The Schizophrenic Blogger

I’m seriously thinking of changing the name of this blog to “The Schizoid Blog”, because I am sure that’s what I probably come across as, and is probably why my readership has stayed pretty flat over the last few weeks.

The very uncomfortable fact that I’m confronted with is, out of the fifty five million plus blogs that are out there, most of them are exercises in one degree or another of self-indulgence, self-importance, self-righteousness, self-promotion, and/or self aggrandizement. While I may from time to time fall into another one or more of these categories, the worse thing about my blog is, the lack of consistency as pertaining to the issues of the day.

And that’s where this blog falls apart. Most people that read blogs are, after all, looking for something that merely offers a degree of affirmation as to their own cherished beliefs and prejudices. If somebody sticks with my blog long enough, they quickly discern that I am all over the map.

One day, I might be as far to the right as Michael Savage, the next day as far to the left as Michael Moore. Many days I will be somewhere in the middle. On any given day, I am likely to seemingly change my mind as easily as Laura Bush changes her wardrobe.

I like to think of myself as independent, but at the same time I am fairly sure that I will never win a Bloggy Award, or a Weblog Award, for all these reasons, and for others. For example, the blog name and description might be off putting to some.

Also, the fact that I will not put ads on my blog I am quite certain has more than a little to do with it. And I absolutely refuse to jump on the YouTube bandwagon.

All I have to offer is, hopefully, in addition to independence of thought, a little bit in the way of originality. That of course is a problem in it’s own right. At times, I spend more time trying to find something original to blog about than I do actually blogging about them when I find them.

It’s all quite depressing. Of course, it might just be a phase I’m going through. Like puberty, or male menopause. Or, come ot think about it, blogging.

The Ruthless Patriot

Preface-the following article here has come about due to an article I read recently in the BBC. The story is concerning a documentary, by Shane O'Sullivan, that claims to have uncovered evidence of CIA complicity in the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Allegedly, there were three CIA agents present at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of the assassination, agents who had no legitimate reason to be there, and in fact were suppossed to be in Asia at the time. They and their four "accomplices" are noted in the film in question, which has evidently already been broadcast on the BBC, though as of yet there is no true substantiation of the identities of the people in question.

This article, which I discovered on a link on Truthout, you can read for yourself. I find it notewrothy that, aside from Truthout, there has been no buzz about it here in the states, despite the recent release of a film, "Bobby", which concerns itself with the events of the night of the assassination as seen through various fictionalized characters at the Ambassador Hotel.

My own opinion of Kennedy is that he was a driven man, to the point of obsession. I don't think he was a good man, to be blunt. In fact, I think he was consumed by his own narrow views of right and justice, and at the same time, he was a manipulative, cunning, and, yes, ruthless povocateur, aggressive, maybe even unhinged. He was dangerous, not only to those enemies who may have deserved his wrath, but to the world.

My reasoning is as follows below. Of course, you can make up your own mind. But, as a very wise man named Maddox once said-"if you do not agree with me, well, you are just wrong".

Pictured above-Robert Kennedy, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthey, and an unknown man.

Many of Robert Kennedy's admirers would prefer to skip over the beginning of his career in public service, when he served as legal council to the now largely discredited Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. During the height of the notorious Red Scare Kennedy rose to this position due to the influence of his father, former British Ambasador Joseph Kennedy. It was a period when many people were threatened with the loss and ruination of their careers and reputations, and Kennedy, himself an ardent anti-Communist, was a zealous advocate of Mccarthy at this time. When it turned out that many if not most of McCarthy's allegations were unfounded, that Mccarthy had actually fabricated or exaggerrated many of his charges, and even inferred a far greater number than actually existed, he was finished.

After the fall of McCarthy, Kennedy went on to assist in the organized crime hearings alongside his brother, future President and then Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy, in which Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa became a major target of Kennedy. The two would become hated enemies from that moment on.

When John became President in 1960, his father persuaded him to name Robert as his Attorney General. Kennedy proved to be arguably the greatest AG of all time, at least on the surface. Despite the fact that his father was said to have Mafia connections, and that these ties proved invaluable to his sons winning of the Presidency, especially due to the influence of the Chicago Outfit on the Chicago Dailey/Democratic machine, Robert made his number one priority of the time, the eradication of Organized Crime.

To this end, he engaged in many questionable acts, and even outright illegal ones. For example, he once abducted New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello, and illegally transported him to South America, giving him no time to call his lawyer or even his family, or even to pack, and with only what money he had in his wallet at the time. Marcello had arrived here as an infant and had never become a naturalized citizen. Still, Kennedys actions were without a doubt illegal.

Marcello made it back, eventually, and Kennedy went after him again, as he did other Mafia figures, even Sam Giancarlo, the Chicago Mafia don who had in effect made his brother President.

Kenndy was obsessed, with a clarity of perception that made him distinquish right from wrong with laser intensity. There was no grey area, and so when he was turned to for advice in his brothers moments of greatest adversity, he assummed a kind of power and influence that amounted to far more than would ordinarily be embodied in the head of one mere cabinet agency.

At no time was this more true than in the matter of the Cuban controversies, first with the Bay of Pigs, and afterwards with the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was Robert to whom John turned to more than any other advisior, civilian or mlitary. His advice, especially on the Cuban Missile Crisis, was well heeded.

Cooler heads prevailed, which is ironic, as Robert Kennedy was nothing if not an egotistical, temperamental hothead. After all, if John had listened to Roberts advice, due to the latters disdain for Texas Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, Kennedy would not have picked Johnson as his running mate, and so would have lost the entire South, and thus the election-Mafia assistance notwithstanding.

But Kennedy had been instrumental in the on-going efforts of the CIA to eliminate Castro, which lead to several failed assassination attempts of what was, after all, a head of state. This seems to have been on-going since the days of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, during which President Kennedy, having okayed the amphibious assault of some Cuban exiles under covert CIA leadership, then denied the vital air support needed to insure the success of the mission. Many of the exiles were killed,many more ended up in Cuban prisons. Before November 22nd in Dallas, Texas, it was the darkest period of the Kennedy presidency.

It would be easy to note that Robert Kenedy would have likely advised his brother as to the potential illegality of the mission. Still, ever the ardent anti-communist, he would have been eager, and zealous, in his attempts to rid the world of the scourge of Castro. And so he involved himself in this matter as well. Small wonder that, when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted, Robert Kennedy rendered advice of uncharacteristic moderation.

Then, there was Viet-Nam, and the assassination of the corrupt Diem brothers, a CIA action that is alleged to have also been sanctioned by the Kennedy's-Robert, as well, had a hand in this affair.

Finaly, there is the matter of Marilyn Monroe, whom Bobby had approached out of concern for his brothers extramarital dalliances with, and whom he then himself began an illicit affair with. How this all ended is not exactly clear. But apparrently, after both brothers had ended the relationship, due to the influence of FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, the Hollywood starlet, considered the greatest sex symbol of her day, became despondent. She seems to have called Kennedy and made some veiled threat to end her life, and to leave something behind that would insure the whole story got out.

Alarmed, Kennedy and some agents made it to Hollywood, where they found Miss Monroe dead from what was actually meant to be a half hearted cry for help that went way too far. Whatever incriminating evidence she had left behind, if there really was any, was removed, including any trace of Kennedy's presence. It is a mystery that has lanquished to this day and still is the fodder for conspircacy theories and acussations of murder on the part of Kennedy, accussations that are understandable, though certainly unprovable.

His actions even on the day of his brothers assassination give just cause for suspicion. In an effort to hide the fact that his brother had sufferred from Addisson's Disease, it has been alleged that Robert Kennedy had covertly confiscated the remains of his brothers brain tissue, which had been collected in pieces after the assassination. He then evidently had the remains destroyed.

Incredibly, he decided to run for President in 1968, on an anti-war ticket, in oppossition to the very war that he himself had advocated, and been among the strongest supporters of during his brrthers Presidency-the Vietnam war.

In order to do this, he first ran for the United States Senate from the state of New York, in 1966, and won. He began his campaign for the Presidency almost immediately, as possibly the first carpetbagger Senator since the days of Reconstruction. The first anti-war candidate, Eugene Mccarthey, had polled enough votes in the New Hampshire primary against incumbent Predident Johnson-Kennedys despised foe-that Johnson himself announced he would not seek re-election in 1968.

Kennedy then set about derailing Mccarthy, and hi-jacked his position as the major opponent of a war that had turned into the greatest fiasco the country had yet gone through. The war Kennedy himself was initially to a great degree responsible for.

Kennedy was now the advocate of peace. He was also the proponent now of civil rights, a mantle he had some rightful claim to, having as Attorney General enforced the courts desegregation orders, though at the same time he had, at the behest of Herbet Hoover, conducted illegal surveillance on Martin Luther King, on the grounds of communist subversive influences.

He probably- had he not been assassinated following the California primary in a pantry of the Ambassador Hotel after his victory speech-would have gone on to win the Democratic nomination that year. He would not have won the Presidency.

For one thing, he knew where all the bodies were buried. Unfortunately, so did a lot of other people, and he was the one who had done most of the digging.

For another thing, George Wallace as it was had won five Southern States as the result of Southern Democratic anger at the national Democratic Party, an anger which smoulders to this day. Had Bobby Kennedy been nominated as oppossed to former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Wallace would probably have won more like six or seven, maybe more. He still would not have won, or even come close. But those extra votes would have come from Democrats, not from Nixon, who would have won by a greater margin than he did against Huphrey.

Nixon's margin of victory against Huprheye was close, maybe less than one percent of the popular vote. Against Kennedy, it would not have been close.

So the question is, why would the CIA have involved itself in an assassination attempt against Robert Kennedy? Was he a danger to them, at all? Would it more than likely have been some other enemy, out for revenge? Marcello, for example, or Giancarlo?

Or perhaps a vengeful memberof the Cuban exile community. Like, for example, Desi Arnaz? I am not being facetous here. The man ultimately convicted of asassinating Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, worked on a horse farm owned by Arnaz, who was an ardent opponent of the Castro regime, and a supporter of the Cuban exiles, though he himself had actually left Cuba during the reign of Batista.

When you have enemies, many times you have bullets to show for it. Kennedy had enemies, so draw your own conclusions.

He was a very mercurial man, and in many ways, is the father of the modern Democratic Party. I guess that would explain why so many of their positions over the last few decades have amounted to political suicide.

A Matter Of Grave Cultural Importance

She couldn't be more obvious if she had a finger crammed up in it. But what the hell? Believe it or not, this morning the number one ranking for the Technoratti Search engine was for Britney Spears. As if that weren't enough, the number four ranking was for just "Britney" . Another subject of this post, Lindsay Lohan, was number eight.

Somewhere in the top ten was one or two matters of actual importance. Damned if I remember what they were, though.

For some reason, the photo at top (if it is not also censored by Blogger) was censored from both Google and Yahoo. I was dismayed and disheartened until I remembered fellow Stumbleupon site member AmsterdamBabe. Nothing gets past her, and I figured if she didn't have this photo, no one did. As usual, she did not disappoint me.

Britney Spears made a living by starting out as a living contradiction-a virgin whore. As nothing in the universe, which is in constant motion, remains static, it was obvious where that was going to go. And in her constant motion to mainstream the trailor trash lifestyle, she has inspired a generation of pre-teen girls to assert their own-well, I won't call it sexuality-but since the days that first madonna and then Britney got the ball rolling, I think it's probably headed there.

And since filing for divorce from Kevin Federline, she has taken up a kind of celebrity duet of sluttiness with Paris Hilton, as though to proclaim to the world, "yes I'm an unfit mother, but by God we are human beings too."

Yes, indeed, and with a shaved vagina to boot.

Lindsey Lohan makes up the remainder of the trio of trashiness, as she seems to have succumbed to the spell of the papparzzi lifestyle-and that's a shame. Lohan almost perfectly symbolizes the inevitable and ultimately tragic attraction of youthful inexperience and naivete to a life of wanton abandon.

In Lohans case, she has taken her conflicting need and at the same time loathing of the papparrzzi,and seemingly turned to these two for aid and support, comfort, and the benefit of their seemingly greater expertise and wisdom.

The irony is, Lohan is the only one of the three that is truly talented. It is they who should benefit from her, yet in the process of soaking up her energy, she is going to ened up drained, used up, and ultimately worthless.

This would then be the fate of the girl who belted out a dazling performance in the late Robert Altmans "A Prairie Home Companion", and who at the recent tenth annual Hollywood Film Festival Awards, was honored with the "Breathrough Acting Award".

Ten years from now, one of three things will happen. One, she will break away from this crew (which in a way she seems to want to) and may in time develop her natural talents and abilities, which are formidable, to consistently award winning levels.

Or, she will eventually fall apart, end up going through extended periods of therapy and rehab, and end up just another statistic among many other burnt out and tragic child stars.

Or, she will die young.

Ultimately, it's her decision.

As for Britney Spears, well-just what the hell is this going to amount to in thirty years? Who is going to care about it-shaved or unshaved?

Unfortunately for her, in the long run, she really has no say in that.

And A Cairn By Every Runway

Here are some definitions of a cairn, according to Wikkipedia:

• To mark a burial site, and/or to memorialize the dead.
• To mark the summit of a mountain.
• Placed at regular intervals they indicate a path across stony or barren terrain, across glaciers, or a bad-weather navigation route.

As cairns are somewhat of a feature in many pagan faiths, what could be more appropriate to place beside every runway, into which pagan travellers can meditate beside before embarking on their journeys? Some can even be buildt to allow for entrance of one or more travellers for the purpose of private meditation.

I've even discovered a stone artisan, Dave Cudworth, who might be prevailed upon to build them, in the event a pagan builder can not be found.

Not only are they appropriate for Celtic Pagans, but also for Hellenic Pagans such as myself, who identify them with Hermes, God of Travellers.

After all, since some Muslim activists are now demanding private prayer chambers in airports, surely they would not presume to think they should be afforded this special privilege all to themselves.

Yeah, right. No doubt they will also insist it should be buildt in such a way that those who kneel within should face Mecca. If accedded to, this would probably lead to demands that toilets in all bathroom facilities should face either toward the north or the south (neither toward nor away from Mecca), and most importantly, that a resident Muslim chaplain be installed in all airports to sound the Muslim call to prayer five times a day.

Frankly, I'm past caring even if they insist on a star and crescent be the predominant view above the airport control towers. Just give me my fucking cairn.

I don't agree with Ann Coulter very often, though I almost always think she is hilarious, but when she wrote this particular editorial, it struck me as not only funny, but one hundred percent correct.

As you may recall, a recent controversy erupted when six imams were removed from a flight in Arizona due to complaints by concerned passengers. They had been praying in a loud fashion, in addition to complaining about American foreign policy. Upon entering the plane, they demanded seperate seating, and though none were obese, insisted on seat belt extensions.

At least three of them purchased one way tickets, and had no checked baggage, which ever since 9/11 have been two standard red flags in airport scurity matters. This, in addition to their generally boorish, obnoxous, and provocative manner and actions, seemed almost calculated to insure a reaction, and a confrontation.

Naturally, they have been ardently defended by the so-called Left. Surprise, surprise!

Coulter hit the nail right on the head when she pointed out, in reaction to the Immams call for all Muslims to boycott the airline in question:

"The idea that a Muslim boycott against US Airways would hurt the airline proves that Arabs are utterly tone-deaf. This is roughly the equivalent of Cindy Sheehan taking a vow of silence. How can we hope to deal with people with no sense of irony? The next thing you know, New York City cab drivers will be threatening to bathe."

Exactly. If the truth were known, one of the first things most Americans at least subconscously take note of when they get on any plane is the presence, or lack thereof, of anyone with even a vaquely Middle Eastern appearrance.

The most insulting thing a Muslim could possibly be confronted with should be the waves of overwhelming relief collectively exhibitd by the majority of airline customers at the news that this boycott would soon take effect. But they just don't seem to get it.

Coulter even wonders if the entire story isn't a fictional advertisng scheme. As she puts it:


"Come to think of it, the whole affair may have been a madcap advertising scheme cooked up by US Airways."

Ouch.

And, as she points out, it is not only the immams who have no sense of irony, but their leftist supporters and defenders, many of who are still high from the fumes breathed in from the last Democratic victory, and as such may be sufferring from altered states of conscousness-and perception of reality. But they don't know, or maybe just don't care, that, as Coulter puts it

"But now, on the eve of the busiest travel day in America, these "scholars" have ginned up America's PC victim machinery to intimidate airlines and passengers from noticing six imams chanting "Allah" before boarding a commercial jet."

As if all of this isn't enough, she points out the history of one of the immams in such a manner as to make anybody want to stick with Greyhound.


"Shahin's own "scholarship" consisted of continuing to deny Muslims were behind 9/11 nearly two months after the attacks. On Nov. 4, 2001, the Arizona Republic cited Shahin's "skepticism that Muslims or bin Laden carried out attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon." Shahin complained that the government was "focusing on the Arabs, the Muslims. And all the evidence shows that the Muslims are not involved in this terrorist act."

To which I personally thank Mr. Shahin for his, I am sure, qualified interpretation of terrorist evidence.

I'm still waiting for Richard Reid, the notorious shoe-bomber, to be released from prison, his prior conviction appealled for lack of evidence. After all, what proof do we have really that he intended to blow up the plane he was in? Because he lit a match to his shoelaces. Hell, what if he is sufferring from some kind of rare, debilitating condition that causes his feet to get excruciatingly cold? Maybe he is forced to heat them periodically. With matches.

Maybe the so-called bomb in his shoe was some kind of experiemental device that is supposed to aid in this affliction, only it wasn't working properly. Just because he was a Muslim, why do we assume the worse?

I'll be waiting for the building of my fucking cairns at all godamned airport runways.

I will probably be waiting until motherfucking Ragnarok.

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey Confesses To Me-"I Am Not A Serious Candidate For President"!

If you can't take my word for it, just click on the post title, and the link there should take you to my last post concerning Jonathon's Presidential aspirations, and you can read for yourself in the comments section. No, it is not a direct quote, but it might as well be, as it suficiently paraphrases just how seriously he takes himself.

My response to each of his points now follows:

You might recall that I advised that Jonathon should hold a nationally publicized drawing to pick his running mate from among the mass of common everyday Americans, as oppossed to picking the typical, double dealing politician.

The following response was the first of his "CORRECTIONS".

1) At this time, my VP Candidates are; Christine Todd-Whitman (R-NJ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). I want a woman as VP. I am not taking applications with or without a fee!

MY RESPONSE-

You will do what I tell you to do, or you will lose.

Christina Todd Whitman? Just another mediocre, barely functional bureaucrat who can't begin to relate to normal people, wihout advisors and a focus group to tell her what to say and do. Just because they get lucky a few times here and there is insignificant.

Hillary Clinton? A cold, calculating bitch whose first order of business will be to completely shred the constitution, starting with the Bill Of Rights. A woman without a soul.

Elizabeth Dole? Come on now. I can understand why you might like the idea of Bill Clinton hanging around the White House, but do you really want Bob Dole roaming around? Won't the White House be scary enough with you running it?

Not that it matters, as they will refuse your invitation to be your running mate. A well publicized campaign to hold a drawing from among all Americans will raise money, publicity, and prove you are a man of the people who has faith in America and Americans.

Again, do what I said, or you will lose.

Well, you will still lose, but at least if you listen to me there's a slim chance you might draw enough votes to qualify for federal matching funds. Didn't think of that, did ya?

Of course, this was just the first of his "CORRECTIONS". The rest are as follows:

2) Spree and I were wed on; 4 Nov 06. I decided to turn her, after she asked me to. We did have a very romantic Wedding night, if you must know.

MY RESPONSE:

You are the one who advertised your wedding night goings on in your YahooGroup, I just relayed the message, in an effort to prove that you are a man who practices family values after your own fashion and are a man with a heart, love, and passion towards his chosen bride. Americans appreciate that and can relate to a candidate such as this.

All I want to know is-did you do this at the appropriate time of the month? Surely a true vampire would not be weak in the face of a gusher of opportunity.

Jonathon then went into a rant about Bush, which I take great exception to. Not because I like Bush-I do not-but because in a letter to his group members, he initimated that he considered there was a "Bush spy" in the group. When I read this next "CORRECTION", then, I was somewhat beside myself wondering if he considers this treacherous person to be myself.

He says here:

3) Bush while Governor of Texas stated he didn't recognize Wicca nor Paganism as a protected religion. Him and his cronies would burn Pagans, Wiccans, Witches, Vampyres and other Kins at the Stake if he could.

At least I will protect the Communities, and allow everyone to worship as they see fit!

MY RESPONSE:

No, Jonathon, I am not a spy for Bush, if that is what you are getting at. I am the real deal, a pagan, a Wiccan based Hellenic Pagan, to be exact. When you say, though, you will allow everyone to worship as they please, does that include Muslims? Going back on your campaign promises already, perhaps?

Then, as if the foregoing were not bad enough, Jonathon added insult to injury, and rubbed in a big batch of salt in the wound to boot, when he said:

4) I have an Attorney General already in mind for the position.

MY RESPONSE:

Well, I will have you know, MISTER Sharkey, I would have made the greatest Attorney General in the entire history of mankind. But now you've done it, bucko. I am no longer availiable. You've done gone and hurt my feelings.

Finally, Jonathon ended his uncalled for series of "CORRECTIONS" with the following advisory.


5) UNITY we better stand. Or if we're DIVIDED, we die!

MY RESPONSE:

Well, you had sure better be "UNITY" then when you and your "death dealers" make your trip to the Middle East to let all the leaders there know what's what, and what you have in store for them. I think you will have to count me out of that deal. I hate rigorous training to start out with, but if I were to engage in it, it would have to hold out the prospect of amounting to more than a suicide mission.

Like you, I get rather turned on at the sight of blood, under the proper circumstances, but the sight or even the thought of my own tends to make me rather squeamish.

I might however change my mind, I suppose. I'll let you know, probably after I walk alone in the middle of night to the most crime ridden black community in America in Ku Klux Klan regalia carrying a sign that says "Send All Niggers Back To Africa".

In other words, be sure and send some postcards.

He finally ended it with

Nel Sangue,

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey

And in so casually disregarding and disrespecting my well thought out, friendly advice, has doomed his candidacy for the highest office in the land to be nothing more than just another footnote in the history books.

And here I was looking forward to Samhain (Halloween) being an official legally declared Federal Holiday, along with all the Wiccan Sabbats. I held out hope that much as the President traditionally pardons the turkey for Thanksgiving, and presides over the lighting of the White House Christmas tree, he would also give the annual Halloween blessing of the spirits of the night, as the White House for that day and night is open to the public and transformed into the "National Haunted White House Of Horrors".

But Jonathon in his effort to prove he is just another politically correct politican, albeit one with an attitude, hasn't even touched on these important topics. He is too busy reaching out to the mainstream, dag nab it, even going so far as to admit that his candidate for Vice-President must pass a sexual litmus test. So there you have it. A vampyre that places affirmative action before all else. He wil go the route of all politicians, I am afraid, into the dust bin of history.

And the things that will doom his campaign are, ironically, a combination of two things-

The cross and sunlight.

As for me, I guess I'll find another candidate to throw my support behind, one who will appreciate my efforts and my talents.

Karl Rove and James Carville ain't got nothing on me.

The Rape Of The Maiden

Although the Eleusinain Mysteries have for the most part been forgotten, most people are at leas vaquely aware of the mythology they were based on, that of the abduction by Hades, Lord of the Underworld, of Persephone-also kown as Kore (Maiden)-who was the daughter of Zeus and his sister Demeter, the ancient grain goddess.

The way the story goes, one day Persephone, still a young maiden, was out and about wandering through a field of flowers, when suddenly she was abducted, taken by Hades to his underworld realm. While there, he fed her a number of pomegranite seeds, whereby she was from that point on forever bound to him and to his deark realm.

Demeter was distraught, and had no idea where her daughter had vanished to, or who had taken her, and in her state of extreme grief, wandered the earth searching for her. As she did so, she neglected her duties of maintaining the earths abundance, whereby the days became shorter, the nights longer and darker, and the earth grew ever colder, as all plant life began to die out.

Eventually, she came to the area of Eleusis (near Athens) where a young boy described to her the events he had seen, of the beautiful maiden being abducted by what appearred to be an invisible man driving a team of horses that sprang up from he ground, down into which he took the maiden that matched Persephnes description. Demeter knew immediately this was Hades, wearing his helmet of invisibility.

Demeter demanded action from Zeus, who after some wrangling made a deal with Hades. For one half of the year, Pesephone would remain in the Underworld with him, as his bride. For the other half, she would return to earth to dwell with her mother. Her time in the Underworld is generally perceived as beginning at the time fo the Autumn Equinox, and ending at the beginning of the Vernal Equinox, whereupon she returns to earth, ushering in the worlds renewed fertility.

This is a very powerful myth. It is powerful even today. What person does not recoil in horror at the thought of a child being abducted, raped, murdered? You naturally feel a sense of near uncontrollable outrage at such a perpetrator, and while you hope for the safe return of the victim, you fear and prepare for the worse. This is just taking into account the reactions from bystanders, and the world at large, it doesn't even begin to take into account the anquish of parents and extended family members.

Still, whatever power it holds to us now, is minor compared to the hold it had on people in ancient times. During the days when this myth was cconceived, about 1600-1500 B.C.E., it was standard proceedure for a couple to produce a large family. Extremely rare indeed would be the parent or parents who did not outlive one or more of their many children.

It was not the exception. It was the rule.

At one point in time, somebody seized on this theme and transposed it into a myth which tied it to the seasonal cycles of the earth. Whoever that person, or persons, was, has long since been lost to us, but they had to have been very inspired by then current events. Possibly it had something to do with the recent fall of the Minoan Empire, which would have thrown that part of the Medditteranean world into a prolonged state of chaos. Possibly this person, or these people, had personal experience in their own lives of thes matters, experiences of a deeply profound and unsettling nature.

Before the eventual onset of the Mychaenaean Era, and it's resultant return to stability and propserity, there would have been periods of brigandage and piracy, and doubtless raids that resulted in death, destruction, and enslavement of whole populations. Rape, was well, would have suddenly bcome commonplace.

The people of the area of Eleusis probably, like all of the Meditterranean world, were thrown into a long period of privation, famine, poverty, disease, and general uncertainty, and this myth would have held out the promise of a return to better times.

Just as the spring follows the winter, so too would the earth eventually return to peace and prosperity. Life would go on.

During the festival to celebrate the Eleusinian Mysteries, an interesting thing happenned somewhere at the point of the beginning of the processional pilgriamge from Athens to Eleusis. At some point along the road, the worshippers would all stop, and en masse suddenly would begin to engage in shouting obscenities.

With the passage of time, and the fading from memory of many of the ancient origins of the ritual, this was interpreted as being in remembrance of a goddess who inadverdently made Demeter laugh and so temporarily forget her sadness.

More than likely, this spot was in reality the scene of some tragic occurrence that was relevant to the overall mytholoy of the Mysteries. But again, it like so much else has long since been forgotten.

But everything has not been, fortunately. The young child who gave Demeter the information as to what happenned to her beloved daughter was rewarded by the Goddess. She taught him the original Mysteries of Eleusis- the rites of agriculture. Therefore, through him, the first farmer, mankind would be assurred of a method of growing food and therefore insuring their survival. He himself would trvel the earth and teach these mysteries to all the worlds inhabitants.

And there may have been other aspects as well, involving a kind of spiritual rejuvenation, an assurrance of survival into an afterlife, of an ongoing connection to a persons descendants, and possibly even the prospect of a future return to physical life by way of reincarnation.

After all, the physical world of earth is surely a reflection of the life cycles of all it's children. It is something that is certainly worth reflecting on at this time of the year. As we reflect on the past year through this winter, in anticipation of the earths return inthe spring to fertile abundance, will it as well bring us the promise of greater abundance and fertility in our own lives, both of a material, emotional, and spiritual nature? We can always hope for that. We can try, at least, to live it.

The portrait of Persephone pictured above is from the JackalGallery.

When The Boot Fits-When The Gloves Don't

The First Amendment was recently dealt yet another devastating blow by the family, friends and supporters of the Goldmans and the Browns-in other words, by the collective pawns of the Trail Lawyers Association.

I won’t insult people by going into the details of the Brown-Goldman murders, as this should be unnecessary, plus, the way things are going, my blog will likely end up being censored.

As such, I will just cut right to the chase. O J Simpson is Not Guilty of the crimes of the brutal murders of his ex-wife, Nichole Brown Simpson, and of her “friend”, Ron Goldman.

I repeat-O J Simpson is Not Guilty.

Of course, he still might have killed them. But technically, he was found Not Guilty in a court of law. Therefore, Mr. Simpson has a constitutional right to speak openly and publicly about the murder, and to give his perspective about it. He has a right to say anything he wants to say about it.

And he should have the right to profit from any such statements, or utterrances, appearrances, or publications.

However, a travesty of justice has been perpetrated against the American justice system. A kind of perverse gang bang, if you will, perpetrated by both prosecutors and trial attorneys, that stands to benefit the both of them, and leave all the rest of us with a collective case of judicial syphyllis.

It’s a win-win situation for the trial attorneys. If one of their numbers is successful in getting a client off on charges of a crime or complicity thereof, somebody else can come along and screw him or her in civil court.

Prosecutors get the consolation prize, in the event that they fail to win a conviction, of knowing the accussed might well get the shaft in that same civil court.

This used to be called “Double Jeopardy”. But the system has been tweaked-i.e., fucked-as mainly a political calculation meant to soothe the anquish and rage of crime victims families.

Well, personally, I am interested in hearing what OJ Simpson has to say. Had I been given the opportunity, I think I could have gauged the level of his sincerity. If he had been deceptive, I think I could have seen through him. Here is one thing about O J Simpson that no one will dispute, including more than likely him and his most ardent supporters-he is a terrible fucking actor.

This makes me wonder if perhaps this is the thing that the Brown and Goldman families worry about the most, that Simpson might actualy convince enough people to call into question the propriety of the civil judgement they won against him.

It makes sense. As OJ himself pointed out in one of the few snippets to be shown on television of the interview that was pulled from Fox, how could a person kill two people in such a fashion without being covered in blood? Seen in this perspective, where did all that blood go, aside from a relatively minor amount that seemed to lead to his car and to his home. And could this even have been planted?

What about the gloves said to be worn by the killer, or by one of them? Why didn’t they fit OJ’s hands?

What is this about blood spatters presented as evidence turning out to have been previously tested in a crime lab? The potential explanation being that it may have been planted in the hopes of implicating Simpson. Though this has been denied, it has never been explained to my satisfaction.

What is all this about Nichole Simpsons’ alleged involvement with cocaine, with the concurrent possibility that she was killed by individuals involved in the Columbian drug cartels? Is it true that their signature method of execution is precisely the way these two were murdered?

Is it possile that the prosecutions shabby and unprofessional conduct in the Simpson trial was the result of a hurried aand ramshackle attempt to cover up and protect the cartel by making Simpson the scapegoat?

How was it that Goldman just happenned to coincidentally be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Did anybody seriously believe the official version, that he actually only knew Mrs. Simpson casually, yet went out of his way to return an item that she had left at the club they both frequented?

If this was true, and if Simpson really did set out to murder his estranged wife, why did he not wait until Goldman was gone? If he thought they were engaging in an affair, and he desired to murder the both of them in a jealous rage, why then did he not wait until they were both inside the home? Why take the chance of committing such a ghastly, gruesome, bloody crime outside, where it would be much more likely to have been seen and heard?

All he had to do was cut the telephone wires at a certain time, then brake in through a window. If he waitied until a certain time, he could have found a window they would have been unlikely to have heard breaking, then went on up and caught them in the act. They would have been in bed, naked, probably asleep or half way there-and totally at his mercy.

Of course, the answer to this will probably be that this brutal, enraged madman, bent on bloody double murder, to the point that he would have had to be criminally insane, didn’t want to take the chance of his kids seeing him do it.

I don’t believe a damn thing I’ve heard from either side concerning this case. Unfortunately, it’s beginning to seem as though the only version to be allowed any currency is the one officially sanctioned by the Goldmans and the Browns.

Oh well-the old Soviet Union had their show trials, and woe be unto any that had the temerity to question the official versions set forth by the Soviet state. The OJ Simpson trial fiasco has become historically the American version of that. It had all the elecments you would come to expect from such a staged event-

Celebrity, infidelity, lust, anger, violence, abuse, multiple murder, revenge, and money, all played out in a Los Angeles courtroom, packed with media cameras and reporters, and displayed on television screens across the nation.

Some people think OJ Simpson is destined for a special place in hell. I don’t know about all that, but he certainly does already have a special place in the American social gulag.

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Eat that turkey, guys
I hope it's nice and plump and hot and tender
and juicy
Followed up with a scrumptious dessert
Pumpkin pie, banana pudding, cranberries,
and, oh yes,
Thank the ladies in your life kindly
For that ravishing repast
Send the kids out to play a little touch football
Sit the grownups by the tube
Don't forget to give thanks for all your good fortune
By all means, help out a little
Spread those legs and baste that meat
Then, stuff that fucker good

Kudos to Sonya Belle

Kramer versus Kramer

Michael Richards, who played the character of Cosmo Kramer in the 1990's hit television ensemble comedy "Seinfeld" is no longer welcome at The Laugh Factory, where last Friday night he went through a complete meltdown that was described by one witness as akin to a nervous breakdown. He lashed out at a patron of the club who had been talking through his act. When Richards complained, the patron told him his friend did not think he was funny. What happened next certainly was not. Richards launched into a tirade that included a reference to past race based lynchings and repeated angrily shouted racial slurs.

Richards had promised the proprieters of the club that he would apologize the following night, but during his appearrance, he failed to do so. As a result, the club on it's web-site released this statement, which is temporarily on the homepage.

He has been roundly denounced by the media, including several fellow comedians, such as Michael Rodriquez, who habitually refers to Anglos as "gringos", and by assorted other black comedians who casually address whites as rednecks and crackers. All in good fun, of course. (Snark Alert).

One comedian who leapt to Richards defense was former co-star Jerry Seinfeld, who arranged an on air apology from Richards on the David letterman Show. Some have opined that this appearrance was a desperate attempt to protect the integrity of the Seinfeld franchise, as this show was through the majority of it's ten year run on NBC in the top ten, and was number one for the night of it's series finale in 1998. It is still a hit in syndication.

However, the real life Kenny Kramer, the personage on whom the character of Cosmo Kramer was based, was not happy and openly and roundly denounced Richards. It has even been sugested that the real Kramer might even sue Richards for endangering the "Kramer" franchise. In fact, Mr. Kramer has made a living off the role, capitalizing off it to the point that he demanded, and received, a monetary settlement from NBC for the use of the characters last name. He has parlayed this into a bus tour of the area of New York that is represented by the series, including the now famous restaurant run by the "soup nazi". Among other such endeavors, he now operates this website.

You have to love these people. Well, I do, because it proves the point I've been making for years, and will always believe, which is, racism is an inherit aspect of the human condition. It can be hidden, or disguised, for so long, but under the right circumstances, it will emerge. Maybe not to such a profound degree as in this remarkable instance, but it is there nonetheless.

Nor does it have to be taught. Yes, I am aware that a young child does not have a racist bone in his body. But just wait until puberty sets in, at which point, upon becomming more adult, more independent, and more agressive-and with more demands for resposnibility and acountability-people naturally tend to form alliances, and they naturally in doing so become attracted to those they most identify with. And nothing serves as a more solidly identifying characteristic than race. Because it is more than just appearrances, it is an outer reflection of, to an extent, what we are, and more importantly, what we perceive ourselves to be.

In other words, it is not racism that has to be taught, but just the oppossite. To use another example, I know intellectually that a womans worth is not to be determined by physical beauty. But that doesn't prevent men, and especially teenage boys, from being sexually attracted to certain feminine physical types. That is just the way it is. To try to pretend otherwise is not only unrealistic, it is quite frankly irresponsible.

The reason that men are more attracted to certain types of women, and women to certain types of men, has something to do with some innate drive to strengthen the human species, which frankly manifests as desire and even lust for the person who adroitly portrays the qualities that triggers this mechanism.

Along the same lines, this drive to survive and excel will lead races to naturally congregate with others of their own race. This was a phenomenon that manifested most vividly in the more ancient times, true, but it has never gone away. It has just become more civilized. Although it is taught as taboo, it is still there. And it will probably take one or two more millenium, at least, before it is completely eradicated, and when this comes about, it wil be due to passing through that appropriate evolutionary stage. It will not come about through "education".

In fact, by teaching the opposite of human nature as science fact, the proponents of racial tolerance are in fact achieving the oppossite of what they intend. They are encouraging people to deny their base human natures, out of the vain hopes that it will go away. As though countless millenia of evolutionary human nature can be vanquished in a matter of decades by a few courses of sensitivity training.

What happenned to Michael Richards is not that difficult to understand, viewed in context. Here is a man who has had nothing substantial in the way of creative opportunities since the closing of Seinfeld. He was passed over for the role of "Monk" - a role that was actually created for him - for actor Tony Shalhoub, on the grounds that he would not be accepted by audiences in the role. The series went on to become a breakaway hit for the USA Network.

He was given a series called "The Michael Richards Show", which was tailored for him as well, but network executives demanded the show be made into a more conventional situation comedy. It didn't even last a complete season.

Who knows how long he has been sufferring from depression and anxiety, how long he has tried to repress his feelings of worthlessness and anger, not only over these circumstances, but in other areas of his life throughout the entirety of it? Comedians, are after all masters of sublimation, and many have lived tumultous lives of neglect and abuse. In so many cases, this provides the fuel for their comedy which provides an acceptable outlet for their pain. But sometimes, that pain comes to the surface.

What happenned at the Laugh facotry can be summed up quite succinctly. Richards was in emotional pain, and was assaulted by a patron in a manner that hurt him the most. Richards lost it, and he lashed out, against this person whom he did not really know, in such a way that was subconscously geared to hurt him back, in the only way he could do against an unknown adversary.

I am not excusing it. I am trying to understand it, and explain it in the manner which in my opinion provides the most rational view. I know that I am in the minority viewpoint on this, and that most will insist that racism and prejudice is not natural. Well, you can deny it all you want. But until the matter is dealt with and seen clearly for what it is-a natural phenomen of the human evolutionary cycle - then it can not begin to be understood, or dealt with adequately, and thus the problem will never get any better than what it is now. Shame, and denial, will not make it go away.

Oh, by the way, in conclusion-Michael Richards did not cause this controversy by calling a black patron "The N Word"-

He called him a "Fucking Nigger".

Just sayin'.

The Catholic Church-Critical Mass

This post is from unspoken request by way of SiteMeter, especially from some unknown reader, or readers, from the Seattle area who seems very interested in the search phrase "Nuns Fucking". Never one to pass up an opportunity, I did a little search of my own, and was amazed at what I found. I now present for the edification of my readers three sterling examples of why the Apostle Paul was full of shit, as was those priests who in about the eighth century or so decided to take him literally, when he said, and I paraphrase, "let a priest be a husband to one wife"

This one wife was interpreted as being, of course, not just one ordinary ol' human bride, but in fact the Catholic Church-the "Bride Of Christ". From this time forward, priests and bishops, in addition to monks and friars, were required to engage in vows of chastity, and swear not to marry.

Over the last few months, the results have become self-evident. Does anybody think this is a relatively recent phenomenon. I don't. Nor do I think it is entirely limited to cases of pedophilia. I never did. In fact, I knew a Priest who was said to have carried on an ongoing sexual relationship with one of the nuns in his docese. Because I do not know this for a fact, or becasue I don't have any proof, I will not mention any names.

But compared to what I have uncovered through the magic of Google, this little affair would have seemed quite innocent.

Take for example the case of Father Carmello Monteros, of Roccalumera, Sicily, a little town near Mesina. Though 70 years of age, he had engaged in a four year affair with 39 year old nun Sister Silvia Gomez De Sousa, who recently caught him in bed with another woman-a married woman-and was so outraged she set fire to his house, and then threatened him with a machete.

She was finally restrained by passers by and the house was saved. At her hearing, she was granted bail by Judge Antonio Gracobello, who probably had a slight degree of pity for the poor woman. Because of the lustful Father, to whom she was also a housekeeper, she had twice had to have an abortion.

That brings us to Oregon, where the Catholic Church has recently been named in a lawsuit by a woman who is seeking child support due to being impregnated by a Priest. The reaction of the Church to this lawsuit is most interesting. According to the article in Fact-Esque:

In 1994, then-Archbishop of Portland William Levada offered a simple answer for why the archdiocese shouldn't have been ordered to pay the costs of raising a child fathered by a church worker at a Portland, Ore., parish. In her relationship with Arturo Uribe, then a seminarian and now a Whittier priest, the child's mother had engaged "in unprotected intercourse … when [she] should have known that could result in pregnancy," the church maintained in its answer to the lawsuit.

Huh? So now the Church is suddenly an advocate of birth control?

Well, considering this story out of Ireland, it might be about time. According to Bishop Beckley, who is the founder of the Bethany Organization-for women who have been involved in sexual relationships with Priests-the common term for a Priests collar on the Emerald Isle is "bird catcher".

Beckely states that at least one out of ten Priests in Ireland have at one time or another betrayed their vows of celibacy by engaging in sexual relationships. He further alleges that if you include the total number of bakcsliding Preists, including those engaged in homosexual rlationships, the toal number of Priests that engage in on-going sexual relationships is something like forty percent.

As you might well imagine, Father Beckley is not looked on to kindly by the Catholic hierarchy.

But how I wonder do they justify all this? Let's see, they are the Representatives of Christ. They are married to the Church. So, if a female parishioner is a part of that "Body of Christ"-well, I guess it would only be adultery if she was a Baptist, Methodist, etc. Now, of course, they have to xplain the young boys, but I think I've got that figured out. It's called, when you openly pursue a policy whereby you don't allow your Priests to marry, just exactly what kind of person do you think you are going to attract to the Priesthood?

The answer, of course, is on the one hand, a bunch of people that don't take it seriously, and on the other hand, a bunch to whom it is irrelevant.

Kudos to TechnOrgasmic for the photo.

Jonathon Sharkey-Satanic Vampyre For President

Jonathon Sharkey insists on his website that he is very serious indeed about his promised Presidential campaign in 2008, despite the fact that his previous run for the governorship of Minnessotta was earlier derailed. Of course, most people that are aware of this individual do not take him seriously. After all, he is a self described Satanic Vampyre and "Hecate Witch", and has vowed to, when elected President, impale all criminals, terrorists and enemies of America on the lawn of the White House, much after the fashion of Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes of Romania.

He promises to rule in the style of this Medieval Prince of Wallachia, upon whom was based the title character of Bram Stokers "Dracula", and has even taken to calling himself Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey. He also, much like Richard Nixon, has an enemies list of personal foes whom he has also vowed to impale upon becomming President. Included on this list is the Speedway Police of Indiana, and all other law enforcement agencies who abuse their positions of authority and prosecute the innocent. The streets will flow with their blood, promises Jonathon.

And to accomplish this goal, his main enforcement agency will not be the FBI or Secret Service, but instead, a group of fellow vampyres that he refers to as The Death Dealers.

Also among the promised targets are American Indians, promising to end their gravy train and make them pay taxes from their casino profits, like everybody else. After all, they did side with the British during the Revolution. No more special privileges for them, by gum.

Add to the list Islamic terrorists, as well as their allies and enablers, as Jonathon promises he will level Mecca with a series of hades bombs.

And of course, there is Mexico, which has raised Jonathon's ire not so much due to illegal immigration as for their treatment recently of Duanne "Mad Dog" Chapman. It was recently decided, by a federal judge, that Chapman should be turned over to Mexico for going into their territory and arresting Andrew Luster, the accussed rapist who had fled the country and sought refuge in Mexico. As Jonathon here makes it clear in his blog

"Additionally, I will have my special elite group of military trained soldiers, capture Mexico’s President, and bring him to The White House. I will torture him, and then Impale him for the entire world to see, what the consequents are if you wrongly imprison an American".

Nor is Jonathon a solitary practitioner of his dark arts. He has recently taken a wife, and has introduced the future First Lady to his fans and followers of his Yahoo group of which, yes, I am a member, and the link to which you can access by clicking on the title of this post. Here he describes their marriage night with all the childlike glee of a teenager describing his first sexual experience:

Greetings My Friends,

I am happy announce that the Vampyre Community has a new member. Tonight I turned my Beloved Wife Spree into a Vampyre.

This was the 3rd feeding upon her, and she feed upon me as well.

She is presently resting in bed (I think she is feeling a pint or two low). I hope those in the Vampyre Community will welcome our newest member with open arms and fangs.

How's every ones weekend going so far?

So there you have it, a Presidential candidate who believes in and practices family values, and doesn't just preach them. Face it, you aren't going to ever hear George and Laura go into any detail about their wedding night, are you? Or, thank God, Bill and Hillary.

Just tonight I sent Jonathonan an e-mail by way of his group in which I suggested that he announce a random drawing for his Vice-Presidential running mate. There would be a registration fee, which might well bring money into the campaign, in addition to added publicity, while making the point that Jonathon is a true man of the people, and has faith in the judgement of the average American citizen over and above that of the elitist corporatist politicians who are the usual candidates for important public office.

No word as of yet from him, though hopefully he will not consider my idea silly or innapropriate for a serious Presidential campaign.

Be that as it may, he is supposed to appear tomorrow on Troop Talk Radio

Who knows, perhaps I might be honored by having him announce my suggestion tomorrow as a part of his campaign.

Personally, I'm calling dibs for Attorney General. There's a few people I wouldn't mind seeing impaled on the White House Lawn. Yeah, I know, I'm not really qualified, but I always say, the best way to learn is by doing.

Real Politiks

The latest fiasco concerning the Democratic House members elections for leadership positions is bizarre beyond belief, and I think there is more to it than meets the eye. I mean, okay, I get it that Nancy Pelosi, who was elected Speaker of The House by unanimous vote of the Democratic members, felt she owed some loyalty to Jack Murtha, whom she supported for the postion of House Majority Leader, due to Murtha's earlier support of her for House Minority Leader in the 2001 elections.

I understand that there is some bad blood between Pelosi and Steney Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat, described as liberal to moderate, who won the election over Murtha by a vote of 149 to 86-by my estimate, roughly 63 per cent of the vote. This is due to the competition between the two of them for that same 2001 election.

I even somewhat understand Pelosi's position that Murtha's influence on Iraq policy was a huge contributing factor to the Democratic victory in this election, and was worthy of recognition, respect, and reward. I don't agree with that position, as I feel his influence was exaggerated in that regard-but I do understand the sentiment.

What I can't comprehend is why she would go to the extend that she did, actively lobbying for votes for Murtha, even allegedly threatening committee assignments of those members who did not accede to her wishes.

And the mystery of all mysteries-why was she herself rewarded for this over the top dictatorial attempt by being voted House Speaker by unanimous consent, especially when you consider that the voting is by secret ballot?

The only thing that isn't a mystery is the objectives of Jack Murtha. Murtha, the Vietnam veteran and war hero, long a military supporter and hawk, surprised the nation when he came out solidly against the Iraq war and demanded a complete withdrawal of American forces to different areas of the Middle East, and alleged that the war up to that point had become a disaster.

I suspected at the time he was jockeying for position, but I assummed he was looking toward the November 2008 Presidential elections, as a potential running mate of Hillary Clinton. Both had supported the war initially, and both then became vocal critics of the wars management. Of course, the problem is that Hillary has been a staunch advocate of victory before withdrawal.

Have we just now witnessed the true motivations of the Congressman from Pennslvania, a major leaderhship position in the Democratic House membership? Has it suddenly been revealed for all the world to see it, almost as soon as it revealed itself, shot down in flames?

You look at the accompanying photo of the newly elected Democratic leadership, along with Jack Murtha on the right, toward the back, and you tell me if that is a happy, gracous expression.

Looks like "total crap" to me.

But why would Nancy Pelosi have sanctioned and openly supported this run? Was it payback for having engineered or masterminded Murtha's change of position as regards the Iraq war? Had she been instrumental in convincing Murtha, and so felt it incumbent upon herself to reward this loyalty? Or was it something even more sinister?

Murtha did, after all, receive 86 votes. Half of those votes could have theoretically been enough to elect to the House Majority Leader position, Mr. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican who was elected by his party as the House Minority Leader. I know that is not likely. But not only is it not impossible, it would not be unprecedented for members of one party to vote for the candidate of the oppossition party for a leadership position.

Some might recall that this happenned fairly recently, when Jim Trafficante, the ethically challenged Democratic congressman from Ohio, supported the Republican House Leadership over his own party. It made no difference of course, but it was nevertheless a slap in the face to the Democratic Party that helped to serve notice to the potential of open rebellion. Had Murtha intimated at this potential among his supporters if he did not get the support he sought?

This is a man who came out solidly against the soldiers accussed-not convicted, mind you, but accussed-of atrocities in Iraq, declaring them guilty before there was ever a courts martial convened. This is a man who was investigated in the Abscam cases in his early career, though he seemed to have been too wiley to take the bait, though certainly expressing interest in the potential of the bribe offerred.

He has even gone on record publicly, on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, as considering any Ethics Reform legislation as being "total crap"-yet it is this Ethics Reform that has been the mainstay of Nancy Pelosis' Congressional career as of late. Still, she supported him in a move that was seen as a potentially serious political blunder insofar as her future potential effectiveness as the Leader of the Congressional Democrats and their agenda.

Is it possible that while she was publicly lobbying for Murtha, she was secretly going behind his back and urging support for Hoyer, away from the prying eyes of Murtha's obvious supporters? It does seem odd that Murtha seemed to think he had the votes locked up to become Majority Leader? Or was that, too, just Murtha's own delusions speaking, hoping that if he said it enough, people would believe it, and jump on the train? In his case, the gravy train?

Even his statement that he was going back to his little subcommittee-which handles billions of dollars in defense contracts-seemed to be a veiled threat.

Well, the right man won the job, so as they say, it's time to move on. Or, put another way, time to flush the toilet. But, as total crap will sometimes do, the smell might linger for some time.

The Legend Of Jesse james

The true story of Jesse James is quite remarkable, and upon seeing the show of his life presented last night on the PBS show American Experience, I felt quite moved by it. Because James's life to an extent speaks to our own time, and to the peculiarities of American culture and legend.

He and his brother Frank were of course more than just outlaws, they were originally confederate guerillas during the civil war. They fought under the command of William Quantrill and took part in the massacre of Lawrence Kansas. They also fought under "bloody" Bill Anderson and saw action in the bloody Centralria massacre, in which they took part in the bloodiest imaginable atrocities involving torture and mutilation.

At this time, Jesse was about the age of fifteen or sixteen. Such was the nature of warfare in Missouri, however, that by the time he took part in this event, it was likely to have had little effect on him, as violence and bloodshed had been a regular part of his life for some two or three years, in fact throughout the war.

Of course, that war ended, upon which the confederates and their sympathizers found themselves on the outs. Their properties were taken in a great many cases by carpetbaggers, and they were denied the right to hold public office. Moreover, even though they were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the victorious Union, a great many of them were marked men. They were obliged to keep a low profile or risk beign murdered in retaliation for a great many of their former acions, or for the mere fact of association.

Missouri, you see, was not actually a confederate state, it had opted to remain in the Union. Yet, like Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware, it remained a slave state. Therfore, though technically loyal to the Union, the slave holders found themselves targeted well before the war by the more radical Repulican abolitionists. The end of the war did not bring any true measure of peace, only Republican domination.

Jesse himself was shot after the war, and it was during a long period of recuperation that he became an outlaw. As such, he was, as he had been as a guerilla fighter, a cold blooded murderer in addition to being a thief.

But as fate would have it, he attracted the attention of of a Kansas City journalist by the name of John Newman Edwards, who was the man repsoonsible for the James brothers myths. He portrayed james as the protector of confederate virtues, and more importantly, as a confederate avenger, who himself had been wronged and was just acting in a need to protect his own rights as a wronged Missourrian, harrassed by the forces of the Union occupation forces.

James played up to this, and in a good many of his train roberries, refused to rob the passengers on the trains, limiting himself to the money in the safes being transported by the banks. The banks and the railoads were seen as the villainous agents of the North by the people in Missouri, and increasingly throughout the West, South and Midwest. Jesse had many safehouses in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and other places, where he could count on being hidden and protected.

Eventually, things gradually started to change in Missouri. Democrats, who had previously been denied the right to vote or hold office, regained these rights, and so started electing people to the state legislature. Eventually, they elected Governor James Crittenden to the statehouse.

Far from viewing Jesse James as a hero, however, they got into office largely by promising to end the reign of lawlessness which they themselves had helped inspire, and create. It was the beginning of the end for James, who found himself being hunted and hounded in earnest, more and more bereft of places of refuge and support by the people. He tried to retire quietly under an alias, as did his brother frank, but he found this impossible. Some bad investments and an unfortunate gambling habit led to his return to a life of crime, one that did not enjoy the degree of success as his earlier one did. His old gang, the James Younger gang, had all been either killed, incarcerated, or retired into anonymity, and he found himself relying on confederates who did not have the requisite level of skill or devotion, nor trustworthiness.

Acting on a secret agreement forged with Crittenden, Jesse James was betrayed and assassinated by Bob Ford. Ford was immediately pardoned by Crittenden. Jesse's brother Frank, along with cousin and former partner Cole Younger, retired under aliases, eventually touring in WIld West shows. Cole Younger wrote a book of his life.

But it was Jesse who became the legendary Robin Hood character, and that legend has continued, even up to today. For example, the James Younger Homepage portrays James in a positive light.

He has also been hero, anti-hero, and villain, of several movies. In the nineten sixties, he even had his own tv series, The Legend Of Jesse James, which starred, as Jesse, Christopher Jones, a James Dean incarnation of sorts, and as Frank, Allen Case, a former singer and co-star, with Henry Fonda, of a fifties Western "The Deputy".

It lasted for one season only and was criticized as glamorizing the life of crime. The legend was finally starting to wear thin. Still, it persists to this day, to a degree. And it is easy to see why. Jesse James as a youth doubltess had to have been affected by the turbulent times in which he lived, the bloodshed he saw and participated in, and the outright brutality to which he was subjected after the war, when he felt as though his world had come to an end, and he would likely face a lifetime of persecution for his role in events. Moreover, he saw himself as acting, from beginning to end, out of a need for self-preservation.

After the war, his worse fears seemed to be coming to fruition, and all the warnings and advice he had received seemed to be prophetic in nature. How could he do anything but live the life he lead? The fact that he received adulation, respect, and admiration, not only in his own little area of Missourri, but to an extent throughout the nation, must have endowed him with something like a messianic character and outlook.

Yet, when the Democrats regained power, these very people that he had helped to regain that power in Missouri, then turned on him, in the most devious, underhanded, and cowardly fashion. Jesse James had played his part in American history. He was now expendable. And so, he was conveniently eliminated.

Seems like there might well be a lesson in there somewhere.

Prison Break-Return To Fox River

Be advised that the following post contains definite spoilers mixed in with what amounts to my own guesswork about the upcoming next three episodes of "Prison Break", the Fox Network series that airs on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m. est. Following these next three episodes, the series is due to go on hiatus until sometime next spring.

But man, do these next three episodes ever promise to be a doozy. For one thing, we get to see Michael Scoffield (Wentworth Miller) display an unusual quantity of emotion as he starts to feel the weight of all the guilt for all he has inadverdently done in order to spring his wrongly convicted brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) from Fox River Prison, where he had been due to be executed for the murder of the brother of the Vice-President, and now President Reynolds (Patricia Wettig).

Among all these misgivings is the guilt he feels for the death of David "Tweener" Apolskis (Lane Garrisson), who was gunned down in cold blood by Special Agent Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner), who it turns out all along is not only a psycopathic killer in his own right, but is actually in leaque with the company and working under the direction of Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein), who, in tonights episode, is going to abduct Michaels lady love, Dr Sara Tancredi (Sara Wayne Callies), and subject her to an intense amount of torture and interrogation in order to get her to reveal what she knows about the whereabouts of Scoffield.

The problems he has already caused Sara is the main reason for the guilt Scoffield feels, as he caused her to lose her job at Fox River, return to being a junkie, almost caused her to be murdered, and caused her father, former Illinois Governor Tancredi, to be murdered as well.

Then, there's Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell (Robert Knepper), the head of a vicous prison gang of white supremacists, and convicted pedophile, kidnapper, rapist, and murderer, who horned in on the prison break once he inadverdently discovered the plans. Now, Michael blames himself for this creature being out on the streets. And, as if to rub salt in the wounds, T-Bag also abscounded with the five million dollars which had been buried under a silo in Toole Utah by now dead con Charles Westmoreland (Muse Watson), in reality famed skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

Michael had counted on this money as instrumental in helping him and Lincoln, along with Lincolns son LJ (Marshall Allman), escaping to fredom in Panama. But in the course of working with fellow convict Sucre (Amaurie Nulasco) to insure T-Bag was denied a part of the cash, T-Bag turned the tables and ended up with all the money.

But not for long. He was traced by ex-Fox River Prison guards Brad Bellick (Wade WIlliams, pictured above), and Roy Geary (Matt DeCaro), to the home of Susan Hollander, T-Bags ex-girlfriend who was actually the one who had turned him in upon seeing his face on an episode of America's Most Wanted. Unfortunately for him, by the time he made it to her old home in Tribune, Kansas, where he had promised her he would not forget what her front porch steps looked like, he discovered that Susan is inarguably the most intelligent of all the characters yet portrayed on this tense, gritty drama-she had long since abscounded.

Instead, he was greeted by Bellick and Geary, who knocked him out, tied him up, and began to tortued him in order to discover the whereabouts of the five million dollars. They started out by playing a tape, at full blast, of the old pop song, "Walking On Sunshine". This would be bad enough, but this seems to have been a device meant to drown out the agonized screams from the con when the real physical torture began, consisting of ripping out the sutures from his recently reattached left hand, and then pounding it with a meat tenderizer.

When they discovered the key to the bus station locker where the money was stored, T-Bag grabbed it and swallowed it, whereupon he was later submitted to prune juice, sliders, and chewing tobacco, ultimately culminating in a case of the runs over a commode with a strainer inserted. Geary was then made by Bellick to retrieve the key.

After leaving T-Bag reattached to a radiator by his bad left hand with duct tape, Bellick then taunted T-Bag as he called 911, as T-Bag finally started begging for mercy. The two guards turned bounty hunters proceeded to the bus station, whereupon Geary knocked Bellick out with the meat tenderizer and took off with the loot.

Of course, T-Bag will escape from the house, and in all likelhook will accomplsih this by ripping off his hand. That much is easy to figure out. What is also easy to figure out is that Roy Geary will soon be written off the show, either killed by T-Bag, or by-and here comes one of the spoilers-by one of the strippers which it seems he is going to hire.

Whether by T-Bag or by the stripper, he most certainly will end up dead, and in another bit of spoiler information, Bellick will be blamed for the murder. After all, there was really no reason for the two of them to ever be working together. Geary was bitter over loosing his job at Fox River, and in a hearing after the prison escape, gave information about Bellick which caused the former chief CO to lose his job as well. Following a fight in the following episode, they decided to bury the hatchet and work together as bounty hunters in order to get the reward offerred for the escaped cons. It was only later, after they learned of the five million dollars, that they adjusted their plans.

So, it seems that Bellick will indeed be going back to Fox River, but not as a guard, where he had a reputation as a brutal abuser of the prisoner population-but as himself a prisoner. Naturally, he will not be fondly regarded by the cons he used to abuse, and in another bit of spoiler information, by the time the series resumes in the spring, it seems as though Bellick will be targeted by one of the black cons who wants him as his bitch. Bellick beats the hell out of this con, whereupon he is targeted for death.

As for T-Bag, in another bit of spoiler information, he takes up the search for the missing Susan Hollander, either by enlisting the aid of a postal worker, or by disguising himself as one. And here's another bit of spoiler information you won't read anywhere else, at least I haven't, it's just an inadverdent disovery I made by researching the cast listings.

And that is, the role has been cast for the father of Gracie Hollander, who is Susans daughter. I neglected to write down the name, but there it is. You read it first here. This seems to suggest that either the two have gotten back together, or that T-Bag will abduct Gracie, and perhaps kill the father, who is unnammed as of yet in the cast credits, or whatever, but the obvious implication is that the Hollander family will figure in the shows plot when it returns in the spring.

I doubt that T-Bag retrieves the money, even if he is the one who kills Geary. As Geary dies after ordering strippers, I surmise that one of these strippers is Michaels wife Nika, a Russian immigant whom he hired to marry him prior to arranging for his incarceration at Fox River, and with whom he is now on the outs, due to jealousy over Michaels love for Tancredi. I am guessing here, that she ends up with the money next, and will then use this as leverage in order to force her will on Scoffield.

Whatever the case, it seems that Bellick is not the only one due for a return to Fox River. So is Scoffield and brother Lincoln Burrows, who are due to be captured sometime in the next three episodes.

However, Kellerman and Mahone will determine that they will not make it back to Fox River alive. Mahone has been brought into the picture exclusively by The Company in order to kill them both, as well as all the other cons, on the off chance that they might have learned something about the government agencies attempts to frame Burrows for the murder of the Presidents brother.

All of which leads me to wonder if maybe Bellick will be targeted for the same reason, when it is learned that he has engaged in the torture of one of the priosners, it will be surmissed that he too might have learned something he shouldn't know.

As for the other cons, Sucre will make it to the plane arranged for Michael by the mysterious Coyote, whom he betrays (by giving him sugar water in retun for the plane instead of the promised viles of nitroglycerin) and who then tries to kill him in return. He is determined, despite the turbulence he is said to encounter on the plane, to make it to Mexico to reunite with his beloved Maricruz, who I am thinking will end up being killed by an insanely jealous and enraged Hector (Kurt Caceres) , who was left by Maricruz at the altar, and who has learned of her trip to Mexico with her sister, a trip that was meant to be the honeymoon that he had paid for.

And then there's C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), who is due to get into a great deal of trouble in the next weeks episode when he ventures out in public due to some necessity, though it's unclear what it is.

No word as of yet as to whether Charles "Haywire" Potashik (Silas Weir Mitchell) will appear in these next three episodes, but the last we saw of him, he had made friends with a dog with whom he was explaining his plans to go to Holland and build his own windmill. Yep, he's crazy, sufferring from a neuroanatomic lesion which afflicts him with profound insomnia, in additon to being schizo-affective with bi-polar tendencies. For now, he is funny, and even goofy . The longer he goes without sleep or medication, however, the crazier and crazier you can count on him becomming.

You have to love this show, which requires such a suspension of disbelief, but you get so tied into the characters, the acting, the writing, the production values, the dialoque, the drama, and the suspense- you really don't care, for example, that one of them might well have been sent to prison for stealing Mr. Scotty's teleportation machine from Star Trek. As a character can be in one part of the country and can seemingly end up in just the right place at just the right time, in a matter of minutes, well into a different state, and once or twice halfway across the country.

Or that one characters phone calls can be monitored, while another seems to be able to call with impunity. For that matter, the fact that in the first season, prisoners could seemingly call anywhere from a public phone in the prison yard without moderation.

Or that any prisoner can be so focused, so intense, that he can draw up such a comprehensive set of plans for an escape from prison, have them coded in a full body tatoo, and carry them through to such effect that, even if something goes wrong, one of the backup plans is sure to make up for it. Of course, there is an explanation for this aspect of Scoffields drive and abilities, one that might well afford an explanation for the manifestation of certain kinds of psychic abilites. Scoffield is sufferring from an ailment known as low latent inhibition.

The nail-biting, pulse-punding, nerve wracking excitement of the show, however, more than makes up for it's many flaws, which are insignificant by comparison. Me, I can't wait to see what happens tonight. No matter what you think you have figured out, you never really know.

I'm still expecting in the back of my mind for this seasons promised "biggest surprise" to be the return of mob boss John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) who was killed by Mahone in this seasons episode four, killed by a hail of bullets in the doorway of a motel where he had been lured in the hopes of finally killing the despised mob informant Fibbonnacci.

Yeah, I know, that kind of thing is just totally unrealistic. But like I said, this is Prison Break. Who cares about realism anyway? Surrealism is so much more fun.

Where Would We Be Without Them?

Remember this-

A writer can write, a reporter can report, a protestor can bitch and raise holy hell and a preacher can preach hell fire and brimstone-or love and forgiveness-but without the soldier willing to lay down his life and limb in the ultimate sacrifice, if necessary, it's all an impossible dream. It is the soldier, in fact, that makes all that, and everything else, possible.

In honoring our soldiers on Veterans Day, though, one simple fact escapes most people. It is actually honoring ourselves when we do this, for it is done with an assumption that we all might one day have something worthwhile to contribute in return in a free and democratic society.

Back in the days of the old monarchies, a patriotic soldier layed down life and limb in the service of his sovereign lord, the king or queen. It was in the kings honor that the soldier did so. In many cases, it was for the church, or some similarly powerful, elite ruling entity.

Now, in our country, it is for us, the citizens of our country, we who are the true sovereigns of our nation-not the President, not the Congress, not the judiciary-that he does so. At least, that is the way it is suppossed to be.

That is a hell of a responsibility to live up to, and we should all strive to be worthy of it.

Revenge Of The Living Dead

Rick Santorum took one of those ass "thumpins" the President referred to in his most recent Press Conference, and if someone had predicted that to me two years ago, I would have said, "no way".

It's still hard to believe. Santorum was the man I would have been willing to put money on would have been a sure fire bet to be the next Vice-President of the United States, under a Giulliani-Santorum ticket. They would have been unbeatable, I reasoned. They would probably have taken New York from Hillary, and definitely from any other Democratic nominee, and would have taken Pennsylvania as well.

I don't know why, but Santorum had that kind of working class conservative appeal and Christian conservative sincerity that would have provided the perfect balance for Rudi, who is viewed with suspicion by most conservative Christians. Together, they would have swept the independents, the Reagan Democrats, and in the end, the vast majority of Republicans.

So much for that. But why did it happen? Why did the man who once had such bright prospects end up losing to Bob Cassey in his run for re-election to the US Senate by a margin of 59% to 41%?

Well, his standing as the third ranking GOP Senator didn't help, his association with the President didn't help, and in the long run, his faith didn't help. In fact, he started to appear less and less devout and faithful, and more and more sanctimonious and hypocritical. By the time the voting began, it became obvious that he didn't have a parayer.

Terri Schiavo was the beginning of the end. He was one of the most openly vociferous advocates of intervention in a specially conferred legislative session, to which even the President took the time out from one of his many long vacations to attend, the purpose of which was to craft a law that would "permit" the courts to revisit her case.

Santorum himself went the extra mile of attending Schiavos bedside. Me, personally, I have no problem with that. At least he went to see for himself, though of course the case could be made that this was mainly a publicity stunt. At any rate, he was of course unqualified to make a reasonable diagnosis, but he did anyway. He should have just been content with the photo-op and kept his mouth shut, but sometimes the spirit leads you to talk in tonques. Sometimes it just leads you to talk like a fucking imbecile. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference. Not the case here.

But the overal effect of this episode was that it showed the Senate and Congress-and President-for the pandering chumps that they are. Out of all the members of the House of Representatives, only fifty-five of them voted against this nonsense, which passed the Senate by a unanimous voice vote. Shameful. And Rick Santorum, unfortunately for him, became the poster boy for the Senate Republicans as regards this affair.

The House Republican equivalent here would probably have been Tom DeLay, with his veiled threats against the judiciary. Well, if you are judged by the company you keep-

And speaking of the Democrats, they played this shamefully as well, but any honest person would have to admit, they played it smart. They knew if they obected, they would have been painted as godless lovers of death going into this election. They are anyway, but it would have been the face above that would have been thrown at them. By keeping thier distance they avoided this.

It is to their credit they didn't overplay the Schiavo affair, but they didn't really have to. The voters remembered. They remembered in Pensylvania. No, that wasn't the only thing. There were the things I mentioned, along with the support for the Iraq War,which Santorum seemed to have been trying to distance himself from in the closing weeks by suggesting it might be appropriate to change course by adjusting strategies without withdrawing. But it wasn't good enough.

Santorum was also remembered and widely criticized in addition for his stance on Intelligent Design, going so far as to propose that the Presidents "Faith Based Initiatives" program include funding and support for the teaching in public schools of the controversy between proponents of evolution and those of intelligent design as a scientific explanation for the formation, or creation, of the universe.

By and large, Santorum through all these controversies came to be seen as a fundamentalist religous whacko who wanted to impose his beliefs on the public by way of government, and on the other hand as just another congressional shill for the Bush Administration. That was fine when Bush was popular. Not so good now that he is not.

H should have seen all that coming somewhere down the road, or at least he should have understood the potential, but not only did he not, he continually ignored the warning signs until it was way too late.

So much for intelligent design. So much for blind faith.