American Men Are Crazy

I once had a boss who admitted that he once considered getting a mail order bride. I looked at him like he was crazy because then, as now, I couldn't quite grasp how one could fathom sending off of a bride as though she were just a piece of merchandise. I always figured that those types of men were simply rejects who lacked the social skills to get a wife on their own or were so psycho that no real, thinking woman would really have them. Apparently, that is what some of these mail order agencies think as well:

"Nataliya Derkach just wanted a husband. In 1998, she was a 26-year-old college student in Kiev, divorced and disenchanted with the Ukrainian dating scene. Then she met Natasha Spivack, a Russian-American who runs Encounters International, an Internet matchmaking service that caters to American men seeking Russian and Ukrainian brides. Spivack had just the catch for Derkach: a handsome, successful businessman named James Fox. Derkach married him two months after they met in the United States, moving to Virginia and taking his last name. But James soon began beating her, says Fox. And when she turned to Spivack for help, Fox says Spivack told her that all American men were 'crazy,' and to deal with it or risk being sent back to Ukraine. Fox did as she was told, until one night in the summer of 2000, when Fox says her husband beat her as she breast-fed the couple's infant daughter. Fox wound up in the emergency room with her face bruised and swollen and a human bite mark on her hand."

The Ultimate Hype Man!

Hey, if Flavor Flav can get a gig, why not him?

I just don't think he's American Idol material.

We Are The World?

I am on a number of Internet discussion lists and this was one of the first topics of the day. I refuse to listen to the song as I don't listen to radio stations of this kind anyway. But, from all the buzz it sounds downright ignorant and the radio personality is getting her just desserts as far as outrage:

"This is a big story, that's about to blow up as it should, and right in there faces. This was about the most stupidest un-funny piece of trash I have ever heard. WTF are they smoking up at HOT97 NYC? Their motto being, Blazing Hiphop and R&B ...R&B standing for Racism and Bigotry.

Listen to this mp3... if you don't want to hear them bickering at the beginning fast forward to the middle, where the song is, though the bickering is Miss Jones defending the song and outing her asian news woman (Miss Info) on the show, for not wanting to participate in the 'parody' song -smart move by her, she has SOME class" ...
(link via ISOU)

For my part, I think it illustrates the total lack of sensitivity, understanding and empathy for the magnitude of the situation. It's like when, several years ago, a group of black high school students from Oakland,CA went on a field trip to see Shindler's List and starting laughing at segments of bodies being dumped and people being herded. While it was blown up into black anti-semitism, from the students I saw being interviewed, the black and white film looked funny to them so they laughed. With today's modern and graphic videos and movies, they were totally desensitized to what the movie was really about because of the presentation.

When the news of this tragedy was first released, many people started complaining about the US always coming to the rescue with aid when we have problems here - as though they'd ever had their entire families and lives washed away in the blink of an eye. The lesson to be learned is how selfish and isolated from history, the world and other people's plights we have become. More so than it being racist, (and it could also be deemed racist that hardly any attention is being paid to the AFRICAN countries impacted by the Tsunami too) it is the lack of compassion and the ability to identify with human suffering. In essence, we really aren't the world.

Strategy To Cut And Run

Since the war began, we've been bombarded with "we aren't gonna cut and run" and "we are gonna stay the course." But, things are going so horribly, though we may leave things in utter destruction and chaos (which will years to repair), I knew someone had to be thinking of a way to "cut our losses" and leave (run).

Sure enough it sounds like that is exactly what we are doing

"Private memos are circulating in Washington, Baghdad and London setting out detailed scenarios for withdrawal of US and British forces from Iraq as early as possible, a Foreign Office source said yesterday.

The policy papers have added urgency because a new Iraq government, to be elected next week if the election goes ahead on January 30 as planned, could set a target date for withdrawal.

John Negroponte, US ambassador to Baghdad, confirmed that a United Nations resolution declared that US and other forces would have to leave if requested by the Iraqi government. 'If that's the wish of the government of Iraq, we will comply with those wishes. But no, we haven't been approached on this issue - although obviously we stand prepared to engage the future government on any issue concerning our presence here.'"

Whoa!

I am speechless! They can't be on the brink of this madness again!

"A group of nationalist Russian lawmakers called Monday for a sweeping investigation aimed at outlawing all Jewish organizations and punishing officials who support them, accusing Jews of fomenting ethnic hatred and saying they provoke anti-Semitism.

In a letter dated Jan. 13, about 20 members of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, asked Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov to investigate their claims and to launch proceedings 'on the prohibition in our country of all religious and ethnic Jewish organizations as extremist.'

The letter, faxed in part to The Associated Press by the office of lawmaker Alexander Krutov, said, 'The negative assessments by Russian patriots of the qualities and actions against non-Jews that are typical of Jews correspond to the truth ... The statements and publications against Jews that have incriminated patriots are self-defense, which is not always stylistically correct but is justified in essence.'"
[...]
"The economic situation is ripe for this. An enemy is needed, and the enemy is well-known, traditional," Gerber said.

Echoing anti-Semitic tracts of the Czarist era, the letter's authors accuse Jews of working against the interests of the countries where they live and of monopolizing power worldwide. They say the United States "has become an instrument for achieving the global aims of Judaism."

"It is possible to say that the entire democratic world today is under the monetary and political control of international Judaism, which high-profile bankers are openly proud of," the letter says.

Along with outlawing Jewish organizations, the lawmakers call for the prosecution of "individuals responsible for providing these groups with state and municipal property, privileges and state financing."

It Seems We've Been At Cross Purposes

Never thought I'd be quoting Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind at a time like this but somewhere along the way we need to get a clear understanding of what is really going on here. As President Bush chanted about "freedom and liberty" in his inaugural speech last week, two French reporters who'd been kidnapped and released in Iraq are sharing what they learned from their captors.

"Malbrunot is still trying to sort out his disjointed impressions. Before his abduction, he had never heard of the Islamic Army in Iraq, an extremely fundamentalist group with close ties to Osama bin Laden. Now he knows a lot. They are, for example, better organized and wealthier than he ever imagined -- even more so now than a mere six months ago, he said. Also, he says, they are adamant jihadists, convinced that they are waging war to defend the Muslim faith against the West. 'There was a lot of talk about chief Osama (bin Laden), references to Chechnya and how the Muslim world is fighting the Western world in Chechnya, Pakistan and Afghanistan.' Some of the men had been Saddam Hussein loyals -- including one who claimed he was Saddam's personal secretary.

The Islamist cells are also very compartmentalized, and they divide their work carefully. Some do the kidnapping, others the interrogating, others the judging, others the guarding and -- he assumes -- others the killing. They also have surprisingly strong contacts in Europe. And although they operate separately, they sometimes coordinate with other insurgent groups -- including that run by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted insurgent in Iraq for whose capture the US has offered a $25 million reward. Malbrunot says that these fighters will not give up until the last of them is dead. As such, he sees little hope in upcoming elections on Jan. 30.

"One of our jailers told us they have four enemies," he said. "American soldiers and other coalition members, collaborators, which meant businessmen -- Italian, American or even French -- who are working there, the Iraqi police and spies." Any new Iraqi government, he said, will be viewed as an enemy, just as the Americans -- and even secular Arab leaders -- are viewed. The group's main goals are far from modest. They want to defeat America in Iraq, drive a wedge between Europe and America and "overthrow the Arab leaders in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and return to the caliphate (Islamic rule) from Andalusia (Spain) to China."
(emphasis mine)

Clearly our missions are at polar extremes. However, I think they totally understand what our goals are (were) but I am not sure we understand theirs. Bush needs to have far more than lofty rhetoric to supersede their grand scheme. He needs to stop with the simplistic "they hate our freedom" BS and understand that not only are the non-democratic governments that we support in the middle east under threat of defeat from these people, they are looking to expand their ideals as broadly as we are trying to expand ours. If this isn't a case of "east is east and west is west," I don't know what is.

Keep Hope Alive

When my family moved from the city to the suburbs, I had to transfer to a public school for the first time in my life. The good thing was that it was an excellent school with an extensive curriculum. I only got to spend my last two years of high school there but I don't think that there was single class that I enjoyed more or learned more from than Logic. We spent an entire semester learning the fallacies and how they are used/misused everyday. I recall, for one assignment, keeping a notebook of instances of any fallacy I found in advertising, newspapers or magazines.

Given the rhetorical manipulations of this past election season, the numerous verbal debates I've had and the heinous diatribes I've seen in blogs and on the various cable programs, I nearly concluded that the tenets of basic logic and knowledge of fallacies were lost forever. But after seeing this post, by a younger person at that, I see that hope is still alive and that someone - somewhere - is still teaching, studying and learning how to think, reason and argue -- the right way.

But with the mass influx of varied views and opinions comes the increased potential that readers of opinionated writing will be exposed to arguments based upon faulty logic, or "logical fallacies." For this reason, people who frequent the Blogosphere should familiarize themselves with the different types of logical fallacies so that they aren’t duped by arguments that seem convincing on the surface but that lack any true merit.

Fallacies rear their ugly little heads all the time, though usually in a very subtle manner. Take for instance the silly graphic appearing on the index page of Booker Rising. About midway down the page in the left hand column is a picture of a black man holding a gun. The wording of the picture cleverly asserts "KKK and NAACP agree on disarming African-Americans; Do You Agree?"

If you've never seen this info before, please bookmark his links and spend a little time absorbing the information. If you are just a little rusty on some of the lesser known fallacies, bookmark the link anyway and browse it when you get a chance.

Picking It Apart

In his article, David Corn does a good job of talking back to Bush by highlighting glaring contradictions between what he said in his inaugural address and what he actually does.

....We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

And have you notified the leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China and Uzbekistan that you're going to make bringing liberty and freedom to their lands the number-one national security priority for your administration?

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government.

Is that why we overthrew democratic governments in Iran and Chile and cozied up to the racist regime in South Africa? for years.

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

What have you done lately to support the democrats of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Russia, or China?

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen.

Did Iraqis choose to be invaded and occupied in a fashion that has led to tens of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths?

It is odd to me that Bush appeals to people who want "simple" answers yet those same people fail to be able to see "simple" facts.

If Only ...

Bush Vows to Fight Tyranny, Punches Self In Face Repeatedly

I have made the world a dangerous place! My country has lots of nuclear weapons! I start wars that have wiped out hundreds of thousands of civilians! My policies are designed to enrich my friends and large political donors, at the expense of the common good! I hold political prisoners indefinitely without charging them of any crime or allowing them access to counsel. I advocate the use of torture and would like to dismantle the UN!"

"SOMEBODY STOP ME BEFORE I STRIKE AGAIN!"

They Just Don't Know

Why is it that I want to name almost every post "Are you freaking kidding me?" No matter the topic, though it usually has something to do with the Bush Administration, I don't know why my mouth goes ajar when I read some of this stuff. Now, since I am a regular listener of Democracy Now!, I heard something along these lines several months ago. They don't know who, what, where, why or how this man is. Heck! They aren't even sure if they have the name right. Yet they keep fronting about this "big, bad wolf" who is at the heart of all the attacks in Iraq. Yet another attempt at perpetuating these larger than life images of evil black (or almost) people who can outwit, outfox, outlast the entire United States Military. Now, he might be a composite?:

"Some in the military assumed Zarqawi had been holed up in Fallujah. But marines based near that city believe the local Sunni leadership may have had a falling out with Zarqawi's group, the target of repeated airstrikes in the city. Military officials now think Zarqawi moves around Iraq. Indeed, he was most likely in Baghdad when the two Americans were beheaded last week, suggesting movement that military officials hope to exploit. 'He'll make a mistake,' says Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler, 'and he'll only get one mistake.'

Already, a senior defense official says, half of Zarqawi's top leadership has been killed or captured. Unfortunately, military intelligence does not necessarily back up that assessment. Analysts do not know how many lieutenants Zarqawi had or how many disciples have risen up to take the place of the fallen. 'No one has hard numbers,' says another defense official.

The only thing certain is that nothing's certain, even his name. Zarqawi is thought to be a Jordanian whose real name may be Ahmed Fadil Khaylayleh. One top analyst thinks he may be a composite, not a single person. 'He's become this mythical creature,' agrees Larry Johnson, a former State Department counterterrorism official. 'The truth is we just don't know.' "

So, again: Are you freaking kidding me?!

Cheap Skates!

With all of the sacrifices these soldiers are making over in Iraq, you mean to tell me they can't keep a couple hundred bucks distributed in error?

Wait, don't spend that cash! The couple hundred extra bucks 53,000 soldiers have seen or are about to see in their January paychecks is not a late Christmas present from Uncle Sam.

The extra money, which for most affected soldiers amounts to an additional $200 and $300 in their paychecks this month, is there because of a data input error made at the Defense Department's joint Defense Finance and Accounting Service, according to Col. Kenneth Crowder, DFAS' director of Army Pay Operations.

The error occurred when a DFAS employee was electronically updating the meal allowance rate for 2005 and accidentally backdated the change to 2004, Crowder said in a telephone interview with Stripes on Friday from his Indianapolis office.

As a result, the Defense Department’s pay computers decided that soldiers who have Army meal cards, but who are authorized for reimbursement for some meals, deserved a refund for 2004.

The refund shows up as "refund of BAS," or Basic Allowance for Subsistence, in the "entitlements" column of a soldier’s Leave and Earning Statement, Crowder said.

The Army is required by law to collect the funds from any "administrative or technical error" back from soldiers in the same month the error was made, Crowder said.

Hmph! I see how they rate!

People All Over The World

... join hands!

Love Train
by O'Jays

People all over the world (everybody)
Join hands (join)
Start a love train, love train
People all over the world (all the world, now)
Join hands (love ride)
Start a love train (love ride), love train
The next stop that we make will be England
Tell all the folks in Russia, and China, too
Don't you know that it's time to get on board
And let this train keep on riding, riding on through
Well, well
People all over the world (you don't need no money)
Join hands (come on)
Start a love train, love train (don't need no ticket, come on)
People all over the world ( ride this train)(Ride this train, y'all)
Start a love train (Come on, train), love train
All of you brothers over in Africa
Tell all the folks in Egypt, and Israel, too
Please don't miss this train at the station
'Cause if you miss it, I feel sorry, sorry for you
Well
People all over the world (Sisters and brothers)
Join hands (join, come on)
Start a love train (ride this train, y'all), love train (Come on)
People all over the world (Don't need no tickets)
Join hands (come on, ride)
Start a love train, love train
Ride, let it ride
Let it ride
Let it ride
People, ain't no war
People all over the world (on this train)
Join in (ride the train)
Start a love train, love train (ride the train, y'all)
People all over the world (come on)
Join hands (you can ride or stand, yeah)
Start a love train, love train (makin' love)
People all over the world ('round the world, y'all)
Join hands (come on)
Start a love train, love train

She Works Hard For The Money

I have got to give the nod to California Senator Barbara Boxer. She really gave Condoleezza Rice a run for her money during the confirmation hearings. This interview with Salon illustrates her intent and her point in questioning Ms. Rice so vigorously.

Rice told you not to "impugn" her "integrity" or her "credibility," but that was exactly what you meant to do, wasn't it? You had questions about whether she had spoken truthfully about Iraq before and after the war began.

I was very honest about it. I told her, "I'm worried about your lack of candor" -- I wasn't denying that -- "and I'm giving you a chance to set the record straight." But she actually made the record murkier, especially on torture. She opened up a whole new front on the lack of credibility.

If people were looking for some sense of a fresh start with the beginning of the second Bush term, they wouldn't have seen it at the confirmation hearing.

The beat goes on. But I think that's where the people come in. We live in a democracy. This isn't a monarchy. The people's opinion is very important here, and right now 58 percent of them are worried about the way this war is going. And so many people watched the hearing. I was very happy to get thousands and thousands of phone calls and e-mails and the rest. And that's what saves the country many times, the people of this country. If we start abusing power, they catch you. That's what I want to do, keep the people engaged. I was really pleased with the breadth and the depth of the questions that were asked, and I like to think that I had something to do with that.

Condoleezza showed her normal "grace under fire" but she was getting pissed. I could tell.

One Saddam For Another

This is sickening! Why is everyone so willing to behave as Saddam did?

"A former Jordanian government minister has told The New Yorker that an American official confirmed to him that the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station last year.

The claim is in an extensive profile of Dr Allawi written for this week's issue of the magazine by an American journalist, Jon Lee Anderson, the author of The Fall of Baghdad and a regular Baghdad correspondent for The New Yorker.

Writing about his research in Jordan in December, Anderson says: 'A well-known former government minister told me that an American official had confirmed that the killings took place, saying to him, 'What a mess we're in - we got rid of one son of a bitch only to get another one'.'

The New Yorker also revealed that Anderson was present during an interview conducted by the Herald's chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, in late June, with a man who said he witnessed the executions by Dr Allawi.
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Dr Allawi denied the allegations when they were published in the Herald last July.

Anderson writes: 'The man ... described how Allawi had been taken to seven suspects, who were made to stand against a wall in a courtyard of the police station, their faces covered. After being told of their alleged crimes by a police official, Allawi had asked for a pistol, and then shot each prisoner in the head. [One of the men survived.] Afterward, the witness said, Allawi had declared to those present, 'This is how we must deal with the terrorists.' The witness said he approved of Allawi's act, adding that, in any case, the terrorists were better off dead, for they had been tortured for days.'"

Tyranny Starts At Home

Naturally, I couldn't listen to George Walker Bush's voice as he took the oath of office and I certainly wasn't about to listen to his speech. Later I find out he was jabbering about "tyranny." Lofty language from a man who has continuously and arrogantly lied and cheated to get his way. I believe that falls under tryranny and I believe our dear President ought to take a look in the mirror.

"George W. Bush embarked on his second term as president Thursday, telling a world anxious about war and terrorism that the United States would not shrink from new confrontations in pursuit of 'the great objective of ending tyranny.'

Four minutes before noon, Bush placed his left hand on a family Bible and recited 39 tradition-hallowed words that every president since George Washington has uttered.

With 150,000 American troops deployed in Iraq at a cost of $1 billion a week and more than 1,360 killed, Bush also beseeched Americans for patience.

'Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon,' the president declared in the first wartime inauguration in more than three decades."

The biggest tryrant was just sworn in.

Sing, Sing, Celebrate ... For Our King Celebrate

I'm not sure if I should laugh at this or not. It's not that I think this guy meant to say it but I think he probably talks like that behind closed doors and the slur just slipped out.

"A television weatherman was fired after referring to slain civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. as 'Martin Luther Coon King' on the air, station officials said.

Rob Blair, of KTNV-TV, was delivering the extended forecast Saturday morning when he said: 'Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Day, gonna see some temperatures in the mid-60s.'

Jim Prather, vice president and general manager of the ABC affiliate, said Blair stumbled when he uttered the remark, but the excuse was not enough to save his job.

'This kind of incident is not acceptable under any circumstances, and I'm truly sorry that this event occurred,' Prather said.

Blair, who worked at the station for about three months, apologized during the station's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts Saturday.

'I in no way intended to offend anyone,' he said in the apology. 'I'm very sorry.'"

Well, I can't cry about it either because it just means there is so much more work to do if we cannot even advance beyond childish, outdated slurs.

In His World!

Wow! He wins by 3 percentage points, the lowest margin for an incumbent President in history, and he deludes himself into thinking that he has carte blanche to do whatever the heck he wants over the next 4 years.

"President George W. Bush has said that his re-election in November ratified the correctness of his approach in Iraq and provided an 'accountability moment' for those behind flawed judgments regarding the war there.

Bush made the comments in an interview published Sunday, in which he also twice declined to endorse a suggestion by Secretary of State Colin Powell that the U.S. troop presence in Iraq could be reduced by year's end.

The president thus indicated that he intended to move determinedly forward with plans to stabilize and democratize Iraq, without undue second-guessing about what he suggested were mistakes of the sort inevitable in wartime, and with few doubts that, failures and missteps aside, the war had proved worthwhile.

But his suggestion that the election had been a public ratification of Iraq policy seemed unlikely to find much support outside his Republican Party. It was scathingly rejected by one leading Democrat, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, who called it 'ridiculous.' "

This is how you know what a piss poor and mediocre performer he has been his entire life. If you are used to D's and F's, a miraculous "C" is like an A and the whole world cheers -- much in the way people do for kids in the Special Olympics. George and Barbara must have been some kind of parents to have groomed someone who's bar for excellence resembles "how low can you go?" in a limbo contest.

He Doesn't Get It!

After seeing the headline, I was about to cheer and label this article "I'm Satisfied!" But, this guy doesn't seem to get it. I don't care what war was going on. They had arrested a majority of regular Iraqi citizens and subjected them to more humiliation that Saddam Hussein ever could have. This man has a pattern of sadistic abuse and does not seem to care. Initially, I thought that maybe 5 years would help him see the err of his deeds. Now, the ten years he got doesn't seem, enough.

"Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr. was sentenced to 10 years behind bars Saturday for physically and sexually mistreating Iraqis in the first court-martial stemming from at Abu Ghraib prison scandal, an embarrassment to the U.S. military fueled by the release of graphic photographs.

Graner, labeled the leader of a band of rogue guards at the Baghdad prison in late 2003, will be dishonorably discharged when his sentence is completed. He also was demoted to private and ordered to forfeit all pay and benefits.

Asked if he felt remorse after the sentence was handed down, Graner said, 'There's a war on. Bad things happen.'"

FAN-TAS-TIC !

Bigger men need to fall but this clownis a good start:

"Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of a band of rogue guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, was convicted Friday of abusing Iraqi detainees in a case that sparked international outrage when photographs were released that showed reservists gleefully abusing prisoners.

Graner, the first soldier to be court-martialed in the scandal, was convicted of all five charges and faces up to 15 years behind bars. Four other soldiers have pleaded guilty in the scandal.

Graner stood at attention and looked straight ahead without expression as each verdict was read. His parents, Charles and Irma Graner, held hands tightly as they listened."

His parents should have been holding hands when they were raising his sadistic ass!

Do You Have Another Challenge?

I guess Osama is on hiatus again and these crack pots are just having fun. Granted, there have been some painfully successful hits against our troops and top Iraqi officials lately but these folks are just getting beside themselves with glee over their accomplishments.

"The video, narrated in fluent English by what sounded like an Iraqi educated in the United States or Britain, also mocked the U.S. president's challenge to rebels in the early days of the insurgency to 'bring it on'.

'George W. Bush; you have asked us to 'bring it on'. And so help me, (we will) like you never expected. Do you have another challenge?,' asked the narrator before the video showed explosions around a U.S. military Humvee vehicle.

Threats intended to demoralise and frighten in the tense build up to elections at the end of the month were tempered with invitations to desert and escape retribution.

A masked guerrilla from an unknown group called the Islamic Jihad Army, eschewing past impassioned Arabic-language threats of holy war, told U.S. soldiers: 'This is not your war, nor are you fighting for a true cause in Iraq.'

'To the American soldiers we say you can also choose to fight tyranny with us. Lay down your weapons and seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes. We will protect you,' he said."

Would This Be A High Tech Lynching?

Alright! I am sick of this already! Yes, Williams thought he was hanging with the big dogs and took some money to tow the party line - as I am sure many others do and have done. But this little twit's "capture" hardly wins "big fish" day at the lake.

"A member of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday the agency should investigate whether conservative commentator Armstrong Williams broke the law by failing to disclose that the Bush administration paid him $240,000 to plug its education policies.

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, said the agency has received about a dozen complaints against Williams.

'I certainly hope the FCC will take action and fully investigate whether any laws have been broken,' Adelstein said at the commission's regular monthly meeting.
Williams said that neither he nor any of the stations that carried his syndicated program violated the law because two one-minute ads that aired during the show, and that also promoted the law, specifically stated they were paid for by the Education Department.

'I was not engaged in any public relations in this campaign. It was strictly advertising,' Williams said by phone. 'I'm not concerned about this witchhunt because I know that I've done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.'"

He's lost a couple of gigs. Folks on both sides are feigning being appalled! Enough already! Find out which other lackeys are on the take but stop banging this nobody on the head with Bill Bennett's Little Book Of Virtues like he's the most evil man on earth!

(... and people think I'm ultra liberal. I'm ultra anti-foolishness!)

These Guys Are Getting Goooooood!

I don't know who is next on the hit list but these assasins have it going on as far as hitting top folks. With but 17 days left before these faulty (though necessary if only to save face or some shred of credibility) elections, I am almost afraid to see who will be next.

"A representative of Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric has been assassinated along with his son and four bodyguards.

The attack against Sheikh Mahmoud al-Madaini came after evening prayers on Wednesday in the town of Salman Pak.

He headed the office of Ayatollah Ali Sistani in the mainly Sunni Muslim town in the lawless zone south of Baghdad.

It is the latest of a string of attacks launched by mainly-Sunni insurgents to derail national elections scheduled for 30 January."

link via stevegulliard.blogspot.com

I just hope they don't have anybody planted 'round these parts. Though I'm sure Dubya is walking around in a virtual bullet proof box, I'm just not feeling all that "homeland" secure and between January 20 (Iraqi elections) and January 30 (Inauguration) strange things can happen.

Trying not to hold my breath ...

A Nation of Faith and Religious Illiterates

I've been in enough battles with zealots over the past few months to know that some people are just spit shining their pastors shoes. I've been subjected to random biblical quotes to address basic questions (which have logical and historical answers). I've been called a Pharisee when I was able to document historic facts that relate to Jesus and the leaders of other major religions. I've been told "because it's the word" when asking for more than an irrelevant scripture reference. Sorry, "because it is in the bible" is no more of an answer from a believer than "because I said so" is from a frustrated mother. But, I certainly find this to be the case as I have experienced it, too much lately, quite recently.

"The sociologist Peter Berger once remarked that if India is the most religious country in the world and Sweden the least, then the United States is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes. Not anymore. With a Jesus lover in the Oval Office and a faith-based party in control of both houses of Congress, the United States is undeniably a nation of believers ruled by the same.

Things are different in Europe, and not just in Sweden. The Dutch are four times less likely than Americans to believe in miracles, hell and biblical inerrancy. The euro does not trust in God. But here is the paradox: Although Americans are far more religious than Europeans, they know far less about religion.

In Europe, religious education is the rule from the elementary grades on. So Austrians, Norwegians and the Irish can tell you about the Seven Deadly Sins or the Five Pillars of Islam. But, according to a 1997 poll, only one out of three U.S. citizens is able to name the most basic of Christian texts, the four Gospels, and 12% think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. That paints a picture of a nation that believes God speaks in Scripture but that can't be bothered to read what he has to say."

Not only is that scary, but this is even scarier:

"But you do have to be careful about one thing," he said more quietly, coming closer and speaking in hushed tones, "My professor-I have this great professor-told me that you have to be careful not to get too much education, because you could lose your foundation, your core values."

The neophyte nodded solemnly, his eyebrows raised with worry.

"If you get a bachelors," the seasoned student reassured, "you'll probably be okay. But my professor said that when you get a master's, and definitely if you go beyond that, you can lose your values. He said that college students have to be watchful because if you get too much education, you could turn LIBERAL. He's seen it happen to a lot of good Christians."

Well, damn! Perhaps that is what happened to me. I don't have my master's but probably have read and research various subject matter more than people who do. Moreover, the crazy Jesuits who provided my B.A. probably heightened and corrupted my sense of curiosity more than anyone but my parents.

You, Too, Can Have A Man

Starruh! Starruh! Starruh!

Can you wait until you've been happily married for a few months, preferably years, before you start writing self-help books for those (obviously pathetic) single women who, apparently, don't love God or themselves enough to attract a man?

We know we often trumpet the dangers of reading actual books, but we're going to make an exception for an upcoming tome by the one and only Star Jones. Yes, our favorite website-owner and bridal beast is going to help women everywhere learn to find love. A sampling of the unintentionally-hilarious press release:

"In order to truly find love, one must love themselves completely." In You Can Wait! Star Jones presents a guide to getting yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually prepared for your soul mate. Told from her unique female Christian perspective, Star shows how finding your lifelong mate depends on how much you love yourself, and whether you are ready to accept God’s promise of a blissful union between woman and man. By completing ourselves, we can better accept the love of another.

God, like a soul mate can ONLY be between a man and a woman? It's 2005, Star, wake up and stop being so closed-minded and overtly-hetero. But wait, there's more:

The book is divided into three main sections, with each exploring the core issues that will determine whether you are ready for true love. Part One will focus on the physical, and discuss problems with weight loss, financial security, and making yourself more attractive to yourself - and thus to him. Part Two will ask tough questions about your mental preparedness, including a look at past relationships, previous mistakes, and your wants and desires. Part Three will delve into your spiritual life, and focuses on strengthening your relationship with God, dating as a Christian, and enjoying the experience. By patiently examining these fundamental questions that all women wrestle with, You Can Wait! will help women better understand and love themselves.

We're not going to make a joke about bariatric surgery, being blessed for escaping the tsunami, or relationships with God based on wedding-for-profit. Nope, not even going there.

Really! I want to be happy for the girl. The pre-nuptial "bride from hell" drama nearly sealed the coffin on me taping The View everyday. I realize that she is overjoyed and blissfully happy but this is getting scary. I guess I'll just have to apply the patronizing phrase (that she's been using ad naseum) on her: "bless her heart."

But Dubya Likes Him

Okay, I can kind of agree with the "snake oil salesman" and "hukster" part. But this is, after all, a man that President George W. Bush asked to campaign for him in an attempt to gain black votes.

"Flamboyant fight promoter Don King filed a 2.5 billion-dollar lawsuit against ESPN claiming he was defamed by a programme on the cable sports television network.

King's lawyer, Willie Gary, called the case 'one of the worst examples of reckless broadcast journalism and blatant disregard for the truth.'

The suit was filed in state circuit court in Broward County, Florida, against ESPN, ABC Cable Networks and their parent company, Disney, as well as the Florida cable television carrier Advocate Communications.

The suit claims that a SportsCentury programme that aired in May accused King of being a 'a snake oil salesman and a shameless huckster.'

It also claimed King underpaid Muhammad Ali by 1.2 million dollars.

King, who was convicted in a 1967 beating death and acquitted of another murder 13 years earlier, also was portrayed on the show as someone who 'killed not once but twice.'"

Gee, I wonder if he got paid?

Okay, Dude! We Get It!

You believe in God!

"Mr. Bush said he leans heavily on his religion every day that he is in the Oval Office and cannot imagine any man handling the pressures of the job without leaning on God.

'I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit,' Mr. Bush said. 'That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit.

'On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord,' he said. "

I wonder if that includes Lord Buddha, Lord Allah and I don't know Lord? Funny, he said that freedom of religion is what distingushes us from the Taliban. I hope there is a little more than that.
(link via oliverwillis.com)

More From America's Finest

I am going to combine two posts because they basically address the same issue ... ignorance without shame.

First, this fool just is just stupid! It always has to go there with some folks.

"The Jews are far from the only historical victims of genocide. They are not even the most recent victims. Now some of them seem to wish to make make a profession out of running around screaming 'never forget' while simultaneously ignoring or even supporting the very same sort of evil being unleashed in places like the Sudan and the abortion clinics around the world.

I'd never understood how the medieval kings found it so easy to get the common people to hate the Jews in their midst. But if those medieval Jewish leaders were anything like the idiots running the ADL, the ACLU and the Council of Jews, one can see where the idea of persecuting them would have held some appeal."

Secondly, I must preface by saying that I absolutely, positively cannot stand Michelle Malkin. Everything from her views to that gauche red lipstick that she slathers on so heavily irritates me. (I always want to grab her face and take some kleenex to those lips to at least remove 10 layers of it. Doesn't she know that "good girls" don't come out of the house looking like that unless ...)? Okay, sorry for the lapse. I also must admit to, initially, getting some sick chuckles out of some of the vapid comments her detractors have emailed to her.

However, they are pretty vile (allegedly from liberals but I'd hazard a guess that a whole lot of red state folks have similar views that they'd like to post under the guise of being a lefty), racist, sexist and insulting and I cannot believe anyone - except an anonymous poster on Yahoo message boards - would have the audacity to send emails like these:

You're just a Manilla whore shaking your ass and waiting for the Republican fleet to come in, aren't you? You've even got the lip gloss about right. Maybe if you love sailor long time, he bring you home to big American house? I don't think so. Just like in Manilla, Honey, they'll pass you around 'til they've all shot their load in you, and then they'll try to scrub off the stench so they can sail off in their crisp, white uniforms to the land of W.A.S.P.

***

Here's a tip. We know you are lyin' pond scum and a whore to your profession......and, not a very expensive whore at that. So............when we get rid of you neocons; how will you ever pay your rent? You're not good enough to make it as a real writer. fuck you; I hope you get cancer & die a horrible painful death all alone, with your collegues shunning you and the rest of us reading how wrong you are AND WHAT A CRUMMY WRITER YOU ARE.

***

Malkin, you're a dumb fucking whore. You're a philipino piece of shit who should be wiping my ass. Go back to the massage parlor. Sucky sucky long time. How dare you thing you have any right to express any opinions in this country. You're a joke. Go back to nursing school. Whore.

***

Now, nasty emails aside, I hardly think that Armstrong Williams is going to add anymore fuel to the fire created by her extreme, and I wouldn't call them conservative, views. So, while I am sorry that she gets so many visceral attacks, I will let my sympathy stop at the offensive emails.

Oh, and though I am not one to label people uncle toms, oreos or bananas ('cause I've been called similar names too) there are, unfortunately, minorities from all ethnic groups who have internalized the racism and actually believe that the "white man's ice is colder" and that babies made with them look better. That is just a fact. Whether she falls into that category, I don't know. Personally, I'd say that of her before I'd say that of any of the black conservatives out there today (except for maybe Ward Connerly). Whatever the case, I still don't like her views!