1) The Vatican exhumed the body of Padre Pio, dead for 40 years, & placed the Catholic monk's cadaver on display for devotees. Take it from me digging up & displaying corpses is creepy. Obviously no peace for the living & now none for the dead. If this is the case, all I ask when I die is to be cremated, have my friends throw a party then snort my ashes. OK baby, the next line's on me!

2) Some have no respect for the dead & others have none for the living. Bush vetoed a bill banning waterboarding because he claims it's thwarted terrorist attacks. GWB provided few details of plots prevented. This form of torture was used during the Inquisition & is known to elicit false information, but fake info for a fake war would make perfect sense to a fake leader or a madman!

3) I'm a casualty of the Iraq war. During the 10 months I've been married my husband has spent 8 of them there. It's hard to turn off the news when you do the news. For 5 years more than a million Americans have fought there with over 4000 dead. I'm called a traitor when I say I want the troops home. But really, I'm just a woman, a wife & wise enough to know when enough is enough!

4) When the troops do come home they'll have to worry about employment. The largest amount of jobs in 5 years has been slashed and 100's of 1000's have dropped out of the labor force since the beginning of our recession. The value of the dollar, stocks and consumer confidence has crumbled. Our economy is at a standstill. It's not a pretty picture to come home to. Is it?

5) If the President or the VP set foot in parts of Vermont they will be arrested & charged for crimes against the Constitution. While not wanted dead or alive it does send the clear message Americans are fed up with the deception & deceit, which occurs whenever, our leader's lips move. The White House has yet to comment or turn the fugitives over to Guantanamo Bay authorities.

6) Unless you're in the oil business there's no cause to celebrate the $109 a barrel benchmark that was recently reached. We've been preoccupied with credit crunches, bank closures, write downs, a devastatingly devalued dollar & foreclosures. Seems that while looking the other way petrol crept past a 100 a barrel & the sky's the limit. So congratulations, the distractions worked!

7) Maybe he was like a rolling stone who said it ain't me babe but when Bob Dylan played Brasil a woman rushed on stage to kiss the troubadour then tried to steal his hat. The usually quiet coifed celeb ended his set, thanked the audience & asked to meet the lady. He then gave her his hat. Chivalry's alive, occurring in unexpected places from unexpected people. Take a bow, Bob!

8) Sometimes I just want to go to sleep & wake up after the world has stopped going mad. Crazy churches, profiting pandering politicians, torture, the wars & spending nights alone waiting for my husband to return from a war he didn't want to be in fill my waking moments. What's a woman to do? My respite is losing myself in these weekly reports where I can say I'm ER & I love sharing the M3 Radio Independent News with my many loyal minions. Sayonara bitches!