Angry Joan

I am back

2010-09-22T21:20:00.003-04:00

There is not one sentence in this article which doesn't piss me off

2007-10-01T19:56:00.000-04:00

Would someone please explain to me how this is a charitable organization? And how a nonprofit organization can pay salaries of over $230,000 when its entire income is government contracts? THEOCRACY at its purest. Good job georgie you asshole.

Greedy contractors

2007-08-28T20:27:00.000-04:00

An old story, ignored by mainstream press, soon to be investigated, maybe.

Contractors' Song (to the tune of Yellow Ribbon)

2007-07-12T22:12:00.000-04:00

Oh tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree,
it's been 4 long years but not enough for me,
I really should be in prison
But my love is Dick Cheyney
A simple yellow ribbon's worth a billion for me
I wrote and told him please
He screwed up the war for me
I screw up the soldiers for free

Looking For Some Beach Reading Material?

2007-07-10T20:16:00.000-04:00

I feel as if I made a difference. Although I have not kept up the blog, I have had lots of looks, probably half by accident, but I made no bones about how I feel about this administration and this war. I contacted my senators and representatives a couple of dozen times, I signed scores of petitions, I donated to the Democrats for God's sake. I donated to those who seek peace. I educated myself about this administration and this war. Every day that I can, I read the Phila Inquirer, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post. In addition, I read my favorite blogs (listed in my profile somewhere), which provide links to other news articles I may have missed. I made it my business to educate those who "don't have an opinion" or believe the president knows best, and promised my friends who have sons in the military that I am doing everything in my power to end this war.

Of course, the war drags on. Hundreds of Iraqis die every single day. Our deaths are multiplying - every month is higher. BUT people are paying attention to this administration and this war. Bush is at 66% disapproval rating and sinking. Just a matter of time, and fortunately for the majority of Americans we are not affected by this war. This war of choice, this war that was planned on the cheap, this war that has damaged America's morale and reputation. I urge you to do whatever you can to stop this war. If you want to educate yourself, below is a list of books I highly recommend. Pick one up. Your blood will boil. They are listed in order of reading. Latest is first. Haven't actually read Brainless yet, but put it in there just for laughs. If I had to pick favorites, they would be Fiasco, Greatest Story Ever Sold, Price of Loyalty, and Imperial Life in the Emerald City. I loved Bush world too. Hard to limit myself. Of course, I read The Iraq Study Group Report, which is coming back in style. (Apologies for the typefont below)

BRAINLESS THE LIES AND LUNACY OF ANN COULTER, MAGUIRE JOE

Blackwater : the rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army, Scahill, Jeremy.

Greatest Story Ever Sold, Rich, Frank

The looming tower : Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11 Wright, Lawrence

Blood money : wasted billions, lost lives, and corporate greed in Iraq ,Miller, T. Christian.

Our endangered values : America's moral crisis, Carter, Jimmy

Imperial life in the Emerald City : inside Iraq's Green Zone Chandrasekaran, Rajiv.

Grand illusion : the untold story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 Barrett, Wayne

Fiasco : the American military adventure in Iraq Ricks, Thomas E.

The price of loyalty : George W. Bush, the White House, and the education of Paul O'Neill Suskind, Ron.

The one percent doctrine : deep inside America's pursuit of its enemies since 9/11 Suskind, Ron.

The last true story I'll ever tell [text (large print)] : an accidental soldier's account of the War in Iraq Crawford, John.

American theocracy : the peril and politics of radical religion, oil, and borrowed money in the 21st century Phillips, Kevin P.

Chain of command : the road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib Hersh, Seymour M.

Bushworld : enter at your own risk Dowd, Maureen.

The family : the real story of the Bush dynasty Kelley, Kitty.

Generation kill : Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the new face of American war Wright, Evan.

This war has been keeping me busy

2007-07-08T15:52:00.000-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070601993.html?nav=rss_print/outlook
This is the kind of stuff that's been keeping me busy. I've been studying the Iraq War from 2 points of view: Defense Contractors, and The Green Zone.

It's only been in the last 9 months or so that any information at all has been available on our commercial brothers-in-arms, our defense contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have finally reached the point where there are more contractors than US military. 180,000 contractors to 150,000 US military. Halliburton has pretty much dropped out of the scene, only KBR, their wholly owned subsidiary is still there. Right now the Brits have taken over in contracts! Interesting how they decided to pull out their troops in Southern Iraq because "Mission Accomplished" and now they are going into full corporate mode. Let's see how that works out. Just fine I am betting. If the UK can get away with it, the time could be ripe for our own military withdrawal.

In the Green Zone -that damn embassy! People keep asking about the largest US Embassy in the world, and that is just so annoying to the Bush Administration. Not only has billions of dollars been sunk into this little oasis, but what an embarrassment it is turning into! Shoddy construction, almost daily insurgent attacks, the architectural plans on the internet, and it still is not finished after 4 years. The State Department is desperately trying to get Americans to work there, it may soon become mandatory for all employees. (one way to get those Young Republicans in the war.) Not sure how that will go over. Might have to increase those contractors.

*It's been so long since I posted that I forgot how to create a link in the title, and Blogspot was taken over by Google, all technical stuff that can be learned or relearned as the case may be. Curious minds have been asking me when I'm going to post again. Took 16 months to create some interest, and this time I hope you will respond to me. Otherwise I am going totally anonymous and that will be fine too. This post was almost delayed because I thought about footnoting all of the above facts. Promise to be a little more informative from now on :)

My Letter to the Editors of Philly Inquirer and NYT-Still Unpublished

2006-03-21T17:45:00.000-05:00

It is time for all Americans to tell their Senators and Representatives "Not one more penny for war." We went to war on false pretenses. We are the catalyst for Iraq's civil war. Over 2300 Americans have been killed, and an estimated 17,000 Americans have been wounded. Estimates of Iraqis killed range from 30,000 to 100,000. At this very moment over $247 Billion of our tax dollars have been spent on this war, and the dollars increase every single second. There are no more excuses to stay there. When the "WMD" propaganda wore thin, the "democracy-deficit" theme began. We gave them democracy, with all the waves of purple-fingered-majesty we could stand. There is a bill in Congress to spend $67.7 Billion more. "Staying the course" is staying on the wrong course. Those phantom Iraqi security forces cannot be our success measure for not standing down.

It's time for us to end the war in Iraq. It is time to work towards peace in our world. It is time for those who voted George Bush into office based on his being a Christian to take a long hard look at exactly what it means to be a Christian. It means to be a follower of Christ. It means to aspire to be Christ-like, to be a peacemaker, to care for the least of our brothers. It does not mean to wrap yourself in a Christian mantle and wage war for power, or because you cannot admit a mistake. Why can’t we criticize our President who holds himself out to be a Christian, yet refuses to seek peace in the land of the Bible? Stop this war now. Please contact Congress and tell them how you feel. Do not depend on the lobbyists to speak for you.

Haliburton's Latest Contract

2006-02-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

It's for construction in the US of a facility for the "detention of immigrants" $365,000,000. This is really scary. Or is it merely a new detention (rendition) center for when they shut down Gitmo? Or for housing bloggers?

Update to yesterday's post

2006-02-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

This guy was billed by the government for damaging his body armor when his arm was blown off in Iraq. You think I make these things up?

You Go To War With The Army You Got Not The Army You Want

2006-02-06T17:47:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness. Gee whilikers. Who am I quoting here? The same asshole who is being depicted in this cartoon. Not the troops. Not the soldiers. But the Honorable Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Who has just drawn up a 20-year plan for the war on terror in Iraq. The same one who refuses to admit that our troops are not properly outfitted with armored vehicles and body armor. Who denies that the troops are not stretched too tight. Who refuses to reimburse those soldiers whose families go out and buy their children the body armor they don't have. Who presents wounded soldiers with bills for equipment unaccounted for when they are shipped home disabled. Who deducts these charges from their pay checks so that they are left stranded at whatever base they are returned to with no money to get home. Is this the America you Veterans gave service for? Is this your America? It's not mine. Now the Republican media is in full swing condemning the cartoonist for slandering the troops. Here we go again - claiming that the messenger is the bad guy --not this administration. See it live on Fox News!

Super Bowl XL

2006-02-05T18:30:00.000-05:00

I love Super Bowl Sunday. This year, fortunately, no one invited us to watch the game with them, and I wasn't inclined to invite anyone over. That means I was free to shop til I drop. I went to 4 different stores with 4 different parking spots right in front of each store. The stores were, for the most part, empty. I went out around 3:30 so there were other people there (mostly women) but I was able to stroll at leisure and look at whatever I wanted without other people blocking my way. I made one impulse buy. This very, very soft pastel-green throw for the couch made of teddy-bear-like fur on one-side and soft, soft velvet on the other. I threw it right on top of my husband who was, of course, lying on the sofa when I came home. Actually, since I was able browse said 4 stores, I made a wise purchase indeed. I almost bought this cashmere throw for twice as much money (even though it was half-price). It was bright red, with fur-ball tassels. Not exactly the look I was going for in the great room, but the bedroom? What I was shopping for is a headboard. I'm buying new roman shades for the bedroom, and now that I think of it, that cashmere throw might just look good in the bedroom. I think I have now made up my mind to go with the red, white and blue colors in there after all. If when we go back there on Wed night to look at the lamp I wasn't sure about AND we buy the headboard AND that throw is still there, I will have to buy it. See how inspired I get on Super Bowl Sunday? Another reason I love Super Bowl Sunday -- NO MORE FOOTBALL TIL NEXT YEAR.

Town Hall Forum on Ending the War

2006-01-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

So I did my part. I attended the rally. It wasn't what I was expecting - it was better. They showed a film (or filum) called "A Patriot Act" which is basically a lecture by Mark Crispin Miller a PolySci Prof at NYU. It should be required watching for those whose brains are fried from watching Faux News. Excellent motivation for making one take a stand for one's country. In fact I have a birthday coming up and it would make a great gift. And it would show how much you loved me (and America) if you would watch it with me. I know it's a lot to ask, but you know I want to free your mind from the strictures being placed there by those who want to keep you complacent. US Congressman Joe Hoeffel was there and spoke about what it's really like there in the trenches. It ain't pretty. He doesn't sugarcoat the "culture of corruption" and how easy it is to become ensnared. My believe is that Abramoff and his ilk are empowered by American's apathy and willingness to allow corporations to represent us to our representatives. As if corporations every had the working man's best interests at heart! I heard Hoeffel speak at a rally to stop Congress from allowing the automatic gun law restrictions pass. NRA won the day on that, but I gotta respect a politician who is willing to speak out on what ordinary Americans want and need. And I am commited to work on behalf of candidates running for election who have the balls to say STOP THIS WAR. Keep an eye out for Chuck Pennacchio. He's running for US Senate against Santorum. He's from Bucks County and he just found someone who is going to be ringing doorbells and stuffing envelopes for him. He gave a 15 minute speech on the history of presidental power that was entertaining and enlightening. The man has a grasp on American history, but then he is Director of the History Program and the University of the Arts. Reminded me a bit of Condi (you know I respect what's in her head not on it.) You know the thugs will be swiftboating him with ads about his "liberal academic ties." Yeah, and it will be coming from those hypocrits who gave us "No Child Left Behind". I'm inspired. Are you with me?

Are You Willing to Stand Up for Peace?

2006-01-02T20:25:00.000-05:00

January 7th there will be a gathering of people who are against the war. It looks like an all day event with speakers (Congressman Murphy of PA invited). You don't have to stay all day. Just give support to those who seek peace. Hold a candle in the dark. Drop $5 in a basket. Sign a petition. Show you give a damn about our occupation of Iraq. The event I will be going to is approximately 5 miles from my home & just 5 miles from where I grew up. Use the link to plug in your zip code to see where the closest one to you is going to be. Give a damn!

Fitzmas Came on October 28, 2005

2005-11-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

And still no after-Fitzmas letdown. I'm still hopeful. I feel at peace with the world around me. I see that the Fitzmas spirit is alive and well. Why just today, Jimmy Carter called Georgie arrogant, and said that he manipulated the intelligence so he could start his war. Sen. Reid shut down the Senate to demand that the Repugs produce their report on the intelligence that led to this war. I found a list of all the reports which the Repugs have yet to finish, I'll find the link. Most of them involve national security and how your president was going to make us safer from terrorists. Turns out that it was a just a great re-election slogan.

Back to Fitzmas. You know I predicted that John Bolton was "the man" and that is why he had to be appointed UN Ambassador to get immunity. Fitz did not come out and name him. He didn't name Rove or Cheyney either, but I'm not worried. There is a thread between Cheyney and Bolton. Bolton handed the dirt on Plame over to Cheyney back in May-April even. I have another prediction. They are going to find that the intelligence which led us to war was obtained through torture. And that will prove that torture does not provide good intelligence. Wait and see. It's why Cheyney is trying to get the Repug Senators to go back on the McCain Amendment to cease the torture. So when it comes down, it's one less thing he's indicted for.

2005-10-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

Trying to figure out how to make this my picture. Bear with me, or help!

I'm a Republican, and you can be too

2005-10-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

Enjoy this little cartoon.

This is America as the World Knows it

2005-10-14T18:36:00.000-04:00

A Dutch judge will not turn over a suspect who is accused of helping Al Qaeda because he is afraid the man will be tortured by the Americans. He agrees that the suspect is probably guilty, but believes that he will be tortured and never receive a fair trial in America! This is the land of the free and the brave, isn't it? Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, right? Wrong, this is George Bush's America, where it is known that if the person is turned over he will end up with no lawyer, no trial, no indictment, no Geneva Conventions. In Italy, they are suing the USA because the terrorist they were watching and about to arrest just disappeared!!!! CIA agents are being personally sued over this. Where are these people? This is important. If you read the link above, take 10 minutes and read this Terrorism News blog and try to count the number of Iraqi citizens being killed on a daily basis. Is this what Jesus would do? Is this what Georgie's god told him to do?

Phila Priest Abuse

2005-09-23T19:35:00.000-04:00

It took 3 years and 4 months for the Phila grand jury to issue it's report on the Philadelphia Archdiocese child abuse that has been going on for 40 years. Was it worth waiting for? I think so. It names names. It gives facts that were kept hidden by the church. It shows the pattern of cover-up in the name of God that was in use by the church in the United States for the last 40 years, or 100 years, or as long as they have held it over the faithful that the church is the final word on all that is God-given. And what is their response? Justin Cardinal Rigali says "Don't read the report!" Why not? It contains dirty, filthy sex. And he didn't say it, because it goes without saying, it does not contain the imprimatur, and the only literature a good catholic is allowed to read is that which contains the imprimatur of the church. Let me tell you something, there is an imprimatur on it, and it is printed in the pain of truth.

Oh No It's Football Season Again

2005-09-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

I hate football. I cannot fathom how people love to watch it. It's just a bunch of guys in tight clothing banging into each other, slapping behinds, doing "I'm an asshole" dances when they make a touch down. No one agrees with me on this topic. Everyone loves the high school games, the college games, and absolutely adores the NFL. Why? I get the school "spirit" and rivalry stuff. Bought into when I was a kid. But I don't understand how poor and middle class intelligent people support these over-paid, under-educated goons who are financed by their payments to their mortgage and insurance companies. Who the hell cares if our city's team goes to the super bowl? It's a lonely time for me because I can't talk football and I get very annoyed by all the bullshit in the newspapers and on the radio and on TV about these "men" who are playing a game for a living and making millions of dollars.

Iraq & Katrina - Corporate Warrior Merger

2005-09-11T13:48:00.000-04:00

Now that CNN went to court to sue the federal government for keeping jounalists out of New Orleans, and won the right to go in, I'm sure we will be seeing a whole lot more sanitized version. For one the water is almost gone and the bodies have been removed. But especially the bodies that the Blackwater brigade was brought in to kill. I'm not figuring it out. Why 40,000 body bags ordered, and then 25,000 said to be dead, and then less expected to be found dead, and what about all these thousands of people who refuse to leave? And no media allowed? Where did they put the bodies? Just how toxic is the water? How about those fires that the firemen were forbidden to put out? Why were all the volunteer firemen who went down to help out not allowed in? Why did so many NO policemen quit their jobs? Why did two of them commit suicide?

FYI - Blackwater = Halliburton.

Let's Get Back to Iraq

2005-09-10T11:59:00.000-04:00

This is insane. We have US soldiers fighting Iraqi soldiers over who will provide security at the airport after the outsourced corporate warriors went on strike. I thought the point was to allow the Iraqi soldiers to stand up so we could stand down. The aiport safety is provided for the safety of outsouced corporate warriors. Who owns Global Services? What happened to the money the Iraqi government was supposed to pay them? Who do you think gave them the money for their salaries. Who do you think is the "Iraqi Government" anyway? Who do these Asian merceneries think they are that they have a right to strike anyway? Too many questions, and answers given on a need to know basis.

Not on Fox News

2005-09-07T19:08:00.000-04:00

Another first-hand account of amazing personal courage and brutal government inefficiency and stupidity:
What you will not see, but what we witnessed,were the real heroes and sheroes of the hurricane relief effort: the working class of New Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a fork lift to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The electricians who improvised thick extension cords stretching over blocks to share the little electricity we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots. Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers who broke into boat yards, "stealing" boats to rescue their neighbors clinging to their roofs in flood waters. Mechanics who helped hot-wire any car that could be found to ferry people out of the City. And the food service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded.Most of these workers had lost their homes, and had not heard from members of their families, yet they stayed and provided the only infrastructure for the 20% of New Orleans that was not under water.On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us left in the hotels in the French Quarter. We were a mix of foreign tourists, conference attendees like ourselves, and locals who had checked into hotels for safety and shelter from Katrina. Some of us had cell phone contact with family and friends outside of New Orleans. We were repeatedly told that all sorts of resources including the National Guard and scores of buses were pouring in to the City. The buses and the other resources must have been invisible because none of us had seen them.We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten buses come and take us out of the City. Those who did not have the requisite $45.00 for a ticket were subsidized by those who did have extra money. We waited for 48 hours for the buses, spending the last 12 hours standing outside, sharing the limited water, food, and clothes we had. We created a priority boarding area for the sick, elderly and new born babies. We waited late into the night for the "imminent" arrival of the buses. The buses never arrived. We later learned that the minute the arrived to the City limits, they were commandeered by the military.Read the whole thing. Yeah, blame the locals. Many of the locals were fricking heroes. One thing we have to learn from this. If a terrorist attack strikes, you have to fend for yourself. We have no competent government to deal with these things; and, given Bush's track record for reforming his own administration, we are at serious risk for another three years. Build up your own food supplies; line up your own evacuation plans; care for your own sick and needy and old. The government is broken

You've Seen the Last of Katrina

2005-09-07T18:37:00.000-04:00

Do you know that journalists are banned from New Orleans? The pictures you'll be seeing will be loops - cleansed photo-ops, like Georgie with "real folks" like evacuees, fireman (who were told to just surround him instead of helping out), toxic water gushing into Lake Pontrachaine. Do you know that journalists are being roughed up by National Guardsmen, and their cameras confiscated? Do you know that after the ban was put into place, one mortician was told to bring 40,000 body bags. Do you know that Halliburton was given a $50 Million contract to clean up the city BACK IN JULY? Do you know where George, Condi, Cheyney were for the first 3 days of the tragedy? Do you know that two helicoptor pilots are being punished by having to guard the caged animals of soldiers who had to leave FL because instead of delivering supplies to the military, they saved 110 people off of rooftops? Did you hear what Barbara Bush said? Does this feel like America to you?

Very Funny Comments from Georgie on Katrina

2005-08-31T19:07:00.000-04:00

[shamelessly stolen from The Wonkette]
Fox News and others are reporting that the President just got "his own bird's eye view" of Katrina's damage as Air Force One flew over the devestated region. Shortly after, Bush gave prepared remarks to the press pool:
We are making progress in New Orleans. The flood is in its last throes. Clearly, the hurricane has a hateful ideology and does not like our freedom or our dryness. We cannot surrender to it. In New Orleans, they are working on a draft evacuation; it is an evacuation process, and we must expect that if we are to bring American-style democracy to the Mississippi Delta. The president added that "to pull out now would only give aid to the elements."
READ MORE: george w. bush , katrina , parody , war on weather

Where Have All The Young Men Gone?

2005-08-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

This is a dailykos.com post. I read this blog every day, but I found it on littlegreenfootballs.com which is a right wingnut blog. I read that every day too. They like to make fun of, well everybody, but especially left wingers and their blogs. You should check out littlegreenfootballs.com so you can see how much hate there is out there.

Outsourcing the Dead and Wounded

2005-08-28T21:14:00.000-04:00

Do you think anyone will ask the mothers of these dead merceneries if this is a noble cause? The US can't get enough volunteers, and they can't get enough vets to re-up because they will get paid better and be safer by being a contractor for Haliburton's bottom line

Now I'm Angry

2005-08-09T20:35:00.000-04:00

We got a letter in the mail today from the FEMA and US Dept of Homeland Security, with an orange warning on it what do they want from us? The want us to buy flood insurance from Nationwide Insurance through their two agents in our neighborhood WHAT? Homeland Security is now advertising for an insurance company? How do they have the time to do this? Who paid for this mailing? Is this paid for out of the amounts rationed to my hometown for terrorist protection? Does this make anyone else angry?

Is Robert Novak a Member of Opus Dei

2005-08-09T20:01:00.000-04:00

Novak is a creep. Good old buddy of Karl Rove. If only someone would investigate this.

I feel better now

2005-08-09T19:37:00.000-04:00

I got a response from Heather. She said that No, Sen Santorum is not a member of Opus Dei, as he has already stated publicly. Damn, I missed that! I would have felt much better if she had said that he is not a member because he feels that [whatever]. Should I go back and ask her why not? My anonymous blogger is worried that the Secret Service is going to come knocking on my door because of my having the gall to contact my congressman. That is a possibility though. My life could be ruined by these people in power. Why they would want to go after little old me is not clear, but look at poor Cindy Sheehan. There is a warrant for her arrest on Thursday hanging over her head. All she wants is a chance to talk to Georgie about the reason her son died in his war. George ain't talking to no "nobody" like her.
I did nothing about the Vietnam War. I worked for the Republican Party to put Nixon in the White House. It's one of the things I regret in life. I will do whatever I can to stop this war. I will do whatever I can to get rid of this administration. I have no power. I have no money. I have no influence. I just have a voice and a vote and a determination to educate myself in what is going on in our world. There are other voices joining with me and our voices are getting stronger.

Don't Bother to Write Your Congressman

2005-08-08T19:29:00.000-04:00

This link will take you to Rick Santorum's web site. There are a number of self-congratulating articles you could read, or you can take a poll. Right now the poll is Do You Believe the Minimum Wage Should Be Increased. Of course, I voted yes, and of course, I'm in the minority. I went to Rick's website about 4 months ago because I wanted to send an email to my Congressman. But he doesn't give you his email address. You have to fill out a form and then choose one of the topics he is willing to get mail on. I chose Faith-Based Initiatives because I was unable to choose "The Truth." So I give him all my personal info, and then I get to write my question: "Are you a member of Opus Dei?" Legitimate question I thought especially to a man who holds himself out to be a good Catholic. Won't even go into my other reasons, but I have been reading a lot about him, and it seems like an easy yes/no question. When you send a email from his website, you are unable to keep a copy, so there is no record (on your part) that you ever sent him an email. Rick never responded, not even to say "Thanks for your correspondence". Nothing. So I send him 4 more emails and my first sentence is may I please get a response. Nothing. This is my Congressman. I was a registered Republican for 30 years. So I find a website with personal email addresses for our elected officials (Let me know if you want them.) I sent an email to Rick's admin asst yesterday, and today I get a response, saying she will get an answer to my question for me, apologies for the delay, and have we ever met, because she can't remember giving me her email address. Ha! What nerve I have trying to contact the great and good Rick? I responded that no we have never met, I just thought that it might be the efficient way to contact the very busy auteur-statesman by going through his admin. Let's see if she ever responds. I may even have made a new friend.

I Might Have to Change the Title of My Blog

2005-08-02T19:12:00.000-04:00

I'm not angry today. I'm actually hopeful. Hoping someone will pick up on my Bolton diplomatic immunity angle. Don't really want to share it with the world at large in case it's true, and then they will come and get me. I interviewed for a new job today and while the title of the position is paralegal, I was told in essence I will be the "database nazi." Sounds like a job tailor-made for me. Wish me luck.

Let us bow our heads

2005-07-31T20:10:00.000-04:00

And pray for George Bush. I mean it. He needs our prayers to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide him in his struggle between good and evil. Years ago he found Christ and it changed his life. He feels as though he was chosen by God to lead the greatest nation in the world. I just wonder if he stopped listening to God once he got the job, and let greed and lust for power drum out the sound of the Word that guided him on on that quest. I have no right to judge him on that. But I want to believe he believes. I want to think that he is still open to Christ. That he still feels humbled by His presence. How can one human being possibly do it all right? I'm praying that he opens himself to the presence of Christ in his life once again, and I want you to pray for him too.

Why John Bolton Will Get a Quickie Appointment

2005-07-30T19:52:00.000-04:00

Because as US Ambassador to the UN he will get diplomatic immunity. Why will he need it? So that he will not get prosecuted for treason, that's why. This is a long story that will not be told on Fox News, even though they have 24 hours a day to cover it. It does involve a blonde, and there is a scandal, but since the Bush Administration is the evil-doer here, you will never hear about it on Fox.

John Bolton is a former State Dept employee. Condi and George needed to get rid of him, but because he commited a crime and since he was a good liar, he was in line for a promotion, and George recommended him for US Ambassador to the UN. Now with the Republicans in charge of Congress, this was a shoe-in. So the House debated his appointments for weeks, with all kinds of stories coming out about him being a kiss-up, kick-down kind of guy. Well, who isn't? Not easy keeping a job these days. But then we found out that the people he liked to kick out of a job were those who didn't agree with the lies he wanted to tell and insisted that he not give speeches about nuclear capabilities of our enemies, because there was no proof. Proof! Who needs proof when you got Fox?

So the deciding vote on whether to send the vote on the appointment up to the Senate came from Republican Seisenbrenner, who said something like if he was in private practice he would fire his ass. So now it goes to the Senate, and George is counting on his buds to just give Bolton an up or down vote and get him into the UN. "The UN needs an overhaul. John Bolton is the man to do it," cried all those Chicken Littles. Not so quick, our Senate says. Let's look at some of Bolton's past actions. They ask George to turn over some documents showing how Bolton used his position to spy on foes, competitors, or those people soon to be kicked down. After all, everybody has a skelton in the closet. George says "No way, this is super secret stuff that the terrorist could get their hands on, we claim privilege."

But then, John McCain says, "Hmm, I wonder, did Bolton testify before the Grand Jury in the investigation of the outing the the covert CIA agent Valerie Plame? It wasn't on his application. In fact, he said that he had absolutely no involvement in any legal proceedings for the last so many years. Hmm, I'd like to ask him if he would verify that statement?" No problem, State Dept. verifies on his behalf. And then just yesterday there was word from the State Dept. that they made a mistake. It seems that Bolton did testify before the Grand Jury investigating the leak which resulted in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose husband, Joseph Wilson, happened to be the one who wrote the editorial in the NYT saying that Georgie was lying to the UN, and to Americans when he said that Saddam Hussein was buying uranium from Niger. "We're sorry. Bolton forgot about that little legal proceeding. We should not have verified the info on his application."

Of course he forgot. It was two years ago. He was one of the first people interviewed. Way before Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. Because he was one of the first suspects. He needed to be promoted quickly because he did such a good hatchet job on Valerie and Joe. Investigator Fitzpatrick is taking his good old time coming to a conclusion on this investigation. Looks like Scooter Libby (Cheney's assistant) and Karl Rove were to blame. George loves old Turd Blossom (his knickname for Karl), and said he will fire anyone found to be involved with this treason, um, found to have committed a crime, and next of course, he will say prosecuted for having commited a crime of treason. And, you cannot prosecute an Ambassador.

MTV Sucks

2005-07-03T00:34:00.000-04:00

They interrupted Stevie Wonder's new song to put their stupid djs on the air. I went to mtv.com to register my protest, but after signing in, there is no place to contact them. Pissed me off. But finding out that Karl Rove is the person who outed the spy (a treason-able offense) made me happy. Arianna had it first. DailyKos has it. Time & Newsweek are carrying it, but not CNN or Fox. No surprise.

Found this post by a medic in Iraq. Read it http://www.optruth.org/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=hear&htmlId=1538
Made me think of Daddy. God bless him.

Frank Rich is my hero

2005-06-19T22:30:00.000-04:00

Please comment on this editorial from New York Times:

TO understand how the Bush administration has lost the public opinion war on Iraq it may be helpful to travel in H. G. Wells's time machine back to Oct. 30, 1938.That was the Sunday night that Orson Welles staged the mother of all fake news events: his legendary radio adaptation of another Wells fantasy, "The War of the Worlds." The audience was told four times during the hourlong show that it was fiction, but to no avail. A month after Munich, Americans afflicted with war jitters were determined to believe the broadcast's phony news flashes that Martians had invaded New Jersey. Mobs fled their homes in a "wave of mass hysteria," as The New York Times described it on Page 1, clogging roads and communications systems. Two days later, in an editorial titled "Terror by Radio," The Times darkly observed that "what began as 'entertainment' might readily have ended in disaster" and warned radio officials to mind their "adult responsibilities" and think twice before again mingling "news technique with fiction so terrifying."

That's one Times editorial, it can be said without equivocation, that didn't make a dent. Nearly seven decades later the mingling of news and fiction has become the default setting of American infotainment, and Americans have become so inured to it that the innocent radio listeners bamboozled by Welles might as well belong to another civilization. Nowhere is the distance between that America and our own more visible than in the hoopla surrounding the latest adaptation of "The War of the Worlds," the much-awaited Steven Spielberg movie opening June 29.

Like its broadcast predecessor, the new version has already proved to be a launching pad for an onslaught of suspect news bulletins. This time the headlines are less earthshaking than an invasion from outer space, but they are no less ubiquitous: in repeated public appearances, most famously on "Oprah," the Spielberg movie's star, the 42-year-old Tom Cruise, has fallen to his knees and jumped on couches to declare his undying love for the 26-year-old Katie Holmes, the co-star of another summer spectacular, "Batman Begins." Forget about those bygone Hollywood studio schemes to concoct publicity-generating off-screen romances for its stars-in-training. Here is a lavishly produced freak show, designed to play out in real time, enthusiastically enacted by the biggest star in the business. On Friday, after popping the big question to Ms. Holmes at the Eiffel Tower, Mr. Cruise promptly dragged his intended to a news conference.

But though the audience for this drama is as large as, if not larger than, that for Welles's, there's one big difference. The Cruise-Holmes romance is proving less credible to Americans in 2005 than a Martian invasion did to those of 1938. A People magazine poll found that 62 percent deem the story a stunt. To tabloid devotees, the reasons for Mr. Cruise's credibility gap are the perennial unsubstantiated questions about his sexuality and his very public affiliation with a church, Scientology, literally founded by a science-fiction writer. But something bigger is going on here. The subversion of reality that Welles slyly introduced into modern American media in 1938 has reached its culmination and a jaded public is at last in open revolt.

The boundary between reality and fiction has now been blurred to such an extent by show business, the news business and government alike that almost no shows produced by any of them are instantly accepted as truth. The market for fake news has become so oversaturated that a skeptical public is finally dismissing most of it as hooey until proven otherwise (unless it is labeled as fake news from the get-go, as it is by Jon Stewart). We'll devour the supposedly real Cruise-Holmes liaison for laughs but give it no more credence than a subplot on "Desperate Housewives."

Welles unwittingly set us on the path toward the utter destabilization of reality with "War of the Worlds," and then compounded the syndrome with his subsequent film masterpiece "Citizen Kane," a fictional biography of a thinly disguised William Randolph Hearst that invented the pseudo-journalistic docudrama. But it's only in the past few years that Welles's ideas have been taken completely over the top by his trashy heirs. Not only do we have TV movies bastardizing the history of celebrities living and dead, but there is also a steady parade of "real" celebrities playing themselves in their own fictionalized "reality" shows. (This summer alone, Bobby Brown, Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Hugh Hefner's girlfriends and Paris Hilton's mother are all getting their own series.) The Cruise-Holmes antics, not to mention the concurrent shenanigans of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, add yet another variant to this mix, shrewdly identified by Patrick Goldstein of The Los Angeles Times as "a new rogue genre in which celebrities act out their own reality show, free from the constraints of a network time slot or a staged setting, like a boardroom or a desert island."

What did I forget?

2005-06-11T22:57:00.000-04:00

THINGS I LIKE

Jazz
Dancing
Horse Racing
Sightseeing
Museums
Thrift-shopping
Mosaics
Pinball
Bowling
Crepes
Wine-tasting
Eggs Benedict
Pinochle
Scrabble
Massages
Yoga

THINGS I HATE
Stupid TV
Liars
Procrastination

Thoughts on Memorial Day

2005-06-01T00:46:00.000-04:00

My father served in WWII as a medic in Italy. He always said, "I was just a medic," and I took it at face value. He wasn't very medical, but we kids never went to the doctor or the hospital and got told there was nothing wrong. He was always the one to decide if we needed to be looked at. Six kids had lots of colds and sprains. I never really thought about war when I was a kid, even when watching "Combat" it was just about the cute guys. When the Viet Nam war reared it's ugly head into my little world, I just agreed with mom and dad that the hippies were ruining the country. It was an honor to serve your country, but thank God I was a girl. It wasn't until I watched the opening scenes of "Private Ryan" that I realized exactly what it was like to be "just a medic" and have to be the one to pick up the bloody bodies, or have to decide which ones were saveable. How many deaths did he witness? No wonder he never wanted to talk about what he did in the war. My family has never had a member killed in a war. Neither has my husband's family. Our fathers and uncles served in WWII, and returned home physically intact. My brothers got orders for Viet Nam, but ended up in Germany. We have been very lucky. None of our sons or nephews have joined the service, and we hope they never have to fight this war that is all about greed and power for the rich and powerful. God bless America.

Condi Nasty

2005-05-29T09:21:00.000-04:00

In the Inquirer article today (pA10), called "Rice rejects calls for inquiry into Guantanamo prison", there are just too many "absurd" quotes from Condoleezza Rice for me to type in here. My head would explode. Please read the article. I can't find it in the on-line versions of that paper, or I would have given you a link.

I happen to think Condi is brilliant. I've watched her answer questions about the political conditions in the Middle East, South America, Africa, New and Old Europe, and Mexico, one after the other without a moment's hesitation. She spent the first 4 years of the Bush administration patiently teaching Georgie all she knows about foreign affairs. I don't hold that against her. In fact, I admire the fact that her head didn't explode. She knows her stuff. But what she doesn't know about hair is amazing.

You know that I am not a fashionista. I like my clothes to cover my body, to make it fit for public consumption. I tend towards purple and comfort. My hair style changes every couple of years - short, long, permed, blond, red, but always easy to take care of. Condi's hair is stuck in 1970. If you look through my high school yearbook, you will be able to pick out my African-American sisters who didn't get with the whole Black Power thing that was going on during that era, and see hairdos just like Ms Rice's. She has that curled-under bangs thing going on, with the rest of it Afro-sheened back, ending with that nasty flip we all wore from 7th grade through to high school. It makes me crazy. Just reading the first quote from her in this article, "The United States is as open a society as you will find," and the administration is being held accountable "by a free press..." I can't get the image of her hair out of my mind to begin to comprehend what goes on in her mind. Please, Condi, get a hair cut.

Georgie Porgie

2005-05-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."—Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

Thus spake the President of the United States of America. I see Karl Rove whining over that one. "Georgie, when are you going to learn the difference between what I say to you in our private time, and what you are supposed to say in public?" You can argue that the quote is out of context. It's true I didn't read the article, even though I do prefer to read what he says rather than listen to it. When he starts talking and gesturing and pounding the podium and grinning like it's all just the grandest thing that he gets to stand there and tell the people what it means to be a Real American, I get embarassed for my fellow Americans that this fool is representing us to the world. And it really doesn' t matter what the context is anyway. All he really understands is 9/11. That was his biggest moment, and he wants you to continue to praise him for how he handled it. And to fear. You must fear. So he will always mention 9/11.

To see more Bushisms, go to http://www.slate.com/id/76886/

Day 1

2005-05-27T19:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm really not so angry now that I got my own blog. So many things to rant and rave about - just give me time.