What Faiza says ... Why do we not count?

People no longer send their children to schools, because of the spreading terror …Life is coming to a halt, and dying…There is no longer a meaning to life…You live here in safe, beautiful cities, you have security, water, electricity, hospitals, schools, restaurants, and clubs…People there are imprisoned in their houses, terrified…Why do you deserve to live, and we don't??And the occupation forces forbid any annunciation about the numbers of the dead and wounded in Iraq…

Come One Come All

United For Peace and Justice is holding a Peace Rally in NYC on April 29!!
Tomorrow, March 28, 2006, there is an organizational meeting.
Wanna meet Queenie's Daughter?
Well ... come on down - She will be there...
Get on Board for April 29th! Volunteer Mobilization MeetingTuesday, March 28th 2006 6:30pmNew York, NY USA

ABC News Blues

ABC News producer John Green wrote some emails fairly critical of President Bush, and those private emails are now a big source of embarassment for him.

i.e.
"Bush makes me sick"
and
"If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time, I'm going to puke,"

Of course, Mr. Greens observations were absolutely correct. Bush is sickening and can cause rational people to hurl when he stands in front of the American people and feeds them load after load of crap. But unfortunately Mr. Green is gonna feel the heat.

Brace yourself ... here come the wingnuts whining, "See the press hates us. They are mean. They say hurtful things." grrrrrrr

Why do these wonderful things keep happening to the Repugs? WHY WHY WHY....

Will a humpback whale be the next American Idol?

The songs of the humpback whale are among the most complex in the animal kingdom. Researchers have now mathematically confirmed that whales have their own syntax that uses sound units to build phrases that can be combined to form songs that last for hours.

(Tiara Tip Underwater Times)

Barbara the Barbarian Humanitarian?

NOT!

Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil...

(tiara tip Raw Story)

The New York Times: All the Factual Errors Fit to Print.

NEW YORK For the second time in less than a week, The New York Times today admitted to a serious error in a story. (source editor and publisher)

The New York Times takes itself sooo seriously ....
They are "real" journalists and what they print is NEWS.

Unless it's bullshit.

Unless somebody just makes a story up and somebody else says, "Aw, why bother to check it" and then a couple days later somebody else writes a piece that says, "Yea, that story was wrong. We just made it up. It sounded good. "

Aren't they embarassed?

Dumbocrats remain silent as Specter calls out "W"

"They want to do just as they please, for as long as they can get away with it," Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think what is going on now without congressional intervention or judicial intervention is just plain wrong."

WHY ARE THE DEMOCRATS SILENT ON THIS ISSUE?
Russ Feingold and THE REPUBLICAN PARTY are the only critics of this administration?

Good Grief.

Truth Decay from Tom's of Maine?

NEW YORK - Consumer products maker Colgate-Palmolive Co. said Tuesday it agreed to purchase control of the privately-held Tom's of Maine, which makes "natural" toothpaste and other personal care products, for $100 million in cash.

Seemed like a good idea at the time: make all natural healthcare products like toothpastes without sugars - but now money seems like a much better idea than progressive idealism in action. Hell - why not sell out ...

Because it compromises everything you have ever stood for ...

WHO CARES - We're RICH!

And there it is folks, another immorality tale brought to you by the endless greed of American's everywhere.

This should be good for the children...

Happy First Day of Spring

The Peace Congress
By Julia Ward Howe

The legendary ark of yore
Sent forth a pilgrim dove
Whose pinions fair a message bore,
An embassy of love.

Where her first foot did rest, was found
The olive branch of Peace,
And, waving this o’er Oceans bound,
She bade its tumult cease. …

The blazonry of discord glows
In the ensanguined East,
And man with man must meet as foes,
As beast encounters beast.

But human souls have power to seek
The majesty of prayer,
And, quickened by its might, to speak
Words that sound everywhere.

From these calm precincts where we meet
Intent on heavenly things,
The Dove of Peace the world shall greet
With healing on her wings.

Don't Try This At Home

Website Shock: 'For the Women of South Dakota: An Abortion Manual'...

The issue of women's reproductive rights is an issue of who owns a woman's body.

Women are giving their bodies up to the knife voluntarily, which is scary.

QD never thought she would live in the "Bad Old Days," but now she sees what occurs when people refuse to acknowledge their history.

A Sad Day and an Implausible Explanation

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miners returned to work at the Sago coal mine in West Virginia on Wednesday, more than two months after 12 men died in an underground explosion and fire that the owner, International Coal Group Inc. (ICG), says was caused by lightning.

Huff Not by George!

Arianna, just hush.

Wednesdays Couple of Heros

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) went to the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon and displayed an enormous sign that read “Dangerously Incompetent” while giving a speech attacking the Bush administration over Homeland Security funding...

and Russ Feingold for being one of the few Senators with the courage to stand up to George "I am the LAW" Bush.

Call, Email, Petition, Support ... CENSURE

A Bridge too Afar

Maman's always telling us to buy in the Dakota's because sooner rather than later it will be ocean front property ... looks like she's onto something!
A Continent Splits Apart

Today at 4: CENSURE Bush

"Censuring the President is not something that should be taken lightly. But the President has BROKEN the law and there needs to be action and accountability." Russ Feingold

Classified info even harder to come by

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley quietly revised the guidelines for determining access to classified government information last year, increasing emphasis on allegiance to the United States and allowing the government broader latitude in rejecting candidates without a clearly articulated cause ... // more at Raw Story//

We live in a facist state
Wake up and fight ere it's too late
Your kids will be screwed, your mamma too
So fight like hell - it's up to you!

First Step: Call your Senator to get them to back Russ Feingold's call for CENSURE?
firedoglake (as usual) has helpful info about this...

NY loses one of her finest

Maureen Stapleton, the Oscar-winning character actress whose subtle vulnerability and down-to-earth toughness earned her dramatic and comedic roles on stage, screen, and television, died Monday. She was 80. //more//

Actor George Clooney Sums Up QD's Feelings Exactly

"Fuck you, you weren't misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic." //more//

Look at the people next to you and be afraid

More Than Half of Americans Reject Evolution, Back Bible

More bad news for the ladies in the house or "Wake Up and Sew the Seeds of Revolution"

This is your life (if you are a woman)
(from the Independent Online)

"1% of the titled land in the world is owned by women ...
A baby girl born in the UK is likely to live to 81 - but if she is born in Swaziland, she is likely to die at 39 ...
In the US, 35% of lawyers are women but just 5% are partners in law firms ...
In the EU, women comprise 3% of chief execs of major companies ...
12 - the number of world leaders who are women (out of 191 members of the United Nations) ...
Men directed 9 out of every 10 films made in 2004..."
The list goes on and history seems to march inexorably backwards in time.

But all is not lost ... check this out ...
"When Americans were asked a follow-up of whether they strongly approve or disapprove of Bush, more than twice as many Americans say they strongly disapprove (44%) as say they strongly approve (20%) of Bush. The strong disapproval rating is the highest Gallup has measured for Bush by a percentage point, and is the highest for any president since Richard Nixon during the Watergate era. "//more//

Now Queenie's Daughter is not a betting woman because she has no available discretionary income - but if she did have the aforementioned funds ... she would bet you dollars to donuts that the smell of revolution is in the air and the writing is on the wall that George Bush and his accessories of evil will not prevail.

In fact, if the ladies would just speak as one voice and loudly say, "You may not kill our children nor may you turn our children into murderers to line your greedy piggy pockets" we could get out of this quagmire much faster. But that is the problem, isn't it. Women cannot and do not band together and fight for the rights of the humanity we bear into this world. What a shame.

Imagine all women realizing their strength...

Corporate America or Frat House

An alert reader sent QD this article from the March 3, 2006 on-line edition of the NY Post.
It is entitled "Frat House Jerks" and describes the harassment suit that is being brought against copier sales managers at Ricoh.

Why does Queenie's Daughter bring this to your attention?

Because it is just another indication that we haven't come that far, we get called way worse than "baby" and Human Resources is no where to be seen.

Remember: The good folks at Human Resources are there to protect the company and not the employees. So if, as this woman at Ricoh claims (and as her male coworker corroborates), you are subject to Frat House jokes about sexual conquest and strip clubbing during working hours, if you are called dirty words and made to feel like trash - know this - you have two choices…

Quit or Shut Up. But don't go crying to Human Resources because, while your manager may talk about screwing you - HUMAN RESOURCES WILL REALLY DO IT.

Think about that when you decide if you will let your employer slip some microchip under your skin!!!

Score Card:
Them screwing us: Infinity
Us able to use the rule of law to seek justice: Dwindling

We are all Vermonters

"I see the control of local issues getting further and further away from the people," lamented Margaret Vittum, town clerk of Hubbardton, population 752. "If we lose that, Vermont won't be Vermont anymore." <<more>>

This article really highlights the problem: a goverment for the people by the people is being taken away from the people.

March 6, 2006

Happy Birthday to Michelangelo Buonarroti and Eva Rose Parker Passalacqua!

Thoughts on this years Oscar's

Who Cares

SCOTUS Justice marries church and state

Minutes ago, in his radio broadcast, James Dobson read a personal letter of thanks to him and the Focus on the Family staff from the newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

At least we know where he stands. With his friends, "Focus on the Family."

Say "Goodbye women's reproductive rights." Say "Hello court ordered facism!"

Sinking Feeling on Katrina

This CBS article is well worth the click.
Here are the highlights.

"I'm glad it's coming out because, despite the media reports and the
general public perception that I was a dummy, that I didn’t know what I was
doing, I knew exactly what I was doing," [Michael] Brown told CBS Washington,
D.C., affiliate WUSA in an interview.

Mr. Bush, who participated in the call from his ranch in Texas, didn't ask
a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29,
but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

"I have kind a sinking feeling in my gut right now," [New Orleans Mayor
Ray] Nagin said. "I was listening to what people were saying, they didn't know,
so therefore it was an issue of a learning curve. You know, from this tape it
looks like everybody was fully aware."

Now - for all of you naysayers who think that the idea that the government intentionally blew the levees is nonsense, we ask you this: If you intentionally do not take measures to prevent the certain breech of the levee system, isn't that criminal negligence the same as intentional destruction?

Waas Up!!!!

"The president received highly classified intelligence reports containing information at odds with his justifications for going to war. "

What Bush Was Told About Iraq
By Murray Waas, National Journal

Tiara Tip Crooks and Liars

Now, QD may be a lapsed Catholic but she is pretty sure that lying is considered Un-Christian.
So is killing.
So is coveting thy neighbor's oil.

Is Eminem torture?

Rap star Eminem could sue the US government because they play his music to inmates at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay without permission. //more//

That would be hot!

Tiara Tip Queenie

Liar Liar Pants On Fire

Video Shows Bush Being Warned on Katrina
Officials Detailed a Dire Threat to New Orleans
from WAPO

What did the President know and when did he know it and at what point did he decide to lie to the American people. Just yesterday Shrub was reported to have said that he didn't realize how dire the situation in New Orleans was until he saw people screaming for help on TV.

Got that - the President of the United Stated falsely claimed to be so uninformed about the worst natural disaster in the history of this country that he had to see the news on TV before he understood what was happening.

Why does this President still have a job?

Is this what you voted for?

U.S. Is Reducing Safety Penalties for Mine Flaws
By IAN URBINA and ANDREW W. LEHREN
Published: March 2, 2006
CRAIGSVILLE, W.Va. — In its drive to foster a more cooperative relationship with mining companies, the Bush administration has decreased major fines for safety violations since 2001, and in nearly half the cases, it has not collected the fines, according to a data analysis by The New York Times. //more//

March Madness

Martini, Simone
(circa 1280-1344)
Italian painter one of the most original
and influential artists of the Sienese school.

"Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery."
(Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions)

We are not the only discombobulated ones.
We note that the glorious Jessica of GO FUG YOURSELF has recently suffered her own rageaholism relapse.

We also note that according to the Astrology Zone, March will be a tough month filled with eclipses and pitfalls and - well - let's just say, "Yes you should just buy a case of Vodka and shut yourself up for the rest of the month."

But see the problem with the "Breakfast of Champions*" solution is the weight gain and even though a C of V will help you get through a moody March, spring is just around the corner and alcohol bloat is never attractive, especially in sundress-cardigan weather.

So, how then should we duck out and wait for this ugly celestial time to end? Well, there are vitamins of course, and herbs obviously - but we have a better suggestion.

Let's all write to our elected officials and tell them:
THE PEOPLE ARE AGAINST THE INVASION OF IRAN...

You see this is our biggest fear -
The Bush Administration considers March '06 to be
Invade Iran Month.

So here's the plan.
Write to your congressperson and then buy the Kettle One, get some olives, stock up on V-8 and horseradish and maybe, maybe the worst we will have to deal with this March is a hangover, a bloated, splotchy face and the discovery that yes Virginia, vodka does smell.

*If Queenie's Daughter's recollection is correct the Breakfast of Champions according to K. Vonnegut was a gin martini, consumed in the lobby or bar of some hotel in the book of the same name...