Can't? Or Won't?

Check out this hot new guitarist.

The Boy is Smokin'!



Now, he does Cathedral.

Watch his Right Hand!



Meet John Denner. I heard him play on Howard Stern this morning. While not a veteran himself, (he was born with a "baby" arm and no right hand), he will be going to Walter Reed to teach and encourage Disabled Veteran's on the guitar, and more importantly, on life.

Next time you think you can't do something, ask yourself, is it can't? Or won't?

d.

For EoR, spongybones and all of us...

(Note: Tim McGraw is the son of legendary Phillies Pitcher Tug "Scroogie" McGraw. I knew his Dad and I knew him when he was a tadpole. Part of this song is dedicated to his Dad. The rest, I guess, is for all of us. It's good advice. Listen and be comforted and live like you were dying. - .d)

Blogger Code Of Conduct?

Fuck The New York Times

Found this over at Fixer Gordon's other home The Alternate Brain. It links through to Hey Must Be The Money, by digby at Hullabaloo.

Seems the good folks over at The New Yawk Times have their knickers in a twist about the unrestricted flow of information in the blogosphere and want "someone" to "police" it. They claim we can do it ourselves with a little code of Conduct!

With that in mind, I offer this as my contribution toward self-censorship.

Oh, if bad words and nekkid women offend you, pass on this one and head for The Alternate Brain or Hullabaloo, or even the New Yawk Times .

If not, enjoy!




Sums it all up for me...




d.

Insider: Missteps Soured Iraqis...

Well No Screamin' Eagleshit! It's what a lot of us in the Reality Based Community have been saying for some time now!

Unfortunately, those on the Right have chosen to have their opinions spoon fed to them by shills like Limbaugh, Coulter, and Hannity. Instead of listening to the facts or doing their own research to determine the truth, they have instead, sat on their collective asses and opened their minds to the sewage being poured out by hate groups like the Swiftboat Veterans For Truth and The Patriot Warriors. It is so much easier to hate brown people and Muslims then it is to apply rational thought to a situation and come to a logical conclusion. It requires no thought on their part whatsoever to answer any argument with overused cliches, (like "flip-flop" or "cut & run"), fed to them from "Talking Points", supplied by the likes of Cheney and Rove.

Even now, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Cheney insists that Bin Laden and the 9/11 attackers were connected to Saddam and Iraq. Can someone tell me how many of the hijackers were Iraqi? Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Cheney, but weren't most of the hijackers Saudis? Isn't Bin Laden a Saudi? Didn't your administration fly the Bin Laden family out of the United States the day after 9/11? Do you wonder why some Americans believe your Administration was complicit in the attacks? You have done nothing to allay these fears. You opposed any real investigation, declared lower Manhatten environmentaly safe when it wasn't, ignored the advice of your Generals and the will of the American Public and ignored the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. You attempt to discourage or dismember any attempts at any oversight of your Administration's activities. In, short, you have proven yourselves to be untrustworthy liars as well as incompetent buffoons who thought the Iraqi War would be just like the John Wayne movies you love to watch as you fantasize about being a "Great Hero". Fantasize because few of you had the balls to actually suit up when it was your turn to answer your Nation's call.

Well, I have railed enough. Who am I to convince? Those on the Left are well aware of everything I just said and those still drinking the Right-wing Kool-Aid will dismiss me as just another Lib'rul Moonbat. But what can you say when your faults and failures are eloquently described by one who really knows?

d.

(I have reprinted the entire article below because this is just too important to miss)

Insider: Missteps Soured Iraqis on U.S.

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

Mon Apr 9, 2:08 AM

NEW YORK - In a rueful reflection on what might have been, an Iraqi government insider details in 500 pages the U.S. occupation's "shocking" mismanagement of his country _ a performance so bad, he writes, that by 2007 Iraqis had "turned their backs on their would-be liberators."

"The corroded and corrupt state of Saddam was replaced by the corroded, inefficient, incompetent and corrupt state of the new order," Ali A. Allawi concludes in "The Occupation of Iraq," newly published by Yale University Press.

Allawi writes with authority as a member of that "new order," having served as Iraq's trade, defense and finance minister at various times since 2003. As a former academic, at Oxford University before the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, he also writes with unusual detachment.

The U.S.- and British-educated engineer and financier is the first senior Iraqi official to look back at book length on his country's four-year ordeal. It's an unsparing look at failures both American and Iraqi, an account in which the word "ignorance" crops up repeatedly.

First came the "monumental ignorance" of those in Washington pushing for war in 2002 without "the faintest idea" of Iraq's realities. "More perceptive people knew instinctively that the invasion of Iraq would open up the great fissures in Iraqi society," he writes.

What followed was the "rank amateurism and swaggering arrogance" of the occupation, under L. Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which took big steps with little consultation with Iraqis, steps Allawi and many others see as blunders:

_ The Americans disbanded Iraq's army, which Allawi said could have helped quell a rising insurgency in 2003. Instead, hundreds of thousands of demobilized, angry men became a recruiting pool for the resistance.

_ Purging tens of thousands of members of toppled President Saddam Hussein's Baath party _ from government, school faculties and elsewhere _ left Iraq short on experienced hands at a crucial time.

_ An order consolidating decentralized bank accounts at the Finance Ministry bogged down operations of Iraq's many state-owned enterprises.

_ The CPA's focus on private enterprise allowed the "commercial gangs" of Saddam's day to monopolize business.

_ Its free-trade policy allowed looted Iraqi capital equipment to be spirited away across borders.

_ The CPA perpetuated Saddam's fuel subsidies, selling gasoline at giveaway prices and draining the budget.

In his 2006 memoir of the occupation, Bremer wrote that senior U.S. generals wanted to recall elements of the old Iraqi army in 2003, but were rebuffed by the Bush administration. Bremer complained generally that his authority was undermined by Washington's "micromanagement."

Although Allawi, a cousin of Ayad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister in 2004, is a member of a secularist Shiite Muslim political grouping, his well-researched book betrays little partisanship.

On U.S. reconstruction failures _ in electricity, health care and other areas documented by Washington's own auditors _ Allawi writes that the Americans' "insipid retelling of `success' stories" merely hid "the huge black hole that lay underneath."

For their part, U.S. officials have often largely blamed Iraq's explosive violence for the failures of reconstruction and poor governance.

The author has been instrumental since 2005 in publicizing extensive corruption within Iraq's "new order," including an $800-million Defense Ministry scandal. Under Saddam, he writes, the secret police kept would-be plunderers in check better than the U.S. occupiers have done.

As 2007 began, Allawi concludes, "America's only allies in Iraq were those who sought to manipulate the great power to their narrow advantage. It might have been otherwise."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Good Sportsmanship?

(Note: Had another post up here earlier which I am editing. Got some bad news and fell off the wagon. Well, one step backwards, two steps forward. Forgive me. Now to the point>)

Sports have, for the most part, always been a man's domain. Football, basketball, soccer, hockey, boxing, lacrosse, whatever. That's not to say that there aren't women who love sports just as much as the guys, so it's wrong to make generalities. Hell, Magster loves football, boxing and hockey just as much as I do. More and more women are becoming involved in sports, both as competitors and fans. Why then, should it surprise anyone that some Gay folks love sports too? Why should anyone be surprised that a coach or player might be Gay? And why should it matter?

There has been much controversy over Gays in the military. I was in the military as many of you were. Did it really matter, when the shit hit the fan, who the guy next to you dated? Hell, no! As long as he had your back and did his best to get everyone out alive. Well, it's kinda the same thing with sports. In my mind anyway.

In short, a person's worth as a human being shouldn't have any more to do with their sexuality than the color of their skin or the way they choose or choose not, to worship.

Unfortunately, to some, it is all they need to know to make a value judgement of a fellow human being.

Recently, a number of prominent Gay athletes have come out of the closet. The reception has been less than enthusiastic by the "straight" community. So you can imagine the furor created when a Gay male College Lacrosse Coach decided to stop living a lie and be himself.

University Coach Comes Out of Closet
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press writer

Sat Apr 7, 3:32 PM

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Frustrated Coach had nowhere else to turn. Alone with his secret, the college lacrosse coach sat down at his computer seeking others like himself: gay men who played and coached competitive, high-level sports but remained trapped in the closet.

"I am totally closeted, not married, totally gay and no one would guess," he wrote in an online chat room for gay athletes, coaches and fans. "My family, my team, my university and my career are not even remotely gay-friendly."

Over the next two years, Frustrated Coach revealed his hopes, fears and secrets with his trusted, but similarly anonymous peers on Outsports.com.

The 33-year-old coach shared his regrets about pursuing "serial one-night stands" with strangers as he grappled with his identity.

He disclosed a recent bout with colon cancer. His upbringing in a fundamentalist Baptist church that scorned homosexuality. The emotional void he felt in hiding. How a psychologist urged him to date women to make sure he was truly gay. Alcohol binges he sought to dull the pain. The 24-hour involuntary commitment on suicide watch in a psychiatric hospital.

Gradually, the coach grew more comfortable in his own skin. On Halloween 2004, he told his parents, both devout Baptists and the children of missionaries.

The coach's parents were devastated. So were his older brother and sister. The family's youngest child was a sinner, an abomination in the eyes of God. Communication stopped.

(more)


I read the above article and frankly, it angered me. Why should this man, a fine Coach by all accounts, have to live with this? Why all the hate? Does the man perform his job well? Is he a good coach? These are the questions that should be considered, not who he sleeps with.

I can hear the Kristian Conservatives now. "Oh my God! It's Easter Sunday and he's posting about abominations!" Horseshit. It's Easter Sunday, the day Christ supposedly rose from the dead to show all of us that his sacrifice on Good Friday was not in vain. That there was redemption for all - including Gay people. And no, they don't have to deny their sexuality to be redeemed either. They are fine just the way they are. Unless, ofcourse you are willing to admit that the Creator made mistakes. I don't think so. Everything and everyone is here for a purpose, God's purpose, and unless you can see into the mind of God you can't possibly claim to know His plan. George Bush aside, ofcourse.

Here's the deal. Are some Gays perverts? Sure. The same holds true for straight folks too. Can a Gay person still have high moral standards? Absolutely. Coach Hawkins is no more liable to attempt to seduce one of his young Lacrosse players any more than a straight male Coach or teacher would try to seduce one of his young female players or students. Some may say that Coach Hawkins presents a "bad" role model. Wow! If that is the case the guy has a lot more power than any of the rest of us. I have had many gay friends in my time in the movie business and I can't recall one incident where associating with me turned one of them "straight"! Point is, people don't "choose" their sexuality, they are born with it. You can no more "turn" a straight person Gay than you can turn an elephant into a mouse, it just ain't gonna happen!

Thing is, Gay folks are just like us, same dreams, same fears, same goals; to live in peace with the partner of their choice. To prosper, perhaps raise a family. To enjoy what's left of the American Dream. (To that end, restoring the American Dream, they can be powerful, dedicated allies!)

I hope you read the article I linked to above. It will only be up for 30 days. Then I would ask you to e-mail the University of Missouri in support of Coach Hawkins.

It's Easter. Let's share the love.

University of Missouri.

d.

Bush to America: Fuck YOU!

How long are we, the American people, going to let this arrogant little prick flip us off? When is enough, enough?


After withdrawing Sam Fox's name from consideration for the post of Ambassador to Belgium, (Kerry Sinks Swiftboat Backer) due to strong opposition by Democrats, George Bush pulled an end around this week and used a "Recess Appointment" to reward Fox for his slimy participation in the Switfboats Veteran's For Truth's smearing of Senator John Kerry's service record in the last Presidential Election, by naming him Ambassador while Congress was on recess.

The arrogance with which Bush "rules" smacks of the kind of totalitarianism usually reserved for Monarchs and Emperors. Now the Democrats must call for yet another investigation into the way this Administration does business. This appears to be a preview of the way our Government is going to function until Bush and his Crime Cartel are out of office. Bush will do whatever he wants and the rest of us will be running behind him trying to fix the damage he leaves in his wake.

Unless, ofcourse, he is Impeached. I fully realize that this would leave us in the hands of the Devil himself, Dick Cheney, but perhaps the Impeachment proceedings will reveal the depth of Criminality this Administration has engaged in and result in prosecution of all parties involved.

That would be too much to hope for, but maybe now, the newly elected Congress will realize what they are up against and act accordingly. So, Madam Speaker, put it back on the Table before it's too late!

Dems Call for Review of Bush Appointment
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

Fri Apr 6, 8:04 AM

WASHINGTON - Democrats called for an investigation Thursday into whether President Bush acted illegally in appointing Sam Fox ambassador to Belgium.

A day earlier, Bush named Republican fundraiser Fox to the post as a recess appointment _ a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress, where Democrats had derailed his nomination.

"We view the recess appointment of Mr. Fox as a clear abuse of the President's recess appointment power," three Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, Congress' auditing agency.

More

I strongly urge everyone to write, call or e-mail their elected officials and demand and end to the Rule of King George. It's time to make our beloved country a Democracy again.

d.

For Enemy Of The Republic

Cruel Virgin

d.

It's Up To You, President Bush...

I posted this a short while ago as part of a post on VoteVets.Org.

Now that the President and his minions have gone on the attack, blaming Congress for any future failures in Iraq, I feel it is more important than ever to get the Truth out, and who better to do so than a Retired Marine Corps Lt. Colonel who actually served in Iraq.

Please take a moment to listen to this. Then share it with friends or acquaintances who may be on the fence over this all important issue. While Bush blathers on about 9/11 and terrorists "following us home", selling fear and the threat of destruction to the American Public, our borders and ports go unguarded, our shipping containers from abroad go unchecked and our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, wives and husbands continue to die in his War of Choice. It is only the 4th of April and already nine more Americans have died this month!

Listen carefully to Lt. Colonel Horne and then decide if "The Decider" has made the right decision.


Semper Fidelis Colonel!

d.

Keith Richards Snorts Dad

Now THAT's Hardcore!

I have always loved this guy. Friends, in my 25 plus years in the Movie business, I have smoked enough Grass to cover the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In my day, I have snorted enough cocaine to fill 20 freight trains. I have tried everything from Acid to Ecstasy, from Crack to Heroin, I have consumed enough scotch & beer to fill the Great Lakes. Shit, I even tried to smoke banana peels when Donovan first sang about "Elec-tric-ka Bananas"!


But I ain't never done nothing like this...

Keith Richards: `I Snorted My Father'

By Associated Press

LONDON - Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father's ashes mixed with cocaine.

"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME. (More)

The guy is amazing! Is he a maniac? Ofcourse! I have always loved maniacs! It's one of the reasons I chose the Corps, they're all fuckin' nuts!


All I can say is, Dad, don't get cremated!


Without further ado, I give you the Madman himself!







And just for old times sake...




Rock and Roll will never die!

d.

Update!!!

Well it seems I have confessed to my mis-spent youth in vain! You got it! April Fool's on deuddersun! I like the guy's sense of humor though...lol!

Richards Denies Snorting His Dad's Ashes

Keith Richards

"Pet" Food Fiasco

To some, they are "pets". To others, "animals". To daMagster and me, and countless others, they are part of our families.

The recent Pet Food recall from Menu Foods has grown yet again. More brands have been added to the list of potentially fatal Pet Food products, including "snacks".

So far, Purina only has one product on the list. Prime Cuts in Gravy. So far. Purina products are what daMagster and I feed our "kids", Cappy, the happy, one-eyed wonderdog pictured with me above, and our two cats, Rachel, Mag's "familiar", (black, of course), and Sweetpea, our deaf cat who responds to hand signals and comes when she is "called".

The list of contaminated food products is huge and it shows no sign of abating. On the contrary, it seems to grow longer each and every day. With that in mind, daMagster and I have decided to forego "pet" food and prepare our kids dinners ourselves. We highly recommend this to any of my readers who have "extended" families. Why take the chance with a loved one? The joy these little creatures bring to our lives is immeasurable and priceless and compared to us, their little lives are already way too short.

While trying to find the latest information on the web I came across a wonderful website which addresses this and other "pet" concerns admirably well, Ask Susan Peters. If you have any questions concerning this or other "pet" concerns, the answers can be found here. Below you will find a link to this site as well as links to the FDA , Menu Foods and Purina.

I can tell you this. If one of our little guys dies because of this, a Class Action Lawsuit will be the last thing the folks at Menu Foods will have to worry about. There will be one pissed off Marine heading north for retribution. In typical Corporate fashion, Menu Foods has been buying their Wheat Gluten from China, a country that can barely keep it's own drinking water clean. I'm sure it was cheaper than American or Canadian wheat gluten initially, but now, the costs to Menu Foods will be substantial, if only because millions of people can no longer trust them to feed their "pets".

Please consider doing what we are doing. Chicken and ground beef isn't that much more expensive than what we normally feed our "kids". Throw in a little rice and you're all set. Susan Peters actually has recipes that you can use to make your own "pet" food dinners, God Bless her!

Okay. The links are below. I'm off to the market! Take care of those who give you unconditional love!

Menu Foods

Purina

FDA

Ask Susan Peters

d. & daMagster