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India's Elects First Female President
2007-07-23 18:44:00
Congratulations to the people of India for electing the first female President . In a landslide victory?a whopping 66%?Pratibha Pail, 72, was elected last Saturday. She defeated incumbent, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.India has also had a female Prime Minister?by far the more powerful position?the much-loved Indira Gandhi. (Indira was no relation to Mohandas Gandhi although he was a family friend). Indira Gandhi was the daughter of the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, of the Nehru collar. When Indira was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, it set off nationwide protests that could have spun into civil war.You may remember another female elected leader of the post-partitioned Indian state of Pakistan, the lovely Benazir Bhutto, who was elected not once but twice. In India, the position of President is mostly ceremonial, but has traditionally been one to represent and to help underprivileged in the country. Discrimination against women is still a powerful force in a country...
More About: Female , World Politics , World Cultures , Resident

If Bush Had His Way, We'd Attack Pakistan and Iran?We're Lucky He's Undergo
2007-07-20 21:28:00
Musharraf Going Down?"The Bush administration, after publicly demanding that Musharraf rein in militants linked to al Qaida, on Wednesday threatened to launch attacks into Pakistan i territory if it sees fit." Not the first time Pervez Musharraf has heard a threat of bombing extrude from the many mouths of the Bush regime. The Taliban in that area of Pakistan?North Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan?have given up on peace talks. 17 soldiers were killed in a recent clash there, and speculation has been rampant that Musharraf?whose fortunes have been waning of late with the reinstatement of his arch-enemy, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry?would send a forceful military crackdown to the region. If Paki military forces show up in the area, though, expect reprisals and a delicate situation to blow right up. Doesn't help that Bush's press-patsy, Tony Snow, shakes his skinny baboon fist in the air, droning on about U.S. military chutzpah. Meanwhile, the street cred is that Mushar...
More About: Iran , Anti-War , Progressive Politics

Happy Birthday to Me and Thanks, Mom!
2007-07-17 22:17:00
[From left to right, my daughter Jaclyn, my dad, my brother Louis, me, my mom]Every July 17, I give my sweet mama a call. She lives a long way away--in the mountains of North Carolina. On this day, I give her my thanks. "Thanks, Mom, for my birthday." When I got home from the grocery store and from yoga just now, she'd left a message for me, singing "Happy Birthday to You" in her sweet soprano, only slightly smudged by age.[Pausing to call Mom]Shucks, she's busy. Probably out partying with my dad and brother, which would mean, basically, they'd all drive to a favorite local restaurant (the more low-brow, the better) and have a little lunch. Mom is 85, Dad is 86--and still drives.I'm 45 today. Who-hoo. I am grateful to still have my parents.I'll call Mom again later. I vote that everyone make a habit of calling their mom to thank her on their birthday. After all, it's the moms who went through all the pain and struggle of our birthdays, and who know it the most intimately. It o...
More About: Personal , Happy Birthday , Hank

Harry Reid to Republicans: Give me Cloture? I'll Give You an All-nighter
2007-07-17 16:13:00
Cloture vs. All-nighter Withdraw troops no later than April, 2008Reduce the number of troops no later than 120 days after the passage of the amendment These are the two strictures of the Reed-Levin Troop Redeployment bill. In one corner are Republicans threatening a filibuster. In the other is Senate majority leader Give -'em-Hell Harry Reid , threatening cloture--which would allow up to 30 hours of debate--with no breaks. Meaning, you filibuster this puppy and you fixin' to pull an all-nighter.I remember an all-nighter in college where I downed an entire pound of peanut M-n-Ms. The feeling I got was somewhere between high and the color the the one M-n-M that's reputed to make you feel amorous. (That was the 80s, before the blue M-n-M hit the candy aisles.) When I hear all-nighter, I think green M-n-Ms. Ick. But the Senate has let us down, has let the world down, and an all-nighter is the lightest punishment I could imagine. Glad Harry Reid has the courage of the Wizard of O...
More About: Anti-War , Progressive Politics

Republican Sentator: The Bush Administration ?F?ed up? the War
2007-07-16 20:02:00
Comes as a big, fat, late, "duh" from most of us Progressive bloggers, but still shocking when a GOP big-wig senator admits this truth, using the F-word in all its infamy to describe the way the White House handled the War Against Iraq (WAG, effectively, as in Wag the Dog). The profanity-spewing senator in question? George Voinovich of Ohio. The context was that Voinovich was warning Karl The-Architect-of-the-Illegal-War Rove that Bush needed to be concerned about his legacy, ?unless he can come up with a plan that protects the troops and stabilizes the region.? Notable Republican senators have been noisily defecting from the president's side on the Iraq issue in recent weeks. But how many Republican senators does it take to screw in a lightbulb, er, draft a get-out-of-Iraq now plan? Stay tuned, for as Voinovich so ignominiously pointed out, "the fur is going to start to fly." (I would have said, "the fur is fixin' to fly" because it rolls off the tongue better and because I'm a ...
More About: Bush administration , Administration , The Bush

Firm Your Butt, Tone Your Thighs, Smooth That Cellulite--all with a Shoe?
2007-07-11 16:28:00
Earth Shoe s?Old School RenaissanceRemember Earth Shoes? I had a pair--as a girl--in the 70s. I was so proud of them, despite their clunky, over-built footbed. I wore them until they cracked in the middle. Did they improve my posture and reshape my butt? Dunno. I was a kid, so probably had good posture and butt shape then anyway. More likely it was the 'jolie-ladie" factor--the cute-ugly thing that made them so appealing to me. Like a squat, drooling English bulldog that makes you just want to tweaks it's widdle floppy cheeks, that's how I loved my Earth Shoes. Over the past few years, the Earth Shoes--originally designed by a Danish yoga master--have undergone a hip replacement and are now more cute than Herman Munsterish. (A little over $100.)Birkenstocks?Always in StyleThen there are Birkenstocks, and I don't mean just for granola-heads and academics, either. Can't deny that anyone can wear them: surfer dudettes, trustafarians, and grannies included. When I lived in Japan, I...
More About: Beauty , Cellulite , Fashion , Butt

Madonna Rocks Live Earth with Celtic-Gypsy-Spanish La Isla Bonita
2007-07-10 01:17:00
Love this performance by Madonna and company at Live Earth --great backdrop, killer twist to the old song, La Isla Bonita, with revved up, uber-spicy Gypsy singing and fiddle-work. The Goddess, pushing 50 though she may be, looks like a 20-something (kinda scary, isn't it?). If nothing else, you've gotta admit, she's a style-pioneer--always cutting edge in her taste. Her voice? Not much there, but as a former singer, I can tell you, it's close to impossible to do all that choreography onstage (I stayed in mostly one spot when I sang) and belt out any semblance of a good voice. Too much going on. All in all, I love this piece. It's so much fun to watch her, and I would so love her hand-me-down clothes (we're the same size, height and weight, amazingly--I just don't have her rock-hard physique).
More About: Music , Spanish

Bremelanotide: Hey, Baby, Come a Little Closer to Me
2007-06-28 23:54:00
Sure, I usually post articles on progressive politics. And yes, I do get burnt out with frustrations sometimes, and occasionally, yeah, I let off steam by writing about food or beauty or even [gasp] aphrodisiacs. Ever since I was a 10-year-old reading my big sister's copy of Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (at an early age, I had decided to be a sex therapist?instead, I moved to Japan and came back disillusioned with the whole Western-centricity of psycho-babble), I confess to a fascination with what substances can persuade people to, um, procreate. Used to be Spanish Fly was the only legit one. Now there's a whole pharmacopeia of prescription love potions.I had a blast covering the latest homegrown Viagra discovered in the UK recently?one that comes from the quotidian and cheap winter-flowering heather?and have also written extensively on, well, chocolate, just because it's fun. So, indulge me as I procrastinate covering the role of the U.S....
More About: Science , Baby , Nature , Aphrodisiac , Closer

John Edwards Supports Gay Pride: Mainstream Recognition for the LGBT Commun
2007-06-22 22:48:00
For the first time in U.S. history, a candidate for President is coming out of the closet to support the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community. Through his wife, anyway. It's been a long wait, my friends, and I am sorry this mainstream support could not have come sooner. But here it is: Elizabeth Edwards , spouse of presidential candidate, John Edwards , will be the keynote speaker at the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Democratic Club breakfast (that is a mouthful!) this coming Sunday.I cannot wait to read the transcript of Elizabeth Edwards' speech, or to see a snippet of it. What will she say? She was a gifted attorney during her earlier career and is the author of Saving Graces, a memoir that covers the tragic death of their son, Wade, her own struggles with breast cancer that are still ongoing, her life as a military brat, and how she found strength from the support of her community throughout it all.During the John Edwards bid for the Whi...
More About: Gay Pride , Progressive Politics

Iraq is Number 2: Where Is Your Country on "The List"?
2007-06-19 22:19:00
1. Sudan2. Iraq 3. Somalia4. Zimbabwe5. Chad What comes to mind when you read this list? Countries in states of civil war, chaos, dire poverty (well, Iraq had some oil wealth, though Saddam Hussein hoarded it)? African nations (except for the oddball, Iraq)? The list goes on: 6. Cote d'Ivoire7. Democratic Republic of Congo8. Afghanistan9. Guinea10. Central African Republic11. Haiti12. Pakistan13. North Korea Ah-ha?countries with horrible governments, failed governments. How about Failed States?Every year, The Fund for Peace puts together the "Failed States Index," a detailed list that is the analysis of "hundreds of thousands of articles from global and regional sources." Each country gets a score based on 12 criteria, such as demographic pressures, refugees, severe economic decline, criminalization of the state, deterioration of public services, etc.The 2007 Failed States Index includes first world countries as well?all get ranking, and all get assigned a discrete color zone. ...
More About: Country , World Politics , List , Progressive Politics

California Considers Canine Eugenics Bill: Purebreds Only Need Apply
2007-06-14 19:13:00
Photo at left: Our mutts, Saiki and Woogie, sharing a little kiss. Both passed away within three months of each other (from old age) this past year. We miss them. Mutts RULE!If you haven't heard, the California State Assembly has already approved a bill, AB 1634, which mandates the forced sterilization by the age of four months of all but select breeds of dogs and cats. In order to have your designated purebred pet keep its reproductive organs intact, you would have to pay a hefty fee (one site said $500) and provide evidence of your noble intent to keep the breed pure. Known euphemistically as the "California Healthy Pets Act," this legislation ought to be known as the "California Nazi Eugenics Pet Act," to go into effect April 1, 2008, pending further objections (let's hope there are lots of further objections--the bill still needs approval from the State Senate).My entire life, my family and I have had only mutts for pets. Good ol' loveable, unpredictable, mixed-breed, hybridi...
More About: Pure , Bill , Cons

Vice-monster In Chief Has New Grandson: Is Baby-Cheney a Conflict of Intere
2007-05-24 16:34:00
Just when you thought only komodo dragons and now hammerhead sharks could have virgin births, VP (for Vile & Pugnacious) Dick Cheney and his heavily face-lifted wife, Lynne, are the proud grandparents of a fresh, eight-and-a-half pound baby boy from their daughter, Mary (whose namesake had that other famous virgin birth a coupla millennia ago). While this birth may not be parthenogenesis, it is disapprove-a-genesis from the senior Monster-in-chief. Did George W. Bush come before the child with hearty congratulations and flowers? Because for sure, he did not bring gold, frankincense, or myrrh, as he is definitely NOT a wise man.For the VP and Tight-Face Lynne, this new birth is their sixth grandchild, but their first to be conceived under a policy Dick may not approve of?openly, anyway. Yeah, he gives lip service to "I want everyone to be treated fairly with respect to their living choices," but he works with Mr. Doo-Dah-Dubya (I cannot say ?works for? as we all know who has the sign...
More About: Humor , Baby , Chief , Progressive Politics , Conflict

The Decider Has Decided: Give Me a Catastrophe and I'll Be Your Emperor, or
2007-05-22 01:39:00
Just when you thought it was safe to start thinking about something innocuous like the primaries, that now start next January, thanks to Florida and New Hampshire . . . just when you thought it was safe, well, Bush progressed from anointing himself King (wiretapping private citizens without a warrant, the Patriot Act, retaliating against whistleblowers, firing federal judges, torturing anywhere and everywhere, the slaughtering of Habeas Corpus, etc.) to anointing himself Emperor . Yes, Julius Caesar Bush, you are now closer to God on the level of unprecedented Executive branch powers in the United States of America. (The same U.S. of A. that opted NOT to have a king--remember "taxation without representation"? The Revolutionary War, anyone?)And just how did Bush accomplish anointing himself Emperor of America? Quietly, without so much as a whisper in the mainstream press, and disguised with mysterious and ambiguous, you guessed it, verbiage. The one article on the feat was in The ...
More About: Progressive Politics , Give , Catastro , Astro

Intervention is the Incubator of Terrorism
2007-05-21 20:22:00
?How can all of our meddling fail to spark some terrible retribution? Have we not suffered enough - Pan Am 103, World Trade Center (1993), the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dares Salaam - not to know that intervention is the incubator of terrorism? Or will it take some cataclysmic atrocity on U.S. Soil to awaken our global gamesmen to the going price of empire.America today faces a choice of destinies. We can choose to be a peacemaker of the world, or its policeman who goes around night-sticking troublemakers until we, too, find ourselves in some bloody brawl we cannot handle." ?Pat Buchanan, in a 2000 speech while running for the PresidencyShocking, really, coming from the mouth of none other than the founder of The American Conservative, and supporter of Ron Paul in the Republican primaries. Dang, dude. If we had only listened to Pat before September 11, 2001.
More About: Terrorism , Progressive Politics , Error , Vent

Neo-demure: Get Ready for Summer and?Wait for It?Toe Cleavage!
2007-05-21 03:23:00
Honestly, I never thought about toe cleavage until--until it has officially come into vogue just now. But as the not-so-proud owner of two only-a-mother-could-love sets of finger toes--those dreaded long toes that look like fingers--I have limited fashion choices when it comes to summer footwear. Full-on sandals look downright scary on me. Best I can manage is a mule, a peep-toe sandal, or, yes, a toe-cleavage revealing sandal or flat.But what exactly is toe cleavage? Wikipedia describes it best, as usual, ?Toe cleavage is the partial exposure of a woman's toes in shoes that are cut low enough at the vamp. Low cut shoes reveal toe cleavage similar to how low cut tops reveal breast cleavage. Toe cleavage is considered to be fashionable by stylists such as Susan Conterno, columnist for FAMOUS magazine. However in 2003 concerns were raised by orthopedists and podiatrists, including by the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society, over the risks that some women were taking when they...
More About: Beauty , Fashion , Summer , Cleavage , Ready

Under Investigation for Fraud? Bribery? Corruption? You Must Be a Member of
2007-05-15 23:10:00
11 Current Members of Congress under Invest igation ; 10 Recent Members of Congress under Investigation or ConvictedSenators 1. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) Bob Menendez is under federal investigation by the U.S. attorney's office about an improper financial relationship. Representatives 2. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) Under investigation by the Justice Department for association with Jack Abramoff. 3. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) Under investigation by the Justice Department for association with Jack Abramoff. 4. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) Under investigation by the Justice Department for campaign donation irregularities. 5. Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) Under investigation by the FBI for problems with an Indian casino and for his handling of the Rep. Mark Foley scandal. 6. Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.)Under investigation by the Justice Department for soliciting bribes. 7. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.)Under inve...
More About: Fraud , Corruption , Bribery

Government Insider Asserts Bush Authorized 9/11 Attacks
2007-05-13 00:20:00
?Turning the U.S. into a Presidential Dictatorship by Manufacturing a Bogus Pearl Harbor Event?Former Senator Bob Dole's Chief of Staff, Stanley Hilton, stated in an interview with the 9/11 Truth movement leader and physicist, Alex Jones, that: ?This (9/11) was all planned. This was a government-ordered operation. Bush personally signed the order. He personally authorized the attacks. He is guilty of treason and mass murder.? Hilton is a hot-shot lawyer who was working on a class-action lawsuit from 2002 to 2004, on behalf of hundreds of September 11, 2001 victims and families.Reported Hilton, ?Our case is alleging that Bush and his puppets Rice and Cheney and Mueller and Rumsfeld and so forth, Tenet, were all involved not only in aiding and abetting and allowing 9/11 to happen but in actually ordering it to happen. Bush personally ordered it to happen.?We have some very incriminating documents as well as eye-witnesses, that Bush personally ordered this event to happen in or...
More About: Government , Inside , Over , Side

Mass Nakedness in Mexico via Spencer Tunick: ¡Viva la desnudez!
2007-05-07 19:24:00
Thousands and thousands of naked people, peaceful, resting, arranged in silence. Men, women, thin, thick, light, dark, all radically radiant in their simple nudity. Spencer Tunic k the infamous photographer of masses of nude people arranged in artistic splendor, has just completed his installation in Mexico City, May 6. The largest turnout in the history of his en masse nude photography projects?the next largest turnout for one of his shoots was 7,000?a giganormous 18,000 volunteers stripped bare in the historic Zocalo Plaza and arranged themselves as he directed. The three positions for this sitting were giving a salute, lying in a fetal position, and lying prone. Tunick uses the vast swaths of human flesh as a mosaic, and the individuals in his photos are asexual but not merely decorative. There's something elegant and surreally beautiful about his work and about his use of collections of humans as his canvas.The photos posted here?above and below?are from previous shoots, and are...
More About: Nick , Ness

9/11: Major Italian TV network: conclusive evidence that WTC Building 7 was
2007-05-03 19:13:00
In April 2007, Italian TV broadcast definitive proof that WTC Building 7 was demolished by explosives. For the rest of the series, go to luogocomune.net.
More About: Evidence , Network , That

Heckuva Job, Bushie: Terrorism Leaps 25% in 2006
2007-05-02 01:01:00
Quickie Facts from the U.S. Department of State Report on Terrorism . Rest assured, it's worse than actually reported. After all, this is a U.S. source doing the reporting. Although the results do fan the flames of the perpetual war machine for which Bush and his Grim Reapublicans provide the wheels and chassis. Also, more propaganda--and expect to see a continuing stream of this--to support a cause for attacking Iran. Makes you want to say, "Heckuva job, Bushie," in a fake Texas drawl (thanks, Lemming Herder, for reminding us Bush was a carpet-bagger and by no means a gen-you-ine Texan) for whatever part of it is actually true:Terrorist attacks worldwide shot up 25% in 2006, to a total of 14,000Terrorist attacks killed 40% more people because attackers used increasingly lethal weaponsIran remains the biggest supporter of terrorism (Propaganda from Bushco--"Iran is bad. We must attack Iran.)Attacks took place mainly in Iraq and AfghanistanAttacks claimed more than 20,000 lives, two...
More About: Progressive Politics , Error , Leap

"Impeach the Peach at the Beach" Event in Ventura, California
2007-04-30 21:44:00
Saturday was national Impeachment day and there were live protests staged all over the country. So Saturday my family and I all went to the beach (yeah, it's only a mile away) on a cloudy morning and joined with some other volunteers to help spell out the letters, "IMPEACH" in the sand. Each letter was about 20' by 20', and we mounded the letters up and surrounded them with rocks. It was hard work but fun. I got a blister on my right thumb from the shovel (that's me in the light-green t-shirt and jeans). Even my almost four-year-old Jaclyn (at the bottom of the pic above) scooped up water to pour onto our sand letters (wouldn't it be funny if the first word she learned how to write was "IMPEACH"?) Here's what our handiwork looked like at the end of the day.
More About: Event , California , Beach , Anti-War , Progressive Politics

Return of the High-waist Pant: Channeling Katherine Hepburn with Demure Sex
2007-04-26 19:10:00
Oh, I am excited about the return of the high-waist pant. Low-low-waist is so 90s and now looks a bit, well, trashy. Somewhat-low waist (a couple of inches below the waist) has been good because it's comfortable while still covering all the necessary parts--and I'm still going to wear those, especially the wide-legged ones. Medium-waist--the look that was hot in the 80s--was the style that what made me craziest of all. When pants hit you right on your waistline, you can't breathe as well. Kinda like neckties restrict the flow of blood to a man's brain. Same kind of physical annoyance.Now a true high-waist pant, one that hits a couple of inches above the waist shows off a woman's curves while throwing in an aura of demure sexiness (and voila, you can still breathe--because your tummy stretches where the material is looser). The high waist must be the right height and cut. Like Debutante Clothing blog said, they gotta have leg volume to balance the high waist. So sexy, so Katheri...
More About: High , Return , Channel , Katherine , Anne

Chain-chain-chain, Cheney of Fools / But Impeachment Now May Be the New Rul
2007-04-25 19:16:00
Chain, chain, chain, Cheney of fools Six long years you thought you were The Man But we found out about your evil plans Thought you had us where you wanted us But we ain't gonna stay your fools You treated us mean oh you treated us cruelBut impeachment now may be the new ruleChain, chain, chain, Cheney of fools Oh, my pet topic has finally come up for real?the topic Nancy Pelosi made a secret under-the-table deal with the Grim-Reapublican party not to introduce if she be made speaker. (Hey, I like Pelosi, but she did not have to sell any soul to get where she got--she had the momentum going anyway.)Back to impeachment, maverick and bold and wonderful Dennis Kucinich--who also practices yoga, by the way, just one of many reasons why I love him--has introduced articles of impeachment--bless you, Denny-boy--today against, well, Cheney. His logic was unimpeachable, insisting it's more "practical" to impeach Cheney than Bush.You know, I often wondered how that would work. We impea...
More About: Impeachment , Fool , Impeach , Peach

Famous Rampage Killings of 15 or More People during the Past Century
2007-04-19 20:32:00
Author's Note: Click the link below to see a detailed chart comparing famous rampage killings (excluding those related to war, or done by governments, such as with Tiananmen Square) where 15 or more people died, and that took place in the last century. My purpose is to show that there have been various weapons, settings, nationalities, etc., for the type of killing spree such as Cho Seung-hui perpetrated this past Monday.I feel compelled due to the backlash against my Korean-American friends to put a more balanced face on these rampage killings. Not that this information will bring us any comfort in our grief, but it should remind us that it's impossible to correctly blame any one place or time or weapon or nationality. Most mass-murderers (in the sample below) were U.S. citizens, but Australia, Cuba, Brazil, and other countries are not immune. Most weapons used were guns, but gasoline and bombs and even bare hands were used as well. This phenomenon is not just a late...
More About: People , Famous , Ring , Past , More

BREAKING NEWS: VT Mass-murderer Sent Package to NBC News
2007-04-18 22:58:00
The president of NBC News , Steve Capus, reports that he received a package today, Wednesday, from the mass-murderer, Cho Seung-hui. The package from Cho apparently contains "a manifesto of sorts, photographs and other material," as well as videos, but Capus has since turned the "multi-media manifesto" over to the FBI. Cho sent the package during the two-hour time slot between the first shooting and the second, according to the time-stamp on the package.More on MSNBC.com
More About: Breaking News , King , Breaking , Mass

Virginia Tech Mass-murderer Leaves Behind Disturbing Creative Writings
2007-04-17 22:27:00
What makes someone go postal? Does it start with a sociopathic personality, one with complete disregard for compassion? Is it more a desperate unquenchable urge to control? What turns simmering anger and hate and frustration into the thought that goes into purchasing guns and chains, plotting to attack, and killing as many as possible before the self-imposed end?EarthTimes.org reports, the Virginia Tech mass murderer, Cho Seung-hui, left a note listing his hatred of "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans." The Chicago Tribune reports the note was found in Cho's Harper Hall dorm room. Cho, 23, a legal permanent resident on a Green Card, came to the United States in 1992. He was described as a loner and even reviled by his fellow students, as shows up in FaceBook.com, in discussion groups such as "Cho Seung-Hui is pure evil," and "I Hope Cho Seung-hui Burns in Hell." On NPR this morning, there was discussion that his first female victim was also the object of his unrequi...
More About: Creative , Writings

Deadliest Shooting Incident in the US and Bush Reiterates "Right for People
2007-04-16 21:47:00
33 dead in Blacksburg, Virginia in the otherwise peaceful, gorgeous Virginia Tech campus, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A lone gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, 23, an English major at the school, was able to go on two shooting rampages?two hours and one half-mile apart. but apparently chained the doors of the classroom and the dormitory before he opened fire in each. Dozens have also been injured, some critically. "One student told CBS News the killer . . . walked into his German class and shot a student and professor before systematically shooting nearly all of the other students in the room." The gunman, as so often happens in these massacre-rampages, killed himself as well.My sister Brenda's nephew Pete is a student at Virginia Tech. She learned that Pete is OK, and they've been text-messaging each other words of love and peace, though maybe it's too soon to think about healing.Deputy Press Secretary, Dana Perino, in Tony Snow's health absence, has been voicing the unthinkable f...
More About: Bush , People , Shooting , Right , Incident

Home-grown Viagra Alternative Has UK Riled Up
2007-04-01 19:17:00
Once upon a time, the only aphrodisiacs were the ones that were reputed—by either extreme cost and rareness (rhino horn, sea turtle, whale penis, etc.), or by sheer pleasure of indulgence (chocolate, oysters, candlelit dinners at expensive restaurants, etc.) rather than actual. Oh, wait—there was one—Spanish Fly—that was apparently effective, but the over-indulgence of same could lead to death.Fast-forward to the 21st century and you have the pharmaceuticals erecting their tents of fortitude in the aphrodisiac market (if you thought this article would avoid the chance at silly puns, you were wrong!). Viagra , Cialis, Levitra and other prescription gravity-defiers came to fruition—and all reputedly work well to counteract impotence. Meanwhile, non-prescription aphrodisiacs have also made a resurgence (with such clever brand names as Rise 2, ProVigrax, PassionRX, and Zenerx). And other, more simple herbal assistants, such as yohimbe, passion flower, and horny goat weed (I am ...
More About: Alternative , Home , Grown , Agra

My Sweet Lord: Uncertain Future for Chocolate Sans Loincloth Jesus
2007-03-31 16:24:00
Gallery owners are all in a dither. Should we display the newly sculpted 200-pound milk chocolate Jesus —or refrigerate him? And if we do not side with the artist, who obviously put extreme pride in his latest work, should we risk angering the artistic community? What about artistic integrity and freedom of expression? Why do politics and ardent religious groups and art have such stringent boundaries that step on each other so painfully, they must be wondering.Manhattan's Lab Gallery spokesmen seem surprised by the volume of angry e-mails and threatening calls they have received. Just what is it that angers the mostly Catholic groups? The nudity of the sculpture, which shows Jesus' manhood in anatomically correct detail? The timing of the exhibit opening during a religiously sensitive holiday? (The life-size "My Sweet Lord ," who stretches his arms as though hanging on an invisible cross, was slated to debut the Monday after Palm Sunday, with his final day on Easter Sunday.) The f...
More About: Future , Chocolate

Where Were You When you Started to Doubt the Official 9/11 Story?
2007-03-31 00:42:00
Normally, I don't get my news from television. I'm not saying that proudly—as though I'm too good to absorb the din and clamor of the opiate of the masses, predigested spin-doctored effluvia that's seasoned heavily with propaganda. Nope, I'm saying that because I have a secret—the images of daily news are too horrific for me. What I see flashes straight through to my soul, bypassing the usual editorial board obstacle course that reason and logic have constructed over the decades. I mostly get my news from online, especially Google News ("untouched by human hands"), Truthout, and from my favorite blogs, Don't Be a Lemming, Bring It On, Postman Patel, and Robert Lindsay. I'm also fond of Newsweek (I simply filter out some of their Conservative leanings).But when September 11 hit with a giant smash on the psyche of the world, I became a televisio-drombie-zoid. I hardly slept or ate for days. I simply stared vacantly at the screen, surfed channels, and cried. The images of th...
More About: Story , Arte , Start , Star , Stor