Good morning!

My dear friend Tracey, as in “Tracey”, Reiki healer, and wonderful wife of “Elliot” our resident film noir guy, is helping to promote an International Film Circuit documentary. “Enemies Of The People” has gotten many awards, including Sundance this year, and is coming to the Bay Area for three special showings.

Here’s a little peek:

Award-Winning Film plays Three Days Only in Bay Area
with Filmmaker in Attendance

Mon, Oct 11 @ 7pm
BALBOA THEATER
3630 Balboa St (37th Av) • SF • 415-221-8184
www.balboamovies.com/

Tues, Oct 12 @ 4p
UC BERKELEY HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER
110 Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley

http://hrc.berkeley.edu/events.html#enemies

Weds, Oct 13 @ 4:30p, 7:15p & 9:30p
GRAND LAKE THEATER
3200 Grand Ave • Oakland • 510-452-3556
www.renaissancerialto.com/

FILMMAKER ROB LEMKIN IN PERSON at ALL SHOWS

International Film Circuit is pleased to present Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath’s ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, one of the most harrowing and compelling personal documentaries of our time. Winner of a dozen top documentary festival awards, including a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and the Grand Jury Award at the Full Frame Festival, ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE exposes for the first time the truth about the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge who were behind Cambodia’s genocide. It is also an intimate journey into the heart of darkness by journalist Thet Sambath, whose family was wiped out in the Killing Fields, but whose patience and discipline elicits unprecedented on-camera confessions from perpetrators at all levels of the Khmer Rouge hierarchy. More than simply an inquiry into Cambodia’s experience, the film is a profound meditation on the nature of good and evil, shedding light on the capacity of some people to do terrible things and for others to forgive them. ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE will open in New York on Friday, July 30 at the Quad Cinema, with a national roll-out to follow.

In 1974, Thet Sambath’s father became one of the nearly two million people who were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Sambath’s mother was forced to marry a Khmer Rouge militiaman and died in childbirth in 1976, while his eldest brother disappeared in 1977. Sambath himself escaped Cambodia at age 10 when the regime fell in 1979.

Fast forward to 1998, and Sambath, now a reporter with the Phnom Penh Post, got to know the children of some senior Khmer Rouge cadre and gradually earned their trust. Then, for a decade, he spent weekends visiting the home of the most senior surviving leader, Nuon Chea, aka Brother Number Two under Pol Pot. Over time, Nuon Chea began to reveal to him about the truth of the genocide, including details of the killing. Sambath also won the confidence of lower-level Khmer Rouge soldiers, now ordinary fathers and grandfathers, who demonstrated for him how they slit people’s throats. It was the first time these murderers admitted what they had done. He taped their interactions, and together with British documentarian Rob Lemkin created this landmark film.

For Sambath, it has been an ongoing, lifelong personal journey to discover what was behind such horror; he neglected both his family and his own happiness in the search for truth with hope of reconciliation. ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE is at once a cinematically beautiful, chillingly insightful, and deeply personal piece of documentary filmmaking.

“Stunning. Inspiring. A testament to one man’s persistent search for the truth.
Extraordinary on several fronts…an intensely personal film undertaken at some risk.”
- Stephen Holden, New York Times

“One of the most GRIPPING and MOVING films I have ever seen. STUNNING. ”
– Andrew Marr, BBC Radio

“A must-see exposé. Fascinating and Remarkable.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

*************

Readers: I can not boast that I have seen this film, but I am intrigued, aren’t you? And I will be attending one of the viewings. Why not support this film and join me? And then I want you to blog me and tell me what you thought of it.  Sound good?

Zen Lill: My pleasure. :) The difference between sitting and chatting poli all day is that you really don’t get anywhere with it. People are either with you or they aren’t, and having a conversation isn’t going to change that. When you phone bank you will have a script; very to the point. You can knock out 60-70 calls in less than 2 hours. And you’re calling people who are already registered Dem voters. (I realize you regard yourself an “Independent”, but to my understanding, you promote yourself like you would vote like a Dem [?])

That being said, you will get many answering machines, but the people you do talk to are usually very nice and appreciative that you are volunteering for the cause. And most importantly, stats show that if they weren’t going to vote, and they make a commitment on the phone to you that they will go to the polls and vote, they most likely will. Simple – That’s grassroots baby. Thanks for giving it a go.  :)

Peace out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

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 2010

John Curley Photography

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By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP BOSTON — An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: Bacteria that have been made resistant to nearly all antibiotics by an alarming new gene have sickened people in three states and are popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday.

New drug-resistant superbugs found in 3 states

The U.S. cases and two others in Canada all involve people who had recently received medical care in India, where the problem is widespread. A British medical journal revealed the risk last month in an article describing dozens of cases in Britain in people who had gone to India for medical procedures.

How many deaths the gene may have caused is unknown; there is no central tracking of such cases. So far, the gene has mostly been found in bacteria that cause gut or urinary infections.

Scientists have long feared this – a very adaptable gene that hitches onto many types of common germs and confers broad drug resistance, creating dangerous “superbugs.”

“It’s a great concern,” because drug resistance has been rising and few new antibiotics are in development, said Dr. M. Lindsay Grayson, director of infectious diseases at the University of Melbourne in Australia. “It’s just a matter of time” until the gene spreads more widely person-to-person, he said.

Grayson heads an American Society for Microbiology conference in Boston, which was buzzing with reports of the gene, called NDM-1 and named for New Delhi.

The U.S. cases occurred this year in people from California, Massachusetts and Illinois, said Brandi Limbago, a lab chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three types of bacteria were involved, and three different mechanisms let the gene become part of them.

“We want physicians to look for it,” especially in patients who have traveled recently to India or Pakistan, she said.

What can people do?

Don’t add to the drug resistance problem, experts say. Don’t pressure your doctors for antibiotics if they say they aren’t needed, use the ones you are given properly, and try to avoid infections by washing your hands.

The gene is carried by bacteria that can spread hand-to-mouth, which makes good hygiene very important.

It’s also why health officials are so concerned about where the threat is coming from, said Dr. Patrice Nordmann, a microbiology professor at South-Paris Medical School. India is an overpopulated country that overuses antibiotics and has widespread diarrheal disease and many people without clean water.

“The ingredients are there” for widespread transmission, he said. “It’s going to spread by plane all over the world.”

The U.S. patients were not related. The California woman needed hospital care after being in a car accident in India. The Illinois man had pre-existing medical problems and a urinary catheter, and is thought to have contracted an infection with the gene while traveling in India. The case from Massachusetts involved a woman from India who had surgery and chemotherapy for cancer there and then traveled to the U.S.

Lab tests showed their germs were not killed by the types of drugs normally used to treat drug-resistant infections, including “the last-resort class of antibiotics that physicians go to,” Limbago said.

She did not know how the three patients were treated, but all survived.

Doctors have tried treating some of these cases with combinations of antibiotics, hoping that will be more effective than individual ones are. Some have resorted to using polymyxins – antibiotics used in the 1950s and ’60s that were unpopular because they can harm the kidneys.

The two Canadian cases were treated with a combination of antibiotics, said Dr. Johann Pitout of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. One case was in Alberta, the other in British Columbia.

Both patients had medical emergencies while traveling in India. They developed urinary infections that were discovered to have the resistance gene once they returned home to Canada, Pitout said.

The CDC advises any hospitals that find such cases to put the patient in medical isolation, check the patient’s close contacts for possible infection, and look for more infections in the hospital.

Any case “should raise an alarm,” Limbago said.

*************

May you all be bug free  - Enjoy the weekend!

xoxo

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

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 2010

John Curley Photography

" 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 don’t know about you, but I never put anything valuable in my luggage even if I am checking it in at the airport. I never trusted those silly little luggage locks and I never invested in better stronger locks, which I didn’t think would ever prevent anyone from stealing from me if they really wanted to.  To me any lock would be too easy to break in to and I didn’t want to chance it. I always felt that my valuables were best with me, in my possession, on the plane.

However many people think that if they have invested in sturdy luggage and a set of good locks, their valuables in their luggage are safe. Sorry, those things will not prevent someone from getting in and stealing your goods. In fact, many people have had things missing from their baggage, even when they received them at the arrival port UNOPENED and UNTOUCHED. How could that happen?

This video shows how locked luggage is opened at the airport without your knowledge. This is why you should never put anything of value in your checked baggage!

Readers: Now think of this in your hotel room! How many of us lock things in our suitcases when we leave the room? Don’t do it.

**********

Beau: My pleasure. It has certainly inspired insightful comments. And thanks for the compliment. Authenticity you will certainly get here. I HOPE you’ll stick around. :)

Robert: I pride myself on being a pretty logical person. I so enjoy learning and seeing from a different viewpoint. As always you bring something different to the table, and you inspire one to think, so thank you.

As I read your comments, you articulate yourself so clearly that it makes what you say seem very obvious as you spell it out with your fine and logical examples. And actually when one thinks about it, it is pretty obvious. And your assessment of the word “Integrity” is right on.

The definition is too broad and  vague when it speaks of morals, where morals are not defined in the definition of the word. The meaning is subjective, because morals are subjective.  Am I being clear here?

Perhaps the word integrity needs to be defined according to the culture it is used in. Not sure if I agree with my previous statement…just talking out loud.  But what I do agree with is that the word is really not definable as it is presently defined. Does that make sense?

On another note, I have been guilty of deciding whether a person has integrity based on my own principles and morals of what I feel is “right” and “good” for all. And I base my morals on the behaviors of people (including myself)  that allow all people to “live and let live”.

So I don’t care whether in some cultures a person who beats a woman in public for violation of his religious dress code could be considered as having integrity. In my opinion, his so-called integrity is interfering in the well-being and livelihood of a woman. So yes, the word, in how it is defined today, the man beating the woman could have integrity, in his country, according to his rules. But does that make his actions “right” and “good”? Perhaps in his country, yes. But in my eyes, no, never. But I totally get your point as it is valid one, and one that Gereshk have pointed out, men use to justify their actions.

As I write this morning my mind is whirling…I believe I lacked the true understanding of the word integrity when I have used it in the past. And I now understand that it is difficult to use the word integrity because it is so subjective. I feel as if I am going around and around with a meaningless word. How enlightening!

Perhaps, it is not the lack of integrity that is being revealed in our society but the influx of “hypocrisy” revealed: The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.

Whew…that subject was challenging to articulate so I HOPE I  am understood, and it was more than just ramble. I am just trying to say it in my own words, inspired by yours, by writing it out, as I think it out. I am a visual person, so seeing the words as I write them here and as I say them to myself, helps me understand. I feel I am doing it for my benefit more than anyone else’s. :) I think I’ll end it there.

Peter: I Know you have a busy life but how about going just to check it out, so you can report your findings to us. Hafa Adai.

Gloria: It’s all about the varying definitions of morals because an individual’s morals are defined based on what an individual feels is “right” or “wrong”, “good” or “bad”, etc. Morals are subjective. Therefore the meaning of “integrity” is not defined. Oh…dont get me going again. Please Robert, you say it best.

Anonymous: I am a different person on my blog than I am in my daily life. Who can keep this up 24/7? But I have had friends say that my writing is very different than my chat.  I also used to be a person who couldn’t articulate very well what I was feeling and thinking. That has changed. You would know that if you decided to have a chat with me. And if you feel that you can’t bring whatever up in a mixed crowd, pull me aside or give me a call. I’d be happy to chat with you about anything.

As far as me going through a mid-life crisis – that’s funny. No, no mid-life crisis here. I won’t say that these past few years haven’t been the most challenging in my life, but they have also been the most eye opening. PS: I have no idea who you are, but I wish I did. Call me.

Peace & Love: “Live it, Give it”

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

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 2010

John Curley Photography

" 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"

“Just Noticing”….

• That some people just really shouldn’t be parents.

Though his parents previously vowed to get help, 2-year-old Aldi Suganda Rizal — the Indonesian toddler who caused a sensation in May when video footage of him smoking a cigarette turned up online — continues to indulge his nicotine habit.

CBS reporters tracked Aldi and his parents down in a tiny fishing village on the island of Sumatra. As if on cue, Aldi appeared, cigarette in hand, alongside his mother, Diana. The new footage is perhaps even more disturbing than the original clip. In several shots, the toddler — said to have started smoking at just 11 months — uses one already lit cigarette to light another.

“If he can really quit smoking, he will definitely be a very healthy boy,” Diana says. She noted her son is currently enrolled in a government-sponsored rehabilitation program, but continues to throw tantrums and even vomit when he can’t smoke. “I can’t stand seeing him hurting himself. What can we do but accept it as it is?”

Authorities have called Aldi “a victim of his environment,” as Indonesia is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that has yet to ratify the World Health Organization’s framework on tobacco control.

Readers: Perhaps you have seen this before. It has been in my queue for awhile and today I decided to post it. I can’t “just notice” this one. This one deserves some judgement as this is truly disgusting. If this isn’t the worse form of child abuse I don’t know what is. And if ever a parent should be held for child abuse this is it.

Doug: My pleasure. By the way, speaking of our garden…do you think you could cut down that tall Bamboo in the corner? I think it would look better in our zen garden if the bamboo was “even” as you suggested. This is kind of fun communicating with you over my blog. It’s like that commercial where the couple is sitting on the couch and texting each other. :)

Peter: Hello….With all of the unemployed contractors out here and all of the work over there, I can’t imagine you won’t get an influx from the mainland. Hafa Adai.

Boys: Heed Peter’s words though: “Bring your best behavior.”

Bob: that one is too cute….puts a smile on my face with the visual. Thanks. Hope you are well.

Helena: How are you? Wow those stats are incredible – A prescription drug that kills more people than an Cocaine and heroine; illegal drugs combined.

I agree, get the drug companies to pay for it. They have to start being accountable. If they can just manufacture drugs and then throw them out there to the public without demanding any kind of mandatory training for these doctors who are going to prescribe there drugs, that is just lazy, uncaring and irresponsible. It seems the attitude the drug companies have is that once they manufacture these drugs, they market the hell out of them, make a ton of money, and then they get to wash their hands of any responsibility, should any issue come up. They can blame it on the doctor for prescribing it in the first place. Like the article said, “They’re making a killing.” Thanks for posting.

Lourdes: Happy you enjoyed it – I love it too.

Hi Ruth: How are you doing? I like this too. And the lesson learned depends on how one looks at it. Thanks. I hope you and the girls…all of your girls are doing good.

Robert: I liked your opinion of the matter. Once again “racist” rights hiding behind the title of “religious” rights. And now they have to claim “deeply” religious because no one is buying their BS,  so they need to take it to the next level…a “deeper” level of BS.

I notice how the racist whites can always twist things to their advantage. Another thing that came to my mind, being a designer, is how Angle can say on the one hand that the color black is evil, yet in regards to “fashion” the “Little Black Dress” or “LBD”  is just so chic and sophisticated. A woman wouldn’t be fashionable unless she had a least one “LBD” in her coset.

And the same stands for a “Black Tie” affair. Now I don’t think she’d be calling her “LBD” or her husband’s “black” tuxedo “evil” now would she? Or if one attended a funeral wearing “black”,  ”black” wouldn’t be considered “evil” but a sign of “respect”…expected attire from one who is “deeply religious”. – No “evil” attached to the word “black” in these cases.

Like you, and I, and others have said, racists just love to twist things to their advantage justifying their racist attitudes, by claiming to hide behind their “deeply religious” values. And most white media doesn’t call them on it. We need more reporters like Maddow and Olbermann in the media.

Oh “just noticing” that more comments have come in, and the racists are having their say. I’ve said enough. Hope you are well Robert.

Readers: What are you “just noticing”? Blog this BABE. Enjoy your Sunday! Peace out.

6:09 PM: Sorry. Just got home from a day in the sun and “just noticed” that the comments were off. The comments were on when I posted but it must’ve happened during the saving process when Doug pointed out a typo that I later corrected.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

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 2010

John Curley Photography

" 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"

Funny how we have had our TV working for about 2 months now and I rarely watch it. I think that is a good thing, considering I get so much more done when I don’t fall into couch potato mode. But don’t get me wrong, the two things I love most is watching the news – my huge dose of reality, and watching movies – my huge dose of escape (most of the time:). Oh, and I almost forgot Oprah. It is her last season, so when I have the opportunity, I try and catch a glimpse of her show especially if I find the topic to be interesting or intriguing.

And even in regards to my two faves, and an occasional dose of Oprah, I am still not glued to the tube, or should I say HDTV every day. And for that I am grateful.

It isn’t every day that after I write, I check my blog during the day to see what’s up and who’s peeped in, but I occasionally do, and sometimes more often depending on the topic. But thanks to Zoila who chimed in yesterday, I got the heads up about Iraq. I had yet to turn on the news for the evening, and I may not have if it were not for Zoila’s comment. So Thanks Zoila!

It’s been almost seven and a half years since back in April 2003 when Bush first delivered his speech welcoming the troops home from Iraq, declaring an end to major combat operations. What a joke. Unfortunately the joke was on us, and funny it wasn’t. American Soldiers continued to be killed.

So, as I listened to MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, and watched the troops head to Kuwait, believe it or not the first thing I thought about was Olbermann wasn’t going to be throwing his crumpled up piece of paper at the television camera anymore, saying, “That is Countdown for this, the ‘whatever’ day since the declaration of ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq. I’m Keith Olbermann. Good night and good luck.” I love that he ended his show daily, signing off with that statement.

But I love it even more that the Iraq war has ended, declared over, and our troops are finally coming home.

Goodbye Iraq.

Last U.S. Combat Brigade Pulls Out Of Iraq

KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait – As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

In a statement released by email, the president noted that the drawdown has been significant — but isn’t over yet:

Over the last 18 months, over 90,000 U.S. troops have left Iraq. By the end of this month, 50,000 troops will be serving in Iraq. As Iraqi Security Forces take responsibility for securing their country, our troops will move to an advise-and-assist role. And, consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all of our troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year. Meanwhile, we will continue to build a strong partnership with the Iraqi people with an increased civilian commitment and diplomatic effort.
P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the State Department, told MSNBC that this is “an historic moment” that marks the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but not the end of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
___

EDITOR’S NOTE: The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was officially designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under Obama’s plan to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana joined the troops on their final journey out of the country.

-Huff Po

Readers: This is a significant moment and HOPEfully a momentous one too. It is goodbye to Iraq, and a warm welcoming hello to our troops. Thoughts? Blog me.

Guy: When I met with my client, he mentioned to me that a friend of his got the same ticket a week ago, and that the town of San Anselmo was hurting for cash.  And evidently on the path to generating cash as you pointed out. Thanks for being persistent in getting in and our very informative comment.

Lila: Ya know I didn’t even think about racism when I wrote my write even though I had visions of otws, not whites, in my mind when I spoke of the “poor” who suffer. And only because when I was at the court house, there were many more otws than whites dealing with their citations. But how did they get there?

I was so focused on the fact that it was the “poor” that suffered that I didnt think about the fact that most of the people standing in line were otws, because it is mostly otws that get pulled over by the police.  I am aware of this. Therefore to answer your question: Who do you think gets ripped off the most? Otws. Thanks for adding your two.

Ricardo, Florence, Larry, Veronica: Thanks for adding to the conversation also. I learned so much from all of you.

Zen Lill: Maybe I should’ve started bawling. But I got the feeling he felt he gave me a big enough break that day, and he wasn’t going to budge any more. Boo hoo.

Bob: I liked that one. :)

Lots of love….Peace out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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