" If you hear a voice within you saying,' you are not a painter', then by all means paint...and that voice will be silenced."
Vincent Van Gogh

There is a TV show on NBC that I am guilty of watching in the past. The name of the show is TO CATCH A PREDATOR. The premise is that Dateline in conjunction with a local police department sets up stings on the computer to catch pedophiles. I hate pedophiles and I have a very personal reason for hating them. I believe that they should be jailed for life because they don't change and they don't grow out of it. Now, however, I think that Dateline has crossed the line. They are being sued for $105 million by the sister of an "alleged suspect". Dateline set up Louis William Conradt 56, a former US prosecuter in Texas. NBC said that he contacted a decoy posing as a 13 year old boy on the computer for immoral purposes. BUT... Here's where it gets hinky. Conradt DID NOT visit the sting house like the other perps did. The lawsuit says that police and members of Dateline traveled to Conradts house without a search warrant or an arrest warrant that met legal standards. Police and Dateline crew wore cameras. The size that are normally only worn by TV reporters. Conradt met them at the door, said " I'm not gonna hurt anyone" and then shot himself. A police officer said to a Dateline producer.... " That will make good television". Conradt died an hour later. That makes me ill. You could agrue and say that he MUST have been guilty because he KNEW what they were coming for. OF course he knew. He was a former prosecuter. I would wager a bet that someone from Dateline or the police department called and told him that they were coming. It is also very possible that he knew that once his face was spashed across TV that his life would be over. Innocent or Guilty. People don't forget the faces that they see on TV for that. The thing that sticks in my craw the most is the remark that the cop made. " THAT will make good TV". What is wrong with us? Have we become that desensitized that any death in Public view is ok now? I grieve for the victims of pedophiles. I grieve for thier families AND I grieve for the people that are found guilty that could be innocent. It has all become " Good TV". It has all become very, very sad...

" I am confident that the hottest places in HELL are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such cruel contempt". Author unknown

Most of you have probably heard about Michael Vick by now. He is the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who was indicted along with three of his "cronies"on a felony dogfighting charge. Allegedly, Vick held dog fights on his property for MONEY. He allegedly was extremely cruel to dogs that "didn't perform right" or were injured. The story says that He ( and his cohorts) Hung, shot, "slammed to the ground," wet down dogs and then electrocuted them. Vick says that" he didn't know what was going on". Give me a break. I don't know how many of you have smelled blood. Lots of blood. It is an unmistakable smell. So is the smell of burning flesh and hair. PLEASE don't insult our intelligence by letting Vick get away with saying that he didn't know that was happening on his property. Dog fighting pens aren't that small. There is an arena. There are chairs and benches where the sickos stand or sit to watch this horror. They pay money to bet and watch these poor animals tear each other apart. I have an old friend that is NOW getting death threats. She is married to a vet. They have money. She is paying people to tell her where the dog fighting rings are in the county next to where we live. She is then having them shut down. Needless to say, she is interfering with the monsters sport and money. She has been getting threats on her life.She is my hero. There is an outcry to have Michael Vick suspended. EXCUSE ME??? Suspended? How about terminated and incarcerated? I have dogs. One of my dogs has saved my life. Twice. It's true. Animals are the purest of God's creatures. They love. Unconditionally. PLEASE join me in stopping this monster Vick and making him pay for this. You can contact Roger Goodell, the NFL commisioner at....Roger.Goodell2@NFL.net ...or... The Atlanta Falcons at 770-965-3115 or feedback@fans.AtlantaFalcons.com PLEASE help get this monster in jail. Money is Not that important.

I am SO tired ( no pun intended) of having insomnia. I have done everything that one is supposed to do for it. Hot baths, reading, herbal tea, counting sheep, exercise, EVERYTHING !! I get maybe 4 hours of sleep a night. I am pulling my hair out. My doctor actually gave me a prescription for Valium three days ago and I am afraid to take any.( I have an addictive personality.) Do any of you have any remedies that I can try? What works for you?

I saw this list posted and it was interesting to me. I guess that I am showing my age because I wondered about the Protest songs that I remembered. I don't even know some of these. Where is "We shall overcome", "Blowin In The Wind", and even Country Joe and The Fish? Anyway.....
20. GET UP, STAND UP- Bob Marley and the Wailers
Rebelling against Opression. This is the Official Fight song for Amnesty International. It gave us that immortal quote, " You can fool some people sometime, but you can't fool all the people all the time".
19. MINORITY- Green Day
Rebelling against the Moral Majority
18. WE SHALL BE FREE- Garth Brooks
Rebelling against Homophobia. Brooks confirmed the meaning of the song when he sang it at 2000's Equality Rocks. He was the only straight male that performed.
17. WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT- Twisted Sister
Rebelling against Authority Figures. Used By Arnold Schwarzennegger in his 2003 campaign for Governor of California.
16. DIAMONDS FROM SIERRA LEONE- Kanye West
Rebelling against Blood Diamonds. West wanted us to know that many of the diamonds that we wear are mined by child labor.
15. I AIN'T MARCHING ANYMORE- Phil Ochs
Rebelling against Vietnam. A hero to Billy Bragg, Eddie Veder, Sean Penn and others, Ochs hung himself at age 35.
14. CLAMPDOWN- The Clash
Rebelling against the establishment. They compared the "blue and brown of suits" that office workers wear to Nazi Uniforms.( yeah Right)
13. CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES- The Dead Kennedys
Rebelling against Lockstep Liberalism ???
12. LITTLE BOXES- Malvina Reynolds.
Rebelling against conformity. She earned her doctorate from Berkley in 1938 and sang of the suburbs where the houses were all "made of ticky tacky".
11. F--- THA POLICE- N.W.A.
Rebelling against Racial Profiling.
This song put the Los Angeles Police Department On Public trial.
10. ALLENTOWN- Billy Joel
It was a bleak snapshot of a blue collar town.
9. WORLD WIDE SUICIDE- Pearl Jam
Rebelling Against Operation Iraqi Freedom. This song rages against the Bushes and "thier Iraq War."
8. MAGGIES FARM- Bob Dylan
Rebelling against "just about everything".
7. SAY IT LOUD, I'M BLACK AND PROUD- James Brown
Rebelling against Opression of Black People. This song became a declaration of Black pride.
6. BOOM- System of a Down.
Rebelling against Militarism. It was a condemnation of Military spending in a world of starving children.
5. STRANGE FRUIT- Billie Holiday.
Rebelling against Lynching. This song was written about a chilling photo about "the strange fruit hanging from the Poplar tree" that were the bodies of hanged black men.
4. WAR- Edwin Starr
Rebelling against The Vietnam War.
3. TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT- Johnny Paycheck
Rebelling against the boss. This song hit a nerve when the American Economy was spiraling downward.
2. FIGHT THE POWER- Public Enemy
Rebelling against racism.
1. WHAT'S GOIN ON- Marvin Gaye
Rebelling against Social Injustice. Gaye addressed war, poverty, and inner city despair with this song that still managed to leave room for hope.
Well folks.. there you have it. Someone probably a lot younger than I am must have compiled this list. I think that they left off many important songs. How about you? Are there any songs that YOU think should have been on the list?