And in other parts of the globe....

Somalia and Mogadishu

"Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian forces rolled into Mogadishu without firing a shot Thursday, a striking gain in its bid to recapture the country from an Islamic movement that had once seemed nearly invincible."

"Witnesses reported seeing a large number of foreign fighters in the convoys heading south. Islamic movement leaders had called on foreign Muslims to join their "holy war" against Ethiopia, which has a majority Christian population. Hundreds were believed to have answered the call. "

"Islamic fighters have gone door to door in Kismayo recruiting children as young as 12 to make a last stand on behalf of the Islamic movement, according to a U.N. report citing the families of boys taken to Jilib."

We need to remember that we're not the only ones fighting the fanatic Islamists - maybe once Ethiopia boots them out we can get them to join us in Iraq? I just wish that the Muslims that don't agree with the terrorists - and I know that they are out there - would show more resistance. Of course, even if they were, our media would probably not even show it.

Well lookie here....

I may be a little late in this, but I've been sick. Look at who is standing up for themselves....

Ahmadinejad "thwarted" in Iranian elections

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks to have been thwarted from keeping his ultra-conservative allies in control of key offices despite efforts to "cook the books" in weekend elections, the State Department said."

"The voting for Iran's municipal councils and the Assembly of Experts -- the body which chooses the country's supreme leader -- was seen as the first popularity test for Ahmadinejad since he swept to power in 2005.

In one key race, centrist ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani overwhelmingly won a seat on the Assembly of Experts, thrashing a cleric seen as Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor."

Maybe there are people there that realize he's crazy. I'm beginning to feel better about this.

We Did It!!!

Just stopping by to say that both OJ's interviews and book have been CANCELLED!!!! How exciting is that?!

I am annoyed.

Okay, so this is what's ticking me off today.

Pakistan Rape Law Reform

"Islamic fundamentalists vowed to hold mass protests after Pakistan's parliament voted that rape and adultery cases should no longer be heard under the country's harsh religious laws. "

"At present the laws say that women must produce four Muslim male witnesses as evidence of rape -- an almost impossible burden of evidence -- or potentially face adultery charges themselves."

Gee, I wonder why people have a problem with this religion. I would be willing to bet that it does not say anything about this in the Koran. And don't worry, I'll be checking...

O J Simpson Interview

"The Fox television network says it plans to air an O.J. Simpson interview this month in which he describes, hypothetically, how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend 12 years ago if he had committed the crime.

The taped interview was conducted by Judith Regan, whose publishing label, ReganBooks, plans to release a book written by Simpson, titled "If I Did It," that also contains his hypothetical account of the double slaying, the network said in a statement on Tuesday."

Can I just say that I am absolutely nauseated by this entire thing. I hope that Fox loses shares the two nights that it has this interview scheduled and I hope that if any money is made on this book, it goes straight to Nicole's family. I can't believe that this ass is rehashing all of this. Forget about Nicole's family, if he wants to screw around with them, I deplore it, but whatever...what about his own kids for God's sake?

This man disgusts me. What an ass.

"In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Wednesday, Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, advised viewers, "Don't watch the show, don't buy the book, send a message loud and clear.""

I agree. I, for one, will not be watching this and no way in hell will I be wasting my money buying this killer's book.

I know.

I know it's been a long time. And now that I am getting harassed by people - you know who you are - I will have to post. I promise something this weekend. I know that some of you are having trouble understanding how I could not be posting about North Korea, but frankly, I think he gets too much attention as it is. You've heard with bullies in school... ignore them and they'll go away? Since he has that school age mentality, I'm hoping that works... because I'm sure he knows I'm ignoring him! LOL

However, today, people are pissing me off, so there will definitely be a post coming. It will probably be covering Pakistan, OJ Simpson (ass) and possibly Israel, but I'm not sure about that one. There isn't much to say about something that is discussed daily in one news media or another.

Awww .... poor Pluto

Dinky Pluto loses its status as planet

"Pluto, beloved by some as a cosmic underdog but scorned by astronomers who considered it too dinky and distant, was unceremoniously stripped of its status as a planet Thursday. "

""The word 'planet' and the idea of planets can be emotional because they're something we learn as children," said Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who helped hammer out the new definition."

"Alan Stern said he was "embarrassed" by Pluto's undoing and predicted that Thursday's vote would not end the debate. Although 2,500 astronomers from 75 nations attended the conference, only about 300 showed up to vote."

Okay, I have to ask. Why, oh why? Poor Pluto. I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional. Excuse me? Is anyone really emotional about this? Okay, if you read the story, the widow of the man who discovered Pluto is a little confused and I can understand if she's a little emotional - but that's about where I draw the line.

And out of 2,500 astronomers who came to the conference (can you say high end trekkie convention?) only 300 showed up for a vote? That's 12% of the people at the conference. Do you think that 2,500 is the total amount of astronomers in the world or do you think some were missing?

Are you wondering why I posted about this? I didn't want to end a post with "I hate people" or "sheet of glass".

Oh and one final piece of business - We went to the renaissance faire a couple weeks ago and while watching the jousting I heard a woman yell "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" Libby, were you there?

Well, you knew I had to post sooner or later

Sorry I've been missing on this blog, but work has had me quite busy. I've tried to make up for it on Katie's blog, but I just can't continue to let the current situations go without saying something.

Israel decides not to expand offensive

The article covers alot of territory - as does this war apparently. The other day I was reading an article on the Pope getting involved and wondered where that came from until I read that Lebanon has a high population of Catholics. Who knew?

Israel starting WWIII has been mentioned a few times, but really, don't you think that's already going on? Who isn't at war these days? Seems like the whole world, doesn't it? Any countries not fighting somewhere? If the entire world is fighting it would seem that a World War is going on. I saw something the other day that cracked me up. It said "It's not a world war until France surrenders." Point taken... are they there yet?

""With regards to the issue of the abducted Israeli soldier, I have reiterated that there are ongoing efforts that lead us to believe in an imminent solution," Abbas said, speaking through a translator, after a meeting in Rome with Italian Premier Romano Prodi." I've got to say, I'm surprised at this. Not that they are giving back the Israeli soldier, but that the soldier is still alive. I thought for sure they killed him immediately.

"Meanwhile, al-Qaida threatened new attacks in response to Israel's offensive" You knew it was just a matter of time right? It was about time for them to declare a new holy war.

"Meanwhile, a top Iranian envoy was in Syria for talks on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict — a gathering of the Lebanese guerrilla's two key sponsors, according Kuwaiti and Iranian news reports. "

"It said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with "Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories." " HUGE surprise! You mean that IRAN is involved???? Say it isn't so! DUH!

Okay, I have two questions.

1) Do the Muslims or the Jews have anything about Peace in their religions? Just curious. Seems like it's hard to place nice with either of them but at least it seemed like Israel was trying for a while.

2) With all this hub bub going on in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc. etc. when do you think the nut in North Korea is going to decide he, once again, is not getting enough attention and needs to shoot off another round of "test" missiles?

I think I'm done for now.

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!!!

Islam Peaceful? I have my doubts, sorry.

Bodies of Missing US Soldiers Recovered


"We give the good news ... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said the claim which appeared on an Islamic militant Web site where insurgent groups regularly issue statements."

Excuse me, but this is my blog and I'm about to get on a soapbox and if you don't like it, move on to the next blog.

I'm getting sick of hearing that Islam is a peaceful religion and then seeing this s***. Don't tell my that you're peaceful, friggin' show it. I need someone in Islam to start hitting the prime time TV waves with "This is Islam, this is why we are a peaceful religion and this is why we don't stand behind these radical a**holes." I fully believe that Islam, be it the idiot insurgents in Iraq or the reincarnated Hitler running Iran, will be the catalyst that ends the world, not global warming.

Okay, so we leave Iraq. What does that do? It gives the terrorists a free hand at covering the country with training camps. Great, that's going to help out alot. I'm not saying we should be staying in Iraq indefinitely, I really don't know what to do at this point. We're in a lose lose situation and I am just getting extremely sick to death of it. Any chance we can get the pre-schooler ruling North Korea to practice in the Iran? That might help. At least it might help me.

I am trying very hard to hold on to the idea that the complete morons running around in the name of Allah in Iraq are not representative of Muslims as a whole. But it's getting harder and harder to hang on to that thread as much as I really want to believe that.

I'm getting off of my soapbox now, but I am warning anyone reading this that isn't a regular reader, it's my blog, it isn't widely read and I'm not going to argue with anyone on this. If you are thinking about arguing move on. If you have something useful to add, please do so. Anyone that ticks me off on this one is just going to get deleted. Sorry.

Okay, so this story upset me a little. I'm not sure why of all the stories that come out of Iraq this one upset me the way it did. Maybe because the jerks that did this made it sound like it was a fraternity initiation for the new head of Al-Quaida in Iraq. F*** him. F*** them all. (Sorry for the language Dad...)

Guess Israel can sit back for a few...

Palestinians against Hamas-led government

"Hundreds of Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday night, firing bullets and setting a Cabinet building on fire in retaliation for an earlier attack by Hamas gunmen."

So if they are fighting amongst themselves I guess Israel can sit back for a while? I'm sure that they need to be vigilant, but maybe the Palestinian's will do some of their work for them.

This is from Israel's on-line news source - Debka

"Flames are spreading from the cabinet office. Both buildings, unoccupied at the time, were riddled with bullets. Fatah was rampaging against Hamas’s takeover of Palestinian government and retaliating for clashes in Gaza. Earlier, Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces to take control of the streets of Gaza after his Fatah gunmen clashed with Hamas militiamen in Rafah, leaving two dead, 14 injured"

Can you believe this?

Jordan persuades "MySpace" girl to go home


"A 16-year-old Michigan girl who authorities say tricked her parents into getting her a passport and then flew off to the Mideast to be with a West Bank man she met on MySpace.com headed for home on Friday"


"U.S. officials in Jordan persuaded her to turn around and go home before she reached the West Bank."

You're kidding me right? This 14 year old decided to go all the way to the West Bank to meet a supposed 25 year old and almost did it? So I've learned a) Katie will never be allowed on those type of sites b) she will never know my credit card number (how did this kid buy a ticket??) and c) no passport until she's going somewhere with me and after that the damn thing is hidden where she can't get to it. Jeez. Unbelievable. I wouldn't know whether to hug her or smack her upside the head when her plane touched down back home.

Is it just me?

Or is the fact that the start of Hurricane season and Nagin's inauguration coinciding on the same day just too ironic.


I am finally almost out of work hell, so I will hopefully be around more - now that no one is paying attention.

You've got to be kidding me

Nagin wins re-election

From a voter: "He's been through the experience already," he said, "and won't make the same mistakes."

So, if you make sure that buses are sitting in a flood instead of getting your constituents out of the area, they'll vote you back in? I'm not even going to continue, because I'm going to start offending people.

Yep

What he said.

Hate.

Sometimes when I just get to the point that I can't deal with something anymore the only word that comes to mind is Hate. I use it alone, and most of my close friends/family know what I mean by it. Well, here:

Iran Again

"TEHRAN (Reuters) -
Iran will target Israel first if the United States does anything "evil," a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.

The United States says it wants Iran's nuclear standoff with the West solved diplomatically but has refused to rule out military action.

"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani was quoted as saying by Iran's student news agency ISNA.

The Islamic Republic has never recognized Israel and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."

Dehqani said naval wargames held in the Gulf last month "carried the warning to those countries that threaten Iran, including America and the Zionist regime."

Experts said the wargames, in which Iran said it had tested new missiles and torpedoes, were a thinly veiled threat that it could disrupt vital Gulf oil shipping lanes if it was attacked."

I have one thing to say. Hate.

Happy Easter!!

I was going to post a couple times before this, but I just haven't had a chance. Ideas are still there though! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter... Passover... Weekend... whichever applies!

Roddy-got your message! Have a great Easter weekend! Sorry I missed you!

I'll be back soon!

Well, it's happened

I had to order bifocals today. But at least my eyes are still good enough that I can get the invisible line. I'm actually a little disappointed because they had to order them (I go to Lenscrafters - I'm used to getting them in an hour) so I have to wait another two weeks before I can see again. Guess I should have gone in when I started having problems, I would have had new glasses about 6 weeks ago. Yeah..I know. JC finds this quite amuzing. Well, he did, until he realized how expensive my glasses were going to be.

I am planning a few posts but I've been too tied up lately (trying to see) to get to them. I will soon!

Oh, and just a small tangent - what do you all think of finding the Gospel of Judas? I just think it's remarkable that we are finding anything from that time period. I think that's cool. I can't wait until it comes out in the English translation. Just from what I've heard on the news - Judas saying Jesus asked him to betray him - doesn't that just make more sense? If you were one of the apostles, following Jesus, learning from him - would you want to be responsible for him being put to death? Yes, it was in fulfillment of the scriptures, but these were only humans who did not understand yet what was actually happening. But maybe Judas did know and that's why he was able to do it. Should be interesting!

Frog Hopping

I want to apologize in advance to my father. I know that this wasn't funny at the time (well, I thought the title moment was funny).

Okay, here goes.

My sister, while in high school, was out with friends and came home... OBVIOUSLY drunk. Like walking into walls drunk. (I think it was H.S. - I can't remember exactly but it was before she was 18). After bouncing off of a couple walls she latched onto the closest still target. Me. So, I proceeded to hold her up as a conversation ensued between her and Dad regarding how she thought it would be a great idea to go to the police department so they could give her a breathalizer because she WAS NOT drunk. Uh huh.

After arguing this point and hearing for the 50th times the words "Your grounded!" I finally got her over to the couch to sit down. The grilling about where she had been began. After several attempts at telling us where she had been, she finally blurted out the ugly truth. She had been frog hopping. I busted out laughing (for which I got yelled at - but I couldn't help it!). At that point I tried to mediate. I told Dad she wouldn't remember anything he was saying anyway and I should just put her to bed and he could talk to her the next day.

The next morning she woke up, looked at me and said "What happened? All I remember is "you're grounded". When I questioned her about the frog hopping (well, you knew I would!), she had no idea what I was talking about. Talk about disappointment. I was hoping for a demonstration!

I'm so excited!

My sister gave me permission to tell a story from her H.S. years! I'll post tonight, but I'm so excited I had to prep you!


I sure hope the story lives up to the hype!

Just an FYI...

My Dad has actually posted! I thought he had abandoned the blog! :)

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Libby! She saved you all from the beginning of my multiple religious posts I'm planning on using to drive you all crazy!

If I was only allowed to keep one plant in my garden which would it be?
It would be a Japanese Red Maple - I know that's a tree, but a tree is a plant right?

If there was only one thing invented in the past 100 years that I was permitted to keep, what would it be?
Uh, computer, duh.

Name 3 animals you saw yesterday (excluding cats and dogs).
Pigeons, black birds, squirrel. What? Give me a break, I don't live on a farm - them are city critters.

Which season do you like the most?
Autumn. I love the leaves, Halloween and the Fall fashions!!!

Name the person who imparted the most wisdom into your life?
My father. Many talks and by example.

And that being said, guess who I'm tagging? Dad! Oops, almost tagged KimmyK again. Good thing I rechecked Libby's post, Kimmy, you almost got tagged twice. LOL

I know - 2nd post of the day. Do you believe it?

North Koriea fires missiles

"The missiles were launched amid a stalemate in talks over the North Korean nuclear program and at a time when the world's attention has been focused on Iran"

You know why right? Because the focus was on Iran. Pyongyang is like a pre-schooler who has to create havoc when he isn't getting his way. Maybe we should just give him a time out.

...and back to Iran

Iran threatens harm and pain

Iran threatened the United States with "harm and pain" Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council'


"The United States has the power to cause harm and pain," said a statement delivered by the Iranian delegation. "But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll." Who says that? Let the ball roll?


Iran also attacked "warmongers in Washington" for what it said was an unjust accusation that Tehran's nuclear intentions were mainly for military use. Excuse me?

Okay, so the nation that recently said it wants Israel wiped off the map is upset because we are accusing them on using their nuclear capabilities for military purposes? Uh huh, get a life. If you don't want to be accused stop hiding what you are doing.

And can I just say that the first time I read the headline I read "Iran threatens U.S. with ham and pain". I had to giggle. And now I need to go make an appointment with my eye doctor....

Another religious post

For those of you who were missing my religious streak.. Call it the time of year, but I felt the need to post another one.

So here's my question. Is the Bible God's Word? I believe that the Bible is God's Word as interpreted by man. (Guess I should check with the Catholic Church on that, I might have just excommunicated myself.) I will go as far as to say that some of it is God instructing what to say in certain passages, obviously the 10 commandments falls into this, but I am also willing to add the passages where the prophets say that God "told them to say..." There may be other examples, but you get my drift. I also believe that the parts of the New Testament that quote Jesus can be considered the Word directly.

What sparked this, is someone recently saying that the Bible was the True Word of God and should be taken as the absolute Truth. I don't think that alot of the Old Testament can be taken as the absolute Truth because quite a bit of it was creating Jewish laws which Jesus generally discounted during his time.

Now that I have upset everyone, I will leave you to comment or not as you see fit.

Another email - Libby you're going to love this one!

Little Angelica comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. And, "Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God be mad at me for giving someone a valentine?

Angelica's father thinks a bit, and then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?"

"Osama Bin Laden," she says.

"Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock?

"Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think how maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. And if other kids saw what I did and then they sent valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot more and then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore."

Her father's heart swells and he looked at his daughter with newfound pride. "Angelica, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."

"I know," she says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines can blow the livin’ shit out of him."

Unbelievable.

I believe Italy is being taken over by idiots.

"Italy's Reform Minister Roberto Calderoli has had T-shirts made emblazoned with cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a move that could embarrass Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government. "

"He said the T-shirts were not meant to be a provocation but added that he saw no point trying to appease extremists."

What is going on in Italy? I think they've lost their minds. Oh, and by the way idiot, it wasn't allt he extremists that were upset, it was muslims in general. Perhaps only the extremists are the ones rioting?

Happy Valentine's Day

See here.

Cartoon riots

I hate the term "cartoon riots". It makes it sound like there's a bunch of cartoon characters out there rioting over some lack of acme products - like a falling anvil.

I'm assuming everyone knows what I'm talking about, but if not I'll find a link to post. What does everyone think about the rioting and protests? I know I'm a little behind the times, but this is the first chance I've had to post.

Remarkable Obituary - Had to share this email from my sister Lisa

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense. Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).


His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place - reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student - only worsened his condition.


Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.


Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.


Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge financial settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility, and his son, Reason. He is survived by two stepbrothers, My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

And I thought it was just us...

Jesus Christ's Existence is Going on Trial this week

"Viterbo, Italy, north of Rome, is the venue where Rev. Enrico Righi is being sued by his childhood friend, atheist Luigi Cascioli, for deceiving people into thinking Jesus was an actual historical figure."

"...claims the priest violated local laws against deception when he stated in a 2002 parish gazette "that the historic figure of Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary (two totally imaginary characters and therefore historically non existing [claims Cascioli]); of having the same Jesus been born in the village of Bethlehem and of having grown up in Nazareth."

"Cascioli declares he is not intent on having the matter be decided by a court of law, saying, "I wrote to [Righi] an open letter, stating that I would withdraw the lawsuit if he were capable of supplying proof, just one proof, of the historical existence of Jesus."

My faith has been restored in the American people this week. The Italians are making us look good in the frivolous ( and very stupid) lawsuit category. Which somewhat saddens me, being half Italian. I just want to bounce this guy's head against a wall.

Can we start with the fact that the statement in question was published in a 2002 parish gazette? It wasn't in a public newspaper, it was in a journal that presumably parishioners -read BELIEVERS- would be reading. Then I'm going to hop to the fact that it was a 2002 publication. It's 2006, did this priest tick you off or do you just not have a life? Oh, and then there is the whole Catholics are not the only believers in Jesus Christ, is this a personal vendetta against the church? Maybe you got knocked in the head too many times by the nuns growing up? And then the most important aspect in my opinion, when did religion stop being about faith vs. fact?

Ugh. I hate people.

Okay, who's going to take France's nukes from them?

Chirac threatens nuclear response

"President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that he would consider a nuclear response to a large, state-backed terrorist strike against France."

Europe's response to Chirac

"Jacques Chirac is an idiot," chided Belgian daily De Morgen in an editorial. "He lives in a time where France is no longer a world power, but he's still acting as if prolonging a Napoleonic dynasty."

Okay, I admit, I was going to post the first article with an article about Iran moving it's assets out of Europe, which, to me, makes it look like something may be happenning. BUT, when I saw Europe's response (especially the line I copied) to Chirac's speech, I had to post that for my husband. I thought he'd get a kick out of that. He's not a big fan of the French government (neither am I).

Can't we all just get along? ... like these two?

I just had to post this once I saw it on the news this morning. I don't know why, I just thought it was cute.

Hamster and Snake pals


"Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 3.5-inch dwarf hamster; the other is a four-foot rat snake.

...instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since.

"I've never seen anything like it. Gohan sometimes even climbs onto Aochan to take a nap on his back," Yamamoto said."

My head hurts from this idiot - Edited to Add Apology - no not from me!

It feels like I just put up my last blog entry about the Sudan, but this came up and I just had to get back on my soapbox.

The Mayor of New Orleans Profound Words - yeah right

"Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina."

"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."

A radio station I was listening to this morning swapped out every reference to black or chocolate with white or vanilla. It sounded like the speaker was a Klan member. How do people get elected into public office with this kind of mentality? Oh, and it is of course only my opinion (although that's what counts around here since it's my blog) but I'm pretty sure that God wanted New Orleans to be UNDERWATER!!!!. God didn't build the levies, man did.

"Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting."

Why is it that God would be mad at America (and his reason for this was Iraq) but not at the rest of the world? Millions of innocent people in the Sudan are without homes because they weren't the "right" religion, the idiot in Iran wants to wipe ISRAEL (remember God's chosen people) off the face of the earth - and may get a chance if he gets the nuclear bomb that he just has to be trying for off the drawing board and yet God is mad at America?

The world is lucky that God has infinite patience, because if I were him I would have left to start a new civilization somewhere else.

Nagin apologizes

"Mayor C. Ray Nagin apologized Tuesday for a Martin Luther King Day speech in which he predicted that New Orleans would be a "chocolate" city again and said "God was mad at America."

"I said some things that were totally inappropriate. . . . It shouldn't have happened," Nagin said, explaining he was caught up in the moment as he spoke to mostly black spectators, many of them fearful of being shut out of the rebuilding.

Nagin, who is black, said his comments about God were inappropriate and stemmed from a private conversation he had with a minister earlier. "I need to be more sensitive and more aware of what I'm saying," he said.

The mayor said his speech really was meant to convey that blacks were a vital part of New Orleans' history and culture and should be encouraged to return."

So how long do you think it took one of his advisors to beat him into submission? Or do you think he reads my blog??? :P

Sudan wants leadership of AU

Okay, I'm taking a breather from Iran. It's pretty dominant in the press right now, so I think I can skip it long enough to rant over my other hot spot. Why these are my hot spots I'm not sure, but they are.

Sudan hopes to head AU.

"Sudan said on Saturday it believed it was entitled to take the chair of the African Union after a summit it is hosting this month, but acknowledged its prospects were unclear. "

I almost gagged when I heard this on the radio - WTF? This is complete insanity considering what has been going on there.

"Rights groups question how Sudan can act as Africa's ambassador when it is in the international firing line over its military campaign in the Darfur region -- a conflict that has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and prompted U.S. accusations of genocide."

"With 7,000 AU troops monitoring a tentative truce in Darfur and AU-mediated peace talks progressing, albeit slowly, many including Darfur's rebels say there would be a conflict of interest if Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir became AU chairman."

Ya think? That's putting it mildly. I'm really hoping that common sense rears it's head here. This could be one of the worst decisions if the Sudan gets leadership of the AU. I've been very happy with the AU, I love that Africa created it's own union to take care of it's own problems. And they do seem to react without the 12 years of preparation it takes the UN to react - if it does. But to hand it over to a government that will probably misuse their power is going to be a travisty to this organization - at least in my opinion.

More on Iran

Anti-Government clashes in Iran

"Ahwaz, provincial capital of Khuzistan, is home to Iran’s ethnic Arab population and has been a hotbed of anti-government demonstrations. Throughout the months of April and July, the city was the scene of large-scale clashes between people and government forces."

Good to see that the government's insanity is not completely backed by the people.

Iran calls for EU rights abuse probe

"Speaking in the holy city of Qom on Monday, Khamenei said that the Islamic Republic was keen to help resolve rights abuses in European states, the state-run ISNA news agency reported. "

"Khamenei also rejected Western versions of democracy and human rights being implemented in Muslim nations. The West allows “immoralities” such as homosexuality and violence that are unacceptable to the Islamic world, he said."

Um, some government insanity, coming right up. Iran wants to help Europe stop rights abuses? This from the government who thinks this is justice:

Iran hangs teenage girl attacked by rapist

"An Iranian court has sentenced a teenage rape victim to death by hanging after she weepingly confessed that she had unintentionally killed a man who had tried to rape both her and her niece.


The state-run daily Etemaad reported on Saturday that 18-year-old Nazanin confessed to stabbing one of three men who had attacked the pair along with their boyfriends while they were spending some time in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005.


Nazanin, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said that after the three men started to throw stones at them, the two girls’ boyfriends quickly escaped on their motorbikes leaving the pair helpless.


She described how the three men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them, and said that she took out a knife from her pocket and stabbed one of the men in the hand.


As the girls tried to escape, the men once again attacked them, and at this point, Nazanin said, she stabbed one of the men in the chest. The teenage girl, however, broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape, the report said.


The court, however, issued on Tuesday a sentence for Nazanin to be hanged to death."

There were other examples of how great their human rights record is in that article, but I could barely handle this one.

Delurking Week

I borrowed the picture from KimmyK . If there is anyone who reads but doesn't comment... you must out yourself and say hello! Of course, I probably lost all my readers with that last post.

Self Appointed Iran Watcher

Iran closes Pro-Democracy Publications

"We got a telephone call from the Culture Ministry that said we have no permission to continue printing our paper," said Asia spokesman Navid Jamshidi. "Officials have given no reasons. We don't know why our paper has been ordered closed."


Iran bans Western Music

"... the official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban all Western music, including classical music, on state broadcast outlets."

It's year-end and in my field that's a very busy time of year, so I'm not sure how much I'm going to be posting for the next few months. However, having said that, I thought I'd take a look at how my pet nuisance has been doing. Should we take a poll to see how long it's going to take for Iran to become an explosive issue?

I was heartened to see that there was some pro-democracy outlets there. I'm just hoping that even though they cannot be heard any longer, they will fight for their beliefs as they continue to be trodden upon.