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!

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.

Save ANWR

Gord turned me on to this petition. You know what to do.

I Guess He Can Self-Terminate

Ahhnold's problems with women continue. Once again, he's attacking the teachers' and nurses' unions.

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 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.

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.

[. . .]

Arrivederci Baghdad 2

What'd I say the other day?

How long before Berlusconi feels the pressure and the Eye-talians pull out of Iraq? I give it six months.

I'm still looking for the link, but MSNBC just announced that the Eye-ties are looking at scaling back their deployment in Iraq.

Found the story here.

Heh.

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:

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:

[. . .]

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 Propaganda Ministry, Gestapo, White House PR Department free press too. More souls for the Devil.

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.

Yo! Check this out...

If ya wanna have some fizzle chizneck out Gizoogle.

Wow

Just watching CNN for the first time in ages and I see that Bob Novak still has a job. Why?

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[. . .]