Sneak Peak at Michael Moore's "Sicko"

I can't wait to see Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" on 6/29. (Being a "bleeding-heart liberal") I loved "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11", but I hear even Republicans are praising this movie.

Here's a sneak peak about a guy that cuts off his fingers and has to choose which he can afford to reattach. Can you imagine?! This one definitely goes in the "WTF" category.

Powered by AOL Video

United States Arming Our Enemies (Again)

If we can't beat them, join them?! We are now arming Sunni groups that "promise" to stop killing us and start fighting Al Qaeda instead. Brilliant. We've already spent $15 BILLION arming the Shiite groups, now we will arm their enemies too. (Basically, we are funding both sides of a civil war. Meanwhile, in the US, we have people with no healthcare and kids going to school in trailers.) And, what happens after they get our funding and weapons and decide to break their promise?! WTF?!

39 "Ghost Detainees" Disappear (?!)

It seems that people turn a blind eye to any news involving the mistreating of a "terrorist". If they truly are terrorists, fine, lock them up and throw away the key. But, what if they are not terrorists? What if they are not guilty of anything? What if this was you or one of your family members? The following people have not been charged with any crime, there have been no legal proceedings, some of them are women and children, yet they were held for three or more YEARS and then they "disappeared". Why the hell is Paris Hilton the top news story again today?!

From the AP -

WASHINGTON — At least 39 people from a half-dozen countries have been held in secret U.S. detention centers worldwide for three or more years, and their fates remain unknown, six human-rights groups say in a report being released today.

Human rights advocates said the document, which they called the most comprehensive account yet of so-called "ghost detainees," raises new alarms about the Bush administration's practice of secretly detaining suspected terrorists without any legal proceeding.

The report says that in five instances U.S. authorities detained the wives or young children of suspects held in secret prisons. And in four instances, terrorism suspects in U.S. custody may have been transferred to Libya, once a major adversary of Washington.

"It should be a sobering alarm bell that rattles us all out of our collective slumber," said Curt Goering, a top official at Amnesty International, which helped prepare the report.

One of the reports' authors said she wasn't convinced that the sites were ever emptied, and claimed a program of secret detentions was ongoing.

"We wanted (the detainees') names in the public eye because of the impression that this is over, this is finished, and they're not doing this anymore," said Anne Fitzgerald, a senior adviser for Amnesty International. "That's clearly not the case."

Daily Show: GOP Debates

Republicans agree the only thing worse than another terrorist attack is a gay hero stopping it.

Predictions

When Bush "won" the election in 2000, I predicted to my brother in law (a hardcore Republican) that he would screw things up so badly that Hillary Clinton would be president in 2008. He laughed hysterically and said that would NEVER happen, Bush would do a wonderful job and Hillary wouldn't even have enough support to run. I knew things were about to go way downhill with Bush, but even in my wildest nightmares, I never imagined he could do this much damage to our country. And after watching last night's debate, I'm thinking Hillary may just have a little support (and I may have missed my calling as a psychic). I still haven't decided who I'm voting for but I don't think there's any question about who won that debate. Hillary won by a landslide, I put Barack in second and Edwards in third. I don't think any of those other guys stand a chance. I'm personally torn about Hillary, there's just something about her that makes me not want to like her, but I have to admit she was absolutely brilliant in the debate. She looked great, sounded strong and made a lot of sense. One of my favorite parts was how she talked about being united. We need to be united, I'm so sick of mud-slinging, nasty campaigns. I applaud her for being positive and finding common ground instead of just bashing her opponents. I pray that all of the candidates will adopt and keep that attitude throughout the election. We need to pull together and put an end to the twisted Republican regime we have now.


HRC June 3, 2007 -

"Everybody on this stage, we are all united, Wolf. We all believe that we need to try to end this war. In two nights you’re going to have the Republican candidates here. They all support the war. They all support the president. They all supported the escalation. Each of us is trying in our own way to bring the war to an end. . . .

And I think it’s important particularly to point out; This is George Bush’s war. He is responsible for this war. He started the war. He mismanaged the war. He escalated the war. And he refuses to end the war.

And what we are trying to do, whether it’s by speaking out from the outside or working and casting votes that actually make a difference from the inside, we are trying to end the war. . . .

The differences among us are minor. The differences between us and the Republicans are major. And I don’t want anyone in America to be confused."



I don't want America to be confused either. It sickens me how many people vote without even knowing what the candidates stand for. I used to go around begging everyone to vote. I thought it was so important, every vote counts, blah, blah, blah. I've now come to the realization that I don't want everyone to vote. Uninformed people voting is exactly what got us in the mess we are in now. I want to barf when I hear someone say they voted for Bush because he "seemed like a good guy" or he was a "Christian". If you looked at his background or his voting record for two seconds you would see that he was never qualified for the job (by the way, "talking to Jesus" is not equivalent to actually ACTING like a Christian). So, if you don't know your candidates qualifications and exactly what they stand for, then do the country a favor and just stay home. I want as much information as possible on everyone that is running, their voting records and what they plan to do with the most powerful office in the world. For that reason, I will also be tuning into the Republican debates tomorrow. Even though most of them just sound like parrots of Bush, I do hold out hope that someone might have an original thought. Ron Paul is running on the Republican ticket, he's actually a Libertarian and so far, seems to be the only one making much sense.

Farewell Falwell

I'm sure you've heard the Reverend Jerry Falwell has died. I have mixed feelings about writing anything negative about someone after their death, but after the past 24 hours of hearing what a "saint" he was, I have to speak up. I'm not glad that he died, I'm never happy to hear of anyone dying. I feel bad for his family and anyone that loved him, but with that said, I hope people remember who this man truly was.

This is the man that referred to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Civil Rights Movement" as "Civil Wrongs Movement". He referred to Ellen as "Ellen Degenerate" and demanded sponsors yank their advertising from her show. He claimed the "Antichrist" will be a Jewish man. He called Noble Peace prize winner, Desmond Tutu a "phony". He called AIDS God's punishment for homosexuality. In case there's anyone who hasn't been offended yet, I'll leave you with a few of his quotes.

Falwell on segregation: "If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would have never been made."

Falwell on schools: "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."

Falwell on Bush: "I am such a strong admirer and supporter of George W. Bush that if he suggested eliminating the income tax or doubling it, I would vote yes on first blush.

Falwell on Ellen: "Vice President Gore recently praised the lesbian actress who plays 'Ellen' on ABC Television...I believe he may even put children, young people, and adults in danger by his public endorsement of deviant homosexual behavior...Our elected leaders are attempting to glorify and legitimize perversion."

Falwell on global warming: "I believe that global warming is a myth. And so, therefore, I have no conscience problems at all and I'm going to buy a Suburban next time."

Falwell on terrorists: "God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."

Falwell on 9/11: "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".

Falwell on civil liberties: "The First Amendment is not without limits." " The ACLU is to Christians what the American Nazi party is to Jews."

RIP Jerry

No Child Left Unsolicted?

I've had problems with the so-called "No Child Left Behind Act" since the beginning. For example, the funding promised is not equal to the funding received. The yearly progress is based on the total number of students in a school with no exception for students with disabilities (that need special help or are unable to even take the tests). You've probably heard of these and other unfair parts of this bill, but did you know military recruiting was also slipped into this mess? Schools now HAVE to allow military recruiting (starting in middle school) in order to keep their funding! Not only do they get to talk to your children without your supervision, they also get a list of names, addresses and phone numbers. Unbelievable...

SEC. 9528. ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.

(a) POLICY-


(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

Faux News

Last night I watched a documentary that left me completely stunned. "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" really opened my eyes to what goes on with the "news" today. How is it possible for one man to own and control such a huge percentage of our media?! Even worse, he encourages twisting words, lies, omissions and outright propaganda to put his personal slant on the news. I don't have much time to elaborate but wanted to at least add the link to watch this movie for free. Please make time to view and let me know what you think. Does anyone else find this scary? If you do, please look at this of just a "few" of the other things this guy owns...

Myspace.com
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Espanol
20th Century Fox Television
Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios LA
Fox Studios Baja
Fox Television Studios
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Sports Australia
Fox Television Stations
Fox Movie Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox Sports Espanol
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports World
FUEL
FX
National Geographic Channel
SPEED Channel
DIRECTV
FOXTEL
New York Post

Is Anyone Else Sick of the "News"?

I'm not sure when or how it happened but what passes for "news" is this country is getting rather disturbing. My husband and I are both news junkies, we read Internet news, watch all the news channels and even read old-fashioned news papers (gasp). I've thought many times about how real news is being replaced by "entertainment" news, but I didn't realize just how bad it was until this week. One night recently I finished watching the evening news and went into the kitchen to make dinner. My 8 year old daughter came in and asked if she could turn off the "news" and watch a cartoon. I said, "sure, the news is over". She said, "Oh, I couldn't tell the difference, it looked just like the news". It turned out to be "Entertainment Tonight". I realized how right she was, sadly, there isn't much difference! Take away the few seconds about the war, a couple of minutes about extreme weather conditions and you've basically got the same show. Why do we put up with being fed this gossipy, unimportant bullshit? Celebrity adoptions, rants or "feuds" (the real ones and those made up from sound bites taken out of context) get far more coverage than important things like healthcare, jobs or schools. How in the hell did this happen? And, am I the only one that cares? Isn't it sad that events like Anna Nicole Smith's "baby daddy", Don Imus and Sanjaya (or whatever his name is) get more coverage than anything that might actually have an affect on our lives?! I'm not sure if most people are even aware that the Supreme Court changed it's ruling on abortion this week. First time that's happened in over thirty years and it didn't even make front page news in many places. It's your prerogative to be for it or against it but I hope you at least know about it. There really should be more attention brought to ANY issue that actually changes our constitution!

Another thing that really bothers me is the 24/7 coverage of this Cho Seung-Hui guy at Virginia Tech. I mean absolutely no disrespect for anyone killed, injured or saddened by this awful tragedy. As a parent, I can't imagine ANYTHING worse than losing a child! What bothers me about the coverage, is being force-fed his photos, videos and rambling manuscript. Isn't that EXACTLY what he wanted?! That's why he did this! He referenced "Dylan and Eric" (the Columbine gunmen) as MARTYRS! He was proud to follow in their footsteps! I hope and pray that I'm wrong but I really believe his "fame" just perpetuates this cycle! Can't you see another twisted young kid thinking about trying to outdo him and be even more "famous"?! Surely someone in the media has given this some thought. Apparently, trying to up the ratings outweighs trying to prevent this from happening again.