Goodbye Benazir Bhutto

After I got home yesterday from the restaurant, I
turned on the TV to check out the headlines on CNN,
as I do everyday. But yesterday I saw a headline that
floored me, the tragedy of it threw me down on my
sofa in horror, shock, and sadness. Former Pakistan
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated,
murdered - killed. She had come home to Pakistan only
2 months ago, after several years of exile, to challenge
the current leadership/dictatorship in the January 2008
elections. I remember watching CNN when she did go
home in October, the throngs of adoring people, the joy on
Bhutto's face, and I remember turning to my husband and
wondering out loud why on earth did she go back? I recall
then saying that they would probably try to kill her, that
it was just a matter of time......I never dreamed that it
would be just 2 months later, but that it would be sort
of like Indiri Ghandi of India so long ago, killed in office.
Unless the Pakistan elections were going to be totally
rigged, there is no way Bhutto would have lost in
January, and then I just figured some Muslim fanatic,
angry over the fact that a woman was in power, would
cut her down. But despite the Pakistani government
laying full blame of Bhutto's assassination on terrorists,
I think anyone with half a brain knows what happened
here. It was the Pakistani government, the same one
that refused to provide her with full security and only
the BARE minimum of protective measures upon her
return, who engineered this horrible tragedy yesterday.
Government officials saw the huge crowds of people
everywhere Bhutto went, saw the adoration and support,
saw the political tide turn enough to realize that no one
would accept a rigged election outcome, and simply
took care of business. For shame....may those bastards
rot in hell. Benazir Bhutto, Allah Bless you and may you
rest in peace, you were a remarkable, brave woman in
not only a Muslim, but any world.

Merry Christmas!

Just want to wish all my readers near and far

a joyous Christmas with the help of my cute

buddy bear here! And if you plan to overeat,

make sure chocolate is involved!

Green Card Shenanigans

You know, the holiday season is a time to remember and if

possible, to be with loved ones. But for some folks, it is time to

find that new special 'loved one', as in the case of this Russian

immigrant in California. A 24 year old blonde Russian female

living in Los Angeles had placed an ad in Craigslist about 2

years ago trying to find a husband in order to procure a 

Green Card. The ad read as followed:

'Green Card Marriage - Will pay $300 a month, Total

$15,000. This is a strictly platonic business offer, sex not

involved. Not required to live together.'

Immigration officials saw the ad originally but apparently sat

back and waited for the fraud to occur. The Slavic gal found a

taker, and in February 2006, she tied with knot with her new

found 'love'. However, earlier this month the fraudulent couple 

were arrested by immigration officials, charged with engaging 

in a sham marriage. The attorney of the Russian chick is

alleging that she had no idea that it was illegal to marry for a

green card; he sited the blatant language of the ad as evidence.

I just call it a case of someone being WAY too honest, she just

wasn't sly enough to engineer the scheme more discreetly, but

the gal is blonde, so enough said!

No surprise

I recently read this article on Switched.com about how ATT
is going to phase out their pay phones by 2009. I just wonder
what is taking them so long! The local phone company in our
area has noticibly decreased the number of pay phones around
town; the few that remain are owned by private companies, and
you have to pay an arm and a leg while jumping through hoops
to get to a national carrier. The pay phone that we used to have
outside of the restaurant has been gone 4 years. Of course, the
reason for all this can be easily be explained - cell phones. Every-
one seems to have at least one, even kids nowadays, and you see
the super busy/important/show off kind of folks with 2 or 3.
People can't eat out, shop, walk in the street, or drive their cars
without their cell phone. It has become the national obsession. So
who is actually going to dig for change to use a pay phone unless
their cell phone battery has died, or if they are in the boondocks
without coverage? Of course, we do have those folks who use pay
phones to make shady calls/deals where it's better to not dial
from your actual number, like some mobster verifying a hit, or a
drug dealer arranging a sale....you get the point!

Get Real!

It's one thing to have the spirit of the holidays, it is another to

basically have them pushed down your throat. For instance, one

of the local radio stations started playing Christmas music the

day after Thanksgiving....needless to say, I am frequenting other

stations while driving. Then you have those folks who started

decorating the day after Thanksgiving.....lights galore, lighted

wire reindeer in the yards, the big plastic lighted snowmen and

such in front of houses, etc. etc.. Basically, on our street there 

are only 2 houses that haven't decorated, and yes, ours is one of

them! I generally wait until about the 10th or so of December,

so I will get in gear the first part of next week. We'll get our 

tree, decorate it with the lights showing out of the window,

put a wreath on the door, and we are done. I am actually more

concerned about getting my Christmas cards out (and yes, I

have already received 2!), which will be quite a trick this year

as I have lost/misplaced my address book. Thus I am scram-

bling to gather envelopes of cards and letters I have received

throughout the year, check phone book listings, and garner the

rest of my addresses as I see potential card recipients. Oh well,

I am sure the old address book will turn up....after the holidays

of course! Then I need to actually figure out who will get what

as far as gifts go. I have a couple ideas, have scoured catalogs,

and may actually get that done by the 15th or 20th. Nothing

like cutting it close! To those people who proclaim that they

have not only gotten their cards out, but also have completed

their shopping I say WHATEVER!!!

Recalls, cell phones, and teachers!

I have been trying to kick this lingering cold to the curb for a

couple of weeks now, very frustrating how it just seems to

want to hang around. But that doesn't mean that I haven't

been keeping my eye on the odd, amusing, or troubling

headline! First off, a thread that has been way too commom

on this site, another food recall, and again concerning ground

beef. American Foods Group recalled 96,000 pound of ground

chuck and sirloin that had been distributed to several states

in the midwest and mid-Atlantic, including Virginia. Kind of 

sad that recalls are so common now that they aren't really news.

The next story is one that really surprised me only because I'm

surprised we don't read more of such instances. A man in 

California was killed by a train when he stepped out in front of

it while talking on his cell phone. Apparently the guy was waiting

for one train to pass, and when it did, stepped into the path of

another one going the opposite direction. Bystanders reported 

that he was obviously distracted by his cell phone conversation

and simply didn't pay attention. I myself, while driving,  have had 

to break hard or swerve around pedestrians and drivers who have

been occupied by the oh so important cell phone conversations 

they were having and weren't paying attention to the road. No con-

versation or text message is worth your life people.....be careful.

Last, but certainly not least, a high school literature teacher in

Italy has been suspended by her school due to her "extra curri-

cular activities". Her 'hobby'? You guessed it, a porn star! The

teacher has been dubbed "porno-prof" by the Italian media; 

she calls herself Madameweb! Apparently Madameweb has 

indulged in several hard-core internet videos; her popularity 

surged last month after her participation in an erotica festival

in Berlin, Germany. The lusty teacher tried to defend herself by

stating that her behavior at school has always been "professional

and irreproachable", but was unable to sway the educational

authorities in the Fruili-Venezia Guilia region (northern Italy).

Well, I just know that I never had any teachers like that in my 

school, but then again, I grew up in Virginia, not Italy!