By his own admission, John McCain ”don’t know much ’bout the economy,”
By her record, Sarah Palin ”don’t know much foreign policy,”
… What a terrible presidency!
Tags: McCain, Neocon, Palin, Republican
Denver would be a terrific place to be, especially with a floor pass at the Pepsi center. On Monday night Ted Kennedy addressed the convention with a rousing challenge to believe in positive change and on Tuesday night Hillary Clinton stole the show with her endorsement of Barack Obama and her plea for party unity. Check out Youtube for the videos.
Gail Renard was 16 when she heard that John Lennon was going to be staying over in Montreal. She crashed his party with a friend via a fire escape at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Ringing the doorbell during a change of security, Yoko answered the door and let her in for an interview.
Gail stayed for the week of the famous bed in and the recording of ”Give Peace a Chance.” Lennon is recalled as speaking with Gail’s mother on the telephone and gaining her approval; every night Gail went to her own home and bed to sleep. During the day she acted as Lennon’s liaison to the press, played with Kyoko Lennon in the nearby park, made arrangements for tambourines for the recording session, and hobnobbed with the celebs including Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, and Allan Ginsberg.
She felt secure in her surroundings and recalls how when an amorous member of the press attempted to kiss her, John intervened and chased him off. Among the several mementos that he gave her was the song board to Give Peace a Chance which was recently, almost 40 years later, auctioned off at Christies for almost $850,000. He’d told her, ”hang on to it, it will be worth something one day.” They had originally guessed that the piece would fetch between 200 and 300,00 pounds. Renard, an award winning radio and TV writer, commented, saying, ”It’s all monopoly money to me.”
Read an interview with Gail Renard here.Â
Tags: Alan Ginsberg, Beatles, Gail Renard, Give Peace a Chance, John Lennon, Music, Rock, Tommy Smothers, Yoko Ono
Ozzy was recently awarded an undisclosed sum in a judgment against the Daily Star. The Star had published an article suggesting that Ozzy was too ill to present awards at a recent, British awards ceremony, and said that he had collapsed twice prior to the ceremony, and relied on an electric buggy to get around the set. In addition to the financial award which was donated to Sharon Osbourne’s favorite charity, Ozzy received a profuse apology from the newspaper declaring the allegations untrue and admitting that they never should have been published.
In other news, the Osbournes will be hosting a six episode variety series that will be launched on the Fox network at Christmas.
Tags: Bark at the Moon, Crazy Train, Music, Ozzy Osbourne, Rock
Last Friday the Canadian Federal Court ruled that US war deserter, Joshua Key, could qualify for refugee status in Canada. Federal Court Justice, Robert Barnes said that the refugee court had erred previously in denying Key’s bid for asylum and ordered the board to reconsider Key’s application. Citing a case from the US Federal court of appeal, Barnes ruled that supporting evidence for asylum status did not have to meet the threshold of a ”war crime,” as sufficient reason for Key’s refusal to serve. Barnes said that ”it cannot be seriously challenged,” that some of the conduct that Keys witnessed had violated the Geneva Convention. The decision was released on July 4th and could affect as many as 100 other deserters in Canada presently according to the Windsor Star.
Key’s had been sent to Iraq for an eight month tour and testified that during that time he witnessed instances of abuse, humiliation, and looting by US military personel. Key’s then experienced debilitating nightmares upon return for a two week leave and said that he could not return. Seeing no other option, he moved his family to Canada and applied for asylum.
Tags: Canada, Canadian Federal Court, Politics, refugee, US Federal Court
So how are we doing as a nation at the close of the Bush presidency. Take a look at these statistics reflecting the USA’s place in the world according to a number of vital parameters for an established and developed nation. All of these scores were culled from another site that had compiled them throughout the Bush years, some of them have worsened over the past few years.
What will it take to make America truthfully, ”the greatest nation on the earth?”
1) Adult Literacy:
USA #9, Sweden #1, Norway #2
2) Healthcare Quality Index:
USA #37, #1 France, #2 Italy
3) Student Reading Ability:
USA #12, Finland #1, South Korea #2
4) Student Problem Solving Ability:
USA #26, South Korea #1, Finland #2
5) Student Ranking on Mathematics Ability:
USA #24, Hong Kong #1, Finland #2
6) Student Ranking on Science Ability:
USA #19, Finland #1, Japan #2
7) USA Ranking on Life Expectancy:
USA #29, Japan #1, Hong Kong #2
USA Ranking on Political Corruption Index:
USA #17, Iceland #1, Finland #2
9) USA Ranking on Environmental Sustainability Index:
USA #45, Finland #1, Norway #2
10) USA Ranking on Infant Mortality:
USA #32, Sweden #1, Finland #2
Tags: Best Place to Live, Best Places, George Bush, Healtcare, Healthcare Quality, Infant Mortality, Life Expectancy, Literacy, Mathematics, Problem Solving Ability, Rankings, Science, Single Payer, Socialism, Universal Healthcare
Jim Carrey entertained beach goers in Malibu recently by donning partner, Jenny McCarthy’s swimsuit. I’d say that the outfit has a certain retro look, and perhaps even harks back to simpler times.
Above: What men wore to the beach in the 1920s and 30s.
Wondering what to do with all those leftover party balloons?
Don’t miss the video of Oregonion, Kent Couch’s launch for a 200 mile journey across the Oregon desert! He made it successfully, unlike the tragic flight of Brazilian Priest, Adelir de Carli whose body was recently found 100 km off the Brazilian coast after his helium balloon powered lawnchair was caught by high winds.
President Yahya Jammeh has vowed to cut off the heads of those who practice homosexuality in Gambia. He maintains that Gambia is a nation of believers, a Muslim country, and homosexuality will not be tolerated. As of today he has given homosexuals ”24 hours to get out of Gambia” and has ordered all landlords to evict all homosexuals. Those giving homosexuals lodging will be punished and commercial establishments will be closed down. Afrol News notes that many gays had already moved to Mauritania after a previous crackdown.
Some members of his government are reportedly, albeit quietly, wondering whether he is insane. Even quiet wondering is a bold move in a nation whose despotic star is just beginning to ascend, and where the press has uniformly (and safely) praised him for his medical marvels such as the time last year when he had declared that he had devised a cure for aids (Read ”The Quack in Gambia”).
What are we to make of this man’s approach? Some might feel that while extreme, Jammeh’s approach is typical of religion, inflexible, intolerant, and tyrannical. I would argue that not all ”people of the book,” share his view and that most would soundly condemn his viewpoint. A Christian approach for example, must always begin its address to a serious issue with the good news.