Big Brother is here and his name is Progressive

Sign away your privacy for a lower insurance rate? How about I ride a fucking bike!

Big Brother is here and his name is Progressive

Drivers now have a unique opportunity to save on car insurance thanks to an innovative program from Progressive. MyRate is an optional, behavior-based car insurance program that lets drivers pay based on how, how much and when their car is driven. Drivers who choose to participate simply plug a small wireless device into a port in their car that automatically sends driving data to Progressive. Cars driven less often, in less risky ways and at less risky times of day can receive a lower premium.

Frivolous Waste of Money and Time

Before you read this you should know that Kathy Hilton is the mother of Paris Hilton who also maxed out her campaign donation limit for McSame. And Paris is most well known for her frivolous wasting of money and time. I guess her mother now can be known for wasting money as well.

Kathy Hilton: McCain's Celebrity Ad: Frivolous, A Waste Of Money, A Waste Of Time

It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States.

Suspect in anthrax attacks found dead

I know that I feel better since he is dead. Uh huh... right.

And everyone is rushing to slam closed the door on that terrible chapter in our history. Now that there is a dead guy that we can accuse without "his day in court", we can forget about why it happened in the first place... and even who really did it!

Chief suspect in US anthrax attacks, Bruce Ivins, found dead

A top government scientist who helped to investigate America's deadly 2001 anthrax attacks has killed himself just as he was about to be charged in the case, in an extraordinary and unexpected twist to the biggest criminal investigation in US history.

Bruce Ivins, 62, who had worked for 18 years at the US Government's biodefence research laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland, died from an overdose of painkillers after being told that the Justice Department was about to charge him over the attacks, which brought fresh terror to the US days after the September 11 atrocity.

The death of Dr Ivins may put an end to one of the most baffling criminal investigations of modern times: the posting of weapons-grade anthrax spores in September and October 2001 that killed five people, sickened 17, closed Capitol Hill and crippled the US Postal Service.

Convinced at the time that it was another al-Qaeda plot, President Bush has since conceded that it was one of the lowest points of his White House tenure.

Who stood to gain from the anthrax scare? Well, it certainly didn't hurt the Bush Administration and the Military Industrial Complex in their rush to a senseless and illegal war, which filled their pockets by the way!

The truth is not libelous

On this day, Aug 04, 1735, Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. That jury said, "The truth is not libelous."

And freedom of the press, of speech, of religion is not still under attack by fascist forces still today?

Greed Incorporated

But why should we care how much drug manufacturers charge our health insurance companies.

Oh, wait. What health insurance?

Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drug

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - When Abbott Laboratories Inc. hiked up the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief.

Nearly five years later, the accusations against Abbott are still flying.

The North Chicago, Ill., drug company stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in several pending antitrust lawsuits. It settled only its first - and likely its cheapest one - last week.

The lawsuits, all filed in Oakland federal court, accuse Abbott of raising the price of the HIV-fighting Norvir to illegally stifle competition and boost sales of its own alternative, Kaletra. Embarrassing internal communications between executives plotting how to thwart their rivals in the lucrative HIV drug cocktail market have been made public in the process.

Executives acknowledged in 2003 internal memos that Abbott would appear as the "big, bad, greedy pharmaceutical company" if they implemented the Norvir price hike, according to court documents.

But the bruising to the company's public image then led to legal woes, with a barrage of lawsuits filed by patients, drug wholesalers and one competitor.

Just because this is about an AIDS drug doesn't mean that it doesn't affect you!

Your Free Market at its finest!

No. We certainly don't need any kind of regulation on the market! It is, after all, self correcting.

Not!

Columbian Unionist Found Dead in garbage dump after being detained by police

For those of you who haven't figured this out, this is the government that George Bush, John McCain and Barak Obama hold up as a shining light for democracy in South America. You know, the one where under their watch, funded and supported by the United States war on drugs, cocaine production increased 27% in 2007 alone.

GOD = Gold, Oil, and Drugs. The only god that America knows.

Upside Down World - Colombia: Bogotá unionist found dead

Source: Weekly News Update on the Americas

The body of Colombian unionist Guillermo Rivera Fuquene was found buried in a garbage dump in a rural area of Ibague, Tolima department, on July 15. Rivera Fuquene, an economist in the Bogotá Controller's Office and the president of the Public Services Union of Bogotá (Sinserpub), disappeared on April 22 after putting his daughter on a school bus in the Tunal section of the capital. According to his wife, Sonya Betancur (also given as "Sonia Betancourt"), the last news she heard after his disappearance was that he had been detained by the police. The center-left Democratic Alternative Pole (PDA), of which Rivera Fuquene was a member, said it had indications from a witness and videotapes that the Bogota police were involved. The authorities in Ibague determined that Rivera Fuquene was strangled and then buried on April 28.

In a press conference in Bogotá on July 15 after Rivera Fuquene's body was identified, members of the Unitary Workers Confederation (CUT) charged that the government was carrying out a "dirty war" against members of leftist groups. The CUT demanded an investigation into the murder and said "the facts demonstrate that, contrary to the official propaganda, there still aren't sufficient guarantees on the part of the state" for leftists "to exercise constitutional rights to life, liberty and union organizing and participation." (Notice from Confederacion de Trabajadores de Colombia, July 15; El Tiempo, Bogotá, July 17; TeleSUR, July 18)

Did I piss you off? And it doesn't bother you at all that we support a government like this, that our own government is like this? Who's the one that's fucked up here?

Prison for all! Democracy in Action

Why this Is a Good Time to Remember Eugene V. Debs

In June 1918, as American troops were entering the trenches of France, the socialist leader Eugene V. Debs gave a speech in Ohio declaring that rich men profit from wars, while poor men die in them. “You need to know,” he told his followers, “that you are fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder.” Federal agents arrested him for violating the 1917 Espionage Act, a law used to jail hundreds of war critics during Woodrow Wilson’s crusade to “make the world safe for democracy.” (Now known as the War on Terror.)

Today, when speech rights are again pressured by the demands of national security, we do well to remember the combination of forces that brought Debs to jail for speaking his mind. When Wilson called for war in April 1917, American public opinion was deeply divided, but the president and his attorney general suggested that war critics were disloyal. Unnerved by government propaganda, many citizens and scores of newspaper editors demonized the protestors, stifling debate at a time when it was desperately needed. Real threats to the national welfare existed, but were wildly exaggerated by politicians who saw partisan advantage in portraying themselves as champions of “100% Americanism.” Some used the public’s fear of radicals to stigmatize immigrants, inspiring a movement to throw up new barriers at our borders. All of this sounds familiar in our own time, as our fears once again threaten to undermine our democratic traditions.

Damn! If this article did not start out with, "In June 1918...", you would think that it was talking about the past 10 years, not almost a century ago. We are really progressing as a society, don't ya think?

It seems that forgetting our mistakes and repeating history is the only thing that our puny species is capable of. No wonder we haven't had any contact from advanced extraterrestrial beings. Who in their right mind would WANT to have contact with us?

"Socialism or Barbarism"

It is apparent to few that the latter is prevailing. Warnings of over a century have gone mostly unheeded and the fruits of this apathy are beginning to emerge in stark reality.

Ian Angus, "If Socialism Fails: The Spectre of 21st Century Barbarism"

Rosa Luxemburg spent her entire adult life organizing and educating the working class to fight for socialism. She was convinced that if socialism didn't triumph, capitalism would become ever more barbaric, wiping out centuries of gains in civilization. In a major 1915 antiwar polemic, she referred to Friedrich Engels' view that society must advance to socialism or revert to barbarism and then asked, "What does a 'reversion to barbarism' mean at the present stage of European civilization?"

She gave two related answers.

In the long run, she said, a continuation of capitalism would lead to the literal collapse of civilized society and the coming of a new Dark Age, similar to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire: "The collapse of all civilization as in ancient Rome, depopulation, desolation, degeneration -- a great cemetery" (The Junius Pamphlet).2

By saying this, Rosa Luxemburg was reminding the revolutionary left that socialism is not inevitable, that if the socialist movement failed, capitalism might destroy modern civilization, leaving behind a much poorer and much harsher world. That wasn't a new concept -- it has been part of Marxist thought from its very beginning. In 1848, in The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels wrote:

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles . . . that each time ended, either in the revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.

In Luxemburg's words: "Humanity is facing the alternative: Dissolution and downfall in capitalist anarchy, or regeneration through the social revolution" (A Call to the Workers of the World).

World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It goes like this: "What's older than John McCain?"

Well, no. Really...

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

It heads the world's oldest top 10 joke list published by the University of Wolverhampton Thursday.

A 1600 BC gag about a pharaoh, said to be King Snofru, comes second -- "How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."

The oldest British joke dates back to the 10th Century and reveals the bawdy face of the Anglo-Saxons -- "What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before? Answer: A key."

Though, I like the McCain gag better. Can you imagine, I sitting president wearing adult diapers? I have more trouble believing that anyone would actually vote for the creep. But I know that there are those who will.

Amazing.

The Tragedy That Is Pot Prohibition

And remember, this is ABC (Anal Broadcasting Company) that is reporting this as the tragedy that it is!

ABC News: Are Pot Users Criminals? The Tragic Case of Rachel Hoffman

After being caught twice with a "baggie" of marijuana, 23-year old Rachel Hoffman was reportedly told by police in Tallahassee, Florida that she would go to prison for four years unless she became an undercover informant.

The young woman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation two months ago.

"The idea of waging a war on drugs is to protect people and here it seems like we're putting people in harm's way," said Lance Block, a lawyer hired by Rachel's parents.

The Florida Attorney General's office says it is reviewing the procedures and protocol of the Tallahassee police.

Rachel's case also has raised new questions about state and federal laws related to marijuana possession.

"I'm calling her a criminal," Tallahassee police chief Dennis Jones told 20/20, who maintains that both drug dealers and drug users are considered criminals to his department.

--------------------
You can now watch Friday's excellent 20/20 segment on Rachel Hoffman here. There is also an expanded essay on this tragic situation here.

But, hell, who cares. We've got a war to wage, people to kill, money to make! So what if there is a little collateral damage (or a lot) and a few pot heads get killed. We were gonna kill 'em anyway.

"Stop War on Iran!"

I just have to pass this along.

From Coast to Coast - and around the Globe
The People Say "Stop War on Iran!"
Take to the streets on August 2!

The threat of a U.S./Israeli attack against Iran is growing - but so is grassroots opposition. What we do in the next few days and weeks can make a difference.

Just a few weeks ago - on June 12- the Stop War on Iran Campaign issued an emergency call to action for August 2. Response has been overwhelming, and activists have organized actions in more than 87 cities, including major cities from coast to coast, including Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Washington DC, as well as in smaller towns and cities like Westbrook, Maine; Melbourne and Ocala, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Bozeman, Mont.; Salt Lake City; and Tucson, Ariz. Organizers as far away as Hawaii are mobilizing to protest as an attack against Iran is threatened daily.

We've also heard from activists in Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Bangladesh and a number of countries in the Middle East, who are mobilizing to support the Emergency Call. There will also be actions in cities across Canada.

This growing number of actions demonstrates the deep opposition to an attack on Iran - across the U.S., local organizers are mobilizing demonstrations big and small in the heat of August from Hilo, Hawaii to Kennebunk, Maine, not far from the Bush family compound.

We urge you to join us in the streets this Saturday. If there's not an action near you, there's still time to organize a rally, speakout, or picket. Make your voice heard - go to http://stopwaroniran.org/aug22008volorgcent.shtml to list your local activity.

The End of America, Where "Everybody's Nice"

"Despots love to have elections. They have them all the time!"
If you really think that November will "change" anything, think again!

YouTube - Interview - The End of America

Interview with Naomi Wolf author of "The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot"

I couldn't add a thing to this interview... except maybe...

Naomi Wolf for President!

OK. He's a "Right Wing" Psychopath

My previous posts on this subject may have been vague on this point, though I don't think so. My reference to "the average American" and "southerners" in particular seemed to offend some. I admit that this is purely conjecture on my part, but it was "the average American" and "southerners" in particular that elected this current regime into power (with a little help from the Supreme Court), if I am not mistaken.

And it is "the average American" and "southerners" in particular who have rolled over and licked their nuts as these sycophants have ravaged the housing market, the banking industry, employment, health care, Social Security, our food supply, OUR TOY SUPPLY, and the list goes on (and on and on and on), not to mention all the mass murder that has been committed in YOUR FUCKING NAME around the world in all of those pesky little third world countries that have no rights at all to begin with (apparently). And all so you can buy, buy, buy until the wheels fall off of your SUV... and the fucking economy, too.

Forgive me for comparing "the average American" and "southerners" in particular to this psychopath which walked into a church and opened fire, which I didn't think that I did. I just called them all MORONS. But for what it is worth, perhaps these apathetic people of which I speak are not that different from him.

I have been screaming at the top of my lungs for over a decade and all it has gotten me is divorced and a heart attack. Oh, and one of you right wing pricks tried to take my fucking home away from me. (But that doesn't count. I'm a left wing nut that doesn't deserve to have a home of his own!)

And as it turns out, this psychopath was merely doing the bidding of your right wing mouth pieces at Faux News, or Fox Noise, or whatever the fuck they are because they aren't fucking news! They are hate mongers! Tools of the War Machine!

So, forgive me for stepping out of your little fantasy world of "everybody's nice". Because they most certainly are not, my friend. Forgive me for not burying my head in the sand and in my ass as the world comes apart at the hinges! And it is all made possible by all of you "everybody's nice" pricks.

Did Right-Wing Shock Jocks Motivate Knoxville Killer? | PEEK | AlterNet

From the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show.

Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the Levy Drive home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children's musical.

Adkisson targeted the church ... "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."

Adkisson [said] that "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."

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

The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

Adkisson, 58, of Powell wrote a four-page letter in which he stated his "hatred of the liberal movement," Owen said. "Liberals in general, as well as gays."

Adkisson said he also was frustrated about not being able to obtain a job, Owen said.

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

"It appears that church had received some publicity regarding its liberal stance," the chief said. The church has a "gays welcome" sign and regularly runs announcements in the News Sentinel about meetings of the Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays meetings at the church.

Owen said Adkisson's stated hatred of the liberal movement was not necessarily connected to any hostility toward Christianity or religion per say, but rather the political advocacy of the church.

The church's Web site states that it has worked for "desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights" since the 1950s. Current ministries involve emergency aid for the needy, school tutoring and support for the homeless, as well as a cafe that provides a gathering place for gay and lesbian high-schoolers.

I'm getting to the point that I can't look at the wreck we have all ALLOWED to happen, as we kept telling ourselves that "everybody's nice" and that everything would work out. It WILL work out. Just not the fairy tale ending that you have envisioned.

Hold on to your seats folks. We are attacking Iran as you read this. Our economy is crumbling as you read this. Capitalism is in its last throes. Your world, and mine (thank you very fucking much) is about to change into something that we can't even imagine.

And I assure you that it ain't gonna be nice.

Cucaracha.

And I bid you farewell.

Press Advisory: Marijuana Decriminalization Bill in Congress

Trickles of sanity in an insane world? Just passing this info along to any who might be interested.

Press Advisory: Marijuana Decriminalization Bill in Congress

Monday, July 28, 2008

WHAT:
Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and other Congressional cosponsors will convene a press conference to announce the introduction of legislation to remove federal penalties for personal marijuana use, and take questions from the media.

HR 5843, entitled An Act To Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults, would eliminate federal penalties for possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana, and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of marijuana.

This proposal reflects the basic recommendations of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (aka the Shafer Commission) in their groundbreaking report to Congress in 1972 entitled Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding.

This is the first federal marijuana decriminalization bill to be introduced in Congress since 1978, and reflects the changing public attitudes that no longer support treating responsible marijuana smokers like criminals. According to a nationwide Time/CNN poll, three out of four Americans now favor a fine only, no jail, for adults who possess or use small amounts of marijuana.

Representatives from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana LAWS (NORML), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) will also participate in this press conference.

WHEN:
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 10:00am.

WHERE:
Room 2220 Rayburn House Office Building

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 202-483-5500:
Ask for NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup; keith@norml.org

NORML and the NORML Foundation: 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington DC, 20006-2832
Tel: (202) 483-5500 • Fax: (202) 483-0057 • Email: norml@norml.org

Let Albert Speak!

Since I obviously have not expressed myself in a clear enough manner for some to understand what I am trying to say, I will let one of the greatest minds of the previous century speak.

"I gladly accept this award as an expression of friendly sentiments. It gives me great pleasure, indeed, to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed. To be sure, we are concerned here with non-conformism in a remote field of endeavor, and no Senatorial committee has as yet felt impelled to tackle the important task of combating, also in this field, the dangers which threaten the inner security of the uncritical or else intimidated citizen."
Radio Broadcast, May 4, 1953

"We thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to religion very different from the usual one. When one views the matter historically, one is inclined to look upon science and religion as irreconcilable antagonists, and for a very obvious reason. The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events--provided, of course, that he takes the hypothesis of causality really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it undergoes. Science has therefore been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
New York Times, November 9, 1930

"We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the hand full of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. And those who have an interest in keeping the machinery of war going are a very powerful body; they will stop at nothing to make public opinion subservient to their murderous ends."
Mein Weltbild, Querido Verlag, 1934

"But I also believe that it can come through agreement and through the force of persuasion alone, hence at low cost. But if it is to come in this way, it will not be enough to appeal to reason. One strength of the communist system of the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion. Unless the cause of peace based on law gathers behind it the force and zeal of a religion, it hardly can hope to succeed. Those to whom the moral teaching of the human race is entrusted surely have a great duty and a great opportunity. The atomic scientists, I think, have become convinced that they cannot arouse the American people to the truths of the atomic era by logic alone. There must be added that deep power of emotion which is a basic ingredient of religion. It is to be hoped that not only the churches but the schools, the colleges, and the leading organs of opinion will acquit themselves well of their unique responsibility in this regard."
Atlantic Monthly, Boston, November, 1945, and November 1947

Collected from "Ideas and Opinions", Albert Einstein
Copyright 1954 by Crown Publishers, Inc.

And even with repeated warnings by this Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and many before and after him, nothing at all has changed. Man is still the brute animal that he has always been. It is ironic that Alfred Bernhard Nobel invented dynamite and was ever regretful for his contribution to mans' ability to wage war.

I have been corrected, and rightly so, for my earlier statements referring to "the Average American" and "Southerners" as being moronic imbeciles. "The South" and "America" certainly have no monopoly on "morons". It just so happens that the world is full of them. They have just enough reasoning ability to be dangerous, and to kill each other... even their own!

I certainly do not mean to be condescending. I only wish to point out the TRUTH of the folly of mankind. They just happen to be in my face where I live. So, they get the brunt of my wrath here. People kill because they are taught to kill. Now, who's fault is that?

I speak these difficult truths precisely because I DO care! Because more people need to wake up! Hell, from appearances, the vast majority of mankind needs to wake up... before it is too late. And it may already be too late.

Man shot churchgoers over liberal views?

I just can't leave this one alone!

Police: Man shot churchgoers over liberal views

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance.

Chief Sterling Owen IV said Monday that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson's car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement."

Adkisson is charged with first-degree murder. Police say a gunman entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church during a children's performance Sunday. No children were hurt.

The church is known for advocating women's and gay rights and founding an American Civil Liberties Union chapter.

It is being reported that the suspect wrote in a note that he signed before the shooting that he was angry that he couldn't find a job as a result of the "liberal movement"!

This simply goes to show how misinformed that the average American really is, especially in the south. It never occurs to him that the jobs are being sent over seas by Republican Conservatives. It also escapes him that Republican Conservatives are responsible for all "Union Busting" that has occurred over the past 20 years or more and that Unions were what kept wages competitive. He doesn't realize that "free trade" agreements made by the conservative, moneyed elite are rendering our Constitution obsolete.

These southern morons believe that protecting our Civil Liberties is an evil that is eroding our freedom when it is exactly the other way around! This is a classic example of the upside down, backward thinking that is programmed into our youth in our society.

Now, I must give the Devil his due. The American "Left" is only just right of center. But these ill informed, brainwashed idiots actually believe that the advocacy of Peace, Freedom, and Civil Liberties is the root of all of their problems.

And this is exactly the condition that the 'masters' are working toward: divide and destroy. If we are too busy fighting and killing each other, then the attention is shifted away from their own dastardly deeds.

Again, I find myself at a loss of words for my disbelief and disgust.

Fear and loathing are the only sentiments that appear to have any place in our society any more. But our collective distrust is misplaced, obviously. At least it is obvious to me.

If you want to be angry at someone, it would be nice if you could direct your anger at the responsible party's: Fascist Conservative Money Whores! You know, that top 2 or 3 percent of the population that actually hold all of the wealth and do whatever is necessary to keep it in their own hands. And they will truly stop at nothing!

I am in NO WAY condoning the actions of this "psychopath", (Dusty). I am simply stating the fact that his twisted thinking was fomented by the bigoted beliefs that are spewed from the mouths of those here in the south that surround me on a daily basis!

And I don't hide behind a cyber wall to speak my mind, either.

Don't look at these Photo's...

... It is bad for business!

Picturing Casualties - The New York Times

Gunman opens fire in Tennessee church

Whoa! Tell me that people aren't getting pissed!

Gunman opens fire in Tennessee church, 1 killed

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A man wielding a shotgun entered a church and opened fire as congregants watched a youth performance Sunday, killing one person and injuring eight others, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen said.

Police said the gunman was taken into custody. They didn't immediately release his name. No children were injured. A hospital spokeswoman said five of the wounded were in critical condition.

Owen said the man killed was Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

"It appears Mr. McKendry was the first person he (the gunman) encountered when he walked into the sanctuary," Owen said. "It's going to be a while before all the facts are cleared up."

A church member who arrived moments after the shooting said the gunman fired three times and was tackled. Officials wouldn't say exactly how many people subdued the gunman.

"It was a large group and we are thankful for them for without it, this situation could have been even worse," Mayor Bill Haslam said.

There were about 200 people in the church at the time of the shooting watching a youth performance being put on by 25 children.

Police had cordoned off the church with yellow and red tape, and were taking statements and collecting video cameras from church members who were taping the performance.

The church's minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon.

"We've been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers," the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church.

The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church is a community that meets to worship and work together for social change, according to the church's Web site. Since the 1950's, the congregation has worked for desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights, according to the Web site. The congregation also has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the ACLU.

I, myself, cannot advocate violence against others, even when they are committing violence, if only by consent or exhortation, as it seems our "Christian" Nation has devolved into. But I think that this my be indicative of a growing discontent. And the direction of the discontent is not misplaced: The Church and our communities.

It is important to note the courageousness of the congregation members who subdued the assailant. And they did it without KILLING him. This should be our guide in dealing with violence, to be sure. A different mind set than "Kill 'em all and let God sort it out" is needed in our society, beginning in our homes, schools and churches.

Terroristic Housing Market

Does anyone see anything strange or odd about the sign in this picture?

Housing rescue bill heads to Bush for signature

Congress passed the most significant housing legislation in decades Saturday, offering help to struggling homeowners and seeking to stabilize a troubled housing market that has dragged down the economy.

President Bush will sign it quickly, the White House said, despite reservations over $3.9 billion in the bill that would aid neighborhoods devastated by the housing crisis buy and fix up foreclosed properties.

Let's drill off shore

... instead of all the oil fields that we can and aren't drilling in. And let's just burn, baby burn, and keep on burning until we all burn. I guess this is hell, almost.

Baby penguins found dead by the hundreds

While it is com­mon here to find some pen­guins—both dead and alive—swept by strong ocean cur­rents from the Strait of Ma­gel­lan, Pi­menta said there have been more this year than at any time in re­cent mem­o­ry.

Res­cuers and those who tre at pen­guins are di­vid­ed over the pos­si­ble causes. Thi­ago Mu­niz, a vet­er­i­nar­ian at the Niteroi Zoo, said he be­lieved overfishing has forced the pen­guins to swim fur­ther from shore to find fish to eat “and that leaves them more vul­ner­a­ble to get­ting caught up in the strong ocean cur­rents.”

Niteroi, the state’s big­gest zoo, al­ready has al­ready received about 100 pen­guins for treat­ment this year and many are drenched in pe­tro­le­um, Mu­niz said. The Cam­pos oil field that sup­plies most of Bra­zil’s oil lies off­shore.

Mu­niz said he had­n’t seen pen­guins suf­fer­ing from the ef­fects of oth­er pol­lu­tants, but he po int­ed out that al­ready dead pen­guins aren’t brought in for treat­ment.

Pi­menta sug­gested pol­lu­tion is to blame. “A­side from the oil in the Cam­pos ba­sin, the pol­lu­tion is lo w­er­ing the an­i­mals’ im­mun­ity, leav­ing them vul­ner­a­ble to fun­guses and bac­te­ria that at­tack their lungs,” Pi­menta said, quot­ing bi­ol­o­gists who work with him.

But bi­olo­g­ist Erli Cos­ta of Ri­o de Janeiro’s Fed­er­al Uni­ver­s­ity sug­gested we ath­er pat­terns could be in­volved. “I don’t think the lev­els of pol­lu­tion are high enough to af­fect the birds so quick­ly. I think in­stead we’re see­ing more young and sick pen­guins be­cause of glob­al warm­ing, which af­fects ocean cur­rents and cre­ates more cy­clones, mak­ing the seas rougher,” Cos­ta said.

Will we ever stop the greed and disregard for life of the oligarchy? Probably not.