In 2006, Bush worse than Satan!

LMAO!!!

Happy New Years everyone. We made lots of progress in 2006. Bush, not so much.

Saddam hanged for peanuts

You've already heard that Saddam Hussein was hanged today. In the Washington Post article this is the paragraph that jumped out at me the most:

Many Kurds were disappointed that Hussein was executed for the Dujail killings, widely viewed as a test case for the larger, and more significant, Anfal genocide trial. That trial, which began in August, was chronicling, often in painful testimonies, the systematic killings of tens of thousands of Kurds with chemical weapons and poison gas. Hussein was scheduled to return to the courtroom Jan. 8.

Word on the street is that the genocide case would have brought up the nasty fact that the U.S. supplied Saddam with the chemical weapons that he gassed the Kurds with. The fact that they rushed Saddam's execution is highly suspicious. Bush's pre-war excuses for invading Iraq included the "gassing of the Kurds", an excuse that the traditional media spread far and wide to justify this costly adventure. I'm not defending Saddam but I feel that we should have tried him for the genocide case first. God forbid we allow the evening news to remind the people of the United States of Amnesia that our government helped arm the same monster we toppled and executed.

Your tax dollars at work folks!



Update: Read this article in Salon.com regarding the big fuck-up that was Saddam's trial and execution.

May the Godfather of Soul, rest his Soul

Rest in Peace, James Brown. I have my iPod littered with his hits and they always keep me going on long road trips (like one I just had two days ago). I guess playing his music will cheer me up, I never got to watch him perform live. Maybe in the next lifetime.

Charity Navigator is the shit!

Call me ignorant but I just found out about the Charity Navigator website today as I was reading through a blog post on DIU Blog spelling out how "Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD)" is not running a tight ship, so to speak.

MADD's problems aside, Charity Navigator is the kind of website that I'd get lost on for hours. It's amazing how many charities are running their operation into the ground, worse yet there are those bad apples who overpay their CEO while their programs are underfunded. But not all charities are crooked, you'll find top quality charities listed in their database by the dozens.

Among the top rated (4 star) charities for being efficient and effective:

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU)

The Nature Conservancy

Boys and Girl's Club of America

United Way International

World Vision

Doctors Without Borders, USA

American Red Cross


Plus there are many more. If your favorite charity is not 4-star rated then contact them find out what's wrong. I was disappointed to see that the Miami Rescue Mission was only awarded a 2-star rating. Helping the homeless get back on their feet is a cause I give to often. Maybe they need more help from folks like us. Check out Charity Navigator and get motivated! Peace...

President recommends Coca, and I do too.

From the BBC:

[Peruvian] President Alan Garcia said on Tuesday that coca leaves had many valuable uses, including giving relief from sore throats and colds.

Mr Garcia suggested the legal use of coca as a way of fighting cocaine production and trafficking.

Peru is the world's second largest producer of cocaine behind Colombia.

The coca plant has been used for centuries by Andean people for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, and has sacred status in some South American indigenous cultures.

It's as simple as that. I was in Colombia recently and had a chance to visit Expoartesanias, an indoor market/fair celebrating hand-made and cultural goods from around the country. To my surprise a few vendors sold products made from the Coca leaf including coca tea and coca cookies. I'm so glad I bought several boxes of the coca tea because during my stay in Colombia I was going to inevitably catch a cold or two venturing into the cooler climate high up in the mountains. Not only did the tea help with my sore throat but it opened me up to a tradition that is centuries old.

It's incredible how natural plants like coca and marijuana are demonized by our governments when laboratory-made drugs like Vicodin and Ritalin are openly promoted and recommended. Don't get me wrong, cocaine and crack are horrible substances, but lets remember that the indigenous people of the Andes weren't the ones who invented them... nor the ones creating the MARKET to PURCHASE them.

Now if only I could get some natural Coca Tea here in the states...

In Genocide's Wake: Darfur photo essay

It's a sad story that is being ignored largely because of the War in Iraq. We're capable of "walking and chewing gum" at the same time. Click on the image to check out Vanity Fair's new photo essay of the genocide in Darfur. Time to start shifting our gears to help prevent another kind of genocide.

Iraq is now Ape Shit crazy!

Iraq is going ape shit crazy! Click on the image to read how Baghdad is being divided by the civil war, also check out these articles:

• Iraq war may lead to Saudi Arabia vs. Iran conflict
  
• Women in Iraq are better off with Saddam in power
  
• Insurgency won't quit (anytime soon)
  
• Bush wants to piss away $100 billion (BILLION!) more
  
• The occupation is NOT winning the hearts and minds (fuck iraq?) of the iraqi people (watch this video till the end, its fucked up!)
  

Still, I voted for Al Gore in 2000 and I'm going to brag about that till the cows come home. I'm doing my part (and loosing sleep over it) to enlighten my fellow man to the truth about these rat bastards. Dammit if only I could do more, and I will. History has vindicated me and other like-minded individuals who know that these aggressive and ill-willed policies spell nothing but disaster. God save us!

By the way, Apocalypto was the shit! Go see it.

If only we could hook Bush up to one of these...

I'd watch every press conference!