Alan Shore Chides The Supremes About Their Own Politics & Perjury. This Is Worth The Ten Minutes. If Only The Supreme Court Would Listen.

Shore: "My point is, who are you people? You’ve transformed this court from being a governmental branch devoted to civil rights and liberties into a protector of discrimination, a guardian of government, a slave to monied interests and big business and today, Hallelujah, you seek to kill a mentally disabled man…"

Keeping One's Talents Above Ground

So many people feel so overwhelmed and disempowered by the stresses of modern life that they convince themselves they can't make a difference. So they don't even try. They bury their talents in the ground and let their spirits wither on the vine of life. I hope they will bestir themselves at least to say every day as an anonymous old man did: "I don't have the answers, life is not easy, but my heart is in the right place." Marian Wright Edelman Guide My Feet
This tip from Rev. Sandi with this note-Virg: She is an advocate for our children. She wants to rebuild a sense of community and hope and civility and caring and safety for all our children Imagine...all of us, in the midst of tenuous economic times, on-going war, and political campaigns, making a difference in the life of a child. It's up to us.

More On Idolatry-Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore.

Sing it for us John.
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore

It's Earth Day-Love Your Mother.

O GOD,
we thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the ocean and streams, for the towering hills and the whispering wind, for the trees and green grass.

We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of fields of golden wheat, and taste autumn's fruit, and rejoice in the feel of snow, and smell the breath of spring flowers.

GRANT US a heart opened wide to all this beauty; and save us from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common thornbush is aflame with your glory. Thanks to Rev. Sandi for this Earth Day prayer.

Please do a special prayer our brothers and sisters the wolf & bear whom we continue to cruelly slaughter for no reason other than our ignorance and blood lust. See, Hoppy: The Story of Wolf 253 (Hoppy is pictured above. Click here to read his story.) See also, Help End A Bear Poaching Plague

Thanks also to Jonah for the caption, Jane for the wolves, and Amy for the bears.

Idolatry

"Idolatry is the practice of ascribing absolute value to things of relative worth. Under certain circumstances money, patriotism, sexual freedom, moral principles, family loyalty, physical health, social or intellectual preeminence, and so on are fine things to have around, but to make them the standard by which all other values are measured, to make them your masters, to look to them to justify your life and save your soul is sheerest folly.
"- Frederick Buechner Wishful Thinking - Thanks to Rev. Sandi

We might add Bibles & Korans to that list. "The belief in the infallibility of the printed Bible may be the worst heresy to affect the church today." From Bibliolatry -- Bible Worship

Time

Jim and I went to the batting cages today for the first time this season. After our round Jim asked the man who runs the place if they had increased the speed on the fast machine since last year. He, empathetically and almost apologetically, said that they had not.

"Umbrella of Deterrence?"

Pope's Visit Brings Back Old Memories-Take It Away Tom

Redneck National Anthem by Rogers's Own Vernon Oxford

Bush Has the Paranoia of Nixon, the Ethics of Harding and the Good Sense of Herbert Hoover.

“Asked to rank the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other 41 American presidents, more than 61 percent of the historians concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation's history. Another 35 percent of the historians surveyed rated the Bush presidency in the 31st to 41st category, while only four of the 109 respondents ranked the current presidency as even among the top two-thirds of American administrations.’No individual president can compare to the second Bush,’ wrote one. ‘Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self, he has bankrupted the country with his disastrous war and his tax breaks for the rich, trampled on the Bill of Rights, appointed foxes in every henhouse, compounded the terrorist threat, turned a blind eye to torture and corruption and a looming ecological disaster, and squandered the rest of the world's goodwill. In short, no other president's faults have had so deleterious an effect on not only the country but the world at large.’
‘With his unprovoked and disastrous war of aggression in Iraq and his monstrous deficits, Bush has set this country on a course that will take decades to correct,’ said another historian. ‘When future historians look back to identify the moment at which the United States began to lose its position of world leadership, they will point-rightly-to the Bush presidency. Thanks to his policies, it is now easy to see America losing out to its competitors in any number of area: China is rapidly becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the next century, India the high tech and services leader, and Europe the region with the best quality of life.’
One historian indicated that his reason for rating Bush as worst is that the current president combines traits of some of his failed predecessors: ‘the paranoia of Nixon, the ethics of Harding and the good sense of Herbert Hoover. . . . . God willing, this will go down as the nadir of American politics.’ Another classified Bush as ‘an ideologue who got the nation into a totally unnecessary war, and has broken the Constitution more often than even Nixon. He is not a conservative, nor a Christian, just an immoral man . . . .’ Still another remarked that Bush's ‘denial of any personal responsibility can only be described as silly.’
‘It would be difficult to identify a President who, facing major international and domestic crises, has failed in both as clearly as President Bush,’ concluded one respondent. ‘His domestic policies,’ another noted, ‘have had the cumulative effect of shoring up a semi-permanent aristocracy of capital that dwarfs the aristocracy of land against which the founding fathers rebelled; of encouraging a mindless retreat from science and rationalism; and of crippling the nation's economic base.’
‘George Bush has combined mediocrity with malevolent policies and has thus seriously damaged the welfare and standing of the United States,’ wrote one of the historians, echoing the assessments of many of his professional colleagues. ‘Bush does only two things well,’ said one of the most distinguished historians. ‘He knows how to make the very rich very much richer, and he has an amazing talent for f**king up everything else he even approaches. His administration has been the most reckless, dangerous, irresponsible, mendacious, arrogant, self-righteous, incompetent, and deeply corrupt one in all of American history.’”
Excerpts from History News Network, HNN Poll: 61% of Historians Rate the Bush Presidency Worst By Robert S. McElvaine
Thanks to Judith for the Tip.

Folks Have Had Antipathy to People Who Aren't Like Them For A Long Time. This Is True Of Rich and Poor, But Economic Anxiety Can Make It Worse.

Anderson: You know when I was a little boy, there was an old negro farmer that lived down the road from us, named Monroe. He was ... I guess he was just a little more luckier than my daddy was. He bought himself a mule. It was a big deal in round that town. Now my daddy hated that mule. Kuse, his friends were always kidding him about, "They saw Monroe out plowing with his new mule and Monroe is going to rent another field now he had a mule." One morning that mule showed up dead. They poisoned the water. After that, there wasn't any mention about that mule around my daddy. It just never came up. One time we were driving down that road and we passed Monroe's place and we saw it was empty. He just packed up and left, I guess, he must of went up north or something. I looked over at my daddy's face, I knew he done it. He saw that I knew. He was ashamed. I guess he was ashamed. He looked at me and said, "If you ain't better than a nigger son, who are you better than?"

Ward: I think that's an excuse.

Anderson: No it's not, excuse. It's just a story about my daddy.

Ward: Where's that leave you?

Anderson: With an old man who just so full of hate that he didn't know that being poor was what was killing him.

Things are better than they were in 1964, but we ain't cured yet.

Congratulations To Clan Snoddy Member Dr. Eddie Jacobs, Even If He Didn't Invite Virgil To The Ceremony.

Dr. Eddie Jacobs was inducted into the Arkansas Academy of Electrical Engineers on April 11th. The AAEE is composed of eminent graduates from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville who graduated at least 20 years prior to induction. The purpose of the AAEE is to encourage electrical engineering students by example, to recognize graduates who have distinguished themselves as engineers and citizens, to advise the department and college in matters pertaining to electrical engineering, and to encourage donations to the department. Dr. Jacobs graduated from Paris High School in 1977 where he was active in band. He then moved back to the United States to attend the University of Arkansas. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from in 1986 and a masters degree in 1988. He worked as an analyst for Tracor Aerospace in Austin Texas from 1988 to 1989. He then accepted a position as a civilian engineer with the US Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. While there, he completed a Doctor of Science in electro-physics at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jacobs worked for the Army for 17 years with his last position being at the US Army Night Vision and Electronics Sensors Directorate where he oversaw the development of models for predicting the performance of thermal infrared and electro-optic sensors. Dr. Jacobs is currently an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Memphis; Memphis, TN. Dr. Jacobs is also the co-author of one text, many conference and professional publications, including a "Best Paper" awardof the 2003 Military Sensing Symposium Passive Sensors Conference and was the recipient of the Army Science Conference Award. Dr. Jacobs's family is still in France. He is the son of E.L. and Dorothy Jacobs and the brother of city councilwoman Edye White, all of Paris. He lives in Memphis, TN with his wife Melanie (formerly Green and also of Paris). He has three children, Ethan(24), Anna (22), and Abigail (11).

John McCain-Straight Shooter No More-Claims Campaign Finace Laws Don't Apply To Him.

". . . John McCain applied for -- and was accepted into -- the public financing system for the primary. With that acceptance came certain requirements, one of those being that he can't spend more than $56,757,500 million during the primary.

As of February 29, 2008 McCain has -- by his own admission -- exceeded that amount. The FEC Chairman David Mason says McCain can't leave the public financing system without permission of the FEC, but John McCain is thumbing his nose at that. He has imperiously announced that the law doesn't apply to him, and is refusing to answer Mason's questions regarding a loan he took out that prevents him from opting out of the public financing system.

Since the FEC doesn't have enough commissioners to take action, having been gutted by Republicans in the Senate who are blocking the appointment of a quorum, the DNC's complaint about this matter has fallen on deaf ears. (We filed a similar complaint.) If the FEC fails to act, the law allows the DNC to file suit compelling them to do so -- which they did today." DNC Files Lawsuit About Campaign Finance Weasel John McCain by Jane Hamsher

Look what they've done to your song John. Tell your handlers you are a man of principle and stick to the rules you helped create. Sing it for him Melanie.

That Was Your Mother

To Clifton Chenier, Lafayette, & Dick & Caroline who just came from there.

Blue Yodel No 8

Click here for the Fendermen's version. They did a pretty good job with it too. Jimmie would have smiled.

What 8 years of BushCheney have done to our economy

The 3 biggest hits to the economy

1. Bush's tax cuts for the rich have reduced annual tax revenue available for public needs by $300 billion each year.
2. BushCheney's occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has cost $700 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. That's about $400 million a day. Nobel Prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz says the tab is well over $2 trillion when you add rehabilitation for injured vets, replacement of military hardware, and the value of things we could have produced (but didn't) with that money over the past seven years.
3. Bushites have finished off the deregulation of banking that began in earnest during Bill Clinton's presidency. This ideological madness has caused the collapse of investment funds, banks, and the stock value of corporations that depend on them (which is to say most of Wall Street and much of the financial world), as well as a steep decline in the value of most homes in America and a sharp rise in the cost of living in them.

For a more complete explanation, see the real dope at What 8 years of BushCheney have done to our economy in the Hightower Lowdown.

Away With Rum By Gum (Until October 4)

The entire extended Clan Snoddy has decided to quit drinking (again) until the FERGUS SNODDY TRAIL RUN. Even Cousin McCroskey has taken the vow. I hope he hasn't picked the wrong week to quit.

Income Inequality Growing; Unemployment Rising; but At Least Patti's Back.

"'The incomes of the country’s highest-income families have climbed substantially, while middle- and lower-income families have seen only modest increases.'" Income Inequality Growing by Patti.

See, also, Unemployment Rising also by Patti.

Reason #11 Why We Need Either Clinton or Obama Instead of McCain-Healthcare

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Was Hanged On April 9, 1945 For Standing His Ground & Standing Up To Hitler. Thanks To Him For His Courage & Light.

"From the beginning of the Nazi power grab in 1933 Bonhoeffer helped lead the protest against Hitler and his regime. . . . Most congregations and pastoral leaders ignored the political drama, taking care of their pastoral duties, preferring not to stain their spiritual activities with secular or political concerns. Others embraced the nationalism and pride of the Nazi movement, giving it church blessing.
Bonhoeffer refused invitations to teach from the safety of Union Seminary in New York City, and returned to Germany to continue to work with the resistance. With compelling passion, this pacifist theologian became convinced that it was a lesser evil to participate in a plot to assassinate Hitler than not to do so. Documents linked him to a failed attempt on Hitler's life, and Bonhoeffer was taken to Buchenwald. On this day in 1945, he was hanged.
Bonhoeffer stands in a noble line of those who have spoken truth to power in the name of God. We need more people like him in our nation right now. The church and its leaders, including me, have been too silent during the past seven years, as we have witnessed an unprecedented assault on on our Constitution, on the separation of powers, and on the rule of domestic and international law by this President and administration. If you haven't seen the PBS Frontline documentary "Bush's War," I encourage you to do so. It is available for viewing on-line at 1. pbs.org.
After watching the chronicle of the manipulation of power that has surrounded the White House in its pursuit of war, I found myself deeply thankful for George Bush. I was grateful that he is not a person of charismatic power and deep malignant intent. He is not like Hitler. Thank God. The fearful realization came to me as I watched the documentary, that George Bush had the kind of people around him who showed themselves willing to manipulate truth and the rule of law to such an extent that they might have successfully stripped our nation of its constitutional protections in a way not unlike Germany of the 1930's. How awful things might have become had they been led by someone with more evil and competency. We still must be vigilant to prevent this flawed and troubling administration from provoking another war, with Iran, but thankfully the air is coming out of their balloon and light is being cast on darkness.
Bonhoeffer, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus have shown us the cost of discipleship and the example of speaking truth to power. May we be faithful to confront the powers and principalities in our day and to embrace the Reign of God with courage and clarity." Speaking Truth to Power by Lowell Grisham on Lowell's Blog.
Thanks to Rev. Sandi & Jenny for the tip.
See, also, Ethics and the Will of God, The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer on Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippet.

“BABY VICKI” IS 52 TODAY & STILL A BABE.

Bush Knew The Cliff Was There And Drove Us Off Anyway.

“ . . . Douglas Feith . . . was confronted by Steve Kroft with all the "miscalculations" he made as one of the primary enablers of the administration's disastrous march to war. . . . It's quite remarkable that Donald Rumsfeld of all people - in a memo Feith calls "the Parade of Horribles" - predicted exactly what the ‘downsides’ to war would be. Even more remarkable is that it seems he took every step necessary to fulfill his own doomsday prophesies. Literally every single one of these has come to fruition. Kroft summarizes some of them:
* the possibility that the U.S. could become so absorbed with its Iraq effort that it would pay inadequate attention to other serious problems;
* that war could cause more harm and entail greater costs than expected;
* that it would not go on for two to four years, but eight to 10 years;
* that terrorist networks could improve their recruiting and fundraising as a result of the U.S. being depicted as anti-Muslim;
* that Iraq could experience ethnic strife among Kurds, Sunnis and Shia;
* the war could damage America's relationship with allies and its reputation in the world community.
Feith's response?: ‘We certainly understood that these are the things that might happen. That's why we wrote them down.” Well, at least you wrote them down. 60 Minutes: Doug Feith once again earns his nickname in Crooks & Liars By: SilentPatrio

We Don't Need No Stinking Fiscal Responsibility.

The 27th Annual Rita Jenrette Memorial Bubba Float Was Last Weekend.

A good time was had by all, and, best I can tell, no one died. Thrasher has written a history called Notable Events in the History of the Rita Jenrette Memorial Bubba Float. It will be published when names are changed to protect the guilty.

JEFFERSON MUZZLE AWARDS-FCC GETS LIFETIME F**K THE FIRST AMENDMENT AWARD-FEMA'S PHONEY NEWS CONFERENCE ALSO HONORED.

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which staged a fake news conference, was among the winners' Tuesday of the 2008 Jefferson Muzzle Awards, given by a free-speech group for egregious First Amendment violations.FEMA made the list, compiled by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, for staging the news conference during the California wildfires. Agency employees posed as journalists and asked officials soft questions while real reporters got little notice of the news conference and were barred from asking questions because the conference call was 'listen only.'Center director Bob O'Neil said the bogus event was an example of fake speech substituting for free speech.
'We haven't (previously) had anything that fell into the falsification or disinformation category; this is a first," O'Neil said in a telephone interview.
The police department in Scranton, Pa., was cited for filing criminal charges against Dawn Herb, who screamed a string of profanities when a toilet in her home overflowed. Herb's neighbor, an off-duty officer, told her to tone it down. After she continued, she was charged with disorderly conduct. A judge acquitted Herb in December, saying that though her comments might be considered vulgar, she had the First Amendment right to express herself.
The Federal Communications Commission got a Lifetime Muzzle for having four citations and for being in the running nearly each year of the awards' 17-year history. The commission has been nominated mostly over how it has defined broadcast indecency following situations that included U2 frontman Bono's use of the "F-word" at a 2003 awards show and Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004. . . . FEMA Among 'Winners' of Muzzle Awards By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON
Thanks to Dr. Steve.

Charlton Heston dies

Hands are now cool enough to remove gun.
Thanks to Judge C.

Earth To McCain: Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Hoping You'll Get a Different Result Is Insanity-Not Patriotism.

“Mr. McCain was just as wrong about Basra as he was in 2003, when he said the war would be ‘brief” and be paid for by Iraqi oil revenues. Or as he was in the 1990s, when he championed extravagant State Department funding for the war instigator Ahmad Chalabi, who’d already been branded untrustworthy by the C.I.A. (The relationship between Mr. Chalabi and the former lobbyist Charles Black, now a chief McCain campaign strategist, is explored in a new book, ‘The Man Who Pushed America to War,” by Aram Roston.) . . . The difference between the Democrats and Mr. McCain going forward is clear enough: They want to find a way out of the morass, however provisional and imperfect, and he equates staying the disastrous course with patriotism. Mr. McCain's doomed promise of military ‘victory’ in Iraq is akin to Wile E. Coyote's perpetual pursuit of the Road Runner, with much higher carnage. This isn't patriotism. As the old saying goes, doing the same thing over and over again and hoping you'll get a different result is the definition of insanity.” Tet Happened, and No One Cared By FRANK RICH

Lillian Learns That A Day With Her Grandfather Can Be A Scream.

It's Been 40 Years Since Our Neighbors Burst Through Our Door Cheering Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death. I Bet, I Hope, They Are Now Appalled Too.

Forty years ago our neighbors burst through the door of the apartment that Dave, Jim, and I shared cheering Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. See, Free At Last?

He's now been dead longer than he lived, but he lived a lot. Thanks Reverend. Sorry they gunned you down.

We'll Miss You Doc.

Doc Adams was laid to his rest yesterday with spring flowers in his paws. He was a good companion and protector. Rest well my friend.

Happy Birthday Buddha

We're celebrating Buddha's birthday at Ja Wol's this Sunday, but we're not sure of the date. Jesus will be there and neither he nor Buddha give a flip about who's on the throne. I doubt that any of those ol boys & girls we claim are deities do. Still, I'm giving equal time to the Imperials. Too bad Little Anthony isn't with um.
Update:
The party was a hoot. Ja Wol put on quite a spread. The 2,572 candles she placed on the cake became one.

Bush Botched 911. Alberto Gonzales Mukasey, While Lying About Other Stuff, Admits Bush Blew It.

"If what Muskasey said this week is true -- and that's a big 'if' -- his revelation about this Afghan call that the administration knew about but didn't intercept really amounts to one of the most potent indictments yet about the Bush administration's failure to detect the plot in action. Contrary to his false claims, FISA -- for multiple reasons -- did not prevent eavesdropping on that call." Glen Greenwald

"What? The government knew about some phone call from a safe house in Afghanistan into the U.S. about 9/11? Before 9/11? ... You didn't do anything about it? Either the attorney general just admitted that the government for which he works is guilty of malfeasant complicity in the 9/11 attacks, or he's lying. I'm betting on lying, . . . If not, somebody in Congress better put that man under oath right quick." Keith Olbermann

Today Is Autism Awareness Day.

April 2, 2008 is the first World Autism Awareness Day.
". . . since the early 1990's, the rate of autism has increased exponentially around the world . . ."
This is a better look at the Autism Ribbon Sandi referenced in her comment "The autism ribbon features a jig-saw puzzle which reflects the mystery and complexity of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The different colors and shapes represent the diversity of people and families living with Autism. The brightness of the ribbon signals hope--hope thru research and increasing awareness in people who proudly wear it." See, also, 1st EVER Autism Awareness Day....One boy, 3 dogs, 27 years....

Fox "News" Poll-Bush Most Foolish-Leads Britney Spears By Seven Points.

An April Fool this month. May Fool the next-and so on and so on and scooby-dooby-doo . . .