suicide, part tres

the question this evening is:  Where does the soul go upon death?

and the answer to that would be nobody knows.  at least they aren't 100% sure.

i'd like to think i know that way i can feel comfortable about commiting suicide.  if i couldn't feel comfortable about this, it would be reason enough to not carry it out.  plain and simple.  this is a decision that must be made with the heaviest of minds.

No, this decision has got to be made with all the faculties one has.  it's such a permanent decision, it can not afford to be wrong.  and by wrong, i mean wrong time, wrong situation, wrong picture basically.  if i were to define a picture, i would see one who was in full control of his actions and thoughts.  i might smoke a joint on that night, only to demonstrate that things are fine.  but who knows.

This magnitude of this decisino is beyond anything else on earth.  the permanence of it should indicate a serious thought on what will happen in those final hours.  it'll be the hours before the consumption of the pills and the time for them to act, give it 4 hours, or less.  i can usually go to sleep in about an hour, or less.  and that's without any help.  help such as these pills should make it in about 4 hours.  i'm getting the chills now.

i could stop right there.  and did (there's a commercial on right now, i'm watching ncis, a very good show btw).  but now i should just sign off without defining what my reason for posting tonite was.  i thihk i made my point when i said the chills were happening.  but back to the decision of doing it.  i try to make myself feel, really feel, what it would be like in a certain setting.  4 hours before nodding off for the final time is such a prolific event that to imagine it even, produces a coldness that makes me shiver.

i think i still need to define why.  why commit suicide.  why go through with it once and for all.  and unlike most people, i don't try searching for things that need fixing.  the whole what's wrong attitude is not one i would have.  

noiw that commerical is on again, i forgot what i was talking about.  lemme read that.   oh yeah, why.  i don't think i'll ever define why.  i could give a number of reasons why i shouldn't commit suicide, but i can name more for the advocate side.  if i were to weigh the reasons, i would say the advocate side would win.  almost hands down.  it's a slam dunk.  i spoze i could name some reasons, anad maybe i'll start thinking about it soon.  i have a little over 1 month, 5 weeks or so..  Diva just got up now too, so i have to tend to her.

Why commit suicide?  because it's time.  it's my time.  i'm beginning to believe that more and more as time rolls on.  i was always made to end my life.

 

i have a host of other reasons too, but that was the most important one.  suffice it to say, i'm just tired.  i'm tired of dealing with things the way they currently are.  but i'm tired of it all because i'm in this rut if you will.  it's a rut that i've been in for over a year.  maybe more.  but certainly since i got sick this summer.  remember, my birethday this year was spent on the proctologist's table, out like a light, and god knows what really happened in that room that day.  i don't have any pain arising from that procedure, but i do remember being there.  and it think that's what started this whole suicide thing.  when i started getting better.  comparatively, i feel good.  i still weigh in at 150 or 152.  i think i registgered a 154 at one time.  i haven't weighed myself since last thuirsday for, or did she come on wednesday, ya, wednesday last week.  i weighed in 153 i think.  anyway, i can't gain weight to save my soul.  no pun intended.  putting on weight would give me a reason to live.

i'll explore both sides in the coming days. it'll be interesting to see where it goes.  i cant tell you now because i won't know until i write it down.  funny how that works out.  there's a lot of disvoery going on.  both insidight to my inner self, and vision on what to expect 24 hours from now.  commercial's over.

%2006%

i'm so used to putting the time down, that's my field marker for the timefield.  commercial is on.  so i'm taking a break too.  actually i take a break when the tv is good.  and i'm getting into the mentalist now.  that was central standard time.  anyway, the question tonite is why.

why would anybody want to kill themselves?  i couldn't answer for anybody else, but i could give a good reason why with me.  i want so bad to know what the hell happens at that moment you draw your own last breath.  since i'm going to be sleeping, it'll depend on how fast i can fall asleep.  but i'll expect to fall asleep and never again getting up.  that's kinda hard to swallow come to think about it.  i don't see any problem getting to sleep tho.  i'm not shivering like i was earlier.

i'll close this out by saying the reasons behind committing suicide are plentiful.  and i'll delve into them individually later on.  but suffice it to say (i like saying that), my reasons are logical, and real.  as soon as i do another joint, i'll be able to say more.

questions yet unanswerd

there's a few questions that should be answered before committing suicide.  maybe i'll get them answered before 12/15, and i'm using that date loosely.  i'm just going to continue to add questions as i see them.  i'll post answers to them when they get answered.

1.  What happens the moment you die?

2.  Does it really matter if you live a good life?

3.  Is there a God?

i doubt i'll get them answered.  it's as if there are answers to these questions. then who would have them?  i would have to speak with a ghost before i can say assuredly that they were right.  who wo9uld be able to answer that?

#2's question should be a given.  living a good life should be the goal of all people.  and i mean good as in believing that you've done good things during your time on earth.  weighing the bad things, and there were certainoly some very very bad things, with the good things, and there were even more good things than bad things.  

is there a god.  really.  my idea of god could be summed up in a short phrase.  it's like the question, is there a soul.  can't have one without the other.    i think they're one and the same.  i would never define Him as a soul, but i would define a soul as being God.  or part of God. i think it's the whole human race as a whole is what makes God, a God.  notice i capitalize it.  and Him.  He also would be capitalized. i have respect for my soul.  just exactly what happens once the heart stops beating and i stop breathing, is anybody's guess.  there's no way of knowing without a doubt what happens.  one can weigh in with their thoughts about it, but there are no facts to get excited about.  it's not a fact that i'm going to die with 30 pills in me.  it's not a fact that when i stop breathing that i won't breath again.  i doubt i will, but who knows.  He could stop it if He wants to.  whether He will will depend heavily on how things go bertween now and (i'm going to use a date very loosely here) december 15.  i'll know if He's stopping me from proceding.  and i'll respect the decision as if He were saying it aloud.  but i don't see that happening.  He would have made known His objections, and i've listened carefully to other things He's said.  He doesn't talk to me that often, but when He does it usually means it's serious enough to change what i'm doing.  but i should have died at least once (the coates' house fire in kansas city, mo.  i cant remember the year, i think it was 79?  jan of 1978  google has anumber of articles that came back.

but back to the reason i'm posting.  because i did a joint.  really.  but back to the business of suicide.  i suppose i'll come up with other questions, and hopefully i'll get them answered without a lot of shit.  actually, i'm quite bliss about the whole thing.  i don't have that forward thinking i usually have.  i am treating this event as if it's another show, with an audience.  i can hardly wait to tell you the truth.  i have this urge to do it now and be done with it all.  but there's still things i wanna have.  one of them is knowing who makes president.  who won the election.,  i need to know that.  plus there's this business of going to rochester again.  that's on december 8th, so i figure 15 isn't far beyond that.  and it would give me with the necessary time to put things in order.  there's still things that have got to be done right before i go.  things like money things.  i'll let whoever discovers my body will have theNote to read.  and hopefully i'll have my will printed out for easy viewing.  i doubt i'll be able to use fields of poopy as my vehicle of information to the proper authorities.  there's things i want done upon my death, and those are spelled out in either the will or theNote.  theNote is a time elapsing document.  it updates like fields does.

i'm debating still on whether or not i'll do a joint on the night.  i think i will.   but i could change my mind the night of the event.  it'll not deter me from doing it, i don't think it will.  getting buzzed only enhances my experience, be it posting, or watching television.  i usually have to do something tho.  just sitting around being stoned isn't my idea of fun.  but heh, i'm not saying i couldn't have fun with myself, but i generally don't see my life as being full of fun,.  to tell you the truth, i wish like hell i was better and able to go out and run around as if i was perfectly healthy and capable of being more a social person than i am.  i'm a real loner.  i enjoy my time to myself, even if it is 24 hours a day.  when mercy home care comes on tuesdays and thursdays, they're my only contact with other people.  sad isn't it.  i see linda every so often, and she's really a nice lady.  we go out to dinner usually when we meet up.  and i don't mind paying all the time.  she's always been there for me when i needed to go to the vet.  she was there getting groceries for me.  she's always been there if i ask her.  pete's that way too, i'm sure, although i've never asked pete for anything.  

anyway, i'll post more about my intent to commit suicide.  since it's not a depressing thing for me, i don't mind posting my feelings about it.  and how i think i might take my life.  sorta like a record of what goes on behind closed doors.  i'm just grateful for blogger.com to exist.  a way to live on beyond the date of death. 

suicide, part deux

when people talk about suicide, they usually do so with a tone of depression.  happy people aren't supposed to talk about suicide.  only depressed people can.  this is how it's not supposed to be done.  when suicide is mentioned, it immediately brings a tone of depression, and regret, oftentimes, and that will generally translate into doing depressed things, like taking an overdose of sleeping pills.

i've already come to the conclusion that the only way i can carry this out is by taking the remaining prescription of ambien.  there's about 40 pills left of the 10mg size.  30 of those would result in death, so say Mercy Health Center's healthwatch.  as long as the deed gets done, and with as little pain as possible, i succumb to the permanent factor.

so how isn't important any more.  the when certainly is.  that's a factor that i don't see defining quite yet.  i have a general feeling about it, and i'm seeing a december 15 date.  somewhere around that time anyway.  the when can certainly be fluidic and change accordingly with good reason ...  that would be difficult to define wouldn't it.  i can only say that mid-december will be the ideal time for transition.

which brings up the obvious:  what is it like on the other side?  doesn't that sound like a good enough reason to commit suicide?  i for one believe that there is another level of 'life' out there, and it's only through death can it be seen.  sounds weird doesn't it.  but if you think about it.  the other side of life, is death, and purgatory.  pugatory is that state of death where the body dies and the soul moves on.  what form that is i don't know.  but i believe that when you die, you're automagically taken to a place where only the dead can see the dead.

staying alive until the middle of december is going to prove to be a handful.  i'll need to prepare Diva especially.  that's my cat in case seomeon asks.  She's the only one that could make me think twice about this.  she's getting the feeling that something's up.  she senses that i think.  but now with this new development, pete gomez, from the previous post, was going to take Diva when i die.  pete was very nice to me on the phone when i asked him to be the new guardian for Diva last week.  this last week i should say.  but now that he's in jail, that could change things a bit.  i'll have to wait and see.  but right now, that's not probably something he would be thinking about.  the least on his line of thinking   and i want more than that for her.  get my drift?  so this could actually put the thing on hold untiol this irons out.  i don't know.  but it does put a wrinkle in things.

*pffft*, i'll post again later when i know something.

these were friends of mine

there's a story in today's edition (online) at kimt, the local cbs affiliate.

Mason City, IA- Mason City police received a call for help just before 2:00 Friday morning. There had been a fight at Burke's Bar and Grill on the city's north side. Investigators discovered Bryon Sletten, 42, of Mason City had been assaulted. He's in serious condition at a Rochester hospital as of Friday evening.

Five people have been arrested and are in the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Linda Jo Kloberdanz, 47, Tyler Kloberdanz, 19 and Nicole Kloberdanz, 21 and Pete Gomez, 58, all of Mason City, are facing willful injury charges. Robert Gomez, 49, is facing a charge of interference of official acts

.

these folks are friends of mine, and while i haven't had the chance to find out what really went on, i can safely say that byron must have provoked the incident.

still here, for now

well, i'm still here.  breathing like everybody else.  the thought of suicide is on my mind constantly.  and everytime i look at diva, i have to try and see what  it would feel like, not being able to touch her.  in that very second the feeling of helplessness takes hold, it is almost saddening.  i try to hold back the tears once in a while.  not all the time tho. but lately there's been some.  even now, i got water in my eyes, when there shouldn't be any.  they should be dry from the pot i jus smoked.

but getting back to the topic at hand, suicide.  i figure if i can say it, i should be able to understand what it means.  it means the permanent end to all things i know.  not knowing exactly what will happen is almost frightening, as much as it is tantalizing.  the unknown of it all.  could that be the stimulus one would need to accomplish the task?  just exactly what thoughts go through the mind in the hours before the act.  

i figure if it's meant to be, it'll happen.  plain and simple.  no matter what i think.  there could be a whole bunch of things that will go through my mind in the hours before the act.  i bet i'll find myself lacking only with time.  people have often asked me, what would you do if you knew you werew going to die, what would you do.  and i really never had an answer.  i still don't.  nothing out of the ordinary tho, i can safely say.  i wouldnt go running up bills and that sorta thing.  no.  this has got to be on my terms.  and so far it has been.  i jus wonder when He's going to intervene.  how close do i have to go before He rescues me?

well, enough is enough i say.  enough for now.  hopefully there'll be many more posts in the coming days.  i'm seeing a mid december event.  but that could certainly change.  that would give me one more rochester.  i'll get one more with johnson.  this last visit is going to be one that i don't think i'll forget about for the next week.  it has nothing to do with the fact that he's going off and starting another program with diabetes.  nothing at all.  it'll be interesting to convince him of it tho. and remember, kristie will be with me. i'll have to keep this all in mind.

getting closer - new development

well, i talked to Pete Gomez, the brother of one of my best friends, Linda Kloberdan.  he's taking my baby Diva when the time comes.  that was the only thing keeping me sane and here.  care for her is of the upmost urgency.  she deserves the best.  and i trust pete will give her what she deserves.  she mainly likes to keep to herself.  but when she comes up to you, she usually wants something, like water, or food, or something.  she'sll let you know when you're deficient in that realm.

But the last leg holding me here was just taken away.  I have no more excuses. nolw i weanna live to see if obama gets the election.  i do wanna see that.  but how long after that is the million dollar question.  i dont expect it to be into december much.  i have the appointment 12/08 in rochester, i dont know if i'm gonna make that or not.  i spoze i will butr it'll definitely be my last.

I'm working on theNote.htm (http://www.farpoint.org/theNote.htm).  it's kinda hard keeping them all separate and equal space.  between the diary and here, i get my fill of spilling the beans if you will.  and i dont do it unless i smoke some pot.  i get chatty when i get stoned. buzzed is more like it.  i haven't gotten 'high' in quiote a long time.  and i expect it'll be even longer given the circumstance.

I think i got the list pretty much taken care of all things david.  i think i got everybody.  all i really need to do is look at my checkbook.  and see who got paid and when.  it'd be nice if i could get out of paying my last bill on meddiacom, but i doubt it.  mediacom especially will be on top of it all the way until they get their grubbu listtle hands on their devices.  they make me sick sometimes.  but fuck it.  they've been ripping me off for years.  i've paid top dollar for everysince day 1.  they deserve to give me a break.

I'm still here

what with all the talk about suicide lately.  both in here and in my diaries.  it's still a topic i'm interested in and will talk about over the next few weeks.  this is one topic that is not going to go away.

it's still a subject that's worth a few posts.  i don't know how many posts i'll get out of it, but i'm not going to mince words when it comes to explaining my view on suicide.  i spoze one could almost consider it a final note, but i have something along those lines in theNote.htm.  it's not clickable yet, but it will be once the schedule has been finalized.

the million dollar question is of course, when.  the how and with what are not up for debate.  i think i have a way out that'll accomplish the task at hand, and shouldn't produce any problems during the event.  look how i'm describing the thing.  task at hand.  event.  this is by all accounts is definitely an event.  an event worth talking about.

but i thi9nk right now, i'll have to sign off for the evening.  i'll have more to say tomorrow, or the next day.  like i said already, this issue isn't going away.  i'll delve into the subject matter much more deeply next time.  i promise.

Suicide, part deux

I don't know where i should go on this topic.  It's probably something that gets picked up by every search engine in the world.  I'm sure this blog gets quoted somewhere.  I'll have to do a search.  I've been dormant for a long time.-- a whole year, i just looked.  wow.  that's a long time to be silent.  Especially about a topic such as suicide.  Suicide is so mal-aligned it's sad.  Thjere's no federal statute on it, i don't think.  i'm not going to capitalize.  fuck that.

Suicide. lemme see now.  It's a change.  A severe change, a one-way change.  there's no going back when you talk about succeeding.  it's not like i'll wake up from this nightmare.  i doubt i'll wakwho knows, maybe i will really wake up.  hell death is just another, the second in a triad.  life, death, purgatory.  it's purgatory, as i see that as between real life, and real death.

One doesn't need to be depressed to commit suicide.  many suicides are probably done as part of getting high.  personally, i could care less about whether or not i was high at the time.  it takes a lot for me to get good and high.  i dont consider getting high to write is bad.  i dont contsider getting high to clean is bad either.  getting high for getting high is bad tho.  life is short.  one shouldnt waste any time.

One doesn't need to enlish the help of those around him.  There;s no need to have a family conference and see what everbody thinks should be done differently.  Linda has been the one who calls me the most often.  Thank you Linda, I appreciated every time you called.  Theresa, well, what can i say about "Theresa...  'sides the fact that she owes me, well the estate now, over $1400.  plus whatever that bag of silver is worth, $800?  Whoever gets Diva gets the bulk of whatever comes off the estate.  The reason there's no insurance is because it wouldn't have paid on suicide anyway.  so why throw the money away?

My Last Experience

what can be said about suicide? i'll explore this subject in much greater detail once i figure out how and where it's going. for now tho, contend yourselves with http://www.farpoint.org/theBooQ.htm.  and you can visit another page that'll give you some idea of what my early life was like.  just go HERE.

Long Time a Comin (FIRST POST)

wow, it's been a long time. let me see what's up with that, and i'll get right back to ya. sorta like stargate would have.

on edit: it's been about a year to the day. 12/2 to 12/4. 07-08

Ty, Where Are You?

you missed an appointment to come over to the house and learn what had to be done while i was in new york. but you've gone and made yourself a disappearing act. i know it's halloween and all, but really, you need to get a hold of me if you read this.

getting ready to go to new york city

i'm sitting here with my bags almost packed. i'm going to new york on tuesday and it's a dillema as to what i'm going to take with me. do i take winter clothes or sunmmer wear? the temps aree going to be very fall like which means nice and warm in the day time, and cool and cold at night. and since i'll be in an area that is away from the area that i'll most likely be around all the time i'm there, i'll need to think this one thru with a clear head.

it's been a few years isnce i've been in new york. i think the last time i went was in 2002. but dont quote me on that. the last time i stayed with my ex in brooklyn. this time he's not going to be home while i'm in new york so i'm staying with my ex-roommate, nettie, or as her name in real life, sasha. shit i dont even know here real last name. oh well. i know it, i jus cant think what it is right now.

anyway, i'm gonna try and keep a log of what i do in newyork, with a recap of things i've done in the day. i'm probably going to be out all day sightseeing and what have you. shopping for shit i dont need. wanna see some old friends. it'd be nice if i could see manny when he gets back from the island. i'll hopefully will get to see georgie. and i'll need to buy a new pipe.

Letter of the Day

Let me see if I have this straight. Rep. Steve King doesn't believe a woman should be able to get a legal abortion, but once she has a child, the child shouldn't be allowed to get insurance for adequate health care.

If this is what King considers family values, I am worried about all the families in his district.

- Kila Christensen,
Ellston.

source

wow wee, no wonder baptist women are have their heads on backward

from today's papers:

The LAT fronts a look at how women students at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary can earn credit toward their bachelor's degrees by taking classes in homemaking. The seminary is even building a model house to better teach women "how to set tables, sew buttons, and sustain lively dinnertime conversation." More moderate Southern Baptists disagree with the seminary's vision ("we're confusing 1950s culture with the teaching of Scripture," one pastor said), but the students say they're happy with the program. "My created purpose as a woman is to be a helper," a 19-year-old student said. "This is a college education that I can use."

thoughts for the day

as i'm sitting here wondering whether or not i should poush <purchase> button on the cheaptickets site where it lists my airline ticket information to go to new york city. yup, new york city. i haven't been there in a coupla of years so it was time i go, plus, i have a few bucks to burn and what better place to burn it than new york city.

i'll be staying with my good friend, and ex-roommate, nettie, who lives on 111th street which is a great place she has now. we used to live together back in the days when i lived a block away from the world trade center, in downtown new york, financial district. lived right across the street from the new york stock exchange. boy, those were the days, and i think i'll be doing a lot of walking down memory lane with nettie.

but i haven't quite yet pushed the <purchase> link, as i'm waiting to see/hear from manny parrish who is also an ex-rommmate. we lived at 400 west 14th street back in the 80's. boy now THOSE were the days. we don't do a whole of ot walking down memory lane as he's always got new things to concentrate on.

anyway, enough for now. that's a lot to digest.

corrupt justice system?

taken from today's papers:

Everyone says the move by the Iraqi government reflects the wider frustration felt toward contractors in general, who are seen as mercenaries who have little respect for civilian life. Although the Iraqi government has vowed to prosecute Blackwater, a 2004 order gave contractors immunity from local law. The LAT quotes some private security contractors who say it's unlikely the Iraqi government will actually expel Blackwater. The paper also talks to contracting guru Peter Singer, who describes it as a complicated situation for American officials since cooperating would mean turning over U.S. citizens to a corrupt justice system while refusing to do so could undermine the Iraqi government.

corrupt justice system? wasn't it that corrupt justice system celebrated when they executed saddam hussein? this is pathetic because Americans, actually people who are representing America, are being looked at with the intent of charging them with offenses they most likely are guilty of.

8 to 10 months?

from fox news:

Consequently, according to a well-placed Bush administration source, "everyone in town" is now participating in a broad discussion about the costs and benefits of military action against Iran, with the likely timeframe for any such course of action being over the next eight to 10 months, after the presidential primaries have probably been decided, but well before the November 2008 elections.

get a load of this quote:

"the cost of the war in Iraq now exceeds $3 billion a week."
from the Washington Post

litening to...

there's a new breeze in the air

and it's blowing across the front pages of today's papers. take a look.

figures, he's a bush appointee

The Post piles the bad news on with an A1 hollowing-out of "a pillar of the U.S. strategy in Iraq" —the effort to get U.S. businesses to buy Iraqi products. The problem seems to be that there are almost no Iraqi products to buy. Nevertheless, the U.S. official overseeing the plan is optimistic. He is also under investigation, the Post reports, by the Pentagon's inspector general for "erratic behavior, public drunkenness, mismanagement, waste of funds and sexual harassment."
--slate's totday's papers

jim crow is alive and well in the U.S. military

Here at this searing, dusty U.S. military base about four miles west of Baqouba, Iraqis — including interpreters who walk the same foot patrols and sleep in the same tents as U.S. troops — must use segregated bathrooms.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/18685.html

maybe bloomberg knows something

from slate's today's papers:

More than three-quarters would strongly consider voting for a independent candidate.

today's MUST READ

Under Dick Cheney, the office of the vice president has been transformed from a tiny acorn into an unprecedented giant oak. In grasping and exercising presidential powers, Cheney has dulled political accountability and concocted theories for evading the law and Constitution that would have embarrassed King George III. The most recent invention we know of is the vice president's insistence that an executive order governing the handling of classified information in the executive branch does not reach his office because he also serves as president of the Senate. In other words, the vice president is a unique legislative-executive creature standing above and beyond the Constitution. The House judiciary committee should commence an impeachment inquiry. As Alexander Hamilton advised in the Federalist Papers, an impeachable offense is a political crime against the nation. Cheney's multiple crimes against the Constitution clearly qualify.

it's not a top ten list, so sue me.

The top five most secretive things about Dick Cheney from the WP lead:

5. "In the usual business of interagency consultation, proposals and information flow into the vice president's office from around the government, but high-ranking White House officials said in interviews that almost nothing flows out."

4. "Man-size Mosler safes, used elsewhere in government for classified secrets, store the workaday business of the office of the vice president."

3. "Even talking points for reporters are sometimes stamped 'Treated As: Top Secret/SCI.' "

2. "Cheney declines to disclose the names or even the size of his staff, generally releases no public calendar and ordered the Secret Service to destroy his visitor logs." (Three in one!)

1. "His general counsel has asserted that 'the vice presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch,' and is therefore exempt from rules governing either."

read (and weep0

or laugh, depending on who your domestic partner is.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bljonstewartquotes.htm

FARPOINT:FACTS

are you a sucker for cats?

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

they cant have it both ways

states want a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages, but when it comes to domestic partnerships and the domestic abuse calls of those partnerships is in serious jeopardy with those same sex bans.

from today's papers:

USAT fronts a look at how some states that have passed constitutional amendments banning marriage for gay men and lesbians are now beginning to take away benefits that had been awarded to the domestic partners of public employees. Some states have ruled that no public institution, including universities, can offer benefits to same-sex couples or any unmarried partners. The amendments are also having some unexpected consequences for heterosexuals. An article inside details how, in Ohio, many unmarried people who are being charged with abusing their live-in partners are contending that the domestic violence law is unconstitutional because it is based on "domestic partnership," a status that is no longer recognized because of Ohio's same-sex marriage ban.

saddam would be proud

A Council of Europe investigator says he has evidence to prove the CIA ran secret jails in Poland and Romania to interrogate "war on terror" suspects.

--source

first to fall?

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of an undercover CIA officer.

--washington post

one down, 47? left to go?

i haven't been keeping track, but isn't there already a few states on record for allowing civil unions for gays? oregon, massachusetts, and now new hampshire. i think there's a number of states that have it in their pipeline to pass laws, but i could be mistaken about how many remaining states there are.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18960528/

RIP Charles Nelson Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner who later became known for his ribald appearances on the “Tonight Show” and various game shows, has died. He was 76.
--link

jerry fallwell is dead

not that i'm going to miss him, in fact i hope he rots in hell.

FARPOINT FACTOID

i can claim i saw it on the in-ternet.

From 2002 through 2006, 729 Israeli and Palestinian minors were killed as a result of the violence in Israel and the occupied territories. … During the same period in Rio de Janeiro, 1,857 minors were reported murdered."

--source

it's starting to fall apart

The head of Moqtada Sadr's Iraqi parliament bloc says the radical cleric has ordered his ministers to withdraw from the cabinet.
Mr Sadr's bloc, which has six cabinet ministers, is trying to press Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to set a timetable for a US troop withdrawal.

--source

have we become our enemy?

American troops responded to a suicide bombing with excessive force, killing 12 people, including 2 children.

saw it on the internet

Taffy was a Welshman,
Taffy was a thief.
Taffy came to my house
And stole a leg of beef.
I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy was in bed.
I picked up the leg of beef
And hit him on the head.

You ever Welsh on a bet, Ms. Floden?

--source

what is it about iraq that keeps these suicide bombers attacking?

The Post's Sudarsan Raghavan was in the cafeteria when the suicide bomber struck and, on Page One, writes a gripping first-person account of his experience. When Raghavan went back to the bombed-out cafeteria to recover his belongings, he discovered that his tape recorder was still running, which allowed him to hear "the vocabulary of a bombing's initial moments." Among the screaming and chaos, someone said, "It's all a curse on us, Ayad. It's because of the stealing, the corruption."
--from today's papers

follow the money my son, follow the money

USAT mentions, and the WSJ goes high with data that show that the Army paid more than $1 billion last year in bonuses to attract and retain soldiers. In 2002, the Army paid $127.8 million in retention bonuses.

--source

make that hundreds of thousands

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shias have gathered in the holy city of Najaf for a mass demonstration calling for US-led troops to leave Iraq.

Up to one million people were expected in Najaf after an appeal by Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, who branded US forces "your arch enemy" in a statement.

--story

the anti-US sentiment in iraq is growing

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Thousands of Iraqis streamed to the holy southern city of Najaf on Sunday in response to a call by fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for a big anti-American protest on Monday.

--story

toda's Letter Of The Day

I presume that Eugene Lutz, the pharmacist who refuses to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill because of his moral standards, asks to see a copy of a marriage license before filling prescriptions for Viagra.

--source

all about poop

from the des moines register:

The scat stops here. After garnering international attention and traveling around the country, the "Scoop on Poop" exhibit is coming to Des Moines. The Blank Park Zoo will be giving Iowans the goods on guano from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

and you may wanna check out the site's trivia page

the numbers

are lookin GOOD!

The latest Diageo/Hotline poll finds that a generic Democratic candidate would beat a generic Republican candidate, 47% to 29%, in a 2008 presidential matchup.

--source

SAY IT AGAIN SAM

over at daily kos...

And as for McCarthyism, the best example is this Administration's behavior during the past six years. It has rounded up hundreds of Arab and Muslim men based on racial and ethnic profiling and bogus material witness warrants; kept 500+ people in the legal black hole otherwise known a Guantanamo bay; held people, including American citizens, without charge, conviction or judicial review; reversed the usual presumption into a bastardized "guilty until proven innocent" standard; denied due process under the inaply-named Patriot Act; conducted secret trials; tortured; eavesdropped on American's phone calls; wiretapped citizens without warrant; put anti-war protesters and political dissidents on terrorist watch lists; resurrected long-interred relics of the McCarthy era like denying entry to aliens for pure speech; and gone on witch-hunts and missions of personal destruction that make Joseph McCarthy look like Floyd Abrams. Terrorism is the new Communism.
--source

YEAH NEW MEXICO!

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - New Mexico doctors are allowed to prescribe marijuana to help some seriously ill patients manage symptoms including pain and nausea under a bill signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson on Monday.

--source

they're simly dilusional

The delegation, led by Senator John McCain, arrived at Shorja market on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armoured vehicles as attack helicopters circled overhead. Soldiers redirected traffic, restricted access to the Americans and sharpshooters were posted on the rooftops.
...
Senator McCain and his three colleagues described Shorja as a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis — "Like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime," offered Republican Mike Pence.
--source

buildup to attack iran?

Five thousand Marines and sailors deployed Monday morning aboard the USS Nimitz. The men and women will be spending the next six months in Iraq and Afghanistan.
--source

so things are getting better, according to bush

At least 2,078 people died in Iraq last month, 15 percent more than in February despite a massive security crackdown in Baghdad, the epicentre of violence, a security official said on Sunday.
--source