This has been a depressing week. Everytime I wake up in the morning I find that the death toll figures from southern Asian has increased ten or twenty thousand from the previous evening. When will this come to an end? Oh so many questions! Will they be able to get relief supplies in quick enough to help? Will they be able to control possible outbreaks of deadly diseases? Will they be able to account for everyone (probably not on this one)? The world has not seen anything like this in the modern era. I suppose the "black death" in Europe during the middle ages comes closest in so far as death and injury goes.

I feel so helpless here. I have made two donations so far (Red Cross and Mercy Corps) and would like to do more. Perhaps when I get to Bangkok next week I will have a better idea of what I do to help.

Now I have heard from everyone I know in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. That is a relief. Although those areas are far away from the zone of disaster caused by the tsunami, I worried that someone might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now I know my friends are fine.

It is a tragedy however, that so many others will not be able to say that. I think one of the worst problems for many people will be that their loves ones have never been found or identified so in effect, they just disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Now the so-called experts here are debating whether or not that could happen here. There is a fault off the west coast of the U.S. which has been inactive for 300 years and is now "due" for movement. Some experts are worried that the northwestern U.S. coastline could suffer a similar fate as well. These sort of things combined with increased population and habitation of coastlines and rising sea levels due to global warming, are adding to the dangers of natural phenomena.

In reference to my friends in Thailand,I still have not heard from Anant. I am now beginning to worry. Hopefully he is just slow to respond but I don't think this is the case since I specifically asked him to respond if only with "Hi...I am fine". If I do not hear by tomorrow morning our time, I will try to call hoping that his mobile phone number has not changed. If there is no answer I really will be in the dark. He is one of my primary contacts for my visit beginning on the 6th of January. This wouldn't change my plans but it would sadden me greatly if he is a victim of this disaster.

The Christmas weekend was wonderful. I had a great time visiting with friends Oakland and we had a very nice dinner. Our group was smaller this year as several people were out of town or otherwise committed to other events.

The news on Sunday about the earthquake and tsunami in South Asia ruined the otherwise great weekend. It does not seem possible that so many people could be victims to one event over such a wide area. It will undoubtedly take many months to get back on a normal footing but for those who lost relatives and friends in this disaster, things may never get back to normal.

I know a few people in Thailand and I have heard from all except one. They are fine but I am beginning to worry about the one who has not responded to my e-mail. None live in the effected areas but there was a chance that someone could have been in the wrong area at the wrong time. I hope that Anant is simply slow to respond to my e-mail as usual but then perhaps he has friends or relatives in the stricken areas. Right now I don't know.

I will be returning to Thailand soon but this journey like my others is to Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I have never been a beach person. Now I have an additional reason for not being one.

The news was a downer on Sunday and the gray gloomy skies plus the chill in the air made for a miserable day. The heavy rains last night and today however, have helped to moderate the temperatures somewhat so it is not as bad now.

The rains are predicted to continue most of the week so New Year's Eve is somewhat iffy at this moment. Maybe there will be a few lingering showers but hopefully we will not have anything like the heavy rain we had most of last night and today.

If you did not read the previous posting here, I would like to just point you in the direction of two important websites that need your full attention if we are to take back control of this country from the Rebublican leeches and money interests in the corporate world.

Buy Blue

Choose the Blue

Check them out - PLEASE.

As usual, Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle, writes about some important topics which need everyone's attention. This morning's column about the businesses in this country which are sucking up to the Republican leeches is an especially good one. You can read it here by clicking here. My biggest disappointment, so far, is that Amazon.com is one of them. A big boo on them.

Question: If Social Security is not taking in enough money to sustain itself, how is diverting contributions by workers and employers to stocks and bonds going to help the bottom line of Social Security Savings? Hello! If you put less into the program, it will go broke even sooner but I guess that dumb jerk we have in the White House failed simple math as well as everything else.

This is the season of giving...giving out death penalties that is. Yes, heinous crimes have been committed however unless one believes in the "Old Law" of a eye for an eye, how do you justify executing a person? That is really the quick way out. The executed then has no more to think about, no more to worry about, it is finished. Given a life sentence in prison, however, will provide plenty of opportunity to think about what has been done. Life in prison is far worse than laying down on a table, having someone stick a needle into your arm and then going to sleep forever. If these believers in the death penalty really want to punish the offenders, why don't they promote Life Without Possibility of Parole". Instead, they are simply putting the poor bastards out of their misery.

There continues to be much discussion these days about the death penalty and Scott Peterson and I cannot understand the thinking of those in favor of it. Certainly if the death penalty is meant to be a deterrent to killing, it is not considering the ten or more years before it is ever carried out, if at all. Also, it is really a cop out. It is supposed to be the ultimate punishment but it is really the easy way out. So the state executes someone. End of story. His life, his suffering is over. If, on the other hand, the prisoner had been given life without the possibility of parole, he will have a long time to think about what he did and in the case of Scott Peterson, his killing of his unborn child will attract the worst of the worst in the prison system and he may not live too long anyway. How or why does the family of a murder victim feel better if the killer is executed. It certainly does not bring the victim back to life. Since this is one of the few countries still executing people you don't suppose the other countries know something we don't?

If our governor and local officials can't agree on a design for the eastern span for the Bay Bridge, perhaps they should bring in officials from France who have recently opened a spectacular new bridge in southern France.

The petty squabling of politicians here really grates on my nerves and Arnie is one of the worst.

I suppose I could say that it is all over except the shouting. Certainly the lynch mobs outside the courtroom for the Scott Peterson trial have been able to shout twice now; first following his conviction and then for the death penalty verdict.

What a waste! First you have the tragedy of someone killing Laci Peterson and her unborn child. Then you have this long drawn out trial (At least it wasn't as long as the Simpson trial.) with a death penalty verdict handed down which may never be carried out. Our court system is so screwed up that it will take years to process this and carry it out, and who knows, a subsequent court may overturn that verdict and say "life without the possibility of parole". Then, if that happens, he could be killed by a fellow inmate. This whole thing is a farce from beginning to end.

Perhaps I have been watching too many CSI programs on TV recently but I would like to say, SHOW ME THE PROOF. Even though he was convicted on circumstantial evidence, or at least that is what I have been hearing, I am wondering what happened to the DNA evidence that law enforcement agencies now hold up as the final nail in the coffin of people accused of various crimes. Was there no DNA involved in this trial? I don't remember hearing about any on the news. Or then perhaps, the waters of San Francisco Bay effectively cleansed the bodies on any DNA evidence, thereby making this a nearly perfect crime. That is, no witnesses and no DNA.

These mobs outside the courtrooms bother me greatly. Why this desire for revenge? They are lowering themselves to the level of the convicted by desiring the prisoner's execution. If the death penalty is the law of the state, so be it, by why stand outside the courthouse cheering on the decision in a particular case? That is plain sick.

We live in troubled times, very troubled times. So many people can only think kill, kill, kill. Whether it be a work of fiction with the title "Kill Bill" or the president himself talking about killing Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden. There is this obsession with the word kill. Yet, isn't one of the Ten Commandments "Thou Shalt Not Kill?" Oh, but so many "god fearing" people are going to urge that we do just that. How hyprocritical! How sick and perverted! Sometimes it so depresses me that I just want to go out and kill myself. Oops! Did I say that?

Interesting piece in the news this morning about mobile phone usage doubling since 2000. Ah, so many people saying nothing, at least that is the feeling I get when forced to listen to other people's conversations in buses, on the street corner, in the supermarket, etc. Is anything really important being said? I doubt it.

Well, here we go again. VHS vs. Beta is being relived with the DVD wars of Sony and Toshiba. Disney and apparently MGM are backing the Sony Blu-ray standard for high definition discs while Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Paramount, and Universal are backing the HD-DVD standard developed by Toshiba. Both use the blue laser technology but in a different way. Sony was responsible for Beta in the seventies, a better product, but VHS won out when most people jumped on that bandwagon for whatever reason. Now, only one or two studios have announced intention of releasing movies in Sony's Blu-ray standard while at least four have announced their intention of utilizing Toshiba's HD-DVD standard. Won't these companies ever learn?

Then down in Rio de Janeiro we have evangelical Christian politicians pushing legislation to create "conversion therapy" for LGBT people. Won't those people ever learn? They claim they are not beng homophobic but are only "offering an escape" for those who desire it. Escape? Escape from what? Would or could these heterosexuals "escape" from their sexuality? Come on folks, we are all sexual beings, period, and cannot change that. We are what we are!

Meanwhile, back on the home front, I have completed my Christmas shopping and this is probably the earliest I have ever completed it. Today, however, was a mess, with frequent heavy showers. Leaving Nordstrom's just after lunch I found it was pouring. I put up my umbrella but by the time I got across the street it had stopped so I lowered my umbrella. Within a minute it started pouring again so once again up with the umbrella. As soon as the bus arrived it stopped raining and did not start again until I got to my stop so again - up with the umbrella. It was like I was playing tag with the rain. Anyway, my next sojourn to me to Walgreens for Christmas wrapping paper, ribbons, etc. and then a stop at Cala to buy lottery tickets for tonight and Saturday. It raining off and on during that walk but not as heavily as earlier.

With my slide scanning project completed I could start with the color and black & white 35mm film strips but I think I will hold off until after the holidays. One reason is that I need to inspect all remaining boxes of photographs for any possible overlooked slides. Also, I may not have filed all of my film strips properly in which case I will have to add them to the 3-ring binder files. Hopefully, too, during the next few weeks I can complete the book of the history of Thailand that I have been slogging through for several months. It is of interest but keeping all the people, facts, and figures straight in my mind is not easy these days.

Oh well, one good thing about today's rain. It came in on the "pineapple express" so our temperatures are much milder now. No electric blanket will be needed tonight.

No more symphony concerts in my subscription series for several months now and it is even longer until the final two operas of the current season. Those won't be until June 2005.

Right now, though, it approaches bedtime so I will sign off for this time.

Perhaps it is something in the air today. Here is another phalic oriented story but this one from Italy. You can read it here.

Oops...be careful what you say?

--------------------------------

South Korea has shelved a plan to replace the English word for condom with a Korean word after a string of complaints from people with identical or similar sounding names.

The Korean Anti-AIDS Federation said it would drop the use of a suggested new word for condom, "ae-pil," which was derived from the Chinese characters for love and necessity.

The name, picked from 19,000 suggestions sent in by the public, had prompted complaints from many South Koreans with similar-sounding characters in their names, federation official Kim Hoon-soo said.

"An old lady called to complain, saying she was worried about her grandson being teased due to her name being 'condom,'" Kim said, adding the federation had dropped its push for a new name.

The federation promotes condom use in South Korea, where only 10 percent of people use condoms when having sex.

Questions actually asked in courtrooms and recorded by court reporters:

Q. Are you sexually active?
A. No, I just lie there.
--------------------------
Q. How old is your son, the one living with you?
A. Thirty-eight or thirty-five. I can't remember which.
Q. How long has he lived with you?
A. Forty-five years.
-----------------------
Q. The youngest son, the twenty year old, how old is he?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Q. Were you present when your picture was taken?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Those are just a few samples from the book "Disorder in the American Courts".

Here are some good suggestions which sailed into my email box recently which I would like to share with you.

Some things to Do Before the Inauguration:

1. Get that abortion you've always wanted.

2. Drink a nice clean glass of water.

3. Cash your social security check.

4. See a doctor of your own choosing.

5. Spend quality time with your draft age child/grandchild.

6. Visit Syria, or any foreign country for that matter.

7. Get that gas mask you've been putting off buying.

8. Hoard gasoline.

10. Borrow books from library before they're banned - Constitutional law
books, Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, Tropic of Cancer, etc.

11. If you have an idea for an art piece involving a crucifix - do it now.

12. Come out - then go back in - HURRY!

13. Jam in all the Alzheimer's stem cell research you can.

14. Stay out late before the curfews start.

16. Go see Bruce Springsteen before he has his "accident".

17. Go see Mount Rushmore before the Reagan addition.

18. Use the phrase - "you can't do that - this is America".

19. If you're white - marry a black person, if you're black - marry a white
person.

21. Take a walk in Yosemite, without being hit by a snowmobile or a
base-jumper.

22. Enroll your kid in an accelerated art or music class.

23. Start your school day without a prayer.

24. Pass on the secrets of evolution to future generations.

26. Learn French.

28. Attend a commitment ceremony with your gay friends.

29. Take a factory tour anywhere in the US.

30. Try to take photographs of animals on the endangered species list.

31. Visit Florida before the polar ice caps melt.

32. Visit Nevada before it becomes radioactive.

33. Visit Alaska before "The Big Spill".

34. Visit Massachusetts while it is still a State.

This country has really gone too far with its pettiness. Read on...

----------------

"The computer term "master/slave," which was banned as racially offensive by a Los Angeles County purchasing department, was named the most politically incorrect term of the year on Thursday.

Among other terms on the top 10 list of politically charged words and phrases, issued by the word usage group Global Language Monitor, were "non-same sex marriage" to describe heterosexual unions, "waitron" for waiter or waitress and "higher being" for God, a term some people found too religious.

"We found 'master/slave' to be the most egregious example of political correctness in 2004," said Paul JJ Payack, president of The Global Language Monitor.

"This is but one more example of the insertion of politics into every facet of modern life, down to the level of the control processes of computer technology."

In computer terminology, "master/slave" refers to primary and secondary hard disk drives. But a Los Angeles county purchasing department told vendors in late 2003 that the term was offensive and violated the region's cultural diversity. The county's department of affirmative action undertook a hunt to replace it on packages.

After a public uproar, the county backed down. Payack said that while the incident took place in late 2003, debate about it grew enormously in 2004.

The phrase "non-same sex marriage," was used by a former congressman who did not want to offend gay people by using the term traditional marriage, Payack said.

Also on the list this year were "Red Sox lover," to use in place of "Yankee hater," "progressive" for classical liberal, "incurious" rather than more impolite invectives for President Bush, "insurgents" instead of terrorists in Iraq, "baristas" for waiters, and "first year student" rather than freshman."

------------------

To me, the most irksome PC term is "waitperson". Yuck! To me, they will always be waiters no matter what their gender. These people need to get a life.

There seems to be a lively debate lately concerning evolution vs. creationism and what is being taught in our schools. Today's letters to the editor column of a local newspaper carried some excellent responses to this situation. Here is one of my favorites...

"The widespread acceptance of "creation science" is a symptom of a much larger problem ("Anti-evolution teaching gain foothold in U.S. schools," Nov. 30). Science, like democracy, depends on a willingness to understand the world and to question assumptions. The study of evolution has withstood generations of inquiry and challenge, while so-called creation science is based on assumptions that are untestable. Its proponents oppose, or even forbid, subjecting it to rigorous scrutiny.

Those who would teach creation science are asking students to reject the scientific method, the essence of scientific inquiry. They teach that the assertions of a religious text exclude the body of science based on centuries of observation and experiment. This is not science -- it's political ideology based on religious fundamentalism. Its spread shows how willing people are to deny proven facts and accept assertions that have no basis in the physical world.

When half the country accepts such fallacies -- for example, rejection of global warming evidence or the supposed connections between the Sept. 11 plotters and Iraq -- democracy is in trouble. We won't build a democratic society by teaching kids that understanding need not be based on analysis."

But then, another letter writer hit upon a point that has always bothered me about these people. The religionists always refer to God as infinite and say that he can do anything so one writer penned these thoughts regarding this matter...

"What a pathetically limited view of God it must take to see a contradiction between Darwin's theory and intelligent design. Can God not also design the rules of evolution and genetics, and let those rules play out in what we call time? Why do these chumps in the deep South persist with the Father-Christmas-in-the-sky-with puppet-strings image of creation? Why do atheists imagine that their disbelief is not God's will? "

Touche!

Subject: Announcement from Republican National Committee

The Republican National Committee announced today that the Republican Party is changing its emblem from an elephant to a condom. The committee chairman explained that the condom more clearly reflects the party's stance today, because a condom accepts inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually getting screwed.

If you are having a bad day on the job, this just might be what you need. As added advice, wash it down with a few G&Ts.  

It was another frustrating night at the San Francisco Opera. This was the last production for this year and nothing could have been duller the way they performed it. The cast for Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin was very uneven to begin with. The only voice of note was the tenor Piotr Beczala who was making his U.S. operatic debut. Elena Prokina singing Tatyana for the second time here was no better than the first time. She is fine if she sings softly and in the lower registers but she is supposed to be a dramatic soprano but when she hits the high notes singing loudly, it is an unpleasant sound she produces. My friend was not even sure what notes she was supposed to be singing.

The biggest problem and disappointment with this production however was one which has plagued this opera company for several years. It is that of cheap and/or inappropriate sets. This time they reset the action to the late 19th century however the women in the Grand Polonaise scene in the last act were dressed in huge hoop skirts and looked as if they had just flown in from "Gone With the Wind". And if this was supposed to be a fashionable house in St. Petersburg, I would hate to see what the other houses looked like. All we could see from the balcony was black walls, a few mirrors, and the very bottom of a chandalier over center stage. There was nothing on stage to give the feeling of elegance at all. It was very drab.

The earlier ballroom in Marina's house had a huge picture window. Gee, I didn't know picture windows existed in 19th Century country houses. Even the wall that remained looked more like some cheap office paneling from the 1950s. In one scene in the woods, women were hanging out the laundry between trees. Golly, I wonder how long that took to dry in the shaded forest.

The performance itself limped along with no seeming focus, as if everyone were in some sort of dream. So SFO has once again ruined one of my favorite operas. Pamela Rosenberg, the current general director is leaving in 2006 and her departure can't come soon enough for me.

At least there is the San Francisco Symphony across the street which provides for more consistent enjoyment but this Friday they outdid themselves with a program that was completely satifsying from beginning to end. An early work by Debussy (Printemps, Suite symphonique) began the program and sounded more like Tchaikowsky in parts than Debussy which was fine with me and other who are not great fans of the music of Debussy.

The second work was a bravura performance by pianist Simon Trpceski of the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 in G Minor. This exciting performance resulted in a standing ovation followed by a rare encore.

The second half of the program featured music by Respighi, Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome, which were thrilling in their excecution. The build up of the dynamics of the Pines of the Appian Way movement to its conclusion complete with the organ adding a lot of weight, but being felt more than heard, brought the audience to their feet once again. The conductor for this evening's performance was Yan Pascal Tortelier.

Often during the past few years I have enjoyed the music more with the SF Symphony than with the SF Opera so I am tempted to drop my opera subscription and increase my symphony subscription to more performances. If the opera just happens to do something worthwhile, I can, if nothing else, buy a standing room ticket. Right now however their production and musical values are way off the mark most times.

Well, I survived the Thanksgiving Holiday feast. Did you? At least I did not have to endure a certain co-worker who always warned me about this holiday and the dangers of not surviving. Somehow she equated me with a turkey. Ha!

There are plenty of turkeys in the world and the one in the White House is one of the worst. When I go to Thailand soon I wonder if I will be able to explain that I was one of the 49% who did not vote for him? Will anybody listen? To make matters worse, they are now holding "peace vigils" at the Thaphae Gate in Chiang Mai each week which is right outside my hotel. Will I be hounded by speakers or viewers if I happen to be in the area at the time of their rally? Actually, I would like to speak the crowd gathered but what would I say?

Anyway, I have avoided the shopping areas here in San Francisco since Friday morning. I cannot handle that madness and there is no need to be concerned with it. I need to get one gift and I don't know what it will be anyway so why wander around aimlessy looking for the "right" gift?

Just pass the Merlot and I will be OK...

This is a step in the right direction (hydrogen fuel cells) which you can read about here.

Then too, we are not always going in the right direction. This year's election is a good example and many of us are worried about the direction this country is going. One letter to the editor of a local newspaper expressed these thougths very well this morning thusly:

"It hurts my heart to read the letters sneering at artists who genuinely fear for this country, especially when their fears are not unfounded.

Do the people who sneer not understand that half the people in this country (not just artists) feel we are in serious peril? Or does it take the vision of an artist to see what lies ahead if things do not change?

We have a president who does not have the judgment or intelligence to be a leader -- especially of a country of this size -- and who does not believe that he has to answer to the American public for his actions, and does believe, as he says, that he is accountable only to his "heavenly father."

Do the ones who sneer not see that we no longer have the checks and balances of a democracy and that that can lead to corrupt power? Do they not read history?

Do they not understand that our environment is at serious risk? That our young men and women are dying in a war that appears more and more unwinnable? And unaffordable?

Greenspan is warning us that our deficit could cause European countries to withdraw their investments in this country. What then?

And don't they see the danger in cutting access to women's reproductive health?

If the women who can least afford babies are forced to have them, who will take care of them?

Are the sneerers actively working toward solutions to these problems? Or just hoping their president does the right thing?

I truly wish I could share their belief that everything is going to be just fine. I'd certainly sleep better."

Oh, this is ridiculous...

"An online casino won the eBay bidding for a decade-old cheese sandwich bearing what some people consider a likeness of the Virgin Mary and immediately began hawking Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese T-shirts. GoldenPalace.com's bid of $28,000 was the highest offer for the sandwich when bidding closed late on Monday, the Internet casino's Web site said.

The seller, Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident Diana Duyser, says she made the cheese sandwich 10 years ago and after taking a bite, saw "the Virgin Mary staring back at me."

In her eBay ad, Duyser said the sandwich has been kept in a plastic case for a decade and has developed no mold or bacteria. "It is like a miracle," she said.

"I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother Of God," the ad said. "That is my solemn belief, but you are free to believe that she is whomever you like, I am not scamming anyone."

GoldenPalace.com said on its Web site that the "sacred sandwich" had received more than 1.7 million hits since being posted on eBay. The company's chief executive, Richard Rowe, said the sandwich would be used to raise money for charity.

The T-shirts, in various styles bearing a picture of the sandwich and a GoldenPalace.com logo, sell for $19.99.

"We believe that everyone should be able to see it and learn of its mystical power for themselves," Rowe said."

--------------

Mystical power my foot. What poor superstitious simpletons!

After a rough night at the opera a week ago with Ligeti's La Grand Macabre things returned to normal last night with Wagner's Flying Dutchman which featured several local debuts. In his U.S. debut we heard Juha Uusitalo in the title role but the sensation of the evening was Nina Stemme in her SFO debut as Senta. What a powerhouse she is singing radiantly and powerfully and with much beauty. She and Uusitalo managed so silence the chronic coughers with their emotionally charged duet as did tenor Christopher Ventris (Erik) during his extended duet with Ms. Stemme. That was one of the most moving finales I have ever experienced. Eugene Onegin opens this week with a cast of, to me, unknowns.

Today was a quiet one for me as I did some reading, answered e-mail and did some cleaning of the apartment. Tomorrow I wil resume my scanning of slides. That year-long project is now about 95% complete.

Oh great, if you want to worry about something read this article. Warning, you might have nightmares afterwards.

A Kiwi Bird once told me that in order to make the fortunes found in Chinese Fortune Cookies more interesting, you always add the words "in bed" at the end, no matter what it says. Thus, my fortune tonight from a San Francisco restaurant reads: "Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed in bed". Drats, I am having a difficult enough time as it is. I didn't need those negative thoughts. hahaha

Something you always wanted to know? Check out this news story about potheads in Europe.

My far flung correspondents have sent me several goodies in recent weeks since the election and here is one of the latest that I have received.
---------------
Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. As you said, "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify?
Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev15: 19-24. The problem is how do tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Oh, how I wish this were so.

INITIAL DRAFT OF KERRY'S CONCESSION SPEECH:

My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken, and spoken with a clear voice. So I am here to offer my concession. I concede that I overestimated the intelligence of the American people.Though the people disagree with the President on almost every issue, you saw fit to vote for him. I never saw that coming. That's really special. And I mean "special" in the sense that we use it to describe those kids who ride the short school bus and find ways to injure themselves while eating pudding with rubber spoons. That kind of special.

I concede that I misjudged the power of hate. That's pretty powerful stuff, and I didn't see it. So let me take a moment to congratulate the President's strategists: Putting the gay marriage amendments on the ballot in various swing states like Ohio... well, that was just genius. Genius! It got people, a certain kind of people, to the polls. The unprecedented number of folks who showed up and cited "moral values" as their biggest issue, those people changed history. The folks who consider banning same sex marriage a more important issue than war, or terrorism, or the economy... Who'd have thought the election would belong to them? Well, Karl Rove did. Gotta give it up to him for that.

I concede that I put too much faith in America's youth. With 8 out of 10 of you opposing the President, with your friends and classmates dying daily in a war you disapprove of, with your future being mortgaged to pay for rich old peoples' tax breaks, you somehow managed to sit on your asses and watch the Cartoon Network while aging homophobic hillbillies carried the day. You voted with the exact same anemic percentage that you did in 2000. You suck. Seriously, you do. Thank you. Thank you very much.

There are some who would say that I sound bitter, that now is the time for healing, to bring the nation together. Let me tell you a little story. Last night, I watched the returns come in with some friends here in Los Angeles. As the night progressed, people began to talk half-seriously about secession, a red state / blue state split. The reasoning was this: We in blue states produce the vast majority of the wealth in this country and pay the most taxes, and you in the red states receive the majority of the money from those taxes while complaining about 'em. We in the blue states are the only ones who've been attacked by foreign terrorists, yet you in the red states are gung ho to fight a war in our name.We in the blue states produce the entertainment that you consume so greedily each day, while you in the red states show open disdain for us and our values. Blue state civilians are the actual victims and targets of the war on terror, while red state civilians are the ones standing behind us and yelling "Oh, yeah!? Bring it on!"

More than 40% of you Bush voters still believe that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. I'm impressed by that, truly I am. Your sons and daughters who might die in this war know it's not true, the people in the urban centers where al Qaeda wants to attack know it's not true, but those of you who are at practically no risk believe this easy lie because you can. As part of my concession speech, let me say that I really envy that luxury. I concede that.

Healing? We, the people at risk from terrorists, the people who subsidize you, the people who speak in glowing and respectful terms about the heartland of America while that heartland insults and excoriates us...we wanted some healing. We spoke loud and clear. And you refused to give it to us, largely because of your high moral values. You knew better: America doesn't need its allies, doesn't need to share the burden, doesn't need to unite the world, doesn't need to provide for its future. Hell no. Not when it's got a human shield of pointy-headed, atheistic, unconfrontational breadwinners who are willing to pay the bills and play nice in the vain hope of winning a vote that we can never have.

Because we're "morally inferior," I suppose, we are supposed to respect your values while you insult ours. And the big joke here is that for 20 years, we've done just that. It's not a "ha-ha" funny joke, I realize, but it's a joke all the same.

As well as conceding the election today, I am also announcing my candidacy for President in 2008. Thank you.

And I make this pledge to you today: THIS time, next time, there will be no pandering. This time I will run with all the open and joking contempt for my opponents that our President demonstrated towards the cradle of liberty, the Ivy League intellectuals, the "media elite," and the "white-wine sippers." This time I will not pretend that the simple folk of America know just as much as the people who devote their lives to serving and studying the nation and the world. They don't.

So that's why I'm asking for your vote in 2008, America. I'm talking to you, you ignorant, slack-jawed yokels, you bible-thumping, inbred drones, you redneck, racist, chest-thumping, perennially duped grade-school grads. Vote for me, because I know better, and I truly believe that I can help your smug, sorry asses. Thank you, and may God, if he does in fact exist, bless each and every one of you.

------------------

Of course, Kerry is still a Senator but if such a speech had been made he would have to resign his senate seat, but I would love to have someone sock it to Bush as well as those red states and their followers. How about some honesty in government for a change?

YIKES! DOES THIS GIVE A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE TERM "FIXER UPPER"?

LONDON - A British house-buyer got more than they bargained for after the discovery of a badly decomposed body in an upstairs bedroom of their new home, the Daily Telegraph said Monday.

The newspaper said the skeletal remains may have been in the 98,000 pounds ($180,300) derelict house in Birmingham, central England, for at least two years and had escaped detection despite complaints from neighbors about a bad smell.

The odor was blamed on rubbish, including dead pigeons, that had accumulated while the property was empty.

The dead man, who has not been identified, is thought to have been a vagrant. His death is not thought to be suspicious.

Question: What do get when cross a crocodile with an abalone?
Answer: A crock of baloney.

Jeesh.....

Well, here is a good one.

GREENSBURG, La. - Beavers found a bag of bills stolen from a casino, tore it open and wove the money into the sticks and brush of their dam on a creek near Baton Rouge.

"They hadn't torn the bills up. They were still whole," said Maj. Michael Martin of the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office.

The money was part of at least $70,000 taken last week from the Lucky Dollar Casino in Greensburg, about 30 miles northeast of Baton Rouge.

Sheriff's deputies in St. Helena Parish, where the truck stop video poker casino is located, have accused a security guard at the casino of disabling its security cameras. Jacqueline Wall, 25, was booked with felony theft, Martin said.

She told investigators a ski-masked gunman made her help him empty all the casino's safes, then kidnapped her, knocked her out and left her in an uninhabited area in East Feliciana Parish.

Deputies had searched for the money for days before an attorney called with a tip: the money had been thrown into the creek. The attorney's client hopes to make a deal with prosecutors, Greensburg Police Chief Ronald Harrell said.

They found one money bag right away. The second was downstream, against the beaver dam.

After trying unsuccessfully to find the third bag in the deep water near the dam, Martin said, deputies began to break it down to release some of the water so they could search in a shallower pool.

That was when they saw the dam's expensive decoration.

He said they eventually found the third sack, which still had some money left in it.

"The casino people were elated" to get the money back, even if some of it was wet, Harrell said.

Deputies found about $40,000, and expected to find the rest in a safety deposit box at a bank in Mississippi.

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt......If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake."

Thomas Jefferson, 1798, after the passage of the Sedition Act.

Here is another item forwarded to me this week which I want to share with you.
--------------

Dear President Bush:

Congratulations on your victory over all us non-evangelicals. Actually, we're a bit ticked off here in California, so we're leaving you. California will now be its own country. And we're taking all the Blue States with us. In case you are not aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota,Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, all of the North East States, and the urban half of Ohio.

We spoke to God, and she agrees that this split will be beneficial to almost everybody, and especially to us in the new country of California. In fact, God is so excited about it, she's going to shift the whole country at 4:30 pm EST this Friday. Therefore, please let everyone know they need to be back in their states by then. God is going to give us the Pacific Ocean and Hollywood. In addition, we're getting San Diego. (Sorry, that's just how it goes.) But God is letting you have the KKK and country music (except the Dixie Chicks).

Just so we're clear, the country of California will be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and anti-war. Speaking of war, we're going to need all Blue States citizens back from Iraq. If you need people to fight in Fallujah, just ask your evangelical voters. They have tons of kids they're willing to send to their deaths for absolutely no purpose. And they don't care if you don't show pictures of their kids' caskets coming home. So, you get Texas and all the former slave states, and we get the Governator and stem cell research. (We would love you to take Britney Spears off our hands, though. She IS from the south, right?)

Since we get New York, you'll have to come up with your own late night TV shows because we get MTV, Letterman, the Daily Show, and Conan O'Brien. You get...well, why don't you ask your people at Fox News to come up with something entertaining? (Maybe you should just watch Crossfire. That's a really funny show.)

We wish you all the best in the next four years and we hope, really hope, you find those missing weapons of mass destruction. Seriously. Soon.

Sincerely,

California

The following piece originated in the U.K. and its author is unknown however I found it be one of the most amusing pieces I have read in a long time.
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NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE

To the citizens of the United States of America, In the light of your failure to elect a worthwhile President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves properly, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The rt. hon. Tony Blair, MP for the
97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you should raise
your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed".

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper
football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005.

7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 97.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians
have never been the bad guys. "Merde" is French for "sh*t".

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 8th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

-----------------

Unfortunately I must reject item # 7. Will that be the new first amendment then? hahaha

I really don't know what to write here these days. It is depressing as the political situation goes from worse to worse, not only because of what Bush & Co. have unleashed on this country and the world but because of the inability of some U.S. citizens to see what is wrong. One growing controversy seems to be about those of us who would now like to live somewhere else. One letter writer to the SF Chronicle this morning even suggested that we are the enemy. How absurd but yes, I would like to live somewhere else. I have been other places in the world and have met some very nice people in those countries but now I am embarrassed to travel abroad and identify myself as American because of what Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and Rove have unleashed on the world. The most bizarre thing is that some people will suggest a third world country for us to live in. Why not one of the major developed countries, of which there are many, or are they so blind that they think this is the only country that has anything of worth? Actually, from a technological standpoint, we are behind other countries. For example, our cell phone system sucks and our railroads are pathetic. Also, our health care system is practically non-existent and we have an election system that is archaic and falling apart. And who the hell needs 100+ channels of TV? Ninety-nine percent of the programs are crap in the first place. People should get a life!

No country is perfect but it would help if we had a country in which radical religious fundementalists did not exist, or at least have the power they do, and we had leaders who wants to work with all people at home and abroad. We cannot continue to be the policemen of the world and try to enforce our ways on other countries. There is too much at stake here, including global warming, but, no, Bush sticks his head in the sand and won't listen to reason. This country would not even sign the Kyoto treaty. How pathetic!

What will it take to wake people up?

Hopefully the dust has settled by now and we can start working for the future. Unfortunately, that won't be the case as the religious conservatives attempt to set this nation back a number of years as they ram their version of morality down everyone's throats. There is probably little one can do about that at the moment however I would like to ask some questions in the meantime.

How much longer will the war in Iraq grind on? How many more lives will be lost in the process? What will Bush do about nuclear weapons in existence or under development in Iran and North Korea? What would China do if we attacked North Korea? What would the Muslim world do if we attacked Iran? How does Bush & Co. plan to "improve" Social Security"? What plan does Bush have for ensuring that all Americans have health care? Who will Bush appoint to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist? Who will then be appointed to fill the vacany on the court? Oh, the questions go on and on.

Those who voted for Bush might wake up in four years and find they will have many regrets.

Christopher Cain wrote an excellent article in the San Francisco Examiner this week regarding many of the issues regarding our freedoms. It should be read by all who value what this country stands for. In that article he links to an excellent website about the Declaration of Independence. That is another must read.

This has not been a good week. Or to be more exact, the past three years since 9/11 have not been good but ony because of over reaction on the part of the Bush administration.

Some people seem to think I am angry, well, I am. I admit it but one gets over anger. Can one get over ignorance? Perhaps if one tries but then one must realize that he or she is in error and try to make amends. My complaints about Bush & Co. have less to do with his policies than the man himself. I could have voted for John McCain for president very easily. I have voted Republican at times in the past and they were people I respected. Unfortunately I do not see George W. Bush in the same light. Even our bumbling and dishonest Richard M. Nixon was not so irritating. In fact, he was amusing at times. Also, I seldom agreed with George H. W. Bush but the old adage of "like father, like son" certainly does not apply in this family. I respected the elder Bush but not the son.

Unfortunately, since Bush decided to go it alone and not listen to the governments in France and Germany, there has been a lot of Francophobia in existence and it still exists to this day. I even had one person tell me about all the important things our country has invented at which points he names a few and then goes on to say that these are things to help and improve the life of people all over the world and that no country on earth has done so much. Well, we did end up with a lot immigrants from Europe in the 18th and 19th Centures and beyond so it is natural that during these fast changing times of the industrial revolution and later the age of electronics, that this fast growing nation produced a lot of new inventions. Unfortunately this denigrates the inventions and discoveries in other countries. Since one person really seem to have it in for the French in a recent e-mail to me, I would like to list major inventions coming out of France.

They are, in alphabetical order:

*Adding machine - 1642 - Pascal

Airship - 1852 - Giffard

Balloon - 1783 - Montgolfier

Braile printing - 1829 - Braile

Gyroscope - 1852 - Foucault

Hydrometer - 1768 - Baume

Lamp, neon - 1909 - Claude

Microcomputer - 1973 - Truong, et al

Oleomargarine - 1869 - Mege-Mourlies

Parachute - 1785 - Blanchard

*Photography - 1816 - Niepce

*Photography - 1835 - Daguerre

Piano, player - 1864 - Fourneaux

Rayon (cuprammonium) - 1890 - Despeissis

Rayon (nitrocellulose) - 1884 - Chardonnet

*Steamboat, experimental - 1778 - Jouffroy

Steam Car - 1770 - Cugnot

Stethoscope - 1819 - Laennec

Storage Battery, rechargeable - 1859 - Plante

*Thermometer - 1730 - 1730 - Reaumur

Turbine, gas - 1849 - Bourdin

Wind tunnel - 1912 - Eiffel

* indicates item was developed by several people in several countries at differing times.

The most important invention for many people however is paper and that was invented in China in 105 by someone named Ts'ai.

If I had listed German inventions here this list be twice as long. As it turns out, I don't have any lists of medical advances to go to but most people are familiar with Louis Pasteur I am sure.

So it really irks me when people hold up this country as being the only one to have contributed to the welfare of the world. A country's value should be tied to the number of its inventions. And remember, it was France who helped the new colonies win the Revolutionary War against England and it was France that gave us the Statue of Liberty.

I sincerely hope that the divisions in this country can be healed but I honestly doubt that Bush is capable of doing that. Karl Rove is behind a lot of the shenanigans of the past four years and as long as he and the conservative Christian right are in charge, they will run roughshod over everyone and everything. This is what worries me most.

One question at this point. Once the dust settles how are they going to treat Iran and North Korea with regard to their nuclear capabilities?

Today I received several e-mails regarding our election. They came from Thailand and Australia as well as Massachusetts and southern California. I have not heard from friends in Kentucky or the U.K. but I know those people will be writing similar messages. The surprising message came from a correspondent in Thailand who sent me (us?) a congratulatory message on the re-election of Bush. That one really startled me. I would expect people like Putin and Blair to approve of his re-election whereas the common man in those countries have quite different opinions. The same applies to Italy and Australia. All of my contacts in Thailand are not Bush supporters, or so I thought, so this e-mail was really unexpected.

My correspondent in the Boston area wrote that they are all in mourning there and fear that Antonin Scalia will become the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after which many or all of our hard won rights will be taken away. He concludes by saying that this is a devastating time for our country.

My friend from Southern California, originally from Singapore, is very sad today and worries about what the economy will be like four years from now and fears that the country will be more divided than it is now and that there might be more wars.

My friends in Australia are in shock. One says that he does not know what to say to me concerning my mood. He said that short of getting drunk or taking tranquilizers, or both, or joining an order of monks, he does not have an answer. (Hmm...how about all three of those?)

These are perilous times with that cowboy from Texas in the White House who believes in shooting first and asking questions later. He has done more to destroy international relations in three years than most or all of the presidents in the 20th Century. For that reason alone he should not have been re-elected.

The biggest fear however, is what a more conservative Supreme Court will do. We will find out sooner than expected since Rehnquist has been diagnosed with cancer and may not be on the court much longer. How many rights will be taken away after his departure? How much more power will the various law enforcement agencies have, all to the detriment of the freedoms we have known for many years.

Yes, yesterday was truly "Black Tuesday" in the history of this country.

There is an often repeated phrase "Stop the World, I want to get off". Not sure where that originated or why and of course that is impossible however a person can move around on the world globe, as it were, and that is precisely what I now want to do as this isolationist, bigoted, nation of thin-skinned cowards has re-elected that first class fool George W. Bush for four more years. It would be better for all concerned for me to move but the legal issues of such a move would be big issue for me.

People in other countries sure are not going to understand how such a person as Bush can be elected and then re-elected. These people tend to forget that there is another half to this country and that almost as many voted for Kerry as those voting for Bush. We tend to be the forgotten minority but it is a large minority.

Anyway, this country is moving to the far right and will probably do it faster now that Bush has won a second and final term in which he does not have to listen to anybody. He can do what he wants. He can screw the whole world and will. This cowboy from Texas is dangerous beyond belief. He and his rich bitch partners in crime will now rule the world for four more years. It is sad and terrifying at the same time and I will be embarrassed by it on my next vacation abroad. What do I tell people who will undoubtedly ask why? How do I explain?

If these village idiots in the southern and midwestern states only understood what is going on and cared about the world they would not have done this but they did so I no longer want to be a part of this country and its mental retards. Stop the world...I want to move!

This is election day. Thank goodness the campaigning is over but now everyone who is an elligible voter must get out and do his or her duty. If we don't vote, we will be in bigger trouble in 2008 than we are now. So remember, "vote early and vote often".

One more day and the campaigning will be over but the election will not as I fear that we will have a repeat of 2000, only worse. The lawyers for both sides are already waiting in the wings to take center stage. The one thing that is not being spoken of is the distinct possibility of the election going to the house. One poll I heard this morning on the radio had Bush at 49% with Kerry a couple of percentage points behind that. If that is the case and neither candidate receives the required 270 electoral votes, we will have the first election since 1824 decided by a vote in the House of Representatives. That year John Quincy Adams was the eventual winner.

Is this a halloween type story?

A British train conductor stamped and carefully returned the ticket of a slumbering passenger without realizing the man was dead.

Shortly afterwards the train pulled into York station in northern England and rail staff alerted paramedics when they realized the man was not breathing.

"The conductor needn't have been so careful, as it turned out that the passenger had expired, long before his ticket ever did," said a report in the British Transport Police's staff magazine.

In view of what we are about to undergo in the United States next week, it is time for a brief review of U.S. Government, 101A

The Electoral College

The president and the vice president are the only electice federal officials not chosen by direct vote of the people. They are elected by the members of the Electoral College, an institution provided for in the U.S. Constitution.

On presidential election day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every 4th year, each state chooses as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. In 1964, for the first time, as provided by the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution. the district of Columbia voted for 3 electors. Thus, with 100 senators and 435 representatives, there are 538 members of the Electoral College, with a majority of 270 electoral votes needed to elect the president and vice president.

Although political parties were not part of the original plan created by the Founding Fathers, today politcal parties customarily nominate their lists of electors at their respective state conventions. Some states print names of the candidates for president and vice president at the top of the November ballot, others list only the electors' names. In either case, the electors of the party receiving the highest vote are elected. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, allow for proportional allocation. (Note: Colorado is voting on this matter next week and could become the third state to do so.)

The electors meet on the first Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December in their respective state capitals or in some other place prescribed by state legislatures. By long-established custom, they vote for their party nominees, although this is not required by federal law; some states do require it.

The Constitution requires electors to cast a ballot for at least one person who is not an inhabitant of that elector's home state. This ensures that presidential and vice presidential candidates from the same party will not be from the same state. (In 2000, Republican vice-presidential nominee Dick Cheney changed his voter registration to Wyoming from Gov. George W. Bush's home state of Texas.) Also, an elector cannot be a member of Congress or hold federal office.

Certified and sealed lists of the votes of the electors in each state are sent to the president of the U.S. Senate, who then opens them in the presence of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives in a joint session held in early January and the electoral votes of all the states are then officially counted.

If no candidate for president has a majority, the House of Representatives chooses a president from the top 3 candidates, with all respresentatives from each state combining to cast one voter for that state. The House decided the outcome of the 1800 (Thomas Jefferson) and 1824 (John Quincy Adams) presidential elections. If no candidate for vice president has a majority, the Sentate chooses from the top 2, with the senators voting as individuals. The Senate chose the vice president following the 1836 (William H. Harrison) election.

Under the electoral college system, a candidate who fails to be the top vote getter in the popular vote still may win a majority of electoral votes. This happened in the elections of 1876 (Rutherford B. Hayes), 1888 (Benjamin Harrison), and 2000 (George W. Bush).

-x-x-x-x-x-

Having reviewed the procedures, I must say that this needs to be be changed. Since it is part of the constitution, a constitutional amendment would be needed to change things but that would be a slow and cumbersome process so I think the people of Colorado are doing the right thing by trying to pass a ballot proposition to allot the votes proportionately as Maine and Nebraska already do.

The whole system is so screwy that for the first time in recent memory, the candidates are campaigning like crazy in Nevada (5 electoral votes) Utah (5), Idaho (4), Alaska (3), etc. Usually these states are all but ignored as only the big states like California, New York, and some others are looked upon as being important. Due to the closeness of the upcoming election Nevada and other small states may become the swing states instead of the usual ones like Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, etc. Bush has all but ignored California because he feels he has already lost this state. If our 55 electors were to be alloted proportionately, all candidates would be more inclined to campaign here or in other states alloting votes proportionately, not just the "undecided" swing states. They say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Well, in this case it was broke from the beginning. Let's get it right for once and all.

This is the best of times and this is the worst of times. It is the best of times because the Red Sox are now one win away from their first World Series win since 1918. It is the worst of times because a man who does not play with a full deck sits in the White House and has so brainwashed and scared so many ignorant people in this country into thinking we need him for another four years, that it is pathetic beyond belief. My god, at least Hitler was a better public speaker than this fool. As this is written I believe there is a good chance that the Red Sox will one of the next four games and thus win the series but I would not place any bets on Kerry winning the election. There are just too many variables there and too many fools in this country. Then too, the election system is in need of a major overhaul including proportioning out the electors. That is, get rid of the "winner-take-all" approach. It is grossly unfair if candidate A wins 51% of a state's popular vote to give him or her all the electors. That candidate should only get 51% of the electors and the other candidate(s) the remaining. Until this happens there is no fairness in the U.S. election system. Also, much needed third parties will never have a chance until the system is changed.

These may not be the best ideas around but things sure would be more interesting in Washington. Read these ideas from the U.K.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Doughnut-guzzling, beer-quaffing Homer Simpson may not be the model father but he has won the hearts of British TV fans who want the nuclear power plant worker to be the next U.S. president.

Former president George Bush notoriously said American families should be "closer to the Waltons than the Simpsons" but Homer was overwhelming favorite in a Radio Times magazine poll on which U.S. TV character should take over at the White House.

As Americans ponder tax and security pledges from President Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry ahead of the November 2 poll, television fans have been considering Homer slogans such as "No big government, just big waist sizes."

In a manifesto compiled for the magazine by The Simpsons' writing staff, the bumbling animated TV hero also pledges: "I promise there will be fewer nuclear disasters with me as your mayor than with me as your nuclear safety inspector."

Homer got 24 percent of the vote in the poll of more than 2,000 readers. Second place went to the more obvious choice of Josiah Bartlet, the president played by Martin Sheen in "The West Wing."

Pompous but eloquent radio psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane was third followed by Sergeant Bilko from "The Phil Silvers Show." Gil Grissom from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was fifth with 10 percent of the vote. Other favorites were Jack Bauer from "24," "The Cosby Show's" Dr. Cliff Huxtable, Phoebe Buffay from "Friends" and "The Sporanos'" Tony Soprano."