The Execution Of Angel Maturino Resendiz

Angel Maturino Resindez was finally put to death Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m., following a two hour delay necessitated by a last minute final appealed, that was ultimately denied. He was then put to death by lethal injection for a murder in Texas. He was also evidently responsible for a series of other murders throughout the country, as well as rapes, that he would commit near railroad tracks. He had a habit of travelling across the country by way of hopping freights, and I guess rape and murder was one of the ways he got his jollies, or relieved his tensions and frustrations, or both. Some people when they travel like to visit historic sites, amusement parks, recreational facilities, natural preserves, nightclubs, sporting events and regional performances. Other people like to visit brothels, crack houses, pornographic bookstores and theatres-or, like Reendiz, go that extra mile by committing various forms of mayhem.

I actually want to thank him for providing me with a few good laughs, for what it was worth. Before he was eventually caught, any neighborhood in the US that was near the vicinity of a railroad track was in the grip of varying degrees of terror, or at least some anxiety, wondering when next he might strike, and against who. This was especially true in Kentucky, where he had been accussed (though never tried and convicted) of killing one Lexington UK student and raping his girlfriend, who survived following a brutal beating, then went on to identify their assailant.

I used to keep a former workmate in tears teasing her about her habit of walking near the railroad tracks at night, after telling her I had seen a suspicous looking Hispanic male lurking around them, looking as though he were trying to avoid being seen. I would invite her to come along for an evening stroll by the tracks after work. Yeah, I know I’m an asshole, but I did put a stop to this inadviseable habit, which would be dangerous were Resendiz not within a thousand miles of the place. After all this is Covington kentucky we are talking about. At that time it was the third largest city in Kentucky and, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, is a major rail transportaion center. Now, due in part to it’s crime and economic stagnation, it has fallen to about fifth in population in this span of almost ten years to about fifth, behind Louisville, Lexington, Owensboro, and Paducah. It would have been a prime target for a character like Resendiz, who was already familiar with Kentucky.

But now, at any rate, he has gone to meet his long overdue reward, though at the last minute he offerred some kind of apology for the pain he had caused. Previously, he had described himself as “half man half angel”, which was a basis for his appeal by his atorneys on the grounds of incompetency. He had also made statements to the effect that after he was executed he would reappear, resurrected, three days later. Now Jesus Fucking Christ but I wonder where he got that from?

The most glaring omission on the NBC Nightly News of that night may have been (I missed the first ten minutes) it’s lack of coverage of Resendiz’s execution. Even though he was due to have been executed at 7:00 p.m. this last Tuesday night, this went without a word of mention from NBC anchorman Brian Williams (if someone knows different you are welcome to correct me). Nor, strangely enough, did I hear any mention about the execution from the usual suspects who haunt the grounds outside prisons during the inmates last few hours. No sign of The Ferrell Bitch, or any of the other hordes of celebrities or human rights activists who seem to have never seen a criminal whose execution they can justify or agree to, no matter how vile and malignant a tumor on the human condition they might be. But then again, I no longer receive Fox News or MSNBC, and CNN is most of the time all but unwatchable.

At any rate, I’m sure my point hasn’t escaped you bright souls. And that is, why should the anti-death penalty crowd stick to it’s vaunted principles? Could it be that most of these same people are the ones that support open borders between the US and Mexico, as well as amnesty for the more than ten million illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico, that currently here reside? Could it be that they, as well as the generally sympathetic mainstream media, feel that drawing attention to Resendiz, by way of protesting the execution of this very possibly insane man, is just drawing ever more attention to the very real dangers of open immiration into the United States. Could they feel this could demonstrate the threat posed by those who for whatever reason feel it is not in their best interest to try to immigrate to this country in the legal manner? That it could fire up even more support for ever more stringent border security?

Oh, surely not. Surely these fine, loving, tolerant, progressive minded saintly people couldn’t be so cynical. Not great, caring, civic minded liberals like Ed AssNerd and “BlowJob Hunnicunt” Mike The Ferrell Bitch.

Me, I am glad that this human piece of shit was put to death, an attitude which I am proud to say has nothing to do with his country of origin, but solely with the crimes the committed, the lives he shatterred-and ended-and the grief he caused.

Still, I hope Mike Ferrell sees him every night, standing by his bed.

Primate Rules

It looks like the divide between Anglicans and Episcopalians, the American branch of the Church of England, threatens to grow ever wider, now that the Americans have named as their leader the former Bishop of Nevada, a woman, Katharine Jefforts Schori, who in addition to being female is an open supporter of gay rights, not only in society, but in the Church itself. This apparently includes the ordination of gays.

While there is evidently no problem with the ordination of women at the local parish level, the naming of a woman to such a position of authority is indeed controversial, and against traditional church doctrine and policy. This, then, would be the second crisis since 2003, when relations between the two branches became frayed over the Americans appoitment of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man with a live-in partner, to be the bishop of New Hampshire.

Anglican Church doctrine explicitly states that homosexuality is a violation of scripture. This, however, seems to be the minority opinion in the US, or Episcopal, branch of the Anglican Church. When the Anglican leadership demanded that the Episcopals elect no more gay bishops for now, Episcopal officials voted to agree only to call for “restraint”.

In order to forestall a permanent rupture of the churches, Archbishop Rowan Williams suggested the divided churches could stay together under a system in which members with non-traditional views on such issues as gay clergy could accept a lesser role.

“Some actions-and sacremental actions in particular-just do have the effect of putting a church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other churches”, he explained in a missive to the Anglican Communities 38 ironically named Primates-the leaders of the Church.

Me, I don’t see what the problem is, so long as a gay priest keeps his sexuality to himself. Though I can see how it might be a problem to some if a male priests male lover sits there making goo goo eyes at him through the service, or gets in a snit over a look another male parishioner gives the big boss man, or throws a hissy fit over some slight, real of imagined. Or if a gerbil suddenly comes scrambling out from under the priests robes. On the other hand, if it’s against official Church policy, there you have it-it is what it is. Yes, as you might have guessed, I think it’s funny.

So there you have it. And see, all this time you thought American Christians were all Bible thumping, hellfire and brimstone preaching, right wing social conservatives.

Thin As A Hog

Pagans have always been pig lovers, and pork eaters, one thing that always lead to our disdain amongst Jews and Muslims in the early days. The good thing about this story is, now we can hold our heads up high as lovers of the reviled swine. The bad news is, of course, we, along with Christians, will still be reviled by Jews and Muslims for at least this practice.

Still, there can be no doubt that the creation of a healthier cut of pork is welcome news, and this due to a special diet which farmers are encouraged to feed their pigs, and are actually paid a higher price to produce this leaner, healthier variety. In fact, not only is the trans fat and cholesterol content of this new breed of hog roughly the equivalent to that found in a skinless chicken breast, it has the added advantage of being higher in vitamins and minerals.

Of course, the reason for the ancient revulsion amongst Jews and Muslims for pigs has nothing to do with choleserol, the pig was just noted as an all around filthy animal, one that would, and will, eat anything. A story I heard once explains this quite aptly, dealing with a traditional German way of raising hogs.

They feed them corn. They shit out the corn. They eat their own shit, containing the corn. The corn is finally digested. You have a super fat, tasty, filling pork chop. Yes, you read all that correctly. They will not only eat their shit, they will wallow in it, as a means of keeping their bodies moist on hot days, due to an absence of sweat glands. Knowledgeable farmers therefore keep plenty of water availiable for their hogs, and feed them well, with what is commonly called “slop”, a vile concoction of field corn, with husks, apple cores, grains, and anything else imaginable that is biodegradble and non poisonous. They are not encouraged to eat their own or each others shit, though of course they still will do so given the opportunity, and the slightest hunger pangs.

So this, not some divine revelation as to the dangers of trichinosis, is the ultimate reason for the ancient Jewish revulsion for the meat of swines, especially considering that in these ancient days, pagans probably herded their swine the way we herd our cattle and sheep. Hence, the term “swineherd”. This condition enabled greater freedom for the pig, explaining the ability of the herd in the new testament to go bounding over a cliff into the ocean upon being possessed by the devils whom Christ exorcised into their bodues from that of the demon possessed man he cured.

Mostly, this made them easier to manage and to feed, as anything in their vicinity that died became food for them. By the same token, in some respects they may have been somewhat healthier than the tradfitionally raised American pig, in that this greater flexiility of movement helped lessen their cholesterol content, though at the same time trichinosis may have been even more of a problem, albeit an unknown one.

Now, of course, science may eventually breed the predisposition to trichinosis out of their systems within a few generations. This is great news altogether for us epicures, as I for my part generally love swine at least as much as chicken, and I absolutely despise skinless chicken, which is a violation of the civilization of the culinary arts, in my opinion.

Maybe they’ll even breed out of them the nasty inclination for eating shit. As long as they don’t do anything to ruin the taste though, that’s all that really matters to me.

Rush Limbaugh Makes It Harder

I never was a fan of Rush Limbaugh, and this has only a little to do with his political beliefs, actually when you get right down to it it has nothing to do with it. I just never really liked the man. He always struck me as arrogant. A better word would actually be pompous. He has always been, to me, a garden variety hypocrit who happens to be a brilliant marketer of ideas. That I will give him credit for, he sensed that the time was right to feed into the right wings dissilusionment with the political system and the media they felt, fairly or unfairly, preferred their opponents. He probably never honestly thought he would attain the degree of success that he has, but what he did was he moved far beyond the cottage industry and cult status he envisioned and into the stratosphere of broacasting success. He spawned a horde of imitators all in the span of ten years, and is still going strong.

But his life started to unravel when he was accussed of doctor shopping in order to feed a dangerous addiction to the highly addicitve pain killer Oxycontin. In one of the biggest ironies of the modern age, he was defended by the ACLU, who filed a firend of the court brief in order to ascertian the degree to which Limbaughs private patient information, his medical records, had been compromised by the prosecution by what they felt were overly zealous supporters of Limbaughs political rivals, and out and out enemies. They hated him and wanted revenge on Limbaugh, for just being Limbaugh.

His attorney, Roy Black, did an admirable job of arranging a deal whereby Limbaugh could be spared prosecution. But Limbaugh may have already violated the terms of his agreement by having in his possession a bottle of Viagra, that was not in his name. Come to find out, his doctor had prescribed the drug for the use of the treatment of erectile dysfunction, to himself, but for Limbaughs benefit, as a means of protecting Limbaughs privacy. A stupid move which insured that once Lmbaugh was searched at Palm Beach International Airport, and the bottle was found, the word would get out far and wide, even though this was evidently not a violation of Floida law. Still, Limbaugh is subject to specific terms. And so, had it been prescribed to him as it should have been, I would probably be typing a story right now about how hogs have been put on a special diet which makes their transfat, cholesterol, and other harmful content the same level as that of a skinless chicken breast.

But Limbaugh is taking the embarrassing situation as well as can be expected, laughing as he joked on his show that he wished he could tell his audience about the great time he had in the Dominican Republic. He also said that Customs officials didn’t believe him when he explained that he got the pills at the Clinton Library and were told they were blue M&Ms.

What he might have a harder time joking his way out of is how he has gone on record, on his own show, by criticising people that engage in sex to the extent of taking viagra, as an example of how we live in a “sex obsessed culture”.

Rush shoud really try some of that reduced fat pork, it might be better for his arteries.

Those Slutty Little Eight Year Old Girls

I’m hopeful that the latest news concerning the potential for a vaccine to prevent infection by a virus determined to cause cervical cancer in females will not be met with scorn by Rush Limbaugh as evidience of our “sex obsessed culture”, even though it is recommended that girls as young as eight receive these vaccinations.

No, Rush, this is unlikely to encourage little eight year old girls to go out and have sex. No, Rush, what ones might be inclined to have sex will not be discouraged if they aren’t allowed to have this vaccination. Yes, Rush, it might protect them if and when they do eventually get around to having sex, but no, giving it to them or not is not going ot have the slightest effects on the declining moral values of our society.

Take your viagra, Rush.

Bush Changes In Welfare Work Requirements

The Bush Administration has now provided guidelines for what qualifies as work for those now or in the future who might currently receive money or other aid from participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program-commonly known as “welfare”.

From now on, you can no longer qualify for this program simply by reading the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” to fulfill the necessary work requirements. Nor does bed rest count as qualification, which apparently is used in some states as a medical excuse, one which is apparently abused. Nor will you be able to meet the work requirements simply by running errands for friends.

In other words, the Bush Administration is saying that a good many states are abusing their privileges in setting guidelines as to what qualifies as work, and there is evidently a wide range across the states. In many, caring for an invalid family member qualifies as work. In many it does not. The Bush Administration guidelines is supposed to provide a comprehensive synchronized set of requirements for all the states, which is probably a good thing.

There can be little doubt that welfare, though well intentioned when first conceived, quickly became a boondoggle as well as, possibly, a vote buying scheme. It got worse throughout the years, and became for a long time one of the Repulican Partys favorite whipping tools against the Democrats, along with “crime on the streets”.

Thanks to Bill Clinton and The Republican Congress, who fought tooth and nail with each other over the scope of the welfare reforms which both promised to enact (Clintons version for the most part won out, though this conflict temproarily was at least partially responsible for the infamous government shut down of 1995), the welfare rolls have now shrunk from the then 4.4 million families receiving government assistance to now less than 2 million families.

As part of the new guidelines, ten different categories of work will now be defined. This will include on-the-job training and unsubsidized employment, in addition to community service. As it stands now, the difference in work requirements that exist state to state make if difficult to determine which states do a better job of phasing recipients back into full time employment.

Any state that fails to meet these new guidelines risk lossing up to five per cent of their funding. It needs to be higher, but at least this is a good start. The threat of funding cuts is probably the best incentive to insure that workers will work their asses off to help people phase off welfare-as oppossed to keeping them on it forever.

The DeSegregation Of Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson is trying to organize a rally in Louisville over the still divisive issue of school desegregation, calling for a ten thousand person rally to “urge” the US Supreme Court to allow the local school district to use race in student assignment. He is afraid that otherwise black students would be concentrated in low income schools that often have fewer resources.

He is also worried that an adverse ruling of the court could affect years of civil rights progress. He feels that failing to consider race as a factor it would “set back a whole century of work”.

The challenge due before the Supreme Court is based on a Louisville mothers challenge to the districts racial assignment guidelines. Though the guidelines allow for some choice among schools, it seeks through these guidelines to keep black enrollment between fifteen and fifty percent at most schools. However, in the lawsuit, the mother copmplains that her son was denied entrance into his own neighborhood school based solely on the fact that he was white. If true, this is atrocous.

There are two ways to solve this problem. One, make sure all schools have the funds they need to ensure quality education, regardless of their location. The second one is obvious, and that is, in order to assure a minimum percentage of black students at all schools in such a way as not to limit the rights of white residents to attend their own neighborhood schools, there should be some method to expand these schools whenever possible to allow for the increase in the student body, when or where that becomes a factor.

And this can be all be paid for in part by the process of ending the atrocious policy of bussing students across the city. This is a drain on economic resources, to say nothing of energy resources. They and all schools should also look into the possibility of closing schools up during the coldest parts of the year, in adition to the hottest periods, as a further way to cut energy costs.

Black students could still attend white schools, and both they and white sutdents could be given extra credit for voluntarily attending schools in diverse neighborhoods. For the student bodies at large, this would probably improve school performance, and discipline. How many kids actually feel like putting a lot of effort into school when in a lot of cases they spend anywhere from two hours or more just waitng for and riding busses?

The Miami Seven

In the middle of onslaughts by the Left against various aspects of the “War on Terror”, such as revelations about the tracking of Americans overseas banking transactions as reported by The New York Times, and the just ultimately successful challenges to the legitimacy of Guantanamo Bay and, more to the point, the Bush Administrations prosecutions of terror suspects (The Supreme Court just announced by a vote of 5-3 that the Bush Administration has overstepped it’s legal bounds and advised it to follow Geneva Conventions guidelines) comes yet another assault on the legitimacy of a recent terror arrest involving seven suspects in the Miami area.

These suspects are accussed of seeking to initiate an affiliation with Al-Queda for the purpose of carrying through a plan to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, as well as FBI headquarters in Miami. The left is screaming “entrapment”. They might have a small point, though on the other hand, this has been an ongoing tactic of Federal prosecutors in it’s on-going war against organzed crime. Carlos Marcello, the former head of the oldest Mafia family in the United States, from New Orleans, was brought down in this fashion as long ago as the late seventies or early nineteen eighties, to the objections of no one outside his own legal defense paramaters.

Politicans as well have fallen prey to this brand of “entrapment”, such as the not so awful distant Boptrot scandals that nearly decimated the populaton of the Kentucky Legislature. This as well raised no serious eyebrows. Not even the near entrapment of Al Sharpton, videotaped attemtping to arrange for the purchase of cocaine, caused much of a stir when the information was released (he explained that he was conducting his own “undercover operation” into the drug trafficking in his area.).

Some of the Bush Administration opponents are crying foul and even characterizing the seven suspects as mentally challenged, and as mere “kids”. Actually, their ages range from 22 to 32, and their leader is a self-described self-employed father of four children of his own.

Some have pointed out that, as frequenters of a “Temple”, they are not Muslims, as Muslims frequent mosques, not temples. But actually, and incidentally, these seven practiced a Moorish form of Islam, called “Mohammedanism”, they do refer to their house of worship as a “Temple” (though the true Temple officials of their area have evidently disavowed their actions), and they claim as their holy scriptures and basis for their beliefs the Qu’ran.

Not that that matters. They haven’t been arrested on the grounds that they are Muslims-or Mohammedans. They were arrested on the grounds that they willingly plotted to blow up the Sears Tower, and sought the weapons and finances in order to accomplish this goal, a goal which their leader seems to have proposed to the undercover agent, who claimed to have been an Al-Queda operative.

As for the charge of “entrapment”, even that isn’t necessarilly factual. The investigation of this group of seven was initiated after some area residents complained that they were intimidated by the group, who maintained a private headquarters in a warehouse, where they conducted exercises of some sort. The investigators were really just following through on a complaint, and what seems to be neighborhood tips.

Even at this, it must be stated that these seven men are suspects, they have only been accussed, not yet convicted, and should be given, if only technically, a presumption of innocence. There is always the possibility that the investigators involved did step outside the parameters of their duties. But that will be, after all, for a court to decide.

Responsibility And Response

What started out as a ploy to gain the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails has turned into an “Oh shit what the fuck have we done” moment. Now, the kidapped soldier has been offerred to be returned, evidently unharmed, to the Israeli governemnt, which refused to give in to the ill-advised Hamas extortion scheme, out of the obvious and understandable fear that this would only encourage more and ever greater scenarios.

As it stands now, the Hamas governemnt is about one third shy of Parliament members and cabinet officials, this great a number currently under arrest by the Israeli military, who are now once more occupying Gaza, and readying plans for more excursions into the West Bank if they feel the need. Or maybe if they don’t.

I found it insufferably hypcritical that a Hamas leader tonight demanded that Israel be held accountable by the world community for it’s illegal actions. In the meatime, two other Israeli citizens have been kidnapped and executed, in retaliation for the Israeli response.

Nor is even Syrian President Assad, a Hamas supporter, immune from the Israeli response, as Israeli fighter jets have flown over his palace. In typical Syrian braggadoccio fashion, the Syria state run television services have reported that the Israeli jets were “run off” from the area. Yeah, right.

My advice to the Palestinians, not that they asked, is as follows-return the Israeli soldier, alive and unharmed. The next time he is seen, it would be helpful to your cause if he had a great big smile on his face.

Otherwise, folks-this could be the big one.

Weapons Of Choice

Kofi Annan has recently attempted to reassure those who might feel they have reason to be suspicous of his motives, and that of the UN, that the organizations attempts to instigate an international ban on weapons sales is not aimed at limiting or ending the right of various countries citizens to bear arms according to their ownnational laws. No, he insists, it is merely an attempt to rein in illegal weapons trafficking, to keep them out of the hands of criminals, and is aimed primarily at intrnational trafficking. Well, if that was all it is, I could agree to that-maybe. But, as usual, I want to read the fine print.

For one thing, just what constitutes a criminal in the eyes of the UN. If the US were to become a signatory to this treaty, would I be obliged to hand in my firearms, no longer allowed to purchase one or the ammunition for them, if I were convicted of, say, sptting on the sidewalk. Or jaywalking. Or any kind of traffic violation of varying degrees of seriousness.

This is not an attempt at humor, I ask this in all seriousness. Remember, the main reason that marijuana will probably never be legal in this coutnry is due to the fact that, back in the 1930’s, or thereabouts, the US signed various treaties which, for all I know, are still in effect, and are legally binding, at least technically so. The brainchild behind this was the man who went on to become the founding director of the DEA, which went on to become what is arguably the most corrupt government agency in United States history.

In other words, international treaties are legally binding, for a variety of reasons, having mainly to do with trade and other aspects of international relations, and have long term ramifications that are not easily reversed. That is why US citizens should be very concerned at the prospect of this coutnry entering into any kind of international agreement that contains too many words to fit onto both sides of one postcard. After all, the main body of a treaty can often lead to other incidental, additional details, being overlooked. But these incidental details, though supposedly minor in nature, are every bit as legally binding as any other part.

Kentucky Needs FutureGen

There are twelve sites in seven states that are in the running for the site of the FutureGen plant, which, when completed, promises to utilize clean technology to produce clean electrical energy from coal. Kentucky is in the running for one of these sites, and has a lot to offer. Easy access to the Kentucky coal mines, in addition to access to transportation by way of the Ohio and Mississipp Rivers.

Despite this, Kentucly may be a long shot, as the tax incentives that it offers to lure the compay only amount to about 2.4 million dollars in tax incentives in addition to 215 acres of free land. Considerable- until you consider, that is, that Ohios incentive package could total as high as 160 million dollars.

It would be a shame for Kentucky to lose out on this deal, which amounts to a one billion dollar project. This is not some sweat shop factory that might employee fifty people for a few years while it wrecks the environment, pays no taxes, and reserves the best jobs for a few people whose families have “pull”.

This is a job whose incentives would pay for themselves in a few years, would add long term high paying quality jobs and provide economic revitalization to the state, in addition to cheap sources of clean energy. Kentucky may not be able to match the tax incentives packages of Ohio and some other states, but it might not need to, given it’s other benefits, which are sorely lacking in other areas.

It could also help Kentucky reestablish that proud tradition that it lost during the Civil War, and has never regained-it’s place of honor as a state of advancement of civilization, one of whose cities, Lexington, was once known as the “Athens of The West”. A chance to be the homeplace of a needed advancement in science and technology in the area of overall national energy independence deserves more than just a little over two million dollars and some free land.

Criminal Insanity

A number of things have become all too clear over the last few years concerning The Communities of Oakwood. a Pulaski County Kentucky based facilitie for the housing and care of the mentally handicapped. To reside there you have to be, of course, mentally retarded or similarly disabled.

To work there, you have to be a fucking sadist.

Just over the last few months, the following events have transpired:

• For his birthday, a resident was taken to a strip club in Lexington, after which he was encouraged to engage in sexual intercourse.
• On a scheduled and approved fishing trip, one resident was beaten when he resisted leaving at the appointed time.
• Just recently, one resident was beaten, at least twice, by at least three employees of the facility-with a broomstick.

And overall there have been numerous other similar allegations of abuse, both physical and mental, of such a serious nature that the facility has been sanctioned and fined, and placed on extended periods of probation. As a state accredited institution, it has been forced through a change of ownership, yet all evidently to no avail.

You have to wonder just what all else goes on there that hasn’t yet been made known, or if it ever will. How many deaths there can be possibly attibuted at least in part if not wholly to some for of abuse and/or neglect. I would imagine it would be substantial, and all this points to an obvious lack of supervision. The state of Kentucky should hold these people accountable with more than just words and empty threats. Failing that, the state of Kentucky itself should be held accountable. But if fines, probation, and change of ownership won’t change the situation, then what will? Should the federal governemnt step in? Would that be any better,or even as good? Or shoud lthe place just be shut down?

The obvious solution would be to pay to hire a better qualified, more extensively trained staff, and direct state supervision. To those who would point out this would increase the expense of running the palce, I would point out that the reusltant decrease in insurance fees, in addition to other austere cuts in unnecessary bureaucratic spending by way of streamlining, would go a long way towards making up the difference.

By the same token, the mentally handicapped don’t deserve to have to put up with this kind of treatment.

What Do You Want On Your Tombstone

I have an idea that may be controversial, and it may even seem unpatriotic, but if so, so be it. It is based on recent events involving the widow of one Patrick D. Steward, formerly of Nebraska, who was killed last year, on September 25, in Afghanistan, by a rocket propelled grenade. Stewart, a Sergeant, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Pruple Heart.

Yet, his widow, Roberta, has run into a problem with the Pentagon. They have refused to honor his and his widows wishes to put on his grave at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetary, a pentacle, a symbol of his Wiccan faith. As of now, the widow has refused to allow the erection of even a temporary marker.

She has objected to the Pentagons politices to no avail though she has received support, both from the Americans United For The Seperation of Church And State, and from Christianity Today magazine. It has been turned into a politcal issue at the behest of Bush, who has gone on record as oppossing the recognition of Wicca as a legitimate religion, and by the typical hordes of right wing conservative religious fanatics who for now make up arguably the most influential base of the Republican Party (at least they are influential to Bush, and the Neo-Cons that surround him, when it is convenient for the latter-usually and especially around election time).

My response is simple, straightforward, and to the point. Any Wiccan or Pagan or military age should henceforth refuse to volunteer for military service. If they are already in the military, they should leave when their time of enlistment expires. In the meantime, it would be helpful if a substantial number of them could get together and issue a press release to the effect that all Wiccans and Pagans will be discouraged from joining any branch of the armed services until this issue is addressed, and decided completley in our favor. No compromises.

In the meantime, all Pagans and Wiccans who are parents of military age sons and daughters should issue a similar statement to the effect that, again, until this issue is resoved satisfacotrily, to us, they will strongly discourage any of their sons or daughters from joining any branch of the US military.

It may do precpous little good, but it will still make a statement on behalf of the substantial number of Pagans who have served, who are currently serving, and who have, like Sergeant Stewart, given their lives in the service of their country. If we’re good enough to risk life and limb to serve, then the least we can get in return is to have our basic constitutional rights, including Freedom of Religion, respected. If we can’t get that much, you can all-well, go to hell.

The original story on BeliefNet.com can be found in the link at the post title.

A Brief But Concise View Of Franco-American Relations

I could have told Rufus a number of things about his trip to France that seem to have surprised him, but which I was quite aware of. For one thing, the food is excellent. I don’t think this really surprised him, to tell you the truth, I think he’s just wanting to rub it in. The other thing that surprised him was the general politeness and all around friendliness of the French.

It all begs the question, exactly where did the French derive this reputation for being such culturally elitist, smug and superior assholes? Before this question can be sufficently answered, it might help to look briefly at the history of FrancoAmerican relations.

Beginning shortly after the adoption of the US Constitution, things sort of got off to a bad foot, when President Washington sent the French ambassador packing, as he was rightly certain this gentleman aimed to draw us into the middleof their problems with Great Britian. The French were naturally antagonized at this, and considered us ingrates, as they had after all been instrumental in securing our victory agaisnt the British to begin with.

But Washington was adamant, he would pursue a policy of neutrality in world affairs to as much an extent as possible. In fact, this is one of the reasons he is rightly considered among our greatest Presidents. This was a policy which governed American foreign policy for more than a century, and truthfully, it would be one we would be well advised to return to, in my view. But the French were understandably, perhaps, perturbed, and this lead to, during the Adams Administration, the onset of the notorious spy scandal known as the X,Y, Z affair. It also was a factor in the formulation of the disastrous Alien And Sedition Act, and helped to bring about the end of Adams Presidency after one term.

By the way, it should be noted that in addition to appearring ungrateful, the French were actually doubly annoyed in that their involvement with the Revolutionary War was at the behest not of the people of the nation, but of it’s now deposed and summarrily executed monarchy. So as you can see, more and more the seeds are being sown for an ever bigger headache.

This was temporarily alleviated by Thomas Jeffersons purchase of the Lousiana Territory from Napoleon, but this temporary cure proved in the long run an even greater agitation. Not only did the French feel they had been given a raw deal, ultimately, in this agreement, but they did not benefit from it in the least. In fact, it added to their sufferrings, as Napoleon used the money from this deal with Jefferson primarily to fund his war of aggression which ended ultimately in the humiliating defeat at Waterloo.

The French, it seemed, could not win for loosing, and throughout the next century they must have felt that the US was some kind of a curse on their national pride and dignity. So hard was feelings of the French toward the US in the earliest days that one of their noted philosophers made the statemnent, one of my favorite sayings (just due to it’s cleverness) which I here paraphrase: “America is the only nation in the history of the world that has gone from barbarity straight into decadence, without the usual intervening period of civilization.”

But we got along, somewhat, the highlight of our relationship being the presentation by the French governemnt of the gift of the Statue of Liberty. But even here, I imagine that quite a few secretly wondered that the French were only too glad to give to us, their tired, their poor. If so, this as well backfired, as US immigration policy at the time, though controversial (yet please note, it was reasoned and controlled) proved to be a massive brain drain on Europe. The US was riding ever higher, from the vantage point of our European cousins.

By the time we saved the French’s asses, first in World War I, then again in World War II, they must have been secretly thinking, “it’s about time”.

Still, I have to think the French, the vast majority of them, were genuinely grateful for our aid (what ones of them weren’t actual Nazi collaborators, anyway), but relations quickly soured. The question remains, why?

I have to blame the phenomenon of the “Ugly American”, that tourist who travelled the continent fully expected that he would be lavished, and kowtowed to. Remember, in the early days of American tourism follwing World War II, it wasn’t your average American who got the chance to travel abroad, but rarely. The vast majority of them were high minded socialites and business people with a fucking attitude. They were the ones with the superiority complex,and this offended the obviously prideful French, which would only be natural.

Exceptions to this rule of the travelling class would be the American soldier stationed overseas, which may have aggravated an already delicate situation. Show me a family who likes to see their women folk looked at as the type that can be easily fucked for a chocolate bar and a pair of nylons, and I’ll show you a rare breed of individuals, whether they be French or any other nationality.

So yes, the French can be hostile to Ameircans, just as they can be gracous and respectful. It all depends really, in most cases, on the face you yourself present to them. That’s the same way it is actually with all people of the world you might meet in your daily travels. The French aren’t any different. We just have a longer, more troubled hisotry.

The Great Snake Goddess Of Minoa

I am a little bit late on the draw, it seems, when it comes to authenticating the legitimacey of my new avatar, insofar as it being a valid representation of my path of what I like to call, Hellenic Wicca. The term for my path is probably as valid as the avatar, in other words, not very. Of course, I never utilized this term out of a desire to be deceptive about my beliefs. What would be the point? It just seemed easier, far less complicated, to refer to myself as a Hellenic Wiccan, than to explain that I follow a modern version of Hellenic Paganism that has a heavy Wiccan influence. Thus Hellenic Wicca, which isn’t perfectly accurrate, but it sounds good, and close enough. I also like to at times refer to my religion as Hellenism, which historicaly, and accurrately, is the culture of ancient Hellenic Greece, the ancient Greek religions of which are only one part, though an important an integral one.

In reality, culturally I am at best a diamond in the rough, and it seems to be getting rougher every day, these days. Yet, I do definitely try to keep abreast of cultural news, including discoveries in the field of archaeology. Alas, I am a lazy blogger, and an even lazier researcher, and so, even though I have the URL for a very good archaeology site on the sidebar of this blog, which I urge you to check out, I myself have been lax at keeping up on it, and so missed this little bit of information.

The “snake goddess” that I have chosen as my avatar, suppossedly an ancient artifact that was dug up on the island of Crete, was believed at one time to have been an ancient religious artifact( possibly a votary, depicting either a goddess or a priestess, a snake in each upward stretched arm), from the Minoan Period, and thus predating not only ancient Classical Greek, or Achaean, culture, but even Mychaenaean civilization as well.

Alas, come to find out, it, like a good many other artifacts, was a fraud. Not only were they circulated in response to a demand for Minoan artifacts at about the beginning of the last century, but it has been known for some time they were frauds. I felt a degree of sadness upon learning this, and not a little embarrassment.

On te other hand, the good news is, even though these artifacts were themselves frauds, they were in fact based on legitimate artifacts that were in fact discovered and authenticated. So yes, Virginia, there was, after all, a snake goddess.

And so, whether mine is the fake or the genuine article, I have elected to keep her. I have grown quite fond of her, after all, and moreover, when all is said and done, when it comes to the realms of religion, magic, and mythology, who is to say what is real, what is fake, what is symbolic, and what is just wishful thinking.

Ancient Dirt

Why do we put up with the UN anyway. Bolton is right, face it, they are an unwieldy, overly bureacratic, corrupt organization that has as it’s sole purpose the providing of a safe haven for would be US saboteurs and foreign racketeers. That is just my opinion, of course, but I think it is well grounded. They should get out of New York, or they should pay rent to the city. And, by the way, their traffic tickets and other violations.

But the reason for this post isn’t so much the presence of the UN in New York or America, or even it’s all around inefficiency and arrogance, and corruption. Let’s just take on for now the subject of the stupidity of it’s various arms, and let’s start off with UNESCO.

This arm of the UN has recently involved itself with an archaeological issue, involving the beleaguered nation of Bosnia, in which is to be seen the purported discovery of what has been said to be perhaps the oldest pyramid found to date.

Actually, so far as has been determined by legitimate researchers, it ain’t nothing but a fucking hill, and it’s oddly pyramid shape is completely natural. That’s not all. What do I mean by that? Exactly what I said, that’s not all, there are more hillsides of pretty much the same make-up and geometric shape, which, I repeat, is vaquely pyramid shaped.

The proponents of this theory have even gone so far as to say that the make-up of the hill-dirt, clay, and rocks-is consistent with the pyramids, in that the same kind of subsances in the clay was used as a binding cement in a lot of the older pyramids. This, by the way, is an outright lie. The binding that was used as filling between the blocks of the pyramids were a type of specifically manufactured material utilizing an exact mineral compound. What is in the Bosnian pyramids are, again, perectly naturally formed dirt, rocks, and clay.

To the surprise of no legitimate archaeologists or scholars, there have to date been no artifacts discovered at the site. Nor is there likely to be. Of course, there is always the possibility an old vase or drinking implement, or tool, or weapon fragment from a long ago fought and forgotten battle, could conceivably be found, and I have no doubt that, in the event this were to occur, it would be heralded by the proponents of this most ancient of pyramids theory as proof of what has been called an “advanced” civilization.

Yes, you heard it right. UNESCO, an arm of the UN, has poured it’s weight, finances, and resources into securing and researching this site where there may have supposedly existed an advanced civilization-before the dawn of known recorded history. In other words, it’s a boondoggle, an opportunity and excuse for more funding.

Of course, the original proponent of this theory is standing by his original assessment, just as he does his earlier pronouncement involving the Maya-that they are the descendants of an extraterrestrial civilization.

Grist For The Mills

A new alliance between The Sierra Club and the United Steel Workers might hold some actual promise of potential mutual accomplishment, provided they can hold together. But this seems to be one example of an alliance that mght extend beyond the board rooms, and trickle down into the rank and file membership, with little dissent.

The Sierra Club, for it’s part, agrees to support increases in wages and benefits packages for workers, while the Steel Workers agrees to support the development and advancement of clean technologies, on the grounds that in the long run this will actually lead to inceased efficency and new and more jobs, and better jobs. Of course, this would undoubtedly be good for the environemnt.

The Sierra Club also agrees to support the Steel Workers in promoting Fair Trade, as oppossed ot the Free Trade fiasco that has been so harmful to the livelihoods of union workers across America.

Amazingly, one of the first good things George W. Bush did as president, on the domestic front, was to impose tariffs on foreign steel, which was being dumped here in America at prices American companies could not hope to compete with. The tariff evened out the playing field. True, some American businesses were hurt by the move, as they were in some cases paying a higher price for steel than had been the case under the old new system. This provided a pretext for him to end the tariffs, but of course the true reason, the only reason, was that the World Trade Organization declared Bush’s steel tariffs to be illegal. And frankly, he needed the WTO, in other areas, and so could not afford to alienate them any more than he already had.

Therefore, the United Steel Workers, though given an all too brief reprieve, ended up royally screwed. But at least they got a little kiss.

Now, with the Sierra Club, they have hopefully met their true soul mates. I will try to be hopeful, at least. We will see what they produce in the long term. Weddings and honeymoons, after all, are incidental pleasantries to the main fucntion of a marriage. In most cases, the children of a union are a more accurrate reflection of the two partners that produce them.

A link to Grist Magazine, where you can read the original article and other cool environemntal articles, can be found in the post title.

Weighty Matters

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour has recently initiated a program, or a study, aimed at encouraging physical fitness among his states residents, which has been named one of the worse states in the United States for records of obesity. With the attenant health problems obesity often leads to, this is a commendable goal on his part, though some people mght wonder if Mr. Barbour is the appropriate person to make the case. But I guess it’s a lot like one of those “only Richard Nixon could go to China” scenarios.

At any rate, it will be interesting to see what his approach might be. He has already been accussed of hypocrisy, of deviating from the Republican, conservative party stance that advocates non-interference in private choices, in personal repsonsibilty, in freedom from regualation of business.

Of course, I personally think his approach might be a somewhat different one than litigation through class action lawsuits aimed at raking in billions of dollars from the fast food industry, enforcing excessively oppressive regulations, enforced inclusions of health alternatives while penalizing what is deemed non-healthy with greater and greater taxes, etc., and all the other nonsense that has been perpetrated on the tobacco industry-and smokers- over the last decade.

I could come up wth a few ideas myself that might be as good or better than anything the Democrats or Republicans might envision. For example, why not put up a fucking weight scale right in front of the counter of every fast food joint? This would be accompanied by a height indicator, and a computer averaging tabulator. Any customer that went into the place would be obliged to stand on the scales. For every pound over what the computer suggests shoud be his or her average, an extra quarter per dollar, per extra pound, would be added to the price.

In the case of a real super fat ass, discounts could be offerred for healthy alternative choices.

The weight computer could be made to make noises. Razz beries, chortles, derisive laughter of various sorts, or simply the agonizing cry, “helllllllp, get this fat fuckhead off of me.”

Naturally, this would meet with objection by the fast food industry. After all, many will opt not to suffer this embarrassment, and thus will take their business elsewhere. But at least their beleaquered, overworked employees would get a few jollies out of it.

Bluegrass Report

Several Kentuckly Blogs, notably this one called BluegrassReports.org, have reportedly been blocked from access by Kentucky State computers, and it so happens that all of these blogs are critical of Governor Ernie Fletcher and his Administration. One notable blog that is on theFletcher blacklist is BluegrassReports.org, but it is by no means the only one.

Aside from the obvious censorship issues, the question should be raised, since when do Kentucky State employees have the time to sit around reading blogs? Don’t they have supposedly important work to do? Shouldn’t this be construed as, more or less, a waste of state taxpayers money? Or should it be considered that there are, simply, way too many Kentucky State employees, and thus this bloated payroll is, in addition to also being a waste of tax money, an obvious indication of political patronage in state hiring.

But the most important point to be made about this story, is that it points out the rampant paranoia that saturates the Fletcher Administration. Obviously, there aren’t that many state employees who spend that much time on state time reading blogs. Assumming there are an appreciable percentage that have the time to do so-which I don’t doubt- how many actually do, at least for that long a time. Most of them probably prefer to spend their free time, which is in a good many cases probably close to half the work day or more, chit chatting with co-workers, checking up on their spouses, children, or lovers, or,if on the computer, checking out the humor and sports sites. Not reading a significant number of blogs. I would put the percentage of state workers who engage in this activity, for any appreciable amount of time, at well under one per cent.

This may well not have anything to do with Fletcher personally, but is more than likely an activity initiated by an overzealous department supervisor. If Fletcher is involved in this, he has indeed gone off the deep end, and this would be substantial proof of that.

Sneaking Past Borders

Two women, sisters, were recently drugged at a London Kentucky area Mexican restaurant, the El Azul Grande 5, upon which they were taken to an apartment, by workers at the restaurant, who proceeded to rape them. The one woman sufficiently pulled herself together and got away while in the process of being assaulted by a third person.

When her and her sister made their escape, they understandably called the police. In the course of the investigation, there was a finding of cocaine at the premises of the apartment, and a further finding which lead to the arrest of eleven illegal immigrants, all of whom either worked at, or were associated in some way with, the Mexican restaurant in question.

The restaurant owner, who has temporarily closed his establishment for “repairs”, has stated he knew of nothing untoward that occurred on the premises of his business. He went on to say that, if any of his workers were guilty of this atrocous act, they would no longer be working for him.

Of course, this begs the qustion, since these suspects who were detained by police-all eleven of them-were illegal immigrants:

WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY DOING WORKING FOR HIM TO BEGIN WITH?

E-Bays Landmark Sale

Tony Straub, the present owner of the historical landmark The Dayton Arcade, of the city of Dayton Ohio, has gone all out to find a buyer for the five building complex which is situated between Third, Fourth, Main, and Ludon Streets in downtown Dayton. He has offerred it for sale on E-Bay, at an asking price of four million dollars. He has suggested that the site would be perfect for a casino. And it probably would, with slight renovation, if it weren’t for the fact that, as of now, casino gambling is yet illegal in the state of Ohio.

Straub explained that he was considering the future possibilities. Actually, whoever buys this complex should be made aware of more than just the present illegality of Mr. Straubs proposal. The fact is, there is a reason he is anxious to divest himself of his holdings in this, what should be considered a prime piece of real estate.

And that is, there is little he can do with it. He can’t do any kind of renovation that would compromise the historical integrity of the landmark which goes vack to the beginning of the last century . He certainly can’t tear it down and put up, say, a parking lot, or a mall. Yet, as attractive as the place is, he can’t find investors willing to locate businesses into the area, due to the exorbitant crime rate for a city of this size.

Dayton is one of those cities that are cyclical i nature, and seems to move in extremes. For a time, it will be a boom town, with many business and job opportunities. Then, it will fall into a kind of depression, with people not being able to get out of the place fast enough. Now, it has moved back into this latter cycle. And, as a result, Dayton is loosing population-again.

The politicians who run the area have the final say as to what happens to what for now might as well be the Taj Mahal of Dayton Ohio-a very attractive tomb. A historic landmark, but of little value otherwise, presently. And they admirably insist on preserving it, but seemingly to no avail, as these are also the people that conceivably could, yet will not, address the ever growing and obtrusive crime rate with which the city is afflicted. Whether this is in large part due to political correctness and to fears of being labelled as racists, or whatever the reason, the result stands in dowtown Dayton Ohio.

An empty building, an historic landmark, which stands empty, and unused, and for the most part, unvisited.

The Brave New World Of Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking must have been left by his wife out in the sun for way too long, and due to her cosntant and persistent abuse, which seems to have been of the most sadistic level, he might have been pushed off the deep end. Among the many of his amazing utterrances is the notion that, if mankind is to survive, he must of necessity relocate, to the stars, and populate other worlds, other planets.

Now, it is one thing to suggest that mankind should conceivably one day spread out throughout our solar system, and beyond. But his urgings seem to contain an elitist streak. Just who will be saved? Who will be chosen to enter the several arcs required, which certainly will be unable to save us all?

Hawkings detractors, for the most part, don’t seem to be any less elitist. They insist the only viable option for maintaining the survival of the human race, is by establishing a refuge-under the Antartic.

Interesting. Of course, there will be a required presence of many kinds of skilled workers and professionals, if the new mankind has any chance of continuing the race with any semblance of continuity of advancement and culture. And of course there will have to be some unskilled laborers to not only build the place, but to do the hard everyday work of keeping it running.

And I’m sure it is a worthwhile idea, if worse comes to worse, as is Mr. Hawkings idea’. But to insist that this is the only way to save humanity, while it might eventually turn out to be true, also seems rather defeatist. For one thing, just who will be left behind. I don’t hold out much hopes of acquiring a ticket, personally. And so, while these plans are being discussed, debated, and formulated, it might be a worthwhile pastime to consider just what might be a viable, reasonable way to save all of us, that is to say the mass of humanity, by way of saving the planet itself. You know, before it just might get to be too late.

More to the point, and what is the ultimate insult to add to the injury, is that I have no doubt the first people on board the arc will be the very ones who, by their obstinance and greed, and in some cases plain evil, will have been the ones to have doomed the mass of us.

Special thanks goes to Zandperl at Modern Science.

The Lay Of Bore

Norway is now the proud originator and owner of a food storage vault that it feels might be the salvation of mankind in the event of a violent catastrophe of earth shatterring proportions. Having buildt what has been referred to as the “Doomsday Vault”, which it has dug into a frozen mountainside on the island of Svalbard, way up into the Arctic Circle, it then received the cooperation of the countries of Denamrk, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, the Prime Ministers of which, along with Norways, participated in the ceremony of helping to lay the cornerstone.

As of now, more than two hundred nations have joined in the project. Only it’s not exactly food that is being kept in cold storage, but seeds, for the growth of food bearing plants. Although Norway technically owns the right to the vault, nations who contribute seeds remian the owners of their contributions, which are to be packaged in foil, and thus kept in sub-zero temperatures.

Norway has left nothing to chance. In the case of would be sabotage, or theft, the vault is guarded by an electronic security system which would make it virtually impenetrable, even if someone managed to make it past the hordes of polar bears which frequent the area.

And, should the artificially maintained temperature fail, the consistency of the normal temperature, due to the presence of the permafrost, would keep the site functioning for years. In fact, it is estimated that the stored seeds will be good for at least a couple of hundred years. Maybe even a couple of thousand.

Then, like the god Bore, ancestral founder of the Aesir, they can be taken out of the ice, if the need arises, and thus used to, hopefully, refoliate the earth, though as of this time non-food plants are not included in the inventory.

The only other thing that seems to be missing is Ymirs’ cow.

Over And Out

Sometime today, North Korea is scheduled to conduct a test of a new missile which, if succesful, will have the capabilities of reaching the interior of the continental United States. Although several nations of the world community have strenuosly objected to this brash move, notably Japan and the US, Kim Jung Il seems to be in a bind, as evidently he has been pushed into conducting these tests by high ranking membersof his military. This seems to suggest that his hold on power might not be as secure as most seem to think.

Assumming the test are carried out on schedule, what will be the result. Will it lead to the bilateral North Korea/United States negotiations North Korea has been pushing for? Or,will the world community, lead by the US, stand form in it’s threats of further diplomatic sanctions? Could it lead instead to a lessenning of existing sanctions?

Iran will certainly be watching. So will the rest of the world.

Update: As of now, so far as I know, or have last heard, the test has yet to be conducted. Maybe it's been delayed. Maybe it's been halted.

Maybe we'll never ever really know.

Happy Litha.

Finally, My Blogroll

I never thought I would ever get around to it, but I finally done it, added a Blogroll to this site. I know it seems like I’ve been talking about it forever, to the point where I would almost be willing to bet that some people here and there, when I talked about it, would probably start rolling their eyes.

Still, like I explained, I wanted to take some time, and made sure I put on nothing but quality sites, which means I required myself to traverse the Internet until I found what ended up being more than I actually thought I would find, to be honest. In fact, I didn’t put all the good sites up that I found, though I might add some more later.

To begin with, I wanted a balance of political ideology, and at the same time I wanted sites that went beyond mere political discourse. Being a pagan myself, naturaly I wanted to find some worthwhile pagan blogs, and here again, I found more than I thought I would.

In addition to quality, I wanted something that updated on a fairly regular basis, that allowed readers comments (though I did make a few exceptions, reluctantly) and that wasn’t too stringent on comment moderation.

Also, I didn’t want to end up putting way too many sites up. After all, I have been to a lot of blogs, and I have seen some blogrolls that I know had to have numbered in the hundreds. I just wanted to keep it small, or at least moderate, for the time being. I like the set-up of Blogrolling, incidentally. Once you get the hang of what they are al about, and what you are doing, it’s a whiz. Getting that hang is the problem. But, I got it, finally. I like the way a blog that has recently been updated will show you this with the word new beside it, though I might have to adjust the timing on that particular feature.

I also like the layout choices you get. You can arrange them in groups of whatever number you prefer, so I arranged mine in groups of four, in alphabetical order.

At any rate, that is why I went a whole week without updating my Blog, I wanted to finally take the time to invest in some research into exactly what kinds of blogs I wanted to include. Overall, I am well satisfied with the finished product. There are a few more, as I said, that I might add later on. The Huffington Post is one probabal addition I might add in the near future. Maybe a few more, as the mood strikes, but for the most part what new ones I add will be new discoveries, and I intend to keep them to one hundred or less.

But for now, I think I have just about the right number. If you made it here, consider yourself special. There are few things in the universe I have higher regard for than my own eye for literary or journalistic quality.

Technorati Tantrums-Or, Why I (Sometimes) Hate American Big Business

Two sites I have almost decided I can definitely do without are Site Meter and Technorati. Why? The simple, short answer is, they have no respect or appeciation for the value of their customers time. True, they are both “free sites”, so in a sense you could make the argument I don’t really have a complaint coming. Or, I could stop being the fucking cheap ass that I am and pay for the upgraded versions of both sites. But this isn’t so much about the sites themselves as much as it is what I consdier to be the reaon for their shoddy, poor service, especially Technorati. And, while I’m at it, I might as well add yet a third offender to my list of oppressive sites-Yahoo Mail.

I have spent an hour today, at least going back and forth between these three sites and have accomplished next to nothing. I’ll take that back. Somehow, though it took superhuman reserves of patience, I managed to keep from tearing my hair out. It was an effort though.

So what is the problem with these sites? And why is Tehnorati generally the worse of the three? The problem, in my opinion, can be answered with just one word-advertisements.

The next time you are on one of these sites, or any other “free” site, for that matter, notice how long it takes a fucking page to load. Notice what happens if you, out of frustration, click on a link before that page completes loading. Notice what happens when you angrily click on that link three or four times in sucession.

In the first case, the more complicated the ad, if it ever eventually appears, the longer it takes the page to load. If you end up with an ad that is flashing or rotating or doing any number of crazy things meant to reach out and grab yourattention, you are in for a real problem. You see, if you fail to wait to see the ad in it’s entirety, you quixkly find, in a lot of cases, you are a captive audience. And you have no choice but to wait, or back out of the page, with the hopes, as often or not the vain hope, that you can start all over and the bug will straighten itself out. Alas, this is all too often not the case.

All too often, you will get a page that will urge you to try again, the page is not loading, the site might be too busy, the page was reset, etc. The best thing to do is not to click on the little tab at the bottom of this box, more often than not, on most of thesesites, you wil just get a repetition of the first time. The best thing to do is back out of the page, then try again. And this, unfortuately, is where Technorati becomes the worse of a bad, sorry bunch. It’s almost impossible to back out of these motherfuckers. It’s like they have purposely set up their site so as not to allow you to do that. You may well end up having to just x out, then start al over again. Good luck. If you haven’t given up in disgust by now, you are either a real trooper, or a real gluttonfor punishment.

But this is only the beginning of Techoratis lack of professionalism. I sent an angry e-mail off to them once, about a coupl of weeks ago, compainng about their slowness, and in particular pointing out to that they could afford to cut down on their steps they make you gp through to arrive at any given page. I also pointed out that I, for one, tended to not look kindly on businesses that set up their advertisements insuch a way as to make me waste my time, which is valuable to me, and that maybe they might want to point that out to their advertisers. I mean, it should be a simple matter to tool these ads in such a way that it doesn’t take you forever to get from page to page, right?

Well, since then,the people of Technorati have demonstrated exactly what dicks they are, and can be. I have made two updates since that time, and have been credited for neither one. The last update for The Pagan Temple, was, in fact, almost a month ago, according to them, the last time I WAS ABLE TO CHECK. Yet, my true last update was not quite two weeks ago. They are refusing to reflect the accurracy of my updates on their pages. That is called being childish dicks. Because I contacted them to lodge acomplaint, I am being punsihed. I am being given the cold shoulder.

Site Meter is not really much better, in the speed department. I used to have to wait tow or three minutes for this one fucking ad to load before I could proceed, wit any assurrance of moderate speed. When it finally loaded, it was more often than not an ignorant amateur quality film of some fat ass bitch with a dog on a leash, who suddenly lurches forward and pulls hr flying into the air. The only thing funny about this, to me, was that it was supposed to be funny, so much so that you should want to pay to download this and other such crap from whatever company this was. What wasn’t a bit funny was the time I had to spend waitingfor this tripe before I could proceed.

Thankfully, that ad has been removed, doubtless through lack of interest. But that has not solved the problem with site-meter. Now, the worse offender on this site is from Monster.com. It also has sites from Napster and Coke, but thankfully they aren’t as bad as Monster.

In general, I have a philosopy. If a company pisses you off, don’t patronize them. And I for one encourage everyone who has experienced these difficulties to adhere to that philosophy. It says a lot about American business that they think so little of their prospective customers time. For so long, American business had the entire American population all to themselves, and in the heyday of America business competition, this encouraged a rush to come up with the best possible product. Over time, however, American business grew ever greedier, and worse, ever lazier. American consumers began to pay more and more for less and less. “The customer is always right” philosophy became gradually replaced by,” if you don’t like it fuck you”.

So the American consumer began buying Toyota, and General Motors and Ford blamed the unions for their problems. And they still haven’t learned. They still are working under the asumption that the American public is a captive audience, and if they can force us to sit throug their fucking commercials, whether we like it or not, whether this is on television, or now the internet, somehow their messages will resonate into our subconscous despite ourselves. They actually think, what is worse, that we can be brainwashed into accepting inferior quality, while they pay their workers less, and at the same time their CEOs and other corporate bigwigs draw ever bigger salaries, and wreck the environment in the process. What’s the big surprise about that? They pollute the airwaves, and bandwidth, the same way they posion the earth, air, and water.

At times, I think they don’t merely advertise on sites like Technorati, I think they own them

Jolie Will Dump Pitt, Marry Bono

Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt have recently reftuned to their California mansion courtesy of the private jet of Tom Cruise, at a cost of 250,000 dollars. In the meantime, Cruise is reportedly engaging in an attempt to proselityze the coupleto the rlgion of Scientology. No word as of yet as to the degree of interest expressed by either Jolie or by Pitt, who is soon to begin filming yet a second sequel of the poular movie series Oceans Eleven.

So, in true pagan witch fashion, I’m going to do something a little different from the ordinary, for me, I’m going to make a prediction as to the future of these celebrities the world can’t seem to ever get enough of.

Jolie, I feel, will express some initial interest in Cruises attempts at conversion, but wil quickly coo to the idea. Pitt, however will maintain a degree of interest, to the point that he may well end up finding himself swept up in the movement, if a little bit at a time.

If true, this may not bode too well for his relationship with Angelina, who aside from an occassional mvie and her African charity work wants no more than to be a mother. In fact, she has expressed an interest in one day having yet more children.

Not that the two will just drift apart from lack of interest. Far from it. Pitt will find himself ever more drawn to keep their two worlds as much as one as possible, but alas, it just isn’t meant to be. He may find himself becoming more and more possessed by the ghost of Tom Cruse, to the dismay of our heroin, who will seek silent refuge in other friendships, and in her work for United Nations African charities.

And it is through this that she will meet her future true love of the year-the Irish rock star Bono. Really, who could possibly make the more perfect couple? I say their wedding is a virtual assurrance, if for no other reason than being a calculated publicity marriage which would garner an amount of attention second only to that of Prince Charles and Diana. Cruse will be at the wedding that he inadverdently helped bring about. Pitt, who will have by now settled into an reserved acceptance of thesituation, will not be in attendance. He will probably, however, take the opportunity at this time to promote his latest movie, havig by now made a number of mostly forgettabel ones of mostly moderate box office success. This one wil turn out like his present and soon to be ended marriage. A lot of promise, a lot of hype-but in the end, a flop.

Not that he won’t try to salvage the relationship, but perhaps not in the best of ways. Word will get to him of the ever growing bonds between Bono and Jolie, and he will come to realize that a then current U2 hit had been written by Bono as a romantic ode to Jolie. He will eventually confront the two in a bistro, and an altercation will ensue, resulting in Bono having a teeth-or a cap-knocked loose, before they are seperated by their security personnel. This will happen indoors, at a posh club, free from the pryings of the papparazi, which will initiate a lawsuit against owners of clubs that ban cameras and recording equipment inside their environs, one that will be summarilly and huffily dismissed.

Cruse will try to patch things up between the two, to no avail. Within a period of a few short moths of this event, the by now legally seperated couple will finalize their divorce. Two months or thereabouts later, Bono and Jolie will be married.

The two of them can then travel the world together, meeting with heads of state and advocating on behalf of various African initiatives of pressing urgency. They will adopt many African children, and will have some of their own, and will even establish their own village there, a self sustaining enterprise devoted to feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of Africa, and becoming a center for medical treatment and research. They will receive myriad humanitarian awards, including a Nobel Prize.

Pitt and Cruses friendship will soon falter, and they too will go their seprate ways, following a shared movie flop disaster. Cruse will then devote his time to his by now legally insane wife, in the aftermath of at least two half-hearted suicide attempts, while Pitt will hit the Broadway, and then the Dinner Theatre, circuits.

In the meantime, Jennifer Anniston and her then current husband, will maintain their status as Hollywoods most boring couple.

The Private Life Of Laura Bush

There are times when the silliness of Washington descends to the level of a Hollywood gossip magazine. Still, I have to admit, it’s fun, if pointless, to join in on the speculation as to the priate life of public figures. Lately, certain people have made much ado about the nothing, that could be something, pertaining to Laura Bush’s recent excusions to a Washington area hotel, the Mayfield, where she spent at least one night.

Curious though this is, I find even more amusing the conclusions some have jumped to pertaining to George W. Bush and Condoleeza Rice. Actually, they are late to the bandwagon on which I have been neary the lone rider for months. I’ve always wondered at the degree of closeness between Rice and Bush, though this can be traced back really to the elder President Bush, who established a murual friendship and loyalty for Rice that goes back to possibly H. W.’s days as Vice-President., or maybe before, and seems to have originally been based on her credentials as a Soviet expert and scholar.

Still, Boy George is indeed fond of Ms. Rice, and may in fact be as much of a rock to the Presidents emotional stability as is his wife. So yes, there could be something here. Or, there might not be. Whichever, it’s a little much to reach this conclusion based solely on the appearrance fo Laura Bush at a hotel, which could have come about for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are innocent. Some not so innocent. Some, if they turned out to be he case, would be disturbing, could even be sisister. I now present to you my list fo possibilities for Laura Bushs brief stay at the Mayfield Hotel.

1. This put her in convenient proximity either to an early morning function or event that she was due to attend, or to transportation to same.
2. A great many of her personal quarters were in the process of being renovated.
3. Some important official though closed function was on-going at the White House, one of a serious nature, and for whatever reason she did not want to be around.
4. There have been recent figures at the White House she is having a problem with, may be uncomfortable around, or even greatly dislike.
5. Her and Bush could indeed have been fighting over any numbers of issues, singly or in combination.
1. His womanizing, his aduterous sexual daliances, with Rice or others
2. His dry drunk temperament, which can be arrogant, and possibly even physically, emotionally, and/or verbally abusive.
3. He may have actualy resumed drinking, which under the circumstances would not be a shock.
6. This is potentially the most serious. She could discover that Bush is ideed culpable in any number of questionable, illicit, or immoral activities. She may be distraught at this, angry at it, or just desirous to distance herself from any involvement in it.
7. Finally, here is the one explanation which, though seemingly the most unlikely, is possibly the one I most like to imagine, and I can’t understand why no one else has thought of it. And I do not intend to beat around the bush (honestly, no pun intended) about it. This reason:

LAURA BUSH WAS GETTING FUCKED.

I mean, come on, look at her. Forget she’s Bush’s wife. If you were a straight man-wouldn’t you? Who the hell wouldn’t, honestly? Do you honestly think the thought never occurred to Teddy Kennedy, when they were working together on Bush’s second rate at best education proposal, early on in his administration? Or Clinton?

I’m telling you, this is one hot fucking woman, in my opinion, and I would be willing to put money on the notion that her and Bush’s sex life has been all but non-existent over the last few years of his Presidency.

Okay, I admit, it’s not likely, but it damn sure isnt impossible. It’s likely, however, not to be a political opponent of the Presidents, though,come to think of it, what better way to stick it to Bush than by sticking it inhis wife. More than likely, though, if she has been engaging in such shenanigans, it is with nobody of any importance, probably no public figures, no friends of the Presidents.

Come to think of it, though, what better way to gain support for a Presidential initiative, or whatever Bush might needs support for, than by fixing up a potential, sought after ally with-but no, nevermind.

It’s probably a foolish idea. Laura Bush would, no matter where she was at, have no chance to engage in sexual dalliances, with anybody, no matter how high up and well placed, or how ordinary and commonplace.

After all, she is constantly surrounded everywhere she goes.

By Secret Service Agents.

Jersey Girls And Adams Apples

Ann Coulter has to a great many finally stepped well over the line of good taste, but she don’t mind, it seems. In fact, it could well be argued that she prefers that position. In her recent book, Godless, she has placed the widows of 9/11 on the same par as Cindy Shehan, yet another set of poster children that can speak for the liberal philosophy in such a way that the average conservative can not dare to question their integrity or motivations. Of course, making such an insinuation to Ann Coulter is like throwing red meat to the wolves, and Ann Coulter is ravinish in her displays of contempt for all matters liberal, and for those liberals who promote them-nomatter who they are.

On a recent appearrance on the Today Show, however, she seemed genuinely stunned, and even thrown off balance, by the questions of Matt Lauer. She never quite recovered from his acussations of insensitivity to the 9/11 widows, though she insisted that their loss, their grief, did not give them a free pass to, for example, support John Kerry in the last Presidential race, and not be questioned for it.

But what she never explained to my satisfaction is exacty why they should not have a right to support any position they choose, without having their integrity questioned. She made some vaque remark about being used by either the Demcoratic Party, or the Far Left, or both, as though they were purposely sought out, recruited for this, much like Cindy Shehan seems to have been recruited by Micharel Moore and MoveOn.org, after having initially met with Presidnt Bush and expressed a belief that he was sincere in his grief for the loss of her son Cassey.

In Shehans example, one could conceivaby make such a case. In the case of the 9/11 widows, however, she offers no evidence of any kind of collussion, of any kind of opportunism, other than the evidence of what she considers the apparent symptoms, that being their support for Democrats and their oppossition to the policies for the Bush Administration.

Well, the only problem with that idea is, a lot of times what might appear to be the symptom of one ailment might well turn out to prove to be something entirely different. And, sometimes, a symptom that might obviously point to one malady might in fact turn out to be just what it is.

An example of the first deceptive type of symptom might be what has been construed to be an adams apple that adorns theneck of Ms. Coulter, which some wags have suggested is an indication that Ann Coulter in reality is, or at one time was, “Mann Coulter”. A cleverly ingenious satire of this theory is to be read in this article. Of course, the adams apple is either not truly an adams apple, or if it is, it is an obvious anomaly, perhaps some kind of birth defect, which is a misleading symptom, one pointing toward a different explanation than tothis one that is often profferred in satire, more often than not malicoulsy so.

An example of the second type of symptom might be applicable to these particular widows of the 9/11 disasters. Until proven otherwise, it should just be surmised that their liberal sympathies might be an indication of-surprise, surprise-they are democrats, with a liberal predisposition. Nothing more, nothing less. In some cases it may or may not be at least a partial result of the 9/11 disaster that they sufferred through so traumatically. That is certainly understandable, if so.

And, it is fine to disagree with their position. It is quite another thing to question their motivations, or their integrity.