jennifer parcell died

no, she never had a reality show (that i'm aware of). she never was a playboy playmate (that i was aware of). she never married a 90 year old billionaire while she was in her mid twenties (well she died at 20). she never looked and sounded like she was in another dimension or was zoned out all of the time (that i am aware of).

so i can understand why the media is all abuzz over that someone else dying. she contributed so very much to our society (even though i'm being sarcastic here, i didn't wish the OTHER one dead either. believe me. i wish harm on no one no matter HOW much of a mess they are and no matter how much i don't understand why the media drools over them).

all jennifer parcell did was join the marines, go to and die in iraq. she was taking a course at the university of maryland. she sponsored an african child. she (as a marine) went to pakistan when the area was devastated by an earthquake. she was awarded a humanitarian medal for her efforts.

yet the tv blares out about the OTHER death. i'm sure it will be blaring about it for WEEKS. i'm not a cold human being but to tell you the truth i really DON'T CARE.

i DO care about jennifer parcell and every other man and women put in harm's way in iraq. that is indeed far more important to me than someone whose claim to fame is an empty head and big breasts

Young Woman Meets Tragic End -- No, It's Not Anna Nicole

By Greg Mitchell Published: February 09, 2007 12:30 PM ET
NEW YORK A young woman met a sudden and tragic end, it was reported on Thursday, leaving her family and people who knew her in great distress.No, it's not Anna Nicole Smith. Her name is Jennifer Parcell, and she died in Iraq. But you'd be lucky if you could find any mention of her, amidst the front page and wall-to-wall media coverage of the likely drug-related death of "starlet" Smith. In fact, as of noon today, there were only seven press mentions, all in the area of her native Maryland, according to a Google search. In contrast to, say, Anna Nicole Smith, Parcell seemed to have a serious side. Even in Iraq, she was managing to take a course at the University of Maryland, the Baltimore Sun relates, adding: "Helping others was routine for the Marine corporal. She sponsored an African child through a mission charity. And when Pakistan was devastated by an earthquake last year, she and others in her unit were dispatched to the scene. She earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for her efforts."In fact, the Sun, in a separate story noted: "With the death of reality TV star Anna Nicole Smith yesterday, a ferocious barrage of Marilyn Monroe-like images and scattershot speculation was instantly loosed across the on-air and online landscape of 24-hour news...The one constant: The story was consistently framed in a breathless tabloid manner." ...............

to jennifer's family and friends my thoughts and prayers are with you

Tech Tags: jennifer+parcell marines iraq

Ministry of Love

i forgot to post this the other day. NOT to worry, i'm doing it NOW

ministry of love

let's all lift up a labatt's blue

this is some gift

Sick Kids gets millions in donation from Labatts
Family patriarch continues lifelong relationship that began in his infancy


JAMES RUSK
When Arthur Labatt was nine months old in the mid-1930s, he got very sick, probably from pneumonia, and his family called a doctor.
But not just any doctor.
As befitting a scion of the London, Ont., brewing family, Dr. Alan Brown, the physician-in-chief at the Hospital for Sick Children and co-inventor of Pablum, was summoned from Toronto.
The long-distance house call turned out to be the start of one of the most important relationships the hospital has ever had, although Mr. Labatt recalled in an interview that he only learned about the incident a few years ago when a relative told him about it.
Yesterday, Mr. Labatt -- the great-grandson of John Labatt, founder of the Labatt brewery -- and his wife Sonia gave Sick Kids $30-million, $25-million of which is to establish the Labatt Family Heart Centre, and $5-million for the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre............

Tech Tags: labatts

march 17th is more than st patrick's day (and beth's birthday)

from wildheart,

(A march on the Pentagon is being organized in support of ending the Iraq war now AND to call for the impeachment of Mad King George. The date is March 17th, the 4th yr. anniversary of this immoral insult to all humanity. It is also the 40th anniversary of the March on the Pentagon in 1967 against the Vietnam War. This will be the first march on the Pentagon since then. The King with No Clothes and his Court of Henchmen (and some Henchwomen)have tried to block this march from happening. But, after five months of trying, organizers now have the needed permits. Hope to see you all there. )

a link to impeach bush
which in turn links to march on the pentagon



Initial endorsers include:
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
Maxine Waters, Congresswoman
Alice Walker, Pulitzer prize winning author
Cynthia McKinney, Congresswoman
Cindy Sheehan, co-founder Gold Star Families for Peace, author
Ron Kovic, Vietnam Veteran, author, Born on the 4th of July
Malik Rahim, Founder, Common Ground Collective, New Orleans
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Paul Haggis, Director of Crash, 2005 Academy Award for Best Picture
Elias Rashmawi, National Coordinator, National Council of Arab Americans (NCA)
Howard Zinn, Author, A People's History of the United States
Rev. Luis Barrios, St. Mary's Church
Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild
Chaplain James Yee, former Army chaplain, Guantánamo Detention Center
Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Father Roy Bourgeois, Founder, School of the Americas Watch
Leonard Weinglass, Attorney for the Cuban Five
Eric LeCompte, National Office, School of the Americas Watch
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice
Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition
Mounzer Sleiman, TV commentator and Vice Chair, National Council of Arab Americans
Waleed Bader, Vice chair of the National Council of Arab American, Chair of NCA NY/NJ Chapter, Former President of Arab Muslim American Federation - NY
Ben Dupuy, Co-Director, Haiti Progres
Juan Jose Gutierrez, Executive Director, Latino Movement USA
Calvin Gipson, Former President, San Francisco LGBT Pride Committee
Rev. Graylan Hagler, Senior Pastor, Plymouth Congregational Church, Washington D.C.....................and on and on

Tech Tags: impeach+bush pentagon protest+march

let's cut funding for health care

for education for the elderly for veterans. let's dump a shiteload of money (MORE money) into iraq AND on top of that dung heap, LET'S INCREASE FUNDING FOR USELESS PSAs.

outrageous

Bush Wants Funding Jump for Anti-Drug Ads Rated as Useless

By: Ryan Grim
President Bush has proposed a significant jump in funding for an anti-drug advertising campaign that government-funded research shows is at best useless and at worst has increased drug use among some teens.
The administration has asked for a 31 percent increase in funding for the advertising campaign that a nearly five-year study concluded had increased the likelihood that all teens would smoke marijuana. The White House proposal would increase the program's budget to $130 million over the next year.
Before the Democratic takeover of Congress, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., was a top supporter of the anti-drug ad program. "It's Hastert's baby," said Bill Piper, national affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance, which has long targeted the ad campaign. Hastert's office did not return calls requesting comment.
But with the former speaker relegated to the back bench, the ad campaign is vulnerable, and a more stark shift in its congressional oversight would be difficult to imagine............

Tech Tags: dennis+hastert psa anti+drug george+bush

yet ANOTHER us attorney OUSTED by the king and his court

un effing believable. right before our very eyes.

Former U.S. attorney says he was ordered to resign

By GENE JOHNSONAP LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
SEATTLE -- Former U.S. Attorney John McKay told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his resignation last month was ordered by the Bush administration, which gave him no explanation for the firing.
"I was ordered to resign as U.S. attorney on Dec. 7 by the Justice Department," McKay, who had led the department's Western Washington office, said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. "I was given no explanation. I certainly was told of no performance issues."
McKay previously had said only that he was resigning because it was time for him to move on. His comments came one day after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty acknowledged to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department has fired seven U.S. attorneys in the West in the past year, most of them for "performance-related" reasons he would not divulge.
The dismissals have been heavily criticized by Democratic lawmakers...........

Tech Tags: john+mckay us+attorney alberto+gonzales

please be careful,

even faux fur may NOT be FAKE FUR

it may be REAL DOG FUR

they found apparel labled faux fur in popular stores we've all shopped at. this is shocking to me. i had NO idea. i sure do now

i do NOT want to be wearing dog fur (well any fur)

24 out of 25 jackets tested WERE DOG FUR

Humane Society: 'Faux fur' often animal hair

From Sally Holland CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Many fur or fur-trimmed jackets sold in the United States as having "faux fur" -- or not labeled at all -- are actually made, at least in part, from dog fur, the Humane Society of the United States said at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday.
Out of 25 jackets that it tested, the group said, 24 were incorrectly labeled. In many cases, it said, tests showed the fur came from raccoon dogs, a fox-like nocturnal residents of Asian and northern European forests that bear a remarkable resemblance to raccoons.
Raccoon dogs are part of the canine family.
It said it had bought the jackets in the United States from a variety of department stores, including Macy's, Burlington Coat Factory and J.C. Penney. Designers and brands included Sean John, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, it said. Most of the jackets tested were labeled as coming from China. (Watch Humane Society spokesman explain where the fur comes from )

Law prohibits the import or sale of dog and cat fur products. But if the amount of fur on a product is valued at less than $150, no label is required............

Tech Tags: faux+fur humane+society racoon+dogs jim+moran

here's a little levity for your day

this letter claims the king has been concerned about our environment and climate warming since day one! what a HOOT

psssssssssstttttttt, do you REALLY expect us to buy into this pure shite?
White House issues rare letter defending record on warming

The White House Wednesday issued a rare open letter defending President George W. Bush's record on climate change, rejecting criticisms that he has only recently awakened to the problem of global warming. The White House letter rejected media reports following the recent release of a major UN report on climate change that it said perpetuate the claim that Bush's interest in the issue is new.
"In fact, climate change has been a top priority since the president's first year in office," the letter said.
"Beginning in June 2001, President Bush has consistently acknowledged climate change is occurring and humans are contributing to the problem," it said, adding excerpts from speeches in 2001 and 2002 as evidence.
"President Bush committed the United States to continued leadership on the issue and since 2001 has dedicated nearly 29 billion dollars to advance climate-related science, technology, international assistance, and incentive programs. This is far more than any other nation.".........

Tech Tags: global+warming george+bush white+house

the top two didn't make the list

well i'm not sure they're 'corrupt'. evil? heartless? uncaring? greedy? the king and his 'prince' the big dick are NOT on this list (yet)

Watchdog group hits at corrupt administration officials

Brian Beutler
Today, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a list of the “25 Most Corrupt Members of the Bush Administration”.
The online version of the new report, which contains neither cabinet-level officials nor Vice President Dick Cheney, is comprised largely of obscure current and former political appointees working within a number of executive agencies and other administration bureaucracies.
According to CREW’s blog, “The majority of the officials in the report have been convicted of crimes, are currently under criminal investigation, or are being investigated by the inspector generals of their respective agencies.”..................

Tech Tags: crew administration+corruption ken+tomlinson

i know how you can get 80,000,000 in bonus money from the us government

it's easy

built a piece of shite military device. it can be a land or air vehicle or it can be a computer part or it can be weapons or uniforms.

make sure you build it so it breaks down at least ONCE every 4 1/2 hours. make sure you charge 1.7 BILLION dollars for your invention.

voila

you'll be rewarded up the ying yang with millions in bonus money

Problems Stall Pentagon's New Fighting Vehicle
Costly Amphibious System Not Meeting Expectations


By Renae Merle Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 7, 2007; Page A01
After 10 years and $1.7 billion, this is what the Marines Corps got for its investment in a new amphibious vehicle: A craft that breaks down about an average of once every 4 1/2 hours, leaks and sometimes veers off course.
And for that, the contractor, General Dynamics of Falls Church, received $80 million in bonuses.
The amphibious vehicle, which can be launched from a ship and then driven on land, is so unreliable that the Pentagon is ditching plans to begin building the first of more than 1,000 and wants to start over with seven new prototypes, which will take nearly two years to deliver, at a cost of $22 million each.
The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is one of the Pentagon's largest weapons programs and exemplifies the agency's struggle to afford a cadre of new mega-systems that are larger and more complex, but also more trouble, than their predecessors............

Tech Tags: general+dynamics pentagon amphibious+vehicle marine+corps

pallets o' cash

at first i thought it was a joke. PALLETS full of money??? BILLIONS????

it was NO joke. we did it. well NOT we. HE, the king. the emperor STILL has NO clothes

of course it was done over a period of time (not that much time) and of course BILLIONS ARE MISSING

yet, we ALLOW this administration to go on. wreaking havoc. making decisions putting our citizens in peril. not caring in the least about the people of the united states. caring only that THEIR pockets are lined...


U.S. sent pallets of cash to Baghdad

By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.
Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq............

Tech Tags: federal+reserve henry+waxman paul+bremer

my favorite hat of the bunch

my favorite hat
Originally uploaded by ravenflame3.

my hats are FINALLY done (click for the slide show)
i knitted hats for my department. unfortunately, i just didn't get them done for december. they were all knit. i just had to weave in the ends (and there were a LOT of 'em) and add the embellishments.
i've passed them out (anonymously). here is the letter that accompanied the hats (to my co-workers by the way)

Dear …………………………..

Due to the mild December temperatures, there was an ugly incident at the North Pole this year.

A rabid swarm of vicious North Pole bees attacked an unwary Santa Claus causing him to go into anaphylactic shock. Now I’m only telling you this because there IS now some good news to share. Santa is well on his way to recovery. He was hospitalized for a week and then I took him home to nurse him. He did loose some weight, but not to worry, I’ll have him roly and poly by this upcoming December! It’s a good thing Santa does like his figgy puddings and roast beasts!

I know each and every one of you was a good boy and girl last year. Santa, being gravely ill could not make all of the deliveries he was supposed to. Now that he is conscious and back in his right mind, he has asked me to deliver these little hats to all of you. Remember, it’s the THOUGHT THAT COUNTS!

They are all made out of wool. Some all wool, some have wool and other blends. If you are allergic, Santa and I most sincerely apologize. (We did know ONE of you was allergic so no hat for you. You got a cotton scarf instead). If they are too big or too small we most sincerely apologize as well. We did our best under these trying circumstances.

With all of our love,





Mrs (Minerva) Claus and Santa

P.S. We would not be opposed if anyone wanted to trade hats with someone else.

*e’s hat hasn’t been dropped off at her house yet. Since Santa is STILL recovering, we have both decided to mail it instead of having him drop it off

**a will have her scarf (Santa was told A was allergic to wool) dropped off upon her return to work

***d will have her hat upon her return

more on jonathan schulze

as i said in a prior posting, my father visits one of the va hospitals in connecticut for treatment. he gets excellent service and excellent care.

with that said, a couple of va hospitals in mn may NOT have offered jonathan schulze care or treatment. he literally begged for help and from what it appears, his cries were not met with the concern they should have been.

jonathan served time in the armed forces, in iraq. he fought for his country and went well beyond his duty. jonathan took his own life when he returned home. THAT never should have happened.

Akaka Demands Investigation Into Suicide of Iraq War Veteran

by Bob Geiger

I reported on Wednesday about Jonathan Schulze, the 25-year-old Iraq war Veteran from Minnesota, who committed suicide after being denied immediate treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at two Veterans Administration medical facilities.
Fortunately, Democrats are now in charge of the Congress and action is already being taken.
Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, is looking into the incident and sent a letter this week to VA Acting Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Michael Kussman. In the letter, Akaka asked for an expedited analysis of the events preceding Schulze's death, as well as a description of what actions the VA is taking to ensure that delays for vital mental health care do not occur in the future...........

just another number (my previous post)

Tech Tags: jonathan+schulze daniel+akaka va+hospitals veterans

this is an interesting story

i'm not agreeing with ANY of the shite WE caused in iraq. i even think it's too late to repair any o the damages we caused (or helped to start). however, it does seem some people who are waging this UNJUST WAR BASED UPON LIES AND GREED have finally realized we are NOT 'winning' and are attempting new strategies.

Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort


By Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 5, 2007; Page A01
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, is assembling a small band of warrior-intellectuals -- including a quirky Australian anthropologist, a Princeton economist who is the son of a former U.S. attorney general and a military expert on the Vietnam War sharply critical of its top commanders -- in an eleventh-hour effort to reverse the downward trend in the Iraq war.
Army officers tend to refer to the group as "Petraeus guys." They are smart colonels who have been noticed by Petraeus, and who make up one of the most selective clubs in the world: military officers with doctorates from top-flight universities and combat experience in Iraq.
Essentially, the Army is turning the war over to its dissidents, who have criticized the way the service has operated there the past three years, and is letting them try to wage the war their way.............

Tech Tags: david+petraeus iraq war

i don't even know where to begin

other than to say SOMEBODY (some branch of office) MUST REIN THIS MAN IN.

we have whole cities that need to be rebuilt RIGHT HERE. we have children who are starving RIGHT HERE. we have a serious lack of school supplies RIGHT HERE. we have a horrid homeless problem RIGHT HERE. we have serious issues with lack of health coverage RIGHT HERE. and of course i COULD go on and on and on

yet, king george wants US to accept spending ALL OF OUR MONEY on foreign countries. countries WE DESTROYED. countries where we have hired contractors to rebuild who MAY NOT be on the up and up. we are told WE have to watch OUR individual spending when the king and his court are spending OUR tax dollars on destroying countries then attempting to rebuild them how the king and his court FEEL they should be

Bush says budget will limit non-defense spending

By Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush said on Saturday his upcoming budget proposal would emphasize restraint on domestic spending while making defense and war costs for
Iraq and
Afghanistan the top priority.

Cutting the deficit during a time of war requires us to restrain spending in other areas," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
Previewing the fiscal year 2008 budget he will unveil on Monday, Bush also said it would show that his goal of erasing the deficit by 2012 could be accomplished while making his tax cuts permanent.
"Congress needs to make this tax relief permanent, so we can keep America's economy growing. Pro-growth economic policies also play a vital role in our plan to balance the federal budget," he said.....

by the way i have NEVER really minded paying taxes. (except i DO mind the connecticut state tax. it's overkill. we have casinos that are supposed to offset certain things. we have a WICKED HIGH sales tax as well) what i DO mind is how my tax dollars are spent! i am all for having armed forces and keeping them well trained and well equiped. i'm also all for taking care of the REST of our citizens too

Tech Tags: george+bush taxs national+debt

dad's gonna kill me

and i don't mean father. looks like 'dad' is short for baghdad.


Legendary folk guitarist Richard Thompson records anti-war song from viewpoint of 'grunt'

Ron Brynaert
Legendary folk guitarist Richard Thompson recorded an anti-war song which is told from the viewpoint of a US soldier who fears being killed in Iraq.
The British musician, who formed the band Fairport Convention in 1967, is best known to music fans for the album Shoot Out the Lights, which he began recording in the early eighties with his folksinger wife, Linda Thompson, as they experienced marital problems. The album was released in 1982, after the couple separated, and was later named one of the 500 greatest of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. According to Wikipedia, "In August 2003, Rolling Stone magazine listed Thompson as #19 on its list of 'The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.'"
At the online news magazine Slate, Bonnie Goldstein reported on Thompson's new anti-war song...........

i first heard of richard LONG ago because of fairport convention. he went on to become quite an amazing guitarist.

click here to listen to dad's gonna kill me from richard thompson's site.

Tech Tags: anti+war richard+thompson fairport+convention baghdad iraq protest+songs