The Morality Of The Right

Waah! Waah! Waah!  Imagine that you are capable of intelligent thought instead of being a self serving crybaby and conflating two separate issues in one whining article.  Yes, becoming a doctor is a grueling, time consuming and expensive endeavor.  But it is one which should be considered if your primary reason for doing it is to help people.  If it's to pad your pocketbook then you should have been a stockbroker.  Since when is earning a lot of money a moral right?

Now imagine how you would feel if the rest of us got together and proposed that the government should become the primary client for medical services. As part of the deal, the government will determine how much you will be paid. Lawyers, business executives, electricians, and plumbers (to name but a few) will all be allowed to command what the market will pay for their services-but not you. Simply because it is possible that a majority may be found who think this scheme is a good idea, you may lose all the benefits of offering your services in a free economy.

Is this situation really fair? Have your fellow citizens honored your inherent rights and freedoms? They have not, and this why a public option is so offensive. It represents a move by a majority of citizens to control the economic well-being of a person who has endured extraordinary hardship and trials in order to become a much-needed provider of medical services.

I've had doctors like him and it is one of the many reasons I don't trust them and why health care reform is so necessary. Ever since it became business oriented the quality of the care provided and the quality of the provider have suffered. We make fun of Cuba but we are just above them when it comes to health care outcomes. Perhaps people should think about that instead of "death panels".

Which is why I'm confused by something.  During Terri Schiavo's last weeks and after her death many people crafted living wills and discussed advanced directives with their loved ones and swore to each other they would never let that happen in their family.  So why is end of life counseling so bad now?  Nobody gets out of here alive but a little dignity would be nice.

Having repeated sex with a woman who isn't your wife isn't "legally wrong" according to John Ensign.   He feels this way because he didn't get on television and lie about his affair.  Here in Nevada serial adultery isn't legally wrong but in the Republican world it is supposed to be morally wrong.  Especially if your name is John Edwards.

When dealing with people going through a mid-life crisis I like to ask the question "would you let an 18 year old make a decision for you?" and the answer is always "of course not".  So then I ask 'why would you let a decision you made at 18 run the rest of your life?" and most people will say "that's a really good point".  Meanwhile, you can't legally buy cigarettes until you're 18, you can't legally drink until you're 21 but you can face life imprisonment at the age of twelve.  If society (and biology) judges you incapable of making good choices until your late teens and early twenties what in the world makes anyone think that a twelve year old has a grasp on life and how momentary impulses determine how their life will proceed from that point?  Twelve year olds aren't allowed to make their own health care decisions or decide whether or not they will attend school and occasionally they get to have some input on custodial arrangements during their parent's divorce but that is the limit of decisions they are trusted with. 

For a supposedly Christian nation we certainly are judgmental when it suits us.  John Ensign (51) knew what he was doing was wrong.  Every single time he had sex with his friend's wife.  And then he tried to cover it up.  With his parent's help.  That type of hypocritical behavior is deemed okay even though it is against one of the Ten Commandments (actually he broke two of them) the right is so fond of.  Demarco Harris (12) made a bad choice and broke one (possible future CIA or Blackwater employee?) but owned up to it.  A life sentence seems a little harsh for a twelve year old whose perception of time makes Christmas and birthdays seem to come rarely as opposed to a 50 year old where they always seem to be right around the corner.

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Worse Than Hitler

After reading the post titled "How to kill a Palestinian" that was recommended by the Dark Wraith,  the only thing I can say is that the world would benefit from a radioactive lake located where the state of Israel currently is.  What a bunch of insufferably arrogant assholes with a megalomaniac complex, they make Kim Jong Il look sane. 

The state of Israel is the definition of entitlement.  They think they are entitled to kill anyone they want, including babies, by the most horrendous means possible.  White phosphorous, are you serious?  Their mindset is perfectly clear to anyone who is paying attention and it isn't pretty. As bad as the destruction of Gaza is that the author describes, it is nothing compared to the sentiments of the rabbis and the rabid people they lead.

The Israeli spokesman, Nachman Abramovic demonized Palestinian children stating "They may look young to you, but these people are terrorists at heart. Don’t look at their deceptively innocent faces, try to think of the demons inside each of them … I am absolutely certain these people would grow to be evil terrorists if we allowed them to grow… would you allow them to grow to kill your children or finish them off right now? … honost and moral people ought to differentiate between true humans and human animals. We do kill human animals and we do so unapologetically. Besides who in the West is in a position to lecture us on killing human animals. After all, whose hands are clean?"

Human animal mentioned by Abramovic refers to the Judaic religious belief that Jews are Gods chosen people; the elite and the pure-blooded, while all others (non-Jews, Goyims, gentiles) are animal souls incarnated into human bodies to serve the Jews. Killing a human animal is just a sport like hunting deer or birds.

Another Israeli spokeswoman, Tzipora Menache, stated that she was not worried about negative ramifications the Israeli onslaught on Gaza might have on the way the Obama administration would view Israel. She said "You know very well, and the stupid Americans know equally well, that we control their government, irrespective of who sits in the White House. You see, I know it and you know it that no American president can be in a position to challenge us even if we do the unthinkable. What can they (Americans) do to us? We control congress, we control the media, we control show biz, and we control everything in America. In America you can criticize God, but you can’t criticize Israel"

Four things.  One, my hands are clean.  Two, I am not an animal soul put here to serve the Jews nor am I to be hunted for sport like a deer.  Three, I will criticize Israel all I want.  Whatever sympathy I used to have for them has been erased over the last thirty years and replaced  with a contempt I had no idea I was capable of.  As my ex used to say "If they were burning to a crisp, I wouldn't piss on them to put them out." And last but certainly not least, children become what you make them.  They start out innocent but if you bomb their homes, families, schools and hospitals you are only creating the problem that you say you are trying to solve.

I have no sympathy, zero, nada, zilch for ANY country or people that think they can treat other human beings as if they were so much trash that needs to be disposed of.  Get out of our country, get out of our politics and if there is a God, I hope he teaches you the humility that you so richly deserve and have never learned no matter how many times you think he has abandoned you.

As a bad a man as Hitler was, as bad as the people were that followed his insane directives, they were novices compared to the Israelis.  The Israelis DO NOT have right on their side and with every new article I find, every election they have that elects more and more people driven by hatred and a false sense of revenge, the more certain I am that they bring persecution on themselves and eventually no one will support them or their belief that they can do no wrong.

Israel needs to be taught a lesson.  Quickly.  They should be thrown out of the UN, embargos should be enacted and no weapons whatsoever should be sold to them.  Let them fight their neighbors by themselves, that should unite the area and eliminate the whining.  And under no circumstances let them immigrate to the US, we don't need any more insane people runnning our country into the ground.  Especially since it is more than obvious that they don't respect us.

If there are aliens and they're watching us, there's probably a No Trespassing sign around the solar system that says something like "Please observe the Prime Directive. Beware!   This planet has been contaminated with unreasoning hatred for those not like themselves.  This is considered an Infectious Disease and is carried by most humans.  There is no known cure at this time and results are predicted to be fatal to the planet's inhabitants.   Please do not feed the animals."

Religion, Threats, Stupidity And Sadness

I am not disputing that there is a a God or higher authority.  I hope and pray there is, because if we are the top of the food chain we are in a world of trouble.  What gets my knickers in a knot are people that think that the brains we were given (or developed) are to immediately switch off whenever there is a crisis and that God will handle it for us.  Jeepers creepers.  How arrogant do you have to be to believe that a being could create the universe and then spend their time listening for your piddling little problems.  Those problems might seem world changing to you, but not to the big guy, he's off building other universes.  Hopefully filled with beings that use all of the attributes given us to make our lives better.   God didn't mention guns or cars in the Bible but somehow people still manage to justify using them.  Medicine is the same way.  We were given brains to think our way out of problems, not pray that someone really busy would solve them.   Sort of like taste buds, more than for just oatmeal.

The Taliban are wasting no time trying to order the new President around.  I guess you can do than in a country that has never been successfully invaded.  We were so unsuccessful in Afghanistan that now the Taliban is forcing Pakistani bus drivers to remove music and entertainment devices from public buses or be blown up.  When the 1700 year old Buddhist statues were blown up, the world should have gotten a clue then, but no, the Taliban are no less religious fanatics than the Puritans were.  The only difference is that there isn't another world these fanatics can be sent to explore and get them out of our hair.

No shit!  This is a pet peeve of mine and one of the reasons I don't practice anymore.   Acupuncture is sort of like real estate.  Location, location, location.  But most important of all is an accurate diagnosis.  If migraines are caused by blood deficiency (pale lips, skin, conjunctiva, dull hair and nails, scanty or irregular periods) they are best treated by a combination of nutrition, herbs and acupuncture.  If they are caused by too much yang (always angry or frustrated, road rage, very heavy periods with clotting), you can stick the needle anywhere and there is going to be some type of relief because you have essentially let some of the steam out of the system.  If the migraines are aggravated before the period begins then it really helps if you regulate the menstrual cycle and work on the person's unhappiness factors.  If they hate their lives and won't admit it, then you can expect a recurrence at the first missed treatment.  It also helps if you know whether the migraine is liver, gallbladder or heart related but that is too technical and time consuming to sort people correctly for the studies.  Therefore, for most migraines and headaches acupuncture will work no matter where you stick the needle.  If you want to improve the quality of the person's life, you have to do a little more work.  Acupuncture is the least (Nutrition, herbs, exercise, environment, moxa, cupping, etc) of what is known as Chinese Medicine. Very few western experiments are ever going to prove its efficacy so quit treating it like it is the be all and end all of Chinese Medicine because the studies aren't designed correctly which makes the whole system suspect. Like arthroscopic surgery for arthritis of the knee.

Hanging by a thread, and a frozen one at that.


I would like to think that it wasn't going to let go in my lifetime, but something tells me it's history as of the summer.

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1055 Dead, The Majority Were Not Soldiers

I am not an anti-Semite.  Some of my best friends are Jewish, (I've always wanted to use some line just like that), but what I am is anti war.  I don't care  how you dress it up, when you invade another country and the kill rate is 40% women and children as collateral damage, that's not antisemitism and it certainly isn't pikuach nefesh, that's an attempt at genocide.  White phosphorus bombs?  After the napalm photo from Vietnam there is no excuse for using such weapons.  Against any one, including the UN.  But the part in the Bible about turning the other cheek must be in the New Testament and only apply to people who really believe in Jesus' teachings.  Wars don't demonstrate who's right or wrong, but who's left standing.  In other words, history is written by the winners.

Palestine had democratic elections as the world demanded and they mistakenly elected a party the powers that rule the world didn't approve of, therefore that party isn't legitimate and it's okay to indiscriminately kill people until they change their evil ways.  Too bad the world didn't use that same logic against, Bush, Mugabe or Chavez. Chavez at the moment is relatively insulated against being invaded by the US in its pursuit for oil so the rich don't have to change their lifestyle.  And to Elizabeth Wurtzel, all I have to say is waah, waah, waah.  You can't dress up killing civilians on a regular basis and not be compared to a regime that did the same.  Behave like an advanced human instead of an angry monkey and maybe "normal" people might think you have a valid point.

But to communicate with anyone I think of as right-minded (and left-leaning) in any other part of the world is to experience the purest antisemitism since the Nazi era. In fact, in Europe right now, it is de rigueur to liken the current regime in Israel with the Nazi party, and to view the experience of the Palestinians as a form of ethnic cleansing. Hamas and Hezbollah are thought by the French and British to be social welfare organizations, and Israel is viewed as a terrorist state. Here, we honor the linguistic discoveries of Noam Chomsky and otherwise experience him as a quaintly brilliant crank, but in the bookstores in London there are entire sections devoted to his political thought – and he is read as if the distinctions between Leninist and Trotskyite philosophy had genuine consequence in today's world.

And if you don't want to go to Europe because of the negative feelings towards Americans since the Iraq war, imagine how angry Europeans are right now with this even larger injustice building in their back yard.  Perhaps, just maybe, God should have chosen the Jewish homeland and not some politicians from Great Britain and the United States who didn't think about the results of displacing the Palestinians who had lived there for thousands of years since God kicked the Jewish people out the last time for disrespecting his rules. Or whatever reason God determined they should wander homeless.

Any way you look at it, killing children only breeds more generational hatred and hasn't there been enough of that in the world?  And please tell me that the goal was not to have Osama been Forgotten to declare a holy war over Gaza.  2012 will be here soon enough.

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Monday, Just Makes You Want To Crawl Back Into Bed

If you could only hear my Snidely Whiplash (check this site if you love plays on words) impersonation this morning.  I was in fine form after reading that one itsy bitsy line slipped into the bailout bill for the billionaires.

As in I told you so.  Yesterday.  I didn't to mention the lack of jobs because it wasn't necessary.  How can you have a job if your boss is unemployed or all the companies in the area have either gone bankrupt, moved to another country or the founders died and the family took the money and ran?

This would be funny if it wasn't so doggone stupid.  And how was it missed for so long? 
The same way everything else over the last eight years was missed until it was so obvious that every blind man knew it was a white elephant in the room.  At the very least it was because it was determined to be somebody else's problem.  The victim, name known now as Obama. instead of the real perpetrators.)   It's the only way the almost never right can live with themselves.  Mattresses are going to look mighty attractive soon.

Looking for a job in California?  Don't look here unless you want to know which ones are laying off workers at the year's end.  If the CSAA in Elk Grove is laying off 346 workers, does that mean they are closing the office?  And then the list disappeared.  You don't think they're hiding anything do you?

Of, God I will pray, I will plead, I will grovel, I will even begin to believe in smiting one's enemies if you would please, please make these people go away.  Preferably with their vile (appalling, bad, base, coarse, contemptible, corrupt, debased, degenerate, depraved, despicable, dirty, disgraceful, disgusting, evil, filthy, foul, horrid, humiliating, ignoble, immoral, impure, iniquitous, loathsome, low, mean, miserable, nasty, nauseating, nefarious, noxious, perverted, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shocking, sickening, sinful, sleazy*, stinking*, ugly, vicious, vulgar, wicked, worthless, wretched) wishes unfulfilled. Resorted to using a thesaurus, because I couldn't come up with enough words to express the disgust I felt upon reading the article, much less them using their Lord's name in vain. I seem to remember that is also a sin, one that even comes before murder or having sex with someone else's wife. And I think we can tell they completely missed the one about false witness.

In the Woo Hoo! not surprised position.  Net neutrality, more smoke drifting past the on the part I sit on.  Too bad it's the kind of smoke that leaves ashes in its wake instead of the kind that leaves stashes fondly remembered.

Know what happens when no one lives in foreclosed homes and has to live in a tent city?  Oh well, at least the cleaning bill goes down.

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Pride Goeth Before A Fall

It's Sunday and I couldn't resist using the title.  I'm not known for using ghetto jargon but this time I can't resist.  Nigga pleez! Did I spell that right? It isn't my normal language.

For eight years I've been asking how dumb the crew without a clue thought Americans were.  And everyday reveals even more stupidity. Well, we weren't born this morning, we didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday and some of us were able to count all the train tracks, left and right turns and the bridges that fell down to get us to this point.  And by the way, Iraqis didn't want him to come over for a hello or goodbye visit.

Add to the fact that the report was never published  about the corruption in Iraq, just like every other report that Bush and Cheney have swept under the Presidential seal because they truly believe that our ignorance is bliss and theirs is by divine right and you have a Presidency that is more inept than anybody who lived through the Nixon years would ever thought could be worse. Obviously they didn't want Joe the Plumber to know how badly they had screwed up the clusterf*ck that is known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, aka Mission Accomplished, which is turning out to be the fruitcake everyone passes around at Christmas  hoping to never see again.  For a group of idiots determined not to relive the debacle of the Vietnam War, they've managed to repeat everything except the napalming of innocent citizens.  And I'm pretty sure that story will come out eventually. They haven't missed anything else so far so why should that be an exception.?

Have you noticed how the immigrant problem hasn't been in the news as much?  How can there be a problem when even people from impoverished countries don't consider America as a place of pride where you can improve your families lives by pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.  Not only do we no longer make boots in this country, we use Velcro because the people in charge think that the average citizen might find that bootstraps are too difficult to operate and besides some of those people not on game shows just might make a success of themselves and that can't be allowed to happen under any circumstances.  If Americans start filling in the dots, crossing the t's and dotting the i's, the curtain is going to come off the whole shebang and all the people of Emerald City will see that it was just a group of inept puppet pulling the wrong strings.

Meanwhile we have 36 more days of revelations.  Not eight days of lights or twelve days of Christmas or the couple of days of that Kwanzaa thing I don't understand the purpose of. No, not even the kind from the last chapter of the Bible where the world comes to an end and only the good people go to heaven that the crew without a clue has been so earnestly working for. These are the kind of news stories that should make you want to make to pull your head out of the sand and cry tears of pain that our country has fallen so far from its ideals. 

You remember the ideals our forefathers fought for don't you?  Freedom from tyranny, security in one's own home, a whole bunchh of others that have disappeared and the ability to work for a living that would support your whole family instead of the whole family trying to support the one room travel trailer that is all that is left of their years of hard work and expensive schooling.  That kind of thing.

It isn't so much that our pride in being Americans is losing its luster, it's that now we have to depend on other countries to give us our buffing.  We'd just better hope they decide to use aluminum oxide grade instead of ceramic  or we can forget sitting down for a very long while.

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Odd Observation

I'm sitting at a stop light and I see a church with a sign saying "Are You Chipped?"    I've been driving past this place for two years and never really thought about what it was asking.  Having some experience with the Pentecostal church in my youth I recognize that it refers to the number of the beast and the impending "Rapture".  I also realize that one doesn't have to have a chip to be marked with the number of the beast.  Technology got around that problem and most people don't realize that it has happened.

So the question is this, why in the world would you need to chip people since almost everyone has a cell phone with GPS tracking?  And how many people have bought a car equipped with Onstar?  Supposedly it can help you if you are in an accident, run out of gas, find a restaurant, etc, which means it can also keep track of your daily activities.  Home telephone calls can be transferred to your car if you have to go somewhere and don't want to stop talking.  Obviously you don't need to be chipped if they can track you without you ever knowing it.

Ten years ago Hollywood gave us Enemy of the State and showed how many places can keep an eye on you with you being aware of it and most people blew it off as fiction.  Which it was, but that doesn't mean it was totally inaccurate.  Now Hollywood has given us Eagle Eye and it shows that the technology to track you without you being aware has advanced even more.  I've seen it four times (because of work) and yes, I know it has flaws and that it is fiction, but how many people are aware of the fact that very little of everyday life isn't on film somewhere?

Spend a little time during your daily activities to spot the cameras and you realize that you are on camera almost as soon as you step out of your house.  And that's without a satellite tracking you.  Either way I leave my residence, the first light I come to has cameras.  As a matter of fact, most of the lights have cameras.  In an effort to catch shoplifters almost any store you go into has cameras in action.  The grocery store has cameras, the bank has cameras, casinos have cameras, hotels have cameras, the train station has cameras, clothing stores have cameras.  RFID tracks almost everything you buy at this point and most people don't even notice.

So, why does anyone need to be chipped?

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How Stupid Are These People?

Cheez n' rice! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!  Parents are petitioning to have yoga classes removed from the curriculum because they feel it violates the boundaries between church and state.  I almost choked on my tea when I read that.  I'll bet if they wanted to teach a bible class this wouldn't be an issue.

When I was in college at Cal Poly I took a yoga class and it was scheduled right before my calculus class.  For the weeks of midterms and finals all we did was stretch, breathe and relax.  The benefits to me were shown when I took the tests.  I would look at the questions and instead of panic setting in, I was able to recall quite a bit more than my studying had indicated and I passed the course.  Religion was never brought up in yoga class, either at school or at the gym.  The sole purpose was to get exercise at the same time as restoring good blood flow to the ligaments and tendons.

"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.

Honestly, this country is getting dumber by the second.  It's a good thing Lucid is his name, because lucid he is not.

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I Am Sorrow

Seven years and two wars later and they are going to try new efforts to find the forgotten one.  I will be almost amazed when they find Osama bin Laden just before the election.  There will be celebrations, ticker tape confetti and dancing in the street.  News anchors will have tears of joy in their eyes and all but a few of us will realize that this could have been accomplished seven years ago, but they didn't need the political capital then.  The American people are easily mesmerized by shiny objects and artificial intelligence, aren't they?

Speaking of War Games, mom and I were watching War Games: The Dead Code and I wondered why they didn't bring back John Wood as the original Dr. Stephen Falken. John was responsible for uttering one of my favorite lines as the Bishop of Aquila (there were a few) in one of my favorite movies.  Ladyhawke, one of the most romantic action movies ever made.  I heartily recommend it.  Alfred Molina has a bit part, one just a little bigger than his part in Raiders of the Lost Ark. These lines came straight from the Bishop's mouth right after he watches his mistress dance and Marquet gives his report.

We live in difficult times Marquet.  The famine has prevented the people from paying their proper tribute to the Church.  I raise their taxes only to be told there is nothing left for me to tax.  Imagine.

Gee, that sounds just like today except the church has been traded for corporations. 

Wow, I just found out I could watch a movie and blog at the same time.  I really should explore more of the capabilities of my Mac.  Speaking of which, even though I can't pay for rent or gas, I want the new iTouch.

Obviously, I am a true American.

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Sunday Morning Musings

When is your last request subject to change?  When you happen to be a Catholic Cardinal who is one step away from "Sainthood".    It seems that Cardinal John Henry Newman had requested that he be laid to rest next to his long time friend Ambrose St.John and that's where he's been since he died in 1890.  Now that he's one step away, the Vatican wants to move his remains to a special sarcophagus in another town.  The Vatican's excuse?  So the remains will be more accessible for venerating faithful.  Hmm, sounds more like trying to remove any inference that he might be gay.  It almost cracks me up because it is so hypocritical.   Through the years Popes have had mistresses and even children, but that some people might think that one of the saints was a homosexual is something that must be covered up.   Religious tolerance is rarely tolerant or religious.

The first mention of Obama and his speechfound in my Google Reader News was at spot 26, Sarah Palin was the number two article.  The press has found a new darling and she's photogenic.  For a Republican.  I wonder how long it's going to take the Demowienies to learn how to play politics?  After so many years of doing the same old thing and getting the same old bad results you would think they could get a clue.  But time after time the Republicans manage to steal the stage and make the news world revolve around themselves.   The only way the Dumocrats are going to be able to steal the political stage back would be if Obama decided to either not run or appoints Hillary as his new Veep pick.  And we all know that isn't going to happen.  The Republicans got just what they wanted, which was to run against Obama and not Hillary and the American citizenry are going to get four more years of McSame. Oh joy.

There is one other thing that pissed me off about John Edwards and his "liason" with what's her name, and it's something I haven't seen mentioned in the news.  Has the man never heard of protection?  The all weather raincoat should always be used when liaising with anyone other than your spouse.  With an HIV infection rate of one American every nine and a half minutes, the odds are not on your side if you ride bareback.  Personal raincoats also reduce the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy, but I guess condoms might be hard to hide from your wife and buying them yourself or asking an aide to do it would have been a dead giveaway that you were having an affair.  You set more than a bad example of behavior by having sex after taking marriage vows and your wife having more on her plate than she should have to deal with in one lifetime, you have given the impression that unprotected sex is okay.  It isn't and many more children will be born with a disease that could have been prevented by a little forethought.  Something you didn't think was important.  That's why I'm pissed.  In that one, or however many it took, act, you showed a lack of leadership and glorified irresponsibility.

The list of noshows at the Republican Convention is quite impressive.  And it can't be blamed on Gustav.  Or the California budget crisis.  No matter how hard they try.  Minneapolis is nowhere near where Gustav is expected to make landfall.  And they can't really think that we would believe that they want to be available to help those who can't afford to leave their homes.  And that budget thing?  Total BS since the Republicans are the ones who are holding everything up by insisting that the poor make up the difference in the budget instead of those who can afford to pay taxes.

I was never a Warren Zevon fan until it was too late, but here is a video that Billy Bob Thornton made with Warren and John Waite and a few others before Warren's last appearance on the Letterman show.  It isn't the whole song, but you can tell everyone knew it was going to be the last time.  Knockin' On Heaven's Door. It's enough to bring tears to your eyes. He had some great friends.


And because I'm really pensive this morning, Johnny Cash and his rendition of Hurt by the Nine Inch Nails..


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Baghdad: City Of Walls

By way of the Guardian.  You will never see this on American television.  It isn't entertainment, it's reality.  The reality of living in Baghdad after years of war.  First you can't get around.



The graves of those who were killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the wrong religion, the wrong whatever.



And then there are the children.  The true innocents and the ones who are paying the highest price. The orphans being recruited to continue the terror that was visited upon them. By us.



What have we done?

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Bankruptcy, Drugs And Idiots

At least breathing while black didn't get him killed, but the UK police aren't quite as trigger happy as a US cops.  Yet.  At this rate the world will become one great police state, united in the fear of others that don't look like them and in subjugation to whichever multinational corporation runs their government.

Sammy Hagar may not be able to drive 55, but the rest of us should.  Mom and I took a trip and I set the cruise control at 64 mph.  I passed one car in 150 miles,  everyone else passed me.  Trucks and SUVs were whipping past me so fast it looked I like I was standing still, but my gas mileage was much improved.  If it wasn't so dangerous I would go 55 mph but it's against the law to go more than 5 mph less than the speed limit and I'm likely to get rear ended by someone not paying attention.

The current bankruptcy law definitely needs to be repealed, and not just for those harmed by repeated involutary tours to Iraq and Afghanistan or those who had the misfortune to become ill in a country that let's people die in the emergency room while waiting for help.  What about people who have had to lower their standard of living to the poverty level in order to take care of an aging parent?   I'm having to take (and pay for) classes to teach me how to handle money I don't have.  What a crock or crap that is.  And the filing fee has taken months to save up for from a budget that already doesn't pay my bills.  Meanwhile Capital One took a bill that was only $600 and turned it into $2160 and is taking me to court to get a judgment even though I'm in the midst of declaring bankruptcy.    If they had debtors prison like they did under King George III, I'd be in it and my mom would be living on the street with no way to take care of herself.

My dad used to say that as soon as they found a way to tax it, it would be legal.  With state budgets being what they are,  more states should follow suit.

Free speech my ass.  If a parent burned a cross into their kid's arm, they would go to jail for child abuse.  If he had kissed his students he would be out of a job, why is chemically burning a cross into an eighth graders arm not considered a crime?

What a novel idea.  Locking the barn door after the horse has escaped.  It's nice to know that the crew without a clue haven't changed how they operate.

Oh boy, the pot calling the kettle black. Every time Bush meets other leaders he gives the people of the world new opportunities to be embarrassed for the American people.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Fundamentalists are the same the world over. Nuttier than fruitcakes and more than willing to molest children. Specifically (unless it's in the Catholic church), young girls. From the FLDS compound in Texas to the moral Haredim in Israel to murdering daughters and mothers as an "honor" killing in Iraq, women are treated as something less than a man. Something to be used, abused, hidden and then thrown out with the trash because she is no longer pure. All under the guise of religion. god must be so proud. If most abusers learn from their parents, does that mean that God abuses us?

Not quite as good as three fifths. Bush, Cheney and McCain are so disappointed that they won't have to pull an October surprise in order to maintain control of the country, the Democrats are going to give it to them as a gift. ON the bright side, innocent U.S. citizens won't have to die in a convenient terrorist attack. Hopefully.

Abstinence education is doomed to failure. By biology. Teens are going to have sex, whether adults like it or not. Get over it. It would be infinitely preferable if they knew how to do it safely, that they do it with people in their own age group and at their own discretion rather than have it forced on them by an adult that they trusted. Correct information is valuable so they know how their bodies work and where babies really come from. Along with communicable diseases if they aren't careful. Parents tend to forget that teenagers won't be teenagers all their lives and sooner or later they need to know the truth. When it comes to sex, sooner is better. And more effective. For a country that uses sex to sell everything, we certainly are repressed in real life.

He could leave the country and I wouldn't care. Pastors come and go but the congregation usually stays. What makes him think that the members of his church are going to vote for him now that he's decided they aren't good enough to pray with? Quick answer? There aren't enough of them to matter. He's definitely a politician, anything to get elected. And everybody is falling for it.

Greek mythology told us that. Hera, Artemis and Aphrodite were not gods that people messed with. Zeus and Apollo may have gotten all the attention for their sexual conquests but the women were not second class citizens of Olympus. Or Greece.

Since It's Sunday

Let me step on the third rail. It's supposed to be do unto others as you would have them to unto you, not do unto others as has been done to you. I admit it, I'm baffled. Why do people think that Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians is justified? Has it occurred to anybody that the Palestinians are responding the same way that the Jews did during World War II? It's okay to fight back against an immoral oppressor if you're Jewish.

After invading Poland in 1939, Nazi Germany set up ghettos nationwide to isolate the country's Jews and facilitate the "Final Solution" -- half of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust were Polish.

At its height, more than 450,000 were crammed into the walled Warsaw ghetto.

About 100,000 died inside from starvation, disease and in summary executions. Most of the rest were sent to Treblinka in mass deportations which began in 1942.

In the ghetto, a handful of Jewish paramilitary groups, mostly made up of young people -- Edelman was just 20 -- coalesced into a poorly-armed force of around 1,000.

The banner of one group was a blue Star of David on a white background, which caused Nazi ire when it was hoisted during the revolt. It became the flag of Israel.

But it isn't okay if you aren't?

The Gaza Strip has 1.48 million inhabitants and one of the highest population densities in the world. Since the election of the Hamas government in January 2006, drastic restrictions have been imposed on the movement of people and goods in and out of the Strip. The restrictions were significantly tightened when an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by three Palestinian factions in June 2006, and again in June 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza strip.

Further sanctions were imposed following Israel’s decision to declare Gaza a "hostile entity" in September 2007, and reductions in fuel and electricity supplies were implemented in September 2007 and January 2008.

Gaza is almost completely dependent on Israel for supplies of both fuel and electricity, and it is over 80 per cent dependent on food aid. The impact of sanctions, adding to the lack of funding and the lack of coordination between Palestinian bodies, has resulted in critical shortages of food, medicines and building materials for humanitarian and industrial projects. In addition, virtually no industrial and agricultural exports have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip since June 2007. Israel's blockade has dramatically increased the poverty rate in Gaza, the effects of which are most acutely felt by children who constitute 56 per cent of the population of Gaza.

What the heck is the difference? Herding people into contained areas and depriving them of food, fuel and medical care is barbaric no matter who perpetrates it. I find it impossible to support Israel when they show a lack of compassion and forget the sacrifices that made them possible, but are willing to have another nation's people be disenfranchised and looking for revenge. I remember leaving the theater after seeing Schindler's List (not a date movie) and getting into my car and thinking "why do people continue to treat each other badly in the name of religion?"


BBB

What If The Earth Is Just One Big Science Experiment?

Biblically correct, now that's a mouthful. A book written by many men (Ruth and Esther were tokens used to prove a point but Mary, the mother of Jesus and a major part of a world religion, gets scant mention much less her own book, why is that?) to reflect their point of view and the parts that didn't fit in, were discarded. Now some of the "believers" are conducting museum tours and explaining to the young and impressionable that thousands of years of history never happened. Oh sweet Jeebus, how much dumber is our population going to get? Tyrannosaurus Rex was a vegetarian because Adam and Eve hadn't sinned yet, so there was no death? What planet do these people come from? They most certainly didn't evolve from intelligent humans. That Bible belt is cinched a little too tight and preventing oxygen from circulating through their very little brains. No wonder there are very few "American" doctors in practice, you have to have a science education in order to understand how the body works. Praying doesn't help cure disease.

This will really throw a spanner into the works. Not only is the moon not made of cheese, but it isn't even made of the same materials as the Earth and Mars is made of something completely different than the other two. Maybe since we are supposed to be made in God's image, he's just trying to find out whether intelligence waxes or wanes with each succeeding generation. I think we are in the wane phase.

Funny how when I was growing up on an Air Force Base, science was accepted as tradition and you were expected to do well in it. I got kicked out of Sunday School (Southern Baptist) for asking impertinent questions like "if you lived on an island and had never seen a white man, does this mean you go to hell because you never heard of the Bible or Jesus Christ?" When I was told yes, I answered "I don't think God does that, he wouldn't punish innocent people for an eternity just because they had never heard of him." And out the door I was pushed and told never to return. Forgiveness seems to be a sin, unless you're a Republican who has committed a sexual indiscretion.

Then I got involved with the Pentecostals. Now that was an adventure. Reality went on a long hike because only a chosen few will be saved. Once again I was shown the door. This time because I thought it didn't make sense that a person who had committed murder, rape, robbery and other trespasses of the Ten Commandments could repent on his deathbed at 75 and he would go to heaven, but a person who had followed the Commandments to the letter would go to hell because he hadn't accepted Jesus Christ as his savior. An exemplary life doesn't count but crying and begging for forgiveness of heinous crimes does. Didn't sound logical then and it doesn't sound logical now. Jehovah's Witnesses are sure I'm not going to heave either. That's okay, it doesn't sound like a very happy place.

Almost 7 billion people on the planet but just 144,000 are going to qualify to go to heaven. One would have to ask what kind God would do something like that. Maybe a scientist who was looking for deviant bacteria and a way to inoculate the space population from contamination would be my guess.

BBB and IIRTZ

Saturday Morning Musings

For a country that is as breast obsessed as America, we sure have a funny way of dealing with them. While America drools over the frontal fat appendages of Pamela Sue Anderson and the late Anna Nicole Smith, once those breasts aren't perfect all bets are off. Get breast cancer, have your health insurance canceled, as if $9 million (like they 're going to pay it!) will every make up for the pain, suffering and absolute terror that woman went through. Or, if you have the money and are willing to take the chance, you can try using a drug that has very little proven efficacy in doing anything but slowing the growth of a tumor but powerful backers within the FDA probably think that's okay since it keeps the boobs looking normal.

My baby brother has had a policy for years not to eat what he calls "co-mingled" meat. It sounded like a good policy, so I also adopted it. I still like sausage (bad girl!), but when it comes to ground beef, all I use is organic (usually Niman Ranch) or I drive to In-N-Out Burger. Too bad the rest of the country don't get these options.

Hmm, more boob stuff and you thought it was just the Puritans who didn't want anyone to have fun. Why is it that religious fanatics just don't understand that opposites attract and that legislation, arrest or even hanging won't change that? Men will be men, boys will be boys and the majority of them like to interact with members of the opposite sex. And most of us girls like it that way.

I am not a traitor to my race. First of all, which one would that be? The German mom with blond hair and grey eyes that I have spent most of my life with or the black American father who I adored until the day he died and still think is the most wonderful man I ever met? I am an American female and I will vote however I choose. Just the way I spend my money. When I have it.

I've resigned myself to the fact that if we do have the 2008 Presidential election, we will end up with another Republican president. My objections to Obama are many, not the least of which are his lack of experience, who he's sold his soul to to get this far, the absence of cohesive plans to solve the problems of this country and what really irritates me are the platitudes. Change? Who is he kidding? Thanks to people like that guy with the blog with the hideous orange theme, they have ensured that instead of us having a choice, the Dumocrats will once again have the poor choice they give us. Like Kerry wasn't bad enough. Then, if the election occurs the rest of the country is going to say "change? I don't think so." If McCain picks a running mate that is even remotely viable, democracy as we used to know it, is toast.

It's been a hard two weeks. My knee pain has been at a consistent 9 for the last week and between the emergency room visit for asthma and the subsequent $1,588.74 ambulance ride to get there, trying to make my new place livable (30 years of nicotine, mold and mildew) has been difficult. What little work I had, has turned into a nightmare and mom has completely lost her mind. It isn't just me that notices it. Our 88 year old landlady (who may be deaf but has all of her marbles) believes it's the early stages of Alzheimer's in addition to the vascular dementia. But mom still figured out the remote control so she can watch Jeopardy every night. Go figure.

Big Brass Blog

Top Ten Signs You're A Fundamentalist Christian

Top Ten Signs You’re a Fundamentalist Christian
10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and “dehumanized” when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the “atrocities” attributed to Allah, but you don’t even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in “Exodus” and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in “Joshua” including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholesin the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs — though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most “tolerant” and “loving.”

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in “tongues” may be all the evidence you need to “prove” Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a “high success rate” when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity or religious history, but you can argue louder and scream persecution when confronted with facts instead of faith.

Somebody probably thinks I'm going to hell. I have a problem with this since I believe I've been living here for the last fifty years. That would be people years, not Bible time.

Back In The Saddle

It's been a tough week, but I'm finally breathing better. Whistling while you work is one thing, whistling while you breathe is another. Not much has changed in the few days I wasn't able to focus. Stupidity is still running rampant (somebody tell the Archbishop that the UK is not a Muslim country and if someone wants to live under Sharia law, they can go live in a country that practices it, not bring it to a civilized nation that doesn't need it), blatant sexism is on shameless display (What would possess someone to equate a former first daughter with being a hooker? Especially since unlike the current examples in the White House she was never picked up or suspected of wild drinking and drug use.), and very few people think that Bush or Congress are doing a good job. They're right.

Ooh, ooh, supposedly the government is going to send us money in May. Since I don't have kids and will obviously never have grandkids, who is going to pay off the debt? Or doesn't that matter anymore?

Since Bank of America seems to think that I can pay down their sub prime losses by hitting me with bank fees and unfair transaction ordering, how much do you think they will charge for the ability to deposit checks at home? For me, the opportunity to never set foot in the bank again, is priceless, so I'm sure they will want some percentage of my deposit. You know, a convenience charge.

Due process, no longer is. While it sounds like a good idea to use DNA evidence to deny parole to criminals, they are still entitled to a lawyer and a trial. I think it's called justice. Not that we worry about that in this country any more. That's for emerging democracies.

I agree with Hillary, Obama reminds me of a snake oil salesman or Professor Marvel. They speak empty platitudes with accomplished oratorical precision when they are really just fancier versions of Jack Handy.

PZ will be so ...thrilled. I guess it only works when doctors do it. Other than paying down the national debt, why do so many people want babies? That other people are going to raise because people supposedly don't need to work two minimum wage jobs since the economy is fundamentally healthy.

At the 3Bs.

Wednesday Morning Wonderings

Under the guise of bipartisan gun legislation, Bush has managed to add another level of spying on citizens to his already really long list. It has nothing to do with preventing another shooting and everything to do with making a list and checking it twice.

Much of the money, to be spent over five years, would be used to increase state feeds to a national system used to run background checks on gun purchases.

What kind of word is unchurched? And yes, they do get on my last nerve. Hypocrisy doesn't begin to cover the behavior of today's so called Christian. I attended Sunday School and church for most of my youth and the intolerance and demagoguery that spews forth now, the constant whining about perceived persecutions and the false premise that this is a Christian country, may have their basis in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament. Supposedly Christ died for our sins and wanted us to love our brother like ourself. Not that you see much of that nowadays.

Good grief! The crew without a clue can't even bury the soldiers correctly. What kind of sick world is this where a parent has to bury the same kid twice?

Ah, but Mr. Craig, you tried to end it. My parents would have made me eat soap if I tried to blame my misbehaviors on someone by saying they started it. Or I would have heard something like this. "If all your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to jump too? Someone needs to grow up and take their punishment like a man. Even one with a wide stance.

Support those troops! And when they get home, don't let them know about any veteran's benefits they might be entitled to, just let them wander around homeless with mental scars that won't heal.

Big Brass Blog

New Year? Just Like The Old Year

One of the drawbacks to public transportation is that you usually have no control over who sits next to you. I've sat next to people who were desperately in need of a bath...the week before. People have drank, thrown up or wanked off (it was eight in the morning!) on the bus. They have wailed, cried, argued or talked to people who weren't there. It can get annoying which is why I wear headphones and listen to music. If I had been on the bus with this woman, I would have asked her to shut up. Not be quiet, but shut up. The bus driver is an unsung hero for asking her to leave the bus, not a discriminator. Some of these "religious" fanatics would harangue a monk who had observed a vow of silence for twenty years just to prove how religious they are.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We need a national primary followed thirty days later by the national election. Enough is enough and we were past that eight months ago. I seriously doubt that less people would vote and more people might be informed. At least it would give all the citizens a chance to vote on all the candidates, not just those with money leftover. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed. As this poll points out, all Americans should have an equal say.

Don't make me laugh. Who really believes this? You know darn well that there was a signing statement attached. Honestly, the crap that they think we'll believe.

It really doesn't matter what George Orwell would think now, the truth of the matter is that he wrote a book many years ago that is accurately reflecting the current deteriorating state of privacy in America. One doesn't actually have to live through tyranny to recognize it or write about it in all its forms. Interesting how the Bible isn't held to the same scrutiny. You just have to take it on faith.

While Ron Paul has some ideas I agree with, most of them I don't. He is well known enough that he should be allowed to participate in the debates because he does raise points that need to be discussed out in the open. But this is Fox, what the heck was I thinking?

3Bs