VOTE!

Feingold's Proposed Amendment to the Constitution

Maybe Carlin Was Right

So now there is no one left to vote for. At the beginning of this long election season I could see no difference between Obama McCain and Clinton. They are all the same centrist robot pushed forth by the two big parties. It feels like 1999 again when there was no apparent difference between Bush and Gore. Over time though, like with all politicians, the candidates have revealed which freedoms they hate and what they want to spend our money on.

Yesterday the Green Party announced their presidential candidate will be Cynthia McKinney. Yes, that Cynthia McKinney. Its confusing to me that the Green party would field a candidate that is obviously not capable of being president. This woman has no self control and is fixated on trivial issues. At best, she would be an embarrassment to the country if she were on a world stage, at worst she would spark an international incident with her lack of tact and decorum.

The only reason I mention the Greens here is because I am now at a loss for whom I shall cast my vote. Obama voted for the FISA bill. That's just about the only concrete thing I know about the guy. That and he was a crusader to ban guns until he decided to run for president. McCain is little better. From being the maverick Senator that stood up for what he believed in even if it was against his own party, he has cozyed up to right wing religious fanatics, stood up for the party that betrayed him in 2000, and gone against his own campaign finance laws and ideals. He was an idealistic war hero that stood above the corruption of politics and filth of Washington before he lost the primary to Bush. Now he is just another pandering politician trying to tell you what you want to hear. This election makes me feel like its last call and I am being hit on by a drunk sociopath.

The Libertarians have put forth Bob Barr of all people. Holy fucking mother of everliving fat! Bob fucking Barr! This man was regarded as the most right-wing conservative politician in congress. He was anti-drug, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, he tried to outlaw all non-Abrahamic religions in the military, and he voted for the PATRIOT act. Now he has criticized his vote for the patriot act, advocated the repeal of the income tax, and paid lip service to legalization of pot, which is apparently sufficient for the party heads of the Libertarian party. This is why I call myself philosophically libertarian rather than identify with the Libertarian party. They are more concerned with taxes and free trade than with actual liberty. So now there is no one left to vote for but freedom hating hypocrites.

Its like a bad movie and they are running out of extras. Seriously, Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney? This is the best we can do? There are hundreds of people in politics at the national level. Senators, Representatives, Judges, Party heads. Most of us know businessmen and fucking actors that would be better choices. I feel like I am in a poorly written political farce that has run low on budget and can't afford more actors with lines.

The Warm Glow of Freedom

Basking like with a last cigarette in the results of the Super Tuesday elections, one cant help but wonder if America really does have the best form of democracy in the world. First, of course, a definition of democracy.

The New York Times Editorial Board today posited on the reasons it would seem that American democracy is failing, or seems to be at any rate. According to the esteemed editors, democracy works best when it unites people by the party, and the problem is further complicated by the piles of money thrown at the candidates by interested parties. The Washington Post editorial today read like a recap of an insider's view, and pardon me for saying this if you find it offensive, but isn't it somewhat racist to cast entire demographies of American society in wide brush strokes? Casting the results as though all Hispanic voters favored Hillary Clinton, along with women, is rather disingenuous, overlooking the effects of class and the factors surrounding electoral participation. And, even though white voters might have a problem voting for a black man, Obama showed strongly in the South. Perhaps those who have been broadly cast as racists are looking for a change not offered by someone who is also seen as being from south of the Mason-Dixon. Or, perhaps, because of the unexpectedly high voter turnout in the primary, the traditional mainstream news media is unable to fully appreciate the results, or how they may have been distorted due to the procedural complications of our voting process.

Problems caused by overparticipation in the caucuses, which are themselves already undemocratic in structure, has reported caused problems across most of the country, as voter turnout was almost uniformly higher than projected by election officials. In states such as Kansas, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, and California all suffered from the problems related to the swell of voter participation, the ugly underside of democracy, voter disenfranchisement. Of course, it's easy for some pundits to say that the modern American election is more about individual, disparate districts begging for the attention of the candidates than any informative and substantive debate. However, considering the amount of popular participation in the primary elections, the U.S. is going to have some serious problems come November. In England, one observer asks if our system is the best, or the best that we can pay for. As one would expect, the comments are the best part of this article. To which, I can most simply respond that American's two party system doesn't properly reflect the policy aims of the American public, and probably wouldn't fit most definitions of democracy. That being said, here is the latest delegate count, according to CNN, not the distorting effect of the undemocratic Superdelegates in the Democratic race. Also, what good would this discussion be without being able to make fun of some polling data?

In Africa, always a target for those who criticize national governments on their lack of transparency and democratic institutions, the targets have somewhat changed. Tunji Ajibade, publishing from Abuja, frames the recent electoral violence in Kenya in the larger failing of democracy on the African continent and has some sharp words for hesitant British diplomats and their notions of development. Another darling of the West, South Africa, is faced with its own crisis in democracy, with the power of the state having come to reside in the hands of a single party, the African National Congress. One author criticizes the current system, and asks, "What next?" Other new darlings of the West, the Gambia, the DRC, and Ethiopia are also targets for abuse as what were essentially undemocratic elections yielded despots who, with the blessing of their aid donors, are ruthlessly enforcing their will over civil society and journalists.

In Afghanistan, whatever advances that have been made in democracy since the U.S. invasion seem to be quickly fading, as the Taliban continues to fight in the southern areas of the country. Meanwhile, the NATO countries are becoming increasingly frustrated in the varying levels of participation in the force responsible for bringing freedom and stability.

Here is a grim reminder of the dangers of flawed democracy, in which a small minority of a country was able to determine the fortunes and fates of the rest.

Now, for the election coverage!

Loss of International Good WIll

During the initial phases of the feigned outrage in congress over the use of torture on those in U.S. custody, then Attorny General nominee Alberto Gonzales said in responce to criticism that even if we torture people Americans can never be as bad as the terrorists. It has also been remarked with dismay that the whole way in which the Bush administration has been treating detainees is one of the main reasons we are loosing all of our good will internationally.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002170340_gonzales04.html

For example, Russia has been throwing obstructions infront of international election monitors that they had origionally invited to oversee their current round of national elections. They dont take kindly to any criticism that they might not be behaving like a democracy should and impugn the recent American human rights record and voting irregularities stating that we are not ones to talk down to them about democracy.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyBfqwTaolA0ETVWNlYycSzVpn8wD8SV0H3O0

Pakistan is less subtle when it points out the speck in our eye to divert criticism from the plank in their own. General/President Pravez Musharrif declared a state of emergency and imprisioned political opponents, and today installed a "caretaker government." Musharrif justifies all this under his countries anti-terrorism laws and points to the U.S. when he justifies locking up dissodents. He says he is doing this to protect his country from radical islamists, but the people he is throwing in jail are the legitimately elected moderates he ousted from power in a military coup. His recent behavior and comments are reminicent of the attitudes of the types of people we have been forced to team up with in Bush's global, generational, war on terror. We have to deal with tribal warlords who see the way we behave and missapprehend it as anti-islam. They say they are also against the Islamists and say they are on our side. Once they have our support they proceed to be corrupt, violent, crime lords.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2GeoguY159A&refer=home

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071107/Malalai_Joya_071107/20071107/

shorten your briefs

Myanmar: a new internet blackout, coupled with the expulsion of the UN Special Envoy, forbodes trouble. The opposition claims that it's strength is waxing, but the military has only begun to respond. Meanwhile, a look at the govt's recruiting efforts, the life of one of the youngest members of the country's elite and his life in singapore, and why his life is about to become much more complicated.

Ivory Coast: What some see as a tenuous peace process moves at a careful pace, while questions are raised about fattening war chests.

Zimbabwe: Under the strangely opaque lighting of continuing negotiations between the government ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC, the two parties have agreed to postpone elections to March of '08. Will these negotiations lead to resolution of the crisis facing Zimbabwe? I bet on no. Phillip Pasirayi also bets on no, though for slightly different reasons.

The Bomb: A resolution will be coming soon to a UN General Assembly near you, with the usual suspects already voting in their respective ways. The world powers dispatch their representatives to London to talk about Iran's bomb. The Bush administration is trying to bully the other permanent members of the UN Security Council for license to attack Iraq, er, Iran. Sorry, I had a moment of deja vu there. North Korea, meanwhile, might soon be rid of their bomb. Germany wants a piece of the potential pie that is the Indian Nuclear Deal, which PM Singh says is only delayed. And check out Hindustan Times' "Nuclear Deal Imbroglio" page.

Ha HA!

Here for the benefit of the internet is the news thread so far:

this is my news thread, for all you guys who dont have g-mail and dont like my news trips, uh... get with the times?
http://digg.com/general_sciences/Russian_scientists_discover_radiation_absorbing_mineral
fucking sweet.

http://digg.com/politics/Police_break_up_anti_war_meeting_in_Washington_2
so much for our rights of assembly

http://digg.com/world_news/Russian_warplanes_intercepted_by_RAF_jets_Putin_Steps_Up_Cold_War
russia gears up for war

http://digg.com/world_news/Organised_sex_camps_for_Russia_s_teenagers
this is old, but if i said "russia is gearing up for war with their prodding nato airspace and the sex camps for teens encouraging reproduction to boister their man power," i would just look crazy. so i found the artical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EAfPgX7gs0horses breaking up a protest today, lead individuals arrested for the strength of the adhesive of their glue they used to put up signs. WTF?

http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-wont-bow-down-to-weak-us-government-070907/
pirate bay is freaking cool."You should never tell people where they can't go or what they can't do."the most reasonable thing I have have heard in my entire life!
aggregated for your general consumption/enjoyment, here are some stories that some news people feel are important.http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6912662,00.htmlOur first item on the menu for the day is a really disappointing story that almost directly quotes the state-controlled China Daily about fears that minority groups in China may try to agitate for more rights, or any rights at all, during the 08 Olympic Games, but I suppose fear mongering has its use here. After all, if people are too afraid to leave their hotel rooms much, they won't notice the horrible air pollution. (Tianjin is also in the middle of that huge smog cloud.)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6988934.stmI wish I could say I told you so, but when you build your basic training facility within range of crude, unguided ordinance from the Gaza Strip, eventually something bad is going to happen. Unfortunately, for these four seriously wounded Israeli soldiers, it appears that conditions for the non-combat troops is comparable to the Palestinians who are launching the aforementioned munitions at them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6988934.stmColumbian officials have purportedly destroyed another head of the hydra, but who knows how many may rise to take his place? This article comes with a brief scorecard in the the war on Cocaine. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-abe11sep11,1,2729772.story?coll=la-news-a_sectionFor all those keeping score at home, another government is having legislative issues because of its involvement in the "war on terror." Interestingly, this article also gives another interpretation of the common character combination "KY." http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6910396,00.htmlWisconsin spawns another crazy! http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=171515&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20Russia has "30 (intelligence) agents operating out of its London embassy." Which is interesting, considering the concentration of Russian exiles in London. Wait, wasn't there a story a few months back about one of them...? http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2166454,00.htmlIndia grows stronger in the nuclear field. Like the way they kept their nuclear program under wraps, they've also been keeping their nuclear submarine program under wraps. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200709102072.htmHowever, the parties of the Left have very little interest in dealings with the United States. http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/flash/cntower_timelapse.swfand here's a nifty picture for your enjoyment!http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/41187/A new, more appropriate presidential seal.
So were russian now? or was this Austrian empire?

I'm pretty sure that's based on an Austrian imperial coat of arms.Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/blog/2007/09/10/subway-a-method-to-their-cheesy-madness/


this is the story, this is the comment, this is also why reading comments rock. :-)


In Soviet Russia, Cheese Overlaps You!
in North Korea, Overlapped Cheese in Only For Old People.
Now Rolland Fuckpaille just needs to copy paste the article onto his spamlog and write lol at the end of it, and have that written into an xckd comic, posted to reddit, and the reddit dugg, and then slashdot to pick up on it 4 months later with successive duplicate articles. At which point a Sub Sandwich LolCat is produced, along with a motivational poster about how to arrange cheese to piss people off on the internets, then mention apple in some context. Microsoft will then buy a smaller sub franchise, and replace their aging unix based POS terminals with microsoft POS, which will fail, so Microsoft will heavily subsized the industry, buying up exclusivity contracts with condiment suppliers, while funding a small coffee upstart to sue starbucks for violating their cup property rights.
Microsoft will then charge people to look at the crap post modern ironic artwork on the walls of their shitty sub shops, with their exclusive condiments and fillings, and as you walk out of the door someone wearing a DRM tshirt hits you on the head so you loose all recent memory of what you saw, and your stomach is pumped so you can repurchase your food.
SO that is why you shouldn't buy Xbox's, because you are funding global terrorism, Ron Paul FTW!
best comment EVAR.

That pollution cloud is huge. Unable to access LA times story. are you implying that the employees at the Russian embasy in london revealed the presence of the KGB agent that was poisoned? i'm shocked SHOCKED!

http://biz.yahoo.com/entrepreneur/070907/183770_id.html?.v=1
topic specific search engins

http://digg.com/world_news/Putin_DISSOLVES_government
russia desolves gov.

Ya, FindLaw is the best free search for legal info. As a law student you get access to LexisNexis and Westlaw, which have essentially everything about the law including scholarly articles and treatises. I saw that about Russia, and Putin put his chief economist in charge as the new prime minister. And Russia tested a conventional bomb with the power of a nuke. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6990815.stmI hate the BBCAlso the Japanese Prime Minister resigned.http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2007/gb20070912_967286.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives He was democratically elected in a free country though. Even though he had to use sexy female ninjas to win. That tactic would win my vote.

something of GREAT IMPORTANCE!!!!!! MUST READ OR BE DOOMED!!!!

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/11/artist-will-send-300.html

doomed with potassium.

Dude I swear I told you about this before. It was on a Discordian website a year ago. They were asking for donations.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17d677ca-62b7-11dc-b3ad-0000779fd2ac.htmlThe Duma rubber stamps Putin's choice for Prime Minister. This entire episode smacks of political purging to me. Of course, the new Prime Minister beats the drums for war with ominous signals of increased assertions of Russian military strength. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6920573,00.htmlWisconsin, not only going for one on the crazies, today also comes with crack cocaine! http://planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=44298&newsdate=13-Sep-2007Someone went through the effort of researching the worst polluted places on Earth. Perhaps not surprisingly, Tianjin, the city I studied in over this summer and last, is on the top ten list. Although I'm sure the number of people affected would skyrocket if they took a sample of the smog cloud. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/world/africa/14mali.html?ref=worldIf someone shoots at Americans in a country without oil or uranium, does it even matter? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/13/AR2007091301889.htmlThe Stevens Clan runs into more legal problems. What intrigues me, though, is the notion that Stevens was appointed to the Alaska State Senate. I looked at wikipedia's entry on him and it had the same information (like looking at the reporter's source). That is par for the course though in corrupt enterprises such as politics in a mineral extraction state. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBt2VB3MmkenuR6VjvdBgFG8-3TgDave? Have you been stashing away nuclear material and not telling anyone?

like i have often said, the laziness and incompetence of people have saved and doomed us more times than we know.

The Sunday Edition! Now with more lemons!Iraq: the Plan, the Debate, the Protests. At least people are marching now, for whatever that's worth. Admittedly, their efforts will do little to shape policy, but at least the rest of the world might recognize that the people are not quite as crazy as the Administration. Climate change has accomplished what thwarted Europe for centuries, and opens the Northwest passage! As Japan heads towards a potentially messy race for the office of Prime Minister, here's a look at one of the top contenders. Fukuda, according to the Japan Times, is Pro-China and Pro-Nuclear! two steps forward, four steps back. On Friday, Chen Shuibian criticized the United States for not adequately supporting Taiwan. On Saturday, the people of Taiwan took to the streets to support the effort. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think critiquing the one country that keeps your island from becoming a giant parking lot is the wisest foreign policy to adopt. This stands in stark reflection to the situation on the other side of the strait. Westerners are still falling all over themselves to become a part of the Chinese market, while China is taking steps to become more of a member of the international community than the United States is. For those who might have been doubting the veracity and validity of next year's Russian Presidential elections, allow Vladimir Putin to put your mind at ease, with this declaration that there are actually five candidates for the office, and not just the one he wants to win. Although, at this point, Putin is keeping his cards close to his chest in true KGB fashion and not disclosing the identity of his preferred choice. We'll probably find out at the same time as everyone else, when the results of the election are announced. Anecdotal evidence of the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe shows a turn for the worst, as dogs and cats are now the stopgap food supply in the face of shortages of more common food staples for a starving population. In response, the Herald, a government mouthpiece, pulls out education figures as proof of the beneficence of the Mugabe government. As with most propaganda, this article is shown for what it really is in the way the author straw mans the economic plight of Zimbabweans. Meanwhile, the Archbishop of York pleads for movement on the issue from Britain's new Prime Minister and his Foreign Ministry. Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! In Greece! It's the New Democracy party versus the socialist Pasok party! To the finish! Democrat corruption , Republican corruption, these days they almost have the same flavor.In California, a fight among the University of California's Board of Regents reveals how red a blue state can be.The Wisconsin crazy for the day features a live chicken, potential police misconduct, and, of course, cocaine!In keeping with a little emphasis on Zimbabwe this week, the news pic is of a blackmarket foreign currency dealer in Harare. He's holding Z$350,000 in one hand and US$10 in the other, to give you an idea of the currency and international trade situation there.
Hello everybody!Got a quick link for you, with a challenge to notice spin...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296919,00.html#then click on the "top Video" in the blue box on the upper right. It should be anti-war protests video Spin example: They say the people "Wanted to be arrested" there-by easing any general populas reaction saying those people got what they wanted. Did you hear any others? maybe in tonal qualities used by the corespondents? any others? News-Spinning Bastards at Fox (shit! i just got added to a list for writing that in an email. In fact, you also got add to the same list for reading this right now! You're to late! You can't unread!)

I dont think we have to worry too much about the Japanese picking that particular candidate. Shinzo Abe was forced out of office because he was that way. Not necessairly Pro Chinese but pro war and too far from the mainstream of Japanese politics. They are still reeling from WWII in their culture and have more of an irrational fear of Nuclear than hippies do. And the Japanese have always been trying to prove to the west that they are better than the Chinese.

The more I think about it the more our current situation seems like WW1 Germany. The conversations I hear on the news and in bars about the situation in Iraq reminds me of the kind of know-it-all talk from completely ignorant jackasses that was novelized in All Quiet on the Western Front. It adds an extra dimension of disaster to the Josh style apocalypse we were discussing last month. Housing market collapse drags the rest of the economy down with it, the Chinese flex their mussel and crush our currency causing rampant inflation, which combines with our vast deficit spending, there then comes another great depression and years of resentment build up. Whichever president replaces Bush gets all the blame for the troubles, and instead of blaming the Jews like the Nazis did, we blame the Mexicans and the Chinese and start WWIII. Or are we on WW4 or 5 now? After all the shameful cheer leading last summer from the old media about the war in Lebanon I lost count.

Oh ya, "Page cannot be found" ITS A CONSPIRAQCY! that was a typo but I will leave it, adds an extra dimension.

Also I never understood why the visit to Yasikuni Shrine causes such a freak out. Its like the emperors one job. It would be like our president refusing to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just because we as a country have participated in unpopular wars or our soldiers had done terrible things in war.

DAMN! forgot to include the link. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/16/greenspan.book/


The reason that the visits cause such an uproar is because it is the practical manifestation of Japanese nationalism, which directly conflicts with the idea of Chinese nationalism. So, the Chinese and the Koreans object every time that a political leader decides to appeal to the old-style, hardcore, rural, conservative version of Japanese nationalism, the Chinese Communist Party has to throw a fit to continue to fit within the myth that they've created for themselves.

Blackwater is being expelled from Iraq by the Iraqi government. They are also trying to prosecute them for murder. My prediction is neither of these things will come true.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/world/middleeast/17cnd-iraq.html?hpAlso I want to point out the add on the right side for me was of a miniture whale in a fishbowl. Prooving that I am not the only one to think its a great idea.

Strike 2 for Obama in my opinion. not like theres a better Democrat. I hate being forced to choose the lesser of several evils. ******************************
***********************************Monday, September 17, 2007Obama's Anti-Gun StanceYou've gotta love the gun bloggers. A few days ago, when Gun Law News reported that Senator Barack Obama served on the board of directors for the anti-gun Joyce Foundation, I had to smile. Not because of Obama's ties to one of the deep pockets that fund anti-gun groups across this country, but because it was a blog that broke this story, not the mainstream media.Well, here's some other news about Obama and the Second Amendment: Since he's only in his first term as senator, he hasn't cast a lot of gun-related votes. But he did vote for the federal version of the Katrina bill that was authored by Senator David Vitter last year. That at least puts him in better company than his fellow candidate, Hillary Clinton-who was one of just 16 senators to vote against the bill, which prohibits federal law enforcement officials (and other law enforcement agencies that receive federal funding) from confiscating legally owned firearms during a state of emergency. But that's just one vote, and it doesn't tell us much. During his days as a state legislator in Illinois, Obama was a big fan of gun bans. He supported a ban on all semi-automatic firearms, and wanted to increase the already-draconian laws regarding firearms purchases in Illinois. He was also in favor of renewing the Clinton gun ban back in 2004, and opposed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. So learning that Obama once served on the board of the Joyce Foundation is kind of like the icing on the cake. We already know he's anti-gun; this is just one more piece of evidence that Barack Obama stands on the wrong side of your Second Amendment rights.************************************************************
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I agree that I doubt either will happen. but out of curiosity, If Blackwater is found guilty of murder, and our government employs blackwater, does that mean that our government is guilty of murder through association? Do we know how it will work if we are paying blackwater to protect people in iraq if they arn't allowed to operate inside of iraq? In addition, how will we be able to siphion millions of dollars to blackwater if they can't work in our war zone? will we have to start another war so we can employ those hard-up individuals at blackwater? I am interested in how this pans out