Afrikander Een Plesierige Kerfees
Arabic I'd Millad Said oua Sana Saida
Argentine Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo
Armenian Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Basque Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bohemian Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Breton Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Chinese (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
(Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Catalan Bon Nadal i un Bon any nou
Cornish Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Cree Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian Sretan Bozic
Czech Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish Gl?delig Jul
Dutch Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
English Merry Christmas
Esperanto Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian Ruumsaid juulup|hi
Farsi Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish Hyvaa joulua
French Joyeux Noel - Christmas in France & Canada
Frisian Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije
Jier!
German Froehliche Weihnachten
Greek Kala Christouyenna!
Hawaiian Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi Shub Naya Baras
Hungarian Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic Gledileg Jol
Indonesian Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Italian (Auguri di) Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Japanese Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Latvian Priecigus Ziemas Svetkus un Laimigu Jauno Gadu
Lettish Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian Linksmu Kaledu
Manx Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori Meri Kirihimete
Marathi Shub Naya Varsh
Navajo Merry Keshmish
Norwegian God Jul
PennsylvaniaGerman En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei
Yaahr!
Polish Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia
Portuguese Boas Festas
Rapa-Nui Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rumanian Sarbatori vesele
Russian Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Serbian Hristos se rodi
Slovakian Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Sami Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serb-Croatian Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina
Singhalese Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene Vesel Bozic. Srecno Novo Leto.
Spanish Feliz Navidad
Swedish God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt Oer
Tagalog Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon
Tamil Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Thai Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Urdu Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Vietnamese Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh Nadolig Llawen
Yugoslavian Cestitamo Bozic

We take you now to the Oval Office.........
George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.
(Condi picks up the phone.)
Condi: Rice, here.
George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we should send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get Chinese food in the Middle East?

........Allowing the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion...and you allow him to make war at his pleasure. If today he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him ? You may say to him, "I see no probability of the British invading us," but he would say to you, "Be silent: I see it if you don't." -- Abraham Lincoln

NORTH POLE - In a press release this morning Santa Claus announced that, due to excessive government regulation, his annual December 24th voyages would be canceled until further notice.

Mr. Claus’s legal difficulties began on Christmas Eve of last year, when Santa’s sleigh was forced down by Air National Guard fighter jets after
violating military airspace. A subsequent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation resulted in Claus’s being forbidden from operating any
air transport within the United States of America. FAA documents show that infractions allegedly committed by Claus include repeated and flagrant
violation of airspeed, altitude, and routing rules, failure to file flight plans, habitual overloading of his sleigh, and delivering air cargo without
a commercial pilot’s license.

Claus’s excuse that these violations were necessary measures to enable him to deliver toys to all the world’s good children in one night was not
considered to be a mitigating factor. A further result of the investigation was the impounding of Santa’s sleigh by the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) as unsafe; an NTSB spokesman summarized the agency’s case in the statement that "the glowing nose of a hoofed mammal is not an acceptable running light."

The information revealed in the FAA inquest prompted several other federal agencies to begin their own inquiries into Claus’s activities. The result of
these investigations was multiple indictments against Claus. The United States Customs Service, noting that Mr. Claus had not paid duties on the
toys he imported, requested that Claus be assessed millions of dollars in tariffs and fines. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, after being
informed that Claus had entered the United States and was working without a visa and Green Card, has begun deportation proceedings. Claus also faces fines and possible criminal charges in connection with a Department of Agriculture report accusing him of bringing nine reindeer into the United
States without appropriate vaccinations and quarantine procedures.

Additionally, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr is reported to be requesting his authority be extended to include investigating Claus, noting that Santa
has made yearly trips to Indonesia, Taiwan, and Little Rock. Starr has requested an additional $40 million for this investigation.

The investigations into Claus’s activities have also resulted in legal action being brought against Santa’s Workshop, a non-profit organization for
which Claus is chief executive officer. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a class-action suit against Santa’s Workshop alleging
that that organization engages in discriminatory hiring practices by employing only elves; Santa’s Workshop has reportedly rejected a settlement
proposal of approximately $10 million in back pay, penalties, and diversity training for Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The Environmental Protection Agency has declared that Santa’s Workshop’s North Pole manufacturing facility is "severely contaminated" and filed suit
for cleanup expenses under the Superfund act; evidence cited includes reports of pointed ears and diminished stature among Santa’s Workshop
employees, and mutations such as flying and power of speech among the local reindeer population.

Furthermore, the Workshop’s financial records are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in an effort to determine how, in the words
of an IRS spokesman, "a supposedly charitable organization can give gifts to millions of children annually while receiving no apparent income."

In a related story the so-called Santagate hearings continued today in Congress. The House Committee on Un-Christmaslike Affairs heard testimony
from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stating that Santa’s distribution of presents is unconstitutional. "By discriminating between
naughty and nice children Santa Claus denies them equal protection under the law," an ACLU attorney stated. "By not informing children of their naughty or nice status and providing a means of appeal children are denied their right to due process. These actions are clearly in violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment."

In light of these hearings many of Claus’s former political allies have been quietly withdrawing their support of the beleaguered saint; former President
Jimmy Carter declaring that "I am not Santa Claus."
There are some reports that Santa Claus will not discontinue his benevolent activities entirely. A reliable source in Santa’s Workshop has stated that,
in the spirit of Christmas, Santa will be paying an unofficial trip to Washington, DC, this Christmas Eve. The same source speculated that this
trip may pertain to the distribution of a shipment of coal that Claus recently received.

National Day of Action November 21, 2002

http://www.walmartdayofaction.com/

Underneath Wal-Mart's "Good Neighbor" image is a company that....

Pages wages to low for most workers to afford basic living expenses, such as rent, mortgages, or health insurance.

Discriminates against workers who are women, people of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Bullies employees by forcing them to work extra hours without overtime pay, firing them without just cause, refusing to pay medical bills for work-related injuries, denying them the right to organize, and creating and atmosphere of intimidation.

Violates human rights and anti-discrimination laws.

Regularly does business with foreign countries and suppliers that commit human rights abuses.

Destroys the fabric of communities by displacing family-owned businesses, dispersing their customers and eliminating jobs (for every two jobs created, the community loses three).

Shows contempt for the law by hiding or filing to produce records, doctoring records, and presenting false records.

Worsens sprawl, which destroys the beauty of the environment and aggravates pollution.

Barges into communities that do not want them my manipulating municipal officals and legal systems.

Join the People's Campaign - Justice @ Wal Mart to make Wal-Mart respect the values, respond to the needs and hear the voices of the people - the workers, consumers, suppliers, and communities - who have made Wal_Mart the largest retailer and the largest corporation in America.

Together our coalition will transform Wal-Mart into a responsible corporate citizen that provides good jobs, equal opportunity, fair business and trade practices, neighborhood-friendly operations and respect for the rights of workers, consumers, and communities.

1. Sex is a beauty treatment. Scientific tests find that when people make love they produce amounts of the hormones which make hair shiny and skin smooth.

2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, makes your skin glow.

3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.

4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches and tones up just about every muscle in the body. It's more enjoyable than swimming 20 laps, and you don't need special sneakers!

5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases the chemical endorphin into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being.

6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones. These subtle sex perfumes drive people crazy!

7. Sex is the safest tranquilizer in the world. IT IS 10 TIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN VALIUM.

8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque buildup.

9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.

OK.. ive seen all those inkblot tests in the movies and on tv.. but i've never taken one until now.. here's the online link u can take it urself to see what it says....

there are 11 wild color inblots.. about 50 questions so be warned it's a little long. here is what it said about me...

justin, your unconscious mind is driven most by Curiosity

This means you are full of questions about life, people, and the potential of your future. You spend more time than others envisioning the possibilities of your life — things that others are too afraid to consider.

Your curiosity burns with an almost physical need to know and do more. It's only through new experiences that you feel a greater understanding of yourself or the world — which ultimately is the greatest way for you to feel satisfied.

It is possible that the underlying reason for your drive towards curiosity is a deeply rooted fear of boredom. That means that you are probably more susceptible than others to feel like you're falling into a rut when life slows down into a comfortable routine.

You need to make sure you have stimulation in your life — that makes you feel like you're innovating or being exposed to the ideas and experiences that truly inspire you.

With such a strong orientation towards curiosity, you're also prone to a rebellious quality that shows up when you feel you are just going through the motions, and are unable to really influence the world around you. But interestingly enough, your drive towards novel experiences also indicates an openness others don't have, but wish they did.

Unconsciously, your curiosity presses you to learn more, experience more, and get the most out of life.

Though your unconscious mind is driven most strongly by Curiosity, there is much more to who you are at your core.

Last Friday, the Oprah show covered a story of a Nigerian woman, Amina Lawal, who has been sentenced to death by stoning because she had a baby out of wedlock. She has tried to appeal the decision but has been unsuccessful thus far. The head of Nigeria disagrees with these stonings but has yet to do anything--partly because of the fear of not being re-elected. I should also note that the father of the baby denied fathering the child and, hence, has escaped any form of punishment.
Amina Lawal's stoning will occur as soon as she is finished nursing her child. She will be buried up to her neck in dirt and townsmen will throw stones at her head until they kill her--which has been known to take hours.


I send out a plea to all the women receiving this e-mail and to all the men raised by women to join me and many others to help prevent this horrific and inhumane event from occurring. All you have to do is visit the Oprah website: www.oprah.com and click on the Amina Lawal pop up screen or search using Amina's name and you will see a pre-written letter addressed to the Nigerian Ambassador.


Just fill out your information on the bottom of the page and send it. It's as simple as that. You can even go one step further and forward this e-mail to your friends so they can be part of the mission to save Amina Lawal. It's your chance to save one woman's life. We can claim ignorance when doing nothing to stop vicious atrocities that we know nothing about from occurring but there is no justification if we standby and allow these events to take place when we are fully aware of them.


Thank you very much for reading this...now the ball is in your court.

Dear Dr. Laura,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you, and 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 him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

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. How should I deal with this?

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

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may buy slaves from the nations that are around us. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify?

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?

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

Lev. 20:20 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?

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

A Fan

It's always been my dream to see Paris, France. Don't you think just once in your life you ought to visit a country where they don't speak English -- and don't even want to. -Mrs. Webb from Thornton Wilder's Our Town

Only 6% of U.S. citizens hold valid passports. That means that very few Americans have ventured out of our country farther than Canada, Mexico, or a few Carbbiean island where a U.S. birth certificate is suffient for travel.

Then after the events of 9/11/01 people in this country became shocked that folks in other countries just don't like us. But it looks like we've never taken the time and effort to get to know them.

I have been out of the U.S. several times and have chat friends online from various countries around the world (Canada, Brazil, Austraila, the Phillipenes, South Africa, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the UK). It is interesting to discuss things with people from other places and find out about them and what interests them. While most of them are very interested in the U.S.

They get U.S. movies, tv shows and music in almost every one of those countries, yet the same is not true about U.S. Everyone seems to know about the breakup of Brittany and Justin but we don't get music by major musical acts from Brazil (a country the same size and with more people that the US), or TV shows from Australia or the UK (which are already in English). And if a foreign movie or tv shows well elsewhere, before they show it in the U.S. we have to make our own version of it.

We export McDonalds, and KFC, and TGI Friday's around the world, but try and find a bottle of HP Sauce or vegamite at the Winn Dixie or Super Wal-Mart. And that is truly strange since the one thing we seem interested in of other countries is their food -- Shall we go out for Thai or Mexican tonight dear ? And let me tell you from personal experience, chinese food in china is nothing like your neighborhood take out place.

Our country is very blind to the heritage and cultures of other countries, which is strange considering that we are a nation of immigrants ourselves. Nobody here is really from here. Even the native Americans arrived by land bridge from Asia and boats from the pacific islands.

Our citizen's are also blind to the perceptions people in other countries have about us.

Our citizen's are also blind to many of the actions of our government overseas and our government's interaction with other countries. In the last two years, especially, our country is more and more seen as a country that does not work and play well with others.

Until 09/11/02 government officials have shunned involement and cooperation with other countries. Either breaking many of our established treaties (The ABM and nuculear non-proliferation treaties) or "just saying 'no'to agreements seeen as necessary and prudent by our friends and enemies across the globe (the global warming treaty, the war crimes court). Under dubya's father and his hero Ronald Reagan we didn't even pay our UN dues.

Although I believe dubya is willing to have our country enter a war in Iraq without the blessing of the community of nations, he understands that the citizens (voters) are not willing for the US to make such a brutish move.

We are the only remaining Superpower in the world and a huge force for any one country or group of countries to deal with. The provides us wiht an opportunity unique in the history of the world. We have a the opportunity to build consensus and motivate actions to do good around the world. To assist countries less developed than ourselves erase hunger and disease, to jointly explore parts of our world and other worlds yet to be investigated. To lead by example of what democracy and entrupeneurship can really do.

Instead we are acting like the bully on the school playground. Do what I want you to do or we will beat you up. Play my way, by my rules, or else.

Dude, i'm not buying a Dell. Not without Steve anyway. The new Dell commericals now on TV don't feature Steve and according to Dell, Steve has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. Oh well.

I guess Dell doesn't know a good thing when they see it. Or they don't know a cute guy when they see one. And Ben Craft, the dude who plays Steve definitely it up there on the hottie list.

I guess Dell doesn't understand that there really isn't a fundamental difference for most people between one computer and another.. whether it is a Dell, or a Compaq, or a Hewlett-Packard or anything else. They all have the same Intel computer chips inside them, they all run the same operating system, they all connect to the same internet. And more or less the prices are very similar for similarly equiped models. The only thing that makes a person chose one over the other is our perception of the company.

well I don't have a very good perception of that company anymore. Anyone who can't understand that the increase in Dell's sales over the recent past was due in part to very effective advertising and that was due to Steve.. the dell dude.

Eventhough Steve had just started college, he is a lot smarter than the corporate dudes at Dell will ever be, if they think that this is a good business decision.

i took my first IQ test today at http://www.emode.com/tests/uiq/
and this is what the results said...

Congratulations, justin!
Your IQ score is 135

This number is the result of a formula based on how many questions you answered correctly on Emode's Ultimate IQ test.

The even better news is that at Emode, we've taken your IQ test one step further. During the test, you answered four different types of questions — mathematical, visual-spatial, linguistic and logical. We were able to analyze how you did on each set of those questions, which allows us to shed light on the way your brain uniquely functions.

At the same time, we compared your answers with others who have taken the test, and according to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is a Visionary Philosopher.

The first thing we can tell you about that is you're equally good at mathematical and verbal tasks, and learn best through experience. But that's just scratching the surface.

well i wasn't gonna pay for the rest of it... but i guess its interesting. Some of the questions are hard.. what was your score ??

A year ago today a very bad thing happened and a lot of people died that should not have. it was a horrible thing and I do feel for the families of everyone who lost a loved one that day.

OK. Now that I said that…I think that everyone who pauses to remember the events of a year ago and every newspaper, tv, and radio station that devotes time to what happened a year ago is only working on behalf of the cause of the terrorists. I am not saying that they are a willing and cooperative member. Far from it. But everytime we change our lives. Alter our patterns of livng. Even change our regular viewing habits on tv the terrorists have won another battle.

The strongest thing we can do to defeat the terrorists…any terrorist, is not to acknowledge their actions. Not to devote hundreds of hours of tv time to them and their cause.

When we devote hours on tv to the terrorists groups, leaders, causes and beliefs. Then the terrorists have won.

When we create a department of homeland defense which will suck billions of federal dollars from other worthwile programs of our government in order to protect ourselves from terrorists threats, then the terrorists have won.

When we pass laws that change the fundamental principles of our legal system and allow the current government administration to ignore basic constitutional provisions under which our country operates, then the terrorists have won.

When we turn our country from one of millions of citizens living at peace in their communities into a country where neighbors spy upon neighbors for signs of being an “evil doer”, then the terrorists have won.

When people are afraid to speak out their true feelings because their views may be unpopular or not agreement with those in power in our country, When people are forced form elective office or their television programs are forced off the air for supporting such views, then the terrorists have won.

“A man who trades freedom for security has neither” – President James Madison, primary Arthor or the US Constitution

“Patriotism, is no the blind acceptance of the status quo, but the ability to call your country to a higher order” -- US Senator George McGovern

Our country was created by its founders as a unique experiment in the history of the world. The main governing document of our country states not what the people are allowed to do, but what the government is and is not allowed to do. It does not restrict the actions of the people within its boarders, instead it restricts the actions of the government within its boarders. The people have all the freedom.

In our country our citizens have been endowed with rights not enjoyed by citizens in other countries.

The right to freedom of speech.

The right to freedom of the press.

The right to freedom of association.

The right to a trail by a jury of your peers.

The right to consult with an attorney, and be represented by one at trial.

The right to refrain from self incrimination.

The right to a quick and fair trial.

The right face your accusers at trail.

The right to be innocent until proven guilty at trial.

The right of privacy and resistrictions on unreasonable search and seizure by the government.

Unlike many countries, ours was designed not primarily to see that people who commit crimes go to jail, but it was designed to see that no innocent people go to jail for crimes they do not commit. Because of that, it sometimes means that guilty people do go free. But historically, the important principle in our country was that innocent people do not go to jail.

To change these historical rights, even if it would make it easier for our government to capture suspected terrorists is the wrong thing to do. To allow the government to say that the rights that our citizens enjoy, that belong to us infringe on their ability to fight terrorism and that our citizens need to give up these rights to feel more secure is the wrong thing to do. If we do, then it means the terrorists have won.

Click to subscribe to justinsboizclub

“All the news that’s fit to print” --- that is the motto of The New York Times, supposedly THE newspaper with a liberal leaning in our country. Recently it was announced that this bastion of liberal thought would BEGIN to allow notices of same sex weddings to appear in its pages next to those of more “traditional” couples.

Did anyone realize that they previously had a policy against publishing such announcements ?? That such items were “unfit” to include in their most respected journal ?

That’s very enlightened of them to change this policy, but it’s hardly cutting edge and enlightened. When I read about the announcement in the USAToday, I was more shocked that they were just starting doing it rather than that they were going to start doing it.

New York City has one of the largest concentrations of gay people in the nation, it’s not as if this was the ultra conservative Orange County Register or a small town paper in the middle of the heartland.

Daily, gay people openly appear on mainstream television in as characters (will and grace, dawson’s creek, undressed) as the performers (Rosie O’Donnell, randy Harrison) or as just themselves ( the real world, survivor) on many of the countries most popular television shows. Will and grace won an Emmy for best comedy show. Dawson’s Creek, Queer as Folk, and Survivor all draw top ratings for their respective networks. Rosie O’Donnell won 5 Emmys as Best Talk Show and 5 Emmys as best Talk Show Host in her show’s 6 years on television. The Real World is MTV’s longest running show (this year will be it’s 12th season) and this past year drew more viewers than ever before.

These are not the times of Oscar Wilde and “the love that dare not speak it’s name.” In fact, in the same edition of the USAToday as the times’ announcement was an article reporting that Germany had become yet another European country to recognize the legal standing of a same-sex marriage as equal to that of a “traditional” marriage.

The difference was striking. On one hand we have a country (Germany) that is truly moving forward with equality and rights for all people, and on the other we have a country (the US) where the self-proclaimed “paper of national record” plays catch up by recognizing what its readers have for years and what our government won’t.

It seems to me as if the Times is playing catch up with the times.

It is hardly surprising given the Times horrible track history in the last 25 years. In the historical accounts of the early days of the AIDS crisis, stories describing “gay cancer” outbreaks in the nations largest cities along with the wasting diseases breaking out across central Africa were buried deep within the Times allowing then President Reagan and other powerful people to look the other way. A front page New York Times story is often re-reported in papers and on television and radio stations across the country and around the world and has the power to shape national and international debate as the story about our government’s plans for invading Iraq did this summer.

Throughout the 80’s the Times refused to use the words “lover”, “partner”, or other terms of affection to describe the loved ones of the countess AIDS victims whose obituaries appeared in their pages. The Times added to the pain at the time of grieving my insisting to usea sanitary “longtime companion” description, no matte what the preference was of the people involved. A standard that was not maintained in the obituaries of unmarried heterosexual couples.

Of course, the Times has not dealt well with non-traditional issues and has rarely been at the forefront of national change, even in heterosexual issues.

In 1984 a housewife, mother, and member of the US House of Representatives from Queens, New York became the first woman to run on a major parties ballot for national office. The named she preferred was Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro however was her maiden name – which she used professionally to honor her mother who worked so hard to put her daughter through law school. She was married to John Zaccaro, a successful Queens businessman.

While most newspapers refered to the people in their articles simply by last name, the Times insisted that all people referred to by name would carry a title. Other than the ones like Rev. or Dr. the only ones the times recognized were Mr., Mrs,. And Miss.

Once Representative Ferraro resigned from her office to seek the Vice-Presidency, the Times ran into quite a problem on the issue of how to refer to her in their paper. They could not refer to her as Miss Ferraro for she was a married woman. She could not be referred to as Mrs. Ferraro, for she was not married to Mr. Ferraro, she was married to Mr. Zaccaro. (Mrs. Ferraro was in fact, her mother.) The Times policy would have insisted that she be referred to as Mrs Zaccaro, eventhough it was a name she did not use professionally and if the Times did so, it would cause readers great confusion. Only because of this conumdrum, the times reluctantly adopted the use of the (at the time) controversial but very handy title of Ms.

While the times may advocate liberal and modern policies for our country, they seem to hold on to very conservative and antiquated policies when it comes to their own policies and procedures.

It seems, once again the Times is far behind the times.

find your queer
as folk personality!

well i tried this for fun and this is what it said...

you are justin taylor!
This young, blonde, new kid on the queer block is Pittsburgh's hottest new heartbreaker.
He's also a fine young artist, with a special gift for drawing his favorite subject…
Brian Kinney. Although Justin can be a bit of a brat at times, he's also quite brave and
also wise beyond his years when it comes to reading people's hearts.

i suppose it could have been worse, i could have been sharon gless....

i'll pick on the president again today...for some reason the tv has spent a lot of time on msnbc lately and i guess i am a little more aware of the goings on this week (don imus refering to katie couric as a "fat cow" included). So they reported that the president left washington for a month-long vacation. that's nice. i am sure he works very hard at his job and just like other americans he needs some time of from work.

he's been at this job for a year and a half now, so he's entitled to a break. very few americans however get to take a month off for vacation. fewer americans receive a month off of paid vacation each year. and extremely few americans get a month's vacation after holding a new job for only a year and a half.

the average american would have between 1 and 2 weeks paid vacation time...not a month. a president who feels he is entitled to over twice the vacation of the average american, isn't really in-touch with the public anymore than his father was.

now i'm sure that the prime minister of england, the preimer of france, and the chancellor of germany all get at least a months vacation every year...and so do the average people in those countries as well. Most europeans receive 4-6 weeks of paid vacation per year in addition to paid holidays. In some counties the minimum amount is even set by law and applies to all workers regardless of how long they have been employed.

i don't see the shrub on tv using this opportunity as a platform to show the inequities of the compensation given us workers compared to our counterparts in other major economic powers. here is the perfect time to introduce legistlation that guarentees american workers at least the minimum paid vacation enjoyed by our allies and friends across the atlantic.

what i did see on tv was dubya's spokespeople acting like babies saying "well congress is doing it too". and that is true. in the days before air conditioning everyone bailed out of the oppressive washington heat and humidity during the summer. now they have air conditioning but the tradition still goes on.

all 435 members of the house of representatives are up for re-election in november so you can almost guarentee with the exception of gary condit that they will not be lounging around their homes while back in their respective states. in addition 1/3 of the senate will also be out campaigning to retain their seats in november.

true bush-the-younger did say it would be a "working vacation" and in modern day life it is hard to truly get away from the office no matter what your position is. telephones, cell phones, beepers, and e-mail all allow us to take work with us, or for work to find us rather quickly, no matter where in the world we are.

just remember that last year while the new president rode his horses around his west texas ranch trying to look more like the heir to the reagan legacy than the priviledged child of a powerful new england family, osama bin laden and his evil-doer buddies were plotting the most violent day our nation has ever seen.

people are one of the most important assets a company can have. yet those companies seem unwilling to spend anything but the bare minimum amount on that asset. factories routinely shut down all or parts of their operations to do maintainence on their production machinery. most businesses regularly do maintainence work on everything from copiers to delivery vechicles. yet those same companies refuse to do the necessary "maintainence" on one of their most valued priceless assets -- their employees.

happy people, rested people, stress free people perform better, are more loyal and more productive people.

ok, i saw "the shrub" on tv yesterday congradulating the men who were stuck for days in that pennsylvania mine for being heroes. now i understand that they went through a horrible ordeal and i wouldn't want to be stuck underground in the dark and water for even a second much less days. but something about this "photo opportunity" just didn't seem quite right to me. the only reason those poor guys were stuck in that mine for days had to do with some of dub-ya's wrong-doer corporate buddies trying to fill their own pockets.

it seems that the map that those guys had with them wasn't exactly accurate, and that the officials at the mining company knew it. They made a conscious decision to take out more coal and more earth in the next shaft than they were supposed to in order to boost profits, make themselves look good, and make themselves more weathly. Because of this decision to put profit over the lives and safety of their employees, they sent those poor guys into the shaft knowing that they were working with faulty information. This meant that the wall between the two mine shafts was not as thick as it needed to be and caused the cave in. luckily nobody was killed...this time.

does this make the mining company executives and less wrong-doers than those officials at enron or worldcom or adelphia who also made conscious decisions to decieve auditors, stockholders, etc in order to create wealth on paper which translated into real dollars in the pockets and bank accounts and opulent homes of the corporate executives ??

these poor miners were exploited for profit by their company executives and now they were on tv being exploited (not for monetary profit) by the president. the shrub was hoping that some of that "feel good" spirit that has accompanied the miners as they made the rounds of tv shows would rub off on him.

and now it appears that the disney company executives are going exploit (for profits they hope) these guys even further by making a tv movie-of-the-week for abc and a book to follow about their mine adventure. true disney did pay each of the miners 150,000 dollars for the rights to make a movie. i know, to me that is a lot of money, but it's probably still chicken feed compared to what disney will be able to make of of these guys.

it just seems that nobody appears to be truly concerned for the miner's mental health and physical well-being...everyone only seems to care about how they can use these guys.

Only in America....

can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. (THIS ONE ALWAYS BUGGED ME!)

do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

do we have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

evildoer..... wrongdoer.... where does he get these words ?? you would think that a person who held 2 degrees from 2 of our county's best universities would have a much better vocabulary than he that. an undergraduate degree from yale and an mba from harvard and the best he can do is wrongdoer ?? is that even a word ??

well miram webster on line does list both of them as valid words... but surely between all of his educated assistants they could come up with a stronger word than wrongdoer.

wonder what the difference is between an evildoer and a wrongdoer? When does a wrongdoer become and evildoer ?? is a person just a wrongdoer if he uses his work position for personal gain while all those who work at the company and who have invested their life savings in the company that he has been hired to run end up with pennies. that's just wrong, not evil? is it wrong to sit in your multi-million dollar home and invoke the 5th amendment with a smirk on your face before congress while thousands of other people worry about their health coverage, and paying their bills now that the company they used to work for has been run into the ground and their retirement funds have all but disappeared ?? to knowingly decieve and carry on such schemes and fraud's over a period of years and gaining personally from your actions is pretty evil to me.

is it worse to to be a terrorist than it is to take a thriving company with tens of thousands of people dependant on the company for a pay check and tens of thousands of other people investing their future in the profits of the company and knowingly destroy the company, the livelihoods of the employees, and the investments that so many people have worked so hard to build..... and then say "i did nothing wrong."

In case you needed further proof that the human race is
doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label
instructions on consumer goods.

On a Sear's hairdryer:
Do not use while sleeping.
(darn, and that's the only time I have to work on my hair).

On a bag of Fritos:
You could be a winner! No purchase necessary.
Details inside.
(the shoplifter special)?


On a bar of Dial soap:
"Directions: Use like regular soap."
(and that would be how???....)


On some Swanson frozen dinners:
"Serving suggestion: Defrost."
(but it's "just" a suggestion).


On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom):
"Do not turn upside down."
(well...duh, a bit late, huh)!


On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding:
"Product will be hot after heating."
(...and you thought????...)


On packaging for a Rowenta iron:
"Do not iron clothes on body."
(but wouldn't this save me more time)?


On Boot's Children Cough Medicine:
Do not drive a car or operate machinery after
taking this medication."
(And how many 5 year olds do we have driving?)


On Nytol Sleep Aid:
"Warning: May cause drowsiness."
(and...I'm taking this because???....)


On most brands of Christmas lights:
"For indoor or outdoor use only."
(as opposed to...what)?


On a Japanese food processor:
"Not to be used for the other use."
(now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a
bit curious.)


On Sunsbury's peanuts:
"Warning: contains nuts."
(talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts:
"Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: maybe, uh...fly Delta?)


On a child's superman costume:
"Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."
(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for
this one, and perhaps the next one too.)


On A Baby Stroller:
"Remove child before folding."
(So, that's why it never folds up the way it was when
you took it out of the box.)


On a Swedish chainsaw:
"Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or
genitals."
(Oh my ...was there a lot of this happening
somewhere?)


On a Can Of Cheese Whiz:
"For best results remove cap."
(You think? HELLO...)

..

last night i watched a dvd called "gosford park". its a movie directed by robert altman, who directed the original movie "mash" among others. It is a period movie set in the English countryside of 1932 at one of those monsterously large homes. he says his idea was to do an agatha christie-type murder mystery but spend the movie looking at it from the point of view of the servants. its an interesting movie. you can understand watching a movie like that what it took to make a place such as that run and how many servants were required... and visitors brought their own valets and maids who had to be fed and bed as well as the permanent staff. it is understandable why most of those places now are schools and hospitals and hotels and tourist attractions.

i haven't been to any stately english manor home of any lords and ladies, so i can't say if it is accurate. i have toured the 250-room biltmore house in north carolina which is probably about the closest thing we have in this country to a place like that. in the movie all of the formal "upstairs rooms" were actually filmed in a big old house, but all of the downstairs rooms are a movie set. the rooms really did remind me of what i saw in the servants quarters when i toured biltmore house. if you don't know what house i am talking about it is the mansion featured in movies like "richie rich" and "being there." when i toured the home all of the servants quarters were empty of people. it was interesting to see all of the hustle and bustle going on downstairs and how that contrasted with the slow formality of the upstairs rooms.

i guess it is what they call a comedy of manners. it is not a movie along the lines of "dude where's my car" it is something that i more snickered at and the funny lines but it takes a bit to settle into all of british accents. there are only two americans in the movie and one is ryan phillipe (doing a scottish accent) who sometimes is not that easy to understand without the accent. i'd watch him read the phone book so it really doesn't matter what he says, but this is a character driven movie and every character has a hidden secret. you can't always tell just by looking at them what it is.

its that way in life too. we call carry around secrets from each other.

my world and welcome to it. people said i should post more rants on my website. but i thought that it would be too hard to continually upload the whole thing each time i wanted to do it. then i happened to come across this stuff about blogs on the web. so i did a bit of research and decided to start my own. i'm going to do my best to update it a few times a week when some thing important gets me irked. so look back here frequently to see what i'm thinking about the world and my place in it. i've got a few things i need to get off my chest, so there may be a lot to read at first.