Deep Thoughts About Deepthroat

The Republican Talking Points on Deepthroat make me want to vomit.

Prosecute him! He's a criminal! He was just mad because Nixon didn't give him J. Edgar's old job! He was a threat to national security! He probably wasn't Deepthroat, anyway! There was no Deepthroat; but if there was, he did a terrible, disloyal thing!

Yadayadayadayadayada.

As for the Dems...

Crickets chirp undisturbed.

Dems have had months (since Woodward announced that Deepthroat was seriously ill) to formalize an inevitable (barring some major breakthrough with interferon) response to the disclosure of Deepthroat's true identity.

After today's pitiful showing, I'm convinced that Dems "misunderestimated," once again, how low (Hello, China!) Republicans are willing to go to achieve and retain absolute power.

So here are a few Democratic Talking Points on Deepthroat:

Deepthroat, who is 91 years old, suffered a stroke recently. This man watched Richard Nixon appoint an outsider as the new FBI Director, who no doubt would have ratted out those in the agency who were not quite brainwashed yet...

Those who were still capable of separating the office of the presidency from the man.

Nixon speechwriter, Pat Buchanan, wants to prosecute W. Mark Felt for divulging national Nixon & Cronies' crimes secrets. Who died and made a Nixon speechwriter a constitutional expert?

If Nixon speechwriter, David Gergen's, lips could be pursed any tighter, they'd match his ass. Gergen is a joke... Did I mention that he was also a Nixon speechwriter?

Speaking of asses, who the hell gives a rat's ass what convicted Watergate criminal, Chuck "I make my living pimping Jesus" Colson, thinks about W. Mark Felt? Any media outlet that validates Colson by pointing a camera at him should be ashamed!

I was an undergrad when Woodstein broke the Watergate story, and I read every word written about the scandal...

No one, I repeat, no one (worthy of quoting) suggested in any mainstream media outlet at that time that Deepthroat was a traitor and/or a threat to national security. Maybe the newsletter of the Fledgling Fascist Fundie/ Klan News wrote something, but smart people laughed at them back then, as well they should have. And they should laugh these Kurrent Klowns off the air, too!

Deepthroat defined "Whistleblower" for my generation. Because of Deepthroat, the office of the Independent Council was created and put to good use...

And not just for $70 million fishing expeditions.

If you watched TV today, you would have thought Deepthroat had been labeled Public Enemy #1 back then by Republicans.

But, No. In fact, it took Republicans, themselves, to bring Nixon down. His resignation was in lieu of being found guilty of REAL high crimes and misdemeanors by the US Senate and subsequent federal indictments. Nixon was facing serious prison time with protesters, dime bag reefer smokers, wartime deserters, and poor minorities, whose "serious" crimes were stealing milk and daring to be desperate.

Deepthroat, indeed, was once a criminal. He used his FBI status to persecute war protesters (Sound familiar?), and Ronald Reagan pardoned him for his crimes (Scroll down this page for the text of W. Mark Felt's pardon) in 1981; however, Deepthroat reached a point where he, like John Dean, could no longer support Nixon's criminal activities without becoming just like them.

Why are Republican shills screaming so loudly today about prosecuting Deepthroat?

Simple.

Republicans are telling today's Deepthroats (and future Deepthroats), who may be contemplating exposing BushCo's crimes (a la W. Mark Felt), that their patriotism will not be tolerated.

Note to Dems: Stop trotting out Craig Crawford to speak for us. He's maybe one step above "Cracker" on the politically savvy food chain, and he does much more damage than he's even aware of.

Cue the Dems who were actually around when Nixon was having trouble chewing the caps off of his medicine bottles and messengering them to Alexander Haig for opening. (Read Haig's book.)

Oh, and...

Let any and all potential whistleblowers standing in the shadows of parking garages that you will do everything in your power to protect them!

Just remember, Dems. It's all about Tricky Dick Nixon and his crimes. It's not about W. Mark Felt, Ben Bradlee, or guerrilla journalism.

Don't let them suck you into a debate on Deepthroat's motives, Ben Bradlee's politics, or "Woodstein's" ambitions.

Make the Republicans define the words they spew constantly: freedom and patriotism.

And make them shut up while you're talking! It's a shame that no one ever cared enough about them to teach them any manners, but it's not your job to teach common courtesy to yahoos.

Finally On The Record

From The Washington Post...

Washington Post Confirms Felt as 'Deep Throat'

By William Branigin and David Von Drehle
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 31, 2005

The Washington Post today confirmed that W. Mark Felt, a former number-two official at the FBI, was "Deep Throat," the secretive source who provided information that helped unravel the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s and contributed to the resignation of president Richard M. Nixon.

Woodward said Felt helped The Post at a time of tense relations between the White House and much of the FBI hierarchy. He said the Watergate break-in came shortly after the death of legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Felt's mentor, and that Felt and other bureau officials wanted to see an FBI veteran promoted to succeed Hoover. --snip--

The (Vanity Fair) article concluded, "Felt, having long harbored the ambivalent emotions of pride and self-reproach, has lived for more than 30 years in a prison of his own making, a prison built upon his strong moral principles and his unwavering loyalty to country and cause. But now, buoyed by his family's revelations and support, he need feel imprisoned no longer."

Here's to Deepthroat!

We need a thousand more just like him!

No Comment... Yet

No confirmation from "Woodstein."

No denial from "Woodstein."

Not even a hint of an infamously Nixonian non-denial denial.

Deepthroat, on his deathbed, revealed his identity today.

W. Mark Felt is Deepthroat.

Ex-FBI official:
I'm 'Deep Throat'

But Watergate reporter
won't confirm, deny story

Updated: 3:31 p.m. ET May 31, 2005

A former FBI official claims he was "Deep Throat," the long-anonymous source who leaked secrets about President Nixon's Watergate cover-up to The Washington Post, Vanity Fair reported Tuesday.

W. Mark Felt, 91, who was second-in-command at the FBI in the early 1970s, kept the secret even from his family until 2002, when he confided to a friend that he had been Post reporter Bob Woodward's source, the magazine said.

"I'’m the guy they used to call Deep Throat," he told lawyer John D. O'Connor, the author of the Vanity Fair article, the magazine said in a news release.

Felt, who said he was "only doing his duty" and did not seek to bring down Nixon over the cover-up of a break-in at Democratic Party offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., was initially adamant about remaining silent on the subject. MSNBC

Hm. Wasn't that one of the guys pardoned by Reagan for overzealous (trans. warrant-less) search and seizure (trans. break-ins) against the Weather Underground?

Yep.

Statement on Granting Pardons to W. Mark Felt and Edward S. Miller

April 15, 1981

Pursuant to the grant of authority in article II, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States, I have granted full and unconditional pardons to W. Mark Felt and Edward S. Miller.

During their long careers, Mark Felt and Edward Miller served the Federal Bureau of Investigation and our nation with great distinction. To punish them further -- after 3 years of criminal prosecution proceedings -- would not serve the ends of justice.

Their convictions in the U.S. District Court, on appeal at the time I signed the pardons, grew out of their good-faith belief that their actions were necessary to preserve the security interests of our country. The record demonstrates that they acted not with criminal intent, but in the belief that they had grants of authority reaching to the highest levels of government.

America was at war in 1972, and Messrs. Felt and Miller followed procedures they believed essential to keep the Director of the FBI, the Attorney General, and the President of the United States advised of the activities of hostile foreign powers and their collaborators in this country. They have never denied their actions, but, in fact, came forward to acknowledge them publicly in order to relieve their subordinate agents from criminal actions.

Four years ago, thousands of draft evaders and others who violated the Selective Service laws were unconditionally pardoned by my predecessor. America was generous to those who refused to serve their country in the Vietnam war. We can be no less generous to two men who acted on high principle to bring an end to the terrorism that was threatening our nation.

And, of course, there was this a few weeks ago...

Why Did Bob Woodward Lunch With Mark Felt in 1999?

Was it to ask if he could unmask Deep Throat?

By Timothy Noah
Posted Thursday, May 2, 2002, at 7:29 PM PT

As Chatterbox noted yesterday, the best guess going about the identity of Deep Throat, Bob Woodward's crucial but anonymous Watergate informer, has long been W. Mark Felt, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In his haste to write yesterday's item, Chatterbox failed to chase down a tip he'd received (apparently first published in the Globe tabloid) that Woodward actually had lunch with Felt within the last few years. Today's Washington Times explains (in its "Inside the Beltway" column) that this information comes from a new book by Ronald Kessler, The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, due to be published next week. Like James Mann, who published the definitive Deep Throat piece 10 years ago in the Atlantic, Kessler worked at the Post during Watergate (he left in 1985), though Chatterbox doesn't know whether Kessler, like Mann, will speak out of school about what Woodward told colleagues at the time. More at Slate.com...

I'm just glad it wasn't putrid Pat Buchanan.

Speaking of Putrid Pat, he's already started spewing the rightwing talking point: Deepthroat was a traitor, and no one should be proud of what he did.

Expect to hear this ad nauseum in the coming days. Remember, if everyone is talking about whether or not Mark Felt is really Deepthroat or whether or not Mark Felt is a traitor, the real issues related to Tricky Dick (and the present day parallels) will disappear down the memory hole.

As for the "Woodstein would confirm this if it were true" crap...

When you promise not to reveal a source until after his death, you keep that promise. Period. Otherwise, your other sources will panic, and future sources will dry up. Woodward & Bernstein aren't complete idiots.

Nixon was a crook. His entire administration was crooked. Today's PNACers cut their crooked teeth on dirty tricks while working for the crook-in-chief.

They lied then, and they're lying today about their new & improved crooked actions. I will never forgive Gerald Ford (the only quasi-clean Republican they could find to pick up their mud-soaked standard and become its bearer) for pardoning Tricky Dick. Getting away with Watergate set the stage for Ronald Reagan's Alzheimers presidency, the second coming of Rumsfeld and Cheney, yet another failed Repeconomicecomonic policy and gargantuan national debt, the use of (and hiding behind) the Bornagainists, pre-emptive war, the hostile takeover of our news media, and the ascendance of George W. Moron.

Thanks, Gerry! Oh, by the way...

Your airport in Grand Rapids bites the big one. Do something about it before you die, OK?

War & Sausage

From The Baltimore Sun...

They were men and women serving on the treacherous front lines and working the dangerous supply routes. They were 19-year-olds out of high school and "weekend warriors" old enough to be their fathers.

They died for America and Americans. That they were ill-served and exploited by the government that sent them into action has nothing to do with their sacrifice.

From The National Catholic Reporter...

More than two years into a war that was supposed to be quick and easy, and the justification for which has spun from removing a dictator to eliminating weapons of mass destruction to fighting terrorism and, finally, to planting democracy that would then spread across the Middle East, Iraq is in chaos. --snip--

We are reminded once again of the severe limits of overwhelming force. The takeover of a country that had been militarily defeated in 1991, bombed constantly for the next 12 years and thoroughly compromised economically has yielded little in return for the carnage required. This has not been a quick and easy war; the results, as once presumed, are not guaranteed.

From The Associated Press...

The president's tribute at Arlington came in sharply different circumstances from the Memorial Day visit Bush made to the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns two years ago, just as the nation's problems stemming from the Iraq war were becoming apparent.

Before his Memorial Day remarks in 2003, Bush had declared major combat operations at an end, the U.S. government confidently predicted that weapons of mass destruction would be found and American generals said troops were in the process of stabilizing Iraq.

From The Minneapolis Star Tribune...

In exchange for our uniformed young people's willingness to offer the gift of their lives, civilian Americans owe them something important: It is our duty to ensure that they never are called to make that sacrifice unless it is truly necessary for the security of the country. In the case of Iraq, the American public has failed them; we did not prevent the Bush administration from spending their blood in an unnecessary war based on contrived concerns about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. President Bush and those around him lied, and the rest of us let them.

In the 1960s it was Vietnam. Today it is Iraq. Let us resolve to never, ever make this mistake again. Our young people are simply too precious.

From Dictionary.com...

WAR

[Middle English warre, from Old North French werre, of Germanic origin; see wers- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: The chaos of war is reflected in the semantic history of the word war. War can be traced back to the Indo-European root *wers-, "to confuse, mix up." In the Germanic family of the Indo-European languages, this root gave rise to several words having to do with confusion or mixture of various kinds. One was the noun *werza-, "confusion," which in a later form *werra- was borrowed into Old French, probably from Frankish, a largely unrecorded Germanic language that contributed about 200 words to the vocabulary of Old French. --snip--

Meanwhile another form derived from the same Indo-European root had developed into a word denoting a more benign kind of mixture, Old High German wurst, meaning "sausage."

War and Sausage.

Mixture. Confusion. Chaos.

We all know now that the Chinese character for chaos also signifies opportunity. A few brave editorial boards have now spoken, and one of them has finally called George W. Bush a liar.

Our American media, once considered the standard bearer for a civilized planet, stands today at the corner of confusion and opportunity. Yes, the choice echoes the Lady and the Tiger...

But doing/saying nothing is infinitely worse than taking a stand.

The result will not be a benign mixture.

In Memoriam

Graphic by Brad Russell

Today's Sermon: And A Little Car Shall Lead Them

No one says it better than Mrs. Betty Bowers, the world's best Christian...




THUS ENDETH TODAY'S SERMON.

Go forth and speak truth to power with bumper stickers.

I mean it, damn it!

Old Jokes And Warning Labels

What's the big deal?

43 out of 23 million isn't statistically significant.

Oh, I forgot. It concerns MEN.

The FDA has 43 reports of NAION among the impotence drug users: 38 for Viagra, four for Cialis and one for Levitra, said spokeswoman Susan Cruzan.

Those are rare numbers, given that Viagra alone has been used by 23 million men worldwide since its approval in 1998, according to maker Pfizer Inc. LINK

Taking the Blue Pill might
not be the wisest choice, Neo.

Feds Investigate Blindness-ED Drug Link

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
Fri May 27, 4:37 PM

WASHINGTON - Federal health officials are probing reports of blindness among dozens of men who used Viagra and other impotence drugs - but at the same time cautioning that the vision loss can be linked to the same illnesses that lead to impotence.

The Food and Drug Administration disclosed Friday that it was in discussions with the makers of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra about what the labels of those drugs should say about the rare cases of varying degrees of vision loss, including blindness. The maker of Cialis already has voluntarily added a one-line mention to its label.

At issue is sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked, a condition called NAION or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. LINK

Meanwhile...

An estimated 10 to 20 million illegal abortions are performed worldwide annually, and an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 women die as a result—about one in every 100. These deaths account for 20% to 40% of all maternal deaths . In some Latin American cities abortions account for over half of maternal deaths. In Romania unsafe, illegal abortions were responsible for 86% of maternal deaths. After the procedure was legalized in 1992, the overall maternal mortality ratio fell in the first year to 40% of the 1989 level. Women who survive an unsafe abortion may suffer chronic pelvic pain, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, and/or infertility. They face a greater risk of ectopic pregnancy, premature delivery, and other adverse health consequences in the future.

The majority of deaths due to abortion can be prevented. Access to effective contraceptive methods reduces unwanted pregnancies. The procedure itself is safe if the practitioner uses safe techniques. LINK

The procedure itself is safe if the practitioner uses safe techniques.

Ahem.

I just found 632,000 Google hits on "Abortion and Restrictions."

Now we know what's really important on this planet.

Men get little blue pills and warning labels.

Women get more and more restrictions...

And this:


All hail the sacred sperm!

And protect it, dear Gawd, from drug-related side effects and uppity women.

Heavy sigh.

This Week'sBacksideOf TheBell CurveWinner!

Republican Party
(FOX News)
Operative

David
"My name says it all!"
Asman

Former Wall ST Journal Editor,
David Asswipe Asman

Fox Freudian slip: Asman asked Lott why a compromise was needed when "we" had the votes for the nuclear option

Responding to Sen. Trent Lott's (R-MS) suggestion that Senate Republicans had the necessary votes to invoke the so-called nuclear option and that such a step was necessary, Fox News anchor David Asman asked Lott why Republican senators had compromised on the issue. Why compromise, Asman asked, "if we should have done it and if we had the votes to do it." Asman clarified that it was "you guys in the Republican party" who had the votes.

From the May 25 edition of Fox News Live:

ASMAN: You're the chairman of the rules committee. Did Senator [Bill] Frist [R-TN] have the votes to end the filibuster?

LOTT: I believe that he did. It would have been very close. We would have probably gotten a 50-50 tie vote, with the vice president breaking the tie. Perhaps we'd have had 51 before it was over. I do think it's a rule that should be in place because what the Democrats have been doing is not, you know, protecting a rule, they have been causing something different. The filibusters on a serial basis, federal judicial nominees to the appellate courts, was unprecedented for 214 years. So, to put that rule in place saying that it only takes 51 votes to confirm these judges was something I thought we should do. Remember now --

ASMAN: So, Senator, if we should have done it and if we had the votes to do it in the Senate -- if you guys in the Republican Party did -- then why did you need a compromise?

LOTT: Well, you know, I would argue that we probably should have gone forward with the vote, all things considered. LINK

Why do these creeps keep trying to hide who they really are? They might as well admit that they're working for the whole LOTT.

They have to know that they're not fooling anyone.

Heavy Royal "We" Sigh.

Happy Birthday To My Blog!

One year ago today, I found blogger.com and created this blog.



Growing up, I never took my mother's advice about the importance of keeping a diary. I was too busy trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and defining what I believed in to bother with Dear Diary entries.

Today, I have 365 bits and pieces of online diatribe, which can be printed and bound...

A bit of evidence that I did, in fact have something snarky to say about society, politics, and the state of the human condition during my lifetime.

Go ahead. Click that "Get Your Own Blog" box at the top of this page and just start typing. You'll be glad you did! Then, when you read something Pure D weird, like this, you can shout its weirdness to the world...

Suspicious package was fake foot-long plastic penis

By SARAH LUNDY
SLUNDY@NEWS-PRESS.COM

The "“suspicious package" that caused Interstate 75 and Daniels Parkway to be shut for more than an hour Monday was not an explosive pipe bomb but rather wrapped-up plastic foot-long penis.

"Someone took construction-grade plastic, molded it into a penis and wrapped it with duct tape," said Lee County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante.

"They wrote 'Happy Father'’s Day' on the duct tape."” --snip--

A motorist called the Lee County Sheriff's Office Monday shortly after 3 p.m. about a suspicious package on the side of the road under the northbound Interstate 75 overpass.

The cylinder was more than a foot long in a plastic bag and wrapped with duct tape. It looked like pipe bomb and was in a position that could cause structural damage.

Deputies arrived and alerted the bomb squad, which used a robot to disable the cylinder. LINK

A better headline for this story...

Bomb Squad Disables Giant Penis

Now, doesn't that make you want to just blog?

God Blamed For Freedom Fries Flap

OK, I'm glad that US Rep Walter Jones (R- NC) has finally decided that George W.'s pre-emptive strike, occupation and current quagmire in Iraq was wrong; however, blaming God for his lame-assed "Freedom Fries/ Freedom Toast" idea is a cheap way to worm one's way out of a future fast food-inspired obituary.

It was a culinary rebuke that echoed around the world, heightening the sense of tension between Washington and Paris in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. But now the US politician who led the campaign to change the name of french fries to "freedom fries" has turned against the war.

Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war "with no justification". LINK

I have it on the best authority (a constituent) that Jones changed his mind (about George W.'s Iraq adventure) after the combat-related death of his cousin.

Typical. I'm convinced that Republicans are only capable of empathy if they are personally touched by tragedy.

Although he voted for the war, he has since become one of its most vociferous opponents on Capitol Hill, where the hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the "faces of the fallen".

Jones inherited his congressional seat from his father, a celebrated Democrat, during the infamous 1994 "Newt Gingrich Revolution." Now, 11 years later, Jones finds a conscience?

What kind of sick and twisted conscience does it take to blame the God you supposedly believe in for your ridiculous behavior?

Asked by a reporter for the North Carolina News and Observer about the name-change campaign - an idea Mr Jones said at the time came to him by a combination of God's hand and a constituent's request - he replied: "I wish it had never happened."

It did happen, Walter. And you lapped up the Repuke praise, didn't you? I'm glad you've changed your mind. Really, I am.

Now you need to deal with your God problem. Blaming a deity, who is notoriously unavailable for comment, is appalling.

Heavy "Waiting For Godot" sigh.

Who the hell asked you?

James Dobson isn't a happy Fascist Fundie Pharisee this morning.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James C. Dobson today issued the following statement, upon the announcement by members of the U.S. Senate that a "compromise" had been reached on the filibuster issue:

"This Senate agreement represents a complete bailout and betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats. Only three of President Bush’s nominees will be given the courtesy of an up-or-down vote, and it's business as usual for all the rest. The rules that blocked conservative nominees remain in effect, and nothing of significance has changed. Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Antonin Scalia, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist would never have served on the U. S. Supreme Court if this agreement had been in place during their confirmations. The unconstitutional filibuster survives in the arsenal of Senate liberals.

"We are grateful to Majority Leader Frist for courageously fighting to defend the vital principle of basic fairness. That principle has now gone down to defeat. We share the disappointment, outrage and sense of abandonment felt by millions of conservative Americans who helped put Republicans in power last November. I am certain that these voters will remember both Democrats and Republicans who betrayed their trust." LINK

Sounds like Dobson's making his hit list and checking it twice.

Look, I'm no fan of the compromise. I hoped the Senate Dems would go all Davy Crockett At The Alamo on Santa Ana Frist's gay-bashing ass and make Senator Kitten-Killer solely responsible for the horrible consequences of shutting down the US Senate; however, reactions like Dobson's (as if he's important enough for anyone to give a damn what he thinks about US Senate procedures) are fun to read.

As for that "compromise" crap...

Part I: Commitments on Pending Judicial Nominations

A. Votes for Certain Nominees. We will vote to invoke cloture on the following judicial nominees: Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), William Pryor (11th Circuit), and Priscilla Owen (5th Circuit).

B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).

Part II: Commitments for Future Nominations

A. Future Nominations. Signatories will exercise their responsibilities under the Advice and Consent Clause of the United States Constitution in good faith. Nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances, and each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.

B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.

We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word “Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration. LINK

Let's recap...

Who wins?

Dems take the so-called high road once again, believing that voters will Remember The Nuclear Option! (Not holding my breath here, folks!)

Owen, Brown, and Pryor (The Terrible Triumvirate) get confirmed without traditional US Senate procedures.

So-called moderate Repukes get to distance themselves from George W.'s 7th Circle Of Hellions ahead of the 2006 election.

And John McCain dashes Bill Frist's presidential hopes and rubs salt in George W's gaping approval poll wounds.

Who loses?

All of us.

Who's opinion is irrelevant?

The fascist Fundie Preacherman's.

Laugh Till You Cry

Laura Bush (R- Pharmaville) "brushes aside" her run in with protesters in the middle East?

What the hell is she smoking?

She denied being caught off guard by protesters who jostled and haranged her on Sunday at holy sites in Jerusalem's walled Old City.

"I think the protests were very expected. If you didn't expect them, you didn't know what it would be like when you got here," she said in the village of Abu Ghosh. "Everyone knows how the tensions are and I believe I was very, very welcomed by most people." LINK

That's right, Laura.

You probably were "very,very welcomed" by puppet government officials with armed guard contingents numerous enough to have their own zipcode.

Here's a hint, Laura...

You're not in a suburb of Midland.

Wipe that smug smirk off your face, you sorry cow!

There is one thing to be Pollyanna Glad about, though...

The world sees you now as you really are.

I'd laugh if you weren't such a national embarrassment.

Religious News Update: First Valium Queen Lady Hated By All

It's official.

You're pretty much universally hated, Laura.

Laura Bush Heckled at Islamic Holy Shrine

Laura Bush Heckled at Islamic Site in Jerusalem During Tour to Defuse Anti-American Sentiment

JERUSALEM May 22, 2005 — Anti-U.S. protesters heckled Laura Bush at a major Islamic holy shrine on Sunday, during a Mideast tour meant to defuse growing anti-American sentiment in the region.

As she approached the gold-capped Dome of the Rock Mosque, Muslim worshippers shouted, "How dare you come in here, and why are you hassling our Muslims?" As she entered the holy site, located on the fault line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one man seethed, "None of you belongs in here."

Israeli police formed a human chain around her, pressing together to push away protesters.

Earlier Sunday, Mrs. Bush placed a note in the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, in line with Jewish custom. About 40 demonstrators, demanding the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, stood nearby, shouting, "Free Pollard Now." LINK

Don't you just know that this ME trip was Karen Hughes' not-so-bright idea?

Haven't we been universally informed by our "free Press" that Laura Bush is wildly popular both at home and around the world?

What happened, Karen?

Did the truth leave that big old bite mark on your ass?

Laura Bush is a bigger joke than Nancy Reagan.

Thanks, Karen!

Heavy, drug-free sigh.

Today's Sermon: Make 'Em Laugh!

For those of us too embarrassed to purchase Weekly World News (the rag that brought us Bat Boy) at the grocery store checkout counter, there's an online version with an, er, impressive Religion section.

With headlines like these, it's no wonder this paper is so popular...

GOOD LORD! MOST CHURCH-GOING GUYS ARE PRAYING FOR HOT SEX

IN A MAJOR survey of men who regularly attend church, 94.7 percent of them admit that during the service they are completely preoccupied with thoughts of voluptuous Hispanic actress Salma Hayek -- nude!




MINISTER STARTS 'CHURCH OF GEORGE W. BUSH'

WHILE many evangelicals consider George W. Bush to be the most religious President in a long time, a Texas minister is taking it a big step further: He's open The First Church of George. W. Bush.

FREAKY GOOD FRIDAY! GOD SWITCHES PLACES WITH BUS DRIVER

WEEKLY WORLD NEWS has learned that just a few weeks ago, on Good Friday, God exchanged places for the day with bus driver Marty Kowalski of Des Moines, Iowa.

25 SIGNS YOU ARE GOING TO HELL!

Chances are, you're going to Hell, says a Bible scholar.

TO HELL WITH SERENITY... DALAI LAMA LOSES COOL OVER BRATTY 6-YEAR-OLD

"GO AWAY kid, you're bothering me." Who would've thought those words would come out of the mouth of the Dalai Lama?

CITY COUNCILMAN ARGUES BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS NEED NEW BIRTH CERTIFICATES

Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior?

MINISTER TOUTS 'JESUS CONDOMS' TO END TEENAGE SEX

What Would Jesus Do? Only a WWJD condom can save young Jezebel and Jacob from succumbing to lustful temptation.

BATTLE OF THE 7-FOOT MESSIAHS

The Messiah is a 7-foot-tall blond David Hasselhoff look alike and he's coming to save the planet from another 7-foot messiah that amazingly resembles Osama Bin Laden!

FROM EVE TO JEZEBEL . . . SEXIEST WOMEN IN THE BIBLE!

Here's a secret reason so many men read The Holy Bible from cover to cover -- its pages are packed with sexy babes!

NEW LESBIAN BIBLE BOOTS MEN OUT OF GOOD BOOK

In an occurrence bound to outrage the Religious Right, a San Francisco publisher is about to release the world's first lesbian version of the Bible! LINK

Today's Hymn (from Bat Boy, The Musical)...

Christian Charity

SHERIFF: Evening folks!
SHELLEY: Whatcha got?
SHERIFF: Doctor home?
MEREDITH: No, he's not.
SHERIFF: Wen's he back?
MEREDITH: An hour or so.
SHELLEY: The heck is that?
SHERIFF: Well, I don't know.

MEREDITH: What in the world?
SHELLEY: Where did you find?
MEREDITH: What is he doing?
SHELLEY: He's out of his mind!
MEREDITH: Is he in pain?
SHELLEY: Is he insane?
SHERIFF: Maybe and possibly, let me explain.
(Sheriff knocks Bat Boy down with his pistol.)

MEREDITH AND SHELLEY: No!

SHERIFF: Aw, heck. Maybe I shouldn'tve done that.
But that boy was hoppin' like a scalded dog.

MEREDITH: Boy?

SHERIFF: Maybe. Frankly, that's why I'm here.
I figure maybe we need a veterinarian to sort this out.
I'm hoping Dr.Parker will know what to do.
I didn't know where else to take him...

SHELLEY: Mom!
MEREDITH: Shelley, quiet!

SHERIFF: Can't go to jail, he's underage.

SHELLEY: Mom!
MEREDITH: Shelley, quiet!

SHERIFF:
Folks up at the Med School, bet they'd carve him up or bake him.
I'd send the FBI a page, but I don't think we're at that stage-
So, here he is folks, he's all yours.
Couldn't leave him out of doors, creepin' on all fours.
We could always shoot him but that don't seem right to me.
'N I can't rid myself o' my Christian Charity.

SHELLEY: Can we see him?
MEREDITH: Shelley- get away!
SHERIFF: You listen to your mother, Shelley.
You don't want to be near if it wakes up.
It bit one of the Taylor kids.

MEREDITH: Shelley, don't stare- Shelley, don't poke.
What is this, sheriff, some kind of sick joke?

SHELLEY: Mom, he's so gross! Mom, can he stay?

SHERIFF: Shel, I was hopin' you'd see it that way.
I'm comin' up for re-election.

SHELLEY: Mom!
MEREDITH: Shelley, quiet!

SHERIFF: I gotta bring this thing to heel.

SHELLEY: Mom!
MEREDITH: Shelley, quiet!

SHERIFF: A boy with his complextion's gonna meet with some objections,
'N I think I know how folks will feel once they hear this "Bat Child" is for real.

SHELLEY: It's a bat child? MOM! We gotta keep it!

MEREDITH:
All right, sheriff. Dr. Parker has some cages. I'll take care of the boy for you.

SHERIFF: Ah, that's great, Meredith. I can't thank you enough for the favor.
And if he turns into a pain, call me, I've got stun guns and a chain.
SHELLEY: WHOA!
MEREDITH: OH!

SHERIFF: (overlapping) So here he is folks, he's all yours.
I couldn't leave him out of doors, creeping on all fours.
We may have to put him down-

MEREDITH: (overlapping) Don't stare, Shelley- please don't poke.
Don't touch him, Shelley, don't provoke.

SHELLEY: (overlapping) Mom! Look at him! I know but Mom...
Look at him! What's wrong with him?

ALL: For now we'll wait and see!

SHERIFF AND MEREDITH: We can't rid ourselves of our Christian Charity.

SHERIFF: (overlapping) So, here he is folks, he's all yours.
Couldn't leave him out of doors, creeping on all fours.
Those thunderclouds are closing in-

MEREDITH: (overlapping) Don't stare, Shelley, please don't poke.
Don't touch him, Shelley, don't provoke!

SHELLEY: (overlapping) MOOOOOOOOOOMMM!
MOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

ALL: We can't just let him be.
We can't rid ourselves of our Christian Charity.
We can't rid ourselves of our Christian Charity.

SHELLEY: Mom!
MEREDITH: Shelley, quiet!

THUS ENDETH TODAY'S SERMON.

Go forth and laugh at the extreme weirdness of our little world, and know in your heart that somewhere...

Someone is also laughing at you.

And they might produce an Off-Broadway musical in your honor.

Learn to laugh!

I mean it, damn it!

Headless Woman Named Miss Europe, 2005

Hm.

Where, do you suppose, they placed the crown?

Miss Europe, Shermine Shahrivar of Germany,
poses during red carpet arrivals for French directors
Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu's in-competition film
'Peindre ou Faire l'Amour' at the 58th Cannes
Film Festival May 18, 2005.

REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
LINK

Just thought I'd keep you abreast of today's
important international news!

SCI-(non)FI Saturday

Move over, H. Sapiens.

The Lesser Panda wants a piece of the action.



Futa, a lesser panda, is proving a
hit at a zoo near Tokyo as it can
stand on two legs like a human
being for about 10 seconds, an
unusual feat for the species,
zoo officials said.
(Chiba Zoological Park) LINK

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo
I do believe it
I do believe it's true
Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm
Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm
Oh ho ho ho
Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm

This Week's BacksideOf TheBell CurveWinner!

US Senator
(And Kitten Killer)

Bill
"I can filibuster, but you can't"
Frist

Frist Implodes on Senate Floor

This morning on the floor of the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer asked Majority Leader Bill Frist a simple question:

SEN. SCHUMER: Isn’t it correct that on March 8, 2000, my colleague [Sen. Frist] voted to uphold the filibuster of Judge Richard Paez?

Here was Frist’s response:

The president, the um, in response, uh, the Paez nomination - we’ll come back and discuss this further. … Actually I’d like to, and it really brings to what I believe - a point - and it really brings to, oddly, a point, what is the issue. The issue is we have leadership-led partisan filibusters that have, um, obstructed, not one nominee, but two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, in a routine way.

So, Frist is arguing that one filibuster is OK. His problem is that several Bush nominees have been filibustered. This position completely undercuts Frist’s argument that judicial filibusters are unconstitutional. (Which is, in turn, the justification for the nuclear option.) If judicial filibusters are unconstitutional there is no freebee. But Frist digs his hole even deeper:

The issue is not cloture votes per se, it’s the partisan, leadership-led use of cloture votes to kill - to defeat - to assassinate these nominees. That’s the difference. Cloture has been used in the past on this floor to postpone, to get more info, to ask further questions.

When Frist voted to filibuster Paez’s nomination it had been pending for four years. It’s hard to believe he couldn’t get all the info he needed or ask all the questions he had during that time. Make no mistake about it: Bill Frist was trying to kill the Paez nomination. A press release issued the following day by former Sen. Bob Smith, who organized the filibuster effort, read “Smith Leads Effort to Block Activist Judges.” All the details about Frist’s hypocrisy here. LINK (Note: Transcripts via Tivo recording)

Source: Kal, Baltimore Sun

Why can't Frist defend his stance against the filibuster?

Simple.

Paul Begala might say, "It's the Supreme Court, Stupid!"

Knowing full well that George W. wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of getting his radical rightwing Supreme Court choice(s) confirmed by the US Senate, this filibuster crap is a pre-emptive strike, designed to pave the way for the likes of Alberto Gonzales and Ted Olsen. Oh, and there's also that "Frist wants to be president" thing.

Frist doesn't have to make sense today. He just has to twist enough arms to get what the radical rightwing Republicans need right now, in order to make the US Senate irrelevant down the line.

And here's the deal, and mark my words...

Any Democrat who goes along with this, even in the stupid spirit of "compromise," will also be featured on this blog as Backside Of The Bell Curve Winners!

Déclassé: Cheap Plastic Crap & Blowhards

Has "America's Heartland" finally had enough? Don't hold your breath.

Poor Wal-Mart!

Wal-Mart's sales growth has sagged, in part because the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, while still a low-price leader, doesn't have products on the floor that attract today's shoppers -- particularly in apparel, home furnishings and consumer electronics. It also has a problem with slow checkout service and its stores look uninspiring. LINK

OK. That was a bucket of whitewash crap. The Corporate-owned news hags simply refuse to tell the truth about Wal-Mart. Click the link above and see if you read a single word about the obvious effects of the national Buy Blue boycott of Walton's empire. I'll wait.

La Di Da. La Di Da. Time's up.

The truth totally ignored (except for one phrase about "community activists" complaining about labor issues) by the AP reporter... No big surprise there. Wal-Mart isn't doing well at all, and they'd rather blame their biz model than tell the truth. Sad, isn't it?

Remind me to give a damn about Wal-Mart's woes.

But, wait! There's more!

Quo vadis, Fox News?

A 58% drop in FOX News ("Fuck Off, Xenophiles!") viewers over the last six months?

Hm.

FNC's 25-54 Prime "Downward Spiral"

April '05 marks "the sixth consecutive month where FNC declined versus prior month in M-F, primetime P25-54 (every month since Nov '04)," CNN's press release says. The 25-54 demo is coveted by advertisers. One insider called it a "downward spiral." FNC still has more demo viewers than CNN, though (443k vs. 304k in April). Here are FNC's month-by-month weekday primetime averages in the 25-54 demographic:

Oct. 04: 1,074,000
Nov. 04: 891,000
Dec. 04: 568,000
Jan. 05: 564,000
Feb. 05: 520,000
March 05: 498,000
April 05: 445,000

Also: In April 2005, FNC's weekday primetime demo average decreased 25% compared to the year-ago, while CNN increased 27%. LINK

Frankly, these figures don't surprise me one bit. BushCo-controlled corporations and "news" outlets don't have to be successful. They just have to eat their losses and continue to wave the flag for George W. Inc.

To do otherwise would be unamerican.

Just call me snarky...

Whatever that means.

I took this "What Kind Of Blogger Are You?" test at blogthings.com, and this is what I learned about myself:

You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of. And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!

What kind of blogger are you?

"Razor sharp" wit?

I'm just regular, run-of-the-mill smart ass.

As far as I know, no one is "scared" of me.

I don't know if other bloggers read my blog, but I do know that I posted this Eisenhower quote on May 3rd, two weeks before it became a virtual rage. I found it while searching for Milton S. Eisenhower quotes and thought it would be a Martha Stewart "Good Thing" to post.

As for being snarky...

snark·y ( P ) Pronunciation Key (snärk)
adj. Slang snark·i·er, snark·i·est

Irritable or short-tempered; irascible.

Ahem.

1. Great life.

2. Great family.

3. Pretty good health plan.

4. Hate Republican life-sucking bastards intensely.

Which one makes me snarky?

Hm.

Praise The Lord & Pass The Ammunition &BushFish Bumper Stickers

Really.

I'm not kidding.

About FORCE Ministries.

In the summer of 1997, While visiting the Naval Special Warfare Base in Coronado, California, Pastor Greg Wark entered into a conversation with a veteran Navy SEAL. During the conversation Greg asked the commando how he coped with emotional difficulties when returning home from a dangerous mission that could have taken someone's life. Looking at Greg smugly, the SEAL said, "All Ineed is a beer and a buddy," snickered and walked away. Greg immediately prayed, "Lord, give me these men." Soon after, many military people including a number of SEALs and BUD/s students began receiving Christ as their savior and they today, continue to grow as disciples. Force Ministries was born out of a sovereign, Spirit inspired burden that began with a simple prayer. Our purpose is to impart faith in Christ,instill patterns and principles for victorious Christian duty and ignite individual calling and destiny. Our mission strategy is simple and encompasses three major areas: Evangelism, Discipleship and Deployment.

Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalpost of life!

The Force Skydiving Team is our main evangelistic tool. In addition to this, our partnership with Champions for Christ allows us to team up with professional athletes for outreaches and events. Lastly, we are able to conduct outreaches while ships are out at sea through our relationship with the local USO office. Force Ministries also believes it is vital tolay a proper foundation in the new believers life. This is done through our discipleship program. We currently have Force Bible Studies on several military installations through out the world and have materials available to send upon request. We are here to provide chaplains and leaders with vital support and encouragement. Lastly, our goal is to provide spiritual support to families facing long overseas deployments. We are currently training missionaries thatwill be sent to serve overseas near military bases. We also provide prayer and intercessor support through our Force Multipliers prayer team.
Force Ministries also produces a quarterly newsletter called, DUTY. For a free copy or for more information on our programs, please contact us at forceonline.org.

What We Believe

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is fully God and fully man, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins; he arose bodily from the dead and ascended to heaven, where, at the right hand of God the Father, He is now our High Priest and Advocate.

Our supreme desire is to know Christ and to be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are a participating member of the Morning Star International family. We are not a denominational organization, nor are we opposed to denominations. We do not, however agree with the over emphasis of the doctrinal differences which have led to divisions in the Body of Christ.

We believe that the true basis for Christian fellowship is God's [AGAPE] love, which is greater than the differences we possess and without which we cannot claim to be Christians.

We believe the Bible, God's Holy Word, is our foundation, it is authoritative as the rule of faith and is the standard for living.

We believe worship is Spiritual.
Therefore: we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.

We believe worship of God should be inspirational.
Therefore: music is an integral part of our worship.

We believe worship of God should be intelligent.
Therefore: meetings are designed with great emphasis on the teaching of God's Word.

We believe worship of God is fruitful.
Therefore: we look for His love in our lives as evidence that we have truly been worshipping Him.

Pardon my puke.

The Force Ministries motto:

Equipping Military Personnel For Christ-Centered Duty

Shivers, meet my spine!

This (cough) military evangelism crap may explain the too-weird-for-words magnetic bumper sticker I saw last week...




File these websites under "You can't make this stuff up."

The people at BushFish.org, who sell the Bush Fish car magnet, are even weirder than their Force Ministries buddies...

If this country's legislature and judiciary are supposed to
reflect the values and beliefs of The People, then send them
a message that they are WAY off course!

If you are tired of secularists telling you that The Lord has no place in our government and our public institutions, then show them that you disagree.

This symbol, this site, and this car magnet have been created for the millions of Americans who support the President and his vision for a government that embraces religion, morality, and family values. It shows worship to the Lord, respect for the President, and hope for all.

Join the millions of Americans who believe that President Bush’s faith-based administration presents the best hope for America’s future. The future is in your hands. Stand up and be counted!

Order a BushFish for yourself or a loved one today.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

-BushFish.org

These people took George W.'s use of the word "crusade" (to describe his so-called War On Terror) literally...

And they want you to send them money.

Evangelism, Discipleship, Deployment, and A BushFish Symbol?

There's a sucker born every minute; however, there's also at least one grifter born every minute.

Chilling.

Old Time Religious Republican Family Values

All Hail Sam Malone!

Verily I say unto you: Spare the belt beating of your child to a bloody pulp, resulting in hospitalization and a restraining order, and you spoil the child of a Republican elected official.

The Bible doesn't say that?

Could've fooled me.

Cincinnati Councilman, Sam Malone, "serves on the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Mental Health Board."

Sam Malone is "an accomplished boxer, wrestler, and powerlifter, he is Former Golden Gloves Boxing Champion, All Navy Boxing Champion, the Ohio two time State Power Lifting Champion, and Amateur Wrestling Champion."

No wonder Sam Malone was able to beat his 14 year old son so expertly that the child had to be hospitalized. His son was an easy target.

City Councilman accused of beating son

5/15/2005, 11:16 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Police arrested a Cincinnati city councilman early Saturday morning and charged him with domestic violence for allegedly beating his son.

Sam Malone, 34, pleaded innocent to the misdemeanor charge and was released from the Hamilton County Justice Center. His son is staying with a relative after a judge instituted a temporary restraining order prohibiting Malone from having contact with him.

Doctors contacted authorities after treating Malone's 14-year-old son at an area hospital Friday night. They reported they found welts and belt marks on the boy's body, said Laurie Petrie, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services.

"For a child to be disciplined to the point of going to the hospital, we would be looking at that as possible abuse," she said... LINK

Hm. What did Sam Malone say about this in his prepared statement?

"Our children cannot be expected to act in a disrespectful way to teachers and other individuals in positions of authority," he said in a prepared statement. "Proper discipline is an important and necessary component of good parenting."

Proper discipline, Sam?

Going Old Testament on your child is now, thankfully, against the law.

Hey, Sam! Picking on someone your own size (and level of whoop ass expertise) is also the law of the land today. If your son gets a good lawyer, your beloved boxing championships (and all that they imply: your hands are lethal weapons, Buddy!) could send you away for a really long time.

I'll bet the ranch that Sam believes in the sanctity of marriage and the Gawd-given rights of the unborn, too.

It's way past time for some values clarification, Sam.

Heavyweight sigh.

Today's Sermon:Give Me a bit of That Old Time... Science

Sigh. The same fascist fundies who take Viagra, get secret (private) abortions, buy and sell babies through private adoption agencies, and pay big bucks to In Vitro fertilization clinics are suddenly concerned about the number of eggs fertilized in artificial insemination procedures?

AN ACT relating to in vitro fertilization.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 311.710 TO 311.820 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
(1) As used in this section, "in vitro fertilization" means the process of harvesting or retrieving one (1) or more egg cells from a female, fertilizing the egg with sperm cells with the intent to create a fetus, and transferring the fertilized egg into a female's womb or uterus for further development.
(2) Any person performing an in vitro fertilization or allowing an in vitro fertilization to occur shall not fertilize more than one (1) egg during the in vitro fertilization process.
(3) A person who violates subsection (2) of this section is guilty of a
Class D felony. LINK

Let me see if I understand this law, introduced by Rep. Lonnie Napier...

It's OK to risk the destruction of one egg during the In Vitro process, but it's a Class D felony for risking more than one egg?

Ahem. From American Pregnancy...

Multiple eggs are desired because some eggs will not develop or fertilize after retrieval.

Your eggs are retrieved through a minor surgical procedure which uses ultrasound imaging to guide a hollow needle through the pelvic cavity. Sedation and local anesthesia are provided to remove any discomfort that you might experience. The eggs are removed from ovaries using the hollow needle, which is called follicular aspiration.

The embryos are usually transferred into your uterus anywhere between one to six days, but most commonly it occurs between two to three days following egg retrieval. At this point, the fertilized egg has divided to become a 2-to-4 cell embryo. The transfer process involves a speculum which is inserted into the vagina to expose the cervix. A predetermined number of embryos are suspended in fluid and gently placed through a catheter into the womb.

It is also important to realize that pregnancy rates do not equate to live birth rates. In the United States, the live birth rate for each IVF cycle started is approximately:

* 30 to 35% for women under age 35
* 25% for women ages 35 to 37
* 15 to 20% for women ages 38 to 40
* 6 to 10% for women ages over 40

Even under ideal conditions (multiple eggs and multiple embryos), the success rate for healthy young women is 30 to 35%?

Risks And Side Effects:

* Severe abdominal pain
* Severe nausea or vomitting
* Decreased urinary frequency
* Dark colored urine
* Shortness of breath
* 10 pound weight gain within 3 to 5 days

Will Kentucky State Rep. Napier explain to these couples why he wants them to go through this procedure for each and every egg? I doubt it.

From WebMD...

It has been said in the medical literature that transferring four embryos per IVF cycle will yield optimal results.

What Price Pregnancy?

IVF is a complex and expensive procedure; only about 5% of couples with infertility seek it out. However, since its introduction in the U.S. in 1981, IVF and other similar techniques have resulted in more than 200,000 babies.

The average cost of an IVF cycle in the U.S. is $12,400, according to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Although some states have enacted laws requiring insurance companies to cover at least some of the costs of infertility treatment, many states haven't.

Also be aware that some carriers will pay for infertility drugs and monitoring, but not for the cost of IVF or other artificial reproductive technology.

Because it's inconceivable (no pun intended) to me that In Vitro specialists would have lobbied Rep. Napier to introduce this law (Who wants to brag about a next-to-zero success rate?), my money is on the fascist fundies in Napier's district, who believe strongly in the science (for themselves and their loved ones) but think GAWD only wants one egg manipulated at a time.

Considering the track record of twisted fundie logic, this is the only rationale for such a law I can imagine.

Meet Rep. Lonnie Napier (R, Of Course)

Representative Lonnie Napier (R)
House District - 36
Garrard
Madison
Address

302 Danville Street
Lancaster, KY 40444
(Office) - 859-792-2535
(Home) - 859-792-4860
Frankfort Office - Capitol Annex, Room 405E, Frankfort, KY 40601
Frankfort Phone - 502-564-8100, ext. 649
E-mail - lonnie.napier@lrc.ky.gov

Service - House 1985 - Present

Born May 24, 1940. Auctioneer, Realtor, Farmer. Church of God. Ky Army National Guard. Garrard Co Chamber of Commerce, past President. Ky Auctioneers Assoc. Dix River Board of Realtors. Ky/National Auctioneers Assoc. Garrard Co Beef Cattle Fair Board. Ky Assoc of Realtors. National Rifle Assoc. Garrard Co Businessman of the Year 1983. Ky Reserve Champion Auctioneer 1982-83. Garrard Co Fiscal Court, past Member.

Yes, Napier is a God & Guns Republican.

No, he's not a doctor.

Yes, he's decided he knows what's best for you.

I hope you can afford $12,400 per procedure.

Hm. Makes me wonder if Napier prefers that you just buy a baby.

I'll bet he knows a guy.

THUS ENDETH TODAY'S SERMON.

Go forth and reproduce somewhere other than Kentucky...

While you still can.

I mean it, damn it!

What's Wrong With This Sentence?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency already is working to simplify regulations to encourage expansion at refineries, Bush said in his speech.

Plenty.

The EPA is simplifying regulations?

The EPA is encouraging expansion of refineries?

Bush "said" in his speech.

We all know that Bush "says" truly weird things when he's a'speechifyin', and no one in the mainstream media seems to care. After all, it's just the president of The United States being an idiot again.

And he's not confessing to his complete corporate pirate takeover of the once-pristine EPA, either.

Hm. Strangely enough, this nonsense sentence fits into yesterday's military base closing announcement.

Go figure.

Even though his oil refinery toadies have no interest in the Bush plan to use defunct military bases as their new "expanded refinery venues" (they'd rather build their own brand spanking new & outrageously expensive refineries, thank you very much), George W.'s flying monkeys know what his hand-dipped audiences want to hear: "I'll save you money!"

Like the EPA "facts," the "I'll save you money" lies to the gullible and stupid (CARRIED LIVE BY YOUR TEE VEE WHITE HOUSE STENOGRAPHERS) remain mostly unchallenged.

George W.'s EPA-approved base closing plan will supposedly save $48 billion OVER A 20 YEAR PERIOD (Great way to skirt responsibility).

That's $2.4 billion per year.

But Wait! There's an initial start-up (decommissioning) cost of $24 billion, which has to come from somewhere... like, say, YOU, THE TAXPAYERS.

This is beginning to sound like one of those scams where you send $4000 to the scammer's bank, and the scammer promises to pay you $10000.

Supposedly, the Bush plan will save a recurring cost of $5.5 billion per year.

Toss in this little fact: if you live, work, or own a business near one of the decommissioned bases, how much more money will Bush's plan put in your pocket? I watched what happened when a nearby air base enjoyed the famous Reagan "base cutbacks." The town dried up and blew way. People lost homes, jobs, and businesses to foreclosure. The public schools lost millions in funding, and the base finally closed permanently.

And don't forget the inevitable taxpayer cash/tax incentives to refinery/construction companies.

If BushCo math makes sense to you, please explain it to me.

I'm not even going to get into the antics of our BushCo/Orwell EPA. Too depressing.

Truly heavy sigh.

Leggo My Legos!

I confess.

I enjoyed Lego Land at the Mall of America.

But, Scooby Doo, we've got a lot of work to do if we want to keep up with the Germans...



Spectators look at the reported world's largest
building made of Lego pieces in Guenzburg, southern
Germany, Thursday, May 12, 2005. The model of Munich's
new soccer stadium named Allianz-Arena was made
of more than 1 million Lego pieces in about
4209 working hours. (AP Photo/Uwe Lein) LINK

How much do you suppose that Lego stadium model cost?

And who got stuck opening all of those damned little plastic packages?