I have been listening to some good podcasts and want to highlight one for now (more to come). It's Lars Brownworth(sp?) and his history of Byzantium as seen through twelve rulers. Good stuff.

 

 

There are a lot of reasons why I could say that, in my opinion, George W. Bush is the worst President ever. There is the ill-conceived and, imo, illegal war in Iraq. There is his wanton abuse of power and infringement on civil liberties by spying on Americans conversations and records and the suspension of habeus corpus. There is his horrible handling of 9/11, allowing members of the Saudi royal family and even of the Bin Laden family to leave the country after the attacks. Also, his loading of cabinet positions with oil, coal, and lumber execs who have raped our environment.

But, I want to talk about something more personal.

It's Bush's SECOND veto of stem cell research. When he vetoed the bill this time he said (I papaphrase):  "It is crossing a moral line to take lives to save lives." AND "In America, we have a history of respecting life." OK, where to begin on this hypocrisy.

First, if we don't take lives to save lives, what the hell is going on in Iraq?!?! We have lost over 3,500 U.S. soldiers and the estimates of Iraqi dead are in the hundreds of thousands. What did they all die for, Mr. Bush?

Second, anyone who studies American History knows that we built this nation by exterminating one people and enslaving another. C'mon, George! Cut the spin.

Last week, my ten year-old who has had Type 1 Diabetes for five years, laid in the hospital bed almost completely unresponsive. She got a flu bug and because of her illness she almost ended up in a diabetic coma. We owe it to her and millions of others to do the research to cure these diseases. Instead, we play politics and hold hope hostage to the desires of a small religious minority in the country. The votes show that this is a bi-partisan issue that most Americans are in favor of.

If we have a right to refuse to have our tax money spent on unethical killing, then give me back my share that was spent on this horrific Iraqi debacle!

Here's what I love to see: macho men teaching their boys to be macho too! Yep, let's learn 'em up right by showin' em what a real man does - shoot animals and be a poser.

 

When I began to read the story of the Monster Pig, I thought they were talking about this fella below ...

 

but no; this is this story about how this brave eleven year old went out in the wilds of Alabama and put a bullet in a farm animal ... very nice.

 

I really like that it took him, his daddy, and two "guides" to track the beast down. Call us strange but here in Iowa we put these fantastical beasts in a cage called a "pen." We feed 'em and such and then we eat 'em. Guess we're missing out.

 

I have included the previously mentioned "poser" photo for your viewing pleasure.