HAD ENOUGH?

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who masterminded the 1994 elections that brought Republicans to power on promises of revolutionizing the way Washington is run, told Time that his party has so bungled the job of governing that the best campaign slogan for Democrats today could be boiled down to just two words: "Had enough?"

There you go, ladies and gentlemen. It took Newt Gingrich to show us the way.... go figure. NOW, will any of these ball-less democrats use these two little words [and quote Mr. Gingrich] in their quest to change the political face of America?

I have a funny feeling the answer is NO; which leaves me speechless!




AAARRRRRGH!

009 has bloggers block! Actually, I have so much going on at the moment, I just have enough time to read blogs and try to respond. I went back to work last Friday and within the first half hour, had already booked my next trip to New Orleans in early June. This time, I'm going for five day which should give me more time to tour the devastated areas.

I've also booked a five day trip to Las Vegas mid July for my nephew's wedding.

All of this means of course booking flights, hotels, show tickets in Vegas, boarding for the dogs, and of course a new wardrobe (for me, not the dogs).

Now, if I could only win the damned lottery I could pay for all of the above!

PEACE~

009 Back with a vengence!

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

— Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
26th President of the United States

Saturday Recipe

What is Bananas Foster?
Created at New Orleans's Brennan's Restaurant in the 1950s, this dessert consists of lengthwise-sliced bananas quickly sautéed in a mixture of rum, brown sugar and banana liqueur and served with vanilla ice cream. It was named for Richard Foster, a regular Brennan's customer.

Bananas Foster is an elegant dessert, and would be perfect to serve at a special brunch or dinner party.


Ingredients:
4 oz. (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup banana liqueur
4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
1/4 cup dark rum
4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Instructions:
Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan. When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream.

Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

This all sounds a bit "scary" but trust me, you are really gonna impress those you care about!
On the other hand, you might not want to try this. Might I suggest you get yourselves over to New Orleans and pump some money into their economy instead? It's the only way they're gonna get back on their feet!

Lunch in New Orleans

Were it not for the fact that I had a credit voucher with Southwest Airlines which I was only told last week was due to expire on March 24th, I would never have gone to New Orleans for a one day trip! After all, I will be there for a week in June.

I had to wake up Thursday at 3:30 AM to get to the airport in time for my 6:55 AM flight. This is the first time I took the airport shuttle which at $28.00 including tip is half the cost of taking a taxi. I should have taken a taxi. My scheduled pick up was at 4:10 AM. Much too early!

Arriving in New Orleans at 7:30 AM, (there is a one hour time difference) I took a taxi into the French Quarter at a cost of $32.00 including tip.

The actual ride into New Orleans shows little destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There were few houses with the "blue tarps" on the roofs and I did see a handful of FEMA trailers being used as temporary housing while homes are being repaired. I also saw a lot full of unused trailers... unused because there is no land to put the trailers on.

The most disturbing part of the trip occurred when the taxi driver reminded me that we were crossing the bridge where (as we saw for days on television), people had tried to cross to escape the flood waters but were stopped mid-way across by police and also with those who were eventually denied admission into the Super Dome because it was filled to capacity. All the images of those horrible days (crying children, angry parents, the elderly, the the sick and dying} came back to me and left me with an overwhelming sadness and chills throughout my body.

As we approached the Super Dome, it appeared much smaller than the dozens of times I had driven by on previous visits to New Orlean. I couldn't even begin to imagine those thousands of people locked inside until is was safe to come back out into daylight.

I decided to exit the taxi at the entrance of Louis Armstrong Park. It was only 8 o'clock and the park was empty. The once beautiful park has been badly neglected. I understand that at this time, the park is not a priority.

Louis Armstrong Park

I walked into the French Quarter and there was almost no one on the usually busy streets. The air was still.

I always make the Bourbon Pub my first stop when I visit New Orleans. Many of my acquaintances are medical professionals who work the midnight shift at the local hospitals. After working all night, 8:00 AM is happy hour and they stop by the pub for a "wind down". This morning, I was the only person in the pub. I had my usual Bloody Mary, extra spicy. I spoke to the bartender who reminded me that many people have not returned to New Orleans and the hospital staff is overworked due to shortages of qualified help.

The streets remained empty, most shops still closed as I made my way to Harrah's casino. I pumped $20.00 into the slot machine, won $113.00 and left making my way to Jackson Square. This square (where Bush had made his speech after Katrina) is beautifully maintained. The several benches usually filled with interesting if somewhat shady characters were empty. I asked the one person available where all the people were and he said they were scattered throughout the country. He had been taken to central Louisiana and had just returned this week. He was uncertain how many people would return but told me that some were slowly coming back.

It's now 11:00AM and the streets are slowly coming back to life. I encountered my first friend who was on his way to a job appointment. He is the first black person (with the exception of a few casino employees) I've seen so far. We chat for a short while, he tells me he, his girlfriend, their child and his parents had been relocated to Colorado Springs and he is the only one of his group that has returned to New Orleans (he hated the cold weather); the others choosing to remain behind and start a new life.

The Quarter has not changed much. Most of the galleries, restaurants and gift shops are open but they are empty of shoppers. I stopped at a hat boutique and purchased a baseball cap (black with a gold embroidered fleur de lis across which is embroidered the word REBUILD). Spoke to the two ladies working in the boutique and both were uncertain of the future. The three of us were crying as I got ready to leave. The Quarter is back in operation, but there are few customers.

At noon, I went to Maspero's for lunch (golden fried oysters). Today, there were no long lines waiting to get in. The usually full restaurant had only three tables occupied. I spoke to the wait staff who (depending on tips) were uncertain how long they could pay the rent on their apartments.

The black population has not returned but the streets are now becoming filled with Mexicans brought here to work for minimum wages, living several per room in outlying areas of New Orleans. Today, there were many just "hanging around" drinking cans of beer disguised in brown paper bags.

I stopped by Le Croissant D'Ore for dessert. There was only one other patron. I ordered Tiramisu and coffee in the courtyard. The pastry chef bakes exquisite pastries but few enjoy them now. The comment from my waiter was that the people brought in to help rebuild the city aren't interested in or can't afford french pastries.

I speak to several more people as I make my way to the French Market. Most tell me that many areas are still not habitable and have no clue when they will be. Most tell me that there are still houses in the middle of streets, cars piled three high one on top of the other, two more bodies had been found this week.

Most think all of the candidates for mayor are crooked, looking to benefit from contract awards. Most will not vote for Nagin again, they feel he let them down. Many think former residents will not return, and they are afraid.

For now, the "flava" is gone. Missing are the young tap dancing boys, the jugglers, the clowns, the mimes, the tarot card readers, the scam artists, the hustlers, the strangely dressed characters, original art hung on the fences surrounding Jackson Square ........ the street singers and musicians, the jazz. As I watch the now obvious professional white middle aged businessmen quickly walking back to plush officed from lunch, I think that the city has lost its SOUL...... It's all just too sad!

My taxi driver is a young woman from Ethiopia. She lost her home, was evacuated to Houston but returned two weeks ago. Most times, her calls to FEMA are put on hold and after waiting for long periods of time, she becomes impatient and promises herself to try again later and later and later. In the meantime, she stays with friends.

I'll be back with in less than three months. I want to tour the devastated areas, I want to put a little money back into the economy. Maybe some of the soul will return. One can only hope.

The government, so far has not made significant advances.

It broke my heart to be there, it broke my heart to leave.

Maureen Dowd and brutal honesty!

You're a little late Maureen.
009 has been saying this for months now...

It's only 2005, and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has already written off Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race. It may be true, she warns, that Democrats "are racing like lemmings toward a race where, as one moaned, 'John McCain will dribble Hillary Clinton's head down the court like a basketball.'"

Who does she yearn for?

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. At 44, Obama, she points out, is already a year older than John F. Kennedy when he became president.

"The weak and pathetic Democrats seem to move inexorably toward candidates who turn a lot of people off," she advises. "They should find someone captivating with an intensely American success story... and shape the campaign around that leader....

"The Democrats should not dismiss a politically less experienced but personally more charismatic prospect as 'an empty vessel.' Maybe an empty vessel can fill the room."

She adds that it may be true "that Americans, as one Democrat told me, 'will never elect a guy as president who has a name like a Middle East terrorist.'" But the Democrats, she says, do not "stand for anything" and they have "no champion at a time when people are hungry for an exciting leader, when the party should be roaring and soaring against the Bushies' power-mad stumbles.

"They should groom an '08 star who can run on the pledge of doing what's right instead of only what's far right."

Speaking out...

DEFENDER OF THE JUDICIARY

It has been only a matter of weeks since Sandra Day O'Connor retired as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but the former rancher from Arizona is not riding quietly into the sunset.

At a recent speech to lawyers at Georgetown University, O'Connor let it be known that she is appalled by the way Republicans in Congress have attacked the nation's judges. She forcefully warned that without an independent judiciary, the nation would find itself under a "dictatorship."

The remarkable speech didn't get much notice, since it wasn't made available for broadcast and no transcript was produced. Only NPR, it seems, had its legal correspondent, Nina Totenberg, there to capture O'Connor's oration, and thankfully she took detailed notes. Totenberg reported that O'Connor said the freedom of all Americans is at risk when the judiciary is threatened with retaliation for its rulings. While not mentioning names, O'Connor pointed to the irresponsible comments of former House GOP leader Rep. Tom DeLay and Sen. John Cornyn, both from Texas.

Last year, DeLay excoriated the judiciary for its rulings on abortion, prayer and the Terri Schiavo case at a Justice Sunday meeting, an event organized by conservative Christian groups to denounce "activist" judges. "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," DeLay said, hinting at some vengeance to come for the judges in the Schiavo case. O'Connor retorted that the courts in the Schiavo case had followed the law as it was written and not as the congressman might have wished it were written.

Cornyn went even further, suggesting there might be a connection between the terrible violence that had befallen a couple of judges and their families last year and the "political" way judges rule.

O'Connor decried these diatribes as well as the naked partisanship driving calls for judicial reform. She worried aloud about efforts to strip the courts of jurisdiction over certain kinds of cases, the cutting of judicial budgets and the call for impeachment of judges just because they issue an unpopular rulings.

O'Connor said those who would strong-arm the judiciary into following some predetermined path are moving the country toward dictatorship. She was not being hysterical or overwrought. O'Connor acknowledged that it takes a lot of degeneration before a dictatorship takes hold. "But we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings," she said.

The independence of our judiciary is what breathes life into terms like liberty, justice and fairness, and when Republican leaders attack the courts through demagoguery or legislative action, they are eroding an integral part of what keeps this nation free. We hope O'Connor speaks out again on this issue. Her warnings cannot come often or loudly enough.

A Times Editorial
Published March 17, 2006

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Lunch in New Orleans

Next Thursday, I will be flying to New Orleans for lunch.

On March 24, 2005 I purchased airline tickets for two friends from Chicago to join me in New Orleans for my birthday on June 18, 2005. Neither friend was able to make the flight due to medical complications which meant that since I was the purchaser of the tickets, I was elegible for a credit towards future travel.

Today, I telephoned the airlines to book this years birthday flight and was informed that since the credited tickets were purchased on March 24th of 2005 the one year time period to use the credits was due to expire next Friday which meant I would lose out on over $300.00 in air fares if I don't take immediate advantage of the credits.

On such short notice and not wanting to be away from home next week, I decided that I would take advantage of the flight credits by flying in for a one day stay......

I will arrive early morning which will give me the opportunity to set foot on familiar and much beloved ground. It will give me the opportunity to know that not everything I love has been destroyed. It will give me the opportunity to visually experience some of the devastation and the rebuilding effort.

I will talk with friends and strangers. I want to hear from them the struggles they've encountered during and since Katrina.

I will eat once again in one of my favorite restaurants, The Court of Two Sisters.

I will secure my reservations for June 2006.

The little red microwave oven!

I bought a microwave oven when I first moved to Florida..... at a time when they were costly. I loved my microwave oven and used it frequently..... a great time saver.

And then it died.

My neighbor Jodi, upon hearing that I was using my oven to heat whatever, gave me her old microwave oven. It was a monster.... a big, ugly old thing that thankfully still worked. I hated that oven from day one, but not wanting to disappoint Jodi, I used it until she moved. The next day, the monster was out in the trash.

I went all winter without a microwave oven. Again, using the oven to heat anything that needed to be warmed or reheated..... with the temperatures in this area approaching the low 80's this weekend, it's time for a new microwave.

I'm in love. The day I purchased my little red Blogzie crock pot, there it was on a shelf in the next aisle. A little red microwave oven! As I previously stated, I hate the color red. UUGH........ but this microwave oven was screaming "take me home". I fought the urge.... for two weeks.

Saturday, it's back to Target, and there it was. Waiting for daddy! Come on baby, you're coming home.

Now, we need to repaint the kitchen. Red looks ghastly against a sage green background!

NOTE: I actually went to Target to purchase this microwave oven on Saturday but noticed that they had been moved to an end cap......... little bells started going off in my head. This puppy is heading for a sale. I waited one more day, and there it was in the Sunday ads; $15.00 off the original price. Ya just gotta love those sales!

009 International

My BLOGMASTERS, proudly listed on the left of this journal are the blogs I read daily..... first thing each morning while having my first cup of coffee, and each evening.

They're all very different, yet they all have something to say....... we tend to be "on the same page" most of the time. I like that!

Three of my BLOGMASTERS are international....

One of my first BLOGMASTERS is a young man living in Slovakia.... The Chaotic One. He's a lyricist, a poet....... sometimes some very deep, difficult to understand writing. But I try, and I usually get it!

My second international BLOGMASTER is another young man from the Phillipines....The Devil in Haste...... a brilliant young man who has, through his writing and photography introduced me to a beautiful country and an exciting life.

My third and most recent international BLOGMASTER is a young man from South Korea.... Queer Eye Korea...... sometimes seductive, always amusing photography along with some fun and interesting writings. When QEK noted that I had posted a recipe on Saturday, he posted one of his own.....hard boiled quail eggs! I'm not certain I want to try that one.

Check them out..... and when you have the time, start at the top as I do and read all my BLOGMASTERS. You're bound to find a few you'll absolutely fall in love with!

Feel the love.......

Watching over him....

The Winter Fairy

I've truly dreaded the approach and finally the beginning of the month of March.

It will be one year ago on the 21st that my foster son lost his life in an automobile accident.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about him.

I think about him when I go to bed at nite and again when I wake up each morning. I keep saying to myself "maybe after the first year, things will get easier".

I remember the first day that in snowed in Boston this year. It was early November when one of my coworkers mentioned that it had snowed up north.

My immediate reaction was anger, "I don't want him covered with snow, dammit"; and I fell apart. There have been days like that.

One day at a time.......

THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT!

The Bush administration just can't seem to stay out of the news lately, and none of it is good.

This time, it's Bush Appointee Arch-Conservative Claude Allen, his former Chief Domestic Policy Adviser.

Allen had been described as "a notorious homophobe, a ferocious enemy of abortion and an opponent of safe-sex education who for years has been one of the AIDS community's principal enemies."

Allens appoinement was a huge victory for the social reactionaries of the Christian right. "Allen had previously been a top aide at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

He was placed there by Karl Rove as a watchdog on then - HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, who had an exaggerated reputation as a "moderate" and who wasn't entirely trusted by Rove to carry out - by administrative order - the social agenda of the Christian right, a key part of Rove's successful plan to mobilize millions of Christer voters for Bush's re-election."

AND NOW THE LATEST NEWS!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former adviser to President Bush was arrested this week in Maryland and charged with swindling two department stores out of more than $5,000 in a refund scam.

Montgomery County police said Claude Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday and charged with carrying out a felony theft scheme at Target and Hecht's stores. He was released on his own recognizance. Conviction on the charges can result in a 15-year prison sentence.

Authorities accuse Allen of going to stores on more than 25 occasions and buying items, taking them to his car and then returning to the store with his receipt where he would carry out the alleged scam. "He would select the same items he had just purchased, and then return them for a refund.

Allen is known to have conducted approximately 25 of these types of refunds, having the money credited to his credit cards," a statement from Montgomery County police said. The items ranged from a Bose theater system to a photo printer to clothing to small items valued at $2.50, police said.

Allen resigned without explanation in early February as Bush's top domestic political adviser.

Allen had long been a darling among the conservative right -- and Bush had even nominated him to be a federal appeals court judge in 2003, but Democrats blocked the move.

In announcing Allen's resignation, Bush called him a "trusted adviser" who helped "develop policies that will strengthen our nation's families, schools and communities." "Claude is a good and compassionate man, and he has my deep respect and my gratitude. I thank him for his many years of principled and dedicated service to our country," Bush said in a statement issued on February 9.

My coffee addiction......

You've seen the ads in newspapers and magazines. The free coffee pot with your first order of Gevalia coffee..... pay for the first shipment and you keep the coffee maker and never have to buy another shipment of coffee.

I have a perfectly good, still in use coffee maker. I don't need another one....... but I just couldn't resist. Curiosity got the best of me and I took the bait.

Two weeks later the coffee maker arrived accompanied by two coffee mugs and a stainless steel scoop, (all free) along with the two 8 ounce bags of coffee.

Total cost for the coffee was $12.70, add shipping $5.35 for the grand total of $18.05

Not a bad deal at all and of course I fully intended to stop the coffee shipments. Over and done with!

Until I tasted the damned coffee, that is. FABULOUS!

Nothing compares to the rich taste of Gevalia coffee, nothing.

If I run out of Gevalia and have to temporarily purchase a store brand, it's heartburn from hell. Not even my beloved Starbucks, where I still buy my weekly Grande Mocha Frappucino, can compare.

I'm addicted, and if you really want to see me smile in the morning serve me a cup of Gevalia Breakfast Blend coffee!

Of course, I really really really smile if there's someone there to share that coffee with.

009's morning after pick me up!

On those rare occasions when I know I'm going to have an overnight guest, I try to fool them into thinking I'm somewhat domesticated. This is an easy and impressive breakfast recipe. I make it the night before and just have to bake it in the morning which leaves me time to entertain my guest.... first a cup of Gevalia coffee in bed, then while he's in the shower, begin baking.... after you've dried his/her back with a big fluffy towel, another cup of coffee, a mimosa, and ..........

Breakfast Casserole

1 pkg.Regular Flavor Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups cubed bread
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped (optional)
1/2 cup thin-sliced green onions (optional)


Preheat oven to 325 F. In large skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink. In large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard and salt; stir well. Distribute half the bread evenly in a buttered 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish. Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage and half of each optional ingredient. Repeat layering using remaining bread, pepper, cheese, sausage and optional ingredients. Pour egg mixture evenly over casserole. Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, or until eggs are set. Tent with foil if top begins to brown too quickly.

Note: may be assembled ahead and refrigerated up to 12 hours before baking.

6 servings

I also serve this on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings

My Personal Rainbow Coalition

I love my job...... I think I've said that before, and I proudly say it again. I was out of work sick three days last week, and had forgotten that this was my fifth anniversary with this organization.

During afternoon break, and just before my clients were to leave for the day, my boss came out of her office and said.... "may I have your attention, I have an announcement to make".... at which time she told everyone that this was my fifth anniversary.

Hearing my clients, 53 developmentally disabled adults cheer and sing Happy Anniversary...... was one of the sweetest sound I've ever heard.

Having my boss tell me that she "can't believe it's been only five years, it seems like we're worked together for a lifetime" and knowing how in tune we are in advocacy for The Rights of Persons with Developmental Disabilities, this was a great compliment.

Receiving a recognition pin accompanied by a check was not hard to take either!

After my clients left for the day, I went to the smoking area to join several friends when the vice president of our company stopped by for a smoke. She looked around at the 15 of us (two men and thirteen women) and to our amazement said, "how lovely to be surrounded by our very own rainbow coalition." We all looked around and realized that indeed, the entire group was made up of gay men and lesbians. We are certainly the minority as far as company employees and smokers go, but it was rather amusing that we just happened to have gathered together at the same time.

It's also wonderful working for a company that recognizes us not for sexual orientation but for what each individual brings to this organization to make it as successful as it is; and yes we enjoy partner benefits.

Making a case for impeachment!

The case for the impeachment of President Bush is arguably the strongest in American history. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) makes this amply clear in its recent book, a concise indictment of President Bush that lays out four clear legal arguments that point to impeachment as a necessary remedy for the gross violation of our Constitution. The Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush covers illegal wiretapping, torture, rendition, detention and the Iraq war. An appendix compares the impeachment proceedings of Andrew Johnson, Nixon and Clinton to the comparatively more powerful case against Bush.

The CCR has drafted four articles:

Article I concerns the warrantless wiretapping of Americans in the U.S. This constitutes a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which prohibits and makes criminal any wiretapping without a warrant. The president has said that he's doing this, and it's a criminal charge that can get you five years in jail for each count. Additionally, it violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits unlawful searches and seizures -- this includes electronic surveillance. On a deeper level, these wiretaps deny the efficacy and validity of a congressional act.

Article Two of the impeachment of Richard Nixon is very similar. Nixon went outside of Congressional law and engaged in warrantless wiretapping against domestic dissidents and others who opposed the war in Vietnam. So, this article has a historical relation, obviously solid.

Article II is the falsifications that were used to justify the Iraq war. That's the article that congressman John Conyers has really focused on -- he's written an extensive report that documents this. You reference any particular day and the administration was making statements that Iraq has a relationship to 9/11, al Qaida and Osama bin Laden; that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. In the one and a half years leading up to the war, the time during which they were making these statements, they knew that they were false.

Lying to Congress and the American people got us into a war that has two serious impeachable issues within it: First, it's an aggressive war contrary to the U.N. charter and contrary to law that doesn't allow war unless it's in self-defense. Secondly, it undermines the authority of Congress and the American people to decide when war is necessary. Through the lies, he got a number of Congress people to believe that war was necessary, thereby undercutting their constitutional obligation to decide on war.

Elizabeth Holtzman, who was part of the Judiciary Committee that voted to impeach Nixon, has written a long piece about how this constitutes fraud under criminal law. Of course, you don't need a criminal act to impeach someone, you simply need an act that undermines and subverts the basic constitutional structure of our government, as well as a failure to execute the proper laws.

Article III deals with what the president has done in regard to the issues of torture, arbitrary long-term detentions, disappearances and special trial. Our law is very clear on these things. You can't torture people, you can't commit war crimes, you can't send people to countries where they're tortured and you can't set up special courts for trial. The Geneva Conventions are a part of our law, as is the international covenant of civil and political rights. The president, in authorizing that entire range of activities, has not met with his constitutional obligation to faithfully execute laws.

Congress tried to put some brakes on the president through the McCain amendment, which prohibits cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. But the president, in a signing statement, essentially said he reserved the right to ignore what Congress says. What he did is not just a violation of the law; he is destroying the checks and balances of our Constitution.

Article IV is a general article that puts all of the prior three articles together. If you look at these things together, you see that they are essentially destroying our republic and our democracy. They are destroying the constitutional structure of our government. Therefore, he should be impeached.

Donatella's on first!

On February 19th, I allowed my dear friend advice columnist Donatella Biachi to publish a post regarding Dick Cheney and the "other woman" who also happened to be at the ranch the day pistol packin Dick accidentally shot his hunting buddy.

Dear Donatella made it perfectly clear that this was just a silly rumor and not much more was written about the other woman until the following Sunday when the Washington Post mentioned that Pamela Willeford, the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland was also at the ranch at the time of the shooting.

PAMELA WILLEFORD

Last nite, while at the check-out counter purchasing wine for the evenings private showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there it was on the front cover of the Globe, March 13 edition (yes I'm aware that it's not March 13th yet, they must come out prior to the publishing date). Headline... Cheney's Mistress! With a photo of Pamela Willeford (not as flattering as the one used by our dear Donatella).

Now of course we all understand that the Globe is a gossip rag, and carries no weight but dammit, they are gonna make a fortune on that paper whereas poor Donatella who mentioned all of this first, is gonna get SQUAT!

Sad, very sad.............

The Goblet of Fire

The first call I made this morning was that I would be arriving late for work. I've probably been late for work less than 5 times in the last five years and considering that it's an almost two hour commute each way on a daily basis, my bosses are very appreciative.

Today, I called in late and without hesitation explained that the reason I would be late was because the new Harry Potter movie was released today and I wanted to get to the stores before they were sold out. Not a problem, see you when you get here.

Ya gotta love it because I'm a major Harry Potter fan having read each book twice and already have the first three movies on DVD.

This is significant because I don't recall the last time I went into a movie theater;
Certainly not in the last 16 years because I've never set foot inside a movie theater since living in Florida.

I can't stand the babbling, the whispering, people getting up to use the bathrooms or get over priced junk food at the candy counters. Most importantly, I can't smoke and since they don't have intermissions..... if I leave to have a cigarette, I miss some of the movie. Therefore, it takes patience but I wait until movies come out on DVD and I purchase them and watch them in the comfort of my home.

Crackers and cheese, a glass of wine, my comfy recliner and the puppies on my lap. Since I don't smoke in my home; I don't want the pugs breathing second hand smoke, I pause the movie and have a smoke on the patio.....Life doesn't get any better than this.

Capote comes out on DVD on March 21st., and Brokeback Mountain will be available on April 4th.

I'm set to go!

Touring with the little emperor!

George Bush made his first visit to India a monummental one when he promplty turned his back on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), agreeing to give India all the help it needs in developing its nuclear energy program.

"We have concluded an historic agreement today on nuclear power," Bush declared.

It's historic in that despite India never having signed the NPT, bush has given the country everything a budding nuclear power could want.

It will take an act of Congress for the U.S. to be able to honor the deal, as laws will have to be amended.

The timing is particularly sensitive as the International Atomic Energy Agency tries to find a way for Iran to go forward with their own nuclear program without developing weapons.

Bush is once again acting like emperor; making decisions without consulting congress.

Actually, this writer was hoping that since so many American jobs are now being outsourced to India that just maybe Bush's job had also been outsourced there!

Unfortunately, that was not to be.

Damn!

Where was Isaac Mizrahi?

Donatella Biachi does the Christian Oscars

Respectfully allowing our dear friend BEGYA PARDON to hopefully correctly predict this year's Oscar winners, Donatella Biachi attended the 2006 Christian Oscar awards and reports the following.

Winners of 'Christian Oscars' Announced!

- Disney and Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, WB's 7th Heaven, ABC TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and PAX TV's Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye won the three biggest honors at the 14th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry, held in the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel Thursday night (March 2).

The glittering event, also dubbed "The Christian Oscars," was held just days before the 78th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood and attracted more than 150 celebrities, Hollywood executives, producers, writers, and directors and their guests. The evening began with red carpet media interviews with many of the stars, including Pat Boone and Stephen Collins, as well as many other actors and actresses who were attending the event and who openly shared their faith in Jesus Christ.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the "X-Mas" episode of 7th Heaven took home the two $50,000 John Templeton Foundation Epiphany Prizes for "Most Inspiring Movie" and "Most Inspiring TV Program" of 2005. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye tied for the First Annual $50,000 Ware Foundation Libertas Prize for Promoting Positive American Values.

Crystal Teddy Bear Awards were flying out the door at the special event. Every winning movie and TV program received one for each producer, executive producer, writer, director, and top studio executive responsible for producing it.

In addition, a couple of special Crystal Teddies were handed out. Pat Boone, legendary singing star and actor, received a "Special Lifetime Faith & Values" Crystal Teddy Bear Award for Dedication to Redeeming the Values of the Mass Media of Entertainment. The Crystal Teddy was given to Boone for his "tireless and superior efforts over many years to redeem the values of the mass media and to present the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the mass media."

Deanne Bray of Sue Thomas not only won the Grace Prize for "Most Inspiring TV Performance," she also won a special Crystal Teddy for her "winsome, faithful, gracious, and wise efforts to help audiences and entertainers understand God's love for the physically challenged."

A first-time screenwriter, David M. Anthony, won the First Bi-Annual $25,000 John Templeton Foundation Kairos Prize for "Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays," for his script entitled "John, The Revelator." Heather Hughes took the $15,000 prize for second place for her script "Coincidental Miracles." Finally, Harrison Graham Moes won $10,000 for third place for his script "Men of Iron."


The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was also chosen "Best Family Movie of 2005," followed by Madagascar, Dreamer, March of the Penguins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and five other movies.

Pride & Prejudice was picked "Best Film for Mature Audiences of 2005".

Note: The above photos from the movie The Queen are not of Donatella Biachi.
Miss Biachi, a former burlesque queen is now an advice columnist. She has never appeared in a movie. Thank You!

Saturday morning rant!

Now that the Pobble charges a "buck-fifty" for a cup of coffee, I have to wonder if my dear friend was even around when coffee was 5 cents..... I think not!

After last Saturdays Target jackpot, I am off and running again today. No one knows what treasures are in store [s]!

Today is the first day I am finally over that non-flu whatever I had all week. After going back to work on Wednesday and still not feeling just right, I took yesterday off and last evening, instead of filling up on Nyquil and whatever, I drank two bottles of champagne. The perfect cure for the common cold!

Yesterday's (Friday March 3, 2006) post, as absurd as I think it is; I find a bit scary. It's just another example of the strange direction our country is going in. Of course, this is Florida where stranger than fiction occurs on a daily basis.

Cheers!

Gay men and lesbians need not apply!

Instead of ordering a Domino's pizza, 009 is making a donation to the American Civil Liberties Union!

NAPLES, Fla. - If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.

The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will."

The Dondon009 Bull Shit Meter!

Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.

The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.

The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.

During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.

Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items.

"I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines," Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview.

Robert Falls, a spokesman for the project, said Tuesday that attorneys are still reviewing the legal issues and that Monaghan had no comment in the meantime.

"If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future," warned Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer

Who's the Boss?

A Woman's right? What right?

Mississippi One Step Closer to Criminalizing Abortion

Following the example set by South Dakota last week as reported here and here, on Tuesday, the Mississippi House Public Health Committee passed an anti-abortion bill that would allow abortion only to save a women's life. The bill does not include an exception for rape or incest cases.

The measure came as a surprise. It was accepted in Committee as a substitution amendent to S.B. 2922, which originally required abortion practitioners to allow women considering an abortion to see an ultrasound of their unborn child beforehand. The Mississippi House is expected to vote on the S.B.2992 next week and it would then go to the Senate. The AP is reporting that Mississippi Govenor Haley Barbour is inclined to sign the bill.


SECTION 1. Section 41-41-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-41-33. * * * No abortion shall be performed or induced in the State of Mississippi, except in the case of a medical emergency or the presence of a life-threatening condition in the mother that would be worsened by continuing the pregnancy.

* * *

SECTION 2. Section 41-41-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-41-39. Anyone who purposefully, knowingly or recklessly performs or attempts to perform or induce an abortion in the State of Mississippi, except in the case of a medical emergency or the presence of a life-threatening condition in the mother that would be worsened by continuing the pregnancy, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of time not to exceed one (1) year, or both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 3. The State of Mississippi shall be responsible for the medical and educational needs of any child born to a citizen of this state if the mother has received family counseling during the gestation period and chose to continue the pregnancy to delivery, and the child will be entitled to these services until the child reaches the age of nineteen (19) and the mother agrees to allow for these services to be provided to the child.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2006.

What First Amendment?

BUSH PAYS SURPRISE VISIT TO REALITY

President Calls Two-Hour Stop in Real World 'Informative'

President George W. Bush departed from his planned itinerary today to make a surprise visit to reality, later calling the two-hour stop in the real world "informative."

For Mr. Bush, the visit to reality, while brief, was still significant because it represented his first visit to the real world since being elected President in 2000.

"The President has not visited reality the entire time he's been in the White House," one aide said. "The closest he's come is watching 'Survivor.'"

Mr. Bush touched down in the real world a little after dawn, delivering a brief address on the airport runway in which he attempted to put the best face on his relationship with reality, a relationship which has been frayed in recent years.

But beneath the smiles and positive statements, Mr. Bush's aides seemed well aware that the President's relationship with reality is complicated at best, since his approval rating in the real world currently hovers at an all-time low.

"The President deserves a lot of credit for making this visit to reality," one aide said. "He doesn't have a natural constituency here."

On the whole, though, when the President's two-hour visit was over, most of his staff seemed relieved that the potentially perilous tour of reality had passed without incident.

"It'll be good leaving reality and going back to Washington," one aide said.

Elsewhere, after a new study showed that only one in 1,000 Americans know what the First Amendment is, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "Good, then no one will notice when it's gone."

dondon009 is ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!

I thank you all for stopping by.