Ahhh Those Were The Days

This is absolute proof that pornography has been around for a long, long time. I’m guessing from the Victorian Era, anywhere from the 1870’s to the 1890’s. What is more to the point, notice how the woman doesn’t have the mans dick in her mouth, that it is in plain sight, while at the same time hiding her face. Yet, you can see her mouth is wide open as though ready to insert it.

It is hard to tell if this was geared toward a male or a female audience. But I suspect it was for females, only because of the prominent display of the dick, as oppossed to it being in the womans mouth. Had it been aimed toward men, my guess is that it would be wholly and obviously in her mouth.

On the other hand, the look on his face speaks of an attitude of a successful triumph, nearly arrogant. Note that he is somewhat muscular, thogh somewhat bowllegged, the body of a sportsman, I think. He has the body of I am guessing a tennis player. It’s too bad, really too bad, that the womans face is hidden. I wonder why that is, but I am suppossing she might have been married. She was very well buildt, beautiful actually.

These were upper class people, I think. They certainly weren’t poor. Maybe what would in the day have passed for upper middle class. Possibly even aristocrats.

I post this not only out of just general interest and curiosity, but to point out a little known fact about the Victorian Era. There was quite a bit of pornography, actually, although most of it admitedly was written prose. A typical story, based on an even older one by the Marquis DeSade, revolved around a convent in which occurred sexual shenanigans with a priest, a gardener, and every single nun in the convent, one of whom was a new arrival, and, of course, a virgin-though not for long.

The Victorian Era as wild and raucous in it’s own time sexually as is our own. This is the era after all that gave us Jack The Ripper, whose chosen victims were all Englsih prostitutes, of whom the numbers were obviously considerable.

This is the era in which upper class males in many cases in addition to maintaining a marriage and family, had outside the home what were termed as “kept women” for their extra marital pleasures. In not a few cases these women were presented the wholesome task of initiating their lovers teenage sons to the mysteries of sex.

And this is the Era from which this picture originated, which I acquired from another blog, and which is only one known survivor of what was obviously many more. What a treausre trove were they still around, yet to be disovered.

As for the blog in question, it unfortunately hasn't been updated since December of last year. Were it updated on a regular basis, it would be a definite addition to the Blogroll. Still, if you would like to view "Vintage Erotica", this Blogspot blog may be accessed in the link via the post title.

Ahhhhh, yes-the good old days, indeed.

Michael Jackson-Psychic Vampire Update

Update-Please note, this is an old post. For the latest Michael Jackson post, posted in the days following the demise of this extraordinary individual, please see this post.

Michael Jackson has been existing in the Neverland of financial limbo for some time now, and seems ready to reemerge from the shadows of darkness back into the light of who gives a fuck. He has or will be moving to Europe, while maintaining a home in Bahrain, in order to be in proximity to music industry figures. In other words, he is planning on releasing another album, sometime over the next year.

His spokeswoman, Raymone K. Bain, in what might be an unfortunate descriptive choice of words in Jacksons case, explained that his “creative juices are flowing”. That might be interpreted as “lock up the kids, especially the boys, Michaels back in town”, except of course Michael is still wildly popular, supposedly, in Europe.

In the meantime, in an apparent effort to restructure his finances, which have been on very shaky ground the last few years, Jackson has fired his Bahrainian lawyers, as well as his long time accounting and business partners, the firm of Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman, and Sloan, and has hired L. Londell McMillan and The McMilan Firm. And he’s not finished yet. Well, he hopes not anyway.

Unfortunately, vampires, like Disney characters, never age and they never grow up. And I still hold that Michael Jackson is a psychic vampire, as I did a year ago in this earlier post on the subject. I don’t know what the inspiration is for the recent resurgence of his “creative juices” beyond the apparent desperate necessity to reestablish his career and finances. I would imagine though there were a lot of little cute Bahrainian boys running around the estate of Michaels Bahrainian prince friend, at right about the time his now fired Bahrainian lawyers announced he had restructured his finances in a deal with Sony. The result of this is that company now shares ownrship with him of his musical cataloque, including the Beatles songs.

Be that as it may, Micahel, like all the undead, may soon arise from the grave, reaching out to a child near you.

The Times They Have A'Changed

Neil Young has lately gone on record as bitching about the lack of “protest” singers, of current artists ready and willing to stand up to the evil ways of the Bush Administration. He has evidently been hanging around former Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash. Crosby has earlier bemoaned the lack of what he calls the “modern troubadour”.

I think all this is questionable myself. An acquaintance of mine has just recently explained to me, in voicing his agreement with Young, that this generation is just not “standing up”.

But what exactly is it they are not standing up to? What it seems to amount to is, when you get right down to it, Young wishes there were modern young rock artists who would devote the entirety of their careers to protesting the policies of the Bush Amdinistration. I mean,that has to be what he’s getting at, because there are certainly artists who have protested to some degree. You have not only the Dixie Chicks resurgence in popularity, but Green Day, and even the Rolling Stones, a band who at their height of creative influence and fame, in the sixties and early seventies, were not exactly known as protest singers, or for that matter even slightly socially conscous (though they did dabble a bit).

And outside the realm of music, you have of course other performers, the so-called Hollywood elite, who for the most part are obviously progressive or liberal, and as often as not self described as such. George Clooney, for example, has had no problem finding work in Hollywood, and last year saw two of his films nominated for Oscars-“Syrianna” and “Good Night And Good Luck”.

Nor do Hollywood artists seem to have any problem “standing up” on any various number of issues, for the most part liberal, but some conservative as well. Of course, I understand that Neil Youngs area of concern is that of rock music, but the plain fact is, this ain’t the sixties anymore. Meaning, most people don’t really care about political statements in art, in my opinion.

I should clarify that, though. It’s fine to make a political statement. But nobody wants to hear it all the time, neither from Hollywood film or television stars, or from rock musicians. Most people that like rock music, and top forties pop, want mainly to be entertained. They can appreciate a message song, or an issue oriented song, being included here and there. But to put it bluntly, they more often than not arent going to be influenced by it one way or another.

Nobody is likely to change their mind on an issue because their favorite artist pontificates on the subject. At best, their favorite artist might offer them validation for beliefs they all ready hold, and I guess in some cases they might sway somebody that is on the fence, or make somebody think about an issue they have previously not considered that much. And that’s fine. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

The bottom line is, up and coming artists of today are concerned first and foremost with their careers, and they are going to put out what people want to hear. If they make it far enough up the ladder to where they have the option of creative control of their output, then they have obviously done something right, and they aren’t likely to tamper with success. They are doubtless going to grow creatively,and evolve, which is normal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to turn their music, their art, into a forum for political punditry or issue advocacy. The minute they do that, they are probably approaching the twilight of their careers, truthfully.

And before that career finaly ends, they will find themselves faced with an ever dwindling audience, as, in all truthfulness, they will have by their own design limited the scope of their appeal to a smaller audience. Now, no sensible group of people are going to get all that worked up about an artist who voices an opinion, however controversial, on any subject, either by word or by deed or by song. But again, that is not what I’m talking about here. And that is most certainly not what Neil Young seems to be talking about. What I am talking about, and what he seems to be talking about, are those artists who would base and revolve their entire careers on it.

I’m talking about the limited scope of artists who devote the entirety of their careers to protest and issue advocacy, or who are thought of as such. I can think of two examples, from the early days of folk and rock. One is Pete Seager. The other is Jonathon Edwards, who in the early seventies had a hit song called “Sunshine”, from what is only one album in what has been described by one reviewer as “the best of a miserable body of work”. Yet, to hear “Sunshine”, it is obvious Edwards was talented as a singer and songwriter, yet despite a pretty voluminous output, this was his one sole hit. And this as much as anything had to do with the way he put himself across, which, to paraphrase the same reviewer, amounted to a sanctimonious preachiness that heaped scorn on anyone who did not agree with the aritsts views.

The same could be probably said for folk artist and icon Pete Seager, who never made it beyond the scope of his chosen genres limited appeal, and who was considered outside that world as self righteous and sanctimonious as they ever came. Yet, to the folk music crowd, he is practically a god. Yet, these are the same people who turned on Bob Dylan, the penultimate protest singer, because he dared to branch out, which offended their sense of folk music purity.

Yet, though they disdained Dylan for this, he achieved a degree of success that went far beyond any of the purist crowd heroes ever has or will achieve. There are aritsts who have a talent that just can not be kept in bounds, and Dylan, like Springsteen, Lennon, and yes, Neil Young, belong in this category. Which makes it all the more surprising that Young would take this incomprehensible position. Does he or anyone seriously believe that he or any of the major artists I have mentioned would have lasted long if they had confined the majority of their output to political punditry or issue advocacy?

I think this is frustration speaking here, and a longing for the long gone, supposed good old days, which no longer exist, and in which artists influence were greatly exagerrated anyway. They were mainly preaching to the crowd to begin with, which in some cases was the reason for their appeal, in that they offerred a degree of validation. But the rock music fan of today is not the monolitihic entity it may have been in the sixties. Now, if an artist criticises Bush, he mght discover a good percentage of his fan base might not really care, or even actually not agree with him. A few of them might even think George Bush is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Therefore, again, why should they limit their audience appeal?

But more importantly, again, the bottom line is, people want to be entertained. They might at the same time appreciate some message songs every now and then-so long as the songs in question are good. But nobody wants to listen to an artist who utiizes the bulk of his or her creative output to sing the fucking editorial pages at them.

Flaming Flags

I guess you fucking idiots on the radical left are happy, now that the United States Senate has failed to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the American flag. It was close, though, it only came up one vote short. But for now, I guess the issue is over and done with as a partisan national issue, until, say, the day of the 2008 Republican Convention.

Until that day, you fucking morons, I have an idea. There are a few issues where I am in pretty much agreement with you on the left. I would like to see these issues put forward. And, though a lot of theAmerican public are skeptical, I think enough of them are on the fence that they might, if we approached it the right way, be convinced to come over to our side. With that in mind, I suggest we go all around to the different communities, hold rallies in support of our common issues, and when everybody gathers around to hear what we have to say-

WE BURN, DEFILE, OR OTHERWISE DESTROY A BELOVED NATIONAL SYMBOL!!!!

Yeah, that’s bound to get them on our side, you fucking half-wits. And that is exactly why this issue is going to stay an issue, everytime there is an election on or just this side of the horizon. And that’s why you never have to be worried, not in the least, that this constitutional amendment is ever going to become law.

Just look how this damn thing was set up for failure by the Republican Party. This bill was oppossed by no less powerful a Republican figure in the Senate than Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConell, the senior Republican Senator from Kentucky, who spoke out against it on the grounds that it would be an abridgement of the first Amendment guarantees of Freedom of Speech.

That, dear fools, is because, in my opinion, the Republicans had to make sure their bases were covered in case just enough Democrats crossed over in support of the bill, that it actually might pass, therefore depriving them of one of their number one bullshit issues. There are a few Republicans who can afford to take the position of spoiler, so long as the overall Republican position is solidly on the side of protecting “Old Glory”. Why?

Because if it ever passed, again, it’s no longer an issue. Therefore, if any of you flea bags ever decide, from that point on, to set flames to flag, your asses are going to jail, and no Democrat will jump to your defense. Their asses are covered, from that point on. But the way things stand now, McConnell and all the other Republicans know full well that, whenever the American public sees you engage in this infantile, moronic act of abject stupidity, they aren’t going to necessarily say, “hey, look at those commies. They must be members of that leftist Workers World Party. Or maybe Code Pink. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of leftist punks who just want to be a part of an “event”.

No, a substantial number of them, if not the majority, are going to be saying, LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING LIBERAL BASTARD DEMOCRATS!!

Then, after you are shown over and over again on the mainstream media, and Republican campaign ads, and presented as examples of “liberal” ideology, a large number of voters are going to run, not walk, to their polling places on election day and VOTE REPUBLICAN.

And so, in conclusion, my final request to you brain dead fucks is, the next time you decide to hold a rally in favor of gun control, or against the death penalty, or in favor of open borders and against strict enforcement of our immigration laws, please, by all means, do me the favor of burning the American flag. You have my blessing.

I Bitch Out Kentuckys Best

I used to know a lady in Cincinnati Ohio who used to talk to her cigarrettes. You would see her all over the place, in restaurants. White castles, Kentucky Fried Chicken, MacDonalds, etc., there she would be, at any given time, her pack of Pall Mall keeping her company along with her coffee. You never knew exactly what she was saying to them, despite the fact that sometimes she all but yelled at them. Then, she would go back to talking quietly. “Normally”. Then, she would start yelling again. Sometimes she would spank them. And, of course, she would smoke them. Nobody ever hardly said anything to her. I know I sure as hell wasn’t about to.

I heard once that years ago she set her apartment on fire, and then left her hsband and kids there, all who died as a result. According to this story, the veracity of which I cannot vouch for, she then went insane. I wonder sometimes if she is still alive. It’s been going on ten years now since I last lived in the Cincinnati/Covington area, though the last time I saw her, she seemed like she had actually started to get a grip. She seemed sane. But I will always remember her for those cigarettes, and the way she would sometimes jab her fist in her mouth suddenly, as if in realization of some sudden, sickening horror that was indescribable.

And so, in honor of “Crazy Betty”, I am now going to have a conversation with my cigarrettes. I am going to here transcribe the conversation. Just for posterity.

ME: God damn you. Why won’t you leave me alone? Will I never be rid of you?

KENTUCKYS BEST: It’s you who wont leave us alone. I’ve never seen you before you just waltzed into the store and bought me. I had no say in it. You must have me confused with another pack of Kentuckys Best cigarrettes. Like maybe the one you just finished smoking before you opened me up.

ME: Fuck you. You are a fucking pack of cigarrettes, you are all the same.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Bite me.

ME: Now I’m hooked on you and I can’t quit. All because the people who make you made you even more addictive than you would normally be, and the politicans used to support them. Now that I’m hooked the politicans have turned on me and other smokers and are trying to capitalize off our addiction. I hate them all.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Admit it, you love us, though.

ME: Yeah, right, according to the Surgeon General even your second hand smoke is dangerous to the other people I’m around. The no-good bastard is saying the science is now indisputable, supposedly. Soon, more and more people are going to ban smoking in indoor facilities. More and more states and municipalities are going to enact restrictions. No more smoking in restaurants, not even in bars. Not even smoking sections. No more smoking in any work places. And they keep making you more and more expensive, trying to make me quit, supposedly, yet deep down hoping I don’t so they can keep raking in the extra tax money for their stupid wasteful programs.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Come on, take a drag, you’ll feel better.

ME: It’s just wrong. It ain’t fair. I hate politicians. And I hate that lousy fucking Surgeon General. It’s all the fault of these motherfuckers who want to use politics to enforce their own values on the rest of us. Some employers are now going to more and more fire workers who smoke due to increased insurance costs. Before long they are going to try to ban it in your own home, suppossedly because it can harm your kids and other non-smoking relatives.

KENTUCKYS BEST: Can I ask you a question?

ME: All these motherfuckers should die. Hopefully from cancer.

KENTUCKYS BEST: I SAID CAN I ASK YOU A FUCKING QUESTION????!!!!!

ME: WHAT THE FUCK IS IT????!!!!!!.

KENTUCKYS BEST: WHY ARE YOU SO GODDAMNED PISSED OFF???? I’M THE ONE THAT’S GETTING FUCKING BURNED HERE!!!!!!

The Ugly Tourist

Joe Mikelik, the manager of the Minor League baseball team the Ashville Tourists, put on quite a show in Lexington Sunday when his team played the hometown Lexington Legends in the last game of a five game series. He objected strenuosly to a call on second base when one of his players, unable to reach third, tried to return to second, and was thown out. Mikelik thought he was safe. And that was when the fun began.

First he got all in the second base umpires face, in no uncertain terms. After some few minutes of furious, impotent ranting and raving, he dug the second base out of the ground. Then, he flung it as far into right field as he could. Then, he got in the umpires face again, then headed for home, where he got in the homeplate umpires face. Then, he decided to kick around homplate, which he eventually covered with dirt. Then, he went to the visting Ashville teams dugout, bitching and cussing all the while to anybody that happenned to be standing in proximity to him.

He was far from finished. He returned, with a pitcher of water, which he proceeded to pour over the mound of dirt that yet covered home plate. He then proceeded to kick at the muddy concoction, until the homeplate was now uncovered. I’m thinking that he might have been advised to uncover the plate he had covered with dirt, but maybe not. What happenned next, however, I’m reasonably sure he wasn’t advised to do by anyone. Having returned to the Ashville dugout, he then threw, one at a time, all the bats out of the dugout and onto the infield.

The Lexington Legends went on to win the game. It has been opined that Mikelik wil probably be fined and suspended for these actions. While that would certainly be appropriate, I hope the man doesn’t lose his job, and hasn’t ruined his career, over this stupid display of temperament and bad sportsmanship.

For one thing, I love shit like this. I especialy love it when an irate player opens a good solid can of whup ass on a particularly obnoxous fan, and think they should be rewarded for this if anything, certainly not punished. I love to see a good fight between oppossing players, so long as no one is seriously injured. And nothing is likely to make me roar with laughter more than did the hilarious site of Tommy LaSworda, in the playoffs I think two years ago, furiously throwing himself at a member of an oppossing team, who proceeded to dodge him while pushing him by his head on toward the gorund.

The only thing I hate along these lines is fans who start shit, and especially the parents of young child athletes who go ballistic. Them I want to see their asses kicked, right in front of their kids. But this was nothing I found reason to see objectionable. Neither did the Lexington area reporters who covered the story, all ofwhom really seemed as delighted as did I. Face it, there is something about this that is funny, and most people enjoy it. Well, I do anyway.

One thing though, if you ever get a chance to fuck Joe Mikeliks wife, you damn sure better hope he doesn’t walk in and catch you.

The Execution Of Angel Maturino Resendiz

Angel Maturino Resindez was finally put to death Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m., following a two hour delay necessitated by a last minute final appealed, that was ultimately denied. He was then put to death by lethal injection for a murder in Texas. He was also evidently responsible for a series of other murders throughout the country, as well as rapes, that he would commit near railroad tracks. He had a habit of travelling across the country by way of hopping freights, and I guess rape and murder was one of the ways he got his jollies, or relieved his tensions and frustrations, or both. Some people when they travel like to visit historic sites, amusement parks, recreational facilities, natural preserves, nightclubs, sporting events and regional performances. Other people like to visit brothels, crack houses, pornographic bookstores and theatres-or, like Reendiz, go that extra mile by committing various forms of mayhem.

I actually want to thank him for providing me with a few good laughs, for what it was worth. Before he was eventually caught, any neighborhood in the US that was near the vicinity of a railroad track was in the grip of varying degrees of terror, or at least some anxiety, wondering when next he might strike, and against who. This was especially true in Kentucky, where he had been accussed (though never tried and convicted) of killing one Lexington UK student and raping his girlfriend, who survived following a brutal beating, then went on to identify their assailant.

I used to keep a former workmate in tears teasing her about her habit of walking near the railroad tracks at night, after telling her I had seen a suspicous looking Hispanic male lurking around them, looking as though he were trying to avoid being seen. I would invite her to come along for an evening stroll by the tracks after work. Yeah, I know I’m an asshole, but I did put a stop to this inadviseable habit, which would be dangerous were Resendiz not within a thousand miles of the place. After all this is Covington kentucky we are talking about. At that time it was the third largest city in Kentucky and, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, is a major rail transportaion center. Now, due in part to it’s crime and economic stagnation, it has fallen to about fifth in population in this span of almost ten years to about fifth, behind Louisville, Lexington, Owensboro, and Paducah. It would have been a prime target for a character like Resendiz, who was already familiar with Kentucky.

But now, at any rate, he has gone to meet his long overdue reward, though at the last minute he offerred some kind of apology for the pain he had caused. Previously, he had described himself as “half man half angel”, which was a basis for his appeal by his atorneys on the grounds of incompetency. He had also made statements to the effect that after he was executed he would reappear, resurrected, three days later. Now Jesus Fucking Christ but I wonder where he got that from?

The most glaring omission on the NBC Nightly News of that night may have been (I missed the first ten minutes) it’s lack of coverage of Resendiz’s execution. Even though he was due to have been executed at 7:00 p.m. this last Tuesday night, this went without a word of mention from NBC anchorman Brian Williams (if someone knows different you are welcome to correct me). Nor, strangely enough, did I hear any mention about the execution from the usual suspects who haunt the grounds outside prisons during the inmates last few hours. No sign of The Ferrell Bitch, or any of the other hordes of celebrities or human rights activists who seem to have never seen a criminal whose execution they can justify or agree to, no matter how vile and malignant a tumor on the human condition they might be. But then again, I no longer receive Fox News or MSNBC, and CNN is most of the time all but unwatchable.

At any rate, I’m sure my point hasn’t escaped you bright souls. And that is, why should the anti-death penalty crowd stick to it’s vaunted principles? Could it be that most of these same people are the ones that support open borders between the US and Mexico, as well as amnesty for the more than ten million illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico, that currently here reside? Could it be that they, as well as the generally sympathetic mainstream media, feel that drawing attention to Resendiz, by way of protesting the execution of this very possibly insane man, is just drawing ever more attention to the very real dangers of open immiration into the United States. Could they feel this could demonstrate the threat posed by those who for whatever reason feel it is not in their best interest to try to immigrate to this country in the legal manner? That it could fire up even more support for ever more stringent border security?

Oh, surely not. Surely these fine, loving, tolerant, progressive minded saintly people couldn’t be so cynical. Not great, caring, civic minded liberals like Ed AssNerd and “BlowJob Hunnicunt” Mike The Ferrell Bitch.

Me, I am glad that this human piece of shit was put to death, an attitude which I am proud to say has nothing to do with his country of origin, but solely with the crimes the committed, the lives he shatterred-and ended-and the grief he caused.

Still, I hope Mike Ferrell sees him every night, standing by his bed.

Primate Rules

It looks like the divide between Anglicans and Episcopalians, the American branch of the Church of England, threatens to grow ever wider, now that the Americans have named as their leader the former Bishop of Nevada, a woman, Katharine Jefforts Schori, who in addition to being female is an open supporter of gay rights, not only in society, but in the Church itself. This apparently includes the ordination of gays.

While there is evidently no problem with the ordination of women at the local parish level, the naming of a woman to such a position of authority is indeed controversial, and against traditional church doctrine and policy. This, then, would be the second crisis since 2003, when relations between the two branches became frayed over the Americans appoitment of V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man with a live-in partner, to be the bishop of New Hampshire.

Anglican Church doctrine explicitly states that homosexuality is a violation of scripture. This, however, seems to be the minority opinion in the US, or Episcopal, branch of the Anglican Church. When the Anglican leadership demanded that the Episcopals elect no more gay bishops for now, Episcopal officials voted to agree only to call for “restraint”.

In order to forestall a permanent rupture of the churches, Archbishop Rowan Williams suggested the divided churches could stay together under a system in which members with non-traditional views on such issues as gay clergy could accept a lesser role.

“Some actions-and sacremental actions in particular-just do have the effect of putting a church outside or even across the central stream of the life they have shared with other churches”, he explained in a missive to the Anglican Communities 38 ironically named Primates-the leaders of the Church.

Me, I don’t see what the problem is, so long as a gay priest keeps his sexuality to himself. Though I can see how it might be a problem to some if a male priests male lover sits there making goo goo eyes at him through the service, or gets in a snit over a look another male parishioner gives the big boss man, or throws a hissy fit over some slight, real of imagined. Or if a gerbil suddenly comes scrambling out from under the priests robes. On the other hand, if it’s against official Church policy, there you have it-it is what it is. Yes, as you might have guessed, I think it’s funny.

So there you have it. And see, all this time you thought American Christians were all Bible thumping, hellfire and brimstone preaching, right wing social conservatives.

Thin As A Hog

Pagans have always been pig lovers, and pork eaters, one thing that always lead to our disdain amongst Jews and Muslims in the early days. The good thing about this story is, now we can hold our heads up high as lovers of the reviled swine. The bad news is, of course, we, along with Christians, will still be reviled by Jews and Muslims for at least this practice.

Still, there can be no doubt that the creation of a healthier cut of pork is welcome news, and this due to a special diet which farmers are encouraged to feed their pigs, and are actually paid a higher price to produce this leaner, healthier variety. In fact, not only is the trans fat and cholesterol content of this new breed of hog roughly the equivalent to that found in a skinless chicken breast, it has the added advantage of being higher in vitamins and minerals.

Of course, the reason for the ancient revulsion amongst Jews and Muslims for pigs has nothing to do with choleserol, the pig was just noted as an all around filthy animal, one that would, and will, eat anything. A story I heard once explains this quite aptly, dealing with a traditional German way of raising hogs.

They feed them corn. They shit out the corn. They eat their own shit, containing the corn. The corn is finally digested. You have a super fat, tasty, filling pork chop. Yes, you read all that correctly. They will not only eat their shit, they will wallow in it, as a means of keeping their bodies moist on hot days, due to an absence of sweat glands. Knowledgeable farmers therefore keep plenty of water availiable for their hogs, and feed them well, with what is commonly called “slop”, a vile concoction of field corn, with husks, apple cores, grains, and anything else imaginable that is biodegradble and non poisonous. They are not encouraged to eat their own or each others shit, though of course they still will do so given the opportunity, and the slightest hunger pangs.

So this, not some divine revelation as to the dangers of trichinosis, is the ultimate reason for the ancient Jewish revulsion for the meat of swines, especially considering that in these ancient days, pagans probably herded their swine the way we herd our cattle and sheep. Hence, the term “swineherd”. This condition enabled greater freedom for the pig, explaining the ability of the herd in the new testament to go bounding over a cliff into the ocean upon being possessed by the devils whom Christ exorcised into their bodues from that of the demon possessed man he cured.

Mostly, this made them easier to manage and to feed, as anything in their vicinity that died became food for them. By the same token, in some respects they may have been somewhat healthier than the tradfitionally raised American pig, in that this greater flexiility of movement helped lessen their cholesterol content, though at the same time trichinosis may have been even more of a problem, albeit an unknown one.

Now, of course, science may eventually breed the predisposition to trichinosis out of their systems within a few generations. This is great news altogether for us epicures, as I for my part generally love swine at least as much as chicken, and I absolutely despise skinless chicken, which is a violation of the civilization of the culinary arts, in my opinion.

Maybe they’ll even breed out of them the nasty inclination for eating shit. As long as they don’t do anything to ruin the taste though, that’s all that really matters to me.

Rush Limbaugh Makes It Harder

I never was a fan of Rush Limbaugh, and this has only a little to do with his political beliefs, actually when you get right down to it it has nothing to do with it. I just never really liked the man. He always struck me as arrogant. A better word would actually be pompous. He has always been, to me, a garden variety hypocrit who happens to be a brilliant marketer of ideas. That I will give him credit for, he sensed that the time was right to feed into the right wings dissilusionment with the political system and the media they felt, fairly or unfairly, preferred their opponents. He probably never honestly thought he would attain the degree of success that he has, but what he did was he moved far beyond the cottage industry and cult status he envisioned and into the stratosphere of broacasting success. He spawned a horde of imitators all in the span of ten years, and is still going strong.

But his life started to unravel when he was accussed of doctor shopping in order to feed a dangerous addiction to the highly addicitve pain killer Oxycontin. In one of the biggest ironies of the modern age, he was defended by the ACLU, who filed a firend of the court brief in order to ascertian the degree to which Limbaughs private patient information, his medical records, had been compromised by the prosecution by what they felt were overly zealous supporters of Limbaughs political rivals, and out and out enemies. They hated him and wanted revenge on Limbaugh, for just being Limbaugh.

His attorney, Roy Black, did an admirable job of arranging a deal whereby Limbaugh could be spared prosecution. But Limbaugh may have already violated the terms of his agreement by having in his possession a bottle of Viagra, that was not in his name. Come to find out, his doctor had prescribed the drug for the use of the treatment of erectile dysfunction, to himself, but for Limbaughs benefit, as a means of protecting Limbaughs privacy. A stupid move which insured that once Lmbaugh was searched at Palm Beach International Airport, and the bottle was found, the word would get out far and wide, even though this was evidently not a violation of Floida law. Still, Limbaugh is subject to specific terms. And so, had it been prescribed to him as it should have been, I would probably be typing a story right now about how hogs have been put on a special diet which makes their transfat, cholesterol, and other harmful content the same level as that of a skinless chicken breast.

But Limbaugh is taking the embarrassing situation as well as can be expected, laughing as he joked on his show that he wished he could tell his audience about the great time he had in the Dominican Republic. He also said that Customs officials didn’t believe him when he explained that he got the pills at the Clinton Library and were told they were blue M&Ms.

What he might have a harder time joking his way out of is how he has gone on record, on his own show, by criticising people that engage in sex to the extent of taking viagra, as an example of how we live in a “sex obsessed culture”.

Rush shoud really try some of that reduced fat pork, it might be better for his arteries.

Those Slutty Little Eight Year Old Girls

I’m hopeful that the latest news concerning the potential for a vaccine to prevent infection by a virus determined to cause cervical cancer in females will not be met with scorn by Rush Limbaugh as evidience of our “sex obsessed culture”, even though it is recommended that girls as young as eight receive these vaccinations.

No, Rush, this is unlikely to encourage little eight year old girls to go out and have sex. No, Rush, what ones might be inclined to have sex will not be discouraged if they aren’t allowed to have this vaccination. Yes, Rush, it might protect them if and when they do eventually get around to having sex, but no, giving it to them or not is not going ot have the slightest effects on the declining moral values of our society.

Take your viagra, Rush.

Bush Changes In Welfare Work Requirements

The Bush Administration has now provided guidelines for what qualifies as work for those now or in the future who might currently receive money or other aid from participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program-commonly known as “welfare”.

From now on, you can no longer qualify for this program simply by reading the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” to fulfill the necessary work requirements. Nor does bed rest count as qualification, which apparently is used in some states as a medical excuse, one which is apparently abused. Nor will you be able to meet the work requirements simply by running errands for friends.

In other words, the Bush Administration is saying that a good many states are abusing their privileges in setting guidelines as to what qualifies as work, and there is evidently a wide range across the states. In many, caring for an invalid family member qualifies as work. In many it does not. The Bush Administration guidelines is supposed to provide a comprehensive synchronized set of requirements for all the states, which is probably a good thing.

There can be little doubt that welfare, though well intentioned when first conceived, quickly became a boondoggle as well as, possibly, a vote buying scheme. It got worse throughout the years, and became for a long time one of the Repulican Partys favorite whipping tools against the Democrats, along with “crime on the streets”.

Thanks to Bill Clinton and The Republican Congress, who fought tooth and nail with each other over the scope of the welfare reforms which both promised to enact (Clintons version for the most part won out, though this conflict temproarily was at least partially responsible for the infamous government shut down of 1995), the welfare rolls have now shrunk from the then 4.4 million families receiving government assistance to now less than 2 million families.

As part of the new guidelines, ten different categories of work will now be defined. This will include on-the-job training and unsubsidized employment, in addition to community service. As it stands now, the difference in work requirements that exist state to state make if difficult to determine which states do a better job of phasing recipients back into full time employment.

Any state that fails to meet these new guidelines risk lossing up to five per cent of their funding. It needs to be higher, but at least this is a good start. The threat of funding cuts is probably the best incentive to insure that workers will work their asses off to help people phase off welfare-as oppossed to keeping them on it forever.

The DeSegregation Of Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson is trying to organize a rally in Louisville over the still divisive issue of school desegregation, calling for a ten thousand person rally to “urge” the US Supreme Court to allow the local school district to use race in student assignment. He is afraid that otherwise black students would be concentrated in low income schools that often have fewer resources.

He is also worried that an adverse ruling of the court could affect years of civil rights progress. He feels that failing to consider race as a factor it would “set back a whole century of work”.

The challenge due before the Supreme Court is based on a Louisville mothers challenge to the districts racial assignment guidelines. Though the guidelines allow for some choice among schools, it seeks through these guidelines to keep black enrollment between fifteen and fifty percent at most schools. However, in the lawsuit, the mother copmplains that her son was denied entrance into his own neighborhood school based solely on the fact that he was white. If true, this is atrocous.

There are two ways to solve this problem. One, make sure all schools have the funds they need to ensure quality education, regardless of their location. The second one is obvious, and that is, in order to assure a minimum percentage of black students at all schools in such a way as not to limit the rights of white residents to attend their own neighborhood schools, there should be some method to expand these schools whenever possible to allow for the increase in the student body, when or where that becomes a factor.

And this can be all be paid for in part by the process of ending the atrocious policy of bussing students across the city. This is a drain on economic resources, to say nothing of energy resources. They and all schools should also look into the possibility of closing schools up during the coldest parts of the year, in adition to the hottest periods, as a further way to cut energy costs.

Black students could still attend white schools, and both they and white sutdents could be given extra credit for voluntarily attending schools in diverse neighborhoods. For the student bodies at large, this would probably improve school performance, and discipline. How many kids actually feel like putting a lot of effort into school when in a lot of cases they spend anywhere from two hours or more just waitng for and riding busses?

The Miami Seven

In the middle of onslaughts by the Left against various aspects of the “War on Terror”, such as revelations about the tracking of Americans overseas banking transactions as reported by The New York Times, and the just ultimately successful challenges to the legitimacy of Guantanamo Bay and, more to the point, the Bush Administrations prosecutions of terror suspects (The Supreme Court just announced by a vote of 5-3 that the Bush Administration has overstepped it’s legal bounds and advised it to follow Geneva Conventions guidelines) comes yet another assault on the legitimacy of a recent terror arrest involving seven suspects in the Miami area.

These suspects are accussed of seeking to initiate an affiliation with Al-Queda for the purpose of carrying through a plan to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, as well as FBI headquarters in Miami. The left is screaming “entrapment”. They might have a small point, though on the other hand, this has been an ongoing tactic of Federal prosecutors in it’s on-going war against organzed crime. Carlos Marcello, the former head of the oldest Mafia family in the United States, from New Orleans, was brought down in this fashion as long ago as the late seventies or early nineteen eighties, to the objections of no one outside his own legal defense paramaters.

Politicans as well have fallen prey to this brand of “entrapment”, such as the not so awful distant Boptrot scandals that nearly decimated the populaton of the Kentucky Legislature. This as well raised no serious eyebrows. Not even the near entrapment of Al Sharpton, videotaped attemtping to arrange for the purchase of cocaine, caused much of a stir when the information was released (he explained that he was conducting his own “undercover operation” into the drug trafficking in his area.).

Some of the Bush Administration opponents are crying foul and even characterizing the seven suspects as mentally challenged, and as mere “kids”. Actually, their ages range from 22 to 32, and their leader is a self-described self-employed father of four children of his own.

Some have pointed out that, as frequenters of a “Temple”, they are not Muslims, as Muslims frequent mosques, not temples. But actually, and incidentally, these seven practiced a Moorish form of Islam, called “Mohammedanism”, they do refer to their house of worship as a “Temple” (though the true Temple officials of their area have evidently disavowed their actions), and they claim as their holy scriptures and basis for their beliefs the Qu’ran.

Not that that matters. They haven’t been arrested on the grounds that they are Muslims-or Mohammedans. They were arrested on the grounds that they willingly plotted to blow up the Sears Tower, and sought the weapons and finances in order to accomplish this goal, a goal which their leader seems to have proposed to the undercover agent, who claimed to have been an Al-Queda operative.

As for the charge of “entrapment”, even that isn’t necessarilly factual. The investigation of this group of seven was initiated after some area residents complained that they were intimidated by the group, who maintained a private headquarters in a warehouse, where they conducted exercises of some sort. The investigators were really just following through on a complaint, and what seems to be neighborhood tips.

Even at this, it must be stated that these seven men are suspects, they have only been accussed, not yet convicted, and should be given, if only technically, a presumption of innocence. There is always the possibility that the investigators involved did step outside the parameters of their duties. But that will be, after all, for a court to decide.

Responsibility And Response

What started out as a ploy to gain the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails has turned into an “Oh shit what the fuck have we done” moment. Now, the kidapped soldier has been offerred to be returned, evidently unharmed, to the Israeli governemnt, which refused to give in to the ill-advised Hamas extortion scheme, out of the obvious and understandable fear that this would only encourage more and ever greater scenarios.

As it stands now, the Hamas governemnt is about one third shy of Parliament members and cabinet officials, this great a number currently under arrest by the Israeli military, who are now once more occupying Gaza, and readying plans for more excursions into the West Bank if they feel the need. Or maybe if they don’t.

I found it insufferably hypcritical that a Hamas leader tonight demanded that Israel be held accountable by the world community for it’s illegal actions. In the meatime, two other Israeli citizens have been kidnapped and executed, in retaliation for the Israeli response.

Nor is even Syrian President Assad, a Hamas supporter, immune from the Israeli response, as Israeli fighter jets have flown over his palace. In typical Syrian braggadoccio fashion, the Syria state run television services have reported that the Israeli jets were “run off” from the area. Yeah, right.

My advice to the Palestinians, not that they asked, is as follows-return the Israeli soldier, alive and unharmed. The next time he is seen, it would be helpful to your cause if he had a great big smile on his face.

Otherwise, folks-this could be the big one.

Weapons Of Choice

Kofi Annan has recently attempted to reassure those who might feel they have reason to be suspicous of his motives, and that of the UN, that the organizations attempts to instigate an international ban on weapons sales is not aimed at limiting or ending the right of various countries citizens to bear arms according to their ownnational laws. No, he insists, it is merely an attempt to rein in illegal weapons trafficking, to keep them out of the hands of criminals, and is aimed primarily at intrnational trafficking. Well, if that was all it is, I could agree to that-maybe. But, as usual, I want to read the fine print.

For one thing, just what constitutes a criminal in the eyes of the UN. If the US were to become a signatory to this treaty, would I be obliged to hand in my firearms, no longer allowed to purchase one or the ammunition for them, if I were convicted of, say, sptting on the sidewalk. Or jaywalking. Or any kind of traffic violation of varying degrees of seriousness.

This is not an attempt at humor, I ask this in all seriousness. Remember, the main reason that marijuana will probably never be legal in this coutnry is due to the fact that, back in the 1930’s, or thereabouts, the US signed various treaties which, for all I know, are still in effect, and are legally binding, at least technically so. The brainchild behind this was the man who went on to become the founding director of the DEA, which went on to become what is arguably the most corrupt government agency in United States history.

In other words, international treaties are legally binding, for a variety of reasons, having mainly to do with trade and other aspects of international relations, and have long term ramifications that are not easily reversed. That is why US citizens should be very concerned at the prospect of this coutnry entering into any kind of international agreement that contains too many words to fit onto both sides of one postcard. After all, the main body of a treaty can often lead to other incidental, additional details, being overlooked. But these incidental details, though supposedly minor in nature, are every bit as legally binding as any other part.

Kentucky Needs FutureGen

There are twelve sites in seven states that are in the running for the site of the FutureGen plant, which, when completed, promises to utilize clean technology to produce clean electrical energy from coal. Kentucky is in the running for one of these sites, and has a lot to offer. Easy access to the Kentucky coal mines, in addition to access to transportation by way of the Ohio and Mississipp Rivers.

Despite this, Kentucly may be a long shot, as the tax incentives that it offers to lure the compay only amount to about 2.4 million dollars in tax incentives in addition to 215 acres of free land. Considerable- until you consider, that is, that Ohios incentive package could total as high as 160 million dollars.

It would be a shame for Kentucky to lose out on this deal, which amounts to a one billion dollar project. This is not some sweat shop factory that might employee fifty people for a few years while it wrecks the environment, pays no taxes, and reserves the best jobs for a few people whose families have “pull”.

This is a job whose incentives would pay for themselves in a few years, would add long term high paying quality jobs and provide economic revitalization to the state, in addition to cheap sources of clean energy. Kentucky may not be able to match the tax incentives packages of Ohio and some other states, but it might not need to, given it’s other benefits, which are sorely lacking in other areas.

It could also help Kentucky reestablish that proud tradition that it lost during the Civil War, and has never regained-it’s place of honor as a state of advancement of civilization, one of whose cities, Lexington, was once known as the “Athens of The West”. A chance to be the homeplace of a needed advancement in science and technology in the area of overall national energy independence deserves more than just a little over two million dollars and some free land.

Criminal Insanity

A number of things have become all too clear over the last few years concerning The Communities of Oakwood. a Pulaski County Kentucky based facilitie for the housing and care of the mentally handicapped. To reside there you have to be, of course, mentally retarded or similarly disabled.

To work there, you have to be a fucking sadist.

Just over the last few months, the following events have transpired:

• For his birthday, a resident was taken to a strip club in Lexington, after which he was encouraged to engage in sexual intercourse.
• On a scheduled and approved fishing trip, one resident was beaten when he resisted leaving at the appointed time.
• Just recently, one resident was beaten, at least twice, by at least three employees of the facility-with a broomstick.

And overall there have been numerous other similar allegations of abuse, both physical and mental, of such a serious nature that the facility has been sanctioned and fined, and placed on extended periods of probation. As a state accredited institution, it has been forced through a change of ownership, yet all evidently to no avail.

You have to wonder just what all else goes on there that hasn’t yet been made known, or if it ever will. How many deaths there can be possibly attibuted at least in part if not wholly to some for of abuse and/or neglect. I would imagine it would be substantial, and all this points to an obvious lack of supervision. The state of Kentucky should hold these people accountable with more than just words and empty threats. Failing that, the state of Kentucky itself should be held accountable. But if fines, probation, and change of ownership won’t change the situation, then what will? Should the federal governemnt step in? Would that be any better,or even as good? Or shoud lthe place just be shut down?

The obvious solution would be to pay to hire a better qualified, more extensively trained staff, and direct state supervision. To those who would point out this would increase the expense of running the palce, I would point out that the reusltant decrease in insurance fees, in addition to other austere cuts in unnecessary bureaucratic spending by way of streamlining, would go a long way towards making up the difference.

By the same token, the mentally handicapped don’t deserve to have to put up with this kind of treatment.

What Do You Want On Your Tombstone

I have an idea that may be controversial, and it may even seem unpatriotic, but if so, so be it. It is based on recent events involving the widow of one Patrick D. Steward, formerly of Nebraska, who was killed last year, on September 25, in Afghanistan, by a rocket propelled grenade. Stewart, a Sergeant, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Pruple Heart.

Yet, his widow, Roberta, has run into a problem with the Pentagon. They have refused to honor his and his widows wishes to put on his grave at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetary, a pentacle, a symbol of his Wiccan faith. As of now, the widow has refused to allow the erection of even a temporary marker.

She has objected to the Pentagons politices to no avail though she has received support, both from the Americans United For The Seperation of Church And State, and from Christianity Today magazine. It has been turned into a politcal issue at the behest of Bush, who has gone on record as oppossing the recognition of Wicca as a legitimate religion, and by the typical hordes of right wing conservative religious fanatics who for now make up arguably the most influential base of the Republican Party (at least they are influential to Bush, and the Neo-Cons that surround him, when it is convenient for the latter-usually and especially around election time).

My response is simple, straightforward, and to the point. Any Wiccan or Pagan or military age should henceforth refuse to volunteer for military service. If they are already in the military, they should leave when their time of enlistment expires. In the meantime, it would be helpful if a substantial number of them could get together and issue a press release to the effect that all Wiccans and Pagans will be discouraged from joining any branch of the armed services until this issue is addressed, and decided completley in our favor. No compromises.

In the meantime, all Pagans and Wiccans who are parents of military age sons and daughters should issue a similar statement to the effect that, again, until this issue is resoved satisfacotrily, to us, they will strongly discourage any of their sons or daughters from joining any branch of the US military.

It may do precpous little good, but it will still make a statement on behalf of the substantial number of Pagans who have served, who are currently serving, and who have, like Sergeant Stewart, given their lives in the service of their country. If we’re good enough to risk life and limb to serve, then the least we can get in return is to have our basic constitutional rights, including Freedom of Religion, respected. If we can’t get that much, you can all-well, go to hell.

The original story on BeliefNet.com can be found in the link at the post title.

A Brief But Concise View Of Franco-American Relations

I could have told Rufus a number of things about his trip to France that seem to have surprised him, but which I was quite aware of. For one thing, the food is excellent. I don’t think this really surprised him, to tell you the truth, I think he’s just wanting to rub it in. The other thing that surprised him was the general politeness and all around friendliness of the French.

It all begs the question, exactly where did the French derive this reputation for being such culturally elitist, smug and superior assholes? Before this question can be sufficently answered, it might help to look briefly at the history of FrancoAmerican relations.

Beginning shortly after the adoption of the US Constitution, things sort of got off to a bad foot, when President Washington sent the French ambassador packing, as he was rightly certain this gentleman aimed to draw us into the middleof their problems with Great Britian. The French were naturally antagonized at this, and considered us ingrates, as they had after all been instrumental in securing our victory agaisnt the British to begin with.

But Washington was adamant, he would pursue a policy of neutrality in world affairs to as much an extent as possible. In fact, this is one of the reasons he is rightly considered among our greatest Presidents. This was a policy which governed American foreign policy for more than a century, and truthfully, it would be one we would be well advised to return to, in my view. But the French were understandably, perhaps, perturbed, and this lead to, during the Adams Administration, the onset of the notorious spy scandal known as the X,Y, Z affair. It also was a factor in the formulation of the disastrous Alien And Sedition Act, and helped to bring about the end of Adams Presidency after one term.

By the way, it should be noted that in addition to appearring ungrateful, the French were actually doubly annoyed in that their involvement with the Revolutionary War was at the behest not of the people of the nation, but of it’s now deposed and summarrily executed monarchy. So as you can see, more and more the seeds are being sown for an ever bigger headache.

This was temporarily alleviated by Thomas Jeffersons purchase of the Lousiana Territory from Napoleon, but this temporary cure proved in the long run an even greater agitation. Not only did the French feel they had been given a raw deal, ultimately, in this agreement, but they did not benefit from it in the least. In fact, it added to their sufferrings, as Napoleon used the money from this deal with Jefferson primarily to fund his war of aggression which ended ultimately in the humiliating defeat at Waterloo.

The French, it seemed, could not win for loosing, and throughout the next century they must have felt that the US was some kind of a curse on their national pride and dignity. So hard was feelings of the French toward the US in the earliest days that one of their noted philosophers made the statemnent, one of my favorite sayings (just due to it’s cleverness) which I here paraphrase: “America is the only nation in the history of the world that has gone from barbarity straight into decadence, without the usual intervening period of civilization.”

But we got along, somewhat, the highlight of our relationship being the presentation by the French governemnt of the gift of the Statue of Liberty. But even here, I imagine that quite a few secretly wondered that the French were only too glad to give to us, their tired, their poor. If so, this as well backfired, as US immigration policy at the time, though controversial (yet please note, it was reasoned and controlled) proved to be a massive brain drain on Europe. The US was riding ever higher, from the vantage point of our European cousins.

By the time we saved the French’s asses, first in World War I, then again in World War II, they must have been secretly thinking, “it’s about time”.

Still, I have to think the French, the vast majority of them, were genuinely grateful for our aid (what ones of them weren’t actual Nazi collaborators, anyway), but relations quickly soured. The question remains, why?

I have to blame the phenomenon of the “Ugly American”, that tourist who travelled the continent fully expected that he would be lavished, and kowtowed to. Remember, in the early days of American tourism follwing World War II, it wasn’t your average American who got the chance to travel abroad, but rarely. The vast majority of them were high minded socialites and business people with a fucking attitude. They were the ones with the superiority complex,and this offended the obviously prideful French, which would only be natural.

Exceptions to this rule of the travelling class would be the American soldier stationed overseas, which may have aggravated an already delicate situation. Show me a family who likes to see their women folk looked at as the type that can be easily fucked for a chocolate bar and a pair of nylons, and I’ll show you a rare breed of individuals, whether they be French or any other nationality.

So yes, the French can be hostile to Ameircans, just as they can be gracous and respectful. It all depends really, in most cases, on the face you yourself present to them. That’s the same way it is actually with all people of the world you might meet in your daily travels. The French aren’t any different. We just have a longer, more troubled hisotry.

The Great Snake Goddess Of Minoa

I am a little bit late on the draw, it seems, when it comes to authenticating the legitimacey of my new avatar, insofar as it being a valid representation of my path of what I like to call, Hellenic Wicca. The term for my path is probably as valid as the avatar, in other words, not very. Of course, I never utilized this term out of a desire to be deceptive about my beliefs. What would be the point? It just seemed easier, far less complicated, to refer to myself as a Hellenic Wiccan, than to explain that I follow a modern version of Hellenic Paganism that has a heavy Wiccan influence. Thus Hellenic Wicca, which isn’t perfectly accurrate, but it sounds good, and close enough. I also like to at times refer to my religion as Hellenism, which historicaly, and accurrately, is the culture of ancient Hellenic Greece, the ancient Greek religions of which are only one part, though an important an integral one.

In reality, culturally I am at best a diamond in the rough, and it seems to be getting rougher every day, these days. Yet, I do definitely try to keep abreast of cultural news, including discoveries in the field of archaeology. Alas, I am a lazy blogger, and an even lazier researcher, and so, even though I have the URL for a very good archaeology site on the sidebar of this blog, which I urge you to check out, I myself have been lax at keeping up on it, and so missed this little bit of information.

The “snake goddess” that I have chosen as my avatar, suppossedly an ancient artifact that was dug up on the island of Crete, was believed at one time to have been an ancient religious artifact( possibly a votary, depicting either a goddess or a priestess, a snake in each upward stretched arm), from the Minoan Period, and thus predating not only ancient Classical Greek, or Achaean, culture, but even Mychaenaean civilization as well.

Alas, come to find out, it, like a good many other artifacts, was a fraud. Not only were they circulated in response to a demand for Minoan artifacts at about the beginning of the last century, but it has been known for some time they were frauds. I felt a degree of sadness upon learning this, and not a little embarrassment.

On te other hand, the good news is, even though these artifacts were themselves frauds, they were in fact based on legitimate artifacts that were in fact discovered and authenticated. So yes, Virginia, there was, after all, a snake goddess.

And so, whether mine is the fake or the genuine article, I have elected to keep her. I have grown quite fond of her, after all, and moreover, when all is said and done, when it comes to the realms of religion, magic, and mythology, who is to say what is real, what is fake, what is symbolic, and what is just wishful thinking.

Ancient Dirt

Why do we put up with the UN anyway. Bolton is right, face it, they are an unwieldy, overly bureacratic, corrupt organization that has as it’s sole purpose the providing of a safe haven for would be US saboteurs and foreign racketeers. That is just my opinion, of course, but I think it is well grounded. They should get out of New York, or they should pay rent to the city. And, by the way, their traffic tickets and other violations.

But the reason for this post isn’t so much the presence of the UN in New York or America, or even it’s all around inefficiency and arrogance, and corruption. Let’s just take on for now the subject of the stupidity of it’s various arms, and let’s start off with UNESCO.

This arm of the UN has recently involved itself with an archaeological issue, involving the beleaguered nation of Bosnia, in which is to be seen the purported discovery of what has been said to be perhaps the oldest pyramid found to date.

Actually, so far as has been determined by legitimate researchers, it ain’t nothing but a fucking hill, and it’s oddly pyramid shape is completely natural. That’s not all. What do I mean by that? Exactly what I said, that’s not all, there are more hillsides of pretty much the same make-up and geometric shape, which, I repeat, is vaquely pyramid shaped.

The proponents of this theory have even gone so far as to say that the make-up of the hill-dirt, clay, and rocks-is consistent with the pyramids, in that the same kind of subsances in the clay was used as a binding cement in a lot of the older pyramids. This, by the way, is an outright lie. The binding that was used as filling between the blocks of the pyramids were a type of specifically manufactured material utilizing an exact mineral compound. What is in the Bosnian pyramids are, again, perectly naturally formed dirt, rocks, and clay.

To the surprise of no legitimate archaeologists or scholars, there have to date been no artifacts discovered at the site. Nor is there likely to be. Of course, there is always the possibility an old vase or drinking implement, or tool, or weapon fragment from a long ago fought and forgotten battle, could conceivably be found, and I have no doubt that, in the event this were to occur, it would be heralded by the proponents of this most ancient of pyramids theory as proof of what has been called an “advanced” civilization.

Yes, you heard it right. UNESCO, an arm of the UN, has poured it’s weight, finances, and resources into securing and researching this site where there may have supposedly existed an advanced civilization-before the dawn of known recorded history. In other words, it’s a boondoggle, an opportunity and excuse for more funding.

Of course, the original proponent of this theory is standing by his original assessment, just as he does his earlier pronouncement involving the Maya-that they are the descendants of an extraterrestrial civilization.

Grist For The Mills

A new alliance between The Sierra Club and the United Steel Workers might hold some actual promise of potential mutual accomplishment, provided they can hold together. But this seems to be one example of an alliance that mght extend beyond the board rooms, and trickle down into the rank and file membership, with little dissent.

The Sierra Club, for it’s part, agrees to support increases in wages and benefits packages for workers, while the Steel Workers agrees to support the development and advancement of clean technologies, on the grounds that in the long run this will actually lead to inceased efficency and new and more jobs, and better jobs. Of course, this would undoubtedly be good for the environemnt.

The Sierra Club also agrees to support the Steel Workers in promoting Fair Trade, as oppossed ot the Free Trade fiasco that has been so harmful to the livelihoods of union workers across America.

Amazingly, one of the first good things George W. Bush did as president, on the domestic front, was to impose tariffs on foreign steel, which was being dumped here in America at prices American companies could not hope to compete with. The tariff evened out the playing field. True, some American businesses were hurt by the move, as they were in some cases paying a higher price for steel than had been the case under the old new system. This provided a pretext for him to end the tariffs, but of course the true reason, the only reason, was that the World Trade Organization declared Bush’s steel tariffs to be illegal. And frankly, he needed the WTO, in other areas, and so could not afford to alienate them any more than he already had.

Therefore, the United Steel Workers, though given an all too brief reprieve, ended up royally screwed. But at least they got a little kiss.

Now, with the Sierra Club, they have hopefully met their true soul mates. I will try to be hopeful, at least. We will see what they produce in the long term. Weddings and honeymoons, after all, are incidental pleasantries to the main fucntion of a marriage. In most cases, the children of a union are a more accurrate reflection of the two partners that produce them.

A link to Grist Magazine, where you can read the original article and other cool environemntal articles, can be found in the post title.

Weighty Matters

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour has recently initiated a program, or a study, aimed at encouraging physical fitness among his states residents, which has been named one of the worse states in the United States for records of obesity. With the attenant health problems obesity often leads to, this is a commendable goal on his part, though some people mght wonder if Mr. Barbour is the appropriate person to make the case. But I guess it’s a lot like one of those “only Richard Nixon could go to China” scenarios.

At any rate, it will be interesting to see what his approach might be. He has already been accussed of hypocrisy, of deviating from the Republican, conservative party stance that advocates non-interference in private choices, in personal repsonsibilty, in freedom from regualation of business.

Of course, I personally think his approach might be a somewhat different one than litigation through class action lawsuits aimed at raking in billions of dollars from the fast food industry, enforcing excessively oppressive regulations, enforced inclusions of health alternatives while penalizing what is deemed non-healthy with greater and greater taxes, etc., and all the other nonsense that has been perpetrated on the tobacco industry-and smokers- over the last decade.

I could come up wth a few ideas myself that might be as good or better than anything the Democrats or Republicans might envision. For example, why not put up a fucking weight scale right in front of the counter of every fast food joint? This would be accompanied by a height indicator, and a computer averaging tabulator. Any customer that went into the place would be obliged to stand on the scales. For every pound over what the computer suggests shoud be his or her average, an extra quarter per dollar, per extra pound, would be added to the price.

In the case of a real super fat ass, discounts could be offerred for healthy alternative choices.

The weight computer could be made to make noises. Razz beries, chortles, derisive laughter of various sorts, or simply the agonizing cry, “helllllllp, get this fat fuckhead off of me.”

Naturally, this would meet with objection by the fast food industry. After all, many will opt not to suffer this embarrassment, and thus will take their business elsewhere. But at least their beleaquered, overworked employees would get a few jollies out of it.

Bluegrass Report

Several Kentuckly Blogs, notably this one called BluegrassReports.org, have reportedly been blocked from access by Kentucky State computers, and it so happens that all of these blogs are critical of Governor Ernie Fletcher and his Administration. One notable blog that is on theFletcher blacklist is BluegrassReports.org, but it is by no means the only one.

Aside from the obvious censorship issues, the question should be raised, since when do Kentucky State employees have the time to sit around reading blogs? Don’t they have supposedly important work to do? Shouldn’t this be construed as, more or less, a waste of state taxpayers money? Or should it be considered that there are, simply, way too many Kentucky State employees, and thus this bloated payroll is, in addition to also being a waste of tax money, an obvious indication of political patronage in state hiring.

But the most important point to be made about this story, is that it points out the rampant paranoia that saturates the Fletcher Administration. Obviously, there aren’t that many state employees who spend that much time on state time reading blogs. Assumming there are an appreciable percentage that have the time to do so-which I don’t doubt- how many actually do, at least for that long a time. Most of them probably prefer to spend their free time, which is in a good many cases probably close to half the work day or more, chit chatting with co-workers, checking up on their spouses, children, or lovers, or,if on the computer, checking out the humor and sports sites. Not reading a significant number of blogs. I would put the percentage of state workers who engage in this activity, for any appreciable amount of time, at well under one per cent.

This may well not have anything to do with Fletcher personally, but is more than likely an activity initiated by an overzealous department supervisor. If Fletcher is involved in this, he has indeed gone off the deep end, and this would be substantial proof of that.

Sneaking Past Borders

Two women, sisters, were recently drugged at a London Kentucky area Mexican restaurant, the El Azul Grande 5, upon which they were taken to an apartment, by workers at the restaurant, who proceeded to rape them. The one woman sufficiently pulled herself together and got away while in the process of being assaulted by a third person.

When her and her sister made their escape, they understandably called the police. In the course of the investigation, there was a finding of cocaine at the premises of the apartment, and a further finding which lead to the arrest of eleven illegal immigrants, all of whom either worked at, or were associated in some way with, the Mexican restaurant in question.

The restaurant owner, who has temporarily closed his establishment for “repairs”, has stated he knew of nothing untoward that occurred on the premises of his business. He went on to say that, if any of his workers were guilty of this atrocous act, they would no longer be working for him.

Of course, this begs the qustion, since these suspects who were detained by police-all eleven of them-were illegal immigrants:

WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY DOING WORKING FOR HIM TO BEGIN WITH?

E-Bays Landmark Sale

Tony Straub, the present owner of the historical landmark The Dayton Arcade, of the city of Dayton Ohio, has gone all out to find a buyer for the five building complex which is situated between Third, Fourth, Main, and Ludon Streets in downtown Dayton. He has offerred it for sale on E-Bay, at an asking price of four million dollars. He has suggested that the site would be perfect for a casino. And it probably would, with slight renovation, if it weren’t for the fact that, as of now, casino gambling is yet illegal in the state of Ohio.

Straub explained that he was considering the future possibilities. Actually, whoever buys this complex should be made aware of more than just the present illegality of Mr. Straubs proposal. The fact is, there is a reason he is anxious to divest himself of his holdings in this, what should be considered a prime piece of real estate.

And that is, there is little he can do with it. He can’t do any kind of renovation that would compromise the historical integrity of the landmark which goes vack to the beginning of the last century . He certainly can’t tear it down and put up, say, a parking lot, or a mall. Yet, as attractive as the place is, he can’t find investors willing to locate businesses into the area, due to the exorbitant crime rate for a city of this size.

Dayton is one of those cities that are cyclical i nature, and seems to move in extremes. For a time, it will be a boom town, with many business and job opportunities. Then, it will fall into a kind of depression, with people not being able to get out of the place fast enough. Now, it has moved back into this latter cycle. And, as a result, Dayton is loosing population-again.

The politicians who run the area have the final say as to what happens to what for now might as well be the Taj Mahal of Dayton Ohio-a very attractive tomb. A historic landmark, but of little value otherwise, presently. And they admirably insist on preserving it, but seemingly to no avail, as these are also the people that conceivably could, yet will not, address the ever growing and obtrusive crime rate with which the city is afflicted. Whether this is in large part due to political correctness and to fears of being labelled as racists, or whatever the reason, the result stands in dowtown Dayton Ohio.

An empty building, an historic landmark, which stands empty, and unused, and for the most part, unvisited.

The Brave New World Of Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking must have been left by his wife out in the sun for way too long, and due to her cosntant and persistent abuse, which seems to have been of the most sadistic level, he might have been pushed off the deep end. Among the many of his amazing utterrances is the notion that, if mankind is to survive, he must of necessity relocate, to the stars, and populate other worlds, other planets.

Now, it is one thing to suggest that mankind should conceivably one day spread out throughout our solar system, and beyond. But his urgings seem to contain an elitist streak. Just who will be saved? Who will be chosen to enter the several arcs required, which certainly will be unable to save us all?

Hawkings detractors, for the most part, don’t seem to be any less elitist. They insist the only viable option for maintaining the survival of the human race, is by establishing a refuge-under the Antartic.

Interesting. Of course, there will be a required presence of many kinds of skilled workers and professionals, if the new mankind has any chance of continuing the race with any semblance of continuity of advancement and culture. And of course there will have to be some unskilled laborers to not only build the place, but to do the hard everyday work of keeping it running.

And I’m sure it is a worthwhile idea, if worse comes to worse, as is Mr. Hawkings idea’. But to insist that this is the only way to save humanity, while it might eventually turn out to be true, also seems rather defeatist. For one thing, just who will be left behind. I don’t hold out much hopes of acquiring a ticket, personally. And so, while these plans are being discussed, debated, and formulated, it might be a worthwhile pastime to consider just what might be a viable, reasonable way to save all of us, that is to say the mass of humanity, by way of saving the planet itself. You know, before it just might get to be too late.

More to the point, and what is the ultimate insult to add to the injury, is that I have no doubt the first people on board the arc will be the very ones who, by their obstinance and greed, and in some cases plain evil, will have been the ones to have doomed the mass of us.

Special thanks goes to Zandperl at Modern Science.

The Lay Of Bore

Norway is now the proud originator and owner of a food storage vault that it feels might be the salvation of mankind in the event of a violent catastrophe of earth shatterring proportions. Having buildt what has been referred to as the “Doomsday Vault”, which it has dug into a frozen mountainside on the island of Svalbard, way up into the Arctic Circle, it then received the cooperation of the countries of Denamrk, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, the Prime Ministers of which, along with Norways, participated in the ceremony of helping to lay the cornerstone.

As of now, more than two hundred nations have joined in the project. Only it’s not exactly food that is being kept in cold storage, but seeds, for the growth of food bearing plants. Although Norway technically owns the right to the vault, nations who contribute seeds remian the owners of their contributions, which are to be packaged in foil, and thus kept in sub-zero temperatures.

Norway has left nothing to chance. In the case of would be sabotage, or theft, the vault is guarded by an electronic security system which would make it virtually impenetrable, even if someone managed to make it past the hordes of polar bears which frequent the area.

And, should the artificially maintained temperature fail, the consistency of the normal temperature, due to the presence of the permafrost, would keep the site functioning for years. In fact, it is estimated that the stored seeds will be good for at least a couple of hundred years. Maybe even a couple of thousand.

Then, like the god Bore, ancestral founder of the Aesir, they can be taken out of the ice, if the need arises, and thus used to, hopefully, refoliate the earth, though as of this time non-food plants are not included in the inventory.

The only other thing that seems to be missing is Ymirs’ cow.

Over And Out

Sometime today, North Korea is scheduled to conduct a test of a new missile which, if succesful, will have the capabilities of reaching the interior of the continental United States. Although several nations of the world community have strenuosly objected to this brash move, notably Japan and the US, Kim Jung Il seems to be in a bind, as evidently he has been pushed into conducting these tests by high ranking membersof his military. This seems to suggest that his hold on power might not be as secure as most seem to think.

Assumming the test are carried out on schedule, what will be the result. Will it lead to the bilateral North Korea/United States negotiations North Korea has been pushing for? Or,will the world community, lead by the US, stand form in it’s threats of further diplomatic sanctions? Could it lead instead to a lessenning of existing sanctions?

Iran will certainly be watching. So will the rest of the world.

Update: As of now, so far as I know, or have last heard, the test has yet to be conducted. Maybe it's been delayed. Maybe it's been halted.

Maybe we'll never ever really know.

Happy Litha.

Finally, My Blogroll

I never thought I would ever get around to it, but I finally done it, added a Blogroll to this site. I know it seems like I’ve been talking about it forever, to the point where I would almost be willing to bet that some people here and there, when I talked about it, would probably start rolling their eyes.

Still, like I explained, I wanted to take some time, and made sure I put on nothing but quality sites, which means I required myself to traverse the Internet until I found what ended up being more than I actually thought I would find, to be honest. In fact, I didn’t put all the good sites up that I found, though I might add some more later.

To begin with, I wanted a balance of political ideology, and at the same time I wanted sites that went beyond mere political discourse. Being a pagan myself, naturaly I wanted to find some worthwhile pagan blogs, and here again, I found more than I thought I would.

In addition to quality, I wanted something that updated on a fairly regular basis, that allowed readers comments (though I did make a few exceptions, reluctantly) and that wasn’t too stringent on comment moderation.

Also, I didn’t want to end up putting way too many sites up. After all, I have been to a lot of blogs, and I have seen some blogrolls that I know had to have numbered in the hundreds. I just wanted to keep it small, or at least moderate, for the time being. I like the set-up of Blogrolling, incidentally. Once you get the hang of what they are al about, and what you are doing, it’s a whiz. Getting that hang is the problem. But, I got it, finally. I like the way a blog that has recently been updated will show you this with the word new beside it, though I might have to adjust the timing on that particular feature.

I also like the layout choices you get. You can arrange them in groups of whatever number you prefer, so I arranged mine in groups of four, in alphabetical order.

At any rate, that is why I went a whole week without updating my Blog, I wanted to finally take the time to invest in some research into exactly what kinds of blogs I wanted to include. Overall, I am well satisfied with the finished product. There are a few more, as I said, that I might add later on. The Huffington Post is one probabal addition I might add in the near future. Maybe a few more, as the mood strikes, but for the most part what new ones I add will be new discoveries, and I intend to keep them to one hundred or less.

But for now, I think I have just about the right number. If you made it here, consider yourself special. There are few things in the universe I have higher regard for than my own eye for literary or journalistic quality.

Technorati Tantrums-Or, Why I (Sometimes) Hate American Big Business

Two sites I have almost decided I can definitely do without are Site Meter and Technorati. Why? The simple, short answer is, they have no respect or appeciation for the value of their customers time. True, they are both “free sites”, so in a sense you could make the argument I don’t really have a complaint coming. Or, I could stop being the fucking cheap ass that I am and pay for the upgraded versions of both sites. But this isn’t so much about the sites themselves as much as it is what I consdier to be the reaon for their shoddy, poor service, especially Technorati. And, while I’m at it, I might as well add yet a third offender to my list of oppressive sites-Yahoo Mail.

I have spent an hour today, at least going back and forth between these three sites and have accomplished next to nothing. I’ll take that back. Somehow, though it took superhuman reserves of patience, I managed to keep from tearing my hair out. It was an effort though.

So what is the problem with these sites? And why is Tehnorati generally the worse of the three? The problem, in my opinion, can be answered with just one word-advertisements.

The next time you are on one of these sites, or any other “free” site, for that matter, notice how long it takes a fucking page to load. Notice what happens if you, out of frustration, click on a link before that page completes loading. Notice what happens when you angrily click on that link three or four times in sucession.

In the first case, the more complicated the ad, if it ever eventually appears, the longer it takes the page to load. If you end up with an ad that is flashing or rotating or doing any number of crazy things meant to reach out and grab yourattention, you are in for a real problem. You see, if you fail to wait to see the ad in it’s entirety, you quixkly find, in a lot of cases, you are a captive audience. And you have no choice but to wait, or back out of the page, with the hopes, as often or not the vain hope, that you can start all over and the bug will straighten itself out. Alas, this is all too often not the case.

All too often, you will get a page that will urge you to try again, the page is not loading, the site might be too busy, the page was reset, etc. The best thing to do is not to click on the little tab at the bottom of this box, more often than not, on most of thesesites, you wil just get a repetition of the first time. The best thing to do is back out of the page, then try again. And this, unfortuately, is where Technorati becomes the worse of a bad, sorry bunch. It’s almost impossible to back out of these motherfuckers. It’s like they have purposely set up their site so as not to allow you to do that. You may well end up having to just x out, then start al over again. Good luck. If you haven’t given up in disgust by now, you are either a real trooper, or a real gluttonfor punishment.

But this is only the beginning of Techoratis lack of professionalism. I sent an angry e-mail off to them once, about a coupl of weeks ago, compainng about their slowness, and in particular pointing out to that they could afford to cut down on their steps they make you gp through to arrive at any given page. I also pointed out that I, for one, tended to not look kindly on businesses that set up their advertisements insuch a way as to make me waste my time, which is valuable to me, and that maybe they might want to point that out to their advertisers. I mean, it should be a simple matter to tool these ads in such a way that it doesn’t take you forever to get from page to page, right?

Well, since then,the people of Technorati have demonstrated exactly what dicks they are, and can be. I have made two updates since that time, and have been credited for neither one. The last update for The Pagan Temple, was, in fact, almost a month ago, according to them, the last time I WAS ABLE TO CHECK. Yet, my true last update was not quite two weeks ago. They are refusing to reflect the accurracy of my updates on their pages. That is called being childish dicks. Because I contacted them to lodge acomplaint, I am being punsihed. I am being given the cold shoulder.

Site Meter is not really much better, in the speed department. I used to have to wait tow or three minutes for this one fucking ad to load before I could proceed, wit any assurrance of moderate speed. When it finally loaded, it was more often than not an ignorant amateur quality film of some fat ass bitch with a dog on a leash, who suddenly lurches forward and pulls hr flying into the air. The only thing funny about this, to me, was that it was supposed to be funny, so much so that you should want to pay to download this and other such crap from whatever company this was. What wasn’t a bit funny was the time I had to spend waitingfor this tripe before I could proceed.

Thankfully, that ad has been removed, doubtless through lack of interest. But that has not solved the problem with site-meter. Now, the worse offender on this site is from Monster.com. It also has sites from Napster and Coke, but thankfully they aren’t as bad as Monster.

In general, I have a philosopy. If a company pisses you off, don’t patronize them. And I for one encourage everyone who has experienced these difficulties to adhere to that philosophy. It says a lot about American business that they think so little of their prospective customers time. For so long, American business had the entire American population all to themselves, and in the heyday of America business competition, this encouraged a rush to come up with the best possible product. Over time, however, American business grew ever greedier, and worse, ever lazier. American consumers began to pay more and more for less and less. “The customer is always right” philosophy became gradually replaced by,” if you don’t like it fuck you”.

So the American consumer began buying Toyota, and General Motors and Ford blamed the unions for their problems. And they still haven’t learned. They still are working under the asumption that the American public is a captive audience, and if they can force us to sit throug their fucking commercials, whether we like it or not, whether this is on television, or now the internet, somehow their messages will resonate into our subconscous despite ourselves. They actually think, what is worse, that we can be brainwashed into accepting inferior quality, while they pay their workers less, and at the same time their CEOs and other corporate bigwigs draw ever bigger salaries, and wreck the environment in the process. What’s the big surprise about that? They pollute the airwaves, and bandwidth, the same way they posion the earth, air, and water.

At times, I think they don’t merely advertise on sites like Technorati, I think they own them

Jolie Will Dump Pitt, Marry Bono

Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt have recently reftuned to their California mansion courtesy of the private jet of Tom Cruise, at a cost of 250,000 dollars. In the meantime, Cruise is reportedly engaging in an attempt to proselityze the coupleto the rlgion of Scientology. No word as of yet as to the degree of interest expressed by either Jolie or by Pitt, who is soon to begin filming yet a second sequel of the poular movie series Oceans Eleven.

So, in true pagan witch fashion, I’m going to do something a little different from the ordinary, for me, I’m going to make a prediction as to the future of these celebrities the world can’t seem to ever get enough of.

Jolie, I feel, will express some initial interest in Cruises attempts at conversion, but wil quickly coo to the idea. Pitt, however will maintain a degree of interest, to the point that he may well end up finding himself swept up in the movement, if a little bit at a time.

If true, this may not bode too well for his relationship with Angelina, who aside from an occassional mvie and her African charity work wants no more than to be a mother. In fact, she has expressed an interest in one day having yet more children.

Not that the two will just drift apart from lack of interest. Far from it. Pitt will find himself ever more drawn to keep their two worlds as much as one as possible, but alas, it just isn’t meant to be. He may find himself becoming more and more possessed by the ghost of Tom Cruse, to the dismay of our heroin, who will seek silent refuge in other friendships, and in her work for United Nations African charities.

And it is through this that she will meet her future true love of the year-the Irish rock star Bono. Really, who could possibly make the more perfect couple? I say their wedding is a virtual assurrance, if for no other reason than being a calculated publicity marriage which would garner an amount of attention second only to that of Prince Charles and Diana. Cruse will be at the wedding that he inadverdently helped bring about. Pitt, who will have by now settled into an reserved acceptance of thesituation, will not be in attendance. He will probably, however, take the opportunity at this time to promote his latest movie, havig by now made a number of mostly forgettabel ones of mostly moderate box office success. This one wil turn out like his present and soon to be ended marriage. A lot of promise, a lot of hype-but in the end, a flop.

Not that he won’t try to salvage the relationship, but perhaps not in the best of ways. Word will get to him of the ever growing bonds between Bono and Jolie, and he will come to realize that a then current U2 hit had been written by Bono as a romantic ode to Jolie. He will eventually confront the two in a bistro, and an altercation will ensue, resulting in Bono having a teeth-or a cap-knocked loose, before they are seperated by their security personnel. This will happen indoors, at a posh club, free from the pryings of the papparazi, which will initiate a lawsuit against owners of clubs that ban cameras and recording equipment inside their environs, one that will be summarilly and huffily dismissed.

Cruse will try to patch things up between the two, to no avail. Within a period of a few short moths of this event, the by now legally seperated couple will finalize their divorce. Two months or thereabouts later, Bono and Jolie will be married.

The two of them can then travel the world together, meeting with heads of state and advocating on behalf of various African initiatives of pressing urgency. They will adopt many African children, and will have some of their own, and will even establish their own village there, a self sustaining enterprise devoted to feeding, clothing, and educating the poor of Africa, and becoming a center for medical treatment and research. They will receive myriad humanitarian awards, including a Nobel Prize.

Pitt and Cruses friendship will soon falter, and they too will go their seprate ways, following a shared movie flop disaster. Cruse will then devote his time to his by now legally insane wife, in the aftermath of at least two half-hearted suicide attempts, while Pitt will hit the Broadway, and then the Dinner Theatre, circuits.

In the meantime, Jennifer Anniston and her then current husband, will maintain their status as Hollywoods most boring couple.

The Private Life Of Laura Bush

There are times when the silliness of Washington descends to the level of a Hollywood gossip magazine. Still, I have to admit, it’s fun, if pointless, to join in on the speculation as to the priate life of public figures. Lately, certain people have made much ado about the nothing, that could be something, pertaining to Laura Bush’s recent excusions to a Washington area hotel, the Mayfield, where she spent at least one night.

Curious though this is, I find even more amusing the conclusions some have jumped to pertaining to George W. Bush and Condoleeza Rice. Actually, they are late to the bandwagon on which I have been neary the lone rider for months. I’ve always wondered at the degree of closeness between Rice and Bush, though this can be traced back really to the elder President Bush, who established a murual friendship and loyalty for Rice that goes back to possibly H. W.’s days as Vice-President., or maybe before, and seems to have originally been based on her credentials as a Soviet expert and scholar.

Still, Boy George is indeed fond of Ms. Rice, and may in fact be as much of a rock to the Presidents emotional stability as is his wife. So yes, there could be something here. Or, there might not be. Whichever, it’s a little much to reach this conclusion based solely on the appearrance fo Laura Bush at a hotel, which could have come about for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are innocent. Some not so innocent. Some, if they turned out to be he case, would be disturbing, could even be sisister. I now present to you my list fo possibilities for Laura Bushs brief stay at the Mayfield Hotel.

1. This put her in convenient proximity either to an early morning function or event that she was due to attend, or to transportation to same.
2. A great many of her personal quarters were in the process of being renovated.
3. Some important official though closed function was on-going at the White House, one of a serious nature, and for whatever reason she did not want to be around.
4. There have been recent figures at the White House she is having a problem with, may be uncomfortable around, or even greatly dislike.
5. Her and Bush could indeed have been fighting over any numbers of issues, singly or in combination.
1. His womanizing, his aduterous sexual daliances, with Rice or others
2. His dry drunk temperament, which can be arrogant, and possibly even physically, emotionally, and/or verbally abusive.
3. He may have actualy resumed drinking, which under the circumstances would not be a shock.
6. This is potentially the most serious. She could discover that Bush is ideed culpable in any number of questionable, illicit, or immoral activities. She may be distraught at this, angry at it, or just desirous to distance herself from any involvement in it.
7. Finally, here is the one explanation which, though seemingly the most unlikely, is possibly the one I most like to imagine, and I can’t understand why no one else has thought of it. And I do not intend to beat around the bush (honestly, no pun intended) about it. This reason:

LAURA BUSH WAS GETTING FUCKED.

I mean, come on, look at her. Forget she’s Bush’s wife. If you were a straight man-wouldn’t you? Who the hell wouldn’t, honestly? Do you honestly think the thought never occurred to Teddy Kennedy, when they were working together on Bush’s second rate at best education proposal, early on in his administration? Or Clinton?

I’m telling you, this is one hot fucking woman, in my opinion, and I would be willing to put money on the notion that her and Bush’s sex life has been all but non-existent over the last few years of his Presidency.

Okay, I admit, it’s not likely, but it damn sure isnt impossible. It’s likely, however, not to be a political opponent of the Presidents, though,come to think of it, what better way to stick it to Bush than by sticking it inhis wife. More than likely, though, if she has been engaging in such shenanigans, it is with nobody of any importance, probably no public figures, no friends of the Presidents.

Come to think of it, though, what better way to gain support for a Presidential initiative, or whatever Bush might needs support for, than by fixing up a potential, sought after ally with-but no, nevermind.

It’s probably a foolish idea. Laura Bush would, no matter where she was at, have no chance to engage in sexual dalliances, with anybody, no matter how high up and well placed, or how ordinary and commonplace.

After all, she is constantly surrounded everywhere she goes.

By Secret Service Agents.

Jersey Girls And Adams Apples

Ann Coulter has to a great many finally stepped well over the line of good taste, but she don’t mind, it seems. In fact, it could well be argued that she prefers that position. In her recent book, Godless, she has placed the widows of 9/11 on the same par as Cindy Shehan, yet another set of poster children that can speak for the liberal philosophy in such a way that the average conservative can not dare to question their integrity or motivations. Of course, making such an insinuation to Ann Coulter is like throwing red meat to the wolves, and Ann Coulter is ravinish in her displays of contempt for all matters liberal, and for those liberals who promote them-nomatter who they are.

On a recent appearrance on the Today Show, however, she seemed genuinely stunned, and even thrown off balance, by the questions of Matt Lauer. She never quite recovered from his acussations of insensitivity to the 9/11 widows, though she insisted that their loss, their grief, did not give them a free pass to, for example, support John Kerry in the last Presidential race, and not be questioned for it.

But what she never explained to my satisfaction is exacty why they should not have a right to support any position they choose, without having their integrity questioned. She made some vaque remark about being used by either the Demcoratic Party, or the Far Left, or both, as though they were purposely sought out, recruited for this, much like Cindy Shehan seems to have been recruited by Micharel Moore and MoveOn.org, after having initially met with Presidnt Bush and expressed a belief that he was sincere in his grief for the loss of her son Cassey.

In Shehans example, one could conceivaby make such a case. In the case of the 9/11 widows, however, she offers no evidence of any kind of collussion, of any kind of opportunism, other than the evidence of what she considers the apparent symptoms, that being their support for Democrats and their oppossition to the policies for the Bush Administration.

Well, the only problem with that idea is, a lot of times what might appear to be the symptom of one ailment might well turn out to prove to be something entirely different. And, sometimes, a symptom that might obviously point to one malady might in fact turn out to be just what it is.

An example of the first deceptive type of symptom might be what has been construed to be an adams apple that adorns theneck of Ms. Coulter, which some wags have suggested is an indication that Ann Coulter in reality is, or at one time was, “Mann Coulter”. A cleverly ingenious satire of this theory is to be read in this article. Of course, the adams apple is either not truly an adams apple, or if it is, it is an obvious anomaly, perhaps some kind of birth defect, which is a misleading symptom, one pointing toward a different explanation than tothis one that is often profferred in satire, more often than not malicoulsy so.

An example of the second type of symptom might be applicable to these particular widows of the 9/11 disasters. Until proven otherwise, it should just be surmised that their liberal sympathies might be an indication of-surprise, surprise-they are democrats, with a liberal predisposition. Nothing more, nothing less. In some cases it may or may not be at least a partial result of the 9/11 disaster that they sufferred through so traumatically. That is certainly understandable, if so.

And, it is fine to disagree with their position. It is quite another thing to question their motivations, or their integrity.

The Love And Reality Of Nicholas Berg

I was all prepared to disparage a letter recently written by the father of the late Nicholas Berg, the unfortunate young American who two years back had been brutally executed by the terrorist thug Zarqawi, based on having read two or three lines of excerpts from the letter, in which he seemed to express disdain for President Bush, blaming him for his sons death, while seeming to not only forgive his sons killers, but to offer some seeming degree of sympathy towards them.

Then, I got around to reading the letter. The entire letter. And let me say, this is a perfect example of how merely reading two or three carefully chosen lines can serve to cause you to see these lines completely, or at least somewhat, out of context.

This is a man that is obviously, to this day, heart sick over the loss of the son he so loved and admired, and this comes through in the letter, at least it did to me. And he is obviously to a degree correct in assigning a great lot of the blame for his sons death to Bush and his Neo-Con crowd, to the extent that it has become obvious quite some time ago the war was an unnecessary diversion from, not an integral part of, the war on terror, and more importantly, was entered into ill-advisedly, without the proper planning, troop levels, and supplies, amd may have been enterered into on the strength of false allegations, if not outright deceptions on the part of various members of the Bush Administration.

Still, that does not explain exactly what his son was doing there to begin with. Nicholas Berg was not in Iraq in any sort of offical capacity. He was not even there as a part of a recognized contactural enterprise such as Halliburton. He was, in effect, a free agent, on his own, travelling about the country with no degree of protection or any kind of assistance. He believed too strongly, it seems, in the innate goodness of all mankind, that he could be a force for peace and understanding, in at least a small way. It seems to have never occurred to him how it might look to a typical Arab Muslim, for an American Jew to be travelling their country in an attempt to make money in the aftermath of the American overthrow of their government.

Nicholas Berg had some admirable, if in this case misplaced qualities, and doubtless he derivedsome of these attributes from his family upbringing. Perhaps it is understandable that the senior Mister Berg can’t bear to look at his own contribution to his own sons demise, in what seems to have amounted to a suicde mission for peace, only conducted by a person unwilling, and perhaps as unprepared and ill-equipped to face the realities of the situation as were the American forces in those initial first months.

Yes, all parties bear some share of the burden for the death of Nick Berg, but none more so than Nick Berg himself. I hope his father, for his own sake, can come to grips with this reality, and find some solace in his sons life and beliefs, his dreams, out of place though they were in this one instance, fatally so.

He also did not totally forgive Zarqawi and his band of merry murderers. He called them what they were, thugs and killers. Yet, in the aftermath of the death fo Zarqawi, I find it interesting,the comparison he made to Bush and to these heinous men. Bush,he said, never looked into his sons eyes. His sons killers did, and he felt certain that, in those brief last few minutes, after having spent so much time with him, they knew they had a good man in their midst, and, in those last few seconds, a part of them regretted, did not enjoy, taking his life.

But actually, they did take his life, bottom line. Furthermore, having viewed the film of his execution, for the first time it was shown up to the exact second Zarqawi began hacking into Bergs neck with that thick, dull blade. They pounced on him, pinning him to the ground, in a manner of seconds. It was like releasing hungry lions in the vicinity of a helpless moose, one they had been restrained from for several weeks, while salivating over it.

Killers who respect their prey, to even a small degree, tend to be somewhat merciful. There was nothing merciful about Zarqawis sadistic execution of Nicholas Berg. Maybe one day the elder Berg will be able to come to grips with the reality of his sons true fate. But I can’t really fault him much for not being able to deal with it right now, or for that matter, if he ever does.

The Death Of Al Zarqawi

Americans have good reason to applaud the death of Abu Mussaub Al Zaquari, and many of them have. This is true even among many of the Far Left, though with reservations, in many cases. The death of this vile human cancer, unfortunatly, may be somewhat like the removal of a tumor that has already metastisized, and spread. The major harm that he may have been doing, however, was not merely to any potential middle east peace hopes, which are already slim at best, but to the reputation of Al-Queda as a force for the protection of Islam in the hearts and minds of a good many Arab Muslims, at least among the more traditionalist minded Sunni populations.

His targeting of not only Shi’ite but Sunni civilians, particularly in Jordan, but in Iraq as well, and the massive causalties among all Arabs that he was to a large degree creditied for, had earlier brought about a reprimand from number two Al-Queda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who cautioned him that he might be turning Muslims against the cause in ever increasign numbers.

Yet, not too long before his ultimate demise, Al-Zawahiri issued a videotape, in which he briefly mentioned Zarqawi as a valued friend and ally of the cause. This almost can be construed as a cover to hide any involvement in the procss by which the Jordanian terrorist mastermind was betrayed to the American forces by a close associate, who informed him of Zarqawis whereabouts.

Hopefully, the 25 million dollar bounty that this informant would have been entitled to will not by him be turned over to some degree to the Al-Queda organization. Even two or three million dollars, to say nothing of ten or twenty million, would greatly serve to bolster and enhance any one ongoing terrorist cell operation, whether that might be in Iraq, Europe, or here in the US.

It would certainly go a long way toward possibly enabling the cancer that is a metastises of fundamentalist Islam to seek to engage in it’s own brand of radiation and/or chemical therapy.

Despite this, no one should question that it is a good thing that this vile excuse for a human beig has been destroyed, and there can be no question that he has been. Yet, some have questioned it, wondering aloud how it is that the DNA tests that confirmed his identity were done at a far more rapid rate than would normally be the case, a matter of a couple of days as oppossed to the two week orlonger process that isusualy required. I can only assume that samples of his DNA have all ready been tested and compared, which made the process much easier than normal.

Nor do I take too seriously reports that Zarquawi, initialy alive, was brutaly beaten upon his recovery by the American forces. In fact, I absolutely don’t believe it in the least. The troops who recovered Zarqawi were relativly fresh, the operation amounting to the mere dropping of two five hundred pound bombs on his hideout. There was no huge, high pitched, hard scale battle to force up the adrenaline of American soldiers to dangerous levels, so there would be no reason to suppose that their professionism was compromised, as it may have been in a handful of unusual cases.

The worse thing about all this is, it may be too little too late. Someone will rise to take Zarqawi’s place as leader of Al-Queda in Iraq, though hopefully this will be someone without the former leaders operational and planning skills, charisma, and brutality. At any rate, the violence is likely to continue, and may temprorarily even worsen as his followers seek to exact revenge as a statement of their unwillingness to surrender. They will continue, and will make that obvious.

Still, operations already in the works have been compromised by the discovery of computers, hard drives intact, which seem to have vital information stored. Also, Zarqawis main focus, the driving of further wedges between Shias and Sunnis, in the hopes of instigating all out civil war between them in Iraq, may as well have been serously thwarted, at least in the long run.

But for the time being, there is going to be little apparent difference.

The Politics Of Murtha

In one very surprising move, Pennsylvania House of Representatives member John Murtha has announced he intends to run for the postion of Democratic House Leader, which would make him House Majority Leader shoud the Dems take over the House after this falls election.

It couldn’t be bad for the Democrats if he were to win, in fact it might signal a return to control by the faction that made the Democratic Party great, back when they actually legitimately represented the dreams and hopes of average working class Americans, a class which now has little to no legtimate representation by either of the major parties. But, the fact that current Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, a longtime friend and sometime ally of Murtha, has offerred no known objection to his intentions to run, demonstrates that, if true, she is not too worried over the prospect.

I tend to wonder if Murtha might not be eyeing an even bigger prize-a potential second spot on the Democratic 1908 Presidential ticket, possibly behind Hillary Clinton.

It would certainly explain his recent out of character behavior. The usually hawkish Congressman, known to be heavily pro-military, has come out forcefully against the slaughter at Haditha, well before all the facts were actually known. Of course, if the facts as presented are correct, it is not only the politically correct thing to do-it is the right thing to do. Yet, Murtha seems to have arrived at his conclusions before all these facts were legitimately validated, and the fact that he has done so publicly is even more stunning than his earlier pronoucemnts against the war he had early on so strongly initially supported.

Of course, Murtha, as he pointed out, has the trust of the top military brass, in addition to the rank and file military personnel, so he is in a position to know the facts, more so than most, certainly more than most if not all Democrats. And this I can assure you would be the major point to be made for his inclusion in any Dmeocratic Presidential ticket.

He has gravitas as a Demcorat noted as a friend of the military, one strong on national security,the military, and defense related issues. And, thanks to his positons over the last year, particularly now, he could conceivably be someone the left wing of the party can not only accept, but maybe even heartily endorse.

Patrick Buchanan On Immigration And Bilbray versus Bisbey

One of the strangest about faces I have ever known of occurred last week on the PBS news show, The McLaughlin Group, a featured regular of which is conservative pundit Patrick Buchanan. As someone who has hrough the years been ver vocieferous as to the dangers of ilegal immigration, yo would think that he would be among the first to tout the recent defeat of Democrat Diane Bisbey in the San Diego area special election for U.S. House of Representatives by the Republican Bilbray.

This had all the earmarks of a classic political upset, and comeback. Initially, Bilbray was far behind Bisbey in the polls. However, when Bisbey made a number of ill-advised statements concerning the legal rights of illegal immigrants being on the same level as that of not only legalized immigrants and naturalized citizens, but of American citizens in general, Bilbray pounced on this, particularly playing up apparrent Bisbeys suggestion that undocumented immigrants should even have the same voting rights.

Though Bilbray was accussed by the left of playing the race card, a case could be made that he was merely playing the hand he had been rather clumsily dealt by Bisbey. There was even a falling out with Arizona Senator John McCain, and a scheduled appearrance for Bilbray was canceled at the last minute.

Bilbray was in effect voicing support for the US House of Representatives version of the immigration bill, which is much more stridently pro border security than the Senate version favored by McCain, and President Bush, which is more oriented toward a long term goal of working out a goal of eventual citizenship for illegal aliens, while containing more modest support for border security enforcement in comparison with the House version. The Senate wants to take an incremental approach, and a simultanoeus one, to both, while the House is more adamant that border security should be implemtented first, and as quickly as is possible.

The result, of course, is that the election was turned on it’s head. Bilbray won, by a margin of about ten per cent, in the first election in at least recent memory that such a margin has been termed, by media pundits and Pro-immigration advocates, as modest.

Despite this, when this reality was pointed out, Buchanan, during last weeks segment of McLaughlin, chuckled at the suggestion, and then went on to suggest that the big untold story of the election was the taxation factor.

It was incredible for me to witness this, and makes me wonder about Buchanans motivations. After all, why would the taxation issue on it’s own make a heavily favored Bisbey lose an election by as great a margin that she was in some cases favored by? Why would this not have manifested in the earlier polls, i which she was heavily favored? Why would Bilbrays supporters suddenly remember the tax issue, seemingly at the last minute, while ignoring the hot button issue of illegal immigration that was in reality the focal point of the election?

Has Buchanan sold out on this issue? If so, it is an amazing turn of events. He has campaigned, as a Prsidential third party candidate, and to a large degree this was one of his major issues od concern, as far back as the year 2000, when he ran as the candidate for the Reform Party. Also, he, like Michele Malkin, has made apppearrances, lectured, and even wrote books expressing his concern about the matter. That is why for him, of all people, to deny the implications of this California special election, is so incredible.

The only question that remains is, if he has sold out, then for what-and to whom?

Bears, In And Out Of The Woods

There have been a lot of bear sightings in Eastern and Souteaster Kentucky lately, and visitors and residents have been appropriately warned against feeding them. More ominously, they have been advised to not leave food out in the yards, either in garbage cans, or even dog food, fo rvery long at a time. A lot of these bear sightings have, in fact, been not in the woods, but in peoples yards.

Amazingly, one area resident in the course of a local television news report expressed the pinion that the return of bears to Southeastern Kentucky was good for the area.

Oh, really? Good for who, I wonder? Good for hikers and campers to the area? Hard to see how. In fact, the more the bear population profligates, the less of them I see coming to the area, and what ones do, the less time I envision them spending. So, it can’t be that good for the local communities, which to a large extent are dependant on tourism, while not as of yet having the facilities that might be afforded in more popular areas such as the Smoky Mountains. Thus, there is not the degree of monitoring of either the tourist population, or that of the bears.

Or perhaps he was referring to the hunters who might be attracted to the propect of a weekend bear hunt, while availing themselves of the comfort of a forrest hunting lodge. Well, Kentucky is not quite as advanced as Romania, in that regard, and bear hunting so is illegal. In fact, it is illegal to kill bears, for any reason, including, evidently, in self-defense.

A year or so ago, a Kentucky native was awakened by the sound of what turned out to be a large bear trying to tear his way into his front door, presumably in an effort to get to his dog. The homeowner killed the bear, shot him several times, and was almost immediately charged with a violation. Suppossedly he should have ran out the bak door and got away, and returned after the bear had satisfied his primeval urges. The bear, you see, at least i Kentucky, is a protected species. This story faded from the news after some time, and I don’t know how it ever turned out, whether it was settled, the charges were dropped, or whether he was quietly fined or jailed or both. All I know for a fact is, the local news stopped covering the story.

At any rate, any propsective hunter of bears would be advised to start out from Bucharest, as oppossed to Buckhorn.

The only other advantage I see to the burgoning bear population is the potential environmental impact. They do indeed provide a necessary balance of nature, and help to thin out the herds of deer, and now elk, that mght otherwise defoliate the forrest areas. Hunters, of course, have helped nicely in this regard, it’s hard to see how bears are that much of a necessity.

Still, I will concede that they do make a vital addition to any forrest eco-system, under ordinary circumstances. Unfortunately, these days, the Kentucky forrests are becoming more and nore denuded by the encroaching of civilization, and by the stated need of mountain communities to expand beyond their traditional environs. Thus, in addition to many moutains being levelled,there are less and less forrests being restored, and less and less original land contours being maintained. This means, of course, that there is ever less land to provide for ever more bears. So, if you live in Eastern or Southeastern Kentucky, you can soon expect to see them in a backyard near you.

Of course, I guess you could make the minimal argument that the less people there are that go traipsing about in the woods, the less likely there are to be forrest fires due to carelessnenss, or outright arson. The only problem with that is, the kindof people that are either low down or stupid enough to engage in this kind of reckless behavior are precisely the kind that would love to set out food for the bears, no matter how often they are advised as to the dangers of such activity.

No, an increase of the bear population is not a good thing for Southeatern Kenucky. A moderate number in keeping with availiability of habitat is a good thing, no doubt. But too much fo a good thing quickly turns from being beautiful and interesting, into dangerous and wreckless.

The Great Fire Of Livingston Kentucky

When a raging, out of control fire destroys a business, home, or organization, as recently happenned in Livington Kentucky, there is not much that can be done but to salvage what mght remain, with an eye to rebuilding and eventually starting all over again. If that person, business, or organization has insurance, good isurance, and that insurance pays off in a timely and honorable manner, then the recovery can be a relatively swift, if not all togther painless, process.

If the home, business, or organization does not have insurance, however, then that is a different story. The recovery process will take much longer, will be that much more painful and stressful, and might even require the aid of some charitable undertaking.

Perversely, it was precisely the lack of insurance, and thus the need for a charitable funding drive, that was the direct cause of the fire that destroyed one of the most important organizations within the city of Livingston Kentucky. This organization, in an effort to raise money, had the intention of having a fish fry, and to that end, had acquired a fish fryer, evidently a deep fryer, which it tested, and then stored overnight in their building.

What happenned one night, the night of the fire, is a little murky. Maybe the machine had faulty wiring, and in the course of the testing got way too hot, or maybe someone had accidentlly left the machine plugged in, though thinkig it was turned off. Maybe there was enough grease inside the machine that it overheated and began to burn, becoming both a grease fire and perhaps causing an electrical fire at the same time.

Whatever happenned, by the time the fire was discovered, and finally extinquished, a great deal of damage had been done, in fact it was almost total destruction. The organizations building was all but destroyed, as well as most of the equipment. One thing that was greatly damaged, though evidently not destroyed beyond repair, was the organizations one vehicle.

As for the fish fry, that would still be on, though it would probably be delayed. Unfortunately, the object of the fish fry would now be geared toward not the continuing of operations, but in rebuilding. It was just too bad, very unfortuate, that the City of Livingston Volunteer Fire Department found itself unable to put out the blaze.

Luckily, the fire truck seems not to have been that badly damaged.

A Clark County Murder Trial

David Dressman is a young man in his early twenties, who might be looking at the prospect of spending the next twenty years or more of his life in prison, if convicted of the charge of murdering Dianne Snelling, the mother of his girlfriend, Stefanie Olsen. Stefanie was herself recently convicted of the charge, and has herself begun serving twenty years for her part in the murder, which she was complicit in instigating for, according to prosecutors, the urge to be free of her mothers dominaton, while at the same time acquiring what would have been her rightful inheritance of a 200,000 dollar life insurance policy.

Still, as of today, a monkey wrench might have conceivably been thrown into the works by the testimony of Timothy Crabtree, Dressmans and Olsens alleged accomplice, who early on in the case plea bargained for a six year sentence, in return for agreeing to admit to his involvement and to that of the other two defendants.

In court today, he testified that he was coerced into making these statements, it was the only way he could get this reduced sentence. He went on to state that he had no part in the crime, and knew of no role by Dressman and Olsen in it as well. The prosecution was aware of this, it’s not like they were blindsided, but they explained their decision to call him by saying it was the only way they could call to the stand a former cellmate of Crabtrees, who told of his confession to the crime.

Crabtree was upset, even crying at times, according to the informant, and expressed concern as to Dressmans ability to hold up, fearful that Dressman would in fact do as he ended up doing-testifying for the state against him and Olsen, in return for a lesser sentence. He even proposed killing Dressman, and then disposing of his body, on the land owned by his cellmates parents.

Still,the fact that this is a jailhouse informants testimony will of course call into question the integrity and motivations of this witness. If Dressman is inexplicaby found innocent of the crime, can a retrial for Stefanie, and possible acquital on appeal, be far behind. It seems unlikely, yet certainy possible.

Dianne Snelling was murdered three years ago in her Clark County Kentucky home. She was stabbed twenty-seven times. When a friend of Dressman and Olsens informed them of Dianes murder, they were both high on pot. According to her, Dressman seemed visibly shaken, upset. Olsen, however, seemed deathly calm, and even cold. Not exactly an expert psychological testimony, true. Still, it is chilling.

They Wait In Darkness

I just saw a report on the NBC affiliate WLEX Lexington news that would make anybody shiver, in fact, this is the stuff that horror movies are made of. Think of “The Birds”, and then think of “Willard”. Need I say more?

The setting is Race Street in downtown Lexington, in what appears to be a run down, predominantly black neighborhood. Yet, the woman who is the main human subject of the story is white. This one lone old white woman has the entire neighborhood up in arms, and yet, in the grip of fear. Because, her house is full of rats. Everywhere. They are living there, and breeding there, and dying there. Her floors are rotted, and under the flooboards, there are dead rats. And, there are living rats.

She feeds them. Every day. A ten pound bag of dog food. There are so many rats, they go through this ten pound bag of feed in just a little over two hours. Then, they start to get active. There are so many of them, she places the full bag inside a big plastic garbage can, into which they climb. By the time they are finished, the container is laying on it’s side on the ground, and has been moved several feet from where it started.

The rats wander about the neighborhood. They seem to be immune to rat poison. The police say there is nothing they can do about it, as the woman has really broken no laws they know of. Other neighborhood residents insist the house should be condemned, burned down, destroyed. Ah, but then, where would the rats go?

So why does the lady feed them? According to one of the area residents, the woman claims the rats are her pets. Truthfully, if she said this, it may have been in sarcasm. When asked why she continued to feed them, her answer was curt,and to the point.

“So they won’t bite me”, she replied.

As Dark Clouds Gather Over Brazil

A woman Brazil was recently acquitted by a jury of the murder of her husband based in large part, suppossedly, on the testimony of a psychic who claimed to have channelled a letter from the murdered mans spirit, which was read in court, and which absolved the accussed woman of any guilt in her husbands death. He did bitch her out though, and declared that he had inteneded to leave her. No word on who the real kiler is.

Don’t bother starting over at the beginning, you saw it correctly. She was acquitted, based at least in part due to this testimony, by a jury. Well, why not, hell, the judge allowed, as a matter of fact, the prosection didn’t even object to it.

Who knows, maybe they have too many pressing issues on their minds right now. The recent gang violence in Sao Paulo, for exampe, where there has been open warfare being waged between criminal gangs and the police, based on gang attacks and in which police have kiled, as of last count, some thirty five gang members. Still, the open attacks, many of them conducted in broad daylight, right in the middle of the city, goes on unabated, with no solution yet in sight.

Some of them might be considering the broader impications of Brazils recent successful indoctrination into the seemingly ever growing nuclear club, as they have recently announced their successful results at experiments at enriching uranium.

All this, and not a word from the U.S. Yet, we’re all so worried about Iran.

Mexican Voodoo

An interesting story from out of Mexico involves presidential politics and, of all things, voodoo dolls. A citizen of Mexico can now, for a fee, be involved in the electoral process to an extent never before possible, it seems. The purchase of a doll as a representative image of the Mexican presidential candidate of your choice can serve a variety of functions. All you need in addition to the doll is a needle, a little bit of faith, and a whole lot of resentment toward politicians. That last part should be easy enough, if the truth were known much moer so in Mexico than here. Nevertheless, here is how it works.

If you stick a needle in the dolls eye, it will insure that the candidates true intentions will become transparent.

If you stick the needle in it’s heart, it will make your candidate sincere in his promises.

If you stick the needle in the dolls right hand, it will make him always tell the truth.

There might be something to this. I recall how during the last presidential election, it was pointed out that, over the last few election cycles, the major candidates had been represented by bobble head dolls,which are offerred for sale. In all elections that this has been observed, the candidate whose bobble head doll sells the most units, is invariably the winner of the election. In the last one, George Bush’s bobblehead easily outsold John Kerrys. So much for Diebold.

In Mexico, it might well work in reverse, so whoevers voodoo doll sells the most might want to take special pains at being truthful and sincere, at being as open and transparent as possible. Of course, politicians are skilled at that anyway, for the most part.

Maybe they should just shove it up its ass, or into it's crotch, and hope they don't get shit on and fucked like they usually get in that shitty little country.

The Right To Privacy And Dignity

Imagine just for one moment that your mother has died. You are at her funeral, trying your best to cope with your distraught emotions, trying to keep it together, yet at the same time wanting to grieve, to let it out. Your friends and other family members are there to comfort you. They are grieving too. Not as badly as you are, perhaps, but they share to a limited extent your pain, your barely consolable grief, your anguish. You try to remember the good times, to remember her in all those positive ways. It’s hard, but you try, even though, at times, this makes it only worse. You also feel a sense of guilt. If only you hadn’t had that last argument. If only you had told her how much you loved her, how much she had meant to you over the years, how much you appreciated the sacrifices, the values she had tried to instill in you. You hope that she was proud of you, and more importantly, you hope she knows beyond any doubt how much you truly loved her.

You look out over the crowds of consolers, and you notice a male figure approaching, dressed in a suit. You have never seen him before, do not know who he is, but that’s okay, your mother was a well loved, respected woman. Certainly not perfect, by any means. Like all human beings, she has make her share of mistakes. But she was a good woman, a loving mother, a woman admired and respected by all those who truly knew her. And so, it makes sense that some strangers would arrive to pay their repects. Strangers such as the man you see now, approaching your mothers open coffin, with a determined look on his face, a glint of what you can ony describe as anger in his eyes. Anger at the cruelty of death, perhaps, for having taken one so well loved, so caring, at what many might consider to be well before her time?

He approaches your mothers form, then turns to approach the podium. He seems intent on giving a eulogy, yet it is not time. Still, he announces his presence to the whole of the people assembled at the small town funeral home, with a loud and actually somewhat arrogant sounding harrumph. He addresses everyone as lades and gentlemen, and then he intorduces himself., His name, he says, is the Reverend Fred Phelps. That’s odd, you think. Has he for some reason had to replace your pastor at your mothers service. But why? Soon, as he speaks, his intent becomes all too clear.

“This woman”,He says. “Was nothing but a low down,no account whore. This slut, whom you people are pretending was the salt of the earth, was one the biggest bitches in this town. Was her entire life. Any man could have her, and by god, just about any man did. All her children are bastards, conceived in sinful adultery. This is the kind of woman, and these are the kinds of children, who are going to bring the judgment of God down upon America. You shouldn’t cry at her passing. You should rejoice that she has been no doubt sent down to the pits of hell where she belongs.

“Rejoice and repent!”, he concludes as he waves his arms and, outside the funeral home. you hear a chorus of people. Looking out the window in stupefied shock, you see men, women, and children, carrying signs, some with your mothers name followed by words like “slut”, “whore”, “bitch”, and others with an admonishment to turn from such sins, and declarng Gods curse on America for condoning such lifestyles.

Soon the whole congregation joins you in an expression of outrage, combined with shock and grief at the audacity, the cruel, cold heartedness of this action.

I guess you’ve figured out by now this is my way of saying I am all in favor of the law passed to limit protests at military funerals to within a certain spot and to an hour before and after the service. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the exact same scenario. The fact that one of the funerals is conducted with military honors is to me an incidental irrelevance. Such actions would still be intruding on a families private grief, and should not be allowed in either case.

Besides, this isn't about freedom of speech. There are privacy issues involved here. Their may, however, be one aspect of our constitutional rights that may be pertinent here. The real issue here, in this case, is freedom of association. And if any family decides, in the throes of their very real and very painful private grief, that they do not want to be associated with the likes of Fred Phelps, for good or for ill-including the right to not have him in their presence in a threatening, harrassing manner- then so be it. Their wishes should be honored.

Divine Instigations

Something has got Fred Phelps on this wagon train to nowhere, and after giving it some thought, I think I’ve decided I think I know what it might be. It’s too obvious to say that he is just an insincere jerk, wanting to rattle peoples chains for money and publicity. That would be way too easy. His fame almost immediately crossed over into the line of infamy without a backwards glance, and though he is certainly well known, what good will that do him?

I would submit that Fred Pheps is the William Hung of Conservative Christian ministers. It is the very fact of the intensity of his hatred, which is so absurd, that it stands out in a crowd, though otherwise his words and deeds would be as forgettable as his talent and ability.

When Matthew Shepherd, a young gay student, was brutally beaten and murdered, left to die strung up along a fence on a Montana farm, way out in the middle of nowhere, Fred Phelps had been an almost totally unknown preacher probably barely eking out a living. Even by the standards of the surrounding communities in Kansas in which he lived and practised his faith and profession, he was probably relatively small time. He might even have been the butt of jokes,known by all as that old hellfire and brimstone preacher Phelps. Before this event,he may have even been somewhat moderate by comparison. But one thing for sure-he was definitely small time, and destined to forever remain so.

But Matthew Shepherd changed eveything for Fred Phelps. Matthew Shepherd had achieved a degree of fame he could only pretend to admire from a distance, could only barely imagine emulating.

Matthew Shepherd had been crucified. Now, after sufferring through his horrid ordeal, he was in the process of being deified. The crime against Matthew Shepherd was a crime of hate, and was being identified as such. Fred Phelps identified with that hate, for he felt it himself, and when he saw Matthew Shepherds photograph, and considered how he was now being given honor and dignity in death, how this crucified gay man was now being ressurrected and deified, he could not stand silently by and watch his ascension to heaven in the mind of his followers and sympathizers. It made the bile rise up in the heart and mind of Fred Phelps, and it utterly disgusted him. It made him sick. And he could just not stand idly by and allow it to go unchallenged.

After all, he had followed in the footsteps of Christ, in his own meager way, to the best of his all too limited ability, and had received no thanks for it. Indeed, he had many times received scorn. But now, Fred Phelps understood. A special calling had been reserved, just for him. Now, he could truly follow in Christs footsteps. Yes, he would still have scorn heaped upon him, yes he would still be ridiculed. But the lord his god had prepared him well for this mission in life. And he would fufill his destiny come what may.

Where In The World Is Jimmy Hoffa

He’s been buried under pro football field endzones. On other occassions, he has been buried under apartent buildings, high rises, and various other sundry construction projects. He’s been weighted down and/or stuffed into various receptacles and dumped in lakes, rivers, ponds, and oceans. He’s been ground up with a meat grinder. One time, after this occurrence, he temprorarily became an ingredient in the nationally known dog food brand Alpo. A few times before and after this, he was run through a scrap metal compacter, once or twice while inside a junked vehicle. He was incinerated, at least once or twice. His body has been chopped up and scatterred all over the place. At other times, he was left intact and buried in graves, some shallow, some very deept, and left to rot, thogh from time to time after being treated with lye to hasten decompisiton and minimize the scent of decay.

He is of course Jimmy Hoffa, the former Teamsters Union boss and Maffia racketeer asociate, who disappearred in 1978, never to be seen again. NEVER-I repeat-to be seen again. You see, when Richard Nixon pardoned him during his first term, it was with the understanding that he would seek no further ofice with the Teamsters or any other Union, and would stay away from gangsters. This deal was said to have been brokered by Nixon supporter Frank Fitzsimmons, Hoffas sucessor as head of the powerful Teamsters Union. Hoffa didn’t like the deal, and was detemrined to make a comback. This probably was not why he was killed, of course, he was killed because, in the course of it, he seemed detemrined to make waves.

This of course, was basically the same kind of thing that got Johnny Rosselli a trip to the Gulf of Mexico in his own private one man oil drum. But you see, Roselli, the notorious Las Vegas mobster repsonsible for the presenceof Howard Hughes in Vegas in earlier years, was discovered due to a simple fluke. Or, perhops he was meant ot be found, as a warning to any peson that might consider testifying before the Congress, as Roselli was suppossedly scheduled to do soon bfore hisdemise. Otherwise, it could just easily have been assummed that Roselli, not exactly a household name, simply skipped off for parts unknown.

This od course is something that could never be assummed about the highly popular and influential though controverial and corrupt Hofffa. And that is why Jimmy Hoffa will never be found. Precisely because they know this.

They know you’re looking for him, still, after all this time.

Vacation Aruba-A Year Of Getting Away With It All

It’s been a year now, and those bones are still ot ther somehwere in a remote spot of Aruba, screaming to be found. Well, okay, they’re not screaming. They’re not even stinking any more. Not even if they were all long ago turned to animal shit. But when the kalpoe Brothers and Joran Van Der Sloot, in my opinion, dumped the dead body of Natalie Holloway, whom they raped, and continually drugged until they accidentally killed her, in a remote area of the small island, surrounded by trees and bushes, possibly just dropping her from their car fromtheside down a hilly slope into oblivion, they knew she would never be found. All tey had to do, if they were questioned at all, about thir association with her, was lie, insist they had dropped her off. If she were later found and seen to have sufferrd a blow to the head from when Joan hit her, they would explainthis ahead oftime by saying that as she left the car, she stumbled and fell flat onher face. Brilliant plan. Just point out that there are niggers o the sland, in fact ty saw one fo them, a security guard, escort her to her feet, and out of their sight. And yes, of course she had sex with them willingly, they would say, hell, if you find her body you’ll probably find semen with our DNA all over it. But it was consensual, you see.

Yes, it’s been over a year, and still the well in the yard of Paulus Va Der Sloot, the father of main suspect Joran, has yet to be searched. He will not allow it to be searched. Of course, by now, it is probably too late. After this one full year, there is probably nothing left in the well, no bloody item of womens clothing, or a male gym shoe. They may have been retrieved long ago, if possible. But why don’t they look? Just for the hell of it? Why aren’t they allowed to look?

Whatever the case, probably nothing left but a few old bones, scatterred here and there, the rotting flesh and muscles and fat and organs long ago gnawed away, the remainder scorched by the sun, the heat, the wind, the rain.

Missing: Breanna Eversole

An attractive fourteen year old from Richmond Kentucky, Breanna Eversole has now been missing since May 21^st, twelve days as of the writing of this post. So far, the only thing I’ve heard about this is a ntice in my local newspaper. I’ve seen nothing about it on television, nor have I seen any amber alerts issued. Yes, she is a white girl, a very pretty one. One that I would imagine would easily catch the eye of the many potential predators that inhabit the envirojs of Richmond, including but not limited to the sizeable population of Eastern Kentucky University, to say nothing of the many passers-by to the area by way of Interstate 75 and surrounding counties, for many of whom Rchmond is the closest “west state” in which they can legally purchase alcohol.

Yet, despite all these considerable factors, I have yet as to hear cetain things that should be publicly explained. Where was she last seen, for example. At what time. Who was the last person known to have seen her, and when and where. Did she frequent the Richmond mall, or any fo the many stores and shopping centers, restaurants, etc. Yet, none of this informationhas been made availiable.

All of which leads me to question is this girl possibly a runaway? Is this just a desperate attempt to try to find a young girl who may, as far as I know, have pulled this knd of stunt before.

Still, twelve days is a long time for a girl this age to be missing, with no clue as to her whereabout, or evidently, her associations. And it might be appropriate to point out, in this and other such cases, that a good many of the times, runaways have one important fact in common with kidnapping victims. They can both easily end up raped, murdered, and their remains disposed of in out of the way locations.

And Now-The Rest Of The Story

Famed radio broadcaster Paul Harvey recently commented on the town of Mt. Vernon Kentucky, and though I never heard the broadcast myself, you can bet it created quite a stir. A sheriffs candidate for Rockcastle County, in fact, has made mention of the broadcast in his run for office. It is a reason, he says, why he should be considered not only qualified for the office, but the only viable alternative to replace current incumbent Darrell Doan. Having been a ecetn arrival to the county, he says, he owes no one anything.

You might have figured out by now that harveys comments were not positive. If so give yourself a cigar, or a kewpie doll, or whatever. You might have, if you have seen some of my prior comments on my home county, assume that I am solidly in agreement with Harvey’s comments that, as he put it, “if you want to commit murder and get away with it, just go to Rockcastle County Kentucky.”

If so, hand back the kewpie doll. If you’ve already smoked the cigar, however, don’t worry about it, I will make allowances for the possibility that Harvey might have been engaging in a bit of heavy handed hyperbole.

Outside of hyperbole, however, the statement has no basis in fact. For all the problems I have seen in this area, only a few of which I have noted on this blog, this not only does not belong in the litany of complaints, but it could, if miscontrued-or accurrately construed, as the case well may be-be a negative force that is not in the least helpful to any long term county improvement.

In fact, it crosses the line greatly. Out of all my knowledge of Mt. Vernon and Rockcastle County Kentucky recent history, I have endeavored to remember a time when a murder in this area was committed, in which the perpetrator has gotten away with the deed, a time, in fact, in which there was never a prosecution. I have honestly tried to remember, but alas, I can not honestly remember such an event.

And it has not been for lack of occasion. There have indeed been murders in the county over the last several decades. But I can honestly think of no circumstance in which a known murder was committed that the perpetrator was not caught, and sucessfuly prosecuted. And it has been of no consequence to what station in life the victim belonged.

About a decade ago, one of the local low-lifes was murdered and buried eight feet underground. The perpetrators were cpatured and successfully prosecuted, though it did take some time before the crime actually came to light. But once it did, that was the end of the road. It turned out to have been drug related.

There have been times that convicted murderers did not, in my opinion, get their just deserts, and Harvey could legitimately be referring to such events as a man who, having shot his wife twice with a loaded gun, claimed the shooting was accidental. He received, I think, a total of two years for manslaughter. There were other instances of people murdered in the course of drunken card gams in which the penalty may not have been severe enough, but you can put this down to being spur of the moment crimes committed in the heat of anger, to lack of premeditation.

The one murder in the county I can think of, in fact, that was never sucessfuly prosecuted, was the murder of a man who seems to have been present during a great many of these card games, in at least two of them, in fact. He was shot dead in the yard, where he lay in a drunken stupor, of a friends house, where a party had been held, suppossedly by an unknown, passing motorist. To my knowledge, no suspects were ever arressted.

Be that as it may, violent crimes of this nature, while they do occur here, do so with no more frequency than in other areas of similar size and population, and what is more, the number of arrests and sucessful prosecutions for the crime are at least the equal to other areas, and possibly on the average higher. Which is why I take humbrage with Mr. Harveys comments.

Many years ago, at last fifty,and possibly more, an old man on his death bed confessed to having kidnapped and murdered a young girl who had years before this dissappearred without a trace. He gave directions to the wooded area where he had left her, and sure enough her bones were uncovered. This was another occasion of an unsoved crime, the only one I can think of, but like I said, this was at least fifty years ago.

For the one and only other unsolved murders in the county, that I can recall as of now , you of necessity need to go back to the nineteenth century, some years after the Civil War. A handful of men had recently been convicted of burning down the then Mt. Vernon courthouse. Two of them were abducted and hanged outside of town, by men reputed to be the Ku Klux Klan. The ringleader of the group had somehow managed to escape this mob justice, almost by the skin of his teeth.

For the lynching of the guilty parties, and the attempted abduction and murder of the third man, who sneaked out the back of his home as they approached from the front, no one was ever, to my knowledge, brought to trial. In fact, no one was ever identified as the Klan members supposedly responsible.

Yet,the story does come full circle, and illustrates the real problem with the county, one that has lasted up until this day. The very man who was convicted in a court of law, of burning down the old court house, the same man who had barely eluded Klan justice-all because he wanted to destroy evidence pertaining to another crime he had committed which was stored there, was indeed held to a kind of account by the citizens of Rockcastle County.

He was elected County Judge.

And so it goes. With money, with connections, the worse of the worse can acquire and maintain elected office. That is nothing new, nor, however, is it a phenomenon that is limited solely to the environs of Rockcastle County Kentucky, sadly.

Not that all of the countys elected officials are this bad. For the most part, they just have an attitude of entitlement, and a lackadaisical attitude toward making any needed changes or improvements to the County. And this needs to be pointed out,and changed. Unfortunatey, hyperbole such as Harverys, however well intentioned, is all too easy to be misconstrued, taken literally, and therefore,makes no positive contribution toward that much needed change.

Page Two, please?

Coroners Request

Rockcastle County Coroner Billy Dowell has finally been granted something by the Rockcastle County Fiscal Court that he hasn’t had in his entire thirty years of service to the county-an official coroner vehicle. That is the only good thing about this story, which does little to mitigate the fact that the request was granted after much heated discussion. The worse thing about it is that Dowell even had to make the request.

Yet, for the last thirty yeas, Dowell has been forced to use his own vehicle to transport patients to Frankfort for the purposes of autopsies, when these were deemed necessary when deaths occurred under suspicous or unknown circumstances. He has even been forced to use his own vehicles to transport dead bodies, in some rare instances, which were the subjects of massive decomposition due to having been dead for long periods of time before their doscovery, in some cases bodies that were greatly mangled.

Admitedly,this is not as bad as it sounds at first glance, as Dowel is the successful business partner in one of the area funeral homes, Dowell and Martins, and so was able to avail himself of one of the business vehicles. This, however, is beside the point. It is one thing to expect a person to do so much in the line of civil duty. But this is really beyond the pale, especially as I am even unsure as to whether he was reimbursed gas mileage. I would like to say he was, but as of now I can’t say that. And, of course, there is also maintenance to consider.

This is especially galling when you consider that, up until just a few short years ago, Billy Dowell, as County Coroner, was paid less than what is normally paid for the office of dog catcher. The county is lucky, by the way, that he has been willing to perform this function for the last thrity years, under these conditions, with no complaints up untilthis point, so far as I know.

It makes you wonder just what kind of person would even consider running for office in Rockcastle County. Constable, for example, which technically is a kind of law enforcement, though very limited in range, as is the pay, which I would only describe as minimal at best. In fact, until recently, it was limited solely to an award for every ticket written that was collected on. It still is not much better than that, really.

I understand the need to cut corners and meet basic expenses, and the desire to refrain from raising taxes, especially as the tax base of the county is not so great to begin with-a situation which could be easily remedied by making the county wet, for example. But these problems are precisely why the same people seem to get elected to office and keep it year after year. They have their ways of making it pay off, and nobody is inclined to rock the boat. I guess Billy Dowell, for all his selfless civic mindedness, had finally had enough. And I for one don’t blame him.

As his daughtrs pointed out in a letter to the editor of the town paper, The Mt. Vernon Signal, if county money isn’t going to be used for valid purposes such as this, what is it to be used for, to be kept back to make a few road repairs during election years?

Ernie Fletcher And Joseph Lambert-Balancing Checks

Ernie Fletcher just cant seem to move a muscle without bumping into controversy, and this time he has been joined in this display of accident proneness by Joseph lambert, the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court, whose wife, Debra lambert, is the sitting judge of my districts Family Court.

A law was recently passed which stated that a retired judge who decided to leave retirement, upon assumming office, can no longer draw both his pension and the salary for his or her current post. So therefore, if a judge is drawing 250,000 dollars a year, and also a pension fo 30,000 dollars a year, then he must forfeit his judges salary, or a portion thereof, to where he is drawingno more than one complete salary. This kind of practive has been an on-going, though certainly not that common, controversial practice known as “double dipping”.

It sounds like a reasonable law to me, and Ernie Fletcher agreed, and so after it was passed by the Kentucky legislature, he signed it into law. Joseph Lambert was of the opinion that it was so good a law, in fact, that it should be implemented immediately, and told Governor Fletcher so. Previously, Fletcher had been disposed towards waiting until after the next election cycle bfoe it takes effect. Therefore, it would not apply to any judges currently sitting, or who might be elected during the next election. Thanks to Lamberts influence, however, Fletcher utilized the line item veto to excise this item out of the bill, therefore making th elaw immediately applicable.

All well and good, so far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, there’s a hitch. The man running against lamberts wife, Debra, for the Family Court Judges seat this election, is a man who has come out of retirement to run agains the controversial Judge Lambert. And he and his supporters are outraged.

And really, I could care less about whether this candidate, were he to win, would be able to engage in the practice of double dipping. In fact, I think it’s a practice that should have never been allowed. But he does make a point that Jospeh lamberts influence on the Governor in this matter is a definite conflict of interest, and an obvipous one at that. Yet, stupidly, Fletcher played along with it, and wonders why his administration is considered the most corrupt in recent Kentucky history. And believe me, it takes some doing to reach that level. Kentucky has had some real doozys.

And besides, this is blatantly unconstitutional, on every level. Joe Lambert, a sitting Justice, an official of the Kentucky judicial system, has no business interfering or inserting his influence into a matter of state business on the legislative or the gubernatorial level. His opinion on these matters is welcome only when a matter pertaining to them appears before his court. Otherwise, he should shut his fucking mouth.

Fletcher vs. Pence

Things could scarcly get any worse for Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher than they are right now. He himself has been indicted for abusing the states hiring system, and has been roundly criticized for issuing blanket pardons to anybody else in his administration who might be indicted. As of now, a number of sealed indictments have been issued, and quite a few of Fletchers cabinet and administrative staff have resigned under a cloud of suspicion. Now, Liutenant Governor Steve Pence has announced that he would not seek re-election as Lieutenant Governor in 2007 as Ernie Fletchers running mate.

This was discussed between Pence and Fletcher beforehand, and evidently Fletcher was fine with this. But what came next has sent the entire state ito a tailspin. Pence has said he will not as of now support Fletcher for re-election, and is himself leaving his options open.

In response to this, Fletcher personally asked Pence to resign. But Pence has as of now refused to do so. As he explains, the people own the offices towhich they are all elected, the public servants are merely temporary occupants of the offices. He had been elected to serve four terms, and he intends to fulfill his entire term.

Flethcer for his part has said, both personally and through spokespersons, that it would be best for the state if Pence resigns, that his administration is in need of a team player, which Pence no longer is.

I personally find it curious that Pence, a former prosecutor noted for targeting polticial corruption, has made no comments about the on-going state hiring scandal, only it seems obvious that this is the genesis of the problem.

So is he planning on running for governor? I don’t know, but I am guessing , he probably will not, and will possibly opt for a run at a U.S. House of Representatives seat, or may be looking ahead for a potential primary run against Senator Jim Bunning. Of course, the thing about it is, if things get any worse for Fletcher, or he fails to resove thecurrent issues with which he is afflicted, Pence, a right wing Christian conservative, may be the state Republican Partys only saving grace in the coming election. He might indeed be the only possible alternative to Fletcher as far as the Repubican Party keeping the governors seat. It’s hard to imagine Fletcher winning re-election at this stage of the game.

On the other hand, a primary battle between Fletcher and his Lieutenant Governor is likely to split the Republican Party wide open. Yet, in a poll conducted yesterday by WLEX Lexington, an NBC local affiliate, those who thought Pence should remain in his office totaled 79%. Those who though he should resign totaled a mere 17 %. Only four percent of respondents were undecided or unsure.

Pence is playing with a strong hand, while Fletcher is hemorhaging. You are tempted to ask, how could Pence not remain, not run against Fletcher in the 2007 Republican primaries. It would certainly draw a lot of attention, as would the following general election. In fact, this might, if it comes to pass, be one of those odd times where a primary election drawsmore interest than the genral election. Sort of puts you in mind of the old days of pro football, when the NFC championship was all but guaranteed to be a better game than the Super Bowl.

Pence has to pay it by ear, of course. On the one hand, he could alienate a lot of the Republican Party power brokers, both on the state and national levels. On the other hand, if he plays his cards right, this might be his one best shot at national stature, and eventual office.

On the other hand, I've always said that the alliance within the Republican Party between the corporatists and religous right was at best a marriage of convenience, at worse a marriage made in hell, and might well result one day in anything from an amicable seperation, at least on the surface, to a full fledged heated divorce. What is going on in Kentucky might well be the first symptoms of this rupture.