crucifixtion at 2:30, every 30 min! The Holy Land Experience!

what a vacation getaway! You can buy stuff at the gift store, get baptised, see jesus get whipped and nailed to a cross, even see the resurrection, and get discounts and group sales prices too!  And its next to Disneyworld !  The whole thing is creepy, esp the part of emphasizing judaism - the Temple, Jerusalem, the ten commandment (mitvahs) and the roman soldiers and centurians (I dont get the whole sword fight between the roman soldier and centurians, arent they on the same side?)  You can get your picture taken with jesus, or pose with a jesus riding a Harley cycle.  Can i get his autograph?  "To mark, best wishes, JC"  There are similar places like this, in the Ozarks for example, but not on this scale.  Where do all the profits go? To Pat Robertson's diamond mines in Cote d'Ivorie?  You know Pat Robertson tried investing in blood diamonds a couple decades ago.......he had child militia's working for him....funded with??? contributions? Profits from bizarre theme parks like this one?  

Melancholia: great movie, very Bergman, very Swedish

Director Lars von Trier is the new Ingmar Bergman, his film Melancholia is about the human condition and our only salvation:  caring about and loving one another.  I think the Buddhists call this "loving kindness."  The film is in two parts, first a wedding where all the human dysfunction is played out, and the second part that shows how the family is reacting to the imminent galactic disaster of the planet Melancholia crashing into earth.  This is described as a sci fiction movie, but its really an updated Ingmar Bergman type Swedish film, and reminds me of "Cries and Whispers."  The cinematography is fantastic, with hand held cameras, beautiful settings, this film is really a work of great art.  Kirsten Dunst has come a long way from her cheerleading movies, she received best actress award at Cannes film festival for her performance, and she deserved it.
  

Republicans try new publicity tactic

You have heard of Clown Ministry, where church members dress up as clowns and spread the news of salvation and love to nursing homes and so forth - well, the republicans now have Clown Conservatism, trying to put some joy and fun into their bleak, morally tight assed messages.  Here is John Boehner and Michelle Bachman in their new clown makeup.  I dont think this works:  its freaky, it scares me, they look like zombies, wait.....they actually look better with this makeup on......

sleep apnea: lose weight

for those obese men who have sleep apnea, and have to go to a physician for referral, then to a sleep clinic for testing, then wear a device at night I have advice:  LOSE WEIGHT.  You know who you are.  Stop eating a nutritionally poor, high calorie diet, including alcohol, exercise (and i mean really work out none of this 30 min three times a week crap) alot, and slim down.  It will take months, and i mean months, to lose a significant amount of weight, but you can do it, and you dont have to go through all sorts of tests, wear devices, and sleep down the hall from others because of apnea.  this isnt rocket science (or rock science, as paris hilton says....)

woman covers herself in rotting food to attract her raccoon friends......

Ed wood script made into film staring Chritina Ricci

I have got to see this,"I woke up Early the Day I Died," (1998)  includes Kathy wood (his wife) and Vampira in walk on roles.  What is funny is that his screenplays, and novels, survive his death.  He is know for writing, producing and directing the worst movie of all time, Plan 9 From Outer Space.  Johnny Deep did a movie about wood called, "Ed Wood," which was a fantastic movie.

anyway another Ed wood novel recently made it to the big screen, "Devil Girls" in 1999.

Ed wood was an alcoholic and evicted drunk just before he died, and he wrote under a pseudonym "Akdov Telmig"  which translates with minor effort into "Vodka Gimlet."  great name. 

i support the protest, but this encampment looks kinda sketchy

360 view of occupy wall street.

Syria Human Rights Watch Report "We live As In War" - Intervention by Arab states needed

This is a picture of Aleppo, second largest city in Syria, a beautiful country with great people, remarkable history, a great vacation destination for those into history, esp Roman history.  here is another picture of Syria
At what point will there be intervention?  Arab league states need to give Assad an ultimatum - reform or get out.  looks like removing Assad is the only alternative at this point.  The message should be sent to Assad's generals, get rid of Assad and maybe you generals can keep your jobs.  But here is the latest report from Human Rights Watch, 12 page report on war crimes, abuses against Syrians by their government.

Maybe Human Rights Watch should also watch the demonstrations in the US against Wall street, and monitor police brutality against US citizens.  James Madison (and John Locke earlier ) warned against rebellion of governments against their people - they didnt believe people could rebel against government, because government rests on the consent of the governed, so when people "rebel," and the government cracks down, its really the government that is in rebellion.  (I know my political theory, dammit!)

George Carlin's opinion of Rush Limbaugh - not to be missed, Classic !

George Carlin's opinion of Rush Limbaugh, not to be missed ! Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but other times........

Nuclear Armaggeddon assembles around Iran: middle east will soon be destroyed by the US and then no one gets the oil

Here is a news report from the net, so "it must be true," but i really think it is true: "Iranian naval forces have detected a US nuclear submarine in the Persian Gulf Waters, amid growing concerns over the safety of one of the most important energy routes in the world.  An Iranian patrol spotted the nuclear armed and powered submarine in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which allows the passage of 90 percent of the oil produced by Persian Gulf states to Asia, the US and Western Europe.  There are currently 48 logistic and 18 combat US vessels in the Persian Gulf waters."



But I also read that Israel is having disaster drills simulating an air attack, suggesting that Israel is serious about striking Iran's nuclear plants and anticipating a retaliatory strike by Iran.  Supposedly, Iran doesnt have nuclear bombs yet, but Israel does.  What will US do if Israel strikes Iran?


First, Israel wont strike Iran without the US's approval.  I mean, we sell Israel most of its weapons, we give Israel more money for its welfare state than we do any other country, so damn right they better tell us.  Besides, it will be coordinated by US intelligence, and backed up by the 48 war ships we already have in the Gulf.


Second, If Iran attempts to respond, the US will unleash all hell on Iran - we dropped nukes on Japan, and we will do it to Iran if there is an attempt to destroy Israel.


Third, ........what happens after that?  Israel strikes Iran with the help of the US, the US attacks Iran because it tries to retaliate against Israel, and then what?   An even more radical regime takes power in Iran, the Shia take control of Iraq, Saudi Arabia becomes even more paranoid (dictatorships and paranoia go hand in hand, for example, the US under Richard Nixon),  and we are left with a middle east that is a mess.  


All this because we want oil.  


And because we wanted an Israel homeland, but not in Europe  (lets put it in the British Empire occupied Palestine, where only arab peasants live, and what really could they do about it if they dont like it?  great thinking Churchill ....)  As a great grandson of a Jew from Alsace Lorraine,  I think a jewish homeland away from the fascists in Europe is a great idea, but someone forgot about the arab homeland that was there before.


We need: green technology, less reliance on oil;  coal instead of oil until we fully develop green technology (which exists BTW, it just needs to be marketed by our gov and implemented over the objections of the oil companies and the f'in politicians); and we need diplomatic relations with Iran, a key to eventual peace with Israel (assuming there are any self serving politicians in Israel anymore who actually wants peace).

Kim - call me, i am single and need money and i can put up with you for 72 days

i wanted to show a picture of Kim's unattractive body, and some pictures were so horrible i was afraid some of you might get sick, so this is a good picture, showing her incongruous hips and ass.  in my nursing assessment studies, we learned to watch out for anything with a lack of symmetry, so i guess that means Kim Kardashian would be a good assessment case for students in the emergency room next time her personality gets stuck up her rectum

goodness ! that was cruel.  But supposedly Kim made $18 million off her wedding, and that doesnt include DVD sales of the wedding night porn video she must have made.  I want Kim to know, I am available for marriage:  I will put up with her, appear on her dumb reality show, go through with the whole thing, put up with her hideous face and ass for 72 days, and even have sex with her on our wedding night (just once - so she can videotape it for direct marketing $19.95 a copy plus S&H).  But i would want 1/3 of the proceeds ( I am not greedy) - that would be about $6 million gross, about $3.5 million after taxes.

This is a good deal Kim - after 72 days I would take the divorce with style and grace, agree not to write a tell all book, just as long as i got the cash you promised.  thats it.  Email me Kim, this offer will be good only so long - i have already contacted Paris Hilton with a similar offer.

Presidential race 2012 should be close? I dont think so.....

Obviously the Presidential race is heating up and candidates are seriously positioning themselves for the upcoming primaries - even sarah palin got a face life, so to speak, getting those nursing boobs photogenic - does this mean she plans to enter the race now?  So will the race be close?  the alleged news sources all say it will be a close, and negative race.  I agree about the negative part - already the racism is in full gear (google Presidential race 2012 images) and all the republicans are going far right with fear and nutty accusations.  So Obama will be the voice of reason, he will remain calm, unemployment will be lower, the stock market will be higher (esp when it is clear Obama will cruise to another term) the troops will be home from Iraq, the dems will have a convention love fest of unity, while the republicans will host the tea party nuts, allow crazy people to speak (remember GHWB #41's renomination convention, and the nut cases they allowed to speak?  It was like the a bunch of snake handling southern white trash preachers taking over the party).  So i anticipate an easy re election.  the real question is what will happen to the republican party after 2012 - it will have to reinvent itself, since the radical religious right will have made the republican party unelectable on the national level (although they will continue to win senate and house races).

so have you read this analysis anywhere? of course not.  that would mean these republican candidates are losers, there is no point in watching their train wreck, that would mean less to cover (esp since Kim Kardashian's wedding is over) so they have to create interest in the election by selling the american people a bunch of bullshit stories, backed up by paid political operatives who also have a hidden agenda (act as consultants to these losers to make money off them).

Birth Tourism (Anchor babies): Facts not fiction, there is no issue here......

Less than 2% of births in Arizona were to non resident mothers, most right over the border. that is the issue of birth tourism, about 1500 babies.  but the US Congress is actually considering clarifying the 14th amendment to prevent "birth tourism babies" to be citizens.  Which is probably unconstitutional anyway.  There are moms who come from China, and Turkery (the two most popular destinations) to give birth: they are usually 5 months pregnant or so, not showing much (INS may prevent pregnant women from entering country) and they pay up front about $50,000 to stay at a birth center and have their baby (doctor included).  then they fly home with their baby.  the objective, is to have a baby who is a US citizen, so the baby can come and go to the US someday at will.  The objective is not necessarily for the mom to somehow stay here.  Basically, they purchase US citizenship for their baby, and then take the baby back home.  Given the crappy US economy, i'd say this is a great product we can sell, at about $50,000 a pop.  The idea of Mexican moms, wading across the Rio Grande, with their 8 month old belly swelling, murmuring over and over in the hot Sonora desert, "must get to Tucson, have baby, get on welfare, get free college tuition......" isnt true.  Mostly, its affluent women who pay a lot of cash to have their baby here, and then leave. 

But yeah, some women do cross over the Arizona border, have their baby, in order to have a better life.  Wait.....isnt that what my ancestors did?  Immigrate to chicago to have kids and a better life?  What is so Un american about that?  

And dont forget, if an illegal alien gives birth in US, she wants to report it, so the baby has a birth certificate that proves the baby was born in US and therefore a citizen.  so if thats true, where are all these so called anchor babies?  Answer: anchor babies are so small a % of births, its silly to even consider it an issue.  

Birth tourism is real, but there is little proof the practice is widespread, even in border states such as Arizona, where last year less than 2 percent of babies were born to non-resident mothers.

In 2008, slightly more than 7,400 children were born in the U.S. to non-citizens who said they lived outside the country, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The figure was the most recent available. The number includes children born to women studying at U.S. universities, international visitors as well as so-called birth tourists.

It does not include a much larger number of children born to undocumented parents residing in the U.S., which supporters of limiting birthright citizenship also point to as a problem. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 350,000 children with at least one undocumented parent residing in the U.S. were born in the U.S. in 2009. That is about 8 percent of all births that year.

By comparison, birth tourism is a much smaller issue.

Although up nearly 50 percent since 2000, the 7,462 children are still just a tiny fraction of the 4,255,156 babies born in the U.S. that year.

"I feel a little like they are chasing the Loch Ness monster," said Angela Maria Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning research group in Washington, D.C.

Statistics murky

Arizona does not keep statistics on births to non-U.S. residents, but in 2010, 1,534 children were born to mothers who did not live in Arizona. That is less than 2 percent of the 88,100 total births at all hospitals in Arizona. The number includes children born to women who were residents of other states, such as California and New Mexico, as well as children born to mothers who are from Mexico or other countries.

Most of the births to non-state residents occur at hospitals close to the border, which some suggest is evidence of birth tourists.

And nearly half of all the non-resident births occurred at three hospitals: Yuma Regional Medical Center, with 283; Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, with 277; and the Tucson Medical Center, with 188.

Python killed in Florida everglades - why?

so a python ate a deer and then had to be killed?  whats wrong with this story? first of all, the deer was dead, the python was just cleaning up the everglades.  second, its what pythons do. third, this is the middle of nowhere, people are not here on foot, they are safe from the python, unless they fall out of the swamp boat, drown, die, and the python eats their corpse.  Last, how did the python get there? someone dumped their pet?  It obviously was there a long time, since it was 18 feet long - obviously thriving, minding its own business.  the story said, they didnt want pythons to move further north....what?  you mean there are more pythons?  My impression is that there was just this one, and it takes two pythons to mate, unless you are Tia Tequila (who is that anyway?)  So a solitary python, who cant reproduce, who has lived in the swamp long enough to grow to 18 feet, eats a dead deer, and has to be shotgunned to death?  Why?  who will eat the dead stuff now?  Bubba and his friend?  WAIT !  I figured it out!  the python was competing with Bubba for dead deer meat - it had to be killed !  

"He carried yellow flowers...." brilliant Herman Cain campaign ad.

Billiant Herman Cain campaign ad - too long, but brilliant.  He has to connect to ordinary people, at least, those who consider themselves "ordinary" during focus group discussions.  This commercial is very well thought out - dramatic, plays on lots of prejudices (not race, i mean phony politicians, scripted messages, empty slogans). of course this is also very well scripted and phony, but it still works.  Truly a great political commercial, not the "daisy girl," but damn good.  Here's another cain commercial, the "smoking" one.

and here is John stewart parody.

Mitt Momney's underwear: 'nuff said !

I prefer Lindsey Lohan's underwer to Mitt's ....

Bowling in Afghanistan!

"The Strikers" bowling lanes in Afghanistan, the Dude, Donny and Walter would love this!

post war LIbya: freedom or more exploitation? Condi Rice's biography on Freedom?

here is a story about european and United Arab Emirates (european arabs) plans for post war Libya.  Don't forget, Italy and Britain stole billions $ from Libya before Ghaddafi did, in fact, Moamar was the last in a long line of thieves.  At least Moamar nationalized the oil companies and kicked the colonialists out - turns out he wasn't much better as far as stealing from the Libyan people.  But Libya is a tribal area, even more unstable than Iraq, so we shall see what democracy brings forth there.  Of course, the plans are not for a democracy: ex Ghaddafi loyalists who flipped sides will be running the police and government services in the short term, in fact, the UAE has plans for that to happen long term.  Libya has no experience with democracy:  remember, just because you have elections, doesn't mean there is democracy (just look at the US in 2000!)

Condi Rick just came out with her Mea Culpa biography of the Bush years:  guess what?  Condi is responsible for the Arab spring, she says democracy after dictatorship can bring out anger, so lets move on after the violence of Iraq and Libya.  Does she really think there is any democracy brewing in Iraq or Libya?  She didn't mention our ally Saudi Arabia, or the UAE dictatorship, or Yemen dictatorship supported by the Saudi's (and the USA).

And Newsweek gives her a pass:  doesn't question a damn thing in her book.  So much for investigative journalism.  Condi Rick is not smart: she is ideological, she sucks up to the right people, she acts like an expert on everything, but she is shallow when it comes to comparative politics and diplomacy.  I mean she hung out with Bush for 8 years, was his closest advisor.  And parts of her book are such bullshit, how she was afraid of a 2nd wave of terrorist attacks on 911, how she saw a plane coming in for a landing weeks later at Reagan Internatinal Airport and thought it was going to hit the White House (the US Congress passed a law making an exception for coast to coast and international flights to land at Reagan airport, so they could be closer to the bars when they got off i guess, they couldn't commute from the other airport like most of us).  so come on, condi, you feared for your life?????  give me a break.

"Will Obama Declare War on Iran because of Attempted Assassination of Saudi Ambassador??!!"

Time Magazine headline above: what idiots.  First of all, the plan was dumb, a used car salesman attempting to hire someone from the Zeta Mexican cartel for $1.5 million to kill the Saudi Ambassador...there is more money in drugs for the Zetas than killing an ambassador, and subsequently pissing off the US and resulting in a war again the Zetas.  I mean, the Zetas make billions each year running drugs to the US, why fu*k with that?  for $1.5 million?  Thats like Dr. Evil wanting $1 million dollars in ransom money.

Second, its not clear if the "government of Iran" even knew about this plot.  First, the government is fractured, with religious leaders and gov leaders not being open with each other, the Iranians dont know what is happening to their right hand and left hand.  Second, if Iran really wanted to kill the Saudi ambassador, then why not pick a an easier Ambassador?  There are easier hits on the saudi's than the us ambassador.

And why would Iran want to kill a member of the saudi royal family?  Maybe because of Saudi Arabia's role in putting down a popular rebellion in Yemen?  A Shia muslim country?  Saudi Arabia is Sunni muslim, and has provided military support to yemen to put down a popular uprising by Shiites against the minority run Sunni Yemen government.

So does this have anything to do with the US?  No.  Other than oil.  Saudi Arabia is our Oil bitch, or, the US is Saudi Arabia's oil bitch - take your pick.  So the Saudi's support repression against Shiites in Yemen, Iran counters by trying to kill a member of the Saudi royal family (who happens to be the Ambassador to the USA living in DC) and that means the USA has to declare war on Iran!!!!?????  Way to go Time Magazine!  What insightful coverage.  What ever happened to investigative journalism?

The US sees the dictatorship of the Saudi royal family as the stabilizing factor in the middle east, an assurance that the US will always have access to oil, and this means we are stuck with the Saudi's, even when they piss off millions of other Arabs who hate the Saudi royal family.  And the US will go to war over this?

I mean, Iran has oil too.  Why dont we just switch sides and become Iran's bitch?  I mean, its all about oil, isnt it?  Who cares where it comes from?

My vote: tell the middle east to go to hell.  Have the US become energy independent.  Its possible.  Every house in the US can be energy self sufficient, we have the technology now, and its not rocket science (or "rock science" as Paris Hilton says).  The problem?  Powerful, wealthy interest groups that want the energy dependence of the US on the middle east to continue, for additional windfall profits for the stock holders and politicians who are their bitches.  Like the Bushs, the Cheneys, like all members of the US Congress, and even.....yes even.....the Obama administration.

Irwin Mainway, designer of unsafe Halloween costumes !

just in time for Halloween, new costumes for the kids.