Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

Good morning everyone. I just wanted to say hello this morning and comment on your comments. It felt good to see some of you in ‘text’ the past two days. Thank you all for your persistence and not giving up. I know that my commitment to writing is partly fueled by your persistence in getting a comment in and joining me in the convo.   

Hi Zen Lill: I hear ya – good to have you peep in and say hello. :) I have missed your presence here and miss chatting with you personally.  I’m sure we’ll speak before Christmas. 

Hi Lori:  Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you too! Thanks for the comment. I agree – EVERYONE who contributes to the blog makes it a good read.  

Hello Hullanta: Happy that you got in. I had fun writing that article and discovering Cleopatra’s true identity.  I’m looking forward to the documentary on the Discovery channel. I’ll keep you posted when I am able to find the info and if you find it first, please blog it. Thanks.

Nicole: Merci! I am happy that you are enjoying it – I enjoy it too and I hope to continue it as long as I want to. Joyeux Noël et Nouvelle année heureuse a toi!  

Hi Fredi: Lucky you! (I think :)

Hi Bob: Thanks! And, right back at ya. 

Marlene: Frohe Weihnachten und glückliches neues Jahr zu Ihnen!

Hi Sandra and Doug:  I think you called that one right.  I don’t know how much money Liberman makes or what he’s worth but it seems to me that he will continue to show his lack of integrity by doing or saying almost anything he needs to in order to stay in the power position and continue filling his deep pockets. On another note…Doug, I really don’t know anything about Rick Warren. I’ll check out your blog. 

Hi John: I have actually felt ashamed to be white too, especially when Obama was first campaigning and so much racial shit was coming forward. Not that I have not experienced racism or seen it myself, but I guess I naively didn’t think America would be so against a black president. My original vote for Hillary had nothing to do with Obama being black – his color never entered my mind as it did for so many. 

I give Obama big kudos. He has a big set and I hope that he has a lot of support to hold them up. My guess is he does and if I had any say or hand in the matter, my vision is that he will create change and miracles will happen. We all had a vision that we held…we made it happen and we need to continue that belief, that vision, and rely on the miracles. I know I am. 

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

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Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

Well, I see this morning that some of you got in and posted a comment.  It seems Blogland Security doesn’t have that much power to keep you all out – Ha! Are they finally off my ass?! Oh how I wish.

And speaking of….

….Read  a little didley…Sen. Joe Liberman is finally going after the Bush badmin. As head of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Lieberman had done next to nothing (he was often accused of being an absentee chair atop the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) to investigate the Bush administrations misuse of power — something the committee is tasked with doing. Imagine that…a person in a power position doing NOTHING. So he’s finally stepping up – He’s demanding information in regards to Bush’s “eleventh-hour transfers of political appointees to career government positions.” I’m sure this is part of his last minute ‘end-run’ I spoke of the other day….trying to screw with our country as much as possible, and get his cronies in place, before his term ends. According to Liberman, Bush is ‘burrowing in’ and my guess is he’s doing it big time. 

So..Joe who finally found his voice, and his seat it seems, is requesting additional information “to ensure that every request to burrow in is transparent, fair and equitable, and free from political influence.”

Do you think that Liberman decided to end his version of musical chairs because just a few weeks ago a small portion of the Democratic Caucus voted have him removed from his post atop the committee? Seems pretty obvious to me.  And as much as the critique was directed primarily at Lieberman’s advocacy on behalf of Sen. John McCain during the general election, many critics also pointed out that Liberman was not fulfilling his ‘tasks’ as I mentioned above. 

Is Liberman really that concerned about the Bush Badmin influence when the president leaves office or has he been advised to “cya”? – that’s “covering your ass” for those of you not in the know. My guess is the latter.  

Readers: What do you think?  Is Liberman finding his seat or just covering his ass?

I’ll address your comments tomorrow – got to run – enjoy the 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

" 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"

Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

Brave New Films does it again.  The ‘Psst…Do something!’ at the end of the film? Well this is me doing something by posting it onto my blog and telling all of you. 

Bush’s Christmas gift to us is by making sure that he leaves this country as fucked up as posssible before he leaves his infamous 8-year term. And just how is he doing this? Well he can’t get his Christmas list of favors to his cronies through Congress so he’s jamming as many rules through his executive branch as he can to continue to fuck up this country as much as he can, making it even more challenging for our President Elect Obama and the people of this country to bring about the changes that we need. 

‘Bush’s midnight regulations will allow factories to pollute more, further restrict women’s access to abortion services, cut off aid to needy families in the middle of a recession, and much more — all without Congress’ oversight or approval. It’s wrong, it’s antidemocratic, but, sadly, it’s legal.’

Happy New Year Everyone.  

Can you tell I’m pissed? This shit economy is affecting everyone including me and quite frankly I’m sick of it. And I’m sure everyone else is too. People need jobs and money needs to be circulating. Our economy needs a face lift big time. Getting Obama into office isn’t enough. He’s going to be dealing with so much crap from Bush’s last minute end-run, how is he possibly going to clean up this mess?

Readers:  What’s going on here? Are you struggling too? We all hung in there together during the election…we can’t let the country fall to pieces before Obama even gets a chance.  We’ve lost our momentum and  we need to find it again. I admit, I have been out of it and in a fog myself dealing with my own shit, but the game isn’t over, and I’m back in. How about you? I still don’t have a lot of time on my hands and I’m sure you don’t either but the mood and the energy needs to change here. I know we worked our asses off and we all felt like we needed a breather…I know I did. But we can no longer rest on our laurels. Action needs to happen now, today, the only day that matters, not tomorrow.  Thoughts? Blog me. 

Madaline: Where the fuck are you?  We need some Girl power.  Bush needs to be spanked – he’s been a naughty bad boy in a big bad way, and this santa baby wants to bend Bush over and give him a ‘lil present myself. Get my drift? Maddie, you need to check in with me now, here or on our private channel and throw out some ideas.   This mess needs to be cleaned up.  

That’s all I’ve got time for today…
 

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"

Michelle’a Holiday Picks!

If you would like to buy any of these, click on any book and you will be taken to Amazon.com.

I have always had this fascination with Cleopatra ever since Liz Taylor played her many years ago (1961) in the movie ‘Cleopatra’.  Sophia Loren played her too. Well, at least Sophia had an exotic look far from the porcelain-skinned westernized version portrayed by Liz.  

Egyptologist Sally Ann Ashton believes the computer regenerated 3D image is the best likeness of the legendary beauty famed for her ability to beguile.  It seems that the REAL Cleopatra was a beautiful woman of mixed ethnicity. 

And just how did they discover this? Well….for an entire painstaking year, images on ancient artifacts, including one found on a ring dating from Cleopatra’s reign 2,000 years ago, were pieced together. And the results?…well see for yourself…. 

Dr Ashton, of Cambridge University, said the images, to be broadcast as part of a Five documentary on Cleopatra, reflect the monarch’s Greek heritage as well as her Egyptian upbringing.

‘She probably wasn’t just completely European. You’ve got to remember that her family had actually lived in Egypt for 300 years by the time she came to power.’

Now we’re talking…It wasn’t her beauty that attracted me to her but how she used her beauty and her brain…her most important assets in ruling Egypt for three centuries, after being acceded to the throne at age 17. 

Here’s a few little tidbit about this strong beautiful little woman. (She was believed to be only 5 feet tall):

Interested in knowing more about Cleopatra? Watch the documentary mentioned above, which will be shown sometime in the near future on the BBC and the Discovery channel, or do what I do and ‘read’. I read a book a few years ago…just a small paperback book called, ‘When We Were Gods’, and it has left an impression on me since then.  In fact, I donated the book shortly thereafter and I have regretted it; I wish that I still had it because it is a book that has been on my mind.  

The author Colin Falconer, writes about Cleopatra but very different than other books that I have read, and very different from how she is portayed in the movies. He features her strengths and the trials and tribulations that she experiences throughout her reign. Falconer showcases her assets, and not just her beauty, but as a strong woman who uses not only her beauty but her wit and brain as well.  I felt a connection to her as I read the book.  And I realize as I write this that I need to buy that book again.

 And if any of you are interested, I have added it to my ‘Favorite Holiday Picks’ above.  

Have a beautiful day and See ya on the flip…

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 guess after seeing the lovely ‘ladies’ at Harry’s on Sunday, ‘dance’ has been on my mind…

Once again, women of this world are having to fight for something that should not be an issue and this time it is for the continuation of an art form that has been around for 400 hundred years.  

This art is the graceful and elaborate dance ‘Mujra’ that has flourished since the Mughal empire. And the dancing girls of Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, are on strike in protest against the tide of Talibanisation that is threatening to destroy their art form.

And just why are these women striking?  Simply because the Lahore High Court made a decision last month to ban the Mujra because it is too sexually explicit. And now the theaters where it is performed are supporting the courts.  Okay…so 400 hundred years ago this was ‘the dance’ and it was totally acceptable.  Now, in modern days, they are saying that is just ‘too’ sexually explicit….when hello…

“The Mujra by its very nature is supposed to be a seductive dance,” says Badar Alam, a cultural expert. He recalls that attempts were made to ban it during the 1980s. “Gradually, it returned to commercial theatre, mostly by paying off officials. The question remains: does the government have the right to engage in moral policing?”

Obviously the government and the High Court seem to think so.  

And, in my mind, it is just another way to ‘control’ their women, and to keep them down. The dancers are striking because for some this is their livelihood. They have tried to encourage “family friendly” dances, but that hasn’t been as successful – The once packed theaters are now empty and when they once could charge 300 rupees a seat, they now can only get a mere 25. Some girls were making up to 15,000 rupees in one night. Hundreds of these girls from poorer backgrounds will be out of the work if the crowds do not come back. 

Because of the strike and the lack of enthusiasm over the ‘family friendly’ alternative show, the High Courts have suspended the ban.  Oh…but they still want ‘control’ over these women. In order for the Mujra to continue, the dancers have been ordered to cover their necks with shawls and wear shoes. It seems that dancing barefoot, which is how  the dance was traditionally performed, it is now deemed ‘too erotic’.  Next thing you know they’ll expect them to dance in a burkha! How ridiculous.

The ban on dancing is a symptom of a more dangerous trend in Pakistani society. “If the government engages in moral policing,” says Badar Alam, “it gives vigilantes licence to do the same. It fuels intolerance and de-secularisation by violence and intimidation and opens the door to extreme Jihadi Islamic movements.”

The Mujra dance is a beautiful art form.  Is there not enough violence and intolerance in this world? – do we now need to take away beauty that threatens the livelihood of women? Is there no other issues to be more concerned about in life than a simple dance that brings joy and entertainment to those that enjoy this tradition?  The answer seems simple to me.

Readers:  Thoughts? Are any of you from Pakistan that has something to say about this? Blog me. 

~~~~~~~

Hi Shylo:  Thank you for posting such a beautiful poem. I am so curious as to exactly what you mean when you say that it was ‘found on a huge meteorite’?  What is ‘inscripted’ on the meteorite or ??

Hi ZL:  Yeah, you would’ve gotten a a kick out of the show too. In regards to Anonz: I think you’re doing just fine. You know me…I’ll hold nothing back.

I can see how the thing about your father and you not ‘existing’ would bring up some stuff. I’m glad that you made it through and had a ‘excellent’ day. And I’m happy that you’re here too :)

Hi Linda:  I love the adventures too and I hope that they’ll keep writing in. Thank you for your kind wishes to us GirlZ and Girls.  If you’re serious about going I am sure Maddie will find 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"