This Bliggety Blog is Almost Completely Out of Free Space, So... NEW BLOG ADDRESS
Mood:  chatty

This has been fun. 4 months and 421 blog posts later, and at 19.6 MB used of 20 MB available, it's obviously time to begin anew.

And since a fresh, new week is here, I can't think of a better time to get bloggin, whippin libtards at the new blog.

CLICK ON THE ALL NEW KICK ASSIEST BLOG FOR THE LATEST!

Roe attorney: Use abortion to 'eliminate poor', In unearthed letter urged President-elect Clintax to 'reform'
Mood:  suave
Now Playing: MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Of course Clintax didn't take his advice as the poor and uneducated is 90% of the liberal base...

Roe attorney: Use abortion to 'eliminate poor'

In unearthed letter urged President-elect Clinton to 'reform' country

A letter to Bill Clinton written by the co-counsel who successfully argued the Roe v. Wade decision urged the then-president-elect to "eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of our country" by liberalizing abortion laws.

Ron Weddington, who with his wife Sarah Weddington represented "Jane Roe," sent the four-page letter to President Clinton's transition team before Clinton took office in January 1993.

The missive turned up in an exhibit put together by the watchdog legal group Judicial Watch, which has been researching the Clinton administration's policy on the abortion drug RU-486, notes James Taranto in the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web.

Weddington told the president-elect: "I don't think you are going to go very far in reforming the country until we have a better educated, healthier, wealthier population."

He said the new leader can "start immediately to eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of our country."

Weddington qualified his statement, saying, "No, I'm not advocating some sort of mass extinction of these unfortunate people. Crime, drugs and disease are already doing that. The problem is that their numbers are not only replaced but increased by the birth of millions of babies to people who can't afford to have babies.

"There, I've said it. It's what we all know is true, but we only whisper it, because as liberals who believe in individual rights, we view any program which might treat the disadvantaged differently as discriminatory, mean-spirited and ... well ... so Republican."

Weddington explained he was "not proposing that you send federal agents armed with Depo-Provera dart guns to the ghetto. You should use persuasion rather than coercion."

He points to President Clinton and his soon-to-be first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as the "perfect example."

"Could either of you have gone to law school and achieved anything close to what you have if you had three or four or more children before you were 20?" he asked. "No! You waited until you were established and in your 30's to have one child. That is what sensible people do."

Later, Weddington took a shot at the "religious right."

"Having convinced the poor that they can't get out of poverty when they have all those extra mouths to feed, you will have to provide the means to prevent the extra mouths, because abstinence doesn't work. The religious right has had 12 years to preach its message. It's time to officially recognize that people are going to have sex and what we need to do as a nation is prevent as much disease and as many poor babies as possible."

Weddington then argued that with 30 million abortions up to that point since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, America is a much better place.

"Think of all the poverty, crime and misery ... and then add 30 million unwanted babies to the scenario," he said. "We lost a lot of ground during the Reagan-Bush religious orgy. We don't have a lot of time left."

The lawyer also delved into biblical theology.

"The biblical exhortation to 'be fruitful and multiply' was directed toward a small tribe, surrounded by enemies," he argued. "We are long past that. Our survival depends upon our developing a population where everyone contributes. We don't need more cannon fodder. We don't need more parishioners. We don't need more cheap labor. We don't need more poor babies."

In his postscript, Weddington said: "I was co-counsel in Roe v. Wade, [and] have sired zero children and one fetus, the abortion of which was recently recounted by my ex-wife in her book, "A Question of Choice" (Grosset/Putnam, 1992) I had a vasectomy in 1969 and have never had one moment of regret."

The Weddingtons divorced in 1974.

Their client in the 1973 case, Norma McCorvey, recently attempted to challenge the ruling that struck down all state laws restricting abortion, arguing changes in law and new scientific research make the prior decision "no longer just."

Commenting on a 2004 court ruling dismissing the challenge, Sarah Weddington said those who filed it "got publicity but the publicity actually has been very helpful for those of us who believe the government should not be involved."

After announcement of McCorvey's challenge, Weddington received about two dozen offers to help defend the Roe decision.

World Net Daily ** Roe attorney: Use abortion to 'eliminate poor'

The entire Judicial Watch File, "The Clinton RU-486 Files" is worth a read. It's subtitled, "The Clinton Administration's Radical Drive to Force an Abortion Drug on America." You know up front there's an agenda, but the documents they've pulled out of the Clinton Library are pretty damning. The Weddington letter is just the most straightforward - it's pretty obvious how RU-486 was championed and shepherded through the FDA.

Dem candidate for Alabama attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred, is to speak at ''pro-white'' racist organization
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Alabama candidate for AG disputes Holocaust, is coming to NJ

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A Democratic candidate for Alabama attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend in New Jersey to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist.

Larry Darby concedes his views are radical, but he said they should help him win wide support among Alabama voters as he tries to "reawaken white racial awareness" with his campaign against Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson.

The state Democratic chairman, Joe Turnham, said the party became aware of some of Darby's views only days ago and was considering what to do about his candidacy.

"Any type of hatred toward groups of people, especially for political gain, is completely unacceptable in the Alabama Democratic Party," said Turnham.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, Darby said he believes no more than 140,000 Jewish people died in Europe during World War II, and most of them succumbed to typhus.

Historians say about 6 million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis, but Darby said the figure is a false claim of the "Holocaust industry."

"I am what the propagandists call a Holocaust denier, but I do not deny mass deaths that included some Jews," Darby said. "There was no systematic extermination of Jews. There's no evidence of that at all."

Darby said he will speak Saturday near Newark, N.J., at a meeting of National Vanguard, which bills itself as an advocate for the white race. Some of his campaign materials are posted on the group's Internet site.

"It's time to stop pushing down the white man. We've been discriminated against too long," Darby said in the interview.

New Jersey's Democratic State Committee chief on Friday decried Darby's planned visit, and said in a statement that denying the Holocaust was "historical blasphemy."

"Hate and prejudice are destructive qualities that are not welcome in New Jersey and should be condemned wherever they occur," said party Chairman Joe Cryan. "Mr. Darby should turn around before crossing the Jersey stateline and then give thought to turning his abhorrent attitudes around as well."

A poll published last month indicated the Democratic race for attorney general was up for grabs. The survey showed 21 percent favored Tyson to 12 percent for Darby, but 68 percent of respondents were undecided.

Darby, founder of the Atheist Law Center and a longtime supporter of separation of church and state, said he has no money for campaign advertising and has made only a few campaign speeches.

Tyson said aside from his views on race and the Holocaust, Darby also has publicly advocated legalizing drugs and shooting all illegal immigrants.

"I am astonished as anyone has ever been that anyone is running for public office in Alabama on that platform," said Tyson. "I do not take him as a serious candidate."

Turnham said the party began an investigation last week after hearing about some of Darby's comments in a television interview. While the party supports the free-speech rights of any candidate, Turnham said some of Darby's views appear to be in "a realm of thought that is unacceptable."

"We have Holocaust survivors and families of Holocaust survivors here in Alabama, and many of them are members of the Democratic Party," said Turnham.

The winner of the Democratic primary on June 6 will face either Republican Attorney General Troy King or Mark Montiel, who is opposing King in the GOP primary.

Newsday ~ Associated Press - Jay Reeves ** Alabama candidate for AG disputes Holocaust, is coming to NJ

Also at:
Montgomery Advertiser ~ Associated Press - Jay Reeves ** Candidate: Holocaust didn't happen

Father wins lawsuit, Bar upset as he is not an attorney
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Completely un-fucking-believable, totally outrageous. Another reason to hate attorneys...

Nonlawyer Father Wins His Suit Over Education, and the Bar Is Upset
By Adam Liptak

Several years ago, Brian Woods sued the school board in Akron, Ohio, on behalf of his autistic son Daniel. Mr. Woods wanted to make sure that Daniel received an appropriate education, and he won several concessions and about $160,000.

"I soundly defeated a team of lawyers," Mr. Woods, an adjunct professor at Cuyahoga Community College, said yesterday.

When the Cleveland Bar Association got wind of Mr. Woods's victory recently, it also went to court - to sue Mr. Woods.

The bar association said he had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. It sought a $10,000 fine, lawyers' fees and a promise that he would not continue to assist other parents seeking to represent their own children in court.

The Ohio Supreme Court was not impressed. On April 20, it ordered the bar association to produce evidence by next week in support of its complaint, saying the available facts suggest that Mr. Woods "has not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law."

With that deadline looming and after reports on the controversy in The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, the bar association backed down. Sort of.

In a statement on Wednesday, its president, P. Kelly Tompkins, said the complaint against Mr. Woods "had a legitimate, technical basis." Mr. Woods did, after all, represent someone else in court - his son - without being a lawyer.

The filing of the complaint was nonetheless a mistake, Mr. Tompkins said, withdrawing it and apologizing to the Woods family. The association should not have considered filing the complaint, he said, until after the United States Supreme Court acted in a case it might decide to hear this month.

That case involves two other Ohio parents, Jeff and Sandee Winkelman. In November, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati gave the Winkelmans, who had been representing their autistic son Jacob in a suit against the Parma, Ohio, school district, 30 days to find a lawyer or have their case dismissed. Justice John Paul Stevens issued a stay of that order in December.

Sandee and Jacob Winkelman at home in Parma, Ohio. She said lawyers wanted thousands of dollars to help Jacob, who is autistic. "We had no money, and we had nowhere to send Jacob to school," she said. >>>>>

Federal courts around the country are divided over the circumstances in which parents who are not lawyers may represent their children in federal court under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

Ms. Winkelman said the ruling of the appeals court effectively barred the courthouse doors to her son. Her family, she said, simply could not afford a lawyer.

"One quoted $60,000," Ms. Winkelman said. "She wanted $2,600, biweekly. I was in tears. I decided to go on my own. We had no money, and we had nowhere to send Jacob to school. When you're in a do-or-die situation, you do what you have to do."

Christina H. Peer, a lawyer for the Parma district, said there were good reasons for requiring that only lawyers might handle such cases.

"People who are not attorneys cannot represent the interests of another in a court of law," Ms. Peer said.

Where disabled minors are involved, she added, courts should be even more reluctant to let others, even parents, speak on the minors' behalf.

"Do they have the skills," Ms. Peer asked, "to adequately represent the rights of their children?"

A lawyer for Susan Woods, Daniel's mother, said he was furious that the bar association had pursued charges of unauthorized practice of law against her and her husband.

"I'm very angry about it," the lawyer, Allan M. Michelson, said. "I'm upset that my fellow attorneys should spend their time like this."

In an interview, Mr. Tompkins of the bar association sounded conciliatory.

"Our board had not approved this filing," he said. "We had a breakdown internally on this."

But he refused to rule out the possibility of further action after the Supreme Court acted in the Winkelman case.

"We'll stand down until it's resolved," Mr. Tompkins said.

Mr. Woods said he suspected that the peace might be temporary.

"The issue is," he said, "to shut me up so that I can't beat them again."

NY Times ~ Adam Liptak ** Nonlawyer Father Wins His Suit Over Education, and the Bar Is Upset

Cynthia McKinney added grisley autopsy pics to the 2007 budget report's section for dissenting views
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Way to represent the interests of your constituants, ding-bat...

Bones

Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who hit a Capitol Police officer who did not recognize her and asked her to stop, has raised some eyebrows in defense circles. She added autopsy pictures to the 2007 budget report from the House Armed Services Committee.

In the report's section for dissenting views, Mrs. McKinney attached 24 grisly photographs of the remains of Jaime Gomez, the chief of staff to a Colombian senator who is running in the May 28 presidential elections. His supporters say he was killed, but the government says his death may have been an accident.

"War never truly creates peace, but always leads to more war," Mrs. McKinney writes. "The threat of unconsolidated and ill-equipped terrorist groups has been used to expand the funding of huge corporate contracts for weapons and war while denying the human suffering and needs that face us."

Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, told The Washington Times congressional bureau chief Charles Hurt, "Our focus should be on winning the war on terror rather than printing up 30 pages of skeletal remains."

Mrs. McKinney's office said she could not be reached for comment last night.

Washington Times ~ Inside the Ring - Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough ** Bones

The Real Enemy: A Primer for Demented-crats
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Columns

The Real Enemy
By Arnold Kling

"The American left is where the American far right was in the 1950s -- besotted with anger, boiling in conspiracy theories."
-- Austin Bay

"Enemy sighted, enemy met, I'm addressing the realpolitik"
-- R.E.M., Exhuming McCarthy

Most of America is ready for a change of government. Except possibly the Democrats. I want to remind them that in addition to their internal enemies -- the Bush Administration -- they might want to pay some attention to America's external enemies.

Pelosism
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi plans to use control of Congress to launch an investigation into the Bush Administration. For those of us who have not been drinking the Kos Kool-Aid, this seems like a questionable enterprise.

In the late 1940's, the Republicans finally took control of Congress. Seething after years of the Roosevelt Administration, one of the things that Republicans did in the late 1940's and early 1950's was launch investigations into the "treason" of the Roosevelt-Truman State Department, as well as former Communists in various professions. When I was three years old, one of the investigating committees decided that my mother, who had joined the Communists in the 1930's and left the Party in the 1940's, was of sufficient national security interest to be hauled before the Grand Inquisition. A few of the people that these committees investigated did turn out to be foreign agents or traitors. However, most of those investigated, like my mother, never did anything wrong.

In the 1950's, the Republican Right saw the investigations into "un-American activities" as a way to righteously smite down the Democratic Party. They wanted to expose their opponents' scandals and treason. Instead, they wound up exposing their own bad judgment, radicalism, and incivility. In the long run, the investigations damaged both parties. Certainly, the Republicans gained nothing. Apart from the war hero Eisenhower, their electoral fortunes sagged -- they lost control of Congress from 1958 until 1994. It seems rather odd that Democrats should want to try a similar strategy today.

The most famous of the inquisitors was Senator Joe McCarthy. In American politics today, McCarthyism is an epithet. I am not sure why the Democrats want to turn Pelosism into its synonym.

Some Basic Differences
For the Democrats in 2006, and more importantly in 2008, I would like to point out that there are some fundamental differences between America and its radical Muslim adversaries. You will forget these differences at your -- and our -- peril.

1. Many people have fled radical Muslim regimes to live in the U.S. Hardly anyone has fled the U.S. to live under radical Muslim regimes.
2. In the United States, women are allowed to choose whether or not to wear modest clothing. Radical Muslims deny them that right, as well as others.
3. Americans who abuse enemy prisoners cower in shame and are prosecuted. Radical Muslims celebrate war crimes, proudly display photos and videos of war crimes, and honor the criminals.
4. More Iraqis would like to see the terrorists give up tomorrow than see the Americans leave tomorrow. (If there is any doubt about that, we can put the issue up for a vote in Iraq.)
5. Americans see negotiations as a way to resolve differences. Radical Muslims see negotiations as a sign of weakness.
6. When Muslims come to live in America, we provide them with safety, tolerance, and equal rights. Jews and Christians do not enjoy equal rights -- or even safety -- inside countries run by radical Muslim regimes.
7. The American military is trained to try to minimize civilian casualties. For radical Muslims, civilian casualties are a measure of success.
8. Americans go to war reluctantly, when other means fail. Radical Muslims accept cease-fires reluctantly, when other means fail.
9. Americans desire the approval and support of the European people. Radical Muslims desire the intimidation and submission of the European people.
10. If radical Muslims would renounce violence, then we would not disturb them. If we renounce violence, then we will be conquered and brutalized.

Sooner or later, a party that wants to govern in the modern era has to pay attention to the real enemy.

Arnold Kling is a TCS contributing editor and an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute. His most recent book is Crisis of Abundance.
Technology - Commerce - Society (TCS) Daily ~ Arnold Kling ** The Real Enemy

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Bush Tax Cut Worked Better Than Expected
Mood:  party time!
Topic: News

Democrats hate reality, more than George W. Bush because reality belies everything they believe in...

Bush Tax Cut Worked Better Than Expected

‡

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: (Wall Street Journal) "The Federal government ran a monthly budget surplus of $118.85 billion in April as tax receipts came in stronger than the same period last year." In fact... (AP) "A flood of income tax payments pushed up government receipts to the second-highest level in history in April, giving the country a sizable surplus for the month. In its monthly accounting of the government's books, the Treasury Department said Wednesday that revenue for the month totaled $315.1 billion as Americans filed their tax returns by the April deadline. The gusher of tax revenue pushed total receipts up by 13.4% from April 2005."

Now, a question. How can this happen? How can this happen when we had tax cuts? How can it possibly happen when we have had tax cuts, ladies and gentlemen? Well, it happens because of the way we've always told you it happens: Tax cuts produce more revenue because they create more jobs equaling more taxpayers, and more taxpayers contribute more tax revenue while the aggregate tax payment per person comes down.

It works every time it is tried, if the top rate that you are reducing is not too low. You reach a point where you are not going to raise revenue if your tax rate is zero. There is a formula for this. It obviously works, especially with capital gains coming down to 15%. So this leads me to another question. What do liberals hate more than our president? Now, I'll give you a hint: it is one word. I'll give you another hint: it begins with "R." No, it is not Rush. It is not me. It has seven letters. Liberals hate more than our president, one word.

It begins with "R", and has seven letters. Don't bother figuring it out. I'll tell you. What liberals hate more than our president and me is R-E-A-L-I-T-Y. The tax cuts worked, and according to today's media, the Wall Street Journal and others, they worked better than advertised. Yet, only 15 Democrats in the house broke ranks with Pelosi and supported the extension of these tax cuts! Only three in the Senate! Only three Democrats broke ranks and supported the extension. Despite the evidence, the liberal rally cries the tax warfare cry. "Tax cuts favor the rich."

It turns out tax cuts favor the economy. Tax cuts favor the employment figures. Tax cuts work! Reality sets in. What is the left going to do but try to continually rewrite history. You know how they are doing it? ABC sent one of their Good Morning America reporterettes out there to some mall. Her name is Kate Snow. They sent her out there waving a $20 bill, claiming $70 billion tax cut would only represent a $20 tax cut to the kind of people that run around in the malls, and then they went out and found a Democrat who just conveniently was able to mouth Democrat talking points!

Yes, well, these tax cuts only favor the rich."

I swear, folks, tax cuts favor the country and they favor the economy. Let me give you a hint. If you are going to get a tax cut, you have to be paying taxes, and the more in taxes you pay, the bigger your tax cuts are going to be. It's a hard fought mathematical calculation to make, but if you're not paying many taxes to begin with, you are not going to get a huge tax cut and we know -- you can go to my website, the statistics are always there. You can take a look at who is paying the lion's share of taxes in this country. It is impossible to not have those people get a tax cut if you are going to have a tax cut!

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material... (WSJ: U.S. Recorded a Budget Surplus in April)
(NB: Profiles in Class Warfare: Kate Snow Flashes $20 to Demagogue Tax Cut)
(AS: Wild on the Supply-Side)
(WSJ: Senate Set to Pass Tax-Cut Bill)
(NRO: Extending the Boom)
(Washington Post: GOP Hopes for Boost From $70B Tax Cut)

Only the Rich Pay Taxes!
The Top 50% pay 96.54% of All Income Taxes
The Top 1% Pay More Than a Third: 34.27%
(New EIB Numbers Breakdown...here)
(IRS Excel: Latest Data Calendar Year 2003)
(NY Times Buries Truth on Taxes: tscript)
(CBO Report: Effective Federal Tax Rates Under Current Law, 2001 to 2014)
(CY 2001 Posted Forever: here)
(Myth Buster: Democrats Get More Campaign Cash from "Rich")
*Note: Links to content outside Rush Limbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

Rush Limbaugh.com ** Bush Tax Cut Worked Better Than Expected

IAEA Finds Near Arms-Grade Uranium Traces in Iran
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: News

More Uranium Reportedly Found in Iran

VIENNA, Austria -- The U.N. atomic agency found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country's defense ministry, diplomats said Friday, adding to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities aimed at making nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for revealing the confidential information, said the findings were preliminary and still had to be confirmed through other lab tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the traces match others established to have come from abroad. The International Atomic Energy Agency determined earlier traces of weapons-grade uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity discovered just over three years ago.

Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity. It becomes suitable for use in nuclear weapons when enriched to more than 90 percent.

Iran's refusal to give up enrichment ambitions has led to involvement by the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions but remains split on how firmly to pressure Tehran.

Key U.N. Security Council members agreed Tuesday to postpone a resolution that would have delivered an ultimatum to Tehran, giving Iran another two weeks to re-evaluate its insistence on developing its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Iran's hard-line president said Friday that his country was not afraid of possible U.S. military action over its enrichment program, but added that he thought any such strikes were very unlikely. Washington has said it favors a diplomatic end to the dispute, but it hasn't ruled out military force.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also told a local TV station that Iran would cooperate with the Security Council if it makes a decision on the escalating standoff as long as the world body acts "in line with international rules."

The Islamic republic denies accusations it wants to make nuclear arms and says it is only interested in uranium to generate power.

To argue that it never enriched uranium domestically to weapons grade, it cites the IAEA's tentative conclusion last year that weapons-grade traces collected from other sites within the country with no suspected ties to that military came in on equipment from Pakistan.

The origin of the samples now under perusal created some concern in that regard.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the samples came from equipment that can be used in uranium-enriching centrifuges at a former research center at Lavizan-Shian. The center is believed to have been the repository of equipment bought by the Iranian military that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

The United States alleges Iran had conducted high-explosive tests that could have a bearing on developing nuclear weapons at the site.

The State Department said in 2004 that Lavizan's buildings had been dismantled and topsoil had been removed in attempts to hide nuclear weapons-related experiments. The agency subsequently confirmed that the site had been razed.

In an April 28 report to the U.N. Security Council and the IAEA's 35- nation board of governors, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency took samples from some of the equipment of the former Physics Research Center at Lavizan-Shian. The diplomat said the evaluation of those samples revealed the traces in question.

Ahmadinejad's remarks on possible U.S. military action were made in Jakarta during a discussion with Indonesian Islamic leaders.

Asked whether his country was prepared to face an attack by the United States, he said "that is very unlikely because they know the Islamic Republic of Iran is a strong country."

"They are trying to frighten our country by waging a propaganda campaign using strong words. The people of Iran and the country are not afraid of them," he said to applause from the audience.

The Chinese and Russians have balked at British, French and U.S. efforts to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to suspend its uranium enrichment operations. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

Breitbart.com ~ Associated Press - George Jahn ** More Uranium Reportedly Found in Iran

Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in Texas
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Odd Stuff

Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas

If diseases like AIDS and bird flu scare you, wait until you hear what's next. Doctors are trying to find out what is causing a bizarre and mysterious infection that's surfaced in South Texas.

Morgellons disease is not yet known to kill, but if you were to get it, you might wish you were dead, as the symptoms are horrible.

"These people will have like beads of sweat but it's black, black and tarry," said Ginger Savely, a nurse practioner in Austin who treats a majority of these patients.

Patients get lesions that never heal.

"Sometimes little black specks that come out of the lesions and sometimes little fibers," said Stephanie Bailey, Morgellons patient.

Patients say that's the worst symptom -- strange fibers that pop out of your skin in different colors.

"He'd have attacks and fibers would come out of his hands and fingers, white, black and sometimes red. Very, very painful," said Lisa Wilson, whose son Travis had Morgellon's disease.

While all of this is going on, it feels like bugs are crawling under your skin. So far more than 100 cases of Morgellons disease have been reported in South Texas.

"It really has the makings of a horror movie in every way," Savely said.

While Savely sees this as a legitimate disease, there are many doctors who simply refuse to acknowledge it exists, because of the bizarre symptoms patients are diagnosed as delusional.

"Believe me, if I just randomly saw one of these patients in my office, I would think they were crazy too," Savely said. "But after you've heard the story of over 100 (patients) and they're all -- down to the most minute detail -- saying the exact same thing, that becomes quite impressive."

Travis Wilson developed Morgellons just over a year ago. He called his mother in to see a fiber coming out of a lesion.

"It looked like a piece of spaghetti was sticking out about a quarter to an eighth of an inch long and it was sticking out of his chest," Lisa Wilson said. "I tried to pull it as hard as I could out and I could not pull it out."

The Wilson's spent $14,000 after insurance last year on doctors and medicine.

"Most of them are antibiotics. He was on Tamadone for pain. Viltricide, this was an anti-parasitic. This was to try and protect his skin because of all the lesions and stuff," Lisa said.

However, nothing worked, and 23-year-old Travis could no longer take it.

"I knew he was going to kill himself, and there was nothing I could do to stop him," Lisa Wilson said.

Just two weeks ago, Travis took his life.

Stephanie Bailey developed the lesions four-and-a-half years ago.

"The lesions come up, and then these fuzzy things like spores come out," she said.

She also has the crawling sensation.

"You just want to get it out of you," Bailey said.

She has no idea what caused the disease, and nothing has worked to clear it up.

"They (doctors) told me I was just doing this to myself, that I was nuts. So basically I stopped going to doctors because I was afraid they were going to lock me up," Bailey said.

Harriett Bishop has battled Morgellons for 12 years. After a year on antibiotics, her hands have nearly cleared up. On the day, we visited her she only had one lesion and she extracted this fiber from it.

"You want to get these things out to relieve the pain, and that's why you pull and then you can see the fibers there, and the tentacles are there, and there are millions of them," Bishop said.

So far, pathologists have failed to find any infection in the fibers pulled from lesions.

"Clearly something is physically happening here," said Dr. Randy Wymore, a researcher at the Morgellons Research Foundation at Oklahoma State University's Center for Health Sciences.

Wymore examines the fibers, scabs and other samples from Morgellon's patients to try and find the disease's cause.

"These fibers don't look like common environmental fibers," he said.

The goal at OSU is to scientifically find out what is going on. Until then, patients and doctors struggle with this mysterious and bizarre infection. Thus far, the only treatment that has showed some success is an antibiotic.

"It sounds a little like a parasite, like a fungal infection, like a bacterial infection, but it never quite fits all the criteria of any known pathogen," Savely said.

No one knows how Morgellans is contracted, but it does not appear to be contagious. The states with the highest number of cases are Texas, California and Florida.

The only connection found so far is that more than half of the Morgellons patients are also diagnosed with Lyme disease.

For more information on Morgellons, visit the research foundation's Web site at
Morgellons Research Foundation. ---- (Additional Images)

Web extra: Exclusive interview: Ginger Savely talks more on Morgellons (.mp3 file)

San Antonio Express-News ~ KENS 5 Eyewitness News - Deborah Knapp **
Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas

British Inventor Unveils 8000 MPG Car
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Odd Stuff

Too bad it's a glorified golf cart...

British Inventor Unveils 8000 MPG Car

London, England -- A British inventor unveils the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle, a three-wheel "TeamGreen" car capable of doing 8,000 miles to the gallon.

The 45-year-old inventor, Andy Green, from the University of Bath, built his budget eco-motor for just L2,000, and will be the sole British contender for the title of the world's most fuel-economic car in a global competition being held later this month.

It has taken Mr. Green more than two years to design and build the car, which will be the fourth eco-vehicle he has built. He holds the British record for fuel-efficiency, with 6,603 miles to the gallon in a previous car.

According to the report, the new vehicle is powered by a single cylinder four-stroke engine with a capacity of just 35cc and runs with a special management system incorporating fuel injection.

A spokesman for Bath University says, "Andy Green is keeping the spirit of the lone British inventor who takes on the world very much alive."

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