Hollywood, in general though not in total, seems to be rallying to the defense of Roman Polanski, admitted child-rapist. This includes the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Whoopie Goldberg, and Peter Fonda, to name a few.

Whoopie, for example, says it wasn’t “rape-rape.” Apparently, there’s rape, and then there’s rape, and a 43-year-old man drugging, then anally penetrating a 13-year-old girl isn’t rape, it’s just ‘rape’, and heck, if we’re going to start sending people to jail for that, where will it stop?

Read the full article »

3:09 A.M.

I sat up suddenly in bed and squinted through the darkness. Marley shook his head, jangling his tags to let me know he was also awake.

“How long have you been up, Bubby?”

Marley just sighed. I heard him stand and walk towards the bedroom door.

“OK, Bubby, just a second,” I slipped out of bed and into my slippers. “I’m pretty parched myself and I have too much on my mind to get back to sleep anyway. Might as well get up.”

Marley sighed…

Sometimes I really do wonder what goes on in the heads of celebrities, and nothing demonstrates the weirdness that is celeb-world more than Madonna. Some people when their marriage goes belly up buy a new car, get their hair restyled, buy a new pair of posh shoes, but Madonna trumps all others by buying…another Malawian child. A girl this time, to match the boy she bought last time, after all, why buy the shoes and not the matching handbag?

Leaving aside the fact that Madonna has bypassed all the usual systems for adoption…

I’ve never been a flag waver. While I am deeply thankful that I was born in the United States, I’d never make the statement, “proud to be an American,” because that indicates ─ to me, at least ─ that it’s an accomplishment I did something to earn.

Instead, I consider myself “lucky to be an American,” whereas I think it’s my father, born in Sicily, and having had to make his way into the country, and then having to work to become a citizen of it, who can rightfully use the word “proud.”…

INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION

FROM: Satan
TO: Minions
RE: The United States of America, Planet Earth

It looks like we’re finally making some real progress in the United States of America. Naturally, as your Supreme Leader, I take credit for the brilliant idea. But it was our diligent force of minions working tirelessly there, who carried out My plan so well. Indeed, using the Christians against themselves, without even one of them suspecting our ultimate goal, was a group effort of pure genius. So, I’m going to extend cautious…

With folk looking to lessen their impact on the environment, the subject of burial has popped up. It makes for a very interesting discussion.

In Oz, cremation is used for 90% of burials. That is a total turnaround from the early 1900’s when it was very rare not to be buried “6 feet under“. When cremation was first discussed most folk were horrified by the thought of being burnt. Now, the idea of being eaten by worms seems to be regarded as horrific. The “worms” description is a misnomer in any case. With modern caskets and…

…And I have wrinkles, receding gums, and a higher income tax bracket. But there are some benefits to aging, believe it or not. If you were paying attention at all, by the time you’re over fifty like me, you’ll have learned something about life.

The following are some things I now know for sure to be true:

1) Being ‘sexy’ doesn’t necessarily come from having youthful, physical flawlessness. No matter how old we get, women (and men) can still exude sensuousness by their enthusiasm for people and new…

Who remembers the ones who have been lost and have not yet returned?

In Latin America, forced disappearances are done for political reasons. The disappeared ones, as they are called, or los desaparecidos. It is the political version of genocide. People thought to be politically dangerous for any reason at all ─ one night they are just gone.

In America, we have our own ‘disappeared ones.’ They do not disappear for political reasons. They aren’t targeted by the government or a group in opposition to said government. The force behind it…

I am cleaning out my apartment today, purging things I no longer need, anticipating the move I will make in two months to a nicer, more quiet neighbourhood. I’ve stumbled upon a little pile of candid photos of my mom that date back as far as the late 40’s when she was simply a little wee thing.

In one particular photo, she is around three years old. She’s sitting in her aunt’s lap in a meadow, her socks pulled up over her shins. She has on a white dress with modestly puffy short sleeves, and a…