Inside of a Dog, It's Too Dark to Read

GREAT HERA! WONDER WOMAN DAY IV
*** The heroic charity event returns to Portland, OR, and Flemington, NJ! ***

Look at that ART! Oh Muses, if I had money for this one....

Just finished Second Life's Relay For Life for the American Cancer Society - collectively, we raised close to US$200,000, but I've been up since 09:00 Saturday.

'Night.

Click, my friends! Go out to every cybercafe and library and bagel shop in the land and CLICK! (C'mon, it's cheap!)

Not even 50%?! :(

Click the image, please.

From stormrunner (un-LJcut because it's about time!):

Bikers roll to military funerals to oppose anti-gay protests

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) -- Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls around the country from one soldier's funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters.

They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders, and they are more than 5,000 strong, forming to counter anti-gay protests held by the Rev. Fred Phelps at military funerals.

Phelps believes American deaths in Iraq are divine punishment for a country that he says harbors homosexuals. His protesters carry signs thanking God for so-called IEDs -- explosives that are a major killer of soldiers in Iraq.

The bikers shield the families of dead soldiers from the protesters, and overshadow the jeers with patriotic chants and a sea of red, white and blue flags.

"The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares," said Don Woodrick, the group's Kentucky captain. "When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement."

At least 14 states are considering laws aimed at the funeral protesters, who at a recent memorial service at Fort Campbell wrapped themselves in upside-down American flags. They danced and sang impromptu songs peppered with vulgarities that condemned homosexuals and soldiers.

The Patriot Guard was also there, waving up a ruckus of support for the families across the street. Community members came in the freezing rain to chant "U-S-A, U-S-A" alongside them.

"This is just the right thing to do. This is something America didn't do in the '70s," said Kurt Mayer, the group's national spokesman. "Whether we agree with why we're over there, these soldiers are dying to protect our freedoms."

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of Fred Phelps and an attorney for the Topeka, Kansas-based church, said neither state laws nor the Patriot Guard can silence their message that God killed the soldiers because they fought for a country that embraces homosexuals.

"The scriptures are crystal clear that when God sets out to punish a nation, it is with the sword. An IED is just a broken-up sword," Phelps-Roper said. "Since that is his weapon of choice, our forum of choice has got to be a dead soldier's funeral."

The church, Westboro Baptist Church, is not affiliated with a larger denomination and is made up mostly of Fred Phelps' extended family members.

During the 1990s, church members were known mostly for picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, and they have long been tracked as a hate group by the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project.

The project's deputy director, Heidi Beirich, said other groups have tried to counter Phelps' message, but none has been as organized as the Patriot Guard.

"I'm not sure anybody has gone to this length to stand in solidarity," she said. "It's nice that these veterans and their supporters are trying to do something. I can't imagine anything worse, your loved one is killed in Iraq and you've got to deal with Fred Phelps."

Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell along the Tennessee line, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.

Richard Wilbur, a retired police detective, said his Indiana Patriot Guard group only comes to funerals if invited by family. He said he has no problem with protests against the war but sees no place for objectors at a family's final goodbye to a soldier.

"No one deserves this," he said.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Just a reminder -- go to TheBreastCancerSite and click once a day for sponsors to remit money to the cause. They're staging a 'click-drive' for this month and the goal is going to be missed at this rate. It's easy to help!

While you're there, take another couple minutes (depending on your bps) and click on the other good causes they have there as well. They work with First Book the same way The Leaky Cauldron does.

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Since I don't have wireless and portable Internet (yet), I've spent my day off mostly at the Corporate Run. I don't do the motating, I do the tent -- guard people's stuff, guard the 6-foot sub sandwiches from the wandering predatory teenagers and occasional polite homeless person, make sure the other snacks are set out, cooler iced, etc. etc. etc.

This meant I was on my feet solid for about 3 hours (felt longer); since I got 'Sage', my calf-high ankle brace, I can actually do this. And since it's all for charity, and post-run tent leftovers go to the leading homeless shelter in the area, Camillus House, it all works out very warm-and-fuzzy.

Current snack: raw carrots in balsamic vinegar and whole-wheat Bite Sized Shredded Wheat.

Thinking of charity work, I also have to finish the table 'numbers' for my mother's group's event. She belongs to a branch of the volunteer support organization for The National Jewish Medical and Research Center, which doesn't cure you of being Jewish -- BAD joke, no biscuit -- but is the leading facility for repiratory treatment... mostly asthma. The Lorber branch has been active for decades now, scary to realise it. I'm their unofficial steath PC geek.

D'Argo got to splash (quite literally) in the ocean for the first time... Biscayne Bay, to be specific. He's my white boxer, who got written into 'Canis Mutatem,' and illustrated, too. He's too cute to be believed, and one of these days he'll have his own gallery on my pitifully out-of-date webpage.