The Terror of the Bush Twins

I’m passing this along from non-blogger myrln, who always gets it right.
Okay, when there’s a terror threat in Saudi Arabia, or Israel, or elsewhere in the world, what does the US do? It tells Americans to leave. When Cheney goes to Washington, he goes to his “undisclosed” location.
Jump cut to NYC. Monday. Financial buildings under high security because of increased terror level/alert. Trucks, cars stopped. Williamsburgh Bridge closed. Other bridges backed up for hours. Barriers at Wall Street and Citicorp. Then who shows up at the Citicorp building for lunch? Why it’s Laura Bush and the Bush twins! It’s true, they did.
Yeah, terror alert. Right. Don’t you believe for a sec anybody was using the alert system to politick. They wouldn’t do that. Uh-uh.
And yesterday, a United Airlines plane from Boston to Washington had to divert to Albany. Why? To pick up the Bush twins who’d been partying upstate. Word is the 120 passengers were pissed at the diversion. But who cares? Hmmm…120 terrorists on one plane?

Bird Walking

Yesterday, when I was out walking in the park, a couple approached from the opposite direction, and I noticed that the young woman had some sort of a pouch that was strapped to her front. At first I thought that she was carrying a backpack backwards. She was holding it so gently, however, that I decided that it must be a very small baby. As I passed them I looked over at the pack and realized that, inside, was a small, live colorful bird — bigger than a parakeet and smaller than a parrot. Live and learn.

As not for whom the whistle blows…..

The following is from an Open Letter to Thomas Kean, Chairman Of The 9/11 Commission from FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and make public on Scoop and Truthout.
Snipped from the first paragraph:
Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report. These omissions cast doubt on the validity of your report and therefore on its conclusions and recommendations. Considering what is at stake, our national security, we are entitled to demand answers to unanswered questions, and to ask for clarification of issues that were ignored and/or omitted from the report. I, Sibel Edmonds, a concerned American Citizen, a former FBI translator, a whistleblower, a witness for a United States Congressional investigation, a witness and a plaintiff for the Department of Justice Inspector General investigation, and a witness for your own 9/11 Commission investigation, request your answers to, and your public acknowledgement of, the following questions and issues:
And finally, the loud whistle of a last paragraph:
In order to cure a problem, one must have an accurate diagnosis. In order to correctly diagnose a problem, one must consider and take into account all visible symptoms. Your Commission’s investigations, hearings, and report have chosen not to consider many visible symptoms. I am emphasizing ‘visible’, because these symptoms have been long recognized by experts from the intelligence community and have been written about in the press. I am emphasizing ‘visible’ because the few specific symptoms I provided you with in this letter have been confirmed and publicly acknowledged. During its many hearings your commission chose not to ask the questions necessary to unveil the true symptoms of our failed intelligence system. Your Commission intentionally bypassed these severe symptoms, and chose not to include them in its five hundred and sixty seven-page report. Now, without a complete list of our failures pre 9/11, without a comprehensive examination of true symptoms that exist in our intelligence system, without assigning any accountability what so ever, and therefore, without a sound and reliable diagnosis, your commission is attempting to divert attention from the real problems, and to prescribe a cure through hasty and costly measures. It is like attempting to put a gold-lined expensive porcelain cap over a deeply decayed tooth with a rotten root, without first treating the root, and without first cleaning/shaving the infected tooth.
OK, everybody. Wet your whistles and blow before we become a truly toothless nation.

The Benefits of “Branding”

The article by Karen Trimbath of Women E-News for which I was interviewed a while ago is now out there, complete with a photo of me. It’s a good photo. Of course. It’s two years old and now my hair is a little longer and my face is a little fuller. I gave her a couple of photos to choose from and she chose that one. Fine by me.
I think the things that Blog Sisters Jeneane and Shelley say in the article are a lot more astute than what I say. But that’s OK. We provide a good cross-section of approaches to how intelligent women approach blogging. (Yes, of course I consider myself intelligentj!)
Those involved in e-commerce and marketing write a lot about “branding.” I consciously “branded” myself online as the Crone. And I guess it’s paying off. After all, while my blogging is a self-satisfying activity, like most other bloggers, I also hope I have readers.