The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

My last night at Allergan and I find myself on Line 11 with Martha. Yeah! It would have been okay, I guess, but the guy she use to mess with and who everyone else wants was out there. I wanted to spend my last night on his line any damn way, but not with Martha. She gets annoyed with any female who even talks to him. I think because he was not working last night ( That is not set in stone. I think I overheard it. ), then he left early. Connie and I were out the door a few minutes later. They had about 20 people on the line and it was crowded. Plus, another woman who likes him a lot and is now single, ( she had a chance to get physical with him when her boyfriend was in jail in another state. She flatly told him her heart belonged to someone else. He left it alone.) is now wanting to be with him. Oh and I think she is wanting to get serious. I tried to tell her in a roundabout way that he said to me that he was not trying to fall in love with anyone on the job. Of course, there is the possibilty he told me that just to get me to look elsewhere or leave him the hell alone. Either way, he did it in a nice way. That was respectful. I hope she does not get her feelings hurt. He may have to take that way if she keeps on. I am sure she thinks that she has a clear shot to him. Does she not think that if he is so attractive to woman on the job that woman away from the job may find him attractive as well? It just works that way.



I had a nice time with Connie at I-Hop after we left work. Then, we look up and see someone from the job. This fellow use to be a holy terror before he had a wreck that almost killed him. God or someone in the universe was trying to tell him something. He must have listened, because he calmed the hell down. I am glad. He said he was looking for another job during the July 4th shutdown. I hope he finds something and moves on with his life. Allergan is no longer the place for him, in my humble opinion.



I need to do laundry or else I will be naked. So, that is the chore for today. I do not want to go buy any more clothes at this time. So, it is either do laundry or stay in the house with nothing on. If I had a sexy ass man with me, that may be an option. The naked part that is.

Well, good news . My friend with the dog problems is not going to jail. The judge worked out a payment plan and there are no restrictions on her movement. Thank God! She did not need to go to jail.



I have two more days at my current job and then it is off to Dell making more money and working days. WOO HOO! Keep your fingers crossed for me. I have had to struggle like just about everyone else. I always do it without being bitter or expecting others to help ( I do get angry though. I am not perfect). My friend Nthaniel on the Rave has a job and started yesterday. Most people thought he would never get a job and just sit on his behind. I always knew he would do something. Sometimes you just have to have some patience with people.

There Is No New Black Panther Party: An Open Letter From the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation



In response from numerous requests from individual's seeking information on the "New Black Panthers," the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation issues this public statement to correct the distorted record being made in the media by a small band of African Americans calling themselves the New Black Panthers. As guardian of the true history of the Black Panther Party, the Foundation, which includes former leading members of the Party, denounces this group's exploitation of the Party's name and history. Failing to find its own legitimacy in the black community, this band would graft the Party's name upon itself, which we condemn.



Firstly, the people in the New Black Panthers were never members of the Black Panther Party and have no legitimate claim on the Party's name. On the contrary, they would steal the names and pretend to walk in the footsteps of the Party's true heroes, such as Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton, George Jackson and Jonathan Jackson, Bunchy Carter, John Huggins, Fred Hampton, Mark Cark, and so many others who gave their very lives to the black liberation struggle under the Party's banner.



Secondly, they denigrate the Party's name by promoting concepts absolutely counter to the revolutionary principles on which the Party was founded. Their alleged media assault on the Ku Klux Klan serves to incite hatred rather than resolve it. The Party's fundamental principle, as best articulated by the great revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, was: "A true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love." The Black Panthers were never a group of angry young militants full of fury toward the "white establishment." The Party operated on love for black people, not hatred of white people.



Furthermore, this group claims it would "teach" the black community about armed self-defense. The arrogance of this claim is overwhelmed by its reactionary nature. Blacks, especially in the South, have been armed in self-defense for a very long time; indeed, the spiritual parent of the Party itself was the Louisiana-based Deacons for Defense. However, the Party understood that the gun was not necessarily revolutionary, for the police and all other oppressive forces had guns. It was the ideology behind the gun that determined its nature.



Because the Party believed that only the masses of people would make the revolution, the Party never presumed itself to be above the people. The Party considered itself a servant of the people and taught by example. Given massive black hunger, the Party provided free breakfast for children and other free food programs. In the absence of decent medical facilities in the black community, the Party operated free medical clinics. In the face of police brutality, the Party stood up and resisted. Considering the overwhelming number of blacks facing trials and long prison terms, the Party developed free legal aids and bussing-to-prison programs.



The question the Foundation raises, then, is who are these people laying claim to the Party's history and name? Are they reactionary provocateurs, who would instigate activities counterproductive to the people's interests, causing mayhem and death? Are they entertainers, who would posture themselves before the media, and, according to numerous sources, with empty guns, to spin gold for themselves? Are they, given the history of their late-leader Khalid Muhammad, a group of anti-Semites like the very Ku Klux Klan they allegedly oppose? What is their agenda?



Conditions for blacks in America today are worse than when the Black Panther Party was formed in 1966. Blacks in the main continue to live in poverty; disproportionate percentages of blacks die from AIDS and cancer, as the black infant mortality rate continues to be double that of whites. There is a desperate need for liberation agenda. The Black Panther Party unarguably set the example, espousing principles and a history that certainly should be embraced by all those still struggling for freedom. Rather than appropriating the Party's name, however, groups that purport to represent African Americans ought to follow the Party's true historical example. In the absence of such commitment, the Foundation denounces the usurpation of the Black Panther Party name by this questionable band of self-appointed leaders.

The original Black Panther party that included people like Huey Newton may have been more militant than some people cared for. They certainly were not as anti-white or anti- Semitic as the current group calling themselves Black Panthers. The New Black Panther Party was formed in 1989 and while I will recognize their right to extist as a group, I do not recognize their right to behave in the same manner as the Ku Klux Klan ( who would hate them even if they practiced the non-violent method of protest that was Martin Luther King Jr's legacy.) towards Jews.



According to the web-site, Wikipedia,, the New Black Panther Party "has blamed slavery and even the Holocaust on the hooked-nose, bagel-eating, lox-eating, perpetrating-a-fraud, so-called Jew'." Now if the Jews blamed the Holocaust and the recent activities of Hamas or Hezbollah on all people of African descent, everyone would think they had literally lost their minds or were looking for scapegoats. The British and the French played a large part in the slave trade. If we want to say everyone one of them was Jewish ( which is a religion not an ethnic designation. That would be Hebrew. ) , then they would have the major responsibility for slavery. Hitler was not identifying himself as a Jew. If he had heard someone say that, they may have found themselves shot on sight.



I have no problem with any group organizing for the betterment of those who look like them or have suffered the same misfortunes. I do have a problem with any group that wants to use another as their scapegoat. I do not find it funny when five hundred dollars is missing and the only person blamed for it is the only African American in the group. Nor do I find it funny when a Jew wants someone to pay them what they owe them and is considered a loan shark. Either way is wrong.

I am a single mother who does not have to be single. I could have hooked up with any number of men by now that would not have been good for my son. I may have had my needs and desires meet, but in the process my son would have been hurt. Some people find it difficult if not impossible to be alone. They want someone by their side all the time. That does not make you special. You are filling empty space and someone else would be doing it if you were not there.



I have heard stories about mothers who have sent their children to live somewhere else , because the stepfather did not like them or want them in the home. This is silly and shows the child who the mother loves more. The child must know they are not that important. A man and having a man is the top priority. The child is secondary and will never feel that anyone put them first.



Do not get me wrong. I would love to find a man that I could spend time with. I would love to eventually fall in love again someday. Of course, I would like to be smarter about it this time around. I would want to feel that I found someone who loved me and at least respected my son. If he loved him as well, then that would be an added bonus. In eight years, my son will be twenty. If I am still single then and my son is happy, then it will be well with my soul. I do not need a man so badly that my son has to suffer because of it.

CANTON, Ohio (CNN) -- A woman has been charged with obstruction of justice in the case of the pregnant Ohio woman whose body was found over the weekend, the FBI said.



Myisha Ferrell is in the custody of the Stark County Sheriff's Department and will be arraigned on Monday, the FBI said.



The arrest comes on the same day officials confirmed the body they found Saturday is the body of pregnant Lake Township, Ohio, resident Jessie Marie Davis. The 26-year-old was reported missing more than a week ago.



In a phone recording, the examiner's office announced it had "positively identified the remains found," adding "fetal remains were also recovered."



The cause of death was pending, the office said. (Watch police announce discovery of body Video)



Davis had been due to give birth in early July when she disappeared. She was last heard from June 13.



The examiners began the autopsy Sunday after the body was recovered in an area of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Summit County.



Officials have been tight-lipped about exactly where the body was found and how it was discovered.



On Sunday, a source close to the investigation told CNN that Canton police patrolman Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, led police to the body. (Listen to Cutts discuss the investigation June 19 Video)



Authorities declined to confirm that.



Officers on Saturday arrested Cutts and charged him with two counts of murder -- one for allegedly killing Davis and the other for allegedly killing her near-term fetus.



Cutts was the father of Davis' 2-year-old son, Blake. He also fathered two other children with two separate women.



Asked by a newspaper reporter prior to the discovery of Davis' body whether he was expecting a second child with Davis, he said, "Possibly, yes."



He is set to appear Monday for arraignment in Canton Municipal Court.



The identification of Davis' body ended a search by thousands of volunteers.



The search was launched after family members and police could not contact Davis. Upon entering her home, Davis' mom found her son wandering alone in a dirty diaper and the house in disarray. Furniture was broken, a lamp was toppled over and bleach had been spilled on the floor, police said. (Map)



There were no signs of forced entry, and Davis' car keys and purse were in the home. But her cell phone and a comforter were missing, police said.

Another woman's home searched



Also on Sunday, FBI agents searched a woman's home in Canton and confiscated multiple bags of items Saturday evening, the woman's upstairs neighbor said Sunday. It's unclear at this time if that woman is Myisha Ferrell.



Hours after police recovered Davis' body and arrested Cutts, FBI agents used a battering ram to break down the door, said Justin Lindstrom, who lives in an adjacent duplex.



The owner was not present during the search, said Lindstrom, who added that agents asked him to call them if he heard from or saw his neighbor.



Lindstrom added that, during the week prior to Saturday, investigators had visited the home multiple times.



He said that, at one point during their searches, they asked him about a bed comforter they found in the building's laundry room.



Lindstrom said he told them it was his. Investigators have been on the lookout for a comforter belonging to Davis since discovering it was missing during a search of her home.



An FBI official told CNN Sunday that agents were continuing to search "multiple locations in the disappearance of Jessie Davis" and that they "continue to talk topeople involved in the case that may have information that can help the investigation."



CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report.



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I am sure everyone remembers Laci Peterson. She was murdered by her husband a few years ago. Thank God Scott Peterson faced justice and got what he deserved.



This guy was a member of the law enforcement community. I am sure his family and his co-workers never thought for one instance that he would kill someone. I am sure they thought he would never kill a woman due to give birth in just a few weeks. He took his child's mother from him. That little boy deserves everyone's prayer. He is going to have a hard time dealing with this as he grows up. He is biracial like my son. I do hope he does not hate African-American men , because one decided to kill his mother. I hope he does not hate himself , because he was too young to protect her.



I do not judge the woman who was dating a married man and ended up losing her life. Making a mistake and falling for a man who is married does not warrant a death sentence. Many woman have had affairs with married men and were left with their lives. Some were left with their reputations intact, because their business did not become public knowledge. I made a personal choice many years ago not to get involved with married men. That does not make me better than Jessie Davis or any other woman that has dated someone who is married. It probably makes me more alone. I have had many married men try to have an affair with me. Some have been quite attractive and all I think is damn I wish you were single.



Women and men have to be careful about who they get involved with. Protect yourself and if you have children for God's sake protect them. In some cases, you may never see it coming. However, I believe gut instinct and subtle signs may tell you all you need to know.

It would be wonderful if each person we met on the Internet or in real life trusted us enough to be completely honest or totally disclose everything about themselves. That is not the case. Most people have had experiences that have taught them if you are not careful about who you trust, your life , feelings, emotions, etc , will become public fodder for gossip.



Demanding that a person is honest with you before they are ready or asking them to let their guard down will get you nowhere. You may have the person's best interest at heart. You may really want to help them. You may think that if they would just show who they really are, they would have truer friends that love the real them. All of that is fine and good, but you have to wait until that person is ready. Prodding and pushing is not going to do anything but cause hurt feelings. If that person is being honest or feels they are, they may think you do not love the real them.



Now, if your desire is to expose someone than you do not have their best interests at heart and chances are you need to leave them alone.

Well, it seems our President is a tad confused. I am sure that is not news for anyone that has been following what is going on in this country and in the world.



Now I am finding out that Mr Bush wants to make laws. Someone should tell him that Congress would have been a better place for him. Yes, the president can veto a bill, but I always was taught that Congress was the one to pass the bill and override his veto if they had enough votes. Maybe Bush does not like the separation of powers in this country. He may not see a need for check and balances. Perhaps Karl Rove should inform him that governing a democracy was not a good career move for him. He could have always set up a dictatorship on a remote island somewhere.



Now, it could be said that Bush has grown weary of Congress and the games that are played by that particular branch of government. At least we know the Supreme Court is supposed to be bound by the Constitution. Of course, nine justices could decide to interept the Constitution nine different ways.



Let's see what the US Consitution has to say about the separation of powers . James Madison wrote it that way for a reason. I do not think he sat down to write the Constitution because Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were unavaliable for a night of drinking at the local tavern.



Taken directly from the Constitution



Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.



Now that is a little long-winded, but I am sure Madison would say the same thing about some of the things I write. From what I gather bills that will become law originate in Congress and then are sent to Georgie Boy. He can either sign it or veto it. Then the Congress has the option to override his veto. It then becomes law. If they do not override his veto, it does not become law. That is pretty simple. Maybe Bush is an undercover genius and that is too simple for him. Maybe he would get it better if we have gotten Albert Einstein to rewrite the Constitution in a way he would understand. I doubt it. He would probably not get it if a couple of second graders put it in language they would understand.

Sometimes you just have to have empathy for a person and sometimes you just lose all patience with them. I think that is the public's response to Paris Hilton. She is one of those people that inspires an either or response from others.



Now, she is saying that she was playing dumb. That could very well be the case. I am sure many of the rich boys she wanted to date wanted to feel superior to everyone, including the pretty girl on their arm. I am sure not all rich guys are that way, but I am willing to bet that many will prefer looks to brains anyday.



The sex video and the little stint on The Simple Life did nothing to improve her image. I know I have pulled some real lulus in my private life that have made me look less than stellar. I am just thankful that E television did not have Ryan Seacrest reporting about it. Everyone makes mistakes, especially the young. I am sure many who are truthful will tell you that in their twenties they did things they will never repeat. I know a few in their fifties that may not want to repeat what they pulled six months ago.



She has now told Barbara Walters that she was to help out with various charities that support medical research. That is to be commended and not mocked. If going to jail is going to make her focus more on helping others and keep her from being fodder for the gossip shows, then I am all for it. If it is a stunt she is pulling to get out of jail sooner, we will all know sooner or later. My boy, Ryan Seacrest, will tell us all about it.

First the article from CNN and then my comments in ( ).



TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) -- Maria Carvajal walks the sweltering streets of Tijuana, Mexico, clutching a photo of her mentally disabled son, who she says went missing after being deported more than a month ago, despite being a U.S. citizen.



Carvajal says she has searched hospitals, shelters and jails here looking for her 29-year-old son, Pedro Guzman of Lancaster, California, who was jailed for a misdemeanor trespassing violation, then sent to Mexico on May 11.



Guzman's relatives sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department last week in federal court, claiming Guzman was a U.S. citizen and had been wrongfully deported and demanding that U.S. authorities help find him.



"I'm searching for him because he's my son. But it should be (U.S. authorities) searching for him," Carvajal, a 49-year-old fast-food restaurant worker from Lancaster, said Sunday in Tijuana. "They made the mistake. Not me."



U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Guzman had been deported and said the agency had done so correctly. "ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman," read a statement.



Officials at the U.S. consulate in Tijuana say they have made calls to help search for Guzman and asked other consulates in Mexico if they have information.



"We are doing things to help that we are not obliged to do," said consulate spokeswoman Lorena Blanco.



Carvajal, a brown-haired woman with glasses, said he called the family on May 11 to say he was deported but the phone cut off before she could find out where he was.



She said she never thought she would end up having to search Tijuana's hospital and morgues for her son, but vowed to keep on doing it because "I have to." She is not carrying her son's birth certificate with her, saying her main concern is finding him.



Guzman can't read or write and has trouble processing information. Carvajal fears he could be an easy victim for robbers.



The lawsuit says Guzman was asked about his immigration status in jail and responded that he was born in California of Mexican parents.



Sometime after that, the Sheriff's Department identified him as a non-citizen, obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States and turned him over to Customs and Immigration Enforcement, a division of the Homeland Security Department, for deportation.



The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which helped file the lawsuit, says it has Guzman's birth certificate showing he was born at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.



It also says that Guzman had previously done jail time for drug possession, so he had a record that could have been cross-checked before a deportation decision was made.



The Sheriff's Department has said it followed procedures correctly.



In California, Guzman's brother, Michael Guzman, said last week that during a phone call to the family the 29-year-old said he had been deported and asked a passer-by where he was. The family could hear the person respond: "Tijuana."



Michael Guzman said his parents were from Mexico, but seven children, including Pedro, were born in California. Pedro, who takes the last name of his father, speaks both English and Spanish.



Carvajal said she keeps seeing glimpses of people on the Tijuana streets that she thinks are her son and runs toward them. But each time she finds she is mistaken.



"I have to fight for my son," she said.



( This is a sad and frightening commentary on Bush's Department of Homeland Security. I thought that organization was established to prevent things like this from happening. After the fisaco following Hurricane Katrina with FEMA, one would think any organization in the federal government would take whatever steps are necessary to not be compared to FEMA.



My heart goes out to this mother. I have a son and although he is not mentally challenged like the man in the article, I understand how I would feel if the country of his birth decided to deport him without just cause. This man is an American citizen by birth- he should not have been deported. No type of discussion is needed there. The following is taken directly from the United States Constitution and while it references who can be President of the United States, it makes a valid point on who is and who isn't a citizen of the United States. The only group it leaves out are those who are naturalized citizens.



No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President. Ok, a person with an average intelligence can gather that a natural born citizen is one who was born on American soil. So, if that person can be President of the United States, it should be a logical line of thinking to expect that that person should not be deported. I understand that those who work for the Department of Homeland Security have a hard job. I understand that they have many guidelines to follow that with the Bush administration may change quicker than some people will change their bedsheets, but I would think they are required to make doubly sure an American citizen is not being deported. This man who was deported did not have average intelligence. He signed a piece of paper, because he was frightened. He had been to jail before and did not understand his rights. Is this what our founding fathers fought the British for? I highly doubt it.)

Well, I was in family court this morning. It was nothing too traumatic for me. It was over my son and while I would love to have him home , I know he is getting the best treatment possible for him. I dread family court, because I am always afraid I am going to be the last one who is called. I do not want to hear all the cases before mine. I normally take a book with me. It keeps me from having to hear or focus on others and their drama.



I was glad to hear the judge inform the people there that they had a right to protest the removal of their children from their home. He gave them the option of having a court appointed attorney. This is one of the many reasons I keep voting for this man. Many who find themselves in family court are unaware of their rights. If someone is both educated and of a higher income bracket, they usually do not wind up in family court over the removal of their children. I am sure it has happened, but just like the medical system in this country, the legal system seems to favor the wealthy at times. It is always a wonder when you come across an officer of the court who sees things differently and acts accordingly.



I have had a peaceful and harmonius afternoon and evening. A friend I was worried about pulled through what could have been a difficult stituation. I would have had one hell of a time if something had happened to her. I went through a lot of bad people to get to some good ones that were waiting on the other side. I would hate to start losing them now.



I got to see a Paul Newman movie this evening. I am sorry for all you young guys out there, but Paul Newman at his age puts you to shame in the looks department. I am sure his wife, Joanne Woodward, would totally agree. He is one of the best actors Hollywood ever got their hands on. I saw The Verdict. Not to take anything away from Ben Kingsley and his peformance of Gandhi, I still think Newman should have won the Oscar for that role. Kingsley won it that year.



Well, my work week starts tomorrow night. It takes most of the time I am off to fully recover from some of the knuckleheads I work with. I have been a knucklehead. I am still one at times. I just hope that none of us get anyone to crying or feeling less than a human being this week.

The old saying be careful what you wish for falls on deaf ears to some. They have to have what they want and it does not matter how it affect anyone else on the planet. Their wants and needs supersede everyone else's on the planet. I have seen this happen many times and I do not like it.



My son has heard many times that his wants and needs are important, but do not overshadow everyone else's life. Some will use whatever trick they can pull out of their little hat to get what they want. I would not want something that way. If I have to resort to that, it was not for me in the first place. Unless you are making a career out of politics, then your personal life should not run in that manner.



There are those on my job who want what they want and if someone else is hurt by it, so be it. They are sad human beings that many should avoid. I could not have them a part of my personal life. For one, I would not have it. For another, my roommate and two close friends of mine ( Jack and Mikhail on the Rave) would threw a major hissy fit. I am sure Cadamia on the Rave would also have a tremendous fit. All three of them would wonder if I needed to be in the nuthouse.

I would ask what else is our president going to do that is questionable and going to make others wonder if his mental state is anything but sane, but I see no need to ask. Just wait and that will be revealed without asking anything.



Now, Bush and his Defense department finds it to be a grand idea to provide weapons to Sunnis in Iraq who are denouncing ties to Al-Qaeda. These are the same Sunnis who were buddies of Sadaam Hussein. Remember him? The same guy who we went over there to take out of power in the first place? Now, we are going to give guns to people who think like him? What is next? The police in the United States are going to give guns to people who denounce their ties to any criminal organization that they may have been a part of in the past. I doubt if that will happen on American soil. ( Maybe I should not be so sure with the current individual in the White House. )



Jack Cafferty is on CNN's Stituation Room. The show is excellent, but it is worth watching just for the Cafferty file. He thinks this must have been Bush's Plan B. He may not be off base with that assumption. I shudder to think what Plan C may be.

My comments will be in ( ).



Reid Opens Third Work Period with Promise to Continue Moving Americans in a New Direction



Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada today made the following remarks to open the 110th Congress's third work period:



Mr. President, billions throughout the world celebrated the Easter holiday on Sunday. But on that joyous day, Pope Benedict spoke of the human condition with a heavy heart.



"How many wounds -- how much suffering there is in the world," he said. "Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees." ( We could say this to our president a million and one times, but I think it would still not sink in. That man's mind is an engima that science needs to study when he dies. )



As we open the third work period of the year, Pope Benedict's words weigh on my mind - and I hope that we will honor them as we continue to work in a bipartisan manner to address that suffering by moving America in a new direction at home and abroad.



That was the promise we made to the American people when the 110th Congress opened three months ago. ( Leave it to the Bush administration, the Democrats will not be able to keep that promise. If Jesus made that promise, I think Bush would try to prevent it from coming to fruition if it differed from what he wanted or thought. )



And although we have only completed the first two work periods of the session, we have already made considerable progress. ( At least he did not say mission accomplished, like Georgie Boy. Someone should have had Karl Rove prevernt Georgie from saying that about Iraq. )



When we began in January, we knew that all of our goals depended on changing the way Washington works -- so our first order of business was passing the toughest lobbying and ethics reform legislation in our nation's history.



Next, we voted to give working Americans a much deserved and long overdue raise by finally increasing the federal minimum wage. ( I bet some employers with the hiring of illegals was not made a crime in 1986. They are not going to want to pay the blue collar workers of America more money. It would hinder them from taking a trip or buying another high priced car. God forbid. )



After the minimum wage, we addressed the fiscal mess left by the last Congress and passed a Continuing Resolution that enacted tough spending limits and eliminated earmarks.



Then, we set our sights on keeping our country safe by finally passing the recommendations set forth by the 9/11 Commission years ago.



Next, we passed a balanced budget that put American families first by cutting taxes for working people, increasing investment for education -- veterans -- and health care -- and implementing the same pay-as-you-go rules that every American family must follow.



While addressing these crucial priorities here at home: ethics reform, minimum wage, homeland security, return to fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget for working families - we have also continued to seek a new direction for the war in Iraq at every opportunity, as the American people called for in November. ( Bush seems to overlook the fact that we the people called for this change. He must think we voted for that because of lack of better things to do on election day. )



That is why we concluded the last work period by passing an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that fully funded our troops while also setting forth a new course in Iraq.



The President has put our troops in the middle of a civil war. That was never supposed to be their mission - and every day, the price we pay grows worse: soon to be 3,300 American lives lost. Tens of thousands more wounded. And nearly 1/2 trillion dollars spent. Yet still no end in sight for our troops or taxpayers. ( Again Bush said mission accomplished. I would think you would go home at that point. I leave work at seven-thirty every morning and have no desire to stay. )



Let me be very clear: Democrats are committed to giving troops the funds they need. The supplemental appropriations bill we send to President Bush will provide every dollar our commanders have requested. And it will go further by providing funding to address the unconscionable conditions at Walter Reed and other military health care facilities that the President's budget left out.



Democrats are united in our commitment to fully fund our troops on the ground in Iraq and here at home. But we are also determined to provide our troops a strategy for success in Iraq, which President Bush has failed to do from the very start of this war over four years ago.



Virtually all the experts - military and civilian - agree that the war cannot be won militarily. Success can only come when all the political leaders in Iraq reach a settlement.



Pope Benedict, the spiritual leader of more than 1 billion people, said on Easter Sunday: "Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees." ( One more time just for you Georgie Boy. Did the pope's remark make sense to you? )



That is why we're telling the President that he needs to make good on his promise to get the Iraqi people to meet the benchmarks they set for themselves - but have never followed through on. After 4 years, it's long past time for Iraq to take responsibility for its own future.



American troops are putting their lives at risk every single day, but Iraqi leaders are not willing to take the political risk of governing their own country. That must change. That's what Congress is demanding. That is what the American people, by a large majority, demand. And the President should be leading us in that direction, not threatening to veto funding for our troops unless we rubber stamp his flawed plan.



Over the next two weeks, the President has an opportunity to work with Congress to let his views be heard on how to improve this bill.



Speaker Pelosi and I invited him last month to sit down and work with us to develop a strategy together. We remain ready to do just that. But will require a commitment by the President to move beyond the political theater and take a seat at the table of negotiation, of compromise, of direction change. Recall the Pope's Easter message: nothing positive comes from Iraq.



***



While we continue to press the President and his supporters here in Congress to chart a new course in Iraq, we will move to the next set of issues that are crucial to the American people:



Expanding federal funding for stem cell research, lowering Medicare prescription drug costs, delivering a new national energy policy and implementing tough, fair immigration reform.



This week, we will focus the Senate's attention on S.5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.



Democrats and Republicans joined together last year to pass legislation that would have made more

stem cell lines available to scientists, while at the same time strictly regulating how they could be used.



The actions of the Senate and the House gave hope to the 100 million Americans and tens of thousands of Nevadans who suffer from cancer, Alzheimer's Diabetes, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and ALS.



Sadly, President Bush vetoed that bipartisan bill - and as a result, we must take on this urgent cause once again. This week, we will debate the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act and we will fight to see that it becomes law.



Following debate on the stem cell bill, we will turn our attention to reducing drug costs for senior citizens.



The flaws in the Medicare drug program are well-documented, but many of them can be traced back to one simple fact: the current law puts drug companies ahead of seniors.



Regardless of whether we supported or opposed the law that created the Medicare drug benefit, all of us want to make the program work better for seniors and people with disabilities -- and right now, they are paying too much because the federal government is unable to negotiate lower-priced drugs.



S.3, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007, will fix that injustice by making it easier for the most vulnerable in our society to afford the medicine they need.



Next, we will move to energy legislation that will improve our national security and protect our environment.



In the past several weeks, gas prices have risen dramatically once again. One reason for the spike is the "fear premium" caused partially by the Administration's inept foreign policy. Another reason is the empty words and unfunded promises of the Administration's short-sighted energy policy.



President Bush's budget choices have robbed the Treasury of the funds we need to invest in a better, more sustainable energy policy, and his friends in the oil and energy industry have failed to fill the void by investing in alternatives to oil.



I am hopeful that in the coming weeks, the Senate will consider legislation that would put us on the right track toward increased production and use of renewable fuels, renewable electricity and energy efficient products, buildings and vehicles. This legislation will improve our energy security and reduce the risks of global warming.



After energy policy, we will focus on the challenge of comprehensive immigration reform.



We all agree that America's immigration system is broken: our borders remain un-secured. Our laws remain under-enforced. 11 million undocumented immigrants continue to live in the shadows.



Last year, the Senate passed strong, bipartisan immigration reform that would have fixed our broken borders. Unfortunately, the legislation fell victim to partisan politics in the House - so we must re-address the issue again this year.



We will start with a bill that takes a tough and smart approach to securing the borders, cracking down on enforcement and laying out a path to earned legal status for undocumented immigrants already here and contributing to our society.



Mr. President, in January, we promised the American people a new era of open, honest government.



We promised a new direction that would put families, working people, college students and senior citizens first.



And we promised a new course in Iraq that honors the service of our men and women in uniform.



Heaven knows we have tried, but the President is charging forward with the same mindless strategy in Iraq that the Pope calls a continual slaughter.



Defined in the dictionary - slaughter is to kill in a bloody and violent manner and to kill in large numbers. This slaughter must end - for the sake of humanity and our country, it should be no more. ( I love Senator Harry Reid for this one. I could kiss this man. Karl Rove refuses to let Bush see a dictionary or define certain words for him. At least someone had the decency to do it. )



In these first months, we have made progress. As we begin our third work period, there is much left to be done - but I am confident that with a continued commitment to bipartisanship, we will rise to the challenges ahead and answer the call for renewal of the American Dream.

The G-8 summit is now underway and there are things that should be the focus that are getting overshadowed by the antics of both our president, Georgie Boy, and Vladmir Putin, the current president of Russia. The Aids crisis in Africa and global warming should be playing center stage, but Bush has once again got distracted.



Bush wants to put missile shields in both the Czech Republic and Poland. Never mind that 70 percent of the Czech Republic is not very eager for that to happen. ( Has the person briefing Bush on that fact clarified for him that it is 70 percent not 70 people? )

Bush is claiming the shields would provide protection from rockets coming from either North Korea or Iran. Both of these rogue countries may have rockets, but after the missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, I am wondering how many they have and how effective they would be. I have a little theory I could tell Bush about where the weapons of mass destruction may be at, but it is not a sane one and I am afraid he may get Karl Rove to spin it for believability.



On Putin's side of the fence, it appears the United States may be planning an attack on Russia. Putin is not Yeltsin. His head is not made of sawdust and anyone considering him less than a shrewd political player is operating under a mistaken belief. Putin has threatened to point missiles at Europe. I am sure the Europeans are not thrilled with that. I am sure they are less thrilled with Georgie Boy at the moment. Bush is wanting his "friend", Tony Blair, the current Prime Minister of Great Britain, to help smooth things over with Putin. Tony Blair is attending his last G-8 summit and I am sure he would love to focus on other things, besides Georgie Boy and his attempt to re-start the Cold War. Putin is refusing to extradite the suspect in the poisoning of the Russian spy to Britain and is backing out of a deal with British Petroleum. The British economy has made one hell of a comeback under Blair, but it looks like Bush is going to be able to mess that up as well, before he gets out of office.



I wonder if it ever dawned on Bush that the United States is considered an international bully. Just as Bush has a political career to protect and a legacy ( which may be shot to Hell in a handbasket), Putin has the same things to consider. Putin does not want the Russian people to believe for one second that he is allowing the US to walk all over them.



Bush has invited Putin to visit his family vacation home in Maine. That is a nice gesture. The only problem is the week before the leader of Estonia will be visiting. The Russians and the Estonians are into it over the Estonians removing the graves of dead Soviet soliders. This is a diplomatic nightmare. Who scheduled this visit? I am wondering at this point if there are undercover Democrats working at the White House and they are trying to derail the chance of any Republican of ever occupying the Oval Office again?



I understand Bush has one of the toughest jobs on the planet. I also realize he is a human being prone to making mistakes. I think some of his top advisors let him down and preferred to occupy his spot. Perhaps, they decided to screw things up badly , because they were never president. Guilty parties- Rove, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. They are on the list of the usual suspects.



My 12 year old has empathy for Bush. I do too; however I wish he had a Nancy Reagan in his corner. She looked out for her Ronnie. She may have been called the Dragon Lady, but we did not have the problems we do now. I have empathy for Bush's parents. If Malcolm was President and pulling stunts like this, someone better have empathy for my son. He may go down in history as the only president in the history of the world to have a mother start impeachment proceedings against him. In the very least, my calls to the White House would be blocked and the Secret Service would be under strict orders to shoot to maim if they saw me anywhere near him. He already knows I would be throwing a gigantic hissy fit.

Tribute to Senator Robert F. Kennedy



delivered 8 June 1968 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York



Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Mr. President:



On behalf of Mrs. Kennedy, her children, the parents and sisters of Robert Kennedy, I want to express what we feel to those who mourn with us today in this Cathedral and around the world.



We loved him as a brother, and as a father, and as a son. From his parents, and from his older brothers and sisters -- Joe and Kathleen and Jack -- he received an inspiration which he passed on to all of us. He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He will always be by our side.



Love is not an easy feeling to put into words. Nor is loyalty, or trust, or joy. But he was all of these. He loved life completely and he lived it intensely.



A few years back, Robert Kennedy wrote some words about his own father whic

h expresses [sic] the way we in his family felt about him. He said of what his father meant to him, and I quote: "What it really all adds up to is love -- not love as it is described with such facility in popular magazines, but the kind of love that is affection and respect, order and encouragement, and support. Our awareness of this was an incalculable source of strength, and because real love is something unselfish and involves sacrifice and giving, we could not help but profit from it." And he continued, "Beneath it all, he has tried to engender a social conscience. There were wrongs which needed attention. There were people who were poor and needed help. And we have a responsibility to them and to this country. Through no virtues and accomplishments of our own, we have been fortunate enough to be born in the United States under the most comfortable conditions. We, therefore, have a responsibility to others who are less well off."



That is what Robert Kennedy was given. What he leaves to us is what he said, what he did, and what he stood for. A speech he made to the young people of South Africa on their Day of Affirmation in 1966 sums it up the best, and I would like to read it now:



"There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.



Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.



It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who [pro]claimed that "all men are created equal."



These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. *It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.* Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.



Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.



For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.



*The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.* Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."



That is the way he lived. That is what he leaves us.



My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.



Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.



As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:



"Some men see things as they are and say why.

I dream things that never were and say why not."



On June 5, 1968, Robert F Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angelos , Ca. He had just won the California primary and may have well been on his way to securing the Democratic nomination for President. Many historians and just everyday people have always wondered how things might have been if the man who dreamt things that never were and said why not had been President.



Sirhan Sirhan is still serving a life sentence in a state penitentiary in Corcoran, California.

Well, today has been something else. I am tired and worn out. I feel like I have been through the wringer fifteen times and around the frigging mulberry bush another nine times.



I found out that a friend of mine got played by at least one guy and maybe another one. If I had my way about it, their mothers would know what they pulled. I would also fix it where the one guy had to spend some serious alone time. Maybe he would appreciate it let's say five years down the road when a good person wanted to be with him. Don't get me wrong. I love men, I just do not love everything they do at times. I will be alone before I go through some major bullshit. I get lonely and it is hard at times, but when something like this happens , I thank God I am pass the need to be with just any old dude that comes along. That way I protect myself and my child. I have no time for craziness in that area. Either someone wants me enough to act like they want me to act towards them or they don't . It is pretty simple really.



Mikhail got out of the hospital today. I hope he will be alright. I worry about his overall health.



This chick at work expected Connie to give her my phone number. She wanted me to take her side with Gloria in a verbal dispute she had with another co-worker. I was the unlucky eyewitness. I am not going to take her side. Thank God that Connie has sense. I would have been irate if this woman had called me. Especially since I have been busy than the Roman Army, George Washington during the American Revolution and a two dollar whore on fifty cents night. I would have wanted to scream at her.



I had a nice conversation with Jenniffer and after eating for the first time today after nine pm ( if I ate earlier, I forgot about it), I am going to sleep. I need rest. I had a panic about my son. Hell, I am suprised I have not panicked about the entire planet at this point. I am calmed down now. My medicine helps.

Nthaniel is a friend of mine on the Rave. He has one of the best voices I have ever heard. Frank Sinatra would have put him on his duets album if he had know this talent. My roommate heard him singing on a recorded CD and her first question was why has he not pursued a career in music? My roommate is like me. She is a fan of some of the most wonderful voices out there, so that was a huge compliment. If you contact Nthaniel on the Rave, maybe he will play you or send you some of his work. You will be amazed.