December 2005

All God's Animals
Today, there is no excuse for human beings in this country to accept anything less than the most humane treatment of animals destined for our consumption. This humane treatment needs to occur throughout the animals' lives, and especially as the hour of their slaughter arrives. They should never, not for an instant, have to feel fear or panic. If we can't do that for them, then we don't deserve it for ourselves. This is the "holiday season" and all we can say is: eat responsibly, eat compassionately.

Happy Holidays, In Tenebris
Tenebrous, In Tenebris: shut off from the light; causing gloom, the subject of a discussion we had tonight, describing how this demonic un-christian administration has decided to play its cards. Only Mussolini and Hitler have behaved in the manner in which Bush has decided to behave. And that Laura, still sleeping with him. Says something about her, and leaves us with a criminally megalomaniac "president." Respect for The Republic of We The People? Nil. Regime change? Urgent.

The United States Needs Friends, Not More Enemies
The United States loses more friends every day. Now, it's itching to lose Canada as a friend. This administration doesn't give a damn about the world it occupies, nor does it care what its few remaining allies think about the world and its dwindling health. The United States, thanks to Bush's considering it irrelevant, has already lost all of Latin America; tomorrow, it's losing Canada. It's a cold world out there baby, when you don't have any friends left.

A Battle Won In a War That Should Never Have Been Fought
John McCain won an anti-torture battle yesterday, and immediately, the administration started to scuttle it. When George Bush and the guy who browns his nose, Dick Cheney, said they wanted to keep torture, they meant it, and they haven't stopped this insane war with John McCain. They are already adding a secret addendum to the Army Filed Manual. Nice people, those Bush people. Whew, if we could just have them on the ranch for one day they'd be singing a very different song.

Since When Is Liberal a Dirty Word?
Liberal is not a dirty word or a word to shy away from: it's the best definition we can find for what a fine human being should be. One half the country defines itself by this honorable word, and if we set our hearts and minds to it, maybe we can convince a few misguided souls to the beauty of charity, inclusion, acceptance, and the honor inherent of caring for those unable to care for themselves.

Common Horse Sense
Washington doesn't have, right now, any horse sense, and it's full of tomfoolery. D.C. is hell-bent on hoodwinking elders and people with disabilities, and if, as a society, we were sage, we'd place a lot of faith in our California Saints and its Archangel. Pity the poor people in Texas, for example; they have the bubble-headed co-ed who went out of fashion in the sixties, and the impossibly pasty-white doughboy who can't keep his mouth shut.

Kudos To The Magnificent Belgians
Kudos to the Belgians and the Europeans who quietly, efficiently go about apprehending terrorists without the "need" of locking them up for years on the outside chance one or two of them might be guilty. The Europeans go about their fight against terrorism without becoming bloodthirsty, torturing barbarians, as the U.S. has done under Bush & Co.

A Season For Children
With so many people around the world tying their beliefs and holy days to the winter solstice, here on the farm we thought there was much more linking us all than separating us. Maybe, one day, the lamb will lie with the lion? For our children's sake?

"Christmas" Is For Everybody
All beings, irrespective of faith, wish to be recognized by kindness. This is the perfect time of year to express that kindness, even if it means drawing from a foreign culture. The only thing that matters is expressing goodwill and friendship. Maybe we can begin a better era, one which, whether it borrows from a foreign culture or not, allows us to embrace our brethren?
Artwork provided courtesy of Calaca Arts

What Do You Call a Government That Disgusts An Entire Continent?
The United States is determined to isolate itself from the rest of the world. Our government is absolutely determined to make every country in the world despise us. Sending that despicably irritating woman, Condoleezza "Condosleazza" Rice off to further irritate and alienate the Europeans, is a bomb that is not going to explode in Europe, it is going to explode in Washington.

So The Holiday Season is Primarily for Children?
The Vatican is hell-bent on covering up the scandal of its myriad pedophile sex offenders who ruin thousands and thousands of children's lives. They are, stupidly, cruelly, trying to place the blame on innocent gay seminarians, when it is known throughout the enlightened world that pedophiles are clinically criminals, and gay people are as normal as you or I.

Outrage at Tampering With Freedom of the Press
Censorship and control of the media is unacceptable in the United States. Either tactic is reminiscent of fascist and Nazi regimes. That Tricky Dick Cheney would attempt either, and shove it down Bush's throat, shows how un-American he is, and how low he would like to bring our country down. The fact that Bush is too weak to rein in his President of Vice and Torture, indicate that regime change has to occur before three more years elapse with this sham and shameful government.

Catch'em All
The Europeans Cheney loves to mock are much more adroit at apprehending and bringing to trial the real terrorists. Bush and The Corrupts & Co. are only good at using a dragnet and hauling in anybody who remotely resembles a follower of the Islamic faith.
The Europeans actually don't bother to incarcerate everybody in site: they only apprehend those that they know will be brought to justice because of their actual guilt, unlike bushie boy who grabs everybody in sight and can bring not one to court. Yet, bushie boy keeps his big brown nose firmly up Cheney's derrière.

Don't You Adore Your Meddling, Witchy Aunt Biddy?
Our Most Revered Commander-in-Chief, the born-again Christian who loves to use torture as proof of his Christianity and values, has lost touch with reality. The war on terror he deludedly thinks he's waging, has made this man who can only hold one thought in his brain at a time, forget that there is a whole world out there, and that that collective world hates his guts. The sufferer: our beloved country, marginalized by the new-found bond between most of the other countries around the globe. Bush has left us out in the cold.

November 2005

Glory Glory Hallelujah! Thank the Pesky British Press
Tony Blair, the British prime minister, is facing ferocious battles in Parliament to save both his good name and to save his office. Because most of his problems have been brought on because of his misplaced trust in George Bush, these battles are surely going to bring to light many facts Bush would much rather never saw the light of day; problem is, they're going to see the light of day in every feisty British newspaper, and thus, will become known across the globe. Taps for Bush, methinks. (Last newsletter for November 2005)

Deceitful George, At It Again, and Caught Again
George Bush continues his deceitful game of fraud; tricking the British people and his one sole ally, Tony Blair. He tricked the U.S. Congress, and now he's lying to the British. As the wise man said, what were those 59,054,087 people thinking when they "elected" this anointed Prince of Darkness, who is going to cause immeasurable harm to Tony Blair's ability to continue to govern within a parliamentary system which is so much more open than our system?

Separation of Church and State? Well, Just Sometimes
This White House allows some churches to preach hell, fire and brimstone, as long as the said evils are directed at liberals, progressives, and Democrats, but if a church dares to speak unkindly of the White House's many dastardly deeds, the IRS will immediately step in and revoke the church's tax-free status. Sounds like a pretty vicious double standard that the Founding Fathers never envisioned, doesn't it?

We, With Life and Limb and Roof, Give Thanks
Sometimes, many important political ideals come from the younger generations, and we express some of them today. Important dinners, such as Thanksgiving, can change generational "duties" around, and this year, the younger will cook and serve for the older, and we will all, each one of us, be thankful for something.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
Thanksgiving is here, but it should be a day of reflection; a day during which we have to understand that the bounty placed before us will only be there next year if we begin to take care of our air, our earth, our oceans and our animals. We run the risk of having no food to celebrate Thanksgiving with if we don't force our government to develop better practices, the least of which is signing on to the Kyoto Treaty.

Thanksgving For All Faiths
On the very eve of Thanksgiving, when people everywhere, of whatever faith, lack of faith, national origin or ethnic variety will be celebrating good and expressing thanks for even having a little to be thankful for. At the same time, the Republicans and the extreme religious right have dragged their feet on helping the victims of Katrina, Rita, and the Pakistani earthquake. Cheney and Bush are assiduously harassing members of Congress, which will not grant these two the right to continue to use torture.

Adam: Created to Fry in Hell?
When a respected Rabbi, Rabbi Eric Yoffie reminds the country that the "religious right" is so bigoted that they claim a monopoly on God, we all need to listen, and be better. When he compares some factions within the "religious right" to the Nazis, we'd best snap to attention and become better Democrats, Liberals and Progressives. The born-again christians, this Thanksgiving, will once again proclaim that only they are saved. Tch-tch.

Lord Help Us, They've Let Him Out of His Cage
Bush had a chance to go to Asia and win friends and keep old friends. Even before landing in China, he insulted and antagonized 1.3 billion people, citizens of the world's newest financial, political, and diplomatic behemoth. Not very smart, considering that Bush has hocked us to the hilt, and China holds the pawn slips. Too bad the United States, unlike other countries, doesn't have a system by which heads of state can only travel abroad with permission of their legislative branches.

Abuse of Defenseless Angels
We're entering a season when our children, our angels, may be exposed more frequently to their parish priests. Either chaperone them at all times, or encase them in impenetrable chastity belts. Do you think you might offend your priests? Would you rather condemn your child to a life of hell? Think.

Not For The Thin-Skinned or Those With Inferiority Complexes
The Attorney General of the United States is the author of a document giving a salivating president and a slobbering president of vice, the legal wherewithal to torture people on U.S. soil, on U.S. controlled Cuban soil, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and through rendition, numerous other countries that will soon be reported on. Their actions render quaint the idea of America the Beautiful. They've turned us into America the Salivating, Slobbering Dr. Josef Mengele, or as he was known in the concentration camps, Todesengel: the Angel of Death, the exquisite torturer.

Thanksgiving is Approaching: The Republicans Are Attempting to Wipe It Off The Calendar
Rich and poor sitting at the same table? Over their collective dead bodies, say the republicans. The poor deserve an empty table, because it's their own fault for being poor, and the rich deserve to be even richer.

As Twisted Logic as the Curly-tails on a Duroc Brown Pig
The swinish, corkscrew logic, or illogic, being followed by this White House is alarming. Daily, they change their rationale for their invasion of Iraq, and daily, members of the "administration" contradict each other on what and what isn't being accomplished in Iraq and on whether Al Qaeda is or isn't being contained. Right now, it seems that the only people acting coherently are Al Qaeda. Scary, huh?

If You Squat On A Skunk It's Gonna Squirt You In The Mouth
(Or: You're Never Gonna Gag Like That Again)
Skunk-in-Chief Bush announced, for all the world to jeer, that "We don't torture." Laughable, if it weren't so sad, since all the world has studied our problem and everybody knows we do torture and that Bush is even planning to veto a measure by Senator John McCain that would prohibit this administration from using torture. Also sad, this skunk is the hero of the "born-again christians and of the religious right."

White House Overrun by Dastardly Women
Never thought women could be as dastardly and sadistic as men, but they have overrun the White House. Never thought they would lend their stamp of approval on torture and condone barbaric behavior in their husbands and beloved "bosses." Fine examples of republican women, the Bush women, La Rice, Cocoon Eyes Miers, and Poor White Trash Lynne Cheney.

Avian Flu Pandemic Ravages Collective White House Brains
The avian flu pandemic, if it does indeed become a world-wide problem, cannot be mismanaged by incompetents like George Bush and his buddy Brownie. Democrats have to insist, now, that the problem be managed efficiently, and that all talk of turning quarantining over to the National Guard and the Army stop. Today.

A Sad Farce of Comical and Disastrous Proportions: U.S.A. Drug Use
The Bush administration bites its nose to spite its face: cutting off funds to a foreign government, partner in the war on narcotics, in a fit of pique because of that government's decision to sign on to the International Criminal Court. Makes about as much sense as going in to Iraq expecting roads lined with welcoming rose petals. Is narcotraffic suddenly not so important?

An Administration of Rats In Tenebris Is Not The American Way
Operating in the dark like bubonic plague-spreading rats, the government officials of morally bankrupt George Bush filthily slink along the gutters they've gnawed throughout the halls of every institution in Washington. Never, never, has this country dragged itself in rat manure the way its doing today.

That Our Soldiers Not Suffer the Third Death
Día de los Muertos: Day of the Dead. No matter how you pay tribute to those who give their lives, even for an invasion that should never have taken place, pay tribute to them. Honor them by raising your voices to bring this government to heel. Honor them with flowers, but also by sending pictures of the dead to your representatives and to all the newspapers you can. We have to hold this "government" accountable for the unforgivable deaths they have cowardly caused. Don't let "TheThird Death" occur on your watch.

Throwing the Old and the Infirm to the Lions
Draconian cuts in Medicaid and Medicare will certainly mean great suffering for those least able to care for themselves. Republicans can't have ever read a Bible or they would know that Jesus instructed human beings to care for each other. They also couldn't have ever read the religious treatises of any other religion, since every one admonishes us to do the same thing: take care of our brethren.

October 2005

We The People: Not On Our Dime
Bush has cost this country so much. We've lost the respect of the entire world. We, as a country, have lost our dignity and moral compass. Bush is also spending our national treasure as if he owned it. Sorry Bush, you don't.

Evangelical Madrasas
Evangelical madrasas spewing unholy right-wing hatred are a danger to our country and an affront to true faiths everywhere that work honestly in behalf of all men, women and children.

F., Such a Nasty Word
Fascism isn't dead. Some nefarious neocons are doing everything they can to keep it alive, here, in the United States. Pretty heavy charges, but at least, think about it.

Redoubtable Katrina
The non-wealthy, have-nots, victims of Katrina and Rita in the South, and their neighbors in Texas, are going to ask the Republicans to account for their disdain at the polls.

Terry Schiavo Schiuvit, It's All For Show
If George and Jeb throw their arms up in rapture and profess to be holier than you know what Christians, how come they're dooming millions of poorer people to an early death by gutting Medicaid. Is that the culture of life, or is the culture of life only for the haves and the haves more?

The Military-Industrial Complex
The cost of emphasizing the value of the Military-industrial Complex over the lives of human beings is taking a drastic toll on non-military United States industries. Jobs are being lost to other countries, and U.S. citizens are paying an inhuman price.

Who's Civilized?
Are we, as a people, going to let this administration take away our civil rights, and take us back in time to the era before the Magna Carta was signed in 1215? It seems that half the country and the extreme religious right want just that.

In Iraq, Who's Been Worse Than Saddam?
Lest we cast the first stone: The U.S. has been just as barbaric as Saddam Hussein, warranting that this administration undergo the same kind of trial as Saddam began to undergo this Wednesday.

Pasteboard Villages
What a difference in leadership. Bush was reluctant to leave his ranch to pay attention to the devastation caused by Katrina; President Musharaf was inspecting the devastation in his country within minutes. One is a leader, the other a Mama's boy.

Joan of Arc de Bush
When those who govern you tell you they're getting their marching orders from God, and you can see that all they do is evil, beware, and change your government. Quickly.

Condosleazza Rice and Friend
The truth is out, we now know why Dubya forced in to this invasion of choice and to the killing of thousands. Don't forget the Downing Street Memos, and help keep the option of impeachment on the table.

President Bush's Only Veto
Bush is going to use his first veto to assure that he can continue to torture, injure, maim and humiliate detainees in Guantánamo, Afghanistan and Iraq. And they call that kind of monster a Christian?

The Bushian Caliphate
Unless he's stopped, George Bush is going to push his idea of a United States Crusade against a Muslim Caliphate, because, as you know, God tells George when to attack and invade other countries.

Oh, There is No Policy of Torture?
Some republicans in the senate are saying our detainees are not being tortured or abused. Maybe they should ask U.S. soldier, Specialist Sean Baker if people are being tortured. He was.

Jim Sessions: Beyond The Bounds of All Decency
Apologist for Dubya's despicable approval of torture and other sadistic behavior, Senator Jeff Sessions insulted John McCain and besmirched our country even further.

Kudos to Belgium and Its Universal Jurisdiction Laws
International tribunals established to try those who govern in criminal ways and abuse human rights, should always be able to try any transgressor, no matter how much power that person might have once wielded.

DeLay Rhymes With Decay
You can start talking about corruption and decay at the lower strata, but when you realize the strata are built up by matter raining from the top down, well….

Chopping Cedar While the Poor Die
Are Third World responses to the unimaginable plight of victims of natural disasters hard to swallow? Or not? How can countries sit back and let nature take its course and injure, maim, kill and dispossess its citizens? How can governments sit back and let their citizenry suffer unspeakably in the eye of a natural disaster?

If It Smells Like Dung
Corruption will kill the rose. Corruption can bring a country to its knees, and wise people will not condone it. The United States was not a corrupt banana republic, until now.

Slime Disguised in Church Vestments
Some slime is so filthy, so foul, once you come in contact with it you can't easily wash your hands of it, or erase it from your mind. Slime disguised in vestments is that kind.

No Place for a Poet at a Banquet of Shame
Poet Sharon Olds wrote a letter to Laura Bush, declining an invitation to the White House and to the National Book Festival, and all for principle. Deep, sincere, patriotic principle. We need a whole country of people like Sharon Olds.