What The Hell's Wrong With Me?

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein, the shotgun-waving dictator who ruled Iraq with a remorseless brutality for a quarter-century and was driven from power by a U.S.-led war that left his country in shambles, was taken to the gallows and executed Saturday, Iraqi state-run television reported. 

It was a grim end for the 69-year-old leader who had vexed three U.S. presidents. Despite his ouster, Washington, its allies and the new Iraqi leaders remain mired in a fight to quell a stubborn insurgency by Saddam loyalists and a vicious sectarian conflict.

Also hanged were Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court. State-run Iraqiya television news announcer said "criminal Saddam was hanged to death and the execution started with criminal Saddam then Barzan then Awad al-Bandar."

Mariam al-Rayes, a legal expert and a former member of the Shiite bloc in parliament, told Iraqiya television that the execution "was filmed and God willing it will be shown. There was one camera present, and a doctor was also present there."

Al-Rayes, an ally of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, did not attend the execution. She said Al-Maliki did not attend but was represented by an aide.

The station earlier was airing national songs after the first announcement and had a tag on the screen that read "Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history."

The execution came 56 days after a court convicted Saddam and sentenced him to death for his role in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims from a town where assassins tried to kill the dictator in 1982. Iraq's highest court rejected Saddam's appeal Monday and ordered him executed within 30 days.

A U.S. judge on Friday refused to stop Saddam's execution, rejecting a last-minute court challenge.

Al-Maliki had rejected calls that Saddam be spared, telling families of people killed during the dictator's rule that would be an insult to the victims.

"Our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence," al-Maliki's office quoted him as saying during a meeting with relatives before the hanging.

The hanging of Saddam, who was ruthless in ordering executions of his opponents, will keep other Iraqis from pursuing justice against the ousted leader.

At his death, he was in the midst of a second trial, charged with genocide and other crimes for a 1987-88 military crackdown that killed an estimated 180,000 Kurds in northern Iraq. Experts said the trial of his co-defendants was likely to continue despite his execution.

Many people in Iraq's Shiite majority were eager to see the execution of a man whose Sunni Arab-dominated regime oppressed them and Kurds.

Before the hanging, a mosque preacher in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Friday called Saddam's execution "God's gift to Iraqis."

"Oh, God, you know what Saddam has done! He killed millions of Iraqis in prisons, in wars with neighboring countries and he is responsible for mass graves. Oh God, we ask you to take revenge on Saddam," said Sheik Sadralddin al-Qubanji, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

On Thursday, two half brothers visited Saddam in his cell, a member of the former dictator's defense team, Badee Izzat Aref, told The Associated Press by telephone from the United Arab Emirates. He said the former dictator handed them his personal belongings.

A senior official at the Iraqi defense ministry said Saddam gave his will to one of his half brothers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In a farewell message to Iraqis posted Wednesday on the Internet, Saddam said he was giving his life for his country as part of the struggle against the U.S. "Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs," he said.

One of Saddam's lawyers, Issam Ghazzawi, said the letter was written by Saddam on Nov. 5, the day he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal in the Dujail killings.

The message called on Iraqis to put aside the sectarian hatred that has bloodied their nation for a year and voiced support for the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency against U.S.-led forces, saying: "Long live jihad and the mujahedeen."

Saddam urged Iraqis to rely on God's help in fighting "against the unjust nations" that ousted his regime.

Najeeb al-Nauimi, a member of Saddam's legal team, said U.S. authorities maintained physical custody of Saddam until the execution to prevent him being humiliated publicly or his corpse being mutilated, as has happened to previous Iraqi leaders deposed by force. He said they didn't want anything to happen to further inflame Sunni Arabs.

"This is the end of an era in Iraq," al-Nauimi said from Doha, Qatar. "The Baath regime ruled for 35 years. Saddam was vice president or president of Iraq during those years. For Iraqis, he will be very well remembered. Like a martyr, he died for the sake of his country."

Iraq's death penalty was suspended by the U.S. military after it toppled Saddam in 2003, but the new Iraqi government reinstated it two years later, saying executions would deter criminals.

Saddam's own regime used executions and extrajudicial killings as a tool of political repression, both to eliminate real or suspected political opponents and to maintain a reign of terror.

In the months after he seized power on July 16, 1979, he had hundreds of members of his own party and army officers slain. In 1996, he ordered the slaying of two sons-in-law who had defected to Jordan but returned to Baghdad after receiving guarantees of safety.

Saddam built Iraq into a one of the Arab world's most modern societies, but then plunged the country into an eight-year war with neighboring Iran that killed hundreds of thousands of people on both sides and wrecked Iraq's economy.

During that war, as part of the wider campaign against Kurds, the Iraqi military used chemical weapons against the Kurdish town of Halabja in northern Iraq, killing an estimated 5,000 civilians.

The economic troubles from the Iran war led Saddam to invade Kuwait in the summer of 1990, seeking to grab its oil wealth, but a U.S.-led coalition inflicted a stinging defeat on the Iraq army and freed the Kuwaitis.

U.N. sanctions imposed over the Kuwait invasion remained in place when Saddam failed to cooperate fully in international efforts to ensure his programs for creating weapons of mass destruction had been dismantled. Iraqis, once among the region's most prosperous, were impoverished.

The final blow came when U.S.-led troops invaded in March 2003. Saddam's regime fell quickly, but political, sectarian and criminal violence have created chaos that has undermined efforts to rebuild Iraq's ruined economy.

While he wielded a heavy hand to maintain control, Saddam also sought to win public support with a personality cult that pervaded Iraqi society. Thousands of portraits, posters, statues and murals were erected in his honor all over Iraq. His face could be seen on the sides of office buildings, schools, airports and shops and on Iraq's currency.

...who think they're fucking "experts" because they saw Pulp Fiction 372 times. Fucking morons. Their mothers should be beaten to within an inch of their lives for not aborting the stupid little bastards when they had the chance.

"No, you don't gotta fucking stab her three times!
You gotta stab her once, but it's gotta be hard enough to break through her breastbone into her heart,
and then once you do that, you press down on the plunger."
~~Lance (Eric Stoltz), Pulp Fiction

   "No, intracardiac injection is not recommended for routine use during CPR. Translation: ER docs don't ever inject anything directly into people's hearts. There is an uncommon procedure called a pericardiocentesis when a needle is inserted under the breastbone and into the sac around the heart to remove excess fluid. This is done when fluid or blood surrounding the heart is restricting its function. This is only done in serious emergencies.
   In Pulp Fiction, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson are trying to save Uma Thurman from a drug overdose by injecting her with adrenaline. Instead, they should have given her an injection of a medication called Narcan to reverse the effect of the heroin. Adrenaline (epinephrine) is often given during cardiac arrest but only through a vein."

As quoted from Why Do Men Have Nipples?
Written by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg, M.D.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - An employee working the drive-through window at a McDonald's will have a tale to tell. When the worker went to the open window thinking the car pulling up had already ordered, the people in the car threw a dead cat through the window, police said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cedar Rapids Animal Control officer Matt McAtee said the black domestic shorthair appeared to have been dead for a while.

"It looked like somebody had picked it up off the road," McAtee said.

Police were called to the restaurant about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The people in the car drove off. A description of the car was not available, but employees knew the people in the car, police said.

No charges had been filed. The investigation was continuing.

McDonald's officials declined comment.

___

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/

     So I'm toddling around today all hopped up on Nyquil and coffee, trying to figure out if I'll be able to get my shit together long enough to stop the stumbling and shaky hands and write a letter and send a Christmas card to a relative whose card I just received today and I realize, "What-the-hell?! I never sent my sister and niece their gifts!" So, yeah, I kind of screwed the pooch on that one. Now they won't get their gifts in time for Christmas which, in my head, blows. I don't like being late for anything and I especially don't like stuff being late during the holidays. So now I have to wrap their stuff and ship it out tomorrow or Thursday and if they're lucky they'll get the package by late next week. On the upside fireworks are being sold out here and they've got some damned nice illegal ones (illegal in California) that I want to get so we'll wait and see how that works out. Hell, I might send some to my sister with her gifts.
     Tonight's one of those nights where I'm physically bouncing off the walls but I can't concentrate long enough to read and remember a single sentence. Maybe I should wait until tomorrow morning before writing that letter. I don't want them thinking that I moved to Mississippi just to spend my days getting high. 'Sides, they're not big on weed out here-it's all Meth and pills and neither of those possess any real interest for me. I don't think they even do any X around here. That's mostly for high schoolers anyways. Still...
     I didn't find any coal this year so only my little sister and her daughter are getting gifts from me. The rest of the 'family' will probably bitch about that, too. Bitch if I do, bitch if I don't. Fuck'em. I stopped giving a damn about pleasing any of them a long ass time ago. They're probably bitching about that, too.
     So anyways, I'm thinking about finishing the prep work on that meatloaf that I'm planning on having for dinner tomorrow night and then baking some Chocoloate Chocolate Chunk Cookies before going to bed.

Listerine Whitening Pre-Brush Rinse. Fizzy Jizz Flavored Turpentine would've been a more accurate name for this nasty bitter-ass product but it probably wouldn't have sold as well. And it shouldn't. It doesn't work and I paid way too much for it even though mine was a free bottle sample that came cellophane wrapped to the Listerine mouthwash that I DID buy. Nightmarish stuff. Ok, 'nuff said.

I found this on another Xanga site and thought it was interesting and seeing as how I'm bored out of my skull right now I thought I'd give this a go. So here it is: 100 things you didn't nor cared to know about me. Enjoy.

...And click the freakin' button. (copy and paste into your browser if you must)

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa/151/wa/gotoSite?destSite=BreastCancerSite&origin=thsTY&wosid=1p3000ix300Wc700h&revisionCode=THSthankyoupg_BCSlogo

2:30 in the morning and I'm so fucking wide awake I'm cleaning house, doing laundry, having a Lord Of The Rings Special Extended Edition marathon, blogging on my various sites and tripping balls. How's that for fuckin' busy? Christ, I need some meds or something. Something that'll put me out for awhile. But I don't like being unconscious. I ended up that way once (accidentally) and I didn't care for the experience. The weather is pretty fucking warm after a week of freezing my ass off. Upper 60's, lower 70's. I'll get to the dishes tomorrow. Or later. What the fuck ever. I'm wide awake but my mind is completely scattered. One of the side effects of insomnia. I should probably just go ahead and polish off Everything's Eventual. I'm almost done with it anyways. Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep later. It's a bit late in the year to be going for a week without sleep. I expected this earlier in the year. Ok, I'm done. 'Night.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Neither, I like to throw the gifts at the intended on Xmas morning. Saves time and money.

2. Real tree or artificial? Depends on how lazy I feel. Might just be a shrub I yank up from outside.

3. When do you put up the tree? After I've run out of chocolate and have nothing better to do. 

4. When do you take the tree down? Around Valentine's sometime.

5. Do you like eggnog? Only if it's liquored up properly.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Calligraphy set.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a little ceramic one.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Me. I can't afford the stuff I really want so, yeah, it's difficult.
 
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both

10.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Xmas themed sweaters.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Peanuts Christmas and The Grinch with Jim Carrey.

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas?  Around 2 in the morning. Old ladies can't get up that early.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  No, but not because I would've felt bad or something-because I couldn't remember who gave it to me.

14. Favorite thing to eat/drink at Christmas? Heavily frosted sugar cookies and Mike's Hard Lemonade or Blackberry Merlot.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Multicolored.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Redneck 12 Days Of Christmas by Jeff Foxworthy.
 
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?  Stay home. Might be some old ladies on the road and they're probably just as mean behind the wheel as they are behind a cart.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? I probably could but I think Santa already named them.

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One gift on the Eve and the rest Xmas morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not being able to find enough coal for everyone who deserves them.

22. Favorite Christmas memory? Sending my sister that lump of coal last year and pissing off the entire family. Apparently intelligence is required to understand a GAG gift. Priceless. My mother's getting one this year if I can find any. 

23. Funniest gift?? S&M Santa with a ball gag in his mouth. Don't ask.

24. Best gift you ever gave someone? See #22

25. Favorite Christmas decoration that you own? Set of plaster ornaments that I hand painted.

"A court in the Russian internal republic of Bashkortostan has passed an 11-year sentence to a woman who killed her boyfriend with an axe and then cooked him in a variety of dishes which she fed to her guests at a New Year party.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reports that the incident took place in the small town of Sterlitamak. The 44-year old woman suspected her boyfriend, who was younger than her, of unfaithfulness and in a heated row grabbed an axe and hacked him to death.

Then, the woman flayed and dismembered the body. She threw away the head and used the rest to cook a New Year dinner. She minced some meat and used in meatballs and dumplings and also made jellied meat with hands and feet — she later bartered that dish for liquor with neighbors.

When the guests arrived, the woman treated them to everything she cooked — meatballs, dumplings, soup and liver sausage. The people did not know they were eating human flesh, only one guest noticed that the meat was unusually sweet, but he was told that this was because it was very fresh.

When the party was coming to an end, one of the guests looked into the fridge and found a severed human hand there. He called the police and the murderer confessed during the first questioning."

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/11/16/bashkircannibal.shtml

'The world is full of strangers and many of them are "up to no good."'
Stephen King

So watch your back and be wary of those old women in Wal Mart and at the mall-they'll slip a blade up between your ribs to get that MUST HAVE item on sale for their grandchild.