Black Holes: The Deadliest Force on the Planet

Eat up, drink up and suck it up, California. And remember: for every big star, there are millions more little stars.

Scientists say that if a "rogue black hole ever closed in on our solar system and crept up next to Earth," that our "home planet would be ripped apart and swallowed whole." http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Science/story?id=2365372&page=1
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Two real life rogue black holes come to mind. Think of an "invisible cosmic vacuum cleaner" -- like the giant, sucking sound G.W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger are making in the State of California right now as we speak, as they wield their Republican Hoover like light sabers all over the State's Democratic lawmakers during this pre-election showdown over health insurance (SB 840). Yesterday, the Assembly approved a universal health care bill that the Republican governor, with the support of Bush and the insurance company lobby, is most likely to veto.

Senate Bill 840 http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14311233p-15211104c.html would allow the state to run a single-payer health care system that would cover all Californians, doing away with the role of private insurance companies. Private medical groups and hospitals would continue to provide care as usual, but they would be paid through the state system. Will the democrats (real and faux) prevail over the greedy, vapid and ethically challenged citizens of California this November and finally remove this rogue black hole from the State Capitol? Arnold has also declared September "wine month" as his campaign coffers have received 'some bubbly' from the industry too: $1,298,188 from wineries, vineyards and vino distributors.

According to the cosmos law of averages, it is a commonly held belief that at least one star dies every day. Why not raise our glasses and toast the rogues? Who cares if almost half the nation can not get health insurance? The sad truth is that the apathetic -- just like the obese -- make excuses for not taking stands, believing that, after all, it is only the REAL STARS, like Arnold and his mentor G.W., that will shine on and prevail. Only this time, we can do something and vote for Phil Angelides in the upcoming November election.

"It would be a bad day for the solar system if we got visited by a black hole," says Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York's Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Well folks, the rogue black hole, otherwise known as the republican party and its "bipartisan ilk" have locked onto the state of California. Its deceptive gravitational pull is honed to implode and suck up civility, jobs, homes, clean air and every last Humvee -- still think gas prices at the pump are the biggest problem facing the 33,871,648 little stars of California?
-2Truthy

Ann Coulter to Boycott Muslim Immigrants

Ann Coulter needs a new cause celebre.

Godless? Not unless you can fathom the holy trinity comprised of Ann Coulter, Dick Cheney and DRACULA blowing through the Beltway with a brand new makeover... like Mistress of All-Things-Muslim. Now is the time for America to offer up our biggest literary bat in the belfry, Ann Coulter, as the new IMAM MAMA to the Muslim world -- America's token tit-for-tat sacrifice for all the things we have done wrong to incur Islamic wrath.

On the news that British officials uncovered a terrorist plot to blow up ten American bound airliners last week, Ms. Coulter is primed to take on a new cause: boycotting Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. Single-handedly -- and she doesn't even need Tom Friedman's help.

After years of terrorizing the collective American psyche with her book titles that make a mockery of all things literary, even Ann Coulter, with the backing of the current administration, can hardly dispute that there has never been a better time for the Republican party to heap on new immigration reforms that would prohibit corporations, universities and every 7-Eleven from Tonawanda to Tijuana from recruiting Muslim immigrants until worldwide Islamic fundamentalism is eradicated. Let's support Ann Coulter in her bold attempts to rid the world of terrorism by halting Muslim immigration and deporting all suspected terrorists. Even if it means deporting Ms. Coulter, we can all agree that would not be such a bad thing because after all, we are sacrificing America's best-of-battiest to a new cause celebre.

-2Truthy

The Monster In The Basement

Winning the hearts and minds of democratic voters in the upcoming November 2006 California Gubernatorial Election one would think, should be easy. So what's wrong with Kansas -- er, California? Here exists the distubing trend of groupthink -- when a number of educated, upwardly mobile executives who, at one time voted democratic are jumping ship to the dark side. Here in Silicon Valley, voting for corporate welfare policies has never been more en vogue. The Republicans are focused on doing what they do best: that ol' sleight of hand. It is corporate welfare they are peddling, and it can't be good. But the majority of voters have grown weary of this Monster in the Basement -- otherwise known as corporate welfare -- and like the Connecticut voters embracing the new patriotism of change, we too, know that it is time for a change and place our full support behind Phil Angelides for Governor.

Silicon Valley personifies the socio-economic divide as not so much "have and have-nots" but rather "wildly stock-optioned" and "simply or not-stock-optioned", with pronouned lifestyle differences between the two. The sticking point affecting the middle-class voting bloc here (Republican and Democrat) is the wholesale outsourcing and the downward spiral in compensation of high-technology positions; this critical issue is omitted or downplayed by the media in favor of immigration, healthcare and the environment -- not to underscore the importance of these issues.

Yet, as this Monster in the Basement (speaking of monsters in basements, here's a new title for a compelling children's book to exhibit alongside Maria Shriver's 'What's Wrong with Timmy' and 'What's Happening to Grandpa?' in the Sacramento Capitol bookstore) looms larger, the winds of change in this valley have swept up more status quo mindshare thanks in large part to the sitting Republican governor who, under the implicit banner of "bipartisanship", has managed to sway a growing percentage of registered democrat and independent voters by portraying himself as a friend of corporate business (which is the very hand that feeds us here). And, as key executive members of the corporate establishment, We the People have the choice to either identify and morph with the boardroom or, choices be damned and if we're lucky, find work at the neighborhood Home Depot.

The disavowment of corporate owned democracy and the prevailing system of legalized bribery is what the new patriotism is all about. Phil Angelides, with his policies and support of Props 87 and 89 is working to represent us and our children to put the State of California back on track toward health and economic prosperity.

-2Truthy

Phil Angelides for Governor

VOTE FOR PHIL ANGELIDES

Phil Angelides will make a great governor of California, yet every Republican and faux Democrat I have talked to says the following of Phil Angelides: "We don't really know anything about him or what he stands for" and "the only thing he has been doing so far is bad mouthing our Governor" (that would be Arnold S. to those of you outside of California...)

Well California, here is Phil. Remeber him? He is the TREASURER of California and is working to make positive changes in lives of millions of people as our next Governor come November!Visit his website at angelides.com for details on where he stands on the issues.
-2Truthy

Open Letter to Arianna about Angelides vs. Arnold

Dear Arianna,

Although I have not read any HuffPo posts to date (have I missed any?) about your insights and support of Phil Angleides for Governor, I look forward in the upcoming campaign days ahead to your expressed views and presumable support of your Greek California neighbor to the north in this challenging race.

Arianna, there are many wildly over-compensated faux Democrats here in Silicon Valley who breath new meaning into words like "hubris" and "self-serving", having nothing at all to do with the core values of the Democratic party and stand only to gain personally from profitable relationships with Republican politicians and policies. These over-served stock option carnivores manipulate the game with their mutual admiration society venture capital cronies and manage to move into the entertainment industry food chain which is where, and tragically of all places, their myopic, "bipartisan" politics seem to be ending up. Does the State of California really need more Arnold or does Arnold need more Arnold?

Phil Angelides is a person of integrity, who is working to help the eroding middle-class here in California with sound, intelligent policies and endorsements which will bolster our citizens and our economy. Visit his website at www.angelides.com. As Bill Clinton said at last weeks Angelides Beverly Hills Fundraiser, "Republican policies have left middle-class Americans struggling to pay for health care and education while wages have grown stagnant".

If Arnold wins, we get more Arnold not only in California, but for a future presidential bid. On the whole, self-service is the direction we are headed for here in America. Close down the capitol building. Who needs it. Turn it into a movie theatre with Terminator re-runs for years to come. It is a colossal waste of money to maintain and operate when Arnold can sit in his media room at home and televise his potent image and policies to us all any time he wants to. Now that the media is being snapped up by charlatans with too much money and are in full control of what the masses think and how they will vote, capital cities may as well be a thing of the past. Splendid for the self-serving, this devolution of politics. But what about this quaint notion called "society"?

Most truly yours,

-2Truthy


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=7665

P.O.'ed and a Public Aplology

Don't be P.O.'ed...

It has come to my attention that a certain P.O. remains, ahm, P.O.'ed at me for the little Kermit song and prior post to that which depict a certain political celebrity's plastic surgery experience and that if I don't formally apologize before my arrival to Chicago next weekend, he just might not go to any trouble at all to throw my Dad a little birthday party at his house like we had originally discussed, have the pool repaired and filled and the caterers, clowns and balloons lined up by the time I get there. Since goodwill to all is the hallmark of 2Truthy's character, I am formally making this apology in order to clear the air and revive my good standing with P.O.

SO: I apologize for any perceived slight that might have caused discomfort to a certain face-lifted political celebrity and any related parties, but if it is any consolation, I just want to say one thing: face lifts usually start looking A LOT more relaxed as the months go on and I will bet that by now, M. M. is more than likely resembling the younger, youthful M.M. of her early thirties and sporting a more rested and refreshed appearance. Now, I can't really say this for sure since I have not seen any photos of her lately...I'll bet she has got to be knee deep in cow waste over the Valerie Plame fiasco and I really hope that, for her sake, she can get her ouse -spay to help her steer through it before she ends up needing another lift prematurely and is forced to have the job done by one of those third-world doctors in the slammer (OK, I'll stop here as I have to start packing for the trip).

-2Truthy
p.s. remember to try to keep the kebobs limited to chicken and seafood as the beef ones these days are nothing more than "Mad Cow on a Stick".......t.t.

SOFTBALL ANYONE?

Batter Up!

Softball anyone? Outside of the many Sox games I attended while growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I have never been a "big" fan of baseball. But I do admit that in my youth, I really enjoyed playing on the girls softball league during my summers off at the Park.  Although I wasn't very good, I will say that I was a much better pitcher than a catcher and, in particular, my left-handed curve balls were known to strike out the occasional bullies who then would proceed to sneak from the dugout to the bike rack and leak air out of my bicycle tires. I had to wonder if my coach, who looked a little like Bea Arthur, chose to ignore these pissy little antics...


How life imitates the ballpark. Or vice-versa. I must resort to the defacto weapon of choice best known to the Irish: Words. Plenty of them.


You know the ones - those corporate infielders who are rigging the game by purchasing our politicians who then sell out our country, our team. Breaking and changing the rules to suit them, these hardball right-fielders have turned the game into nothing more than stealing home plate. Period. On top of that, they actually manage to get the clueless, gum chewing, brewski bums in the bleachers to root for them instead of the home team! Whether it's Dubai or Dubya, the fact is, we need to recruit a few more heavy hitters onto the team of government; players who are actually serious about cleaning up not just the diamond but the whole ballpark. Winning back the fans. You don't have to read a copy of David Sirota's new book Hostile Takeover to figure out the RBI: that the best and brightest players rarely end up running anything in this corporate values-driven country.


So when you go to work on Monday, take a good look at your boss -- whoever it is -- vice president or president, editor in chief, CFO, wife, film director, coach, teacher or whatever - and then tell me if you don't think you could actually do a better job at running the place. Aside from the occasional boss who has it all, like say, the illustrious Arianna Huffington (I bet she makes a great boss), there are very few of them in charge with any distinguishable, admirable qualities deserving of their posts. I see it all the time out here in the foul territory of Sycophant Valley. Hacks and whores to the establishment passing off hubris and greed for "leadership".


Deplorable phantom foul balls like old H.R. Hornblower, CEO of Nozpix.com - who honestly doesn't have a cultural bone in his body; who secretly yearns to be "hip, and cool" by imposing himself on the talented entertainment community which he knows nothing at all about and has even less to contribute to but is desperate to emulate in order to fill his exploitative, vacuous void of a poseur's life.


Ah, yes, the dog days of summer are indeed upon us and, at the top of the nineteenth inning with bases loaded and the mercy rule nowhere in site, the game will inevitably be called because of darkness.


But don't worry. The season is not over yet. And, anyway, it's only Softball.



-2Truthy

GOP Takes Aim At Public Broadcasting

The Pundit Connection
Lyrics by 2Truthy



Why are there so many songs about pundits
And what's on the other side?
We're just cute puppets they call us the Muppets
We're against an act cruel and snide.
So we've been told that the House wants to sack us
It's up to you kids -- set us free!
Go to your mommies and daddies and tell them
to get money for CPB. (Corporation for Public Broadcasting).

Who said that everyone could afford cable TV
When they don't even have a car?
Some live in trash cans while others eat gourmet hams
Do they know how lucky they are?
What's so important that makes that Pat Harrison
Want to take us off the TV?
I'm really pissed off, at all of the whack-offs,
The meannies, the smug and Cheney.

All of us under their spell,
We know it's both Texas and Hell...

Have you seen Mary Matalin
And have you seen Carvillle?
They're always gnarling like hounds.
Is this the dark sound that calls old Lex Luthor
To deep six us into the ground?
Those two get airplay about their bad hair days
It's something that's not supposed to be.
When will good things matter, above all the chatter
Of meannies, the smug and Cheney.
La, la la, La, la la la, La Laa, la la, La, La la laaaaaaa


My name is Kermit not Dylan McDermott
I'm not as good looking a star...
Is this why Pat Harrison made this unfair comparison
that's what it looks like, so far.
But she and others just like her with money
so much of it we'll never see
How about they all pay to keep us on one more day
The meannies, the smug and Cheney.

-2Truthy

GOP Takes Aim At Public Broadcasting - The Boston Globe
The Rainbow Connection

2Truthy's Take on Mary Matalin's Facelift

Did Mary Matalin have Plastic Surgery? It seems I have been fingered for serving up garlic bread at the wrong house party.

It seems that a friend is wondering if my open letter to Arianna Huffington speculating about Mary Matalin's facelift was "a little harsh." Harsh? Was it the part about Transylvania? Or comparing her new appearance to that of the *fearless* literary impressario, Arianna Huffington?

Harsh? au contraire. And believe me, I personally think any reference to Transylvania is a riot! When I saw Mary's photo shortly after the lift, Transylvania is simply what came to mind. Perhaps so much time spent in Washington D.C. has a way of wearing on one's sense of humor -- making one a little more touchy or needlessly defensive. Just having fun, you know, good natured spoofing.  And, if I saw Mary in person I would certainly tell her that to her face, because that is the kind of person I am -  a straight shooter, just like Cheney. After all, she is a Croat and they're all related over there anyway, hence the reference to the Transylvanian resemblance.

I watched the Blues Brothers last night and laughed as hard as I did when it came out in the 80's. The concept of "truthiness" was not lost on Jake and Elwood.

I wrote this after I read several mean spirited rumblings about her facelift, like "Madwoman of Chaillot" and "Lady McCheney" etc. At least my post is funny. And good spirited. Don't forget that those media pundits receive monetary incentives for their remarks while 2Truthy, who tirelessly toils away at the smelt factory of Silicon Valley and never gives up hope for the American Dream, does not.

I did see a picture of her shortly after the lift and she did look a little too tight or scary, you know, kind of Eddie Munsterish, Halloweenish... Did my glow in the dark, trick store fangs come out, you wonder? No blood has been drawn over my post. And besides, Nobody reads this stuff, right?

In all fairness, and from what I gather, shortly after having a facelift, everybody tends to look like they've been blown through a wind tunnel and back. And then some through a Transylvanian tunnel. Take me, on the other hand. My expectations are modest.

Should the hands of time on the clock of my face be mercilessly moved forward into some unforgiving, international time zone of no return, this Irish girl hopes for a surgeon with all the misanthropic grace and skills of DOCTOR HOUSE (new addition to 2Truthy's Official Party List) who, pray tell, wouldn't use an unsterilized potato peeler.

Whats-more, I'm horribly bored with technology and refuse to even mow my own lawn.  I am a casualty of losing the war on humor.

-2Truthy

I Know What It Means to be Red, White and Blue

The National Minority Anthem

Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe
Catch a hardworking, talented, awesome Entertaining minority by the toe
If he can sing in English
Let him go
Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe

A long day in the cotton field
Another bale of hay
Wrong turn down an alley
And the heat's on today
Got to run to catch up
With the Jones

Nobody said you had a free ride
Takin my family, my music, my pride
Into their hands, they took it away so I moved
to the city and here I will stay
Keepin with me the dream of singin my song
If you listen you'll hear me even when I am gone

My public, my passion, my liberty bells
Now the glory crowd gathers, the glitter, the swells
With song all around me
Applauding and new
And I know what it means
to be Red, White, and Blue

-2Truthy

The National Anthem in Spanish: Jose Can You See?

I am as American as a ho-ho, but is the recent Spanish National Anthem hoopla anything to take seriously? How does the National Anthem even go? Is it "Oh say can you see" or is it "Jose can you see"? Could be!

I forget.... But let's be honest: The last plausible champion of fluency in English is George W. Bush, and so quite possibly he may finally strike a compromise with all of the millions of marching angry immigrants (scheduled on May 1) to acknowledge that, after all, we are a diverse nation of bluebloods, blacks and migrant workers, ALL with varying degrees of English language mastery.

Below is a link from yesterday's CNN headline news which quotes our commander in chief (and this is a gem):
"I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English, and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."

Many Americans, immigrants (legal and illegal) are wondering: "So how come Dubya doesn't have to learn English? As if George W. Bush, the forty-third president of the United States, even knows how to speak English." and
"A few days ago, Dubya denounced the Egyptian resort terrorist bombing as a hay-nee-ous crime. Ya think he actually meant heinous?"

-2Truthy

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/bush.anthem.ap/index.html

Welcome to My Blog

Dear Everyone on My Official Party List,

Welcome to my blog! (tootruthy.blogspot.com.) Blogs are such special places, aren't they? I have included a couple of pictures here so that you can visit anytime you want! Whether you want to sit by the fire in the living room (above center) and discuss the latest speech by Al Franken or just stick around for dinner, savoring the finest Spanish paella dish known in the dining room (above right), there will always be a place for you, here at 2Truthy's.


You know, the BEST thing about having a blog is that NOBODY even reads it! Do you know what kind of freedom that brings to Yours Truly?

Not only do I have my blog digs completely to myself, but I can make as much noise about anybody I want and they WON'T ever know!!! Like that asshole FBI guy, O'Malley, from Kentucky, who has been trolling George Clooney's online visitor guestbook, snooping around all the blog postings, and then posting one himself where he diminishes all the guests as,
get this, "desperate housewives." He then proceeds to tell the whole Clooney guest book that they don't have anything better to do, strongly suggesting that the blog visitors are nothing but a bunch of losers!

Who's the loser, O'Malley? Huh? It's time to open up a can of whoop ass! I'd say that anyone who wears the moniker "FBI" and sits around drinking instant coffee in some sticky, humid room eavesdropping on the phones of old ladies under the guise of the "patriot act" looking for the next shoe bomber is woefully lost....Just what are you and your marshmallow sandwich eating buddies doing by visiting George's blog, anyway? Are you possibly one of those Brokeback guys or what? Well, I have news for you, pal. Clooney is as hetero as they get (right?) and so I think you are looking for love in all the wrong places.

The best thing you can do this Easter, Mr. FBI potatohead, is get yourself one of those Finchville Farm Kentucky hams (finchvillefarms.com), eat the whole damn thing, then eat ANOTHER one, drive yourself down a long, twisty windy backwoods road until you get so carsick you can no longer see straight and find yourself, and your no doubt off road vehicle careening down a jagged, spiral road until you land on the mayor's burnt-out Kentucky bluegrass front lawn and ram right into one of the sixteen rusted out cars parked on it!

So remember, spacefans, that anytime you are invited to visit a blog, always bring a dessert or a fine cabernet and, for Godsake (unlike O'Malley), don't forget to bring your manners!!!!!

And stay tuned for 2Truthy's next gala event (date tba)!

-2Truthy

It's All Water Under the Bridge By Now, But...

Dear Stephen,

I caught your orthogonal interview with Michael Brown where you, at the end, absolved the ex-FEMA chief of responsibility for opening up the flood gates of hell on our predominately poor, African American brothers and sisters of New Orleans. It rocked! You got Brownie to reveal the truth about many things! After the interview, I even drove down to this dark Tenderloin district bar in San Francisco and bought a whole round of watermellon shooters for the patrons there! Anyway, my favorite part was when you showed a picture of yourself posing with a black person and then Brownie admitted to liking black people, too!

When you asked him if he had any help from his friends or cronies in landing the job at FEMA -- even when he was a horse lawyer before that -- I thought you might have asked him if he liked horses better than African Americans. Anyway, you did get him to admit the Katrina disaster was "one giant mess."

Also, Brownie said that he had some jobs in the government even BEFORE he was the horse lawyer and THEN he went on to point the finger at the other Michael (Chertoff), chief of Homeland security, for the hurricane disaster. You might have asked him if he thought a good workman never blamed his tools!

Finally, all of the excitement over the eagle stork and little Stephen combined with the artificial ejaculation hormones may have caused you to go a little easy on the ex-FEMA director. We look forward to many more interviews where you emit the truth from your unsuspecting victims, like Brownie!



Most Truly Yours,

2Truthy

Where Will I Be Spending Easter?

Dear 2Truthy,

Can you or anyone tell me where I will be spending Easter? Hopefully NOT with George Clooney. I just got a call from Finchville Farms http://finchevillefarms.com and they said that some lady named Arianna wants me to visit him. If you hear anything, let me know.

Your friend,

Quincy

Dear Quincy,

Nice to hear from you. The last I heard, Arianna was supposed to think about sending "a ham" -- not you -- to George Clooney to make amends for her boo-boo about George's non-existent post to the BuffPo. I would strongly suggest that you refrain from returning any phone calls to Finchville Farms, but if they keep calling, you may wish to refer the matter to my pals over at the Smoking Gun (thesmokinggun.com) -- make sure to ask for "Mr. Bastone". This is precisely the kind of situation they thrive on handling.

Good Luck Quincy!

-2Truthy

Stephen Colbert to Harpoon ex-FEMA director

And the WORD is: FAME (rearranged letters spell FEMA). It looks like Michael Brown, former disgraced FEMA chief, is getting plenty of it these days, for "poor performance" as he sat up to his proverbial ass in alligators while Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast. Now it is time for him to move on, and what better way to proclaim his innocence and stage a comeback but to fess up to the Father of Truthiness? Oh, Father of Truthiness, we pray that you will find the strength to make the heavens and your stage manager shower buckets of waste water down on Brown as he is seated in your hallowed guest chair... (this might be more up South Park's alley...)

One can only imagine what fun Stephen Colbert will have exploring rumors of the ex-FEMA director's incompetence. Will Colbert sport scuba gear and a harpoon to lampoon Brown? As Stephen runs out on the set to meet his seated guest with the American flag displayed in the background, will we have no choice but to laugh at the disastrous mess that Brown, current and future government employees of the American corporate sell-out machine have left us with? Check your local listings, spacefans, and be sure to toast a few marshmallows by the fire while Colbert takes his truthiest best shot.
-2Truthy

Valley of the Sycophants (Letter to David Sirota)

VALLEY OF THE SYCOPHANTS

from "The Roses Are Red Diaries" by 2Truthy

somewhere in between the poems
lie the bodies of the gnomes
left to trade their wishful end
for a life they couldn't spend

on the things, the stuff, that wasted
time and money as they chased it
the American dream became a whisper
as the sycophants swarmed the blister

wider than the once grand canyon
faster ran the golden stallion
through the prairies, then the towns
technorati donning evening gowns

steely knives would halt the lances
of their greedy, fatal glances
orchid-colored skies swept past
life's easel - but it couldn't last.

one more day a job was lost
then another wound embossed
upon the Valley without chance...
Valley of the Sycophants.
-2Truthy


Dear David Sirota,

In reference to today's article published in the Philadelphia Daily News, "Workers on the Slag Heap of History",http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/14174641.htm

let's talk about the "dying class" -- the educated, once "upwardly mobile" middle class, urban/suburban population being outsourced to poverty.

The "Slag Heap" is not only rampant in Anytown. It is happening right here -- in Silicon Valley, or "Sycophant Valley"(tm 2Truthy), a place where innovation and "top notch" talent was once the mainstay. Right here, there are scores of people out of work as the "leaders"-- our very own neighbors -- of technology corporations and start-ups recirculate dollars within their mutual admiration societies by outsourcing just about everything to India, thus compromising quality and displacing their own neighbors.

What no one is talking about is the prevailing shadenfreud, envy and mean spirit. Did you happen to catch the Bill Moyers interview with Clyde Prestowitz? As the global economy grows, a distinct form of greed spreads like a disease as the educated, wealthier "haves" trample over the educated "lesser haves", thus throwing them into the "have not" ditch -- since there is no longer a middle class ditch for them to wind up in. Scores of once "upwardly mobile" people with advanced degrees swarm the emergency rooms here without health insurance, forced into bankruptcy with no place to go, and cannot find work in even menial labor pools as increasing numbers of illegal Mexicans and Indians have sewn up the bottom end. You see, we are a "unique" community here in Silicon Valley and have witnessed many flights of sycophancy that should not, nor need not occur. Is this our future? What about our teenagers who are leaving for college and their prospects?

They have a saying in Texas: "It's time to let the horses out of the barn". So the question becomes which 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, if any, can we put our money on to enact labor policies at the local level which reverse this plundering and prevent the exodus of our needed jobs? There, I said it. the "P" word.


As you state in your article printed in the Philadelphia Daily News, "These reverse Robin Hood tactics are everywhere. At both Delphi and United Airlines, executives have used bankruptcy to enact massive cuts in wages and pensions - while cementing millions of dollars worth of new bonuses for themselves." You zero in on the problem at the Top and at the Bottom -- but what about the Middle?


Most Truly Yours,

-2Truthy

Arianna Implored to Send Clooney a Ham

Hi Arianna and BUFFingtonPost Team,


Not to beat a dead mammal, but my readers are wondering if there has been a clear-cut, undisputed reconciliation yet with George Clooney.

May I suggest sending the Oscar winner a Kentucky country ham (most appropriate given his Lexington, KY roots) with a handwritten note asking his forgiveness? For your convenience and that of your staff, I have included a link below.

As you know, Easter is right around the corner and from what I understand, George has a pet pig (or had one) and could consider the gesture a fine olive branch on your part!

Thank you for your consideration in executing my suggestion as we believe that it is in the best interest for all of your dedicated BuffPo readers to see that this little pig-in-a-blanket is put to bed.


Most Truly Yours,

2Truthy
bloggrl-2truthy1@yahoo.com
2truthy.blogspot.com

http://www.finchvillefarms.com

What's For Dinner?

YOU ARE

Hannibal Lecter, world renown celebrity chef, is now available to prepare high protein, low-fat, exotic

meals in the comfort of your very own

home. Let Hannibal rattle every taste

sensastion in your body with such fresh and exclusive sushi-style, mouth-watering ingredients available to you from Asia. "Having Hannibal in my kitchen allowed me to stay later at my pilates class while he prepared my husband a gourmet meal before his flight to Kyoto -- I can't wait to hear about it! Thanks, Hannibal!" -Susan Bagsby, widow

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article352535.ece

Emm, Emm, GOOD!

-2Truthy

Clooney Misrepresented by Arianna Huffington

George Clooney Misrepresented


Last week, The Huffington Post featured a blog submission purportedly written by the talented Oscar award winner and film director, George Clooney. It wasn't. As the stunned George Clooney later stated in a news conference, he shares the sentiments of the content of the blog and admitted to making some of the statements printed which proclaimed his liberal views. Specifically, Clooney did not actually write the blog, citing that he "did not know how a blog worked."

The Public Domain is a strange beast. Although George admitted to sharing the printed views and statements, Ms. Huffington, or make that Ms. BUFFington (Arianna has had some work?) as reported in the LA Times (3/16/06) by Elizabeth Snead, stated that approval came from Clooney's publicist, Stan Rosenfield, to "use his words in a blog" to run in the Huffington Post.

Well George, you did the right thing by zeroing in on the TRUTH and by pointing out that you simply just did not write the damn thing -- however much it preached to the choir! You must be an Irish Catholic and not a Protestant or a Scientologist. I am with you in solidarity on this one, George!!! If I were in Hollywood, I would haven taken you out for a corned beef and cabbage bash and toasted a green one to you! In fact, You have just earned a spot on 2Truthy's Official "You're Invited To My Party List"--
ABOVE Arianna!

Most Truly Yours,

-2Truthy



P.S. I sincerely do not believe Arianna meant to show any inconsideration over the blog incident. She has since removed it.http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/400029p-338931c.html

DANGER: EXCLUSIVE EXPOSE FROM THE SMOKING GUN

Dear Mr. Bastone and the Rest of the Smoking Gun Editorial Team,

Thank you for your revealing article http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0320061lady1.html today about that guy in Ohio who wears a dress and a wig to libraries and then performs indecent acts upon himself (better him than the janitor...) In particular, I really loved the part where the Smoking Gun describes the perpetrator having "the bracelets slapped on him"...he must have LOVED that! Did he see Transamerica, I wonder? What is the world coming to?

My readers are however, curious to know if he is going to serve any hard time for this outrageous offense, since many of them are parents with children who frequent libraries, unarmed and without squirtguns, who could potentially mistake him for the librarian. Should he for some reason get off with a slap on the wrist or worse -- escape from Federal prison and potentially terrorize unarmed, unsuspecting kids and their nannies, will you keep us here on the Left Coast posted?

Most Truly Yours,

2Truthy
bloggrl-2truthy1@yahoo.com
Los Altos, CA

P.S. Just one more thing: I lifted a couple of pictures of the perp (above) and stuck them both on my blogspot (so my readers can be on the look out). Can you sue me for that? Please let me know. Thanks again,
t.t.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

from "The Roses Are Red Diaries"

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY
by 2Truthy

Roses Are Red
On St. Patrick's Day
I Dye Them All Green
And Give Them Away

To Friends With an Accent
Oh, Irish for One or
Another Who's Polish
Like Pat, Just for Fun

But When We All Gather
For Corned Beef and Cabbage
With Noses Pinched Tightly
We'll Toast Charlie Babbage

To Whom We Are Grateful
For A Model Invention
A Kind of Computer
That Luddites Don't Mention

Yet With It/Without It
Should We Be In Awe
Is The Modern Computer
The Best Thing We Slaw?

Ah Yes, Back To Cabbage --
And Old Charlie Babbage
For Without Chuck I trust
This Poem Is A Bust!

If We Make it Alive
With This Shuck and Jive
And The Green Beer Starts Flowing
Then This We'll Be Knowing

On St. Paddie's Day
While Your Heart's Are All Gay---
And the Emerald Isle Glows
Singing Magical Prose


And Others Around You
That Mean Something Dear
And The One's Who Have Left
Who You Still Wish Were Here...

T'is A Cyberspace Jingle
And A Best Thought Or Two
For The Luck O' The Irish
To Find And Keep You!!!
-2Truthy

SERVE SOMEBODY: BOB DYLAN REVISITED

2TRUTHY NEWSFLASH 2TRUTHY NEWSFLASH 2TRUTHY NEWSFLASH

Man Hits His Own Car Then Sues Himself 

We don't make this stuff up. When a Central Valley, CA dump truck driver backed into a car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck. But that minor detail didn't stop him, a California city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault. Read more here.

-2Truthy

"You're Invited To My Party" List

2Truthy's Official "You're Invited To My Party" List

1. louie
2. maryscott o'connor
3. jersey cynic and blondesense liz
4. kathy griffin
5. citizen carrie
6. mark roberts
7. paul hipp
8. sheryl
9. that guy who plays House on "House" - Hugh Laurie
10. stephen colbert
11. melanie
12. arianna huffington (maybe)
13. alice
14. david sirota (on probation for crossing over to the dark side)
15. rick
16. kate
17. bobbin and len AND porter
18. james spader
19. brian
20. alec baldwin (no kool-aid will be served to alec)
21. barbara
22. ellen
23. dave
24. al franken
25. anna
26. susan sarandon and tim robbins
27. james woods
28. dad
29. jim carrey
30. aunt patsy
31. kathy griffin
32. andy
33. mick jagger
34. george clooney (on probation 11/7/06 for voting for the Gropinator)
35. mimi
36. agnes
37. phil angelides, family, and '06 staff
38. gladys knight
39. les and rene
40. robin williams
41. jon stewart
42. christopher guest (leave home jamie lee curtis because she likes Arnold)
43. sandy
44. linda ronstadt
45. pat (probation lifted 3/15/06 with less than satisfactory outcome...back in the hole 8/15/06; out of the hole 1/15/07)
46. owen wilson
47. carol g.
48. aunt margaret
49. steven wright
50. the entire cast and crew of now defunct 'Arrested Development'
51. janet and dave
52. ellen degeneres and portia
53. steve and lucy
54. jon stewart
55. weasely
56. terry
57. julianne
58. matt dillon
59. roseanne cash
60. steve
61. eddie murphy
62. uncle greg
63. bob weir
64. cousin dan
65. mary
66. bill clinton
67. katherine
68. warren beatty
69. annette bening
70. debra
71. stephanie
72. martin short
73. mr. riggs
74. kathy veder
75. jerry seinfeld
76. barbara
77. nancy
78. ted kennedy
79. pam
80. maura
81. johnny
82. terry f.
83. jan and brad
84. ruthie
85. cousin sally
86. peter f.
87. mary matalin (only if she brings Carville and only if the two of them stop pandering to the corporate welfare machine(...I hear crickets chirping...)
88. paul
89. bobby
90. jack nicholson
91. carol
92. rosemary
93. diane keaton
94. steve martin
95. shannon
96. cathy
97. wendy
98. paula poundstone
99. "sense of humor" chuck
100. lou reed
101. nate
102. ira ruskin
103. bob dylan
104. larry david
105. marcia ball
106. liz
107. margaret k.
108. john edwards and his lovely wife, elizabeth
109. celtic woman singers
110. joaquin phoenix
111. dan brown
112. mr. terry
113. shawn
114. henry
115. oprah

My Dad, The Raven

t'was a dark stormy night
the rain no end in sight
a serendipitous mood
while he read to his brood

snuggled up on the chair
each one listening with care
for their daddy's voice going
to tales Edgar (Allen) "Poeing"

a knock-knock and a wrapping
they waited for tapping
then scared sounds delighted
while Michael was frighted

yet the older ones knew
that the tales were not true --
but were they or not ---
the kids never forgot

his lyrical voice did the vision rejoice
the soul coming 'round to
the place that he found
peaceful, profound

Always the poet but the
last one to show it
that he shunned the Great Stage
for the sage with the page

That haunted, dark space --
with infinity times laughter
and knowing his love
lives on ever-after.
-2Truthy

Cowboys and Smashed Pancakes

In 1982, Brian and Rick travelled to San Francisco together on business and shared a hotel room together. After the end of a long day, they retired to their individual beds for the night. Almost asleep, Rick recounts Brian's last words of the evening: " You know, there could be an earthquake right now and this ceiling could fall down on us and smash us like a couple of pancakes."

-2Truthy

Picnic, Lightning

It is possible to be struck by a meteor or a single-engine plane while reading in a chair at home. Pedestrians are flattened by safes falling from rooftops mostly within the panels of the comics, but still, we know it is possible, as well as the flash of summer lightning, the thermos toppling over, spilling out on the grass.

And we know the message can be delivered from within. The heart, no valentine, decides to quit after lunch, the power shut off like a switch, or a tiny dark ship is unmoored into the flow of the body's rivers, the brain a monastery, defenseless on the shore.

This is what I think about when I shovel compost into a wheelbarrow, and when I fill the long flower boxes, then press into rows the limp roots of red impatiens—the instant hand of Death always ready to burst forth from the sleeve of his voluminous cloak. Then the soil is full of marvels, bits of leaf like flakes off a fresco, red-brown pine needles, a beetle quick to burrow back under the loam.

Then the wheelbarrow is a wilder blue, the clouds a brighter white, and all I hear is the rasp of the steel edge against a round stone, the small plants singing with lifted faces, and the click of the sundial as one hour sweeps into the next.

—Billy Collins, from Picnic, Lightning, University of Pittsburgh Press (March 1998)

Getting Under The Hood

is there anything there?

Is the computer the great equalizer
that leaves nothing behind
in front or in back of
a truly great mind

Or is it a channel
a "laugh track" of sorts
that makes us all roll
in the aisle with great snorts

When one reads someone's blog
is it with care or prying
if they might somehow prosper
by stealing or spying

A great idea or two
or someone's awful writing
would leave the soul hungry
for others' delighting

In revelry Or comradery
a notion of TRUTH
is a ray of sweet sunshine
at life's candy booth
-2Truthy

JON STEWART'S PERFORMACE WAS SHEER IRREVERENCE

...which made it thoroughly amusing (in particular, that hilarious, quick launch into L.A.'s moral deficiency). It was a refreshing departure from the same old safe, sycophant-style, church-like Oscar host content we are typically subjected to. A true comedian, who's name is Jon Stewart, happened to subtly skunk out the garden party over at the Kodak Theatre's 78th Academy Awards shin-dig. I loved it.

As for that now oft quoted observation about Stewart's "nervousness", isn't that a key ingredient to his intelligent comic appeal? To me, he came across like he always does on his show: smart, witty, quick to ad-lib, and irreverent. Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg were, to be sure, mediocre hosts that distinctively personify the "we're in the club and you wish you were" zeitgeist that "outsiders" like Joe Six-Pack and I find a little irritating. At its very worst, Stewart's performance might have been a little like putting a Rabbi -- let's make that a GAY Jewish, Female Rabbi --- in the pulpit at a Catholic Mass. What could possibly be more sacred than a little misplaced irreverence?

-2Truthy

KICKBACK MOUNTAIN

2006 BEST PICTURE AWARD goes to

KICKBACK MOUNTAIN

"Don’t try to understand em', Just rope, throw and brand em', Soon we’ll be living high and wide...My heart’s calculating My true love will be waiting Be waiting at the end of my ride." Rawhide

-2Truthy

2Truthy's Best Actor/Actress 2006 Oscar Picks

Best Actress: Felicity Huffman (right)(TRANSAMERICA). I know she bears a striking resemblance to Dustin Hoffman's 1982 memorable Oscar nominated performance as a cross-dresser in TOOTSIE but when is the next time we will be treated to a transsexual crossing the country on a road trip with her troubled teenage son? It's finally time for The Academy to start showing a little appreciation for the talent, creativity, guts and balls these guys/gals or whatever have to spread a little insight and truthiness to the cinematic masses (Or is it Filliam Muffman, as Stephen Colbert would say?)

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (above left) (WALK THE LINE). This guy did Johnny proud. Amazing performance. With this performance, Joaquin has made it to 2Truthy's "You're Invited to My Party List", you betcha. Plus, he actually did his own singing good enough to shake the clay off the Man in Black.

2-Truthy