old soldier son died in Iraq, attracted hundreds of anti-war protesters to her makeshift camp near Bush's ranch in August. "These people, they're not going to change unless they see us out in the streets," she said at the forum that organizers said was among dozens of town hall-style events held across the nation. Penn, an early opponent of the war who drew criticism for his visit to Iraq, said he is buoyed by recent efforts in Congress to rein in the president's powers and bring troops home, and by the outraged response to disclosures that the government had wiretapped without obtaining warrants. "When we said, 'Listen to us' _ they're doing it through covert surveillance," Penn joked. He read his brief remarks from a single crumpled piece of paper and said it "probably looks like the administration's war plan."

Deborah Johns of nearby Roseville, who heads Northern California Marine Moms, said most people support the troops in Iraq. However, she said the president and news media have done a poor job showing the troops' progress. Johns led Sheehan opponents on a 21-state caravan to Bush's ranch last fall. "I saw thousands of people who came out to thank our men and women," Johns said in a phone interview Saturday. "I don't think that sort of grass-roots effort is out there that Cindy Sheehan would like people to believe. It's a fantasy."

I respect those who have deep religious convictions -- those who despite their imperfection as human beings -- try to practice what they preach on a daily basis. But on the other hand, I really think these days that there are some Christians who think they out of their perceived goodness that they are going to go straight to the Promised Land with their demogoguery against other people.

The fact is I think some of the loudest so called "Christians" are going to be sadly disappointed when they are stuck in traffic on the way to heaven. Jesus Christ taught us to love one another and that judgement and wrath belongs to God, yet these people go around ever so pious and make judgement on groups of people just because their sexual orientation does not meet the standards set by the dogma of their particular "flavor" of Christianity. (While some may lambaste me on my use of the word "flavor" when trying to differentiate the different Christian sects now practicing, this word was used by a very schooled Theologian and to me personally by a "Born Again Christian".)

The dirty truth the "Eagle Forum" likes to hide is that the son of the organization's central figure, Phyllis Schafly, is gay. The nephew of Christianity's own Jabbah-The-Hut, Rev. Jerry Fallwell, is openly gay and apparently has good relations with his hateful uncle.

God loves all of His children -- be they straight, gay, white, black, yellow or red. It is the mortals that God placed on His green earth who has decided that they need to summarily issue a memorandum superceding God's word that some of His children are destined for damnation in eternal Hell. At this point, it is these intolerant hateful Christians who God is going to deal with PERSONALLY one-by-one when their meeting with Him comes up on His schedule.

Christians have a LOVING and FORGIVING God, not a God of hate and spite, for vengeance is His. And the ultimate vengeance is that God may be very well using this situation to teach a few people a lesson before it is too late.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Romans 12:18-20

(I take off my minister's robe and cleric's collar and step down from my orange crate at this point.)

Utah Theater Cancels 'Brokeback Mountain'

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. (AP) A movie theater owned by Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller abruptly changed its screening plans and decided not to show the film "Brokeback Mountain." The film, an R-rated Western gay romance story, was supposed to open Friday at the Megaplex at Jordan Commons in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Instead it was pulled from the schedule.

A message posted at the ticket window read: "There has been a change in booking and we will not be showing 'Brokeback Mountain.' We apologize for any inconvenience." Cal Gunderson, manager of the Jordan Commons Megaplex, declined to comment. The film, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, is about two cowboys who discover feelings for one another. The two eventually marry women but rekindle their relationship over the years. The movie's distributor, Focus Features, said that hours before opening, the theater management "reneged on their licensing agreement," and refused to open the film.

Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said not showing the film set an example for the people of Utah. "I just think (pulling the show) tells the young people especially that maybe there is something wrong with this show," she said.

Mike Thompson, executive director of the gay rights advocacy group Equality Utah, called it disappointing. "It's just a shame that such a beautiful and award-winning film with so much buzz about it is not being made available to a broad Utah audience because of personal bias," he said.

I was sent this image tonight by an individual which prompted me to write the following response to him:

Dave,

I guess I should thank you for this, but, at best, I find it mildly amusing. I really do avoid discussing religion or politics, but I am a little surprised after being given access to my personal website and blog that you would be sending me this movie poster parody.

I do support the President, and I do support his war on terrorism. He is certainly not a "Dumbfuck." I'm not a lock step Republican, but I really haven't seen any superstars in the Democratic party emerge who would be offering an alternative leadership. Only thing I see are a lot of Democrats who can only bitch and moan about anything, but NOT PROVIDE A SOLUTION they think would be viable. As someone who is fiscally conservative, socially liberal, and basically a political fence sitter who is driven by issues rather than a political ideology, I have not forgotten about the 3,000 Americans who were killed on September 11th, I have not forgotten about the hundreds of thousands of people killed by Saddam Hussein, I have not forgotten about the millions of people who have been denied freedom for over forty years by a vicious dictator. As an first generation American with strong ties to Europe, I often feel I'm looking into American politics and culture from outside the fishbowl.

With that, I find it amusing to watch the American populace view the war like a 22-minute sitcom with a cute and neat and sophomoric ending. War is hell, David, and is/was totally justified after 19 United Nations resolutions compelling Saddam Hussein from gassing and anihilating people who happen to disagree with him. Adolf Hitler did the same in World War II, as did Josef Stalin. As for both of these despots, I have personal ties: my father, a Jew but raised Catholic, was arrested by the Nazis and held for nearly a year in Belgium. Only thing that saved him was when the Nazis discovered that he hadn't been circumsized. My grandfather on my mother's side sat on the Supreme Court of Latvia until he was executed by the occupying Russians. My mom...as did hundreds of thousands of Balts... herself had to escape from Latvia to the west with the clothes on her back and an old suitcase in the dead of winter.

Meanwhile, Senator Barbara Boxer, who I voted for, goes on the floor of the Senate, yells and screams about President Bush and the question of the secret suveillance, yet will do nothing to denounce and combat the open selling of landline and private cell phone records, as reported in today's online edtion of the Chicago Sun Times. Here's the link to that article: http://www.suntimes.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?getReferrer=http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-privacy05.html

Neither political parties are really interested in the well being of our country, while they try to sell us the concept that they "are." They are about power and ego and worn out cliches. Has President Bush made some serious miscalculations: yes. But every true leader makes miscalculations...leaders are not omniscent. Individuals who sit on the fence and just try to do what is politically correct and expedient are not leaders...they are simply chair warmers. Whether what we have done in Iraq is right or wrong is not for us to say. It will be the political landscape and historians in 25-and-50 years from now who will be the judges.

The time has come in this country that we stop addressing our political views as a string of pejortives, but rather as educated discourse. "Dumbfuck Mountain" is not educated discourse.

This all said, while I disagree with your perspective, I hope that you would respect mine...with the hope that you will stay in touch with me.

All the best,

Ivars

I find it so amazing how some people are just doing everything to look for trouble. and getting their asses whupped:

Iranian President Hopes Sharon Perishes

Thu Jan 5, 5:44 PM ET

Iran's president said Thursday he hoped for the death of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the latest anti-Israeli comment by a leader who has already provoked international criticism for suggesting that Israel be "wiped off the map." "Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatilla has joined his ancestors is final," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Ahmadinejad was referring to Sharon, who as defense minister in 1982 directed Israel's ill-fated invasion of Lebanon. An Israeli commission found him indirectly responsible for a massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps by Christian Phalangist soldiers. Iran's official media, including state-run radio and television, did not report Ahmadinejad's remarks about Sharon.

"Hopefully, others (criminals like him) will join him too," ISNA quoted Ahmadinejad as telling a group of clerics in Qom, a holy city 80 miles south of the capital, Tehran. He spoke a day after the 77-year-old Sharon suffered a massive stroke and underwent surgery. In the last two months, Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust a "myth" and said if Europeans insist it did occur, then they should give some of their own land for a Jewish state, rather than the one in the Middle East. He also called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

It would seem that the Rev. Pat Robertson has once again found a way to make Christians look stupid...or should I say "stoopid" and practicing diplomacy without a license. (Hillary Clinton several years ago as Fist Lady did the same when she refused to denounce remarks by Yassir Arafat's wife at a women's conference saying how Israel was practicing infanticide).

Robertson says Sharon's stroke is God's punishment

The Reverend Pat Robertson says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke could be God's punishment for giving up Israeli territory. The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network told viewers of "The 700 Club" that Sharon was "dividing God's land," even though the Bible says doing so invites "God's enmity." Robertson added, "I would say woe to any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course." He noted that former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. Robertson said God's message is, "This land belongs to me. You'd better leave it alone."

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

As I have said so many times, I am a fence sitter politically...I veer little right...I veer a little left... The Democratic party thinks that by harping on the issue of wiretapping by the President they will convince people like me to switch to see things their way and vote Democratic. They are so far from reality. Many Americans such as myself are IN FACT happy that the President is watching out for us....just as President Clinton and President Carter did when they ordered secret wiretaps of suspected terrorists. If there was another major terrorist attack on the U.S. these same jerk politicians would then criticize the President for not doing the wiretaps no matter how he would have had it done.

The Democratic party is just interested in power...they don't give a damn for the country... And what about a debate on the American system of justice and Sen. Ted Kennedy and his killing of campaign worker Mary Joe Koepechne while being stone drunk?

(Washington Times) Democrats on Capitol Hill are drafting a strategy to attack the Bush administration and Republicans as having little regard for the privacy of Americans.
"We will initiate at the beginning of this year one of the most serious debates and discussions on Capitol Hill in our history about individual rights and liberties," Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin said just before Christmas.
The topic will be a major focus of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of federal Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. as privacy rights -- the political code phrase for abortion rights -- already has become a major issue, Mr. Durbin said.
Democratic leaders then plan to keep the issue alive as they continue their opposition to key parts of the USA Patriot Act, which is set to expire in early February unless extended.
But the real payoff, Democrats say, will be the hearings into President Bush's authorization of warrantless spying on terror suspects. Already, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, said he wants to hold hearings on the matter.

I was engaged in a conversation about the whole controversy about saying "Merry Christmas" etc.
This is what I respondeded:

I'm a Jew (although not practicing)...and there are a lot of us in the world who are really tired of everything in the world getting so banal and politically correct. You can't say anything without offending anyone anymore. While the United States is a country of many diverse cultures and religions that invites everybody to "the big table," that doesn't mean that these people need to bulldoze over the prevailing Judeo-Christian culture prevalent un the United States. YOu have a right not to participate in the holiday season and be a Scrooge...but you don't have a right to say that I can't celebrate it...but there is something very beautiful when once a year the world comes together and thinks of the elusive dream of "peace on earth" -- be it with a Hanukah menorah or a yule log in the fireplace. This is not intended as a jab, but apparently you may not have had a positive experience during this time of year, or were raised in an environment of political correctness much in the way the Soviet Russians imposed "Father Frost" and tried unsuccessfully to replace the basic belief systems of millions of people and impose their "religion" of their corrupt and evil ideology.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

This evening I was chatting on line and had someone give me their philosophy of life...and it really gave me pause to think...

I have always lived by the philosophy that my "word' is to be kept. I have always believed that if your "word" is no good then how much better can the rest of you be? I try to do the right things for others that i would have them do for or to me. It isn't always fun...but I think in the long run the "good" will catch up to you.

Why is this concept so hard for some people?

Karma keeps very accurate books.

I have made changes to the way I publish my blogs so that if you wish to receive them automatically when they are published, I will put you on my specific e-mail list that will forward them to you.

"Brokeback Mountain" is a beautiful yet bittersweet study of relationships and how social mores often put a straitjacket on two hearts while still living in the world under wraps. Heath Ledger's performance as "Ennis Del Mar" and Jake Gyllenhall's performance as fellow cowboy "Jack Twist" and Michelle Williams as Ennis' wife rely on complicated interwoven subtexts as Ennis and Jack grow and bond together. "Brokeback Mountain" is not about what some may characterize as "two gay men" who happen to be rough and tough cowboys, but rather, two fragile souls which bond together in a union in the midst of an unforgiving and misunderstanding world. Ang Lee's direction and Gustavo Santaolalla's musical score is sensitive yet never gets in the way of the story. "Brokeback Mountain" has the ingredients to covet all of the awards to win big in the Golden Globes and the Oscars -- especially the hopelessly tightly wound Gordian Knot which drives Heath Ledger's character.

"Brokeback Mountain" gets four popcorn bags out of four.

Copyright © 2005 by Ivars Bezdechi.

I really don't understand why those with more liberal views than I are the first ones to prevent and or demean someone with opposing views than their own....they are always hyperventilating and are prone to heckel those who might have opinions other than their own.. They accuse people on the "right side of the aisle" of hate speech, but they end up doing it themselves by preventing others from expressing themselves. They accuse conservatives of being "intolerant," yet they are being "tolerant" when they preventing an opposing view to be expressed?

Conservative Anne Coulter, in my opinion, is rude and brash. I don't agree with all what she says and how she says it. But just as those at the University of Connecticut put out the red carpet (no pun intended) to whack job Cindy Sheehan (who I really disagree with but defend her right to express her beliefs), they were less than conciliatory to Anne Coulter. What about Anne Coulter's right to freedom of speech? What about her right to express her beliefs? Even Hillary Clinton was the victim of those on the far left who were intolerant of her views.

So many liberal people these days could be accused of being intolerant of diverse views just as they accuse others of being intolerant.... The United States was built on the premise of offering of what has been called a "marketplace of ideas." When others are prevented from expressing themselves, one could look upon this type of behavior as one group trying to have their own monopoly in this so-called "marketplace."

It all comes down to the fact is that by themselves, the Democratic or Republican parties can never win an election without those, so as myself, who are independent. Seeing how the liberals are portraying themselves these days -- I can only suggest that more people would be apt to hear to listen to their point of view if they were more tolerant of others views, not demean them, and not scream so loud.

Hecklers Cause Coulter to Cut UConn Speech

Associated Press
Dec 07 11:14 PM US/Eastern

STORRS, Conn. - Conservative columnist Ann Coulter gave up trying to finish a speech at the University of Connecticut on Wednesday night when boos and jeers from the audience became overwhelming. Coulter cut off the talk after 15 minutes and instead held a half-hour question-and-answer session. "I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter told the 2,600 people at Jorgensen Auditorium.

Coulter's appearance prompted protests from several groups, including Students Against Hate and the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. They criticized her for spreading a message of hate and intolerance. Nearly 100 students gathered inside the Student Union for a rally against Coulter. About a half-dozen people held protest signs outside the auditorium. After a book signing following her appearance, Coulter called the audience's reaction "typical." Coulter, originally from New Canaan, Conn., has a history of bashing Democrats in best-selling books, frequent television appearances and speeches. Harding University in Arkansas dropped her from its lecture series in September, citing her abrasive image. Last April, the president of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota denounced a speech on the campus by Coulter, calling it hateful.

In October 2004, University of Arizona police arrested two men who ran on stage and threw custard pies at Coulter; one of the pies glanced off her shoulder. In her speech at UConn, Coulter called Bill Clinton an "executive buffoon" who won the presidency only because Ross Perot took 19 percent of the vote. She called California Sen. Barbara Boxer a good candidate for the Democrats because "she is a woman and she's learning disabled."

During the question-and-answer session, someone asked Coulter if she really was against a woman's right to vote. "Not having women vote is a joke," she said, reversing comments she has previously made. Eric Knudsen, a 19-year-old sophomore journalism and social welfare major at UConn, didn't attend the speech. "We encourage diverse opinion at UConn, but this is blatant hate speech," said Knudsen, head of Students Against Hate. Kareem Mohni, a 20-year-old junior and a member of a campus Republicans group, said he was disgusted with the Jorgensen crowd. "It really appalled me that we're not able to come together as a group and listen to a different view in a respectful environment," he said.

Hillary makes sense.....again!

(This is turning out to be a disturbing trend for me.)

Hillary Clinton Defends Pro-War Vote

By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press WriterTue Nov 29,10:54 PM ET

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday defended her vote to authorize war in Iraq amid growing unease among liberal Democrats who could determine the potential 2008 presidential candidate's future.

"I take responsibility for my vote, and I, along with a majority of Americans, expect the president and his administration to take responsibility for the false assurances, faulty evidence and mismanagement of the war," the New York senator said in a lengthy letter to thousands of people who have written her about the war.

At the same time, she said the United States must "finish what it started" in Iraq.

Clinton and other hawkish Democrats have come under criticism from liberal anti-war activists, many of whom will hold sway over presidential primary contests. The former first lady, who is up for re-election in 2006, would likely be an early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination should she decide to seek it. The debate has also put Clinton in a tight spot: generally viewed as pro-military, the former first lady is the most-watched member of a party that is increasingly turning against the war. In her letter to voters, the senator cited prewar assurances from the White House that the United States would use the United Nations to resolve the issue of Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction.

"Based on the information that we have today, Congress never would have been asked to give the president authority to use force against Iraq," she said. Clinton stopped short of saying her vote was a mistake, the political path chosen by two other potential Democratic candidates — former vice presidential candidate John Edwards and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. "Given years of assurances that the war was nearly over and that the insurgents were in their 'last throes," this administration was either not being honest with the American people or did not know what was going on in Iraq," she wrote.

Clinton's allies billed the letter as her most comprehensive statement on the war to date.

"It is time for the president to stop serving up platitudes and present us with a plan for finishing this war with success and honor," she wrote. Clinton, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said earlier this month it would be a "big mistake" for U.S. troops to pull out immediately. She stuck with that line Tuesday. "America has a big job to do now. We must set reasonable goals to finish what we started and successfully turn over Iraqi security to Iraqis," she wrote.

Cindy Sheehan must be having puppies by now.

I think I've been hyperventilating about the impact of Cindy Sheehan on American politics. I got that feeling after seeing an Associated Press picture of her being woefully ignored by the throngs of people supposedly against the war.

I think she realizes that she has reached the 19th minute of fame afterall.

Label me whatever your heart desires, but this is why I am being a bit more "in your face" these days with those who talk about "Happy Holidays" and why I am openly boyotting stores (aren't they going to tremble!) that don't have the balls to say "Merry Christmas." As an individual with a pretty diverse background myself, as far as I'm concerned, if any Jew, Buddhist, Hindu or any other religious minority has a problem with "Christmas" and live in the United States or Canada (they know that Christians are in the majority), all I can say is that they are nutballs who obviously have serious mental problems (not the handy dandy politically correct "issues") who don't have anything better in their hollow minds to complain about. If it is such a problem, they can go pound sand, as far as I'm concerned. "Christmas" is a traditional world holiday .

Boston "holiday tree" stirs controversy
Fri Nov 25, 2005 5:53 PM ET

By Jason Szep

BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree." The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives, including evangelist Jerry Falwell who heckled Boston officials and pressed the city to change the name back. "There's been a concerted effort to steal Christmas," Falwell told Fox Television.

The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot (14-meter) tree was indignant and said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change.
"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," Donnie Hatt told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter." Falwell and the conservative Liberty Counsel led a campaign that threatened to sue anyone who spreads what they see as misinformation about Christmas celebrations in public spaces.

The controversy reflects the legal vulnerability of city and state governments over taxpayer-funded displays of religious icons and concern over crossing the line in the separation between church and state.

Last year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lit what he called a "Christmas tree" at a state ceremony. The year before, he and former California Gov. Gray Davis presided over ceremonies for the more secular "holiday trees."

In Boston, many residents voiced their dismay over the Web site that promotes a December 1 ceremony for "Boston's Official Holiday Tree Lighting."
Christmas has become too politically correct, said 64 percent of people who responded to an online poll by a CBS television affiliate in Boston.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said he would keep calling the Nova Scotia spruce a "Christmas tree" regardless of what it said on the city's official Web site. "I grew up with a Christmas tree, I'm going to stay with a Christmas tree," Menino told reporters on Thursday. But the controversy cast a pall over a long-standing tradition between Boston and Canada. Nova Scotia donates a tree each year to Boston in gratitude for the city's help after an explosion killed about 1,900 people and injured 4,000 others in Halifax in 1917.

Well it would seem that the hyperventilating whack job Cindy Sheehan is sooooo trying to turn in a few chits so she would turn back the clock so she would only be at the 13 minute mark of fame....after already getting to the 17 minute mark of the usual 15 minutes of fame allowed for most amateur celebrities/amateur politicians.

Starting to re-realize that Al Queda needs to be DECIMATED so they are not allowed to continue to spread and practice their Fasci-Islamic doctrine (nothing to do with traditional Islamic beliefs -- just as some right-wing Fasci-Christians clearly pervert the belief system expounded by the Bible), I support the war in Iraq. Just as Adolf Hitler and the Nazis had to be decimated as they tried to spread their evilness, we must do the same in the Middle East. If Americans would be more environmentally conscious and not put such a pressure on oil production with their Hummers and other fuel-inefficient automobiles and unnecessary use of electricity, chances are this war would not be necessary. If the Fasci-Islamics are allowed to prevail, Americans and the western world will surely reap the result and end up paying $10 a gallon for gasoline. These Muslims will not have won the war with old gun powder methods of war, but will have won an economic war.

Cindy Sheehan and her brand of merry lemmings are political amateurs who are intoxicated with the lights, camera and action of the media. They have clearly become quite enamored with themselves and their faulty logic. They have taken a few facts, screwed them to fit their ideology, and want to make it the truth.

These whack jobs are screaming and yelling about 2,100+ soldier deaths in Iraq, but they say nothing about the 16,137 people murdered in the U.S. in 2004, 94,635 incidents of rape, and 854,911 incidents of aggravated assault, or the 16,652 people killed on U.S. Highways because of drunk drivers? Huh? Or maybe the nearly 59,000 soldiers killed in Viet Nam. War is Hell. The soldiers who have given their life in the pursuit of freedom volunteered to serve their country...just as Casey Sheehan did...voluntarily.

Sheehan Back in Texas for War Protest

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer

Fri Nov 25, 1:41 AM ET

The fallen soldier's mother whose August vigil near President Bush's ranch reinvigorated the anti-war movement returned to Texas to resume her protest Thursday as the president celebrated Thanksgiving a few miles away. "I feel happy to be back here with all my friends ... but I'm heartbroken that we have to be here again," Cindy Sheehan said as she arrived at an airport in nearby Waco. "We will keep pressing and we won't give up until our troops are brought home."

Sheehan was largely unknown when she set up camp outside Bush's ranch during the president's August vacation. It became a 26-day vigil that drew supporters from across the country and national attention. Sheehan, who has continued encouraging anti-war demonstrations, asked protesters to return to Crawford this week during Bush's family Thanksgiving gathering. The protesters' camp is on the same 1-acre private lot that a sympathetic landowner let them use in August.

For the holiday Thursday, more than 100 war protesters ate a traditional Iraqi meal — salmon, lentils and rice with almonds — saying they wanted to call attention to the civilians killed in the war. More than 2,100 U.S. soldiers have also died since the war began in March 2003. "It's significant because the people of Iraq are suffering under our occupation, and for people in America it's business as usual stuffing themselves on fat turkeys," said Tammara Rosenleaf, whose husband is an Army soldier to be deployed in a few weeks. "We in good conscience cannot behave that way while our troops are over there."

Dear Diary,

I'm feeling very alone tonight. A sense of ennui* seem to be overwhelming me tonight. I'm glad I got out to the chiropractor this afternoon...still...I just am going through some traditional holiday blues.

It is almost as though would so love to be able to "check out" or be put in some sort of drug-induced coma for the next seven weeks while American consumerism goes on "tilt." This is the time of year when we are belted left-and-right by shallow Christmas ads with their "Merry Christmas" and the very politically correct adulations of "Happy Holidays" accompanied by worn out Christmas tunes...ooops "holiday" music.

I think part of my "Scrooge" attitude is coming about that this is the culmination of a totally crappy year. While there were a few good things (can't be totally negative here), it has been a year of lost personal friendships, lost professional opportunities, lost family relationships, and mostly the serious illness of a very very close family member whom I have been caregiving now for six months. (I guess one positive thing is that although a personal friendship blew up into a billion pieces and I still don't know why -- at least now I have out of my life a very sick and twisted individual with their untreated bi-polar illness.) It would seem that some of the links to my past keep disappearing one by one. My attitude is also because I'm feeling exhausted from six months of constant caregiving. I'm not complaining about doing the caregiving...I'm just a bit burned out with the cleaning, driving, calling docs, cooking, regular household chores, trying to run the semblence of a business and career, trying to take a little bit of time for myself from all of the above.

The whole adage of it being pointless to cry over spilled milk is so true. But I guess my whole negativity is fueled by the ominous responsibility of being a caregiver, but realizing that I'm going to be -- for all intents and purposes -- totally alone and kind of forgotten over Thanksgiving and Christmas for the very first time...kind of rekindling some childhood imagined fears. Thoughts and memories of happy holidays past resonating in my head could very well become deafeningly overwhelming.

It's not necessarily that I have a real choice (my conscience sometimes can get deafeningly loud)...but I'll have to survive...I have no choice....and at least I once again get to keep in practice of maintaining my chronic stiff upper lip as the world goes by. As usual.

"She had gone back to Tara once in fear and defeat and she had emerged from its sheltering walls strong and armed for victory..."

"With the spirit of her people who would not know defeat, even when it stared them in the face, she raised her chin..."

"I'll think of it all tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. After all, tomorrow is another day."

(Liberally paraphrased from Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With The Wind.")

* ennui: a feeling of overwhelming weariness, listlessness and dissatisfaction.

This jst proves my point that there is no different if someone is an alcoholic, or is hooked on smoking a marijuana joint.........or is hooked on cigarettes.....

Smoker tried to open airliner door

Monday, November 21, 2005; Posted: 11:52 a.m. EST (16:52 GMT)

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- A French woman who is terrified of flying admitted in an Australian court Monday that she drunkenly tried to open an airplane door mid-flight to smoke a cigarette. Sadrine Helene Sellies, 34, was placed on a good behavior bond after pleading guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to endangering the safety of an aircraft. Sellies was traveling on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to the east coast city of Brisbane on Saturday when the incident occurred at the start of a three-week Australian vacation with her husband, the court heard. She walked toward one of the aircraft's emergency exits with an unlit cigarette and a lighter in her hand and began tampering with the door, prosecutors said. But a flight attendant intervened and took Sellies back to her seat. Sellies was arrested and charged by police on arrival at Brisbane airport.

Defense lawyer Helen Shilton told the court Sellies was terrified of flying and had taken sleeping tablets with alcohol before takeoff. Shilton said Sellies has no memory of what happened on the flight and that she has a history of sleepwalking. But Magistrate Gordon Dean sternly warned the woman: "You must understand, if you are on a plane you must behave yourself."

Sellies, who did not speak in court and was aided by a translator, was placed on a 1,000 Australian dollar (US$734; euro623) bond -- meaning she will have to pay that amount if she commits another offense in the next 12 months.

QUOTE OF THE DAY!

George Bush is single handedly to blame for the condition of the world today! He is solely responsible for the worlds suffering and oppression. He is the cause of all hatred and war and not since Hitler has the world seen such a face of evil. (Saddam Hussein)

I couldn't say it any better....

WMD not only reason

By J.D. CrouchWed Nov 16, 6:44 AM ET

Some administration critics believe Operation Iraqi Freedom was strictly about weapons of mass destruction. The reality is that Saddam Hussein's WMD programs were only one reason for the liberation of Iraq. (Related: Our view)

We went to war for several reasons:

• Addressing Congress after 9/11, President Bush declared that those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves. Iraq was a state sponsor of terror and openly supported suicide bombers.

• In 2002, the U.N. Security Council unanimously found Iraq in violation of 16 prior resolutions about disarming. Iraq repeatedly fired on U.S. and coalition planes patrolling the "No Fly Zones" that protected Iraqis from Saddam. The president acted only when it became clear that the U.N. would not pass another resolution or take action to enforce previous resolutions supported by the past three U.S. presidents.

• President Bush often cited Saddam's murder of hundreds of thousands. Saddam used WMD against Iraq's Kurds and invaded Kuwait.

In February 2003, before troops set foot in Iraq, the president stated: "A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions."

Moreover, the joint resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq - which 77 senators of both parties voted for - explicitly cited Saddam's support for terrorism, his repeated violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, his brutality against his own people, and the promotion of democracy as justifications for the use of military force.

Coalition forces did not find WMD. That in no way minimizes the threat Saddam posed. Weapons inspector David Kay testified that Iraq "certainly had the intentions at a point to resume their programs." As his successor, Charles Duelfer, later explained, Saddam was purposefully gaming the sanctions system with the intent of restarting his weapons programs when the world looked away.

The WMD intelligence was wrong, and the president has acknowledged that. But it is equally wrong to ignore the threat Saddam posed. The world is safer today because Saddam is no longer in power.

J.D. Crouch is deputy national security adviser to the president.

It just occurred to me and just bolsters my point that Republicans are no worse (or better) than Democrats. On one hand you have someone like Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens as the pork barrel meister (he got a $500,000 federal subsidy for his son who is chairman of the Alaska Fish Marketing board -- in a U.S. Homeland Security budget bill to paint the image of a fish on an Alaska Airlines jet), who, in order to bring temporary prosperity to Alaska is so intent on drilling holes in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge so Alaska looks like Swiss cheese, to Democrats like Sen. Robert Kennedy who keeps harping and bitches Republican on the subject of global warming yet drives a Lincoln Navigator.

Those in power who make righteous pronouncements need to practice what they preach.

Oh my...so nice to see when Sen. Hillary Clinton becomes a fence sitter between the Republicans and Democrats to make herself appeal to a larger possible electorate.
Haarez-Israel News reports that Sen. Clinton supports the building of a tall fence on the West Bank, and the plight of the Palestinians:

Sen. Clinton: I support W. Bank fence, PA must fight terrorism
By Lily Galili and Roni Singer, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton said Sunday that she supports the separation fence Israel is building along the edges of the West Bank, and that the onus is on the Palestinian Authority to fight terrorism.

"This is not against the Palestinian people," Clinton, a New York Democrat, said during a tour of a section of the barrier being built around Jerusalem.

"This is against the terrorists. The Palestinian people have to help to prevent terrorism. They have to change the attitudes about terrorism."

This is when Sen. Clinton was "First Lady" Hillary Clinton and practiced diplomacy "without a license" when she attended a dinner with Mrs. Arafat and didn't rebuke comments how the "Israeli's were practicing infanticide" against Palestinians.

Typical Democrat!

While former vice president Al Gore drives around in his beefed up Lincoln Navigator SUV (or what political satirist Bill Maher refers as a "FUV") and Sen. John Kerry's family (he I guess wouldn't never drive it) drives around in a soccer mom SUV, he makes self-righteous great pronouncements about global warming:

"What changed in the US with hurricane Katrina was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences and that bitter cup will be offered to us again and again until we exert our moral authority and respond appropriately," he says. "I don't want to diminish the threat of terrorism at all, it is extremely serious, but on a long-term global basis, global warming is the most serious problem we are facing."

www.theage.com.au, November 14, 2005.

I find it so inconceivable that the one president who is considered by many as one of the most incompetent presidents ever -- and rousingly and ignominiously thrown out of office after four years DARES to speak up. Not only that, I think it is quite telling that he was so ignored during the worldwide fundraising effort for the South Pacific Tsunami disaster with Presidents Clinton and Bush (the elder), and the fundraising efforts by the two former presidents in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

While his efforts with Habitat for Humanity project is laudable, he really should shut up. This man just wants some headlines before he kicks the bucket. Honestly it would seem that nobody has had the guts to tell Jimmy Carter that he is not inline with America and is constantly being reminded in so many ways that his time is over in the public limelight, and the HE IS, "the weakest link."

Jimmy Carter: Bush not in line with American Values

Kansas City, MO - President Jimmy Carter says President Bush's policies conflict with American values. More than a thousand people packed into Unity Temple on the Plaza for the former president to sign a copy of his new book "Our Endangered Values." Reviews call the book biting political commentary, despite the fact that there's an unwritten rule in American politics that former presidents do not criticize current ones. Carter says he wrote this book reluctantly, but did so because he just couldn't stay silent anymore. "In the last 5 years there's been a dramatic and disturbing and radical change in the values of this country," Carter said. For example, he says peace is an American value, not pre-emptive war: "we don't wait until our country is threatened," Carter said, "we publicly announced our new policy is to attack a county, invade a country, bomb a county." He says another American value is human rights. For decades the US has supported the Geneva convention saying we won't torture prisoners, but he says now "our senators are voting to keep torture. It's inconceivable this would happen in the United States of America."

I admit it...I'm addicted... Addicted to talking on my cell phone when I'm driving.

Today the car charger broke and I ended up turning on the radio, etc (not that there was anything really on). It felt so strange having both hands on the steering wheel.

I cringe everytime Christians put themselves up for ridicule when buffoons like Pat Robertson and others start to go public. It makes you want to never admit that you're a Believer.

Pat Robertson Warns Pa. Town of Disaster

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town Thursday that disaster may strike there because they "voted God out of your city" by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design. All eight Dover, Pa., school board members up for re-election were defeated Tuesday after trying to introduce "intelligent design" — the belief that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power — as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city," Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club." Eight families had sued the district, claiming the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The federal trial concluded days before Tuesday's election, but no ruling has been issued.

Later Thursday, Robertson issued a statement saying he was simply trying to point out that "our spiritual actions have consequences." "God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever," Robertson said. "If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."

Robertson made headlines this summer when he called on his daily show for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."