This is the kind of case I want to see the ACLU start taking if they want to convince many of us that they aren't pursuing an anti-Christian agenda...
"The United States Supreme Court may hear a case involving a school district's censorship of an art poster that a kindergartener drew for a school assignment -- a drawing that was partly suppressed by school officials because it contained the child's depiction of Jesus.
The case involves Antonio Peck, who was a kindergarten student in the late 1990s at Baldwinsville Elementary School in Syracuse, New York. The boy's teacher told members of the class to draw posters illustrating their understanding of the environment. Antonio's poster featured children holding hands and encircling the globe and people picking up trash and recycling, along with a picture of Jesus, kneeling with one knee to the ground and his hands outstretched toward the sky.
School officials folded the poster in half in order to cover up the drawing of Christ. They claimed the picture violated "church and state" and would give the impression that the school was teaching religion, even though the drawing was clearly a student's artwork.
...the fold made Antonio's look odd and the student's name on the poster was cut in half, and he felt ashamed of his displayed work, especially after school officials informed him and his parents why his poster was folded. The child assumed he had done something wrong, and when school officials refused to apologize, rectify the situation, or adopt a policy to prevent future censorship, Liberty Counsel filed suit on the Peck family's behalf." (source1, source2)
Dudes? I get linked on Daily Kos and neither of you tell me about it? What's up with that? I thought Kos was your god...I thought you were both faithful daily readers...? ;)
I was lumped in with the jedi knightsFreepers, which is fine with me... HERE IS THE POST which is basically whining about the fact that conservatives were upset that the Human Shields didn't thank the military --apparently we should have been posting thanks and rejoicing instead of questioning the hostage’s speeches and motives.
Are you for real? Truthfully I *WAS* happy they were rescued (not released, rescued) UNTIL they were ungrateful. After they thanked their captors and not their rescuers (who they've most likely protested against) I couldn't care less if they had been ceremoniously beheaded to the sounds of the Vienna Boys Choir singing Allah Ahkbar...
oops, did I say that out loud…?
Anyway... How about the fact that they were rescued because of interrogation information from the infamous Abu Garib prison (is this story is steeped in irony or what)?
How about the fact that one of the former hostages "was part of a human shield for peace activist corps. once "welcomed by Saddam Hussein as a useful propaganda tool." (source)
I think that doing posts of glee over the peaceniks rescue is out of the question given that they should have never been there to begin with... but hey, who am I to say, I'm just a Blogger that isn't paid by my party of choice...
Yes, I am beating a dead horse here, I know... But as I cruise around MySpace.com I am still seeing underage girls with WAY too much personal info posted. You can have the smartest teen ever, but smarts will not help her when she is pulled into a car because she posted her picture and the name of her high school...
My Space is an after hours club with no dancing and no need to buy someone a drink. Would you let your 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17 year old go to an after-hours club? (If you say yes, you've never done after-hours in Philly...the things my innocent eyes beheld!)
The horror stories abound (notice, there are no stalking/molesting/raping stories about Blogger...) Here are some incidents originating in My Space encounters:
"In one case, Sonny Szeto, 22, traveled from Jersey City, N.J., to Connecticut in October and molested an 11-year-old girl in her playroom while her parents slept upstairs, according to an FBI affidavit." (source)
"In the other case, Stephen Letavec, 39, molested a 14-year-old Connecticut girl in his car while visiting from Elrama, Pa., in October, according to another FBI report. The FBI said Letavec made several visits to see the girl between last summer and January." (source)
"A middle school student faces expulsion for allegedly posting graphic threats against a classmate on the popular MySpace.com Web site, a district administrator said. Twenty other students at TeWinkle Middle School were slapped with two-day suspensions for viewing the boy’s posting on the social networking site, officials said. According to parents of three TeWinkle students, the boy allegedly created a MySpace group on Jan. 3 that he called “I hate (girl’s name)” and included an expletive and an anti-Semitic reference. Five days later a second posting asked, “Who here in the (group name) wants to take a shotgun and blast her in the head over a thousand times?" (source)
"Six Lexington police officers were administratively charged today after an internal investigation into comments and photos they posted on the popular Web site Myspace.com. Two of the officers, Joshua Cromer — charged with unbecoming conduct — and Gene Haynes — charged with unbecoming conduct and interfering with a case, were relieved of sworn duty with pay, pending a final disposition. The officers turned in their badges and guns, and they cannot make arrests. The other four officers, Richard Sisk, charged with unbecoming conduct; Aaron Noel, charged with unbecoming conduct; Adam O’Quinn, charged with breaking the guidelines an officer must follow when making public statements about their jobs or the department; and Paul Stewart, charged with unbecoming conduct, will continue to work at the police department. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be lodged, officials said." (source)
I have no idea what my point is... other than I wish you had to be 21 to use the site...
Sorry, this is a 'local interest' thing...but Lynn Swann has a lead over Gov. Ed Rendell. Now most people think that Rendell is unbeatable --he has tons of money and all the Union (Labor) backing. But Swann has a name and some Superbowl rings and I'm OK with that (The same reason I want Fred Thompson to run in '08), if 'name recognition' gets a conservative in office -then so be it.
Some may not know that JFK won his first election because his father paid someone with the same name as the favorite candidate to run -this (brilliant) maneuver led to two people of the same name on the ballot which split the vote and opened the door for John F. Kennedy...
I guess when you live in a country where more people vote for the next American Idol than vote in primary elections...it doesn't hurt to have a gimmick (or a name).
My bumper sticker has been on the Jeep for about a month now! Go Lynn!
I stopped doing Technorati searches a long time ago...it was nice seeing when people linked to my site, but it also led me to some really crappy posts that I would have never seen without that little tool. I decided that I was better off not reading some of the stuff that's out there.
But now I've discovered a blog tracker that I like even better. It's called KINJA and the way they have it set up is pretty cool -it's also a lot easier than Technorati to get to the actual post that you were mentioned in. I haven't quite figured out how to use all the features, but I'm digging it so far.
...And really, Blogging is all about ego -so why fight it ;)
So the long anticipated "Democrat security agenda" has finally been revealed...
1) They vow to make President George W. Bush's administration be accountable for their record of "incompetence" on foreign affairs and domestic security. (Is this Teddy Kennedy's impeachment plan rearing its head again?)
2) They will "make progress in Iraq" (yeah, there's a sound, well thought out plan)
3) Slow nuclear proliferation
4) Bolster the military (including protective gear for troops and a strengthened National Guard)
5) Protect America from disasters, whether natural or man-made, at home. I am dying to hear how you protect people from natural disasters...
6) Move aggressively against Osama bin Laden and terrorist networks and "eliminate terrorist breeding grounds by combating the economic, social, and political conditions that allow extremism to thrive."
7) Work with international allies
8) "Redouble efforts" to stop nuclear weapons development in Iran and North Korea. (source)
What can I possibly comment here that wouldn't be predictable and obvious --the "plan" pretty much speaks for itself...
UPDATE:
Can you imagine if GWB or Bill Frist unveiled a Grand GOP plan and did this...?
***In other news about Democrats... Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) PUNCHED a capitol Police officer...setting a great example for her constituents... I know this sounds whiny, but seriously, can you imagine if Rick Santorum punched a cop?! The news would be going wild for days -if not weeks...***
...but it seems your "censure" call was just a colossal waste of time -and probably tax payer money.
"A panel of former Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges yesterday told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that President Bush did not act illegally when he created by executive order a wiretapping program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).
The five judges testifying before the committee said they could not speak specifically to the NSA listening program without being briefed on it, but that a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not override the president's constitutional authority to spy on suspected international agents under executive order...." (source)
Two fellow bloggers -Liz and Kali, had surgery yesterday (in completely unrelated incidents). I know both are probably in bed and on strong meds and not blogging, but I hope you are both feeling better soon!
Ninja has another root canal, cap and filling at 11am.
Also, please keep Tom M. in your thoughts...he is going through a really tough time (medically).
Inspired by Soldiers He Met as a Flight Attendant, 40-year-old Joined the Ranks BY BILL HESS, Sierra Vista Herald
"While many 40-year-old soldiers are looking to end a 20-year career in the Army, Brian Esip is just starting his.
Some call him the old man, grandpa and other endearing elderly terms because many of them are young enough to be his kids.
“Most of the soldiers my age are closer to retirement. It’s a paradox. I’m just beginning my Army career,” Esip said Tuesday.
He took advantage of the increase in the age limit for people to enlist. The age limit was changed to 39 in the Reserves in March 2005, and President George W. Bush’s signature on the National Defense Authorization Act in January of this year elevating the same age for active duty provided the avenue for Esip to start his march as an Army Reservist.
The specialist is assigned to Company A, 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, where he is training to become an imagery analyst.
Esip knows that although he is a Reservist he may well be called to head to the “box” — Iraq, Afghanistan or some other potential soldiering hot spots...When he considered entering the Army, he didn’t have much time, since his 40th birthday was fast-approaching.
During his job as a flight attendant prior to the terrorist attacks, he met military members who fought in the first war with Iraq.
One time he met parents who were flying to Frankfurt, Germany. Their son had been killed in Desert Storm.
The dignity of the parents going to bring their son’s body home stuck with him.
After Sept. 11, military members who had fought in Afghanistan and Iraq were passengers, and talking with them he gained a respect for their sacrifices.
“This is the best country in the world,” Esip said, “I want to do something.”
When Army recruiting went into a slump and the age limited raised for enlistments, he said there was an opportunity available that he could not ignore... (Read the Rest of the Story)
I know...I always say "this is the best article...go read it", but this is a 'worth the read' article yet again.
It discusses all that's tied up in the "Bush Lied, people Died" crowd and how they are denouncing the Saddam regime documents before all of them are even translated. You see, Bush has to have lied because they published books and articles about it --even with that title, so they can't see any other possibility. They are panicking that they will be the joke that history looks back on with disdain for pretending the threat to American life is a figment of the right-wing imagination...
"Let's recap. The US intelligence consensus was that Saddam wouldn't invade Kuwait in 1990. They were totally unaware that Saddam was operating a "Manhattan Project"-sized nuclear weapons program until after the 1991 Gulf War. They were a bit off on the status of Saddam's wmd programs in the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate. Imagine if they also blew it on the extent of the relationship between Saddam and al Qaeda.
All of the above pretty much encapsulates the current media view. Because they cannot even entertain the possibility that they may have been wrong, there isn't any new evidence that can possibly be produced." (This is just the last paragraph, read the whole thing -it's short).
If those documents do show a relationship between Saddam's regime and Bin Laden/al Qaeda... how many books will get pulled from shelves? How many blogs will close? How many non-profits will crumble? ...But best of all, how loud and how many times will we get to say "I told you so!" ;)
Speaking of this crowd (or more specifically, the moonbatty Charlie Sheen crowd), someone sent me an email yesterday with a subject line that read -"Terrorists Didn't Blow Up the WTC?!" (the CC list was pretty good too -aside from me it went to Dick Cheney, someone at the NY Islanders, a bunch of people at Fox and Michelle Malkin) There was a video attachment that I will link here for your tin-foil hat viewing pleasure: George W. Bush planted bombs in the World Trade Center
In Germany you can now be put in jail for TWO YEARS for downloading music/movies for PRIVATE USE (Five years for commercial use).
"GERMANS risk two years in prison if they illegally download films and music for private use under a new law agreed yesterday. Anybody who downloads films for commercial use could be jailed for up to five years.
The measures, some of the toughest in Europe, were announced after an aggressive campaign by the film industry in Germany, the largest market in the EU and one of the most computer-literate populations." (source)
This law makes no sense. What if you already have the CD or the DVD and you just want the MP3 or want the file on your laptop...how is it stealing then if you already bought it?
...Maybe if there were actually 13 good songs on a CD people would buy it instead of downloading the ONE or TWO decent ones. Maybe if most films weren't crap these days people would pay to see them in the theater (after watching 45 minutes of commercials after paying $10 to get in...) I don't think anyone is feeling sorry for Tommy Mottola in his tricked out Bentley...
Before the triumph of the right in '04 I promised myself that if Kerry won I would be VERY careful what I said in front of my boys. I respect the office of the President and I want them to do the same. I want them to respect authority. I want them to have an opinion and a strong will, but I don't want them to be derelicts.
"He said it was a prank gone wrong, but police are taking a 13-year-old student's alleged threats against the president very seriously. Authorities have charged the teen with terroristic threatening, a felony.
The Ockerman Middle School student is accused of making threats against the city of Florence and the president of the United States in e-mails he allegedly sent to city officials, police said." (source)
Does the article say this boy's parents were Bush-hating lefties? No, it doesn't, but what 13 year old is even thinking about the President -let alone emailing threats...unless of course he's hearing it every day at home...
When I was 10 years old McDonalds introduced the "Great Muppet Caper" commemorative glasses. Remember them? I had three and needed the fourth to complete my series. I needed Kermit. Justrose, Liz, Justrose's brother and I all rode our bikes (my beloved pink Huffy 'Thunder Rose' pink dirt bike) to McDonalds. As I rode home (about 3/4 mile) with one hand on my handlebar and the other clutching the Kermit glass, JR's brother and I started to race... I hit a bump at the top of our street and flew from my bike. After skidding about 10 feet on my palms and face, I lay there in a heap with Kermit glass all over me and no skin left on the inside of my hands.
The next thing I really remember was being in the Emergency room with JR -the doctor telling us that I probably had a concussion and could start "projectile vomiting". I remember Rose and I giggling uncontrollably through the explanation of that...
The point of this little childhood recollection was a preface as to why I am so delighted that yesterday, in a new little vintage toy shop near my house, I purchased the entire McDonald's Muppet Caper glass collection for the low, low price of $25. I have no idea what I will do with them (the glass is way too thin to actually use them with two boys in the house), but a childhood dream of owning the whole collection has been brought to fruition --even if it took 24 years...
The Minutemen brought the situation firmly to the forefront of American thought...and now, even though I am sick-to-death of talking about it, I feel that we must. All the protests, new legislation --and the dreaded "A-word" (amnesty) on the table, makes the subject impossible to ignore (you can really only get away with posting about Sean Penn and his doll once...)
I have too many thoughts swirling to make this a cohesive post, so forgive me if I just throw some things out there...
First and foremost I think we should understand why no politicians want to touch this issue. With all the security issues and money being siphoned into illegals, you would think the issue would be a no-brainer. It is a no-brainer for politicians...it's estimated that by 2050 Hispanics will be the majority race in the US. Enough said? It seems that both parties are vying to be the "Hispanic party".
Second, I don't understand why this is a left/right issue. Isn't it the left that wants no one to be poor, better public schools instead of vouchers and health care for all? Well, we could probably do all that with the money this country spends on illegals...housing, welfare, schooling, health care... I wonder what is costing more, the war on Iraq or the growing strain illegals place on this country each year. Hasn't the left imagined what grand social programs they could embark on with all that money?
Third, is the dreaded statistics. Every pro-amnesty pundit on TV claims what great, law-abiding, hardworking people are pouring over the border. One woman (sorry, I caught this on TV yesterday and have no source) was saying that anyone that uses the term "illegal alien" and is against amnesty is the equivalent of David Duke....? If you want people to abide by American law you are the same as a KKK member? The statistics tell a different story than the amnesty pundits-- hardworking, some are yes, but are the majority "good people"? The numbers say no. Illegals make up about 3% of the population YET they make up 17% of the prisoners in federal jails (and HALF the jail population in California). Obviously they aren't "Law abiding" or they wouldn't be here to begin with...but they don't seem to be abiding to laws once they're here either.
My solution remains the same...if Vicente Fox wants to continue to encourage illegals to cross our border -either an Israeli-style wall will be erected, or each person crossing that border will be hauling two barrels of oil...
The left seems to be consumed with glee over what they have been touting as the Mỹ Lai Massacre replay in Iraq. Why oh why do they (Bill Maher in particular) jump at ANY chance to vilify American troops?
During the initial invasion I always thought much of the civilian casualty was caused by the opposition. That's what *I* would do if I were them (especially after seeing the protests here and the pressure the President was under from pacifist groups). Now, I'm not saying that war doesn't cause civilian deaths, but if the initial bombing was going as awry as the media would have had us believe -we have been wasting LOTS of money on technology and pilots... Would you put it past Hakuna Matata (or whatever that chubby dudes name is) to kill his own people and blame it on us?
Back to the point, I have no problem believing that terrorists are killing civilians themselves to make sure we don't "win hearts and minds" and that's what the military is saying happened this time also--
"U.S. commanders in Iraq on Monday accused powerful Shi'ite groups of moving the corpses of gunmen killed in battle to encourage accusations that U.S.-led troops massacred unarmed worshippers in a mosque.
"After the fact, someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was. There's been huge misinformation," Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said.
He rejected the accusations of a massacre that prompted the Shi'ite-led government to demand U.S. forces cede control of security but declined to spell out which group he believed moved the bodies." (source)
(Does 37 people constitute a massacre?)
And on the subject of sick and deprived things happening in Iraq (in the name of Allah), did you hear about the doctor that was killing soldiers and police officers? When they were coming into the hospital after being attacked by suicide bombers or IEDs --this doctor would act like he was going to treat them, but instead finishing the job off for the "insurgents". 'Aint that some shit? "...Many of the wounded were almost certain to die because one of the doctors at the Republic Hospital was a member of an insurgent cell. Pretending to treat the injured men, he killed 43 of them by secretly administering lethal injections, a police inquiry has revealed." (source)
I guess the Qur'an trumps that there Hippocratic Oath huh?
Islam: Kookier Than the Spaghetti Monster and Tom Cruise
Remember in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy only had to click her gaudy red shoes and say "There's no place like home" three times to get back to Kansas? Well, apparently it's the same in Islam with divorce. Say "Talaq" (divorce) three times in your sleep and poof --you and your wife are history (whether you want to be or not)...
"Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband Aftab had uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers on Monday.
When local Islamic leaders got to hear, they said Aftab's words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as "triple talaq." The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.
The religious leaders ruled that if the couple wanted to remarry they would have to wait at least 100 days. Sohela would also have to spend a night with another man and be divorced by him in turn." (source)
...I know, some of you boys are now thinking of converting ;)
Interpreting the Grunts -By Nathaniel Fick, Former Marine Capt. Nathaniel Fick served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"THERE WAS A RUNNING joke in my Marine units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each grunt thought he was the best, the platoon above him was good, the company above that was mediocre and the overarching battalion was actively trying to get him killed. So it is with most organizations. People near the bottom wear blinders, and their diligent attention to the task at hand is precisely what makes them less qualified to assess the bigger picture.
This phenomenon helps explain Zogby International's recent survey of U.S. troops in Iraq, which reported that 72% of them think the U.S. should withdraw within a year. Of course they do. The troops have no control over the broader strategy directing U.S. policy in Iraq, so they are suspicious of it. U.S. soldiers in Normandy in 1944 probably felt the same way.
Some newspapers and blogs across the country trumpeted the findings of the Zogby poll, which was conducted from mid-January to mid-February. They said the survey portended disaster for the U.S. in Iraq, as if the loss of faith of the common soldier on the ground reflected some kind of turning point in the war.
But the uncomfortable reality of polls is that you can't cherry-pick their results. Conclusions that don't support our preconceived notions must be taken along with those that do.
A less-heralded finding in the Zogby poll was that only 30% of the troops said they'd been inadequately supplied with body armor and armored vehicles, a low figure given that media coverage has suggested that the complaint is widespread among soldiers. Nearly two-thirds reported that basic infrastructure and services in Iraq — electricity, water, healthcare and so on — have improved in the last year. Ironically, the troops' opinions on these topics, which run against the grain of popular perception, have a much stronger foundation in their daily experience.
As critics of the Iraq war rallied around that 72% figure on withdrawal, defenders of the policy trashed Zogby's methods and questioned the poll's motives. The firm has been tight-lipped about its methodology, citing "security purposes."
There is, however, one telling hint: A quarter of those surveyed were female, but only about 15% of U.S. forces in Iraq are female. This indicates that the sample was skewed toward logistical support troops as opposed to front-line combat forces." (READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE) (H/T: KP)
Intelligent Design VS. The Flying Spaghetti Monster
A 25 year old physicist was having a temper tantrum over the prospect of "Intelligent Design" being taught in public schools --and his pro-active response? Not to be outdone by L. Ron Hubbard he decided to start his own religion: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (the al dente deity is pictured). I guess he chose this because Flying Space Monkey was already taken.
On the "churches" website they have an open letter to Kansas public schools that rationalizes if "alternative theories" are being presented...why not his idea of a pasta god that created the world.
"He even has his own Bible: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, to be published Tuesday from Random House. It's written by his foremost prophet, Bobby Henderson, who launched this satiric dig at so-called intelligent design about a year ago, and lived to see it take on a life of its own.
"It's amazing that a satirical monster could get this big, but then, he did create the universe," says Dee Dee McKinney, content administrator for the FSM online discussion forum and the reclusive Henderson's primary mouthpiece.
Henderson, a 25-year-old physicist and graduate of Oregon State University, conceived of the Flying Spaghetti Monster last year as a reductio ad absurdum of the intelligent design argument for inclusion in curriculums.
According to intelligent design boosters, since evolution is only a "theory" and not provable, an alternative -- that the universe was created by an intelligent designer -- should be given equal time in science classes.
The "alternative" they presumably had in mind was Christianity.
But, said Henderson to some chums over beers, by the same logic the "intelligent designer" could just as easily be, say, a Flying Spaghetti Monster." (source)
...The sad thing is that 20 years from now this will probably be an actual religion and McCauley Kaulkin will be their esteemed leader.
Science people get really upset over the whole Creationism thing... Well, I went to an evangelical Christian school for 12 years, never learned evolution and I turned out just fine :)
Sean Penn admitted (on Richard Johnson's "Page Six") that he does nasty things to his Ann Coulter doll. From what he says he not only tortures Ann's likeness, but also violates it in sexual ways. What a freak.
When you watch video of random "Peace protests" there is always red-faced vein-popping screaming, snatching signs, pushing and punching. Now we have another "peace activist" sexually torturing the likeness of a woman? Sean Penn, peace crusader and misogynist. I wonder how many protests there would be from this crowd if it was Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich,, Ollie North and Michelle Malkin down in GITMO...
"It's a good thing for Ann Coulter that Sean Penn doesn't know voodoo. Penn has a plastic Barbie-like doll of the right-wing pundit that he likes to torture on occasion. "We violate her," the ornery actor tells The New Yorker about his mini-Coulter. "There are cigarette burns in some funny places..." (source)
That's just weird... All that *I* do with my Ann Coulter doll is make her dance with the President... ;)
Okay, I know it's probably overkill, but there is another "ALa interview"... (I heard that sigh!)
I don't know if you guys have been reading the series of Blogger interviews over at Basil's Blog, but they're good because they're really lighthearted (hardly political) --and other bloggers can submit questions for the interviewee.
So, I finished mine last week (I'm glad some of you guys submitted questions) and it was posted over at Basil's yesterday... I had a good time doing this one.
If you're interested in being interviewed, you can sign up while you're over there.
I've been having so much fun with my tiny little Canon SD450 Elph that I thought I'd share...
This car was parked in the lot of a Barnes & Noble that is quite the "crunchy" hot spot. I know there is a glare on the window, but the car was fairly new and completely filled with trash --every inch but the driver's seat. It was gone when we left the store. Now that's taking hoarding to a whole new level... I wanted to wait in the lot to see what was driving it, but Justrose wouldn't let me.
I was driving behing this car the other day --do you think he noticed my flash in his rearview mirror?
...as he turned off I noticed the SEPTA bus (Philly's "lovely" PT)
Here is a flag from the local "Friends School" (damn Quakers) -they are flying around the whole perimeter of the $13,000/yr. High School...
On Friday, Ninja and I went into a local Police/Military/Spy store to look for goodies to put in AG's care package and this sign was on the counter: (Even cooler when I tell you that the owners/workers all looked to be foreigners)
Last but not least...Here is one of the most common sites in Philly, my sister (AB) refusing to leave a crane machine until she wins some ridiculous thing she has set her sights on...
I am a nerd and was up VERY late designing a Theme park (Courtesy of Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 Triple Thrill Pack). I have tried to stop playing it, but alas, I have lost the battle. I currently have 63 attractions, 7 mechanics, 2 security guards, 2 plushies in Knight Costumes and 8 handymen in full time employ...
The pentagon says that Russia leaked US Invasion plans to Iraq before the war... according to Iraqi intelligence documents captured by the American military.
"One of the documents, which purports to be a summary of a letter sent to Saddam Hussein's office by a Russian official, claims that Moscow had "sources inside the American Central Command in Doha" — the U.S. military's headquarters during the war — which Russia used to convey American intentions and troop movements to Baghdad.
Russia had well-known and extensive diplomatic and economic ties to Baghdad prior to the U.S.-led invasion.
Analysts said the revelations could be some of the most damaging to bilateral relations since the end of the Cold War, and while they cautioned that Moscow may have an explanation for the disclosures, they noted that some of the details were so sensitive that they would be hard to justify." (source)
The protest signs should have read "No No-War for Oil" --as Russia and France only objected to the war because of their financial gain from Saddam's regime... And somehow we get the bad rap.
Another of the documents released may have top Dems apologizing the Bush and Cheney for saying they "lied to America" about a Bin Laden/Saddam connection.
"A newly released prewar Iraqi document indicates that an official representative of Saddam Hussein's government met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan on February 19, 1995, after receiving approval from Saddam Hussein. Bin Laden asked that Iraq broadcast the lectures of Suleiman al Ouda, a radical Saudi preacher, and suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. According to the document, Saddam's presidency was informed of the details of the meeting on March 4, 1995, and Saddam agreed to dedicate a program for them on the radio. The document states that further "development of the relationship and cooperation between the two parties to be left according to what's open [in the future] based on dialogue and agreement on other ways of cooperation." The Sudanese were informed about the agreement to dedicate the program on the radio." (Summary of the Iraqi Documents on ABC.com)
...and this on top of the Bin Laden-Iraqi relations that were documented in the 911 Commission report.
In the past 18 months 60% of the graduates had "Muslim names", yet there is no large Muslim population in the area. It seems CDL (commercial driver's license) candidates are coming in from Kansas and most seem to be from Somalia. It has also been uncovered that a teacher at the school has been pocketing admission fees and "taking gratuities" to make sure the Muslim men got spots in the program.
"Karla Eslinger, school district superintendent, said the FBI took hard drives and records of people who took commercial driver’s license tests. She said these are people who walk in to take the test with records showing they completed training elsewhere, not students trained at the school. Eslinger said the trucking program’s director, Dean Proffitt, first contacted state police in 2003 to report his suspicions that a large number of people taking the commercial driver’s license test had names that appeared to be Middle Eastern in origin. About 520 people who did not train at the school took the test there from May 2004 through December 2005. More than 300 of them, or about 60 percent, had names that could be Middle Eastern in origin." (source)
Here is a prime example of a situation where nothing but racial (or name) profiling could be used to thwart a possible serious problem... Can anyone disagree with that?
Ultra sweet and innocent, you have a subtle complexity behind your sugary front. Children love you, but so do high end snobs... when you're brewed right.
...Ok, now I need to know who is Dr. Pepper and who is Diet Coke...
You Are 50% Boyish and 50% Girlish
You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.
Remember Tom Fox? The "Human Shield" that was tortured and killed in Iraq? Well, the rest of the Pacifist Shields were rescued by coalition forces. Their families had all but given up hope --they have been hostages for four months.
But (of course there's a but), as Stop the ACLU is reporting, the released hostages are anything but grateful to the troops that rescued them. Though a thanks to the military rescuers was never mentioned once in any of the statements released they did make a point to blame the military for being captured in the first place...
"We believe the illegal occupation of Iraq by multinational forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq today. The occupation must end." (source)
...AND they did make a point to say that they loved their captors...
"Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families." (source)
Just so we aren't surprised at this reaction...let's remember what kind of people we are dealing with here by taking a look at more of the Zombie Protestor Hall of Shame. These are the "best" (really worst I guess) --as I looked through the photos here (<---example), I honestly couldn't believe that these people are Americans... that they could be my kid's teacher, my teller at the bank, or my hairdresser. Quite frankly it's chilling.
NOT! This articlereally annoyed me. There are people out there that are comparing the outrage over the Afghani man facing the death penalty for his 16-year-old conversion to Christianity to the rioting and arson over the Muhammad cartoons...
"The strong western response to a threatened death sentence for an Afghan convert to Christianity looks something like a mirror image of the Muslim reaction to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) caricatures printed in the European press.
There have been no riots or sackings of Afghan embassies, unlike the violence that marked the uproar in Muslim countries after the Danish cartoons were published, but the shock and mutual incomprehension expressed in both cases are similar." (source)
The article begins by saying that critics say the response to the case in Afghanistan has "thrown American foreign policy into question". I am pretty sure that critics have been saying that US foreign policy has been in question since GWB took office. Is it just me that doesn't quite make the stretch from cartoon to death sentence?
But on a lighter note, it seems that Muslims will be getting their own brand of jeans. They're high-waisted, loose fitting and have tons of pockets for all the gear that Muslim's carry: bottles, gasoline, TNT, fuses... Really, look at the story, I'm not joking (about the jeans anyway...).
After all the debate about WWJD, What Would Jesus Bomb? (as seen on a shirt on HBO's Six Feet Under) or what party is more "God-like"... leave it to a Freeper to settle the debate...
Ecclesiastes 10:2 "A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left."
There you have it folks, God did choose a party long ago... ;)
Okay, the "Men Leave the toilet lid up" arguement with the inevitable male response of "why should I put it down, why doesn't she put it up" really misses the whole point people.
This isn't a convenience thing, it's a hygiene thing. If I walk into my bathroom and the lid is up --it means someone flushed the toilet with the lid up --which means that all the things that were in the toilet swirled around the air in the room where MY TOOTHBRUSH RESIDES... Now, I don't know about you, but for me the ONE SECOND act of putting both lids down is well worth not having urine and fecal matter on a brush that goes in my mouth (or towels, washcloths, etc.)
"Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly and let it dry out (don't put a cover on it or soak it). (Another way to avoid germ growth on your toothbrush is to make sure your toilet lid is down when you flush. Believe it or not, flushing with the toilet lid up contributes to spreading bacteria, and in the bathroom it can end up on your toothbrush.)" (source)
This isn't a gender issue. It's a don't-be-gross issue.
There. Solved. Now you have one less marital debate to worry about.
Italian Neo-Nazis are threatening (actually promising) a Muslim massacre at the World Cup which is to take place in Germany 77 days from today.
“The World Cup in Germany is set to become a battleground between fascists and Muslims, an Italian member of a new European neo-Nazi movement warned on Tuesday. In a statement published by Italian daily Repubblica, the member of AS Roma's notorious ultras hooligan group claims neo-Nazis across Europe met in Braunau in Austria to plan attacks against supporters from Islamic countries during the World Cup in Germany from June 9 to July 9.
“We are united. For the first time we are talking and planning together, with the English, the Germans, the Dutch, the Spanish, everyone with the same objective. At the World Cup there will be a massacre,” said the Italian ultra. “We will all be in Germany and there will be Turks, Algerians and Tunisians. The Turks, we can't stand them. In our country (Italy) there are not many, but in Germany, there are many of those guys there. They are Islamic terrorists. 'We will attack them. They are all enemies that need to be eliminated, just like the police." (source)
I know that it's wrong, but I’d be lying if I said that the thought of Muslims being threatened with terrorism and violence doesn’t make me a bit happy. Now they can see what it's like to be facing a threat from a terrorist. They can feel the way we do. I know this will just spurn more unrest...but maybe it takes an extreme group that doesn't care about being PC to deal with another extreme group. Then we could all just sit back and watch the freaks kill each other...
It seems that the military's Family Care Plan (which gives temporary power of attorney and guardianship of children to a spouse/guardian/family member) may have some flaws that allow for custody problems when the troop redeploys.
These cases have affected many women upon their return –-Regina Ellis is one of those women:
"Regina Ellis is going through a similar experience. She was deployed overseas for a year, and she also followed the Family Care Plan. Now that she's back, Ellis has lost custody of her son, Trevor.
"This month, her ex-husband gained full-time custody, and Ellis said she sees Trevor only every other weekend.
"'It's not just us and it's not just the Army and it's not just females -- this is military-wide, and it hurts,' Ellis said." (source)
This isn't only affecting female soldiers, but fathers fighting the WOT too.
"Military service sometimes costs men their children. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act provides that if a parent moves a child to a new state, that new state becomes the child's presumptive residence after six months. With the long deployments necessitated by the war, a military spouse can move to another state while her spouse is deployed, divorce him, and then be virtually certain to gain custody through the divorce proceedings in the new state." (source)
Another little discussed travesty is that some service members are returning from a war zone to be fined –or worse jailed –because of child support payments. Payments that were based on their civilian income that the pay received for active duty makes impossible for them to pay.
"For example, a California naval reservist who has three children and who takes home $4,000 a month in his civilian job would have a child support obligation of about $1,600 a month. If this father is a petty officer second class (E5) who has been in the reserves for six or seven years--a middle-ranked reservist--his active-duty pay would only be $2,205 before taxes, in addition to a housing allowance. Under current California child support guidelines, the reservist’s child support obligation should be $550 a month, not $1,600. A reasonable reader unfamiliar with the wonders of the child support system would probably think “OK, but the courts would just straighten it out when the reservist gets back—certainly they wouldn’t punish him for something that happened because he was serving.” However, the federal Bradley Amendment prohibits judges from retroactively modifying child support beyond the date which an obligor has applied for a modification. Reservists can be mobilized with as little as one day’s notice. If a reservist didn’t have time or didn’t know he had to file for a downward modification, the arrearages stay, along with the interest and penalties charged on them.” (source)
Similar to the now much discussed ‘Dear John’ letters –and more importantly –custody and child support matters should be the last thing on a service members mind when they are in a war zone –or deployed at all. I’m surprised this hasn’t been more publisized because the DOD really needs to get it together on this one...
Okay, you all know I have posted tons of (what I deem) ridiculous lawsuits, but I think this one might be the winner...
A Lodi, California man, Curtis Gokey, had his car hit by a city dump truck and didn't waste anytime in filing a lawsuit for $3,500. I know you're all thinking -that's fine they hit his car. Here's the thing... HE was driving the dump truck that he backed into his own car. Needless to say the city rejected his claim. But...
"Now, Gokey's wife is filing a claim in her own name, saying she's the one who uses the car. The city has rejected her claim, too. But Rhonda Gokey isn't giving up so easily. She said she's not as nice as her husband. She insisted she has "the right to sue the city because a city's vehicle damaged my private vehicle."
Rhonda Gokey's claim is for $1,200 more than Curtis." (source)
One lawsuit I wouldn't be against would be charges being brought against these two litigious fools...
(H/T:Liz)
SPEAKING OF LAWSUITS: I have a question for you law-minded types out there. I received a REALLY KKK-style racist email the other day, but I guess the sender has seen me post emails before because the header says "NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT PERMISSION"... Can I post it anyway? It's a personal email written to me, so isn't it now my possession?
I was recently contacted by a girl named Monica, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, who would like the help of the blogosphere. She is currently living in Costa Rica and “pursuing a Masters Degree at the University For Peace (United Nations affiliated graduate school) in "Gender and Peace Building" in order to better identify and understand the different needs of men, women, boys and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations. She hopes to eventually work with governments and/or people in conflict and post-conflict situations to reduce incidents of gender based violence.
Her Explanation of the Project: "Overall, the purpose of this project is to increase awareness within academia (and hopefully beyond!) about the experiences of military spouses during deployments and to gain a better understanding of the impact of protests on servicemen/women and their families. I am also interested in the experiences of those who do not support the war (whether Vietnam or Iraq) because I feel that this impacts the way in which a spouse deals with deployments, etc. I feel that in order to do justice to this topic it is necessary to include the diverse experiences and perspectives of military spouses (geographic locations, political orientation, support/opposition for the wars, length of military service, etc).
Although my main focus is military spouses, I am also interested in hearing the perspective of servicemen/women and veterans. I am searching for the spouses of servicemen/women and veterans (Iraq & Vietnam) as well as servicemen/women and veterans (Iraq & Vietnam) themselves to interview (via email) for this project. If you or anyone you know would be interested in assisting me, please contact me at: themis@runbox.com for more information. All sources have the option of remaining anonymous and should they decide at any point in time that they do not want to participate, I will refrain from using any information that they have provided me with."
Please email her if you think you can help to enlighten academia about military life... Thanks!
In general, the old saw, "the more things change, the more they remain the same" holds true for military life. Dear John's are probably a common experience for all generations that have ever served in the uniform. It is really a part of life whether you are a civilian or military. What is unique about it for us that serve is that it is one of the few threads that connect you to your old life, and you really want to hang on to it. There isn't much in stateside military life that gives you that sense of connectedness.
That is why most men if they have a choice they would like to be stationed as close to home as possible, and if not, they are "swooping" home, hundreds of miles on the weekend, taking their buddies with them to sample some of that family life. In my youth, and for more than a few of us it was overseas and the smell of gun smoke, or as we said in the ranks at the time: "it is off to the land of sliding doors and slant eyed whores" (referring to the Far East).
Another factor in regarding "Dear Johns" has to do about men and women and "first love". The general comment from my experience is the women take romance and love a lot more seriously than the men. Men take it very seriously too, and more so if you are far away. It stirs the imagination and it hurts as much physically as it does mentally. My saving grace was the ability to cry in my beer and whine to my buddies. They were unmerciful, but they gave you a sense of comfort- they were family especially overseas, more so in war, beer or no beer. Thank god for that or else you would get in yourself in trouble hurt yourself or one of your buddies on the job, maybe even end your earthly life.
In 1963, I took a 21 day “Boat ride” along with several hundred other Marines for Okinawa home of the 3d Marine Division, back then, the “Tip of the Spear”. I wanted to smell gun smoke, the booze was cheap, and the local females were easy to please, and pleased easy. All the signs were in English, and the Island was still run as a conquered territory by an Army Two Star. So what the hell does this have to do about Dear Johns-well got one from some neighbor girl, as did quite a few of the men in my Company quite a few of them were married no less. My observations:
The married men. I don’t know what it was, but it seemed to me, the day a young Marine got married, six months later he was in Okinawa, period! Of these, half the men got Dear Johns at least by mid-tour (a tour being 13 months) with some being divorced before they returned. The common denominator for these folks was level of maturity. They were shy by more than a couple of points. Putting it bluntly, they got married for the wrong reasons. Sex dressed as love, get out of the barracks and all the BS associated with it, and more money in the pocket (untrue). They were also liberty risks more so than my single buddies, and they were more driven to sex with the ladies of the night than us singles as well.
The singles. Dear Johns were a brutal truth teller for us all that got them whether we wanted to admit it or not. Simply, there was nothing there, and there wasn’t too much you could do it about it when you were 10,000 miles away. It just creates a lot of frustration. A buddy told me one time when I was crying in my beer, he said “B----, more than half this world is made of women, and you cannot tell me that there isn’t more than one woman that can make you happy for the rest of your life. It only took a while for this “amoeba” to grow like a rampant cancer. After that I was okay and enjoyed the rest of my tour.
What was the lesson in all of this? Well, a wife would have to be mature, not necessarily good-looking, but has good quality, and character, and you have that gut feeling that if you are away, that she is still your wife and doing the right thing. You also realize that as a married man, you do not do those things that you did as a single man. Your first responsibility is to her. That is how I have tried to live my life.
So, I stayed single, made no commitments prior to going overseas, especially when the shooting was going on. This was also true for the 3 years I was in Philadelphia between Vietnam Tours (Philly girls are strange-want you to get out and live there). I got married at 33 to a beautiful young thing that worked for my drinking buddy. She thought I was rich because I was a Marine Gunnery Sergeant (little did she know).
My comments are by no means scholarly, but anecdotal, from my experiences as an enlisted Marine with 28 years Service. Therefore, this is one of a series of short "sea stories".
I know everyone has a "neighbor from hell" story, and we'll get to that in a minute. .but this story is the Wes Craven version of "Dennis the Menace" and puts all other horrible neighbor stories to shame.
"Irritated but calm, the homeowner called 911 and told the dispatcher that he had finally done something about the neighbor boy — the one, the man said into the phone, who had been harassing him for years.
"I just killed a kid," Charles Martin said, according to a recording of the Sunday afternoon call released by police in Union Township, near Batavia, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati.
"You just killed a kid?" the surprised 911 operator said.
"Yes, ma'am," the caller replied.
Martin, 66, is charged with murdering 15-year-old Larry Mugrage, who lived next door to the house where Martin kept a meticulous front lawn with grass that he could sometimes be seen measuring to the inch." (source)
He shot the kid twice in the chest with a .410 shotgun for walking on his grass... The teen was DOA.
JustRose, Liz and I had a grumpy old guy on our street (yes, we all grew up on the same street) that would squirt us down with his hose if we played stickball in front of his house or ran near his grass... Liz has a neighbor now that keeps putting "For Sale" signs on her lawn... What are your horrible neighbor stories?
I better hear Bill O'Reilly freaking out over this like he has over all the other judges and prosecutors that let pedophiles go... None of this double standard BS...
Child Molester Debra Lafave gets off scot-free. You remember, she was the one that told a judge she was much “too pretty” to go to jail. And ID, before you say a word --would she have gotten off if she looked like this?
"Prosecutors here dropped charges Tuesday against a former teacher accused of having sex with a middle school student.
The teacher, Debra Lafave, offered her "deepest apologies" to the 14-year-old boy and his family.
Lafave, 25, said she is undergoing therapy for bipolar disorder and was "very remorseful" about the events that led to her arrest in June 2004.
"I am a strong Christian woman," she said. "I believe that God has a path for me, and this was just a bump in the road." (source)
So, now bi-polar disorder is a free-ticket in our legal system for a student to have sex with a pre-pubescent boy? What happens when the next creepy guy uses this case as precedent when he decides to grope some kid in the math lab?
I know we discussed this before when I posted about The Biggest American Double Standard --this was one of the first times a discussion here was split completely by gender and not party lines... You pigs. ;)
"The writers of the March 13 letters “Enlisted can speak their minds” and “Don’t believe major’s hype” have failed to do their research concerning Article 88 and its applicability toward enlisted members.
Had they done so, they would have learned about DOD Directive 1344.10, which governs the political activities by members of the Armed Forces on active duty. Paragraph 4.1.3 Enclosure 3 specifies permitted and prohibited activities for servicemembers.Further examination of enclosure 3 (paragraph E3.3.11) states a member on active duty may not “use contemptuous words against the officeholders described in 10 U.S.C. 888 (reference (b)), or participate in activities proscribed by references (c) and (d).”
Title 10, U.S.C. 888 specifies these officials as, “the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Failure to obey this directive, signed Aug. 2, 2004, would be a violation of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation. So in short the major is correct and both writers are wrong.
-Maj. Sean P. Wilson, Hohenfels, Germany (Stars & Stripes: Letters to the Editor)
Did we oust the Taliban? Operation Enduring Freedom has been going on for quite a while and I was under the impression that the Coalition men and women that have been tirelessly working this mission (like our beautiful Army Girl) were doing so to free these people from a terrible regime...the Taliban. From the Sharia law imposed by that evil regime...
Yet, yesterday I read that a man is currently on trial (under the government of Hamid Karzai-not the Taliban) for converting from Islam to Christianity SIXTEEN YEARS AGO and is at this moment facing the possibility of the DEATH PENALTY.
"Abdul Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and could face the death sentence under Sharia law unless he recants. He converted 16 years ago as an aid worker helping refugees in Pakistan. His estranged family denounced him in a custody dispute over his two children. It is thought to be Afghanistan's first such trial, reflecting tensions between conservative clerics and reformists. Conservatives still dominate the Afghan judiciary four years after the Taliban were overthrown." (source)
I guess we know why 99% of the country is Muslim... The Same reason that Saddam used to receive 99% of the votes for his "re-elections"...
But wait, this is the best part:
"When he was arrested last month he was found to be carrying a bible and charged with rejecting Islam which is punishable by death in Afghanistan. Trial judge Ansarullah Mawlazezadah told the BBC that Mr Rahman, 41, would be asked to reconsider his conversion, which he made while working for a Christian aid group in Pakistan. "We will invite him again because the religion of Islam is one of tolerance. We will ask him if he has changed his mind. If so we will forgive him," the judge told the BBC on Monday. (source)
...but if not we will stone him to death, because we're tolerant.
Matt Drudge has obtained a copy of the Congressional Democrats strategy plans for the 2006 elections -Harry Reid's tips on "How to use the war in Iraq against the Bush administration in their home states".
"The recess packet offers tips such as using American flags, holding political events at veteran halls. Dems should conduct panels to discuss the "mental health crisis" Iraq vets face, visit military bases, tour a factory and visit the home of a family who purchased body armor with their own money." (source)
Isn't it sad the left has to be told to use American flags...like it wouldn't occur to them to actually have pride in what the flag stands for? That they need to be told to visit bases or military families?
(For the record, I could only find a picture of Hillary with a soldier -none of Reid, Dean, Byrd, Kennedy, Rangel, etc...)
****Also, to see how the anti-war left really feelsgo check out some of these protest signs from over the weekend. Zombie has consistently provided some of the best protest pictures on the web. Make sure you read all of the signs in the pictures --and someone from the left please tell me you're not mortified to be associated with that...****
Wow, all these negative posts about Scientology might get me in more trouble than posting that letter from the Illuminati...
I just couldn't help but mention that Isaac Hayes QUIT his job as Chef's voice and Tom Cruise made threats --all over an episode of South park that made fun of Scientology. The episode was called "Trapped in the Closet" and it seems that Tom Cruise said he wouldn't promote Mission Impossible 3 if the episode was run again. Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit the show over the satire of his "religion". (source)
"This episode was partially inspired when the show's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker heard from their good friend Penn Jillette was originally planning to do an episode of Bullshit! based on Scientology, but was scrapped by Showtime to avoid the possibility of legal action from the church itself.
Chef was notably absent from the episode, perhaps because Isaac Hayes (who provided his voice) is a Scientologist, though, as Chef has been absent in many episodes of recent seasons, this may be unrelated. In an interview for The A.V. Club on January 4, 2006, Hayes was asked about the episode. Hayes said that he told Parker and Stone, "Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that shit, you know? But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses, and understand what we do. [Laughs]"
On March 13, 2006, Hayes announced that he was quitting the show because of the series treatment of religion, though he didn't specifically mention Scientology in his statement. That same day, Stone responded to Hayes' departure in an interview with The Associated Press saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and, to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
This episode was scheduled to re-run on March 15, 2006, but that airing was cancelled without prior notice. In response to the preemption, Parker and Stone released the following statement:
So, Scientology, you may have won this battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will not stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!
—Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu. (source)
Kooky, but it gave me an excuse to post the "Free Katie" t-shirts... I really have to order one of those... (H/T: Liz)
Thanks to National Summary I am now a living, breathing part of capitalism. How cool is that? Go here and see for yourself (left hand sidebar).
The BlogAd is to promote interviews with "the women that are shaking up the male-dominated blogosphere". You can read mine HERE, Hooah Wife's HERE, and there are many other interviews posted from the last round.
The venue for the 2006 Milblog Conference has been announced. It will be Saturday, April 22nd in Academy Hall at the AED Conference Center in Washington DC. The suggestion is to make your hotel room reservations in the Rosslyn/Key Bridge area.
There is still nothing posted about a time for the event. I hope it's not in the morning... I was wrong, agenda is posted -thanks FBL! It IS in the morning --that could be problematic for The Man and I.
There is also a song called "Hidden Heroes" that can be downloaded for as little as a $1 (or as much as you want to donate) and will benefit the conference --excess will go to the veteransfoundation.org.
There is still room, you don't need an invite and you don't need to be a Milblogger... Sign Up Now...
Obviously, The Belz doesn't read as much as he wants everyone to believe-- or he would have never made the condescending comments that he did about the military on Bill Maher's show the other night... If he had read this article he would know that the military on average is higher educated than the general American public.
Normally I like Richard Belzer. I know he's a tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but that's OK with me...those people amuse me. But to say that he knows more about the war than the troops that are fighting it? Come on Belz... Until then I thought you were intelligent.
Some of Belzer's exchange with Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Bill Maher:
"Ros-Lehtinen: "Ask them. Ask them if it's fair! Wait a minute, wait a minute. My stepson, wait a minute, my stepson ..."
Belzer: "That's bull----: Ask them! They're not .. they don't read twenty newspapers a day. They're under the threat of death every minute. They're not the best people to ask about the war because they're going to die any second."
Ros-Lehtinen: "Wait a minute! You are talking about my stepson, my stepson who just finished last week eight months of duty ..."
Belzer: "God bless your stepson. Doesn't mean he's a brilliant scholar about the war because he's there. And God bless him."
Bill Maher: "I think the point he's trying to make is that a 19-year-old who is in that army because he probably couldn't find other employment ..."
Ros-Lehtinen: "He's a college graduate. He's a Marine officer. He volunteered for the Marines."
Belzer: "He's the exception for the rule."
Ros-Lehtinen: "He's not the exception for the rule. I've been there ..."
Belzer: "You think everyone over there is a college graduate? They're 19 and 20-year-old kids who couldn't get a job ..."
Did anyone else watch the Student/Union riots taking place in the streets of Paris this weekend. Fox had the whole thing live and I was hooked. I was on the phone with one of my lib brothers and I was like, "I have to admit that I get a strange joy watching these protestors getting beat down with nightsticks". ...and I do. Should I admit that?
It didn't help matters that they are protesting, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at the police over a ridiculous protest against being able to be fired. That's right, reminiscent of American labor unions these kids don't want to be able to be fired. And if I heard right (please correct me if I'm wrong) they want to keep their 35 hour work weeks and SIX WEEKS vacation --and still be able to compete in the global market?!
As far as I can tell the law was conceived to actually get the little derelicts hired... Anyway, it was almost as good as a high speed chase.
First, apparently women are getting pulled over by men pretending to be police officers in unmarked cars.
"In February, three women reported being sexually assaulted after being pulled over by men who identified themselves as cops and drove police-style cars with flashing lights. Another woman reported a similar sexual assault in October.
Some of the men flashed badges, and one wore a gun, but authorities say they all were imposters." (source)
On the news the other day they said if you are nervous about the car that is pulling you over put on your hazard lights and call 911 to inquire about the validity of the stop.
Second:
National Summary has an interesting piece about women getting pulled over -in regards to getting out of tickets. Almost all the cops I know (except Free) will let a woman off if she cries...drop the pride ladies. I must say, I have no problem using the reverse discrimination and have been pulled over many times and never gotten a ticket (thankfully I've never been pulled over by a woman!)
Okay, let me put this post in context... I am very self-sufficient. The Man works a lot so I have learned to do things myself if I really want them done. I re-tiled the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, I can hang mini blinds and curtains...etc. You get the point -I'm not some girly girl that expects to be waited on hand and foot, BUT I had no idea how much I relied on the end-of-the-day help I get from The Man.
He was away last week (until yesterday) doing an out-of-state job and it was so hard. I really tip my hat to all of you that manage by yourself all the time. I hadn't realized how much I rely on The Man being there at night and on the weekends to help me or watch the boys so I can go out for a breather...
This past week was full of appointments, parties, meetings, etc and I had to juggle all of it myself. I survived, but it wasn't easy and each day as my patience waned I thought of all you that do this all the time --I am humbled at your sacrifice and resolve!
"I have been following the current debate and letters back and forth about Wiccans. As a Christian, I probably would be one of the first to stand up in opposition if debating beliefs was an issue for me. Nonetheless, I am quite confident in my faith, and so I don’t feel threatened by Wiccanry, or by any other faith for that matter.
But regardless of mine or anyone else’s beliefs, I was disturbed to read the March 12 article “Wiccans waiting for VA to recognize their faith”. Who is it going to hurt by placing the symbol of Sgt. Patrick Stewart’s Wiccan faith upon his memorial plaque? He paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our nation, so shouldn’t his family have the dignity now of knowing that Stewart is memorialized with the correct religious symbol that represents his true beliefs?
Now here’s another question: Who’s it going to hurt if Stewart’s family is denied their petition? I think it eventually hurts all of us.
In a society that is already well on its way to singling out and forcing the removal of every symbol of my faith from out of the view of the public’s eye, we have a government of federal judges who are grossly misinterpreting the First Amendment. And I appreciate the fact that the Stewart family’s situation is no different.
I say put the symbol on there and allow the family to grieve their loss without fighting our government in the process. It changes nothing. Stewart was a Wiccan. And showing that fact upon his VA memorial plaque threatens no one. However, denying its placement threatens religious freedom for us all."
-Chief Warrant Officer Dean Bailey, K-16 Air Base, South Korea (Stars & Stripes: Letters to the Editor)
"MALE drivers waste nearly six million hours a year through their reluctance to admit they are lost on the road.
British men who have got their directions askew wait an average of 20 minutes before giving up and asking for directions, according to a survey from RAC Direct Insurance.
In contrast, lost women drivers only wait ten minutes before seeking assistance.
Men even endure a "nagging period" of about ten minutes from their partner before throwing in the towel and stopping to ask the way." (source)
I have never understood how asking for directions is emasculating... Emasculating is: The later we arrive at an event, the more people we tell that you got lost (the story becoming more animated each time it is told of course). If you asked for directions and we arrived on time, no one would ever know about it but the person you asked.. whom you will most likely never see again.
I am an online shopper and have been for years...but lately I have noticed that many of the online stores don't ship to APO addresses. I'm not sure if this is a new development or if it has always been and I'm just noticing...
Now I'm not talking about stores peddling nefarious content -just regular old stores. I can't for the life of me understand why shipping to an APO is any different than shipping anywhere else in the U.S....
So you can go risk your lives to ensure capitalism will flourish, but you can't get a damn pair of sneakers...?
If you haven't been over to 100 Records recently, you should... First off, we have now exceeded the title and there are over 100 albums posted. There has been music of almost ever genre (except country...sorry, not gonna happen).
The left'o'sphere is abuzz with the name Daniel Pipes, a Middle East scholar. They call him a hate-monger and worse. I read through a bunch of his articles last night and he's definitely not a PC kinda guy, but I have to say I didn't disagree with much he had to say.
There are two statements that have really brought him onto the radar:
"'Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers." I wrote those words days after September 11, 2001, and have been criticized for them ever since. But an incident on March 3 at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill suggests I did not go far enough." (source)
"Civil war in Iraq, in short, would be a humanitarian tragedy but not a strategic one." (source)
Thank you Kos for bringing this guy to my attention. I've enjoyed his articles and I think I'll link his page... 91Ghost - I think you're gonna love this guy...
Maybe you remember VT Judge Cashman who gave a pedophile a 60 day jail sentence... Well, an Ohio judge didn't seem to learn from that case. Judge John Connor COULD have given a monster that raped 2 boys for a 3 year period TEN years...but instead he opted for COUNSELLING. Yes, you read that right. He's still defending his position, but Bill O'Reilly is keeping this in the spotlight and calling for Connor's removal from the bench. O'Reilly's new article focuses heavily on this issue and looks at what State's have the most lax laws when it comes to out kids: The Most Dangerous States for American Kids".
In case you missed it in the mix yesterday...The USMC has let Allen Abney (the man that enlisted in the marines and then deserted to Canada) go without so much as a slap on the wrist. No punishment at all. I am shocked at this -especially during a time of war. What message does this send? (source).
Andrea Yates gets a new trial and it's set to begin Monday. It's bad enough that her husband isn't behind bars and is set to remarry, if Andrea goes free also... Oh I give up. Empty the prisons -why do we bother. If you can systematically drown 5 kids -crazy or not -you're guilty. If we can't see that we shouldn't have prisons at all. The other night the defense attorney of an accused rapist and murderer said this and I haven't been able to get it out of my head: [The victim's family] deserves justice, but my client is entitled to it!"
...or are you so open-minded your brain has fallen out? ;)
You Are 56% Open Minded
You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints. But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line. You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.
I realize the term is a joke to African Americans and I get why. I was once at a Popeye's Chicken in a very Black neighborhood and the manager finally had to wait on me because the counter girls (after much head wagging) refused to do so. I am fully cognizant of the fact that this doesn't compare to many of the things that Blacks experience on a daily basis... I fully acknowledge that if I were African American I would probably be militant as hell, it's just my nature.
BUT, there are some blatant inequalities lately and something must be said. First let me say that I am raising my children right --as are all my friends both Black and White. The sad thing is that other parents aren't. A racist in the south using the N-word and a militant in Philly calling me a cracker will ensure that no matter how I raise my children or how you raise yours --the race divide with flourish...
Two specific stories have been on my mind:
1) Do you remember when I posted about the KKK Hood that was put on the white Philly firefighter’s locker? If that was a hood on a Black man's locker there would have been a shit storm here in the City of Brotherly Love...but there hasn't been a peep since the initial story. I realize the Inquirer and Daily News are going through a buy out but WTF? Nothing? I have it on pretty good authority the FBI is involved and that the perpetrator may be a VERY high up... This is a HUGE story --yet there is silence. Stu Bykofsky...Dan Rubin...someone...if the hood-hanger really is who I heard it was this is the juiciest story of the year --where is it!? If *I* (with no resources) know about the story, an investigative journalist should have been all over it...
2) Michelle Malkin has a story posted about a 7 year old African American racist poet that is being heralded by New York lawmakers. Now, I posted with equal disgust over the little blonde racist singers. Autum Ashante, whose father is a member of the nation of Islam member, is the "poet" in the spotlight, but she isn't being looked at with horror like the little blonde racist girls...she's being called a prodigy.
"Autum has appeared at a tribute to black nationalist Marcus Garvey, America-bashing 9/11 conspiracy-monger Amiri Baraka's annual family cookout, and the extremist New Black Panther Party's Million Youth March. The city of New York honored her with a proclamation for inspiring "her peers, as well as adults, while also demonstrating the power of a father's love, the importance of education and the limitless boundaries of the human mind." New York City councilwoman Yvette Clark called her "one of the most precious young talents that this world has ever known." (source)
Don't people understand that this blatant inequality in treatment, coverage and expectations is what breeds resentment in those that wouldn't normally have it. If no one steps up to the plate to END it...it will be here forever. Maybe if more people understood the full psychology of our entwined histories things could start to change...
As I was reading this story yesterday about the Los Angeles Archdiocese calling for priests to ignore a new immigration law I couldn't help but think of some things The Man has said to me about the illegals that are on some of the jobs that he does...
Now I am not an illegal sympathizer (I mean individually I'm sure I would be but I realize the security risk and tax burden it places on our country), but I have to strongly disagree with one widely touted notion...
It's NOT only about cheap labor. Though we have never hired an "undocumented worker" because of the principle of it --The Man would love too. Not because he could pay them less but because they have heart and a real desire to work and earn their money. The Man is never impressed with anyone's work ethic because he is a complete work-a-holic, so according to him everyone could be busting their ass more than they do...except the "Brazilians" (as he says). He talks about them all the time. How tireless they are. How they WANT to work. How they do quality work. How they get there early and leave late. The Man would rather work with these guys than Union guys any day.
Everyone makes hiring illegals about exploiting them and getting something for less, but maybe it's about the fact that many Americans are lazy, slovenly and soft. Maybe if Americans (that are getting paid top dollar) would show half the zeal and dedication of these Brazilians they wouldn't have to worry about an undocumented worker taking their place...
...to know that the United States Army can be pretty picky. Moore's schlock-umentary made it seem that the Army had a specific recruiting practice of targeting the really poor and the really stupid... that the entire practice was about coercing the unwitting to sign on the dotted line.
There are many reasons that Uncle Sam could send you away though... some being: Ritalin prescriptions within one year of enlisting, tattoos, overweight ("some 30 percent of U.S. adults are now considered obese") and undereducated.
"...Recruiting is still a two-way street -- and the military, too, doesn't want most people in this prime recruiting age group of 17 to 24.
Of some 32 million Americans now in this group, the Army deems the vast majority too obese, too uneducated, and too flawed in some way, according to its estimates for the current budget year.
"As you look at overall population and you start factoring out people, many are not eligible in the first place to apply," said Doug Smith, spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command." (source)
Speaking of the military... It seems the USMC has let Allen Abney (the man that enlisted in the marines and then deserted to Canada) go without so much as a slap on the wrist. I am shocked at this -especially during a time of war. What message does this send? (source)
It seems that many of you are tougher than me --you are not ready to give up on the will of the Iraqi people. You want the troops to stick it out for that ideal of Democratic utopia... I was right there with you until about a month ago.
It's stories like this (with accompanying video) that deflate me. Literally make me have physical pains in my chest. Our men and women are dying for people that want to kill them --for people that don't give a shit –or maybe are just incapable of caring about anyone but themselves and "Allah's will"...
It's not that I don't have staying power. I could support staying the course if the people wanted it. If they weren't still killing our guys and each other. If they could live like human beings instead of animals.
But this...
"TERRORISM: VIDEO SHOWS IRAQI CHILDREN PLAYING WITH REMAINS OF U.S. SOLDIER:
The children climb down into the crater left by an explosion and start picking up scraps of twisted metal. "Allah is great!" they shout before the camera hones in to show what one boy is holding: torn fabric, the colour of the camouflage fatigues worn by US troops. The next scene shows the same children holding aloft a human leg, shreds of the same camouflage fabric hang from it and the foot is clad in a military-style boot. The children trample the leg and kick it around in the dust.
"Today the Americans came to these parts and the buried bomb blew up their Hummer vehicle," says a teenage boy, adding, "if Allah wants it, the mujahadeen will win."
This grisly footage, purportedly shot in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, has appeared in the form of a three-minute video on the Internet. It marks the latest attempt by Jihadist militants to exploit children for propaganda purposes." (source)
..and yet we are supposed to embrace tolerance. Please.
Thank you G-Man for bringing my attention to this incredibly uplifting article. There is hope on the horizon...
A world-wide trend shows that the more conservative a family, the more likely they are to have children (and normally more than one). "This dynamic helps explain the gradual drift of American culture toward religious fundamentalism and social conservatism. Among states that voted for President Bush in 2004, the average fertility rate is more than 11% higher than the rate of states for Sen. John Kerry."
The comparison of a red city and blue city is telling. In very blue Seattle there are 45% more dogs than there are children, but in red Salt Lake City there are 19% more children than dogs.
"It's not that people in a progressive city such as Seattle are so much fonder of dogs than are people in a conservative city such as Salt Lake City. It's that progressives are so much less likely to have children.
It's a pattern found throughout the world, and it augers a far more conservative future - one in which patriarchy and other traditional values make a comeback, if only by default. Childlessness and small families are increasingly the norm today among progressive secularists. As a consequence, an increasing share of all children born into the world are descended from a share of the population whose conservative values have led them to raise large families.
Today, fertility correlates strongly with a wide range of political, cultural and religious attitudes. In the USA, for example, 47% of people who attend church weekly say their ideal family size is three or more children. By contrast, 27% of those who seldom attend church want that many kids.
...Tomorrow's children, therefore, unlike members of the postwar baby boom generation, will be for the most part descendants of a comparatively narrow and culturally conservative segment of society. To be sure, some members of the rising generation may reject their parents' values, as often happens. But when they look for fellow secularists with whom to make common cause, they will find that most of their would-be fellow travelers were quite literally never born." (source)
This article covers many aspects of the emerging generations --the only thing they left out was what factor of abortion is playing in this documented vanishing of the liberal family...
...Yes, I am a dog person (as evidenced by my working at a vet for 9 years making 1/4 what I could have made anywhere else). BUT, I 150% agree with a Delaware lawmaker that just tried to get specific restrictions for pitbull owners put in place...
Zachary Grant was only 2 years old when he was attacked and killed by a pitbull. Dylan Reichard, 8 years old, was attacked while riding his bike and severely mauled. Destiny Campbell, just 3, was mauled and SCALPED by a pitbull. Doctors say she will never grow hair and are astonished she lived at all, she was hospitalized for over a month. These Delaware children are only the tip of the iceberg of lost lips, arms, eyes, legs and lives.
"The proposal, from Councilman Jea P. Street, would have required owners of specific breeds of pit bulls or pit bull mixes to muzzle their dogs while outside, post warning signs on their property and secure $100,000 in liability insurance." (source)
This does not seem unreasonable to me given the INHERENT nature of the breed. Muzzle your dog and have enough insurance to cover medical bills for when it attacks. For some reason the bill was voted down 11-2. Thankfully Councilman Street is not giving up. Pitbull owners should be grateful the breed hasn't been outlawed all together and do whatever it takes to prevent any more horrors like little Destiny.
I have tried to get a few of the Veterans around here to post about the high incidence of "Dear John" letters during active duty... maybe it hits too close to home, or conjures too much disgust to write about.
This is something that most civilians never think about -and maybe don't understand how often it happens and what profound impact it has on the letter recipient. AG has told me that the awful phenomenon is not exclusive to the boys, and the girls get their share of "Dear Jane" letters also.
I have also heard many stories of the widespread adultery on military bases while the husbands are away. I really don't understand this. Don't these women understand the importance of the "home" connection their men need while they are away? How can they be so selfish? Can't they just wait until he comes home? Is it selfish guilt guised as honesty?
Jarhead touched on this subject, but relationships seem to be one of the casualties of war that is never really discussed. Is leaving a girlfriend/boyfriend behind another added stress to deployment? Are there really crowded walls of shame?
After hearing so many depressing tales of relationships ending via an APO address it was great to hear about this couple:
"When Marine Staff Sgt. Kyle Marigoni returned from deployment Sunday morning, clearly, something was missing. His wife: 103 pounds of her and a handful of dress sizes. His reaction when he saw Alisha Marigoni for the first time in seven months? "Speechless," he said. "My jaw hit the ground."
Pixie blonde Alisha, 28, spent much of the last seven months eating "right," running on a treadmill in the garage, and weighing in to track her progress at a weight loss center in Oceanside.
The result? A perfect welcome home and birthday present combined; the eternally smiling Marine turned 29 on Saturday. "He just has to unwrap it," Alisha joked, with her husband's arms wrapped tightly around her waist, their 3-year-old daughter Leigha trotting around them." (source)
She went from a size 18 to a size 8 while he was gone --what a great welcome home gift and a great story! (H/t: Liz)
My naiveté is once again exposed... The other day I posted that I thought not even the ACLU could support Fred Phelps' right to crash the funerals of Soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It seems that I was wrong.
Though the ACLU has a posting on their website claiming they had "no current intention to challenge the law should it be enacted" (on the proposed bill intended to limit the ability to protest at a funeral)..it seems now they are looking to defend the right of Phelps' "church" in doing just that.
The bills to stop protestors at funerals are being fought by the ACLU in both Tennessee and Louisiana. The bill would "It would make it unlawful for anyone to picket or protest within 1,000 feet “of any church, cemetery or funeral establishment” from one hour before the services until one hour after their conclusion. Maximum penalties would be six months in jail, a fine of $100, or both." (source)
"These distances are far too restrictive on free speech rights," said Hedy Weinberg, the executive director of ACLU of Tennessee.
I guess the family of the Soldier or Marine has no expectation of privacy. I guess they have no rights...
(I HATE to link his horrible website, but look at how many funerals the Phelps clan have desecrated this year alone... I had no idea.)
I guess I knew it was coming... I've had so much good news lately not to have some bad stuff looming on the horizon.
My sister being pregnant, my brother making the Fire Department and my other brother getting offered Fellowship PhD offers from both Rutgers and Boston College...all good news.
But, now comes the bad...
Tomorrow Ninja has to have a root canal and a surface filling. With no sedation. Only Novocain. Too many litigious people in Philly means no more dental sedation for kids. So my little man has to pay the price because people would rather sue than get a friggin' job.
And worse --This morning my father and I will be going to the funeral of my first cousin who died in her sleep Sunday night. She was 38. Only four years older than me. They don't know the cause of death. She did have diabetes and asthma, but so do many people and they don't die in their sleep...
You know what's eerie? The last time I saw my cousin was at my Grandmother's funeral and she was saying how sad it was that we all only saw each other at funerals.
"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we? Was it, or was it not, started by terrorists who brought war to our shores on Sept. 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation’s capital and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly 3,000 men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or did they not?
Shall some continue to bury their heads in the sand and be blind, deaf and dumb to the truth and reason for this war? I am proud to be serving in the military, and if I die in the war, I do not want a “Cindy Sheehan” disgracing my support and love for protecting my home, family and loved ones in our America, by protesting the reason for my death. Everyone in the military had a choice to join and protect their country, or to remain a civilian and not put their life on the line for others. If they are in the military, it’s because they want to be and they knowingly pledged to fight for America and to protect her.
I am proud to serve under a commander in chief who upholds moral values and doesn’t turn and run, tail tucked, when terrorists come blasting through America’s doors. I will defend America until the day I meet my maker."
-Air Force Capt. Reuven M. Yatrofsky, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany (source)
I don't mean to rag on our Catholic friends two weeks in a row (some of my closest friends are Catholic) --but I happened to watch Celibacy, a documentary on HBO, this weekend and really wanted to talk about it...
"The Roman Catholic Church has taken the tradition of renouncing all sexual acts, including thoughts and desires, to its most extreme form. Celibacy became mandatory for the Church clergy in 1139, but its enforcement has never really been effective. With the recent revelations of sexual abuse cases in at least ten countries, including the U.S., and virtually every state, the requirement that clergy must be celibate for life is being challenged. Legal settlements are now estimated at more than one billion dollars, and the crisis has contributed to ongoing widespread defections among priests and nuns, as well as taking an immeasurable toll on thousands of the faithful. Some 200,000 priests have renounced their vows since 1960, and the intake of new priests is shrinking dramatically." (source)
Before watching this documentary I never really thought about celibacy "creating" pedophiles --I always figured pedophiles were drawn to Catholicism thinking this would be a way to suppress urges they felt were wrong. This film presented the idea that scientifically the urge to procreate trumps even the urge to eat in the human brain --and what does it do to a person to suppress this indefinitely.
Most of the priests interviewed said they had "outlets"-- whether it is porn, a secret woman friend or a man friend...but maybe it's those without these outlets who end up hurting children.
I was really interested to learn that celibacy was not always required and even the "father of all Popes" was married with children. It seems that the "marriage to God" was yet another way to commandeer money. Anything the priest earned or acquired would go right back to the church upon his death.
Considering the staggering numbers (all over the world) of children that have been abused at the hands of a catholic priest, it may be time to reconsider the celibacy vow. Let them get married like even the first Popes did. The money you are inherited from the priests can't be anything close to what you are putting out to pay off victims!
I am sure you are all aware by now that I love HBO documentaries –and this one is really good. It explores forced celibacy in many religions and exposes the seedy underbelly of this unnatural requirement. It’s worth the hour investment...
"An atheist couple whose children attend a Carrollton-Farmers Branch elementary school have filed a complaint in federal district court arguing that the state's mandated moment of silence in public schools is unconstitutional.
David and Shannon Croft named the school district and Gov. Rick Perry in their complaint, filed Friday. In it, they say one of their children was told by a teacher to be quiet because the minute is a "time for prayer."
"I do not believe there is any secular reason for a moment of silence," said Mr. Croft, 37, a computer programmer. "This is just a ruse to get prayer in school without calling it prayer in school. Is there any study showing a moment of silence helps education?"
School district spokeswoman Angela Shelley said she could not comment about the complaint because the district had not received a copy." (source)
Could a "moment of silence" actually offend anyone? Shouldn't any minority (and Atheists are a tiny minority) realize that when they push beyond what is a reasonable objection it really diminishes any tolerance... Atheists are incapable of reflection? Something like this just makes me think these parents are willing to humiliate and alienate their children to make a political statement.
Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to link this story the other day. Apparently, if you're a pedophile in California the Supreme Court thinks that's okay if you stick to oral sex with your victims...
For those of you that don't already know: American Soldier's wife has posted on his site to let his readers know that he has been injured by an IED in Iraq. She says that his injuries are not life threatening.
"...He is trying to be in good spirits. But it can be hard to have to sit out on something you love doing. As i said it is not clear how this injury will impact his deployment. So both of us are taking it day by day. We are in more frequent contact since he is inside the wire. I think it helps us both to have that ability...." (Read the whole post at American Soldier)
I have corresponded a bit with AS and he seems like a real cool guy (and a fellow OBX lover)--my thoughts and prayers are with him.
CJ, over at A Soldier's Perspective, has two things you should check out:
1) He went over to check out the Code Pink Friday night protests at Walter Reed. He has a post up documenting the evening. He talked to the Pinkos and hung with the Freepers...and there are pictures.
Just a quick reminder about the Milblogging Conference in April. I want to clear up what seems to be a common misconception... you DO NOT need to be "invited" to the conference. No one was invited. You just have to go to the website and register. Everyone is welcome as long as seats are available.
There have been many stories recently regarding the apprehension of wartime deserters (including the grandfather that was living in N. Korea). When I hear about these cases, my first reaction is always anger at Canada first. If they weren't so lackadaisical about accepting our cowards --if they didn't embrace them and make them heroes...it may not happen as often...
This subject always reminds me of a story my mom used to tell me when I was little. My dad was off with the 4th infantry division in Vietnam and my mom was at a dance in Philly. She was only 19 and never thought much about the politics of the war -it was just a reality of the time. People in blue collar neighborhoods went when they were drafted -protests and deserting were things you saw on the news that rich college kids did...not regular people. Anyway, some guy asked her to dance and as they did the bunny hop (or whatever horrible dance people were doing in 1968) the guy was telling her how he was going to run to Canada. That was the first time the reality of the situation hit her and she was disgusted. This guy has the nerve to be there dancing bragging about his cowardice as her sorta-boyfriend was in a jungle somewhere being shot at. She told him to piss off. Good for her.
So what about these guys? Should they be prosecuted and imprisoned this many years after the fact? Should age absolve them? Is it fair to all those that fought and died in the wars they skipped out on if they are slapped on the wrist?
...Can't we have someone take out the Phelps family? I mean would even the ACLU care at this point? Would anyone miss them? Fred Phelps' Westboro "church" was at it again harassing the family members of a soldier killed by an Iraqi bomb and the bikers that came out to shield the family from them. Laws to keep the protestors from the funerals are not expected to hold up in court. I really commend the family members and bikers that have kept their cool in the face of these (insert bad word). Most of us first heard of Phelps during the Matthew Sheppard funeral -and unfortunately he has not been the flash in the pan everyone hoped he would.
(*What does that sign mean? Laura Bush is a "Fag Pimp"?...whatever that is...)
...In more uplifting news - another professional football player is leaving the lush life of NFL stardom for the no-frills life of military service. Former Pittsburgh Steeler and St. Louis Ram, Jeremy Staat (29), graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Friday.
"I never felt right about making the money I was making," he said. "We pay millions of dollars to professional athletes and entertainers, yet we pay military service people pennies to a dollar, and they're the ones risking their lives."
To enlist, the 6-foot-5 player said he dropped from 310 to 260 pounds. He said three months of boot camp training gave him a deeper appreciation for team camaraderie.
"It's about looking out for your fellow soldier, and being ready to take a bullet for someone," he said." (source)
The new Reach flosser ("Access") is one of the best products I have ever used. Get it. Use it. I promise you'll love it.
Yes, it's more expensive than regular old floss and even more expensive than those little hand-held flossers, but you still have to stick your hands in your mouth to use those. You can use this without ever looking in a mirror.
As someone that has gone 34 years without ever having a cavity, I feel as if I'm qualified to make dental recommendations. I am a floss nut. I don't understand people that aren't. And I KNOW there are a lot of you out there... People have said to me "When I floss nothing comes out" --Duh, that's proof you don't floss, the food has turned into primordial ooze. This is why I "soap opera kissed" in my single days... God forbid I unearth last night's steak from my date's mouth. Gross, but hey, it could happen.
So get this and use it --stop looking like you just ate a loaf of Wonder Bread. Flossed teeth are healthy, cleaner, better smelling teeth. ;)
I have agreed to be interviewed over at Basil's Blog. His interviews are a little different than most and anyone is free to submit questions. The 'submit questions' window for yours truly is open until 3/19/06 (Sunday).
If there's anything you want to know about me, anything you have been too embarrassed to ask, anything I have never told... Please feel free to go over to basil's and submit your questions. (Scroll down -I'm fourth)
‘Disgraceful’ Awards Decision "I have noticed a lot of letters referring to the awards system in the military.
I am currently halfway through my tour in Iraq. At this point of the deployment, we are expected to write awards for all of our soldiers. Before writing these awards, we were given the choice of putting them in for Army Commendation medals (ARCOM) or Army Achievement medals (AAM).
After serving in Afghanistan, and witnessing with my own eyes many senior noncommissioned officers and officers receiving Bronze Star medals for doing their jobs — and most of them doing very easy jobs — without ever “leaving the wire,” as it is put, I decided that all of my soldiers deserved at least an ARCOM for their everyday routine of leaving the wire, and at many times, coming close to being seriously wounded, or worse.
I believe all combat arms soldiers who go on regular patrols, risking their lives everyday deserve at minimum an ARCOM. They have given up a year of their own lives to serve their country.
But after writing these awards, we were told that only a certain amount of soldiers could receive an ARCOM, and the rest would receive an AAM.
This is an absolutely disgraceful decision. This is like having to choose which one of your children you love the most!
It makes me feel sick, because, if you are of a higher rank, it seems to be automatic that you will receive at least a Bronze Star.
The Army is supposed to be about putting soldiers first, but this obviously proves that there is a lot of selfish leaders in the Army, and as long as they receive their awards, why would they care if Joe Snuffy gets an ARCOM or not."
-Sgt. Paul Falzarano, Camp Liberty, Iraq (Stars & Stripes: Letters to the Editor)
Peace Activist Tortured and Killed in Iraq: The torture and death of Tom Fox at the hands of those he was trying to save in Iraq should be an eye-opener to all peace activists. The people you have sympathy for would kill you without a second thought.
"More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Fifty-four foreign hostages are known to have been killed by their captors, Reuters reported. Fox, 54, a Quaker from Clear Brook, Virginia., had been abducted with three other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams on November 26." (source)
I really don't mean to sound callous, but I really wonder if he was considering his "peace sctivist" ways and thinking as they were torturing him... Here is an interesting article concerning human shield Fox.
Muslim Speaks Out and Receives Death Threats: Finally a "Moderate Muslim" speaks out...and confirming what many of us "right wing nut jobs" have said all along --she says that she is "questioning every single teaching of our holy book." (because there is no such thing as a Moderate Muslim -just a back-slidden one).
"She said the world's Muslims, whom she compares unfavorably with the Jews, have descended into a vortex of self-pity and violence.
Dr. Sultan said the world was not witnessing a clash of religions or cultures, but a battle between modernity and barbarism, a battle that the forces of violent, reactionary Islam are destined to lose.
In response, clerics throughout the Muslim world have condemned her, and her telephone answering machine has filled with dark threats. But Islamic reformers have praised her for saying out loud, in Arabic and on the most widely seen television network in the Arab world, what few Muslims dare to say even in private." (source)
Because Sultan has dared to say what most of the Muslim world should be banding together to say --she is receiving death threats and fears for her family that is still in Syria. Religion of peace?
The DNC is Splintering -Let's Sit Back and Watch: Hillary Clinton and Howard Ickes -with the financial support of George Soros- have virtually declared their "no confidence" in Howard Dean's leadership of their party. They have assembled a data compiling system that mirrors that of the GOP. If you can't beat them...copy them I guess.
"His project, dubbed the "Data Warehouse," is being bankrolled by Democratic fat cat George Soros, who poured millions of dollars into Ickes' "Media Fund" in 2004 in an unsuccessful bid to unseat President Bush.
The goal of the Data Warehouse is to identify potential Democratic voters who could be targeted as Election Day approaches in any get-out-the-vote effort.
Like Ickes, Mrs. Clinton is said to be concerned that liberal Democrats have failed to build the political infrastructure that Republicans and their conservative allies. have used to such great effect.
Meanwhile, feathers have been clearly ruffled over at DNC headquarters." (source)
Canada Aligning With the US and Israel?!: "Canada voted against a controversial resolution on Palestinian rights at the United Nations yesterday, an early sign that the new Harper government is aligning its Middle East policy more closely with the views of Israel and the United States.
The previous Liberal government had abstained on the identical resolution last year. But on instructions from Ottawa, the Canadian delegation at the UN joined the United States to vote against a non-binding motion calling on Israel to allow all Palestinian refugee women and children to return to their homes." (source)
You seem to be straight forward, but you keep a lot inside. You're laid back and chill, but sometimes you care too much about what others think. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. You have one big dream in your life, and you never lose sight of it.
...there are two Jehovah's Witnesses at my door as I type. I swear. It's a man and his wife and they're stalking me. I made the mistake of talking to them once and now they won't go away. I don't understand why either because theologically I buried them last time --I had a verse to counter every one of their points (12 years of Christian school paying off). I have way too much to do for this --but they know I'm home because the damn dog is in the back yard and Ninja keeps looking out the window. Geez, take a hint...Now I have to feel like the jerk.
...also, it's 71 degrees here today and just beautiful. I recommend going through a car wash with Crazy Train at full volume.
Wow, I just finished reading a really long expose about the secretive cult of Scientology that Courtney sent me. Again, wow.
I knew this was a wacky religion --I just had no idea how wacky.
I know that some people think that believing the world was "created" is silly, but at least there isn't documented fact that Matthew, Mark, Luke or John said, "Hey, I'm going to start my own religion 'cause that's where the money is!". Even L. Ron Hubbard's own son knew he was a fraud.
Apparently there was this guy named Xenu who controlled 37 (or maybe 67) planets, but they soon became grossly overpopulated. He had to scoop up 137 million people and throw them into the volcanoes on Earth. They were spewed from the volcanoes -their essences that had lived for million of years now trapped in human bodies... (but this is classified knowledge that you don't find out until years (and hundreds of thousands of dollars) of study --it comes in a manila envelope and you must sign a waiver that you'll never tell. Thanks to the internet and scanners, we know without ever paying a dime...
OK, here's a teaser from the article:
"Both of Natalie's parents are Clear, she says. Her grandmother is what's called an "Operating Thetan," or "OT." So is Tom Cruise, who is near the top of Scientology's Bridge, at a level known as OT VII. OTs are Scientology's elite -- enlightened beings who are said to have total "control" over themselves and their environment. OTs can allegedly move inanimate objects with their minds, leave their bodies at will and telepathically communicate with, and control the behavior of, both animals and human beings. At the highest levels, they are allegedly liberated from the physical universe, to the point where they can psychically control what Scientologists call MEST: Matter, Energy, Space and Time." (source)
Something that occurred to me while I was reading... Do you know how a lot of people believe that Tom Cruise is gay and doesn't understand why he doesn't just admit it? Well, I didn't realize that homosexuality is one of the things that you get deprogrammed for in Scientology... Katie Holmes: the cover up to help Tom absolve his sins?
I didn't realize how many times they had been in trouble with the government -plots the religion had against the government --and the lengths they will go to to shut up dissenters (ex-members website). I also didn't know journalists and psychiatrists were forbidden from joining...
U.N. Finally Does Something Right... Then Wrong...
The thing they did right was to overwhelming vote "no-confidence" in Kofi Annan’s leadership. The problem is the vote didn't come after his 10,000 missteps as UN Secretary, but after he announced plans to completely overhaul the bureaucracy.
"U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, whose government has pushed hard for extensive reforms at the United Nations, declined comment on the staff vote but said all organizations needed to regularly review their activities to see which were better performed internally and which could be outsourced." (source)
Should Annan's proposed overhaul go through it will cost $500 MILLION dollars. Should we take a wild guess what country will be footing that bill?!
Then, they did something even more foolish... A U.N. convoy has declared that the whole West Bank/Gaza conflict is solely the fault of (who else?) the Jews --basically absolving the Palestinians of fault and naming Israel the terrorists.
"In a special report prepared for next week's annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission, South African lawyer John Dugard charged:
"It seems that settlers are able to terrorize Palestinians and destroy their trees and crops with impunity."
What he failed to mention, however, are the innumerable stoning, shooting and bombing attacks carried out against the Jewish settlers by the hostile Arab population surrounding them. Often those attacks are launched from the cover of olive groves and fruit orchards, prompting frustrated and threatened Israelis to take matters into their own hands." (Read the rest of the Story)
The new list of Billionaires came out and there are now 793. I found it quite interesting that the top two (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) are both card carrying DNC members --I'm sure Oprah is on there somewhere too...
"Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates topped the list for a record 12th year in a row with a net worth estimated at $US50 billion, followed by perennial No.2 Warren Buffett, the famed investor of Berkshire Hathaway, worth $US42 billion." (source)
...It's pretty obvious neither of them feel socialistic urges with their own money.
...not to say anything about AB being pregnant (I got her the pictured shirt...How cute is that?).
I was SO good about keeping the secret. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone and I only told Justrose, Liz, AG, Desult, PRM, and Ghost. That is SO good for me. LOL
Well, so now you all know why Aunt Bitchy has been living up to her name more than normal --and why her comments have been virtually indistinguishable from Free's, Ghost's and Jpck's...
...in about 7 months Aunt Bitchy will become Mommy Bitchy --and I will be Aunt Awesome;) And thankfully she is like me and will find out the sex of he baby -so we will know by May if I will finally get my little girl!
...And in other Sage Family news --Happy Birthday to 92alpha! (Actually it was yesterday, but we're celebrating today)
God works in mysterious ways --and maybe it can be through the blogs...
As many of you know, Desultory Butterfly has given up civilian life and is currently under the tutelage of United States Army drill Sergeants at not-so-scenic boot camp. She is doing well (scores), but is currently quite ill. Due to the high instance of malingering, illness may not be attended to with the zeal they would in the "real world"...so she will most likely just have to suffer through it.
Anyway, Desult's twin would love to be able to see her sister graduate. You can imagine that this time has been hard on both of them --they are very close and have taken the lack of communication very hard. The tickets are REALLY expensive and with all of life's other expenses, it may not be possible for her sister to get to Desult's graduation without help.... your help?
I am asking all of you --can you help two fellow Bloggers in need? If anyone has excess Frequent Flyer miles or flight vouchers that you can afford to part with...can you please email me? Once again, the ticket needed is quite pricey. Can we thank Desult for her willing sacrifice and reunite twins on that special day of accomplishment!?
Actually when it comes to "reproductive rights" it's really the men that get "the fuzzy end of the lollipop" (Name that quote for 15 pts). If a woman wants to abort the baby --men have no say. It's not a baby but "the woman's body" (even if they're married) ...BUT if the woman wants the baby (and the man doesn't...if it's "inconvenient" for him or is he's "not ready to be a parent") he will still have to pay $600/mo until the kid is 18. How is that fair? If you are going to make men pay for kids they didn't want then it's only fair that they should have a say on the other end. If he wants the baby --she shouldn't be able to abort...and she should have to pay support. You can't have it both ways girls...
"Contending that women have more options than they do in the event of an unintended pregnancy, men's rights activists are mounting a long shot legal campaign aimed at giving them the chance to opt out of financial responsibility for raising a child.
The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit _ nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men _ to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male reproductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.
"Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government _ literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn't want. There's nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized." (source)
How would a pro-choice woman respond to this issue (or a pro-choice man for that matter) --why do the women get to be the only ones to "choose"? How is it "his baby" if you want a check, but none of his business if you want the suction?
Did anyone else watch the premier of Black. White. On FX last night?
For those that don’t watch a lot of TV, this is a show that has gotten tons of hype (including a full hour on Oprah). The premise is they will make a Black family White and a White family Black using high tech makeup and have them all live together (helping each other to “pass”) for two weeks.
Could they have picked a more obnoxious White family? NO! This family of rich California liberal Caucasians is so out-of-touch the show was almost painful to watch. They claim to have grown up with parents that “worked in the Civil Rights movement”, yet they have no Black friends and say things that had me covering my eyes hoping it wasn’t really happening.
At one point the White mom says she’ll “be Black” by walking into rooms and “high fiving everyone”. Another part the Black mom finds egg shells in the container with the rest of the eggs and says to her husband in disgust, “Look what they do!” I was yelling at the television…”No! They don’t do that –that retarded family you are forced to live with does that!”
And they are promoting it hard -they even have a MySpace page...
What a disaster. Thank you producers for picking the freakiest liberal family you could find. A family that claims to “love people of color”, has not one Black friend and constantly goes on about how racism doesn’t exist. That should really help to break down the cultural barriers. /sarcasm
What's a girl to do when it's in the news... We gotta go there again.
First, I guess I understand people that are pro-choice not wanting the call what they are lobbying to rid themselves of a baby. That would be mean. But now they don't even want people calling it an embryo. Actually this is going to be more of a scathing admonishment of Catholics than the pro-choice crowd...we already know they're morally bankrupt.... Let me explain...
The reason the word is being changed from embryo to MATERIAL is to make the Catholic Senators feel better about voting for it. I guess it's like when Catholics get marriages (that have produced children) annulled so they can get married again. So if the bill SAID embryo they couldn't vote for it, but if it SAYS "material" they can vote for it even though it's still a friggin' embryo?! Just like, there is no such thing as an annulment when you had sex and if you have children you obviously had sex. That just means you are willing to make your kids bastards for semantics...
"Democratic lawmakers have changed the word "embryo" to "material" in a bill for embryonic stem-cell research to secure the votes of Catholic senators who did not want to be viewed as supporting abortion-related legislation. "They didn't want to vote for a bill that had the language embryo in it," said Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, Baltimore County Democrat and the bill's sponsor. The bill, which appears certain of passage as early as today, calls for the state to spend $10 million for research on cells extracted from human embryos to create treatments" (source)
The little one started Karate this week... He looks so cute in his little gi (pronounced gee –uniform), I can barely stand it. The program is awesome --all aspects of life must be in order and if all goals (grades, helping at home, nice to siblings) aren't being accomplished the kids can not move to the next belt level. We tried to get the older one into it...but it's not his thing. He is taking a cartoon illustration class over the summer... -and- We got a gym! We have been researching them forever and finally found one that sounded really good. It simulates dumbbell (instead of bar weight) motion. Pre-kids The Man and I spent almost two hours a night at the local Gold's Gym...and now we have resorted to confiscating a quarter of the boys' playroom for a cable system... How things change.
So I’m listening to the news today, and I hear that jackass from North Carolina say that he drove through all those UNC students with his Jeep for “the glory of ALa”. This sounds familiar – seems like I’ve heard that Daniel Pearl was beheaded “for ALa”, the Shi’a mosque was bombed “for ALa”, and the whole muslim world needs to rise up and set fire to the western world “because it is ALa’s will”.
Maybe I’m just a sicko, but all I can think is “Damn, girl. Ain’t you just the Jodie Foster of the Middle East?”
[On a totally unrelated note, turtles are the COOLEST pets ever, and every turtle should be given a name that begins with the letter “T”. Alliteration just sounds “right” when you’re naming a turtle or tortoise. My personal favorite is “Tippy”. My wife won’t let me keep a turtle in the house (yeah, she’s guilty of “mammalocentric thinking”) and I’m just SOOOOOO jealous of Ninja & Busta.]
I’m leaving Wednesday afternoon for Dallas, and I’ll try to send daily updates from the Big 12 basketball tournament. On a negative note, I couldn’t find anyone else who wanted to drive it with me, so I’ll be flying out of Kansas City; however on the positive side, I WON’T be riding my motorcycle, so ALa won’t be getting a panicked call from the middle of freakin’ nowhere asking her to hop on the internet & find the closest Kawasaki dealership to Wichita, Kansas. Iowa State isn’t exactly having a great year, so I’ll probably have a LOT of free time after the first game against Okie State on Thursday, or at best after the Kansas matchup on Friday if we can beat the Cowboys. I was thinking about packing my paintball gun & walking over to Dealey Plaza to see if I can hit all the flyer-distributing conspiracy freaks over by the School Book Depository from a hide on the grassy knoll, but a 70+ yard shot with a paintball gun in those swirling winds around all those tall buildings would take more luck than Oswald needed. Plus the fact that Dallas cops PROBABLY have no sense of humor about that sort of thing. It’s probably best that I leave the paintball gun at home, upon further reflection. We’ll probably just go to our strengths – drinking, drinking, and more drinking.
I’m going to see if I’m over my case of blogger’s block. Hope to have more for y’all to read soon."
Mulsim Runs Down Infidels at UNC: An SUV, driven by 22 year old Iranian Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, ran down students at the University of North Carolina's "The Pit". Nine people were injured and Taheri-azar's statement was that he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah." It seems that he does have some defenders at the Uni:
"On campus, UNC students held what they called an "anti-terrorism" rally. "We don't want terrorism here, and we're not going to stand for that where we live and where we go to school," said Kris Wampler, a student at UNC and member of the College Republicans, which helped organize the rally.
About 50 students attended the rally, including several Muslim students who debated with organizers and said Taheri-azar had not been linked to any terrorist group.
"When you think in terms of a global context, this was an isolated incident," said student Khurram Bilal Tariq, 22." (source)
Update: it seems that this will NOT be called "terrorism" (even though the dude planned it for two years and did it in the name of Allah) and will only be "attempted homicide...
Girl Crowned Prom King: Maryland's Hood College has named a woman, 21 year old Jennifer Jones, Homecoming King.
"'It is cool that Hood allows people to be themselves," Jones told The Frederick News-Post. "If people didn't want me to be king, they wouldn't have nominated me and voted for me." Jones, of Newark, Delaware, received 64 of 169 votes cast for king last month." (source)
Here's my question, is a woman a King and not a Queen when she's a lesbian? Couldn't Jones have been Homecoming Queen and been a lesbian and have that jive? I thought lesbianism was a sexual preference thing and not a gender thing...
Creationism & Evolution: Maybe the country isn't split right down the middle after all... A new Zogby poll shows that a paltry 21% of Americans think that only Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught as the only option by science teachers. 69% believe that teachers should present evidence for and against Darwin's theory.
"About 88 percent of Americans 18-29 years old were in support, along with 73 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of independent voters.
Others who strongly support teaching the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory include African-Americans (69 percent), 35-54 year-olds (70 percent) and Democrats (60 percent).
Casey Luskin, program officer for public policy and legal affairs with "Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture" said while his group does not favor mandating the teaching of intelligent design, "we do think it is constitutional for teachers to discuss it precisely because the theory is based upon scientific evidence not religious premises." (source) Take that Darwinian snobs! ;)
VT Wants to Impeach: According to a 121-29 vote taken in Vermont, Representative Bernie Sanders (an independent and Vermont's only Rep in the House) must bring an article of impeachment against George W. Bush. Sanders hasn't yet lost his mind and issued this statement: "[Although the Bush administration] "has been a disaster for our country, and a number of actions that he has taken may very well not have been legal," given the reality that the Republicans control the House and the Senate, "it would be impractical to talk about impeachment." (source)
If you asked The Man what he hated most about me...I bet he would say he hates that I watch reality shows on MTV. It aggravates him to no end.
But if I wasn't a geek that still watched The Real World (and now the new Ashley parker Angel show, Okay and Real World/Road Rules challenges...) I would have never seen the next two things I want to talk about...Blog Research I tell you!
The first thing is a great new condom campaign by Trojan. I say that it's great because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it --it's sobering. I'm going to paraphrase here:
[Did you know that 1 in 4 people who are HIV+ will not tell their partners? It's not because they don't care. It's because they don't know. Use a condom every time.]
One in four?! Wow. All you singles (and cheaters) out there take heed --that is a deadly serious statistic. ...And girls, if he won't wear it because "it doesn't feel as good" or "he can't get excited" ...LEAVE!
The second thing that I found pretty impressive was the fact that MTV --kings of the promulgation of spring break debauchery --is offering an "alternative Spring break" this year. They are asking teens and college kids to give up the booze and bikinis and instead to go help our with StormCorps. They offer a link to build your own alternative spring break. Anyway, I doubt the type of people that go to Daytona's Spring Break would ever consider it...but it's a nice idea.
Not really related but I'll put it here anyway: 8.6 MILLION people watched Spongebob's "Lost in Time" premier --I wonder if that's more than watched the Presidential debates...
A former spokesperson for the brutal Taliban regime (who toured America in its defense) is not in a cell, but attending one of our finest Ivy League schools. Yale.
Many of you may have heard about this already, but I have been so incredulous that I just had to post about it. Not only is the Johnnie Cochran of the Taliban enjoying the best that this country has to offer...he doesn't even deserve to be there on a purely academic level --he only went as high as eighth grade and now is enrolled at YALE?
"Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, a 28-year-old Afghan who in 2001 toured America to defend the Taliban regime, was admitted to Yale as a non-degree student in January 2005 and has been taking classes there since the summer semester. He can apply to study for a regular undergraduate degree at the college this spring. His enrollment was first reported in the New York Times Magazine." (source)
This is the best though --here is a "student reaction" from a freshman (note: some of the students at Yale are rightfully outraged at the prospect of a terrorist among them):
""If we didn't accept him and try to learn from him, how could we say we're this diverse body and institution of higher learning?" a freshman, Benjamin Gonzalez, said. "If we just dismiss him, what does that say about us?" (source)
"Contacted by the Sun, several fellows of the Yale Corporation, the governing board of Yale University, declined to comment. The most palpable outrage over Mr. Hashemi's admission to Yale came from John Fund, who wrote in the Wall Street Journal yesterday: "This is taking the obsession that U.S. universities have with promoting diversity a bit too far." (source)
I bet there would be sackcloth and ashes, and wailing in the streets should Billy Graham's or Jerry Falwell's son be admitted (and did in fact protest a Pro-Israel speaker)...
Judge Holds Woman in Contempt for Refusing to Watch VHS of Her Own Rape?!
"An Illinois judge has decided not to force a woman to watch a videotape of two men having sex with her as a 16-year-old.
The tape is evidence in the trial of a man accused of raping her, and the judge had threatened the woman with contempt of court for refusing to watch it.
The judge said the tape can be shown after the woman, who is now 20, has testified and left the courtroom. An attorney working with the woman said the judge realized he had "no legs to stand on" legally.
The threat of forcing the woman to watch the tape drew outrage from victims' groups and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who said he'll draft legislation barring rape victims from having to view videotapes or photos of the crime." (source)
The article fails to elaborate, so can any of you law-background people give the rest of us any plausible reasons as to why a rape victim would have to endure the pain of watching a tape of the crime?
Those signs I've seen sure have it right --Victim's NO Rights... (H/T: Liz)
Army SGT Rickey Jones, 21, of Kokomo, Ind; killed Feb. 22 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during patrol operations in Hawijah, Iraq
"I am trying to help organize a letter writing campaign to the family of SGT Rickey Jones. As you may have read earlier, their home was vandalized by idiots who wouldn’t understand patriotism if it flew a plane through their bedroom window.
If you own a blog, please post this effort on your respective blogs and ask your readers to post it on their blogs. If you are as disgusted as I am and would like to write a letter to have delivered to this family, please email Lauren (MyWay716@aol.com) for more information. The good people over at Operation Military Pride are helping facilitate the delivery of these letters.
This family recently lost a son and shouldn’t have to deal with people like Fred Phelps and the people responsible for the egging of their home and irreverent phone calls. If you feel the same way I do, please email her and write this family a letter of support and love. Let them know that we appreciate their son’s service and mourn their loss. Let’s show them what America is really made of. This isn’t about whether or not you support the war. This is about common decency for a family that has suffered the ultimate sacrifice…having to bury a child. Thank you in advance. When this is over, I want the post office to have to hire new postmen just to handle the volume. Yes, it’s a challenge, as LinkedinUSAF would say."
LET'S GET THIS SPREAD THROUGH OUR LITTLE CORNER OF THE BLOGOSPHERE!
Okay, there was one thing that did really bother me about the Academy Awards the other night... It was a three-hour commercial for theaters. The Hollywood community is obviously so upset that box office sales are plummeting they had to mention how much better things look on the big screen every five minutes.
What I have to say about that is --THANK GOD FOR PIRACY! Now the movies come out so quick to DVD ...remember the days when you had to wait a year or two? I don't buy pirated movies because I like to own the real case, but it sure lit a fire under Hollywood's collective ass.
Theater-smeater...if I had a movie-style popcorn maker in my living room, I would NEVER go to the theater. I always end up behind Sammy Sikh with a turban or Belinda Beehive...kids talking, babies crying, cell phones ringing some annoying tune, uncomfortable seats, the fear of lice, no place to put my purse and my feet sticking to the floor with black JuJu Bees. What could be better than my own couch, in front of my own flat screen and a pause button for smoke breaks...?
Hollywood get over it --none of you go to the local Cineplex either...you all sit in your private home theaters. Just think, if this keeps up you may have to start shopping at Target with the rest of the peons.
Also, a bitter commentary on why some people think Crash won over Brokeback Mountain.
Not only do I agree with the majority of the community concerning the Cindy Sheehan visit, I agree with the writer of “Obligation to fight atrocity”: America must stand up against evil powers, as countries like France and Germany will not. These countries still believe if you turn the other cheek, or speak no evil against, you will be left unscathed.
The fanatic lunatics who commit atrocities against their own people and other countries will only prosper and grow stronger. I believe that when an article such as the one stating German intelligence provided defense plans of Baghdad to the U.S. in 2003 reaches the media, there must be some truth to it (just like it was proven some misguided soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners). The Germans deny this — it might cause the lunatics to commit terrorist acts on German soil. God forbid that, but wake up, Germany and France, you are in this along with the rest of the world.
The lunatics committing terrorism in the name of their god have no tolerance for anyone except their religion; they can slander ours, as we are “infidels,” but don’t dare slander theirs.
I share condolences for anyone who lost a loved one not only in Iraq, but anywhere, any time, including Sheehan. We and the soldiers don’t need her support or opinion; she needs ours.
I haven’t forgotten “Hanoi Jane” Fonda, and now we have another like her in the midst. Please, “Baghdad Cindy,” stay home. You’re not welcome here.
-Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth A. Cox (Ret), Stuttgart, Germany (Stars & Stripes: Letters to the Editor)
Have you heard of this faucet of illegal immigration? Rape Trees? I hadn't until last week.
Reason #4,323 to support the Minutemen...
It seems that when woman employ the "guides" that take you across the Mexican -U.S. border (called "Coyotes"), one thing these women must endure is the routine practice of being raped and as a visual reminder to all that come after --her bloodstains are left in the dirt and her panties are hung from the branches of a tree.
"This is the picture that pro-immigration advocates don't want you to see....
It is time the American people put a stop to the travesty of our open borders. It is time to understand that "open borders" means they are open to every kind of evil, including gang rape and human trafficking.
For any decent, law-abiding American, to see a rape tree is to gaze upon the face of the enemy of civilization. To see the blood-stained ground beneath them is to behold the faces of their victims. Never forget that. When the proponents of illegal immigration and the liberal news media decry the Minutemen as "racists" and "vigilantes" ask them, "What about the rape trees?" Who besides the Minutemen are doing anything about the rape trees? And now that you know, if you do nothing, what does that say about you?" (source)
It would seem that any self-respecting feminist would have to be against the illegal immigration that gives these horrible people the power and opportunity to treat woman and children this way...
Hillary Clinton has been very outspoken about her opposition of the UAE ports agreement --and was probably feeling a little silly when she admitted that she had no clue hubby Bill was advising Dubai leaders on how they should be handling the bad PR over the deal (They were BIG contributors to the Clinton library). Ooops. That's what happens when married people don't talk...
Did you read about the Canadian soldier that was attacked by an Afghani with an ax while he screamed "Allah Ahkbar"? No, unfortunately it's not a joke... believe it or not, he's alive and waiting to be transfered to Germany. There was a sign that something was going to happen that the soldiers didn't think about until after the fact. The locals took all the children away about three minutes prior to the incident. **Take note to my friends currently in Afghanistan**
The ACLU is actively campaigning against "Abstinence-Only" education. Once again, I don't know why there is any education in schools about sex --isn't that a parent's job? Do I really want some badly dressed teacher that's in serious need of a mint and making $24K a year discussing intercourse with MY kid? The answer is NO. (And don't say some parent's don't step up to the plate, I shouldn't be penalized for the bad parents out there). The there's always the Democrats approach to sex ed... ;)
In an upcoming tell-all book, Jermaine Jackson admits Michael's a pedophile... "Jermaine described the Pop King as a sometimes out-of-control drug and booze abuser with a calculating mean streak and "a thing for young children." (source) He says that the only reason he supported him during the trial was a fear that Michael may commit suicide in prison.
Saturday the Army announced that it will begin a criminal investigation into the 2004 death of Pat Tillman that was originally ruled accidental.
A pentagon spokesperson (anonymous) said the new charge could be "negligent homicide"...though no specific soldier is under investigation.
"Two initial fact-finding investigations were conducted at the unit level right after Tillman's death. He was a member of the Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. A third investigation was conducted by U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and a concurrent investigation was done by the Army's Safety Center.
Tillman, 27, died on April 22, 2004, when he was struck by gunfire during a firefight along a canyon road near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Army said at the time that the barrage of bullets came from enemy fire.
A report by the Army later found that troops with Tillman knew at the time that friendly fire had killed the football star. Officers destroyed critical evidence and concealed the truth from Tillman's brother, also an Army Ranger, who was nearby, the report found.
More than three weeks after a memorial service in San Jose, Calif., the Army announced on May 29, 2004, that friendly fire rather than an enemy encounter caused Tillman's death. However, even at the time of the memorial, top Army officials were aware that the investigation showed the death had been caused by an act of "gross negligence," the report said." (source)
As a civilian, I am at a loss as to what this means --isn't any "friendly fire" "gross negligence"? Can anyone give some examples of a scenario that might be worse than just F-ing up and shooting your buddy? If they thought other Rangers did it deliberately I would assume the investigation would be looking at specific soldiers (which they say it isn't) and that the charge would be homicide and not negligent homicide...?
(Also, looking for pics of Tillman this morning I came across this article from academia. It seems Ted Rall wasn't the only one that thought Tillman was an Idiot and not a Hero...)
Much to the dismay to those that fancy themselves "real authors", anyone can get published now through a number of on-line self publishing companies.
One seems a bit cooler than the others and is more of a Blog snapshot in hardback than an actual book. The software is at Blurb.com and the prices are phenomenal.
"Pricing for printed versions of your book from Blurb starts at $30 for an 8-by-10-inch full-color hardcover volume with dust jacket and up to 40 pages. A book of up to 80 pages is $3 more. (Blurb plans to eventually offer paperback editions selling for about 30 percent less than hardcover.) Authors will also be able to set up online bookstores through Blurb's Web site." (source)
Now, don't judge all self-published books by the prevailing stereo-type that these authors just can't cut it in the real publishing world... There is one self-published book that I read this year that was well worth the read and should have been picked up by one of the houses...especially in light of the current role our troops find themselves in now in Iraq...
John Stewart is hosting this year and when asked about his commentary he said, "There may not be violence in the streets, but there will be enough controversy to create unrest.". John Stewart is normally pretty innocuous, so this was probably just an attempt to bring up Oscar's plummeting ratings.
I am going to post who SHOULD win --not my prediction of who WILL win. If there is one thing I hate, it's what I call the "Michael J. Fox win" --that's when they give an award to someone when they don't deserve it but the pity-factor or the you-were-controversial-factor comes into play. HERE is the official list of nominees.
BEST PICTURE: CRASH Without a doubt --CRASH. I can't believe I still keep talking to people that haven't seen this film. Forget Brokeback Mountain, if you want to talk gutsy and honest...it's Crash. I still can't believe this un-PC movie actually got made in Hollywood. Even Ludacris (or more surprisingly Sandra Bullock) was great in this movie.
Who Actually Won? CRASH!!!!*
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: TERRENCE D. HOWARD John Singleton re-mortgaged his house to get the money to make Hustle & Flow and Terrence makes a tired story flow. He makes a black pimp in Memphis have depth and shows us something other than the clichés. Howard carries this film from beginning to end and somehow makes it work. He deserves the win.
Who Actually Won? Phillip Seymore Hoffman (Bleh, I can say I will never see this film -I couldn't listen to the voice he uses for two hours...having trouble just listening to the clips...)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: PAUL GIAMATTI One of my very favorite actors. This is a great film and Giamatti nails the role (as he nails ever other role but never gets creidt because he's not pretty to look at --he should have been nominated last year for Sideways)
Who ACTUALLY Won? George Clooney -Syriana
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Charlize Theron This was a great Silkwood-esque woman-power movie and Theron was amazing. She's believable every step of the way.
Who Actually Won? Reese Witherspoon
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Frances McDormand Like Paul Giamatti, McDormand rarely gets the recognition she deserves. She was instrumental to the success of North Country.
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Corpse Bride My kids would both pick Wallace & Gromit here, but The Corpse bride is a great film on every level. It strays more than I would have liked from the original folklore, but I assume most people never knew about the story.
Who Actually Won? Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
ART DIRECTION & COSTUME DESIGN & MUSICAL SCORE: PRIDE & PREDJUDICE This should actually win Best Picture -from the casting to the scenery to the score this film was pure breath-taking perfection. I never really notice the music in a movie, but the piano underlying this film is haunting and beautiful.
Who Actually Won? Costume Design - Memoirs of a Geisha, Art Direction - Memoirs of a Geisha, Musical Score - Brokeback Mountain
DIRECTING & FILM EDITING: CRASH
Who Actually Won? Editing - Crash*, Director - Brokeback Mountain
MUSIC (Song): "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" -Hustle & Flow This should win because the actor performed it himself and didn't lip sync --once again showing his range and why he should win best actor. **Listen to the Song**
Who Actually Won? It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp - Hustle & Flow*
MAKEUP & VISUAL EFFECTS: THE LION, THE WITCH and the WARDROBE
Who Actually Won? Visual Effects -King Kong, Make-up - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*
WRITING (Original Screenplay): CRASH
Who Actually Won? Crash*
There you have it, my picks. None of them will win because I only know how the Average American thinks --and not how the cloistered Academy does...so I am choosing on films that were actually entertaining to watch and not judging with an agenda, or nepotism, or payback.
Illegal Titty-twisting: AlexC, over at Three Sources, has an unbelievable story. It would seem that the "zero tolerance" policies that ensued post-Columbine are now officially out-of-hand. A boy has been sent to juvey for twisting another boy's nipple --and the boy was required to write his "Criminal thought process"...geez. Read the story...
Divine Oral Sex: Lost Budgie Blog has a post up about the University of Saskatchewan and their publication The Sheaf. Apparently they didn't publish the Muhammad cartoons "out of respect for Islam" but DID publish a cartoon of Jesus giving fellatio to a capitalist piglet. Gotta love that higher education... Read the story...
America's Worst President: Bluto at My Pet Jawa thinks that Jimmy Carter has officially jumped the shark --I would have to argue that happened long ago... Anyway, Mr. Carter is now campaigning for Egypt, Pakistan, and Cuba to be on the UN's Human Rights Commission because he promised them that? Read the story...
ACLU Loves Criminals: Jay at Stop the ACLU has a post about how the ACLU is opposing the paltry minimum sentences that we currently have in place --(minimums that make sure a judge doesn't give 60 days to a sex offender, like that judge in Vermont did). I might agree with the ACLU if only drug charges were at issue here, but for pedophilia, rape and murder...we have learned that judges can't be trusted to have no guidelines. Read the story...
More Katrina BS: B. Preston over at the JunkYardBlog points to an AP retraction conveniently posted on a Friday night. They released a story claiming that Bush was told the New Orleans' levees would break and have now released a correction stating Bush was told the water would exceed the levees --not that they would break. Read the story... And speaking about New Orleans --go check out the pictures that Blackfive has up of Mayor Ray Nagin dressed in a general's uniform for his Today Show appearance. Read the story...
Good News Source: Finally, someone has stepped into Chrenkoff's abandoned shoes and is posting ALL good news stories about our military. Wouldn’t the MSM be surprised to know there are enough of these stories to blog about every day?! Be sure to bookmark (and/or link) MilTracker.com.
LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO (it's a bit scratchy in the beginning, but it gets cleaner) and picture your child is sitting in this class being taught every day by this 10th grade biology teacher... I know it's painful, but try to get through the whole thing...because this is what your kids will be sitting through.
"In the tape, Jay Bennish – teaching a 10th grade world geography class at Overland High School in Aurora, Colo. – called the U.S. "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth" and described capitalism as a system "at odds with human rights."
Bennish told students Jan. 29 he found "eerie similarities" to Bush's statements in his State of the Union speech and things Adolf Hitler said, i.e., "We're the only ones who are right. Everyone else is backwards. And it's our job to conquer the world and make sure they live just like we want them to."
"Now, I'm not saying that Bush and Hitler are exactly the same," Bennish said. "Obviously, they are not. OK. But there are some eerie similarities to the tones that they use. Very, very ethnocentric. We're right. You're all wrong.
Twenty minutes of the class was recorded on an MP3 player by student Sean Allen, who can be heard at several points questioning Bennish's declarations." (source)
Okay, I admit that I almost couldn't make it through... Even his voice is whiny and annoying...not to mention that picture really is him (and not Coach's Dauber)
A few months ago Sean Hannity asked high school/college students to start audio taping leftist rants by teachers... the more that I hear, the more discouraged I become. This is who will be teaching our kids!!!! Agghhh!!!
There is a national project underway (and it's free) to make sure our troops know that we support them despite the message they are getting from the main stream media.
"The mainstream liberal media want you to believe that U.S. troops in Iraq are guilty of widespread torture ... oppressing civilians ... murdering U.S. journalists ... opposing the war effort ... And losing the war.
Well, after a military career that stretched from World War II through Korea, Vietnam, and the fall of the Soviet empire, I can tell you this --Our troops in Iraq are winning the war.
And they’re upholding the highest standards of decency and civilization in their selfless mission to liberate the Iraqi people from tyranny and confront the America-hating terrorist fanatics on their own ground.
These courageous men and women need to know that somebody back home is working to restore fairness and balance to the media’s coverage of the sacrifices they’re making for us." -General Jack Singlaub (Ret.)
To join the campaign, just GO HERE and order a dog tag in your name that will be sent to one of the troops overseas. The goal of this project is 150,000 dog tags --so far 24,000 have been shipped. When you order a tag one will also be shipped to you as a daily reminder of sacrifice.
It is FREE to send your support now --of course, if you want to donate to the effort...please do!
The first case has been heard under McCain's infamous Detainee Treatment Act:
"U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler is considering whether to prohibit the forced-feeding practice in the case of Mohammed Bawazir, who has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay since the spring of 2002."
"After the hearing, Bawazir's lawyer, John Chandler, said, "We believe the use of restraining chairs which are only supposed to be used for detainees who are violent and dangerous to others or actively dangerous to themselves is a violation of the McCain Amendment."
Named after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the amendment is a portion of the new Detainee Treatment Act that outlaws torture." (source)
What's the debate? Stop the force feeding and let the idiots die --and I guess then it will be liberal-mandated, court-sanctioned death.
In the picture it looks to me like the prisoners get to walk around unshackled... gone are the orange jumpsuits and they have been replaced with crisp white man-dresses and flip flops (Most assuredly much nicer and cleaner than anything they wore in their homeland). The troops they were trying to kill would have only received a flag draped box...
How much money does it cost to be Politically Correct? The answer is a lot! I'm not sure how the Republican Party is supposed to be the "rich party", yet most of the conservatives I know can't afford to indulge in the PC lifestyle that many of the liberals I know claim to lead...
I would LOVE to be a vegetarian...but who can go to the organic market everyday? Who has time to make the complex meals needed to simulate the blood protein that our bodies need to thrive?
I would love to drive a vehicle that used less gas. I also would love to keep my VERY low car payments. Having a hybrid is not an average American thing --it's a limousine liberal thing.
I'd love to be able to have no responsibilities and find time to protest every weekend and volunteer at all kinds of crunchy places.
I'd love to spend my life mired in academia.
But alas, shopping at the regular market is much more economic than Whole Foods. Keeping my Jeep is way more practical than buying a new car that still doesn't live up to its MPG promise. All these grand ideas proposed by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio never take into consideration the working stiff. Did they ever take one minute to think that it's not a "heartless republican" thing, but an economic one?
...a new bill before the Senate has one sponsor and one co-sponsor. Both are Democrats. The Bill is S. 451: Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2005 and it is a desperately needed bill that will beef up the currently lax restrictions regarding "Class B" dog dealers.
In layman's terms that means that currently individuals can run massive kennels where people called "bunchers" come sell random dogs to the kennel owners. Many of these dogs are stolen family pets sold to the kennels for $25 each --the kennel then sells them to research labs all over the country for approx. $250 each. The conditions at the kennels are beyond appalling. HERE are some pictures of the abuses that continue to go on...
Turning your head from something unpleasant doesn't make it go away. Every Senator and House member should have to watch the documentary DEALING DOGS (Which is currently showing on Comcast "On Demand"). This documentary is the culmination of an eight month undercover investigation of a kennel in Arkansas. I don't care if you hate dogs...no sane person can see what goes on at these kennels and not be horrified.
I know there are tons of "dog people" out there --and we really need to write our Senators and urge them to support this bill. Here you can find contact information and a sample letter.
Last Chance for Animals is the organization that took down kennel owner (a pastor?!) C.C. Baird in AK. If you set aside some money to donate to animal causes --think about donating to them. Their organization used a dangerous and sophisticated sting to bring down Baird and saved hundreds of animals and a possible thousands more by having Martin Creek Kennels shut down permanently!
I want to see some co-sponsors from the GOP on this bill!!!
Maybe everyone should link pics of their pups in the comments...
...I am going to cheat a bit here and just link some stories that I wanted to post about. Justice and I have been sick all week (he's missed three days of school) and it's really hard to sit at the computer. I apologize for emails I haven't been able to answer and phone calls I have missed. If you can't reach me --I am in bed watching the first season of Entourage on DVD and longing for AB's parka...
Here goes:
Abortion-Rights activists are calling for a Ban on South Dakota's tourism industry... I didn't realize they had one of those ;) Apparently Pro-lifers countered with a promise to "eat more potatoes" should the law pass. Isn't that Idaho? Ok, I just looked and they do have Mt. Rushmore. Hey, I told you us Yanks don't know anything about the middle states...
Two pieces of news involving CBS. First they were caught by the right'osphere again. This time instead of forged documents it was fake polls showing GW's approval ratings. In other CBS news, they are suing Howard Stern for "hundreds of millions of dollars". Not surprisingly ratings have plummeted with my old flame David Lee Roth behind the mic. I have to say that I did think it was odd that CBS had no problem with Stern hyping his move to Sirius so much...
The MSM seems to be highly annoyed that the "furor" over the NSA wiretapping has died down --despite rallies by the ACLU and moveon.org. They are trying to rekindle the flame despite all the polls citing American support.
Bill Bennett weighs in on the Dubai Ports World deal and expresses why he thinks it's a bad deal for America. "...Here is what rankles Americans, and what should rankle the administration: We are being asked to not only trust our ports to be partially run by the UAE, but we are additionally being asked to support a multibillion-dollar arrangement that supports an authoritarian regime. The message of the Bush doctrine has been blurred. We have been led in this war by the great call to and for freedom in other countries — "the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time," as the president put it in his powerful Second Inaugural. This calling applies to nowhere else as direct as it does to the Middle East..."
The Flyers are doing awesome this season! "...As far as the rest of the rest of the East goes, Philly, New Jersey and Tampa Bay should grab playoff spots leaving one spot open for Atlanta, Montreal, Toronto or Boston...." (source) The bad news is that Keith Primeau is most likely out for the rest of the season.
"The choice is clear: Spend $364 million on firing patriotic Americans or spend the same amount on three dozen Black Hawk helicopters, 4,000 Sidewinder missiles, or enough body armor vests to outfit the entire American fighting force in Iraq.
Unfortunately, our military leaders are either 1) hiding behind a policy to mask their personal prejudices or 2) ignorant to reality.
Nearly 10,000 volunteer servicemembers have been fired for perceived or actual sexual orientation between 1994 and 2003. Rarely has homosexual orientation manifested itself into sexual conduct in a military environment. A person who defies a general order stays in the military, yet if a person’s actual or perceived homosexual orientation comes to the attention of the chain of command, discharge proceedings commence.
Many believe that servicemembers discharged under the Homosexual Conduct Policy brought it upon themselves. More often than not, some bottom-feeder in the unit “outs” another member to make himself look good. Unit cohesion and trust in your comrades, huh? Sounds like the enemy at your six.
It is time for those in the military who have a backbone to call for an end to this policy. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” hurts every servicemember, gay and straight. The next time you are deployed doing the work of two soldiers, waiting for a helicopter with mechanical problems, all while worried about getting shot in the kidney because you don’t have adequate body armor, reread the first sentence of this letter and thank your commander for enforcing the policy.
-Sgt. Brent Geers, Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan (Stars & Stripes: Letters to the Editor)
"My position has always been three exceptions: rape, incests and the life of the mother." Asked if he would include the broader category of health of the mother, Bush said: "No. I said life of the mother, and health is a very vague term, but my position has been clear on that ever since I started running for office." -President G.W. Bush, February 2006.
I wonder what certain Dems that proclaimed the no one really wanted Roe V. Wade overturned (especially politicians)are thinking now... in light of SCOTUS agreeing to hear the partial birth abortion law and South Dakota virtually outlawing abortion...
Now another challenge to Roe's validity has been brought to light. (Of course, Roe has no validity because there is no "protection of privacy" in the Constitution and a court had no right to decide this --this should be a state-by-state issue decided by the voting public...but I digress...)
Apparently a deciding factor to the judges that heard Roe Vs. Wade was evidence presented that mortality rate was higher with childbirth than with abortion. New studies released show that this information was most likely based on faulty data (women not reporting full histories). ( CDC Admits Its Abortion and Childbirth Mortality Statistics Are Not Comparable)
"Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, director of the CDC, wrote in July of 2004, that maternal mortality rates and abortion mortality rates are conceptually different and are used by the CDC for different public health purposes. In other words, the CDC numbers relied upon by Planned Parenthood and AGI are not truly comparable."
"...Researchers from the National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health in Finland. Its findings disputed the age-old presumption that abortion is linked to fewer deaths than is childbirth -- that is, when a woman's pregnancy history is examined linking her medical records to her death certificate.
With proper identification of pregnancy history, the death rate associated with abortion was found to be three times higher than the rate associated with childbirth." (source)
Yesterday the pro-life movement had another big triumph when the Supreme Court decided that RICO laws can no longer be brought against those that protest outside of clinics... (Ironic that the left has so actively tried to squash protest for so many years...would they agree to accept RICO charges should Roe be overturned and they protest?!)
I've always thought that Hamas' popularity with the down and out is a bit like the DNC --it has created social programs throughout Gaza and the West Bank and ensured a dependant support group (or voter base), yet the politics of Hamas are one of the main factors holding the Palestinians down (Sound familiar?). Hamas has been declared a "Terrorist Organization" by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel, and the United States (and is banned in Jordan).
Yet, on Monday Mikhail Gorbachev blasted the US for not including Hamas in the political process.
"Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday warned the United States against unilateralism in global affairs and hailed the Kremlin's invitation for Hamas to visit Moscow, criticizing the West for trying to shun the organization.
Gorbachev said the United States had failed to use the end of the Cold War for purposes of global development and abused its position as the world's only superpower.
"There is only one superpower now and it doesn't know what to do with its status," Gorbachev said at a meeting with foreign reporters. "As a result, we got Yugoslavia and Iraq, and the situation has only got worse."
Gorbachev also strongly backed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to Hamas to visit Moscow, saying that the move offers an opportunity to draw the it into the peace process." (source)
Reiterating my thoughts on the "world Court" from the other day --THIS is precisely why other leaders shouldn't be making decisions for the United States.
"Hamas views the Arab-Israeli conflict as "a religious struggle between Islam and Judaism that can only be resolved by the destruction of the State of Israel." (source)
"The 1988 Hamas Covenant states that the organization's goal is to "raise the banner of God over every inch of Palestine," i.e. to eliminate the State of Israel (and any secular Palestinian state which may be established), and to replace it with an Islamic Republic." (source)
Sure! Invite them right away for a State dinner at the White House...like that doesn't fly in the face of everything we have said about fighting terrorism.
Global Warming may be one of the only subjects that I don't have a concrete opinion about. I have read articles about the "greenhouse effect" and also articles by respected and renowned scientists that claim oceanic volcanoes are causing the climate/ozone changes.
The one thing that I always come back to is that there were tons of natural catastrophes before the first car was riding down a dirt road...
But at times I believe that we should be treating the earth better and at others I think it may all be hype from anti-Capitalists...
A new "dire warning" has been issued (by someone other than Al Gore) by the United Nations (it would only make sense that the Chinese were heading this panel...)
"The Earth's temperature could rise under the impact of global warming to levels far higher than previously predicted, according to the United Nations' team of climate experts.
A draft of the next influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report will tell politicians that scientists are now unable to place a reliable upper limit on how quickly the atmosphere will warm as carbon dioxide levels increase. The report draws together research over the past five years and will be presented to national governments in April and made public next year. It raises the possibility of the Earth's temperature rising well above the ceiling quoted in earlier accounts.
Such an outcome would have severe consequences, such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet and disruption of the Gulf Stream ocean current." (source)
One scientist likened the debate over man-made Global warming to Darwinism vs. Creationism...one side wanting definitive proof and the other having blind faith... I'd settle with consensus.
So, K & CJM asked The Man and I to be baby Gracie's Godparents. The ceremony was this past Sunday. I didn't think we would be able to actually do it considering I'm not Lutheran and The Man is nothing, but alas no one seemed to care... What is Lutheran anyway? It seemed like Catholic-light... K & CJM aren’t religious either, but their families got to them. They convinced them that if the baby wasn’t baptized and she died she would go to hell. Do people really believe that? Wouldn’t that make God really petty and shallow? Is there any Biblical sourcing for that?
...and this was the first time either of my children have been to a church service. Sad but true. They were asking things like "Will it be dark and spooky in there?" "Will I have to do weird stuff?" They were both uncharacteristically angelic -no squirming or talking. During the baptism the Pastor dipped her finger into the water (we were standing in the center of the aisle at the cauldron thing) and crossed both of them on the forehead. I am happy to report that even though neither of mine have been Baptized (we want it to be their decision) the water didn't sear through them and neither spontaneously combust... That's always encouraging.
This is the kind of case I want to see the ACLU start taking if they want to convince many of us that they aren't pursuing an anti-Christian agenda...
Dudes? I get linked on Daily Kos and neither of you tell me about it? What's up with that? I thought Kos was your god...I thought you were both faithful daily readers...? ;)
Yes, I am beating a dead horse here, I know... But as I cruise around MySpace.com I am still seeing underage girls with WAY too much personal info posted. You can have the smartest teen ever, but smarts will not help her when she is pulled into a car because she posted her picture and the name of her high school...
Sorry, this is a 'local interest' thing...but Lynn Swann has a lead over Gov. Ed Rendell. Now most people think that Rendell is unbeatable --he has tons of money and all the Union (Labor) backing. But Swann has a name and some Superbowl rings and I'm OK with that (The same reason I want Fred Thompson to run in '08), if 'name recognition' gets a conservative in office -then so be it.
I stopped doing Technorati searches a long time ago...it was nice seeing when people linked to my site, but it also led me to some really crappy posts that I would have never seen without that little tool. I decided that I was better off not reading some of the stuff that's out there.
So the long anticipated "Democrat security agenda" has finally been revealed...
...but it seems your "censure" call was just a colossal waste of time -and probably tax payer money.
Two fellow bloggers -Liz and Kali, had surgery yesterday (in completely unrelated incidents). I know both are probably in bed and on strong meds and not blogging, but I hope you are both feeling better soon!
In Germany you can now be put in jail for TWO YEARS for downloading music/movies for PRIVATE USE (Five years for commercial use).
...have children like this. 
The Minutemen brought the situation firmly to the forefront of American thought...and now, even though I am sick-to-death of talking about it, I feel that we must. All the protests, new legislation --and the dreaded "A-word" (amnesty) on the table, makes the subject impossible to ignore (you can really only get away with posting about Sean Penn and his doll once...)
The left seems to be consumed with glee over what they have been touting as the Mỹ Lai Massacre replay in Iraq. Why oh why do they (Bill Maher in particular) jump at ANY chance to vilify American troops?
Remember in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy only had to click her gaudy red shoes and say "There's no place like home" three times to get back to Kansas? Well, apparently it's the same in Islam with divorce. Say "Talaq" (divorce) three times in your sleep and poof --you and your wife are history (whether you want to be or not)...
A 25 year old physicist was having a temper tantrum over the prospect of "Intelligent Design" being taught in public schools --and his pro-active response? Not to be outdone by L. Ron Hubbard he decided to start his own religion: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (the al dente deity is pictured). I guess he chose this because Flying Space Monkey was already taken.
Sean Penn admitted (on Richard Johnson's "Page Six") that he does nasty things to his Ann Coulter doll. From what he says he not only tortures Ann's likeness, but also violates it in sexual ways. What a freak. 
Okay, I know it's probably overkill, but there is another "ALa interview"... (I heard that sigh!)
The FBI is being very tight lipped about an investigation into South Central Career Center Truck Training Program (that grants CDLs) in Missouri. 
Remember Tom Fox? The "Human Shield" that was tortured and killed in Iraq? Well, the rest of the Pacifist Shields were rescued by coalition forces. Their families had all but given up hope --they have been hostages for four months. 
NOT! This article really annoyed me. There are people out there that are comparing the outrage over the Afghani man facing the death penalty for his 16-year-old conversion to Christianity to the rioting and arson over the Muhammad cartoons...
There have been no riots or sackings of Afghan embassies, unlike the violence that marked the uproar in Muslim countries after the Danish cartoons were published, but the shock and mutual incomprehension expressed in both cases are similar." (source)
After all the debate about WWJD, What Would Jesus Bomb? (as seen on a shirt on HBO's Six Feet Under) or what party is more "God-like"... leave it to a Freeper to settle the debate...
Okay, the "Men Leave the toilet lid up" arguement with the inevitable male response of "why should I put it down, why doesn't she put it up" really misses the whole point people. 
Italian Neo-Nazis are threatening (actually promising) a Muslim massacre at the World Cup which is to take place in Germany 77 days from today.
It seems that the military's Family Care Plan (which gives temporary power of attorney and guardianship of children to a spouse/guardian/family member) may have some flaws that allow for custody problems when the troop redeploys.
Okay, you all know I have posted tons of (what I deem) ridiculous lawsuits, but I think this one might be the winner...
I was recently contacted by a girl named Monica, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, who would like the help of the blogosphere. She is currently living in Costa Rica and “pursuing a Masters Degree at the University For Peace (United Nations affiliated graduate school) in "Gender and Peace Building" in order to better identify and understand the different needs of men, women, boys and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations. She hopes to eventually work with governments and/or people in conflict and post-conflict situations to reduce incidents of gender based violence.
In general, the old saw, "the more things change, the more they remain the same" holds true for military life. Dear John's are probably a common experience for all generations that have ever served in the uniform. It is really a part of life whether you are a civilian or military. What is unique about it for us that serve is that it is one of the few threads that connect you to your old life, and you really want to hang on to it. There isn't much in stateside military life that gives you that sense of connectedness.
I know everyone has a "neighbor from hell" story, and we'll get to that in a minute. .but this story is the Wes Craven version of "Dennis the Menace" and puts all other horrible neighbor stories to shame.
I better hear Bill O'Reilly freaking out over this like he has over all the other judges and prosecutors that let pedophiles go... None of this double standard BS...
Did we oust the Taliban? Operation Enduring Freedom has been going on for quite a while and I was under the impression that the Coalition men and women that have been tirelessly working this mission (like our beautiful Army Girl) were doing so to free these people from a terrible regime...the Taliban. From the Sharia law imposed by that evil regime...
Matt Drudge has obtained a copy of the Congressional Democrats strategy plans for the 2006 elections -Harry Reid's tips on "How to use the war in Iraq against the Bush administration in their home states".
Wow, all these negative posts about Scientology might get me in more trouble than posting that letter from the Illuminati... 
Thanks to National Summary I am now a living, breathing part of capitalism. How cool is that? Go here and see for yourself (left hand sidebar). 
The venue for the 2006 Milblog Conference has been announced. It will be Saturday, April 22nd in Academy Hall at the AED Conference Center in Washington DC. The suggestion is to make your hotel room reservations in the Rosslyn/Key Bridge area.
Obviously, The Belz doesn't read as much as he wants everyone to believe-- or he would have never made the condescending comments that he did about the military on Bill Maher's show the other night... If he had read this article he would know that the military on average is higher educated than the general American public.
Two things here:
Okay, let me put this post in context... I am very self-sufficient. The Man works a lot so I have learned to do things myself if I really want them done. I re-tiled the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, I can hang mini blinds and curtains...etc. You get the point -I'm not some girly girl that expects to be waited on hand and foot, BUT I had no idea how much I relied on the end-of-the-day help I get from The Man.
...driving around when they are lost. 
If you haven't been over to 100 Records recently, you should... First off, we have now exceeded the title and there are over 100 albums posted. There has been music of almost ever genre (except country...sorry, not gonna happen).
The left'o'sphere is abuzz with the name Daniel Pipes, a Middle East scholar. They call him a hate-monger and worse. I read through a bunch of his articles last night and he's definitely not a PC kinda guy, but I have to say I didn't disagree with much he had to say. 
Maybe you remember VT Judge Cashman who gave a pedophile a 60 day jail sentence... Well, an Ohio judge didn't seem to learn from that case. Judge John Connor COULD have given a monster that raped 2 boys for a 3 year period TEN years...but instead he opted for COUNSELLING. Yes, you read that right. He's still defending his position, but Bill O'Reilly is keeping this in the spotlight and calling for Connor's removal from the bench. O'Reilly's new article focuses heavily on this issue and looks at what State's have the most lax laws when it comes to out kids: The Most Dangerous States for American Kids".
In case you missed it in the mix yesterday...The USMC has let Allen Abney (the man that enlisted in the marines and then deserted to Canada) go without so much as a slap on the wrist. No punishment at all. I am shocked at this -especially during a time of war. What message does this send? (source).
Andrea Yates gets a new trial and it's set to begin Monday. It's bad enough that her husband isn't behind bars and is set to remarry, if Andrea goes free also... Oh I give up. Empty the prisons -why do we bother. If you can systematically drown 5 kids -crazy or not -you're guilty. If we can't see that we shouldn't have prisons at all.
1) Do you remember when I posted about the KKK Hood that was put on the white Philly firefighter’s locker? If that was a hood on a Black man's locker there would have been a shit storm here in the City of Brotherly Love...but there hasn't been a peep since the initial story. 
2) Michelle Malkin has a story posted about a 7 year old African American racist poet that is being heralded by New York lawmakers. Now, I posted with equal disgust over the little blonde racist singers. 
As I was reading this story yesterday about the Los Angeles Archdiocese calling for priests to ignore a new immigration law I couldn't help but think of some things The Man has said to me about the illegals that are on some of the jobs that he does...
...to know that the United States Army can be pretty picky. Moore's schlock-umentary made it seem that the Army had a specific recruiting practice of targeting the really poor and the really stupid... that the entire practice was about coercing the unwitting to sign on the dotted line.
It seems that many of you are tougher than me --you are not ready to give up on the will of the Iraqi people. You want the troops to stick it out for that ideal of Democratic utopia... I was right there with you until about a month ago.
Thank you G-Man for bringing my attention to this incredibly uplifting article. There is hope on the horizon...
Colby was taking online questions for the Washington Post yesterday --and damn, I wanted to submit one...
I have tried to get a few of the Veterans around here to post about the high incidence of "Dear John" letters during active duty... maybe it hits too close to home, or conjures too much disgust to write about.
After hearing so many depressing tales of relationships ending via an APO address it was great to hear about this couple:
I guess I knew it was coming... I've had so much good news lately not to have some bad stuff looming on the horizon. 
I don't mean to rag on our Catholic friends two weeks in a row (some of my closest friends are Catholic) --but I happened to watch Celibacy, a documentary on HBO, this weekend and really wanted to talk about it...
The founding fathers would be so proud...
CJ, over at A Soldier's Perspective, has two things you should check out:
2)The second post is about a casting call for recently redeployed soldiers, marines and airmen at MTV. They are doing "True Life: I’m Re-Entering Civilian Life. If you are returning from Iraq or Afghanistan and are between 18 - 28 you can email MTV at ReturningFromDuty@mtvstaff.com. If you get picked, make sure to thank CJ for the heads up!
Just a quick reminder about the Milblogging Conference in April. I want to clear up what seems to be a common misconception... you DO NOT need to be "invited" to the conference. No one was invited. 
I will be very interested to hear from all the active duty military and especially the combat veterans what they think about this issue...
...Can't we have someone take out the Phelps family? I mean would even the ACLU care at this point? Would anyone miss them? Fred Phelps' Westboro "church" was at it again harassing the family members of a soldier killed by an Iraqi bomb and the bikers that came out to shield the family from them. Laws to keep the protestors from the funerals are not expected to hold up in court. I really commend the family members and bikers that have kept their cool in the face of these (insert bad word). Most of us first heard of Phelps during the Matthew Sheppard funeral -and unfortunately he has not been the flash in the pan everyone hoped he would.
...In more uplifting news - another professional football player is leaving the lush life of NFL stardom for the no-frills life of military service. Former Pittsburgh Steeler and St. Louis Ram, Jeremy Staat (29), graduated from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot on Friday. 
The new Reach flosser ("Access") is one of the best products I have ever used. Get it. Use it. I promise you'll love it.
I forgot to tell you guys about something... 
"I have noticed a lot of letters referring to the awards system in the military.
The torture and death of Tom Fox at the hands of those he was trying to save in Iraq should be an eye-opener to all peace activists. The people you have sympathy for would kill you without a second thought.
Finally a "Moderate Muslim" speaks out...and confirming what many of us "right wing nut jobs" have said all along --she says that she is "questioning every single teaching of our holy book." (because there is no such thing as a Moderate Muslim -just a back-slidden one).
Hillary Clinton and Howard Ickes -with the financial support of George Soros- have virtually declared their "no confidence" in Howard Dean's leadership of their party. They have assembled a data compiling system that mirrors that of the GOP. If you can't beat them...copy them I guess.
"Canada voted against a controversial resolution on Palestinian rights at the United Nations yesterday, an early sign that the new Harper government is aligning its Middle East policy more closely with the views of Israel and the United States.
...there are two Jehovah's Witnesses at my door as I type. I swear. It's a man and his wife and they're stalking me. I made the mistake of talking to them once and now they won't go away. I don't understand why either because theologically I buried them last time --I had a verse to counter every one of their points (12 years of Christian school paying off). I have way too much to do for this --but they know I'm home because the damn dog is in the back yard and Ninja keeps looking out the window. Geez, take a hint...Now I have to feel like the jerk.
Wow, I just finished reading a really long expose about the secretive cult of Scientology that Courtney sent me. Again, wow.
The thing they did right was to overwhelming vote "no-confidence" in Kofi Annan’s leadership. The problem is the vote didn't come after his 10,000 missteps as UN Secretary, but after he announced plans to completely overhaul the bureaucracy. 
The new list of Billionaires came out and there are now 793. I found it quite interesting that the top two (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) are both card carrying DNC members --I'm sure Oprah is on there somewhere too...
...not to say anything about AB being pregnant (I got her the pictured shirt...How cute is that?). 
God works in mysterious ways --and maybe it can be through the blogs...
Actually when it comes to "reproductive rights" it's really the men that get "the fuzzy end of the lollipop" (Name that quote for 15 pts). If a woman wants to abort the baby --men have no say. It's not a baby but "the woman's body" (even if they're married) ...BUT if the woman wants the baby (and the man doesn't...if it's "inconvenient" for him or is he's "not ready to be a parent") he will still have to pay $600/mo until the kid is 18. How is that fair? If you are going to make men pay for kids they didn't want then it's only fair that they should have a say on the other end. If he wants the baby --she shouldn't be able to abort...and she should have to pay support. You can't have it both ways girls...
Did anyone else watch the premier of Black. White. On FX last night?
What's a girl to do when it's in the news... We gotta go there again.
"HE’S BAAAAACK!
Mulsim Runs Down Infidels at UNC:
Girl Crowned Prom King:
Creationism & Evolution:
VT Wants to Impeach:
If you asked The Man what he hated most about me...I bet he would say he hates that I watch reality shows on MTV. It aggravates him to no end. 
A former spokesperson for the brutal Taliban regime (who toured America in its defense) is not in a cell, but attending one of our finest Ivy League schools. Yale.
"An Illinois judge has decided not to force a woman to watch a videotape of two men having sex with her as a 16-year-old.
Okay, there was one thing that did really bother me about the Academy Awards the other night... It was a three-hour commercial for theaters. The Hollywood community is obviously so upset that box office sales are plummeting they had to mention how much better things look on the big screen every five minutes.
Have you heard of this faucet of illegal immigration? Rape Trees? I hadn't until last week.
Now, don't judge all self-published books by the prevailing stereo-type that these authors just can't cut it in the real publishing world... There is one self-published book that I read this year that was well worth the read and should have been picked up by one of the houses...especially in light of the current role our troops find themselves in now in Iraq...
LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO (it's a bit scratchy in the beginning, but it gets cleaner) and picture your child is sitting in this class being taught every day by this 10th grade biology teacher... I know it's painful, but try to get through the whole thing...because this is what your kids will be sitting through.
The first case has been heard under McCain's infamous Detainee Treatment Act:
How much money does it cost to be Politically Correct? 
...a new bill before the Senate has one sponsor and one co-sponsor. Both are Democrats. The Bill is S. 451: Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2005 and it is a desperately needed bill that will beef up the currently lax restrictions regarding "Class B" dog dealers.
I wonder what certain Dems that proclaimed the no one really wanted Roe V. Wade overturned (especially politicians)are thinking now... in light of SCOTUS agreeing to hear the partial birth abortion law and South Dakota virtually outlawing abortion... 
I've always thought that Hamas' popularity with the down and out is a bit like the DNC --it has created social programs throughout Gaza and the West Bank and ensured a dependant support group (or voter base), yet the politics of Hamas are one of the main factors holding the Palestinians down (Sound familiar?). Hamas has been declared a "Terrorist Organization" by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel, and the United States (and is banned in Jordan).
Global Warming may be one of the only subjects that I don't have a concrete opinion about. I have read articles about the "greenhouse effect" and also articles by respected and renowned scientists that claim oceanic volcanoes are causing the climate/ozone changes.
