Wicked Ramblings and Bold-faced Lies: Crack is Whack

This is from Faith Whitfield's Blog - she's the sister of a very close friend. Her writing is really great fun and quite on the pulse of some of the issues that may be running through your mind. I enjoyed this post on Whitney Houston in particular - 'cause I too am so put out by Whitney's tired activities. Faith writes about other hugely entertaining topics... some of my FAVs include: - Don't Tease Hitler - The Pool party and - Scrampled Eggs.

Here's a excerpt from her post on "LaWhitney's" latest escapades:
"Sometimes I read the newspaper and I can’t help but say, “There is just so much senseless suffering in the world I don’t know why I even bother handing out Pixie Stix to the homeless. It’s like my efforts are in vain.” And I usually can’t help but to say that when I am reading over a stranger’s shoulder in public. I think it’s a great conversation starter. Then I see a story like this, with a picture of LaWhitney’s house, and I really get mad. This woman burns me up because she is too stupid too realize her good fortune, and she is taking it for granted, just like so many celebrities."
.... There's much more - click to get your read on.
Wicked Ramblings and Bold-faced Lies: Crack is Whack

Payphone Project: Telephone Booths & Payphones from around the world

Payphone Project: Telephone Booths & Payphones from around the world

How fascinating!
I found this piece here: http://www.pruned.blogspot.com - on the way to something else of course. Pruned is a lovely blog with lots of cultural, design and esoteric features... Actually they are into landscape architecture and related topics - which is one of my passions so I know them for a while, but this find is certainly different - see it = quite enjoyable, you will not want to leave there... and its OK - but do come back to Ex-LCD soon.

Ta.

Sonic Intervention: Sarah McLachlan - World on fire = Very moving - see this now!

Sarah McLachlan: WORLD ON FIRE
It seems we are becoming increasingly concerned and distressed about conditions around the world.

* We should be... Something not so good is going around.*

When so much here buys so little relative to the rest of the world, I am humbled and often ashamed at our embarrassment of riches. Now don’t get me wrong - I do understand how things work, but what baffles me is that we often fail to remember how giving works, and to do charitable acts in response to our great fortune. We sometimes forget there's a big world out there... to be human and to be kind.

This feature: A short music video from Sarah Mclachlan - she is to be commended. It also has info on how much *sound* donations (don't let Katrina-gate etc. kill your kindness) can do - Remember, every effort helps no matter how large or small, how famous or anonymous = it all make an impact.

So, do something - make your own impact.
See Sarah McLachlan's video here --> WORLD ON FIRE ...and please be sure to click the link showing how small dollars can do huge helps for others.

From theonion.com - Preventing Illegal Immigration

Preventing Illegal Immigration... This is rich!
Yes = sarcasm. Look closely.

Thanks to theOnion.com for this.
For more ROFLOL go there: Chart: Congressional Proposal Strategy for Preventing Illegal Immigration

Couldn't resist...

BBC NEWS Technology: Amnesty International to target net repression.

Internet users are being urged to stand up for online freedoms by backing a new campaign launched by human rights group Amnesty International.
* Get more in this topic here -> BBC NEWS Technology - Amnesty International to target net repression.

The campaign will highlight abuses of rights the net is used for, and push for the release of those jailed for speaking out online. It will also name hi-tech firms aiding governments that limit online protests.
................................................................
*My comment: Hmmm- Hi-Tech corps aiding gov't censorship?
Criminy! I shudder to think of the motivations behind all this...
Learn for yourself and act.

ABC News: Soldiers Turn SNL Rap Skit Into 'Lazy Ramadi'

See this video now!
CLICK HERE --> ABC News: Soldiers Turn SNL Rap Skit Into 'Lazy Ramadi'

Flip the Script
Two U.S. soldiers make a Rap music video about their time in Iraq.
Inspired by a SNL (Saturday Night Live) skit, SSG Matt Wright created this video with US National Guard-mates all the way in Iraq.
It's gone viral of course.

Here's a clue for America about how they are feeling. Thought provoking, and also quite entertaining... seems a waste of some spontaneous talent.

*** 2 thumbs up here for the "Vid” and wishing all our troops well.

Gas Prices by ZIP CODE - Loaded Issue Alert!

Well we may feel helpless... but only because we are too (American) idle to get up, go out and protest!
Which, if I recall - is the (latest) reason we also spend billions of dollars in Iraq - so THEY can get up, go out and protest - one of the key privileges of democracy. Even if the war really was a run at the oil over there - that strategy apparently did not work out either - yikes!

Now it seems we just outsource democracy... as wars in other countries. The French riot in the streets when job benefits change, yet here we enjoy struggling things and just... ahh, complaining - sounds pathetic and kind of puny coming from a "super power" like America. We may have lost our Mojo but be reminded it is our hard earned money that’s being spent abroad with little left over to cure or soothe America's issues. Sadder still, we spread democracy so selectively - there are other nations that have far worse conditions such as Africa - the need there is endless as we well know, or should know - what have you done for Africa lately?

I guess it is what it is. I am saddened because it seems we have lost our power and sense of outrage as human beings and Americans - now days we just sit down. It feels we can't or won't stand up for issues that are in our faces every day and affect our futures and those of our children and families, and the earth as a whole. (I'm folding my soapbox up now).

So Happy Trails...
{Roy Rodgers said that - but he rode a horse.}
For your next road trip or commute ($$ out of your paycheck), here's what it looks like for car travel in the land of opportunity: Clicking for gas... how unfortunate for US.

CLICK HERE ---> Gas Prices - MSN Autos

Tax resisters : When the Tax Man cometh, they don't answer the bell | csmonitor.com

! Tax resisters - hmmm a sticky wickett - but a great idea ... in theory. Read more here:
When the Tax Man cometh, they don't answer the bell | csmonitor.com
Compelling quote: "three years into the Iraq war,and the tax-resister clearinghouse has more than doubled its online readership, from 200 hits a day to about 500."

Can You Hear Me Now? (dammit!) - Naomi Campbell : An Analysis

Supermodel Infected w/ Chat Rage??  Serial Handset Attacks Continue

OMG!
When successful adults behave as badly as Naomi Campbell they deserve to be called out. So I am amused to provide commentary as a Public Service Offering -PSO.

My advice:
She needs to either stay off the drugs - or stay off the phone!
Phones seem to be her weapon of choice = how interesting. Can't she reach for something else when the rage hits?   Other stars have this proclivity as well - perhaps this is a sign of a new social disorder... Chat Rage?

At left it appears she is suffering from a mild form of cellular sclerosis - too much telephony I suspect.
...what color pill do they give out for that?

Jack's House - NY Times

preview:
These are the men
That fleeced the tribes
That paid the money
That made the bribes
That purchased the Congress that
Jack built.

(Well... what more can we say? read the whole piece - click below)
Jack's House - New York Times
By HART SEELY, editor of "Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld."
[how totally a propos].

Scandal Gear - These can be yours

     click-Scandal Gear
     by DesignPolice:MOS

Security - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Security Design: ASLA seeks images of poor security solutions at public buildings to aid in bringing national attention to the persistent problems of security design.
Get the submit details here.

pictured: No Security - Too often security solutions that were meant to be temporary, become permanent fixtures on the landscape. Photo from Washington,DC's monument corridor shows how poor security design can mar our national memorials, and impede pedestrian access... Not to mention some security measures seem to create more problems than they relieve.
n.b.: ASLA = American Society of Landscape Architects.

Ashes and Snow

A beautifully designed exhibition with a smart, ecumenical travel concept. Includes these eye popping digital and bound presentations.
You must see it, so just click and explore.
click here -> ashes and snow

about: Canadian photographer, Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves together photographic works, three 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. Colbert collaborated with architect Shigeru Ban to create the *Nomadic Museum*, the permanent home of the exhibition as it travels around the world.

From - essays & effluvia: Death and Taxes

Oh my!
Chart: Death and Taxes - see and download this mind boggling visual aid... frightening when not helpful.

The Democrats are saying - IT'S ON! - So America get busy!

Democratic Map - DSCC: 2006 Races - they sent out this interactive map of national Senate districts and info = useful.
The Republicans evidently feel they have things all under control... they did not mail me.
DSCC : 2006 Races

Sad but True: Bush video - Fuzzy Math = Scary

Fuzzy Math... Starring our President with cameo by Colin Powell. Produced by thebots www.thebots.net

See it here -
click here to play video: Fuzzy Math

- Free from Scandal - Postage Stamp

Declare some innocence.
Or inspire someone else.
Buy this stamp.
It's bit more $ than regular postage but it goes to a great cause... truth.
Yes, this is REAL postage.
Just stick 'em to your letters!

Fun with Amazon - Amazing Search

1. go here: Amazing Amazon

2. Type in a search word, anything will do to start.
3. Observe -- and don't be too quick to close the window!
4. Now click on something within the browser window.
5. Repeat.

** If you would like to share your searches send email and i will post them, or post it yourself below. **

Shared by newly dubbed: "Crazy Eyes" (thanks!).

Bad Portsmanship! or… Who’s Minding the Shore?

I was in an Olympic state of mind till this bubbled up.
--> How is it that major deals - selling off whole swatches of the US shoreline - can go through without the knowledge of the US President or his staff? They seem oddly surprised (when not beset), by a lot of things these days.
It appears the deal was structured by one foreign government (England - in this case an ally) on behalf of another foreign concern - the UAE – a body related to those proven to be less than friendly.

All baffling to say the least. This deal was announced with only 2 weeks to go before it is to be signed, sealed and done. It involves 6 major shipping ports along US shores and Bush & friends are trying to bum rush it through the approval process. See article link below for the gory details.

I just need to ask a few basic, and pardon me, possibly dumb questions:
- Who will secure us if we can’t make a commitment to secure ourselves?
- How does all of this evolve without a hint or clue, or at least a heads-up call to Washington?
- If the UAE applied for an oversight position at your company - would you hire them to run the show?

- What do we get? It appears the American public is getting reassuring words from some of the same people who turned New Orleans and the war on terror into models of expensive disorder for reasons too complex to explain here... or anywhere else for that matter.
- Does this sound ludicrous to you?

Ultimately, we must ALL ask: Did we hire the president or his wards to provide such grossly inadequate performance?

** Here’s one answer: They should be fired… or we could just give them a Heidi Klum send off … you’re out!

Stuck in the Mud! - F.E.M.A. leaves a hot mess in Arkansas

Attention readers: Check this...

Arkansas Congressman Mike Ross says thousands of mobile homes ordered for Hurricane Katrina now sit empty in Arkansas. Ross says the empty homes represent a waste of taxpayer money. The Congressman added the homes will become worse as the trailers become mired in mud.
Ross sent a letter to acting Federal Emergency Management Agency director David Paulison. The letter said it's unacceptable for people to still be sleeping in tents and living in hotel rooms nearly four months after the tragedy, when more than 10,000 new and empty manufactured homes are waiting.

Thousands of empty mobile homes that FEMA ordered to house refugees in the wake of the August 29th Gulf Coast storm now sit empty at sites near Texarkana and Hope.
.... ("Hope" - How Ironic is that? - this is Mint's comment)...

Ross, whose district includes Hope, wrote that staging areas are overflowing with trailers. According to Ross, these pastures and fields were not effectively prepared by FEMA, and when winter rains hit the 'gumbo', soil will cause the trailers carrying the manufactured homes to sink.
credits: EXCERPT Copyright 2005. The Associated Press. Aryana Crowson, Assignment Editor. Created: 12/13/2005.

FOR MORE ON THIS TOPIC SEE this link from www.newshounds.us:

Quote clip from newshounds: "these taxpayer-owned facilities - $300,000,000 worth - sit unused, and we demand nightly running of the aerial video, until those 11.000 trailers are occupied by traumatized, disillusioned, hurting southern American families...
Excerpt Credit: Reported by chrish at February 16, 2006 - gmail to newshounds@gmail.com

www.newshounds.us/2006/02/16/
- that is all - TTFN.