The Senator Has A Little Accident....

This is an incredible encounter last year between a reporter in the Green Zone in Baghdad and John McCain when he went for his fabled walk outside of the Green Zone with an armed escort in a flack jacket to prove how everything was just peachy and getting better every day in every way! (if you recall, shortly after the Seanator was wisked away, a bomb blast leveled the market and killed 21 people) This story comes from the TBR News Organization and is one of the scariest things I have read in a long time and it's pathetically ridiculous to boot! It seemed a perfect opportunity to recycle this image from March of last year.

"There is nothing new here to report. The troops are clearing out one nest of patriots only to have them move down the road. The DoD is fudging on the death tolls and they never mention the lunatics, the drug use or the semi-mutinous grunts, the constant attacks on the Green Zone with mortars and rockets and so on, and on. I am considered useful so I get to stay here. At least I get good food and relative safety unlike the foot troops. Now, the nutty Cheney wants to hive off more troops to invade Pakistan to help out their vanishing dictator. Never happen, Dick. And here is just a personal vignette of an experience I and my psychologist buddy had with the Republican probable nominee, Senator McCain. He came here, as you might know, to “inspect the situation.” Jesus, what a farce! There he was, walking around a marketplace with more armed guards than Bush has, and wearing a huge bullet-proof vest. Anyway, after he “inspected” the market, he came to the Green Zone for some rigged conference with the lying generals. My buddy and I were going to visit another friend when we saw guards, etc, in front of a rec room door. Curious, we went into another unguarded room, opened several doors and guess what? There was the Senator all by himself, sitting on a folding chair by a card table. We were a little awed so I said ‘Hello, Senator. Sorry to bother you.” He looked at us like we were cows and kept blinking. Finally, he smiled and said, ‘Hey, there, soldiers! How is it going? Is it going good?” and my friend the shrink said, “Why yes, Senator. Everything is great!” And McCain smiled at nothing and looked around the room.

“Well…I’m glad to hear it. You are the General?” And I said, a little sarcastically, “Why no, Senator, not quite yet.” And he looked at me like I was a sheep or something, smiling s silly smile. “Oh” he said to the table, “Let’s hope it gets a little cooler here. Have you been here long?” My friend said, “Too long Senator.” “Why that’s good, General,” the Senator replied to the ceiling. Then his lips moved but he said nothing. He looked up and smiled. My wife’s grandfather did just that. And the Senator may have been sitting right near us but believe me, he was somewhere else. Then he began a conversation with someone who wasn’t there and my friend took my arm and said, “I think we should get the hell out of here,” and we started to go back the way we came when some civilian came in. “It’s time to go to the meeting, John,” but McCain just smiled and kept on talking to the table. The civilian said, “All right, gentlemen, time to go. The Senator is very tired and has jet lag.” And when we left, the Senator was talking complete nonsense. Later, one of the staff personnel told both of us that the Senator had “a little accident” and he had to change his pants. Jesus H. Christ! This nut is going to be a President? My friend, who is a pro, said he was very obviously suffering from pre-Alzheimer’s and believe me, although I am not trained, this one was a pure space case. They must know this. I guess they give him a shot of something before he gets out in public but if you saw him with a vacant stare, talking to himself, you would not have to be a professional shrink to know that putting this pathetic man into the Oval Office would be a worse mistake than putting Bush in. At least as far as we know, Bush doesn’t talk to the walls and wet himself.”

Eeeeyikes!

Worthless or Worth Less?

Every day I watch in fascinated horror as the value of my American dollars which I take out of the ATM Machines here in France dwindles. As of today, the value of one US Dollar is a mere 49 centimes. Back in the 90's, the dollar was worth something! I remember when my dollars were worth about 1,30 Euros. When the Euro was first introduced, the Euro and the dollar were fairly equal in value.

Now, the news here always has features of French tourists in New York shopping. Yes, the cost of living is dramatically rising here as well. The big news story of the week is the astromnomical rise in food prices in the last year. For name brands, the price has increased as much as 48%.

We pay a lot more for fuel because of taxes. It is sold by the liter and would probably work out to over 6 dollars a gallon with the present adjustment for exchange.
But in the USA, I read that the price for regular gas will hit $4.00 a gallon this spring! This must be affecting all of those who actuually have to deal with thinking about the cost of things. In other words, the middle class and the poor.

I really wonder what is behind the strategy of the Federal Reserve Board? Today I read a piece about Republican Congressman Ron Paul commenting to Ben Bernake, the Chairman of the federal Reserve.

In the article, Congressman Ron Paul slammed Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke during a House Financial Services Committee meeting yesterday for following a policy of deliberately destroying the dollar and wiping out the American middle class.

Paul held Bernanke to task over his refusal to address the decline of the dollar and its clear link to inflation.

"Inflation comes from the unwise increase in the supply of money credit....to argue that we can continue to debase the currency, which is really the policy of that you're following, purposely debasing value of currency - which to me seems so destructive....it just puts more pressure on the federal reserve to create capital out of thin air in order to stimulate the economy and usually that just goes into mal-investment," said Paul.

Paul highlighted the fact that the M3 money supply was rising at a rate of 16 per cent and that this was the real rate of inflation.

"History is against you," Paul told Bernanke, "History is on the side of hard money - if you look at stable prices you have to look at the only historic sound money that's lasted more than a few years - fiat money always ends, gold is the only thing where you get stable prices," he added, pointing out that despite the price of oil's rapid ascent, it had remained flat when compared to the price of gold.

"I cannot see how we can continue to accept the policy of deliberately destroying the value of money as an economic value," said Paul, adding that the policy was "immoral," and would lead to a reduction in American's living standards and "the middle class being wiped out."

Asked how he could defend a policy of deliberately depreciating the dollar, Bernanke stumbled through his response and was basically forced to agree with Paul's point.

Paul's comments came on the day that the dollar hit its all time low against the Euro.

Earlier this week, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan laid the groundwork for the further collapse of the greenback by encouraging Gulf states to abandon their dollar peg.

A History Of Evil

I found this little video by Ole-Magnus Saxegarde on YouTube to be most entertaining and a really brilliant piece of Primitive Flash Animation.
In the artist's own words:

"The film was intended to show what people have believed in and pointed to as evil throughout history. It was meant to get you to think about what evil really is. It is meant to show that when we get too obsessed with "evil" we might end up taking part in it ourselves.

One has to separate evil and human cruelty. Human cruelty is people not being nice to one another. Evil is soemthing else, it is something we have created, a word and a concept for things that are not acceptable. It is a label for things that we do not understand and dont want to understand.

But is evil really ever a complete explanation for anything?

A lot of bad deeds has been done in the name of good. The people that did them meant good, are they evil?"

Stolen Ideas

In the 1970's I saw a number of my aquaintances get hooked by what I felt was a bizarre cult, Scientology. I started to see Scientology recruiters every where, on college campuses and even at rock concerts. One day soon after I had moved to New York City in the late 70's, I was walking on Broadway near 34th Street and the sky suddenly opened up and I was in a sudden downpour. I had a few blocks to walk to my truck and I was surprised by a short guy who whipped out an umbrella and put it up and said to me to get under it. One is always wary of over friendly guys with umbrellas in Manhattan. I told him I had to walk to 8th Avenue and he said "No Problem"...then the conversation took a turn for the worse.. The little weasel was a Scientology recruiter and started to feed me his propaganda....I froze, looked at him, said "See ya!" and sprinted 2 blocks in the pouring rain happy to have escaped with my mind!
Today, I discovered a post on a forum named Eturbulation.org which has an entire pamphlet from Germany written in 1934 about a cult named Scientologie.
It outlines much of the same gobbledeegook that L. Ron Hubbard claimed as his own work in his books on Scientolgy years later.
Scientolgy has been banned in Australia and on the verge of a ban in Germany. It is a manipulative organization that tries to garner power and influence.. They want their own "state". It can and has had very destructive effects on many people. It's alarming that it can exert an influence and get huge amounts of donations from the very wealthy. In the heavy college campus recruitment phase of the 1970's, they gave out a questionaire that if looked at analytically, one could see the ways it appealed to the insecurities that plague us poor confused humans. If you were a poor schnook and got suckered in, you were just fodder, at the same time, if you were a wealthy, talented individual, and fell for the mind massage, the treatment was different but still designed to separate you from your wallet so you could attain the next level of "superior development".
The pamphlet was scanned and it reveals the origin of the plagirized theophysics that L.Ron Hubbard based his mind controlling power trip scam on.

Rainin' In Paradize

I love the Spanish artist Manu Chao and here is a clip directed by one of the greatest directors working today, the Serbian, Emir Kustarica.
This is a piece from his last CD, Radiolina

A superstar practically everywhere except the United States, Spaniard Manu Chao writes political anthems ideal for crowds of hundred thousands in soccer stadiums and central plazas. However the songs work at home, in earphones, or small scale protests as well. To reflect his political concerns about poverty and globalization, he mashes together styles from Latin America and West Africa with punk rock, Spanish flamenco, and sonic collages(there are a lot of sirens on this album). The 21 songs on La Radiolina repeat several musical themes changing up the lyrical subjects and languages. The stand out on the cd is Me Llaman Calle, a melodic and thoughtful song about the hard lives of prostitutes(written for the excellent Spanish film Princesas about Dominican immigrant women in Madrid).

Rainin'In Paradize is a poppy anti Imperialist/anti Iraq War Anthem.

Define Patriotism, Please.

This was a poll on CNN's website yesterday. It accompanied an article by
Nedra Pickler entitled, "Conservatives Say Obama Lacks Patriotism". The gist of the piece seems to center about displays of loyalty, such as the required official made in China American Flag lapel pin. By this standard, the conservative noise machine degrades concern and involvement with your country into a ritualized conspicuous show of outward signs of mass conformity.

Of course it was nothing but a smear piece, and Ms. Pickler even has the nerve to quote as her source, Republican "consultant", Roger Stone, the brilliant mind behind the Anti Hillary Clinton 527 organization, C.U.N.T., that's: Citizens United Not Timid (To Educate The American People About What Hillary really Is)

What is the most disgusting to me is the fact that CNN dared to run a poll that only spread a false assumption. What if they had ran a poll that asked, "Is John McCain Really Insane?" or "Is President Bush Still An Alcoholic?" This is a throwback to the days of McCarthy, when someones loyalty to their country could be questioned by smear and innuendo.

This is not about Barack Obama's Patriotism. What is Patriotism as defined by these critics? An unquestioning acceptance of what ever direction the leaders of your country decide to pursue whether you feel it is right or not? Keeping your mouth shut and not criticizing the power in charge? Blindly following the herd and displaying the the outward symbols of obedience, subservience and loyalty?
Sorry, sounds too much like being a good German to me!

America did not arise from blind obedience and it will not survive if it falls to it.

Here's a couple of portraits of great American Patriots proudly sporting their lapel flag pins and gosh, aren't they the kind of guys who's upstnding American ideals bring a tear to your eye!
Randy Duke Cunningham, gee Randy, I hope the pin doesn't get rusty while you are doing time.

Oh, here's a flashy photo of Bob Ney (R-OH), tanned and very patriotic in his blue suit with his official United States Patriot lapel pin. I hope he gets a chance to wear the blue suit again in public after he finishes his prison sentence for defrauding the United States Government.

Former Governor of Ohio is dressed to impress with his regulation flag lapel pin. He just pleaded guilty to multiple misdemenors. I hope the judge is swayed by his patriotic display when he is sentenced!


Finally, in our gallery of satorial proper patriotic displays, we have
Senator Larry Craig posing for his mug shot after he was set up by unpatriotic bathroom police in the Milwaulkee Airport. He looks doubley patriotic, don't you think?

HE'S BACK....

Every 4 years he rises from his crypt, hungry...Every 4 years he appears to suck the blood out of the Democratic Party Presidential Campaign, then sated he sinks back into oblivion.

Seriously, the man handed us George Bush in 2000 and helped again in 2004.
He used to stand for something and battled against the power of the big corporations.
When was the last time you heard anything from him about consumer advocacy?
He seems to be resting on his laurels and feeding his ego by making himself the nagging virus of presidential campaigns!

At least Ron Paul and Dennis Kuchinich went through the motions of doing things to present their ideas top the American people and participated in an admittedly flawed process, but they did it and then withdrew. This guy has done nothing. If he was so concerned with the problems in the political world, where has he been when he isn't busy trying to be president? When does his advocacy start to look like lunacy?

Ralph Nader doesn't deserve to be in a debate with Obama, Clinton or McCain.
He doesn't need your votes, the man needs intervention!

Casse Toi Pauvre Con!

Yesterday at the Salon de Agriculture, where most french politicians traditionally go to meet the people and be seen fondling farm animals, President Nicolas Sarkozy paid a brief visit, surrounded by security.

In the rush through the crowd to his prearranged photo ops, he shook some hands.
One fellow, echoing more and more, the sentiments of the French populace, shrunk from the Presidents sweaty touch saying "Ah, non, touch moi pas" (Don't touch me!)
Sarkozy in his normal frenzied manic state, aggresively barked, "Casse toi, alors, pauvre con!" a very loose translation, but carrying the same vulgar aggression : Get lost you pathetic asshole!

This got captured on a cell phone video and now it has had as of 21:30 CET, over 240,000 hits on YouTube! No matter what Sarkozy thought he was going to do tomorrow, this is all that the rest of France will be talking about. That and the prices for basics in the big stores increasing almost 40% across the board....

You really get the feeling that he meant it when he said that he expected to only have one term. He seems to have an agenda of destroying social gains made under the Socialist party with what ever it takes. The richest are getting much richer and the middle class are getting...poor.
This should be good for another point or two loss in his ratings!

The Politics Of Fear

Watch this clip from Fox News this morning as Bill Kristol explains how Hillary has to confront Obama to win.

KRISTOL: [Obama’s] riding a wave of euphoria. She [Clinton] needs to puncture it. The way you puncture euphoria is reality, or to be more blunt, fear. I recommend to Senator Clinton the politics of fear

Kristol explained that his fear-mongering political strategy would focus on Iran. He recommended that Clinton say the following about Obama: “He wants to negotiate on January 21st with Ahmadinejad. Here’s what Ahmadinejad has said about blowing up Israel.”
Kristol has invested heavily in a strategy of convincing policymakers to bomb Iran. Here’s some examples of what Kristol has advocated:

– “We could in a military confrontation with Iran much sooner than people expect.”

– The Iranian people would embrace “the right use of targeting military force.”

– President Bush “could easily build political support” for an attack on Iran “at the beginning of 2008.”

Because the concept of engaging Iran is a threat to Kristol’s agenda, he appears desperate to do all he can to delegitimize the idea of negotiation. As Kristol’s Fox News colleage Juan Williams has said, all Kristol wants is “war, war, war.”

Hey! Little Buddy!

Hey. Little Buddy, psst, Anonymous, over here, I wanna show you sumthin!

Here's the movewment that can potentially unite conservative and liberals....
Uhhh...wait a minute, March 19th is a Wednesday? I think there is a problem here. Now if we could just make it a Monday, the 17th or the 25th, maybe I could get behind it.
Let's ask my little buddy, Anonymous!
Anonymous, honestly, what do you think? Too many sick days already this year?

John McCains Friends

In this video, film maker, Robert Greenwald from Brave New Films tells you who exactly John McCains friends are and who they represent!

L'Accordeoniste

Here is a video of Edith Piaf from a 1954 Television show. This huge voice from this tiny woman. I know the Bio Pic which I reviewed last March, La Mome is up for an Academy Award.

Maybe this is a good time to try to give some background on the French Political Theater. It's confusing to everyone!
When we last left our Hyper President, the miniscule Nicolas Sarkozy, he was on top of the world. He was freshly elected and ready to roll back France to the days before the May 68 Socialist Revolution. He was enjoying high approval ratings and trying to present himself as the new Camelot with his wife Celia as our surrogate Jackie Kennedy.

His phrase, "Work More, Earn More" was on everyones lips. People believed he was going to turn the economy around and ease the burden on the middle class.
In only a few short months, the reality is really: Work More, Pay More, or Else!
In the last few months 5 major French corporations have closed down shop here to go elsewhere. Suddenly, you have to pay more for prescriptions, the big chain stores have raised prices on a lot of basic food items by at least one third!

The government tells us with figures to prove that the average costs are really going down. They are basing their figures on the ever cheaper prices for electronic goods and luxury items. Because the government will not compromise on fuel taxes, we are paying 1,20 Euros a liter for diesel at the cheap gas stations!

The lawyers and judges have all gone on strike because of a government cost cutting program that would close court houses all over France. There were videos of judges being beat up by the CRS on television during the protests. Almost every segment of society has been on strike in the last few months, including the taxis and air traffic controllers.

Sarko has been making statements to appease the Far Right Religious wing about doing away with the 1905 Laws to separate church and state. This has made every one very nervous and angry.
He tried at the same time to pander to the Jewish population by starting a program that would require every 10 year ols school kid to symbolically "adopt"a child who was deported from france during the Holocaust. This also made every one mad including the Jews who felt it was degrading and condescending.

Meanwhile, in reality, families are being separated and children are being pulled out of schools by police and being deported if they are irregulars. The hardships this has has caused has been labled a human rights violation by Amnesty International.

He pandered to Kadhaffy...when he travels to another country, as his recent trips to China and India, it is not for diplomatic reasons but as a glorified salesman to seal deals for the top Corporations.

Then there is his personal life. Soon after his trip to the USA and meeting Bush, Celia filed for divorce. Three weeks later, it was annouced that he was involved with the ex modle and lousy singer, Carla Bruni, who is Italian Nobility. Carla was last involved with Laurent Fabius of the Socialist Party. She was an ex girlfriend of bot Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. Before you know it, they are traveling together and then in a low key ceremony, married.

A top magazine, Le Nouvelle Observateur released a piece of gossip on the internet stating that Nicolas begged Celia to come back to him and offered to pay her. He flipped out wqith this and is now suing the magazine.

Meanwhile, he has 2 sons from his first marriage, before Celia who are in their 20's.
One, an aspiring actor named Jean who was about to embark on the best carreer his daddy could buy for him, was yanked from his first major play a week before it was to open because his father wanted him to go into politics to sabotage the campaign of his ex wife's Celia's favorite, his official spokes person who had been "parachuted" into the mayors race in a district of Paris where Sarkozy had been mayor. The 22 year old Jean is not an experienced figure and the entire episode backfired and he found himself a laughing stock.

The other son. Pierre Sarkozy, has kept a low profile working as a hip hop/rap gansta artist and producer named Mosey. In fact most people had no idea who Mosey really was until last week, when Papa got Mosey to produce the new album of failed Sarkozy supporting Rap artist, Doc Gyneco. This was annonced in the magazines last week and Mosey was "outed" and is being treated as the rich priveleged kid he is who is trying to be street cool by associating with the minority artists his father is responsible for creating the repressive conditions that inspires their material.

Sarko is tanking. His ratings hit 38% today and are in a downward spiral heading for George Bush numbers, but instead of taking a few years to get there, it's taken Sarko only a few months.

A number of very prominent politicians have formed a coalition that crosses party lines including Segolene Royal and Francois Bayrou to oppose his autocratic anti constitutional style.

The government is already shaking from scandals and he is scheduled to take over the European Union Presidency next month(it is a rotating position)His pronouncements on immigration have angered much of Europe and the opposition has started already. England just announced it is going to issue over a million new passports to regularize illegal immigrants in direct defiance of Sarkozy's rhetoric.

Sarko has gone from top of the world to being one of the most universally despised government figures since Jean-Marie LePen.
The top news paper in Spain ran an editorial last week saying that Sarkozy was over.
Stay tuned!

It's All Right!

Why am I thinking about Curtis Mayfield? So much great inspiring music from this man starting in the very early 60's. He wrote some of the great black pride anthems of that time, crossing the lines between Gospel, Rock, Rythmn and Blues and Funk.
Everyone has heard the classic Impressions hit, People Get Ready.
This is a performance from 1988 of his 1964 hit "It's All Right"
Soon after, Curtis was seriously injured at a live outdoor show in Brooklyn when a lighting rig collapsed during a wind storm. He spent the last 7 years of his life paralyzed but kept recording and issuing great music.
I'm looking for some of his live shows, he was always great in person with a band that was very latino percussion oriented. A Truly Unique American Master!

We Will Not Be Blocked!

Early voting started Tuesday in Texas. In Waller County, a primarily rural county about 60 miles outside Houston, the county made the decision to offer only one early voting location: at the County Courthouse in Hempstead, TX, the county seat.

Prairie View A&M students organized to protest the decision, because they felt it hindered their ability to vote. For background, Prairie View A&M is one of Texas' historically Black universities. It has a very different demographic feel than the rest of the county. There has been a long history of dispute over what the students feel is disenfranchisement. There was a lot of outrage in 2006, when students felt they were unfairly denied the right to vote when their registrations somehow did not get processed.

According to an article in the Houston Chronicle,

"Waller County has faced numerous lawsuits involving voting rights in the past 30 years and remains under investigation by the Texas Attorney General's Office based on complaints by local black leaders. Those allegations, concerning the November 2006 general election, related to voting machine failures, inadequate staffing and long delays for voting results."

The article adds:
"I was angry after registering to vote in the 2006 election only to be turned away at the voting booth," said sophomore Dee Dee Williams."

So what did the students do?

1000 students, along with an additional 1000 friends and supporters, walked the 7.3 miles between Prairie View and Hempstead in order to vote. The students planned to all vote Tuesday. There are only 2 machines available at the courthouse for early voting, so they hoped to tie them up all day and into the night.

Above is the video, and what did the students accomplish?

The day closed yesterday with:

Rep: 82 voters
Dem: 472 voters

In a county that votes for Republicans in large numbers, this number is HUGE!!!!

Also, in Austin County, the race was almost equal yesterday. That is HUGE information because Republicans normally out vote Democrats (at least in primaries) at the rate of 10-to-1.

Stolen Honor?

Here's a picture that's getting scrubbed from some sensitive websites. The lovely lobbyist, Vicki Iseman and President George W. Bush take some time out to pose for a photo. Vicki is a prominent lobbyist for a right wing media group wich produced the 2004 John Kerry Smear Job, Stolen Honor, which tried to destroy his campaign by casting doubts on his patriotism and service in Vietnam.
Today, Vicki's pics and bio was scrubbed from the pages of Paxon Communications, her employer.

Pimp My Candidate

The campaigns of John McCain and Hillary Clinton are both in different stages of panic today as Barack Obama steamrolls ahead of both of them in every poll. The pundits and commentators glibly use the term Barackorama. The critics and mudslingers are beginning to refer to it in cult like terms.
Karl Rove is staying up past his bedtime worrying that there is something happening that he just doesn't understand. It's been a long time since Americans actually have been able to get excited over a candidate. If you are a Republican, it's scary, it's down right freaky. They're doin' something and we don't like it.
Maybe it's time for John McCain to embrace his inner Iceberg Slim. Trade in that straight talkin express he's been riding around in and get it chopped and have a leopard skin vinyl roof with a suntop installed.
It's time to Pimp Your Candidate!

First Signs

(Please click on the pictures to enlarge them!)This post is for some of my blogging friends who asked if I could post some pictures of where I live. It's still more than a month until spring begins, but winter has been exceptionally mild here. I have been cleaning the garden and weeding. I just finished turning the earth around my raspberries. All summer, I put grass clippingss on the soil and turn it under in the late fall, then all winter, I put the fireplace ashes on the soil and turn it under in late winter. When I fork the earth, it turns up all the hibernating larvae of the pests which I can't see, but the hungry birds can!

Every where I look, I see the beginnings of new life on all of the plants. The willows are beginning to glow green. If you look closely at the buds of the new growth on the raspberries, you will see the beginnings of leaves getting ready to burst forth.
There is still frost on the ground in the morning but the wild pale yellow primroses are already beginning to bloom.
Soon the cuckoos, another form of wild primrose are going to start. In the garden, the dafodils and dutch irises are already blooming.
Soon, all the camelias will be in flower and every morning a more and more violets. I don't recall seeing hellebore too frequently in the States, but they seem to thrive here and start blooming in January.
I have been able to do some biking because of the mild temperatures. I am not one of these guys who can stand to bike in freezing weather. What I like to do in all kinds of weather is hike. Lately I have discovered a few new trails across the valley and to the top of the next ridge. I have been doing that almost every day for the last 3 months and it is fascinating to see the gradual change of the seasons. On the West side of the hills, spring is almost arrived. In the shadows in the valleys, the frost never melts. In about 1 and a half months, the first wild orchids will begin to appear. The last picture is a shot of the valley and the forested hill where my favorite trails are...

Hitler On Ice!

In a rather bizarre news item on BBC today, was a report of a 104 year old Dutch cabaret singer, Johannes Heesters who is beginning his "comeback" tour after being unable to perform since the end of the 2nd World War. It seems that Heesters was quite popuular with the Germans and performed for Hitler and earned millions during the war as a popular entertainer. He was never banned from thge stage, but because of his collaboration, he was booed off the stage everytime he attempted to perform in the Netherlands after the war.It seems that he has lived long enough to see the memory and the outrage fade.
It seems that the evil of the Nazi Era has tarnished with age and the attrocities we have witnessed in the last 65 years have put a veil of respectability over the Third Riech. Their insanity has become banal. We live in an era with Neo Nazi Movements springing up all over Europe and active in America.
The term Nazi and the name Hitler is tossed about with abandon by those who want to instantly smear something beyond their understanding.
The Republican Presidential Candidates seem to be as exciting to the general public as 4 old white guys waiting to tee off at a segregated country club. The voters have responded in kind, witness the lackluster turn out in the Republican primaries.
What do Republican pundits do when faced with this kind of sleepwalking response, especially when they are confronted with the real excitement of the phenomenon of Barack Obama? A real ground swell of enthusiasm, creativity and ideals that seems to be able to cut across class, gender and racial divides? What do they do when they see real passion in a crowd cheering for a candidate that can inspire?
Tom Sullivan of FOX Radio News knows!

On the February 11 broadcast of Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan Show, host Tom Sullivan took a call from a listener who stated: "Listening to [Sen. Barack] Obama ... it harkens back to when I was younger and I used to watch those deals with [Nazi dictator Adolf] Hitler, how he would excite the crowd and they'd come to their feet and scream and yell." Sullivan replied: "Oh, yeah, yeah ... I presume you're not saying he's Hitler, but I understand your point." Following the commercial break, Sullivan stated the caller "wasn't calling Barack Obama Hitler. He was just talking about how Hitler got the crowd all excited, and Barack Obama got the crowd all excited." Sullivan then stated that he would do a "side-by-side comparison" of a Hitler speech and an Obama speech. Sullivan then introduced the "comparison" by stating: "So, ladies and gentlemen, from the past, a little archive, a little walk down Der Fuehrer's memory lane. Here he is, the one, the only, Adolf Hitler!" Sullivan proceeded to play a clip of a Hitler speech, followed by Obama's February 9 speech at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond, Virginia. Sullivan mimicked the crowd during both speeches, yelling, "Yay! Yay!"

It's pretty obvious that the Grand Old Party of senile white guys see something happening and they don't know what it is and what ever it is, they don't like it!


The video of Der Furher on skates is from Mel Brooks "History of the World" it is the promo for Part 2.

The Spies Who Love You

Brilliant Mark Fiore animation.
Snuggly Bear explains why our government loves us so much that they just have to spy on us!

BOOTSY

I can't help myself. This is the guy I always wanted to be when and if I grew up!
Mr. Bootsy Collins, Bootzilla with his space bass back in the late 70's Stretchin Out With His Rubber Band!

Mass Murder By Prescription

On February 14th at Northern Illinois University, Steven Kazmierczak opened fire on a class of students in a lecture hall, killing 7 and wounding 18. This was another shocking act of senseless violence in a long line of senseless violence committed by seemingly harmless individuals.
There was the Kansas shopping mall shootings, the Virginia Tech Massacre and that is only the tip of the iceberg. The debate has centered on gun control and the ease with wich people who are bent on committing acts such as these can get guns. The gun lobbyist push the line that if all Americans were armed, then they couuld protect themselves from these "nuts". I don't even want to go there.
Instead, I'd like to put forth another rational altogether for the proliferation of seemingly irrational violent acts which have plagued America since the late 1980's.
I'm including the Columbine High School Massacre as well.
What links these violent acts? What do the perpetratators all seem to have in common?
One after another, when I read the bios of the shooters, one fact stands out.. They were all diagnosed with forms of depression and under prescription for Prozac or another related psycho active sedative.
Prozac was brought to the market as a wonder drug. The easy magic way to end depression. It became the most over prescribed drug in history. Meanwhile, in the rush to bring it to market by the E. I. Lilley Corporation, studies on the side effects were ignored and plastered over with protocols regarding the monitoring of the patients.
The links provided tell of tragic stories of suicides and violent rampages triggered by the use of Prozac.
One of the most tragic tales is the story of the 13 year old American Indian boy in Red Lake, Minnesota who massacred his classmates in a reservation school house.
He had been diagnosed as severely depressed after his parents were involved in a car crash that killed his father and left his mother in a coma. He was prescribed Prozac by a government clinic at the reservation and when the dosage didn't seem to be working it was doubled to twice the recommendation. The black box warning stated that this level of medication had to be monitored by a psychiatrist weekly. After the massacre, it was found that it had been months since he had been examined.
If this is the case, and it is proven that the over prescription and unmonitored use of Prozac is the cause of these violent incidents because E.I Lilley pushed to get this drug on the market and in general usage, putting caution behind the greed for profits, they have an awful lot of blood on their hands!

We Believe In Magic!

Apparantley, five times as many Americans think the sun revolves around the earth as believe that Oil Companies and HMO's are honest.
That is the conclusion that could be drawn from the latest Harris Poll which inquired into exactly what do Americans believe?
The numbers are 21% of Americans polled believed the sun revolved around the earth and less than 15% believed in the honesty of oil companies, HMO's, pharmeceutical companies, insurance corporations and the phone company.
According to the Harris Poll organization, these basic numbers have held steady for the last 5 years.
Were members of the American Congress included in this survey?
It would seem that it should be obvious, that if you were to vote on a bill about stem cell research, perhaps it would be helpful to know what a cell was....

Gateau au Chocolate

I should have published this yesterday because I made this gateau yesterday for Valentines Day. This is very simple and very good! Guaranteed results, take my word for it!
An important note. I have found that I have my best results when I use a ceramic cake pan. This is made in a shallow pan 24 cm in diameter.
Butter the pan lightly..preheat your oven to 300 farenheit (150 centigrade)
In a large saucepan on the stove over very low heat, melt 100 grams of dark patisserie chocolate and 150 grams of sweet butter.
When the chocolate and butter are just melted together, take it off the heat and let it cool a bit. In the same pan, add 1/8 tsp vanilla, or a packet of vanilla sugar if you have it.
250 grams of sugar
3 eggs
100 grams of flour
100 grams of walnuts or pecans in morsels
Mix this together and pour it into the buttered cake pan.
Put it into the oven for a half hour.
When it is done, I turn off the heat and let the cake sit in the oven for another 5 minutes.
When it is out of the oven and cooling,
In a small sauce pan melt 100 grams of dark chocolate
50 grams of butter, when they have melted together, add 2 soupspoons of cream, but I add thick yoghurt sometimes...it works great!
Frost the cake with this mixture.
You can decorate it with a few perfect walnut or pecan halves!
This is a moist dense cake, like a big brownie, but better!
Bon apetit, bien sur!

Off Side Penalty?

This is a real news item from Sports Illustrated reported yesterday, February 13.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association said that referees reported that Michelle Campbell, a 49 year old retired Albuquerque police officer, now a professional referee, was told that she could not officiate at a boys basketball game.
The game was to take place at St. Mary's Academy, a private religious school operated by the Society of St. Pius X, which follows older Roman Catholic laws. The society's world leader, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was excommunicated by Pope John Paul II in the late 1980's.
The reason Miss Campbell was given, according to the referees, was that as a woman, she could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the society's beliefs.
Miss Campbell walked off the court along with the male referee who was to work with ther.
The Activities Association is considering whether to take action against the school.

FLIPFLOPPIN FLIPFLOPPER

Yesterday, the Senate ratified the Intelligence Authorization Bill, 51-45.
This bill contained a provision from Sen. Diane Fienstein(D-CA) establishing one interrogation stndard across the government.

Senator John McCain has spoken just recently in opposition to waterboarding and the use of torture. McCain has said the practice “is not a complicated procedure. It is torture.” He has previously called waterboarding “very exquisite torture.” He spoke in a recent Republican debate of the wisdom of adopting the Army Field Manual Standard. Witness his statements in the video I have provided.

When confronted yesterday with the decision to stick with his conscience or cave in to the conservative wing of his party, McCain chose to ditch his principles and instead vote to preserve waterboarding.

Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon.

The White House has said that it would most certainly vetoe the bill if the senate passed it.

After Bush vetoes the bill, McCain will again be confronted with a vote to either stand with President Bush or stand against torture. He indicated with his vote today where he will come down on that issue.

John McCain, he against for waterboarding before he was for it!

Dans Mon Ile

Today, the great French Musician, Henri Salvador died. He was 90 years old and has been a fresh influence on French and world music for the last 75 years. He was born July 18, 1917 in Cayenne, Guiana. He learned how to play the guitar by imitating Django Reinhart records and then performed with Reinhart during the 1940's.

He composed many classic songs and is credited with being a major influence on the development of Bossa Nova, but his music encompassed many styles. He actually is credited with the first French Rock Record in 1956. He recieved the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit in 2005 from Gilberto Gil, the Brazilian Minister of Culture.

He recorded, wrote and performed until just this last December and always had a timeless youthful nature and physic that defied his years. His sense of humor was legendary and his signature was his deep ever ready laugh.
In 2002, he released the cd, Chambre avec Vue, which sold over 2,000,000 copies.. last year he released the cd, Reverence with Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. If you haven't heard of him before and would like an overview of his music, the cd, Jazz Mediterrannee released in 2000 on Virgin Records is good place to start.

The performance of Dans Mon Ile was little more than a year ago, he wrote the song in 1957. I'd like to include another classsic, Syracuse recorded a little earlier. I couldn't find a video performance, but here is a presentation of the original recording. Merci Henri!

We Do Not Torture!

The Bush administration announced yesterday that it intends to bring capital murder charges against half a dozen men allegedly linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, based partly on information the men disclosed to FBI and military questioners without the use of coercive interrogation tactics.

The admissions made by the men -- who were given food whenever they were hungry as well as Starbucks coffee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- played a key role in the government's decision to proceed with the prosecutions, military and law enforcement officials said.

Remember, America does not torture and we serve terrorists Starbucks Coffee on demand! Remember, the next time you are hankering for a latte, expresso or nice cooling frappaccino, Think Starbucks, the choice of discerning terrorists the world over. There is a Starbucks conveniently located in a High Security Terrorist Prison Facility near you!

From Tom Toles in The Washington Post. Aren't you just the least bit disappointed that Congress rolled over and gave this to them? Another brick in their wall.....

The Rule Of Law

Once when challenged for his unwillingness to submit to the rule of law in an obvious snub of the Constitution, George Bush Jr. screamed, "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"

And so our Constitution has become what Bush has made it. This annihilation of the foundation of our republic was orchestrated by a president who swore an oath of honor to protect it, a devout Christian who promised to restore honor and integrity to the oval office.

When President Bush decreed his "long term plan" for Iraq, committing the USA, without congressional authority, to a permanent presence, it was an insult, a direct provocation to the public, the congress and the rule of law.
Our President believes himself to be above the rule of law, the authority of Congress and the Courts.

Ahhh, for days when a simple solutions to a troublesome monarch, like Charles the First of England, who when in 1649 presumed to be above Parliament, it was as easy as marching him out to an improvised platform at the Banqueting House in Whitehall where he was beheaded.

Bush's plan to forge a long term agreement with with the Iraqi government that could commit the US military to defending Iraq's security would be the first time such a sweeping mutual defense compact has been enacted without congressional approval, according to legal specialists.

After WW2, when the United States gave security commitments to Japan, South Korea, the Phillipines, Australia, New Zealand and NATO members, Presidents Truman and Eisenhower designated the agreements as treaties, requiring Senate ratification.
In 1985, when President Ronald Reagan guaranteed that the US military presence would defend the Marshall Islands and Micronesia if they were attacked, the compacts were put to a vote by both chambers of Congress.

By contrast, Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki have already agreed that a coming compact will include the United States providing "security assurances and commitments" to Iraq to deter any foreign invasion or internal terrorism by "outlaw groups". But a top White House official has also said that Bush does not intend to submit the deal to Congress..
---Boston Globe---

Thus, just one more example of a President who has put himself above the rule of law.
He has destroyed the very concept of the "rule of law"
It's not just that he lied about his justifications for the Iraq War, but the failures to allow oversights into the processes that produced those lies.. It's not in the firing of federal attorneys and the refusal to substantiate the firings, but in the pure partisanship of their actions. It's not their countless refusals to comply with subpoenas from the Congress or Freedom of Information Act from the people, but in their arrogant stance, setting themselves above the requirements.

Congress, in its aquiescence and subservience, is equally guilty. When Nancy Pelosi declared that "Impeachment is off the Table", she not only absolved Bush of all previous transgressions but paved the way for any to come.

To finish this essay, I'd like to leave you with a recent announcment on the Northcom web site of their readiness to implement martial law in the USA:

USNORTHCOM's official response to Commission on National Guard Reserves Final Report.
February 1, 2008

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.--U.S. Norther Command's primary mission is Homeland Defense, and the command stands ready to respond to any homeland defense of civil support mission reqirement.

"The U.S. military absolutely has the capacity to respond to potential threats within ouur nation today. It will get better in this coming year and continue to improve beyond that," said Gen. Gene Renuart, USNORTHCOM commander.

Established in 2002 as a result of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, USNORTHCOM has dramatically expanded the DoD's focus on all aspects of Homeland Defense, including planning and exercising, as well as organizing new headquarters and units that are specifically tailored for domestic response.

----USNORTHCOM's official respnse to Commission on National Guard and Reserves Final Report.

The Folly Of Attacking Iran

Here is a brilliant concise history of Iran and our involvement in Iranian affairs and where we are today. Just the facts.

JustForeignPolicy.org is touring the United States with the experts in this video and others, building a movement against military confrontation with Iran and for real diplomacy. Find out more, sign the petition, and join us.

NO YOU CAN'T!

Hey, can you comment anonymously on The Brain Police? Especially if you are a chicken shit jerk off with too much spare time on your hands?

NO YOU CAN"T!

To all of my regular anonymous friends, don't worry, I can smell the difference between a smart ass and an asshole!

By the way, this video is hilarious! A Parody of the Barack Obama Yes You Can Video I posted a few days ago. It was released yesterday morning and it already had over 250,000 hiits on YouTube!

Rules Are Different For Republicans

On the day of the Sout Carolina Primary, I was watching Satellite TV and there were interviews with voters and a woman was asked if she would vote for Obama. This bizarre quote issued from her mouth, "I ain't votin fer no politician who had to swear in on a korean." That's what she said, a "korean".
Of course we know Barack Obama did not get sworn in with a korean or a koran for that matter, but the rumor has taken on it's own life and is still getting sent around in emails. I looked around for any comments that Obama had made about American-Muslims and Arabs and found this on an Arab American's blog:

Barack Obama in 2007 in JTA, a leading Jewish Publication:
"My support within the Jewish Community has been much more significant than my support within the Muslim community. I welcome and seek the support of Muslim and Arab communities."

In other words, he believes American-Muslims are no different than American-Jews.

Aside from this, the only meaningful relationship Obama has had with anyone from the American-Muslim community has been an indirect one via Keith Ellison, the first and only Muslim Congressman, who started backing Obama quite some time ago. Feb 2007 to be exact, long before it was hip to be on the bandwagon.

Here is what Ellison said as to why he was backing Obama:

“Not because he’s black,” said Ellison, who is black, on Tuesday. “That’s identity politics. I reject identity politics.

“He speaks with a unifying spirit,” Ellison told about 100 employees at the Star Tribune newspaper during a lunch-hour event for Black History Month.

This is not much to work on and Obama certainly hasn’t actively sought to engage Muslim communities or mosques but there are reasons for this.

Recently, an Obama staffer reported that she had been asked to be interviewed on Al-Arabiya...but....

…she was nearly out of her mind with excitement when Al-Arabiya wanted to interview her for a television story on the election. Unfortunately for her *squee* moment, the campaign wouldn’t let her interview with Al-Arabiya on account of the “smear” efforts. Why get millions of voters irrationally thinking ill of Sen. Obama just so some people in Saudi Arabia (and other countries getting the channel) can say, “Hey, cool!”?

Bush met with Al-Arabiya TV when he was in Saudi. Rules are different for Republicans. Fact is, Bush is far closer to unjust, nefarious and questionable Arabs than anyone else.

Long Tall Sally

It's Saturday night and I'm making a Mexican Dinner for our guests and maybe you'd like to see one of the greatest performers in the history of Rock. Little Richard!
I made an ass of myself regularly performing this song on stage, just because I could!

Run That By Me Again?

All day long, I have been periodically checking satellite TV and the internet trying to figure out what happened in America yesterday. Now as far as I can figure out, many more Democrats cast their votes for Hillary and Barack than Republicans wasted on their slate of Dr. Strangelove wannabees and religious redicivists.

Barack Obama won the popular vote in 13 States and Hillary won in 9. Of course the big states Hillary won have bigger populations like California and New York. Still at this point in time, every source I find says that Obama has the most delegates determined by the popular vote. It's 590 for Hillary and 603 for Obama.
But, still Hillary has the lead in total delegates 783 to 709. How is this possible? Because a bunch of Democratic party officials got together and decided that they prefer Hillary in spite of the fact that the voters gave Obama the lead. To only increase your confusion, let me explain:
In addition to the delegates each candidate wins based upon how well they do in each state, each state's Senators, Members of the House, Governor and certain Democratic National Committee officials are their own delegates and they get to vote too. But they don't get to vote like you get to vote. No. They're already delegates, and they get to choose who they throw their delegate vote behind. So what happens is that so far in this race Obama is ahead. But Hillary has a lead in Superdelegates over Obama, 2-1. Those Superdelegates - i.e., party officials that have nothing to do with your vote - have decided to give Hillary the lead in spite of your vote. How do you like that?

Now, if Hillary ends up having the lead in delegates but Obama wins anyway by getting most of the Superdelegates I'll be just as upset. This is no way to pick a president; a bunch of mostly-white mostly-rich mostly-men getting together and deciding if we're smart enough to pick our own candidate. If either candidate has fewer "real" delegates than their opponent, but wins by virtue of their Superdelegates, I think you're going to see a civil war. Imagine what will happen in the black community if a bunch of white Democrats are perceived to have taken the election away from the first black presidential nominee? Imagine how they're going to feel towards the Democratic party in the future? And for that matter, imagine how Hillary voters are going to feel towards Obama if she wins the real delegates but he wins by virtue of the Superdelegates?

Our system is a joke. They ought to split the Superdelegates now, 50-50 and be done with it.

February 6, 2003

Today is the 5 year Anniversary of Colin Powells Big Lie
at the United Nations. Yes, we do keep track of these things

Beyond Kafka

On December 30, 2007, Abdul Razzaq Hekmati died of cancer. He became the only prisoner to die of natural causes at the Guantanamo Prison facility. To the very end, he tried to tell his story to the deaf ears of the Kafkaesque Machine that passes for American Military justice.
In Afghanistan, Mr. Hekmati is regarded as a war hero and a foe of the Taliban. He spent a year in a Taliban Prison and organized a daring jailbreak from the Taliban's Kandahar Prison in 1999 that freed himself and three others.
He fled to Iran and came back to Afghanistan during the American War against the Taliban.. He was arrested in 2003 by the Americans on the word of of an ex Taliban official, Sher Mohammed Akhundzada who was now cooperating with the Americans and was made governor of Helmand Province. Akhundzada turned in Hekmati because of a personal feud and fear that he would turn him in. Akhundzada also collected the bounty paid to informers.
Hekmati finally was taken to Guantanamo in 2004. When his family found out about his location, they began to to petition the Americans for some kind of hearing. The men who Hekmati broke out of prison with are both high level Karzai Government officials. One is Ismail Khan, the present minister of Oil, the second is Hajji Zahir, who is a General in the Border guards and the third is General Mohammed Qasim, who was the commander of the anti Taliban Northern Alliance.
All three have repeatedly petitioned the Americans to release Mr. Hekmati.
The thing that makes this case stand out is that Mr. Hekmati was accused by an ex Taliban informer and in spite of the fact that there have been many high level Afghanistani Government Officials who vouch for him, he never got a hearing or the the justice touted by the Bush Administration. It would seem that the implications surrounding the case made it too hot for them to deal with. Well, they out waited Hekmati. He's dead, now if they ignore reality long enough maybe that will go away too.
The reality is that there are some actual Al Qaeda members in American Prison facilities, but there are many more who were turned in for quick bounty money by those who saw a chance to cash in on America's Panic Inspired Brutality and get rid of an enemy at the same time.
For a real good read, check out this link in todays NY Times with the full story.

Is It Democracy Yet?

What makes a healthy democracy? Why can't America's democratic system support a real multi party system? Is democracy real when only the the players with the access to the largest cash boxes are allowed to play?
Mr. Smith can't go to Washington anymore. He couldn't afford to buy the commercials required to even get noticed.
Sure, there are other political parties besides Republican and Democrat, but can you name them? How can other points of view ever be considered if they can't be heard?
If they don't have access to media, how can other opinions ever influence the public?

That's why American government is so stale. There is no room for real debate or controversy. Every opinion or stance is polled and tested. An original idea isn't approved product. We're spending big bucks here, no time to mess around!

I would love it if America had a multi party system like France. I would love it if politics was moderated by a set of rules that leveled the playing field. A real firm ruling that limited the money that could be spent.
An end to endless television ad soundbytes and an emphasis on real discussion and debate.

Here, the amount of time allowed to each candidate for media coverage is strictly regulated and counted once the campaign starts. That includes appearances on any type of television show. Public advertising is strictly controlled and only allowed in specific places and no poster can be bigger than another.

It sickens me to see the amounts of money wasted in American politics. I saw a number like 3 billion dollars that will be spent by the candidates on this campaign.

The electoral delegate system seems to be another arcane device conducted behind curtains. It undermines confidence in the value of a citizens vote. It also, because of the closed door aspect of it, is another factor in the impossiblity of a true multi-party system in America.

The primary system has turned into a media sports event with more of the issues driven by the need to sensationalize and draw viewers than an attempt to present realistic political reporting and discussion.

This ain't politics, this is pure showbiz!

YES WE CAN!

eswecansong.com




It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.



Celebrities featured include: Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon

This video was directed by Jesse Dylan, featuring The Black Eyed Peas.

Freedom, Afghani Style

A 23-year-old student journalist in Afghanistan has been sentenced to death for downloading and distributing a report that is critical of the oppressive treatment of women in some Islamic societies.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh (above), who is a journalism student at Balkh University and a writer for Jahan-e Naw, was sentenced last October after downloading a report from a Farsi website that criticized Islamic fundamentalists who misrepresent statements in the Koran to justify the oppression of women. Kambaksh was arrested after someone filed a complaint against him. He is accused of blasphemy for distributing the report to other students and teachers at his school.

He was tried by a sharia court (which oversees Islamic religious law) and was not allowed legal representation, according to news reports. The Afghan Senate passed a motion this week supporting the sentence, according to the British newspaper The Independent.

Other journalists have been warned that they would be arrested if they protested in support of Kambaksh.

I found this story to be very disturbing and I began to search around for to see if there was any interest by any group willing to fight for Pervez Kambaksh. As of yet, and it has only been 48 hours since this story broke in western media, the British newspaper,
The Independant, is the only source for support. They have an on line petition you can sign urging the British Foreign Office to intervene. I have not seen this reported in American Media.

Stop Him Before He Runs Again!

A week ago, I wrote a piece on Michael Bloomberg and his tentative Presidential bid as a third party candidate. I mentiioned that I liked Bloomberg if only for the bold initiative he spearheaded to make New York City one of the Greenest cities on the planet in the next 15 years. I asked for comments as to whether I should sign the petition on his website supporting his run. I got no comments.
Tonight, Bloombergs petition after a week has only collected slightly under 5,000 signatures. It looks like he's going to concentrate on another term as New York's Mayor.
As Ed Koch noted, the mayorship of New York City is the fast track to political oblivion, as Rudy Giuliani just found out..
Now if only we can convince Ralph Nader to give it up before he accidently puts another Republican in the White House!

I'm not quite sure of what to make of this or what point I would like to make.
Last night on Hannity and Colmes, Ann Coulter made her utter
contempt for John McCain glaringly apparent.. She said she would support
Hillary Clinton over McCain!
I don't know what Hillary would make of this, but only last week,
Bernadette Chirac stated that she loved Hillary and would consider coming to the United States and campaigning for her.
She wants to speak at the Democratic Convention.
Madame Chirac, the wife of ex president Jacques Chirac is still an active
conservative representative for the UMP Party in the Correze.
She is very famous for her hair and nasty temper...
After NOW condemned Teddy Kennedy for his support of Barack Obama, "because",
as they stated, "He couldn't support a woman candidate", I suppose this
evens things up a bit.