Scariest article read last week had to be Mike Adam’s over at Natural News spilling the tale of how Big Pharma is killing us all. The article is huge so I thought I would break it down into four parts. Today’s take: Time to Choose, pills or plants.

Centuries of the chemical Destruction of our planet

Scariest article read this week had to be Mike Adam’s over at Natural News spilling the tale of how Big Pharma is killing us all. The article is huge so I thought I would break it down into four parts. Today’s take: Big Pharma is not our friend.

Big Pharma as a major chemical polluter

By Mike Adams, Natural News

These findings are now added to the revelations of pharmaceutical contamination unveiled by the Associated Press last year, which found that the public water supplies in virtually all U.S. cities tested were contaminated with pharmaceutical chemicals.

What’s emerging from these disturbing discoveries is a picture of Big Pharma as a global corporate polluter that’s dumping chemicals into the world’s sensitive waterways, polluting villages, cities and aquatic ecosystems around the world.

Polluted waters are not a pretty picture

Under the Bush Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outright refused to regulate pharmaceuticals as environmental hazards. With Obama in the White House, it remains to be seen whether the new administration will clamp down on pharmaceutical pollution.

Big Pharma now has something in common with Exxon, Cargill, Alcoa and Chevron: The outrageous pollution of the environment with toxic chemicals. But in many ways, Big Pharma’s chemicals are far more dangerous. HRT drugs, for example, are toxic at parts per billion, and they’re now being found in public water supplies around the world.

Municipal water treatment facilities, by the way, don’t remove pharmaceutical chemicals from the water! Whatever HRT drugs, psychiatric drugs or other chemicals that exist in the water are passed right through the water treatment centers which unwisely add yet more chemicals (fluoride and chlorine, typically) to the toxic brew.

Citizens drinking public water supplies in India, the U.K., Canada and the United States are now verifiably participating in a grand experiment involving the mass medication of the population with low levels of utterly untested pharmaceutical combinations.

A tidal wave of prescription drugs.

How long will this be allowed to continue before the environmental protection authorities clamp down on pharmaceutical dumping?

So far, environmental regulators have done nothing to stop the dumping of drugs into public water supplies. This is true even in America, where hospitals routinely dispose of drugs by simply flushing them down the toilet (injecting them directly into the water supply consumed downstream).

Consumers also need to realize that the drugs you swallow are also environmental pollutants. Many drugs pass right through the human body unaltered, where they are flushed back into the water supply that’s consumed downstream. (Yes, the toilet water from one city becomes the drinking water of the next city down the river. If you didn’t know this, you have a LOT to learn about the water supply, and you probably won’t like what you learn… especially if you live downstream…)

to be continued Monday…

Scariest article read this week had to be Mike Adam’s over at Natural News spilling the tale of how Big Pharma is killing us all. The article is huge so I thought I would break it down into four parts. Today’s take: toxic stew, it isn’t what you want for dinner.

India’s Waterways A Toxic Stew of Pharmaceutical Chemicals Dumped from Big Pharma Factories

by Mike Adams, Natural News Editor

Many of the pharmaceuticals consumed in the United States are made in India, where labor is cheap and environmental laws are lenient on powerful corporations. U.S. drug companies are exploiting this situation to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses of high-profit pharmaceuticals in India, where ingredients purchased for a few cents can be re-sold to U.S. health patients for hundreds of dollars (the markup on some drugs is literally over 500,000%).

There’s something else Big Pharma doesn’t want you to know about its drug operations in India: Big Pharma’s manufacturing facilities dump millions of doses of toxic pharmaceutical chemicals directly into India’s waterways.

Chemicals being dumped into waterway.

Researchers were recently stunned to discover that 100 pounds of a powerful antibiotic called ciprofloxacin was being dumped into a local stream every day! That’s a quantity of antibiotics that could treat an entire city of 90,000 people every day.

But that’s not all: The same waterway contained an astonishing 21 pharmaceutical chemicals reports the Associated Press, some at levels that were 150 times the highest levels of contamination found in U.S. waterways. (And even the levels found in the U.S. were quite alarming.)

From Saturday’s LA Times:

Google ready to pursue its agenda in Washington

Its employees supported Obama, and four Googlers served on his transition team. Now the Internet giant hopes to win support for network neutrality and expanding high-speed Internet access.

By Jim Puzzanghera and Jessica Guynn, January 24, 2009

Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

Reporting from Washington — Another inauguration took place in Washington this week — Google Inc. officially became a political power player.

In October, Google was only hours from being sued by the Justice Department as a Web-search monopolist. Today, less than three years after it made its first Washington hire, the Internet giant is poised to capitalize on its backing of President Obama and pursue its agenda in the nation’s capital.

Google’s executives and employees overwhelmingly supported Obama’s candidacy, contributing more money than all but three companies or universities. And only DreamWorks employees gave more toward inauguration festivities.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt campaigned for Obama and was one of four Googlers on his transition team. He is now as likely as any corporate chieftain to get his calls to the White House returned.

At the top of the company’s policy priorities are two that consumer advocates largely champion. First, it wants to expand high-speed Internet access so people can use its Web services more often. It also is pushing for so-called network neutrality: prohibitions on telecommunications companies charging websites for faster delivery of their content.

“Google is not just a benign corporate entity. It has a variety of special interests,” said Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, who has sparred with Google over data-privacy issues. “They’re in a great position to push their agenda through with the support of the president and the Democrats in Congress.”

But Google’s newfound political ties heighten concerns about its grip on the online advertising market. The company could play better defense against strong competitors trying to curb its influence.

Last fall, Justice Department lawyers, who had been lobbied heavily by Microsoft Corp. and large telecommunications companies, were about to sue Google on antitrust grounds. They wanted to block its controversial search-advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc., but Google abandoned the deal rather than fight in court.

Competitors worry about Google’s close relationship with the Obama administration, said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

“The question going forward is: Will Google turn into just another business entity looking for favors in Washington, or will it manage to keep the 767 flying at 30,000 feet above the political din?” he said, a reference to the Google founders’ private plane.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment. Obama vowed generally this week that his administration would not be beholden to anyone.

Google says the main reason it has improved its standing in Washington is that Obama’s tech priorities mirror its own. He has endorsed network neutrality. His technology agenda also calls for expanding broadband Internet access to rural areas and appointing the first government-wide chief technology officer (Schmidt has been mentioned for the position but reiterated this week that he was not interested).

“This administration is more focused on science and technology,” Schmidt said in an interview. “That’s positive for all of technology, and particularly Google.”

…

Source

I think it’s interesting that Microsoft was pushing the Justince Department “to sue Google on antitrust grounds“.

Wind Turbines generate energy for the Philippines.

Where Are the Local Stimulus Packages?

Add California to the list of states that “see renewable energy as their future,” as the LA Times reported earlier this month. Our employment figures are down on a net basis, but renewable energy and energy efficiency remain bright spots in an otherwise maudlin economy.

“Some states — including Michigan — already see renewable energy as their future: It’s the only sector that appears to be making room for more employees despite the recession.” Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2009.

With President Obama now inaugurated and many states already working on climate change mitigation plans, 2009 will be the year to turn the rhetoric of the green energy revolution into reality. He stated on the campaign trail: “Breaking our oil addiction . . . is going to take nothing less than the complete transformation of our economy.”

Now he’s doing more than talk; he has already presented his stimulus package to Congress, calling for over US $800 billion in tax cuts and incentives for infrastructure and — most importantly, from my perspective — US $15 billion in various incentives for renewable energy, better transportation and energy efficiency. Obama has said repeatedly that the need for action on climate change and energy independence is urgent. And he recognizes that strong action to mitigate these problems will also provide a substantial boost to our economy, helping to address the current economic slump.

By my count, that’s at least three birds with one stone: climate change, energy independence and a major boost to the economy.

Source

Tam Hunt is Energy Program Director and Attorney for the Community Environmental Council in Santa Barbara. See www.cecsb.org for our regional energy blueprint. He is also a Lecturer in renewable energy law and policy at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara.

I am not in the least surprised by this. The military is needed to expand empire, while civilians need to suffer in order to learn obedience. Does anyone in this country study history, or do they just watch Fox/Faux News?

More Americans Joining Military as Jobs Dwindle

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ

Published: January 18, 2009

Ryen Trexler, 21, is learning about heavy equipment at the Jobs Corps Center in Pittsburgh, skills he will take to the Army in July.

As the number of jobs across the nation dwindles, more Americans are joining the military, lured by a steady paycheck, benefits and training.

The last fiscal year was a banner one for the military, with all active-duty and reserve forces meeting or exceeding their recruitment goals for the first time since 2004, the year that violence in Iraq intensified drastically, Pentagon officials said.

And the trend seems to be accelerating. The Army exceeded its targets each month for October, November and December — the first quarter of the new fiscal year — bringing in 21,443 new soldiers on active duty and in the reserves. December figures were released last week.

Recruiters also report that more people are inquiring about joining the military, a trend that could further bolster the ranks. Of the four armed services, the Army has faced the toughest recruiting challenge in recent years because of high casualty rates in Iraq and long deployments overseas. Recruitment is also strong for the Army National Guard, according to Pentagon figures. The Guard tends to draw older people.

“When the economy slackens and unemployment rises and jobs become more scarce in civilian society, recruiting is less challenging,” said Curtis Gilroy, the director of accession policy for the Department of Defense.

Graphic scenes of horrible deaths do tend to make people hesitate to volunteer for it. At least as long as there is any possible chance of making a living at anything else. Now that the chances of finding work outside of the military is so drastically reduced, thanks to the current economy, people are being forced to enlist. It doesn’t matter if it’s a law, like the draft, or circumstances, like the economic situation, people are still being forced to enlist. That’s wrong, no matter how you excuse it.

Our government needs to stop caring more about banks, corporations, and other bureaucratic entities than they care about the people who elect them to office. It’s like once they’re in office the politicians completely forget that it’s the people who put them there, even if their corporate masters footed the campaign bill.

It’s our votes that put them in and take them out of office, not the companies that “sponsor” them. That’s exactly what it is too, corporate sponsership of politicians. Only they like to hide who is sponsoring them, in case the “people” might think they’ve been “bought”. Like we don’t already know that almost all of them have been bought and sold for a very long time now.

I enjoy this picture very much. If only it was not just flight of fancy, so to speak. Karma finally catching up with Cupid. And what better fitting and ironic the manner of his demise, given his centuries-old fixation with chucking quiversful of arrows into the most schmaltzy of hearts? Channeling Susan Powter, I’d say it’s about time to stop the insanity!

I tend to agree with Adri on this one: Valentine’s Day is indeed one “shitty excuse for a holiday.”

Those of us who routinely go about our merry ways savoring our citizenship in Singledom are once every 365 caught off-guard by this annual phenomenon of a 24-hour romance and lovemaking interlude amongst the coupled.

Single and all alone, we inevitably have that moment of cognitive dissonance speculating that if perhaps had we not so readily dismissed out of hand that cute guy who just possibly could have been more than merely a one-night stand, we too might appreciate the magnificence of the day.

We do tend to readily ditch such claptrap mentality, mind you, come the 15th. And I would venture to guess that despite the one single day of the year on which we solitary souls perchance feel (dare I say) just a smidge envious, there are no doubt many of the committed who would probably willingly sacrifice that annual heart-shaped box of mystery chocolates and streetcorner-vended roses for the sheer joy of having the whole bed to themselves the other 364 days of the year.

So I’m off to bed now, certain without a doubt that it will indeed be good for me, and that I will still respect myself in the morning. Who could ask for anything more? Happy Cupid-free Valentine’s Day to me!

valentine’s day, cupid, valentine

A few years ago, political scientist Laurence Britt dissected the regimes of the most infamous of all fascists: Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Suharto.

You have no doubt read or seen this before, but brushing up on history never hurt anyone. There are lessons to be learned from mistakes of the past.

However, considering that for the last eight years Führer Bush has been given nigh on carte blanche to establish the supreme global American Reich, methinks that perhaps some boning up on history might be in order lest we repeat similar electoral faux pas in the future.

I would also wager that it would be safe to anticipate a soon forthcoming revised and newly-updated report from Dr. Larry B. in which he most likely will expand upon his previous list of textbook-case fascists.

Per Britt, the following are the fourteen commonalities shared amongst all foresaid faces of fascism. Let’s review, shall we?

_________________________________________________

Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

_________________________________________________

Well, we’ve pretty much been able to successfully tick every one of those in defining the reigns of each of the aforementioned. Including, of course, our own dear Mister President.

So study up, people, and let us learn from our and other’s historical mistakes. As a certain wise man once said, “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” Let’s hope not.

fascism, george bush, fascist regime, patriotism, politics, government

Super Bowl XLII did not quite end as I had hoped or expected. Still it was exciting, particularly the Giant’s final offensive play with a mere 35 seconds left on the clock, taking the lead and effectively quashing the Patriots’ hopes for an undefeated season. Who doesn’t love football?

I took a bit of a power nap at half-time, though. I mean really, Tom Petty was the best they could do? Are you kidding me? Not being a fan of nasal caterwauling myself, I opted to grab a few z’s instead. I did, before nodding off, however, catch the half-time show’s sponsorship announcement — “Bridgestone, the official tire of the NFL.”

So the NFL has an official tire. Spare me (pun intended.) That makes about as much sense as Wilson coughing up a few mil for the privilege of being deemed the official football of NASCAR. Maybe they already have. Wouldn’t surprise me.

But I digress. Why I found the Bridgestone announcement noteworthy is that pre-game yesterday I read this article on The Nation’s website, which says that Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire spent more than $10 million dollars for the honor! Money well-spent? I guess that’s debatable. Remember, Tom Petty was the headline act.

Of course, saving face isn’t cheap, so when it becomes necessary to invest in attempting to polish a tarnished reputation, what better platform than the most-watched sporting event of the year? And with a class-action lawsuit for human rights violations hanging over corporate heads, it was probably money well-spent after all. Good PR is priceless.

According to The Nation, Bridgestone Firestone is being sued by the International Labor Rights Forum and several plaintiffs, accusing the company of committing human rights abuses in Liberia, one of the largest rubber-producing countries in the world. Not to mention one of the poorest.

A gold mine for Bridgestone Firestone, of course. Here’s this country practically oozing latex, with an economy ravaged by decades of war, and an 85% unemployment rate to boot! The perks just keep on coming.

HELP WANTED: Multi-billion dollar corporation seeking desperate desperately seeking tree-tappers. 15 cents an hour. Wage restrictions may apply.

For the bargain basement price of only $3.19 in daily wages, Bridgestone Firestone expects a typical Liberian worker to tap 650 trees a day, by company president Daniel Adomitis’s own admission on CNN. He also said that tapping a tree only took a couple of minutes. No big whoop.

Okay. So CNN took those 650 trees at two minutes per tap, and still calculated that one worker would have to spend 21 hours a day working to fill this quota. Not factoring in travel time, of course, carrying 70-lb buckets of freshly-milked latex for miles to the waiting storage tanks, prepped and ready for shipment to America, where the rubber meets the road.

And if the worker does not meet said quota? The paycheck is halved. Ouch. That’ll take a bite out of the family budget. So what’s a Liberian to do?

Make every day “Bring Your Wife And Kids To Work Day”, of course! Unless you want the family to starve. Gruel ain’t cheap. This calls for some quality family tree-tapping time.

This is the choice Bridgestone Firestone has forced their more than 4,000 Liberian employees to make. The 650-tree daily quota policy has led many of the workers to join up their own kids and wives to ensure that they meet their target goal. Or else.

But these extra helping hands get paid nothing. And the children whose families depend on their labor for survival? Forget about schooling and receiving an education. There’s work to be done.

A 2006 report by the United Nations Mission in Liberia found that during Liberia’s civil war, Firestone’s Duside Hospital, didn’t even bother with issuing birth certificates. Yet the company-touted free education (who has the time?) and healthcare for workers’ children depends on having one.

Of course, Liberia’s Ministry of Health will be more than happy to provide one. For a paltry $25, or nearly half of an employee’s monthly salary. What a bargain, that.

Click here to learn more about the company’s exploitation and abuses.

It’s quite sad, really. Nearly as sad as last night’s Patriots’ defeat.

bridgestone firestone, super bowl, bridgestone firestone tires, super bowl sponsors, liberia, rubber trees

To postulate that we all trust in God is perhaps just a tad bit presumptuous, don’t you think? I mean, many don’t even believe in, or are at best iffy about, the existence of a supreme entity in the first place, so I’m fairly certain that those folks would probably take issue. “We trust whom? Really?”

But, of course, being the godly nation that we are (I’m sure the Almighty is so very proud), it’s only fitting that mandatory emblazonment of In God We Trust be conferred upon all currency minted and printed in these United States of America. Infidels need to just suck it up.

And it must be most prominently displayed, of course, lest the religious right-wing looney tunes get their panties in a bunch! Apparently they are avid readers of coinage, and wish to not be required to squint when reading their daily affirmation.

So now they’ve gone ballistic about the unsatisfactory design of the latest U.S. Mint’s gold-colored dollar coins, in tribute to our dead presidents. Four coins are released per year. The first four, honoring George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were issued last year.

More to come, stay tuned. Oh, the anticipation!

Anyway, under Congressional edict, the Mint was required to place the national mottos In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum along the edge of the coins. The idea was to allow for more dramatic portraits and fancy artwork on the heads and tails.

Well, that was apparently most unacceptable! The Moral Majority of coin-reading Christians complained that the words were hard to read, and that they might wear off over time.

So Congress buckled, of course, recognizing the error of their ways. Live and learn. Now, they’ve tweaked the rules to better please the Lord and the lunatics, so that the phrase In God We Trust has greater prominence on the new presidential dollar coins.

They’ve passed legislation that the phrase be moved from the edge (where one might presumably rub God the wrong way) to the back or front of the coin.

God bless America.

President George W. Bush signed the measure into law last month after the Religious Right conservatives complained about the new coins, insisting that by relegating the phrase to the edge of the coin was some kind of malevolent plot to ditch the phrase altogether.

I really doubt that the good Lord would mind so much if we did just that.

presidential coins, u.s. mint, in god we trust, gold dollar coins, religious right, george bush

John Edwards … over and out. I really thought he would stick with it through Super Tuesday but, in reality, I suppose the timing makes sense.

If you’ve been barely passing all semester, chances are you’re not going to be able to pull an A+ out of your ass come next week’s big exam. So dropping out now was probably a wise decision on his part.

I have been supporting Obama for some time, but have often said that I would probably have taken the Edwards route if I thought he stood a reasonable chance of making it to the general election. I figured this day would come, though. I just didn’t know when.

After all, his campaign coverage has been practically nil in comparison with Obama’s and Clinton’s. It was particularly noticeable throughout the debates, and mainstream media attention is, of course, crucial for any candidate’s success.

Is he not black enough? Not buxom enough? Nah, that’s probably not it. After all, they give plenty of coverage to the typical run-of-the-mill white boys of contrary political orientation.

So why is he clearly lowest man on the MSM totem pole? His message has consistently been as good, if not better in some instances, than his fellow Democratic opposition.

I’m glad he managed to hang in there for as long as he did, though, if for no other reason than to force the still-in-the-running dynamic duo to step it up a notch or two.

As his senior campaign adviser Joe Trippi said, “Look, the guy led on every single issue out there, whether it was poverty, the economy, global warming, or universal health care.

“He moved the progressive agenda much further than any other candidate - so much so that both Clinton and Obama adopted a lot of his language and agenda. Which is a great thing to have done.”

His populist viewpoint put pressure on his opponents to vie for union endorsements, and he was the first out of the gate with comprehensive plans for universal healthcare and education, forcing the others in the field to play catch-up.

Edwards was also the only one who consistently hammered corporate America for hurting middle and lower-income Americans, by sacrificing their health care and pension benefits in lieu of higher profits and salaries for the shareholders and CEOs respectively.

“The corporate greed that is destroying the middle class in this country is stealing your children’s future. It is stealing the future of Democrats’ children, Independents’ children, Republicans’ children.â€?, Edwards said.

Well, there you have it.

That, my friend, was the real deathblow to this campaign. Good night, John-Boy.

Considering that all major media outlets are owned by just a handful of massive corporations, it’s no wonder that they had little interest in touting his agenda.

With most news outlets having fallen into the hands of large conglomerates, conflicts of interest predictably interfere. They are in it for the money, after all, and are obligated by law to put profit ahead of all other considerations. Responsible journalism? Who needs it.

So Edwards has thrown in the towel. He may be gone, but I hope not forgotten, and that he has influenced both the Clinton and Obama camps in positive and permanent ways.

I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting either of them to jump on the corporate greed bandwagon, though, lest they, too, be shunned and suffer similar fates.

john edwards, edwards presidential campaign, presidential campaign, 2008 election, presidential campaign, presidential race, corporate media, mainstream media

I still have my Kerry-Edwards yard signs, pins, bumper stickers, magnets and sundry loser paraphernalia from 2004. Don’t really know why. I hoard. (Thank goodness this isn’t a podcast lest my reputation be tarnished! For the record, I’m not even nappy-headed.)

Waste of money, that was. Not to mention a waste of time. It took me forever to get the bumper sticker aligned just-so. And those wire pokey stick-it-in-the-ground yard signs? They have a mind of their own. They tend to seriously flail. I risked putting an eye out just getting it to stay put, but finally had it under control after about half an hour.

All for naught. We still lost.

Great googly moogly. Who’d have thunk it? The king of all village idiots was re-coronated. Lots of folks apparently queued up for the short bus that day.

So his days are now numbered. Bush begone, and good riddance. I’m afraid, though, that unless we step up to the plate, we may very well end up with more of the same ol’ same ol’, albeit bearing a different “Hi, My Name Is … ” lapel sticker.

As Lewis Black said in reference to the 2004 election:

“The fact of the matter is the Democrats not being able to find somebody to defeat George Bush is beyond belief. It’s stunning.

“It would be like finding a normal person who would lose in the Special Olympics.”

We’ll hopefully do better this time around. Obama, Clinton, Edwards … any one will do. Take your pick, get your yard signage now, and don’t forget the safety glasses. Trust me on that one. Oh yeah, and voting might not be such a bad idea, either.

republican debate, hillary clinton, barack obama, john edwards, 2008 election, presidential election, george bush, politics

Keep those young Kentucky fingers crossed, boys and girls! The freaks, geeks and fuglies may wish to cross their toes as well, for good measure.

If the House Education Committee has its way, the days of being picked on, pushed around, beaten up and beaten down will soon come to an end.

The HEC unanimously approved an anti-bullying bill last week that, if given thumbs up by the Kentucky Legislature in the House and Senate, would curb the harassment, intimidation and plain old-fashioned schoolyard bullying.

It’s a fine plan, I read it. They’re calling it The Golden Rule Act.

Very straightforward, it is. It establishes a code of acceptable behavior, provides for training of teachers on how to deal, includes procedures empowering victims to report without fear of retaliation, and defines the proper comeuppance for offenders. All in all, I’d give it an A+.

There could be a bit of a bump in the road, however. A big bump, actually. A ginormous speedbump called the Republican-controlled Senate.

Similar previous versions of the bill have also been passed by the Democratically-controlled House, only to be shot down once reaching the floor of the Senate. Why, one might wonder?

Ah, here’s your answer. Idiot-at-large Senate President David Williams worries that if passed, the legislation could be used as “an excuse for the addition of curriculum concerning aberrant behavior.”

For those not fluent in Neoconese, aberrant = homosexual. FYI.

He’s concerned that if passed, the bill might be used to “teach curriculum that people aren’t interested in like homosexual, same-sex marriage sort of things like that.”

Perhaps I should re-read the bill. Maybe I missed something. Chat amongst yourselves.

Hmmm, nope. Nary reference to anything remotely suggesting the inclusion of Aberrancy 101 into the curriculum.

Of course, Williams himself said he hasn’t read the bill yet. How he has then jumped to such wacky conclusions, Lord only knows. There’s really no explaining the misfiring synapses of the Republican mind.

But one must never lose hope. Who knows? Maybe this time the planets will align, hell will freeze over, Republicans will experience a rare moment of lucidity, and all four-eyed, pizza-faced, metal-mouthed fatties down Kentucky way can breathe a collective sigh of relief. It could happen.

anti-bullying law, kentucky anti-bullying, david williams, kentucky senate, gay agenda, homosexual agenda

I was sitting here this evening, illegally downloading some old Lenny Kravitz tunage (Limewire rocks), reminded of why I was such a Kravitz fan back in the day. Good stuff. iPod playlist worthy, no doubt! A new mix for the morning run.

Of course, as I’m sure we’ll all agree, when clipping our Shuffles or Nanos to our Spandexed waistbands before pounding the pavement at the crack of dawn, there’s always that nagging disquiet in the back of our minds: what to do if we perchance encounter some seedy, menacing character whilst logging our daily five?

Well, fear no more, fellow cardio buffs and music fans! Why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Nothing short of genius, really. A new combo mp3-player slash taser gun has hit the market! And it’s fashionable to boot.

With a choice of leopard print, red, pink or silver, you know you’ll always be in style zapping the bejesus out of the guy who may have looked at you the wrong way. With 50,000 volts in hand, you’ll never have to worry … and you won’t miss a beat of your favorite song. Most excellent.

Just see how easy it is to use! Personal protection can indeed be “both fashionable and functionable,” as genius Rick Smith, owner of Taser International, so eloquently stated. Awesome.

Full disclosure: I don’t own an iPod. I don’t run, and walk only when necessary. I’m not even exactly sure what the crack of dawn might be, although I hear it’s something very pretty. I don’t own anything remotely resembling Spandex, nor should anyone else. I think Lenny Kravitz is a god, and yes, I do download music illegally. Sue me. But please don’t iTase me, bro.

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Bill Clinton, at his 1993 inaugural address, said, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” I wish that I still believed, but I’m not so sure anymore.

I miss Bill. And I miss my rose-colored glasses. Now I simply see red. All that George Bush and his band of cronies have wrought since setting foot in the Oval Office has led me to believe that perhaps there is very little left that is right with America.

Maybe there really wasn’t that much right to begin with, but I thought things were beginning to look up. As a nation we haven’t had such a stellar track record, of course, despite historical spin doctoring.

Near-extermination and subsequent oppression of the indigenous peoples? Yep, that was us … Manifest Destiny and all.

Atomic bomb attacks on civilian populations? Missions accomplished.

Stealing a page from the opponent’s playbook and interning American citizens to War Relocation Centers (”concentration camps” sounds so Nazi) because of their ethnicity? Caught red-handed.

Then, just when you think we might finally be making some forward progress, enter Bush to take the proverbial three steps back.

I hate Bush’s regressive America. Of course, to the thin-skinned patriots out there, using the words “hate” and “America” in the same sentence is nothing short of treasonous.

Anti-patriotic I am because I oppose an illegal war, a criminal administration, and am disgusted that our civil liberties are being flushed down the toilet.

“America, love it or leave it,” they say. Well, I may not necessarily love it right now, but leave it? Wherever else I might go, I could possibly become subject to current U.S. foreign policy, and I’ll have none of that! No thank you.

Look, I don’t hate America. It’s probably one of the best countries ever stolen. But we’re not necessarily the bee’s knees, either. And until we get back on the right track (kicking Bush’s sorry ass to the curb will be the first lost step regained), I’ll not be proudly waving Old Glory. Thank God the countdown has begun.

To end with another quote: “Let America realize that self-scrutiny is not treason. Self-examination is not disloyalty.” - Richard Cardinal Cushing

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