I'm 12 days into my hiatus and I'm happy to report things are going well. I should be able to get everything done that I planned. The next book is ready to go to the publisher next week and I'm making good headway on Empires. I'm still gonna post it at creativity when I'm done because I promised. I just wanted to say thank you to my partners, Gord and KR, and to Philippe and Dianne, our esteemed guest bloggers, for taking up my slack. I really appreciate it. I'll be back in a couple weeks, give or take, ready to raise some Hell.
Is Falwell dead yet?
Thursday, March 31, 2005
It's Gettin' Drafty 'Round Here, Ain't It?
From Truthout:
If that's all it would take to get out of Iraq and quit killing American troops and Iraqi civilians for evil ideology and oil, then fire up the draft. Hell's Bells, I'll go if I can get my stripes back. The Marine Corps needs more Corporals with forty years in grade! Especially if they don't have to do the stuff they did when they were nineteen! Been there already.
Washington - If American forces aren't pulling out of Iraq in a year, a draft will be needed to meet manpower requirements, military analysts warned Wednesday.
With recruitment lagging and no end in sight for U.S. forces in Iraq, the "breaking point" for the nation's all-volunteer military will be mid-2006, agreed Lawrence Korb, a draft opponent and assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration, and Phillip Carter, a conscription advocate and former Army captain.
Korb, assistant secretary defense for manpower from 1981 through 1985, said the current rotation is unfair to the "patriotic" men and women who volunteered for military service and are stuck on a cycle in and out of Iraq. Since only a tiny segment of the populace is sacrificing, there is no political pressure to change the system, he said.
"If you had a draft right now, I think you'd be out of Iraq," Korb said. (my emphasis)
The American society "hasn't gotten the message that we're at war," agreed Carter.
"Those at peril are completely divorced from those in power," said Mark Shields, a syndicated columnist and TV commentator who moderated the symposium. "It's 'Patriotism Lite' -- you put a sticker on your SUV."
"America has a choice," wrote Carter. "It can be the world's superpower or it can maintain the current all-voluntary military. But it probably can't do both."
If that's all it would take to get out of Iraq and quit killing American troops and Iraqi civilians for evil ideology and oil, then fire up the draft. Hell's Bells, I'll go if I can get my stripes back. The Marine Corps needs more Corporals with forty years in grade! Especially if they don't have to do the stuff they did when they were nineteen! Been there already.
Good To Go
Ever prepared, the Voice Of America has prepared obituaries for many world figures.
I must be doing OK. I'm not on the list. Go see if you are, at The Memory Hole.
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Voice of America - the US government's news outlet to the rest of the world since 1942 - released its audio obituaries for two world leaders who aren't dead: Fidel Castro and Boris Yeltsin.
After receiving the cassettes, DC-area researcher Michael Ravnitzky asked for other advance obituaries, but VOA has refused to comply, saying that releasing their Castro and Yeltsin obits was a mistake. In fact, they will no longer send these two obituaries to requesters, a clear violation of FOIA law. However, they did provide a list of prominent figures for whom they've already written (and in some cases recorded) obituaries (see below).
I must be doing OK. I'm not on the list. Go see if you are, at The Memory Hole.
Hybrids
I was gonna put this post in The Fixer & Gordon due to its automotive subject matter when I suddenly realized it's not just us gearheads who need to know about it. It's not just automotive news, either. It's geo-political and environmental as well.
From Newsweek:
Go check out the site. It's only been up for a coupla weeks and is extensive. According to them, the average fuel efficiency of 2005 model year hybrids is 49.9 MPG. That's impressive.
The big advantage of hybrids is that they generate their own electricity. All-electric cars need fuel to be burned at a power plant so you can plug 'em in to recharge. Besides that, they just move the air pollution to the area of the power plant.
Mrs. G and I are contemplating the purchase of a new vehicle to update our aging fleet. We live in snow country, so we need four-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. We've been looking at all sorts of rigs, but with the price of gas going up and our idiot president getting lotsa folks killed and planning to rape pristine land just so we can get motor fuel, we've put our plans on hold while we check out the hybrid offerings.
We like the Toyota Highlander Hybrid but we've got plenty of time to think about it. If enough folks take to hybrids, there'll be lots of new models available in the near future.
Styling is important too. I'm kinda taken with this sexy Italian job, but Mrs. G says it's not practical. Ah, what do women know about manly stuff anyway?
From Newsweek:
April 4 issue - The higher gas goes, the better those hybrids look, right? If you're still having trouble justifying the price, or those long dealer waiting lists, here's some help. The Web site 40mpg.org features a calculator that will demonstrate your savings in dollars, gallons of gas and pounds of pollution.
If you typically drive 10,000 miles a year, pay $2.10 (the national average) for gas and get 23 miles per gallon, you'd save roughly 235 gallons of gas, 4,696 pounds of carbon-dioxide pollution, and $493 a year. Which is about how long you might have to wait to get those new wheels.
Go check out the site. It's only been up for a coupla weeks and is extensive. According to them, the average fuel efficiency of 2005 model year hybrids is 49.9 MPG. That's impressive.
The big advantage of hybrids is that they generate their own electricity. All-electric cars need fuel to be burned at a power plant so you can plug 'em in to recharge. Besides that, they just move the air pollution to the area of the power plant.
Mrs. G and I are contemplating the purchase of a new vehicle to update our aging fleet. We live in snow country, so we need four-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. We've been looking at all sorts of rigs, but with the price of gas going up and our idiot president getting lotsa folks killed and planning to rape pristine land just so we can get motor fuel, we've put our plans on hold while we check out the hybrid offerings.
We like the Toyota Highlander Hybrid but we've got plenty of time to think about it. If enough folks take to hybrids, there'll be lots of new models available in the near future.
Styling is important too. I'm kinda taken with this sexy Italian job, but Mrs. G says it's not practical. Ah, what do women know about manly stuff anyway?
Aaaaggghhh!
Bush's hypocrisy makes me want to scream:
The man must be deaf, because if he could hear his own words, surely even he would cringe. Every action he has taken since assuming office has been to crush the weak. And when he was governor of Texas and there were questions as to the guilt or innocense of death row inmates, did he presume in "favor of life"? I don't think so. And Iraq...well, I could write all day about that.
... Especially those who live at the mercy of others. The essence
of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in the favor of life. (from an article on CNN about Terri Schiavo's death; emphasis added)
The man must be deaf, because if he could hear his own words, surely even he would cringe. Every action he has taken since assuming office has been to crush the weak. And when he was governor of Texas and there were questions as to the guilt or innocense of death row inmates, did he presume in "favor of life"? I don't think so. And Iraq...well, I could write all day about that.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Right Wing Bullshit!
The thing that pisses me off the most in the case of Mrs. Schiavo is this:
The misleading and flat-out wrong assertion by the pseudo-christians and the media that Mr. Schiavo and the legal system are murdering Mrs. Schiavo by "denying" her food and water. This makes it sound like the docs are keeping a plate of Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings just out of her reach and cackling like fiends.
Listen up, you heartless motherfuckers.
That tube didn't have no fucking Happy Meals being shoved through it, of that you can be sure. She's been kept alive by the medical intervention of nutrition and hydration very much like, and I use these carefully chosen following words, growing a hydroponic carrot. If she could eat or swallow on her own, she would, and no one would think of denying her anything. If anybody had gotten through to her with a cup of water like they were trying to do, it would have probably drowned her, and that's murder.
Will all you retarded assholes please let the lady's soul fly out of its meat prison and quit using her for your Satanic retardiligious right-wing ends? All you're doing is showing the rest of us how fucking stupid and cruel you are, and we already knew that. May my God have mercy on your worthless empty souls.
The misleading and flat-out wrong assertion by the pseudo-christians and the media that Mr. Schiavo and the legal system are murdering Mrs. Schiavo by "denying" her food and water. This makes it sound like the docs are keeping a plate of Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings just out of her reach and cackling like fiends.
Listen up, you heartless motherfuckers.
That tube didn't have no fucking Happy Meals being shoved through it, of that you can be sure. She's been kept alive by the medical intervention of nutrition and hydration very much like, and I use these carefully chosen following words, growing a hydroponic carrot. If she could eat or swallow on her own, she would, and no one would think of denying her anything. If anybody had gotten through to her with a cup of water like they were trying to do, it would have probably drowned her, and that's murder.
Will all you retarded assholes please let the lady's soul fly out of its meat prison and quit using her for your Satanic retardiligious right-wing ends? All you're doing is showing the rest of us how fucking stupid and cruel you are, and we already knew that. May my God have mercy on your worthless empty souls.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Gotta Love that Culture of Life
From CNN:
Boy, howdy, these moonbats are about as "pro-life" as the Grim Reaper. Keep it up, folks, the 2006 elections aren't that far off, and you all are registering at 8.7 on the crazy meter. I thought that us Democrats were in for an uphill battle. With the neocons' help, we practically can pour ourselves a beer, get comfortable, and watch the game from the sidelines. Looks like you have plenty of rope to do the job right.
Michael Schiavo's sister-in-law said a man threatened to shoot her and her family if Terri Schiavo dies, Philadelphia police said Tuesday.
...(Joan) Schiavo told police, the car stopped and the man inside yelled "murderer," then added, "If Terri dies, I'm coming back to shoot you and your family."
...
Monday, a man accused of soliciting offers for the murder of Michael Schiavo appeared in federal court in Asheville, North Carolina. Richard Alan Meywes of Fairview, North Carolina, allegedly circulated an e-mail to friends and members of the news media offering $250,000 for the killing of Michael Schiavo and another $50,000 for the death of Florida state Circuit Court Judge George Greer, who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed on March 18.
...
Last week, police arrested an Illinois man they said robbed a gun store in Seminole, Florida, as part of an attempt to "rescue Terri Schiavo."
Boy, howdy, these moonbats are about as "pro-life" as the Grim Reaper. Keep it up, folks, the 2006 elections aren't that far off, and you all are registering at 8.7 on the crazy meter. I thought that us Democrats were in for an uphill battle. With the neocons' help, we practically can pour ourselves a beer, get comfortable, and watch the game from the sidelines. Looks like you have plenty of rope to do the job right.
Ha!
------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------
Evangelist Jerry Falwell hospitalized; condition is unclear -
Die, you sanctimonious, hypocritical bitch.
Back under my rock, but I had to add my 2 cents.
Colorado Court Bars Execution Because Jurors Consulted Bible
If the Neo-cons can just get the judges replaced with officials with a 'higher authority' things like this won't happen. Imagine striking down a sentence of death because jurors consulted a Bible! Maybe all is not lost in America, not yet anyway.
Read the rest here
In a sharply divided ruling, Colorado's highest court on Monday upheld a lower court's decision throwing out the sentence of a man who was given the death penalty after jurors consulted the Bible in reaching a verdict. The Bible, the court said, constituted an improper outside influence and a reliance on what the court called a "higher authority."
Read the rest here
Monday, March 28, 2005
Shut the FOX up!
Under the heading of neat-but-unnecessary-gadgets is an electronic filter/political statement called the "FOX Blocker" being marketed by a guy in Oklahoma. Now, I know we can "block FOX" with the remote, but for $8.95 the guy will send an e-mail of your comments to Faux News' 10 largest advertisers.
Here's what Daily Kos has to say. Lotsa links and comments.
Gee, I wonder if we could cut through the shit and go directly to the source of it by screwing one of these into Scott McClellan's mouth?
Here's what Daily Kos has to say. Lotsa links and comments.
Gee, I wonder if we could cut through the shit and go directly to the source of it by screwing one of these into Scott McClellan's mouth?
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Rabbi convicted of blocking West Bank bulldozers
Rabbi Arik Ascherman has spent years planting himself atop doomed Palestinian homes, reading extracts of international law to Israeli forces as they demolish the buildings beneath his feet.
Along the way he has been a persistent embarrassment to the Israeli government as a fervent Zionist who claims to reflect the true soul of the Jewish state by resisting its oppression of Palestinians. He has been arrested many times but this week, for the first time, the 45-year-old director of Rabbis for Human Rights was convicted for his form of resistance.
The rabbi was arrested when he objected to the Israeli security forces tying a Palestinian to the front of a jeep as a human shield against stone throwers. On other occasions he has been attacked by club-wielding Jewish settlers.
The prosecution has asked the court to sentence Rabbi Ascherman to do community service after he was convicted of obstructing the demolition of illegally built Arab homes in East Jerusalem by standing in front of the bulldozers. It is a dangerous business; an American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, was killed doing the same in the Gaza Strip.
There are people in the world that bring hope. I am thankful for the hearts of those like Rabbi Ascherman.
Insurance Companies: “Forget Antibiotics, use Shrimp instead”
Since it's the weekend, here is some light hearted fun (satire I found on The Spoof). Enjoy :-)
Minnetonka, Minneapolis -- Led by managed care giant United Healthcare (NASDAQ code: X$%^&*$#%^$^ subscribers), all major HMOS in the United States have removed all antibiotics from their formularies due to rising pharmaceutical prices and the necessity of keeping executives' salaries high.
This decision follows last year's decision to eliminate all mental health coverage and replace it with a cassette of pop music and pithy saying that subscribers can play at stressful times, provided they purchase the "dedicated" cassette player (only $49!) needed to play the relaxation tape.
"We have found that much of the shrimp imported from Asia is an excellent source of choramphenicol, which is a very very powerful antibiotic," said a spokesperson for United. "Accordingly, we don't feel that we need to pay for antibiotics when our subscribers have a bacterial infection. They can just eat shrimp according to our peer-reviewed and credentialed guidelines."
Here's how it works: a patient who suspects an infection in himself/herself or a family member calls a 900 number (only 49 cents a minute!) and provides a few relevant facts to the TeleNurso such as fever, weight, age, and symptoms such as pain, coughing, sneezing, ear pressure, or runny nose. The TeleNurso will then calculate the amount of shrimp required to cure the infection and, free of charge, provide a recipe.
... here is the full article
 |
| Take Three Shrimp in Cocktail Sauce and Don't Call Me in the Morning |
Minnetonka, Minneapolis -- Led by managed care giant United Healthcare (NASDAQ code: X$%^&*$#%^$^ subscribers), all major HMOS in the United States have removed all antibiotics from their formularies due to rising pharmaceutical prices and the necessity of keeping executives' salaries high.
This decision follows last year's decision to eliminate all mental health coverage and replace it with a cassette of pop music and pithy saying that subscribers can play at stressful times, provided they purchase the "dedicated" cassette player (only $49!) needed to play the relaxation tape.
"We have found that much of the shrimp imported from Asia is an excellent source of choramphenicol, which is a very very powerful antibiotic," said a spokesperson for United. "Accordingly, we don't feel that we need to pay for antibiotics when our subscribers have a bacterial infection. They can just eat shrimp according to our peer-reviewed and credentialed guidelines."
Here's how it works: a patient who suspects an infection in himself/herself or a family member calls a 900 number (only 49 cents a minute!) and provides a few relevant facts to the TeleNurso such as fever, weight, age, and symptoms such as pain, coughing, sneezing, ear pressure, or runny nose. The TeleNurso will then calculate the amount of shrimp required to cure the infection and, free of charge, provide a recipe.
... here is the full article
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Freethought of the day
Mrs. G turned me onto this. From the Freedom From Religion Foundation:
“The laws of God, the laws of man,
He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbour to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.”
-- A.E. Housman, No. 12, Last Poems, 1922
“The laws of God, the laws of man,
He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbour to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.”
-- A.E. Housman, No. 12, Last Poems, 1922
Voice of the Sierra Foothills
While I'm blogging today, I'm listening to the best community radio station that I know of. We're just able to get it here lately, but we've listened to it for years for about twenty minutes at a stretch when we cruise west on I-80.
The station is KVMR-FM, located in Nevada City, California. That's our county seat and is located 65 miles away, on the other side of the Sierra Nevada.
They play great music with all-volunteer deejays. Right now I'm listening to some country tunes that you'll never hear on commercial stations, but they play lots of different stuff.
Go visit. You can listen live through the electronic miracle of streaming audio. You can confuse the livin' shit out of 'em, too: if you like what they offer, send 'em some money from far away.
The station is KVMR-FM, located in Nevada City, California. That's our county seat and is located 65 miles away, on the other side of the Sierra Nevada.
They play great music with all-volunteer deejays. Right now I'm listening to some country tunes that you'll never hear on commercial stations, but they play lots of different stuff.
Go visit. You can listen live through the electronic miracle of streaming audio. You can confuse the livin' shit out of 'em, too: if you like what they offer, send 'em some money from far away.
A Few More "Nuclear Options"
The Republicans would very much like to see the end of the filibuster, but they've got more in the works than just that. Reason Gone Mad has 14 more rules they will impose - on everybody but themselves, of course. Go read. Here's a coupla my favorites:
That last one would eliminate any pesky holdover "ethics" that may still be slowing the Republican agenda, huh?
Since I stole all this from Grannyinsanity, I owe it to her to post a couple of her additional recommendations:
Oh boy! Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd! I can hardly wait!
Oh boy! Gunfights with bad guys! Some of us gun-totin', white hat-wearin', former military good guy Democrats would just fuckin' love that, you betcha!
3. When a roll-call vote is required, the clerk shall call the name of every Republican senator and record each senator's "yea" or "nay" until all Republicans have voted. At that point, the clerk may leave for the day.
5. When a Republican senator drops a new bill into the hopper on the clerk's desk, it shall immediately become law.
6. Senate Democrats may no longer use a filibuster to thwart the daily 5:30 p.m. vote on the "Looks Like It's Time to Send the Democratic Senators Out to Buy Us Some Chips and Beer" Act.
13. FYI, next Thursday the Senate Rules Committee will be replaced by a laptop computer running Diebold's new IronFist™ Legislative Debate Management software.
That last one would eliminate any pesky holdover "ethics" that may still be slowing the Republican agenda, huh?
Since I stole all this from Grannyinsanity, I owe it to her to post a couple of her additional recommendations:
Any Rebublican Contributor may parade any Senate Democrat around naked on a leash after Church on Sundays.
Oh boy! Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd! I can hardly wait!
All medical decisions for the Proles will henceforth be made by gun wielding anti abortionists.
Oh boy! Gunfights with bad guys! Some of us gun-totin', white hat-wearin', former military good guy Democrats would just fuckin' love that, you betcha!
US Dollar Hegemony and the Iranian Threat
The costs of sustaining the US's new 'Empire' will become apparent to its public only when these costs directly accrue to them. This will happen, as this article suggests, only when other nations stop subsidising the US's imperial adventures by colluding in them and the dollar loses its role as the world's reserve currency.
This article argues that if the US’s ability to undertake imperial conquests like that of Iraq depends on its obvious military supremacy, this in turn is ultimately based on the use of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. It is the dominance of the dollar that underpins US financial dominance as a whole as well as the apparently limitless spending power that allows it to keep hundreds of thousands of troops stationed all over the world. Destroy US dollar hegemony, and ‘Empire’ will collapse.
The Soft Underbelly of Empire
Iran does not pose a threat to the United State because of its nuclear projects, its WMD, or its support to “terrorists organizations” as the American administration is claiming, but in its attempt to re-shape the global economical system by converting it from a petrodollar to a petroeuro system. Such conversion is looked upon as a flagrant declaration of economical war against the US that would flatten the revenues of the American corporations and eventually might cause an economic collapse.
The Iranian Threat: The Bomb or the Euro?
Both these articles are very interesting. Even if you have nothing to say about them I recommend the reading.
This article argues that if the US’s ability to undertake imperial conquests like that of Iraq depends on its obvious military supremacy, this in turn is ultimately based on the use of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. It is the dominance of the dollar that underpins US financial dominance as a whole as well as the apparently limitless spending power that allows it to keep hundreds of thousands of troops stationed all over the world. Destroy US dollar hegemony, and ‘Empire’ will collapse.
The Soft Underbelly of Empire
Iran does not pose a threat to the United State because of its nuclear projects, its WMD, or its support to “terrorists organizations” as the American administration is claiming, but in its attempt to re-shape the global economical system by converting it from a petrodollar to a petroeuro system. Such conversion is looked upon as a flagrant declaration of economical war against the US that would flatten the revenues of the American corporations and eventually might cause an economic collapse.
The Iranian Threat: The Bomb or the Euro?
Both these articles are very interesting. Even if you have nothing to say about them I recommend the reading.
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Islamization of the Republican Party and Ayatollah DeLay
From Juan Cole:
Fundamentalists of any stripe have no business being anywhere near the formulation of public policy. Anywhere.
The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan. These tactics involve a disturbing tendency to make private, intimate decisions matters of public interest and then to bring the courts and the legislature to bear on them. President George W. Bush and Republican congressional leaders like Tom Delay have taken us one step closer to theocracy on the Muslim Brotherhood model.
The Muslim fundamentalists use a provision of Islamic law called "bringing to account" (hisba). As Al-Ahram weekly notes, "Hisba signifies a case filed by an individual on behalf of society when the plaintiff feels that great harm has been done to religion." Hisba is a medieval idea that had all be lapsed when the fundamentalists brought it back in the 1970s and 1980s.
One of the most objectionable features of this fundamentalist tactic is that persons without standing can interfere in private affairs. Perfect strangers can file a case about your marriage, because they represent themselves as defending a public interest (the upholding of religion and morality).
But the most frightening thing about the entire affair is that public figures like congressmen inserted themselves into the case in order to uphold religious strictures. The lawyer arguing against the husband let the cat out of the bag, as reported by the NYT: ' The lawyer, David Gibbs, also said Ms. Schiavo's religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic were being infringed because Pope John Paul II has deemed it unacceptable for Catholics to refuse food and water. "We are now in a position where a court has ordered her to disobey her church and even jeopardize her eternal soul," Mr. Gibbs said. '
In other words, the United States Congress acted in part on behalf of the Roman Catholic church. Both of these public bodies interfered in the private affairs of the Schiavos, just as the fundamentalist Egyptian, Nabih El-Wahsh, tried to interfere in the marriage of Nawal El Saadawi.
Like many of his fundamentalist counterparts in the Middle East, Tom Delay is rather cynically using this issue to divert attention from his own corruption. Like the Muslim fundamentalist manipulators of Hisba, Delay represents himself as acting on behalf of a higher cause. He said of the case over the weekend, ' "This is not a political issue. This is life and death," '
Republican Hisba will have the same effect in the United States that it does in the Middle East. It will reduce the rights of the individual in favor of the rights of religious and political elites to control individuals. Ayatollah Delay isn't different from his counterparts in Iran. (my emphasis)
Fundamentalists of any stripe have no business being anywhere near the formulation of public policy. Anywhere.
It's Empathy, Stupid!
And Bush just doesn't get it.
To paraphrase Clinton's first campaign, "It's empathy, stupid!"
Read the whole article at MSNBC.
Native Americans across the country -- including tribal leaders, academics and rank-and-file tribe members -- voiced anger and frustration Thursday that President Bush has responded to the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with silence.
. . .
"From all over the world we are getting letters of condolence, the Red Cross has come, but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn't said or done a thing," said Clyde Bellecourt, a Chippewa Indian who is the founder and national director of the American Indian Movement here. "When people's children are murdered and others are in the hospital hanging on to life, he should be the first one to offer his condolences. . . . If this was a white community, I don't think he'd have any problem doing that."
To paraphrase Clinton's first campaign, "It's empathy, stupid!"
Read the whole article at MSNBC.
Girlie-Man-In-Chief
Will Durst nails Bush's pansy hide to the wall.
Damn, that's good! I've been complimented as having a "vicious wit", but next to Mr. Durst, I'm "Sushi lips"!
Wimps rejoice. The glittering realm of wimpdom is vacant no more. "Long live His Wimpiness King George II." Yes, friends, the wimp is back and he's wimpier than ever. As the Arnold is wont to say: "He's a girlie man." Punked-out mamma's boy. You know if he were in prison, he'd be shaving his legs, wearing mascara and calling his cellmate "Sushi Lips." Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm just saying.
I'm referring to the sorry spectacle of the president flying back to D.C. from Texas to jump on the holy-roller bandwagon entangling a brain damaged coma victim's feeding tubes in its spokes.
But any way you cut it, it's rare to see this kind of world class brown-nosing from a termed-out politician. His staff loves to say Bush is a man who doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit." Well, apparently he's not all that conversant with the word "shame" either.
I can understand Bill Frist and Tom DeLay orchestrating these weasel moves, as they're still ambitious poisonous little suckups with big Christian-right butts in their crosshairs, but shouldn't George be working out of the downtown plaza of Legacy City right now, cleaning up his contribution to a presidential library by shredding documents? And it turns out, he's just a big fat sissy boy like his dad. Isn't that sweet?
Damn, that's good! I've been complimented as having a "vicious wit", but next to Mr. Durst, I'm "Sushi lips"!
Political comic Will Durst has a feeding tube. It's a brown bottle that says "Anchor" on the outside and holds 12 oz. of frothy nutritious liquid on the inside.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
I'll Have a Side Order of Gloating
Amid all the Schiavo stories on the news tonight was dear ol' Randall Terry, henchman extraordinaire for Operation Rescue. Seems Randy and his cadre are mighty upset with the Bush Brothers for not delivering the goods and keeping Terri Schiavo alive. (Cue violins) They're feeling let down. (Kleenex, please) They're going to take their votes elsewhere next election (where else? Surely not to us godless, life-hating, baby-aborting, plug-pulling Democrats!).
Seems the barking moonbats of the Reichwing are experiencing a bad case of buyer's remorse because the products they purchased aren't working as promised. I could say "I told you so," but instead I'll just rub my hands together and gleefully say, "Tee hee hee!"
Seems the barking moonbats of the Reichwing are experiencing a bad case of buyer's remorse because the products they purchased aren't working as promised. I could say "I told you so," but instead I'll just rub my hands together and gleefully say, "Tee hee hee!"
Holy Shit
I was skiddin' around the net and ran across a site that I wouldn't care to read just before bedtime. They're really out to get us , folks. For a scary read, go to Theocracy Watch.org.
All that's on the first page.
This web site explores the narrow theological agenda that the theocratic right is imposing on secular society. Twenty-five years ago it targeted the Republican Party as the vehicle through which it could advance its agenda. Today it has extraordinary power in the U.S. government, with two branches solidly in its pocket and the third, the judiciary, just a couple of retirements away. It is also making great strides in schools, in the media, and in State Legislatures.
Jesus Christ is, therefore, the Ruler of Nations, and should be explicitly confessed as such in any constitutional documents. The civil ruler is to be a servant of God, he derives his authority from God and he is duty-bound to govern according to the expressed will of God.
The civil government of our nation, its laws, institutions, and practices must therefore be conformed to the principles of Biblical law as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
It is dominion we are after.
World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less... Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.
The answer to the power of the Christian Right is electoral power of our own. No excuses. Many of us have tended to abandon this cornerstone of citizenship in favor of other things. It is time to get our priorities strait. Less talk, more action. Less entertainment, more citizen involvement. Less TV and sports. More electoral politics. Do we want the theocrats to win? More electoral politics.
If we believe that democracy is a good thing, we need to learn to get very good at it. We need to be better at it than those who would destroy it.
All that's on the first page.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
B4B ad pulled by eBay
Billionaires For Bush had their sale item yanked by eBay.
Gee, isn't that "restraint of trade" or something un-American like that? Go read. Good links. Scroll down, more funny stuff.
Anxious to realize the corporate profits of a privatized Social Security, and frustrated with President Bush's failure to convince the American public to disregard their best interests in support of Wall Street, we're offering the federal program on eBay to the first privately held Brokerage firm that can meet their reserve. Corporate giants are encouraged to bid.
Gee, isn't that "restraint of trade" or something un-American like that? Go read. Good links. Scroll down, more funny stuff.
Now's the time to stomp on the foot with the bullet hole in it...
Yeah, I know, we're all sick of this bullshit, but here's one more Op-Ed about DeLay/Schiavo/God. From the WaPo. Go read the whole thing.
Yeah, like that'll happen. It better happen soon or the country is toast. The more these Republican bastards get away with, the more they'll try to get away with. This may be a good moment for the Dems to pounce on an especially egregious 'Pub outrage, so they better do it. Another opportunity like this may not come again for a week or two.
For Tom DeLay, Terri Schiavo came along just in the nick of time. "One thing that God brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America," DeLay told a group of Christian conservatives last Friday.
And what, exactly, is going on in the United States? "Attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others," DeLay told his flock. So God has now thrown in with DeLay in his efforts to pack the House ethics committee with his allies so that he no longer need be the subject of the scrutiny and censure of his peers.
At its topmost ranks, and not only there, the party of Lincoln has become the party of Elmer Gantry. It peddles miracle cures and elixirs of life, to the benefit of the preachers, not the patients. When it comes to promoting real cures, today's Republicans are nowhere to be found. The Medicaid cuts pushed by the White House and passed by House Republicans last week would, if enacted into law, shorten the lives of numerous poor Americans living in conscious, not vegetative states. But that's a topic of no demonstrable interest to Christian conservatives, though I've yet to come across the biblical passage that exempts them from such concerns.
In their haste to curry favor with the Christian right, the Republican leaders have run roughshod over some very deeply rooted American -- and conservative -- beliefs. Americans tend to believe in their doctors, and in the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. They believe in spheres of privacy where the state cannot intrude. There's no more distinctly American belief than the right to be left alone by government. Liberals and conservatives differ over which great causes compel a suspension of that right, but both sides of the spectrum acknowledge it axiomatically.
As with Social Security, the Republicans are now going too far, promoting priorities of party in-groups that don't resonate at all with the larger public. This is classic second-term overreaching, mixed in with the most myopic opportunism. The real opportunity here is for the Democrats, if they have sense enough to realize it.
Yeah, like that'll happen. It better happen soon or the country is toast. The more these Republican bastards get away with, the more they'll try to get away with. This may be a good moment for the Dems to pounce on an especially egregious 'Pub outrage, so they better do it. Another opportunity like this may not come again for a week or two.
The First Problem Is The Republicans...
(posted on behalf of Sarah - a member of Pourquoi Pas?)
Professor Robert Jensen
The second is the Democrats....
The world waits for an answer.
Professor Robert Jensen
The second is the Democrats....
The world waits for an answer.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Destroying a complaint from the Right
(article cross-posted on behalf of Greg Stephens - a member of Pourquoi Pas?)
A common complaint I hear from the Right is that beneficiaries "livelihood is being paid for by hard working everyday [insert nationality here]" (from Brendan Jarvis).
Well, hang on. I can say the same thing about the bosses. The bosses don't create the wealth they live off, the workers do. So if the Right are going to complain about beneficiaries relying on other people, then why not complain about the bosses who do it as well?
That isn't to say that they didn't work their way up. Of course they did. But they do not create the wealth they now live off. It is Joe Blogg on the factory floor.
Some consistency from the Right please.
I thought I'd copy/paste here my comment to Greg's post on Pourquoi Pas. Those faint of heart right wingers likely to regurgitate their breakfast stumbling across a 4-letter word should probably Cancel right now.
Here we go:
Greg,
One thing I find even more extraordinary is the claim by shareholders of corporations they are working their asses off for their hard-earned money.
Hahaha-motherfuckin-HAHAHA!!!
One sits on one's motherfuckin' enormous fat ass collecting dividends off the produces manufactured by ppl working 35 or 40 hours a week on the factory floor not making enough money to survive on, and one still has the cocksucker gall to claim that being an arm-chair shareholder maggot parasite of society is the summit of success resulting from good & wholesome hard work!
Furthermore, the lil fuckers on the assembly line who want to be able to buy food to feed their rug-rats (fancy that, they even procreate - can you believe the hide of those assholes!) are nothing more than fuckin' lazy socialist commies who are really the scum of the fuckin' earth and if they can't feed themselves, it's their own fucking fault since all they have to do is to get off their fuckin' lazy asses and do something useful that justifies them being paid enough so they can eat.
Oh yeah, I can already hear the prudish go-to-church-3-times-a-week right wingers gasping for air as they are fainting all over the floor reading my "obscene" language. Well, motherfucking cunts, if something is obscene it is YOU and your total disrespect for humankind, other species and this entire planet.
PS: I'll let ya'll know how I really feel in my next comment.
A common complaint I hear from the Right is that beneficiaries "livelihood is being paid for by hard working everyday [insert nationality here]" (from Brendan Jarvis).
Well, hang on. I can say the same thing about the bosses. The bosses don't create the wealth they live off, the workers do. So if the Right are going to complain about beneficiaries relying on other people, then why not complain about the bosses who do it as well?
That isn't to say that they didn't work their way up. Of course they did. But they do not create the wealth they now live off. It is Joe Blogg on the factory floor.
Some consistency from the Right please.
I thought I'd copy/paste here my comment to Greg's post on Pourquoi Pas. Those faint of heart right wingers likely to regurgitate their breakfast stumbling across a 4-letter word should probably Cancel right now.
Here we go:
Greg,
One thing I find even more extraordinary is the claim by shareholders of corporations they are working their asses off for their hard-earned money.
Hahaha-motherfuckin-HAHAHA!!!
One sits on one's motherfuckin' enormous fat ass collecting dividends off the produces manufactured by ppl working 35 or 40 hours a week on the factory floor not making enough money to survive on, and one still has the cocksucker gall to claim that being an arm-chair shareholder maggot parasite of society is the summit of success resulting from good & wholesome hard work!
Furthermore, the lil fuckers on the assembly line who want to be able to buy food to feed their rug-rats (fancy that, they even procreate - can you believe the hide of those assholes!) are nothing more than fuckin' lazy socialist commies who are really the scum of the fuckin' earth and if they can't feed themselves, it's their own fucking fault since all they have to do is to get off their fuckin' lazy asses and do something useful that justifies them being paid enough so they can eat.
Oh yeah, I can already hear the prudish go-to-church-3-times-a-week right wingers gasping for air as they are fainting all over the floor reading my "obscene" language. Well, motherfucking cunts, if something is obscene it is YOU and your total disrespect for humankind, other species and this entire planet.
PS: I'll let ya'll know how I really feel in my next comment.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Bugman Thugman
James Wolcott has a beautiful command of the language. As long as he's around I see no reason to hurt myself trying to be creatively snarky. Here he is about DeLay and Bush in the wake of the reprehensible political opportunism of the Schiavo deal:
Damn, James, keep it up! You make it easy for this lazy boy.
I don't want to hear any cultural virtucrat ever again work up a lot of flatulent thunder about 50 Cent or The Game or gangsta rap when the biggest thug around is a middle-aged white man who swaggers through the House as majority leader, making his own rules, punishing his enemies, and using his power and position to lash out against a private citizen with a sneering bullying not seen since Roy Cohn rotted away. I speak of course of the Bugman Thugman. A man who uses an insecticide inhaler to psych himself up to trash his opponents and defile the rules that don't apply to an ubermensch with slush funds pouring out of his enema bag. A man who would wheel Terry Schiavo to home plate for the Washington Nationals home opener if he thought there was any political upside to it.
So dynamic, so forceful, of Bush to interrupt his weekend off to sign this phony bill the Congress rammed through. On Sept 11, he didn't pry himself from his schoolroom chair as thousands died in the WTC because he didn't want to perturb the kiddies, but for this he bolts into action with lightning hooves. I realize it's unpatriotic, perhaps even unmasculine, to concern oneself with what the rest of the world thinks (since we won WWII and all), but just imagine how hilarious Europe, Russia, Asia, the Mideast, and the penguins find this latest American spaz-out, and how horrified they must be at how the beacon of freedom and democracy has become a lashing loony.
Damn, James, keep it up! You make it easy for this lazy boy.
They'll defend Right to Life if they have to kill you...
Gadflyer comments on the ABC news poll analysis of Americans' feelings toward Congress' disgusting intervention in the tragedy-turned-political-football case of Mrs. Schiavo. Read 'em, but here's the upshot, in my view:
Maybe we should pull the feeding tube out of Congress' ass.
I feel a little uneasy about using Mrs. Schiavo myself for political ends, but here goes anyway: Wouldn't it be wonderfully ironic if her last, if unwitting, mortal act was to make the Hardly-ever Right step on their own dick? They do it all the time, of course, but rarely in such a noticeable and high-profile way.
In a related story from The Carpetbagger:
Details, details. Go read.
How much does that big Jumbo cost to fly so he could pander to his base? That pisses me off. Did I mention that Bush is a hypocritical asshole? It may be one of his better qualities.
They can't even get a majority of evangelicals on board with this thing.
Despite the skittishness of the Democratic leadership (and their understandable reluctance to be seen as pro-death), this is a very good issue for Democrats. It makes Republicans seem in thrall to their most radical supporters, the ones who want the government in your bedroom and now your hospital room, telling you how to live your life - and when they think it's over.
Maybe we should pull the feeding tube out of Congress' ass.
I feel a little uneasy about using Mrs. Schiavo myself for political ends, but here goes anyway: Wouldn't it be wonderfully ironic if her last, if unwitting, mortal act was to make the Hardly-ever Right step on their own dick? They do it all the time, of course, but rarely in such a noticeable and high-profile way.
In a related story from The Carpetbagger:
It's been interesting to see just how much time the president spends away from work and on vacation, but Bush's personal priorities are even more revealing when one considers what it takes for him to cut a vacation short.
Details, details. Go read.
Bush could have signed the Schiavo legislation in Texas, but preferred to cut his vacation short and make the dramatic trip back to the White House just for this occasion.
To recap, Osama bin Laden, Israel, war, and devastation? Vacation on. The religious right wants action on a woman who has been in vegetative state for 15 years? Vacation off. The man has his priorities.
How much does that big Jumbo cost to fly so he could pander to his base? That pisses me off. Did I mention that Bush is a hypocritical asshole? It may be one of his better qualities.
No Draft, As Long As They Can Find Enough Suckers...
Fixer and I have posted many times about the upcoming draft. In an effort to forestall having to admit that Bush lied about it, the administration has written sneaky shit into the law to try and bolster "volunteer" enlistments. From Justin Sane (I think that's a made-up name, like "Heywood Jablome") via Working For Change. Also go see Military Free Zone.org for info on opting out.
I'm proud of my military service, but those were different times. I don't blame any kid, who might have otherwise enjoyed and benefitted from service, for not wanting to go participate, and maybe get trunked or die, in Bush's Criminal War.
Participation in the defense of the country is honorable. Sending soldiers to accomplish ideological and corporate objectives under the guise of defense is a War Crime.
America's schools: Education zone or military recruitment zone?
No Child Left Behind forces schools to give student info to military.
Why does the military have direct access to the private information of American high school students? Under the No Child Left Behind legislation, Sec 9528, education funding in America has been turned into a recruiting tool for our military! Buried in this legislation is a section that mandates student private information be given directly to the military unless the student's parent or guardian opts their records out -- meaning that a request letter from the parent or guardian must be submitted to the school to keep the student's records private.
This is essentially a permission slip to keep one's records private instead of a permission slip to authorize access to one's private records. Yes, the law really was intentionally written completely backwards! (my emphasis) To make matters worse, no concerted effort is being made to inform students and parents that their personal information is being given out.
I'm proud of my military service, but those were different times. I don't blame any kid, who might have otherwise enjoyed and benefitted from service, for not wanting to go participate, and maybe get trunked or die, in Bush's Criminal War.
Participation in the defense of the country is honorable. Sending soldiers to accomplish ideological and corporate objectives under the guise of defense is a War Crime.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Two Years
(article cross-posted on behalf of Sarah - a member of Pourquoi Pas?)
My how time flies when your kids are dying. Got a live one that is reluctant to enlist? Tell them not to worry. Here they can read about how awesome the Draft is gonna be. (Be sure to check out Spring Break Fallujah 2005.)
Quotes:
"Don't forget, when packing your bags for this very special junior year abroad, it's all about shock and awe, baby. Just ask any of our currently overextended troops - it's a trip to die for."
and,
"It's just like Xbox - only you die."
and,
"Baghdad, on five bullets a day!"
My how time flies when your kids are dying. Got a live one that is reluctant to enlist? Tell them not to worry. Here they can read about how awesome the Draft is gonna be. (Be sure to check out Spring Break Fallujah 2005.)
Quotes:
"Don't forget, when packing your bags for this very special junior year abroad, it's all about shock and awe, baby. Just ask any of our currently overextended troops - it's a trip to die for."
and,
"It's just like Xbox - only you die."
and,
"Baghdad, on five bullets a day!"
Y Are Men and Women Different?
There's been a lot of talk lately about the difference between men and women. Like that's a brand new topic! Anyway, Maureen Dowd chimes in. Read this one just for fun.
That explains it! I've always thought women were kinda spacey.
We're single cell creatures? That's kinda rough, ain't it?
Now that's more like it! I guess I don't understand the problem.
Men are always telling me not to generalize about them. But a startling new study shows that science is backing me up here.
Research published last week in the journal Nature reveals that women are genetically more complex than scientists ever imagined, while men remain the simple creatures they appear.
"Alas," said one of the authors of the study, the Duke University genome expert Huntington Willard, "genetically speaking, if you've met one man, you've met them all. We are, I hate to say it, predictable. You can't say that about women. Men and women are farther apart than we ever knew. It's not Mars or Venus. It's Mars or Venus, Pluto, Jupiter and who knows what other planets
That explains it! I've always thought women were kinda spacey.
As the Times science reporter Nicholas Wade, who is writing a book about human evolution and genetics, explained it to me: "Women are mosaics, one could even say chimeras, in the sense that they are made up of two different kinds of cell. Whereas men are pure and uncomplicated, being made of just a single kind of cell throughout."
We're single cell creatures? That's kinda rough, ain't it?
Dr. Page drolly conjures up a picture of the Y chromosome as "a slovenly beast," sitting in his favorite armchair, surrounded by the litter of old fast food takeout boxes.
Now that's more like it! I guess I don't understand the problem.
War and Anti-War
Pictures of the UFPJ and ANSWER Anti-War rallies in NY City yesterday can be viewed here and here
The Pentagon has released the summary of a top secret Pentagon document, which sketches America's agenda for global military domination.
Michel Chossudovsky runs it down for us and things don't look good. I have to believe there are enough sane people in the world that will counteract this belligerence. I have no doubt if Sarkozy runs and wins the next Presidential election here in France we will find ourselves part of this atrocity. Protest, protest, prostest!
The march began and we marched down to 42nd Street, with people in front carrying the coffins. Then we marched down 42nd street to Times Square. Along 42nd Street and into Times Square a lot of people saw us go by, and the media was all over Times Square. Then they announced for direct action people to move to the front. I am afraid to say I was not as brave and sacrificing as those people, and was trying to avoid being arrested - despite this, I stayed up front taking pictures. We marched to the armed forces recruiting center which is on a traffic island in Times Square. The direct action people made a speech in front of it but with the press there it was pandemonium and I didn't even hear what they were saying. Then they walked over to Broadway and lay down. The police announced anyone not on the sidewalk would be arrested, but all of the photographers, including me, ignored this.
The Pentagon has released the summary of a top secret Pentagon document, which sketches America's agenda for global military domination.
Michel Chossudovsky runs it down for us and things don't look good. I have to believe there are enough sane people in the world that will counteract this belligerence. I have no doubt if Sarkozy runs and wins the next Presidential election here in France we will find ourselves part of this atrocity. Protest, protest, prostest!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Feeding Tubes, Religion, and The Decline of the Empire Republic
James Wolcott blasts away at the Hardly-ever Right in light of their unconscionable posturing over the fate of Mrs. Schiavo.
Mr. Wolcott's post is a two-fer. Next, he lays into the declining economy, our over-extension of power projection in the world, and the seeming lack of concern.
Pretty much all form and no function. Everybody gets involved in shit they got no business interfering in, for all the wrong reasons, while the important stuff slides by unnoticed because it's too hard to deal with. Worse than worthless, all of 'em.
The positive side of religious faith is hailed to the rafters while the sadism and mastery over others seething in the negative side is now considered impolite to mention, as is the willful, retarded ignorance of those who cling to their Bibles and reject reason and science.
'Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatists will maintain that they are evil and worthy of punishment (sodomy, marijuana use, homosexuality, the killing of blastocysts, etc). And yet where suffering and death are found in abundance their causes are often deemed to be good (withholding funds for family planning in the third world, prosecuting nonviolent drug offenders, preventing stem-cell research, etc). This inversion of priorities not only victimises innocent people and squanders scarce resources; it completely falsifies our ethics."
Of course, when you're talking about anything involving Tom DeLay, point man in the Shiavo crusade, there are no ethics *to* falsify.
Mr. Wolcott's post is a two-fer. Next, he lays into the declining economy, our over-extension of power projection in the world, and the seeming lack of concern.
Manufacturing decay, outsourcing of jobs, soaring oil prices, widening trade deficits, shrinking savings--and if that weren't enough, throw in a hefty slice of imperial hubris.
Call me a pessimist, a proud Eeyore, because I don't think America will smell the fine aroma of Gevalia anytime soon, if ever. This country is wearing a blindfold, staggering backwards, and slitting its own throat in slow motion. Watch the cable news, listen to our elected leaders: there's no more urgency about the economic decline in living standards dead ahead than there is about addressing global warming or loosening the chokehold of military spending. A country where "evolution" is becoming a bad word is not a country interested in facing reality. Instead, as the passage of the bankruptcy bill shows, corporate-political power is going to grind every last dollar out of the desperate and destitute rather than confront the difficult macro decisions. The elites in this country have never had it so good, and as long as they're prospering the distress will smothered under the surface, kept under a lid.
"So it's fair to say this revamp of the bankruptcy laws is as sinister and menacing portent of the shape of things to come as would be the physical construction of a new debtors' prison for the middle classes in every American town to match the prisons for the poor already planted in the outback."
Meanwhile, our elected leaders take turns testifying out much they love baseball, and play tug-a-war with a helpless, hopeless woman's feeding tube
Pretty much all form and no function. Everybody gets involved in shit they got no business interfering in, for all the wrong reasons, while the important stuff slides by unnoticed because it's too hard to deal with. Worse than worthless, all of 'em.
He'll Take Credit or Shift Blame Anyway, Like He Always Does...
For your Middle East sociopolitical, cultural anthropology, and history lesson for the day, go read Juan Cole.
I think modern technology has furthered the dawn of the political shift in the Middle East as much as anything that has happened on the ground. Those folks have satellite TV, cellphones, and the Internet just like we do, and are more connected to one another throughout the region with each passing day.
President Bush and his supporters are taking credit for spreading freedom across the Middle East. Here's why they're wrong.
I think modern technology has furthered the dawn of the political shift in the Middle East as much as anything that has happened on the ground. Those folks have satellite TV, cellphones, and the Internet just like we do, and are more connected to one another throughout the region with each passing day.
Dems Stand Up Against Dictatorship
Ever the cockeyed optimist, when I find a glimmer of good news I like to pass it along. You owe it to yourself to go read this one. From Truthout.
Kudos to all of the Senators, but crank it on, ladies and gentlemen!
Boy, when you get all the Dems with balls enough to speak the truth in one place it seems like a lot, but we still need more.
I wonder if I can get a bathing suit photo of Babs Boxer? I've already got one of Harry Reid in a speedo.
Democratic Senators Denounce Bush Grab for "Dictatorship"
Senators Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, and Hillary Clinton also took turns at the microphone to denounce a Republican "power grab." They were speaking on Wednesday at a rally organized by MoveOn.org.
Senate Republicans, upset that a mere 95 percent of Bush's judicial nominations have been approved, have proposed eliminating the filibuster, and with it the minority party's ability to oppose a nomination and to insist on 60 votes rather than 51 for approval.
"They want to make this country into a banana republic," said Schumer, "where if you don't get your way you change the rules." One of the nominees, Schumer said, had called slavery "God's gift to white people." Another had said that a woman must be subjugated to a man. Another opposed all zoning laws. Another opposed all labor laws, including laws on child labor.
"If these people get on the courts, they will change America," Schumer said. "They want to go back, not to the 1930s, but to the 1890s. They want a nation in which the powerful get anything they want."
If the Republicans can close off debate on this issue, they will close it off on anything, Clinton said. An American in Iraq, she said, was asked by an Iraqi who was trying to figure out how to set up a new democracy, "How do you protect the rights of the minority?" The answer from the American was: "Allow the filibuster."
Kudos to all of the Senators, but crank it on, ladies and gentlemen!
Boy, when you get all the Dems with balls enough to speak the truth in one place it seems like a lot, but we still need more.
I wonder if I can get a bathing suit photo of Babs Boxer? I've already got one of Harry Reid in a speedo.
It Depends On What Your Definition Of "Plan" Is...
(article cross-posted on behalf of Sarah - a member of Pourquoi Pas?)
As always, the Rude Pundit explains the great Cognitive Dissonance, and does it damned well too. You gotta read his post, it's hilarious.
"Fox "News" must loathe the President to not carry his water on this one."
As always, the Rude Pundit explains the great Cognitive Dissonance, and does it damned well too. You gotta read his post, it's hilarious.
"Fox "News" must loathe the President to not carry his water on this one."
Friday, March 18, 2005
See ya's
I'm heading off on hiatus. I'd like you to welcome Philippe and Dianne from Pourquoi Pas, who will be filling in here while I'm off. I'm sure you will all find them most enjoyable and thought-provoking. I also like the fact they have French names; just something else to get under the wingnuts' skin. Glad to do my part. I'll still be around, but I have to get out of the blogging mindset and finish this fucking novel. I'm sure there'll be a stray post from me over the next month if something seriously pisses me off, and you can always email me if you want to bitch at me, curse at me, or actually pat me on the back for something.
Later, boys and girls. See ya's in a month.
Later, boys and girls. See ya's in a month.
The morality of the Right
[. . .]
This wholesale unraveling of our social fabric is precisely what the most self-professedly pure and righteous among the right's moral leadership actively foment on a regualr basis. The right as an unqualified whole is clearly barreling down the path to shameless, banal, eliminationism . . .
An excellent post by my colleague Crasspastor over at the Cross.
WMD? Democracy? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
Think Bush didn't start his criminal war for oil? Think again. Greg Palast on BBC News.
Go read the rest of it. I guess the BBC isn't as cowed as our domestic "news media".
Why aren't Bush and his neo-cons in jail?
The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks, (my emphasis), sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.
Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within weeks" of Bush's first taking office in 2001, long before the September 11th attack on the US.
An Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah Aljibury, says he took part in the secret meetings in California, Washington and the Middle East. He described a State Department plan for a forced coup d'etat.
Mr Aljibury himself told Newsnight that he interviewed potential successors to Saddam Hussein on behalf of the Bush administration.
The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas.
Go read the rest of it. I guess the BBC isn't as cowed as our domestic "news media".
Why aren't Bush and his neo-cons in jail?
Okaaaay
WASHINGTON Mar 16, 2005 — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday it was a mistake for Hawaii to post a confidential report on its Web site, but the department will continue to communicate openly with state and local authorities about potential terror threats.
Hawaii officials published a draft copy of a confidential Homeland Security report that catalogues ways terrorists might strike in the United States. The report, requested by a presidential directive in December 2003, marks Homeland Security efforts to spur state and local authorities into thinking about preventing attacks.
"My understanding is this was an error," Chertoff said in an interview with reporters. "… It's not going to deter us from working closely with our state and local partners in fashioning these plans." [my emphases]
[. . .]
Duh. Can we do anything right?
Link via WTF.
DeLay: Reminds ya of an outhouse on a warm Summer day...
Molly Ivins has a memorable Op-Ed about the stench of rotting ethics in the House emanating from Bugs DeLay. Via Working For Change.
Molly calls 'em like she sees 'em, bless her heart. Even if you don't go read her column, and you should, click on the link in the quote.
I grant you a certain resemblance to some of our more notorious standards: "Everybody does it" and "They did it first" are actually considered excuses here. But I categorically reject cultural responsibility for Tom DeLay. Real Texas politicians are neither hypocritical nor sanctimonious. A pol does what he must -- fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly -- but no pol of the Old School, when DeLay served in the Lege, would add self-righteousness to shady dealing.
This was before the time when religion was regularly dragged into politics. The idea that you were immune from ethical lapses because you had found Jesus did not fly here. Sanctimony stinks in the nostrils of the Lord.
This guy smells like a slop jar. Get him out of there.
Molly calls 'em like she sees 'em, bless her heart. Even if you don't go read her column, and you should, click on the link in the quote.
Slogans 'r' us
Will Durst offers some help to Karen Hughes in her upcoming P.R. campaign. Via Working For Change.
Mr. Durst offers "30 U.S. FOREIGN POLICY EXTREME MAKEOVER SLOGANS" in an effort to help. Go read. Here's my favorite:
What's yours?
It'll be interesting to see what measures Ms. Hughes takes when she finds out the problem isn't so much our lousy public relations but our lousy foreign policies. You want to improve America's image, I'll tell you how to improve America's image. Put a leash on Rumsfeld and stop treating the rest of the world like it made a doo doo on the shag rug in front of Mother Teresa's holier sister on Easter.
I got to say, creating the position of Spinmeister General does makes sense; at least we're playing to our strengths. As a country we have always excelled at selling the sizzle over the steak. Just last fall, this nation's veterans chose a borderline deserter over a decorated war hero. And the responsibility for that feat can be laid directly at the altar of advertising.
Mr. Durst offers "30 U.S. FOREIGN POLICY EXTREME MAKEOVER SLOGANS" in an effort to help. Go read. Here's my favorite:
America 2.0. Now With Improved Press Suppression.
What's yours?
I'll only put it in 10,000 feet, honest...
Joel Connelly writes about ANWR in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Given this administration's propensity for turning back the clock and returning to the heyday of the Robber Barons, I think the comparison is apt, and chilling. These people don't give a rat's ass for the majesty and grandeur of Alaska, much less the romantic symbolism of the Arctic or the future of its critters and environment. They just want to put it in their pocket.
There may not be all that much oil there anyway, and what they find will probably be exported to Asia anyway, because that's easier than getting it to the lower 48. So why are they doing it? There are lots better options, such as working to promote lessening our dependence on oil for motor fuel.
To show us pissants they can pass any law they want and the Hell with the rest of us, that's why. And also because they are so short-sighted that they think the only approach to a complex problem is a brute-force solution, just like Iraq.
Just like Iraq, they're dead wrong.
The final push to drill the Arctic Refuge has a curious resemblance to America's politics of 100 years ago, only in reverse.
Under President Theodore Roosevelt, America was coming out of the Gilded Age. Given its name by Mark Twain, the Gilded Age was the opulent, corrupt era of the late 19th century in which corporate moguls ruled the country.
The trust-busting Roosevelt inaugurated a progressive era.
He created our national forest system and designated national monuments in the Grand Canyon and Olympic Mountains. He protected the vast estuary of Alaska's Copper River Delta from exploitation by greedy coal barons.
America today is entering a new Gilded Age. The Arctic Refuge and the American public have this in common: Both are about to get drilled.
"The Arctic has a call that is compelling ... it is a call to adventure. This is not a place to possess like the plateaus of Wyoming or the valleys of Arizona. It is one to behold with wonderment.
"It is a domain for any restless soul who yearns to discover the startling beauties of creation in a place of quiet and solitude where life exists without molestation by man."
Given this administration's propensity for turning back the clock and returning to the heyday of the Robber Barons, I think the comparison is apt, and chilling. These people don't give a rat's ass for the majesty and grandeur of Alaska, much less the romantic symbolism of the Arctic or the future of its critters and environment. They just want to put it in their pocket.
There may not be all that much oil there anyway, and what they find will probably be exported to Asia anyway, because that's easier than getting it to the lower 48. So why are they doing it? There are lots better options, such as working to promote lessening our dependence on oil for motor fuel.
To show us pissants they can pass any law they want and the Hell with the rest of us, that's why. And also because they are so short-sighted that they think the only approach to a complex problem is a brute-force solution, just like Iraq.
Just like Iraq, they're dead wrong.
More Religious Hypocrisy
This in from today'sonline San Diego Union-Tribune:
But I bet Michael Jackson would be eligible for a funeral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, since his behavior is consistent with the San Diego Catholic Diocese's moral conduct. The San Diego Diocese long sheltered Rev. Paul Shanley, a Catholic priest who was arrested here in May 2002 on three counts of child rape. He was the founding member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association and operated a bed & breakfast in Palm Springs for homosexuals.
Reading crap like this makes me proud to be a pagan!
The owner of a popular local nightclub with a gay clientele can't have a funeral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego because the church has deemed his business "inconsistent with Catholic moral teaching."
None of the 98 Catholic churches in San Diego or Imperial counties will be allowed to provide services for Club Montage owner John McCusker as a result of the decision by San Diego Bishop Robert Brom.
But I bet Michael Jackson would be eligible for a funeral in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, since his behavior is consistent with the San Diego Catholic Diocese's moral conduct. The San Diego Diocese long sheltered Rev. Paul Shanley, a Catholic priest who was arrested here in May 2002 on three counts of child rape. He was the founding member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association and operated a bed & breakfast in Palm Springs for homosexuals.
Reading crap like this makes me proud to be a pagan!
How much
You wanna bet that as soon as they pull the plug on that poor Schaivo woman in Florida, Democrats are gonna be branded as murderers? Just for the record, so there's no confusion. If I ever end up a turnip, yank the fucking plug, put a pillow over my face, put a gun to my head. I don't want to live like that.
The Finger
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pro-Syrian Hizbollah guerrillas will keep their weapons despite U.S. calls to disarm and Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, the group's chief said on Wednesday.
[. . .]
"I'm holding on to the weapons of the resistance because I think the resistance ... is the best formula to protect Lebanon and to deter any Israeli aggression," [The group's leader, Sheikh Hassan] Nasrallah said in a live interview with Hizbollah's al-Manar television.
[. . .]
They give Chimpy the finger. So what does he do?
More below the fold . . .
Thursday, March 17, 2005
ANWR . . . once more
Bill Moyers via American Views Abroad:
[. . .]
'Once upon a time I believed that people will protect the natural environment when they realize its importance to their health and lives of their children. Now I am not so sure. It's not that I don't want to believe this----it's just that as a journalist I have been trained to read the news and connect the dots. I read that the administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has declared the election a mandate for President Bush on the environment.'
[. . .]
Wasting time
Two trials down in one day. Boy was I happy. I might see some news now. Nah, we have these overpaid, whiny bitch baseball players and the congressional circle-jerk.
Even Shorter Wolfie
Stolen from Dianne:
See my post below and explain to me why anyone short of deranged would appoint this man to be the head of the World Bank?
See my post below and explain to me why anyone short of deranged would appoint this man to be the head of the World Bank?
Short ANWR
From the Dog:
[. . .]
Well, that's the way it goes. ANWR will be despoiled forever, millions will be made by thieves who bribe members of Congress and the executive branch for the lucrative ANWR oil concessions, and if we're lucky, this may lower the price of gasoline by a nickel or a dime... around the year 2016 or so.
[. . .]
. . . The GOP just got to piss in a national park anyway it likes (one of the last unspoiled wildernesses on Earth, btw) so a few well-connected oil industry folks can profit, and in exchange, the rest of us got... nothing. NOTHING. [my emphasis]
[. . .]
Another Excuse For Catholics To Get Drunk
The self-professed good christians at Landover Baptist Church, where the worthwhile worship and the unsaved are not welcome (as Jesus commanded) have a few inspirational words about Saint Patrick's Day. Read, you'll enjoy.
Granted, a few of our Irish and Irish-for-a day friends may see a few snakes in the next day or so, but what the heck, it ain't like they're handling them in church, now is it? Faith an' Begorrah!
March is now upon us. It is the month that Catholics cause to come in like a lion eating True Christians™, and Baptists rescue and make go out like the Lamb of God. Right at this very moment, the Pope is instructing his new cardinals, all wearing dresses the color of Satan's rump, to open the lower dungeons of the Vatican and let loose their annual storehouse of malignant leprechaun spirits to steal gold from wealthy, blessed Evangelicals and spread green leprosy into the homes and upholstery of True Christians.
As always, Landover Baptist is well prepared for the demonic onslaught this year. "Saint Patrick's Day is like green beer - something the Lord never intended," says Pastor Deacon Fred. "We always get a little taste of Catholic Hell on this 'so-called' holiday, made popular by Irish layabouts, who seem to think it is a badge of honor to come from an island without snakes – even though it is chock-full of potato-boiling drunks.
Granted, a few of our Irish and Irish-for-a day friends may see a few snakes in the next day or so, but what the heck, it ain't like they're handling them in church, now is it? Faith an' Begorrah!
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Economic hit men
Digby:
Enlightening post about how the World Bank really works and who the infrastructure projects it finances in developing nations actually serves.
[. . .]
DAVID BRANCACCIO: You think that from the word go that this kind of lending was meant to essentially put these countries into hock?
JOHN PERKINS: There's no question in my mind that this was what I was intended to do was to go out and create these projects that would bring billions of dollars back to US corporations and create projects that would put these countries into such deep debt, that in essence, they became part of our empire. They became our slaves in a way.
[. . .]
Enlightening post about how the World Bank really works and who the infrastructure projects it finances in developing nations actually serves.
More deficit
From DemVet:
It is a threat, a big one. I expect it from Bush and his hacks, but Greenspan knows better. What that old bastard is doing (actively endorsing what he knows is a recipie for economic disaster) is criminal and should swing with the rest of 'em when we storm the gates.
Update: 15:25:
Indirectly related. I found this while rooting around over at Ezra's:
I know that it makes wingnuts heads explode when I say this, but our deficit economy is as much of a long-term National Security issue as any war we'll ever fight. And it's an issue that we're losing on, thanks to Preznit Lucky Sperm and his idiot-bastard colleagues.
[. . .]
It is a threat, a big one. I expect it from Bush and his hacks, but Greenspan knows better. What that old bastard is doing (actively endorsing what he knows is a recipie for economic disaster) is criminal and should swing with the rest of 'em when we storm the gates.
Update: 15:25:
Indirectly related. I found this while rooting around over at Ezra's:
[. . .]But this week, when I was flying, the headlines all should have punctured the bubble we were flying in. The International Energy Agency says oil is in short supply, recommends conservation. The second highest monthly trade deficit ever. Oil approaches record price. The falling dollar. Trade gap widens. China is muscling private oil drillers in its country. The dollar continues to fall against the Euro. Imports of cotton trousers up 1000%. The headlines are insistent. Repetitive.
Here we were, burning up jet fuel so we could arrange to ship goods all the way around the world to a bunch of people, an entire country, who can’t or won’t pay their debts. But the words kept streaming by. THIS FLIGHT CAN’T GO ON ANY LONGER. GET OFF THE PLANE, IT’S GOING TO CRASH, the newspaper headlines might as well have said.
[. . .]
More air for me
They sentenced Scott Petersen to death. One less trial I have to hear about. Now, if only Michael Jackson and Robert Blake would up and die, maybe cable news would find time for something like . . . I don't know . . . NEWS maybe?
Shit
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Via Froggy:
Fuck, shit, godammit. Fuck. Shit.
[. . .]
Just saw the headline on msnbc.com. The Senate voted to open the ANWR to drilling. The House has voted for it consistently, so it will go through there. Didn't see the vote count. I am interested in the "swing" Republican votes that approved it. We really have to take back the Senate in 2006. It is so important it is beyond belief.
Fuck, shit, godammit. Fuck. Shit.
Get 'em, Harry!
From The Hill.
I'm not sure about setting aside my partisan views but I'm damn sure opposed to the arrogant abuse of power. I think this is something that both sides should be actively concerned about.
If Freedom of Speech is "assassinated" in the Senate, can ours be far behind? Fight, indeed.
Thanks to Sens. Reid and Byrd for showing some stones. It's a start. Maybe it'll catch on. The future of our country is riding on it. Read the whole piece.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) warned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) yesterday that Democrats will stop working with Republicans on most legislation if Republicans invoke the so-called “nuclear option” on judges.
In a letter to Frist, Reid said Democrats would cooperate with Republicans only on bills that relate to U.S. troops and ongoing government operations.
“Beyond that we will be reluctant to enter into any consent agreement that facilitates Senate activities, even on routine matters,” Reid wrote.
“Today, we say to the American people: If you believe in liberty and in limited government, set aside your partisan views and oppose this arrogant abuse of power,” Reid said.
I'm not sure about setting aside my partisan views but I'm damn sure opposed to the arrogant abuse of power. I think this is something that both sides should be actively concerned about.
And in the letter, he noted that changing the rules unilaterally “would be an unprecedented abuse of power.”
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said in an interview that he believes at least a half-dozen Republican senators are torn over whether to go along with GOP plans.
Trying to appeal to senators’ institutional role as a check and balance on the White House, and saying the change would overturn 200 years of tradition, Reid said the Senate would become simply a rubber stamp for the executive branch.
Byrd (D-W.Va.), the chamber’s longest-serving member, used the Ides of March anniversary to invoke Julius Caesar’s murder and told The Hill that “freedom of speech in the Senate is about to be assassinated.”
“Let’s don’t let it happen,” he added. “Fight.”
If Freedom of Speech is "assassinated" in the Senate, can ours be far behind? Fight, indeed.
Thanks to Sens. Reid and Byrd for showing some stones. It's a start. Maybe it'll catch on. The future of our country is riding on it. Read the whole piece.
Denial
Me at the Cross:
By the way, the post at the Cross has less to do with my problems other than pointing up the fact that Holocaust deniers are being given the same credibility as people who are actually dealing in, you know, facts. I just put this part up here to symbolically drop my pants, spread my cheeks, and say 'French-kiss my ass', you Repub morons.
[. . .]
The thrust of the post had nothing to do with my marksmanship, it had to do with me finally owning a gun becasue the Repubs have fostered a climate in this nation of hate and bigotry and I feel I need one (at least) to protect my family and property. I made the inexcusable mistake of not consulting my DD Form 214 before using the term 'marksman' as opposed to 'expert' in describing my qualifications. To me, big deal, the last time I looked at my 214 was 1988, just to make sure it was correct, and I filed it away. What did I get picked apart over? The gist of the post that I'm gonna kill anybody who tries to take my shit or fuck with my rights and the state of the nation that brought me to the decision? Nah. I get nailed because I used 'marksman' in place of 'expert'. That's all they could break my balls over, and boy did they. Losers. This is why you can't argue with them in any productive manner. They never argue the actual point and beat you with triviality until you throw up your hands and say 'fuck it'.
[. . .]
By the way, the post at the Cross has less to do with my problems other than pointing up the fact that Holocaust deniers are being given the same credibility as people who are actually dealing in, you know, facts. I just put this part up here to symbolically drop my pants, spread my cheeks, and say 'French-kiss my ass', you Repub morons.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Well, we don't really wanta drill, but if you give us all your money...
Got this one from Grannyinsanity. Scroll down to "Steal this post". Just following orders, ma'am!
Go read. Respond.
Here's sumthin' to ponder: Since the enthusiasm of the oil companies for drilling in ANWR seems to have cooled, is this a sneaky attempt by those sleazy politicians (you know which ones) to bribe them, with our money, to do it anyway, OR, is it a clever attempt by the oil companies to get public funding for what should be privately capitalized, not that it should happen in the first place, OR BOTH?
The choices seem to be A: bribery, B: a stickup, or C: all of the above.
Until we hear more about this, it's your call. Or anybody's guess.
Operating once again under the radar, the Republicans in Congress are doing their best to sneak funding for drilling in ANWR into the federal budget. Want to stop them? Find out how!
Go read. Respond.
Here's sumthin' to ponder: Since the enthusiasm of the oil companies for drilling in ANWR seems to have cooled, is this a sneaky attempt by those sleazy politicians (you know which ones) to bribe them, with our money, to do it anyway, OR, is it a clever attempt by the oil companies to get public funding for what should be privately capitalized, not that it should happen in the first place, OR BOTH?
The choices seem to be A: bribery, B: a stickup, or C: all of the above.
Until we hear more about this, it's your call. Or anybody's guess.
I Guess He Can Self-Terminate
Ahhnold's problems with women continue. Once again, he's attacking the teachers' and nurses' unions.
Regarding the nurses' union issue, what he's for is a higher patient load per nurse (I don't remember the exact figure, and this article doesn't list it). My best friend is a nurse in New Jersey, and I recognize from conversations with her that the patient load Ahhnold is recommending is considered highly unsafe. So what the Governator is advocating is bad for already overworked and underpaid nurses and bad for the patients under their care.
Nurses and teachers repeatedly have rated as two of the most respected and trusted professions in our nation. Ahhnold may get away with manhandling Indian tribes and marriage-minded homosexuals, but he comes off as an über-bully when he denigrates teachers and nurses. I hope his potential opponents in the next gubernatorial race, and especially the voters of Callyfahnya, are taking note.
STANFORD, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he does not have a gripe with nurses or teachers, just the unions that represent them.
…
He also criticized the nurses' union for looking out for themselves instead of the interests of patients.
Regarding the nurses' union issue, what he's for is a higher patient load per nurse (I don't remember the exact figure, and this article doesn't list it). My best friend is a nurse in New Jersey, and I recognize from conversations with her that the patient load Ahhnold is recommending is considered highly unsafe. So what the Governator is advocating is bad for already overworked and underpaid nurses and bad for the patients under their care.
Nurses and teachers repeatedly have rated as two of the most respected and trusted professions in our nation. Ahhnold may get away with manhandling Indian tribes and marriage-minded homosexuals, but he comes off as an über-bully when he denigrates teachers and nurses. I hope his potential opponents in the next gubernatorial race, and especially the voters of Callyfahnya, are taking note.
Women's rights
The doctrine of "You're Keepin' That Fuckin' Kid, You Brown Bitch" from the Rude One:
The Bush 'Pro-Life' agenda doesn't play anywhere but here.
. . . "The Fourth World Conference on Women reaffirms that reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. It also includes their right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence, as expressed in human rights documents." Seems civilized, no? And, indeed, in this time of "culture of life" savagery, it seems almost Geneva-Convention-like quaint.
[. . .]
The Bush 'Pro-Life' agenda doesn't play anywhere but here.
Running on Empty
This article by Robert Bryce via Truthout describes worldwide oil production as being at or near its peak. Interesting. You should read.
Well put. Sell your SUV while you can still get something for it. Advertise it in Jesusland. Those idiots think Georgie'll drill us out of it.
As hybrids become more common, a whole range of well-developed second generation vehicles from minis to vans will emerge. I'll probably spend my retirement in a hybrid RV.
Last week, President Bush gave a speech on energy policy in Columbus, Ohio, in which he encouraged Congress to pass an energy bill. Once again, he touted his plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a move he said would "eventually reduce our dependence on foreign oil by up to a million barrels of oil a day." The key word here is "eventually." Even if approvals for drilling ANWR were granted immediately, the first oil from the refuge would not reach the continental United States for years. Furthermore, as the New York Times reported last month, it appears that the major oil companies may have cooled in their desire to drill in the refuge. During his speech, Bush also talked about efficiency measures that could save homeowners electricity. But during his 4,600-word, 35-minute-long speech, Bush uttered the words "hybrid vehicle" exactly one time.
It's astonishing that Bush, the former Texas oil man, still doesn't understand the fundamental problem of America's imported oil addiction. Nor does he appear to grasp the threat that is posed by the possibility of peak oil.
The majority of the oil that the United States imports from places like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela is used as motor fuel in automobiles. Yet the president conflated the idea that burning more coal and building more nuclear power plants will somehow allow America to reduce its oil imports. In his speech, Bush refused to discuss the obvious: We cannot cut our oil imports (read: gasoline addiction) without dramatic changes to our auto fleet. At some point, the United States will have to force the automakers to build more efficient automobiles. And a key part of that efficiency changeover will mean replacing increasing numbers of America's 200 million cars and trucks with hybrid vehicles.
Remarkably, when it comes to thinking about peak oil and what it means for the future of America, Wall Street analysts and neocons are taking the lead, while the former oil man from Midland keeps his head up his tailpipe. (my emphasis)
Well put. Sell your SUV while you can still get something for it. Advertise it in Jesusland. Those idiots think Georgie'll drill us out of it.
As hybrids become more common, a whole range of well-developed second generation vehicles from minis to vans will emerge. I'll probably spend my retirement in a hybrid RV.
$400 hammers, puh!
Glen:
[. . .]
A 330-fold mark up; not bad for a day's "work." (The hammers of yesteryear were only marked up about 20 times.) Meanwhile, soldiers still can't get reimbursed for equipment they should never have had to buy.
[. . .]
Spinnerinneroo
David Corn writes in The Nation about Bush's nomination of Karen Hughes as under secretary of state in charge of public diplomacy. What got my attention was this headline:
Now, if he had used spin doctor or spinmeister I would have rolled right on by. Spinner, however has a completely different meaning and it caught my interest. I think Mr. Corn knows this and used it on purpose to suck me in. I've seen Karen Hughes. She's no spinner! Maybe a basket job, if the rope was strong enough...But I digress. Anyway, I read the article even though I didn't need to to know that this is just another position going to a Bush loyalist via his ass-backwards nose-thumbing-at-the-world M.O.
Mmmm, that was tasty, sir. May I have another? He could sure cut down on farm subsidies, huh? I wouldn't put anything past these assholes.
Karen Hughes: Bush's Spinner to the World
Now, if he had used spin doctor or spinmeister I would have rolled right on by. Spinner, however has a completely different meaning and it caught my interest. I think Mr. Corn knows this and used it on purpose to suck me in. I've seen Karen Hughes. She's no spinner! Maybe a basket job, if the rope was strong enough...But I digress. Anyway, I read the article even though I didn't need to to know that this is just another position going to a Bush loyalist via his ass-backwards nose-thumbing-at-the-world M.O.
What are her Hughes' qualifications for this post? Well, she has been Bush's chief spin doctor since he entered politics. Once a local television reporter, she turned to the dark side. During the 2000 campaign, she actively misled the press about key aspects of Bush's past--most notably, his military service and his drunk-driving conviction. As a White House aide, she used PR tactics, not the truth, to push Bush's reckless policies. Now she'll do the same concerning the United States' image abroad. (If she could sell Bush to the American voters, maybe she can sell dirt as food.) (my emphasis)
Mmmm, that was tasty, sir. May I have another? He could sure cut down on farm subsidies, huh? I wouldn't put anything past these assholes.
Pollutants of Mass Destruction
John:
I guess USA Today is an arm of thePropaganda Ministry, Gestapo, White House PR Department free press too. More souls for the Devil.
[. . .]
With the exception of three sentences (buried at the end) that mention the fact that the US, too, pollutes, the bent of the article is that our smog and ozone problems are a result of "imported", pollutants of mass destruction (PMD). Seriously, you've got to be kidding me:
[. . .]
Is it necessary to distinguish between foreign and domestic pollution, when both are soiling our environment? What is the purpose of an article like this other than to make us feel less culpable for our own poor environmental actions? [my emphasis]
[. . .]
I guess USA Today is an arm of the
Monday, March 14, 2005
My hiatus
I'm keeping this on top for a couple days
Okay, barring any unforseen events, I'll begin my hiatus on Saturday 19 March for a month . . . probably. I'll still be in the background, doing any administrative shit that needs attending, but I won't be posting unless something REALLY chaps my ass. Once again, for those who missed it, I'm looking for a guest blogger to fill in while I'm gone. Email me if you're interested.
A few more bad apples
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq filmed themselves kicking a gravely wounded prisoner in the face and making the arm of a corpse appear to wave, then titled the effort "Ramadi Madness" after the city where it was made.
The video, made public on Monday, was shot by Florida National Guard soldiers. They edited and compiled it into a DVD in January 2004, with various sections bearing titles such as "Those Crafty Little Bastards" and "Another Day, Another Mission, Another Scumbag."
[. . .]
The ACLU has obtained thousands of pages of documents from the Pentagon and said they show an pattern of widespread abuses of detainees by military forces in Iraq. Digital pictures that were disclosed last year of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison drew international condemnation.
[. . .]
I believe the Geneva Conventions contain an article prohibiting photographing prisoners in humiliating situations. One of you lawyer weenies can correct me if I'm wrong.
So how long are we gonna call these abuses the 'acts of a few bad apples' before we realize this is a leadership problem. This is the culture that comes from occupation. And this is an indicator, when morale is low and the troops begin to look at the locals as a lower form of life, the policy is bankrupt. Will the Iraqis ever respect us? Will the people of the world respect us after this is over, one way or the other? Whatever good we do in Iraq will be overshadowed by the cumulative effect of these occurrances. I wonder how long it will take to repair the damage done to our national reputation by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress?
Link via Corrente.
More propaganda
Pam:
What I'd wanna know is, how much of my tax money is paying for this bullshit?
Seems that Sis has the answer and now I'm even more pissed.
Un-f*cking-believable. The NYT reports in a lengthy, detailed piece, that even more fake news reports are being created by the White House and are being released to (and played by) media outlets that are broadcast all or in part without vetting. These phony news reports give viewers the impression that they are watching journalism in action. The real crime is that there is no outrage about the slack-ass, disturbing lack of journalistic ethics (and utter laziness) by the news outlets that are showing these pre-digested shill pieces for Chimpy policy.
[. . .]
What I'd wanna know is, how much of my tax money is paying for this bullshit?
Seems that Sis has the answer and now I'm even more pissed.
. . . The administration got a hell of a lot of mileage out of its first-term PR budget of over $250 million . ..
Bad call
On my part and many others.
Like any free speech advocate (and writer), I jumped all over this. A bit too soon, it seems.
Just another fucked up kid in Jesusland. My sincere apologies to the grandparents.
Poole, 18, was arrested last month on a charge of terroristic threatening. Authorities said he had made threats against students, teachers and police.
Poole's grandmother found the writings at their Winchester home and was worried enough to call police.
In an interview after his arrest, Poole told WLEX-TV (Channel 18) that he had simply written a fictional story about zombies taking over an unidentified high school. [my emphasis]
[. . .]
Like any free speech advocate (and writer), I jumped all over this. A bit too soon, it seems.
[. . .]
And, as it turns out, Poole's writings include no brain-eating dead folks.
What they do contain, Winchester police Detective Steven Caudill testified yesterday, is evidence that he had tried to solicit seven fellow students to join him in a military organization called No Limited Soldiers.
[. . .]
Just another fucked up kid in Jesusland. My sincere apologies to the grandparents.
Note to MSM (Murdoch Seduced Media-© TCF): This is called a 'retraction'. As you can see, I'm admitting I was wrong and I'm putting it up on the front page for all to see, not in fine print or buried on the original post. Take the hint, assholes.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Burning bushes
Via Corrente from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger:
"Gabriel! Gabriel! What is all of this flap about my 10 Commandments?"
"It's the Americans again, Lord. They are fighting about where their government can post the commandments. It's gone all the way to their Supreme Court." "Didn't I make it clear that the important thing is to obey them? I know I put them on stone tablets, but that was only to help Moses out. They should be written on the heart. Didn't I say that?" "Yes, Lord, but now politics has gotten involved in it and. . ."
"Politics. Nothing political ever comes from heaven. Politics comes from the other place. I guess I should have left that commandment in about separation of church and state. I thought they were smart enough to figure that out." [my emphasis]
[. . .]
Ma! He's doin' it again an' I gotta use the bathroom...
Wolcott's at it again. He somehow finds time to write, though. This time he's on about a subject that came up peripherally in my post, just below, on MoDo.
Some of my proposed-and-wisely-discarded responses made me blush!
And for you Wolcott-o-philes, this other kind of self-flogging:
Unlike priests of yore, who condemned masturbation as a sin, the first stumble towards damnation, this enlightened father took a more character-building tack, saying that what was wrong with fondling yourself was that it was "selfish."
I must have made a face because the priest looked at me and asked me to say what was on my mind.
"But, Father," I piped up, "some things can't be shared."
Masturbation isn't a glamorous activity or the best topic of conversation to broach in a crowded elevator, but if it can keep dogs from being bothered and help undermine the American empire, it serves a social utility.
Some of my proposed-and-wisely-discarded responses made me blush!
And for you Wolcott-o-philes, this other kind of self-flogging:
I will be part of the panel on this Sunday's Topic [A] with Tina Brown (CNBC, 8 PM) along with--well, it's quite a crew, quite a posse, but for you blog voyeurs the salient datum is that Ana Marie Cox is also riding the sofa. Wonkette's Hot Pick of the Week is "long walks on the beach and cuddling in front of a cozy fire." I sometimes doubt her sincerity.
Filet Away, My Dear
My favorite redhead, Maureen Dowd, has an Op-Ed today about the disparity in attitude towards male and female columnists.
I think of you that way often, Mo, when I need to work something up!
Some men are extra sensitive about that shit since Lorena Bobbett "acted out" men's worst fear, Mo. Some men either have no visible reason to fear castration, or should really be concerned about it. Either way, they should take a long, hard look at themselves.
My favorite topic-specific columnists are men, like Friedman and Krugman, but my favorite general-purpose columnists are women. I like to read female bloggers, too. There's certainly no dearth of brains and opinionatedness on the distaff side, or "the better half" as us married men have learned to call it.
When I need to work up my nerve to write a tough column, I try to think of myself as Emma Peel in a black leather catsuit, giving a kung fu kick to any diabolical mastermind who merits it.
I think of you that way often, Mo, when I need to work something up!
There's an intense debate going on now about why newspapers have so few female columnists. Out of what will soon be eight Times Op-Ed columnists - nine, counting the public editor - I'm the only woman.
While a man writing a column taking on the powerful may be seen as authoritative, a woman doing the same thing may be seen as castrating. If a man writes a scathing piece about men in power, it's seen as his job; a woman can be cast as an emasculating man-hater. I'm often asked how I can be so "mean" - a question that Tom Friedman, who writes plenty of tough columns, doesn't get.
Even the metaphors used to describe my column play into the castration theme: my scalpel, my cutting barbs, razor-sharp hatchet, Clinton-skewering and Bush-whacking. "Does she," The L.A. Times's Patt Morrison wondered, "write on a computer or a Ronco Slicer and Dicer?"
Some men are extra sensitive about that shit since Lorena Bobbett "acted out" men's worst fear, Mo. Some men either have no visible reason to fear castration, or should really be concerned about it. Either way, they should take a long, hard look at themselves.
This job has not come easily to me. But I have no doubt there are plenty of brilliant women who would bring grace and guts to our nation's op-ed pages, just as, Lawrence Summers notwithstanding, there are plenty of brilliant women out there who are great at math and science. We just need to find and nurture them.
My favorite topic-specific columnists are men, like Friedman and Krugman, but my favorite general-purpose columnists are women. I like to read female bloggers, too. There's certainly no dearth of brains and opinionatedness on the distaff side, or "the better half" as us married men have learned to call it.
9/11
I just found this, something I'd forgotten about. Since we've been on about 9/11 lately, and the fact that the two-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq War is coming up this week, I figured I'd post it as a reminder of why Bush has been able to walk all over the Constitution with impunity. His gift from Allah, so to speak. This was written by Mrs. F a couple days after the attack as an explanation to my German relatives.
More below the fold . . .
14 September 2001
Hello there!
I wanted to tell you what has happened here, from my vantage point. This is not to scare you, but to let you know what I have been through and that I have made it out ok.
More below the fold . . .
Another day in Jesusland
Does this surprise anyone?
BROOKFIELD, Wis. (Reuters) - A man opened fire with a handgun at a church service in a Wisconsin hotel on Saturday, killing seven people and wounding four before taking his own life, police said.
[. . .]
What a set
The people who run Blogger have the balls to start their own blog. Notice they don't allow comments, so guys like me can't say, even though it's free, that BLOGGER SUCKS WET MONKEY ASS!!!!!! (© Maru)
Personality
Via Michael Hawkins:
Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com
This is mine. Ain't as fucked up as I thought I was. At least it didn't say I had the personality of a dial tone. What I can't believe is that I'm actually playing with this shit at this time of the morning.
| Global Personality Test Results |
| Stability (69%) moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Orderliness (53%) medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun. Extraversion (66%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity. |
personality tests by similarminds.com
This is mine. Ain't as fucked up as I thought I was. At least it didn't say I had the personality of a dial tone. What I can't believe is that I'm actually playing with this shit at this time of the morning.
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