yo yo yo search it!

Friday, February 03, 2006

here's a thought


i say have the men stay home and dress in head to toe sack cloth with a peep hole for the eyes. why should women be so tempted by the revealing clothing MEN wear? why should they see men shake their money-makers in such a sinful yet beckoning way? i think it's essential for men to cover their entire bodies. they're nothing but trollops and scamps any darn way. you see women are trouble. if they see a man working along side of them, or in the market, they cannot help but gaze upon that man's loveliness. i am certain sometimes they just cannot help themselves and they even go beyond a gaze.

Don't work with men, Muslim clerics tell Indian women

Randeep Ramesh and Sanjay Jha

Friday February 3, 2006 The Guardian
Muslim women should not work with men or go shopping in areas where they could mix with strangers of the opposite sex, according to an edict issued by the influential All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which claims to represent the nation's 140 million Muslims.

Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, the board's general secretary, said the decision to ask Muslim women not to work in call centres and avoid any kind of job which involves interacting with men was part of a package of "social reforms we advocate"..........

Thursday, February 02, 2006

it's not just the turks. the list of countries who feel this way about us is growing by the second

i know i know it's just a movie but it's also based in reality. i think the world views us as a bunch of greedy barbarians

In Turkish Movie, Americans Kill Innocents
By BENJAMIN HARVEY
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.
They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.
"Valley of the Wolves Iraq" - set to open in Turkey on Friday - feeds off the increasingly negative feelings many Turks harbor toward their longtime NATO allies: Americans.
The movie, which reportedly cost some $10 million, is the latest in a new genre of popular culture that demonizes the United States. It comes on the heels of a novel called "Metal Storm" about a war between Turkey and the U.S., which has been a best seller for months.

One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53 percent of Turks who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey associated Americans with the word "rude"; 70 percent with "violent"; 68 percent with "greedy"; and 57 percent with "immoral."
Advance tickets are already selling out across Turkey for the film, which has dialogue in Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and English. In addition to Turkey, the film is set to be shown in more than a dozen other countries - including the United States, Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, Russia, Egypt, Syria and Australia.....

men knit

once more i'll state what i believe

(and look for MORE on 'i believe' soon)

if men could get pregnant, contraception, birth control pills, the morning after pills, the morning before pills the morning OF pills would all be available for FREE and doled out like tic-tacs. of that i am certain.

Women Sue Wal-Mart Over Contraception
BOSTON (AP) - Backed by abortion rights groups, three Massachusetts women sued Wal-Mart on Wednesday, accusing the retail giant of violating a state regulation by failing to stock emergency contraception pills in its pharmacies.
The lawsuit, filed in state court, seeks to force the company to carry the morning-after pill in its 44 Wal-Marts and four Sam Club stores in Massachusetts............

maybe they said they were out of labatt's blue?


U.S. troops shoot at Canadian diplomats in Iraq
Feb. 1, 2006. 12:27 AM
FROM CANADIAN PRESS
WASHINGTON (CP) — Four Canadian diplomats, including the charge d’affaires to Iraq, escaped injury Tuesday when their vehicle was shot at in Baghdad by U.S. soldiers.
The vehicle, reportedly carrying charge d’affaires Stewart Henderson, came under friendly fire after it apparently attempted to pass an American convoy, said U.S. Lt.-Col. Barry Johnson, spokesman for the multinational force in Iraq.
“There were two convoys. We’re looking at the reason shots may have been fired,” said Johnson. “I haven’t seen the final report.”
However, military convoys carry markings warning that the common procedure is not to pass, a precaution against suicide bombers, he noted.
If vehicles fail to respond to hand signals followed by warning shots, “shots may be fired at the vehicle,” he said.
Canadian and U.S. officials are investigating...........

tom blackburn in the rutland (vt) herald is right on

abortion is murder, but killing 152 men and women (whom you have the power to save) isn't????? stirring up a nation to civil war so that tens of THOUSANDS of people are killed isn't murder????????

Not all life counts to Bush

January 30, 2006
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — "You believe, as I do, that every life has value," President Bush told people at the annual anti-abortion March for Life in Washington. "You and I are working, along with others, to build what I call a culture of life."Give me a break. When a guy presides over 152 executions and an aggressive war, he loses his chance to identify himself with a culture of life. Mr. Bush may oppose abortion and so place a value on some specific life. The rest of his career doesn't show much value for life in general. He shouldn't bend too far taking a bow for opposition to abortion, either. While the marchers brave Washington's January weather — rain this year — he phones in his performance from someplace warm and dry.This time, he missed the march because he had urgent business in Kansas. He needed to give a speech defending eavesdropping, without warrants, on other Americans' phone calls. But give him abortion. He did, after all, nominate Judge Sam Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court.The rest of the record is pretty brutal. During Operation Candor about Iraq when his polls were down last month, he gave the first estimate of his administration on the number of Iraqi civilians we had to kill for their freedom. He said he had heard the figure of "30,000, more or less." He didn't even say he was sorry, and his handlers stressed that he got the figure from private sources because the U.S. government doesn't bother to keep track.There's the famous story of how he mimicked, for a friendly journalist, Karla Faye Tucker pleading for her life before he let her go to the death chamber. Ms. Tucker's late conversion didn't move him, although it moved both Pope John Paul II and Pat Robertson to plead for her. It's lucky that Texas never arrested St. Paul.........

a fascinating piece on ruben dario, latin american poet


The Master of Modernismo
by ROBERTO GONZÁLEZ ECHEVARRÍA
[from the February 13, 2006 issue]
In Spanish, there is poetry before and after Rubén Darío. The Nicaraguan (1867-1916) was the first major poet in the language since the seventeenth century, the end of the Golden Age whose masters included Garcilaso, Saint John of the Cross, Fray Luis, Góngora, Quevedo and Sor Juana. And despite an abundance of great poets in the twentieth century on both sides of the Atlantic--García Lorca, Alberti, Salinas, Cernuda, Neruda, Vallejo, Paz, Palés Matos, Lezama Lima, to name a few--his stature remains unequaled. The poetic revolution led by Darío spread across the Spanish-speaking world and extended to all of literature, not just poetry. He ushered Spanish-language poetry into the modern era by incorporating the aesthetic ideals and modern anxieties of Parnassianism and Symbolism, as Garcilaso had infused Castilian verse with Italianate forms and spirit in the sixteenth century, transforming it forever. Darío and Garcilaso led the two most profound poetic revolutions in Spanish, yet neither is known abroad, except by Hispanists. They have not traveled well, particularly in English-speaking countries, where they are all but unknown.
Darío's case is the most baffling because he is nearly our contemporary, whereas Garcilaso, who lived from 1501 to 1536, can today be safely left on library shelves along with Petrarch, Ronsard and Spenser. Besides, Garcilaso has by now been so thoroughly assimilated into Spanish poetic discourse that it is easy to overlook his presence in the poetry of Neruda and Paz. Darío's innovations, style and even manner are still contemporary, however, as are the polemics that his poetry provoked among other poets, professors and critics. What is more, his influence penetrated all levels of Latin American and Spanish society, where his voice is still audible in the lyrics of popular love songs; the artistic movement that he founded, Modernismo, had a tremendous impact on everything from ornaments to interior design, from furniture to fashion. Darío, more than a Nicaraguan poet or a Latin American poet, was a poet of the Spanish language--and its first literary celebrity, embraced throughout Latin America and Spain as the most original and modern of poetic voices. ..........


ruben dario

NOCTURNE
Silence of the night , a sad, nocturnal
silence--Why does my soul tremble so?
I hear the humming of my blood,
and a soft storm passes through my brain.
Insomnia! Not to be able to sleep, and yet to dream.
I am the autospecimen of spiritual dissection, the auto-Hamlet!
To dilute my sadness in the wine of the night
in the marvelous crystal of the dark--
And I ask myself: When will the dawn come?
Someone has closed a door--
Someone has walked past--
The clock has rung three--
If only it were She!--

i'm laughing my big ol' butt off.............


by the way, i once took a 'test' called 'is your co-worker an alien?' in the weekly world news or a paper of that ilk. i answered YES to every single question except the one about calling in sick or missing work frequently. so, i too am an alien it would seem. although, i'm a NICE alien who uses her brain for GOOD
February 1, 2006
My President is an Alien
By Bob Burnett
Because I’m a real American, I’ve watched a lot of Science Fiction movies. I’ve learned how to identify extraterrestrial baddies that weasel their way into the heartland. That’s why, when I was watching the President’s State-of-the-Union address last night, the truth finally dawned on me. George Bush is an alien.You may find this hard to believe. You’ve probably heard that the President behaves strangely because he’s Barbara Bush’s son. But consider this: Sci-Fi movies teach us five ways to identify aliens. Bush tests positive for all five. The first rule for alien detection is to recognize that they practice mind control. Extraterrestrials hypnotize humans into believing things that are not true. George Bush claims to be a strong leader, who has kept America safe. He states that he is strengthening the economy and providing a better future for all Americans. He even says he is an environmentalist. Are these claims true? Not even close.Lurking in the shadows behind the President is the White House propaganda machine, under the direction of the unearthly Karl Rove. Around the clock they turn their hypnotic rays on the American public. Each day they transmit a different Rovian theme: Hillary is bad. We’ve killed Al Qaeda’s number three leader. Iraqis love us. Ignorance is strength. War is peace. .......

from op-ed news a letter to mr bush from mr murtha

(i don't need to add a thing)
February 1, 2006
Letter to Bush
By Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Wednesday February 1, 2006
The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

This March will mark the beginning of the 4th year of the war in Iraq. In contrast, U.S. involvement in WWI came to an end after 19 months. Victory in Europe was declared in WWII after 3 years 5 months. In the Korean War, a cease-fire was signed after 3 years and 1 month. But after more than three and a half years into the war in Iraq, your administration finally produced what is called a "Plan for Victory" in Iraq.
Iraq is not the center for the global war on terrorism. I believe Iraq has diverted our attention away from the fight against global terrorism and has depleted the required resources needed to wage an effective war. It is estimated that there are only about 750 to 1,000 al-Qaeda in Iraq. I believe the Iraqis will force them out or kill them after U.S. troops are gone. In fact, there is now evidence that Iraqi insurgent groups are increasingly turning against al-Qaeda and other foreign terrorists.Our country needs a vigorous and comprehensive strategy for victory against global terrorism. The architect of 9/11 is still out there but now has an international microphone. We must get back to the real issue at hand - we have to root out and destroy al-Qaeda's worldwide network.There are 4 key elements that I recommend to reinvigorate our global anti-terrorism effort: Redeploy, Replace, Reallocate, and Reconstitute.
Redeploy
The war in Iraq is fueling terrorism, not eliminating it. Our continued military presence feeds the strong anti-foreigner fervor that has existed in this part of the world for centuries. A vast majority of the Iraqi people now view American troops as occupiers, not liberators. Over 80% of Iraqis want U.S. forces to leave Iraq and 47% think it is justified to attack Americans. 70% of Iraqis favor a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces, with half favoring a withdrawal in the next six months. In fact, 67% of Iraqis expect day-to-day security for Iraqi citizens will improve if U.S. forces withdraw in six months and over 60% believe violent attacks, including those that are ethnically motivated, will decrease. Our military presence is the single most important reason why the Iraqis have tolerated the foreign terrorists, who account for less than 7 percent of the insurgency. 93% of the insurgency is made up of Iraqis. Once our troops are re-deployed, the Iraqis will reject the terrorists and deny them a safe haven in Iraq. The Iraqis are against a foreign presence in Iraq of any kind...............

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

'we seek the end of tyranny in our world'


he couldn't have put it any better! now, if he'd only follow that advice

i just took this survey at
msnbc.

76% said the king is NOT making his case on iraq (i know it's hard to read from the picture, but that is really what it said)

according to wonkette, the impaler 'dude' got arrested

(picture from www.kare11.com)
for stalking! of course i was angry about his candidacy because he equated 'witches and pagans' along with his impaler/vampire self. there is already far too much misinformation out there about wicca and paganism.

we don't need HIS HELP - he is a GIANT WEENIE.

if this spying on 'terrorists' is such a GIANT secret

bushwhacked and his administration cannot even get LEGAL WARRANTS, what the f**k are they doing TELLING AT&T about it? talking to a judge or a phone company person? mmmmm what's wrong with THIS picture?

AT&T sued over NSA spy program
By Declan McCullagh http://news.com.com/AT38T+sued+over+NSA+spy+program/2100-1028_3-6033501.html Story last modified Tue Jan 31 13:11:00 PST 2006


AT&T has been named a defendant in a class action lawsuit that claims the telecommunications company illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in San Francisco's federal district court, charges that AT&T has opened its telecommunications facilities
up to the NSA and continues to "to assist the government in its secret surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans."
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the suit, says AT&T's alleged cooperation violates free speech and privacy rights found in the U.S. Constitution and also contravenes federal wiretapping law, which prohibits electronic surveillance "except as authorized by statute."
Kevin Bankston, an EFF staff attorney, said he anticipates that the Bush administration will intervene in the case on behalf of AT&T. "We are definitely going to have a fight with the government and AT&T," he said................

cindy sheehan arrested for wearing a TEE SHIRT

from the brad blog (and he seems to have a LOT more information than any other news outlet............

BREAKING: CINDY SHEEHAN ARRESTED BY CAPITOL POLICE INSIDE CAPITOL CHAMBER FOR WEARING IRAQ KIA T-SHIRT!
Was to Attend State of the Union Address! Was Already Seated in Gallery When Arrested by Capitol Police!
EXCLUSIVE DETAILS...'T-Shirt' Story Confirmed by AP...Media Fighting over Sheehan for Morning Show Appearances...Protesters Rallying for Sheehan's Release...Police push protesters away from Capitol...Sheehan Finally Released, Says She was "Roughed Up".........


more inforation at after downing street too. photos and a report from cindy herself

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

oh SHITE and i am literally dry heaving too

Senate Confirms Alito To High Court

ok ok one more blog of note and that's IT, i CANNOT read any more!

mercy please

thumping the tub

coretta scott king has passed


Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Widow, Dies
POSTED: 7:27 am EST January 31, 2006
UPDATED: 7:38 am EST January 31, 2006
Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died, according to former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young.
She was 78 years old.
King is survived by four children. ........









(the estate of martin luther king, jr)

you know i just HAD to post this story!

nbc30.com
Dominatrix Not Guilty In Dismemberment Case
Woman Charged In Man's Death
POSTED: 4:08 pm EST January 30, 2006
UPDATED: 5:31 pm EST January 30, 2006
BOSTON -- A Massachussetts jury on Monday found a dominatrix not guilty of manslaughter and dismemberment in the death of one of her clients who prosecutors argued had a heart attack during a bondage session.
Barbara Asher, 56, of Quincy, was charged in connection with the July 2000 death of Mike Lord, of North Hampton, N.H. Officials said that Lord died of a heart attack while restrained in the defendant's so-called dungeon as a paying client.
During closing arguments last week, prosecutor Robert Nelson put on a black latex mask and re-enacted Lord's death before the judge ordered him to move on.
Officials claimed that Asher and her boyfriend cut up Lord's body and dumped it in Maine, but Lord's remains were never found.
Asher pleaded not guilty to the charges, but prosecutors alleged that Asher told police what happened to Lord during a taped interview in August 2000. It was while the tape was off that, police said, Asher told officials that Lord died while suspended by his wrists during a bondage session.
Asher's lawyer, Stephanie Page, argued that because Lord's body was never found, there was no evidence that he was dead.
"No body. No blood. No DNA. No evidence. That's how I started this case, and I suggest to you that nothing has changed," Page said.

goodbye wendy, the lights on broadway will be dimmed for you!

55 is WAY too young to leave this earth

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein Dies


By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer Mon Jan 30, 6:04 PM ET
Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who chronicled the feminist struggles and successes of the baby-boomer generation in such wryly observant works as "The Heidi Chronicles" and "The Sisters Rosensweig," has died of lymphoma at the age of 55.
Wasserstein died Monday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said Andre Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater and Wasserstein's close friend and mentor. She had been ill for several months.
Broadway theaters will dim their lights Tuesday in honor of Wasserstein.
"Wendy had a voice like no other and a great sense of the absurd," said Swoosie Kurtz, who appeared in "Uncommon Women and Others," Wasserstein's first stage success. "She could take something that was sad or somber in life, wrap her words around it and somehow make it light and not so disturbing."
Wasserstein's writing was known for its sharp, often comedic look about what women had to do to succeed in a world dominated by men.
"She was an extraordinary human being whose work and whose life were extremely intertwined," said Bishop, who produced most of her works, first at Playwrights Horizons and later at Lincoln Center Theater. "She was not unlike the heroines of most of her plays — a strong-minded, independent, serious good person who happened to have a wicked sense of humor."........

get our your burkas

Women of Gaza fear for their freedoms under new religious regime
By Donald Macintyre
Published: 30 January 2006
Naila Ayesh, a secular married woman who frequently goes about Gaza in Western clothes, has already noticed a subtle change since Hamas's election victory last Wednesday.
"You will hear even kids saying to you, 'your head isn't covered now but it will be. You can drive now but you won't be able to later." She relates, too, how a woman friend described telling a neighbour that her child attended Gaza City's American school. "What, you send her to the crusader school?" the shocked neighbour replied. "Why don't you send her to the Sheikh Ahmed Yassin school [named after the late Hamas founder] where she can learn languages as well as the Koran?" Ms Ayesh added: "All this happened before but it's been happening more since the election."
Ms Ayesh is a staunch Palestinian nationalist - both she and her husband have served severe terms in Israeli prisons for their politics. But her worries about the rippling internal effects of Hamas's victory go further than these relatively trivial omens.
For Ms Ayesh runs the Women's Affairs Centre, a brave oasis of progressive feminism in fiercely conservative Gaza. The Islamic faction and its allies in the mosques do not warm to many of its causes; the centre has campaigned for a shelter for battered women here, but its campaign has been in vain because of fears that a shelter would encourage women to leave their husbands..........

two new blogs i've fallen in love with




in addition to discovering verb-ops i discovered two more amazing blogs. neil shakespeare's blog (and neil's web site featuring his art neil shakespeare)and roryshock's blog (and rory's web site featuring his art, his stories and much more rory shock).

i'm really NEVER going to get anything done reading these sites and skippy's site of course

and so many others...........

the three new blogs/websites above feature incredible artwork. please check that out too. i consider myself lucky for each of them sharing their words with the cosmos (and me).

(photos of me by vincenzo, doctoring by moi. i can be artistic too ya know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

will we have to go back to dark alleys and coat hangers?

not if i can help it! we CANNOT let this happen. i respect a woman's right to CHOOSE

Bush To Abortion Opponents: 'We Shall Prevail'
(CBS) CHICAGO President Bush had a message for abortion opponents Monday, marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. He told them: "We shall prevail."As CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports, the president's tone appears to have changed.The anniversary of Roe vs. Wade always sparks debate. The 33rd anniversary of the abortion rights ruling was no different -- with one exception. By phone, President Bush told a group of abortion opponents, "we're working to persuade more of our fellow Americans of the rightness of our cause.""And history tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail," he added.The statements drew cheers from anti-abortion activists in Washington and little surprise from activists here."At least in terms of recollection from previous years it seems to me that his message was very similar," said Bill Beckman, president of the Illinois Right To Life Committee. But the CEO of Planned Parenthood Chicago, an abortion rights organization, says Bush's statements were bolder than in the past and potentially more revealing in light of his recent nominee to the Supreme Court, conservative Judge Samuel Alito.

and here's a little somethin' somethin' from the daily kos

Monday, January 30, 2006

i hate bugs, i HATE them with a passion


i am phobic about bugs (see this entry from my connecticut blog what is the date today? )

and i KNEW what cochineal was (there was an issue a few years ago with a popular juice using this as coloring agent. once i read about it and found out what it was, i checked EVERYTHING before i ate or wore it on my face) but i didn't know what carmine was nor e120 OR the simple 'color added' tag. i am also a vegan (well as close to being one as i can be. i'm not a saint. i use wool and silk and i'm sure i have eaten the occasional item with milk or an egg in it. i'm guilty enough so stop heaping abuse on me, OK!). anyway, along comes this article on cnn's website

FDA: You're eating crushed bug juice
Cochineal extract, carmine should be listed on labels, officials say
WASHINGTON (AP) -- That ice cream you're eating or the lipstick you're wearing just might contain extract from crushed bugs. On purpose.
And the government thinks you should know.
The Food and Drug Administration proposed Friday requiring food and cosmetic labels to list cochineal extract or carmine if a product's ingredients include either of the two red colorings that have been extracted from the ground bodies of an insect known since the time of the Aztecs.
Release of the proposed rule came after the FDA received 35 reports of hypersensitivity to the colorings, the agency said. A 1998 petition by the Center for Science in the Public Interest asked that the FDA take action.
The widespread use of the dyes in everything from yogurt to lipstick hasn't exactly been well-disclosed: The ingredients typically are listed as "color added" or "E120," the FDA said.
Carmine puts the red in ice cream, strawberry milk, fake crab and lobster, fruit cocktail cherries, port wine cheese, lumpfish eggs and liqueurs like Campari, according to the FDA. Carmine is also used in lipstick, makeup base, eye shadow, eyeliners, nail polishes and baby products, the agency said. Meanwhile, cochineal extract shows up in fruit drinks, candy, yogurt and some processed foods.
That can upset vegetarians, Jews trying to keep kosher and anyone who might blanch at learning their blush is made from bugs........




i need to go outside and scream

in a 'perfect' (note, not MY definition of perfect by any means) world, everyone would be abstinent until marriage and everyone would be faithful in that marriage. there would be no hunger, no lack of shelter, no abortions, no child abuse, we would study how the dinosaurs were corralled and broken so that the macho men of the clans could ride them.....

well we DON'T live in a perfect world and abstinence will NEVER work in ANY country. people get aids through unprotected sex and intravenous drug use. part of aids funding SHOULD go to education AND protection (i.e. condoms and the like). you can give 'faith based' organizations their share of the pie too, but be real and don't have them ONLY teaching abstinence. have them doling out condoms on the side as well. people are going to continue to have s - e - x. that is just how it is out in the real world. if that is ignored, aids (and other illnesses as well as PREGNANCIES) will occur. people will get sick, people will die, people will have abortions and people will give birth to unwanted children. help people help themselves EDUCATE THEM

Religious Groups Get Chunk of AIDS Money
By RITA BEAMISH

New groups are springing up to win a piece of President Bush's $15 billion AIDS program, with traditional players and religious groups joining forces to improve their chances in a competition that already has targeted nearly a quarter of its grants for faith-based organizations.
The administration is putting out a call for new community and church groups to get involved in HIV prevention and care in 15 target countries, most in sub-Saharan Africa. It is reserving $200 million specifically for groups with little or no government grant experience.
Groups that have deep local ties in the countries and focus on abstinence and fidelity - instead of just condoms - are faring well.
"The notion that because people have always received aid money that they'll get money needs to end," Deputy Global AIDS coordinator Mark Dybul said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.............

is he afraid of being photographed with the 'wrong' person?


Photogs Slam White House Use of Staged Pictures
By Joe Strupp Published: January 30, 2006 12:05 AM ET
NEW YORK-- White House photographers aren't looking for a handout these days. In fact, they've gotten far too many.While the practice of providing news organizations with staged photos of events involving the president goes back decades, veteran shooters at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue say it has become almost a regular occurrence with the Bush Administration. A review of Associated Press archives found that during the entire eight years of the Clinton administration, only 100 handout photos of events were released to the press. During the first five years of Bush's presidency, more than 500 have been distributed.The key is that each of these events were closed to news photographers."They average about two per week," said Susan Walsh, an AP photojournalist and president of the White House News Photographers Association, after directing that review. "The White House staff photographer's role is to document the president. They have now crossed the line and become public relations photographers for the administration."She added: "I don't know the rationale behind it, but there are [handout] events that could clearly include press coverage. The problem with the [photo] releases is that they are often of events that could accommodate press coverage and that previous administrations had allowed press to cover."Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan did not return several calls seeking comment...........

when the men are gone: women taking care of women

men killing men over land, power, religion or whatever. yes, there are women who kill too, but certainly NOT in the numbers men do.

Southern Thailand's 'Widow Farm'
By Will Baxter In Narathiwat, southern Thailand
Nisah Dooramean has a new home and a new life in southern Thailand, but it is no compensation for what she has lost.
Nisah's husband Nima, a local fish merchant, was killed in December 2004 in a shooting blamed on Muslim insurgents.
Such incidents have become daily events in Thailand's south, where more than 1,000 people have been killed over the last two years in violence blamed on insurgents and the security forces.
Nisah, a Thai Muslim and mother of five, now lives in a village for widows near Rotan Batu in Muang district, Narathiwat province.
The village, dubbed the 'Widow Farm' by locals, is sponsored by the Thai royal family and is currently home to the widows of 103 men killed during the insurgency in three Muslim-majority southern provinces - Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.
The project was launched in September 2004 by Thailand's Queen Sirikit, who donated 20m baht ($514,000) of her own money to purchase the land on which the village is now located.
The primary purpose of the village is to provide the widows - who would struggle to make a living by themselves - with housing and independence.
The village, covering 271 acres, is now self-sufficient, with residents living off the land and profits from fruit and vegetables they sell at local markets.
In addition to a house, the women receive two rai (less than one acre) of land, on which many grow fruits, vegetables, herbs and rice, or raise ducks and chickens.
A demonstration farm has also been developed so the widows and their children can learn about cultivation.
Although the widows' village is not seen as a particular target for insurgents, it is guarded 24 hours a day by Thai military personnel, with multiple check-points to give the residents peace of mind.
As a precautionary measure, the families - all but one or two of whom are Muslim - also do not do business on Fridays. This is because suspected militants threatened traders with reprisals if they worked on the Muslim holy day.
'Solidarity'
Janjira Prasatsin, whose police officer husband Kanook was shot and killed on 8 October, 2004, was positive about her new home.
"There is a feeling of solidarity... unity," she said.
The village is located along the Bang Nara River, about 20 minutes from Narathiwat town, and stands out from the rural setting.
Set against a backdrop of mangroves, rubber plantations and dense jungle, the uniform white homes are built duplex-style, with a concrete foundation, living quarters upstairs and a carport and open-air kitchen area downstairs.
The final goal of the project is to build 150 homes, and these are due to be completed soon..............

i'm shocked i tell ya, SHOCKED

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! the rich get richer, the fat get fatter (figuratively) and the peasants have to eat cake Halliburton swings to $1.1 billion profit, cites 2005 as company's best
By Steve Quinn
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:45 p.m. January 26, 2006
DALLAS – Oilfield services conglomerate Halliburton Co. swung to a profit in its fourth quarter on robust sales and increased rig activity, and called last year the best in its 86-year history.
The income reversed a loss from a year earlier for Houston-based Halliburton, the company once led by Vice President Dick Cheney. Its KBR unit has become known for its support work for troops stationed in the Middle East.
Net income was $1.1 billion, or $2.08 a share, including a gain of $540 million or $1.02 a share, for a future tax allowance. That compared to a net loss of $203 million, or 46 cents a share last year, which included a $384 million loss from discontinued operations.
Fourth quarter revenue rose 12 percent to $5.8 billion, largely from the performance of its energy services group, which saw sales increase 31 percent..........

see i KNEW it, there ARE conservatives with a conscience!

did you notice how bushwhacked started reorganizing some of the people in appointed posts? did you notice how many (of course some with questionable qualifications)? i am sorry some lost their jobs or were denied promotions or were shunned. it makes my heart sing though to know some DO know right from wrong.

Newsweek: Bush appointees revolted over executive branch 'overreach'
01/29/2006 @ 3:24 am Filed by RAW STORY

Excerpted from Monday's Newsweek (to highlight central themes in a long article), titled "Palace Revolt: They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president's power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it. A NEWSWEEK investigation. By Daniel Klaidman, Stuart Taylor Jr. and Evan Thomas." Full article here

Feb. 6, 2006 issue - James Comey, a lanky, 6-foot-8 former prosecutor who looks a little like Jimmy Stewart, resigned as deputy attorney general in the summer of 2005. The press and public hardly noticed. Comey's farewell speech, delivered in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, contained all the predictable, if heartfelt, appreciations. But mixed in among the platitudes was an unusual passage. Comey thanked "people who came to my office, or my home, or called my cell phone late at night, to quietly tell me when I was about to make a mistake; they were the people committed to getting it right—and to doing the right thing—whatever the price. These people," said Comey, "know who they are. Some of them did pay a price for their commitment to right, but they wouldn't have it any other way."...........

Sunday, January 29, 2006

stolen stolen

ok, i haven't read roxy's world in a while. her latest entry was 'stolen', america's 50 MOST loathsome people

the beast's 50 most loathsome people in america

it's quite the little list - and for the most part, RIGHT ON

who are these 28%?

and what drugs are they on?

Gallup Asks the Classic Reagan Question: Finds Most Say Things Have Not Improved Under Bush

By E&P Staff Published: January 27, 2006 1:15 PM ET
NEW YORK On the eve of the State of the Union message, Gallup pollsters last week posed the question Ronald Reagan asked in 1980 when he was running against Jimmy Carter for president: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"The reply from Americans represents "a strong rebuke of the Bush era," Gallup declared today, with nearly two-thirds saying things have gotten worse in the past five years. Only 28% say things have improved.In reply to another question, 35% said they were "satisfied" with the direction of the country, and 65% are dissatisfied. Does this represent merely the lingering fallout from 9/11? Not likely, since only 3% cited "terrorism" and 2% "homeland security" as a main reason for offerign negative views. Most often cited as evidence that things have gotten worse: Iraq (cited by 26%) and "the economy" (24%)...........

what global warming, what pollution, what greenhouse gas?

why is it the bushwhacked administration either sweeps it under the rug or denies it's existance? do they believe 'the raputure' will happen so it doesn't matter if we kill our earth or not? well i DON'T believe in the rapture and i DO care what we do to our earth.

from editor and publisher

Two Top Papers Ask: Is the World on a Path to Doom--With an Assist from the White House?

NEW YORK
While most Americans remain preoccupied with war, terrorism, high gas prices--or the coming Pitt-Jolie baby--an issue that may dwarf all of those concerns receives major attention in the Sunday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post.One story raises a nightmare scenario for the end of the world, at least as we know it, while the other suggests that the Bush administration doesn't want anyone to know about that.Here are the opening paragraphs of the two stories.*From The Washington Post article by Juliet Eilperin:Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to whether climate change is progressing so rapidly that, within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend.This "tipping point" scenario has begun to consume many prominent researchers in the United States and abroad, because the answer could determine how drastically countries need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. While scientists remain uncertain when such a point might occur, many say it is urgent that policymakers cut global carbon dioxide emissions in half over the next 50 years or risk the triggering of changes that would be irreversible.There are three specific events that these scientists describe as especially worrisome and potentially imminent, although the time frames are a matter of dispute: widespread coral bleaching that could damage the world's fisheries within three decades; dramatic sea level rise by the end of the century that would take tens of thousands of years to reverse; and, within 200 years, a shutdown of the ocean current that moderates temperatures in northern Europe.........

and this from the nyt

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.
Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.
Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Mr. Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."
He said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.
Mr. Acosta said other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. "This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming," he said. "It's about coordination."............

happy new year!

jimmy carter never got the props he deserved

commentary from oped news

Jimmy Carter: the Anti-Bush
By Mick Youther
Former President Jimmy Carter’s latest book, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, expresses his concerns about the increasing influence of the Christian Right on politics, and where this is taking America. (Note: page nos. refer to this book)• “During the last quarter century, there has been a parallel right-wing movement within American politics, often directly tied to the attributes of like-minded Christian groups. The revolutionary new political principles involve special favors for the powerful at the expense of others, abandonment of social justice, denigration of those who differ, failure to protect the environment, attempts to exclude those who refuse to conform, a tendency toward unilateral diplomatic action and away from international agreements, an excessive inclination toward conflict, and reliance on fear as a means of persuasion.” (pp. 43-44)• “…almost every decision made in Washington since 2000 has favored the wealthy, often at the expense of middle-class working families and the needy, and fundamental legislation on taxation and expenditures has been designed to perpetuate these trends.” (p. 191)..........