shout out to u.s. district judge colleen kollar-kotelly!

for recognizing how astoundingly 'flawed' (or as i would have said EFFED UP) this decision was. if you feel the need so very strongly to carry a concealed piece in a national park, perhaps a national park is NOT the place for you. if you're that afraid for your safety, why don't you hang elsewhere. you know, places where there aren't animals and families and kids. huh?

Judge Blocks Rule Permitting Concealed Guns In U.S. Parks

By Juliet Eilperin and Del Quentin Wilber

Washington Post Staff Writers

A federal judge yesterday blocked a last-minute rule enacted by President George W. Bush allowing visitors to national parks to carry concealed weapons.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by gun-control advocates and environmental groups. The Justice Department had sought to block the injunction against the controversial rule.

The three groups that brought the suit -- the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees -- argued that the Bush action violated several laws.

In her ruling, Kollar-Kotelly agreed that the government's process had been "astoundingly flawed.".....................

ok, this is pretty cool

but i wonder how faux 'news' and the like is going to turn this into an evil activity. ah, perhaps they can call the elementary school children terrorists. or perhaps they can call the garden a communistic activity. hmmmmmmmmmmm

(oh they're even going to have hives! how cool is that???)

Shovel-Ready Project: A White House Garden
By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
For more than a decade, food activists have rallied, cajoled, even pleaded for a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. Now they're finally going to get it.

Today, first lady Michelle Obama will host a groundbreaking for a White House kitchen garden on the South Lawn. She will be joined by students from Bancroft Elementary in Northwest Washington, , whose participation in the project will continue past today, as they help with planting in the coming weeks and harvesting later this year.

The 1,100-square-foot garden will include 55 kinds of vegetables, including peppers, spinach and, yes, arugula. (The selection is a wish list put together by White House chefs.) There will also be berries, herbs and two hives for honey that will be tended by a White House carpenter who is also a beekeeper. The chefs will use the produce to feed the first family, as well as for state dinners and other official events. ............

if you are

susceptible to motion sickness DO NOT watch the vid. you MUST LISTEN THOUGH

i do NOT care

i LIKE it

not arrested (yet)

but 'detained'. also appears much of the country is in an uproar about this pedophile (and they ARE recognizing him as just that a pedophile). not only did he marry a 12 year old, he ALSO HAD PLANS TO MARRY A 7 YEAR OLD AND A 9 YEAR OLD. i know what i'd do to him

Indonesia cleric detained for marrying 12-year-old
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A Muslim cleric whose marriage to a 12-year-old girl triggered controversy in Indonesia has been detained along with the girl's father on suspicion of violating the child protection law, police said Wednesday.

Cleric Pujiono Cahyo Widianto, 43, wed the girl before thousands of people in Central Java province last August, arguing that he had committed no crime because he intended to wait until she reached puberty before consummating their relationship.

Police Detective Roy Siahaan said the cleric, who runs an Islamic boarding school and several businesses, was officially named a criminal suspect Tuesday following several days of questioning. He has not been charged but is in police detention.

On Wednesday, the girl's father, 36-year-old Suroso, also was detained and named a suspect for giving away the bride. Both Suroso, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, and Widianto could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of violating the country's child protection law, which forbids marriage to anyone under 18 years old.

The cleric's wedding and proclamations that he intended to also marry two other girls aged 7 and 9 angered many in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation with more than 210 million believers. Complaints came from Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basuni, child rights groups and the Indonesia Ulemma Council — the country's top Islamic body............

this truly is very shocking

to the family and friends of natasha richardson, i am so very sorry. she was quite talented and i liked most of her work a great deal. head injuries are so very frightening.

Actress Richardson dies aged 45
British actress Natasha Richardson has died from head injuries sustained in a skiing accident in Canada.

Richardson, 45, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, fell on a beginners' slope at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday.

The family were devastated by the death of their "beloved Natasha", her husband Liam Neeson's publicist said.

Richardson died in a New York hospital, close to the home she shared with Irish actor Neeson and their two sons.

The accident happened while the actress was taking a supervised skiing lesson at the Quebec resort. ..........

Natasha Richardson, 45, Stage and Film Star, Dies

By BRUCE WEBER

Published: March 18, 2009

Natasha Richardson, a Tony Award-winning actress whose career melded glamorous celebrity with the bloodline of theater royalty, died Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She had suffered head injuries in a skiing accident Monday north of Montreal, and was flown to New York on Tuesday. She was 45 and lived in Manhattan and in Millbrook, N.Y.

Alan Nierob, a spokesman for her husband, the actor Liam Neeson, announced Ms. Richardson’s death Wednesday night.

“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” a statement said. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

The statement did not disclose the cause of death or discuss Ms. Richardson’s medical condition. ...........

here is a listing of her work

photo: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Natasha Richardson won a Tony in 1998 for her performance as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.”

the nutmeg grater: i've written about this before

the nutmeg grater: i've written about this before

defending racism

oh heavens I'M NOT but big bernie goldberg is. wonder how he'd feel if someone called him a racist term then claimed it WAS NOT RACIST after all (just cause one asswipe says something isn't racist doesn't make the racism go away)
bernie bernie bernie


Bias author says dictionary too liberal, okay to call Obama 'shvartze'
David Edwards and Rachel Oswald
Convinced the media is too liberal, conservative commentator Bernie Goldberg took on another outlet on Fox New's The O'Reilly Factor Tuesday night. The dictionary.

Goldberg, a former CBS correspondent, defended stand-up comedian Jackie Mason’s use of the term 'shvartze' (also spelled 'schwartza') to refer to President Obama and told Bill O'Reilly, "The word 'shvartze' is not a bad word. Absolutely not a bad word. It simply means a black person."

The author of A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media, Goldberg complained that “white liberals” are unduly criticizing the word, though he did admit that there are negative connotations to it.

“In the old days when these [Jewish] immigrants came over from Eastern Europe…In those days America was a racist country. Any reference to black people whether you call them African American, black or shvartze, the reference was likely to be negative.”

When O’Reilly read from a dictionary the definition of ‘shvartze’ as being “often disparaging and offensive to a black person,” Goldberg shot back with, “Forgive my arrogance, the dictionary is written by some liberal person.....

this giant

piece of steamin' shite is even too much for faux 'news', isn't he? he's REALLY over the edge. not just a bit but WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY over. did he get bitten by a rabid bat perhaps? will someone check?

and isn't allowing this 'person' on air IRRESPONSIBLE even for faux? really now



Glenn Beck Recycles "X-Files" Plot to Spread Fear of Obama

by Jeffrey Feldman

FOX News personality, Glenn Beck, has been using his airtime to broadcast a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Obama administration setting up 'concentration camps,'part of a secret plot to establish totalitarian rule. Curiously, Beck's criticism of President Obama's economic policies seems to have been ripped directly from the plot of FOX TV's past hit series The X-Files (1993-2002) and the films based on the series (1998, 2008).

• Jeffrey Feldman's diary :: ::
• 
  

While Beck claims he is not 100% certain that the camps exist, he has proclaimed repeatedly that the Obama administration's economic policies are pushing the country into "totalitarianism' and that he "cannot debunk" the existence of the camps, which are supposedly being set up under the auspice of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), but which Beck claims will be used soon for mass imprisonment of American citizens with right-leaning political views.

neil gaiman on colbert!

(ht: boing boing)

i can't imagine this

superstitions (of course ALL 'religions' are sort of based on them OR fear OR fantasy). some countries in africa seem to be very much overboard though killing albinos for LUCK in tanzania and this:

Gambians 'taken by witch doctors'

Up to 1,000 Gambian villagers have been abducted by "witch doctors" to secret detention centres and forced to drink potions, a human rights group says.

Amnesty International said some forced to drink the concoctions developed kidney problems, and two had died.

Officials in the police, army and the president's personal protection guard had accompanied the "witch doctors" in the bizarre roundup, said witnesses.

Gambia's government was unavailable to comment on the claims.

The human rights group asserted that many of those abducted were elderly.

The London-based rights group said the witch hunters, said to be from neighbouring Guinea, were invited into Gambia after the death of the president's aunt earlier this year was blamed on witchcraft.

Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said hundreds of Gambians have fled to neighbouring Senegal for safety after seeing their villages attacked.

"The Gambian government has to put a stop to this campaign, investigate these attacks immediately and bring those responsible to justice," she said.......

not a big fan of

zoos and aquariums on one hand, but on the other, of course i am. there are animals that would most likely be extinct if they weren't in captivity. it pains me to see animals in cages though. even cages like giant tanks for dolphins or giant plains for grazing or hunting animals. this is an amazing behaviour. take a look!




(ht: john at americablog)

just 'cause

man, i'm really likin' me some meghan mccain!

i'm NOT a big fan of the view (ok ok ok, i'm NOT even a little fan of the view. i do NOT like it AT ALL) but man, i really DO like what ms mccain has to say here

(and by the way, is laura ingraham, 'dr' laura? i don't know who this ingraham asswipe is)

Meghan McCain tells critics: 'Kiss my fat ass'
Rachel Oswald
After a parade of insults from conservative pundits -- most particularly conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, who called her fat -- the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered a smarting rebuke on Monday's View.

McCain, called Ingraham's comments "terrible," adding, "When Tyra Banks went on her show in a bathing suit and said 'kiss my fat ass,' that's what I feel like. Kiss my fat ass!"
Meghan McCain's recent criticisms of Ann Coulter as "offensive" and "radical" haven't made her any friends among other female conservative pundits who have by turns criticized her weight and her lack of "fixed ideological principles."

Laura Ingraham mocked McCain's weight and called her "just another valley girl gone awry" on her radio show. Think Progress has the audio of that here......

why am i not surprised

this yahoo is spewing this nonsense on FAUX 'NEWS'?

Florida legislator wants random drug tests for the unemployed
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Employers have justified drug tests in the workplace by pointing to such negative effects of drug use as absenteeism and work-related injuries. Now a Florida legislator has proposed that random drug-testing also be applied to those receiving unemployment insurance, justifying it as a way to make state funds go further.

Florida State Senator Michael S. Bennett told Fox News host Steve Doocy on Monday that with the unemployment rate in his recession-battered state running between 10% and 11%, he worries that the Unemployment Trust Fund might be exhausted.

"I wanted to ensure that people who are qualified for unemployment -- that the money would be there when they actually go down and get unemployment and that we weren't supporting the people who were not able to go to work," Bennett explained. "It was nothing against the people who were using the drugs as much as it was to ensure that the people who needed unemployment, it would be there when they got there."...........

why is this dude (well i don't quite think he's actually human)

pointing fingers? whose watch did 9/11 happen on? huh? whose?
(my pointing being twofold. 1) it can happen to any country, any time, any where. yes, we MUST be vigilant as well. and 2) STFU you big dick

Obama Team Derides Cheney's Criticisms
Administration Piqued Over TV Comments
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Obama administration responded sharply yesterday to former vice president Richard B. Cheney's comments in a weekend interview that the new president "is making some choices that, in my mind, will in fact raise the risk to the American people" of another terrorist attack.

"I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy," Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary, said during his daily briefing to journalists at the White House. "So they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal."

Gibbs's comments reflected the administration's pique over Cheney's wide-ranging remarks made Sunday on CNN, his first televised interview since leaving office. The former vice president, deeply unpopular in opinion polls, accused the young administration of using the abysmal economy to push through a broad and liberal expansion of government and strongly defended Bush-era policies at home and abroad. ........

Oranges and shadows

the absurd

it would be funny if it weren't people's lives and families we were talking about. we can all feel safe and secure and snug knowing THE RICH KEEP GETTING RICHER THOUGH. those banks and the good ol' whiteboy network keep on taking those fees.


Another twist for the unemployed: Debit card fees
By Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick
CNN Special Investigations Unit
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- If you're out of work like Steve Lippe, who was laid off from his job as a salesman in January, you know you already have problems. But looking at the fine print that came with his new unemployment debit card, he became livid.

"A $1.50 [fee] here, a $1.50 there," he said. "Forty cents for a balance inquiry. Fifty cents to have your card denied. Thirty-five cents to have your account accessed by telephone."

He was quoting fees listed in a brochure that goes out to every unemployed person in Pennsylvania who chooses to receive benefits via debit card. He was given the option when he filed for jobless payments: Wait 10 days for a check or get the card immediately. Like most of the 925,000 state residents who received unemployment benefits in February in Pennsylvania, he chose the debit card and only then, he says, did he learn about the fees.

"I was outraged by it," he told CNN. "I was very noisy about it. I just couldn't believe it. An outrage is just too weak a word. It's obscene."....

more of what we already know

but now the msm is actually printing it too. the king george reign was a black mark on america's soul. this is america! land of the FREE and home of the BRAVE

this is NOT chuck norrisland. nor is it glenn beckland. nor is it cheneycountry.

we have laws. we have a constitution. we don't torture. it's beneath us. it's what savages do. WE ARE NOT SAVAGES. we are human beings

(but we DID torture and now it's being said aloud. what will happen to those responsible is most likely nothing. but now the WORLD knows)

Red Cross Described 'Torture' at CIA Jails
Secret Report Implies That U.S. Violated International Law

By Joby Warrick, Peter Finn and Julie Tate

Washington Post Staff Writers

The International Committee of the Red Cross concluded in a secret report that the Bush administration's treatment of al-Qaeda captives "constituted torture," a finding that strongly implied that CIA interrogation methods violated international law, according to newly published excerpts from the long-concealed 2007 document.

The report, an account alleging physical and psychological brutality inside CIA "black site" prisons, also states that some U.S. practices amounted to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." Such maltreatment of detainees is expressly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.

The findings were based on an investigation by ICRC officials, who were granted exclusive access to the CIA's "high-value" detainees after they were transferred in 2006 to the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The 14 detainees, who had been kept in isolation in CIA prisons overseas, gave remarkably uniform accounts of abuse that included beatings, sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures and, in some cases, waterboarding, or simulating drowning.........

keeping up with the news of the week