Bless Us Kyoto for We Have Sinned

"I believe in censorship," Mae West, the steamy star of the Silver Screen, once said. "I made a fortune out of it."

Philip A. Cooney may not have Mae West's sex appeal, but his attitude toward censorship is making people blush all the same.

This week, the New York Times reported that Cooney, chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, doctored several government reports on global warming to play down the links between greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Prior to his role in the Bush administration, Cooney had been the "climate team leader" and lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.

With his masterful hand, "the earth is undergoing a period of rapid change" became "the earth may be undergoing rapid change." The causes of global warming went from being "difficult" to assess to "extremely difficult." Whole sections of reports addressing reduced snowpack and the melting of glaciers, for example, were nixed altogether. The pattern prompted Rick S. Piltz, who coordinated federal global warming research under the Bush administration, to resign in March because the administration's political meddling made it impossible to run a credible science program.

Cooney's raison d'edit was obvious: to prevent these government climate change reports from suggesting that there is anything approaching scientific consensus on global warming. His playbook, of course, comes from the Bush administration's top pollster, Frank Luntz. "Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly." Luntz wrote in a now famous memo to Republican officials about the environment. "Therefore, you need to make lack of scientific certainty a primary issue in the debate."

When asked by the New York Times to respond to evidence of Cooney's censorship, the White House answered, "We don't put Phil Cooney on the record. He's not cleared as a spokesperson." Spokesperson? No. Copy-editor? Yes.

Interestingly, just one day before Cooney's antics came to light, President Bush, in a joint appearance with Prime Minister Tony Blair, bragged about how America leads the world when it comes to global warming research. Of course, it's hard to get people to admire your fancy shoes when your foot is in your mouth.

The bigger question, of course, is why the Bush administration would put a paid apologist for the oil industry in a top environmental post in the first place. As Mae West once said, "It don't mean a thing if you don't pull a string."

Source: Sierra Club, RAW: The Uncooked Facts of the Bush Assault on the Environment, 06/09/2005

Does this surprise anyone? No really, does this surprise anyone?

Well, this here little fact might. According to CNN.com, good old Phillip "Editor in Chief" Cooney has resigned as chief of staff of the Council on Environmental Quality and has accepted a job with Exxon Mobil starting in the fall. There´s been no comment made on what kind of a position he´s accepted. Kind of makes you wonder if any of these big shots have any kind of moral integrity.

How Sick...and yet oddly amazing...is this?

NAIROBI - A 73-year-old Kenyan grandfather reached into the mouth of an attacking leopard and tore out its tongue to kill it, authorities said Wednesday.

Peasant farmer Daniel M’Mburugu was tending to his potato and bean crops in a rural area near Mount Kenya when the leopard charged out of the long grass and leapt on him.

M’Mburugu had a machete in one hand but dropped that to thrust his fist down the leopard’s mouth. He gradually managed to pull out the animal’s tongue, leaving it in its death-throes.

“It let out a blood-curdling snarl that made the birds stop chirping,” he told the daily Standard newspaper of how the leopard came at him and knocked him over.

The leopard sank its teeth into the farmer’s wrist and mauled him with its claws. “A voice, which must have come from God, whispered to me to drop the panga (machete) and thrust my hand in its wide-open mouth. I obeyed,” M’Mburugu said.

As the leopard was dying, a neighbor heard the screams and arrived to finish it off with a machete.

M’Mburugu was toasted as a hero in his village Kihato after the incident earlier this month. He was also given free hospital treatment by astonished local authorities.

“This guy is very lucky to be alive,” Kenya Wildlife Service official Connie Maina told Reuters, confirming details of the incident.

Source: Reuters, 06/22/2005

I was conflicted over whether or not to include this on my blog. I in no way support the harming or mutilation of animals (especially pretty ones like kitties). However, you´ve got to admit that being able to kill an animal that has more muscle, bigger teeth and bigger claws than you with your own bare hands is pretty amazing. Although I don´t think that achievement necessarily makes Mr. M´Mburugu a hero.

The gruesome manner in which the kitty was killed also disturbed me quite bit. I mean, can you think of a much more horrible way to die? The kitty was hungry. I get pretty violent when I haven´t eaten all day. I can relate. It was doing what it had to do to survive, but then again, so was Mr. M´Mburugu. I just hope Mr. M´Mburugu and his village dined on leopard that night. At least that way somebody ended up getting fed.

No Green Until They Come Clean

Historic Proposal Protests Genocide & Terrorism in The Sudan

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Groundbreaking legislation sponsored by State Senator Jacqueline Collins (D-16) and State Representative Lou Jones (D-26) suspending state investment in companies doing business in the Republic of the Sudan has been signed into law by Governor Rod Blagojevich. The measure passed the General Assembly with wide bi-partisan support in May.

The first of its kind in the nation to pressure the Sudanese government to end its policies of genocide and terrorism in Darfur, Senate Bill 23 prohibits the State Treasurer from depositing funds or contracting with any financial institution doing business in the Sudan. The bill also prohibits State retirement systems and pension funds from loaning or investing in any company that invests in or does business with the African nation. Presently, two of the state’s five pension systems have approximately $1 billion invested in 32 companies doing business in Sudan.

“This legislation hits the Sudanese government where it counts, in the pocketbook,” Sen. Collins said. “We are bringing the pressure to bear on an unjust and malicious government to end its policy of genocide and terrorism. Hopefully, our actions will be the pebble that starts an avalanche of reform.”

Since February 2003 more than 300,000 people have been killed in the Darfur region of Sudan during attacks by nomad militias, known as the Janjaweed, who have been armed, paid and supported by the Sudanese Government, which insists that the killings are the result of tribal chaos in the region. However, observers in Darfur say the government has been arming and directing the Janjaweed militia.

Vast parts of Darfur have been emptied of its population. At least 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict began. Their villages have been burned while herds and other possessions have been looted. Thousands of women have been raped and children have been killed.

“The U.S. government has already determined that Sudan is a terrorist sponsoring nation, which is another reason why this legislation is so important and why we must push for divestment,” Rep. Jones said. “What we need now are more states and organizations to join us in our efforts.”

Currently, federal law prohibits U.S. companies from directly doing business with companies in the Sudan. Senate Bill 23 goes a step further by targeting investments in foreign companies that do business in Sudan.

The bill places responsibility on financial institutions and fund managing companies by requiring a certificate stating that they are not engaged with any company forbidden from doing business in the Sudan. She noted, however, that her bill exempts companies certified as Non-Government Organizations by the United Nations or ones that are engaged solely in providing goods and services for relieving human suffering or to promote welfare, health, religious and spiritual activities, and education for humanitarian purposes.

Source: www.sudanactivism.com, 06/25/2005

A hip hip hoo also goes out to Stanford University, an amazing institution that has also divested from Sudan.

The Smoking Gun

Yet another awesome grassroots short film. This one´s about the Downing Street Memo. "What´s the Downing Street Memo?" you say. Visit this link and you can also read the Downing Street Memo. However, I strongly advise watching the short because it´s got some of the coolest music I´ve heard in a long time.

http://democracyforamerica.com/memo_movie.php

Skunkus Maximus

Is anyone at all surprised that Karl Rove has yet again said something outrageously offensive about liberals, or really anyone half an inch left of center? I´ve come to expect Rove to take every cheap shot he can, and while he is still offensive, his quotes are almost laughable. Does anyone take this guy seriously...besides that monkey George Bush? Oh Karl, this hardy har har is for you and all the dribble that spills from your angry little GOP lips.

For those of you who want to laugh at him with me, here´s what Dubbya´s senior advisor had to say:

(P)erhaps the most important difference between conservatives and liberals can be found in the area of national security. Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.

Little imps like Rove are best ignored. And while I feel that any kind of response to anything the Rovester says is in effect giving him way too much credit, John Kerry was so outraged he took to the Senate floor on June 23rd to denounce Rove and his spiteful little comment. For me the most important part of what he said was that Bushy ought to fire Rovey. And to that I say, "here, here," or is it "hear, hear?"

If you want to let Bushy know that Rovey is a big ole skunk, you can send a letter via:
http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/rove.php

VICTORY

In an unexpected move yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives approved a measure to restore $100 million of funding for NPR, PBS and local public stations.1 Republican leaders were proposing to slash $200 million from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Everyone said it was impossible to reverse any of the House cuts with Republicans in control. Yesterday's Washington Post described the divide between Democrats and Republicans like this:

"[O]n Capitol Hill, it's hard to find a Republican with anything nice to say about National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting Service. Instead, they denounce them as liberal and elitist, when they bother to talk about them at all."2

Public broadcasting shouldn't divide Republicans and Democrats. More Americans trust NPR and PBS for balanced news and children's programming than any commercial network. Yet many Republicans have been intent on either gagging or starving public broadcasting.

So why did 87 Republicans break with the majority of their party and vote to restore the funding? In large part, because over 1 million of you signed the petition calling on Congress to reverse course. And over 40,000 of you made phone calls to your elected representatives.

Source: MoveOn.org

Gunning for Stem-Cell Naysayers

by Kristen Philipkoski

A pioneer of grass-roots internet movements is mobilizing a campaign to oust any legislator who opposes embryonic stem-cell research.

John Hlinko, the brains behind DraftWesleyClark.com, one of the most successful online grass-roots political movements so far, is creating a political action committee to raise funds and galvanize support for embryonic stem-cell research. Hlinko's new crusade is in response to President Bush's threat to veto legislation supporting embryonic stem-cell research
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 238-194 to fund embryonic stem-cell research using government money, and a similar bill looks likely to pass in the senate. But Bush promised that if the bill lands on his desk, he will kill it.

That got Hlinko's goat. Hlinko, vice president of marketing at PR firm Grassroots Enterprise in Washington, D.C., was already laying the groundwork for a pro-embryonic-stem-cell research PAC, but news of Bush's veto threat accelerated his efforts.

"If anyone really cares about this issue ... now is the time to put the 'ass' in 'grass roots' and get off their asses and do something," Hlinko said. "We want to very strategically do whatever is necessary to remove from office those extremists who are frankly blocking stem-cell research. Anyone putting theoretical possible life ahead of actual life is someone who should not be in office."

Hlinko plans to use many of the same tactics that helped him raise nearly $2 million in pledges for Gen. Wesley Clark's 2004 presidential campaign.

Hlinko said he recruited 50,000 volunteers and attracted more web traffic than any presidential campaign other than the one for Howard Dean. He was interviewed by major media outlets, including CNN's Crossfire and The New York Times, and increased Clark's poll rating from 1 percent when the campaign began to 22 percent when Clark announced his candidacy.
"This effort will make very heavy use of the internet to go after these candidates," Hlinko said. "We will be extremely aggressive, extremely efficient and extremely creative."

Source: "Wired," 06/25/2005

If stem cell research is important to you, you can see what all the grassroots hullaballoo is about at http://www.stempac.com/

Lynxes are cuter than Holiday Inns

The owners of the Castle Mountain Ski Resort in southern Alberta are forging ahead with plans to turn their small ski area in the heart of the Castle Wilderness into a year-round complex of hotels, restaurants, parking lots, roads and more than 200 private homes. Provincial officials have raised concerns about the far-reaching impacts of the expansion on the region's abundant fish and wildlife. Lynx, wolverines, sheep, elk and moose roam the Castle's windswept grasslands and old-growth pine, fir and spruce forests, which provide expansive ranges for grizzly bears, wolves and other imperiled Rocky Mountain wildlife. Yet the resort has ignored its obligation to assess the impacts of its proposal on sensitive habitat, including a protected wetlands area that sustains endangered bull trout.

The grizzly bear havens of Yellowstone, Glacier/Waterton, and Banff national parks are world famous. What is less well known is the land bridge -- including the Castle-Bighorn wildlands -- that links these sanctuaries and keeps the parks' grizzlies healthy. Grizzly bears are wide-ranging creatures. They need as much as 500 square miles for foraging and breeding in order to sustain healthy family lines. Without the grizzlies' ability to lumber along unprotected stretches of the Rockies, biologists say, the bear populations in national parks would become genetically isolated and unsustainable islands.

A similar fate would befall the wolves, wolverines and other endangered animals that also need the land bridge to remain healthy. This wilderness corridor may be the key to survival for several species, but it is almost as vulnerable as they are. The Castle Mountain Ski Resort is planning an expansion, including new houses, hotels and roads, that would intrude into the heart of the Castle Wilderness. This region is a critical feeding ground for grizzlies, as the bears come down from the mountains in search of early spring greenery, and even more so in the fall for the berry crops.

Tell the Castle Mountain Resort to halt the proposed expansion until a comprehensive environmental review has been completed and to lend its support to protection of the Castle Wilderness as a provincial wildland park.

http://www.savebiogems.org/castle/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52826

Source: Natural Resources Defense Council

Better than a Disney Lion

Police in Ethiopia say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of the country.

The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her.

“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo.

“If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage,” he said.“Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people.”

Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said that it was likely that the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma of her attack.

“A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn’t eat her,” Williams said. “Otherwise they probably would have done.”

The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was “shocked and terrified” and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings.

Police have caught four of the men, but are still looking for three others.

The United Nations estimates that more than 70% of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practised in rural areas where the majority of the country’s 71 million people live.

Ethiopia’s lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country’s national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency. Former emperor Haile Selassie kept a pride in the royal palace in Addis Ababa.

Despite their integral place in Ethiopian culture, their numbers have been falling as farmers encroach on bush land. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.

Source: BreakingNews.ie, 06/21/2005

Yet another example of how animals are more humane than people. And I don´t believe that the lions thought the girl was a cub. Cats are a little sharper than that. Animals are very very perceptive; they can distinguish between adults and children of other species, and they can spot signs of aggression from a mile away. I think these cats knew that this was a defenseless creature that was being harassed and decided to help her. And yes, I think animals are capable of making decisions!

The Ice Cream Man Presents: Irony 101

Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., Republican from North Carolina, led the way by introducing a bipartisan resolution calling for President Bush to come up with a plan by the end of this year to withdraw the troops from Iraq, and for the withdrawal to start no later than October of 2006.[1] Rep. Jones became famous for changing the name of the french fries in the congressional cafeteria to "Freedom Fries" when France came out against invading Iraq. He also represents Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune, where many new recruits go for basic training, so it is significant that he is publicly breaking with Bush policy.[2]

This is how quagmires like this end. First the public support drops, and polls already show Americans' support for this war declining.[3] Next, Congress begins to pressure the administration to come up with a way out. That is what this resolution does. Finally, if the administration continues to fight calls for withdrawal, Congress pulls the plug on the money. That is how the war in Vietnam eventually ended. To push this process along, we need members of Congress to join the two Republicans and two Democrats introducing this resolution.

Please send a message to your congressperson asking him or her to sign on and vote for it. http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/Iraq_Resolution

From an email sent by True Majority (Ben Cohen´s , of Ben and Jerry´s fame, organization) on June 16, 2005.

The Empire of Vulgarity

By Mike Carlton

(This is half a year old, but it´s still an excellent editorial worth a quick read)

George Bush's second inaugural extravaganza was every bit as repugnant as I had expected, a vulgar orgy of triumphalism probably unmatched since Napoleon crowned himself emperor of the French in Notre Dame in 1804.

The little Corsican corporal had a few decent victories to his escutcheon. Lodi, Marengo, that sort of thing. Not so this strutting Texan mountebank, with his chimpanzee smirk and his born-again banalities delivered in that constipated syntax that sounds the way cold cheeseburgers look, and his grinning plastic wife, and his scheming junta of neo-con spivs, shamans, flatterers and armchair warmongers, and his sinuous evasions and his brazen lies, and his sleight of hand theft from the American poor, and his rape of the environment, and his lethal conviction that the world must submit to his Pax Americana or be bombed into charcoal.

Difficult to know what was more repellent: the estimated $US40 million cost of this jamboree (most of it stumped up by Republican fat-cats buying future presidential favours), or the sheer crassness of its excess when American boys are dying in the quagmire of Bush's very own Iraq war.

Other wartime presidents sought restraint. Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address in 1865 - "with malice toward none, with charity for all" - is the shortest ever. And he had pretty much won the Civil War by that time.

In 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt opened his fourth-term speech with the "wish that the form of this inauguration be simple and its words brief". He spoke for a couple of eloquent minutes, then went off to a light lunch, his wartime victory almost complete as well.

But restraint is not a Dubya word. Learning nothing, the dumbest and nastiest president since the scandalous Warren Harding died in 1923, Bush is now intent on expanding the Iraq war to neighbouring Iran.

Condoleezza Rice did admit to the US Senate this week that there had been some "not so good" decisions. But the more I see of her gleaming teeth and her fibreglass helmet of hair and her perky confidence, the more I am convinced that back in the '60s she used to be Cindy Birdsong, up there beside Diana Ross as one of the Supremes of Motown fame. I don't think it's a good idea to let her make a comeback as Secretary of State.

The war in Iran is under way already, if we believe Seymour Hersh, the distinguished investigative writer for The New Yorker magazine.

Hersh reported this week that clandestine US special forces have been on the ground there, targeting nuclear facilities to be bombed whenever Bush feels the time is ripe.

"The immediate goals of the attacks would be to destroy, or at least temporarily derail, Iran's ability to go nuclear," he wrote, quoting reliable intelligence sources.

"But there are other, equally purposeful, motives at work. The government consultant told me that the hawks in the Pentagon, in private discussions, have been urging a limited attack on Iran because they believe it could lead to a toppling of the religious leadership."

Naturally, Pentagon flacks rushed out to deny all. But then they did that when Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, and again when he revealed the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. A tussle for the truth between Hersh and the Pentagon is no contest.

What terrifies me most is the people planning this new war. The CIA professionals have been frozen out: too weak and wimpy for the Bushies. The Defence Secretary, the incompetent Donald Rumsfeld, has seized control, aided by two Pentagon under-secretaries. One is Douglas Feith, a mad-eyed Zionist largely responsible for the post-invasion collapse of order in Iraq, a civilian bureaucrat memorably described by the former Centcom commander, General Tommy Franks, as "the f---ing stupidest guy on the face of the Earth."

The other is army Lieutenant General William G. (Jerry) Boykin, whose name also rings a bell. Jerry is a born-again Christian evangelical, a three-star bigot who, in his spare time, stumps the country in full uniform, preaching that America's enemy is Satan, Allah is a false idol, and that George Bush has been ordained by the Lord to rout evil.

"He's in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this," Jerry told a prayer meetin' in Oregon just a while back.

Be very afraid.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, 01/21/2005

How sick is this?

The World Labor Organization reported that close to 250 million childern work in the world, 73 million of which are younger than 10. The majority of child laborers reside in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific. They generally work in the agricultural, hunting and fishing sectors. Each year, 22,000 children die in labor related accidents.

Source: Que!, Madrid, Spain, 06/13/2005, Pg. 13

Yet another wonderful animated short on the web

Synopsis: Privatization - A Dream Come True? Think Again! If the Bush administration has its way, our nightmares may just begin. Even a shrewd businessman like old Scrooge couldn't imagine what may happen to Social Security under the scheme to privatize Social Security. So we thought we'd take him - and YOU - on a little journey to the future.

http://www.faithfulamerica.org/scrooge.html

The government is trying to destroy our oceans AGAIN

There is a proposal in Congress to allow seismic testing along our entire coastline to explore for oil and gas (Hmmmm...could that have anything to do with the Bush family´s financial and business interests. Haliburton, are you in on this?). Seismic blasts have a decibel level of 260 - that's more than twice as loud as an ambulance siren! Whales, dolphins and other marine mammals rely on their sense of hearing to navigate, to locate food and to communicate with each other. Exposure to this level of sound can cause deafening disorientation and can lead to permanent damage, brain hemorrhaging and even cause entire pods of whales and dolphins to beach.

The Senate will vote on this dangerous clause TODAY, so your help is urgently needed.

Write a letter at http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=53

World´s Most Inane Study

Wheeling Jesuit University has completed a study that claims that different odors can effect how one drives. Smells were divided into two categories: Dangerous and Beneficial.
See how your favorite odors stacked up:

Dangerous
The smell of french fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, fast food in general (These smells can, according to the study, make drivers angry. Shoot, I´d be angry too if I was made to smell tastey, fatty foods while stuck in traffic unable to eat any of it. Drivers on a diet must be even more at risk of getting pissy.)
Lavander
Jasmine
Chamomile (Aren´t these last three smells supposed to be soothing? That´s what the tea companies have been selling for ages.)
Bread (WHAT?! No way, that´s the best smell ever, but then again, I´m not on Atkins)
Precooked Foods
Farts (Particularly the silent but deadly kind)

Benefical
Coffee
Lemon
Strawberry
Pine trees (The study shows that both strawberries and pine trees reduce aggresiveness - I guess that´s understandable. When was the last time a pine tree or a stawberry flipped you off when you drove by?)
Cinnamon
Mint (Supposedly, it increases your ability to concentrate. Let´s start feeding it to kids with ADD.)
Seawater
Other neutral smells (like farts)

Source: Qué! Madrid, Spain, 06/13/2005, Pg. 13

How sick is this?

Yesterday, six hijackers in Siem Reap, Cambodia, held a teacher and a group of 29 students, aged 2 to 6 and of various nationalities, hostage for six hours at the city´s international school. A violent shoot out with police ended the hijacking, but it was too late for Maxim Michalik, a Canadian two year old, who was murdered when the hijackers were not given what they asked for. Two of the hijackers died in the shoot out and four were arrested.

Source: 20 Minutos, Madrid, Spain, 06/17/2005, Pg.6

Smoking = XX

A team from the Valencian Infertility Institute in Spain have found that 73% of embryos fertilized by men who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day are female. Apparently, tobacco favors the X chromosome when it comes to fertilizing an embryo. However, nicotine in women does not effect the sex of the embryo.

Now there´s a good reason for men to smoke more and women to smoke less.

Source: 20 Minutos, Madrid, Spain, 06/17/2005, Pg. 9

Time to let go (or Mom, stop fooling around with the mobile phone)

Granada, Spain

Filomena Gómez died of cancer two years ago at the age of 55. However, according to her family, she´s spent the past week communicating with them from the grave via mobile phone. Apparently, she wants them to take the cross that they burried her with off of her chest. So, of course, her family has shown up in court to request permition to exhume her remains. The stunned judge let Filomena´s family members have their say and listened to sounds recorded on the phone. According to her daughters, their mother is saying "Ven, ven, la cruz" (Come, come, the cross). The judge ended up sending them to a priest, deeming the case outside of his jurisdiction.

Source: 20 Minutos, Madrid, Spain, 06/17/2005, Pg. 6

VICTORY

The American House of Representatives rejected Bush´s attempt to extend the Patriot act, giving government agencies access to the lists of books that we´ve bought at bookstores and checked out at the library. Which makes the world a much safer place for fans of Al Franken and Michael Moore books.

How sick is this?

A 23 year old Romanian Orthodox nun died yesterday (06/16/2005) in a monastary in Tanacu (Northeast Romania) after being crucified by a priest and four nuns that claimed that she was possessed by the devil. She was tied with changes and deprived of food for three days.

Source: 20 Minutos, Madrid, Spain, 06/17/2005, Pg. 7

Fun with Politics and the Ice Cream Man

I received this movie from True Majority Action, an amazing Anti-Bush group, run by Ben Cohen, Co-Founder of Ben & Jerry´s Ice Cream. Ben´s an awesome guy (he looks like Santa Claus), and this organization has put out some really cool multi-media projects to "spread the good word." Here´s one of them. Hopefully it´s still available for viewing.

http://www.truemajority.org/bensbbs/

And for a whole lot of fun, try this interactive animated film:

http://www.truemajority.org/oreos/

How this all came to be

Most of you reading this right now probably know me, and hopefully, some of you don´t. Now I have a reason to introduce myself. I am La Justa, that über liberal creative type, spawned by Air America, George Bush´s dictatorship, punk rock, an urban, single parent upbringing and George Bush´s "democratic" second term. I´m an idealist and probably even a romantic (for as much as I´d hate to admit it). I don´t have money or connections or power, so I try to do my fair share of making the world a better place through education, sarcasm and a biting wit. But I´ve grown tired of sharing ideas and tidbits of strange information that I pick up traveling the world solely with friends and family (plus I think my information overload mass emails annoy them). I want my public forum. A place where people can come willingly to be entertained and informed. I want my own space to write about what makes me tick and what I think makes the world go round. I want you to laugh. I want you to be outraged. I want you to be pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised, because, afterall, surprises are what remind us we´re alive.
A long time ago I read a book about "pulp fiction," those racey, drugstore paperback, murder mysteries that were considered trash reading, but for as trashy as they may have been, their low grade, grainy paper captured popular American culture in a way no other medium has. And some of those stories were beautifully written works of art at bargain basement prices that inspire me even today. Everything that´s fit to print is fit to print on pulp.
Welcome to La Justa Pulp.