So This Is Christmas...

Hello Luvlies:

So this is Christmas...

And... What have you bought?

Was it made of plastic or toxic materials?

Was it "Made in China"?

Does it have 'Upgrade' capabilities or Will it be Landfill in six months?

Was it REALLY Necessary?

Did it put you in debt?

Is this a Silly Tradition or What?

It seems to be more about keeping the shopping mall stores afloat than about honoring anyone's birth.

Then there's the whole CHRISTMAS TREE COMPETITION.

I'm sure that you've heard about this on a few occasions.

It's not a Real Competition with Judges.... Like a Largest Pumpkin Contest.

But, it's out there... rearing its Evergreen head here and there.

In my little microcosm, it came to my attention when a local amusement park made a big deal - at the end of their TV commercial - about them having "The Biggest Christmas Tree... It's Even Bigger Than the One at Rockefeller Center!"... or some such Nonsense... They even declared its height... I was so unimpressed that I don't recall what it was... some 200+ ft tall tree that, apparently, won't be getting any taller... seeing as how the amusement park took it upon themselves TO CUT IT DOWN... thereby ending its Life.

David Letterman said something funny about the whole Xmas Tree practice...
He basically said, "What better way to celebrate and honor the birth of a religion's savior... than to cut down and kill a 200-300+ year old tree?"

I would add... Not only cut it down... but cover it in gaudy lights and decorations... "Ooh" and "Aah" over it for a few weeks... and then Toss It Out With The Trash...

Yuck.

I think this whole "Our Tree is Bigger than Your Tree" thing is just an outgrowth of another Age-Old
Competition:

The "My (You Fill In The Blank: House, Car, Swimming Pool, Bank Account, Gun, Airplane, Bomb, Penis...) is Bigger Than Yours!" silliness from the sandbox.

What Would Jesus Do?? You might Ask.

I know One Thing that He Would NOT DO:

Jesus would NOT Cut Down MILLIONS of EVERGREEN TREES...
Especially with the whole Global Warming Thing Going on...
I mean, HELLO PEOPLE OF EARTH: News Flash: Trees absorb Carbon Dioxide (CO2)!

Anyway....

THANK GOD IT'S OVER!

(Although, in the interest of Full Disclosure, I must admit this: I Don't Believe in God...
But, Hey... He doesn't believe in Me either soooo... We're Even.)

Why not?...
Well, I look at it this way:
Since we are (allegedly) existing/perceiving ourselves living in a Reality of DUALITY...
You know... Black/White, Up/Down, Right/Wrong, Off/On, Hot/Cold, Light/Dark, Sun/Moon, Feminine/Masculine...

Father God/........
.......

See where I'm going with this?

Somebody left someone/something out or tried to erase her contribution.

And that SUCKS...

Hmmm...

Perhaps she got witch-washed Because SHE had the Biggest Penis in the Sandbox?

Just a Thought...

Peace.
L.

HAPPY FRIDAY!



I just sent this letter to San Francisco's KRON 4 News Department.
I am going to send it to all of San Francisco's TV News Departments.

My motivation was one of those 'teasers' that was broadcast during a commericial break for a program I was watching recently.

This 'teaser' announced, to my great horror, that several women had been recently been attacked... and to "... stay tuned to KRON 4 News to find out what Bay Area Neighborhood" it was where Police were warning women about it.

...What the %@&!???

Um... Hello... KRON 4 News (and ALL News Departments!)!

When you recieve Official Police Reports of women or anyone in the community being attacked or assaulted... and the perv... perpetrator is still on the loose...

I want to know what you know... RIGHT NOW!!!

I Do Not want to have to wait for the next News broadcast. I do not want to have to wait for whatever reporter is assigned to the story to get around to telling me the details. (You know... you learned it in Journalism 101 class: Who? What? Where?, etc.) I want to hear what you could have and should have told me about it during the News 'Teaser'!

I know it's likely that the head of the News Department is a man...
But, still, he must have female relatives/friends...

Local TV stations are always doing things to promote themselves in the community.
Most recently, programming/commercial breaks have been interrupted by Live Reports from around the Bay Area that lasted for Several Minutes... For The Food Bank!

But, hey, receive a Police Report about multiple attacks on women... and use it as a 15-Second Teaser??

DON'T use a Serious and Immediate Public Safety Issue as a TEASER!

Use the damn resources available to the TV station to INFORM the Public and CONTRIBUTE to PUBLIC SAFETY in an Immediate and Worthwhile way.

This happened a week ago... and I'm still Angry.

But, I feel better now, Thank You.

Peace.
L.

An Open Letter/email:

Dear KRON 4/KRON 4 News Department:

Hello!

I am a frequent KRON 4 viewer. I've appreciated many of the locally-produced programs you have broadcast and I rely on KRON 4 regularly for national and local news information.

I am emailing you in regards to an issue of great concern to me (and, hopefully, to you as well): Public Safety.

In particular, the safety of women and girls in the beautiful Bay Area.

About a week ago, during a commercial break for a program that I was watching on KRON 4, there was a brief "teaser" for the local news show that was to follow...

In this "teaser", the speaker announced that the Police were warning women in "... part of the Bay Area..." to be alert because there had been several attacks. This frightening statement was followed by the instruction to watch KRON 4 News for further details "...next."

I completely understand the need to encourage/entice viewers to 'Stay Tuned' for upcoming programs. I understand that there are ratings and numbers that need to be reached.

But, I am afraid that - in using the unidentified Bay Area city's Police Department's warning about attacks on women as a 'teaser' - perhaps you don't fully understand how such an announcement affects the women who might hear it. (Actually, I hope that is the case, instead of the situation being that you do know and you intended to use the Bush Method of inciting fear to induce viewers to watch the News.)

Women and girls everywhere, to my great sadness, must be constantly vigilant and pay attention to their surroundings and who is around them to stay safe. (Ipods and MP3 players are a major technological impediment to women's safety... but that's another email.)

When your News Department or any News Department receives official reports from local authorities or Police Departments of attacks on women/girls/children/anyone... especially in instances where the suspect or suspects have not been caught/detained/arrested...

...This is a High Priority Public Safety Issue.

And, as such, I feel very strongly that the public needs to be immediately informed/warned.

Every television station has a responsibility (and, hopefully, a desire) to contribute positively to their community. And, with the resources available to them, they have the ability to help great numbers of people.

In an instance such as this - where women's safety and possibly their lives are known to be in serious danger - I feel that our community deserves more than a 'teaser' to "Stay Tuned for the local news."

In an instance such as this, at least in the future - for, tragically, we can be sure it will come up again - I implore you to take the socially responsible High Road and follow such an announcement with whatever pertinent details the authorities have provided to you. Not in half an hour, not in fifteen minutes, not in five minutes... Right at That Moment.

If it involves the Safety of Any Women... it affects Every Woman.

Please don't spend your resources to inform us enough to frighten all of us, leave us frightened and uniformed and, thereby, leave some women - in some unidentified Bay Area city - in immediate danger.

Please consider this when you receive official reports in the future.

Thank You.
L.
San Francisco

Craig "Flibberddygibbetts" Ferguson



I LOOOOVE Craig Ferguson!
(He's the uniquely humorous host of CBS's The Late Late Show.)

Previously, (or, possibly currently... if it's in syndication) you could see him in the role of Drew Carey's boss, Mr.(Nigel Algernon) Wick, in The Drew Carey Show.
(A memorable performance in an oddball role... he could often be found finding new ways to fire his employees - those poor sacked-to-bes, more often than not, were all named "Johnson" - or he was losing a testicle, nipple, etc, in some comical incident. Like I said, "oddball".)

Anyway, I Love him... Usually... Well, often...
Hmmmm...
I'm only fudging because, while, Yes, I think I could Really Love Him....
It's just that... Sometimes... Craig... He... Well, sometimes he just....
...Creeps Me Out!

I don't know why, exactly.
The funny thing is that... he and I have some kind of oddball connection.
No, really.
I do not mean in the 'Lady stalking David Letterman and breaking into his home and - when police arrived to arrest her - claiming she was "Mrs. David Letterman"' sort of we have a Connection! way.

I mean that... even though Craig and I have never actually met - in person...
We have some sort of unconscious communication going on.
(No, do not cue the Psycho shower scene music... Yet!)

Before you decide that I'm teetering towards being delusional...
Just give me a moment...
Let me present my evidence before you wave me off:

(The experiences I am going to describe to you are all True and Really Happened.)

(A Little Background:
Since early childhood, I quickly recognized that what I experienced in my version of Reality was not quite the same as what most of the people I observed around me seemed to experience in their version of Reality.

* On several different occasions, I dreamt about plane crashes... and would open the morning paper to find Headlines screaming about... a plane crash that had occurred overnight.

* For a while, I often would finish people's sentences... I was a kid and I thought I was being helpful... saving them time and all... It wasn't too long before I figured out that most people didn't want that kind of help.
(This particular skill - of picking up on what others were going to say before they said it - returned years later... after it had evolved into something Really Interesting.)
(These are rather tame items... I'm saving the Really JUICY (and Bizarro) Ones for another blog... or, perhaps for my first NY Times Best Seller.)

Anyway, back to Craig and I...

So, Like I said, I'm a loyal viewer of The Late Late Show... at least since Craig Ferguson took over the position of Host.

(Before my beloved Craig, there was another host, also named 'Craig'... a big dork by the name of 'Craig Kilborn'.
I used to refer to him as 'Craig Killjoy'...
Needless to say, I wasn't a fan, not then, anyway.

But I am Now.
Yes, I'll admit that I find this Craig's Scottish accent... well, Charming.
But, much more than that...
He's Really Funny!

During the course of any given day, I don't laugh anywhere near as loud and as often as I do when I'm watching/listening to Craig's monologues, skits or interviews.
I often find myself trying to stifle my laughter, so that I don't disturb my roommates... But, Craig makes it hard to stop laughing.

Back to our 'communication'... what I said about Craig sometimes 'Creeping Me Out'...
I can't explain it. I don't know exactly what it is about him, but when it's there... it's there... and it's strong.
I'd mentioned to a few friends of mine that I Love Him/He Creeps Me Out.
What's funny/strange about this is that, after I had made this declaration...
Craig, himself, declared on different several occasions that he 'creeps' himself out, too!

Coincidence?
Hmmm... Perhaps...

But, there's more...

My finishing people's sentences thing continues...
It not only accomodates live-and-in-person situations...
It also works with live or pre-recorded (yet previously unseen by me) events.

Today, for instance...
The event that motivated me to write this particular blog on this particular subject was this:
I had heard something described on TV that mildly annoyed me...
What it was exactly, I couldn't say... there's sooo much on TV that has the potential to be annoying...
Wait a minute... I just remembered what it was...
A commercial for the (un)reality shoe goo called 'survivor' (I refuse to capitalize it, I think so little of the show.)

Anyway...
"Blah... Blah... Blah... "survivor"... 'Postcard to the Planet'... Blah", goes the commercial... (need I mention the unmemorable barbie twins - one of the participating dippy duos... presented in the same commercial. One of the twins is heard saying, "We are going to use our body to win this!... Maybe someone should point out to them that there are Two of Them?")

So, without looking up at the screen... I was busy on my computer. Although I ignore TV commercials for the most part... that specific stupidity got to me...
I remember thinking something critical of it that included referring to them as "Flibberddygibbetts"... or however it is spelled.

Why do I bring this whole thing up?... you might ask?
Well, it has to do with that non-verbal communication Craig and I seem to share...
On The Late Late Show tonight... a couple of hours after I thought about "Flibberddygibbetts"...
Craig Ferguson was in the midst of an interview with the remarkably humble and always fascinating: Sir Anthony Hopkins.

And just Guess what word leaped forth from Craig's lips??

If you guessed "Flibberddygibbetts"... you'd be correct, Sir!

Now, I consider this an unlikely and remarkable, albeit unspectacular, event.

"Flibberddygibbetts" is definitely NOT a word I normally use... daily, weekly, monthly... nor pretty much ever.

And, I've not heard Craig speak it before tonight, either.

Yet, both he and I said... a decidedly rare, odd and not oft-spoken word...
Within two hours of each other... hundreds of miles away from each other...

Although, as I said, I am able to pull up things people are going to say before they say them... When they are as odd words as this... it garners my attention...

Until the next time it happens...

Just a thought.

Peace... and Weird and Wonderful Stuff.
L.

Exercising Their Futility:
China Tries to Ban Reincarnation





I just heard, via a British report on The News Hour With Jim Lehrer - on PBS, something both mind-boggling and mind-numbing...
... and just plain Stupid!


According to the report, which was about the ongoing struggles of, the oppression of and the cultural destruction of the Tibetan People under the Communist Chinese Government...
... A new law has been passed.


This new law states that, henceforth, Tibetan Lamas are forbidden from "...reincarnating without permission."
(I would guess that means permission from the Communist Chinese Government.)



Good Luck enforcing the ban, China! (Not!)


I don't know whether to laugh hysterically...
Or cry hysterically... perhaps both?



Greedy Imperialism/Colonialism (with a lead-filled squirt of cultural incompetence), anyone?


A Pox on You CCP.
Actually, I don't need to raise a finger or a hex...
You guys have been doing an extraordinary job of poisoning your air, soil and water for decades...
"Damn the Environment...The Economy must be allowed to grow!"
And it's only going to continue to bite you on your bloated a**es.


Blessings on the Tibetan People and Peaceful People Everywhere.
Peace.
L.

What is Wrong with those Bozoids?
(Rhetorical question, of course!)

One Way To Identify A CREEP.



This morning (Saturday, 10/27), I happened to be viewing an episode of Ghost Whisperer that I had recorded.
The storyline involved a female victim of a male stalker.

I've had personal experience with stalkers... several times, several different stalkers.



The first time, I was in my early teens... and I was quite intimidated.

The last time was about two years ago... and, this time, I finally got angry and stopped being intimidated (... and "nice".)

That last time, after playing an increasingly exhausting game of cat-and-mouse/hide-and-seek with the deranged dork off-and-on for a few weeks...

(*Please Note: I did not encourage/entice/tease/lead him on. What did I do?... Well, if you really want to know... I said, "Hello." when I saw him. I smiled. I stopped, briefly, when he wanted to talk to me. (instead of acting like I was in a hurry to get somewhere.) That's it. I was polite... like I am to pretty much everyone.)

You see, he was always on his a bicycle. I usually skateboard or walk. When I was outdoors walking, with or without my dog, he would show up - crossing my path - and he would keep showing up - crossing my path - again and again and... AGAIN!

I told myself, the first couple of times it happened, "He's just flirting/being silly."

By the time the second week of this behaviour was ending, I was creeped out and beginning to feel panicky inside when I was outside. (Remember, this sort of thing has happened to me since my teens.)



Finally, one fateful day, I made My Last Stand.

I was out, walking with my dog, and Creepy Dude shows up on his bicycle. He says "Hello." I say, "Hello." and keep walking. He asks "What's up?" I tell him I have somewhere to be and keep going. I head off with my dog and he rides off. Whew! - Or so I thought. He re-appears... stops (inches away from me/us)... looks at me and... smiles... again and again and AGAIN.

Needless to say, I didn't walk in a straight line. I crossed the street, I changed directions, stopped, turned down this block... then that block... and there he was!

Finally, in front of the Post Office, I got sick and tired of feeling like a frightened rabbit, especially in My Neighborhood, within blocks of My Home.

I turned around mid-block and looked up to see him, s-l-o-w-l-y following me from behind. He saw me see him and he immediately stopped in his tracks. I dropped what I was holding, tied my dog to the closest parking meter and marched back up the street, past a postal employee, and right up to stalker-dude's face.

I made sure I wasn't smiling. Made sure that I wasn't "nice".

I said to him, "Listen to me. I've been stalked before, several times in my life, and I don't like it. I do not appreciate you stalking me. Stop following me, right now! It makes me uncomfortable and I want you to stop... Right Now! And don't do it Anymore!".

He apologized immediately, stumbling over and stuttering his words.

The Postal Employee witnessed the whole thing. When I walked past him to go back to my dog, he smiled politely and nodded. "Good!", I thought to myself, "A witness and someone to back me up if needed."

I got back to my dog and looked back at stalker-dude. He was turning back around and heading away from us.

And, I'm happy to say, he never bothered me/us again.

Anyway-
What had motivated me to Blog this morning was that, in the midst of the Ghost Whisperer Stalker episode... I hear my front door open.

I live in an old Victorian... really old. The front door is solid wood. It is downstairs and has one of those old (ball-and-socket?) contraptions whereby one could, at one time, use a lever at the top of the stairs to open the front door.

Even thought it is no longer connected in a way that allows it to work, the parts still move when the door is opened and that makes it squeak in a particular way that I have learned to recognize.

I was in my room... up on my loft... when I heard a strange male voice calling out, rather softly, "Hello?... Hello?... Hello?".

I immediately realized that he was not a resident and had apparently just let himself in my home!

(Unfortunately, this was not the first such incident... one time a really brawny, rather mentally unstable person who was stalking my then room-mate... kicked in the front door... With The DeadBolt Thrown!... So, needless to say, picturing this in my mind... I jumped off of my loft - forget the ladder, there's a stranger in the house... and he's coming up the stairs!)

I opened my door - I could tell he was still on the stairs, otherwise I wouldn't have done that.

"What!", I yelled. (I get angry a bit more than I get scared nowadays...) He said he was looking for my housemate (he said his name, but that doesn't mean they know each other.)

Intruder-dude stopped mid-way on the staircase... He said that my front door was "...open".

My front door might have been unlocked... even ajar... but it certainly wasn't "...open". Like I said, it's a very old house with a very heavy, solid wood front door... it won't just stay "open".

I told intruder-dude that he should have rang the bell. He claimed he didn't know which one to ring.

... So, instead of ringing any bell...(perhaps he didn't want to disturb the residents?)

Instead of doing that... intruder-dude... just lets himself into someone else's house?!

I'm getting really annoyed at his lack of logic/honesty...He motions down the hall to J's apartment door, "So, he lives down there?", and he begins to climb the stairs again.

As I am reviewing - in my mind's eye - all of the various sharp, blunt & heavy objects that I have placed around my room...

(No, I'm not paranoid... I collect creepy, gothic & sharp objects.)

I tell him, in no uncertain terms, "No! Go downstairs and ring the bell."

Intruder-dude looks at me... I'm serious... I've got sharp, blunt objects and a dog (which he doesn't see) behind me... He turns and goes back down the stairs.

(*Oh, another thing... There's a "Beware of Dog" sign on the front door... and he still came in, instead of ringing any bells!... What an idiot!)

Just as intruder-dude reaches the front door... J. returns home... perhaps he left the door "open"?

"Hey, Buddy!", says J., "What are you doing in here?"...

Ha!... Indeed!... Good Question!

P.S. -
I'm going to talk to J. about his new "Buddy".

What a CREEP!



Peace.
L.

I'm watching Bill Moyers' Journal, on PBS.
I highly recommend it... if you aren't already a viewer.
He mentioned this piece by Jim Hightower.
I felt it was well worth sharing.
Are You Paying Attention?

Peace.
L.

From: alternet.org

Is a Presidential Coup Under Way?

By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown. Posted October 23, 2007.

The Constitution is being trampled and nothing less than American democracy itself is endangered -- a presidential coup is taking place... Where is Congress?

Where is Congress? It's way past time for members to stand up. Historic matters are at stake. The Constitution is being trampled, the very form of our government is being perverted, and nothing less than American democracy itself is endangered -- a presidential coup is taking place. I think of Barbara Jordan, the late congresswoman from Houston. On July 25, 1974, this powerful thinker and member of the House Judiciary Committee took her turn to speak during the Nixon impeachment inquiry.

"My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total," she declared in her thundering voice. "And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution."Where are the likes of Barbara Jordan in today's Congress? While the BushCheney regime continues to establish a supreme, arrogant, autocratic presidency in flagrant violation of the Constitution, members of Congress largely sit there as idle spectators -- or worse, as abettors of Bush's usurpation of their own congressional authority.

Why it matters

Separation of powers. Rule of law. Checks and balances. These may seem to us moderns to be little more than a set of dry, legal precepts that we had to memorize in high-school history class but need not concern us now. After all, the founders (bless their wigged heads!) established these principles for us back in 17-something-or-other, so we don't really have to worry about them in 2007. Think again. These are not merely arcane phrases of constitutional law, but the very keystones of our democracy, essential to sustaining our ideal of being a self-governing people, free of tyrants who would govern us on their own whim. The founders knew about tyranny. The monarch of the time, King George III, routinely denied colonists basic liberties, spied on them and entered their homes at will, seized their property, jailed anyone he wanted without charges, rounded up and killed dissidents, and generally ruled with an iron fist. He was both the law and above the law, operating on the twin doctrines of "the divine rule of kings" and "the king can do no wrong."

(Alert: Ready or not, the following is a high-school refresher course on American government. There will be a test.) At the front of the founders' minds was the necessity of breaking up the authority of their new government in order to avoid re-creating the autocracy they had just defeated. The genius of their structure was that legislating, administering, and judging were to be done by three separate but coequal branches, each with powers to check the other two, and none able to aggregate all three functions into its own hands (a result that James Madison called the very definition of tyranny). Just as important, to deter government by whim, all members of the three branches were to be subject to the laws of the land (starting with the Constitution and Bill of Rights), with no one above the law. As Thomas Paine said, "The law is king."

These were not legal niceties but core restraints designed to protect citizens from power grabs by ambitious autocrats. Such restrictions also make our country stronger by vetting policies through three entities rather than one. This balanced authority helps avoid many serious policy mistakes (or at least offers a chance to correct them later), and it is intended to prevent the one mistake that's fatal to democracy -- allowing one branch to seize the power to rule unilaterally.

Of course, sound schemes are oft screwed up by unsound leaders, and we've had some horrible hiccups over the years. John Adams went astray early in our democratic experiment by claiming the unilateral authority to imprison his political enemies; Abe Lincoln took it upon himself to suspend habeas corpus during the Civil War; Woodrow Wilson launched his notorious Palmer Raids; FDR rounded up and imprisoned Japanese-Americans; J. Edgar Hoover and the infamous COINTEL program spied on and arrested thousands in the Vietnam War years; and Ronnie Reagan ran his own illegal, secret war out of the White House basement.

In all these cases of executive excess and abuse, however, outrage flowed from the public, courts stood up to the White House, congressional investigations ensued, and the American system regained its balance relatively quickly. As Jefferson put it when he succeeded Adams and repealed the Alien and Sedition Acts, "Should we wander [from the essential principles of our government] in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

This time is different

Now, however, come two arrogant autocrats like we've never seen in the White House. George W and his snarling enabler, Dick Cheney, are making a power grab so unprecedented, so audacious, so broad and deep, so secretive, so stupefying, and so un-American that it has not yet been comprehended by the media, Congress, or the public. The dictionary defines "coup" not just as an armed takeover in some Third World country, but as "a sudden and decisive action in politics, especially one affecting a change of government illegally or by force."

Constantly waving the bloody flag of 9/11 and swaggering around in commander-in-chief garb, the BushCheney duo are usurping authority from Congress, the courts, and the people, while also asserting arbitrary power that does not belong to the presidency. Their coup is changing our form of government, rewriting the genius of the founders by imposing a supreme executive that functions in secret and insists that it is above the law, unaccountable either to congressional oversight or to judicial review.

As Al Gore pointed out in a powerful speech he gave last year, the Bush/Cheney push for imperial power is much more dangerous and far-reaching than other presidential excesses for a couple of big reasons. First, the Bushites make no pretension that they want these powers only temporarily, instead contending that a super-powerful presidency is necessary to cope with a terrorist threat that they say will last "for the rest of our lives." Second, they are not merely pushing executive supremacy as a response to an outside threat, but as an ideological, right-wing theory of what they allege the Constitution actually meant to say.

Called the "unitary executive theory," this perverse, antidemocratic construct begs us to believe that the president has inherent executive powers that cannot be reviewed, questioned, or altered by the other branches. Bush himself has asserted that his executive power "must be unilateral and unchecked." (*I MUST interject here... Ahem... Since When Mother Fu@#er?!* L.) Must? Extremist theorists aside, this effectively establishes an executive with arbitrary power over us. It creates the anti-America.

The list of Bushite excesses is long...and growing:

* Their sweeping, secret program of warrantless spying on Americans -- in direct violation of a long-standing federal law intended to forestall such flagrant intrusions into people's privacy.

* The usurpation of legislative authority by attaching "signing statements" to laws passed by Congress, openly asserting Bush's intention to disobey or simply ignore the laws. He has used this artifice to challenge over 1,150laws, even though the Constitution and the founders never conceived of such a dodge (signing statements were concocted by Ed Meese, Reagan's attorney general, and were pushed at that time by a young Reaganite lawyer who is now ensconced for life on the Supreme Court, Sam Alito).

* Suspension of habeas corpus for anyone whom Bush deems to be an "enemy combatant"-allowing innocent people to be detained indefinitely in prison without charges or civil trial, subjected to abuse and even torture, and denied access to judicial review of their incarceration (thus usurping the power of the courts). The routine and illegal assertion of "executive privilege" to stonewall Congress's legitimate efforts to perform its constitutional obligation of executive oversight and to prevent the questioning of top officials engaged in outright violations of American law.

* The assertion of a "state secrets" doctrine to prevent citizens and judges from pursuing legitimate lawsuits on the spurious grounds that even to have the executive's actions brought before the court would endanger national security and infringe on executive authority.

* An ever-expanding grab bag of autocratic actions, including using "national security letters" to sidestep the courts and spy on American political groups and individuals with no connection at all to terrorism; censoring executive-branch employees and government information for political purposes and using federal officials and tax dollars to push the regime's political agenda; and, of course, outright lying to Congress and the public, including lying for the most despicable purpose of all -- putting our troops, our public treasury, and our nation's good name into a war based on nothing but hubris, oil, and ideological fantasies (including Bush's latest blatant lie that "progress" in Iraq warrants the killing and maiming of additional thousands of American troops -- none of whom comes from his family).

Democratic capitulation

What we have is a lawless presidency. But our problem is not Bush. He is who he is -- a bonehead. He won't change, and why should he? He's getting away with his power grab! So he has no reason to step back, and every reason to keep pushing and to keep trying to institutionalize his coup.

Rather, our problem is those weaselly, wimpy, feckless members of Congress who have failed to confront the runaway executive, who have sat silent or (astonishingly) cheered and assisted as their own constitutional powers have been taken and their once-proud, coequal branch has been made subservient to the executive.

In the first six years of BushCheney, the Republican Congress operated as no more than a rubber stamp for the accretion of presidential power, shamelessly surrendering its own autonomy in a burst of mindless partisan zeal. Too many Democrats just went along, either buying the lies or being cowed by the unrelenting politics of fear and intimidation whipped up by Bush and Cheney. (The Bushites are still using these bullying tactics, as when they demanded this past summer that Congress legalize their illegal domestic spy program and CIA chief Mike McConnell warned publicly that "Americans are going to die" if Democrats failed to pass it.)

Which brings us to the new Congress run by Democrats. Where are they? Yes, I know they have only slim majorities and that the GOP uses veto threats, filibusters, and demagogic lies to fight them -- but, come on, suck it up! At least stop voting for "the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution." For example, the party now in charge did indeed cave in to Bush's summer demand that it legalize his warrantless spying on Americans (a Lowdowner sent an email to me saying he hopes Bush gets caught smoking pot, because then the Democrats will immediately legalize it).

The founders would be stunned that Congress has failed to assert itself. They saw checks and balances not as an option but as an obligation, a fundamental responsibility that goes to the very heart of each lawmaker's oath faithfully to support and defend the Constitution.

It's important to note that Congress is not a weak institution. It has powerful muscles to flex, including control of the purse, which Congress used in 1973 to tell Nixon, "No, we will not provide money for you to extend the Vietnam War into Laos and Cambodia." Nixon had to back off. Legislators also have clear constitutional mandates to oversee, probe, and expose presidential actions (remember the extensive Fulbright hearings in the '60s and the Church investigations of the '70s, for example). Members of Congress have wide-ranging subpoena power, as well as something called "inherent contempt" power to make their own charges against outlaw executive officials and to hold their own trials. And, of course, they have impeachment power -- which the founders saw not only as a way to remove an outlaw president (or veep or cabinet officer), but also as a means to compel a recidivist constitutional violator to come before the bar of Congress and to be held accountable. The process itself, even if it does not lead to conviction in the Senate, is educational and chastening, putting the executive branch back in its place.

None of this is about making a partisan attack on BushCheney. It's really not about them at all. Rather, Congress must find its backbone because our democracy cannot function without a vigilant legislative branch. Outlaw presidents must finally leave office, but their precedents live beyond them if left unchecked. As historian Arthur Schlesinger wrote of the power-grabbing Nixon administration, "If the Nixon White House escaped the legal consequences of its illegal behavior, why would future presidents not suppose themselves entitled to do [the same]?"

Bang pots and pans

Sam Adams, the organizer of the Boston Tea Party, knew that it is the citizenry itself that ultimately has to do the heavy lifting of democracy building. "If ever a time should come when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats of government," he declared, "our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

That's us. And now is that time.

What can we do?
We can do what millions have been doing-only more of it, more insistently, more loudly, more creatively. Our friend Molly Ivins, just before she died this year, urged us to start "banging pots and pans" to make the bastards hear us. Raise a ruckus through street demonstrations, peace actions, visits (and/or confrontations) with lawmakers, political campaigns, alliances with military families, religious ceremonies, coalitions with constitutional conservatives, outreach to young people, and grassroots media action, including blogs, email blasts, call-in radio, letters to editors, op-eds, bumperstickers, and whatever you've got.
Make a mighty noise.

Don't forget our friends in office.
Such Democrats as John Conyers, Henry Waxman, Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, and Dennis Kucinich are all over Bush and Cheney with investigations, subpoenas, censure motions, impeachment bills, and exposes -- not only on the war, but most emphatically on constitutional abuses.
Thank them, find out what you can do to help them, demand that your own Congress critter join them.

And here's a creative idea from Garret Keizer. I have no idea who he is, but he wrote a punchy piece in the October issue of Harper's Magazine that I like and that Lowdowners might want to embrace. He's calling for a general strike. Not by unions, but by us-you and me. As a symbolically appropriate day, he suggests the first Tuesday of November, the traditional date for our elections -- this year, Nov. 6. He dubs it "The Feast of the Hanging Chads."

A general strike means that We The People, as many of us as possible, would disobey the inept, corrupt, undemocratic (add your own adjective here) system by withholding our presence at for least one day. Don't go to work. Stay home. Better yet, take some political action. Also, don't go to the mall, the supermarket, or the bank; don't use your credit card or make any commercial transaction. This would be the ultimate affront to the corporate president who so pathetically told us after 9/11 that our highest patriotic response to the attack was to "go shopping." So don't fly, use your cell phone (hard, I know), watch TV, or otherwise participate. Sometimes, silence is the loudest sound of all.
As Keizer says, "As long as we're willing to go on with our business, Bush and Cheney will feel free to go on with their coup."

On one level, the strike is against the war, against Bush thumbing his nose at the American majority that has already emphatically said -- OUT! -- and against the Democratic leadership that can't seem to muster the will to rein in the Bush administration. On another level, however, this is a strike for The Constitution, a strike against the betrayal of the rule of law and our democratic ideals. It's a strike for the America we thought this was.
It's an affirmation that the people are the only "larger force" that can stop the BushCheney coup and make America whole again.

*****
Wow!

Blessed Be.
L.

My MySpace Mutiny...Then... a Murder.

My Space... What A Concept!

I think it was fun... in the beginning...
You know before it was bought and digested by Fox (You Call That...) News and Rupert Murdoch.

What I appreciated most about My MySpace page was that it was there that I discovered The Joys of Blogging!

I wasn't particularly looking for new friends. Networking?... No Thanks.
But in Blogging, I found Greater Self-Realization... Self-Actualization... Self-Confidence and, of course, Self-Expression.
Through My MySpace Blog, I finally found an outlet, a place where I could speak my mind, whether I was giddly-happy at some sublime experience; quietly grieving over the loss of a friend, or quaking in utter disbelief at the latest, disastrous Bush regime decision/declaration...

From there, I could be Heard... Laughing... Remembering... Sounding Alerts... To no one in particular... Yet - at the same time - potentially heard by/read by... people all across Our Amazing Planet.

Wow...

It's humbling.
And, in spite of my percieved ambivalence, I did find Friends, Thankfully.
Wonderful, Colorful, Creative Friends - from all over Planet Earth - who are Passionate about Cultivating Global Enlightenment, as I am.

Often, I'd hear or read a brief blurb about some person or event somewhere... one that I felt deserved better and more thorough coverage and/or a chance of greater exposure. I'd research the subject via the Internet and, when I was fortunate enough to find a thoughtful article or post that was, itself, well-researched and well worth reading... I'd Create A New Blog.

My Blogs usually had Four Main Parts to them:
1.) A Title meant to Catch the Eye and Lure the Reader to Read on.
I aimed for Funny, plays on words, etc.
2.) My own Op-Ed/Opinion.
This usually included a brief explanation of the topic of my Blog and Why I was Blogging about it.
3.) An article or post on the topic, with proper credits and links to the source.
4.) Pictures, Graphics or Maps.
These were either directly-related to the topic or were images that I spent time digging up that were related, but in a humorous way.

Then, Something Unexpected Happened...

The Blog that I had begun writing, initially, for my own Mental Health...
Developed a Following!

For the majority of it's existence, to my great surprise and enjoyment, My MySpace Blog was being read by at least 100 people a day.
And, it even had subscribers!

But, alas, My MySpace Blog has met it's End...
Not by any decision by myself, its Author...
But at the invisible hands of MySpace.com, itself.

At first I thought it might just be a widespread MySpace issue...
So, although I suddenly found myself unable to Create New Blogs, I thought no more of it and busied myself elsewhere. Surely MySpace would have the 'problem' fixed quickly... or so I thought.

...

Something awful just happened down the street from my home...
I heard male voices yelling... not an unusual thing to hear coming from the street at night...
But, tonight, the events didn't end with just yelling, posturing or even a minor scuffle...
The yelling developed into what sounded like a fight... what sounded like heavy objects being thrown...
I stopped writing about my Blog and went to my window...
I peered down the street to see a handful of people standing in the middle of the street.
Passing motorists and taxicabs began to stop in the road where the small group was standing.
I grabbed my binoculars and looked towards the crowd...
I could see what looked to me like a person laying on the ground, motionless.
I could make out dark hair on their head and a white shirt... and they weren't moving.
I called 911.
As I tried to explain the scene to the female operator - the sounds of men yelling,
the person lying motionless on the ground, the group of onlookers/witnesses - an SFPD squad car pulled up. I explained to her that the police had arrived, but she said her screen wasn't showing it. I gave her the location and described my vantage point - from the second story of my home one-half a block away. Apparently, the officers then called in their location, because she said, "O.K. Thank You.", and she hung up the phone.
I watched the scene until the Fire Department truck pulled up, completely blocking my view.
The person lying in the street had never moved.
Several more squad cars had arrived on the scene.
The police were questioning a tall man in a white t-shirt. He gestured with his hands, seeming to indicate a direction, perhaps the exit of the perpetrator(s).
Some of the officers pulled out tablets to write on.
No one seemed to be attending to the person still unmoving in the street.
Apparently, first aid wasn't required.
No one trying to rouse or comfort him.
I guess that means that he is dead.
... I'm kind of in shock at the moment.
I've always felt safe in my neighborhood.
And I still do. It's a nice neighborhood.
The arguing voices that I had heard spoke in a way that, to me, indicates the people involved weren't from around here.
After the ambulance ambled slowly away and the fire truck departed, a police car returned with a young person exiting the back seat. Perhaps it was a witness they drove around to try to identify the suspect(s).
I hope that they found the person(s) responsible.
Or that they soon do so.
I just keep thinking, "That person lying in the road - with people milling about making their statements to the police - that person no longer moving/breathing/living...
that person with no one offering comfort to them, no longer able to recieve comfort...
is/was someone's child... someone's baby...
And, at this very solemn moment, that Mother and Father have no idea of what sorrowful news is coming to them.
How very sad.
And, worst of all, in all likelihood... the death of this person was the result of something so worthless... so meaningless...
Like, someone accidentally bumping into someone else...
Or, someone thinking the other person "...gave them a look..."
And now, someone's child is dead.
Come on people...
Evolve, Already!

I'll finish my MySpace story another time...

For now, I'll just say this:
Please, everyone, tell those that you Love that You Love Them.
Do it often.
Be the Best You that You can Be.
'Cause, you never know...
And regrets... suck.

Peace, to You and Yours and All of Us.
L.

Check this out:
(No, Really... it's funny... and quite revealing. I especially like the open-mouthed, gum-chewing, seat-warmer. And, don't let the starting image turn you off, the picture gets better immediately.)
Brought to you from the soon-to-be-legendary (if he isn't already) Max Blumenthal.
I just heard about this on Bill Moyer's Journal on PBS.
Whatever you think about Bill (if you even think about him), his show definitely unearths some priceless gems.
Thanks, Bill.
And, Max.... Michael Moore would be proud.
Peace.
L.

From: huffingtonpost.com

Generation Chickenhawk: the Unauthorized College Republican Convention Tour

On July 13, 2007, I visited Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where the bodies of American soldiers killed in Iraq were freshly interred. Afterwards, I headed across the street to the Sheraton National Hotel, owned by right-wing Korean cult leader Sun Myung-Moon, to meet some of the war's most fervent supporters at the College Republican National Convention.

In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called "war on terror" as nothing less than the cause of their time.

Yet when I asked these College Repulicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. "Medical reasons." "It's not for me." These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them "over there." Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP's next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die.

Along with videographer Thomas Shomaker, I captured a vivid portrait of the hypocritical mentality of the next generation of Republican leaders. See for yourself...

This is another one of those disturbing revelations that just aren't surprising to me.

A friend of mine used to say that no matter what technology the authorities might come up with to use against/mess with people... Joe and Jane Citizen, with adequate ingenuity and some supplies from a hardware store, could more than likely F.S.U. ("F$%& Stuff Up.")

Any homo-erectus with functioning gray matter who assumes that voting machines are un-hackable... Well, they don't deserve to belong to the category of "homo-erectus".

Defending against hacking is a 24/7 thing... if what you have is worthy of hacking.

It's like warfare... it's "liquid"... constantly changing and evolving.

If you reside in California:

I highly recommend (if you want your vote to count for what you voted for) that you choose to fill out an Absentee Ballot. They're on paper. They might not be 100% safe and secure, but from what I've read they're the most secure method of having your vote properly and accurately counted. (Be sure to get them in on time.)

If you live in another state (I'm sorry... Ha. Ha.):

But, seriously.... If you live in another state, Please find out what method of voting your state will be using (paper or electronic).
If it's electronic, find out if the Dept. of Elections/Secretary of State has had the machines tested and what the results are.

This is Very Important!

We have suffered through far too many years of Bush-shite.
I believe that part of the blame for that falls on electoral fraud... of several kinds.

We must not allow our Great Nation to fall further down the virtually bottomless pit that it has been shoved into by neo-con facist assholes.

Please Vote... In Every Election... And make sure Your Vote Counts!

(O.K., I'm off the soapbox... Thanks... I'll be running for Mayor of San Francisco in the future... and I'd appreciate Your Vote.)

Peace.
L.



From: Wired

CA Releases Results of Red-Team Investigation of Voting Machines: All Three Systems Could Be Compromised

By Kim Zetter
July 27, 2007 | 6:01:20 PM
Categories: E-Voting, Election '08, Glitches and Bugs, Hacks and Cracks
Electronic voting

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen just released the results of the state's unprecedented top-to-bottom review of voting systems being used in the state. The review consisted of three parts, one of which involved a Red Team led by UC Davis computer scientist Matthew Bishop that was tasked with examining the systems for security vulnerabilities . The team found that it could compromise all three of the top voting systems used in the state made by Diebold Election Systems, Hart Intercivic, and Sequoia Voting Systems, with the caveat that many, but not all, of the attacks they were able to accomplish on the machines could be mitigated with proper physical security of the machines, security training of staff, and contingency planning.

(*To see if any of these voting systems are used in your state, check out this Spreadsheet from Electionline.org. )

It should be noted that the Red Team stated it did not have enough time to fully examine the systems and was confident that further examination would reveal additional security vulnerabilities in the voting systems. You can read the Red Team reports on the three systems here.


Among the findings: (From: cbsnews.com)

The physical security was weak (Testers were able to access the internals of Sequoia's machines by unscrewing screws to bypass locks, and compromise Diebold's AccuVote TSx machine without prompting reminders to voters to check their printed records).

Software was overwritable with malicious code (Testers could load a program into a machine's memory which, at the next reboot, loaded malicious firmware, at which point an attacker could manipulate the election results, with no access to source code required; attacks on Diebold's machines allowed testers to overwrite firmware, which could change vote totals, and escalate privileges from those of a voter to a poll worker or central count administrator, enabling them to reset an election, issue unauthorized voter cards, and close polls; testers overwrote Hart's eScan software and issued administrative commands.)

Detecting election mode (Firmware loaded onto the Sequoia machine would determine whether a system was in test mode or not, so it could respond correctly to preelection testing and then operate incorrectly on Election Day).

Accessing election management systems (Software could infiltrate Sequoia's database directly and execute system commands on the host computer, and access the GEMS server of Diebold's system and take security-related actions that went unrecorded in the server's audit logs; Hart's system software could be penetrated by a hacker who could access the host operating system to gain unauthorized access to the database).

Altering data (Testers verified that the Hart system's mobile ballot box card could be altered during an election, and that post-election safeguards to prevent tampered data from being counted could be easily bypassed).

Forging materials (Both update cartridges and voter cards could be forged).

Capturing audio (A Hart eSlate with audio enabled for visually-impaired voters could have its audio from a voting session remotely captured, allowing an attacker to violate voter privacy.)

Just heard about this...

I think it's Funny... Very Funny.
But, apparently, some of the local Pagans are not amused.

Personally, as one who gave up organized religion for Lent...
Well, actually... I kicked it out.
It was too bossy, too messy, too manipulative...
But, I digress...

Personally, I think anyone who takes offense at this should lighten up...
They should seek out some lighthearted humour...
Perhaps watch The Simpsons?

Seriously, how can you look at 'The Giant' (Not Homer... the one on the right.)... and not snicker?

Peace.
L.


A giant image of Homer Simpson now stands next to the 17th-century giant which is carved in the hillside above Cerne Abbas, Dorset

From: The Independent.

When two great fertility symbols collide ...
By Ed Caesar
Published: 17 July 2007

The Cerne Abbas Giant is used to having things his own way. Not only does he wield two mighty clubs - one military, one anatomical - but he stands 55m tall, and has been considered a fertility symbol for four centuries. Indeed, so potent is the Giant's chalky mojo, that couples struggling to conceive are still said to visit his hillside home for a grassy liaison. But yesterday there was a new alpha male in North Dorset. He wields a doughnut instead of a club. He has four fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot. Only three hairs sprout from his bulbous head. And his unmentionables are, mercifully, covered by the world's largest pair of Y-Fronts. His name is Homer Simpson.

The new chalk drawing is the brainchild of the publicity team behind The Simpsons Movie, which premieres in Britain next week. The artist Peter Stuart was commissioned to create a rival "chalk man" next to the Giant, and Stuart, a self-confessed Simpsons fan, leapt at the chance. The work - which, at 70m by 50m, required 200 litres of biodegradable white paint - started two days ago.

"We started very early on Sunday morning by laying the outline for the grid," said Stuart. "Today it's taken us over five hours to complete the painting of Homer Simpson. But it's all been worth it."

British Simpsons fans, whose legions include the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Hawking and Tony Blair, will, no doubt, be tickled by the chalk Homer. But not everyone is happy. Pagans, who believe the Giant is a spiritual icon, are dismayed by this bold new artwork, and, in particular, the accompanying encouragement for young couples to "do it in the doughnut".

"It's very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing," said Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for The Pagan Federation. "I'm amazed they got permission to do something so ridiculous. We were hoping for some dry weather but I think I have changed my mind. We'll be doing some rain magic to bring the rain and wash it away."

They should save their magic for a drought. The wet weather that has blighted the summer is set to continue (although Cerne Abbas could be dry until tomorrow) meaning that those wishing to see Mr Simpson in all his glory will have to move fast: as soon as the rains come, this Homer will wash away. D'oh!

About the Cerne Abbas:
From: The National Trust
A huge outline sculpted into the chalk hillside above the village of Cerne Abbas representing a naked, sexually aroused, club-wielding giant.

Public perceptions are wide-ranging, is he smutty, humorous or offensive? Certainly he has been used to advertise products as diverse as condoms, jeans and bicycles. Many couples today believe him to be a unique aid to fertility.

One of the Trust's most racy remnants of our distant pagan past or a 17th-century political caricature?

The Cerne Abbas figure has conventionally been viewed as a great symbol of ancient spirituality. A mound below the giant's left hand may be the sculpted remnant of a severed head which he once clutched – a rather grisly if common ancient Celtic religious symbol.

Alternatively, the Roman hero Hercules was often depicted naked with a club in his right hand and a lion skin draped over his left shoulder. Scientific tests have suggested that there might once have been something draped over the giant's left side, but long grassed over.

The problem with all these theories is that despite an abundant archive of local medieval documents at Cerne Abbey, there is no written reference to the giant before 1694. In 1774 the Rev. John Hutchins claimed he was told that the giant was 'a modern thing' cut by Lord Holles.

Denzil Holles who owned Giant Hill from 1642 to 1666 was a fierce critic of Oliver Cromwell. Could the Cerne Abbas Giant seek to satirise Cromwell's stern puritanical rule?

It disgusts me how callously some inhumane beings treat other life forms.
More recently, they could be found ranting and railing against using embryonic stem cells in research to develop treatments and cures for things like Parkinson's and Spinal Cord injuries, from embryos which have no chance of being used to create a baby... You know, the extra, 'back-up' ones which are headed for the trash can at the fertility clinic anyway...

I bring this up because of a show I saw on PBS about a ranch that rescues abused, neglected and abandoned horses and foals, as well as ones who were about to be '...taken out back and shot' or sent to the slaughterhouse. These horses have worked tirelessly their entire lives for their owners and, since they now aren't able to continue at the expected level... their reward is not retirement in a field with other horses... No, it's to be slaughtered for horsemeat for human consumption in Europe or Japan.

Grotesque.

The PBS show mentioned the Rescue Ranchers acquired two Premarin foals... saved them from being sent to a feedlot to be fattened up and then sent to slaughter.

Hmmm... Premarin... Prem-Pro...
You know how they came up with the name 'Premarin'?
Pregnant Mare's Urine....
No, I'm not kidding.
And when you keep your mares pregnant... they keep producing foals.
So, what happens to the foals (baby horses)?
Read the article below and find out.

(*And, if you could care less about baby horses... there's always this pharmaceutical's side effects of increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease.)

It's similar to cow's milk production.
The cows produce milk for their offspring... just like humans do for theirs.
But the cow's milk is destined for sale to humans to consume (well, the one's who don't know better than to drink the stuff.).
Well, I guess some of it is given to the baby cows... the ones kept in tiny crates which don't allow movement... the one's who are soon to be on the menu as: "milk-fed veal."
(And don't get me started on what's in commercial cow's milk and why you shouldn't drink it.... anyway, if you are reading this, you have a computer and can look it up yourself. Besides the hormones, antibiotics and pus... why adult humans continue to pursue drinking Mother's Milk beyond childhood is anyone's guess. I think it's just become 'tradition.' An outdated one. )

Yuck.

I'm so glad that I'm vegan.

Peace.
L.

From: aspca.org




The Facts About Premarin®

The truth behind one of today's most widely prescribed drugs will shock you. Get the facts and get involved.

What Is Premarin®?
Premarin®, a drug derived from pregnant mares' urine (PMU), is prescribed to alleviate symptoms of menopause and to prevent osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. The estrogen-rich urine used in its production is collected from mares confined in barns on PMU ranches in Canada and the United States. Despite the availability of humane alternatives, including lifestyle changes and plant-derived or synthetic medicines, Premarin, PremPro, PremPac and PremPhase are among the most widely prescribed and profitable drugs in America. A company in Minnesota is currently seeking permission from the FDA to produce a generic version of conjugated estrogen from mares' urine. Women, doctors and the general public must be made aware of the unnecessary stress and pain inflicted on horses in the manufacture of these drugs, and of the alternatives from nonanimal sources that exist.

How Do Horses Suffer in the Production of Premarin®?
The Premarin industry is self-regulated through manufacturer Wyeth Ayerst's Code of Practice, but there are hundreds of farms and no outside scrutiny. Mares used in the production of conjugated estrogens are at risk for abrasions, leg swelling, excessive boredom, stress, and an early death, due to the conditions under which they are kept. The mares are:
- strapped to urine collection bags six months a year;
- tied in narrow stalls that do not allow them to turn around or lie down flat;
- denied free, continual access to water, and
- exercised, if at all, according to the rancher's assessment of how much each mare needs, because there is no minimum in the Code of Practice.

Mares are kept in production, foaling every year, for eight to nine years. When no longer able to reproduce, they are sold for slaughter. Under normal circumstances, a domestic equine will live 20 to 25 years.

What Happens to the Foals Who Are Born?
Every year, tens of thousands of foals who are born as "by-products" of this industry are sent to auction. Many of them eventually end up in slaughterhouses, where they are sold to meat markets in Europe and Japan. The first time Helen Meredith of the United Pegasus Foundation attended an auction of Premarin foals in Manitoba, Canada, what she saw was "absolutely devastating." Hundreds of terrified foals as young as three months were run through the auction and loaded onto cattle trucks for a trip to the feedlot—where they would live until they were large enough for the slaughter plant.

The ASPCA supports the work of several dedicated individuals and organizations who are trying to save as many of these foals as possible and find them loving, responsible homes.

Are There Any Alternatives to Premarin®?
It is time for our society to see menopause as a natural life process rather than a disease. Lifestyle changes, such as exercise and a better diet, can be effective in maintaining health and lowering the health risks associated with menopause. There are FDA-approved plant-derived and synthetic medications that have the same effect as Premarin. Hormone replacement therapy has its own risks. Recent studies show that long term use of PremPro increases the risk of breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots and strokes. Women should consult with their doctors about all the treatments available in order to make an informed, safe, effective and ethical choice.

Dr. Ray Kellosalmi, a Canadian physician involved in Premarin foal rescue, sums up the sad truth: "Unfortunately, it is easy and comfortable for physicians to prescribe drugs that have been around for a long time. It is also easy not to think about our contribution to the cruel chain of events that our prescriptions may allow, and thus the PMU industry is supported by our acquiescence. But the doomsday clock is again well on its way for tens of thousands of innocent lives that, once again, will end in terror needlessly. With a few strokes of the prescribing pen, we are able to decide the fate of future innocents."

Happy Friday! (...I think it's Friday.)
Anyway...

Today's Word is.... EXSANGUINATE!

OOoohhh!... Ssoundss Ssexy... Doesn't it?
Yeah, it kinda does... until you know the definition:
I first heard the word on the show "CSI". In case you missed it:
"ex·san·gui·nate (ks-snggw-nt)
v. ex·san·gui·nat·ed, ex·san·gui·nat·ing, ex·san·gui·nates
v.tr.
To drain of blood.
v.intr.
To be drained of blood.
[From Latin exsanguintus, drained of blood : ex-, ex- + sanguis, sanguin-, blood.]"
From: thefreedictionary.com

Well, I guess it still Ssoundss Ssexy... if you're an undead creature of the night...
Or if you're Arnold Ssschwarzaneggar.



Wow!

When "Cal-ee-for-nee-ahh!" Governor Arnie Schwarzaneggar finally received the CA State Budget to sign....
He really sank his teeth into it.
Count Dracula, Vlad the Impaler and Buckets 'O Leeches got nuthin on 'ol Arnie!

Jeez...
Whilst countless yacht owners and other brainless bozoids who are hopelessly hankering to buy RV's (recreational vehicles)...

Excuse me...A personal side note here...

If you are someone who is sooo Enormously Selfish and Environmentally Malignant as to be shopping for a yacht or RV... at a time when gas prices have no where to go but up and global warming from vehicle and other emissions is producing devastating weather conditions, glacial melt and species extinctions... then, well...
May God, Allah and Yaweh (and who/whatever) render you sterile and call your number earlier rather than later.

... Thanks. I needed to get that off my chest.

Anyway, as I was saying... Watch where you step...

Whilst exsanguinating the budgets for the Medi-Cal program ($300 Million!) and Proposition 63 -passed by CA voters to tax the overstuffed in order to finance mental health care for the homeless - ($55 Million!) and the Children's Outreach Initiative - finds and enrolls low-income children into state-funded healthcare - among others...

Governator Arnie has also made sure California is a safe place for people with way too much money to buy the little necessities in life...

Like YACHTS and RVs and avoid paying affordable sales taxes.

Responses from People on the Street?:
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Oh, and this little gem:
"The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
- Hubert Humphrey

And a quote from lil' me:
"A Pox on you, Arnold Schwarzaneggar."

Peace.
L.

From: KGO-7, ABC.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. August 24, 2007 (KGO) - A smiling Governor Schwarzenegger didn't want to talk about the 700-million dollars he cut from the budget using his line item veto power. He had to do it because of a promise he made to Senate Republicans, who demanded a balanced budget.

"I want to thank the Republicans, Republican friends for having done such a great job on insisting that it is zero, the budget deficit is zero", said the governor on Friday.

He biggest casualty of the veto pen was Medi-Cal, health care for the poor, which took a $300-million dollar hit.

Services may not be cut because historically that program comes in $300-million under budget every year anyways.

The next hardest hit was mental health services for the homeless; The $55-million dollars collected from California's wealthy under Proposition 63 was also axed. Rusty Selix, the author of Proposition 63, seemed concerned over his proposition being cut.

"It's a tragedy. That's why we did Prop 63. Because the homeless with mental illnesses were always last in line when it came to state funding."

Other losses of state funding include:

- The California Gambling Control Commission overseeing the impacts of tribal gaming to communities lost $30 million dollars. - The Children's Outreach Initiative which helps find and enroll low income kids into state-funded health care has $19 million less. - The California Parks & Recreation Department has to make do without $15 million. - The Governor's plan for a prescription drug program and website for poor families is delayed without its $ 2 million start up money.

All this while yacht, plane and RV owners can avoid paying sales taxes if their items are kept in Mexico for 90 days after purchase, an estimated loss of $45-million for the state.

The California Finance Department says only the legislature, not the governor, can change that tax break. Meanwhile, in anticipation of another bad year, this budget has $4-billion dollars in reserve.

An Open Letter To All News Departments and Staff.

Dear News Director and Staff:

This Just In...
We Have Breaking News to Report...

This is NEWS-worthy PARIS...


(Construction of the Eiffel Tower.)


And This, Gentle Reader, Is NOT News-worthy Paris... Ever!


(I refuse to even say her name.)

...Any Questions?

Peace.
L.