Follow-up on the bad news is the medias fault
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 10

I have come across another instance where the media is responsible for all the bad news coming out of Iraq. In a piece from International Herald Tribune they say that the actual death tolls because of the U.S. invasion is Iraq could be as high as 600,000. This is my favorite part of the article:

In the last week of September, the government barred the central morgue in Baghdad and the Health Ministry - the two main sources of information for civilian deaths - from releasing figures to the news media. Now, only the government is allowed to release figures. (IHT)

Rock on! Now, the media can not possibly be responsible for reporting the bad news. The government (God Bless Them!) will give us the real facts.

Now, only the government is allowed to release figures. It has not provided statistics for September, though a spokesman said Tuesday that it would. (IHT)

Huh, well, no news is good news, am I right? Whether the study that says we killed 600,000 civilians is 100% accurate or not, the American people should know the correct number verified by an independent source before they go and elect these crooks, AGAIN!

This must be one of those situations where the results are best not released until after the mid-term elections like the intelligence report from Iraq or the results of the investigation into Foley.

The moral of the story is that you don't need to get any information from independent sources, the government will tell you everything you need to know and if they don't tell you, you don't need to know.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

Speaking of apple pie and Chevrolets, GO TIGERS!

**********UPDATE**********

Jon Stewart '08

According to Faux News, Jon will not run with Colbert. I like what he says about why people are doing this.

I don't like what he says at the very end though and I would disagree with him and so would Indiana University.

The joke is on you, Jon. Not only are you funny, but you do give us a dose of real news.

A brief note: I am not proud for posting a link to Faux News on my blog but I did vomit several times afterwards so I feel I have paid the price for dancing with the devil. The article on Faux was linked to by Salon, where I originally saw the story.

Jeb Bush hides in the closet but when he comes out, he is flamin'
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 3

Found this article: Jeb Hides

So Jeb was attending a fund raiser and was hidden in a closet until the protestors were able to be subdued by using a stun gun. Welcome to Dick Cheney's America!

This is not what I find outrageous though.

I find the fact that Jeb was told to "go home" by the protestors and he responded by blowing a kiss at them.

It is that kind of arrogance that makes me want to vomit. We have another fine example of the disdain for the middle class who is being screwed by this GOP. Jeb wouldn't engage them in discussion, he hid like a pansy. Would he debate them on the facts? NO. He blew a kiss at them which I am sure the "haves" and the "have mores" got a big kick out of as they wrote enormous checks to Santorum.

The GOP lives in a fantasy world where they can say things like, I don't have to answer to anyone and I can do it because I am the president. The GOP doesn't have to answer its critics because they are too busy protecting the American people.

I watched a cool show last night on Sundance called "The Hill" about some staffers working for Wexler and it showed them watching the debates and one guy said something like if people still vote for Bush after seeing the debate, they deserve him as a president. I totally agree with that statement. The ugly truth about that statement though is that then I am stuck with him as a president when I know better. A caller made the same comment to Randi Rhodes on her radio show and she said that no one deserves a president like this. I guess she still has faith in her fellow countrymen whereas I do not.

Saw this bumper sticker Sunday at Best Buy and thought it was perfect.

It is not a great picture but it says "Jon Stewart for President '08"

Iraq is going great, it's the medias fault for only reporting the bad
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 5

I engaged in a "conversation" with an acquaintance yesterday started by the fact that I said how disappointed I was that I was unable to attend the protests because I was working. When she said this regime is no different than any other, I said yes, but, this one is driving this country into the ground with the richie rich tax cuts and their fraudulent Iraq war, making their corruption worse than any other regime in my lifetime. That is when the "it's the medias fault" comment happened and I almost fell out of my chair. So in honor of that comment, I offer up this article:
War going badly according to GOVERNMENT reports

and this one:
More war going badly according to GOVERNMENT reports

and I could go on but you get the point.

I do agree that MOST politicians are corrupt, Democrat or Republican. What I disagree with is this administrations ability to get away with gross negligence because they are policing themselves. It is no different then when Nancy Pelosi made a motion to call for a 10 day investigation into the allegations against Foley and Boehner said nope, we are the majority and we think it should go to the ethics committee, which the GOP is also in control of. They voted and guess what, to the ethics black hole it goes.

This is not the first person to say that it is the medias fault to me. It is hard for me to believe that anyone can think that it is just the media telling us this is going badly. What about all of the casualties we have suffered? What about the 100,000+ Iraqi civilians that have been killed? What about the fact that we had to pass a bill killing Habeas Corpus because of this war? It has been around since the Magna Carta but because of this war and this administrations law breaking, it is gone so they can't be held accountable.

In an effort for every WASP who Karl Rove has convinced they are being persecuted against to take back their country, they took back the country from everything this country was founded on. Our phone conversations are being listened to in the name of 9/11. We, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, can and do torture people in the name of 9/11. We can now hold anyone for any reason as long as we define them as an enemy combatant without showing the evidence against them or letting them have a lawyer in the name of 9/11.

It is almost like Bush and company knew that 9/11 was going to happen and they let it anyway in order to push their fascist agenda on the American people. Yeah, almost like that.......

Kissing freedom of speech buh-bye
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 14 (but not because of the dude being arrested, read on.......)

Listening to the Young Turks on Air America today, they had this little gem of a story: Freedom is on the march (Freedom of speech, not so fast)

Why isn't this splashed all over Fox and CNN and MSNBC? Do citizens need to know that if they dare to speak out against their leadership in a very civilized manner, they will be arrested in front of their 7 year old son on his way to piano lessons? This is why I am level 14 outraged.

Do citizens need to know that they government can arrest them, hold them indefinitely, and never need to tell them what they are being charged with, who is bringing these charges against them, not allow legal counsel, and what evidence is being used against them?

The answer is NO! Instead, Sean Hannity needs to bring up the name of Monica when talking about Foley saying she was 19 when she gave the bj. Hey Sean.....she was 22, but I guess there is no difference between consensual bjs and pedophilia. Slap on the wrists for Foley when Clinton was impeached. God Bless America and Sean Hannity. I hope that the GOP will take good care of the media attention stealing Foley. They owe it to him.

Today is a day where you are supposed to leave your job, school, not buy anything, and participate in protesting this regime.
www.worldcantwait.net

I applaud their efforts but I doubt it will do any good.

On a more personal note, today marks 3 years since my Uncle John passed away and we all still miss him dearly. 3 Queens!

Foley and the "overly-friendly" e-mails part 2
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 14

Found this article about Rush and Hastert lying again!

Now that the Democrats have been cleared of any wrong doing, they will lose the mid terms based on their own faults, not GOP created ones.

Foley and the "overly-friendly" e-mails
Outrage level (scale of 1-10): 14 (but not exclusively because of the crime, read on.......)

Of course the crime is heinous but my real outrage comes from.......

Issue 1: What convenient timing for the GOP!
With the passage of the bill stripping not only enemy combatants but all US Citizens the rights provided to them by the Bill of Rights, it is refreshing to see that nothing can capture peoples attention away from the gross crimes of this administration like pedophilia. Is this the October surprise Mr. Rove promised us?

Issue 2: The Democrats have known about this since 1995 and they have coerced the Pages into baiting the GOP with their muscular young bodies.
Even if this was true, are the Democrats really worse than Foley who took the bait? Is the undercover cop posing as a 13 year old girl to nab an internet predator worse than the dirtbag he arrests at the No Tell Motel waiting for the 13 year old girl?

Issue 3: Foley is a single man.
OH, so since it is not adultery, it is not as big of a deal? Light bulb time: If it is not directly addressed by the 10 commandments, it is a gray area and may not be as bad as it would be if he were married. To a woman.

Issue 4: Foley was abused as a child.
Well that makes it ok then. Eye for an eye, right bible thumpers? Everyone gets their comeuppance in the end so I am waiting here for Iraq to invade our country and kill over 100,000 of our civilians. Eye for an eye.

Issue 5: The LEADERSHIP oh you know what.....I can't go on anymore.......

The main reason why I am level 14 outraged with the Foley story.....

This is by far NOT the worst thing to come out of the GOP in these past years.

I am sickened by the fact that a GAY REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN sending im's of this nature: ABC's Transcripts (check out all 9 pages of IM's) is NOT THE WORST THING TO COME OUT OF THE GOP LATELY.

I got a new George Forman grill today. Meijer had a one day only coupon for $50 off the G5 grill. Such a deal. It is pretty cool though. Featuring 5 grill plates making it very versatile and easy to clean. Also came with a cookbook with lots of fun recipes. I am hoping that it will encourage me to cook for myself when Dave is at work instead of eating a lean cuisine standing over the sink.

I called Mom and worked out the menu for the picnic coming up. I am going to make Penzeys Peppery Potato Salad. Since I also have Penzeys Ranch Salad Dressing Base, I am going to make some chip dip. I am also going to make a batch of hummus. It will be nice to see everyone since I wasn't at the Christmas get together, being in Cancun and all. I wish Aunt Cindy, Uncle Dave, and Becky could make it but next time we will have to set the date earlier or set a specific weekend and have it that weekend every year like Aunt Cindy suggested. Just not the third weekend in August.

I haven't really had much time to blog. Work has been super busy with the 0% for 72 months. We sold a lot of cars in that week. Here is a picture of Julius and Spike sleeping on the loveseat together. My brother got his new Equinox last weekend. I wish all my deliveries were signed up at Los Cuatro Amigo. Nothing says no credit life like salsa on your finance contract. I got some new kitchen goodies at Marshall Fields yesterday. I went to get a food processor but they were out of the one I wanted so instead I got a new pair of tongs, a citrus squeezer, and a tenderizer. I also got two new cookie sheets and set of 6 new baking pans. I was watching Food TV and Al Roker made fritatas with a guy from the egg council and they looked good so I made cheese, mushroom, and tomato fritatas this morning for breakfast. They came out very good. One of the tips on the show was to use water instead of milk with the egg and I tried that. It was fluffier than when I have used milk. I also motivated and made a huge batch of hummus. Now I have to get started on recipes and a menu for the family picnic in a couple of weeks. I did get my new Penzeys stuff from my aunt and uncle yesterday too so I got to use the vanilla sugar to make strawberry shortcake. The vanilla sugar is a very mild taste and I don't know if the shortcake was the right time to use it or not. It was good but I didn't get as much of a vanilla flavor as I had hoped. Oh well, I still ate it.

What a good Tigers game last night. After we met at Catherines, Marlene took us to a bar where they have a shuttle service to Comerica Park. Marlene knows all the tricks. Parking was a breeze and the shuttle showed up just a few minutes after we parked. The Astros were leading 1-0 when we got there but the Tigers came back. At one point during the game, a guy from the Astros ran to first and the umpire called him out and he thought he was safe so he did what any logical angry millionaire would do, he threw his hat on the ground. Out he went. Then, this other guy came out to argue and he threw his hat down and the umpire kicked him out of the game. Then, on his way out, he threw a chair on the field. I almost wonder if the next time contract negotiations begin, if they will include some anger management classes. The rage isn't limited to the majors either. I think we all have heard about the ritualistic cleansing of the home plate for the benefit of the umpire episode the other day. What I don't understand is getting paid all that money to do what you love to do and getting so angry when things don't go your exact way. Do you really think the girl flipping burgers at White Castle is going to get crazy when someone doesn't refill the pickles? No, she is going to roll her eyes and keep her mouth shut because she needs the job. All in all, it was a very late night for me but very fun to hang out with the girls.

Last night I flipped on The Daily Show which I haven't done in quite a while. Right off, Jon was talking about the arrest of the HUGE terror cell ready to blow up the Sears Tower. As Jon put it, to wage a war on the US, don't you need more people that you have on a softball team? During the press briefing, the press core was asking about the specific plans that they found (none were found) and the bombs, explosives, etc that were found (none were found) and this guy actually answered one of the questions by saying that they weren't so much planning it as aspiring to it. There was no specific plan and they never had contact with Al Qaida. This simply reminds me that its mid term elections time, lets rally the base. Scare the citizens and re-elect the only people who care about Homeland Security. I wonder if you are allowed to claim that you care about Homeland Security when you cut the budget of the city that suffered the largest terrorist attack in history by 40% and give their money to the red states.

I never thought of myself as one of those bloggers but my boyfriend seems to think that I will like it so I thought I'd give it a try. I am going to a Tigers game tonight with my girlfriends Kelly, Catherine, Jackie, and Marlene. That should be fun. The Tigers are doing so well right now. Last weekend, Dave and I were at a gas station in Bay City and Dave had his Tigers shirt on and some shirtless guy says, "Feels good to wear a Tigers shirt again." Apparently, his Tigers shirt must have been in the laundry. You can tell the Tigers are doing well though, my brother wants to go to a game and having a hard time getting good seats. I don't really like sporting events but I have fun once I am there.

Other than that, I am puzzled by the fact that I no longer watch The Daily Show or Colbert Report. I used to watch both programs all the time but I am not into it anymore. I am not really listening to Air America anymore either. I don't know if it is just because I am so fed up with the sad state of American politics or because I have no hope that anything will get better, no matter which party is elected. Or maybe I don't care right now because it is summertime and I feel the livin' should be easy.

Today my brothers Equinox is coming in on dealer trade. He looked at the color at a different dealer and said he liked it. I hope it will work out for him. When I heard that he was in an accident in his truck, I knew it would be a hard task to replace the truck. He elected to go with something a little friendlier on the pocketbook as far as gas is concerned. I hope he will be happy with it.