They finally decided to clean out my Dad's house.

My Dad passed away last Christmas from liver failure, but he was a prodigious beer drinker before he became ill.

If he had not used a trash can this could have easily been his house.

I heard that they recycled the cans and earned $800. That would sure buy a lot of beer!

The Armageddon video game. I could not make this shit up!

To teach people like me who are too lazy to actually read about it, a small company is releasing a video game at the end of the year based on the phenomenally bestselling "Left Behind" books, which are based on the book of Revelation.

Okay just take a moment to digest that concept.

Done? Okay now let's look a little deeper.

Because I'm Jewish, I told (Jeffrey) Frichner that he could play the side of the good guys and that I'd be Satan.

The first thing Frichner did was to have one of his Christian characters approach a civilian lazily walking down a midtown Manhattan street in the middle of the battle over Earth and stand next to him for two seconds, which instantly converted him.

So do you think the game might be skewed to allow one side to dominate the other? Could be.

The good thing was, however, that as Satan, I had the United Nations on my side. As my peacekeeping Hummer and some of my followers rolled down Sixth Avenue, the Christians outflanked me and started firing, immediately taking out several of my nurses.

The apocalypse, I was learning, was a good excuse for Christians to go nuts and unload a lot of pent-up stuff. Armageddon is like their version of divorce.

So the game teaches Christians to open fire on the United Nations. Wow I sure feel safer.

I am almost speechless. No, strike that, I am speechless.

More innocent Iraqis killed then previously reported.

An official military investigation into allegations that American marines killed innocent Iraqis last November has uncovered evidence that the number of dead civilians is higher than the 15 originally reported, Congressional and Defense Department officials said.

The inquiry, which Pentagon officials said was still weeks from completion, has already raised fundamental questions about the propriety of actions by the troops, one Defense Department official said. But the official said that a characterization this week by a member of Congress that the Iraqis had been killed "in cold blood" was an extreme description of the incident.

On Wednesday, Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, talked about the investigation at a news conference on Capitol Hill. "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," he said. "And that's what the report is going to tell."

He said he had not read the official findings of the inquiry, but had been told about them by officers he identified as commanders.

Mr. Murtha said the number of Iraqi civilians killed was about twice the initial report of 15. Defense Department officials said Thursday that evidence indicated that more than 15 had been killed, but that the inquiry had not confirmed his estimate of double that number.

The idea that this is being done in our name is almost too upsetting to contemplate. We must get our troops home and start the slow and difficult job of repairing the damage that George W. Bush has done to our reputation thoughout the world.

I would like to start today, how about you?

Apparently humans did not always want apes to keep their "damn dirty hands" off of them.

The story of human evolution that began when the earliest ancestors of humans and chimpanzees first separated from their common ancestor has taken a new turn with a claim that the epochal event may well have occurred millions of years more recently than the fossil record has long maintained.

On top of that, the split of the two lineages was probably far more complex than anyone had thought -- with some of the earliest members of both lines interbreeding again and again before the two species finally separated permanently, according to scientists analyzing the genes of both modern chimps and modern humans.

So maybe Tarzan wasn't such a freak after all. Oh c'mon you know he and Cheeta totally hooked up! You could see it in Cheeta's eyes as soon as that bitch Jane showed up.

I love science!

Parents of newborn, right here in Alaska, name their son James Tiberius....Kirk. Line to beat the child up is forming already.

Like all parents, Marcus Weldy and his wife Rebecca McInnes Weldy of Nikiski are hoping their newborn baby will live long and prosper, but they went a step further to ensure their son's future.

"We decided to name him James Tiberius Kirk Weldy," said Rebecca in regard to the newest family member who, according to the Captain's Log, was added to the family fleet at 4:31 a.m. on Friday, April 21, 2006.

For those not in the know, James T. Kirk - played by William Shatner - was the commander of the starship Enterprise in the 1960s science fiction series "Star Trek."

Rebecca said she is not a convention-going "trekkie,"as "Star Trek" fans are called, but is a longtime fan of the show.

"I really, really liked the first 'Star Trek' and William Shatner. He's the only captain in my opinion," she said.

Look here is all I am suggesting, that maybe there should be a simple test....possibly multiple choice...that a person should have to pass before they get to screw up a child's life.

If they can pass the test then they can screw it up as much as they want.

Poor damn kid!

Russ Feingold storms out after shouting match over Gay Marriage Amendment.

A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance."

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.

"I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman," replied Feingold, D-Wis., who is considering a run for president in 2008. "See ya."

This is a bullshit amendment which is being used to get the conservatives all foamy around the mouth and which the Senate knows full well is not going to pass.

Senator Feingold showed some backbone by calling it like he saw it, and it just makes him that much more attractive to those of us who are looking for an ethical, straight talking, liberal to run for President. You know he did not vote for this stupid war!

Bellsouth tells USA Today to "take it back".

BellSouth Corp., the No. 3 U.S. local telephone company, on Thursday demanded USA Today retract claims in a story that said the company had a contract with a U.S. spy agency and turned over customers' telephone records.

BellSouth spokesman Jeff Battcher denied the company had a contract with the National Security Agency and did not give access or provide call records to the spy agency as part of an effort to thwart any terrorist plots.

A couple of different possibilities here.

One is that USA Today went to press with the wrong information. That is the least likely scenario in my mind. USA Today would be royally screwed if they had allowed that to happen.

Two is that the administration is using Bellsouth, and this threat of a lawsuit, to get USA Today to surrender the leaker so that they can prosecute them. A sinister but potentially possible reason to pursue a lawsuit.

Three is that Bellsouth understands that they are about to get crushed by a cavalcade of lawsuits and is simply doing everything they can to muddy the waters and hold off the deluge. If this is the reason then they are just farting in the wind because they are totally going down.

Rumor update: There is some talk of a secret memo from the President encouraging the phone companies to lie. Anybody doubt this rumor?

George Will takes the Religious Right to the woodshed for being elitist assholes. "Assholes" is my word, not his. But it was clearly implied.

An aggressively annoying new phrase in America's political lexicon is "values voters." It is used proudly by social conservatives, and carelessly by the media to denote such conservatives.

This phrase diminishes our understanding of politics. It also is arrogant on the part of social conservatives and insulting to everyone else because it implies that only social conservatives vote to advance their values and everyone else votes to . . . well, it is unclear what they supposedly think they are doing with their ballots.

Yeah, you bible thumping pains in the ass, I am a "values voter" as well. Of course much of my "values" are the exact opposite of yours, but they are "values" just the same.

But for the sake of clarification perhaps I should define our differences.

You: Teaching of Creationism in place of Evolution.
Me: Fuck no! Science, and only science, should be taught in science class.

You: Banning homosexual marriage, living together, or touching in any way.
Me: I don't care. I even watched "Brokeback Mountain" through my spread fingers.

You: Abolish abortion!
Me: Uhhh, I have to leave this one up to the ladies. It is their bodies. The idea makes me uncomfortable though. Does that help?

You: Make America a Christian nation.
Me: Absolutely not you megalomaniacal moron! America is America because it embraces religious diversity. If we all believe the same thing that is a theocracy and not what America's founders had in mind. And I don't give a shit about your revisionist version of the founding of this country! You go to church and worship as you see fit, with the knowledge that you have my full support. But keep your religion out of my life! Thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to clear up any confusion about our differing values.

P.S. Oh, I also want a cleaner environment, a more diverse sex education program in schools, more social programs for the mentally ill, universal health coverage, lower property taxes, better movies, health food that tastes like chocolate, and a ban on all marriage in this country. (That last one may change after I am further along in my divorced life, which is actually very satisfying. No really!)

Pat Robertson gets Punk'd by God again.

The Rev. Pat Robertson says God has told him that storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year.

The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network has told viewers of "The 700 Club" that the revelations came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8.

He added specifics in Wednesday's show.

"There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest," he said.

How many times has Brother Pat said that God was about to do something that did not come to pass? God has made Robertson his bitch more times then I can count, and yet he keeps going back for more.

Really the only explanation is that God hates Pat and enjoys making him look like a tool. Or, that Pat is just a crazy person who truly believes he communes with the Almighty. Either one.

Murtha: "Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood". I think we are about done here.

Murtha, a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq, said at a news conference Wednesday that sources within the military have told him that an internal investigation will show that "there was no firefight, there was no IED (improvised explosive device) that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Military officials say Marine Corp photos taken immediately after the incident show many of the victims were shot at close range, in the head and chest, execution-style. One photo shows a mother and young child bent over on the floor as if in prayer, shot dead, said the officials, who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity because the investigation hasn't been completed.

One military official says it appears the civilians were deliberately killed by the Marines, who were outraged at the death of their fellow Marine.

“This one is ugly," one official told NBC News.

I wrote about this back in March. Is there any doubt that we are doing much more damage then good at this point?

I am going to live forever!

Huang Chunyi, a 94-year-old from China's Taiwan Province, says looking at photos of beautiful women every day is the secret to his longevity.

"Since then, I have collected more than 100,000 photos of beautiful women from newspapers and magazines," Huang said, "I have a look at these photos every day and this has helped to retain my sharp eyes and ears."

I have to admit it beats the hell out of exercise. You know you would think he would look happier. He sort of looks tired, I wonder why? Oohhh!

US tries to censor new movies about Guantanamo and Iraq war. Never miss an opportunity to stomp out the truth do they?

Two new films which expose unpleasant truths about Guantanamo and the battle for Iraq are coming under pressure from censors in the United States.

The Motion Pictures Association of America has censored a poster advertising a film about the Tipton three, called The Road to Guantanamo, that showed a hooded and blindfolded man hanging by his shackled wrists. Also, the makers of Baghdad ER, a documentary about a US military combat hospital, told the Guardian yesterday that Francis Harvey, the secretary of the army, had demanded last-minute changes to the film.

The Guantanamo film ran into difficulties with the MPAA last month when it submitted its advertising material for customary review. To the surprise of Howard Cohen, president of Roadside Attractions which is distributing the film in the US, the association demanded that the poster for the R-rated film be toned down.

"It was the head in the burlap sack that pushed it over the edge for them," Mr Cohen said. The film will be advertised instead by a poster which shows only a pair of shackled hands and arms.

"It's outrageous that they are objecting to this image ... They are saying ... children in the US should not be allowed to see what it is we are doing to people in Guantanamo." The MPAA offered no comment.

No news is good news right? If this administration were half as good at fighting terrorism as they are at suppressing the truth we could all sleep like babies for the rest of our lives.

In defending the "DaVinci Code", Ian McKlellan suggests the bible might need a "fiction disclaimer" on it. I knew I liked that old queen.

Matt Lauer, in his second day "On The Road With The Code," was in Cannes for the film festival, where the Code will have its debut.

Lauer took the bull of controversy more directly by the horns when he interviewed the cast and director Howard today. Said Lauer:

"There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I'm saying is, people wanted this to say 'fiction, fiction, fiction'. How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?"

There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings], piped up:

"Well, I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith. And I have faith in this movie. Not that it's true, not that it's factual, but that it's a jolly good story. And I think audiences are clever enough and bright enough to separate out fact and fiction, and discuss the thing after they've seen it."

Attention Matt Lauer! Do not fuck with Gandalf!

Good for Ian! When I have seen him as a panelist on "Real Time with Bill Maher" he has always presented himself as an intellectual skeptic of the highest order. This statement certainly fits in with my perception that he is a very well read and urbane man with strong opinions.

Is being fat really the worst thing you can imagine?

Nearly half of the people responding to an online survey about obesity said they would rather give up a year of their life than be fat, says a U.S. study.

The study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University found the some 4,000 respondents also said they would rather walk away from their marriage, give up the possibility of having children, be depressed or become alcoholic rather than be obese.

Five percent said they'd rather lose a limb than get fat, while 4 percent said they'd rather be blind than be overweight.

It is incredible how skewed our values have become. The idea that being overweight would be the most horrible thing that many people can imagine is a testament to how powerful advertising has become in our lives. We are constantly being told that we need to be thinner, have more hair, and have sex all night long to be happy. (I am still clinging to that last one.)

Look if you are not morbidly obese, you have somebody who loves you for who you are, and you are a happy person then just don't pay any attention to those ads. You have far more then many people could hope for. Being skinny does not make you happy!

I work out every day, and I really enjoy it. I watch what I eat and try to get out of the house for some "fun" cardio as often as possible. But if I had to choose between being fat or being blind then you better pass me the Haagen Daz right now!

I smile every day and enjoy my life even when it gets difficult. I do not spend hours being critical of every grey hair, love handle, or wrinkle. What a waste of my time!

So relax. Today should be spent enjoying your life. Tomorrow will probably be even better.

In Basra, Iraq there is one person killed every hour. They are right, this is not a civil war. Nothing "civil" about it!

One person is being assassinated in Basra every hour, as order in Iraq's second city disintegrates, according to an Iraqi Defence Ministry official.

And a quarter of all Iraqi children suffer from malnutrition, a survey of 20,000 households by the Iraqi government and Unicef says.

Insurgent attacks on American and British troops are also proving more lethal, with 44 US soldiers and seven British killed so far this month, and with daily losses exceeding anything seen for more than a year.

What have we done? This terrible situation should weigh heavily on the heart of everyone who voted for George W. Bush. This criminal war is your war!

Tonight when you kiss you children you can take a moment to ask their forgiveness for saddling them with this incredible mess.

Oh, and don't vote anymore. You suck at it!

Washington Post poll finds Bush at 33%. Laura Bush ignores low poll numbers and I choose to discount any poll that puts him above 29%.

There are a lot of numbers in this poll. I tried to read them all but it made my head feel funny.

The bottom line is that nobody likes this President on any issue.

Take that FOX News!

Jesse Jackson calls Bush on his lies.

The National Security Agency has created ''the largest database ever'' with the phone records of millions of Americans provided to the NSA by AT&T, Verizon and Bell South for a price.

President Bush authorized the program and defends it. ''We are not trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,'' he said last week. How do we know? The court set up to provide warrants has been ignored. The law set up to regulate the system has been trampled. How do we know the president is telling the truth? Trust us, he says.

Trust the president who led us into Iraq on the basis of disinformation and misinformation? Trust the president who just weeks ago told us the NSA program involved only international calls with al-Qaida? The same president who said he'd fire anyone in the White House who helped leak the identity of Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA employee whose husband helped expose Bush's lies about Iraq's nuclear capacity? Now, with Karl Rove in the center of the effort to discredit Wilson and out Plame, the president says he has no comment on a continuing criminal investigation.

I have sort of turned away from Jesse after the Terry Schiavo affair. He really lost a lot of his credibility with me when he showed up to support her parents. But Jesse is one of our best advocates concerning human rights in this country and he certainly deserves to be listened to on this issue.

Tony Snow does not want to hug a "Tar Baby". Is it really a good idea to make a racist remark on your first day as the White House Press Secretary?

(The link above connects to Crooks and Liars for a video of Tony Snows first day as White House Press Secretary)

I also saw that Tony choked up a little, and damn near cried, while talking about his recent bout with cancer.

Hmm making a racist remark and crying on the first day do not bode well for Mr. Snow. I am not at all confident that he will make it to the end of the week.

FBI secretly sought the phone records of 3,501 people in this country.

The Department of Justice says it secretly sought phone records and other documents of 3,501 people last year under a provision of the Patriot Act that does not require judicial oversight.

The records were obtained with the use of what are known as National Security Letters, which can be signed by an FBI agent and are only for use in terrorism cases.

The letters require telephone companies to keep secret even the existence of the request for records.

Assistant Attorney General William Moschella told Congress last month that 9,254 National Security Letters were issued in 2005 involving 3,501 people.

Federal law enforcement sources say the National Security Letters are being used to obtain phone records of reporters at ABC News and elsewhere in an attempt to learn confidential sources who may have provided classified information in violation of the law.

The FBI says its request for reporters' phone records are made in compliance with the law.

So these letters are just available to any FBI agent who thinks he might have a line on a terrorist? You know there is a reason that the police have to get a judges order to search a private residence. Because the cop in his excitement over catching a criminal might get carried away and cut some corners in gaining access to the residence. By involving a judge who is not part of the investigation they get a legal mind with a different perspective and the added advantage of not being caught up in the bust to determine the legality of the search. It is system that helps to limit the number of offenses against our civil rights.

If the police have to follow this procedure then why can't the FBI? And are they saying that we have 3,501 potential terrorists in this country? Because that would be fucking scary!

I found today that both Verizon and Bellsouth are denying that they volunteered their phone records to the NSA. I think the following statement might be how they are justifying this denial:

The letters require telephone companies to keep secret even the existence of the request for records.

So they are apparently legally bound to lie about this this program. Isn't that interesting?

Are you scared of the "Bird Flu"? SUCKER!

"Bird Flu"Do you know that 'bird flu' was discovered in Vietnam 9 years ago?
Do you know that barely 100 people have died in the whole world in all that time?
Do you know that it was the Americans who alerted us to the efficacy of the human antiviral TAMIFLU as a preventative?
Do you know that TAMIFLU barely alleviates some symptoms of the common flu?
Do you know that its efficacy against the common flu is questioned by a great part of the scientific community?
Do you know that against a SUPPOSED mutant virus such as H5N1, TAMIFLU barely alleviates the illness?
Do you know that to date Avian Flu affects birds only?
Do you know who markets TAMIFLU?ROCHE LABORATORIES.
Do you know who bought the patent for TAMIFLU from ROCHE LABORATORIES in 1996?GILEAD SCIENCES INC.
Do you know who was the then president of GILEAD SCIENCES INC. and remains a major shareholder?DONALD RUMSFELD, the present Secretary of Defence of the USA.
Do you know that the base of TAMIFLU is crushed aniseed?
Do you know who controls 90% of the world's production of this tree?ROCHE.
Do you know that sales of TAMIFLU were over $254 million in 2004 and more than $1000 million in 2005?
Do you know how many more millions ROCHE can earn in the coming months if the business of fear continues?

So the summary of the story is as follows:Bush's friends decide that the medicine TAMIFLU is the solution for a pandemic that has not yet occurred and that has caused a hundred deaths worldwide in 9 years.This medicine doesn't so much as cure the common flu.

In normal conditions the virus does not affect humans.Rumsfeld sells the patent for TAMIFLU to ROCHE for which they pay him a fortune.

Roche acquires 90% of the global production of crushed aniseed, the base for the antivirus.

The governments of the entire world threaten a pandemic and then buy industrial quantities of the product from Roche.So we end up paying for medicine while Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush do the business.

This is just another example of how this administration truly views Americans. As a source of revenue for themselves and their corporate friends!

They do not give two shits about any of us!

That is why they can callously send our young people to die in an illegal war without batting an eye. They are inhuman monsters!

Sunnis accuse US of atrocity, after the death of 25 civilians.

Iraq's main Sunni religious grouping accused U.S. forces on Monday of killing 25 civilians in raids near Baghdad in the past two days, rejecting the U.S. account that only suspected insurgents had died.
"
We hold the Iraqi government and the occupiers responsible for this brutal atrocity," the Muslim Clerics Association said in a statement.

The U.S. military earlier on Monday said its forces had killed more than 41 insurgents in and around the villages of Latifiya and Yusifiya, south of the capital, on Saturday and Sunday. It also said a U.S. helicopter was shot down, killing two soldiers.

Two separate U.S. statements on the air and ground raids did not mention any civilian deaths, but said several women and children were wounded.

Here is another case of "who do you believe"? I have to say I am leaning toward the Sunnis.

We are not wanted in Iraq and it is well past time for us to go. We are simply doing more harm the longer we are there.

Alaska's elephant hates cardio!

The Alaska Zoo has been trying to coax its elephant, Maggie, onto the world's first elephant treadmill for two months. But so far, the stubborn and sometimes moody elephant has shown more interest in treats than exercise. She's not about to take up jogging.

The treadmill was custom-made for Maggie amid much fanfare, then delivered to the zoo in September. It is one of the key items in the zoo's plan to improve the controversial living conditions of the pachyderm.

She is the lone elephant in Alaska. Critics argue she should be in a warmer climate where she can walk outdoors year-round and be with other elephants.

But the zoo decided to try this experiment first.

It is truly a terrible thing to keep this poor creature in this inhospitable state, she is lonely, and clearly suffering from depression.

Maggie came to Alaska in 1983 as a companion for our previous elephant superstar, Annabelle, who was the very reason that the zoo was built in the first place. Annabelle had been a prize that a local greocery store owner won by selling the most toilet paper. It soon became obvious that the grocer could not care for a full grown elephant on his own, so he solicited help from a local rancher and then later through donations they built our little zoo.

Annabelle passed away in 1997, leaving Maggie all alone. She did not acclimate as well as Annabelle appeared to have acclimated. So now she is just a sad, cranky creature who clearly does not belong up here amongst the moose and bears.

It is time for Maggie to move to a much better environment.

The good news: Former US embassy in Tehran might become a park. The bad news: It will be called "Great Satan Park".

The former US embassy in Tehran could soon see a new chapter in its troubled history, with a top Iranian commander calling for the downtown compound to be turned into a "Great Satan Park".

"We would be able to nicely show off the American crimes to citizens strolling in the park," General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh told the official news agency IRNA.

"The former American Den of Spies should become the park of Great Satan," said the general, who heads the Sacred Defence Foundation - an influential propaganda body set up to commemorate the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

You know I am just beggining to think, and I don't want to jump to conclusions here, I am beginning to think that the people of Iran might not like America very much. They seem to equate us with some great evil or something. That is just so hurtful.

Is George Bush smarter then we think? Researchers say the evidence is in a little thing called "Bush speak".

U.S. President George Bush has waged a verbal "operation of deception" that shows an impressive use of language, two University of Illinois authors say.

Far from being verbally challenged, so-called "Bush speak" has used deceptions and policies that are "a massive campaign to change the ways Americans think about democracy, globalization and empire," wrote authors Stephen Hartnett and Laura Ann Stengrim.

Their book, which says Bush colleagues also employ the practice, is titled "Globalization and Empire: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq, Free Markets, and the Twilight of Democracy."

The analysis says Bush administration statements often conflict with reality.

The statements show "the remarkably complicated ways" the administration has used the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks "as an elastic justification for waging wars of globalization and empire under the banner of free trade and democracy."

My theory is that "Bush speak" really only works on people with limited intellectual assets. So it is not that he is so smart it is just that so many people are so dumb!

Bellsouth denies handing over phone records to the NSA.

BellSouth Corp. said Monday its "thorough review" found no indication it gave telephone records to the National Security Agency as part of a federal anti-terrorism surveillance program.

"Based on our review to date, we have confirmed no such contract exists and we have not provided bulk customer calling records to the NSA," the Atlanta-based regional Bell said in a statement.

I can hardly wait until the congressional investigation into this program is conducted. With these companies already becoming very defensive, they are very likely to provide fascinating information as to how these programs are conducted and what kinds of pressure was applied to get them to comply with the governments request.

Is "The Daily Show" making our young people cynical about politics?

According to a recent study published in the May issue of SAGE Publications' journal, American Politics Research, researchers conclude that young Americans' political views are negatively impacted by watching the popular The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which airs late night on Comedy Central as a 'fake-news program.'

Researchers Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan S. Morris, both assistant professors of political science at East Carolina University, selected The Daily Show due to its popularity among college-aged viewers. Previous research showed that over 47 percent of this age group watched the 'soft news' television program, while only 23 percent followed 'hard news' programs closely.

The study was conducted utilizing video clips from The Daily Show and CBS Evening News, a more mainstream television program that aired coverage of the 2004 presidential candidates, followed by a questionnaire. The results showed that the participants tended to rate both candidates more negatively when exposed to The Daily Show. In addition, their views of the political system as a whole were more cynical.

"If young Americans learn about candidates via Jon Stewart," the researchers conclude in the article, "it is possible that unfavorable perceptions of both parties' nominees could form, ultimately keeping more youth from the polls." These implications for political participation should be explored further.

This is just bullshit! Do you know what is making our young voters cynical about politicians? Politicians!

They lie, and then spin the lie, and then lie about telling the lie, and then blame the media for telling everybody about the lie. What do any of us expect them to think?

You know I was cynical way before "The Daily Show" came along. "The Daily Show" allows us to find humor in things that scare the shit out of us! It makes it alright to smile through the pain of watching your country turn into a police state.

If anything maybe "The Daily Show" can be blamed for softening the blow that the regular news programs deliver to our solar plexus every single day. It may be treating us a little too tenderly at times. Healing our daily wounds and allowing us to face the next days bad news.

I watch "The Daily Show" so that I can laugh because sometimes you just run short on tears.

FBI admits to going after journalist's phone records. I had no idea that ABC was a member of al-Qaida, did you?

The FBI acknowledged late Monday that it is increasingly seeking reporters' phone records in leak investigations.

"It used to be very hard and complicated to do this, but it no longer is in the Bush administration," said a senior federal official.

In a statement, the FBI press office said its leak investigations begin with the examination of government phone records.

"The FBI will take logical investigative steps to determine if a criminal act was committed by a government employee by the unauthorized release of classified information," the statement said.

Officials say that means that phone records of reporters will be sought if government records are not sufficient.

Officials say the FBI makes extensive use of a new provision of the Patriot Act which allows agents to seek information with what are called National Security Letters.

Do you remember when we used to live in America? Man those were the days weren't they? We had civil rights, and privacy, and a fully functioning government who did its best to keep us safe from the bad people of the world. I believe that was sometime back in the 90's. Yeah the 90's, now that was when America really meant something!

50 billion dollar lawsuit filed against Verizon. AT&T and Bellsouth feel their buttholes puckering up.

A lawsuit is asking a federal court to order President Bush, the National Security Agency and Verizon to end a secret snooping program, and Verizon's stock took a hit on the news Monday.

Verizon stock fell more than 1 percent on the New York Stock Exchange early Monday.

The suit, filed Friday by two New Jersey lawyers on behalf of all Verizon subscribers, contends the phone records collection - first reported by USA Today on Thursday - violates the Constitutional right to privacy and federal law.

"The Telecommunications Act of 1934 is as clear as clear can be," plaintiff Carl Mayer said. "You can't turn over the records of your customers and if you do so it's $1,000 per violation. The Constitution is very clear. The Supreme Court has consistently held that the Fourth Amendment prevents unlawful searches and seizures which we believe this to be."

At $1,000 for each of Verizon's 50 million customers, the company and government could be made to pay $50 billion dollars in a class action suit, Mayer said. Verizon Communications said Friday that it could not confirm or deny whether it has provided phone records to the National Security Agency, but the company insisted it protects customer privacy and would never participate in a government "fishing expedition."

You lay down with pigs, you get up with a 50 billion dollar lawsuit.

Just goes to prove my maxim that everything this administration touches turns to shit!

Cardinal talks about "ignorance of millions of people". Finally I agree with the church on something.

This is what Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture had to say today:

"This is a shocking and worrying cultural phenomenon that reflects, on the one hand, the ignorance of millions of people and, on the other, the voluptuous pleasure the media take in promoting products that have nothing to do with the truth," the French-born cardinal, 75, told the Paris radio station.

"If a product that mixes up claims made as fact, fiction and so on, and comes out with elucubrations that have no relation to history, the whole world's media promote it," he said.

I cannot believe that we are getting this kind of straight talk from a Cardinal of the Catholic Church! It is so refreshing and brave of him to address the religious fabrication that has for so long held the world in its sway. So finally this religious leader is calling the Bible what it truly is, "a product that mixes up claims made as fact, fiction and so on, and comes out with elucubrations that have no relation to history", I mean this is huge!

What? Not the Bible? The code? Oh, "The DaVinci Code" is what the Cardinal is talking about?

Well hell. Whatever. I guess I will just sit here in and sip from this steaming cup of irony. I knew it was too good to be true.

Was he, or wasn't he?

The news that White House adviser Karl Rove had been indicted for perjury electrified the 700 or so lawyers, judges and elected officials (including featured speakers Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.) gathered at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency for Saturday night's annual banquet of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association.

Until they found out that maybe he hadn't been.

Okay Goddamnit, this is important! I need to know if Rove was indicted! How am I going to sleep tonight if this question is not answered?

If he has been indicted then the Republicans are finished! If he was not indicted then he must have brokered a deal and the Republicans are finished! So........are the Republicans finished? Or did I already answer my own question?

I am just not good at handling this kind of stress. I may have to open that last bottle of wine to calm my nerves.

US Intelligence Chief John Negroponte lied about NSA's monitoring of domestic calls. Surprised? Anybody?

When he was asked about the National Security Agency's controversial domestic surveillance program last Monday, U.S. intelligence chief John D. Negroponte objected to the question and said the government was "absolutely not" monitoring domestic calls without warrants.

"I wouldn't call it domestic spying," he told reporters. "This is about international terrorism and telephone calls between people thought to be working for international terrorism and people here in the United States."

Three days later, USA Today divulged details of the NSA's effort to log a majority of the telephone calls made within the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- amassing the domestic call records of tens of millions of U.S. households and businesses in an attempt to sift them for clues about terrorist threats.

It is clear that we cannot trust anybody who represents this administration. Lying appears to be a necesary prerequisite to becoming a member of the Bush inner circle.

The Feds are monitoring ABC phone calls in attempt to find leakers.

We do not know how the government determined who we are calling, or whether our phone records were provided to the government as part of the recently-disclosed NSA collection of domestic phone calls.

Other sources have told us that phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation.

So the government is only using this technology to track suspected Al-Qaida members huh? Lying bastards!

They are clearly using their power to keep us from learning just how criminal their administration has become. Their answer to everything is to kill the messenger. Without these news organizations we would have no idea just how much criminal activity had taken place in our name, here and around the world. This is still our government and it is past time they learned who they work for.

This is why we should all be openly critical of this data mining program that the government is using to "protect us". We know this administration cannot be trusted to honor our civil rights or our privacy. For them the end always justifies the means.

If you have phone service through AT&T, Verizon, or Bellsouth I suggest you immediately dump them and sign up with a company that will respect you as a citizen of the United States of America, where we shouldn't have to worry that our government is infringing on our personal freedoms. If we hit these companies in the wallet you can bet they will clam up like the asshole of redneck in a mexican prison.

Et tu Syria?

U.S. intelligence agencies suspect Syria was offered and received nuclear weapons technology from the covert Pakistani supplier group headed by A.Q. Khan, according to an intelligence report.

An annual report to Congress on arms proliferation states that Pakistani investigators have confirmed reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency that the Khan network "offered nuclear technology and hardware to Syria."

"We are concerned that expertise or technology could have been transferred," said the intelligence report, which is the first time the Bush administration has publicly linked Syria to Khan.

"We continue to monitor Syrian nuclear intentions with concern."

Ummm it might just be time to get our troops the hell out of the Middle East and wait until the dust settles before we decide who to make friends with. I have to say that if I lived in Israel I would be putting my house on the market right about now.

If Bush thinks he can keep the lid on this situation through intimidation then he is even crazier then I think he is. You know he just might be that crazy!

There is a student seducing Pamela Rogers doll for sale on E-Bay. So when is Jesus coming again?

Now I am not absolutely convinced that this is a harbringer of destruction, but it sure as hell doesn't qualify as a good omen now does it?

And no I am not planning to buy one. It would clash with my supercool Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson action figures. (Yeah, like you don't know who they are!)

Girl tells Reverend that family member is molesting her. Reverend spanks her for lying. Guess who wasn't lying.

An Elgin pastor for two months regularly spanked a 13-year-old girl with a wooden stick to punish her for claiming she had been sexually abused by a relative, police said Thursday, a day after arresting the clergyman on a charge of battery.

The Rev. Daryl P. Bujak allegedly spanked the girl during weekly counseling sessions at his First Missionary Baptist Church last year because he thought she was lying about being abused.

The girl's parents first took her to the 30-year-old Bujak in March 2005 because they doubted her claims she had been molested by a family member, Elgin Police Lt. Michael Turner said. The girl, who was clothed during the spankings, suffered bruises and welts on her legs and buttocks, Turner said.

Charges of predatory criminal sexual assault were filed this week in McHenry County against Matthew Resh, 33, a relative of the girl.

Bujak, who surrendered late Wednesday to police and was released after posting $500 cash bail, couldn't be reached for comment Thursday on the battery charge.

It always irritates me that people believe that just because someone is a man of God that qualifies him to serve as a mental health counselor. What training did this moron have? He approached a sensitive, potentially trauma inducing crisis by heaping more punishment on a child who was already suffering at he hands of a trusted adult. I can only imagine how this child must view the adults in her life now.

Dealing with this kind of trauma requires many years of training and should never be ateempted by an amateur. Especially an amateur who still believes that children should be beaten for misbehaving.

I would love to have a shot at this prick myself. He clearly deserves a very substantial beating of his own.

Since Creationists can't find any scientists that agree with them they just decide to create their own.

There is a catch however. To take these "science" courses you have to agree with the following Tenets.

• The physical universe of space, time, matter, and energy has not always existed, but was supernaturally created by a transcendent personal Creator who alone has existed from eternity.
  
• The phenomenon of biological life did not develop by natural processes from inanimate systems but was specially and supernaturally created by the Creator.
  
• Each of the major kinds of plants and animals was created functionally complete from the beginning and did not evolve from some other kind of organism. Changes in basic kinds since their first creation are limited to "horizontal" changes (variation) within the kinds, or "downward' changes (e.g., harmful mutations, extinctions).
  
• The first human beings did not evolve from an animal ancestry, but were specially created in fully human form from the start. Furthermore, the "spiritual" nature of man (self-image, moral consciousness, abstract reasoning, language, will, religious nature, etc.) is itself a supernaturally created entity distinct from mere biological life.
  
• The record of earth history, as preserved in the earth's crust, especially in the rocks and fossil deposits, is primarily a record of catastrophic intensities of natural processes, operating largely within uniform natural laws, rather than one of gradualism and relatively uniform process rates. There are many scientific evidences for a relatively recent creation of the earth and the universe, in addition to strong scientific evidence that most of the earth's fossiliferous sedimentary rocks were formed in an even more recent global hydraulic cataclysm.
  
• Processes today operate primarily within fixed natural laws and relatively uniform process rates but, since these were themselves originally created and are daily maintained by their Creator, there is always the possibility of miraculous intervention in these laws or processes by their Creator. Evidences for such intervention should be scrutinized critically, however, because there must be clear and adequate reason for any such action on the part of the Creator.
  
• The universe and life have somehow been impaired since the completion of creation, so that imperfections in structure, disease, aging, extinctions, and other such phenomena are the result of "negative" changes in properties and processes occurring in an originally-perfect created order.
  
• Since the universe and its primary components were created perfect for their purposes in the beginning by a competent and volitional Creator, and since the Creator does remain active in this now-decaying creation, there do exist ultimate purposes and meanings in the universe. Teleological considerations, therefore, are appropriate in scientific studies whenever they are consistent with the actual data of observation, and it is reasonable to assume that the creation presently awaits the consummation of the Creator's purpose.
  
• Although people are finite and scientific data concerning origins are always circumstantial and incomplete, the human mind (if open to the possibility of creation) is able to explore the manifestations of that Creator rationally and scientifically, and to reach an intelligent decision regarding one's place in the Creator's plan.

So let me get this straight. In order to sign up for a course designed to teach you something that you do not know about a subject, you first must express confidence that you already know enough about the subject to know what is the truth behind it.

In other words, if in the course of your studies you stumble upon a fact that does not fit one of the Creationist's tenets you must disregard it and pretend that it does not exist. And this is a form of education?

The Institute for Creation Research, closing minds since 1981.

Our last hope that there is a level headed person talking to the President is gone. Laura Bush does not believe negative polls.

Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Laura Bush said she did not think people were losing confidence in President George W. Bush, despite a series of polls showing support for him at its lowest point in his five-year presidency and among the lowest for any president in the past 50 years.

"I don't really believe those polls. I travel around the country. I see people, I see their responses to my husband. I see their response to me," she said.

"As I travel around the United States, I see a lot of appreciation for him. A lot of people come up to me and say, 'Stay the course'."

So how do you think it went down. Was Laura walking around the White House with a dry mouth asking if anybody had something cool for her to drink? Suddenly up runs Karl Rove;

"Here Mrs. Bush I have a glass of cool delicious Kool-aid for you. Just drink it up and all of your problems and doubts will just disappear. Safe? Well of course it is safe. Why, all of us drink buckets of it everyday. Even your husband."

And then she was lost to us.

Damn that mind altering Kool-aid!

SNL skit: If Al Gore was President.

If you have not seen this you must stop everything and watch the video, it is fucking awesome!

I have not laughed that hard all week!

AL Gore absolutely rocks!

Mentally ill troops being sent to Iraq.

U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported for Sunday editions.

Some service members who committed suicide in 2004 and 2005 were kept on duty despite clear signs of mental distress, sometimes after being prescribed antidepressants with little or no mental health counseling or monitoring. Those findings conflict with regulations adopted last year by the Army that caution against the use of antidepressants for “extended deployments.”

“I can’t imagine something more irresponsible than putting a soldier suffering from stress on (antidepressants), when you know these drugs can cause people to become suicidal and homicidal,” said Vera Sharav, president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection.
“You’re creating chemically activated time bombs.”

Although Defense Department standards for enlistment disqualify recruits who suffer “persistent post-traumatic symptoms,” the military also is redeploying service members to Iraq who fit that criteria, the newspaper said.

“I’m concerned that people who are symptomatic are being sent back. That has not happened before in our country,” said Dr. Arthur S. Blank, Jr., a Yale-trained psychiatrist who helped to get post-traumatic stress disorder recognized as a diagnosis after the Vietnam War.

This so incredibly inhumane that I am almost speechless. I work with many people suffering from depression and PTSD. Their thinking patterns are very scattered and they cannot be trusted to keep themselves safe or recognize potentially dangerous situations that may arise. I cannot imagine wanting a person like that to be in my military unit. They would place every soldier with them in terrible jeopardy.

And the reason why these rules are being ignored is fairly easy to predict.

The Army’s top mental health expert, Col. Elspeth Ritchie, acknowledged that some deployment practices, such as sending service members diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome back into combat, have been driven in part by a troop shortage.

“The challenge for us ... is that the Army has a mission to fight. And, as you know, recruiting has been a challenge,” she said. “And so we have to weigh the needs of the Army, the needs of the mission, with the soldiers’ personal needs.”

So the troops are not important, only the mission is important. The soldiers lives are expendable so that we can......what are we doing there again?

If we could turn back time. Majority of Americans prefer Bill Clinton to George W. Bush.

The poll of 1,021 adult Americans was conducted May 5-7 by Opinion Research Corp. for CNN. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush).

On foreign affairs, the margin was 56 percent to 32 percent in Clinton's favor; on taxes, it was 51 percent to 35 percent for Clinton; and on handling natural disasters, it was 51 percent to 30 percent, also favoring Clinton.

Moreover, 59 percent said Bush has done more to divide the country, while only 27 percent said Clinton had.

When asked which man was more honest as president, poll respondents were more evenly divided, with the numbers -- 46 percent Clinton to 41 percent Bush -- falling within the poll's margin of error. The same was true for a question on handling national security: 46 percent said Clinton performed better; 42 percent picked Bush.

I have been ahead of the curve on this for quite some time.

California Superior judge tosses out High School exit exam. California rocks!

A California judge struck down the state's controversial high school exit exam Friday, potentially clearing the way for thousands of seniors who have failed the test to graduate with their class next month.

I think this exam is completely unnecessary and causes a lot of undue stress for these kids. If they get the credits needed to graduate they should be allowed to graduate.

Just being able to pass this test before leaving school is not an indication that you learned more then a teen who did not pass this test, nor does it mean that you will necessarily be any more capable in college or the workforce. But what it does is to take a child's focus off of getting his credits and his grade point average up, and keeps the teenager thinking only of getting past the exit exams. It serves as a distraction from, and not an enhancement to, their education.

Patrick Fitzgerald obtains Cheney's handwritten notes concerning outing Valerie Plame. Do you think they will let Dick and Karl be cellmates?

The role of Vice President Dick Cheney in the criminal case stemming from the outing of White House critic Joseph Wilson's CIA wife is likely to get fresh attention as a result of newly disclosed notes showing that Cheney personally asked whether Wilson had been sent by his wife on a "junket" to Africa.

Cheney's notes, written on the margins of a July 6, 2003 New York Times op-ed column by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, were included as part of a filing Friday night by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in the perjury and obstruction case against ex-Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

In the margins of the op-ed, Cheney jotted out a series of questions that seemed to challenge many of Wilson's assertions as well as the legitimacy of his CIA sponsored trip to Africa: "Have they done this sort of thing before? Send an Amb. [sic] to answer a question? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did his wife send him on a junket?"

Sooo Dick knew that Wilson's wife was a CIA operative how soon after the article came out? And why did he want to know what his wife did for a living? The only reason to investigate the wife is to discredit the husband. And how many man hours were used to do this investigation? Was the CIA forced to investigate itself? This powerful organization was used to perform a character assassination. All of this at the bidding of the Vice President, and quite possibly the President, of the United States.

And the thing that keeps getting ignored in this whole thing is that Wilson was right! He went to Niger and came back with the truth! They destroyed his wife's career to protect the lie! By a show of hands how many of you believe that the administration did not know that the Hussein-Niger story was a lie. See how much smarter you are then the average American?

The other part that really pisses me off is that the administration used the Freedom of the Press to hide behind while they destroyed their political enemy. So when it serves their needs they support the Freedom of the Press, but when it interferes with their illegal activities they attack the press and atttempt to suppress it.

Hypocritical bastards!

Rove tells staff and President that he is about to be indicted.

Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.

Details of Rove's discussions with the president and Bolten have spread through the corridors of the White House where low-level staffers and senior officials were trying to determine how the indictment would impact an administration that has been mired in a number of high-profile political scandals for nearly a year, said a half-dozen White House aides and two senior officials who work at the Republican National Committee.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources confirmed Rove's indictment is imminent. These individuals requested anonymity saying they were not authorized to speak publicly about Rove's situation. A spokesman in the White House press office said they would not comment on "wildly speculative rumors."

It certainly could not happen to a more deserving person. Karl is a cancer on this country and has done nothing but break and bend rules to ensure that his candidate gets elected and that his policies get implemented. He is truly a horrible person.

With Rove out of the picture Bush is much, much more vulnerable.

Here let me wipe the saliva off of my lip.

(Don't you just love that picture?)

Iraqi army units demonstrate their fighting ability....against each other!

Clashes erupted Friday between two Iraqi army units following a roadside bombing north of the capital, and Iraqi police said a Shiite solder was killed in an exchange of fire with a Kurdish unit.

The Americans said one soldier from the Iraqi army's 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 4th Division was killed and 12 were wounded in the attack.

But Iraqi police 1st Lt. Ali Ibrahim said four were killed and three others wounded. He identified the soldiers as Kurdish but did not specify their unit.

According to both accounts, the wounded were rushed to the U.S. military hospital in Balad. Police said that when the Kurdish soldiers drove up to the hospital, they began firing weapons to clear the way, and one Iraqi Shiite civilian was killed.

When security rushed to the scene, the Kurds decided to take their wounded elsewhere, Iraqi police said. Iraqi troops from a separate Shiite unit tried to stop them and shots were fired, Iraqi police said.

The U.S. account said that an Iraqi soldier from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade was killed in a "confrontation" as the other Iraqi troops were trying to remove their wounded. Iraqi police identified the dead soldier as a Shiite. But the U.S. statement did not say what prompted the soldiers to try to take wounded comrades away from a hospital - the best equipped American medical facility in the country.

The sectarian violence has finally made it way into the Iraqi military. Boy that's not good!

If I were an American soldier right now I would be counting the days until I could get the hell out of that killzone. It is only a matter of time before these differing factions remember that they have someone in common that they both hate, and turn on them. Yes that would be us.

Why Qwest communications may be the one of he best telephone service providers in the country. Here is a hint, they stand up to bullies.

Telecommunications giant Qwest refused to provide the government with access to telephone records of its 15 million customers after deciding the request violated privacy law, a lawyer for a former company executive said Friday. For a second day, the former National Security Agency director defended the spy agency's activities.

In a written statement, the attorney for former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio said the government approached the company in the fall of 2001 seeking access to the phone records of Qwest customers, with neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters.

"Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act," attorney Herbert J. Stern said from his Newark, N.J., office.

You know if we are stuck with George Bush for the next three years (Which I cannot quite wrap my brain around), their may be many other ways to keep him from taking our privacy from us while trying to keep us frightened.

We have in our hands the ultimate power in this country. The power of the consumer dollar! If we, enmasse, changed our telephone providers to one of the companies that did not cave to this administration's Mafia style pressure, we can absolutely make sure they don't have access to our records any time in the near future. How long do you think AT&T, Verizon, or Bellsouth will comply with this administration when they find themselves hemorrhaging customers? Not very fucking long!

If this Bush administration refuses to respect our rights, then let's take back our freedom. We have the power and it is time to start using it!

No Child Left Behind leaves every single child behind.

Not a single state will have a highly qualified teacher in every core class this school year as promised by President Bush's education law. Nine states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico face penalties.

The Department of Education on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified -- belatedly -- in the 2006-07 school year.

In the meantime, some states face the loss of federal aid because they didn't make enough effort to comply on time, officials said.

They are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

I hate this program and find its emphasis on test taking to be numbing to the creativity of our nation's schoolchildren. I want to live in a country that produces artists, musicians, writers, and innovators, just as much as I want us to produce accountants, doctors, lawyers, and engineers.

I think that America has been the creative force in the world because of our open ended education programs. We have allowed our children to develop into individuals and that just serves to strengthen our country and provide much needed diversity.

There is nothing better then to be unique. There are many herds of people who are busy being the same. I prefer those that embrace the different.

Mel gibson compares Bush to barbarians sacrificing the innocent to stave off destruction.

Film star and director Mel Gibson has launched a scathing attack on US President George W Bush, comparing his leadership to the barbaric rulers of the Mayan civilisation in his new film Apocalypto.

The epic, due for release later this year, captures the decline of the Maya kingdom and the slaughter of thousands of inhabitants as human sacrifices in a bid to save the nation from collapsing.

Gibson reveals he used present day American politics as an inspiration, claiming the government callously plays on the nation's insecurities to maintain power.

He tells British film magazine Hotdog, "The fear-mongering we depict in the film reminds me of President Bush and his guys".

Does Bush have any friends left? I thought Gibson was a republican?

If a gay person makes your sandwich will it taste different?

A newsagent was shocked this week after being asked to disclose her sexuality when completing a form related to selling sandwiches.

Aruna Majevadia, had been providing sandwiches in her Brighton shop for two years, but was amazed when the council sent her a form to complete regarding hygiene standards, which asked for her nationality, religion and sexuality.

She told The Argus, “I was flabbergasted. I filled in the form because I didn't want the council to stop me selling sandwiches. The last question asked me whether I was bisexual, heterosexual or lesbian. That threw me.

Oh come on! This makes perfect sense to me. I mean you have to know that the lesbian would not know how to handle the meat properly.





Sometimes the jokes are just for me.

Here is an interesting new book: "The Rise of Christian Nationalism". Oh shit!

Christian nationalists believe in a revisionist history, which holds that the founders were devout Christians who never intended to create a secular republic; separation of church and state, according to this history, is a fraud perpetrated by God-hating subversives. One of the foremost Christian revisionist historians is David Barton, who , in addition to running an organization called Wallbuilders that disseminates Christian nationalist books, tracts and videos, is also the vice-chairman of the Texas Republican Party. The goal of Christian nationalist politics is the restoration of the imagined Christian nation. As George Grant, former executive director of D. James Kennedy's influential Coral Ridge Ministries, wrote in his book "The Changing of the Guard:"

"Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ -- to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness.

But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice.

It is dominion we are after. Not just influence.

It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time.

It is dominion we are after.

World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish."

In the Christian nationalist vision of America, non-believers would be free to worship as they choose, as long as they know their place. When Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala became the first Hindu priest to offer an invocation before Congress, the Family Research Council issued a furious statement that reveals much about the America they'd like to create:

"While it is true that the United States of America was founded on the sacred principle of religious freedom for all, that liberty was never intended to exalt other religions to the level that Christianity holds in our country's heritage...Our founders expected that Christianity -- and no other religion -- would receive support from the government as long as that support did not violate peoples' consciences and their right to worship. They would have found utterly incredible the idea that all religions, including paganism, be treated with equal deference."


The iconography of Christian nationalism conflates the cross and the flag. As I write in "Kingdom Coming," it "claims supernatural sanction for its campaign of national renewal and speaks rapturously about vanquishing the millions of Americans who would stand in its way." At one rally at the statehouse in Austin, Texas, a banner pictured a fierce eagle perched upon a bloody cross. For a liberal, such imagery smacks of fascist agitprop. But plenty of deeply committed Christians also object to it as a form of blasphemy. It's important, I think, to separate their faith from the authoritarian impulses of the Christian nationalist movement. Christianity is a religion. Christian nationalism is a political program, and there is nothing sacred about it.

I am guessing that I would not be welcome to live in this new America. They would want to get rid of my kind just as soon as they possibly could.

If the above does not describe George W. Bush's philosophy to a "T", I will eat my brand new desk. It is time to wipe the sleep dust out of our eyes and start paying very close attention. Things are far more out of control then we have previously thought.

NSA puts stop to illegal wiretap probe. Hmmm interesting!

The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers' role in the program.

"We have been unable to make any meaningful progress in our investigation because OPR has been denied security clearances for access to information about the NSA program," OPR counsel H. Marshall Jarrett wrote to Hinchey. Hinchey's office shared the letter with The Associated Press.

Jarrett wrote that beginning in January, his office has made a series of requests for the necessary clearances. Those requests were denied Tuesday.

"Without these clearances, we cannot investigate this matter and therefore have closed our investigation," wrote Jarrett.

There is no way they are going to be able to stonewall this for very long. This secrecy excuse will not stand with so little trust in the government right now. They are just prolonging the inevitable.

In the minds of most Americans the reason the goverment demands secrecy is because they are doing something illegal.

The Taliban have regained control of Southern Afghanistan. You remember Afghanistan don't you? That was the country where the enemy actually lived.

"The Taliban and Al-Qaida are everywhere," a shopkeeper, Haji Saifullah, told the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, as he strolled through Tirin Kot’s bazaar to talk to people. "It is all right in the city, but if you go outside the city, they are everywhere and the people have to support them. They have no choice."

The fact that U.S. troops are pulling out of southern Afghanistan in the coming months and handing matters over to NATO peacekeepers -- who have repeatedly said that they are not going to fight terrorists -- has given a boost to the insurgents and increased the fears of Afghans.

The next time you see President Bush standing up before a bunch of microphones talking about the war on terror ask yourself who is winning that war? Are we really safer? Are there more or less terrorists then when we started combat? Is it more or less likely that we will be attacked in this country? Just what has George Bush accomplished with his so called "War on Terror"?

You might want to take some medication before really thinking about the above questions.

Autistic Army recruit Jared Guinther is released from his contract. Way to show a little compassion Army!

Jared Guinther signed up for one of the Army's most dangerous jobs, cavalry scout, after being heavily recruited. He passed medical and other examinations. He was scheduled to leave for basic training in August.

The Army announced Tuesday that it decided he didn't meet enrollment criteria, two days after The Oregonian newspaper reported his parents' objections.

Gaylan Johnson, spokesman for the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, said Guinther's disability was not disclosed in the medical exam and information regarding his condition was not available to the command until after the enrollment process was complete. The command oversees medical exams for the Army.

I hate to always be the skeptic, but I think we all know that without all of this negative publicity the Army would have happily sent Jared to fight in Iraq without hesitation. They are rapidly running out of anyone who is willing to sign up for this unlawful war.

What else was Jared going to be trained for, communications expert?

The boy was just going to be used as cannon fodder.

Female professor posts nude photos of herself. University officials yawn and say "no big whoop".

A USC women’s studies professor has posted topless photos of herself on her personal Web site, but the school says she has not violated any university rules.

“The couple of conservative USC students who have dedicated themselves to attacking me clearly grew frustrated at my refusal to react to them, so they upped the ante and contacted the media about my nudie pics. One station bit, and voila, we have a scandal,” she wrote on her Web site.

“No doubt this event will have the opposite reaction than the tattlers hoped, causing many people to move further away from what looks to them like what it is, an attempt by conservative ideologues to shut down free speech by using sex as the shaming mechanism.”

Although she wrote that she enjoyed some of the media attention, Blaine complained about the nature of the apparent scandal, which ultimately was a non issue to administrators.

Finally! Somebody responds like a grown up to seeing a boobie on the internet!

There is nothing wrong with somebodies body, whether clothed or gloriously naked. This puritan idea that we should be ashamed of ourselves is just horribly destructive and punitive.

I would walk around naked all of the time if it wasn't so fucking cold in Alaska! And if I wouldn't get thrown in jail for public nudity. And if I wouldn't immediately lose my job for being a pervert.

But they can't stop me! I am naked right now, you know....under my clothes.

Patrick Kennedy is lying!

Capitol police in Washington, D.C., investigating U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s early-morning car wreck have been told by witnesses that the Rhode Island congressman was at a Capitol Hill bar before the crash, the Herald has learned.

A source close to the probe said witnesses have told detectives that Kennedy was at the Hawk & Dove before he slammed his Ford Mustang into a security barrier near the U.S. Capitol. The source added that cops are continuing to seek evidence to confirm that Kennedy was at the watering hole.

The Herald reported last week that a Hawk & Dove hostess said the 38-year-old pol is a frequent customer and was drinking in the bar before the May 4 crash. Kennedy has denied he was drinking, blaming the accident on a cocktail of prescription painkillers and sleeping pills. He has since checked into a Minnesota rehab.

He should have just admitted that he was drunk, taken the breathalyzer test, and then entered rehab if he felt it was necessary. If he would have done that I would have nothing negative to say about the guy. But I have been bashing the Republicans and this President for lying to us. If I demand honesty from them, well then of course I expect it from all of the Democrats in public office as well.

It makes us look like hypocrites to give a pass to Kennedy when we are beating the drums to get the corrupt lying Republicans out of office. I am not a hypocrite. Therefore it is time for Kennedy to go.

New poll shows Bush at 29%. I will drink to that.

President Bush’s job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed in a telephone poll, 29% think Mr. Bush is doing an “excellent or pretty good” job as president, down from 35% in April and significantly lower than 43% in January.

Roughly one-quarter of U.S. adults say “things in the country are going in the right direction,” while 69% say “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track.” This trend has declined every month since January, when 33% said the nation was heading in the right direction. Iraq remains a key concern for the general public, as 28% of Americans said they consider Iraq to be one of the top two most important issues the government should address, up from 23% in April. The immigration debate also prompted 16% of Americans to consider it a top issue, down from 19% last month, but still sharply higher from 4% in March.

The Harris poll comes two days after a downbeat assessement of Bush in a New York Times/CBS News poll. The Times, in analyzing the results, said “Americans have a bleaker view of the country’s direction than at any time in more than two decades.”

Wow! The polls are falling so fast I am having trouble keeping up with them.

Porn star debates the pastor. Who ya got?

There on the stage was chubby, balding Ron Jeremy, star of about 1,800 adult films and subject of curiosity for a crowd of 500 at UC's Tangeman University Center.

The anti-Ron Jeremy. A guy in a white dress shirt and a trendy haircut. Less familiar to the college set, Craig Gross is a pastor and founder of California anti-pornography Internet ministry XXXchurch.com, which, according to Time magazine, plans to hand out Bibles at erotica conventions.

Gross called porn "a cheap substitute for the real thing." He said it's addictive and creates unreal fantasies and taints people's views - especially men's - about sex and women.

"For some people, it leads to a dead end," Gross said.

Jeremy said pornography can be empowering to women and is not as harmful as Gross claims. He called it "part of the wide world of entertainment, nothing more, nothing less."

"How many of you saw porn before 18?" Gross asked the audience, emphasizing its easy availability. Several raised their hands. "But look," Jeremy responded, "they're all healthy, happy students."

See? The Hedgehog says that porn makes us healthy and happy, that is good enough for me!

The pastor hands out bibles at porn conventions? He must be just about the least popular guy in the world!

"Don't go look at those half naked girls! Here read this leather bound book that will fill you with shame!"

Tony Snow starts his job as White House Press Secretary on the right foot by picking a fight with every news agency in the country!

New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is starting off in a combative mode against the press by issuing detailed rebuttals to what he considers unfair coverage of Bush.

“The New York Times continues to ignore America’s economic progress,” blared the headline of an e-mail sent to reporters Wednesday by the White House press office.

Minutes earlier, another e-mail blasted CBS News, which has had an unusually rocky relationship with the White House since 2004, when CBS aired what turned out to be forged documents in a failed effort to question the president’s military service.

“CBS News misleadingly reports that only 8 million seniors have signed up for Medicare prescription drug coverage,” Wednesday’s missive said. “But 37 million seniors have coverage.” On Tuesday, the White House railed against “USA Today’s misleading Medicare story.”

“USA Today claims ‘poor, often minority’ Medicare beneficiaries are not enrolling in Medicare drug coverage,” the press office complained. “But by April, more than 70 percent of eligible African Americans, more than 70 percent of eligible Hispanics, and more than 75 percent of eligible Asian Americans are enrolled or have retiree drug coverage.”

What wasn't mentioned is that Tony also said "And that FOX News? Well they do a hell of a job, is what they do. Now that is a professional news agency!"

Yeah he talks tough now, but wait until he finds himself trying to explain away another Bush malapropism. He won't feel so confident after the news from Iraq, or from Fitzgerald, or from some other Bush boondoggle causes the press corps to come after him with blood in their eye and foam flecked lips.

Who's your daddy now Tony? Who is your daddy now?

Bush says to trust him, and to stop listening to the facts that those treasonous reporters keep exposing.

"Our intelligence activities strictly target al-Qaida and their known affiliates," Bush said. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

Of course his fingers, his eyes, and his legs were all crossed when he said this.

The idea that we should just trust this administration and not peer to closely at how they do their jobs is completely laughable at this point. Not only has that shipped already sailed, it was struck by a terrible storm at sea and sank into the inky depths. We are never going to trust this President or this administration again, on anything!

I have a question.

If the American government claimed to have stopped an al-Qaida terrorist attack in this country, but within a span of several days Osama Bin Laden or Aymin al-Zawahiri released a video tape saying that they had planned no such thing and that our govenment was lying to us, who would you believe?

How long did it take you to decide who to believe?

Are you certain of your decision?

What does that tell you about our current administration?

If you could take a moment to respond in the comments section I would really appreciate it. I am very curious to see what the feeling is out in the world.

Supermodels are too dumb to ride the bus.

Battered beauty Tatyana Simanava was resting at a Manhattan hospital yesterday, her catwalk career in doubt after a freak accident sent her on a 40-mph plunge from a luxury bus.

The Russian model became disoriented after leaving the bus' bathroom Tuesday, opening an exit door and tumbling outside onto Brooklyn's Gowanus Expressway, cops said.


"We have been in business for 16 years and there has never been anything like this," said Linda Safir, founder of Hoboken-based bus company On Time Elite.

"I have no idea what happened. You've been on a bus? The exit doors are clearly exit doors."

Yes, but were the exit doors designed to be understood by supermodels? We are not talking just regular folk here. We are talking about people who just stand around looking too skinny and bored all day long.

I think that the bus company should have to improve the warnings so that they can be understood by the vague and vacuous. The signs should be written in large red letters, with simple illustrations and a person standing by to explain it to the moronic.

On the plus side just think of all of the medical supply companies that will be banging down her door to get her to use their bandages and crutches!

When life gives you lemons, just throw that shit away and have some vodka!

The civil war in Iraq picks up speed as over 1,000 Iraqis die in April.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has called on Iraqis to help stop sectarian violence after figures showed it killed 1,091 people in Baghdad last month.

Say what you will about how horrible Saddam Hussein was, and he was terrible, but the number of deaths under his regime were nowhere near what they are today. This question has been asked many times before but let me answer it now.

"Was Iraq better off with Saddam in power?"
It absolutely was, no question about it.

Though Iraqis lived under a dictator they undoubtedly felt more safe and their lives were much more comfortable. I have little doubt that if somebody went out into the streets to do a poll, something that the level of violence makes impossible, they would learn that an overwhelming majority of Iraqis would like the war to never have happened.

The cost of our interference is very evident in this statement.

Behind every unidentified corpse is "an orphan, a starving father or a grieving wife."

How many unidentified corpses were discovered during Saddam's reign?

NSA has largest data base ever assembled in the world consisting of phone calls from, to, and within the United States.

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.

The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.

"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added.

For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.

But wait a minute didn't Bush already address this issue?

In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. "In other words," Bush explained, "one end of the communication must be outside the United States."

This is why this guys poll numbers are in the toilet. He is constantly lying about breaking the law over and over again. It is well past time for him and his black booted thugs to be removed from power.

I have nothing against tracking terrorists in this country, but it is clear that this huge operation is going to involve millions and millions of innocent Americans in the vain hopes of catching a very small group of bad guys.

In the meantime all of us are being monitored and our phone calls collected which could then be used for any number of nefarious purposes by a government which has done nothing to earn our trust as of late.

Boy Scouts hate religious kids. This is another Wiccan post. In honor of my ex-wives.

The camp is going well so far. Boy Scouts have gathered from around the area in khaki button-ups and red scarves, eager to earn their God and Country badge.

The leader in a room of about 20 Scouts decides to break the ice by showing how religiously diverse the gathering is.

By a showing of hands, he asks who belongs to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, continuing on until two boys are left who have not raised their hands. One of the brothers is called out to tell the group what church he attends. He replies, "I'm Wiccan."

Little did 12-year-old Cody Brown realize how much that answer would affect his life.

During the past six weeks, Cody and his 15-year-old brother, Justin, have waited with their parents to see how the controversy sparked by Cody's answer would play out.

Within 48 hours of Cody's confession, the troop committee of Holly Grove United Methodist Church in Anacoco was meeting to discuss the implications.

The church sponsors the boys' chapter, Troop 71. Pastor Doug Lewellyn was out of town at the time of the meeting.

"The number one scout law is to do your duty to God and your country," Troop 71 Scout Master Gene Doherty said. "They met to discuss whether or not the boys could live up to that because of their religion."

The conclusion was that they could not.

Doherty called Army Cpt. Todd Buchheim, the boys' father and a former Eagle Scout stationed at Fort Polk, to inform him that the boys no longer were welcome in the troop. The Buchheims said Doherty told them that if Cody had lied about his faith, the boys could have remained with no problem.

So to sum up what we have learned here;

• The Boy Scouts do not respect religious diversity.
• The Boy Scouts encourage children to lie.
• The Boy Scouts like to make little children cry.

I think that about sums it up.

I went to Boy Scouts and hated it! I did get a nice knot tying patch by selling pot to the assistant scout master. Fucking pot head!

Three year old shoots Guatemalan. He said something about protecting our borders before he fired.

A toddler shot a man dead with a revolver he found in a cupboard, police in California said today.

The three-year-old boy apparently found the revolver in a bedroom cupboard while his mother fed his one-year-old sister, and two aunts and a grandmother played cards, said police Lt. David Boersma.

When the boy walked into the living room playing with the gun, the adults tried to get him to put it down. But the pistol fired and struck Luis Fernando Zepeda-Silva, a recent immigrant from Guatemala.

Police said Silva had been on a patio sorting bottles for recycling when he returned to the living room through a sliding glass door and the boy pulled the trigger.

Silva was shot in the chest and later pronounced dead at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

First of all I would like to say that that kid is an amazing shot!

And that his parents are unbelievable morons!

But remember, guns don't kill, toddlers kill.

Religious zealots win court battle to keep their photos off of drivers licenses. Damn, how ugly are these people?

The Wilson Colony, near Coaldale, 12 kilometres east of Lethbridge, took the province to court after the government introduced a new licence that must have a driver's photo on it.

The colony argued in a Lethbridge court that the government's rule violated its charter right to freedom of religion. Members believe the second commandment in the Bible prohibits them from willingly having their picture taken.

The province argued the photos were necessary to prevent fraud or identity theft. But a judge determined the Crown had failed to prove that this would likely be the case.

Justice Sal LoVecchio of the Alberta Court of Queens Bench ruled in favour of the Hutterites.

I am embarrassed to say I had to look up the second commandment, but here it is:

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.

That is an interesting commandment. I have no idea why God would not want his people to have statues or pictures of themselves. It seems terribly punitive to me. He can be so bossy!

By the way I think that we will soon see a new religion emerge of middle aged women who do not think that their weight should be put on the drivers license. "It is against the religion of my fat ass".

The Holy Church of the Widening Girth.
Service from 9-12
Holy Feast from 12-midnight.
Please donate to our collection for the purchase of larger pews. Much larger pews.

We may very well have just given the Iraqi insurgents 200,000 AK47s. Just how stupid are we?

SOME 200,000 guns the US sent to Iraqi security forces may have been smuggled to terrorists, it was feared yesterday.

The 99-tonne cache of AK47s was to have been secretly flown out from a US base in Bosnia. But the four planeloads of arms have vanished.

Orders for the deal to go ahead were given by the US Department of Defense. But the work was contracted out via a complex web of private arms traders.

And the Moldovan airline used to transport the shipment was blasted by the UN in 2003 for smuggling arms to Liberia, human rights group Amnesty has discovered.

It follows a separate probe claiming that thousands of guns meant for Iraq's police and army instead went to al-Qaeda.

We truly are the army that could not shoot straight. So how many of our guys will be killed with weapons that we carelessly provided to our enemies?

Secret Service releases White House visitor logs which shows Abramoff only visited twice. Does this pass the smell test?

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff made two visits to the White House before being convicted earlier this year in an expanding federal investigation of political corruption, documents released on Wednesday showed.

Visitor logs kept by the Secret Service showed that Abramoff visited the White House for about 26 minutes on March 6, 2001, and for about 47 minutes on January 20, 2004.

The Secret Service released the visitor logs after Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group, filed a lawsuit to obtain them under the Freedom of Information Act. The logs do not indicate who Abramoff met with at the White House.

"At first glance, these documents seem incomplete when compared to other White House visitor logs obtained by Judicial Watch. We therefore have reason to believe there are additional details about Jack Abramoff's visits to the White House that have not been disclosed," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Okay now I don't want to jump to any conclusions here until we get all of the fa....THEY ARE LYING! THESE DOCUMENTS ARE DOCTORED! ABRAMOFF'S VISITS ARE POLITICALLY TOO DAMAGING FOR THE WHITE HOUSE TO ALLOW TO GET OUT, SO THEY CHANGED THE LOGS!

Hey FOX News does it, so why can't I?