HEY CHRISTIANS!

Did you take a break from worshipping Jesus, the Prince Of Peace to contact the White House and say that you were against attacking Syria? No, I didn't think you had.You didn't contact them about Iraq either. Amen!

DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW!

AHA!

Now we know why Obama had Eric Holder claim that impeachment was "off the table" for Bush and Cheney. Because Obama didn't want to set a precedent which could get his @ss impeached when he commits them himself. As he is preparing to do in Syria. Obama supporters--how do you spin this to claim that Obama's doing the right thing? Obama Gives Bush "Absolute Immunity" For Everything by Abby Zimet Days before Bradley - now Chelsea - Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for helping expose U.S. war crimes in Iraq, the Obama Department of Justice filed a petition in federal court arguing that the perpetrators of those crimes - Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al - enjoy “absolute immunity” against criminal charges or civil liability. The filing came in a suit brought by Sundus Shaker Saleh, an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, who alleges that the planning and waging of the Iraq war under false pretenses constituted a "crime of aggression" under a law used in the Nuremberg trials. With neither Congress nor Obama willing to hold Bush & Co. accountable for the Iraq catastrophe, supporters see the suit as a last-chance tactic to force the issue back into the public eye - an effort the Obama adminstration clearly opposes. More, all dispiriting, on the increasingly flawed Bush-Obama-lesser-of-two-evils thesis, and the current culture of impunity. MORE: COMMONDREAMS

TIME FOR SOMETHING NEW!

SINCE OBAMA HAS PROVED THAT LIKE THE REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS NOW REPRESENT SENSELESS WAR, IT'S TIME TO DITCH THEM. The American people don't want war. 3rd parties CAN win when you support them. Do nothing and we'll get Obama's successor Hillary for more of the same. Check out this platform: do you agree? I don't know what else the Green Shadow Cabinet stands for, but they got the US position on Syria right. Since both major parties represent the same eternal war and economic downturn, give them both the boot! Unless, of course, all you care about is gay marriage. But guess what? A truly liberal party supports that and peace. Now what's your objection to ditching a party which doesn't represent you? Too lazy to care? Too lazy to wade through our mainstream media's lies in support of war to see the truth? I supported Obama because it was easier to take the path that everyone was laying out for me. And I'm feeling very guilty right now. At least be open to the discussion. It isn't a 3rd party if our two major party represent the same crap.

"More than one hundred Members of Congress have written President Obama reminding him that the Congress has the constitutional authority to begin a war, not the president. We urge the Congress not to authorize war against Syria as there is no military solution to the political conflict in Syria and the unintended consequences of a military attack in that region are unpredictable. The United States is in no position to claim moral authority with regards to using weapons condemned by the international community. The U.S. is responsible for the slaughter of millions of innocent victims through the use of weapons condemned by the rest of the world. These weapons have included the atom bomb, Agent Orange, white phosphorus, napalm, and depleted uranium. To this day, the United States refuses to sign on to treaties banning the use of landmines and cluster bombs. These particular weapons are responsible for killing and maiming well over one million civilians. In fact, the U.S. has just struck a deal to sell Saudi Arabia $640 million worth of cluster bombs. It is clearly immoral to kill innocent people, and it makes little difference if a bullet, a chemical, or radiation killed the person. If we as a nation wish to regain some moral authority, we can begin by renouncing the use of weapons banned by the international community. We should destroy our own stockpiles of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Further, the United States should join the International Criminal Court and live within the rule of law. Major media outlets seem to be fanning the flames of war while failing to ask even the most basic questions about the legality, morality, or effectiveness of an attack on the sovereign nation of Syria. If President Obama launches an attack without prior explicit authorization by Congress, he will have committed an offense worthy of impeachment. If he launches an attack without authorization from the UN, he will be guilty of war crimes. The Green Shadow Cabinet insists in the strongest possible terms that the Obama administration refrain from military actions against Syria. This Cabinet calls on the people of the United States to rise up in marches, rallies, pickets, and non-violent direct action where possible and necessary in order to confront the Obama administration as well as Congress and the major news media. We must stop the rush to war, and we must demand respect for the laws of this democratic republic and the treaties we have signed." PLEASE READ THE REST: GREENSHADOWCABINET

PUKE!

So this is why Miley "twerked" at the VMAs and presumably why Justin Bieber sprang to her defense. They have a new duet out. I can't tell you how much I hate this song. Listen if you dare!

AWFUL NEWS!

Ignoring Congress, the people he represents, the UN and international skepticism, Obama forges forward in attacking Syria and even earns cowboy comparisons to link him to the last president from Texas who crapped all over the middle east and shattered our economy in the process. What a legacy! May I please sacrifice my social security so that you Obama can enrich war profiteers ith more battles we don't understand? Do you think Obama's secretary of state Hillary will be any different? Back when they were both senators, she was more hawkish than Obama and voted for the Iraq war when he voted against it. It was all a ruse to make him seem liberal so that we'd vote for him as a reaction against Bush. Sadly, it worked and eternal war is his true goal. The democratic party is dead. We have one party and it wants war. Time to look at 3rd party candidates and stop squawking that they can't win. They want peace, you want peace. So why can't they win? Because you prefer to discuss Miley Cyrus than find a candidate who wants peace?

SUPPORT THE TROOPS? STILL?

US AND UK: The same turds that lied to us and ganged up on Iraq for no reason are now heading to Syria with unclear reasons and a murky agenda. 79 lawmakers in Congress voted to make Obama wait until they are back from summer recess to make any decision--as the executive branch is supposed to--but the Nobel Peace Prize winner wants blood. Um, I mean to protect Syrian rebels. Obama is a corrupt and dishonest hawk just like George W. Bush. And all of you who've been bleating SUPPORT THE TROOPS for a decade have built up the executive branch's credibility by never coming to terms with the fact that your misguided patriotism sent young men and women to die in Iraq for no reason. If you'd spoken out against our presidents' lying to us instead of chanting mindlessly in support of any military action whatsoever, we might be in a better position to force our "leader" to avoid strikes in Syria which most of us don't want or even understand. How did this warmonger Obama have the nerve to speak at a rally commemorating the peace-loving Martin Luther King this past weekend? Sounds like the british are wising up. I doubt if americans will. Even as our elected officials clamor to cut our social services to give them bigger budgets to screw around in the middle east to create a new generation of terrorist to come ovr here and sting us. Reap what you sew! HUFFPO: If the British Can Stop Their Government From Waging War in Syria, Why Can't We? Today, once again, it feels like we're being herded into supporting a military action in Syria that will end up, like the Iraq War, making the world an even more dangerous place than it is now. Then, as now, we see influential journalists tripping over themselves to fall into line. The British parliament's vote against going along with the United States' attack on Syria is a direct result of that country's attempts to come to terms with the lies of the Iraq War. Unlike the United States, the people in the United Kingdom forced their government to convene a commission where former Prime Minister Tony Blair and other Iraq War luminaries were asked some uncomfortable questions. (When was the last time you saw George W. Bush or Dick Cheney grilled for their roles in fomenting the Iraq War?) The vote in the U.K. shows that there are just enough people there who have apparently wised up to make a difference and aren't willing to let their elected representatives hoodwink them into another precipitous military action based on dubious "intelligence." MORE: HUFFPO

SO WE'RE EATING AND WEARING GMOS

FROM ORGANIC CONSUMERS: Clothes for a Change: Is Your T-Shirt GMO? You probably don’t think “GMO” when you buy a cotton t-shirt. But it’s Monsanto that now grows about half of the world’s cotton. On more than 40 million acres. The top three countries producing GE cotton? India, China and the U.S. Monsanto’s control over the cotton seed market in India has been agriculturally and economically devastating. Millions of small cotton farmers have been duped into buying Monsanto’s high-priced GE seeds, only to go bankrupt. In despair, more than 200,000 cotton farmers have committed suicide. Cotton is the most pesticide-intensive crop in the world. Cotton farmers and farmworkers, and the people living in cotton-growing communities, are exposed to deadly doses of toxic chemicals. Most of the world's cotton clothes are produced in sweatshops, where people are paid low wages to work long hours in unsafe working conditions. In a tragic example of how dangerous conditions are, a building collapse in April 2013 left more than a thousand people dead or missing. Inside that building workers produced many of the leading brands for the U.S.’s $340-billion dollar garment industry. It’s taken decades, but finally the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food has gone mainstream. We’re poised to win what everyone agrees will be the deciding GMO labeling battle – I-522, the Washington State initiative that will require mandatory labeling of GMO ingredients in food sold in Washington. Combined with recent wins in Maine and Connecticut, a win in Washington will force food manufacturers to label nationally. What’s next? More education and more consciousness-raising. Because truth is, most GMO crops don’t go into the food we eat. They go into animal feed, biofuels and clothing. Without proper safety testing. Without adequate environmental impact analysis. We can do better. Let's win the GMO food labeling battle. Then let's take on GMO animal feed, biofuels, cotton and clothing. MORE: ORGANICCONSUMERS

NOW WHAT AM I GONNA SNACK ON?

THE LITTLE HOUSE THAT COULD

New documentary on Patricia Field and her crazy crew!

WATCH TRAILER HERE:

TAKE ME UP HIGH IS STILL GOING STRONG!

My dance tune Take Me Up High is #18 with a bullet on the Billboard Club Dance charts!

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPI4qUxhYjs

HEE HEE!

TRUTH!

BUN-BUN IN DETROIT ON SATURDAY!

GO, BILL!

Despite endorsements from the conservative Daily News and NY Post and from the "liberal" NY Times, the people don't want Christine Quinn. Bill Deblasio has gotten endorsements from the voters, who still matter more than newspapers who think they know what's best for us. DE BLASIO CLOSE TO 40% IN NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL RACE, QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS; QUINN, THOMPSON IN BATTLE FOR SECOND PLACE With 13 days until the primary election, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio surges ahead of the Democratic pack for New York City mayor with 36 percent of likely voters, close to the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is at 21 percent, with 20 percent for former City Comptroller William Thompson, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner has 8 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, with 6 percent for City Comptroller John Liu, 1 percent for former Council member Sal Albanese and 8 percent undecided. This compares to the results of an August 13 Quinnipiac University poll which showed de Blasio at 30 percent, with 24 percent for Quinn and 22 percent for Thompson. In possible Democratic primary runoff matchups:  De Blasio tops Quinn 59 – 30 percent;  De Blasio leads Thompson 52 – 36 percent;  Thompson bests Quinn 57 – 33 percent. “Talk about breaking out of the pack! Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, in fourth place just five weeks ago, is edging up on the magic 40 percent needed to avoid a Democratic primary runoff. And if there is a runoff, he clobbers Council Speaker Christine Quinn or former Comptroller and 2009 Democratic challenger William Thompson,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “De Blasio takes a big lead into the final turn. Let’s see how he does in the home stretch.” MORE: QUINNIPIAC

THIS POST WOMAN RINGS TWICE!

Tonight and Friday night at Provincetown's Post Office Cabaret: THAT AIN'T NO LADY! Two shows only at 10PM tonight and Friday night.

VARLA JEAN MERMAN TWICE ON A MATTRESS

Saw Varla Jean Merman's Twice On A Mattress in Provincetown last night. She's one of the most original queens in the biz--very fresh and funny with a completely new show every year. Insane costumes, demented patter and everything from props to puppets to wacky extras and wig changes kept thing moving along as Varla raced through rewritten Disney classics accompanied by a piano to a packed house. She'll be in NYC this fall in a greatest hits show at Below 54 and will star in Ryan Landry's Mildred Fierce this October at Theatre 80 St. Marks. Do not miss! One of my favorite videos:

A GREAT IDEA!

AMY GOODMAN DOES IT AGAIN!

This is one of the most interesting clips I've seen on the Bradley/Chelsea Manning case. In it, Amy Goodman interviews two trans activists. And bless Amy's heart, she seems to be wrestling with the correct pronoun in an attempt be super-correct towards Bradley who is now to be known as Chelsea. One pundit is Lauren McNamara, a pen pal of Manning before the leaks. (Using the last name only is a foolproof way to include both make and female names!) Lauren looks exactly like an attractive young woman (even with no make-up!) yet sounds a bit like a nerdy boy. The second is a lawyer with the ACLU who appears to be a quirky, dapper twink, but is actually female-to-male transsexual who still sounds a little feminine. I know that it doesn't matter how much you look or sound like the sex you are transitioning into, it's about how transsexuals feel as opposed to a physical characteristic which possibly can't change. This is a subject which even many gays don't fully understand even though transsexuals are included under the GLBT umbrella. But in this case, it's more important to get around how this young woman and man present themselves and focus on what they are saying. It's both mind-blowing and revolutionary. Most of us have never bothered to think about what happens when someone transgendered goes to jail. But a member of that community who many regard as a hero is about to be sentenced to an all-male military prison. Is this fair? Does she deserve hormone therapy while locked up? If prison is a punishment, how much should prisons deliver what inmates want? How much should we care about what a convicted criminal wants? I think we're going to hear a lot more of this dialogue. What's outrageous to me is what a powder keg this case has unleashed by Chelsea's, who has completely refuted so many of our belief systems. Manning has shaken the world up by saying I reject the secrecy of the military and all of it's honor codes which protect internal rape and harassment, I reject what our government is doing overseas (like the senseless murder of civilians, woman, children and journalists) and by the way, please refer to me as a woman now. Oh, and PS: If you send me to a men's prison, ya better have some hormones to treat my gender dysphoria or there will be legal action. I'm fairly familiar with the trans community but am trying to imagine the heads exploding of republicans or even traditional (ie backward) democrats who are watching this clip. I'm sure conservatives would think the freaks are now running the show if these are the two experts DemocracyNow.org booked to discuss the largest intelligence leak in US history. To quote Lauren: "Well, this puts her at an incredible risk of assault, rape, all sorts of violence that are often already present in all-male prisons. And to think that you would put a woman into the midst of all that, just for purely anatomical reasons, is absolutely absurd and dangerous and completely irresponsible and contrary to any sensible ethic." In other words, it's absurd to put Chelsea in a man's prison just because she has a penis. More Lauren: "The media needs to respect her just as they would respect any woman. They need to respect this treatment just as they would respect any medically necessary treatment. There is not an other side of this, from a scientific or medical perspective. There is not dissent here. There is not a debate here. And anyone who acts as though this is not legitimate, as if this is not real, as if this is not a medical necessity, is simply uninformed and should not have a place in any discussion over this." If I may paraphrase Lauren: If you don't understand transgender issues and medical necessities, you're too dumb to speak on or decide on this. So sit down! I think we need to listen to these people. They've reinvented themselves and are shaking up gender roles and a whole lot more in the process. I don't think conventional wisdom can apply here. I'm not sure how to describe this, but it feels like these re-born creatures are tearing down some of the mistakes made by a male-run and male-dominated society. I think it's clear to most of us that the world is off-course. So let's check out anyone who may be offering the answer. They certainly seem to be of a higher level of awareness than most.

PAT ROBERTSON IS INSANE!

If this is your religious leader, start praying! "On this morning’s episode of the 700 Club, the always-bigoted evangelical extremist Pat Robertson told co-host Terry Meeuwsen that gay men in cities like San Francisco attempt to spread HIV/AIDS to unsuspecting noninfected Americans by cutting them with a special ring when shaking hands." OCCUPYDEMOCRATS

ANOTHER DARK DAY FOR THE USA

Our lawmakers in Congress in both parties and the president finally agreed on something: STOPPING OUR RIGHT TO PROTEST. If you ever thought that anyone in this Congress or White House represented the people and their rights, you know now that this isn't true except for the handful who voted against it. A special place in hell goes for Obama, the constitutional lawyer who enjoys shredding the Constitution. I would like to hear from why any of them thought this was necessary. And please check your news to see if the government stripping away your basic rights (freedom of speech, freedom of assembly) is getting any significant coverage. I'll bet it isn't. Did Obama at least apologize after signing this--the way he did after signing the bill inot law which enables the government to kill Americans without a trial? I don't want to spread conspiracy theories, but the government must really be preparing to start some crazy crap if ALL of them want to keep us from even speaking out. MORE: HUFFPO

WOOHOO!

Having a blast in Provincetown! It's my favorite place in the whole wide world to um...post on facebook from. I'll be performing my one wo-man show That Ain't No Lady this Thursday and Friday at the Post Office Cabaret 10PM. Until then, seeing Varla Jean Merman, Dina Martina, Joey Arias Nyc, Raven Oh, Ryan Landry, Olive A Nother, Electra Jimbuff and all these other hoes' shows!

BIANCA JAGGER TWEETED THIS LINK AND IT IS DISTRESSING!

Good news! The surgical attacks we may be making in Syria are "low cost." Bad news! Even "low cost" military actions cost billions. More bad news, they won't work, are too late and a dumb plan--according to a Navy strategist. Great news! We get the phony WMDs excuse from the ill-fated and illegal Iraq war along with the poor planning and questionable objectives of the Afghanistan war. Does this sound like a recipe for disaster to you? MORE: THECABLE

WISE WORDS FROM BETTY WHITE!

DAMN! THEY DONE GOT CAP'N CRUNCH???

A huge list of genetically modified foods. Pretty shocking! SEE ALL: RUMORMILLNEWS

NEW BILL DEBLASIO VIDEO!

New video in support of NYC Mayoral candidate Bill Deblasio featuring a bunch of New Yorkers (including little ol' me) curated by Cynthia Nixon. I had no idea that the divine Harry Belafonte would be featured and this video isn't the smash hit movie in which we co-star as lovers that I've envisioned my whole life, but it's a step in the right direction. Yes, that handsome devil still inspires THAT kind of wonderment in some of us girls! But enough about my imaginary vagina. Please check this video out and please vote for somebody. I think only around 1/6th of New Yorkers even vote. Of course, when Christine Quinn permits Bloomberg to have a 3rd term as mayor against the wishes of many, our vote doesn't seem to count much. But let's speak out and change that, people!

NOT AGAIN!

So we're going to war with Syria because they used chemical weapons? Even though no one seems to know if Assaad or the rebels used them? Not clear but going to war? Does this remind anyone of Iraq and the phony excuse of WMDs that was used to lie us into attacking them? I thought the US sent Obama a clear message in the last election that we were sick of war and wanted to work on our own ailing nation--not screwing around in the Middle East where we are already despised. Why is Obama ignoring us? (Hint: he already got our votes.) Here's what John Vietnam-vet-turned-peacenik-turned-I-need-more-money-than-even-my-wealthy-wife-has-so-I'll-do-anything Kerry has to say on Syria: AP: "The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard, it is inexcusable and - despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured - it is undeniable," said Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to confirm the attack in the Damascus suburbs that activists say killed hundreds of people. "This international norm cannot be violated without consequences." If indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, women and children using chemical weapons is such an obscenity when Syria does it, maybe the US should attack itself. We did all that in Iraq and it didn't just kill the hundreds. It killed hundreds of thousands. For no reason other than greed. Stop US terrorism now! MORE: AP

MILEY AND GAGA AT THE VMAS: MY TAKE!

I didn't see much of the VMAs but here's my two cents. I'm not concerned that Miley seems to want to be a slut. I'm a slut and proud of it. What offends me is that she isn't even a real slut and that stupid act is an insult to true whores everywhere. If you want to act sexual and sing about drugs to prove how wild you are, then why bother with the sappy, crappy music? If you're truly wild, record something wild. Otherwise, you're a fake whore or a wannabe whore who doesn't even know how to be a whore. Wanton women everywhere are getting a bad rep from these sluts who use "leaked" sex tapes to get noticed and then revert to their same vanilla act. Boring! The only other song I saw was Gaga's. I'm not her biggest fan, but she started off singing with minimal music. Twice during the intro, the crowd cheered at the power of her singing voice. Britney, Madonna, J-Lo, Janet, Rihanna, Ke$ha, etc--none of them can create that kind of vocal magic even in the studio, much less live. Gaga is a singer and you can't take that away from her. There's power and expression in her voice and there at least one soulful ad lib. The bitch also made me watch the video on my cellphone--which I never do--but I had limited email access in Provincetown. I was curious to see how it went. She does have the talent for getting us talking, doesn't she? To be honest, I don't understand the importance of all the theatrics. If you can sing like Gaga, f#cking sing and slay them! I saw her in concert and when she sat down at the piano and played and sang I thought "There is a rock star worthy of all this hype." Save the dancers for a disco dolly like Britney and who needs them. While I like an onstage costume change as much as anyone, it was almost as if she couldn't stay focused on the song with so much business. She was changing her wigs, make-up, costumes, throwing a ball, grabbing her crotch. Girl, it isn't necessary. I know that big events need splashy shows, but when Miley Cyrus grabs her crotch more than you do, you look desperate, not edgy. Just sing, honey. You're one of the few who can. Despite my praise for her pipes, Applause the song still seems lame to me. Am I the only one who winces when she references artist Jeff Koons in the lyrics? If you pronounce c#nt with an accent from the north of England, it can sound like Koons. So at first I though it was a play on c#nt, which I liked more. But saying that she is Koons or art or artpop or shartpop is all so heavy-handed to me. If she is art, we'll be the judge of that. Maybe the rest of the album is amazing and experimental and artistic, but smearing some clown make-up on your face and calling your album artpop doesn't make it so. Especially since she smeared it on her face just like Bowie did decades before. Just realized that Gaga is collaborating with Jeff Koons on this new album. I'm not knowledgable about art, but isn't he considered a successful sell-out with zero edge? Gee, that would certainly add credibility to someone whose clothes are more outrageous than their music and who is known for plagiarizing other artists to create bubblegum.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

GOTHAMIST: "As the Dow Jones reached a record high today, we also learned that 50,000 people slept in New York City's homeless shelters every night in January. According to a report from Coalition for the Homeless, the number of children sleeping in homeless shelters has increased by 22%, to 21,034, in just one year. "More children and adults are homeless now in New York City than at any time since the Great Depression," the report states. Recently the Bloomberg administration has been criticized for denying homeless families continuous shelter when the temperature drops below zero. According to the report, homeless families make up 78% of people staying in the city's administrative shelters, a number that has risen by 73% since Bloomberg took office." MORE: GOTHAMIST.COM

R.I.P. KAREN BLACK

She came from a time when actresses had talents you weren't even aware of.

IN CASE YA MISSED IT!

My first ever music video--avaialble on iTunes now!

HEE HEE!

HERB ALBERT'S "WHIPPED CREAM LADY" NOW 76

MORE: SEATTLETIMES

MEANWHILE IN BRAZIL...

YES!

EW!

NICE BRA!

TEE HEE!

THE CHARM OF OLD AGE

JULIE NEWMAR: ON BEING 80

It's time to rewrite the rules It was only two years ago that youth left me. Hate me or not, middle age didn't happen to me; a privilege undeserved, or unobserved. In August of this year, I will be 80. It is time to cross the Rubicon and come to terms with the best of myself. There is no more time for "unsuccess". I give myself four seconds to go from a losing to a winning thought, a life giving one. What if Sydney Pollock or Elizabeth Taylor lived to be 80? My hair is mostly white now, but with daily sprits of sheen it gleams almost pure silver. Like Clint Eastwood, I've kept a flat belly. I like the fact he can wear a plain T-shirt and scowl at some pretending offender. My spine is straight. I don't look down on those with their imagined weaknesses. I ignore irrelevance ― poor speech, bad manners and those awful screeching female reporters on TV whose voices sound like they are crunching on a mouthful of beetles. It's curious sometimes how life seems to reverse itself, when what was the strongest virtue in our lifetime becomes our weakest trait. Those dancers who can't walk, singers whose voices croak, a seamstress who can't see. In this fall from grace, from our former powers, we think that nature or God has damned us; this is not so. It is more like a peeling away of consumed fruit revealing our infinite but not yet explored core. There waiting is the next discovery, a new platform or stage to revel in. What's so great about “agefying”? It is the power that having distance gives us. It's the view from the top. At 80, you have patience. Patience is like a magical chess game; the magic part is being able to see six, seven steps ahead. Been there, done that stupid thing. Don't need this strife anymore. As my thinking goes today ― I win and I do, by making sure I always see others as winners. Ask and it will be given. This is easier than you may think. Food, things, the good stuff flow to me. True, I don't any longer race out to the post office and markets. In place I've created a remarkable delivery system. I call it: You do this for me. I am kinder, decidedly, but a lot less tolerant of those who practice life as a soap opera. Maybe it is a safety valve but I chose to live on top of my discomforts as well as diseases. I don't discuss, indulge in, support causes for, join chat groups, war against that which ails and annoys me. It's simply wastes energy. I can discuss unpleasant subjects, but in a less passionate and more general way. Another great virtue of age is to rise above the need to be seen or carry weight in situations of unnecessary stress. Strife is wholly unnecessary. Strife wins you nothing. It is self-inflicted and tenders depression. Being thin is good, though not necessary. You don't see an 80 year old weighing 300 pounds. Nor any 60 year old weighing 300 pounds who are actually healthy. Eat less, it's cheaper. Then you can have, like me, anything you like. The other evening around 8 PM, when the light outside was what cinema photographers refer to as golden, I sat silently for over an hour with my son observing the intense, almost palpitating color of the flowers in my garden. The hummingbirds were still sipping sweet nurture from their favorite tubular blossoms. Bliss, ecstasy and a good garden can extend life. Dance is my art, but the theme of my life is beauty of which a major part is discipline. I listen with the inner ear so that harmony can occupy the higher spaces and let intuition tell me what to do next. So, let us not confuse nature’s progress with lazy avenues of lament. If we don't see the positive picture in aging, it won't be ours to have. Perhaps, if we get out of our own way, we can desire and let be. Yes, that's it. To age successfully one must not be in resistance. Resistance and ill health go together. So there you have it. Now let's have fun.

I DON'T TRUST THESE TERROR THREATS

During Bush's presidency, Britney Spears was asked how she thought he was doing. Her response was something like "I just think we ought to trust the president." (At the time, the president was engaged in a baseless, illegal war against Iraq.) Britney is stupid and seems to be on drugs. So what's your excuse for trusting the government? Now our top news story is chatter which has revealed possible Al Qaeda plots to attack embassies and as a result, we've shut many of them down all over the world. I don't want terror attacks and we should be on guard for legally-obtained chatter, but I also can't ignore these points. In the same way that Bush manipulated us into a state of panic with the color-coded terror alert system, this chatter comes at a very convenient time. The Obama administration and Congress are unpopular. What perfect timing! Then the chatter will make us afraid and in fear, we'll rally behind the government which can protect us from the muslim boogeyman. Our government will magically become heroes and protectors and not so unpopular all of a sudden. And we'll forgive the government for it's surveillance on US citizens which has shocked the nation since it was discovered how heavily the Obama administration was spying on us. With this mounting Al Qaeda threat, we'll gladly give up more civil liberties just to say safe. (Safe from a threat that we're learning of from a government we shouldn't trust unless we're Britney Spears.) Republican hawks like Lindsey Graham the Sissy Hawk are using this chatter as an excuse to justify the NSA program--actually agreeing with democrats for once. And yes, it's easy for obstructionist republicans to reach across the aisle and agree with them when democrats start acting like republicans. Obama's a specialist in this field. As Glenn Greenwald pointed out: "And so, here we are in the midst of, you know, one of the most intense debates and sustained debates that we’ve had in a very long time in this country over the dangers of excess surveillance, and suddenly an administration that has spent two years claiming that it has decimated al-Qaeda decides that there is this massive threat that involves the closing of embassies and consulates throughout the world." I hope there isn't a threat at all. But if there is a real threat, anyone who exploits it is a low-down skunk. This seems like it could be a bipartisan coalition of skunks in both parties designed to trick us. And if we were truly worried about stopping terrorism, maybe we should stop creating generations of terrorists who arise directly as a result of US foreign policy. You don't wage illegal wars like the one in Iraq and send drones to bomb innocent children without serious repercussions for decades to come. They'll pop up at 9/11, at the Pentagon, on airlines and at marathons in Boston. Unless we stop the US foreign policy which creates more of them.

SOME PEOPLE REALLY KNOW HOW TO PARTY!

Nothing like getting carted around in a wheelbarrow or on a walker and then dumped and humped. And when they jump down on your back, you know it's on!