Homeless Companions

Please donate to the Louisiana SPCA.

The animals need your help too:

You'd want someone to help your animal companion, wouldn't you?

The Texas SPCA is en route to New Orleans.

Help them to help the animals.

Blogday.

Blogday links:

Tom's Astronomy Blog


Look at the sky. Blick den Himmel. Regardez le ciel. Mira el cielo.

Hot Sauce


Tasty! Geschmackvoll! Savoureux! ¡Sabroso!

Gumbies


Foreign adventure. Fremdes Abenteuer. Aventure étrangère.

Iraqi Faithful encounter more tragedy

Even when Iraqis are attempting to go about something like their normal routines or traditions there is some instigator to precipitate horror:

"Officials had earlier suggested that someone in the crowd deliberately triggered the stampede by saying they had seen a suicide bomber."

This is a hallmark of a covert operation carried out by occupiers wishing to instill fear in civilians without any care for the deathly consequences. It makes me sick.

"People swarmed the bridge. There had to be a search operation at the end of the bridge, so crowds gathered and a certain scream caused chaos in the crowds and the crowds just reacted and this sorrowful incident took place."

I'm no civil engineer, but perhaps it would have been wiser to have the check point where people were getting onto the bridge?

Three days of mourning have been declared as though this is some sort of unforseeable accident; Iraqis have much to mourn but this is no accident.

It's at best a result of poor planning and at worst a planned culling of the peaceful to instil fear in a population struggling to overcome a fear they've been living for years.

Hello Humans...

Hello Humans.
Just surfacing to remind you that in the 21st Century you do not need tosmash my face in with a club to survive.



This post is ripped from my buddy Youngfox

If Dahr Jamail can maintain hope, it's hope for all of us

Meanwhile in the Crawford “Green Zone,” Mr. Bush chooses to ignore the resistance movement that is standing outside his fence. But that is alright, because the hundreds of people there now protesting represent tens (if not hundreds) of millions across the country who, like the Iraqi resistance, are not going to go away.

Dahr Jamail's latest writings on the situation on the ground in Iraq "Two Green Zones" suggests that events there are going to bring the political situation in America to a head.

I think many Americans who've not been brainwashed must be getting as sick of the right's tactics as I am at this point. This whole Cindy bandwagon where I see so many articles criticizing her for smiling because they claim she must therefore be feigning grief....

The type of arguments they continue to present are so pre-school intelligence level that I can't even begin to entertain them with much vigour.

The same sentiment applies to any notion that this occupation is going at all well (for all concerned who are actually there themselves) and any support of it at all.

All the expressions: "freedom isn't free" ...blah blah blah... They just sicken me with boredom.
Who's freedom? It's a legitimate question and it should be answered prior to mocking.

As the article mentions, the people protesting won't go away. If the govt. there continues to attack peaceful protesters with tear gas and tazers and attack party-going ravers, the youth might just be compelled to vote next time and the democrats can attempt to perform again, hopefully in some sort of globally responsible manner. (if any of the parties is still capable of that)

Extradite Pat Robertson to Canada:

Since we have an extradition treaty and it appears that Pat Robertson’s hate speach may have broken Canada’s Broadcasting act:

“Earlier Friday, the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commsion said it has received about 20 complaints about Robertson's statements. The CRTC will look at whether the TV preacher's comments broke Canada's Broadcasting Act. Some Canadian TV stations carry Robertson's program.”

We should ask for Pat’s extradition to Canada.



It’s only reasonable since the empire is busy extraditing Canadians.

Time to redefine ties with U.S.

It is indeed time for Canada to take some control over our relations with our Empirical neighbours to the south before they really let loose ...

There is a chronic and dangerous failure to fully appreciate the shift going on in the political demographics of the U.S. and how this change affects attitudes not only toward Canada but also to the broad U.S. approach to its international role.

~Lloyd Axworthy

via Vive le Canada

Helen Keller: Not Blind to War Crimes

“How can our rulers claim they are fighting to make the world safe for democracy,” she asked, “while here in the U.S. Negroes may be massacred and their property burned?”

~Helen Keller

This great article at press action is a must read.

I had no idea that Helen Keller was such an outspoken character aside from the basic facts of her childhood experience that most of us are familiar with.

What a woman.

If you like the article, you could also check out Mickey Z. the author's personal site

Israelis doing a good deed

and I don't say it sarcastically.

Animal charity Hakol Chai has sent volunteers and vets into the empty Gaza settlements ahead of an army-imposed deadline for bulldozers to level the buildings.

There are lots of negative things I could add here about the actions of so many other Israelis - not least those of the settlers who apparently didn't think enough of their pets to bring them with them

- but a good deed is a good deed and should be given credit as such without detraction by drawing attention to the actions of others.

I am truly happy to see that at least some abandoned animals will not suffer an unneccessarily cruel fate.

Pat Robertson's sorry...

...A sorry assed lying hypocrite.

"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

~Pat Robertson as quoted by CBC news.

Pat Robertson is a man of no morals and he's now proven that he also has no backbone. I don't believe his 'apology' for a minute and he apparently no longer has the conviction of his words:

On Wednesday, Robertson initially denied having called for Chavez to be killed and said The Associated Press had misinterpreted his remarks.

This last quote is very true and explains everything in a nutshell.

Chavez, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush.

I saw Chavez answering a British interviewer's question of whether he planned to use oil $$$ to support Venezuela's policies throughout Latin America. His answer was brilliant: 'Venezuelan oil $$$ has supported the US for years; why should we not use it to support Venezuela?'

Sifaka says 'Take Action' !

Sifaka's real...he's from the WWF site!


I'm suprised I hadn't come across this new Internet directed World Wildlife Fund website before now. What is great about it is that you'll be able to find causes needing YOUR action no matter where you live on this planet.

I've tried in recent years to get more local with my actions, but there's never a good reason NOT to attempt to effect change for the better where conservation measures are involved.

Biodiversity needs your help. That doesn't mean you should rush to breed, it means you should rush to action - even if only online.

Get your passport today.

A magnetic pole shift is long overdue...

Could we be in the early stages of a polar shift on our planet?
Sound crazy??










Scientists are well aware of this phenomenon.
We are long overdue for such an event on Earth.

These things don't happen overnight, of course and no one's saying that our compasses are out of whack yet, but I do think that we're experiencing a few "minor" abnormalities that are mainly evident to us through
animal migration.



The reversal is inevitable, but unlikely to be completed in any of our lifetimes, but just imagine the havoc that it will wreak?








The results of short-sighted human activities (industrial or otherwise) have already placed so many barriers in the way of migrating species that I shudder to think how they will fare when nature itself undergoes this sort of paradigm shift.

Youngfox beat me to posting this topic over the weekend!

Hooray for Judge Coleman

Fogging communities with malathion has been on the minds of many Canadians, (and all Winnipegers, I'm sure) this year. It has become a mandatory action on the part of the government and no one has been granted the right to have their home or community exempted on the grounds of health concerns or otherwise.

I think the policy is unfair, and dimwitted. How does it justify subjecting an entire population and the entire ecosystem of the region to prevent a few people from potentially becoming ill from West Nile?

It's at best absurd, and at worst the thin end of the police state wedge.

Glenda Whiteman was charged for protesting last month outside Winnipeg's insect control yard on July 19.
Now she has received an absolute discharge and the Judge is to be commended for his frankness and willingness to fairly rule on her case.

"I admire and respect you for being both courageous and articulate as you have been in support of your particular position"

~Judge Howard Coleman upon rendering his verdict

I'm pleasantly surprised at this ruling that upholds the rights and freedoms of Canadians willing to stand up for themselves.

"george found remorse in iraq"

Hank Brusselback's art, via MickeyZ

Link of the day: Livid - part II

Check out this simple but poignant post at Cafe Bathos.

I have no pity for those who who would label themselves as more deserving because of their chosen faith while desecrating and destroying the lives of others.

Cafe Bathos' post illustrates why.

He CAN read!

Now that George has learned which way is up when holding a book, the reading list is rather disconcerting.

Here is what the holidaying emperor is reading this summer: (when he should be talking with Cindy Sheehan)
1. "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky. This book chronicles the rise and fall of what once the world's most strategic commodity and the cause of great strife. Synonymous with wealth, it was a backbone of many trade routes and France's tax on salt was a contributing factor in the Revolution. In the 20th century refrigeration came along and salt became ubiquitous.
Consider the similarities to our current 21st century addiction and dependance upon oil. It's only a matter of time before it's status as wealth is a thing of the past. In the meantime however, the covetting of it is destroying the very planet and our own humanity while a precious few grow shamefully rich at the expense of others. It seems shrub is making an attempt to actually inform himself as to the purp0se he's serving for his puppet masters! Where'd all this money and political capital come from anyway? Oh - salt, I mean oil $$$ The author's reaction upon learning that his book was on the WHcriminal's reading list: priceless....

"My first reaction was, 'Oh, he reads books?' "

(it's satisfying to know that Kurlansky is a bush critic who's spoken against the war. I guess they don't check out the authors before recommending reading to the puppet)
2. The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History" by John M. Barry. "This author is also a self proclaimed bush critic, but has consulted regularly with the white house regarding a possible future pandemic of influenza. I'd like to beleive, as the author seems to, that the administration is making preparations to deal with such an event. My more reasoned and jaded opinion is that they are preparing such an event. It would be another useful tool in the Empire's arsenal. They are more than twisted and evil enough to use bio weapons on a global scale while creating a pretense of attempting to vaccinate their own population against it. So a few million of their own will die...Big deal. Small price to pay for having wiped a few billion opponents of the Empire off the face of the planet, right?
3. "Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar" by Edvard RadzinskyBush obtained an advance copy of the English translation which is not due out for public consumption until November, so the WH has had their eye on this one for a while.
Alexander II ruled Russia from 1855 to 1881. was known as the "Czar Liberator" because he freed millions Russian slaves. (two years before Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.)
Alexander II's reforms were sweeping and caused great division even after he attempted to stop them: the right backlashed and the left resorted to violence and targetted killings. The author's claim:

"We, Russia, created the first great terrorist organization in the world, we are the father of terror, not Muslims."

All this backlash happened because Alexander was out of his depth...he'd emancipated the serfs but didn't want to give them too much - it would threaten his autocracy; so what does any good Emperor do: take repressive measures.After surviving a number of attempts on his life, it was ultimately ended by the home made bomb of 'anarchists' who felt that while they'd been given limited freedom, their status still did not give them equality with that of the 'educated' classes.
Shrub must be attempting to glean what he can of Alexander's mistakes. Not because he wants to be more fair, but because he no doubt worries about his own safety and how the vitriolic nature of opposition to his rule is growing. The left continues to rise in it's revulsion to his police state and any who are not among the elite few who are profitting from the war will come to see this sooner or later whether they want to or not. What will be his 'anarchist's' bomb? How will he avoid becoming a victim of his own reforms? How far can he push the police state before it's citizens take objections of real consequence?
Help us all....he's learned to read.

Israel should treat their own terrorists as they treat Palestinians

An Israeli gunman opened fire on Palestinians in the West Bank, killing three and wounding two.
...
Reports say the gunman grabbed a weapon from a security guard at the industrial zone of a West Bank settlement, then opened fire on nearby Palestinians.
...
The gunman, reportedly a resident of a West Bank settlement, was arrested. News media reports said he opened fire in an attempt to disrupt the Gaza pullout, but the reports could not immediately be confirmed.

from CBC report today

The circumstances that settlers are creating is nothing more than vile and disgusting. It's behaviour that only the most self serving bigots could possibly carry out.

The deeds to property originally issued to all settlers specifically stated that it was subject to being revoked by the state in future, AND these people are being aided and compensated.
The actions and attitudes of those resisting this withdrawal is absolutely hysterical, and shamefully so.

The murderer arrested for shooting the Palestinians who are the rightful citizens of Gaza and not involved in any disturbance as they were victimized, should be turned over to the Palestinian Authority to do with as they will - after all, it is supposed to be 'Palestinian' territory now.
Not bloody likely though.

Sharon's quoted as saying the settlers should not attack soldiers, but "attack me, blame me" ... jabba the sharon should have the balls to say that to the Palestinians.

I'm livid that yet more people are being treated as pawns by the Israeli criminals.
Livid.

Letting my garden grow...

This inaugural post is my intro to my own shiny new blog.

I've started up my own "blog garden" because hosting problems at Pourquoi Pas? the blog where I try to contribute regularly have resulted in it being unavailable much of the time.

Amelopsis's garden will contain all my posts (from now on, anyway) from Pourquoi Pas? and the title for those will always take you to the original posting at that blog.

My garden will also grow whatever else whatever else I might decide to sow..........