The 3000th American soldier has died

His name was Dustin R. Donica. He was 22-years-old and a native of Spring, TX.

The U.S. is currently averaging 1,000 fatalities per year.

They did it

Sadaam Hussein was hanged about 20 minutes ago. I am never sorry to see anyone guilty of crimes against humanity face justice, but given the circus-like nature of this trial and the sentencing, I am more concerned about how many are going to die as a result of this decision.

Hussein Execution Acceleration

Sadaam Hussein just lost his 30-day chance to get his affairs in order before he is introduced to his maker. He is to be hanged no later than New Year's Eve, but it could be as early as Friday.

Is this supposed to be Dubya's way of starting the new year with a clean slate?

Gerald Ford Dies

1913 - 2006

$27.1 million for THIS?

There are a few things that I have made a lifelong goal, and one of is to develop a greater appreciation for art. My hope is that I will learn to see what makes certain paintings special.

Sometimes, however, I have to raise my hand in protest and call it as I see it.

I think that Christie's should be used as a litmus test to determine who does not need to have money. I was reading about how Warhol's painting of Mao Ze Dong sold for $17.4 million to a resident of Hong Kong. That did not surprise me.

When I saw that Willem de Kooning's Untitled XXV sold for $27.1 million, I choked on my coffee. There will always be art that does nothing for me, but $27.1 million for art that resembles the work of my 2-year-old niece is grounds for a public caning. I have often see paintings that literally took my breath taken away, but when I saw this, I very much wanted to find the buyer and slap the hell out of them on behalf of all of humankind.

Cartoon of the Day

Cartoon of the Day

Sheri's Weekly Rant - Sexualization of Anything Child-Related

I saw a video by Fergie (in my defense, I was plagued with insomnia and that was the first thing I saw when I turned on the television) and there is one part where she and some other women are dressed as Brownie Scouts--not even Girl Scouts, Brownie Scouts...the scout group for 6 - 8 year-old little girls:



Actual Brownie Scout:



The idea that anyone had a fantasy that involved a Brownie Scout (even if an adult woman is dressed in the costume) is extremely disturbing to me. Actually, an adult having a fantasy involving anything child-related is disturbing to me (including the "Naughty Schoolgirl" thing--it originates from images of minors).

Am I the only one that feels like this? When I saw that video, the first thing I felt was morbid disgust over the idea that the uniform of an organization for such young children was being sexualized.

Dr. Peter Singer on the Colbert Report

Part 1


Part 2

Pinochet is dead!

Washington Post article

Cartoon of the Day

Bolton throws in the towel!

The Democrats have the House and the Senate. Rumsfeld resigned and now Bolton has resigned...this is going to be the best Christmas ever!

Cartoon of the Day

Officially Anti-PETA

I do not believe in cruelty towards animals. The idea of killing an elephant just to get its tusks will always be appalling to me. My non-cruelty sentiment, however, was never strong enough to join PETA. I have usually been ambivalent about PETA in the past until I came across a site that promotes anti-PETA doctrine. I was a little skeptical about the claims they made about PETA doctrine (PETA being against seeing eye dogs, for example), so I went on the PETA site myself to investigate. The anti-PETA site was actually a little generous. PETA openly supports the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which uses arson as a means of getting their word out. Quote:

"ALF 'raids' have given us proof of horrific cruelty that would not have otherwise been discovered or believed and have resulted in criminal charges’ being filed against laboratories for violations of the Animal Welfare Act."

That, however, is not what sent me down the path of anti-PETAness. PETA has taken it upon themselves to compare the plight of animal rights to the abolition of slavery, child abuse and even rape. And in their effort to vilify fur-wearing celebs, mocked their alleged eating disorders.

Check out their FAQ if you don't believe me.

And then there is this doozy from their FAQ section on the question of the humaneness of eating plants:

"Rather than eating animals, such as cows, who must consume 16 pounds of vegetation in order to convert them into 1 pound of flesh, you can save many more plants’ lives (and destroy less land) by eating vegetables directly."

Thank you, PETA, for clarifying yourself. I have made it my new mission in life to send a framed, poster-sized, autographed photo of myself eating a giant hamburger with no bun and steak fries (made from real steak) while wearing a full-length sable with a sable hat as I sit on a leather couch with a built-in wine glass holder made of deer antlers to the PETA HQ.

By the by, the anti-seeing eye dog claim is true.

War on Semantics

I was just watching MSNBC a bit ago and an analyst (at least I think she was one) was chastising the media for calling the violence in Iraq a "civil war." She went on to say that the media had "an agenda" and was deliberately "misleading the public" for their own gain.

Well, until someone else admits to it, I will refer to the violence as "civil strife."

Update: I have a link to the story now.

USDA ends War on Hunger?

The USDA has omitted the word "hunger" out of their vocabulary and has substituted it with "low food security." I heard about this a bit ago, and I was praying that it was a joke.

Army's $200 Million "Solution" to Poor Recruitment

Instead of investing that money into better enlistment benefits, or - here's an idea - body armor for their troops, the Army has committed $200 million a year to an ad campaign that features their new slogan, "Army Strong."

How many times have they changed their slogan in the past 6 years? First of all, "Be All That You Can Be" is as good as it gets as far as their attempts, and secondly...do they actually expect that a slogan change and some new commercials will change the idea that not too many people are willing to enlist now for obvious reasons?

I guess they do what they must, still, I think that most of that money would have been better served by putting it to use to aid the soldiers that have already committed themselves.

Common Decency Prevails

O.J. has been canned...the Fox News interview and the book.

There is hope for our country after all.

Midterm's Greatest Hits

This is just hilarious.

Give Bush a Brain Game

Very entertaining!

Cartoon of the Day

  

UCLA cops assault student

UCLA is the first place I would expect a student to "stand up to" authority, so I would normally pity their police department. However, the video I just watched cannot be justified. MSNBC's account sugarcoats the incident and on CNN tonight, editor of the UCLA's student paper the Daily Bruin, Sara Taylor, gave a robotic interview that did not shed any light on the assault of the student, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, unlike her article.

I saw the footage and the claims that the student was repeatedly tasered while he screamed, "I'm not fighting you; I said I'll leave" are true. The officers in the video claimed that the reason they continued to use tasers on Tabatabainejad was because he refused to stand up. A little common sense, people: the whole point of a taser is to incapacitate a person and excessive use can lead to death. By my personal count, this kid was tased at least 5 times.

One of the officers threatened to use a taser on a student that demanded their bag numbers.

Ouch - Murtha Gets the Smackdown

It isn't surprising that Hoyer won over Murtha. Murtha never had the numbers to compete with Hoyer in the first place. Hoyer, who appears to be popular with the freshman House members, beat him by almost double.

The risk Pelosi took with Murtha bothered the hell out of me. I get that she wanted to be loyal, but surely our president has served as evidence that loyalty-based decisions, although honorable, do not work in politics. She had better have a brilliant plan to try to bring unity back to the party.

All of this stuff is going to give me an ulcer. The Democrats have been handed a great gift by the American people and just cannot afford to screw this up. I have been tooting my confidence in their ability to "repair" our country on both the domestic and international fields, but the truth is I am walking around with my fingers crossed...maybe I should drag out my Rosary, too.

Cartoon of the Day

  

O.J. Simpson's Quasi-Confession

O.J. Simpson has written a confession, um, I mean story of him killing his wife, Nicole Simpson, and her companion (which he has termed as being "hypothetical") entitled O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened. Mr. Wife-killer has paid $3.5 million by ReaganBooks and Fox is supposed to broadcast interviews done with Simpson in two one-hour segments.

Even if Simpson does not list the book as being fiction, the law of double jeopardy protects him from prosecution. Simpson has allegedly bragged about how he has come up with a plan to keep the profits from the book from going to paying the court-ordered restitution to the victims of this tragedy by "spending it quickly."

I suddenly feel the need to shower.

Cartoon of the Day

  

President Guiliani?

So Guiliani has come clean about harboring any presidential ambitions by forming a presidential exploratory committee. The WP listed him as the No. 3 most likely choice to be the Republican frontman, and while Guiliani has the potential to clean house in his homestate, the other states of the Union will be a bit more difficult to come by. There is the general prejudice against anyone that resides above the Mason-Dixon line that he will have to face. Then there are the more obvious issues he would undoubtedly be confronted with, namely his more liberal stance on abortion and gay marriage, topics that tend to not be open for discussion here in Evangelicaland.

And another thing: leaping from Congress to the White House is difficult to do; I may be wrong, but I don't think that anyone ever went from being a mayor to president. The fact that he is not a current mayor makes it that much worse.

Words that irritate the hell out of me

Congratulate

This word irritates the hell out of me because its cousin words (graduate, graduation) use the letter d. I hate the inconsistancy; congratulate should be spelled congradulate.

Tomorrow

I don't know why, it just does.

And I've never been to Pennsylvania...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

H/T - PoliBlog

I've never been to New Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington, either.

Pelosi Endorses Murtha

I didn't see that one coming. I was really looking forward to seeing how the House would act with Pelosi as Majority Leader, but I must confess that having Murtha in her stead promises to be very interesting.

Sellouts!

I knew that Blogger was selling out to Google, and given the price tag I probably would have done the same thing. However, I am still disgusted to see that another online passtime of mine has gone the way of being sucked into another corporate giant. Let's see how long Blogger will sustain it's appeal before the monkeys in Google marketing come up with "hipper" ideas and screw it up.

DEMS TAKE SENATE!

Image of the Day

Courtesy of Alabama-Democrat

Hindsight

Actually, this isn't hindsight; I was asking these questions before the election. I will add more when my memory decides to work:

One of the last-minute things that I thought the Republicans would push to get support at the polls:

1.) Increase of mininum wage
I can see why they didn't do it, but given their fragile status on entering the election season, it would have been a great way to distract the masses from the scandals. I was sitting at home waiting for them to announce that they were discussing the minimum wage, which is why I was not 100% confident about the Democrats having such a sweeping victory. The first time I have heard the minimum wage issue being mentioned is by Nancy Pelosi (D-California) yesterday.

Future of the Senate Looks Dem(ocrat)

However, even thought the Virginia election is pretty much over, after living through the 2000 election fiasco, I am not going to acknowledge either side as winning until the official vote is in or (hopefully) Allen concedes.

What Happened with Rove?

I have heard the media repeatedly question why Karl Rove could not save the House and the Senate, and whether or not this meant the end of his career. I greatly admire Rove, like it or not, when it comes to political analyses he is a freaking genius. Although he was shown on television expressing confidence about the elections, his demeanor suggested otherwise. I suspect that Rove has made some suggestions prior to the election that were ignored. I really don't believe that someone with his keenness did not have something up his sleeve. If you listen to past Bush speeches and watch his actions, you can actually tell when Rove was involved and when he was not. Whenever I have seen Bush do (or say) something that seemed really off-script, the first thing I wondered was if Rove was on vacation.

Bush should have fired Rumsfeld a long time ago, but he is very loyal to his friends, so the fact that he did so yesterday was a surprise. Rove, however, deserves a medal; I will be eternally in awe of the political machine he built during the last elections.

Is It My Birthday?

The Democrats have the House and Rumsfield is gone! My family can finally stop worrying about if the Secret Service is going to hunt me down because of the comments I have made about the Bush administration!

DEMS TAKE THE HOUSE!!!!

Hussein to Hang

I am not sure what to say about this. Part of me is not surprised that they are going to hang Hussein, and another part of me can't shake the feeling that hell is really about to break loose.

That's Just Great...

Our priest was talking about a Bible verse he found that mentioned being spiritually "refined." This lead him to go on a slight tangent about how he admired refined and elegant people and he decided to point me out as an example of being refined and elegant. After Mass, I heard high-pitched, very animated commentary from another parish member who is known for her perfectionist tendencies. Even I avoid her. As I was leaving, I heard her say in the parking lot to her husband and our priest:

"Oh, so I'm not elegant and refined enough? Is that it? Oh, there goes our perfect and refined and elegant lady now!"

I would love to write this off as a joking affair, but the strained look on the faces of the others did not encourage that idea. I had really hoped I could graduate and move to another city without falling under the radar of the local SPUCC (Super-Perfect Undermedicated Church Chick).

Cartoon of the Day

Are things THAT bad for GOP?

Bush is signing a bill that authorizes the building of a fence that is going to cover a little over a third of the U.S.' 1,951-mile-long border with Mexico. Here is how the AP worded the endeavor:

"President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they're tough on illegal immigration."

Has it really come to the point where the GOP's chances next election have to rely on a paper fence? At this point, I almost feel sorry for them.

Almost.

Cartoon of the Day

The Obama Drama

I realize that Obama's mention that he may consider running in 2008 does not necessarily add up to "drama," but the title appealed to me.

Moving on, I have to admit that at first I was a little surprised. Sure, he's gaining in popularity at a noticeable rate, but he's going to take on Clinton? I'm not so sure I buy that. If anything, I suspect that he is being groomed for the VP spot.

Whatever happens, I hope it is good enough to get the White House back. I am almost at the point of giving up and just not voting period.

Or worse, I may join the Green Party.

Terrorists on MySpace?

This bit of news happened a few days ago, but of course it is just too much not to pass up: some kid from California made some anti-Bush commentary on her MySpace page, complete with a sketch of Bush stabbing himself in the hand and the words Kill Bush written above. This is what took place next:

The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter.

And to think that if the Bush administration had just looked on MySpace and monitored angry teens instead of looking at the memo they received entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," we would not be in Iraq today.

By the by, the teen was so upset about how she was treated by the Secret Servicemen (makes me think of the other SS...) that she has decided to put a greater amount of time in protesting the Iraqi conflict on her MySpace account.

Oh great...another insurgent.

Tony Blair Sings!

I borrowed this gem from Irrational Woman who borrowed it from Poliblog.

God bless YouTube.

Call-out: the Media

Stephen Colbert has his "Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger" method of critiquing the world. Until I can come up with something better, I will just say that I am calling someone/thing out.

Today I have to call a group out: the media. In reference to the interview in the previous post, reporters are stating that Bush is agreeing with Thomas Friedman's NYT comment that the insurgency is like the Tet offensive. Bush did not say, "I agree with that," he said, "He might be right." "Might be right" and "I concur" are completely different, media people!

It is not often that I come to the rescue of this particular president, but Media, this was just lame! There are plenty of events going on now that are worthy of a headline...this is not one of them. Shame on you, Media, for being so lazy!

Cartoon of the Day

Interview with the President

I was listening to the news on NPR this morning, and there was a discussion about an interview with Bush on ABC where ABC News' George Stephanopoulos made a comment about a NY Times article by Thomas Friedman that compared the insurgency in Iraq as being similiar to the Tet offensive in Vietnam. The big to-do about the interview was that Bush apparently said, "H may be right."

What caught my attention about the interview was not Bush's remarks, but the fact that they said the "Vietnam conflict" and the "Iraqi war." We never officially declared war, so what makes this a "war" compared to Vietnam?

Happy Birthday...whoever you are...

Today at 7:46 A.M. the 300,000,000th American was born. Word around the campfire is that President Bush will not acknowledge this event because the chance that this child will be born of illegal immigrant parents is extremely high, a group that (ironically, in a state that was built by immigrants) is not very popular right now.

We keep forgetting that our ancestors did not fill out any paperwork to earn the right to be called an American.

Happy Birthday, kid. Whoever you are.

Cartoon of the Day

  

The Christmas Wars...Pt 2?

There is a saying that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer...which is why I allow myself to suffer with an email subscription to Jerry Falwell.

He has started a campaign called "A Friend or Foe of Christmas" or something like that, and he is emailing his followers (and spies) information to prepare them for another War on Christmas:

"This is the fourth year of the endeavor, which is designed to educate Americans — primarily retailers, school administrators and city officials who have attempted to eradicate celebrations of Christmas — of the legalities of religious expression during the Christmas season."

I wish I got paid to waste time like that. I could start a war...maybe I can rally up the farmers that grow grain and convince them that the anti-carb diets are a war on bread?

Cartoon of the Day

Clever Man or Silly Plan?

I have been thinking about Kim Jong Il's "declaration/act of war" comments and at first I thought that this was someone who was at the end of their rope and was using scare tactics in a futile attempt to bully a government run by a man that makes statements such a "Bring 'em on!"

But I have given it more thought, and I am wondering if Li'l Kim isn't getting the credit he deserves. Is it a coincidence that N. Korea's detonates a nuke a few weeks before elections? He wants the U.S. to talk to N. Korea, but we won't. His war comments have the average American about to pee themselves from fear. Incumbents need something to pacify Americans to make sure they get re-elected.

Is he counting on Congress to bully the White House into action?

Sheri's Weekly Rant - "As a Black Woman..."

One of my biggest pet peeves is to be asked a question that is proceeded with the phrase, "as a Black woman" or "how does the Black community feel about..."

The reason the "as a Black woman" questions irritate me is because it is assumed that I fall into certain "perception-altering" demographics. In 2004, there were 19,327,000 Black females in the U.S. Including relatives, I may know about 95-150 of them. Out of that figure, I share the same thoughts on various topics with about 11 of them. I think it is safe to say that the responses from several Black women may (gasp!) not resemble mine.

As to the questions that begin with "how does the Black community feel about..."

How the hell should I know? I am only one of them! I am supposed to accurately represent 37 million people? It would make more sense to ask me "how do women named 'Sheri' feel about..."

The only answers I can give are to questions that begin with "how do you feel about..."

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Big Day for Li'l Kim

North Korea successfully detonated a nuke yesterday, and with that has given Kim Jong Il the best anniversary gifts: making world powers run about in a frenzy at the mere mention of his tiny, unstable Stalinist country. No wonder those NK soldiers felt comfortable enough to tiptoe across the DMZ this weekend.

I am not sure how convinced I am that N. Korea would actually use their nukes, given that if they tried the repercussions would be severe. However, I do have concerns about how willing they would be to sell those nukes to entities that would be willing to make areas of the U.S. glow in the dark.

Limbo is in Limbo

The Vatican is considering revising the Church's position on Limbo. Good. I have not successfully conditioned myself to the idea of Limbo as it confuses the hell out of me.

"Ambitious" N. Korean Soldiers Cross DMZ

Apparently some time today some North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ, but the reasons to why they may have done so as a provocative act or to simply catch fish are "cloudy," according to an anonymous North Korean official. South Korean troops fired warning shots at the would-be trespassers.

I am under the impression that this story was not really that great of a concern, considering that the reporting agent changed the direction of the incident to discuss North Korea's plan to develop nukes.

Four of the five soldiers were unarmed.

Happy Blogday to Me!

Apparently today marks the first anniversary of my blog. Thank you, Irrational Woman for reminding me.

And to all my fellow bloggers, WRITE THIS DAY DOWN! TODAY IS SACRED!

Have a nice day!

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/ 

Foley Shouldn't Be the Only One Resigning

I made the fatal mistake of going to the ABC News site that was responsible for bringing the Foley scandal to light, and read some of the instant messages that he sent a teenage page. I cannot put into words how shocked and disgusted I am. Every Congressman - especially Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) - that was aware of what Foley was doing and did not take action should be forced to resign. There was no way they could justify how aggressively he pursued these children. How Hastert could claim that the IMs were "ambiguous" with a straight face is deplorable.

I am not particularly comfortable with providing a link to the site that has some of the IMs, which would have been shocking even if Foley had sent them to an adult, but I am willing to provide a home address. You are welcome to search for them on your own:

http://abcnews.go.com/

GOP's Christmas Gift for Democrats: a House

The Foley scandal is a bittersweet mix of disgust and amusing irony. The disgust factor is obvious: he was actively pursuing teenagers for the purpose of engaging in acts with a minor (translation: he's a pedophile). In the case of the 16-year-old that he had a crush on, from the time frame that Foley had sent these emails, his interest in the boy began when the kid was at least 15. It is bad enough that key GOP members were aware that Foley was under the assumption that the job title "page" was code-talk for "teenage sex buffet," and they gave him a warning, but what is even worse is that the FBI was made aware of his actions in July 2005 - he has apparently been chasing pages for three years - and did nothing.

The amusing irony is that this is the same group that raised so much hell about Clinton consorting with a woman of legal age to the point of wanting to kick him out of office. Perhaps if Lewinsky was 16 or under, Clinton's affair would have been more acceptable.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://www.cagle.com/

Where the Hell Have I Been?

I acknowledge that my hiatus from my blog warrants an explanation. I felt that I was not meeting the standards that I set for myself as a graduate student, so I put myself on punishment with the hope of improving academic discipline...it didn't work.

And now we will return to our regularly scheduled programming...

El Diablo Estaba Aquí

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much in terms of meaningful dialogue at the UN shindig; I basically see it as a roast for President Bush and the concept of the United Nations en général, only that the comments are not in jest. Still, I suppose that I will have to give Chavez an honorable mention for his comment, courtesy of the LA Times:

"'Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here.' He crossed himself. 'Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today.'"

Who needs "Reality" TV when you've got the news?

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/

Radicals and the Moral High Ground

I know I am a little behind on responding to the Pope's speech and the reaction that followed, but I wanted to think about it for a bit before I said anything, because I wanted to be fair to both sides, but now I have to ask: do "radicals" ever embrace the concept of moral high ground?

I am not just talking about Islamic radicals...I mean radicals period. Take the Army of God (not Hezbollah, the one in the U.S. that bombs abortion clinics, etc.) for example. How is it possible to justify a cause that claims to save lives through murder? I could name several more groups that lost the moral high ground by choosing violence, including the Black Panthers, but I hope the point has been made. In the case of the Pope's quote of a historic figure's comments, didn't anyone realize that by burning churches and killing a nun that they were reinforcing the very quote that they were disputing?

I guess the question that I am asking is: has the radical's cause degenerated into rebelling for the sake of rebelling?

Remembering 9/11

Source: http://todayspictures.slate.com/

Cartoon of the Week

 

Source: http://cagle.com/ 

Cartoon of the Day

 

Source: www.cagle.com 

Cartoon of the Day

For my amusement

For your amusement

undergroundreporter.blogspot.com

Hey, it's a start...

A tip I submitted is going to be featured in the June issue of Cooking Light Magazine! They are going to send me a knife block!

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/

Iran Amok

The Post leads today with a mention that the Bush administration has officially lost its collective mind and is seriously entertaining the idea of a military strike against Iran. Even though this possibility has been circling through cyberspace for quite some time, I honestly tried to give the administration the benefit of the doubt and claim that even they would not be that ambitious, but I suppose old habits die hard...even at the tune of 2000+ American soldiers and endless numbers of Iraqi citizens.

I am against impeaching Bush, because that would make Cheney officially president, however, Congress has other powers over the president that they have failed to exercise, and it is high time they stepped up to the plate and started issuing out some checks on the Oval Office...they could start by canceling some of the ones they have signed to fund his campaigns.

Image of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/

Republi-damned

I was just sent a "news alert" that Tom Delay would not be seeking reelection. Given the gravity of problems he would have to address such as, oh, an indictment I fail to see why I should be surprised. What I am surprised about is that he did not resign from his position earlier and spare the Republican party a little face sooner.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/

Democratization by Invasion: 0-2

We "liberated" Afghanistan; they were going to kill someone for being of a different religion...and not just any religion: the dominant religion of those who decided to liberate Afghanistan.

We wanted democracy in Palestine: they elected Hamas.

The only reason I have not listed Iraq yet is because it does not officially count until the civil wars break out. It is still a disaster-in- progress.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Laxed Immigration: Why Not?

I thought about the illegal immigration issued and wondered why exactly do we make such a big deal about people becoming citizens. September 11 already proved that one does not have to go through INS to commit terrorists acts in the U.S. One would think that the government would be in favor of laxed immigration: workers could be taxed, and in the case of criminal behavior, tried in American courts without question.

On a side note, I find it terribly ironic that the U.S. - a nation of immigrants - is so xenophobic.

Policab

I have decided to create a list of politically-inspired jargon for my own amusement. I have already braced myself for the ultra-pathetic joke that will follow the first term, in fact I will go ahead and kill the punchline: "Policab? I thought that meant 'many taxis!'"

Policab - politically-inspired jargon

Übercrat (oo-behr-krat) - a fiercely loyal Democrat; still stewing about 2000 elections and does Howard Dean "whoop" when happy or to irritate Übercans; may still have Kerry/Edwards paraphenalia

Übercan (oo-behr-kan) - a fiercely loyal Republican; still thinks that there are WMDs in Iraq and that the war is "winnable;" wears W the President paraphenalia year-round; defensive about Ann Coulter

Dammitcrat ('dam-it-krat) - a Democrat that serves as an embarassment to the party; ex: Al Sharpton

Republi-damned (ri-'p&-bli-'dam'd) - Republicans that have been blacklisted; ex: Tom Delay

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com/

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Cheney's Ultimatum

VP Cheney has informed Iran that if it pursues its nuclear program there would be "meaningful consequences."

I think there should be more checks on the power of the Executive Office to conduct war. Do we really need to give access to the Big Red Button to someone that shoots his friends in the face...literally?

South Dakota's Gamble

I must say that at first, I was vehemently disturbed at South Dakota's attempt to bait the Supreme Court by outlawing almost all abortions, but the strictness of their law may actually work against them. I had a discussion with a pro-lifer today, and asked him how would he tell a rape or incest victim that once again, her body did not belong to her; that society views her the same as her rapist: a soulless object. Naturally, he could not give me an answer, but back to the subject.

In a way, though, I am glad that SD took this risk. The restrictions are so intense that it could prove to be a backlash, setting Roe v Wade a little deeper in stone.

I wish pro-lifers would invest energy into protecting children after they are born. In my state, a pro-life arena, a child rapist or abuser gets less than a decade in prison, but a robbery can get life. The pro-life movement forgets that their are other victims that need to be rescued.

On a Side Note...

Crash beat Brokeback Mountain?

Crash? That feast of urban clichés?

I officially have ZERO respect for the award committee.

WTF.

Sheri's Weekly Rant - Stood Up & Shot Down

The Student Government Association of my university is trying to block the formation of an organization that promotes gay tolerance. I pointed out that the same arguments being used to stop this organization from being on campus were once used to block organizations that tried to teach racial tolerance, and that this effort violated their Constitutional Right to Assembly and Free Speech. You would not believe some of the responses I received:

"My friends and I don't want any gay people on campus passing out flyers about gay stuff."

"I think their meetings should be monitored."

"They are discriminating against straight people and if they are going to teach about being gay, they should teach about being straight, too."

The last comment won the argument and they sent their constitution back with the caveat that they would not approve it unless the group explained their "intentions" and agreed to teach about "being heterosexual." I knew this would be difficult, but it hurt like hell when I had to call the Gay-Straight Alliance president and tell him that I failed. I fear that some of the programs that I have been backing on behalf of rape/assault victims on campus will pay for me speaking out. Still, I do not regret my actions. It will help me sleep at night.

I never thought that I would ever be on the "other side" of a civil rights movement.

Comment of the Week

Our priest informed us today that Mass for Monday and Tuesday is cancelled because he is going to Mardi Gras.

A Special Thanks to President Bush

I would like to thank President Bush for the commitment he has made to selling several major U.S. ports to the Emir of Dubai against the wishes of his own party members. After four years of playing up America's xenophobic tendencies to promote the "War on Terrorism," that same political machine he has built is about to run him over now that he is expecting Americans to understand the ins and outs of capitalism overnight.

You just gave Congress to the Democrats.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Hello

I realize I have been offline for quite a bit of time, but the daily news is so shockingly and sadly comical these days that it seemed that extra words were unnecessary.

The Muhammed Cartoon Scandal: I have actually been watching that for a while now; long before MSNBC et al caught wind of it, but the idea of it devolving into violence struck me as being too absurd to pursue the topic. Once again, humanity has let me down. I emphathize with the protesters, but putting bounties on the heads of cartoonists or burning an embassy is sheer madness.

Trigger Happy Cheney: I do believe it was an accident, but since Cheney did it, it is now my daily source of amusement. Cheney can become a rapper now: he told Congress to go f*** themselves and he has shot someone.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Sheri's Weekly Rant - Cindy Sheenan

I have supported this grieving, anti-war mom since she first camped outside of President Bush's ranch, but the rumor I am hearing about her being considered for a Senate seat is unacceptable!

Congress is screwed up enough as it is, do we really need to add someone else with no qualifications? I like Sheenan, I do, but dammit, no! Be a poster child for another candidate, but keep your keister out of Congress! A line must be drawn somewhere!

Americans Use Too Much Oil?!?

A Texan claiming that Americans are addicted to oil?

Even stranger...too dependent on his rich foreign friend's oil? Is Karl Rove still on duty at the White House? This tidbit from the State of the Union address last night was nothing short of amusing, since it had precious little to do environmental concern and more to do with the fact that the focus on Iran, one of our biggest indirect oil suppliers, is going to get us kicked in our gas-guzzling keisters.

But with a 39% approval rating, he had to talk about something non-triggering.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

What About Sharon?

I thought of something earlier that I have not really seen addressed in cyberspace in reference to the recent Palestinian elections, and that something, or someone is Ariel Sharon. Although still comatose, I could not help but wonder should he regain full consciousness, what will the news of a Hamas-run government do to his health.

Part of me wonders if the idea has crossed his doctors' minds if the effort would be in vain to pursue his treatment at all.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Palestine's Big Surprise

I am still recovering from this one. The Palestinian election just threw Democratic Peace theory right out the window. When I hear proponents of Democratic Peace theory, I have to question did they really take a good look at their cases. I am of the opinion that, while I love democracy, I honestly do not believe that it is a one-size-fit-all form of government. True, no democracy has ever gone to war with another, but those democracies had more in common with each other than just their types of government. The cultures were similar as well. Plus, the type of democracy that we currently have went through an evolutionary process, and is still evolving.

Well, Mr President...you sought democracy in the Middle East and you got it. The question is do you still want it?

Update!

My birthday is today!

Notification!

My birthday is tomorrow!

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Iran Nuke Problem: How Big of a Problem Is It?

In all the panic over Iran becoming a nuclear power, one question has gone unasked: what are the odds that they will actually use the weapon? True, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made statements that warrant concern over his level of competence, but we have been through this Armageddon scenario before. Iran just showed why a country would want to have WMDs: nuclear powers are taken far more seriously by global powerhouses such as, well...the United States. And let's face it - the Middle East is not going to be swimming in oil forever; their last ace is on the table. Aside from oil, does the Middle East really have any high-demand commodities to keep their existence above radar?

The fact is if Ahmadinejad nuked anyone, he would have the favor returned. Unless he is proven to be a true psychopath, all we are doing now is giving him free press.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

On the Subject of Bin Laden

I confess that I have not read the transcript of Bin Laden's last tape, but from the bits that I have managed to scrounge up, one comment brought a smirk to my face. Bin Laden mentioned that the U.S. should "learn from the Soviet Union's loss in Afghanistan."

I guess he forgot who was helping them behind the scenes.

Brobdingnagian Cop v. Lilliputian Skater

Looks like the LAPD has competition.

In Dallas, TX last Friday, a Roller Derby League skater was apparently assaulted by a cop. According to witnesses, the woman was skating to a tattoo parlor when she was stopped by a policeman for jaywalking. After "giving attitude" about getting a ticket, this very petite woman was restrained by a cop that could double as a linebacker. The photos of the incident are unspeakable. Witnesses state that the other cops that arrived on the scene not only failed to restrain their fellow officer, but threatened to arrest onlookers that yelled at them.

The woman was arrested for assaulting an officer, but she was the one with the bloody face.

Cartoon of the Day (yes, I realize MLK Day has passed, but this is good)

Source: http://cagle.com

I just found this one...

Political Plantations...?

I adore Hillary Clinton, but I have to call her out for pulling an old political dirty trick: using ethnic trigger words. When I heard Clinton compare the GOP to a plantation, even I rolled my eyes. Anyone with even modest knowledge of political strategy knows that every voting group, ethnic or otherwise, has their own set of trigger words. These little words are enough to convince any group that they are under attack, thus mobilizing them behind a politician with precious little effort.

I used to be just sensitive to trigger words such as "plantation." Thankfully I was eventually exposed to an environment that helped me taper my reactions to them, but I still flinch. I, however, am a minority in a minority.

As I said earlier, I like Clinton, but this obvious political ploy has earned a rolling of the eyes from this supporter.

In Honor of a Martyr

Source: www.jfklibrary.org

1929 - 1968