because i have always loved them

and i will always love them

i want one

from thinkgeek
crystal cube necklace

(guess what? I JUST ORDERED ONE!!!)

found via wired

GeekDad Holiday Gift Guide #4: GeekMoms!

more on emily

the pony and the family who she's about to be ripped away from because a neighbor (whose property borders on a COW FARM) can't stand the smell

some good news though. seems like the town and many businesses are backing up antonia. if you'd like to contribute to a fund the email address is below and at the boing boing link too (pic from boing boing)

Family of disabled boy whose pony is to be taken away starts a fundraising drive

Posted by Cory Doctorow,
The mother of the disabled child who may lose his miniature pony -- his only means of moving independently -- because his neighbours (who live next to a cow farm) complained about the smell -- has established a PayPal account to fund the legal work of keeping the pony. That address: antoniaspiteri82@hotmail.com . .................

boing boing brings this to our attention

and if it doesn't make you sick, i don't know WHAT does. what the hell are we teaching our daughters? you can't become a woman without big breasteseseseseseseesesesesssssss?

how sick is that?
(and this (for the future 'diva') makes me want to kick the shite out of someone too)

Boob Job piggybank sold as girl's room decor
Posted by Cory Doctorow

i don't know if this is catch-22

or like an o'henry story or a comedy or a serious tragedy. i DO know it's EFFED UP

Treated Like a Terrorist by the DMV
By Dave Lindorff, Smirking Chimp.
I am not a terrorist.

How can I prove this in these paranoid times? Easy. The New York Department of Motor Vehicles took my $30 payment over the phone to clear what they said was a record of my NY drivers license having once been withdrawn, and informed the National Driver Register in Washington that I'm a good guy deserving of a renewal of my Pennsylvania drivers license.

Let me explain.

After 9-11, Congress and the Bush Department of Homeland Security went into overdrive passing things like the USA PATRIOT Act, the establishment of the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to monitor air passengers and to develop lists of people to harass at air terminals, a network of black sites to detain and torture suspected terrorists, and more recently the National Driver Register, a federal data bank designed to link all drivers licenses and car registrations to a central computer system, and thus ferret out would be terrorists trying to create false identities courtesy of the state DMVs.

I, like uncounted tens of thousands of innocent Americans, ran afoul of this latest catch-a-terrorist system as my Pennsylvania drivers license, which I first obtained in 1997 when I moved from New York to Pennsylvania, came up for a third renewal. Several months ahead of my renewal date, I got a coldly worded and ominous letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles saying my license could not be renewed because the new federal data base was reporting that my New York license had been "withdrawn" by the NY DMV..............

sadly, this IS what a lot of us have become

i am sorry to the friends and family of Jdimytai Damour. a cheap television set is now more important than a human life

Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede
BY JOE GOULD, CLARE TRAPASSO and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.

The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.

When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured..............

one would think the assholes at faux 'news'

would have better things to say in the wake of what happened in mumbai. well, one would HOPE they would. just when you thought they were actually HUMAN...they knock you back over with their stupidity, evilness, bullying AND their INSTIGATING. that's what they do best ... INSTIGATE

Fox: Will Mumbai attacks delay Gitmo closing?
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Fox News' Alisyn Camerota appears to be hoping that in the wake of Thursday's terrorist attacks in India, Barack Obama might rethink his campaign pledge to close down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

"President-elect Barack Obama condemns the attacks in Mumbai and promises to root out terrorism, but he also promises to close down Guanatanamo Bay," Camerota noted, as the Fox banner asked "Obama's Guantanamo Paradox: Can he close Gitmo after India attacks?"

Camerota spoke with Democratic political consultant Bob Beckel and former Republican Senator Rick Santorum about Guantanamo on Friday, asking, "Is it hard to get a handle on exactly where Barack Obama stands on how he would handle terrorists?"
.......

what?

so YOUR god wasn't watching out for the people in new york who died on 9/11 (and subsequently because of those actions)? YOUR god wasn't watching out for the people who died and were injured in mumbai? YOUR god wasn't protecting the 4,207 of our men and women who were sent to their deaths in iraq? YOUR god wasn't protecting the men and women who went through katrina?

NO NO NO, i guess YOUR god is way too busy just keeping your lil' corner of kentucky safe (you giant pile).

i don't understand you. i really don't. NOR do i understand the kentuckians who allowed the law to be passed that kentucky homeland security HAD TO thank god for keeping kentucky safe. WTF I ASK???
sheer sheer sheer lunacy

hey riner instead of trying to meld church and state, instead of worrying about a stupid piece of metal plaque (or wood, i don't know what it is) why don't you worry about feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, healing the sick, educating the uneducated (oh, that's YOU)


Lawmaker to Homeland Security: Don't forget to credit God for keeping Kentuckians safe
A lawmaker is upset with his state's Department of Homeland Security for its lack of credit to a "higher power" for its work in protecting the state's citizens.

Kentucky State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister who helped establish a requirement that the federally funded agency credit God with keeping the state safe, is upset that under Gov. Steve Beshear, the department's 2008 annual report did not do so.

"We certainly expect it to be there, of course," Riner, of Louisville, told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Among the requirements of the 2006 anti-terror law is that a plaque be placed in the department's Emergency Operations Center. Part of the statement on the plaque reads: "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."............

there are some things i can

forgive barack obama for, there are some things i cannot forgive NOR do i understand (does da LIEbs ring a bell???)

but i will be heartbroken if he doesn't keep his word about our earth. king george is either a heartless bastard, wickedly stupid, wickedly uncaring, greedy or just plain insane (or all of the above). not only has he ripped apart our constitution, he attempted to do that to our earth as well. IT MUST STOP NOW, we may not even have time, it may be too late

EPA, Interior Dept. Chiefs Will Be Busy Erasing Bush's Mark
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Few federal agencies are expected to undergo as radical a transformation under President-elect Barack Obama as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, which have been at the epicenter of many of the Bush administration's most intense scientific and environmental controversies. The agencies have different mandates -- the EPA holds sway over air and water pollution, while Interior administers the nation's vast federal land holdings as well as the Endangered Species Act -- but both deal with some of the country's most pressing environmental concerns, such as climate change. And over the past eight years, many career employees and rank-and-file scientists have clashed with Bush appointees over a number of those of issues, including whether the federal government should allow California to regulate tailpipe emissions from automobiles and how best to prevent imperiled species from disappearing altogether. ....

i never saw

bowling for columbine until just a little while ago. well, i've still not watched most of it. i got 28 minutes into it (and believe me, it took ALL i had).

not because i disagree with it mind you (although i DO think michael moore is a blowhard, i agree with most of his sentiments). because i'm NOT the one who NEEDS to watch it. then again those that really DO need to watch it and LEARN from it, won't 'get it'.

any way, i was feeling queasy and i could no longer watch it. i knew i'd get physically sick if i continued.

it's frank friday

zappa that is

there's a special

place for people like the neighbor who complained about emily (hint: and i don't mean heaven)

i don't know about canada but i'd go the therapy animal route to plead the case.

(picture from the boing boing story)

Disabled boy to lose his tiny pony because the neighbours don't like the smell


Town threatens to evict disabled boy’s pony
By Cigdem Iltan, National Post

The town of Caledon may force a three-year-old boy with cerebral palsy to give up his miniature pony after a neighbour complained about the smell.
Sam Spiteri’s grandfather gave him the pony, Emily, after he was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy shortly after birth. The boy can’t walk or crawl, and Emily is part of his therapy regime.
“When we take him off the pony he cries. Even if he’s tired he doesn’t want to leave her,’’ his mother, Antonia Spiteri, said today.
But at the end of July, the town notified the Spiteris the pony had to be removed due to the complaints.
“We already had problems with the neighbour harassing us throughout the summer about bonfires on our property,’’ said Ms. Spiteri. ‘‘We thought ‘Oh, they’ve been told they can’t complain about that, so this is the new avenue they’re taking’.”
Ms Spiteri said both her family and the complaining neighbour border on a cattle farm, and can’t understand how the smell was traced to Emily.
‘‘The cows go right up to their property too. We thought, ‘You’re kidding – seven cows to one miniature pony?’ We were quite shocked by what we thought was a joke at first.”
Caledon bylaw enforcement manager Glenn Blakely said the Spiteris’ one-acre property is zoned as rural residential and is too small to house a miniature pony............

this is WONDERFUL

from americablog
president bartlet calls the butterball hotline (sorry it's a day late, but it's STILL a gem)

a kick-ass town

silverton, oregon


Hate Filled Crazies Get Out-Protested in Oregon
(note: all pics posted here were taken from this story)

Posted by General JC Christian, Jesus' General
America's favorite spiritual family, Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Clan, came to Silverton, Oregon on Monday, November 24th, 2008, spreading the good news that God hates Silvertonians (having earlier visited Portland and Tigard to share the news that the lord cannot stand Portlanders and the country of Finland). The Mayor of Silverton (Stu Rasmussen) is transgender, and that ticks off the deity but good. Alas, the Lord had other commitments and could not deliver His condemnation in person: instead, He who is the One True God chose to delegate the job of sharing His bellicosity to one man and three young women from Kansas who had some free time. The God of the Israelites is one mysterious dude, and His hiring practices are opaque. He is nothing if not the King of "Go Figure.".................

from barry shap
Why I Love Silverton --Oregon, Part One
Word came out that the not quite right Reverend Fred Phelps was planning a little excursion to Silverton to let his feelings be known about our town electing Stu Rasmussen mayor. Now, I've written about Stu. He is, to be kind, a free spirit. He was also duly elected. He may not make the prettiest woman, but he has done nothing to the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka Kansas-- certainly, nothing to deserve being called a "60 year old pervert. Nobody else will just tell him to STOP! Everyone else (i.e. besides Westboro Baptist Church) despises him so much that they will gladly watch him morph himself into a snaggle-toothed old witch because they know they are all guilty of the same or worse sins." These words of love and acceptance come from a church...........

updates

from mumbai

let's keep all in our thoughts and prayers.

Eyewitness Updates: Nariman House
By Keith Bradsher

Keith Bradsher, a Times correspondent, is sending The Lede updates from his Blackberry as he watches a commando operation taking place at the Nariman House, home to the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad Lubavitch. The time stamps are London time (GMT). Mumbai is five and a half hours ahead of his timestamps.The most recent posts will be added to the top of this post............

it has always been my contention

the fda (or SOME at the fda) have their hands in the back pants pockets of SOME at the drug companies (and/or medical device companies)

drugs get approved that NEVER should have been, drugs DO NOT get approved that SHOULD have. lies are told. truths are burried. here are but TWO examples

far be it from the government to tell on big bid-nez. EVEN IF IT MEANS OUR BABIES ARE AT RISK

FDA Draws Fire Over Chemicals In Baby Formula
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Public health groups, consumer advocates and members of Congress blasted the Food and Drug Administration yesterday for failing to act after discovering trace amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula sold in the United States.

"This FDA, this Bush administration, instead of protecting the public health, is protecting industry," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the FDA budget. In an interview, DeLauro said she wants the agency to disclose its findings and to develop a plan to remove melamine from formula. "We're talking about babies, about the most vulnerable. This really makes me angry."

The FDA found melamine and cyanuric acid, a related chemical, in samples of baby formula made by major U.S. manufacturers. Melamine can cause kidney and bladder stones and, in worst cases, kidney failure and death. If melamine and cyanuric acid combine, they can form round yellow crystals that can also damage kidneys and destroy renal function. ...............

Demands For Baby Formula Recall Mount
FDA Changes Its Story On Melamine Contamination, But Insists Products Are Safe
(CBS/AP) Disclosure that laboratory tests have detected traces of contamination in several major brands of infant formula generated concern and confusion Wednesday, with a national consumer group and the Illinois attorney general demanding a Food and Drug Administration recall.

The FDA shunned those calls, but admitted it had released inaccurate information on what chemicals were found in which top selling products.

As worried parents called manufacturers looking for guidance about the presence of melamine and a key byproduct in U.S.-made formula, the FDA reiterated its position that the baby food is safe and parents should continue feeding it to their babies, contending the extremely low levels of contamination do not present a health danger.

Also, a spokesman for one major manufacturer criticized the FDA for its release of the inaccurate information.

"We're getting inundated by calls from moms confused about the situation," said Pete Paradossi, a spokesman for Mead Johnson, one of the three major manufacturers of U.S.-made formula involved in the problem detections.

Melamine is the industrial chemical found in Chinese infant formula - in far larger concentrations - that has been blamed for killing at least three babies and making at least 50,000 others ill.
..................
and
FDA Scientists Revolt Against Corrupt Food and Drug Administration Officials
(NaturalNews) A group of scientists working in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health division has revolted against the corrupt managers of its own department, accusing them of committing crimes by claiming, "There is extensive documentary evidence that managers at CDRH have corrupted and interfered with the scientific review of medical devices."

Read the letter yourself here (PDF):
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_1...

The letter from the FDA's own scientists goes on to say, "It is evident that managers at CDRH have deviated from FDA's mission to identify and address underlying problems with medical devices before they cause irreparable harm, and this deviation has placed the American people at risk."

Congressman John, Dingell, chair of the committee which received the letter, went on to charge that these FDA bureaucrats "approved or cleared medical device applications in gross violation of laws and regulations..." (http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_1...)
..........

enjoy!

then swing on by here to hear the full version

then swing by here

“Alice's Restaurant isn't around anymore. But, as the song says, Alice didn't live in a restaurant. She lived in the church nearby the restaurant... And the old Trinity Church, where Alice once lived and where the saga began has become home to The Guthrie Center and The Guthrie Foundation.

Arlo Guthrie providing a place to bring together individuals for spiritual service, as well as cultural and educational exchange founded the Guthrie Center, an Interfaith Church, in 1991. The Trinity Church where the song The Alice's Restaurant Massacree began and where the movie Alice's Restaurant was filmed, continues to service the local and international community.

Originally built as the St. James Chapel in 1829, the structure was enlarged in 1866 and renamed Trinity Church. Ray and Alice Brock purchased the property in 1964 and made it their home. The building has had several owners since the early 1970s…”

Source: The Guthrie Center........... (pic from there too)

because there is not enough

pain and horror and misunderstanding and war and murder and torture in the world as it is, let's just add a bit more. when we hurt one we hurt many. when we hurt another, we just hurt our OWN brother or sister.

violence.

why?

Dozens Die in Mumbai Attacks
Hotels Under Siege; Gunmen Said to Target Americans, Britons
By Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post Foreign Service
NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 -- Gunmen attacked three luxury hotels, a hospital, a train station, a movie theater and other buildings in Mumbai late Wednesday, killing at least 100 people and wounding more than 300 in a rampage through India's financial capital, police said. The attackers took dozens of people hostage, and witnesses said they were seeking out Americans and Britons. An unknown group asserted responsibility in e-mails to India's news media. The gunmen, armed with explosives, lay siege to two of the hotels all night. Troops stormed in to rescue people, some of them foreign nationals, who were trapped inside. The 105-year-old Moorish-style rooftop dome of the landmark Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel was engulfed in fire, and flames billowed out of many rooms. One wing of the waterfront hotel was gutted. Seven hours after the first attack, firefighters rescued more than 50 hotel guests and escorted them to ambulances. ..........

holy f**king shite

what the f**k is this???????????


(note: the amy sedaris photo at the top is from peta. it is part of their anti-fur campaign)

abc news is showing off a calendar of women in furs??????????? conservative women in furs that is. know what they're calling it? pretty in mink. cute huh? wonder how cute the process of making a fur coat is?


wtf??????????????????????????????



warning about the following videos: i can't even watch them. i'm posting them to make a point. again, if you already think fur is icky there is NO NEED for YOU to watch this:


Help Stop the Cruel Fur Industry.


Help Stop the Cruel Fur Industry.


Help Stop the Cruel Fur Industry.





here is the contact information page for abc news

here is the contact information for abc in general

please, if you have a heart contact them. tell them it's irresponsible and EVIL for them to associate themselves with fur (i don't even care about the scumbabes in the pictures, it's the FUR)

check out some information on fur, how it's obtained, etc. nice reading.......

here is how i found out about the calendar;

CBI/ABC News rolls out Shock & Awe Barbie collection

Some are surely stunningly attractive. Some are indeed incredibly popular. And some - gasp - can actually reason. None, however, are described accurately. What am I talking about? Well the Claire Booth Luce Policy Institute has released its right-wing pin-up girl tribute called "Pretty in Mink," a stupid take on the popular John Hughes film, Pretty in Pink. If you know anything about the film, you know that the main character is not establishment, not a propagandist. Is not part of the rich-folks on campus. Not a racist. Not a female version of Joe McCarthy. Rather, she is an artist, a loner, a loser in a world surrounded by these types of pin-ups. But I digress, as I often do. In addition to this tribute and for reasons unknown, ABC News is showing off this bizarre collective in a slide-show.

one down

whew

he NEVER should have been in contention to begin with though. he is associated with TORTURE.

we, the united states, DO NOT BELIEVE IN TORTURE. perhaps now, we'll get our united states back. our beliefs, our laws, our rights, our souls

Brennan Withdraws From Consideration for Administration Post
Former CIA Official Had Come Under Fire for Agency's Interrogation Policies

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer

A former CIA official who was in the running for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration withdrew his candidacy today after coming under criticism from several groups who accused him of being closely tied to the agency's interrogation policies.

John Brennan, who held several senior positions during a nearly 25-year stint at the spy agency, notified Barack Obama of his decision in a brief note, saying he no longer wished to be considered for any job in the intelligence agencies. Brennan was widely reported to be a contender for either CIA director or director of national intelligence.

"The challenges ahead of our nation are too daunting, and the role of the CIA too critical, for there to be any distraction from the vital work that lies ahead," Brennan wrote.........

...........Brennan's withdrawal came three days after a group of about 200 psychiatrists and academics wrote to Obama opposing his appointment, saying Brennan was tainted by his association with some of the CIA's most controversial policies of the Bush era.....................