Very Cool Shoes!

I was visiting over at Geek Thug and found a very interesting link. Way cool! Tripping shoes needed for this link.

The Zoom Quilt: Neverending Pictures

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Shoe News

Interesting news I found today

African Nobel Prize Winner says HIV Created in Lab for Biological Warfare

NAIROBI, October 12, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan ecologist and the first African woman to win a Nobel prize, said Saturday that HIV was created deliberately in the laboratory as a biological weapon. "Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys (since) time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that," she said at a press conference following the announcement of her receipt of the Nobel prize. Maathai received the prize for her environmental work in preventing deforestation in Africa. {more here}

President Bush's Radio Address for Thanksgiving
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As Americans gather to celebrate this week, we show our gratitude for the many blessings in our lives. We are grateful for our friends and families who fill our lives with purpose and love. We're grateful for our beautiful country, and for the prosperity we enjoy. We're grateful for the chance to live, work and worship in freedom. And in this Thanksgiving week, we offer thanks and praise to the provider of all these gifts, Almighty God. <>We also recognize our duty to share our blessings with the least among us. Throughout the holiday season, schools, churches, synagogues and other generous organizations gather food and clothing for their neighbors in need. Many young people give part of their holiday to volunteer at homeless shelters or food pantries. On Thanksgiving, and on every day of the year, America is a more hopeful nation because of the volunteers who serve the weak and the vulnerable. [more here]


Call to Police Backfires on Father
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- A father's attempt to teach his daughter a lesson about drinking backfired when the teen led police to a stash of drugs and weapons inside their home.

Kevin Winston, 46, called police at 2:45 a.m. Friday after his 16-year-old daughter came home drunk and unruly. When police arrived, however, the girl told them she feared for her safety because her father stored drugs and weapons in the home.

The girl led officers to a crawl space above the ceiling where they found four semiautomatic guns and more than 600 vials of cocaine.

Winston was charged with numerous weapons and drug charges. His five daughters were placed in the custody of a relative.

"He called us on her and ended up getting locked up himself," said Newark Police Director Anthony Ambrose.

Townsend says Black Family Channel entertaining, responsible
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Robert Townsend first caught the film industry's eye with 1987's "Hollywood Shuffle," a clever satire about black actors trapped in demeaning roles. Now he wants the country to pay attention to what he calls a new kind of television, entertaining but with a sense of responsibility, especially toward young black Americans.

Black Family Channel, which Townsend joined as president and chief executive officer of production five months ago, is starting an ambitious slate of eight new programs geared for children, teenagers and families.

"With this network, we want to give people a sense of quality, integrity programming that speaks to them," Townsend said. "We don't want to be an old-school network where people don't want to tune in, but we want to get back to some of those old-fashioned values." More

Man Has Sixth Finger and Toe Removed
TRENTON, N.J. - For Tirso Furcal, having a sixth finger projecting from one hand and an extra toe on each foot made life in his impoverished country, the Dominican Republic, even more difficult.

AP Photo

The condition made walking painful, caused the stone-polisher frequent injuries and blocked his hopes for better-paying work.

Now, thanks to the generosity of a hospital and surgeons in Jersey City, the extra digits have been removed and Furcal, 41, is healing quickly. Next week, he will return to his wife and three children in his village, Brisas de los Palemeras, a region where several other residents, mainly children, also have extra fingers and toes.

"The majority of the time, it interfered with everything I did, especially when I had to lift up heavy stones," Furcal said through an interpreter.

"The surgery was a success," he said in the interview, eight days after his Nov. 11 surgery at Jersey City Medical Center. "I'm hoping things will be better."

He now plans to go to school and pursue his dream of a career in electronics repair, something previously impossible because his deformity prevented him from getting his hands inside electronic equipment.

His left hand had a full extra finger sticking out from the side, forming a "Y" with his pinkie. {more}

Company Makes Gems From Loved Ones' Ashes

ST. LOUIS - Proving that diamonds indeed are forever, a widower got a gem of a keepsake made from his late wife's ashes this month: a 0.35-carat, round yellow diamond.

The synthetic stone, ordered by a man in his 40s shortly after his wife's death from heart disease in May, is the handiwork of LifeGems.

"It was beautiful, really pretty," funeral director Paul Baue said of the stone ordered by the widower, who requested privacy and declined to be interviewed for this story. "It's a great way to pay tribute to someone's life."

That LifeGem was the first sold in the St. Louis area, according to the suburban Chicago-based company. Three-year-old LifeGems estimates it has crafted nearly 1,000 of the diamonds — what it calls "the most unique memorial product ever invented" — for about 500 families. [ more]

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Santa is Real! ( At least for this year!)

dirty Fila and I were walking in the house from being out and I told her she needed to clean her room. I threw in the season was near and that Santa could see her room with clothes everywhere. She informed me that there is no Santa and that the kids at school told her that it was the parents who were buying all the presents. What is a mom to do? Keep the magic alive of course!

I immediately told her that she had been told something not correct and that I personally believe in Santa, as old as I am. She gave me a look with a quirky smile. (Like yeah RIGHT!) I told her again that I did and that if she did not believe she might not get anything for Christmas. She gave me that same look again.

I told her that she had better take the comment back somehow...like go outside the front door and look up at the sky and say she was sorry. She gave me that look again. "Okay," I said. Just remember that you have to believe to receive. dirth Fila has already written a 50 item christmas list and it is sitting on the coffee table. She gave me that look again.

I began to do the dishes and dirty Fila was doing something in the den. A little while later I heard the front door open and I wondered why. I went to the door and it was cracked. There was dirty Fila on the front steps looking up at the sky and telling Santa she was sorry. I tiptoed back to the kitchen.

Yes...Santa Claus is real! dirth Fila still believes!!

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Blog of a Cat

DAY 752:
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761:
Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 762:
Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.

DAY 765:
Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to plan..


DAY 768:
I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid? My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.


DAY 771:
There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer." More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.


DAY 774:
DAY 774: I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The Bird on the other hand has got to be an informant. He has mastered their frightful tongue (something akin to molespeak) and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal room his safety is assured. But I can wait; it is only a matter of time...

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Thanksgiving Day So Far...

Well so far the day has been pretty uneventful. It is still early. I have just finished breakfast and will begin to bake that Key Lime Cake for dessert at my parents today. It was a mad scramble at the grocery last night for just a few things to make a cake. The lines were very long.

dirty Fila woke up on the wrong side of the bed. All I am getting so far today is attitude. She can be very tiring at times with that. What did I do? Tell her to pick up the clothes in her room that she has thrown everywhere. I am sure there will be more drama to come.

Update on the scandalous shoes in the office. The secretatian pool is now polarized on opposite ends...those for Skank and those for Mini Witch.

My parents, mom, rather, said she got 2 turkeys this year. One to bake and one to fry. She says I will have to do the frying. I am afraid of that. That seems like a very fire prone way of cooking. Better me than my 70 year old parents. I wish they had never bought that fryer. I told them never to do it ...that I would. God only knows what would be the outcome if the hosue caught on fire.

Deliver me from turkey fryers and children with bad attitudes on Thanksgiving day!

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Pilgrim Shoes and Pilgrim Lore

What the pilgrims did with their shoes was mysterious! Often times pilgrims placed shoes with in the walls of their homes. Why?

Historians believe shoes were placed within walls, under the floors and within chimneys of the house to ward off evil spirits and ensure good luck to the occupants. Concealing shoes is an age-old custom, undertaken in secrecy, and so shrouded in silence that historians were not even aware of it until the middle of this century.

Its origins date from pagan customs of death and sacrifice, and while contemporary man might laugh at the thought of a shoe warding off evil, there are rare incidents of people hiding shoes in walls today.

June Swann, a British historian, has been documenting cases of concealed shoes since the late 1950's; and she has come across about 1,600 shoes in England, United States, Australia, Russia, Turkey, and China. She attended the annual meeting of the Honourable Cordwainers Company at Plimoth Plantation in late October, and she told her story:

Rusty Moore, master shoemaker at Plimoth Plantation, said the custom of placing shoes in the walls date from the Middle Ages and was a family tradition. Historians have also concluded the custom is an outgrowth of the earlier practice of sacrificing animals or infants within a new building as a sort of blessing. But why shoes? Because the leather is the skin of an animal. "Shoes", said Moore, "were valuable in the olden days; folks could only afford one pair at a time. Those found are usually worn completely away."

"A Tale of Shoes by Robert William III pub. Nutmeg Gratings, Connecticut 4/18/98 pub. Mayflower Newsletter, Utah 5/1998"

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Scandalous Shoes! Just Scandalous!

Okay. I thought today that the secretarial pool was going to be turned into the WWE Secretarial SMACKDOWN! OMG. Never had I seen so many women in shoes snarling and fighting and trying to stab each other with high heels. It was vicious. A down right bruhaha!

Mini Witch Shoes was in rare form today. A little background on her shoes. She is the earthshoe wearing type and lives in clogs and berkenstocks. She left her desk and was talking to Skank Shoes. Now Mini Witch is very religious and is often the one trying to solicite people to go to church with her. That in itself is annoying as she is a jehovah witness and will break into some sort of testimony in a heartbeat. She tends to be very blunt and tells it like it is. I get along with her fairly well. She is always pleasant to me.

Skank Shoes started a few years ago and was totally wild in everyday....party girl basically and was into all the men. Married, single...it did not matter to her. What Skank Shoes was doing was doing all the men she could in the office. She was performing oral sex on some men in the office... often... and it got out. She does not see this as having sex. She is very hard to look at. Not attractive in any way. She has some sort of phsyical defect and her body is twisted and very oddly shaped..legs, arms, waist. She is mangled. Not her fault but she is very mangled.

Well Mini Witch was at Skank's desk and she must have smelled something. Mini Witch told me later after the big blow out what happened. They were talking and Mini Witch smelled something and to her it smelled like sex. She told Skank that she smelled like sex and that she was in a public place, around others and that she needed to have better hygeine. No that was not it ...I prettied that up for the blog. She told Skank that she needed to go to the store around the corner, buy a douche and go to the ladies room and use it. OMG! The shoe heels and claws came out.

Those two were yelling and screaming about sex , smelling and douching in the office. We all listened with our office doors opened. Mortified! The big boss was out of the office and I know the level of shouting would not have reached that level if she had been here.

Classic Court came in to see me and told me to go do something as the managers of those two pairs of shoes were out. I did not want to touch that with a 10 foot pole. I waited just a few more minutes to see if they would cease the madness. It continued. Finally I got up and approached Skank and Mini Witch. I told them that the yelling in the office had to stop and that they needed to go outside and discuss that situation. The men in the surrounding offices and some in the pods were peering at me and looking very nervous.

I told both of them this sounded like a personal matter that did not need to be discussed here in the office. They needed to take it outside...not the office door...but the office building to the parking lot and do not come back until whatever this was was over. I told them this matter was not to be discussed EVER again INSIDE this office. Then when they came back in , each of them needed to find their shoes, put them on and get back to work. It is year end. We have goals and numbers to meet and December 1st is next week.

Skank and Mini Witch both went outside, talked and came back about 30 minutes later. Mini Witch is upset and feels she did nothing wrong by telling Skank about her smelling. I told Mini Witch that hygene and smells can be an office/personnel issue better to be addressed by a manager. She understood but this was something she thougth a little different and that she would address herself. She said Skank does not smell everyday....just this day in particular and a few others.

I asked her to look at in reverse...to put herself in Skank's shoes. How would she feel if someone just walked up to her and told her she smelled and needed to go douche? She said she would feel just fine and that if her deodorant failed and she had smelly pits and someone told her that..she would be fine also and would go buy some deodorant and use it in the ladies room. She said she would be grateful.

There was no way to get her to see that her words were the wrong thing to say. Of course she then began to spout bible verses at me.....cleanliness is next to godliness. That was all I needed to hear. I was out. I took my shoes and went back to my office and closed the door. I mentally dared Classic Court to come in and ask about the earlier din.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Key Lime Cake

A girl in another unit brought this in for her unit. She let me try a small piece. Boy was it good! It melts in your mouth. I plan to make it for Thanksgiving! It will make your shoes jump for joy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1 small box lemon instant pudding (approx. 3 oz)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp. key lime juice
• .
• Key Lime Glaze
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup key lime juice

PREPARATION:

Beat eggs; add water, oil, lime juice, instant pudding and cake mix. Beat with electric mixer until well blended. Pour into well greased and lightly floured 9"x12" pan. Bake approximately 50 to 55 minutes at 325 degrees. Prick top surface with fork while still warm, about 5 to 10 minutes out of the oven. Pour glaze over cake. Leave cake in pan.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Chaotic Shoe Monday

Today started off on the left shoe. I woke up late, could not find any shoes to wear and just threw on something black. So then I needed black shoes. I could not find my nine west clogs
I got last fall so I was forced to grab the dress, pointy toed, roach killer, high heeled mules with the silver buckle. When I got to work all dressed to the nines, everyone else had on casual shoes and casual clothes to match. I had fogotten the memo from the big boss late last week that she was allowing us to wear "jean casual friday clothes/shoes" all week. At least I was not totally alone. My assistant, Classic Court, who speaks only the queens english and is the warrior princess of the sardine wars and office farting also had on a dress. She rarely dresses down. Maybe that is an English thing.

When I checked my email I had gotten one from my manager that she wanted to go to lunch as thanks for good phone report results last month. Lunch out is always nice but on a monday which can be hectic, it threw a wrench into the day.

dirty Fila was not any help either. I oversleep and we both were late. She missed the bus and I had to driver her to school so I was late. My shoes were in overdrive this morning. The lunch was with some others who I also did not particularly care for. But what to do? It is work, lunch on the company. You do not have to like everyone, you just have to do your best to work with them. So off I went to lunch with one of the biggest corporate sharks in the office. She was my old pod partner...you remember her: Satans Spawn in very evil shoes! God I am so glad my office was moved. She really is evil.

That hour was over and thank god I could get back to my desk. I am now sharing a space with someone who was just tranferred into our unit. She is a really nice girl....just a bit too talkative for me. I will call her Finishing shoes. Why? Because she has the very annoying habit of finishing your sentences with you. I do not know if she is aware of doing that but she completes the ends of everyones sentences in unison with you. I find myself quickly changing my vocabulary so that the words are not the same. That drives me crazy and today it drove me insane. Most likely because I really had on frazzled shoes while I looked cool and calm on the exterior.

Now my shoes are kicked off and I am having a nice big glass of wine...a nice merlot by Sutter Home. Tomorrow is a new day and I will be wearing a different pair of shoes. Casual ones.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

The Christmas List

Okay..dirty Fila has just presented me with a list that has about 50 things on it. I told her that Santa's sleigh could not possible get off the ground with all this stuff. I will be back to comment on what was on it as soon as I get finished with it. KIDS! Gotta love 'em.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Can I really have a Coke addiction?

I really think I am addicted to Coke...not the drug but the pop...Coca-Cola. When I was in my early thirties, I recall haveing to have 2 cokes a day and If I did not have them, I would have to go out...no matter what time it was and get them. That went on for about a year. Then I decided, I needed to stop drinking so many so I cut them out just about completely.

These days I drinks soft drinks maybe once a week. I never buy them at home. This weekend, there was a sale on the 12 ounce mimi bottles of Coke and I bought one....a case. On my god! I have been like an addict with those Cokes. The only good thing is that once they are gone, they will be gone and I will not gt any more. I have had 4 today. That is just too much sugar and caffeine.

Boy do they taste good. I feel like I know, I could have at least one a day now and be good. Can I really have a coke addiction? Maybe this was my weekend binge...I have fallen off the coke wagon. Doesn't coke have small bits of real cocaine in it? I know it used to.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Mini Crisis

I looked in the mirror on Thursday and decided I needed a new look. Hair would be the only thing I could change right away so I decided to dye my hair. It has gone from dark brown to a light brown. I picked out a color called honey blonde. I thought it would be lighter than what it turned out to be. Next time I will go even lighter.

It looks pretty good. I thought I would have a very noticeable new look. I have a subtle one. On well. It looks different in the mirror. It may be lighter outside that it looks inside. I feel different so I guess that was the outcome. Last weekI felt all frumpy. Now I feel lighter and blonder.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Schoolgirls Bake up A Poison Cake for Classmates

OKAY! When I heard this story below I was appalled. It is really sad. You would think that if you have a school party and parents/kids bring things in for a party or a treat that it would be safe to eat.

Supposedly the girl who whipped it up has some sort of mental illness/disease but that is no excuse. A cake with bleach, glue and expired prescription drugs! It is a wonder noone was killed. What is this world coming to?

How would you feel if you were one of those parents? The father of the girl who who baked up the cake is saying it is all a prank gone bad. Should she be excused because she has some sort of mental problem? I do not think so. I think she needs to stay right where she is now. In jail. She might be the next female "JIM JONES!" Remember him? The cult leader who killed all his cult members with the poison kool-aid.

She is the next female Jim Jones.


~~~~
The father of one of two 13-year-old girls accused of serving poisoned cake to about a dozen students said Thursday he and his daughter were sorry it happened. "It was a horrible prank that went too far and a lot of people have suffered," the father told The Associated Press. The man asked that he not be identified by name to protect his daughter. The girls were held on assault charges Wednesday, a day after handing out the cornbread cake at East Cobb Middle School. Lab tests showed the icing contained an expired prescription drug, bleach, clay and hot-pepper sauce, police said.

Eleven students who ate it were treated at a hospital and released. Both teens were charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit murder. One girl was also charged with terroristic acts and interference with government property. Both are still in custody, the father said. Because the investigation is ongoing, Cobb Police Department spokesman Dana Pierce declined to comment on exactly how dangerous the cake was believed to be, saying only that it was potent enough to cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The father said the two girls had been bored Tuesday and began playing around in the kitchen. "It was not any kind of malicious intent," he said. "They thought it would be funny. They know it's not funny now."

The father said his daughter was diagnosed this summer with Asperger's syndrome, and that doctors told him the girl should not be in a conventional school setting. Asperger's is an autism-related condition characterized by social and communication deficiencies.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

One Shoe in the Grave

My brushes with death are growing in number. I really do not tell people about them because the few times I have, people have not really believed that I was near death. They thought I was making more of something than it really was. I unfortunately was not. You have to be there in that time and space and just KNOW. I knew that death was very near me, but I was saved each time. It was not my time to go. You get that feeling that something is very wrong or about to happen and it just may.

I have come to believe as a result of these brushes that we all have an appointed time to go. No matter where we are, if it is our time, you will leave this earth. So with that even what seems to be a random murder is not really random. It was the persons time to go. You think that if someone is murdered if only they did not go to that dark deserted parking lot or leave that window unlocked for some stranger to get in the death would not have happened. I think it still would. On that same day and at that same time. If the window were locked the stranger would get in. If they did not go to the deserted parking lot, it would happen some other way because it was their time to go.

I don't like believing that really, but I have no choice. The situations that I will blog about in a few minutes, run thru my mind at least once a week. That we all have an appointed time when the universe calls us back makes me wonder when will mine be. I was talking several months ago to a coworker who lost her husband in an unsual death and another coworker chimed in that "if only he had not...". The coworker who lost the husband said that it was his time to go and even if he had been at church or work that day, he would have died regardless, as it was his time to go. I was shocked. Someone who thought the same as I did. We did not discuss it as she had just lost her husband and I did not want to upset her that day. Since then we have and she does believe as I do that death is not random as it seems to be. When it is our time...no matter how sudden, random, violent or soon it seems, it is your time to go and you will be reclaimed by the universe in whatever manner neccesary to get you to the hereafter. The universe will realign itself to take you at that time no matter where you are.

I will just list these odd places in time in no particular order because as they happened, I did not place a lot of stock but when I look at them all together, Iget a very different picture.

• When I was a child, my parents, brother and I had gone to a church service at night. the church itself was in the city and in a good party of town, however to get out of town we had to pass thru some not so great areas. We always traveled with our doors locked. We got to a traffic light and there were some men about 1 carlength behind us standing on the sidewalk talking amongst themselves. We were all looking ahead at the light. I was looking for some reason at the men. I had a very weird feeling althought they were still standing in the same spot they had been when we approached the red light. All of a sudden 4 of the men surrounded our car--a man at each door. They were going to attack us, kill us whatever. I yelled for my father to go and he jammed on the gas. 2 of the men had grabbed the back door handles possibly thinking the 2 kids in the back had the doors unlocked. The were dragged a few feet and they let go. We were all shaken about that. It was not our time.
• A few years ago I was leaving for work at about 7:45. I was leaving my development and it was a spring day. I had my window about 1/4 of the way down, doors locked. I turned out of the development and there is a short little access road there before you get to a light to get to them main highway. I stopped at the development entrance to be sure I could pull out onto the access road. Right there at the complex entrance is a low brick wall/planter with the complex name and plants..you know..the standard floral spray that is changed about every 3 weeks it seems by the gardeners.
  Well, all of a sudden a voice said "look behind you." ( I have a voice that alerts me to danger sometimes. It is not my voice...an angels voice???) I looked and there was a white man stretched out on the grass in front of the planter. Odd. Why was he there? He was not moving and I thought he may need help. I called to him. No response. I called again. I paused my car and was about to put it into park to get out and go over. I guess he saw the brake lights come on because all of a sudden he leaped up and ran toward my car. He was screaming and yelling with arms outstretched like a stark raving maniac. I jammed on the gas, ran the light and got the hell out of there. I called the police and I went back to meet them there. He of course was gone. I wonder if he got a victim that morning. I know that he was going to kidnap and do god knows what to whoever he could get close enough to. As I was driving away from him , I was looking at him in the side and rear view. When I got far enough away he kicked at the air like "darn...she got away." It was not my time that morning. I was a wreck for about 2 weeks after that...could he find out where I live?
• This post is another...one of the scariest! Scared out of my shoes.
• One morning many years ago I had to go to the grocery store before work. I was in Piggly Wiggly about 7:30am. There was about 1 cashier up front. It was early and staff seemed very limited. There did not seem to be anyone in the store but me. I walked up several aisles and there was noone in the store but me. This was a 24 hour a day store so it seemed strange I was the only one. I began to get a very eerie feeling that I needed to get out there. The hair began to stand up on my arms. I was in the back of the store and again that voice said "leave." (This incident happened before the man at the complex.) I left my buggy and walked immediatly to the store front to leave and as I approached the front register area, in walked 2 young black males who looked like complete thugs. I mean complete thugs. They looked like they were going to rob the place. They were looking around shiftily first together and then separating, one going to each end of the store and walking straight back. I heard the voice again say louder this time."LEAVE" I walked faster but not so fast as to attact the attention of the 2 men, and got the hell out of there. I got in my car and flew out of the parking lot. I went on to work. As I drover farther and farther away from the Piggly Wiggly the eerie feeling left/diminished the further the store was in the distance. Low and behold those men robbed that store. It was all over the news that night. Noone was hurt but I knew that if I were there things would have been different for one of the employees in the store. It was not my time, but my alignment in the universe being could have meant something bad for someone else.
• About 5 years ago on a Saturday night, I had a feeling that I could not sleep. No..that is not right. I had a feeling that I should not sleep upstairs. I just had a feeling. So I stayed up late, downstairs watching movies until about 2am in the morning. the lights were on in the den but not in the kitchen..the 2 are connected. A movie had just ended and I heard a faint sound in the kitchen. Near the window. I got up from the sofa and turned on the kitchen light and I saw a shadow at the kitchen window. It was a person. As I moved toward the window the shadow moved away to the left away from the window. I called the police, hysterical...they came and looked around inside and outside and looked at that window. That man had been trying to break in. He had been trying to pry the screen back from the window to get in. I was freaked to say the lease.
  The next morning, I looked at the window and you could see where he had tried to rip the screen out to get in. It took about 2 months before I could stop sleeping on living room sofa and begin to sleep in my room again. How many times does this happen before the real thing does? Do other people hae this happening to but fail to see the pattern?
• This happened when I was living in North Carolina in the late 1980's. It was christmas time and I had found a nursery that had a good price on christmas trees and they looked good. (At christmas time you see all sorts of weird people coming out of the woodwork) I pulled in and parked. I was looking around at all the plantsand trees and all of a sudden that feeling came. Something was wrong. I looked around and I saw a mountain man looking at me. I mean a real mountain man, the kind of man who looked just like he stepped right out of the movie " Deliverence." He had just stepped out of an old truck that looked it could not possible run at all. He had on overalls, a plaid shirt and he had a beard like zztop..long down to his waist and long black stringy hair. His eyes looked at me and they were like shiny black marbles. I kid you not. His eyes were black. No whites....just shiny black eyes like charles manson eyes...glowing that horrible glow. And he was staring at me like he had never seen a woman before. I have heard horrible stories of those mountain men capturing women and keeping them like slaves in the woods. I immediately wanted to leave but I had to get my tree. I went to the clerk and told him I had found a tree and needed to have it put in my car right away. He had other customers but said he would get someone to get the tree and tie it to my car. I walked around and waited about 5 more minutes. The mountain man with the black eyes....the entire eye..no white pupils....was shopping also and whenever I seemed to look up and see him he was staring at me crazily. I began to get scared like I have never been scared before. People like that can make others disappear. I was about 10 feet away from the register..the mountain man was not in site...when all of a sudden the clerk I had asked to help me came rushing over. He said I had to leave....not just the voice this time..but the voice coming thru a live person. This man said that I had to leave right now..he said that he felt I was in danger by someone in the store..I told him it was that mountain man..he said yes. He said that he would help me get the tree right now. And he did. He grabbed that tree hoisted on my car, tied it and told me to be careful. I left and took the very long way home to be sure I was not followed. Who knows. That mountain man may have been talking to the other mountain man he was with about me and the clerk over heard. The feeling of danger left in about 10 minutes of me driving every which away to be sure I was not followed.
• My first job out of college sent me to a convention in a town 200 miles away. I went and all was fine. On the way back home trouble began. I noticed that suddenly I was in between 2 big mack trucks in the right lane on the interstate. I did not think anything about it until the truck behind me got much closer and began to go faster. I sped up and soon there was just a little room between the truck ahead and the truck behind. I tried to move into the left lane to get away from them. They both moved over and I was in the same position. I moved back to the right lane. They moved and I again was between them. I came to realize that it was being done on purpose..a lone women on the freeway ...it was like I was being herded into where they wanted me to go. I tried several times to get away and could not. They began to driver faster and I think I was doing about 70. The stretch of road we were on did not have a lot of exits and the ones that did were rural podunk places and lord knows if the police would be able to help. The voice came again and this time is said that I had to" get away." FYI..this voice is a physical voice that I heard like someone is standing next to me talking and at times it is in my head. I began to think that I would not be able to get away. I would be hearded into some dark road and god knows what would happen. I drove for about40 minutes wedged in between those 2 trucks. Obviously they were radioing each other and lord knows how many women they made disappear that way. As we approached exits the trucks would speed up and I would have to speed up not to be hit in the rear by the truck behind. I soon realized that this was a way to keep me from exiting. I was going tooooo fast to exit and sometimes there were other cars on the exit going much slower that 70-75 mph. I would ram them if I did exit. So I decided that at the next populated town no matter what I had to get away. I was going to exit. I felt that since I had heard the voice that I would have 1 chance to exit. The next town was approaching and I stayed wedged in between these two trucks. The first business exit I was not able to take..there were cars already on the exit going slow. I missed the 2nd one also as the trucks sped up and got closer to me. There were only 2 left and come hell or highwater I was taking the next one. The exit was ahead and with no blinker at all I just veered right at 75 to get off the interstate driving on the grass and braking as there were cars on the exit ramp. I drove to the mall and stayed there for about 4 hours. I figured that they would not be waiting for me. Surely if they had deliveries to make they were on their way to them and the next lone woman on the freeway. I made it home of course. I waited until night and I drove home without anything else happening.
• My first job was at Revco drug store. I dressed to go to work..no slouchy clothes for me..nice wool skirts and sweaters and heels. I was still in college. It was a typical day. I was working the register and stocking shelves near the back of the store. These 2 burly white men in flannel shirts and beards came in and began to follow me around the store. Wierd! Totally! I ignored them and continued to work. Then they began to say things like "I like what I see" and crazy things like that. Then I got the feeling that something was wrong and that I was in danger. I immediately left the back of the store and went to the register and the pharmacy and stayed there. That feeling that something was wrong did not leave so I did not leave the store for lunch. I had someone else pick up my lunch and I ate in the back storeroom. I know those men were still in the mall waiting for me. I asked if anyone had seen those 2 men and yes..they were still in the mall several hours later. I was working night shift so at night we all leave together. Safety in numbers. It was not until 7pm that that feeling of dread left and I knew they had left the mall.

You know. I think I will stop here. I have many many morre situations like this and some are very scary still like the trucks on the freeway and the mountain man at christmas. This one post is long enough. There is a pattern. One ot 2 things I could write that off as coincidence but there are sooooooooo many, it cannot be chance. And the voice..I have learned to listen to it and do whatever it says. Has anyone else experienced any brush with death experiences?

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Scott Peterson Guilty!!!!

Yeah! I always knew he did it. I was worried he was about to get off with the dismissal of the foreman and 1 juror. He is a cold blooded killer who should get the death penalty.

Read here!

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - A jury convicted Scott Peterson on Friday of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and now will decide whether the philandering husband whose lurid trial became a TV and tabloid sensation should pay with his life.

Scott Peterson Guilty of Wife & Baby's Murders(AP Video)

Peterson, 32, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder for killing his wife and one count of second-degree murder in the death of the son she was carrying — crimes that prosecutors said were part of a cold-blooded plot to escape marriage and fatherhood for the freewheeling single life.

The five-month trial proved irresistible to the tabloids, People magazine and the cable networks with its story of an attractive, radiant young couple awaiting the birth of their first child, a cheating husband, and a slaying for which prosecutors had no eyewitnesses, no weapon, not even a cause of death.

Laci Peterson's mother sobbed as the verdicts were read, and her son wrapped his arm tightly around her. The victim's friends in the gallery, arms around each other, cried. Scott Peterson looked straight ahead with no show of emotion as the verdict was read, then stared down each of the jurors as they were polled to confirm their decisions. The jurors had serious looks on their faces and did not appear to look back.

Cheers broke out among the hundreds of onlookers who gathered outside the courthouse — some of them pumping their fists in celebration upon hearing the news on the radio. They cheered Laci Peterson's family and booed Scott's as they left court. In the Petersons' hometown of Modesto, horns honked as the news reached car radios.

"He's a sicko. He needs to fry. I wanted to see that justice was served," Bob Johnston said outside court.

The verdict capped a tumultuous seven days of deliberations in which two jurors were removed for unspecified reasons and the judge twice told the panel to start over. The final jury deliberated for about seven hours Wednesday and Friday before reaching their verdict, which the judge prohibited from being carried on television.

The same jury of six men and six women will return Nov. 22 to begin hearing testimony on whether Peterson should die by lethal injection or get life in prison without parole. The former fertilizer salesman faces the death penalty because he was convicted of multiple murders.
Prosecutors, defense lawyers and close family members remain under a gag order that prevents them from commenting. Defense attorney Mark Geragos was in Los Angeles when the verdict was announced.

The Laci Peterson saga began nearly two years ago, when the 27-year-old substitute teacher, who was eight months pregnant, vanished around Christmas Eve 2002. Four months later, her headless body and the remains of her fetus were discovered along the shoreline about 90 miles from the couple's Modesto home — not far from where her husband claims he was fishing alone the day of her disappearance.

Peterson was soon arrested in the San Diego area, more than 400 miles from home, carrying nearly $15,000, his hair and goatee bleached blond.

Police never were able to establish exactly when, how or where Laci died.
At trial, prosecutors presented 174 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence, from wiretapped phone calls to videotaped police interrogations, depicting Peterson as a liar and a cheat who was sweet-talking his girlfriend, massage therapist Amber Frey, at the same time he was trying to show the world he was pining for his missing wife.

Prosecutor Rick Distaso told the jury that Peterson could not stand the thought of being trapped in a "dull, boring, married life with kids," and either strangled or smothered his wife and dumped her weighted-down body overboard from his fishing boat.

"He wants to live the rich, successful, freewheeling bachelor life. He can't do that when he's paying child support, alimony and everything else," Distaso said. "He didn't want to be tied to this kid the rest of his life. He didn't want to be tied to Laci for the rest of his life. So he killed her."

The jury heard how Peterson had bought a two-day ocean-fishing license days before his wife disappeared, yet claimed his fishing trip was a last-minute substitution for golf because of blustery weather. Prosecutors also offered evidence suggesting he used a bag of cement mix to make concrete anchors to sink his wife's body into the bay.
In January, the trial was moved to Redwood City after defense attorneys argued Peterson had been demonized in his hometown of Modesto to the point that he couldn't get a fair trial there.

News of the verdict spread quickly throughout both towns. In a Mexican restaurant in Modesto, customer Amy Tran shouted "Yes!"

As Scott Peterson's family was rushed away by police, someone in the crowd outside court booed his mother. Someone else shouted "SHE didn't kill her!"

The morning Redwood City Daily News printed 10,000 copies of an 8-page extra edition with the banner headline, "Guilty: Crowds Cheer Verdict," minutes after it was announced, and distributed free copies outside the courthouse, where people cheered and waved the papers over their heads. The afternoon San Mateo County Times came out quickly with an edition topped with the headline "Verdict: Scott Killed Laci."

Peterson never took the stand in the case. His lawyers argued that he was the victim of a set-up. They suggested that someone else — perhaps homeless people, sex offenders or suspicious-looking characters spotted in the neighborhood — abducted Laci Peterson while she walked the dog, then killed her and dumped the body in the water after learning of Peterson's fishing-trip alibi.

Peterson's lawyers also offered evidence that the fetus may have died days or weeks after the disappearance, when Scott was being watched closely by the police and the media.
And they explained his lies and inconsistent statements about his affair and his activities around the time of the disappearance as the mutterings of a man in the midst of a breakdown over his missing wife.

Geragos acknowledged the jurors probably hated Peterson, and pleaded with them not to convict him simply because the prosecution had made him look like a "jerk and a liar."
Geragos also noted the lingering questions about how Laci died. "Maybe the logical explanation for the fact that we have no evidence of her struggling in that house, dying in that house is because it didn't happen in that house," he said.

In addition, Geragos said police found that someone had used a computer in the Petersons' home on the morning Laci vanished — after authorities contend she was already dead — to search Web sites for a scarf and a sunflower-motif umbrella stand. He suggested the user was Laci Peterson.
The story provided an endless source of fascination to cable networks, which almost every night brought in experts to pick apart the two sides' legal strategies and expound on some of the soap opera aspects of the case, which included hours of secretly taped calls in which Peterson spun out elaborate tales to Frey.

Frey herself testified, saying that Peterson told her during their affair that he had "lost his wife." But she said that in all their recorded conversations, he repeatedly professed his love for his wife and never said anything to incriminate himself in her slaying.

"I don't think the jury could ever have looked at Scott Peterson the same way after they heard those tape recordings. Lie after lie after lie," Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, said after the verdict.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Not Tooo Sexy for Joanne!!

Per your comment Joanne, I found these 2 waterproof boots. It's my 2 cents thrown into your boot hunt!

Paul Smith Rubber

Swirl Rubber Boot

~~$115.00~~

Something a little more "color" practical:

Stuart Weitzman Weatherproof Boot

~~$375.00~~

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Waaaay TOOOO Sexy For My Shoes!

My oh my! What happened sweety? Several cans of paint fell on you? And you think you are designer now? A designer nightmare is more like it!

Materia Prima Cartoon Bootie

$295.00

Too Sexy for My Shoes!

Does anyone remember that song? by Right Said Fred--I'm too sexy for my shirt...I'm too sexy for my shirt? I used to love that song. It was kind of cute at the time. Well it is that time. Time to see what shoes--boots in particular--- are going to grace the catwalk this fall.

Take a gander, sit a spell, take your shoes and feat your eyes on my cat walk. Imagine yourself strolling down the park on a cool winter day in these:

First up is Slitherene.

Sauntering down the catwalk

she is 100% snakeskin, sleek and shiny!

Stuart Weitzman: $495

~~~~~
Look at Easter! Easter gone bad!

What bad bunny brought her?

Those heels were made for walking!

Emilio Pucci: $520

~~~~~

Some of these shoes are downright scary! I cannot see even me...and that is a feat for me to say...buying them. I love shoes but not scary shoes.

What is your favorite pair of shoes that you remember?

Mine were a pair of black highheeled Bandolino pumps that I had back when disco was in. I could dance the night away in those 3 inch heels and my feet never hurt. Even after 5 hours of dancing. Those have been my favorite shoes of all time.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

The Shoes Overtook Me! Honest!

This past weekend I was out of town and what better thing to do than go shoe shopping.
I am all about the shoes and am totally obsessed with them. I buy shoes just for the sake of buying them, if I like them...even if I have nothing to go with them.

I found 2 pairs of very fun shoes this weekend. The first pair was a pair of Life Energy Intelligence shoes...you know..." l.e.i. " . They are a pair of high heeled dress clogs, brown with that retro 70's look. A patch work of brown suede anbd brown leather in the front. They are almost too high. The heel is 3 inches high. They will be one of my winter staples as far as shoes this fall. All I need is a pair of bell bottom hip huggers and a floral shirt and I would be back in 1974. I can't wait to wear them.

The 2nd pair if you saw them would make anyone ask, "why the heck did you buy those?" UH! because I like them. They are Jeep shoes. I guess the thing that some car manufacturers are doing is giving out shoes to match the car you buy. I know Hummer does it. Now I guess Jeep does also.

They are butter colored hiking boots basically. High topped. Very sturdy with lots of jeep rubber on them. Very cool. I have other hiking shoes and duck shoes but none this color and none by Jeep. This is close similarity to what they look like. Mine are more rugged looking and made for hiking. I cannot wait for a jeans casual Friday to come. I will be sporting my Jeeps to the office.
Why cannot I control myself when it comes to shoes? And right now there seems to be all sort of boots and shoes on sale everywhere. I almost got a pair of boot as well. Those may come next week.

Shoes. You gotta' love em. I know I do! A new pair of shoes will cheer my up any day of the year.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

New Reads

For the past two weeks I have been staring at the book shelves at the same old books I have had for the past 15 years or more. I have lots of books. So many that I have actually run out of space for them. I need to buy 2 more book cases as I have books stacked under a table in teh bedroom.

I have read and reread my books at least 3 times each. I was in Costco over the weekend and was drawn to the books there and was forced to buy 2. They were yelling at me, "Buyme! Buy me!" What could I do? I am a sucker for a good book....no it does not even had to be a good book.

I am a sucker for books period. I ended up buying :

Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau
New Orleans in the mid-nineteenth century is a city overflowing with white aristos, black creoles, and African slaves, a city that pulses with crowds, with commerce, and with the power and spectacle of the voodoo religion. At the center of the ritual is Marie Laveau, the notorious voodooienne, worshipped and feared by blacks and whites alike. Marie's followers claimed that she walked on water and sucked poison from a snake's jowls, that she raised the dead and murdered two men. Voodoo Dreams is the spellbinding story of the woman behind the legend. Raised by her Grandmere in the Louisiana bayou, Marie ventures to New Orleans and begins a journey of self-discovery, hoping to find her lost Maman and understand the visions that haunt her dreams. Instead, she runs headlong into the brutality of slavery and oppression, and into the arms of John, the voodoo doctor who promises to teach her what Grandmere will not. As she falls under his spell, John sweeps Marie into a world of voodoo ceremonies, of drama and manipulation, and of sometimes terrifying power. A mesmerizing combination of history and storytelling, Voodoo Dreams marks the debut of an important new voice in fiction.

Life of Pi
Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Piscine Molitor Patel -- known as Pi -- has a rich life. Bookish by nature, young Pi acquires a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among goats, hippos, swans, and bears, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms to it. Pi’s family life is quite happy, even though his brother picks on him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to simultaneously embrace and practise three religions -- Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

The Giver
Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, this thought-provoking novel centers on a 12-year-old boy's gradual disillusionment with an outwardly utopian futuristic society; in a starred review, PW said, ``Lowry is once again in top form... unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers.'' Ages 10-up. (Sept.)

Has anyone read any of these? If so leave a comment and let me know what you think.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Beware of White Pickup Trucks

I have solved a mystery and it is one that eveyone needs to be aware of. It is the mystery of the "white pickup truck." Actually this is a warning that eveyone far and wide needs to beware of the evils of the white pickup truck. They are evil you know. Very.

For the past 8 years I have noticed the white pick up trucks are rogue vehicles. They have an evil personality all their own. They seem to think that they own the road and will go to any lengths, even crashing to prove that.

For the past 8 years, white pick up trucks have been the only ones to not let me into traffic when I am in a merge lane. White pickup trucks have been the only ones to cut me off in traffic by merging crazily in front of me. White pickup trucks are always been the ones who are tailgating me in my rearview mirror. No other car or truck does this...just the white pickup trucks.

Whenever I seem some crazy driver in the distance traveling very fast behind me and approaching very fast and then change lanes to continue at that high rate of speed...which is well over the speed limit...it has always been a white pickup truck.

Whenever I have been almost run off the road, it has always been a damned white pickup truck that has done it. What vehicle is always making a sudden stop in front of me??? A white pickup truck of course. And they do not just do it to me. I see white pickup trucks doing these things to others as well. I have a run in with a white pickup truck at least twice a week, every week. How else could I have this revelation about white pickup trucks??

White pick up trucks are evil. I have pondered long and hard. Is it the truck itself or the driver in the truck? It has to be the truck because all the drivers have been random..young, old, men, woman...it has to be the truck.

Please, spread the word. Be on the alert for white pickup trucks. They seem to be everywhere and are the bad seed of the auto world. Look out and be on the alert for white pickup trucks. Guard your kids and yourself. The next time you see a white pickup truck, be afraid.

Be very afraid.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Who did you vote for?

Last night when I went to bed I was still undecided. I thought long and hard before I did. Bush?
Kerry? I really was not happy with either. Still undecided I went to bed making a mental note to "sleep on it." I knew that I would ponder it all night and my inner me would know what to do when I woke up. I woke up and all of a sudden it came to me. I heard a voice say "vote for Kerry. "

I did. When you look at things, I guess he did appeal to me more when it came to womens' issues and the war. So that was it. I got up early and voted. It is about 6:30 pm now and the polls where I am will be closing in 30 minutes on the east coast. Got to go tune into the news.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Bush and the War on Terror

Waging and Winning the War on Terror

During his term in office, the President has led a steady and systematic campaign against global terrorists and their allies. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, the United States has waged two of the swiftest and most humane wars in history: Afghanistan and Iraq. Fifty million people have been liberated from two of the world's most brutal and aggressive regimes - and the terrorists' foreign operating bases are being taken away. More than three-quarters of al Qaeda's known leaders and associates have been detained or killed. In the war to liberate Afghanistan, the United States built a worldwide coalition of 70 countries that destroyed terrorist training camps, dismantled the brutal Taliban regime, denied al Qaeda a safe haven in Afghanistan, and saved a people from starvation.

On October 9, the people of Afghanistan went to the polls to elect their president, and took another major step in their steady march to democracy. This election was the result of a careful and deliberate grass-roots process that enabled Afghans to choose representatives to draft a constitution and set the rules and procedures for elections. Three years ago, women in Afghanistan were whipped in the streets, executed in a sports stadium, and beaten for wearing brightly-colored shoes. Schooling was denied to girls. Today, the constitution gives women the right to vote and guarantees freedom of expression, assembly, and religion.

On March 19, 2003, the United States and its coalition partners launched Operation Iraqi Freedom. Three weeks later, Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled from power. Today the former dictator is awaiting trial in prison rather than ruling in a palace. Sovereignty has been transferred to the Iraqi people, and free elections will be held in January 2005. The President has effectively recruited new allies in the War on Terror. Three years ago, Pakistan was one of the few countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime, and al Qaeda was active and recruiting in Pakistan without serious opposition. Today, the United States and Pakistan are working closely in the fight against terror, and Pakistani forces are rounding up terrorists along the nation's western border.

Three years ago, Yemen stonewalled the investigation of the USS Cole bombing; today, Yemeni authorities have moved against al Qaeda in their own territory and hosted Army Special Forces to train and advise Yemeni troops in counterterrorism. President Bush has actively worked to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He led the creation of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a broad international partnership of more than 60 countries that is interdicting lethal materials in transit. These nations are sharing intelligence information, tracking suspect international cargo, and conducting joint military exercises. The President also spearheaded the establishment of the G-8 Global Partnership, which over 10 years will provide $20 billion in nonproliferation and weapons reduction assistance to the former Soviet Union.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

Bin Laden's Message

The full transcript of the Osama bin Laden video was obtained by ABCNEWS. It contains an even more intense attack on President Bush, supporting the notion that al Qaeda leader is trying to tilt the U.S. elections against Bush.
It seems clear that al Qaeda's wants to affect the elections through the release of two tapes, 'Azzam the American' and Bin Laden, in one week. (see ABCNEWS' analysis), but analysts disagree on how the videos will affect the elections, if at all. An editorial in Arab News notes that the tape was "fortuitously timed" and argues that it could support either candidate, depending on how it's used. The Guardian proposes the tape could either remind voters of Bush's leadership in the "war on terror" or of his failure to capture bin Laden. New York Times' Columnist William Safire argues that the noted change in bin Laden's attitude and the "conciliatory tone" in his message is a sign of weakness. He suggests his intercession will help get President Bush re-elected.
The complete transcript shows how bin Laden goes to considerable length trying to explain why Americans are a target. He suggests his goal is to drain U.S. resources. "So we are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," he says.
One of Bin Laden's more confusing statements was: "any state that does not mess with our security will automatically secure its own." His use of the word "state" or "welaya" in Arabic led to some confusion about whether he means "U.S. state" or "country." Al Qaeda sympathizers however seem to suggest through messages posted on jihadi websites that bin Laden was addressing U.S. states independently, attempting to cause division between them and the government. They suggested that states can secure themselves by voting against Bush, not sending troops to war and pressuring the government to stop aggression against Muslims.
Meanwhile, U.S. efforts to identify the American al Qaeda member "Azzam" have escalated. The FBI is currently leading its website with an urgent appeal for help in identifying the mysterious speaker who is covered in a shroud during his 75 minute invective.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~

VOTE 2004

No matter what get out and vote on tomorrow. It is your right and your voice. Vote and be heard no matter who you vote for.

I heard that Michael Moore has put his movie Farenheit 911 on line for all to see. Here it is here. I have not seen it but may take a gander when I have time.

Michael Moore's Movie

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~