Seein' green...

Currently, I am sitting in lovely San Francisco, working at the Green Festival.
Last night I attended the Green Business Confrence dinner. Organic Valley won the 4th annual Green Business Leadership Award and I listened to Simran Sethi talk about the different stories of green businesses. It was an inspirational evening... making all these things we are trying to do, seem like it really does matter.
Green is good!

Scorecard Information on 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates

Courtesy of Global Stewards:

This page includes scorecard information for 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates on the environment, civil liberties, women's rights, labor rights, civil rights, education, and animal rights. Votes were compiled from Project Vote Smart.

Joe Biden-
League of Conservation Voters: 95% (2005-2006)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 92% (2005-2006)
Planned Parenthood: 100% (2006)
AFL-CIO: 93% (2006)
NAACP: 100% (2005)
National Education Association: A (2005-2006)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 60% (2005-2006)

Hillary Clinton-
League of Conservation Voters: 83% (2005-2006)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 83% (2005-2006)
Planned Parenthood: 100% (2006)
AFL-CIO: 93% (2005)
NAACP: 95% (2005)
National Education Association: A (2005-2006)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 100% (2005-2006)

Chris Dodd-
League of Conservation Voters: 95% (2005-2006)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 80% (2005-2006)
Planned Parenthood: 100% (2006)
AFL-CIO: 100% (2006)
NAACP: 90% (2005)
National Education Association: 80% (2003-2004)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 100% (2005-2006)

John Edwards-
League of Conservation Voters: 37% (2003)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 60% (2001-2002)
Planned Parenthood: 100% (2001)
AFL-CIO: 100% (2003)
NAACP: 94% (2001-2002)
National Education Association: 60% (2003-2004)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 60% (2003)

Mike Gravel- not available

Dennis Kucinich-
League of Conservation Voters: 100% (2005-2006)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 100% (2005-2006)
Planned Parenthood: 56% (2006)
AFL-CIO: 93% (2005)
NAACP: 96% (2005)
National Education Association: 88% (2003-2004)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 100% (2005-2006)

Barack Obama-
League of Conservation Voters: 98% (2005-2006)
The American Civil Liberties Union: 83% (2005-2006)
Planned Parenthood: 100% (2006)
AFL-CIO: 93% (2006)
NAACP: 100% (2005)
National Education Association: A (2005-2006)
The Humane Society of the U.S.: 60% (2005-2006)

Bill Richardson- not available

Jeffrey: A brave man, his lovely wife and the brain tumor

Last September, Rev. Samurai Sam performed a wedding ceremony for Jeffrey and Lori.
Since then, life was progressing beautifully...
Until this August, when Jeffrey was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. They sucessfully removed the tumor and currently he is going through Chemo and radiation. Jeffrey is looking wonderful and keeping his spirits up!
Lori is working hard to earn some extra funds for the family, as Cancer is EXPENSIVE! You can make a donation here:
Can you spare-a-dollar?
Please keep our friend in your happy thoughts (or prayers if you do them) and lets all celebrate life!

Jeffrey, you are a brave man! We all love you and are pulling for your speedy recovery!

Live Music, Sustainability Workshops, Rural Heritage Exhibits, Tons of Fabulous Food, Beer and Dancing!

If any or all of the above listed things strike your fancy...

Or, if you enjoy the amazing views of rural, South Central Wisconsin...

Come check out the 4th Annual

Kickapoo Country Fair !


This amazing event will take place Saturday and Sunday, July 28-29 on the grounds of Organic Valley's world headquarters in La Farge, Wisconsin, set in the ancient and beautiful hills of the Kickapoo River Valley.

This festival is a showcase of rural cultural traditions, farm and garden exhibits, music, dance, arts, natural and organic foods and cooking, green housing and renewable energy, community health and education, environmental responsibility, and eco-development.

The all-weekend event features organic farm tours, farmers & farm animals, sustainability workshops, hiking, the Butter Churn Bike Tour, tons of fabulous food, artisan vendors, not-for-profit & community exhibitors, family & kdis activities, all-day music, entertainment, and dancing!

RIP Jerry Falwell

"The sun is setting in the sky, Teletubbies say goodbye"

Ah... bye, bye.

August 11, 1933 - May 15, 2007

Too Much Insult to Bear

Being a liberal atheist, I've come to accept that I'm going to be in the minority opinion on certain issues. I can live with that. I've also learned to accept that no matter how hard I may try to have a beginner's mind and regard others' views objectively, sometimes the weight is too much to bear. How could it not be? Conservatives in America have drafted a line-up of some of the most vile, ignorant ideologues ever spewed out upon the popular airwaves. Any decent human being should be appalled on a regular basis at the garbage that comes out of the Right's sewer of opinion leaders. But sometimes, just sometimes, enough is enough.

I received an email today that may have finally contained about as much conservative ignorance and bile as I can reasonably tolerate. To lessen the damage to my psyche, I have to share this bit of vileness with all of you and cleanse my mental palate by having my own say. I almost pity the good friend of mine that sent me this; I wouldn't want any part of a political philosophy that espoused this sort of garbage.

And here we go...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear God,

Why didn't you save the children at Virginia Tech (and a slew of other schools where children were murdered over the past decade)?

Sincerely Concerned Student Theocratic Nutjob

Dear Concerned Student Rightwing Hack,

Sorry, I am not allowed in schools!

Sincerely,

God

First of all, what kind of wimpy, impotent God are we talking about here that anyone gets to tell him where he's not allowed? That's a pretty ballsy way to talk to the Creator of the Known Universe. That aside, this entire line of thought is complete bullshit. There are dozens of religious organizations on the Virginia Tech campus. Of course, that's not what this little dialogue with the Almighty is poking at anyway. We'll get to that in a moment. In the meantime, it's best to just meditate on the pissy self-pity evident in whomever wrote this little emasculation of God.

How did this get started?

Well, some nerd can't get laid as much as the cool liberal guys on campus so he joins the Young Republicans and grows up to write hate filled screeds from the cool comfort of his mom's basement. Am I close?

Let's see,
I think it started when Madelyn Murray O'Hair complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools. And we said OK.

Pitiful that I had to correct the spelling of O'Hair's name. I'm disappointed when the conservative theocrats can't even get the names of their favorite bogeymen correct. For the record, O'Hair's case, which was decided by the Supreme Court, had nothing to do with prayer. There is no ban on prayer in any school anywhere in the United States. Any student can pray, have a prayer circle, wear prayer beads, dance a rain dance...whatever they want. As long as they're not breaking any laws or harrassing any one else, the First Amendment guarantees their right to pray. The kind of prayer theocrats like the author want is the kind that is enforced by the school. They want my children, and yours, forced to pray to their conservative Old Testament God regardless of whether we want our children taught that garbage or not. We live in a nation of religious freedom and school officials are required to respect that. If conservatives want a Christian theocracy, they can find another country to ruin. This one's mine!

Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible that says "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal and love your neighbor's as yourself," And we said OK.

Now that's the case that involved O'Hair. See the public, tax-payer funded school her son attended was requiring its students to read from the Bible that O'Hair did not believe in. She brought suit, as did others, and the Supreme Court wisely agreed that a government institution funded by taxpayer dollars had no business forcing children into a certain faith. Sure, the Bible says "Thou shalt not kill". I wonder how well that worked out for the Cathars or the women of Salem or the people of Iraq? And it says "Thou shalt not steal". I wonder how well that's worked out for those crushed by usurious credit card rates, living with the largest gap between rich and poor in the world's history? And it says "Love your neighbors as yourself". How much self-loathing, then, must the people who claim to follow Christ have as they denigrate women for their sexual habits and condemn their gay neighbors as aberrations against the natural order? I wonder if the Bible has a word for someone who claims to believe something and yet acts completely contrary to that belief? If I recall, Jesus had a name for those folks...

Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehaved because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self esteem. And we said "An expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore..."

Hey, guess what? Dr. Spock was right, actually. Spanking children teaches them that they don't need to listen unless threatened with violence. It also teaches them that it's OK to use force to impose your will upon the weak. Hitting children is a sign of weakness and impatience. I wish I could say I've never failed as a father and succumbed to that weakness, but I can't. No child has ever yet grown up and lamented the fact that their parents didn't smack them around more often. We teach children that hitting is wrong. Maybe we should practice what we preach.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to get sued. And we accepted their reasoning...

Just to interject, I have to apologize for the appalling lack of literacy in this email. It's awful even by normal conservative hate mail standards. Back to the substance: again, it's a big load of what the Amish leave on the road in front of my house when they drive their buggies through. School administrators have many tools at their disposal to discipline unruly kids. Thankfully, beating them is no longer one of those tools. It's amazing that conservatives think it's actually preferable to have a government official physically assault their children from time to time. I wonder if those same conservatives would have no problem with being beaten themselves the next time they get a parking ticket or are late on their taxes? Apparently to conservatives, discipline always means corporal punishment of some kind. Kinda kinky when you get right down to it...

Then someone said let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea.

Yes, because by God how can we properly beat that slut back into submission if she can hide the rightful punishment of for her sin from others? It's so hard to to shame these young whores when you give them freedom of choice over their own bodies! Really, we just need to go back to the days when only the rich got safe abortions. You can be sure that the teenage harlot next door (or in the next room) won't be getting around much any more with a good staph infection from a botched back-alley abortion. Ah, the good old days!

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said that's another grand idea...

Because as every good conservative knows, if you ban sex education and birth control, teenagers will just stop having sex. How scary is it that certain of these people actually believe that having sex for fun is wrong? And Christians try to tell me that being an atheist must be unfulfilling! Maybe that explains the tremendous divorce rate in our 80% Christian nation. Call me crazy, but I don't think a long, slow death from AIDS is a desirable outcome of a night spent engaging in one of the most natural acts in which any two humans can engage. And I can guarantee that if, one day, some pimply-faced little weasel does the nasty with one of my sweet, innocent little girls, I'll personally give a wet, sloppy kiss to whatever school official gave the little bastard the condom he better damn well be wearing.

And the entertainment industry said let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex...
And let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide and satanic themes...
And we said it's just entertainment and it has no adverse affect and nobody takes it seriously anyway so go right ahead.

Dear God this email just gets stupider as it goes along. First of all, no one is claiming that the bad things named above in entertainment are not bad for children. Quite the contrary. It's one of the few issues on which both conservatives and liberals largely agree. However, that doesn't mean we should suddenly throw free speech out the window just because not every shred of entertainment material produced is family appropriate. My favorite show is The Sopranos; it's violent, profane and generally has at least one scene set at The Bada Bing in every episode. I love the show but I damn sure do not allow my children to watch it. There's this magical red button on my remote control that says "Power" and I find it protects my children from pretty much anything I find objectionable on TV. My advice to the folks complaining about our entertainment media's effect on children: get off your lazy asses and start parenting your own kids! Stop expecting the government or the church or the school or whomever to do it for you. If you don't want your kids watching rated R movies and listening to gangsta rap, then don't let them. Grow some bolts and stop being a weak parent whose only solutions are bitching and spanking. Meanwhile, I'll continue watching Tarentino films and listening to Dr. Dre, because I'm an adult and I can handle it. And by they way: What the fuck exactly are "Satanic Themes"? Is it AC/DC ringing Hell's bells or John Constantine verbally sparring with Lucifer? It's Harry Potter again, isn't it? Damn him and his youthful hijinks!

Now we ask ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, class mates or even themselves. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with "We reap what we sow".

First of all, don't lay your crappy parenting on the rest of us, conservative theocrats! My children know right from wrong because I'm teaching them right from wrong. They have a conscience because I'm teaching them to have a conscience and treat others the way they want to be treated. Finally, stop blaming society, the society you're a majority of, Christians, for each kid that goes off on a psychotic rampage. The young man that committed those atrocities at Virginia Tech was mentally ill. He was a psychotic waiting to break and, if our gun laws made any sense at all, should never have been able to purchase a gun in the first place. Indeed we do reap what we sow, conservatives, so stop sowing hypcrisy! It raises a bitter fruit...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the day, in all seriousness, Virginia Tech is the price we sometimes have to pay for living in a free country. It's a steep price and our hearts at A Beginner's Mind go out to the families and friends of those lost, including the killer's. It's a horrible price but the alternative is a police state; a Christian version of Saudi Arabia. Sometimes the bad guys and the psychotics make victims of us and it's tragic. But far more tragic would be a country that threw away all it's freedoms for the illusion of safety. Conservatives love to talk about the price of freedom, especially when flogging their latest favorite war, but balk when it comes time to pay that price. Virginia Tech has paid it for us all and we should respect their sacrifice by protecting the freedom for which they died.

Off To The Races

You can practically smell the churned dirt in the air (or at least the horse shit) as the 2008 Presidential horse race rounds into its first curve. As it has always been my "policy" to answer questions emailed (samuraisam1@mchsi.com) or left in comments, I will try my poor hand at handicapping this mother of all electoral races.

The Democrats: Born to be Bland

Don't misunderstand me; I'm (mostly) a loyal party man. If nothing else, I understand what having the other party in power means for this country and the world. But I don't think I've been less inspired by the field of Democratic candidates at any time since, well, 2004. I have great respect for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; I think they are fine politicians. Perhaps a little too fine, especially where their politics comes into play. The one lesson I keep hoping the Dems will learn, and yet never do, is that issues are secondary to personality in the eyes of our electorate. Sad but true. Conservatives didn't vote for Bush twice because of his positions on foreign military interventions or government profligacy (he was against both back when he was a governor running in 1999). They voted for him because he had swagger and confidence. He presented himself as a cocky, git 'er done type of guy, in direct contrast with Gore's reserved academic. A large chunk of this country wants a strong father figure as President, regardless of the person's actual ability to do the job. I think we're seeing the high price paid for that sort of blindness, but the reality is what it is.

In any case, I really think Obama and Clinton are missing the boat on this yet again. Democrats have the issues on our side. We know this, the Republicans know this and yet they continue to win big in elections. The reason is because the Republicans are much more tapped into our national image consciousness. They treat winning the Presidency as a PR contest and it works. Democrats treat it as a an intellectual contest between competing ideologies. That's what it should be, of course, but in our nation of 30-second soundbites and celebrity worship such a contest is a pipe dream.

Therefore, my thoughts on the Democratic ticket are this: John Edwards. Assuming Al Gore really isn't going to run, which I don't believe he is, John Edwards stands the best chance to win the field. He's been by far the most consistent on his positions, which helps limit the moronic attack ads from the Right. He also just radiates personality, which is key to winning a big national election. He's a familiar name, a familiar handsome face and a sympathetic figure with a winning smile and confident humility. He also has that Presidential magic; that special ability to appear 10 feet tall and flushed with conviction in his speeches. As much as I also like Bill Richardson, whom I think would make a great VP candidate, I just don't think he can muster the national recognition to overcome the other 3 candidates.

As for Dennis Kucinich, well, keep trying, buddy. You've got a whole pocket full of good ideas who's time will come in about 20 or 30 years.

Democratic Primary Winner: John Edwards with Bill Richardson as his VP.

The Republicans: Down on the Upside

Boy is it hard out there to be a Republican these days. The failure to deal with Katrina, the largest foreign policy disaster in American history and more scandals then you can shake a congressional subpoena at have built a public almost openly hostile to the GOP. In spite of 6 years of total control in Washington, government spending is out of control, abortion & birth control are still legal, flag burning is not a crime and our military is cracking under the strain of an unending foreign occupation. So much for that permanent majority, eh Rove?

On this side of the fence, again we see the power of celebrity. Is there any other possible reason for the sudden interest in Fred Thompson? Not that he's not a loyal Republican; just that he's not a very prominent one in any political sense. By far his biggest claim to fame is playing a fictional lawyer on TV. That may be compelling enough to thrust him along for now, but I believe that thrust will burn out long before Fred reaches that Presidential orbit.

John McCain, the Democrats' favorite conservative Republican, has crashed and burned the worst of any Republican candidate and I doubt he even has the chops to make it to February 2008. McCain's strategy has been to hug Bush as close as he can and run on the war. Too bad a large majority of the country left Iraq, at least in their minds, a long time ago. McCain's jetpack to the top has now become an anchor, pretty much solidifying his place as one of the most prominent also-rans in American political history.

Rudy Giuliani, America's mayor and the one Republican left who can still flog 9/11 for political gain has the lead and I believe he'll keep it. While he's certainly far more socially liberal than any other Republican on the national scene, that doesn't seem to be bothering the Republican rank and file (yet). I believe they've had their fill, at least for now, of the Christian theocrat movement that's gripped the party for some time. Giuliani may not be a staunch conservative but he is a loyal party Republican and has no problem running his political opponents into the ground. And he looks great in an evening gown! Truly an election of firsts for America: a black man, a Latino, a woman and a drag queen...

Finally, Mitt Romney. Notwithstanding that the Christian right thinks Mormonism is a satanic cult, Mitt just isn't going to get it done politically. He may be the one candidate for whom his stance on various issues will sink his candidacy. Mitt's trying so hard to fling himself bodily into the arms of the right wing and I think they're going to throw him right back. Given his 180 degree reversal on just about every social issue, from abortion to gun control, the Democratic political strategists have to be licking their chops at the attack ad options Romney gives them.

In a larger sense, I think Mitt's actions give the lie to a favorite Republican talking point after the 2006 election: the soft, chewy center of American politics is what the American people want. I believe Romney's political flip-flopping demonstrates just what a fallacy the Mythical Middle really is. The Republicans are running towards the right wing base as quickly as they can, not the middle. They know what the middle really is: the Democratic party.

Bipartisanship is a myth used by political losers to erode the power of their more successful rivals. As a progressive, I don't want bipartisanship. I want progressive policy and I know I cannot get that from Republicans, just as the staunch conservatives aren't going to get their political agenda from the Democrats. That's why we have parties, to advocate different platforms and different visions for the country. Not to play "go along to get along" and show how much back-slapping camaraderie can be manufactured on The Hill.

In any case, my pick:

Republican Primary Winner: Rudy Giuliani and I have no idea who he'd consider for VP. Maybe Sam Brownback to woo the religious authoritarians?

Overall winner:

Are you kidding me? John Edwards, of course. I may be shamelessly partisan but I honestly can't foresee any way a Republican wins the next Presidential election. They've got the worst Republican President in history to follow. They have no issues to run on and no way to both embrace conservatism and distance themselves from an extremely unpopular President. And no, Richard Viguerie, calling Bush a liberal isn't going to convince anyone, if it even convinces you.

(Thanks to reader GB for the question. -S. Sam-)

Bushido Book Review: Self Made Man by Norah Vincent

Every now and then I manage to tear myself away from my Dungeons & Dragons informed taste in novels (I'm re-reading The Wheel of Time) and actually read something of social relevance. Of late I've read two great books, one novel and one non-fiction. It's the latter I'd like to mention here.

I recently finished reading Norah Vincent's Self Made Man and I was, frankly, stunned by what I read. It's such common knowledge, especially among progressives, that white American men live the most charmed life on Earth. Which is true, of course, but it's not always a cake walk being a guy in our society and Vincent does a brilliant job of laying out the particulars. She does an excellent job comparing and contrasting her feminist beliefs to the reality of the male experience and results aren't very pretty for either sex.

Not only does she disguise herself as a man but she does it in some of the most testosterone-charged environments imaginable. Living through a bowling league, a strip club, a Catholic monastery and a pressure cooker sales job lets Vincent bear witness to the worst that men have to offer. And yet, she still finds room for sympathy and understanding even in the face of all that troubled manliness. Vincent's book goes many miles to remind all of us that our patriarchal society doesn't benefit any of us, even men, except occasionally in the most superficial of ways. And we all, men and women alike, pay a high cultural price for that little sliver of white male privilege.

As a final example of Vincent's astuteness, she finally puts into writing one of the greatest truisms about the American male: We're all, on some level, Johnny Cash fans. Amen, sister!

All Hat No Cattle

I have to take just a minute to pile on Don Imus. Notwithstanding my opinion that his show was stuffy and boring, I think it's wholly appropriate that his simulcast on MSNBC has now been sacked. There is nothing special about an old white guy who is sexist and racist; they're a dime a dozen. Nor, as I put in comments below, do I think Don should be thrown in jail or otherwise prosecuted for what he said. Free speech is a wonderful thing. But free speech has its consequences as well.

Don Imus is free, as an American, to go around saying degrading things about women and minorities. America is, nominally, a free country. But that doesn't mean he should get paid to say those things nor enjoy the celebrity of having an audience to digest his garbage. What he did was nothing new or even very original. But it was thoughtless, ignorant and cruel. In all the news coverage of this (and boy are the other cabloid news networks beating this dead horse like it was Anna Nicole's corpse) it seems very little is being said about the unfortunate victims of Imus' "humor". These ladies did nothing to Imus. Their crime was just being young and different in the eyes of a crotchety old fart lucky enough to get paid for being one. Perhaps Imus' impending meeting with them will do him some good; they reacted to the situation with poise and class.

So, goodbye Don. Maybe now MSNBC will have something interesting to watch in the morning. And one more grumpy old racist misogynist will ride off into well-deserved anonymity.

Another one of "April's Fools"

Don Imus, a MSNBC / CBS radio host, has been suspended for two weeks for calling the Rutgers female basketball players “nappy-headed hos.”

---Thus landing him at the top of my fools list (or possibly I should rename it: "stupid mother-fuckers" list)

---TWO weeks? Only two weeks? How is a two week vacation going to make up for this?

“What I did was make a stupid, idiotic mistake in a comedy context,” Imus said on his show Tuesday morning, the final week before his suspension starts.

---A COMEDY CONTEXT? I don't hear anyone laughing:

"There's no question that this was so wrong on so many levels: racist, sexist, misogynistic," said Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women. "It wasn't much of an apology," Gandy said of Imus' attempts to repair the damage. "He didn't say actually he was wrong. What he said was he was insensitive and thoughtless. In other words, 'Well, of course, it's all true. I just shouldn't have said it on the air.'" Appearing on Sharpton's show, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Michigan Democrat and chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, also raised the issue of chauvinism. "I mean, who says 'hos' publicly?" she asked. "What is that? That is probably one of the most derogatory things any woman -- black, brown, yellow, white -- could even ever experience."


Will the ignorance ever end?

~Happy Spring Holiday~

Exploring Easter ~
Easter is a time of springtime festivals. In Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity.
Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox.

So, why eggs?
Of all the symbols associated with Easter the egg, the symbol of fertility and new life, is the most identifiable. The customs and traditions of using eggs have been associated with Easter for centuries
Originally Easter eggs were painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring and were used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts. After they were colored and etched with various designs the eggs were exchanged by lovers and romantic admirers, much the same as valentines. In medieval time eggs were traditionally given at Easter to the servants. In Germany eggs were given to children along with other Easter gifts

And what about those bunnies?
The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s.

***Gives a new thread of credibility to "doing it like rabbits", huh?

Ronin Around

As Gifted-1 said, we're getting back into the swing of things. It's been a hectic six months since I my last post and I apologize for the absence. So much has happened, both in our lives and the world at large that I could write all night and not be satisfied!

Thanks to everyone who kept checking back. I'm committed to getting back into the swing of things.

For now, I'm on a surprise business trip to the Chicago area (my third trip in as many months!) and must get some rest. More to come...

S. Sam

Bubba: The answers you are searching for

SO, "Bubba" left a comment, asking why I felt the following people were "fools."
I needed more space, than the comment box would allow...

Here are just a few examples of why the following men (IMHO) are 'totally off their rockers':

Charlie Daniels (directly from the horse's mouth or the jack's ass ~ his personal website)-
"I believe that the universe and everything in it was created, not evolved,by an Almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God.I believe in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. I believe that he walked this earth for thirty plus years performing fantastic miracles including raising the dead.I believe he was nailed to a cross and that the blood that he shed was forthe remission of sin that he was laid in a grave and rose on the third day and now sits at the right hand of The Father interceding for those who believe in him and that one day sooner than later he will be coming back to earth to claim his rightful place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.I believe that the salvation of Jesus Christ is available to all and that he is the way the truth and the light, the only path to God.I believe the Bible literally, the Old Testament and the New Testament, when it says the whale swallowed Jonah I believe he actually ingested Jonah and regurgitated him."
- I'm sorry but this is just plain insane. Where is the critical thought?
"I for one am sick and tired of hearing some Muslim get on some television show and complain about how they are portrayed in our society.It could be solved very simply by declaring sides in the coming battle and condemning the Islamic terrorist forces around the world. They can be both Muslims and Americans but if they're living in a country they would take uparms against it's high time they declared themselves."
- He really needs to get his redneck out of his ass.

Don Manzulo - I grew up in a town very near to where Don and his family lived. My husband went to church with him, as a child and has many a story. He is an elitist jerk and I don't like him.

James Dobson -
I'm really not sure if there is anyone out there that disgusts me more than James Dobson, he is one of the worse hate-mongering bigots of our times! Here are a few examples of his "tamer" quotes: "My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership."
“[The homosexual] agenda includes teaching pro-homosexual [sic] concepts in the public schools, redefining the family to represent "any circle of people who love each other," approval of homosexual adoption, legitimizing same-sex marriage, and securing special rights for those who identify themselves as gay. Those ideas must be opposed, even though to do so is to expose oneself to the charge of being "homophobic."

Jerry Falwell -
He has been at the center of many controversies over the years including a number of run ins with the Federal Elections Committee and the IRS. He even blamed the events of September 11th, 2001 "on abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America."
Don't forget his other quotes, such as "Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc. are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status."
And talks about the teletubbie Tinky Winky like he is the anti-christ "He is purple — the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the gay-pride symbol,"

Toby Keith-
He is an idiot.
Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way.
I'd like to put a boot in his ass!

April's Fools ~ 100 of them

Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day (aka All Fool's Day) is not totally clear.
Instead of staging some lame on-line hoax, I really feel like the joke has been on all of us for the last 6 years.

So, in honor of April Fools Day ~
I have compiled my top 100 list of Fools (in no particular order):





Ahmed Chalabi
Alan Keyes
Alberto Gonzales
Ann Coulter
Bill O'Reilly
Brittney Spears
Charles F Stanley
Charlie Daniels
Charlton Heston
Chuck Colson
Condoleezza Rice
Craig Gross
Craig Manson
Daniel Shayesteh
David Brooks
David frum
Dennis Hastert
Dennis Miller
Dick Chaney
Don Manzulo
Don Martin
Donald Rumsfeld
Dr Kirk Cameron
Dr. James Kennedy
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Dr. Phil
Dr. Robert L. Spitzer
Dr. Terry Mortenson
Elizabeth Kantor
Fred Phelps
George W Bush
Geraldo Rivera
Grover Norquist
Hugh Hewitt
Jack Abramoff
James Dobson
James Inhofe
Jed Babbin
Jerry Falwell
Jim Sensenbrenner
John ashcroft
John Bolton
John Gibson
John Gizzi
John McCain
John Podhoretz
John Yoo
Jonah Goldberg
Julaine K. Appling
Karl Rove
Kate O'Beirne
Kirk Cameron
Lou Sheldon
Mark Foley
Mel Gibson
Michael Chertoff
Michael Savage
Mike Brown
Mike Johanns
Mitch McConnell
Neil Cavuto
Newt Gingrich
Pat Boone
Pat Buchanan
Pat Robertson
Patricia Heaton
Paul Cameron
Paul Weyrich
Paul Wolfowitz
Reverend Don Wildomon
Rich Lowry
Richard Mellon Scaife
Richard Viguerie
Richarl Perle
Rick Santorum
Robert Davis McCallum, Jr
Robert McGovern
Robert Novak
Sam Alito
Scooter Libby
Scott McClellan
Shawn Hannity
Steve Forbes
Tedd Haggard
Ted Nugent
Ted Stevens
Toby Keith
Tom Cruise
Tom Delay
Tom Friedman
Tom Selleck
Tom Tancedo
Tony Blair
Tony Perkins
Tony Snow
Trent Lott
Tucker Carlson
Victor Davis Hanson
William Bennett
Willie Aames

[Politicians] never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge. -- Thomas Reed

Hopping Back on the Bloggin' Train...

Spring has sprung and we're springing back to action.

With a new look ~ a new attitude ~ and hopefully some new comments from you!

Wishing You and Yours

A happy new year