Hello everyone. I just had to share this with you this morning because it is just so hilarious.  Jon Stewart from The Daily Show compares Obama to Bush when it comes to how they handle press conferences.  I think you’ll get a kick out of it too. 

***********

Hi Zen Lill: Thank you. This type of article is so easy for me to write because no research is needed; it is straight from my heart  and the words just flow. I wish every article was just as fluid…but then again I might get bored if there was no challlenge, so I’ll take it as they come. Anyway, yes of course, you may lift a line or two if you choose. 

So Nashville – wow – didn’t know they were based out there. Good luck with that – I am sure you will do well. Let’s try and talk before you leave ok?

As far as organizing a protest…I’ll call it a ‘Lovefest Protest’.  Whatever happens it needs to be done in a nonviolent way – no riots, no craziness.  Hmm…Where to begin?  We and others need to brainstorm.  And maybe flowers should be involved. I feel inspiration blossoming….

Hello Alita: My pleasure. I will need a couple of days to fulfill your request. I am aware of the drug problems but until I mapped San Cristobal de las Casas, (state of Chiapas) I really had no idea where it was. It is named one of the most stunning scenic areas in Mexico, mostly wild and rugged with thickly wooded jungles, mountains and valleys. Sounds like a good stomping ground for the drug smugglers to do business and hide out. 

Your e-mail is not showing up with your comment, which is best. You sound like a very intelligent woman and I would not to put you or your job in jeopardy by exposing your identity to your corrupt government.  The best way for us to correspond is via my blog. 

Hello Dnsr: An acronym for? I do love that song too and you are very welcome. So…you must be a singer?  Happy that I inspired it for your repetoire – will we ever get to hear it? Not sure who Bnmv is (another scronym?), but I would love to hear about your findings in Sri Lanka. As far as seeing you in sultry SF – ooh sounds so mysterious. My guess is you are performing somewhere here and that is an open invitation to come and listen. Oh…now I need to check out the SF scene and see if I can discover who you are. Oh why not just give it up? :)

Hi Lorri:  Thanks for continuing to try and get in! How fab – please encourage your brother…oops cousin, to write in – thank you! 

Enjoy this beautiful day!

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

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Got to run.  

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

I wonder if our friends in the UK have been trying to post here? I just got a heads up about the ‘Octopus UFO’ that flew in the sky and collided into a wind turbine a week ago, ripping off one of its 65-foot blades! 

Hmm….is Azza back in town or just our Madaline having a little too much fun? Or something else? Oh…please chime in and make yourself known. We would love to know more of the details!

It has been reported by people living in a nearby town of Lincolnshire (Oh love that name; it is just so Brit!), that strange orangey-yellow lights were headed in the direction of the said wind farm earlier in the evening.  And then surprise!  Those same peeps were awakened at 4 am by the sounds of crashing and smashing…the wind turbine was getting chewed up in a bad way.

“It looked like a giant explosion in the air,” said one local. Another witness said he saw a “massive ball of light with tentacles going right down to the ground. … It was huge. With the tentacles it looked just like an octopus.” Hundreds have reported seeing the same phenomenon. 

An Octopus eh? Now, too bad we don’t have a photo. Out of all of those people woken up by this monstrosity, no one bothered to grab a camera to document this exciting event? Bummer.

So it appears that one blade was completely torn off the giant windmill, and has yet to be found. While the remaining blade was totally mangled. Ha!…It looks just like one of my forks that fell into the garbage disposal one time. 

UFO experts “are very excited” by the prospect that the crash could have been caused by a paranormal incident. 

Incident? Not sure I would call that an ‘incident’. Unless the UFO thought it was getting into a skirmish with another type of ship. Or it was alien who thought he could wrestle the being with the whirling blade-like appendages. (Can you see the visual?) No I wouldn’t call it an ‘incident; more like a paranormal ‘accident’. I think it’s funny.

Readers:  What about you? Comments? blog me. (Especially if you are from the UK – would love to hear about your experience.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Zen Lill:  No biggie – happy that you were having fun with Miss Lily. I love riding go-carts, and yes I am laughing the entire time too – Doug is the driver and all I do is scream and laugh – it is so much fun! Maybe we will go soon Doug?

Thank you for saying all that you said. I was a bit surprised to hear such words from you. Delighted of course that I could be that for you. Thank you for saying so. It is my lifetime goal to inspire others…not necessarily to be like me – how boring that would be…However if you recognize certain things in me, know that you hold these too :) lol..you are too busy being you to be me! Be you – you are perfect as you are. 

Hello D’r'fa:  I am sorry but thank you for trying…seems you did get in…finally. May peace and safety be yours soon.

Hello Nadia: If ZL wants to repost it here for you, that is fine with me. 

Hi Croe:  I have heard the same and was just ‘disgussing’ that same topic with Doug last night. That’s my new word…a morphing of ‘disgusting’ and ‘discussing’ – saved for topics of discussion that disgust me. And Bush fits the bill. Oh, I hope he takes a nice long vacation in a foreign country that doesn’t treat their criminals so kindly.  

Hi Phillip:  Good to hear from you. Interesting comment.  I get what you mean. And, I agree with you. Although he did say that he aspired to be a dictator, I don’t think that he has the brains to ‘contemplate’ being a dictator either. You’re thinking logically – which is good. But you’re forgetting that Bush isn’t very logical.

My point is…does it matter whether he has the brains to contemplate it or not? He doesn’t have the brains to be a president either but he was voted in twice! As long as he surrounds himself with the right puppeteers, the strings will be pulled and shit will get done. – that has been proven. So, if the American people were stupid enough to vote him in twice, I wouldn’t put it past them to help him in his aspirations should he ever get the opportunity. The fact that he blatantly said that and nothing was written about it in the media – no one said a word….Except for Doug sitting next to me in shock, and  now Carmen’s comment from yesterday), the American people have expressed their ‘boneheadedness’ again. And yes, I’m making up my own word again…but it works doesn’t it? :)  

hello Lashkar Gar: I hear you loud and clear. And I too am wishing for our oil independence, not only for us but also for the many women whose lives need to desperately change. You have my support too and I am grateful for yours.

Hi Gereshk:  Good to hear from you. I know how true it is as I have read and heard the stories from others just like your brother. It is so sad and disturbing to know that this atrocity breathes on a daily basis. I hope that my column and others like it can help but I know more must be done besides making people aware. Awareness is only the beginning. 

How narrow-minded that the Islamic council thinks that I am anti Islamic. Far from it. Just another excuse to control their women. What I am is anti slavery and anti rape..and really any type of abuse to their women and children. I am for women’s rights and that means I am for them loosing control of their said property.  Oh I know that just doesn’t sit well with the Islamic men.  Control is a biggie.

To the rest of my readers who posted a comment yesterday: I apologize that I cannot address you today – work calls, but I promise tomorrow I will speak to you. 

peace out….

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

I wrote about the women in Congo back in August.  And ladies I have not forgotten about you at all. The women in this world are always on my mind and when I am having a tough day, I always remember that my life is a dream compared to most. Unfortunately, right now there is only little that I can do. But it is my goal…the bigger picture in my life to do more and I am constantly working on how to improve that.  One of the ways I can help right now, is to continually write about the plight of women and bring it to light. It is not a pretty picture but it has to be painted. 

This morning I woke up and found an article that caught my eye – thank you Doug for putting it aside for me. 

I discovered that Congo has three resources that our electronics devices depend on – Congo has a good percentage of the world’s supply of Tantalite, Tungsten (you may recognize this name if you own a Palm Pilot), and Tin. Without these three, our daily electronic devices would not work.

Congo is also a country that has been torn apart by the deadliest war since World War II, where 5.4 million have perished, and an estimated 1,500 people die per day in war-related causes.  So what is this war fueled by? ….Our inexhaustible thirst for cell phones, laptops, video games, digital recorders and any other product that owes it’s existence to Congo’s contribution to the world’s mineral supply.

Why are so many people dying? Congo is a country rampant with feuding militias and a failed government.  It is a country that has been raided, looted, and raped for the past century and a half because of its vast natural resource wealth.   Kings, corporations, and countries have taken advantage of these resources, stealing whatever they can and leaving behind devastation.  

The resources are not the only thing that has, to be put mildly, been taken advantage of. The Congo has the highest rate of sexual violence globally. It is the world’s most dangerous place to be a woman or girl. These women of Congo are being used in the worst way possible.  The militia use rape as a weapon of war and they are perfecting this tool of war in a manner never seen before. The effectiveness of deploying sexual violence as a tactic of war is unquestioned. Competing forces rape in order to permanently drive communities out of contested areas. Women are so traumatized by gang rapes and other depredations that they are too scared to go home…too afraid to re-live their experiences. And because these tactics work, and the perpetrators pay no price for their horrific crimes, there is no incentive to stop. It continues daily and the women in Congo live through it daily. 

As I write this I can’t seem to contain the anger that I feel. I am disgusted and all I envision is harm and brutality enforced in ways that I can only imagine. I have always been one who believes in and eye for an eye….my feelings on this have not changed. I sit here safe in my own home…safe from harm, but I know…in my gut, that if I was in the mix of it…if I was witnessing the atrocities, I know that I would inflict harm in the same way that these men are inflicting harm on their women.  

Where are the men fighting to protect these women? – Where are the heroes willing to die for those that give us life? As I sit, I feel the tears well up in my eyes and guilt run through my heavy heart, knowing my fingers are tapping on a device that contributes to the plight of so many women. 

So what can we do?  One thing we can do is let our elected officials know that we are aware of the violence and we want it to end. Obama’s inauguration is wildly anticipated by Africans including those in Congo.  They believe Obama will have the chance to make the end of the Congo’s war one of his Policy objectives.  But it can’t stop there…we must also let the electronic companies know that it matters to us where they get their raw materials that run their devices.  

Until there is awareness and action taken, to be put bluntly, in my opinion…every electronic device you support leads to the plight of the Congo women. We as world citizens have to be more responsible about the actions that we take and the choices that we make in the products we buy, and the companies we support.

We cannot turn a blind eye, plug our ipods in and blast our music, knowing that we are drowning out the cries of women and girls in the Congo. We need to demand that these products are conflict free, and ask more questions about where their components are from. We need to care. If we do, the companies will have no choice but to change their procurement practices.  We fought against ‘Blood diamonds’. We saw the horrors that lead to the world to get serious about stopping them. We can get serious and fight against ‘conflict minerals’ too and have the same impact. The Congo women are counting on us. We cannot be irresponsible, unaccountable, world citizens when our sisters are fighting for their lives.

Want to learn more? Go to Raise Hope For Congo. What to do more? If you live in the Bay Area, attend the screening of “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo” at 4:15 pm today, at the Smith Rafael Film Center on 4th Street in San Rafael.  Get involved. 

~~~~~~~

Doug:  You had a heads-up on this one from the night before. We are on the same page :) 

Hey ZL:  Thanks! – I’ll call you today.

Hi Anonz:  My pleasure – happy that I could assist. Be well and be safe.

Hi Brenda: Thanks and keep trying – you did get in this time. :)

Peace out…. 

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Hi Adam & AH:  First of all, miss you both here, and so happy that you have graced us with your findings. Thank you. I so wish that I was with you time traveling, seeing and experiencing all that you both are. What a great lesson in history….a great lesson in the evolution of human behavior. Yes, no history books could reveal what you have told us. AH, you must be awed by all that you are able to see and do now. I would love to hear more from your perspective too.

All I could think about after reading your very detailed history lesson, (I would love to read the full version sometime) was the song by Peter Gabriel, “Love to be loved’.  Unfortunately I could not find a video of him singing which is so powerful, soulful and just amazing, but I did find this interesting fellow covering it…and I think it’s beautiful too. 

I would love to go more into the meaning….the title for me is very significant. I would love to share my thoughts with all of you at some other time. 

Peace & Love:  Live it, Give it.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"