jon stewart v. bill bennett

i saw mr stewart KICK bennett's ass. it was a most pleasing sight

at the very least, you have to give this man props

it's apparent to me HE understands both the constitution AND our government system. it doesn't matter if i agree with him or not on most issues. i have to respect him for standing up to what is MORALLY and LEGALLY right, even though he is in the minority

Specter ready to force showdown
GOP senator emerges as White House rival on legislative issues
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff June 9, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter emerged this week as a nemesis that the Bush White House hasn't had to face: A subpoena-wielding member of Congress who is ready to force a showdown over what he sees as the Bush administration's intrusion into legislative territory.
From President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program to the ``signing statements" in which he selectively enforces portions of laws, Republicans in control of the House and Senate have been unwilling to challenge the White House.
Democrats have howled in protest but remain powerless to force changes because of their minority status in Congress.
Specter, however, seems willing to take Bush and his administration to task. A strong believer in the Senate's institutional prerogatives, the Pennsylvania Republican has grown increasingly frustrated with a presidency that he believes is encroaching on Congress's power -- and lawmakers' checks on the power of the White House..........

women in iraq

not that it was a picnic PRIOR to our INVASION of their country but women are readily being killed now for wearing pants or working or JUST BEING A WOMAN. is it our fault? well no, i don't think it's entirely our fault. we just kickstarted it AND the civil war

For the women of Iraq, the war is just beginning
By Terri Judd in Basra
Published: 08 June 2006

The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country.
Across Iraq, a bloody and relentless oppression of women has taken hold. Many women had their heads shaved for refusing to wear a scarf or have been stoned in the street for wearing make-up. Others have been kidnapped and murdered for crimes that are being labelled simply as "inappropriate behaviour". The insurrection against the fragile and barely functioning state has left the country prey to extremists whose notion of freedom does not extend to women.
In the British-occupied south, where Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army retains a stranglehold, women insist the situation is at its worst. Here they are forced to live behind closed doors only to emerge, concealed behind scarves, hidden behind husbands and fathers. Even wearing a pair of trousers is considered an act of defiance, punishable by death......

with my MOST profound apologies

to e h harbourg and harold arlen

(a rose is a rose) Come out, come out wherever you are And meet the young laddie who fell from a star he fell from the sky, he fell very far And crawford texas he says is the name of the star (The american peeps) Crawford texas he says is the name of the star (A rose is a rose) he brings you good news, or haven't you heard When he fell out of Crawford texas a miracle occurred (King George) It really was no miracle What happened was just this: The wind began to twitch the house to pitch And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch Just then abu musab al-zarqawi, to satisfy an itch Went flying on his broomstick thumbing for a hitch (the american peeps) And oh what happened then was rich (The american peeps) The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch It landed on the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi in the middle of a ditch Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch It landed on the wicked abu musab al-zarqawiin the middle of a ditch Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi Who began to twitch, and was reduced to just a stitch Of what was once the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi(the American peeps) We thank you very sweetly for doing it so neatly (the American peeps) You've killed him so completely (again that is)That we thank you very sweetly (A rose is a rose) Let the joyous news be spread The wicked, old abu musab al-zarqawi at last is dead (well MAYBE) (The american peeps) Ding-dong the abu musab al-zarqawi is dead Which old witch? The wicked abu musab al-zarqawi Ding-dong the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi is dead Wake up you sleepyhead Rub your eyes, get out of bed Wake up the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi is dead he's gone where the goblins go Below - below - below Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low Let them know the Wicked Abu musab al-zarqawi is dead (Mayor cheney) As mayor of the Munchkin City In the county of the land of Oz I welcome you most regally (condolloosseerr) But we've got to verify it legally To see... (Mayor cheney) To see... (condolloosseerr) If he... (Mayor cheney) If he... (condolloosseerr) Is morally, ethically (the American peeps) Spiritually, physically (the American peeps) Positively, absolutely (tony snowjob) Undeniably and reliably dead (Coroner rove) As Coroner , I thoroughly examined him And he's not only merely dead he's really most sincerely dead (Mayor cheney) Then this is a day of independence for all the american peeps And their descendants Yes, let the joyous news be spread The wicked old abu musab al-zarqawi at last is dead (maybe)(The american peeps) Ding-dong the abu musab al-zarqawi is dead Which old witch? The wicked abu musab al-zarqawi Ding-dong the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi is dead Wake up you sleepyhead Rub your eyes, get out of bed Wake up the wicked abu musab al-zarqawi is dead he's gone where the goblins go Below - below - below Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low Let them know the Wicked Abu musab al-zarqawi is dead (Lullaby League of laura) We represent the Lullaby League The Lullaby League, the Lullaby League And in the name of the Lullaby League We wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land (Lollipop Guild of rumsfeld ) We represent the Lollipop Guild The Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild And in the name of the Lollipop Guild We wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land (The american peeps) We welcome you to Munchkin Land Tra la la la la la la la la la la la (the American peeps) From now on you'll be history (American peeps) You'll be his... (the American peeps) You'll be his... (the American peeps) You'll be history (the American peeps) And we will glorify your name You will be a bust... (the American peeps) Be a bust... (the American peeps) Be a bust... (All) In the hall of fame Tra la la la la la la la la la la Tra la la la la la la Tra la la la la la la la la la la Tra la la la la la la

NOT candles in the rain but

flowers in the rain

i'm being attacked by the 'family institute of connecticut' and i use the term FAMILY VERY LOOSELY HERE

first off i'm NOT PRO abortion, i am PRO choice. second off, i am NOT going to insist anyone have an abortion IF THEY DON'T WANT ONE. i'm NOT going to insist anyone take or use birth control if they don't want to. i AM going to insist THEY leave me and my body the hell alone and let ME make my OWN decisions. i don't think of myself as narrow, close-minded, frightened (by what i sure don't know) and uncaring like others who shall remain nameless


May 26 PRO-ABORTIONISTS' NEWEST REVENGE TACTIC: CENSORSHIP [Peter Wolfgang]First we defeated a pro-abortion attack on the religious freedom of Catholic hospitals. Then we defeated the pro-abortionists' attempt to financially penalize those hospitals. Now those same pro-abortionists are trying to censor pro-life license plates: ....

....The "Trainspotting" quote posted on a local pro-abortion blog gives you a sense of the mentality of some of our opponents.The fact is, the state's pro-abortion establishment is hopping mad over their defeats in the 2006 legislative session and they are determined to seek their revenge wherever they can, even before their inevitable next assault on religious freedom in the 2007 session...........

we all know how i feel about crows and ravens

and others feel the same way too!

Crows Have Human-Like Intelligence, Author Says
John Roach for National Geographic News
June 6, 2006
Crows make tools, play tricks on each other, and caw among kin in a dialect all their own.
These are just some of the signs presented in a recent book that point to an unexpected similarity between the wise birds and humans.

It's the same kind of consonance we find between bats that can fly and birds that can fly and insects that can fly," said Candace Savage, a nature writer based in Saskatoon, Canada.
"Species don't have to be related for there to have been some purpose, some reason, some evolutionary advantage for acquiring shared characteristics," she added. ........


Crows share several hallmarks of higher intelligence with humans, including tool use and sophisticated social behavior, nature writer Candace Savage says in her recent book about the gregarious birds.
Photograph courtesy Peter S. Weber/USGS

good bye billy

(picture: www.beatlesagain.com)

let it be......

Keyboards star Billy Preston dies

US keyboard legend Billy Preston, known for his work with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones as well as his own solo hits, has died at the age of 59.
Preston played on The Beatles' Let it Be, the Stones' Exile on Main Street and landmark albums by Bob Dylan, Sly & the Family Stone and Aretha Franklin.
He had solo hits in the 1970s with Will It Go Round In Circles, With You I'm Born Again and Nothing From Nothing.
Kidney failure had left him in a coma since November.............

an interesting read

i hear stories from time to time about the eunuchs in india. i didn't know about them threatening to disrupt parties if they weren't given a bribe though. not a very great way to make a living. then again, like here they are shunned and misunderstood. i'm not making excuses for anyone's immoral (in my judgment of course) behavior (the demanding of money part that is) but it's GOT to be unbelievably hard

Bullied by the Eunuchs
I don't know how they found me, but they demanded baksheesh. If I didn't yield, they might do something unseemly, but I refused to give in.

By Henry Chu Times Staff Writer June 7, 2006

NEW DELHI The eunuchs came calling before I'd even moved in.On a recent afternoon, as I stood surrounded by a dozen workers hammering, sawing and drilling in my new apartment, they materialized out of nowhere, two sari-clad women with suspiciously mannish features.The taller one had a broad face, a big nose and a purple sari a color I like, but not on her. The other was thin, almost bird like, in every way: face, body, voice. Something about their manner, or their rather harsh, heavily made-up look, put me on guard."Yes?" I said cautiously.The tall one launched into a stream of Hindi. Newly posted to India, I know little of the language. But one word I did recognize, baksheesh (tip), clued me in to what was going on that and the fact that the voice repeating it over and over was a richer baritone than mine. I was being hit up for a handout by one of this country's many hijras.They are eunuchs or otherwise transgendered people by birth, accident or choice. Something between male and female, they are shunned by Indian society as unclean. Many make a rough living through prostitution or by crashing weddings, birthday parties and other festive occasions, threatening to disrupt the celebrations with vulgar behavior and to bring bad luck unless they are paid off. And now they were in my living room............

lady day

photo: Don Hunstein/Sony Music.

The Billie Holiday Guide

guess what?

on a giant hunch, i'm thinking GAY PEOPLE ARE VERY PROUD YOU (you effing asswipe) ARE NOT IN THEIR FAMILY EITHER (but guess what, everyone everywhere somewhere in their family lineage has at LEAST ONE GAY PERSON, known or not)

VIDEO: Inhofe ‘Very Proud’ There’s Never Been a Homosexual Relationship in the ‘Recorded History of Our Family’
This afternoon on the Senate floor, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) stood before a large photograph of his family and shared this important fact: “I’m really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.” Watch it:

this story speaks for itself

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God
KIEV (Reuters) - A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in Kiev zoo after he crept into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said on Monday.
"The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.
"A lioness went straight for him, knocked him down and severed his carotid artery."
The incident, Sunday evening when the zoo was packed with visitors, was the first of its kind at the attraction. Lions and tigers are kept in an "animal island" protected by thick concrete blocks.

happy halloween!

(my favorite holiday). i am a BIG fan of both the original halloween movie AND john carpenter. i remember seeing the fog in a theater in nyc when it first opened. i loved THAT movie too

Zombie 'to resurrect Halloween'

Film-maker Rob Zombie is to write and direct a new film in the Halloween series, says the Hollywood Reporter.
Zombie, also a rock singer, told the trade paper that the movie will take "a totally different approach to make [Halloween] scary again".
"The look and the feel is going to be completely different," he said.
John Carpenter directed the 1978 original, about masked killer Michael Myers. Zombie has made House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.
Halloween, which starred Jamie Lee Curtis as a babysitter terrorised by psychopath Myers, made over $60m (£31.3m) worldwide - a record for independent film at that time. .......

the back of today's ny post

GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

billy gibbons: sharp housed man

billy as you've not seen him before......


"I keep a collection of pith helmets and woven hats in this little music room. I bought a bunch of these English Deco chairs at an antique store in Dallas and had them reupholstered in 1930s eggplant purple mohair at an automotive restorer. I like the design aesthetic of that period. The streamlined angles restore a sense of definition to my lifestyle, which is being on the road 24/7."
(Bob Chamberlin / LAT)

yet ANOTHER reason to love barry manilow

(picture: www.8notes.com)

as if you needed more!!!

Forget Asbos. Australia uses Barry Manilow

Jacqueline MaleyTuesday June 6, 2006 The Guardian
In Britain, the Asbo is wielded to curtail the antics of hooligans. In Australia they have a different, though not necessarily more humane, means of control: the music of Barry Manilow.
For the next six months the ears of the youth of Rockdale, a suburb south of Sydney, will be subjected to the sounds of the singer's back catalogue after the local council resolved to get tough on antisocial behaviour. Councillors hope piping Manilow hits such as Mandy and Copacabana through a loudspeaker into a car park troublespot will kill the atmosphere and force the youths to move on................

i like frog's legs

and every OTHER part of 'em too! this is sad because they are losing their real homes BUT it's also good because they are being rescued and given new homes.

To Stem Widespread Extinction, Scientists Airlift Frogs in Carry-On Bags
By BRENDA GOODMAN
ATLANTA, June 5 — Of all the things airport security screeners have discovered as they rifle through travelers' luggage, the suitcases full of frogs were a first.
In a race to save amphibians threatened by an encroaching, lethal fungus, two conservationists from Atlanta recently packed their carry-ons with frogs rescued from a Central American rain forest — squeezing some 150 to a suitcase — and requested permission from airlines to travel with them in the cabin of the plane.
The frogs, snuggly swaddled in damp moss in vented plastic deli containers big enough for a small fruit salad, were perhaps the last of their kind, collected from a pristine national park that fills the bowl of El Valle, an inactive volcano in Panama.
In many parts of the world, habitat loss is thought to be the biggest driver of amphibian extinctions, but the frogs in El Valle are facing a more insidious threat.
A waterborne form of chytrid fungus is marching down the spine of the mountain range where they live. Scientists aren't exactly sure how the fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, kills, but it seems to break down a protein in the skin called keratin that may be important for respiration. The skin of infected animals sloughs off in layers, and within two weeks, they die.
The chytrid fungus is thought to play a large role in the worldwide disappearance of amphibians, a trend terrifying to experts, who say it would be the first loss of an entire taxonomic class since the dinosaurs......
..............They went into the forest at night, since most frogs are nocturnal, slogging down a river in hip waders and carrying powerful flashlights. After four separate trips, some lasting only 48 hours, the two men, along with a native guide who possessed stealth and fast hands, managed to gather 600 frogs, shooting for 20 males and 20 females of each species to ensure good genetic variation in their breeding colonies.
To feed them, they rented a house and left piles of rotting fruit in the corners to attract flies. "It was pretty stinky," Mr. Gagliardo said................

today is GOOD NEWS tuesday!

nothing but GOOD news today, ok? the news is just getting me down and i just want to be in a great mood today.

GNC drops Pat Robertson's muscle drink

NEW YORK, June 5 (UPI) -- U.S. nutritional supplement firm GNC Corp. will no longer sell a protein drink associated with the Rev. Pat Robertson, a noted televangelist.
The corporation, which did not elaborate on the reason for its move, comes despite high praise from the drink's creator, the head of the Christian Broadcasting Network, The New York Times reported Monday.
Robertson, 76, credits his "protein shake" with the ability to leg press 2,000 pounds -- 665 pounds more than the current world record. ......

(Photo/CBN)

my finished beads

remember these strips ^^^^^^^? well the beads are finally done (drying on drinking straws)! i made them out of torn strips of raw silk, fabric paint, fabric ink, wire, beads, silk roving, wool roving, a bunch of different yarns and LOTS of mod podge. i am going to make yarn necklaces and use one or two of these beads on each one as focal points. when i get that far, i'll post pictures

maya miller sounds like she would have been my kind of person!

too bad i was ignorant of her presence when she was alive. what a role model she would have been! i am sure she was wicked cool

Maya Miller, 90; Activist Promoted Women in Politics, Protested Wars
By Mary Rourke, Times Staff WriterJune 5, 2006
Maya Miller, a political activist who helped found the Women's Campaign Fund that sponsors female candidates seeking political office and who once ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for U.S. senator from Nevada, has died. She was 90. Miller died Wednesday at her home in Washoe Valley in northern Nevada of natural causes, her daughter, Kit, said.....

.........During the Vietnam War era, Miller became a peace activist who made large-enough financial contributions to the antiwar movement to get her name on President Nixon's "enemies list."............

........Miller's concern for the environment led her to co-found the Foresta Institute for Ocean and Mountain Studies, a nonprofit organization that included a summer camp for the study of ecology, in 1960.She also helped in efforts to create Lake Tahoe State Park in Nevada. ............

i know where this will go

NO WHERE. it just won't stick to him. it rolls off like water on a ducks (or is that dick's) back?

Bar group will review Bush's legal challenges
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff June 4, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The board of governors of the American Bar Association voted unanimously yesterday to investigate whether President Bush has exceeded his constitutional authority in reserving the right to ignore more than 750 laws that have been enacted since he took office.
Meeting in New Orleans, the board of governors for the world's largest association of legal professionals approved the creation of an all-star legal panel with a number of members from both political parties.
They include a former federal appeals court chief judge, a former FBI director, and several prominent scholars -- to evaluate Bush's assertions that he has the power to ignore laws that conflict with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Bush has appended statements to new laws when he signs them, noting which provisions he believes interfere with his powers.
Among the laws Bush has challenged are the ban on torturing detainees, oversight provisions in the USA Patriot Act, and ``whistle-blower" protections for federal employees..........

no matter what -

i'm guessing these CIVILIANS would still be alive today (not even mentioning our 2,400+ dead and tens of thousands wounded) IF we were not in iraq. WE DO NOT BELONG THERE.

are the powers that be shoveling shite? i think they just may be - i hope and pray they are NOT but it sure looks like they are.

Press Accounts Suggest Possible Military 'Cover-up' in Ishagi Killings

By Greg Mitchell Published: June 03, 2006 1:40 PM ET updated Sunday
NEW YORK The U.S military said Saturday it had found no wrongdoing in the March 15 raid on a home in Ishaqi that left nine Iraqi civilians dead. But, as with the apparent massacre in Haditha, will a military "coverup" in this case come undone?The Iraqi police charge that American forces executed the civilians, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old baby. The BBC has been airing video of the dead civilians, mainly children, who appeared to be shot, possibly at close range. Photographs taken just after the raid for Agence France-Presse, and reports at the time by Reuters and Knight Ridder, also appear to largely back up the charge of an atrocity.After the attack, American officials said that they had demolished the house in an airstrike after insurgents fired from the building. One insurgent, two women and a child were killed in the attack, they said.After the Haditha killings, the military said all of the Iraqis had been killed in an explosion or a firefight."Allegations that the troops executed a family living in this safe house, and then hid the alleged crimes by directing an airstrike, are absolutely false," today's U.S. military statement said. It did not explain how so many children had been shot and killed.A spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said Saturday's report, which cleared the U.S. soldiers, was unfair and rushed. The government will demand an apology and compensation, the spokesman said, if it's own probe turns up something different.More than two months ago, E&P covered the account by a Knight Ridder reporter who had obtained a police report on the incident. Here is our March 20, 2006, story, followed by a followup note, and the reporter's statements on a popular U.S. radio program........

and this is why i'm a bosox fan

you just KNEW this was going to come out. (back in the day, before coors was shipped east we heard plenty of stories about the company. what does 'silver bullet' really mean i wonder?

Southpaw by Dave Zirin
The Rockies Pitch Religion
[posted online on June 2, 2006]
In Colorado, there stands a holy shrine called Coors Field. On this site, named for the holiest of beers, a team plays that has been chosen by Jesus Christ himself to play .500 baseball in the National League West. And if you don't believe me, just ask the manager, the general manager and the team's owner.
In a remarkable article from Wednesday's USA Today, the Colorado Rockies went public with the news that the organization has been explicitly looking for players with "character." And according to the Tribe of Coors, "character" means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior. "We're nervous, to be honest with you," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs." When people are nervous that they will offend you with their beliefs, it's usually because their beliefs are offensive.
As Rockies chairman and CEO Charlie Monfort said, "We had to go to hell and back to know where the Holy Grail is. We went through a tough time and took a lot of arrows."
Club president Keli McGregor chimed in, "Who knows where we go from here? The ability to handle success will be a big part of the story, too. [Note to McGregor: You're in fourth place.] There will be distractions. There will be things that can change people. But we truly do have something going on here. And [God's] using us in a powerful way."
Well, someone is using somebody, but it ain't God. San Francisco Giants first baseman-outfielder Mark Sweeney, who spent 2003 and 2004 with the Rockies, said, "You wonder if some people are going along with it just to keep their jobs. Look, I pray every day. I have faith. It's always been part of my life. But I don't want something forced on me. Do they really have to check to see whether I have a Playboy in my locker?"........