blog alice - the pseudo-political

from tmz.com....

Wed, 16 May 2007 12:03:44 -0400

Jerry Falwell 1933-2007

quote o' the week (from the recently deceased mr. h. falwell)

Tue, 15 May 2007 14:05:43 -0400

post-9/11, on the 700 club:

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen" (according to wikipedia, pat robertson concurred)

i watched a 2000 documentary on hbo the other night, about what 'gays' and 'lesbians' endured during hitler's mass slaughter. eighty-year-old men wept, in german and in french. one man screamed that his rectum still bled from the twenty-five centimeter stick of wood with which he was repeatedly raped. sixty years later.

whether or not homophobia/pro-apartheid stances were platforms for this man or whether he was truly evil, who can say. now he's dust.

uh-oh. bush actually has to make a decision....

Sat, 05 May 2007 02:53:57 -0400

looks like the nra wants bush to overlook some things on his wah on terrah. what will he do? (in between vetoing punishment for hate crimes, war cessation, and now abortion rights):

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms.
Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or permits to terror suspects.
In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat."

if it's 'okay' to wiretap suspected suspects, then it's gotta be okay to sell 'em guns, right? (someone shift heston's head up and down for verification).

maintaining global connections!

Fri, 04 May 2007 09:36:03 -0400

and maintaining global poverty through sweat shops. of course, that deserves recognition.

Jischke to receive International Citizen of the Year Award

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Martin C. Jischke
Download photo

Purdue University President Martin C. Jischke will receive the International Citizen of the Year Award on May 8 during a ceremony in Indianapolis.
The executive committee of the International Center of Indianapolis nominated Jischke for the award based on his "tremendous leadership in making global connections for Indiana," said Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the center's board of directors.

separate and unequal

Thu, 03 May 2007 23:13:44 -0400

our great dictator is now threatening to wield his great veto pen in yet another refusal to save human lives:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/03/hate.crimes.bill/index.html

but wait, gays/transgenders/queers/intergenders aren't exactly human, no? the pulpiters are screaming, "freedom of speech!" which is evidently more important than the beating of a heart (funny, the republican anti-abortionists cry for it--the continued beating--wait until they get a genetic predictor for homosexuality...). an advocate of war, of hate crimes...those of us who survive will be left to pay double-rate student loan bills.

my question is this: who DOES benefit from this adiminstration? the mad televangelists? the four-dollar/gallon-regular oil companies? elves? but it's not elves exactly...

in the midst of our national mourning, we should not forget...

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:19:58 -0400

Up to 200 killed in Baghdad bombs - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6567329.stm

Nearly 200 people have been killed in a string of attacks in Iraq's capital, Baghdad-the worst day of violence since a US security operation began.

In one of the deadliest attacks of the last four years, some 140 people were killed in a car bombing in a food market in Sadriya district.

A witness said the area had been turned into "a swimming pool of blood".

The attacks came as PM Nouri Maliki said Iraqi forces would take control of security across Iraq by the year's end.

---------

a slide-show of the destruction and death:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070418/GAL-07Apr18-71300/index.html

-------

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800799.html?hpid=topnews

Across Iraq at least 10 other people were killed in bombings and shootings, and 58 bullet-riddled corpses were found, police and news services reported, bringing the day's death toll to nearly 230.

In Washington, Adm. William J. Fallon, the new chief of the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters responsible for the Middle East gave a more pessimistic assessment of the situation in Baghdad than other senior officers have offered in recent days. "I believe that the things that I see on a daily basis give me some cause for optimism, but I'll tell you that there's hardly a week that goes by -- certainly almost a day that doesn't go by -- without some major event that also causes us to lose some ground," Fallon told the House Armed Services Committee.

cindy sheehan at purdue

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:47:37 -0400

cindy sheehan spoke tonight at purdue, albeit briefly. she rabble-roused the crowd for about a half-hour, and then took questions for another thirty minutes or so. it was nice to hear the word 'empire' in front of the crowd of about four-hundred (a bunch more were filtered into a room where they were able to watch the speech on an overhead). i found myself curiously detached throughout most of the speech, as i'm not only not patriotic, but also not patriotic about being non-patriotic. i'm not sure if that makes me apathetic or not. my blood pressure did roil at that term, empire, though.

i was hoping she would answer several more questions (and that she would have thanked berenice and the lafayatte peace coalition for having her), but i suppose she's on a two-speech-per-day bender. also found out that ann coulter's speech last year was 'invite only.' we had some hecklers, but pretty much inbreds in leather jackets. but what are you going to do.

lots o' line, news crews, protesters, and a speckling of hecklers

even police dogs!

on the left there's frank rosenthal, my epidemiology professor

berenice carroll, my professor for my women's studies wost 681 course, introducing cindy sheehan

berenice and i and dana and ken

and sol and amna and rene

and everyone else

cindy sheehan speaking

Q&A

johannesburg running out of burial plots (thanks to AIDS)

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:53:56 -0400

johannesburg is running out of burial plots (as noted below, twenty-four of thirty-five cemeteries have been filled), in great part due to the uncontrollable AIDS epidemic:

Masondo said 24 of the city's 35 cemeteries were already at full capacity and, although enough spaces remain for the foreseeable future, other options must now be considered.
"The city would like to make an appeal to residents to consider amongst other options, stack burials and cremations," the SAPA news agency quoted Masondo as saying at the opening of a new cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
South African officials have repeatedly warned in recent years of a looming shortage of burial plots, attributed in part to rapid urbanization and a cultural reluctance among African families to consider options such as cremation.
Masondo suggested that families could begin to double up with "stack burials" at existing, family-held gravesites.

conversely, a friend informed me last evening that by law, ob/gyns conducting ultrasounds in india and nepal are forbidden to disclose the sex of the infant, as an infant of the 'vaginal kind' (not a quote from my friend, but one from a text we discussed) would be in danger due to the dowry slayings.

if these messages aren't a call to arms, i don't know what is.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/04/11/safrica.aids.reut/index.html

indiana: light on pollution, but that doesn't include secondhand smoke!

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:45:21 -0400

today, the indiana house approved a smoking ban, statewide. only public, though. simultaneously, indiana is the fifth worst polluter in the damned country (the buckeyes beat us out, once again).

britain jumps on the bandwagon: we're sorry for slavery, too!

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:58:26 -0400

blair feels "deep sorrow and regret," but with that frumpy baby-posh dumbass grin on his face. it's like listening to bush talk about, well, whatever he's potty-trained to talk about.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=46589&src=032607_0755_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters

on a happier note, cindy sheehan is visiting purdue (to counter that nice ann coulter incident of last year, where she somehow refrained from causing an potential presidential candidates 'faggots'). evidently, coulter charges fees upwards of 18k. i was told sheehan was paid $300.00:

http://www.purdue.edu/convos/sheehan.htm

CINDY SHEEHAN
"Speaking Peace to Power"Presented by
Committee on Peace Studies
Flora F. Roberts Bequest

With support from

Department of Political Science
American Studies Program
Women's Studies Program
Lafayette Area Peace Coalition
Pax Christi
Indiana Peace and Justice Network

Thursday
April 12, 2007
8:00 pm
Fowler Hall
Free and open to the public

Cindy Sheehan captured the nation's attention in the summer of 2005 with her vigil against the Iraq war outside President George W. Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch. A resident of Vacaville, Calif., she is the mother of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, a war casualty who was killed outside of Baghdad on April 4, 2004.

In August 2005 Sheehan announced that she would camp near Bush's ranch until he agreed to speak with her about removing U.S. troops from Iraq and holding politicians responsible for the decisions that led to the war. Her vigil drew both protestors and counter- protestors, as well as national media coverage.

Since 2005 Sheehan, who has come to be called "Peace Mom," has been leading anti-war protests around the country and internationally, and she was arrested and charged with unlawful conduct on Jan. 31, 2006, for displaying an anti-war slogan at President Bush's State of the Union address. Those charges were dropped the next day.

Sheehan is one of the nine founding members of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization created in January 2005 that seeks to end the occupation of Iraq and provide support for families of fallen soldiers.

virginia says, 'i so sowwy'....

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 18:31:46 -0500

about five-hundred and fifty years too late. next time i enslave millions (and throw a few more into the sea), i'll make sure i get senate and house approval before apologizing. (ooo. they even threw the american indians in there for good measure--in the spirit of illinois' alteration of their mascot's headdress, i'm certain).

Virginia expresses 'profound regret' for slavery

POSTED: 6:00 p.m. EST, February 24, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/24/slavery.apology.ap/index.html

Story Highlights

• House approves apology 96-0; Senate passes with unanimous voice vote
• Sponsors say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery
• Measure also expresses regret for "exploitation of Native Americans"
• Virginia celebrating 400th anniversary of Jamestown, where slaves arrived

Adjust font size:

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- Meeting on the grounds of the former Confederate Capitol, the Virginia General Assembly voted unanimously Saturday to express "profound regret" for the state's role in slavery.

Sponsors of the resolution say they know of no other state that has apologized for slavery, although Missouri lawmakers are considering such a measure. The resolution does not carry the weight of law but sends an important symbolic message, supporters said.

"This session will be remembered for a lot of things, but 20 years hence I suspect one of those things will be the fact that we came together and passed this resolution," said Delegate A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat who sponsored it in the House of Delegates.

The resolution passed the House 96-0 and cleared the 40-member Senate on a unanimous voice vote. It does not require Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's approval.

The measure also expressed regret for "the exploitation of Native Americans."

The resolution was introduced as Virginia begins its celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, where the first Africans arrived in 1619. Richmond, home to a popular boulevard lined with statues of Confederate heroes, later became another point of arrival for Africans and a slave-trade hub.

The resolution says government-sanctioned slavery "ranks as the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation's history, and the abolition of slavery was followed by systematic discrimination, enforced segregation, and other insidious institutions and practices toward Americans of African descent that were rooted in racism, racial bias, and racial misunderstanding."

(four of) 9 close encounters with richard nixon

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 23:56:41 -0500

From the book of lists #3. Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Iriving Wallace. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1983. 21-23.

"9 close encounters with george w. bu--richard nixon"

1. CAB CALLOWAY

on apr. 29, 1969, president nixon held a black-tie dinner in honor of pianist-composer duke ellington's 70th birthday. among the show-business personalities who were invited to attend the affar was entertaininer cab calloway. as calloway passed down the reception line, shaking hands with such dignitaries as the shah of iran, he finally reached nixon, who gave him a big smile as he approached. nixon grasped calloway's hand in both of his and said, "ah, mr. ellington, it's so good you're here. happy, happy birthday. pat and i just love your music." not wanting to embarrass the president of the united states, calloway smiled, thanked him, and moved on.

2. A SMALL GIRL

president nixon was shaking hands and talking with members of a crowd at an airport when a little girl shouted to him, "how is smokey the bear?" referring to the famous fire-fighting symbol who was then residing at the washington zoo. nixon smiled at the girl and turned away, but she kept waving and asking her question. unable to make out her words, nixon sought help from his aide-de-camp, steve bull. bull whispered, "smokey the bear, washington national zoo." nixon walked over to te little girl, shook her hand, and said, "how do you do, miss bear?"

3. ANTIWAR PROTESTORS

following the invasion of cambodia and the death of four students at kent state unviersity in 170, thousands of people poured into washington, d.c., in preparation for a major antiwar demonstration. unable to sleep the morning of may 9, nixon called his valet, manolo sanchez, and asked him if he had ever seen the lincoln memorial after dark. sanchez had not, so nixon said, "let's go." accompanied by several secret service agents, they toured the memorial and emerged at about 5:00a.m. on the steps outside, they encountered a small group of studens from alfred state college, who had been talking politics with a park policeman. nixon chatted amiably with the young people and soon a crowd of 40 or 50 sleepy protestors had gathered. when the protestors began asking political questions, the president became vague and somewhat evasive, preferring to launch into a long monologue about his world travels instead. when one sudent said he was from california, nixon talked about surfing; when three others said they were from syracuse, he remarked "oh, the orangemen, that's a good football team." some protestors became so discouraged that they walked away. one syracuse student, lynn shatzkin, commented, "he didn't look anyone in the eyes; he was mumbling; when people asked him to speak up he would boom one word and no more ....i always thought nixon was just a man who disagreed with me, but that's not what he is. he's obviously a very sick person who's had too much pressure and cracked. i'm just wondering who's running the country."
after theconversation, nixon had breakfast at the mayflower hotel and ate corned beef hash with a poached egg for the first time in five years.

8. ANTHONY CALOMARIS

calomaris was a teenager who lived next door to j. edgar hoover on thirtieth place in washington, d.c. one night, during a newspaper strike in april 1974, hoover held a secret dinner party for nixon. however, word of the president's visit to the home of the fbi director leaked out, and when nixon prepared to leave, he was shocked to discover tv cameramen waiting for him outside. calomaris was also there, and when the president emerged, the young man asked for his autograph. it was calomaris's lucky night; he ended up with four autographs of richard nixon. "he didn't seem to want to talk to the television people," said calomaris, "and when i gave him my writing pad, he just kept turning the pages and signing his name."

for most, only crosses allowed on vet gravestones (still)

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:33:59 -0500

my super-buddy dana asked me to post this. it appears, once again, that (the christian) church still hasn't been separated from state (the new indiana 'in god we trust' license plates are another example). the military acquiesced to one pentacle on one grave of one person who followed an oft-silenced religion (outside of christianity):

From Wiccans Battle VA over Veteran Grave Marker Symbolby David and A.C. Aldag
A young man or woman signs the contract to become a member of the United States Armed Forces. In exchange for military service, he or she is guaranteed certain benefits, including a salary, a housing allowance for family members, medical care, training, and in the event of death, a place of final rest in a federal cemetery. A memorial marker or headstone is provided without cost, with the veteran’s name, rank, dates of service, and a religious emblem engraved on the headstone or inscribed on the marker. The veteran’s family may choose a religious symbol from thirty-eight different "emblems of belief" approved by the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Many different religious emblems are available for a variety of Christian denominations, and for Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Muslim veterans. Faiths with smaller memberships, including Eckankar, the Native American Church, the Konko-Kyo faith, the Izumo Taishakyo Mission, the Baha’i faith, the Sufis, and the Tenrikyo Church each have symbols on the list which their military veterans can have included on their government-issued headstones. There are even emblems on the NCA list available to represent atheists and humanists.
However, there is no symbol of the Wiccan religion approved for use on markers to honor deceased Wiccan veterans.
The emblem used by most Wiccans to represent their faith is the Pentacle, an interlaced five-pointed star which symbolizes the five cardinal elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit, placed within a circle to signify wholeness. Wicca, a nature religion rooted in pre-Christian Europe, is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States.
According to military statistics, there are at least 1,890 Wiccans presently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. According to Stars and Stripes, a newspaper printed for service members in all branches of the military, U.S. Department of Defense statistics from June 2005 stated "more than 1,800 active-duty service members identified themselves as Wiccans." This figure does not include those serving in the U.S. Navy.

for more information: http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/

well, mr. bush and sir cheney?

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:57:47 -0500

i foresee your addition-of-troops-into-iraq plan (and i see your plans-to-date) not being able to end this:

blood spilled from mortar attack sunday morning at a girl's school in baghdad.

A pupil aged around 15 named Ban Ismet told Reuters at Nuaaman Hospital that she was in the yard when the blasts hit and she was wounded in the legs: "I couldn't see much but what I saw was my friend Maha who was lying beside me on the ground.
"The shrapnel hit her in the eyes and there was blood all over her face. ... She was dead."
Residents told police at least one student had been killed and 23 more had been wounded. Wire reports quoted witnesses who said five girls were killed.

oh, and by the way, another helicopter has probably gone down, eight more are dead after a car bombing in kirkuk, and a sadr city market bombing killed another eighteen. while you go on, seamlessly, making your occasional television appearances and showing up for dinner and stalking elusive pheasants on your ranch. you offer your handshakes to the mothers of dead soldiers (you offer not even that to the dead iraqis who've adopted your style of governing). you are a fearless leader, not a team-player, so why should you? you govern as your father governed. hands-off. sleep well at night. for you don't believe in a god. you know the spoils are right here. god is your tool to manipulate. you play on other peoples' sexual identities to win your own opportunities to claim the resplendent earthly spoils. and you will never face a war tribunal. you will never be court-martialed. you will never face the shame of impeachment. you just . . . go on.

WOOHOO! gays have finally been accepted!!

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:43:18 -0500

lessee here...we've moved through the straight whities; we've targeted lower-income minorities (on t.v. AND in walmart parking lots). they're almost used up! who oh who can the poor mr. bush turn to in these dire times, since he obviously doesn't want the pullout of troops in iraq to go down under his mostly already unsuccessful presidency in the short mention most whitey-white history books will pay him (right up there with andrew jackson and gerald 'god-rest-his-soul' ford).

who's left???

dah-dah-DAH-DAH!!

it's the gays!

yesiree bob! the gays have now been 'accepted'! (only by necessity, of course, say our country's military leaders.)

"them there queers still can't murry, nope nope. but we'll for shure let them talk it up in basic training!" says john shalikashvili (say that five times fast).

"and who knows? maybe it'll be doin god's will anyway! my son said to me the other day, 'dad, if my buddy bob--i know you'd never let me join--is old enough to be in the army, then why can't he have a beer?' and i says, 'son, in a few years you won't need to argue 'bout that. we'll get them queers some pink fatigues and optional underwear in days of intense com-bat, and unless your little friend there takes it up the hershey highway--by the way i think yer hangin' out with that bobby boy too much, my whiskey buddies are startin' to talk--you won't need to worry about it. now go to yer room before i give ya a fistful of shut the hell up!"

the new "get-the-gays-inside" campaign will be led by none other than two of the movement's staunchest supporters:

the video game industry is already chomping at the bit, excited as "all get out" about the military funding of their latest project:

the u.s. military notes that simulation machines are due to hit college campuses this fall. they (and bush) are hoping these measures will attract a "new breed of soldier."

we'll see.