Now Listen Here

Then Father Flynn heard a voice from above . . .

2010-08-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

I think most of us are in deep trouble

2010-07-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

Considering I can be a sport's nut at times, tell the occasional fib, like to drink the odd beer, cuss a little bit, according the the young fellow in the picture below, I, and probably most of the population, are in a bunch of trouble. God's judgment will be such a bitch.

Aliens target man six times since 2007

2010-07-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

A Bosnian man who claims he is being targeted by extraterrestrials after a series of meteorite strikes on his house has now been hit by a sixth space rock in the space of a few years.

Radivoje Lajic first came to international attention in 2008, after the fifth meteorite had crashed into the roof of his house in the northern village of Gornji Lajici in Bosnia.

Now, within the past month, another rock has hit the roof of his house, in defiance of all the odds - making it six strikes since the plague of meteorites began in 2007.

Experts at Belgrade University have confirmed that all the falling rocks he has handed over were meteorites. They are now trying to work out what exactly it is about his house that particularly attracts them. The strikes always happen when it is raining heavily, he says, never when there are clear skies.

Lajic has his own explanation, of course. After the fifth rock struck his house, he said: 'I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don't know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit six times has to be deliberate.'

50-year-old Lajic has had a steel girder reinforced roof put on the house to protect it from the alien bombardment - which he funded by selling one of the meteorites to a university in the Netherlands.

'I have no doubt I am being targeted by aliens,' he adds. 'They are playing games with me. I don't know why they are doing this. When it rains I can't sleep for worrying about another strike.'

Alligator feeding frenzy in the Okefenokee Swamp

2010-07-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

A Georgia fisherman recorded hundreds of alligators gathering in a canal in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, in what biologists believe may be a strange feeding ritual. Ray Cason witnessed the gator gathering on two consecutive mornings.

Ray Cason was expecting an ordinary day fishing when he dipped his boat into the black water at Stephen C. Foster State Park last Saturday at sunrise. But the next few minutes proved to be anything but ordinary. What Cason, of Homerville, witnessed, and caught on video and film, is a rare phenomenon that some call cooperative feeding, or cooperative fishing. In this case, hundreds of alligators congregated in the boat basin at Stephen C. Foster State Park, near Fargo, and the canal from the boat basin to Billy's Lake, and engaged in what Cason called "a feeding frenzy." Cason caught the rare sight early Saturday morning, and again early Sunday morning. The ritual only lasted about 30-to-40 minutes each morning, Carson told the Clinch County News. Cason said "There were 10-foot gators with their entire bodies three feet above the water. Gators rolling all over themselves. It was foggy that first morning (Saturday, July 10), but I bet there were 300 gators I saw in that boat basin and canal."

California hires a herd of a goats instead of people

2010-07-28T05:31:00.000-07:00

Goats, not government workers, are being called upon to clear brush near a U.S. Courthouse in Pasadena, California. In the past, government workers cleared this brush every year.

Extreme overgrowth and underbrush on the hillside… prompted GSA’s Pacific Rim Region property management to take quick action to avoid summer fires. Ultimately, the choice was easy: Use a herd of goats. The decision meant a cost-saving to taxpayers over hiring manual labor and proved to be better for the environment than bulldozers….”

Before Goats

After Goats

According to a June 2010 report on the use of goats, it costs an annual $5,300 to employ government workers to clear the brush and $1,995 to “employ” goats. Also, clearing the brush took 1 week when government workers did the job, but the goats did it in just 3 days. The use of goats is also more environmentally friendly:

“Unlike bulldozers, used historically for the annual project, goats control brush and weeds without disturbing the grass and soil. They also do not pollute or leave synthetic chemicals that could run off into lakes and streams …”

It seems there are a lot of donkeys in positions of power these days, so hiring fellow four legged types is not so strange.

Time to pay the fiddler you big time whore

2010-07-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Ex-BP CEO, Tony Hayward, poses in his new work clothes, at his first day on the job, in the oil fields of Siberia. I hear it gets even colder in the winter.

Parsley's Pics Talks About The 'John Birch Society'

2010-05-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

John Birch Society PART ONE

John Birch Society PART TWO

John Birch Society PART THREE

John Birch Society PART FOUR

The Tennessee Liberal does an outstanding job, great research. It's what she does.

The gun shops of Pakistan

2010-04-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Monty Python's Michael Palin, in his travel show about the Himalayas, explores the tribal lands of Pakistan and their thriving gun trade.

MADMIKESAMERICA

It's easy to believe, if you believe in everything

2010-04-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

If Jesus ran for President

2010-04-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Move It On Over - Hanks Williams wins Pulitzer Prize

2010-04-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

Fifty seven years after his death at the age of 29, Hanks Williams Sr., has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The late star will be given a special citation from the organization to recognize his lifetime achievement, praising his "craftsmanship as a songwriter" and his "pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force".

Although Hank would barely recognize Country music in its current "pop" form, his influence among musicians of all genres is undeniable. The success of Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Patsy Cline, John Hiatt and many more artists all tip their hat to Hank Williams.

Move It On Over was his first hit in 1947, the year I was born.

Pale Blue Dot = Home Sweet Home

2010-04-11T08:54:00.001-07:00

Comments not necessary, if you have time just enjoy a couple of minutes with Carl Sagan.

WHAT IS A PERSON

Martin Luther Coon

2010-04-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

In 1965, mayor Joseph Smitherman of Selma, Alabama, made a Freudian slip.

HATE STILL LIVES

Nuclear Disarmament - How far have we come?

2010-04-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

There is talk of Republicans in the Senate and hard-line Russians in their Parliament, refusing to ratify the treaty, signed today by the presidents of the United States and Russia.

THE TREATY

MAYDAY, MAYDAY WE ARE SINKING

2010-04-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

WILL THE RABID RIGHT EVER LOVE US?

MARVIN GAYE SINGS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

2010-04-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

The national anthem will ring around baseball stadiums all over the country this week as the new season begins. Nobody will sing it like Marvin Gaye did at the 1983 NBA All-Star game.

MadMikesAmerica

EASTER ISLAND

2010-04-04T06:42:00.000-07:00

Easter Island is in the southeastern Pacific, once occupied by Polynesian people. The natives of Easter Island died out, or had to leave, because they used up all their resources.

MadMikesAmerica

A Glass and a Half of Joy

2010-04-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Chocolate, one of life's great pleasures, along with watching a Gorilla having fun.

MadMikesAmerica

Hanging Around

2010-04-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

MadMikesAmerica

Mobile Homes For Sale

2010-03-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is what I call an honest commercial.

SEND ME YOUR SCRAP GOLD

2010-03-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

In these uncertain times, as with any other uncertain time, the price of gold goes through the roof. Currently the price of an ounce of gold on the bullion markets is selling for about $1,100 an ounce.

When prices get that ridiculous it brings out the predators and the greedy. The cry is "Send me your unused and scrap gold" sure, I've got a brick right here I'm not using.

One Seattle man got greedy, and an experienced predator was waiting to pick him clean.

Canadian magazine 'The Beaver' changes name

2010-03-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

After 90 years, one of Canada's oldest magazines, The Beaver, is changing its name. Its publishers say it was only natural that a Canadian history journal should have been named in honor of the industrious dam-building creature which is the country's national emblem.

But in recent times the magazine's attempts to reach a new online audience kept falling foul of spam filters - particularly in schools - because beaver is also a slang term for female genitalia.

The publishers of the magazine - now to be known as Canada's History - also noticed that most of the 30,000 or so visitors to their website per month stayed for less than 10 seconds.

Deborah Morrison, publisher of the Winnipeg-based journal, told the BBC News website: "Back in 1920, The Beaver was a perfectly appropriate name. "And while its other meaning is nothing new, its ambiguity began to pose a whole new challenge with the advance of the internet. The name became an impediment to our growth."

Similar concerns in part prompted Beaver College (now Arcadia) in Pennsylvania to change its name in 2001.

The blocking of harmless websites or e-mails by trigger-happy filters is nothing new.

In 1996, residents in the British town of Scunthorpe were initially banned from registering with internet service provider AOL because the town's name contained an obscenity.

This became known as the Scunthorpe problem.

Elsewhere in England, residents of the South Yorkshire town of Penistone and Lightwater in Surrey had the same trouble.

Such ham-fisted cyber prudery might have been forgivable in the internet's infancy. But why are some filters still apparently unable to distinguish between clean and dirty content?

Are their chastity belts fastened too tight?

The problem, technology experts say, is that with a worldwide web awash with filth, broad blocking rules often result in a false positive, meaning innocent content is trashed just to be on the safe side.

In 2008, a news website run by the American Family Association censored an Associated Press article on the sprinter Tyson Gay. A filter decided that "gay" was an offensive word, which should be replaced with "homosexual".

The resulting article began with the memorable headline: "Homosexual eases into 100m final at Olympic trials".

SOURCE

U..S. MARINE SERGEANT WRITES TO TEABAGGERS

2010-03-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

A U.S. Marine Sergeant writes about the threat of domestic violence HERE

DECLARATION OF CONSCIENCE

2010-03-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Margaret Chase Smith (December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was a United States Republican Party Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either.

She was also the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the title President of the United States at a major party's convention, the 1964 Republican Convention, won by Barry Goldwater.

She was a liberal Republican, included with those known as a "Rockefeller Republican". When she left office, Smith had the record as the longest-serving female senator in United States history, ranking 11th in seniority among the members of the Senate, a distinction that has not been surpassed.

On June 1, 1950, she gave a 15 minute speech she called a "Declaration of Conscience." It was aimed at Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Committee for Un-American Activities, which was poisoning the political landscape. Excerpts below:

Mr. President:

I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear.It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the Legislative Branch or the Executive Branch of our Government.

That leadership is so lacking that serious and responsible proposals are being made that national advisory commissions be appointed to provide such critically needed leadership.

I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American.

I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul-searching—for us to weigh our consciences—on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America—on the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.

Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism:

The right to criticize;

The right to hold unpopular beliefs;

The right to protest;

The right of independent thought.

The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as “Communists” or “Fascists” by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.

The Democratic Administration has greatly lost the confidence of the American people by its complacency to the threat of communism here at home and the leak of vital secrets to Russia though key officials of the Democratic Administration. There are enough proved cases to make this point without diluting our criticism with unproved charges.

Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of this country. Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer as long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic Administration.

Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.

I doubt if the Republican Party could—simply because I don’t believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans aren’t that desperate for victory.

As members of the Minority Party, we do not have the primary authority to formulate the policy of our Government. But we do have the responsibility of rendering constructive criticism, of clarifying issues, of allaying fears by acting as responsible citizens.

As an American, I condemn a Republican “Fascist” just as much I condemn a Democratic “Communist.” I condemn a Democrat “Fascist” just as much as I condemn a Republican “Communist.” They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.

It is with these thoughts that I have drafted what I call a “Declaration of Conscience.” I am gratified that Senator Tobey, Senator Aiken, Senator Morse, Senator Ives, Senator Thye, and Senator Hendrickson have concurred in that declaration and have authorized me to announce their concurrence.

The italicized emphasis is mine.

Things do not change much. See full text of Senator Margaret Chase Smith's speech HERE.

IS FASCISM COMING TO AMERICA?

2010-03-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Broken windows at Democrats offices, gas lines being cut, spitting, racial and homophobic epithets being dished out by angry Republicans. It's getting nasty out there.