I guess I hate Hillary Clinton for all the obvious reasons, including which, she's a woman.  And -- as if that's not bad enough -- she's a woman who's committing the unforgivable sin of showing her age.  Now, if you don't believe me that aging women are monsters, look at what happens to even the most beautiful and successful actresses as they grow older.  Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Jessica Lange, Glenn Close... even Meryl Streep, when they get older they all play monsters.  Why?  Because old women are monsters, duh!  They are dried up bitter old sticks, and just looking at them reminds us that we will all get old and useless and ugly and die someday, thanks a lot, you bitches!  Old men aren't so bad, since for some reason men don't lose their humanity as fast as women... probably because they have so much more to begin with. Besides, look at every term that's used to describe older women: hags, crones, witches, etc.  So this is just one reason why I hate Hillary Clinton.

Also available in orange

It was such an incredible relief to find out that this initiative crashed and burned, and this news should help make sure that it doesn't rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

From today's Los Angeles Times:

BREAKING NEWS: Giuliani fundraiser was mystery initiative backer

A close friend and major fundraiser of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has identified himself as the mystery financer of the proposed California initiative to apportion the state's 55 electoral votes by congressional district instead of winner-take-all.

He is New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer. He said he provided the $175,000 to initially finance the petition drive to get the measure on the June 2008 ballot. But as The Times' Dan Morain revealed in an exclusive story on this website last night, the drive has foundered on internal disputes and lack of further financing.

This is a diary that I wrote about two weeks ago and never posted since I thought no one would be interested.  I mean, it's not really breaking news that the Bush administration has blatantly violated at least 10 out of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is it?

But tonight when I was watching Keith Olbermann and he played the clip of Bush touting the "Universal Declaration"  -- as he called it in his pathetic ignorance... I felt my face get red and my hands start shaking and I literally felt sick to my stomach to hear this depraved hypocrite pretending to uphold something he has done everything in his power to destroy.

Follow me across the divide..

I'm so sick of the primary soap opera that I'm just about to bust a gut.  It's not bad enough that THIS administration has preempted the last vestiges of what used to pass as news in this country with coverage of their obscene and ethically bankrupt war in Iraq.  Not that we don't need to know what's going on there, obviously we do now that it's a fait accompli.  But I have to wonder if part of their strategy isn't subjecting the American Public to a relentless stream of White (House) Noise that plays out as a complete information blackout.

As of now, the other half of whatever "news" was left over is being preempted by the most ridiculous run-up to the Primary Elections that I have ever witnessed in all my born days.

More after the jump.

I can see that there is no way to have a strategy discussion on the issue of marriage rights for all couples, no way to focus on the larger issues as I see them.  I'm sure it's my failure as a writer, and I apologize for that.

And it's starting to really upset me to have to repeat over and over that I am not against same-sex marriage.  It is starting to really upset me that, after all of the years I have posted on this forum, my fundamental advocacy of human rights should even be called into question.  But I guess that's why they call it a "wedge issue."  It was foolish of me to think I could shed any light on the situation.

So that's why I deleted my diary.

I am grateful to my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for forcing me to cope with my addiction to computers.  LOL!

But, seriously...

Over the past few years, I have actually convinced myself that writing messages to and receiving responses from strangers using pseudonyms was a substitute for friendship and community. What has happened on this website in the past week has proven the fragility of such an assumption.  I was AWOL for several days and when I came back it took me awhile to piece together what happened and even now I have a very fragmented picture.

In December 2006, my primary physician Dr. Qozi-Habash and I discussed the need for me to see an orthopedic hand specialist for my severe carpal tunnel syndrome and so I found Dr. Auerbach who is recommended on the Sorehand website (http://www.geocities.com/la_rsi/treatmnt.html) and also happened to be only two miles from my workplace.  I called Dr. Auerbach's office and they could not make an appointment without an authorization from Workers Comp, so I call the Workers Comp caseworker Naun Roy and he said I needed to get the authorization from Dr. Qozi-Habash to authorize Workers Comp to authorize the consultation with Dr. Auerbach.  So I contacted Dr. Qozi-Habash and she said to make an appointment with her on Jan. 2, which I did.  

I have severe CTS and been trying to make an appointment with a Dr. Auerbach who is listed on the RSI-LA website and is in my area.

http://www.geocities.com/la_rsi/treatmnt.html

I called his office several days ago and tried to make an appointment but was told that since I was on Workers Comp they need an authorization first.

(more)

Link to Raw Story article on Sean Penn and The World Can't Wait.

I didn't see a diary about this and want to make sure that everyone knows about this planned nationwide demonstration to confront the bush-fascists.

Promoted by Steven D, with minor edits.

In addition, here's the link to the webpage for The World Can't Wait where you can find additional links to locations where protest events are being held today. Hopefully one of them is in your town.

Cross posted at Daily Kos.

I'm not writing this diary to stir up controversy or make trouble, I'm writing because I sincerely believe that language has power. Language is the physical manifestation of our thoughts and feelings, and conveys these thoughts and feelings to others.  The structure of language -- and language itself -- has the power to shape the way we think and feel about ourselves, and our world.

For just one example, in the 1960s, before the Civil Rights Movement, it was considered respectful and proper to use the word "Negro."  However, civil rights leaders decided against "Negro" in favor of "Black."  Then, during the 1980s, there was a movement away from "Black" in favor of "African-American."  

It's crucial for any group that has historically been oppressed or disenfranchised to claim ownership over the way people talk about them.  Not only does this help neutralize derogatory language, it enlists the entire community in bringing about much needed social change.  By cooperating, we enter into an agreement to transform cultural attitudes that have been contributing factors to social injustice.

Yesterday I sent my sister, who lives and works in England, the following email:

What you think of these statistics?

Her response after the flip.

You have to see it to believe it.  This Christian Science Monitor article attacks the "frame"of the grieving mother by exploiting language to differentiate between grieving families opposed to the war and anti-war activists who oppose the war to serve their own political agendas.

EXCUSE ME?