What in the heck happened to the concept of DIVERSITY OF OPINION?

I never thought I would be stooping to the level of defending a Miss USA contest, but I will because it illustrates the mindset we are now seemingly endorsing in our country...that if don't agree with the status quo belief, then you are dogged and eviscerated by popular culture. The latest controversy flareup occurred the other night when Carrie Prejean - Miss California - said she believed that "a marriage should be between a man and a woman." She had been asked for her views on the subject by one of the judges, celebrity gay blogger Perez Hilton.

Ms. Prejean said that "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," in an interview section of the show. "I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," she continued. "No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised." The remarks drew a mixture of booing and applause from the audience.

Speaking after the show, which was broadcast on Sunday evening in the US, Ms Prejean said: "I wouldn't have had it any other way. I said what I feel. I stated an opinion that was true to myself and that's all I can do." Hilton said he had been "floored" by Ms Prejean's answer, which, he said, "alienated millions of gay and lesbian Americans, their families and their supporters."

The gay community in the U.S., by the way they are going by wetting their pants when somebody dares to have a contrary opinion, is going to set itself back just as the illegal immigrant Mexican community put itself back and swayed public opinion against them several years ago by parading down the streets of Los Angeles waving Mexican flags and hollering "Si se puede." (On their next protest they quickly switched from paper Mexican flags to the red, white, and blue.)

Our country was built on diversity of ideas and thoughts. No group -- minority or otherwise -- has the right to judge whether someone's views are right or wrong...just accept them and go on. Personally I really don't care about the opinions being expressed by someone who has gained notoriety through YouTube clip rather than doing it the old fashioned way....by EARNING it....

No joking here.......Today I learned about a new term in made for TV movies referring to the genre of movies aired on Lifetime (no kidding!) as "JEP movies" which is short for "Women in Jeopardy" movies, or "WIP" -- which is short for "Women in Peril."

And yes, they're invariably the movies of a woman being roughed up by some guy named "Zack," who wears the obligatory wife-beater t-shirt under his sport coat and who cheats on each one with all the others.

Usually they star Meredith Baxter, Tracey Gold, Nancy McKeon, Victoria Principal, Delta Burke and very special guest, Valerie Bertinelli, starring in a VERy SPECIAL movie event entitled, "This Is The Only Work We Could Get: The Lifetime Movie Story."

To paraphrase what a friend said to me tonight.....which makes sooooo much sense...

Why are there so many "born again" Christians who feel they have a free ride to a glorious afterlife, but don't they think they don't have to have the courage and effort it takes to take the high road and do "the right thing" in their daily lives in this one.

What an amateur....

SOOOO bizarre....

I can't wait to see this!

Bruno Official Trailer (R-rated!)

Oh, we're in such good hands.....

The walking haunted tree, Sen. John Kerrey, now wants to hold hearings on the terrorists. Great. The end result will be NOTHING...just a lot of meandering "it's so nice to be nice" words and no results.

That poor Captain of the Alabama is either going to end up being held hostage for a very long time or killed...meanwhile...Sen. Kerrey, the master of doublespeak, goes around Washington and does all of the media chat shows with his zombie-like face saying absolutely nothing.

I will always remember Sen. Kerrey during his White House campaign being asked, after a 45-minute speech telling the world how George Bush had raped the land and environment with his policies, whether he drove a SUV on a daily basis. "No, I don't drive one but my family does," he said, with his characteristic stone face and eccentric "I want to sound incredibly cultured" monotone voice.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for hearings on the mounting piracy threat as the fate of an American cargo-ship captain remained in limbo Thursday.

"These acts of piracy off of Somalia’s coastline may seem surreal, but they’re all too real and a thorough policy debate is long overdue," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in a statement. "When Americans, including at least one from Massachusetts, are endangered, you’ve got a complicated and dangerous international situation brewing, and that includes questions about a hot-pursuit policy on Somalia’s coastline."

The 20-member crew of the Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food from the World Food Program and the United States Agency for International Development to Kenya, managed to wrest control of the ship from the pirates after the Wednesday hijacking, but the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, was taken by pirates into a lifeboat that was drifting near the Alabama and the USS Bainbridge guided missile destoyer, which had arrived on scene to aid the ship.

On Thursday, the FBI had joined Department of Defense efforts to secure Phillips's release.

One of the main headlines this morning on the BBC's news website is, "How can pirates be stopped?"

Why is this a question at all? Although this will never happen under the presidency of President Barack "I'm sorry-I'm not worthy" Obama, the bottom line is that we need to drop a megabomb outside of Mogadishu and show the Somalis that if they can't control their homegrown terrorists, then we'll do it for them, and send them back to the 2nd century B.C. in the process. I cannot even begin to fathom how we have gotten into a mindset to allow the turds of the world (read Somalia and Iran and North Korea) make the major world powers bristle and shake in their white kneehighs and MaryJanes. Is this the "change" we voted for?

I still remember in the years of Ronald Reagan that Libya was making a nuisance of itself by terrorizing the international skies. The United States went in, gave sufficient warning for the Libyans to "cut it out or else." The Libyans didn't. Instead of speaking softly (that is, babbling continuously incoherently) and threatening to carry a big stick, we simply went in, gave the Libyans sufficient warning that they were about to be attacked, and spoke very loudly with a very large bomb that decimated the country's Navy and other installations. The Libyans responded by shooting off some SCUD missiles with a peashooter which missed horribly. The Libyans eventually came to their senses that they could get whacked again, acknowledged their wrongdoings and themselves went after international terrorist, Abu Nidal, and compensated the victims of their terrorist acts. And now, since they have shown their civility, Libya is prospering as it enters the normal world of civilized countries.

The United States still has a score to settle with Somalia after the torture and killing of several American soldiers in 1993 in the Battle of Moghadishu where a Blackhawk helicopter was downed and the soldiers aboard were taken hostage and tied to the back of a jeep and dragged to their deaths through Moghadishu.

But of course, now that we have evidence that our esteemed President is more interested in giving landmark speeches in the middle of marketplaces throughout Europe with well-written applause lines to gain him the adoration of the unwashed masses, saying how the U.S. is a horrible and arrogant country, and bows to misogynist rulers (King Fahd of Saudia Arabia) of misogynist countries, I don't see the situation with the Somali pirates ending anytime soon, or anytime positively.

How can pirates be stopped?

An American warship, the USS Bainbridge, has reached the area off the coast of Somalia where a cargo ship was seized by pirates a day earlier. How can the pirates be defeated?

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the government was following the situation very closely and urged the world to act to end the "scourge" of piracy.

Pirate attacks have been increasing rapidly in recent years - more than 130 incidents were reported in 2008, which has cost the world an estimated $60 - 70m.

How can one of the world's most important shipping lanes be protected? What's the long-term solution to the problem?

Whatever President Obama's advisers are smokin'....I want some of it.

The latest "idea" suggests that we "geoengineer" earth's atmosphere by shooting reflectorized particles into the atmosphere to reduce the supposed affects of "global warming." Notwithstanding the debate that has ensued whether carbon dioxide emissions are causing the earth's atmosphere or not, I think the first thing that should be done is to put a plug on the hot methane gas being emitted into the air by Washington DC politicians (starting with Sen. Ted Kennedy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi).

I like creative ideas in the quest for creative solutions to problems, but I think that this whole idea is on the same level when suggestions are made to fill raging volcanoes with baking soda to quench the fiery cauldrons of magma. This solution is no different than some-people-with-too-much-time-and-too-much-money who insist on feeding their dog "FeeFee" a vegan/vegetarian diet and make their family and friends endure Feefee's flatulence (another source of CO2).

We need to get past the Al Gore junk science being promoted by political extremists in order to give legs to whatever political cause they are pushing. We need to put back into the attic whackjobs like Pres. Obama's "science adviser" with their so-called "bright ideas" to solve a questionable problem.

WASHINGTON -- The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth's air.

John Holdren told the Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays. Mr. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort.

"It's got to be looked at," he said. "We don't have the luxury of taking any approach off the table."

Mr. Holdren outlined several "tipping points" involving global warming that could be fast approaching. Once such milestones are reached, such as complete loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic, it increases chances of "really intolerable consequences," he said.

Twice in a half-hour interview, Mr. Holdren compared global warming to being "in a car with bad brakes driving toward a cliff in the fog."

At first, Mr. Holdren characterized the potential need to technologically tinker with the climate as just his personal view. However, he went on to say he has raised it in administration discussions.

Mr. Holdren, a 65-year-old physicist, is far from alone in taking geoengineering more seriously. The National Academy of Science is making climate tinkering the subject of its first workshop in its new multidiscipline climate challenges program. The British parliament has also discussed the idea.

The American Meteorological Society is crafting a policy statement on geoengineering that says "it is prudent to consider geoengineering's potential, to understand its limits and to avoid rash deployment."

Last week, Princeton scientist Robert Socolow told the National Academy that geoengineering should be an available option in case climate worsens dramatically.

But Mr. Holdren noted that shooting particles into the air -- making an artificial volcano as one Nobel laureate has suggested -- could have grave side effects and would not completely solve all the problems from soaring greenhouse gas emissions. So such actions could not be taken lightly, he said.

Still, "we might get desperate enough to want to use it," he added.

Another geoengineering option he mentioned was the use of so-called artificial trees to suck carbon dioxide -- the chief human-caused greenhouse gas -- out of the air and store it. At first that seemed prohibitively expensive, but a re-examination of the approach shows it might be less costly, he said.

Now THIS is good and the TRUTH!

Now, like never before, my support for Pres. Barack "The Messiah" Obama, has never been so tepid, and he really is testing my beliefs as an independent voter.

Not only am I getting really tired of what I see as his "People Magazine" moments posing with the Queen of England and world leaders, I'm really getting steamed at his brown-nosing of the Islamic world and putting the United States down as "arrogant and derisive." I guess having 3000 Americans murdered at the hands of Islamic terrorists means nothing to him. Well, it means something to me. I have tolerance and respect for different belief systems (I have very good friends who are Muslim), but to go around the world as Pres. Obama has in the past two weeks (it feels like a month!) as he has is short of disgusting.

Hey, Barack, why not come back to Washington DC and actually try to get some work done, huh?

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Barack Obama, making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president, declared Monday the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam."

Calling for a greater partnership with the Islamic world in an address to the Turkish parliament, Obama called the country an important U.S. ally in many areas, including the fight against terrorism. He devoted much of his speech to urging a greater bond between Americans and Muslims, portraying terrorist groups such as al Qaida as extremists who did not represent the vast majority of Muslims.

"Let me say this as clearly as I can," Obama said. "The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical ... in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."

The U.S. president is trying to mend fences with a Muslim world that felt it had been blamed by America for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

OBAMA: OUR OWN HUGO CHAVEZ?

I'm very troubled with the news tonight that General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner resigned under pressure from the White House and Pres. Obama. While the U.S. Government might try to have a say how the bailout of GM and the other automakers goes, it troubles me that Pres. Obama goes around making pronouncements of this type. That is being a DICTATOR. Here he is loading up the American taxpayers with a frightful debt so that he can pursue his social/leadership agenda and now he is playing King.

As a Republican who after the fact has come to support Pres. Obama, I'm not sure how much longer I can support him. On one level he is doing the cheezy press junkets (Jay Leno, etc.), yet he is on the other leading us into uncharted waters with his agenda. What is he going to do next, order the slaughter of anyone who opposes him?

Pres. Obama has 1.5 years to get things right, just as the fickle American people supported him by bringing in more Democrats to support his agenda, if he messes up, there is no telling that his Democratic majorities can be sustained.

Only time will tell.

Simply brilliant.


Iran: A nation of bloggers from Mr.Aaron on Vimeo.

This is evidence that I'm right on my point about the Mormon Church and their positions on legislating how other people should live. They are no different than the Muslims who come to the United States (for reasons beyond me), and try to change the fabric and attitudes of our country.

To be "diverse" we don't have to accept every language and culture which someone thinks we should embrace without question.

WHAT HYPOCRITES!

Tonight was the much vaunted (you don't know how long I've wanted a reason to use that word) episode of the HBO Mini-series "Big Love" about a fundamentalist polygamist Mormon family, where a hereto sacred secret rite of the Mormon Church was depicted featuring the show's main female star, Jeanne Tripplehorn. According to the show's producers, the scenes were written with great attention to accuracy down to the white veils worn by the women.

During the past week, the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Voiceover here: "The Mormons") wrangled in the media how they felt it was "offensive" to Mormons to have this rite being shown on television...although the depictions of the rite are readily found on the good ol' Internet. HBO did the corporate thing by "apologizing" (read: "appeasing") the Mormons although they continued with their plans to show it. On the other hand, the official position of the LDS church was not to ask for an official boycott of HBO and its corporate daddy, Time Warner. It was the same kind of PR mud wrestling that the Catholics blustered over with the release of "The Da Vinci Code" -- which I found to be a VERY boring and wandering movie. (Of course, the other little untold story that "Big Love"'s executive producers, Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, are a gay couple, and I wouldn't put it past them that this was their way of retribution against the Mormons for their less-than-Godly conduct in California politics.)

Notwithstanding, my suggestion to the Mormons at this point would be for them to FUCKING SHUT UP. The official image of the Mormons would be for them to be a God-fearing goody-two shoed Shirley Temple/Mrs. Brady-like religious faith. But in actuality, as someone who almost joined the sect, the Mormons are a faith/belief system bred in a dark mythology wrought with politics and very strange rites.

I find it very interesting on one hand the Mormons are screaming and yelling about how the sanctity and privacy of one of their religious rites. Yet, the Mormons think nothing about prying and legislating themselves into the sanctity of private bedrooms of gay Californians by spending tens of millions of dollars to bring to victory a California state proposition which effectively bans homosexual marriages.

Mmmmmmmmm....somehow the old wise saw, "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks," comes to mind...especially apropos for a religious sect who loves to build big glass temples....and delights with the concept of stoning a group of people which it deems as not worthy to breath air, much less, love as their hearts leads them to love.

Just as she was accused of "driving without a license" diplomatically many years ago when she allowed Suha Arafat to speak at a women's conference in the middle east where she accused Israel of actively engaging in Palestinian infanticide, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is once again showing she should be home watching over Bill rather than trying to make her mark as U.S. Secretary of State.

On her first trip abroad, she "gets in bed" with the Palestinians much to the chagrin of Israel by supporting the Hamas-led infitada, and then makes a gaffe at the European parliament by stating that American democracy has a longer history than European democracy. I guess the Greeks don't count.

The article doesn't mention her gaffe with the Russian Foreign Minister when she gave him a gift of a red "reset" button with a Russian printed on it which means "overcharge" or "overload."

I'm tending to believe these days that Pres. Barack Obama brought on Hillary Clinton not because of her White House and Democratic party ties, but rather to keep his sworn enemies closer.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton raised eyebrows on her first visit to Europe as secretary of state when she mispronounced her EU counterparts' names and claimed U.S. democracy was older than Europe's.

Clinton has set herself a grueling pace on visits to Egypt, Israel and Brussels soon after touring the Far East, attending dozens of meetings and giving speech after speech, with little time worked into her schedule for sleep.

Tiredness appeared to show Friday when she answered questions in front of 500 young Europeans at the European Parliament, where she was the highest-ranking U.S. visitor since the late President Ronald Reagan in 1985.

A veteran politician, Clinton compared the complex European political environment to that of the two-party U.S. system, before adding:

"I have never understood multiparty democracy.

"It is hard enough with two parties to come to any resolution, and I say this very respectfully, because I feel the same way about our own democracy, which has been around a lot longer than European democracy."

The remark provoked much headshaking in the parliament of a bloc that likes to trace back its democratic tradition thousands of years to the days of classical Greece.

One working lunch later with EU leaders, Clinton raised more eyebrows when she referred to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who stood beside her, as "High Representative Solano."

She also dubbed European Commission External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner as "Benito."

Still, Clinton has been well received in Brussels, where the Obama administration has been viewed as a breath of fresh air after the unpopular leadership of George W. Bush. His secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, often drew protests on her travels.

Fellow foreign ministers stood and applauded Clinton's presentation at a meeting with NATO counterparts Thursday and extra space had to be set aside for a spillover audience of 800 at the European Parliament.

Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering was effusive in his praise, saying that with the new administration, the United States and Europe once again "share the same values."

"What you said mostly could have been said by a European," he told Clinton after she fielded questions ranging from climate change to energy security and aid to Africa and one on gay rights from a participant wearing an "I love Hillary" t-shirt.

So many things lately, watching the turmoil amongst the Democrats, the turmoil amongst the Republicans, the turmoil amongs the American people which reminded me of one of the BEST openings of a novel, specifically, Charles Dickens' "The Tale of Two Cities" :

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

"Tolerance is a noble virtue. Consideration is a better one."

Talking about having a shitty day.........

Robbery trial comes to abrupt end

UNION-TRIBUNE

6:30 p.m. January 27, 2009

SAN DIEGO – A robbery trial ended abruptly Monday when a defendant smeared feces on his lawyer and threw it at jurors, authorities said.

Weusi McGowan, 37, had apparently smuggled a plastic bag filled with excrement into the San Diego Superior Court building, said Paul Levikow, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office.

As the jurors stood to leave for their mid-morning break, McGowan smeared the feces in the face and hair of his attorney, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jeffrey Martin, and threw it at the jury box. It did not hit any of the jurors.

Judge Jeffrey Fraser declared a mistrial.

Levikow said McGowan was apparently upset because the judge had previously denied his request to dismiss his lawyer.

McGowan faces charges including kidnapping and assault in connection with a robbery in Barrio Logan in October 2007. He is accused of hitting a 54-year-old man with a rock in a sock and demanding money and drugs.

McGowan is also accused of tying up the man, ransacking his apartment and stealing his 1994 Ford Taurus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is receptive to the idea of prosecuting some Bush administration officials, while letting others who are accused of misdeeds leave office without prosecution, she told Chris Wallace in an interview on "FOX News Sunday."

"I think you look at each item and see what is a violation of the law and do we even have a right to ignore it," the California Democrat said. "And other things that are maybe time that is spent better looking to the future rather than to the past."

Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced Friday he wants to set up a commission to look into whether the Bush administration broke the law by taking the nation to war against Iraq and instituting aggressive anti-terror initiatives. The Michigan Democrat called for an "independent criminal probe into whether any laws were broken in connection with these activities."

President-elect Barack Obama has not closed off the possibility of prosecutions, but hinted he does not favor them.

Perhaps at the same time we need to initiate a criminal probe of Senator Edward Kennedy and his culpability in the murder of his campaign worker, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Oh....forgot...silly me...he needs to be excused that, one, he is a "Kennedy," and, two, he has brain cancer. Those are two good reasons.

And of course, we have nothing else dire to take care of in this country.

Now what chapter of the classic book "How To Make Friends And Influence Others" by Dale Carnegie did Venezuelan dictator miss in his read and study?

Venezuela's Chavez says Obama has "stench" of Bush

Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:44pm EST

CAMPO CARABOBO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday Barack Obama had the "stench" of his predecessor as U.S. president and was at risk of being killed if he tries to change the American "empire."

Most world leaders expect a new era of U.S. foreign relations when Obama, a Democrat, is sworn in as president on Tuesday after Republican George W. Bush's eight years in the White House.

But Chavez said frayed ties with Washington were unlikely to improve despite the departure of Bush, who the Venezuelan leader has often called the "devil."

"I hope I am wrong, but I believe Obama brings the same stench, to not say another word," Chavez said at a political rally on a historic Venezuelan battlefield.

"If Obama as president of the United States does not obey the orders of the empire, they will kill him, like they killed Kennedy, like they killed Martin Luther King, or Lincoln, who freed the blacks and paid with his life."

Obama, who will be the first black president in U.S. history, was given Secret Service protection on the campaign trail earlier than is customary for candidates and security for Tuesday's inauguration is extremely tight.

Venezuela is a leading supplier of oil to the United States and the two countries once enjoyed close ties.

Relations deteriorated after Chavez first won election in 1998 as he took on U.S. companies as part of his socialist agenda of nationalization of various industries and accused Washington of backing a brief coup against him.

Last year, he expelled the U.S. ambassador from Venezuela.

Chavez's foreign policy is based on countering U.S. global influence and promoting countries like Russia and China as world leaders. He has close ties to U.S. foes Cuba and Iran.

Until recently, Chavez had said he hoped relations with Washington could improve. But in the last few days, he has picked up on comments he attributes to Obama accusing him of obstructing progress in Latin America and exporting terrorism.

For the past four days I have been suffering a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic I was taking for two weeks for a nasty sinus infection over Christmas and New Year's. I'm not even going to go through the details of what I looked like, but suffice it to say that I was covered with very red splotches on my Scandinavian bluish-white skin on my entire body...with a miserable feeling of almost best described as a severe sunburn that itches from the inside and the outside. I saw it coming on so I was able to get the proper care before the total onset of the severe allergic reaction. Still, I was so beaten down emotionally with being alone, feeling woozy from the meds, and with my skin breaking out. I was one total piece of mess. (I have to say a couple of friends did call to keep check on me however they could...something which I so appreciated.)

Anyway.......True to my luck, in the midst of the bout I received the following very comforting advertising letter with the appropriate soothing pink printed paper with serene images of flowers and things associated with death from a local crematorium. And best of all, they are offering me a deal I simply can't refuse!

I don't know how they figure it out, but everytime I come down with an illness which beats me down with a Rocky Balboa-like knockout punch, I ALWAYS get these kinds of letters. (I think they must have some triggering mechanism with my local Target pharmacy.)

In the words of Charlie Brown, "Good grief...."

ROURKE: 'BUSH WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME'

Monday January 12,2009
London Daily Express

Actor MICKEY ROURKE sympathises with U.S. President GEORGE W. BUSH - insisting he doesn't know how any politician could have successfully navigated America after the 9/11 attacks on New York.

The Hollywood tough-guy spoke out about his political views in a candid interview with Britain's GQ magazine, and admits he doesn't understand why so many people blame Bush for a string of world issues - including Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism in the West.

And the actor, who claims he didn't follow last year's (08) historic U.S. election battle between Barack Obama and John McCain, urges the public to consider the tremendous pressure the controversial president was under following the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

He tells the publication, "President Bush was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I don't know how anyone could have handled this situation.

"I don't give a f**k who's in office, Bush or whoever, there is no simple solution to this problem... I'm not one of those who blames Bush for everything. This s**t between Christians and Muslims goes back to the Crusades, doesn't it.

"It's too easy to blame everything on one guy. These are unpredictable, dangerous times, and I don't think that anyone really knows quite what to do."

Rourke also confesses he was so angry after 9/11, he wanted to fight the war on terror himself.

He adds, "I'm not politically educated. But I do know that after 9/11 I wanted to go over there, you know what I'm saying?"

And the star is baffled by the U.K.'s approach to fundamentalists - insisting he was taken aback by the freedom of speech allowed in the U.K.

He explains, "I was in London recently and I couldn't believe all these hate-talking fanatics you have over here who are allowed to carry on doing their thing even when a bus full of women and children gets blown to pieces.

"I know you've deported one or two of them, but it seems crazy. I think there is worse to come, something terrible will happen to either America or the U.K., or France even. I don't think these fundamentalists should be allowed to talk all this crap, and brainwashing these young kids."

THERE IS apparently some intelligence in Hollywood....

I made this very point the other day about President Bush's performance over the past eight years to a friend of mine.

I find it interesting when my "blue friends" get more than a bit uncomfortable and unnerved and suddenly change th conversation when I make the suggestion when President-elect Barack Obama is really going back to center and is already bucking heads with the liberal Democrats.

So many Democrats have taken snippets of what President-elect Obama has said during the campaign and used "projection" to make it mean what they think it means. Believe me, I see it at as great vision that Pres. Obama is going to be disappointing a lot of liberal Democrats when he takes office next week. He said he wants to close Gitmo....like John McCain...but it could be YEARS before that actually happens. And while gay activists march around with placards with Obama's campaign logo in rainbow colors, he has made it very clear that he is against gay marriage and will not support it in anyway...yet the gay community rallies around Pres.-elect Obama as though he is their biggest ally.

To say the very least, methinks it's going to be an interesting three-and-half years.

I didn't vote for President-elect Obama, but I'm going to be his biggest supporter...because he represents a major "change" -- for better or worse. And that's good news for the greatest country in the world.

Magnetosphere revisited (audio by Tosca) from flight404 on Vimeo.

As someone who proudly works beside a proud member of the U.S. Army who is a disabled war veteran, I could not communicate this message any better.

Just as I respect and honor the right of those to have an opposing view about Sen. Obama, I have the high expectation of those who disagree with me to respect my views. After all, our country was built on diverse views and the tradition of respecting others who may have opposing views on an issue.

I really find the political immaturity of liberal elitists constantly mindbending. Here they go around ranting and raving about why their point of view is the "only" point of view (just like whacked out "born-again" Christians" -- what was wrong the first time?) totally dismissing any dissenting views.

Now it would seem that San Francisco voters are going to be given the option to vote in the name of a sewage treatment plant in the name of President Bush. I say, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Why not name the bridge where the drug-and-alcohol-womanizing addicted Senator Ted Kennedy plunged off the side (with the U.S.S. Oldsmobile) with campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne the "Sen. Ted Kennedy Memorial Bridge"?

San Francisco Votes To Give Dubya Dubious Honor
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) ― President Bush still has three more months on the job, but there is already talk of an important building in San Francisco bearing his name.

Construction on the George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, will begin next year, but if Proposition R is passed on Nov. 4, that won't be the only the landmark named in honor of our embattled president.

San Francisco's Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant may soon become the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

Think it's silly? The measure's organizer, Brian McConnell, who came up with the idea over drinks, seems to agree.

"Most people think it's a really silly idea anyway, and then the Bush haters don't want anything named after him," McConnell told the San Francisco Chronicle.

So far, not a dime has been raised in support or opposition of the proposition, but members of the local Republican Party are working to defeat the measure, and 12,000 people signed a petition to secure its spot on the ballot.

Now, isn't that "spatial."

This just goes to prove right-wing fundamentalist Christians (or Muslims or Jews -- insert whichever religion belief here) are very sick people....and are just as crazy as people who put a few too many bumper stickers on their cars trying to make a point.

FERNDALE, Mich. -- A man assigned "The Crucible" in an adult education English class doused his teacher with a nonflammable liquid and threatened to burn her as a witch, police said.

Darin Najor, 20, ran from the classroom after the attack Sept. 11 and was sent for psychiatric evaluation after telling police "he was trying to kill the witch by pouring holy water over her head," Detective Ken Denmark said.

He was arrested Monday and scheduled for arraignment this month on misdemeanor charges of assault and battery.

The day before the dousing, Najor had asked the teacher whether she believed in witchcraft, police said. She told him she did not, calling Arthur Miller's play based on the 1692 Salem witch trials a metaphor for unjust persecution.

"The suspect threw his homework papers on the floor and declared it was all blasphemy," Denmark said. "The next day he came up behind her chanting what sounded like religious verses while she was working at her desk."

Court officials had no indication Najor had an attorney, and The Associated Press could not find a telephone number for him.

Police did not identify the teacher.

Insert Ring on Finger from Radthanael on Vimeo.

I couldn't resist sharing this really bad pun:

I guess singer Clay Aiken was "achin'" to come out as gay!

Cat vs Printer

WAITING FOR...BARACK

If it weren't so ludicrous it might be funny seeing how the national news media is waiting for the great Messiah, Sen. Barack Obama, to name his running mate. I swear Wolf Blitzers and Katie Courics of the world are ready to pee in their collective drawers in anticipation on an impending announcement.

This whole charade/media frenzy really reminds me of Samuel Beckett's existentialist play, "Waiting For Godot," in which the characters wait for someone named Godot, who never arrives. The characters in the play claim Godot to be an acquaintance, but in fact hardly know him, admitting they wouldn’t recognize him if they saw him. To occupy themselves they eat, sleep, talk, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide—anything “to hold the terrible silence at bay.” You might say this is art imitating life.

That concept leads me to the whole Barack Obama personality cult. Personally, with what is going on in the world I want a LEADER to be president, NOT a rock star -- which is how Barack Obama is being marketed, and believe me, he is being marketed HARD. Talking to some of my friends who are liberal Democrats, I swear they would not have a problem voting for a Stalin/Bin Ladin/Hitler/Pol Pot politician with the simple reason that they would have the label of being a "Democrat." We need to electing the leader for the biggest country in the world, not some crooning American Idol.

What and who is Barack Obama? For the past year all I see it to be is someone's whose mantra, so well depicted by the JibJab satire video doing the rounds on YouTube and Myspace, "Like the change we must change to the change we hold dear, and I really like change, am I clear." Nice words for a rock star, but not good for someone who must deal with Islamic terrorists bent on destroying the U.S. and our way of life and dealing with the paranoid schizophrenic megalomaniac Russians who are bent on taking over the world.

I'm no "lover" of George Bush, but at least he doesn't go around trying to be a flipflopping Messiah of change for change's sake.

Bible In A Minute - barats and bereta

See more Adam "Ghost Panther" McKay videos at Funny or Die

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Notwithstanding the journalist's name who authored the story -- Christina HOAG -- this is typical liberal Democrat thinking... You legislate a ban on the construction of fast food outlets in low income areas which is very fine and dandy. It looks sooo nice on paper like so many liberal Democrat legislation (reminds me of the character "Stuart" on MadTV -- "look what I can do!"), but you still have the existing fast food places. And of course, there is Henry Ford's newfangled invention called an "auto-mobeeel" which allows the residents to go to Popeye's Chicken outside of the area to get their trash can chicken.

But dammit, "we did something" and it will look good in print on a campaign flyer.

L.A. blocks new fast-food outlets from poor areas

By CHRISTINA HOAG

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles City Council has approved a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a low-income area of the city.

The moratorium unanimously approved Tuesday is a bid to attract restaurants that offer healthier food choices to residents in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles.

Councilwoman Jan Perry says residents at five public meetings expressed concern with the proliferation of fast-food outlets in the community plagued by above-average rates of obesity.

Nearly three-quarters of the restaurants in South L.A. are fast-food outlets. That's a higher percentage than other parts of the city but the restaurant industry says the moratorium won't help bring in alternatives.

This article just proves my point that right-wing "born again" whacked out Bible thumping Christians are just as whacked out as their whack out right-wing "born again" whacked out Koran thumping camel (and women) slaughtering Muslim brethren.

Yes, religion IS the opiate of the masses.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two prayer services will be held at St. Louis gas stations to thank God for lower fuel prices and to ask that they continue to drop. Darrell Alexander, Midwest co-chair of the Pray at the Pump movement, says prayer gatherings will be held Monday afternoon and evening at a Mobil station west of downtown St. Louis.

Participants say they plan to buy gas, pray and then sing "We Shall Overcome" with a new verse, "We'll have lower gas prices."

An activist from the Washington D.C. area, Rocky Twyman, started the effort, saying if politicians couldn't lower gas prices, it was time to ask God to intervene.

The group thinks the prayer is helping, saying prices are starting to fall below $4 a gallon.

This is Iraq's new president Nouri Al-Maliki.

For some reason I don't trust this guy AT ALL. I get the impression that he is a real snake who may be positioning himself as the next Saddam Hussein.

I also find it kind of suspect that al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. Interestingly, when asked in and interview when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Methinks he has something up his sleeve.

How refreshing!

CINCINNATI - Democrat Barack Obama insisted Monday that blacks must show greater responsibility for their actions. In remarks prepared for delivery at the annual NAACP convention, the man who could become the first black president said Washington must provide greater education and economic assistance, but that blacks must demand more of themselves.

"If we're serious about reclaiming that dream, we have to do more in our own lives, our own families and our own communities," Obama said. "That starts with providing the guidance our children need, turning off the TV and putting away the video games; attending those parent-teacher conferences, helping our children with their homework and setting a good example."

He added: "I know some say I've been too tough on folks about this responsibility stuff. But I'm not going to stop talking about it. Because I believe that in the end, it doesn't matter how much money we invest in our communities, or how many 10-point plans we propose, or how many government programs we launch — none of it will make any difference if we don't seize more responsibility in our own lives."

Western Spaghetti

DALLAS — What do "black hole," "angel food cake," and "devil's food cake" have in common?

They're all racist terms, says a Dallas County, Texas, official.

A county commissioners' meeting this week over traffic tickets turned into a tense discussion over race when one commissioner said the county's collections office was like a certain astronomical phenomenon.

"It sounds like Central Collections has become a black hole," Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said during the Monday meeting.

One black official demanded an apology, and Commissioner John Wiley Price, who also is black, said that type of language is unacceptable.

At the meeting, Mayfield said he intended his comments to be taken in the context of the scientific meaning, and became upset that he was being misunderstood.

In astronomy, the term black hole refers to a star that has collapsed upon itself, creating something so dense and small that it does not have any physical properties besides a gravitational force so great that even light cannot escape its pull.

Later, Price told MyFOXdfw.com that he believed it and other terms were racist.

"So if it's 'angel food cake,' it's white. If it's 'devil's food cake,' it's black. If you're the 'black sheep of the family,' then you gotta be bad, you know. 'White sheep,' you're okay. You know?" Price said.

Price said people should watch their words when it comes to stereotypes.

"I think people should always be careful. You know, I'm okay if I'm 'bartering' with you. ... But if I try to 'Jew you down,' Oooooh. Is that racist? I thought it meant the same thing? No, maybe it doesn't."

The world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking might have a solution to the problem over perception of the astronomical term. He refers to the phenomenon as "a singularity."

"I do not like your Christians..they are so unlike your Christ."

Mahatma Gandhi

It is interested how Gen. Wesley Clark who failed as a general, failed as a surrogate, he failed as candidate for the Presidency, and he continues to be a loser dares to take on Sen. McCain on whether McCain knows anything about the military and leadership.

Wesley Clark was FIRED from NATO for being incompetent. He was known -- in nicer circles -- as the political general. In not-so-nice circles, he was known for following those with influence too closely. The fact is, nobody pays any attention to him, and his criticizing McCain is like a flea taking on an elephant.

WASHINGTON - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate now supporting Barack Obama, said Sunday John McCain's military service does not automatically qualify him to be commander in chief.

Underscoring during a national television appearance a position he has been expressing for several weeks, Clark said performing heroic military service is not a substitute for gaining command experience.

"In the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war.

"He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility," Clark said. "That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron."

This article from the United Press International is just a touch of what Russia/The Soviet Union has in terms of its capabilities to spy and to perform genocide against other countries and cultures. Even though their people are starving, have no medicine, don't have the resources to keep their peoples warm during the brutal Russian winters, they always have money to perform their evil deeds towards an evil endgame. And just to think that in terms of foreign policy Barack Obama would truly be "Jimmy Carter Deux."

EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 29 (UPI) -- A Scottish map enthusiast has discovered that the former Soviet Union had extraordinarily detailed maps of Scotland.

The maps showed the width of important roads and the streets and buildings of major cities, along with less obvious choices like Dunfermline, a historic town between Glasgow and Edinburgh, The Scotsman reports.

John Davies told the newspaper he found the maps while he was on a trip to Latvia. He said he believes they showed the Soviet Union was contemplating invasion and occupation.

"You have got to speculate as to how maps of this complexity were put together," Davies said. "A lot of it could have been done through aerial surveillance, either by satellite or high-altitude reconnaissance planes. But the maps also include detail which just could not have been observed from the air. That means that they almost certainly had people on the ground in the U.K. compiling these maps."

The maps even showed whether buildings had been fire-proofed.

The American city should be a collection of communities where every member has a right to belong. It should be a place where every man feels safe on his streets and in the house of his friends. It should be a place where each individual's dignity and self-respect is strengthened by the respect and affection of his neighbors. It should be a place where each of us can find the satisfaction and warmth which comes from being a member of the community of man. This is what man sought at the dawn of civilization. It is what we seek today.

President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

And what is wrong with this, pray tell?

With the U.S. Supreme Court taking a super whacked out view of the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution, seeing how the whacked-out gun-toting Republicans, knowing how things go in our country, it is going to take the senseless killing of a prominent Republican politician that is going to get them all back in line towards sane gun control.

Really, these days, the Democrats make it hard for me to be a full-hearted Democrat (the party of the murderer Sen. Ted Kennedy), and the Republicans make it hard for me to be a full-hearted Republican.

Dear Lord, what is it going to take to get some sanity on this issue, huh?

I really try to be very fair of my assessments of liberals and conservatives, but this news piece from Great Britain is what makes liberals on "both sides of the pond" the laughing stock of the world.

Council bans 'brainstorming'

A council has banned the term "brainstorming" - and replaced it with "thought showers".

Officials Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent feared the phrase might offend epileptics or the mentally ill. Staff have been sent memos about the change and even sent on training courses, reports The Sun.

But Margaret Thomas, of the National Society for Epilepsy, said: "Brainstorming is a clear and descriptive phrase. "Alternatives such as "thought shower" or "blue-sky thinking" are ambiguous to say the least. "Any implication that the word "brainstorming" is offensive to epileptics takes political correctness too far."

And Richard Colwill, of mental health charity SANE, agreed: "This ban goes too far. Few would be genuinely offended by the word "brainstorming" in the context of council meetings."

A council spokesman said: "We take diversity awareness very seriously. The majority of staff have taken part in training and been asked to use the term "thought showers"."

On Friday, the esteemed journalist Tim Russert died of a heart attack at the NBC Studios in Washington DC. Tim Russert was a good journalist, but not a great one...yet all day Friday, all weekend, and then into Monday the news media kept on heeping all of the remembrances non-stop.

ENOUGH ALREADY, FOLKS!!!! TIME TO MOVE ON!!!!

Isn't that interesting....

This just convinced me that the Democratic party is not the party for me...and that they really are the party of hypocrites....and after hearing the hypocrite in chief, Al Gore, just convinced me of that even more.

Today he came out and endorsed Barack Obama for president...and in the same speech he said, "I feel your determination after two terms of the Bush-Cheney administration to change the direction of our country," he said. He accused Bush of myriad missteps, including a botched response to Hurricane Katrina, economic problems, foreign policy mistakes and allowing lead-tainted toys and poisoned pet food in from China.

"Even our dogs and cats have learned that elections matter," he said. "This election matters more than ever because America needs change more than ever."

Isn't that interesting, Mr. Gore... Your own Democratic party has played its own election roulette in Florida not counting votes, then decides to count only half the votes. What about that, Mr. bloated fat cat Gore....who complains about global warming and "carbon footprints" but prances around the country in a private jet....

I was nosing around on a personal site and saw the following description of the individual which put the biggest smile on my face:

Love to laugh. Goofy is good. I'm a sucker for nice people. I'm an adventurer at heart. I'm probably more immature than you. I'm a native San Diegan. I have a weird nick name. I don't want your life. I love my family & friends. I think good grammar is hot. I am a work in progress. I have a sensitive sense of smell. I probably should have been born in Canada. I've fallen and I can't get up. I enjoy looking up words in the dictionary. I am a gentleman. I sleep-in for sport. I read Wikipedia for fun. I make the best microwaveable food you've ever had. I prefer Pepsi to Coke. I save my ticket stubs. I'm a targeted demographic. I chew on things a lot. I found Waldo. I collect matchbooks. I often enjoy people watching more than people talking. I arrange my t-shirt rack by color. I wish I could sing. I'll never grow up. I am well read. I still eat milk and cookies. I should be working right now. I laugh at inappropriate things. I like diners over nice restaurants. I still have my tonsils and appendix. I can't believe it's not butter. I make shampoo mohawks in the shower. I believe people are inherently good. I vote. I have more sneakers than jeans. I believe in evolution. I have a subtle wit. Extremists of any stripe bother me. I like songs that build. I could never find the object in the Magic Eye posters. I think I've lost that loving feeling. I made Shake and Bake.

The California Supreme Court last week decided in a 4-3 that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional.

I have been feeling very queasy on this decision, mostly, that this decision amounts to judicial activism -- when courts overrule the will and vote of the people. It seems as the justices could give a damn for the tradition of vox populi, vox dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).

USA Today, a reasonably liberal newspaper, published an editorial today which I agree with wholeheartedly in every aspect:

Our view on same-sex marriage: California ruling invites backlash against gay rights

Thu May 22, 12:22 AM ET

Last week, when California became the second state after Massachusetts to allow gay marriage, same-sex couples celebrated and began planning June weddings. Good for them. But the unfortunate and unnecessary impact of the California Supreme Court ruling might well have been to set back the cause of gay rights more broadly.

(Photo - In San Francisco: Christmas Leubrie, left, and Alice Heimsoth celebrate last Thursday / Jack Gruber, USA TODAY )

The judges ruled 4-3 that gays' inability to get married amounts to discrimination under California's constitution, even though the state's domestic partnership laws give them the benefits and responsibilities of marriage.

In other words, pragmatic political compromise on the intensely controversial issue is not allowed in California. It's all or nothing, and recent political history leaves little doubt about what will follow.

In the three years after Massachusetts' top court legalized gay marriage in 2004, 23 states rushed to adopt constitutional bans on gay marriage. This presidential election year is likely to bring more of the same.

In effect, California's high court fixed something that wasn't broken. The state's domestic partnership laws have been a model for other states searching for the needed middle ground that addresses the deep-felt national division over gay marriage.

A recent Gallup poll shows that although 40% of Americans say marriage for same-sex couples should be legal, up from 27% in 1996, 56% still are against gay marriage. At the same time, the nation is far more accepting of homosexuality than it used to be. Several polls have shown that most Americans favor civil unions — which convey the same legal rights as heterosexual marriage — as a reasonable balance between the hard-line attitudes expressed in the two opposing views below this editorial. Eight states allow gay couples to enter civil unions or register as domestic partners.

Sometimes, of course, courts do need to intervene to force morally and constitutionally necessary changes — such as mandating school integration and overturning bans on interracial marriage — when voters or their elected representatives won't do so.

But the domestic partnership laws in California are hardly equivalent to the egregious racial discrimination of the Jim Crow era. Far from denying rights, they guarantee gays equal treatment in such important areas as raising children, assigning responsibility for medical choices and settling financial matters.

By pushing the envelope, the California ruling will help those who want to deny gays such rights — blatant discrimination that reaches far beyond understandable differences rooted in the religious meaning of marriage. Even in California, an initiative is already underway to put a same-sex marriage ban into the state constitution. Similar bans are likely to be considered in Arizona and Florida. Failed attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution will revive.

The special status and sanctity of marriage is the ultimate blessing for couples who want to spend their lives together. Eventually, the nation might be ready to extend the institution to same-sex couples. But, as New Jersey's top judges wrote in a 2006 gay marriage decision, courts "cannot guarantee social acceptance, which must come through the evolving ethos of a maturing society."

It will be regrettable if the impact of the California decision is to slow or reverse that evolution.

"Those Who Refuse To Learn The Mistakes From The Past Are Doomed To Repeat Them"

This is a recent photo of pop idol Madonna which all of a sudden made me remember Betty Davis' character in "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?"

Ouch!

It is interesting now that it has been announced that Sen. Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor how everyone seems to be boohooing. Certainly as someone whose immediate family has been affected by terminal cancer it is sad. Nevertheless, it is SOOOOOOO CONVENIENT that the news media amid all of the tears has forgotten about the female victims of Sen. Kennedy....Mary Jo Kopechne and even his former wife,, Joan Kennedy, who he ruined with his own womanizing, alcohol and drug abuse.

The Kennedys would love the world to forget that in 1969, Edward Kennedy drove a car off a bridge into the channel between Chappaquiddick Island and Martha's Vineyard. Kennedy managed to escape, but his passenger, campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned in the submerged car. Kennedy left the scene of the accident and did not call authorities until the following day. Kennedy pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence of two months in jail.

I really have never felt so lousy physically.

I meandered out to get my mail and got this piece of cheery mail....

Oh my God....I think I'm going to renounce my Latvian citizenship after this TOP WINNING entry in the 2008 Eurovision contest....

One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you dont come home at night.

Margaret Mead

I heard the most stupid news headline this evening on San Diego's CBS-TV affiliate.

"Tonight the FDA is announcing the largest recall of beef in U.S. history because the cows were mistreated" -- as they show video cows slipping and sliding in what appeared to be manure.

OK....does that mean that if I were to be eating beef from this packing facility that...

a) I would be befallen with bad karma because I was enjoying a hamburger from this packing plant because the cows were mistreated,

or, b) I would get sick because of fecal matter.

Don't these people think about what they're reading?????

Outstanding TV commercials!

I came to the conclusion today that I'm so lucky that I'm not weighted down, nor have I ever been weighted down with the dogma of religion. It is not to say that I'm an atheist, but I do believe that it is good to believe "in something." My point is that people who have the word "devout" before the a proper noun (e.g. "Christian," "Jew," "Muslim,") often times are almost being strapped down and gagged by an ideology. You see people engaging in ridiculous rituals "in service to their God" which are nothing but actions which have been inculcated in the different flavors of religion to control people as to indicate some respect into a higher deity.

There is no "life" or "living" if one always is living under some sword of Damocles imposed just because someone said if you act in a certain way (or don't act) that "God" will punish you. The different Holy books should be looked upon as guidebooks on living. Being "devout" serves no other purpose than to allow certain individuals to control other individuals. Dogmatic religion serves no other purpose than to allow one group of people to dominate and control another group of people. Human beings are not lemmings, nor did the higher power which gave us life intend for us to be lemmings. Spirituality/respect to a higher immortal deity has to be in your heart and soul, not directed by a mortal dressed in some costume imposing themselves onto to a group of people.

As Charles M. Schulz, who left his mark on the world forever with his "Peanuts" comic strip is quoted to have once said, "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand."

As an individual who considers himself to be independent, this article from the ContraCosta Times just confirms my opinion that the loud and intolerant wingnuts have taken over the Democrat party. I have had personal experience in dealing with these people and know how annoying these whackos are.

First I found it curious watching Barack Obama being endorsed by a fat-cat bagillionaire womanizing confirmed alcoholic, Sen. Ted Kennedy...and now this.

I will now support (with the exception of Mike Huckabee) any Republican running for President.

The Democratic party needs to attract independent voters like myself. Groups like Code Pink and MoveOn.org associated with the Democratic Party just push me into a space across the aisle.

Berkeley council tells Marines to leave
By Doug Oakley

STAFF WRITER

Hey-hey, ho-ho, the Marines in Berkeley have got to go.

That's the message from the Berkeley City Council, which voted 6-3 Tuesday night to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." In addition, the council voted to explore enforcing its law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation against the Marines because of the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. And it officially encouraged the women's peace group Code Pink to impede the work of the Marines in the city by protesting in front of the station.

In a separate item, the council voted 8-1 to give Code Pink a designated parking space in front of the recruiting station once a week for six months and a free sound permit for protesting once a week from noon to 4 p.m. Councilman Gordon Wozniak opposed both items. The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December of 2006. For about the past four months, Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station.

"I believe in the Code Pink cause. The Marines don't belong here, they shouldn't have come here, and they should leave," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates after votes were cast. A Marines representative did not respond to requests for comment. The resolution telling the Marines they are unwelcome and directing the city attorney to explore issues of sexual orientation discrimination was brought to the council by the city's Peace and Justice commission. The recommendation to give Code Pink a parking space for protesting and a free sound permit was brought by council members Linda Maio and Max Anderson.

Code Pink on Wednesday started circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot in Berkeley that would make it more difficult to open military recruiting offices near homes, parks, schools, churches libraries or health clinics. The group needs 5,000 signatures to make the ballot. Even though the council items passed, not everyone is happy with the work of Code Pink. Some employees and owners of businesses near the Marines office have had enough of the group and its protests. "My husband's business is right upstairs, and this (protesting) is bordering on harassment," Dori Schmidt told the council. "I hope this stops." An employee of a nearby business who asked not to be identified said Wednesday the elderly Code Pink protesters are aggressive, take up parking spaces, block the sidewalk with their yoga moves, smoke in the doorways, and are noisy. "Most of the people around here think they're a joke," the woman said.

Wozniak said he was opposed to giving Code Pink a parking space because it favors free speech rights of one group over another. "There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me," Wozniak said. "It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy." Ninety-year-old Fran Rachel, a Code Pink protester who spoke at the council meeting, said the group's request for a parking space and noise permit was especially important because the Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war. "This is very serious," Rachel said. "This isn't a game; it's mass murder. There's a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this."

Anderson, a former Marine who said he was "drummed out" of the corps when he took a stand against the Vietnam War, said he'd love to see the Marines high tale it out of town. "We are confronted with an organization that can spend billions of dollars on propaganda," Anderson said. "This is not Okinawa here; we're involved in a naked act of aggression. If we can provide a space for ordinary people to express themselves against this kind of barbarity, then we should be doing it."

Life may not be the party we hoped for,
but while we're here we should dance.

I'd like to see Ted Kennedy do this with Al Gore!

There is activism and there is activism, but once again here is an example of when activism goes to the level of utter absurdity and pettiness. "Liberals" so often like to "make statements" to show that "they care," yet they are always running short on maturity and pragmatism. And to compare President Bush to Hitler -- is unspeakable.

Saddam would make quick work of these idiots.

Brattleboro to vote on arresting Bush, Cheney

January 26, 2008

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro residents will vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont. The Brattleboro Select Board voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning. According to Town Clerk Annette Cappy, organizers of the Bush-Cheney issue gathered enough signatures, and it was up to the Select Board whether Brattleboro voters would consider the issue in March. Cappy said residents will get to vote on the matter by paper balloting March 4. Kurt Daims, 54, of Brattleboro, the organizer of the petition drive, said Friday the debate to get the issue on the ballot was a good one. Opposition to the vote focused on whether the town had any power to endorse the matter.

"It is an advisory thing," said Daims, a retired prototype machinist and stay-at-home dad of three daughters. So far, Vermont is the only state Bush hasn't visited since he became president in 2001. Daims said the most grievous crime committed by Bush and Cheney was perjury — lying to Congress and U.S. citizens about the basis of a war in Iraq. He said the latest count showed a total of 600,000 people have died in the war.

Daims also said he believed Bush and Cheney were also guilty of espionage for spying on American people and obstruction of justice, for the politically generated firings of U.S. attorneys. Voting to put the matter on the town ballot were Chairwoman Audrey Garfield and board members Richard Garrant and Dora Boubalis. Voting against the idea were board members Richard DeGray and Stephen Steidle. Daims said the names submitted to the town clerk's office were the second wave of signatures the petition drive had to collect, because he had to rewrite the wording of the petition. He said he gathered nearly 500 signatures in about three weeks, and he said most people he encountered were eager to sign it. He started the petition drive about three months ago. "Everybody I talked to wanted Bush to go," he said, noting that even members of the local police department supported the drive. "This is exactly what the charter envisioned as a citizen initiative," Daims said. "People want to express themselves and they want to say how they feel." He said the idea is spreading: Activists in Louisville, Ky., are spearheading a similar drive, and he said activists were also working in Montague, Mass., a Berkshires town.

The article asked the town attorney to "draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities." The article goes on to say the indictments would be the "law of the town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro police ... arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro, if they are not duly impeached ..."

Daims said people in Brattleboro were willing to "think outside the box" and consider the issue. Daims had no compunction in comparing Bush and Cheney with one of the most notorious people in history. "If Hitler were still alive and walked through Brattleboro, I think the local police would arrest him for war crimes," Daims said.

Well, it looks like Al "Chicken Little" Gore is back trying to grab headlines, saying in part, "Climate change is occurring far more rapidly than even the worst predictions of the UN's Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change." He said that recent evidence shows "the climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly than those on the pessimistic side of the IPCC projections had warned us."

I love when politicians become experts on everything. Is there climate change going on? Any blind person would say an emphatic "yes." Is it all being caused by humans? I don't think so.

What I do know is that Al Gore in actuality doesn't give a rat's ass over global warming, but he has found himself a good schtick doing what he is doing in order to TRY to find a topic/issue that the Democrats might be able to hang their proverbial coat. Democrats are soft on illegal immigration and they are soft on global terrorism. (Of course these days serendipitously they were handed a sudden issue with the concerns over the economy.) To make things worse for the Democrats, they have two (three, if you count former President Clinton) frontrunners who are constantly getting into catfights over personal issues rather than dealing with concrete solutions.

"You can't walk in a sewer without getting something on you."

With the first round of the presidential primary now just something just so much gristle for the political commentators to continuously chew on until the next round, here are my impressions of the candidates.

BARACK OBAMA
He loves to speak in platitudes with words that really sound good. But the thing is that he has said nothing that hasn't been said before in a political campaign. He is trying to have himself framed as kind of a John F. Kennedy for the 21st century, but should he be elected, will be as disastrous as Jimmy Carter -- who has shown his true colors as a senile and anti-semitic individual. Obama talking about "change" is cute and stirs up the crowds, but what has he done so phenomenal? What legislation has he put forth to the betterment of our country?

HILLARY CLINTON
She is the best candidate, but like many Americans, I'm concerned about the Clinton dynasty being maintained just as some are concerned about the Bush dynasties.

MIKE HUCKABEE
Do we really want a politician whose name evokes images of some Civil War military general? He has some good ideas, but the trick is to be bring them into fruition.

MIT ROMNEY
I don't trust him. He comes off as a used car sales. I don't give a damn if he is a Mormon or not. Mormons are good people who have learned how to be self-sufficient.

JOHN McCAIN
He has served his country honorably and is liberal enough, yet conservative enough.

RUDY GUILIANI
(see John McCain)

RON PAUL
Weirdo who is very dangerous with his isolationist political views.

....at the same time there is this VERY cool song which I think really represents the so-called reason for Christian celebration of Christmas.

"Nassiri" is an Iranian singer who I had never heard of until I saw this...this...this...obnoxious...(noxious) video on CNN. As far as
I'm concerned this song was put into circulation by Al Queda in order
to boost recruiting converts into Islam.

Ohhhh Jesus.....protect us from your followers!

Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad...where are you when we REALLY need you?

"Probably my worst quality is that I get very passionate about what I think is right." - H. R. Clinton


I often don't agree with Hillary, but I can say a loud "AMEN" to this when it comes to describing myself.

Another interpretation....

Another selection by composer Karl Jenkins...

Here is a really nice upbeat tune for the day of wrath -- Dies Irae. This piece was written by Karl Jenkins who composed the string orchestra music that accompanies the commercials for Debeers diamonds.

This Leann Rimes song rocks!