AIDS Pageant
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20050228/od_nm/aids_beauty_dcIf you decided to skip the article and head straight for the pithy comments, I'll summarize. *Takes a deep breath* In Botswanna, Africa, one of the most AIDS infested countries on this planet, there is being held a contest *takes another deep breath*. This contest is called, wait for it...Miss HIV, Stigma Free. I will repeat that. The beauty contest is called Miss HIV, Stigma Free. One more time...A beauty pageant in Africa is entitled Miss HIV Stigma Free. I'm speechless [a condition that I'll fight through]. For right now, I'll let the "constestants" speak for themselves...
"We are saying here we are, we are HIV positive and it doesn't mean it's the end
of the line," 33 year old reigning Miss HIV Kgalalelo Ntsepe told Reuters in her
cluttered one room cottage, where she displays trophies of her win in 2003.
I couldn't make this up if I wanted to [and I'd have to be pretty sick to do so]. These woman-mind you, in a country in which one in three are HIV positive- are competing, in a beauty pageant...in an attempt to judge on who gives a [expletive deleted] less. That's where the stigma free comes in. Don't get me wrong, I'm an anti-stigma kinda guy *rolls eyes heavily*, but in a country where 33% of people are HIV positive, maybe HIV should be considered more of a stigma. Seems to me that if that many people are HIV positive, the stigma has been intercoursed out. But wait, there's more...
"It may just be a pageant, but it is important because it brings together people
with HIV who are open about their status," said Brad Ryder, spokesman for the
African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Programme.
Ahem, you live in a country where one in three are HIV positive...You mean to tell me that you have to have a pageant to bring people with HIV together? God help us...Everyone.
CP
Reefer Madness
So, you've probably heard that some whorish journalist taped private conversations he had with then Governor George Bush. In those tapes Bushed confessed to doing stupid things as a young adult [gasp]. These acts included...smoking pot. Of course, the President's opponents [who could use a puff or two themselves] have used that against him, turning that into *looks up* a reason to impeach the President.
A couple of things:
1. Pot? THE MAN DID COKE FOR GOD'S SAKE! And you're using pot to impeach him, Holy Jesus! Aren't there a few more pressing excuses for impeachment than pot?
2. President Bill [Shout the Stain Out] Clinton smoked pot too, yet Dems didn't call for his head on a pike.
3. Even if pot was a reasonable excuse for impeachment, try impeaching a Republican President with a Republican Senate and House.
Oy.
CP
And Justice For All
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&ncid=703&e=11&u=/afp/20050217/wl_afp/unsudandarfurrightsiccUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said the
tribunal was the best choice for ending the violence in Sudan's war-torn Darfur
region and bringing rights violators to justice.
"Referral to the ICC is the
best means by which to halt ongoing violations and prevent future ones," Arbour
told the UN Security Council at an open meeting.
You hear that all you genocidal maniacs out there, we're...taking you...to court...A court by the way, that doesn't allow for the death sentence. I don't know what I'd do if not for the UN, there'd be so little to complain about.
CP
Welcome to the Party Howard
"You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color
in a single room?," Dean asked to laughter. "Only if they had the hotel staff in
here."
Wow Howard, way to prove the Republicans calling you a liability and loose cannon wrong...you...idiot. In fairness, Dean's statement was no better nor worse than what Sen. Trent Lott said at the late Strom Thurman's 100th birthday party a few years ago...With that being said, you...Democrats, quickly now, call for the head of Howard Dean! After all, he alluded that the hotel staff is comprised mostly of black people...And God knows if a Republican said that, he would be a racist, minority hatin', cross burnin', tobacco spittin' no good SOB right? I won't hold my breath. I'm sure what'll happen is Fox News will run this clip for the next couple of months, and in 40 or so years, on the day of Howard Dean's funeral, will run it some more. On the flip side, CNN will probably run a special on Global Warming and forget that this little transgression ever happened. Chris Matthews won't feign outrage, Dan Rather won't forge documents linking Dean to the Holocaust and Keith Olberman, eh, who cares, no one watches him anyway....
At this point I would like to say that if this website had that little area where you write down your emotion, it would read Cynical.
CP
Drudge Attacks Academy,Chris Rock
Matt Drudge has recently been on a few news shows [mostly on FoxNews, imagine that] complaining about Chris Rock, who will host the upcoming Oscars. Drudge claims that Rock's profane brand of humor will make the Oscars unsafe for the ears of children watching the award show [Please, most adults I know don't watch the Oscars]. Drudge cites one particular segment of Rock's show where he claims that "Abortion clinics are a beautiful thing, because you know the girls there are [expletive deleted]-ing." At the risk of upsetting the Christian right/left...ummm...that's A: Funny, and B: True. It is dumbfounding to Drudge that a
comedian has the nerve to make fun of people, or say something sensational or offensive...He's a comedian Matt...Get over yourself.
CP
House Passes Indecency Bill
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&ncid=718&e=1&u=/ap/20050216/ap_on_go_co/congress_indecencyFrom the article
Rejecting criticism the penalties will stifle free speech and homogenize radio
and TV broadcasts, bill supporters said stiff fines were needed to give
deep-pocketed broadcasters more incentive to clean up their programs and to help
assure parents that their children won't be exposed to inappropriate material.
Right, because honestly, how the Hell are we supposed to expect parents to assure themselves that their children aren't exposed to inappropriate material?
The bill now allows for a maximum fine of $500,000 for "inappropriate behavior". A large amount of suspected
rapists have their bail set at under $500,000. It's good to live in a country that has its priorities in order. Republicans and Democrats alike are proud of themselves, here's what one of them, Joe Barton [R] of Texas had to say...
This legislation makes great strides in making it safe for families to come back
into their living room.
Safe? Right...You can come back from underneath the bed children, the breasts are gone, and I promise, they'll never come back...Ever.
Well, it sure is a good thing that the Founding Fathers, in their infinite wisdom, decided not to make it illegal for the government to restrict the press...Oh...Wait...Whatever, who reads the Constitution any more anyway, it's so 18th Century.
CP
Read my lips, Part Deux
President Bush said today that he would "not rule out" a tax increase on people who make more than 90 grand per year in order to fund Social Security. It's deja vu all over again. It blows my mind how anyone can actually refer to this man as "conservative", needless to say "right-wing".
Amnesty to illegals.... Check
Raising tariffs..............Check
Tax increase................Check
Gov't size/budget increase...Check
That seems ,dare I say, Kerryesque.
CP
Police To Sue Unruly Senior
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=816&ncid=816&e=1&u=/ap/20050215/ap_on_fe_st/cane_attackEvery now and then I like to post [I say like, though I never have, so that is, I will post...] odd news stories. This one caught my eye. From the article,
Prosecutors were considering Tuesday whether to file charges against a
79-year-old woman who police say injured two officers when she struck them with
a wooden cane. The officers, both of whom were treated for their
injuries at area hospitals, were hurt after they arrived at the woman's home to
check on her welfare. One officer had a separated shoulder and hand injury while
the other might have suffered a mild concussion, said Jaimee Thirion, a
spokeswoman for St. Joseph County police.
A police officer, trained to take down dangerous criminals was smacked around by an 80 year old with a walking cane. Wait, it get's better, here's what the county's esteemed prosecutor had to say...St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak said officers were called to the home to investigate a possible domestic abuse charge against the caretaker.
"This is a serious concern because police are there to protect all of us,"
Dvorak said.
Protect us? Mr. Dvorak, you're officers couldn't protect
themselves from a
79 year old women; let's not get ahead of ourselves. By far the biggest gem of an excuse came from another lawyer on TV, explaining what happened, and why it was so dastardly.
"The defendant snuck up on the officers and assaulted them with a deadly
weapon."
I can't help but smile when someone brings up the possibility of
a 79 year old "sneaking". God be with the good people of South Bend, Indiana.
CP
Ward Churchill
I was just scanning through my favorite websites. I passed through Bill O'Reilly's, don't' worry, it's for entertainment value only. Apparently he still has his nickers in a twist about Ward Churchill. While listening to his and Michael Savage's radio show [again, entertaining], I've been startled by many callers who have stated with absolute certainty that Americans have no right to say something that "is damaging to the country". Oy vey. I'm no Ward Churchill fan, but gee whiz. Was he an absolute moron for calling Sept. 11th victims little Eichmanns? Absolutely. Is he well within his rights in doing so, absolutely. Furthermore, since he works for a public university [and therefore, the government], firing him would be overtly unconstitutional. So go ahead, hate Ward Churchill, that's justifiable, he's a horrible person. But respect his and your right to free expression, no matter how offensive it is.
CP
Houston, we have a problem
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23242-2005Feb14.htmlThe Missile defense system underwent a test yesterday, and failed, miserably. The interceptor rocket who's job it is to blow enemy missiles out of the sky, did not, itself, get into the air. Experts were surprised by the system's failure, and with good reason, given its success in the past. I wonder how much money that thing costs to test, needless to say create. Not that we need any of that money though. I mean, the roads in this country are in perfect shape, the state of our education couldn't be better, our boarder with Mexico doesn't resemble a cheese grater and we're certainly not facing down the largest budgit deficit ever [thank God]. So now that our country is completely devoid of problems, we can afford to appease our inner Star Trek fan with missile defense and the like. I'm sure glad terrorists are predictable enough to attack us with missiles.
CP
Iraq Election Results...Anyone?
As you probably know, the Iraqi election results were in. Oh, you'd know that, unless you read the New York Times, here are today's front page headlines shown below.
A Former Exile Sees His Hopes Revive in Iraq-No, nothing about the election
here.
Iraqi Insurgents Step Up Attacks After Election-Hey, at least they say the
word election.
In a Saffron Ribbon, A Billowy Gift to the City-In a related
story, no one cares.
Detainee Says He Was Tortured in U.S. Custody-More
good news.
AIDS Report Brings Alarm, Not Surprise-Then why is it on the front
page?
Fat Substitute, Once Praised, Is Pushed Out of the Kitchen-Slow news day,
huh?
Sense a trend? Oh, well, maybe page three...Brazil, Bowing to Protests, Reopens Logging in Amazon. Page four? Mexico Opens Files Related to '71 Killing. Page five...
CP
Don't drink the tea
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&ncid=703&e=10&u=/ap/20050210/ap_on_go_pr_wh/scotus_religious_teaIt seems as though our Supreme Court is finally taking aim at the pressing issues in our country. No, not the PATRIOT ACT, and its illegality; no, not Affirmative Action and its illegality. The Supreme Court of the United States of America has tea in its crosshairs. Apparently a church in New Mexico is using a halllucinogenic tea in its services that our government has deemed "potentially dangerous" [you know, like cars, knives, cell phones, football, runnning...]. And to think that I've said that the Supreme Court is failing miserably at its task of upholding the Constitution! Anyway, even our newly appointed Attorney General has gotten in on the act. Alberto Gonzales has stated that a lower court's decision that allowed this church to import this tea from Brazil into the United States was "wrong". I'm sorry buddy, you're the highest ranking law official in my country, you're going to have to do better than that.
Maybe I've got my priorities mixed up, but it just doesn't seem to me that the highest [no pun intended] Court in the land should be spending its valuable time deciding that 140 church-goers in New Mexico can't drink spiked Jesus juice during Mass.
Fiscal Responsibility?
DNC Chairman Howard "the Hammer" Dean made his first speech as Chairman today, this was particuarly amusing,
"We Democrats believe in fiscal responsibility, and we're the only ones who have
delivered it."
Yeah, we've heard Howard, you balanced the sprawling budget of the great state of Vermont. That doesn't mean I have to believe that the Democratic Party is the epitome of economic restraint. And then we've got the Bush Administration, oy. Calling all Third Parties, calling all Third Parties...
CP
Howard Dean, DNC Chair; Democrats, this is your face
Well, Howard Dean is all but the Democratic Party's Chairman, begging the question, do Democrats understand that Americans have thoroughly rejected their agenda, and are not fans of liberalism? The answer is apparently, no. It seems as though Democrats believe that their message was not conveyed to Americans clearly enough. Senator John Kerry [remember him?] has stated that "the Democratic Party doesn't need a makeover." Okay, Democrats, John Kerry is giving you advise on how to win a Presidential eleciton. I'll repeat that,
John Kerry is giving you advice on how to win an election. We need an opposition party in this country; for the love of God, don't take his advice.
Still, it seems the Democrats believe that those ignorant, intolerant Evangelicals outside of LA and New York City need to have liberal ideals hammered into their heads; Red America, meet the Hammer.
CP
*When I say Democrats, I mean politicians, not voters.
Intro
Hello, this blog will be about current events, politics, and basically, whatever else I want...More later. By the way, I'm a libertarian,
not a conservative.CP
