The Loveshade Family Blog

If you remember 1990s American television, you likely remember Miyam Bialik as Blossom. Blossom was the teen who hung around with Six and had a clueless brother named Joey. Now Bialik is becoming known for alternative or holistic parenting.

Bialik, who received a doctorate degree in neuroscience, is using and promoting family bed sharing, home schooling, home birth, and nursing on demand--breast-feeding based on your child's needs, not a schedule. She also promotes elimination communication, which means the parents learn to observe when the child is ready to "go potty." Her first son was potty trained at 12 months.

Two of our small family have worked professionally with children, believe in holistic methods, and most if not all of us were fans of the TV program Blossom. (You may also have see Bialik in the film Kalamazoo? and while playing Bette Midler's character as a young girl in the movie Beaches).

You can learn about Mayim and Holistic Parenting at http://www.holisticmoms.org/category/aboutus/spokesperson/ and see the commercial-free version of Ali Landry's interview with Bialik at http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/goddess/spotlight-to-nightlight-mayim-bialik-from-teen-icon-to-unconventional-mom/270?nc. Photo is linked to http://holisticmoms.org. No threat to their copyright is intended.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

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Yep, we guessed it. Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, was seen alive in a video after he was murdered. Who would have thought it? We would have thought it. Look Below.

It will be really interesting to see how these reports work out. I can imagine the trial:

As a witness, you claimed you saw Michael Jackson alive after his supposed death.

Yes, that's correct.

But according to this autopsy report, he's dead. And you also claim you know who murdered him. Can you explain how you can both claim he's alive and say you know who killed him?

Yes. I want the publicity.

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We would have thought it. See our blog entry at http://loveshade.org/blog/2009/08/death_of_michael_jackson_homicide_or_fake.html

See that he was murdered at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32542682/ns/entertainment-music/ and see he's still alive at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9b8_1251194026

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For all our blog entries dealing with Michael Jackson click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=Michael+Jackson

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 12:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)

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We weren't going to even mention this, but....

All right, a couple of us (I'm speaking of both The Loveshade Family and the extended Discordian Division of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild) can be seen in the movie Taking Woodstock which just had its national release today.  Why didn't we mention this before?  Especially when I'm known for having an enormous ego and bragging about everything I ever did and even some things I didn't?

We didn't mention it because 1) we appear in a crowd scene buried in the midst of a zillion people; and 2) until we saw the film we didn't even know if we'd be in the final cut.  Movie makers always shoot a great deal more footage than ever appears on screen, and even a great deal more than ever appears in those expanded DVDs.

Even my ego's not big enough to stand up to "so you're bragging about being in a crowd scene that nobody will ever see?"  Frankly, it's barely big enough to "brag about being in a crowd scene that people will see."  But I'll step up to the challenge.

Some of you may have heard the rumors that I've appeared on film before, even if those films are, well, not available for general release.  (See how I manage to brag?)

But this was no work and lots of fun.  We got to see New York, wear the Sacred Chao on film (although you can't see it), see some very talented people, meet Jonathan Groff (very briefly), meet Kelli Garner and Paul Dano, roll in the mud, get chewed out for being in the mud when I wasn't supposed to be, and meet some Discordians (we met at least half a dozen).

I didn't get to meet the real-life Elliot Tiber, who with Tom Monte wrote Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life.  And I also didn't get to meet the director Ang Lee (you may not know that crowd scenes are often not directed by the listed director).  Would have loved to have met them both.

The movie's a comedy, plays very loosely with the facts, and is a lot of fun (Roger Ebert likes it).  So go see it, and tell them Reverend Loveshade and friends sent you.

Learn more about the film at http://www.filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/taking_woodstock/

(In the photo, left to right, that's Kelli Garner, Demetri Martin and Paul Dano doing cuddles.  Yes this picture's something of a clue.  It's from the website linked above and is © 2009 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.)

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

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A CIA report that was released today (Monday, 24 August 2009) says interrogators threatened to kill the children of a suspect in the investigation of the 11 September 2009 attack.

According to the American Justice Department, an official said another Central Intelligence Agency interrogator had told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that, if the United States were attacked again, "We're going to kill your children."

Another interrogator allegedly threatened a detainee that his mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him.

Meanwhile, American President Barack Obama approved creating a new special interrogation unit that works under the White House and that follows the rules for interrogations specified by the Army Field Manual. Apparently, Obama wants to make it clear what's acceptable interrogation and what's not, and to distance himself from George. W. Bush-era methods.

While I'm less than enthusiastic about the creation of a new agency,  I don't blame Obama for wanting to distance himself from the practices of the recent past. I am completely opposed to terrorism, even if it does come from the "good guys."

Posted by Alden Loveshade at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

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Tom Ridge, America's former Homeland Security Secretary, now writes that he was pressured by members of George W. Bush's Cabinet to raise the terrorist alert level--right before the 2004 presidential election.

In a new book, Homeland Security's first secretary claims this pressure came from then Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and then Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Ridge said this was a significant factor in his leaving the White House very shortly after the November 2004 election. Predictably, Bush's popularity raised significantly after the alert. Fearful people are resistant to change--it's part of a survival instinct. Right now, you're alive. If something changes, you may be dead. It's not always rational, but it's there. An external threat is one of the best things an incumbent president can hope for when election times comes around.

We've been saying since it began that publicly raising the alert levels made no strategic sense. The level was at yellow or orange almost continually, never to the safer blue or safest green and rarely to the most dangerous red. And when it was raised, the goverment told people, "It's more dangerous now, but go ahead and do everything normally." An intelligence agency that feels it needs to be on alert doesn't publicize it unless they want the public to do something different than usual.

To us, the entire publicly-announcing-the-alert-level seemed little more than a political ploy. Of course there are those who claim Ridge is wrong.

If you live in America, please ask yourself--right now, do you know what the alert level is? Most of us have rationally stopped paying attention.

See more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32501273/ns/us_news-security.

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To see all our blog entries on Terrorists and Terrorism, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=terrorist+OR+terrorism

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 04:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

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The preliminary hearing for suspect Israel Mireles, who is the prime suspect in the killing of Emily Sander, is continuing. After hearing the preliminary evidence, a judge will decide if there is sufficient evidence to go to trial. At that point, Mireles will enter a plea.

Today (Tuesday, August 18, 2009), Aurelia Resa, college friend of the Kansas Sander, testified that she saw Sander leave a bar with Mireles the night she disappeared.

The case has drawn national attention because it was discovered Sander had posed nude online under the name of Zoey Zane. Sander had said that access to the website was blocked so that people in her hometown of El Dorado couldn't access it.

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To see all our entries on Emily Sander, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=emily+sander

See Perlie the Pony Girl's tribute to her friend Emily at http://discordia.loveshade.org/xtra/emily.html

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Update: After a judge determined there was enough evidence for trial, the attorney for Mireles entered a "not guilty" plea to the charges. The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 2.

Read more at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/08/19/2009-08-19_israel_mireles_suspect_in_murder_of_internet_model_emily_sander_aka_zoey_zane_pl.html#ixzz0R90OXMt1

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 02:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

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As of right now, it's been seven weeks since the death of "The King of Pop" Michael Jackson died at age 50. He's been the focus of tremendous media attention, and received what was called "the biggest celebrity send-off of all time," watched by 1 billion people.

And yet the cause of death has still not been released. Was it an accidental overdose of a prescription medication, a lethal drug mix, a rare medical condition, or what?

In a case like this, the relatively young death of an American icon, the death report would usually come relatively quickly. Unless there's suspicion of foul play.

We suspect two things: first, like what happened with the other American music king Elvis Presley, somebody will claim to have seen Michael Jackson alive. Second, his death will be investigated as a homicide.

See more at http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=7948345 and http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7938918&page=1 and  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/michael-jackson/5771156/Michael-Jackson-memorial-service-the-biggest-celebrity-send-off-of-all-time.html

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 12:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (33)

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The preliminary hearing for suspect Israel Mireles has been rescheduled for August 18, 2009. Mireles has been charged with the capital murder, rape and aggravated sodomy of Emily Sander.

Sander, who was a friend of our friend Perlie the Pony Girl, gained national attention when it was discovered she was a nude model who posed online under the name Zoey Zane. (Some have called her a "pornography model" or even "porn star," but most of her poses were relatively tame). Emily was only 18 when she died. The Kansas girl was a college student and secretary.

The case had previously been delayed when officials in Mexico refused to extradite Mireles until the U. S. agreed that, even if convicted, he would not be executed. Mexico does not accept the death penalty.

Now for a little editoralizing. Mexico, like most of the civilized world, doesn't believe in executions. If you lock an innocent person up, you've taken away their freedom and some of their life, but at least they can be released. If you kill them, you've taken away everything.

(See our report below on Troy Anthony Davis.)

Killing doesn't give "closure." Closure happens within the individual person and is not somehow magically created by outside events, as psychological studies have shown. And it's not always just. In America, "justice" usually means punishment, and punishment usually means revenge.

Perlie was torn apart by what happened to her friend. But she doesn't want to see the killing continue.

You can see Perlie's tribute to her friend at http://discordia.loveshade.org/xtra/emily.html.

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To see all our entries on Emily Sander, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=emily+sander

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

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The U.S. Supreme Court will decide on whether to grant Troy Anthony Davis an appeal after it returns from recess in September. Davis has been in prison for 17 years for the alleged murder of a police officer. More than once, he has come very close to being executed.

Repeated attempts for an appeal or retrial have been thwarted or denied, in spite of the fact there is no physical evidence against Troy Davis. Almost all witnesses have recanted their testimonies against Davis, and many said they were coerced into testifying against him by the police. One of the remaining witnesses has been identified by several people as possibly the actual killer.

How long will this go on?

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You can find more information at http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

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