Really, Does Anyone Make Minimum Wage?

I am not being facetious.

I never understand the whole 'raise the minimum wage' debate because I don't know who makes minimum wage...

Please list jobs where someone would make minimum wage and reasons someone would still have that job after they moved out of their parent's house.

In high school I worked as a nanny during the summers and made more than M.W. Then I worked at a shoe store right after high school and sometimes brought home over $1025 for two weeks (at age 19). Even when I worked at the veterinarian's office I was making $10-something an hour --and this was all before I had a degree...

There are tons of jobs that have growth potential and don't require higher education (post office, police, fire, technical trades, professional offices, etc.) --this leads me to believe that anyone making minimum wage after the age of 22 is lacking in motivation and ambition...

Is this Northeastern thinking? Is the job market vastly different in other parts of the country?

French To Lead "Peacekeepng" Forces?!

"Appeasement peacenicks who believe in peace at any price, like France's Chirac, want Israel to stop and talk things over, probably over a bottle of French wine. Mr. Speaker, you make peace by making the terrorist criminals stop shooting. Here, guns talk louder than appeasement words, and that's just the way it is." -- Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)



The French government is shady. People (including me) complain about the American relationship with Saudi Arabia...but the French, who are often seen as inocuous, are just as suspect in my mind.

Though the MSM likes to ignore it --the main reason for the French opposition to the Iraq Invasion was their involvement in the Oil for Food scandal. They wanted Saddam in power (regardless of the mass graves and rape rooms) because they were making tons of money from the regime.

Now, they are attempting to broker private cease fire deals through the UN when they have strong ties to Hezbollah? Israel has already voiced strong opposition to UN forces on the border --though NATO forces would be acceptable.

"...A draft resolution circulating Saturday among UN Security Council members would call for an immediate halt to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and seek a wide new buffer zone in south Lebanon monitored by international forces and the Lebanese army.

The proposal was sent quietly by France to the other 14 members of the council ahead of a possible meeting of foreign ministers in New York to discuss Lebanon sometime next week. A copy of the draft was obtained by The Associated Press.

Those conditions include a buffer zone stretching from the Blue Line - the UN-demarcated boundary that Israel withdrew behind in 2000 - to the Litani River, which was the northern border of Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 1982.

The buffer zone would be "free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN-mandated international forces," the draft says. (source)

"...France has a highly-developed relationship with Hizballah. French diplomats in Beirut have maintained contacts with Hizballah leaders close to Hassan Nasrallah in the last two week of fighting. In 2004, President Jacques Chirac invited Nasrallah to a conference of Francophone Arab leaders. They shook hands and the Hizballah leader was seated beside the French president at the top table. France may well have obtained prior Hizballah consent to its draft." (source)

The "cease-fire" proposal leaves Hezbollah armed, gives them prisoners in exchange for soldiers, gives them land (that actually belongs to Syria) --and lets them come out on top. Why does the world constantly want to reward bad behavior!?

Pendleton 8: "Hamdania Incident" Autopsy Completed

The body of Hashim Ibrahim Awad was exhumed and autopsied --the report has been sent to the defense attorneys for the Marines held at Camp Pendleton...

According the charges Awad was bound hands and feet and executed, but the autopsy report seems to tell a different tale. See what happens when we jump the gun.

"...Joseph Casas, attorney for accused Marine Pfc. John Jodka, said there was no evidence of hemorrhaging or other injury conclusive with begin bound or restrained. The autopsy report does not include photos of Awad’s body, he said.

While Casas would not reveal details of the autopsy report because he wanted to keep a suppression motion possible, he did say that the body was badly decomposed because it had been buried and exhumed for examination. There is some speculation that decomposition might make learning all facts surrounding the death impossible." (source)

Also, anyone that has an account at Wikipedia should Edit the entry about Hashim Ibrahim Awad. They seem to have completely forgotten about the whole "accused", "alledged" and "innocent until proven guilty" part of American society... Here is the first line:

"Hashim Ibrahim Awad was an Iraqi citizen, was kidnapped, beaten, and killed in by US Marines on April 26, 2006, an event referred to as the Hamdania incident."

Some Women Dream About Men...

...I dream about Kooba.

Code Pinkos Disrupt Iraqi PM

As I was reading through various stories about the Code-Pinko heckling of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (and shaking my head at the juvenile display and atrocious manners my mother would've slapped me for) I was more struck my the heckler's (who is also the co-founder) name than anything else...

Aside from obnoxious outbursts during the speeches of visiting Heads of State, Code Pink has recently been walking the front lines of the abortion debate along side of NOW and NARAL...

PM al-Maliki's heckler was Medea Benjamin. Medea*.

Who would name their child that? Did her mother set her fate with that name choice? This is how my brain works when I am driving alone in my car...Yes; it's a vast intersection of tangents.

(*Medea (by Euripides): First literary woman to kill her own children)

"Shock Jock" Threatens Molestation of Rival's Daughter

DJ Star (Troi Torain) has topped anything predecessors Howard Stern or O & A have ever done to upset the public and the FCC. At least in my opinion...

Whether it was "just talk" or just "part of an on air persona" is unimportant to me. He threatened, on the air, to molest the four year old daughter of a rival DJ.

This was the on air rant:
Troi Torain: "Where does this kid go to school? I give $500 for that information.

Oh, I'll come for your kids. I will come for your kids. Man, I finally got the information on his slant-eyed whore wife.

You didn't hear me. I said I would like to do a R. Kelly on your seed, on your baby girl.." (source)

The worst part of the story is that even though he was fired by Clear Channel (not until after the rival DJ's wife held a press conference) -all charges against him have been dropped.

"...Yesterday, prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office said the charge against Mr. Torain would be dismissed in six months if he performed three days of community service and complied with an order of protection that bans contact or communication with the child or her parents.

Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said prosecutors took the action “because it spares the 4-year-old victim from any further attention or exposure.”

In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Torain welcomed the decision. “This was the biggest story in regards to freedom of speech in quite some time,” he said." (source)

This guy offers a $500 bounty to NY listeners for information on a four-year-old's school so he can urinate on her and molest her...and he walks away...? What happens when one of his fans takes this to heart?

I know everyone says our legal system is the best in the world…but after posting on so many stories of this nature, where we can’t seem to protect the weakest and most innocent among us, how are we supposed to believe that? It seems to me that “best in the world” still isn’t good enough.

I'm a REALIST!!!

You Are 48% Cynical

Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right.

How Cynical Are You?

Illegals "Guarding" the Borders?

What are the hiring procedures to pursue a career in border control I wonder? How surreal that we had an illegal alien working to secure the border and was instead using tax-payer government trucks to help smuggle lawbreakers in... not two or three...he admits to smuggling at least 100 illegals over the border.

"On Friday, Ortiz, 29, was sentenced to five years in prison in one of a spate of corruption cases involving Border Patrol agents at a time when the agency is on a hiring spree.

Prosecutors had asked for about three years, but U.S. District Judge John A. Houston decided a stiffer punishment was required for Ortiz, who pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens and making a false claim to U.S. citizenship.

"You violated the sacred trust of your comrades," the judge said. "As a link in the chain, they depended on you."

Ortiz expressed remorse: "I was blind at the time I made my mistake of smuggling."(Read the entire article: Which details numerous cases of border control corruption)

He got five years.

One Way To Lose Weight...

Is Lean Cuisine getting creative as the bid for your diet bucks gets more competitive? I know finding a furry little mouse head in my Salmon would put me off food for a while...

"...Zurn said she knew something was wrong when she smelled a rotten odor after opening the package. She said she then saw the head of a mouse -- including its teeth and hair.

"As I'm poking at the salmon, I see three hairs sticking up on the side of the dish," Zurn said.

Officials at Lean Cuisine's parent company, Nestle, said they are concerned about the incident and a full investigation is under way.

Zurn said she has no intention of filing a lawsuit against Nestle, at least for now...." (source)

Yeah right not suing, she saved the meal in a Ziploc bag for posterity? Pretty gross though, I might not begrudge that lawsuit...

How Humiliating...

...the monkey is SO much better than me.

Painful Story: No "Saving Private Velez"...

"Less than two years ago, Roy Velez got the worst news a father could get: His oldest son was dead, killed during combat in Iraq.

This week, his pain only deepened with news that his youngest son had died in Afghanistan." (source)

I cringed as I continued to his reaction... I can't even begin to imagine the pain he is experiencing right now. Both boys. His younger son, Army Spc. Andrew Velez (22 years old), was given the option to go home after his older brother, Army Cpl. Jose A. Velez (23 years old) was killed in Fullujah. He refused...making the story that much more painful.

Father Roy Velez's reaction?

"I can't be angry. I feel like my heart's been pulled out," Roy Velez said Tuesday. "We've done what the Lord allowed us to do for our country."

Loss, denial of self, and honor in the face of more loss.

This Texas man will not get the press that Cindy Sheehan has commandeered...but, wow, he has my complete respect --and my condolences and prayers. I am awed at his magnanimous nature and sacrifice.

Professor Fired for Defending Israel's Existence

How long did Ward Churchill keep his job after all the outlandish claims he made from his classroom shaped bully-pulpit?

Well, if he had been on the other end of the political spectrum his fate wouldn't have been so protracted.

"...Responding to what has been condemned as a violation of academic freedom, professors, scholars, and students worldwide signed a petition by The Scholars for Peace in the Middle East to reinstate Professor Thomas Klocek to his teaching position at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

Klocek was suspended from the university following a campaign launched by pro-Palestinian student groups and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Klocek believes in Israel's right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state within safe and secure borders..." (source)

Thanks to the ultra-quick work of two student groups (Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) and United Muslims Moving Ahead (UMMA)) with the backing of CAIR Professor Klocek was fired...for believing Israel has the right to exist.

View the petition to reinstate Klocek

Abraham Cherrix Update: Court-Ordered Chemotherapy

Remember the 16 year old with Hodgkin's disease who was fighting not to have a second round of chemotherapy (after the first round was unsuccessful)?

On the 25th a court (Judge Jesse E. Demps) ordered he must have the treatment, charged his parents with "neglect" and awarded joint custody to the Accomack County Department of Social Services.

If that wasn't painful enough, the family would be over $100,000 in debt from the treatment and the mounting legal fees.

"...The Department of Social Services is willing and able to bankrupt this family to satisfy their physician. Furthermore, that department intends to appeal the case to a higher court if they lose, to insure that this family goes deeper into debt. Do we really need this kind of social service? And do we really want physicians to be able to call in the troops to enforce their orders against our judgment of what is best for our children? This case indicates that the mantra, “Doctors know best,” which might have been true in the past, may no longer be valid. Whatever happened to “FIRST, DO NO HARM!”

Unfortunately, there are abused children who need protection, and it is necessary to have something like Social Services to provide this. However, reports that about 100,000 of our children are disappearing without a trace yearly indicates that Social Services is not doing its job." (source)

Thankfully, an Accomack County Circuit Court Judge (Glen Tyler) suspended the lower court orders and a full trial will take place on August 15th. Judge Tyler also returned full custody to Adam's parents. (source)

I am sure his parent's wish he would consent to traditional treatments, but he is the one that has been through it before --and should be able to make his own decision. I wonder if they have used the argument that a 13 year old can have an abortion with no parental consent -yet this boy at 16 can't make an informed, researched decision with parental consent...

I *Heart* Tony Snow

Helen Thomas is such an old bag who hasn't asked a poignant question at a White House press conference since she had real hair... Ari was always too nice to her and it was awesome to see Snow handle her:



"Well, thank you for the Hezbollah view." ~White House Press Secretary Tony Snow

Busting on Hillary?

Since I am assuming that sculptor Daniel Edwards meant his most famous-to-date piece "Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston" to be a tongue-in-cheek jab at right-to-lifers…I am wondering where he is going with his new sculpture of Hillary Rodham Clinton...

"Edwards says the bust captures the senator, ""with her head held high, a youthful spirit and a face matured by wisdom. Presented in a low cut gown, her cleavage is on display prominently portraying sexual power which some people still consider too threatening."

The bust, set atop a pedestal inscribed with the presidential seal and carrying the title "The First Woman President of the United States of America," was created in response to a remark made by Sharon Stone earlier this year.

In March, the actress said it was too soon for the junior senator to run on the 2008 presidential ticket because, "a woman should be past her sexuality when she runs. Hillary still has sexual power and I don't think people will accept that. It's too threatening."

Edwards apparently begs to differ Ms. Stone." (source)

Being perfectly honest, I don’t think of Hillary as a sexual being at all. In fact I had to Google "Hillary Clinton + gown" to see if she really had breasts like that. She doesn't. I do think of her as a strong, driven woman --but Hillary and sexual creature never really happened during word association... (especially after reading she had to be told to shave her pits and wash her hair by handlers in Clinton's first campaign). I guess she's come a long way baby.

It Is a Global War on Terror

Who murders a peace-loving, non-violent Buddhist? A teacher of 12 years who dedicated his life to educating young children? Who would not only murder him but do it in the classroom in front of the children?

Why, members of the Religion of Peace of course.

"...Thailand, the Land of Smiles, is close to becoming yet another front in the global war on terror. A bloody Islamic insurgency in the south has already left 1,400 dead. And al-Qaida may be fueling it.

Three more people were killed this week by brutal Islamic separatists. The victims included an old farmer who was stabbed and apparently burned alive and a teacher who was shot, chalk still in hand, in front of his class. Just a few days earlier a 60-year-old Buddhist man was shot to death as he drove a motorcycle with his wife in Pattani, one of three insurgency-torn southern provinces bordering Muslim-dominated Malaysia..." (source)

Is there a country left that hasn't been affected by Muslim extremists?

Excerpt from an interesting article about Muslim integration:

"...Islamists arrive in the United States despising the country and all it represents, intending to make converts, exploit the freedoms and rights granted them, and build a movement that will effect basic changes in the country's way of life and its government. The superpower status of the United States makes it especially attractive to those who wish to change the world order; what better place to start? Islamists do not accept the United States as it is but want to change it into a majority Muslim country where the Qur'an replaces the Constitution. "Our plan is, we are going to conquer America," is how a missionary put it already in the 1920s.4 His latter-day successors are no less ambitious. They have two alternate strategies, non-violent (i.e., conversion of the Christian majority) and violent (i.e., jihad), to accomplish this." (source)

Is Peace Even Possible?

I guess I figured that, being the Mother of a slain soldier, Cindy Sheehan would have understood Israel's Herculean efforts to retrieve their kidnapped soldiers... I was wrong.

Here are some excerpts from her latest rant over on Michael Moore's (a.k.a. the "little bitch") Page (it was so rich with pull-able quotes that it was really hard to pick and choose...) Apparently this was written on Day 21 of the Dairy Queen Fruit smoothies and cream Brule Fast...

"I have been in such a blue funk of depression and worry since Israel's over-reaction -- or "over action" in Lebanon in what seems to be insanity escalating out of control...
...As hard as I may try, I cannot wrap my mind around the fanatical rhetoric coming out of DC and from all over the world and the mindless and seemingly overwhelming support of Israel's right to "defend itself."
...It seems like we are arm chair witnesses to Armageddon and ashamed witnesses to our fool of a President at the G-8: groping women; talking, eating, and swearing with his mouth full; drooling over slicing a pig and generally acting like a drunken and amorous frat boy at a toga party.
...I have felt so helpless in the face of such unwarranted carnage, calamity, and sorrow. I have felt hopeless that anything I do can even alleviate the suffering of one person. I am helplessly hoping that the people of the world will join me and rise up to say a collective: "In God's (Allah's---whatever's) name: enough is more than enough, already!" (I hate to link Moore's site, but...)

I actually agree with the last paragraph. That's what I don't think many liberals understand. I don't want to think about Lebanese babies being blown apart...I don't want any innocent person to lose life or limb (military included).

...But I also don't believe peace is possible. Ever. It's not human nature. I'm sure there were caveman wars with clubs --there were wars way before there was an "evil American empire" and there would be wars even if America was no more. As long as people want money and power and are willing to shed blood over real-estate or religion --there will always be war. AS long as there are human beings there will always be suffering. Sad but true, it's our nature.

Yates: Not Gulity

I know this may not be a popular opinion --and I wish there was a "Guilty by reason of insanity" verdict... But, I find Rusty Yates WAY more culpable in the systematic murders of those five children than his wife.

She was plainly sick in the head for years. She has a huge history of post-partum. She told her doctor Satan was telling her to stab someone after her first child ...yet Rusty felt he should keep impregnating this woman whose family had a major history of mental illness. He also felt she should home-school five children...in their nice four bedroom house? Oh no, Rusty believe woman should "obey their master" and not be concerned with material items, so he moved them from the house into a trailer...and ordered the home-schooling to commence just three days after she returned with baby #5. Now he's already re-married so he can begin inseminating another woman -and he married her in the church where his children's funerals were held. Rusty Yates is a sick (expletive) that should be held more accountable than his ex-wife because he isn't mentally ill (at least not in the classic use of the word).

However, the problem I have with this verdict is what is to stop a judge or shrink from declaring her 'healed' and releasing her while she is still of child-bearing age?

(Story about new verdict)

Republicans are Just Better Looking...

I'm just gonna flow with the whole shallow thing...

Dan Rubin, of The Philadelphia Inquirer's blog Blinq, posted a link yesterday to The Hill's "50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill" --and no one should be surprised to learn that the overwhelming majority are (R)'s. (Right out of the gate...Four of the Top 5)

And being totally honest...I think they threw some of the Dems in being nice as a few are not 'beautiful' at all. (I won't say who...as looks are subjective)

Final Count:

Republicans: 28
Democrats: 18
Independents/Non-Partisan: 4

The first place winner was a Democrat (Michelle Persaud, 27 Staff counsel *pictured) --and she's quite beautiful...

(source)

"The Talk"

I never imagined that I would have to explain homosexuality to my seven year old before I explained sexuality at all...

...But it seems as if I will. Good Lord.

"Young Americans"

Pat Dollard is a Hollywood-type that decided he would fund his own trip to Iraq and finally "film the truth" of the situation there. He spent 7 months with members of the USMC in three of the "nastiest battlefronts of the Iraqi Theater of the War on Terror: Fallujah, The Triangle of Death, and Ramadi:

"...Take the time to discover for yourself exactly "who is pat Dollard". You will undoubtedly find a sincere and honest filmmaker interviewing both Americans and Iraqis alike. You will see our Iraqi counterparts in a new light. View those men, who some of us call brother, husband, father, or son as they unconditionally express themselves to the camera. The candid and revealing footage, along with the many visceral images throughout this film, pay a tribute to Pat's natural ability as a filmmaker. The technical and creative merit of this film rivals that of seasoned documentary filmmakers.

Bottom line: Prepare to have your opinion of this war changed forever.

Semper Fidelis, Capt Ig" (source)

Watch Hannity & Colmes interview Dollard about his new documentary "Young Americans" and see clips of the movie --most memorably a shoot where one of the new Iraqi guard calls Michael Moore "a little bitch"... LOL And see the filmmaker talking about the bias in Hollywood:



"I have come to respect the average US Marine more than the average civilian, and the USMC more than any organization I’ve ever been involved with or studied. These kids are carrying the weight of history’s most important and difficult work on their shoulders - - period.

Oh, and no one has any real clue what is in this 20 hour doc series by watching a couple of three minute clips. Save your ranting. You look stupid trying to be omniscient after a few minutes of viewing. The clips I’ve put up are the tiniest of appetizers, the thinnest of soda straw perspectives.

I’m cutting away, and hoping to be done with the bulk of the project by the end of the Summer. Stay tuned for more clips." -Pat Dollard

Young Americans Trailer

(H/T: Andy)

Peace Laureate Wants to "Kill Bush"

Betty Williams, winner of the NOBEL Peace Prize, told a room filled with hundreds of school children that she wasn't sure why she won the "peace prize" (though she did win it 30 years ago):

"I have a very hard time with this word 'non-violence', because I don't believe that I am non-violent," said Ms Williams, 64.

"Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered. (source)

I don't begrudge Ms. Williams her opinion and actually I'm a little impressed that one of these winners has some spunk --but to say this about the President of country in which she now resides, in front of children... What does this teach them about respecting authority -and the office of the President?

(Williams relocated to the U.S. from Ireland in 1981 --and, not to be shallow, had lots of plastic surgery it seems...)

When we look at other Laureates of this award --well, you get the point...

MOHAMED ELBARADEI & the IAEA
JIMMY CARTER JR.
UNITED NATIONS
KOFI ANNAN
YASSER ARAFAT
MIKHAIL SERGEYEVICH GORBACHEV (But not Reagan)
THE UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCES
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
UNICEF

Death Row Inmate Revived...

The rapist/murderer of 12 year old Polly Klaas was found unconscious in his cell --the result of an opium overdose...

Polly Klaas' murder was instrumental in instituting the "three strikes" law in California. Her murderer, Richard Allen Davis, was a repeat offender. Her father is now a very vocal child/victim's advocate and is the founder of Klaas Kids.

Fortunately or unfortunately they were able to revive the bastard, but here's the thing that got me...

"...Davis was returned to his cell hours after the incident and was "doing fine" Monday, Crittendon said.

It was not clear whether the overdose was accidental or a suicide attempt, and officials had not determined where Davis got the drugs, though they suspected a visitor or another inmate smuggled them into the prison.

Davis was already a repeat offender when he broke into the Petaluma girl's home in 1993 and kidnapped, molested and killed her...." (source)

...Death Row inmates are allowed visitors? Do they get pedicures too?

(H/T: Liz)

The Temple Grad

After perusing my brother's MySpace page, I was glad to see that even though he has decided on a career as a Philadelphia Firefighter...his degree has not gone to waste...;)

UPDATE: I just noticed that on (the dreaded) INTERNET EXPLORER none of these gifs are moving... they should all be moving. Curse IE!!!




...and yes, that would be him in the Mario game.

Caption It...

(Photo Credit: The Daily Drink: On the Street --a great photo-journalism blog)

Update: Pendleton 8

Attorneys for 2 of the 7 USMC POWs being held at Camp Pendleton have accused the government of blocking their independent investigation. Even though Representative Murtha has more than once accused his fellow Marines of being guilty until proved innocent --I am not ready to do that...

..."The government had no problem sending my client over there three times in defense of our country's freedoms and liberties," said attorney Joseph Low, who represents Cpl. Marshall Magincalda. "Therefore, they should have no objection to sending an investigator over there once in defense of those rights that he risked his life for." (*emphasis mine)

"We're being deprived of the basic tools that we need for what the Marine Corps has assured us will be a fair and impartial Article 32 hearing," said Siegel, who spent more than 20 years in the Marine Corps and has been involved in dozens of military trials.

Siegel said the letter denying a visit to the Iraqi village of Hamdania was signed by Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, and given to the attorneys this week.

The defense attorneys, hired by the men's families as additional counsel to the military attorneys appointed by the Marine Corps, also complain they still do not have complete autopsy or forensic reports. Awad's body was exhumed in June and examined at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before being returned to Hamdania and reburied."(source)

More rights have been granted to pedophiles, rapists and the GITMO terrorists than these Marines that have served second and third tours in Iraq... I am having trouble grasping why...

Michael Savage is donating $5 from each sale of his book "Political Zoo" to aid in the defense of the seven Marines and one Sailor. Order Your Copy Now

$$Using the Names of the Fallen$$

Judy Vincent, whose 21 year old son Marine Cpl. Scott Michael Vincent was killed by a homicide bomber in Iraq, has urged Congress to draft a law that would stop the commercial use of fallen troops' names and images.

The "Soldiers Targeted by Offensive Profiteering Act" was introduced by Rep. Dan Boren (D).

"...Vincent specifically is angered by a Flagstaff, Ariz., man’s anti-war merchandise. He sells T-shirts listing the names of 1,700 soldiers killed in Iraq along with the phrase: “Bush lied. They died.” (carryabigsticker.com)

Oklahoma and Louisiana have enacted laws similar to the measure now in Congress.

“Two states is not enough to shut down people like him and people in the future,” Vincent said. “We don’t need to go through this. I’ve gone through this a year and a half." (source)

As much as I hate the thought of these soldiers and Marines being used for political gain... I mean I really hate it and if it were my son I am sure I would be freaking out. Personal profit from someone else’s loss and pain is pretty sick.

...But more legislation? I'm just not sure how this jives with the First Amendment.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Anti-War folks (since they claim to care troops have died) would just be honorable and remove the names if the family objects. Respect, consideration and no legislation... I guess that makes way too much sense. Am I off base here?

Cool, Legal Immigration...

The "drive-by media" (word credit: Rush) would love to cast republicans, conservatives and libertarians as racists who don't want foreigners coming to the US. This is their way of vote-grabbing and issue-dodging (we might actually be able to have a national health Care plan with all the money spent on medical care/court costs/jail for illegals). In reality the issue is not about immigration at all, but ILLEGAL immigration.

LEGAL immigration is a wonderful thing...

"...Army Spc. Lito Santos-Dilone was injured while serving as part of the protection detail in Iraq. "I first met Specialist Santos-Dilone at this year's National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast," President Bush said. "I was working the rope line. He grabbed my hand, and he said, 'I'm not a citizen of the United States and I want to be one.' Now, here's a man who knows how to take it directly to the top. I'm proud to be here when he gets sworn in.
There are more than 33,000 non-U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. military. "Just like everybody else who wears the uniform, they understand the stakes of what it means to serve in the United States military, particularly after Sept. 11, 2001," Bush said. "After that date, I signed an executive order making foreign-born members of our military immediately eligible for U.S. citizenship when they serve on active duty. It made sense to me. If somebody is willing to risk their life for our country, they ought to be full participants in our country." (source)

Spc. Lito Santos-Dilone was one of three OIF veterans that were granted citizenship yesterday. Army Spc. Sergio Lopez and Army Pfc. Eduardo Leal-Cardenas were the other two. I welcome all three with open arms.

Great Question for Kofi Annan...

...Believe it or not, on Larry King Live. Not one of Larry's questions for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, but one that was emailed in from a viewer (In Illinois I believe).

Paraphrased: ["Secretary Annan: I am wondering why the United Nations issues resolutions if they have no intention of ever following them up or enforcing them."]

It was the first time I actually turned up the volume for a Larry King Live guest. I really wanted to know the answer to this question... This may have been the first poignant (not to mention interesting) thing to come from that studio.

Annan didn't answer. He bobbed and wove and said something about Ghana and member states voting --an answer that had nothing to do with the question at hand.

I still really wanna know the answer...

Only in America...

Each governor has a special hotline for Homeland Security Issues...aka national emergencies.

Well, that and telemarketers according to Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner.

"...Minner says she has received pitches from time share condominiums and long distance providers on what is supposed to be a DHS hot line. She says other governors are having the same trouble.

Minner's office says the Department of Homeland Security has placed the hot line numbers on the federal government's Do Not Call Registry, in an attempt to thwart the telemarketers..." (source)

Hopefully it would never be Verizon on the line if there was an emergency --good luck getting those cats to hang up. I hope they have better luck with the "Do Not Call" list than I've had!

Where are Steinem & Wolf?

This article: A Shameful Silence on Women's Rights begs the question I have been asking for years now... Where are all the feminists when it comes to speaking out against the treatment of women in Islam?

"...In this cultural clash, the treatment of women is the most hotly contested terrain. Not just the treatment of non-Muslim women by Muslim men, but the treatment of Muslim women within Western culture. Many Muslim women live under constraints that are unacceptable to wider society. For years, a symptom of this tension, which is largely submerged, has been the distraught young women turning up at the Australian embassy in Beirut to escape forced marriages.

In the midst of this cultural and moral struggle one element has been conspicuously missing - the feminists - the authors, academics and commentators who rose to prominence as advocates of women's rights. In Australia and Europe, their response to the growing levels of sexual intimidation, harassment or suppression of women by Muslim men has either been a deafening chorus of silence, or denial and blame-shifting.

Instead, the combat has been left to journalists, and the heaviest work has been done, at great risk to themselves, by dissident women inside Islamic culture...." (source)

Every time I see a women sheathed in black from head to toe in 95° heat...my head feels like it's going to explode. I get mad at their husbands, at their religion and at them for allowing it to happen.

Have even the revolutionary feminists become to PC to speak out?

Craziest Lawsuit Ever?

A man is suing Michael Jordan and Nike for $416 million... Ready for this? Because of the "pain and suffering" he has experienced being mistaken for Jordan for the past 15 years.

"I'm constantly being accused of looking like Michael and it makes it very uncomfortable for me,” Allen Heckard said.

Heckard is suing Jordan for defamation and permanent injury and emotional pain and suffering. He’s also suing Knight for defamation and permanent injury for promoting Jordan and making him one of the most recognized men in the world.

Nike and Jordan have yet to comment on the lawsuit." (Read the whole story)

What can I even add to that?

Organized Labor: The Carps

Do you ever wonder what all those union dues go to --besides political PACS where the members have no say in who gets their dollars? Well, I found an URGENT Carpenter union issue that warranted a huge flashing "Important Notice" gif on their site:

"Important Notice
It has recently come to our attention that some signatory employers have utilized, or are considering the utilization of, doors with pre-installed hardware. As you are aware, the installation of hardware on doors is, and always has been, performed at the job site by Carpenters / Members represented by the Council. IT IS THE POLICY OF THIS COUNCIL THAT NO DOOR WILL BE HUNG THAT ARRIVES ON THE JOB WITH PRE-INSTALLED HARDWARE. Our Members are asked to please inform the job Steward and contact the Council office immediately if doors arrive at the job site with pre-installed hardware. Thank you." (source)

Can you imagine...someone trying to take a good 6 hours of overtime from the carpenters by sending doors that already have the doorknob in them! OMG! What's a union thug to do?!

I also found businesses they want you to boycott -can you imagine The Man boycotting people that didn't hire him? People don’t have the right to shop a better price or better workmanship without being boycotted?

I'll post it as a list where you should go out of your way to shop/eat at:

Wal-Mart
Outback Steak House
Merrill Lynch
Ruby Tuesdays
Keystone Bank
International House of Pancakes (IHOP)
Steve & Barry's University Sportswear
Food Lion Stores (always shop there in OBX)
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Brandow Chrysler --Jenkintown & Warminster )
First Financial Bank
Bob Evans Restaurants (Ate there Saturday for the first time)
Barnes & Noble Book Stores
Sneaker Villa
Albert’s Cafe & Sports Bar in Philadelphia

(Photo Credit: Philadelphia Carpenters Union website -Notice, typical Union job...no one is working...)

(H/T: Liz)

Peace Sign Confusion

Cao has a great post up that I will recap here...regarding the peace movement and their symbol.
He asks of the people in these pictures..."Could they be this stupid?" and wonders if maybe they are advertising FOR Mercedes Benz instead of AGAINST war.

The fact that some in the Anti-war movement don't even know how to draw their own symbol prompted me to read about the origin of the "Peace sign":

"...The peace symbol has a convoluted and confusing history. It's most notable appearance in modern times was its first use by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) at their Aldermaston march in 1956. The CND meaning of the symbol is semaphore for 'N' (the two diagonal lines) and 'D' (the two vertical lines). About ten years later, the symbol was adopted as a general peace sign within the student anti-war movement. It became probably the single best known symbol of the youth culture of the sixties. The CND was partly based on traditional churches, and I think they were also conscious of mixing two historic Christian symbols:

* The outer circle, designates EARTH (waste and void, Gen 1:2).
* The inner design, the "witches/crows feet", designate "GOD reaches down" (with gift of salvation, John 3:16).

With the appropriation of the symbol by the peace movement in the sixties, non-traditional and fundamentalist Christians (who apparently knew nothing of Christian symbols) placed a satanic meaning on it, calling it the Witch's Foot, or Crow's Foot (and sometimes Chicken's Foot), or Broken Cross. In the 1980s, the symbol was further appropriated (at least in the U.S.) to represent environmentalism. In this sense, it is rendered as a blue and green imitation of the U.S. flag, with the peace symbol replacing the stars in the canton...." (source)

I wonder if the symbol would be so widely used by that crowd if they realized the religious connotation it holds...
Maybe they're trying to combine the peace sign and the "abortion hanger" sign? Who knows, I, long ago, gave up trying to understand the "No war ever" crowd... 'Cause ya know, I think slavery and the holocaust and Saddam's rape rooms needed to end. But that's just me.

(H/T: Cao)

Disturbing PETA News...

I always ask people if they would give money to a charity if they knew the recipients were only getting 26 cents on the dollar and the administrators were pocketing $0.74. Everyone has said no. That's welfare.

Now I want to ask, would you give money (or an animal for that matter) to an animal charity that euthanized 86.3% of the animals placed in its care? That's PETA.

Even the oft criticized SPCA has a better tract record -finding homes for 73% of the animals placed in its care in PETA's hometown of Norfolk, VA.

Could this be a lack of funding? That would be hard to imagine given the celebrity power behind PETA. Records show that PETA collected 29 million dollars of tax free donation last year... (source)

Please don't mistake this post as gloating. I find this to be quite depressing in much the same way I feel about the ACLU. It would be wonderful to think there was a group out there completely dedicated to civil rights with no bias or bigger agenda, just as it was nice to think there was a group out there keeping down needless deaths. It's sad that neither is true.

(H/T: Jer2913 via This is True)

(Photo Credit: Peta Kills Animals)

Get the Bootleg Copy...

Just this once...

I am strongly against fakes. According to documents and records it was knockoff t-shirts, movies, purses and smokes that have funded past terrorist activities. On the more selfish side, when you carry a fake bag it belittles my real one.

But this once I am coming out in favor of piracy, bootlegging, downloading -or whatever you want to call it. If NAMBLA can have a page I can surely say this right?

If you feel the urge to see "World Trade Center" I would hate to see you pay for it. Let the producer/director understand that it was extremely poor judgment to cast a terror-apologist, blame-America-first actress as one of the lead roles in this film.

It's bad enough her brother was allowed to don a USMC uniform for Jarhead. This is like Ann Coulter playing Cindy Sheehan.

Screw Maggie Gyllenhaal. Get some Orville Redenbachers and watch the movie on your own comfy couch --It's already online...somewhere... I'd just love to see this movie tank because of her.

USMC Sparring Anyone...?

Holistic Medicine PSA

Aside from my documentary obsession, I also love medical shows...the grosser the better. Two of my current favorites are Medical Incredible and Super Humans. On one of these shows there was a story about a woman that suffered from Argyria. A condition caused from ingesting dietary Silver salts (colloidal silver) that turns your skin grey (it is sometimes called "walking dead disease".

"...Colloidal silver dietary supplements are marketed widely for cancer, AIDS, diabetes mellitus, and herpetic infections. Cases have followed the prolonged use of silver salts for the irrigation of urethral or nasal mucous membranes, in eye drops, wound dressing, and the excessive use of an oral smoking remedy containing silver acetate. Argyria has also been attributed to surgical and dental procedures (eg, silver amalgam-tattooing, silver sutures used in abdominal surgery). Blue macules have appeared at sites of acupuncture needles and silver earring sites. Great individual variability exists in the length of exposure and total dose needed to result in argyria...
...In the US: Argyria has become a rare dermatosis, mainly because of the avoidance of silver-containing compounds as medicinals and a decrease in occupational exposure in the silver industry. Exposure to silver was common in the early part of this century. The famous Blue Man, a member of the Barnum and Bailey Circus sideshow, had a classic case of argyria." (source)

Though silver is no longer common in FDA regulated drugs it is often found in many holistic compounds and many of the dietary supplements found online...

You may be aware of this condition because of "Stan Jones of Montana, a Libertarian candidate for the United States Senate in 2002. Jones acquired argyria through consumption of home-made colloidal silver which he made due to fears the Year 2000 problem would make antibiotics unavailable. The peculiar colouration of his skin featured prominently in media coverage of his unsuccessful campaign. Jones promised that he was not using his silvery complexion as a gimmick. In fact, he continues to promote the use of colloidal silver as a home remedy. He has said that his good health, minus the unusual skin tone, is the result of his use of colloidal silver." (source)

You may balk at "big drug companies" for hoarding cures and overcharging --but before you self-diagnosis and buy online... remember these pictures and check there is no silver in what you are purchasing!

Read Rosemary's Argyria Story

Caption It...

(H/T: ~Jen~)

Stress Relief is Spelled J-E-E-P

As you will soon see, I am on a political boycott yet again...I mean really, what's the point? I am burned out and a bit irascible lately. The other night in my haven from stress --the inner sanctum (a.k.a. my dojo) an "It's a war for oil/A war to make Bush rich" conversation broke out and why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut...? Now there will be weirdness. Damn.

I was all riled up and upset that I may have lost a great training partner and the tons of personal attention from one of the Sensei’s... So I decided to just pack up the boys and drive... In the CJ7. Amazingly the stress just drains away in that thing. I miss being on a cycle and the Jeep really gives you a comparable feeling.

And single girls... you need to get you one of these. Every guy within a five mile radius feels the need to come up/drive up to you and chat about it (even with two kids strapped in the back). I don't know what it is...maybe they can't resist a girl that can deftly handle such a big stick with apparent ease! ;)



The point of the post? I don't know... Get a Jeep if your stressed, don't talk politics where you work out even if provoked, learn to drive a standard transmission and Jeeps attract attractive single guys...?

Basement Treasures...

See, cleaning can be fun! Well, fun may be stretching it a little, but cleaning out the basement yesterday I found some long-lost treasures!

Among the ones I can share...

Tons of concert tickets (I didn't even remember I had saved them all. They were shoved in the back of an old jewelry box. And it seems I was even anal enough to write in the opening bands) Here are some of them...



My Cheerleading skirt! ...And look, it almost fits! (That will be my new goal...to be able to comfortably fit into my high school cheerleading skirt)



The boys decided they wanted to use some of my t-shirts they found as nightshirts (I buy tons of t-shirts and never wear them... round necks are rarely flattering on a woman) I laughed when I saw the ones they picked... It seems I am indeed raising them right...



(M's shirt is from Protein Wisdom and J's from Those Shirts)

Yup, another pointless post. Are you noticing a trend...?

Brangelina: Saving the World...

Great (meaning funny 'cause it's true) article about the new and improved, green, humanitarian, altruistic citizen of the world...Brad Pitt:

"...Soon he and Angelina Jolie won't even live on Earth, they'll just dangle above it, in a nursery-equipped Gulfstream IV, sort of the way Brandon Routh's Superman prefers to just float, in the stratosphere, listening acutely, compassionately, for trouble down there, and when he hears it, zoom , down he goes. We were always told that this is what the citizens of the future would do: They would have no fixed address. They would go where needed, constantly, selflessly...." (Read the whole article...it's amusing)

He claims that he's "sick of himself" --well, I'm pretty sick of him too...

East VS West

I guess it's email forwards like this one that make 'them' hate 'us'... ;)


(H/T: Jan)