Enlightened Belle
- Location
- Hythe, Kent, United Kingdom
- Birthday
- August 29
- Bio
- Born and raised in Virginia. BA in Romance Languages from the University of Virginia 1976 and MA in Spanish from Universidad de Salamanca in 1978. Taught school in the States and for my sins, I married a British civil servant, no less. After more than twenty years of living in the UK and speaking Spanish, French and Italian for lazy Brits who can't, I'm hoping to go home for good later this year. Hey, I live in Kent, where two other Virginia girls, Pocahontas and Nancy Astor, are buried. I don't intend on being the third. Besides, I'm a left-wing Obama supporter. I beling in the Socialist Democratic Atheist Republic of the United States of America.
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “France is a much older
nation than the US. In
Europe,
especially Continental
Euro…”
March 11, 2010 05:48AM - “BBE, I live in the land
of Dumb and Dumber. Blair lost
his
cred when he crawled
i…”
September 08, 2009 07:57PM - “I live in Europe, deal
daily with the French and am
cynical.
Carla Bruni is
WELL-…”
August 14, 2009 06:22AM - “There's freedom of
speech and there's
irresponsible speech.
One is
contingent upo…”
June 26, 2009 05:17AM - “The NHS is a third rail
here. Even Thatcher, in all
her
glory, didn't dare
tamper…”
June 25, 2009 06:46AM
Pussy Fear and Penis Envy
One of the things I admire most about Bill Maher is the ability he has to make one think. He has a way with words – he would, having been an English major – that at first infuriates or intrigues a listener, but which then implants a thought in one’s mind… Read full post »
Real Tense Real Time
Real Time with Bill Maher hit the boards running for its eighth season a couple of weeks ago, and I held out great hopes for my favourite fundit program, after a decidedly iffy season last year which ended in confusion.
However, I’m hoping I didn’t speak too soon, as it stalled… Read full post »
The Noseless Face
So it’s come to this on the eve of a possible passage of healthcare reform, arguably the most important and far-reaching legislation to be passed by Congress since Civil Rights and Medicare came into being in the mid-1960s.
The passage of the Senate Bill in the House hangs by the thread… Read full post »
Message from a Snob to the Rest of You
I am a Virginian. My mother was a Virginian, and so was her father. His family came to the colonies out of necessity and choice. During the English Civil War in the 1640s, my ever-so-many-great grandfather backed the losing horse (thus, establishing a long tradition in my family): King Charles… Read full post »
The People's Voice?
In his latest editorial at the end of Friday’s Real Time, Bill Maher put out a poignant plea for the public’s understanding and sympathy toward Hollywood’s big, self-promoting pat on the back that’s known as the Oscars. That one, special night, says our lad, is deserved, becau… Read full post »
Democrats: Are We the Knee-Jerk Party or Just Jerks?
Something struck me this morning, thinking about what’s looming on the horizon tomorrow for the Democrats with this ginormous chinwag session that’s about to take place at Blair House.
Trust me … the world will be watching. Well, at least the BBC will be, wrinkling their noses supe… Read full post »
Retarded
“Ms. Palin represents a new breed of unelected public figures operating in an environment in which politics, news media and celebrity are fused as never before. Whether she ever runs for anything else, Ms. Palin has already achieved a status that has become an end in itself: access to an electr… Read full post »
Rights of Bill: The Dedicated Follower of Fashion
I have long been a fan of Bill Maher. At his best, I find him one of the most astute and perspicacious politcal observers on the scene today, unafraid to speak a truth many of us were only thinking. I felt, more than anything, that he spoke, and spoke well, for… Read full post »
First Sedition

Democratic Navel-Gazing, or The Circular Firing Squad
A Festivus Message
BBC news reports a rise in the pagan population of Britain, with an item on their celebration of Christmas as the traditional Winter Solstice. Being a secular sort of person, I was curious about this until I found out these so-called pagans are anything but rational and, instead, cling to the… Read full post »
The Media Whoracle
I'm on a mission. I'm utterly angered and repulsed that so many
people on the Left are bamboozled by a phoney shill, who purports
to be a Progressive.
People need to learn to think critically and investigate the
background and modus operandi of every media talking head
who puts forth an… Read full post »
Critical Thinking with Bill Maher
So endeth the seventh season of Real Time with Bill Maher, or so it did, anyway, more than a month ago now. I miss it. I miss Bill's weekly take on the relevant news issues of the day, mostly facing America, but sometimes encompassing the rest of the world.
It's no… Read full post »
Mean Sheeple
I'm flying back to Virginia on Hallowe'en - by scheduled aircraft and not by broomstick, but lately I've felt that the cybersphere was awash with covens of witches.
I should be looking forward to going home. Goodness (which has nothing to do with anything, in the words of Mae West) knows,… Read full post »
View from a Broad - Part II: Just Call Me Cassandra
On Saturday, the New York Times Weekend Opinionator column posed the question "Does the Nobel Hate America?"
Of course, the column was all about the du jour topic of the President receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. To say this was a surprise announcement is an understat
… Read full post »If It's a Troll, It Must Be a Republican
There's an infestation of trolls on Bill Maher's comment page - vicious, rampant Rightwing beings, insulting, narrow-minded, ugly, white individuals - you know the type: The sort you see on the news at Town Maulings. One is particularly bad. He appears to be a career militarist. His MySpace page reve… Read full post »
View from a Broad - Part I: The Ignorantly Stupid
Right, here I sit, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, gearing myself up for another visit Stateside to see the friends and relatives. It's not long now until the end of October, when I'll arrive. Whilst I'd hoped to visit closer Thanksgiving because I miss that particular holiday, coming… Read full post »
Clowns to the Left of Him, Jokers to the Right
So here we are at the end of a long, hot summer (at least in Britain - how's that for an oxymoron), after an August of scorching and offtimes ridiculously ignorant debates about a topic which has suddenly become urgently de rigeur in the United States: healthcare reform.
It really has… Read full post »
The First Amendment for Mean Girls
On Friday night, my dog had 5 pups; by Sunday, 4 were dead, and the remaining puppy was dying. The last thing I needed was someone choosing to exercise Freedom of Speech on my laptop.
A lot of discussion has been making the rounds lately about the First Amendment; one might… Read full post »
They Fear Evolution. Should We Fear a Religious Revolution
As anyone who reads my blogs knows, Bill Maher is a particular hero of mine. He's a social and cultural agent provocateur, who forces me to think and re-think some of the posits he presents on his weekly Real Time programme. I think he does a good job of saying a… Read full post »
Life's a Bitch and So Am I
Women.
You either love them, or you hate them.
That's speaking as a woman.
The late George Carlin once said that women were crazy, and men were stupid; but women were crazy because men were stupid. That may be true to a certain extent. The greatest sex appeal a man… Read full post »
Patriot Gamesmanship
So here it is Independence Day, and here I am in Enemyland - otherwise known as Great Britain, specifically England. I've been thinking a lot about this particular Fourth of July, in the days approaching the holiday. For some reason, this year, it's made me nostalgic and more homesick than I've… Read full post »
National Health vs National Wealth
OK, so yet again, there's a big debate brewing in the United States about the possibility of having universal healthcare; and yet again, there seems to be more wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth about the sort of plan that would benefit all citizens in the United States. More importantly,… Read full post »
Weapon of Mass Distraction
I'm a huge fan of Bill Maher's wit and observations, so here’s a New Rule for Bill to ponder: The government must use reality television and use it relentlessly and exclusively as a weapon of mass distraction in order to divert the public’s attention from the nation’s major problem
… Read full post »In the wake of all the expenses' scandal that's been consuming British life, British politicians and the British media for the past few weeks, there seems to be another phenomenon appearing on the political horizon here in the unusually sunny UK: that of the celebrity politician.
Now,… Read full post »
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