How bright are you?

Wow, I just watched an Oprah that was good. A guy was in a terrible plane crash, he saw a lot of people die from the fire that almost took his life. He said that he could see auras leaving their bodies, some brighter than others. He knew that the brighter ones had lived their lives in a better way. He said now he tries to make his aura as bright as possible and he believes in life after death. Which he did not believe in before the crash.

In the shape of a heart

It was a ruby that she wore
On a chain around her neck
In the shape of a heart
In the shape of a heart
It was a time I wont forget
For the sorrow and regret
And the shape of a heart
And the shape of a heart
I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without

People speak of love dont know what theyre thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of belief and belonging
Try to fit some name to their longing
People speak of love

There was a hole left in the wall
From some ancient fight
About the size of a fist
Or something thrown that had missed
And there were other holes as well
In the house where our nights fell
Far too many to repair
In the time that we were there

People speak of love dont know what theyre thinking of
Reach out to each other though the push and shove
Speak in terms of a life and the learning
Try to think of a word for the burning

You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
What breaches and faults are concealed
In the shape of a heart

It was the ruby that she wore
On a stand beside the bed
In the hour before dawn
When I knew she was gone
And I held it in my hand
For a little while
And dropped it into the wall
Let it go, heard it fall

I guess I never knew
What she was talking about
I guess I never knew
What she was living without
People speak of love dont know what theyre thinking of
Wait around for the one who fits just like a glove
Speak in terms of a life and the living
Try to find the word for forgiving

You keep it up
You try so hard
To keep a life from coming apart
And never know
The shallows and the unseen reefs
That are there from the start
In the shape of a heart


Jackson has said that he wrote "In The Shape Of A Heart" about his first wife, Phyllis. The song became Jackson's first Top 10 song on Billboard Magazine's Top Adult Contemporary Charts, where it stayed on the chart for 13 weeks! The B-side of the single was a non-album track; a recording of Little Steven's "Voice Of America." This recording is not available on any Jackson Browne album or CD.

Billions

People living in the street, not enough for them to eat.
Being president sure is neat, another soldier turned to meat.
Should I start another war? Or raise the taxes on the poor?
I can't believe the decision's mine. I think I'll snort another line!

Kids in the hall

The war on alcohol

Total Expenditure on Distilled Spirits as a Percentage of Total Alcohol Sales (1890-1960)

A must try

Boulevard Brewing Company

Brewed since ? in United States of America

3.6 % alc. vol.

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer, available since 2000 both in bottles and on draught, is a lively, refreshing ale with a citrusy flavor and distinctive cloudy appearance. Our Unfiltered Wheat is reminiscent of the wheat beers that were brewed at the turn of the century, before the advent of modern filtration.

I really like this beer, try it.

Jungle Woman

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia's "jungle woman" smiled for the first time, showing a childlike appreciation for a puppet show put on by a visiting Spanish psychologist, the man who claims to be her father said Wednesday.

Hector Rifa, a doctor of psychology from Spain's University of Oviedo, was spending several days with the woman in the hope of unraveling some of the mystery surrounding her since she emerged from the forest Jan. 13, naked and unable to speak, after what may have been nearly two decades in the wild.

Rifa is the first foreign medical professional to meet the woman who may be 27-year-old Rochom P'ngieng, who disappeared in the jungles of Cambodia's northeastern Rattanakiri province while herding water buffaloes when she was 8.

"He put on a short puppet show, and my daughter smiled," Sal Lou, who claims to be the woman's father, said by phone from Rattanakiri's Oyadao district.

"He sang and danced" to try to cheer her up, he said. When asked if this was the woman's first smile since the family took her in, he replied: "Yes."

Sal Lou's family, members of Cambodia's Pnong ethnic minority, say they are certain the woman is Rochom P'ngieng because of a childhood scar on her right arm.

With no other evidence supporting their claim and others have speculated that the woman may have a history of mental troubles and simply became lost in the jungle much more recently.

Villagers began calling her "jungle woman" after she emerged from the forest walking like a monkey. She pats her stomach when hungry and uses animal-like grunts to communicate.

Rifa said more tests were needed to make any assessment about her identity.

His puppet show, which he performed Tuesday evening, featured two bears.

"One is supposed to be a mother and another is a child. They play different roles," Rifa said.

"We are trying to know what is the perception, how she reacts, communicates, her position in the family," said Rifa, who plans to spend several days with the family.

Rifa has been working with indigenous people in Rattanakiri province over the past four years for the Spain-based group Psychologists Without Borders.

He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he thinks the woman's behavior simply shows she is having difficulty adapting to normal life, as would be expected of someone who had been lost in the jungle for an extended period of time.

Anyone returning from almost two decades away from normal society would certainly need time to readjust, he said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

If we could ask the president

[PRESIDENT BUSH DURING "STATE OF THE STATES STATEMENT"]

"Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the federal government, and balance the federal budget."

"Mr. President!"
"Aren't the war in Iraq and the war on drugs the things with the biggest spending appetite?" "Shouldn't they be restrained?"
"And wasn't the budget pretty much balanced when you got here?"

"Next question!"

[The president is reminded that no questions are permitted during the STATE OF THE STATES STATEMENT]

"I could have lied" Red Hot Chili Peppers

There must be something
In the way I feel
That she dont want me to feel
The stare she bares cut me
I dont care
You see so what if I bleed

I could never change
Just what I feel
My face will never show
What is not real

A mountain never seems to have
The need to speak
A look that shares so many seek
The sweetest feeling
I got from you
The things I said to you were true

I could never change
Just what I feel
My face will never show
What is not real

I could have lied Im such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but Im fucked up now

But now shes gone yes shes gone away
A soulful song
That would not stay
You see she hides cause she is scared
But I dont care
I wont be spared

I could have lied Im such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but Im fucked up now

I could have lied Im such a fool
My eyes could never never never
Keep their cool
Showed her and I told her how
She struck me but Im fucked up now

Brain Transplant or Body Transplant?

I was reading junebugg's blog she said something about laser surgery and a trendy spa. It made me think about the future. What if they got very good at brain transplants? When a persons body started getting too old, they could just pop their brain out and slap it in a newer body. But where would they get the bodies?

"Our top story tonight, The string of disappearances continues as two more high school cheerleaders have turned up missing."

Darfur waits

The people of Darfur patiently wait for the results of the Golden Globe awards.

French Maids

Dirty Blvd.

Pedro lives out of the wilshire hotel
He looks out a window without glass
The walls are made of cardboard, newspapers on his feet
His father beats him cause hes too tired to beg

Hes got 9 brothers and sisters
Theyre brought up on their knees
Its hard to run when a coat hanger beats you on the thighs
Pedro dreams of being older and killing the old man
But thats a slim chance hes going to the boulevard

Hes going to end up, on the dirty boulevard
Hes going out, to the dirty boulevard
Hes going down, to the dirty boulevard

This room cost 2,000 dollars a month
You can believe it man its true
Somewhere a landlords laughing till he wets his pants
No one here dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer or anything
They dream of dealing on the dirty boulevard

Give me your hungry, your tired your poor Ill piss on em
Thats what the statue of bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, lets club em to death
And get it over with and just dump em on the boulevard

Get to end up, on the dirty boulevard
Going out, to the dirty boulevard
Hes going down, on the dirty boulevard
Going out

Outside its a bright night
Theres an opera at lincoln center
Movie stars arrive by limousine
The klieg lights shoot up over the skyline of manhattan
But the lights are out on the mean streets

A small kid stands by the lincoln tunnel
Hes selling plastic roses for a buck
The traffics backed up to 39th street
The tv whores are calling the cops out for a suck

And back at the wilshire, pedro sits there dreaming
Hes found a book on magic in a garbage can
He looks at the pictures and stares at the cracked ceiling
At the count of 3 he says, I hope I can disappear

And fly fly away, from this dirty boulevard
I want to fly, from dirty boulevard
I want to fly, from dirty boulevard
I want to fly-fly-fly-fly, from dirty boulevard

I want to fly away
I want to fly
Fly, fly away
I want to fly
Fly-fly away (fly a-)
Fly-fly-fly (-way, ooohhh...)
Fly-fly away (I want to fly-fly away)
Fly away (I want to fly, wow-woh, no, fly away)

Black Bush

Is illegal immigration is a serious problem?

The latest telephone poll taken by the office of the Governor
of Texas asked whether people who live in Texas think illegal
immigration is a serious problem:

A) 35% of respondents answered: "Yes, it is a serious
problem."

B) 65% of respondents answered: "No es una problema serio."

Bob chills as he warms by the fire.

M #1 $ n U.S.

Marijuana U.S.'s Top Cash Crop, New Study Finds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Marijuana is now the most valuable cash crop in the U.S., exceeding the value of corn and wheat combined, according to a new study released today. This is so despite decades of marijuana "eradication" campaigns in which over 100 million marijuana plants have been destroyed. (December 18, 2006)

Still Here

Well, so far so good. We've had freezing rain most of the day, the electricity is still on but I doubt that it will last through this whole storm which should be over Sunday night, I think. Okc got mostly sleet but we are getting freezing rain, the kind that builds up on power lines. I was surprised to see that the storm is stretching clear up by Chicago. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were suppose to have a concert in the City (OKC) tonight but they cancelled it, thank God. My daughters boyfriend won forth row floor tickets and I wasn't looking forward to telling her that she couldn't go in this weather. I better go check on the fire and bring in my harvest of beer from the local stores, better safe than tex without beer!

Is that you? Or the Toxoplasma talking?

There is something living in the brain cells of 60 million Americans. It is a parasite that can alter brain chemestry. When this parasite Toxoplasma gondii alters the brains of rats, they are more likely to seek out cats. This also makes the parasite more likely to end up in a cat. Here's the scarey part, cats are the only host in which it can complete the reproductive step of its life cycle.

Studies over the past few years have suggested that toxoplasmosis infections in humans, too, may cause behavioral changes-from subtle shifts to outright schizophrenia. An earlier study showed that the infection more than doubles the odds of a person having a traffic accident.

Neuroticism- (Can be defined as an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and depression) has been linked to the parasite in 39 countries.

It is also having an odd effect on sex ratios. Normal is 104 males to 100 females.
Sex ratios of those with the parasite are 260 males to 100 females.

"This study was rejected by eight jornals, usually without any formal review." says parasiteologist Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague. "People don't like the idea that their behavior and life are being manipulated by a parasite he says.

Help stop the escalation

SEND YOUR COMMENT TO CONGRESS

Petition: No Escalation in Iraq

President Bush is about to propose to send more troops to Iraq and escalate the war. This would make things worse--getting us deeper into the quagmire. The American people sent a message in November that they want an end to the war. We, the undersigned, believe...
"Congress must act to block Bush's escalation in Iraq. We need a responsible end to the war, not an escalation."


Dear Representative and Senators,

(Your personal note)

I am opposed to an escalation of the U.S. occupation in Iraq as President Bush is reportedly considering. Escalation is the wrong answer and should be off the table. Instead we should be working to end the war and start a responsible exit. The Congress should block the president's escalation. I urge you to support legislation that would do that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We're always bitching about Bush, now's our chance to do something!
I already signed it. Tex

530 distinguished economists agree with tex

Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year, finds a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University.

The report has been endorsed by more than 530 distinguished economists, who have signed an open letter to President Bush and other public officials calling for "an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition," adding, "We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods."

Chief among the endorsing economists are three Nobel Laureates in economics: Dr. Milton Friedman of the Hoover Institute, Dr. George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Vernon Smith of George Mason University.

Dr. Miron's paper, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition," concludes:
**Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement -- $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels.

**Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco.

These impacts are considerable, according to the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. For example, $14 billion in annual combined annual savings and revenues would cover the securing of all "loose nukes" in the former Soviet Union (estimated by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb at $30 billion) in less than three years. Just one year's savings would cover the full cost of anti-terrorism port security measures required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. The Coast Guard has estimated these costs, covering 3,150 port facilities and 9,200 vessels, at $7.3 billion total.

"As Milton Friedman and over 500 economists have now said, it's time for a serious debate about whether marijuana prohibition makes any sense," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "We know that prohibition hasn't kept marijuana away from kids, since year after year 85% of high school seniors tell government survey-takers that marijuana is 'easy to get.' Conservatives, especially, are beginning to ask whether we're getting our money's worth or simply throwing away billions of tax dollars that might be used to protect America from real threats like those unsecured Soviet-era nukes."

Well, fuck me a runnin' backwards up a tree!
I like to think I'm pretty good at knowing rock groups and the songs they play. When I use to drive the inmates they would try to stump me with songs on the radio. "Who does this song?" I hardly ever missed any. But I'm glad "Sunshine of your smile" never came on, I would have bet money that it was THE DOORS. Now I know that it was CREAM. I always really liked the words too "It's getting near dawn, when lights close their tired eyes."

Mondays

Being off on Mondays isn't too bad, I get to skip the most dreaded day of the week.
Of course Tuesdays are my Mondays but still doesn't seem to have the awesome negative power of Mondays. The weather men are predicting rain changing to freezing rain Saturday. Freezing rain are still bad words around here, we got hit hard in 2001 (I think that was the year) by an ice storm. I wish I would have recorded the sounds. There was no electricity for about 5 days, and no traffic so it was very quiet until you would hear a creaking in the trees. The sound would slowly increase to a cracking and then the sound of a huge limb falling toward the ground, taking out other limbs and branches on the way down, the ice sounded a little like glass breaking. I don't think it would be near as bad now because the storm took out most of the weak trees and limbs. But it would still suck to be without electricity. I'm a bit of a survivalist (which seems to also be a bad word these days) I don't know why. "What's his problem, he wants he and his family to survive, what a dope!"
We have gas heat, not the kind that needs electricity. We have a fireplace and fire wood, guns and ammo, we're ready for just about anything. I guess that might sound a little paranoid. "OH MY GOD! SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR!"

Monday Garden Report

It's dead!

Jailed 41 Months for trying to help others

Stephanie Landa to be Jailed 41 Months in San Francisco Thursday
RALLY AT NOON, January 4th at the SF federal building for 60 year old woman to go to jail January 4 for 41 months in federal prison for growing 1,500 plants

Stephanie Landa

San Francisco, CA (January 3, 2007) – “ The last thing this country needs is another medical marijuana prisoner. The federal government needs to fix the bankrupt and hypocritical policies that have led to this miscarriage of justice,” states Dale Gieringer of California NORML and one of the speakers at the upcoming rally for Stephanie Landa, a 60-year old, non-violent mother and caregiver to her elderly mother, who will begin a 41-month prison sentence on Thursday, January 4, 2007, at 12 p.m. for the cultivation of medical cannabis in the city of San Francisco. “The Bush administration is wasting taxpayers' money by imprisoning victimless offenders like Stephanie,” Gieringer adds.

Advocates, supporters and government officials are scheduled to gather and speak Thursday, January 4, 2007, at the San Francisco Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, at 10:30 a.m. A press conference will begin at 11 a.m. and the media is strongly encouraged to hear statements from community leaders and ask questions.

"I am not a criminal. I'm a mom and a medical marijuana patient and I was trying to help others," states Landa. She contends that before she started a medical marijuana patient garden in the sanctuary city, she spoke with government authorities, received their permission and a set of guidelines from local police. “I feel entrapped. If I go to jail, we should all go to jail,” Landa states.

“Lt. Martin Halloran has an established pattern and practice of harassment of qualified patients in San Francisco which is in direct conflict with our city’s sanctuary status,” states Shona Gochenaur, Executive Director of the San Francisco-based patient advocacy organization Axis of Love.

SFPD officer Halloran conducted the raid on the patient garden in 2002, later cooperating with feds arguing his status with the DEA required he do so. “This case illuminates the cross deputization of law enforcement,” Gochenaur continues, citing it as one of the largest concerns of the patient community.

Allison Margolin, counsel for Landa, states, “the 9th Circuit's decision … highlights the hypocrisy of a system that seems only pretending to be concerned about justice.” Landa has been out on her own recognizance and on an appeal until U.S. District Judge William Alsup remanded Landa last month to complete a 41-month prison sentence. Margolin argues, “given the context of the appeal… she might get no time, what's the justice of putting her in custody to await that decision.”

Landa will surrender herself to federal authorities by or before 12 p.m. “We plan to shower her with flowers, love and gratitude before she turns herself in - an appropriate send off for this peaceful, loving, San Francisco flower-child of the 60’s,” states Degé Coutee of the Patient Advocacy Network, medical cannabis education and advocacy organization in Los Angeles. “We will continue to work on ending this nightmare.”

“With San Francisco’s new lowest law enforcement policy on marijuana, we certainly should not be wasting money on victimless, non-violent crimes,” concludes Landa.

Stephanie Landa's website is www.stephanielanda.com

************************************************
Patient Advocacy Network
Cultivating Knowledge and Understanding
Contact: Degé Coutee
323/334-5282
patientadvocates@riseup.net

More information can be found at www.stephanielanda.com. Attorney Allison Margolin can be reached at 323/653-1850 or you can contact the Patient Advocacy Network at the above.

Full Access

Cheerleaders from McKinney

By Gretel C. Kovach and Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
Updated: 3:37 p.m. MT Jan 2, 2007

Jan. 2, 2007 - The pictures posted on MySpace.com looked like the latest installment of "Girls Gone Wild." In them, cheerleaders from McKinney North High School in Texas exhibited all variety of bawdy behavior. One shot showed a bikini-clad girl sharing a bottle of booze with a friend. Another featured a cheerleader and several other girls in risqué poses offering glimpses of their panties. But the most infamous photo of all was taken in a Condoms To Go store. Five smiling cheerleaders dressed in uniform posed with large candles shaped like penises. At least one of them appeared to be simulating fellatio. "It would be an overstatement to describe any of the photographs as pornographic, but it would be an understatement to describe them as harmless high jinks," wrote Harold Jones, a lawyer hired by the school district to investigate the incident. "Quite frankly, I personally found it 'creepy'."

UFO sighting at O'Hare

Airline employees report UFO sighting at O'Hare; FAA unconvinced

Associated Press
Published January 1, 2007, 9:48 AM CST


CHICAGO -- Call it a close encounter of the O'Hare kind.

Some airline workers reported seeing a mysterious, elliptical-shaped craft over O'Hare International Airport last fall but say their bosses and the government wouldn't take them seriously.


The Federal Aviation Administration has dismissed the reported Nov. 7 sighting by United Airlines employees as a likely weather phenomenon.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said there is no record of the UFO report and company officials don't recall discussing any such incident.

That doesn't sit well with the employees, who are upset that neither United nor the FAA investigated the incident.

A group of workers, including pilots, told the Chicago Tribune on condition of anonymity in remarks published Monday that they saw a dark gray, flying saucer-like object hover motionless in the sky above the United terminal around 4:30 p.m. that day.

After several minutes, the object -- described variously at 6 feet to 24 feet in diameter -- bolted noiselessly upward through thick clouds so powerfully that it left an eerie hole in the clouds.

The FAA acknowledged that a United supervisor called its air-traffic control tower at O'Hare, asking if controllers had spotted a spinning disc-shaped object. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said no controllers saw it and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," she said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low (cloud) ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things."

Funny is just how some controllers in the tower view the incident.

"To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," said O'Hare controller and union official Craig Burzych.

------

Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com




Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press