Quote of the Week

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog!"

-Iraqi cameraman Muntadar al-Zaidi while flinging a pair of shoes at Dubya

Oh Hell Yes!

I'm sure you've all heard about the shoe-throwing incident. You know, Bush having the audacity to talk about the "successes" in Iraq while in Baghdad this weekend. Amazing that he was unaware of the motivation of this shoe slinger... I think I can name at least a few reasons why someone would throw their shoes (at the very least) at Ol' Dubya!

This site is absolutely splendiferous.

Here is a new story about it, in case you hadn't heard already.

Of course everyone HAS to see it again:



I think it's funny how Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tried to protect him...

Planet in Peril: No Laughing Matter

Last night I watched a beautiful, terrifying special on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° called Planet in Peril: Battle Lines. Below is my take on the show...

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Wow! What an eye-opener! What a wake-up call! I almost felt guilty for laughing for the entire hour before watching The Office and 30 Rock (NBC has the best Thursday night lineup). I remembered when I was done watching the latter that Planet in Peril was supposed to be coming on at 9. I wondered whether I missed it. Much to my pleasure, the show was still on. I'd missed the first hour, but what I watched for the rest of the program left me with tears in my eyes, pain in my heart, and the desire to watch more.

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What I first saw was the segment on shark fins. Sharks are pretty sinister-looking creatures, but one can’t deny the curiosity (and terror) they invoke in humans. I learned about chumming, tourism in South Africa, and some of the policies surrounding this Chinese delicacy.

It was pretty disgusting, actually. They kill thousands and thousands of sharks, most of the bodies seem to be MIA, and all for soup? Sharks are incredible creatures, and are crucial to the oceanic food chain. I understand that this is a part of culture, but there should at least be stronger policies and restrictions on this sort of fishing.

On a lighter note, it was pretty amazing to watch Anderson Cooper go diving with the sharks sans cage! He’s so pale and scrawny, but MAN, he’s got some cojones. Just another reason I love Anderson Cooper! You can check out the photos here.

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I am an animal lover, but I am especially a MAMMAL lover. Most people who know me know that I love monkeys and great apes, but I also love elephants. They truly amaze me. I walked to the National Zoo a couple of weeks ago, and could not stop watching the elephants! I took pictures of them, and stayed at their exhibit for too long (I missed the Great Ape House). While African elephants are the most mesmerizing to me, the Asian elephants are pretty darned cool too (even though the Asian elephants are going to bogart half of the zoo, forcing the zookeepers to get rid of the JUMBO Nile hippo, Happy, in 2009).

With all my studies of elephants since childhood, and my more recent studies of the conflicts in Sudan, I had been completely blind to the issues of animals during war time. Of course I’m worried about the people (which perhaps explains how I missed the animal issue in the first place), but many of the animals impacted during times of war are endangered species, and animals that I would love my future children and grandchildren to experience the beauty of.

Elephants are generally killed for their tusks. As Lisa Ling pointed out last night, these are the largest land animals (HUGE creatures), and yet they are killed only for a small part of their mass. This segment featured shots of elephant carcasses with missing eyes, deteriorating, and trunkless. It was a very grotesque sight, all the while upsetting. One of the saddest points in this segment featured a recently slaughtered baby elephant that didn’t even have tusks! Ling was left speechless.

As was stated by the elephant expert, ivory (from elephant tusks, though also common in those deadly Nile hippos) is a major commodity in the international market. They stated that a pound of ivory could go for about $400. China and, big shocker, the U.S. are the largest importers of ivory. Who is killing the Central African elephants for their ivory? Drum roll please… The same people who are killing thousands of innocent Sudanese and Chadians. So what does that mean? People who are purchasing ivory are more likely than not directly funding these civil wars! The soldiers use the money from their ivory sales to purchase more weapons, thereby killing more Sudanese and more African elephants. And so the cycle continues…

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Another animal that has been greatly impacted by human warfare is the mountain gorilla. http://www.gorillafund.org/ Fortunately, there was some silver lining in this dark cloud. Many Rwandan communities have taken it upon themselves to protect the mountain gorillas. The gorillas have helped bring life to their economy following the genocide of the last decade. Gorillas have brought tons of tourists, which has been a great thing for both the animals and the people. The gorilla population is thriving, and the Rwandan economy has improved.

Unfortunately, this is not the case in the “Democratic” Republic of the Congo. The Congolese have been killing the mountain gorillas, seemingly, just for the hell of it. They use them as trophies, and they also use the mountainous regions where these gorillas dwell, coming into direct violent contact with these amazing creatures.

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I suggest everyone check out Planet in Peril. It's a real eye-opener.

Wow! What a D-Blag!

[Former] Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is a real douche bag... (And no, I'm not just saying that because he called President-elect Obama an MF...)

I'm sure you've heard the story already. It's been all over newspapers and blogs all day. Blagojevich is up shit's creek without a paddle (or a nearby friendly turd burglar to help him navigate). D-Blag is in some SUUUURious trouble!

Just reading the many articles written about these scandals has led me to believe the man is supremely disturbed. Even the FBI agents investigating this and Operation Board Games were disturbed by what they saw and heard. I just don't get it. Don't these politicians ever learn? They always get caught! Sure, it might take some longer than others to get in trouble (See Ted Stevens), but they all get caught eventually. Thought you could get an innocent BJ in the Oval Office? Think again. An expensive fish sculpture that only someone with your artistic eye could appreciate? Maybe next time. Trying to sell a Senate seat is just asinine.

How could he think he was going to get away with this? DID he think? Clearly the man is a twit.

What's funny to me is that the man doesn't look remotely trustworthy. He looks to me like he is saying, "I want YOU to pay me for a job!" Anyone whose lips disappear when they smile is automatically deemed a liar by yours truly. If he hides his lips, what else do you think he's hiding? Cocaine? The secret behind who shot Kennedy? Maybe just some information on fire safety?

Quote of the Week

"I would hope that when it's all said and done, people say, 'This is a guy who showed up to solve problems,'" Bush said at a global health forum. "And when you have somebody say there's a pandemic that you can help, and you do nothing about it, then you have frankly disgraced the office."

-- A statement made by "President" Bush on World AIDS Day

The Nerve

Some banks and corporations have a lot of nerve. They receive billions of taxpayer dollars, despite past reckless behavior, and what do they do with it? Why, sponsor professional sports teams, of course!

It's amazingly insane. How often do we hear that Americans are spendthrifts? I mean, really. Let's think about this for a moment.

Money from the Failout Package has been handed out like condoms on a college campus to banks, et. al who are supposed to be using the money to help pull the country up by her bootstraps. This money was not given to the "Joe Six Packs" and Sally Dorights. And why not? Oh, because they'd probably spend all of the money on HDTVs to watch reality shows, iPods to listen to Soulja Boy and Britney Spears, or ridiculously gaudy jewelry. They're so wasteful. Don't give them any money.

Instead, let's give this money to banks to help them keep their Manchester United sponsorship. (Manchester United... Hmm... I don't believe that's an American sports team...)

Or how about those poor old American automakers. I mean, for heaven's sake. GM had to end their endorsement deal with Tiger Woods! Tiger freakin' Woods! Oh, I'm sorry. What was that? The CEO still has his corporate jet? Well, he did downsize...

Oh, and poor Citibank. They're so big. And so poor. And so... wasteful? Well, only if considering the sponsorship of the new Mets stadium is wasteful.

Look, people, I am not a gambler. If I don't want to gamble with my money, why would I want the Federal Government to?? They're passing out billions like the money is government cheese! Someone will take the cheese. They will be able to feed their families. Will they share with other families? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not.

We need to start holding these banks and corporations accountable for their actions. Haven't we seen enough blank checks in the past eight years? I could think of countless ways to spend that bailout money, and sponsoring pro sports teams and owning ridiculously unneccessary luxury items such as JETS (I mean, they're an auto company. Couldn't they just drive places? Oh,right. Their cars are crap.) are not on my list. I mean, who do these people think they are? Sarah Palin?

Maryland and the Death Penalty

This article in The Baltimore Sun today reignited an old flame of mine: Debating capital punishment... Please allow me to stand on my soapbox today...


It saddens me to even think about the notion that I am living in a country that still practices this inhumane form of punishment.

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Upon a preliminary search of recent capital punishment cases on Wikipedia, I discovered that there are some cases where the death penalty was used that could not be described in any manner other than cruel and unusual. (Now, of course Wikipedia isn’t the most reliable source, but it’s a good place to start. I’ve been informed about numerous things thanks to Wikipedia!) Here’s some methods some states use/have used in the last 30 years :
1) Utah- Death by Firing Squad
It appears The Beehive State only banned this method in 2004!
2) Delaware – Death by Hanging
That’s right, folks. Hanging. The First State now uses lethal injection.
3) Alabama – Electric Chair
They used to call it Yellow Mama.

Electrocution, the gas chamber, lethal injection, hanging, and firing squads -- Which is most inhumane? This is a trick question. They're all inhumane!

I understand the whole eye-for-an eye thing. I get it. But is that really the best way to punish someone for committing a heinous crime? Let's think for a moment about death row inmates who welcome the idea of the death penalty.

Feast your eyes on this old Amnesty International letter to the Governor of Kentucky:

I appeal to you to grant clemency for Marco Allen Chapman. Mr. Chapman is scheduled to be executed on November 21st for the 2002 murder of two children in the Marksberry family. He is not appealing his death sentence. This would be the first execution in Kentucky for nearly a decade, the last being that of Eddie Harper who had also given up his appeals.
Upon arrest for the murders, Marco Chapman asked one of the police officers to shoot him in the head. Since that time he has consistently resisted all attempts by lawyers to represent him, in a clear effort to be put to death by the state of Kentucky as quickly as possible.

I personally oppose the death penalty in all cases, but I am particularly concerned with the idea of an inmate “volunteering” to die. There have been 130 such “voluntary” executions in the U.S. since 1977. Any number of factors may contribute to a condemned inmate's decision not to pursue appeals, including mental disorder, physical illness, remorse, bravado, religious belief, a quest for notoriety, the severity of conditions of confinement, the bleak alternative of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, or pessimism about appeal prospects. In some cases it appears that the detainee may have committed the crime in order to receive a death sentence.

Mr. Chapman seems to have been motivated by suicidal thoughts since the moment of his arrest, if not before. With cases like this, it is no wonder that the execution of “volunteers” is often compared to state-assisted suicide.
I am in no way excusing the crime in this case. I have tremendous sympathy for the family and friends of the Marksberry children and I am mindful of the pain and suffering that they have endured. I nonetheless strongly oppose the “volunteer” execution of Marco Allen Chapman.

Governor Beshear, I urge you to demonstrate your respect for justice and human life by doing everything in your power to commute the death sentence of Marco Allen Chapman, and support a moratorium on executions in Kentucky. Thank you for your time and attention to this serious matter.”

Now what about executing inmates with mental disabilities? Or those that are not guilty?

I'm curious how everyone feels about capital punishment. It's not something that we discuss too often these days. I'll leave you with this:

Right to life
1. Everyone has the right to life.
2. No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed.

Chapter 1, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union