steward’s blog

“If adopted, the new strategy will undoubtedly be condemned by Israel, which has warned the U.S. that it has until the end of the year to put an end to Iran’s uranium production before it takes matters into its own hands.” (from CNN)

“Warned the U.S.”?  “its own hands”?

If Israel - which is widely known to possess nuclear bombs itself - is threatening to break international peace, and is making those threats to the United States of America, then maybe it’s about time for the United States to reconsider our relations with Israel.  Dropping down relations from full diplomacy to a chargé d’affaires level would be a good first clue; introducing a U.N. resolution calling for an economic boycott if they don’t back down would be a great second clue if needed.  Maybe the President and the Secretary of State could recruit former President Jimmy Carter as a special envoy.

But it’s high time that the United States of America stopped having its foreign policy directed by people like Binyamin Netanyahu.

1. I have 47 chromosomes.
2. I write poetry.
3. I’ve been described as “straight with a queer vibe”; I don’t know exactly what that means, but since the person describing me like that is a very good friend who is gay, I assume it was a high compliment.
4. I was a Roman Catholic liturgy planner and organist for seven years.
5. I am a Witchcraft ritual planner when the fit strikes me.
6. I go to gothic fusion belly dancing workshops.
7. I used to be a Catholic lay evangelist.
8. I was doing minor spells such as glamorie since first grade in Catholic school, without even being aware I was doing spells.
9. I’ve read more than 2,000 books.
10. I’ve been listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who publications for nine years.
11. I know just enough about medicine to scare myself half to death whenever I get sick.
12. I turn Christian hymns into Pagan ritual songs.
13. My attention to detail has been described as something that causes conflicts with others who pay less attention to detail.
14. I write dark erotica under various pseudonyms.
15. Instead of pretending that either BDSM or Magick can be made “safe”, I realize that both are on the edge and embrace the dance in both.
16. I have problems applying the above principle to life in general.
17. I am pro-choice on suicide.
18. When I channel an entity, I go way under but I’m still aware of things.
19. I’ve been known to pull people in with me when channelling.
20. My primary deities are Apollo and the Star Goddess, but I work a lot with Brigid, Kali, and Lilith as well, and a little with Ixtab.
21. I really need to start meditating more. One of these years.
22. I’ve lost forty-five pounds in the past six weeks.
23. I’ve been featured - with picture - in USA Today.
24. I believe that omniscience is necessary to know if action or inaction will bring harm to anyone, so I do not accept the Wiccan stricture of harm none since it is humanly impossible to know if any act of commission or omission will harm anyone.
25. Most of this stuff can be found on my various websites.

I’ve sent the following missive to my Congressman, Christopher H. Smith (R-4-NJ), and to the Secretary of Agriculture.  You might consider the same if you think the Federal Government has more important things to do then harrass domestic cats.

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http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/25/hemingway.cats.battle.ap/index.html

Could someone check on why the USDA wastes time on trying to throw cats off their late owner’s property when we have more pressing matters at hand?  Maybe their jobs need to be eliminated and their positions transferred to whoever oversees banks - instead of CATS?

Thank you.

Whether the Iraq war is good or bad, there’s one salient fact: we can’t afford it anymore.

As of July 23, 2008, we’ve spent over $660 billion dollars on Iraq.  The bank bailout is only $40 billion more, and the first stage under the current proposition  is $310 less.

Can we afford any politician who believes staying in Iraq for several more years has the good of the people of the United States of America truly at heart?  We’re throwing money down a sinkhole - Iraq/Babylonia has been constantly at war, with minor breaks, for over five thousand years - we ain’t stopping it in 7, or 11, or even 30!

What we are doing is wasting money we need here at home.

There’s a limited amount of value in the American dollar: we print more, it’s worth  less.

We can spend that money on Americans or we can squander it around the world.  It’s really that simple.

Sure, they’re getting the businesses rebuilt, but they’re tearing down the four largest neighborhoods and having the New Orleans Thug Department taser and pepper-spray the affected residents.

Can we get our Federal relief money back? I’m tired of business/corporate welfare coming above people.

I’ve sent the following letter to my congresscritter:

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To the Honorable Christopher H. Smith:

CNN reports this morning at

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/20/neworleans.protests/index.html

about how they’re tearing down four major communities in New Orleans, but the citizenry trying to attend the meeting was assaulted by so-called police officers.

New Orleans is trying to promote an image of “business as usual”, which implies to me that the Federal aid sent down there went primarily to business instead of to people.

I’m tired of corporate/business welfare being handed out by the Federal Government, especially when there are people who want to rebuild their lives - and are not permitted to return to their homes, then blamed for their homes being in disrepair!

Is there any way to put a sanction on Federal aid to the State of Louisiana to recoup the money misspent by that state on attacks of the lower-middle-class?

After all, it’s installed on a server I control.  Should keep things simple once I’ve gotten used to WordPress.

In its October 9th issue in an article called “Take That, You Pirates”, BusinessWeek magazine reports that

Why are first-run DVD’s available for less than US$2.00 in the Peoples’ Republic of China, shortly after release, while Americans have to pay 15 or more times that amount?  And why do they blatantly discriminate against handicapped people in the United States by making people wait months for DVD’s here, while they sell DVD’s within days of their theatrical release in the PRC?

Maybe the drug companies are controlled by the same people as the movie studios - they both sell their products for a lot less elsewhere in the world while gouging Americans.  I think that it’s about time that the US government looked a little closer to home for terroristic organizations and started enforcing cartel and disability anti-discrimination laws.

meme number one: “This is the most important election in American history, because it could very well be the last one.” And if people call you an alarmist, tell them, “I’d rather be paranoid than in a concentration camp.” - Isaac Bonewits

More on his blog here. 

CNN reports that Saudi Arabia is building a fence along its entire “border
with Iraq to prevent terrorists from entering the kingdom.”  Considering 
that Osama bin Laden is a subject of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, maybe 
it’s Iraq that should be building the fence?

“A memo received by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shortly after becoming National Security Advisor in 2001 directly contradicts statements she made to reporters” on September 25th, 2006. The memo, available as a .pdf in this story on http://www.rawstory.com , makes it abundantly clear that the Bush administration was told of the al-Qa’ida threat well in advance of 9/11/01 - and that now-Secretary Rice, in her then-role as National Security Adviser, had information on which to act.

When are those in power going to learn that their dirty deeds, from denying that they had the information to act on to engaging in blog-poisoning , will come out quicker and quicker now that there’s a virtually-instantaneous, worldwide communications system?