Like I Said, It's Nasty!

Because fathers who rape their children have rights, too!

..and the rape victims don't. At least not in Utah.

Incest is no exception to a father's right to know what's going on in his daughter's life.

That was the message from Utah lawmakers who refused Monday to make an exception for incest victims in a proposed law that would require parental consent and notification before a girl's abortion.

Gotta love them "family values."

Conservative senators said the legislation is a test of their morals.

They say this with straight faces, too.

Ding dong! Taliban calling!

South Dakota: Soon To Be Rape Capital of The Nation

This cartoon says what I thought when they passed their forced pregnancy legislation.



This state doesn't even have the population that my city does. Can you imagine the amount of inbreeding going on - especially since the forced pregnancy law doesn't have an exception for incest? Watch out folks! If this holds up, South Dakota will become the land of the two headed babies.

Nasty, perverted stuff!

Is Anyone Going To Apologize For Voting For This Man?

I know it is hard to admit you are wrong when you look so incredibly stupid but I need someone to apologize to me for subjecting me to another term of this nightmare of a man. I don't care if it is the folks in Iowa who thought Osama was going to come and blow up their silo. I don't care if it is some religious nut job who actually believes Bush's "born again" act. I don't care if it is some nouveau rich wannabee who actually thinks Bush's tax cuts were a true benefit to their barely six figured salary. Unless he is impeached, we are stuck with this clown who has done NOTHING right during his term(s) - not unlike the rest of his life - and who, clearly, does not have the best interests of the American public in mind. Finally, people just aren't buying it anymore.

The latest CBS News poll puts President Bush’s job approval at 34 percent — an all-time low. Vice President Cheney is doing even worse. Only 18 percent of the public approves of the way he is doing his job.

The American public has a dismal assessment of Bush’s policies across the board:

– 30 percent approve of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq — an all-time low.

– 27 percent approve of Bush’s energy policy.

– 32 percent approve of Bush’s handling of the economy.

– 5 percent of Americans are pleased with the way the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast is going.

Today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said, “Our focus is on the important priorities of the American people.” Looks like the American people disagree.

The public is getting a clue but how can that help us now?

Work It, Chuck!

Sen. Chuck Schumer says not so fast!

The showdown has not been averted. The review, under current law, would be meaningless. The report would be secret. Only President Bush and the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) would get to review it. Both Bush and CFIUS have already decided the deal does not present any national security concerns.

Today, a bipartisan group of 10 members of Congress will introduce legislation that will give the review some teeth. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) talked about the legislation this morning on Good Morning America:

SCHUMER: Well, I’m not sure we have a truce. Our legislation, which is bipartisan, five Democrats, five Republicans — we’ll introduce it today on the floor of the Senate — says do the 45-day review that’s necessary, but it also says give Congress, not just the president, the findings and let Congress have an opportunity — 30 days — to disapprove the deal. That’s what’s needed, because the president has already decided. He said he’s for it. So he has the verdict already, and now he’s having the trial.

Any member of Congress who supports a meaningful review of the transaction should support this legislation.

Kindred Author Dies

I read my first Octavia Butler book in 1989. It was called Kindred it was one of the best books I've ever read. While I haven't read all of her works, I also read two of her books from the 90s: Parable of The Sower and Parable of The Talents. I also was able to attend one of her readings at the San Francisco Book Festival in 1995 or so. I recently recommended Octavia Butler to some people who claim they don't like Science Fiction because I think they have the wrong idea about what the genre really encompasses. I know everyone has their time to go and I guess this was hers. But, I am still shocked and sad.

Her father was a shoeshine man who died when she was a child, her mother was a maid who brought her along on jobs, yet Octavia Butler rose from these humble beginnings to become one of the country's leading writers - a female African American pioneer in the white, male domain of science fiction.

Butler, 58, died after falling and striking her head Friday on a walkway outside her home in Lake Forest Park. The reclusive writer, who moved to Seattle in 1999 from her native Southern California, was a giant in stature (she was 6 feet tall by age 15) and in accomplishment.
Octavia Butler
Zoom Joshua Trujillo / P-I
Octavia Butler was one of the Northwest's most prominent science fiction writers.

She remains the only science fiction writer to receive one of the vaunted 'genius grants' from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a hard-earned $295,000 windfall in 1995 that followed years of poverty and personal struggles with shyness and self-doubt.

'People may call these 'genius grants,' ' Butler said in a 2004 interview with the Seattle P-I, 'but nobody made me take an IQ test before I got mine. I knew I'm no genius.'

Butler's most popular work is 'Kindred,' a time-travel novel in which a black woman from 1976 Southern California is transported back to the violent days of slavery before the Civil War. The 1979 novel became a popular staple of school and college courses and now has more than a quarter million copies in print, but its birth was agonizing, like so much in Butler's solitary life.

Of all of the articles/reviews I read about Octavia and from the bit she did tell about us about herself at the reading I went to, I never knew that her father was a shoeshine man. Why was that the opening paragraph of this obituary.

Lawd, They're All Leaving Me!

People from all of my favorite childhood television programs are dying off. I think I am going to need medication when Dick van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore go.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?

None, Nada, Nil

What the heck have we been doing all of this time? The Bush administration has been saying that we are training Iraqis to take over military operations and, as of now, we HAVE NONE!

Let me say that again! We ain't got NARY AN IRAQI BATALLION that is ready to fight on its own.

The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.

The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military.

The competence of the Iraqi military has been cited as a key factor in when U.S. troops will be able to return home.

"As we see more of these Iraqi forces in the lead, we will be able to continue with our stated strategy that says as Iraqi forces stand up, we will stand down," President Bush said last month.

The battalion, according to the Pentagon, was downgraded from "level one" to "level two" after a recent quarterly assessment of its capabilities.

"Level one" means the battalion is able to fight on its own; "level two" means it requires support from U.S. troops; and "level three" means it must fight alongside U.S. troops.

Though officials would not cite a specific reason for downgrading the unit, its readiness level has dropped in the wake of a new commander and numerous changes in the combat and support units, officials said.

The battalion is still deployed, and its status as an independent fighting force could be restored any day, Pentagon officials said. It was not clear where the battalion is operating within Iraq.

According to the congressionally mandated Iraq security report released Friday, there are 53 Iraqi battalions at level two status, up from 36 in October. There are 45 battalions at level three, according to the report.

Overall, Pentagon officials said close to 100 Iraqi army battalions are operational, and more than 100 Iraq Security Force battalions are operational at levels two or three. The security force operations are under the direction of the Iraqi government.

The numbers are roughly the same as those given by the president last month when he said 125 Iraqi combat battalions were fighting the insurgency, 50 of them taking the lead.

"In January 2006, the mission is to continue to hand over more and more territory and more and more responsibility to Iraqi forces," Bush said. "That's progress."

Can anybody explain this to me? What have we been doing there? They claimed we had Iraqi troops ready to roll! We're going to be there forever, aren't we? Why can't Bushco STOP LYING?

Shrine Bombing: It's A Good Thing

Via Think Progress, these people could spin a brick wall!

This afternoon, Terry Jeffery — the editor of Human Events who is paid by CNN to provide political analysis — was asked about the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Iraq. Jeffery said the bombings — part of a wave of violence that have left 200 people dead in the last 24 hours — is evidence that the Bush strategy is working. Watch It:

WOLF BLITZER: Terry, is Iraq falling apart right now?

TERRY JEFFERY: Well, I certainly hope not, Wolf. But I think actually these attacks on Shia shrines can be attributed to the potential success of the Bush strategy.

Question for Mr. Jeffery: What, exactly, would be evidence that Bush’s strategy in Iraq isn’t working?

Transcript continues below:

JEFFREY: Right now the ambassador there is pushing hard as he can to get Shias to bring Sunnis into the government that’s forming. Try and get enough power handed over to the Sunnis so they feel comfortable with the political process. Zarqawi who is the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq has quite literally declared sectarian war against the Shias. He’s trying to keep these Sunnis in the insurgency mode. I think this is his biggest gambit yet to do it. If we can get past this crisis maybe we can form a government that does bring stability to Iraq.

I ... Take Thee Billy ...

This is too stupid for words. Blank stare ...

A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his 'wife', after he was caught having sex with the animal.

The goat's owner, Mr Alifi, said he surprised the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders.

They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi.

'We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together,' Mr Alifi said.

Mr Alifi, Hai Malakal in Upper Nile State, told the Juba Post newspaper that he heard a loud noise around midnight on 13 February and immediately rushed outside to find Mr Tombe with his goat.

'When I asked him: 'What are you doing there?', he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up'.

Mr Alifi then called elders to decide how to deal with the case.

'They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife,' Mr Alifi told the newspaper.

He Don't Know Nuthin' 'Bout Sellin' No Ports

This "whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis?" act is starting to get old. He didn't know the intelligence on Iraq was bad. He didn't know the New Orleans was under water. He didn't know Cheney shot some dude in the face ... Now he didn't know that a deal had been made to sell six of our U.S. port operations to the UAE. Who would have a job if they consistenly f'd up and the only excuse was I didn't know?

What didn't the president know and when didn't he know it?

Faced with a rebellion in his own Republican party over an Arab company's planned takeover of operations at six U.S. ports, the White House says President George W. Bush was in the dark about it until last week.

While Bush adamantly defended the deal again on Thursday, the I-did-not-know strategy has puzzled some political analysts and communications experts.

'It's a disaster for him, I think,' said Michael Hogan, professor of communication, arts and sciences at Pennsylvania State University. 'It's never a good thing for a president to say he doesn't know something.'

Another analyst thought the strategy was an attempt to shift blame away from Bush. It might also give the president some leeway to compromise, perhaps by accepting a slight delay in the deal while Congress is fully briefed.

From The Mouths Of Babes

A lot of my friends think I am a little "out there," particularly when I tell them that I believe in things like reincarnation and that, many times, kids remember their past lives, their roles and their gender. My niece once made a remark to my sister like "well last time, when I was the mommy I did ..." When I told a friend that story she almost looked relieved then she told me about a phase when her little daughter was always telling her some story about "well, when I was a boy ..."

I used to read a lot of books on reincarnation and some of the stories sounded pretty convincing. There was one book where someone was going through past life regression and mentioned a lifetime where they got there, decided they didn't like it and left (as an infant) and it made me even wonder if perhaps some cases of SIDS aren't just cases of souls who entered a new body, then changed their minds. A friend of mine, who is excitedly expecting late this summer, passed along this link to a mommy blog. The stories are all very sweet but this one almost required a hanky.

I'll never forget the special moment it clicked; when I realized what being a mom was all about. It had been a year since my uncle passed away and Hunter, at five, would always ask me “Do you think uncle is happy in heaven?” My reply was always yes. Then once, following this question she asked something else; something I would never forget. “Mommy if I were to die, can I choose you again?” The bewildered look on my face must have prompted her to ask the question again. I could tell this wasn't a joke but instead an innocent question that only a child could ask. I didn't really know how to answer so I replied, "What do you mean?" And my daughter said these words to me: “Mommy when I was in Heaven I saw you and I told the angels that I choose you to be my mom. So, if I were to die could I choose you again?”

I had to be very careful with my response because I am no longer married to her father. "Hunter,” I said, “I think you should plan on sticking around for as long as you can because you couldn’t choose daddy again."

“Okay mommy,” She said with a smile, “that's a deal.” And as she turned to walk away I heard her say, “I'm glad I chose you.”

And I'm glad she chose me to.

They say that your soul chooses who you spend each lifetime with (even if it is some of the same people over and over) until you resolve the issues your soul has with them. I guess I never thought of it in quite the literal sense this darling child expressed it in. Oh, I totally believe her. I've long since been socialized out of my memories of my pre-birth realm. But, how great it must have been for that mommy to hear that she'd been hand picked?

Can You Say Reach-ing?

Aw heck, this is just plain grasping! Is this a joke?

Lawyers for Vice President Cheney’s former top aide asked a federal judge Thursday to dismiss his indictment because the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case lacked authority to bring the charges.

In a court filing, lawyers for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby said his indictment violates the Constitution because Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was not appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.

The defense attorneys also said Fitzgerald’s appointment violates federal law because his investigation was not supervised by the attorney general. They said only Congress can approve such an arrangement.

"Those constitutional and statutory provisions have been violated in this case," Libby’s lawyers wrote.

Fitzgerald was appointed in December 2003 after former Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself from the investigation because of his close relationships with White House officials. Then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey, acting in Ashcroft’s place in the matter, selected Fitzgerald.

Question! This Congress who can only "approve such an arrangement" ... Is this the same Congress who was required to declare war but never really did? Or the same Congress who Bush felt wouldn't approve unwarranted wiretapping so they weren't asked? All of the sudden they want lack of Congressional approval for Fitzgerald to be grounds to save Libby's guilty behind? I'm laughing!

Adults Make Choices

There really doesn't seem to be a whole lot of logic or compassion on the part of many who want to force women to carry unwanted fetuses to term no matter what the circumstances but, as this minister points out, everything isn't always black and white and sometimes adults make choices.

When I made my choice to end one life on behalf of other life, I was terribly troubled. I was in a double bind. I prayed and anguished. Then I made a choice. Adults make choices.

I have long thought that the drama of the abortion battle was not about unborn babies at all. Instead, it is about women and sex and about women and maturity. We are considered babies, sub-adults, in need of supervision over our sexuality. Otherwise we are dangerous. The virgin/whore debates come to mind.

When I made my choice to end life, I was behaving as an adult. I did not shrink from the responsibility of making a choice. I did not ask someone else to make it for me. And I certainly did not request my government's help in my bedroom. Instead, I behaved as an adult who is also a sexual being. Things happen sexually between people that are not always controllable. The unprotected sex I had with my husband while nursing our twins had a consequence that neither of us desired. It was a human life. That's why we named her, wept for her, wanted her but also knew we did not want her enough.

Because women are mature sexual beings who make choices, birth control and abortion are positive moral forces in history. They allow sex to be both procreational and recreational, for men and for women. That is good news, even though most of the world doesn't know it yet. In Africa, for example, too many men assume the freedom to have unprotected sex with women, giving them AIDS and heartbreak. What does our so-called pro-life government recommend? Abstinence! Such a recommendation is immoral to its core.

Obviously, protected sex is the most moral thing of all. Unprotected sex is adolescent, immature, sometimes life-threatening and always stupid. Women are mature enough to handle that. We are not babies. Sometimes, in the battle over killing our babies, I hear the echo of people wanting to kill women's maturity and sexuality. I don't like it. That's why I am breaking my silence about who I am.

I am a 58-year-old sexual, mature woman. That's who I am. I had an abortion. I am not bragging and I am not apologizing.

(hat tip to Shakespeare's Sister)

Lucky Seven

Seven more US soldiers lost their lives yesterday.

Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in Iraq on Wednesday when roadside bombs struck the vehicles in which they were traveling, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed in the Iraqi town of Hawija while on patrol, the military said.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed near the Iraqi town of Balad when their vehicle struck another roadside bomb.

The deaths bring to 2,287 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Roadside bombs are some of the most effective killers of U.S. troops in Iraq."

Just So We're Clear About What Abortion Is

As the Supreme Court Begins weighing the case for/against "partial birth" abortions and as South Dakota passes an unconstitutional state ban on abortion, I thought I'd pass on this informative write up on what it is/isn't as the assault on women's rights heats up!

First, let’s get our terms straight. The so-called “partial birth abortion” is a misnomer, to say the least. The procedure is not abortion as defined within medical science. The term "abortion" means the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is viable. However, it does fall within the definition of "abortion" which is used by most of the public.

The medical terms: "D&X" procedures, an abbreviation of "dilate and extract," or "Intact D&E," or "Intrauterine Cranial Decompression" procedures.

The odious and dishonest term "Partial Birth Abortion" was recently created by pro-life groups when the procedure became actively discussed at a political and religious level.

By the way, the vast, VAST majority of D&Xs are performed on non-viable fetuses, generally having little brain tissue at all -- or a mass of liquefied brain tissue. Obviously, your claim that "...If you were not afraid it would come out kicking screaming and breathing like a real baby it would not be necessary to de-brain it..." does not apply in those cases. I wonder if that is made clear in pro-life propaganda?

What is the D&X Procedure?

The D&X procedure is usually performed during the fifth month of gestation or later. The woman's cervix is dilated, and the fetus is partially removed from the womb, feet first. The surgeon inserts a sharp object into the back of the fetus' head, removes it, and inserts a vacuum tube through which the brains are extracted. The head of the fetus contracts at this point and allows the fetus to be more easily removed from the womb.

Why D&X procedures Are Performed:

1st Trimester:
D&Xs are not performed during the first three months of pregnancy, because there are better ways to perform abortions. There is no need to follow a D&X procedure, because the fetus' head quite small at this stage of gestation and can be quite easily removed from the woman's uterus.

2nd Trimester:
D&Xs are very rarely performed in the late second trimester at a time in the pregnancy before the fetus is viable. These, like most abortions, are performed for a variety of reasons, including:

-- She is not ready to have a baby and has delayed her decision to have an abortion into the second trimester (or perhaps has been OBSTRUCTED from receiving the abortion earlier, as is OFTEN the case) .As mentioned above, 90% of abortions are done in the first trimester.

-- There are mental or physical health problems related to the pregnancy.

-- The fetus has been found to be dead, badly malformed, or suffering from a very serious genetic defect. This is often only detectable late in the second trimester. Obviously, "...If you were not afraid it would come out kicking screaming and breathing like a real baby it would not be necessary to de-brain it..." does not apply, since in most cases the fetus doesn't HAVE a brain -- not one that will ever FUNCTION, anyway.

3rd Trimester:
D&X procedures are also very rarely performed in late pregnancy. The most common justifications at that time are:

-- The fetus is dead.
I repeat: Obviously, "...If you were not afraid it would come out kicking screaming and breathing like a real baby it would not be necessary to de-brain it..." does not apply.

-- The fetus is alive, but continued pregnancy would place the woman's life in severe danger.

-- The fetus is alive, but continued pregnancy would grievously damage the woman's health and/or disable her.

-- The fetus is so malformed that it can never gain consciousness and will die shortly after birth. Many which fall into this category have developed a very severe form of hydrocephalus. Obviously, "...If you were not afraid it would come out kicking screaming and breathing like a real baby it would not be necessary to de-brain it..." does not apply.

-- In addition, some physicians violate their state medical association's regulations and perform elective D&X procedures - primarily on women who are suicidally depressed.

There appears to be no reliable data available on how many D&X procedures are performed for each of the above reasons.

The physician is faced with two main alternatives at this late point in pregnancy:

-- a ”hysterotomy,” which is similar to a Cesarean section, or

-- a D&X procedure.

Approximately 1 in 2000 fetuses develop hydrocephalus while in the womb. About 5000 fetuses develop hydrocephalus each year in the U.S. This is not usually discovered until late in the second trimester. Some cases are not severe. After birth, shunts can be installed to relieve the excess fluid on the newborn's brain. A pre-natal method of removing the excess fluid is being experimentally evaluated. However, some cases are much more serious. "It is not unusual for the fetal head to be as large as 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches) in diameter and may contain...close to two gallons of cerebrospinal fluid." In comparison, the average adult skull is about 7 to 8 inches in diameter. A fetus with severe hydrocephalus is alive, but as a newborn cannot live for long; it cannot achieve consciousness. The physician may elect to perform a D&X by draining off the fluid from the brain area, collapsing the fetal skull and withdrawing the dead fetus. Or, he might elect to perform a type of caesarian section. The former kills a fetus before birth; the latter allows the newborn to die after birth, on its own. A caesarian section is a major operation. It does expose the woman to a greatly increased chance of infection. It poses its own dangers to a woman and any future pregnancies. Allowing a woman to continue in labor with a severely hydrocephalic fetus is not an option; an attempted vaginal delivery would kill her and the fetus.

The exact number of D&Xs performed is impossible to estimate with accuracy. Many states do not have strict reporting regulations.

One often quoted figure was that over 1000 D&Xs had been performed annually in New Jersey. From this number, many inflated national totals were estimated. But the New Jersey figure appears to be an anomaly. A single physician in a single NJ hospital had been ignoring the regulations of the state medical association and performing D&Xs in cases not involving the potential death or serious disability of the woman.

Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, estimated (Nightline program, 1997-FEB-26) a total of 3,000 to 4,000 annually in the US -- about ten a day.

Pro-life groups discovered an internal memo by Planned Parenthood which estimated that up to 60 (0.24%) of the more than 25,000 abortions performed annually in Virginia were D&Xs. If this figure is accurate nationally, then there would be up to 2,880 D&X procedures per year in the U.S.

Referring to a Virginia state law, Bennet Greenberg, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia said: "I'm not aware of a need for this bill in the first place, since this procedure is very, very rare, and I'm not aware it's ever been used [in Virginia]."

And now, for some sources of some DISINFORMATION about D&X:

-- On 1995-JUL-19, on the radio program Focus on the Family Dr. (sic) James Dobson referred to “PBAs” (sic) as a type of "Nazi era experimentation" in which doctors "suck the brain matter out of a living, viable baby for use in medical experiments.”

The incorrect impression given was that this is a procedure requested by researchers eager to study brain structure. They arbitrarily select an about-to-be-born fetus at random from the nearest delivery room, and kill it in order to get more research material. The program generated a flood of telephone calls which paralyzed Federal government switchboards.

To our knowledge, Dr. Dobson has never apologized for his misleading statements or corrected his misrepresentation of the facts.

-- Senator Rick Santorum, one of the leaders in the Senate of a D&X ban, said that the procedure is a gruesome form of infanticide.

[The term infanticide refers to the killing of a newborn infant; it is not applicable to an unborn fetus during a D&X procedure.]

Senator Santorum also said that it is a lie to argue that a D&X is sometimes required to protect a woman from a serious health risk.

But if he truly believed that statement, then he would not have objected to President Clinton's request that an exemption be added to the bill in cases of serious health risks to the woman. After all, if there was no risk of a devastating health problem, then the exemption would never be exercised, and there would be no harm in including it in the bill.

D&X is, as you can see, not a common procedure, not by a long shot – it is performed in cases of ABSOLUTE necessity. The way the pro-life movement refers to it, you’d think it was as common as a first trimester abortion. That’s not a mistake. They WANT you to think that, because it is a horrifying procedure, one no woman undergoes unless she has to – but that fact, which should be obvious, is obscured in favour of the incendiary and mendacious lies perpetrated by people who would like nothing more that to outlaw all abortion.

Now that we've got it clear that thousands of women aren't lining up across the country to have full grown, kicking, screaming, ready-to-walk babies yanked out of them and slaughtered, can we please have an intelligent debate about the topic?

This Plot Is Getting Thick

... and we'll be buried knee deep in another one of the Bush family's self-serving deals. This, more than anything, makes me fume about this underhanded transaction that Bush is threatening to user his power of veto against if it isn't rushed through. What? Are they afraid that everyone is going to see that in addition to holding hands with the Saudi Royal family, he is rubbing noses with the UAE's?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush's father once served as senior adviser and is a who's who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund.

Another family connection, the president's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors. A call to his company was not returned.

Then there is the cabinet connection. Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of railroad company CSX/. After he left the company for the White House, CSX sold its international port operations to Dubai Ports World for more than a billion dollars.

In Connecticut today, Snow told reporters he had no knowledge of that CSX sale. 'I learned of this transaction probably the same way members of the Senate did, by reading about it in the newspapers.'

Another administration connection, President Bush chose a Dubai Ports World executive to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. David Sanborn, the former director of Dubai Ports' European and Latin American operations, he was tapped just last month to lead the agency that oversees U.S. port operations.


ROMANS: Now, some members of Congress, some of whom have already confirmed Sanborn, say they'd like to take a closer look at this nomination. But it's not just administration connections that Dubai has in this deal, Lou. It's now aggressively lining up representation on the Hill, bipartisan representation.

DOBBS: Lobbyists as representation, including Bob Dole. It's a remarkable effort. It's a -- it can be a tremulous feeling to stand between $7 billion and those who want to exchange that money irrespective of the consequences.

(A video link to this is on Crooks and Liars)

Man, Oprah Sure Told Him!

Now that Frey's new book deal has been fried, I guess I'll post this old entry that I never got around to finishing.

When this story first broke, I tracked it on my book blog. Initially, and still to some extent, I didn't see what the big deal was (I tend to view the current state of our country is far more important that). But, since it seemed to be the story that wouldn't die and ended up becoming more and more an attack on Oprah, I decided to watch it play out on the cable networks. I had a lot of mixed feelings on this so I listed them out:

• James Frey's Intentions
  
  
  I don't think this man woke up one morning thinking, "I'm going to write a book about my substance abuse, exaggerate it greatly, market it as a memoir when I know it is partially fabricated, get Oprah to pick it as her book club selection and lie to the entire world ..."
  
  I think that he had a story to tell (truthfully or not), wrote a book and sold it whatever way would get it published. I actually think the publisher had more to do with his decision to pimp it as a memoir than he did. While he definitely isn't off the hook, in my eyes, I don't think his original intention was to lie and end up in a big publishing scandal. What's funny is that even fiction writers end up getting sued because people claim they are the characters in some books and don't like their "portrayal." So what's a writer to do? People write what they know. If you fictionalize real life, someone is still going to think it is about them and have a fit. If you turn partial fiction into a memoir, people feel cheated. After all of this, I think that memoirs are probably just like reality shows (may be a little coaxed by producers, definitely edited for the strongest, rating rendering impact but basically putting forth what people do in front of the camera).
  
  
  
• Oprah's Intentions
  
  
  I like Oprah but I'm not one of those people willing to sell my mother to be in the audience and doubt that I'd ever actual attempt to go to one of her shows. She's not my greatest inspiration and not one of my idols. But, I like her shows, her magazine and what she's chosen to do with her wealth and influence as far as charity.
  
  But, one thing has been bugging me about her for years (and since the inception of her book club). I thoroughly understand how horrible her childhood was and that she was molested and raped as a kid/teen. I understand how many scars that can leave. But she survived and is doing better than almost every woman in the world. What started to bother me about her book club selections was that too many of them seemed to be about downtrodden people/women who triumphed over tragedy. While that is an inspiring theme, it got really old to me. I realize that there is still a part of her that still clings to that part of her inner self. I totally get why those types of books and themes touch her so. But, just as James Frey, in some way brought all of this drama upon himself, I think that Oprah drew this experience into her life as well. I think there is still a part of her that is a victim and even though she is one of the richest woman in the world, she was able to turn this "nobody" of a guy (a virtual squirrel just looking for a nut) into some villain who took advantage of her and somebone who victimized her yet again.
  
  I glanced at the book in Costco many times and, once I realized what it was about, decided that I didn't need to read yet another pitiful story. We've all had our tribulations and my life hasn't always been perfect but I just cannot stand a constant stream of sob stories. If Oprah had really felt that now, with everything she's accomplished, she'd finally "overcome," she would stop being so attracted to these types of stories and hence, drawing in people who turn her into a victim (you can see I watch her show enough to come up with that theory).
  
  
• Readers' Investment In The Book
  
  
  Because Oprah was drawn in, her viewers were drawn in. But, for the life of me I cannot figure out why people are so hysterical behind a few (maybe more) fabricated episodes in the book. On one of my online discussion groups, some people were talking about taking the book back and wanting their money back.
  
  Why? If you liked the story/loved the book as much as Oprah did, what investment does anyone have in whether this guy really fought with cops, spent three months in jail or was as braggadocious as he claimed. Who the heck cares? AND, the people who are out there trying to sue are as guilty of being opportunistic predators as they claim he is. Get over it and get a life. It's almost as though his character in the book somehow made them feel as though they were somehow not as bad and now that they find he wasn't as bad as he said, they are on equal footing with them. I don't know. I just don't get it.
  
  
• Oprah's Showdown
  
  
  Honestly, I was a little embarrassed by that show. This is a guy who obviously had some problems with addiction and is probably battling the same or more demons now. Oprah lured him to the show and in addition to her dressing him down, she had a full panel of people who all stood there shooting at him like a firing squad. Regardless of what he did, this guy is an ant compared to her. Why use a combat boot to squash an ant, as though it is a rattle snake, when a single Kleenex would have done the same thing.
  
  Oprah redeemed herself as being someone who was fooled, initially defended her trickster and then did damage control when her reputation was in question. I thought the show was overkill and that, after her initial confrontation with him, she should have sent back to the green room. The mob of accusers as he sat there like a trapped rat, turned Oprah into the predator and I thought she might have been a little above that. I like a good fight but I like fair fights and that guy was ambushed.
  

Maybe Oprah will stick to fiction from now on or maybe, just maybe, she'll stop with the stories of woe and misery.

Finger-Lickin' Bad

Ewwww! I had no idea it was this bad.

A person driving through the South might notice the chicken houses dotting the hills and flatlands. He might marvel at the larger ones, as long as a football field. He might react to their gagging stench for a moment, and then forget as he travels on. But those who live near the structures -- stuffed with as many as 25,000 chickens each -- combat the odor and health hazards daily.

'There's a horrible odor, a stench, and I have flies and rodents digging in, trying to get into my house,' says Bernadine Edwards, whose 39-acre farm near Owensboro, Ky., is surrounded by 108 chicken houses within a two-mile radius. 'It is unbelievable.'

The 65-year-old school bus driver, who recently bought a purifier to help her breathe easier in her home, says the value of her property has plummeted since the chicken houses arrived in the early 1990s. 'I'm too old to start over,' she says. 'I can't afford to. My house is paid for.'

Edwards is not alone. Over the last 15 years, the country has seen a boom in chicken farming. Today, the industry is serving a cocktail of injustice and pollution to rural residents, and most of them aren't in a position to fight back.

I'll bet half of this upsurge in chicken consumption is due to chicken nuggets. Whenever I make my runs to Costo, I always gawk at the bags of "chicken dinosaurs" in the baskets of people who obviously have children. While I am childless, I still have an adverse reaction to the idea that we have a nation of children being raised on Chicken Mc Nuggets. I see toddlers sitting in carts, munching on them as parents make after-work grocery store runs and it drives me crazy! I've heard a lot of moms defend their children's steady diet of the little finger food (to the point where some claim their children won't eat anything else) and I guess that is why I don't have kids. Seriously though, married or not, if my days are promised to be so hectic that all I have time to feed my kids are animal shaped chicken pieces, I think I'd need to bypass child bearing.

The Forced Pregnancy And Birth People Gain Some Ground

Granted it's South Dakota but they've managed to pass a ban on abortions even when the woman's health may come into question. It just blows the mind that people have relegated women to baby making machines who will be forced to bear the children of rapists.

The South Dakota Senate today approved a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in the state, a measure that could become the most sweeping ban approved by a state in more than a decade.

If the bill is signed by Gov. Michael Rounds, a Republican who opposes abortion, advocates of abortion rights have pledged to challenge it in court immediately — and that is precisely what the bill's supporters have in mind.

The bill passed by a vote of 23 to 12 after opponents tried unsuccessfully to attach amendments that would have created exceptions for cases of rape and incest and that would have blocked spending of state money to defend against the court challenge that is sure to come.

Before it reaches the governor's desk, a slightly reworded version of the bill — one that does not change its overall meaning — has to be sent back to the House, where the bill was overwhelmingly approved earlier.

Optimistic about the recent changes on the United States Supreme Court, some abortion opponents say they have new hope that a court fight over a ban here could lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal around the country.

Grab And Run?

People, we have a lot of work to do. As I write this, I am watching a program on Sex Slavery on The Big Idea with Danny Deutsch. It's a sick and vile business that displays a total lack of value for women as human beings and treats them as nothing more than disposable pieces of trash. Meanwhile, in Kyrgystan, men and their families are kidnapping women they wish to become their brides. Forced marriage is a different kind of slavery.

Meerim was a 21-year-old university student in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, when her admirer, an old classmate from the central province of Naryn, abducted her for marriage.

'My schoolmates suggested having a reunion and we met in a cafe in Bishkek. We were having a small party with drinks and snacks. Then Nurlan [her then classmate and now her husband] offered to continue the celebrations at his home with kebabs and music,' Meerim said in Bishkek, recalling the experience.

'I agreed, but when we entered his home, his relatives were there. His mother said that I would become her son's spouse. I was shocked and did not expect such an outcome. I cried, disagreed, tried to escape, but all in vain. All night long his sisters and female relatives tried to convince me. My female schoolmates were on their side too,' she added.

But despite having a boyfriend and future career plans, Meerim surrendered to an age old Kyrgyz tradition.

'I wanted to call my boyfriend to take me away but didn't know what to tell him. I knew he couldn't help. He was far away. I called my parents, but they did not want to get me out of the situation. My grandmother insisted that I should stay with a husband-to-be as otherwise our family would be shamed. I eventually gave in,' Meerim said, adding that following the wedding, she had to leave her education and mainly engage in domestic chores as expected in this traditional society.

Such abductions are not unusual in the former Soviet republic, particularly in rural areas, where the majority of Kyrgyzstan's some 5 million inhabitants live.

According to some estimates, upwards of 30 percent of the country's married women have been snatched from the street by their husbands in a custom known as "ala kachuu," which translates roughly as "grab and run." In its most benign form, it is a kind of elopement, in which a man whisks away a willing girlfriend. But often it is something more violent.

That women actually are complicit in this bride snatching is even more disturbing. I guess they think you ought to be grateful that you were chosen by their brothers.

So, So Not In The Last Throes

Look at these numbers and tell me what we are doing for the people of Iraq:

2004

• Total attacks: 26,496
  
• Improvised bombs: 5,607
  
• Car bombings: 420
  
• Suicide car bombings: 133
  
• Suicide bombers wearing explosive vests: 7
  

2005

• Total attacks: 34,131
  
• Improvised bombs: 10,593
  
• Car bombings: 873
  
• Suicide car bombings: 411
  
• Suicide bombers wearing explosive vests: 67
  

They'd Have To Peel Me Off Of Him!

Via Shakespeare's Sister, this almost made me burst a blood vessel.

Can I Ask A Question?

If you are so concerned about privacy, why are you taping your nasty behind doing the nasty?!

Kid Rock has won an initial victory in his attempt to stop a California company from releasing an explicit sex video featuring the rap-rocker, former Creed singer Scott Stapp and four women.

U.S. District Court Judge John Feikens signed a temporary order that stops David Joseph and his World Wide Red Light District compan