Jay Paul's latest ad...

I doubt Joe and Todd will find this all that amusing...

Montel Williams Dresses Down Fox News Drones

...and then is quietly removed from the segment. Soon thereafter, his show "The Montel Williams Show", was cancelled when several key Fox owned stations refused to re-new it. Williams had been invited on the Fox show to yammer on about the passing of Heath Ledger, but he shocked the Fox lemmings by asking them why they were still talking about Heath Ledger, but not a word about the 28 soldiers that have died since Ledger's death. Mind you, he was very respectful of Ledger, but questioned the motives of the media in reporting on the death of celebrities while saying nothing about the deaths of our uniformed men and women. It was quite an exchange and the end results are a sad reminder of just how far this country has been taken down the sewer by people like Bush, Murdoch, Limbaugh and the right wing, for whom party and politics come before country, our soldiers and what's just decent!

Snark... how could you?! *grin*

When I walk my dogs, I'm always on the lookout for things destined for landfills for which we might have use. Usually its clothing, old bed sheets, etc., for me to use in rugs, but sometimes...

I expanded my search radius a bit today and crossed the street over to the Snarky side of Granville.

This hat was sitting on a dumpster outside Chez Snark.

Snark oh snark... how could you part with such an item?

I'll bring it to the Anvil Friday so you can be reunited with this splendid bit of haberdashery.

(Tess, jennet that she is, was trying to get me to wear it to Spanish class today, but class got canceled.)

The welder's helmet under it was one I bought for a Halloween costume years ago where I wanted to be walking Dada. It was probably my favorite costume of all time! Here's a picture of us from then... many years and pounds and gray hairs ago. The belly dancer outfit Tess has on is the real deal, I ordered it from Turkey for her, and she does bellydance. ... Sadly, it doesn't fit her anymore, but I used it win first prize at a costume contest a year ago.

For " Right Mike" who I discovered is a Monty Python fan...

...this is one of their lesser known skits, but one which I always loved! (Notice Jone's expressions as he listens to the sordid details of a mollusc's sex life!)

Lawyers in Love 1983 -- Jackson Browne

A silly song, but a nice beat and one that always brings back great MTV memories.




Oh yeah....Jackson wasn't hard on the eyes, either!

Bird gives a little something back to a local reporter.

Considering what usually comes out of the mouths of reporters these days, this little bird decided the punishment should fit their crime!

McCain goes jihad on Romney's flip flopping ass!

...and nothing hurts more than the truth, eh, Mittens?




Proof positive that this pandering asshole has no shame!

It was close, but Romney gets 'the bird' in Florida!

Thank God! Maybe there's hope for Florida Republicans afterall!

NOW -W- gets religion?! & Sauced Gander

Ever since President Reagan's exit from office and public life, classic liberals (also known as "Jeffersonian Liberals," or "libertarians") have been the cuckolds of the GOP. We've seen her go whoring after lobbyists, shacking up with big government, taxing and spending with an abandon not seen since Imelda Marcos' last shoe shopping spree.

So now... months before he leaves office, President Bush makes a show of opposing earmarks?! Talk about a death bed conversion! Its not like he did anything to cut spending, simplify the tax code, reduce the size and wastefulness of the federal government when he had a GOP congress, when he could have actually done something about the problems.

Just pathetic.

Next topic... as you may have noticed, I'm no fan of either Clinton (I think the phrase "I'd not vote for him or her to be dog catcher" might have given that away, *grin*) Even so, I find it amusing and ironic that the same people who once cheered President Bill on when he was fighting no holds barred against Republicans have suddenly discovered that... he plays dirty. DUH! What's next... discovering that there is no tooth-fairy?! The birds are coming home to roost, what's been sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander... and now its a problem, when for the last 15 years it wasn't.

Now here's where I might surprise you.... I don't give a rat's about how BC's shooting his mouth off... doesn't wedge my g-string any further up my crack than it already is. Politics is a dirty, vicious, ugly business... and it always has been.

Yes, I think he's making a fool of himself and making Barack's canonization that much more likely, but I just can't work up any moral indignation over his treating Saint Barack the way he's treated every opponent previously.

---

Ps.... if you want to see videos of Tess hallucinating with a migraine, the puppies cleaning our faces, etc., I'll be posting them over on my multiply blog later tonight... I know Snark loves them, but... ya gotta know your crowd. Ya'll are a fun, political, phreaky lot, the folks at Multiply more get off on the personal stuff. (In the same token, I did NOT post this there. I may... there's a couple of deep thinking passionate classic liberals over there, but the rest... are a mix of political agnostics, Huckabee fans, and people outside the US, so...

Ralph Asks!

I answer.

Where have I been?

Busy!

I've made it out a couple of times, however here is my 24/7 itinerary:

Sunday: Sleep, Volleyball, Sleep, Work
Monday: Work, Sleep, Work
Tuesday: Sleep, Work, Volleyball (flop around like a ragdoll), Party w' vballers, Sleep
Wednesday: Sleep, Work, Sleep, Work
Thursday: Work, Sleep, Work,
Friday: Work, Sleep, Work, Party with SnarkAngel at GA
Saturday, Sleep, Work, Sleep, Work.

OMG!!

January through September 2007: 1000 Hits
September thru December 2007: 1000 Hits
January 2008: 1000 Hits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

woohoo! Who let the dogs out.... (sorry, pathetic and Romneyesquishitty?

Why Are My Ears Bleeding

Oh, He speaks again...

Update: He Does Drone On...

Thank God: " God Bless America "

That means it's Fucking Over!!!

America will soon be free again.

Oh double fuck me! Tweety is offering his analysis.

Just let Olbermann do it the next time.

Update 2: He's signing fucking autographs. Like Brittany

A Retard Rock Star,

Ain't we glad he ran our country for the last 8 fucking years?

Chris "Tweety" Matthews offering awed, manly righteous respect for this piece of shit.

Yes, Tweety, Clinton's did it! Fuckhead..... 'And Reagan was teh Awesome", 25 years ago, while he was sleeping.

MSNBC: Kill 2 birds with one stone. Tucker Carlson and Tweety Matthews, "Together where ever they go....". Let 'em go down on one ship.

OK, I can hear my mother now going; "You can catch more flies with honey." That's just the kinda shit that got us into Iraq (Gloriously, Forever!).

Tweety was humbly speaking about how bad the Prez blew it, and then all of a sudden he got his mancrush up on McCain... His voice literally jumped an octave and quavered for a second.

This is the peoples who tells us no-nothings how to think (and vote). Fuckhead!

Final analysis: Again, Number One Retard, I ask: Where's the "Iraq? OOPS. my bad."

Fuck me even more, MSNBC brings on TIMMEH! Russert, Turd Supreme!

Sexism and gender inequality are shown in so many ways- from Hillary's hair to faux fly panties... and beyond

No, I don't know if she wears them... and frankly, I hope I go the rest of my life not knowing what kind of underwear Hillary, Bill, Barack, Paul McC, or any other public figure wears or doesn't wear.

They are two separate "exhibits" if you will which prove the same point.

Exhibit A - Hillary Clinton is judged and examined on her hairstyle, how "feminine" she is, and so forth in a way no male candidate would. The Chicago Tribune ran a good story on that yesterday (yes, I did look at parts of the paper other than the one with my rug letter in it, )

Exhibit B- These panties from Victoria's Secret (and they've had them quite a long time) - described as "Knit boxsie Cheeky, guy-style details with a low-rise fit. Faux button fly"

OK... what's wrong with this picture / concept? I ask you ladies... does it make you feel sexy to have a fly for your non-extant ... ah... er... plumbing? If so, fine, its a free country, more power to you! But outside a few specialty fetish catalogs and shops... most based in San Fran... you can't find "faux vagina" panties for men.

Exhibit C - Terms for the male and female genitalia.
I don't have to iterate these... you're adults of the world, you know them. Ask... are the ones for the female reproductive apparatus generally complimentary or not? Are the ones for the male generally complimentary or not? Even the one pejorative in common use "What a dick" is carries nowhere near as much negative weight or connotation as the female equivalents, and is sometimes said with a grudging amount of respect... its only a half step beyond "He's got BALLS!" On the other hand, there are no positive connotations to "P-ssy," "Sissy," etc. The traits associated (rightly or wrongly) with the female and feminine are assumed to be lesser, weaker, undesirable. Given that most violent crimes are committed by men, while women give birth... this seems horribly inverted to me! A man who is as sensitive, nurturing, and sensual as a woman gets a LOT of shit in this culture, but these are good traits, whom ever has them, as much as valor (a stereotypically male trait) is.

In all three of these exhibits we see in common that the male is assumed to be superior and normative to and over the female. Thusly: the male emotional makeup, approach to life, and anatomy is still taken as normative and superior by our society, despite the facts that... women live longer, can take pain better, and that all fetuses (feti?) start out female.

Now... I'm suspect of these supposed differences between the genders. I'm a very sensitive man, the son of a sensitive father, and most of my dear male friends are too. On the other hand, I've known some cold, ruthless women. And ya know what, I do think Ms Clinton is that way too... and so what! Had she the views and qualifications of a Thatcher or Kirkpatrick, I'd be her biggest supporter because of them. A good leader is a good leader, period, regardless of gender, race, hair color, or religion. A good person is a good person, period, regardless of gender, race, hair color, or religion.


We're so superficial as a society, and we accept so many assumptions without questioning them. Some traditional views bear up to scrutiny, others don't, but we'll never know unless we open and use our minds. Else... we'd still believe the world is flat, and that most illnesses are caused by the presence of a toad or dwarf living in the stomach (cf Steve Martin's Theoderic Of York- Medieval Barber sketch on SNL, see below.)

Theodoric of York: Well, I'll do everything humanly possible. Unfortunately, we barbers aren't gods. You know, medicine is not an exact science, but we are learning all the time. Why, just fifty years ago, they thought a disease like your daughter's was caused by demonic possession or witchcraft. But nowadays we know that Isabelle is suffering from an imbalance of bodily humors, perhaps caused by a toad or a small dwarf living in her stomach.

---

So... are we going to go on believing Hillary Clinton's gender is any way relevant to her candidacy? Are we going to continue to believe that men who show stereotypically female/feminine traits, act in female/feminine ways, dress in female/feminine clothes are just Sissys and P-ssys?

If so... then next time you take a boat trip, be careful you don't fall off the end of the earth, and I hope you get treatment for your gastrointestinal toad infestation.


PS- If this is too much deep thinking for you right now, then here's some fun... post your ad copy for a men's equivalent to the Viccy's Secret Faux Fly boxies.

Wow. Mardi Gras is in a week?! Any fun to be had up here?

I just realized that Mardi Gras is a week from tomorrow (appropriately enough, since its also super trouper Tuesday.)

Ya know, in the past I always looked forwards to Halloween and M.G. as a chance to "let my phreak flag fly" but these days... it doesn't have as much cachet for me that way.

Still, it can be fun to be around fellow phreaks (as it was Friday night), so... ye who are a little older and much wiser in the ways of the alternative culture here... anything fun and free going on? Any chance to win beads? (If so, I've got some get ups which would probably land me 20 or 30 pounds of them!)

More news about the Granville Girls... Snark's clownmobile, Rug Goth (yours truly) did get published

They did print my letter about the rugs in today's Home and Garden section of the Trib. Strangely though... not every edition has it. The ones at Jewel did not, the ones at Granville Food and no-longer-liquors did, so I just about bought them out. You can read it here: I've already gotten one sweet comment on my rug blog (toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com) about the story. Its really rather a dream come true for me... I love this craft, I love taking trash and recycling into something useful and lovely. And I have to admit... you can take the preacher out of the pulpit... (or leave it willingly and with relish as I did) but the spirit and drive to spread the word... some word... remain.

Then as I was parking after shopping and my first day of my final nursing prereq, Snark drove by in what appeared to be a Chevette, but they haven't made those since the 70s, right? So inquiring minds want to know... how many clowns can it hold, *grin*

Meanwhile at Gino's North

Got themselves some sparkling new bar stools in a rich dark burgundy leather motif. A smart omen of things to come.

And the Granville Anvil got themselves some newer used ones, functional, a tad seasoned, yet stunningly apropos and cunningly crafted to the character of the environs therein.

And the Anvil Smokers Lounge Al Fresco got stools. Of their condition, well, the less said, the better.

A few words from Jay Paul Deratany

Big Garden Birdwatch

Every year the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) holds a two-day birdwatch in which up to 500,000 people spend an hour in their gardens or a nearby park and note the birds they see. You only note the largest number of a species you see at one time - so not 5 robins when it might be the same robin 5 times.

You then send your findings either by post or email to the RSPB and this enables them to plot the numbers of birds by species across the country. This has been going on for 28 years. It's how things like the disappearance of sparrows from gardens came to be noticed so promptly.

Keen birdwatcher Bill Oddie is constantly on our screens showing us the glories of our native wildlife in programmes such as Springwatch and Autumnwatch. He is currently presenting a programme called Bill Oddie's Wild Side, which even features shots from his own rather small and scruffy garden.

In his youth, Bill was one of he Goodies, a TV comedy trio probably only comprehensible to wacky Brits. There he is on the left.

Bill composed the hit Goodies song "The Funky Gibbon".

Now he's a portly grey-haired man in late middle age. His new career has turned him into another of those strange, eccentric National Treasures we love on this side of The Pond.



And the results from my own scruffy garden?
8 starlings
5 sparrows
3 crows
2 blackbirds
2 great tits
2 woodpigeons
1 robin
1 blue tit
1 magpie
1 grey wagtail (that tried to land, but one of my cats lept out. It was lucky to escape unscathed.)

For your enjoyment (?) here's The Funky Gibbon:



And here's Bill on Springwatch 2006 watching millions of starlings wheeling round in a vast flock before coming in to roost. It repays well those who are patient enough to watch it through to the end.

Sunday Sondheim - The Story of Lucy and Jessie

"Follies" and late, great Lee Remick delivering more tangled lyrics than there are in the heavens. The "workin of the boa" starts at 1:55:
When I saw this in 2001 it was Blythe Danner, delivering the Bravuro

How I'm Spending My Winter Vacation . . .

Just a heads up to all my co-bloggers and commentors here at Pabulum . . . you probably won't see much of me here (or on Granville, at all) over the next week. Tomorrow I take off for lovely, scenic Lombard, Illinois, where I will be attending classes from 8:30 a.m. to 6 .m., Monday through Thursday. This is the second of three "courses" towards my GRI certification (Graduate, Realtor Institute), which is proclaimed by many to be the highest professional designation for realtors (as opposed to CRS or ABR). I will take the third course in November or next January.

As Boston Betty already knows: "GRI Designation - Program Developed for members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and offered through State REALTOR® Associations, the GRI program includes 90 hours of coursework on various topics such as marketing and servicing listed properties to real estate law."

So eventually, I will have more educational certificate crap to hang on the walls of my entrance hall. As Fishpaw once said, "I've never seen anyone so f*&king over-educated in my life."

At any rate, from what I've heard, it is a very intense 4 days of classwork. I register tomorrow (Sunday) at 5 p.m., after I check into the nearby Marriott Towne Suites with kitty-cat, Smokey. I chose the Marriott over the conference center hotel because I can bring the cat and for a room with a bed, separate couch, and a small kitchen, it will be cheaper than staying at the conference hotel, which is only 2 blocks away.

But I will be back behind the bar at Anvil, with Fishpaw, Friday night, ready to get the sissies drunk and pour more swill for the swine at 1137, aka "Trailer Bar," aka "Under the Bridge." Wouldn't want the slags and fags to think I'd actually abandoned them for an entire Friday night . . . they might start applying for my job.

But if the desk clerk at either hotel looks like Vincent D'Onofrio . . .

well, the cat and I will just send for our things . . .

PetSmart . . . Animal Stupid . . .

PetSmart purchases animals from this supplier, the employees of which have no regard for animal suffering.





In addition, PETA sent an undercover investigator to a store in Manchester after it received a complaint from a customer last fall, Brown said. That investigator took a job at the store and used a camera to document her findings.

In a roughly three-minute video aired during a press conference, the investigator says that the refrigerator in the back room is so packed with dead animals they often fall out when the door is opened.

"It's so common for these animals to die it becomes a nuisance to the store," she says, adding of the animals, "Most of their day is spent trying to escape from their cage."

The investigator notes in her report to PETA that PetSmart managers observed one hamster over three days and noted the animal's condition as "wobbly," "dehydrated," "very lethargic," "regressing," "dying ... can't swallow," and "dead."

"It's obvious these deaths can be avoided" through medical intervention, she says.

Brown said the PetSmart chain brings in an annual profit of $4 billion, only 3 percent of which is derived through the sale of live animals. They use small animals such as hamsters as "bait" for the purchase of more expensive items such as cages, bedding material, and toys, she charged.

Click Here To Take Action Against PetSmart and The Unnecessary Cruelty They Inflict on Animals

Rose Breasted Cockatoo love!

We are the owners of a Rose Breasted Cockatoo, or 'Galah' as they are called in their native Australia. Ours will be two years old in March and is called 'Pip'...short for 'Pretty in Pink', of course! Anyway, they are a very alert, affectionate and playful breed, demanding constant attention and companionship...which can be a bit much sometime, especially when you've come home after a long day's work and just want to relax. They're not big talkers, unfortunately, but having watched a few videos on Youtube, I was able to train him to say, "scratch" like the bird in this first video. The second one, 'Hello', I'm still working on with him.

A nice time was had by all / If you're in Chicago, look for me in Sunday's Trib- H&G

After months of urging from Snark, I finally made it down to a meeting of the "Granville Girls' Club" at the Anvil, of course taking my dogs along. They were big hits... though they kept trying to go around the bar to be with Snark and Frankie, and... true to the breed slogan "Having a papillon means never having to go to the bathroom alone"... tried to accompany anyone who went to answer Nature's Call.

Buried at PhotoCasket.com

(I have no idea what this is supposed to mean, but it was fun!)

I'd met Snark once before, but it was nice meeting Frankie and GungaDean... hope we can make it down there more often on Fridays. I can't promise I'll stay a lot later, but it was fun. Staying out till 11 is pretty unusual for me these days. I usually get up at 5am, as by 6, Tess usually needs her first injection, and by 8, she's in "dark quiet room" hellish pain.)

Plus... bar's aren't exactly the natural environment of the introvert, so there's only so long I can be in one before I need to see the sky, feel the breeze (even if it is a -20 windchill breeze coming off the lake), etc.

• ***gasp*** He didn't
• He did
• He isn't
• He is.... *grin*

Yes, believe it or not, for all my loquacity, for all willingness to talk with anyone anywhere about anything, I'm an introvert. Contrary to popular perception, introverts aren't misanthropes, but we do find crowds draining. The way I handled it as a pastor was to imagine the congregation as a collective singular. I highly commend that technique to anyone who has to do a public speaking event... its much better than imagining everyone in their underwear... especially if you have as wild and crazy an imagination as I do! *grin*


Hope you guys have something big planned for Mardis Gras, but if you do... please don't pay retail for cosmetics... there's just no need. For one night's use, even the cheap stuff from U'NJoy will work fine (they have some really wild lipsticks and nail polish for 99 cents each, mascara for 2 bucks.) If you are more in the mode I'm in, you'll want higher quality for daily wear so it doesn't ruin your skin or flake off into your eyes, but Ulta's house brands are as good as any for half the price.

AS for the Trib... I hope I'm not counting my chickens too early, but I wrote in a letter in response to their bride's maid dress article to tell them how my rug craft can be used to get good out of old clothes you can't wear but can't part with either, and they asked permission to run the letter and print a picture. I submitted three- one of the rug I made to celebrate our marriage made up of the clothes we wore when wooing 13 years ago, one of my leather shoe/blue jean rug, and one of my umbrella/plastic shopping bag rug.

Anyway, thought I'd mention it now, since tomorrow I need to recover from today's craziness, and get ready for my all day Anatomy and Physiology class which kicks off Sunday.

Finally, here's some artsy videos I shot last time I was back in Indiana visiting my mother in Indianapolis.

Puppies and the porch
We got to visit my mother just in time for a major winter storm. Good for her- I was there to shovel, drive her around, etc., and good for the puppies... they got to romp.I shot this in B&W as I was trying to conserve memory space on my card/computer, and it lends a nice artistic touch.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Snow circles... not due to aliens, but papillon
This is another artsy B&W I shot back in Indy as my papillon enjoyed being able to run free (amok?)
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Time lapse B&W- Birds at a bird feeder in a snow storm
And finally, a time lapse B&W of the birds flitting around the birdfeeder right outside my mother's picture window.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

PSA: AC Electricty + nipples = bad ... don't do it!

This is another one I heard on WGN radio (during a segment appropriately called "weird news roundup"(...

Dateline York PA 1/25 (where I did my chaplaincy residency... so I can well imagine the scene at the hospital she was taken to, I was a member of the trauma team there for a year) from inyork.com

Jan 25, 2008 — A woman is dead and her husband is in jail after what police are calling a case of "bizarre sex" using electricity inside their Lower Windsor Township trailer.

Police charged Toby Taylor, 37, of the 100 block of Oak Leaf Drive with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. As of Thursday night, he was in York County prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Police said they responded to Taylor's home late Wednesday night in the Restless Oaks Village mobile home park for a reported electrocution that turned into a cardiac arrest.

Once there, police found Kirsten Taylor, 29, unconscious. She was taken to York Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m., according to the county coroner's office.

Toby Taylor first told police his wife was shocked as she used a hair dryer, but later admitted he had lied, charging documents state.

"He said that they hook up clips to his wife's nipples and he plugs the cord into an electric strip and he shocks her," charging documents state.

...

Police talked to Toby Taylor, who told them his wife had been shocked while using a hair dryer.

Later, police said, they could not find the dryer after Toby Taylor told them where it was.

Toby Taylor also said he had dressed his wife because he thought he was going to have to drive her to the hospital.

Police again spoke with Toby Taylor at York Hospital. It was then that he said he and his wife "have been engaging in electric shock sex and other types of extreme bondage sex for about two years," according to charging documents.

Toby Taylor told police he and his wife got home about 10 p.m. and that she went into the computer room, took off her clothes and shocked herself with the electric strip.

Remember folks, the kinky rule is Safe, Sane and Consensual. This fails on the first two counts, but if you want to know more about electricity play, consult Dr. Ruth, Tristan Taormino, that crazy old bat from Canada, whom ever...

So... AC + Nipples (pierced or unpierced) = bad... got it?
Good!

Repub Debate Last Night

Awesome!!!
Let me paraphrase"

"Hillary, Hillary, Blah, Blah, Blah, Hillary...
Democrat's Taxes, Blah, Blah, Blah, Hillary!
Glorious, Victorious, Iraq Forevah!!!!!"

They bankrupt the country of blood and treasure, and this all they have to say.
I would think they would at least say, "OOPS, OUR BAD"

MORONS!!!!

Classic Liberalism 101- Jefferson and Thoreau- a grand but now nearly extinct philosophy we desperately need to bring back to life

A recent comment praising me for invoking these men's names and thought brought to mind that neither are well enough known... especially in this sad day when the major parties don't really differ substantially on taxing, spending, regulation, federalism, etc. The difference between them comes down to...

• whom to tax and regulate
  
• which of our personal and civil liberties the government should be violating-
  
• which of our personal choices they should be usurping
  

It was not always so. In the early days of our Republic, there were those who favored a big authoritarian government, and those who favored a smaller less intrusive decentralized one. The leader of the latter was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Those who follow after him are called "Jeffersonians" or "Jeffersonian Liberals"

The Wikipedia aptly enough expands this:

Jeffersonians, so named after Thomas Jefferson, support a federal government with greatly constrained powers, and are strong advocates and followers of a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson himself followed and exhibited these principles. Jeffersonian philosophy also called for state and local governments to safeguard the rights and property of citizens. Jeffersonians recognized both private and common property. During his early public career, Jefferson hoped that each State and County would be smaller examples of the national American Republic. He believed that republican governments established and governing at these levels would best keep the federal government in check.

The Jeffersonian philosophy held that all men had the right to be informed, and thus, to have a say in the government. The protection and expansion of human liberty was one of the chief goals of the Jeffersonians. They also reformed their respective state systems of education. They believed that their citizens had the right and should be educated no matter their circumstance or status in life.

The most famous adage of the movement which grew out of and flowed from Jefferson's thought is "The government which governs best governs least." This was coined by Henry David Thoreau in his monumental essay "Civil Disobedience." If you've not read it... you should... BEFORE you vote, and before you let the government do any more of your thinking for you or take any more of your rights away.The Wiki's summary of this captures nice the power and point of this essay.

Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. It argues that people should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that people have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War.
...

“That government is best which governs least”

An aphorism attributed to either Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Paine — “That government is best which governs least” — actually was first found in this essay.^[3] Thoreau was paraphrasing the motto of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review: “The best government is that which governs least.”^[4]

A Paraphrased Synopsis

Governments are typically more harmful than helpful and therefore cannot be justified. Democracy is no cure for this, as majorities simply by virtue of being majorities do not also gain the virtues of wisdom and justice.

The judgment of an individual’s conscience is not necessarily or even likely inferior to the decisions of a political body or majority, and so “[i]t is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.… Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.”(¶4)

Indeed, you serve your country poorly if you do so by suppressing your conscience in favor of the law — your country needs consciences more than it needs conscienceless robots.

It is disgraceful to be associated with the United States government in particular. “I cannot for an instant recognize as my government [that] which is the slave’s government also.”(¶7)

The government is not just a little corrupt or unjust in the course of doing its otherwise-important work, but in fact, the government is primarily an agent of corruption and injustice. Because of this, it’s “not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize.”(¶8)

Political philosophers have counseled caution about revolution because the upheaval of revolution typically causes a lot of expense and suffering. However, such a cost/benefit analysis isn’t appropriate when the government is actively facilitating an injustice like slavery: Such a thing is fundamentally immoral and even if it would be difficult and expensive to stop it, it must be stopped because it is wrong. “This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.”(¶9)

We can’t blame this problem solely on pro-slavery Southern politicians, but must put the blame on those here in Massachusetts, “who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may.… There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them.”(¶10) (See also: Thoreau’s “Slavery in Massachusetts” which also advances this argument.)

Don’t just wait passively for an opportunity to vote for justice. Voting for justice is as ineffective as wishing for justice; what you need to do is to actually be just. This is not to say that you have an obligation to devote your life to fighting for justice, but you do have an obligation not to commit injustice and not to give injustice your practical support.

Which of our politicians dares speak this way today?
And for that matter, what of our body politic?

• Why have we let the politicians get away with pandering to us instead of leading us?
• Why do we settle for the lowest common denominator instead of striving to reach the

So when I talk of "Jeffersonian liberalism," "Libertarianism" Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, Adam Smith, and so forth... now you know a bit of the substance and background of it. Those other people are worthy of comment as well, but I am going to stop here to determine how much more of the free Poly Sci lecture you're really interested in.

Regardless, Jefferson and Thoreau are such monumental figures that they and their thought should be known to everyone... if only we would listen to them more and the screaming "talking heads" on TV less, we'd be a lot better off as a nation and as people.

Wednesday Weekly Weill - Speak Low

David: ride a cowboy

Rehab

look it up yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD5sahXoj0U

For your consideration...

ON FEBRUARY 5th, SEND A MESSAGE TO STROGER AND BERRIOS:

WE’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THE PATRONAGE AND CORRUPTION

THAT DRIVES UP OUR TAXES

http://www.jaypaulforcook.org/

Vote early and often: Help Citizens Against Gov't Waste chose the Porker of the Year

Citizens Against Government Waste (http://www.cagw.org) announces the nominees for Porker of the Year, and the Winners of Porker of the Month 2007

The 2007 Pork Report


I love this organization. Their only agenda is that the government should be responsible with our tax money, and they especially take aim at the congressmen and senators who insert special pork projects into bills.

Voting for the Porker of the year for 2007 is now open! The details of the nominees and voting are here: http://swineline.org/porkeroftheyear/

Good night, sweet prince...

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

A Little Cold War Fun

Do any of you remember this great commercial from the 80s?

I'm no Bill Clinton fan, but COME ON! He who has not fallen asleep during a sermon let him cast the first... nodoz

Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/01212008/news/regionalnews/01212008_bill_clinton/photo01.jpg

Dateline New York... and all over the media. The below is from the NY Post, in an article snarkily called "Bill has a dream" but its been everywhere....

January 21, 2008 -- Bill Clinton showed yesterday why he made it into the book "The Art of Napping." During an appearance at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem, the former president was caught nodding off. Clinton was there during a service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while his wife was nearby at Abyssinian Baptist Church, where she was endorsed by its minister, Rev. Calvin Butts. Clinton has had napping episodes before. Among others, he nodded off at a Mets game and at Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Look, I'd not vote for him to be dog catcher, but SO WHAT IF HE FELL ASLEEP?!

Are we really such children that when every anybody with whom we disagree or for whom we don't care does ANYTHING we can use to attack and smear them, we do so...?

When I was an acolyte, I used to fix my eyes on a spot across from me and keep my eyelids open to stay awake. When I became a pastor, I used to joke that it was the only way I could stay awake during sermons.

I'd like to say this is beneath us as a nation, but clearly it isn't... and the faces on Rushmore are weeping over it.

There Seems To Be a Dem Debate On

And it is not boring!!! The sparks are flying like crazy, and nobody is saying be like Reagan.

Just the three, this is very cool. Nobody is arming Repugs for later, either.

It is a real debate, for a change.

Monsieur et Madame papillon et ma Reine

Snark suggested I post some pictures and video of the rest of the Rug Goth family, my wife and Papillon (butterfly) dogs.

The Papillon is one of the older of the toy breeds. They go back to about the time of Columbus and are descended from Spaniels. They were bred for one purpose- to be companion dogs. Originally they were the favorites of royalty- Marie Antoinette had one (hers was floppy eared, the original ear style now known as the phalene or moth.) So they are relentlessly even aggressively friendly.

In our neighborhood, they are even more well known than I am, I dare say! They sniff out who needs some puppy love, and if they need a shoulder, some prayers, etc., then I provide those too- hence my conversations with street people, beggars, and Wincrest folk in many of my videos. I've always had a passion for society's rejects and misfits, and the pups are often my entre into their lives. I've found many a dear heart and deep soul among these people who most go out of their way to avoid. When Tess was most recently in the hospital, one went out of his way to ask after US every day he saw me.

Every night our dogs- Killian the black and white male and Hilde the tricolor female- sleep on our chests and give us a puppy facial.

In the videos and stills you also see the rugs I make. You can read more about them at my main blog which Snark so kindly added to the links- Tess' chevalier Listig. I also have a dedicated blog about them on blogger- toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com

(My favorite thing with the rugs is to take clothes which are being discarded and use them to make something useful and artistic. I've found clothes laying around here many times which were unwearable, but worked great in rugs. On my rug blog or main blog, you can also see my masterwork, a rug I made from the clothes Tess and I wore when we wooed and wed. They didn't fit anymore, but they had great sentimental value. The rug is now the centerpiece of our bedroom, as you'll see in the pix and vids.)

As for my beloved wife Tess, I hardly know where to begin! We've been in love 13 years, married 12+. She is disabled with chronic daily migraines, which is what brought us to Chicago and to Edgewater in specific. Her occupation from which she is disabled was as a professor of theology and Biblical and modern languages.

She's having a rough day with the front moving through and is eagerly waiting for me to come back and cuddle the pain away, so I'll save more gushing about her for later, and just dump some pix and vids on you. Enjoy!

This first video is new today... it shows a typical and touching scene in our home

Online Videos by Veoh.com

This was us doing what I call "Word nerd foreplay" yesterday- we flirted by correcting each other's grammar, and took scrabble along on our honeymoon, and here we are, still going at it, *grin*

Online Videos by Veoh.com

And here's a slideshow and some pix of the pups, often with Tess and my rugs.

---

I tried to embed the pictures as static images like I did on my multiply blog, but when I looked at the post, they came out looking awful, so to see the static images from the slideshow, click here.

Speaking of Aging Lesbians...

...or men that look like them, for those of you not at our Halloween party back in '06, here is a picture of yours truly as the incomparable Carmen Miranda, frolicking with the very, albeit delightfully so, naughty 'Officer Chris.'

HIS LAST SPEECH . . .

. . . the day before he was assassinated . . .

News flash: Neanderthal man found living in Chicago, possible missing link, or just a colossal jerk?

I heard them talking about this ad on Craig's List on AM 720 this morning.

Close to blue line, pretty much brand new condo. THree decks including a private roof deck. Blocks away from Blue line, North ave bus, and Western Ave bus. I dont really need a roommate, but i would like a girl to live here. Dont worry about being messy or whatever, i have a cleaning lady come twice a month. Drinks fine. No smoking as i just quit. You can do whatever drugs you want in your room. If their good, you need to share... hahahah. Im a professional and barely even here. Male, in good shape. 27 years old. I have everything, tv, stereo, food processor, crock pot, good knives. all you need is a bed and bedroom furniture. Rent is $450.00 including utilites if you are AVERAGE looking meaning a 6 out of 10. Each point up towards 10, you can subtract $100.00. So if you think you are a 7, $350, 10- you pay $50.00. Same thing if it goes the other way. If you are a 1 or something, be ready to fork up $950 a month. I will obviously be the judge. If you want we can also pick three people off the street and get the average of the three. Oh, and the rent can change month to month (i.e. you sit around and eat doritoes with french onion dip everyday and gain 30 pounds, you better be ready to fork over some dollars). How great of a person you are or your personality will have no bearing on your score. btw, no parties, not a lot of guests unless you are a 7 or above and your guests are equal or better females. good luck. Location: Chicago it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests PostingID: 542830561

The host and news lady were speculating what a fitting recompense would be... maybe a T-girl in a tutu... or someone from the Kitkat Lounge (if you don't understand, click on the link, and hold on to your chair!)

Be still my heaving stomach- A memo to Ms. Clinton, Rev. Huckabee, and all other preachers and politicians

I tried very hard to find a video clip of this... the words and setting and blatent mixing of church and state are bad enough, but her phony affected delivery of these lines was just stunning in its audacity!

At a historic African American church in Harlem she said

“Faith without works is dead - But works without faith is just too hard.”

To read more about this, go to this AP story, from which I also linked the picture.

---

A bit of historical background for the next phase of this rant. You've heard the Press referred to as the 4th Estate, and might have wondered what the other three were? The Wiki Article on the 4th Estate describes the situation aptly and succintly:

Novelist Jeffrey Archer in his work The Fourth Estate made this observation: "In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the 'Estate General'. The First Estate consisted of three hundred clergy. The Second Estate, three hundred nobles. The Third Estate, six hundred commoners. Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'"

Therefor, I would put forth this modest proposal... to be adopted unilaterally and universally because I say so, I'm right, and I'm royally sick of politicians preaching and preachers politicking!

Let it be resolved that effective immediately, Monday January 21st at 12:32 AM Greenwich Mean Time in the year 2008 AD and forever henceforth that...

1. The first estate (clergy) shall lie about God
2. The second estate (nobles... extended to government officials and elected officials) shall lie about government
3. The third estate (commoners- ie, us) shall lie about our weight, age, and sexual practices and other matters personal and really no business of anyone else anyway
   
4. The forth estate (the press) shall lie about everything.

OK, can we keep that straight now

people? Sheesh!

Is John McCain Really Too Old?

Well, "the little jerk" isn't the only one who thinks so.



Chuck for Huck has delivered his own mean-spirited "age analysis" of McCain:

"If John takes over the presidency at 72 and he ages 3-to-1, how old will he be in four years? Eighty-four years old — and can he handle that kind of pressure in that job?" Norris said, as Huckabee looked on.

"That's why I didn't pick John to support, because I'm just afraid the vice president will wind up taking over his job within that four-year presidency," added the action star.

Mind you, Chuck Norris is 67 years old and has probably been kicked in the head too many times. But my guess is Chuckie the Kicking Clown wouldn't blink an eyelash at a 67-year-old VICE President. Oh, pleeeeeeeeeease . . . if he's even THINKING of going there!

McCain could make his 95-year-old mama his running mate and I'd still take him over the rest of the ReplubliNuts. Chuckie, ya never WERE a texas ranger and ya NEVER WILL BE! Now go kick yourself in the mouth . . .

Sunday Sondheim - Weekend in the Country

One of my favorites from "A Little Night Music". Oh but what work this must be.

I'm Really Gonna Miss This Gal . . .

A sobering reminder of what too many ciggies can do, or at least, contribute to . . . Pleshette was only 70 years old. Last year she lost her hubby, Tom Poston, who also died from respiratory failure. Both had series-run roles on each of Bob Newhart's famous television series. She was also one of my favorite actresses, and always a class act.



Read the entire obit by clicking here: From Bob Thomas, The Associated Press:

Pleshette underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006.

"The Bob Newhart Show, a hit throughout its six-year run, starred comedian Newhart as a Chicago psychiatrist surrounded by eccentric patients. Pleshette provided the voice of reason.

Four years after the show ended in 1978, Newhart went on to the equally successful "Newhart" series in which he was the proprietor of a New England inn populated by more eccentrics. When that show ended in 1990, Pleshette reprised her role — from the first show — in one of the most clever final episodes in TV history.

It had Newhart waking up in the bedroom of his "The Bob Newhart Show" home with Pleshette at his side. He went on to tell her of the crazy dream he'd just had of running an inn filled with eccentrics.

"If I'm in Timbuktu, I'll fly home to do that," Pleshette said of her reaction when Newhart told her how he was thinking of ending the show.

She met her future husband, Tom Poston, when they appeared together in the 1959 Broadway comedy "The Golden Fleecing," but didn't marry him until more than 40 years later.

Although the two had a brief fling, they went on to marry others. By 2000 both were widowed and they got back together, marrying the following year.

"He was such a wonderful man. He had fun every day of his life," Pleshette said after Poston died in April 2007.



Sweet dreams, darlin' . . .

Damn, I am really craving a cigarette right now. Time for a piece of nicotine gum . . .

364 Days 21 Hours 4 Minutes

We will finally be rid of Junior.

From AmericaBlog:

One year from today, at noon, we get a new President. The Bush reign will end. He still has one full year to wreak destruction on the U.S. and the world. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Just need to make sure that it's a Democrat taking the oath of office a year from today.

Amen to that!

A libertarian take on the SC primary- A triumph of ideas over identity, principle over purity

{I've been a little coy about this in the past over on my Multiply blog since more than a few of my friends viewed Rev. Huckabee as the great white hope of the GOP, but I posted this there too. }

I'm very pleased- ebullient even- that Senator McCain won and Rev. Huckabee lost in South Carolina.

I'm even more so by the way that this broke down.

On the one hand: Rev. Huckabee has been pretending that he is the true blue Reagan conservative (yeh, and I'm the Easter bunny... only Senator Thompson can claim that mantle, and it served him sooooo well!), that he has appeal outside the Evangelical circles.

On the other hand: He's been campainging in churches, preaching in them even, and his lead issue has always been "values." That's Orwellian doublespeak for "Christian faith." If ethical values were really the issue, then Mitt Romney should have had the advantage because -what ever you think of the story of how the Book of Mormon came about, the LDS' early experiments with polygamy, etc.- the LDS church today walks the walk better than most any Christian church body. Their young people are expected to do service for both church and community, they take care of the poor and needy of their community, and so forth. None the less, consider how much anti-Mormon rhetoric has been thrown around in this campaign by so-called Christians. For pity's sake people, we're electing a PRESIDENT here, not a pope or a pastor!

Even in the [in]famous episode of South Park "All About Mormons" where the story of the Book of Mormon is told with a chorus humming "dum dum dum dum dum" in the background, the point that for most Mormons their church provides them the encouragement to be good people, love their family, etc. is made. From the Wiki article linked above...

Stan's anger doesn't much upset anyone in the Mormon family other than Gary, who confronts Stan and the other boys the next day, pointing out that he believes his religion does not need to be factually true, because it still supports good family values. Gary condemns their bigotry and ignorance, stating: "All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls." He walks away, and the episode ends as Cartman (with a new-found respect for him) says, "Damn, that kid is cool, huh?"

Finishing off on my critique of Rev. Governor Huckabee. His appeal can be summed up and paraphrased thusly: Vote for me because I'm like you. I share your social and religious values. He's running on his social and religious purity more than political experience, principles, or policies. He's so afraid of being shown to be impure in any way that he's even refused to give straight answers to questions which might show that he's less than a purely "small government, low taxes" Republican. SO WHAT?! Be different, be your own man, and be PROUD of it. I'd rather hear straight from a candidate what they believe, what they've done, and what they want to do, than have them try to tickle my ears with what they think I or some core constuency wants to hear.

I find the way he's conducted his campaign and the source of his support as small minded and divisive as if Senator Clinton were to go around saying "Vote for me, I have ovaries!" or if Senator Obama were to say, "Vote for me, I'm black." Not that I don't expect one or both of them to sink to this level... while I've been typing this, I heard a report that Oprah Winfrey's been getting hate mail because she supported a male candidate over a female candidate.

A humorous aside: Were I to be the same way, then I'd be chairman of "Alice Cooper '08".

Senator McCain, on the other hand, has focused his appeal on his qualifications to be president, and his long standing record of telling people what he believes, not what they want to hear.

I was impressed with his victory speach. He was well spoken, gracious, and did speak a lot to the "responsible, small, fiscally conservative" libertarian values which I hold most dear. He said something along the lines of "The government shouldn't be doing for us what we can better do for ourself." Amen and Amen! (Yes, that's me being funny.)

To be fair, I should also say that I was also impressived with R-G- Huck's concession speach. Were he not running on "values" and preaching in churches while running for president, the kind of things he said in his speach were ones I find generally acceptible.

---

On to the Dems, and a summation of the issues of my subject line

Most of my critiques of Rev. Governor Huckabee have parallels in how Senator Clinton has comported herself, going back to her initial election to the Senate from New York. She's from Chicago, but she made herself out be a pure New Yorker. Then there were the times she went around the country trying to affect the accent and style of each place she went. More recently, she's been backpeddling and obfuscating about her support of the initial war resolution as much as RGH has done about his tax record.

Both of them have been trying to run more on identity and purity than ideas and principle.

I don't know what to make of Senator Obama yet. His win in Iowa and his continued viability are historic. They suggest that the day may yet come in our life time when we see and live Rev. King's dream of people being judged not on the color of their skin but the quality of their character. The problem is... I don't know much about his character, I don't know what kind of president he'd make. When he's gotten specific on issues I've disagreed with most all of them, they're about as far from the classic/Jeffersonian liberal idea of "The government which governs best governs least" as you can be. But again, he's a great speaker, he's broken through a barrier which should be been destroyed long ago, and he could well be a great man. His presence in the race and his success are a good thing for America.

In summary, a bit of a history lesson, since those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it (extra points if you can ID the source of that paraphrased quotation.)

We throw around the term "fascist" in a very loose and inaccurate way. The blog "morpheme" has an excellent and extensive discussion of the word, of which I will quote only a small part.

It comes from both the Italian fascio and the Latin fasces. Both words mean “bundle”; the latter specifically refers to ““bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting” (pl. of fascis “bundle” of wood, etc.), carried before a lictor, a superior Roman magistrate, as a symbol of power over life and limb: the sticks symbolized punishment by whipping, the axe head execution by beheading” (from the Online Etymology Dictionary) Similar to the Chinese tale of a father demonstrating to his sons that one chopstick is easily broken but a bundle is stronger than the sticks that compose it, this etymology implies that Fascism is an ideology concerned with the collective and opposed to the individual.

Identity and purity politics of the sort I've spoken above are a form of this in its original etymological sense. The word has come to gain such a range of meanings and negative connotations that this denotation is now meaningless, so I shan't be applying it to any given person or group.

Rather what I'm on about is this: The original and true motto of our country was not "In God We Trust" as the revisionists would have us believe, it is the Latin phrase "e pluribus unum" as seen on the Great Seal of the United States. Varying translations are given, but it means basically "from many, one" and is often and aptly compared to the adage "United we stand."

Politics of purity and identity divide us, they break us into little groups which are set in constant conflict- men vs. women, blacks vs. whites, nascar vs. indycar, red state vs. blue state, and so forth. (Extra points if you can find the one bit of almost subliminal humor there.)

I'm alarmed when any candidate tries to peel off a section of the electorate for the sake of political advantage, be it by demonizing Mormons, homosexuals, environmentalists, homeschoolers, people on welfare, wed mothers, unwed mothers, creationists, or anyone else.

I don't know that we'll ever be able to "all just get along" but I sure would like it were we to look beyond the tips of our noses when electing the president who will lead all 300,000,000 of us in all 50 states.

Rachel Maddow!!

Just made me spit up my coffee with a hearty laugh. My capture of her comment:

"Mitt Romney bragging he won in Nevada is like bragging you were valedictorian while omitting that you were home schooled."

(Mitt was the only Repub actively campaigning in Nevada.)

MSNBC, Please give her a show! Take an hour from Tucker Dickhead or Tweety Matthews and give Rachel Maddow a show.

Banksy

Serious art lovers and rebels all seem to love the urban artist Banksy.

It must be great to walk around a corner and find one of his clever, funny graffiti murals has appeared.

The double yellow lines along the roadside in the UK mean there's no parking at any time.