Rumors, Insinuations, and the Ridiculously Guilty or Castro, Clinton, and Canine Cruelty

Rumors
My husband was playing World of Warcraft when he asked me to check CNN, because someone online said that Castro was dead. There was nothing on CNN, MSNBC, or the BBC. So I dug deeper to Wonkette who was making fun of the guy , who normally blogs about celebrities and supposedly broke the Story. Since these stories suggested that the State of Florida was making plans, I checked the local media which noted the buzz in the air, but seemed to remain doubtful of the rumors. Not being a Cuban-American, I have never got the whole anti-Castro thing. I am occasionally fascinated how cigar-smoking Fidel has been able to hold onto power and stay alive so long. Despite numerous attempts to overthrow him and assassinate him, he keeps on going like the energizer bunny. I guess I don't get too excited either way because I doubt that bringing capitalism along with Starbucks and Walmart to Cuba is going to improve things there.

Insinuations
It appears that Hillary has made quite a stir suggesting that a terrorist attack would benefit the republicans during this election. Everyone is SHOCKED! I don't know why everyone is so shocked since there are countless examples how republicans have milked the whole 9/11 tragedy for every ounce of political advantage during these six horrible years. Just recently they have advertisements that try to link the severely botched quagmire that is Iraq with the 9/11 attack. While I can see the reasoning that another attack may help the republicans, I am also thinking that it may hurt them. For all these years this war in Iraq has been waged, Bush and his cronies have claimed that the reason we haven't been attacked here is because we are fighting Al Queda in its entirety there. If we are attacked while we are still in Iraq and during The Surge, it would completely crumble that world view. Even without an attack, you can argue that Al Queda waited 8 years between attacks on the World Trade Center and Al Queda cells have been busy attacking our allies Britain and Spain during this time. One wonders if part of the anger of the native insurgency in Iraq towards American troops is having their own country turned into a front line battlefield between the US and Al Queda.

Ridiculously Guilty

Hazzah to the NFL for indefinitely suspended for funding a dogfighting and gambling operation. Vick deserves to be kicked out of the NFL and sent to prison. Here is a guy who is making a spectacular living and he uses that privilege to support brutality of animals for sport. What kind of person thinks that having dogs rip each other apart is entertainment?

The People You Meet in Heaven, Hell, and the Purgatory of Poor Fools

The Hell: Paving the Road to Hell by Convincing US it is going to Heaven

Red Rove'r, Red Rove'r send insane evil right over! Somewhere in Texas an arch-demon, MC Rove, re-enters his demon-cave from whence he spawned. I wish I could report that our long national nightmare is over now that this creature has retreated into his fiery liar with his "family" or demon-kin of fear-sprites, bible-twisting fire-imps, and oozing oil sludges.

We are still fighting this impossible war, which "Manchurian Candidate" McCain insists we are winning, when everyone agrees that a political solution rather than military might is far from being accomplished. There are no guarantees that we can prevent full blown calamity regardless if we stay or go. People will continue to die and be maimed with or without our assistance.

Then we have the economy that has been lauded as Bush's creation that is going downhill due to overly-permissive lending practices that will have far reaching consequences for all of us. People who were lead to believe that they could afford their no-interest or adjustable loans because the value of homes would continue to go up are going to lose their homes. The day-traders of the nineties turned into real estate flippers of the aughts have returned to the stock market creating the false illusion that the stock market can only go up. Due to recent volatile dips in the stock market, people will simply not know where to invest if they have any money left to invest. If people have trouble getting loans or refinancing they will be unable to afford to remodel their homes, effecting all the contractors: plumbers, electricians, furniture, landscapers, appliance makers, masons, home builders, and all the service providers that were making the economy seem to hum. Due to home values declining there is less incentive to make improvements even if the money is there, because there is no guarantee that you will get that money back on the resell of the home.

Oh...and we can also talk about our indebtedness to China, that seems to want to poison our kids with lead paint and pets with bad pet food. In fairness we cannot lay that on the laps of the pantheon of demon-kin that is the Bush Whitehouse alone. We can blame them though for our spiraling debt.


The Heaven: Coffee and Art

In the past days, I have been able to compare side by side Peets Coffee against Henry's House of Coffee, and we have discovered that hands down -- Henry makes better coffee. We have one of those Krup Carafe coffeemakers and often we reheat what is left over from the day before in the morning. Peets coffee turns rancid tasting if left over night, but Henry's tastes like it did when it was first brewed. I am telling you that with the free shipping Henry offers, there is no reason why you shouldn't be drinking his coffee. Walk in his San Francisco shop while he is roasting his beans and it is surely what heaven must smell like. You will be dizzy with pleasure. I promise.

Stop right now and dial: 1.800.578.5282 and order his coffee. I prefer his 1/2 french roast and 1/2 mocha java blend and Henry's Blend Decaf. He has a wide variety of beans. Do it. Do it. Do it.

I came across a wonderful art blog called dear ada, there are countless wonderful finds from the art world. It is my heaven when i want a fresh dose of art to discover.

Purgatory of Poor Fools: Pig Biting Madness In Print No More

I remember in my sophomore year in high school, my friends and I took a train to San Francisco from Menlo Park and we bought a Weekly World News. We were astonished by various tales of genetic mishaps of Batboy and Ed Anger telling us that he would would join the troops in Lebanon if it weren't for the fact that he had a steel plate in his skull.

The Weekly World News has recently announced that they will be going web only and ceasing to kill trees to bring us news of pending Armageddon or new mutant babies.

While I like saving trees for real news, I somehow feel like it is an end of an era of buying this rag and using it for wrapping paper for kitchy gift giving.

This paper lives in a space between heaven and hell. It is uniquely American, haven for Photoshop hacks, and provides empty calories of useless, false information (which FoxNews takes to a high art). I will miss the appropriately seedy and tactile experience of having the newsprint bleed on your fingers -- something a website just can't do.