Monkeyfister

We all (using that REALLY loosely) got interested and uptight about the Prophetic NeoCon Rapture Ramblings about August 22, 2006, which came and passed without incident...

But, the Rediculously Religeous Right has a fall-back plan... September 12, 2006.... OMFG!!!! We're ALL gonna DIE!!!! Yisrayl "Bill" Hawkings and his followers have the REAL DEAL prophetic Message for humanity, rightchere (the Monty Python bits are absolutely precious):





You Heathens had best be gettin' right with Dog.

(Yes the video is a work of Satire... But, the integral parts of the video show the beliefs of the Hawkings Cult... Just think... these people could be your neighbors, and you'd never know... You thought FReeper neighbors were bad...

I have to agree with Lambert on this one...
via Corrente Wire...

Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat because (a) he is not running on the Democratic ticket, (b) he is running against the candidate the Democrats chose in the primary, (c) he is giving aid and comfort to Republican candidates, (d) he uses Republican staffers, and (e) he mouths Republican talking points.

Senator Reid, it is imperative that Senator Lieberman be stripped of his Minority Seats on ALL Senate Committees immediately, and before the Senate returns from Summer Break. He's NOT a Democrat anymore. The implications of his candidacy are disasterous for the Party. Should he win election, he might well get the SecDef position he's drooling to land, thus leaving his Senate position open for replacement by a Republican Governor... Stop him from ruining the Party NOW... PLEASE.

Before a Realtor will begin to take you seriously, he or she will require a few things of you, as a first-time buyer... Typically, $1,000 (earnest money) down in a refundable escrow account (refundable 100%), and the all-important "Pre-Approval Letter." This is a one-page print-out stating what your Lender is willing to loan you under a variety of different mortgage programs. This is NOT a pre-approved loan-- that is the next big step-- in this process, they don't do a credit check, and a final approved amount has not yet been determined... Looking at my OWN report, I can say that I am approved for twice the money that I want, or even expect. I laffed out loud when I got my letter from my credit union that told me I was good for a quarter-million dollars in mortgage... Conventional Men's wisdom follows, "1-month's salary for an engagement ring, a home should cost 2x annual salary or less for an affordable mortgage." Seems right. i'll be paying more in rent in this nice, but small apartment... of course, I don't have to deal with maintainence costs.

I've been with my Credit Union since 1993, and they have always looked out for my better interests in my money issues, so I'm sticking with them. I'd recommend that you shop around known and local Lenders first, and then ask your Realtor if he/she has trusted Lenders. It pays to KNOW your Realtor, and if possible, your Lender. Don't click on ANY of the Mortgage Ads on the intertubes (particularly the tacky ones you might see at say, the Weather Channel's site)... That's nothing but SPAM invitation, and BAD scams. Go with Local Lenders whenever possible. Have your debt paid down, and your credit reports in-hand, along with that pre-approval letter, and your $1,000 check, if you want any action from a Realtor. That's what it takes.

I'm looking for less than half that $250K amount-- For 3 BR/1.5-2BA 1200-1800sq ft., on 3-5 acres, well/septic. It's out there... I've got my pre-approval letter, and my VA verification form...

Bonus: viaCNN: Getting real about the real estate bubble. A good primer of Real Estate Myths for the First-Time Buyer... the Market had better be turnin' sumersaults for people like me in these coming months... It's MY Market for now...

Yeah, I know... ABBA's original is STILL the rockinest, bestest, most fabulous version of this song... But, PLEASE leave a comment, as I DO love the ABBA version, but this Blancmange video was the one of best quality on YouTube... So these decisions are made... Blancmange was a pretty fun and innovative band in it's own right.

Also via the Good Dr. Avedon Carol, is this fine little video and article about the NAFTA/NASCO Hiway Corridor. This is something to oppose on several levels. It makes “outsourcing” easier, thus threaten jobs for millions of Americans, It is a direct attack on the Teamsters Union, and the American Truck Drivers way of life, it is expected to come online as a usable corridor at the point of proven Peak Oil Decline. Toll-Booths for car traffic?

Ummmmm... This is I-35 we're talking about here... the “I” implies federal, and “tax-payer-funded...” tolls doesn't factor into that equation-- we've already paid our tolls, and future maintainence costs via taxes.

Watch The Little Video

The Trans-Texas Corridor is a multi-modal superhighway that will run through the middle of Texas and connect Mexico and Oklahoma. This highway will contain truck lanes, car lanes, utility lanes for oil and gas, and rail lines. In some places it will be over 1000 feet wide. (Trans-Texas Corridor)

The NASCO Supercorridor will run from Mexico to Canada and it is part of Bush’s plan to create the North American Community, a trade agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the USA. The North American Community would also call for a common defense perimeter around the North American continent and it will make it easier for trucks to cross borders between the three nations. (NASCO Supercorridor,Building a North American Community)

I DO like the trains aspect of the project, but, we need more trains for transportation of both Goods AND People, and fewer trucks and cars in this picture. NAFTA has done NOTHING good for America yet, and it appears that it never will. Ross Perot was DEAD ON about his "Giant Sucking Sound," and I'm saddened that it took 14+ years for us to be able to see it in the rear-view mirror. But, here it is, and if you love your job, your Family and everything you've ever known and loved about America, THIS is the BIG Project to oppose... Jeebus, it's wierd to be on the same side of an issue with Organized Religeon (both Left and Right) AND the freakin' John Birch Society, but, this is one of those issues that truly defies politics, and speaks to the nature of Democracy, and the Constitutional Rights granted to us by the US Constitution... amongst them, Life, Liberty, and the Persuit of Happiness...

Let's just put it simply, in terms that we all know: YOU, American Worker, in whatever job you perform for a paycheck paid in US Dollars, whether you make $30 per hour, or $5.75 per hour (remember, Minimum Wage means that IF an employer COULD pay you less, he WOULD), CANNOT compete in the Global Corporate Job market with "outsourced," foreign Labor that is willing to work for US$2.00 per hour or less for the same services. Your only hope is to have a skill needed by the LOCAL economy in particular. I recommend a Cicil Servant/government Servant job to my Progressive/Liberal friends... There is security built-in, and if not YOU, some FReeper or Moonie might get the job.

NAFTA is a VERY BAD thing for Americans not of the 1% Bazillionaire's club, and we ALL, down here, need to be pushing to end the Agreement. Thank Dog that CAFTA (The Central American Free-Trade Agreement.. NAFTA PLUS Central America) has been run against the rocks, and is not likely to pass. Three cheers for the "Bolivar Revolution."

Strange bedfellows, indeed, but NAFTA has done this country no damned good over the past decade. It's time to stand up, and call quits to this idiocy... There is NO worker's equity in NAFTA... only worker's subjegation... It needs to stop yesterday.

Comments Welcomed. If you are in support of NAFTA, please SHOW your work and evidence.

via Suburban Guerilla comes this fine expose on Dick Cheney-- Malevolent Ruler of The "Free World". George is the useful idiot.

GEORGE W. BUSH has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney.
When historians look back on the multiple assaults on our constitutional system of government in this era, Cheney's unprecedented role will come in for overdue notice. Cheney's shotgun mishap, when he accidentally sprayed his host with birdshot, has gotten more media attention than has his control of the government.

Historically, the vice president's job was to ceremonially preside over the Senate, attend second-tier foreign funerals, and be prepared for the president to die. Students are taught that John Nance Garner, Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president, compared the job to a bucket of warm spit (and historians say spit was not the word the pungent Texan actually used).

Recent vice presidents Walter Mondale and Al Gore were given more authority than most, but there was no doubt that the president was in charge.

Cheney is in a class by himself. The administration's grand strategy and its implementation are the work of Cheney-- sometimes Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, sometimes Cheney and political director Karl Rove.

Cheney has planted aides in major Cabinet departments, often over the objection of a Cabinet secretary, to make sure his policies are carried out. He sits in on the Senate Republican caucus, to stamp out any rebellions. Cheney loyalists from the Office of the Vice President dominate interagency planning meetings.

The Iraq war is the work of Cheney and Rumsfeld. The capture of the career civil service is pure Cheney. The disciplining of Congress is the work of Cheney and Rove. The turning over of energy policy to the oil companies is Cheney. The extreme secrecy is Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

If Cheney were the president, more of this would be smoked out because the press would be paying attention. The New York Times' acerbic columnist Maureen Dowd regularly makes sport of Cheney's dominance, and there are plenty of jokes (Bush is a heartbeat away from the presidency). But you can count serious newspaper or magazine articles on Cheney's operation on the fingers of one hand. One exceptional example is Jane Mayer's piece in the July 3 New Yorker on Cheney operative David Addington .

Something tells me that George is secretly hoping for the Snarlin' Dick to die, so that he can finally be Preznit for a little while. Not that I share his hopes and aspirations in any way, shape or form. I fear them as a matter of fact. As Hoff says: "Impeach Cheney FIRST."

Dr. Avedon Carol has reminded me that THE documentary on Dick Cheney's Presidency is available for free streaming: PBS FRONTLINE "The Dark Side" It's really worth the time.

Thank you, Suzy and Avedon!

Murray:













Mountain Girl:















Mercy, I love them both...

I'm a Weather Geek... I admit it freely. Earth's weather patterns, and their various manifestations are so amazingly ginormous, that they simply and regularly boggle and fascinate me. I found this weather-pr0n site via The Oil Drum, and thought I'd pass it along to my fellow weather addicts.

Stormtrack

I'm not sure about their politics (does weather have politics?), but, their ads are not promising. But, these folks seem to know their way around their meterology, and as Ernesto grows in the south Carribean, they are definately providing good coverage.

If you live on the Gulf Coast, I suggest that you start making preparations now. Evacuation, property protection, etc. If you are thinking about "surving in place," then now is the time to plan, and to purchase all the food, water, medical goods, and petrol that you might need-- I don't recommend this idea of "surviving in place," the US Gov't, State and Local governments proven ineffective in helping those that have tried this in the past, of late.

Now would be a good time to write your newspaper, and your Town Officials and request a Hurricane Preparedness Review-- actually, it's long passed time for it, but, you'll jar people into focus...

I hope and pray that Ernesto fizzles out, but, it seems conditions are good for him to develope into a serious storm... Time will tell. Stay safe, folks.

Greg Sargent, in a TPM Cafe posting, has a detail story about a "War Mom's" private meeting with George. It really moved me in strange ways. Greg Sargent has been getting a lot of notice from the Big Kidz, of late, and reportage like this is the reason why...

via TPM Cafe:

"We literally sat knee to knee...I looked deep into his eyes and talked to him about love and losing people and that he was responsible for this. I said, `I didn't vote for you, but you are my President. And you're not serving me.'"

"I said I believed it was time to put an end to this. His job is to find solutions. I said, `You yourself have said you had erroneous information going into this.'"

She continued: "I said, `As a Christian man, you realize that when you've made a mistake it's your responsiblity to end this. And it's time to end the bleeding and it's time to end the war.'"

"I said, `what would truly bring healing is to start working on changing your policy towards the Middle East...as President, you're here to serve the people. And the people are not being served with this war.'"

She added: "I told him, `It's time as a Christian to put our pride behind us."

Halley said that the President appeared moved by what she'd said, but that she doubted it would bring about any real change. "He cried with me," she recounted. "I feel he responded to me emotionally. I don't know if that's going to change policy. It probably won't. But I hope it makes him think a little bit further."

wide-eyed: blink.... blink....

UPDATE: Lambert, high atop the Mighty Corrente Building, shows us that George has had a busy, busy day, commiserating with war widows, and declaring himself King... WHEW! I can't keep up.

Scout_Prime of First Draft is back in New Orleans, and covering the REAL progress in New Orleans. Take a look at the following three pieces, alone, and compare the message to what is coming out of the White House, and the Corporate Media... Umm... There really seems to be a disconnect from reality, and a desire to tell Bush's Happy Story amongst the Beltway-Sensitive Media... Scout is going deep into the heart of reality and bringing back the real story, and really deserves high accolades.

A Tale of Two Blocks and in Clean up for Congress--6 months later, where she re-visits a small neighborhood six-months on... Little progress has been made, and the area went from scraped-clean, to over-grown. Please also read, Ardelle ain't coming home, for a most touching personal story.

Scout_Prime is doing some really fantastic work. Award-Worthy work (Think of her during Koufax Time, eh?) She could always use a few spare bucks while she's down there, I'm sure-- It don't come free... If you've got a couple o' nickles rattling 'round yer pocket, how's 'bout helpin' a Good Sister out, while yer at First Draft...

Note to Scout_Prime: If you need a place to crash on your way back home, drop me a line in comments, or the email acc't in my “subscription” info at FD. My doors, here in Memphis, are always open, the futon is old, thick and comfy, the coffe is fresh-ground, and strong, and the DSL is pretty good! I cook vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian... Lemme know! Keep Hammerin', Scout!

Hoffman reminds us... in pictures.

via Hoffmania

The More Bush Goes Back to New Orleans...

...the more we're all reminded of the horror his inaction caused. Keep going back, George. Make nice-nice with everyone who's getting rich in what little rebuilding is happening. Find some nice black people to get photos with. Stand in front of another hurriedly-built set to show how great it all is.

But know this: We're never going to forget what you didn't do a year ago...and what you did.

Go.

Scout Prime Has THE SCOOP, check her posts... she's been HOT on it since day one...

Randi Rhodes Has a New Report...

Here is the Oxfam.org Report, entitled: “Forgotten Communities, Unmet Promises: An Unfolding Tragedy on the Gulf Coast,” MOST worth the read.

Back from life-threatening throat cancer, comes singer/songwriter/guitarist/composer John Prine to the Austin City Limits stage...

I posted on his performance when it aired on PBS, in a post, here, at Blah3. Finally, here's the video I was talking about.




Hold out to the end... He gets down to the point, building to a climax in his very special way... Reallly. Check that last verse... You'll love the punchline, I'm sure.

UPDATE: YouTube is working on their servers... This one is worth the wait.

So, all the news about the Housing Market collapsing rapidly has been confirmed today, by a host of new reports. Invictus at Blah3 always has the good low-down on the economic scene. Me? Although I am sorry for those who are now, or soon will be suffering the realities of this slowdown, I've been scrimping and saving the past three years for this very moment.

I've paid off all my debts, save for the ever-STULOANS, gotten down to my brass tacks on the budget, and totally fixed my practically destroyed credit rating from 4-years of my Navy incapacitation to 18-months of Post 9/11 unemployment, with less than two years between the two periods... I've just been waiting for the market to cool, so I can actually afford to buy the house and acreage to set up my American Permaculture Dream... So, Ya'll noticed that I started my American Dreamquest a couple of weekends ago (see posts below). Anyway, it seems like I've been right on target on my Home-Purchase window, and it seems to me that it is nigh-on time to pounce. why, yes, my Animal Totem IS the Great Blue Heron...


via Nouriel Roubini. I saw it at Atrios...

“The Biggest Slump in US Housing in the Last 40 Years”: These are not my words but those of the Toll Brothers, the famous luxury McMansions homebuilders. As reported by the WSJ today: In his 40 years as a home builder, Mr. Toll says, he has never seen a slump unfold like the current one. "I've never seen a downturn in housing without a downturn in employment or... some macroeconomic nasty condition that took housing down along with other elements of the economy," he says. "This time, you've got low unemployment, you've got job creation, you've got a stable stock market and relatively low interest rates.". This followed last week’s CNN headline: “Builder: Oversupply slump worst in 40 years. Toll Brothers slashes outlook on new homes as orders plunge and revenue misses forecasts” Indeed, yesterday’s sharply falling profit results from the Toll Brothers confirmed their view that this is the worst housing slump in decades. Similarly, Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide – the country’s largest independent home mortgage lender - recently stated: "I've never seen a soft-landing in 53 years, so we have a ways to go before this levels out. I have to prepare the company for the worst that can happen." So, the only debate now is whether housing conditions are the worst in the last 40 years or in the last 53 years. So much for the bullish soft-landing wishful thinking coming out of Wall Street these days….

Has anyone else been waiting for this moment to finally own their first home? Am I wrong for welcomining it? I have to admit... Although i'm happy that I'm finally going to be able to afford to buy a house, I am truly scared spitless about taking on a MORTGAGE and fixer-upper loans, while there is NO safety-net for the economy. My position is as secure as one could hope, though, and in a major RIF, I'll be amongst the last to go... I can prepare, but these times are terribly uncertain...

Let me know your thoughts in comments... I think this might be a good way to learn from one another.

I was digging through Google for more information on the Peaking of Ghawar, and clicked on a sidebar link on one Asia Times page about Madrassas. It is a longish article, good detail, mostly bland, and then I come across the following two paragraphs, seemingly thrown in as filler, about 3/4 of the way into the article...


via asia Times

It was, unfortunately, these puritanical Deobandi madrassas that spread throughout North India and Pakistan in the 20th century, and that particularly benefited from the patronage of General Zia ul-Haq and his Saudi allies in the 1980s. Ironically, the US also played an important part in this harnessing of madrassas for holy war as part of the Afghan jihad, with the CIA financing the production by the US Agency for International Development of some notably bloodthirsty madrassa textbooks "filled", according to a Washington Post report, "with violent images and militant Islamic teachings".

One page showed a picture of a jihadi carrying a gun, but with his head blown off, accompanied by a Koranic verse and a tribute to the mujahideen who were "obedient to Allah ... Such men will sacrifice their wealth and their life to impose Islamic law." When the Taliban came to power, these textbooks were distributed for use in schools. [9] At the height of the Afghan jihad, Ronald Reagan is said to have praised mujahideen madrassa students as "the moral equivalent of the founding fathers [of America]".

That is some interesting news right there. The Article is dated 24 Nov. 2005. We all had Thanksgiving on our minds.

Am I the last person in the Country to notice this, or is this new to you, too?

This seems to be a Frankenstein situation. We made our own monster to cronfront later.

Hmm.

I can't seem to find the WaPo article... If someone with Lexis-Nexis access could help me find the cited article, I sure would be thankful!

UPDATE: Commenter, Jonathon, did the work, and found The Cited WaPo Article I Have Been Looking For... Thank you, Jonathon! And thank you for reading my little blog...

Marines Recruiting is looking at a 1200-Troop shortage, and those of you Marines who thought you were out four years ago, had better break out your records... You're on the hook for four years after getting out, as the Individual Ready Reserve. under four will get you up to six...


Via Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps will start ordering what could be thousands of inactive service members to return to duty in the coming months to counter a steady decline in the number of such troops who volunteer, the service said on Tuesday.

Col. Guy Stratton, head of the Marine Corps' manpower mobilization plans, said the service is short some 1,200 volunteers over the next 18 months to fill roles in the war on terrorism. The total shortfall fluctuates regularly, he said.

Stratton said President George W. Bush authorized the Marine Corps to issue involuntary recall orders to members of the Individual Ready Reserve, part of the non-active force. It will be the Marine Corps' first involuntary recall since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The authorization limits the number of Marines who can be activated involuntarily to no more 2,500 at any one time, out of a pool of about 35,000, Stratton said. The length of each activated service member's duty is capped at 24 months but will likely last 12 to 18 months.

Under a general contract, a Marine serves four years on active duty and four in reserve. While on reserve, Marines may volunteer to return to active duty to fill needed roles.

Make your plans accordingly, Shipmates.

Well... I REALLY REALLY wanted to LOL at my Wingnut Co-Worker and my Hyper-Religious Cubicle partner today at work... I REALLY did. I was COMPLETELY prepared to hound them into the ground for their foolishness over this whole "August 22nd=Armageddon" thing. I even showed up early to work.

But, alas... I was denied the pleasure, as they BOTH happened to take Leave today.

Fancy that.

I suspect that they wanted to get their final packing done, and write that "Last Letter" before they and their families got Raptured Up today...

Heh.

Jokes on them. One look at the RSOE Disaster Board shows that aside from a couple of earthquakes, and a car accident in Egypt, the Middle-East was as quiet as could be expected today.

Lemme go over the Wingnut "importance" of this date. As stated below, August 22nd is the anniversary of Muhammad's ascendence into the Seventh Heaven. The REALLY serious religious nutjobs did a little math, and cyphered out that August 22nd is 3-1/2 years hence from the start of the Recent Iraq War. This, they equate to "The Tribulation," which the Book of Revelations tells us, will last 3-1/2 years, before Jeebus gits righteously pissed, and comes back to Earth, Raptures his followers, and launches Armageddon, the Last Battle, whatever you choose to call it.

Of COURSE, they selectively left out a slew of stuff from Revelations... Little things like the Al Aqsa Mosque still stands where Solomon's Temple is supposed to be rebuilt, we still don't have a world-wide Mark O' The Beast, we've YET to see Dragons, and many-headed Beasts roaming the earth-- heck, you name it, basically, and the OLD story doesn't come near the local events. But, selective interpretation has NEVER stopped fools on the Right from thinking or saying ANYTHING they feel like without consequences, and that Book O' Revelations is SUCH tiresome, freaky reading... Well... I'm glad my Co-Workers were planning ahead, anyway... Hopefully, they are planning ahead on how to deal with my merciless mocking when they finally come back to work...

heh.

What makes my antici ... pation so sweet is that during my early attempts at debunking his BIG story two weeks ago, he brought up that I was raised Catholic. "You're CATHOLIC," he said, "Your religion doesn't BELIEVE in the Book of Revelations." (neener, neener)

"What???" I replied, "The Catholics PUT the Book of Revelations INTO the Bible in the FIRST place," said I. "Council of Nicea-- Look it up in Wikipedia for starters... It's bit of reading and clicking, but, you'll get it. The Councils were always an ugly mess, and the Bible was published 'by committee' at best."

As far as I have been taught, we DO believe in Revelations, there it IS, in the Bible the Catholics assembled-- the Doctrine is taught by the Franciscans thusly: "It's 'unfulfilled prophesy.' We cannot presume to understand this Prophesy, as it has not yet been fulfilled, as the Prophesies of Isiah, for example, have been 'fulfilled.' So, we read, and prepare, and live our lives properly, in the possibility that the Prophesies might be fulfilled in our times. But, to presume to understand, or attempt to interpret the "Word Of God," is to attempt to force His hand against His Will, and against His Time." Of course, this is my version of their Doctrine, as it was passed to me by many a Priest, Bishop and one Cardinal. I'm sure there is something written in Italian or Latin, that states the above in more detail and Latin clarity (ahem), but, there it is. Who the fuck are WE to presume. I don't practice Catholisim anymore, but, it's what I was raised to believe. Choose your own adventure... Endings may differ...

Here's what the Franciscans taught me:
Live RIGHT, right now, and every tomorrow. Treat others properly. Give Thanks when things are good. Have Faith that things WILL get better when they are not so good. Be a good steward of everything in your control. Respect the Earth, and Everything on it. Plant gardens. Tend forests. Help the Poor. Feed the Hungry. Help to heal the Sick. Forgive others. Judge not. Admit your OWN faults first. Teach your Children WELL. Don't be stupid. Be prepared for change. You never will know which Nun has THE wicked-fast left hook. Be polite.

What else IS there to know, really. If one can manage to do all that, I'd say that he or she is DEFINATELY ahead of ME in the Rapture line... Hell-- I'll feel THE Lucky Sailor if *I* even make the Rapture "C" list... Shit, I can't even TYPE good... My Reservation card would read, like, #21,000,000, or something like that-- WAAAY past that 666,666 cut-off limit. I'd let some nice old folks, some kids, li'l puppies and kittens, a few happy families ahead of me... I'd let Atrios and his cats, MY cats, NTodd and his Kidz, Stranger's whole household, Mr. and Mrs. Bart, John Avarosis and his little dog, Camilla (as long as they bring along some nice Irises), and Athenae's whole household-- including, and especially the Ferrets ahead of me in line, Skippy and ALL his 'Roos... Heck, all ya'll... See... I'm like that... "If there's room... we'll get in eventually. They'll see the demand, and start selling SRO any time now. Maybe I can score some Union Passes..."

Otherwise, heh... I'm "Left Behind," and had BETTER read up on all those Tim LaHaye books I always laffed at as Moonie basketliner, so I can know "the plan." At any rate, I believe that IF there IS a heaven, then Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and others, are surely there... ALL the Deists: Jefferson, Washington, Franklin... I believe they are all in there somewhere... They had their faults, but, they tried to live up to those rules as best they could (OK... Ben Franklin WAS a slut... but a slut for Good. And Jefferson owened slaves, and George Washington was a Hemp Farmer.) I just KNOW they've got to be there. Ya'll the crowd at the Club where "Heaven's Band" gigs constantly HAS to be the damnedestly amazing bunch of people you'd EVER want to know... Everyone's dying to get into that joint.

(sorry, 'Turk and Watertiger-- yer goin' to Hell... I have read and have SEEN what you two heathens are up to After Dark... You managed to turn an innocent picture of my own feet... into sordid Foot-Porn noir... What am I supposed to say to my Mother, after telling her that my feet were going to be seen by the "Podiatrist to the Stars?" (turns out dozens of others...

...actually... i've come to look at my feet in a different way these days.... They're Butterflies! So... given all that funness, I'd probably give you two cuts, if you managed to get off the OTHER escalator, and onto this (sorta stuck) one... just to make sure things were REALLY lively! Just give me a good cover story, for my dear ol' mum, eh?! Just think... ALL those FEET!!! :))

Now... Pull My Finger.

Last week, my Wingnut co-worker sent me this big flood of e-mails with all kinds of Wingnut sources: Drudge, NoozeMax, The Moonie Times, JihadWatch... you get the picture. Every one of the articles was about August 22nd, 2006-- the anniversary of The Miraj, Muhammad's ascendance into Heaven. The articles warned of Iran choosing August 22nd as the day they start Armageddon... DIRE warnings...Bold ALLCAPS dire warnings... Of course, I chuckled it all off as goofy, and then, via Think Progress, this afternoon, I saw this:

For months, neoconservatives have been pushing for regime change in Iran. In their latest effort to beat the war drums and undermine diplomacy, they are attaching great significance to August 22 – the date Iran said it would respond to an incentives package from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

August 22 is a day “some Shiite sects believe…could correspond to the end of the world.” That’s enough for neoconservatives to conclude Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have “chosen to launch the apocalypse” tomorrow.

---

- “It’s an important symbolic day for jihadists. And I’m curious to see what happens on Tuesday. [Ahmadinejad] may just say no or he may do something a little more dramatic, launch a missile or something, to show that - Iranian defiance of what looks like an impotent West.” [Bill Kristol, Fox News Sunday, 8/20/06]

- “‘The only thing we can know is that the date was not chosen by accident,’ said Robert Spencer, Director of Jihadwatch.org and an adjunct fellow at the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative think tank. ‘It does seem very likely, very probable, that he has something major in mind, whether only a major announcement or a major attack, we will soon see.’” [The Blotter, ABC News, 8/21/06]

If I calculated my Tehran Time correctly, it's around 4am, there... Tomorrow might be a fun day to drop in on the Rapture Ready crowd... The Rapture Index has been stuck at a disappointing 158 for a few looong days now...

Well... The End Is Nigh... Live it up, tomorrow might just suck... or we get to LOFAO at Wingnuts for the day... My Book is on the latter.

A busy day of house-hunting, again today. I saw some very lovely land, and homes, but, all but one was out of my price range... It'll come... In the meantime, here's David Byrne, "Miss America"...

To Don Waller (aka: Stranger) of Blah3.com and Radio fame, Godfather of the modern Political Flash Ad style, Musician, Good friend, and excellent human being.

Long life to you, Buddy! And Thank You.

(So, when do we start rating your age in Dog Years?) :P