How Sweet.

"A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!"
 From Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

Sing Along & Learn a Language

Nina Has The Touch.

Thanks to Dr. Mike.

Congress Passes Social Security Reform.

Thanks to Judge D.

Rien N'est Change.

"But what then is capital punishment but the most premeditated of murders, to which no criminal's deed, however calculated it may be, can be compared? For there to be equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. 
Such a monster is not encountered in private life". -Albert Camus

Thanks to Judge C.

It's good to read

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut can now be read by students in the Republic, Mo school thanks to the school board ruling making it available as independent reading.

Mark's Not in Arkansas Anymore

Our own Mark Howell helped fight off the recent Taliban attack.  He's shown here about the 2:30 point firing from a standing position (somewhat forward and toward the left), with his left side toward the camera and standing atop a blue container. Please be careful buddy.
See also Congratulations Mark Howell.

Not All Campbells Are Evil.

I’m as mad about Glencoe as the next guy and have periodically blasted the Campbells for their breach of hospitality.  In fairness, though the leader was a Campbell, only about 4 of the other soldiers who took part were Campbells.  Let's not paint them all as evil.  There have been good ones including Dr. Jenny, Craig, the 13th Duke Argyle, Kathryn Campbell Grover, and Rob Roy MacGregor's mother. The clan also had some great music.

A Hangman Without Conscience.

"Perry's willingness to execute a man who was almost certainly innocent comes uncomfortably close to regressing to the days of human sacrifice. Sacrificing an innocent man won't prevent other houses from accidentally catching fire and killing the innocent people inside, but it's clear that Perry will not hesitate to pander to voters who cling to hopes that periodic blood-letting will somehow save us all."

Rick Perry executes justice, Texas-style-Perry may have lost no sleep over Texas's 234 executions during his tenure, but the death penalty panders to crude bloodlust.  By Amanda Marcotte in The Guardian

Standing By.

Thanks to Chad

Why Pundit Picks Perry in Primary.

                       

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Oh My God, Rick Perry Is Going to Be Our Next President - Second Installment
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Thanks to Myra Hellen

                    

Two Ole Boys That's Favorites Wherever They Go.

“Quite honestly, I couldn’t put it down,” Satan wrote.  ‘It was almost like a book I would have written myself.’
In what could be construed as minor criticism of the book, Satan admitted he was ‘miffed’ that Mr. Cheney took total credit for the idea of invading Iraq, but added, ‘We were such close collaborators at the time, it may be hard for Dick to remember whose idea was whose – half the time we were finishing each other’s sentences.’”  Cheney’s Book Features Foreword by Satan ‘Couldn’t Put it Down,’ Says Prince of Darkness -The Borowitz Report
Thanks to Young Judy via Young Art

I Miss the Old GOP. Really.

“Both parties are rotten - . . . But both parties are not rotten in quite the same way. The Democrats have their share of machine politicians, careerists, corporate bagmen, egomaniacs and kooks. Nothing, however, quite matches the modern GOP.

. . .  the Republican Party is so full of lunatics. . . .[and] is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe. . . .
John P. Judis sums up the modern GOP this way:

   ‘Over the last four decades, the Republican Party has transformed from a loyal opposition into an insurrectionary party that flouts the law when it is in the majority and threatens disorder when it is the minority. It is the party of Watergate and Iran-Contra, but also of the government shutdown in 1995 and the impeachment trial of 1999. If there is an earlier American precedent for today's Republican Party, it is the antebellum Southern Democrats of John Calhoun who threatened to nullify, or disregard, federal legislation they objected to and who later led the fight to secede from the union over slavery.’"  Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult by: Mike Lofgren, Truthout.com
Thanks to BD.