Michael Vick submitted a hand-written letter of apology to the Federal Judge who decided his 23-month sentence. In the letter, Michael Vick accepts responsibility for his actions and that his actions caused the death and suffering of numerous pit bulls.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and am ashamed that my actions hurt animals and allowed animals to be hurt and killed,” he wrote. “. . .I just ask for a second chance.”

He goes on to say that dog-fighting was a common occurrence where he grew up, in the projects of Newport News, Virginia. According to Vick, he knew drugs and guns were wrong, but that dog-fighting never got anyone into trouble, so he did not know it was a criminal action. He asks the judge for leniency, stating that he is a “humble, soft spoken and caring” father of three who basically just made a huge mistake. An error in judgment.

Michael Vick almost had me until I really thought about what he was saying. On the one hand, I am surprised he did not die trying to lie his way out of this. On the other hand, he never accepts 100% of the responsibility for it either. He says that he does, but he does not. I am glad he is taking some level of accountability for his actions, but he is insulting the intelligence of the people who once looked up to him by making this asinine claim that he was somehow oblivious to the blatant cruelty that is dog-fighting. He grew up in poverty and I am not denying that dog-fighting is a common activity in certain subcultures. But how could he lay claim that it never dawned on him that it is wrong? It is wrong on so many obvious levels.

To me, you can’t be a humble, charitable, loving person and also kill dogs for money. It is not possible to do such sociopathic, hideous things part of the time and then go home and be perfect the rest of the time. If I could rewrite Michael Vick’s apology letter, it would go like this:

Dear Judge,

What I did was entirely and completely reprehensible. I killed and tortured living creatures to make a profit because I had no regard for living things other than myself. Now that I have gotten in so much trouble, I realize just how wrong it really was to murder pit bulls and force them to kill each other. I have a new appreciation for this once-inferior life-form and I vow I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it right. I realize that I will never be able to completely undo what I have done to these poor creatures, but I will spend the entirety of my life trying to come as close as possible.

Sincerely,

Michael Vick

That would have been so much closer to the actual truth than the other garbage he submitted. The truth would have been worth more than his endorsements from George Foreman, his mother, and God Himself combined. Excuses do not become you, Michael Vick. I think you ought to try something closer to my version for your next judge in Surry County when you get nailed there, too.

©2007 LBB

There are some people in the U.S. who I wish would fore-go their voting privileges this next election. Unlike Ann Coulter, who says she would gladly give up her right to vote if the rest of the nation’s women would do so because they elect Democrats- I just want people to be informed before they go off to the polls and help elect another George W. Bush. If people can, in good conscious, elect someone like him and know exactly what they are doing, they are entitled and justified to do so. But there are too many people in this country who do not pay enough attention to the candidates and rely solely on what they hear through word-of-mouth encounters, or worse, what they are hearing from the candidates themselves. As we all know, there is no such thing as a trustworthy politician, but I think we should all try to find one that doesn’t completely disgust us and one who values the U.S. Constitution.

To further illustrate my point, there is a little gem floating around cyberspace right now. It is an open letter to the American people which is signed, “Jay Leno.” Well, there are a couple of problems with this letter. One problem is that it was not written by Jay Leno at all. It is an internet hoax which started in September 2005 and was written by this guy. The other problem is that the letter is serving its intended purpose: to attract and misinform people by representing itself as being written by a celebrity. The letter calls Americans “spoiled brats” who have everything that they need and should stop complaining about the government and focus on their liberties. There are a lot more than a couple of problems with that.

World War II-Era Popeye Cartoon

I have seen this letter posted in numerous bulletins by friends I have on Myspace.com. None of these friends are particularly politically savvy or active and it bothers me that this drivel is being used as propaganda to target people exactly like them. The letter rails against people who are politically on the left, creating a sense of entitlement and self-righteousness. It is veiled by references to the Patriot Act, which is in and of itself propaganda. The Patriot Act’s name was designed to scare people into supporting it in the sense that if you do not, you are not patriotic and must hate America. I know that nothing I say can make a person care about politics if they just don’t care, but if people want to be part of the political process, why should they spend the rest of the presidential term feeling like they have to defend their misinformed vote when everything starts going to hell in a hand-basket? People are too proud to admit to mistakes, which is why half of the people who voted for Bush in 2004 won’t admit it was a mistake, but mark my words: our next president will be a Democrat.

Now-Infamous Ad about Tennessee Congressional Candidate, Harold Ford

The letter in question is just one of many tactics that are commonly used to try and sway ignorant people to their side. In the world of politics, this can be crucial. Just as Hillary Clinton and Rudy Guiliani are counting on the votes of the currently undecided, so has every other major presidential candidate since the beginning of time. The currently undecided tend to be politically neutral and many times tend to also be young people between the ages of 18 and 25. The Right-Wingers are not the only ones guilty of this. Liberal activists use these types of hoaxes all the time to try to get attention and support for their issues. In October 2002, an email began circulating on the internet claiming that 25 women in Congress orchestrated a walk-out during a vote to protest use of military force in Iraq. The letter did not even manage to name factual people in Congress and no such thing ever occurred. In this case, the attempt was to sway women in particular into an antiwar mindset.

It seems an overwhelming amount of young people in America believe to a startling degree some of the garbage that circulates on the internet and this makes me sad. My plea is to stop being ignorant, get involved, and make an educated choice on what kind of person you want to be our next president. It may not be interesting now, but eventually it will be when high school seniors are being sent off to war or the government is throwing you in jail indefinitely without charging you with any particular crime, or when your phone is tapped for no real reason other than it’s legal. That’s what the government calls patriotic.

©2007 LBB

• Hillary Clinton
• Barack Obama
• John Edwards
• Dennis Kucinich
• Joe Biden
• Bill Richardson
• Chris Dodd
• Mike Gravel

I watched the debate this evening in its entirety and I have a synopsis for all y’all. First, I just want to say how I feel everyone did this evening. If I had to choose a winner out of the top three front-runners (Clinton, Edwards, Obama), it pains me to say that Hillary is not it for tonight. Edwards clearly won this debate, Clinton second, and I have no clue what was up with Barack Obama tonight, but it wasn’t pretty. Ordinarily, Clinton manages to outshine her competition, but tonight I saw some hesitance and an unusual amount of side-stepping in her answers. Edwards continuously took control of the debate and the issues and even though I find him to be a very cheesy guy, I give him the winning title. Barack Obama did not make any substantial flubs, however, his presentation was flat and unenthusiastic most of the time he was speaking. Unfortunately, there is not much to report on ol’ Barack except that his favorite story in the Bible is the Sermon on the Mountain. . . and, yeah, who cares?

For the lesser-knowns, I can say that few of them made a lasting impression on me. Dennis Kucinich is obviously a sharp guy with strong convictions. However, strong convictions + ultimate power do not always equal the best interest of the country. Even though I consider myself to be a liberal in most areas, Dennis is simply too liberal, even for me. He is a likable enough character and I can definitely see why he has a very loyal fan-base.

Dennis Kucinich sings “Sixteen Tons”:

Governor Richardson comes off as a human being more so than the others because you can see that he makes a lot of mistakes in his debates that most seasoned politicians would not make (and he admits to it). He has an impeccable track record in politics and, as he made sure to boast tonight, has been nominated four times for a Nobel Peace Prize. Pretty impressive really. His platform from the beginning has been that he has experience in foreign relations (to include hostage negotiations) and also is an established diplomat who wants change for the U.S. of A. I do agree we need a president who stands for change in addition to one who has tons of valuable experience, however, I also think we need a president who can articulate what he is going to do and how he feels on certain issues. That is where Bill Richardson struggled tonight, but I still have to keep my eye on him because I find him very interesting.

Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, and Mike Gravel did not leave much to be desired. Of course I realize that in these debates, the lesser-known candidates are not given as many questions to field. Mike Gravel was kind of a funny old guy. He was presented with an opportunity to set the record straight about having filed for bankruptcy due to a $90,000 credit debt. In essence, he loudly proclaimed, with much fortitude, that he did not pay back the creditors because they didn’t deserve to be paid back. While I tend to agree that credit card companies are a shady racket, it sends a terrible message to people that it is OK to rack up nearly $100,000 in debt and not pay it back simply because you think credit card companies are evil. It also highlighted Hillary Clinton’s point for the U.S. needing to embrace financial responsibility. Still, it made me chuckle that he had no qualms about announcing that on national television. As for Biden and Dodd- meh. So-so, but to tell you the truth I don’t really remember much about what either of them had to say.

At this point in time, I do support Hillary Clinton for President in 2008. I was a wee bit disappointed by her answers this evening. There seemed to be an awful lot of rhetoric and tip-toeing, even for Hillary. I do not envy her position, though, so I can kind of understand. The people who hate the Clintons, really hate the Clintons. The people who like them, really like them. All of the people who are neutral and have yet to pick a candidate to root for are the ones Hillary is trying to impress. Many people in my generation know only one or things about Hillary: that she is married to Bill and that Bill had sex with an intern half his age while he was President. So, it stands to reason that Hillary would want to downplay the negatives and focus on getting people to forget about that for a second. I did like her answer tonight regarding torture. She was faced with a hypothetical situation: If the United States captured the third most-wanted guy in Al-Quaida, who just so happened to know the location of a bomb set to blow up the U.S. in three hours, would you temporarily allow that person to be interrogated via torture in order to save the country? Of course, Hillary said no and then it was revealed to her that her husband was given the same question on Meet the Press and he had answered yes. Hillary looked straight ahead and said, “Well he’s not the one standing up here right now, I am!” I thought it was a brilliant move to a very cheap shot by Tim Russert.

Hillary Clinton on Meet the Press:

© 2007 LBB

Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader of a sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, King Wacko of Wackoville , was found guilty as an accomplice to rape today in St. George, Utah. I do have to say I am a bit more than stunned. I was fairly hopeless that a jury of Warren Jeffs’ peers in Utah would come to a guilty verdict all on their own. What I need to know now is how many of the jurors who found him guilty were Mormon. Though there had been much ado about the questionnaire that was used during jury selection, it would be only logical to assume that out of 300 potential jurors, a substantial number of them were, themselves, Mormon. It would be illogical to assume that anyone who answered “yes” to that question was immediately dismissed; this would throw the whole “jury of your peers” idea out the window. So was this guilty verdict legit or was it an effort to show the American Public that there is a “denouncement” of polygamy and young brides (in this case, young brides forced to marry and have sex with their own cousins)? If that’s not the case, then isn’t it about time Utah changed the legal age of consent to a slightly logical number? As it currently stands, 14 is the legal age of consent in Utah. With that, I am happy to see Warren Jeffs behind bars, but this isn’t over. Sentencing still looms and that could change the entire precedent, couldn’t it?

As for Michael Vick, the dog-electrocuting quarterback, I am pleased as punch with the State of Virginia today for deciding to amass a grand jury and indict Vick on two more counts stemming from his bankrolling and participation in Bad Newz Kennelz, a substantial dog-fighting ring. In case you have been living under a rock for the last couple of months, the FBI seized dozens of pit bulls from Falcon’s Quarterback, Michael Vick’s home in Surry County, Virginia. They also found equipment commonly used in these types of outfits, including a rape stand for dogs (it is exactly what the name implies), treadmills, fighting pits, and even dog blood. After about a day of fervently denying the charges, Vick pleaded not guilty, then accepted a federal plea bargain which will likely include jail time. Now that Virginia has followed suit and indicted him on two more charges (animal abuse and engaging in dog-fighting, basically), I don’t even care that the only reason they did it was to save face- after all the Feds got him first. Eh, it’s fine. After hearing that public apology Michael Vick gave, I am convinced he was sorry- sorry that he got caught. I hope any other states that can prove Bad Newz Kennelz operated there will prosecute him and his cronies as well until there is no one left who can prosecute them.

WARNING: Graphic Images

Saving the best for last, it all comes down to this for Republican Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. He has, in effect, withdrawn his guilty plea for disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport public restroom, where he allegedly attempted to get some anonymous gay lovin’ from an undercover police officer. Fine. Except that the grounds for the withdrawal are that he was not advised to seek counsel before entering his guilty plea. If a United States Senator can’t figure out he needs a lawyer, then America is in bigger trouble than I thought. Not to mention, the man signed waiver after waiver and then sent his plea in through the mail almost two months after the fact. None of his buddies on Capital Hill have his back and they want him out A.S.A.P. For them, it’s good riddance because Idaho is a red state, so his successor will undoubtedly be a republican. Nothing lost, nothing gained. I giggle at the thought that Larry Craig expects this to pan out. And if it does, apologies will be made by me in an upcoming blog.

Watch the 1999 interview with Larry Craig where he calls Bill Clinton a naughty boy:

And now, a little diddy provided by some brilliant guy and courtesy of the Youtube.

Stay tuned: America is full of nasty, naughty boys with an limitless supply of antics and tomfoolery just waiting to escape into the media.

©2007 LBB

Holistic medicine is generally defined as an approach to overall health and wellness that concentrates on all aspects of a person’s life: physical, emotional, spiritual, and social. Generally, believers in holistic medicine subscribe to a school of thought where pharmaceuticals and surgery are a last resort and as long as there are alternatives, they remain the last resort. The idea is to give the patient a sense of personal responsibility for their becoming a healthy person and to encourage natural substances and practices (massage, acupuncture, etc.) rather than pharmaceutical ones. Sounds great, right?

I think, for the most part, it is hogwash. I think it can also be dangerous hogwash if used to dissuade a sick person from seeking conventional medical attention. There are certain herbs, teas, and minerals I think are great. For example, I take fish oil capsules every day for my heart and skin health. I do not in any way deny that natural supplements are helpful to a certain extent. Am I going to stop taking my beta-blocker because I was told by a naturopath that flaxseed meal is effective for treating hypertension? No. There have been a number of other supplements I have tried with an open (and hopeful) mind which did not do any of the things they led me to believe they would do.

• Grapefruit Seed Extract- I was told by a nurse I worked with to try this for a bladder infection. I was still feeling the burn after 3 days and went for some good, old-fashioned amoxicillin. I felt better in one day.
• Valerian Root- I have been an insomniac most of my life. Valerian root was, in essence, worthless. Back to the Benadryl. ZZZzzzz….
• St. John’s Wort- Tried this for a time I was mildly, yet persistently depressed. After a month, I gave up and went on to Celexa, I felt a lot better in three weeks.
• Stevia- A close friend of mine suggested I try this natural sweetener. I tried it and it tastes like crap. I will stick with aspartame, thank you.
• Hoodia- This herb is supposed to be the weight-loss miracle pill. Took it as directed for two weeks. Still as hungry as ever.

Where I have reservations about homeopathy, specifically, as a holistic approach to wellness is its lack of scientific proof. If you go to see a naturopath and explain your symptoms, there are going to be a million and one supplements you can take to help battle your problem. A common occurrence is to be told you have a compromised immune system and should take x, y, and z to resolve the problem. But, the difficulty with that is that a naturopath cannot test for immune system problems and so, even if you take the supplements recommended, you have no way of knowing two important facts:

1. Whether or not your immune system was, in fact, compromised in the first place.
2. If your immune system has improved because of the supplements prescribed.

I have a good friend who believes whole-heartedly in holistic approaches. I was complaining one day during a conversation we were having that I was having difficulty losing weight. She said my thyroid may be functioning improperly and “I am sure there is an herb that can stimulate the thyroid.” OK. The problem there is that I have had my thyroid checked many times and it is functioning normally. Upon telling her this, she continued to insist that the only reason I am having trouble shedding pounds is my thyroid because it controls metabolism. There seems to be an herb for everything, but no data to back it up. Then, when studies are performed that do not support the naturopath’s purported cure, traditional medicine (the very same that is paying for these extensive studies) is attacked for trying to debunk homeopathy and drive them out of business.

The Food and Drug Administration now requires homeopathic medicine labels to be clearly marked as “dietary supplements,” and for good reason. So many people look to herbal remedies without first consulting a doctor. Imagine walking through the grocery store and seeing a bottle that claims to cure hypothyroidism. If a person with the ailment didn’t know any better, they might jump to the logical conclusion that this is an acceptable replacement for their Cytomel.

It is mind-boggling to visit the various herbal remedy sites on the internet and to learn that in case of dysentery, all one needs to do is take some chestnut bud or crab apple. Yet, each site has a convenient disclaimer stating that dysentery is serious and requires medical attention. The site will then go one to list many different herbs that will “cure” dysentery. Use of the word “cure” is what I take issue with. The traditional treatment for dysentery is antibiotics which kills the parasites causing infection. The idea that eating a wild apple will cure a parasitic, dangerous infection is absurd. For every herb, fruit, root, and mineral out there, there is a list a mile long of all the various diseases it can cure. . . from tuberculosis to sore throat to sprain.

So, I recommend a person be wary of alternative treatments as a cure for anything and think of these supplements as either complimentary treatments to go along with traditional medical treatments, or to be prepared to be disappointed. If you are not disappointed, that is great, but I would be willing the bet the placebo effect has a lot to do with it.

© 2007 LBB

O.J. Simpson was questioned Friday in connection with an alleged armed robbery that took place in a Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, The Palms. Well, two days later is Sunday and The Juice has been arrested, booked, and held without bond. Here are the charges, folks:

• Two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon
• Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon
• One count of conspiracy to commit a crime
• One count of burglary with a firearm

Oh my, my, O.J. I do believe this is not so pretty good for you indeed! These are the charges as they stand now, but it is believed that O.J. will, in the end, face seven felonies and one misdemeanor charge. O.J.’s defense will rely largely on conflicting eye-witness testimonies and also on the premise that Simpson was retrieving items that were stolen from him in his own self-proclaimed “sting operation.”

Will O.J. be able to finesse his way out of this one now that Johnny Cochran is dead and there are likely to be surveillance images involved? Does O.J. even have enough money to buy himself another get-out-of-jail-free card? No doubt, this case will soon be dominating the airwaves and sparking yet another round of O.J.-bashing and formations of new-and-improved O.J.-rescue leagues.

I, for one, have grown sick to death of seeing O.J. on the news prancing and bopping and giggling down the street as if to say, “Ha Ha, suckers!” I was pretty young when O.J. was acquitted of the double-murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her “friend” Ron Goldman, but even then, I smelled a rat. I was old enough to understand that the entire thing was a joke; and a sad, cruel joke at that. A lot of light has been made of the Simpson case and what a huge outpouring of racial debates, political debates, and ethical debates it has raised since the famous jury verdict was read. The facts still stand for me that O.J. Simpson clearly got away with two brutal murders and (almost) everyone knows it.

If O.J. Simpson is convicted on even one of the felony armed robbery charges, he faces up to 30 years in a state prison. To me, it seems this may be the chance many have been waiting for to put him away for a long, long time. He won’t get such a select jury in Vegas and he likely won’t have anyone coming to the courthouse with a glove that doesn’t fit him. The tapes are still being reviewed and many other facts of the case have yet to come out, but this time he may actually be on camera.

©2007 LBB

Ahhh, the post-Labor Day season is upon us. We can all brace ourselves for a year of campaign ads, presidential debates, and that feeling we all get when we feel hopeful for change. Yes, come November 7th, 2008, we will all be lining up at the polls to select the next President of the United States. We could be seeing history made in these upcoming elections. Depending on who gets the Democratic nomination, we could be seeing our first woman president or even our first black president. It’s too bad for the Republicans, though, that they don’t seem to have a single viable candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Fred Thompson finally announced his official run for office on the Tonight Show, but there’s already a black mark emerging for Thompson. According to the president for National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, Fred Thompson lobbied for them in an effort to bar a policy originally enacted by Ronald Reagan. This doesn’t look good for the candidate many republicans are hoping will resurrect the ghost of Ronald Reagan.

Mitt Romney has been labeled a flip-flopper, also has a questionable history on the abortion platform, and has even been called a flip-flopper by Planned Parenthood, who say they have documentation that he was in full support of Roe v. Wade. But, fear not! Mitt Romney also will staunchly defend the Second Amendment because he is an avid varmint-hunter, himself, you know.

Rudy Giuliani has never claimed to have the social convictions that are so prevalent among Republican candidates. He is pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-gun control, pro, pro, pro. I couldn’t care less that he is on his third marriage, but it seems to really incense Republicans. This is exactly why Giuliani doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of ever being president. Some say that the way he handled 9/11 as Mayor of New York City is enough to get him into office, but I am skeptical.

So why can’t the Republican Party find a single “straight-shooter” among them? Is it impossible to do or are the values they hold so close to their hearts a wee bit hard for even them to swallow? Is it finally becoming apparent that the world is moving steadily forward and, therefore, so are the Republican candidates’ morals? I hope so.

It is hard being an Elephant in 2007.

©2007 LBB

Are we going to hold Jerry Lewis to the same standards as Isaiah Washington? Is Jerry Lewis going to lose his job over this? (Does Jerry Lewis have a job?) The man is 81 years old and raised$63 million in one day for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I’d be willing to place a wager that his latest faux pas was merely a product of his time and that it was just an innocent blunder. Let’s give Jerry another chance?

Most certainly, affected parties have issued statements of disappointment and of offense towards Jerry Lewis and his choice of words. “It . . . feeds a climate of hatred and intolerance that contributes to putting our community in harm’s way,” said Neil Guiliano of Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). I agree whole-heartedly that it is an ugly, contemptuous word, but does it now become Jerry Lewis’s responsibility to raise awareness for gay and lesbian issues? It seems that is what GLAAD is hoping for, stating they would like to give him the opportunity to raise public awareness of the destructive nature of these slurs when used with a humorous intention.

I say: Accept Jerry Lewis’s gracious apology and move on. For all the good he has done over the years, I think it’s even.

©2007 LBB

No more grass for the fallen war heroes to rest peacefully under for all eternity. Why? Well, didn’t you know that El Paso is going to run out of water any day now and if we continue to water the grass at Fort Bliss National Cemetery, El Paso will suffer a demise only comparable to Armageddon?!

Before I continue, let me just say that El Paso boasts at least 13 golf courses and a state-of-the-art water treatment plant which treats, at capacity, 40 million gallons of water per day. We can somehow afford to water the 13 or more golf courses in the city, but proper burial for our servicemen and women is going to drive us to a drought? This is typical government corner-cutting– the very same corner cutting reflective in military salaries as it is, by the way. The worst part of this whole deal is that I don’t even know when it happened. I have not driven by the cemetery to see it for myself and the first I have heard of it is in the opinion column of the El Paso Times (go figure). Knowing about Operation Rototill at Fort Bliss would have been news. Instead, I see front-page articles about how an astronaut who lived in El Paso thirty years ago is going to outer space. Yes, and underneath his photo, the caption reads: El Paso Astronaut. *rolls eyes* If serial murder became cool, El Paso would brag about the Night Stalker.

So from the same city who brought you El Paso Astronaut, now we have nothing for the soldiers who pay the ultimate price. Nothing but mounds of dirt, I am assuming. Texas and El Paso try to cash in on Fort Bliss’ existence and image every chance they get. Now for the love of money, if you are a Fort Bliss soldier and you give your life for your country, you will be buried in an arid, banal, and disrespectful cemetery for your service.

Despicable.

©2007 LBB

Today, as I was having lunch at a local restaurant, I was approached by a man carrying a shiny, new Apple iPhone. Taken by surprise, I frantically blotted away the hot mustard from the corners of my mouth and looked up. The man asked if he could borrow my phone because his battery had died. I was a bit skeptical considering the battery life of an iPhone is supposed to be about 3 years and 4 months, but agreed to let him borrow my phone anyway. After making a roughly 1-minute call, he handed my phone back and further explained his predicament. He told me he had left the charger for his iPhone in a hotel room and never got it back. He said he couldn’t get a new one because they are expensive.

Come again? The man spent between $500 and $600 on a cell phone! I wished the man luck, but on the inside I admit I was laughing a little bit. The United States is quickly becoming the most disgustingly materialistic place in the world where everyone has to have all the newest junk before anyone else (to the extent that they will camp out overnight for a video game system or cell phone). Only in America have people been shot and killed for a pair of Air Jordans or an mp3 player. The sad thing about the situation today is, I bet this guy saved up for months for a phone he now can’t use until he saves up enough for a new charger. I watched the man walk back over to his table, sit down, and resume his web-surfing on his iMac. I, on the other hand, had to drive my 10-year-old car home and turn on my three-year-old desktop computer to write this blog.

©2007 LBB