— Bumper sticker of the week: If liberals hated America, we’d vote Republican.

— Quote of the week: “If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, when would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?” Stephan Levine

— Ties: I never did like ties. Ties remind me of a noose. They tighten around your neck in subtle little increments until you’re choking on someone else’s dream.

— Where would I be if I weren’t here?: A question that crosses my mind almost daily. Would life be better somewhere else? I suppose people ask that same question in Cancun, San Diego, Pensacola Beach, Hawaii, Paris, Tuscany, Eugene, Vancouver, all those places I’ve thought about calling home at one time or another. I don’t know, but when I get to one of those places, I’m usually more interested in getting home. In the end ,the place is not near as important as the people around you.

— Rosa Parks: “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.” All she wanted to do was get home after a day of long, hard work. That refusal to move to the back of the bus started a revolution. We white folks owe her a deep level of gratitude for helping us to move along life’s evolutionary path. So thanks Rosa, and so long. Rest, after a life well lived. Now it’s up to us.

— The lovely sound of Bush hitting the bottom: Six in ten Americans have doubts about the President’s honesty. Only 32% believe Bush is handling ethical issues well, lower than Bill Clinton ever scored in his entire presidency. Bush’s overall popularity is at 39%, a new all-time low for the Washington Post/ABC poll. He was all but kicked out of Argentina last week while attending a regional summit to push his plan to cheat poor countries in South and Central America over trading deals. His closest friends and confidants are being indicted, one by precious one. 55% of Americans believe the President intentionally misled the American public in making a case for war. (This should be 100%. Apparently a lot of right-wingers can’t read.) 60% now believe the war is not worth fighting. Bush’s blatant lying and ignorance have cost us 2000 American lives and countless Iraqi deaths. All over a lie! And everyone knows it. That is, if you can read.

— Torture is our new national pastime: Baseball has been bumped down a notch or two. I would have never guessed, in this lifetime, that the United States, in the Twenty-first Century, would be advocating and pushing for the use of torture. It is beyond my wildest imagination that the Bush administration is arguing for its use and that the Supreme Court is taking up the question. (This is as sickening as a court ruling on “intelligent design.”) Of course, on the other hand, perhaps it would not be a bad idea to use torture to help get to the truth with Libby, Rove, Cheney, and Bush, concerning giving up an undercover CIA agent as payback to her husband for having the audacity to question the war in Iraq. Still, I doubt it would work. These guys are really good at deceit and treachery.

— Right-wing, Christian, Republican, fundamentalists way too serious: I’ve always thought one of the least virtuous attributes a human being can possess is a lack of imagination. Right-wingers are way too stiff, too traditional, way too literal. Right away they get upset if you call them holy pranksters, or compassionate tricksters, or the keepers of crazy wisdom. They need to take themselves a whole lot less serious.

— IRS after church for preaching against war: A church in Pasadena is under investigation by the IRS for an anti-war sermon delivered at the church. The IRS is wanting to revoke their non-profit status for breaking an IRS commandment: Thou shalt not preach against those in power. Apparently the IRS commandment holds more weight than the Moses one: Thou shalt not kill. Anyway, the IRS agreed to drop the investigation if the church admits wrongdoing. The church said no thanks. I say amen. (In the 70’s, I must have given at least 20 sermons against the war in Vietnam, from numerous pulpits. I never knew I was breaking the IRS law. Sorry.)