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A Very Simple Venn Diagram of Where the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Agree - The Atlantic

2011-10-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

A Very Simple Venn Diagram of Where the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Agree - The Atlantic

Things

2011-10-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Things happen and then they don't. There is no telling how or when.
I hope you are all happy and not broke.

Olive didn't make the GSP Rescue calendar this year, her tests from the vet however were great for a 10 year old Pointer.

New Job at HealthCo is great. I passed the ninety day mark!
I could do without the drive but otherwise I really like it.

It's just so nice to be working with a company that cares about its people. After six years working for an employer that was a true Republican, I was suffering from PTSD and now I see just how crappy it was. I say Republican only because he is one. As it seems, Republicans hold the attitude that the owner is the only one who adds value to the business. The other associated staff are expendable - there is no desire to treat them with respect or allow their sense of self worth to flourish, much less, even poke its head out to see what contributions are being made allowing a person such as General Electric to function.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not bashing G. E. at all here, just using them as an example of a corporate person.

So it is nice to have hope and recognition for playing a part in making the whole show go on and on. There may even be room for a promotion in my future, we'll see.

Gov. Sanford is a pillar of Republican virtue

2009-06-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

or a philanderer depending on your interpretation of the facts.

With family values like this how much longer can the repubs claim to be concerned about the sanctity of marriage? Seems to me that having sex with a person you are not married to is more of a threat than 2 guys being allowed to get married.

Of course I am on the fringe with my thinking. It is gays not a violation of marriage vows that is the real threat to marriage. Yeah . Right.

Nancy Pelosi scares me

2009-04-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

I think she is the scariest person I have ever seen. She makes me want to invite a serial killer over for a quiet dinner. She makes me feel hopeless. Why couldn't she be a force for good instead of being a total hack? Such a hypocrite. I know it may seem odd as I am the Liberal Treehugger and all but I would really like to see her out of office. She makes Tom Delay look like a Golden Retriever.
Oh well, at least we still have Hillary!

I love

2009-04-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

Trees, kittens, panda bears. I love the way the new shoots leave the barren landscape all defensive. One thing I don't love is pirates. There is something to be said about having guns with all the pirates running around. Go ahead (click) we are just a food aid ship (click click) yup, no arms on this ship. Too bad it was a Dutch ship and they don't have the 2nd amendment.

$500,000 is the limit to executive pay

2009-02-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

“One of the big questions is whether it will make it more difficult to recruit and retain executives at these companies,” said Claudia Allen, chair of corporate governance at the Chicago-based law firm of Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg.

Since when does leading a company into finincial ruin establish criteria that make one valueable to a company? It would seem to me that if an executive fails to make a company profitable (after all that is the ONLY consideration in a capitalist economy) they should either get maybe a cost-of-living increase or nothing or simply loose their job.
I don't know about you but I would be thrilled to make half a million a year with NO bonus. I think it is fair to say that nearly anyone who lives in America would consider a salary of half a million to be a big increase. Maybe as high as %90 of Americans would make a substantial ammount more if that was the pay they received.
These executives are not a hundred time more important than the person who sits in a cubicle or works in the mail room. It is time that we recognize that we as a working society have been screwed for so long that cutting someones pay to half a million dollars a year is considered a serious move. How about we cut their pay to ten percent of the lowest paid employee? Then if the company is profitable we can discuss a bonus for everyone not just the executives.

Happy New Year and all that

2009-01-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

So with the recent jetliner crash I had to wonder if I were the only one who's first reaction was not "oh my god those poor people" or "oh goodness I hope everyone was okay" but rather, my first thought after hearing about the cause of the crash was "Those poor geese". I just wish that we would think of the animals for a change.

Conservativism is maybe not dead but it smells really bad

2008-10-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

When Christopher Buckley comes out in support of Obama it is a sign that the Conservative movement has no heir. It is over. Time to try something new.
Or perhaps it is time to try having government actually be conservative for a change. Let's face it. We have not seen, fiscal, social, or any other sort of conservativism for the past eight years. Bush has been the biggest liberal I've ever seen. Bush has imposed more government control than any other president in history.
Taxation, no problem! We tax the hel1 out of the middle class and use the government to eliminate equity while moving as much wealth into the hands of the few as possible.

I don't think Obama is the solution to this but I do think I'd rather have his brand of "Conservativism" than Bush's.

I know that at least Obama admits that the government has a role to play and he will not try to dismantle the government while at teh same time use it for every nefarious purpose under the sun.

Vote for Bob Barr!

Debate

2008-09-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

I watched the debate last Friday night. I was impressed with Jim Lherer's moderating and the way he insisted that the candidates speak to each other instead of in the third person. McCain seemed unable to address Obama in the first person though, despite several attempts by the moderator to have a direct conversation and debate... Obama seemed a little more able to speak to McCain directly, although he tended to want to address the American people. I think in McCain's case it is from decades of Senatorial formality that he is unable to address a single person and must speak to the masses. But Obama is the one who's eliteist. Riiiiight.

I was amazed as I listened to McCain accuse Obama of not understanding the difference between a strategy and a tactic. Only to confuse the two himself in his description of a tactic (the surge) as a strategy.
Obama then demonstrated his grasp of strategy vs. a tactic. Only to have McCain describe a tactic as a strategy again in regard to Afganistan.

I was sad that Obama didn't change the framework of the issues effectively. He could have been a little more assertive with regard to what is a priority for America.
McCain was expecting his expose of Obama's definition of "wealthy" as individuals who make more than $250,000 a year to outrage Americans. Most of the Americans listening I think were saying "I wish I made $250,000 a year" not "Outrageous! I make ten times that! This will not stand!!!" So no points there. We as a nation have been driven to the outskirts of an economic wasteland by eight years of "Conservative" policies. My brother calls for an investigation into the Senate Banking Commitee but I think any investigation would reveal that the rapeublican policy of deregulation and hands-off-the-market regulation combined with a willingness to look the other way was behind this.
What surprises me is that anyone is surprized that this happened. Economists have been screaming about this for years.
But back to the debate. Poor responses from both of the candidates on what they would do about this "crisis" and how it would effect their administration's first days in office.
Poor response from Obama when talking about Iran. Instead of falling into the Republican framework and calling Iran a "rouge" nation he could have used that opportunity to refer to Iran as a "Mavrick" nation.
He missed one shot there. But then he doesn't have me advising him on his speaches either...
McCain just spouted the usual party line about taxes and terrorists. Nothing of substance at all. He tried to scare America a bit more. At least Obama took him on regarding his support of Bush inc's plans for the rest of us.
I'd give Obama the edge on this debate, but not by much.

New Slogan

2008-09-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

McCain / Palin

Putting a Pretty Face on an UGLY Campaign.

I smell a turd being carried by a rat which stinks BTW

2008-09-23T14:48:00.001-07:00

Bailout?

Remember when Bush tried to privatize Social Security and make it so that all the federal monies went to Wall Street investment banks? Remember how he was bitch slapped by everyone from both parties?
We thought he had gone away and was licking his wounds. He was just waiting.
This "Financial Crisis" and associated bailout is just his (hopefully) last great big fuck you to America.
700 billion dollars to the bankers who have squandered billions?
"Piss off!" I say.

Let the banks get the money they need by taking back the money these financial rapists (read: CEO) took from hard working Americans.
When a financial institution pays 72 million to an officer and then turns around and claims insolvency, they are lying. The money is out there; it's in the pool house, 9th home, private jet etc...
Then they try to ram this through like Iraq, the Patriot Act etc... it makes me want to move to Cuba or Venezuela because at least the governments there are honest about socialization. They don't just lie to you and steal your money. They just take your money.
I would rather have honesty than lies. Either way they take your money...

Desperation

2008-09-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

The McCain campaign released a video on You Tube claiming that Obama is sexist and called Palin a pig.
If one listens to the Obama speech one will clearly understand that he is not calling her a pig. He is using an old saying that McCain himself used describing the Hillary healthcare proposal.
These folks are just not at all telling the truth.
Palin was for the "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it. She still took 27 million dollars from the federal government.
As for "taking on BIG OIL" I hardly call imposing a windfall profits tax taking them on.
Palin is in the oil camp just like the rest of the Rapeublican party.
At teh convention when Rudi led the crowd in a chant of "Drill Baby Drill" the Saudi, Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan leaders were thinking to themselves " boy these people are insane and we are going to be sooooo rich." The lack of critical thinking and logic that is demonstrated by Americans who support increasing production to solve the problem of supply is baffling to me. I understand if you work for Shell or Texaco that you want more dependence on oil for energy but a mother of three working at Target? What is she going to gain? Nothing.
Oh well. Americans are mostly stupid I suppose.

The sky is green and the trees are blue

2008-09-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Look, I actually watched McCain and his speech to accept the Republican nomination. I have to say that he did a really good job. I felt sincerity from him and I do believe that he wants to make America better. I just don't believe for a second that he is going to make America better for me. If I were the heir of a massive fortune, owned a fortune 500 company, sports team, television station or participated in the accumulation of wealth similar to those folks, perhaps he would be addressing my interests. I don't, and he isn't. Palin isn't talking to me either. She's talking at me, trying to get me to react out of fear to vote for the Repub's. Fear is a powerful motivator. So is sex. So if Palin in her hotness can con you into thinking that the Republicans are going to perform an about-face after eight years and actually match the actions to the rhetoric then she has done her job. If McCain can con you into thinking that he is going to be a 'maverick' and rid the government of waste, special interest and corruption as well as protect you from the evil scary Iranians then he has succeeded.
I know it will work on some of America. It just isn't working on me.

The trees are green and the sky is blue.

Just because Sarah Palin says that Obama is going to raise your taxes doesn't mean that he will.
In her speech she made some comment about her sister opening a gas station and that Obama wants to tax her business!!! Shocking! LIBERAL!!! The problem is that she led you to believe that Obama is going to RAISE taxes on that business. She fails to point out that McCain/Palin will expect that business to pay taxes just like Obama/Biden. Everyone (except the oil companies) pays taxes.

She's good. I just hope that America can remember the past eight years and realize that this ticket is just more of the same.

Taunting the Ole Republicants

2008-08-06T12:53:00.000-07:00

So I go to Stew's site, because this is the only place where I can have an insight into what is happening in my only brother's life, and find this post about how the Democrats are all rich millionaires and don't care about the people and high gas prices.
He has a link to footage of the House standoff (which I was following on my own) where the Republicans want to vote on opening up off-shore drilling, you know, the usual Republican funded oil industry handout to help them "develop" our coastal areas. They are ranting and acting like a bunch of sophomores in high school. Never mind that Bush senior was the one to enact the moratorium in the first place. This is a pure political stunt. But how could the Republicans use the House of the United States of America for political purposes? Well they can't now that they are in the minority. So they stage a sit-in and make theater. But what they don't want you to think about is the contribution from the oil industry to the Republicans.
Here is the breakdown for 2008 thus far:
Democrats received:$4,796,968
Republicans received:$13,571,049
That is 26% to the Democrats and 74% to the Republicans.
Not very balanced is it?
But WAIT! It gets even more betterer!
In 2006 it looked like this:
Democrats received:$3,576,445
Republicans got:$16,570,858
Which is a 18% democrat vs. 82% republican pattern in cash coming from the oil industry to Republicans to advocate for them with regards to energy policy.
So no wonder the republicans want to promote oil exploration and extraction. After receiving 30 million give or take a few hundred thousand I might be tempted to vote for oil exploration in my brother's strap on vagina. Did I say might? I mean HELL YEAH I WOULD!!!
If I were a Rapebulican that is.
So I can't get any rational discourse (surprise!) from any one on his site. It is just comments about how I buy into the boracle (?) well here it is "by buying into the PROVEN lies of the boracle, you are contributing to the absurdity'
So Al Gore never ever entered my comments. I didn't give her any indication that I was basing anything I said on Al Gore's umm ideology I guess.
It is interesting that conservative sheeple tend to resort to catch phrases and cliches when they have nothing of substance and can't address a point directly. Historically it has been that Clinton was fellated in the office and lied about it. Now it seems like any time a point regarding the environment or American policy therein is mentioned they can't stop sputtering about Al Gore. How he is a hypocrite etc...
In rational terms this is called a "Red Herring" It is used when no actual content can be brought to bear on the argument and so all one can do is try to distract from the premise.
It is a weak tactic and shows a lack of thought, understanding and is really disrespectful.
So I'm sorry that when faced with the truth that is troubling you "conservatives" would rather resort to calling Al Gore a liar and pointing out that California killed the EV1 through regulation.
That is just so sad.
Meanwhile oil industry profits rose another 37 billion percent... beaches from California to Alaska are fouled with black sticky tar balls and dead birds, fish and mammals...
But I am the one who needs to "up my meds"

More Kitty!

2008-06-19T17:45:00.001-07:00

Bush and McCain are wrong

2008-06-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

Calling on Congress to remove environmental protection and drill for oil off the coasts and in the ANWR is not going to alleviate gasoline prices. How is it that anyone would think for a second that anything Bush proposes is going to work out in the benefit of most Americans? What has he proposed thus far that has improved your life? Iraq, warrantless wiretaps, privatization of the Social Security administration, tax breaks for coal and oil companies, removing regulation, cutting funding for education, health, veterans... you name it. If Bush proposes it it is bad.
The exception to the rule is of course the natural marine reserve he designated but I can only assume that he did that because he was mistaken about what it actually was.

Oil extraction from our coastal waters will only make the oil companies more money.

If they are making more money now than they have ever made, indeed than any company has made since the inception of money, and they can't lower their costs at the pump, what makes you think they will do it if they are drilling off the Florida coast?

No, we will get dirty beaches, dead animals and still pay 3.50 at the pump.

There is only one side that wins in the Bush equasion. that is the top one percent. So if you're one of them you really want this to happen. Otherwise the other nintey nine percent of Americans will still get screwed at the pump. Detroit will not increase CAFE standards, bio-diesel will still elude us and we will not be any closer to energy independence than we are now.

Drilling will take a few years to implement and we need relief now. Besides the excuse they have used for the past decade is that refinery capacity can't keep up. When will Americans learn that we can't consume our way out of trouble?

Randomness

2008-05-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

While holding a report and shuffling the papers to make it look like he is reading them, Bush is thankfully distracted from bombing Iran by a report on the disparity that exists between the can rich and poor.

"The typical American spends an average of $65 on beverages for every dollar he or she earns back through redeemable deposits, and the rest of that money goes to the country's can and bottle barons," the report stated. "Americans who are at a foraging disadvantage due to over-employment and home ownership therefore have limited access to these discarded commodities, causing the market to unfairly favor those with an exclusively disposables income."
Perhaps more alarming, the report continued, the can monopoly enjoyed by the poorest 1 percent has been unintentionally buoyed by millions of environment-conscious Americans who leave plastic bags full of recycling in front of their homes, which are in turn preyed upon by enterprising collectors.
"These people were born into a lifestyle, often going back generations, where any can left on the street is seen as their birthright, whether they purchased it or not," Houston resident Dale Palmer said. "They have the knowledge and ability to get out there and scoop up all the good cans before anyone even knew they were there."
The vast disparity in can-wealth distribution is difficult to understand for many Americans. Most people, according to the report, cannot relate to the lifestyles of the super-poor, who never have to go to work, pay a mortgage, or struggle to find money for rent.

Meanwhile his cabinet is hard pressed to finalize the neo-con agenda before the end of the term.

Happy Birfday

2008-05-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

0715 - St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1506 - Columbus selects his son Diego as sole heir
1515 - George van Saksen-Meissen sells Friesland for 100,000 gold guilders to arch duke Charles
1517 - Philip van Bourgondie installed as bishop of Utrecht
1547 - Monarch Johan Frederik surrenders to Karel
1568 - English queen Elizabeth I arrests Scottish queen Mary
1571 - Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manilla in the Phillipines
1585 - Spain confisquates English ships
1588 - Spanish Armada sets sail for Lisbon, bound to England
1608 - Matthias von Habsburgs army reaches Lieben, at Prague
1635 - France declares war on Spain
1643 - Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form United Colonies of New England
1643 - Battle at Rocroi/Allersheim: French army destroys Spanish army
1652 - Spanish troops occupy Grevelingen
1662 - Uniformity Act of England goes into effect
1749 - George II grants charter to Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley
1780 - About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day it's cause is still unexplained
1792 - Russian army enters Poland
1793 - Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795)
1796 - Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds
1802 - French Order of L‚gion d'Honneur forms
1848 - Mexico gives Texas to US, ending the war
1848 - 1st department store opens1853 - Dutch prince Henry marries princess Amalia of Saxony-Weimar
1856 - Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery
1857 - William Francis Channing and Moses G Farmer patents electric fire alarm
1862 - Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West
1863 - Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete
1864 - Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA (Bermuda Hundred)
1864 - Last engagement in series of battles known as Spotsylvania
1864 - Skirmish at Cassville Georgia
1865 - President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union Cavalry in Georgia
1878 - Blanche Kelso Bruce appointed register of treasury by Pres Garfield
1884 - Ringling Brothers circus premieres
1885 - 1st mass production of shoes (Jan Matzeliger in Lynn, Massachusetts)
1885 - German chancellor Bismarck takes possession of Cameroon and Togoland
1885 - Jan Matzeliger begins 1st mass production of shoes
1886 - Camille Saint-Sa‰ns' 3rd Symphony in C, premieres
1891 - Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered
1892 - National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded
1892 - Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer
1893 - Heavy rain wash "quick clay" into a deep valley, kills 111 (Norway)
1896 - 1st auto (Benz) to arrive in Netherlands1898 - Post Office authorizes use of postcards1900 - World's longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) links Italy and Switz, opens
1900 - Great Britain annexes Tonga archipelago
1902 - Great Britain and Boers resume peace talks in Pretoria
1905 - Tom Jenkins beats Frank Gotcha for heavyweight wrestling champ
1906 - Portugal's King Carlos I names Joao Franco premier
1906 - Italian King Victor Emmanuel and Swiss president open Simplon tunnel
1906 - Federated Boys' Club (Boys' Club of America) organizes1906 - Dutch King Victor Emmanuel and Swiss president open Simplon tunnel
1909 - Jack Johnson fights Jack O'Brien to no decision in 6 for boxing title
1910 - Cleve Indian Cy Young gets his 500th win, beats Wash 5-4 in 11 innings
1911 - Maurice Ravels opera "L'Heure Espagnole," premieres in Paris
1911 - Phila Athletics are 12« games back in AL, and will win World Series
1912 - AL Pres Ban Johnson tells Tigers if they continue protest of Ty Cobb's suspension, they will be banned from baseball
1913 - Webb Alien Land-Holding Bill passes, forbidding Japs from owning land
1916 - Escadrille Am‚ricaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun
1918 - Wash 1st Sunday game, Senators beat Cleveland 1-0 in 18 innings
1921 - Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
1923 - KPD (communist revolts) in German Ruhr cities occupied by Allies
1923 - 49th Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Zev wins in 2:05.4
1926 - French air force bombs Damascus Syria
1928 - "Firedamp" explodes in Mather Pa coal mine killing 195 of 273 miners
1928 - 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, Cal)
1928 - Explosion in coal mine in Mather, Pennsylvania, 195 die
1929 - General Feng Yu-Xiang of China declares war on Chiang Kai-Shek govt
1929 - Cloudburst causes stampede in Yankee Stadium crushes 2 people to death
1930 - White woman win voting rights in South-Africa
1931 - Ironclad cruiser Germany launched in Kiel
1934 - Military coup by Col Damian Veltsjev in Bulgaria
1934 - Sherlock Holmes crossword puzzle in "Sat Review of Lit" Males who solved puzzle became members of Baker Street Irregulars
1935 - NFL adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936
1937 - John Murray/Allen Boretz' "Room Service," premieres in NYC
1939 - Churchill signs British-Russian anti-nazi pact
1940 - Amsterdam time becomes MET (Middle European Time)
1940 - French counter attack at Pronne under Gen De Gaulle
1941 - New nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland
1941 - Germany occupiers in Holland forbid bicycle taxis
1942 - Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson and Wagner)
1943 - Berlin is declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews)
1943 - Churchill pledges England's full support to US against Japan
1944 - German defense line in Italy collapsed
1944 - 240 gypsies transported to Auschwitz from Westerbork Neth
1945 - Start of the 1st Victory Test Cricket between England and Aust Services
1946 - Dutch Cooperation for Sexual Reform (NVSH) forms in Amsterdam
1950 - NY Times reports of worlds smallest and dumbest mechanical brain
1951 - 77th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold wins in 1:56.41951 - UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1953 - Nuclear explosion in Nevada (fall-out in St George, Utah)
1954 - Postmaster General Summerfield approves CIA mail-opening project
1955 - Atkinson and Depeiaza make 347 stand for 7th wkt WI v Australia
1956 - 82nd Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Fabius wins in 1:58.4
1956 - Pirate Dale Long hits 9th-inning HR, 1st HR in 8 straight games
1957 - Adone Zoli forms Italian govt1958 - US and Canada form North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)
1958 - South Pacific soundtrack album goes to #1 and stays #1 for 31 weeks
1958 - Premiere of Harold Pinter's "Birthday Party," in London
1959 - Jan de Quay becomes premier of Netherlands
1960 - USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222 m
1960 - Juan Marichal debuts as SF Giant pitcher, beats Phillies on 1 hitter
1960 - DJ Alan Freed is accused of bribery in radio payola scandal
1960 - Belgian parliament requires rest day for self employed
1960 - Alan Freed and eight other DJ accused of taking radio payola
1961 - New pier opens in Scheveningen
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
1962 - Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner's NL hit record with 3,431
1962 - Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
1962 - 88th Preakness: John Rotz aboard Greek Money wins in 1:56.2
1962 - "John Birch Society," by Chad Mitchell Trio hits #99
1962 - "Bravo, Giovanni" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 76 performances
1963 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Muskogee Civitan Golf Open
1964 - US diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in Moscow embassy
1965 - Patricia R Harris named 1st US black female ambassador (Luxembourg)
1965 - West Ham United wins 5th Europe Cup II
1967 - US bombs Hanoi
1967 - USSR ratifies treaty with Engl and US banning nuclear weapons in space
1968 - Pirate Radio Brumble of Northern England 1st heard
1968 - Frank Howard fails to homer, after hitting 10 in 6 consecutive games
1968 - 20th Emmy Awards: Get Smart, Mission Impossible and Barbara Bain
1971 - USSR launches Mars 2, 1st spacecraft to crash land on Mars
1972 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1972 - WMAV TV channel 18 in Oxford, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting
1973 - 99th Preakness: Ron Turcotte aboard Secretariat wins in 1:54.41973 - "Smith" opens at Eden Theater NYC for 17 performances
1973 - "Daisy" A Day by Jud Strunk hits #14
1974 - Joanne Carner Golf Invitational wins LPGA Bluegrass
1974 - Stanley Cup: Phila Flyers beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 2
1974 - Valeri Giscard d'Estaing wins French presidential election
1975 - 27th Emmy Awards: Mary Tyler Moore Show, Robert Blake and Jean Marsh
1975 - Farm truck packed with wedding party struck by a train, killing 66 in truck, 40 miles south of Poona, India
1975 - Junko Tabei is 1st woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest
1976 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1976 - Senate establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
1976 - Liverpool wins 5th UEFA Cup at Bridge
1976 - Gold ownership legalized in Australia
1977 - "Smokey and the Bandit," premieres
1979 - "In The Navy" by Village People hits #3
1979 - 105th Preakness: Ron Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid wins in 1:54.2
1979 - Guitarist Eric Clapton marries Patti Boyd
1980 - Ringo and Barbara Bach are involved in a car crash
1980 - "Blackstone" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 104 performances
1981 - Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters
1982 - IFK G”teborg wins 11th UEFA Cup at G”teborg
1982 - Sophia Loren jailed in Naples for tax evasion
1983 - Weird Al Yankovic gives live performance at Wax Museum in Wash DC
1983 - NASA launches Intelsat V1984 - "King Of Suede" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #62
1984 - 110th Preakness: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Gate Dancer wins in 1:53.6
1984 - STS 41-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1984 - Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers beat NY Islanders, 4 games to 1
1984 - Pat LaFontaine scores 2 goals within 22 sec in an NHL playoff game
1985 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Golf Classic
1986 - Anti-apartheid activist HClane Pastoors sentenced to 10 yrs in S Afr
1987 - 1st American Comedy Award1988 - Red Sox retire Bobby Doerr's #1
1988 - Carlos Lehder Rivas, of Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, is convicted in Florida for smuggling more than 3 tons of cocaine into US
1989 - Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) last appearance on Dallas
1989 - Dow Jones Avg passes 2,500 mark for 1st time, closes at 2,501.1
1990 - 116th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Summer Squall wins in 1:53.6
1990 - General Elvis, TV Drama last airs on ABC
1991 - "Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story" closes at Shubert NYC after 225 perfs
1991 - Pat Bradley wins LPGA Centel Golf Classic
1991 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Centel Senior Golf Challenge
1991 - Willy T Ribbs becomes 1st black driver to make Indianapolis 500
1992 - VP Dan Quayle sites Murphy Brown as a poor example of family values
1992 - Ric Flair wins NWA wrestling title
1992 - Englishman Dave Gauder, 224 lbs, pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches
1992 - Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco in Massapequa LI
1992 - 27th Amendment ratified, prohibits Congress from raising its salary
1993 - Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medell¡n Colombia, kills 132
1993 - Dow Jones closes above 3,500 for 1st time (3,500.03)
1993 - Juventus wins 22th UEFA Cup at Torino
1994 - Tennis star Jennifer Capriati (18), checks into a drug rehab center
1994 - Omar Sharif suffers a mild heart attack
1994 - Final Episode of LA Law after 8 year run
1995 - Emmy 22nd Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 15th time
1995 - World's youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates Mount Sinai
1996 - STS 77 (Endeavour 11), launches into orbit
2161 - Syzygy: 8 of 9 planets aligned on same side of sun
But in 1968 your baby brother got to celebrate your birthday for the first time. I hope you have a good one this year. So Stew, a lot of really important things happend on your birthday...

Save XP

2008-05-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/

The result of seven years of Bush administration policies

2008-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

All salmon fishing banned on West Coast
Never in the history of fishing has this happened...
Salmon live on a five year cycle, or a seven year cycle depending on the species.
Salmon require a healthy ecosystem to thrive. They are not going overseas like our jobs but rather just gone... The result of cutting off water to give to farmers, industry, and energy producers as well as habitat decline (read increased logging, elimination of protective buffers along streams and increased allowances of pollution emissions by the Bush administration)
and no change in consumption is dramatic and portrays a grim reality.
A finite resource can not be indefinitely extracted without the loss of that resource.
Salmon habitat= healthy salmon
This isn't the fault of the commercial fishing industry.
This is the fault of the Bush administration's values.
Clearly the value lies in a short term extraction of wealth for the benefit of a few.

Does someone see it another way? Please advise.

Things I think about at night, in the dark

2008-03-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

US House gets it right for once

2008-03-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a wiretap surveillance bill which President George W. Bush has vowed to veto, deepening a standoff over anti-terror espionage powers.
credit Breitbart

I think that it is insulting to American's to have their president lie to us and then try to go back after the fact and make things legal that were never legal to begin with. I think Bush is trying to scare Americans so that he can complete his power grab.

I know that I'm supposed to be quaking with the prospect of TERROR but really now, it isn't working. I think the only thing Bush said that I agree with is "bring it on" in regard to the terrorists. Let's fight them here instead of going after them.

I mean the dollar is weak enough now to justify staying at home. We need to bring the troops back home and start rebuilding America and making it the"Land of the Free and Home of the Brave" again. Not the "Land of the Surveiled and Home of the Terrorized" as W would like it.

Did I mention that I can't wait for him to be out of office? How many more days? Damn...

Oh Elliot

2008-03-12T13:40:00.001-07:00

I think it is sad that all of the great things Mr. Spitzer accomplished are going to be relegated to the dustbin of history because his libido and ego were more powerful than his sense of morality.
I think it's sad to see someone who just wanted to have sex with an extreeeeeeeemly attractive, willing, pliable and enthusiastic woman for money ruined because it is a crime in that state to pay for sex.
A lesser man would have just gone home to his beautiful but somewhat bitchy wife and shagged like the carpet we all had in 1974.
Too bad Elliot. I'll miss your contribution.
I'd also like to point out that if this had happened in Washington D.C. he would already be re-elected and working on his 2012 presidential bid. Those folks forgive EVERYTHING.

Quick Dick! Burn EVERYTHING!!!

2007-12-19T13:15:00.000-08:00

I was not at all amazed to hear that smoke appeared to billow from a fire Wednesday on the White House compound in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The blaze was located in Vice President Dick Cheney's suite of offices located there. Satan and his er... Cheney and President Bush were across the street in the West Wing of the White House when word of the the blaze broke out, but no one can place them anywhere in the minutes leading up to the event. An aide was scolded when he asked why the president was out of breath to which the president responded 'you try running with 250 pounds of dictator on your back and see how winded you get' followed by 'you're going to be the next annoying thing to dissapear'.
It appeared that the fire was under control within an hour although more sensitive documents may turn up which will also require cleansing by fire.

stay tuned for developments...

Don't keep it inside

2007-12-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Talk to your family and friends. On a regular basis.
Don't bottle up your emotions. Don't deny you are
hurt, scared, mad or whatever it is.
This is a really hard time of year.
Stop what you are distracting yourself with
and make a call to someone you need to talk to.

New report on Iran

2007-12-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

So the estimates all show that Iran quit trying to develop a nuclear weapon er... nukular weapon, back in 2003.

I have known several Iranian people and they were really nice. One of them had a crush on me and we almost dated. I never once thought that these folks hated our American way of life. At least no more than I did.

So now a decade later or more and Iran is the boogeyman under the bed, or outside the window, or hiding in the alley waiting to slit our collective throats in our peaceful slumbers, much like Saddam was and before him Momar Qaddafi used to be, or the Sandinista's or the North Vietnamese or the Communists or the Irish who were in their time, the enemy of all good and true people in America.

No, I think the Iranians are a people who have a collective history that surpasses that of America. I think they have a culture and an identity that is much like our own. People who want to live in harmony with the earth and respect others right to be free and pursue happiness. Well perhaps that part about harmony with the earth doesn't apply to most Americans...
But essentially the thing is that Iranian people are very much like American people. They have a government that doesn't represent what most people think but there are too many issues with just surviving to do anything about it. In America we are led to believe that Iran is just a dirty place full of hateful little brown skinned people who want to see us suffer. They just want to have bread and tea. Maybe a sweet date huh? Their government is telling them the same thing about us. We hate them and want to make them suffer because we are rich and greedy and resentful.
So the leaders of America and Iran are just plain nuts. They should all be fired.

This frantic push to keep war going at all costs is transparent to me. Bush wants to keep funding his cronies. Defense department needs to keep pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into destruction, we need an enemy that we can't find, so we can continue along the path of war and destruction, hate and fear.

So when I see a security estimate that declares Iran is not trying to develop an atomic bomb but only want to provide power for their country I understand why Bush sputters and moans about how dangerous Iran is. It is his responsibility to keep us scared and in danger.

Of course I had considered that this is the same intelligence agency that gave us the WsMD info in Iraq and now perhaps, like that they are wrong again. Maybe it is a case of Bush crying wolf and now no one believes him. (I can't imaging that anyone ever did but there we have it) Maybe Iran IS developing a nucle er nukeyoular bomb and no one will believe Bush because he is such a habitual liar. Did I mention that we have evidence that Bush is a lying fucktard?
In the mean time hunger, poverty and disease tap on the window asking if anyone remembers them. They are still really trying to make a difference in our lives.

Make sure that your credit cards are maxed out!

Merry Christmas

When the ultra rich call for it why do the middle class oppose it?

2007-11-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

Warren Buffett said today,

"Dynastic wealth, the enemy of a meritocracy, is on the rise. Equality of opportunity has been on the decline," since Bush took office and went on to say that "A progressive and meaningful estate tax is needed to curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy."
So why do people like my brother think that this tax applies to him (it doesn't, or if it does he's been lying to me about how his finances are doing) or anyone else in our family?
It is because it is framed as a "Death Tax" that hits everyone. It isn't a tax on 90% of Americans. There are no more family farms sold off to pay for taxes because they couldn't cover the "Death Tax". That is just another lie from the ultra rich who don't want to see anything go back to the people it came from. Mainly us. The middle class.

Stop voting against your own financial interest.

It's hard to make a completion lying on the ground

2007-10-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Look I normally don't weigh in on important matters like this but, the Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Joey Harrington has been called a lot of derogatory names. People seem to forget that when a quarterback hits his receivers in the hands with a pass and they drop it seven times it is really not fair to call him a bad quarterback. How many passes did Tom Brady's receivers, backs and so forth drop? How many times did he get sacked?
So stop blaming Harrington for being a bad quarterback and start protecting him front line.
As for the bottom line, CATCH THE DAMN BALL!

The problem with outsourcing

2007-10-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

The problem I see with outsourcing our military functions to a group of private mercenaries is that, over time if we allow this "agency" to be unaccountable to anyone other than a CEO or President or shareholders, is that when it comes time for them to loose their minds and go Apocalypse Now on us, is there anyone left that can take them out. Aside from the Army, nope they can't do it, well then we can send the Marines, right? No? The Navy? What about a strike with the F-18? Nukes? What point do we draw the line and stop these hired killers?

Blackwater seems to be, from what I've seen, the new Confederate Army. Why is it that we are allowing this group of profit motivated killers take the role of the US military? It was all set up by Rumsfeld and Cheney as a way to make the old military obsolete. See it is a problem when the military has to answer to political forces. Just ask the generals in Myanmar... It is much easier to kill someone when you don't have to get congressional approval.

Why is it that no one seems to be concerned that this group is armed to the teeth with machine guns, tanks, attack helicopters, and hordes of men who are itching to kill someone? What are they going to do if they lose the Iraq contract?

Sometimes I think that I think too much

"This Government Does Not Torture"

2007-10-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

riiiiight uh okay then we'll just ignore the torture and the memo calling for torture to be used. And the people who've been tortured? Well they are all just mistaken.
To me there is no difference between Bush saying we don't torture and Bill Clinton saying "I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky" except Clinton was under oath.

I think it is past time when any government representative be automatically under oath when they take the podium and speak to the American people. Congress should pass a law that elected officials and their staff are under oath to tell the truth when in front, behind, or anywhere under the official seal of this government.

Otherwise these people will lie and call it a mis-interpretation or mis-statement.

What we are seeing in Burma

2007-09-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Is the Bush policy of "spreading freedom" as the hollow excuse that it always was. We were never in Iraq to promote freedom. Neither were we invading Iraq "to topple a brutal dictator" as is commonly claimed.
When we see what happens in Burma and Darfur and the complacency of Bush and the neo-con war machine we can't accept that it was for the noble cause of humanitarian relief. Looking at the US reactions to Burma we have to accept that control of oil, the cash giveaway to corporate interests and the privatization of the military are the only real reasons we invaded Iraq.

I am not one to call for military action but the Burmese need our help. So do the people in Darfur. So have a lot of people who didn't happen to live next to oil reserves. Yet we sit this one out. Noble of us. I think we are scared of China. I think Bush is jealous and has a lot of respect for the power that the Burmese government has over its' people.

Still it shows us that it was never about freedom. It was always about money.

I am NOT Gay

2007-08-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Look just because a grown man wants to meet strangers in a bathroom and solicit them for sex, it doesn't make them gay. I tell you, the moral compass of this nation is way off when it is deemed wrong for a man to plea guilty, try to hide an arrest from his wife and kids, constituents and the press. I mean what is really criminal is that a police officer is sitting in an airport stall cruising for men looking for illicit sex. Bathrooms are so sexy to begin with. It is almost wrong to let so many men congregate where they are pulling down pants and whipping out units. All the mirrors and towels. It's enough to make a straight man (clearly Sen Craig is NOT GAY!) want to try and get sex from a stranger. Another point I'd like to make is that unless Sen Craig was "catching" he isn't gay. Allowing a strange man to lick one's balls in a bathroom stall is perfectly manly and not the least bit gay unless you are the one licking. So stop calling for the resignation of this completely hetero-sexy senator! Whom among you have not tried to do the exact same thing? That's what I thought. Gay bashers, er I mean not gay but man on man anonymous sex seeking bashers.

Our National Example

2007-08-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

The current record holder for vacation-time is the late Ronald Reagan, who ate jellybeans and dreamed of killing orphans a total of 436 days in his two terms. Bush is going to beat that if he keeps up this pace. He has currently amassed 418 days, with 17 months to go in his presidency. Bush vacations like a Frenchman.

Sources of Funding for Highways

2007-08-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Wake-Up Call

2007-08-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

In a tragic event, a bridge spanning the Mississippi failed and collapsed.
The White House reaction was:

The Interstate 35W span rated 50 on a scale of 120 for structural stability, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.
"This doesn't mean there was a risk of failure, but if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions,"

"Doesn't mean there is a risk of failure", uhhhhm yes it does. Obviously it does. There are hundreds of bridges in use by the people we love that are similarly rated. Does that mean that we have a potential for collapse of hundreds of bridges?

I think it does.

Instead of spending our taxes on repairing American bridges, we are pouring $4,000.00 PER SECOND into Iraq.
What more can I say?

Oh okay I'll post now

2007-07-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day everyone. I am so glad Alan Johnston was released today. Stew probably thinks that he is just another liberal journalist with an agenda...

Olive has taken to running away

She jumped out a screen window, busted a board out of the gate and slipped through to freedom last Thursday.

I've wanted to put something up about the Dummycratic party and the RapeUblicans but really I think that it is more important to just say that I'm happy Olive is safe and home. She might not be at this moment because she is such a little squirmer that she may very well be running down the street this moment. I choose to think that the talk I had with her about how it hurts my feelings when I come home and she's not there, and I get scared for her safety and all, that it is going to make a difference.
I mean she's a dog. She understands that emotional stuff.

So back to LTH posting, Alberto Gonzales is a liar. Everyone knows it. He is just going to sit there and make sure no one touches Bush for the rest of his term. My only hope is that the contempt he shows the Constitution and the Legislature will be what pushes Reid over the edge. Then we can get to impeaching the Pres, Vice-Pres and throwing the cabinet into prison for high crimes and treason. We can have Pelosi as acting president and begin the difficult process of taking the weapons away from the madmen instead of supplying them with the weapons and then claiming that we are threatened and need to spend billions more on "defense"

Oregon has seen a lot (more than a week) of rain for this time of year. We also had really hot weather early. Meanwhile there is no such thing as climate change and even if there were it wouldn't have anything to do with man's actions. Nope not at all...

Time for veto number 2?

2007-01-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON - — President Bush promised on Thursday to veto Democratic-drafted legislation requiring the government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare.
“Government interference impedes competition, limits access to lifesaving drugs, reduces convenience for beneficiaries and ultimately increases costs to taxpayers, beneficiaries and all American citizens alike,” the administration said in a written statement.

Which means that under no circumstances will the Bush administration ever be on record as favoring anything that will benefit the poor or middle class.
Having the ability to negotiate prices is something that is for Socialist commie fags. The free market means that the seller can set the price and since it is a government program there needs to be no accountability. Just like the no-bid contracts to Halliburton, KBR etc. Just like the closed door meetings with the oil company executives to set energy policy.

He needs to go to federal (pound-me-in-the-ass) prison.

How is it that having the ability to negotiate prices "reduces access" to drugs? It just means that a price is not arbitrary. It is negotiated.

When you have a roof replaced and you call a roofer you get an estimate or a bid. You can take that to another roofer and see if they can beat the price. If you find a roofer you really like you can negotiate with them and try to get a lower price. They have the right to say " no it costs me X dollars and I need a profit of Y percent so the price is Z dollars" Then you can decide to either pay the price or keep trying to find a contractor to do it for what you think is fair. Eventually you will either have a leaky roof or pay the going market rate for the work.

Negotiating doesn't reduce the access to anything. That is crap!
These folks are really counting on Americans being lazy, stupid and disconnected.

Hopefully there are enough people paying attention that we can override his fascist ass.

Tagged

2006-12-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here are the rules -
Each player of this game starts with the "6 Weird Things about You."

People who get tagged need to write a blog entry of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly.

In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!

1: I believe that I can read peoples minds sometimes.
2: On my side of the bed, and only my side, the sheets get scrunched up in a fan-likke pattern under my body. When I sleep on the other side it doesn't happen.
3: I refuse to accept Pepsi when I order Coke, but I'll gladly take RC.
4: I've metal imbedded in my leg. A whole bar inside my tibia. It doesn't set off a metal detector though.
5: I cried tears when I was born. The doctor said that was very rare.
6: I think it was wrong to assisinate Saddam Hussein.

who to tag???
Doug

Sean

Jen

Dan

Deana (takes nice photos)

I don't know. We'll see

The result of an "ownership society"

2006-11-21T22:54:00.000-08:00

I think the current administration does not care about most Americans:

An October report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that 2004 was the fifth consecutive year in which the number of Americans in households at risk of hunger increased.
So instead of dealing with Americans (many of whom work at least one job) who are hungry, the USDA decided to stop calling them "hungry". We should change it to something that sounds more "compassionate" to match the Neo-Con rhetoric. So the Bush administration appointees came up with the new lable.
Now the USDA calls hungry people, “food-insecure”. American households, who remember are no longer hungry but "insecure about getting food" rose to 38.2 million last year,(2005) including 13.8 million children.

God bless the child whose got his own...

Meanwhile,
Barbara Bush has her purse snatched while being guarded by the SS...

Out-of-wedlock births in the United States have climbed to an all-time high, accounting for nearly four in 10 babies born last year, government health officials said. Clearly abstinence only programs are working well.

Kissenger claims there is no way for military victory to be achieved in Iraq (but we shoud stay for a few more years just to be sure)

almost 40 million people have AIDS

why are we spending trillions on death and killing?

Feels So Good

2006-11-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

I can't WAIT for the tax and spending to start! No really if Pelosi can run a honest government I will be even more happy about our nations prospects. It is important that the Democrats don't prove themselves to be the lesser of two evils. I hope that this Congress will show America that when government works for the good of all people and not for the good of those in power, we truly are the greatest nation, ever, in the history of nations, in the universe! YEAH! TAKE THAT ALPHA CENTAURI!
I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me.
So if we can get the senate I will be expecting some ImpeachOramavision...
I'd like to see the congress:
>investigate some of these shady dealings
>make Haliburton pay back the billions
>get Iraq Iran and the Palestinians to agree to stop blowing up each other and Israel over a family feud over a birthright
>stop North Korea from building atomic weapons
>stop spending billions for bombs
>start spending billions for America
>take steps to return protection for our wilderness areas
>mandate a really good snow year for Mt Hood

Well Then I'll Say It

2006-11-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

If you are a poor, desperate young American, the US military wants you as cannon fodder. See, now that there is no draft, it is getting harder and harder to fill the ranks of warm bodied 'Mericans who we can send in front of the likes of Don Rumsfeld and his generals, to absorb the bullets and explosions from IED's. If you are smart you'll get into a good school and then land a job in the private sector where you can watch the carnage from a safe distance, much like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Snow, Rice, and the rest of them.
For those of you dumb enough to join the military, don't for a second think that you're anything other than a tool. You are a tool. Property of the US military. Hell Rumsfeld doesn't even care enough about your life to even sign the letter to your parents telling them you died. He has an auto-pen do it for him. He must be too busy ignoring the obvious to actually get involved with a signature. Kerry should have said to the kids "now that the military is so desperate for bodies that they can only meet the enrollment goals by lowering standards it is more important than ever to get a good education otherwise you'll end up a disabled Vet with no benefits"
It'll be that or you'll go to jail for following orders.
For the people who believe that the US military is good all I can say to you is you are accomplices in mass murder.
I know that there are good people who do bad things. I know that the military has performed aid missions, provided logistical support etc. But all of those actions are embroiled in the overarching mission of the US military. We kill, blow up and destroy life.
It is no different than Hezbolla providing aid to hospitials and schools. They are still committed to violence to achive their objectives.
I reject the American War Machine.
It is too bad that so many people still believe that we need to spend more money than any other nation ever on things that make people die.

I do believe

2006-10-18T23:22:00.000-07:00

America is a beautiful place.

We are smart and creative.

When we get cornered we are a formidable opponent.

Most of us want to just live a good life and be friendly with our neighbors.

At one point had a government that, among others, Madison set up a balanced structure that was designed to be run by devils yet would still do no harm.

I do believe that Bush's Unitary Executive ideology is harming:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

I do believe that our government can correct this. It will not happen with Denny and Cheney in charge though.

I also believe that:

Until the philosophy which hold one race or religion

Superior and another inferior

Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned

Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class

And second class citizens of any nation

Until the colour of a man's skin

Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes

Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally

Guaranteed to all, without regard to race

Dis a war

That until that day

The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship

Rule of international morality

Will remain in but a fleeting illusion

To be persued, but never attained

Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes

that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,

South Africa sub-human bondage

Have been toppled, utterly destroyed

Well, everywhere is war, me say war

War in the east, war in the west

War up north, war down south

War, war, rumours of war

(Thank you Bob Marley for that insightful bit of prose.)

Come on folks. Take the blinders off. I know it is hard to admit but that is the first step to fixing the problem. We are a nation in denial. Look at what is being done in the world in our name.

I do believe that the best offense is a good defense.

I do believe that this is the time which all people should rise up and let their voices be heard. Not just the loudest most insistent.

I do believe I have the best frisbee dog ever.

I do not believe the Bush Administration

2006-10-18T12:14:00.000-07:00

I do not believe what they are telling us.

I do not believe that we should have to sacrifice our liberties for safety.

I don't believe that the other nations "hate us because of our freeodm" or that Bush is "spreading democracy" to the Middle East.

I don't believe that Bush is cutting taxes for most Americans or that if Democrats are elected that middle class taxes will increase.

I don't believe that we will be attacked if Democrats win in November or that terrorists will see us as being "weak or lacking resolve".

I do not believe that we can balance the budget while waging war and cut taxes to corporations and the top 1% of Americans.

I do not believe that Hugo Chaves is a threat to America.

I don't think Saddam Hussien was a threat to America or that Iran is a threat.

I reject the premise that we need to strike first even if there is only a "one percent chance" in order to be safe.

I don't believe that ANYTHING the TSA is doing is keeping us safe.

I do not believe that a terrorist could get away with using liquid explosives to blow up an airliner.

I do not believe that a plane will ever be hijacked again and used as a missle now that we know that trick.

I do not believe that Mexican aliens are the cause of our problems.

I do not believe that the electronic voting machines are secure, accurate or auditable.

I do not believe that America is better off after six years of this regime.

I do not believe that America can recover from this tragedy if the Republicans retain the majority.

I do not believe that America has the best: highway system, healthcare system, political system, or communications systems any longer.

I do not believe that any Republican is willing to stand up to what is being done to their party under the guidance of the Bush team.

I do not believe that the ACLU is evil, pro-choice means pro abortion or the right to privacy is worth giving up.

I do not believe that "if you don't have anything to hide then you should'nt care that the government is eavesdroping on you".

I don't believe that America will be great again until we restore the things that made us great to begin with.

Right now we are just barely limping along. I hope we can make America great again.

Bush is said to have no plans

2006-10-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

In the event the Republicans lose either House or Senate majority, Bush has no plans. "They aren't even planning for if they lose," says a GOP insider. Many analysts expect Democrats will win control of the House. Republicans predict that Bush's final two years in office will be marked by multiple congressional investigations and gridlock if this is the case.

now why do you think that Bush isn't even planning for the Democrats to pick up at least one branch? With the approval rating for Congress in the low %30's and Bush's rating not too far ahead why shouldn't he think that the American voters will call for change?

Could it be that he already knows what the outcome will be? Could it be that he has already taken steps to rig or fix the election?

Yes it could.

Watch the exit polls. If the results are at odds with the exit polls then the Republicans have stolen another election. They have gotten their machines in place and they control the output.
I think at that point Bush will declare that he is going to do away with term limits, invade Iran, North Korea, then tell us we can't have elections because of a national crisis.
I loath this administration

North Korea

2006-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that it was Bill Clinton’s fault that the North Korean's tested a nuclear bomb. It is either Clinton's fault or Jimmy Carter's.

Now I know any thinking reasoning person is going to say “Wait a minute! Those guys have been out of office for at least six years or more. How could they be responsible for that?" Thinking people will claim that, when Clinton left office there was an inspection process in place, with locks on facilities and zero fissionable plutonium. They will try to claim that Jimmy Carter didn't have any problems with nuclear proliferation.

That is where they would have to recheck their facts!

Democrats have an unquestionable ability to make you think that they are "promoting peace" or "seeking to stop proliferation by adhering to international treaties" while in fact they are selling atomic weapons out of the back of their Prius.
If we look closely at the facts (fair and balanced) we see that Bill Clinton loaned Airforce One to Kim Jong Ill's dad but forgot to take the plutonium out of the cargo bay. We would also see that Carter claimed to be building houses for poor people but in reality he was making centrifuges for uranium enrichment and GIVING them to North Korea.
The fact that Dubya pulled the USA out of the Strategic Arms treaty and invested billions on "low yield" nuclear weapons and "bunker buster" weapons, then invaded a country under the false pretense of disarming a nuclear threat, thus making every dictator not on the CIA payroll as nervous as Rush at a Narcotic Anonymous meeting, has nothing to do with either Iran trying or North Korea (perhaps) actually making a nuclear bomb.

Dubya is not creating terrorists by his refusal to accept any other opinions, look at facts, think, read, examine history or get to know what other nations think about his policies. They were always there. He is just casting the light on them so we can now see them.
That's right! Terrorists were under your bed and in your closet all this time. They were sitting on the bus with you. They were in the bus in front of you while you rode alone in your SUV 20 miles to your job. You just never saw them because no one ever asked them to "bring it on".
See it takes a real Doer or a "Decider" to bring them to the forefront of your world.
Clinton tried to make peace by bringing prosperity to everyone. The poor got closer to the middle class, the middle class got closer to the upper class. Everyone started to feel good about America. The rich got richer too.
Thank God that Monica showed up and gave us something to persecute him for.

All I can say now is that if we don't allow Dubya to put mind control implants into our heads, the terrorists will win. Again.

Okay now it is clear how this War on TERROR!!! is going

2006-09-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

An assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies found that American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

WAY TO GO BUSH!
Hey Rumsfeld, HEY Rummy!!! Are you able to read? Can you pull your head out long enough to see this stuff?

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

So if Rummy and the rest of the Bush cabal are not trying to create instability in the world then they are failures. If on the other hand they are really trying to create a permanent threat to America so the Millitary Industrial Complex will have enemies fo decades to come, then they are doing a great job.

America, I hate to say that I told you so, but, Bush is evil and he must be stopped!

The Bush administration has nothing left but fear itself

2006-09-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

So the mid-term elections are approaching and Bush is really nervous about America waking up to realize what a lying sack of turds he is. The Rapeublicans are turning on themselves, at once trying to pander to their base (or as I call it AlQueida) while still talking tough. The whole "Democrats are weak on defense" isn't really working now that we have a whole raft of Vet's running as Democrats.
So Bush pulls out the only thing he has left:

"If they get control of the House of Representatives, they'll raise your taxes. It'll hurt our economy. And that's why we're not going to let them get control of the House of Representatives," Bush said.

Folks I have to tell you that unless you are a billionaire Bush isn't talking to you. He is talking to the "haves and have mores"

Another point that Bush will not admit or address is the fact that he isn't really cutting taxes. He is deferring them to your grandkids and their children. So if you choose Bush and his crew, you choose despair, fear and violence.

I know the Democrats are not the solution but at this point they are the only ones who seem to be even willing to admit that the direction we have chosen as a nation under Bush is wrong. They are the only party admitting that we need a new direction.

My taxes will not go up if the democrats are elected. Most of you folks will not be effected either. Now if Condi is reading this, you will pay more than you have for the last six years. But Hey! We can't ALL have oil tankers named in our honor can we? Get over it. Pay your fair share for the destruction that you helped create. The same goes for Rummy and the rest of the lot.

Okay We're back!

2006-09-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

I saw a little interesting bit of trivia lately
O'Reilly believes Bill Clinton's presidency was a success.
Bill Clinton was "Brilliant. I think he did a good job as president," O'Reilly said. "Had a little problem with the honesty deal. And that gave me pause. But his presidency was successful."

So COME ON you hold-outs. Admit it. If Bill O'Reilly can admit it then you can too. Stew I'm not saying that you are wrong but well, you are soooo not right er, correct.

Grey Girl is back home

2006-08-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

Grey babes made it through the trials of being chewed on by some dog(s) with only a fractured (or rather luxated) sternum, several punctures and a pneumothorax or nearly collapsed lung.

This was from the hospital after she started to show signs that she was going to pull through. Dove Lewis is an amazing place for people who have traumatic pet related experiences. I never knew just how much these people cared for animals until this week. Check them out and feel free to make a donation to the Grey Girl recovery fund.

Don't take that tone with me

2006-08-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things that bothers me about Bush (the guy who sez he is the President) is how the talk is usually aimed down at the simple people who just don't understand. Like when he said "War is not a time of joy. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that. You know, nobody likes to see innocent people die. Nobody wants to turn on their TV on a daily basis and see havoc wrought by terrorists."

Oh thank you masa!

Okay so he understands the complicated things that we just are not equipped to understand. We 'Mericans are simple minded fools (obviously since this is his second term) and need to have someone who "understands" up there taking care of us. He understands everything except: how to get along with the rest of the world, balance the budget, provide opportunity for the poor and disenfranchised, respond to criticism and change a failed policy, respect science, art and nature...

He really doesn't understand does he?

The Bush administration gets a bitch slap from the Judicial branch

2006-08-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

A federal judge in Detroit yesterday ruled that President Bush's domestic terrorist surveillance program is unconstitutional, agreeing with a challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of lawyers, academics and journalists.
"The irreparable injury necessary to warrant injunctive relief is clear, as the First and Fourth Amendment rights of plaintiffs are violated" by the surveillance program, said U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor. "The irreparable injury conversely sustained by defendants under this injunction may be rectified by compliance with our Constitution.
"The public interest is clear in this matter," said Judge Diggs Taylor, who was appointed to the federal bench in 1979 by President Carter. "It is the upholding of our Constitution."

I don't think this will sit well with the "Islamofacist" haters out there. They will just see this as more reason to hate Carter. He appointed her. Let's see if the Supreme Court will be able to hold on to the thin margin and hold Bush accountable to the Rule of Law.
IMHO the Golden Rule could be applied here. We are supposed to be the greatest nation in the history of the world ever... So why can't we live in accordance with our laws? The law allows Bush to do what he needs to do. He simply has to obey the law. That is just not good enough for him and his cabal.
They want to have a "unitary president" who is above the law. Mush like King George was above the law. Much like Castro is above the law.

Remember it isn't Fascism when we do it!

It's called "freedom loving".

On a side note: I wonder if Bush realizes that a Constitutional amendment to define marriage would prevent him from marrying freedom?

For the record

2006-08-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

I do not believe anything the Bush administration says regarding "terror" or "homeland security".

I find it very questionable that this "terror plot" was uncovered the day after Lamont beat that assbag Lieberman. I think it is interesting that the Bush budget cut funding to find exactly the type of explosives that were intended to be used in this "terror plot".

I think it is sad that the government reaction to this is to take away more rights and liberties. I think it is even sadder that people are just fine with throwing away civil liberties because this government tells them that they will be safer.
Before 9/11/2001 when a plane was hijacked the point was usually to get something. "Take me to Cuba", or "give me a million dollars" was usually the scenario. So passengers on a hijacked plane were not scared for their lives necessarily. It was just a HUGE inconvenience. Now that we know what the hijackers will likely do I believe that no group of four or five hijackers is a match for a plane full of pissed off passengers. Personally if I were on a hijacked plane I would be beating the shit out of them and encouraging the rest of the men on the plane to do the same thing. Women nowadays get training on personal defense. I think that we could also put marshals with guns on the planes. The Myth Busters have already de-bunked the explosive decompression idea so that isn't a concern.

I think that America has lost the War on Terror. Bush quietly submitted to the one demand of Osama, to get the troops out of Saudi Arabia.

He CUT AND RAN.

The Neo-Cons and sheeple of Red America are being lied to. I don't believe it. I don't believe any of it. I am less scared of Osama than I am of Bush and the elite power structure that he represents. That is why I believe that we have already lost.

Vote Democrat for a change. Maybe, just maybe we can take back America and make our country great again

More Graceland with BBLH Jesus

2006-08-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

Still more BobbleHead Jesus

2006-08-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

We went to The Rendevouz famos for ribs... I was not impressed. I make better ribs that I ate there. BBH Jesus got hammered and had a run in with the Man

What more can I say?

More BobbleHead Jesus

2006-08-11T18:04:00.000-07:00

We took BBLH Jesus to, where else? Graceland! So here we are at the Peabody in Memphis...

He is Risen (or repaired)

2006-08-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

So Liz's boyfriend is really good at fixing things. I had managed to get BBLH Jesus' head on, sort of. It was not that good though. It would keep popping off. Lucky for us, part of God's plan was about to be manifest (for privacy sake let's call him Rob)Rob managed to fix it and get it even better than before.

Here is a before picture...

Paradise

2006-08-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

I am sure that when each of us thinks of paradise we have a very individual idea or notion of how paradise is realized.
My mother is currently and has for a very long time (for human standards) has a personal relationship with Jesus. She has communion with the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues. She also interprets tongues spoken by her and others. I've seen it many times and it always fills me with a sense of awe and amazement. I'm never scared though. I know that it is very real to her but I still have a hard time explaining it to my contemporaries. I tried to speak in tongues once or twice but I just don't get the flow of it. I think about how much I wanted to have the experience. Other teens around me were just going off with the speaking in tongues and convulsing etc... I had my hands out and my arms up but there was just nothing coming through. I could tell that the adults there were disappointed in me.

Oh well.

So the Holy Spirit and I have a more low key relationship I suppose. Some people need to have this kind of tangible mystery in their lives to feel comfortable.
Muslims believe that Mohammad flew away on a winged horse. He ascended into heaven and is still alive.

At least Jesus died.

The Hindus have the coolest religion. The whole many armed god thing is just awesome. They must think that the whole Muslim, Jewish, Christian situation is insane. There they are with their elephant headed four armed god and donkey headed alligator god but they think the whole trinity of monotheism must be simply bats in the belfry. How funny is that?

Muslim men are being told that they can enter paradise if they are martyrs for Islam. Virgins and honey etc...
Mormons ride around and go to missions in distant lands and they got their version of the true religion from a guy that had conversations with angles. Now I am no theologian but I do remember that special weight was put on the words that Jesus spoke and one of the things that he said was that people and angels would come claiming that they bore the message of God, but that these were false prophets and deceivers of man. So did Joseph Smith not know that? If he did do you think that he would have believed the "angel" Moroni? I don't. At least the Mormons take care of each other.
Muslims and Islamoramadamas and Christians and Jews and Mormons and Catholics and Wiccans and Satanists and Druids and Jehovas Witness' and Seventh Day Adventists and Quakers and Snake Handlers and Shakers and Hindus and Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster all have their own convictions and idea of what paradise is.
For me paradise is throwing the tennis ball for Olive and watching her swim like a torpedo and then going to some place like the Tin Shed for dinner and drinks and good conversation.

Finally

2006-07-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

Stew it was good to have you finally make it out. Go ahead and tell everyone that I was right and you were wrong. You should have been here years ago. Now when are you coming back so we can go play on the mountain?

Life in an echo chamber

2006-06-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

So I found Anna through my brother’s blog and visited her site. I found this poem...

"It's the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us the freedom of the press

It's the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us the freedom of speech

It's the Soldier, not the politicians
That ensures our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag."

So I wanted to try and put a different perspective into play and said:

I thought that it was the Creator who had imbued into each of us an inalienable right to these things. It is the soldier who has over time and age been the one to allow death and killing to be excused as virtue and duty. It is the soldier who has been the victim and the crime. I think we should support the troops by not making them do any more killing. Ever.

I was then subjected to the rather expected attack on my patriotism, factieness and lack of appreciation for the job the soldiers are doing for we the 'Mericans.
Anna asked me to never post again, I was told I had "fetid breath" and called a "troll" and my post was described a "hate filled" by commentators, which doesn't surprise me at all. So I apologized for making these people feel uncomfortable and made that my last comment. I did check back and here is what Anna said:

Scot,
This is my objection: It is the soldier who has over time and age been the one to allow death and killing to be excused as virtue and duty.

I have stated several times that I have no problem with the dissenting views and honest debate. But if you want to believe it’s over your differing viewpoint, you just go right ahead. You believe a lot of things that have no factual basis and I have asked to to show me where you are getting your facts and you have yet to do so. If you would like to spout your talking points without backing it up, please do so on your own blog.

Once again, I asked you to no longer post here because of the above statement not because of your differing viewpoint. Is that clear?

So my viewpoint is that soldiers through time have allowed the will of the politicians to be carried out through the force of killing. They justify it by calling it "duty" and "honor" and excuse the actions which with the veil pulled back amount to slaughter, plain and simple. It is the taking of human life.
Some of the actions of troops are heroic and noteworthy. Not all kill civilians. Being a part of a war machine is kinda like being part of a criminal gang. Even if you just drop a package into a car window, you are allowing the crime to take place.
Soldiers who follow their leader’s orders without conscience are automatons. They are the clout that otherwise ineffectual leaders need in order to execute their will. Some leaders call it the will of the people. Some call it defending the Nation. Clearly leaders through history from Genghis Kahn to Mubuto Sese Seko depend on troops being loyal and following orders.
I submit that troops, soldiers, humans, can lay down their arms, stop getting on the bus to go to war and cease killing their fellow man. That would be a good way to stop the madness. But no. I am a freak and a libtard or whatever you like to call me. The fact that this war was fought to enrich corporate power and not to defend anything is more of a dis-honor to the troops than anything I have said. Call the troops "heroes" and say that you support them all you like but until they are not killing others there is no honor.

I don't believe this

2006-06-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > POLITICS > U.S. SENATE
Report: Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq
Thursday, June 22, 2006

WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.

"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon.

Sen. Santorum while lovingly holding his pet fetus called the conference to announce:

"Look everybody!!! WE FOUND THE W'SMD in IRAQ!!! Ummmm well we found the ones that Rumsfeld delivered to Saddam in the 1990's that is... Well they ARE chemical weapons. We know that Sarin and Mustard gas are bad stuff and that this PROVES Saddam was a bad man. Right! We invaded a country to discover stockpiles of decayed weapons (that we sold to Iraq) that David Kay already told us were there. They might still pose a threat... Really NO REALLY!!!
Gosh I have nothing here...
Bill Clinton had SEX in the Oval Office!"

end of conference

WASHINGTON - Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they have no evidence that Iraq produced chemical weapons after the 1991 Gulf War, despite recent reports from media outlets and Republican lawmakers.

This was why we were told that we invaded Iraq in the first place.

Okay you war mongers go crazy!

Government of the people by the wealthy

2006-06-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

As reported by MSNBC

WASHINGTON - Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500.

The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.

Lawmakers easily squelched a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it.

Notice that a Democrat tried to stop this but the Republican controlled House took care of his lofty idealism with the ruthless efficiency they are known for.

Now why can't we raise the minimum wage? Oh that's right, if we pay people a living wage they will have time to think about the policies and might even question a few decisions that the "Decider" makes.

People need to stop blaming the Democrats and look squarely at who has been in control for the last 6 years. Who was that again? Oh, Right! THE DECIDER

So What If...

2006-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

What if the US government found Abu Musab al-Zarqawi based on the tips from Al Quaida?

Follow along here...
25 MILLION dollar reward.

Osama calls up Abu Mustafazacaanary and sez something like this:

O: Beloved brother Zacarazie I speak to you today as the mouthpiece of Allah. Allah Akbar! Death to the infidel! Death to America! Praise to our Mujahadeen (this goes on for a while with intermittent gunfire in the background as they alternate between happy fire and angry fire)

AL-Z: Most holy warrior Osama why do you call me now? What is your bidding?

O: As you know the American devils are closing in on us. We must find the source of the traitorous leaks in our ranks. To do this you will martyr yourself. We will feed information to suspected enemies of Allah and then when the evil Americans have shown us who is the leaker we will have a loyal agent of Islam act as the source to inform them where you are hiding. Once the American devils know that you are in the safe house you will most certainly be bombed and killed.

Al-Z: Holy warrior of Allah how will this help our cause. I am willing of course to give my life for Allah but I do not see what we will gain from this aside from discovery of who is leaking our information to the evil American dogs.

O: you see Zacrazee the source of your location will be an Al Queaida agent of the deepest most secret order and they will be give the 25 million American devil dollars as reward for the information on your whereabouts. We will have all the money we need to fund our operations, the Americans will gain nothing because you will be a martyr, the information seized in the raids will be phony and we will smoke out the insiders who betray our cause.

Al-Z: you are truly the most powerful warrior of Allah! ALLAH AKBAR ALLAH AKBAR!!! (gunfire and ululating) I will do as you say. Let the American devils choke on the spit from my corpse!!! Are we still on for croquet Saturday? Will your third wife make those sesame treats? I just love those? I have the new Ann Coulture book too. It is great! She is truly the manliest of women.

O: Yes I'll have Sahessehea make you some sesame treats. I can't wait to read Coulture's book of lies. She makes my job so easy. Truly her adams apple is more massive than most men's and she was once a strong man. If only.. Well never mind

Al-Z: what is it Osama? Do you still long for his touch? I mean her touch?

O: I must go now. Allah AKBAR!

See we lose no matter what when we resort to violence and killing as a means to an end. So we killed a bad dude. I tend to agree with Mr. Berg that this diminishes us more than it does edify us. Too bad most Americans think that killing is justified and that we are moral in our actions. All we do is continue the cycle of hate, fear and death.

Culture of life indeed!

We need a coherent energy policy not a ban on gay marriage

2006-06-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

DETROIT - Less than a week after announcing plans to offer the first diesel-powered full-size sport utility vehicle in the United States, DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group said it is halting production of the diesel version of its small Jeep Liberty SUV.

This is a bad decision.

We need more autos that can run on bio-diesel not fewer. The reason they stopped production was that they couldn't meet the emissions requirements. Those could be met using bio-diesel.

Imagine being able to make your own fuel. Imagine how hard and fast gasoline prices would fall if Americans started co-ops making and distributing bio-diesel for their cars.

What if American farmers grew corn, soybean and (while I am in the realm of fantasy) hemp, that was then converted to diesel fuel. We could run most oil heaters on the stuff. Any diesel engine will burn it. We could stop funding the Islamic terrorist regimes and regain energy independence without killing thousands of Iraqi's or Iranian's, destroying our Arctic wilderness, costal areas and national parks. To me it looks like this is exactly what Bush doesn't want to happen.

This administration has no desire to see America succeed.

Bush and his cabal want America in debt, scared, perpetually at war and dependent on petroleum. He wants to create prison industries that will eliminate the need for migrant workers, destroy unions, and force everyone to shop at Wal-Mart because that is all they can afford. No more middle class, just ultra rich and dirt poor. To do this he needs to create class warfare. So we see an assault (no pun intended) on gay marriage. Why is it that people continue to believe the lies? Why are we on a course for destruction and people are shouting "GO FASTER!" huh?

Idiots.

Bush is a Stupid Turd

2006-06-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

Bush is such a retarded fuck that it makes me wonder how anyone supports him. Gay marriage??? WHY are we dealing with this NON-ISSUE? No one cares except for the religious freaks out there. Why are we wasting the resources of Congress on this issue? I want gay's to get married. The only thing that is a threat to marriage is divorce. Why don't we have a constitutional amendment outlawing divorce?

GET YOUR RELIGION OUT OF MY GOVERNMENT!!!

If we turn the tables

2006-06-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Then this guy is a stooge, a disgruntled loser who is incompetent:

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33
Damon lost his right arm near the shoulder and his left arm above the wrist when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and two other soldiers were servicing the aircraft on the ground in Iraq. His left arm later had to be amputated at the elbow. One of Damon's colleagues was killed.

Now he is suing Michael Moore.
In a suit that also names Miramax Films and several other film companies. Peter claims Moore never sought his consent for using segments of an NBC Nightly News interview with Damon while he was in hospital.

So if I were part of the Rethuglican propaganda machine I would immediately point out that he never really served in any significant role and that his contribution was limited to minor tasks. That he was at fault and his injuries were caused by his lack of professionalism and failure to take personal responsibility.
But this would only happen if he were pointing out ways in which the Bush administration had failed.
Since he is a loyal TOOL he is of course painted as a hero.

Poor guy, personally I think it is tragic. Personally I think that he deserves his house and more. I don't want you to think that I am attacking him. I'm just trying to frame this the same way that the Rape-ublicans do. This is how they act when trying to avoid facts and issues.

Now how does that strike you?

Amreica got Lay'ed Skilling-fully

2006-05-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

So perhaps there is some justice still kicking around in the universe. This probably never would have happened if it hadn't been for bureaucrats and dedicated public servants. I'm glad to see that there are people who still act on their conviction and not just the lure of cash.

Nice Try

2006-05-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - The United States is imposing a ban on weapons sales to Venezuela because of what it claims is a lack of support by President Hugo ChavezÂs leftist government on counterterrorism efforts, the State Department said Monday.

Why are we as a nation selling weapons at all? I think that a good place to start making a difference in the "War on Terror" would be here at home. Stop selling and making weapons. Land mines, missles, rockets, etc... STOP MAKING THEM. Walk the walk if you talk the talk. For Amreica to claimmoral authority while flooding the market with cheap weapons is hypocrisy. It should be criminal.

Bush Calls for Major Snow Job

2006-05-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

45 percent of self-described conservatives disapprove of the president!
His base is abandoning him. I am so glad that people are waking up to the fact that this administration is destroying America. Perhaps we will finally be able to impeach the bastard!

Bush is Loyal to Corporations

2006-04-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

More than he loves America, apple pie, Chervolet, Bush loves his corporations.

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Friday approved a deal for a Dubai-owned company to take control of some U.S. plants that manufacture parts for U.S. fighter jets and tanks.

The proposed deal, Bush told reporters, “has been looked at very carefully.” He said he had “signed off on it this morning because I am convinced at the recommendation of the CFIUS committee as well as our military that it is a sale that should go through.”

He really wants to sell of every aspect of American security that he can to the Islamofacists. Why is it that all you American loving, gun totin' NASCAR fans still support this president? How can anyone that is in the military support him (aside from the obvious fact that with Bush's policies in place we will always need a military and be at war) and his team?

Please explain.

Sad day for NASCAR

2006-04-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Two NASCAR fans were electrocuted in a campground outside Talladega Superspeedway when a flagpole they were erecting touched power lines.

It would be too easy to say something like "2 down 30,000 to go" or act like this is anything other than the tragic loss of life that it is. I could say that they were 39 and 42 and between them they had only seen three years of school and that was because they had to take their kids there. That would be mean spirited. I could say that if NASCAR fans had the same IQ as the octane in the gas then they wouldn't be NASCAR fans after all... That would be snippy...

So I won't say any of those things. I will say however that grown men should know about the risks of playing with toys around high voltage power lines. Too bad. I hope someone will learn from this experience. I expect that the families will sue somebody even though they profess to despise those damned trial lawyers like John Edwards etc...
Meanwhile gas soars to over three dollars, Oil companies post record profits and we get ready to drop nuclear bombs on Iran...

Proof of progress in the war on TERROR

2006-03-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old former medical aid worker, faces the death penalty for becoming a Christian under Afghanistan's Islamic laws.

I'm so glad that Iraq is headed for the same type of theocratic "democracy" that exists in Afghanistan. We did a great job ousting a secular dictatorship which had been a faithful tool of the CIA in favor of a rabid frothing at the mouth group of Imams calling for a strict adherence to Islamic "Law".

Now I am not a pusher of religiosity so I hate seeing this anywhere. I think it is especially messed up when we see it in a country we recently invaded. When we claim to have "promoted democracy" and "freedom" in a country that is thousands of years older with a history that shows us as the punks we are it makes Bush and his criminal cabal's rhetoric even more hollow and meaningless.

The real answer to Helen Thomas's question

2006-03-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

When Bush speaks of progress

2006-03-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

He isn't talking to 90% of Americans.

When speaking of reform or programs and cutting discretionary spending, he is addressing his "Al Queida" or "base" and the rest of us are just out of luck.

People who depend on the programs he is cutting like children of single mothers or fathers, college kids from poor families and most of America are of no concern to him.

When he talks about progress in Iraq and why we are there and says things like "I didn't want war" he is of course lying. He lies so easily after doing it for the last five years that it is almost believable. In fact a lot of people believe what he says is the truth.
Somehow the actions never match the rhetoric...

No accountability or I never met a deficit I didn't like: Bush's plan for America

2006-03-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

CLEVELAND - President Bush Monday signed into law a $781 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority, making the Treasury Department's new debt limit $8.965 trillion, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Last week, the Senate approved the increase in borrowing authority requested by the Treasury Department to avoid a government default. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the legislation nearly a year ago.

HELLO ANYBODY OUT THERE???

Bush is destroying America through his policies of cutting the taxes for the richest people who can most afford to pay them, lining the nest of oil companies, mining companies and other big corporate interests.

These people are so bad for America.

Can I run a deficit into the hundreds of thousands? NO! The banks take my stuff. The credit companies garner wages. I have to live within my means or extend slightly to the point that I can cover my debit. Why do we as Americans elect leaders who bankrupt our national budget?
Kick the whole lot out. Tom Delay and his crew need to work at Burger King at minimum wage for a few years. Bush needs to send his daughters to serve in the war against TERROR and you need to vote out any Republican who is in office so that we can regain a balance in our government.

Never Mine Sago, We Need to Fine CBS

2006-03-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

For an owner of a mine in America, the minimum fine for a safety violation is $60. The maximum is $60,000, a cap imposed by Congress. There has been a request of lawmakers to boost that maximum fine to $220,000.
In contrast to the death and dismemberment of humans by accidents in mines where safety is a third or fourth priority we have the FCC fines for indecency. Offensive instances like Janet Jackson's nipple incident and a show where kids are engaged in an orgy evoke fines of OVER $500,000.00 AND $3.6 million. The FCC brought fines against dozens of CBS stations and affiliates on what regulators called indecent television programming.

Our government is insane. You Rapeublicans and Moral Majority Friends of the Family types can not mandate morality. I'm all for decency in broadcast T.V. that is why we have cable. Cable allows people to engage in the reality of sex drugs and rock n roll without getting fined a million dollars. But seriously why is it that people are dying because a mine owner doesn't pay a few thousand to make the place safe and they get fined a few thousand dollars (they can probably claim it as a loss on their taxes) but a T.V. show gets millions of dollars in fines? Don't we have it backwards? I thought you Rethuglicans had this "sanctity of LIFE" thing. Oh right that only applies to an embryo. Once we are out of the woman we are cannon fodder.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is an asshat! He should listen to Bill O'Rieley. Now there's a real obscene bit of programming!

Mohammad is just a prophet, can we check in with Allah on the killings please?

2006-02-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

A Pakistani cleric announced a $1 million bounty for killing a cartoonist who drew the Prophet Muhammad as thousands joined street protests after Friday prayers.

Denmark, which first published the cartoons, temporarily closed its embassy and advised its citizens to leave Pakistan.

Prayer leader Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi is an idiot.

1. There was not ONE cartoonist, there were about a dozen.
2. IT WAS A FREAKIN CARTOON!!!
3. He has a very unfortunate name so I'm not surprised he wants people killed.
4. He is a fanatic who is possessed with rage because no one in the world except his Pakistani sheep cares what he thinks or that mohammad said this or that.
5. IT WAS A CARTOON!

So would the Muslim population please tell your clerics that they are nuts when the call for murder? Can’t we prosecute him under the RICO statues? I mean it is not much of a stretch. We have the Mafia calling for murders and we go after them. This guy wants to kill people over a cartoon.

Then on the other side we hear Rummy:

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Rumsfeld sounded a theme he frequently raises as a key to eventually winning the global war on terrorism: countering anti-Western messages from Islamic extremists.

“Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today’s media age, but for the most part we — our country, our government — has not adapted,” he said.

Because we are too busy sorting out the "Domestic Terrorist" chatter like my conversations with my mom about how this administration is corrupt and needs to go to jail. So we have not spent any time countering the Islamic fanatics, but we have bombed the crap out of them. WHY DON'T THEY LIKE US?

Poor Guy I almost Feel Sorry for Him

2006-02-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

Cheney obviously feels bad about shooting his friend. I think is good that he is taking responsibility for his actions.

I don't care that much for all the hysteria surrounding the hunting incident. It really serves no purpose except to make him feel bad and mock him publicly. I'm all for mocking him publicly but I think there are a lot more important issues we should be focused on. Things like keeping Gay's from marrying, keeping steroids out of Tee-Ball, dismantling the Federal government, destroying Social Security, torturing Muslims. The list goes on and on.

Of course Cheney was drinking. I would say that almost all hunters drink, A LOT. Drinking is the real reason for going out hunting. Drinking and well, shooting your friends.

I would feel sorry for him if he hadn't lived a life of such brutality. I think it is just his karma coming back to hit him in this life. He'd better watch out though because karma usually doesn't pay one back until the next life. So he must be so loaded up on pain and suffering for his next life that the universe had to let some spill over into this one.
I hope his buddy doesn't die. We would be talking manslaughter then. If that were to happen America would really get to see just how above the law these people think they are.

Cheney, bored with watching violent killings in Iraq takes ACTION!

2006-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

No seriously all this proves is that Cheney is human and has the ability to make mistakes.

Or does it?

Maybe he is NOT capable of making mistakes and this was done on purpose.

If he can make mistakes (and does indeed have a soul as I have often questioned) then why won't he start to admit other areas where he has been mistaken?
Iraq policy, Domestic policy, energy policy, the lsit goes on.

Before this incident I think Americans assumed that he was incapable of error due to his being the firstborn son of Satan. It is well understood that dieties rarely make mistakes.
This incident only shows that he is like the rest of us. Like us with the exception that he will not get arrested, tested for drugs, or alcohol and basically get to shoot a man for sport. It must be nice to be royalty.

Muslims are no fun

2006-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

"We are a nation that can't forgive, be silent or ease up when they insult our prophet and our sacred values."

"Today, we are defending the dignity of our prophet with a word, a demonstration but let George Bush and the arrogant world know that if we have to ... we will defend our prophet with our blood, not our voices,"

Sounds to me like we have a case of overestimating the importance of ones prophet.

I know I'm an infidel and all but seriously this is just a bit overblown. I think that anyone who is willing to die or kill because someone makes a joke about their religion is an idiot.

These Islamic fanatics need to take off the burka, crack open a cold beer, eat some baby back ribs and start smoking weed. Then they can move on to the more important things like tripping on acid while watching The Wizard of Oz played to Dark Side of the Moon. TRIP OUT!
I know Stew thinks I love the terrorists but really I think they are so Old Testement. This whole thing is just a family feud that has been going on for millenia. It is time we just agreed that Jacob stole the birthright and that it was wrong. Give the Muslims a couple million goats, a few thousand camels and some olive groves and let's start having a good time until the sun burns out or we all die from a virus.

State of the Union

2006-01-31T18:47:00.000-08:00

A couple of things:

In the Bush plan, it isn't so much the ideas as the inevitable corruption and graft that occurs.

I have a HSA and I think it is a good idea for someone like me. I am mostly healthy but (I am prone to accidents just ask Stew )for someone who has a chronic illness like type I diabetes or psoariosis it will be very difficult to realise any savings.

These HSA's need to be set up at birth.

Bush could stop the bombs, cut off the oil companies, eliminate farm subsidies, and cut the millitary industrial complex down to something like, well, whatever the budget is for art. We would have the money to start every child off with a little fund that can grow and be used to teach finincal skills at an early age.
The problems are going to be that the HSAs are populated with the young and healthy but the traditional plans will be filled with high risk patients. Something that is not the case now as the risk is shared. I can't claim to understand all the nuance in capitation but I get the idea that the problem is not with the sick patients but ridiculous profits.
We have seen Health South and what can happen in a managed health care system.

Then there is the single payer system that is currently in use. MEDICARE and MEDICAID serve the nation quite well. Don't try whining about big government either you wingnuts have no credibility. Trying to pretend that you are the party of smaller government will just not hold water anymore.

The Danish use an open-source, electronic medical record system that could be used to deliver the goods at very low cost.
The point I'm trying to make is that HSAs can work but Bush will more than likely appoint the director to be some ballet dancer or a lumberjack with whom he went to school. That dude will suck up the cushy job for a few years and then start lobbying.

Same ole thing

We are going to be at war for years and years. Hopefully forever I'm sure. One thing that could make America safe would be to stop pointing to WWII and excusing our behavior on that good deed. Bush wants to invade more countries. He said America was never stronger than when freedom was on the march.
When I run that through the realspeak analyser it means: "America is going to be seen as weak if we don't invade Iran. We gotta do it soon since they're gettin the bomb. I made sure that we lost all intelligence when my administration outed that CIA operative."

Here we have a chance to stoke American pride and show what has been accomplished in the past year. How it came off was a desperate attempt to excuse his illegal domestic spying. I guess he hasn't accomplished much at all. More people living below the poverty line. Dirty air. Dirty water. No progress on who sent that anthrax or where Sadam's W'sMD are. No progress on Bin Laden but we have gotten 98% of the number 2 leaders. Pretty soon we can start working our way through the number three's. That should last for a few decades huh?

Do onto others as you would have them do unto you

2006-01-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Army in Iraq has at least twice seized and jailed the wives of suspected insurgents in hopes of “leveraging” their husbands into surrender, U.S. military documents show.

So we have a commander in thief leading this war on terror who claims to be doing everything he can to make us safer from those terrorists who want to kill us.

Seeing things like this makes me wonder what kind of crap he would do if he wanted to incite violence against the US. Would Rumsfeld personally tear the heads off babies and distribute the video to Al Jazeera? Probably not. Cheney would want dibs on torture and excecution. I'm sure he would let Rummy have a few though.

This administration is so evil it makes me wonder how anyone could suport them.

Sheriff doubts that smugglers could have a .50 caliber machine gun

2006-01-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

Gonzalez, of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said he was skeptical about the Mexican government's claims. (that these men were drug smugglers not military)

"When you see a Humvee vehicle with a .50 caliber machine gun on it, this leads you to believe this is not a vehicle being used by the drug lords, but in fact is part of the Mexican military" , Gonzalez said. "I think of course the Mexican government knows about this."

He obviously doesn't understand what Judge Alito knows to be true. Everyone has the right to own machine guns.

United States v. Rybar (1996), Alito dissented from a case upholding a federal statute banning machine gun possession. Alito argued that a categorical ban on the intrastate ownership of machine guns falls outside of Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce.

Alito, if (God forbid) confirmed to the Supreme Court will make sure that all sorts of machine guns will be available. He believes not only in the rights of corporations and unitary executive power but in the righpossesosess and transport across State lines, machine guns.

If you try doing anything fun with your body you are in a shitstorm of trouble but if you need to sell machine guns, land mines or bazookas then everything is fine.

So sorry there Mr. Texas law guy those drug smugglers bought that .50 caliber from an American company and they can keep on doing it because there is no reason, No Reason that the Federal Government should mess with the right to be an arms pusher. Remember that the sanctity of life ONLY applies to the UNBORN. Once you hit the tile floor your life is worth, well, a buck 'O five.

Will you give your $1.05?

Let the Spin begin!

2006-01-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

"A spirit of debate is now under way, and our message to the American people is clear and straightforward: These actions are within the president's authority and responsibility under the Constitution and laws, and these actions are vital to our security," Cheney said at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.

Which when we run through the realspeak analyzer we get the following output:
"There is no debate here people. We're telling you what to think and you had just better be careful that you don't oppose our actions. The president has no authority under the Constitution to take these actions but we are doing it anyway. Pretty soon we will have Alito on the bench and we can get rid of the stupid Constitution. Then we will have America back under the rule of king George where it belongs. We will not be any safer than we were before the domestic spying but at least we will be able to tap the DNC phones."

Can You Pass?

2006-01-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Liberal Media... Yeah Right

2006-01-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

La. Lawmaker accused of demanding bribes

As reported by the Associated Press:

Brett Pfeffer, 37, a former legislative director to Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official and conspiracy. He could get 20 years in prison when sentenced March 31.
Here is another example of the (not so liberal) media reporting news. They are not just bashing rethuglicans for being corrupt.
I like (well really it bothers me but you know I'm being ironic) the way the wingnuts like T.M. and Mr. Right (you too Anna) and Stew cry and moan about the MSM (mainstream media) picking on Bush and the Republicans.
They say that the MS M is controlled by liberals who are just out to get Bush at any cost.

They never respond when I point out that the media is owned by, like, three mega-conglomerates. All of which are heavily involved in the Republican agenda. Rupert Murdoch... Clear Channel, just try to find anything other than Pacifica reporting news of substance. The AP gets it. Reuters does too.
The actual journalists and reporters are probably liberals because they are out there witnessing the results of the "Conservative" policies and are educated. But the ownership is not liberal at all. So stop the complaining about the mean ole media and face the fact that corruption is everywhere not just the Republicans (although they are currently the worst examples of corrupt politicians) look at the big picture and get over the blind loyalty to one party. Then we might be able to make a change.

We have more in common than we do differences. Not that Bush wants you to realize that. He wants us divided. That is one reason he picked Alito. He will divide US real good!

America Wants War

2006-01-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

We are a warring nation.
We have a war on terror, drugs, poverty, AIDS, illiteracy, taxes, global warming, well not global warming because Americans don't want to believe that we cause global warming.

We spend trillions of dollars on weapons.
We develop a lot of really neat technology it is true, but ultimately it is used to wage war.

It is hard to look at our policies and conclude that we as Americans want peace on earth.
We undermine democracies so that we can prop up dictators who are favorable to our financial interests in the region, then we claim that they are dictators and bomb them.

Just when the big threat from communism disappeared along comes Bush and guess what? We have terrorism to fight...
I just wish we would stop looking around for the threat to global security and realize that we are the threat.

We have been at war my whole life.
I'd like to live to see the day when we try something different.

Why Bush is spying on us

2006-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

The fine folks over at http://intherightplace.blogspot.com like to be apologists for the Bush criminal enterprise. They call liberals moonbats and propose that anyone who disagrees with the Bush administration's policies or actions are treasonous commie American haters. It must have been a really hard year for them in '05 what with all of the mis-steps, blunders and failures Bush managed to pull off. Now at the end of the year we Americans find out that he has been spying on us. First he claimed that is was only communications from outside America from "Known Al-Queida agents" but then his staff had to quietly correct him and stated that no it was actually domestic and foreign communications and no there was no oversight.
No oversight...
Senator Rockefeller had to write a letter by hand to Satan er.. Cheney expressing his concerns and displeasure with these actions. He was sworn to secrecy and then cut out of the process. Now that it is news we hear from others...

"There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, appeared annoyed that the first he had heard of such a program was through a New York Times story published Friday. He said the report was troubling.
How did we get to this place of shadow government and domestic spying?

When it came to wiretapping the Court outlined seven constitutional requirements:
(1) a showing of probable cause that a particular offense has been or is about to be committed; (2) the applicant must describe with particularity the conversations to be intercepted;
(3) the surveillance must be for a specific, limited period of time in order to minimize the invasion of privacy (the N.Y. law authorized two months of surveillance at a time);
(4) there must be continuing probable cause showings for the surveillance to continue beyond the original termination date;
(5) the surveillance must end once the conversation sought is seized;
(6) notice must be given unless there is an adequate showing of exigency; and
(7) a return on the warrant is required so that the court may oversee and limit the use of the intercepted conversations

in the 1970s the political winds changed. The 1975-76 Church Committee hearings documented extraordinary federal government abuse of surveillance powers. Examples included the the NSA's Operation Shamrock and Operation Minaret, CIA's Operation CHAOS, the FBI's COINTELPRO

domestic harassment of dissenters and anti-war protesters that included illegal wiretapping,

and the illegal burglaries of the Nixon White House "plumbers."
The Church Committee Report found that covert action had been excessive, had circumvented the democratic process, and had violated the Constitution. It concluded that Congress needed to prescribe rules for intelligence activities.
Under the Fourth Amendment, a search warrant must be based on probable cause to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. This is not the general rule under FISA.

If the target is a "U.S. person," which includes permanent resident aliens and associations and corporations substantially composed of U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens, 50 U.S.C.A. Â§ 1801(i), there must be probable cause to believe that the U.S. person's activities "may" or "are about to" involve a violation of the criminal statutes of the United States. Â§ 1801(b)(2)(A),(B); see also Â§ 1801(b)(2)(C) (knowingly engages in activities in preparation for sabotage or "international terrorism" on behalf of a foreign power); Â§ 1801(b)(2)(D) (knowingly enters the United States under a false or fraudulent identity for or on behalf of a foreign power or, while in the United States, knowingly assumes a false or fraudulent identity for or on behalf of a foreign power).
A "United States person" may not be determined to be an agent of a foreign power "solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States." 50 U.S.C. Â§ 1805(a)(3)(A).

Most important, FISA powers are broad and vague, and the secrecy of FISA proceedings makes FISA powers susceptible to abuse.
FISA power extends well beyond spies and terrorists. It can be used in connection with ordinary criminal investigations involving United States citizens who live in this country and who may be charged with offenses such as narcotics violations or breaches of an employer's confidentiality. 50 U.S.C. Â§Â§ 1806, 1825.
For instance, electronic surveillance under Â§ 1801(f)(1) only reaches wire or radio communications "sent by or intended to be received by a particular, known United States person who is in the United States, if the contents are acquired by intentionally targeting that United States person" and a warrant would ordinarily be required. If the U.S. person is not "known," or more important, not "intentionally" targeted, it simply isn't "electronic surveillance" under Â§ 1801(f)(1).
Note also that FISA expressly contemplates that it will produce "unintentionally acquired information." Â§ 1806(i). But while this section requires the destruction of such information, it only applies to "the contents of any radio communication," only if a warrant would have been required, and only if both the sender and intended recipients are within the United States.
Given these limits, one may presume that "unintentionally acquired information" outside these lines is not destroyed. That would include all "unintentionally acquired"wire or electronic communications.

Does FISA authorize surveillance without a court order?

Yes. In general, the Justice Department may engage in electronic surveillance to collect FII without a court order for periods up to one year. 50 U.S.C. Â§ 1802. There must be no "substantial likelihood" that the intercepted communications include those to which a U.S. person is a party. Â§ 1802(a)(1)(B).
Such electronic surveillance must be certified by the Attorney General and then noticed to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Â§ 1802(a)(2). A copy of the certification must be filed with the FISC, where it remains sealed unless (a) an application for a warrant with respect to it is filed, or (b) the legality of the surveillance is challenged in another federal district court under Â§ 1806(f). Â§ 1802(a)(3). Common carriers must assist in the surveillance and maintain its secrecy. Â§ 1802(a)(4).
In emergencies, the Attorney General may authorize immediate surveillance but must "as soon as practicable, but not more than twenty-four hours" later, seek judicial review of the emergency application. Â§ 1805(e).

SO, for Bush to claim that working within the "constraints" imposed by the "Law" (or acting lawfully) hindered his ability to gather information critical on the war on terror is a LIE or at best a weak excuse. What really seems to be going on here is a President who thinks he is above the law and that those details are for other less affluent privilidged people than him and his cohorts.

Now we have to decide if America should be ruled by a tyrant. Do we comply with the agenda set forth by Bush and in doing so eliminate any moral authority we once had? Or do we hold him and his staff accountable for breaking the law?

The rest of the world is watching to see just how great America is.

The terrorists are watching too. They like to see how much freedom we have given away for the sake of "security" and "Democracy". We loose when we become what we are fighting against.

To all those who claim we are loosing in Iraq

2005-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43889

I'm Watching the Kennedy Center Awards...

2005-12-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

Great artists deserve recognition. I think art can traverse boundaries that otherwise would not be crossed. I'm thinking of artists like Monet or Mozart. People like Billy Holiday and Ray Charles. The Kennedy Center honors these types of contemporaries as the President watches. I noticed how he is getting less air time than Usher... Maybe the MSM hasn't heard that his approval ratings are soaring. He did get a brief shot but was mid-scowl so they cut it short.
Oh well... There's always next year.

Remember People What we say is the Opposite of what we Mean

2005-12-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

“We do not torture,” Bush declared in response to reports of secret CIA prisons overseas.

“It was clear to me there that there was a visible audit trail from the vice president’s office through the secretary of defense down to the commanders in the field,” said Lawrence Wilkerson
Wilkerson said the view of Cheney’s office was put in “carefully couched” terms but that to a soldier in the field it meant sometimes using interrogation techniques that “were not in accordance with the spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the law of war.” He said he no longer has access to the paperwork.
Cheney spokeswoman Jennifer Mayfield declined to comment on Wilkerson’s remarks.

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice yesterday denied that CIA "ghost flights" landing on British soil are used to smuggle terror suspects to torture centres.
The flights have landed at UK airports including Glasgow, Prestwick and Edinburgh.
Rice insisted the US did not permit torture. But she refused to confirm that the CIA operated secret prisons in "black sites" across Eastern Europe...

Khaled al-Masri, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said he was arrested while attempting to enter Macedonia for a holiday trip and flown to Afghanistan. During five months in captivity he was subjected to “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” says a lawsuit he filed in U.S. District Court in suburban Alexandria, Va.
So remember that when these Bush administration officials say ANYTHING the opposite is the truth.
No Child Left Behind
"You're doing a heck of a job Brownie"
Clear Skies
"I don't think that we should ever be involved in Nation building"
"I support small businesses"
" I don't drink"
"Never tried cocaine"
You get the idea...

Sharp Objects in the Cabin! Oh My!

2005-12-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

Listen here folks... Any blade that does not lock or is not fixed will more than likely cut off the wielders fingers rather than make a useful weapon. I have a Swiss Army knife that has a blade on it but if I try to do anything other than cut the cheese I am in trouble...
I don't even whittle with it.
So the uproar about small scissors is just so stupid.
I think that all passengers should be allowed to carry knives. Real sharp locking blades that can be used as weapons.
I say this in remembrance of the passengers who were able to overcome the hijackers and stop the terrorist attack on whatever they were headed for. I'll bet you that a few of them had knives. I'll bet you that they looked around and saw that the hijackers had little box cutters and knew that they could use their own blades to thwart the attack.
After all the problem isn't that people carry knives or even guns. The problem is that they do stupid things with them. Now we can't even defend ourselves.

Personally I'd like to see a marshal on every flight. Put a uniformed guard in the cabin, give the flight attendants (those who want it) training and arm them. Then let the regular passengers carry their little Swiss Army knives and scissors and whatever. If anybody starts anything they know that they are going to have to deal with a bunch of armed, pissed off passengers. Since the alternative is crashing into a building, I think that we will see a lot of coach schlubs (myself included) stabbing the shit out of terrorists.
A few incidents like that and we won't have this terrorist issue distracting us from the real problem of Bush and Co stealing American futures and dooming us to a life of misery and poverty.
So call the TSA and tell them. Let us carry knives.

"Integra, the better choice for telecom"

2005-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

SO while I am a patient guy, I do expect that when someone calls and tells me that they are "running a little late" and we agree on a new time they will either call me again to let me know they are not going to make it or show up within the acceptable timeframe for busy people. I'm waiting still...
At least they are better than Qwest or Verizon. They won't even give you a ballpark time other than Tuesday between 8 and 6...
Still I could have had lunch if I 'd known that they were not going to bother to show anytime close to the arranged slot that I had for them. I am only one guy running two medical practices IT needs and for me to sit around surfing the Internets is a phenomenal waste of time.
All I need is a fax to ring... It's not like I'm asking for sharks with frikin lasers on their foreheads.

Veterans Day

2005-11-11T10:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you all. Thank you to the brave men and women (mostly men though at least until recently but we all know women can kick their share of ass) who have sat in trenches, bug infested swamps, crawled through barbed wire, been shot at, blowed up, hungry, scared, thirsty, mad as hell, and very very tired.
Thank you for following orders.
Thank you for sacrificing your flesh and blood for the standard Americans have come to expect and feel entitled to.
My wish is that you will never again be sent to fight and die for a lie. You will never again be called on to perform in an action that is designed by those who have never been where you are being sent and indeed shirked their duty while insisting that others go and sacrifice.
I wish that politicians would not be allowed to send you to war and then cut your benefits. I wish that when the time to go to war is decided on the troops would be given supplies necessary to protect themselves and that their families wouldn't have to buy them flak jackets and real armor. I wish that Rummy and his ilk would have to ride in the same Hummers that people like Kevin had to ride around in.
I wish that you could all come home.

Stew

2005-11-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Hey
I am really sad that Riggs died. I am sorry for your loss. I wish he could have pulled through.

He never got the chance to meet Olive and show her some sophisticated human behavior modification tricks. She hardly bothers me at all in the morning.

Even though you never call me, or visit, or write and rarely comment more than a few lines in the blog (which I only started doing as a way to get closer to you since you don't communicate or travel) and when you do it is usually sarcastic or trite. I want you to know that Riggs was lucky to have had your intervention in his life. The small amount of time I spent with him showed me that he really loved you and he was happy to be with you.

See how much I got out of a really short visit with you?

Now, it is November and you still haven't announced your imminent arrival. I have plans to attend Thanksgiving dinner with some extended "family" here in Oregon. I know you will be in Chicago for X-mass so I'll stop bothering you about visiting me. I guess we all make sacrifices.
Tell Jenn hi and wish her a happy Thanksgiving for me.

Indicted!

2005-10-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

But Bush ignores it. No sense in listening to any of the "opining" and "background noise". He hasn't cared what anyone thought so far, why start now?
I have to say that I am amazed in his ability to repeat himself until people start to believe what he is saying.
I am also amazed that he can still get away with his lies. Just listen to what he says and know that the opposite is what he means.
When he said " I don't think America should get involved in nation building" it meant we are going to invade Iraq and Afghanistan and prop up crony capitalism there.
When he said that his Clear Skies legislation would make the air more breathable it meant that he was going to clear the skies of all living things. It meant that we would see an increase in particulates, mercury, and greenhouse gases.
No Child Left Behind... Well I think you get it. No?

Average percentage of students in New York State's majority-white school districts who graduate in four years : 79[The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)]

Average percentage who do so in districts where a majority of students are black or Latino : 40[The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)]

So no white rich child left behind should be the name of his program.

But I'm getting off topic.

Back to the indictment...

It should come as no surprise that Scooter is a scary looking white guy. He's old and cranky looking, driven around Washington by a black man (see the trickle down effect in action) scowling must be a job requirement to work for the President er.. Dick Cheney I mean.
He is going to resign so if you have been rich and are practiced in the art of scowling and sneering I think Cheney has a job for you. Experience with treason is a plus.

Listen to Bush and you will hear nothing but the same pablum he has been cramming down your throat for the last two months. Word for word, almost.
The best way to honor those troops who have died in Iraq is to send more to die so that their numbers become insignificant. Cut spending on social programs, but let corporations get away with ditching their pension plans. More spending! More invasions!
I hope I wake up soon.

I wish my brother would come out and visit me.

Another Review of History

2005-10-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Stew's recent post of his version of history and politics made me think of how to best respond.
Stew's Post

Here we have an individual who has no practical experience in any of the following:
Hunting (except once he shot a squirrel and a Jay and our neighbor too but that wasn't hunting it was just shooting)
Fishing (he would try fishing but... well nothing nice to say so...)
Brewing
Wheel making
Yet he insists to have an intimate knowledge of all topics.
He claims that all conservative men hunt, are manly, and drink domestic beer.
A liberal man, conversely, is girly, drinks European beer, and can't provide for their family. They do however sew, clean and cook.

Let's look at his stereotype and the review of his version of history to see if his theory holds up...

Conservatives are MANLY!
Tucker Carlson..... Need I say anything further.

Harriet Miers is more manly than Tucker.

Ed Schultz a self professed Democrat (and thusly a liberal) hunts religiously.

Domestic beer would be beer brewed in the USA. In the state of Oregon where I see a liberal bias, there are more domestic breweries than anywhere on earth. Milwaukee is a liberal city with the largest domestic brewing operation on earth.
Stew, you are drinking a liberal beer when you pour a Budweiser....
The Sumerians began brewing more than 6,000 years ago.
They were all liberals.

There are so many things wrong with your history review that we could go on and on.

My final thought is that if you are so manly how come you can't fly to Oregon to visit your only brother in the twenty years he has lived there?
Are you too busy cooking and sewing? Is it that your man breasts have grown too un-MANageable?
Up here in the liberal Pacific NW we hunt and fish and brew lot's of beer... We recognize that it is a sign of strength to be able to cook a five course meal, sew a patch on a jacket, or a button on a shirt and still kill our elk or salmon. It is a sign of ability to be able to put up siding and then bake bread in the same day.
You and your conservative=manly history lesson is just another indication of a weak and scared mind.
Of course anyone who disagrees with me must be a conservative and is therefore wrong... Unless you are a liberal and then you are still wrong.
Manly, but wrong...

2005-10-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

Cape Perpetua in the background

2005-10-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Olive has a few frisbee moves. We call this one "Striking Badger"

2005-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

What?

2005-10-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

More Coast shots