Cities of the dead

Norte,the North Manila Cemetery is home to about 50,000 living residents in Manila's largest public burial ground. These impovershed residents happily share space with spirits and the dead.

For the living, Cities of the Dead are difficult: no running water or plumbing, no electricity. Buckets of human waste are dumped in the "streets." Still, it beats living in some of the itinerant slums, such as Tondo in Manila, where the destitute homeless live on top of a garbage dump run rampant with disease and crime.

In Cairo, more than 5 million living Egyptians live in Cities of the Dead. The historic belief in Egypt is that the cemeteries are an active part of the community and not exclusively for the dead. However, in contemporary Egypt, these cities are illegal. The living residents have no status.

Actually, Egyptians never call the sprawling cemetery at the eastern edge of Cairo 'City of the Dead.' Only Westerners do. Cairenes prefer to call it simply the arafa, the cemetery, and it is as much a part of the topography here as glass and steel skyscrapers are in Hong Kong. But what better name than City of the Dead to describe the four-mile-long walled necropolis that houses thousands of families and countless small businesses? Video stores, car repair shops and tile factories line the main arteries of the cemetery, and cramped buses deliver hoards of commuters at the end of each work day. Furniture makers ply their craft inside tombs and streams of uniformed children parade to and from school, stopping for a quick soccer game between the cenotaphs. The arafa is a necropolis turned metropolis, where the needs of the living have far outpaced the sanctity of the dead. Go with a local and see if he can talk to the swarms of children there and have one of them guide you to a house for a peek at the tombs behind the closed doors. Don't visit alone.

But back to Manila, and Norte. Year-round, Norte is a thriving city, teeming with commerce. There are makeshift neighborhood kiosks that sell noodles, rice and cellphone cards. Vendors wander the streets peddling ice cream and bottled soda.

The cemetery has its own taxi fleet: Drivers line up inside the main gate on motorized scooters, waiting to ferry commuters to their jobs as maids and restaurant workers. The cemetery is divided by class: Although no one pays rent, jobless squatters who do no work are at the bottom of the heap and are shunned. City Hall workers and policemen also live here.

In one exclusive area, paid caretakers of the gravesite of the family of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — an immense pyramid flanked by marble sphinxes — enjoy air conditioning, cable television and a washer and dryer.

Hollywood March for Peace Oct. 28 - random images

I confess, we left before the end of the march. It was slated to begin at noon, and it started a little after 1 PM. Alicia had a gig in Ojai Saturday night, and I had to catch up with some other friends at about 4 PM, so we only marched for about half the route. Which means we didn't get to the CNN building, where there were about 5000 people gathered to listen to Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic, Arun Ghandi, and several others. We were not the only ones to leave early, but I still feel a tiny bit guilty. As part of the Code Pink women, we gathered signatures for the Give Peace a Chance petition, which you can also sign by clicking on the link.

It was an interesting mix. And it was a reminder to me about how scattered the left and liberal factions are. The focus of this march and rally was to get us out of Iraq now, to show clearly how this administration lied, lies and lies. But there were the militant Vegetarians who, megaphone in hand, told people that if you eat meat, you are supporting the war in Iraq. "Ghandi was a vegetarian" they said. Well, so was Hitler. Get your own damn march, and focus on what's important.

And there were the anti-Israel people. Posters said "US/Israel out of the Middle East." I tried to avoid standing anywhere near them. The current government of Israel is a pawn to Bushco; no doubt. But I no more want to see the destruction of Israel than I do the destruction of the USA. I do want to see our current administration impeached and imprisoned; and I want to see the same in Israel. But this march was about Iraq, about OUR nation's crimes.

Then there were the Topanga Canyon people. One guy was really cute, and we just chatted away over the Loose Change DVDs, how bizarre was that? But when the march actually began, their guy in charge kept telling our little group that we weren't marching correctly, we weren't in the right order, or something like that. So strange.

I got a bumper sticker for my car: War is over, if you want it. Peace.

Peace Parade in Hollywood today

We congregate at noon at Hollywood and Vine, or watch the live video/audio web stream from the heart of the movement at LIVE WEBSTREAM AT NOON: here if you are unable to attend.

Ghandi's grandson, Arun Ghandi, will lead the march. Please join us to celebrate the dawning of the new world peace movement, or at
least be with us in spirit by tuning in the web stream at the link above.

"Peace is essential. Whenever we can work for peace ...and plant the seeds in
the minds of people... we must do it" - ARUN GHANDI, 2006

72 year old Arun Ghandi will take the first step barefoot, on the centennial of his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi's first non-violent action. I will be there, along with Alicia.

Why now: Now's the time to be the change! The Southland, where Gandhi's ashes were actually laid to rest is the launching point of worldwide peace parades planned for Egypt, Canada, Italy, Austria, and Japan!

THE HOLLYWOOD PARADE FOR WORLD PEACE IS PRODUCED AND SPONSORED BY:

Harrison & Linda Blake - Executive Producers,
And co-sponsored by THE A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.

Peace!

Friday grandbaby blogging

I have these wonderful photos of Bean trying on her halloween costume, she's going as a big chicken. She thinks that's funny.

Halliburton Solves Global Warming

Hat tip to Lulu Maude for pointing out Halliburton's brand new SurvivaBall. Designed to protect corporate managers from abrupt climate changes, these SurvivaBalls are essentially gated communities for one.

They were unveiled at the Catastrophic Loss Conference recently to thunderous applause. Vice President Dick Cheney will get one with a Vice Presidential Seal and a special compartment to hold his shotgun.

"Most scientists believe global warming is certain to cause an accelerating onslaught of hurricanes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, etc. and that a world-destroying disaster is increasingly possible. For example, Arctic melt has slowed the Gulf Stream by 30% in just the last decade; if the Gulf Stream stops, Europe will suddenly become just as cold as Alaska. Global heat and flooding events are also increasingly possible.

In order to head off such catastrophic scenarios, scientists agree we must reduce our carbon emissions by 70% within the next few years. Doing that would seriously undermine corporate profits, however, and so a more forward-thinking solution is needed."





The devices - looking like huge inflatable orbs - will include sophisticated communications systems, nutrient gathering capacities, onboard medical facilities, and a daunting defense infrastructure to ensure that the corporate mission will not go unfulfilled even when most human life is rendered impossible by catastrophes or the consequent epidemics and armed conflicts.







The SurvivaBall builds on Halliburton's reputation as a disaster and conflict industry innovator.






You can even hand out your business cards in a SurvivaBall Suit. They come in one size fits most, and only one color: WASP White.

Follow the Money

A US audit shows that 50% of the budgeted Iraq reconstruction funds are going to administrative costs. That means half the money budgeted is NOT going to reconstruction. "In one case, the report says, KBR Incorporated, a subsidiary of the giant U.S. corporation Halliburton billed the federal government $163 million for its overhead costs in Iraq - more than 55 percent of the amount budgeted ($296 million) for the full rebuilding project."

Halliburton stock gets an "outperform" rating, as estimates rise. Halliburton 3rd Quarter net income rose a whopping 22 percent. A light hurricane season helped Halliburton, but the real boost comes from Iraq, and the budget over-runs.
"Iraq was better than expected," said Jeff Tillery, an analyst with Pickering Energy Partners Inc. "Overall, there is nothing really to question or be skeptical about. I think the results are very good."

Vice President Dick Cheney (who used to run Halliburton) seems to agree. Last week he told Rush Limbaugh regarding the Iraqi government, "If you look at the general, overall situation, they're doing remarkably well." The vice president also acknowledged there's some concern because the war wasn't over "instantaneously." October, which isn't over yet, has had the highest number of US dead; we've been in Iraq just one month less than the entire time it took us to fight and win World War II, but overall, Iraq is doing remarkably well.

For whom, Mr. Cheney?

Mid-Terms are two weeks away

Do you know how (or if) your vote will be tallied? A big hat tip to Tina for alerting us to this tidbit: Illinois Ballot Integrity Project hacks into Chicago voter database.

The IBIP is a not-for-profit, non-partisan civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies and to ensuring fair, accurate, and completely transparent elections.

The Diebold machines operate on proprietary software which is easily hacked. In a paper last month, "Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine," (available here) Princeton computer professor Edward W. Felten and two graduate students Ariel J. Feldman and J. Alex Halderman discussed a common Diebold machine. They showed that anyone who gets access to the machine and its memory card for literally a minute or two could easily install the group's invisible vote-stealing software on the machine. (Poll workers and others have unsupervised access for much longer periods.) Changing all logs, counters, and associated records to reflect the bogus vote count that it generates, the software installed by the infected memory card (similar to a floppy disk) would be undetectable. In fact, the software would delete itself at the end of Election Day.

Do NOT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM VOTING. Vote, and tell people how you vote.

As subtle as a sledgehammer

The Republicans have no class. Trailing in polls, party runs TV ad starring bin Laden. Not the first time terror threat used in bid to sway vote.


"They will not come to their senses unless the attacks fall on their heads and ... until the battle has moved inside America," bin Laden says, according to the script, lifted from a 2001 interview he gave to Al Jazeera.

The final frame appears to show a nuclear attack.

"These are the stakes," says the accompanying graphic.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm more afraid of the proprietary software in the Diebold machines; I'm more afraid of my vote not counting, or not being counted at all; I'm more afraid of the Republicans stealing votes then I am of Osama bin Laden, who is probably dead anyway.

And, just to prove Sean Hannity to be the idiot he is, Democrats should get up off their asses and vote! Vote in record numbers. Vote early in states where it is allowed, or if you are traveling. Vote.

Guest posting at The Fat Lady Sings today

The Fat Lady Sings is laid up with a bad back, and has asked a few people to guest post in her absence. I'm honored to be among them. So, today's post is over there.

Friday grandbaby blogging

Musical baby loves all kinds of music. She loves classical: the opening track on a Baby Einstein CD is a medley from the opera "The Barber Of Seville", and as soon as she hears it, she starts dancing and laughing in time to the music. She loves rock. She loves jazz. She loves all things Sesame Street. But this is NOT her IPOD, it's daddy's.

And yesterday when we spoke on the phone, she listened intently as I sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" - and when I finished, she said with great authority "AGIN". Oh, and her new favorite word is "THIS." The reason we got to speak on the phone yesterday is because my daughter and I were speaking, and Bean pointed to it and said "THIS."

She's running for President in 44 years.

Read this post

We stand at a distinct turning point, politically, ethically, morally, socially, environmentaly. I read a beautiful post at BluePRintX that Tony Bridge wrote specific to the environmental crisis that I urge everyone to read, and participate in.

He begins: "Imagine a world without hatred and fear. Imagine a world where people lived together, working for the common good, in tune with and respectful of the planet, aware of the amazing biosphere on which we stand and determined to allow it to continue, to allow it to support us."

And to this I say, unless we reverse the damage we are doing to our earth, there will be no earth to wage war over. The circle goes round and round, but eventually comes home to me. The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step.

What's next?

Henry David Thoreau, in his essay "On Civil Disobedience", wrote: "Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."

Our current government does not command my respect. It commands my deep disdain, my rage, my shame. Thoreau was writing in protest of the US invasion of Mexico, but his words hold true today: "All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolution of '75. If one were to tell me that this was a bad government because it taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is most probable that I should not make an ado about it, for I can do without them. All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make a stir about it. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer. In other words, when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is that fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army." (emphasis mine.)

Why do we not perform acts of Civil Disobedience? Beyond Camp Casey, where are the sit-ins protesting the war? Other than Keith Olbermann I am hard-pressed to find a newsperson who actually dares to speak the truth on television. We blog. We write about this over and over, and sometimes I think we are preaching to the choir, and we need to take our message out to the streets. But not violently. Violence is an act of cowardice. It takes courage to say no, and to stand behind our beliefs. It takes real courage to risk everything for dignity and freedom in an enviroment that lionizes fear.

I am not a professional organizer; I am not a political pundit. I'm a travel agent. I show up to work, and I try to be pleasant, and I try to do a good job. But I am also a citizen, and have a responsibility to make sure I live in a world I can respect. If I cannot respect my home, I am certain the rest of the world holds us in disdain as well.

The Journey of Fear Itself

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was out for an early pre-work walk. I lived next to LAX, and my path was adjacent to the runways. It was early, about 6 AM, a gorgeous day, and suddenly planes started to land coming in from the ocean. The flight pattern at LAX is this: Planes take off over the ocean, and land coming in toward the ocean. The only time this changes is because of severe weather.

I thought, "hmmm. Maybe a storm is coming in?"

And so I left for the office, stopping at the post office. For some reason, I didn't turn on NPR as I drove in. I just kept the radio off. The flags at the post office were at half staff. I walked in to purchase my stamps, and the clerk realized I was clueless. She told me that the World Trade Center had collapsed. For some reason I thought she meant the stock market, and she said no, that two planes had flown into both towers and the buildings collapsed in rubble. My knees buckled, legs became weak. And I had to get into the office, because I realized we would have clients stranded all over the South Pacific.

At 10:00 AM, we got a call from a friend at Qantas Airways: Laura Lee Morabito was supposed to have been on AA11, the first plane that hit the first tower. Her death was confirmed later that afternoon. Laura was a friend.

And while all this happened, George Walker Bush read "My Pet Goat" to school children. Even after he was informed by an aide that planes had been hijacked and used as bombs, he read to school children. Our nation was plunged into fear, and he calmly read to school children because fear is the weapon of choice for this administration.

Bush has used fear to support lies as he plunged us into war in Iraq, a war which has left more Iraqi civilians dead in three years than Saddam Hussein killed in 20. Bush has used fear to support his lies as he has determined that the Geneva Conventions don't apply to the United States. Bush has used fear to create the Military Commissions Act which he signed into law on Tuesday Oct. 17, 2006, a day which will live in infamy.

Our nation, consumed by fear, went to sleep on September 11, 2001. Fear exhausts the mind, the body, the soul. Fear tells people that they don't know enough to make sound decisions so they abdicate responsibility to those who are in authority. The problem is that this administration staged a coup in November 2000 when Florida was decided for Bush over questionable votes. This administration came into power over contested votes. Slowly, slowly, weilding the weapon of fear they have created a stranglehold on both the House and Senate; they have claimed "family values" as they behave like the thieves and terrorists they really are.

Last night, watching a clip of former President Bill Clinton, I was struck by how Presidential he still is. He said, and I paraphrase, that the problem with idiology is that there is no room for debate. When you have an idiology, you are "right" and the other guy is "wrong" and there is no room for an exchange of ideas, no room to grow, no room to compromise. Idiology is not healthy.

I believe that idiology is a form of mental illness; and mental illness speaks with an authority that sane voices do not share. Sanity sees shades of gray, and idiology and insanity only see black & white. And the idiology of THIS administration governs by fear, and with an iron fist.

October 17, 2006, Bush signed the Military Commissions Act and with that signature he shredded the Constitution. The Writ of Habeus Corpus was the foundation for all our freedom. The Writ of Habeus Corpus guaranteed the right of an accused to know what he or she is accused of, to a speedy trial, to representation by a lawyer. And now, now a person can be detained for no reason at all; without contact with others; without knowing what he or she is accused of doing.

And today we should all stand in fear of the dangerous, even criminal actions of the current administration. In less than 20 days there will be mid-term elections. I am fearful that they will be the last elections held in the United States before George W. Bush declares himself President for Life. Is that insane?

Review the last six years of his administration, review the slow shredding of our basic rights and freedoms. Then tell me he lacks the capacity to turn our nation into a dictatorship. Keith Olbermann, last night, said We have a long and painful history of ignoring the prophecy attributed to Benjamin Franklin that "those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

And I believe that the nation, asleep, has given up essential liberty. We now must bear the brunt of that weakness.

Ex-House Clerk May Be a Key in Foley’s Case

This is a quiet job, usually. Jeff Trandahl, former clerk of the House of Representatives, was little known outside of Congress until recently. And on Thursday, Mr. Trandahl is scheduled to testify before the House Ethics Committee to either corroborate, or contradict, accusations that Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) knew about Foley's sexual advances toward underage pages at least three years ago.

It is said of Mr. Trandahl that he played by the rules. It is also said that he is quite adept at navigating the waters of an institution known for protecting its own. “When the rest of the trees blow down, Jeff Trandahl will be left standing up,” said Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, who has known Mr. Trandahl for nearly a decade.

Mr. Trandahl is a gay Republican who also had a bird's eye view of what was happening in Congress. Republicans have long held a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays amongst them. Mr. Trandahl never dwelled on his sexuality. However, he also did not go to extreme lengths to conceal it, unlike Mr. Foley, who publicly acknowledged he is gay only after resigning this month.

Part of the Clerk's job is to oversee the Congressional page program, which meant that concerns about the page's welfare and conduct were routed to Trandahl. Every year, he sent some of them home for inappropriate behavior: drinking, smoking pot, or just misbehavior.

"Over the years, people who worked with him on the Hill said, Mr. Trandahl received periodic complaints that Mr. Foley was acting too friendly to the pages or interns.

The House ethics committee is trying to determine whether Mr. Trandahl simply passed along the information to Kirk Fordham, a longtime aide to Mr. Foley, or whether he alerted the speaker’s office that Mr. Foley’s overfriendly behavior had grown beyond idle gossip."

And Mr. Trandahl is not discussing the case until he testifies on Thursday.

Representative Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) says he alerted Trandahl about Foley's behavior five years ago. Last year, Trandahl and Representative John Shimkus (R-IL) confronted Foley over email messages Foley sent to a former page from Louisiana.

Somehow, I think that Denny Hastert is sweating bullets over Trandahl's testimony

The long arm of Wally-World

Wal-Mart has a goal: global domination. Wal-Mart, currently the largest retailer in the United States, is about to acquire Taiwanese-owned Trust-Mart. With that purchase, Wal-Mart will be able to duplicate in China what they've done in the USA: exploit workers by cutting benefits. Wal-Mart's health insurance options for 2007, dubbed the "value plan" and the "freedom plan," feature deductibles reaching as high as $6,000 for family coverage under the "freedom plan" -- meaning that a Wal-Mart employee selecting that plan would have to fork over $6,000 before insurance started covering their family's medical bills. That's a lot of money for a cashier earning Wal-Mart wages, and it begs some serious questions about how a deductible that high can be met without going into debt.

And it will allow them to do in China what they do in the USA: exploit customers by doing away with layaway. The company cited falling demand and credit cards as reasons for ending the policy. Consumers apparently prefer the instant gratifcation plastic can give them to the patience that is required with layaway.

Wal-Mart wants instant gratification, too. It wants people to pay up and take their merchandise home.

Left out, says customer Laura Walsh of Luray, Va., are people who are trying to live within their means and avoid credit card debt.
"For being a responsible citizen, and paying for my goods ahead of time and not digging myself into debt, this is what I get," she said.

And the acquisition will let Wal-Mart do in China what it does in the USA: bust unions and destroy neighborhoods. "Wal-Mart told the world, the aldermen and the mayor that they weren't bringing supercenters to Chicago. . . . Now, big-box living ordinance goes away and, all the sudden, we're talking supercenters. Wal-Mart has a credibility issue with the public. They're saying one thing and doing another. They owe us an explanation about why they've changed their strategy," Gannon said.

Ron Powell, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 881, said allowing Wal-Mart to build supercenters would destroy good union jobs at other stores.

"Look at what's happened all over the country, especially in small towns. They put every other grocery stores out of business. Then, they start raising their prices," Powell said.

I wonder if the goods sold in China will say "Made in America?"

The highest form of flattery

Hats off to Frederick at MCCS1977 for the following, stolen verbatim:

There was a fever over the land. A fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. Above all, there was fear. Fear of today, fear of tomorrow, fear of our neighbors, and fear of ourselves. Only when you understand that - can you understand what Hitler meant to us. Because he said to us: 'Lift your heads! Be proud to be German! There are devils among us. Communists, Liberals, Jews, Gypsies! Once these devils will be destroyed, your misery will be destroyed.' It was the old, old story of the sacrifical lamb. What about those of us who knew better? We who knew the words were lies and worse than lies? Why did we sit silent? Why did we take part? Because we loved our country! What difference does it make if a few political extremists lose their rights? What difference does it make if a few racial minorities lose their rights? It is only a passing phase. It is only a stage we are going through. It will be discarded sooner or later.

Monsters, INC.

I have Chicago Bears fever. Originally from Chicago, I admit being a Bears Fan. Chicago Cubs, too, but baseball season is over. Why do I mention football on a Monday? Because I just spent the weekend with several of my cousins, and my one cousin from San Francisco is a die hard San Francisco 49ers fan, and I get to lord it over her that my Bears are doing so well.

Other than that, I need to go back to the old Joni Mitchell song which says:

"Sitting in a park in Paris, France,
Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won't give peace a chance,
It was just a dream some of us had"

Friday grandbaby blogging

On Wednesday, I was on the phone with my daughter. Bean was in the background, chattering away. I asked daughter to put her on the phone. Beanie said nothing. So I sang "I'm a little teapot" to her. When finished, she said "Agin, agin, agin!" So I sang again. She said "Agin, agin, agin!" SO I sang a third time. Beanie put the phone down and clapped her hands.

It was the very first time she spoke on the phone!

Ron Kovic, breaking the silence

Sumo has an amazing post about Ron Kovic. Kovic, born on July 4, 1946, was a gung-ho Marine, who became one of the most vocal anti-war activists during the Viet Nam War. His article, essential reading, begins with this quote: A time comes when silence is betrayal. -- Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967

Kovic's article talks about the process of doubt for a soldier involved in an immoral war begins. The mental conditioning for a soldier is incredible. He writes:

You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told. You learned that in boot camp. You learned that the very first day at Parris Island when the drill instructors started screaming at you. It is “Yes sir” and “No sir,” and nothing in between. There is the physical and verbal abuse, the vicious threats and constant harassment to keep you off balance. It is a powerful conditioning process, a process that began long ago, long before we signed those papers at the recruit stations in our hometowns, a process deeply ingrained in the American culture and psyche, and it has shaped and influenced us from our earliest childhood.

But somewhere, something happens, and the soldier says "No. No more. This is wrong." And here, at home, the people say "No more."

Yet Bush calls us unpatriotic for dissent. He does all he can to destroy our right to assemble; to protest; to speak out. He does all he can to silence conscience. I say no more. Read the article, and speak out.

Roundup of Breaking News

Today I will leave it to other bloggers to talk about war, sex scandals, and nukular weapons of mass destruction. Other bloggers can disect the intricacies of Foleygate. Today, I will focus on what's on the minds of millions of Americans:
Dr. McDreamy; TomKat; and Mel Gibson's bender-banter.

McDreamy and Burke scuffle on the Set. Yes, it's true. Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington got into a fight over one of the more unattractive co-stars. The two men stood nose to nose (they used Scope) before Washington stormed off to his well-appointed trailer. Washington said "Our faces are too beautiful to actually hit each other." He's well-aware of what's paying HIS bills.

And Katie Holmes, engaged to Scientologist Tom Cruise, is starting to get cold feet. I wonder why? Anyway, she got a call from Cruise's former wife, actress & Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. Nicole urged Katie to go through with the marriage, saying "Please, get him out of my hair, already. I'm married to a sane guy now, and I just can't be bothered anymore."

Everybody's favorite anti-Semite, Mel Gibson, hasn't had a drink in 65 days. Gosh, he must be one of those recovery saints, who after a month without booze say, "I used to be an asshole, but now I'm perfect." Mel has been assigned to AA by a judge, which means he needs to go to meetings and collect OTHER people's autographs. So maybe Mark Foley and Mel can work out an arrangement?

Okay, I am just feeling nothing but relief from knowing that these important issues are covered. This way, those Red-State Voters who unleashed the monsters who currently hold office in the USA on the rest of us can have something to care about. I realize I left out Vince & Jen, and Brangelina, but I can only take so much at a sitting.

XXOO