Hodgepodge #2

G20 protests in Pittsburgh. "Police, in an overwhelming show of force, declared a Thursday afternoon march illegal almost as soon as it began, firing rubber bullets and canisters of pepper spray and smoke after small bands of anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling huge metal trash bins, throwing rocks and breaking windows. The G-20 Resistance Project has encouraged "affinity groups" to protest Friday morning at companies that it says represent greed, exploitation, warfare and other social ills, with potential targets including banks, Starbucks, McDonald's, grocery stores and a Marine Corps recruiting center." ------- After the smoke and rubber bullet drubbing, members of the "Resistance," high on adrenaline, regrouped at a nearby Starbucks, after buying all of the apple pies at a nearby McDonald's.

A group of kids singing an Obama Song last February is causing a stir again after MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell defended the tribute on the air. During Black History Month 2009, 20 children at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in New Jersey were videotaped singing a song of praise to the first African-American president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must all lend a hand
To make this Country strong again
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama
...Hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama
...Hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black, or white,
All are equal in his sight
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes, hmm, hmm, hmm
Barack Hussein Obama

Hmmmmm - "equal in his sight" - a little too messianic for me, even if there's the reasonable cover of Black History Month and President's Day. Imagine if it were hmm, hmm, hmm George Walker Bush hmm hmm hmm.

AURORA, Colorado (CNN) -- An Afghan-born Colorado man charged with plotting to make bombs from household chemicals made several recent purchases from beauty supply stores in suburban Denver, telling workers he had "a lot of girlfriends," employees said Thursday. Najibullah Zazi, now charged with plotting to set off "weapons of mass destruction" in the United States was "a regular" at the Beauty Supply Warehouse in Aurora, Colorado, one store worker said. ------ Decades ago when we lived in Colorado, this suburb was known as "Saudi Aurora." East of Denver the area had no mountains, little greenery, like a desert, and a cultural mix of odd people. The only folks who bought homes in Aurora were those who didn't know better.

Former child star Mackenzie Phillips' candid confession about her purported decade-long sexual relationship with her singer-father, John Phillips, has forced the uncomfortable issue of incest into the public limelight. ------ Uncomfortable?? Phillips is a career criminal and "rehab-ista" - having been arrested again on drug charges in 2008. Sex with daddy took place between the age of 19-29; she was not exactly a victim, drug use is not a disease, nor is it an excuse. High on Arrival is just more vulgar garbage sold to a lascivious seeking public. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. "Now, more than a quarter century later, the saga continues. If she stays in good health, Mackenzie can perpetuate the cycle any number of times. John never quit "recovering." Among other great moments in their epic tale, John got a liver transplant ten years after the People story, following which the National Enquirer photographed him at a bar. Here is one more "fun" fact from John's memoir (yes, he wrote one too lauding his recovery, in 1986, while he was still screwing Mackenzie). The NY Times reviewer was not entirely convinced by John's story: "Phillips is not altogether realistic about himself. He recalls that when he was a postman, he threw mail away because his mailbags were too heavy; as a graveyard plot salesman, he received down payments, pocketed the money and never recorded the transactions. Still, on page 297 of a 444 page book, in reporting how he skipped out on a $2,000 hotel bill, he writes, 'My values were beginning to corrode under the prolonged influence of hard drugs.'

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking at the United Nations Thursday, said, "It doesn't smell like sulfur anymore." ---- I watched part of Chavez and Gadhafi speeches yesterday. Amazing, I finally agree with Bush the Boy on something as he supposedly has said Chavez is Castro without the brains - a good description. Hugo backed off some of his earlier criticism of Obama to kiss butt as he compared Barry to JFK and said the lectern now "smells of hope," pucker up and mmmwah. Gadhafi, introduced as the "king of kings" by a fellow Libyan, once a fiery rebel in green fatigues, is now a prissy semi-senile putz patting and fussing with his robes, earpiece, and notes, rambling on and on and on. King of Krazies. And in the US, prefers to live as a homeless old man in a tent. I briefly listened to bits and pieces of Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu, and Obama. Good thing I never believed the UN was the answer to anything.

Last but not least - Obama's "good war." Obama spoke like a true hawk on the ridiculous notion that Afghanistan was a just war. On the campaign trail in July 2008 he visited Afghanistan and declared "troop levels must increase in Afghanistan." Of course, that was tough talk rhetoric for the "right" because I still meet folks today who swear Obama voted against both wars. Obama was not in the US senate in 2002 or 2003 to vote. Some people hear what they want to hear. Now that Barry O. has to put his money where his mouth is he's waffling, wandering around in his own mind over what's the best thing for his career. Last year he believed the situation in Afghanistan was "urgent" and needed more troops. Now, his apologists insist Barry O. is being boxed into a lose-lose situation. "Obama would do well to take his own sweet time with this decision and do his best to make the right one, and that appears to be the course he intends to take. What's the hurry? Why can't a new president take the time to listen to all the advice, test all the assumptions, weigh all the costs and then come to a decision with which he's comfortable? Obama's inheritance is a sorry one, to say the least. The Bush administration attacked Afghanistan after 9/11 but almost immediately turned its attention to its costly and unnecessary war of choice in Iraq, leaving al Qaida and the Taliban still standing and the war in Afghanistan starved of manpower and resources for nearly seven years." --- Remember the BushCo cry "blame it on Clinton?" Now it's blame it on Bush. "Why can't a new president take the time...?" Because he has had 2+ years of campaigning and in office to assess Afghanistan and have a pretty good idea of where he would go with it. Obama defenders sound as stupid as Bush's did.