Gone fishin'- for a while!

Things might be a little sporadic for a while, as I am on vacation. Well, if you can call it one. I got another show, with lots of lines, so I am having to spend time on that, as well. So, factor in trying to have a little fun, trying to borrow my sisters dsl line, trying to memorize a bunch of monologues, and my free time suddenly becomes somewhat limited.

Sis and I will be making a fun side trip for 9 days, in a few days, and if I can get Internet connection there I will post some photos. They should be beautiful. I have another week here and then a week when I get home to get ready for my out-of-town gig.

This time I'm driving! Not having a car wasn't that problematic, on the last project, but I was just blocks from the theatre and we were too busy to miss not having transportation. This time I would miss it, so, I'll pack up the car and off I go. I worked at this theatre last year, and am looking very forward to getting back, in spite of the horrendously short rehearsal period. This is why it is so important that I have all my lines down pat before I get there.

So..... see you when I can. Though I might surprise us all and post more often than I anticipate.

Blessings to you all!!

Joke of the Day: Poltics as usual- part deux

Thought this was good for a laugh, and oh so true!

Florida State Prisons curtail special meals for Jews and Muslims

The Florida Department of Corrections has decided it's too costly to serve special meals that accommodate both Jews and Muslims, so they will now {sniff} have to settle for Vegan or Vegetarian meals. Considering the small percentage of Jewish (est. 2.2%) and Muslim (est. 3.7%) inmate population, the State believes that money would be better served for educational and vocational programming. ...

... it costs about $2.66 (euro1.96) daily to serve inmates three regular meals. Kosher meals cost the same, but with costs for disposable containers and transportation, since the food was not prepared in each facility, the price came to about $4.71 (euro3.47) daily. Prepackaged kosher meals would have cost roughly $12 (euro8.84) to $15 (euro11.05) daily per prisoner, according to the department, but also may have come with additional costs for transport and supplementation with additional food items.

Kosher meals were served to both Muslims and Jews alike, because the Florida prison system does not serve Halal food and Kosher foods are prepared in a similar manner:

both exclude pork and mandate a specific way in which an animal is to be killed. Kosher laws also dictate the way food is cooked.

Florida State mandates 3 meals be served to inmates, 2 of which must be hot. It also stipulates that "inmates who wish to observe religious dietary laws receive a diet sufficient to sustain them in good health without violating those dietary laws.''

Rabbi Jack Romberg of Temple Israel in Tallahassee, who was a member of a group that reviewed religious dietary accommodations in prisons, noted that unless the vegan food is prepared separately from other meals, it would not satisfy kosher law.

Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa said vegan food would meet the religious requirements of those who follow a halal diet, but would cause undue hardship. ``Either you have a choice of violating your own religion beliefs or you're coerced to only eat vegan,'' Bedier said. ``That's probably not a reasonable accommodation.''

Call me insensitive but, hey, they're lucky they even have those options!! Now, I'm a vegetarian and I understand the need to adhere to certain dietary restrictions: when the airline industry still served food (if you could call it that) rather than those pitiful snacks, I'd always request a veggie meal or a fruit plate and they were very happy to comply. Some airlines actually had various kinds of veggie meals. But these men and women are in prison, not on some jaunt from Miami to L.A.! When you commit a crime you relinquish your rights to special dietary concessions.

No surprise, Florida State has already been sued (still unresolved) by the Florida Justice Institute on behalf of Muslims denied their right to Halal meals, and you can bet this next decision is going to cause an uproar.

Stop the Islamisation of Europe demonstration in Brussels on 9/11 banned!!

Some interesting things are happening with our brothers and sisters over in Europe. Looks like they are finally saying enough is enough, but their efforts are being thwarted at every turn, not surprisingly.

An organization- 'Stop the Islamisation of Europe' (SIOE)- has organized a peaceful, anti-Islamisation demonstration to be held in Brussels on 9/11. However, it turns out Brussels socialist mayor Freddy Thielemans felt the Muslims might be offended by this demonstration, so he decided to ban it.

The demonstration was intended to commemorate the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks against the USA with a minute’s silence, on the 6th anniversary of those attacks. It was also intended to show that it was Islamist terrorists who carried out that mass murder and nobody else. SIOE considers that conspiracy theories blaming American and Israeli authorities for the atrocities actually dishonour the victims and their families.

The demonstration was also to protest against the growing Islamisation of Europe whereby Islamic practices and sensitivities are increasingly placed above those of non-Muslims. In a meeting on 7th August with the Brussels police SIOE organisers, Anders Gravers, Stephen Gash and Udo Ulfkotte were informed that policing the demonstration would be no more difficult than for any other similar event. However, on 9th August Mayor Thielemans (now known as Caliphate Freddy the Grand Mufti of Brussels) declared he banned the demonstration because he could not guarantee public safety. The mayor’s spokesman Nicolas Dassonville said: “The danger to public order is too high, to allow the Brussels protest to go ahead. The sizeable foreign community living in the area could react to the action.”

Though Thielemans has officially banned the SIOE protest he has, however, okayed a demonstration (for Sunday, September 9th) by an anti-American group of wacko Truthers (“United for truth” ) who claim Israel and the U.S., not the Islamists, were responsible for the 9/11 tragedy. Yes, they are everywhere and spreading like a fungus. [sigh]


What has always been intended as a peaceful demonstration has now been classified, by Thielemans, as criminal. Not that he used those exact words, but by stating the following he is, in essence, saying as much:

Such incitement to discrimination and hatred, which we usually call racism and xenophobia, is forbidden by a considerable number of international treaties and is punished by our penal laws and by the European legislation. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly pronounced judgements condemning this type of acts.

Now the latest news from Brusselistan is that the Arab Europe League (AEL) has announced a counter-demonstration, set for September 11, against

“Islamophobia and racism in Europe”. The AEL is known for some violent protests in Antwerp some years ago.It was founded by Diab Abu Jahjah. During the war last year, he went back to his homeland Lebanon to join Hezbollah in it’s fight against Israel. Diab didn’t return. He decided to stay in Lebanon to start apolitical party there. Since then we didn’t here from the AEL anymore,until now.

According to SIOE, Thielemans is waiting for specifics from the Police before he decides whether he will ban the AEL demonstration or not. I think we all know what the outcome will be.

So much for equality and freedom of speech!!

Although there's not much we can do, there is a petition that you can sign, here, asking Thielemans to allow the SIOE protest.

Our European friends are planning on demonstrating anyway, brave souls. I join them in spirit!!

In solidarity,

Incognito

H/T Cassandra over at The Lighthouse .

Email Virus Alert: Storm Trojan invading your email inbox via invitation to join various groups

Here we go again!!! Our inboxes (or bulk folders, thankfully for me) are being invaded by spam emails containing the Storm Trojan, which seems to have re-incarnated from the greeting card format into an invite to join various membership clubs. They ask you to log in and change a temporary password, and that's when the fun begins, for them! Whatever you do, DO NOT click on the URL, and immediately delete the messages!

Also be very, very careful if you surf other blogs, because during a google search, I discovered that there are certain blogs that are exclusively posting the info from those particular infected emails, with the URL link intact!! Not sure what is going on there, and whether the blogs have somehow been hijacked by the spammers, but I have tried to contact Blogger.com about that, as challenging as that is.

SAMPLES from my mailbox

Pet World
Aug 21 (3 days ago)

1. Dear Member,
Are you ready to have fun at Pet World. Member Number: 74545713955627Temp Login ID: user7950Password ID: ql918
This Login Info will expire in 24 hours. Please Change it.
This link will allow you to securely change your login info: {URL removed}
Thank You,
Confirmation Dept.

2. Welcome Member,
We are so happy you joined WebTunes.
Membership Number: 2252917475
Temorary Login: user5886 Temorary Password: uj818
Please keep your account secure by logging in and changing your login info.
Click on the secure link or paste it to your browser: {URL removed}
Welcome,
Membership Services
WebTunes

Others came from the following sources:

Office Antics
MP3World
Wine Lovers
Funworld
Downloader Heaven

How to protect yourself:

Make sure you have good Antivirus Protection. Never click on attachments or links in emails from people you do not know. And even if you do know the sender, confirm that it actually came from them. If you use Outlook Express for accessing your email, disable the preview pane: Some viruses can actually infect your computer without even opening the email.

To disable Preview Pane in Outlook Express:

Click on "View" then "Layout" and uncheck Preview Pane.

Sigh!

Chavez loves Chavez- sends Peruvian quake victims cans of tuna with his photo on label

Narcissist Hugo Chavez is at it again!! Still attempting to curry favour with the peoples of other South American countries, he promised to send 120 tons of aid to the quake victims of Peru. And what did he send? ... a load of canned tuna fish, with photos of his beloved self and the Peruvian opposition leader Ollanta Humala on the labels!!

How sick is that? Politicizing a natural disaster by sending food with photos of 2 comrades-in-arms pasted all over the cans. He obviously wanted to make sure the people knew from whence it came, in order to bolster the vision of himself as some kind of saviour for the common man. Sending just plain old cans of tuna wasn't enough. As Kate at Colombo-Americana's Perspective states, it could be a clever photo-shopped pic, though I doubt it.

The Venezuelan Ambassador to Lima emphatically denies the food arrived pre-labeled with Chavez's mug on the tin, but the fact that the Peruvian President, Alan Garcia, actually commented that he doesn't believe Chavez was trying to use the situation as a means of propaganda, confirms (in my mind) that the Chavez label Tuna exists, and originated in Venezuela. It's absolutely in line with Chavez's personality disorder (like North Korea's Kim Jong Il) to want to see his face plastered everywhere.

Kate also mentioned that she's waiting to see when Chavez starts blaming the U.S. for the labels. Me too. Everything is blamed on the U.S., so why not this?!




H/T A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective via This Aint Hell, but you can see it from Here

French pedophile, given viagra in prison, rapes 5 year old boy upon release!

Francis Evrard, a 61-year-old (repeat-offender) pedophile raped a 5-year-old boy he kidnapped from Roubaix, a small northern town in France less than 2 months after he was released from prison. Evrard, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison, was released after serving only 18 of those years.

Police said the pair were discovered later in the day partly clothed in a garage used by Evrard after the use of a new nationwide search system. [fashioned after the U.S's "Amber Alert"]

Described as an

“incorrigible hunter of young boys” by a prosecutor at his trial in 1989. He also has three other convictions for sexual crimes in 1975, 1985 and 2004. The latter offence was committed in Caen prison, where he was discovered with child pornography on his personal computer in his cell. A psychiatrist who examined him for the court hearing in 2004 said that he had a “homosexual paedophile perversion causing a danger of a crime”. The psychiatrist added that Evrard was “barely readaptable”.

and yet, he was released!

The kicker: Evrard was found with Viagra in his pocket and, according to his lawyer, the drug was prescribed by none other than a prison doctor who claims he had no idea what Evrard was in for; in spite of the fact that three quarters of the inmates, in that particular prison, are child sex offenders.

I'd like to think that people can change, with treatment, but the recidivism rate for pedophiles is extremely high, and that's just those who happen to be caught in the act. Who knows how many are re-offending without being caught. Those sexual urges are extremely difficult to control and offenders usually wind up giving in to those compulsions. There's a very disturbing but powerful film "The Woodsman", starring Kevin Bacon, that deals with those issues. A convicted child molester, Walter (Kevin Bacon), is released after a 12 year sentence, and tries desperately to lead a normal life, but is ultimately unable to ward off the demons that push him to commit such despicable acts.

The French are outraged about the case, but the same thing happens in this country: repeat sex offenders are released early, re-offend and sometimes even murder their victims. Jessica Lunsford, case in point. At least Evrard's victim is still alive, although the young boy will probably need therapy for a very long time.

The problem is our laws are too lax and offenders are not required to undergo therapy, although who knows if that would even help.

Many of those committed get no treatment at all for sex offending, mainly by their own choice. In California, three-quarters of civilly committed sex offenders do not attend therapy. Many say their lawyers tell them to avoid it because admission of past misdeeds during therapy could make getting out impossible, or worse, lead to new criminal
charges.

We need to get tougher on violent sexual predators/rapists who are considered dangerous, particularly those who are repeat offenders. Treatment should not be optional! It should be mandatory. Intensive therapy plus drugs or chemical castration, or keep them off the streets, forever. Whatever it takes.

Incognito is in-transit

We have our final brunch tomorrow a.m. and then we all head back to our respective homes. The actors etc. involved came from all over the country: from L.A. to New York and places in between. Everyone was wonderful! It's not often that you have a group of people that mesh so well, so we were very blessed to have that. There will be many people missed, but I think we have forged some bonds that will continue past this experience.

It's been a very busy 2 weeks, exhausting but incredibly fulfilling. I had less free time than I had expected, but it has been a marvelous experience! We performed the readings Friday and today, and they went extremely well. I loved the 2 projects I was involved with, and I think we managed to accomplish what we set out to accomplish.

I don't arrive until late tomorrow night, and starting Monday, I will enjoy catching up on people's blogs.

Meantime, have a blessed Sunday. See you soon!

Hugo Chavez poised to set himself up as "President for Life"!

Here we go! Looks like Chavezito, as anticipated, is already treading down the same path as Fidel Castro, Mugabe, Jean-Claude Duvalier (Haiti's Baby Doc) and other past and present dictators of the world; poised and ready to join the small, but elite, President a Vie Club!

On Wednesday, Chavez set forth his proposal

for sweeping constitutional changes expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely. Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, announced late Tuesday that he would unveil his project before crowds of supporters at the National Assembly.

He predicted it would bring renewed political upheaval to Venezuela. Chavez has revealed few details of his proposal, but has stressed the need to do away with presidential term limits that currently prevent him from seeking re-election in 2012.

Venezuela's Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference has complained that Chavez's reform proposals were drafted without public involvement.

I've been to Cuba and traveled to Haiti (when Baby Doc was still in power) and frankly, though the political systems were different, they were very similar, in as much as both countries were ruled by despots, and had (and still have) insurmountable problems with poverty: for everyone but the ruling class, that is.

At least the Haitians had/have the freedom to come and go as they please, as opposed to the Cubanos who have no choice in the matter. But it just proves that any kind of dictatorship whether Communist or other, is not a good thing. Venezuela is headed for the same fate as all countries that have been or are currently ruled by dictators. History has shown us the results.
And they're not pretty!

Hugo Chavez, Sean Penn, now Jack Ellis (who?) - ultimate idiots

Chavez can now add Macon, GA Mayor Jack Ellis to the ever increasing ranks of his 'leftist idiots' mutual admiration club, along with Sean Penn, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover and wanna-be celeb Cindy Sheehan.

As we all know, Penn went to Venezuela after a 'journalistic' jaunt to Iraq and Iran because he now fancies himself a journalist! At a meeting, with a fawning Chavez in an auditorium packed with supporters, he was asked to say a few words. Penn told the crowd:

"I came here looking for a great country. I found a great country. I'm also here as a journalist and so I owe it to that medium to wait until I've digested, fact-checked and finished my journey here".

As though we really care what Sean-boy thinks about the paranoid, delusional, narcissistic, power-hungry Chavez and the poor country he's bound to dig into the ground.

At that same meeting, Chavez told the crowd that Washington is

"afraid that the people of the United States will learn the real truth" about the situation in Venezuela, citing his social programs for the poor. "If the people of the United States, those millions and millions of poor people ... if that nation realizes what is truly happening here, there would be a revolution in the United States," eliciting applause from Penn.

Uh, I don't think so Hugo. You won't get a revolution here, che, because people cherish freedom too much. It's a far more important commodity than crude oil. I'd rather personally cut back on my driving than sacrifice that freedom, thank you very much. And as far as we can tell, 'aint nothing great happening over there, buddy.

Anyway, this is what Macon's Mayor Jack Ellis seems enamored of: Hugo's penchant for trying to buy people's love, admiration and loyalty, by taking money etc. he should rightfully be spending on his own people, and spending it in other countries. Ellis recently sent, via courier, a letter of solidarity to Hugo Chavez.

Ellis said ... he sent the proclamation not only in his capacity as mayor of Macon but also as the vice president for tourism for the World Conference of Mayors. "We commend President Chavez for the things he's done in this country," said Ellis, citing Chavez's efforts to subsidize the cost of heating fuel for low income residents of the United States. "We want to work for peace and harmony ... through the mayors of Venezuela." Ellis said he sent the pledge to the South American nation by courier two to three weeks ago. Chavez on Sunday apparently read the proclamation during the weekly broadcast of his public television and radio show, "Alo, Presidente."

(Again with the 8 hour show! Don't people get bored of watching this pudgy vision in red?)

Now, I can understand the desire to work towards peace through diplomacy, that's an honorable and worthy goal, when dealing with rational, sane, human beings, but I'm convinced Chavez and his buddies Ahmadinejad, Mugabe, Kim Jong Il etc. are decidedly not.

What I find even more interesting, than being idiotic enough to send praise to a megalomaniac, is the fact that Mayor Jack Ellis will soon become Hakim Mansour Ellis. Yup. He converted from Christianity to Islam (Sunni Muslim) last December. Once again, those interesting ties between many of the far left and Islam.

And more pandering out of the Netherlands: Dutch Bishop sez let's call God "Allah"

From Gates of Vienna:

The Light of the World is Dhimming
by Baron Bodissey

A reader in the Netherlands named H. Numan just sent us an email with this translation from the Dutch.

Believe it or not! The following story appeared this morning in the Algemeen Dagblad:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Muskens: Let’s call God Allah

Hilversum — According to Tiny Muskens, the bishop of Breda, we can just as well call God Allah. “Allah is itself a beautiful word for God. Why shouldn’t we all together say: from now on we all call God Allah?” said Muskens on Monday during an interview in the program “Network”.

The bishop, who will retire soon, looks back on his experiences in Indonesia. “I worked eight years in Indonesia, and prayed together with other priests. In the Eucharist of the Holy Mass God is there named Allah. Why don’t we look at this example and do the same thing? Why can’t we celebrate mass together?”

Muskens continues, “God doesn’t really care how we address him. He is above that. Those are our worries. We are all worried if God would mind it, that it might be blasphemy. Absolutely not. We invented those different names so we can quarrel about it.”

Sounds crazy- - - - - - - - -

He thinks using the word Allah in the Catholic Church will not take place soon. “This sounds absurd, of course. You’ll never get away with it. But come back in another century or two, and look again.”

Muskens, who suffers from bad health, recently requested that Pope Benedict XVI retire him as bishop of Breda. The 71-year-old Muskens will join the Pauline Community of the Congregation of Benedictus in Teteringen. If his resignation is granted, Hans van den Hende will become the new bishop of Breda.

Mr. Numan adds this afterthought:

Why not call God Quetzalcoatl? Or maybe Baal or Moloch? After all, they are supreme deities too. And almost as bloody as Allah.

Incognito's side note:

Looks like the Bishop is suffering from more than bad health!

And sure, come back in a century or two and we'll all be calling God "Allah" not because "it's a beautiful word for God", as Bishop Muskens puts it, but because we failed to stop the Islamization of the world, through pandering to the religious zealots and the idiot appeasers.

Dutch Lawmaker receives death threats for call to ban the Koran

Although, as a firm believer in freedom of religion, I would not condone an outright ban on any religion's sacred writings, it's not surprising that the reaction to a Dutch lawmakers call to ban the Koran would be, what else.... a death threat, and just serves to confirm the reason he wants it banned in the first place.

Geert Wilders of the right-wing Freedom Party told Cybercast News Service that since calling for a ban -- in a letter published Wednesday in the newspaper De Volkskrant -- he had received death threats and criticism, "but fortunately also many positive responses from voters." In his letter, published under the headline "Enough is enough: Ban the Koran," Wilders called the Koran a "fascist" text that has "no place in our constitutional state." He said some verses instruct Muslims "to oppress, persecute or kill Christians, Jews, dissidents and non believers, to beat and rape women and to establish an Islamic state by force."

He went on to say that

"The Koran, like Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, should be banned in the Netherlands".

The Dutch government, of course, has condemned his proposal and 2 lawyers

have filed complaints against Wilders, accusing him of violating Dutch law with his statements.

With approximately 1 million Muslims, out of 16 million people (6% of the pop.), the Netherlands has the 2nd largest Muslim population in western Europe, with France ranking number one. You can understand why some Dutch citizens might be running scared, particularly after what happened to filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and the threats against Ayaan Hirsi Ali. There have been others threatened with death, but most recently an Iranian-born Dutch politician was viciously attacked by 3 Muslims for establishing a support group for ex-Muslims. This was, apparently, the third occurrence. He is now under police protection, all because a bunch of religious wackos believe they have the right to punish those critical of their religion.

The problem is the Netherlands, itself, is enabling the Islamization of its country. You have Dutch Christian-Democrat (CDA) Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner declaring, last year, that

"It is a sure certainty for me: if two thirds of all Netherlanders tomorrow would want to introduce Sharia, then this possibility must exist. Could you block this legally? It would also be a scandal to say 'this isn't allowed! The majority counts. That is the essence of democracy."

And integration minister Elle Vogelaar who recently said that

the Netherlands should in the future be home to a "Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition."

Maybe, if Islam was a more civilized, tolerant, inclusive religion. But it obviously isn't, and it never will be, as long as the 'so-called' moderate majority can't reign in the 'so-called' radical minority, and as long as they don't modernize their religion, which also obviously will never happen, considering the increasing trend towards conservatism.

Then you have the problem with integration. The country is headed for major trouble with its highly 'socially segregated' society

About two-thirds of Turks and Moroccans "associate predominantly with members of their own ethnic group," while a similar proportion of native Dutch "have little or no contact at all with immigrants." Moreover, contacts between the groups are decreasing, notably those between second generation Turks and Moroccans and native Dutch,"

We should take heed, before it's too late for us.

Hat Tip: American Congress for Truth

A good deed lands a Nigerian in jail, in Saudi Arabia

Muslims are taught that good deeds build character. In fact they

are required to perform good deeds and acts to themselves and others to promote humanity. Performing good deeds does not know social boundaries. In Islam, a Muslim is required to perform good deeds regardless of social status or ethnicity, as long as they are physically and mentally able to do so.

Well, that seems honourable enough, however, a good deed can land you in jail in Saudi Arabia.

A recent Nigerian convert to Islam, studying at the Badiya Islamic Center in Riyadh, learned the hard way, that those good deeds have major restrictions and limitations involved.

Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal decided to help his 63 year old neighbour, who he found out was sick and needed help.

So he took her to various hospitals in Riyadh, including the Riyadh Medical Complex at Shumaisy, all of which refused to treat her. It was only after the intervention of Sheikh Fawaz, director of Badiya Islamic Center, that the Badiya Hospital admitted the case. Despite the charitable act Mohammed ended up in detention, accused of immoral behavior because he was neither married nor related by blood to the elderly woman.

Speaking to Arab News on phone from his cell in the Malaz prison, Mohammed said that after the woman received treatment and after he returned to Riyadh after three days in the Western Region, he was arrested after checking up on the woman’s health. In the woman’s apartment were three other women related to her.“I was glad to note that the lady was making steady progress,” he said. “While we were chatting, there was a knock on the door. When this lady opened the door, four or five Saudis, whom I had seen outside the building before, barged in. They accused me of being alone with the woman unrelated to me and suspected my intention behind this visit to her apartment.”

so,

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice found him guilty for committing a crime: Being in the presence of a woman who is not a relative (a so-called “illegal state of seclusion”).

Not only did they arrest him, and the 3 other women, they took his laptop, money and other personal items.

He was sentenced to 50 days in prison and just wants to go back to Nigeria. I wonder if he's having second thoughts about his new-found religion!

Hat/Tip: In partibus infidelium

Iran has designated non-hijab wearers as hos and hussies with Personality Disorders

Apparently, the Iranian Islamic Republic has characterized those who wear make-up and don't adhere to the strict Islamic dress code as being sicko. And not Michael Moore's definition of sicko. Islamic (I assume) psychologists (according the pro-veil ad below) have been credited with deeming women who don't wear the veil as having "character disorders". Hmm. Wonder what those might be: Anti-Niqab Personality Disorder? Avoidant Burqa Personality Disorder? Freedom to choose what one wears is now considered a Personality Disorder? How sick is that?



A pro-veil ad by the Islamic Republic Police. The text down to the right reads, “According to the psychologists, people who use improper outfits or disgusting make-up are suffering from character disorders”


Photo and translation courtesy of Kamangir (Archer)

Joke of the day: Politics as usual

Double Outhouse

I'm leavin' on a jet plane- tomorrow

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.....uh.. don't remember the rest of the song.

I have way more than I need for the 2 weeks, but one just never knows. Over the years I have tried to minimize what I take. Even when I drive, I've tried to travel with less (lugging luggage in and out of actor housing can be a major pain), but when you're away for 6 to 8 weeks and you need to continue searching for work, you have to take a mini-office and all that entails.

And all housing is not equal, so I usually take a travel pack with some cooking essentials: a small frying pan, a good knife, a potato peeler, my favorite mug. Not everyone provides a potato peeler, believe it or not, and some of the pots and pans are health hazards waiting to happen, with teflon peeling off. Unfortunately, not gonna happen this time.

It's been years since I was last at this theatre, so I don't remember much about the housing complex other than the roach roommies, and these hideous wasps that just materialized out of nowhere. Yup. Here we go again. My nightmares turning into reality. I'll never forget walking to the theatre at night, strolling alongside the roaches, the sidewalk like an obstacle course. I hope they've cleared out, but somehow I doubt it. They're here for the duration. First thing I will buy, when we make the grocery store run, is boric acid and heavy duty bug spray. Sigh. I'll make sure I have a newspaper handy at all times.

Finally got everything done, tonight, but no time to check out your blogs or write something pithy. The plane leaves in the a.m. and I need to get to bed. I will have to wait until I get settled in, tomorrow hopefully. I'll look forward to it.

Meantime, my best wishes to you all and happy blogging!!

Inspiration of the day: If there is right in the Soul....there will peace in the world.

Thought I would share something that I posted at another blog I just started: Mind, Body and Spirit. Like I really have the time. But, I thought it would be nice to have another venue where I could post about holistic health, spirituality etc. The positive in life. I will probably cross-post some items I find appropriate for both blogs, but for the most part they will be separate.

If there is right in the Soul, there will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

Lao-Tze ancient Chinese philosopher, father of Taoism

August 5th- Support imprisoned Iranian student activists and bloggers

Arash Kamangir is asking all bloggers to join in a movement, generated by a group of Iranian bloggers, to publicize the plight of jailed student activists in the land of Ahmadinejad and the oppressed.

August 5th 2007 is the 101-st anniversary of the Iranian constitutional revolution. BUT Iranian people still struggle for democracy and student activists are still sent to jails. Several student activists spend this year’s anniversary in jails. They include Mohammad Hashemi, Ali Nikoones bati, Ali Vefghi, Bahareh Hedayat, Mehdi Arabshahi, Hanif Yazdani, Abodllah Momeni, Bahram Fayyazi, Habib Hajiheydari, Morteza Eslahchi, Mojtaba Bayat,, Arash Khandel, Ashkan Ghiasvand, Ahmad Ghassaban, Majid Tavakoli, Ehsan Mansouri, and Amir Yaghoub-ali.

In support and memory of our fellow activists, who some of them are bloggres as well, a group of Iranian bloggres will change their blog title on August the 5th to "August the 5th: The day of support for jailed Iranian students". We invite you, even as a non-Iranian blogger, to participate in this cause. You can join by sending us e mail to 14.mordad@gmail.com or write the name of your weblog in the comment box below, so it will be added to the list of the supporting weblogs.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the students have been subjected to torture and abuse, to force them to confess to trumped up charges. There are even accounts of sexual torture, though I have no way of confirming that.

Some of the jailed activists claim they were targeted for their participation in student protests, earlier this year, against Ahmadinejad. Others, like 19 year old Amir Yaghoub Ali,

was a student supporter of the One Million Signatures Campaign, which aims to eliminate discriminatory laws against women. Activists in Iran told Human Rights Watch that authorities are particularly vindictive toward male supporters of campaigns for women’s rights.

A witness to the peaceful women’s protest of March 8, 2006 in Tehran’s Daneshjoo Park [where Amir was collecting signatures] told Human Rights Watch that when security and police forces attacked the gathering with batons in order to disperse the crowds, they severely beat the men who were present.

We are so blessed to be living in countries that allow us to say whatever we please, criticize whomever, without the fear of governmental retribution!!

Others blogging about this:

Bloodthirsty Liberal
Blazing Cat Fur
Terry Glavin
Arabisto

Persistance pays off

Blogging has been a little light, the past week or so, because I've been quite busy; which is always a blessing for actors who are perpetually unemployed, or what we euphemistically call "in between gigs". Just finished shooting a short film (for a festival) and a spec commercial, and have been prepping for an upcoming trip for a 2 week project that I'm very excited about.

This coming Monday I leave for a theatre several States away, and this will be the very first time I won't be driving, which should prove interesting. I feel lost without a car, so the loss of independence will be a major challenge. They do provide access to a shared vehicle (thanks to our Union rules) but it's not quite the same thing as being able to just pop in my car and drive where-ever I please. I adore exploring new environs, but we'll probably be very busy, so am hoping I won't miss it much. Thankfully, the theatre is within walking distance, so won't have to worry about that issue.

This upcoming project came as a total surprise. I had worked at this theatre 10 years ago, and although the Artistic Director (who hired me) is no longer there, I kept in touch with one of the Artistic Associates. By that, I mean I sent him updated headshots and resume's, copies of reviews etc., Christmas cards, and although I never heard back, I kept at it. So, a few weeks ago, out of the blue, I get a call asking if I would be available for this project. I was, so I accepted and off I go.

In this business people will ask you to keep in touch, if they like your work, and so I do. Most of the time you never hear back, and many people just eventually give up. Not I. I plug away hoping that someday they will get so tired of all my updates, they'll just break down and hire me, or hire me again. 1 theatre I had never worked at before, hired me after 4 years. The longest was after 12 years. And now this theatre after 10.

There is a fine line between being a pest and showing interest, and hopefully I fall into the latter category. But I've been learning that persistence does pay off, in the long run. And it's applicable to all things in life.

Thought I'd just share that with my blogging buddies.

I will keep blogging, as I have some posts that I have been working on, and I will check in on your blogs, though I might not have time to comment, all the time.