In Shining Armor

Tom Jones To Be Knighted-CBS News

Congratulations, Tom, and thanks for 43 years of great music.

Priority #1: Protect the President

Justice Dept. Probing Domestic Spying LeakAP
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush's secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday.

It's OK, go ahead and read it again. I'll wait for you. I thought I must have read it wrong, too. Yes, that's right. The "Justice" Department is NOT investigating the largest spying scandal in the history of this country, but, have focused their exhaustive efforts on finding out who leaked the story of the spying scandal to the press! Unless their intention is to award this person with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, they're wasting their time and our tax dollars.

Shouldn't the U.S. Department of Justice be going after criminals like Bush and his administration rather than people who reveal the truth about what's going on behind closed doors? It would seem to me there is a chink in the armor of the "checks and balances" aspect of our government. There is one branch that may still be on our side and may be our only hope of protecting the Constitution and our civil liberties. I strongly urge you to contact your U.S. Congressman and Senators and demand an inquiry into the spying scandal. Don't ask them, because they don't generally respond to requests. Let them know, in no uncertain terms, that the future of their political careers and your vote for them rests on their ability to properly represent you and your interests in Washington D.C.. In addition, I recommend you take a moment and go here to sign a petition that pushes for an investigation into this scandal. Go ahead, they're already spying on you anyway.

Tipsy Tow

This New Year's Eve, celebrants can get home without worrying about getting pulled over for driving under the influence. And as if that wasn't enough, your car will also be transported to your house, free of charge. That's right, I said it...FREE OF CHARGE. This incredible program is being sponsored by the American Automobile Association, better known as AAA. I need to point out that you DO NOT NEED TO BE A MEMBER OF AAA TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SERVICE. IT IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC. Simply call 1-800-222-4357.
That's 1-800-AAA-HELP. Please write the number down and carry it with you when you go out New Year's Eve. If you end up not needing it, perhaps you can give it to someone who can use it.


I want to wish my multitude of readers a Happy New Year and I would certainly hope that you would use this FREE service rather than try and drive home if you've had something to drink. This is a really cool service and I hope many people take advantage of it and that even more tow services take their cue and follow suit next year. This is an outstanding program.

Election Fraud?

International Team to Review Iraq ResultsAP
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An international team has agreed to review Iraq's parliamentary elections, announcing Thursday members would travel to Iraq in response to complaints and protests by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups that the polls were tainted by fraud.

Hey, this isn't the same "team" that reviewed the U.S. Presidential election in 2000, is it? We're all painfully aware of how that turned out.

Cinematic Excellence

Every once in a while, I go to see a movie and, hours later, find myself remembering it fondly. I believe I'll be looking back at Memoirs of a Geisha for far longer than a mere few hours.

In short, a passionate and powerful story combined with superb acting, a moving score, and breathtaking cinematography.

I cannot recommend this film enough. A must see.

Bomb-Sniffing Wasps

I couldn't resist commenting on this story from USA Today. Apparently, scientists have trained wasps to help the United States fight the War on Terror; not to be confused with the War on Christmas, which has been put on hold for another year.

No, this newly developed weapon isn't lethal or even very frightening. I had a mental image of swarms of wasps being sent out across the earth to hunt down and sting members of al-Qaeda. These wasps, however, are of the non-stinging variety and have been trained to detect very minute traces of chemicals.

This revolutionary bomb buster which might be developed to search for missing people in rubble as well, will not be available for commercial use for another 5 to 10 years. That will give the canine community time to retrain for new careers in the guide dog profession, seeing as how this new discovery may be replacing them in the future.

The scientists at the University of Georgia, with
funding by the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture, have even looked into the possibility of training the insects to detect cancer by sniffing human breath. After talking to many people I know, I believe this could be classified as animal cruelty. Whew.

Quote of the Week

"Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit."

-Mohandas Gandhi

Bad Deal

Regarding this Associated Press article, when are we going to stop bashing the illegal immigrants in this country? Whatever happened to America the Beautiful? Lately, we are more like America the Ugly. But don't take my word for it, just ask anyone who lives outside of this country. That may prove difficult for those of you who "don't give a shit" what the rest of the world thinks of you. Thanks in part to people like Georgia Republican Representative Nathan Deal, we live in a country that hopes to rid itself of American citizens. Ain't that nice?

Luckily, we have the 14th Amendment which states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." But people like Nathan Deal would like us to do away with the Constitiution of the United States because he has a problem with people who are born in this country. I've got news for you, Nathan. I was born in this country and that means that you now have a problem with ME!


Here's another genius who hates Americans and, in particular, any American who isn't WHITE like him. This is Ira Mehlman, Media Director for the Skinheads, er, i mean the Federation of American Immigration Reform which is the organization that is backing racist Nathan Deal and his crusade to rid the United States of legal citizens.


This country...MY country, was founded on immigration. Who the hell do you think built this country? I'll tell you who it was. It was immigrants. It was immigrants like the Irish, the Chinese, the Italians, the Germans, the Mexicans and countless nationalities from around the globe who made this proud nation what it is today. How DARE you try to take that away from a child who was born in this country just because their parents weren't born here. That child could grow up to be the next President of the United States. Are you going to deny that child their inalienable rights? You're not going to do it without a fight. And you picked the wrong Irishman to pick a fight with. I'm going to be watching this issue and all of you racist bastards very closely.



The redneck on your left is Republican Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado. Good Ol' Boy Tom says "Any issue that has a `damn right' response, you can go with. You ask if we should stop illegal immigrants from coming onto this country and having a baby here who is an American citizen, and most people say, `Damn right.'" Hey Tom, I've got something to say to you and I'm hoping that you can understand it because your undeveloped brain seems to be keyed into two-word phrases ....SCREW YOU!

We need to stop morons and hateful cretins like these disgusting pieces of crap above from taking control of our country. They would even like to dupe you into believing that they are protecting you from terrorists by closing our borders. Nothing could be further from the truth. This whole movement boils down to a bunch of Good Ol' Boys protecting what they have and screwing the rest of society in order to accomplish that. To get the truth about immigration check out the National Council of La Raza.

Christmas Cheer

Here's a heartwarming picture of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sitting down to Christmas dinner with our troops in Mosul, Iraq. This is the point in the evening when "Rummy" tells the lads about the hilarious hijinks and shenanigans he is famous for around the Oval Office. As you can see, he is wildly popular. The boys in camouflage can't get enough of the one about the night Rummy shaved Dubya's eyebrows off after the President passed out during a long night of drunken debauchery.

"Would you like fries with that? You better smile like you mean it or I'll see to it that you spend another year dodging bullets and land mines, punk."

Here's good ol' Don pitching in to help serve up a hearty Christmas meal. When he's not busy serving steak and lobster, he's sending America's young men and women to their deaths in a foreign land, fighting in a war that never should have happened.

I wonder whatever happened to that Osama bin Laden guy, anyway?

Bah Humbug

Here is proof positive that George W. Bush has joined the side of EVIL in this War on Christmas. This is the official White House Christmas Card for 2005 and as you can plainly see, there is NO Christmas on this card. It does however have a nice picture of animals on the White House Lawn.

You would think that a man who was specifically chosen by God to be President of the United States would at least have the decency to acknowledge His Son's birthday.

I threw my card in the garbage in disgust. I like the one from 2003 better...

Somebody in Pennsylvania Gets It

In a moment of great clarity, U.S District Judge John E. Jones III ruled this past Tuesday that "Intelligent Design" cannot be taught in biology classes at the Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania.

I would just like to take this moment to congratulate Judge Jones on his keen ability to sift through the crap and come up with a ruling based entirely on common sense.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones criticized the "breathtaking inanity" of the 2004 decision by the Dover Area School Board to insert intelligent design into the science curriculum. He called the concept "a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism" and said the board's policy violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Intelligent design holds that living organisms are so complex that they must have been created by some kind of higher being.

"In making this determination," wrote Judge Jones, "we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents. ... We hold that the ID policy is unconstitutional."

Amen to that, brother.

On a more important note, I just want to inform all of you who are members of the American Taliban (religious right) that nobody has a problem with you teaching your religion to your own children at your own home, at your place of worship, in the car, or wherever. The problem lies in you shovelling that crap down other peoples' throats against their wishes. If folks wanted their children to learn religion in school, they would send them to private religious schools. Let me make this perfectly clear for you : I WILL TEACH MY CHILDREN ABOUT MY RELIGION AT A TIME AND PLACE THAT I DETERMINE, NOT YOU.

Look, now you've gone and made Jesus angry.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and He wanted me to let you know that He has had it up to HERE with all of the bullshit. He's not at all happy with what you've been doing in His name. When He said to "spread His word" He meant for you to do it in a nice way, not force it on everyone. He said to tell you that He would like all of you to stop acting like used car salesmen and start treating each other a little more decently, especially when it is so close to His birthday.

He also wanted me to let you know that while He acknowledges that the Easter Bunny is a nice touch and very cute, He has absolutely no idea what that has to do with Him rising from the grave.

Quote of the Week

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

-Benjamin Franklin

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the...

Bush makes no apologies for spying on the American public. In fact, he seemed downright insulted in his press conference the other day when questioned about his awesome, god-like, dictatorial powers. Let's not forget that it was God who selected him to be president.

Now, of course the right-wing media is going to tell you that what Bush did was perfectly alright and that the only people he was spying on were suspected terrorists communicating with known terrorist organizations.

So, if I write an email to al-Qaeda politely requesting that they stop terrorizing people, will my email be intercepted by the NSA? You better believe it. And if I subsequently send an email to my cousin in Ireland wherein I criticize the current administration for their lack of integrity, will that email be read? Definitely possible. You see, that's the problem. Where is the line drawn? Does a limitation even exist? No one should be given that much un-checked power.

Right, Jesus?

"You da man, PT !"

When we get to the point where we willingly give up our civil liberties and rights to privacy, then the terrorists have not only won, they have conquered us. Are we really willing to spend the rest of our days spying on each other and cowering in fear of what MIGHT happen? I certainly hope not.

And whatever happened to the right-wing wanting a less intrusive government? It's time that we ALL started protecting our rights no matter what side of the political fence we sit on. You can do your part here.

If you're REALLY fired up, as well you should be, you can express your outrage by pissing into the wind here.

A Ray of Hope

Got some great news in an e-mail yesterday and had to share it with you. Myanmar (formerly Burma) has bowed to the pressure of neighboring nations and agreed to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has recently abandoned its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states and pressed Myanmar’s ruling junta to release Suu Kyi from house arrest and institute democratic reforms in the country ruled by a military junta for close to two decades.

Aung San Suu Kyi is most famous for her push for democracy and civil rights in Burma and for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She has been kept under house arrest off and on since 1989.

This is a great moment for the people of Burma. On a personal note, I have travelled to Burma and I can tell you that Burma is a land filled with beautiful and friendly people. And I'm not just saying that because my wife is Burmese.

I want to thank the ASEAN for their work in this matter. Hopefully they will maintain the pressure on Burma's military junta and open the door to democracy for the people of Burma.

For a brief history of Burma, you can click here.

And to send a letter of gratitude to the ASEAN, you can click here.

Quote of the Week

Early this morning, the State of California killed a man. May God have mercy on our souls.

Here is your quote of the week....

"Why do we kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?"
-Holly Near

Don't Kill Stan

I drove up to Sacramento yesterday to protest the upcoming execution of Stan "Tookie" Williams. There really weren't as many people up there as I would have expected. In fact, I think there were more media people there than protesters. But, regardless of the number, it was the spirit of the people there and the feeling that what I was doing by being up there was the right thing to do. I can't stand the thought that the state is killing another human being in my name.
And no, it is not justified because he supposedly killed four people. Murder is wrong, period. Whether it is one man with a shotgun or 36,000,000 people and a needle doing the killing, it is and will always be wrong. Below is a picture of Bianca Jagger, former wife of Mick Jagger, but most importantly very active politically and socially and a staunch opponent to the death penalty. She's a true hero, and you can read more about her here.

During this rally on the steps of the state capitol, Governer Schwarzenegger was inside conducting a clemency hearing with lawyers from both sides of this case.

If you'd like to do something to prevent this execution from taking place, I urge you to go here and let the Governor know about it.

Quote of the Week

"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY COUNTRY."

--Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg Trials