Who Answers The Call?

Some through provoking stats I came across today. They make you wonder. Democrats are always accused of lacking in patriotism for the USA. But who defends it when the call comes?



Democrats:



Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.

David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72.

Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.

Al Gore: Enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade.

Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam.

Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII.

John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.

Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea.

Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam.

Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53.

Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74.

Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91.

Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons.

Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars, and Soldier's Medal.

Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit.

Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart.

Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat V.

Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star.

Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57

Chuck Robb: Marine Corps -- Vietnam

Howell Heflin: Silver Star

George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII.

Bill Clinton: Did not serve.

Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy.

Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953

John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and Air Medal with 18 Clusters.

Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg.





Republicans:



Dick Cheney: Did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.

Dennis Hastert: Did not serve.

Tom Delay: Did not serve.

Roy Blunt: Did not serve.

Bill Frist: Did not serve.

Mitch McConnell: Did not serve.

Rick Santorum: Did not serve.

Trent Lott: Did not serve.

John Ashcroft: Did not serve. Seven deferments to teach business.

Jeb Bush: Did not serve.

Karl Rove: Did not serve.

Saxby Chambliss: Did not serve. "Bad knee." (This is the man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism. Cleland is a triple-amputee due to war wounds received in Vietnam.)

Paul Wolfowitz: Did not serve.

Vin Weber: Did not serve.

Richard Perle: Did not serve.

Douglas Feith: Did not serve.

Eliot Abrams: Did not serve.

Richard Shelby: Did not serve.

Jon Kyl: Did not serve.

Tim Hutchison: Did not serve.

Christopher Cox: Did not serve.

Newt Gingrich: Did not serve.

Don Rumsfeld: Served in Navy (1954-57) as flight instructor.

George W. Bush: Failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.

Ronald Reagan: Due to poor eyesight, served in a non-combat role. Making movies.

B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted after fighting was over in Korea.

Phil Gramm: Did not serve.

John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.

John M. McHugh: Did not serve.

JC Watts: Did not serve.

Jack Kemp: Did not serve. "Knee problem," although llater continued in NFL for 8 years.

Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard.

Rudy Giuliani: Did not serve.

George Pataki: Did not serve.

Spencer Abraham: Did not serve.

John Engler: Did not serve.

Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: AWOL from Austrian army ZZZbase.





Pundits & Preachers:



Sean Hannity: Did not serve.

Rush Limbaugh: Did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst.')

Bill O'Reilly: Did not serve.

Michael Savage: Did not serve.

George Will: Did not serve.

Chris Matthews: Did not serve.

Paul Gigot: Did not serve.

Bill Bennett: Did not serve.

Pat Buchanan: Did not serve.

John Wayne: Did not serve.

Bill Kristol: Did not serve.

Kenneth Starr: Did not serve.

Antonin Scalia: Did not serve.

Clarence Thomas: Did not serve.

Ralph Reed: Did not serve.

Michael Medved: Did not serve.

Charlie Daniels: Did not serve.

Ted Nugent: Did not serve. (He only shoots at things that don't shoot back.)





You can post your comments below.

Reward comes after much belief and hope

..........I could feel it when the game began. It was like a steamroller. I kept praying they would not let. I screamed myself hoarse - and I fell to my knees in tears when the Red Sox won teh World Series last night.



I recall being there in 1986 when it slipped through their hands. I knew they could do it.....and they did. Without any of the famous names they once had (Yastremski, William, Clemens etc) this team that humbly calls itself "idiots" took 8 games straight, from the League Championship to the World Series.



I feel I have had a taste of heaven.



Oh ho ho ho! Gaudeamus Hodie.



The Boston Red Sox won the World Series!!!

.....and the wheel turns forward in the EU

....Stopping by France today..........once again Europeans outshine the USA in showing basic human respect for people (especially woman!!) and evidence it in their political processes. The new EU President was about to have his entire commission rejectedfor the first time ever because of his inclusion of Italy's representative - a homophobic mysogynist man.



It's gratifying to see politics work as they should - in the greater service of human evolution and higher ideals.



How interesting that this happens on the day of a Full Moon lunar eclipse that is about taking actions to bridge the gap in relationships of all kinds. It certainly would have been ruinous for the EU Commission if this man remained with his narow-minded and archaic patriarchy.





You can post your comments below.

A sad note on the Red Sox....

I read with sadness today that a journalism major (like me) from Emerson College (my alma mater) died of head injuries she received outside Fenway Park after the Red Sox win. So much life was ahead of her. That time, at Emerson College and in Boston, was one of the best times of my life. I wonder of there is some sort of memorial for her.

The Flicka Project

The increasing globalization of the world can be a positive thing, but we forget to look at the smaller parts of it. The USA is saturated with Type A personalities, the need to speed, corporate greed, the demand for eternal beauty, constant "sexing up" of everything and it puts pressure on those who do not keep up with the trends. Now it appears it has reached Sweden where girls are feeling the pressure of having to be perfect.



American values should be examined before being adopted.



One thigs that has always struck me when I am in England is 1)the amount of women there who would be considerd ugly or at least plain, as well as overweight and 2) how many of those women are very happily married to very attractive, intelligent men.



The values are different here. I ahve seen no scientific study on it, but my amateur observation is that the British do not place such a high value on cosmetic things when choosing who to date and marry. They choose someone based on other characteristics.



What a revolution that would cause in the USA if that occurred.

To know the meaning of hope.......

In order to know what the true meaning of hope is, you must be a Red Sox fan.



Sitting inside the proud, sturdy walls of The Green Monster, Fenway Park, you learn the meaning of hope. The Red Sox are the team I grew up on, going to live games. During college, my friends and I would buy cheap bleacher seats and take bags of goodies with us to sit and watch. Cheap yet high quality entertainment. But not only that, it was a chance to learn to believe, to really BELIEVE. You see, the Red Sox mean nothing is impossible, nothing is hopeless, no obstacle is insurmountable, no one or thing is so big it cannot be brought down to size.



How appropriate that the Red Sox are leaving the Yankees to sit out the World Series this year. I say HOO HOO HOO!!!!!

So where is the F.C.C.?

The Federal Communications Commission is ominously silent as a broadcaster plans to use television across the United States to spread propaganda that will disrrupt the electoral process in the country. Seemingly more interested in the brief exposure of a Black woman's breast they are saying nothing as Bush's financial backer Sinclair Broadcasting does its deed over the next several days.One Sinclair employee is speaking out but there is silence from Washington DC.



Maybe if 153 people write complaints the FCC will level a few million dollars in fines against Sinclair (that seems to be the F.C.C.'s modus operandi)

"A real, real big emergency"

The U.S. military is now denying that it is confining and questioning troops . who would not put themselves in harm's way with inadequate armor and protection. An anonymous military spokesperson claims that no one is being confined, only "interviewed". Then how do you explain this?:



"Teresa Hill of Dothan, Ala., who said her daughter, Amber McClenny, was among in the platoon, received a phone message from her early Thursday morning saying they had been detained by U.S. military authorities.



'This is a real, real, big emergency,' McClenny said in her message. 'I need you to contact someone. I mean, raise pure hell.'



McClenny said in her message that her platoon had refused to go on a fuel-hauling convoy to Taji, north of Baghdad. 'We had broken down trucks, non-armored vehicles and, um, we were carrying contaminated fuel. They are holding us against our will. We are now prisoners,' she said.



Hill said she was later contacted by Spc. Tammy Reese in Iraq, who was calling families of the soldiers.



'She told me (Amber) was being held in a tent with armed guards,' said Hill, who spoke with her daughter Friday afternoon after her release. Her daughter said they are facing punishment ranging from a reprimand to a charge of mutiny.



The incident was first reported Friday by The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss. Family members told the newspaper that several platoon members had been confined. "



Now the word is out.....what will happen? Will this reach as high as Bush? Will he attempt to cover it up? Will they try to court-martial these people? Is the bell ringing loudly enough for people to hear?

Saturn in Cancer & the 2004 Presidential Election

As I read various astrology articles on the impending USA presidential election, I see a theme rising. After doing research most are coming to the conclusion that it will be a very narrow victory for whomever wins. Most seem to feel Bush will win. But all seem to feel that some more secrets are going to come out and 2) that Bush may not live through a second term and or is going to deeply regret being president after January 2005.



Well, he will at least leave the White House, when he does, a very very rich man due to oil, moreso than before he entered the White House.



Saturn, the planet of limitations, new structures nad maturity, in Cancer, the sign of secrets, self-protection, covert actions, and vulnerability, has regularly signaled the fall of the leaders of the USA, Britain and Australia. The only survivors were US President Woodrow Wilson and Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, way back in 1916. Wilson appeared to have lost at the close of polls, but a victory in California secured him a second term by a slim margin. Billy Hughes was expelled from his own party, and only retained leadership by joining the opposition.Some astrological data on Saturn in Cancer in relation to political events in three of the largest nations - the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Australia:



Saturn in Cancer - Elections



USA



1916 - President Woodrow Wilson wins by a mere 1863 votes



1945 - President Franklin Roosevelt dies of brain hemorrhage



1974 - President Richard Nixon resigns



2004/5 George Bush?



Great Britain



1916 - PM Herbert Asquith resigns



1945 - PM Winston Churchill defeated in election landslide



1974 - PM Edward Heath resigns



2004/5 PM Tony Blair has had to distance himself from George W. Bush and publicly apologize to his party and the voters in order to quash calls for his resignation. This came after he aligned with Bush on the false claims that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as a justification for invading and occupying it. He faces a vote in 2005.





Australia



1916 - PM Billy Hughes ousted from the Labor Party, joins opposition to retain position



1945 - PM John Curtin dies in office



1975 - PM Gough Whitlam dismissed from office



2004/5 PM John Howard recently won a somewhat narrow but historic election to a fourth term after months of bitter debate in Australia over Howard's decision to side with George W Bush and send troops to help invade and occupy Iraq.







Your thoughts?

...and over in Italy, the wheel turns backwards

The progressive European Parliament is about to vote in a new commission and that includes a member fromt Italy with archaic views on sexual orientation and the role of women.



What is the point of having such a person on the European Union commission? Is he intending to be insulting to all the female commissioners? Is he intending to tell them to go home an have babies and be protected by their husbands when they expres opinions he does not like but cannot intelligently discuss?

Saturn in Cancer & the 2004 Presidential Election

As I read various astrology articles on the impending USA presidential election, I see a theme rising. After doing research most are coming to the conclusion that it will be a very narrow victory for whomever wins. Most seem to feel Bush will win. But all seem to feel that some more secrets are going to come out and 2) that Bush may not live through a second term and or is going to deeply regret being president after January 2005.

Well, he will at least leave the White House, when he does, a very very rich man due to oil, moreso than before he entered the White House.

Saturn, the planet of limitations, new structures and maturity, in Cancer, the sign of secrets, self-protection, covert actions, and vulnerability, has regularly signaled the fall of the leaders of the USA, Britain and Australia. The only survivors were US President Woodrow Wilson and Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes, way back in 1916. Wilson appeared to have lost at the close of polls, but a victory in California secured him a second term by a slim margin. Billy Hughes was expelled from his own party, and only retained leadership by joining the opposition.Some astrological data on Saturn in Cancer in relation to political events in three of the largest nations - the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Australia:

Saturn in Cancer - Elections

USA

1916 - President Woodrow Wilson wins by a mere 1863 votes

1945 - President Franklin Roosevelt dies of brain hemorrhage

1974 - President Richard Nixon resigns

2004/5 George Bush?

Great Britain

1916 - PM Herbert Asquith resigns

1945 - PM Winston Churchill defeated in election landslide

1974 - PM Edward Heath resigns

2004/5 PM Tony Blair has had to distance himself from George W. Bush and publicly apologize to his party and the voters in order to quash calls for his resignation. This came after he aligned with Bush on the false claims that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as a justification for invading and occupying it. He faces a vote in 2005.


Australia

1916 - PM Billy Hughes ousted from the Labor Party, joins opposition to retain position

1945 - PM John Curtin dies in office

1975 - PM Gough Whitlam dismissed from office

2004/5 PM John Howard recently won a somewhat narrow but historic election to a fourth term after months of bitter debate in Australia over Howard's decision to side with George W Bush and send troops to help invade and occupy Iraq.



Your thoughts?

FDA Approves Use of ID Medical Chip in Humans

The FDA has now approved the use of chips to be inserted into the bodies of human beings to be read by scanner.



How soon will it be before such an invasive procedure is demanded of passengers boarding airplanes to and from the USA? Not too long, I think.

The Stress of the Facade

I had a delicious brunch at Tapas Picasso Spanish Restaurant with a friend, to celebrate her birthday. Tapas is a comforting array of delicacies. Paella a la Valenciana (a beautiful medley of spices, mussels, chicken, shrimp, vegetables and rice), canteloupe melon and proscuitto, fresh fruit, grilled salmon in a cilantro sauce with raspberries.



It was a relaxing few hours, with no need to rush. There are not enough days like that. Inevitably politics sat at the table with us, a not unexpected event considering the birthday gift I gave my friend. At least we had a good laugh when she unwrapped it. My reflection on the current state of affairs in the USA? Something I have coined as "the stress of the facade of freedom".



How many of us are suffering from it?: anger and frustration simmering just below the surface because of the violation of our civil rights and the repeated attempts to threaten us into submission with daily alleged threat alerts; the churning stomach from hearing daily lies and mudslinging; it takes its toll on the body after a while. I wonder how many have high blood pressure from it all?



Can the world outside the USA hear the screams of the American people, people who want a change of government?



The stress of the facade of freedom.

'Man tax' to pay for abuse of women?

Whether we like it or not, sometimes a collective punitive measure has great positive effect in transforming behavior. I personally hated it our entire class would get punished for one person's acts, but I can see the logic (LOL, at this point in life).



Sweden is seriously considering a proposal to tax males in that country to pay for the costs of delivering services and aid to women who are victims of domestic violence. What are your thoughts? Should all men be required to pay for the abuse of women?



Sadly, it is frequently takes the loss of money for some people to awaken to a problem. Say they do this - pass this law and men get a special tax placed upon them to cover domestic violence costs. Does it stop the abuser? I think not, in the short term.



What happens when enough men (particularly non-abusers) get upset about paying the tax that they want to do something about domestic violence? What can they do to begin to stop the abusers from what they are doing? Or will there be an option for men to get out of the tax if they participate in some treatment program? How would this exactly work? Will there always be a domestic violence tax once it starts?



Many questions......

Sneglen og Rosenhækken

The Snail and the Rosebush

by Hans Christian Andersen



Around the garden ran a hedge of hazelnut bushes, and beyond it lay fields and meadows with cows and sheep; but in the middle of the garden stood a blooming Rosebush, and under it sat a Snail, who had a lot inside his shell - namely, himself.



"Wait till my time comes," it said. "I'll do a great deal more than grow roses; more than bear nuts; or give milk, like cows and the sheep!"



"I expect a great deal from you," said the Rosebush. "May I dare ask when this is going to happen?"



"I'll take my time," said the Snail. "You're always in such a hurry! That does not arouse expectations!"



Next year the Snail lay in almost the same spot, in the sunshine beneath the Rose Tree, which was budding and bearing roses as fresh and as new as ever. And the Snail crept halfway out of its shell, stretched out its horns and drew them back in again.



"Everything looks just as it did last year. No progress at all; the Rose Tree sticks to its roses, and that's as far as it gets."



The summer passed; the autumn came. The Rose Tree still bore buds and roses till the snow fell. The weather became raw and wet, and the Rose Tree bent down toward the ground. The Snail crept into the ground.



Then a new year began, and the roses came out again, and the Snail did, too.



"You're an old Rosebush now," the Snail said. "You must hurry up and die, because you've given the world all that's in you. Whether it has meant anything is a question that I haven't had time to think about, but this much is clear enough - you've done nothing at all for your inner development, or you would certainly have produced something else. How can you answer that? You'll soon be nothing but a stick. Can you understand what I'm saying?"



"You frighten me!" said the Rosebush. "I never thought about that at all."



"No, you have never taken the trouble to think of anything. Have you ever considered yourself, why you bloomed, and how it happens, why just in that way and in no other?"



"No," said the Rosebush. "I was just happy to blossom because I couldn't do anything else. The sun was warm and the air so refreshing. I drank of the clear dew and the strong rain; I breathed, I lived. A power rose in me from out of the earth; a strength came down from up above; I felt an increasing happiness, always new, always great, so I had to blossom over and over again. That was my life; I couldn't do anything else."



"You have led a very easy life," said the Snail.



"Certainly. Everything was given to me," said the Rosebush. "But still more was granted to you. You're one of those with a deep, thoughtful nature, one of those highly gifted minds that will astonish the world."



"I've no intention of doing anything of the sort!" said the Snail. "The world means nothing to me. What do I have to do with the world? I have enough to do with myself and within myself."



"But shouldn't all of us on earth give the best we have to others and offer whatever is in our power? Yes, I've only been able to give roses. But you? You who are so richly gifted - what have you given to the world? What do you intend to give?"



"What have I given? What do I intend to give? I spit at the world. It's no good! It has nothing to do with me. Keep giving your roses; that's all you can do! Let the hazel bush bear nuts, let the cows and sheep give milk. They each have their public; but I have mine inside myself. I retire within myself, and there I shall stay. The world means nothing to me." And so the Snail withdrew into his house and closed up the entrance behind him.



"That's so sad," said the Rose Tree. "I can't creep into myself, no matter how much I want to; I must go on bearing roses. Their petals fall off and are blown away by the wind, although once I saw one of the roses laid in a mother's hymnbook, and one of my own roses was placed on the breast of a lovely young girl, and another was kissed by a child in the first happiness of life. It did me good; it was a true blessing. Those are my recollections - my life!"



So the Rose Tree bloomed on in innocence, and the Snail loafed in his house - the world meant nothing to him.



And years rolled by.



The Snail had turned to earth in the earth, and the Rose Tree had turned to earth in the earth. Even the rose of memory in the hymnbook was withered, but in the garden new rosebushes bloomed, and new snails crept into their houses and spat at the world, for it meant nothing to them.



Shall we read this story all over again? It'll never be different



********

This story from Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is quite profound in its reflection about the two types of people in the world; yet at the same time, it is possible to be both...just more one than the other. It is the bicentennial of his birthday in April 2005.

No Sex, Only Murder and Lies

About a year ago we heard about an Iraqi general dying during interrogation. We were assured it was natural causes.



Of course people die naturally during rigorous military interrogations, never because of the interrogation or anything done in it.



Right.



So now it is confessed that four US Army soldiers murdered the general with some fatal technique involving a sleep bag, chest compression and smothering. You would not put a sleeping bag over a child's head but you would put a sleeping bag over an adult's in an effort to.....to interrogate him in accordance with the Geneva Convention.



Oh but maybe that the same Geneva Convention that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld triumvirate had an attorney assure them could be circumvented?



Two other soliders are facing court-martial for taking the life of an Iraqi civilian bycausing him to drown in the Tigris River. They say that is manslaughter.



Anway, when asked about the death several months ago, said he had expired. Now they admit it was murder. The four accused murderers are Warrant Officers Lewis E. Welshofer Jr. and Jefferson L. Williams, Sgt. 1st Class William J. Sommer and Spc. Jerry L. Loper.



So why tell the truth now?

Navigating the Murky Waters

For the last four years I have been following the stories of immigration in the Nordic or Scandinavian region of Western Europe. Sweden, Denmark and Norway are three of the richest nations in the world, with some of the highest quality of living on the globe. They are also suddenly having to deal with immigration pressures and problems that countries like the USA have had for many years. The only difference is, they have just as quickly taken measures to deal with it. Those measures are being seen as drastic by some. In Denmark, the story of "Love's Refugees" detail how exchanging wedding vows with a non-Dane, particularly Muslim, can bar them from living in their own country even though they must continue to pay Danish taxes. Over in Norway, rejected asylum seekers from Ethiopa who fled for political reasons but not for persecution are starving in the streets of Oslo. Sweden is currently the place that those in Denmark and Norway flee to in order to escape the new immigration problem in the other two countries.



These countries opened their doors to immigrants from Islamic countries in the 60s and 70s because they needed workers. But how does the door get closed now without outcry? Or is it a matter of leaving the door open but choosing who comes through and for what purpose? When you are objective about it, all countries have essentially operated this way.



Is this a viable solution?: Returning asylum-seekers to their country if it is inhabitable, and sending humanitarian aid workers and money to help them rebuild their societies. NGOs can accomplish a lot. Would this be better than the culture shock that is being faced by the native Scandinavians and the immigrants seeking asylum? The social welfare systems can't handle, forever, the burden of having so many immigrants on welfare. The crime rate among Muslim immigrants in Denmark is alarming, to the native Danes and objectively in and of themselves. Taxi drivers frequently no longer want to pick up Arab-appearing men because they fear more beatings and robberies. Rape is an issue (with Danish sexuality being condemned according to Muslim sharia law). I cannot say I have easy answers.



At this point it is not my understanding that those who want to immigrate, take language lessons and have some sort of income/financial support are routinely rejected - especially if they are Judeo-Christian. Denmark, for example, is a religiously Christian country that appears to have separated religion from its politics and daily living. Islam is not such a religion, hence much of the clash. But I have also come across an incident related by a Christian African-American living in Denmark who has faced discrimination there (denied access to a nightclub).



But if racism is truly the national character of, for example, Denmark, why do so many of them fall in love with and marry non-Danes, particularly non-Caucasian non-Danes? The same goes for Swedes and Norwegians.



I would like to speak at length with Pia M. Kjærsgaard of the Danish People's Party about her goals regarding immigration. She is revered by some and reviled by others because she has taken a hardline stance against asylum-seekers.



The waters of immigration have turned from grey to black in the Nordic region and it will take Navy SEAL capabilities to navigate it.

SCOTUS Term Opens

When you have a lot of work ahead of you it is sometimes best to jump right in and start making decisions. It seems The Supreme Court is doing just that – and tossing out one decision after another this morning. So far, however, the justices are deciding NOT to make decisions on a number of matters. Saddam Hussein cannot get a hearing before them; neither can the telemarketing lobbyists and credit card moguls Visa and MasterCard.



Speaking of Saddam Hussein, he has been rather feisty lately. He wants asylum in Sweden (where some of his relatives and aides have received asylum) and he wants to work his way back to the presidency of Iraq by running in the upcoming elections. At least you can say his joie de vivre has returned. You must also admire his ability to be oblivious to his surroundings and circumstances, his choices, and the effects his behavior has on other people. He seems to not care. He seems to feel the opportunities of life, his life, are positively endless.



I wonder how common an attitude this is among leaders of countries?

Now Michael Moore "must" debate?

The students at the University of Nevada at Reno are being "squeezed" by alum who want to force a political debate between filmmaker Michael Moore and a Republican. First they tried to force the students to cancel Moore. That failed. Then they figured they could, without consulting Moore, force Moore into debating some unnamed Republican. The students refused to take the money the alum offered to entice the students into organizing and hosting the debate. Now the alum say they may stop contributing to the school as punishment.



I wonder how many of these alum watched the documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" from start to finish. Or did they do, as a number of Republicans have angrily informed me they did, refuse to see it simply because they claimed it would be unpatriotic, false, and un-American to see it? How can you say something is false when you have NO idea of the information and facts it contains? That is like not reading or watching the news and news magazines etc.



Are the students supposed to try to push Moore into the debate, or is Moore supposed to decide the debate this Republican (about what and for what purpose?) in order to rescue the students from being financially held hostage?



Do the alum think the student are not aware of Republican views and politics? Are they thinking their spokesperson/politician will be able to use the arena of a debate to try to discredit Michael Moore or just the facts in the recent documentary?

Kringle not Danish?

The quest to control land is neverending, and the fact that it is limited in quantity makes it worse. Now Denmark, which counts Greenland as a territory (it was its fomer colonial owner) wants to claim the North Pole is Danish land because it is possible that an ice ridge of Greenland undergirds it.



But here is what is problematic: Say Denmark wins out and it is proved to be part of Greenland. Greenland is currently in the process of fighting for total autonomy from Denmark. That means all this fight that Denmark is doing would be for naught because the land would then a part of the independent country of Greenland. Kris Kringle would no longer be Danish. And if Kringle is not Danish - then what is?!



Sorry....couldn't resist that one!

Chiron in Capricorn

I note with interest that for the third time in less than 100 years, while Chiron transits the constellation Capricorn, the pharmaceutical giant Merck has hit the news. When Merck was founded, we were experiencing a Chiron in Capricorn transit. The second time, Merck got exposed in the media for lying about its product and it lost quite a bit of money. This third time, it is again losing money because it has had to withdraw arthritis drug Vioxx off the market because it causes more harm than good. The shareholders are probably feeling the most pain since the stock plummeted some 25% upon release of the news. Merck is also losing a patent on something else in about two years (meaning the particular drug in question can be made generically and by other manufacturers)....thus removing some more of the green stuff from Merck's overstuffed pockets. Chiron in Capricorn exposes corruption and greed in business practices.



Of course we have seen much work from Chiron (widely known among astrologers as "The Wounded Healer") in Capricorn these last few years. Literally as it began, both Enron and Martha Stewart were exposed for corrupt financial practices, including lying, insider trading, cooking the books (with the help of defunct Big Seven international accounting firm Arthur Andersen), and in general trating stockholders like schmucks. Oh and let us not forget Enron. Phew! I recall the day I watched that video of Ken Lay's stockholder-financed soiree, complete with urinating statues. It reminded me of the term "bacchanal". Bacchus would have been proud.



But I have no illusions that in the end, the corrupt will still walk away with a great deal more in their pocket than the hardworking people who have suffered because of corruption's effect on the US economy.



Canadian consumer group sues Merck

Merck to face billion in suits

Chiron in Capricorn

I note with interest that for the third time in less than 100 years, while Chiron transits the constellation Capricorn, the pharmaceutical giant Merck has hit the news. When Merck was founded, we were experiencing a Chiron in Capricorn transit. The second time, Merck got exposed in the media for lying about its product and it lost quite a bit of money. This third time, it is again losing money because it has had to withdraw arthritis drug Vioxx off the market because it causes more harm than good. The shareholders are probably feeling the most pain since the stock plummeted some 25% upon release of the news. Merck is also losing a patent on something else in about two years (meaning the particular drug in question can be made generically and by other manufacturers)....thus removing some more of the green stuff from Merck's overstuffed pockets. Chiron in Capricorn exposes corruption and greed in business practices.

Of course we have seen much work from Chiron (widely known among astrologers as "The Wounded Healer") in Capricorn these last few years. Literally as it began, both Enron and Martha Stewart were exposed for corrupt financial practices, including lying, insider trading, cooking the books (with the help of defunct Big Seven international accounting firm Arthur Andersen), and in general trating stockholders like schmucks. Oh and let us not forget Enron. Phew! I recall the day I watched that video of Ken Lay's stockholder-financed soiree, complete with urinating statues. It reminded me of the term "bacchanal". Bacchus would have been proud.

But I have no illusions that in the end, the corrupt will still walk away with a great deal more in their pocket than the hardworking people who have suffered because of corruption's effect on the US economy.

Canadian consumer group sues Merck
Merck to face billion in suits