A Heathen's Perspective

How's The Weather in Here?

2007-04-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

My, my how time flies when you're fun is having, huh? It's "this type thing, I'm a thinkin' so," ya see. Let's look at the human psyche as a weather system, shall we? With different stratas of activity, from upper level lows to Gulf of Mexico moisture being sucked inland as the low moves towards the Texas Hill Country from the Panhandle. Throw in a trough or two and you've got yerself some weather! By god, I've had me some weather in the head these last couple of months. But it looks like the front has moved on through, and Spring is POPPING all over Lake Travis!

So..."like I say, if I'm 'sessful - yer 'sessful." And before I forget, and erupt in a volley of brainfarts followed by a middle-aged moment, allow me to posit this explanation of one's survival of an authentic nervous breakdown:

It's all about two things - protecting the mind and the survival of the very organ we know as "the brain."

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THE MIND'S PROTECTIVE MASTER CIRCUIT BREAKER

Ya see, the rational mind believes that it's in charge of itself, the heart, and the place that cannot be fooled. BUT, in truth, the mind is our mental model of survival. It certainly has its place, above the heart, but by creating an opaque membrane between itself and the heart, the mind can trick itself and the heart...buying into the "power" of this mind...this feeble leaf in the wind...while bloated and bellowing, hoping to avoid any contact with the place that cannot be fooled - at ALL costs.

Well, dammit, that just doesn't work. So, when one has been grabbed by the short hairs, uninvited, and with no way out, by a huge burst from the place that cannot be fooled...bubbling up through the heart directly to the mind, whether or not the mind is ready to listen, look, and experience that nasty bubble of unvarnished, tactile truth...well the mind's circuit breaker goes off, and the hard drive shuts down in an attempt to salvage as much of the rational mind as possible - WHOOPEE!

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SURVIVAL OF THE VERY ORGAN KNOWN AS THE BRAIN

When all of the above converges in one's psyche to form a perfect storm, the brain automatically performs a fundamental shut down in order to survive. This shut down is fundamentally more powerful than the mind's attempt at saving itself, because the entire organ is at stake. The brain knows what it's doing. The organ itself survives in almost all cases.

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TELL ME, HEATHEN MONK, HOW DO YA COME BACK FROM ALL THIS SHIT?

Well, my sweet SaddlePals, it ain't easy. First the brain restarts when the storm passes. Then the mind's circuit breaker reconnects. The heart starts up again, bruises and all, and the rational mind begins to get the lay of the land. As one begins to find just enough focus to read a menu from Denny's, the mind assesses just how much of itself has been salvaged, how much of itself laying there in tatters is salvageable, and looks around the the burnt embers of places it once thought were necessary in order to engage with the world, crying like a newborn baby. If you're lucky, in this state of fragility, you may have salvaged enough to work your way back into the everyday world within 6-9 months. And you may find your groove in about 18 months...if you're lucky that is. And I sure as hell hope you're lucky. I know I am.

The Clinically Delusional Mind of George W. Bush(or "How I Waited For the Bloodless Coup That Never Came")

2007-01-22T06:55:00.000-08:00

He sat at his daddy's knee, but The Boy must've been drawn to the "cut 'em off at the knees" strategies of the late Lee Atwater. I wonder if BoyGeorge ever asked his dad, "Daddy? What did you do as a congressman? What did you do as U.N. Ambassador? What did you do as the head of the C.I.A.? What was it like being Vice Pwezeedent? Or Pwezeedent? Huh, daddy, huh?"

Nope...The Drugstore Cowboy, unlike his father, who, when approached by Cheney, Wolfie, Perle, and Kristol, among others, with the Grand Gamble of the Doctrine of Pre-Emption, told them to STAND DOWN ~ The Boy bought the whole store - hook, line, and sinker! Any layperson, like you or me for instance, could've googled our way to the same conclusions I came to with at my Original Anti-War Page, March 17, 2003.

Anyone could've found out that James Baker was or still is the senior counsel for The Carlyle Group, a huge hedge fund invested in by both the Bush and Bin Laden families.

But let's get down to delusional thinking, shall we? From a British study, "Role of distress in delusion formation," comes this:

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CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

* Psychotic experiences are common and transitions to clinical disorder are in part determined by emotional factors.
* Not only the presence of an unusual perceptual experience in itself but also the emotional appraisal by the subject is an important risk factor for subsequent delusion formation.

(more from this section, on cognitive behavioral therapy, left out on purpose)

Full Article, Hanssen et. al.. Copyright assumed to be owned by the authors and/or educational institutions. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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Now, let's see here. We know from Scott Ritter that 90-95 per cent of all weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were destroyed during the mid-1990's. We know that way back when, during the Reagan administration, rules were loosened for American corporations (and many European corporations as well), so that they could sell chemicals to Saddam during the Iraq/Iran War. The paper trail is there for all to see.

And yet The Boy wants us to buy into his new "surge." An "augmentation," according to Conda-Lies-A-Thrice.

Hmmm...let's see here....we lost the good will of the entire free world by invading Iraq, when millions around the globe protested BEFORE the invasion occurred.

The Boy CUT TAXES during wartime - possibly a first in the history of civilization.

Wolfie and others claimed the war would pay for itself. Oil revenues alone would make the whole thing a piece of cake.

We're now engaged in a civil war, and we've passed the time "in country" that the U.S. spent during WW II.

We've lost more than 3,000 of our soldiers, and seriously wounded more than 20,000 others. According to some estimates, more than 240,000 Iraqi citizens have died during the war, and today we've learned that many of the Iraqi refugees are being turned away or forced to return to Iraq.

We've drained our country's coffers to the tune of almost HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS.

And yet, even if it comes down to just "Laura & Barnie" BoyGeorge will see this "war on terror" through to the bitter end - OR until he leaves office, passing on all the good end-game stuff to someone else.

The Boy told us, out loud and in english that:

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" That's why I'm pressing the Greater Middle East Reform Initiative, to work to spread freedom. And we will continue on that. So long as I'm the President, I will press for freedom. I believe so strongly in the power of freedom.

You know why I do? Because I've seen freedom work right here in our own country. I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom."

full text of "President Addresses the Nation in Prime Time Press Conference, 2004" from the White House Web site.

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The Almighty? You mean the God of Abraham? The same God that Jews, Christians, and Muslims pray to? Oh - THAT God - silly me...

Delusional thinking. With a Democratic majority and a stiff rebuke of his Iraq war policy from the American citizenry last November. And come tomorrow night, we'll see a clinically delusional man at the podium, talking about tax code changes to help lower health insurance costs, etc. Gosh, whatever happened to his brave stand from 2005:

"Taking on gang life will be one part of a broader outreach to at-risk youth, which involves parents and pastors, coaches and community leaders, in programs ranging from literacy to sports. And I am proud that the leader of this nationwide effort will be our First Lady, Laura Bush."

Laura Bush, GangBuster!...

my entry, "The State of DysUnion".

And so, as the safe laundry list unfolds in front of a new majority in Congress, let's see how well it goes, with The Dick having to sit next to Nancy Pelosi, and members of The Boy's own Party turning their backs on him. It should be a sad feast indeed...

UPDATE, Jan. 27, 2007: BBC News reports on The Boy's reaction to that "uppity" Congress and their claim to oversight:

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"US President George W Bush has made it clear he will ignore any attempt by the US Congress to question his sending 20,000 extra troops to Iraq.

Mr Bush - who faces tough opposition in Washington to his new Iraq strategy - said he was the decision-maker and would not rethink his plans..."

Copyright 2007, BBC and BBC America (if applicable). Used here for contextual purposes only

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Read all about it HERE.
_________________________
For those of you trying to cleanse the palate, as it were, during and after the State of DysUnion Address on Tuesday, a more international Look at Eroding Support for the U.S. from BBC News might help return things to some semblance of reality...HMonk

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

2006-12-27T02:27:00.000-08:00

I don't quite understand "WHY" our snewz media in America can't quite bring themselves to present clear and convincing numbers concerning the number of human beings killed in Iraq since our invasion. It's kinda strange, ain't it?

Just a couple of clicks to BBC NEWS online and...why, it's as clear as country water used to be!

For instance:

A simple, tabbed overview of all those folks killed, and casualties counts too, can be found HERE at BBC News online.

Perhaps, we might need to know how many and where the sectarian killings have occurred, adding up to more than 231,000 as of October, 2006. Again, a simple click to

RIGHT ABOUT HERE at BBC News online should show you a clear map which includes the numbers of misplaced families who've arrived "in province" since February, or maybe you're curious as to how many Sunni, Shia, Sunni/Shia/Arab, Kurdish, and Sunni/Arab/Kurdish people have been slaughtered, ya think?

It's all right there to see, on the BBC, but damned hard to get ahold of on our "illustrious" American snewz media, doncha think? Boy, HOWDY!

An Open Letter to President Bush: Blow Me!

2006-12-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

There he was, finally uttering the words "we aren't winning, but we're not losing" in Iraq during a radio interview. Then there he was, in of all places, The Indian Treaty Room, 'splaining what he "really" meant. Oh, and the air of open dish-cuss-shuns with every commander, diplomat, and DumboCrat. When all was said and done, it was obvious the Drugstore Cowboy will send the naval flotilla to the Persian Gulf, increase troop strength in Baghdad, and try to kill Al-Cider. What a man! So deft, so good-read, so "subliminable."

Well yew can jus' kiss my nasty ol' ass, BoyGeorge - twice. I took a look back at the dusty old archives, and found this citizens' petition originally posted at the old AlterNet forums back in 2003 I think it was, now archived at Never Give Up. I did a tiny bit of editing, and for anyone who's interested here's how the final draft looked by 2005:

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Friday, January 28, 2005
Mr. Bush, Step Down!

(3rd draft - 2nd draft posted at AlterNet's Human Rights forum {HumanRights.169.21-}, Dec. 10, 2003, revised here, in part to reflect Ashcroft's resignation)

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CITIZEN'S PETITION: MR. BUSH, STEP DOWN, NOW. GIVE ME BACK MY COUNTRY!

Dear George W. Bush,

I am a citizen of the United States of America. However, it seems that America has been taken away from me. I feel that this Administration, this Congress, this Department of Justice, and this Supreme Court have betrayed America, and are now in the process of selling America off piece by piece.

As an American citizen, I hereby petition your administration to step down immediately. I demand that a caretaker administration be put in place by Congress, and that an impartial, impeccable Board of Civilian Review be created to examine your entire record, including the pathflow of your administration's correspondence, meetings and attendees, along with executive orders and directives created by the your administration, leaving no federal agencies exempt from scrutiny.

I call(ed) for the Senate to vote "No" on the confirmation vote for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. Should Mr. Gonzales be confirmed, I demand that he tender his resignation immediately. I call for the full repeal of The Patriot Act, as well as any riders to any passed or pending Bills containing any provisions included in Mr. Ashcroft's "wishlist" known as "The Patriot Act II," as well as any and all subsequent attempts to do the same by AlBarfo.

I call for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces to order our military forces to stand down, world-wide.

I ask that the Supreme Court be precluded from handing down any new rulings if and until it can be shown that their decision concerning the election of 2000 was not a gross, impeachable offense on the Court's part.

I call for a moratorium on Capital Punishment. I call for an end to mandatory minimums for sentencing. I call for an end to overzealous prosecutions. I call for the return of federal judges' discretion.

I call for foolproof legislation to prevent any former elected federal official, as well as all family members of elected federal officials now holding office, from working on behalf of any registered lobbyist or other special interest group concerned with any issues on which said elected officials have cast a vote, whether in committee, by voice vote, or by roll call on the Floor of either branch of Congress.

I call for every federal ballot to include "none of the above" as a valid choice for every election of every pertinent federal official. I demand an end to any method of voting, electronic or otherwise, that does not include a verifiable paper trail open to full public scrutiny through straightforward recounting procedures for any questionable or contested federal races.

I demand that Congress call for new elections of the entire House and Senate at their earliest opportunity, and without delay, following the transition of power from the Bush administration to a caretaker administration.

Until these matters have been fully addressed, I hold the federal government, as it now composed, to be in violation of the Constitution.

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I refuse to either leave my country or give up my citizenship. Should your administration not step down, now that you have been elected to a second term of 4 years as my president, I pledge NOT to contribute any more monies to the coffers of what I now consider to be an illegal, thus unconstitutional "government." In the event any federal income tax policies and/or other salary restrictions preclude or prevent me from withholding my financial resources from your stupefyingly Un-American administration, I pledge to join other citizens in every effort to buy, barter, lobby at the grassroots level, demonstrate, and engage in other non-violent acts designed to undermine, and hopefully end or slow down the murderous meanderings of your Doctrine of pre-emptive war which masquerades as the "war on terror."

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Finally, I urge every American without children, without a life-threatening disease, without other critical life circumstances that could jeopardize their safety, to join me in this petition.

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Mr. Bush, you have taken my country away from me. I will give my very life, if necessary, in order to help bring about a return to the Spirit of the Principles this country was founded upon, and thoughtful re-engagement, through diplomacy, with the rest of the entire world. My actions, unlike yours, will remain entirely non-violent, but I will exercise every fundamental right I may have as an American citizen until my country's government has been returned to its own Citizenry.

Very truly yours,

__________________________ signed, ______________, 200_

I have signed and sent copies of the above Petition to:

______________________________, my Representative

______________________________, my senior Senator

______________________________, my junior Senator

______________________________, Attorney General, State & Federal

______________________________, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

______________________________, my local newspaper

______________________________, my local TV stations

______________________________, my mayor

______________________________, my county's officials

______________________________, my state's governor

______________________________, other

______________________________, other

This Petition, while composed by The Heathen Monk is intended for the free use of any interested party. No standard copyright restrictions apply to its use, unless edited and published without written permission.

Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post

Update: To The Board of Directors, Apache Shores Property Owners Association

2006-12-20T02:58:00.006-08:00

Well, I've done a little more research on the "per lot" vote a couple of years ago pertaining to our assessments. You'll find the update HERE.

HMonk

Perry Raises Cig Taxes by $1.00 Per Pack

2006-12-08T15:38:00.000-08:00

Head O'Hair Perry, governor of Texas, has decided to raise taxes on cigarettes by $1.00 per pack starting in January, 2007, bless his heart. Now Texas joins other states in making smokers pay more taxes per purchase than on any other product on the market.

What does this mean, other than an extra buck per pack to smokers? Well, it will mean a strong black market for smokes, and an increased danger to store clerks, now that ciggies have become so valuable. With a quarter of the nation still smoking, unless you have a reservation nearby, you may have to choose between smokes and cheap booze to settle your nerves. Yessir, between state taxes already in place, and the federal excise tax, I'm more than proud to be a contributor to the crooks in our state legislature who, like all the states that received money from the last smokers' settlement, will most likely spend the extra money on pork, the other white meat.

Black markets, dead store clerks? Is that the goal of Rick Perry? Has the asshole even thought this through? I think not. I hope that some attorney comes up with the notion that smokers, yes smokers, are exposed to second-hand smoke just like non-smokers. Maybe that'll keep 'em in court for awhile.

An old friend of mine remembers when his dad used to put two dimes in a cigarette machine, retrieve a pack of Luckies with 4 pennies left in the pack, for a total of sixteen cents per pack. They were just thirty five cents a pack when I started smoking. I only hope that the rest of you don't become the focus of "criminal" behavior, and find yourselves paying outrageous taxes on clothes made in China, or songwriter/publisher royalties diminished to the point of no return. Hey, nobody's lookin' - what's say we download this new movie for free?!

Keep it up, kidz. Sooner, rather than later, smokers will join the homeless, the damaged veterans, and the mentally ill on your streets. Please, do your best to sidestep them, won't you?

Fast Food Notion

2006-11-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

My, oh my! What are we gonna do with all these fat people?! Well, the answer is simple - CRIMINALIZE THEM, JUST LIKE WE DID TO SMOKERS! Yes, after they lowered the threshold for obesity back around 1998, the pill pushers and insurance companies had a clear field in which to work. Just in case you missed it, CNN noted that:

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"Under the proposed guidelines, which are to be announced later this month by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 25 million more Americans would be considered overweight -- including two baseball third-basemen: Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves and Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles."

Full Article, copyright 1998, Cable News Network. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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Junk Food

Sure, we're all happy to know that Taco Bell is moving to canola oil. Wendy's makes a pretty good side caesar salad, and if you're lucky, there's a Subway nearby, but most folks who drive thru or eat in at fast food joints have jobs that pay $6-8 dollars an hour. Many of these workers get a half hour for lunch. So add gas to that, and lunch costs these workers an hour's pay. Now, if you're making $20-30 an hour, most likely you get a full hour for lunch, and just a furtive glance if you're a half hour late back to work. So go ahead, have the steak, potatoes, and salad, not to mention a refreshing martini, with ambiance to boot! Fast food stays in business because the working poor, teenagers, and folks on fixed incomes can't afford to pay more than five dollars for lunch. That's it, that's all. Where are the entrepreneurs ready to fill the fast food niche with tasty organic and/or veggie delights and a drive thru window?

Tax The Bums

Yeah, that's the ticket. Just like smokers. Let's add a fat tax to junk food. In fact, let's add a federal excise tax to any fatty food that moves across any state line, And while we're at it, let's add a new tax to fortified wine, cheap beer, and malt liquor too. These poor people just have to learn that their "vices" have consequences.

Luxury taxes? Who needs 'em? Corporate loopholes? Gotta keep taxes low, don't we? As a smoker, I must pay more than a dollar fifty per pack in taxes. If all of us smokers quit right now, we'd break the medical establishment in twenty years, just by living longer. So, the next time you see a busy worker scarfing down a burger during a thirty minute lunch break, just remember - THEY CAN'T AFFORD FOOD THAT'S GOOD FOR THEM, AND THEY DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO WAIT FOR IT.

The only saving grace? Those loving couples where one or both make their lunches before leaving home each day. Oops, but then there's daycare...whaddya gonna do? Seeya at the yacht club Sunday brunch!

The Shortest Honeymoon in History?

2006-11-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Well, he tossed Rummy out for Bob Gates", (read Gates' view on Iran from 2004), most likely in order to soften the Baker/Hamilton report. But, the Boy wants the Surveillance Act passed before January. And he wants the recess appointment of the Walrus Bolton to the U.N. as ambassador. I imagine the Drugstore Cowboy will do everything in his power to prevent the public airing of his many "signing statements" over the years. You know, the ones he used to circumvent the Constitution. Yep, the honeymoon ended less than 24 hours after it began. Only this time, not only has he lost both Houses of Congress, he's got runaway Rethuglicans who won't carry his poisoned water because they need to be re-elected in 2008 and later.

The subpoena power, the forced opening of all the classified material Bush used to suppress documents going back to his father's presidency, with Gates in charge, and the honest remarks expected from our generals on the field, there seems to be just one way BoyGeorge can move. DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. It may take an entire generation to rebuild our foreign service, and begin to reestablish our credentials with foreign countries, both allies and enemies, but at least we have a chance today. And if Bush tries to buck the change, the bronco he imagines he rides will buck his sorry ass in a heartbeat. Unless the DumboCrats are as beholden to lobbyists as the DeLay/Norquist bottom feeders, America has an opportunity to become America once again. I'm not holding my breath, just keeping my fingers crossed...at least until next March. After that, Congress should return to a five day workweek, or, if not, expect the same cosmetic changes, signing statements, vetoes that may or may not be overridden, and business as usual until 2008 at the earliest. Good luck, and Good Grief!

I'm not dead, just disgusted

2006-09-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Dear readers,

Sorry to have been away for so long. And I won't be here for long right now. With the BlowHards bellowing about Iran just like they did about Iraq, and returning to the delusion of trying to connect Iraq with September 11th again, and with the DumboCrats sitting on their thumbs with just weeks to go before the mid-term elections, I'm planning to vote early...and often, of course...and wait to see just how badly the Dumbs blow their best chance for seizing some kind of power in either House this year. Whee!!!

HMonk

p.s. November 10, 2006 -- My GAWD! How happy I am to have been so wrong. Go, DumboCrats, GO!

Johnny On the Spot

2006-07-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

The smoke has cleared, and the dust is now settling on John Roberts' first term as Chief Justice of the Supremes. Turns out, the boy is a fine writer! Professors everywhere are rejoicing in Roberts' "elegant" use of "economy" in his opinions, while the blogosphere remains unimpressed with his use of sports analogies, from boxing to hockey.

What we may have here is authentic competency coupled with a hidden, personal system of fairness that should expose itself as the years go by. How much and how often Johnny decides to let us in on his secret self remains a mystery - a Mystery For the Pages!

In "His Hipness, John G. Roberts," Linda Greenhouse writes (from NYTimes, July 9, 2006):

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Prof. Akhil Amar of Yale Law School praised the Roberts style for "elegance and economy" as well as for the "occasionally snappy line" that could crystallize a case for lay readers. He gave two examples. One was a majority opinion that rejected the government's application of federal narcotics law to stop a Brazil-based religious group from importing a hallucinogenic tea for use in its rituals. "The government's argument echoes the classic rejoinder of bureaucrats throughout history: If I make an exception for you, I'll have to make one for everybody, so no exceptions," the chief justice wrote.

The second was a majority opinion that found that the state of Arkansas had denied due process to a homeowner by seizing and selling his house for nonpayment of property taxes without taking reasonable steps to notify him of his jeopardy. Referring to Gary K. Jones, the homeowner, Chief Justice Roberts wrote: "In response to the returned form suggesting that Jones had not received notice that he was about to lose his property, the state did — nothing."

Full article here.

Copyright 2006, The New York Times Co. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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As you can see, this early in Roberts' Chief JusticeDom, it's hard to tell: Is he a peyote chewin' dude who steps up for the little guy between 'shrooms? Or, is he a complex individual who may not follow The Boy & The Dick's cartoonish agenda of stripping individuals of their rights while telling the world that "they hate us for our freedom."

I suspect that JohnnyOnTheSpot may turn out to be a thoughtful, and believe it or not, somewhat flexible Chief Justice. I can't say that I see any real evidence of the imposition of a rigid sense of morality on his decision-making process, but hell, I'm a layman, not a doktor, Jim! What we may have here is a firewall between the Thomas-Alito "well, whatever the prez wants, he gets" Stance of the Spineless, and the dark, demonic one - Scalia. That leaves the "liberal" Justices with the real power to build consensus within the Court. It points to the possibility of balance. It may actually prove to help undo the right-wing steamroller now paving its way over generations of decisions made on behalf of Americans everywhere. So, I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not raging against the machine either. I think I'll just hide here in the weeds for awhile.

HMonk Quickie! ~ Frontline's "The Dark Side"

2006-06-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

Damn, I hope you didn't miss this week's episode of Frontline on most PBS stations. But, in case you did, here's the direct link to WGBH's page on this latest and perhaps most disturbing report concerning the manipulation, manhandling, and political steamrolling by The Dick, Rumsfeld, and others as they beat the drum for the war in Iraq:

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"After 9/11, Vice President Richard Cheney seized the initiative. He pushed to expand executive power, transform America's intelligence agencies and bring the war on terror to Iraq. But first he had to take on George Tenet's CIA for control over intelligence."

The Dark Side

Copyright 1995-2006 wgbh educational foundation. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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I've added this link to my old Protest Page at The Human Trust.

For a concise review of the program, read the Raw Story's Frontline: The battle between Vice President Cheney and CIA to control the 'dark side'. It's a tasty little tidbit that may cause you to run screaming to your nearest video/DVD rental outlet.

Don't forget to click any "Frontline" links you may find at my Protest Page either. Links to an earlier Frontline program on the war, and a follow-up Frontline are linked from there as well. Okay then...it's been a long day ~

And the "Beat" Goes On

2006-06-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

You've probably read my little rant on intolerance. In today's unstable climate of fear and intimidation, hate murders continue at an alarming rate, and not just here in the US, but around the world. Here's one of the most recent gay murders, from England:

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"Mr Dobrowski, an assistant manager at Bar Risa Jongleurs, in Camden, north London, was on his way home from a friend's house when he was attacked at about midnight.

He was found unconscious but died later in hospital from head, neck and facial injuries.

He was beaten so severely his own family did not recognise him and he had to be identified by his fingerprints."

full story: Men Jailed for Gay Barman Murder

Copyright 2006, BBC. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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Here in 'Merica, we've got that nasty old homegrown sumbitch, Fred Phelps. You remember Fred, doncha? He's the "minister" who had his group holler and hold up signs saying "God Hates Fags" etc. at Matthew Shepard's funeral, following Matt's beating in Wyoming at the hands of two locals.

The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps a close eye on folks like Fred. I do too. In fact, I've coined the term "Phelpsian." Here's the latest on Fred from SPLC:

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"While attending a military funeral in Michigan, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., says he and other mourners were bombarded with "chants and taunting and some of the most vile things I have ever heard."

Rogers was alluding to the homophobic signs and jeers from members of the Westboro Baptist Church led by Fred Phelps."

full story: Tolerance In the News: New Law Won't Curb Hate

Copyright 2006, www.tolerance.org. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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And so, yes, the "beat" goes on. Whether you're a gay soldier who died in service to 'Merica, or a prostitute who just happens to resemble the obsessive focus of an angry serial killer. You might simply be a child whose parents are hated by someone else for a reason you can't even fathom. Hate is not vengeance. Hate is a kind of battery acid that melts down what's left of a heart, and feeds the rage left behind. I hate "hate."

A Young Girl From West Texas

2006-05-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you saw Greg Palast on Democracy Now last week, and, aside from his new documentary, how he wired himself for sound in London, spoke the magic word "Enron," and gained access to 10 Downing Street, not to mention how pleasantly surprised Tony Blair's "poodles" were to visit with someone from EndRun after Blair had already signed the waivers making a fine money pie for Ken "Betcha Can't Cheat Just One" Lay in England, you might be disheartened deeply enough by this global web of energy mobsters to go back to kerosene and wood stoves.

When this kind of immense betrayal sinks in, I usually find myself thinking of all of the lives, and the life stories of "regular" folks around the world, ya know...from "Joe Six Pack My Ass" to "Annie Got Her Gun and You'd Better Watch Yer Mouth, Mister." Living human beings whose lives have been made even more difficult by the greed and arrogance of a few hundred families and transnational corporations, and not just for this generation, but as far as this generation's eyes can see.

All of that takes me, in one of my infrequent lucid episodes, to the lives of the people in my lifetime. One of them is my mother, and believe me, our relationship has been everywhere from mutual love and the deepest affection to "say, I'm all alone, this Smith & Wesson might make my pain go away, and LOOK, IT'S LOADED! Yippee and goodbye cruel world and crepe soles...now where DID I put those old clam diggers from 1960? Gotta look my best when the sheriff finds me!"

But today, as I have a few times recently, I called my mom, against my doctor's advice, and made a promise to her, and knowing her hardscrabble childhood as a middle daughter from nowhere, her exceptional organizational skills, and years of taking dictation from full bird colonels at Ft. Meade in the 50's and 60's, I gave mom my lifetime gift to her. A promise to edit, archive at the county courthouse, and make copies available at the Heart of West Texas Museum of her "regular" life, seen through the eyes of a young girl growing up in West Texas on a poor ranch in Silver (don't bother looking for it on a map, it's been gone for years, but you might find Silver Creek near Colorado City, Texas).

Raised by a father who was from the first set of white twins born in the history of Nolan County and later, as a young man, rode on one of the last true cattle drives before finally leaving ranching to become the deputy sheriff of Mitchell County, and raised by a mother who'd actually come to Texas as a child from Alabama in a covered wagon, and went on to become a beloved school teacher in the days of one-room schoolhouses. This "regular" person has a life story, one affected by wars, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the days when the entire free world fell in love with America through John and Jackie Kennedy, and didn't really fall out of love with us until the Drugstore Cowboy came along.

Came along with his daddy's and his ancestors' buddies to mash down on the authentic spirit of America like no group has ever been able to do, and in a mere five years. These gigantic, Nixonian, Trickle On, They Hate Us For Our Freedom assholes affected the life of a young girl from West Texas. And she happens to be my mother. And that makes it personal, very, very personal. And this "regular" woman, with all her talents and warts is now in her 90's, and still sharp as a tack. Still able to drive herself. Still living unassisted, and managing her affairs. SHE represents West Texas, NOT some nitwit who should have peaked as "Man of the Year" by the Midland Chamber of Commerce after opening his second Western Auto store in the "suburbs." SHE has a story to tell, one that hasn't damaged the reputation of her county of origin, much less West Texas.

So, after my mom passes, the story of a young girl from West Texas will be available at the county courthouse or the museum, for the curious and those interested enough to do a little research on what life must have been like for folks living in West Texas during the first half of the twentieth century. Her story is real. The Boy's is real too...all too real, and for a small time shithead like BoyGeorge to claim West Texas as his own is a betrayal so deep, a few of us from West Texas would like to invite him NOT to set up his presidential "liberry" in Midland or Waco, but maybe up in New Haven, where he was born.

Now, don't you feel a little less disheartened? I know I do. Mom has already started writing her life story. She's been working on it for...oh, about ninety years now.

Stephen Pizzo's Piece in Alternet

2006-04-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

It's fun to read a nice, concise look at the Drugstore Cowboy. The danger of his idiocy. The shame of his ruination of American foreign policy. I don't have anything to add here, I just hope you'll click your way to Stephen Pizzo's piece, "Forrest Gump's Evil Twin" at Alternet:

Click Here to Read All About It

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AND, with thanks to Cousin Chris for the heads up, here's Rolling Stone's cover story:

THE WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY?

Medicaid Schmedicaid

2006-04-16T04:40:00.000-07:00

Oh, what a loverly Easter Gift The Boy has given to America's poorest of the poor. The "Deficit Reduction Act." Yes, older, mostly African-American and Native American folks will soon be required to provide things like birth certificates and other documentation just to continue being eligible for Medicaid. Surely, our poor and/or homeless people ALWAYS carry their passports and birth certificates with them wherever they go!

With a heads up from Slate, here's an excerpt from Robert Pear's piece in today's New York Times:

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Under the law, the Deficit Reduction Act, states cannot receive federal Medicaid money unless they verify citizenship by checking documents like passports and birth certificates for people who receive or apply for Medicaid.

In a draft letter providing guidance to state officials, the Bush administration says, "An applicant or recipient who does not cooperate with the requirement to present documentary evidence of citizenship may be denied eligibility or terminated" from Medicaid.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advocacy group, estimates that three million to five million low-income citizens on Medicaid could find their coverage at risk because they do not have birth certificates or passports.

--

full article: Medicaid Hurdle For Immigrants May Hurt Others

Copyright 2006, The New York Times Co. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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So, now the States and all the hospitals and nursing homes have a brand new layer of paperwork to wade through. And all in the name of "deficit reduction." And THIS is what we call "compassionate conservatism?" Like hell it is! Bush, his buddies, and everyone on Capitol Hill who voted for the damn thing should cancel their government-funded health insurance, sell off their assets until they become eligible for medicaid and medicare, and see how the other half lives...and dies.

Shame on this sham of a government. They deserve to be removed from office, one by one, and the sooner the better. If trying to prevent "illegal aliens" from applying for medicaid you instead put up impossible roadblocks for legal citizens to get the help they need and used to get, our government has shown its ass, and let me tell you, that is one UGLY ass! Pffffffft!

A Dark Moment, if You Please

2006-04-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Global warming, the internal combustion engine, coal, and other forms of generating electrical power. Pitiful attempts at creating hybrid cars that help in miniscule ways to cut down on fossil fuel production. And that's just here in America and across Europe. What does the future hold?

Seems simple enough. As we work to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, China, India, Pakistan, and others are growing at alarming rates, and of course they'll be sucking up as much oil as they can to improve their economies and automotive mobility. They'll also be searching for deals with Iran and others so that they can trade expertise on nuclear technology in return for favored deals on oil. It's entirely possible that these emerging nations will overwhelm greenhouse gasses to the point where our attempts at weaning ourselves from oil will more or less be pointless over the long run.

Increased global competition, along with South American oil finds, and coastal African oil finds, will continue to raise the price of oil. And of course those profits go directly to fundamentalist Middle Eastern countries with no incentive to play ball with the West, while the windfall profits play directly into new nuclear technologies, as in the case of Iran, surrounded by American troops, and Israel's nuclear weapons program. Not to mention funding radical Moslem fundamentalist agendas. And guess what? We're footing the bill.

And so, with America dragging its heels on moving towards hydrogen-powered vehicles, and at least biodiesel stop-gap measures, not to mention mass transportation, by the time we're seriously less dependent on fossil fuels, the rest of the developing world will be filling the atmosphere with more and more unregulated dirty fuels.

Do we have the luxury of time in which to save our own atmosphere? Probably not, in today's climate. So, keep a close eye on the medium term as to global warming and radical climate changes. Sorry to say, we may be on the losing side when it comes to saving our own species on this planet. Although I feel sure the planet will survive, I won't be surprised it the planet decides to chew us up and spit us out in order to preserve what's left of the Earth. "Free will" and the arrogance available to promote it in so many distorted forms remains a fundamentally strong urge for human beings. Making the planet intolerable for our species is a real possibllty in the next century. And it may be unavoidable. Time will tell. Our obvious disdain and many serious mistakes do not, in my judgment, bode well for our children in the next 50 years. Our absence, leaving them with monumental problems of climate and the pollution of our own creation is hardly a gift for the future of the human race. We oughta be ashamed, but we're not. We just continue to exacerbate the problem, and emerging nations are hungry to do so exponentially. It's a dark picture from where I stand. One that once was avoidable, but now may be too far gone to make any real difference. In truth, the planet may, in the long run, be better without us. And that's a sorry state of affairs.

Son Of "Tales From the Archives!"

2006-04-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, I admit it. A fine bout with authentic melancholia blossomed over the past few months, and among the last things I've been capable of imagining has been to put a string of sentences together that might amuse and make some sense to myself, much less to you, dear reader. And so, allow me to lazily throw a couple of stinky old nuggets your way as I try my best to regain my wits, won' t you?

By request, a sentimental favorite:

Through the Eyes of a Ten-Year-Old, 1960

From last November, for all you Tom DeCay, The "Hummer" gloaters out there:

Blood In the Water

And in a lighter vein, from last February:

Puddles Gets a Press Pass!

OH! And I'd be a bad uncle if I didn't link you to The Grand Moff's recent post:

When Drooling Superstitious Freaks Attack

(a tasty lil' ol' excerpt that's copyright 2006, Grand Moff Texan, All Rights Reserved):

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"This is just like the phony "War on Chist-mas/ians" crap. Crackerstan is useful to the right and the right has an awful lot of news to distract Crackerstan from, so they have to tell Crackerstan that they're under attack. There's nothing left of the right except a convulsive twitch and the people who know how to use it."

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And now, if ya pleez, I'm off to have a couple of double Crown on the Rox, and drive to my weekly electro-shock therapy outpatient excursion! Hmmm...I wonder what's worse - drinking and driving BEFORE day shock therapy or after? I'll let ya know...

Nuevo Laredo: Murder Capital of Texas Border Towns

2006-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

You may or may not have heard of the many journalists and others murdered just across the border from Texas in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Between bribes, governmental blind eyes, and the pressure from drug cartels, people are being killed in an effort to use the conduit of Laredo, Texas as a primary point of entry into the the United States. Unlike American journalists, these Mexican papers and reporters are risking their lives and their offices to get the word out, in the face of lip service from both sides of the border. It is failing miserably. Below is an extended excerpt from IPS on the matter. I recommend you keep a closer eye on the situation, as an example of the Mexican government's nonchalant approach to the smuggling of drugs and arms into our own country:

_____

MEXICO:
Reporters Targeted by Drug-Related Violence
Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Feb 7 (IPS) - The most dangerous place in Latin America to work as a journalist is northern Mexico, along the U.S. border, where drug traffickers threaten, kidnap and even murder reporters with impunity, according to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).

The latest incident occurred Monday evening, when several masked gunmen stormed the offices of the El Mañana newspaper in the city of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, firing assault rifles and tossing a grenade. One reporter, Jaime Orozco, was seriously injured and is in critical condition.

"What happened in El Mañana went beyond the pale and it is clear that the government is unable or unwilling, or does not know how, to confront this wave of violence against reporters and freedom of the press," Eréndira Cruz, director of the non-governmental National Centre for Social Communication, told IPS.

In its Tuesday edition, the newspaper, whose editorial director was murdered in 2004, stated in an editorial that Monday's attack was "one more page in the violence that reaches the level of terrorism." It added that "the drug trafficking problem has gotten completely out of the hands of the authorities."

The attack on El Mañana occurred in the midst of a turf war between drug trafficking gangs that has left more than 100 dead so far this year and claimed around 1,500 victims in 2005.

Twenty reporters have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, when President Vicente Fox took office, according to the Federation of Associations of Mexican Journalists and the Federation of Latin American Journalists. Nineteen journalists were killed during the term of Ernesto Zedillo (1994-2000), and 57 under the administration of Carlos Salinas (1988-1994).

Copyright 2006, IPS - Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.

Full text: Reporters Targeted by Drug-Related Violence

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You'll find the link to IPS at HMonk: Sites Worth a Vist

"Goddamn the Pusher Man"*

2006-02-02T04:40:00.000-08:00

Some of us still remember those lyrics from Steppenwolf's classic, *"The Pusher." I believe it was the first time we'd heard "goddamn" on a record! Well, it seems a fitting assessment of an administration full of oil barons that have brass balls big enough to tell America that we're all "addicted" to fossil fuels. How much bullshit can one people take, I ask you?

By now, I imagine that almost everyone has seen through the astounding absurdity of a failed oilman, surrounded by oil and other corporate predators, looking straight into the camera and telling us:

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"America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world."

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I haven't found a word yet that best describes the moment when absurdity passes its peak and simply becomes pitiful, but there it is. The pusher blaming the addicts for their addiction that he's promoted, and continues to promote day in and day out. Remember way back when, that extree warm and ozoney alerty day when The Boy decided that global warming needed "further study?" And who can dare wag their finger at an administration hellbent on lowering environmental protection standards, putting forth programs and then not funding them, and sending a crony from South Carolina to Canada as our ambassador? Canada - where we happen to get a helluva lot of oil. Is Canada unstable? Does it not make sense to tap into the best and brightest of both Canada and the US in order to invent and implement methods of actually weaning ourselves off of oil? Naw...let's send ol' David Wilkins up there and continue to play hardball with our neighbor to the north.

Hell, it's obvious that BoyGeorge's loving reference to ethanol was intended to help Republicans up for reelection in the farm belt, but this "Texan" from Connecticut can't even take a hint from Willie Nelson! BIODIESEL. I don't know...do The Dick and his Pumping Buddies have a stake in biodiesel? I'll have to check that one out...

But aside from the small laundry list of proposals, small because of the war in Iraq, the "mission creep" in Afghanistan, Katrina and the fumbling response that seems to get worse every day, huge - I mean HUGE tax cuts helping to drain the Treasury's coffers, and of course the "innovative" outsourcing of jobs which leads to the outsourcing of our own talent pool, Georgie tells us:

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"Tonight the state of our Union is strong - and together we will make it stronger."

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More than all of the political machinations, what disturbed me most about the speech was the last-minute wording of BoyGeorge's "tribute" to Coretta Scott King. It started off just fine:

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"Today our nation lost a beloved, graceful, courageous woman who called America to its founding ideals and carried on a noble dream."

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But in the definitive ending sentence of his opening words, he said:

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"...and we are grateful for the good life of Coretta Scott King."

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"Good?" Not "exemplary?" Not "inspirational?" But..."good." On the eve of Mrs. King's first wake, and the beginning of Black History Month, by golly, she led a "good life." Bush, you sorry sumbitch. Did your speechwriters struggle over how to remember Mrs. King without offending the bigots who voted for you? In my opinion, you don't deserve to sit in the back of the church, or up in the balcony at Coretta Scott King's funeral. Just stay away, won't you? Please! We don't wanna ruffle the feathers of all those grassroots UltraChristians who'd rather not mix with all the "mud people."

He may have appeared confident and cool, but come November, after people have absorbed the bumbling paper trail on Katrina first published by The Washington Post, and the Ken Lay/Jeff Skilling trial is distilled into a form that's not "too complex" for "regular folks" to understand, and all the dicey details of the Abramoff plea deal work their way through the Republican leadership, "cool" won't feel so cool. I predict an early winter this year, with "frigid" temperatures in early November, but that's just me...

Official text of the 2006 State of the Union Address.

And what "bipartisan" deficit-cutting bill passed the day after the speech? Why, The One Referred to By Rep. Waxman Right Here!

(please note: additional informational links may be added to this entry later)

Looking Forward to This Year's State of DysFunction Address

2006-01-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Gosh, it seems like just a year ago when The Boy reported to Congress and the American people on the state of the union. Today, as we watch the same, tired techniques of equating dissent with treason, co-opting programs they've done their best to kill for years, and working ever so hard to bolster those polls before Ken Lay goes to trial and Jack Abramoff gives up the goods, the Supreme Court reviews Tom DeCay's second round of gerrymandering in Texas, the effects of leaving Sharon to unilaterally decide the fate of the "road map to peace," only to have a major stroke, followed by the surprising Hamas victory in the Palestinian territories, oil and gas pipelines blowing up in Georgia during one of its coldest winters, Iran thumbing its nose at us, and all of the "progress" we've made dealing with North Korea, you remember, part of the "Axis of Evil" that came out of the blue during a previous State of the Union address...well, I can't help but take a look back at last year's Address and have a looksee at how many proposals have come to fruition since then:

Last year's post on Wubya's Address

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One of my favorite, forgotten programs was the Laura Bush, GangBuster! program BoyGeorge put forth last year. Thank goodness we've solved THAT problem!

And I know we're all just as pleased as punch that our pwezeedent has lived up to his famous quote last year:

"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else."

Yessir, and it's so heartwarming to see how the Drugstore Cowboy has reformed Social Security, the centerpiece of his second term. Hell, look at the beautiful job he and Congress did with the Medicare prescription bill! I don't think you can call that a mess, when only two dozen or so states had to pass emergency bills to make sure poor people didn't die because the federal bill, written by lobbyists most likely, just didn't seem to address their needs. No, it seems it was more important to add a new layer of bureaucracy that won't even allow for competition in purchasing bulk amounts of drugs from the drug companies. Wow, such innovation!

About the only thing that's come true since last year's Address is the state of the Judiciary. He wanted pro-life, executive branch-friendly, who gives a shit about checks and balances judges ~ and he damn well got 'em! Yippee! I can't wait to see how the Supremes behave for the next 25 years.

And so, dear readers, if, like me, you have a tough time even looking at that scrunched up mouth and that kindergarten teacher's approach to public speaking, you can count on me to download his Address from the official site, and bloviate over the BlowHard's Big Picture for 2006. Maybe this year Laura can have a sit down with all the major meth lab bigwigs in the country, and convince them to just say "no" to meth and "yes" to Pell Grants! Oops ~ we might have an itty bitty problem with funding these poor, unfortunate souls. Oh well, at least they're still livin' large on K Street.

Having Fun & Access Going Lo-Tech

2006-01-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

I suspended my DirecTV at the start of 06. Please, no hushed gasps! Yep, and down at the sweet little thrift shop I found a beautiful glass (for use in the parlor, pleez!) kerosene lamp with a new wick! Wouldn't ya know, HDepot carries Klean Heat, a fine kerosene alternative. And I live near the big hills where all the local broadcast towers are, and now that they're having to upgrade those towers to carry analog and HDef signals simultaneously, I get as good a broadcast signal as Austin's TimeLifeWarnerCableDigitalThingy. And yes ~ it's free!

What do I really miss? Why, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show of course. Don't miss CSPAN, because I can stream its audio, INCLUDING CSPAN 3. Don't miss Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, cuz I can stream her show as well. Don't miss those pesky $60 per month satellite TV bills. Don't mind knowing that Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp have one less subscriber as they maintain a virtual monopoly on global satellite television networks. Naw, that doesn't bother me at all. I could give a flying flea's fart!

So, I keep my sweet little Grundig radio tuned to KUT FM (of course, I could stream KUT at kut.org), and listen to ESPN radio when an NFL game is on cable. To me, it's like listening to the Tigers win the 68 World Series on my NEW transistor radio!

And, as for privacy and data mining, I'm not concerned. As an individual and a sole proprietor, I simply went to PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and paid for the software necessary to obtain a lifetime license (about $60.00). Now, if the NSA decides to peek in on my email, they'll have to go find out whether or not I've published my Public Key to the worldwide PGP Directory, and then they'll need to decrypt my email in order to find out whether or not that particular email was encrypted using my Public or my Private PGP key. If I used my Private key, well...too friggin' bad for the NSA!

I've also begun to change my method of payment habits. Sometimes I'll use cash, sometimes a check, sometimes a credit card, and sometimes an automatic bank draft. And I might use any combination of the above to buy anything from a BlogShares coffee mug to a thumbdrive to a pair of OshKosh B'Gosh overalls. Is he a geek? A stock broker having some fun? A farmer? Who IS this mystery man? Is he a man at all? Look, he just started a complimentary subscription to Vogue...hmmm...Aha! It's a geeky SheMale who left the big city to start an organic tomato farm! Yeah, That's The Ticket!

Pffffffft!

Feel free to bookmark HMonk: Sites Worth a Visit and start discovering how much fun you can have with a dialup, free TV, and a candle ~

Jack Splat ~ The FatCats' Pajamas!

2006-01-03T00:38:00.000-08:00

Like Jagger sang in "Street Fighting Man,"..."tell me what can a poor boy do, 'cept to sing for a rock & roll band," what can a poor SuperLobbyist do 'cept to sing for Uncle Sam? Oh Jack ~ we hardly knew ye...come to think of it, we hardly knew what you were up to.

Jack Abramoff, once the King of K Street, has a tough decision to make, now that his co-defendant, Adam Kidan, has begun to unload his own gordian knot of Tales From the BackRoom. Oh, but that's not the whole story, now is it, Jack? Before Mr. Kidan went and Konfessed, there was someone else, in a separate but related court case, now wasn't there? What WAS his name?!

OH! I remember now ~ Michael Scanlon! You remember Mikey, doncha? The former aide to Tom DeCay, ya know..."The Hummer?" Yeah, seems the smiling fella under the umbrella has already spilled his guts. Why, lookie here, Jack - you even made the pages of Science Daily.

As we gently begin our FanTabulous New Year, I just KNOW Jack Splat will do "everything within his power" to come Klean, and do the "right thing." At least, that's what the Houston Chronicle and others are expecting to happen this week.

Gosh, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, Jack. You've just ensured the complete meltdown of the Republican leadership. The Democrats didn't do it (cuz so many of them are, well - chickenshits). The Media didn't do it (they're still learning how to read from a teleprompter). They're all still catching up to you, Jack. YOU, JACK! You're my hero!

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And here's how I suspect things will come down between now and 2008:

Oh, it's gonna be a rough mid-term election for "Bush Country" Republicans up for reelection. My, my, my...it could even change the balance in the Senate! Goodness gracious me, who's gonna be there to stymie all the investigations, huh?

The Republican majority in the House is sure to get a bit slimmer. And the BlowHards are gonna have to tone things down between now and November. What a cryin' shame.

Should November turn out to be the nightmare I've always dreamed it would be, I believe that The Dick will decide to resign the Vice Presidency sometime in early 2007, for "health reasons," much like folks did way back in them Soviet Union daze.

In a final attempt to display "integrity and leadership," I imagine that BoyGeorge will appoint someone like, say...Senator Elizabeth Dole. Ah yes, the woman who helped ruin the American Red Cross. You remember Libby's Oprah-like, staged informal chat session with all the friendly folks at the 1996 Republican Convention, don't you? It was sooooooooo realistic, in a kind of unrealistic way. And finally, I look forward to that day in January, 2009, when The Boy limps out of office, stops by Crawford on his way to Kennebunkport, and maybe stops for High Mass, has a taste of The Blood, and won't let go of the communion tray, popping shot after shot of that sacred wine, finally losing it, and running from the cathedral shouting, "The Power of Krist Compelled Me!"

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So, thanks Jack. You're a real pal...(ahem)... WERE a great pal.

____________________
UPDATE: 12:30 p.m., CST ~

Abramoff pleads guilty

In the words of sportscaster Barry Tompkins, "How do you like it? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!" Oh ~ somebody PINCH ME! Lookie here at what the LA Times reported a short time ago:

(by LATimes staff writer, Walter F. Roche, Jr.)

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" Abramoff's plea opens up the prospect that he could begin unraveling for prosecutors a web of ties with members of Congress that has for weeks kept officials Washington on edge.

Abramoff would presumably present evidence about favors he provided to some members of Congress and their aides."

Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times. All rights reserved. Used here for contextual purposes only.

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Read all about it in the Los Angeles Times.

Whee!...

To The Board of Directors, A.S.P.O.A., and Pioneer Property Management Company, as of Jan. 7th, 2006

2006-01-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

It's January 7th, do you know what day it is? I'm terribly sorry, but time's run out for any friendly negotiations regarding the ASPOA's 2005 Annual Meeting ballot, especially concerning the "ASSESSMENT" that, for the first time in Apache Shores' history, was billed on a PER LOT basis, rather than a PER IMPROVED LOT basis. From today forward, please remember that any communication between The Apache Shores Property Owners Association and/or Pioneer Property Management Company MUST be lawyer-to-lawyer, as far as dealing with yours truly is concerned.

Forgot to bookmark the old Apache Shores Warrior page? NO PROBLEM!

THE APACHE SHORES WARRIOR

Thank yew...

HMonk

UPDATE, DECEMBER, 2006: After reviewing the assessment by the ASPOA on a "per lot" basis with my attorney, I've discovered that that the vote to change from "per improved lot" as clearly spelled out years prior to the above-mentioned vote on a "per lot" basis may indeed be what is legally referred to as a "contractual issue." If that's true, and it carries any weight, there may still be a chance to throw the "per lot assessment" right out the back door, and I'll be more than glad to stand there and keep the door open...JW

___________

(note: original post date changed to make "Jack Splat" listed as most recent)

Frank Rich Wishes You & Yours the Very Best of Holidaze Wishes!

2005-12-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

I knew it, I knew it! I've been keeping my fingers crossed, and sure enough, Frank Rich wrote on OpEd piece for the New York Times, exposing the "myth of the war on Christmas." Not only that, but the excerpt below includes a text link to Michelle Goldberg's piece at www.salon.com. Who could ask for more than that on this, the holiest of days? Now, I ask you ~ WHO?!

Happy reading, as the kidz say...

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(From Frank Rich's column, today)

Secularists, Jews, mainline Protestants and all the other grinches failed utterly to take Kriss Kringle down. Except at those megachurches that canceled services today rather than impede their flocks' giving and gorging, Christmas is alive and well everywhere in America. Last night NBC even rolled the dice and broadcast "It's a Wonderful Life" in prime time. With courage reminiscent of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's defiance of Stalin, the network steadfastly refused to redub the final scene's cries of "Merry Christmas!" with the godless "Happy holidays!"

As Michelle Goldberg wrote last month in her definitive debunking for Salon, there was in fact no war on Christmas, but rather "a burgeoning myth of a war on Christmas." Most of the grievances cited by Christmas's whiniest protectors - red and green banned from residents' wardrobes in Michigan, "Silent Night" censored in Wisconsin - were either anomalous idiocies or suburban legends. The calls for boycotts against chain stores with heathen holiday trees lost their zing when it turned out that even George and Laura Bush's Christmas card had called for a happy "holiday season."

Entire Frank Rich column, "I Saw Jackie Mason Kissing Santa Claus" (requires TimesSelect)

Copyright 2005, The New York Times Co. All rights reserved

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Oh, how I hope John Fibson and every talking head at Faux Snewz chokes on their egg nog today!

And a Merry UnChristmas to All You UnChristians
thanx 4 the pic, Val

Mary Christmas & A Hippie New Ear, Everyone!

2005-12-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. Ya got yer basic Pat Robertson, yer Bill O'Really, and yer basic John Fibson at Faux Snewz tellin' us ALL about that nasty "war on Christmas." Did you happen to catch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week? When he showed O'Really's claim that both Plano, Texas schools and Saginaw, Michigan had banned Christmas colors or some other equally clueless thing? It got so bad in Plano that the superintendent of schools had to call all the parents to let them know Buh-Bill was talkin' out of his hat! And I hear it was Big News in Saginaw! Fake News...kinda like The Daily Show - Now THAT'S! what I call the XXX-Mas Spirit ~

From Nicholas Kristof's OpEd piece today, here's a prime quote from Mr. Bill:

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(I'm tempted to think that Mr. O'Reilly is actually a liberal plant, meant to discredit conservatives. Think about it. Who would be a better plant than a self-righteous bully in the style of Father Coughlin or Joe McCarthy? What better way to caricature the right than by having Mr. O'Reilly urge on air that the staff of Air America be imprisoned: "Dissent, fine; undermining, you're a traitor. Got it? So, all those clowns over at the liberal radio network, we could incarcerate them immediately. Will you have that done, please? Send over the F.B.I. and just put them in chains, because they, you know, they're undermining everything.")

Kristof's "A Challenge for Bill O'Reilly" (Times Select required)

Copyright 2005, The New York Times Co. All rights reserved

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So, I'll say it...you can't stop me...hell, here I come, dammit ~ MERRY FREAKIN' CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD GESUNDHEIT!

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Are you like me? Would you enjoy copying and pasting some lovely, warm and unfuzzy pictures from the DrugstoreCowboy's "family album" for yourself and your friends? I'll just betcha you are! So, here's a fine, fine, slow to load, but worth every penny, link to one of my favorite, unappreciated Web Humorists ~ we're talkin' fantabulous fotos here! Click your way to:

The Wizard of Whimsy!

...and hang with the Wizard for a few. Might bring a smile to your face. Seeya in 06!

HMonk