Monday, October 29, 2007

Big Fucking Suprise

Blackwater mercenaries were given immunity then the Bureau chief that granted the immunity resigned. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071029/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/blackwater_prosecutions;_ylt=Any.9RWFPosL3cLI232zfLADW7oF

Free the West Memphis 3

New DNA evidence
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2007/10/evangelical-leaders-meet-with.php

The Website for the nonprofit org working to save the boys.
www.wm3.org

The Sky is Falling

First, These people dont deserve a special meeting with the Secretary of State, anymore than a random grouping of 6 citizens, or worse 6 corporate execs. The heads of government should not be having listening sessions where they allow special religious intrests air their opinions on non-religous issues. I know they think its a religious issue but thats the problem. There are enough people in the administration that think they need to bring on the rapture and the end of the world. Remember, in these peoples minds the end of the world is a good thing. It gets them to God faster.

Election Reform

I just want to point out an issue that is only tangentally related to this article. Election reform is a real issue. The Republican party in Ohio was found guilty of interfearing with the last presidential election. And Ohio being the key state you would think that would have brought the results into question. As usual noone payed it any mind. The Republicans are mindfull that there is at least nominal public outcry for reform of the electoral process after indecision 2000. Its even been suggested the UN observe our elections like would be done in some african dictatorship, which is a tremendous embarassment for the country that is supposed to lead the free world.

The Republican solution is of the type of double speak we have come to expect from the Red Side in the last 7 years. They move to replace old outmoaded vote counting processes with newer severely insecure voting machines. (the manufacturer of which is a heavy donor to the Republican party) They call this effort to make the voting process less transparent and more prone to interfearence "reform." Thats one type of double speak.

At the same time they also persue voter fraud through the "real ID" program and state laws requiring one present an ID when showing up to vote. This cuts down on the numbers of elderly, poor, and minoritys who vote. They just happen to mostly vote Democratic.
http://www.mlive.com/elections/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1193669477242340.xml&coll=5
Also, actual voter fraud that can be countered by requiring an ID, like a single person voting more than once, or people voting multiple times as different people, tends to favor Democrats. This was an issue during the Justice Department firings of 8 US Attorneys. The US Attorneys were instructed to persue Democrats involved in this type of voter fraud, 8 refused the improper interferance and were terminated. But noone cares about the intracacies of justice, its not sexy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/nyregion/29real.html

The walk of shame

A FEMA official was fired over the fake reporters during the California Fires scandal.



http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2955777020071030

Its Time to Turn on the Baby Boomers


After all they are to blame for everything that is wrong with the world today. What happened? After Vietnam, civil rights, and Roe v. Wade, they decided to just take a 30 year nap? Have they been drugging themselves into apathy with comfort, big screen TVs, SUVs , and Hagar slacks? What the fuck happened to the hippies? Did they all just get jobs, have kids, and become so mypoic theydidnt see the big picture? Did assassinating all the leaders on the left really do the trick?

I can understand that after such a vocal outpoaring of liberalism, the perverbial pendulum would swing back to the right. But its never swung back. The right had their return to conservatism thanks to the selfish people who fear progress and true individual freedom. They then grabbed hold of the conciousness of America and dragged us all further and further right, and they were the ones doing the kicking and screaming.

You might object and point out that Clinton was a Democrat. My responce is to laugh derisively. Clinton was, and the Democrats that emulate him are, much like Joseph Liberman, Republicans in Democrats clothing. They are still elitiests that pander to business and pay lip service to social issues like poverty and healthcare. Besides Clinton was a leader. He was a brillient public speaker and was charismatic. When he went away we were left with a bunch of unelectable Bob Doles in the Democratic side.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I dont hate the Democrats because they failed, I hate them because they failed against such an inept enemy. I hate them because they dont represent an actual alternative.

Swept Under the Rug Monday: The Wyrm Eats Its Tail

Over the course of the Bush administration, there have been many famous cases of personnel management, such as the case of Valerie Plame. However, there has also been pretty severe staffing problems. Readers may remember, this Oct. 14th story in the New York Times about issues at the "Level I" level, but the problem goes much deeper than that. In the course of politicizing every political appointment in the federal bureaucracy, the Bush administration has pushed or otherwise drove highly qualified people from career positions in the various departments. From the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, to the State Department's Foreign Service Corps, from the Transportation Department's Transportation Security Officers (and the Homeland Security Department's Procurement staff), to Patent and Trademark Office's examination workforce, there is a common story of staffing problems. There is a recurrent question in recent times about whether the U.S. can survive the Bush administration, but I think the real question is whether the Bush administration can sustain itself in the one year, two months, and twenty two days that it can legally retain its authority.

In addition to driving down the unemployment rate in the greater Washington metropolitan area, this phenomenon has combined with another alarming trend in the Bush administration, that of over-classification (and more) and retroactive classification, a trend that supposedly found its origin in 9/11. Because of the volume of classified material and the resultant increase in demand for clearances, there is a backlog for security clearances that could force wait times to be most easily measured in months or years. If positions requiring security clearances are being filled by less than the best, it might explain why the Bush administration's approaches to sensitive intelligence work range from the illegal to the dysfunctional.

And the punch line is that the DHS can't properly comply with the Vacancies Reform Act.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Walk of Shame







Missed the boat on this one but I gotta fill some space. Larry Craig trying to weazel out of his "Wide Stance."






It sure does seem like there are alot of republicans who made it a major part of their political career to crusade against the gays, that turn out to be gay.



President of Oral Roberst resignes.



http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/oral-roberts-pr.html





Drunken Republicans

Friday, October 26, 2007

The Friday Bacon


FEMA impersonates Journalists

FEMA has been caught sending its own staffers to impersonate members of the media to lob softball questions during press conferences. Lest we forgit, the Bush administration has been caught doing something like this before when it was discovered that a member of the Whitehouse press corps was actually working for a "news source" that was funded by a wing of the Republican party. That and their press secretary for the last year or so has been former Fox News man Tony Snow.

This brings up two of the major problems I have with the current situation. I cant blame the administration because we (by which I mean YOU) are letting them get away with blatant wrongdoing. They keep using the same tricks over and over and never face any consequences because they refuse to cooperate with anyone who would impose any consequences on their malfeasence. The part that makes me spit with rage is that, that very refusal is the end of any discussion of punishment or wrongdoing. Noone holds their feet to the fire and wnenever they try or the suggestion comes up the Democrats fold and slink away with their tails between their legs.

The horribly sad thing is that the Democrats seem to be week because they are leaderless, which suggest to me that they dont actually have anything to offer once you get past whatever charismatic mask they slap on the front of the monster.

I hate them because they are such failures against such a guileless foe.

You Were Wrong to Taze That Guy, Bro

According to Chap. 776.05 (1) of Florida Statute, an officer is empowered to use force "Which he or she reasonably believes to be necessary to defend himself or herself or another from bodily harm while making the arrest." Just in case you may be wondering how this rule and the rest of this section of Florida Law is applied practically by the cops on the street, there are policies governing the proper use of tazers by Florida Law Enforcement Officials, in such places as Orange County, Miami, and Leon County. According to all of these policies, officers must use an increasing use of force matrix to address the threat, starting with a physical presence (Level 1) up to use of firearms (Level 6). In the middle, at Level 4 is deployment of ECD or tazer.

Without having seen an actual copy of the report issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, I would have to say that this entire affair is a bit of a white wash. From the number of officers and the lack of meaningful escalation on the part of the six or seven deputies that were surrounding Mr. Meyer at the time of the incident, it is reasonable to assume that the aforementioned deputies were not familiar with the proper techniques in deploying tazer and should be held criminally and civilly liable for the harm to Mr. Meyer's person and reputation. For instance, the aforementioned policy of Miami, "A single act of non-compliance shall not justify the use of a tazer weapon." Furthermore, the use of a tazer is only authorized if the subject is continuing to resist, not like Mr. Meyer who expressed a willingness to cooperate with law enforcement officials at the time of his arrest. ( See the Sept. 20 posting, Tazers: Tool or Crutch? )

In the case of Graham vs. Conner. 490 US 386 (1989), the court determined that reasonable use of force is governed by the Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard. To summarize, when considering the reasonableness of a particular instance of the use of force the court should make allowances for the implicit use of force suggested by the arrest powers of law enforcement officials and their need to react to tense and uncertain situations. However, the court should primarily address the following: the severity of the crime, the danger posed by the suspect to himself and others, and any attempt to resist arrest or flight. In the particular case of Mr. Meyer, it is apparent that asking a question of an elected official does not, in and of itself, constitute grounds to deploy a tazer against a suspect. The officers on the scene, by virtue of their numbers, should have been able to restrain Mr. Meyer without having to resort to an escalated use of force. Also, at no time did Mr. Meyer ever do anything to flee the scene or resist the arresting officers. Which brings us back to the remaining justification, the danger presented by the subject to himself and others. Is this really the justification of the use of force on Mr. Meyer?

Was his question so dangerous that it required deployment of a tazer in such an arbitrary and capricious manner? Anyone who values not living in a fascist police state should care about this case and its ramifications for the rest of us.

You were right to taze that guy bro.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21454383/

Police investigation clears plolice officer of any wrongdoing in the case of tazing the unruly conspiracy theorist who was herrassing John Kerry.

Strap it on and go to class!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304806,00.html

I will be wearing mine tomorrow.

The Evils of Christianity, I mean Halloween


Usually when the religious brainwashing of children reaches this level most people can start to see that this is sinister. Unfortunately it takes a massive overreaction to good simple childrens fun and games for people to even recognise there is a problem. This in turn causes the reaction to the problem of Christian zealotry to be smaller than is reasonable.


Thursday, October 25, 2007

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Big Suprise

So Comcast was billing the government for the surveilance of our calls. This means we were getting screwed twice by them. Once when they take our freedoms and rights away illegally. And again when they bill us for it. Remember, when the government fucks you in the asshole they are also robbing you for the privlege.

Politicization of every level of government

This is another example of what I have been talking aobut with the Bush Administration politicizing every department. Like with the FDA and EPA they take the CDC and eliminate any science that disagrees with the conclusions they have already reached politically. The big suprise, global warming will make us sicker.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071024/ap_on_go_ot/global_warming_health_17;_ylt=AiQzcA183fh7UCjeq9DzecsE1vAI

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Happy Birthday Planet Earth




Aparently not only can fundamentalist Christians state the age of the Earth based on a bizarre, but literal, interpretation of the Bible. But they can state the age with such certainty they know the earth was created today.


Mull that over for a minute...


Ok. It took 6 days to create the earth didnt it? Or if you rely on the "other" creation story for your literal interpretation of the Bible it was created all at once. This points out two(2) problems with a "literal" interpretation of the Bible.


One(1), a literal interpretation of the Bible is necessairly an oxymoron. The Bible directly contradicts itself factually and theologically in ways that cannot be reconsiled if you believe it is the literal word of God. The only way to get over this is to impose an interpretation on the words that is something other than literal. However it is possible to be intellictually lazy and not even notice this problem exists. Or, if you are aware of it, you can take advantage of the fact that most people are not sufficently familar with the Bible to call you on it. Especially people who claim to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.


Issue two(2), is raised by the first. Who's interpretation do you use? What are the consequences of the answer to the prior question if you believe this should be a "Christian Nation"? One of the reasons the founding fathers concieved of the seperation of church and state was that prior to the founding of the nation there were arguments over whos brand of Christianity was taught in the schools. Remember the early colonists came from a land of religious opression and where people killed each other over the difference between Catholics and Protestants.

Boyscouts are heros


Boyscouts rescue an injured hiker by building a stretcher from scratch and carrying her 3 miles to safety.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,303957,00.html

Monday, October 22, 2007

My e-mail to Sen. Herb Kohl

The text of my letter to Sen. Russ Feingold was different because he already has a statement on his webpage indicating his stance against immunity for the telecom industry. I encourage you all to write to your elected representatives and urge them to hold the collaborators accountable and vote against any imunity from civil action.

As a member of the Judicial committee I implore you to not include any provision in the domestic spying program to give the telecom industry immunity from prosecution. I ask you to hold them responsible for their actions in eroding the rights of the American people. If the White House will not give the committee the documents they require, I humbly suggest the committee not approve any program for domestic spying. The way I see it the administration doesn't really have a bargaining chip here. The Judicial Committee says to them "we need these documents to give you the program you want." And the administration replies by demanding the committee wright the legislation the way it wants or they wont release the documents you need. It sounds like the administration is putting the cart before the horse. I haven't really heard any arguments in support of immunity, which makes me nervous. It is as if everyone believes the immunity is a foregone conclusion. The only serious argument I have heard in favor of immunity from prosecution for the telecom collaborators is that; if sued, the companies may have to testify about issues of national security. Which may be a legitimate concern, how would one know unless one receives the information from the administration, but couldn't the portions of any civil trial involving matters of national security be made secret? One need not throw the baby out with the bath water and hold these wrongdoers immune from action.

A Look At the Beginning of Man's Ambitions in Space

Russia's Baikonur spaceport seems like a relic, but appropriate to begin commenting on space issues. Wired has some additional commentary with a strangely grim warning at the end.

Preferential Rates

So how much does it cost to tap a phone using a National Security Letter? $1,000 per month, but only $750 on the monthly extension. It's good to know that the government gets screwed by Comcast as much as the rest of us.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Congress Declares "Last Straw"

Congressional leaders, both Democrat and Republican, have embarked on a bold new political campaign, that is being characterized as brilliant by the leading academic experts in the field. "Acknowledging their superiority in disapproval ratings as compared to President Bush but not Vice President Cheney results in a growing feeling of inferiority to the Executive Branch of government," according to noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama. This has long vexed long-serving congressional leaders, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), whose spokesperson said, "The senator agreed that it was time. Before, you could have a mysterious affair with an office worker that crescendoed with death under mysterious circumstances and grab some real headlines, but that doesn't phase a public saturated with reality TV."

Abandoning the usual swarthy charm of the modern political campaign, both parties' leadership, in an unprecedented show of bipartisan support, have decided to start intentionally pissing people off. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA, 8th), in a press conference this morning said proudly, "In not overturning the president's veto of SCHIP shows to the American people that we can be the most callous and selfish institution in the world. " Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) had his own achievements to commiserate. "This week the Senate has boldly included immunity for telecom corporations to flout the rule of law. We view this as an opportunity to build on the image that we are out of touch with the American people." Plainclothes onlookers were to quick to point out that administration officials had requested that the telecom immunity be included in permanently broadening the federal government's authority to eavesdrop on domestic communications.

At a press conference, Bush administration officials downplayed the significance of this new development. "While the president is very conscious of how much higher the congress' disapproval rating is," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "but, no one here is worried, I can tell you. The president has many options going into what could potentially be his last years as a public figure. There is the potential invasion or at least attack in Iran, not to mention any potential proclamation of martial law."

Congressional Republicans could barely be bothered to comment to the American public. Rep. John Boener's (R-OH, 8th) office, just after the end of the press cycle Friday evening, released a statement that outlines vast increases in spending and forced conscription. When asked for clarification, his spokesman said, "Our [Congressional Republican's] record of callous disregard for the wishes of the American people stands for itself."

Vice President Cheney's office replied by fax, merely saying, "go f*@# yourself". Physical copies that arrived at the fax machine in our office were quickly confiscated by the FBI along with several external hard drives, and Shadow was briefly held for questioning.

According to a congressional staffer who wished to remain anonymous, the campaign springs from a lack of interest in the mechanisms of government. "The American people can't be bothered with trying to fight against malign legislation. The ones who said they were really trying to push back against infringements on privacy rights, colossal corruption, and atrophy public services weren't getting any calls to their office in support of what they were doing. It really made [members of Congress] feel unwanted and depressed.

The Wisconsin Crazy, Oct 21

There are many types of crazies in Wisconsin, roughly raging from the overly zealous millenarian Christian to the armed, violent drug addict. However, on some special occasions, the Crazy takes the form of someone in a position of importance, just remember what McCarthy, another native son, did during his illustrious political career. Agitator, soothsayer, or just another crazy person that isn't begging, I'll leave that for you to decide. Today's crazy is 31 year old Tom Nelson, Democrat, and State Representative from the very Republican 5th district, just west of Green Bay. Rep. Nelson has lost patience for his colleagues in the state legislature and is holding what is, sadly only a one man, live-in protest in the state capitol building. There are rumors that there is a state budget ready to be voted on, a compromise between Gov. Doyle's higher taxes and State Assembly Republicans' reactionary fiscal conservatism. I would have to agree that Rep. Nelson that the budget fight isn't over until the votes are tallied.

Friday, October 19, 2007

The Friday Bacon


The Friday Bacon: It Smells Like Friendship (Reviewed)

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1019drone1019.html

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NEW07017102007-1.htm

Thursday, October 18, 2007

CORRUPTION, FAILURE AND RAGE!

This is the first time congress has driven me to drink. I get the feeling it wont be the last, unless I stop caring about this country which is fuckin unlikely. These articles below treat this latest failure by the legislature and the Democrats as par for the course and really it is. Which is sad. Sad for us the American people. What I am so upset about is that the Democrats in the Senate Froeign Intelligence comitte have given the telecom industry immunity from prosecution for their participation in the illegal warrentless wiretapping program. In return they got from the Republicans the regulation that the Supreme Court required of them in the first place. So basically we lose because the Democrats still cant resist the same old tired arguments from the Republicans. They threatened to say the Democrats are week on terror and want to allow Bin Laden to hurt us poor defenceless people of the states. News flash for the Democrats, the Republicans will say that any and the argument is a red fucking herring.

This domestic spying program was going on before the attacks of 9/11. Think about that. That means this program did not protect us from Bin Laden. It existed and it did not contribute to our safety. That seriously impairs the likelihood that it will protect us from another attack in the future. Further, the Bush administration had all the information they needed to know about and prevent the attacks of 9/11. More information form huge piles of phone records will not make any of us safer.

Apart from that partisan piece of rhetoric, that I cant fucking believe continues to work, and that it does only goes to show how far out of touch the Democrats in Washington are, I have not heard any other arguments in favor of the domestic spying program. Hows that for a run-on sentence? So that means I have not heard any serious arguments in favor of the program. Even creationists put up more resistance.

General counsil for AT&fuckingT, Wayne Watts, argues that this is a dispute between the Legislative and Executive branch and so the telecom industry should be given immunity from prosecution for participating in an illegal activity at the request of the executive branch. The kind of argument that only a lawyer could appreciate. That doesnt make it a legitimate argument and the legal neuance should not cool your rage. Do you feel the rage?

The last point I want to make is that even if a branch of the government asks you to break the law, you are still breaking the fucking law.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.surveillance18oct18,0,4239460.story
http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=42051&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10&view=news

Vaccinations make baby Jesus cry

Insane Christians use their freedom of religion to insanely damage the public health.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/10/17/ap_impact_parents_use_religion_to_avoid_vaccines/

All Honorable Men

For those out there who were wondering how many Republicans are sick child molesters, wonder no longer.
http://madison.craigslist.org/rnr/452347371.html

The Black Hole

Of all the things that the Dept. of Homeland Security is involving themselves in, I would have to say that legitimate production of music is probably not very relevant to their core mission. But, as this poor schmuck asks, "Where is this black hole?" Indeed, just where is this black hole in public policy and life that the Bush administration has so painstakingly crafted over the last six years?

War and Peace Thursday: He's Just a Big Bear

For those of you who may be worried about the state of research into military hardware in the world can rest easy. Even though the world's largest and most expensive military is essentially sleeping at the wheel, one man has seen the future and wishes to bring the fifth generation of warfighting technology to humanity. No one but Vladimir Putin would have the foresight to build a "grandiose" nuclear defense complex and new Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Not to mention, bringing other countries, such as India, on board to help development of combat fighters that are even better than the Sukhoi SU-34. Glory to the Motherland.

Bonus Material

30% are guranteed to be wrong

Bush's approval ratings continue to hover around 30%. In the meantime a study comes out showing 25% of Germans think the rule of the Nazi's had good outcomes. So basically I think we have found the percentage range where we fall into the proportion of the population that agrees with evil because they are either insane, selfish, or evil themselves.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071017/ap_on_re_eu/germany_nazi_era

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Why Don't You Know You Are Free Wednesday II

To bring everyone in the class up to speed on what has transpired so far, the Bush Administration embarked upon a path to violate, in part or whole, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in February of 2001, well before the 9/11 attacks. At least AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth were involved in the program as it was established. In the case of Qwest, though, the Bush administration met resistance in the person of Joseph Nacchio. Fast forward to today, Mr. Nacchio was sentenced to a six year jail sentence over the summer, in what some might call a political trial, especially given the fact that the defendant couldn't testify about classified information. Now the phone utilities involved in this heinous violation of the law are refusing to release details about their cooperation. Although the above pieces does describe the FBI's methodlogy behind the eavesdropping. But if a friend of a friend has a name close to 'Bin Laden,' you've probably been eavesdropped on.

Here's a brief refresher on the definitions of suspicion and reasonable doubt.

And Texas is the freest state in the union.

In related news, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support of a moratorium on state and local Internet taxes. Who are the two members of the House of Representatives that would be so bold as to vote against this? None other than Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, Democrat from California's 14th and Rep. Michael Turner, Republican of Ohio's 3rd. Rep. Eshoo represents Palo Alto, and has this statement strongly in favor of the moratorium on her website. The only reason she voted against it, is because it is temporary. The funny part is that Rep. Turner's vote was apparently an accident.

Why dont you know you are free Wednesday




Wired cares about your freedom, why dont you? I am gratefull to their consistent reporting on the domestic spying issue, because most othere news outlits dont follow this story as closely as Wired does. Thanks to them the public had access to ATT's internal documents detailing the spying program for a few days untill an injunction shut that down. Again I urge you all to wright your elected representatives and tell them you dont want any immunity for the telecom companies that were complicit in the illegal domestic spying program. They should be made to pay for their crimes.




Monday, October 15, 2007

F.D.A.


The FDA under the Bush administration, like most other government agencies, has become more geared toward ensuring the political and social agenda of the far right than upholding its purpose as a regulatory body. They delayed approval of the morning after pill for religio-social reasons, causing at least one actual scientist on the board to resign. http://www.reason.com/UserFiles/bigbrotherjoe.jpg
They allow companies to simply rename pharmacuticals in order to prolong the patent in order to prevent money saving generic drugs from entering the market so that the big pharmacutical companies can squeeze every penny out of our suffering. Now they are opening a new facility where the industry reps and lobbiests come to work every day with those people who are supposed to be doing the regulation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21298130/
Like many other agencies in this administration the FDA acts as if their job is to remove regulatory hurdles for large pharmicutal industries. This is how drugs that lower your cholestoral but increase your risk for heart attacks get on the market. Or in the case of food, how whole sections of the country keep getting salmonilla and e-coli. Instead of being the gate keepers against people who are just trying to make a buck and dont really care about the consequences to us, the FDA is holding the door open for these people.
This is just another example of how President Bush's administration is damaging the country in ways most people dont see or cant appreciate. The federal courts, the US Attorneys, the various regulatory and administrative bodies like the FDA, and EPA, have all been given a far right leaning slant instead of being told to neutrally and beaureucraticly appling the regulations they were created to apply. The administration has done more than just shred the bill of rights and lock us in an unpopular war. With the help of the Republican congress they ingrained a political bias into every level of the federal government in ways that will effect all of our lives for years to come. The world was an unfair, cold and heartless place before, and now it will take alot more work to make it better.

There are alot of people who hate this president and see the damage he has done and want to leave the country. I am not among them. I love the United States of America. This country is still the best country in the world. We have some problems but all the other alternatives on this planet suck far worse. I intend to stick it out with my homeland and work to make it the shining becon on the hill again.

Veto Power. I Has It.


What I view to be a crutial test of the Democrats not just in congress but the whole party, is upon us. If they can muster the political will and power to override President Bush's promised veto of the child healthcare bill and then force through their rewright of the domestic servailence bill without giving immunity to prosecution to the telecom companies that were so eager to give away the freedom of their customers, our freedom, then the Democrats have regrown their balls and we the people stand a chance of continuing to have a democracy. If they can resist two presidential vetos then you and I as citizens can look foreward to getting some of our rights back, we can look foreward to a repair of some of the damage the Bush administration has done to the country, and we can be optimistic about democracy again. If the democratic party can realize why the last election was handed to them and develop the testicular fortitude to stare down the same old rhetorical BS the far right which passes itself off as the center has been spewing for the last 6 years.




We all suspected that the NSA has been tapping our calls all along but that doesnt make it any less outrageous.


Affirmative Action


When seeing any criticism of affrimative action many people will automatically assume it has some kind of basis in racism. Even though this article is being reported by Fox the professor being quoted is actually trying to produce a better result. His basic argument, if I dont get it wrong, is that affirmative action puts students in schools that are more difficult and competitive than they are qualified to attend but if they went to another law school they might be more likely to succeed.
The first obvious attack on this is that the professor is implying that black students are too stupid to attend the best law schools. I am prepaired to give this professor the benefit of the doubt and point out he is probably intending to say that those students propelled by affirmative action tend to be mismatched with the schools they get into.

Dont Taze me Bro!

A middle aged man dies after being tazered by the RCMP. No causation has yet been determined

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071014.wairportdeath1014/BNStory/National/home

If your maternal instincts lead you to use your baby as a shield against the bounty hunter, you deserve to be tazed.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071014_1_A14_hThem37577

Telecommunication Problems

From another margin of business and industry, comes news of the Federal Universal Service Fund, which was designed to allow companies to build infrastructure in rural areas where it might not be otherwise profitable to do so. U.S. Cellular, in particular, has enjoyed the publication of two articles expressing concern about the move to limit the USF by the first of November, in Wisconsin and in Maine. According to one article, U.S. Cellular has spent almost $50 million since 2002 building towers in rural Wisconsin, yet the strength of their stock leaves much to be desired.

On a slightly unrelated note, the FCC has approved AT&T's petition to ignore some of the pricing and reporting regulations (and another) in a further attempt to coddle those companies that were supportive of certain programs. Programs, which it has been recently revealed, started well before their supposed start date sometime after 9/11. If this program is as illegal as it would appear, that would explain Mr. Bush's push for retroactive immunity for the compliant corporations. Also, an independent journalist has some interesting questions and pointed demands for Nancy Pelosi. It smells like COINTELPRO in here.

Swept Under the Rug Monday: Gotta Chase Dat Paper

For those of you who don't read the financial or business pages of news sites or newspapers, there has been an interesting series of reactions from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

The first item of note is that Citigroup, the largest bank in the United States, lost 57% of their quarterly profit margin, compared on a year over year basis. The BBC has a basic report, but Bloomberg has a detailed analysis of the company by unit. An analyst at another major financial institution that has suffered from the sub-prime crisis, Deutsche Bank, has cut Citigroup's shares to sell because of executive staffing problems.

The second item of note is that Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP MorganChase & Co., in association with the Department of the Treasury and Henry Paulson, have negotiated for the creation of what amounts to a bail out fund for the financial industry. In purchasing $80 billion in assets from Structured Investment Vehicles, which deal in sub-prime mortgage debt and corporate bonds, those involved in these negotiations have agreed to guarantee the investments of those SIVs that have the least amount of risk in their investment portfolio. The problem comes in when one considers that there is currently $320 billion in assets in this type of investment vehicle, so the owners of the other $240 billion are going to need a lot of antacid.

Friday, October 12, 2007

The walk of shame


Another Republican soliciting in the bathroom.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/news/article_1363576.php/Joey_DiFatta_Withdraws_From_Bayou_State_Senate_Race_Caught_in_Gay_Sex_Sting

A Christian minister doing things that Christian ministers tend to deride as sinfull.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1008072scuba1.html



Oral Roberts is shocked, SHOCKED! that his smarmy self ritcheous university is being abused by his smarmy self ritcheous son and daughter in law.


http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2007/10/accusations-against-son-shock.php


Police involved in sex tourism. Shocking!


http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=405273



The Friday Bacon







The future of bacon may be threatened. I am torn between my love of bacon and the great socialist struggle for the prolitariat.






























Wednesday, October 10, 2007

American Foreign Policy, Pakistan flavored

In a continuing effort to destroy representative democracy across Asia, the US has gone so far as to "interfere," as some label it.

The first aspect of this is seen in the post-election military campaign. After three German citizens were arrested in Germany in September for planning attacks on US military bases in Germany, the Bush Administration applied political pressure to attack militants based in or near Mir Ali. On Oct. 6th, a convoy carrying military reinforcements into the North-West Frontier Province was pre-emptively attacked by members of the Islamic Jihadist Union, which has sparked the latest spate of violence. The only positive aspect of this whole affair is that at least they stopped shooting long enough to bury the dead.

On a more abstract and academic level, the second aspect of this is seen in the power sharing deal between General Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. According to anecdotal evidence, the populace of Pakistan keenly remembers the millions of dollars the former Prime Minister is alleged to have stolen. "It (the power-sharing deal) has increased the perception that power trumps justice in Pakistan. In this respect, Jehangir looks to Americans with envy. "Whatever their religion or beliefs, at least they have rule of law."" On a related note, the Pakistani Government is concerned about protecting the former Prime Minister upon her return from exile in London and Dubai. Sure, they have a special import bullet-proof vehicle, but do they need private protection, like Blackwater? More importantly, can she control Pakistan's powerful military institutions? Ms. Bhutto points to Gen. Musharraf's promise to doff his uniform and the nomination of Lt.Gen. Ashfaq Kiani to become the next Army Chief of Staff as progress, but is really depending on a deeply felt "pretty please," as quoted in this interview. However, the promise is dependent on Musharraf assuming the Presidency. She then goes on to propose amending the constitution to remove powers from the office of President, so one can imagine how enthusiastic Musharraf will be about such reforms.

In the interest of being fair and balanced, it is worth mentioning that the Wall Street Journal feels that these policies are moving Pakistan towards representative democracy.

Russia Without Putin

For those of you at home who might be wondering what the results might be from high-powered cronyism involving secretive intelligence services, look no farther than Russia. Apparently, the bureaucracy is already infighting. In this case, the FSB (Federal Security Service) is squaring off against Lt. Gen. Alexander Bulbov for allegedly sticking his finger in their pie. Now that the FSB is the pre-eminent institution in Russia, look for more solidification of power, growing only more intense as the presidential election draws near.

Of course, the modern reader is never satisfied without proof or at least someone else saying what the author is saying, so have some detailed background material; the reaction from Gen. Bulbov's Commanding Officer, Viktor Cherkesov, a longtime associate of Putin; and an article that name drops some of the political elite of Russia.

After doing a bit of research on the FSB, I found an interesting article on the managerial board. Its membership represents the group placed in power under Putin. Unfortunately, this source, Echo of Moscow, is in Russian. So, via Babelfish, I post the garbled and difficult to read translation:

This event, from my point of view, became the board of the federal security service, which conducted President v.Putin, and in which participated all most important officials of the country. But these are the Head of the President's Administration of Sergey sobyanin, the Deputy Head of Administration Igor sechin, the assistant to the President Victor Ivanov, the head for control administration Aleksandr beglov, the Attorney General Yuri chayk, the minister of internal affairs Of rashid Of nurgaliyev, the director of the Federal Service of protection Yevgeny Moores, the director OF SVR - these are reconnaissance, Sergey Lebedev, leader gosnarkokontrolya Victor cherkesov. Leader of the Federal Service for financial monitoring Victor zubkov, the leader of the main administration of the special-programs of the President Aleksandr tsarenko, the head of the State Auditing Chamber of Russia Sergey stepashin, the chairman Superior Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev. I please forgivenesses for so long an enumeration of surnames, it simply shows - do not confuse, this was not the session of government, this was the board of the federal security service. So here this list, of course, shows, how important key place in today's policy of Russia play successor THE KGB, federal security service. By the way, among those invited to the session of this shady, or someone speaks - the second, the first - whom as more greatly pleases itself - the government of Russia, was invited the chairman of commission for control of the activity of the primary structures of public chamber Anatoliy kucheren. True, only to the television part of the session. They then controller from the Kremlin community there. We know that on this board FSB Putin issued a call the organs of state security to take most active part in the control of the selective process. He said - I cite: "in this year they will pass the sequential selections into the regional legislative assemblies and the State Duma. This is the most important democratic mechanism of the formation of power of the state, authority of critical, and chosen as a result healthy political competition. It is important not only to ensure legality, said the President, and law, but also to secure society from attempts at vbrosa to the social and political field of the ideology of extremism, national and konfessional'noy intolerance ". O.KRYSHTANOVSKAYA: ... the lower the level of political class, the it is greater there the representatives of any other, lateral branches, including and MVD, and army, etcetera the - i.e., all forms of primary structures already be present. But on top itself, Politbureau - this literally 50 to 50 - reconnaissance and counter espionage. In half. But now interesting process still another - into the compositions of the councils of the directors of the most important companies with the presence of state sufficiently many now also representatives of silovikov - this process new, and thus far hidden before the public attention, but we in detail with this deal, and they revealed how are there installed these people. O.KRYSHTANOVSKAYA: ... always professional some group is separated on the basis of its function in the society - i.e., mental'nost', increasingly other - this for a second time. These are people - siloviki - from where the word of "siloviki"? Because these people with the weapon in the hands are called to protect something. I.e., this is the armed group of people - here this unites, first of all, them. If we look into the microscope, then it is certain - each type of weapon, each form of special service, or not special service, of course, it different. But if we look further, with the telescope, so to speak, then they have then it is much in common, that it is possible them to consider one group. Certainly, I understand all reservations, which here must be made. Why this is is one group? Even it was designed in the Soviet time, and the word of "siloviki" arose in the Soviet time - there is not in one country of peace for some reason this word, always with the transfer into the English, the French, the German, it is necessary to explain many words, which is located in the form. Why they all are connected, and there these are nevertheless different things? There are reasons. We have the hierarchy of these power ministries. And THE KGB, and now FSB, it was the brain, which governed other armed structures - well, army to a lesser degree. YE.AL'BATS: but, nevertheless, the third central board checked both general staff and Defense Ministry, and GRU. O.KRYSHTANOVSKAYA: Yes, certainly. And troikas were in all regions. Troika - this UKGB, chief militiaman and attorney there still entered. Here are the troikas of silovikov, which determined at the places very and very many important things. Mental'nost' is different in them. But since the leading positions occupies FSB, mental'nost' FSB - it key. And since this is organization of the type of this closed order, it is built entire on literally zombirovat' - there can be even in a good sense, "zombirovat'" this word with the negative nuance - to impregnate people, which penetrate this school, as the ideology specific completely. And this ideology it predominating, this is ideology, where the patriotism is assumed as the basis of bases.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

U-Rah-Rah-Wi-i-i-scon-on-sin

The students of the University of Wisconsin are fignting for your rights not only in the nationaly famous Wisconsin Freedom Project but for your right to get chep drinks and be free from the rediculous nany state frightnining local merchants into harmfull price-fixing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100301854.html

Wisconsin Crazy, Oct 7 More

So, apparently the shooter in Crandon is even crazier than initially expected, or perhaps stupid. I'm not sure what one calls it when you need three shots to shoot yourself in the head.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Cant say I agree with your police work there Lou

Cops in Philadelphia shot and killed a boy who was weilding an Iron. Also, a police cruser crashed while rushing to the scene.

http://cbs3.com/local/local_story_281134701.html

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Shadow


















Behold, the Prince of Darkness! He has been granted, by virtue of his birth, a ten thousand forms of cute with which to smite those that dare stand in his way. He wears his pink collar as a testament to the oath he swore to resist oppression and insipid conceptions of authority. The eleven rhinestones symbolize eleven foes vanquished thus far in his quest. May all those who hate freedom look upon his visage and feel fear.

The Wisconsin crazy continued...


I always question the motives of any person who becomes a law enforcement officer. It seems counterintuitive to me that a person would feel the calling to serve their community while at the same time thinking violence is the best way to to do it. I think a law enforcement career tends to attract certain kinds of people: people who are morally lazy and need a set of clearly defined rules of right and wrong, people who want to break the law and get away with it. We all have anectodal evidence of a police officer using their lights to run a red light, or have see a police cruser drive recklesly in traffic just to get to the head of the pack, or know of an incident where someone was struck by a police car, where the cop was at fault and the victem was ticketed. There are of course other incidents of police using their job as a camoflage for drug dealing or acting as a black market fence.


I am not saying all cops are crooks, I am just saying there is ample evidence to be suspicious of the motives of a cop when they act.


I also want to be clear that I am friends with several law enforcement officers, mostly sheriffs deputies, and they make it clear that the job itself changes you and your perception of the world. When you deal with the underbelly of society all day every day it can lead to some preconseptions. Most of which are probably helpfull in the course of the job and make sure the cop lives through his shift.


Wisconsin Crazy, Oct 7

Apparently, the crazies are trying to kick it up a notch by forcing an entire small town into "lockdown." As usual, the shooter is described as the nicest guy.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Religous fundamentalists in the middle east.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/CSM/story?id=3694726&page=1

Three things

There are three(3) things that I believe should be free: Education, Medical Care, and Religious Services.

To be clear, I dont believe that doctors, teachers, and priests should not be paid. In fact, I think that doctors and teachers should be higly compensated. I just think that you should never take your wallet or check book out and pay directly to them. This presents a problem when it comes to religion because of the seperation of church and state which I also strongly believe in. Which brings me to the conclusion that priests, rabbis, and the like should have to get a real job and be part time religious professionals. It is one of two main reasons I did not persue a career as a priest. (they also dont let you marry)

I believe these things should be free to the people who otherwise would be the customers because money corrupts the pure expression of the purpose of the profession. In medicine, HMO's determine what procedures you can and cant have because of cost benefit analysis instead of that decision being left to you and your doctor. In education it effects the content of what one learns. And in religion, it affects the messege you get from your chosen spiritual leader.


In the case of mega-churches its pretty obvious the message is designed to capatilize on the charisma of the cult leader and appeal to a broad audience in order to rake in the piles of cash. On the local level it affects the content of the preaching of the Priest and the openness of the congregation. If the big donors to the church dont want to hear about their duty to the poor but want to hear about how evil the gays are then thats what they hear because the priest knows what side his bread is buttered on. In the Sept. 19, 2004 edition of the Journal Sentinel;

Pastors often get caught in the middle of such conflicts,
Reichter said. One side in a dispute might want the church to get involved in
such social issues as poverty, hunger and housing, he said. But another faction
might want the church to focus on providing comforting services, Reichter
said.
"Sometimes, the people who are major (financial) donors are in the
comfort zone of life," he said. "They don't want to look outside to the
larger world. They can bring pressure for things to stay the way they have
always been."



The article begins by saying that in another parish the minister issued a notice that if adgitation by the parishners that contribute less financialy continues they would be booted from the congregation.

None of this is directly related to the article I am posting below. It just briefly mentions that the charity by ministries can be used as a tool to swell their ranks. Even though the poor cant contribute much financialy.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2007/10/dc-church-gives-homeless-a-rid.php

Friday, October 05, 2007

HA! HA!

I just want to point out that usually the Christian zealots that make the biggest spectical out of their religion are the ones that live up to its requirements the least. The origin of the idiom, "do as I say and not as I do." Its like the self hating gays that become republicans and promote legislation to opress the gays.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ORAL_ROBERTS_SCANDAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-10-05-14-30-33

The Friday Bacon




Thursday, October 04, 2007

This is not a straw man

Why do we allow people that are clearly insane equeal time on the public stage? Why do we give any creedence to the things they say? They have taken advantage of the relativism in our society they decry so much. Its possibly part of some briliant plot to destroy tolerance by straining it to an insane limit. I present to you a clear example of Christian insanity.

http://www.cbn.com/SpiritualLife/Devotions/DAugostine_Halloween.aspx

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Why Dont You Understand You are Free? Wednesday

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

In honor of Dutchess Puma's political powers I present to you insane quotes from the animal liberation lunitics.




My favorite quote is the last one from Ingrid Newkirk

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Puma's Political Power

As Bloated Nemesis sits in the living at the Bauman Manor, he can't help but admire his cat Puma. Puma is sitting here doing absolutely nothing to help stop the war in Iraq, granted she has little potential in this field. She also, though, is doing nothing to prolong it, make it more dangerous for soldiers and civilians there, or draw more support FOR the war and the party of hawks. When I compare her to the average Congressman from the Democratic Party, her lack of help for or against the war is far better than the democratic party's efforts to only make it worse all around while still claiming to be making it better, or at least fucking trying to.

TAXES!!!

Basically middle management types in the state department and Pentagon feel they are too important to fly in the cheep seats and believe they are entitled to have us pay for them to fly business and first class internationaly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/government_travel_waste_13;_ylt=Av3zINx9h0w0B8sKWyOVkT8E1vAI

Non-Violence Day

In honor of Mahatma Gandhi, today is the first International Day of Peace and Non Violence. Considering how violence saturates our normal, everyday lives, I'm not sure how this holiday should be observed. However, if you see an opportunity today for non-violent non-cooperation with authorities today, you should do it, and again tomorrow and every other day after.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Justice Marches On




Fortunately the system does still work. You can sue the government for violating its own rules and the government will overrule its own bad behavior. This is what it looks like when you live in a functioning democracy. This is why we continue to be free. It may not be the best system in the world, but its better than all the alternatives.


Its shit like this that makes me understand comments from the administration that democracy doesnt take hold in Iraq because they dont understand democracy. I would argue that most Americans dont understand democracy either, but fortuantely we have a system in place that protects us from an administration that grasps too much power and a populace that is all too happy to give it away.

Cant see the forrest for the trees.




This article makes a good point toward the end. That perpetual use of the motto "In God we trust" that provokes many law suits, leads courts to detail how the motto can be drained of any religious meaning. It also shows that these Christians trying to force their beliefs on the rest of us dont understand that forcing the forms of their religion on us does not spread belief in their god.

Myanmar, Oct 1 (Update)

The situation in Myanmar during the internet blackout was far worse than I have heard anyone speculate. According to the Daily Mail, thousands of monks have been executed and dumped in the jungle.

Myanmar, Oct 1




Despite its prevelance in the news, the country of Myanmar is for all intents and purposes, fails to appear on the mental maps of most Americans. To serve as background information, one need look no farther than Myanmar's Wikipedia entry(and in Chinese, notice the distinct difference in amount of content) and Myanmar's CIA Factbook Entry. For Al-Jazeera, Veronica Pederosa writes about potential conflicts among Myanmar's ruling generals. Jeff Hodson, writing for the Seattle Times, posits that Myanmar was a tinderbox waiting for a spark.

Despite notions in the mainstream media to the contrary, no country, even "the Hermit Kingdom," is ever entirely removed from the world around it. Described as one of the main battlefields between the world's two new emerging superpowers, the recent unrest in Myanmar was of particular concern to the Chinese elite and the Indian military establishment. The Guardian reports on the benefits of Beijing's policy toward the SPDC. The junta has been supported for years by foreign corporations, and, consequently, the French Corporation Total is again coming under investigation in Belgium. Writers in the Jakarta Post advocate that Indonesia, seeking to become a leading power among the ASEAN states, should support the protesters. Despite the death of Japanese photographer Kenji Nagai (video is in Burmese), the Japanese Government is approaching its response to the military crackdown delicately, unwilling to cut off Myanmar's largest source of foreign aid. The BBC rounds off the list, with responses from other countries' governments. Also, Gerald Warner opines in the Scotsman that paying attention to the situation in Myanmar is the latest hypocritical Liberal craze, and, on a related note, that the Chinese Government should also be overthrown. In the United States, notable foreign policy figures, such as John McCain and Laura Bush, have announced that they denounce the crackdown. As of this printing, the Support the Monks' protest in Burma group on Facebook has 238,630 members, with 'contextual coverage' from Jill Lawless for the Associated Press.

On a brighter note, there is a stream of good news coming out of Myanmar as the crackdown is apparently lifted. Humanitarian aid organizations are beginning to resume operations, the army is relaxing its grip slightly, and teh Internets were briefly available. On an interesting sidenote, "unknown hackers" did the work of Myanmar's military government and shut down irrawaddy.org, which publishes information from within the insular country.

Reflections on lessons learned from the affair, by Paul Reynolds for the BBC, layout a series of steps usually necessary for regime change.

For a fuller multimedia experience, here are segments of a video directly from the monks' protest in Yangon. One of the most interesting parts is the response to the girl's smile.