Headlines
The Headlines in today's New York Times are just depressing as hell.

Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on Judicial Issue
As the Senate heads toward a showdown over the rules governing judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees.
This is the man who is not able to say that you can't get AIDS through tears and sweat. And he's a DOCTOR. That's right. He's a licensed physician who isn't sure about how one contracts AIDS. Perhaps he can design a face-condom and make millions.

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House Passes Bankruptcy Bill; Overhaul Now Awaits President's Signature
The House overwhelmingly approved a major overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws on Thursday, completing Congressional action on the measure and sending it to President Bush.
First the credit card companies and now this. Do you think they know something we don't? My husband the Beast thinks so. Why would they be tying up all these loose ends with regard to potential debtors otherwise? Makes me very nervous. Watching out, working poor, and don't forget, shit rolls downhill. Get umbrellas.

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A Surprised Bush Says He Wants New Travel Rules Reconsidered
President Bush said Thursday that he had been surprised to learn in the newspaper of his administration's decision last week to require Americans to have passports to enter the country from Mexico or Canada by 2008. He said he had asked the State and Homeland Security Departments to look into other means of tightening border security.
What the hell? Let's leave aside for a second his surprise. Because that's just too frightening to really consider right now (he learned of his administration's decision in the NEWSPAPERS?!). Let's instead focus on the decision itself. Now, I am first and foremost a bleeding-heart liberal, but I don't see a real problem with this. I think people should have to carry passports when crossing borders - that's the point of passports. We want secure borders, right? Right? So doesn't it makes sense to keep track of who's crossing what? If it slows things down, well, so what? Once we're secure I'm sure we can find a way to streamline the operation. Or am I being naive to think that security should be a something of concern to us?

Beating My Head Against a Wall
It?s taken me a few days to come to grips with this whole contraceptive issue but I think I can comment now without totally flipping out.

It was with horrified stupefaction that I read, ironically on the same day that I called in a refill of my Rx for ortho tri-cyclin, that my pharmacist could possibly decide to conscientiously object to my desire for birth control. Is it also ironic that it?s the same week that Britney Spears announced her pregnancy...it seems almost as if idiots are taking over the world. Where is reason anymore?

What if I calmly explained to CVS that I can?t afford to have children yet, or that ? wonder of wonders ? I think there may be too many people here already. There are kids out there who need foster homes and adoptive parents. Does it make me a bad person that I?d potentially rather help them than actively procreate? Or, let?s take it a step further. How is it anyone?s business? If I want to live a life of utter debauchery with drugs, rock and roll, booze and multiple partners, how is it anyone?s right but my own to say when the time is right for me to have children?

This crap makes me want to beat my head against a wall because I just don?t think beating their heads in will do any good. And ultimately, this is one of the major reasons for my not wanting to have kids. Look at the pile of shit we?re in. We?re a ?culture of life? that can?t be bothered to help the working poor out with health care. We?ve firmly established a horrendous quagmire of military disappointments and financial mismanagement in the Middle East. Old allies are now scratching their heads in wonder at us.

We?re about to send John Bolton to the U.N. Why would anyone want to bring a child into a world filled with Tom DeLay, John Bolton and George W?

And speaking of G Dub, I found this today on the Democratic Underground and had to giggle:

[Here is a] list of links featuring Republicans whining about high gas prices in 2000. I'm sure most of you are aware that average gas prices have been topping $2.50 per gallon recently, with San Franciscans recently reporting more than $3 per gallon for regular unleaded.

Now let's take a look at what some of those Republicans had to say in 2000, when gas was around a full dollar cheaper per gallon than it is today:

Rep. Terry Everett: "The Clinton Administration has failed in its duty to develop a policy to deal with our national energy supply and is therefore directly accountable for the higher prices Americans are now paying at the gas pumps."

Dennis Hastert: "House Speaker Dennis Hastert accused the Clinton administration Friday of misleading members of Congress about the causes of skyrocketing gas prices in the Midwest."

Rep. Wally Herger: "Congressman Wally Herger recently denounced the Clinton-Gore Administration's complacency during the current gas price crisis. 'Northern Californians are being held hostage at the gas pump,' Herger said. 'The Clinton-Gore Administration has demonstrated a complete and total lack of leadership in preventing this problem. It is a clear failure of domestic and foreign policy.'"

Larry Kudlow: "The Clinton-Gore administration?s hapless and incoherent management of foreign policy is nowhere as evident as in their bungling on OPEC?s oil-price hike. ... While crude oil prices could drop to $25 per barrel, they will stay well above the average $20 real price of oil registered over the past ten years. And way above the $10 worldwide average marginal cost of producing new oil. Meanwhile gas prices at the pump are likely to be upwards of $2 per gallon well into the summer."

Glenn Spencer: "In recent weeks, gas prices have surged to their highest level in a decade. Prices for home heating oil and natural gas are expected to rise by about 30 percent this winter. ... With the Clinton-Gore administration's policies largely to blame for the pain being felt by consumers, Vice President Gore's camp has pulled out all the stops to shift blame away from his own administration."

Various Repubs: "Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac), Paul Ryan (R-Janesville), and Mark Green (R-Green Bay) today blasted Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and the Clinton-Gore Administration for their failure to implement a comprehensive energy policy to deal with staggering gas prices Wisconsin consumers continue to face at the pumps."

So, gas is about 60-75% per gallon more at the pump and oil is about 100% more per barrel than it was when these moaning minnies were whining about how much Bill Clinton and Al Gore sucked, but now George W. Bush is the president - why, his shit don't stink. Perhaps they're still waiting for him to "jawbone" OPEC? Either that or they don't care about gas prices now that he's, y'know, got the gays on the run.

Because, yeah, that's what's wrong with our country - all those damn gays out there walking around.

Wal-Mark Sucks
Now Playing: Keren Ann
Wal-Mart Leaves Bitter Chill
Quebec Store Closes After Vote to Unionize

By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page E01

JONQUIERE, Quebec -- The baby buggies are all gone. In electronics, only "Le Gros Albert" and a few other leftover DVDs remain. A few pairs of pink boots are left in the shoe department. Over in household goods, red and yellow liquidation tags dangle beside thin skillets as Wal-Mart prepares to close.

The retailing behemoth, whose $10 billion annual profits are based on low prices, low expenses and its relentless pace of store openings, announced it will shut the doors here May 6 after workers voted to make this the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America.

The closure will leave 190 bitter employees out of work, the town uneasy over the future of unions, and the mayor angry at the company. Supporters of organized labor also say it serves as a warning for workers at other Wal-Mart stores who might contemplate defying founder Sam Walton's sharp distaste for unions.

"It's like we are digging our own grave," said store employee Nathalie Dubois, 38, a single mother with no other job to go to, as she helped pack up the store.

The world's largest retail chain has fiercely and successfully resisted unionization attempts at its 3,600 stores in the United States. Its closest call ended in Texas in 2000 when the store eliminated its meat department after 11 meat cutters voted to join a union. United Food and Commercial Workers is mounting a fresh campaign to organize Wal-Mart workers in the United States, a push it says has been given impetus by recent legal action and a former company vice president's contention that he surreptitiously organized anti-union activities.

In Canada, the battle has been pitched, pitting the country's still-healthy union movement against what is now its largest retailer. While union membership in the United States dropped to 12.5 percent of workers in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, it was 28.6 percent in Canada. Since entering the country 11 years ago by buying the failing Woolco chain, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. now takes 52 percent of the retail market share in Canada, and is opening around 30 stores a year. It earns three times as much revenue per square foot of store space as Zellers Inc., its nearest competitor.

Quebec, where nearly 40 percent of the workforce carries a union card, has been a focal point. Jonquiere was the first store to be unionized. One other, in Saint Hyacinthe, east of Montreal, has followed. The company says it is bargaining "in good faith" toward a contract at that store but expects the negotiations to "go on for some time."

On April 1, in Brossard, in southern Montreal, employees voted against joining a union.

"They got the message from Jonquiere. People were afraid if they voted for the union the store will be closed," said Louis Bolduc, an organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Quebec.

The company reads it differently.

You can find the rest of the article here.

Isn't that great? Workers wanting a little security, a little health insurance, and a little more money are left without anything. Thank you, Wal-Mart, for helping to ruin the world.

GOP Rejects Added VA Hospital Funds
"Republicans on Tuesday defeated a Democratic effort to provide almost $2 billion in additional healthcare funding for veterans, rejecting claims that Veterans Affairs hospitals were in crisis."

This is perfect. During a time of war, the GOP has decided the suddenly they're not for a culture of life when it comes to Vets. With more and more soldiers returning from Iraq with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder now is a great time to slash benefits.

"Bad Management of Problem-Solving"
According to Newt Gingrich, who I don't necessarily always agree with, "If there is a Social Security problem, it is somewhere around 25 to 30 years from now," Gingrich said. "The problem of children dying in Dumpsters is this evening. To ask me to go past every problem we could solve that is immediate in order to get at an abstraction that is 25 years from now is very bad management of problem-solving."

Read the full article from the Washington Post here.

Arianna Online
Now Playing: Elton John
Arianna Huffington was on Bill Maher last night (replayed from Friday, I think), along with Ian McShane and a few others. It was the first time I'd had a chance to listen extensively to what she has to say and I must admit, I was impressed. Here is her last column, in full. Click the link to see her links.

A Cornucopia of Death
April 12, 2005

Paint the last month black. It?s been an orgy of mourning; a cornucopia of death. We?ve had Terri Schiavo, Pope John Paul, Prince Rainier, and Charles and Camilla?s wedding ? which felt as grim as any funeral. All brought to us in no-longer-living color. If nothing else, the media have outed themselves as the ultimate necrophiliacs. I expect CNN and Forest Lawn to announce a sponsorship agreement any day now.

The pope?s interminable interment was the magenta-colored cherry on the death sundae. The TV coverage was so over-the-top and utterly uncritical, it was as if John Paul had been, well, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Or, at least, Jim Caviezel.

Now, I?m certainly not suggesting that the last week should have been spent trashing the late pontiff. His many achievements ? taking on communism, embracing the Third World, speaking out for the poor, and standing up against war ? surely deserved recognition and praise. But you?d think the wall-to-wall coverage would have included some serious discussion of the two tragic failures of his reign: his woeful mishandling of the church?s child molestation scandal, and how his archaic position on condoms contributed to the deaths of millions of people, especially in Africa.

The molestation outrage is a black mark that can?t be whitewashed.

Over 11,000 children were sexually abused and close to $1 billion in settlement money has been paid out, but the pope did not go much beyond decrying ?the sins of some of our brothers.? He never met with any victims, he never offered practical solutions to dealing with the problem, he never addressed the decades-long cover-up of the abuse. He even rejected a ?zero tolerance? policy calling for the immediate removal of molester-priests, concerned that it was too harsh.

Too harsh?! This is a man who wouldn?t allow a priest to become a bishop unless he was unequivocally opposed to masturbation, premarital sex and condoms. So, in his perversion pecking order, you had to be dead-set against ?self-love? but when it came to buggering little kids, there was some wiggle room.

And let?s not forget that the Pope appointed Cardinal Bernard Law, who was one of the architects of the sex scandal cover-up, and who even faced potential criminal prosecution for his role in the concealment. But instead of making an example out of Law, the pope gave him a cushy sinecure in the Vatican. Adding insult to the grievous injury suffered by the abuse victims, Law was one of the nine cardinals specially chosen to preside over the pope?s funeral masses. It is a disgrace ? and an indication of how detached the Vatican became under this pope.

The other stain on the pope?s legacy is his tireless opposition to the use of condoms ? even in places like Africa, where AIDS killed 2.3 million people last year alone, and where the disease has driven life expectancy below 40 years in many countries.

But even in the face of that kind of suffering, he fought tooth and nail against condoms. Any time a church official even suggested that people infected with HIV should use condoms, they were either removed from office or censured by the Vatican. We were told again and again last week about how committed John Paul was to promoting a culture of life. I guess the 20 million people who have died from AIDS are the exception that proves the rule.

On the other hand, the pope?s passing might have saved the political skin of one of his culture-of-life cohorts, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. If you have a series of looming ethics scandals about to come crashing down on your head, having the media focused 24/7 on something else is a very lucky break indeed. But, in the end, it?s going to take a huge celebrity dying every three days for the next few months to keep The Hammer from going down.

The presence of DeLay at the pope?s funeral in Rome, along with President Bush, the First Lady, Condoleezza Rice, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Bush Sr., was a stark reminder of our perverted priorities. The pope dies and it?s Must Holy See TV; 1,547 American soldiers die in Iraq and President Bush and Laura have yet to attend a single one of their funerals. Not a single one. Maybe the president only goes to funerals of people whose death he wasn?t involved in.

Dumb and Dumber Procreate
Read it and weep, folks.

They're finally admitting what we've all known for months. Bit Bit is getting a little brother or sister. May God help us all.

More Pointing And Laughing
I heard today that Britney Spears called a family meeting because her dog Bit-Bit had gotten pregnant by her brother's bulldog and she was upset because it would be incest.

No, really.

This is according to Brit's publicist.

Another gem from this piece:

"Speaking of People, the mag reports the UPN [reality series] isn't the only one in the works. Federline is also pitching a series of his own that will chronicle his "career." What career, you rightly ask? The one the former backup dancer is working to create with his debut album."

Can't...stop...pointing...and lauging!!!

Hypocrisy
Have you ever wondered why Catholics are leaving the Church in droves? Perhaps it?s because of decisions like this one. Bernard Law, the Cardinal who had to resign because it was proved that he covered up sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests is scheduled to lead one of nine memorial masses in Rome.

It?s almost a slap in the face to the victims of that priestly sexual abuse. One could argue that it?s a slap to all victims of sexual abuse, for if the Catholic hierarchy doesn?t care what its own does, how could they possibly care about the deeds of others?

This hypocrisy is exactly the kind of thing that keeps me out of church. Whether it?s human rights abuses in Latin America, turning a blind eye to the Final Solution, or allowing this scandalized Cardinal Law to take part in this final send-off, I find it difficult, if not impossible, to consider myself ?one of them?.

All I Can Do Is Point And Laugh
From the New York Post's Page Six Gossip Column:

MADONNA'S kids, who attend the Lycee Francais school in West London, speak mostly in French now ? and their Detroit-born mom can't understand a word they say. Madonna's father-in-law, John Ritchie, told The Sun in London that Lourdes, 8, and Rocco, 4, "talk to each other in French all day . . . It's very funny. Neither Guy nor Madonna speak a word of the language so they cannot understand anything." Madonna's rep tells us the kids are teaching her French, so all will soon be tres bien.

Bwah!!! Click here for a very scary picture of Madonna, herself. She's gettin old, y'all.

But, seriously, poor Madonna. Trying so hard to be classy after all these years. It almost brings a tear of nostalgia to my eye. Wait. No, that's me trying not to laugh and point.