the triple tofu tower

i laughed my ass off. thanks to bifurcated rivets for the link (plus it's a damn good site in general)

welcome to kansas

even if your name isn't dorothy (or toto)

GREAT web site. check it out

will someone shove a dirty sock

in this bio-tch's mouth?

Ann Coulter: Murtha and His Ilk are "Gutless Traitors" By E&P Staff Published: November 25, 2005 2:30 PM ET
NEW YORK When a Republican congresswoman from Ohio suggested on the floor of the House that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) was a coward for calling for the beginnings of a U.S. pullout in Iraq, she was roundly criticized by members of her own party, and had to retract her statement. When Vice President Cheney seemed to slam dissent on the war, President Bush said that war critics should at least be heard. But columnist Ann Coulter is apparently having none of it.Her latest column rips war critics such as Murtha as "traitors." Here are some highlights:"It is simply a fact that Democrats like Murtha are encouraging the Iraqi insurgents when they say the war is going badly and it's time to bring the troops home. Whether or not there is any merit to the idea, calling for a troop withdrawal – or 'redeployment,' as liberals pointlessly distinguish – will delay our inevitable victory and cost more American lives.... "The Democrats are giving aid and comfort to the enemy for no purpose other than giving aid and comfort to the enemy. There is no plausible explanation for the Democrats' behavior other than that they long to see U.S. troops shot, humiliated, and driven from the field of battle. ............

(aid and comfort to our enemy? wtf IS our enemy annie?)

doesn't david frost work there now?

and i believe an ex-marine too.

British Lawmaker Urges Pulication of 'Bomb Al-Jazeera' Memo

Published: November 25, 2005 11:00 PM ET
LONDON A member of Parliament from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour party filed a motion Friday urging publication of a leaked document that suggests President George W. Bush wanted to bomb the headquarters of Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera. Earlier this week, British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith warned editors they could face prosecution under the Official Secrets Act for disclosing the contents of a document that has been described as a transcript of discussions between Bush and Blair. Labour party backbencher Peter Kilfoyle filed a motion calling for publication of the document, which was leaked to the Daily Mirror newspaper. Civil servant David Keogh and Leo O'Connor, who formerly worked for a British MP, have been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act. "I would hope we can have a fair and full discussion of the very important issues that were discussed at that meeting," Kilfoyle, a former defence minister, told BBC radio. "The information is out there in the public domain and it seems ludicrous that the media can't discuss it in its entirety," he added. Kilfoyle's motion has little chance of success. .............

the first snow (from thanksgiving day)

wax on wax off

Pat Morita, Oscar-nominated for role as Mr. Miyagi of 'The Karate Kid,' dies at 73
(Los Angeles-AP, Nov. 25, 2005 Updated 7:11 PM) _ Actor Pat Morita, best known for helping teach a boy martial-arts mastery through household chores as the wise Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid," has died. He was 73.
There were conflicting reports about the cause of death. His daughter Aly Morita said he died Thursday of heart failure at a Las Vegas hospital; longtime manager Arnold Soloway said the actor died of kidney failure at a hospital while awaiting a transplant.
His wife of 12 years, Evelyn, said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on "Happy Days," had "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy."
His role in the 1984 film defined his career. As Kesuke Miyagi, the mentor to Ralph Macchio's "Daniel-san," he taught karate while trying to catch flies with chopsticks and offering such advice as "wax on, wax off" to help Daniel improve his karate hand movements while doing his chores.
A generation of young fans mimicked Morita's famous "crane kick" technique from the finale of the movie, which surprised many by grossing $91 million and establishing a popular franchise.
"It was both my honor and privilege to have worked with him and create a bit of cinema magic together," Macchio said in a statement. "My life is all the richer for having known him. I will miss his genuine friendship."
"Forever my Sensei," Macchio added, referring to Morita's role in "The Karate Kid."............. pat morita

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

if i see ONE MORE AD for that stupid geisha movie coming out in december i am GOING TO PUKE.

it very well may be a damn fine movie, i will never know. i am not going on principal. those ads are all over the net effing up everything.

oh and i didn't read the book either. women servicing and bowing to men is not my idea of a good old time. it's the OTHER WAY AROUND for me

this is a surprise to NO ONE

but we started a civil war (in ANOTHER LAND) over it. we are responsible - absolutely - no doubt. the rich just keep getting richer and hell just keeps getting bigger.....

Mondo Washington
Iraq Report: It’s About the Oil‘Crude Designs’ reveals bonanza for the oil industry
by James RidgewayNovember 23rd, 2005 4:08 PM




WASHINGTON, D.C.—The bottom-line issue in the Iraq war is not establishing democracy or assuring state security, but rather controlling the country’s oil reserves.
A new report called Crude Designs: The Rip-Off of Iraq’s Oil Wealth, prepared by a British consortium, reports that oil deals involving Iraq will be a bonanza for American and other Western companies. Iraq is expected to retain ownership of only 17 out of some 80 known oil fields, and these fields probably will end up under regional—not national—control.
”Crude Designs” (find an HTML version here) calculates the effects this way:
”At an oil price of $40 a barrel, Iraq stands to lose between $74 billion and $194 billion over the lifetime of the proposed contracts. . . .
”Under the likely terms of the contracts, oil company rates of return from investing in Iraq would range from 42% to 162%, far in excess of usual industry minimum target of around 12% return on investment.
Current contract negotiations between Iraq and the big oil companies will result in the country literally signing away rights to its oil. Once these deals are done, we can declare victory. Whether troops stay there or are redeployed is of secondary importance. ..........

Bush and Cheney Answer Critics

by ward sutton

'cuse me rush, did YOU serve in korea or viet nam?

NO? well then shut your f**king mouth you stupid piece of steaming scheist

Limbaugh: Murtha "just the useful idiot of the moment"November 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh asserted that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA) -- who on November 17 called for the immediate redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq -- is "just the useful idiot of the moment."
Limbaugh added that people "portray [Murtha] as a former hawk," and asked: "What kind of serious hawk calls for withdrawals like this?" Limbaugh then added: "I don't think he ever has been a hawk ... in his career ... as a congressman."
Limbaugh further asserted that Murtha is "just getting his 15 minutes of fame like [anti-war protester] Cindy Sheehan got," and characterized Murtha as "just the latest member of the endless parade of personalities around whom the Democrats can circle and support."
From the November 21 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: Not really that interested in Murtha, ladies and gentlemen, to tell you the truth. I know he got everybody's dander up all last week, but I think he's just the useful idiot of the moment. He's just -- I mean I'm not taking away from his service in Vietnam. Uh, it's -- it's not his service that we are questioning. We're questioning his judgment here.
What kind of serious hawk calls for withdrawals like this? He talks about -- they portray this guy as a former hawk -- I don't think he ever has been a hawk in the -- in his career as a congress -- as a congressman. He advocated pulling out of Somalia, as I say.
But it isn't about Murtha. Murtha's irrelevant in all this. This is about our troops and our national security. Murtha's just getting his 15 minutes of fame like Cindy Sheehan got, and like [former Texas Air National Guard Lt. Col.] Bill Burkett got. Bill Burkett got almost a year. The Jersey Girls, [former National Security Council counterterrorism coordinator] Richard Clarke, [former U.S. ambassador] Joseph Wilson, you name it -- just the latest member of the endless parade of personalities around whom the Democrats can circle and support.........

huh?

where is the separation of church and state? i would NOT hold back religion from prisoners, but i WOULD NOT spend state, federal or local money on a TOTAL faith-based prison. isn't that AGAINST THE LAW? am i missing something (as usual)?

Gov. Bush opens largest faith-based prison
He hopes it cuts return to crime

Mark Hollis
Tallahassee BureauNovember 24, 2005
CRAWFORDVILLE · Just beyond the razor-wire front gates of Wakulla Correctional Institution, a dozen inmates stood outside a chapel Wednesday morning, playing electric guitars and singing aloud about how they would "rather have Jesus than silver and gold."Minutes later, Gov. Jeb Bush arrived to dedicate what's being called the nation's largest faith- and character-based prison.With a large contingent of reporters and state officials watching, Bush told several dozen of the prison's 1,600 inmates that the spiritual training it offers may be the secret to keeping them from returning to prison.Besides regular prayer sessions, Wakulla is offering religious studies, choir practice, "life skills" and anger-management lessons and other spiritual activities seven days a week.Wakulla is an all-male prison in a barren spot 20 minutes south of Tallahassee. But it's about to gain national fame as it becomes the third and biggest state prison in Florida to convert entirely to the voluntary faith-based program -- a unique inmate training that the state first began to offer two years ago in anticipation of a lawsuit forcing the issue.Altogether, more than 3,000 inmates are participating statewide, including almost 300 women at a Tampa-area prison.Bush, a devout Catholic who has defiantly rejected civil libertarians' criticism of the state's faith-based programs, told the inmates how daily prayer has improved his life. He said he shares their belief in the power of faith."My expectation is that you'll be better behaved here, but also better prepared when you get out of here to live a productive life," Bush said.........

you go grrrl!

NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Julia Chase raced from the back of the pack in the 1961 Manchester Road Race. The first woman ever to finish, she beat 12 men. (MANCHESTER HERALD PHOTOGRAPH)


i didn't know this. makes me smile!

Relentless Chase
By LORI RILEY Courant Staff Writer
November 24 2005

Forty-four years ago on Thanksgiving Day, Julia Chase of Groton slipped to the back of the field of about 140 men lined up for the Manchester Road Race and started running.In doing so, Chase defied the Amateur Athletic Union, the governing body of the sport in the U.S., which wouldn't let women race more than a half-mile. She defied doctors who said women couldn't run long distances because it would damage their reproductive organs.She defied a society that believed that women athletes, runners especially, would become unattractive and unable to have children.She was 19. She just wanted to run.Chase, now 63, is the honorary chairman of today's Manchester Road Race, the 69th running of the Thanksgiving Day race that draws about 11,000 runners and walkers. Last year, more than 5,000 were female.In 1961, there were Chase and two others. And they were not welcome."It was clear this is what I loved doing and there was no reason not to," said Chase, now Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, a psychiatrist from Leonia, N.J. "The rule was there and it had to be challenged. I think about it now and I think, `What was I thinking? I could have been banned for life.' I put my career on the line. I knew full well that that's what had to be done."The story splashed across the country's sports pages, before and after the race."Why Does Julia Keep Running After Men?" read the headline in the sports pages of the Nov. 30, 1961, Cleveland Press.The story began: "A 19-year-old college girl who runs after men is making newspaper headlines across the country. ... She is ... in the race for time and not for a mate."Life Magazine did a spread on her. Sports Illustrated followed her around days before Thanksgiving. She gave an interview a day leading up to the race, the phone in her Smith College dormitory ringing off the hook.......................

speaking of peru

This chicha libation vessel was cast into a brewery as it was being abandoned and burned. The vessel was broken and scorched in the fire, but it was pieced back together by researchers.




In ancient Peru, women made the beer

Archaeologists reconstruct last days of a pre-Inca brewery
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience managing editor
LiveScience
Updated: 6:04 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2005
An ancient brewery from a vanished empire was staffed by elite women who were selected for their beauty or nobility, a new study concludes.
The finding adds to other evidence that women played a more crucial role in ancient Andean societies than history books have stated. It may also in some ways reflect modern drinking traditions in the Andean mountains, where women get drunk as much as men, researchers say.
The brewery, on a mountaintop in southern Peru, cranked out hundreds of gallons of beer every week. The 1,000-year-old facility was part of the Wari empire, which predated the Incas.
Archaeologists have pieced together the last days before the city was evacuated for unknown reasons. A final batch of chicha, as the drink is called, was prepared. A week later, nobility drank the chicha as part of a big feast and ceremony. More than two dozen precious ceramic vessels — the chicha mugs — were tossed into embers of a fire and smashed as sacrifices to the gods.
Then the residents mysteriously fled.
"Our analyses indicate that this specialty brew was a high-class affair," said Patrick Ryan Williams, curator of anthropology at the Field Museum and co-author of the research report. "Corn and Peruvian pepper-tree berries were used to make the beer, which was drunk from elaborate beakers up to half a gallon in volume."
Water had to be brought up from 1,000 feet (300 meters) below the city's 8,000-foot (2.4-kilometer-high) mountaintop perch. ...................

susan tyrrell

i was thinking of her the other day. she's a cult actress. i was drawn to her the first time i saw her. she was an outsider you could tell. yet, she was most definately comfortable with herself. yeah, she reminded me of me. she sure was in a SLEW of bizarre movies. one that sticks in my mind was forbidden zone with herve villechaize (i was on a city bus with him once LONG LONG ago. he was in a play at the hartford stage company). when i looked her up recently i discovered some rather sad news. she is still alive, but due to some rare illness, had to have both of her legs amputated. anyway, i think of her from time to time. i will have to put some of her movies in my netflix queue.

yma sumac

i first heard her voice in a HORRID charlton heston movie. a movie (well most if not ALL of his movies are horrid, aren't they?) where he uttered the line, 'you big tub o' guts, you' (or something to that effect). i believe that movie was the secret of the incas

yma has a FIVE OCTAVE RANGE. that my dears is unheard of. she was born in peru although many claim she was born in brooklyn and her name is not yma sumac but amy camus. just looking at her face either then OR now, and you can tell this woman was NOT born in brooklyn. have a listen to her sometime. not great dance music mind you but certainly astonishing

Yma Sumac...the Voice of the Incas

chris whitley

Singer-Songwriter Chris Whitley Dies


The Associated PressWednesday, November 23, 2005; 1:09 AM
HOUSTON -- Chris Whitley, a chameleon singer-songwriter who oscillated between roots rock 'n' roll, blues and alt-rock, has died. He was 45.
Whitley died Sunday of lung cancer in Houston, according to his record label, Messenger Records.

"I hope you all will mourn my brother's death, but more important, celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living," read a message on the singer's Web site from his brother, Daniel. "I started the celebration by cranking up `Dirt Floor' in his honor."
"Dirt Floor" was Whitley's 1998 album. He recorded 11 albums since his 1991 debut, "Living with the Law," including this year's "Soft Dangerous Shores."..........

goddess help us

Some See Jesus On Truck Tailgate

Believers Flock To Virgin Mary Tree

Couple Says Fish Bone Bears Jesus Image

Man Auctions 'Shower Jesus'

'Jesus Window' Cracks During Move To Church

Pilgrims See Jesus' Face In Apartment Window

Some See Jesus In Dental X-Ray

second class citizen report of the day

the GOOD news is (if there is any good news in this story at all) is that the father is NOT going to turn his daughters over.

Blood debt women offered up for rape
By Isambard Wilkinson in Sultanwala(Filed: 22/11/2005)
A village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood "marriages".

Blood debt women offered up for rapeBy Isambard Wilkinson in Sultanwala(Filed: 22/11/2005)
A village council in Pakistan has decreed that five young women should be abducted, raped or killed for refusing to honour childhood "marriages".
The women, who are cousins, were married in absentia by a mullah in their Punjabi village to illiterate sons of their family's enemies in 1996, when they were aged from six to 13.
The marriages were part of a compensation agreement ordered by the village council and reached at gunpoint after the father of one of the girls shot dead a family rival.
The rival families have now called in their "debt", demanding the marriages to the village men are fulfilled.
The case is becoming a cause célèbre in Pakistan, pitting tribal mores against a group of modern-minded, educated women. Amna Niazi, the eldest of the five at 22, is taking a degree in English literature, while both her sisters want to attend university.
Their fathers are supporting them and have refused to hand them over, leading to a resumption of the blood feud, with two relatives shot recently and 20 people arrested, while promises of further retribution and murder abound...........

we are no more than possessions. we are chattel, we are to be traded and sold.

link wray

Link Wray, 76, a Guitarist With Raw Rockabilly Sound, Dies
By BEN SISARIO
Link Wray, a rockabilly guitarist whose raw sound and inventive techniques influenced musicians from the early days of rock 'n' roll into the punk era, died on Nov. 5 at his home in Copenhagen. He was 76.

The cause was heart failure, said his wife, Olive.

With a guitar sound as elegant as it was jagged, Mr. Wray led his band, the Ray Men, in a string of instrumentals from the late 1950's into the mid-60's that have become rockabilly standards. His songs also introduced a handful of scrappy innovations like the driving power chord and distortion made from a damaged amplifier, inspiring generations of rock guitarists.

"He is the king," Pete Townshend of the Who once said of him. "If it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I would have never picked up a guitar."

"Rumble," Mr. Wray' s signature song, was released in 1958, and its snarling two-chord pattern remains a symbol of the stylized menace of rockabilly. According to legend, the song got its title when someone said it reminded her of the fight scenes in "West Side Story."

To record it, Mr. Wray punctured his amp with a pencil, damaging the speaker just enough to give the sound a thorny fuzz. Though an instrumental, the song was considered an incentive to violence and was banned from the radio in some cities.

In other songs, like "Raw-Hide" "Jack the Ripper" and "The Swag," Mr. Wray expanded on the vocabulary of "Rumble" and experimented with rougher and more aggressive guitar sounds. To record "Jack the Ripper," Mr. Wray placed his amp in a hotel staircase, creating an eerie and enticing reverb.

this speaks for itself. no further comments (at this time)

Poll: Rape is women's fault

London - A British poll, described as "shocking" by equal-rights campaigners, has found that more than a third of people believe women are to blame for being raped if they behave flirtatiously, wear sexy clothes or get drunk. The IMC survey, commissioned by Amnesty International, also provided a "sobering insight" into why the conviction rates for rape prosecutions at jury trials are falling, despite stricter laws, said campaigners. Although the number of rapes reported to the police in Britain has gone up in recent years, the number of convictions has stayed constant, at just more than 5% of cases. According to the poll, 34% of those asked thought a woman was "partially" or "totally" responsible for being raped if she behaved in a "flirtatious manner". More than a quarter also thought a woman was "at least partly responsible" for being raped if she wore sexy or revealing clothing, or was drunk.

the fbi is NOT warning you

about them monitoring your web surfing. they didn't say they WERE NOT monitoring it, just NOT warning you.........

do NOT open any attachments to emails from those you don't know by the way

FBI Warns of E-Mail About Surveillance
Monday November 21, 2005 9:46 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an alert Monday about a scam involving unsolicited e-mails, purportedly sent by the FBI, that tell computer users that their Internet surfing is being monitored by the agency.
The users are told they have visited illegal Web sites and are instructed to open an attachment to answer questions.
The FBI did not send these e-mails and does not send any other unsolicited e-mails to the public, an agency statement said. As many harmful computer viruses are located in e-mail attachments, the FBI said it strongly encourages computer users not to open attachments from unknown recipients.
The FBI is investigating the scam. Recipients of these e-mails are asked to report them by visiting the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov.

if i was jewish or hindi or something other than christian

(and i am something other by the way) i would NOT wish to be forced to sing christmas carols in school. if i choose to sing them, FINE (and i DO choose to sing some). people have been saying happy holidays for YEARS, why is falwell now being MORE of an ass than usual? hey, it's the CHRISTMAS SEASON, be nicer jer...........

at work, YEARS ago, they started using 'harvest dinner' for our annual thanksgiving lunch. now THAT i think is ridiculous. one can give thanks for MANY different things and one doesn't have to thank one's GOD, they can thank their neighbor or their fish monger or their parking lot attendant. one doesn't even have to celebrate the white man's raping of the land they stole if one doesn't want to.

Falwell fighting for holy holiday He'll sue, boycott groups he sees as muzzling Christmas
Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, November 20, 2005

Evangelical Christian pastor Jerry Falwell has a message for Americans when it comes to celebrating Christmas this year: You're either with us, or you're against us.
Falwell has put the power of his 24,000-member congregation behind the "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," an effort led by the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel. The group promises to file suit against anyone who spreads what it sees as misinformation about how Christmas can be celebrated in schools and public spaces.
The 8,000 members of the Christian Educators Association International will be the campaign's "eyes and ears" in the nation's public schools. They'll be reporting to 750 Liberty Counsel lawyers who are ready to pounce if, for example, a teacher is muzzled from leading the third-graders in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."
An additional 800 attorneys from another conservative legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, are standing by as part of a similar effort, the Christmas Project. Its slogan: "Merry Christmas. It's OK to say it."
Fanning the Yule log of discontent against what the Liberty Counsel calls "grinches" like the American Civil Liberties Union are evangelical-led organizations including the 150,000-member American Family Association. It has called for a boycott of Target stores next weekend. The chain's crime, according to the group, is a ban on the use of "Merry Christmas" in stores, an accusation the chain denies.
On his show last week, Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly offered a list of other retailers that he says refuse to use "Merry Christmas" in their store advertising.
In signing on to "Friend or Foe" this month, Falwell urged the 500,000 recipients of his weekly "Falwell Confidential" e-mail to "draw a line in the sand and resist bullying tactics of the ACLU and others who intimidate school and government officials by spreading misinformation about Christmas."............

more on murtha

(and PLEASE don't feel badly about bringing up the big dick's FIVE deferments)


November 22, 2005
The Representative
Lawmaker Returns Home, a Hawk Turned War Foe
By DAVID S. CLOUD
JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Nov. 21 - Representative John P. Murtha, the hawkish Democrat who spent his political career as a staunch Pentagon supporter, came home Monday as something entirely different: an antiwar symbol.
His call last week for an American troop withdrawal from Iraq within the next six months took aback many of his own constituents and made the plainspoken former Marine colonel's homecoming on Monday a moment for re-evaluation - of the congressman, as well as of the Bush administration's strategy for Iraq.
"It's really surprising that you would see Mr. Murtha speaking out and saying that it's time to get out, and if he's saying it then it's probably so," said Becky Wicks, a Johnstown resident who said she and her family had supported President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
As recently as last year, Mr. Murtha was warning that "premature withdrawal" of American troops could lead to a civil war in Iraq and leave American foreign policy in "disarray," the exact critique Republicans lodge against him now.
The evolution of his views, he said, has been driven both by the pain of frequent visits to see injured soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center outside Washington and by his steady disillusionment with the Bush administration's handling of the war. But in some ways he is unsuited temperamentally to the role he has assumed.
"I just came to the conclusion finally that I had to speak out," he told reporters on Monday. "I had to focus this administration on an exit strategy."
"I'm hopeful I don't go too far," he said, adding that he "felt bad" last week after bringing up Vice President Dick Cheney's "five deferments" in the Vietnam era.........

wggb channel 40 out of springfield mass is a sinclair station

and i am NOT going to watch it (well i haven't watched since they didn't carry ted koppel's show listing all the names of the iraq dead)

this from the imdb movie/tv news listings for friday november 18th

Sinclair Employees Claim They Were Ordered To Slant News


Former and current news employees of Sinclair Broadcasting have described the owners' campaign to court powerful conservative legislators who responded by clearing away legal obstacles and thereby allow Sinclair to become the largest owner of TV stations in America. In interviews appearing in GQ magazine, the employees describe how they were subjected to political litmus tests before being hired, how they were ordered to report only "good news" about Iraq, how an interview with President Bush was delivered to stations with orders to replace the image of the interviewer with that of the local anchor, and how stations were required to run a nightly right-wing editorial delivered by Sinclair exec Mark Hyman that once accused the late Peter Jennings of "appearing to favor terrorists over America." (One local producer said that when she used a graphic to identify Hyman's commentary as an "editorial," Sinclair officials ordered her to remove the offending word.) Former Sinclair Reporter Jon Leiberman, who was fired for protesting against a planned anti-Kerry documentary last year (Leiberman says he voted for Bush in both presidential elections) said that Sinclair co-owner David Smith once told him his news reports ought "to look more like Mark's editorials." In addition to providing ideological aid, the GQ article alleges, Smith and his three brothers have reportedly contributed $2.3 million to the campaigns of key Republican Congressmen.

thanksgiving - to give thanks

i don't celebrate thanksgiving in the way most do. i DO give my thanks but in a way special to me. when my noni was alive (she died at 102, she was ONE KICK-ASS WOMAN who saw the 1800s 1900s and the beginning of the year 2000) i went to the big dinner some years (some i didn't). i just can't do it now.

OpEdNews.com
Original Article at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mary_sha_051120_the_first_thanksgivi.htm
November 20, 2005
The First Thanksgiving: Prelude to Genocide

As the American Thanksgiving holiday approaches, our minds wander to idyllic images of Pilgrims and Indians peacefully sharing a feast in celebration of the fall harvest. This November 24th, as we break bread with our families and friends, let us take some time to reflect on the fate of Native Americans in the centuries that followed the first Thanksgiving.This nation was founded on principles of inalienable human rights and civil liberties. It would appear, however, that initially those guarantees applied only to those fortunate enough to have been born white European-Americans. As African-Americans remained enslaved in this country's early years, Native Americans didn't have it much better, enduring centuries of cultural, political, and economic repression, forced relocation, confinement to reservations, massacres by federal troops, and broken treaties.As European-American settlers pushed westward in the late 18th century and through the 19th century, land theft of a massive scale ensued. In 1830, the 23rd Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act", legitimizing the land greed of the white settlers and resulting in the death or displacement of countless Native Americans. This legislation was signed into law by none other than all-American action hero President Andrew Jackson himself. (Think of that when you pull out your twenty-dollar bill to pay for your Thanksgiving turkey.)Fast forward to the 20th century to find that things hadn't gotten much better. Beginning with President Ulysses Grant's 1869 "Peace Policy" and continuing well into the 20th century, more than 100,000 Native Americans were forced by the U.S. government to attend Christian boarding schools that tried to school, and sometimes beat, the Indian out of them. These children were separated from their families for most of the year and forcibly stripped of their language, culture, and customs in an effort to "kill the Indian and save the man". Virtually imprisoned in the schools, the children experienced a devastating litany of abuses, from forced assimilation and grueling labor to widespread sexual and physical abuse. School officials routinely forced children to do arduous work to raise money for staff salaries, and "leased out" students during the summers to farm or work as domestics for white families. In addition to bringing in income, the hard labor prepared the children to take their place in white society - the only one open to them - on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder. ...............

wilson on woodward

If It's Good Enough for the Times ...
By Joe Wilson
From: TPMCafe Special Guests
The recent revelation from the Washington Post that Bob Woodward learned of the identity of CIA operative (and my wife), Valerie Wilson, in June, 2003, is perplexing. Woodward and his partner Carl Bernstein were heroes to me as they were to many of my generation for their fearless reporting on the machinations of the Nixon administration. The Watergate investigation was what spurred me to pursue a career in public service. As Bob and Carl made clear in their pursuit of the truth, we as a nation had a right to demand better from our government. I still remember seeing All the President's Men at the old MacArthur Boulevard theater, just blocks from where we now live in the Palisades.
So now we have a situation where an icon of the journalistic fraternity intentionally sat on a story for over two years, while a special prosecutor investigated whether a criminal betrayal of the national security of our country occurred.
Why did he do so?
Was it out of fear of being subpoenaed, as he says, or was it rather to save it for the book for which he was interviewing at the time he was made aware of Valerie's identity? But there were no subpoenas being issued in June, 2003 and the book, Plan of Attack, contains no reference to the case............

why is he only worried about christianity?

there ARE other religions you know. well i know it and YOU know it but does HE know it?


Bush Attends Beijing Church, Promoting Religious Freedom
Bulk of His China Trip Focuses on Trade and Security Issues
By Peter Baker and Philip P. PanWashington Post Staff WritersSunday, November 20, 2005; A18
BEIJING, Nov. 20 -- President Bush challenged China's repression of religion Sunday as he opened a diplomatically sensitive visit here, but he kept most of his focus on an economic and security agenda that included a multibillion-dollar sale of U.S.-built airplanes.
In his first public appearance, even before the welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Bush attended a service at a state-sanctioned Protestant church to send a message about free expression of faith in a country that harshly smothers it. The president has been offended by the recent harassment of religious people trying to practice their faith without state approval at underground churches, aides said.
"My hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly," the president told reporters outside Gangwashi Church, a modest brick building and one of a handful of official Protestant churches in Beijing. "A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths."
Bush later made a similar appeal during a joint appearance with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall. "It's important that social, political and religious freedoms grow in China and we encourage China to continue making their historic transition to greater freedom," the president said. Hu insisted that China has steadily expanded freedom. "Notable and historic progress has been made in China's development of a democratic political system and human rights," he told Bush.........

more (on the cowards and the REAL heros)

let's hope this is true and the dems have FINALLY taken their skirts off (mine has been off). why kerry didn't fight back when accused by the swift boat veterans is beyond me (well perhaps i DO understand. i have talked to people who were in both viet nam AND iraq and they really don't like to discuss their combat experiences). why we let the bushwhacked bunch get away with what they did and ARE doing, i don't know, i don't know, i don't know. when i run into my friend 'r' who is a marine (been to iraq and most likely going back in january), i back off a bit on my politics. he was there, i was not. i have seen him get in an argument with some idiot. 'r' was so upset at the things being said. i just couldn't do that to him. i respect him even though i do NOT agree with him. things are changing though - the GOOD news is, when he got back from his first tour over a year ago, he was all gung ho and bushwhacked could do NO wrong. i spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he certainly sees things just a might differently now. he's NOT sure we belong in iraq and he's NOT sure bushwhacked has made the best decisions for our country. if he has to go back, he will, no hesitations but i think there will be many things unspoken on his mind.

Three days that transformed America
By MARTIN SIEFFUPI Senior News Analyst
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- On Thursday, a Democratic national politician for the first time managed to do what former Vice President Al Gore, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, their running mates and more than $150 million of Democratic consulting and campaign resources signally failed to do in more than five years and two national elections: He mauled President George W. Bush.
"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It's a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of the members of Congress," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania as he called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from that country.
"The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq. But it's time for a change in direction," Murtha said. "Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region. "
Murtha's blistering speech Thursday could have been easily shrugged off if it came from Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, or even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. But Murtha had been gung ho for the war and accepted the intelligence evaluations at face value that were presented to Congress arguing the necessity of it.
Now, he has transformed the political dynamics of the Democratic Party. He is the first prominent Democrat since former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in his meteoric lightning rise and fall in 2003 to early 2004 to attack the president head-on on Iraq. In January 2004 in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Democratic voters overwhelmingly repudiated Dean's bold stand against the war and not a single leading Democrat since has dared to oppose it outspokenly and consistently.
But Murtha, who has no presidential ambitions -- at least not so far -- has smashed that consensus and that taboo. And he did so only weeks after the indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice president Dick Cheney's longtime chief of staff in the Valerie Plame leak case, and within weeks of the U.S. military death toll in Iraq finally breaking the 2,000 barrier ..........

nice ed piece in buzzflash

once again, when those bushwhacked twins go over to the middle east and SERVE their and their daddy's country (and MY country) THEN i'll shut my effing mouth!

No More Band of Brothers B.S.
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
By Marjorie L. Swanson
It was surprising during the Swiftboating of John Kerry that so few military people stepped forward in his defense. John Kerry served his country and for that he deserved respect and admiration. You didn’t need to agree with him, you didn’t need to vote for him, but as another member of the military you certainly should have respected his service.
Instead, a shameful campaign was launched to denigrate this man’s service and the medals that he received for that service. Any vet who voted for Bush after those shameful actions needs to never open his mouth again about any of this “Band of Brothers” B.S. Band of Brothers only if they agree with you? You find more loyalty in a rock band. Some brothers. Must come from a dysfunctional family.
Now another veteran has stepped forward and spoke his piece. Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania served his country all his life. Below is part of his personal biography.
U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha has dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. He had a distinguished 37-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring from the Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990; and he has been serving the people of the 12th Congressional District in Pennsylvania since 1974.
He learned about military service from the bottom up, beginning as a raw recruit during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal, awarded to fewer than one in 10,000 recruits. He rose through the ranks and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. In 1959, Captain Murtha took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for Vietnam in 1966-67, receiving the Bronze Star with Combat "V", two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He remained in the Reserves until his retirement. He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal by the Marine Corps Commandant when he retired from the Marines.
This tough old marine is now under attack by a bunch of people who never bothered to serve in the military of their country but are all too willing to let others fight and die..............