Save The Children.

Please! Save the children!

Save 'em Lord!

Buttons Jesus Never Pushed

I'm glad to see that the people of faith who get it and that they are speaking up. Watching the loon branch of Christianity wield so much influence over the past six years (all because the Dubya declared himself to be a "Christian" has been positively excruciating. Hopefully, as our buffoon of a President continues to fail at and destroy every thing he touches, the scales will continue to fall from people's eyes and real Christians can come out of hiding.

In his six sermons, Mr. Boyd laid out a broad argument that the role of Christians was not to seek “power over” others — by controlling governments, passing legislation or fighting wars. Christians should instead seek to have “power under” others — “winning people’s hearts” by sacrificing for those in need, as Jesus did, Mr. Boyd said.

“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” he said. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.

“I am sorry to tell you,” he continued, “that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Mr. Boyd lambasted the “hypocrisy and pettiness” of Christians who focus on “sexual issues” like homosexuality, abortion or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl halftime show. He said Christians these days were constantly outraged about sex and perceived violations of their rights to display their faith in public.

“Those are the two buttons to push if you want to get Christians to act,” he said. “And those are the two buttons Jesus never pushed.”

... and all I have to say about this is Amen! Amen! Amen!

Technorati Tags: Rev. Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation

Catholic Women Face Excommunication

The Catholic church can keep up its "no girls allowed" policies if they want to but they are going to end up without a church. What purpose would excommunication serve?

Joan Houk has ministered to the sick and needy, run two Roman Catholic parishes that were without priests and has presided over baptisms and funerals. Her calling now, she says, is to be a priest.

Houk will be one of a dozen women participating in a ceremony Monday in which eight will proclaim themselves priests and four deacons. The ceremony won't be recognized by the Catholic church, which has a 2,000-year tradition of an all-male priesthood.
[...]
"This unfortunate ceremony will take place outside the Church and undermines the unity of the Church. Those attempting to confer Holy Orders have, by their own actions, removed themselves from the Church, as have those who present themselves for such an invalid ritual," according to the statement released by the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, a spokesman for the diocese.

The diocese said they will welcome back anyone who chooses to leave the church.

Liberal Catholics say the ongoing clergy shortage and the dramatic rise in female lay leaders in American churches will eventually create pressure to ordain women. More lay people than priests are working full-time in American parishes and a significant number of the lay leaders are women ...

I think that the blatant sexism in the hierarchy of the Catholic church as well as within church doctrine is one of the main reasons that I cannot/will not formally join a parish or come out of "ex-Catholic" hiding. It just makes no sense to me and I won't risk being insulted in mass when I am going for a spiritual lesson not a diatribe on my place as a woman (though, this seems to happen more in churches of other denominations more often). I don't if or how the Catholic church will evolve in "the West." Perhaps only poor Africans and Latin Americans will be the ones to hold up the faith and its outdated teachings as long as they remain poor and oppressed. I just can't buy into it any longer and feel silly going through the motions.

Tell 'Em How You Really Feel Mel!

I refused to see Passion of The Christ when it came out. One reason is that it seemed that it was going to be overly violent and I don't do violent movies. Another reason is that I was turned off my some of the things I was reading about Mel Gibson's "return to faith" and his radical, outdated and unaccepted Catholic beliefs and I just wasn't up to seeing the work of a nutso zealot. He struck me as yet another person trapped by the abuses of drugs, sex or booze who latched on to extreme religious pracitices and beliefs in order to garner some kind of control in their life. That wouldn't be a bad thing if these kinds of folks didn't then attempt to force their extremism on everyone else or try to judge everyone else by the narrow standards that allow themselves not to spiral out of control. (I was too through when he claimed his wife wouldn't go to heaven because she was a Protestant). In any case, despite his claims to the contrary regarding anti-semitic undertones in his movie, it seems he really does have deep seated issues with Jews and, drunk or not, he made that perfectly clear.

Ashamed Aussie alcoholic Mel Gibson admitted yesterday he was “completely out of control” after a drunken-driving arrest during which he allegedly spewed anti-Semitic slurs and called a female deputy “sugar tits.”
“(Expletive) Jews . . . The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” the Oscar winner told sheriff’s deputies, according to TMZ.com, which claimed to have a four-page report on the arrest.
Gibson in a statement yesterday said his comments to cops after his arrest Friday in Malibu, Calif., were “things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable.”
“I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse,” according to the statement. “I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person.”
Gibson, 50, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Friday at 2:30 a.m. after police clocked his Lexus doing 87 mph in a 45-mph zone on the winding Pacific Coast Highway ...

Let It Begin With Me

Don't worry. Though I have been feeling like the cat has my tongue over this Israeli/Lebanese conflict, I will be posting later with some thoughts and rants. In the meantime, this song popped into my mind this morning and I started singing it without warning.

Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on Earth,
the peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Father,
brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother,
in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
let this be my solemn vow,

To take each moment and live each moment
in peace, eternally.
Let there be Peace on Earth,
and let it begin with me.

A Time To Revisit

I read this book in 1990 at the onset of the first Gulf War and it is time to dust it off and recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it before (or those who want to read it again as I do).

Dang! How'd He Snag That Dude?

I never was into those little N'Sync boys so can't say I know or care much about them but apparently one of them is gay. That's not the news to me. I wanna know how he snagged that cutie from the Amazing Race who won the show with his (former) "husband."

Now, after years of keeping his personal life private, the Mississippi-bred, Southern Baptist-reared Bass, 27, is publicly revealing what he first shared with his friends, then his shocked family. "He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone," says his close buddy Fatone, 29, who was the first 'N Sync bandmate to find out Bass is gay. "I back him up 100 percent." Adds Bass’s longtime pal, actress Christina Applegate: "I've always accepted him as who he is. It's about his own serenity at this point." Having pursued acting, producing and – most memorably – space flight after ’N Sync went on hiatus in 2002, Bass now is looking ahead to new beginnings. He is in a "very stable" relationship with model-actor-Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, and is developing an Odd Couple-inspired sitcom pilot with Fatone in which his character will be gay.

Ann Coulter Is One Batty Bitch

I find both Dick Morris' and Ann Coulter's obession with the Clinton's downright stalkerish. But Ann just keeps taking her fixation further and futher. I realize the chick has to make a living but does she sit up all night trying to think of things that are more ridiculous than the last?

You can only bash 9/11 widows for so long before your book starts slip-sliding down the charts. Solution: Call Bill Clinton gay. A source from “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” handed us this transcript from tonight’s 10 pm ET show, during which Deutsch notes that Coulter was talking about Bill Clinton off the air and goads her into repeating what she said.

Ms. COULTER: I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality.

DEUTSCH: OK, I think you need to say that again. That Bill Clinton, you think on some level, has — is a latent homosexual, is that what you’re saying?

Ms. COULTER: Yeah.

[...]

The conversation swings a bit before Deutsch moves it back to Big Gay Bill.

DEUTSCH: I’m not paying any attention. I’m still stuck on Bill Clinton. Don’t — now, isn’t that an example of mean-spirted? Isn’t that just a mean-spirited low blow? No pun intended.

Ms. COULTER: No. Which part of what I said?

DEUTSCH: I think this…

Ms. COULTER: Well, you can read high crimes and misdemeanors if he wants some low blows.

DEUTSCH: OK. No, no. Here’s a — here’s a president of the United States…

Ms. COULTER: There’s merely a comment.

DEUTSCH: …a former president of the United States, and just saying, `You know what? I think he has latent homosexual tendencies.’

Ms. COULTER: No. I think anyone with that level of promiscuity where, you know, you — I mean, he didn’t know Monica’s name until their sixth sexual encounter. There is something that is — that is of the bathhouse about that.

DEUTSCH: But what is the homosexual — that’s — you could say somebody who maybe doesn’t celebrate women the way he should or just is that he’s a hound dog?

Ms. COULTER: No. It’s just random, is this obsession with his…

DEUTSCH: But where’s the — but where’s the homosexual part of that? I’m — once again, I’m speechless here.

Ms. COULTER: It’s reminiscent of a bathhouse. It’s just this obsession with your own — with your own essence.

DEUTSCH: But why is that homosexual? You could say narcissistic.

Ms. COULTER: Right.

DEUTSCH: You could say nymphomaniac.

Ms. COULTER: Well, there is something narcissistic about homosexuality. Right? Because you’re in love with someone who looks like you. I’m not breaking new territory here, why are you looking at me like that?

Any guesses?

I forwarded this blog post to one of my yahoogroups and someone immediately responded that if being a "ho" made men homosexuals, 98% of them must be!


Note: Before I could even get this blogged, I ran across this equally as ridiculous story over at Pam's House Blend. Apparently someplace in that state called Kansas, a business has a rainbow flag waving - a flag purchased by a 12 year old at a Wizard of Oz museum.  Someone finally figured out that it has another meaning and now they are demanding that the establishment remove the flag ... for the following reasons:

Knight says the radio station has called him threatening to remove the restaurant’s commercials if he does not remove the flag. A local pastor stopped by said it was equivalent to hanging women’s panties on a flag pole. When Knight jokingly said he might consider that – the preacher said he would have him arrested.

His business has suffered - down to only a few local customers. The folks in Meade who've boycotted say it's too offensive for them to eat there.

Local resident, Keith Klassen says the flag is a slap in the face to the conservative community of Meade. “To me it's just like running up a Nazi flag in a Jewish neighborhood. I can't walk into that establishment with that flag flying because to me that's saying that I support what the flag stands for and I don't," says Klassen.

It's still so hot here that I think I am getting slap happy. Why can't I stop laughing at this foolishness: equivalent to hanging women’s panties on a flag pole? Do they think that because the flag is flying that gay men are going to be in there screwing at the tables? I'm so confused! Who are these people?

Dump Condi?

Well, first of all, Bush is not going to dump any of his friends no matter how incompetent they are. If he hasn't dumped Rumsfeld, he is not going to dump Condi. Besides, how is this her foreign policy? She is just following orders - as most Bush loyalists do. That's why she was appointed. To blame her for being ignorant of the Middle East is stupid. Obviously if anyone in Bush's administration knew the Middle East, we wouldn't be entreneched in multiple conflicts there. It's basically too little too late for all of these conservatives to come out of the woodwork with their criticism of the President now. They should have stood up to him prior to him getting re-elected. Now they are stuck just like the rest of us are.

Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration’s national security and foreign policy agenda.

The conservatives, who include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle and leading current and former members of the Pentagon and National Security Council, have urged the president to transfer Miss Rice out of the State Department and to an advisory role. They said Miss Rice, stemming from her lack of understanding of the Middle East, has misled the president on Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"The president has yet to understand that people make policy and not the other way around," a senior national security policy analyst said. "Unlike [former Secretary of State Colin] Powell, Condi is loyal to the president. She is just incompetent on most foreign policy issues."

The criticism of Miss Rice has been intense and comes from a range of Republican loyalists, including current and former aides in the Defense Department and the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. They have warned that Iran has been exploiting Miss Rice's inexperience and incompetence to accelerate its nuclear weapons program. They expect a collapse of her policy over the next few months.

These sudden complainers need to suck it up and watch the global train wreck right along with the rest of the world ... 'cause it's a comin'.

Bolton Not Very Diplomatic

It's been a year or so since Bush slipped this bull of a man into the china shop that is the UN and it looks like the critics of the appointment were right. Via Think Progress ...

In just over a year at the U.N., Bolton has managed to offend many U.S. friends and allies, demonstrating that he’s an ineffective diplomat:

Greece’s U.N. Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis: “He is not an easy man to get close to. … Some people have the possibility to build consensus. Others operate in other ways.”

Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Baali, after a disagreement with Bolton: “The U.S. stand that ‘you take it or you leave it is not helping the Security Council, and is not helping the cause of peace in the Middle East.’”

Peru’s U.N. Ambassador Oswaldo de Rivero: “He lives in another world, with this belief that he is morally superior and the U.S. is more moral than all the countries around the world. It is a pity.”

Michael Doyle, former special adviser to Kofi Annan: “Sometimes he [states U.S. policy] in a manner that is grating. But it is the policy that is most of the problem, even though the personality doesn’t help.”

An ambassador with close ties to the Bush administration: “My initial feeling was, let’s see if we can work with him, and I have done some things to push for consensus on issues that were not easy for my country. … But all he gives us in return is, ‘It doesn’t matter, whatever you do is insufficient.’ … He’s lost me as an ally now, and that’s what many other ambassadors who consider themselves friends of the U.S. are saying.”

A European diplomat: “A lot of us wonder what his real agenda is. First, we think maybe he wants things to fail because then he can say, ‘We cannot reform this place.’ The other question is, does he really reflect the position in Washington? That is always the question: Is it Bolton or is it Washington?”

So there you have it! Other nations seem to be united in their agreement that this guy is a bully and an ass. He's no different than rest of Bush's henchmen so I guess that's why he was sent.

Half Of America Still Stuck On Stupid!

I gave up hoping for collective American sense a long time ago. For anyone who wonders why there are still total tools out there who still support Bush, here is why:

Despite several years of official and press reports to the contrary, a new Harris poll finds that half of adult Americans still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) when the United States invaded the country in 2003.

This is actually up from 36% last year, a Harris poll finds. The polling company itself called this "surprising" -- considering that no WMD were ever found and U.S. inspectors have confirmed the non-existence of active weapons.

In early summer, there were reports that 500 shells once containing mustard or sarin gas nerve agents were found buried long ago in Iraq but they were judged by experts and military officials as decrepit and useless by 2003.

In another finding wildly diverging from most expert opinion and media reports, Harris found that 64% said Saddam Hussein had "strong links" with al-Qaeda, up from 62% in October 2004.

The poll of 1,020 adults was conducted July 5 to 11 and has a margin of error of three percentage points.

Oh Glory Is Right!

Okay, you decide. Is this guy happy he is getting married or happy that he'll finally be "gettin' some?"

Okay! They're Crazy!

This is just insane! But they want to call the guy in Iran crazy! I think Israel has long since crossed the line and sooner or later, even all of their bombs and weapons won't be enough to keep them safe.

Four United Nations peacekeepers have been killed in an Israeli air strike on an observation post in southern Lebanon, the UN has said.

A bomb struck the post occupied by the peacekeepers of the Unifil force in the Khiam area, it said.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "shocked" at the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the post.

The attack came as Israel said it would control an area in southern Lebanon until international forces deployed.

The force will be discussed at crisis talks to be held in Rome on Wednesday.
...

Perverts In All Parties

I don't care what this guy's party affiliation might be. This is disgusting and I hope he goes dooooown!

Nice to see the Republicans don't have the market cornered on hypocritical sleazery.
Maryland Senate Candidate Arrested on Rape, Assault Charges

It looks like the crowded field for the Democratic nomination for Senator in Maryland just lost one candidate.

David Dickerson is one of 18 Dems seeking the nomination. But he was arrested by Baltimore County police on Saturday on charges of repeatedly raping and assaulting his 19 year-old Latvian wife.

According to Corporal Mike Hill, Dickerson, who's 43, met his wife in Latvia when she was 16 and took her back to the States to marry her when she was 18. She shortly thereafter got pregnant. She has told police that Dickerson starved her, denied her the ability to call her mother, and repeatedly beat and raped her. She eventually left for Latvia, she told police, but returned when Dickerson threatened her and her family, saying that he "could have anybody bring her back."

Charming. Need I state that this sparkling example of a human being is running on Ye Olde Family Values Ticket? (Bolds, emphasis, disgust mine)

I am running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate because the vital issues we face as a state and a nation are not being addressed. We need to renew our respect for life and family values as a means to stand united against evil that threatens our liberty. The moral fabric of our Democratic Party needs to represent our Maryland values, so we need change. As U.S. Senator, I propose that we support daycare, vote against killing human embryos, vote against public funding of abortions which serve as an alternative form of birth control, and we need term limits to prevent corruption in our government.

Violence in our society is beyond worrisome. Crime and drugs have reached alarming proportions, so we need to stop the strong from taking advantage of the weak! I propose that we need to vote for tougher prosecution of those using weapons in violent crimes. I will support our troops while crafting an “Iraq Exit Strategy” which the world embraces; enforce tougher prosecution of those using weapons in violent crimes, endorse a Foreign Policy that secures the world but does not contain it, and support an Immigration Policy that rewards our economy and protects all citizens and legal immigrants. The growth of our nation'’s capitol has been supported by Maryland, so it is time that Washington helps us by starting to pay the Maryland taxpayers'’ bills for transportation infrastructure and the means necessary for us to protect our environment.

The creepy dude on my job who bought a childlike wife in the Philippenes (word is he signed a contract with her parents) is a liberal and a vegetarian but that doesn't mean that he isn't a pervert, abuser and abject loser. What I don't get are these deviant politicians, who know they are living foul, who are putting themselves up for public scrutiny. I would see a big red flag, see flashing lights and hear sirens if I read that he imported a teenager from an impoverished country and calls her his wife. Moreover, what kind of family values man would actually send his own child back to said country to be raised by a grandmother? The man had no real chance of winning this race anyway but along with the deviance, I think there is some other mental disorder that leads these men to believe their disgusting ways will never come to light.

If He Were The King of The Forest

I'm not sure if this is just a stunt on Specter's behalf but is about time someone called Bush on being under the illusion that he was above the law and that, as President, he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. That he added signing statements to more bills than all other Presidents combined shows that this is a man who thinks he is a King.

A top Senate Republican said on Monday he will challenge U.S. President George W. Bush's practice of claiming a right to ignore or not enforce sections of bills that he signs into law.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he plans to introduce legislation this week that would give the U.S. Congress the right to bring a lawsuit against Bush's "signing statements."

Bush has used these statements to reserve the right not to enforce certain provisions of laws if he believes they impinge on his authority or interpretation of the Constitution.

An American Bar Association task force issued a report on Monday that said Bush has flouted the U.S. constitution by issuing more than 800 signing statements to highlight provisions of laws he might not enforce, more than every previous U.S. president combined.

ABA President Michael Greco noted that under the Constitution there is a balance of power in which Congress is to pass bills and the president is to sign or veto them, and give lawmakers an opportunity to override any veto.

"By using a signing statement to ignore an entire or portions of a new law, the president undermines this entire system of checks and balances," Greco told reporters in releasing the report.

Speaking in the Senate, Specter said his legislation would authorize a judicial review, with the goal of having such actions "declared unconstitutional."

The White House has defended signing statements, saying they have been used by past presidents and help the public understand how a given law will be enforced and can provide guidance to courts.

For example, Bush signed a bill banning the torture of U.S.-held prisoners, but used a signing statement to signal that he might bypass the ban.

He has also used them to show that he might ignore provisions in an anti-terrorism law seeking more congressional oversight and reject a requirement that government scientists transmit findings to Congress uncensored.

Specter's Judiciary Committee held a hearing on presidential signing statements last month and he also concluded they "threaten our separation of powers."

Specter said his staff was drafting a bill to challenge signing statements with Bruce Fein, a former member of the Reagan administration who also served on the ABA task force.

I Know That Feeling ....

If only ...

"Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.

"I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I see children die the anger in me is just beyond belief. It's our duty as human beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of human life."

Ms Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years ago, when she circulated a petition to end violence in Northern Ireland after witnessing British soldiers shoot dead an IRA member who was driving a car. He veered on to the footpath, killing two children from one family instantly and fatally injuring a third.

Ms Williams's petition had tens of thousands of Protestant and Catholic women walking the streets together in protest. Now the former office receptionist heads the World Centres of Compassion for Children International, a non-profit group working to create a political voice for children.

Condi: Secret Squirrel

The cloak and dagger game this administration plays everytime it decides to pay a visit to one of our sponsored war zones is getting pretty old. This time Condoleezza pops up in Beruit like Secret Squirrel to pay a visit to the man whose country is being destroyed by our good friend Israel. I actually thought it was ridiculous and more like a slap in the face to show up bearing offers of aid after we allowed and encouraged our ally to destroy the place.

SURPRISE!....I have a wee request: Can we please stop treating as major news the unceasing "surprise" visits to the Middle East by various Bush administration luminaries? Rice does it, Rumsfeld does it, Cheney does it, Bush does it, and these things really aren't much of a surprise anymore, are they? More like a transparent effort to get a headline from a gullible press corps. It's time to wake up.

Depraved Individuals

Too much porn available. Too much something ...

A man grabbed a Florida child and raped her in full daylight, police say.

The man who St. Petersburg police said raped the 8-year-old girl remains on the loose.

The victim was leaving a park at about 12:55 p.m. with her 7-year-old brother when the man grabbed her from behind, pulled her to the ground and raped her, police said. Their mother had left them alone for a few minutes to return home and turn off the kitchen stove. They were less than half a block from the family's apartment.

A man playing basketball nearby said he heard the screams and ran to the scene. A motorist who witnessed it began honking her horn and called for help. The perpetrator then got up and ran away.

The girl was treated at the hospital and released.

Police believe they recovered the man's shirt, which he apparently stripped off as he ran away, but they don't know his identity. People in the middle-class neighborhood said he may be a transient.

'Cause I'm Hot Like That

Holy Hades! I spent a week in Detroit in the heat, another week in Chicago just as it began to cool down then I come home to San Jose and flew into 80+ degree temps at damn near midnight. My apartment was hot. It never cooled down and it is supposed to hit 103 today!

I'm HOT G'dmmit!

This Is About Where I'm Getting ...

Never thought I see things this way but after the past few years, this is about where I am headed ...

We have been Israel's greatest friend, supplying it with more money and weapons than any other country to which we offer foreign aid.

And yet this tiny sliver of a nation, with its abusive and sometimes draconian treatment of its minorities and its cavalier attitude toward spying on us (and that's not to mention the USS Liberty incident) treats us like the bottom boy in this relationship - and we let them do it.

Now, with the latest scuffle going on in Lebanon, we are being The Bitch again, talking big about seeking a diplomatic solution while at the same time expediting a shipment of bunker-busting precision guided munitions.

If Israel wants to act like the 800-pound Gorilla in the Middle East, that's fine - but not on my tax dollars, thank you.

Afghanistan Close To Anarchy

While we are rushing super weapons to Israel to use against Lebanon, Iraq is spiraling into the abyss of civil war and Afghanistan is close to anarchy.

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan today described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption.

The stark warning came from Lieutenant General David Richards, head of Nato's international security force in Afghanistan, who warned that western forces there were short of equipment and were "running out of time" if they were going to meet the expectations of the Afghan people.

The assumption within Nato countries had been that the environment in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban in 2002 would be benign, Gen Richards said. "That is clearly not the case," he said today. He referred to disputes between tribes crossing the border with Pakistan, and divisions between religious and secular factions cynically manipulated by "anarcho-warlords".

Corrupt local officials were fuelling the problem and Nato's provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were sending out conflicting signals, Gen Richards told a conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "The situation is close to anarchy," he said, referring in particular to what he called "the lack of unity between different agencies".

He described "poorly regulated private security companies" as unethical and "all too ready to discharge firearms". Nato forces in Afghanistan were short of equipment, notably aircraft, but also of medical evacuation systems and life-saving equipment.

He Was A Joke

I have no clue why he chose to show up this year..

Bush hoped he could plagiarize himself to an audience he treated for 5 1/2 years as separate and forgotten. Until Thursday, he was the only sitting president since Warren G. Harding more than 80 years ago not to address the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bush's top moment of success in that regard was when he said he would sign the extension of the Voting Rights Act. This was hardly courageous, as the Senate passed the extension 98 to 0 and the House passed it 390 to 33. More on Bush's mind was blunting visceral anger at his Iraq debacle and domestic policies that have many Republican members of Congress at risk in the mid-term elections.

Anger seethed beneath the politeness. While Bush received strong applause on the voting act and for understanding the distrust of black voters toward his party, silence grew as Bush retreated to well-worn, but ill-funded initiatives such as education. He received a smattering of boos for pushing charter schools.

Many people in the audience were acutely aware that Bush barely touched on the NAACP's core mission of equal rights. Bush failed to square his lament about African-Americans and Republicans when his own Justice Department deleted half of a massive report on racism among its attorneys, and his own Department of Health and Human Services attempted to delete all references to disparities and inequalities in healthcare. Bush did not mention why he backed white students at the University of Michigan who tried to kill affirmative action. He did not mention his Supreme Court and federal judicial appointees who oppose affirmative action and school busing.

His praise of the Voting Rights Act was, of course, the most ironic moment of his speech, considering how he gained the Oval Office with the massive disqualification of black ballots in Florida.

My EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Your EQ is 133

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick! 51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese. 71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely. 91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that. 111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt. 131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin. 150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

The Bush Doctrine Fails

Here I go again. I'm wholeheartedly agreeing with Pat Buchanan on our totally f'd up foreign policy.

When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unleashed his navy and air force on Lebanon, accusing that tiny nation of an "act of war," the last pillar of Bush's Middle East policy collapsed.

First came capitulation on the Bush Doctrine, as Pyongyang and Tehran defied Bush's dictum: The world's worst regimes will not be allowed to acquire the world's worst weapons. Then came suspension of the democracy crusade as Islamic militants exploited free elections to advance to power and office in Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, Iraq and Iran.

Now Israel's rampage against a defenseless Lebanon -- smashing airport runways, fuel tanks, power plants, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges, roads and the occasional refugee convoy -- has exposed Bush's folly in subcontracting U.S. policy out to Tel Aviv, thus making Israel the custodian of our reputation and interests in the Middle East.

The Lebanon that Israel, with Bush's blessing, is smashing up has a pro-American government, heretofore considered a shining example of his democracy crusade. Yet, asked in St. Petersburg if he would urge Israel to use restraint in its air strikes, Bush sounded less like the leader of the Free World than some bellicose city councilman from Brooklyn Heights.

(read more)

Ooooh! He Said A Bad Word!

If anyone thinks that our Texas cowboy president doesn't use cuss words on a regular basis, they could use a good cussin' out themselves. Seemed to me that the big deal is that he suddenly thinks the UN has value and that Kofi Annan should be pressuring Syrian President Assad to get Hezbollah under control.

US President George W Bush has been caught on microphone using an expletive as he discussed Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel.

Mr Bush was heard telling UK Prime Minister Tony Blair privately that Syria should press the Lebanese militants to "stop doing this shit".

The remarks were picked up by closed-circuit TV at the G8 summit which both leaders are attending.

Mr Bush also said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would go to the area.

Mr Blair was heard saying Ms Rice had to succeed in the mission.

He also appeared to discuss a proposal to send international forces to Lebanon to prevent the attacks on Israel.

The remarks came as the two leaders were sitting down to lunch at the summit in the Russian city of St Petersburg.

"The irony is, what they really need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over," Mr Bush was heard to say.

Soon after Mr Blair noticed that the microphone was open and switched it off, reports say.

The summit has been discussing what to do about the crisis, triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah last week.

Israeli has been attacking targets in Lebanon for six days, while Hezbollah has responded by firing rockets into Israel.

No Tickey, No Washey

... And no evacuation from Lebanon if you don't have the funds.

The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need [emphasis mine]. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date. In a subsequent message, when we have specific details about the transporation arrangments, we will inform you about the costs you will incur. We will also work with commercial aircraft to ensure that they have adequate flights to help you depart Cyprus and connect to your final destination.

So now I guess our policy is "put up or blow up?"

When Will This Beast Die?

Jeebus! I don't get why people are so fixated on this non-story. Who the heck cares if Oprah and Gayle are gay? I am sure they would tell if they were.

Oprah Winfrey and her friend Gayle King want to be clear: they're not gay. In the August issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, the talk-show host explains that some people misunderstand her close friendship with King.

"I understand why people think we're gay," she says. "There isn't a definition in our culture for this kind of bond between women. So I get why people have to label it — how can you be this close without it being sexual?"

In a long article, Winfrey, 52, and King converse about their 30 years of friendship and "four-times-a-day phone calls."

The two friends say they would have no problem telling the public if they were in a sexual relationship.

"The truth is, if we were gay, we would tell you, because there's nothing wrong with being gay," says King.

Says Winfrey: "Something about this relationship feels otherworldly to me, like it was designed by a power and a hand greater than my own. Whatever this friendship is, it's been a very fun ride."

If people had any satisfaction or contentment in their own sex, personal and intimate lives, there is no way they would be worrying about Oprah and Gayle. I understand that people don't believe that men and women can be close friends without sexual attraction being some kind of undercurrent but do you mean to tell me that two women cannot be as close as sisters without one or both of them having the hots for the other? I think that it is really sad that so many people are no more than walking sex organs and cannot fathom any kind of human interaction that doesn't include sex. So much for human beings being the superior species.

Where Is Qusan?

I am in Detroit at the bi-annual convention for my sorority. I haven't seen much news but am not feeling too good about what I have heard regarding Israel and Lebanon ... will definitely post about it later.

Aryan Nations Graffiti In Baghdad

This nation is so desperate for soldiers in this volunteer army that they've been lowering standards and recruiting criminals, druggies, dummies, gang members and neo-Natzis.

Ten years after Pentagon leaders toughened policies on extremist activities by active duty personnel -- a move that came in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing by decorated Gulf War combat veteran Timothy McVeigh and the murder of a black couple by members of a skinhead gang in the elite 82nd Airborne Division -- large numbers of neo-Nazis and skinhead extremists continue to infiltrate the ranks of the world's best-trained, best-equipped fighting force. Military recruiters and base commanders, under intense pressure from the war in Iraq to fill the ranks, often look the other way.


Neo-Nazis "stretch across all branches of service, they are linking up across the branches once they're inside, and they are hard-core," Department of Defense gang detective Scott Barfield said. "We've got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad," he added. "That's a problem."


The armed forces are supposed to be a model of racial equality. American soldiers are supposed to be defenders of democracy. Neo-Nazis represent the opposite of these ideals. They dream of race war and revolution, and their motivations for enlisting are often quite different than serving their country.


"Join only for the training, and to better defend yourself, our people, and our culture," Fain said. "We must have people to open doors from the inside when the time comes."
[...]
Extremists in the military are tricky to unmask. "They're a lot smarter about it than street gang members," said Barfield. "They don't brag and boast like gang bangers." The best way to reduce the number of extremists in the armed forces is to prevent them from entering the military in the first place. "But now we're lowering our recruiting standards. We're accepting lesser quality soldiers," Barfield said. In a move to boost enlistment, the military is allowing more and more recruits with criminal records to sign up. A recent Chicago Sun-Times article revealed the percentage of recruits granted "moral waivers" for past misdemeanors had more than doubled since 2001. The military also revised its rules on inductee tattoos earlier this year to allow all tattoos except those on the front of the face. Both changes in the rules made it easier for extremists to join. And while military regulations prohibit (PDF) all gang-related or white supremacist tattoos, many recruiters are ignoring such tattoos, or even literally covering them up. "I had one case where a recruiter and his wife took a guy to their house and covered up his tattoos with make-up so he could pass his [physical examination]," Barfield said ...

Damn this war! We are training war mongers for our homeland.

Just Get A Dog

I mean really! Are we talking an adult relationship here? Why be bothered when you can just get a dog?

So, like many wives before me, I ignored a library of advice books and set about improving him. By nagging, of course, which only made his behavior worse: he'd drive faster instead of slower; shave less frequently, not more; and leave his reeking bike garb on the bedroom floor longer than ever.

We went to a counselor to smooth the edges off our marriage. She didn't understand what we were doing there and complimented us repeatedly on how well we communicated. I gave up. I guessed she was right — our union was better than most — and resigned myself to stretches of slow-boil resentment and occasional sarcasm.

Then something magical happened. For a book I was writing about a school for exotic animal trainers, I started commuting from Maine to California, where I spent my days watching students do the seemingly impossible: teaching hyenas to pirouette on command, cougars to offer their paws for a nail clipping, and baboons to skateboard.

I listened, rapt, as professional trainers explained how they taught dolphins to flip and elephants to paint. Eventually it hit me that the same techniques might work on that stubborn but lovable species, the American husband.

The central lesson I learned from exotic animal trainers is that I should reward behavior I like and ignore behavior I don't. After all, you don't get a sea lion to balance a ball on the end of its nose by nagging. The same goes for the American husband.

This Is Not An Insurgency!

It's a civil war!

Shiite Muslim militiamen rampaged through a Sunni Arab neighborhood in Baghdad early Sunday morning, killing more than 50 people and discarding bodies in the streets, according to Iraqi officials and witnesses. Hours later, attackers struck back, detonating two car bombs near a Shiite mosque.

Sunni politicians described the violence against the Sunni residents of the al-Jihad neighborhood in western Baghdad as one of the deadliest waves of murder since the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The killings occurred on a day when the U.S. military announced charges against four soldiers in the alleged rape and murder of a girl and the killing of three members of her family in the southern Iraqi town of Mahmudiyah.

Sectarian killings escalated sharply across Iraq after a bomb destroyed a revered golden-domed Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 22. The bombing prompted reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques and pushed the country further toward all-out civil war.

Vote For Star!

I know it's hard and Star's recent actions, in my view, are totally an emotional reaction to being very, very hurt by ABC's business decision to not renew her contract. It's still probably too soon for her to think about it without getting mad and feeling betrayed but it is still time to move upward and onward.

Star Jones Reynolds appears to be having a ball in her newfound notoriety as a betrayed former employee of ABC’s “The View.”

Over the weekend, her Web site, StarJones.com, posted a message saying that it had received requests from "several thousand visitors" about how to contact ABC about her firing. The site listed the business address of Disney CEO Robert Iger at ABC’s parent company Walt Disney; Brian Frons, president of ABC Daytime; and Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie, the executive producers of “The View.”

The site also listed an ABC-TV web address where complaints can be posted, as well as a personal message from Star to her fans, saying in part that "had it not been for all of your emails and letters, this past week would have been very difficult."

Meanwhile, just one week after announcing prematurely that she was leaving “The View,” Reynolds has a new weeklong gig at the cable channel HGTV. The former co-host will review new real estate in New York on the series, “House Hunters.”

“I don't think people outside of New York realize that we still have neighborhoods here, that's one thing I love the most,” she told Access Hollywood in a piece that ran Wednesday.

“Access” cameras shadowed Star as she taped her segments for the show, which occurred weeks before dropping her big bombshell. Even then, Star admitted to Access producers that she and husband Al Reynolds were also on the house hunt and looking to sell her three-bedroom triplex apartment.

“We are starting to look for a new apartment. Something that's a little bit bigger and more conducive to a married couple,” Star explained. “My apartment initially was very much a single girl's lair with a dressing room and a closet that's the size of most boutiques. But now we are looking for more space —two bathrooms, one for each of us is a big deal, and a closet for him and a closet for me. So we've got some time to find what we really, really want.”

No comment on "a closet for him."

Ignoring The Vision of Dr. King

Okay. I agree with Al Sharpton this time. I really get riled up when I hear some black folks spouting off random Bible scriptures that supposedly support the twin issues for the conservative evangelical community - particularly those who have neither pot nor window. I wish these people would wake up.

During my 2004 presidential campaign, I was fond of saying that it was high time for the Christian right to meet the right Christians. That sentiment is even more appropriate today, more than a year-and-a-half after evangelicals catapulted George W. Bush back to the White House.


We are a country now locked into an unrighteous conflict overseas, a country where racial equality is still far from realized, and a country that continues to allow poverty to run rampant from coast to coast.


Yet, some high-profile black ministers continue to employ an agenda focused solely on sexually-based themes, like denying a women's right to choose an abortion or a gay couple's right to marry, to rally their congregations and drive a wedge through our people.


Not only are they speaking narrowly on the issues of gay marriage and abortion, but even as the Supreme Court is today taking on affirmative action, there has been silence from the black church.


Many African-Americans recognize the narrowness of scope of these beliefs. To that end, we held a conference -- The National Conference and Revival for Social Justice in the Black Church -- in Dallas, Texas, last week where more than 100 ministers restated and reemphasized what issues are of dire importance to the black populace as a whole.


And the message was clear. As the 2006 midterm elections approach, we must redouble our efforts where it counts -- fighting racism, ending the scourge of poverty, and, perhaps most importantly, continuing to press for equality at the ballot box.


As we met in Dallas, a few House Republicans scuttled a planned vote on reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act. But if the rumors of GOP efforts to keep blacks away from the polls in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 are true, it shows that the main purpose of the 1965 landmark voting rights legislation -- breaking down inequality at the polls -- has hardly been recognized.


That's why I'll be traveling to Florida and Ohio soon to push for the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act and against new anti-voting legislation, such as a regulation from Secretary of State and GOP gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell, that could, according to the New York Times, "...hit voter registration workers with criminal penalties for perfectly legitimate registration practices."


Another guiding principle expressed during this three-day event that saw ministers from all over the country, representing all sorts of congregations was the need for the black community, like the Israelites in the Bible, to never forget who led us out of bondage and to be unyielding in following their tenets until they are realized.


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the man who did the most to break us out of the shackles of racism, rallied to end the heinous war in Vietnam and battled for blacks to be treated like others, with dignity and respect.


And he performed all of his acts under the banner of Christianity. The church was his home base. The organization he founded was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was a man of piety who saw Christianity for what it truly is -- a religion that promotes peace and equality above all else.


But it seems that some have chosen to ignore or have simply forgotten the big-picture vision promoted by Dr. King and his kin.


This is particularly egregious considering that many of those who preach their limited view of Christianity do so inside so-called "megachurches" throughout the South, and without Dr. King's tireless work and leadership, blacks would never have been allowed to own the property under which these megachurches stand.


To be clear, no one is denying anybody's right to preach what he or she believes. But we refuse to allow the few to speak for the many. We will not sit idly as these ministers tarnish Dr. King's legacy by promoting their small-minded causes to the detriment of the battles truly worth fighting ...

Killing Royalty

When will people learn that cars aren't toys? This drag racing child killed people from the Royal Family of Tonga. I heard about this accident this morning and know exactly where it is because I used to work not far from there. This just plain didn't have to happen.

A car accident in Menlo Park last night claimed the lives of His Royal Highness Prince Tuipelehake of Tonga and his wife Her Royal Highness Princess Kaimana, Chief Deputy Coroner Tom Marriscolo confirmed this afternoon.

Prince Tuipelehake, 55, and Princess Kaimana, 45, were in a red Ford Explorer when another car collided with it on northbound Highway 101 near Marsh Road in Menlo Park. The two were identified by family members at the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office around 3 p.m., Marriscolo said.

The family was with the Tongan Consult General and their pastor.

Prince Tuipelehake is the nephew of King Taufa ‘ahau Tupou IV.

The couple’s driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, of East Palo Alto, was also killed during the crash.

Police arrested Edith Delgado, 18, shortly after the accident and could face either manslaughter or muder charges.

Delgado was allegedly driving a white 1998 Ford Mustang at a fast, reckless speed around 9 p.m. on northbound Highway 101 north of Willow Road.

When she came up behind another vehicle and attempted to pass it on the right, she struck the driver’s side of a red 1998 Ford Explorer, causing its driver to lose control, said California Highway Patrol Officer Ricky Franklin.

The Explorer, moving toward the right shoulder, overturned an unknown number of times and landed on its roof, Franklin said. The driver, a woman approximately 40 to 50 years old, and two passengers were killed in the crash.

Delgado stopped her car and was arrested. She is under investigation for vehicular manslaughter and could be arraigned tomorrow afternoon.

This was senseless and ridiculous and the reason why some folks don't need driver's licenses. I see people driving like clowns all of the time and it drives me up a wall - not to mention it scares me too. This chick caused the death of three people and has all but certainly ruined her own. I hope the punk she was racing fesses up and turns themself in too.

Take Your Yarmulke Off!

What year is this? I'll answer! It's 2006! Why, then, are people still acting like this? Why are children acting like this?

A large Delaware school district promoted Christianity so aggressively that a Jewish family felt it necessary to move to Wilmington, two hours away, because they feared retaliation for filing a lawsuit. The complaint recounts a raucous crowd that applauded the board’s opening prayer and then, when sixth-grader Alexander Dobrich stood up to read a statement, yelled at him "take your yarmulke off!" His statement, read by Samantha, confided "I feel bad when kids in my class call me Jew boy."

…A former board member suggested that Mona Dobrich might "disappear" like Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the atheist whose Supreme Court case resulted in ending organized school prayer. She disappeared in 1995 and her dismembered body was found six years later.The crowd booed an ACLU speaker and told her to "go back up north."

In the days after the meeting the community poured venom on the Dobriches. Callers to the local radio station said the family they should convert or leave the area. Someone called them and said the Ku Klux Klan was nearby.

The way I heard it, Jesus was a "Jew boy" too, no? Go yell "Jew boy" to the cross! Idiots!

Oh Hell No!

Revive this mutha! Put his dead body in jail!

Former Enron Corp. chairman Ken Lay died of a massive heart attack, according to broadcast reports.

Houston TV station KPRC and CNN both reported that Lay's death was confirmed Wednesday.

Lay, 64, was admitted to the Aspen Valley Hospital overnight with a massive coronary, according to KPRC.

Doctors said his heart simply "gave out" and the death was unexpected.

Lay was found guilty on May 25 on six counts of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in a case born from one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

He was to be sentenced on Sept. 11.

Ain't this about a beotch?! Coward!

Do NOT Feed The Bears!

When I went to Yosemite a few years ago, I saw the exhibit in the visitor's information center that showed the kind of damage that bears can and will do to your vehicle if they smell food. The mama bears train the baby bears and all of them will leave your car looking like it belongs in a scrap yard. This bear had a fantastic time!

A bear cub drew a crowd of spectators at a Lake Tahoe neighborhood as it munched on barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeño pizza in the back seat of a vintage red Buick convertible.

It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel's mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler, the vehicle's owner said.

About 30 people watched the cub lumber around a parking lot in upper Kingsbury Grade on Sunday before it homed in on the Buick and the spicy pizza on the floor.

The bruin was unfazed by the car's horn that blew non-stop as the cub pressed the seat into the steering wheel.

``The bear was loping along in the parking lot and then decides to get inside the car,'' resident Jerry Patterson said.

``People were screaming at him, the horn was going off, but he was completely unaware. He did what he wanted to do, and the people didn't matter.''

The bear remained inside the 1964 Buick Skylark for about 20 minutes and at times put his paws on the dash as if he were holding on for a ride, Patterson said.

The owner of the car, David Ziello of South Lake Tahoe, said the bruin didn't cause any damage, but slopped cheese and jalapeños on the seats and floor.

Carl Lackey, a biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said up to two dozen bears live in the Kingsbury region near the south shore of Lake Tahoe.

The residential area sees more of them because the bears have found a primary source from dumpsters and people who leave their food and trash in the open, said Lackey, who tracks and relocates bears on the Nevada side of the Tahoe basin.

Lackey warned visitors and residents against keeping food inside their vehicles.

``When you are in bear habitat, regardless of the time of year, you cannot leave any kind of food out -- whether it's food inside the car, trash inside or outside your car, or pet food,'' Lackey said.

``Bears will find it and, in doing so, it is increasing your chances of serious conflict.''

But You Also Got Jail Time Fool!

Like his partner in the art of wife beating (Ike Turner) it seems James Brown still doesn't have a clue.

Godfather of Soul James Brown tells Contact Music that his previous problems with women – which include accusations of being abusive and controlling – stem from incidents in which they did not know “their limitations.”


According to the Web site, Soul Brother No. 1 says he adopts an old school way of handling the fairer sex.


"I got back to how it was years ago, when men controlled women,” he said. "A woman should know her limitations, as a man should know his obligations. I'm going to stay into that philosophy, unless I quit reading the Bible.


"You can't give a woman limitations if you don't find your obligations. But once I've taken care of her like a queen, I'm not going to go along with so much.”

In other words, if he is paying the bills, you'd better sit down and shut up! Puleese! That's why your old azz will end up back in the pokey for "controlling your wife" again. Just try to look better than you did the last time:

Why Does This Seem To Be So Common?

Where do men learn that this is the only solution?

A man who was seen arguing with his wife early Tuesday killed his four young children in their home with a hunting rifle before turning the gun on himself, officials said.

All the children apparently died from gunshots to the head, while their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted wound, according to Mayor Jim Bonta. Police told the mayor that Branscum had to reload the rifle before each shot.

"It wasn't some outsider coming in. It erupted from within," Bonta said.

Authorities identified the dead siblings as Aubrie Branscum, 12; Jacob, 10, and twins Taylor and Alyssa, both 5.

The bloodshed - Gustine's first reported murder in nearly four decades - came a little more than an hour after the owner of Borrelli's Market called police about an argument Branscum and his wife, Amanda, had in his store just after midnight.

The disturbance started after Amanda Branscum came in to buy a few things and her husband followed her into the market, according to police. The merchant said that as the woman drove away, her husband dove through the window of the van.

Police said as officers searched for the van, another call came in at 1:30 a.m. of shots fired at the Branscum home. Officers saw Amanda Branscum lying in the road uninjured; the bodies of Trevor Branscum and the children were inside the house.

Amanda Branscum, who left the house with a female friend after the argument, told police she saw her husband's body when she walked to the front door upon her return, but did not enter the house.

The children appeared to be sleeping at the time they were shot, Gustine Police Sgt. Vince Inaudi said. The 5-year-old twins were found on the living room couch, and the other two children were in bedrooms.

Steven Morris, 18, who lived across the street from the Branscums, said he saw the family lighting fireworks on their front lawn Monday night.

"They always seemed really happy," Morris said. "I never heard any arguments from the house. It's sad because the kids didn't do anything. Kids don't deserve that."

15 Years For Looting Liquor

They don't have time and money to rebuild New Orleans and still haven't found some of the dead bodies but they can prosecute and punish petty looters?

A Louisiana judge sent a strong message against looting when he sentenced three people to 15 years in prison -- the maximum sentence -- for attempting to haul away 27 bottles of liquor and wine, six cases of beer and one case of wine coolers from a grocery store after Hurricane Katrina.

Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowen, 42, and Paul C. Pearson, 36, all of Kenner, LA, were convicted by a jury on May 2 of looting during a declared state of emergency, a portion of the looting law that took effect just two weeks before the violent storm hit. The new law set the possibility of a three-year minimum and a 15-year maximum prison term if convicted.

This is utterly ridiculous!

Provacative Behavior

No comment ...

A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch. The North also tested five smaller missiles in an exercise the White House called 'provocative' but not an immediate threat.

Ignoring stern U.S. and Japanese warnings, the isolated communist nation carried out the audacious tests even as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle.

None of the missiles made it as far as Japan, all crashing into the Sea of Japan separating the island from the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

The U.S. administration made it clear that its response would not involve military action as President Bush consulted with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The State Department said Rice conferred with her counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

'It wasn't that he (the president) was surprised because we've seen this coming for a while,' Hadley said. 'I think his instinct is that this just shows the defiance of the international community by North Korea.'

'We do consider it provocative behavior,' Hadley said.

Later the White House issued a statement condemning North Korea's 'unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community' and accusing North Korea of trying to 'intimidate other states.'

The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting for Wednesday morning and Japan said it would introduce a resolution protesting the tests.

Star Light, Star Fight

Starruh, Starruh, Starruh! I think you played yourself.

Ousted cast member Star Jones Reynolds said Thursday she was told she could "make up a story" about why she was leaving "The View" and her colleagues would have gone along with it.

The news that Reynolds wouldn't have her contract renewed for a 10th year on the daytime talk show exploded this week into a bitter war of words involving show creator Barbara Walters.

Reynolds, appearing Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live," said she'd been told in April that she wasn't coming back but kept it secret. She revealed it on Tuesday's show, taking Walters and ABC by surprise with the timing.

The truth - that Reynolds' ABC bosses didn't want her back because her personal popularity was plummeting - might never have been known without the fight.

"They said you can make up a story," Reynolds said. "The audience didn't deserve for me to make up a story. That's not fair."

Longtime ABC newswoman Walters has confirmed the intended deception, but said it was done to protect Reynolds' reputation and feelings.

ABC said it canned Reynolds immediately after Tuesday's show because her announcement, and an interview with People magazine, took the network by surprise. Walters told The Associated Press that she felt betrayed and ABC said it couldn't trust Reynolds to tell the truth if she remained on the air.

Reynolds said she was "having trouble reconciling" ABC's statement with being told earlier that she could lie about her exit.

I've been waiting to see if there would be more drama to this after Star's last appearance on the Today Show on Friday. Things seem to have fizzled as she told Al Roker that his would be the last interview she would give (she'd done Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest, People Magazine and Larry King).

I don't know what Star was thinking. Obviously, she was totally oblivious to how bad her press was over her wedding and weight loss. I know any number of people who stopped tuning into The View because she had become so obnoxious. I've been in a lot of debates over this topic and here's what I think:

• I don't buy for a single minute that Star pulled this stunt because she felt her viewers "deserved the truth." I think that, like anyone else would have been, she was pissed off because she'd been fired. She went along with ABC's plan for her to make a scheduled announcement last week on Thursday where she could share whatever new job opportunity she would be accepting. Unfortunately, I don't think she had anything concrete to present and as time drew closer, she got angrier and angrier and began plotting a way to grab control of a situation where her control had been diminished. Had she found a job ahead of time, she would have made the same graceful exit that others have made when their contracts have not been renewed. She is on the lot with the ABC soaps with actors who get written out of scripts all of the time. I know she knows the drill.
  
  
• I think that Rosie O'Donnell has very little to do with how and why Star's contract wasn't renewed. Barbara isn't obligated to screen candidates based on the negative comments they make about Star or any other co-host. Rosie is a comedian and one of many who make fun of Star. Aside from good comedic material, I don't think Rosie gives a hot care about Star and, save snide comments about her weight and husband, there was no feud. Rosie was hired after ABC had already decided to dump Star. I'm sorry her feelings were hurt because Barbara hired her media manufactured nemesis but Rosie's show closed with higher ratings than The View has now. It was business.
  
  
• I believe Star made what is possibly a career altering/killing faux pas when she decided to turn the tables on Barbara Walters and ABC. Barbara may not have the most clout in the industry (though undeniably she has a lot) but she does have well and hard earned respect. Star's move was juvenile and trying to play the victim whose "back" she accused Barbara of not having, may give her an initial boost with some fans (or for those who automatically root for the underdog) but I don't think she won any points with other network execs or producers. Supposedly Barbara saved her from being booted in November (and maybe she and Bill Geddes should have just let her go then) but Star's outing of the "truth" about why she was leaving made Barbara, her mentor and industry icon, out to be a liar when she was really only trying to save Star's face. Debbie Mattenopolous was unceremoniously dismissed during the first years of the show. After nine years, they didn't do that to Star - though now they wish they would have.
  
  Some argue that they told Star she could leave on her on terms and that she could say whatever she wanted to say. The attorney in Star called them to the letter of their word. I am absolutely positive that Barbara did not intend for her to interrupt the regular flow of the show to drop her departure bomb two days before she had agreed to. Moreover, even if Barbara had let that part slide because she understood how distraught Star was about losing a job that she loved, the well planned and timed release of the article in People Magazine blew any credibility Star had about her merely wanting to leave on her own terms. She wanted to put ABC and Barbara on blast for not renewing her contract and garner the sympathy of her fan base.
  
  Had she made her announcement as scheduled then had the People Magazine article appear after the season ended in mid July, her public still would have gotten the truth. On her own terms she made Barbara out to be a liar who tried to make her be a liar too. If she expected people to assume she had gastric bypass because she'd said that her weight had gotten so out of had that it required a "medical intervention," she should also have expected them to be astute enough to gather that her leaving the show without announcing a new 'gig' meant that she was either fired or forced out.
  
  
• Star has probably been a star her entire life. She's had to have been a good student to get into a good college and into law school. Even in her sorority (and mine) she was elected to the International Board of Directors into one of the offices reserved for undergraduate members. She passed the NY Bar the first time out (unlike JFK Jr. who had to take it three times) and was a star prosecutor in NY. She was called into television because of her legal prowess and presentation skills and ultimately made it to The View. I'm not sure she's ever really failed at anything she truly set her mind to so I think that her firing was not only a huge blow to her ego but a taste of something she's never had to really face head on - defeat and rejection.
  

I can certainly empathize with Star because I saw a ton of bricks coming down when Barbara announced that Star would not be returning (I didn't know old girl had that kind of ice in her). I've got quite a mouth on me and have had a couple of grand standing exits from jobs. Never, however, did I not have something lined up. Never were my stakes as high.

I am sure Star will bounce back somehow. I am certain she will find a new niche - though it may not be the one she expects. She's definitely gained the sympathy of some but I am not sure that will buy her another job at a major network anytime soon. As I watched some of the "judge" shows today, I can see her coming back that way. As she constantly lets everyone know, she's a lawyer ... And like the Scarlett O'Hara she pretends to be, she can go back to her land, and that is the law.

A New View Of Singles

Now this is funny! I just posted that article by Rabbi Shmuley saying that single women needed to make themselves get lonely in order to find a mate. This article, in Psychology Today, is more in line with my thinking.

"Singlehood is no longer a state to be overcome as soon as possible," says social historian Stephanie Coontz. "It has its own rewards. Marriage is not the gateway to adulthood anymore. For most people it's the dessert—desirable, but no longer the main course." People may still be eager to meet a long-term partner, but they are a lot less desperate, she adds. Increasingly, individuals are finding singlehood preferable to being in an unsatisfactory relationship. In fact, the possibility of singlehood as a viable life path throws into high relief a finding that is slowly emerging from mountains of social science data—that neither the coupled nor uncoupled life is an automatic ticket to bliss; much depends on the achievement of meaningful life goals and quality of the relationships you create.

While polls show that men are warming to the idea of marriage, women are increasingly in a financial, emotional and professional position to weigh carefully all the trappings that come with the institution. Because they are more conscious of the tradeoffs—women still do more of the housework and childcare—they are increasingly unwilling, Coontz finds, "to put up with something that violates their sense of fairness."

[...]

DePaulo believes the growing number of singles is the hidden force behind what she calls "matrimania," the glorification of marriage and, especially, the cultural obsession with weddings. "Americans feel insecure about the place of marriage," she observes. "It no longer appears to be the only path to happiness."

Even as singlehood is becoming the de facto norm, people who choose to go through life solo are deliberately kept in a state of confusion about their own motives by a culture that clings to the marriage standard. Typically, says DePaulo, singles are told that they are selfish for pursuing their own life goals. If you're single and you have a great job to which you devote energy, you're typically told your job won't love you back. Of course, singles are always suspect as tragic losers in the game of love. But most of all they are told through commercials, images and endless articles that they will never be truly happy and deeply fulfilled unless they are married.

"The battlefield is now psychological," says DePaulo. Single women today have work opportunities, economic independence and reproductive freedom. "The things that can be legislated are all done," she notes. "The last great way to keep women in their place is to remind them that they are incomplete. Even if you think you're happy, the messages go, you don't know real happiness." There's a hunger out there for a new view of singles.

Somebody obviously didn't tell Star Jones this. Part of her "excuse" for being such a nightmare bride was that she was 40 years old and had never been married. Lord knows what her logic would mean for me; I'd be relegated to a crazy house.

I Just Killed Them. All Are Dead.

This is just a GD shame! Why would they think they could do something like this - at will - and not be held responsible. I am getting a sinking feeling that things of this nature are more more common than we know.

A former US soldier has been arrested and charged with killing four Iraqi civilians after raping one of them, the US Justice Department said.

Prosecutors say Steven Green, 21, and other troops raped a young woman before killing her and three relatives in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, in March.

A military inquiry into the incident is the latest in a series into alleged abuses by US troops in Iraq.

Mr Green, a former army private, was arrested recently in North Carolina.

He faces a possible death penalty if convicted.

Shots heard

A statement from the US attorney in Kentucky says Mr Green is charged with going to a house near Mahmoudiya with three other people to rape a woman living in the house.

He allegedly shot and killed a man, a woman and a five-year-old girl and after raping another woman, he is alleged to have shot and killed her, the statement said.

According to an affidavit, Mr Green took the family into a bedroom, from where shots were heard.

"Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them. All are dead," the statement says.

Another affidavit said Mr Green, who belonged to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, had been discharged from the army "due to a personality disorder" before the rape and killings were known about, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The suspects belong to the same unit as two soldiers kidnapped, tortured and killed by insurgents south of Baghdad last month.

Some reports suggested that this event may have spurred soldiers to come forward with information about the killings.

Mr Green is due to appear in court at a detention hearing in Charlotte, North Carolina, on 10 July.

Okay, he was discharged for a "personality disorder." What about the others? What is their excuse? I think superiors knew he'd done this crime and sent him home to do the same thing to someone in America. This war is killing the minds of thousands of young soldiers. They'll never be the same. Innocent American citizens will ultimately pay the price.

Supporting Our Troops Homeless

This is one of the things I am dreading. I have a hard enough time facing Vietnam vets who are reduced to sitting outside of Target and big chain grocery stores begging for money. Now, it seems, we'll have a whole new crop from Iraq.

The government estimates that, on any given night, hundreds of military veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan are homeless. Some cannot adjust after being in a war zone, some cannot navigate federal red tape, and some simply do not have the money to afford a place to live. The problem is the worst in New York City because of the high cost of housing.

The Veterans Administration provides grants to nonprofit housing organizations that provide about 8,000 beds a night across the nation.

Almost half of the U.S.'s disabled veterans receive $337 a month or less in benefits, which makes matters worse. Only those who are classified as 100% disabled receive $2,393 a month, but that group makes up only 10% of all disabled veterans.

Add to this problem the thousands and thousands of homeless Vietnam veterans who were already in the country. Both groups of veterans suffer from high degrees of posttraumatic stress syndrome, in addition to physical handicaps.

A Man Named Jesus

Now here's a case when I agree with Rabbi Shmuley. I decided to read the Da Vinci Code first then rent the DVD when it comes out. I was just amazed by the visceral reaction people had to it without reading the book or without seeing the movie. I didn't get what the zealots, Catholic or otherwise, were getting so upset with. If anything, I'd think that they'd appreciate the implied humanness of the man they call Christ.

The runaway success of the 'Da Vinci Code' points to a human desire for a more human Jesus and more humane religion.

Faith has become so harsh in our time, so inhuman, that hundreds of millions have turned to the New Age to accommodate their spiritual needs in utter rejection of organized religion. Those most to blame are Muslim extremists who kill in the name of G-d. But Christians and Jews are also guilty of displaying the hard edge of faith. Many Christian evangelicals believe that the essence of Christianity is best captured in condemning gays.

Likewise, I heard just this week that a Chabad-Lubavitch colleague of mine from New Jersey suggested that I should not be called up to the Torah at a Chabad House, apparently because on my TV show, 'Shalom in the Home,' I had counseled a lesbian couple with children.

People are tired of this kind of harsh religion that is all about judgment and not about redemption, all about rejection and not about acceptance, all about condemnation and not about inspiration.

As a Jew, I have watched the '“Da Vinci Code'” debate with utter fascination as the Catholic Church cries foul and Christians the world over shout sacrilege. What was Dan’ Brown's offense? Did he call Jesus a pedophile, echoing former Southern Baptist Convention President Jerry Vines' comments about Muhammad? Did he portray Jesus as a murderer, the way that Mel Gibson portrayed the Jewish leadership in The Passion of the Christ”?

No, his blasphemy was that he dared to imagine that Jesus took a wife, that Jesus, like us, got lonely, that he sought the divinely sanctioned companionship of marriage, that he sired children within wedlock, and that before he died on the cross at the hands of the Romans, he took comfort in knowing that not only his teachings, but his offspring would endure. How fascinating that a man's humanity could itself be considered profanity, that human frailty could be considered an affront to faith, that the very notion of Jesus as a man could so offend our Christian brethren.

To me, it has always been precisely the opposite. The truest affront to G-d is the man who thinks that he doesn't need others, who goes through life without ever truly connecting with, or leaning on other souls, the bachelor who thinks that no woman is good enough for him. In Judaism, it is not marriage which is a sin, but celibacy, not the admission of loneliness but the posture of arrogance. Is the human condition really so revolting to our Christian brothers and sisters that the mere notion that Jesus shared in any of its vicissitudes would constitute the ultimate assault to belief?

As a Jew, I cannot be inspired by a man who wasn't a man. When my Christian friends ask the famous question "What would Jesus do?"’--a query that is meant to guide them in their own choices in life--do they realize that the answer is irrelevant? If Jesus was a god, then no mortal men could ever relate to his actions, because we are tempted while he had no inclination toward evil. We strive to overcome flaws while he gloried in his own flawlessness.

Israel is Crazy

While we are bogged down in Iraq, yet another world situation is getting totally out of control. Like it or not, Hamas surprised the world and was democratically elected by the Palestinians. Now it seems, and I am not trying to be cruel, that Israel is using the kidnapping of a scrawny little soldier to justify bombing the city, arresting half of the parliament and threatening to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Israel last night threatened to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh if Hamas militants did not release a captured Israeli soldier unharmed.

The unprecedented warning was delivered to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a letter as Israel debated a deal offered by Hamas to free Corporal Gilad Shalit.

It came as Israeli military officials readied a second invasion force for a huge offensive into Gaza.

Hamas's Gaza-based political leaders, including Mr Haniyeh, had already gone into hiding.

But last night's direct threat to kill Mr Haniyeh, a democratically elected head of state, sharply raised the stakes.

The bid to free Corporal Shalit was brokered by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who last night warned Hamas it faced severe consequences if it did not curb its "extreme stance" and described the growing conflict as a lightning rod for Palestinian vengeance.

I am actually speechless. I think this is just an excuse for Israel to attempt to dismantle Hamas. But, does anybody else see the potential for this conflict escalating beyond Israel and Gaza if it escalates between Israel and Gaza? The US and Israel have got to stop preaching democracy then trying to sabotage it when it happens.

It's Time To GO!

It's not that I want people like this roaming the cities and streets of America but if too many stories like this keep emerging, and they seem to be coming out of the woodwork, we will continue to look like imperialistic invaders and occupiers. This is horrendous! If this is the best, or even the worst, we have to offer, we need to get out.

Investigators believe American soldiers spent nearly a week plotting an attack in which they raped an Iraqi woman, then killed her and her family in an insurgent-ridden area south of Baghdad, a U.S. military official said Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the attack appeared "totally premeditated" and that the soldiers apparently "studied" the family for about a week before carrying out the attack.

According to the official, the Sunni Arab family had just moved into a new home in the religiously mixed area about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The Americans entered the home, separated three family members from the woman, then raped her and set fire to her body, the official said. The three others were also slain. A senior Army official who also requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing said one of the victims was a child .

U.S. officials said they knew of the deaths but thought the victims died due to sectarian violence. A local police official, Capt. Ihsan Abdul-Rahman, said Iraqi officials received a report March 13 alleging that American soldiers had killed the family in the Khasir Abyad district about 6 miles north of Mahmoudiya.

He said he did not relay that report to American forces.

The satellite channel Al-Jazeera gave wide coverage to the alleged rape-slaying, which threatens to stoke public anger in the wake of a series of other cases of U.S. troops allegedly killing and abusing Iraqi civilians.

An Iraqi human rights activist in Amman, Jordan, pointed to other abuse allegations, in the western Iraqi town of Haditha, and called for international intervention.

"What happened in Mahmoudiya and Haditha are extreme violations of human rights. We call on the international community to intervene immediately," Mohammed al-Shekhli, head of the head of the Transitional Justice Studies Center, said in an interview with the pan-Arab satellite station.

Lonely or Desperate?

There are many times when I agree with Rabbi Shmuley and times when I think he is off the mark. I know waaaay too many people who have gotten caught up in unhealthy, unfulfilling and, often, destructive relationships by jumping into one merely because they were lonely. I don't think that love is the solution to loneliness. I think love is what comes when you are truly happy and content with yourself.

There are many reasons why singles are not connecting today. One is the fact that women are encouraged to put career and professional life ahead of finding a spouse. In this, they basically make the same mistake that men have historically made, determining their self-worth more by what they do than by who they are.

Another problem facing singles today is that simply have too much choice. Look at the online dating services—you know in your mind that if you are with someone and it's not working out there are ten-thousand other possibilities just a click away. In that situation, why would one "settle?" Believe me, that word is one I hear all the time.

But I think the biggest reason singles have become immune to falling in love is that people who once looked as their dating selves as made of Velcro now see themselves as made of Teflon. In other words, singles today are not letting themselves get lonely. Allow me to explain.

Love is the cure to the disease of loneliness. When G-d created Adam, the Bible tells us that although he inhabited paradise, he still was miserable because he was lonely. He saw beautiful sunsets but he had no one with whom to share such beauty.

The Bible then says "it is not good for men to be alone"; notice how this is the very first thing that is identified as "bad" in the Bible. Only when Adam had Eve did his existence change from living in a garden to living in Paradise.

So the prerequisite for really falling in love is first to feel lonely. That's what is supposed to happen to people as they grow older. As children, they bask in the adoration and love of their parents and then, as they become adults, they begin to feel lonely and crave and desire the unconditional love, plus the physical love, of an opposite who is equal. Namely, they yearn for a soulmate to marry.

But today, there is too much stimulation in popular culture, and people have replaced family with friends. Thus, there's no reason to be lonely. And if you don't get lonely, love is no longer a cure for a problem. It's like eating dinner. If you are hungry, you'll probably be happy with any decent restaurant. But if you never let yourself get hungry, you become very picky. You continue to send the food back to the kitchen. You're not addressing a need, you're just selecting a luxury.

Exactly! There is no reason to be lonely - with or without a mate or spouse. If you never get lonely, you do tend to get picky and won't be satisfied with just any ole restaurant or meal. That is exactly the point. Too many people pick up scraps from the garbage can because they are too hungry/lonely/desperate. In the end it serves no one and usually ends up hurting many.