Just What We Need

Just another worm creeping out of the can because we invaded Iraq.

The Kurdish Marxist party, the Kurdish Worker's Party (Kurdish acronym PKK) has been committing violence in eastern Turkey near the Iraqi border. The Kurdish guerrillas are suspected of then slipping across the Iraqi border to take refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. The latest outrage was their kidnapping of a mayor, "Hasim Akyurek, mayor of Yayladere in the Bingol Province and a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party . . . "

Then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan threatened to invade northern Iraq. He cited the US invasion of Afghanistan to support the legitimacy of such an action (in fact, Afghanistan had both NATO and United Nations Security Council support, which a Turkish invasion of Iraq does not, to say the least).

Hopefully, something like this will be averted but this is just more evidence that we had no clue about the intricacies of the culture in Iraq and in the surrounding countries.

Daddy's Little Girl

I'm glad I'm not famous. There are too many cuckoos out there. Besides, what would Bill Clinton do with 40 goats and 20 cows in New York City?

"A Kenyan city councilman says he offered Bill Clinton 40 goats and 20 cows for his daughter's hand in marriage five years ago. He's still awaiting an answer.

Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor wrote Clinton asking for Chelsea's hand in 2000 when Clinton visited Kenya, Chepkurgor told the East African Standard newspaper. Chepkurgor, 36, vowed to remain single until he gets an answer to his proposal to marry Chelsea, 25.

Chepkurgor, a city councilor in Nakuru, told Clinton of plans for a grand wedding presided over by South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

'Had I succeeded in wooing Chelsea, I would have had a grand wedding,'' he told the Standard in an interview published Friday during Clinton's recent visit to Kenya.

Chepkurgor said his letter praised both Clinton's leadership and his wife, now Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for standing by her husband in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The electrical engineering graduate said he promised to pay 40 goats and 20 cows in dowry for Clinton's only daughter in accordance with African tradition. But he said the letter prompted security checks - on him, his family and his classmates.

It's unlikely Clinton ever received the offer. A security official told the Standard the letter probably never made it out of the office because authorities thought Chepkurgor 'just took the joke too far.''"

When You Are Wet, A Baby You Can Get

Well, Gomer strikes again. This time he's apparently Dr. Gomer.

Rick Santorum, in his infinite wisdom and broad of knowledge of women's bodies, their purpose and function, has decided that birth control harms women. Of course he doesn't mention the infinite number of women who are recommended and prescribed hormone based contraceptives for everything from debilitating cramps to endometriosis, but, again he is fixated on unmarried women having sex. What I think he should focus on, instead, is proselytizing to the men on the merits of keeping their weenies in their pants. It's not like unmarried women are having sex by themselves. With effectiveness in that effort, he could help ensure that any woman, on birth control or not, would have to worry about the temptation of unmarried sex.

On the method of family planning that he promotes - the rhythm method I presume - I heard about that from a prominent Milwaukee doctor who was guest lecturer in my requisite "Christian Marriage" class during my last semester of college. The good doctor had 13 children - one of whom was in the class (who neglected to show up that day and was sleeping with the young woman who lived in the apartment below mine). He showed us how to draw little houses on a calendar to map out fertility as it related to ovulation. He also had an accompanying rhyme so that you could remember when it was safe to have sex with your husband: "When you are wet, a baby you can get. When you are dry, the sperm will die."

That was so special I still remember it all these years later ... and still LAUGH out loud!

Oh, Who Cares!?

This chick isn't white. She isn't blond. Who the hell cares about her? Certainly not CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, CNBC or CNN Headline News (Nancy Grace). She may get a blip since the blogging community is profiling her. But, best believe, there will be none of the ridiculous ad naseum coverage for her. No one will scour Philly the way they are scouring Aruba. There will be no million dollar reward or pressure on the government to find her. No ponds will be drained. No screaching family members will be showcased night after night after night ...

Come on people! This woman is not important!

"The Philadelphia Citizens Crime Commission, with the help of a Philadelphia blogger, have launched a reward fund for information leading to Latoyia Figueroa, a 24-year-old pregnant mother of one who has been missing since July 18.

Figueroa went to a doctor's appointment with a male friend on that afternoon, police said, but did not show up to retrieve her 7-year-old daughter from day care later that day.

Stephanie Stephenson, a relative who raised Figueroa after her mother was killed when she was a toddler, told CNN that Figueroa, five months pregnant, left the friend's house in west Philadelphia 'and disappeared.'

Her cell phone -- a constant companion -- has gone quiet for the nine days she has been missing, and her bank has recorded no transactions."

The Marriage That Never Was

This article/book review from Alternet.com is apparently starting quite a stir. But, it says some of the things about the institution (emphasis mine) of marriage that I have been saying for years.

"It has only been based on the concept of love for 200 years; before that, it was a way of ensuring economic and political stability. Through painstakingly-detailed descriptions and anecdotes from hunter-gatherer days to the modern era, Coontz points out that 'almost every marital and sexual arrangement we have seen in recent years, however startling it may appear, has been tried somewhere before.' So when we think of cohabitation, gay marriage, or stepfamilies as deviating from the 'norm,' we are wrong, because there has never really been a 'norm.'

For a country obsessed with the perfect image of the nuclear family -- mother, father and two kids -- this is eye-opening. We are trying to force ourselves to be something we never really were, or were for a very brief period of time. Instead, Coontz argues, we need to be more tolerant of and open to different forms of union. People with traditional 'family values' lack the skills to adapt to social realities that have changed marriage, such as the increased independence of women."

[...]

But it was not until the last 30 years that people began to actually act on the new ideals for beloved marriage. Social conservatives say that there has been a crisis in the last 30 years, and I agree with them, that marriage has been tremendously weakened as an institution. It's lost its former monopoly over organizing sexuality, male-female relations, political social and economic rights, and personal legitimacy. Where I disagree with them, is in how to evaluate that change and its consequences. I agree that it poses tremendous challenges to us, the breakdown of this monopoly of marriage, but I disagree with the idea that one could make marriage better by trying to shoehorn everyone back into the older forms of marriage. Because the main things that have weakened marriage as an institution are the same things that have strengthened marriage as a relationship. Because marriage is now more optional, because for the first time ever, men and women have equal rights in marriage and outside it. Because women have economic independence. This means that you can negotiate a marriage, and make it more flexible and individualized than ever before. So a marriage when it works is better for people, it's fairer, it's more satisfying, it's more loving and fulfilling than ever before in history.

But the same things that make it so are the things that allow people not to marry, or to leave a marriage that they find unsatisfying. My argument then is that you can't have one with out the other. And so we'd better learn to deal with the alternatives to marriage. Alternatives to marriage being singlehood, cohabitation, divorce and stepfamilies, all of these kinds of alternatives to marriage that have arisen.

Singlehood still feels like my best option at this point in my life. Perhaps I'll think about marriage when I retire.

Got Hypocrisy?

Think Progress hits this one on the head. Does Scott McClellen realize what a clown Bush has made of him?

"When asked for reaction to the comments of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) about the treatment of detainees held at Guanatananmo Bay, the administration did not hesitate to attack the statements:

Q How do you take Senator Durbin’s comments? What’s your response to his comments?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, this is, I’m sure, a family program, Steve. I have to be careful what I say. (Laughter.) I thought Durbin was totally out of line…But I just — it was so far over the top that I’m just appalled that anybody who serves in the United States Senate would even think those thoughts.

Q How is the President reacting to [Senator Durbin’s comments]?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the Senator’s remarks are reprehensible…simply beyond belief.

So the question at today’s press briefing about the remarks of Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) certainly seemed like a softball:

QUESTION: Representative Tom Tancredo recently suggested that taking out Muslim holy sites might be a good way to fight terrorism. Now, his statement has been showing up in newspapers throughout the Muslim world. Will the White House ask Mr. Tancredo to apologize and retract his statement as it did with Senator Durbin?

MCCLELLAN: Yes, I think the State Department actually addressed this issue right at the time and they expressed the views of the administration. The president has made very clear that it Islam is a religion that teaches peace and that it is a proud and great religion. And he stated his views on it.

A United States congressman calls for the bombing of Mecca and other Islamic holy sites, refuses to apologize, and this is the best McClellan could come up with. Bombing Mecca isn’t “reprehensible” or “simply beyond belief”?"

Snatching God Back

The really sad thing about the divisiveness that this administration has thrust upon us is that too many good, honest, god-loving people became shrinking violets as the religious right found a new and bellicose voice in the White House. The same people whose peaceful and compassionate view of religion led this country out of slavery and legal discrimination, seemed to disappear as the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell and James Dobson became the angry, judgmental and accusatory face of faith in America.

But, making a "better late than never" comeback is the voice of progressive people of faith. Though not as loud or belligerent, I feel it is just as strong and will, ultimately, lead this country back to where we need to be.

"Somewhere, in all of these stirrings, I see the seeds of a wisdom-based, Earth-honoring, pro-democracy movement -- one that affirms and applauds religious and spiritual impulses, while opposing fundamentalism, chauvinism and theocracy. Over time, this kind of progressive movement has the potential to win -- and win big -- in the United States. To be honest: it is probably the only type of progressive movement that stands a chance in a country as religious as ours.

Such a movement is within reach. But progressives must abandon the old pattern of reducing the Great Faiths to their worst elements, constituents and crimes -- and then dismissing all other facts and features. It is not just stupid political strategy. At a moral level, it is a form of blindness and bigotry that is beneath all of us.

My prayer is that a critical mass of progressives can agree on two basic premises.

Number one: Any progressive approach to 'faith in politics' that ignores the awful crimes of religiously-inspired people is dishonest, inauthentic and can never achieve emancipatory ends.

Number two: At the same time, any approach that fails to honor and embrace the positive contributions of religiously inspired people is also wrong-headed, and it foolishly and needlessly shuts progressives off from our own history, achievements and present sources of vital support.

I believe that Rabbi Lerner has come up with a thoughtful, sensitive and wise approach, worthy of broad-based affirmation. He aims to: 'build an alliance between secular, religious and 'spiritual but not religious' progressives -- in part by challenging the anti-religious biases in parts of the liberal culture (while acknowledging the legitimacy of anger against those parts of the religious world that have embodied authoritarian, racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic practices and attitudes')."

A War By Any Other Name

Now that we are losing the war in Iraq and - with the increased bombings globally - the war on terror, Bushco has to come up with a new lie.

"The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission, according to senior administration and military officials.

In recent speeches and news conferences, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the country's top military officer have spoken of 'a global struggle against violent extremism' rather than 'the global war on terror,' which had been the catchphrase of choice.

Administration officials say the earlier phrase may have outlived its usefulness, because it focused attention solely, and incorrectly, on the military campaign.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the National Press Club on Monday that he had 'objected to the use of the term 'war on terrorism' before, because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform as being the solution.'

He said the threat instead should be defined as violent extremism, with the recognition that 'terror is the method they use.'"

Meanwhile, this in no way changes the loss of innocent lives, the expansion of al Qaeda and other groups or the billions of dollars it is costing the American taxpayer.

For The People Who Make My Butt Hurt ...

Lord hear our prayer ...

... and then deliver us from these crazies!

Many people, including some Christian parents and even a number of Christian writers and cultural commentators, claim this best-selling series by British author J.K. Rowling is harmless and even contains some morally positive messages. Meanwhile, Christian author Connie Neal has written a book called The Gospel According to Harry Potter, in which she contends that the sorcery so many Christians condemn in Harry Potter is only a literary device and that the books contain biblical messages that can be used to teach children about good and evil.

But Tim Todd protests that Christians who believe these wildly successful children's books about witchcraft and sorcery are really Christian allegories are being led astray. And in hopes of disabusing kids and adults alike, he is offering an entertaining, biblically sound alternative to Harry Potter in comic book form called Harry Polarity and the Sinister Sorcery Satire.

"The purpose of this book," the minister notes, "is to inform our children, our teachers, and our parents about the dangers of Harry Potter. We do it in a fictional story that is phenomenal. It is a super, super sharp story." What the comic book does, he adds, is put scriptural truths up against the wrong spiritual nature of Rowling's series.

Many parents consider the Harry Potter stories to be a positive contribution to children's literature because they get many young readers, sometimes even reluctant readers, excited about reading. But Todd points out that these books also expose children to a world without any belief in God, where sorcery and witchcraft are presented as a neutral path, good and viable in the right hands.

"The things that concern me about the Harry Potter series," the preacher and Christian publisher notes, "are things like sacrificing animals and emphasizing power, regardless of good or evil. Or offering up blood sacrifices, and things like boiling what seems to be a baby alive in a cauldron, or being possessed by demons -- these are not things that we want to have our children subjected to."

Todd says the Hairy Polarity comic book presents uncompromised scriptural truth in a format kids will enjoy, and it also includes a complete presentation of the gospel. For that reason, he believes it an ideal alternative to Harry Potter, offering kids and their parents something much better to read.

Romper, Bomper, Stomper, Boo

Okay! I am really dating myself but this reminds me of Romper Room. Why is Israel getting bent out of shape because the Pope didn't mention their recent terrorist attack along with the other countries'?

"Pope Benedict XVI faced the first major conflict of his 3-month-old papacy when Israel summoned the Vatican envoy Monday to express outrage that the pope 'deliberately failed' to condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis.

The pontiff also said in separate comments Monday that he didn't see any anti-Christian motive in recent attacks blamed on Muslim extremists and urged dialogue with the best elements of Islam.

The German-born Benedict, who has consistently reached out to Jews since assuming the papacy, was criticized by Israel for remarks Sunday from his Alpine vacation retreat in northwestern Italy.

He prayed for God to stop the 'murderous hand' of terrorists and referred to the recent 'abhorrent terrorist attacks' in Egypt, Britain, Turkey and Iraq, but did not mention attacks in Israel.

'The pope deliberately failed to condemn the terrible terror attack that occurred in Israel last week,' a Foreign Ministry statement issued in Jerusalem said."

For crying out loud! When I was about three or four, I got a little upset one morning because [Miss Romper Room Lady] didn't call my name when she looked in her magic mirror at the end of the show. Heck, it took me a while to realize that she just rattled off random names everyday and that I shouldn't take it personally if she didn't see me in that mirror every time. The truth is that Israel is subject to terrorist attacks on a regular basis and also engages in aggressive retaliation. I do not believe that just because the Pope didn't mention every single country where a bombing has occurred doesn't mean that it was a malicious snub.

I learned, before kindergarten, that it isn't always about me ... that everybody gets a turn ... that everyone gets to feel "special" at different times. Perhaps Israel should watch some old reruns of Romper Room.

I'm Not One To Gossip

... so you didn't hear this from me.

"For years, political insiders in the Lone Star State have whispered about Rove’s close friendship with lobbyist Karen Johnson, a never-married, forty-something GOP loyalist from Austin, Texas. The two first became close when Johnson sat on the board of then-Governor George W. Bush’s Business Council over a decade ago. Their friendship reportedly deepened after Bush appointed Johnson—a little-known spokesperson for the Texas Good Roads Association—to a seat on his Transportation Department transition team in 2000. The plum appointment enabled Johnson’s lobbying firm, Infrastructure Solutions, to snare such high-paying clients as Aetna and the City of Laredo. Sources say Johnson now frequently travels between Washington D.C. and Austin, where she frequently appears at Rove’s side at parties and unofficial functions.

Although there is no evidence that their relationship is anything but professional, the close association between the married White House aide and the comely lobbyist has long raised eyebrows in conservative Texas circles. Asked about the pair, a prominent political journalist who has written extensively about Rove says, “I’ve heard the stories, but I would never write about Karl and Karen. If you want to keep your job as a reporter in Texas, you make believe you don’t see them together.”

In the post-Lewinsky era, Washington’s press corps has mostly avoided reporting on the private lives of public officials. But as the political climate in the capitol grows more poisonous, Rove’s close friendship with the lobbyist has attracted increased scrutiny from opponents eager to prove that Bush’s dirty trickster is sitting on some dirty laundry of his own.

Wicked brilliance aside, Karl Rove's puffy and portly appearance conjur up images of Horton (the one who heard a Who).

What Is A Devout Catholic?

You know something? I am sick of people claiming to be a devout this or a devout that. What, exactly, is a devout Catholic?

"Catholic groups on Wednesday (July 20) said they would guard against any attempt to use religious faith to derail the nomination of Judge John Roberts, a devout Catholic, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

To make the point explicitly clear, they pointed to the very Constitution that Roberts would swear to uphold, and its prohibition against using any type of 'religious test' as a qualification for higher office.

'A person's religious faith, and how they live that faith as an individual, has no bearing and no place in the confirmation hearing,' said Joe Cella, president of a new Catholic group, Fidelis, formed to support conservative judges.

After another Catholic, William Pryor, saw his appeals court nomination stalled in 2003 over questions of his 'deeply held religious beliefs,' Catholic activists said they would not allow Roberts to face the same scrutiny. "

I guess I question this because I find that even the most devout practitioners of many faiths have their limits. I am sure that no one would dare ask but I have a question. Along with abortion, divorce and the death penalty, pre-marital sex is also a sin. So, while I appreciate people's faith and often strict interpretation of church doctrine, sex seems to be the exception.

John Roberts (along with his wife) got married at the age of 41. Granted this is no one's business but his own but who would believe that this man was devout enough to remain celibate until his wedding night? That is sort of a litmus test I have for the many devout people I meet (who want to thump their bible about everything else). It is amazing how the sacrament of confession suddenly becomes the cure for transgressions of that nature. The sad thing is that if he were to reveal that he was celibate all those years and/or didn't have much time for a wife, people might label him something else.

May I Please Be Excused?

I keep hearing about his integrity but, given the veil of secrecy and lack of a paper trail, I'd be hard pressed to believe that a man of such great faith would be able to recuse himself from a case where he could impact the lives of women based on his religious beliefs.

"The exchange occurred during one of Roberts' informal discussions with senators last week. According to two people who attended the meeting, Roberts was asked by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) what he would do if the law required a ruling that his church considers immoral. Roberts is a devout Catholic and is married to an ardent pro-life activist. The Catholic Church considers abortion to be a sin, and various church leaders have stated that government officials supporting abortion should be denied religious rites such as communion. (Pope Benedict XVI is often cited as holding this strict view of the merging of a person's faith and public duties).

Renowned for his unflappable style in oral argument, Roberts appeared nonplused and, according to sources in the meeting, answered after a long pause that he would probably have to recuse himself."

Sorry, I think that he'd fib to the left now, rule in favor of the right later, then go to confession to ask for forgiveness for his deception. (Wow, I am one cynical non-practicing Catholic girl)!

Ricky The Moocher

Okay. I'm too through! I won't pretend that I think that $162,000 a year is an adequate amount to support a family of eight in the Washington D.C. area but how can this man take money from his retired parents because he wants to populate the world and cannot afford it?

"Rick and Karen Santorum, a former nurse and a nonpracticing attorney, have six children between the ages of 2 and 14, and live in Leesburg, Va., about an hour from Washington and as close to Washington as they could afford a home big enough for their family. (Karen Santorum would not be interviewed for this article.) Santorum drives himself to and from Capitol Hill in a 2001 Chevy TrailBlazer. He will not work Sundays, except in extraordinary circumstances, and he rarely stays overnight when traveling because he does not like to be away from his family. He tends a large vegetable garden and several fruit trees, cuts his own grass and does home repairs. Santorum says he does not want his home-state voters to think he feels impoverished on his $162,100 Senate salary, but it is clear that money is a concern and that he is almost certainly one of the least well-off among the 100 senators.

''We live paycheck to paycheck, absolutely,'' he says. Does he have money set aside for college? ''No. None. I always tell my kids: 'Work hard. We'll take out loans. Whatever.' '' He volunteers that his parents help out financially. ''They're by no means wealthy -- they're two retired V. A. employees -- but they'll send a check every now and then. They realize things are a little tighter for us.''"

What a big, freaking, GOMER! BTW, his mother worked?

(and read the entire article for more of his wing nuttery)

They Shot Him Dead!

This is weird to me. Why do you need to pump 5 bullets into someone that you've tackled to the ground?

"Police shot and killed a man on the London tube this morning. And London's police commissioner, Ian Blair, is now saying that the shooting was directly connected with the investigation of the London bombings, the Washington Post reported.

'They pushed him onto the floor and unloaded five shots into him. He's dead,' witness Mark Whitby told the British Broadcasting Corp. 'He looked like a cornered fox. He looked petrified.' The suspect was wearing a heavy coat in 70-degree weather but not a backpack. He ran when initially pursued by police.

The shooting followed Thursday's botched copycat bombings in London, attempting to emulate the 7/7 attacks. Meanwhile, police in New York have started searching bags in the subways. Will that make riders feel more secure or only rachet up the fear factor?"

I hope that this wasn't just some nutty vagrant who wears all of his clothes no matter what the weather.

Condi Gets Gangsta

I'm not sure why she would have expected more from a government that has spent years raping women and slaughtering men, but Condi wasn't having it! I actually cannot recall an incident where American officials have been bullied like this but, in a rare instance of agreement, I am glad that Ms. Rice called them on their thuggish behavior and demanded an apology.

"Problems began when guards held up part of Rice's motorcade, stranding her Arabic-language translator, some senior aides and reporters at the gate.

When the officials were finally allowed through, some found themselves barred from entering the building for the meeting. As Rice senior adviser Jim Wilkinson tried to get in, guards repeatedly pushed and jostled him, and at one point he was shoved into a wall.

'Diplomacy 101 says you don't rough your guests up,' Wilkinson said afterward.

Reporters, whom guards reluctantly allowed into the meeting for a planned photo session, were harassed and elbowed, and guards repeatedly tried to rip a microphone away from a U.S. reporter.

Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed, head of the Sudanese mission in Washington, attempted to smooth over the situation on the spot. 'Please accept our apologies,' he told reporters. 'This is not our policy.'

But there was another scuffle moments later.

The reporters were told not to ask questions, over State Department objections. When NBC diplomatic reporter Andrea Mitchell tried to ask el-Bashir about involvement with alleged atrocities, guards grabbed her and muscled her toward the rear of the room. Other reporters and a camera crew were also pushed out as Rice and el-Bashir watched.

'It makes me very angry to be sitting there with their president and have this happen,' Rice told reporters afterward. 'They have no right to push and shove.'"

Honestly! Who the heck do these hoodlums think they are (and do they know who they are messing with)?

What About The Boys?

Though this may seem like a good idea to some, what about the boys?

"A Ugandan member of parliament has pledged to reward girls for their chastity by paying their university fees if they are virgins when they leave school, a local newspaper said Wednesday.

Bbaale County MP Sulaiman Madada said any girl in his district who wanted to take part in the scheme aimed at promoting girls' education would be given a gynecological examination by health workers to check they were virgins.

'The criterion is that a student must be a virgin and from Kayunga district,' he told the state-owned New Vision.

The MP did not extend his offer to young men.

He urged pupils to manage their lives responsibly, and called on parents to explain the threats from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

'Our children should be told the risks they face if involved in early and unprotected sex,' Madada said.

Uganda was once seen as the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic, but a government education campaign has pushed down infection rates to around six percent from as high as 30 percent in some areas in the early 1990s.

Kayunga in central Uganda is home about 300,000 people, and researchers say it has one of the country's worst AIDS rates, with more than 80 percent of families losing at least one member to the disease."

It's not like these HIV/AIDS infested nations are known for valuing women or their chastity. Many times the young women are raped, abused and otherwise violated. I think more attention needs to be teaching men how to behave, how to protect themselves and how to treat women.

Can They Do That?

Gees! They buy a piece of IBM, were trying to buy Maytag and Unocal, are building up their military/arsenal and now China says it will pick the next Dali Lama?

In its latest and most serious ever attempt to interfere in Tibet's traditional system of recognising lamas, China has gone to the extent of saying that Beijing will choose the next Dalai Lama. Tibet Autonomous Region chairman Qiangba Puncog was quoted by Asianews/SCMP as saying that 'if the spiritual leader, who turned 70 on July 6, dies in exile, Beijing would follow Tibetan Buddhist precedent to choose his reincarnation.'

“The choice has never been arranged by the Chinese Communist Party, but by the traditional rules of Tibetan Buddhism since the Qing dynasty (i.e. since 1644),” he said at a press conference. But a precedent was set in 1995 when Beijing rejected the Dalai Lama’s choice of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama and installed instead Gyaltsen Norbu, added puncog, a Tibetan by birth.

The Tibetan government based in Dharamshala, however, has not yet reacted to Puncog's statement. China justified the move by invoking an 18th century practice that involves picking a name out of three inserted in a golden urn preserved in the Yunghegong (Lama Temple) in Beijing, the Asianews/SCMP reported.

Methinks China is getting out of control. The next thing we know, they'll be in the axis of evil too!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

But seriously, this is an interesting choice by someone who had a choice of a very different lifestyle.

"Famous Nepali model Kohinoor Singh has decided to become a Buddhist nun. She gained prominence through music video made by Music Nepal a few years ago. She said she had wanted to become a nun ever since her childhood days."

I wonder if I could ever do it.

Turning Back The Hands Of Time

This whole Supreme Court nomination has the blogsphere, and me, in a tizzy. Just like watching us steam roll into an illegal war in Iraq, I may be witnessing the dismantling of American justice as it has unfolded for me as a person of color and as a woman - just in my lifetime alone. I have far too many thoughts swirling in my head to express them adequately right now. So, I clipped Juan Cole's post today which outlines much of how I see things:

George W. Bush's nomination of John Roberts, Jr. is a setback for American women, just has his policies in Iraq have produced a setback for women's rights in the Arab world. Indeed, Bush has been bad for women all around the globe.

By nominating a man, Bush reduced the number of women on the Supreme Court. Sandra Day O'Connor is no progressive, but she knew what it was like to be locked out of the Old Boys Club, and she ruled in favor of women's issues like affirmative action and reproductive rights. Her feisty independence even led her to say that the Federal government had no business telling Californians they couldn't use marijuana for medical purposes.

She is being replaced by a man who has no sympathy for any of the things she stood for. In particular, he wants to have men dictate to women whether they will carry to term babies that men impregnate them with. If abortion ends up being outlawed altogether, it will mean that rapists can in essence force their victims to bear their babies. In short, the more absolute form of anti-reproductive rights philosophy is an active ally of these men against women (the daughters, nieces, wives and mothers of men):

The same juvenilization of women, the rendering of them wards of men, can be seen in Bush's Iraq. Contrary to the propaganda Bush's team is so good at producing, the secular, Arab nationalist Baath Party had passed some of the more progressive laws and regulations about women in the Middle East. Iraqi women in the 1970s had unprecedented opportunities for education and entry into the professions. The Bushies like to pose as liberators of Muslim women, but they have brought to power Muslim fundamentalists who are obsessed with subjugating women.

Ed Wong of the NYT reports that a draft of the new Iraqi constitution contains a provision that puts personal status law under the authority of religious judges. Marriage, divorce, inheritance and other such matters would be judged according to the religious law of the community to which the person belonged. This step would be a big set back for women's rights in Iraq.

In the kind of medieval interpretation of Islamic law being envisioned, women would get half the inheritance that their brothers do. Their testimony would be worth half that of men in court (making it almost impossible for a woman to convict her rapist). It would allow men to summarily divorce women but deprive women of any similar right to divorce their husbands. In Shiite Islam, it would bring back formally the practice of temporary marriage, whereby a man could contract with a woman for, say a two-week marriage while he was away from his usual family. The provision that a quarter of seats in the Iraqi parliament go to women will certainly be gotten rid of by the Muslim fundamentalists, now or later.

Bush and his officials have been scathingly critical of Iran's governmental system, including lack of rights for women. But they have cast the shadow of medieval jurisprudence over 15 million Iraqi women. And they are trying as hard as they can to ensure paternity rights for rapists here in the United States.

Billmon is excellent on who Roberts is and the implications of the nomination.

For those who think that America has ever been about liberty and justice for all, consider that since our inception, there have only been two women and two blacks on the Supreme Court. White men have been and will remain to be the keepers of the seats in the highest court in the land - at least for the forseeable future. How shameful it is that Canada currently has four women serving on their Supreme Court - including the Chief Justice? We're moving backwards folks and we can thank a warmonger and man who sold his soul to right wing extremists: President George W. Bush.

As Above, So Below

As seems to be the threat here in the United States, women in Iraq are at risk of losing the rights they had under Saddam and the Ba'ath regime. We already know that extremists are flexing their muscles in southern Iraq but now it seems as though subjugation may become the constitutional law of the land.

"A working draft of a chapter of the new Iraq constitution has language that gives a strong role to Islamic law and could be used to curb women's rights, particularly in personal matters like divorce and family inheritance.

The document's writers are also debating whether to drop a measure enshrined in the interim constitution, co-written last year by the Americans, that requires at least a quarter of the Parliament to be made up of women.

That clause helped establish the current Parliament as among the most progressive in the region, at least in regard to the proportion of female members.

If it holds, the shift away from the more secular and equitable language of the interim constitution would represent a victory for Shiite clerics and religious politicians, who now wield enormous power and had chafed at the influence exercised by the Americans over that earlier document.

The Americans had insisted that Islam be designated as just 'a source' of legislation, for example. Several writers of the new constitution say they intend to, at the very least, designate Islam as 'a main source' of legislation.

One clause in the chapter draft obtained by The New York Times on Tuesday says that the government guarantees equal rights for women, as long as those rights do not 'violate Shariah,' or Koranic law."

That'll Teach 'Em!

Does anyone else get sick of this cowboy, shoot 'em up mentality that has only served to cause more violence against us and our allies? This circus clown of a Congressman thinks we should blow up Mecca to retaliate against terrorism. Of course he says it's hypothetical but come on folks! Do we really need that kind of cuckoo rhetoric floating around out there?

"A Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could 'take out' Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.

Rep. Tom Tancredo made his remarks Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Florida. His spokesman stressed he was only speaking hypothetically.

Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.

'Well, what if you said something like -- if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites,' Tancredo answered.

'You're talking about bombing Mecca,' Campbell said.

'Yeah,' Tancredo responded."

Who elects these people? (Nevermind ...).

Ann Coulter Is Scurred

It is only on rare occassions that I will link to Ann Coulter (or that manic Malkin) but this is interesting. I thought she had complete trust in her fearless leader but it seems that she is just as afraid of the unknown when it comes to Bush's "quick draw" nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court.

After pretending to consider various women and minorities for the Supreme Court these past few weeks, President Bush decided to disappoint all the groups he had just ginned up and nominate a white male.

So all we know about him for sure is that he can't dance and he probably doesn't know who Jay-Z is. Other than that, he is a blank slate. Tabula rasa. Big zippo. Nada. Oh, yeah...we also know he's argued cases before the supreme court. big deal; so has Larry Flynt's attorney.

But unfortunately, other than that that, we don’t know much about John Roberts. Stealth nominees have never turned out to be a pleasant surprise for conservatives. Never. Not ever.

Since the announcement, court-watchers have been like the old Kremlinologists from Soviet days looking for clues as to what kind of justice Roberts will be. Will he let us vote?

Does he live in a small, rough-hewn cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and avoid "women folk"?

Does he trust democracy? Or will he make all the important decisions for us and call them “constitutional rights.”

She may be right. He may be a surprise win for progressives. Somehow I doubt it but I can dream.

No Fries For You!

If this is any indication of his legal prowess, let's just board the stuck on stupid train now.

"On the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts would be called on to deal with some of the loftiest issues of U.S. jurisprudence. During his career in Washington, D.C., he ruled on a case that hinged on one of the simplest of human actions: the eating of a single french fry.

Last October, Roberts spoke for the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia in the case of the girl who was arrested at the age of 12 after she was seen popping a french fry into her mouth in a Metro station.

Roberts, writing for himself and two other judges, upheld the constitutionality of the Oct. 23, 2000, arrest of Ansche Hedgepeth. Her encounter with the Metro Transit Police drew national attention and was frequently condemned as an example of law enforcement excess. The policy that led to her being handcuffed was later changed.

While upholding the legality of the Metro police action, Roberts showed that he did not necessarily give it his personal stamp of approval.

'A 12-year-old girl was arrested, searched and handcuffed,' he wrote. 'Her shoelaces were removed and she was transported in the windowless rear compartment of a police vehicle to a juvenile processing center, where she was booked, fingerprinted and detained until released to the custody of her mother, some three hours later � all for eating a single french fry in a Metro rail station.'

However, Roberts wrote, the question that came before him was not whether Metro's policies on enforcing a rule of no eating in its transit system were a good idea. What came before him on an appeal was whether Metro's policies violated Ansche's constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

The Court of Appeals, he wrote, concluded that they did not."

Did the Bush twins get handcuffed and arrested for attempting to use fake id's to buy alcohol?

Love, Peace and Butt Grease!

Ignorant? Misogynistic? Backwards? Vulgar? Nasty? Un-Christian? Conduct un-becoming of a Pastor?

I really don't know what to call this side show of a sermon that was delivered by Rev. Willie Wilson of the Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington D.C. a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if he was trying to be "'bout it, 'bout it" with his congregation but I hardly find this kind of "coon show" (yes, I said COON SHOW), appropriate for the pulpit or anyplace else when coming out of the mouth of a man who is supposed to be there to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ.

Rev. Willie Wilson
'You'’ve Got to Fight to Be Free'
Union Temple Baptist Church
July 3, 2005


"We live in a time when our brothers have been so put down, can’t get a job, lot of the sisters making more money than brothers. And it’s creating problems in families. That’s one of the reasons our families’ breaking up. And that’s one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians.

You got to be careful when you say you don’t need no man. I can make it by myself. Well, if you don’t need a man, what’s left? Lesbianism is about to take over our community. I’m talking about young girls. My son in high school last year, trying to go to the prom, he said, ‘Dad, I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom because all the girls in my class are gay. There ain’t but two of them straight and both of them are ugly. I ain’t got nobody to take to the prom.’

Now, can I talk here? I ain’t homophobic, because everybody in here got something wrong with him. Whoever you point at, you can point at your own self. You got something wrong with your life. But when you get down to this thing, women falling down on another woman, strapping yourself up with something, it ain’t real. That thing ain’t got no feeling in it. It ain’t natural.

Any time somebody got to slap some grease on your behind, and stick something in you, it’s something wrong with that. Your butt ain’t made for that. [Audience shouts and yells its approval in the background.] You got blood vessels and membranes in your behind. And if you put something unnatural in there, it breaks them all up. No wonder your behind is bleeding. It’s destroying us.

Can’t make no connection with a screw and another screw. The Bible says God made them male and female. The Hebrew word "neged," which means complementary nature — there is something unique to man and unique to woman and it takes those two things to complement each other. You can’t make a connection with two screws. It takes a screw and a nut! (shouting)."

Aside from the totally fallacious reasoning and flawed conclusions, it just shows that he, like many other ministers, are willing to use vile language and imagerey to incite and inspire their audiences. I thought preachers were supposed to be teachers but from this sermon he'd have me believe:

• In line with the sexist rhetoric of many of his fellow ministers/religious conservatives, women are to blame for the destruction of the family.
  
• Women who are independent and well-paid have no choice but to become lesbians because they don't need men who make less money.
  
• His son, who obviously was taught that only "pretty" women are worthy, cannot find a prom date because all but two "ugly" girls in his class are lesbians.
  
• Church is the appropriate environment to discuss greased butts and strap ons.
  
• Bleeding butts are the ruination of the black community.
  

Our community is in trouble, alright. But people like the (very,I'm sure) Reverend Willie Wilson are part of the problem -- not the solution.

U.N.I.T.Y

Umoja means unity and unifying is what these women decided to do after fleeing abusive relationships with their husbands and families. Much to the chagrin of the abusive men in their lives, they built a thriving village with successful and profitable enterprises. Unfortunately, the sour grapes at seeing these women happy and self-sufficient is bringing out the violent nature of their patriarchal counterparts.

A group of Kenyan women who fled abusive husbands to set up their own women-only community are facing increasingly violent attacks by local men angry at their success.

Turning traditional African patriarchy on its head, 15 women established Umoja village in 1990, as a refuge after their husbands' behaviour forced them to flee their homes.

Since then the village where women rule has expanded, its 48 members earning a living selling tourists brightly-coloured bead necklaces unique to their tribe, the Samburu.

However this revolution in their midst has outraged elders in the nearest town, Archer's Post, one dusty street lined with two dozen wooden shacks, in a scorched valley 200 miles north of Nairobi.

Angry young men with no money in their pockets now stop minibuses taking tourists to the nearby Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves, warning drivers against stopping at Umoja.

Gangs a dozen strong have mounted daytime raids through the thorn fence circling the village, chasing the women into the bush, beating them with clubs and threatening to torch their stick-and-dung homes.

"We do not have peace in the village now. These men are so angry because we have money and we do not give them any," said Rebecca Lolosoli, 43, Umoja's de facto chief and one of its founders.

"We ran away first because we were being beaten and now we are trying to change our lives, we are being beaten again because of how we are doing well."

I think we see milder forms of this here in America. The religious right is blaming independent women for everything from the 9/11 attacks to obesity. I also think that same mentality is what fueled the zealousness behind the prosecution of Martha Stewart. So, while many are outraged at the violence against these abused women for "making it without a man," we also need to look at the similar history that has always been a part of America's male dominated society as well as the push, by some, to take it back there.

Santorum Blames The Boys

Oh my God! This is truly sad. Can Senator Rick Santorum possibly be this closed minded and ignorant? What century is this man living in where he thinks that young boys want to have a relationship with old priests? I cannot believe he thinks that this sick scandal was based on consensual relationships.

"In this case, what we're talking about, basically, is priests who were having sexual relations with post-pubescent men. We're not talking about priests with 3-year-olds, or 5-year-olds. We're talking about a basic homosexual relationship. Which, again, according to the world view sense is a a perfectly fine relationship as long as it's consensual between people. If you view the world that way, and you say that's fine, you would assume that you would see more of it. "

Has this man not seen the number of middle aged men who were molested by Priests as pre/young teens who are still struggling with the pain and shame of being violated? Has he not seen these grown men crying, still? Has he not seen the devastation and guilt that it has wreaked upon parents of faith who assumed that their children were safe when alone with the clergy?


link via Pandagon

It's The Occupation Stupid!

Though I don't agree with most of Pat Buchanan's ultra conservative views, he is not a neo-con and I agree with much of his assessment of the war and the massive mess we have made in Iraq.

"Few Americans have given more thought to the motivation of suicide bombers than Robert Pape, author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. His book is drawn from an immense database on every suicide-bomb attack from 1980 to early 2004. Conclusion: The claim that 9/11 and the suicide bombings in Iraq are done to advance some jihad by 'Islamofascists' against the West is not only unsubstantiated, it is hollow.

'Islamic fundamentalism is not as closely associated with suicide terrorism as many people think,' Pape tells The American Conservative in its July 18 issue. Indeed, the world's leader in suicide terror was the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. This secular Marxist group 'invented the famous suicide vest for their suicide assassination of Rajiv Ghandi in May 1991. The Palestinians got the idea of the vest from the Tamil Tigers.'

But if the aim of suicide bombers is not to advance Islamism in a war of civilizations, what is its purpose? Pape's conclusion:

'[S]uicide-terrorist attacks are not so much driven by religion as by a clear strategic objective: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland. From Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Chechnya to Kashmir to the West Bank, every major suicide terrorist campaign - over 95 percent of all incidents -– has had as its central objective to compel a democratic state to withdraw.'

The 9/11 terrorists were over here because we were over there. They are not trying to convert us. They are killing us to drive us out of their countries."
[...]
What Pape is saying is that the neocons' "World War IV" -– our invading Islamic countries to overthrow regimes and convert them into democracies - is suicidal, like stomping on an anthill so as not to be bitten by ants. It is the presence of U.S. troops in Islamic lands that is the progenitor of suicide terrorism.

Bush's cure for terrorism is a cause of the epidemic. The doctor is spreading the disease. The longer we stay in Iraq, the greater the number of suicide attacks we can expect. The sooner we get our troops out, the sooner terrorism over there and over here will end. So Pape says the data proves. This is the precise opposite of what George Bush argues and believes.

The most frustrating part of this all is the absolute refusal of Bushco to listen to anyone with alternative opinions - despite the carnage that is increasing on a daily basis. This is a man whose track record, with almost everything he has touched, is one of mediocrity or failure. This time, he made a grave mistake that is impacting the entire world. Admitting failure or mistakes with this, however, would prove to the entire globe, once and for all, that he is now and always has been a loser and I think he'd rather see the whole world go down in flames before acknowledging that.

Coalition Of Denial

I see Tony Blair and Jack Straw expect British citizens to believe that their pee is rain too.

"British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied today that Britain's support for the United States in its war against Iraq has made it more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Straw made his remarks on arrival at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, following a report by the London-based think-tank, the Royal Institute for International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, that linked the London bombings of July 7 to Britain's involvement in the Iraq war.

'I'm astonished that Chatham House is now saying that we should not have stood shoulder to shoulder with our long-standing allies in the United States,' he said.

Frank Gregory, of the University of Southampton and Professor Paul Wilkinson, of the University of St Andrews, said in their report: 'There is no doubt that the situation over Iraq has imposed particular difficulties for the UK, and for the wider coalition against terrorism.'

They added: 'The UK is at particular risk because it is the closest ally of the United States.'

The report concluded that the war in Iraq gave a 'boost' to Al-Qaeda's 'propaganda, recruitment and fund-raising', and made Britain especially vulnerable to suicide attacks.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said there is no link between the US-led war launched in 2003 and the first ever suicide bombs in the UK, in which at least 55 people were killed and some 700 injured. "

Feminism Dethrones Ketchup King

Heinz is in the toilet and it's all women's fault.

Klein describes himself as a psychiatrist in his mid-60s who's concerned by "the relentless destruction of stable family life in America." The root cause of the malaise, according to Klein, is rampant "feminist careerism."

"Obviously, my views are not politically correct. Nobody could be more politically incorrect than Dr. Mark Klein," he says with great pride. "I think in a few years I will be politically correct."

In a few years, he could also be running for president.

Klein says he's considering entering the Republican presidential primaries in 2008 because "the collapse of the American family is such a catastrophe that we in this country need new leadership, and I'm prepared to do that."

"I'm probably the darkest of all the dark horses you could imagine," he says.

In the meantime, Klein will be on the ballot when Heinz shareholders convene Aug. 23 at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, Downtown. Klein, who owns 1,642 Heinz shares, is sponsoring a resolution calling for the ketchup king to hire an investment banker to explore the sale of the company.
[...]
Klein's basic argument is that Heinz is a company going nowhere. Like other food companies, it's in a bind over what he says is an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, diseases more Americans are inflicted with because their moms aren't home to prepare and serve home-cooked meals.

He says that as parents, investors can't afford to own Heinz because the cost of a home and college education is going up faster than the price of Heinz shares. Epidemiological consequences aside, Klein believes Heinz should sell itself, preferably to private equity investors who could generate better returns on the company's well-known brands.

You'll find the vague outlines of his argument in materials recently served to Heinz shareholders. But the meat and potatoes, as it were, of Klein's proxy statement addresses what he calls "the profoundly negative social and economic train wreck wrought by feminist careerism."

"With both parents working full time, too few adults and children eat nutritious, portion-controlled, home-cooked meals," he warns shareholders. "To reverse the epidemic, more mothers need to be at home to prepare nutritious balanced meals and supervise the childrens' snacking."

Klein's argument at Heinz is more elaborate than the bare-bones case he presented when he unsuccessfully sponsored a similar resolution at Kellogg's shareholder meeting in April. That effort was accompanied by a demonstration by fathers' rights activists, a sideshow he'd like to orchestrate when Heinz shareholders meet. Klein says battling Kellogg's made him realize the proxy statement can be a bully pulpit for arguing social as well as shareholder issues.

"The social message of the feminist catastrophe and what it has done to America is the second pillar why I'm doing this," he says. "This is my opportunity to reach a very significant audience with ideas they generally don't hear."

I guess I have to laugh even though I know guys like this are dead serious and their views are right in line with the religious conservative (Taliban-esque) ideals that would send us back to the dark ages. What's sad is that decades after the fact, men like this still don't take any responsibility for the reasons that feminism arose and refuse to take anymore responsibility for the family than they did "in the good old days."

Ghost Army?

Who Is Accountable!?

"A tidal wave of corruption may ensure the Iraqi army and police will be too few and too poorly armed to replace American and British forces fighting anti-government insurgents. That could frustrate plans in Washington and London to reduce their forces in Iraq.

The Iraqi armed forces are full of 'ghost battalions' in which officers pocket the pay of soldiers who never existed or have gone home. 'I know of at least one unit which was meant to be 2,200 but the real figure was only 300 men,' said a veteran Iraqi politician and member of parliament, Mahmoud Othman. 'The US talks about 150,000 Iraqis in the security forces but I doubt if there are more than 40,000.'

The army and police are poorly armed despite heavy expenditure. 'The interim government spent $5.2bn ($2.6bn) on the ministry of defence and ministry of the interior during six months but there is little to show for it,' said a senior Iraqi official who did not want his name published.

He cited the case of more than $300m spent on buying 24 military helicopters and other equipment from Poland. When Iraqi experts examined the helicopters they found them to be 28 years old - and their manufacturer recommended that they be scrapped after 25 years. Iraq is now trying to get its money back.

The corruption started under the US-run Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 when Iraqis, often with little experience, were appointed to senior positions in ministries. The Iraqis did not act alone. 'The Americans were the partners of the Iraqis in all this corruption,' says Dr Othman. The results of the failure to buy effective arms are visible at every Iraqi police or army checkpoint. The weapons on display are often ageing Kalashnikovs. The supposedly elite police commandos drive about in elderly pick-ups with no armour. The ministry of the interior was recently unable to provide a presidential guard with 50 pistols.

As a result of the lack of weapons, the Iraqi police and army are often less well-armed than the insurgents.

Iraqi soldiers have often turned out to be pathetically vulnerable to guerrilla attacks. 'During the past two years, people could make money in Iraq on a scale that would astonish a Colombian drug lord,' said an Iraqi politician who, like many, wanted to remain anonymous. 'To protect the amounts of money they made, these people will kill very easily.' Meanwhile, the new Defence Minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, complains he inherited so little infrastructure that he has to bring in tea bags to his office so he can offer tea to visitors.

The Iraqi government hoped it would be able to obtain weapons free from the US but that has turned out to be a frustrating process. An official said: 'The Americans don't trust our soldiers or policemen. They say the arms might fall into the hands of insurgents. But I tell them the insurgents already have these kind of weapons so why should they want some more?'"

Catholics Need Not Apply

I try not to be taken aback anymore when I hear someone (generally from one of America's homegrown denominations of Christianity) reveal their view that Catholics aren't Christian and proceed to give a list of very nebulous and nonsensical reasons. On more than one occassion, they've pointed to a site which produces religious tracts as their source. They would be funny if they weren't so scary and if people didn't believe them. The Catholic Church is aware of them but I don't think that most Catholics have a clue that so many people are running around with such crazy ideas about the faith. I'll bet that this adoption agency has some sort of misguided reason for why they feel Catholicism conflicts with their 'Statement of Faith.'

"A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's 'Statement of Faith.'

Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.

'It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith,' Bethany's state director Karen Stewart wrote. 'Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy.'

Sandy and Robert Steadman, who learned of Bethany's decision in a July 8 letter, said their priest told them the faith statement did not conflict with Catholic teaching.

Loria Williams of nearby Ridgeland said she and her husband, Wes, had a similar experience when they started to pursue an adoption in September 2004.

'I can't believe an agency that's nationwide would act like this,' Loria Williams said. 'There was an agency who was Christian based but wasn't willing to help people across the board.'

Bethany, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has 75 offices in 30 states, including three in Mississippi. The offices are independently incorporated and are affiliated with various religions, spokesman John Van Valkenburg said from the agency headquarters. He couldn't say whether any were Catholic-affiliated.

He said the Jackson office is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of America.

'They included this practice of not including Catholics,' Van Valkenburg said Friday."

(link via atrios)

Food For The Soul

I would like to know what kind of faith the Catholic Church, as well as many Evangelicals who feel the same way, is preaching if they believe that works of fiction and childhood fantasy can distort Christianity? Are the teachings that weak or minds that pliable? Exactly how stupid and unimaginative does the church need it's followers to be?

"The Pope believes the Harry Potter books 'distort Christianity in the soul', according to two letters published on the internet.

The comments were made to a German author who wrote Harry Potter - Good or Evil? which criticises J K Rowling's best-selling series.

Gabriele Kuby sent Pope Benedict XVI a copy of the book in 2003, when he was still a cardinal, and the pontiff's replies have now been published.

'It is good that you enlighten people about Harry Potter because these are subtle seductions which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly,' wrote the Pope.

He thanked Kuby for her 'instructive' book, in which she says the Potter series corrupts the hearts of the young, preventing them developing a sense of good and evil.

In a second letter, sent two months later, the Pope 'gladly' gave his permission for Kuby to make his judgment public.

The signed letters were published days before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series is published.

The Vatican had previously given the books an apparent seal of approval.

Dane Crow

I'm trying to find the logic in refusing to serve German and French tourists because one doesn't like the decisions that their leaders made. There are tons of ways to show support (or sympathy as he states) for the United States without discriminating against people based on their national origin. Moreover, and not even mentioning jail time, I think it is downright looney to destroy one's own business and livelihood in order to promote hate.

A Danish pizzeria owner was jailed Tuesday for refusing to serve French and German tourists in protesting their countries' opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

A Danish court found Aage Bjerre guilty of discrimination and fined him $900. Bjerre refused to pay, and will now serve an eight-day sentence.

'I'm doing it to show my sympathy with the United States. It shows how seriously I mean it,' he told The Associated Press by telephone. 'But one should also remember that eight days is a small price to pay when American soldiers go to Iraq and risk their limbs and lives.'

In February 2003, before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Bjerre posted two signs barring Germans and French from his pizzeria on Denmark's western island of Fanoe. His refusal to serve them drew criticism in this Scandinavian country, where the government supported the war while its citizens were split.

The 46-year-old received hundreds of fan letters from the United States, but had to sell the pizzeria after repeated vandalism and a large drop in sales.

He is bringing a photograph of President Bush and Laura Bush, as well as an American flag, to decorate the walls of his prison cell: 'I think that will brighten up the room,' he said."

Not surprisingly, certain conservatives like interment camp fanatic Michelle Malkin, are praising him and some are even taking up collections for him (won't even post a link to that foolishness). I say let him stay broke. He stood by his principles. Let him stand beside his "out of business" sign!

Thank God For Liberalism

Rick Santorum's backwards comments regarding the Catholic church's sex abuse scandal are wrong at so many levels that it's hard to know where to begin disputing them. His views and statements are not only inaccurate and divisive (when unity is mandated) , they are just downright sad.

"Angry sex abuse victims and Democrats are demanding that U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum apologize for three-year-old 'insensitive' and 'self-serving' remarks that blamed Boston's liberal cultural, political and academic institutions for causing the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal.

The firestorm ignited on the same day, Wednesday (July 13), that a new poll showed that Santorum, R-Pa., continues to trail state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. by 11 percentage points in the campaign for the 2006 U.S. Senate election.

The issue could further hurt Santorum's standing in a campaign where he and Casey, both anti-abortion Catholics, will be courting the Catholic vote. Experts suggested it may also influence moderate voters, who remain uneasy with Santorum.

'Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture,' Santorum wrote in a mostly overlooked July 12, 2002, column for the Web site Catholic Online. 'When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.'

Santorum's comments and his refusal to back away from them even after The Boston Globe reported them this week left abuse victims, analysts and Democrats, particularly those from Massachusetts, up in arms.

'We think his initial comments were off base and hurtful and would hope that he would have grown in his understanding of the crisis over the last three years,' said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

'It's disturbing that he had a chance to offer a more nuanced and balanced view of the crisis, but chose not to,' said Clohessy, whose 6,000-member group includes several hundred in Santorum's home state."

The most astounding thing is that Santorum's comments seem to imply that sexual abuse - by priests or anyone else - is a new thing. To its credit, liberalism may be to blame for the openness and honestly that finally brought this dark and evil issue to light. It's been happening, no doubt, since the beginning of time. Conservative ridgidness and shame have made it too taboo to discuss until recently and victims, quite often, were taught to repress or take responsibility for something that wasn't their fault. I suppose he'd be perfectly happy to have this vile behavior buried in the archives again ... as though not talking about it will erase its prevalence. He won't back down from his statements and I hope that the thousands of victims don't back down from their criticism of him.

And Still They Breed ...

While I am still gritting my teeth over the woman who rotated her children in and out of her trunk on a long car trip, I cannot even find the words for the sheer lunacy behind this murder. Not even hours before I ran across this article, I was having a discussion on one of my lists about black and Hispanic machismo/homophobia. This fool exemplified it in spades.

"Even though the boy would shake and wet himself, his father, Ronnie Paris Jr., would box with the 3-year-old, slapping him in the head until he cried because he didn't want his son to grow up to be "a sissy," the boy's mother testified Monday.

Others corroborated Nysheerah Paris' testimony as the prosecution built its case during the first day of the capital murder trial of Ronnie Paris Jr., 21, accused of abusing 3-year- old Ronnie Paris until the boy slipped into a coma Jan. 22.

He died six days later with swelling on both sides of his brain.

"He was trying to teach him how to fight," said Shanita Powell, Nysheerah Paris' sister. "He was concerned that the child might be gay."

Even Sheldon Bostic, who was Ronnie Paris Jr.'s Bible-study friend, said he warned the father several times not to play so rough with his son.

"He really did what other fathers do - slap box," Bostic said. "He always said he didn't want his son growing up to be pushed around."

"Did Ronnie use a term for that?" asked Jalal Harb, an assistant state attorney.

"He didn't want him to be a sissy," Bostic said."

That Bible-study comes into play in any part of this horrendous story is sickening. If ever there comes a time when granting licences to breed becomes law, people like this need to be forever denied!

Well, Isn't This Touching

I'm not sure if this is cynical, realistic or opportunistic I guess there is probably a market for everything - including adultery.

A Maryland woman has started a line of greeting cards aimed at reaching out and touching adulterers.

For example, Cathy Gallagher's Secret Lover Collection of greeting cards offers a Christmas card that reads, 'As we each celebrate with our families, I will be thinking of you,' the Baltimore Sun reports.

Gallagher, of Bethesda, Md., says she expects hot sales since so many married people have affairs.

But, the Sun reports, some retailers won't carry the cards out of fear of alienating customers, while others say their customers would be too ashamed to buy them.

Despite the naysayers, however, Gallagher says her business is off to a good start as she fills orders across the country.

Gallagher says she does not condone affairs and simply saw an untapped market. And the mother of two and wife for 15 years says she has no intention of ever using her own product.

'You don't have to be a murderer to write a murder mystery,' she says."

That's Harsh, Dude!

Except for the fact that the man is 63 and probably won't see life outside of prison ever again, I'm not feeling a whole lot of pain for him.

"Bernard Ebbers, who as the once-swaggering CEO of WorldCom oversaw the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history, wept in court Wednesday when a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison - the toughest sentence yet in the string of recent corporate scandals.

Ebbers, now 63, would go to prison in October and not be eligible for release until he was 85. The sentence was handed down by Judge Barbara Jones of U.S. District Court in Manhattan three years after WorldCom collapsed in an $11 billion accounting fraud, wiping out billions of investor dollars.

'I find that a sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of this crime,' Jones said.

Ebbers sniffled audibly and dabbed at his eyes with a white tissue as he was sentenced. He did not address the court. His wife, Kristie Ebbers, cried quietly. Later, the two embraced as the courtroom emptied."

I'll bet this is not how he thought he'd spend his retirement. BTW, when is Ken Lay getting his stripes?

More Like Urkel

So she made a little "funny" by comparing Dubya to the goofy looking MAD magazine character...

Republicans took aim at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday for comparing President Bush to Mad magazine's freckle-faced, "What, me worry?" kid, Alfred E. Neuman.

A Republican National Committee official said the former first lady was "part of today's angry and adrift Democrat Party," while a spokesman for one of her potential 2006 Senate rivals said she was guilty of "insulting the president."

"At a time when President Bush and most elected officials are focused on the security of our nation, Mrs. Clinton seems focused on taking partisan jabs and promoting her presidential campaign," added New York's GOP chairman, Stephen Minarik. "Her priorities are clearly out of whack."

Clinton's attack on the president came Sunday during a speech in Colorado.

"I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington," Clinton said during the inaugural Aspen Ideas Festival, organized by the Aspen Institute, a non-partisan think tank.

The former first lady drew a laugh from the crowd when she described Bush's attitude toward tough issues with Neuman's catch phrase: "What, me worry?"

But I think she's a little inaccurate. With all of the bumbling, miscalculations and horrific mistakes this President has made, I'd say he's a bit more like Urkel and though he won't admit it publicly, is probably roaming through the White House saying: "Did I do that?"

Where A Woman's Smile Is A Crime

While Bush regurgitates the same old story about bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq, we see that just the opposite is happening in the, not much discussed, Southern region of the country.

"In Basra these days, it's not uncommon to see armed men from Shiite religious groups standing at the gates of Basra University, scrutinizing female students to make sure their dresses are the right length and their makeup properly modest.

Any woman violating their standards of Muslim dignity, relates Henan, a psychology student, is ordered home. 'These religious militiamen tell us how to dress, and prevent us from listening to music in public or interacting with male students,' she says. 'It makes me burn inside.'

Henan is not the only Basran furious at the extremist Shiite Muslims who now dominate this southern Iraqi port city bordering Iran. Especially among the middle and intellectual classes, an increasing drumbeat of resentment is rising about what many see as a distortion of Basra's traditionally easygoing, tolerant attitudes toward life.

'No alcohol, no music CDs, woman forced to wear hijab, people murdered in the streets - this is not the city I remember,' says Samir, an editor of one of Basra's largest newspapers. (His name, and others, have been changed for security reasons.) 'In the past, Basra revolted against attempts to make it too Islamic.'

One woman living in Basra says, 'Before, we had Saddam; now we have religious parties and militias. To them, a woman's smile is a crime.

I thought the point of our invasion was to make Iraq an example for the Arab world, not for Iraq mimic the oppressive, religious regimes of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Indispensable Man

I have purposely refrained from ranting about the revelation that Karl Rove is the lying, leaker of the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA Agent. Scott McClellan has been stonewalling the press - despite them getting very aggressive with him about the glaring inconsistencies in statements by him, Bush and Rove. Bush is doing his deaf/mute act. Rove splitting hairs on what giving a name means. We know, as this blogger does, that Bush will not fire Rove and they will "play crazy" until the press and the democrats move on.

Democrats should not get too excited about the presumed crisis confronting Rove. Short of a criminal indictment, Rove is not going anywhere. As I wrote in my blog this morning, for Bush to get rid of Rove, would be like Charlie McCarthy firing Edgar Bergen.

Rove is to this Bush what Lee Atwater was to the father, except more so. He actually created W as a candidate for Governor and then for President. Bush was, and is well aware of how Rove operates. He peddles in gossip, innuendo and rumor to destroy his enemies. Ironically, in this instance he was divulging the truth.

Rove also understands internal GOP politics. It is likely he gave the speech a couple of weeks ago attacking liberals to cement his relationship with the right as he enters this difficult time with the Plame prosecutor. Also, he may be influential in promoting conservative replacements on the Supreme Court to further bolster his standing with the right.

Rove is the nerve center of today's Republican Party. The White House is already lowering the bar for punishment in the Plame case. Unless, the prosecutor has the goods on Karl, he stays. The President and the GOP has no choice. Rove is the closest in Washington to the indispensable man.

(Even if Rove were to be fired, it would only be symbolic and Bush would still be on a 24 hour Rove IV being pumped with strategy and information).

Still Harping?

Holy Joseph's Baby Mama! Are folks still on this? Nobody knows what woulda happened if Oprah had been Madonna or Celine Dion. If the store was closed (if the store is lying about that, that is a different issue), the store was closed. If the Oprah camp wanted special treatment (which I am sure they could have gotten), they should have called ahead and made an appointment instead of showing up at the 11th hour (cp time), and ending up with their noses pressed to the glass.

Had she been Madonna or Celine Dion, perhaps they would have recognized her. Albeit popular in many countries, she is a talk show host and philanthropist, not a world renowned singer. Maybe, just maybe, the security guards didn't recognize her. Yes, this is still the real world and if Gayle and Oprah showed up unannounced (and without makeup), they may have looked like any other random negro trying to shop with no money! I once saw store clerks totally dis' fellow American (white) travelers in Switzerland because they looked like blue collar bumpkins and the sales clerks glared at them as though saying "you know you cannot afford a damn thing in here!"

When news of Hermes' allegedly racist rebuff of Oprah Winfrey spread, many Americans were shocked. How could one of the world's most famous women and the wealthiest black woman in the United States be turned away by the Parisian retailer? It's simple, Derrick K. Baker writes in a Houston Chronicle commentary: 'While liberals and fairy-tale-living Republicans might be inclined to believe that financial prosperity and global humanitarianism are great equalizers and neutralizers of all things racial, black skin sadly remains the great diminisher.'

Hermes' official explanation is that the store was closed so staffers could prepare for a special event. But Baker argues, 'Had Oprah been Celine Dion or Madonna, the doors to Hermes would've opened so swiftly those stars might have caught a head cold. They would have been offered entrance, even if they had to be admonished to avoid the workers setting up for the event, or given a finite amount of time to shop.'

Because, really, when you have a customer with Winfrey's money (a reported $225 million in 2004 alone) and the power to turn a book you couldn't pay a high-school student to read into a bestseller, it's not a wise business move to turn her away.

All I know is that I am sick of hearing about it! Are the people of Paris going to boycott Hermes? I doubt it! She can be a disgruntled black customer if she wants to but she will only come off looking like a spoiled American.

Out Of The Hands Of The Church

This is a pretty concise view of the panic driven conniptions that Rick Santorum and his posse on the far right are having regarding modern life in America.

"You know, a lot's being made of Rick Santorum's new book, particularly the many parts where the good senator's pen slipped and wrote something honest. Most of those parts have to do with the great evils of feminism, of female career advancement, of two wage families, of modern life. But -- and deep breath here -- that's okay. Dobson and Robertson and Falwell and Bauer like to pin the tail on the homo when fulminating against marriage's enemies. But that's silly. Homosexuals don't threaten today's marriage, they simply codify the defeat of yesterday's.

When Santorum slips and blames emancipated wives, he's actually being the most honest of the bunch. The fundamentalist conception of marriage as a duty demanded by God made perfect sense when it was an obligation imposed by society. Back then, partners were chosen for you, reproduction was required (the upper class would divorce the infertile, the lower class often only married the already-pregnant), and women were locked into the union, lacking both property rights and job opportunities. By allowing childless unions, marriages for love, and female equality, we destroyed traditional marriages. Indeed, it's only once we had watered marriage down to a mere social codification of love that gays and lesbians could even think the institution applicable to them, much less attractive.

Dobson and friends are fighting against a symptom, at least Santorum is going after the root. And that's a much better debate to have. Because what they hate isn't homosexual equality, but the equality that's transformed marriage, the equality that includes women, prizes individual choice, and places limits on sexual determinism. They hate that marriage is now controlled by individuals rather than God, or as He was colloquially known, the Church. Marriage has been taken out of their hands and put into ours, control over it rests with both genders, its purpose and conventions are revised with each union. That's what scares them and, though they think it politically inadvisable, it's what they really want to talk about. We should encourage them."

As If Giving Birth Isn't Hard Enough

Using Bush's logic, I guess all the mothers dying in childbirth are worth the sacrifice for his efforts in Iraq.

"Like her newly democratic homeland, Khanim has dealt with major birth pains the last few years. After the 2003 war that toppled Saddam Hussein, the number of women who gave birth at home shot up to about two-thirds. Of those, 80 percent had nobody with any formal training present at the birth. Far from lifesaving emergency care, many mothers died from preventable complications.

Today, nobody knows exactly how many mothers are dying in Iraq. Violence has prevented medical experts from measuring the maternal mortality rate since late 2003, when the number of Iraqi women who died from childbirth climbed to 370 per 100,000 - triple its 1990 rates and 31 times the US rate of 12. The UN Population Fund concluded that the war and its aftermath had made an old problem 'suddenly become very much worse.'

Medical experts worry that even more mothers are dying, their deaths uncounted and unreported due to the violence that grips this country. So people like Khanim have become a vital force in helping usher in Iraq's next generation.

In Kurdistan, the peaceful northern region where Khanim lives, poverty and ignorance keep many mothers from hospitals. But in most of Iraq, violence keeps women at home. In Baghdad, according to a 2003 Health Ministry assessment, 1 in 5 women said 'insecurity' prevented them from getting healthcare during their last pregnancy."

link via feministe

Straighten Up And Lie Right

If she's not lying, she's crazy. I think it is the former because, like others in the Bush cabal, Condoleezza Rice lies in the face of failure. For her to form her mouth to say that terrorism is not being fueled by our actions in Iraq is both absurd and insulting.

"Condoleezza Rice was interviewed today by the BBC and she was asked a very good question:

BEALE: Do you think that Britain and America in Iraq are perhaps fighting the wrong war? They went to war to remove physical weapons of mass destruction but partly Saddam Hussein as well, but that hasn't stopped the terrorist attacks in Western cities like Madrid, in London today. It seems to have fueled those attacks.

RICE: Oh, I don't think that anything is being fueled here except the fact that the terrorists are finally being confronted. Again, they were --— they'’ve been doing this now for a couple of decades and for a while the world, going all the way back to Beirut and going back to the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 or the attacks on American Embassies in 1998, this has been going on for a while."

Yeah, sistah girl ... whatever you say.

Here, There And Everywhere

I woke up in the middle of the night (PST) and saw the breaking news about the bombings in London on CNN. At that point, they weren't even sure if they had been bombed and that there may have just been some kind of malfunction on the trains. However, by the time I awoke this morning, it was clear that four bombs had been unleashed, several people were killed and hundreds were injured. Just in time for the G8 meetings and the celebration of London's selection for the 2012 Olympics, it appears that al-Qaeda has left its footprint again.

"Closely co-ordinated attacks aimed at 'soft' civilian targets without warning pointed towards a group linked to, or at least inspired, by al-Qaeda, he added.

Whitehall sources say every resource is being used, but it may take some days before a picture emerges of who was to blame.

Police said they were examining a claim on the website of a previously unknown group, the Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe, saying it was behind the blast.

The statement said the attacks were revenge for the 'massacres' Britain was committing in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the country was now 'burning with fear and panic'.

It warned Denmark and Italy they faced similar attacks if they did not withdraw their troops from the Middle East."

As if I weren't sick enough of all the killing in Iraq and Afghanistan, this war -- that was supposedly taken to the enemy to keep him from our shores -- has obviously broadened its horizons. And no, I am not feeling any safer. Bush and Blair are still spouting that "stay the course" rhetoric but they need to meditate on the words of Dr. Phil and asked each other "How's that working for you?" Clearly the course isn't working too well. I'm just too disgusted to go on about this ...

This Ought To Be Interesting

I'll just take a wild shot and the dark and guess that this wasn't part of our plan.

"Former enemies Iran and Iraq say they will launch broad military co-operation including training Iraqi armed forces.

'It's a new chapter in our relations with Iraq,' said Iranian Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani.

He was speaking at a joint news conference in Tehran with his Iraqi counterpart Saadoun al-Dulaimi.

Relations between the neighbours - who fought a bitter war from 1980 to 1988 - have improved greatly since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

This is the first visit to Iran by an Iraqi military delegation since the war, in which a million people died, started.

The promise of co-operation comes despite repeated accusations by the US - which has about 140,000 troops in Iraq - that Iran has been undermining security there.

'No one can prevent us from reaching an agreement,' Mr Shamkhani said when asked about possible US opposition."

Bush critics have been saying for months that we should ask and allow our so-called allies to train Iraqi troops in their respective countries. We could be so much further along had we taken that advice. Now, a coordinate in Bush's "axis of evil" is offering to do what we wouldn't.

The Last Word On Memin Pinguin

I had a number of "disagreements" with folks in cyberspace last week because I basically saw the Mexican point of view regarding this postage stamp featuring a popular cartoon who happened to resemble old "darkie" images that make most black people cringe. I found this article via Negrophile.com today and I think it sums up what I was trying to relate to people as I defended Vicente Fox's stand.

I was pondering all that and wondering about the hidden history of peoples of African descent in Mexico when it happened. I ran into Memin Pinguin at a newsstand. My reaction upon looking at his face was conflicted. There was the immediate joy of re-encounter with an old love long forgotten. How could I have lost all memory of him? Yet almost simultaneously, I recoiled at his sight. How could I have loved something so obviously insensitive and harmful?

The answer, of course, was that there was nothing "obvious" about the meaning of Memin Pinguin. He did not have the same meaning for Mexicans as he might for Americans, or for Mexicans like me with more knowledge about the history and power of images similar to his in U.S. culture and society at large. My experience in the United States and the knowledge I had acquired about its history had made me sensitive to questions of race, racism and stereotypes. I saw Memin in a new light because I had changed. For most Mexicans, however, he had not changed in the intervening years. There was no reason, because Mexican history had not changed in this regard.

Thus, rather than condemning Mexico for issuing Memin Pinguin stamps, the federal government and U.S. citizens would be better off encouraging a cross- border conversation about race in all its complexities. Such a conversation might then inspire youth on both sides of the border to ask the questions I never asked, not only about the history of people of African descent in Mexico, but also about the root causes of racism, discrimination and inequality in both nations. Surely, that is a concern people across both countries share -- and the reason why we all care about Memin Pinguin.

One of the first things I heard from both sides about the stamp was reference to America's own "stereotypical" cartoon: Speedy Gonzales. Mexicans claimed they didn't get offended by the cartoon so Americans needed to shush. Americans were charging that Mexicans wouldn't like it if we issued Speedy Gonzales stamps. That made me think.

I was too young to associate Speedy Gonzales with a nationality or ethnic group. It was a cartoon to me and I never really thought of cartoons as people. The same went for Quick Draw McGraw and his sidekick Baba Looey. Further, though I see the rather blatant stereotypes now, I never related many of those old television characters to real human beings. Among them were: Pancho from the Cisco Kid, Tonto from The Lone Ranger and Hop
Sing from Bonanza ... yet those were popular and classic TV shows. I know Bonanza still airs on TV Land but I imagine you can still find the other shows on random channels someplace in the cable universe. So, as "racist" as those shows may have been and as aware of their content as I now am, I think I understand how Mexico feels about Memin Pinguin.

Given that I still burst into laughter as I remember catching the wrath of my HS Biology teacher (and the raucous laughter of my classmates) when I made a small habit of squealing "Amoeba, meba, meba!" (instead of Arriba as Speedy Gonzales did), in biology lab every other day, I might be hard pressed not to buy Speedy Gonzales stamps if they were ever issued because of the memories attached to that character.

As I stated in my other posts regarding this topic (listed below), I think we have bigger and more important issues to worry about given the state of our country -- both domestically and abroad. Folks need to lighten up, laugh a little and reminisce about favorite books, TV shows or cartoons from days gone by.

Related Posts:
http://blog.qusan.com/2005/06/so-its-little-samboesque.html
http://blog.qusan.com/2005/06/oh-jesus-cristo.html
http://blog.qusan.com/2005/07/mexicos-fox-not-backing-down.html

'Dat's Black Luv!

It's bad enough that I found myself watching this show last week, and found it humorous in a horrific kind of way, but this display of disfunction and insanity (not speaking figuratively either) broke Bravo's viewing records!

More than a million people tuned in to watch Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston in all of their substance-abused glory last week. The premiere of Being Bobby Brown netted 1.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series debut on the channel since 2003 and the best Thursday premiere in Bravo's 25-year history -- all despite reviews that were about as ugly as Bobby telling Whitney he had to dig a dootie bubble out of her butt. (This is where Whitney announces "That's love! That's black luv" ... purposely sounding ever so ghetto).^*

If it's reality, then it has to be reality, Bobby said, explaining the show's warts-and-all depiction of his family. And reality has to be real. And that's the one thing we decided when we decided to do this - nothing's going to be scripted like other, reality shows. It's just what is going on at that moment in my life. So some of the show, you might just see me sitting there all day, just in the house. But it's hilarious to show that I do.

"Being Bobby Brown's" 1.1 household rating was nearly a 200 percent improvement over Bravo's season average in the time period, and the show's 18-49 audience of 829,000 was almost 300 percent larger than usual.

"'Being Bobby Brown' shows a rarely displayed verite glance at the lives of a pop culture icon and his famous family," Bravo President Lauren Zalaznick says, according to Zap2it.com. "The strong growth of the series over the course of the first two episodes demonstrates the audience's desire to come to Bravo for a deep, inside peek into the lives of these megastars."

More viewers tuned in to the second episode of "Being Bobby Brown's" back-to-back premiere, a positive sign for a new series -- especially one that was first pitched to its star while he was locked up."

I really cannot even find the words to describe this show. Perhaps it's sort of like The Osbornes meets the crew from Friday. One thing is certain. Bobby and Whitney, despite all public perceptions that this was a grave mismatch, are definitely a pair made in heaven.

^*My comment.

Again?!

Why can't this fool stay on his bicycle?

"President Bush collided with a local police officer and fell during a bike ride on the grounds of the Gleneagles golf resort while attending a meeting of world leaders Wednesday.

Bush suffered 'mild to moderate' scrapes on his hands and arms that required bandages by the White House physician, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. The accident occurred on asphalt, McClellan said. It was raining lightly at the time, and Bush was wearing a helmet.

Police said the officer suffered a 'very minor' ankle injury.

The officer was on a security detail. He is a member of the police department of Strathclyde, a nearby town, McClellan said.

The president talked with the officer to make sure he was all right, and also asked White House physician Richard Tubb to monitor the officer's condition at the hospital.

The presidential bike suffered some damage, McClellan said, so Bush rode back to the hotel in a Secret Service vehicle.

The fall did not affect the president's schedule. Dressed in a tuxedo, he attended a dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth at the annual Group of Eight economic summit. He showed no signs of distress.

A year ago, Bush was cut and bruised when he sailed over the handlebars while riding a mountain bike at his Texas ranch.

In 2003, he tried out a Segway, the standup, motorized scooter at the family's seaside estate in Maine. It went down on his first attempt, but he stayed on his feet with a flying leap over the machine. Undeterred, he got on again and cruised around the driveway with his father."

Lil' Kim To Meet Big Mama

It's not like I'm a fan so .... oh well ... But, if people like she and Martha Stewart are going to prison for "lying," what should happen to people in the Bush administration for lying about the reasons for going to war? (And, when is Ken Lay going to be brought to justice)?

Grammy-winning rapper Lil' Kim was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in prison and fined $50,000 for lying to a federal grand jury to protect friends involved in a 2001 shootout outside a Manhattan radio station.
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While many rappers have served time in prison, Lil' Kim is the first big-name female to do so.

Lil' Kim (real name: Kimberly Jones) could have gotten up to 20 years — five years each on three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy — at her sentencing before U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch. She was convicted of the charges in March.

Lil' Kim, who turns 30 next week, was the sidekick and mistress of the late Notorious B.I.G. As a solo artist, she has become known for her revealing outfits and raunchy lyrics. She won a Grammy in 2001 for her part in the hit remake of "Lady Marmalade."

The rapper told the grand jury she did not notice two of her close friends at the scene of the shootout — her manager, Damion Butler, and Suif Jackson, known as "Gutta." Both have pleaded guilty to gun charges.

On a side note, if Martha Stewart was dubbed M. Diddy during her prison stay, what will Li'l Kim be called?

And Still They Lie ... Some More

This administration's plan has been so much about beating the opposition at home that everything is a constant spin or stretch of the truth. We all know that there was no al Qaeda/Saddam connection prior to the war yet, like the constant references to 9/11, Bush keeps trying to confuse his daft followers with a correlation.

"Here'’s a transcript of a Q&A between ITV (UK) and Bush about Iraq:

Q: You talk about terrorism in Iraq, but when we spoke before the war, there was no terrorism in Iraq. And you'’re now making Iraq the front line of the war on terrorism. But the terrorists have only recently arrived there, arrived since the war on Iraq.

BUSH: No, I beg your pardon. Zarqawi, Mr. Zarqawi, who is leading the terrorist effort in Iraq now, was in Iraq prior to our discussion.

Q: No al Qaeda in Iraq before the war, Mr. President.

BUSH: No, Zarqawi, Mr. Zarqawi was, absolutely. He was.

Bush has hung onto this Zarqawi claim as all his other rationales for attacking Iraq have faded. In fact, this claim is as false as the WMD claim. The story of Zarqawi has been a microcosm for how ineptly the whole Iraq conflict has been managed. Here'’s a quick CliffsNotes version:" (read more)

Love Child, Love Child, Different From The Rest ...

He can dress him up but I am not sure the Prince of Monaco can take his half black love child out.

"Lawyer Thierry Lacoste said in a statement that the prince, who is not married and has no heir, wanted to face up to his responsibilities.

He said the child, aged 22 months, would not be in line to the throne and would not have the name Grimaldi.

The prince, 47, said he hoped his son could avoid the media spotlight.

Prince Albert's father, Rainier III, died in April aged 81.

Rumours of the prince having a child with former Air France flight attendant Nicole Coste, who is Togolese and holds French citizenship, emerged in some parts of the French media days after Prince Rainier's death.

Ms Coste was quoted as saying she met the prince on a flight in 1997, leading to a relationship and the birth of the boy, Alexandre, in August 2003."

Then again, King Ranier knew his son was a "ho" so had the constitution changed so that none of his illegitimate offspring could become heir to the throne.

Prince Albert, often dubbed the "playboy prince", has for years appeared reluctant to get married or start a family, which perhaps prompted his father to change Monaco's constitution in 2002.
[...]
... the boy would have the same rights to inheritance as any other child of Prince Albert, should he have any others.

Gomer Speaks

It's hard for me to take seriously the comments of someone who looks like Gomer Pyle. I don't know what Pennsylvanians were thinking when they voted for this big doofus but they need to rectify their mistake come 2006. It is sad that in 2005 so many men are still so threatened by women that they need to hide behind religiosity to shield their frail egos! It's not like I had any intention of buying Rick Santorum's new book but with this random sample of its contents, best believe I'd use it to light my grill if someone gave it to me.

"Keep The Mom At Home: 'In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might confess that both of them really don't need to, or at least may not need to work as much as they doÂ… And for some parents, the purported need to provide things for their children simply provides a convenient rationalization for pursuing a gratifying career outside the home.' (It Takes a Family, 94)

Thanks Gloria Steinem: 'Many women have told me, and surveys have shown, that they find it easier, more 'professionally' gratifying, and certainly more socially affirming, to work outside the home than to give up their careers to take care of their children. Think about that for a moment. Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism, one of the core philosophies of the village elders.' (It Takes a Family, 95)

Who Needs College? 'The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill, unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GEDs move up the economic ladder is just wrong.' (It Takes a Family, 138).

Update: Apparently this new book of Santorum's is supposed to "counter the worldview" of Hillary Clinton. But let's marinate on that for a second. Laura Bush quit her job when she met Dubya so she could hit the campaign trail with him, put up with years of wild drunkeness and, ultimately, give birth to and raise two daughters. This stay-at-home mom wholesomely bred two daugthers who took up their dad's penchant for partying, underage drinking and lack of visible intellectual depth. Hillary, on the other hand, while practicing law and being more than a foot stool for her wayward husband, rears a daugther whom, from all accounts, managed to stay out of trouble during her father's entire Presidency and beyond. She graduated from a top notch school and landed a very good job. Somehow we are supposed to gather that the Bush twins can hold a candle to Chelsea Clinton? He doesn't eeee-ven need to go there.

Don't Let The Door Knob Hit Ya

Wingnut journalists want to see for themselves that Iraq is a peance freeance place of liberated and grateful citizens.

"Maybe we're old-fashioned, but we always thought that journalists traveled to foreign lands in order to find out what was happening there. But according to Fox News, a contingent of conservative radio talk shows hosts is headed for Iraq to report what they already know to be true: 'American troops are winning, despite the headlines to the contary.'

Move America Forward and Rightalk.com have put together the junket they're calling the 'Truth Tour' of Iraq. 'The reason why we are doing it is we are sick and tired of seeing and hearing headlines by the mainstream media about our defeat in Iraq,' Move American co-chair Melanie Morgan tells Fox. Morgan, a host at San Francisco's KSFO, says that the press, 'determined to shut out' news of success in Iraq, is 'imposing a Vietnam template on this war.'

Mark Williams, who has a show each night on Sacramento's KFBK, the station that gave birth to Rush Limbaugh, told Fox that he and his fellow travelers will report 'what we see and what we are told,' but he clearly expects the news to be better than what he's been seeing on TV. 'We believe that the emphasis has been placed on the negative and if Americans knew what really was going on over there they would have an entirely different picture,' Williams said. 'We are Americans first and journalists second, as opposed to the crop of 'pinkos' that tell us on the news every night that America is going to hell in a hand basket.'

For the Bush administration, the talkers' trip can't come soon enough. According to the latest polls, only about a third of all Americans think that the U.S. is winning in Iraq. And the news today isn't likey to make them change their minds, no matter what kind of spin a bunch of junior Limabaughs want to put on it. Insurgents, stepping up attacks on foreign diplomats that began with the kidnapping of the Egypt's top diplomat three days ago, opened fire today on convoys carrying the chief envoys of Bahrain and Pakistan. Meanwhile, one U.S. soldier was killed and two more were injured today by a roadside bomb just north of Baghdad.

To them I say, go ahead ... knock yourselves out ... and don't mind those suicide bombers while you're taking pictures of those schools we've rebuilt after destroying them ...

How Rude!!!

Chirac knows darned well he isn't kidding! But it sure is funny!

"Anglo-French tensions heightened last night after Jacques Chirac delivered a series of insults to Britain as London and Paris fought to secure the 2012 Olympic Games and faced fresh disagreement at the G8 summit.

The president, chatting to the German and Russian leaders in a Russian cafe, said: 'The only thing [the British] have ever given European farming is mad cow.' Then, like generations of French people before him, he also poked fun at British cuisine.

'You can't trust people who cook as badly as that,' he said. 'After Finland, it's the country with the worst food.'

The New Palestine

As American's hide behind a fence in the Green Zone from the natives, some Iraqi's take issue with very own Berlin wall.

"Iraqis call it Assur, the Fence. In English everyone calls it the Wall, and in the past two years it has grown and grown until it has become an almost continuous rampart, at least 10 miles in circumference, around the seat of American power in Baghdad.

The wall is not a small factor in the lives of ordinary Iraqis outside it. Khalid Daoud, an employee at the Culture Ministry, still looks in disbelief at the barrier of 12-foot-high, five-ton slabs that cuts through his garden.

A few months ago, he said, the American military arrived with a crane and tore up the trees in his garden, smashed the low wall surrounding it, swung the slabs into place and topped them with concertina wire.

Later they put up a 24-hour guard tower and a brilliant floodlight on the other side. With their privacy gone, his wife and daughter must now tend the garden in their abayas, or cloaks, and the family no longer sleeps outside when electricity failures at night shut down the air conditioning.

'I feel like it's going to choke me,' Mr. Daoud said of the wall.

This is one snapshot of life for countless Iraqis who live, work, shop and kick soccer balls around in the shadow of the structure. Many despise the wall, a few are strangely drawn to it, but no one can ignore it. Fortifications of one kind or another abound in the city, but there is nothing that compares to the snaking, zigzagging loop that is the wall.

Sometimes likened to the Berlin Wall by those who are not happy about its presence, the structure cleanly divides the relative safety of the Green Zone that includes Saddam Hussein's old palace and ministry complex, now used by the American authorities and heavily patrolled by American troops, from the Red Zone - most of the rest of Baghdad - where security ranges from adequate to nonexistent.

But for all the problems faced by residents across the city, the neighborhoods within a few blocks of the wall have become a world apart. Mortar rounds and rockets fired at the Green Zone fall short and land there. Suicide bombers, unable to breach the wall, blow themselves up in shops just outside it. And the maze of checkpoints, blocked streets and American armor may be thicker here than anywhere else in Baghdad.

'We are the new Palestine,' said Saman Abdel Aziz Rahman, owner of the Serawan kebab restaurant, by the northern reaches of the wall."

... Just another way to win those hearts and minds.

Hell To The No

I don't mean to sound unpatriotic but this makes me mad! With the state of the economy and BILLIONS of dollars being squandered on an unprovoked war, why should I donate my frequent flyer miles to soldiers when the country they are serving should be paying for ALL expenses?

Please join us in celebrating our nation's Independence Day in the "Spirit of 1776". With your help, American Airlines will provide 17.76 million AAdvantage miles to bring wounded U.S. military personnel and their families together. You can take part by donating AAdvantage miles to Operation Hero Miles between July 4th, 2005 and September 5th, 2005. American will match every mile you contribute, one for one, up to 17,760,000 total miles.

You can donate your miles in support of our troops and learn more about this program by visiting AA.com and completing the Miles for Heroes donation form. The minimum donation is 500 miles.

Through this summer campaign, the miles donated by American Airlines and our AAdvantage members will assist Operation Hero Miles to bring family and close friends to the bedsides of U.S. servicemen and women hospitalized due to their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Visits with family and friends mean so much to these brave men and women as they recover from their wounds.

You can help make their spirits soar. Use your AAdvantage miles for heroes and together we'll honor our nation and support our troops.

So, no! I am not donating my miles! I need to see my family too and tickets aren't getting any cheaper. The next thing you know we'll be asked to donate money to buy the vets artificial limbs because the government cannot afford to care for the people who've been blown to bits while fighting one of the wars we are in. My advice is for soldiers and their families to call the White House and demand that they provide transportation to the families of people who are risking their lives and livelihood for a loser President!

For Shame, For Shame

All this time I thought the site was for comedy's sake.

"Bill Cosby was right, says Jam Donaldson, creator of HotGhettoMess.com. The recent graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center created a Web site devoted to showing the black community at its worst. It's constructive criticism, she says, much like Cosby's highly debated comments last summer about black parents taking more responsibility for the failures of their children. By posting pictures of regular folks and celebrities looking 'ghetto,' Donaldson hopes to push blacks toward greater personal and financial responsibility.

Donaldson has received plenty of negative feedback from people who think her Web site is exploitive. 'To all of you who are angry at me for airing our dirty laundry—good,' she says. 'I'm glad you're angry, now maybe collectively, we'll be forced to finally go wash it.'"

I had no idea it was meant to "shame" folks. How much do you want to bet that those folks aren't ashamed and don't think they are "ghetto?"

Mexico's Fox Not Backing Down

If the Mexican Memin Pinguin stamps aren't racist, Vicente Fox is about to be. I think Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are working on his last good nerve. Moreover, the stamps have set Ebay ablaze and many people stand to make mucho dinero behind all of this hoopla!

"President Vicente Fox said Friday that U.S. activists who have condemned a new Mexican postage stamp as racist should read the beloved comic book on which it is based before they make judgments.

'They don't have information, frankly,' Fox said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.

U.S. black activists and the White House on Thursday criticized the stamp featuring Memin Pinguin, a sort of Jim Crow-era image of a black child that has been a cartoon character since the 1940s. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and leaders of other black and Latino organizations have urged that the stamp be withdrawn.

The stamp is recognition of 'character very loved in Mexico and that has absolutely nothing discriminatory about it,' said Fox, adding that he himself has been fond of the comic book since childhood.

'And it appears to me that it has provoked a great national unity, because those who are making opinions from outside don't have information.'

He said White House spokesman Scott McClellan should have known more before objecting to it Thursday as an example of racial stereotyping.

'Frankly, I don't understand the reaction,' Fox said. 'Let's hope they inform themselves ... and later form an opinion.'

Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the government 'emphatically rejects these complaints, which are the products of lack of knowledge or people who want publicity.'

'By no means is Mexico considering the possibility' of withdrawing the stamp, Aguilar said, accusing critics of being 'people who want to take advantage of this ... to seek publicity within American society.'

The stamps were being offered on eBay for more than $200 for a full sheet. Hundreds of people lined up at Mexico City's main post office to buy them for 6.50 pesos, or about 60 cents, when they went on sale Friday.

Commentators in Mexico's press also expressed incomprehension at the complaints.

Novelist Elena Poniatowska, a noted supporter of leftist causes, was quoted in the newspaper La Jornada as calling the criticisms 'absurd.'

'In our country, the image of black people is one of enormous goodwill, which is reflected not only in characters like Memin Pinguin, but in popular songs ... like 'Little Black Watermelon,'' a song about an unruly black boy.

Some of their defense appeared to be founded what they see as a relative lack of knowledge about the history of blacks in Mexico.

'It's the United States, not Mexico, that has a history of slavery,' wrote columnist Sergio Sarmiento in the newspaper Reforma.

In fact, Mexico had hundreds of thousands of slaves during the colonial period, though it banned slavery before the United States did.

Mexico did not have formal legal segregation nor did it experience a large-scale civil rights movement that focused on rooting out racism."

I still think people need to calm down over these stamps. America is not the world and though the experience of those in the black disaspora may be similar, it isn't identical to what happened here. Fox is probably itching to Bush: "look mofo, we didn't treat our niggers the way you treated yours."

In the meantime, I'm going to take Vicente Fox's advice and read up on this cartoon. I think others should do the same. This whole thing is barreling out of control and I know that, particularly in the midst of two wars and a changing Supreme Court that may impact blacks a hell of a lot more than some stamps, we have bigger issues to address.

A Learning Enemy

First off, we need to understand, that when you invade a country, YOU are the enemy ... not the people you made a pre-emptive strike against. That being said, it is more than apparent that everything Bush uses as a milestone or accompishment (formation of a government, capture of Saddam, elections) has only served to increase the violence and the death toll of our troops (not to mention the under reported and unrecorded number of Iraqi civilian deaths).

"U.S. military deaths in Iraq increased by about one-third in the past year, even as Iraq established its own government and assumed more responsibility for battling the insurgency.

At least 882 U.S. troops died in the 12 months through Thursday, up from 657 in the preceding year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Defense Department numbers. Iraqis assumed sovereignty a year ago this week, part of a U.S. strategy to lessen the visibility of U.S. troops and shift more responsibility for security to Iraq forces.

Lately, insurgents have made roadside bombs deadlier and deployed more car and suicide bombs.

Marine Lt. Gen. James Conway said at a Pentagon briefing Thursday that insurgents are increasing their use of the type of attack 'that gives you the big blast and possibly causes more casualties.'

'The insurgency is shifting all the time,' Maj. Gen. William Webster, commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, said recently. 'This is a learning enemy.'"

How can we "be patient" as the President suggests when things are getting worse, after two years, and not better?