Musings from Afallon's Pooka

Budding Photographer

2012-01-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

I can't make the link post the picture--something about passwords and such--very nice photos

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=308297725879671&set=a.307719499270827.70530.307695972606513&type=1&theater

Random thoughts for December

2011-12-12T00:55:00.000-06:00

"Torchwood" was better than I thought and pretty much--I watched the whole series in a week.

It must be me--but I think "Two Broke Girls" may be the lamest television show ever. Come on, no one can been as dumb as the blonde and live passed 12.

Hasn't "How I Met Your Mother" jumped the shark yet? (the Christmas one just aired with Robin and Ted is the best since the first year)

Still ticked that "Bleep My Dad Says" and "Law and Order: Los Angeles" got cancelled--may never get over the cancellation of "Eureka" (it makes me happy even if the episode is lame).

"Grimm" and "Once Upon A Time" are pretty good--there maybe problems up the road.

Is anybody else sick of Adele yet?

I used to love this time of year, but now life and its responsibilities just gets in the way and I'm just harried and pressured to get all that has to be done done.

Happy Samhain

2011-10-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

We'll come with sprigs of Elder and we'll come with leaves of Yew, as we step out of the old and dance into the new.

A New Low or High in Animal Abuse (Sematics)

2011-05-27T14:38:00.001-05:00

San Antonio Dog: Duct taped and tortured

A Dog Dumped at An Animal Shelter

2011-02-20T04:05:00.000-06:00

If you are considering dumping your dog at the Animal Shelter--consider Champ. It just so happens that Orange County Pocket Pets was at the Baldwin Park Animal Shelter in L.A. County, California when Champ was brought in. Pocket Pets begged the owner to let them take Champ, but he insisted on leaving Champ at the Shelter. He couldn't keep Champ anymore as the owner had moved into an apartment;so at 12 years old, Champ came to live at a shelter with a concrete floor.

Champ did not get rescued from the shelter. He didn't have a happy ending. Champ died alone in a cage on the cold floor 48 hours after being dumped at the shelter. What was the point of living without the human he had been with all his life.

Remember Champ if you are considering taking your dog to a shelter whatever your reasons. Remember if you surrender your dog to a shelter, they are not obligated to keep him for the normal hold time because you gave your dog up to the shelter. If the shelter gets full, or the powers that be decide the animals have be there too long, the surrendered ones, the seniors, the Pit-bull, the black dogs and the injured are the first to be euthanized. Remember Champ (we didn't know his real name and wanted more than a number for him)as how not to treat the dog who was there for you when no one else was.

Remember Champ who died of a broken-heart at 12 when you want to get rid of your dog because he isn't cute anymore or doesn't get along with your new puppy. Remember Champ when you girl friend tells you she can't marry you until you get rid of the dog because she's afraid of him. Remember Champ as the lesson of what not to do if you have even an ounce of humanity.

What waits for Champ on the other side is love and comfort. Remember this dog, a Golden Retriever and all the lost souls who never had a chance because their caretakers suffered from human frailty. May they enjoy the next world cradled in the arms of God--perfect love. For that's what they give--perfect love.

Orange County Pocket Pets

Detroit Dog Rescue or Lack There Of

2011-02-18T02:16:00.001-06:00

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Detroit kept TLC from airing this show--50,000 homeless dogs

The OSPCA--Epic Fail

2011-01-31T21:45:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you, but this story troubles me. Southwest Middlesex, Ontario: a horse starves to death and her body virtually rots (well it was frozen through most of this travesty of animal rights) while neighbors try to get the OSPCA to act on the owners refusal to see to this horse, her companion Gem, a dog and duck. Finally, the neighbors get someone else to help them rescue Gem. Read the whole story here. Poor Cocoa's body remained where she went down and couldn't get back up for some 7 weeks--in plain view of anyone walking by the property. No charges have been filed against Cocoa's owner. I don't know what happened to the duck and the dog.

RIP Gerry Raferty

2011-01-06T17:02:00.000-06:00

Best version:

Dog pulls drowned puppies from water

2010-12-28T21:28:00.000-06:00

New Zealand--Someone threw a bag of new born puppies into an estuary and their mother tried to rescue them. Neighbors nearby were awakened to her howls during the early morning hours as she paced back and forth with the bag in her mouth. Read the whole story here. The medical expert of course wants to make excuses for the slime that did this--saying that certain things were once acceptable that aren't anymore. This dog continued to howl for a week for her babies.

What one person can do

2010-12-22T21:55:00.000-06:00

Meet Stanley:

Eduardo

2010-11-21T16:55:00.002-06:00

Soldier's Dog Mistakenly Euthanized

2010-11-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

This story makes me sick and very afraid for my own dogs (we should all be afraid).

Target saved her master Terry Young's life in Afghanistan and he was able to bring her home to Arizona. She got out Friday when someone left the gate open. That night, Young saw Target's picture on a web site where Pinal County Control lists some of their animals. He figured they weren't open on Saturday, so he thought he had a few days to claim her. Monday morning, he goes to the Pinal County Animal Control and the employee bring out a different dog. Later, much later Young sees an employee come back out crying--another employee who did not follow protocol had already killed Target. Young was told there had been a mistake--he has three kids and the four year old doesn't understand why Target won't be coming home.

This dog was featured on "Opra". Here's the story link and here's original story on Target.

Senator Boxer, you are so petty.

2010-10-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Chattahoochee Humane Society in Chambers County, Alabama

2010-09-29T02:34:00.000-05:00

Chattahoochee Humane Society was going to be forced to close on September 30th because they lacked funding. Sadly (horrifically even), they would have had to euthanize all the animals left in the facility. They got a last second reprieve of 6 months. There will be a fundraiser on October 23. Here's some info if anyone is interested in helping this place that is just there to help those animals that can't help themselves.

The fundraiser will be on October 23^rd at the Humane Society-- Valley, Alabama, located at 3265 Fairfax Bypass.

If you would like to donate money to the Chattahoochee Humane Society, you can do so on their website at www.chatthumane.org and can reach them by email at chattanmlshelter.com
If you would like to donate items, have questions or would like to help with the fundraiser you can contact Criston Walden at (706) 590-1596 or email at waldenfamily1@yahoo.com

The Fall Televions Season and The New Hawaii 5'0

2010-09-17T00:49:00.000-05:00

Summer is over and the Fall Season for the Semi Big 3 Networks starts officially on Monday--Whoo Hoo Walter and Peter will be back on Fox. It's been a miserable summer without them. I'll let you in on a little secret--I watch a couple of things on Fox and a few more on CBS, but I was kicked in the teeth by too many cancellations on NBC and ABC to ever watch anything on those networks with any real enthusiasm.

And what about that new rethinking of an old show "Hawaii 5-0"? Alex O'Loughlin--you reckon 3 time is the charm or is this CBS's 4th dance with him that didn't work? And Tano? She seems to play characters created for a man--a.k. a. "Battlestar Galactica."

Frankly, I am looking forward to HBO's newest "Boardwalk Empire." It has been along time since Buscmei was in prime time. The show premieres Sunday night.

Long Time No Write

2010-08-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life gets in the way, and then you are left wondering what your goal in writing a blog was. So here's some Chris Cornell while I search for an oar or a purpose anyway:

More Golden State

2010-05-02T00:07:00.001-05:00

Susan Boyle

2010-04-19T03:44:00.001-05:00

Monty Needs a Home

2010-04-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

ht/Best Friends

Monty (about 3 years old) was hit by a train and lived to tell the tale. He needs a Forever Home. Monty’s story begins with Faith’s Hope, a Philadelphia based rescue organization specializing in special needs animal rescue. In January of 2009, Rosemary DiStefano, founder of Faith’s Hope, responded to a veterinary hospital’s plea for help on behalf of a dog who had to be given a second chance at life because the fact he was alive was simply amazing; a miracle. Days before Christmas in 2008, Monty had been hit by a passenger train that was pulling into the Montclair, N.J. train station.

Read the rest of his story

Nashville, Tennessee Bellevue Owls Alumni

2010-03-23T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yes it's been ages since I've posted, but I've been working on an Alumni list for a high school reunion next year. We don't have an Alumni Association because the high school Bellevue High became just a middle school sometime in the early 90s. It's hard piecing back together a list of students when half of us were smoking pot or getting drunk when it was time for class pictures and no one remember the same friends. So Bellevue High School Owls--no Middle Schoolers need apply like you all do on MySpace--come to Facebook page Class of '76 Bellevue Owls or post a comment here whatever year you were--let us regroup.

sorry so few postings

2010-02-11T10:13:00.002-06:00

I've been messing with Facebook for the last couple of weeks, and it seems to be taking up all my time reconnecting to high school friends mostly. And a small family mess--

Dog Makes Nest of Her Owners' Things

2010-01-27T03:59:00.000-06:00

ht/American Humane Society

Last July, Kathy Wilkes-Meyers on her way to work noticed this dog hanging out near the highway. Kathy just happens to run The Love Me Tender Animal Rescue in Hickman County, Tennessee, so she was used to dealing with strays. She stopped and tried to get the dog to come to her and this dog didn't really act like a stray.

So Kathy was a bit curious as she remember there had been a wreck in the area a few weeks back. The dog was skinny and drinking from a ditch but the Rottweiler had made herself a nest of trinkets: a toothbrush, a comb, a candle, a razor, an insurance card and nearby a piece of a tail light and some broken glass. Kathy took a few pictures and set out to find who the dog's owners were. She called the insurance agent listed on the card and the Highway Patrol.

Ella had been there where the accident had occurred for two weeks determined to stay till someone came to get her. The Kelleys were finally reunited with Ella even though they had thought for sure that she must have died after being on her own so long. Mr. Kelley remembered seeing her run into the woods afraid of all the goings on with the paramedics--and the authorities missed the black and brown dog in their hurry to see to the 5 humans in the vehicle

In Case You Missed it Too: The Taco Bell Dog

2010-01-26T03:45:00.000-06:00

ht/People
I can't believe it's been 10 years since those commercials that Taco Bell had with little dog. Okay, at first I found them annoying but the dog grew on you. I was sad to see them go for annoying people instead--in fact, I didn't go to Taco Bell for a year after rhe commercials stopped.

Anyway the dog who was the Taco Bell Dog died July 21 of a stroke. Her name was Giget and she was 15.

Happy New Year

2010-01-07T16:21:00.000-06:00

Wambat in a Box Wishes You A Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T19:13:00.001-06:00

Silver Bells

2009-12-20T10:23:00.002-06:00

From The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) the first time "Silver Bells" was heard.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T04:43:00.002-06:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Susan Boyle on "America's Got Talent"

2009-12-11T04:05:00.000-06:00

From a few months ago:

The Dug Whisperer

2009-12-05T00:49:00.000-06:00

I love this widget. In fact I used to collect the ones that Disney used to have for installation on personal computers. What is particularly cool about this widget is that if you play all of the collection of Dug sayings while using Explorer, those sayings remain on your computer as mp3s. Go to the control panel and internet options. Open browsing history settings then view files. After you get there just drag the Dug mp3s to the desktop, and there you go mp3s for your own use. Personally, I'm going to make some into ringtones using Audacity.

FIrst Barbie Commerical

2009-11-27T01:38:00.000-06:00

Gordon Lightfoot's Birthday

2009-11-17T10:56:00.001-06:00

I was sitting around reading the blogs I read when I started thinking about the date and thinking November 17 is someone's birthday. And there it was on Poweline---Gordon Lightfoot (he was born in 1938). "Song for a Winter's Night" is my favorite--yeah it's depressing, but I liked it for the sleigh bells in the original recording. Here's one of the few videos that is actually Lightfoot singing.

Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon

2009-10-31T05:25:00.000-05:00

I found this little gem on YouTube:

This movie was Night of the Demon in the UK and premiered in 1957. It was retitled Curse of the Demon in the US and premiered in 1958 with 13 minutes edited out--those minutes have been added back into the DVD. The missing scenes are: "a visit to the Hobart family farm, a visit to Stonehenge, and snippets of the seance scenes and conversations between Karswell and his mother." Since the magic of this movie is the building sense of dread, each scene is crucial. For a 1950s movie (based on M. R. James' "The Casting of the Runes") this is a nice little spooky treat for Samhain. As the video says the director wanted the demon left up to the audience's imagination and the demon is the only cornball thing in the movie. Jacques Tourneur was a master of subtle horror.

Cross posted at Pax Parabellum

Halloween Babies

2009-10-27T03:26:00.004-05:00

John Keats/Juliette Low founder of the Girl Scouts/Sara Allgood Irish Actress/Bob Siebenberg Drummer Supertramp/Chiang Kai-shek/Ethel Waters singer,actress/ Dale Evans actress/Dick Francis Irish Novelist/ Barbara Bel Geddes actress/Lee Grant actress/Cleo Moore actress/Dan Rather/David Ogden Stiers actor/ Michael Landon/Brian Piccolo football player/Sally Kirkland actress/Brian Doyle Murray actor/ Russ Ballard musician Argent/ Stephen Rea Irish actor/Ron Rifkin actor/Norman Lovett English actor/Deirdre Hall actress/John Candy/Jane Pauley/Nick Saban football coach/Michael J. Anderson actor/Ken Wahl actor/Dermot Mulroney actor/Rob Schneider actor/Darryl Worley country singer/Vanilla Ice/Piper Perabo actress/Alexander Alekhine chess champion/Julia Lee vocalist/John Sylvester White actor/Kinky Friedman ran for governor of Texas/Brian Downey actor/Larry Mullen, Jr U2/Glenn "Doc" Rivers baseball player/Peter Jackson director/Mike O'Malley actor/A.J. Hammer TV personality/Chris Tucker actor/Richard Morris Hunt architect/John Evelyn British Diarist/James Lovell American educator/

Cimaruta

2009-10-25T23:53:00.000-05:00

Posted on different blog in June.

I got this about twenty years ago at a Beauty Salon in Smyrna, Tennessee. She had a little display case of antique jewelry she had collected over the years–selling some so she could collect more. Until recently, I had not known what it was–except for knowing it was some kind of charm.

It's an Italian charm that dates back before Christ. The pronunciation is Chee mah roo ta. Mine appears to be late 19th century.

At one time, the Cimaruta was used by witches in Italy to identify each other. Some take the Cimaruta as only used for this purpose and resent it being discussed as anything else. Its origins are Etruscan or earlier when it was probably no more than a sprig of rue hung over a baby's crib (circa 4500-3000 BC and still very rare though there seems to be new ones to be found from different occult stores). The Cimaruta is one of the oldest types of amulets ever uncovered. It was used at least in some cases as protection against the evil. Since much of the Cimaruta is made up of things sacred to Diana/Artemis perhaps in many cases the charm was kept because the owner held the goddess in great esteem and might have even referred to her as the Madonna.

The main part of the charm is a sprig of rue--hence the name Cimaruta which is Italian for sprig of rue. The sprig of rue branches naturally into three parts, and this is a reference to the triple Goddess and Her Three aspects of "Diana Transformis" or of Her "prototypes", Diana, Hecate, and Proserpina. The charm is almost always made of silver because of silver's association with the moon.

The symbols on the amulet:

The moon is a symbol of Diana. . . . Very close to the moon can be seen a dagger, which represents Diana’s dart or arrow. It points directly at the moon and is a metaphor for the moon’s light or literally ‘moon beam’ which can bestow illumination or lunacy, depending on your relationship with the goddess. The bow itself is symbolised by the crescent moon. Around the moon can be seen a serpent. This symbolises Proserpina, the goddess of night and the Underworld. Her name is actually derived from the word serpent. She was identified with the moon and with serpents because they both disappear into the earth (seemingly) and change shape in their overall movement.
The key represents the goddess Hecate, who holds the key to the entrance to the otherworld. She is the gatekeeper. It is a symbol of knowledge of the mysteries and of initiation. The bearer of this symbol claims to possess these things, but to indicate that it is not all intellectual knowledge only, but comes also from the heart, the key has a heart within its design.
The Vervain blossom[on mine it appears to be a half-blossom] is sacred to the faery race, and the strega and the Fata or Fay are closely connected. They both act as door keepers between this world and the otherworld. They stand at the gateways - the only difference is that they stand at either side of the gateway.
The rooster or cockerel, because he heralds the new sun in the morning, represents the power of light to banish the darkness of fear. On another level, he is the god aspect Dianus, consort of the goddess Diana and is the masculine balance, a symbol of the sun itself in this respect.

There are obviously other symbols possible on the Cimaruta: dolphin/fish, frog, cockerel/rooster, flaming heart. Frankly, I can't find the site I originally intended to use for this--if I find it later I will post more.

some sites of note on the subject:
Stregheria.com
Sacred Texts

Words to Think About

2009-10-18T20:32:00.000-05:00

In Germany, they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me—and by that time no one was left to speak up.”—Pastor Martin Niemoller, 1945

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-15T05:33:00.001-05:00

Where The Wild Things Are - Trailer 2

Where the Wild Things Are | MySpace Videos

bio's born on this day

2009-10-10T13:56:00.001-05:00

In Honor of that Visa Debt Commercial

2009-10-04T11:30:00.001-05:00

Sorry, I haven't post much here lately--too much work with posting on the blog I share with my husband--PaxParabellum.com.

HummingBird Nest

2009-09-27T21:48:00.001-05:00

Remembering Thomas Hannafin

2009-09-16T00:45:00.000-05:00

Kevin Hannafin was part of the search team at the WTC after the towers fell when the remains of several of ladder 5 were found. He said it was the proudest moment of life to carry his brother Thomas' helmet from the wreckage. Tommy had last been seen on the 37th floor of Tower 1.

Thomas Hannafin was a basketball player in high school and college. He was still such a good basketball player that he had won a gold medal earlier in 2001 at the three on three basketball competition World/Police Fire Department Games in Indianapolis. He had been a life long resident of Westerleigh on Staten Island.

In 2002, his wife Rene wrote this:

Babe,

For 18 and a half years, you were my strength, my hope, my one and only true love.

I will always cherish the memories we made together. You were my best friend when all else had failed around me.

You pulled me up when I was down and always made me laugh with one of your corny jokes. I can still hear you with that crying laughter that you and John would make, which I know he misses so much.

Most of all I remember your smile. It was so contagious and still is.

Kayla and Thomas miss you so much. Every day we talk about you, and remember the funny games that you would play with them. When I put them to bed at night, your watch beeps 10 minutes past the hour and when they hear it, they send you kisses and say how much they miss and love you. It breaks my heart every time.

Your family has been great to the kids and me. My mom and Jimmy miss you tremendously. And thanks, now I have to deal with them all by myself. Ha, ha! The guys at the firehouse have been wonderful, as you are well aware. Our friends and neighbors have been there for us every day.

Hun, I miss you so much and I wish I could turn back the hands of time, to hold you again and kiss your sweet lips.

"My heart will always belong to you."

Love,

part of Project 2996

Remembering Jupiter Yambem

2009-09-16T00:44:00.001-05:00

Jupiter Yambem was born in Manipur (A state in India) and came to NYC when he was 21 (20 years before 911). He quickly began to work at some of the most famous restaurants in the city settling finally at the Windows on the World in the WTC where he was Banquet Manager. As I hear and have read, if you wanted to have an event at Windows on the World, Jupiter was your go to guy.

Jupiter loved life and loved to have fun by all accounts. He co-founded a small group for himself and others who came from Manipur--The North American Manipur Association. The association'a goal was to allow fellow natives of Manipur to hold on to a bit of their native traditions.

[Jupiter] had two purposes, said his wife, Nancy Yambem. He wanted his son to know something of his heritage -- to see the dances and hear the music and taste the food. But he also wanted to construct a bridge, however modest, between two vastly different cultures.

The strands of Mr. Yambem's life came together at his memorial service. His friends gathered at Beacon Riverfront Park on the banks of the Hudson River. They had a potluck dinner and Mr. Seeger sang "Turn, Turn, Turn." Later, they released hundreds of small paper boats onto the river, each with a candle inside. Mr. Yambem's ashes were returned to Manipur and scattered over a lake[another source says his ashes were scattered in Dargeeling along his old hiking trail Tiger Hill].

Part of Project 2996

Remembering Rebecca Lee Koborie

2009-09-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

Rebecca Lee Koborie--Becky's passion was music. Many nights she could be found singing and playing piano at Piano Bars and
Restaurants in Manhattan and New Jersey after working all day at Marsh and McLennan's in the North Tower at the World Trade Center (she worked there for 16 years--ever since she came to Manhattan--which Becky loved and it offered her a world of opportunity to practice her craft. Friends say one always knew when Becky was in a room--she was funny, vibrant and animated--but also a perfectionist and a drill sergeant.

Becky grew up in Sharon, Pennsylvania and graduated from Sharon High School (class of 1971).
From 4 or 5 years old, she was singing and dancing. At 10 she was on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour. During her junior and senior year in high school, she was in the chorus both as a singer and accompanist. She was also very active with the local playhouse. She attended Indiana University in Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1977 with a degree in theater arts and music. During her college years, she spent her summers performing dinner theater throughout the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard.

Becky was well loved by family, friends and her cats. She is greatly missed. She was 48 and had moved to the New Jersey suburbs after 15 years in Manhattan.

Part of the Project 2,996 started by Dale Challener Roe .

911

2009-09-10T22:20:00.005-05:00

A National Day of Service is fine, so long as people remember what it is all about. It is not a day to say that it was a inside job done to get oil or some other crap that may get you brownie points with Communist Nuts who hate everything this country represents. It is a day to celebrate the lives that were lost and to say we will never forget you. You will live on in our hearts.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
Words by Mary Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am in a thousand winds that blow
I am the softly falling snow
I am the gentle showers of rain
I am the fields of ripening grain
I am in the morning hush
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight
I am the starshine of the night
I am in the flowers that bloom
I am in a quiet room
I am in the birds that sing
I am in the each lovely thing
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there I do not die

Sandbag to go to UK

2009-09-01T19:04:00.003-05:00

ht/RachelLucas

Thought I posted earlier about the dog Sandbag who British troops adopted but were afraid he would be killed once they left Iraq (UK wasn't willing to let him come home with them). Anyway he is now going to UK with his one remaining pup Dirtbag. It's not clear to me how he ended up on the streets when another Brit Unit had been watching out for him. Here's the story from the Mail.

Pets

2009-08-17T21:41:00.001-05:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

John Hughes, Writer/Director/Producer Dead at 59

2009-08-06T15:55:00.003-05:00

John Hughes has died in NYC after a walk in the park. He was 59. He was the King of 80s movies. Some of the movies Hughes was part of: Home Alone, Dutch, Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Some Kind of Wonderful, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Vacation, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Mr. Mom, Drillbit Taylor as Edmond Dantes, Maid in Manhattan as Edmond Dantes, Beethoven.

Eco-Madness

2009-08-05T22:49:00.002-05:00

I saw this on Glenn Beck
Save Water--Pee in the Shower (Ah Those Brazilians)

Cross Posted: Paxparabellum

Computer Virus and Sadness

2009-07-26T17:06:00.004-05:00

For the last 10 days I was suffering from a computer virus--I have a saga written up for the blog, but well other things have transpired to make me no interested in writing. Thinking I'd be cheered up after my computer misery Friday, I went to Rachel Lucus' blog and alas the news there was devastating. Rachel's dog Sunny had died.

Here's a picture of Sunny--I would supply some of my own dog pictures, but sadly this computer is mostly bare due to virus hunting.

RIP Sunny, you good dog you.

Zodiac Sign Cancer

2009-07-10T05:16:00.032-05:00

Through the years, I have collected a lot of friends and acquaintances who were Cancers. Personally, I'm a Cancer with fire signs dominating--so I have a nasty temper, will defend a friend or relative to the death, but get weepy at a cartoon, worry what disease I have this week or month--a decided contradiction. And that is with a Leo rising, so love me or hate just don't ignore me. Yeah, yeah, I know with precession I wasn't really born a Cancer, but a Gemini. Well whatever--I was born clingy, stubborn, moon-faced, a little nutty--and as I have grown older, a great mimic (it's not good when I watch too much Glenn Beck or Robin Williams because I start to sound and act just like them). Anyway from my vast stores useless info, here are some Cancers through the ages (A few people have started showing up as Cancers--that I don't think are--the range I use is June 21-July 22).

Robert Dudley June 24 Elizabeth I's favorite/Julius Caesar July 12/David Knights June 28 bassist Procol Harum/John Francis Daley July 20 "Bones" Sweets/Genevieve Bujold July 1/Owain Yeoman July 2 Rigsby "The Mentalist"/Brian Brown June 23 Aussie Actor/Bruce Johnston June 27 Beach Boys/ Bob Crane July 13 actor/Glenn Shorrock June 30 singer/songwriter Little River Band/Terry-Thomas July 14 English actor/Gene Chandler July 6 singer/John Illsley June 24 bassist Dire Straits/Eve Myles July 8 Torchwood/Patrick Wilson July 3 Actor--The Watchmen/Peter Asher June 22 singer Peter and Gordon/Nancy Allen June 24 Robo Cob?Mick Tucker July 17 drummer Sweet/Frances McDormand June 23 actress Fargo/Dennis Minogue pseud. Terry Cashman July 5 Singer/Songwriter/Lauren Green June 30 Fox News Reporter/Don Henley July 22 the Eagles/George W. Bush July 5/Bobby Day July 1 singer "Rockin Robin"/Ed Bradley June 22/Lena Horne June 30/Ross Perot June 27/Satchel Paige July 7/Meredith Ann Pierce July 5 Sci-Fi writer/Bruce McGill July 11 Rizzoli &Isles/Chill Wills July 18 actor/Tom Price July 12 Torchwood Andy Davidson/Gretchen Carlson June 21 Fox News Host/Gilda Radner June 28/Fred Savage July 9/Lindsay Lohan July 2/Laura Branigan July 3 singer/O. J. Simpson July 9/Will Ferrell July 16/John Henry Carpenter June 24 infamous as perhaps killer of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane/Charlotte Perkins Gilman July 3 writer, activist/Olivia de Havilland July 1 actress Gone with the Wind/Gerald Mitchell July 11 actor It's a Wonderful Life/Andy Whitfield July 17 Spartacus: Blood and Sand) Robert Davi June 26 actor/Barbara O'Neil July 17 actress All This and Heaven Too/Alisyn Camerota June 21 Fox News Host/George Sanders July 3 actor/Ashley Tisdale July 2/Gloria Allred July 3/Diana Rigg (Mrs Peel--The Avengers)July 20/Michelle Rodriguez July 12/Geoffrey Rush July 6/Natalie Wood July 20/Kris Kristofferson June 22/Kene Holliday June 25 "Matlock"/Donald Sutherland July 17/Veronica Guerin July 5 Irish Jounalist/Patrick Stewart July 13/Erich Maria Remarque June 22 writer All Quiet on the Western Front/Forest Whitaker July 16/Tom Cruise July 2/Danny Glover July 22/Lisa Rinna July 11/Michael Phelps June 30/Monica Potter June 30/Maria Conchita Alonso June 29 actress/Brock Peters July 2 actor/Leonard Whiting June 30 actor Romeo and Juliet/Rembrandt July 15/Yul Brynner July 11/Jack Dempsey June 24 Fighter/Jared Padalecki July 19 Supernatural/Elisabeth Kubler-Ross July 8 educator, physician/Jeff Beck June 24 Musician/Barbara Cartland July 9 English novelist/Camille Pissaro July 10, painter/Bill Cosby July 12/Toby Keith July 8 Country Singer/David Spade July 22/Terry O'Quinn July 15 actor/Robin Williams July 21/Saul Bellow July 10, writer/Chris O'Donnell June 26 actor/Peter Lorre June 26 actor/E. B. White July 11 writer Stuart Little/Della Reese July 6 actress/Brent Bozell July 14 writer, pundit/Billy Eckstine July 8 Jazz Singer/George Sand July 1 woman writer/Gutenberg June 23/Frank Kafka July 7 writer/Fred Gwynne July 10 writer/actor/Barbara Stanwyck July 16 actress/James Cagney July 17/Corbin Bernsen July 7 "Psych"/Bon Scott July 9 ACDC/Jesse Deplantis July 9 Evangelist/Freddy Prinze June 22 actor/Andy Scott June 30 guitarist Sweet/Kevin Bacon July 8/Bruce Campbell June 22 actor/John Wyndham July 10 writer, Day of the Triffids/June Carter Cash June 23/Kenneth Johnson July 13 actor "The Shield," "Saving Grace"/Billy Crudup July 8 actor/Chris Cornell July 20 singer/Willem Defoe July 22/Vin Disel July 18/Henry Cabot Lodge July 5 diplomat/Princess Diana July 1/Antoine de Saint Exupery June 29 French writer The Little Prince/Henry David Thoreau July 12/Herman Hesse July 2 writer/Pearl Buck June 26/Jesse Ventura July 15/Ruben Blades July 16 actor, Panamanian Politician/Jean Jacques Rousseau June 28/George Orwell June 25/Henry VIII July 7/Neil Simon July 4/Jean Cocteau July 5 French poet, author, director/Nikola Tesla July 10 developed alternating current/Ginger Rogers July 16/Susan Hayward June 30/Ernest Hemingway July 21/Milton Berle July 12/Dave Barry July 3 humorist/Ambrose Bierce June 24 writer/Warren Entner July 7 guitarist The Grass Roots/Mel Brooks June 28/Steve Forbes July 18 Philanthropist/Richard Rodgers June 28 composer/Michael Flatley July 16 dancer The Lord of the Dance/Bob Fosse June 23 Choreographer/Diana Princess of Wales July 1/Karen Black July 1 actress/Pamela Anderson July 1/Missy Elliot July 1/Thurgood Marshall July 2/Ken Curtis July 2 actor Festus/John Dillinger June 22/ Nathaniel Hawthorne July 4/ Robert Heinlein July 7/Dean Koontz July 9 writer/Little Eva June 29, singer/Scott Foley July 15 actor The Unit/Gretchen Wilson June 26 Country Singer/Richard Branson July 18/Selma Blair June 23 actress Hellboy/Matt LeBlanc June 25 "Friends"/Dave Thomas July 2 Wendy's/Richard Petty July 2 Race Car Driver/Polly Holiday July 2 actress Flo on Alice/Stokeley Carmichael June 29 activist/Paul Williams July 2 singer The Temptations/Fred Schneider July 1 singer B 52s/Kurtwood Smith July 3 actor That 70s Show/Colin Hay June 29 singer Men at Work/Stephen Foster July 4 composer/Abner Doubleday June 26/Iris Murdoch July 15 Irish writer/Mick Jones June 26 singer The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite/John Quincy Adams July 11/Clarence Thomas June 23/Calvin Coolidge July 4/Jeff Corwin July 11 TV Naturalist/Amy Brenneman June 22 actress/Dan Brown June 22 writer/K.T. Tunstall June 23 singer/Duffy June 23 singer/John Gardner July 21 writer Grendel/Peter Weller June 24 actor, professor/Sidney Lumet June 25 director/June Lockhart June 25 actress/Harold Melvin (and the Blue Notes)June 25/Jimmie Walker June 25/Ricky Gervais June 25/Mick Jones June 26 singer The Clash/Terri Nunn June 26 singer, actress Berlin/Jean-Paul Sartre June 21/John McIntire June 27 actor/Bob Keeshan June 27 Captain Kangroo/John Byner June 28 comedian/Bruce Davidson June 28 actor/Alice Krige June 28 actress/John Elway June 28/Babe Didrikson June 26/John Cusack June 28/Mary Stuart Masterson June 28 actress/Gil Bellows June 28 actor Ally McBeal/Alessandro Nivola June 28 actor The Eye/Farley Granger July 1 actor Strangers on a Train/Red Skelton July 18 actor, comedian/Mick Fleetwood June 24 musician/Jane Russell June 21 actress/ Sidney Blackmer July 13 actor Rosemary's Baby/A.J. Cronin July 19 novelist/George Cukor July 7 director/Joan Davis June 29 actress I Married Joan/Nelson Eddy June 29 singer, actor/Erle Stanley Gardner July 17 writer Perry Mason/Kim Carnes July 20 "Bette Davis Eyes"/Dave Garroway July 13 TV host/Rube Goldberg July 4 cartoonist/Phil Harris June 24 singer, actor/Jack White July 9 singer White Stripes/Judy Holliday June 21 actress/Tab Hunter July 11 actor/Helen Keller June 27/Frances Parkinson Keyes July 21 writer/Dorothy Kilgallen July 3 journalist/Charles Laughton July 1/Billy Wilder June 22 director/William Wyler July 1 director/Jason Schwartzman June 26 actor/David Alan Grier June 30/Enrique Murciano July 9 actor Without a Trace/Marcel Proust July 10 writer/John Gilbert July 10 actor mostly silent films/Jean Kerr July 10 playwright and essayist Please Don't Eat the Daisies/Nick Adams July 10 actor No Time For Sergeants/Arthur Ash July 10 tennis player/Ron Glass July 10 actor/Robert the Bruce July 11/Harold Bloom July 11 Literary Critic/Marty Feldman July 8 actor, comedian/Wolfgang Puck July 8 chef/Shoeless Joe Jackson July 16/Angelica Huston July 8 actress/Mariana Williamson July 8 writer/Joan Osborne July 8 singer/Michael Weatherly July 8 actor NCIS, Dark Angel/Percy Kilbride July 16 actor Pa Kettle/Ann Radcliffe July 9 English writer/Chris Cooper July 9 actor/Jimmy Smits July 9 actor/Janet Reno July 21/Tom Hanks July 9/Kelly McGillis July 9/Tim Kring July 9 screenwriter and producer Crossing Jordan, Heroes/Edward Herrmann July 21 actor Lost Boys/Barnard Hughes July 16 actor Lost Boys/Corey Feldman July 16 Lost Boys/Billy Wirth June 23 Lost Boys/Jim Kerr July 9 singer Simple Minds/Jessica Simpson July 10/Matthew Fox July 14 "Lost"/Robbie Robertson July 5 singer,songwriter The Band/Edie Falco July 5/John Paul Jones July 6 Revolutionary War Hero/Sebastian Cabot July 6 actor/Pat Paulsen July 6 comedian/Gene Chandler July 6 singer/Tantoo Cardinal July 20 actress Dances with Wolves/Fred Dryer July 6 football player, actor/50 Cent July 6/Heather Nova July 6 singer/Billy Campbell July 7 actor/Joe Spano July 7 actor/Amy Carlson July 7 actress Third Watch/Cormac McCarthy July 20, writer No Country for Old Men/Jorga Fox July 7 CSI/Robin Weigert July 7 actress Deadwood, Life/Craig Stevens July 8 actor Peter Gunn/Alexander Pope June 21 poet/Sydney Pollack July 1 director/Andrae'Crouch July 1 singer/Carl Lewis July 1 runner/Andre Braugher July 1 actor/Rick Davies July 22 singer Supertramp/Thomas Gibson July 3 actor Criminal Minds/Connie Nielsen July 3 actress/Shawnee Smith July 3 actress Becker/Louis B. Mayer July 4 director/Ian McEwan June 21 writer Atonement/Stephen Boyd July 4 actor Ben Hur/John Waite July 4 singer, songwriter, "Missing You"/Gary Trudeau July 21 "Doonesbury"/Milburn Stone July 5 actor Gunsmoke/Warren Oates July 5 actor/Angela Merkel July 17/J. Michael Stracznski July 17 writer, creator of Babylon 5/Thackeray July 18/Molly Brown July 18 (unsinkable)/Machine Gun Kelly July 18/Jessamy West July 18 writer/Nelson Mandela July 18/ Screaming Jay Hawkins July 18/Hunter Thompson July 18 writer/Max Fleischer July 19 animator/Degas July 19/Samuel Colt July 19 Colt Revolver/Alexander the Great July 20/Petrarch July 20/Billy Mays July 20 Pitch man/Carlos Santana July 20/Omar Epps July 20/Paul Wellstone July 21 senator/A.J. Cook July 22 actress Criminal Minds/Kirtin Vangsness July 7 actress Criminal Minds/James Whale July 22 director/George Clinton July 22 singer/Tony Scott July 21 director/Colin Ferguson July 22 actor, Eureka/Cameron Crowe July 13 director, writer/Irving Stone July 14 writer/ William Hanna July 14 cartoons/Clive Cussler July 15 writer/Robert McCammon July 11 horror writer/Leon Spinks July 11 fighter/Peter Murphy July 11 singer musician/Suzanne Vega July 11 singer/George Washington Carver July 12/Oscar Hammerstein July 12/Andrew Wyeth July 12 painter/John Dee July 13 astrologer, mathematician, occultist/Tod Browning July 12 director/John Leguizamo July 22/J.J. Abrams June 28 creator of Fringe, Alias/Vera Wang June 28 designer/Ray Harryhausen June 29 Special Effects/Oriana Fallaci June 29 journalist, writer/Winston Graham June 30 writer/Ray Davies June 21 singer, songwriter/Benazir Bhutto June 21/H. Rider Haggard June 22 writer/Graham Greene June 22 actor/Erin Brockovich June 22/Michael Vick June 26

U2: Green for Iranian Protestors

2009-07-04T22:29:00.003-05:00

ht/Gateway Pundit
Last in Barcelona.

Happy Birthday Vincent D'Onofrio

2009-06-30T01:16:00.002-05:00

Today, Vincent is 50, whoo whoo.

D'Onofrio as Robert E. Howard

Julianne Nicholson's birthday is tomorrow, Kathryn Erbe's birthday is July 5 and Jamey Sheridan's (the former captain on Criminal Intent)birthday is July 12(Jeff Goldblum is on the cusp of Scorpio, Chris Noth is a Scorpio and Countney B. Vance is a Pisces so at times the set must have been boiling over with watery emotions).

Michael Jackson Dead June 25, 2009

2009-06-26T05:55:00.002-05:00

Michael Jackson died of Cardiac Arrest about 1:30 Pacific Daylight Time.

NIce Song

2009-06-26T05:52:00.000-05:00

Next tea Party in Nashville

2009-06-23T02:47:00.000-05:00

I got this in email Monday:

On Monday, June 29th Tennessee Tea Party will be hosting Nashville's next Tea Party. This is your chance to take a stand against Big Government and wasteful spending that is pushing our country further into debt everyday. The event details, as passed along by our friends at Tennessee Tea Party, are:

What: Nashville's Next Tea Party, the Middle TN Liberty Rally. Click TNTeaParty.org for the event Website.

When: Monday, June 29th, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Where: Legislative Plaza, Downtown Nashville across from the Capital, Click HERE for a Google Map

Speakers: Phil Valentine, Steve Gill, Ralph Bristol , Drew Johnson, Ken Marerro, Bernadette Ash (mom, volunteer, citizen), Ben Cunningham, and more to be announced.

Action Items: Please tell your friends and neighbors about this Tea Party event and make arrangements to attend. Your presence is absolutely necessary to turn back the tide of Big Government and higher taxes. A public show of support for limited government and personal liberty is needed now more than ever. Please join Tennessee Tea Party and help us stop the slide towards even bigger government.

Make your voice heard by signing our petition at the rally opposing Government Health care, and Cap-and-Trade. These petitions will be delivered to Tennessee Representatives and Senators.

Many organizations will have informational booths on site so you can get involved any way you feel comfortable.

For more information please contact: info@tnteaparty.org

I got one complaint. Why do they keep having it at 12 noon and at Legislative Plaza? It's freaking impossible to park downtown.

Tattoos

2009-06-18T19:44:00.004-05:00

There's this pet store I go to because it's close mostly, but lately I am hard pressed to buy anything there (I go there when I need something in a hurry). there are two reasons, one they follow me around like they think I'm going to steal something, and two the usual check out girl's tattoos bug me. She has a large tattoo on her chest, a large one on one arm and the other arm is covered with tattoos--other than that she looks like your typical cheerleader type. Mostly they bug me because I wonder how she is going to feel how them when she is 45 and they aren't so cool anymore--which leads me to want to shout or ask--are you in a band or something. I mean what else is there as a reason for so many? Well, there's Megan Fox's who says each new tattoo is a f u to anyone who told her not to get one. Her tattoos are particularly stupid at that, but then she proves her intelligence level every time she opens her mouth to criticize Middle America.

Tattoos used to be cool in moderation, but now everyone has one.

FDR's State of the Union Address 1944

2009-06-09T23:59:00.003-05:00

(sorry again--pulled muscle in back and couldn't sit at computer much)

Glenn Beck suggested reading or listening to this: FDR's new Bill of Rights January 11, 1944:

[FDR proposes a "second Bill of Rights" to improve upon the inadequate rights to life and liberty secured by the Founders. — TGW]

THIS Nation in the past two years has become an active partner in the world’s greatest war against human slavery.

We have joined with like-minded people in order to defend ourselves in a world that has been gravely threatened with gangster rule…

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

One of the great American industrialists of our day—a man who has rendered yeoman service to his country in this crisis—recently emphasized the grave dangers of "rightist reaction" in this Nation. All clear-thinking businessmen share his concern. Indeed, if such reaction should develop—if history were to repeat itself and we were to return to the so-called "normalcy" of the 1920’s—then it is certain that even though we shall have conquered our enemies on the battlefields abroad, we shall have yielded to the spirit of Fascism here at home.

I ask the Congress to explore the means for implementing this economic bill of rights—for it is definitely the responsibility of the Congress so to do. Many of these problems are already before committees of the Congress in the form of proposed legislation. I shall from time to time communicate with the Congress with respect to these and further proposals. In the event that no adequate program of progress is evolved, I am certain that the Nation will be conscious of the fact.

Our fighting men abroad—and their families at home—expect such a program and have the right to insist upon it. It is to their demands that this Government should pay heed rather than to the whining demands of selfish pressure groups who seek to feather their nests while young Americans are dying…

Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this Nation in its most critical hour—to keep this Nation great—to make this Nation greater in a better world.

[From The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, ed. Samuel Rosenman, (New York: Harper, 1950), 13:40-42.]

Susan Boyle Gets 2nd Place--but Still

2009-05-31T20:24:00.001-05:00

Read the whole story at FoxNews.

Did people just not vote for her because they thought she had it in the bag? It seems to be a common theme in this type show--when the odds are really favoring an act--people just don't bother to vote. Too bad we can't have a do over.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T06:33:00.001-05:00

To remember the fallen:

Susan Boyle Makes it To the Finals

2009-05-25T04:42:00.004-05:00

From the Telegraph, Susan Boyle won out against 7 other acts to make it to the Finals. If I understand the wording (UK English and mine aren't exactly the same) 10 finalists have been picked from 5 shows to compete in the Final show next week.

Susan sang "Memories" from Cats and her voice quivered just a bit a couple of times--but that is a hard song with it's high notes and low notes--it sounded like mostly nerves.

I'm nervous about what she will sing for the Final. Does she choose? I've barely ever watched American Idol, so I don't know how the Final show really works. Anyway, "Memories" didn't seem to work for her as well as "I Dreamed a Dream." Maybe she should try "On My Own" from "Les Miz" or maybe "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" form "Phantom."

Netherworld--Bad Movie--Great Soundtrack

2009-05-19T06:19:00.002-05:00

Netherworld was not so great a movie--too complicated. On the other hand the soundtrack had some smoking music. Maybe I should say haunting, really. Music by Edgar Winter, and David Bryan (keyboardist for Bon Jovi).

Sorry

2009-05-12T06:32:00.003-05:00

Trying to teach myself how to make my own ring tones then the dog knocked me down yet again--so I've been bogged down and with a swollen knee (she has this nasty habit of swinging her butt around into you full throttle and at 80 pounds she packs a wallop)--will try to get something up soon.

Here' one of my ring tones: Gold State's "All Roads Lead Home" from Henry Poole is Here.

Obamatrons and Bigotry

2009-05-04T23:38:00.003-05:00

Chris Winecoff has a great article on Obamatrons and their bigotry--read the whole thing here.
This is the part I found truly inspiring (in fact I used the same comparison some time before the election):

In 1983, best-selling shrink M. Scott Peck published his second book, People of The Lie. In it, he tells the stories of several patients whom he came to believe could be clinically diagnosed as “evil” - a character disorder he describes as “militant ignorance.” According to Peck, an evil person prefers to psychologically destroy others rather than face his (or her) own faults, exhibits zero empathy towards his targeted scapegoat, and enjoys falsely labeling other people as evil.
You know, like spending eight years comparing people you disagree with to Hitler.

Self-deception, Peck states, is the number one risk factor for evil, easier to maintain in groups - like MoveOn.org, Al-Qaeda, Queers for Palestine, Rachel Maddow’s Facebook page - than individually. Ironically, Hollywood has long told us this sort of mass bias is wrong. Just watch Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire in Gentleman’s Agreement, Ginger Rogers and Ronald Reagan in Storm Warning, Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thorton in Monster’s Ball, the entire Screen Actors Guild in Crash… the list goes on and on.

So when did groupthink suddenly become cool? When did words start meaning the opposite of what they were intended to mean? When did “progressive” come to mean ”do nothing,” and “conservative” mean “progressive” (i.e. “do something”)? When, as Andrew Klavan has so eloquently pointed out, did the belief system of the angels get reduced to the two-syllable mantra: “Shut up?”

When did dissent become a de facto hate crime?

In Don Siegel’s classic sci-fi flick, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), the citizens of Santa Mira, California, are gradually replaced in their sleep by emotionless impostors - the proverbial “pod people.” The film is often interpreted as an allegory for Communism and McCarthyism (a tactic first reviled, then hijacked, by the Left). But Body Snatchers is more relevant than ever - right here, right now.

You walk the halls, wander the streets, visit the homes of other two-legged beings who appear to resemble you on the surface, yet seem to have no clue you exist as a separate person, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. These seemingly intelligent beings talk about you, in front of you, as if you were in another room, automatically assuming you are of like mind. (Maybe they just never read Miss Manners.)
. . .
At the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter have managed to escape pod-dom by staying awake for days on end. Exhausted, Wynter finally succumbs. When she awakens, changed, she gives McCarthy some icy advice: ”They were right… Stop acting like a fool, and accept us.” If she’d had a rubber stamp, she might have branded him - “DENIED!”
McCarthy flees, desperate for human help, lamenting in voiceover how “a moment’s sleep, and the girl I loved was an inhuman enemy bent on my destruction.” Watching the attractive people I see everyday, working out at the gym, driving their Smart Cars, grabbing a Starbucks, watching CNN, listening to their iPods - and talking about Hope - I know how he feels.

When did they all fall asleep? When are they going to wake up? Perhaps when they learn, the hard way, that freedom is not just another convenience.

Meanwhile, try not to express a dissenting or individual thought - and don’t gasp if one of them lashes out viciously at a friend who steps out of line - because that’ll clue them in that you’re still human.

And then they’ll come after you.

Edie Sedgwick

2009-04-23T11:46:00.004-05:00

Edie Sedgwick (April 20, 1943-November 16, 1971) would have been 66 on Monday had she survived her dance with a fame of sorts. She was Andy Warhol's muse for a year. Bob Dylan's girl for a time too ("Just Like a Woman" might have been inspired by her)--till she found out he had married another. She was fey(I doubt she knew it--though one source says she knew she was fated for a short life) with great big eyes and plenty of money--at least for a time.

Her parents were advised not to have children because of her father's mental health issues--they had 8. One brother hung himself and another wrecked his motorcyle. Edie seemed to have an eating disorder and trouble with drugs that would in the end kill her at 28. Her last few years were a maze of drug addiction, sex, mental hospitals and maybe a desperate attempt to regain the fame she had lost. Years ago, I read Jean Stein's book Edie: American Girl

Edie was really before my time, so I had never heard of her, but the book was lying around my parents' house. It just seemed so alien to me that a person could come to such a sad and lonely place when she had had so much going for her. So many people of her generation made such bad choices.

Happy 50th Robert Smith--A Day Late

2009-04-22T10:41:00.004-05:00

My flu is now on its 3rd week and has fried my brain--so not thinking so clearly. But anyway yesterday was Robert Smith of the Cure's 50th birthday.

Happy Birthday!!

LGF and Glenn Beck

2009-04-19T00:11:00.005-05:00

If you didn't know about it already, Glenn Beck and Charles Johnson (Little Green Footballs) are suddenly at war. Here's some commentary: Ace, Tundra Tabloids, Gates of Vienna, LGF 2.0.

Now the left blogosphere wants you to believe that conservatives can't get along, but that's not exactly true. The truth really seems to be that Little Green Footballs is left of center and can't abide Christians like Glenn Beck. It's just a truth many of us figured out some time ago, and others have now having a rude awakening--Charles Johnson was never much of a conservative and only liked those who agreed exactly with him--woe be it unto anyone who disagreed--they were quickly banned from LGF.

Space Bat

2009-04-13T01:29:00.001-05:00

I still think this is sad, but the video is kind of cool

Here Comes Peter Cottontail and a Few Other Easter Choices

2009-04-12T02:10:00.003-05:00

best commercial ever

Христос воскресе / Christ is risen (Russian Orthodox chant)

WTF is wrong with People

2009-04-06T20:39:00.002-05:00

I saw this on Glenn Beck today.

I will never forget the story here of a boy who drove his car up to a fence where a horse was grazing in and shot that 20 year old gelding between the eyes. I've been terrified for horses in the open like that ever since. He said he just wanted to know what it was like to kill something. My vote was he should be beaten within an inch of his life. We have a mostly black Lab, and now I will be terrified for a while every time she is outside.

Tea Party--The Tax Protest Are Growing

2009-04-06T10:51:00.002-05:00

ht/RightWingSparkle
"The Tea Party Movement has now confirmed more than 360 cities to host a Tax Day Tea Party on April 15th. We're now in all 50 states!

This is promising to be the largest single day multi location demonstration in our country's history!"

Of course the one in Nashville is in the middle of the day again, so I have no way to get to it--but the Franklin one is late afternoon early evening.

Here's a place with signs you can print out - Tea Party Artwork

Government Snooping Coming to Your Personal Music Players

2009-04-05T04:42:00.003-05:00

ht/Ex-Hollywood Liberal
Crossposted:PaxParabellum

If true this could put a real damper on personal music players, I-phones, laptops, and anything else you can download copyrighted material to. How do you prove you bought all the mp3s, etc? I sure ain't carrying all those receipts around.

Life on Mars Series Finale

2009-04-01T04:59:00.001-05:00

ABC never really gave this show a chance.

Nice "Bones" Video

2009-03-27T03:46:00.003-05:00

This is a great video--Placebo's cover of "Running Up that Hill." This song was actually used in the show--when Brennan first met her father--"Judas on a Pole." This cover is actually better than the Kate Bush original.

here's a video with the "Judas on Pole" episode

one can never truly get enough "Bones." I really miss Zack.

Quote of the Day

2009-03-26T18:58:00.002-05:00

ht/MyPetAJawa

Sorry, juggling this blog and the other one is hard especially when you are taking your mother to the dentist weekly.

Anyway The Jawa Report calls this the quote for the duration of the Obama Administration, It's pretty good:
"One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists of establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary."

—Ayn Rand, 1975

More 80s--early 1990

2009-03-26T03:29:00.001-05:00

Peter Murphy

80s music

2009-03-25T03:28:00.001-05:00

waterboys

Banning Guns--It's in the Works Again

2009-03-20T16:29:00.005-05:00

ht/PaxParabellum

We must be vigilant more than ever, and most of us are dozing--lulled by the Lightbringer's charisma that he wants only good things for us. We are dozing while our fundamental Constitutional rights are being eroded. We are dozing while our children's futures are being burdened by a debt so big it is really impossible to understand its true weight. While we are lulled into this complacency the first right most necessary to be taken away is our right to bear arms. Don't let them fool you into believing that the 2nd amendment was only for a militia and only for muskets. Our founding fathers understood all too well that when a country's citizenry is disarmed, the state can proceed to persecute who they see fit.

Here's the gun-ban list that is proposed. It's in a bill that has been penned and just waiting for the right number of democrats to get it passed, and then we are all at the mercy of our government no matter how many people are arrested and jailed for whatever offense our government deems necessary.

Gun-ban list proposed. Slipping below the radar (or under the short-term memory cap), the Democrats have already leaked a gun-ban list, even under the Bush administration when they knew full well it had no chance of passage (HR 1022, 110th Congress). It serves as a framework for the new list the Brady’s plan to introduce shortly. I have an outline of the Brady’s current plans and targets of opportunity. It’s horrific. They’re going after the courts, regulatory agencies, firearms dealers and statutes in an all out effort to restrict we the people. They’ve made little mention of criminals. Now more than ever, attention to the entire Bill of Rights is critical. Gun bans will impact our freedoms under search and seizure, due process, confiscated property, states’ rights, free speech, right to assemble and more, in addition to the Second Amendment. The Democrats current gun-ban-list proposal (final list will be worse):

Rifles (or copies or duplicates):
M1 Carbine,
Sturm Ruger Mini-14,
AR-15,
Bushmaster XM15,
Armalite M15,
AR-10,
Thompson 1927,
Thompson M1;
AK,
AKM,
AKS,
AK-47,
AK-74,
ARM,
MAK90,
NHM 90,
NHM 91,
SA 85,
SA 93,
VEPR;
Olympic Arms PCR;
AR70,
Calico Liberty ,
Dragunov SVD Sniper Rifle or Dragunov SVU,
Fabrique National FN/FAL,
FN/LAR, or FNC,
Hi-Point20Carbine,
HK-91,
HK-93,
HK-94,
HK-PSG-1,
Thompson 1927 Commando,
Kel-Tec Sub Rifle;
Saiga,
SAR-8,
SAR-4800,
SKS with detachable magazine,
SLG 95,
SLR 95 or 96,
Steyr AU,
Tavor,
Uzi,
Galil and Uzi Sporter,
Galil Sporter, or Galil Sniper Rifle ( Galatz ).
Pistols (or copies or duplicates):
Calico M-110,
MAC-10,
MAC-11, or MPA3,
Olympic Arms OA,
TEC-9,
TEC-DC9,
TEC-22 Scorpion, or AB-10,
Uzi.
Shotguns (or copies or duplicates):
Armscor 30 BG,
SPAS 12 or LAW 12,
Striker 12,
Streetsweeper. Catch-all category (for anything missed or new designs):
A semiautomatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has:
(i) a folding or telescoping stock,
(ii) a threaded barrel,
(iii) a pistol grip (which includes ANYTHING that can serve as a grip, see
below),
(iv) a forward grip; or a barrel shroud.
Any semiautomatic rifle with a fixed magazine that can accept more than
10 rounds (except tubular magazine .22 rim fire rifles).
A semiautomatic pistol that has the ability to accept a
detachable magazine, and has:
(i) a second pistol grip,
(ii) a threaded barrel,
(iii) a barrel shroud or
(iv) can accept a detachable magazine outside of the pistol grip, and
(v) a semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10
rounds.
A semiautomatic shotgun with:
(i) a folding or telescoping stock,
(ii) a pistol grip (see definition below),
(iii) the ability to accept a detachable magazine or a fixed magazine capacity
of more than 5 rounds, and
(iv) a shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

Frames or receivers for the above are included, along with conversion kits.
Attorney General gets carte blanche to ban guns at will: Under the proposal, the U.S. Attorney General can add any “semiautomatic rifle or shotgun originally designed for military or law enforcement use, or a firearm based on the design of such a firearm, that is not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General.”

Get involved. Write your representatives. Join a gun rights group. Here's a partial list:

Gun Owners of America
http://gunowners.org/

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
http://www.jpfo.org/

FREEDOM=GUNS
http://www.tcsn.net/doncicci/freedom.htm

National Rifle Association
http://www.nra.org/

Second Amendment Committee
http://www.libertygunrights.com/

Second Amendment Foundation
http://www.saf.org/

Second Amendment Sisters
http://www.2asisters.org/

Women Against Gun Control
http://www.wagc.com/

Gun Control and Tony Martin

2009-03-16T00:22:00.003-05:00

This is an email I got a few days ago:

You're sound asleep when you hear a thump outside your bedroom door.
Half-awake, and nearly paralyzed with fear, you hear muffled whispers.
At least two people have broken into your house and are moving your way.
With your heart pumping, you reach down beside your bed and pick up your
shotgun. You rack a shell into the chamber, then inch toward the door
and open it. In the darkness, you make out two shadows.

One holds something that looks like a crowbar. When the intruder
brandishes it as if to strike, you raise the shotgun and fire. The blast
knocks both thugs to the floor. One writhes and screams while the second
man crawls to the front door and lurches outside. As you pick up the
telephone to call police, you know you're in trouble.

In your country, most guns were outlawed years before, and the few That
are privately owned are so stringently regulated as to make them
useless. Yours was never registered. Police arrive and inform you that
the second burglar has died. They arrest you for First Degree Murder and
Illegal Possession of a Firearm. When you talk to your attorney, he
tells you not to worry authorities will probably plea the case down to
manslaughter.

"What kind of sentence will I get?" you ask.

"Only ten-to-twelve years," he replies, as if that's nothing. "Behave
yourself, and you'll be out in seven."

The next day, the shooting is the lead story in the local newspaper.
Somehow, you're portrayed as an eccentric vigilante while the two men
you shot are represented as choirboys. Their friends and relatives can't
find an unkind word to say about them. Buried deep down in the article,
authorities acknowledge that both "victims" have been arrested numerous
times.

But the next day's headline says it all "Lovable Rogue Son Didn't
Deserve to Die." The thieves have been transformed from career criminals
into Robin Hood-type pranksters. As the days wear on, the story takes
wings. The national media picks it up, then the international media. The
surviving burglar has become a folk hero.

Your attorney says the thief is preparing to sue you, and he'll
probably win. The media publishes reports that your home has been
burglarized several times in the past and that you've been critical of
local police for their lack of effort in apprehending the suspects.
After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be
prepared next time. The District Attorney uses this to allege that you
were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial. The charges haven't been reduced,
as your lawyer had so confidently predicted. When you take the stand,
your anger at the injustice of it all works against you. Prosecutors
paint a picture of you as a mean, vengeful man. It doesn't take long for
the jury to convict you of all charges. The judge sentences you to life
in prison.

This case really happened............

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk, England, killed one
burglar and wounded a second. In April, 2000, he was convicted and is
now serving a life term. [the sentence was reduced to manslaughter when
Tony appealed with a claim of a mental disorder, and he was released July 2003.
The two that robbed Martin had 62 convictions between them. The one that
Martin killed was 16].

How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great
British Empire ?

It started with the Pistols Act of 1903. This seemingly reasonable law
forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and established that handgun
sales were to be made only to those who had a license. The Firearms Act
of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms
except shotguns.

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon
by private citizens and mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the
Hungerford mass shooting in 1987. Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed Man
with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the streets shooting everyone he
saw. When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun
control", demanded even tougher restrictions. (The seizure of all
privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a
rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane, Scotland, Thomas Hamilton used a
semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public
school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally
unstable, or worse, criminals.

Now the press had a real hook with which to beat up law-abiding gun
owners. Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense
of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns. The Dunblane
Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearm still
owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took
Away most gun rights, the notion that a citizen had the right to armed
self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism. Authorities refused to
grant gun licenses to people who were threatened, claiming that
self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun. Citizens
who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real
criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as
saying, "We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."

All of Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several
elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had
no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques,
had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given
three months to turn them over to local authorities. Being good British
subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by
police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't
comply. Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns
from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns? The guns had been
registered and licensed Kinda like cars.

Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA , THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND
AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION

"...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."
Samuel Adams

Jerry the Dog

2009-03-10T20:22:00.002-05:00

ht/Rachel Lucas

I wasn't going to post this, but he's so cute.

Vigil in NC

2009-03-04T15:32:00.002-06:00

ht/BestFriends
Cross Posted:PaxParabellum
Is is a bit late, but I just happened to click on to Best Friends and found this. I couldn't believe that people would just kill 145 dogs and puppies because they were discovered at Dog-fighting kennel.

Candlelight Vigil to Honor Victims of Wildside Kennels
February 27, 2009 : 5:39 PM
North Carolinians Urged to Attend and Support Changing Dog-fighting Laws

By Best Friends Staff

The recent mass euthanasia of 145 dogs, including about 75 puppies, prompted a candlelight vigil to honor the dogs that were destroyed after being seized from Wildside Kennels—a North Carolina dog-fighter’s breeding operation.

Organizers hope lawmakers will enact change to guarantee dogs seized from dog-fighting operations will have the opportunity to be individually evaluated, rather than being automatically deemed “dangerous” and destroyed.

Concerned citizens and representatives of animal rescue groups from across the state are planning to attend.

Vigil Location and Time
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Bicentennial Mall
16 W. Jones St.
(near the North Carolina General Assembly)
Raleigh, NC
Google Map

Vigil Highlights
• A bell will toll 145 times in memory of each dog.
• As a bell is rung, a collar will be placed in a circle.
• Song: Wayfaring Stranger, by Shelia Carlisle, noted North Carolinian blues singer
• Meet Phantom: “Ambassador Pit Bull” and some of his friends
• Handout: “I’m a Lover Not a Fighter” postcard featuring Leo rescued from the Michael Vick Bad Newz Kennels, now a certified therapy dog.

For more information about Wildside Kennels and North Carolina’s dog-fighting laws:

• Time Is Running Out For Dogs Seized In Dog Fighting Case

• Court Order Issued to Euthanize Seized Dogs

• Policy Change Heaven Sent

How You Can Help:
• Please do not let something like this happen again. Residents of North Carolina, please contact your state Senator, Representatives to request a redraft of North Carolina Statute NC 67-1 - 4.1 (a)(1).

• Find your state legislators here by inputting your zip code + 4 (scroll down page, right hand column).

• Insist that the following language from North Carolina Statute NC 67-1 - 4.1 (a)(1) be removed from the definition of “Dangerous Dog.”

- “Any dog owned or harbored primarily or in part for the purpose of dog fighting, or any dog trained for dog fighting.”
- Remind your legislators that all dogs are individuals and should be evaluated as such, not lumped together by group or breed.

It's a damn waste that the authorities decided it was bet to kill all those dogs.

Is Local Nashville News Just Getting Dumber

2009-03-03T14:12:00.004-06:00

Last Wednesday I was watching WTVF in Nashville's 10:00 News. The report from Phil Williams comes on. Why it would seem Marsha Blackburn commented on BHO's speech to Congress--for shame, before he gave it. That's right Phil Williams, great investigative reporter that he is points to the time stamp on Marsha Blackburn's remarks. Why it's dated 3 something PM. Brilliant save for one problem, she was making her remarks based on BHO's speech that was released as all Presidents' speeches are to the media and congress before air-time. Unfortunately, most of Channel 5's audience probably thought Phil's work was for real. You guess he didn't know the truth?

Then tonight--there Channel 5 is again making light of BHO's flippant remarks about the stock-market. How BHO can't worry about the stock market because he is busy trying to put people back to work. I guess no one at Channel 5 has any of their retirement money in the stock market.

Escapism

2009-03-03T14:11:00.000-06:00

Can't get this song out of my head.

Tea Parties

2009-02-28T14:06:00.003-06:00

ht/Michelle Malkin

The picture says it all; although to please a columnist here, I guess the girl should be a person of color. One of our local columnist in the Tennessean says she will always vote democrat because there's no one like her in the Republican Party. She must not know about Bobby Jindal.

Tea Party--It's Growing

2009-02-26T21:34:00.002-06:00

Ht/LittleMissAttila

The protest idea is growing and spreading:

Friday, February 27th “Tea Party” Tax Protests

Washington, D.C. Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Washington Monument
Washington, DC

NORTHEAST:

Philadelphia, PA
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Liberty Hall, Philadelphia
Devon Generally, 215-259-3868
Generallyforsenate@gmail.com

Pittsburgh, PA Tea Party
February 27, 2009
12pm - 1pm
Point State Park
Pittsburgh
hlskittypryde@yahoo.com

SOUTHEAST:

Jackson, Mississippi Tea Party
12:00am-1:30pm (meet and greet from 11-12)
Where: On the steps of the Capital Building in Jackson
Sponsors: Friends of FreeRepublic.com and Grassfire.com
Notes: Send a clear message to State and Federal office holders regarding the recent passage of the “Porkulus Bill.” Bring flags, drinks, snacks. Bring cameras. Bring your kids.

Atlanta, GA Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Georgia State Capitol Building ~ Downtown Atlanta
206 Washington St SW
Atlanta, GA
Contact Info:
770-878-0024
atlantateaparty@gmail.com

Fayetteville, NC
Friday February 27, 2009
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Liberty Point Resolves Marker
Downtown Fayetteville, Hay St.
Ralph Reagan

Shelby County, AL
12pm to 1pm
Hwy 280 at the beginning of the crest going into Chelsea at entrance to Eagle Point Neighborhood

Calera, AL Tea Party
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Where: Hwy 280 at the entrance to Eagle Point, 1/2 mile south of Hwy 119
Calera, AL
Contact: abish1@email.phoenix.edu

Greenville, SC
Friday, February 27, 2009
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Reedy River Park - Banks of the Reedy River
West of Main Street, behind the Peace Center

Columbia, SC
Statehouse
no add’l details available at this time
Pls follow link for up-to-the-second
developments.

Tampa, FL Tea Party
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Federal Courthouse
801 N. Florida Ave.
Tampa, FL
Contact: John Hendrix; mobile: 803/571-1153

Orlando, FL Tea Party
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Lake Eola (across from Panera Bread)
Orlando, FL
OrlandoTeaParty@MyAmericanism.com

Fort Meyers Beach, FL Tea Party
11:30am - 1:00pm
Location: Bowditch Point Park
Street: 50 Estero Blvd.
Fort Myers Beach, FL
Contact: katraky@gmail.com

Nashville, TN Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m.
Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN

CENTRAL:

Chicago, IL Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Daley Plaza Civic Center
50 W Washington St.
Contact Info: 312/282-9310
info@officialchicagoteaparty.com
http://officialchicagoteaparty.com/

Wichita, KS Tea Party
11:30 pm - 12:30 pm
Where to Meet: Farm Credit Bank Building
245 N. Waco
Wichita, KS
Contact: renaissancelady46@yahoo.com

Kansas City, MO Tea Party
Saturday, February 28, 2009
10:00am - 2:00pm
J.C. Nichols Foundatin - Kansas City, MO
47th and J.C. Nichols Parkway K.C. MO
Kansas City, MO
RBALLARD9@kc.rr.com

St. Louis, MO Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
11:00am - 12:00pm
The Steps of Arch
Wharf Street
Saint Louis, MO
636-346-1196
bill@hennessysview.com

Springfield, MO Tea Party (*NCTP)
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Lake Springfield Park
Springfield, MO
Contact:thedangerousone@live.com

Tulsa, OK Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
11:00am - 1:00pm
Veteran’s Park
21st & Boulder
Tulsa, OK
918/760-8282
jaiblevins@hotmail.com

Oklahoma City, OK Tea Party
11:00 a.m. local time on the Capitol Steps
Notes: Our message to Congress, Repeal or Retire. Repeal–1. The Mortgage Bailout; 2. The $1 Trillion Pork-Laden Stimulus; 3. The Auto Bailout; 4. The Wall Street Bailout.

Cleveland, OH Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Public Square in Downtown Cleveland
1 Public Square
phil.ammar@gmail.com

Lansing, MI
Friday, February, 27, 2009
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
State Capitol in Lansing on North Capitol Ave.
Joan: 517/282-2042
Wendy: 517/652-5855
wjdayhome@sbcglobal.net

LONE STAR STATE:

Houston, TX Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
11:00am - 2:00pm
Fondren Green at Discovery Green Park!!! Right in front of Amphitheatre!!
Houston, TX
281-579-1956
fcravens1@peoplepc.com

Ft. Worth, TX Tea Party
The Cowtown Bar & Grill
Friday, February 27, 2009
3pm to 7pm
7108 Camp Bowie Blvd Fort Worth, TX 76116
682? 817? 570-7910

WEST

Seattle, WA
Seattle Sons & Daughters of Liberty: A Seattle Action Network
Friday, February 27, 2009
12:15pm - 1:15pm
Westlake Park
410 Pine St., Seattle, WA
redistributingknowledge@gmail.com

Portland, OR Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
9:00am - 10:00am
Pioneer Courthouse Square @ the corner of Broadway & Morrison (in front of the STARBUCKS)
715 SW Morrison St
Portland, OR

Denver, CO Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
10:00am - 11:00am
The East Capitol Steps
Denver, CO
briantcampbellsr@yahoo.com

Phoenix, AZ (Tempe) Tea Party
12:00 noon, Tempe Beach Park
(Meet at 11:45 a.m.)
Tempe Beach Park, west of the Mill Avenue Bridge. A parking lot is available next to the park, on Rio Salado Parkway.
Sponsors: Americans for Prosperity (AFP)
Map: http://phoenix.about.com/library/blmaptempebeachpark.htm
RSVP: infoAZ@afphq.org.
Notes: 18th-century attire welcome. Tar and feathers optional. For ideas on homemade protest signs, check out the Nationwide Chicago Tea Party site.

Sacramento, CA Tea Party
12:00 noon
California State Capitol, North Steps, L Street Sacramento
Notes: Wanna burn the stimulus bill?

San Diego, CA Tea Party
Friday, February 27, 2009
9:00am - 10:00am
Just north of the Star of India, on San Diego Bay
San Diego, CA
619-606-0337
http://www.nationwidechicagoteaparty.com

Los Angeles, CA
Friday, February 27, 2009
9:00am - 10:00am
Santa Monica Pier
ashleyingram86@gmail.com

[Purists will insist that Santa Monica is not part of Los Angeles. Fine, then: rumor has it that a handful of people will also be at the Federal Building in Westwood, on the South side of Wilshire, with signs, on "protest corner." That is in Los Angeles, but it appears that the crowd in Santa Monica will be larger. With a little thought one could go to Santa Monica in the morning, and still make it to Westwood for Friday night rush-hour traffic. Instigators include the Bear Flag League (Yay!), and KFI's John and Ken (Ugh!).]

A Duck in a Truck

2009-02-25T23:31:00.001-06:00

Frank the Duck

More On the Stimulus

2009-02-20T18:50:00.001-06:00

ht/PaxParabellum

The Money Hole

2009-02-19T17:55:00.001-06:00

ht/Moonbattery

In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?

Postings

2009-02-17T10:04:00.005-06:00

Since I post at www.paxparabellum.com, my postings here will probably be less--as I get nagged to post more and more there. I will try to keep this blog up since I combined the three I originally had. All I'm saying is posting maybe slow here until I can find some kind of balance. Plus I'm working on restoring some very old black and white pictures which is taking up a good bit of time.

Here's one--it's a baptism for Hebron Baptist Church in Poplar Creek, Montgomery County, Mississippi. It's at Jim Tindoll's pond.

It looks to me as if there were several people in the foreground, and they have almost completely faded away. At first you think it's just damage to the photo, then you realize those images are people. I studied the thing for quite awhile trying to get the image to a size where Walgreen's could print it and not cut of half the image. I finally cut the image in half to make two separate pictures.

My Stomach May Not Last The Four Years of ObamaFest

2009-02-11T18:56:00.005-06:00

ht/Rachel Lucas
I was resisting posting anything about this but when I saw a clip of the president kissing Henrietta Hughes the woman with no home). It wasn't the woman he was kissing that made me nearly puke, it was the woman to the left mouthing "I love you, Barack."

So anyway this curiously sick infatuation a number of people are having with our new president is frightening me and making me physically ill. By nature I am suspicious of people that so enthrall their followers. They tend to be crazy or attract crazies. It's just the nature of that kind of charisma. Well, maybe it's worse with certain kinds of people like politicians. A politician who is very charismatic can certainly use a bunch of enthralled acolytes--or something like that.

In keeping with the enthralled acolytes, Judith Warner seems to have fallen under the Obama Wan Kanobi spell:

The other night I dreamt of Barack Obama. He was taking a shower right when I needed to get into the bathroom to shave my legs, and then he was being yelled at by my husband, Max, for smoking in the house. It was not clear whether Max was feeling protective of the president’s health or jealous because of the cigarette.

The other day a friend of mine confided that in the weeks leading up to the election, the Obamas’ apparent joy as a couple had made her just miserable. Their marriage looked so much happier than hers. Their life seemed so perfect. “I was at a place where I was tempted daily to throttle my husband,” she said. “This coincided with Michelle saying the most beautiful things about Barack. Each time I heard her speak about him I got tears in my eyes — because I felt so far away from that kind of bliss in my own life and perhaps even more, because I was so moved by her expressions of devotion to him. And unlike previous presidential couples, they are our age, have children the same age and (just imagine the stress of daily life on the campaign) by all accounts should have been fighting even more than we were.”
. . .
Many women — not too surprisingly — were dreaming about sex with the president. In these dreams, the women replaced Michelle with greater or lesser guilt or, in the case of a 62-year-old woman in North Florida, whose dream was reported to me by her daughter, found a fully above-board solution: “Michelle had divorced Barack because he had become ‘too much of a star.’ He then married my mother, who was oh so proud to be the first lady,” the daughter wrote me.

There was some daydreaming too, much of it a collective fantasy about the still-hot Obama marriage. “Barack and Michelle Obama look like they have sex. They look like they like having sex,” a Los Angeles woman wrote to me, summing up the comments of many. “Often. With each other. These days when the sexless marriage is such a big celebrity in America (and when first couples are icons of rigid propriety), that’s one interesting mental drama.”

I don't know periodically when things get really weird, I hear that Daffy Duck laugh replaying over and over in my . You 'member, Who Awho Awho. It just seems fitting some how--a Loony Toon for a loony time.

The Trouble with Stimulus

2009-02-06T17:52:00.001-06:00

ht/Politico

Euthanzing Pets-When is It Time

2009-02-05T17:15:00.007-06:00

In the previous post I made note at the end about a dog named Katie, and it opened up a whole can of worms for me. Especially, after reading all the comments on the original story at the Naples News.

Katie was a 13 year old dog with numerous health problems. She got away from her owners after a bath so no tag, but she was microchipped. She was eventually picked up by a neighbor. Someone in the neighborhood says Katie's owner didn't take care of Katie. Well, that's kind of a matter of perspective or in the eye of the beholder; if you ask me since I've been in Katie's owner's shoes.

The neighbor who found Katie took her to their vet and their vet advised euthanizing Katie because of her health problems. The neighbors had Katie euthanized in very short order. It almost seems to me that the whole neighborhood conspired to interfere with Katie's owners and vet's judgment. I had a 17 and 1/2 year old toy poodle euthanized not long after Katie was, and I suspect if my neighbor had gotten a good look at Misti, they might have thought she needed euthanizing long before she was--but it wouldn't have been any of their business.

Misti had health problems. She had cataracts like Katie, but it didn't seem to both her much. She had problems with her teeth and needed clipping (the vet decided it was best if we didn't try to get Misti clipped as it upset her too much). The reason we finally had Misti put to sleep was that she had gotten dementia so bad she was afraid all the time--and the last few months the condition was worsening by the minute. No drug the vet gave us worked for more than a day or two. It's really sad that there aren't really good anti-anxiety pills for dogs. It got to the point that I was up half the night with her, so the rest of the household could sleep. She would eventually wear herself out and go to sleep; consequently, we all tiptoed around the house when she was asleep--afraid that we might wake her and the pacing and whining would start again.

Of course I probably would had had Misti euthanized months before she was because she wasn't there anymore--at least not most of the time. But she was my husband's dog before she was mine, and I left the decision to him. It's been almost two months, and I don't feel guilty all the time. Now, I feel guilty when I forget to think about her.

May Misti and Katie find their way to the Rainbow Bridge or back to someone who loves them.

MicroChipping Dogs--A Good Thing?

2009-02-05T17:04:00.003-06:00

ht/NewResearchFindings2
Crossposted: Pax Parabellum

Charlie Brown pictured above, a long haired Chihuahua was four months old when he bled to death after being implanted in LA with a mandatory microchip. The vet who did the surgery was perplexed as to what might have caused Charlie to bled to death while his owners helplessly held him.

Having just had to have a dog put to sleep this scares the crap out of me. This law in LA County requires the chip to be implanted by the time the dog is 4 months old, and while many dogs have no problems, there are all sorts of problems being reported. Chips that migrate to other areas of the dog's body. Cancers cropping up at the site of the plant, and for me the general creepiness of the government forcing people to have to do this. How so will it be before they will be forcing us to be implanted with microchips. And let's not forget some pets are microchipped and put to sleep without anyone checking for a chip--read Katie's story here and here.

OMG Tell Us What Part of Obama is In You

2009-02-03T10:26:00.006-06:00

ht/Moonbattery

I'm not sure I can do this justice because I have the beginnings of a MSG migraine coming on. Anyway the Detroit Free Press has this little photography contest going on called "See Obama in Yourself." You print this pdf half face of Obama, and put him on a stick. Once you get this picture mounted on the stick you can hold his image over half of your face and take a picture of yourself as it's half you and half Obama. Besides the creepiness, surely it would be easier to photo shop the image rather than the expense of printing his likeness and cutting it out. These examples the paper has look awfully professional.

Isn't this something more in line with first grade or something? This is kind of taking hero worship just a tad too far?

Octuplets Mother Already Has 6 Under 8 Years Old

2009-01-30T06:30:00.004-06:00

Ht/LAT
UpDate:
Ooops I'm just obsessed with children--so I have had 14 by a sperm donor. I was married but now I'm divorced--hmmm wonder why?

ht/LAT
This story is just unreal. What is wrong with a woman who has 6 children younger than 8 years of age who decides she needs to have more children? Yeah, that's right, the mom of the octuplets already had 6 children--7, 6, 5, 3 and 2 year old twin boys. The mother's father is even planning on going back to work as a contractor in Iraq to help support the new additions. If she has a husband, no news agency seems able to find him.

At the moment she lives with her parents in a small 2 or 3 bedroom home; although, her father claims they have a very big house some where secret. This just seems so selfish to me. Why in the world is 6 children not enough for anybody? There are plenty of stories out there that claim maybe she didn't have fertility treatments, but come on, women don't just have 8 babies at once without help. And what about those babies? What kind of health problems might they have?

The Dress Michelle Obama Should Have Worn

2009-01-29T00:12:00.009-06:00

ht/Neo
I have been mulling over Michelle Obama's ball gown for over a week. What can I say, I have no life. Anyway then I saw this dress on Neo-Neocon's blog. It's wonderful in its simplicity.

Jackie Kennedy wore the silk jersey dress by Oleg Cassini April 29, 1962(at a dinner in the White House for Nobel Prize Winners). The color celadon might might be all wrong, but the style is more classical and less high school promy. The dress is too busy and detracts from the first lady. She should be wearing the dress. Instead, the dress is wearing her, and she just looked uncomfortable.

Atlas Shrugged--Fiction?

2009-01-26T08:49:00.002-06:00

ht/Dr. Sanity

Stephen Moore writes in the Wall Street Journal that our economic crisis is straight out of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged:

We already have been served up the $700 billion "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" and the "Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act." Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion -- in roughly his first 100 days in office.
The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

In the book the country falls into ruin as the people who end up doing all the work decide why should they. The world comes to a stand still when the ones with the ability to fix the things that start breaking disappear. Moore thinks this should be required reading for Congress and the Senate. I think too many of them are still of the mindset that Marxism didn't work because it just hasn't been tried by the right people yet.

Hopey Changey O My

2009-01-20T22:24:00.003-06:00

ht/Ace
(a version was posted at PaxParabellum.com)

The White House Website is totally redesigned to celebrate America (snicker, cough, aha). It's really just tooting their own horn and by that I mean Our Glorious New Leader's. There's a place of course to solidify the new push for all Americans to serve their community, and another place to view all of BO's speeches and special words of wisdom and truth. And then there is a section dedicated to BO's agenda which contains a wonderful and heart felt slam of the now former President Bush--Great message of hopey changey there. . God help us.

Katrina

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.
President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

How much money did President Bush end up giving the Katrina hit areas? A Busload and not one of those buses the NO mayor let just sit there and get flooded. Bush wasn't who let down the low-income people of NO. It was the mayor and the governor who dropped the ball.

There is nothing worse than a politician who lies about others to make himself look better.

And OMG where will I volunteer so I too can feel all hopey changey---the commercial is everywhere. I gotta go breathe into a paper bag for a few minutes or hyper-ventilate. I'm gonna need valium or something to make it through the next 4 years.

President Bush part 2

2009-01-19T16:52:00.011-06:00

You would be surprised how hard it is to find pictures of President Bush that aren't derogatory.

President Bush part 1

2009-01-17T20:40:00.003-06:00

This is from the end of Neil Cavuto's program Friday:

He was too classy. Too gentlemanly. I know he also wanted to put his years in office in the best light. But if it were me, I'd have gone for more heat. I'd have gone out with a bang.

I've interviewed the president six times and I can tell you he is a gentleman, and surprisingly, given all his nasty press, not remotely vindictive. But for this last address, I'd have told him, try to be. Not that you need my advice now, Mr. President, but you still have time for another address. And this time, become Italian. And I can say that, Mr. President, because I am Italian.

Go ahead and beat yourself over this financial crisis.But do mention that while the buck stops with you, it passes a lot of people along the way. People like, I don't know, Congress. That ignored you five years ago when you wanted to rein in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. I'd apologize for the economy this past year. But remind folks the seven prior ones were pretty good; and American productivity even today, surprisingly good. Do point out with all these job losses, a record number of Americans are still working. And with all these foreclosures on homes, a record percentage of them still own homes.

Let them rip you for no energy policy. Remind them you tried only weeks after you took office, but Congress shot down that policy. Let them attack you over entitlement spending. Remind them you were the first president to try to rein in Social Security spending and your own party punted.

And let them say you spent too much keeping us safe. Remind them we are because you did. And let those who smear you on human rights and a war, be reminded of 50 million people free because of that war. And Democrats who say you ignored Africa as president? Do remind them you've given more to fight disease and AIDS and hunger than any other president combined.

Some will call you a cowboy who didn't get it. I prefer a cowboy who frankly didn't care whether they did. Hold your head high that you led us through these dangerous times, where we're now comfortable bitching about our money. Forgetting little more than seven years ago, we were worried about something more valuable. Our lives. Just because you didn't say it, Mr. President, doesn't mean you still can't. After all, you've still got a few days.

Tarra and Bella

2009-01-17T00:52:00.003-06:00

Tarra has always loved dogs, but mostly dogs have never cared much for her. Considering how much bigger she is than them, it is understandable that dogs might shy away from her. She just wanted to touch, but until Bella no dog would allow it.

Gil Grissom's Last CSI

2009-01-15T21:19:00.004-06:00

Crossposted: Paxparabellum
Okay, eventually I will accept Laurence Fishburne as the lead on CSI, but I think he's going to have to slap that new girl Riley Adams for being a bitch and rude to her elders (maybe you had to see the montage of future episodes to get where I'm coming from on that). Anyway, Fishburne is okay. It's not his superior facade that has shown up on the set--so it's cool.

However, I had problems with Grissom's farewell. If he had walked off with Lady Heather, I wouldn't have been disappointed. In fact, I would have found that rather fitting. Unfortunately, he runs down to Costa Rica to be with Sara! Come on. She left him high and dry. I liked it a little when they got together because I felt sorry for her, but I never thought they fit together. I don't care about the age difference; although, eventually when there is that big a difference in age, you have problems since you don't get there the other one is coming from. I just didn't like them together. She acted too creepy too many times--sorry it's the only word I can come up with. Maybe distant would work better, but something was just too strange about Sara and I'm the queen of strange so I would know.

And here's the worst part for me. What the hell did he do with his dog Hank? You see Grissom with the dog a lot this season, and suddenly he's in Costa Rica. Where's the dog? Wrap things up right folks.