Wednesday, October 28, 2009

An Egregious Tragedy Has Happened

Justice for Somer Thompson





This is a story of egregious tragedy, not only for the loved ones involved but for
all of us who exist in a social environment, infiltrated by
murderous monsters. This horror may not have happened if we all
considered our surroundings to be parallel to the darkness of
dense jungles where meat eaters lurk behind the thickness of
forestry waiting their next gorge. Without envisioning this
comparable, life appears orderly and free of danger.

Within the food chain, hunger is the motivator to kill. It's not called murder
but it is the same. Something must die in order to satisfy the
needs of a predator. When a youngling is cut away from the
protection of the herd, a beast of prey will spot, immediately
the vulnerability of this life form and direct all its attention
towards a capture. What happened to this child is the same. A
monster, perhaps not even on its usual hunt, zeroed in on a
little girl, alone, away from any protection and used its cunning
to lure her into its clutches.

It didn't happen to my child but it did, to someone who lived in my community. His name was Adam Walsh and he was a year younger than my own. The
Walsh's horrible story, could have been mine. I, many times
frequented the same place as Adam and his mom and I forever
shuddered to think it my child who was cut from the herd and open to attack.

We as a society should warn our children and ourselves that we are but one or two seconds from something so heinous that our lives would never
recover. Whenever our children leave the safety of our sight, we
should tell them, "Never allow a stranger to talk lies, in
order to hurt you. Scream, cry, run and fight if need be, not to
be taken by anyone.” Every child, every young person who
falls victim to the savages amongst us, must be a reminder that
we live in a jungle of predators but worse, these fiends look
like us, so we have to be even more vigilant than jungle prey. I
hope a capture will take place and we will have one less sick
degenerate on our streets. But realize, it will not make us safer
because somewhere there is another waiting, to take its place.
Always be aware, it really is a jungle out there and constantly
teach and learn this fact. thinkingblue

Justice for Somer Thompson: Predator May HaveKilled Before

The person who killed 7-year-old Somer Thompson may have
preyed on children before, making the search for the
second-grader's murderer that much more urgent, police say.

John Walsh weighs in on the search for 7-year old Somer
Thompson's killer.

More PhotosClay County authorities say they are running
frustratingly low on credible leads despite more than 1,000 tips
about Somer's kidnapping and murder. But "America's Most
Wanted" host John Walsh said county Sheriff Rick Beseler is
"looking very hard at certain people.

"The sheriff and I both feel that it's a predator who has
probably done it before," Walsh, who has been following
Somer's case since she disappeared last week, told "Good
Morning America" today.

He pointed to a string of four child disappearances in the
Jacksonville area about 20 years ago that has never been solved.

"I would hate to think this is a serial child killer who has
raised it's ugly head," Walsh said, noting that it's not
unusual for such a predator to come out of "retirement."

Somer disappeared Oct. 19 while walking home from school with
her twin brother and older sister, 10. She ran ahead after a
squabble with her siblings and vanished shortly after.

Somer's body was found Wednesday in a Georgia landfill after
detectives followed garbage trucks from Somer's Orange Park,
Fla., hometown in search of clues.

A public visitation will be held tonight, her funeral Tuesday.

Police say they've checked out nearly all the more than 90 sex
offenders living within a three-mile radius of Somer's home and
repeated searches of a vacant house near where the little girl
disappeared have not yet yielded any obvious clues.

Police are hoping that samples taken from the house and the
landfill where Somer's body was found will give investigators
something to go on.

"All I want is to happen is that my baby didn't die in vain
and we catch him," Somer's mother, Diena Thompson, said.

Walsh called Somer's killer a "cool, calculating
predator" who may strike again.

"People should be on high alert there because there is a
child killer at large," he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somer's Mother to Killer: 'We're Coming for You'

Indeed, neighborhood parents, many of whom attended fundraisers over the weekend for the Thompson family, are on edge, keeping a close eye on their children.

"When is this going to stop," area resident Lou
Ellen McGill said. "When are they going to leave our kids alone?"



Even at the fundraiser -- were several children were
fingerprinted as a precaution-- parents looked around nervously,
wondering if Somer's killer could be among them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was here, that's how I
really feel about it," Amy Hand said.

Thompson told "Good Morning America" last week that
she wanted her daughter's killer to know one thing: "We're
coming for you.

"We'll get you," she said. "And, hopefully, justice will be served."

A preliminary autopsy has been completed, but Clay County
Sheriff spokeswoman Mary Justino declined to provide details on
the cause of death or the condition of the body.

Thompson said last week that she has been wracked by feelings of
guilt and responsibility for being at work when her youngest
daughter disappeared.

"I feel responsible," she said. " If I could have
just, I don't know, left work or something and been able to pick
her up, this wouldn't have happened."

And her surviving children are also struggling. Thompson said
she's afraid to let them out of her sight, lest it happen again.
They will be getting counseling after Somer's funeral, she said.

"They go through spurts, you know, they're kids," she
said. "One minute they're happy, and the next minute they're sad."

A group called Justice Coalition has put up a $30,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of Somer's
killer. Some of that reward money came from Crimestoppers, which
urged anyone with information to call 866-845-TIPS. Callers can
remain anonymous.

Clay County police asked tipsters to call 877-227-6911.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Just When I thought I'd heard it ALL...

Just When I Thought I'd Heard It All... Something like SWEAT LODGE appears on my computer screen. My first thought, WTF? People paying a lot of money to be herded into a small makeshift room that's hotter than any imaginative HELL?

After reading the headline that a 3rd person had died in this sweat ceremony, my curiosity piqued and I had to find out more about those who
seek enlightenment, financial or otherwise by sweating.

HUH?

Good grief, I can't believe that a charlatan like James Authur Ray can so easily flimflam people into paying him lots of cash so they can suffer greatly (even die) in some smelly, sweaty, crowded, hot cubbyhole.

If only I could have talked to these poor souls before they handed over their wampum and health to some Nut. Maybe, I could have saved them from themselves by telling them, go live and blend in to an American or better yet, a Third World slum where there's plenty of misery, suffering and sweat, trying to survive, to see if that will bring about the financial glorification they seek?

Maybe if they would have helped just one person living in these REAL, not
conjured up horrible conditions, fulfillment may have followed.

Never underestimate the power of GIVING TO THOSE IN NEED. thinkingblue



3rd person dies in Ariz. sweat lodge ceremony case


Click Here To Go To James Authur Ray's Site.


By FELICIA FONSECA

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – An Arizona homicide investigation
now includes three deaths after a woman died more than a week
after participating in a sweat lodge ceremony that hospitalized
nearly two dozen people.

Liz Neuman of Minnesota died Saturday at a Flagstaff hospital,
Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said.

The 49-year-old suffered multiple organ damage during the Oct.
8 ceremony at a resort near Sedona, a resort town 115 miles north
of Phoenix that draws many in the New Age spiritual movement.

Authorities were treating all three deaths as homicides, but
no charges have been filed.

D'Evelyn did not provide a city of residence for Neuman, but
public records showed an address in Prior Lake, about 25 miles
southwest of Minneapolis.

Neuman was among more than 50 people crowded inside the sweat
lodge run by self-help guru James Arthur Ray. An emergency call
two hours after they entered the lodge reported two people not
breathing.

Twenty-one people were taken to area hospitals with illnesses
ranging from dehydration to kidney failure. Kirby Brown, 38, of
Westtown, N.Y., and James Shore, 40, of Milwaukee died upon
arrival at a hospital.

No one else remains hospitalized.

Authorities haven't determined what caused the deaths. Autopsy
results on Brown and Shore are pending further testing.

The Rev. Meredith Ann Murray of Bellingham, Wash., who has
completed all of Ray's retreats, said Neuman was among Ray's
earliest followers and had attended dozens of his events.

According to Ray's Web site, Neuman was the leader of the
Minneapolis-area "Journey Expansion Team." The teams,
developed by Ray's friends and followers around the country, meet
to exchange ideas on his principles. The next Minneapolis-area
meeting is scheduled for Oct. 23.

Ray had rented the Angel Valley Retreat Center for his
five-day "Spiritual Warrior" event that culminated in
the sweat lodge ceremony. Participants paid between $9,000 and
$10,000 to attend the retreat.

Ray declined to be interviewed by the sheriff's office on the
night of the incident and Arizona authorities said he had not
spoken to them as of Thursday. In his first public appearance
Tuesday in Los Angeles, Ray told a crowd of about 200 that he has
hired his own investigative team to determine what went wrong.

His spokesman, Howard Bragman, has said that Ray's team and
Ray's attorney are cooperating with the sheriff's investigators.

More than 100 people attended the funeral for Brown on
Saturday at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Otisville, N.Y.,
according to The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y. The avid
hiker and surfer who had a passion for art was remembered as a
spiritual seeker.

Services for Shore were held late Saturday afternoon at the
Hubbard Lodge in Milwaukee.




Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue

National Gaps Between Rich & Poor - USA is No. 3

When I saw this headline, I thought for sure the ole USA would be at the top of the list but NO there really are greedier nations (people) residing on this Earth. Though only 2, for USA hit the number 3 slot.
It's a pity that the human race has yet to understand that we are all one, all traveling in the same direction of unknowing. Yet material-wise we struggle to have a one-upmanship on one another; a need of sorts to look down your nose at those financially beneath you due to hard luck or heritage.
The visualization of this gap is hardest to stomach. With architecturally handsome buildings on one side of the picture (You can envision those within these structures looking out their ivory tower windows at the ants below.) and poor people, on the other side, in fetal-like positions, huddled against buildings to protect themselves from the elements, cold, hungry and hopeless. It’s the food-chain, only the winners aren’t the fittest but the greediest.

clipped from finance.yahoo.com
Countries with the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor
income inequality worldwide
The UNDP ranked countries and regions based on a number of factors, including their Gini coefficient, named for Italian statistician Corrado Gini.
Scandinavian countries, Japan, and the Czech Republic have the least amount of inequality. The U.S. is among the most unequal
Top 11 Countries With the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor
No. 1 Hong Kong

hongkong1.gif
ED Jones
No. 2 Singapore
No. 3 U.S.

US1.gif
share of income for the top percentile of Americans was 23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928,
Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high 6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income inequality.
No. 4 Israel
Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most egalitarian societies.
men who study the Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.
No. 5 Portugal
Prtugal1.gif
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

No. 6 New Zealand
No. 7 (tie) Italy

Italy1.gif
No. 7 (tie) Britain
No. 9 Australia
australia1.gif
No. 10 (tie) Ireland
No. 10
Greece
Greece1.gif
blog it

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Doctors' Piecework - How Many Unnecessary Procedures

Doctors' Piecework: How Many Unnecessary Operations?

I’ve always thought when money is the bottom line, LOOK OUT! Health care is one of those touchy subjects that people would like to feel, money has no power over. That’s a naive notion. When money is involved, forgetaboutit, you become a $ sign. I once worked for a funeral home and I was amazed how money was the bottom-line. This creative industry didn’t like, waiting for people to die to make their bucks, so they devised something called pre-need funeral contracts. It’s a contract signed by a consumer who agrees to pay installments on goods and services to assure they have the paraphernalia needed to get rid of their
earthly remains upon death. The funeral directors (salesmen) get paid a commission on what they sell. So they try to sell the most expensive items

(much like car salesmen )

to prospective customers, often, resulting in aggressive, hard selling. It’s disgusting, but not as bad as doctors convincing patients to undergo unnecessary procedures to increase their wealth. NOW THAT’S SICK!

Please read The Telltale Wombs Of Lewiston, Maine to understand why we need HEALTH CARE REFORM with A PUBLIC OPTION to help put a stop to health care greed! thinkingblue


You can also listen to this story here.


A PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

SEE MORE LUCKOVICH HERE



Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue

Sunday, October 11, 2009

A Letter of Congrats to Pres. Obama and Limbaugh Agrees with Taliban



How disgusting is this? Limbaugh agrees with the Taliban because they are bashing the President of the United States of America on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Talk about a Fifth Column?


This is Rush Limbaugh's official reaction to the news that our president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize:

"Our president is a worldwide joke. Folks, do you realize something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about -- and that is he doesn't deserve the award? Now that's hilarious, that I'm on the same side of something with the Taliban."

-----
Hey Rush, you may be on the same side as the Taliban but let me inform you,(YOU DOG)!
You're alone in this RANT and you just exposed your true colors as a FIFTH COLUMN bent on bringing America down. IT'S TIME TO STOP LISTENING TO THIS NUTBAG, for goodness sakes!
thinkingblue

Rebubbacans Rooting Against America:




PS: Here in thinkingblue America, we support the President and Congratulate him on his win of the coveted 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Below is a letter to President Obama from Michael Moore:

October 9th, 2009 2:14 PM

Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize -- Now Please Earn it!

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of what is quickly becoming your War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet. Let's not let them down.

---

Obama Brings Another Honor To
America Rachel Maddow MSNBC



Visit
msnbc.com for Breaking
News
, World
News
, and News
about the Economy



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue

Friday, October 09, 2009

It's the fight against death

October 7 Keith Olbermann Comment about Health Care Reform.

It's the fight against death.


Keith Olbermann's special comment of October 7 got personal. He experienced firsthand and personally the broken system we call Health Care. The difficulties he went through with his ailing Father were unexpected to Keith even though he was well aware of others' (especially those without insurance) suffering under this system. But he had money, isn't that enough in Capitalistic America to protect you from becoming a victim of the Health and Insurance Industry’s gluttony?

Yes indeed, as Olbermann earnestly commented, money had saved his father from needless suffering and loss of dignity. This made Keith even more compassionate to the plight of those who have no leverage. His money did afford some of the best attention by medical personnel thus making him even more aware of, how those with no health insurance must endure the lack of self-respect to which a society without responsiveness will put them through.

Having empathy and concern for others can be a misfortune because there is so little one can do to help the forgotten ones. That's the way the Insurance Industry would like those who can't afford their high premiums to become... FORGOTTEN.

It's only people with a platform such as Mr. Olbermann, who can bring to light the outrageous greed in this country where bottom-line is more revered than humaneness. I guess if they could just get rid of those who can't line their pockets, they would do so but since we are a nation of laws all they can do is lie, mislead and spend exuberant amounts of money lobbying their status quo.

Thank all that is good, for Keith Olbermann, he is the guiding light to benevolent thinking of which we all, Conservatives and Liberals alike, can follow, if you happen to possess a heart. He truly is A VOICE OF REASON. thinkingblue

The below video will give you some of the highlights of Keith Obermann's hour long commentary on Health Care Reform.

To view the whole segment go to this URL http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33213245/

"Since August 23rd of this year I have interacted daily
with our American Health Care system and often done so to the
exclusion of virtually all other business. It is not undercover
reporting, and it is not an expert study of the field, but since
that day, when my father slid, seemingly benignly, out of his bed
and onto the floor of his home, I have experienced with growing
amazement and with multiplying anger, the true state of our
hospitals, our doctor's offices, our insurance businesses, our pharmacies.

My father's story as a patient and mine as a secondary
participant and a primary witness has been eye-opening and
jaw-dropping. And we are among the utterly lucky ones, a fact
that, by itself, is terrifying and infuriating.

And thus tonight, for all those who we have met along the way,
those with whom we have shared the last two months inside the
belly of the beast, and for everyone in this country who will be
here and right soon tonight, Countdown will be devoted entirely
to a Special Comment on the subject of health care reform in this
country." - Keith Olbermann Special Comment of October 7th

MORE HERE



Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue

Monday, October 05, 2009

Credit card rant gets results - Debtor's Revolt Begins!

YouTube credit card rant gets results



Although, I do not relate to this woman's philosophical belief system... I CERTAINLY DO relate to her as a consumer. Most of us who have struggled with credit card debt and job losses know the frustrations of "climbing a greased pole". (A metaphor describing how, one can NEVER make it out of
debt, no matter how they try.) The banks have been putting the screws to us for a long time. When I was a child, I would hear adults talking about LOAN SHARKS. I would watch TV stories of legs and arms being broken for non-payment by the so called LOAN SHARKS who charged exorbitant interest fees. I was glad to find out that this technique was illegal and our banking institutions could never resort to such tactics in order to coerce
payment. As an adult, I learned there were legal procedures of torture that didn’t require physical bone breaking but were just as vexing. In modern day Capitalism, the torture is mental and longer lasting. Today’s banks use teaser loans to lure us in and once we are captured by their come-ons they pounce and raise the APR's so high, that there is no escape from debt. I salute this woman who didn't take it lying down! She sprung into action and threw a couple of punches back!
thinkingblue.blogspot.com

PS: Corporations make their billions off our backs and then they use this money to screw us. WTF?

~~~~~~~~~~
ALAN GRAYSON - A VOICE OF REASON



Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Rep. Alan Grayson D-Fla, A Voice Of Reason

Rep. Alan Grayson D-Fla, A Voice Of Reason

Florida Representative Alan Grayson speaks for all of us who believe the Republicans are only responsive to Corporate Interests. They have shown time and again that "We The People" do not matter. Our only function is to keep the corporate world lucrative. The Health Care Reform debacle has exposed their greed to everyone except those who follow their creed, those who have been indoctrinated to blindly accept anything they have to offer as genuine and in their best interests; no questions are allowed. I swear the Republican Party and Religion are one and the same. thinkingblue

10 hot news items you might've missed




Damned atheists, quivering seamen, perverted iPods

by Mark Morford

Let's take it from the top, shall we?

1) Congressional Republicans are furious indeed that uppity Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) claimed, right there on the House floor and using a big piece of paper with large, clear letters they could actually read and everything, that the GOP's health care plan basically consists of hoping that sick people will just "die quickly."

Grayson has refused to apologize. The GOP is all aflutter.

"This is an outrage!" said some not-really-outraged Republican congressmen I'd normally name here, but I won't because he's basically an amalgam of a whole slew of them and doesn't actually exist, per se.

"It's a total lie!" he said anyway. "Republicans often love it when people suffer long, slow inexorable deaths, particularly if it serves our political purposes. Remember Terry Schiavo? Hell, we would've been happy to drag her tragically comatose body around for a good two or three more years if she hadn't been allowed to pass quietly and destroy our big media charade of fake indignation," he did not add, before being devoured by invisible sharks.

2) Top Pentagon officials are calling for an end to the U.S. military's historical ban on allowing women to serve in submarines. "I am very comfortable addressing integrating women into the submarine force," Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said in a statement, as we all acknowledge that yes, that really is his name.

"After all, what young, tough woman in her right mind wouldn't love to be stationed for many, many months deep inside the bowels of a submersible, claustrophobic, phallic-shaped military weapon stuffed like a testosterone Bratwurst with young, lonely, homoerotically supercharged seamen, most of whom haven't seen a real female since 2008 and aren't allowedto relieve any 'tension' except with each other, and therefore and have so much pent-up sexual energy that they spasm uncontrollably every time they pass a loaded missile tube?" Roughhead did not add. "Insert seamen joke here."

3) Acclaimed scholar, atheist, documentary film star, and godless hell-bound demonspawn Richard Dawkins has a new book, just in time for Christmas over at your religiously severe parents' house in Kansas, the one with the animated manger scene and the fervent prayers that Jesus will reappear riding on the back of a dinosaur to smite the heathens with a flaming sword and then have a beer and watch some NASCAR.

"The Greatest Show on Earth" is all about evolution, and the incredible mountains of irrefutable proof thereof, and how it's well past time that the non-argument regarding
evolution's veracity is put to rest. Of course, it's also a book that's about as likely to be read and comprehended by the various ignoramuses, the Bible literalists and Young Earthers and evolution deniers it effortlessly discredits as is an algebra textbook by Sarah Palin. But still.

4) Speaking of which, it turns out Sarah Palin's ghostwriter on the grammatical/intellectual nightmare that's surely going to be "Going Rogue" is, as you might've already guessed, not exactly a bastion of ideological balance and integrity herself.

Palin's ghostwriter, Lynn Vincent, also co-wrote a book with beloved white supremacist blogger Robert Stacy McCain (no relation).She also wrote an article championing creationism, Richard Dawkins be damned, and described abortion among minorities as "black genocide."

Vincent's contribution to Palin's cartoon legacy will likely be that "Going Rogue" sells a truckload of copies to the hardcore GOP base in the first week, and then quickly piles up in the $1.99 remainder bin in bookstores across the planet, where it will serve to embarrass the GOP for the next six to eight years straight.

5) Not to be outdone by news that the excellent new video recorder in the recently refreshed iPod nano is perfect for carefully strapping onto your shoe and walking around the schoolyard and furtively shooting pervy 'upskirt' videos of young Japanese girls, the Flip video corporation is reportedly working furiously not only to make its popular Mino recorder more hidden-in-my-shoe friendly, but also to feature a special "upskirt" film mode in its next model, replete with Panty Detector® auto-zoom sensors. "It's perfect for Justin Timberlake concerts!" Lynn-Ann Clemens, Flip's nonexistent VP of Marketing, did not exclaim, pervily.

6) Scientists have discovered about 850 mostly blind, pale creatures living deep underground in the Australian outback, with lots more to come.

The pallid, weak, delicate little creatures, collectively nicknamed "the GOP base," are both admired for their weird tenacity and also widely pitied for being so easily pulverized into goopy nothingness by the bright light of even a tiny hint of actual reality.

7) Remember when the Egyptian government so sagely ordered the slaughter of all the nation's pigs in a completely ignorant, Sarah Palin-grade effort to combat swine flu, even though swine flu isn't really transmitted by pigs? There has been a rather adorable, unfortunate consequence.

Turns out all those pigs used to eat much of the garbage so common to Egypt's streets, and now that the pigs are gone, the rancid refuse is piling up worse than ever. Meanwhile, the government is clueless and the people are increasingly furious. See? And you thought you had it rough dealing with the homeless dudes swiping all your glass bottles from the recycling bin.

And finally, a simply fine trio of happy, kid-related studies, a veritable trifecta of spurious, lousy news for confused parents who like to smoke, smack their babies around and eat too much candy. Shall we?

8) Study No 1: If you slap and spank your toddler when she's around one year old, she's far more likely to turn into a violent, aggressive, mentally impaired three-year-old Republican.

9) Study No. 2: If you smoke while pregnant, not only are you a complete idiot, your child is far more likely to develop symptoms of psychosis, like hallucinations and delusions (Hi, Glenn Beck!)

10) Study No. 3 wraps it all up in a sweet, if completely specious, little package, by suggesting that if your kid eats lots of candy every day,odds appear to be much better that he'll be arrested and go to prison later in life, presumably because he's already developed an addictive personality and Skittles are obviously a gateway drug to artisanal chocolate and anal sex and black tar heroin, which are themselves gateway drugs to becoming a full-on junkie, which will, in turn, make you a huge drag on the American health care system, in which case it would be much better for everyone if you'd just get it over with and die quickly. Thank you.




SICK OVER HEALTH CARE REFORM



Let's keep our heads, while we continue to
watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!
thinkingblue