Spotted in the comments section of a political weblog-

"How long will it be before the Rethuglican talking points turn to the topic that Bush should be entitled to a third term because he was not elected for the first one?"

From Scottish peace activist Alistair MacIntosh:

"War is America's way of learning geography."

A federal judge has just dismissed the FOX News lawsuit against humorist Al Franken. He had used the line "Fair and Balanced" in the subtitle of his new book, and FOX claimed that it had proprietary rights to the phrase. The blogosphere responded immediately with a flurry of bloggers adding 'Fair and Balanced' to the headers on their sites. Now I can remove that "fair and balanced" line from the header on my blog and go back to being a shrill and and biased liberal.

Here's my all-time favorite African email scam letter. This one features a humanitarian angle....

Dear Friend,

Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried,but I am assuring you that everything will be well at the end of the day. I have decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.

Let me start by introducing myself properly to you. I am Mr.Jeffrey Mbuzo,External Auditor,NedBank Plc, Johannesburg-South Africa.

THE PROPOSITION:
A Foreigner, a french, Late Engr.Jean claude Pierre (Snr), a staff of Witwaterstrand Gold Mining Coy South Africa,until his death months ago in Kenya Air Bus (A310 - 300)Flight KQ430,banked with us at NedBank Plc Johannesburg- South Africa,and had a closing balance as at the end of September, 2000 worth $33,800.000.00 (Thirty Three Million eight hundred United State Dollars), (this is aside the accrued interest so far from that date) the bank now expects next of kin as beneficiary.Concerted efforts made by the management of NedBank Plc Johannesburg- South Africa to get in touch with any of the Pierre's Family or Relatives proved abortive.

It is because of the perceived possibility of not being able to locate any of Late Engr. Jean Claude Pierre(Snr.)'s next of kin (He had no wife or children that is known to us according to his immigration data available to the bank),that the Management, under the influence of our Chairman and Members of the Board of Directors,concluded arrangement for the fund to be decleared "Unclaimed" and subsequentlly be donated as trust fund for arms/ ammunition to further enhance the course of War in Africa and the World in General.

In order to avert this negative development, some of my trusted colleagues and I now seek your assistance to stand as next of kin to the late Engr. Jean Claude Pierre (Snr.) so that the fund will be released and paid into your Account as the beneficiary/ next of kin.

All validating and authenticating documents to enable you get this fund will be carefully worked out. We have secured from the probate registry, an order of Mandamus to locate any of the deceased beneficiaries, and more so we are assuring you that this business is 100% Risk Free.

Your share will be 30% of the total sum while the rest will be for myself and my colleagues for investment purposes, according to agreement between both parties. For the successful completion of this task, you'll be required to claim the funds after documentation in our offshore clearing centre in Holland or London with the assistance of one of our collegues,who will be willing to talk with you on phone as soon as possible. We shall arrange to change the name of beneficiary in your favour in NedBank Plc, Johannesburg-South Africa.

Kindly indicate your interest to enable us, with your assistance,move the fund to our offshore clearing house in London or Holland without any transfer fee payable by you. Please note that for the purposes of confidentiality, all further correspondences would be through my alternative email address:zojefff1@mail.com

Accept my warm regards as I await your response.

Sincerely,

Mr.Jeffrey Mbuzo

Great headline on article by investigative writer Greg Palast:

POWER OUTAGE TRACED TO DIM BULB IN WHITE HOUSE

From BuzzFlash:

"In June of 2001, Bush opposed and the congressional GOP voted down legislation to provide $350 million worth of loans to modernize the nation's power grid because of known weaknesses in reliability and capacity. Supporters of the amendment pointed to studies by the Energy Department showing that the grid was in desperate need of upgrades as proof that their legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) should pass."

A very astute observation about conservative death penalty supporters from Tim Dunlop, Australian blogger:

"One thing that always strikes me as weird is that it often seems to be the very people who purport to hate "government" the most, and would't trust it to do anything competently or honestly who are most willing to hand the power of life and death to the very organisation that is the usual object of their ire and contempt."

Jay Leno, regarding the effort now underway to write a constitution for Iraq:

"Hey, why don't we send them ours? It worked well for us for over two hundred years . . . and we're not using it anymore . . ."

"Weblogs are the jungle drums of the Internet age."

*Karen Tumulty / Time magazine writer

Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan:

"The checks and balances in the Constitution must have been designed with this administration in mind."

The field seems to be narrowing in the race for Governor of California; there are only 136 entries at the moment. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be simpler, cheaper, and perhaps wiser to just hold a lottery- why not pick a random name out of the 33.9 million left coast residents and let the winner govern? I was following the campaign of filmaker Brian Jennings for awhile- he was running on the platform of "I Will Not Serve." His notion was that if elected, he would immediately resign and thus hand over the office to Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante. I emailed Jennings and suggested that he make up some campaign buttons- they would be hot sellers on Ebay after the election....

I learned recently that my old blogsite 'E-Town' shared its name with a very cool radio program hosted by Nick and Helen Forster out in Boulder, CO. Their show aims to create a strong community that shares environmental and social values through music and conversation.

So as to avoid confusion and spare those folks the embarassment of being identified with the author of the incoherent mumblings contained herein, I have decided to put down roots here at Jung At Heart. Hopefully my worldwide audience of 3 unemployed Tarot card readers will remain loyal and continue to watch this space for illuminating commentary on a wide range of irrelevant topics.