News Junky

Let's not stop here

2005-03-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

With the Left's Pro-Death Lobby of Satan in full gear after sucessfully removing Terri's feeding tube, I say we ride this bucking bronco for all it's worth.

LYNCHBURG, Va. Mar 29, 2005 — A month after battling pneumonia, the Rev. Jerry Falwell was hospitalized again Tuesday for an undisclosed medical problem, his ministry said.

"I can tell you he is in the hospital and he is resting, and that is all I know," said Jessica Tucker of Jerry Falwell's Ministries. A statement was planned for later Tuesday, Tucker said.

Falwell, 71, is the founder of the Moral Majority and chancellor of Liberty University, which he also founded.

Brothers, sisters, Mainstream Media (who we all know is in bed with us Demon-crats, every last one of them!): let the second wave of the Great Lefty Feeding Tube Removal Campaign of 2005 commence. This time, we'll really score a blow against those hip, Bible-banging, photogenic, "Life" duct tape-over-the-mouth protesters, damn them.

Power Line: sticking up for the little guy

2005-03-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

Why read right-wing blogs? Well, sometimes you run across a line of reasoning so bizarre, you wonder what in the hell these guys do for a living. In Powerline's case, turns out they're actually lawyers (which raises a series of questions, mainly how are they employed lawyers?). A real-life example of How to Argue Like a Right-Wing Pundit, using their incessant whining about the possibility of providing their fellow man with a wage that could at least pay the rent.:

Best of the best? Right here:

The proposal emanates from the Democrat-controlled Minnesota Senate. The source of the proposal is a kind of warrant of its good faith in the eyes of the Star Tribune. More importantly, however, the proposal reflects "an article of faith." The relevant article of faith here is one found in the High Church of Liberalism: "that someone who works full time should achieve a certain degree of economic dignity."

On the one hand, this is a frustratingly vague article of faith: What the heck is economic dignity? What degree of economic dignity should someone who works full time have? On the other hand, we may infer that it is an article of faith with an amazingly high degree of precision: "I believe in jobs that pay $5.15 an hour in 1997 dollars, or $7.00 an hour in 2006 dollars." Is there anyone out there in Strib land who wonders whether $7.00 an hour doesn't buy enough economic dignity to warrant credal status? Why so cheap an article of faith? Why not $14.00 an hour? Or $140.00 an hour? Perhaps this is where that "article of faith" point comes in handy. Credo quia absurdum.

They call the idea of raising the min. wage "pitiful" and "nonsense". This, coming from two guys with the nicknames "Big Trunk" and "Hind Rocket". Though I'm sure there are plenty of hookers downtown who are paid to repeat this, I'll just take it as an article of faith.

Got nothin'

2005-03-29T07:24:00.000-08:00

Busy this week, blogging is about a googolplex on my list of priorities.Enjoy comics instead.

I'm with stupid

2005-03-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

From Chicago Indy Media, at the Chicago rally during the 2nd anniversary of of the invasion:

Another victory in the W.O.T.

2005-03-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ever since we had to break it off with Saddam because he went all nutso on us (you know; kept calling at odd hours, tried to serenade us in the rain, invaded Kuwait), we've really been looking for another military dictator in a country full of Muslim extremists to sell weapons to.

The US government has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, Bush administration officials say.
US President George W Bush called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tell him about the decision, which is to be announced later on Friday.

Indian government spokesman Sanjay Baru said Mr Singh had expressed "great disappointment", saying the move would exacerbate India's security concerns.

A US official denied the move would affect the regional balance of power.

"[The F-16s] are vital to Pakistan's security as President Musharraf prosecutes the war on terror," the administration official said.

Seriously, is this like a "practice makes perfect" thing? Since doing this exact same thing has bitten us in the ass so many times before, maybe this time we'll get it right?

New Car

2005-03-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

So I finally broke down and bought a car. For a long time, I felt that public transportation and a bicycle were enough. Also, I've always been a big proponent of the idea that if you really need a car, it should get good mileage, preferably a hybrid. But man, when I saw this bad boy, it kind of opened my eyes. A little voice told me "Go out, enjoy life a little."
Hope the old lady likes it.

I miss Republicans/Bill Clinton and Satan

2005-03-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

Linkage, because they're both funnier than me:

Read Kung Fu Monkey and his longing for the old-time Republicans vs. the schmucks we got today.
Seriously, nothing creeps me out more than neocons with ponytails.

Meanwhile, Xoverbaord finally figures out what's up with those damned judges who aren't being activist enough this time (even though usually they're not supposed to be less activist, because, or maybe it's more activist, well, the unborn babies...frivolous lawsuits...Tom DeLay...fine, shut up, it's complicated OK?!)

Mouthbreathers are screwing up the IMAX

2005-03-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

From CNN:

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- IMAX theaters in several Southern cities have decided not to show a film on volcanoes out of concern that its references to evolution might offend those with fundamental religious beliefs.

"We've got to pick a film that's going to sell in our area. If it's not going to sell, we're not going to take it," said Lisa Buzzelli, director of an IMAX theater in Charleston that is not showing the movie. "Many people here believe in creationism, not evolution."

The film, "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," makes a connection between human DNA and microbes inside undersea volcanoes.

I guess its only fair that we tolerate the Christian Right's intolerance of everyone else. Today I'm starting a letter writing campaign to have Fever Pitch banned because I think Jimmy Fallon is a moron and offends me.

Support the troops, fuck the vets

2005-03-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

The governor of Pennsylvania on Saturday said the federal government must do a better job helping America's war veterans and criticized proposed budget cuts affecting them.

"During this time of war, it is absolutely the wrong time for our federal government to step back from any of its commitments to our veterans. To do so would be penny wise but pound foolish," said Gov. Ed Rendell in the weekly Democratic radio address.

"In today's parlance, the cost of health care for these vets may be half a billion dollars but their sacrifice for our nation, priceless," he said.

His remarks followed the weekly radio address of President Bush, who defended the Iraqi invasion and operation and marked its second anniversary. Rendell said that Pennsylvania and other states have programs helping veterans and their families.

I said it before and I'll say it again: working for the Bush administration has gotta be pretty sweet. You can say you're working and then take a nap, you can say you've boosted productivity when all you've been doing is drinking the free coffee and checking out the secretary, burn down the building and you get a raise.
"Oh, I'm supporting the troops as we speak. Hey! Where the hell is that tax break I ordered like, twenty minutes ago?!"

Can't do any of that at my job...(grumble)stupid boss(grumble).

Nutcases of the world, Iceland welcomes you!

2005-03-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Bobby Fischer is now an Icelandianite (what in the hell are they called?).

Now, I love chess. I like what Fischer did for chess; basically bringing it out from the shadows of smoky cafes and old men in Russia and Iran into the mainstream (though Kasparov was the real driving force after Fisher disappeared the first time).

But, I wouldn't invite the guy to stay at my house. All in all, that's one hell of a way to repay a 30-yr. old favor.

I'm sure all the wingnuts will be jumping all over Iceland for this, but besides being a dick, the only thing he really did was play chess where he wasn't supposed to.

2 + 2 = Freedom

2005-03-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the logic of foreign policy goes over my head. For example, a carefully stage-managed protest in Lebanon is all happening because of Bush's relentless push to make Iraq the sweetest, most totally free democracy in the Middle East. Because nothing has ever happened in Lebanon before, that is, until we invaded Iraq. Don't you see?

At least now we can all take a bow for making stuff totally awesome there. Everyone is nice, middle class and lining up for sweeping camera shots just perfectly. This way, context can go out the window and we in the States can enjoy our sound bites and specious reasoning. Sweet juicy liberty is dribbling from the lips of everyone as they take a bite of freedom fruit, even though the same government being protested against is back in power after only two weeks, Syria just moved down the road a little bit and 50% of the country disagrees with the main requests of the "Cedar Revolutionaries". Nevertheless, you-know-who will be taking credit and "helping" all the lovers of liberty the whole world round.

But...what happens when guys like this, in countries we've never heard of before, people that truly have a heavy boot breaking their back too, start protesting?

Well, I guess we'll have to wait on that one. But as of right now, doesn't seem to be too much of a rush to play the faulty logic game with Afghanistan or Iraq and Kyrgyzstan.
The rhetoric and euphemisms of "democratizing" are nice when it's convenient, but I don't think Bush is going to be dedicated to this premise when it really counts; that is, when the rest of the world has its back turned.

UPDATE: Hmmm, not hearing so much about democracy blooming in our allies' back yard near Afghanistan either.

Nice

2005-03-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

From DKos

Also, check out Daily Delay

Vespas and pizza for everyone!

2005-03-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

It will be gradual, but Italy's basically leaving Iraq. The Olive Garden's stock must be taking a beating.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarians get stoned and play "blind snack-mix bucket dunk" again.

Geez, with friends like these...am I right?!

Overseas reporting

2005-03-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

A lot of people just think that major news agencies are omnipresent, that they have a reporter stationed every 25 miles all the way to China. That view is interesting, mostly because it's so false. Unless something huge is going on, most major news providers have only one correspondent per continent. There has been report, after report, after report on this. If you still don't believe it, think about what the last thing you saw or read in the news about Africa was. Now when was that? When was the last time you heard something positive about any country on the continent? Your answers probably line up with mine: AIDS, a few months ago, never.
Other countries have the same problems with finding the money, stretching budgets and lack of public interest, though some do a good job nonetheless.
Maybe its time just to spoon feed foreign news to the public, if we don't, we'll continue to elect people like him and him.

Like mom always said "finish your in-depth analysis of the Maoist rebels in SW Nepal and you can have desert."

FOIA Documents find 11-year old held at Abu Ghraib

2005-03-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

From the BBC

Children as young as 11 years old were held at Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi prison at the centre of the US prisoner abuse scandal, official documents reveal.
Brig Gen Janis Karpinski, formerly in charge of the jail, gave details of young people and women held there.
Her assertion was among documents obtained via legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The Pentagon has admitted juveniles were among the detainees, but said no child was subject to any abuse.

Do you know any 11 or 12-year olds? Do you have one of your own? How would you feel about sending them to the prison in your state?

Brig Gen Karpinski, who was in charge at Abu Ghraib from July to November 2003, said she often visited the prison's youngest inmates.
She said in her interview that she thought one boy "looked like he was eight years old".
"He told me he was almost 12," she said. "He told me his brother was there with him, but he really wanted to see his mother, could he please call his mother. He was crying."
She said the military began holding children and women at Abu Ghraib from mid-2003. She did not say what the youngsters had been locked up for.

We don't even know who are enemies are anymore. I don't agree with the analogies to Viet Nam, however many of the same features of that (or any) guerilla war are similar in Iraq. The mentality is that everyone is an enemy. That's why we shoot at speeding cars, kill people standing to close to the Humvee or just bomb entire cities.
But according to some, it's all in a day's work:

In her interview, she said Maj Gen Walter Wodjakowski, then the second most senior army general in Iraq, told her in the summer of 2003 not to release more prisoners, even if they were innocent.
"I don't care if we're holding 15,000 innocent civilians," she said Maj Gen Wodjakowski told her. "We're winning the war."

Um, Major? Even the Pentagon gave up that ghost.

The "Skin Caucus"

2005-03-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Good catch-phrasing, better story:

Washington, DC, -- Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a report Addicted to Porn: Members of Congress Accept Political Contributions from Porn Purveyors. The report details how 15 Members of Congress, including 11 Representatives and four Senators, all of whom revile pornography, have accepted campaign contributions from corporations and executives who derive substantial profits from selling pornography.

The report contains four sections: 1) how companies make money from pornography; 2) which companies have PACs that make campaign contributions; 3) which Members of Congress receive these contributions; and 4) the quotes of Members of Congress named in the report who have publicly condemned pornography. In addition, an appendix to the report details the contributions made from corporations and executives to Members of Congress.

CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan stated “it is one thing to be silent on the issue and accept porn purveyor’s contributions. However, these Members of Congress attempt to slap pornographers with fines and legislative restrictions with one hand and turn around and accept porn profits with the other. Our report details the hypocrisy of this ‘skin caucus.’”

Some of the findings of the report: Kansas Senator Sam Brownback – who equivocates pornography with crack cocaine – accepted $17,000 from porn peddlers.

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman – who has long campaigned against the growing coarseness of our culture -- along with renown gambling addict William Bennet, handed out “Silver Sewer” awards to those who made immoral videos, and who has criticized MTV for having porn stars on the air, accepted over $16,000.

Cong. Fred Upton, who leads the charge against indecency, accepted over $56,000.
Arizona Senator John McCain, who claimed to be the “anti-porn” presidential candidate in ads that ran prior to the South Carolina primary, pocketed $46,000 from corporations and executives who profit from porn.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director referred to Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) as “the biggest hypocrite of all” for having written a letter to former Vice President Al Gore demanding that he return a contribution from an adult entertainment web site and for sanctimoniously ranting at Viacom executives that they cared more about profits than morality, despite accepting $47,000 in porn profits.

The whole report can be found here, but goddamn, the release is good enough.

Amend for Arnold?

2005-03-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

Though it looks like one of the longest shots in history, there's a slight push out there that wants Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for President, possibly in 2008 of 20012.

For example, there's the Amend for Arnold campaign, managed by San Francisco-based mutual fund manager (always such advocates for the common man) Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones.

The very thought of an Arnold presidency makes a lot of progressives sick. But I'm going to put out there one simple reason why we should support someone like that running: it would break the GOP's back.

*Arnold is Pro Choice

*He supports civil rights for gay couples, possibly marriage, definitely adoption rights.

*The man is a raging tree-hugger, or at least in word, though this one can still be disputed in deed.

*He would legalize medical marijuana.

*He appears to be a mild gun-control advocate.

Now, this sort of personal platform does not jibe with the national party. I believe that the GOP would try to use him, if possible, to ride on the celebrity wave alone. The beauty part is, the party faithful would abandon him and leave him out to dry.

So I say, go ahead and sign their petition over there at "Amend for Arnold".

Technically, it's called "Amend for Arnold and Jen", mostly because Republicans love things that rhyme, but also in reference to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, also foreign born. Not too much, or anything, about her on the site though (psst, she's a Democrat!)

Mind you, I don't want him to win, just want him to run. It would destroy the GOP and I think we should support that.

US Casualties reach the 1,500 mark

2005-03-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

The BBC is on the job, with an in-depth analysis of the war in Iraq three years in.

Meanwhile, back stateside, CNN says "Who cares?! Martha's free! Cake and doileys for everyone!

According to close sources, the first thing she's gonna do when she gets home is down some sliders, do a couple shots of Jack and walk that thing that happened when she bred a Mogwai with a pig.

Ladies, you're welcome in Illinois any time

2005-03-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to review the constitutionality of a state law banning the sale of sex toys, rejecting an appeal that said consumers have a right to sexual privacy.

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that said Alabama had a right to police the sale of devices that can be sexually stimulating.

Let's face it, this ain't a loss for the fellas. OK, OK, that's a judgement call, but I'm making it.

Ladies, it's cold up here, but at least we're all living in 2005. C'mon up.

A perfect candidate

2005-03-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, the story of Matthew Hale, Judge Lefkow and all the insanity happening around this whole development has hit national news.
This man is the perfect candidate for "special sentencing", where instead of your regular old rot in prison for life, they do something that fits the crime more appropriately. For example; a life sentence...but in an Israeli prison. Granted, it might be the world's shortest life sentence.

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- White supremacist Matt Hale, the self-proclaimed "Pontifex Maximus" of the World Church of the Creator, sits in a cell, isolated from other inmates and allowed only rare visits from his parents. But investigators want to know whether his malign influence extended beyond the prison walls.

Now that just doesn't seem fair.

Let the guy out once in a while. Take a walk Matt. Get out and see the grounds. Surely the leader of a white supremacist church wouldn't have any problems in a prison located near the home of the Nation of Islam and arguably the blackest city on in North America.

I don't even have words for this guy, but I'd pay a week's wages to kick him in the nuts.

Salazar tells Bush to try again

2005-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) sent a letter to Bush telling him to withdraw his judicial re-nominations (the fucking crazy ones, who Dems wouldn't let slide a few years ago).

Anyways, I've heard a lot of rumbling in the blogosphere, at DKos for example, that Salazar is really just a right-leaning Dem. like Liberman, mostly for his OK on old Alberto "Torturey McElectrocupants" Gonzales. At the time, I chose to defer judgement, and I still do. The freshman senators have only been in Washington for two months, there's barely been time to unpack Sen. Obama's fan letters and Sen. Thune's Speak 'n Spell. Give the new guys a break, but give them credit when it's due.

53% of Kansas residents aren't total dicks

2005-03-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

It's true. Kansas voters opted to keep an anti-bias ordinance, protecting gay people.

The Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. was seeking to remove from the books a city ordinance that prohibits discrimination against gays in municipal hiring. The repeal measure would also bar Topeka from reinstating such protections for 10 years.

So Phelps is still as dickish as ever, but I take comfort in the idea that anyone that far to the right is totally a ball-gag and amyls leather daddy on the DL during his nights off.

Air America coming back to Chicago

2005-02-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

This is one of their biggest markets, and the bigwigs say they'll let us know by summer time.
More from the Chicago Tribune (Subscription)

RNC Chairman Mehlman plays with his softballs

2005-02-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, it's Mindy and Katie again. Thank you all for making the first segment of Off the Record such a hit! Your interest certainly proved that Senator John Thune of South Dakota is a rising star in the GOP.

This week, we're proud to bring you our second installment of Off the Record with a man who will be spearheading GOP efforts in the coming cycle, new Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman. Don't miss this one-on-one with Chairman Mehlman as he reveals the RNC's ambitious agenda for the next few years and shares some interesting personal history.

Tune in for the most mundane, deer-in-headlights verbal diarrehea to hit the GOP faithful since Bowtie Boy took over the reins at Crossfire.
Seriously, are these people trying to just eliminate the concept of questions you don't already know the answer to?

"Senator, your campaign has the momentum of a run-away freight train, why are you so popular?"

OK, they didn't ask that. But Mindy and Katie ask all the pointed probing questions of Oprah coming down on a qualude and cheesecake bender. Only at GOP.com, or as I like to call it: Darwin's Thesis Statement.

Don't you guys already own Fox News?

Oh, those guys

2005-02-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Almost forgot about them.

Afghanistan: Will delay their elections, again. Meanwhile it, isn't exactly having any luck downplaying that whole we're the world's largest supplier of opium ten-fold nonsense, which of course is vicious liberal media slander trying to get in Dear Leader's craw.
At least decisive action is being taken, McCain wants US troops to stay there forever, wait, maybe not. Either way, nothing ever happens there anyways.

Yes, all is well there. While problems with little ol' drugs arise, we've got someone on the job who knows his drugs, he'll sort it out. Let democracy bloom like poppies in the happy puppy birthday cake made of rainbows and friendship Afghani sunshine.

Bush in Germany

2005-02-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Bush cancelled his plans Wednesday while in Germany to hold a "town hall"-style meeting with "everyday Germans" with little fanfare or even an announcement, they just dropped it.
Now, I wonder why he would do that? Bush like(d) beer, Germans love beer. Bush likes pretzels (he eats them so fast he almost chokes to death), Germans love pretzels. Bush is an efficient authoritarian, and correct me if I'm wrong but the Germans aren't exactly free-wheeling hippy types. What wouldn't they have to talk about in a relaxed folksy folk, just gettin' to know ya' meeting?

Oh...that.

Those Krauts could use a little Fox News.

Koufax Awards

2005-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

The Poorman.net won an award for most humorous post, called Poker with Dick Cheney. Funny stuff, haven't read it before and it made me laugh out loud.

Another one of my favorites this year; Juan Cole's If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?
won for best post.

Finally, the truth is out on the Daily Show

2005-02-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ted Hitler has been called out! Oh, and something or other about Jeff Gannon too. Crooks and Liars has the full video.

More bellyaching from Chuckles

2005-02-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Google is a program, it can not think and feel and fit into your ever growing paranoia! Moron.

What a bunch

2005-02-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Boy, Bush's cabinet is sure turning out to be a pile of rejects.

There's Gonzales, who was barely confirmed and whose name is now synonymous with torture.

There's Rumsfeld, who actually thought he was doing such a bad job he tried to resign, twice.

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff is a second choice, because Kerik was so full of improprieties he made Clinton look chaste.

As if that couldn't be beat; John Negroponte, the new National Intelligence Director, is not the second, not the third, but the fourth choice for the job.

I don't feel in the best of hands right now, call me crazy.

World to join 21st Century

2005-02-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

The Kyoto Protocol is now officially in the M.F. hizzy. Sigh, the United State however, has decided to stick around the 1950s for a couple more years.
Ain't that always the way? Despite having some of the best trained, best educated, most inovative people in the world, parts of (and sometimes the whole) country needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future. Civil rights, the death penalty (which we've actually regressed on), human rights, environmental issues, labor, health care, national security...basically in all of these areas we woke up by shock, not through any foresight from our technically retarded leaders.

Election Day, Federal Holiday?

2005-02-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hilary Clinton wants to make election day a federal holiday. While I'm not sure that this will get people out to vote or not, I do think that with Americans getting less vacation time than ever, sometimes it takes a forcing of the hand to get us to relax.
Plus, election day should have been a holiday from the get-go.

Dowd on Gannon/Guckert

2005-02-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

Good lord, this keeps getting stranger and stranger.

If this were a Democrat in the White House, they would crucify him. Nice Liberal Media we got there.

Dorks

2005-02-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

Little Green Footballs, that infamous semi-hate/semi-mouthbreather site, has been refused by Google for inclusion on their "News" site. Surprise, Surprise.

Hi Charles,

Thank you for your note. We reviewed http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog and cannot include it in Google News at this time. We do not include sites that are purely news aggregators, and we were not able to find any stories on your site that were not from outside sources.

We will log your site for consideration should we alter our policy. Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Regards,
The Google Team

Gee, now why wouldn't a factually devoid far Right echo chamber blog be considered original? Maybe because there are so many out there that every hack with a computer and a copy of the latest Ann Coulter book would have to be included too.

Still, the comments that follow are golden.
_______________________

Google is notoriously anti-semetic. I had gone to war with them over what happens when you google the word Jews many many moons ago -
the lame answer I got was similar to the answer Charles got.
Zillions of blogs turn up on Google - they are completely full of shit. If you google babbazee stuff I have posted on blogs comes up.
They have a clear agenda, and it ain't ours. Jews

_______________________

Google is like the NYT on LSD. They don't even try to make sense, and headquartered in LLL-Caliphornia-land, appear to have no need to.

_______________________

I've been saying for a long time that Google news gives placement to Chicom new services Xinhau and China Daily all out of proportion to their usefulness. I am convinced they do this to kiss the ass of the emperor of China so that maybe he'll let them lick up some internet crumbs that fall from his plate. Of course that will only happen if China finds them useful. Wouldn't it be nice if the zillionaire American hippies who own Google actually confront the Chicoms over their fascist slave owner mentality concerning the flow of information to "their people." But that might cost them a nickle, and besides it wouldn't be very PC.

All good stuff, of course the Watch caught it first.

Some of my best friends are black

2005-02-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

I put all our pictures in the "African American" album too.

It's that time of year

2005-02-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

As tax season starts, this kind of news just pisses you off.

Former CPA official Franklin Willis told the hearing there had been widespread abuse and waste of money at the authority.

He showed pictures of himself and other US officials holding plastic-wrapped bundles of $100 notes totalling $2m, which he said was used to pay a security contractor.

"We told them to come in and bring a bag," Mr Willis said.

Just bring a bag?! Oooh...I don't know, will just one bag cover it? This isn't an accounting oversight, this is piracy. Some Blackwater security man is laughing himself to sleep tonight as he admires his new truck in the driveway and the case of champagne he gave his wife for Valentine's day. You got a problem with that? Tough.
For every child that spends another day in a crumby, overcrowded school, for every senior who dies in their sleep tonight because they couldn't afford simple heart medication, for every single mother who works 60 hours a week for $6.00 an hour and gets told that she needs to invest her retirement savings in the stock market because it'll make her less dependent on big government; for all of them, the Pentagon thanks you.

McLibel

2005-02-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Good lord. I had no idea that these people were still in court. In fact, the "McLibel" case in the UK was the longest civil trial in English history, and the good guys finally won. I remember getting one of the "What's wrong with McDonalds" pamphlets when I was 15 years old (ok, not that long ago).

The leaflets they handed out, containing damaging allegations about McDonald's, were compiled by London Greenpeace - which is not linked to the Greenpeace International environmental group.

Neither Ms Steel nor Mr Morris had any hand in writing the leaflets, but became embroiled in a libel action launched in 1990 and which ended only in 1997 - with a total of 314 days spent in court.

Turns out though, that a lot of the stuff in the little photocopied flyer was true.

But he found the leaflet was true when it accused McDonald's of paying low wages to its workers, being responsible for cruelty to some of the animals used in its food products and exploiting children in advertising campaigns.

The case is thought to have cost the fast food giant £10m and was described as "the biggest corporate PR disaster in history".

Good stuff

Senator Boxer writes in to Daily Kos

2005-02-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

A ton of people got together and bought Senator Barbara Boxer 4,500 roses for Valentine's day. She wrote everyone at Daily Kos a thank you note and attached pictures of what that many roses actually look like altogether.

The whole note is here. Good thing she's not allergic.

Laser umbrellas from outer space

2005-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, that missle defense shield works like a charm.

Hot Karl

2005-02-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Doesn't he remind you of one of those guys who likes someone to take a hot dump on their chest? Bush even has called him "Turd blossom", so maybe there's more to it than we know.

Anyways, Froomkin from the Washington Post has a good rundown of the general feeling about Karl Rove movin' on up.

More on Walmart

2005-02-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Walmart announced that it would rather close a Canadian store than allow the employees there to unionize. Today, the National Labor Relations board said a Colorado store could form a union. More here.

Something to keep an eye on, especially since they're still interested in Chicago, which won't let the motherfuckers set up a lemonade stand here until they allow a fully unionized workplace.

Grassroots, back to the cities

2005-02-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Now this is just crazy, The Nation thinks that Democrats (whose very name means an advocate of government by the masses) should get back to advocating for a government of the masses.

Progressives have not been so poorly positioned to guide public policy at the federal and state levels in decades. Both the White House and the Congress are controlled by conservative Republicans who are bent on rolling back the progress that was made during the twentieth century. Republican governors and legislatures, while not always as conservative as their Washington counterparts, dominate policy making at the state level. Even Democratic governors, they tend to be colorless managers rather than innovative thinkers or bold advocates.

But there is one level of government where progressives continue to be a powerful, and often definitive, force: The cities. Local officials -- mostly Democrats and Greens, but even a few Republicans -- are maintaining the faith that government should solve problems, rather than create them. This week, some of the most creative thinkers and doers from around the country will be gathering in Wisconsin to share ideas and, hopefully, to begin developing a coalition of "New Cities" that will suggest progressive alternatives to the reactionary policies being pushed at the federal and state levels of government.

Those liberal elitists. Takes all kinds.

2005-02-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Homeless Iraq vets

2005-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Homeless Iraq veterans are showing up at homeless shelters in NYC and around the country.

Two citations here, take your pick: crazy moonie version or the vast leftwing conspiracy.

Besides this news being appalling, it stings especially hard in light of Bush's new budget proposal, with the Pentagon getting a raise and vets getting even more screwed.

Dean is all set, Lieberman should rot

2005-02-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well, barring any last minute earthquakes in the DNC chair "race". This is old news, but I recently had a couple of beers with a friend that struggled to make an anti-Dean argument, and it got me thinking again.
Basically, his point was that although Dean himself is a rabble rouser (as far as a Democrat can be), his leadership may fall on deaf ears when it comes to some of the more herdish Senators and Congresspeople. Imagine someone telling Lieberman that he's not standing up for Democratic values; like a cool wind blowing through a jack-o-lantren.
Instead of seeing this as an anti-Dean motivator, I see it more as a anti-Lieberman stance. Joseph2004, though a little too large to read in one sitting, has an interesting take on those plans.

Ann Coulter is an idiot

2005-02-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

Not that you didn't already know that.

Old trick, new twist

2005-01-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Does anyone notice the similarities between the old Ponzi scam and both Bush's social security privatization scam and his tax cuts?

Decades later, the Ponzi scheme continues to work on the "rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul" principle, as money from new investors is used to pay off earlier investors until the whole scheme collapses.

Robbing young people from their future birthright to put just enough money into today's retirees' investment. It looks legitimate only long enough to pay off the broker's fees, a few retirees that stumble into a good bet and prevent us from going back to the system that works as it currently does.

The most interesting thing about this match, in my opinion, is that there are certain old tricks that are tried and true, which continue to work today. 419 scammers for example; someone sends mass e-mails saying that they are say, Robert Mugabe's right hand man, who has now left with millions in government dollars. They'd love to transfer it out of the country into the US, but they need your help, usually in the way of your bank account number and a few "transfer fees".
What's surprising, is that this scheme existed long before the internet. It was originally called the "Spanish prisoner" scam, and was all done through the mail. But, even though it's an old, old trick, it stills works today.
Fortunately, there are people like the scam baiters who minimize the damage.

Now I completely think the crowing and posturing by so many bloggers as being the "next media revolution" is total bullshit, but in a way I think that they are part of a counter-balance to many big media kowtowing to Bush's doublespeaking social security privatization (or is it "personal accounts?", yeah right, fuck that).

White House Drops Media Consolidation

2005-01-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

For now at least.

In a final slap at Mr. Powell, the Justice Department will not ask the United States Supreme Court to consider a decision last year by a federal appeals court in Philadelphia that sharply criticized the attempt to deregulate the rules and ordered the commission to reconsider its action.

Big media companies have been urging the administration to get involved in the case. But its decision not to recommend that the Supreme Court take the case sharply reduces the odds that the justices would intervene. The court had set next Monday as a deadline for the parties to file their initial papers in the appeal.

If ever there was a case of a fox guarding the chicken coop, it has to be Colin Powell's son, Michael. Thank god he's on the way out.

Bloggers Against Gonzales

2005-01-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

From Daily Kos

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions. In this case, we, the undersigned bloggers, have decided to speak as one and collectively author a document of opposition. We oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and we urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Convention, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.

In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."

Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.

Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?

With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.

Look who grew a set

2005-01-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well, not Joe. But the rest of them caaraaazy Democrats are strapping on the old armor and the trusty Viking helmet.

Thanks to TBogg, funnier than me.

Bet this will go far

2005-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La, talks about raising taxes in order to commence with the looting of social security.

Seriously, I see taxes as more of an investment and what you might even call a civilization fee, I'm not one of those people who nearly puke blood with rage at the thought of those damned commie-fascist National Endowment for the Art hippies getting 1/50th of a penny of my hard-earned money to do their evil dirty paintings. However, the GOP are those kind of people. And when Republicans talk about raising taxes, you know that their plan is half DOA already. It will die from the inside.

However, if it doesn't, I'd like Rahm and Reid to get cracking to filibuster the motherfucker.

It's hump day

2005-01-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

Got nothing to say right now. Enjoy this picture.

Oh good.

2005-01-17T11:07:00.000-08:00

We're going to Iran.

BTW, if you don't know Seymour Hersh, just take a little google trip. One of the most respected journalists in history.

Happy MLK Day

2005-01-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

If King were alive today, I have no idea what he would even say about the state of the world. Bob Herbert from the NYT says:

Never since his assassination in 1968 have I felt the absence of Martin Luther King more acutely. Where are today's voices of moral outrage? Where is the leadership willing to stand up and say: Enough! We've sullied ourselves enough.

While media consolidation, Right-wing movements and this general feeling that everyone is apathetic today is heavy in the air, I also think that these are all the things a great leader washes away.

One of my favorite sayings from King is "The arch of history may be long, but it bends towards justice." Besides the obvious, to me this also means that we should look back on progress in our own lifetimes so we can catch a small glimpse of that arch. Not saying things are great, but look at where gay people, black people, women or straight white mean were in 1964, 1984 or even 1994 and where we are now.

I defintely think we've come forward from these days at least, maybe not a long way forward, but progress has been made none-the-less. Only problem is: regression is totally an option too (see the previous post to this one).

Some things haven't changed

2005-01-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

America Coming Together (ACT) is beginning a new voting reform campaign, go check it out.

"Bring it on"

2005-01-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

From CNN today.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush says he now sees that tough talk can have an "unintended consequence."

During a round-table interview with reporters from 14 newspapers, the president, who not long ago declined to identify any mistakes he'd made during his first term, expressed misgivings for two of his most famous expressions: "Bring 'em on," in reference to Iraqis attacking U.S. troops, and his vow to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive."

"Sometimes, words have consequences you don't intend them to mean," Bush said Thursday. "'Bring 'em on' is the classic example, when I was really trying to rally the troops and make it clear to them that I fully understood, you know, what a great job they were doing. And those words had an unintended consequence. It kind of, some interpreted it to be defiance in the face of danger. That certainly wasn't the case."

Hmm...now what could the unintended consequences of daring Islamic Fundamentalist guerillas to kill as many people as they could possibly be?

Could it be something like this? Warning, this link is pretty extreme, not good for work or weak stomachs, but it is what we've been doing on there.

Those Bostonians

2005-01-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

Leave it to Ted Kennedy to come up with a reasonable education reform plan:

I propose that every child in America, upon reaching eighth grade, be offered a contract. Let students sign it, along with their parents and Uncle Sam. The contract will state that if you work hard, if you finish high school and are admitted to college, we will guarantee you the cost of earning a degree. Surely, we have reached a stage in America where we can say it and mean it - cost must never again be a bar to college education.

We must also inspire a renaissance in the study of math and science, because America today is losing out in these essential disciplines. Two major studies last month ranked American students 29th in math among the 40 leading industrial nations. Over the last 30 years, we have fallen from 3rd to 15th in producing scientists and engineers. Incredibly, more than half of all graduate students in science and engineering in American colleges today are foreign students.

National standards in math and science have existed for more than a decade. We need to raise those standards to be competitive again with international norms, and work with every school to apply them in every classroom.

We should encourage many more students to pursue advanced degrees in math and science. We should make tuition in graduate school free for needy students in those disciplines. And we should make undergraduate tuition free for any young person willing to serve as a math or science teacher in a public school for at least four years.

All that and a lot more during his speech to the National Press Club

More Soros

2005-01-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

Everyone on the Far Right thinks George Soros is the vast left conspiracy incarnate. They point to his donations to forward-thinking causes as a symbol of progressive elitism, because you know, GOP contributions all come from minimum wage earners (just look at how much labor backed him up this year).
Myself, I just find the guy interesting. The guy survived the Nazis and the Communists, so he knows a fucked up political scene when he sees one. It's interesting then, that he's looking to invest in the left infrastructure.

The details of the San Francisco meeting are closely held. Mr Soros and his son Jonathan, the Sandlers and Mr Lewis asked aides to leave the room as they discussed the planned financial commitment.

But the still-evolving plan, according to one person involved, is “joint investment to build intellectual infrastructure”.

The intention is to provide the left with organisations in Washington that can match the heft of the rightwing think-tanks such as Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. At a state level, the aim is to build what one person called a “deeper progressive bench”.

The sums involved are the subject of speculation: one person said he had heard a commitment to spend more than $100m over 15 years, another said at least $25m over five years. Several people said their understanding was that the billionaires had decided to spend more, rather than less, than they did in 2004.

When all is said, the Far Right has a 40 year head start here. From Cato, Heritage, AEI, Fox News, most of talk radio, I'd say 60% of major newspapers, etc. And of course, there's the thousands of tireless tools out here in the blogland, the little guys working to defend the big guys (funny how they still complain though, even when their guys are totally in control).
It's good to see the groundwork being laid every day for a more responsible, honest and fair version of these systems. Maybe 10 years down the road, Kerry will be to the Left what Goldwater was to the Right: a kick in the ass to get things moving.

The war is coming home

2005-01-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

After even the smallest military actions, the U.S. gets some of its soldiers back in such battered conditions that the real consequences of our fighting reverberates for decades. Homeless vets, vets missing limbs, schizophrenia, all sorts of Post Traumatic Stresss, ranging from shot nerves to men killing their wives and kids. We see it all the time from Viet Nam and the first Persian Gulf War, but the first shell-shock victims from Iraq are just starting to appear.

This guy was barely out of high school.

(CNN) -- A 19-year-old Marine from Ceres, California, shot and killed a police officer and wounded another before dying in a weekend gunbattle.

Investigators said he may have been driven by a desire to avoid returning to Iraq.

Andres Raya was scheduled to report back to Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, on Sunday after a weekend leave.

Instead, police said, he went out with a semiautomatic rifle and drew officers into an ambush outside a liquor store in Ceres, a town of about 35,000 next door to his hometown of Modesto.

There's more of this to come, for years. Thanks George.

Well, at least the charade is over

2005-01-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

Too bad the real thing is getting worse than ever.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. inspectors have ended their search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in recent weeks, a U.S. intelligence official told CNN.

The rest is here or just about anywhere else right now.

Remember how sure Powell seemed when he went to the UN? Remember how much people hated/continue to hate France when they told him he was full of shit?

To all the Republican warbloggers out there: ahem...ha, ha. Enjoy the remaining 10 minutes that anyone gives a shit about Dan Rather.

OK, back again

2005-01-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

Funny how the Allawi and the interim Iraqi government are learning how to use American-style democracy to get things done. Learn by example, my young freedom lovers, learn by example.

OK, one thing

2004-11-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

"You'll never live to see the election."

Now, I'm not saying that sexism and the patriarchy are the sole domains of George Bush's America, but guys like this probably aren't big Kucinich, Dean or Kerry supporters. With such stand-up citizens, husbands and lovers voting Republican this year, that tent just keeps getting bigger.
Gives "Vote or Die" a new meaning, huh?

I'm deferring all blogging today

2004-11-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

GO VOTE

Then read The Daily Kos.

Oh IL GOP, will you ever win?

2004-11-01T07:45:00.000-08:00

Bring in a ringer and then get stuck with him for life. One way to guarantee that your party fails for another decade.

Signs of Confusion

2004-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, people are turning to strange superstitions and unrelated phenomena trying to call this election. Pick your favorite:

If the Dow drops .5%, the incumbent loses.

The Redskins vs. Packers theory.

or my favorite, the inane ramblings from the Prince of Darkness.

Choose your poison and then go vote.

Minneapolis Somali Voters and the FBI

2004-10-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, local interest stuff here from one of my favorite cities in the world. Minneapolis has the largest Somali population in the United States--as well as Hmong, which are Loatian hill folk, but that's for another time--which may sound odd, but it's an interesting dynamic for such a little midwest town to be so international. Still, like all muslims in the US, there is a lot of racism and paranoia, both against them and within them. Here's one interesting example.

Whether there's any truth to their perceived feelings or not, I can't blame them for feeling this way. They have three times the reasons: 1)They experience prejudice on a daily basis because of skin color, 2)They experience prejudice on a daily basis because of religion, and 3)They come from a country where voting could be a life-threatening venture.
Makes you feel thankful that people don't just up and steal elections in this country and we're not headed down the slippery slope to complete darkness...well, after Tuesday we won't be. GO VOTE!

Another reason I don't like Christopher Hitchens

2004-10-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

He's confusing. What's it gonna be Hitch? Big John, or Old Shithead?

This interesting contradiction brought to you by Atrios, who is read by thousands.

John Peel, RIP

2004-10-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sad day for the Beeb.

"Things have been really, really bad"

2004-10-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

How does Will Ferrell get Bush so right? ACT is awesome by the way, check out the rest of their site too.

Double-teaming a chimp

2004-10-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is good to see that the Big Dog is out there stumping for Kerry. But given all the allegations over the years of Willy's... um, indescretions, couldn't they have picked a better headline?

McCain is out of the club

2004-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

I used to really respect John McCain, although I haven't really agreed with him on much except Campaign Finance Reform. But lately (past year) I'm getting the feeling that the guy is all hat and no cattle. He complains about the CIA smuggling people out of Iraq to interrogate them. He's so cool in so many ways other than that too. Who else gets really pissed off about sham elections in 3rd world countries and reaches across the aisle on a daily basis?
But these are all nice fluffy white words for you to rest your busy little head and go to sleep on. But when he brings up valid points like the one above, I'm more and more cynical that he's going to do anything but talk.

The AP and Quakers: Gotta love 'em

2004-10-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

1,100 flag-draped coffins on the DC mall and nary a word from the big guys. But to be fair, I suppose someone's gotta report on Ashlee Simpson too.

Just because it's all over the news today

2004-10-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Doesn't mean I shouldn't link it. Biggest. Fuck-up. Ever.

Here's why I still love MN

2004-10-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

On their ballots this year, on top of Bush/Cheney and Kerry/Edwards, there will also be:

• Roger Calero and Arrin Hawkins, Socialist Workers Party.

• Michael Peroutak and Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party.

• Thomas Harens and Jennifer Ryan, Christian Freedom Party.

• Bill Van Auken and Jim Lawrence, Socialist Equality Party.

• David Cobb and Pat Larmarche, Green Party.

• Ralph Nader and Peter Miguel Camejo, Better Life Party.

• Michael Badnarik and Richard Campagna, Libertarian Party.

That's a whole lot of third party action. Between the crazy right wingers and the Greens/Socialists, it'll work out about even. Sometimes I gotta wonder who the hell these people are. If you need more information about other weird state or federal parties, such as The Prohibition Party or the Falangists (who follow Generalisimo Franco, of all fucking strange people), there is a lot more
here.
Me personally, I'm splitting my ticket between the Pansexual Peace Party and the Multicapitalists.

Daily Kos

2004-10-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Daily Kos takes it to the next level on a daily basis. The features for registered users such as comment tracking, polls, the dkosopedia and diaries make it my favorite blog, hands down.
Anyway, here's some pictures from them today that will make you feel good. Try to find a picture with that many Bush supporters, I dare you.

Here

And this just about sums it up:

2004-10-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Funny, but horribly depressingly terribly true.

Sweet Jesus

2004-10-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful moment brought to you by Mr. Allen Keyes.

This is ridiculous.

Seriously though, a lot of "Market Republicans" are so pissed that this social convervative nutcase is in this race. I think the state GOP set it up this way to purge all the hardliners from the state party so they can actually compete someday.

Stewart vs. Tucker Carlson

2004-10-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

If you hate the partisan screaming shows (Crossfire, Hardball, Hannity/Combes, Bill O'Really?, etc. etc.), then you'll be pleased to note that John Stewart recently made Crossfire's Tucker Carlson his own personal man-servant for a half-hour.
Really, it was a slaughter. Stewart called him a dick and said that Carlson should be ashamed of himself.

Read it here.

Scroll down a little to find Stewart's part, there's also a link to watch it too.

Interesting

2004-10-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting breakdown of the states and the presidential races of the past. Take a look at the votes for Reagan vs. Mondale in 1984. Poor Minnesota, standing all alone out there.

Lynn Cheney

2004-10-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Lynn and Dick Cheney got pretend-pissed because now all the redneck bigots know that her daughter is gay, thanks to Kerry discussing (and being very nice about) homosexuality as a choice vs. "something else" in the third debate. Even though their daughter is fully grown and has been out for years, Lynn called it "a cheap and tawdry trick".
What's really interesting is that, planned or not, Kerry's comment helped expose the Republican hate and now they're trapped. The more the Cheney's get angry, the more they show that being gay is something they feel people should be ashamed of. On the other hand, when the they try to keep it under wraps, they get the same result. Meanwhile, I'm sure hordes of mouthbreathers out there have had their minds thouroughly blown by the comment, looking at their nice straight friends (with their long hard 2nd Amendment rights and their throbbing leather seats in their new SUVs) and asking "Did you know she was gay, I didn't know she was gay, did you know she was gay?"

The real crime here is that this randy little number won't get any more play. My goodness Mrs. Cheney, we were being a naughty girl, weren't we?

It gets worse every day

2004-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Guerillas in Iraq are now hitting us in the Green Zone.

The Green Zone is basically our last line of defense in Baghdad, it's where our base is located, our supplies are located and pretty much the only place our troops can go lately without having their shit blown off.
When you don't hear about casualties everyday, or how impossible things are getting, you can forget that the "coaltion" is getting hit at their own front door.

Mass grave in Iraq found

2004-10-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is really horrible and it just shows how absolutely insane Saddam's regime was.

If the U.S. had known about this, we surely would've put a stop to this murderous tyrant before he ever had the chance to kill.
Unfortunately, we had no idea that any of this was going on.

Iraq's nuclear materials go missing

2004-10-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

You see, we invaded because we knew that eventually the weapons material we were confident Saddam was considering thinking about would go missing into the hands of terrorists after we invaded them for having nuclear material that would go into the hands of terrorists that they didn't have...
And now Iraq (and our sorry asses) are in a long more danger than before.

Afghanistan election not exactly smooth sailing

2004-10-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

There are already fraud claims and it looks like it could either a) Blow over within a few days, or b) Take years.

More from the BBC, here.

Dredd Scott?

2004-10-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Did the Dredd Scott reference in Friday's debates confuse the hell out of you?

Google "Dredd Scott" and Abortion.

Many anti-choice/anti-privacy advocates like to think of themselves as modern day abolitionists. I like to think of them as exactly the opposite. Still interesting stuff though.

Fuck Columbus Day

2004-10-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hope you're all celebrating the original spirit of Columbus Day, that is; cutting the hands off Native Americans that don't bring you any gold.

Columbus Day Sucks

Bush Makes the World Safer?

2004-10-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

Someone explain to me how that's even remotely true? Last time I checked, Paris, Kabul and Egypt were all bombed within 24 hours.

While that happened, we protected democracy by bombing a wedding in Iraq.

Honestly

2004-10-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Aren't there better ways to be using our resources than this?

Does anyone even care that she's going to prison?

Interesting scorecards

2004-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Check out the scorecards for your favorite candidate from:

The ACLU

The National Commitee for Effective Congress

Planned Parenthood

You can probably take a wild guess where Kerry and Bush fall, but some congress members suprised me.

Couldn't you just spit?!

2004-10-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

So, now that well over a thousand US troops are dead, thousands of Iraq civilians are dead, dozens of Brits, Poles, Spaniards and the random coalition of the misled are all dead; we (that is, US officials) can finally admit that Iraq didn't have any weapons of mass destruction and hadn't had any intention to making them?

Is it just me or does there seem to be a reality lag in the places we can't afford one lately. Oh well, maybe the count-down to a Bush-free White House will cheer you up.

But seriously

2004-10-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

I do like that Cheney directed everyone to Factcheck.com, which redirects you to a George Soros affiliated site. What he meant to say was Factcheck.org.

Also, 3 points to both Cheney and Edwards. To Cheney, because of that monumental lie about Edwards' poor Senate attendence and never having met him before. And to Edwards for bringing up Cheney's not-so-pristine, voting, record.

Hey Cheney!

2004-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

I got a movie for you.

Booyakasha!

You forgot about Poland!

2004-10-05T13:39:00.000-07:00

Another one bites the dust.
Maybe we should start thinking about how sometime, someday, somehow we should be getting the hell out of there too.
Just a thought.

God Bless You Mr. Krugman

2004-10-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

Good stuff from Krugman in the NYT today:

But Mr. Kerry raised the issue, describing how the administration has failed to protect us against terrorist attacks. Mr. Bush's response? "I don't think we want to get to how he's going to pay for all these promises."

Oh, yes we do. According to Congressional Budget Office estimates, Mr. Bush's tax cuts, with their strong tilt toward the wealthy, are responsible for more than $270 billion of the 2004 budget deficit. Increased spending on homeland security accounts for only $20 billion. That shows the true priorities of the self-proclaimed "war president." Later, Mr. Bush, perhaps realizing his mistake, asserted, "Of course we're doing everything we can to protect America." But he had already conceded that he isn't.

The rest is here.

Been sick all weekend

2004-10-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

And I just got done with a grueling move. These two things reinforced each other all weekend long.

Anyways, I'll start off with something complicated for the average reader, so sit down, get some coffee and peruse this.
You might want a highlighter and dictionary for the difficult passages.

Afghani-where?

2004-09-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Amazing how Afghanistan was the focus of everyone's lives after Sept. 11th. For a short while, every editorial and every (even slightly) hawkish person recognized the mess we had left behind in the 1980s and knew that things weren't right there.
No one at FOX News had ever uttered the word Afghanistan before Sept. 2001, most of the other networks probably hadn't run anything on the country for years. Overnight however, everyone became an expert on Kabul.
The Taliban was an oppressive regime that could only survive in the vacuum of the post-Soviet, post-U.S. abandonement era, and even though people saw that throughout the 90s, it didn't really matter or register with anyone besides Amnesty Int. until we found that they held Al Quaeda as well.
Allowing warlords, international drug dealers and bandits to divide the place up into lawless chaos provided the necessary fodder for terrorist networks to grow. Sadly, once again, it seems like the world has mostly forgotten. Meanwhile, the herd shifts towards photos of John Kerry windsurfing (fuck you Diane Sawyer) and Dan Rather and god knows what's happening in Kabul that may one day bite us in the ass.

Thou shalt not imitate my handwriting

2004-09-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

I swear, as Americans, we have an preternatural instinct for cottage industries. This is from today's Chicago Tribune:

God's ghostwriter drives a black convertible, smokes Tareytons and gives tarot readings in the kitchen of her suburban townhouse.
She is Linda Pearl, a freelance promotional writer and designer who is stirring controversy with an online venture she started with her best friend.
It's called Direct from God, and it sends slightly personalized form letters from the Big Guy Upstairs to military personnel or their family members for $5.95. Letters to the families of service members who have been killed are free.

More here...

George Soros

2004-09-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

George Soros spoke to the National Press Club today and it was a damn fine speech. I can't find the original link, but Commondreams.org has one,here.

It's a little long, but it's worth it.

Fun Fact for the Day

2004-09-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that endorsements of any kind don't actually register into any form of political capital, but it is funny that the Lone Star Iconoclast--the newspaper for Crawford, Texas, Bush's "hometown"--endorsed Kerry for President.

Sure it's got a circulation of 425, but goddamnit, they're OUR 425.

What if they had a back-door draft...

2004-09-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

...and nobody showed up?

Looks like our men and women in uniform are taking a cue from our Dear Leader.