One Day, People Will See Him For What He Really Was

Not much to blog about lately, and I've been too busy to do much anyway, but in the meantime, I thought I might let my readers in on a few little nuggets of information that have come my way from what I would consider not just a viable source, but a very reliable one. Actually, to be more accurate, several sources are involved.

Suppose I told you some little known facts about former President George W. Bush, things that, if they were to ever be brought out in the open, would probably assure he would be eventually prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and spend even the rest of his life in prison.

Chew on these items-

George W. Bush initiated what turned into failed assassination attempts on two world leaders. One of them was Hugo Chavez. The second was Mahmoud Ahmadinajahd.

But he wasn't always a "miserable failure" when it came to assassination schemes aimed at world leaders. Get ready for it-

He got lucky when he successfully initiated the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Pretty awful, huh? Or are you of the opinion that if Bush really did do these things, he was only acting in America's best interests against dictatorial leaders who are our nation's sworn enemies?

Wait, that's not all-not by a long shot.

What if I told you that George W. Bush forcibly kidnapped and detained a certain radical Islamic imam, one living recently in the US on a forged birth certificate, a man who also had allegedly illegitimate papers naming him a citizen of the Central American nation of Guatemala. What would you say if George W. Bush detained this man and, without even so much as giving the man a hearing, without giving him so much as time to pack a suitcase, had him flown to the middle of the Guatemalan jungle and left there with nothing but the clothes on his back and the money in his wallet?

Is your blood boiling yet? Are you ready to demand that George W. Bush be fully prosecuted and punished for such despicable crimes? Or are you of the opinion that since this alleged radical Imam was probably involved with Al-Queda or some other terrorist group, Bush acted appropriately?

Hold on. There's more.

What if you were to learn that George W. Bush, the supposed loving Christian family man and devoted husband and father, had a illicit love affair with a certain Hollywood star, who was later found dead from an apparent "suicide". Or was it an "accident"?

Or was it murder?

Even if Bush was innocent of ending the life of this former late star, the fact remains that he violated his marriage vows by engaging in a relationship with her. Or does that really matter?

Do any of you think that, if these facts were to ever finally come out, those Republicans and social conservatives who still admire Bush so greatly would still honor him as such a great family man, Christian, role model, public servant, and President?

Would it really surprise anybody that a President who would lend his authority to the prosecution of American citizens for supposed disloyalty could do such things as I have listed? After all, this is a man who actually encouraged and condoned spying on American citizens, including, according to somewhat recently released accounts, civil rights leaders. He did this in an attempt to gather information information about not only their business and civic careers, but in some cases their personal lives-anything that might be used against them, in the hopes of finding anything that might be manipulated to show proof of treason or disloyalty. Or failing all that, just to embarrass them publicly.

Could any honest, sincere person possibly justify such actions?

I'm curious to know what you all think of this, because there is a very good chance, in fact, that all of these allegations are true. Well, let me put it another way-

They are all, every single one of them, at least partially true. It just hasn't been seen yet for what it is, thanks to the apologists who are determined to justify this sorry record, what part of it can't be hidden. Who knows how much evidence has been destroyed or buried, never again to see the light of day.

But in time, it will be.

If anybody would like to weigh in about this matter, please feel free to do so.

Whatever should we do about these despicable alleged actions of one former President George W. Bush, in the event that are finally out in the open, and proven to be the truth? Or, for that matter, how should we view anybody that might have done such despicable things? How should history regard such an individual?

Should we view him as a sincere if perhaps sometimes overzealous public servant who loves his country and sometimes went too far in protecting its interests and the lives of its citizens?

Or should we see him as the spoiled heir of a rich family-a ruthless and arrogant punk to whom the exercise of power is seen as a birthright, and who will willingly ruin and destroy anyone who stands in his way, a man to whom the ends always justifies the means, even when those ends are to his benefit alone.

Consider this an open invitation to give your opinions on this matter, as I'm sure we can all agree, that if George W. Bush did do these things as has been alleged-as with anyone else-he should be roundly denounced, condemned, and ultimately prosecuted.

However, if you are unsure as to the veracity of these allegations, or feel they are in some regards partially or wholly justified, please feel free to express that opinion as well. At some future date, I will update this post with links pointing to the alleged evidence of the wrongdoing I have listed. Until such time, I will be looking forward to hearing your opinions on this matter, one way or another.

If Texas Secedes From The Union-Some Heartfelt Advice

There has been a lot of talk lately about secession, but the most surprising example of this came during a tea party rally in Texas not too long ago, from the mouth of none other than Texas governor Rick Perry. Although he stopped short of actually calling for Texas to secede from the United States of America, he nevertheless lit something of a firestorm by saying it might in time become a more popular and even viable notion.

Naturally he has been the recipient of a great deal of criticism, as well as outright support for his statements. Nevertheless, I would have to suggest that if any single state would have a chance of success as a nation in its own right, Texas would have to be one of them. With a wealth of natural resources, agricultural land and facilities, and coastal territory, it might well become a wealthy, prosperous, powerful nation in it's own right.

The true test, however, would be in it's overall success in the long term. The major problem they would have to face would of course be resistance from both within and without to the act of secession. Though they might well weather that storm, however, there is one other that might eventually destroy them.

I am talking here about the prospects for increased illegal immigration. Unless Texas were able and willing to secure their border, they would be doomed in a relatively short period of time by an influx of aliens who would fill their schools, jails, clinics, and hospitals, drain their social services, and flood the job market, all while proving an unbearable tax burden. Crime would of course skyrocket in many, in fact probably in most areas.

I am sympathetic to those in Texas who wish to secede, and feel it might well be a worthwhile experiment. However, unless Texas has the will, determination, courage, and ability to adequately secure their borders, they would soon find themselves flooded with a horde of illegal immigrants who would quickly turn their new nation into the same kind of third world hell hole as the cursed nation from which they came.

Also, by the way, Texas might want to seriously consider closing its border with Mexico as well.

The Middle

Hope everyone had a good Beltane, and hope you have a good May Day. Beltane is the symbolic marriage of the goddess and the god in some paths. May you find the goddess or the god of your heart, and may the path you walk together take you to new lives of prosperity and happiness, and all that good shit. Let nothing stand between you and nothing tear you apart. Well, unless you just decide to call it quits for whatever reason, but that's a different story all together.

Hope you like the song. It seems to fit with the Sabbat in an odd sort of way. Remember, we are all social animals, but we're also individuals as well. Running with the crowd is only good to a point. After a while it smells like dead moose.

Shivaree

Wow, there sure was a dearth of astrological aspects in line for this year's Beltane. The only one of any real significance was around midnight of the 29th, on into the early hours of the 30th when you had the moon in Cancer roughly in sextile with the Sun in Taurus. There were some minor aspects, of course, but they almost aren't worth mentioning, so I won't.

In the context of the Sabbat, I would describe it as a shivaree. The goddess and god are looking forward to their up-coming marriage, and aren't sure of the future, though they are hopeful and optimistic. Then all of a sudden what should appear but a gaggle of friends, knocking on the door where the two are engaged in making their plans for their oh so official nuptials. The god answers the door, whereupon he is immediately snatched up and out on the shoulders of his friends, some of whom also grab hold of the wife. Carrying them out on their shoulders, they carry them to a distant field, where loud music is playing in raucous celebration.

They are dumped on the ground in the mud and get all dirty and stuff, as the friends light the bonfire and pass around the brewskis. They all laugh, the god and goddess look stupid, and they're actually just a little pissed off. But they know they deserve it. After all, what kind of fools get married in this kind of economy. The god is particularly dumb. Doesn't he know if the goddess decides to leave him some liberal judge is going to make sure she gets his shirt, his car, his home, and maybe even his fucking dog to boot?

But for the time being they are happy, and they take the shivaree in good fun. And, being gods, they fuck right there in the field while the bonfire blazes and the kids dance around the Maypole. Well, they were dancing around the Maypole up until then anyway.

That should be a lesson to them all. When two lovers are together on a night before their wedding, it might not be the best of luck, and it might not be the best time to snatch them up for a shivaree. Especially if the god just slipped an aphrodisiac in the goddesses wine.

Comin' Home

Who better to represent the more positive aspects of the marriage of the goddess and the god at Beltane than two drug-addled and addicted musicians like Delaney And Bonnie, here complete with friends such as George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Seriously, this is some good stuff here. Enjoy. Happy Beltane. And don't do as we do, just do what we fucking tell you, of course.

A Goddess And God In Their Own Minds

Archaeologists may have discovered the burial site of Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius, living would-be deities of their time, somewhere near or under an old temple of Isis. Cool. What better thing to ring in Beltane with than with the news of the finding of the mummies of a couple of disgraced, lecherous, power-hungry idiots who pretty much helped turned the world into an even bigger hell-hole than it already was.

Beltane-Eight Of Pentacles

I drew the Eight of Pentacles reversed for this Beltane Sabbat reading, which is somewhat disconcerting, though not necessarily bad. It suggests a need to devote oneself to extricating yourself from a bad situation, or avoiding it all together. Or it could simply mean devoting yourself to acquiring the skills you need to get to where you want to go in the way of raises or promotions.

For me, I think it means I need to get back to work on my novel. The hell with writing a novel is not in the writing but the editing. Although I finished the first draft of my horror novel Radu, I still haven't gotten past the fifteenth chapter of the rewrite after all this time. In my defense, there have been so many distractions and obligations taking up my time, I just haven't had the time or the energy. For me, anyway, this card is a good omen. I can't throw myself into it if I don't have the chance to do so. Maybe that chance is coming soon.

I Want Revenge The Safest Bet

If I ever get rich I'm going to buy a condo in Louisville just so I'll have a place to stay during the Kentucky Derby. Hell, I'll make a weekend of it and go to the Kentucky Oaks too. That will be the only time I'll be in the place, but while I'm there it will be a blast, provided of course its not as close to Beltane as it is this year. And I might still go at that.

As much as I would love to see General Quarters win tomorrow, I don't see him even placing in the top three, so I can't in good conscience encourage anybody to bet on him, even though a win by him would be one of the greatest stories to ever come out of the Derby. He was brought in a claiming race by an old retired school teacher in his seventies who has never owned a race horse in his life. He got him for twenty-thousand dollars, and just because the horse won a claiming race, he will be in the Derby, but of course as a long shot. A very long shot. Yeah, I know, it sounds like something out of a Disney movie. That's precisely why he probably won't come close to winning, too.

Stick with I Want Revenge as far as serious money goes.

Polar Bear Check-In

Good news on the polar bear front. There are more of them than ever before, something like twenty thousand of them, and even better news for future generations of both them and us. The Arctic ice is returning, and growing pretty quickly. I lost the link to the article, and I'll try to provide it later, but really, why bother? You either believe it or you don't.

I recently came to the conclusion that the global warming hysteria is based on a lot of self-serving power grabs. For example, do you remember the time when utility companies used to have to appear before state budget committees and beg for a rate increase?

Well, not anymore. Now all they have to do is promote clean, efficient, green energy production, and they have the sudden love and support of regulators the world over, and pretty much carte blanc to raise their rates to pretty much whatever they want. In the meantime, they can close plants under the guise of reducing carbon emissions, which of course is reducing the supply of available electricity, thereby justifying the price increases to an even greater extent.

But the bears are happy, at least. They even learned to dance.

Rum And Honey Glazed Ham

This might not exactly be the most traditional Beltane feast in the world, but pineapple glazed ham works for me anytime. I didn't have the chance to make it exactly how I wanted to, but here's my preferred method.

First, you need to boil the ham (preferably a butt portion) for about an hour. This removes all or most of the excess grease. While it is boiling, separate your pineapple slices from the juice in the can. Set the juice aside while putting the slices in a bowl of dark or light rum. Once your ham is ready to go to an oven, pre-heated to 350 degrees, take a large fork and puncture the ham in several places, as deeply as possible. Apply the pineapple juice, and then the rum.

Add a generous amount of honey to the open section of the butt, making sure it is evenly distributed. Place the pineapple slices then strategically, and firmly, on the honey glazed ham. The honey will hold the pineapples in place when you put them in the oven.

As oven temperatures of course will vary, you will need to check every so often, but as a general rule you will need to bake your ham about an hour longer. You ordinarily cook fifteen minutes for every pound, but remember, you have already boiled it for an hour, so you adjust the time. You can tell by looking at it when it is done, as it will start to brown on some areas.

And by the way, don't buy into the nonsense about ham or pork products being a source of swine flu. If anything, eating pork might afford you a degree of resistance to it. I doubt that, but it's just as likely as catching it from them.

Anyway, if you do try this recipe, be sure and tell me how you like it.

Back To The Broom Closet

Wicca and the pagan community are fertile grounds, it seems, for con artists, not only because so many gullible people are attracted to it, but there are so many angles with which to approach it. A good rule of thumb might well be, a person who is morbidly obese might not be the best source in the world for spiritual advice, especially as pertains to occult or magical skills. One might at least assume they are not the best source for dieting advice. Be that as it may, I recently came across this item from Jenn Q. Public.

It would seem that when Marrenna Lindberg isn't plugging her new book from Random House "The Orgasmic Diet" by appearing on TV shows faking orgasms while holding pictures of Stephen Colbert (with whom she has, according to Jenn, a near stalker-like obsession), she engages in bizarre Palin Derangement Syndrome inspired rants on left-wing sites such as Daily Kos. She also spews forth neurotic fantasies involving alleged conspiracies by the previous Administration and Congress to deny funding for her supposed research into female sexuality-which, of course, is obviously something which should be considered a priority of paramount importance in regards to government spending, especially in the face of such trivial matters as a collapsing economy and near record job losses and business closings.

I have a pretty firm way of looking at overweight people who spout off about magic and spirituality when they apply this much-vaunted learning and wisdom to the areas of government and left-wing politics. Without seeing them, you might merely assume they are simply deluded. Once you get a good look at their fat-asses, you then start to realize they might just be full of shit.

Hate Crimes And Misdemeanors

So why do we need any kind of hate crime law? Answer, we don't. We have laws against assault, harassment, and murder. The difference is, the state generally prosecutes such laws, in addition to hate crimes some have on their own statutes, which are also by the way pretty unnecessary. And I know, there are many who will find it a dubious objection at best to claim that any crime committed as a supposed hate crime might leave religious organizations open to liability.

Still, not only is that true, but there is another component that is rarely addressed. Apparently, under this new law, a person charged with committing a crime can be questioned as to their thoughts and motivations. By the feds. The onus is on you, it seems, to prove you weren't engaging in a civil rights violation, if the feds decide to go after you for it.

It might sound paranoid, but I don't want to give that much power to the federal government, or for that matter to any state or local government. It doesn't really matter to me which side is in charge.

The Specter of Defeat

The GOP got an unexpected present for the Beltane holiday-a divorce decree of sorts from long time Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Now that he is gone, maybe the Republican Party can get back to being what they are supposed to be-the party of fiscal discipline, lower taxes, and small government.

Or, maybe not. The reality seldom fits the illusion, and the reality is, the last six GOP Presidents, at least, have presided over an increase of government. This by the way is including Ronald Reagan.

The party is hurting. You have the ones like Specter who are little more than Democrats to begin with who just ran as Republicans of convenience, adapting to the political realities of the day. Then you have the ones that want to be the Bible Party. Finally, you have the neo-cons who just think small government and the American tradition of neutrality in world affairs is just so passe'. All of them grow the government in their own way or increase its power in one form or another, but now, they look to be intent on tearing the bloody carcass of the party limb from blood-soaked limb, as the true conservatives of the party struggle with the prospect of trying to convince the average American they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Not the best time for that, it seems.

Still, even if more of the RINOs follow in Specters wake, it could prove to be the purging the party needs. Of course its still going to be a bloody mess until they decide they really want to win elections again. When they do, they might realize the only way to engage that dream is to put the religious idealism in perspective and rein in the foreign affairs component back to, say, this side of the border.

The Federalist approach is the only way for them to not just survive, but to prosper and grow. I just think that is not going to sink in for some time to come, no matter which wing of the party flies the bird.

Contagious

There is another word for a political gaffe-the truth. And when you have a gaff-o-matic like Joe Biden in the position of Vice-President of the United States, presiding over the Senate, it's pretty obvious you are going to get a regular dose of the truth, whether you particularly want to hear it or not. I suppose we should all count our blessings, except of course it is seldom good news. Recently we've been the recipients of rather disturbing news pertaining to the mutated strain of swine flu that has necessitated the closings of at least one school in Texas and has produced confirmed cases of infestation in several different states, though thankfully, here in the US, there have been no reported deaths. In Mexico, where the disease is said to have originated, however, there have been hundreds. Bearing in mind the flu is just now manifesting here, it makes one wonder just how widespread and dangerous it will get.

Our government seems determined to clamp down on undue anxieties while not denying the problem is serious. Still, they are wanting, it seems, to offer calm reassurance that, at least for now, everything is under control, as they prepare for the eventualities.

Enter Joe Biden, who with one sentence lets us know just how serious it is.

Anytime a Democrat discourages people from using public transportation, that is damn serious business.

I hope everyone had a good time for Beltane, and tomorrow's May Day celebrations. Me, I'm keeping my ass home.

Dancing With Potential Disaster

What kind of people put up business facilities at the base of an active volcano? That's the question I found myself asking as I read this story in the course of researching the current status of Mount Redoubt in Alaska. Evidently, this oil storage facility has been there since the mid-sixties, long after the last major eruption, but it was known to be active even then, nor has it ever been considered a small thing. Three thousand years ago, an eruption of the volcano resulted in the creation of Crescent lake on the volcano's south side.

Oil companies don't seem to care. If they have to pay high insurance prices, they just pass that on to the consumer, and maybe still write it off. If they can't get insurance for facilities such as this, so much the better. If something happens, they can write that off too, in addition to having a ready-made excuse to raise prices. As for state regulators, all they see is the potential for tax revenue-or bribes to keep taxes low.

In the meantime, a major eruption of lava inundating the site could easily result in a disaster that would make the Exxon Valdez look small by comparison.

I was interested in Redoubt due to it's active status and recent eruptions so close to the last Sabbat, Oestra, and so decided to check on its status as of the approach of Beltane. I never expected to stemble across something like this.

Some Joke

Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands dancing the salsa during a Queen's Day tour of some Frisian cities, from Monster And Critics.

It is unclear whether this picture was taken before or after the unfortunate incident during which, while she and her family toured one of the cities in an open-air bus, a man tried to drive a car straight at the Queen's entourage, resulting in the deaths of five bystanders.

It is common in Europe for festival goers to engage in the playing of pranks during the festive season of Walpurgis, the night of April 30th, or on the following May Day. I have yet to see any information as to who was driving the car or what his motivations were, but something tells me it was more than a simple prank conducted for the sake of a rollicking good time.

Queen Beatrix, by the way, is Europe's most powerful monarch, if you measure power according to how much one actually wields over a nation. I have an idea this might have been an Islamic fanatic, which would explain why they are taking their time in releasing the name of the perpetrator, in an understandable yet useless attempt to put a lid on possible reprisals against the overall Islamic community.

If he is a Muslim, I wonder how he would feel about the idea he actually participated, albeit unknowingly, in the time-honored Walpurgis, originally a pagan, tradition of playing pranks-such as it is.

Eminem-Who Can Really Blame You?

It will probably come as a big shock to some people, and might even piss some people off, but I'm a big fan of Eminem, and when he put out his latest release, it didn't come too soon. Here is what seems to be his own YouTube page, to which I just became a subscriber. I highly recommend the currently featured song video "We Made You". I was going to feature it on my blog as part of a Sabbat series for Beltane, but unfortunately, embedding has been disabled for this, and possibly all Eminem videos. I suppose I could download a player for the song. However, while the song is great and stands on its own merits, it would just not be the same without the video.

Bill O'Reilly and others really need to calm down, although I do see their point. The same predictable crowd who would skewer an artist who criticized a leftist politician or other such figure are just as predictably silent about Eminem's rendition of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in this video. Let's be just as clear, however, in noting that many on the right would be similarly silent (if not outwardly applauding) any such skewering of a feminist or any leftist figure. Sarah Palin, while a prominent part of certain parts of the video, is not the only target being skewered here. He also goes after such entertainment icons as:

Britney Spears, Ellen Degeneres, Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer, and various others. In one scene he is in jail with Amy Winehouse. Interspersed among them all are numerous Star-Trek stylized sequences, as well as an Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock inspired theme. Marshall Mathers, in fact, appears in various guises throughout the video, and manages to be provocative, outrageous, or downright hilarious. In many cases, he manages to be all three.

At the beginning, he requests for Jessica Simpson to sing the chorus, and a Simpson look-alike appears at various intervals throughout the video, in parts wolfing down a humongous hamburger. Although of course it is not really Simpson either acting the role or singing the chorus, whoever does both are quite good, especially the chorus singing. However, make no mistake-Mathers is the star of the video, and many of his expressions-whether confused, pretentious, lusting, or just his deadpan personas-almost put him on the level of a Charlie Chaplin type figure.

The point to the video, at least to me, is not an attempt to slam Sarah Palin or any politician, or in fact any celebrity. The point is not making fun of them so much as all of us who, in our star-obsessed, celebrity driven madness, are ready to roundly denounce and denigrate them at the slightest opportunity. Yet, we can't seem to get enough of them, can we? Sarah Palin was in fact put in this situation, a bona-fide celebrity who was loved yet loathed by many. Yet who are any of us to judge her, or for that matter any of the people, known as "stars", represented on this video?

As the song points out in the chorus sung by "Jessica" to the "rock star"-

"We're the ones who made you."

Time For A New Wave Of Blaxploitation Films

Back in the nineteen seventies, the so-called blaxploitation films were everywhere. They were of varying degrees of quality. You had major hits like Shaft and Superfly, along with sleeper hits like the vampire film Blacula, as well as less successful offerings such as Blackenstein. My all-time favorite blaxploitaiton film would have to be The Thing With Two Heads.

No matter how good or bad, they all had one thing in common-the obvious attempt to tap into the potential of the urban black movie market. It kind of went by the wayside by the time the eighties rolled around, but all trends seem to have revivals at one time or another, with the exception so far, thankfully, of Roller Disco. It would appear the blaxploitation genre is no exception to this revival rule, and it might well have been encouraged by the recent election of Barak Obama.

Enter the film Obsessed, starring Beyonce Knowles as a savvy, tough, sexy and beautiful housewife and mother, married to a successful black businessman, played by Idris Elba (a former co-star of the BBC version of The Office), who is being stalked by a-gasp-

WHITE BITCH!

Okay, it's obvious what is going on here. This white former first lady office temp, played by Ali Larter, is going to ruin our hero's life, all because she is obviously obsessed with great big long hard humongous black cock winning the love of a successful, secure, and stable black businessman. Deep down, she must know she could ruin his life, to say nothing of his chances of becoming President of the USA the most successful black businessman in the world.

Fortunately, our black hero is far stronger than that weak-ass cracker Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction. Even though he does engage in a little relatively harmless flirting, he resists the snares of the evil WHITE BITCH! She gradually loses all sense of perspective and becomes ever more aggressive, until she finally goes on the attack, even going so far as to accuse our heroine of stalking her out of jealousy.

Finally, all of this is resolved satisfactorily with a kick-ass sequence where our heroine Michelle Beyonce actually does just that. Kicks some ass, cos you know there is no WHITE BITCH! that can go toe-to-toe against a sister and come out on top, no matter how fucking crazy she is.

In the end, our hero's career and reputation is saved, along with his marriage and family. He proves that, yes, just like Barak Obama, a black man can be a dependable, solid, stable, secure, and yes, even successful business man and pillar of his community. And as long as he has a good, strong, sexy, beautiful, kick-ass wife willing to stand beside him, no WHITE BITCH! is ever going to break them up-or down.

Now by golly, that's the way it should be, huh?

South Africa-Personality Cult In The Making?

Last Wednesday, April 22nd, the voters of the nation of South Africa by an overwhelming majority reaffirmed the position of the ANC (African national Congress) as the majority party in power, all but assuring ANC leader Jacob Zuma will be the nation's next president. Zuma earlier ousted former President Mbeki as head of the ANC after a bitter and prolonged power struggle, during which Mbeki was accused of interfering in Zuma's trial on charges of corruption.

This was not the first time Zuma had been in legal troubles. During the apartheid era, he found himself exiled, and was also for a time in the same prison with Nelson Mandela. More recently, he found himself the center of a rape accusation, during which he defended himself by insisting the sex was consensual, and further outraged feminists and other critics when, in explaining the circumstances of his sexual liaison with a woman who also happened to be an AIDS victim, explained that after intercourse he made sure he showered immediately in order to ward off infection.

He has also received criticism from many quarters because he is a practicing polygamist. The biggest question about Zuma's ascension to the presidency seems to be which one of his six wives will be his official first lady, or whether this duty will in fact be assumed by his daughter, who is described as his closest confidante and supporter.

There is one potential hurdle for Zuma, however, which could pose a more serious obstacle to his chances of assuming the office of President of South Africa-the potential and threatened split from the ANC by supporters of former President Mbeki.

To a degree, this might appear on the surface to be an outgrowth of tribal rivalries. The Zulus, though the largest tribe within South Africa, have previously held next to no power within the ANC, and therefore, owing to the monopoly of power the ANC has held over the nation's politics, they have enjoyed practically no influence whatsoever. Zuma's election and influence stands to change all of that, and in fact his position as the head of the ANC already has. For the first time, the Zulus have a sea at the table-a very prominent one. Still, there are other more subtle forces at work here than the mere influence of tribal rivalries.

The ANC has recently formed an alliance with the South African Communist Party, and though it is unsure just how aligned Zuma is with them, it is possibly telling that he has dispatched cadres into various institutions as a means of weeding out "intellectuals". He has also made noises about limiting the independent power of the South African judiciary.

At rallies he has been known to sing an old song from his revolutionary anti-apartheid days, "Bring Me My Machine Gun"-possibly not the most appropriate tune with which to signal what Zuma has promised his skeptical critics will be a return to the conciliatory policies of the Mandela era.

Though Zuma is apparently a Christian, like the vast majority of Zulus, who happen to be the most conservative tribe in South Africa-according to Patrick Joubert Conlon, who was formerly a white citizen of South Africa-it may well be cause for concern that the most pro-business faction of the ANC, led by Mr. Mbeki, is now out of power, while the strongest alliance within the party seems to be with the communist faction.

Does Jacob Zuma have the potential to be a healing and conciliatory influence within South African politics, as he proclaims his intentions are, or is this just another personality cult in the making? Will he turn out to be just another in a long line of third world thugs destined to reign over yet another dismal epoch in post-colonial African political history? Or, will he just turn out to be a clownish figure with no real clue as to the proper handling of power once he has it tentatively within his grasp for a relatively brief period of time? Only time will tell.

Jacob Zuma participating in what appears to be some sort of ritual tribal dance while dressed in what is described as traditional Zulu attire. Note the gym shoes.

Games, Amusements, And Follies

I call this one, "Pin The Tail On The Stupid Motherfucking Jackass Idiot".

This Sunday on ABC News This Week With George Stephanopoulus, the subject came up about the prospect of a projected nine and one half trillion dollar deficit spending over the course of the next ten years. To play this game, you must successfully pick the stupid motherfucking jackass idiot within ten seconds or less. Your two choices are-

POINT-George Will-The nine and one half trillion dollar projected spending deficit will lead to much higher interest rates, and therefore serve to drag the economy further down.

COUNTERPOINT-Donna Brazile-Families don't really care so much about deficits, they are only concerned about saving jobs.

READY, SET-GO!