Sumo Merriment

My computer is taking it upon itself to give me fits...so I've got nothing tonight...and I so wanted to bag on Joe Lieberman and Darth Cheaty. Oh well...hopefully my son will find the bugs in this thing and get it fixed up. See ya when...

Labels: ho-hum

Posted by sumo at 12:59 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

A dismissed Juror? Come on...at this stage of the game do we really believe that there isn't a big coinkydinky going on here?

A juror in the perjury trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former vice-presidential aide, has been dismissed after telling the judge that she had been exposed to information about the case outside of court.

Judge Reggie Walton said that the jury would continue to deliberate with 11 members. “It’s imperative that you not have any contact with any information regarding this case from any source outside this courtroom,” Judge Walton told them. Had an alternate been called on to replace the dismissed juror, the jury would have had to start its deliberations anew.

Mr Libby, Vice-President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, is accused of lying to investigators trying to identify who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA analyst, after her husband accused the Administration of manipulating intelligence to build its case for the war in Iraq. (Reuters)

In this day and age people (jurors) know better. They receive stringent instructions about the requirements of their job. Bottom line is they know better than to allow themselves to get into that situation. So...being the conspiracy theorist that I am famous for I just don't buy that this is on the up and up. I think it is intentional hoping to cause a mistrial. Some people are needing to buy time...gee I wonder whom this could possibly benefit eh? If the administration can arm known terrorists and train them in the hopes they'll help with Iran...I think someone can be persuaded to screw around with a trial that just happens to be sniffing at the door of the VP Cheaty. And we cannot forget the Voodoo that they do so well!...

I'm sorry Mr. Cheaty...but you are validating Al Quaida arming the terrorists you lying, traitorous, drunk stupid ass. Have you no shame sir?!!!

Labels: cheesey

Posted by sumo at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Just came across this tid-bit about Hezbollah...here we go again!!!

Hezbollah, the militant Shia organisation, is building a new line of defenses just north of the United Nations-patrolled zone in south Lebanon ahead of a potential resumption of war with Israel.

The military build-up, only six months after the last Lebanon-Israel conflict, is being conducted in valleys and hillsides guarded by uniformed Hezbollah fighters in the rugged mountains north of the Litani river — the limit of the 12,000 strong UN Interim Force In Lebanon (Unifil).

Christian and Druze-owned land is being bought for cash by a Shia businessman. Hezbollah’s opponents believe the goal is to create a Shia-populated belt spanning the northern bank of the Litani, allowing the Lebanese group to operate away from prying eyes.

“There have been no instances of attempts to smuggle weapons into the area,” said Milos Strugar, Unifil’s senior adviser, adding that no armed fighters had been seen since September. Instead, Hezbollah’s fighters are preparing a new system of fortifications and expanding old positions in the mountains on the northern bank of the Litani. Residents say that the activity has increased lately, and peace keepers confirm this. “We can see them building new positions. There’s a lot of trucks coming into the area as well,” a Unifil officer said.

When I visited the area two Hezbollah fighters wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying automatic rifles and walkie-talkies emerged from bushes beside a stone track on a hillside overlooking the river. They politely but firmly asked The Times for identification, saying that the area was off limits.

Less than a mile to the west, a shiny chain suspended between two concrete blocks along a dirt track marked the entrance to another Hezbollah “security pocket”. A sign hanging from the chain read: “Warning. Access to this area is forbidden. Hezbollah.” Beside the entrance stood a small sentry box housing another Hezbollah fighter who worked a landline telephone at the approach of strangers. More fighters could be seen on a pine-tree-studded hill overlooking the check-point.

Hezbollah readily admits that it is rearming. Three weeks ago a lorry loaded with rockets and mortars was stopped by Lebanese customs police on the edge of Beirut. Hezbollah said that the weapons were intended for its military wing and asked for their return. The Lebanese minister of defense said they would be handed to the Lebanese army. This month Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said that weapons were being transported to “the front” in south Lebanon. “We have weapons of all kinds and quantities, as many as you want. We don’t fight our enemy with swords made of wood,” he said.

Some Lebanese officials view Hezbollah’s rearming as part of the looming showdown between the United States and Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

2006 conflict

— 34 days of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict last summer

— 116 Israeli Defence Force personnel killed

— 43 Israeli civilians killed

— 15,000 Lebanese houses destroyed

— 1,100+ Lebanese civilians killed

— 3,970 Hezbollah rockets landed in Israel

— 6,000 Israeli homes damaged

— 309 Hezbollah rocket launchers destroyed by the IDF

— 33 Hezbollah tunnels destroyed by the IDF

Neither the Lebanese or the Israeli's need more of this stuff...actually any of us. The carnage was extrememely upsetting for me and I'm not of either nationality. But my heart goes out to them all...because many innocents will die in this continuing conflict...if there were just a magic wand to wave at times like this.
Times Online

Labels: madness

Posted by sumo at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

What a snore this was...I liked John Stewart last year. I guess they wanted to curtail the funny entertainment and get to the meat of the evening. You'd think being a woman that I would be into the Red Carpet walk thingie that these people live for...but I'm not. I could care less what the women wear...I usually think they look awful anyway...I mean when I used to watch it...and then got resoundingly sick of it. And...some of the things they do with their hair! Yikes! I've never cared for the way Nicole Kidman dresses. Here she is a "Barbie" body...yet she dresses either in a terrible color or the make of the dress sucks. One of my favorite dresses from the past to "hate" was the dress Julia Roberts wore when she won her OSCAR. I thought Helen Mirren looked nice though. Mr. Sumo got bad vibes from Clint Eastwood...he thinks he's going dotty apparently. I said to give the guy a break...he's OLD! And a hey...nonny nonny!

Labels: Lame

Posted by sumo at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Okay...so this is Jose Padilla. Psychological experts say he is unable to stand trial. Stand trial for what you ask? Mr. Padilla, a 36 year old citizen of the United States, is charged with being part of a North American terror support cell that provided money, recruits and supplies to Islamic extremists around the world.

See Jose here...suffers from intense stress and anxiety stemming from his isolated years in military custody and cannot adequately help his lawyers prepare for trial...this coming from two defense experts Thursday.

The defense lawyers are hoping to basically get inside his head more deeply about his treatment at a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Later in the Federal hearing they will be allowed to question brig officials directly involved in his custody. Of course these officials have never spoken publicly about the case...it continues Monday.

Patricia Zapf, a forensic psychologist who had administered tests on Padilla last October says, "he is immobilized by his anxiety...he believes he will go back to the brig and he will die there."

So about now...alarm bells are going off in my head of course. I smell something here. I start to really get interested in what is being said...or not said in this story. This hearing before a U.S. District Judge on Padilla's competency is crucial in deciding whether he and two co-defendants will stand trial in April.

So here is where the meat and potatoes start cooking in the cauldron. Naturally the Dub's administration initially has claimed that Padilla was on an al-Quaida mission to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a major U.S. city when he was arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Of course he was designated an "enemy combatant" and was imprisoned by the military (and here's the deal)...WITHOUT CRIMINAL CHARGES. A citizen mind you...his rights...out the window...gone in an instant. Padilla claimed in court (and filed away) that he was tortured at the brig, and you know the U.S. officials deny it...natch...no surprise there. The prosecutors say he is competent for trial...of course.

Now get this...Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman said..."It has always been our policy to treat all detainees humanely...the government in the strongest terms denies Padilla's allegations of torture, allegations made without support and without citing a shred of record evidence.

First of all...if Padilla is held without charges...and undoubtedly hasn't been told of what they hold him for...how could he possibly have support at all for his allegations and even have a record of evidence. They'd have to do all that for him...the tards...and we know that they aren't going to do it. And...they aren't going to tell the truth...they don't have to because he hasn't been charged...therefore the record keeping is on a whole different legal level if you know what I mean...like no records! Yeah right! They treat all detainees humanely...yeah...when monkeys fly out my butt!

A forensic neuropsychiatrist concluded after examining and testing Padilla for more than 22 hours last fall that he is mentally incompetent for trial because he has post-traumatic stress disorder. Patrica Zapf reached the same diagnosis and recommended that Padilla receive treatment. Apparently his symptoms are most acute when he is asked to talk about his 3 1/2 years in the brig, and that would include interrogation techniques used on him, or to review evidence in his criminal case...including transcripts of intercepted telephone conversations.

Padilla just shuts down rather than recall the hurt. When asked about his case or the brig he becomes noticeably tense, begins to sweat, tries to change the subject and rocks back and forth while hunched over. Padilla is adamant that he does not want to testify in his own defense. Zapf also said he cannot relive it...he can't go through it again...and he can't name names. I'm still smelling some major fish in Denmark.

For me...if he isn't treated like any other citizen for a trial...then how can we possibly believe he is getting his fair shake? He has a right to be innocent at his trial until proven otherwise...and it just doesn't seem to me that THAT is going to happen. He's been held without charges and he has no recourse to prove anything...so it seems a sham all the way around. If he is guilty along with the other two...then it should be out into the open so we as citizens can feel (or not) that he/they have been given a fair trial. But I don't think that is what our administration is about...at all. We all should be extremely suspicious of the nature of this case...it just isn't right somehow. Case in point...Scooter Libby trial...what a joke and a waste of the taxpayers money.

Labels: just not fair

Posted by sumo at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Britain will withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq...(that's just for starters!)...
in the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the country's south, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.

The announcement, which came as Denmark said it would withdraw its 460 troops and Lithuania said it was considering pulling out its small contingent, comes as the U.S. is implementing an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq - putting Washington on an opposite track as its main coalition allies.

Blair has been under huge political pressure at home to come up with a withdrawal plan from what has become a very unpopular war.

Blair told the House of Commons that British troops will stay in Iraq until at least 2008 and work to secure the Iran-Iraq border and maintain supply routes to U.S. and coalition troops. He told lawmakers that "increasingly our role will be support and training, and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly."

"The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100 - itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict - to roughly 5,500," Blair said.

Besides the United States, Britain and Denmark, the major partners in the coalition include South Korea (2,300 troops), Poland (900), Australia and Georgia (both 800) and Romania (600), according to the Brookings Institution.

South Korea plans to halve its 2,300-member contingent in the northern city of Irbil by April, and is under pressure from parliament to devise a plan for a complete withdrawal by year's end. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said that his country's troops would stay no longer than December.

We've come a long way baby! Yes indeed...we've (the administration) come a long way in tearing down another nation, killing many of its innocent indigenous peoples, destroying historical remnants and antiquities, not to mention their way of life as they knew it. But most of America doesn't care about that because they aren't there to see it first hand...and couldn't be bothered to find the horror on the internet that is available in picture or video form. The rest of the world and what is happening there is at our very fingertips...we have no excuse for being blinded by the light.

Our administrators of this nation started it all. They took apart of a sovereign country that had not by any means attacked us...ruined it and all who try to live there. Children no longer go to school...most businesses are gone completely...only a few manage to survive and they are the lucky ones. Water and electricity? What's that? And heat when it is cold...we take all those things for granted...I'd become an animal if that happened to me. The first person to enter my sights would probably be sporting a pitchfork in their ass for having done this to me. I hold my right to water, electricity, heating, a job, clothing and food to be very dear for my daily living.

Should the Iraqis have anything less? Oh! I don't think so! I think the morons that voted for this war...and you know who that includes on the left side of the isle too...and the voters that voted for this administration to have another 4 years to f&ck not only us in the behind...but the Iraqis with their lying lies should get their butts over to Iraq and Afghanistan to help in the clean up. Help build homes and paint them...build fences for their livestock...buy them new vehicles for work...or whatever...build schools and get them the finest literature and teachers that money can buy. If I knew I'd be safe and there ever came a time that this would be possible I'd love to go over there among the people and help them do these things. I'd learn their language because things like that come very easily to me...and we'd have a gay old time!

But they will probably hate us forever...and I couldn't blame them for that. Every time I think about how this never needed to happen...EVER...it just makes my blood boil. I want to hit someone...someone in the position of power that made these stupid decisions without giving two hoops about the ramifications of their actions. It set a course that has traveled around the world many times over...and the world won't forget it...how can they...I can't. And this baby won't have a choice to forgive or forget...ever...choices were taken from these people 4 years ago...and really if the truth were known...some years before 9/11 ever occurred.

Labels: stupid decisions

Posted by sumo at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

From Americablog...House Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter Writes Pentagon, demanding answers on Walter Reed Vets scandal...

"Supporting our troops begins with giving them a mission that makes sense and that doesn't needlessly jeopardize their lives," the Congresswoman continued. "It ends with an unconditional commitment to men and women who have made sacrifices few of us can fully appreciate. If this Administration is going to order soldiers into battle, then it has no right to stand on the sidelines when they come home. We need a serious evaluation of the care being given to our veterans, and must immediately address holes and gaps in a system that can't afford either."

"Critics of the President's escalation of the war are told that they can't both support the troops and oppose their mission," Rep. Slaughter added. "I think that you can't support the troops if you send them into battle without proper armor, or deny them critical medical care and counseling after they are injured. That is the definition of hypocrisy, and our wounded soldiers are paying the price."

And as Americablog said...she's pissed...Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, today sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates demanding information on the current state of outpatient facilities at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Rep. Slaughter also asked the Secretary to explain how conditions at the facilities, reported this past weekend in a series of Washington Post articles, have been allowed to deteriorate to such a degree.

Here's the letter...

The Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Gates,

I urge you to explain why the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, once the crown-jewel of military medicine, has become a bleak and frustrating place for our wounded soldiers to recover, and what the Army intends to do to restore the integrity of its medical system.

This weekend's Washington Post series revealing the "other Walter Reed" was stunning. It painted a picture of abhorrent living conditions and a bureaucratic nightmare for our wounded soldiers in outpatient care. In striking detail, the series described how one of the outpatient facilities, Building 18, is marked by rodent infestation, mold problems, and crumbling ceilings. As if the facilities were not bad enough, wounded soldiers and their families must wrestle daily with an Army bureaucracy ill-equipped to provide them with the attention and care they need. Wounded soldiers are often left on their own to make and keep appointments, and fill out the 22 documents needed to enter and exit the Army's medical system.

The living conditions and bureaucratic battles frustrate and demoralize our wounded soldiers. Marine Sergeant Ryan Groves said it best, "We've done our duty. We fought the war. We came home wounded. Fine. But whoever the people are back here who are supposed to give us the easy transition should be doing it." Our wounded soldiers have made incredible sacrifices on behalf of the nation, and deserve the very best care throughout their recovery. The conditions at Walter Read are unacceptable, and an affront to our men and women in uniform.

I am encouraged to read in today's Washington Post that the facility's commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, has announced new repairs at Building 18, and a review of the Army's entire mission at Walter Reed. However, these improvements are long-overdue and I cannot help but think that they would not have begun at all had the Washington Post not blown the whistle.

The Washington Post's series is a major black-eye and an embarrassment for the Army and the United States. I would like a full explanation of how the conditions became so dire at Walter Reed in the first place, and what steps the Army plans to take to immediately rectify the situation. Please know that I stand ready to help provide the Defense Department with the resources it needs to adequately care for our wounded soldiers. I await your prompt response to this inquiry.

Sincerely,

Louise M. Slaughter

Link to Washington Post article

Not only do we owe each and everyone of them decent war implements to at least try to safe-guard them as much as possible...we need to see to it that the care they receive if they were to return home injured...is the best they can get. They didn't sign up for half duty after all...they signed up to give their all. In turn...they deserve their all in appropriate care and surrounding conditions. And special care has to be given to those that may have fallen under the dome of psychiatric needs...and from what I've read again and again...there are plenty of those poor fellows to go around. The Administration must do the right thing. Instead of giving great tax breaks to the rich...he should take the money for those that trusted him when he sent them into harms way. Will we be forever holding our breath?

Labels: Presidential shame

Posted by sumo at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Look who's flip-flopping now! Goodness, Man...where are your principals? Can't you find one subject to stand firm on and just go with it? To heck with what the other side...or other man thinks...stand up for your principals man...that's what makes a President...that's what makes a man heard.

And here's the other boy in the bubble. I think that bubble is overflowing these days. But it seems our Dub has taken the liberty to liken himself to the "other" George W. And one has to scratch ones head at that coinkydink of phrases.

Dub went to Mt. Vernon, and honored the 275th birthday of the nation's first president on Monday, likening George Washington's long struggle that gave birth to a nation to the war on global terrorism.

"Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life," said Bush, standing in front of Washington's home and above a mostly frozen Potomac River.

"And as we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world, we remember that the father of our country believed that the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone." Advance the cause of freedom around the world...well that speaks volumes...and especially the part about "freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone"...that put me in mind of the slaves. What a contradictions of terms that is. Can this guy seriously delude himself anymore...I mean is there anymore room for delusions in that head of his?
Oh! They've just got to be kidding! But...I bet this has crossed their tiny little minds once or twice! Doesn't Condi look seductive? Like she and Dub are puckering up for the big one. Well...I hope they used their chapstick first!

Labels: flip-flopping

Posted by sumo at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

What a bust this thing turned out to be eh? And that traitor Lieberman...something needs to happen to this guy. He should be ashamed of himself in so many ways. I wonder if he realizes how many people think he's a coward and a toady for "his" president. He should just move into the White House and get it over with. So long Laura...Joe is your rival for the presnit's affections. Worse yet...he'd have to face Condi down...and that could get ugly.

Labels: ho-hum

Posted by sumo at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

The "Dub"...mighty frustrated with all the Democrats and even a few of his conservatives jumping ship and swimming to the enemy shores on the left...vented with his few brain cells left to him from his many partying days of cocaine and boxes of booze. He's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore! He grabbed the nearest hammer of Maxwell's at hand and decided he'd go on a rampage. It's about time he teaches those lying Democrats a thing or two about how to really beat up a nation...one small hammer at a time. And when he's through showing them what he can accomplish with a few well placed swings...he'll move on to step #2...Thor's Hammer...and may the best man win.

Tommorrow's guest "Wreaker of Havoc"...will be Dick 'Vader' Cheney. He will be showing and displaying the finer aspects of shotguns and all their hidden splendor. Be sure to notice the fine polished wood and well turned gun metal grey of the barrels. Be sure not to miss the proper usage of the shotgun shells. Of course...cocktails will be a pre-requisite before the demonstration...so load up on the liquor and the guns at the same time thus saving time getting to the shooting of your friends in the face fun. Emergency medical technicians will not be on the premises to put a downer on the festivities.

Posted by sumo at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

WHY I FIGHT FOR PEACE by Cloy Richards USMC

Because I can't forget no matter how hard I try.
They told us we were taking out advancing Iraqi forces,
but when we went to check out the bodies
they were nothing but women and children
desperately fleeing their homes because
they wanted to get out of the city
before we attacked in the morning.

Because my little brother, who is my job to protect,
decided to join the California National Guard
to get some money for college and
they promised he wouldn't go to Iraq.
Instead three months after enlisting
he was sent to Iraq for one year.

Since he has been home for the last six months,
he refuses to talk to anyone, he lives by himself.
the only person he associates with is a friend of his,
the one other man out of his squad of thirteen men
who made it home alive.

He called me a few weeks ago for the first time
and told me he's having nightmares.
I asked what they were about and
he said they're about picking up the pieces
of his fellow soldiers after a car bomb hit them.

Because every single one of the Marines I served with,
the really brave warriors, even when some friends and people
they looked up to got killed or lost an arm or leg,
they wouldn't cry, they just kept fighting.
They completed their mission.

Every one of them I have spoken to since we got home
has broken down crying in front of me,
saying all they can do since they got back
is bounce from job to job, drink and do drugs,
and contemplate suicide to end the pain.

Because I'm tired of drinking, bouncing from job to job
and contemplating suicide to end the pain.
Because every time I see a child,
I think of the thousands I've slaughtered.
Because every time I see a young soldier,
I think of the thousands Bush has slaughtered.

Because every time I look in the mirror
I see a casualty of the war.
Because I have a lot of lives I have to make up for,
the lives I have taken and
because it's right.
That's why I fight.
Because of soldiers with wounds you can't see.


SURVIVOR'S GUILT by Cloy Richards USMC

I stare at this paper and don't know what to say
I don't feel right saying "happy memorial day"
I don't find anything happy in the price you've paid
We're both just pawns when this game called war gets played
My body came home but my spirit just stayed
That hot Iraqi day when you were slayed

Watching my back so I could sleep unafraid I heard the
explosion from where I laid
And instantly I watched the skies go gray
I watched my life just float away
How could things go this way?
You were my brother in arms and you took my place
But not like the way that car bomb took your face
And blew off your limbs

When I think about it my head starts to spin
I get noxious when I think of your family
I want to tell them I truly am sorry
I'm sorry your son died protecting me
This isn't the way things were meant to be
You see that day your son took my duty
Your brother sacrificed four hours of sleep
So he could go guard a gate for me
Your fiancée took my fate from me
I'm sorry your father took my place for me
I'm sorry I can spend Memorial Day with my family
Today should have been a memorial for me
At least then the survivor could have lived guilt-free

CLOY RICHARDS, USMC—Written 2006—
Served 2 Tours in Iraq

Survivor's Guilt written in Honor of My Friend
Jeffrey who died at Camp Fallujah.


Me: how much more of this stuff do we think is out there just like this one, anguishing over their roles in Iraq or Afghanistan. There must be miles and miles of it...waiting like a coiled spring...ready to snap...most likely to do harm to themselves because they can no longer live with what they did, witnessed or simply couldn't help their dying buddies. A terrible burden was placed upon these young people and when they come home there is no preparation for healing what they hide inside themselves...there's no way to get it out. And they deserved so much more than what they got in return. And of course "we" know it was for much ado about nothing.

Labels: sadness

Posted by sumo at 1:52 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

First I had to get all the Valentine colors and thingies off the page since it not longer is V-Day. I needed a new look. So I'm screwing off changing the template...late of course...when I get a call out of nowhere and they didn't stop blabbing until nearly 2:30 am. So here I am without a post about some of the super things said by the Dems today on C-SPAN...I watched it all day...I know I'm a nerd...but I found it interesting just the same. A black woman stood up to the right side and with great eloquence expounded on fear and pride and I just wanted to cheer for her and give her a hight five for what she said. Don't remember her name now darn it.

Somehow I lost my kitty sumo avatar button...or whatever they are referred to as...so SpongeBob and Patrick are back. Yay SpongeBob! I was in the mood for a naughty Stewie...because I feel like telling people to go to Hell a lot...(even though I don't believe in Hell). So this will be the look for a while...I get tired of stuff very quickly. I have to move furniture constantly...I'm sure it's a very mental thing entirely. So...tommorrow I won't be able to watch much of the span because of errands for the MIL. Maybe something cool will happen out in the traffic and I can flip someone off again. I hope so...it was cathartic. I'm soon to become a finger junkie...heh! So...here's hoping you all got great stuff for Valentine's Day...if you know what I mean. I got zip...except for my youngest son...no one remembered my birthday either. That should alert you to something about me I suppose.



Yeah...these are just some of the things that I take to bed with me to think about as those lambs just over the bed post all night long.

Labels: Dumb stuff...

Posted by sumo at 2:19 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

I watched C-SPAN today morning and afternoon. I listened to both sides of the isle speak about the vote for the 'surge" that the prez wants for Iraq. You know...the yes or no vote. Lots of rhetoric going on...some of it ordinary just like the speaker...and some spoken brilliantly. If you pay attention you can tell which people really care what they are talking about...and others are just talking because they are compelled to. The brilliant speakers were those that believed in and probably actually wrote what they spoke of. And then this little munchkin of a lady came to the podium and I couldn't pay attention anymore because I had my nose stuck in a dictionary for some time. And here's why...
A little lady named Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R. Florida 18th District Miami


She gave a good speech...she said the usual things from the right side of the isle...she said it with much conviction and quite intelligently. Or so I thought! She was expostulating on being attacked by Islamists and said a very unfortunate grammatical thing. I least I thought so...so that is why I stuck my head in the dictionary for a time to make sure I was right...and I was.

She was talking about them attacking us with impunity. With impunity is the kicker. If they were to attack us with impunity...it really means attack us with exemption from punishment, penalty or harm. That's right...impunity specifically implies escape or freedom from punishment. How I wish people would get their words right. Anyway...here's an example of the proper way to use impunity...(to commit a crime with impunity)...meaning committing a crime with exemption from punishment.

Now...there is a word...impugn..means to attack physically...attack by argument or criticism...oppose or challenge. You cannot take the word impugn and turn it into impugnity...the dictionary only shows...impugner, impugnable and impugnation. I'm weird this way about how educated, obviously well spoken people can screw up sometimes and get something wrong...and Ms. Ileana screwed the pooch on this one. My source was Webster's College Dictionary...perhaps someone can correct me if I am wrong...in which case if that happens...I apologize in advance for my stupidity...which is more than the Munchkin did.

But I cannot forget Valentine's Day for you...


Here's your Valentine Cake...


And your Valentine Cookies


Of course...Valentine Pie

I have three pretty Valentines for you!

Labels: defining words

Posted by sumo at 1:04 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Actor Ralph Fiennes is alledged in engaging in some hot snogging with an airline stewardess in an aircraft toilet (ewww) during a flight between Australia and India. I put that on an "YIKES" factor of 10!

38-year-old Lisa Robertson (heh...the stewardess) has been suspended without pay while the incident is investigated inside and out of course, but she has claimed that she and the Oscar-nominated actor did not have hot, sweaty animal love in the plane's bathroom.

In a statement to her employers, Quantas Airlines, she admitted that Fiennes did follow her into the toilet cubicle. We in America like to call it a bathroom, or restroom. Cubicle sounds so icky to me. The whole thing is icky who am I kidding! There isn't room for even one small person in a cubicle much less to amorous people. Hell...why not invite the whole coach section too! He probably likes to be watched.

According to the BBC, she said: "I explained to him that this was inappropriate and asked him to leave. Like we believe this...we all know she's a horndog...that's what stewardi do! They are looking for husbands for goodness sakes!

"Mr. Fiennes became amorous towards me and, after a short period of time, I convinced him to leave the toilet, which he did." She means she took his tiger by the tail and gave it a good shagging...the poor thing.

Licentious Lisa told how she spoke to the actor several times during the flight, as well as during her break, but defended herself, saying: "This is common practice on long flights... Yeah right you hussy...you were chomping at the old feed bag weren't you?! It was dirty talk and we all know it!

"I believe it is part of the role of the flight attendant to be friendly, natural and approachable to all our passengers." So do I missy...so does old Ralph! Smoking a cigarette now...was it as good for you as it was for me?

Love in their eye
We don't know why
Bet still they can try
Just not in the sky

The cubicle of love
If done from above
Results in such fluff
As stupid actor stuff

Labels: as much porn as possible

Posted by sumo at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

L-R Paris, Britney & Lindsay
Which one of these ladies was a Disney Mouseketeer? Hint: Naked

Yes my friends...some celebrities are going pantyless! I really don't know the actual reason why...but if the truth were known...it's probably to help the homeless...just a lucky guess on my part I'm sure. I see it like this...if they don't spend their money on underwear...that allows them to contribute to the many homeless shelters out there that would otherwise go soupless. Just imagine the probable cost of Paris Hilton's thongs alone...that's got to be a pretty penny for a months worth of bread don't you think? It probably feeds them for weeks if she doesn't make it to the Victoria's Secret in just one shopping spree. I was reading a wonderful blog post the other day and it happened to be a potpourri of links to various places when I came across a link with the word "crotchless" in it. Well...you can imagine the double take I took on that...I even figured I'd made a mistake so I read it again...but the first time was the charm...it indeed linked to a tabloid site of the "crotchless" celeb females. I had unwittingly stumbled upon the trifecta of "Girls Gone Wild, Mad, Skanky and Wonderfully Waxed. I have to admit that I was hoodwinked...(I mean hooked by now)...into clicking the little link of of licentious labia...if I may be so bold!

Now...I'm not a prude in any sense of the word mind you...I simply like to keep it covered...I'm just funny that way...but even I was gasping at what I saw laid bare before me. A veritable feast of flashing flesh...not so much gasping at the photos as I was transfixed. We've all been inundated in the last few years with Paris Hilton...(now I have to go use Listerine...okay...I'm back)...and her many different forms of acting out her special brand of behavior or lack thereof. We undoubtedly have her nannies to thank for her particular type of socializing and the example that has been set for those that seem to want to worship at her Barbie stilletoed feet. The posturing...the beguiling smiles...the looks of simulated passion all the while slinking around knowing she was sans her pantalettes. It must have given her a rather warm feeling being such a rebel in the face of society...bucking the system so to speak. Bucking wasn't really what she had in mind though...she's such a trend setter for the young you know.
Asked why he always left his fly down, Chester replied simply: "because the ladies like it."

That brings me to Britney Spears...(excuse me...another Listerine break...okay...the wave of nausea has subsided...) that feels entitled to flaunt her pinkness in people's cameras in order to feel...oh I don't know...anything but a mother of a helpless newborn child. And of course this trifecta wouldn't be complete without a shout out at Lindsay Lohan who just happens to round out the "other" color of hair in the trinity of the oh so public triangle of life. Have I missed something here...some phenomenon in this life that I've missed completely out on in this new fashion statement? I would like to think...no...hope that I am fashionable along with the rest of the world. Well...I take that back...there is a large corner of the world that keeps women completely covered up in some of the most arid and hot regions on the planet and it's a wonder that these women don't all turn and kill the men in their lives for making them live this way. But I digress...
Some celebrities are always trying to top each other...

That being said...there are extremes on both ends of the flesh spectrum...both are overkill in my book of days. So there I am seeing Britney in the real eye popping buff...you know the photo that has her about to exit an SUV backseat...and she was so busy that she undoubtedly forgot that she wasn't wearing the all important panties that ladies wear when she just happened to open her legs to a well positioned pause before hopping out of the vehicle to the stunned cameras just clicking away all the while knowing what a sweet deal they had just clicked away at. That would tally up to some super money for those shell shocked photographers that's for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of them had to enter rehab after that shoot...had to have been some major sweating in those boxers.

I then nervously at first...clicked on the Lindsay Lohan photo...because really deep down inside my inner self...I still couldn't believe women could be comfortable doing this. So I actually was trying to tell myself that this wasn't really happening and I needed new glasses or perhaps a really stiff drink. I'm so depraved with it all by now that I hunted down my magnifying glass to check and see if it was doctored or fake looking. What I thought I could judge that against is beyond me...go figure. It wasn't fake looking...I was so disappointed because I didn't want this to be true. Why you ask yourself? Because if a man had done this he would have been arrested. It's a law called indecent exposure. And we all know the flack about Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction backwards and forward. Hey! There's not a darn thing wrong with the body clothed or naked...but this is so out there and little girls are watching this behavior because they idolize these examples of pulchritude. I find it rather disturbing for them to be a roll model for these young girls...but I guess that belongs in the hands of their parents to decide. Lindsay took part in a fashion show that had an elevated runway and she performed in front of children...you guessed it...with a bare bottom. No wonder this kid is screwy...she isn't being handled right.

And yes...I know the famous scene with Marilyn Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch" when she stands over the grate of the subway waiting for the whoosh of cool air to come up through her dress. She was a no underwear celeb too. I remember reading an article about her after she died in the Look magazine and it told of her not wearing underwear...as a kid I though that was a shocker. When a journalist asked her what she had on during the photo shoot of that scene she replied, "the radio". And her then husband Joe DiMaggio wasn't in the least amused. It's got to be the pantyless thing that has all these young women going into rehab because they've fallen face down onto the bar top...or woke up in a hotel hallway on the floor....or had a very steamy sex tape spread all over kingdom come for the world to see. I guess if that is how they want to live their lives...then they should knock themselves out...but if wearing panties...they need to make sure there are no holes before they go out in case of an accident...of course. But highly unlikely I rather imagine. Their respective Bermuda triangles are too important for them to show off...and I just don't get it pure and simple. Note...not only were they sans panties in the photos...they'd been waxed to the max...and all I can say is YIKES! A band-aid on my arm gets me worked up...much less having a Brazilian wax on the nether region. This fashion maven would have to be drunk as a sailor on leave or seriously drugged to the gills!

cross-posted @ The Blue Republic
Thanks Dude for the pic of Chester and the car Vixen.

Posted by sumo at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

I've felt this for a long time...Osama is playing our Georgie for a fool...and he doesn't even know it because for one he doesn't read...the other thing...he is incompetent. This from AlterNet...

Lost in the "surge" debate is the unfortunate reality that escalation in Iraq, just like the invasion itself, plays into al-Qaida's ultimate strategy to eliminate America. As revealed in a 2005 strategy document, al-Qaida hopes to repeat Osama bin Laden's victory over the Soviet empire in Afghanistan by eliminating the chief obstacle in the way of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East. The goal is not, as Bush administration and right-wing pundits proclaim, to conquer or directly destroy America. Osama bin Laden wants to provoke the United States into destroying itself.

According to Atwan's analysis of al-Qaida's "20-year plan," the organization aimed to bring about the fall of the American empire by first provoking -- with the September 11 attacks -- Washington into irrationally invading Muslim lands in pursuit of revenge. Al-Qaida's grand strategists calculated that the invasion would propel the umma, the Muslim community, into joining the jihad. Following the fall of the secular socialist Hussein regime, Iraq has indeed become a training ground for limitless waves of foreign jihadis.

In this context, George W. Bush was a great boon to their efforts. Not only did he invade Iraq, which did not have a thing to do with 9/11, but he did almost everything possible to isolate America from its allies. How familiar does all this sound? Too familiar I'm afraid.

Bush's "surge" only throws more meat to the jackals, who gain strength and popularity with each web-broadcasted beheading or roadside bomb explosion. Like Afghanistan, Iraq gives would-be jihadis watching the conflict from their computer screens the hope of destroying the military might of the West. The jihadis also hope to expand the conflict to create what Atwan calls a "Triangle of Horror" connecting Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria.

All of this time, al-Qaida's master strategists have manipulated Bush like a marionette. Instead of cutting his losses and withdrawing from Iraq -- or critically re-examining the failures of the American intervention in Afghanistan -- Bush continues blindly to throw more resources into battle, believing that the United States simply lacks "a will to win."

Americans have little knowledge about Mideast culture or international politics but feel strongly that they have been misled and betrayed by their superiors. This was true as well in Vietnam. Yet the horrors of both wars will be paltry in comparison to the horrors unleashed if we escalate in Iraq and attack Iran. The only voices aside from Bush's calling to "bring it on" are those from al-Qaida itself. It's hard to sit back and watch this happen all over again...but on a larger scale because the cost of doing things now is so much more. And the German magazine Der Spiegel reports that, by the end of 2007, America will have spent $670 billion fighting the "war on terror," more than Washington spent on the Vietnam War or the first two years of World War II. It feels good to get up in the morning and know that we are spending a gazillion more dollars today and we will again tommorrow too...and everyday after that as long as this nonsense lasts. This aint' funny stuff. AlterNet

Posted by sumo at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

With all the various things happening in our world these days I'm wondering how well we are all focused on the above ass sticking out there. It certainly shows our Dub to be industrious in what he says he will do one of these days. Between the crotch shots and diapers doodle news...oh and let's not forget that two bit breasts just died today too. That was the day the music died! Now don't get me wrong...I'm sorry for Ms. Smith...and all the others misguided twits that feel the world is a better place because we see their 'waxed parts"...but these naked "things" aren't going to put food on the table and certainly aren't going to stop nuclear war. Trust me if there were a way to ensure we'd seen the last of the mushroom clouds...I'd know it. That's right...I have an in with Albert...you know...Mr. Einstein. He keeps me informed of the latest info. But...lately I've been feeling a little more like this...
So when you come around the corner of life and it sledgehammers you in the head...you know somethings up. And BTW...I felt like cross-dressing this particular day...sometimes I just don't feel so feminine all the time you know what I mean? I know I'm not looking so fresh for this pic...I seem to have lost some much needed color too...go figure. So we all just have to plod along (and don't get your underware in a twist...I'm not calling you cows)...and go with the flow. It's been ages since I've done that.

Now see...all we have to do is believe in our fearless leader and follow his lead. Except we aren't in the last throws of spilling money all over the wrong places it seems. He just wants mo money and mo money...what's a taxpayer to do? If you can't get blood out of a turnip...how can you get mo money from the taxpayers...if'n they ain't got it in the first place? I'm all for our Dub spending his chaps off on whatever enterprise he wants to...he just needs to keep his claws off of my enterprise. I would really like to be able to pay my bills and have a little left over for some gas and maybe a little food on the table now and again. Is that too much to hope for? Did I go to college for this...oh hell no! I wish his Mommie would reign his ass in one of these days...he's 60 years old for craps sake...you'd think by now she'd have him under control. Bad seed! So I guess in a round about way I'm saying we need to pay attention to the first cartoon and get some really serious rebellion going before it's too late for one of those mushroom clouds...or we are going to become a society that looks and listens to only stuff like this...

Posted by sumo at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

"Murder of a Vietcong by Saigon Police Chief"
Eddie Adams, 1968

"Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world," AP photojournalist Eddie Adams once wrote. A fitting quote for Adams, because his 1968 photograph of an officer shooting a handcuffed prisoner in the head at point-blank range not only earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1969, but also went a long way toward souring Americans’ attitudes about the Vietnam War.

For all the image’s political impact, though, the situation wasn’t as black-and-white as it’s rendered. What Adams’ photograph doesn’t reveal is that the man being shot was the captain of a Vietcong "revenge squad" that had executed dozens of unarmed civilians earlier the same day. Regardless, it instantly became an icon of the war’s savagery and made the official pulling the trigger - General Nguyen Ngoc Loan - its iconic villain.

Sadly, the photograph’s legacy would haunt Loan for the rest of his life. Following the war, he was reviled where ever he went. After an Australian VA hospital refused to treat him, he was transferred to the United States, where he was met with a massive (though unsuccessful) campaign to deport him. He eventually settled in Virginia and opened a restaurant but was forced to close it down as soon as his past caught up with him. Vandals scrawled "we know who you are" on his walls, and business dried up.

Adams felt so bad for Loan that he apologized for having taken the photo at all, admitting, "The general killed the Vietcong; I killed the general with my camera." from Internetweekly

As a teenager I saw this on the evening news while eating dinner...and let me just say that it wasn't expected or well received in our household. I know I'll never forget it. I also watched Lee Harvey Oswald die live on a Sunday morning (if memory serves)...and that was a jaw dropper for a kid. Probably the first transfixed moment of my life. Trust me...more would unfortunately follow. I also knew someone killed that fateful night at Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski's house by Charlie Manson's group...and the next day when Manson sent out his henchmen again to Leno and Rosemary's house (picked randomly) I had a connection to them too. Tonight I just happened to come across this photo and a flood of memories came back to haunt me. This was some powerful stuff back in the day...

Posted by sumo at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

Two Valentine skeletons locked in an embrace for eternity...
Archaeologists in Italy believe they have discovered an example of eternal love after the discovery of two skeletons buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, hugging each other.

Elena Menotti, who led the team on its dig near the northern city of Mantova, described the find as "an extraordinary case". "There has not been a double burial found in the Neolithic period, much less two people hugging, and they really are hugging." Menotti said she believed the two, almost certainly a man and a woman although that needs to be confirmed, died young because their teeth were mostly intact and not worn down.

"I must say that when we discovered it, we all became very excited. I've been doing this job for 25 years. I've done digs at Pompeii, all the famous sites," she said. "But I've never been so moved because this is the discovery of something special." A laboratory will now try to determine the couple's age at the time of death and how long they had been buried.

So...where do we go from here if they find the embrace is that of two men or two women? Either way it goes...if it is a loving embrace they are really in...it's cool. One of the occupations of my childhood that I aspired to was archaeology...so things such as this are very interesting to me. (Aljazeera via Reuters)


So now this takes me to the interesting topic we've all seen over the years about Thomas Jefferson and the possibility of his fathering children of his slave Sally Hemmings.

So what we have here is new information on the DNA of Mr. Tom's past...and apparently it isn't a puzzlement anymore from what the article goes on to reveal.


DNA tests carried out on two British men have shed light on a mystery surrounding the ancestry of Thomas Jefferson, America's third president.

In the 1990s, DNA was taken from male relatives of Jefferson to see if he fathered a son with one of his slaves.

They found the president had a rare genetic signature found mainly in the Middle East and Africa, calling into question his claim of Welsh ancestry.

But this DNA type has now been found in two Britons with the Jefferson surname. More...

cross-posted @

Posted by sumo at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top

I think she knew Dub just about as well as anyone could for as many years as she was aquainted with him...and apparently that was since high school. She had him pegged quite well...only she said he wasn't dumb. I choked on that. I suppose he isn't really...but you'd have to be pretty dumb to have put the Middle East in far worse condition than it was...ever! I wonder sometimes what his caveman ancestors were like...probably fell off their wheel a lot...and stumbled over their grunts when addressing the other neanderthals at the local campfire toasting the wienies of the other tribe leaders. Oh...for the simpler days when there were no taxes to pay when raiding the other tribes for better looking babes and all. Yeah...Molly understood him well.

Posted by sumo at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments Return to Top