Carole Borges

Breaking news! WMDs found and destroyed.

2008-12-25T02:42:00.000-08:00

"The last VX-filled land mine went on the conveyor belt into the incinerator beginning at 11:51 a.m. Altogether, 361,802 munitions and 293,003 gallons of nerve agent have been processed at the facility. That included VX-filled munitions and GB-filled munitions."

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/12/last_of_nerve_agents_destroyed.html

No folks it's not Iraq and Saddam. These are our very own WMDs.

"Officials at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility said this is a milestone because it means 99.5 percent of the risk to the community from the chemical stockpile is now gone."

Hmm..I wonder how much they publicized this risk while they were stockpiling the lethal toxins in such huge quantities?

I love this nail-polished car!

2008-12-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

http://bellasugar.com/2627519

"Lots of ladies in my church donated nail polish, and lots of ladies at Weight Watchers, too," she told the newspaper. Bell estimates that 100-250 bottles of nail polish were used to accomplish this feat — a feat that took 13 months to finish. Whoa.

Beware the Ingestigators. The Fat Tax is coming.

2008-12-22T09:53:00.000-08:00

If you have a jiggley butt you really ought to worry. Now that cigareets have been taxed up the ying yang and only millionares can afford them, the Ingestigators are once more on the move, flashing their beady telescopic eyes around wondering what to eliminate next. These people are the descendants of the group who banned booze, then moved on to pot, and now they are eyeing the icon of icons in American culture. A Fat tax on Coke is their aim. $5.95 for an 8 ounce bottle.

Maybe you don't realize it, but Coca Cola is costing our country a fortune folks. People are frigging dying from the stuff. Addicted Coke addicts are plugging up our society so badly it is almost impossible to get around anymore. Ever try to get on a bus? Who! Try to get through any door nowadays and you will see what I mean. Someone is always stuck in front of you, trying to turn sideways, trying to jiggle through. And it is ALL Coke's fault. All sugar's fault really, but the Ingestigators know you have to start small, so Coke will be their main target.

Now I am not against large people. I think love handles are sexy and jowls an academic asset, but then I am very liberal about ingesting things. I am the arch enemy of the Ingestigators. If I had my way and oddles and oodles of money, (enough to bail myself out) I'd be sitting here now with a glass of French absynith on my desk and a nice fat joint in my hand instead of this whole wheat bagel and lemon tea. Ha! Ha! You know I'm just kidding of course!

Being concerned about health is important. Recently I stopped smoking on my own, well Chantix helped a lot, but I just find it curious that these movements sweep across the country, lawsuits are filed, gadzillions of dollars are offered in settlements in the name of helping those afflicated with addictions and then presto! That money disappears faster than the recent bank bailouts. So now the Ingestigators this week announced Coke is their target. I predict the outrage will be enormous.

No pun intended.

Sharing an article published this summer

2008-12-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

Furl all Scupperlips and Haul up the Anchor
By Carole A. Borges

I guess you could say I bought the Ms. Bligh as a kind of revenge. After spending my whole life living aboard an old Alden schooner my father was eternally restoring, and then helping my first husband Joe spend a decade building a fleet of ferro-cement boats in Boston, I wanted to know what it felt like to be a captain.

With her clipper bow, raised taff-rail, and black hull, my 27 foot Kenner ketch looked like a small pirate ship.

Because I’d been dry-docked for so long, I thought it wise to get a second opinion, so I called my brother, Capt. Fatty Goodlander, a world famous sailor who writes for Cruising World magazine.

“I think I got a real bargain,” I boasted.

When he first saw the Ms. Bligh, Fatty gave an appreciative smile. ”It is kind of odd though,” he giggled, “how much she resembles you. She’s sagging a bit in the transom, a little too wide amidships, and she probably has a leaky bottom.”

See what I mean? I was a woman desperate for empowerment.
* * *
“Well, she’s built strong,” Fatty said after the survey. “However the previous owner, obviously a landlubber, filled the whole transom with blown-in foam. It’s saturated with water. You’ll have to dig it all out and rebuild the box.”

Disappointed to hear labor was involved, I watched my brother draw up a schematic showing me exactly what I’d have to do.

The next morning when I saw Fatty off at the airport, waves of insecurity washed over me. I couldn’t remember half the terms he’d used, and his drawing, which had looked so simple the night before, suddenly seemed as complicated as a manual on spaceship construction.
* * *
When I saw Greg and this other guy coming down the dock, my heart sank. What had I expected? Robert Redford? Rubbing his gnarled fingers against a scratchy grey beard, the old man rolled a fish-like eye along the length of Ms. Bligh. “Well, I’ve gone farther with less,” he croaked.

The day we left, Capt. Andy showed up with a huge fishing chair on a high pedestal. As he began wrestling it into the cockpit, lashing it down with bungee cords and duct tape, I protested.

“You can’t bring that,” I told him. “It’s way too big. It looks ridiculous.”

“Well, I ain’t going without it,” Andy growled. “My back’s bad. I can’t do this without a good chair.”
* * *

The Ms. Bligh heeled over as the sea darkened and the wind picked up. Water shot up through the half-dismantled motor well, and the sea swirled around my ankles. I’d yelled for Andy to take the sail down, so he was crabbing his way back along the deck when the big wave hit, and it knocked him right into his fishing chair. Wobbling from the impact, it swiveled first right then left. Then the bungee cords snapped, and the flat steel base came buzz-sawing across the cockpit.

“I told you that thing was a menace,” I snarled.

Andy tossed me a dark look, mumbling something about women only being allowed in galleys.
* * *
On the morning of the last day of our cruise, I sat sipping my second cup of coffee when Andy finally poked his head out of the hatch. A bit wall-eyed and smelling suspiciously of rum, he clambered into the cockpit beside me.

I pointed to a line of buoys on the chart. “Here’s the channel under the bridge,” I said. “We ought to be in Key West by dark.”

As he hobbled to the bow to raise the anchor, I yanked the cord on the outboard and started the boat moving slowly forward. “A little more. A little more,” he was saying. Then, I heard a big PLOP.

It took me awhile to register the fact that he had gone overboard. Racing up to the bow, I could feel my heart rocking like a bell buoy in bad weather.

“Get a rope. Get a rope.” Andy groaned. His flabby arms shook from the strain of having to hold onto the chain beneath the bowsprit. His skinny legs wrapped around the bob-stay looked like a pair of octopus tentacles.

I still have no idea how I managed to get him back on board.

“I’m going to go below for a few minutes,” he said.

It took me a long time to feel brave enough to peek into the foc’sle hatch to see how Andy was doing. Already, I could imagine myself calling the Coast Guard on the radio I didn’t have. “Ahoy there, this is the captain of the Ms. Bligh. I have a dead man aboard my boat. Can you come right over?”
* * *

Now some people may think it wimpy of me to sell my boat after only one trip, but let me assure you, hanging that FOR SALE sign in Ms. Bligh’s rigging gave me an enormous sense of relief.
* * *
After I sold the boat, I moved to Knoxville, TN, a safe distance away, I thought, from any temptation I might have to become water-borne again, but a few weeks ago, I discovered a marina down by the Gay Street Bridge. The boats were mostly runabouts and small cruisers, the kind that seldom need repair and can be driven like a car.

Dazed as a drunk entering a neighborhood bar, I somehow found myself stepping inside the office,

“How much do you charge for a slip?” I asked.

copyright2008@caroleBorges
This first appeared in Pacific Yachting 2008

Tree Visions

2008-12-10T05:07:00.000-08:00

Night time often brings strange visions and voices. Dreams but more than dreams as they are tied to waking life and seem especially important. Sometimes I rememeber things, sometimes not, but last night trees were the topic of my nocturnal musing. I suppose I might have been concerned about the destruction our environment, but trees have always had special meaning for me. In a book I read a while back, they were called "the standing people" and it listed all the things trees had done for humankind. It was amazing---from false teeth to crutches to food. Anyway, in the dream this bit of dialogue was especially vivid. Never having been to Paris I can't vouch for their superior concern for trees, but the thought was that "in France trees are things you get to know. In America trees are things you cut down to make a highway". I woke for a minute after this dream full of sadness and amzed at the clarity of that statement, then I went back to sleep. This morning I surfed around seeking more information on "the standing people" and I came across this site. That's what is so wonderful about the Web. It can be used in sacred ways. Today I will remember and say hello to every standing person I meet. I will doff my hat to a tree.
http://www.theblueridgehighlander.com/Hemlock-Gift-Giver-of-the-Standing-People/

Oh, oh, You better watch out. You better not pout. Karl Rove is making a list.

2008-12-09T05:02:00.000-08:00

In his new book about the Bush administration Karl Rove plans to prove this great president was submarined by people with closed hearts and evil intent. "I've got behind-the-scenes episodes that are going to show how unreceiving they were of this man as president of the United States," Rove said, adding: "I'm going to name names and show examples."

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/110976/

If Rove intends to out all the Bush-haters in Washington, across America and around the globe, he's going to need a United Van Lines truck to haul the manuscript to the publisher.

One last attempt to whitewash this president who really should have been impeached can never erase the truth of the Bush legacy.

I am so glad that nightmare is finally over!

George Bush sucked, Karl. You only get coal in your stocking this year.

And so now we wait...

2008-12-03T04:54:00.000-08:00

The news has re-expanded now to include the world. It's not just Barack Obama and the race to the White House. Mumbai. Iraq. Pakistan. Thailand. The world boils and seethes endlessly. Can Obama do anything to calm this situation?

Last week shoppers trampled to death a guard who was trying to protect a pregnant woman from being injured by a crowd who was eager to shop on Black Friday. One observer said simply," They wanted their electronics." Money worries slide across the bottom of the TV screen. More bad news. Gas is down, but everything else went skyrocketing and is still sky-high. The cable company now has to raise its fees. The bananas, one of my staples, cost like steak. We won't even discuss the way the trap doors of the credit card industry are opening now. It's circular. It's scary. Like the childhood game that ends with "we all fall down".

Sometimes there is too much to contemplate. Too much to worry about, so those are the times that I resort back to the old Zen saying: Chop wood. Carry water. That's when I clean my closet or sort through old photo albums or walk around the block doing deep breathing under a starry sky. That's when I find gratitudes to weave together, to create something I can snuggle under and feel warm. Like my kids. The dogs. My writing. My extended family. My cat. The way my yard looks in summer. The little house I now call home. My safety zone insured. The warmth of friends both virtual and cyber.

Whether or not things will get better in the world---that's too big a subject for me right now. Whether or not Barack Obama will be able to pull America up from the nosedive she's been on, all I can do is wait and see.

It's Christmas time, but I don't feel very Christmas-like yet. Peace on earth. Goodwill to men. That's the present I want, but who can bring it to me? The moon rises over the ridge at the end of my street. I turn the lights out. A good night's sleep, that's all I need. The dogs and I settle in. My mind lets go. It's enough.

I heard people were calling TV about lights in the sky tonight

2008-11-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

They turned out to only be Jupiter, Venus and the moon moving unusually close together. When I heard that, I figured the callers must have been people living outside the cities because hardly anyone looks up at the sky anymore due to the faintness of the planets and stars. Too many bright lights. Way too many bright lights.

Star gazing gives me a wonderful feeling though. To realize that the same stars I'm seeing are the ones the cavemen and ancient sailors looked at, to know that my mother in Calidornia is seeing the same stars tonight as my brother in Thailand, it gves me a feeling of closeness that is quite incomparable.

Memories of my father teaching us to name all the contellations and stars aboard the boat we lived on is one the dearest recollections of childhod I possess. I wrote these lines in a poem. It was a very personal moment between my father and me.

"Vega. Deneb. Altair. There's Ursa Major,
chasing her little cub Minor across the sky."

How many constellations do you know?

This is a great site to learn how to recogize constellations and stars or one to use as a refresher. It's simple, but created in a way that gives you a sense of the vastness of space.
http://www.quietbay.net/Science/astronomy/nightsky/032.html

Intrigued?

Here's a star gazing club you can join in Knoxville. No experience needed. Just eyes and a desire to learn more about the big blue bowl over our heads.
http://www.knoxvilleobservers.org/events.html

Blue Cross may soon fly you to India for surgery? Huh?

2008-11-25T05:32:00.000-08:00

"The health insurer Wellpoint is testing a new program that gives covered patients the option of going to India for elective surgery, with no out-of-pocket medical costs and free travel for both the patient and a companion."

Talk about outsourcing! I'm not someone who thinks American healthcare is the only healthcare that is excellent, but it does strike me as another example of something being a bit out of kilter with our capitalistic system. If we can't compete with other countries what will happen to us? I'm definitely no financial wizard. Numbers make want to flee the area faster than mosquitos at a picnic, but this perplexes me.

"The quality is comparable" to care provided in the United States,
Dr. Hashmi said. All the physicians speak English, and patients can
share their medical records and consult with a surgeon in India
before making the trip, she said.

The pilot program arranges for patients to be picked up at the
airport and provides special meals to prevent food-borne illnesses.
The program complies with the American Medical Association guidelines
on medical tourism and uses hospitals accredited by the Joint
Commission International.

Dr. Hashmi said it had actually been easier to evaluate the quality
of medical care abroad than in the United States. "There is a lot
more willingness to share data about complication rates, the total
number of procedures and the outcomes," Dr. Hashmi said. "We're able
to get detail per hospital and per physician."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/health/21abroad.html

Pass the frutas please!

2008-11-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

I found this to be hysterically funny.

"Choosing the right scent could take years off your face, reports the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. In a study, men guessed women's ages while smelling three scents and judged women to be nearly six years younger when wearing a perfume with notes of pink grapefruit."

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/4850/look-5-years-younger-today/

It gave me an image of hundereds of aging women loping through my "Fellinni" Kroger with their sagging arms (I know I have them!) full of pink grapefruits. Also how would you get men you dont know to sniff you in the first place? Slide alongside them in the checkout line. Reach across their nose for a beer glass in a bar. Ha ha! Without quirky weird this world would be so serious I'd probably be contemplating suicide.

She's baaaaack! And she's an ordained Dudette now

2008-11-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

As a newly ordained Dudeist priestess, and a member of a church whose mottoes are "Enlighten up" and " Just take it easy, Man". I invite you to explore the Dudeism path. As you can see by this excerpt of Dudeism text, we are not hard-core Evanglical-types. Join or not...no Dude or Dudette is going to push you toward Dudeism. To BE or not to BE, that's up to you little Dude or Dudette.

"Come join the slowest-growing religion in the world - Dudeism. An ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh...lost my train of thought there. Anyway, if you'd like to find peace on earth and goodwill, man, we'll help you get started. Right after a little nap."
http://www.dudeism.com/

Carried to the infinite, Dude becomes the ALL. As in this cmmercial, no other words are necessary when you're in the middle of a Dudeistic moment

Gone fishin' fer now

2008-11-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a post-election break to clear my head and fill the well again with other less intense things. I may show up from time to time on KnoxViews though.

Ah, what a sweet night!

2008-11-05T05:54:00.000-08:00

I wept salty tears as I thought back over the years to the many sacrifices made by so many to bring this to fruition, to the work done by both blacks and whites to help eliminate our nation's ignorance. I thought of my own marches during the Civil Rights Era in Washington and in Chicago, even when to march risked terrible consequences. I thought back to Dr. King and his eloquence and the agony of hearing the words, "They shot Dr. King."

Tonight I saw Jesse Jackson biting his lip with tears streaming down his face, and I saw the light in the young people's eyes as they realized it was a new day. I pictured Michelle and the kids living in the White House, the promised puppy scampering from room to room.

Then I thought how never again can anything any ignorant racist says have the same impact because today my county, my beautiful America chose to elect a president based on his beliefs rather than the color of his skin. This was an amazing act of trust and an act accompanied by great joy. It will take a while to sink in. Over the last few weeks a black Republican friend of mine kept saying cynically," Do you really think this country is ready to elect a black man?" Well today I can tell him. Today I can affirm what he was afraid to dream.

Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we did.

Why is Palin exposing her kids to so much media?

2008-11-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

It's nice that Sarah Palin is proud of her kids, but I'm getting to feel a little sorry for them because of the way they are spending so much time in the spotlight. The girls are obviously really comfortable and enjoying the huge amount of applause and attention that erupts every time they show up, but is this real life?

I found it so much more appealing when Obama tried to push the media away when he took his daughter trick-or-treating. Palin's kids don't need protection from the media, I guess, but there's something about odd about that to me.

I don't really admire Palin's dragging the kids into every picture. Tonight they are actually interviewing one of the kids on Greta. The littlest girl looks so tired. She has her head resting against her Sarah while she goes on and on about politics. The older daughter, the pregnant one, sits with Trig on her lap trying to amuse him.

I wonder how her children will feel about all this in ten years?

Funny spoofster stuff. My shame knows no depths

2008-10-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

Don't let this happen to you. Identified on national TV and exposed as a non-voter, all my excuses sounded lame. It is an effective and creative way to get people to vote though.

But don't all hockey moms wear Valentino?

2008-10-22T06:21:00.000-07:00

This is from a NY Post interview. "The VP hopeful reportedly has a secret team of fashion gurus who dress her for events -- and the stylists aren't afraid to splurge! For her RNC speech to accept the nomination, she donned a $2,500 Valentino jacket!"

Oh, yeah. Hockey moms of the world unite. Abandon your WalMart gear to wear nothing but Valentino. That way you can help Sarah Palin maintain the fantasy that she is "just like you".

Even if she had no idea how expensive these clothes were, it doesn't reflect well on her avowed determination to get the most for your tax bucks when shopping for things like healthcare.

http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2008/09/palin_the_substance_of_style.php

Former McCain family slaves say they will vote for Obama

2008-10-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Recognized by some white members of the McCain family, these black McCains share a common history with John McCain. They bring their own stories of family courage and even military service to add to the McCain family history. There has not been any DNA tests performed to see if there is a biological connection between the black and white McCains, but Lillie McCain said it would be "highly likely that there was" considering the historic relationship between white slave masters and black female slaves.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122419511761942501.html?mod=article-outset-box

Trash talking African American reverend for Palin spews venom

2008-10-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

Okay so the totally irrational subjective hatred for Obama and the blatant attempt to do anything to bring him down is not news. It's old hat. However, every now and then a new face of hatred emerges. This one is especially ugly.

Traditionally it has always been especially low-down and nasty to attack a black man's mother.

Hey Rev. Yo Mama wear Army boots too!

Rep. Michele Bachmann wants Congress investigated in order to rout out the "anti-Americans" there.

2008-10-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

This Sarah Palin look-alike today called for an investigation by the media in order to flush out the secretly anti-American people we have elected to Congress. A page right out of McCarthyism, and this was in concert with a huge wave of renewed attacks againt Barack Obama. Today the Republicans were robocalling and appearing everywhere suggesting this Bill Ayers fiasco was part of a consistent anti-American sentiment on the part of Barack Obama. They were still calling his brief encounters with Ayers "paling around". The whole thing is very distasteful, but more than that it reveals that these McCain supporters really do believe in a whacko conspiracy heory that "liberals" (shudder-shudder) have some evil plan to bring down America. Nancy Pelosi, Henry Reid, these are examples of the anti-Americans they are warning about.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/17/bachmann_obama_anti_american/?refid=0

Whatever you do, don't bite those Chinese hair bands.

2008-10-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

According to a Chinese newspaper article printed in 2007 and found to be factual by HoaxSlayer.com, these hairbands pose a potential threat everyone should take seriously.

"People could be infected with AIDS, (genital) warts or other diseases if they hold the rubber bands or strings in their mouths while waving their hair into plaits or buns," the paper quoted a local dermatologist who gave only his surname, Dong, as saying.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0DcqENG9L1Z3TnL94DJdaJuhXfA

The danger in this Chinese product is insidious because no one would ever think biting a hairband could cause such a serious health problem.

Malevolent Michelle Malkin at it again...

2008-10-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

Today Michelle Malkin was on the "Fox and Friends" morning show bashing McCain for saying he'd rather lose an election that win a dirty one. Apparently many Fox fans and Republican radicals are feeling offended and let down because the raw meat they were being fed has suddenly dried up. When McCain saw the error of his ways, and to his credit began trying to temper the tone of his campaign, what did his loyal followers do? They booed him.

People like Michelle Malkin have no loyalty to any candidate, all they support is more violence because that's what they thrive on, that's what brings in the cash and the fame they desire. Malkin keeps trying to say the Obama camp is doing the same thing, but anyone with a brain knows how ridiculous that is. Obama's crowds haven't booed him for saying anything about wanting to speak about the issues instead of ranting against his opponent; instead, they applaud such statements.

For Malkin to be urging McCain to continue to arouse hatred against Obama is at best irresponsible. I don't think McCain himself realized what the lines he was being fed, his advertisements, and Palin's nastiness were evoking. At least I hope he didn't. If he did this knowingly, then the last shred of respect left for McCain will be ripped away, leaving him naked to charges he is a very angry man who has lost his moral compass.

Total economic confusion and now this?

2008-10-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Nobody seems to have the answers. Being cool right now seems a little removed. Being too agitated seems futile. Sometimes I think I get it. Other times I worry I don't have a clue.

America as we know it, life as we know it seems to be changing, maybe even crumbling. Then along comes an e-mail like this. The minute I read the bit about no election, I got scared. Yes, deep down I realize there is always the fear we will be the generation that sees democracy end. We know the cost of war has brought down empires larger than ours. We know our government has failed us and that the American dream grows dimmer and dimmer, but we still have hope.

I don't know who this Steve Vincent really is. His group www.EndTheFed.US touts some fringe element politicos I'm not very fond, so I'm not all that impressed. Still, sometimes the "fringe" hits on things that prove to true, and I do want to continue to have the courage to hear all sides, even the weirdest people speak out on important issues. In this case I hope this guy is dead wrong, but it did kind of shake me up. Perhaps we're all feeling very vulnerable right now?

Message from Steven Vincent.
==================================================
The night before last I wrote the following with the intention of sending it out to the group. I changed my mind and did not send it, fearing to be an alarmist.

'World markets are plunging in a panic as the banksters have severed access to credit making investment and speculation impossible. The Dow futures market is showing a nearly 400 point drop in response to a borderline crash in Asia and Europe tonight. It appears Morgan Stanley will be the next big bank to go under. In all likelihood this week will see the biggest stock market crash in history. Rumors abound that municipalities and States will default on their bonds this week. California and Massachusetts look like good candidates. The cessation of many government services and checks could follow. Iceland and Pakistan are on the verge of bankruptcy. Wonderful, a nuclear armed Islamic state thrown into chaos.

My guess is that we could see disruptions in the supply of food within two weeks, with food riots within a month.

If that is the scenario then we may see the suspension of the election and...well I can't bring myself to say it.

I do not write this casually and I do hope that I am mistaken. I ask God that I be completely wrong. But is what the situation appears to be at the moment.

May God Bless us all and keep us safe.'

Today the Dow plunged 600 points (7%) in the final hour of trading. It should not have done so; it was set up for a rally. That it has done so is a clear indication that a total market meltdown and financial economic crash is upon us. The banksters, having enslaved formerly free markets to the cheap, sleazy drug of easy credit have now cut the addict off from its supply. We are now seeing the retching of withdrawal and the tremors of death of the global economy.

Today's Headlines

Stocks in U.S. Tumble as Dow Industrials Drop Below 9,000; GM, Exxon Slide
Mutual Fund Withdrawals Jump to Record $72 Billion as Investors Seek Haven
GM Shares Fall to Lowest Level Since 1950; S&P May Cut Automaker's Rating
Leveraged Loan Index Plummets to Record as Hedge Funds, Banks Sell Assets
U.S. Treasury Plans Bank-Stake Purchases Within Weeks to Shore Up Capital
Iceland Seizes Kaupthing as Banking Industry Collapses Under Debt Weight
VIX Options Index Climbs to Record Above 60 as Credit Market Stays Frozen
Bush Will Meet With G-7 Finance Chiefs to Tackle Credit Crisis, Aide Says
Libor Holds Central Banks Hostage as London Rate Freezes Worldwide Lending
Fear Trumps Greed as Market Worries Amplify News, Paralyze World Economy
Royal Bank of Scotland Loses Credibility After Goodwin's ABN Amro Purchase
Central Banks Fail to Alleviate `Logjam' in Money Market: Chart of the Day

As I predicted, a global summit is being announced at which the bankster dictators will tell us their plans for remaking the world economy in their image. Anticipate a new global financial regulatory body (perhaps even a new World Central Bank) and moves in the direction of a World Currency. Please note that participation in such by the United States is predicated upon RATIFICATION by the Congress. If the Banker Dictatorship bypasses this requirement, we can take that as further evidence that the Constitution has in effect been suspended and that dictatorship is a concrete reality in America now.

State and Municipal government bankruptcies are likely within the next few weeks. My guess is that is what the action in the stock market is discounting right now. If you are in Massachusetts or California and rely upon state assistance, please prepare for disruptions.

Each of us must now decide what this means for us. You must make concrete preparations now. We are in an emergency situation, albeit a concocted and engineered crisis. This is an economic 911 and the measures following it are new versions of the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act.

Let's spring into action and inform the population of what is transpiring. People need to know:

'America is Now a Dictatorship'
'Oppose the Banker Dictatorship'
'The Financial 911 is a Scam'
'No Emergency Powers for Wannabe Dictators'
'Restore Constitutional Government NOW'
'End the Fed! Gold is Money!'

These slogan points should now appear on every freeway overpass, stuck on every sign, on flyers and posters. Thousands and thousands EVERYWHERE. Take it upon yourself to spring into action. Take the initiative and be creative. Build coalitions across the spectrum with others who will resist the Banker Dictatorship.

Here's a fast, cheap place to get large quantities of stickers: http://www.stickergiant.com/ Take up a collection among your local groups and get stickering!!

Here's a great place to get t-shirts made...great prices, great service and fast (please tell them Steven Vincent sent you): http://coastalprintworks.com/

Here's a great place to get banners made: http://www.alwayssign.com/

Once again, I pray to God that I am an utter fool and an alarmist. Please God, let me be completely wrong. Or if not wrong, let this come to pass with a longer time frame so that good people can be better prepared for the inevitable. Please watch over us!

Your Friend in Freedom,

Steven Vincent

This wolf smells Palin fur & he don't like it.

2008-10-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

Palin sends Pat Buchanan and Fox News into ecstasy spasms

2008-10-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

It is clear, and it explains a lot, that Republicans don't care one wit about intelligence or truth. All they care about is labels, winks and jibes, whatever sells their product. Miss Congeniality rose to the occasion last night. She rattled off her memorized talking points very passionately in appropriate places and when she couldn't figure out the question or didn't know the answer she just switched to a different soundtrack.

Palin's folksy attitude may dazzle the Republicans who like their women to be cute as blank slates, like Laura, Babs, and Cindy McCain, but I couldn't help but always substitute Putin for Biden. Haven't we had enough of a president who can only read scripts? Palin kept suggesting Biden get amnesia, so he couldn't point to the failed policies George Bush and John McCain have been supporting for years. A clever trick, but the American people won't soon forget and don't want to forget what a shafting they got under the Bush administration's last eight years.

The conservative Republicans can enjoy the moment of bliss they felt over a non-collapse of their VP candidate, but there is no way that the answers she gave were better than Biden's answers. Her answers were informed more by a sense of timing and showbiz, than by political smarts.

This debate on a political level was a non-event. On a personal level, it was a boost for Palin who had recently been making a terrible fool of herself.

The transparency & truth Dude barring the Press?

2008-10-02T03:35:00.000-07:00

Maureen Down has been banned from McCain's plane. As they strive to cover the Palin/Biden debate, other reporters feel like they are treading on thin ice. In interviews this week it was clear the guy who would have us believe he is "fighting for us" wants us kept in the dark,but considering Palin is running for VP and therefore only a heartbeat away from snowshoeing over to take charge of Command Central down on Pennsylvania Ave, it would seem reporters should be given plenty of freedom to insure the woman is who she seems to be. After all his lying and distorions, John McCain's word is simply not good enough for most Americans.

It will be interesting to see the debate coverage, but if this Huffington Post article is correct, it will be up to the bloggers then to speak out honestly about both candidates performance.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/29/kurtz-journos-checking-th_n_130248.html

McCain "one of the founding fathers of Indian gambling"?

2008-09-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

In a recent NYT article John McCain's involvement with lobbyists in the gaming industry were outlined. This is the man currently ranting about his plan to clean up Washington? I guess he can count on the Indian vote, but it amazes me that Evangelicals are backing someone with an interest in gaming. Have they no true moral compass?

"As a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, Mr. McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America’s casinos, helping to transform the once-sleepy Indian gambling business into a $26-billion-a-year behemoth with 423 casinos across the country. He has won praise as a champion of economic development and self-governance on reservations.

One of the founding fathers of Indian gaming” is what Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and a leading Indian gambling expert, called Mr. McCain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/politics/28gambling-web.html?th&emc=th

No, seriously, these are the scariest of times

2008-09-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

Remember the lead up to the Iraq War? Remember the buzz in your head and the fluttering in your gut that said something horrible is going to happen? Well, here we are again folks. This time it seems more up close and personal. Like you're a bank teller and someone has an assault rifle poised on the ledge of your window. Is it any surprise that the handwriting on the note matches George Bush's? It's a pretty simple demand really. It just says," Give me all your money."

Okay so people took out loans and extended their credit beyond their means. It would never have happened if they were sold the idea that that was okay. When you're a ignorant nobody unaware of finances you trust "the smart guys" to tell you when to stop and when to go. If you get a letter in the mail saying you can get a mortgage or a credit card with seductive low charges, you would of course take it. That's especially true when your paycheck has shrunk so small it can barely cover your butt, let alone take care of all the necessities of life like hospital visits or car breakdowns. Please let's not blame the victims. This is the cabal at work. the one that pulled GWB's puppet strings. The ones that have pushed Sarah Palin down McCain's throat and bought him off with his own greed.

If you've been following the economic terrorist attack from within, you probably feel confused. Who wouldn't. It's obvious no one in Washington has a clue what is happening. How could ANYONE in their right mind even consider for one micro-second supporting anything that says

"...the whole thing is up to Paulson's "discretion," and "may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

http://www.alternet.org/story/99979/

If that isn't a WMD, I've never read one. Once again the actions of the politicians in Washington have me suspecting that the demise of America as we know it is an inside job. Forget bin laden. What he did was peanuts compared to this. America is on her knees, and I just don't feel confident that anyone can save her anymore.

If Obama votes to approve this garbage that will be the last sign for me that nothing short of a revolution will restore American ideals, and even that feels iffy right now.

Last night's Palin-Hannity non-event

2008-09-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone who expected anything different had to have been a resident of Pluto or Mars. Basically Sean fed Palin a line, then sat back to let her mouth her by now boring and tarnished series of talking points. We learned nothing new. We were not offered one single actual thing the Palin/McCain ticket would do to change anything or to put the "good ol boys" on notice. Just blab, blab, blab.

It was not Palin's finest moment. She is so obviously out of her element. She glibly delivers ideas without the basic knowledge to defend them. Hey! Just like a blustering neighbor would do! Also, she always (as does McCain) goes abstract or takes a left turn when asked about anyting specific.

I didn't finish watching the show because I feel asleep toward the end. Kind of like trying to stay awake to watch some boring rerun of a B grade movie.

Palin is over. The moose-mama has been caught in the headlights of reality and McCain is swerving all over the road.

Okay they are irreverent, the language gets rough, but the humor is spot on!

2008-09-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Kind of reminds me of a commune I used to know. Those who slacked off on chores were considered real low lifes.

Deepak Chopra gives rare insight into the Palin effect

2008-09-13T05:47:00.000-07:00

I think this is a very profound examination of the Palin effect. It explains a lot and jibes with the instinctual feelings I've had about her surprising appeal. This is for real, as it is on the Chopra website. Here's a brief excerpt.

She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and turning negativity into a cause for pride. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.) I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.

To read the whole statement click here: http://www.chopra.com/node/1064

Help, I'm suffering split-screenitis & my eyeballs are swirling!

2008-09-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Whoever sold the TV cable news shows on the idea of using split screens ought to be made to walk the plank. I remember when they started it was only a double screen. Today I counted eight different panels on one CNN screen. Is this a prestige thing? Personally, I have trouble seeing the action in a two inch by two inch cube. And the movement! It's enough to make me sea sick. Sometimes you can see the background wavering and rolling in nauseous repetitions behind and between the various screens. Then there is the scroll at the bottom. Sometimes it just says HEADLINES...Headlines....over and over, but there aren't any headlines! I often grab the remote in frustration to search for a station that is using a single screen, but it isn't easy to find one. That's SO old fashioned! I suppose the next generation will have developed eyes that can roll and scroll and skim and follow these rapidly revolving cubes, bands, scraps, and boxes, but this old gal finds them just plain annoying. The hope is that they've maxed themselves out though. I can't imagine the screens getting any smaller. If they do it will be like looking at the news with a fly's eye.

Palin said religious views helping shape her state's future

2008-09-11T04:25:00.000-07:00

If you believe that hearing the voice of God and speaking to God directly about political policy is a smart way to govern, then vote for McCain/ Palin. Personally this video says it all for me. Haven't we already had enough of letting religious nuts run the White House? The Republican's shameful use of the Evangelical movement is directly akin to radical Muslims taking over their religion to promote some pretty scary stuff. Both elements are out on the fringe and dangerous to our freedom.

The pit bull hockey mom squeals when you mess with her lipstick

2008-09-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

So she's squealing now because Obama used an old adage that might possibly be construed as a comment about her? This woman hurls lnsults, flaunts lies, and makes one-liner jokes about Obama and his style every time she gets on stage, so why does she squeal when she gets poked? Are we supposed to think she's thin-skinned? This moose-hunting, drop-your-baby-one-day and return to work the same week Momma? Excuse me. I don't think so.

Apparently, it seems like cruel remarks and misrepresentation are fine when Palin delivers them, but wrong when she's the target. I applaud Obama for finally speaking up and hitting back. If his reference resonated in a way he didn't mean, so be it. Palin asks for whatever low-blows she gets. She's been a dirty fighter since day one.

She hurls insults but everytime she gets one back she whines like a ...well...she whines like a stuck pig.

An interesting site re women and Sarah Palin

2008-09-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Don't let the warning about the inquiry stop you. This site is okay and interesting. It's about time we heard from actual women and not pundits what the response to Palin has actually been.
http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

Alaska has no state income, property or sales tax.

2008-09-06T13:58:00.001-07:00

No wonder the population there and Sarah Palin their governor drool like vampires every time they hear the word oil. Oil fuels the Alaskan economy, so sucking it up, every last drop, is a tasty thought to Alaskans.

"It's like Dubai. It gets enormous royalties and taxes and fees of various types from oil,'' said Chris Edwards, an economist and state budget expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington group that advocates low taxes and small government."

Reformer and avowed tax-cutter Palin certainly didn't shy away from raising taxes on oil companies (something Obama has been suggesting) in order to pour more oil money into her state coffers.

Other statements about tax cuts also have come under scrutiny.

Read the details in this Bloomberg Report: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYdZoyTvFrTc&refer=home

A Republican star is born! But wait! Isn't celebrity vapid?

2008-09-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

Oh, I guess not, if it's one of your own.

It is exactly the same old same, same old, only now it's wearing high heels and a skirt. As a feminist Sarah worries me. We are not all Superwoman with a faithful husband willing to take over major Mom duties while we take off to run the ultimate office in Washington. We do not all feel obliged to smile and cheer when our teenage daughters get pregnant, and we certainly aren't interested in become harsh and shrill as a Rudy Guiliani. Also shooting a moose is not high on my own personal goal list. Palin is a HUGE asset to the Republican conservative wing of the party and maybe beyond that. She's out-Republicaned the main candidate. John McCain is now hiding his centrism behind Sarah Palin's skirt. Not a bad move.

More Palin Buzzz...Her Mom might not vote for her?

2008-09-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

While I nursed my last child until he was almost two and had no qualms about doing it in public either. I can't imagine this:

This is a mom-blog from California
http://www.svmoms.com/2008/08/sarah-palin-you.html

NY Daily news article with quote from Palin's mother
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/republican_race/2008/08/30/2008-08-30_sarah_palins_motherinlaw_uncertain_about.html

Are the right wing, right-to-life extremists using Palin's daughter?

2008-09-03T05:18:00.001-07:00

He caved in to pressure from the extreme Right Wing of his party to dump Joe Lieberman. Instead he let himself be led into a "shotgun marriage" with Palin which will probably cost him the election as she appears to be a knitting basket full of contradictions and problems.

Her 17 year old daughter's pregnancy is not noteworthy, except for the fact that the Republican Party introduced Sarah Palin as a Ms. Perfect, Christian-teach-the kids-at-home-soccer Mom, not an Average Mom.

The fact that Palin spokespeople are flaunting this pregnancy as some kind of uniquely noble Right-to-Life adventure is sick. Many flaming Liberals like myself have faced teenage pregancies themselves or through their daughters and granddaughters. We do have our babies. We don't Always abort them or encourage our kids to abort them. As too often gets lost in the discussions about abortion, the left is all about CHOICE. It is the Christian Right-to-Life extremists who limit a young girl's right to decide what to do, not us Liberals.

Now the Palins are dragging their could be son-in-law into the picture. They're going to show him off at tonight's convention. I find that apalling.

Is Cindy McCain jealous of Ms. Palin?

2008-08-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Check it out yourself. Watch the video and play Dr. Sigmund Freud. What is Cindy McCain feeling and thinking?

Maybe it's because I'm a female and have been a wife a few times, but I couldn't help it---something about Cindy McCain's behavior kept drawing my attention during Palin's acceptance speech.

First let me say I know this is off the wall, but sometimes my intuition is strong and proves to be more powerful than I realize. These then were my chick-flick style reactions watching the video.

First of all Cindy M had her hair down and several times was seen flipping the ends of her blonde tresses, a signal some females see as a gesture of challenge when confronted by a more powerful woman. Usually Cindy M wears her hair up in a rather severe, and I must say unflattering, tight ponytail. The thought did cross my mind that maybe Ms. McCain was feeling a little insecure now knowing that Palin, the trying-hard-not-to be-too-glamorous ex-beauty queen, will now be spending a lot of time stumping around with her husband, a man who once threw another wife over to gain a younger one.

Looking at the speech a few times on this YouTube video, I couldn't help but notice the way Cindy seemed so small framed by the two important figures on stage getting the admiring applause. She looked like a lost little girl to me. Very sad when she wasn't being attentive to the moment and applauding by rote to some comment or other. In spite of the gravity of the occasion, she kept fiddling with something on her chair or on her lap, or maybe she was tending to the the twisted arm she said came from shaking hands a little too hard? How long ago was that? Is it still sore or did she need to tend to herself because she was feeling symbolically neglected?

McCain said in an interview he would not name Palin as his running mate until his wife had given him a heads up on the choice. He made a point of saying that, but what else could Cindy say? No? She hardly seems like the type that would have much effect on what MCCain chooses to do or not do politically. Not this man who has publicly insulted her about the amount of make-up she wears and is reported to have called her a cu-t in public.

Towards the end of the speech Cindy M seems to be unable to maintain the necessary stone-faced, then smiling composure these appearances demand. Towards the ends she sits down when everyone else is still standing, then she proceeds to talk to whoever i next to her, even during one of the most important speeches of the whole election campaign.

It will be interesting to see how this Palin choice works out and it will be interesting to see how the mysterious Cindy McCain handles this.

Will Mrs. Palin be the real First Lady of this administration, outshining the once young and beautiful but now aging and muted wife of John McCain?

Yep, it's a soap opera angle, but life is full of angles, so sometimes it is fun to explore them all. Even the silliest.

The case of the 28 Palin phone calls under investigation

2008-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

The thrill hadn't really even had a chance to settle in before the sordid family squabble involving Palin's office and causing the Governor to be under investion on ethics charges began making the news. Maybe the fact that McCain barely knew the woman before he picked her for his VP shows she wasn't vetted carefully enough. Or maybe McCain doesn't care that she has this ethical problem, as long as she is a woman who is totally against choice.

The Evagelical Republicans are scrambling for excuses for the choice and offering the lamest reasons to support her. Like the proximity of Alaska to Russia as a reason for her having a strong security background. One pundit, I think it was the Babe Buchanan even said her balancing her family's checkbook gave her a strong understanding of economics. And then there is the statement that she is prepared to be commander-in-chief because she actually has given birth to a son who will soon be fighting in Iraq.

Barbara Boxer is right. This choice is downright dangerous. American voters deserves better, and you can be sure they will get it.

McCain/Palin is a disastor in the making and it will cause more of a stir than Gustav in pre-election politics.

Palin choice an insult to women

2008-08-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

The very thought that many of Hillary's supporters will vote for McCain just because he chose a human being with breasts is just plain insulting. Hillary supporters were eager to see her become president because of her ideals, not because she has a bouffant hairdo. I just heard a caller on CSPAN gloat about the fact that now all women will "just swing over" to McCain's camp. What do the Republicans think about women? That we are idiots who have no political savvy? This ex-beauty queen, small town mayor, recent governor, whose husband is an oil executive is NO Hillary Clinton. Thinking she is will cost John McCain the presidency.

Even draft Palin for VP sites can't make much of her record.

2008-08-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

This is straight from a draft Palin for Veep site! Not much to recommend even there.

"We know the vice-presidential candidate's main job is to parrot the party line laid out by the presidential candidate. But, she's at least had her own opinion up to now ...

Energy Policies
Wants to convince the rest of the nation to open up ANWAR

War in Iraq/Terrorism
Has no public stance as yet, but her oldest child (and only son) joined the Army in Fall 2007.

Immigration
No recorded stance as yet. Not exactly the biggest issue in Alaska.

Economy
Again, not much to figure out here yet.

Health Care
Opposes more federal funding for health care; is for more flexibility in federal regulations to allow for more competition.

Gay Rights and Abortion
(Normally, I wouldn't include these as - despite being a Christian - I think they have no place in a political platform. But people think they do.)
Strongly pro-life, in fact, she's a member of Feminists for life. Also against gay marriage.

http://www.squidoo.com/sarah-palin

Togather Barack Obama and Joe Biden is everything John McCain is not.

2008-08-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

As a long time admirer of Joe Biden's work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I've seen him in wild moods, angry moods, and ranting moods. His willingness to say what he thinks without putting on the usual Washington velvet gloves has always impressed me. That's what gives him a common man approach. It is also what gives some campaign strategists nightmares.

The McCain campaign will undoubtedly paint Biden as a hot head. The media is already doing exactly that by giving more time to his straight shooting style than to the content of his words, but one thing people who think Joe Biden will be easy to dismiss as an angry man ought to remember is that most people have never heard of him. They won't know Joe Biden unless they happen to be geeks who watch all the live congressional reports on C-Span. So there will be plenty of time for the Democrats to introduce him in a way that will show him putting his best most well-behaved foot forward.

In this, his first commercial, Joe Biden addresses the millions of Obama supporters in a way that shows his thoughtful quiet side. It's almost like watching Bill Clinton before he lost it and became bitter and sharp. Biden is handsome, articulate, comfortable with his message, and his mood exudes thoughtful concern. If this is the Joe Biden America gets to know, the anti-Obama media and the humorless McCain campaign will have a hard time presenting him as the lunatic they hope to portray.

Together Barack Obama and Joe Biden is everything John McCain is not.

Metal detectors in schools now?

2008-08-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

I support gun control and metal detectors might help some students feel safer, but the violent mindset of people in these troubled, complex times are a bigger problem in my book. Most people who become shooters turn to guns because they see them as problem-solvers or they are looking to be taken out in what they consider to be a rage-of-glory.

The people who rally against gun control are also the first to suggest that trying to find ways to help young people not become more violent is somehow "soft on crime" or Left-wing pathetic. They also often refuse to fund or support programs in the schools that teach that violence is not a solution to anything. They see this approach as really sissy.

So what are you going to do? A little of this and a little of that and still people die. Our mental health system sucks and without insurance many will just plain go nuts. We fight about gun control versus the right to bear arms, but why aren't we spending more time trying to help create a society that cares more about the things that lead people into deranged behaviors? Why aren't we working hard to create a society that prizes peace more than vengence, a society that abhors violence in all its forms and instead promotes good mental health, effective coping skills, and good anger management skills?

Yes, just the thought of such an attitude it is enough to make some snicker and snort through their nose hairs, but that's what's really wrong. That's what's really encouraging a whole lot of unnecessary deaths due to violent behavior.

Too many people secretly feel violence is cool as long as you're the one on top. They feel there are times when violence is correct and necessary.

I'm not against metal detectors in schools, but without a change in our basic ideas about violence they alone can't end the killing.

Joe Biden is perfect! I'm excited once again.

2008-08-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

Okay, so he sometimes needs a better haircut, and he often puts his big toe in his mouth, But all of Joe Biden's flaws are nothing compared to McCain's. And just wait until Mitt Romney climbs aboard the forgot-where-I'm-going McCain express. Joe Biden is a true maverick in the sense that his courageous questions and complaints on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee have always struck me as forthright and important, not politically "correct".

Obama has been leaning too far Right for my taste. This brings him more toward my own political persuasions. It shows Obama goes with his mind and gut and does not play it safe. Biden will re-energize the base and bring in more voters who are blue collar, and he'll also attract those who have liked Obama but worried about his possible lack of foreign relations experience.

The reason conservatives will be leaping and whirling and gnashing their teeth over this choce is the fear they must have of seeing McCain come up against Biden's sage lifelong experience. Biden is a tough guy. Tougher than McCain, especially when it comes to sticking to his beliefs.

I am overjoyed with Obama's pick this morning.

Rachel Madow gets her prime time TV show

2008-08-20T03:12:00.001-07:00

Rachel Madow's show will air on Sept. 8th in the slot now occupied by Dan Abrams. Madow will undoubtedly increase the ratings as she is one of the wittiest, most intelligent women on cable news. Madow has proved she can hold her own with the likes of Pat Buchanan, and she exhibits the same wry wit that has made Keith Olberman so successful. It will be interesting to see the format of the show. Abrams apperared rather silly, so he won't be missed.

Was John McCain being authentic or slick?

2008-08-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

I think he was being very contrived and slick. It was if he came ready to take over the stage to give speeches rather have an intimate conversation with a reverend interested in spirituality. Every word out of McCain's mouth seemed designed to take over the casual personal format in order to create a stump where he could pander to the audience he knew shared his conservative views.

Every time John McCain said "my friends" I wanted to cringe. John McCain was winning the audience over big time, but that was because he knows how to say the right things. When it no longer serves his purpose though, he says something different--- like on torture.

Obama's problem was he played fair and didn't use the time to tell personal "story" after "story" after "story" designed to make him look like a hero. Saint John annointed himself, but he never changed my mind about him. I still don't think he's a very spiritual man like Obama, and he's not a straight talker. He is a great politician and a terrific salesman. Pots and pans anyone? Or a real change in America? It's up to you.

Bush's pastor rebukes the Republican favorite son

2008-08-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

"Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell just publicly denounced John McCain's morals and has endorsed Barack Obama.

This seems to have been precipitated by the furor about John Edwards' affair, leading Caldwell to point out John McCain's own infidelities. It was also precipitated by John McCain's offering up of his wife to a topless and rather obscene (keyword: banana) pageant at the Sturgis bike rally last week. I guess John McCain's behavior is not pleasing Christians interested in true values rather than mere words."

" http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/95246/

It's about time the media stopped blabbering over every toothful of gossip and innuendo that is being used to smear Obama. It's time they stopped protecting McCain from the same kind of scrutiny.

The Republican Right should be appalled at McCain's record when it comes to having decent morals and values.

Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of the Windsor Village United Methodist Church deserves a lot of credit for publicly supporting Barack Obama instead of John McCain.

This election cycle it seems the Democrat nomineee is way ahead when it comes to walking the spirtual walk. McCain might be talking the spiritual talk, but his history with both his wives leaves little doubt that McCain is not Saint John.

John Edwards and what seperates a man from a boy

2008-08-15T03:41:00.000-07:00

"I talked to John (Tuesday) and he's not doing well," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, who served as Edwards' chief adviser on rural affairs. "He's just — to be very frank with you — he's just not doing well. He needs to be concentrating on himself and his family at this point in his life. He's a good boy. He just made a hell of a mistake."

He's a good BOY? Geesh, that comment stood out like a sore thumb to me. First of all, John Edwards is not a boy, by any stretch of the imagination.

He's a good boy? What does that mean?

Is that supposed to make it sound like he shouldn't have to stand up like a man when he is caught with his pants down?

I'm so mad at John Edwards I could spit. He shattered any respect I had for him, and his betrayal went far beyond family. Now, his friend, good ol Mudcat, defends him in such a way as to add to that utterly stupid and demeaning belief that "boys will be boys" even when they are grown men.

Certainly the defense offered by "Mudcat" Saunders will will do little to help people sympathize with Edwards. Doesn't Saunders know that "good boys" don't cheat, that millions of grown men actually do control their ego-driven sexual urges?

Apparently not.

One million low-income households in Tennessee first to get free cell phones and usage

2008-08-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow August 15th, on the South steps of the state capitol in Nashville, TracFone Wireless, the Tennessee Department of Safety, local nonprofits and elected-officials will launch SafeLink Wireless® to aid 812,807 low-income households in Tennessee.

"During the press conference media will learn about the importance of the SafeLink Wireless program to low-income families in TN, and how valuable mobile phones are during a time of need: emergency situation at home, car breaks down on road, a child’s school needing to contact a parent, seeking employment, remaining in touch with employers, staying connected to family and friends, etc."

To read more about this free cell phone service program click here.
http://www.mobiletechnews.com/info/2008/08/13/104224.html

Wake up, oh ye followers of John McCain!

2008-08-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Don't you see that he is trying to sell you on the idea of drilling for oil the same way his mentor George W. Bush sold you on the idea we had to go to war with Iraq because it was an imminent threat. McCain will do anything to appeal to whoever he can now. He is also using the same propaganda tools that Bush used. Watch his speeches and see how many of these screws he is turning in each one. They are straight out of the slime-bag political handbook.

1. Repeat something over and over as if it were true.

2. State that you are speaking for all the American people, even if it is only a
handful of screwballs.

3. Lie when you need to, exaggerate if lying is too obvious.

4. Claim it is a matter of national security.

5. Act tough. Swagger. Boast. Threaten other world leaders. The American male eats this sort of stuff right up.

6. Scare the bejesus out of the American people, so they will run to you for
protection. Use the name Hitler. Evoke nuclear or biological potentials.

7. Pretend like everyone hates us because our lives are so enviable.

8. Smear any opposition with the unpatriotic or weak label.

If John McCain dares dis John Edwards I'll scream

2008-08-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

According to this veterans' site (and no, they don't all love McSwain), John McCain knows a lot about dumping a wife that is having health problems.

http://www.usvetdsp.com/mcaindiv.htm

Before John McCain's tour of duty in Vietnam, he married Carol Shepp, a model from Philadelphia. On his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam in 1967, McCain was shot down and captured.

In his book, The Nightingale's Song, Robert Timberg chronicled McCain's post-Vietnam military assignments and some of his "adulterous" behavior leading to his divorce from Carol and marriage to Cindy Hensley.

While he was imprisoned, Carol was in an auto wreck (1969), thrown through her car's windshield and left seriously injured. Despite her injures, she refused to allow her POW husband to be notified about her condition, fearing that such news would not be good for him while he was being held prisoner.

While still married to Carol, McCain began an adulterous relationship with Cindy. He married Cindy in May 1980 -- just a month after dumping Carol and securing a divorce. The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii.

McCain followed his young, millionairess wife back to Arizona where her father helped catapult McCain into politics,

Today, Cindy Hensley McCain is chairwoman of Hensley's board of directors. Hensley and Company financial reports show assets worth a minimum of $28 million for the McCains

Scoop on Wally Lamb's new novel

2008-08-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

A friend says, "Great news — yesterday in the mail I received an advance copy of Wally’s new novel, which is entitled “The Hour I First Believed.” It is 739 pages including appendices, and also included are two CD’s of music that relate to the text. Very briefly, it’s about a guy named Caelum Quirk whose wife is a teacher at Columbine high school and survives the massacre but is severely traumatized. According to the back cover, it spans five generations and is a mythic journey that is both contemporary and quintessentially American.

August 8 Election Day in Knoxville poem

2008-08-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

Election Day in Knoxville 2008

While standing outside the polls today

handing out vote-for-me-cards for my friend Amy Broyles

I met a woman who had just given birth

to twin boys under 2 pounds each.

She said one baby was so small

it fit in her husband's hand

tiny head resting on his palm.

Another woman was getting married

in the Smokies tomorrow

in blue jeans, snakeskin boots,

and the top of her best friend's wedding dress.

Her boys kept saying how

right after the wedding

they were all going to the beach.

Early in the day some guy came by

passing out sausage and egg McMuffins,

a non-partisan dude too

because Republican or Democrat

he didn't care

he fed you anyway.

He said he'd been in politics

since he was fourteen years old.

He called the mayor Bill.

I kept thinking how this is

what community is all about.

We all have a story to tell.

We all need someone to listen.

First Lady aka Miss Buffalo Chip

2008-08-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

It was a touching moment and a lovely display of Republican family values. Cindy blushed of course and looked flattered. You could almost see her already measuring the thongs she will wear in the White House.

McCain then proceeded to have another one of those meltdown moments we have all grown to find so adorable...such cute senior stuff you know...not total mental instability as some would have us believe. Just good clean senior fun. So he forgets where countries are where or what exact question he was being asked. So what! So what if the cameras found him searching the inside of his forehead for an answer to the now infamous Viagra question. John McCain is cute. He's cute and you can tell he knows it by the way he grins and chuckles adorably after he reads something especially funny off the teleprompter.

After suggesting his wife join the other "regular girls" on stage to compete in the Miss Buffalo Chip contest, McCain then began pandering to the gathered crowd who was obviously wanting to get drunk on foreign oil. McCain started his drill, drill, drill, I want to drill here and now rap song while the pipes on the cycles roared loudly.

All in all it was a real down to earth moment and a great way for the beer heiress to pay homage to those who ride motorcycles and guzzle beer and keep her in the style she has been accustomed to...

Perhaps the Straight Talking express was rocking on the way back to the hotel with John and Cindy performing a duet of Twenty more bottles of beer on the wall... It did beg the question though...

Is this old dog really capable of leading?

Woof! Woof!

I suspect Cindy will be shoving John MCain into the doghouse tonight.

My Saturday Pet Pick

2008-08-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

Aaaaw! This little guy is too cute. You can find out all about him on Craig's List

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/pet/780721946.html

"Stoners in the Mist" is the new "Reefer Madness"

2008-08-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

You can see the whole video here.
http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/stoners/#

There are many real dangers that young people should know about before they begin to experiment with drugs, and this includes prescription drugs stolen from Mom's handbag. Drugs are drugs. But how can kids trust that adults really are knowledgeable about the dangers? Films like "Stoners in the Mist" don't help one bit.

Decades ago films like this were popular. "Reefer Madness" is the most famous one. Though it was meant to inform and warn, it ended up being a marvelously funny examples of satire and propaganda. No kid who knew anyone who had ever smoked pot thought the film was realistic. Single-handedly Reefer Madness more than anything else proved to kids that adults lied about the dangers of drugs. It made them suspect even accurate information and reasonable precautions were not true.

Now a new "Reefer Madness" is out.

Stoners In The Mist is equally and outrageously inaccurate. It also will prevent young kids from believing anything adults have to say about drugs.

It is very funny though. A kind of Monthy Python look at the marijuana sub-culture from a misinformed adults eyes.

Bill O'Reilly & Hannity poured fuel on the fire of TN shooter's fear

2008-07-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

Take a weak and wounded mind that is full of fear about basic needs and survival and then fill it with wild propaganda-laden statements about who is responsible and that is a perfect recipe for deadly violence and the killing of innocents.

In a Knoxville News Sentinel article (see hot link below), police say they found several books by well-known right wing conservative commentators.

Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly."

I believe in free speech, so that means that even people spilling vile anti-liberal propaganda via what appear to be "news shows" have to be given a platform. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be ridiculed, castigated, and made to feel responsible for the fact that their promotion of hatred can potentially result in deaths.

Turn on Fox News any time of day or night and the violence and sheer hatred they are selling will literally spew from the screen. Illiterate, unstable and fearful people believe what these buffoons say. They hear John McCain laugh about killing innocent Pakistanis by selling them cheap tobacco and pretty soon killing doesn't seem all that bad. It even begins to look like some kind of warped public service based on patriotism and protection of the American way.

They hear Lou Dobbs suggest it is the Liberals who are against immigration reform, making it hard for Americans to get jobs, and they feel like striking out against this group. They hear politicians and news commentators make fun of or totally misrepresent gay people, and they fear every gay person is trying to make perverts of their children. So why not go out and do something about it? These killers have no clue how misguided their rage is, all they want to do is get rid of their rage. They're looking for what seem to be legitamate targets and guess who they turn to?

With people like Hannity, O'Reilly and Savage who needs Islamic terrorist enemies? They are very proficient at destroying America from within.

Jim David Atkinson was the the man who opened fire on the Liberals he mistakenly thought were dangerously destroying his country and American values. He is fully responsible for what he did, but his rage had its accomplices.

The ideas about Liberals that Hannity, O'Reilly and Savage helped implant in his mind were most likely right there helping him lift the barrel of the shotgun that destroyed so many lives.

To see the article about the results of the search warrant click here:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/

Breaking News! Shooting at Unitarian Universal Church

2008-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Local word-of-mouth reports suggest that a male long-haired shooter with blonde hair has been captured. 6 or 7 people were reported hurt from 13 shots. Victims were taken to the UT hospital. Apparently this took place while a youth group was performing the play Annie. This situation is in flux, so more facts will be coming in later.

New Feature! Saturday's Pet Rescue Star

2008-07-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday I will feature a pet that needs to find a "forever" home. This week I think this one is especially appealing. You can find this handsome speciman's babies on Craig's list today. The owner warns these crayfish are NOT to be used as bait. She says they make "very atttractive" pets.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/pet/770178793.html

Survivalists warn of the "Great Die-off" & we ain't talkin' bees here, folks

2008-07-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

James Rawles of SurvivalBlog in an interview with AlterNet's Scott Thill says, "The next Great Depression will be a tremendous leveler. If anything, life in the 22nd century will more closely resemble the 19th century than the 20th century. Sadly, the 21st century will probably be remembered as the time of the Great Die-Off."

(Gulp! The Great Die-off?) Now there's one scary sounding phrase. It made me think of the current mysterious die-off in honeybee colonies.

Survivalist have been buzzing about the collapse of civilization for decades, but with all the problems surfacing in America and around the globe today, their doomsday scenarios are beginning (at least to some people) seem more and more plausible.

Only Rawles says the survivalists are not who we have imagined they are. Survivalism is no longer the a small school of whacko gun owners hiding out in the mountains waiting for normal society to collapse and for their fellow Americans to come surging out of the ruined cities into the hills to encroach upon their hideouts. No, now survivalism is attracting more "rational" people.

The awful thing is as you read more about this article about survivalism and scan the posts on SurvivalBlog, you begin to feel like these folks might be sniffing out a trend that could have enormous consequences.

Is America and her way of life doomed? I think anyone who witnessed the Twin Towers collapse on 9/11, anyone who saw how inept our government was at handling a disaster like that one or like Katrina's aftermath could be persuaded to believe a complete collapse of our civilization might be possible. Sen. Gore's warnings about global warning paint some pretty grim pictures.

I don't really believe in all this doomsday talk of course. I have faith in our government and the ingenuity of the American people. Wow! did I just say that? Do I mean it or am I hiding my head in the sand as the survivalists suggest?

Only time will tell, but (gulp) I hope there's still plenty of it.

AlterNet article: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/92706/?page=1

SurvivalBlog: http://survivalblog.com/

This proves you could be labeled a terrorist for something totally innocent.

2008-07-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

If this isn't enough to make any politically active person shake in their boots, I don't know what is. I suppose most of the time many names on the List aren't tracked this closely, but you never know when the climate changes and you find yourself hearing footsteps behind you as you meander through Market Square to sign a peace petition. According to this article in AlterNet:

"Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the suit, was as well consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His "primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism -- anti-war protesters." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area...."

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/92212/cointelpro_returns%3A_my_first-hand_experience_with_government_spies/

Great photos of the amazing Olympic 2008 gardens

2008-07-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

The topiaries are especially amazing!

http://www.hyd-masti.com/2008/07/gardens-created-for-2008-summer.html

This kind of humor pokes fun without putting an eye out

2008-07-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

When it comes to politics, humor and satire are like love and marriage. They're supposed to live in bliss, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

The pundits have had eight years of ease poking fun at the George Bush administration because good ol' GWB is a comedian's dream. Remember him trying to give a neck rub to the female ambassador? Remember him tap dancing in front of the White House before a press conference? Even Dick Cheney (as unfunny as that dude is) gave the satirists and late night hosts plenty of material with his duck hunting mis-shot and his dour and dark repetition of lies about the bad guys ready to shoot missiles of mass destruction down our chimneys. Rove buffooned his way on stage to do a rap song, while the Sen. Larry Criag attempted to explain calmly about the wide spread of his legs and how his hand gestures under the bathroom stall at the airport meant nothing. Ha ha ha ha!

Let's face it making fun of Bush and company has been real easy and lots of fun.

But along comes Barack Obama and the whole scene changes. There is nothing funny about his Muslim background. It's too close to those destructive hateful smears flying around the Internet. Barack doesn't tap dance. He shoots straight into the hoop to show he is no bumbling old man. He keeps his hands to himself at state dinners. He looks virile and handsome. Has perfect manners. Only his ears are a bit worthy of humor, and of course Michelle is off-limits now that the conservatives with their humorless attempt to diminish her has soured us on making her into a caricature. Although a certain segment of the population enjoys it (the part that cracks up over the words poop, boogers, or fart anyway) most of us adults realize racism, hate and dirty politics is no fun.

Still, as this Joel Stein article in the Chicago Tribune points out, some comedians have the skill and agility to find ways of making us laugh at Obama without spitting on him or trying to unfairly sabotage his chances to be president.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0722comedyjul22,0,7443724.story

Creative animator highlights 1969 John Lennon interview

2008-07-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Jerry Leviton, a 14 year old fan, conducted this interesting interview with John Lennon about his thoughts on peace. The animated short film by Josh Rashkin was nominated for an Oscar in 2007.

Crow's TN nest making the singer feel more "normal"

2008-07-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Cheryl Crow told the Tennessean that the lack of LA media in Tennessee is bringing her a sense of belonging. Without all the paparazzi, an encounter with Faith Hill made the singer realize how great it was just to be two ladies out shopping.

"Faith walked in, on her cell phone, nobody around," Crow said of her visit to an area clothing boutique. "There the two of us were, just shopping like normal people, and there's just something really nice about that. It makes us feel very much like being part of a community, and also like I'm at home."

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/07/20/Tennessee_offers_Crow_a_normal_life/UPI-92701216586155/

A few out-of-town friends of mine have also remarked favorably about how "real" Knoxville seemed to them. At first this seemed strange, but now I think I get what they mean. People in TN are not putting on airs or trying to be crunchie granola intellectuals 24 hours a day. We're very diverse here and while some people would like to eradicate anyone not in the "beautiful people" or "professional class" categories, our imperfect environs may actually be desirous.

My Space: Dog Custody battle heats up in Lenoir City

2008-07-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Internet is a public square and more and more people are finding it handy to use it as a forum for venting private grievences publicly. This "dog doesn't fight" but apparently the people around her do. It's sad all around. First she was lost (or dognapped?), then she was found. Visitation is tough. Nerves are raw. Fear lurks in the heart of the new owner. Is the woman who was abandoned by her husband a psycho? Is her ex-husband a cad? Is the dog about to have a mental breakdown? Is her new home really like a prison? Arf! Arf!

Click on ALL BLOG ENTERIES to get the whole story.

http://www.myspace.com/jasminestolenbyex

This begs the question. Should people air their private battles and intimate details about their grievences on-line?

Wanna be a mush? Watch this "Puppy Lullaby" video

2008-07-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

I found this YouTube video on Sharon Cobb's blog. She's one of my favorite bloggers.

http://sharoncobb.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-video-will-go-viral-folks-you-have.html

Puppy love is the BOMB!

Find your neighborhood's "walk-ability" score

2008-07-17T04:31:00.000-07:00

This is a cool idea. Just type in your address to see what amenities are close to your location. It even gives the distance you'd have to travel to get to them. The site needs fine tuning. It offers-up obvious mistakes, but it does show you how close things actually are to where you live.

http://walkscore.com/rankings/

New Yorker loses its sense of humor

2008-07-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

The cover of the New Yorker this week was, according to the magazine, supposed to be satirical. Their excuse for this tasteless choice was the 1st Amendment, the right to free speech and the historic link the magazine has to political satire. Okay. I'm all for the First Amendment, and I really like political satire, but to portray the Obamas as Middle Eastern terrorists is about as funny as having a cover showing John McCain in a prison camp scoffing down a bottle of Viagra while Miss Cindy sits on his lap guzzling a martini and tossing down a handful of tranquilizers.

Would I find that funny?

Absolutely not.

Will millions of people who pass by a newsstand see the cover and feel even more convinced these good Americans are Muslims?

You betcha.

Satire demands a certain amount of sophistication. Most of the people who think Barack Obama is a Muslim lack that quality. They believe what they read in the National Enquirer. They believe the doubts about Obama expressed on Fox News or in scurrilous emails, and they will believe this cover has some validity.

Duh?

Don't tell me the New Yorker wasn't aware of this.

Shock-jock journalism ought to be beneath a magazine like the New Yorker.

Just how Pavlovian are you? Ad companies need to know

2008-07-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

For a new generation of advertisers the task is not how to sell you a product you use every day, but to make you use a product every day that you probably never used before. The interesting thing is that you never used that product before because there was absolutely no need for it. Today's advertisers are in the business of selling the creation of a habitual need.

This can be good, as in the case of condoms or other hygienic habits, but how moral is it if the product's function has no value, if it's importance is simply dreamed up by manufacturers who are seeking a profit? And what does that say about human gullibility?

Arf! Arf! How Pavlovian am I really?

If an advertiser can sell me on the idea that in order to be socially acceptable I need to spray my sofa with Febreze every time I clean my living room, why couldn't they also sell me on the idea that helping my neighbor is a dangerous thing to do? In a world where we have to be alert to propaganda, it's important to know just how hard advertisers are working to manipulate our minds and by extension our social habits and even our morals.

This NY Times article gives some insight into the advertising industry's latest discoveries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/business/13habit.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

Trashing Your Wedding Dress? New Bridal Trend a Photographer's Dream

2008-07-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

The possibilities are endless and apparently therapeutic. Everyone knows how the stress of an expensive formal wedding can leave the bride revved up like a jet on a rocket ship. So what's a girl to do to release all that energy? This latest trend in bridal rituals is called "Trash the Dress". Instead of having her dress preserved like a relic for a hefty fee, or saving it for some future granddaughter who will most likely find it too dated to wear, today's brides are donning their frothy frocks to head out into the most unlikely environments imaginable.

In junk yards, forests, city streets, abandoned warehouses and amusement parks brides bent on doing the trash-your-dress thing are posing for eager photographers who are also expressing relief to be able to have the freedom to photograph their clients in creative new ways. It's not for everyone. It's definitely edgy, but some brides seem to be embracing this idea with the same gusto as they embrace the idea of a traditional wedding cake.

At first this trend seemed ridiculous, but the more I examined the trash-your-dress albums and read the comments on bridal blogs about this, the more I began to understand. I have to admit it has always given me a little rush to see brides running around loose outside the church with their wedding gowns hiked up to their thighs. Remember the Dixie Chick video? Destruction has always been one thread in the art theme. Breaking the glass after a wedding toast is an important part of Jewish wedding ceremonies. So why stop there?

The trash your dress fever isn't limited just to brides either. Women photographed in glamorous gowns set against unlikely, often desolate, or urban backgrounds is becoming more and more popular.
http://www.letsgettrashed.com/

I suppose this means we will soon see savvy women and bold photographers rushing down to their local Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift shops to recycle those racks of glad rags that no one ever seems to buy. Rhinestones against drain pipes? Tulle swishing through a field of milkweeds? A long train of silk sinking into a mountain stream. Yeah, you get the idea, and it is kind of fun isn't it?

Breaking News---Tony Snow Dies

2008-07-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

After a strong fight, news anchor Tony Snow died of cancer at age 53. You might not have agreed with his politics, but anyone interested in the news media had to admire his courage and his gentlemanly professionalism.

It's 3 A.M.. What if McCain can't even remember where the phone is?

2008-07-11T05:16:00.000-07:00

This is getting serious folks. What's not shown is McCain saying he couldn't remember that vote at all or how he voted.

Yesterday he goofed up by telling a reporter he had given the name of his favorite sports team to his captors in Vietnam. Only he named the wrong team.

This week the Republican candidate's out-of-touchedness seemed to reach new heights.

He initially claimed the statement by Iraq's president that a timetable for withdrawal of our troops was desirable "a lie". Then he admitted it was true.

He didn't show up for the FISA or Health care votes either. Did he forget they were scheduled?

Then Dr. Cooning, a Yale geriatric specialist, appeared on NPR saying he thought McCain might be showing early signs of cognitive impairment. Dr. Cooning stated that he thought anyone over 65 should have a cognitive test every year.

Would McCain pass one?

Apparently the Senator has given a lot of thought himself to psychological processes. He has stated over and over that most of America's problems are really just figments of people's imagination. He has also stated that he believes empty solutions are fine, as long as they offer a bit of psychological relief to angry constituents.

…McCain admitted that his offshore drilling proposal would probably have mostly “psychological” benefits, NBC/NJ’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy reports. At a town hall in Fresno that primarily focused on energy issues, McCain was asked a question about the price of gas and the viability of various short-term solutions...
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/91067/

This is serious folks. However it might explain McCain's shocking reversals on principles he used to strongly believe in---like no torture.

The poor guy might not remember what he stood for.

Deep Forest music videos are like Salvadore Dali paintings come alive

2008-07-09T05:26:00.000-07:00

You can hear Deep Forest music on the video sensation Where's the Hell is Matt Harding. You know, the one where the American guy is seen dancing in a variety of locations as he travels the world. But that was just a little side job for this ambitious musical group that began with a man who grew enchanted with Pygmy chants and New Age dreams. If you're old, watch a Deep Forest video and get hip. If you're young get up and dance. The images on these videos are surreal. Dreamy, loving towards the earth and people. My kind of stuff.

World music isn't everyone's cup of tea, but one thing it does seem to do is remind us that we are indeed one village set on a deep blue planet spinning through time, and I think that's a good thing. You won't understand the lyrics, and the images will drift by as if you were immersed in liquid, swimming through a section of a contemporary museum of art (only the paintings come alive), but I think you'll have to admit you feel a little better soul-wise after watching a Deep Forest performance.

Personally I think it's healthy to now and then take your head out of the box, to let go of all prior concepts about art or music and just let yourself go into one of these contemporary music videos. It's fun. It's restorative. It could be an expedition into exotic places you've never been before. So grab your Crocodile Dundee hat, hop aboard the Land Rover of this group's inventive mind, and shoot off into cyberspace. I know I was glad I did.

Hey Bubba we're rich! Kudzu to ethanol is a reality here in East TN.

2008-07-08T04:43:00.000-07:00

Doug Mitzell from Cleveland, TN might be ready soon to sign a deal with a major fuel producer. He's found a way to make ethanol from kudzu and his goal is to put our area on the map as a kudzu producing territory. Mitzell says "My goal is to make East TN the cellulosic valley of the entire industry."

It takes 10 to 15 pounds of plant material to make a gallon of fuel, at a cost of about $1.30.

Hey does that mean my brother-in-law in South Knoxville might be a rich man? He has a huge high bluff of the stuff.

WDEF-TV has an interesting video interview with Mitzell
.
http://wdef.com/video/cleveland_tennessee_based_kudzu_ethanol_preparing_for_production/07/2008

The man behind Obama's phenomenal internet presence

2008-07-07T05:56:00.000-07:00

According to this NY Times article, he looks like a college kid. He dresses like a college kid. But Chris Hughes, one of the four founders of Facebook, the Internet social networking site, is one of the most savvy designers of inter-connection tools on the planet. By applying his talents to the Obama campaign, he has brought the Senator (virtually) into virtually every community in America. Chris Hughes is an interesting story. A Southern boy from Hickory, N.C., he has helped revolutionize and perfect the way political campaigns are run in this electronic era. He also took a pay cut to do this. If anyone thinks passion in America is dwindling, fear not. The Chris Hughes story is a post-modern success story and very inspiring.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/technology/07hughes.html?th&emc=th

Here's Obama's home page:
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

No bones about it, 12 Bones in Asheville top contender for best ribs

2008-07-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

This fabulous restaurant has ribs that are sweet and tender. Umm...ummm..good! The sides are home-cooking fresh. Get there early because lines of locals form outside there every day. It's also not open on weekends.

http://www.12bones.com/

Dear Keith Olbermann, please put your ego back in the box.

2008-07-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

I have always liked Keith Olbermann's snarky, edgy political take on the mad mad world of politics, but lately his ego seems to be getting so large it is blotting out the good points he often makes. There's nothing new about producers trying hard to milk every cash cow that wanders into their barn, but the way they have extended the time Olbermann is allowed to rant on and on has totally taken the air of his once lustrous diatribes.

Lately, I find myself yawning or switching channels as the poor man grinds out yet another jaw-clenched hisss about the things that irk us all. It's not the point he is trying to make. It's the obviously laborious effort needed to fill the airspace he is allotted with witty, remarkable one liners that will hopefully be repeated the next day by all the news services. Yes, it was novel when this well known pundit first showed he had enough to balls to speak to our president mano y mano, for Olbermann to give him a piece of his mind, as if the Prez was some little teenage kid being scolded by a very angry parent, but that appeal quickly dimmed when it became apparent that the content was being obscured by Olbermann's ego. His sheer joy at listening to himself, even when what he had to say was simply blabber and cheap fill, became obnoxious.

Hey, if it worked once why not do it a million times?

That's media group-think, and it is very boring.

I still watch Olbermann's show, but now when he says he has a special "commentary" about something, I usually switch channels. Not just because his pumped up unauthentic style annoys me, but because it is painful to watch another intelligent man to prostrate himself before the almighty buck rather than refuse to tap dance for the big producers.

Olbermann's willingness to let himself be stretched beyond his own limits has diminished his stature. Instead of cutting edge, he has become irritating.

The WORST person in the world?

Too bad Keith. I think this week it is YOU!

PUMA Exposed As RNC Swift Boaters

2008-06-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

We all knew there was something wrong. Wondering why all of Hillary's true supporters had come over with the exception of PUMA
Well, now the truth is out.

Pandagon has done a fine bit of research and has come to find the truth behind the McLames at PUMA.
Darragh C Murphy is the pig that runs PUMA. Check out Open Secrets for the truth. Murphy, a McCain contributer, has been exposed for the Right Wing trash he and his PUMAs are...

Read the rest at Pandagon. It's over for the PUMAs aka The McLames.

Taguba gets tough in torture testimony

2008-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I watched the movie "Rendition" last night. It gave a chilling portrayal of an innocent man caught in a web of mistaken identity. It is clear from the history of the recent leaks about rendition and torture that our country has turned its back on what we used to consider honorable Geneva Convention behavior. I grew up watching movies that showed American GIs who were taken prisoner say firmly, "My name is------. My serial number is----." We were taught that was the only information a soldier was required to give. Whether or not our enemies acted so nobly is not the point. The point is we felt an obligation to live up to our agreements back then, to treat other human bengs humanely. Now a new report shows the Bush administration had no such honor. They made torture okay. Even knowing that information gleaned by such methods is often bogus, they still wanted to pursue it. What does that say?

For his testimony on torture Army General Antonio Taguba deserves a Medal of Honor. In this interview being circulated by AlterNet, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez query the general on his knowledge of torture and its connection to the Bush administration.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/89141/
In a report, Taguba wrote, "There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

Pretty powerful stuff. Pretty scary too, that probably nothing will be done about this disgrace, this crime.

Teen pregnancy? Sure why not?

2008-06-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

People seem shocked that several young girls decided to get pregnant in their teens without the presence even of a father, but you when you look at things from their perspective it might just be a logical decision.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/833043/gloucester_massachusetts_discovers.html

For one thing you get to move directly into adulthood. Do not pass Go. Collect $200 dollars. Schools are boring the life out of a lot of these kids. They come unprepared by their elementary schools, so they face failure every day. They also get yelled at, made fun of, and are too often shunned by their more successful more affluent peers. It isn't surprising to anyone who knows girls who come from small economically disadvantaged towns like this.

Chances are many of them see nothing wrong with doing something that will make it harder to go to college. College? Many of them don't know one single person who has been able to afford going to college. Even with scholarships and loans many kids have to go to work during and after high school to help their families survive. College would be nice, but many don't feel smart enough. They just hope they will be able to get any kind of job in this economy.

As for boys, as for fathers. These kids know the statistics and many come from families whose parents are not full of love and tenderness. So why plan on getting married if it will only end in an expensive divorce? Why hook some guy into being a parent reluctantly when you can have fun with your girlfriends and help each other raise your babies? Girls like babies. Some guy friends might help out too. As for being independent---that can come later. You can always go to college later.

You can also apply for food stamps and try to get on a Section 8 housing list. Maybe in four or five years you'll be able to be get an apartment you can actually afford. In the meantime being a parent is a full time job. So see you're already a working person, your raising a family. And you will have a little baby who will love you and who everyone will love...uh...well maybe not everyone...but most people like babies. Besides if parents and society really wanted girls NOT to get pregnant wouldn't they offer them birth control and sex education in school? Catholic parents aren't going to do that at home. Besides the Church says abortion is evil, so you wouldn't want girls to kill their babies would you? It's much better to be responsible and have it. Isn't it?

Responsibility is of course a big problem with some people. Welfare mothers aren't exactly held in high esteem and often lead pretty miserable lives. Pumping out babies you can't afford is not a logical thing to do if you want to be responsible adult, so what about that?

As if the girls cared. Society has obviously let them down. Many feel society doesn't give a damn about them. To them other people seem to be very busy playing with expensive toys, taking their families to Disney, etc. Surely they aren't hurting? And the government? Hey, these girls know our government is willingly spending billions of dollars going to war for no reason, so why feel ashamed of wanting to have a kid when someone else might have to support it for awhile?

For many girls the idea of having a baby at a tender age isn't crazy. Maybe they think the world is crazy. Maybe they think grown-ups rarely see that, let alone admit it, In any case a good argument, sad as it might be, might be made if you look at it from her perspective for the logic of a young single girl getting pregnant in high school.

Only how many of us will even try? Understanding how these girls think might actually spur people to make changes that would help problem teens. Usually it's easier to just condemn them.

Will algae fuel your next car?

2008-06-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

The rush is on to find new fuels. Bush and the oil companies are waging a huge advertising campaign to grab as much land as they can before he leaves office. We are being urged to think drilling in the Alaskan Reserves and off the shores of some of our most pristine beaches will insure our independence from foreign oil. This is totally ridiculous. It will take years to harvest that oil, and the oil barons already have land under lease they haven't even begun to drill in. The American public is now seeing oil company ads making them look like saints with only our comfort and happiness in mind. They are showing themselves in research labs trying to create biofuels, but their main profit is coming from oil. So what incentive do they have to change?

Algae is a very interesting producer of oil. I love the clean look of this process, and I think I'll buy myself a few shares in this company.

http://www.valcent.net/s/Home.asp

My town of Hull, MA loves wind farms

2008-06-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

This Wall Street Journal article shows that the residents were involved in the idea of having windmills in their town. The question still remains however. Were they screwing themselves? Or making good decisions? It seems only time will tell.

"At public meetings, some citizens complained that the turbine would ruin the skyline and be noisy. But because local residents controlled the decision-making, opposition was minimal, says Susan Ovans, publisher of the Hull Times, a local weekly. "There was a sense that, if you had concerns, you could just go find your neighbor and ask him or her about it," she says. "It wasn't some faceless developer coming in."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121382784900886363.html?apl=y&r=66262

Speeding can cost drivers .30 cents per mile

2008-06-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few common sense ways to save on the cost of gas. You may have already heard about some of the tips offered on this EPA site, but others may surprise you.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml

Macranger blog presents scary minds at work

2008-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, they are scary, but they are US folks. Americans who actually haven't been able to see how they are being duped by media that has a hate agenda. While I feel somewhat sorry for them. They do after all sacrifice their children for lies. They live in fear, and they spout dogma that is totally against everything that is wonderful, progressive, rational, compassionate, and sane about America values. Free press enables them, but I hope our voices of hope and change will drown them out or wake them up.

http://www.macsmind.com/wordpress/2008/02/27/obama-plans-to-disarm-america/

AlterNet article shows doctor took bribes to push medications for children

2008-06-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

The pharmaceutical industry is on a par with the tobacco industry when it comes to destroying the lives of young people. Prescription drugs are becoming a menace to society and patients don't know who to trust anymore.

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/88333/

Interesting spoof about voting Republican

2008-06-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hillary supporters forming Pac to elect McCain

2008-06-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

It's very sad when intelligent people who espouse having moral values begin to pander to the right wing, anti-abortion, pro-war, racist Republican Party's nominee, John McCain. in order to get even with Obama for winning the Democratic Party's nomination.

Puma PAC, an organization devoted to keeping the election controversy over Hillary's loss going and going and going, makes assertions on their website that aren't based on facts. They use words like "Obama stole the election " loosely. That's not a fact. It's an opinion and a biased one at that.

As a woman and a feminist who has fought for civil rights and woman's rights for decades, I was pleased to see the way people responded to Hillary as a woman. They did after all ALMOST elect her as the Party's nominee. Personally, I was hoping she wouldn't be elected because of a long list of reasons I will not go into here. The main one however was that she personifies the "polished" Washington insider to me and ever since the Monica incident I have been unable to see her as a strong woman. I was a BIG Clinton supporter until NAFTA and Monica.

Hillary supporters have a right to feel their candidate is noble and even the best, but to further endanger the freedoms we have at a time when there is at least some chance of reversing the conservative direction this country has been going in seems indulgent to me.

Fortunately I believe most Democrats put this country's need before their disappointed feelings. Not everyone can win. I've often been on the losing side when it comes to politics, but I can't even conceive of voting for people with principals counter to my own just to get even. Had Obama not gotten the nomination I would have voted for Hillary. From my perspective, John McCain is not an option for anyone interested in preserving our personal freedoms and civil rights.

My father used to say, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." This applies to women too. Hillary supporters will continue to believe what they want to believe. I guess that's only natural, but to join the McCain campaign with its totally dangerous intent to keep the war going, to load the Supreme Court with judges who will reverse Roe vs Wade, and to align with the Bush doctrine in general---how can they even consider it?

It seems to me this is no time to put hurt feelings or anger about the political process above intellect. I find it hard to imagine many people joining this movement to sabotage the election process by voting for McCain, but I suppose some will.

For those who want to join in this movement or to read more about it
http://blog.pumapac.org/2008/06/13/friday-afternoon-cat-blogging-and-open-house/#comment-9000

This is after all what democracy is all about--dissent and political action by the people.

Very funny video about language with Chevy Chase & Richard prior

2008-06-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f02d0b8cca

The words reporters use matter a great deal. Something E. D. Hill on Faux News should have remembered when she bashed the Obamas for "fist-bumping" after his nomination speech. Poor E.D. Hill thought it might be a "terrorist fist jab". This video response has some very silly MSNBC bits. The "Morning Joe" team sometimes makes you wonder what exactly they are smoking or drinking.

A non-candidate approach to covering the 2008 race to the White House

2008-06-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

In a series of town hall events hosted by Laura Flanders video reporters seek to discover what really matters to everyday Americans this election season.

This series of town hall events called "Live from Main Street" offers ordinary citizens in a number of different cities the chance to give their own views about life and politics in the good old USA.

Read about the history of "Live From Main Street" and see their videos here: http://livefrommainstreet.org/

A local looks askance at life in Bristol VA & TN

2008-06-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

You might not agree with this man's views, but he does offer some interesting stastics.

Social Apartheid in Bristol Virginia, Bristol Tennessee

http://www.sullivan-county.com/

An ancient earth-mother's advice on Bonnaroo survival

2008-06-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

This was sent to a male friend of mine. It's written by an old friend of ours who spent many years attending music festivals in a variety of states of altered conciousness. I think her wise words are worth passing on.

Hey Dude. Cool that you're going to Bonnaroo! Hope you don't mind some earth-motherly advice about having a good time. Here's a few tips I learned over the years.

If a giant white rabbit climbs into your sleeping bag, ignore it. Close your eyes and repeat Ohm over and over. It will disappear within an hour.

If you get paranoid hide in a Porta-potty or outhouse. Take off all your clothes. Light incense and contemplate your navel. Is it an innie or outie? Think about what that says about the kind of person you are?

If you think you have suddenly discovered THE answer to the universe, immediately find a friend and tell her how many hits of acid you've eaten.

If you get the feeling you can fly--don't try it. Tie your feet to a tree if you have to.

If music makes your skin swirl with rainbow colors that's fine--dig it.

Don't try to explain mysterious things, like how the miraculously small tubular antenna on tree moss have started singing Beatle songs for instance. No one will care how beautiful they are. Also never eat any thing like that either.

You will know you are suffering sleep deprivation if colors start to run together. If red oozes into green. If blue swirls into white. This means the cones in your eyes are beginning to go. Always carry a dollar bill along and check it often. If the colors on it are running and bleeding together, see a medic. After about 3 days of sleep this condition usually goes away.

Remember, if you make love with a tattooed earth goddess with long flowing hair you might accidentally discover Tantric sex. That's a religious experience that is very dangerous. First you enter into some kind of state where your body and her body dissolve and become one. Then you realize that you have somehow left the planet and you're in outer space heading straight for God (or whatever that THING is). An orgasm in this state can make you feel like your head is exploding. Stars might come out. This can be a dangerous situation or it can push your evolution forward by several years. Some people think it's worth taking a chance. Others take a vow of chastity before they enter Bonnaroo grounds. If you're Baptist, I suggest you choose the later.

Have fun, Dude! Call me when you come down (or get home),
The Old Hippy Lady in the Mountains

Trendy weirdness of the day. Muslim women obtaining virginity redux

2008-06-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Oh, dear. Oh dear! The things we must suffer. The comedies we must perform starring roles in.

This surgery allows Muslim women who have lost their virginity another chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/europe/11virgin.html?th&emc=th

Free Obama Bumper Sticker from MoveOn.org

2008-06-10T04:39:00.000-07:00

MoveOn says: "If hundreds of thousands of us order these stickers and place them somewhere visible, we'll show voters in every town how excited we all are about Barack Obama.

These stickers are great even if you don't have a car. You can put them on your bike, laptop, ice chest—really, anywhere.

Forward this email to your friends, family, and colleagues so they can order theirs—or click below to order one for yourself if you haven't already."

https://pol.moveon.org/obamastickers/?id=12816-2956713-Xwz2dv&t=4

Bill Moyers' Media Reform speech attacks "the self-selected message multipliers"

2008-06-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Moyers' eloquent speech is a wake-up call to all journalists interested in dispensing truth. "The fate of the cyber-commens is at risk here", Moyers says. And "....the only antidote to the power of money in Washington is the organized power of people at the Net roots."

Moyers surpasses even himself in this historic accounting of the fight to save fredom of the press and an Internet accessible to everyone.

Every history class in every high school ought to show it.

Time magazine asks the candidates to empty their pockets

2008-06-07T03:48:00.001-07:00

Wow! Now there's a really informative piece. It's about the candidates' lucky charms. Photojournalism at its best.

A large picture shows Obama holding an assortment of trinkets in his outstretched palms. What's in there? OMG! As usual Obama is revealed to be the possessor of "foreign" things and mysterious cult-like items suggesting he is not a good American or a good Christian.

John McCain on the other hand holds out his one Lincoln penny. Yep, there it is! Right below his gold and shiny wedding ring.

Is there some kind of subliminal message in that?

Hillary doesn't have a hand shot. She gets to show off her lucky bracelet. Looks like some kind of Celtic cross dangling there. She also has a lucky scarf and handkerchief. Hillary seems to relish scarves. I've noticed in a lot of photos she has her neck covered. I think that might mean she feels vulnerable? Like symbolically someone might be threatening to cut her throat? But then of course I'm no Sigmund Freud, so what do I know?

I suppose this kind of journalism has some kind of purpose.

I know felt "changed" after I read it.

To search the candidates pockets yourself go here
http://www.time.com/time/politics/whitehouse/photos/0,27424,1811278,00.html

Life gets weirder! GW Bush gives Wally Lamb literary advice?

2008-06-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

National Protrusion has some pretty funny stuff on it.

http://thenationalprotrusion.com/2008/06/04/bush-vows-to-finish-%e2%80%98she%e2%80%99s-come-undone%e2%80%99-by-end-of-term/

I'm sure my friend Wally is busy taking notes after he hears this!

P.S. I sure hope no kids working their way through their summer reading list read this.

Now, McSame, We Come For You

2008-06-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's done.

Oh boy, this is gonna be fun. :)

But not for John McCain. This nation will never have seen a presidential candidate humiliated into the very dust he crawled out of like we're going to see with McSame.
John McSame has more dirt than my basement vacuum cleaner and the bloggers, now seasoned veterans, are going to make John McCain rue the day he decided to seek the Oval Office.

By the time we're done with McSame he will curse the very breath that keep him breathing. He will curse both darkness and light for there is no escape to be found. He will curse his very existence before it's over.

We're ready, MoveOn is ready, we're all ready.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

Rainbarrel Workshop. Hurry these spots are going fast!

2008-06-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

The Water Quality Forum Is Sponsoring Rain Barrel Workshops

Pre-registration for the workshops starts June 2nd.

The first 35 people that sign up will be able to participate. The cost
of the workshop is $35.00 per barrel made.

To register, contact Parci Gibson at parci.gibson@knoxcounty.org or
865-215-5861. Parci will take the first 35 registrants for each class.
Please let her know how many barrels you want to make and which
workshop you plan to attend. Please include your name and contact
information (Name, phone number and e-mail address) if leaving a
message or e-mailing her. Due to the high demand for these workshops,
you MUST pre-register. Unfortunately, we cannot accept walk-ins for
the workshops. You will be notified if you secure a spot at the workshop.

Every participant will take home a completed barrel after the workshop.
We will also be discussing other techniques you can use in your yard
to conserve water and reduce stormwater runoff pollution.

Dates of the workshops:

June 14th from 10:00am-12:00noon at New Harvest Park (sold out)

July 8th from 6:00pm-8:00pm at Ijams Nature Center

July 31st from 6:00pm-8:00pm (place to be determined possibly out West)