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*While Muslims all over the world are clamoring for reprisals against the artist and publications that printed cartoons about Prophet Mohammed, one of our own, Tom Toles of the Washington Post, received some flak over a cartoon published on Sunday January 29th. The drawing which depicted a wounded soldier and Secretary Rumsfeld, drew a letter to the Post from the Jt. Chiefs of Staff. Under a dictatorship or a theocracy the consequence could have been dire.WASHINGTON -- Military leaders angrily denounced as "beyond tasteless" a Washington Post editorial cartoon featuring a likeness of a severely wounded soldier and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as an attending doctor who says, "I'm listing your condition as `battle hardened.'"The cartoon by Tom Toles.On a lighter vein, check out the Toles' cartoon in today's Post.*More deaths in IraqIn other news, we lost six soldiers in Iraq in the first two days of February and we (our smart bombs) killed a few more innocent Iraqi civilians. BBC:In Sadr City, the father of Ikhlas Abd al-Hussein said his 20-year-old daughter had been killed when the helicopter fired a missile at her house, blasting a hole through the roof.Abd al-Hussein Shanuf said another woman and a two-year-old child had also been injured. One report attributed to a US spokesman said four people had been killed in the air strike.

*The management of the Norwegian publication Magazinet had no inkling of the firestorm that would result from twelve cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Currently, Muslims all over the world are issuing threats to all Europeans; European products are being boycotted. It would be a pity if this ends in apology from Norwegians and other European nations. Cartoons are cartoons. That might be beyond the capacity of religious fanatics to comprehend, but giving in to them would be no different than surrendering to demands by hostage taking terrorists.The Guardian, UK, reported: More newspapers across Europe today reprinted the 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that have sparked protests across the Middle East - although most refrained from publishing them on their websites.The fanatics exist not only among Muslims. Here in the United States, Christian fundamentalists probably salivate at the thought of wielding such power over the rest of us. It has not come to that....yet.

*Business as usual. "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". That explains the Republican lawmakers now in the process of electing a new majority leader to replace the scandal-plagued Tom DeLay. Roy Blunt (MO), who was DeLay's deputy, is the frontrunner. Blunt's wife and daughter are reported to be lobbyists ! "Just two weeks after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) pledged to pass far-reaching changes to the rules of lobbying on Capitol Hill, House Republican members pushed back hard against those proposals yesterday, charging that their leaders are overreacting to a growing corruption scandal. "*Insanity Fair -"Poor, Elderly and Students to Feel Pinch (Washington Post).The same lawmakers passed largely symbolic budget cuts without touching the president's tax cuts. "The House yesterday narrowly approved a contentious budget-cutting package that would save nearly $40 billion over five years by imposing substantial changes on programs including Medicaid, welfare, child support and student lending."Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!" (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)

What goes up must come down*There is certainly some anxiety, if not panic among those holding GOOG. Those who bought the stock early after it was launched in August 2004 have made enormous gains and have nothing to cry about except that its meteoric rise might not continue. David Vise in the Washington Post: "Google quarterly profit nearly doubled Tuesday, but fell well below analysts' high expectations, leading to steep losses in its stock price in early after-hours trading, perhaps demonstrating that even Google stock can't defy gravity forever."

More Bushspeak * Pomp and Circumstances * E-mail from a friend quoted a message received by him: "This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall on the same day. It is an ironic juxtaposition: One involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog."62 soldiers have lost their lives in January. The list does not include soldiers whose deaths have not yet been confirmed by the DOD. The number is lower than last month's and last January's. That is a good sign. The dead are only a part of the picture. 39 of them were in their twenties; Private First Class Peter D. Wagler of Partridge, Kansas, was 18 years old when he died on January 23rd ! What a sad list of names. Then there are the injured--7659 reported by Iraq Coalition Casualties.org The President, who managed to stay away from Vietnam, is going to blather this evening about their sacrifice, the smirk never far. As long as the families of the dead and injured soldiers continue to support him he will get away with it. There will be members of Congress bobbing up and down like marionettes to applaud him. The President will not mention 35 year old Douglas A. Barber, a Iraq war veteran who couldn't cope with post traumatic stress disorder and shot himself to death on January 16th. I hope that history will harshly judge those who took us into this senseless war.His poll numbers continue to be low. He says he does not pay attention to polls but few believe that. Privatization of Social Security is down the tube; even some of his staunch supporters are concerned about the mounting budget deficit; the Abramoff scandal is casting a shadow on Republican members of Congress; Patrick Fitzgerald still following the Valerie Plame leak enquiry; and Medicare Part 'D",the Prescription Drug Plan, is a disaster for those who need it most. State of the Union is far from rosy. So, expect full scale smoke and mirrors. On the plus side, the president's conservative Christian supporters are delighted that Samuel Alito has become the newest member of the Supreme Court.Jason Lee Bishop, 31, Army Sergeant 1st Class, Jan 01, 2006 Christopher J. Vanderhorn, 37, Army Staff Sergeant, Jan 01, 2006 William F. Hecker III, 37, Army Major, Jan 05, 2006 Jason Lopezreyes, 29, Army Sergeant, Jan 05, 2006 Robbie M. Mariano, 21, Army Private, Jan 05, 2006 Johnny J. Peralez Jr., 25, Army Sergeant, Jan 05, 2006 Christopher P. Petty, 33, Army Captain, Jan 05, 2006 Ryan D. Walker, 25, Army Specialist, Jan 05, 2006 Stephen J. White, 39, Army Sergeant 1st Class, Jan 05, 2006 Michael E. McLaughlin, 44, Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel, Jan 05, 2006 Adam Leigh Cann, 23, Marine Sergeant, Jan 05, 2006 Albert Pasquale Gettings, 27, Marine Corporal, Jan 05, 2006 Ryan S. McCurdy, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 05, 2006 Radhames Camilomatos, 24, Army Sergeant, Jan 07, 2006 Joseph D. deMoors, 36, Army 1st Lieutenant, Jan 07, 2006 Douglas A. LaBouff, 36, Army Major, Jan 07, 2006 Michael R. Martinez, 43, Army Major, Jan 07, 2006 Clinton R. Upchurch, 31, Army Specialist, Jan 07, 2006 Jaime L. Campbell, 25, Army National Guard 1st Lieutenant, Jan 07, 2006 Michael I. Edwards, 26, Army National Guard Specialist, Jan 07, 2006 Jacob E. Melson, 22, Army National Guard Specialist, Jan 07, 2006 Chester W. Troxel, 45, Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4, Jan 07, 2006 Stuart M. Anderson, 44, Army Reserve Major, Jan 07, 2006 Nathan R. Field, 23, Army Reserve Sergeant, Jan 07, 2006 Robert T. Johnson, 20, Army Reserve Specialist, Jan 07, 2006 Darren D. Braswell, 36, Dept. of Defense Civilian, Jan 07, 2006 Kyle W. Brown, 22, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 07, 2006 Jeriad P. Jacobs, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 07, 2006 Jason T. Little, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 07, 2006 Brett L. Lundstrom, 22, Marine Corporal, Jan 07, 2006 Raul Mercado, 21, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 07, 2006 Michael Joseph McMullen, 25, Army National Guard Sergeant, Jan 10, 2006 Mitchell K. Carver Jr., 31, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3, Jan 13, 2006 Kyle E. Jackson, 28, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2, Jan 13, 2006 Jonathan Kyle Price, 19, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 13, 2006 Michael Anthony Jordan, 35, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, Jan 13, 2006 Justin J. Watts, 20, Marine Corporal, Jan 14, 2006 Kasper Allen Dudkiewicz, 22, Army Private 1st Class, Jan 15, 2006 Dustin L. Kendall, 21, Army Specialist, Jan 15, 2006 Ruel M. Garcia, 34, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2, Jan 16, 2006 Rex C. Kenyon, 34, Army Chief Warrant Officer 3, Jan 16, 2006 Adam R. Shepherd, 21, Army Private 1st Class, Jan 17, 2006 Dennis J. Flanagan, 22, Army Sergeant, Jan 20, 2006 Matthew C. Frantz, 23, Army Specialist, Jan 20, 2006 Rickey Scott, 30, Army Staff Sergeant, Jan 20, 2006 Katherine Patricia Singleton, 0, Army Not reported yet, Jan 20, 2006 Clifton J. Yazzie, 23, Army Specialist, Jan 20, 2006 Carlos Arrelano Pandura, 22, Marine Corporal, Jan 20, 2006 Brandon Christopher Dewey, 20, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 20, 2006 Brian McElroy, 28, Air Force Staff Sergeant, Jan 22, 2006 Jason L. Norton, 32, Air Force Technical Sergeant, Jan 22, 2006 Lance M. Chase, 32, Army Staff Sergeant, Jan 23, 2006 Matthew D. Hunter, 31, Army Sergeant, Jan 23, 2006 Peter D. Wagler, 18, Army Private 1st Class, Jan 23, 2006 Lewis T. D. Calapini, 21, Marine Private, Jan 23, 2006 Joshua A. Scott, 24, Marine Lance Corporal, Jan 23, 2006 Sean H. Miles, 28, Marine Sergeant, Jan 24, 2006 Jerry M. Durbin Jr., 26, Army Staff Sergeant, Jan 25, 2006 Joshua Allen Johnson, 24, Army National Guard Sergeant, Jan 25, 2006 David L. Herrera, 26, Army Sergeant, Jan 28, 2006 Brian J. Schoff, 22, Army Private 1st Class, Jan 28, 2006

Chickens come home to roost*What goes around comes around. Time for Republican lawmakers to answer for what they have been doing since gaining control of both houses of Congress. They acted like they were invincible and could get away with openly pandering to those who contributed to their campaign chests, wined and dined them,offered free trips to play golf and skyboxes at ball games. For them there was no tomorrow, and to heck with constituents. The situation has changed. The Washington Post reports "In eight concise paragraphs, two moderate and two conservative House Republicans put into writing last week what they say many of their colleagues quietly fear: the GOP's plunging poll numbers, rising public support for a Congress controlled by Democrats and the increasing belief among voters that the Republican Party is corrupt."So, there is panic among the Republicans. Serves them right. Lawmakers on the take,however, are not a rarity among Democrats. Let's hope that they will remember what is happening to the members across the aisle.

A Classic of our Times*The Ginger Man. I read it when I lived in India, read it again during a vacation in the west of Ireland, and just finished reading the book for the third time. Enjoyed every page. His first novel, Donleavy took years to complete it and had difficulty finding a publisher because of fear of backlash from the Catholic Church. Ribald, poignant, and scathing in its portrayal of the Catholics in Ireland, the book was published in 1955 by Olympia Press in Paris. Later, Donleavy decided to disassociate himself from Olympia Press due to its fame as a publisher of pornography. The book did cause a lot of controversy in and outside Ireland. It is on my list of ten books to take if I am banished to a deserted island.Sebastian Dangerfield, Kenneth O'Keefe, Miss Frost, Percy Clocklan, Macdoon--unforgettable characters, all.*"Relax, Miss Frost.""I didn't want to do this. I know I didn't want to.""Yes, you did.""I didn't, please, didn't."Miss Frost turned away on her side, her body choked and sobbing."Miss Frost, God is all merciful.""But it's a mortal sin which I have to confess to the priest and it's adultery as well.""Please now, Miss Frost. Take hold of yourself. This won't do any good.""It's adultery.""One mortal sin is the same as another.""I'm damned. It isn't.""Do you want me to go?""Don't leave me alone.""Don't cry. God's not going to condemn you. You're a good person. God's only after people who are out and out bastards, habitual sinners. You must be sensible.""I'll have to give your name.""You what ?""Your name. I'll have to tell it to the priest.""What makes you think that ? Nonsense.""He'll ask me.""Not at all.""He will. And they'll send the priest to my mother.""Ridiculous. The priest's only there to forgive you your sins.""No.""Miss Frost, you've done this before.""Yes.""And they sent the priest to your mother?""Yes.""And they asked the name of the man?""Yes."*Joseph Patrick Donleavy was born in New York in 1926. He went to Dublin to study at Trinity College and currently lives in a mansion called Levington Park, County Westmeath, near Mullingar, about 50 miles from Dublin. His works include A Singular Man, The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman; The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B, and Fairy Tales of New York.Upon being old ..."It's not nice but take comfort that you won't stay that way forever."J.P. Donleavy (from The Unexpurgated Code.)..Ireland today is quite different than the one in which Donleavy wrote The Ginger Man. One thing has not changed much though. The Catholic Church in Ireland continues to be the most repressive in Europe. Difficult to understand why the Irish allow the church to intrude so deeply into their personal lives. But there are signs of waning influence of the church.Trivia: According to a recent report, Johnny Depp will play the lead role in a movie based on The Ginger Man. Too bad that Maggie Smith and Deborah Kerr are both past the age to be considered for the part of Miss Frost."Lilly, why did you want me to do it this way?" "O, Mr. Dangerfield, it's so much less of a sin."AndFunToo.---The Ginger Man

*Epliscopalians are considering nomination of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall as a saint. "Delegates to the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington will vote today on the proposal, the first step in a long process. If Marshall is added to the church's roster of saints, May 17 -- the date of the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that segregated schools are unconstitutional -- would be observed as Marshall Feast Day."Don't know about being saintly, but from all accounts Justice Marshall was a good man. Wonder if this would set a trend. Are we going to see Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas nominated for sainthood ? G.W. Bush ? Holy mackerel ! Their supporters might find the idea worth pursuing.*The Lahore MarathonFurther to my post dated January 28th, stringent security measures prevented disruption of the event . The full marathon did not include women. Hundreds of women participated in a 10km (6.2 miles) mixed sex race. Bouquets to the Pakistani women. There was no mention of women runners in high heels or traditional garbs. "There are ways of following religion and this is not the way to follow religion, by telling women to stay off roads or not be able to participate in what they feel they want to do--Amina Sheikh, a participant""I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints: Sinners are much more fun."---Billy Joel

Can The Mullahs Stop the Tide ?*Strange world. The BBC reports that in Lahore, Pakistan, Islamic hardliners are up in arms because women runners are among those who have registered to participate in a marathon on Sunday, January 29th. "We intend to put up peaceful resistance against the un-Islamic act of organising a mixed race, by making our presence felt all along the route Salman Butt,Protest leader. The six-party alliance of religious parties, the MMA, say they will go ahead with protests. "It is against our cultural, social and religious norms," Liaquat Baluch of the MMA said.This is funny. "In May women's rights activists defied the ban by holding a symbolic one kilometre 'mini-marathon' in Lahore. Women participants wore traditional dress, the salwar kameez, and some wore high heels rather than running shoes."One kilometre--that is 0.62 mile. Not enough to sweat and disturb the coiffures ! If Pakistani women take part dressed in Salwar-Kameez and high-heel shoes then the mullahs have nothing to worry. The women will not go far from the starting line. If they are serious about running a marathon and not taking part in a tamasha (show) then they should put on running gear, the mullahs be damned. As the Iraqi blogger says "Ya Habeebi".

Still receiving applicants * Guns, violence and our youth*Read in Craig Unger's article in the December 2005 issue of Vanity Fair that "According to a Time/CNN poll from 2002, 59 percent of Americans believe the events in the book of Revelation will take place. There are as many as 70 million Evangelicals in the U.S.—about 25 percent of the population—attending more than 200,000 evangelical churches. Most of these churches are run by pastors who belong to conservative political organizations that make sure their flocks vote as a hard-right Republican bloc." That means the rest of us (41%) will be "left behind".OK, I get the part about hard-right Republicans. The President is said to communicate with the almighty and Republicans have been busy bringing God into politics. It is hard to visualize the vengeful, intolerant God that they worship. Further into the article things become a little weird. One night, if you're awakened by a loud whooshing sound that would not be what the former presidential contender Ross Perot talked about. The sound would be of the Evangelicals being "caught up" -- swept up to heaven.Christ is going to appear," Frazier continues. "He is going to call all of his saved, all of his children, home to be with him."In other words, "in the twinkling of an eye," as the Rapturists often say, millions of born-again Evangelicals will suddenly vanish from the earth—just as they do in LaHaye's "Left Behind" books. They will leave behind their clothes, their material possessions, and all their friends and family members who have not accepted Christ—and they will join Christ in the Kingdom of God.Frazier continues. "Jesus taught his disciples that he was going to go away to his father's house, but that he was not going to abandon them, because while he was gone he was going to prepare for them a suitable dwelling place.… And when the time was right, he would come back to claim his own.… Jesus is going to come and get his bride, which comprises all of us who are born again.Perhaps Unger's article would persuade some of you to join the rapture movement before it is too late. If you are a Republican you'd get preference. In others the article might produce a yawn. Just think, heaven reserved for evangelical, Born Again Christians only. A few well-known ones: G.W. Bush, Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, John Ashcroft.Personally, I would be happy to see the Armageddon followers "vanish from the earth". I shall take my chances of being among the "left behind". Somehow the thought of spending eternity with a crowd of hard-right Republicans does not seem very appealing.*Boy Killed, Youth Charged,Washington PostMore: Gun Toting Delegate Misfires at Va. CapitolGuns are so lovely. Good for killing and for orgasms, maybe. Comments Brother D — 2006-01-31 Yea, the bible talks about the members of the "religious right" 2 Peter 2 False Teachers and Their Destruction 1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.