How the Chicks survived their scrap with Bush

...the group weathered the storm of outrage triggered by Maines's expression of shame that President Bush was from her home state of Texas...within days, their music vanished from the charts and the airwaves, apoplectic rednecks crushed piles of their CDs with tractors, and the FBI was feverishly monitoring death threats against the trio. "It was the bullying and the scare factor," shudders banjo and guitar player Robison. "It was like the McCarthy days, and it was almost like the country was unrecognisable." The Chicks can't hide their disgust at the lack of support they received from other country performers.

"A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism."

"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism."

A trifecta this month from the democrats. Hit a cop, no problem. Repeatedly get trashed on drugs and then drive into something, get a free ride home from the police. Take some bribes, get videotaped doing it, stash the cash in your home freezer (?) and get caught with that too...don't dare say anything about it or you're racist.

These are the people elected by the same voters who bring you such treats as Marion Barry and Ray Nagen. God save us.

Painkiller patch abuse blamed for deaths

ST. LOUIS - Justin Knox bit down on the bitter-tasting patch, instantly releasing three days' worth of a drug more powerful than morphine. He was dead before he even got to the hospital. At least seven deaths in Indiana and four in South Carolina since 2005 have been blamed on abuse of the fentanyl patch, along with more than 100 deaths in Florida in 2004. About a week after Knox's death in Farmington, Mo., in March, a second man in the same county was prescribed the patch legally and died after injecting himself with the gel that he had scraped from it.

House Dems Vote to Remove Jefferson from Committee Assignment

Jefferson has not been indicted and maintains his innocence. In remarks to reporters, he conceded that "serious allegations" swirl around him. The FBI claims that it videotaped the Louisiana Democrat last summer taking $100,000 in bribe money and that agents later found $90,000 of the funds stashed in a freezer in his home. Two men have pleaded guilty in the probe, including a former aid to the congressman and a businessman who admitted paying bribes to the lawmaker. Watt said that constituents of some lawmakers will adopt the view that race was a factor in the decision. "I think there are people who will say that's the basis," he said. Blacks are among the Democrats' most loyal voters.

Art gallery loses its head, displays plinth

LONDON (Reuters) - One of Britain's most prestigious art galleries put a block of slate on display, topped by a small piece of wood, in the mistaken belief it was a work of art. But the slate was actually a plinth -- a slab on which a pedestal is placed -- and the stick was designed to prop up a sculpture. The sculpture itself -- of a human head -- was nowhere to be seen.

Cocaine killed prisoner, inquest told

A massive amount of cocaine killed a woman who was carrying concealed drugs while she was in police custody, a coroner's inquest heard Wednesday.

The inquest has heard Sanderson was carrying a bag of cocaine in her vagina the night she was arrested by Saskatoon city police and placed in cells.

What's That In The Road, Ahead?

A Nampa man told police he was involved in a homicide in Nampa at the scene of an accident on Franklin Road that killed a woman and her child this morning.

A severed female head flew out of the truck and fell onto the roadway when he crashed into the car.

Police say the head is not from someone involved in the crash.

Nampa police then went to Time's house and found the body of 47-year-old Theresa N. Time, Alofa's wife.

Two women were seen going into the house and were later escorted out screaming and crying.

ORLANDO - As Tropical Storm Alberto threatened to strengthen into the ninth hurricane in 22 months to affect Florida, former President Clinton predicted Monday that Republican environmental policies will lead to more severe storms.

CEDAR KEY - The first tropical storm of the season raked northern Florida with rain and wind gusts Tuesday but didn't blow up into a hurricane as forecasters had feared. The storm's top sustained winds were 50 mph, well below the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane.

In nearby Steinhatchee, a small fishing town in the Big Bend, life already appeared to be returning to normal. "The locals consider this a mosquito breeze," said Bruce Tayco, 33, who works at a restaurant. "When it's a tropical storm, we don't even consider it."

(WASHINGTON - It has been reported that the sheer amount of hot air blown by Clinton, Gore and 87,230 superexcited, hyperventilating weather reporters across the nation has done serious damage to the ozone layers residing far above your head. As these non-scientists begged and hoped and prayed for a hurricane, they were shouting louder and longer to be heard over each other and scientists assume the noise levels alone have shifted cloud covers and caused major damage, proving once and again that these morons will say or do anydamnthing that comes to their minds to get some attention. Republicans cause hurricanes. Jesus, Mr. President Clinton, sir. All due respect here, that's just...weak.)

Funny DUI

La Grange - Zz top with Brooks & Dunn

ZZ Top - Legs

heart of glass

This is the video that shows why she was known by many as the most beautiful woman in the world.

Two die as hardline Islamists ban World Cup

Hardline Islamic courts shut cinema halls and barred residents from watching the World Cup, prompting scores of civilians to protest the ban in which two people were killed, court officials and residents have said. The gunmen loyal to the Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), cut electricity, cleared cinema halls and warned residents against watching the football tournament in areas they control, forcing a violent protest late on Saturday in which two people were killed, residents said Sunday.

(These Islamists are my favorites! What a wild and crazy bunch of guys to go around with guns ready to kill people watching foosball in the name of religion and do it all with a straight face. Seriously, these folks make pederast priests look like pretty reasonable people to have as neighbors. Somehow they don't seem to tie it all together, their pseudo-religion, harsh poverty, murderous uprisings...it just all escapes them.)