Bloodiest Month Since January

He can nominate a wingnut for SCOTUS but he can't hide behind the dead! October has been the deadliest month since January for American soldiers - despite the bogus milestone of Iraq accepting a new constitution.

A car bomb killed 20 people in Iraq's second city of Basra on Monday at the end of the bloodiest month for U.S. troops in Iraq since early this year.

Witnesses said a suicide bomber targeted Iraqi troops.

Seven U.S. troops were killed by bombs near Baghdad, the military said on Monday, taking October's death toll to 93, the highest in one month since January, when 107 died. The number of Americans killed in Iraq passed the 2,000 mark a week ago.

A More Paternal Feeling

Well gee! Yathink? Of course it has a more paternal feeling to it! He could be the chick's GRANDPA!

Woody Allen says his relationship with wife Soon-Yi Previn, which has a 'more paternal feeling,' is 'one of the truly lucky things that happened to me in my life.'

Allen, a two-time Oscar winner, married Previn in 1997. She is the adopted daughter of Andre Previn and Mia Farrow, Allen's former girlfriend.

In 1992, Allen was discovered to be having an affair with Previn, then 22, while he was dating Farrow. He and Previn have two daughters, ages 5 and 6.

'I'm sure there are things that I might have done differently,' he says in an interview in Vanity Fair magazine, on newsstands Nov. 8. 'Probably in retrospect I should have bowed out of that relationship (with Farrow) much earlier than I did.'

But Allen, who will be 70 on Dec. 1, says age hasn't brought wisdom.

'I've gained no wisdom, no insight, no mellowing. I would make all the same mistakes again, today,' he tells the magazine.

Despite the calamitous beginnings of his relationship with Previn, he says, 'It was just completely fortuitous. One of the truly lucky things that happened to me in my life.'

'I don't ever feel that I'm with a hostile or threatening person. It's got a more paternal feeling to it.'

I'm sure he's not with a hostile or threatening person. Seducing children tends to leave them pretty brainwashed. Perverted daughter rapist!

Activist Judges

This is a perfect pick for the radical right who has somehow managed to twist the term "activist judges" into something that defines any judge who doesn't agree with their fringe views. Instead of calming the seas of an already stormy country, Bush chooses to further incite strife by trying to appease the nutjobs who want a judge who will interpret the constitution the way the founders intended (you know, the ones who barred women from voting and owned slaves).

Unlike the nomination of Miers, which was derailed Thursday by Bush’s conservative allies, Alito faces strong opposition from liberals.

On abortion rights, and based on a 1991 case in which he supported spousal notification, Alito favors more restrictions than either the Supreme Court has allowed or O’Connor has supported.

On gun rights, Alito in 1996 was the only appeals judge to vote against upholding Congress’ authority to ban fully automatic machine guns. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sarcastically described “Machine Gun Sammy” as a “perfect Halloween pick.”

Alito had argued for greater state rights in reasoning that Congress had no authority to regulate private gun possession.

In the Senate, Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said lawmakers must “find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people.”

“President Bush would leave the Supreme Court looking less like America and more like an old boys club,” Reid added, referring to the fact that Alito is neither a woman nor a minority.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it a “needlessly provocative nomination. Instead of uniting the country through his choice, the president has chosen to reward one faction of his party, at the risk of dividing the country.”

Well, let the games begin!

No Policy To Rebuild

Though I'm certainly not surprised, it seems that along with no plans for exit, there was no plan for rebuilding the place we decimated either.

The US government had “no comprehensive policy or regulatory guidelines” in place for staffing the management of postwar Iraq, according to the top government watchdog overseeing the country’s reconstruction.

The lack of planning had plagued reconstruction since the US-led invasion, and been exacerbated by a “general lack of co-ordination” between US government agencies charged with the rebuilding of Iraq, said Stuart Bowen, the special inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction, in a report released on Sunday.

His 110-page quarterly report, delivered to Congress at the weekend, has underscored how a “reconstruction gap” is emerging that threatens to leave many projects planned by the US on the drawing board.

“Nearly two years ago, the US developed a reconstruction plan that specified a target number of projects that would be executed using the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund.

“That number was revised downward [last year]. Now it appears that the actual number of projects completed will be even lower,” Mr Bowen says in his report.

Increasing security costs were “the most salient” reason behind the shortfall, he concluded.

Brit Needs A Beat Down

When I first read this I brushed it off because, even though it sounded bad, I assumed I knew what he meant. Yet, this is exactly the problem with the nuances of "unintentional" racism.

From Fox News Sunday this morning:

JUAN WILLIAMS: You can try to minimize it, but the fact that you have Scooter Libby, so involved in justifying going to war, and in the posture of trying to smear a critic of that justification. I think is pretty revealing and pretty damaging to the Bush White House. I think they'’re going to have to rebuild a sense of trust with the American People. And that'’s why when Brit asked this question, why did he have to lie, he felt the need to lie if he did lie, but by all indications he'’s going to say I didn'’t remember it quite the way this person remembered and all the like. That’s not very strong in my book, and I think Fitzgerald did a terrific job on Friday. But the reason he felt the need was to make it clear that he was not involved in what really was a conspiracy to defame Joe Wilson.

BRIT HUME: Juan, somebody needs to hose you down.

At some point, there has to be a certain level of sensitivity and enough understanding of history to respect what black people have gone through in this country. It's ironic that the same day that Rosa Parks lies in state in the Capitol, Brit Hume makes a reference to "hosing" a black man. The scenes of dogs and hoses being unleashed on ordinary black citizens who were having a peaceful march were some of the most vivid of that era. Brit Hume is certainly old enough to have seen that footage live in his own living room and, albeit it was probably a freudian slip, he should have learned something from being in the company of Juan week after week. If I thought Juan let that statement go over his head, I was wrong once I saw the clip. The look Juan gave him sent a chill up my spine. I don't know what happened when the cameras stopped but I have a feeling that Brit may have gotten more than a mere history lesson from Juan.

Nutjobs Galor

It's bad enough I have to be subjected to the wingnuts and nutjobs who have jijacked the Bush Administration in America but, for Pete's sake, why do these folks have to come out of the woodwork at the same time?

Iran's ultraconservative president - spurning international outrage over his remarks about Israel - joined more than a million demonstrators who flooded the streets of the capital and other major cities Friday to back his call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood fast behind his assertion that Israel should be wiped off the map and repeated the call during the nationwide protests Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.

But in an apparent attempt to blunt international outrage over Ahmadinejad's comments, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow issued a statement saying the Iranian leader did not want to 'engage in a conflict.'

Marching alongside the protesters, the 47-year-old former mayor of Tehran and one-time Republican Guard commander renewed his criticism of the West.

'They become upset when they hear any voice of truth-seeking. They think they are the absolute rulers of the world,' he said during the al-Quds - or Jerusalem - Day protest, which was among the largest since they were first held in 1979 after Shiite Muslim clerics took power in Iran.

His fellow marchers carried placards reading 'Death to Israel, death to America.' It is not uncommon for an Iranian president to join marches in the capital. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by five bodyguards, but otherwise security was not out of the ordinary for such an event.

This Iranian kook wouldn't have even been elected had the US not continued to demonize Iran. Now, they are battling our crazy rhetoric by spewing some even crazier ... and it's getting old!

What Rock Heads!

You know the wingnuts are going to try to spin lying, perjury and obstruction of justice into something that is not so bad but, Jeebus, at least make sense. It should not matter if Valerie Plame was under deep cover when she was outed. Once you reveal that someone is/was a CIA agent who does/has done undercover operations, you ruin her career and possibly jeopardize the safety of those who worked with her. The fact remains that Libby had no business calling reporters to gossip about Wilson's wife. Then he lied about doing so! Period!

Last night, Sean Hannity said this:

"I don’t think anybody exposed anything. I think everybody knew in town what [Valerie Wilson] did for a living. There’s no evidence that she was covert. None.”

And two nights ago, Anne Coulter said:

“She hadn’t been a covert agent for six years, and everyone in Washington knew she worked for the CIA.”


Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald knocked that talking point down hard today in the Libby indictment:

At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson’s affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.

What part of "against the law" aren't they getting?

Can We All Just Get Along?

I flipped through Fox when Bill was foaming at the mouth over this. Sorry, but if a community has enough people of one faith, I think local holidays can be adjusted accordingly.

On the October 27 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly called the idea of closing public schools for the observance of Muslim holidays 'absurd in a Judeo-Christian country.' O'Reilly made this remark during a discussion with Hillsborough County, Florida, commissioner Brian Blair, who opposed the Hillsborough County school board's decision to keep public schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, a departure from the school district's earlier practice of closing schools on those days. In December 2004, Hillsborough County Muslims, with the backing of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked the school board to close schools on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Instead of giving students the day off on Eid Al-Fitr, the school board voted to keep schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, reasoning that the school district could close schools on days when a substantial number of students would be absent but could not close schools specifically for the observance of religious holidays. The school district will continue its practice of allowing students to take days off on religious holidays, although schools will remain open.
[...]

Bill needs to wake up to the fact that no matter what this country was founded upon, 200+ years later the cultural landscape has changed and we must change with it. I find it perfectly acceptable (particularly since there are probably more Muslims than Jews in America) for at least one Muslim holiday to be acknowledged. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all branches of the same Abrahamic tree. I know we can all get along!

Book 'Em Dano!

One down ...

Vice presidential adviser I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby Jr. was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case.

Karl Rove, President Bush's closest adviser, escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status a looming political problem for the White House.

The indictments stem from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators.

The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Plame's identity in 2003 and then told reporters about it. The information was classified.

Get Over Yourself!

Bill O'Reilly clearly sniffs his own stinky socks every night to get high because he certainly has a warped view of his own importance.

On the October 25 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly unveiled his list of invited guests who he said will not appear on his television or radio programs. O'Reilly explained that the list contains 'people who are afraid to answer any questions.' Earlier in the show, O'Reilly described the list as 'people who will not stand up and answer questions about their bomb-throwing statements,' adding 'You have a moral obligation to do that. If you don't, you're a coward.'

The list:

• Dick Cheney (Vice president. O'Reilly acknowledged, 'He must be sick of getting our calls.')
  
• Michael Chertoff (Secretary of Homeland Security)
  
• Jeb Bush (Governor of Florida)
  
• Samuel Bodman (Secretary of Energy)
  
• Tom DeLay (Representative, R-TX)
  
• Howard Dean (chairman of the Democratic National Committee. According to O'Reilly, 'the biggest coward in the country')
  
• Cindy Sheehan (anti-war protester, founding member of Gold Star Families for Peace)
  
• John Kerry (Senator, D-MA)
  
• Brad King (state attorney for Florida's 5th Judicial Circuit)
  
• Jon Corzine (Senator, D-NJ)
  
• Jane Fonda (actress)
  
• Jesse Jackson (founder, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition)
  
• Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Senator, D-DE)
  
• George Pataki (Governor of New York. O'Reilly, 'He's so unsure of himself on TV.')
  
• Sheldon Silver (Speaker of the New York State Assembly)
  
• Al Gore (former vice president)
  
• Bill Clinton (former president)
  
• Andy Rooney (journalist, syndicated columnist, regular contributor to CBS' 60 Minutes)
  
• Richard Clarke (former counterterrorism adviser to presidents Clinton and Bush)
  
• Roger Mosey (Director of BBC Sport, former head of TV News at BBC News)
  
• American Civil Liberties Union (O'Reilly: 'Anybody from the ACLU is afraid.')
  
• National Public Radio (O'Reilly: 'The executives over there are afraid.')
  
• Oil and gas industry (O'Reilly: 'The heads of the oil companies are afraid.')
  
• Bill Moyers (journalist. O'Reilly: 'biggest mouth in town')
  
• Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Governor of Louisiana)
  
• Ward Churchill (Professor of ethnic studies, the University of Colorado at Boulder)
  
• Barbra Streisand (Singer, actress. O'Reilly: 'All of these Hollywood people ... I mean, they're way out of control there.')
  

Is he frickin' kidding? Not going on his show to listen to his blowhard logic, yelling and bullying makes one a coward? Who on earth does he think he is? God?

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

Just don't give me your old and fat-assed (and presumeably unhealthy)! At least that is what Wal-Mart says. This comes on the heels of yet another debate I was having regarding shopping at Wal-Mart vs. Target. I'm a Target person (though if they keep supporting pharmacists who want to deny women access to birth control, they will lose my dollars too) but many swear by Wal-Mart. I'd guess that any number of obese people swear by Wal-Mart too. They just better not expect to get a job there. While I understand that they want to maintain healthcare costs, this company does everything it can to ensure the largest profit possible no matter who gets ripped off in the process.

The paper said in the memorandum Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart's executive vice president for benefits, also recommends reducing 401(k) pension contributions and wooing younger, and presumably healthier, workers by offering education benefits.

The memo is quoted as expressing concern that workers with seven years' seniority earn more than workers with one year's seniority, but are no more productive, said the paper, which posted the memo on its Web site (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/business/26walmart.ready.html ). To discourage unhealthy job applicants, the paper said, Chambers suggests Wal-Mart arrange for 'all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering),'

The memo also proposed that employees pay more for their spouses' health insurance, called for cutting the company's 401(k) contributions to 3 percent of wages from 4 percent and for cutting company-paid life insurance policies.

The memo acknowledged that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, had to walk a fine line in restraining benefits because critics attacked it for being stingy on wages and health coverage. Chambers in the memo acknowledged 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart's 1.33 million United States employees were uninsured or on Medicaid.

Spiritual Not Religious

You fit in with: Spiritualism Your ideals are mostly spiritual, but in an individualistic way. While spirituality is very important in your life, organized religion itself may not be for you. It is best for you to seek these things on your own terms. 60% spiritual. 80% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You Don't Need A Sign

Look! Black people are generally "funny" about who cuts their hair and how it looks. Unless someone is living in an isolated area, I don't know many people who go to non-black salons because, culturally speaking, it's not just a haircut, it's an adventure. The last thing anyone wants is someone who is not familiar with how to cut hair that comes in a variety of textures cutting their hair. All this man had to do is tell any potential customer who came into his shop, I have never cut African American hair before and I don't think you want me to try on you. But putting up a 'Whites Only' sign is both silly and insensitive.

While America remembers Rosa Parks, some in North Lafayette are being reminded of Jim Crow. A whites only barbershop owner says it's not what you think. Or is it?

Barber Herb Leger says, 'I tell them you want a haircut, go across the street. They can give you a professional haircut, but I can't.' Most people are shocked when they see whites only on Leger's barber sign. Like Victoria Cenales who stopped by to ask Leger why doesn't he accept black customers.

Leger told her, 'It's not that I don't want black people in the shop. It's just that I'm not qualified to give them professional service.' Cenales told him, 'People will misunderstand that sign. That was back in the 60s.'

Leger says he's inexperienced and not trained to cut black hair. 'Completely different way of cutting hair. It's not the same,' he says. The owner of Platinum Kutz, another barbershop across the street, says Leger has never sent customers his way, and customers inside can't believe Leger thinks it's okay to put up a whites only sign. Thirty-year-old Nick Milton says, 'I had to think about what year I was in - whether I was in the 60s or the 2000s.' 'Just plainly state I don't do black haircuts. You don't have to say whites only,' Ellis Banks says. Barber Ron Landry tells KATC, 'It's a racial sign. It makes a statement. I don't like it.'

Leger is 72-years-old and clearly remembers the animosity and hurt that 'whites only' signs spread during the civil rights era. He says he's not racist, just not qualified. Cenales says his sign is 'the way society is.' 'Most people are closed-minded,' she says.

Leger understands the sign could send a mixed message. 'In today's life, I can see. People, especially your black people are not very broadminded,' he says. Platinum Kuts owner Jason Walker says, 'I feel it's ignorance, and it has no place.

Leger says in a few days he's replacing his temporary sign with a permenant one without whites only. Since he only opened two months ago, he used it to establish the kind of services he offers.

People really don't stop to think sometimes! I actually find it hard to believe that he has that many black people rolling up into his shop anyway.

A Murderer Or A Crackhead

See! This is how you know this chick has a problem with impulse control. She had a problem with crystal meth and she obviously has a problem keeping her mouth closed. She could have kept the information about the "ice" to herself instead of making it a sallacious detail of her book. I could have told the woman that the guy was going to say that she had a couple of hits of the stuff herself!

Ashley Smith used some of the methamphetamine that she gave Brian Nichols in the hours before he was arrested, according to a man who claims to be a close friend of the shooting suspect who says the pair knew each other prior to that too.

Smith responded 'that was a lie' to WSB-TV, which reported Tuesday that Maurice Lovemore, a friend of Nichols, said Nichols had known Smith before he held her captive for several hours in March.

Smith also said it was 'totally ludicrous' to suggest she took some of the drugs that she gave Nichols in her apartment where he holed up for several hours before surrendering to police the morning of March 12, just 24 hours after he escaped from the Fulton County Courthouse.

Nichols is accused of killing four people after he broke out of the courthouse March 11 before he was arrested the next day at Smith's Gwinnett apartment.

Lovemore, who said he was Nichols' best friend, told WSB that Nichols described Smith's account of those hours in her Duluth apartment as a 'Hollywood' story and 'totally fabricated.' According to the television news story, Lovemore was vague, offering no details as to how he knew Nichols.

Sgt. Nikita Adams-Hightower, spokeswoman for the Fulton Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said Lovemore visited Nichols on Oct. 16, bringing with him a copy of Smith's book for Nichols to autograph.

Adams-Hightower said Nichols also used his own blood to leave a fingerprint in the book.

She said Lovemore had visited Nichols at the jail only once.

Smith wrote in her book, 'An Unlikely Angel,' that she had given Nichols methamphetamine but that she did not use the drug with him. She has insisted in subsequent interviews that she had quit using drugs.

According to Lovemore, Nichols' response to that claim was ' 'How many crack heads do you know are going to let you get high in front of them on their supply?' '

Lovemore also said Nichols claimed he and Smith had 'some kind of relationship before that day' Nichols allegedly came up on Smith outside her Duluth apartment as she was returning from a 2 a.m. trip to the store for cigarettes.

Smith issued a statement through her publicist Tuesday disputing all of Lovemore's claims.

'As I say in my book and have said in countless interviews, my first encounter with Brian Nichols was when he pulled a gun on me and forced me into my apartment,' the statement read. 'My life has changed completely as a result of this ordeal, which put me face to face with my God and my drug addiction. As a result, I not only refused to do drugs with Brian Nichols that night, but more importantly I have no desire to ever do drugs again. I feel that God used this encounter with Brian Nichols to free me from this addiction and I want to help others experience the same freedom.'

The cynic in me, and a lot of other people I know, has kept me looking over the top of my glasses everytime I hear her tell her story. The pancakes, the drive to dump the truck (and back) and now the drugs ... somethin' ain't right. But who are you going to believe? A murderer ... or a crackhead?

Can't Help Myself

But, they left themselves wide open on this one! They need to be monitoring the "predators" in their own ranks rather than trying to do a parent's job and monitoring internet activity in their homes.

When students post their faces, personal diaries and gossip on Web sites like Myspace.com and Xanga.com, it is not simply harmless teen fun, according to one Sussex County Catholic school principal.

It's an open invitation to predators and an activity that Pope John XIII Regional High School in Sparta will no longer tolerate, the Rev. Kieran McHugh told a packed assembly of 900 high school students two weeks ago.

Effective immediately, and over student complaints, the teens were told to dismantle their Myspace.com accounts or similar sites with personal profiles and blogs. Defy the order and face suspension, students were told.

While public and private schools routinely block access to noneducational Web sites on school computers, Pope John's order reaches into students' homes.

Bad call!

Mr. 2000

He hit it! We've officially lost 2,000 American soldiers in Iraq for Bush's big lie.

President George W. Bush, bracing for the fallout when the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000, said on Tuesday the Iraq war will require more time and sacrifice and rejected calls for a U.S. pullout.

'Each loss of life is heartbreaking, and the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and lay the foundation of peace by spreading freedom,' Bush said, his voice breaking with emotion as he spoke at a luncheon of military wives at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington.

Bush's remarks were aimed at addressing criticism expected when the U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000.

'This war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve,' said Bush. 'The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we have ever faced.'

The only sacrifice that needs to be made is offering the Bush Administration up to the penal system. His day will come!

Reporting For Duty

I don't live in Ohio but I am passing this article along to voters I know there. This guy's bid for the Congressional race was much to close for comfort for his highly Republican district. His toughest competition may even come from his Democratic rival. But, I'll be paying attention to this race:

Marine Reservist Maj. Paul Hackett might be the one to put some real fight back into the Democratic Party. In a head-turning first run for office, Hackett, the first Iraq war veteran to enter the national political arena, narrowly lost a congressional bid against Republican Jean Schmidt in a special election held last summer in Ohio's most conservative district. Despite a serious financial handicap, little political experience and a blunt political demeanor -- he called George W. Bush "chicken hawk" and "son of a bitch" with regard to the war -- Hackett's strong showing fired up Democrats nationwide.

[...]

You supported invading Afghanistan, but you've said you think we went to Iraq based on lies. You do agree with the president, however, in that you don't think we can 'cut and run.' What would you do differently in Iraq?

First of all, if this president wanted to succeed in Iraq, the first thing he would have done is listen to the generals in the very beginning when they said it would take more than 150,000 troops. General Shinseki said that and was summarily fired. That was before the invasion of Iraq.

But what would you do now?

If I were the president, I'd tell the military to figure out how we systematically and in organized fashion get our troops out of there, because the war's over. It's not going to get any better.

When you ran for Congress, you favored better training for Iraqi forces. Now you're saying we should get out?

There are two options: Increase troop strength or train the Iraqi military with a match of one American soldier for every Iraqi soldier. That's not going to happen. Everybody knows that, so if we're not going to train the Iraqi military, let's quit spending our money and spending our lives.

Here's the problem: We've been there two-plus years and there's nothing objective this country can point at and say, 'This is what we've improved since we've been over there.' The infrastructure is worse -- the electrical grid, the water grid, the sewage grid, the road system. All that infrastructure is worse today than when we got there two-plus years ago.

The Bush administration says there's progress.

Bullshit. I've been there. There's no success unless you call painting schools success. We've painted a lot of schools."

Rosa Parks

It's definitely a small world. It must have been nearly twenty years ago that my great aunt, whom we called Big Aunt Eva (my mother's sister was named for her), passed away in Atlanta. Her name was Eva Parks. One of my mother's other sisters and my cousin decided to represent the family at the funeral. When they returned, they announced that we were related to Rosa Parks. I believe that Rosa and Eva were married to brothers. My extended family isn't exceptionally large or close knit but that was an interesting connection so the death of this particular civil rights has special meaning.

Nearly 50 years ago, Rosa Parks made a simple decision that sparked a revolution. When a white man demanded she give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, the then 42-year-old seamstress said no.

At the time, she couldn't have known it would secure her a revered place in American history. But her one small act of defiance galvanized a generation of activists, including a young Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and earned her the title 'mother of the civil rights movement.'

Mrs. Parks died Monday evening at her home of natural causes, with close friends by her side, said Gregory Reed, an attorney who represented her for the past 15 years. She was 92.

Moral And Religious Objections My Behind!

This is sheer madness! A pharmacist's job is to dispense medicine, not make judgements on the people with valid, legal prescriptions!

Although it is safe, effective and legal, emergency contraception - the 'morning after' pill - can be hard to find in Tucson.

After a sexual assault one recent weekend, a young Tucson woman spent three frantic days trying to obtain the drug to prevent a pregnancy, knowing that each passing day lowered the chance the drug would work.

While calling dozens of Tucson pharmacies trying to fill a prescription for emergency contraception, she found that most did not stock the drug.

When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections.

'I was so shocked,' said the 20-year-old woman, who, as a victim of sexual assault, is not being named by the Star. 'I just did not understand how they could legally refuse to do this.'

Marriage: It Doesn't Do A Body Good

With all other things being happy and balanced, I suppose a modicum of an increase in health benefits might be a reason to get married. But that assumes a healthy, supportive and productive marriage and too many aren't.

But when it comes to physical health, marriage is worse than neutral for black women. Listen to the report, newly published by the New York-based Institute for American Values:

'Our research finds that marriage brings small health benefits to black men -- and none to black women. In fact, married black women are significantly less likely to report having excellent health than are unmarried black women.'

Understand that the report is from people and organizations who could fairly be called a part of the 'marriage movement.' Many of those involved have long touted the benefits of marriage -- to men, women and children. The female health finding must have caught them by surprise.

Most of them, anyway. Linda Malone-Colon, one of the five scholars conducting the review, said she wasn't exactly blindsided by the finding.

'Overall, the study shows the smallest benefit to black women -- but it's still an important benefit,' said Malone-Colon, a psychologist who is director of the Washington-based National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, a clearinghouse for resources for strengthening marriages.

The Delaney sisters both lived to be over 100 years old. Neither of them ever married and they claimed that not having a man around to "worry them to death" was the reason for their longevity. I tend to think this would be the case with me. Fortunately/unfortunately I have a very independent spirit that, I'm certain, was spawned both by me being an eldest child and a latch key kid who learned to make "executive decisions" at a very early age. Most women (married or not) that I know who are like me are either in combative relationships (that usually don't last) where there is a constant power struggle or (and this seems more common) are in dog/leash relationships where their sole role seems to be telling their husbands what to do and when to do it. Some folks function quite well this way and while I may be perceived as bossy (I don't think so. I just know what I want to do and others seem to follow), living life playing "big mama" does not appeal to me because I think I'd die of frustration much to early.

Note: Some guy in the comment section at this blog keeps making me laugh. Did you know that men become drunks and deadbeats because women don't love them (and that is their job) and that if blacks listened to country music, they'd learn something (Like what ... "You Took A Fine Time To Leave Me Lucille?").

And Your Point Is?

Chef Ramsey has discovered that women can't cook! Well give him a giant soup ladle for a prize! So What!

'When they eat, they cheat - it is ready meals and pre-prepared meals all the way,' he said in the Radio Times.

Ramsay, 38, who has an award-winning female chef at one of his restaurants, is known for his fiery temper as much for his culinary skills.

'I've been visiting ladies' houses up and down the country with our film crew and you would be amazed how little cooking the girls are doing,' the chef said ahead of the launch of his latest television show.

'Seriously, there are huge numbers of young women out there who know how to mix cocktails but can't cook to save their lives, whereas men are finding their way into the kitchen in ever growing numbers.

Well, lots of young men can't fix cars, make household repairs or even adequately mow the lawn! The world has changed. Modern conveniences have changed norms for both genders. So, what's his point? I guess I'm really not young anymore but I was the only one of my roommates in college who knew how to cook full course meals and am one of a few in my current group (OLD like me) who can cook. Also, being able to prepare a meal doesn't mean that one can cook. I figured that out in college when kids were gobbling down dorm food like it tasted good because it was better than what their mom's made (but was like dog food to me).

House Quake

Uh oh, he's going there! I cannot even begin to speculate where this could lead but if Fitzpatrick is bold enough and thinks he has evidence enough to pursue it, he won't get any argument from me.

The CIA leak inquiry that threatens senior White House aides has now widened to include the forgery of documents on African uranium that started the investigation, according to NAT0 intelligence sources.

This suggests the inquiry by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the leaking of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame has now widened to embrace part of the broader question about the way the Iraq war was justified by the Bush administration.

Fitzgerald's inquiry is expected to conclude this week and despite feverish speculation in Washington, there have been no leaks about his decision whether to issue indictments and against whom and on what charges.

Two facts are, however, now known and between them they do not bode well for the deputy chief of staff at the White House, Karl Rove, President George W Bush's senior political aide, not for Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis 'Scooter' Libby.

The first is that Fitzgerald last year sought and obtained from the Justice Department permission to widen his investigation from the leak itself to the possibility of cover-ups, perjury and obstruction of justice by witnesses. This has renewed the old saying from the days of the Watergate scandal, that the cover-up can be more legally and politically dangerous than the crime.

The second is that NATO sources have confirmed to United Press International that Fitzgerald's team of investigators has sought and obtained documentation on the forgeries from the Italian government.

Fitzgerald's team has been given the full, and as yet unpublished report of the Italian parliamentary inquiry into the affair, which started when an Italian journalist obtained documents that appeared to show officials of the government of Niger helping to supply the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein with Yellowcake uranium. This claim, which made its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in January, 2003, was based on falsified documents from Niger and was later withdrawn by the White House.

This opens the door to what has always been the most serious implication of the CIA leak case, that the Bush administration could face a brutally damaging and public inquiry into the case for war against Iraq being false or artificially exaggerated. This was the same charge that imperiled the government of Bush's closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, after a BBC Radio program claimed Blair's aides has 'sexed up' the evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Are They All Lying Liars?

I honestly don't understand these folks? Is it that they think they are too brilliant to get caught?:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was given considerable information about his stake in his family's hospital company, according to records that are at odds with his past statements that he did not know what was in his stock holdings.

Managers of the trusts that Frist once described as 'totally blind,' regularly informed him when they added new shares of HCA Inc. or other assets to his holdings, according to the documents.

Since 2001, the trustees have written to Frist and the Senate 15 times detailing the sale of assets from or the contribution of assets to trusts of Frist and his family. The letters included notice of the addition of HCA shares worth $500,000 to $1 million in 2001 and HCA stock worth $750,000 to $1.5 million in 2002. The trust agreements require the trustees to inform Frist and the Senate whenever assets are added or sold.

The letters seem to undermine one of the major arguments the senator has used throughout his political career to rebut criticism of his ownership in HCA: that the stock was held in blind trusts beyond his control and that he had little idea of the extent of those holdings.

... Or is it that they don't think anything will happen to them if they are exposed?

Broken Bonaduce

Whitney and Bobby's daliances with addictions have NOTHING on Danny Bonaduce and his co-conspirator of a wife. Breaking Bonaduce makes Being Bobby Brown look like Father Knows Best. The filming of a man who is an alcoholic, drugged out, sex addicted, bi-polar, emotional abuser is even a little too rich for my blood.

There was something disturbingly grown-up about the wry, gnomelike, wisecracking pre-adolescent he played on The Partridge Family (1970-1974). But now that he is an adult, the 45-year-old Danny seems like a child—albeit one afflicted with premature aging syndrome, to judge by his haggard, sad-eyed (yet still freckled) face. In addition to being a recovering alcoholic and former crack addict who once lived in his car behind Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, he admits to being addicted to sex, exercise, and steroids (in Episode 2, we see him shoot up some 'roids before heading to the gym to pump iron). His impulse control is near nil, and his judgment is terrible; in last week's episode, he freely admitted he was too drunk to drive before getting behind the wheel anyway, telling his producers, "You don't have a show if I don't crash." (In the end, the cameras were turned off while the producers wrested the keys away.)

Yet Bonaduce never comes across as the villain of the show (like one of the orchestrated bad guys on Survivor) or the object of ridicule (like the title buffoon of Being Bobby Brown). In the couple's filmed therapy sessions with Dr. Garry Corgiat, he is laceratingly aware of his shortcomings as a husband and father. The Bonaduces married the same night they met, after a seven-hour blind date; according to Danny, Gretchen refused to have sex before marriage, so he arranged for a quickie ceremony—a stunt he credits with bringing them together, since "nobody would get to know the real me and still marry me." Bonaduce's self-loathing is epic in proportion: "I'm guessing that you guess by now that I'm not my biggest fan," he tells Dr. Corgiat in one early session, later referring to himself as "soulless." Yet he also seems perversely proud of his outsize personality: "I don't want my anger managed," he boasts to Corgiat and Gretchen. "I like my anger. You guys walk around and be all gray. I'm colorful."

In one masterpiece of convoluted logic, Bonaduce even argues that his children, 10-year-old Isabella and 4-year-old Dante, will benefit from being kept in the dark about their father's problems: "I teach them all the things I don't know," he explains to the shrink. "They will be better people than I for not knowing me." In a wrenching one-on-one session between Gretchen and the doctor, she tearfully recounts how their daughter Isabella responds to their marital meltdown by becoming a mini-enabler: "I can fix this, Mommy. Tell him you'll never leave. We can fix this together."

I think my "breaking point" in watching this was the part where Gretchen recounted her daughter's hysteria over the seemingly unavoidable demise of her parent's marriage. In addition to the quickie marriage, I also recall hearing accounts of her literally laying in the driveway behind his car to keep him from going out to buy drugs. I cringed at the idea of that kind of sick co-dependency but, as an adult, she chose this man, this marriage and this life. The issue I have is that she has now subjected two children with this man and relationship and the daughter, without therapy, may very well end up in a relationship just as horrific as the one her parents have.

Addictions and mental illness aside, I see a big, self-absorbed baby who is married to a parent/wife who has finally gotten tired of playing that role. I don't feel sorry for her (or him) but cannot fathom how she can even consider continuing to expose her children to that madness.

Oh, How Sweet ...

Not much I can say about this ...

Known as 'Prussian Blue' — a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes — the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.

'We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white,' said Lynx. 'We want our people to stay white … we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race.'

Lynx and Lamb have been nurtured on racist beliefs since birth by their mother April. 'They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening,' said April, a stay-at-home mom who no longer lives with the twins' father. 'I'm going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would.'

April home-schools the girls, teaching them her own unique perspective on everything from current to historical events. In addition, April's father surrounds the family with symbols of his beliefs — specifically the Nazi swastika. It appears on his belt buckle, on the side of his pick-up truck and he's even registered it as his cattle brand with the Bureau of Livestock Identification.

'Because it's provocative,' explains April of the cattle brand, 'to him he thinks it's important as a symbol of freedom of speech that he can use it as his cattle brand.

Well I guess I do have one thing to say. The State of California is not exactly the place to seek pure whiteness. While I am sure there are pockets, you don't have to drive far to see a host of brown, yellow or black folks. Perhaps they should relocate to Idaho.

Bring The Big B Home

George W. Bush is an idiot! I have no idea why he thought that he could send that big, lumbering Karen Hughes to the Middle East to clean up our image. She keeps speaking to women's groups in Muslim countries and she gets a tongue lashing every time.

U.S. goodwill envoy Karen Hughes got a earful from a group of mostly female Indonesian Muslim students on Friday, who expressed anger at the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and attacked Washington's foreign policies.

Tasked by U.S. President George W. Bush to polish America's image overseas, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy is in Jakarta to meet leading Muslim clerics and students during a tour of the world's most populous Muslim nation.

'Why does America always act as if they were the police of the world?,' Barikatul Hikmah, a 20-year-old student at the Syarif Hidayatullah University asked Hughes.

Lailatul Qadar, a petite 19-year-old student wearing colorful headscarves, added: 'It's Bush in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and maybe it's going to be in Indonesia, I don't know. Who's the terrorist? Bush or us?'

The U.S. embassy organized the session with some 15 students at the university, a moderate Islamic center of learning that has received U.S. funding and which produces some of the country's most influential Muslim thinkers.

Hughes, who was largely composed and subdued during the session, defended the invasion of Iraq as necessary to protect the United States following the September 11, 2001, attacks because the administration saw Saddam Hussein as a security threat.

This mission is not working. He needs to send word for her to come home!

More Black On Black Crime

Not this time. But seriously, this is just a shame! I just don't understand WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!!!

Authorities have arrested a 16-year-old boy who lives near homicide victim Pamela Vitale, the wife of well-known defense attorney Daniel Horowitz, in connection with the killing, and sources told The Chronicle her slaying stemmed from a credit-card theft scheme.

Investigators arrested Scott Dyleski late Wednesday night at a relative's house after obtaining a warrant alleging murder, and one source close to the investigation told The Chronicle that Dyleski will be charged as an adult.

Authorities believe Dyleski killed Vitale, 52, on Saturday by striking her 39 times in the head with a piece of crown molding, then carved some kind of gothic signature into her back, the source said.

When arrested, Dyleski, who is 5'5' tall and weighs 110 pounds, had scratches on his face and legs consistent with a violent struggle, the source said."

...

The motive for the killing appears to stem from a credit-card theft scheme allegedly carried out by Dyleski and another teenage friend, who has not been implicated in the killing, one source said on condition of anonymity.

Investigators believe Dyleski and his friend planned to start a marijuana-growing operation, with Dyleski in charge of raising money, one source said. Dyleski is believed to have stolen credit card bills from mailboxes and used the cards to order supplies, the source said.

Dyleski ordered supplies Oct. 12 and believed they were delivered to Vitale's house on Hunsaker Canyon Road in Lafayette, although they never were delivered, the source said, adding that Dyleski is believed to have gone to the property Saturday morning to find the supplies, but got into a confrontation with Vitale.

Dyleski drank a glass of water after the killing, washed his hands in the sink, took a shower at the house and left the weapon behind, the source said. The youth lives about a mile up the road from Horowitz and Vitale, but a trail through the secluded canyon places the two houses much closer.

This is positively senseless!

He's Just So Clueless

How hollow can this man's head be? Let's tell the Katrina victims they are background noise ... or the chronically unemployed ... or those who don't have health insurance ...

President George W. Bush, hit by a series of domestic woes that have eroded his popularity, said on Thursday he was focused on his job and not on what he called 'some background noise.'

Bush was asked how preoccupied the White House was by distractions that include an investigation into whether any of his top aides deliberately outed a CIA operative, a conservative revolt over his nomination of Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court justice and investigations into senior Republican leaders in Congress.

Bush told reporters he was concentrating on his work.

'There's some background noise here, a lot of chatter, a lot of speculation and opining. But the American people expect me to do my job, and I'm going to,' Bush said in the White House Rose Garden, after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The president has been hit by falling job approval ratings in public opinions polls in recent months.

'Part of my job is to work with others to fashion a world that'll be peaceful for future generations. And I've got a job to do to make sure this economy continues to grow,' Bush said.

He added that he also had to ensure there was a workable reconstruction plan for areas hit by Hurricane Katrina in August."

He really must think he is king of the world if he can ignore the massive and growing problems here to go play cowboy elsewhere in the world.

How Black Conservatives Hurt Their Cause

Aside from the title (I'm not sure vocal black conservatives have a 'cause as they can only get white conservatives to pay them any mind), I think this guy has hit the nail on the head:

How Black Conservatives Hurt Their Cause
However, as an African, and resident of the (black) south side of Chicago, I have often wondered why the black conservative view has such poor resonance in African American communities. One of the most popular explanations, offered by black conservatives themselves, is that the “liberal media” caters to traditional black leadership at the expense of alternative voices. While there may be a grain of truth to this view, I would like to suggest that the answer is a bit more complex. In fact the “credibility” gap of black conservatives that Ms. Parker laments in her article has many roots.

First, I think tone and language matters. When I heard Star Parker suggest on Fox Television News that New Orleans’ black residents suffered from a “welfare mentality” I cringed, was angry and overwhelmed with deep emotion. I thought to myself, even if for a moment this were true, it is not the way anyone, black or white should be sounding in a time of such despair for that community. Although it was not readily apparent to me what Parker meant, I know that the term “welfare mentality,” used in certain contexts, is a provocative term. And for those among Katrina’s victims who work hard and do not receive welfare, I thought it would be particularly offensive.

But it seemed particularly mean-spirited for Parker to say this at such a crisis moment for black Louisianans. This tone, and the reflexive, single-minded identification of black people with “welfare” is not conducive to a healthy dialogue between conservatives and the black community. Surely, Parker cannot think this kind of attitude will move large numbers of black people to her side. Moreover, such harsh words about black people are at once hypocritical and one-sided: How often is “welfare mentality” ascribed to white people on the receiving end of government largess after a disaster? How many times have government emergency services been used to rescue white adventurers stranded on mountain tops or snow slopes while engaging in voluntary activity such as hiking or skiing? But we never hear black conservatives suggest that there is a “welfare mentality” at work there. I think most people would agree that people caught in a natural disaster have a better claim to government services. But, maybe to black conservatives the stranded white adventurer is more deserving, somehow.

Blacks aren’t voting liberal-Democratic because they are simply misled by Jesse Jackson and the civil rights leadership, or because they have a “herd mentality” as conservatives often contend. It would be condescending to deny the fact that black people, like any other population group, know and comprehend their self-interest. The black community is voting against what it hears, or does not hear, from black conservatives. Here are some examples:

I know a number of black conservatives. Some are just snobs who think that because they earn a little money, they have "economic interests" that would be better served by the Republican Party (not quite grasping that their "good salary" isn't really all that much and certainly not good enough to truly be enhanced by GOP policies). But, I also know some who really seem to be out to prove they are not like the black folks constantly demonized by the GOP. They want to prove they aren't criminal, welfare receiving, affirmative action needing ... negroes. It is more like they are trying to distance themselves from the stereotypes instead of realizing that they've bought into a false image of who most black Americans are ... and that's too bad.

What Do We Not Get?

We are shouting from the roof tops about Sadaam Hussein being on trial for all of the atrocities he committed over the years, yet we're still hearing Guantanamo stories and now this!

The American military and the Afghan government say they are investigating allegations that U.S. soldiers burned the bodies of killed Taliban fighters.

The U.S. military said Thursday it found the claims 'repugnant' and would investigate an Australian television report in which they were first made.

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai added that his government had launched its own probe into the alleged desecration.

'We strongly condemn any disrespect to human bodies regardless of whether they are those of enemies or friends,' spokesman Karim Rahimi told The Associated Press.

Australia's SBS television network broadcast footage Wednesday showing purported U.S. soldiers standing by the burning corpses of two suspected Taliban fighters with their bodies laid out facing Mecca.

The footage includes a propaganda message taunting Taliban fighters to retrieve their dead and fight. The footage was filmed in the hills outside the southern village of Gonbaz near the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, AP said.

I also heard, on Democracy Now, that this was shown on TV there and was a threat/taunt to other Taliban rebels. What synapses aren't clicking here? Why have our soldiers not been told that, even if they were doing it before, they can't do it now? Along with everything else the Bush Administration does or condones, this is absurd! Our global image will be mud for generations.

Stork Parking

The topic of special parking places for expectant mothers or new mothers (at places like Babies 'R' Us but increasingly at other places) turned into an interesting debate on one of my internet discussion lists. So, I did a little googling and found that it generates some pretty serious debate all over the place. I dare say I'd half expect comments like the ones by the dolt who wrote this article because he's a guy who probably already feels that women get too much anyway.

Okay, now let's talk about this ‘expectant mother’ ideal. What I'd like to know is, do all expectant mothers get an expectant mother hangtag for their car mirrors? If not, how do we know that the woman who parked in that spot is really an expectant mother? What month of pregnancy do they have to be in, in order to use the space? Do they have to be ‘showing’ or do we just take their word for it? And how come a pregnant lady is allowed a really good parking space, but a mother carrying an infant along with two or three other tots isn't?

And if a woman is so very pregnant that she needs to park as close as possible to the shopping mall, maybe she shouldn't be driving a car or going to the shopping mall at all. Maybe she should be off her feet, staying at home and resting.

If we give expectant mothers special parking places at the mall, then why not give them special seats at the movies and sporting events? They should be entitled to the best tables in restaurants, too. Expectant mothers shouldn't have to wait in lines, either. So I think we should pass a federal law that all expectant mothers get to go to the front of every line everywhere — post offices, supermarkets, Disneyland rides — everywhere. And I think all public restrooms should be made to accommodate the mother to be. That means holding at least one stall open for expectant mothers only. How's that?

But some of the replies posted by young, adult, able-bodied women on my list just floored me! These women were bragging about parking in those spots and felt justified in doing so. Take a gander at these comments:

• Call me what you want, but I park in those expecting mothers spots and the parents with sick children spots as well. I will be an exspecting mother one day and children do get colds and when I do have children, I am sure they will get a cold or two. Save the hate mail. I do it and it is so convenient.
  
  
• LMAO, I have to admit I've parked in those spots a time or two. It was either that or park way back on the highway. I've never seen those spots at stores other than Babies 'R' Us and when I'm going in there I'm going to spend money on a friend who's registered there and expecting. So I figure, I'm spending $60-70 bucks each time, and if you multiply that by the 8 baby showers I average per year as a "SINK" (Single Income No Kids), that equals out to approx. $560 per year. And that's how I justify parking in those spots a couple times per year. I figure it's ok, you've paid for the 30-45 minutes, depending how long the line is.
  
  I know I know, shame on me, and perhaps one day if I'm blessed to have children I will have a greater appreciation of the true purpose of the spot. We'll see!

Pardon me but I'm just appalled! The thing is that parking in one of these spots would never even cross my mind and these hiefers have well thought out reasons why they have every right to do it. How lazy can you be?

At Babies 'R' Us, I think it is a cute idea. I think expecting and new mommies will shop there enough to merit a special parking place - and it is a nice gimmick for the store. At malls, I know if I were pregnant or had a couple of toddlers/infants, I'd more than appreciate it.

Sure, I would like the closest park possible too. But, a few years ago, I noticed that quite a few senior citizens frequented a restaurant I used to go to on Saturday afternoons. I guess I had a "mindfulness moment" and decided, "I don't need to park close to the door. I see packs of seniors here every Saturday and they can appreciate the spot more than me." Lord knows that when I get older, I'd like to meet my friends for lunch and not have to park in the west hell section of the lot.

I feel the same way about pregnant women and the same way about mothers who are trying to run errands with the kids in tow. It kinda scares me when I see a mother with a cart, a baby carrier and a toddler trying to maneuver a crowded parking lot ('cause kids break away and people drive recklessly) so I wouldn't mind seeing designated parking up close because I'd hate to see an "accident."

I'm actually a little disturbed by the selfishness voiced by so many people who disagree with it. I could understand if there were some cold, legal philosophy behind it but these folks are ranting as though a few designated parking spots are a personal affront. This is a courtesy for citizens who need a little extra help. I really don't understand the backlash.

Man Up And Suit Up

Call me old fashioned but I fully support the NBA's proposed dress code for players. As someone who wore a school uniform through my sophomore year in high school (with picture day being the only "dress up" day and the last day of school being the only day we could wear "street clothes" (in grade school we had to help clean up text books for the next year's class)), I can't say I have sympathy for the players (or fans) who are kicking up a fuss about it. The reactions are definitely mixed and many people, like this sports writer, think it is a subtle attack on the hip-hop trend amongst the black player (and I actually agree that it is) but it is about time that they suited up.

Stern explains that the league wants its players to present a more professional look, but anyone who's been paying attention to the NBA over the last decade or so knows what the real message to the players is: Stop dressing like thugs -- or at least, stop wearing what a significant portion of the public perceives as thug attire. Call the style what you will -- urban, ethnic, hip-hop, ghetto -- the league has apparently decided that the look is bad for business, that there's a big chunk of the potential ticket and merchandise-buying fan base that has a hard time warming up to players who look like they just stepped out of a 50 Cent video.

This is dangerous territory, and Stern knows he needs to step lightly. Forget for a moment whether the league has any business telling grown men how to dress when they're not in uniform. The unspoken issue here is race. Young black men -- and that's who we're talking about here, with a few exceptions, like Jason Williams of the Miami Heat -- sometimes dress in ways that make people who don't belong to that demographic uncomfortable. If you think the league isn't targeting any one particular style of dress, ask yourself whether Stern or anyone else would be pushing for a dress code if the predominant look for players out of uniform was a polo shirt and khakis, a la John Stockton.

Agreeing with this author, I don't think that they would be pushing for a dress code if the players dressed like John Stockton. But, in the tradition of the tailored suits worn by Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Magic Johnson, I think that the John Stockton look is too casual as well. These players are young but most of them aren't kids. They are grown men and need to dress like grown men with a J.O.B. (Besides, black men look soooo good in a nice suit).

Timmy, that outfit doesn't cut it!

Who Are These People?!

Okay! I can identify some of these suspects but since when are they "black leaders" and who designated them as such? Why do white folks latch on to every negro with a microphone or a pen as some kind of spokesperson for black people?

On Tuesday, October 11, 2005, African American right-wing think tank Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND) held a panel discussion with The Heritage Foundation to discuss the state of Black America, mainly the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the comments from former Education secretary Bill Bennett. BOND is a 15-year-old non-profit religious organization, which claims dedication to “Rebuilding the Family By Rebuilding the Man.” Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity of Hannity & Colmes, ultra-conservative economist Walter E. Williams, and right-wing radio talk show host Dennis Prager are on BOND’s Board of Directors. The panelists were Dr. Shelby Steele, Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution; Linda Porter, Hurricane Katrina Survivor and Founder of Jochebed Education Project; Joseph C. Phillips, actor and columnist; and LaShawn Barber, freelance writer and blogger.

Sorry, sorry, sorry! Joseph C. Phillips is a failing actor who did a brief stint on General Hospital as the grandson from an illicit union between the patriarch of the richest family in town and his torch singing black grandmother. Before that he was the dullard husband (seems to be the only types of roles he can play) of the airheaded Denise on the Cosby's. He's hardly a mainstream, notable columnist. LaShawn Barber? Lord help us! I don't even think she's mentally stable (kinda has the same dry drunk issues as the Dubya). How are these fringe freaks considered to be leaders when most black folks a) don't even know who they are and b) would laugh in their faces if they heard most of their views?

How 'Bout Just Yuck?

Yes! Just Yuck!

David Copperfield says he plans to impregnate a girl on stage - without even touching her.

Speaking to German magazine Galore, the illusionist rejected the theory that there were only seven different kinds of magic tricks.

He said: 'Bull s**t! There is a great deal of new territory to conquer. In my next show I'm going to make a girl pregnant on stage.'

He added: 'Naturally it will be without sex. Everyone will be happy about it, but I'm not telling you any more.'

The magician is currently on tour in Germany with his show, An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion."

Is Her Real Name Sybil?

Before the morning was over I heard two different stories about this woman on the question of abortion. First, she got Arlen Spector all confused and he somehow misunderstood her and thought she said that she agreed with the Griswold decision.

As the White House renewed its attempts to rally backing for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, her views -- or non-views -- on a key privacy case appeared to ignite more controversy.

Miers spent much of Monday on Capitol Hill visiting with senators, among them Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter.

After their meeting, Specter told reporters that Miers said she believed the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut -- a landmark ruling establishing the right to privacy -- was 'rightly decided.'

But when the White House took exception to Specter's comments, the Pennsylvania Republican released a statement saying Miers later called him to tell him he had 'misunderstood' her answer.

Specter said Miers, in the later phone call, told him she had not taken a position on either Griswold or the right to privacy, the legal underpinning for the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Specter's statement did not withdraw his comments about Miers discussing Griswold with him, nor did it offer a correction. But the statement said the chairman accepted Miers' contention 'that he misunderstood what she said.'

Now it seems there is a bit of paper which shows that, at least in 1989, she pledged to support an constitutional amendment that would prohibit all abortions except those where the mother's life was in danger.

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers pledged support in 1989 for a constitutional amendment banning abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, according to material given to the Senate on Tuesday.

As a candidate for the Dallas city council, Miers also signaled support for the overall agenda of Texans United for Life agreeing she would support legislation restricting abortions if the Supreme Court ruled that states could ban abortions and would participate in "pro-life rallies and special events."

Miers made her views known in a candidate questionnaire the White House submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is expected to hold hearings on her Supreme Court nomination next month. The one-page questionnaire was filled out, but unsigned, although the Bush administration affirmed its authenticity.

This is getting really stupid! I definitely don't think that Arlen Spector "misunderstood" this woman! At the same time, if she is a known supporter of the pro-life movement, why is Bush pretending he doesn't know her views. I'm not sure she knows her own views from day to day. I was fine with waiting until the hearings to see what she had to say for herself because the conservatives are doing a pretty good job of ripping her apart all by themselves. But this is starting to look like a circus and it is making a mockery out of the nomination and out of the prestige of the position as a Supreme Court Justice. She needs to withdraw her name!

Whigga Please!

Bill O'Reilly is so full of it! I think he needs to retire because he can no longer pull off that "moral/holier than thou" attitude now that he was found to be cheating on his wife via unrequited phone sex with a younger colleague. And perhaps the prospect of seeing the Bush administration - all it stood for and all Bill touted it to be - go down in flames is just getting to be too much for him. But puleese! Spare us the "I don't like being famous" crap! As much as he promotes his books and "No Spin Zone" gear, he's trying to be a household name.

The embattled life" of Bill O'Reilly "has become an increasingly strange and scary one," Verne Gay says in a fascinating Newsday cover story today.

"Gauging the animus against O'Reilly has always been a rough art, but by his own estimation 'it's gotten worse. Now it's so bad that I spend an enormous amount of money protecting myself against evil.'"

That's why, when the king of cable news is asked about the future after his current contract ends a little more than two years from now, he blurts out the word "retirement."

He is working on a book, "Culture Warrior," but says it'll be his last. He has ruled out a political future. "He insists that he finally sees the road ahead, and it probably leads out of Fox News headquarters and away from the scorching spotlight -- forever."

"I don't need to do the show anymore [and] I'm as famous as I need to be. I don't like being famous," he says.

How about he's just finding it harder to peddle that hot air!

The Greater The Sinner ...

The greater the saint. So here we have another one in Madonna/"Saint" Esther (her adopted Hebrew name).

In her new movie, 'I'm Going to Tell You a Secret,' the many-mansioned Madonna attacks the material world.
Once, she told papa not to preach. But now, at 47, Madonna has come down from the mount with a message for you sinners.

People 'are going to go to hell, if they don't turn from their wicked behavior,' the singer proclaims in her new film, 'I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.'

Despite her many homes, the former Material Girl says she has renounced 'the material world. The physical world. The world of illusion, that we think is real. We live for it, we're enslaved by it. And it will ultimately be our undoing.'

Reading from Scripture at one point in the film, the mother of two — who won't let her children watch TV or eat ice cream — says, 'I refer to an entity called 'The Beast.' I feel I am describing the world that we live in right now.'

All this seems to have come from her embracing the mystical Jewish teachings of the Kabbalah. But it might seem strange to those who remember that the Catholic girl, confirmed as Madonna Louise Ciccone, used to go out of her way to shred the envelope with nose-cone bras and three-way 'Sex' shots.

Catholic League President William Donohue likes Madonna's new morality: 'For her to have this sudden wakeup call — that the kind of behavior for which she is infamous is not salutary for young people — is refreshing.'

But he doesn't like her proclamation, also made in the documentary about her 2004 Re-Invention tour, that 'most priests are gay.' Donohue adds, 'We're glad to see she is no longer with us. Jews will have to make up their own mind about whether they're going to welcome her. Lots of them don't want to.'

But Madonna is clearly beloved at the Kabbalah Center in L.A.

I am all for spiritual enlightenment and am certainly glad that Madonna has evolved from the little Catholic girl who thought that the sacrament of confession was a personal "get out of jail free card" and a license to do whatever she wanted as long as she repented to the priest. I am also impressed by her study of Kabbalism and by her incorporating spirituality training into her children's lives. However, why do folks always have to take it to the deep end then jump off? Can't she just be a quiet practitioner who shares her knowledge/faith with people if they ask? I am sorry but one of the last people I want warning me about sin and hell is Madonna -- though some would say she should know pretty much about it.

All Of The Women Are Second Rate Citizens

When I saw Condoleezza on Meet The Press yesterday morning I immediately grabbed the remote and changed the channel while muttering "that bitch!" Oh, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just couldn't stomach any of the shows yesterday. All of this talk about the Iraqis voting on the constitution Bush's/Rice's portrayal of it as some sort of grand success just made me sick. Condoleezza, a woman of color who can travel the world freely, is a co-consipirator in the masking of the fact that Iraqi women have lost many of their rights!

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Can you talk about the vote, the constitution and your response to what look like it has passed?

YANAR MOHAMMED: You know, about the vote, Amy, there are a few people who said yes, against your comments where you said the Shiites were more for a yes vote, and the Kurds are also for a yes vote, because in what they call the Shiite cities, half of the voters of the last elections did not go to this referendum, and this is a very blunt no to this referendum, in the time that it was not counted as votes against the referendum. And also, in the north, in many Kurdish friends that I have, I hear that everybody is not satisfied with this constitution that will force Islamic Sharia on them. So most of the people are against this constitution, but those who had boycotted, those voices will not count. So, it will not be known.

Nobody is satisfied with a referendum that is establishing a constitution of division and oppression of women. All of the women's groups are against this constitution, but unfortunately, a big majority is voting yes, because they are under the impression that a vote yes will lead to more secure times in Iraq, and it's not just something that they are assuming, but they were told this over and over again by the puppet government that has been selected by the Americans and also by the occupying forces, that a vote yes is a yes for democracy. It is yes for security, and it’s yes for better times to come. So, most of those who are putting the ballot as yes, they are under the – they are alluded into a vote that they think will bring some security into the country, but nobody, absolutely nobody, is satisfied with a constitution of dividing Iraqi people upon ethnic lines, upon religious lines and also a constitution of turning us women into second-rate citizens.

And you know what, everybody is terrorized because the civil war has already started, and there is no mention in it in Condoleezza Rice's very optimistic speech. She says that democracy is being achieved, while in Iraq, all we witness is that we have no electricity, we have no security, the civil war has started, and a hideous way of democracy has been imposed on us, a democracy that has put Mullahs, ethnic bigot rulers, I mean, ethnic heads and tribal heads as representatives of Iraqi people. We are outraged by a constitution that gives legality to these tribal and ethnic heads and religious heads, and has turned Iraq into an Islamic country. Everybody is outraged, but if we reached the vote yes, it's only because people are under the impression that the vote yes will lead us to more secure times.

This is the publicity that they have put all over the media, and women have already been turned into second rate citizens by this constitution. I think next time I’m in Iraq, I'll have to cover up. I will be forced to veil. I will be forced to wear black, and there is no other way of looking at it.

[...]

YANAR MOHAMMED: It has made it very clear under the first chapter of the main principles that the Sharia will be the main source, actually, the exact word is the base source of legislation, and any article that contradicts with Islamic Sharia cannot be passed under this constitution. So, we are speaking here about a whole family law that will be based on Sharia, in the time that our previous family law was more progressive. It had a big number of amendments to it. It was one of the best in the Middle East, and it gave women some kind of independence, while under this new family law that will be totally based on Islamic Sharia, women's rights in marriage, in divorce, in custody and even in access to work and education will be in the hands of the males.

In other words, we are not allowed to independence. We are not allowed to decisions in our lives, and we not speaking here about only appearances of wearing veil or not veil, but we are speaking about women having choices in their lives. We have lost those, and it is by constitution now. There is no other way to it, because no article that contradicts with Islamic Sharia will be allowed in the family law, and there isn't much elaboration about following the international conventions of ending the discrimination against women to prioritize them over religion. It says very clearly the priority is that the laws will not contradict with Islamic Sharia. So, there you go, all of the women are second-rate citizens in Iraq ...

The sad thing is that they've also got that big, Karen Hughes parading around other Arab countries trying to feed them BS about women's rights while the one place that had the most progressive womens' freedoms is wiping them out.

Our interference in Iraq over the past decade and a half, which culiminated with our invasion, almost guarantees Iraqi women's rights fading into history.

Shiite marshals roam the southern city of Basra, chastising women for showing a bare arm or calf and beating them for picnicking with male friends. Female lawmakers from the governing Shiite religious parties talk with relish of establishing a husband's right to beat wives -- albeit subject to regulation. Female officials speak with approval of a woman in the southern city of Najaf who was denied a judgeship because of her sex.

Milla says she has seen more and more colleagues retreat under head scarves, saying they fear becoming targets of the fundamentalism, linked to anti-American sentiment, that has been growing since the war.

She has resisted wearing a scarf, or hijab , however, and covers her head only when she goes into a conservative neighborhood. 'I feel inside myself that my belief, my heart, is stronger than hijab,' she said.

Born in 1952, Milla was a teenager at a time when women in Baghdad and other Muslim capitals, including Kabul and Tehran, wore miniskirts and let their pageboys and flip haircuts lift in the breeze. She graduated from Baghdad's Fine Arts Institute and traveled freely to Russia, Jordan, Egypt and France.

In the 1990s, after the Persian Gulf War, fundamentalism closed in on women as sanctions did on President Saddam Hussein. The government instituted a rule that no woman could travel outside the country without a male relative. Hussein's pride had been stung, Iraqis said, by rumors that the women of Iraq, freer than most of their counterparts in the Arab world, were going abroad to prostitute themselves.

There is no democracy unless everyone is free and equal. The way we have cavalierly sold out 50% of Iraq's population is unforgivable.

Send Him To The Naughty Corner

Caffrety knows he is wrong for this! But it is too funny!

Give Republicans A Chance

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ... NO! Sorry, with the current configuration of the party and the current leadership, I'd vote for a LaRouchie before I'd vote for even a moderate Republican that I liked. The effort during the last campaign to embrace blacks by using religion and basing it on denying women a choice and gays equality was positively shameful. So that long in the tooth Mehlman can take his pandering elsewhere.

Given the African-American community's 40-plus years of strong allegiance to the Democrats, some Republicans have quietly told Mehlman he is wasting his time. Other observers agree.

'It's not just the way the Bush administration responded to Katrina, but events afterwards,' says David Bositis, an analyst of the black vote at the Joint Center for Political Economic Studies. He notes the suspension of rules about giving subcontracts to minority-owned firms and those requiring payment of the prevailing wage. 'There's too much history.... The center of gravity of the Republican Party is white Southerners, the group African-Americans trust the least.'

Raynard Jackson, a black political and business consultant, calls Mehlman a dear friend, and gives him credit for believing in what he's doing. But Mr. Jackson thinks the outreach should be focused more on concrete business connections. 'You can talk about school choice or the faith-based initiative, but if I don't have a job, I don't hear your message,' he says.

The president himself has his work cut out to reach African-Americans. In Gallup's annual minority-relations poll, Bush has gone from a high of 41 percent job approval among blacks in 2002 down to 16 percent in 2004 and 2005. In Gallup's first post-Katrina poll, that figure had slipped to 14 percent. Bush also has yet to address an NAACP convention, a point that, after five years in office, has grown symbolically loaded, despite his appearances before other black groups. The skepticism appears to be mutual.

'The more important question will be, why have some national NAACP leaders allowed themselves to become so partisan that they would appear to many people to be speaking on behalf of one of the two political parties,' Mehlman said to reporters in Waterbury.

Mehlman himself addressed the national NAACP convention in July in Milwaukee, including a headline-making acknowledgment that Republicans' strategy of trying to benefit politically from racial polarization was wrong.

It was there that Jim Griffin tapped him on the shoulder and invited him to Connecticut. That was before Katrina. Now, to Mehlman, the imperative to reach out is no doubt even greater.

I may have mentioned this before but I am highly insulted by conservatives who mock the strongly democratic black community as docile idiots who aren't making up their own minds or perpetually looking for a handout or some "program." I believe I heard Brit Hume say something to the effect that "if blacks would think for themselves ..." Well, you know what? I do and that is why, invariably, I will vote democratic. Here is a clip from a pre-2004-election email tirade to one of my mostly democratic, black yahoogroups (with a couple of Republicans who try to condescend):

How bout I'm pro-choice (as are moderate republicans) - and I know how to keep from having to make that choice? How bout I'd like to live in a country where an old person isn't breaking pills in half because pharmeceutical companies are gouging the heck out of the cost out of medicine? How 'bout I don't care if someone marries their dang dog (as that brotha on Last Comic Standing said) as long as they clean up behind it? How 'bout I cannot believe that the GOP is always spouting less government when they are trying to govern who gets married, how they get married, how many kids they can have - or not - and how much you can sue for after some doctor has left a pair of scissors in your abdomen? How bout I can work 2 jobs, as my divorced mom did, to send my kids (if I had any) to private school and don't want no stinking vouchers?
[...]
One thing about some black conservatives that I cannot stand is this self-righteous, self-important stance that somehow they've overcome waay more than anybody else and therefore they are Republican. To them
I say get off your high horse cause there are tons of Democrats who've done more, worked harder and are far more humble about it. People like JC Watts and his "babies out of wedlock having self" can sit the heck down! That goes for the new black face of the GOP, Don King, too! ...

I will not join a party filled with hypocritcal Fundamentalist Christians who are American versions of the Taliban. I will not join a party that still needs to draw in a good portion of their white support by using "the southern strategy." I will not join a party with Conservative ideologues like Ann Coulter, George Will and Pat Buchanan (though I have agreed with him on this neo-con war and the general principle behind why Harriet Miers is a bad choice). The Republican Party, as it stands now, is a combination of people who each divide this country in different ways. George Bush's devilish deals with each segment are coming to the forefront and this carefully forged alliance of people without common interests is coming apart at the seams. Perhaps if there is a total disintegration of the party as it now stands, it can be rebuilt into something I can respect. But, for the forseeable future, I want no parts of those people.

More On How Our Big Ally Values Freedom For All

This reminds me of the post I made a couple of years ago about young Saudi girls being killed in a school fire because they exited the building without their head scarfs and the "decency police" made them go back into the building to put them on. Now, we find women were disproportionaly killed because their lives don't include the abiltiy to leave the house.

For a majority of Pakistani women, life is raising children and looking after the home -- where they are almost idolised by the males of the family and treated as queens of their domains.

But this life spent almost in purdah -- an Urdu word meaning 'behind the veil' -- condemned thousands of Pakistani women to death when Saturday's deadly South Asian earthquake struck.

Officials say the majority of the estimated 40,000 victims of the 7.6 magnitude quake were women and children.

Doctors say the same of the injured they are treating across the quake's 'death zone', stretching from the rugged North West Frontier Province to the lush mountains and valleys of Pakistani- and Indian-controlled Kashmir.

'This doesn't surprise me at all,' said an orthopedic surgeon doing volunteer work at a makeshift tented clinic in Muzaffarabad set up by the Jamiat ud Dawa (Path of the Faithful) -- a self-styled charity with known strong links to Kashmir militant groups.

'Even among my relatives, some of the women almost never leave the house unless for weddings or such,' the surgeon said.

The quake struck just before 9 a.m., when children were at school and the men at work.

In tens of thousands of homes across the quake zone, women were tidying the house, looking after infants or resting, having been up since well before dawn preparing food for the family to eat before sunrise as it is currently the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Caught unawares, and probably in casual clothing, many women would never have fled into the relative safety of open streets despite the violent shaking of the buildings.

When the walls came tumbling down, they were trapped inside."

Can we get beyond the absurd in this culture?

Robin On GMA

Good Morning America has been my favorite morning program from day one. With the addition of Robin Roberts to the morning couch, I'd say NBC and CBS will definitely never be able to sway my loyalty. Charlie, Diane and Robin are a perfect combination.

But she continued her ESPN work on the side — until May, when ABC News President David Westin asked her to join the anchor desk. She was excited but wistful. This is the first fall Roberts won't be covering football.

'It was so hard for me to leave the sports world, because it was all I had ever known,' she said.

Her ambivalence disappeared with Hurricane Katrina. She arrived in Louisiana the day after the storm to cover the devastation, the scope of which was just becoming apparent. But her first goal was to locate her family. Roberts drove 200 miles through the night, dodging power lines, overturned tankers and abandoned cars to reach Biloxi, where her 81-year-old mother, her sister and nieces had ridden out the storm. Once she confirmed they were safe, she turned around and sped back to the satellite truck to do a live shot for 'Good Morning America.' She made it with 20 minutes to spare.

Once on air, she was initially stoical, calmly reporting the scenes she had witnessed. But then Gibson asked about her family, and she dissolved into tears.

'I thought, 'career suicide,' ' Roberts said. ' 'I've cried, I mean, boo-hooed, on national TV. It's over.' '

Instead, her outburst elicited a wave of viewer sympathy and marked the beginning of a series of emotional reports from television journalists about the magnitude of the destruction on the Gulf Coast. 'Good Morning America' is now organizing an effort to rebuild her hometown of Pass Christian.

'That is a moment when I looked up and said, 'I get it. This is why I'm here and this is what I'm supposed to be doing,' ' she said of her hurricane coverage. 'I have never felt more comfortable in my life. It's kind of like I'm breathing now.'

Robin's tearful report from the scene of the hurricane probably reduced anyone who was watching to tears. It was a moment of humannesss that needed to be expressed given the devastating circumstances. I've been telling Today Show fans who are sick of Katie Couric to move on over to the show I've been watching for decades!

(As a side note, I am so sad that Tony Perkins (the man who replaced Spencer Christian who now resides in the Bay Area) has decided to move on).

Exactly What They Wanted

This whole thing was just ridiculous ... both on behalf of the neo-Nazis and the knuckleheads who decided to give them a voice by showing up to protest their march then acted a fool! These Nazi marches are soooo 70s and one way to finally stop these displays of hate is for everyone to stay inside, close the blinds and ignore them. As ignorant and useless as I think these groups are, they do have the right to march and exercise their freedom of speech. However, that does not mean that they need to be heard!

Police and SWAT teams swooped in and arrested at least 60 people (43 adults and 17 juveniles) on such charges as assault, vandalism, failure to obey police and failure to disperse before calm was restored four hours later. A state of emergency was declared and an 8 p.m. curfew was enacted through the weekend.

'It's exactly what they wanted,' Ford said of America's Nazi Party, the self-imposed nickname of the National Socialist Movement (NSM) group that planned the march. NSM organizers said it had received support from Toledo's white citizens and community activists.

At least 24 NSM members gathered at a city park to march under police protection. Organizers said they were demonstrating against black gangs they said were harassing white residents. The march, scheduled for noon, ended up being canceled because of the rioting that ensued. None of the NSM’s 80 members who showed up to participate was arrested, according to the group’s spokesman, Bill White.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday, a dispatcher reported that gang members wearing colors were gathering along Stickney, Central, and Ketcham avenues. By 11:15 a.m., police had already reported the throwing of rocks. Along Stickney Avenue, as mounted patrol officers pushed back the crowd off the sidewalk, irate residents began screaming at passing police.

“Which side are you on?” yelled one woman. “I don’t see you pushing any Nazis back!”

Violence broke out about one-quarter of a mile away along the planned march route shortly before it was to begin. One group of men pounded on a convenience store, and others overturned vehicles.

Police Chief Mike Navarre said about 150 officers chased groups of young men through the area. Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and bottles. Several officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries, Navarre said.

Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to people to stay inside, and the crowd dispersed.

White blamed the riot on Toledo police, saying they intentionally changed the group's march route to ensure it collided with a counter-demonstration. White said that about 20 members from pro civil rights groups International Socialists Organization and One People's Project showed up, and some handed eggs to African-American residents to throw at the Nazi marchers.

I was a high school senior in Evanston, IL when Jewish residents in neighboring Skokie were faced with the prospect of Nazis marching through their suburb. A city with many holocaust survivors, I overhead many of my classmates speaking of their relative's plans to arm themselves be ready for those suckers. A few years later they made a movie about their successful efforts to prevent the march. This march was permitted and Toledo residents had a choice on how to handle it. I think they should have stayed home and let the Nazis hear only the sounds of their own footsteps and hateful voices.

Blech!.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the cutest little old couple holding hands while waiting for their lunch at Panera. But this is gross!

Does He Ever Make Sense?

Another Bushism

'I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at.' — Bush on the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2005

Going Crazy!

Even though this seems to be a serious problem, it is too cute!

Sakura Terakawa, 63, describes her four decades of married life in a small urban apartment as a gradual transition from wife to mother to servant. Communication with her husband started with love letters and wooing words under pink cherry blossoms. It devolved over time, she said, into mostly demands for his evening meals and nitpicking over the quality of her housework.

So when he came home one afternoon three years ago, beaming, and announced he was ready to retire, Terakawa despaired.

' 'This is it,' I remember thinking. 'I am going to have to divorce him now,' ' Terakawa recalled. 'It was bad enough that I had to wait on him when he came home from work. But having him around the house all the time was more than I could possibly bear.'

Concerned about her financial future if she divorced, Terakawa stuck with their marriage -- only to become one of an extraordinary number of elderly Japanese women stricken with a disorder that experts here have recently begun diagnosing as retired husband syndrome, or RHS.

Feeling chained to the tradition of older women remaining utterly dedicated to their husbands' well-being, Terakawa said, she devoted herself to her spouse. Retirement cut him off from his longtime office social network, leaving him virtually friendless and her with the strain of filling his empty time. Within a few weeks, she said, he was hardly leaving the house, watching television and reading the newspaper -- and barking orders at her. He often forbade her to go out with her friends. When he did let her go, Terakawa said, she had to prepare all his meals before leaving.

After several months, she developed stomach ulcers, her speech began to slur and rashes broke out around her eyes. When doctors discovered polyps in her throat but could find no medical reason for her sudden burst of ailments, she was referred to a psychiatrist who diagnosed stress-related RHS.

Terakawa began receiving therapy from Nobuo Kurokawa, a physician who is one of Japan's leading RHS experts. Kurokawa coined the term retired husband syndrome in a presentation to the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine in 1991, leading to its use in books, journals and mainstream media here. Confirming Terakawa's account in an interview, Kurokawa said he offered her the same advice he has given numerous other older women in the same position.

'Come to therapy,' he said. 'Then spend as much time as possible away from your husband.'

Perception vs. Reality

Minister Louis Farrakahn was all over the news programs yesterday as a prelude to the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March (and the upcoming Millions More March). Naturally, they were bringing up his inflammatory statements as though they had any real power behind them. I'm no big fan of the Nation of Islam or its teachings but, for some reason, I am still facinated by Farrakahn because people seem so proud to be able to point to someone that they can call a "black racist" (and again, racism is about far more than "liking" someone of another race, it is about having the power to influence their past, present and future in some way). But just think what flames Sean Hannity would have been in had Farrakahn made the same comments that Bill Bennett had (followed, of course, by a disclaimer that said comments were morally reprehensible) with the premise being stated as a fact? What if he used these facts?

Consider the fact that whites commit three times as many violent crimes as blacks every year, just in raw numbers. This is just for ordinary 'street crimes' such as assault. The numbers become skewed out of this world when you consider 'white-collar' crimes (typically, the collar isn't the only thing that's white).

For instance, job-related accidents and illnesses claimed the lives of 70,000 Americans in 1992, a significant portion of which can be chalked up to white employers neglecting to comply with occupational health and safety laws. According to studies, up to 64,000 die every year due to pollution and other environmental hazards produced by industry. Another 21,700 die due to consumer product deaths, costing the nation $200 billion a year. Another $200 billion is lost annually due to white-collar embezzlement. These two statistics alone add up to over 26 times the amount of all the robberies and petty thefts committed every year combined!

We should also not forget the ravages of the white-owned health care system and insurance industry. Around 18,000 adults are killed every year as a result of a lack of medical coverage. Over 25 thousand die as a result of unnecessary prescriptions and surgeries performed by mostly white doctors. All in all, corporate criminals take about ten times as many lives as street criminals. And I haven't even mentioned the white men who control the apparatus of state, which through war, sanctions, and other means kills hundreds of thousands, if not millions more. Over 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq alone, for example.

We can go back and forth about each others crimes for centuries on end. I once sent a similar set of facts to an O'Reilly type friend who no longer wanted to have a debate on the subject once I pointed out that my facts contradicted his stereotypes. Still, finger pointing hasn't solved a thing. ALL crime needs to stop - particularly the most costly and deadly.

Why Are You Peddling It?

This is too funny! Scott McClellan is such a fat headed dope who cannot think as fast as the reporters. They are twisting him in knots over Bush trying to slip code to the religious right that Harriet Miers is a religious conservative:

Q So her religion played no role in her making it to the final group and then, ultimately --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, the President makes decisions based on the person's qualifications and experience and judicial temperament.

Q All right. So there was no -- no role at all in the President's decision-making of Harriet Miers' religion?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's part of who she is. That's part of her background. That's what the President was talking about in his remarks in the Oval Office.

Q Why is Karl Rove calling up religious leaders telling them it's okay, she belongs to an ultra evangelical church?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're calling up a lot of people --

Q Why that?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- to reach out to them and talk to them about the President's selection of Harriet Miers. And what he is emphasizing in those conversations, Terry, is that she is someone who is strongly committed to a conservative judicial philosophy.

Q What is somebody's --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, why wouldn't --

Q Wait, wait, wait. What relevance does how a person prays have to the judicial philosophy?

MR. McCLELLAN: Didn't say that it did.

Q So why are you peddling it?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of her background, Terry; it's part of who she is.

Q But you just said it was not relevant to judicial philosophy.

MR. McCLELLAN: People want to know who she is. And when you're getting to know someone, you want to know what their qualifications and experience are, you want to know what their judicial philosophy is, and you want to know who they are. Faith is very important to Harriet Miers. But she recognizes that faith and that her religion and that her personal views don't have a role to play when it comes to making decisions.

Q It seems that what you're doing is trying to calm a revolt on the right concerned that Harriet Miers isn't conservative enough, by saying, it's okay, she is conservative enough, because she goes to this church.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, it seems like the media wants to focus on things other than her qualifications. Maybe your news organization would rather focus on things other than her qualifications and record. The President believes we should focus on her qualifications and her record and her judicial philosophy. And that's what we emphasize.

Q Why is his top aide going around and telling people how she prays?"

We know why Rove is going around telling people how she prays (like anyone knows for sure). Because the whack jobs on the right were promised a stacked Supreme Court that would set women's rights and reproductive health back a generation. Just as with John Roberts, I am none too convinced that Miers is all that obsessed - religiously, constitutionally or otherwise - with Roe v. Wade. But, we'll see. I think there are other motives behind this nomination and I'm guessing that the conservative base is figuring that out too. Bush is not concerned with the long term impact of a conservative court. He is looking at how to get the most power during his last three years in office. Appointing someone who knows where all of his bodies are buried will keep his behind out of the pot of boiling water that is bound to start bubbling up on him soon.

Bill Maher Rules On Harriet

Funny!

And finally, New Rule: George Bush must meet some new people. You know, when Americans see their president giving every job to the same old cronies, they use words like 'loyal to a fault' and 'stubborn' and 'close-minded,' 'lives in a bubble,' 'sock-puppet,' 'asshole.' 'Worst president ever.' But they're missing the point. The problem isn't his political philosophy - 'kill people and animals and take their gas' - the problem is he has to expand his circle of friends beyond his mom, Karen Hughes and the House of Saud. Which is why before George Bush makes another political appointment, he has to join Friendster.

This week, President Bush had to nominate a Supreme Court judge, and he picked the most qualified person within 30 feet of his office. Her qualifications: well, she is a lawyer and former commissioner of the Texas State Lottery. And she's seen every episode of 'Judging Amy.' Abortion, affirmative action, separation of church and state. Yeah, let's ask the lady who peddled scratch tickets to liquor stores.

Does he just go with the first person he sees? I wouldn't be surprised if Laura was his sister. Now, of course - I keep checking with him - of course, George Bush isn't the first politician to hand out graft gigs to his pals, but he doesn't seem to understand that that's what the bullshit jobs are for: ambassador to the Bahamas. The Recycling Czar. Head of the CIA. But George Bush puts stooges where they can do real damage: Director of FEMA? That guy from the horsie show is available. U.N. Ambassador? Dick Cheney knows a guy with a mustache and anger issues.

Supreme Court justice? Lady down the hall. Labor Secretary? The guy who helped me move that hooker's body at Yale could probably do it. You know - you know, Mr. President, when you got elected, we all figured you were no genius, but smart enough to hire qualified people. But it turns out you're just a dimwit who enjoys feeling superior. And the only way to accomplish that is to surround yourself with the likes of Mike Brown and Harriet Miers: Goober and Aunt Bea. Unspectacular souls who make you feel comfortable and unthreatened. Kind of like when Madonna used to hang out with Rosie O'Donnell.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble. But real friends are the ones who tell you the truth. They're also the ones who work hard so as not to embarrass you. These people who work for you aren't behaving like friends. They're behaving far worse. They're behaving...like family.

Yes, it's almost enough to make you miss the old pre-'honor and integrity' days. Because at least when Clinton talked about tapping the woman down the hall, he was just having sex with her.

It's A Womb, Not A Clown Car

Okay, I stole the title from a poster on the message boards but I cannot get the visual out of my head. I referenced this in my last post but thought it merited its own spot. They can blame this on God if they want to but I think this woman is addicted to pregnancy and having babies. Surely, with 16 kids someone is not going to get the attention they need. I have a friend who is nuts for life from being the neglected middle child in a family of nine and ended up playing mom to the younger four siblings (of course, dad bailing and Catholic mom living in mass didn't help). It's not really my business so I guess my best response would be: "if they like it, I love it."

Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again.

Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.

The baby's father, Jim Bob Duggar, a former state representative, said Wednesday that mother and child were doing well.

He said Johannah's birth was especially exciting because it was the first time in eight years the family has had a girl.

Jim Bob Duggar, 40, said he and Michelle, 39, want more children.

'We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them,' he said."

Of course the cynic in me will be waiting for more than a few of them to end up on Oprah, Dr. Phil or Starting Over in a few years. Loving kids doesn't necessarily mean having as many as your body will allow. It means providing a safe and nurturing environment for ALL of the children. I just don't see how it is possible to properly parent that many.

Girls Gone Wild In Training

I suppose the proper message to young girls is that they are no more than a hole that boys want to poke and if they want to go to heaven they should stay unpoked until marriage and then proceed to have 16 children.

I think back to my two Girl Scout leaders who were devout Catholics and pillars in my community. In addition to my mother, they had a strong influence in my life. How on earth did I turn into such a belligerent little bitch who would just love to slap the piss out of some of these "family-values" women?

Believe in yourself and each other.

Believe in your power.

Believe in your strength.

Apparently these are the very dangerous messages girls are getting from American Girl’s recent collaboration with Girls, Inc. At least, that’s what the folks at the American Family Association say.

American Girl, a super-popular doll company, joined forces with girls’ rights organization Girls, Inc. to launch an “I Can” campaign. American Girl is selling these cute bracelets (70 cents from each will go to programs at Girls, Inc.) and asking girls to take the “I Can” Promise:

I can be myself, follow my dreams, and always do my best. I can reach for the stars, lend a hand to others, and be a good friend. I can make a difference! I promise to try.

The AFA has started a petition to stop the campaign because Girls, Inc. is “a pro-abortion, pro-lesbian advocacy group.” Huh?

...

God forbid we raise girl children to be free thinking adults with healthy reproductive systems who make responsible and healthy choices about their bodies. How that translates to pro-abortion and pro-lesbianism is beyond me.

Still Yucked Out

I agree with dad.

Tom Cruise’s future father-in-law apparently isn’t a happy camper.

Katie Holmes’s dad is said to be “very upset” because his unmarried daughter is pregnant with Cruise’s child. And, what’s more, the devoutly Catholic Martin Holmes reportedly is none-too-thrilled about his daughter’s involvement in her husband-to-be’s controversial religion, Scientology.

“[Martin Holmes] was very upset and got into a real spat with Katie,” the forthcoming issue of Life & Style Weekly quotes “a close friend” of Cruise as saying. “Tom had promised her parents that they would do the right thing and get married before any baby came along.” After scolding his daughter, according to the mag, Martin Holmes berated Cruise by declaring “You’re no good.”

Something about this is still just creepy!

The Church Is A Hiding Place

Why does it seem that some of the most devout and/or zealous religious fanatics are living secret lives of sexual perversion and depravity?

After news broke that local law enforcement officials were investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, had molested three female family members when they were pre-teens, The Oregonian in Portland went out and interviewed Beres' family members.

Two told reporters that Beres, indeed, had molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.

'I was molested,' said one of the women, now in her early 50s. 'I was victimized, and I've suffered all my life for it. I'm still afraid to be in the same room with [Beres].'

The coalition led by Beres, 70, champions socially conservative candidates and causes. Its Web site describes the group as 'Oregon's leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage.' The group opposes abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research. It is affiliated with the national Christian Coalition, which was founded in 1989 by television evangelist Pat Robertson.

The group confirmed Beres is under investigation for alleged molestation. According to The Oregonian, Beres blamed 'personal and political enemies' for the reports and said, 'I never molested anybody.'

This just disgusts me!

Oooo Oooo Weee!

Looks like Bill Kristol is preparing the base for more bad news.

Criminal defense lawyers I’ve spoken to who are friendly to the administration are very worried that there will be one or more indictments in the next three weeks of senior administration officials, just looking at what Fitzgerald is doing and taking him at his word, you know, being a serious prosecutor here. And I think it’s going to be bad for the Bush administration.

Too bad. So sad!

Talk About Stupid!

Last week, I absolutely refused to watch Dubya's speech, listen to his speech or even listen to the recaps of his speech. I knew it would be stupid. I watch enough of the Washington Journal call-in show every morning to know that there are still a select few idiots who believe and support everything George W. Bush says. While I certainly cannot explain the obvious brain damage of these folks, I do know that Bush must believe that someone is gullible enough to buy his garbage because he keeps saying the same things over and over and over again.

On the very day that New York City received 'credible' (then 'doubtful') information that 19 operatives had been dispatched to bomb the subways, President Bush gave a speech to remind America that the 'war on terror' was on the front burner. Channeling elder statesman David Letterman, Bush claimed that 10 serious terrorist plots had been derailed since 9/11.

Bush was hoping to deliver us from our dangerous preoccupation with Rove's troubles, DeLay's indictment, Frist's SEC problems, the fallout from Katrina, his holy-shit-I've-even-lost-the-evangelicals 37-percent approval rating, and the $3 gallon of gas. You know, to focus on the real threat (Ter'r), and thus, his argument went, to remain in Iraq.

In other words, Bush is asking America to continue to Fight the Enemy -- though now it's an enemy created by failed policy. He's even exhumed Osama bin Laden again, calculating, apparently, that he has more to gain by invoking the bogeyman than he has to lose reminding the public he hasn't caught him after four years and billions down the drain. Talk about desperation.

Oh Hell Yes!

Good Lord! This only took a couple of days! I watched the Oprah show where she showed these predators and pledged $100,000 for the capture and conviction of some of these MIA pedophiles. He's been nabbed already!

The same week Oprah Winfrey began devoting time on her show to tracking down sex offenders, she has an arrest to show for it.

William C. Davis, 33, of Wadesville, Indiana, was arrested in Fargo on Thursday, two days after the talk-show host broadcast his face and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

Jean Rosenthal of Moorhead, Minnesota, recognized Davis as 'Mark,' a neighbor of her friend Karie Miller. She called Miller on Wednesday, and the 29-year-old Fargo deli worker discovered the man's identity Thursday morning on a Web site.

'His picture came up and I started shaking so bad, I couldn't hold my coffee,' Miller told The Forum of Fargo in Friday editions.

Davis, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitives list, was one of several fugitive sex offenders shown on Winfrey's program Tuesday. The reward, offered by her production company, applies to fugitives presented on the show and on its Web site.

Davis faces felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys last year and failing to register as a sex offender. He was convicted of child molestation in 1992.

Davis, arrested by FBI agents, was in jail, awaiting an extradition hearing to return to Indiana.

Karie Miller was in shock after learning of her neighbor's background. She had helped care for him since he broke his leg in a car accident a few weeks ago.

'I've been cooking for him; I've been doing his laundry,' she said."

A lot of misinformed people make fun of Oprah's show and think it is just some fluff show for women to bash men. Well, as an avid viewer (though not necessarily Oprah's biggest fan), the show is much more than that - as is her influence. This absolutely rocks!

Hooking Up A Spinster

I found this at a hilarious blog. It may be somewhat crass to some (and it isn't like I can't cuss like a sailor given the proper circumstance) but generally on target with subject matter. I don't know what to make of this. Was the FoxNews guy really trying to set Condi up with a chick or was he just trying to impress her by showing that he knows another black person ('cause I've got story upon story about that kind of thing ... racism isn't just about wearing a sheet)?

I've often wondered why Democrats don't routinely take public shots at Condoleezza Rice's status as a Big Old Ugly Spinster. I mean, that would be pretty fucking perfect when you think about it. Considering how Republicans are always acting like people who don't have an Idiot Spouse and Stupid Ugly Kids are ruining America and aligned with the terrorists and violating the Fourteenth Amendment to the Mothafucking Constitution or whatever. Given all this, it seems to me that Condi would be the perfect exploit. But alas, Democrats are stupid and weak and aren't very good at playing the game that is American Politics. But such is life. So I say 'oh well and anyway.'

A very funny thing happened to the Nation's Number One Spinster recently. Some Crazy Mothafucker over at Fox News basically tried to set her up with a fucking chick. And if you don't see the remarkable humor in that then you're just not the type of person I'd get along with in real life.

[...]

And incidentally, this would probably be a good time to talk about why there are so many "brilliant" and "beautiful" Black Women who still happen to be "single." But I think we're all pretty familiar with the many answers to that question. And anyway, this little "situation" could be easily remedied by three simple words: Interracial Dating, Bitches.

I cannot even get into the whole "spinster" thing. I've heard that term twice this week with people referencing Harriet Miers and now Condi. I'm hardly like the "forever seeking the ONE" women from Sex And The City and am unapoligetically single. I've honestly never met anyone I felt would add more to my life (monetary issues aside) more than they would detract from it. I'm sure I've been suspected of being gay, mean, selfish and any number of things that people accuse women who have chosen to live without a husband of. What man, honestly, would have the balls to be married and faithful to a strong woman like Condoleezza? Perhaps if when she retires she will be less intimidating but I just cannot see what kind of man, of any race, would have balls enough to take her on till death do us part.

I'll Just Watch

I so totally don't have to go on a rant about the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Pat Buchanan is shrieking on any channel who will allow him airtime. George Will has pitched a fit. Bill Kristol is DDD. The right wing bloggers are having hissies. Now, Ann Coulter weighs in and she's not happy either:

"First, Bush has no right to say 'Trust me.' He was elected to represent the American people, not to be dictator for eight years. Among the coalitions that elected Bush are people who have been laboring in the trenches for a quarter-century to change the legal order in America. While Bush was still boozing it up in the early '80s, Ed Meese, Antonin Scalia, Robert Bork and all the founders of the Federalist Society began creating a farm team of massive legal talent on the right.

To casually spurn the people who have been taking slings and arrows all these years and instead reward the former commissioner of the Texas Lottery with a Supreme Court appointment is like pinning a medal of honor on some flunky paper-pusher with a desk job at the Pentagon — or on John Kerry — while ignoring your infantrymen doing the fighting and dying. "

[...]

However nice, helpful, prompt and tidy she is, Harriet Miers isn't qualified to play a Supreme Court justice on "The West Wing," let alone to be a real one. Both Republicans and Democrats should be alarmed that Bush seems to believe his power to appoint judges is absolute. This is what "advice and consent" means.

What else could I possibly add to this discussion?

It's About Decency Folks

I'm not a big fan of Southwest Airlines anyway but this is ridiculous!

Southwest Airlines kicked a woman off one of its flights over a political message on her T-shirt, the airline confirmed Thursday, and published reports say the passenger will sue.

Lorrie Heasley, of Woodland, Wash., was asked to leave her flight from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., Tuesday for wearing a T-shirt with pictures of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a phrase similar to the popular film title 'Meet the Fockers.'

A spokesman for Southwest Airlines told CNN that the airline used the 'common sense' approach when they decided to escort Heasley from the plane in Reno, Nevada, during a stopover between Los Angeles and Portland, Ore.

The airline felt that the T-shirt was offensive and that other passengers would be outraged by it, the spokeswoman said, adding that the incident is about 'decency.'

'I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war,' Heasley told the Reno Gazette-Journal. 'Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane in midflight over a T-shirt. That's not freedom.'

There is no common sense in this! Since when is a late flight the place to be awake long enough to be offended by a t-shirt on someone else's body? Southwest missed the flight on this one. If no one complained about the shirt, obviously no one was outraged. Gees!

Are These People Just Bored?

What kind of law is this? They don't want an unmarried woman to conceive a child unless she is screwed by a man? I am not sure of the real intent here and even married couples need to be put through the ringer.

Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana, including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do become pregnant 'by means other than sexual intercourse.'

According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother through assisted reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation, and egg donation, must first file for a 'petition for parentage' in their local county probate court.

Only women who are married will be considered for the 'gestational certificate' that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the pregnancy. Further, the 'gestational certificate' will only be given to married couples that successfully complete the same screening process currently required by law of adoptive parents.

As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent 'who knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction procedure' without court approval, 'commits unauthorized reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor.' The criminal charges will be the same for physicians who commit 'unauthorized practice of
artificial reproduction.'

The change in Indiana law to require marriage as a condition for motherhood and criminalizing 'unauthorized reproduction' was introduced at a summer meeting of the Indiana General Assembly's Health Finance Commission on September 29 and a final version of the bill will come up for a vote at the next meeting at the end of this
month.

Republican Senator Patricia Miller is both the Health Finance Commission Chair and the sponsor of the bill. She believes the new law will protect children in the state of Indiana and make parenting laws more explicit.

I'll go out on a limb and guess that this is a stab at stopping lesbian couples from having children. I don't know the stats but I'd also guess that there are just as many straight, single women who want to have children even though they've yet to find a suitable mate. The whole idea of a "gestational certificate" is absurd as well - especially since they are not required for the millions of women who have children out of wedlock the "old fashioned way" and are ill equipped to take care of them. That a woman is sponsoring this dribble is even more troubling.

Update: Well, whoa Nelly! It seems the bill has been withdrawn.

Ruh Roh Is Right!

I still haven't made my comments on Bush nominating his personal attorney to the Supreme Court because ... I just can't yet. But, cronyism requires cronies for a reason.

A former Texas lottery official, who claimed that then-Gov. George W. Bush’s desire to cover up his National Guard record helped steer decisions about a key lottery contract, said he wants to talk to senators about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ possible role in that effort.

Double Yuck!

First we hear that Nicholas Cage's child bride has given birth, now this:

'Tom and Katie are very excited, and the entire family is very excited,' Lee Anne DeVette, Cruise's spokeswoman, told People.

It would be Holmes' first child. Cruise has two children, Connor, 10, and Isabella, 12, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

No further details were available. Devette added that Holmes, 26, 'has never felt better.'

Excuse me while I hurl!

This Is So Sad

I'm somewhat of a stickler for good grammar and diction so when I hear people like Rev. Jesse Peterson, it is somewhat like nails on a chalkboard. If you cannot talk, please don't! What makes it worse is his ideology and many of his statements. His defense of Bill Bennett, as though his words were actually gospel, really is quite sad. He didn't even seem to get that it was an analogy so he argued it's validity.

Peterson, who is the founder and president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), then suggested that 'the root cause of crime is a lack of moral character.' He explained that 'crime and out-of-wedlock birth, black folks having babies without being married, and stuff like that is out of control.' According to Peterson, 'Not all ... but most of them lack moral character. Look what they did to the [Louisiana Super]dome. In three days, they turned the Dome into a ghetto.'

I tend to stay away from the Uncle Tom labels. Uncle Tom was actually much more honorable than some of these conservative blacks who spew self hate under the guise of preaching self-improvement or personal responsibility. How would this man know the moral character of even one person who was trapped in that Superdome? Those kinds of generalizations, alone, mark poor logic at it's base level. Moreover, the reports of rampant violence were found to have been greatly exaggerated.

I don't know about some of my people but this man seems to have thoroughly internalized the shame of slavery, racism, colonialism and imperialism and has bought - hook, line and sinker - the worst stereotypes about his people. How horribly, horribly sad!

Breaking The Cycle

As someone who vividly remembers the evening (as a three year old) when the upstairs neighbor stopped by with a box of Dr. Suess books that had been delivered earlier in the day, it is hard for me to fathom making it to high school and not being able to read when I could read before I started kindergarten. It is even more amazing that my most favorite American Idol winner ever has admitted that she cannot read.

Growing up in a poor section of High Point, N.C., Fantasia always dreamed of becoming a pop star.

She said her attitude was that she was 'not into education,' because she could sing.

Her family didn't notice she was struggling to read, especially because many of them had trouble, too, including her mom. 'It took her a long time to come out and tell me that,' said Fantasia.

Fantasia and her mother are hardly the exceptions. An estimated 25 million Americans are functionally illiterate – that's one out of every five adults.

That means she has difficulty reading a street sign or newspaper, not to mention legal documents.

Since her 'American Idol' victory Fantasia has signed record deals and contracts she didn't read and couldn't understand. 'Didn't even know what I was signing. Just sign the contract,' said Fantasia.

She says the most difficult thing is that she cannot read a book to her 4-year-old daughter, Zion: 'That hurts really bad.'

She said when Zion asks her to read she brushes it off and tells her, 'Not right now.'

But Fantasia said she can no longer wait for 'later.'

She's now determined to break the cycle of illiteracy for the sake of her daughter, and is working with tutors to learn how to read.

While I suppose I understand that if you have a family full of closeted illeterates you will not get the proper assistance at home, I find it frightening that one could make it through elementary school without at least one, ONE, teacher who noticed and took action to help her.

The Freak Speaks

The whole Bill Bennett drama began over a discussion of the book Freakonomics. Here's his input on Bill's remarks.

5) In light of point (4) above, it is hard to even know what Bennett means when he says 'you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.' Implicit in his comment is the idea that some external force, like a government, is forcing blacks to have abortions. This is obviously a completely different situation than abortion as we know it today, in which a woman chooses whether or not to have an abortion now, and then starts her family later in life, when her situation is more stable and conducive. The distinction between a woman choosing to control her fertility and the government choosing to limit her fertility is fundamental and people often seem to lose sight of that.

6) If we lived in a world in which the government chose who gets to reproduce, then Bennett would be correct in saying that 'you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.' Of course, it would also be true that if we aborted every white, Asian, male, Republican, and Democratic baby in that world, crime would also fall. Immediately after he made the statement about blacks, he followed it up by saying, 'That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.' He made a factual statement (if you prohibit any group from reproducing, then the crime rate will go down), and then he noted that just because a statement is true, it doesn't mean that it is desirable or moral. That is, of course, an incredibly important distinction and one that we make over and over in Freakonomics."

7) There is one thing I would take Bennett to task for: first saying that he doesn't believe our abortion-crime hypothesis but then revealing that he does believe it with his comments about black babies. You can't have it both ways.

The Society Of Jesus Causing Problems Again

I always say that the Jesuits are the reason why I ultimately became a non-practicing Catholic. Their insistence that we question and examine any and everything just left me with too many reasons not to accept Catholic doctrine (link via Shakespeare's Sister).

A top Jesuit official is raising objections about an upcoming Vatican document that's expected to reinforce Roman Catholic teaching that gays are not welcome in the priesthood, while some U.S. leaders of men's religious orders are considering a trip to Rome to express their opposition.

The Rev. Gerald Chojnacki, head of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus, said in a letter to his priests that he was asking bishops to tell Vatican officials who are drafting the policy 'of the great harm this will cause many good priests and the Catholic faithful.'

Chojnacki wrote in the letter, dated Monday, that he had participated in the funerals of several gay Jesuit clergy over the last few years.

'I find it insulting to demean their memory and their years of service by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation,' he wrote.

Chojnacki said he would be working with the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which represents leaders of religious orders in the United States including the Jesuits, Franciscans and others, and with bishops to fight 'for the opportunity of a gay person to say yes to God's call in celibate service of priesthood and chaste religious life.'

I'm not sure I understand this push against gay priests. I guess I never knew that there were any openly gay priests. I never knew they announced their sexuality prior to becoming priests or afterwards. Priests are supposed to be celibate, regardless or orientation, so what difference does it make if they are commited to their vow of celibacy? Is this some bizarre effort to address the rampant pedophilia? If so, I think they need to catch the clue that hetorosexual men are the perpetrators of the overwhelming majority sexual crimes against children.

Whatever the case, I am not surprised that the Jesuits are leading the way in pointing out the absurdity of this effort by the Vatican. They are also leading the way in trying to redefine the role of women in the church.

It Was Against The Law!

Apparently, Bush's mama never taught him that just because he was rich enough to have all the marbles, it didn't mean that he could cheat to win in every game.

The Bush Administration violated laws prohibiting the use of covert propaganda when it secretly paid broadcaster/ columnist Armstrong Williams to promote its education policies, and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said Friday.

Williams received about $240,000 from the federal Department of Education. Tribune Media Services dropped Williams' syndicated column in January when it learned about the payments.

In its account Saturday, The New York Times said the report 'provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities....In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated 'covert propaganda' in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.'

This is going to be some October. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the end of a very torturous regime.

Uh Oh!

Could it be?

Near the end of a round table discussion on ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos dropped this bomb:

Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for the White House especially if we don’t know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.

... Fingers still crossed!

This Is Wearing Me Out!

With an election pending in only a couple of weeks, this just does not look good.

Iraq's Kurdish president called on the country's Shiite prime minister to step down, the spokesman for the president's party said Sunday, escalating a political split between the two factions that make up the government.

President Jalal Talabani has accused the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, which holds the majority in parliament, of monopolizing power in the government and refusing to move ahead on a key issue for Kurds, the resettlement of Kurds in the northern city of Kirkuk.

'The time has come for the United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdistan coalition to study Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's stepping aside from his post,' said Azad Jundiyani, a spokesman for Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. 'This is for the benefit of the political process.'

Jundiyani would not say whether the Kurds would withdraw from the government if the Shiite alliance does not back them in removing al-Jaafari. Talabani has made indirect threats to withdraw from the coalition if Kurdish demands are not met.

The two blocs have been the bedrock of the temporary government. Its collapse would add a new layer of political instability and underline how struggles for power are undermining efforts to get Iraq's fractious communities to work together in a new political system.

Iraq is holding an Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution that leaders of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority reject, while it is backed by the Shiites and Kurds.

Jawad al-Maliki, a Shiite legislator and a leader in al-Jaafari's Dawaa party, denounced the call.

'They should have asked us for that in a legal way, and then we will have discussions,' he said. 'It is not beneficial for Iraq, especially during this period of time because the country is heading to a referendum and elections.'

The hawks always accuse liberals of wanting Iraq to fail. That's not true. I'd basically just like Bush to admit he screwed up in a horrific fashion and resign. I honestly cannot see how this can have a positive end in my lifetime.