If the whole country can be shut down by a virulent minority in Congress - the system is broken. The rules that make this possible should be changed!

Damn. The Supremes have once again demonstrated their moral & intellectual uncertainty. They ruled that CORPORATIONS are PEOPLE - and as such can donate any amount of money to political candidates anonymously. Yes - they are made up of people - individuals who have the right to make donations individually. What the court has enabled is the transfer of million of dollars to candidates & parties without any accountability. This has given rise to the so-called 'Super Pacs' that can sponsor either party. What the bloody hell was the court thinking?! Where does that leave 'Joe the plumber' (sorry - I couldn't resist) with his $10 donation? Without a helluva lot of influence is an understatement.

My Soapbox blog has been neglected! Now is the time to resume paying some attention here. We are on the brink of chaos in this election year of 2012. It appears that Pres. Obama will face Mitt Romney in the presidential election this November. Romney seems a decent sort but he  has gravitated toward the lunatic fringe of the Republican party - the so-called 'Tea Party'. The House of Representatives has been hi-jacked by the extreme right and can no longer be called 'representative' of the bulk of Americans. Stay tuned.

THE APPLE iPHONE. It's $200, $300 - and of course - the $50 model for poor folks. It's said that people are replacing them as soon as a new model comes on the market - which is frequently. That's 'phone' as in 'telephone' people. Now the iPhone can do much more that just a phone - granted. But the replacement rate? It seems every time Apple burps, the huddled masses sing hosanna. I LIKE Apple. A LOT. I have an iMAC. But doesn't anyone see the humorous side of this mad, passionate love affair?

"A far-reaching anti-choice bill, introduced by Republican Chris Smith and supported by 173 members of the House, includes a provision that could redefine rape and set women's rights back by decades.

Right now, federal dollars can't be used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger. But according to the New York Times, the Smith bill would narrow that use to "cases of 'forcible' rape but not statutory or coerced rape." This could mean cases where women are "drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes" would no longer count as rape."


''Oh dear - this 79 (&  a half) year old granny is sick of the political cretins that try to push through really UGLY bills in the name of ideology. There's ideology - and there's 'idiot-ology'....

I was recently asked to sign a petition asking the Fox news head honchos to tone down the rhetoric of Fox news. My replay was:

The name of the game is making money & as long as Beck, Rush, et al, are sucking it in Fox won't change. Face it - Fox is the Freddy Krueger of networks. 

The  names of Nathan Hale and Thomas Payne are well known but there is another who looms large in the history of our country -  Roger Williams  - 1603 -1683? His name is largely forgotten now, except in Rhode Island but I learned about him in Junior High School - and recall that he left Massachusetts'  Puritan colony and established Rhode Island as a haven for those seeking both freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion. I remember being very impressed with a person of the times who was so unafraid to publicly differ from most of his contemporaries. In any event,  I had to do some research to come up with the details: 

Williams was originally a clergyman in the Anglican church but joined the Puritans and came to this country. Deeply devout, he nonetheless challenged the Puritan beliefs and attitudes - he was , in truth, a maverick. He had many differences  with the Puritans, both in politics and religion. He was eventually tried and convicted of sedition and heresy and was ordered to be banished. He left Salem, MA and walked 105 miles to Narragansett Bay where he and some kindred spirits purchased land from the Indians. He called the settlement Providence.

In 1637, they drew up an agreement limiting the government to "civil things". The colony was now named Rhode Island  and became a safe haven for people who were persecuted for their beliefs, including Baptists, Jews and Quakers. Williams was not the first advocate for separation of church and state but he was the first to establish a place where it could be practiced - Rhode Island stood for both freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion. At the end of his life, he was not affiliated with any church but remained deeply religious  and active in preaching and praying. He died about 5 years before the infamous Salem witch trials, to which he almost certainly would have fallen victim if  he had remained in Salem. How ironic that a group that came to this country seeking freedom of religion should then deny that very freedom to others. 

There's much talk now about the separation of church and state. It was even proposed that Thomas Jefferson be excised from Texas school books because he wrote the First Amendment! Why does THAT not surprise me...We should remember that his amendment  stands as a bulwark between us and various extremes of religion. Listen up 'tea partiers'. Brush up on your history. I don't know what kind of leaves you're brewing that 'tea' from - but I think I can guess....

Whats-her-name from Alaska says something today about whatever. Does anyone really care. Oh yeah - her name is Sarah Palin. (McCaine should b e ashamed of himself - he's created a monster). Whatever. She's basically a media creation. Are they serious when they talk about her as a 'contendah' in 2012. And the Repubs thought Paris Hilton was a joke....

I've been pretty quiet lately - just too many bizarre things to comment on and too many other things/projects taking up my time. Now here we are with just a little more than a week till the election of our next president. Obama or Bush - oops - I mean - McCain. Today I received an e-mailed link that just begs to be passed on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03fcGelz8Hw

'nuff said - you betcha....