Maybe An Aircraft Carrier In Lake Michigan Would Help...

An interesting, but inconclusive, article on illegal immigration in Truthout.

Some eleven thousand guards patrol the length of the country's border with Mexico, a true sieve. George W. Bush's plan, studied this year in Congress, seriously divides the Republicans. Talk about immigration in Washington does not follow the usual fracture lines of the political parties: Democrats are torn between humanitarian arguments and those of Labor Unions; Republicans are divided between pro-business lobbies that want the cheap labor and the Republican base that fears a "Hispanization" of the country. From Tucson.

She would like to see "50,000 soldiers on the Mexican border and 50,000 on the Canadian border." The traitors in her eyes: the American government, which "rolls out the red carpet for illegals."

How do you say "coyote" in French? What a ninny!

"If there's anything I've understood as far as immigration is concerned, it's that you can tell me where someone lives and what their party affiliation is, but I can't deduce his position on immigration from that," summarizes Pastor Robin Hoover.

There are many sides to this problem. Leave it to the Frog who wrote that to put it in such a succinct fashion.

Solvency

[. . .]

In other words, the markets have caught on to the fact that Bush is nothing more than economic smoke and mirrors. He continually hides the ball or figures out ways for other people to pay for his mistakes.

Because the US has not effectively dealt with its trade or federal budget deficit, other nations appear to be making the initial moves to get away from the dollar.

[. . .]

Enlightening post in the Kos Diaries via Corrente. Eventually, our creditors are gonna cut us loose to founder on our own. When that happens, we'll see another Depression.

NWHM

Hah . . . what, you say? It's National Women's History Month. Refresh what you learned in history class. (Especially with all the fiesty wimmins runnin around in Left Blogstonia.) Thanks to Pandagon for the link.

Huh?

[. . .]

"So long as health-care costs continue to grow faster than the economy as a whole, the additional resources needed for such programs will exert pressure on the federal budget that seems increasingly likely to make current fiscal policy unsustainable," Greenspan said.

He again threw his weight behind the notion of restructuring the Social Security retirement system to include private investment accounts -- an idea President Bush is pushing in speeches around the country.

[. . .]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the Chairman of the Federal Reserve isn't supposed to be a PARTISAN-FUCKING-HACK like his PARTISAN-FUCKING-WIFE.

Skank

From Campus Progress comes the announcement of the winner of the "Name Ann Coulter's Next Book" contest.

The rules for the contest were simple: The book title had to be the same format as Coulter’s books—a single word, followed by an explanatory subtitle.

The winner:

“Roosevelt: Wheelchair-riding, America-hating terrorist”

Many more. My submission:

"Sailorpussies: How I Fucked the Seventh Fleet 'Til It Ran Out Of Seamen"

Tearing down the press

From Eric Boehlert in Salon. May require free site pass. This is a must read.

The White House and its media allies, echoing a deep-rooted conservative antagonism toward the so-called liberal media, say they are simply countering its bias. But critics charge that the White House, along with partners like Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting, organizations whose allegiance to the Republican Party outweighs their commitment to journalism, is actually trying to permanently weaken the press. Its motivation, they say, is twofold. Weakening the press weakens an institution that's structurally an adversary of the White House. And if the press loses its credibility, that eliminates agreed-upon facts -- the commonly accepted information that is central to public debate.

Suskind notes, "If you believe there is no inherent value to public dialogue based on fact, then that frees you up to try all sorts of things other people in power wouldn't have ever thought of. And we're seeing the evidence of that now."

What evidence? Secrecy, lies, misbegotten imperialistic foreign adventures, domestic division, soaring deficits, rampant cronyism and creeping fascism? You call that evidence? Pah!

Reefer Nat'l Park

In our ongoing series on illegal immigration, and the possibility that some of us may have at some time or another been exposed to the sickening-sweet odor (I know, I know, but that's how it's always described) of Cannabis Sativa/Indica, at a distance of course, I offer this article on AlterNet. It's an odd juxtaposition (for some reason, all juxtapositions seem to be described as odd) between illegal immigrants and an illegal product grown by American citizens who let the mojados take the rap and often rip them off as well.

"Some of them don't even know they were hired to grow marijuana until they get to the park," the agent said.

But the land owners don't keep their promises to the field workers. Many undocumented farmhands never see their money, either because they get arrested before getting paid or because their bosses disappear with all the drugs, the agent said.

A fine example of the exploitation of people who can't bitch by their supposed ethnic allies.

This just one park. It goes on all over the state, and we have a lot of parks. Marijuana is California's number one cash crop, and one of its most popular exports.

Reporter Uses Blogs For First Time

Here's an interesting article by Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher, the newspaper industry magazine, about his first experience doing research via blogs. Via AlterNet. Read, but here's his conclusion:

And here's the nut of it: In the blogosphere, it's often asked, on both the left and right, "Why can't the mainstream media get to the bottom of these scandals like the blogs sometimes do?" Of course, one of the reasons is, they are simply too timid. But I understand another part of the answer now: No single news outlet has anywhere near the army of workers who toil, unpaid, at odd hours, for the larger blogs. To compete in this regard, Gannett would have to shut down some of its local papers and put their news staffs to work for USA Today. Then USA Today could throw a battalion of reporters at a hot issue – like some blogs now can, and do.

I do this because it's fun and keeps me off the street and out of trouble. If I had to do it for a living I have no idea what would happen. Probly get my ass canned forthwith.

It appears to me that some of the horse n' buggy media might benefit from having a coupla researchers primarily to check the blogosphere. All these outfits have websites, so they have computer-savvy people. How hard could it be to train a reporter to surf the blogosphere? On second thought, it might be easier to train the 'puter guy to be a reporter.

Production

Al-Jazeera via Melanie:

As oil prices remain above $45 a barrel, a major market mover has cast a worrying future prediction.

Energy investment banker Matthew Simmons, of Simmons & Co International, has been outspoken in his warnings about peak oil before. His new statement is his strongest yet, "we may have already passed peak oil".

[. . .]

Currently, at near maximum production, Saudi Arabia is producing about 9mbpd, though recently they claimed they could potentially produce 12mbpd or even as much as 20mbpd. A claim Simmons called "pie in the sky".

"The faster you pull a reservoir, the faster you pull out all of the easy-to-produce oil," explains Simmons. "What happens is that you lose massive amounts of what the oil industry calls oil-left-behind still inside the field. These issues, as you can see, have been known about for years."

[. . .]

If the glass is half-empty, we've got real problems. Prepare for an energy crisis that'll make '73 and '79 look like a walk in the park.

The assault begins

On free speech. Via Media In Trouble, via World O'Crap:

[. . .]

In his first lengthy address since becoming attorney general in early February, [AG Alberto] Gonzales said people who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech.

"I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively," he said to a Washington meeting of the California-based Hoover Institution.

[. . .]

Personally, I don't think this should be a federal issue at all, since obscenity laws are usually states' issues, if I'm not mistaken. Why the fuck is the AG's office worrying about this anyway? Shouldn't they be working on actually convicting one or two of the people we've had incarcerated since we went into Afghanistan.

Ladies and gentlemen, everyone enjoys the right to free speech, even pornographers. I wonder who it'll be next.

Some sense?

So we are civilized after all.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday abolished the death penalty for juveniles, an important victory for opponents of capital punishment in the only country that gave official sanction to such executions.

The Rude One:

We live now in this world of Bush where every day we are confronted with the myriad ways in which this administration and its hellish minions attempt to strip rights, dignity, and humanity in favor of a world of unchecked corporate greed-seeking and governmental repression in the guise of parental protectiveness. So it's always blindsiding to hear news that affirms something akin to human dignity. Let us mark the day, because there are precious few.

'Splain to me this free speech, Comrade

Glen points this out. It especially chaps my ass because as an author (pulp fiction), I've written shit that, under this standard, I qualify as a terrorist:

[. . .]

Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole's home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police.

[. . .]

You read that and you think 'uh. oh, another Columbine in the making', right?

[. . .]

"My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. "It's a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies."

[. . .]

Yes, the next terror threat facing our nation are ZOMBIES, RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!!!! This kid's just the next Stephen King. But no, the White House has every one so scared:

[. . .]

Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.

[. . .]

His own grandparents turned him in for doing his HOMEWORK!!!! My God, what has this country become?

Blogger sucks OUTRAGEOUSLY today.

On torture

Gillard writes a letter to Jonah 'Failed Abortion' Goldberg:

[. . .]

Jonah,

How's your feather collection? Probably enough to vein some faux-marble? Maybe do a mural of a chickenhawk in flight?

So, when did the OSS torture people? I mean, when did they walk into POW camps and starting giving the Germans what for? When did the Counter Intelligence Corps torture Germans? You mean they didn't? When the allegations of torture following Malmedy were raised in the trials of the SS murderers in 1948, guess who condemned it? Joe McCarthy, your patron saint of corrupt fear mongering.

Why didn't the US torture German POW's? Because the Nazis would do the same to US flyers and did to US evaders and escapers. Ever hear of the Great Escape? I know you have. But what you may not realize is that Hitler's order to kill 50 escapers scared the shit out of the Luftwaffe, because they were afraid the Brits would line up 50 of their men and blow them away. One day, Americans may be subjected to brutal deaths because of torture already commited by the US.

Do you think the US has allies in Pakistan after stories of Gitmo makes the rounds off the jury rigged deportations. If people didn't languish in jail for years and weren't beaten shitless, the methods used to round them up would be comical. In many cases, they were sold to SF and the CIA by bounty hunters. Abusing the innocent only aides Osama "the man who's name cannot be spoken" Bin Laden.

I would say Jonah needs to cover the war in Iraq and see if his appetite for torture diminishes.

Because he's a fucking idiot. You know when all those folks we subjected to rendition walk into a US court, it will be hard for a jury to convict them, or to even allow any evidence against them.

I wonder if Mr. Goldberg would like to be subjected to the things he thinks are fit for others.

[. . .]

Just this

Will Michael Jackson please just DIE already and get OFF my fucking TV.

Nuke 'Em, Danno...

This strains even my cynicism. From The Carpetbagger Report:

Not content with one venture into Mess O’ Potamia, at least one Republican lawmaker seems anxious to start another – this time, with nukes.

This is so twisted, it’s hard to know where to start. Which of these is the most outrageous part of this story?

* That a sitting member of Congress is bragging about his desire to drop nuclear weapons?

* That Johnson has shared this idea with the president?

* That Johnson’s favored approach to non-proliferation is an unprovoked nuclear attack?

* That this speech was delivered in a church?

* That Johnson’s audience “roared with applause"?

Is there some sort of IQ number you gotta come in under in Texas to get elected to public office? Or to vote there? Or maybe just to live there. Yeesh.

Hey, Sarge, My Check Bounced. I'm Outta Here...

From DefenseTech.org:

Give us more money, or soldiers aren't going to get paid. That's the cynical game the Pentagon's leadership has been playing with the Army's budget in recent months. And now, it's crunch time.

Since the fall, Rumsfeld & Co. have been dipping into the Army's day-to-day funds -- like money for soldiers' paychecks -- and then daring Congress not to make up the difference with a second, "supplemental" pile of cash.

The tab comes due this Spring, Defense Daily reports. The Army needs $41 billion of that supplemental kitty by then, or else it is going to go broke, without cash left to pay G.I.s.

But key members of Congress, like Sen. John McCain, are getting increasingly fed up with this backdoor effort to add tens of billions to the defense budget by essentially holding G.I.'s livelihood hostage. Sooner or later, things are going to come to a head.

Them brass hats got brass balls to stick up Congress this way. It would be foolish of them not to pay heavily armed, pissed-off GI's. I think there'd be enough unpaid C-130 pilots and ship captains to give 'em all a ride home.

I'd love to see a demonstration like the "Bonus Army" of 1932 that got FDR elected and gave rise to the WWII GI Bill. This time, I don't think the cops could throw 'em out of DC. I'd love to see 'em try.

Why?

Is it always the Jesuslanders?

"We feel dismay, anger, devastation, utter shock and disbelief. The very foundation of our faith is shaken." ~ Gerald Mansholt, bishop of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which was the church that the suspect in the BTK killings belonged to.

The Christians just love killin'; their own kids and their neighbors. And we're worried about the Madrassas in the Middle East?

BTW, Blogger sucks wet monkey ass again this morning.

Satan In a Skirt

If you think The Culture Ghost and Shakespeare's Sister were a little rough on that old Polack Pope last week, as linked to in Fixer's post, well, I'm here to tell you that they are the soul of kindness and political correctness compared to the self-professed True Christians at Landover Baptist Church.

Of course, priests’ reactions may be different to the passing of this particular pope, since Pope John Paul II recently spoke against homosexuality- outside of the Catholic Church. “I guess it is OK for sodomy to go on inside St. Peters and every parish church from here to Timbuktu until you feel like those folks in Sodom got a raw deal,” dryly observed Mrs. Judy O’Christian, Landover’s diplomatic envoy to the Vatican, “Just not out by the Coliseum where everyone can see it. While some may think the Pope’s condemnation a little timid, we applaud the courage that even that meek message must have taken. I mean, the Pope speaking out against homos is like Nelson Mandela condemning blacks. You just don’t expect folks to turn on their own kind like that.”

Go read. There's a cool photo of the Pope investigating allegations of child molestation. We have to learn from experts wherever we can.

Hate State

[. . .]

Anyone speculating about which state is the most homophobic in the nation probably needs to look no further than Alabama. My wife Kate, a native Alabaman, escaped from the nightmare, and even she couldn't believe the depth of the hatred and homophobia exposed by this article, including the heinous statistic that 44% of gay Alabamans are physically beaten and assaulted -- by their own family members. It's truly upsetting, and depressing. You wish the queer community would just get the hell out of there, but as with all stories like this, there are those that still want to stay and fight for their rights. I would consider this an almost insurmountable mountain of intolerance that runs both deep and high -- and all the way to the state house.

[. . .]

From Pam's Kos Diary. Strongly recommended. Via Froggy.

Checks and balances

It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.

[. . .]

Even the near absence of checks and balances is not enough for W. Not content with controlling the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and a good chunk of the Fourth Estate, he goes to even more ludicrous lengths to avoid being challenged.

The White House wants its Republican allies in the Senate to stamp out the filibuster, one of the few weapons the handcuffed Democrats have left. They want to invoke the so-called nuclear option and get rid of the 150-year-old tradition in order to ram through more right-wing judges.

[. . .]

MoDo in NYT. I got more on this over at The Cross.