Being A True Hero Is Never Easy

Michael Phelps smoking a bong doesn’t set too well with a lot of people, especially people with teenage children, and so it might seem understandable that at least one of his sponsors, Kelloggs, has announced they will not be renewing their contract with the record-breaking gold-medal Olympic swimming champion. The truth is probably even more offensive than it sounds to some pro-marijuana advocacy groups. They were probably planning to end the contractual relationship anyway. It wasn’t going to last forever. How long exactly did preceding record-holder Mark Spitz appear on boxes of Wheaties? Alas, Olympic champions even of the caliber of Spitz and Phelps have limited marketing potential. Time passes quickly.

Nevertheless, they felt this was yet another potential marketing ploy, and so they released the following statement.

"We originally built the relationship with Michael, as well as the other Olympic athletes, to support our association with the U.S. Olympic team. Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract."

This might be a big mistake, as already several groups are calling for a boycott of all Kellogg’s products.

The leader of one of the biggest legalize-pot organizations,

Marijuana Policy Project, called Kelloggs action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he'd never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.

Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance. They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg to vent their views.

I am going to add my own name to the list, and to the calls for a boycott. Come on, people-let’s make Kelloggs the next major American business to qualify for federal bailout money.

It’s the least we can do. We can accomplish two things. We can come to the aid of an American champion, and make the point that the majority of American people want an end to the current ridiculous and oppressive marijuana laws, which remain on the books despite most of our wishes. Especially given the current state of the national economy, they are all the more inappropriate.

These days, the power of the wallet is the only power we really have-such as it is. Let’s make it plain, if you want our business, you might not want to piss us off by promoting policies most of us don't support or at least wish to see greatly reformed.

Seth Myers of Saturday Night Live also got into the act when, during a Weekend Update segment, he leveled the following criticism-

"Every one of your mascots is a wild-eyed cartoon character with uncontrollable munchies," Myers said. "Every one of your products sounds like a wish a genie granted at a Phish concert."

The USA Swimming team has nevertheless lowered the boom on Phelps, and issued the following public reprimand-

"This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero. Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust."

That of course might be the least of Phelps worries. Several of the South Carolina college students with whom he partied during the time in question have been arrested, and Phelps himself might be subject to future charges, according to Richland County South Carolina sheriff Leon Lott, who issued the following statement-

"This case is no different than any other case. This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It’s a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred."


Aside from the concerns of a handful of South Carolina college students (one of whom probably made a fistful of dollars by taking and selling the photo to begin with), some people seem to think the government, and law-enforcement, have other things to deal with that are of far greater importance, and fear that Michael Phelps latest problems might provide a greater emphasis to push for more stringent enforcement of already overly harsh and out-dated marijuana laws, to say nothing of reducing the likelihood of marijuana and drug law reform.

Still others blame Phelps, not for putting himself in such an untenable position, but for kowtowing to the dictates of a repressive anti-drug policy, which they claim is based more on hysteria than anything. They urge him to more or less stand up for himself, and not apologize. In effect, they encourage him to "get off your knees".

Indeed, they seem to assert that he should wear the pothead badge with pride while pointing out that he is, after all, a fourteen time Olympic gold medalist. The following statement by a friend of Phelps who was present at the party in question would seem to suggest that it wasn't an unusual thing for Phelps. According to him-

"At one point someone asked him if he wanted to smoke some weed. Michael didn't hesitate and headed to a small back room, where he was immediately handed a big red bong. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and ripped a huge smelly bong rip." The source continues, "He knew exactly what he was doing. He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming the backstroke."

Be that as it may, it is probably unrealistic to think Phelps might suddenly become an activist for legalization or de-criminalization of marijuana. Phelps is first and foremost concerned with his future career and contract potential, to say nothing of the fact that he is probably not concerned with activism on this issue to begin with. This of course is the reason why he released the following statement-

Phelps issued the following apology:

''I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.''

The following statement seems far more contrite and personal, yet it is also tinged with an understandable hint of bitterness.

"It's time like these that you really get true support. I've been able to really find out who my friends and family are. It's by no means been easy - bad judgement, yeah, and it's something I plan learning off of. I don't take drugs. I get drug-tested all the time. You can look at the records and you can see. It was bad judgement and a bad mistake."

As for any future effect on drug laws, I doubt there will be any long-lasting effect. There will be some noise made “For The Good Of The Children”(tm), but after so long it will fade into the ether. By the time this is over, a good many of the children in question will be on their way towards mastering all levels of the latest version of Grand Theft Auto, probably while higher than hell. while Michael Phelps will have groped his seventeenth exotic dancer, thus continuing to habitually alienate yet another special interest group.

As for Phelps, when he fails to compete in the next Olympics, or if he fails to medal if he does compete-or even if he merely fails to break his own record-these same people will be blaming it on the pot, or perhaps a real or imagined gambling addiction, one that might well be enhanced by an attraction to cocktail waitresses and exotic dancers.



He seems determined to match or surpass his medal count with the number of outraged special interest groups he seems to constantly offend.

More power to him. Way too many of us seem to like our heroes pure, whether we are pure ourselves or not. Ironically, our kids could care less. They just like their heroes. After all, they need all of them they can get. Ironically, then can now identify with Phelps more than they ever could before, and this is including even the ones who never have and never would smoke marijuana, gamble, or frequent exotic dance clubs-or dance therein. Sometimes I think they understand better than do their parents that, in fact, there really are no perfect people, maybe especially including the heroes. The first people to drive this lesson home to them are, of course, their parents.
It’s only when we get older that we strive for perfection, probably out of some misguided need to atone for our own follies, or those of our parents. As always, we fall flat on our asses and continue the vicious cycle. Those who expect it from their children are engaged in the cruelest of follies, having learned nothing from one of the most important lessons life throws at all of us. Those who expect it from others are simply arrogant hypocrites.

Livni, Tzipit

What we have here is in all likelihood the Israeli Al Gore.

She won, but will probably lose when Benyamen Netanyahu forms what will actually be the future ruling Israeli coalition-a conservative coalition. This is good news on all levels. Israeli society is obviously veering center-right, and though this will give Bibi a great deal of leverage, he will appreciate the fact that he doesn't really have a solid mandate, which will make him amenable to reasonable compromise.

Overall, this is good news for Israeli security, as well as for overall Middle Eastern stability, which needs all the stability it can muster. This should in turn help stabilize oil prices. Well, we can always hope.

Labor and Kadima have both proven they are inept, weak, and corrupt, and wholly unable to do more at best than keep the barbarians at the gate, not counting the flurry of missiles which have seemed to make their way past the gate on a near daily basis.

Obama can work with Bibi. He will have to. The US needs competent governance in Israel, not a temperamental lapdog that does little more than eat and bark.

Some of the more far right Israelis, Jews, and Jewish supporters, such as my friend Mad Zionist, will of course be wholly or at least greatly dissatisfied with Bibi, and in part for much good reason.

Still, from my perspective, this is the overall best possible scenario, realistically speaking.

Prison Brakes

About one third of California's inmate population will be freed over the course of the next two to three years in what seems to be the only viable answer to the state's prison overcrowding, which a Federal Court has deemed unconstitutional, according to this AP report.

Without a U.S. Supreme Court reprieve, California will have to free roughly a third of its prison inmates in a few years, and how that can be done safely is still hotly debated.

Corrections officials said Tuesday they are struggling with their response to a tentative federal court ruling this week that the state must remove as many as 57,000 inmates over the next two or three years.

The state's 33 adult prisons now hold about 158,000 inmates. But the judges said overcrowding is so severe it unconstitutionally compromises medical care of inmates, and releasing prisoners is the only solution.

Well, I guess that could be a way to deal with the state's budget woes. Kentucky has toyed with roughly the same idea, with non-violent offenders. Frankly, probably a good third of most prison's inmates have no business there, but are themselves victims of minimum sentencing guidelines, put mostly in place during the Reagan years as a means of addressing the problem of illicit drug use.

Still, this might be a good idea that is finally being implemented at the worst possible time. Most of these prisoners, or at least a large percentage of them, will probably end up on public assistance, therefore saving California no money, and possibly even costing more. Add to this the very real problem of the huge surge in unemployment and you can see where this is adding gasoline to an already blazing fire. What choice will they have but to turn to public assistance-or to crime? Speaking of which, let's be candid here-a good many of them probably do belong in prison after all, and that's probably exactly where they will be heading back to at some point, regardless of the economy, under the best of circumstances.

What struck me most about this news item though was its seeming presumption that time will stand still for the next three years. I am sure there will be plenty of new arrivals that will serve to keep the California prison system as overcrowded over the next few years as it is now-unless of course they either change a few unnecessarily oppressive drug laws, or just flat out ignore them. Either one would be sufficient to help solve the budget woes of many a cash-strapped state.

Well, if they are just going to turn around and put them right back on the streets anyway, what purpose does it serve to enforce the law to begin with? Isn't that a waste not only of taxpayer's money, but police resources?

The Press Conference

In addition to the stimulus package, there was a variety of nonsense discussed during Obama's first official presidential news conference that of worthy of note.

This was the first presidential news conference to which The Huffington Post was invited, at least to ask a question, and one would hope, however vainly, that they might ask something pertinent and perhaps a little less partisan than whether or not Obama would support charging past Bush Administration officials with crimes.

Not a very good first impression to leave the general public, but anyway, here it is-

STEIN: Thank you, Mr. President. Today, Senator Patrick Leahy announced that he wants to set up a truth and reconciliation committee to investigate the misdeeds of the Bush administration. He said that, before you turn the page, you have to read the page first.

Do you agree with such a proposal? And are you willing to rule out right here and now any prosecution of Bush administration officials?

Obama's response was non-specific, and about as moderate an answer as you could hope for under the circumstances. The basic gist of his reply?

My view is also that nobody's above the law and, if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen.

Note how he specified "clear instances of wrongdoing". That won't set too well with a large segment of the Post's readers, who would probably prefer to pour over every document and public utterance with a fine-toothed comb in order to ferret out any slight hint of objectionable actions with the aim to conduct as partisan a witch hunt as possible. Nor would they content themselves with a handful of high-level officials.

That this question is based on a proposed Judiciary Committee investigation by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy makes it all the more ominous, precisely because the page has been read-and read, and read, and read, and read-for the last roughly five years, at least. What else is there to know? If there is something actionable, it should already be on the table. Make the case now or shut up about it. Don't try to be dragging the country through yet another extended public character assassination ritual.

The Huffington Post had a golden opportunity to make an impression on behalf of the blogosphere that it has grown into a serious facet of the world of actual journalism. Instead, it doubtless left many the impression of a spoiled child that should have been left outside to play while the grown-ups endeavored to conduct adult business.

Unfortunately, many of the adults came across no better, and certainly no more mature.

Perhaps the most foolish question asked was about lifting the ban on the showing of coffins as they returned to the states, of soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars. Many, such as HuffPo, want to assert that this is showing respect to the fallen heroes.

Hell, why stop at just showing the coffins as they arrive? Why the hell not just open the damn things up and give everybody a good look inside? That would really impress people, once they got a good look at just how horrible a sacrifice these brave soldiers made for their country. Who cares what the families think? There's surely no way it would inflame passions further against the wars, would it?

Of course, no assessment of the drivel that was spewed during the course of this press conference could possible be complete without a recounting of the contribution by Helen Thomas.

She first asked a question about the "so-called terrorists" that dart back-and-forth between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The framing of this question tells me all I need to know about her mindset, but the really loaded question involved which Middle Eastern nations Obama knew of that actually possessed nuclear weapons.

The correct answer, of course, would have been "the only one that really needs them", but Obama skirted around the obvious inflammatory, and actually accusatory question with admirable skill.

All in all, Obama handled himself pretty well throughout all this bilge, and actually made somewhat of a good case for his stimulus package, though I am still not convinced that it is anything but a political stunt designed to buy and shore up support.

Hopefully, the Huffington Post, Helen Thomas, and others of their ilk will be just as harsh and demanding as to the truth and veracity of these and other such Obama Administration policies as they have been those of the Bush Administration, but I seriously have my doubts.

Resistance Is Futile

It's only a minor irritation that Barak Obama might well take to the public airwaves tonight to promote his so-called stimulus package, therefore depriving me of what is typically my favorite night of television viewing, but what really makes it bad is that if he does so, he will in effect preempt what is generally good fiction for poorly-conceived outright fantasy.

He could at least arrange to have a horror music score with nerve-raking crescendos timed at just the right parts of his speech. We could all use the comic relief.

Besides, according to Gallup, a majority of Americans are all sufficiently terrified of the potential consequences of not passing the stimulus. However, note that this is only fifty-one percent, leveraged against a forty-eight percent approval rating for Congressional Democrats versus a meager thirty-plus percent approval for Congressional Republicans. The only thing likely keeping this thing afloat is Obama's own relatively high popularity ratings-a solid 67 percent. Translation-he is still riding high off the fumes of his victory and hopes to make the most of it while he still has a chance to pay off his constituents and supporters-known in Newspeak as "save the economy before it is too late".

Although most Republicans have held firm against this obvious and blatant misuse of taxpayers money-including, surprisingly, John McCain-there are a handful of GOP Senators willing to go along with the scam-three of them in the Senate, to be precise, including Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) and Susan Collins (Maine).

Obama has also managed to bring on board none other than Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who seems to be looking toward a run for the US Senate in 2010 to replace Senator Mel Martinez.

In the meantime, several House Republicans have been the recipients of several automated calls urging their cooperation.

The calls are set to run against GOP Reps. Bill Cassidy (La.), John Fleming (La.), Brett Guthrie (Ky.), Leonard Lance (N.J.), Christopher Lee (N.Y.) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (Mo.), in addition to Rooney.

The calls come as a new Gallup Poll shows 51 percent of Americans say a stimulus plan is "critically important" and a week after the DCCC launched radio ads targeting 28 Republican members who voted against the package. The radio ads will end their run tomorrow. All seven freshmen targeted by the phone calls also had radio ads run against them.

An example of one such ad aimed at the constituents of a GOP Congressman is as follows-

"Did you know Congressman Tom Rooney voted against economic recovery that would immediately create and save nearly 330,000 Florida jobs?" asks a call targeting the freshman Florida Republican.

"Times are tough. Tell Congressman Rooney to put families before politics," the caller intones.

In the meantime, in the hurry to push this monster spending bill through, put on the back burner has been the plan of Treasury Secretary Geitner to utilize the 700 billion dollar stimulus bill from last year (what is left of it) to shore up those banks affected by bad mortgages. Many seem to think this news, once it is officially announced, will result in an upswing in the stock market, which of course would take a lot of the wind out of the sails of those pushing Obama's plan. His announcement, nevertheless, has been put off until Wednesday, at the earliest, in order to buy more time for Obama's plan to gain sufficient support to insure passage, preferably with at least some semblance of bi-partisanship.

Where to begin? It is just beyond my comprehension that public servants should be so vile, or that so many of the American public could be so servile. Is this truly the level to which we have descended? Evidently, the American public who hold out such great hope for this package have neglected to consider one important fact-just because somebody says it's so, doesn't make it true.

Even if the stimulus bill would work, under the current set of circumstances, there is so much that could happen that could render it totally useless within a matter of weeks, if not days. What if there was yet another major flare-up in the Middle East that caused the price of oil to once more skyrocket near the one hundred forty dollar-per-barrel range, or more. Much more? What if there were another major terrorist attack, especially on American soil? What if yet another major corporation went belly-up? Or two, or three? What if the stars colluded to the extent that all of these things happened over a relatively short period of time? Can we take it all back? Of course not.

The most maddening thing is, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, it might all be unnecessary to begin with-even on the highly unlikely chance it could work-for the simple fact they have projected that the current recession will finally end, on its own, during the early part of the second half of this year.

So now we see yet another potential reason for this rush to implementation of a bad, ill-advised piece of legislation that just aims to throw yet more good money after bad. If the CBO's prediction holds true, then Obama and the Congressional Democratic majority can claim at least a degree of credit for the improvement. The problem is, of course, the stimulus package might actually make matters worse. In that case, they need as many Republicans as possible to help share the blame. Of course the many that refuse to support the bill will be blamed anyway.

As for the Democrats, they will continue to confuse, manipulate, obfuscate, and outright lie their way through the next two years, while average Americans will just hope, perhaps beyond all reasonable hope, that things will work out and that, indeed, the recession will end by the start of the second half of this year, as the CBO predicts.

After all, Americans will have lost a whopping three billion jobs, just from the beginning of this year until the beginning of the second half of this same year.

We just can't take much more of this.

Hat Tip to-Lee at Digital Nicotine

Cannibis Linked To Testicular Cancer

So now researchers are saying it looks like cannabis might be a cause of some forms of testicular cancer.

Here's what might be the vital part of the article.

Although testicular cancer is normally curable when caught early, some patients are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced. Undescended testes in childhood and a family history of the disease are known to increase the risk.

The disease is thought to begin in the womb when germ cells in the foetus (those that will eventually make sperm in the adult) fail to develop properly. Exposure to male hormones in adolescence is thought to trigger development of cancer in the affected cells. Chronic cannabis use is known to reduce sperm quality and increase impotence, which are linked with testicular cancer.

The testes have receptors for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, and the male reproductive system is known to naturally produce a cannabinoid-like chemical that is thought to protect against the disease.

The researchers speculate that cannabis may interfere with this anti-tumour effect, increasing the risk of the cancer developing.

Well, that explains Lance Armstrong's prior relationship to a certain nutcase female rock star. Somebody be sure and point this out to Michael Phelps.

Etta James Kicks Some Ass

It's easy to see how feisty Etta James is for an old broad in the video above, and why she would take exception to the impression she had that she was treated disrespectfully during the Obama inauguration party at which Beyonce Knowles sung her signature song "At Last", while newly sworn-in President Obama and wife Michele shared the dance floor.

I'm not taking sides here, but I will point out in Beyonce's defense that, as she was an early and vocal supporter of Obama, it makes sense that she might receive an invitation to sing the song that she covered in the movie Cadillac Records, in which she played the role of a young Etta James.

Nor has her life been as particularly or relatively easy as some might assume. Her success came after years of training, practice, and generally hard work, through which her father quit his job to act as the manager of the girl's group that would go on to become Destiny's Child. Because of this, the family income was halved and the strain resulted in the break-up of the marriage of the budding young stars parents.

Etta James, on the other hand, was born into hard circumstances in Los Angeles, as the illegitimate child of a single mom who claimed (and probably wrongly believed) that Jamesetta was the daughter of legendary pool great Minnesota Fats, who happened to have lived and worked as a pool hall manager in Washington DC during the time in question.

The future Etta James, however, took her own destiny into her own hands, and with her own girl group of friends, ran off to San Francisco and auditioned, where they quickly were taken under the wing of various session men and record producers. Their first hit, "Roll With Me Henry", was an answer song to an earlier R&B hit by a male artist. Due to the suggestive nature of the title and lyrics and the resultant protests by some radio stations, the title was changed to "The Wallflower (Dance With Me Henry). Etta James was fourteen years old at the time.

She found regular work as a back-up vocalist and scored several other hits, some of which did well on the R&B and blues charts, but it wasn't until 1961 and "At Last" that she scored her first crossover hit. Even then, it might surprise many to know that this now standard classic hit (which was actually a cover of an earlier version by the Glenn Miller Orchestra released twenty years earlier) never got above number 41 on the pop charts.

Over the years, James became an addict and alcoholic, but remained a prodigious performer and recording artist, eventually garnering a slew of awards and separate Hall of Fame inductions.

They seem to be complete opposites in many regards. Beyonce worked hard to achieve success, and now has it relatively easy. James achieved success with amazing ease, but her life since then seems to have been a constant struggle. Why wouldn't she want to kick Beyonce's ass? She says now of course she was joking, and in a sense she probably was. However, the best jokes are based on some degree of real sentiment.

Etta James probably has seen her share of abuse from the time she was a beginning young girl star, and never really saw any choice but to go with the flow if she wanted to achieve her dream, which she probably still in her mind has never quite grasped to the level to which she still aspires, now from the confines of the motorized wheelchair upon which she rides out on the stage for her limited sets, which yet draw respectable, and respectful, crowds.

Nor is she particularly impressed at Obama, who she probably sees as someone who would be hard-pressed to survive in the rough-and-tumble world that was the era in which she grew up, let alone rocket to the position of power to which he has soared, also with seeming relative ease.

Her statements regarding Obama and Beyonce at the Seattle concert were in keeping with her own rough-edged stage persona, crafted over years of concert appearances with the likes of B B King, Doctor John, and other such luminaries whom she would probably view as real, honest, tough, legitimate artists and performers like herself. That she would be willing to express such disdainful views is actually in keeping with her character, which can be crude to the point of obscene.

To her own way of thinking, she didn't really threaten to just kick Beyonce's ass-she actually did kick Beyonce's ass, right there and right then, and gave Obama a good knee to the groin for good measure. Beyonce declined comment, while Obama's response came through a spokesperson.

In the parlance of Etta James world, they punked out.

Darwin's Sacred Cause

Adrian Desmond has written an article which serves as something of a preview to a new book he has co-written with James Moore in which they assert Charles Darwin was inspired to arrive at his theory of evolution through his experience with slavery. So disgusted by the practice was he, that he proposed the theory at least in part as a way of asserting the universal brotherhood of all mankind. Of course, he didn't stop there. According to Darwin, all living things are related and descended from an original life form.

The BBC article makes for very interesting reading. Evidently, Darwin kept a great lot to himself, as it seems he was not the only one who propounded a similar theory, and he knew very well how other proponents of similar theories were treated by the scientific community of his day. Yet, he took it to the point that he was able to amass a body of work that could be presented as proof of the validity of the theory.

In so doing, Charles Darwin changed the world, and so has to be viewed as one of the great people of all time. I would go so far as to say it I were to make a list of historical figures whom I most admire, he would almost undoubtedly make my top ten. Even if I didn't agree with a single word of the theory of evolution, I would have to be impressed by the sheer brilliance of it.

Evidently, a group of churches in England agree with my perspective, and in recognition of his two hundredth birthday-as well as the 150th anniversary of Darwin's "The Origin Of Species"-have been holding a seminar in which they have discussed his contributions to science and ways in which they can get the point across that the theory of evolution does not necessarily conflict with religion.

Although I am sure many of the more literalistic minded, fundamentalist religions would disagree, I would have to say it's about time.

Wild Boars And Bores-And Other Miserable Beasts

It seems that early conservation efforts have produced an over-abundance of dangerous animals in a variety of places, including Texas, where the Texas State Legislature is considering adopting the same approach Sarah Palin has to reducing the wolf population in Alaska. Soon-and evidently it can't be too soon to suit the numerous farmers and ranchers of West Texas-you will be able to pay a fee in order to engage in the sport of aerial hunting. The target?

FERAL HOGS!

A word of caution though about that link. I used it due to it's focus on the Texas legislation, despite it's many inaccuracies, the most egregious being the statement by the reporter to the effect that, though feral hogs are dangerous to small animals and even some livestock, they are not dangerous to humans, from whom they would just as soon run away from "on their stubby legs".

In fact, they are as dangerous to humans as they are to any other animals. They are in fact very aggressive, especially when hungry or horny-which seems to be a perpetual state in all cases.

Aside from their aggression, they wreak havoc on plants and crops, thus endangering the food supplies of other animals in their native habitats. They will in fact eat anything and everything that is biodegradable.

A commenter to the article gives a compelling description of the feral hog, as well as a rundown of the many dangers it poses.

The feral hog population is completely out of control. We will do something about it when they take down a couple of kids near the populated areas. And when they get into a feeding frenzy, they will eat anything, including each other. I was riding around a ranch with the owner in South Texas and asked how do you know there are feral hog out here? He said "do you see any cow poop"? They travel in packs and they have werewolf-looking heads – snouts grow out, balding hair patterns, gnarly looking teeth that go ever which way, and beady little eyes mounted on the side of big ol heads. They are incredibly fast. And there are millions of them now. They have no known predator. They carry Brucellosis. They have nasty scent glands. The males are caped with an inch of tallow armor, a clavicle protecting a heart shot, a thick bone head that bullets glance off of. And they are smart until they get hungry or horny, then they make mistakes – just like us. And you can make them mad. Good eating, tho (ha!). But save the last pistol shot for yourself, if the hunt goes bad.

Admittedly, this is by no means an expert opinion, and the numbers that he cites-millions-are doubtless exaggerated, but it provides a good anecdotal backdrop to the story.

Here is another web-site that gives probably a more accurate description of the animal, along with numerous separate articles pertaining to them.

Some might mistakenly confuse them for wild boars, and although to a great extent they are part wild boar, an animal which was brought over centuries ago from Europe, they are for the most part predominantly the offspring of escaped or abandoned domesticated hogs, and native American wild hogs, which was seemingly the intended breeding target among those who brought the wild boar across the Atlantic. Now they are a big problem, not only in the ways previously listed, but due to the simple fact that they can live in, and adapt to, any type of terrain. Although they are relatively limited for now, this could easily change, given their adaptability and prodigious rates of reproduction.

Of course, there are some who object to the aerial hunting bill, though it is hard to conceive of how they could possible have the grounds to do so, and certainly garner any kind of significant support, especially in Texas, where this is a growing problem of some significance.

On the other hand, I never would have thought it possible that hunting bears would ever be illegal in Kentucky, but it was, and now that there is an official bear hunting season, opponents are trying their best to limit the kinds of weapons that could be used to kill these animals, despite the fact that they are with ever greater frequency finding their way into areas of human habitation. Despite the obvious danger involved here, the anti-bear hunting activists insist that hunters during bear season should be limited to flint-lock loading rifles and cross-bows, out of some misguided sense of fairness to the bears-one of which not too long ago broke into a man's house. Despite the fact that had the man not killed the bear it would have killed his dog and possibly himself, to say nothing of the property damage that might have resulted, the man was actually prosecuted.

Some people just don't get it, and probably never will. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of excuses these so-called wildlife activists come up with in Texas. I guess the folks there had better be thankful there are no Republican politicians supporting this bill who have a conceivable shot at achieving national office.

Palin v Judd

Evidently animal rights activist think farmer and ranchers like to kill wolves and other predators in what little spare time they have, as if they don't have more important things to do. As for the Inuit who subsist off of the moose and caribou populations in Alaska, evidently they need a cultural readjustment or some form of social retraining.

Sarah Palin is therefore taking heat from several animal rights groups, including the Defenders Of Wildlife, who have utilized the talents of actress and film star Ashley Judd in a promotional video in opposition to Palin's practices of paying bounties for the severed forelegs of killed wolves. You can see the video at the site by way of the link.

The Scotsman has what seems to be a pretty well-balanced piece on the controversy, but there is considerable more information to be found in Salon that gives a fairly detailed account of the activists position.

This following passage gives a pretty good indication of one of the major disconnects between the two opposing camps-

Detractors consider the airborne shootings a savage business, conducted under the euphemism "predator control." The airplanes appear in the winter, so the wolves show up like targets in a video game, sprinting across the white canvas below. Critics believe the practice violates the ethics of hunting, while supporters say the process is not hunting at all, but a deliberate cull.

Well, obviously the emphasis here from the vantage point of the pro-wolf hunting forces is in culling the herd, in keeping their numbers down to manageable levels in order to prevent their decimation of the moose, caribou, and other animal populations. That some might be approaching the aerial wolf hunting program as a sport might be unfortunate, but somewhat understandable. That, however, is not the major focus, so there is no need for undue emphasis on sportsmanship or giving the wolves a "fighting chance". The point is to reduce their numbers.

At the same time, I am not altogether unsympathetic to the point of view of the animal rights advocates, at least in this case. According to them, most wolves that eat caribou and moose eat them as carrion, in other words after they have died by other means. Or, perhaps, as is often the case in nature, they have run down and killed the oldest and sickest of the herd, which would undoubtedly die soon at any rate.

Those in favor of the aerial hunting of wolves and also bears, by the way, should make sure they are on firm ground here. I have a strong and unnerving suspicion that a great lot of these folks would be fine if every wolf in Alaska were destroyed, and that would be a great loss to nature if it were allowed to occur.

Politically, this is a chance for Palin to reach out to the other side and seek some form of rational compromise. She needs to double check, and even triple check her data on the moose, caribou, and wold populations and make sure they are accurate, as there does seem to be some legitimate questions as to this, and indeed as to the accuracy of the number of wolves being killed by the aerial hunting program initiated by her predecessor, Governor Mikowski, which she has greatly expanded upon.

There might also be another way of controlling the wolf population, if indeed it is too large, that would not only be less cruel, but just as effective and perhaps even less expensive. Trapping and relocating should be given a greater emphasis, and ways should be studied to see if that is a viable option.

However, the activist groups opposed to the hunting need to understand that the needs of indigent populations, such as the Inuit, as well as farmers and ranchers and those who depend on them, cannot afford to sit idly by for perhaps two or three decades in the hopes that the cycles of nature will eventually swing the pendulum back and even things out.

That is how the real world works. But, not really.

Kentucky-Disaster Strikes The Governor's Mansion

Kentucky has been hit with the old triple whammy. First, although the Mighty Quinn spared me during the course of his rampage across the Bluegrass, a good portion of Kentucky got slammed by an ice storm, followed by rain and snow, that resulted in downed power lines and loss of power to wide areas of the state. As a result of this, Kentucky, as well as Arkansas, is now officially a disaster area, and so qualifies for federal aid.

Whammy number two came in the form of the food aid which, it turns out, includes peanut butter-and/or products that include peanut butter-which seems to have originated from the same plant that has been accused of shipping products even after inspections turned up traces of salmonella, which went on to kill a number of people across the country. It is worth noting that the same Peanut Corporation of America has had it's federal contract canceled to supply food products for government aid programs, although this did not prevent previous contributions from being sent to Kentucky and Arkansas.

Now, in the midst of a federal investigation in which some members of Congress have expressed the opinion that somebody needs jail time over this fiasco, FEMA has issued warnings that people who receive food aid should avoid eating the peanut butter products included in the federal food-aid to Kentucky, due to an understandable
risk of salmonella infection.

Today, I got a glimpse of whammy number three, but this was collectively self-induced by the voters of Kentucky in the person of Governor Steve Beshear, who, during a local news broadcast today, urged calm because, as he put it, there has been not one single report of a salmonella case in Kentucky related to the food aid given the state.

Not content to leave well enough alone, he went on to further assert that he had eaten some of the peanut butter, and felt fine.

Does that tell you something about how bad off we are in Kentucky? Things are so rotten here, our governor is forced to eat federal food aid for his sustenance.

Actually, what it should tell you more than anything is that when a politician underestimates the intelligence of the general public, he usually ends up sounding like as big an idiot as he assumes they are.

Wah-Wah

A Guide And Links To Today's Imbolc Posts

Since there are so many posts, and some of them are quite long, I decided to move them around from the original order. Perfectionist that I am, I was unsatisfied with the original order, but unfortunately I just didn't have the time yesterday to put a lot into it. Anyway, without further ado-

Since I always like to start off Sabbat post series with a song video, I started this set on the previous post with Wah-Wah by George Harrison, recorded live at Madison Square Garden in 1971 at the Concert For Bangla-Desh.

Validation is a short comedy film starring T J Thine, and demonstrates the need for joy in life, and how a simple good-natured smile can be so infectious.

Imbolc Food, Fun, And Games-what can i say, it's not for everybody, but you still might want to give it a try. It might even be good for your heart.

Of course, no good Sabbat celebration would be complete without a good drink, and this one is in keeping with the season, complete as it is with the fire of the God and the mother's milk of the Goddess. I am referring of course to Hot Buttered Rum Cow.

After that comes a film that celebrates human potential in the form of Free-Style Skiing.

The power animal for this Imbolc is a newbie-a cross between the polar bear and grizzly.

Astrological Aspects For Imbolc

Imbolc Tarot Reading

Kiva is about a charitable web-site that raises money to aid struggling entrepreneurs in third world countries, which is a worthy endeavor to acknowledge during a Sabbat that aims to encourage positive growth and independence and yet recognizes the need for guidance along the road to success.

Thorn is a new pagan magazine that itself shows great promise and potential for future growth into hopefully something of established and lasting success.

My "Sermon" For Imbolc might be taken by some as an ideological rant, but I did put quite a bit of thought into it. I don't think you have to be an ideologue of any stripe to appreciate where I'm coming from, or at least so I hope.

Finally, the Imbolc series ends with a Druid Meditation For Imbolc, which I lifted from a Yahoo Group in which it was posted by group owner Shadowhawk.

Well, that's it for now. I'll get around later to adding the links, for the benefit of those who find it difficult to navigate a lengthy series of new posts, especially those who aren't particularly fond of reading a large number of posts at one time. The links should make it easier, somewhat. Hopefully I'll be able to get around to adding them sometime today, sooner rather than later. Hope you enjoy them or find at least something to your liking.

Me, I'm taking a couple of days off from this, but I'll return hopefully before the weekend.

Later.

Validation-A Comedy Film Short

Here is a little short film I thought was somewhat in keeping with the spirit of the Imbolc season and with the theme of my series of posts in celebration of the Sabbat. It's about not losing hope, about holding on to the joys in life, and how those who know how to do that can find themselves an inspiration to others in an infectious way.

Some of you might recognize T J Thine, the star of this film, from his work on the Fox series Bones.

Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't point out that there is one slight flaw with the premise of this film, or to be more accurate, with how it is resolved. There is a contradiction. Without going any further I'll make up for my wet blanket perfectionism by making a game out of it. See if you can spot the contradiction I'm referring to which is the one flaw in this film. Failing that, just enjoy.

Imbolc Food, Fun, And Games

Dried beans such as pintos need to be thoroughly washed before cooking, and ideally should be soaked overnight, the night before they are to be cooked and consumed. This preparation can in itself be a magical ritual calling on the blessing or the deities while imbuing the beans with ones own personal power. They are rich in fiber, iron, and protein, and so are themselves a vast source of physical and even magical energy.

After they come to a heavy boil, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking while covered for three hours, adding water at regular intervals. Add salt and some other form of seasoning, such as bacon grease, fat meat, or jowell bacon. Add onions and either catsup or hot sauce when serving the beans, which you should eat with a slice of bread and a glass of strong brewed ice tea.

For iced tea, allow to boil moderately for five minutes, about six tea bags to half a gallon of water in a large pot. After boiling, allow bags to steep in brew for an hour over low heat. Afterwards, remove the bags. Add enough water to make about a gallon of tea, to which you should add approximately one third cup of sugar, but no more.

Nothing gives power and strength quite like dried beans, and what more appropriate food to consume for Imbolc? Okay, I guess you might think of something better as far as taste, and you can certainly find more exotic and "fun" fare, but name me something more bristling with raw power, with pure protein energy?

Not only is there magical power to be harnessed and utilized, folks, but lo and behold, you can participate in that tried-and-true children's game that surely transcends the ages-who let that fart?

And you can do it in the context of ritual as well, especially group or coven ritual.

Following a meal of pinto beans augmented with onions and hot sauce and a nice strongly brewed tea-and I can't stress strongly enough you really do need a good strong caffeine tea (nor can i stress enough that one third cup of sugar per gallon is quite sufficient)-you settle in for your group ritual. As this is Imbolc, each participant should bring his and her own candle to light at the appropriate time, which can be either prior to casting circle or after it is released, or for that matter any time during the circle ritual.

The game you play prior to this though is one you might also call Tell Us Your Darkest Secrets, which of course no one is really going to do. Remember, this is all in good fun, though there is a point to it.

Sometime during the course of the evening, someone might well let out a good rip-roaring fart. Naturally, in ordinary circumstances this would prove quite embarrasing, but in this case, you have found your Imbolc Lord or Lady-or both. In the best of circumstances, a round of farts will greet the assembly, which should by all rights be occasion for great merriment. If this does not happen, then it is up to the High Priest or Priestess, or both, to conduct the round of questioning. This can consist of a number of written questions which everyone draws out of a hat or a box. The person should then answer the question as though it applied to them, whether it truly does or not.

They should be sufficiently provocative. Have you ever had an affair? Do you masturbate? Is there someone you would like to hit? If you could get away with stealing something, what would it be? As the questions are read aloud by each participant in turn, and answered forthrightly, it could get noisy.

A word of caution is advised however, and this is where the game turns serious. The smelliest, stinkiest farts are those you never hear. These are indeed what we term the "Silent Killer". People who let silent farts are in fact repressed people, and by their nature it might ordinarily be impossible to bring them out into the light of day. This is not to say they are hiding some monstrous evil, just that they have numerous hang-ups. This occasion, if handled correctly, might be an opportunity to draw them out and set them on a path towards releasing these neurotic feelings which might well be hindering their growth as a person.

Nor will they be that difficult in this sort of environment to pick out. They will be the ones who will seem shyly uncomfortable or perhaps even project an inordinately amused persona, one that is exaggerated to what might even be an inappropriate degree at the louder discharges of another.

Bear in mind, this is not to be done as a malicious undertaking performed in a judgmental manner, it is a manner of heralding the growth of the individual(s), but in a caring yet relaxed manner.

That is after all the message of Imbolc, the formation of the new person through recognition of his or her true potential, a potential that meeds guidance and nurturing, in addition to positive encouragement.

As the sun begins to grow in strength and stature on it's journey through the Wheel of The Year, it is incumbent on us to launch our own journey of discovery and inner growth. Still, we should always remember to not take ourselves too seriously. We are, after all, at this stage in our development during this year, children, and children, while they need positive direction and discipline, also need encouragement and, perhaps as importantly, they need to have some fun and joy. As adults in reality, we can bring forth that lesson by loosening up a bit while aiming for that growth.

Nothing brings that lesson home, nor brings out the best in a group, quite like a good old fashioned rip-roaring round of farts.

Imbolc Magical/Ritual/Grounding Drink-Hot Buttered Rum (Cow)

Whether for grounding purposes following an Imbolc ritual, or simply just to relax at the end of a long, cold day (especially when it turns into even a colder night), the Hot Buttered Rum Cow should deliver the goods. Just take a gander at it. Doesn't that make your mouth water? Now scroll down for the recipe from TraderTiki



Hot Buttered Rum Cow
• 1 tsp Hot Buttered Rum Batter
• 1.5 oz Gold Puerto Rican
• .5 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
• 6 oz. Whole Milk
Preheat mug by filling with warm water. Warm the milk on the stove (microwave if you’re impatient) until hot, but still drinkable. Toss the water in the mug and premix the rum and batter, then fill with milk and stir thoroughly. Serve with grated or grinded nutmeg on top.

Of course you're going to need the recipe for Hot Buttered Rum Batter, which is as follows-

Hot Buttered Rum Batter

1 pound brown sugar
1/4 pound butter (1 stick)
pinch of salt
Ground Spices (Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove)
Cream the sugar and butter together in a standing mixer until smooth. Mix in the spices and salt, and stir until spices are well distributed.

Unfortunately, the author neglected to give the measurements for the spices, but it shouldn't be that hard to gauge, and might even make for another little fun bit of magical ritual adding them to taste. Just bear in mind that a little bit of spices goes a long way.

On the other hand, this might seem all a little bit much. If so, you might prefer to opt for the much simpler and yet quite satisfying recipe, that tried-and-true

HOT BUTTERED RUM

I've got to be honest here, back in the day when I used to consider the prospect of one day going to a ski lodge, I used to envision myself sitting by a comfortably lit fireplace in the lodge lounge sipping one of these far more often than I ever saw myself actually on the slopes. This recipe is courtesy of ExtraTasty

Mike's Hot Buttered Rum by s1998m2002

Rum

Brown Sugar
Butter
Cinnamon
Water

Powdered sugar
Nutmeg

Mix togeather 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar 1 teaspoon Cinnamon 1 teaspoon Nutmeg Blend ...

So there you have it. Yes, I know it's Imbolc, and as we are all "children" now in a symbolic sense in attuning with the growing Sun, perhaps some might suggest that we should not indulge in alcohol. Truthfully, they might have a point, but I just can't help myself. I wanna get smashed.

When I get up tomorrow I'll just take the excruciating hangover as a much-needed lesson. What better way than to learn a little self-discipline, eh?

The Magic Of Free-Style Skiing

These are professional free-style skiers showing what they're made of in this very high quality and compelling video. Can you imagine how much practice and patience it takes to develop this kind of skill, to say nothing of the courage it takes to actually do this kind of stuff?

I've always been kind of partial to winter sports in general, and I've always been in awe of world-class skiing. I started to post a video of a young girl of six who is a pretty decent snowboarder for her age, as I thought that was in keeping with the spirit of Imbolc in it's own right. As children, we have potential which is really unimaginable, and sadly, most of us don't even begin to tap into it to nearly the fullest extent.

However, I opted instead for this, which shows what can come of the long-term result of consistent and dedicated practice and hard work. It is indeed a form of magic in its own right.

Incidentally, the sound seems to have been removed from this video for some reason, despite a caption which declares a song in dedication to somebody. But really, it's just as well, and would probably be a distraction anyway. The skiing is awesome enough it needs no accompaniment.

By the way, notice the tarot card readings spaced at various intervals, including at the beginning. The person who made this film obviously know his stuff.

Imbolc Power Animal-The Grolar Bear

I eschewed drawing a power animal for this year's Imbolc after I discovered an article in Science News
which is quite, well, compelling. Seeing as how it involves the polar bear, and hints to at least a small degree of veracity as to the theory of Global Warming, I thought it might be of interest. It seems as though grizzly bears are migrating in significant numbers towards more northerly climates, and as a result may be in the process of interbreeding with polar bears. Tha above photo upon DNA examination has proven to be a hybrid. The mother was a polar bear, the father a grizzly, and so it is, depending on your preference for now, a Pizzly or or a Grolar.

It's really too bad the bear in the picture had to be killed, as that makes for a pretty gruesome photo for what is supposed to be a part of a Sabbat series. Unfortunately, I could not find any photos of living Grolar bears, and I thought this story was of sufficient interest that it warranted some kind of descriptive accompaniment, grim though it is.

What is most remarkable about this particular discovery is that the mating habits of bears are such that a male ans female will spend a considerable amount of time-for a bear-before they will consummate the sex act. It takes place over a period of days, which means it was not a matter of an incidental contact with a female in heat that just rolled over for the first male bear that happened alone.

Could this herald the end of the Polar Bear as we know it? Could this turn into an entirely new breed which is equally at home hunting on land as fishing for its food from the ice. Probably not, if for no other reason than conservationists will probably insist on taking steps to prevent the total extinction of the Polar Bear, while at the same time allowing nature to take it's course within the confines of limited regions.

I just thought that was interesting, as it seems to be an aspect of evolution in action, taking place in our own modern day.

It's a story that has been on-going since the beginnings of life on earth-migration and adaptation. The Grolar Bear-the perfect power anumal for these trying times.

Astrological Aspects For Imbolc

For the astrological connoisseur among us, this years Imbolc doesn't offer much in the way of exciting aspects that are particularly noteworthy, at least not at first glance. However, it does bear mentioning that this will be the last Imbolc in any of our lifetimes in which the Sun will be in a conjunction with the planet Neptune. It is a conjunction separated by ten degrees, the most two bodies can be separated and still be considered a conjunction.

It is also easy to draw a connection with current events. Many people are now in the process of losing sight of their dreams and aspirations, in some cases even their most precious hopes. Unfortunately, it is also true that in all too many cases they see their illusions shattered for good reason, in that they were never built on a solid foundation, if in fact many of them were ever based on realistic aspirations to begin with. That is the danger of illusion. By it's nature it seems more real than reality, and even if this is viewed in the negative, it can still be comforting to wallow in our own sense of despair. It makes it easy to hang it up. In today's economy, and with all of the other negative factors at work in the world today, it is all that much easier to wonder if there is really any hope.

Yet, on Imbolc, it is those childlike dreams and fantasies that we must strive to reach for, and nourish. There are in fact a string of conjunctions that give us extra energy on this night, if we but know how to tap into it.

Mercury is in conjunction in the sign of Capricorn with Mars, which is conjunct with Jupiter in the sign of Aquarius, where that last planet is in conjunction yet with the Sun, thus giving us faith, strength, and hope, so long as we but reach for it. Never should we give up on our grandest designs. We should however approach them from a more realistic perspective. They might be distant, but they are not unnattainable, so long as they are realistic goals approached in a similarly realistic manner. That then is the message of this years astrological aspects as applied to the Imbolc Sabbat.

The fact that the Moon in the beginning degrees of Taurus, in which it progresses throughout the day, adds extra energy in the form of a square to the Sun which grows stronger as the night advances, in the meantime approaching a slight sextile with Uranus in Pisces and a trine with Saturn in Virgo. The effect the opposition between Saturn and Uranus is then brought ever so slightly into play and is further heightened by a slight conjunction of Uranus with Venus-but this is so slight it is almost negligible.

Yet, on the other hand, though their direct effect is negligible, their indirect effect by way of the Moon, which forms over the course of the day a sextile with Uranus and a trine with Saturn, might well be considerable.

Finally, the solar conjunction with Neptune might seem minimal, but in this case, the slightness and seeming unimportance of the conjunction is precisely the point. It's hard to let go, even when we must do so. This year might then be the year to, as a wise man once said some time or another "put aside childish things" (okay, no hate mail people).

There is a difference of course between childish and child-like, and that latter is the one thing we should never let slip from our grasp.

Wheel Of Fortune-Imbolc Tarot Card

I could almost just let this one pass without comment. Come to think of it, I can let it go with just one minor observation. We don't always make our own luck, but a lot of times we do at least in part. The rough part is where it seems to be too late to change anything. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. These days, for many of us, that is really all we have-the flow. Oh well, just make the best of it I guess. Who knows, maybe things will turn out to not really be that bad. The Wheel Of Fortune of course can stand for good luck as easily as bad. As applied individually, it really means a change in fortune. So if you have had it rough, I guess this would mean you've got something to look forward to. Maybe that's the whole point, looking forward. Everybody has something they could stand to change for the better in their lives, so maybe this could be interpreted as a sign to concentrate on these things where we need the most improvement. If you are successful, it will lead to an improvement in different aspects of your life.

Of course, it could mean maybe you might just want to stay in bed the rest of the day.