Italy Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Agents

I hate being so smart!. On a recent blog ( June 04, 2005 - Bush nixes torture) I pointed out WHY Bush can be so moral, so gallant, so Democratic, in rejecting torture. Simply because he will use his 3rd world "allies" to do it for him.
Case in point: Italy has issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents who "spirited" away a suspected Muslim terrorist, from Italy to Egypt where he reportedly was subjected to torture. His "transfer" was done without prior court approval from Italy where the suspected terrorist was living at the time.

In summation, this will only further strain the U.S. / Italian relationship, which suffered a huge blow when a kidnapped Italian reporter was rescued by their military, only to be shot by U.S, military personnel at a checkpoint in Iraq. See here and here

And do you really think the U.S. will turn over ANY of its people for trial in another country? Of course not, BUT they expect, no demand that, universally from the rest of the world. Ahh the pleasures of being the "bully", the fastest gun in the world. But sooner or later the U.S. will get their comeupance, and sadly ALL of us will suffer for crimes of Bush and his cohorts.

Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes

And in another development the supreme court ruled that government can seize private property for "the greater good"
Imagine if this WASN"T afree country!! Yes this must leave people in other countries less than democratic governments scratching their collective heads.

But who decides what is "the greater good"? Why those with the dollar signs in their eyes thats who. Need any mor proof that this country worshipd the almighty dollar and nothing else?

Drunk Takes Plane for Joyride

It seems your average drunken wannabe pilot was able to break into an airport, steal a plane and fly around UNDETECTED for several hours!

Thank God we're so much better protected now than we were pre-9./11. And aren'e we fortunate that your average terrorist is so much dumber and more inept than a 20 year old drunk. Yes thanks to the patriot act and the fact that this country is guarded by the most elite men and women in the world I feel so much safer now.

House Approves Flag-Burning Amendment

The House has approved a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to ban desecration of the American flag.

Oh, please, spare me the hypocrisy. We already worship the almighty dollar. And several of those denominations have a flag on them. By officially (or unofficially ) banning the desecration of the American flag, we become like those lunatics who go beserk when their Koran is desecrated. IT is only a book! Its the words that are important. Just as the American flag is unimportant, but its meaning, its symbolism IS important.
Hell America in general doesn't even put that kind of emphasis on human life. I mean we can kill innocents in war; we can execute people for crimes we're not even absolutely certain they are guilty of. And we abort roughly 1 million fetuses a year. All these things are MUCH more important that some stupid Betsy Ross quilt!

Embryos Cloned from "Unripened" Eggs.

Ok, NOW I'm nervous! Scientists have now created human life from "unripened" eggs. Can the creation of so called "perfect" humans be far behind? Someone, somewhere surely will try it. How about a military made up of human life that no one cares about? Unloved, uncared for human life sent to fight and die for a country and people that don't care about them and for the most part probably won't even know they exist. We are a very selfish society, myself included, and at first glance the cloned military sounds like a great idea. I mean who would you rather send to war?, your loved one? Or an unloved one, with no parents, family or any emotional ties to anyone? Sound simple and great at first glance, but it isn't and I think and hope we All know that.
My personal feelings aren't about and 8 or 16 cell life, NO, but rather what comes next; and come it will. After all have we ever been satisfied with status quo? If we were, we'd still be making fire by rubbing two sticks together. NO this world is always moving forward and in the last 50 years it seems as if the pace is ever accelerating. On our current pace, my doomsday scenario outlined above could be a reality in say ten or twenty years. And at the very least we must condemn and prevent the cloning of adult humans. Man is already playing God far too much and far too often

Bishops Extend Ban on Abusive Priests

The poor old Catholic church is in a quandary, and for a change, I feel for them. They voted to extend, for another five years, their policy of PERMANENTLY banning sexually abusive clergy. The quandary? It clashes with church teaching on "redemption" and that sinners can be "healed". Well their right, but that's the fallacy with "continued" forgiveness, redemption and the "healing" of a sinner. Sure some, even many see the error of their ways, and turn wholeheartedly to God, but others? I mean how many times do you forgive a criminal before we take away his or her "tools" as it were? Yes continue to forgive if that's your thing, but PLEASE!!!!! at some point common sense must take over and you remove the temptation........ PERMANENTLY.

I often clash with the teaching of the Catholic church, but here, I truly feel sorry for them, because the policy DOES go against everything they believe in, and that must be hard to accept. But ultimately they, the Catholic church are now paying for past sins, sins that could have been avoided if only they were allowed to use common sense, but alas their weren't then and aren't dealing with it very well now. One of my main items of contention with "Catholics" is what I refer to as them being forbidden to eat from the "tree of knowledge". Eating from this "tree" will always lead to them questioning parts of their faith, parts of the churches "teaching" and that is a serious no-no in all religions. Its how they maintain control, and control is key to them keeping the "faithful", faithful.

But kudos to them for doing what HAD to be done, albeit 30- 40 years late, but heck they forgive themselves and that's all that matters now isn't it.

A little side note though; Even though they are dealing with it now, we must still watch out for HOW they are dealing with it. Several "diocese" have already filed for bankruptcy, to avoid paying settlements, and more are certain to follow. That's DEFINITELY NOT what JESUS would do, so still they are sinning against God and man, and we MUST hold them accountable

More Proof that the Iraq War was Based on Lies

The Downing Street Memo

That memo, from British intelligence to Tony Blair, depicted A Bush-wacker plan to remove Saddam through military force, AND that Washington was "fixing" policy around that goal. This despite the fact that Saddam's WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran, even back then. Further exacerbating things is the fact that "not enough" planning was done about the "aftermath" of the war, resulting in the problems seen in Iraq today.

Despite all this Bush was reelected by the so called "patriot Americans", the greedy, selfish Americans, who will stop at nothing in the furtherance of their interests, and the religious right, who apparently think its better to murder innocents through war, than to have sex with an intern
Bush lied thousands died, ------ Clinton lied-no one died

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/12/AR2005051201857.html

Terri Schiavo Autopsy

The Terri Schiavo autopsy report being released today is expected to show several things. First and foremost, her condition WAS irreversible; no amount of therapy could have regenerated the massive amount of neurons that were destroyed. Secondly, and most interesting to me is that she was also reportedly BLIND! That means that reports of her "following" anything with her eyes were either wishful thinking, exaggeration or outright fabrications. I don't begrudge anyone from committing all three in order to save a loved one. I would do the same for mine. Thirdly, it will be reported that Terri suffered no abuse or trauma, which would seem to exonerate the husband from all the accusations being bandied about..
My feelings remain the same. She was killed! Murdered if you prefer. Whatever word you choose, the fact is that Terri Schaivo was forced to die before her time. Or was she, some will say, she died way back in 1990. I'm not even gonna try to say when her "spirit" left, but she certainly fought hard to "live" after her feeding tube was removed. With all the emphasis today on the miraculous "possibilities" of stem cell research, it just seems ridiculously absurd to extinguish a life that may have been able to be saved and the condition reversed, any day now, and all we had to do was feed her. I mean this is a country where we cant even starve our animals deliberately, without government intervention, yet that same government, intervening in the Schiavo case, condoned just exactly that.
There will always be people on both sides of the issue, and with valid points, I just cannot come to grips with it. My own father tried so many times to "end his fathers pain" when he was dying of cancer that he wasn't allowed in the room unless medical personnel were present. Several years ago my father was also dying and I fought daily with my conscience about what the "right" thing to do was. I was handed morphine to give him to "keep him comfortable". Even tho it was contra-indicated for all of his conditions. To give it to him would have hastened his death; to Not give it to him may have meant his discomfort during his final days. Impossible decision for me to make. Granted Terri wasn't "dying", and my father was, but that doesnt make the pain of loss any less. Those of you oppose to what happened to Terri Schiavo should also be cautious when dealing with "hospice" their job is NOT to help you live or get well. Believe me I know.
Terrible thing dying is, unless of course you believe in an afterlife. If you do, it can certainly help to ease the pain.
Terri went to her "rest" several months ago; maybe now the balance of us can put this to rest also. But I doubt it

Michael Jackson: NOT GUILTY, on ALL counts

We now have plenty of proof that the justice system in the United States DOESN'T work!
There was the acquittal of the cops in the Rodney King case, WITH video evidence to boot! Then there was the OJ Simpson case, clearly guilty. Then we had Robert Blake clearly guilty of killing his wife; Now we have Michael Jackson, not so clearly guilty, BUT STILL, my point here is if that were an ordinary "Michael", instead of a famous, wealthy, much loved icon, there would have been a guilty verdict. No ladies and gentlemen our justice system doesn't work. Yes it sometimes, or maybe even most times, gets it right, but as mentioned above you have 3 obvious guilty parties, all acquitted. And a fourth party I'm not sure about, but because of the nature of the crime I AM sure that any ordinary person would have been convicted with the same evidence. But the famous, wealthy or powerful all will walk, much more often than the average Joe.......... err, i meant Michael.
I rest my case................

Bonsai Kitten

Here we go again! bonsai Kittens are back. After first arriving on the internet scene, (or scheme), in 2001, it seems as if the creators of bonsai kittens have returned. Or have they? They were never here in the first place. No one sells them, and never has. See here. It is a hoax. What I wonder is why? Sure it will get a few laughs and sure it will upset thousands of animal lovers, but is that it? It also contributes to clogging up the internet with junk, but what else? I have a hunch its part of a scheme to gather information about unsuspecting people, and then sell or otherwise use that information for profit.
The email I received had a "signature" at the bottom that led me to an "online business opportunities" site. by the same person. That site in turn refers to a "tiny url.com" site that I didn't go to, because I thought there was something familiar about it, and it wasn't good.
Further, there is a "petition" to sign, that I'm sure all good people will rush to and sign to stop this "activity" of bonsai cats. That petition REQUIRES an email address, so here at least I see the potential. The owner of the petition gathers thousands of "live" email addresses of animal lovers who may also be kind, sincere, gullible, or naive. All perfect people to send other "come on" emails to. I wish I had that list. I could be rich. Just imagine the potential of an email list with the names of several thousand animal lover and others, that someone could send a request for say donations to help save animals of one type or another. Small donations that don't hurt the giver financially, but could reap who knows what for the receiving end. What if your donation was made by credit card? Now he may have your credit card number. Identity theft is now possible; or sell your credit card number to others maybe. On and on it goes.

Or is it just "junk" mail? Spam? There is another site dealing with this here. Whatever it is, and you now have several possibilities, just be careful. Trust no one. Even your friends may innocently send you stuff like this. With the prevalence of scams trying to get information about you today, you cannot be TOO careful

Insurer Pushes Pill-Splitting Savings

Excellent Idea! Too bad it has come to this. .I wouldn't have believed it, had I not had it happen to me recently. I was prescribed a medication at a certain dosage, and the pharmacist gave me a dose that was twice as strong and instructed me to cut it in half, because he didn't carry the dose I needed. When I went back to refill it I told him I wanted the correct dosage this time. OK, fine. The joke was on me when the prescription cost me twice as much!

Alas this could be dangerous though, to those most in need of the savings, the elderly. What if they forget? What if they don't even remember being told to do this and consequently take double doses EVERY time?

We need to reign in the pharmaceutical companies along with the rest of the health care industry. This is simply wrong

Planned Parenthood Challenges Abortion Law

So planned parenthood is challenging a South Dakota law requiring Doctors to ensure that women know all about the abortion they seek, and its potential and theoretic consequences. There in lies the "rub" Planned parenthood claims the required info is inaccurate at best, & completely false at worst. But while I favor a women's right to "choose" in SOME cases, I find it difficult to trust or believe an organization that also is fighting against telling parents of girls under14 or 15 that their daughter wants an abortion. This I favor. Its a parents RIGHT to know what their daughter of that age is doing or trying to do. After all it IS ILLEGAl in ALL case in this country to have sex with a child of that age. So what exactly is P.Parenthood doing? Who are they protecting? We must weigh a minors rights against those of a rapist, which is what all men are who have sex with a child that age. Protecting a childs rights in this case is actually protecting a rapists right too. And that is just wrong.
Bu it is important to determine the vaildity of the information given to the women. And for that I guess, we DO need the courts, because unfortunately both sides have their own agendas. Sad, sad world.

Abuse Cost for Catholic Dioceses Tops $1B

The current figures are in, and it appears as if the Catholic Church has paid out over 1 billion dollars in "settlements" so far. That word "settlements" is important. Because it tends to suggest that the Catholic Church, knows the real scope of "the scandal", otherwise who in their right mind would agree to settlements that huge? And its not near over.
Several Diocese have already filed for bankruptcy, with more, perhaps many more expected to file suit. This is patently unfair. To treat each Diocese as a separate entity, when in fact they are part and parcel of a HUGE conglomerate, who may also have known about the abuse and subsequent cover up. If that is proven true in any case then the Vatican itself, and the Church as a whole should be made accountable, both criminally and civilly. They should NOT be allowed to file for bankruptcy. Its wrong, immoral and shows the church again is putting itself before the victims.
One Rev. Thomas Doyle even warned the church as far back as 1985 that payouts could eventually exceed a billion dollars. This shows that the church could have done something to curtail this looong ago. The arrogance of the stance of the church that "we'll never be sued" is about what I expect of them.. Rev. Thomas Doyle, thought enough of the victims to leave a career with the church, in order to help the victims. Now THERE is a saint! But bet the house that he's one despised priest by the majority of the Catholic Churches movers and shakers.
Lets just hope the church is forced to do the right thing. They have swept this under the rug for so long, that what they have now is a very lumpy rug! Time to look under it, and in all the closets while we're at it too

Latin nations reject U.S. proposal

Latin America has basically told the U.S. to shove it today, by declining to accept an American plan to establish a permanent committee of the Organization of American States that would monitor the exercise of democracy in the hemisphere.
A stinging defeat from a nation that has in the past gone along with everything the U.S. has suggested.
Several countries saw right thru a plan by the U.S. that they say was aimed at Venezuela in particular. Venezuela you may remember is the country trying to extradite a hijacker from the U.S. but has been rebuffed it its attempts so far. Its president is saying the U.S. is harboring a terrorist.
According to a Venezuelan TV station president Hugo Chavez said "So they're going to monitor the Venezuelan government through the OAS? They must be joking."
Add yet another enemy of the united states to the growing list. This keeps up and pretty soon the U.S. will have no choice but to show their moxy and level China!
Say what you will, but 1 of 3 things are going to happen.The world will learn to "live and let live", or the world will be run by the most maniacal person (see Bush) or the world will simply be destroyed by the evil men who possess the nuclear weapons. Or is it nuc-U-lar? Ask Bush.

Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People

The Supreme court today ruled that the Federal Government can still prosecute people who use marijuana prescribed by a doctor, in states where it is legal.
Since the title of" justice", seems so like an oxymoron, I wont use it; in fact moron would be much more appropriate, but in any event I'll just use their names here. John Paul Stevens, seemed to indicate a vote by the people would be more appropriate at some point in the future. But for the people who need it / use it, the future is now. And it wouldn't be the first time we legalized something questionable, The (less than) Supreme court stated that they feared abuse by physicians who found it too lucrative to resist over prescribing. So essentially what their saying is that they can't stop misuse by doctors out for a fast buck, so instead we'll outlaw it all together. Ok, fine, then why not outlaw alcoholic beverages and ALL pain medication? I mean after all what liquor store owner would deny a sale to a known alcoholic? Not many I fear. And over prescribing of pain meds is already a problem. Look no further than the perfect Republican families of Rush Limbaugh, and Gov. Jeb Bushes daughter. Both have/had serious problems with prescription medication. And booze? I'm sure most of us know a nice person who has a drinking problem. So what gives? Is marijuana over prescribed? Abused? Misused? Probably. But there are people who are apparently, decent, honest respected Americans who will tell you that this marijuana works for them, when nothing else will. Montell Williams is a good example. A staunch supporter of marijuana for medical use, who I believe uses it himself for multiple sclerosis(?). He is a respected talk show host and ex marine, who exposes daily the wrongs done to people. This is not a street junkie or someone trying to resell the "pot" for a profit. Years ago heroin was used legally in hospitals. Not so many years ago Motrin was a prescription drug, now its available over the counter. The list is huge.
The real problem here as I see it is simply that the U.S. government, cannot accept the fact that an "illicit" drug has REAL medicinal value. But even this is not unique. White Willow Bark, has exactly the same ingredients as todays aspirin. Many other herbs have also influenced todays medicines. So what's the real problem? Big governments buddies Phizer and Merck aren't growing it yet and haven't devised a way to put it in a pill!

Fetal Stem Cells Reverse Heart Disease

This is for the nay-sayers, of the use of fetal stem cells in research.

It would seem that Dr. Valavanus Subramanian, the chief of cardiovascular surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital, recently, while working with other experts in the field, used just such stem cells to reverse "terminal" heart disease in 8 patients in Ecuador. Currently the disease is fatal if untreated and the current "accepted" procedure calls for a heart transplant.
Stem cell oppositionists should note here that either procedure requires that one person MUST die, in order for another to be saved. And before you say it, Yes, some organ donors ARE deliberately killed, not for their organs, certainly, but murdered none the less in crimes throughout the world.
The stem cells used in these cases came from fetuses 5 to 12 weeks old, that were either aborted or came from Ectopoic pregnancies. The cells were injected directly into the patients heart, and improvements were noted in as early a one week. After only 3 months the hearts were on average 42% stronger. Alas these procedures had to be done outside of the United States, because they are not FDA approved

I am not pro abortion; I AM pro life, in a very real, practical sense, and stem cells may be able to be used for life saving procedures. All I'm saying is that unless or until abortions again become illegal, lets at least put these unwanted fetuses to a use that will make them feel wanted. Or in another sense, if you prefer, give the unwanted "baby"(?) to someone who will truly love it, much as a transplant patient loves its donor!

Wal-Mart has new plan

A better title would be "as the worm turns". Walmart having just about completed its unannounced plan to put every mom and pop" discount retailer, and quite a few bigger ones out of business, now takes aim at the "higher" end retailers. Complaining that it doesn't get enough "affluent" customers, now wants to start selling upscale goods, such as 400 thread count sheets and organic foods.
Lost in all this is the fact that the poorest Americans could quite possibly be the losers here. Why, you ask? Isn't it Walmart that caters to them? Yes at the moment. And they flock to Walmart in droves, forsaking their old neighborhood standbys, who have long since disappeared. Well if Walmart is so good for them, then what is you're point? My point? Is Walmart really good for the poor people? Long term? Depends on who you ask. Some say sure, it enables the less affluent to afford what they otherwise could not. Still others say NO, it takes low end jobs from the less affluent in America by getting a large part of its goods from cheap labor in China.

Whatever you choose to believe, now try this. Having "hooked" the poorest Americans, Walmart now turns its sights on the wealthier. Fine, but what happens if they succeed? Well ask yourself. Would you rather sell 5000 of something @$10.00 each, or would you rather sell 1000 of something at $50.00? Less customers, same profit (or more), means they need less employees. Who works at Walmart? Why the less affluent of course; who were you expecting? Chelsea Clinton? The Bush twins maybe? Then when Walmart succeeds in gaining the higher income earners as their customers its decision time. Do we (Walmart) really need to have say four quality levels of goods? We'll call the A,B,C,D.
When they answer no, they don't need to carry all these products, what happens? Easy, unfortunately. The lowest quality "D" is discontinued. "C" becomes the "new" "D" Etc. Etc.

Now those most in need of lower prices are forced to pay more, because now their only choice is to buy "C" products, and at higher prices than the former "D" items were. So once again, long term, the poorest of Americans citizens suffer.

Bush nixes torture, Vows U.S. will not use it to grill terror suspects

How magnanimous; how gallant; how utterly Christian and moral of him. Taking the "high" road as it were. What he doesn't say though, speaks volumes. It is, as usual, equally, if not more important, than what he does say.

What are we to do? A high level prisoner who wont talk; wont divulge any important information about our enemies. Getting this information is paramount to protecting ourselves. Beat it out of him, rip out his fingernails, make him watch the new Brittany spears reality show, force him to sit through a Christian evangelical sermon.

Ahh , but we cant, for we are America, the moral, righteous America. So what are we to do?
Simple; Send them to their native country, (our "allies") as "their" prisoner. To be dealt with according to the "law of the land". Their land. Aha, a loophole. They have no B.S. "moral" code to uphold. They'll get the information we need, even if it means torture. What's a few fingers or scars in a land that routinely beheads or maims its citizens for much lesser crimes. And so it goes.
While we here in America can say, "our hands are clean", we are moral, upright and just. Oh yes we can deliberately kill and maim in the name of justice, but we cant torture.

What does the righteous, moral, good Christian, Bush do; why he says he "cries alot". Hmm I've seen plenty of that on T.V., in the movies and on stage; still doesn't make it genuine though.

Kansas City completes sweep of Yankees

With the Yankees recent 10 game winning streak, there hasn't been much to please this anti-Steinbrenner Met fan. But tonight I'm pleased to announce that the Kansas City Royals, with the worst record and second lowest payroll in the major leagues, completed a sweep of the mighty Yankees. Life as a Met fan doesn't get any better than that. Actually I'm even more pleased at the fact that a team with a 40 million dollar payroll beats a team with a 206 million dollar payroll. Sometimes the underdog wins. It was K.C.'s first sweep of the Yanks at home in 15 years, and their first series sweep in 78 series.

Health Conscious?, 10% Body Fat? Then Don't Read This

No, This is for the "fast food" bunch. The ones without scales, mirrors, or self esteem and those lucky SOB's with HIGH metabolisms.. Tomorrow June 3rd, 2005 is National Doughnut Day! And your local participating Krispy Kreme store is celebrating by giving free doughnuts, of course. Yes, tomorrow only Krispy Kreme customers can get a free doughnut of their choice.
And just so you don't feel too guilty, don't walk, run right over and get yours! Bon Appetit

Israel frees nearly 400 Palestinian prisoners

Yeah, but when is Israel going to free Palestine? You think I talk nonsense? I don't. Israel, if ever there was such a place, was lost, taken over, stolen, whatever , many, many centuries ago. Is it fair? No, of course not. Were they entitled to it back? You decide. Ask yourself the following question. This pertains to property owners only. As an American property owner, would you think it fair if an American Indian came to your house and took it as his own? Knocked on your door, told you this was "his" land, and told you, you must get out. Of course you don't think it fair, neither do I. But that is what Israel did after World War II. Just took over parts of Palestine. And that was after well over a thousand years of Palestinian occupancy. With the American Indians, we're only talking a mere 500 years since "we" displaced them. Yet if they were to even try to reclaim America, we would finish the "extermination" of them, that "we" started 500 years ago. When viewed in this "correct" context, only the most ignorant would still feel Israel is entitled to the land they now "occupy". Sorry, but fair is fair. What you do for one, you should be willing to do for ALL others.

China's Spies in America

Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow, who wrote this commentary; and before you dismiss this as "just" an opinion of one person check out this "one" persons credentials here.
Anyway it seems China is bent on becoming the new United States. So much so that the FBI says China will be America's greatest counterintelligence problem during the next 10 to 15 years. They further believe that as many as 3,500 Chinese "front companies" are involved in espionage for the People's Republic of China (PRC). A senior FBI official said recently, "China is trying to develop a military that can compete with the U.S., and they are willing to steal to get it."
China will prove to be America's greatest foreign-policy challenge in this century. In recent months, the Pentagon, CIA, Treasury and Congress have voiced concerns about China's rapidly expanding political, economic and military clout. These are words to the wise. Full text here.

We've met our match! And its name is China. I've been saying this for quite awhile now, but nobody listens to me. Maybe you will listen to Mr. Brookes. I've noted many times that China is one of Those countries we don't dare upset too terribly, because we can't beat them! Bully that the U.S. is, it will only pick on the weaker, and China ISN'T one of them. Anyone say "Chinese as a second language" here in the U.S.?