Ok, I am sortof going off on a tangent with this one, but this is really bugging me.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was trying to get information on the Russian/Georgian thing on CNN, I had to sit through the endless babble about the presidential candidates and their christian faith. The impression I got was a credibility issue, apparently the more jesus they have in thier hearts, the better able they are to lead this nation. 

In a day and age when the credibility of America as a nation is in question and the whole world has come to see us as a materialisic, warmongering country, my vote is going to go toward the candidate that can pull us out our economic rut, heal our foreign relations, not put America in a dangerous position, and most important, treat all things related to environmentalism and global warming as a very serious issue.

How does an individuals religious beliefs come to play in this? They don't. And as I watched the duckspeak on tv I wondered what would matter to me as a pagan in this election, in the same contex as how christians relate thier faith to the candidates. 
For one, religion is very personal to each individual and should not be presented in the public realm.  I worry that the majority of the voters in this country are voting soley on how good of a christian Obama and McCain are.  Which also says to me that we are still hung up on the abortion/gay marriage thing.  What petty standards to hold our future commander-in-chief by.  We did that eight years ago, and look where it got us. 

For the other, and this is coming from personal experiences, most of the really bad stuff I see people do and have experienced myself have come from hardcore, fanatical christians.  The kind of people that think and act as if their path is the only correct one and everyone else must follow that path without question.  And they also use that faith to exploit and harm people for their own gain.  Ole' King George had made public many times he felt justified by his faith to continue with the war overseas and to fuel his "crusade" against terrorism.

I am tired of living in fear of someone elses beliefs. I am also tired to politicians basing their morality on a belief system that is highly immoral.  One does not need religion to moral.  And one does not need to be a christian to be a good leader.  To be the leader we need that person in question needs to remember what it means to be an average everyday citizen.  To solve the problems that we everyday citizens bitch about around the water cooler.  To remeber and act in a way that says the people are more important than anything else in politics.  Not only to the people in this country but to EVERY HUMAN BEING on the face of our wonderful home. 

I do have to say that not every christian is bad or evil and are very kind and do not use their faith as some kind of weapon.  And if there happens to be a christian reading this right now, then I have to say thank you for not being closed minded and accepting other beliefs and the people that follow them.  Paganism means so much to me, the highest is openmindedness and acceptance of others.  If I am correct, Jesus taught love, of others and your higher power.  He's cool with me, the vast majoraty of America' hate and ignorance is not. 

And thank you, reader, for sitting through this rant.  I welcome any comments and arguments. 

Since I am such a music junkie, and starting with last weeks Rush tune, Every week I will post lyrics from bands in my vast collection that are postive, insightful, and slightly pagan oriented.  Todays may or may not go along with my rant, but "Trick of the Tail" is one that expresses the outsider in a world of fear. 

Trick of the Tail

Bored of the life on the city of gold
Hed left and let nobody know.
Gone were the towers he had known from a child,
Alone with the dream of a life
He travelled the wide open road,
The blinkered arcade,
In search of another to share in his life.
Nowhere.
Everyone looked so strange to him.

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And wept as they led him away to a cage
Beast that can talk, read the sign.
The creatures they pushed and they prodded his frame
And questioned his story again.
But soon they grew bored of their prey
Beast that can talk?
More like a freak or publicity stunt.
Oh
No.

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence.
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried

And broke down the door of the cage and marched on out.
He grabbed a creature by the scruff of his neck, pointing out:
There, beyond the bounds of you weak imagination
Lie the noble towers of my city, bright and gold.
Let me take you there, show you a living story
Let me show you others such as me
Why did I ever leave?

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance, he cried
And wept.

And so we set out with the best and his horns
And his crazy description of home.
After many days journey we came to a peak
Where the beast gazed abroad and cried out.
We followed his gaze and we thought that maybe we saw
A spire of gold - no, a trick of the eye thats all,
But the beast was gone and a voice was heard:

Theyve got no horns and theyve got no tail
They dont even know of our existence
Am I wrong to believe in a city of gold
That lies in the deep distance

Hello friend, welcome home.

Performed by Genesis, written by Tony Banks

Dear Diary,

Wow, there's a lot going on!  Kevyn was talking about looking forward to getting back in the rut.  I completely agree. 

I'm starting to feel that way.  Donny Love has called me a dork a couple times today and I'm reveling in seeing him on a regular basis again.  I miss calling him a dork and him calling me a dork -- a very healthy friendship :)

He said this looking over my shoulder while I was uploading pictures of the Thompson pickling day.  It had been 7 years, but the crew finally got together on Labor Day and pickled our little hearts out -- 48.5 quarts.  Which pails in comparison to the 70 plus we made last time. 

Here's the deal: almost every weekend, I go to the Minneapolis farmer's market and load up on the local fruits and veggies.  I'd walk by the barrels of baby cu****bers and remember how much fun it was to pickle, so I called up the fam (Grandma Amaryllys, my Northfield cousin and my siblings) and we did it.  We also tried pickling some other veggies: okra, green beans, garbanzo beans, carrots, celery, bok choy...we'll see in November. 

We can pop open the first jar on my birthday.  Which is really the best gift for me.  Dill pickles are my favorite.  I like them so much, I eat them for dessert.  And I think ours are the best :)

Wonder if I could enter them in the State Fair completion next year?  Hmm....anyone, besides baker Margorie Johnson, done that in the last few years?  Is it easy to enter?  My grandma won a few awards for her baking back in the day.

gabster.fm1071.com/fm107_alexis

 Okay, Donny's right.  I'm a dork. 

Whatever, love,

Princess

Watch the Slacker Uprising trailer

No one can make a documentary with as much political savvy, humor, and creativity as Michael Moore. And no one is as willing to tackle our elected officials with the same tenacity.

After unleashing Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and SiCKO in recent years, Moore has set his sights on the Bush administration and our nation's voter turnout in his latest film, Slacker Uprising, which chronicles his 62-city swing state tour of college campuses just prior to the 2004 election.

Here's the best part: To maximize the reach of his message and as a thank you gift to his fans, Moore is adopting a novel approach to distributing this film. He's teaming up with Brave New Films to distribute the movie online, completely free of charge.

Sign up now on http://slackeruprising.com and you will be notified when the film is available for free download on September 23.

You can also buy the DVD for $9.95, which will start shipping on September 23 and features extras like: Special Guest Joan Baez - America the Beautiful, Why People Like George Bush?, My Pet Goat, The O'Reilly Factor for Kids, Just Add Water and Heat - More Ramen and Clean Underwear, and more. Or should I say, Moore!

We share Moore's hope that this film will get people to vote in this election, just as Moore's 2004 tour sparked greater turnout. So go to http://slackeruprising.com now, spread the trailer around to your friends, and get inspired.

Yours, Robert Greenwald and the Brave New team

P.S. And for even more Moore, check out his recent back-to-back appearances on Meet the Bloggers. Then, tune into the show tomorrow at 1pm ET/10am PT. Our guest host, punk rock icon Henry Rollins, will be joined by bloggers Jonathan Kim (FOX Attacks!), Liliana Segura (AlterNet.org) and Paul Waldman (Media Matters). They'll discuss how the corporate media has favored the McCain campaign throughout this election, a bias that has only become more pronounced during the Republican National Convention.

Check out some of the material below and learn about the extent of the media's bias. Then, go to Meet the Bloggers at 1pm ET/10am PT to join the conversation.

• Free Ride: John McCain and the Media - David Brock and Paul Waldman
• Is the McCain-Media Love Affair Souring? - Paul Waldman
• McCain's New Media Strategy: Blame the Media - Huffington Post
• In Study, Evidence of Liberal-Bias Bias - LA Times
• Infuriated About Tough CNN Interview, McCain Cancels Larry King Appearance - Think Progress
• Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy's Off-Air Attack of Palin for VP Pick. Who's Telling the Truth? - Crooks and Liars
• Digital Media: A Giveaway to Corporate Media - Black Agenda Report
• Scarborough, Buchanan Completely Reverse Positions on Palin in Just Five Days - Think Progress

---
Brave New Films is supported by members like you, please consider making a donation. You can get our latest videos on email, iTunes, RSS, Facebook, and YouTube here. To stop receiving the latest videos from us, click here. We are located at 10510 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.

Hola a todos, comentarles que en Barcelona estuvieron padrisimo, y que me da pena la separacion, desearles mucha suerte y que los proyectos de todos les lleven adelante, y les salgan muchos proyectos.

Cuando quieran pueden dejar comentarios, en las fotos, video o deonde quieran.

hell yeah im going to fun some fun

 Satire is a somewhat perverse mode of literature in which the writer may seek to affront readers while inviting their participation . Swift confronts this issue in a famous dictum. "Satyr is a sort of  Glass, wherein Beholders do generally discover every body's Face but their Own..."

 However, the notion that readers will enjoy the lampooning in the belief that they are exempt from scorn must be set against the possibility that many will fear that they will be next, or feel the discomfort of guilt, and set the book aside.

 Looked at this way, satirical writing is tantamount to authorial suicide. Nonetheless, the fun to be had in doing the stuff almost outweighs the risks ‘How Far Can You Go' was the title of a novel by David Lodge and is the challenge that at least one or two scribblers cannot resist.

A big heeeey ya'll to all my friends out there in FAN NATION.  I'm going to the Supershow tonight in Rochester NY!!!  Can I just say that I am so unbelieveably excited!!!!  This will be my first live show  as well as my sons.  I will be taking lots of pictures and will figure out a way to post them for ya'll to see!!

CHAT @ YA'LL LATA!!

HE JUST CAN'T GET RIGHT...AKON WAS CROWD SURFING AT A RECENT SHOW AND HE GETS A LITTLE ROWDY....HE ACTUALLY PUSHES SOME CHICK OF THE STAGE....IN HIS DEFENSE SHE COULD HAVE BEEN A CRAZY EX (we all have one of those) BUT ON THE REAL THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TOP FLIGHT SECURITY, HE SHOULD GET SOME AND MAYBE HE COULD STAY OUT OF TROUBLE AND THE COURT HOUSE....CHECK THE VIDEO....

  FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER 5TH
TIM SIGLER BAND @ BLUE FOX IN ARDEN HILLS
(9:30PM-1:30AM--21+)

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

For complete schedule information please visit www.timsigler.com

Thanks for supporting local music--Have a great weekend!

Tim Sigler
www.timsigler.com

 This comment is too good for the saddo who zapped my blogs.

Alaska is a vast region with a coast line of 6,600 miles. It is home to a quarter of America's fuel reserves. The good old Japanese occupied three areas during WWII. Pitbulls in Alaska wear lipstick.

For all these reasons, Chip loves Alaska, for its resources, its war heroes and its hockey moms. And why not?

The sanctimonious, hypocritical Democrats, however do not. They invented the home-baked pie-in-the-sky diet served for too long by the Clintons.

(Mess about with that!)

The late actor, who died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January, won 95 percent of the votes in a poll conducted by Moviefone.com

Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight has been named the summer's best movie villain.

The late actor, who died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January, won 95 percent of the votes in a poll conducted by Moviefone.com - easily beating off competition from Cate Blanchett's villainous Indiana Jones soviet agent foe.

The Aussie actress' Irina Spalko came in second with two percent of the vote. Iron Man's nemesis Jeff Bridges tied with The Incredible Hulk actor Tim Roth and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor star Jet Li for third place, with one percent each.

Hi party people of kiisfm! Mark and I are heading to a 50's theme party 2 weeks from today. I just wanted to know if anyone had any ideas of some places near long beach where we can get costumes? Drop by and let us know. Thanksies!