A Small Victory

My photo self potrait is up at Picture Yourself
Carnival of the Vanities 6 has rolled off the assembly line

GO VOTE FOR ME FOR THE MOST BLOOD-HUNGRY HAWKISH WARBLOGGER! NOW! I SAID NOW! Don't make me hurt you. (use the sidebar voting thing)

i bet the place cards had donkeys on them

The theme of the evening, "Stand up, keep fighting," became the anthem for the faithful, who vowed to carry Wellstone's legacy into the final days of the Senate campaign.

Theme of the evening? Did they have matching paper plates and napkins at the subsequent dinner dance?

Anyhow, my point is this. And this is really a note to both my sisters, who frequently drop by here to read my rantings:

I know how both of you love themes and party planning. Go ahead. Hang decorations at my funeral. Make invitations. Hell, you could even charge to get in, I don't care. But I know you guys. I know how you work. And I'll be there, watching over everything. So just remember, if you dare play that "Seasons in the Sun<" song, I will have all the ghosts in hell follow me to your homes where we will devour your pets and set your beds on fire.

Posted by at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (1)

flying fists of death

I would just like to thank Meryl for her encouragement while I endure The Lure of Forbidden Nicotine: Day 3.

Now, if anyone would like to volunteer to let me beat them up (or just offer up someone I can physically abuse), then perhaps I can work out this aggressive adrenaline that seems to be taking over my life in lieu of smoking.

Did I mention that I have a horrid bout of PMS right now, too? If anyone even looks at me wrong today, I may be forced to use the flying fist of death on them.

I'm looking at you. Yea, you.

Posted by at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

short and sweet

Dear Ted Rall,

You are an ass.

Sincerely,

Me

And while we are on the subject of asses, to the person at Indymedia who wrote this:

Corporate Media Black out of Wellstone Memorial

As I write this, a Memorial service is being held for Sen. Wellstone. If you turn to CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CNBC or any of the other corporate media channels, you won't see any coverage of this. None. A memorial service for a sniper victim gets hours of coverage on all of these channels. A memorial service for an opposition politician who dies violently gets zero coverage. None, nada, nothing, zero. Completely blacked out.

Both FoxNews and MSNBC were carrying it. I know I wasn't that drugged out on NyQuil that imagined seeing it on both channels.

Maybe they cut away from it when they realized it was really a Democrat convention.

Posted by at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

get your memorial popcorn right here!

The stands were packed to the rafters and the beach balls were flying. The music played over the loudspeakers as people waiting for the event to begin clapped their hands and sang along. The smell of hot dogs was in the air and the floor of the arena had already become sticky with soda.

A basketball game? No. A concert? No. Toy Story on Ice? Nope.

A memorial service for a dead senator, his wife and daughter.

I've been to more memorial services and wakes in my life than I care to count. From setting up a wet bar in the parking lot of my grandmother's wake to attending a memorial service where sharpshooters were poised on the roof of the church, I have seen just about everything.

Until last night. Watching "highlights" from the service for Sen. Paul Wellstone some time in the middle of a sleepless night, I thought I was having another one of those strange dreams.

Was this a political meeting or a memorial to a dead person? It seemed like more of an election night pep rally than a memorial for Wellstone.

Every five minutes, applause. Every five minutes, laughter. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I haven't been to a million funeral masses where the priest says funny things about the deceased and everyone laughs in a relieved sort of way. That's fine. This...this was more like a comic relief show for the Democratic Party. At times it was a "get out the vote" campaign stop.

In the hours before the memorial, those in the stands bandied beach balls or munched on foil-wrapped hot dogs from the concession stands.

Let it be known that if anyone is seen eating a hot dog or playing with a beach ball at my funeral, I will haunt you to your last dying day. The music is fine, the laughter and applause are nice. But the first person who starts the wave will be hearing a lot of chain-rattling and spooky noises coming from their closet at night.

"For Paul Wellstone, will you stand up and keep fighting for social justice? Say YES!" Harkin shouted. The crowd roared.

Rick Kahn, Wellstone's friend and former student, whipped up the crowd before Harkin took the stage by adopting the late senator's fiery speaking style.

He chopped the air with his hands, as Wellstone often did, and exhorted the crowd to keep Wellstone's dream alive.

"A week from today, Paul Wellstone's name will not be on the ballot," Kahn said. "But there will be a choice just the same ... either keep his legacy alive, or bring it forever to an end!"

They may as well have charged $100 a head to get into the service. Tax-deductible write off for political contribution.

Kahn continued:

"If Paul Wellstone's legacy in the Senate comes to an end just days after this unspeakable tragedy, our spirits will be crushed, and we will drown in a river of tears. We are begging you, do not let this happen."

That's right, folks. You are here to mourn Sen. Wellstone, his wife and his daughter. And oh yea, those other people who died, also. But let's take a moment to turn the Senator's death into a rally speech. Let's use his death as an excuse to get this party started. I wonder how many of the people who spoke and the people who cheered later on last night patted each other on the back and lit celebratory cigars. I wonder how many of them were thinking "when opportunity knocks, let it in, even if it's ugly."

I wonder, mostly, how the family of the campaign workers and pilots who died in the crash feel.

No one is eating hot dogs at their services. I bet not one politician who who grinned for the cameras yesterday can even tell you the name of just one of the campaign workers who died.

But I bet a lot of them, ex-president included, went to bed last night with a smile on their face, thinking of what a great publicity moment this all was for the Democratic party in Minnesota.

Me, I didn't sleep much after seeing all that. I was too busy cringing.

*Addendum* I found this over at Right Wing News:

Another White House official said privately that with the memorial service expected to draw thousands, the Wellstone family told the White House they did not want mourners subjected to the kind of security screenings that Cheney's attendance would have required. This official also said White House advisers worried that the memorial service, with unions bringing supporters by the busload, would double as a Democrat get-out-the-vote rally and be awkward for Cheney.

As Rachel Lucas says, despicable.

Posted by at 05:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)

bongs and thongs and amish porn

Take 36 hours without a cigarette. Add NyQuil, two sleepless nights in a row, antibiotics, Motrin and Ventolin and you have a mind that knows not what it sees or hears.

I was lying on the couch, hoping that a coma would overtake me. No such luck. While my body resisted all attempts to move it, my brain, sadly, was still in action. The tv was on and the remote was far away.

The combination of all the above factors plus an overdose of campaign ads flipped some sort of switch in my brain that caused every signal in my head to get crossed.

Here's what I heard and saw: Tom Golisano, should he be elected as governor of New York, will legalize both marijuana and prostitution. The money garnered from the prostitutes will go into the school system so that our children's education will be funded by sex. (Why not - it's already funded by gambling)

I finally fell asleep, with thoughts of a Career Day booth at my daughter's school featuring bongs and thongs.

I dreamed I won the bloodthirsty blogger contest and Laurence sent his killer cats after me. I caught them, sliced them up and then baked them into a beautiful loaf of bread which I served Laurence for dinner, along with a nice glass of Chardonnay. I laughed when he slathered his slice of bread with butter. Then Carl McCall came storming into the house, singing Funky Cold Medina and searching for Laurences's kitties. I hid under the table while the LAPD came in and cuffed McCall, accusing him of taking pictures of a polling place. He said he just wanted to hide out in the bushes and try to hear if anyone was talking about him. The cops told him to go home and watch the debates. Laurence came out of the house, butter dripping from his chin and bread crumbs all over his shirt. "That was some damned good bread," he said. "It tasted like pussy." Golisana laughed so hard that milk came out of his nose.

I did not make any of that up. This is your brain. This is your brain on medication and too much blogging.

I need a cigarette.

Posted by at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (1)

i smell the blood of an englishman

If you're here from Daily Pundit looking to see if I'm a ruthless, blood-thirsty hawk, I've done the work for you. I'm still not as worthy as the rest of the nominees, especially Cato.

armchair quarterbacking: terrorist editions
dear susan sarandon
that's T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T-S
I'll bite your legs off
life's not fair
my agenda
prof. plum in the blogosphere
wartime fun with photoshop: the post that started my descent into madness

That's just a couple of weeks worth.

Posted by at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

rules, regulations, clarificaitons and by-laws

Now I'm pissed. I'm about to close down my email account.

Last time, people.

Number 1: I was never a full-fledged liberal. I never wanted to free Mumia, I always thought Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky were boorish fools, I detest the utlra liberal way of protesting things. For christ's sake, people. I drive an SUV. What kind of liberal would do that?

Number 2: I have not "crossed over" to the extreme right. Please. I am pro-choice, I despise homophobes and racists and I don't believe in God. I don't think they would accept me even if I wanted to be on their side.

Number 3: Stop using my email as a venting point. If you want to comment on something I wrote here, that's what the comments are for. If you are afraid to make you statement by putting in public like I have, or using an actual name and/or email address, don't bother. And if you write me emails filled with innacurracies, horrible grammar and you spell the word "you" as "u" I will delete the mail without caring whether you made a valid point or not.

Number 4: If you have so much to say that you need to email me three times a day, get your own fucking blog and rant away. Don't waste my time if all you are going to do is call names and spout conspiracy theories that have no basis in reality.

Number 5: If you don't like my solutions to problems, come up with an alternative before you start bitching at me.

Number 6: I know you are but what am I, and I'm rubber your'e glue are not valid retorts.

Number 7: I welcome any and all debating on the issues I present here. I will never delete a comment unless it is abusive or threatening. I will not delete a comment just because you oppose my point of view. But I will not debate you or get into a discussion with you if all you want to do is call names and fight like a two year old.

Number 8: If you don't like me and don't like what I have to say, or what direction I've gone in, or what I believe in, and if your only reason for coming here is to tell me how wrong my personal opinions are and how disappointed you are in my political ideals, do me a favor. See that little "x" in the upper right hand corner of your screen? Click on it. Don't come back.

Posted by at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (41) | TrackBacks (3)

there goes that darn "T" word again

Via Interfax:

Four die in helicopter shot down in Chechnya MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - An Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in the vicinity of a helicopter pad in Khankala on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Stanislav Kavun, deputy commander of the interior units, told Interfax.

"By early reports, the helicopter was shot down as it approached the helipad. Four people have been killed," he said.

Anyone want to draw conclusions? Or are we just going to call this coincidence and avoid the "T" word again?

Posted by at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

the family that turn tricks together gets treats together

Will the parent who thinks that these are appropriates costume for their child please stand up?

I can hear the conversation now.

I bought you a costume, Jimmy. You are going to be a pimp!
What's a pimp mommy?
A pimp is a person who sells girls for sex and takes all their money.
Kick ass, you're the coolest mom ever!
But wait, Jimmy, it gets even better! Look at what your little sister will be!
Oh boy, mommy! You just knew I wouldn't want to be a pimp without a hooker! I love you!
Awww, I love you too, Jimmy. Now let's go make your sister up like a whore.

(Ok, this isn't much different from the DJ-as-a-hooker scenario, but still).

Posted by at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (1)

seeing the sailboat

While the Beltway Sniper (as he has been dubbed in that way the American media has of dubbing every event and/or perpetrator of a crime with a nickname) was still on the loose, everyone had a theory as to the person/people commiting the crimes, their motives and their race/religion/background/how much they hated their mommy.

My theory was terrorism. People from all over the globe came out to laugh at me, point their fingers at me and call me silly names. I defended the use of the word terrorism. I defended my feelings on the subject.

Most of the detractors of my theory pointed to the "lone white gunman" theory, the one that says most serial killers and mass murderers are middle-aged white men whose mother used to force them to wear dresses and sit in the attic and pray that their pee pee would fall off and they would turn into a girl.

So, to all those who called me every euphemism for "idiot" just two weeks ago, what do you think now? Can we call it terrorism yet?

Let's take the facts as we know them at the moment:

• In 1985, John Allen Muhammed converted to Islam, Religion of Peace™.
• He has been quoted as being a sympathizer of the September 11 attackers, and an al Queda symathizer.
• He has most recently been linked to vandalism on a synagogue (p.2) in Tacoma, Washington.
• He has links to a terrorist training ground in Alabama.
• He was a member of the anti-semetic radical group Nation of Islam.
• His funding is in question in that he was jobless, homeless and yet was able to procure guns, ammunition, and take frequent trips to the Carribean

Need I go on? These facts do not mean that he was acting in concert with organized terrorists groups. It does, however, lead one to believe that the killings were not the random gunplay of a white boy with mommy issues, but of a man and accomplice on their personal jihad against America, inspired by their "religion" and anti-American feelings. He was reported to the authorities twice (before the shootings began) for suspicion of being involved in terrorism.

Hmmm. He's anti-America. He's anti-Jew. He's a killer.

Did you see the movie Mallrats? Remember that one guy who spent the entire movie looking at the Magic Eye poster, trying to see the sailboat?

Almost every has seen the sailboat now. Stop averting your eyes and look. It's right in front of you. And just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

Muhammed was not killing in the name of childhood trauma or some weird sexual dysfunction or simply for the joy of killing. He had a motive, he had a mission, and the more we know about him, the more we know that he is a terrorist.

(On the subject of Islam, I would like to state for the last time (to avoid any more emails) that I do not believe, nor have I ever said, that all people who practice the religion of Islam are radical extrememists or murderers. Muhammed is obviously practicing (or interpreting) an extreme and distorted form of Islam, the same extreme an distorted form practiced by the virgin-seeking members of al-Queda.)

Posted by at 04:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)

brain.hurts.

PLEASE! MAKE THE CAMPAIGN COMMERCIALS STOP! FOR GOD'S SAKE MAKE IT STOP!!!

AHHHHHHH....GOLISANO ATE MY BRAIN! IT'S TOO LATE FOR ME........SAVE YOURSELF...........

Posted by at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

more oxygen!

It's hard to be outraged or witty when you are bogged down with antiobotics, a hacking cough and a lack of sleep. I've quit smoking (again) for the final time. That rattling in my chest this morning - and the subsequent vision I had - scared the living crap out of me.

I imagined a future me, rolling down the aisles of Target in my moveable chair thing that I bought on QVC, my dutiful husband lugging my oxygen tank, trying to keep up with me. I'd be a menace in those aisles, screeching my tires and popping wheelies while the other old ladies recoiled in horror.

"More oxygen, damn it!" And my poor husband, once so young and full of hope, now relegated to being my breath regulator, would run after me and turn the dial up on the tank. We'd leave the store and I'd light up a cigarette, mindless of the wheezing in my throat.

It all sounds like so much fun, but I think I'll pass. Bad enough that my poor husband, being 20 somewhat years younger than me old, will someday suffer the humility (or my humility) of having to change my Depends. I don't need him chasing me down the aisles of a department store, waving my oxygen tank after me.

So what was I saying?

Yes, I've quit smoking for good and that only means more vitriol, rage and misdirected anger from me. This may qualify me yet for the new position Bill is holding elections for.

I'm headed for the couch soon. Me, the tv, and some NyQuil. I have to find something to watch that will get that vision of the future out of my head.

Posted by at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

at the doctor's

Appointment time: 10:15. Actual time doctor called me in: 11:45

What I told the receptionist when I called: "I'm having a hard time breathing."

Diagnosis given after two breathing tests and a treatment: "Well, it looks like you're having a hard time breathing."

Overheard conversation at reception desk:
Receptionist: "Mr. Green! How have you been?"
Mr. Green (who is about 60 years old and is wearing a layer of gold chains over to go with his wide collar leisure suit): Great! I've got a twenty year old girlfriend and she's still a virgin!"
Receptionist: "Um...that's nice, Mr. Green."
Mr. Green: "Hey, I'm just kidding sweetie. You know I only date whores!"

Oh, that's not the best part. There's more.

Guy 1 (about 35-40 years old, has that freshly hungover look): "Hey, dude! I haven't seen you in months!
Guy 2: Oh..hey. How you been?
Guy 1: Not bad. Still not working, just drinking and shit.
Guy 2: You still fucking Samantha?
Guy 1: Nah, Samantha is fucking girls now.
Guy 2: Oh, I hear ya on that.
Guy 2: Oh, look there's that sniper thing (looks up at CNN on waiting room television). You know, I thought of you when that shit first happened.
Guy 1: Heh, you thought it was me?
Guy 2: Well, it wouldn't have been the first time you went around shooting people.

I moved down about three seats at that point.

Posted by at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Site of today: Weblog Action Center

armchair quartbacking: terrorist edition

With all the second guessing in the media regarding the gas used to help free the Russian hostages, I wonder if any one of the terrorism armchair quarterbacks have thought about what could have happened had the gas not been used.

Yes, perhaps the dosage was too high. Perhaps the antidote should have been available in a quicker fashion. Regardless, imagine what could have taken place had the authorities not used the gas. Imagine the headlines, the second guessing, the protests, if Putin did not take the action he did and the terrorists ended up blowing the theater to bits, killing every single hostage. Sample headline: Putin's Inaction Leads to 700 Deaths. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

There's something else the media and naysayers seem to be forgetting. It was the terrorists holding the hostages in that theater. Where is all the media outrage over this? Where is are the endless opinion pieces on how horrid it is that terrorists can sweep right in and cause such havoc? Where are the rallying cries to bring down every Chechen rebel and make them pay for what they did?

Nowhere. The media, especially the media right here in the U.S. - the same television outlets and newspapers that relegated the hostage story to third string so they could spend more time interviewing former serial killers or show videos of a tree stump being hauled away - all have lead articles about the gas. They are asking questions, demanding answers. They are villifying Putin, who is between that proverbial rock and hard place. Had he not used the gas, they would be villifying him anyhow.

Where is the outrage over the terrorists? And still, no one wants to refer to them as T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T-S. Hostage takers. Rebels. Poor, misunderstood citizens who only wanted their complaints heard. For some unfathomable reason, the press would rather stick it to Putin that come down hard on these murderers.

At least someone is speaking sense:

The White House declined to criticize the rescue operation, making clear the Bush administration's view that blame for the deaths lay with the captors.

"The Russian government and the Russian people are victims of this tragedy, and the tragedy was caused as a result of the terrorists who took hostages and booby-trapped the building and created dire circumstances," spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday.

Almost every article I read is blaming Putin for the deaths of the hostages. Hello? Putin would not have had to make the decision if the terrorists did not take over the theater in the first place.

Why is the media so eager to protect terrorists? Why do they give more sympathy to the plight of our enemies than to the victims of our ememies? Has the idea of "root causes" so overtaken the mindset of the media that they fail to see the end result of those causes?

I've had enough of standing still and dragging feet. I've had enough of the apologists of the media who are afraid to use the word terrorist. I've had enough of reasoning and appeasing and negotiating. When will people realize that the only option to those ways of dealing with terrorism is none of the above?

Send a message to the evil, heartless, ruthless terrorists everywhere. Start with the biggest terrorist of them all. Drop the damn bombs already. Get the preamble to the war on terrorism overwith and move on to the real action.

Kill 'em all.

On the same subject: Safety Valve; feces flinging monkey; Samizdata; Emperor Misha, Glenn Reynolds (who sent me a nice Instalanche yesterday); Cato; silent running.

Posted by at 05:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

and the loony pacifist of the day award goes to........

A group of Americans known as Voice of The Wilderness, took a little trip to Iraq this week to show their support for Saddam the anti-war movement.

Kathy Kelly, a 49-year-old former Chicago high school English teacher who is a co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, spoke out against the Bush administration and in defense of positions taken by Mr. Hussein.

At one point, she said she wished that the United States government would follow Mr. Hussein's example in ordering the emptying of Iraq's prisons, a move the Iraqi leader made last Sunday, in part to counter Mr. Bush's descriptions of him as a murdering tyrant.

"I wish people in our country would be willing to show the same spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation to the two million people in our prisons," she said.

Sure, Kathy. We'll in your home town, in fact. Let's open the prison gates and let all those convicted murderers and rapists and child abusers walk through your neighborhood.

Of course, you wouldn't know it was even happening because apparently, your head is up your ass.

"When I ask myself who has created the greatest threat to the people of Iraq, my answer is, the United States," Ms. Kelly said.

Yes, because gassing your own people and killing children and torturing your citizens is not a threat at all. Right?

The issue for the Bush administration, she said, was not Iraq's weapons of mass destruction but control of its oil.

You know how on the Charlie Brown cartoons the adults don't really speak, they just say wah-wah-wah-wah-wah? That's what I hear everytime someone says "it's about the oil."

"However I come from the United States, and my primary responsibility is to speak out against the U.S.A. My responsibility is to speak out against my government inflicting punishment unto death upon hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children under the age of 5."

I had on idea that our primary responsibility as United States citizens is to speak out against our government. Hell, I speak out against it all the time. But I had I known I had a responsibility to do it, I might have taken the job more seriously. As for the inflicting punishiment and death upon the little ones, I must once more delve into yesterday's back of tricks. Let's see, which of the quotes shall I use this time? Oh, here's a good one: This is a regime that will drag in a man's wife, daughter or other female relative and repeatedly rape her in front of him. This is a regime that will force a white-hot metal rod into a person's anus or other orifices. This is a regime that employs thalium poisoning, widely considered one of the most excruciating ways to die. This is a regime that will behead a young mother in the street in front of her house and children because her husband was suspected of opposing the regime.

But no. It's the good old USA that is killing the Iraqi children.

And don't tell me about sanctions. I know the sanctions didn't work. So what do you want us to do now? Oh...more sanctions? Please, take off your rose colored glasses. They are making you blind.

Is there really anyone besides this lone voice of delerium in the wildrness who thinks that Saddam's reasons for letting those felons out of prison was anything but altruistic? She's either very naive or she's been smoking way too many peace pipes.

link via Kathy Kinsley, who manages to say what I wanted to say in so many less words, rather succintly.

Posted by at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

idolizing

Natalie went to the America Idol concert tonight. She and her friends made humungous signs to carry around. Most teenage girls, when making such signs for a concert, will often make posters with hand drawn hearts and "I love you!" plastered all over it.

Instead, Natalie and her friend made one sign that said nothing but 'JUSTIN, YOU FREAK,GET A HAIRCUT!' The other had a very large picture of Simon's face. They drew a bullseye target over the picture and made horns sticking out of his head. They also put lipstick and eyeliner on him.

Natalie is, unfortunately, her mother's daughter. Save for the crappy taste in music.

Posted by at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

audience participation

This stems from a discussion with a friend last night about using music as a personal soundtrack. We've decided to do a current events case study (ok, we were drunk and the idea sounded great at that moment) using the theory that people will be more likely to quote a movie or a song rather than themselves when asked for a quote on a specific subject. Following? Good.

We need you to be our subject matters. Give us the current event (war, terrorism, elections, snipers, reality tv, etc.) that interests you most and a quote from either a movie or a song that you would use to either further or support your views. Use the comments. And then maybe I will do something interesting with the results. Depending on how interesting the results are.

And now, we are off to spend the day outside with the cameras. A new photo essay is long overdue and it's an absolutey gorgeous day outside.

Posted by at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)

dear susan sarandon

Reprentative quote from yesterday's anti-war (oops, sorry, pro-peace) rally in DC, from Susan Sarandon:

Actress Susan Sarandon spoke as well. "I am here as a mother because I am afraid for my children," she shouted. "I'm afraid for our children. I'm afraid for the Iraqi children."[emphasis added]

Susan, dear. Hang on one second while I go peruse a post I made yesteday.

Ah, there it is:

"This is a regime that will gouge out the eyes of children to force confessions from their parents and grandparents. This a regime that will crush all of the bones in the feet of a 2-year-old girl to force her mother to divulge her father's whereabouts. This is a regime that will hold a nursing baby at arm's length from its mother and allow the child to starve to death to force the mother to confess."

Now, whose children are you afraid for, Susan? Yours? What you should be afraid of is not the war that needs to be waged, but what will happen to your children's future if we don't wage it.

You're afraid for the Iraqi children? Do you think the life described above is something they enjoy? Unlike your children, who enjoy the spoils of your riches every day and lead pampered lives, the children of Iraq live in fear of their brutal leader. Their lives mean nothing to Hussein. They don't expect to have a future, let alone a good one.

What do you propose we do about that, Ms. Sarandon? Do you want to go over there and rescue each and every Iraqi child so they don't have to endure a life of pain and misery? Wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the one thing that puts the fear and pain into their lives - their leader?

No, in your world everything can be solved with a peace pipe and a handshake. You and your friends better start coming up with some viable alternatives besides making nice if you are going to continue your protests. I mean, rallying and marching is all well and good, but unless you have some kind of action and plan behind it (blaming the Republicans for everything does not count as a plan) then just shut your mouth, go home and take your hairy-armpit, placard wearing, thickheaded friends with you. Then go hunker down in your fallout shelter while the people who know how to take real action make your country a safe one and free the Iraqi children that you care about so much from the reigns of a tyrannical regime. You can thank them later.

Posted by at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBacks (2)

and they say the right are conspiracy theorists....

What.The.Fuck? (make sure to read the comments, also)

Wait, there's more: CNN Involved in Jesus Box Hoax, News service is major pipeline for Illuminati propaganda
--U.S. Government uses mind control to create an assasin dream team, including John Hinckley, Jr. and Mark David Chapman.
--Covert Intelligence Group Uses Psychotronic Weapons Disguised as Garbage Trucks on US Civilians

The things you can find by clicking on links in your referrer stats is amazing.

Posted by at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

that's T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T-S

As the news slowly trickles in - and now that the sniper situation has calmed down enough for it not to be sensationalist, CNN and other outlest are finally giving Russia due coverage - there are reports of knockout gas being pumped into the theater before the seige began. Of course, I told you that 5:30 yesterday morning.

It's being said that most of the hostages who died, died from the effects of the gas.

It had to be done. While I feel deeply for the families of the hostages that did not make it out, this is a case where you need to look at the bigger picture. There were approximately 700 innocent people inside a theater rigged with bombs and mines. Two hostages had already been shot by the terrorists. The small number (relatively speaking) that died from the gas were a necessary casualty. Had the Russian commandos not been able to get into the theater, they would have ended up with 700 dead innocents, not 90.

Decision to use gas during storm of Moscow theater approved by hostages: Former hostages agree that if the gas used before the storm of a Moscow theater had not been sufficiently strong, the terrorists would have had time to blast their explosives.

"When gas seeped into the theater after the terrorists killed the first hostages, I saw that one of the terrorists, who sat on the stage, jumped up and tried to put on a respirator. He made several convulsive moves, trying to pull the mask over his face, and fell," a former hostage, currently undergoing medical treatment at a Moscow hospital, told Interfax, recalling the first minutes of the storm.

He said the terrorists had expected the use of incapacitating agents and brought in respirators and gas masks. "If they had not been incapacitated so quickly, they would have had time to carry their plans through," he said.

At least the former hostages and Interfax are referring to them as terrorists, unlike most U.S. news agencies.

Let's turn to the non-U.S. press: from the Telegraph:

The Telegraph has learned that a number of Arab fighters, believed to be of Saudi Arabian and Yemeni origin, were among the group that seized control of the theatre...."There were definitely Arab terrorists in the building with links to al-Qa'eda," said a senior Western diplomat. "The Russians will now want to know how much help the Chechens received from bin Laden's organisation."

Mr Putin had claimed that "foreign elements" were involved and suspicions about al-Qa'eda's connection deepened after the Chechens broadcast a pre-recorded message on the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television network, which is frequently used by bin Laden and his lieutenants.

How are these people not terrorists? Why is the U.S. press so afraid to use that word? It's not a matter of semantics this time, as were my arguments with people over what to call the sniper. This is not only outright terrorism, but the more we learn about the murderers, the more we see the link between them and Arab terrorists. The Chechen 'rebels' are just one of many enemies in the war we are fighting.

As the links between Iraq and al-Queda grow, the lines between terrorist forces will become so blurred as to all but disappear. Our enemies are morphing into one giant killing machine. If you think that a hostage situation like the one in Russia could not happen here, you are sadly mistaken. If you think that terrorists world wide are not all being funded through the same channel, then I want to know what world you live in because it sure must be a nice, pretty place.

There are no peace signs in my little corner of the world anymore. You can march all you want, and refuse to use the word terrorist all you want and try to understand the psyche of our enemies (see, Horsefeathers), but I'm not playing that game anymore.

The world is a big, ugly place. It's getting uglier by the day. Playing nice and using euphemisms and pandering to the appeasers are not going to get us anywhere but dead.

T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T-S

Just in case you were having trouble with it.

Meryl weighs in on the same issue

Posted by at 06:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I revamped the about me page. It is now a short version with all the basic things you need to know; a primer for figuring out what makes me tick, and one of the only about pages with comments open. I'm not afraid of you.

cranium blowout!

I was just about to make this long, rambling post about the media not referring to the "hostage-takers" in Russia as terrorists, even though that's precisely what they are.

Alas, it will have to wait. I just realized that Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead) is about to begin on IFC. Run, run, run to your television sets! Goriest movie ever! Peter Jackson! Blood! Gore! Campy dialogue! Ridiculous plot line!

Best horror movie ever, no doubt.

Seriousness shall wait until tomorrow.

Posted by at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (1)

sadistic leathermaster

We nixed the comic book shopping because I just didn't feel like driving all the way out to West Babylon in the drenching rain. We nixed seeing Jackass the Movie because the people waiting on line were downright scary. Instead, we headed over to Best Buy and spent $207. Relax, some of the loot was Christmas presents.

Justin bought some cult B-movie called G-Men from Hell, featuring an all-star cast the likes of which has not been seen since Cannonball Run 2. Bob Goldthwait, Zach Galligan, Paul Rodriguez, Robert Goulet and Gary Busey in lip gloss. Stellar, I tell you. The only redeeming quality of this movie is the campy dialogue by Mike Allred, the man behind Madman.

The