What did you think about the debates?
The John Kerry campaign would like you to please voice your opinions to the television news. They are spinning away dangerously. We can't let Kerry's victory be squashed. Here's a link to get all the contact information.
Thursday, September 30
Bitchin' Nervous, Pissed Big Time!
by pissed off patricia
Is tonight the end all for our country? It could be. If you're like me, you're a little nervous. You know so much of America is so damned gullible that they will believe any words that come from bush's mouth and they'll hear Kerry speaking French. It's pathetic but it's true.
If bush says all is going well in Iraq the audience will hear it and believe it. Too bad there couldn't be a crawl running across the bottom of the screen telling how many Americans and Iraqis were killed today in Iraq. Oops, I forgot we are supposed to refer to Iraq as the "New Iraq". It's new all right, it's bloodier than it used to be. Maybe we should call it the New Red Iraq, the new and unimproved Iraq. The Iraq where innocent people are killed everyday, not just when Saddam decides someone should be killed. Hell, at least with Saddam in power the Iraqis knew which rules to play by, now they don't even know what the game is.
Bush has resolve to stay the course so I guess that means that he would continue to toss our soldiers on roadside bombs and in the path of suicide bombers. That's his course so far. I guess we would stay the course that makes Iraqis so desperate for jobs that they will join the Iraqi police force and bet their lives on not being the next bombing target. Oh yeah, what a course bush has chosen.
Bush is so dearly fond of saying we're fighting terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here. Yes, of course that's insane but those damned gullible ears of Americans believe it. When you think about the essence of his remark you realize it's an excuse, not a freakin' reason. It's an excuse to excuse his decision to sidetrack his hunt for bin Laden. If you can't beat the bully, beat up the nerd just to show the bully that you can beat up someone. Then you can brag to all the other kids about how tough you are.
I do not believe the people placing the roadside bombs on the roads in Iraq would, had we not invaded Iraq, be here in America with their roadside bombs and ready to do battle. It's tough to get a roadside bomb on a transcontinental airplane these days.
How the hell does someone like Senator Kerry, or anyone else with a useable brain, go up against a freak like bush? How do you explain all this to an audience who still believes even the lies that have been proven to be exactly that, lies? What can he say to make the American public believe the truth when they are so damned determined to believe the lies? The facts don't seem to work. Common sense doesn't seem to work. Maybe if he asks bush this question it might work. Maybe if he says, Why did two or our soldiers die in Iraq today? Then, when bush starts spouting his bs about a free and voting Iraq, Senator Kerry could ask that question again. He should ask it over and over until the bastard bush cringes, sweats and fumbles for words. He should ask it until bush falls on his knees and his nose bleeds. When bush becomes comatose, Senator Kerry could turn to the camera and ask that same damned question of the American public. And maybe, just maybe the viewers would turn to one another and say, Yeah, why did they die?
Is tonight the end all for our country? It could be. If you're like me, you're a little nervous. You know so much of America is so damned gullible that they will believe any words that come from bush's mouth and they'll hear Kerry speaking French. It's pathetic but it's true.
If bush says all is going well in Iraq the audience will hear it and believe it. Too bad there couldn't be a crawl running across the bottom of the screen telling how many Americans and Iraqis were killed today in Iraq. Oops, I forgot we are supposed to refer to Iraq as the "New Iraq". It's new all right, it's bloodier than it used to be. Maybe we should call it the New Red Iraq, the new and unimproved Iraq. The Iraq where innocent people are killed everyday, not just when Saddam decides someone should be killed. Hell, at least with Saddam in power the Iraqis knew which rules to play by, now they don't even know what the game is.
Bush has resolve to stay the course so I guess that means that he would continue to toss our soldiers on roadside bombs and in the path of suicide bombers. That's his course so far. I guess we would stay the course that makes Iraqis so desperate for jobs that they will join the Iraqi police force and bet their lives on not being the next bombing target. Oh yeah, what a course bush has chosen.
Bush is so dearly fond of saying we're fighting terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to fight them here. Yes, of course that's insane but those damned gullible ears of Americans believe it. When you think about the essence of his remark you realize it's an excuse, not a freakin' reason. It's an excuse to excuse his decision to sidetrack his hunt for bin Laden. If you can't beat the bully, beat up the nerd just to show the bully that you can beat up someone. Then you can brag to all the other kids about how tough you are.
I do not believe the people placing the roadside bombs on the roads in Iraq would, had we not invaded Iraq, be here in America with their roadside bombs and ready to do battle. It's tough to get a roadside bomb on a transcontinental airplane these days.
How the hell does someone like Senator Kerry, or anyone else with a useable brain, go up against a freak like bush? How do you explain all this to an audience who still believes even the lies that have been proven to be exactly that, lies? What can he say to make the American public believe the truth when they are so damned determined to believe the lies? The facts don't seem to work. Common sense doesn't seem to work. Maybe if he asks bush this question it might work. Maybe if he says, Why did two or our soldiers die in Iraq today? Then, when bush starts spouting his bs about a free and voting Iraq, Senator Kerry could ask that question again. He should ask it over and over until the bastard bush cringes, sweats and fumbles for words. He should ask it until bush falls on his knees and his nose bleeds. When bush becomes comatose, Senator Kerry could turn to the camera and ask that same damned question of the American public. And maybe, just maybe the viewers would turn to one another and say, Yeah, why did they die?
Russia Backs Kyoto climate treaty
Moscow's decision was greeted with delight by the European Union and environmental campaigners.
Wonder what it will take for the U.S. to get enlightened? More death and devastation?
Ready for Debates?
Look for these signs tonight when you watch the debates.
Don't forget to watch the Daily Show afterwards.
Links
Funny commentaries on "The Debates"
- The New Yorker: Rules of Engagement
- Debate Drinking Game and Not Drinking Game
- Mad Kane's TOP SECRET ADDENDUM TO ELECTION 2004 DEBATE AGREEMENT
- The Rude Pundit: What a Desperate Nation Wants To Know
A reader named Jim gave me the idea to spread the word that if Bush is smirking, he's telling a lie.
Wednesday, September 29
Fahrenheit 9/11 is coming out on DVD next week
Buy it and help The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to fund last-minute pushes by progressive congressional candidates in competitive districts. Brought to you by the AllSpinZone.
I bought a whole bunch of political movies while I was at the website. Now I can cozy up on the couch and get appalled and choke on my popcorn while I find out all about our government and pray that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committe is able to help save our fat comfortable asses from tyranny.
I bought a whole bunch of political movies while I was at the website. Now I can cozy up on the couch and get appalled and choke on my popcorn while I find out all about our government and pray that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committe is able to help save our fat comfortable asses from tyranny.
Questions for Bush
The Rude Pundit asked readers to send in their questions for Mr Bush. He got so many that he can't post them all. Since we have comments here at Blondesense, what question would you like to ask the president? And yes, you may be rude, but not to each other.
It Is Not An 11 Point Race
Interesting article to read: "2004: It Is Not An 11 Point Race - by John Zogby"
and here is why Kerry is Doing Much Better than the Polls State
and here is why Kerry is Doing Much Better than the Polls State
Debate Debate: Open Thread
Discuss what you think will happen at the debate here.
Hoping for some zingers in the Bush-Kerry face-off?
Not with these rules of engagement
By Gersh Kuntzman Newsweek
Looking forward to the presidential debate? Don’t bother. There isn’t going to be one.
Oh, sure, George W. Bush and John Kerry will stand on the same stage on Thursday, but any similarity between that and a debate is purely a function of the power suits they’ll be wearing and the stump speeches they’ll be spitting out in 90-second chunks.
...But in reality, the candidates don’t stand face to face, they are under no obligation to answer questions and they are forbidden, by the very rules of the debate, to respond to each other.
I can say that because I’ve just read the debate’s 31-page "memorandum of understanding" hashed out by the Kerry and Bush campaigns (if you want to see the full text, hunt around on georgewbush.com or johnkerry.com). Thanks to this lawyerly document, the rules of engagement prevent almost all engagement. It should be called a debase rather than a debate. Read whole thing at newsweek
Dan Rather Takes A Bullet
While the Right was demonizing the crusty ol' newsman, BushCo got away with murder, again by Mark Morford.
Oh, come on.
I mean, really now. Like anyone worth their even remotely sober intellect didn't have, during that entire, cute little "Memogate" scandal, in their mind's eye a slightly oozing picture of BushCo's master puppeteer and most favoritist overfed pit bull Karl Rove, sitting there all puffed up and wheezing and hunched over his grease-stained nail-studded Compaq Presario after yet another three-Martini, four-baby-seal-kabob lunch, hammering out those forged memos about Bush's military ineptitude on his swiped copy of MS Word.
Can't you just see it? Hear the heavy breathing? Smell the gin? Could this picture be very far from the truth? Because, verily, if it ain't the truth, it's hovering over it like a giant elephant-shaped radiation cloud.
And who can't clearly see Rove, the ruthless conspirator and "co-president," grinning like a troll on ether, orchestrating the whole memo maneuver and hiring some GOP flunkies to feed the docs to overly gullible CBS News with the full intent of later discrediting them and screaming abut the bogus "liberal media" and hanging sad wonky ol' Dan Rather out to dry and making a big fat nonsensical media field day of it?
Read the rest
Spread this around Please
Contact Your House Member Now 9/29/2004
Back on Sept 14th, WaPo reported that Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) said House Republican leaders have promised him a vote before the Nov. 2 election on his proposed D.C. Personal Protection Act, which would
Tom DeLay said last night, and oh my god, if there is a hell may he go there today, "The homes of this city will be safer when its law-abiding citizens are on an equal footing with its violent criminals," DeLay said on the House floor earlier. "Washington residents are American citizens and therefore deserve the same right to bear arms to defend themselves as much as anyone else."
Republican congressman want there to be a complete free for all in DC. Do they understand that they might get killed in the crossfire? And you know what I am thinking but I won't write it here.
They don't want to hear about banning armor-piercing ammunition in the city. Nice. Do they know something we don't know? Do these high and mighty piece of shit congressman think that the residents of DC are going to defend their asses if terrorists invade DC? Is that what they are thinking? OR are they hoping that the black people will just go ahead and kill each other in DC? This is so sick, I can barely collect my thoughts at this point.
-----------------------
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
1023 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-408-7560
www.csgv.org
Wednesday, Sept. 29th the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on HR 3193, legislation to repeal Washington DC's gun laws. This is the companion proposal to the recently abandoned effort in the Senate.
Voice your opposition to repealing DC's gun laws that have the widespread support of the local community. The vote on HR 3193 is being pushed by the Republican leadership, who don't represent DC residents and who care more about pleasing the gun lobby than public safety. Instead, Congress should vote to ban assault weapons, a proposal supported by more than 70% of Americans.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1) Contact your House member NOW and tell them to VOTE NO on HR 3193.
Email: http://action.csgv.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=21846
2) Call: Use the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Don't know who your House member is, use our legislative directory .
3) Please pass this action alert onto your family, friends, and co-workers.
Back on Sept 14th, WaPo reported that Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.) said House Republican leaders have promised him a vote before the Nov. 2 election on his proposed D.C. Personal Protection Act, which would
- end a ban on handguns in the nation's capital (DC has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation right now);
- remove a prohibition against semiautomatic weapons;
- lift registration requirements for ammunition and other firearms;
- cancel criminal penalties for possessing unregistered firearms
- carrying a handgun in one's home or workplace.
- deny the District's elected officials "authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms
A spokeswoman for Utah Senator Orrin Hatch describes the bill as a way to "restore the rights of law-abiding citizens" who want to protect themselves.
Tom DeLay said last night, and oh my god, if there is a hell may he go there today, "The homes of this city will be safer when its law-abiding citizens are on an equal footing with its violent criminals," DeLay said on the House floor earlier. "Washington residents are American citizens and therefore deserve the same right to bear arms to defend themselves as much as anyone else."
AAlso from WaPo: "Last night, GOP House leaders rejected proposed Democratic amendments to water down the bill by extending a national ban on 19 types of semiautomatic weapons, maintaining such an "assault weapons" ban in the District and banning armor-piercing ammunition in the city. "
Republican congressman want there to be a complete free for all in DC. Do they understand that they might get killed in the crossfire? And you know what I am thinking but I won't write it here.
They don't want to hear about banning armor-piercing ammunition in the city. Nice. Do they know something we don't know? Do these high and mighty piece of shit congressman think that the residents of DC are going to defend their asses if terrorists invade DC? Is that what they are thinking? OR are they hoping that the black people will just go ahead and kill each other in DC? This is so sick, I can barely collect my thoughts at this point.
"District leaders warned of an "arms race with criminals" if the bill becomes law.
"This makes a mockery and a joke of the whole homeland security issue as far as I am concerned," Ramsey said, noting that he had to pass through a checkpoint and metal detector to reach the Capitol and that a security-related visitor center under construction "looks like a bunker to me."
"You have all these protections for the Capitol, and you make city residents fend for themselves," Ramsey said. "They're hiding in bathtubs for protection from stray bullets."
Janey said he would have to tell his students, "This is a textbook case of what not to do in a democracy." "
Smiles, Compliments of Everyday Life
Not Bitchin' About This
by pissed off patricia
I know we're supposed to be discussing important issues here. Issues like whether Senator Kerry's tan is fake or a result of sun and wind burn. Yeah, real deep stuff like that. But just for a change of pace from discussions of war and hurricanes and military deaths, let's look for some cheap thrills. No, I'm not talking about Janis Joplin's album, I'm talking about the little gifts that life gives you at no charge.
I have recently experienced a couple of things that required a smile. On our trip over to Tampa we passed through an area in central Florida that seemed to be experiencing a state of poverty. We saw the usual mobile homes balanced on concrete blocks, the rusty and useless cars in the yard and a general atmosphere that told you life was a struggle. Out by the road there was a weather stained piece of plywood propped against a mailbox. On the plywood, spray painted in black paint was the following message, "Free puppy for sale"
Before hurricane Frances came we had a red climbing rose bush on our privacy fence. After Frances blew by, our privacy fence was laying on the ground and smushing our poor little climbing rose. Within a few days, from beneath the fence and through an opening in the fence, a tiny rose bud appeared. As time went by it opened it's tender petals to produce the most beautiful little red rose. I took this to represent hope for a better tomorrow. When we could we removed the broken fence section from the rose and staked the plant to a remaining upright fence post. Then came hurricane Jeanne. The rose bush survived and I'm betting it will bloom again. The beauty of nature is resilient. That's a nice thing to remember.
Have you experienced a cheap thrill lately? Please share it with me.
by pissed off patricia
I know we're supposed to be discussing important issues here. Issues like whether Senator Kerry's tan is fake or a result of sun and wind burn. Yeah, real deep stuff like that. But just for a change of pace from discussions of war and hurricanes and military deaths, let's look for some cheap thrills. No, I'm not talking about Janis Joplin's album, I'm talking about the little gifts that life gives you at no charge.
I have recently experienced a couple of things that required a smile. On our trip over to Tampa we passed through an area in central Florida that seemed to be experiencing a state of poverty. We saw the usual mobile homes balanced on concrete blocks, the rusty and useless cars in the yard and a general atmosphere that told you life was a struggle. Out by the road there was a weather stained piece of plywood propped against a mailbox. On the plywood, spray painted in black paint was the following message, "Free puppy for sale"
Before hurricane Frances came we had a red climbing rose bush on our privacy fence. After Frances blew by, our privacy fence was laying on the ground and smushing our poor little climbing rose. Within a few days, from beneath the fence and through an opening in the fence, a tiny rose bud appeared. As time went by it opened it's tender petals to produce the most beautiful little red rose. I took this to represent hope for a better tomorrow. When we could we removed the broken fence section from the rose and staked the plant to a remaining upright fence post. Then came hurricane Jeanne. The rose bush survived and I'm betting it will bloom again. The beauty of nature is resilient. That's a nice thing to remember.
Have you experienced a cheap thrill lately? Please share it with me.
Bitchin'
by pissed off patricia
Thank you so much Peter for sending me a link to this article. If anyone thinks all is well with the government's response to hurricane victims in Florida, read this. Team bush didn't play the game, they just showed up so they wouldn't have to forfeit. Both bush brothers flew in, looked around, handed out melting bags of ice and whoosh, they were gone with the wind. Now Wayne Madsen asks, "Where is the Florida National Guard?"
I know where some of them are. Some are learning to use their new prosthesis, some are dead, some are in Iraq and some are so damned tired from fighting in Iraq, doing duty in Punta Gorda, the panhandle of Florida and Indian River County, Florida that they can't even see straight. That's where some of them are! Jeb bush sent them to Iraq and his smirking brother kept them there. Result, they are too dead or too dead tired to do what they were intended to do. It's just that simple.
Thank you so much Peter for sending me a link to this article. If anyone thinks all is well with the government's response to hurricane victims in Florida, read this. Team bush didn't play the game, they just showed up so they wouldn't have to forfeit. Both bush brothers flew in, looked around, handed out melting bags of ice and whoosh, they were gone with the wind. Now Wayne Madsen asks, "Where is the Florida National Guard?"
I know where some of them are. Some are learning to use their new prosthesis, some are dead, some are in Iraq and some are so damned tired from fighting in Iraq, doing duty in Punta Gorda, the panhandle of Florida and Indian River County, Florida that they can't even see straight. That's where some of them are! Jeb bush sent them to Iraq and his smirking brother kept them there. Result, they are too dead or too dead tired to do what they were intended to do. It's just that simple.
Gallup Polls- Conditioning for Vote Rigging?
U.S. Gallup Polls- Conditioning for Vote Rigging?
Monday, 27 September 2004, 8:27 am
Column: DemocraticTalkRadio.com
Written by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence (hosts of Democratic Talk Radio ).
The recent polls showing a large Bush lead seem to be designed to either discourage Democratic voters and/or condition the American public for a Bush victory based on vote rigging. The methodology that seems to be in use by Gallup and most other polling firms connected to large corporations are greatly over weighted to give Republicans excessive representation and do not give sufficient weight to Democratic voters based on historical voting trend. Polls by independent polling organizations that are using properly weighted samples (like Zogby, Pew Research, Harris and others) are not showing a significant Bush lead and some have Kerry ahead!
While most political analysts predict the largest Democratic voter turn-out in history, Gallup is predicting in their methodology that Republicans will be 7-8% more of the total electorate than Democrats actually voting on election day. Based on the most recent elections, Democrats have usually been 7-8% more of the total electorate when the actual votes were counted. The swing in numbers using Gallup’s distorted methodology would tend to give Bush a “fake” lead in the neighborhood of 15%.
It is interesting to note that James Clifton who bought the Gallup organization is a big Republican donor. He gave thousands to Right Wing Republican Georgia Senate candidate Herman Cain. (See http://www.opensecrets.org ) Cain ran as a huge backer of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans. This is essentially the same tax position supported with vigor by the Bush-Cheney ticket.
The Bush Administration has been re-writing the tax codes, labor regulations and business laws to give more wealth and power to large corporations along with wealthy and powerful individuals since their first days in office. Polling outfits, media companies and their owners have benefited as never before in history. Many of these entities and individuals are doing everything in their power to keep the Bush Republicans in power.
The massive increase in electronic voting machines will make it nearly impossible to detect vote fraud by computer hacking or hidden computer code. Many states are using machines that do not provide a paper receipt to voters. A top executive of one voting machine company at a Republican rally in Ohio promised to do everything in his power to put Ohio in the Bush column in November. He should have been removed as an executive by the company but was not. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has very close ties to another large voting machine company. He is a former top executive of that firm.
These concerns would not be as serious if the computer codes used by voting machine makers were standard, open source codes like in New Zealand and Sweden. In the United States, the vote counting computer codes are company property not available to the average voter. Voters should be worried and watchful but not discouraged! The public will not tolerate massive vote fraud in America regardless of any attempts at conditioning the public by the Corporate Media!
Monday, 27 September 2004, 8:27 am
Column: DemocraticTalkRadio.com
Written by Stephen Crockett and Al Lawrence (hosts of Democratic Talk Radio ).
The recent polls showing a large Bush lead seem to be designed to either discourage Democratic voters and/or condition the American public for a Bush victory based on vote rigging. The methodology that seems to be in use by Gallup and most other polling firms connected to large corporations are greatly over weighted to give Republicans excessive representation and do not give sufficient weight to Democratic voters based on historical voting trend. Polls by independent polling organizations that are using properly weighted samples (like Zogby, Pew Research, Harris and others) are not showing a significant Bush lead and some have Kerry ahead!
While most political analysts predict the largest Democratic voter turn-out in history, Gallup is predicting in their methodology that Republicans will be 7-8% more of the total electorate than Democrats actually voting on election day. Based on the most recent elections, Democrats have usually been 7-8% more of the total electorate when the actual votes were counted. The swing in numbers using Gallup’s distorted methodology would tend to give Bush a “fake” lead in the neighborhood of 15%.
As voters, we need to ask ourselves “why Gallup would use a methodology that would almost definitely mean that their election predictions would be wrong?” These writers are somewhat baffled in answering that question. Why would Gallup want to give the false impression of a Bush lead?
The Bush Administration has been re-writing the tax codes, labor regulations and business laws to give more wealth and power to large corporations along with wealthy and powerful individuals since their first days in office. Polling outfits, media companies and their owners have benefited as never before in history. Many of these entities and individuals are doing everything in their power to keep the Bush Republicans in power.
The massive increase in electronic voting machines will make it nearly impossible to detect vote fraud by computer hacking or hidden computer code. Many states are using machines that do not provide a paper receipt to voters. A top executive of one voting machine company at a Republican rally in Ohio promised to do everything in his power to put Ohio in the Bush column in November. He should have been removed as an executive by the company but was not. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has very close ties to another large voting machine company. He is a former top executive of that firm.
These concerns would not be as serious if the computer codes used by voting machine makers were standard, open source codes like in New Zealand and Sweden. In the United States, the vote counting computer codes are company property not available to the average voter. Voters should be worried and watchful but not discouraged! The public will not tolerate massive vote fraud in America regardless of any attempts at conditioning the public by the Corporate Media!
They Will Stop At Nothing To Win
Since their man is a bumbling AWOL fool who makes Clinton look like a saint, the GOP has to resort to even dirtier politics this time completely disregarding any scrutiny of their tactics. They simply don't care. They are counting on the ignorance and brainwashed masses to help them succeed.
They are painting Bushie as the underdog because he isn't good at talking like the fancy pants folks. Have the masses missed the part that Bush went to Yale and Harvard? Are the masses so stupid that they want a bumbling idiot president who's just like them? Is this a national suicide wish or what?
I wonder if Jebby thinks that all the hurricanes were sent by god to take Florida off the hook when it comes to the elections. I was just thinking of that Florida congresswoman who mentioned the stolen election and that congress went nuts on her and retracted her comment... yet the stories all over the news revolve around the "stolen election of 2000".
In Orlando, those who would normally lead Democratic voters to the polls are under "investigation" by the state police, known as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which reports directly to Governor Jeb Bush.
Jimmy Carter says we're still seeking a fair Florida vote.
In Ohio, voter registrations don't count unless they are printed on the proper weight paper! 1000's ballots are being returned. These will not be returned in time for the registrants to be included in this election.
Yesterday I was speaking to a good friend of mine I hadn't spoken to in a while. He told me that one of his friends apologized for voting for Bush last time but he was forced to by his school district. He's a teacher. I remarked that it doesn't matter who you vote for. They don't check. My friend said, yes they do. Then I thought of what happened to me 2 years ago:
They are painting Bushie as the underdog because he isn't good at talking like the fancy pants folks. Have the masses missed the part that Bush went to Yale and Harvard? Are the masses so stupid that they want a bumbling idiot president who's just like them? Is this a national suicide wish or what?
I wonder if Jebby thinks that all the hurricanes were sent by god to take Florida off the hook when it comes to the elections. I was just thinking of that Florida congresswoman who mentioned the stolen election and that congress went nuts on her and retracted her comment... yet the stories all over the news revolve around the "stolen election of 2000".
In Orlando, those who would normally lead Democratic voters to the polls are under "investigation" by the state police, known as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), which reports directly to Governor Jeb Bush.
Jimmy Carter says we're still seeking a fair Florida vote.
In Ohio, voter registrations don't count unless they are printed on the proper weight paper! 1000's ballots are being returned. These will not be returned in time for the registrants to be included in this election.
Yesterday I was speaking to a good friend of mine I hadn't spoken to in a while. He told me that one of his friends apologized for voting for Bush last time but he was forced to by his school district. He's a teacher. I remarked that it doesn't matter who you vote for. They don't check. My friend said, yes they do. Then I thought of what happened to me 2 years ago:
I ran into several people I hadn't seen in a while at the polls. We signed in to vote and were waiting on line. We mixed ourselves up in the line because we were all chatting with each other. No one voted in the order that we signed up for. It was noted by an observer who reported it to the lady at the desk who signed us in. The lady at the desk went ballistic on us telling us that we can't vote out of order. It's not allowed.
I indicated to her that it shouldn't matter at all. We signed up. We voted. She indicated that it does matter what order you vote in and that you HAVE TO vote in the order that is on the list. I explained that the only way it should matter is if they are monitoring who is voting for whom. She said that no one checks who we vote for because it's illegal. I said that it shouldn't matter then. The election ladies went crazy marking stuff all over the list trying to make a note that the 6 of us messed up the line. She tried to find out exactly what order we voted in afterall. We then pretended that we couldn't remember and kept changing our story. She threatened to make our votes null and void. We shrugged and left not even considering that she could do such a thing... but maybe they could?
Maybe this is a 3rd world country with nukes.
Tuesday, September 28
Back and Still Bitchin'
by pissed off patricia
First before I say anything else, thank you all once again for all the sweet and encouraging comments you left me last week. It must have worked because I came home to conditions no worse than I left. We ran to Tampa to avoid Jeanne and Jeanne ran right in our tracks. It hit in Tampa on Sunday and we lost power over there. We came home Monday morning to electricity here. Yesterday our cable was restored, so now I can get Fox news which I missed so damned much. lol
Today our phone service was restored so we are truly good to go. Even the thousand dollar screening that we had done after Frances weathered the storm. Not a tear anywhere. Whew! You guys wouldn't believe the devastation in this area. Someone on the radio said it looked like Baghdad and that's a good comparison. Too bad we can't get the rebuilding funds that Baghdad got with no need to repay the money. So, all in all we were most fortunate at our house, but so incredibly many people were not. It's in the nineties here today and three quarters of our county has no electricity. No electricity means no air condition and that's miserable to the max.
I have kept up a bit on the election front and what I've seen doesn't look great for our guy, does it? The war doesn't look good for our guys either. I did see on TV yesterday that an awful lot of Americans think the war is going well. Okay, those are the ones we need to find. Those folks need some serious mental health attention. They're the ones causing all the problems and we need to talk to them. Also, they need to listen.
I may add some more bitchin' later today, but for now I will bring this to a close. Oh, one more thing. Isn't it enough that we Floridians have had to endure hurricane after hurricane? We are all real tired and now we have to have bush down here for the debate on Thursday. I wish I could ask the bastard one simple question. If Iraq doesn't have to pay back the money that he took out of our pockets via taxes, why do the people of Florida have to pay back the loans they are taking out to rebuild their lives? It's just that simple. When did Americans start taking a backseat to Iraqis? When did that happen and why?
First before I say anything else, thank you all once again for all the sweet and encouraging comments you left me last week. It must have worked because I came home to conditions no worse than I left. We ran to Tampa to avoid Jeanne and Jeanne ran right in our tracks. It hit in Tampa on Sunday and we lost power over there. We came home Monday morning to electricity here. Yesterday our cable was restored, so now I can get Fox news which I missed so damned much. lol
Today our phone service was restored so we are truly good to go. Even the thousand dollar screening that we had done after Frances weathered the storm. Not a tear anywhere. Whew! You guys wouldn't believe the devastation in this area. Someone on the radio said it looked like Baghdad and that's a good comparison. Too bad we can't get the rebuilding funds that Baghdad got with no need to repay the money. So, all in all we were most fortunate at our house, but so incredibly many people were not. It's in the nineties here today and three quarters of our county has no electricity. No electricity means no air condition and that's miserable to the max.
I have kept up a bit on the election front and what I've seen doesn't look great for our guy, does it? The war doesn't look good for our guys either. I did see on TV yesterday that an awful lot of Americans think the war is going well. Okay, those are the ones we need to find. Those folks need some serious mental health attention. They're the ones causing all the problems and we need to talk to them. Also, they need to listen.
I may add some more bitchin' later today, but for now I will bring this to a close. Oh, one more thing. Isn't it enough that we Floridians have had to endure hurricane after hurricane? We are all real tired and now we have to have bush down here for the debate on Thursday. I wish I could ask the bastard one simple question. If Iraq doesn't have to pay back the money that he took out of our pockets via taxes, why do the people of Florida have to pay back the loans they are taking out to rebuild their lives? It's just that simple. When did Americans start taking a backseat to Iraqis? When did that happen and why?
It's a Lovely Day for Twain
Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel. He is the man who talks the loudest.
-- Mark Twain- "Education and Citizenship speech", 5/14/1908
A man can be a Christian or a patriot, but he can't legally be a Christian and a patriot--except in the usual way: one of the two with the mouth, the other with the heart.
The spirit of Christianity proclaims the brotherhood of the race and the meaning of that strong word has not been left to guesswork, but made tremendously definite- the Christian must forgive his brother man all crimes he can imagine and commit, and all insults he can conceive and utter- forgive these injuries how many times?--seventy times seven--another way of saying there shall be no limit to this forgiveness. That is the spirit and the law of Christianity.
Well--Patriotism has its laws. And it also is a perfectly definite one, there are not vaguenesses about it. It commands that the brother over the border shall be sharply watched and brought to book every time he does us a hurt or offends us with an insult. Word it as softly as you please, the spirit of patriotism is the spirit of the dog and wolf. The moment there is a misunderstanding about a boundary line or a hamper of fish or some other squalid matter, see patriotism rise, and hear him split the universe with is war-whoop.
The spirit of patriotism being in its nature jealous and selfish, is just in man's line, it comes natural to him- he can live up to all its requirements to the letter; but the spirit of Christianity is not in its entirety possible to him.
The prayers concealed in what I have been saying is, not that patriotism should cease and not that the talk about universal brotherhood should cease, but that the incongruous firm be dissolved and each limb of it be required to transact business by itself, for the future.
-Mark Twain's Notebook
History has tried hard to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians. Now, to go and stick one at the very head of the government couldn't be wise.
-- Mark Twain
Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.
-- Mark Twain, "Chronicle of Young Satan"
The Person Sitting in Darkness is almost sure to say: "There is something curious about this -- curious and unaccountable. There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive's new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land."
-- Mark Twain, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" 1901
To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, " Our country, right or wrong," and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation.
-- Mark Twain, "Glances at History," 1906
Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out...and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. ..And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"--with his mouth.
-- Mark Twain, "What Is Man?"
-- Mark Twain- "Education and Citizenship speech", 5/14/1908
A man can be a Christian or a patriot, but he can't legally be a Christian and a patriot--except in the usual way: one of the two with the mouth, the other with the heart.
The spirit of Christianity proclaims the brotherhood of the race and the meaning of that strong word has not been left to guesswork, but made tremendously definite- the Christian must forgive his brother man all crimes he can imagine and commit, and all insults he can conceive and utter- forgive these injuries how many times?--seventy times seven--another way of saying there shall be no limit to this forgiveness. That is the spirit and the law of Christianity.
Well--Patriotism has its laws. And it also is a perfectly definite one, there are not vaguenesses about it. It commands that the brother over the border shall be sharply watched and brought to book every time he does us a hurt or offends us with an insult. Word it as softly as you please, the spirit of patriotism is the spirit of the dog and wolf. The moment there is a misunderstanding about a boundary line or a hamper of fish or some other squalid matter, see patriotism rise, and hear him split the universe with is war-whoop.
The spirit of patriotism being in its nature jealous and selfish, is just in man's line, it comes natural to him- he can live up to all its requirements to the letter; but the spirit of Christianity is not in its entirety possible to him.
The prayers concealed in what I have been saying is, not that patriotism should cease and not that the talk about universal brotherhood should cease, but that the incongruous firm be dissolved and each limb of it be required to transact business by itself, for the future.
-Mark Twain's Notebook
History has tried hard to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians. Now, to go and stick one at the very head of the government couldn't be wise.
-- Mark Twain
Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.
-- Mark Twain, "Chronicle of Young Satan"
The Person Sitting in Darkness is almost sure to say: "There is something curious about this -- curious and unaccountable. There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive's new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land."
-- Mark Twain, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" 1901
To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, " Our country, right or wrong," and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation.
-- Mark Twain, "Glances at History," 1906
Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out...and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. ..And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"--with his mouth.
-- Mark Twain, "What Is Man?"
I picked a bad day to give up drinking
The folks at Capitol Hill shot down the Bush Admin's plan proposing a covert CIA operation to aid candidates, favoured by Washington. "The plan, written several months ago, wanted to help such candidates "whose opponents might be receiving covert backing from other countries, like Iran" but not necessarily to go so far as to rig the elections, US media reports said. "
Yeah sure, no one wanted to "rig" the democratically held elections in Iraq. CIA's Iraq Plan Shot Down
From Time Mag: President Bush and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi insisted last week that Iraq would go ahead with elections scheduled for January, despite continuing violence. But U.S. officials tell TIME that the Bush team ran into trouble with another plan involving those elections — a secret "finding" written several months ago proposing a covert CIA operation to aid candidates favored by Washington. A source says the idea was to help such candidates — whose opponents might be receiving covert backing from other countries, like Iran — but not necessarily to go so far as to rig the elections. But lawmakers from both parties raised questions about the idea when it was sent to Capitol Hill.
++++++++
In moron news:
These comments are out of this world. These people not only don't understand the Bible, they don't understand Judeo-Christian principles, a secular democratic society, what a liberal is and they are totally paranoid. I can't wait until they lose. There is no room for fundamentalist radical christians in politics.
Isn't it ironic that the fascists got the media in their pockets as far as the news divisions go, but the same media corporations are the ones who spread vile spew in music, film and tv to the masses? They don't have a problem with this? I do. Who's the conservative here?
++++++++
Seniors aren't dead yet.
They decided to sock it to Bush by protesting George Bush's anti-senior, anti-family policies with a nationwide sock rally. The Alliance for Retired Americans is sponsoring the "Socked Out Seniors" Washington, D.C., and cross-country rallies to call attention to George Bush's failure to protect and preserve programs vital to the safety and security of seniors and their families. All socks collected at the rally will be delivered to the White House.
++++++++
Uh oh. Al Qaida may strike before next election. That must mean that Bush camp doesn't like what Ted Kennedy has to say: "Kennedy's Monday speech details 13 reasons why Bush's policies have not made the United States safer from terrorism. Among other things, he said the war in Iraq created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons. "
++++++++
Twice as many Iraqis (mostly civilians) killed by U.S., multinational forces, and Iraqi police as killed by insurgents. Iraqi's are not convinced that the US is interested in their freedom:
++++++
I'm saving my money up for Virgin Galactic.
Yeah sure, no one wanted to "rig" the democratically held elections in Iraq. CIA's Iraq Plan Shot Down
From Time Mag: President Bush and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi insisted last week that Iraq would go ahead with elections scheduled for January, despite continuing violence. But U.S. officials tell TIME that the Bush team ran into trouble with another plan involving those elections — a secret "finding" written several months ago proposing a covert CIA operation to aid candidates favored by Washington. A source says the idea was to help such candidates — whose opponents might be receiving covert backing from other countries, like Iran — but not necessarily to go so far as to rig the elections. But lawmakers from both parties raised questions about the idea when it was sent to Capitol Hill.
++++++++
In moron news:
Falwell expressed confidence in a Bush victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry, adding, "You cannot be a sincere, committed born-again believer who takes the Bible seriously and vote for a pro-choice, anti-family candidate."
The Rev. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, who, in announcing a $1 million campaign to mobilize church-going voters, likened politicians who support abortion rights to people who support terrorism.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., who said "preachers must be free to speak out" in favor of anti-abortion office-seekers because liberals are attempting to "eliminate the Judeo-Christian principles upon which this country was founded."
These comments are out of this world. These people not only don't understand the Bible, they don't understand Judeo-Christian principles, a secular democratic society, what a liberal is and they are totally paranoid. I can't wait until they lose. There is no room for fundamentalist radical christians in politics.
Isn't it ironic that the fascists got the media in their pockets as far as the news divisions go, but the same media corporations are the ones who spread vile spew in music, film and tv to the masses? They don't have a problem with this? I do. Who's the conservative here?
++++++++
Seniors aren't dead yet.
They decided to sock it to Bush by protesting George Bush's anti-senior, anti-family policies with a nationwide sock rally. The Alliance for Retired Americans is sponsoring the "Socked Out Seniors" Washington, D.C., and cross-country rallies to call attention to George Bush's failure to protect and preserve programs vital to the safety and security of seniors and their families. All socks collected at the rally will be delivered to the White House.
++++++++
Uh oh. Al Qaida may strike before next election. That must mean that Bush camp doesn't like what Ted Kennedy has to say: "Kennedy's Monday speech details 13 reasons why Bush's policies have not made the United States safer from terrorism. Among other things, he said the war in Iraq created a new breeding ground for terrorists, distracted from efforts to eliminate al-Qaida, alienated America's allies and allowed North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons. "
++++++++
Twice as many Iraqis (mostly civilians) killed by U.S., multinational forces, and Iraqi police as killed by insurgents. Iraqi's are not convinced that the US is interested in their freedom:
Many Iraqis said they thought the numbers showed that the multinational forces disregarded their lives.They are having a hard time getting former soldiers to show up to fight in Iraq. War is not going so well for the bushcrimefamily.
"The Americans do not care about the Iraqis. They don't care if they get killed, because they don't care about the citizens," said Abu Mohammed, 50, who was a major general in Saddam Hussein's army in Baghdad. "The Americans keep criticizing Saddam for the mass graves. How many graves are the Americans making in Iraq?"
At his fruit stand in southern Baghdad, Raid Ibraham, 24, theorized: "The Americans keep attacking the cities not to keep the security situation stable, but so they can stay in Iraq and control the oil." 'Knight Ridder
++++++
I'm saving my money up for Virgin Galactic.
War in Iraq looks different from doctors view
This is an important story. They're burned, or blinded, or sparring with death
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 18,000 military personnel have passed through the hospital [Landstuhl Regional Medical Center ] from what staff refer to as "down range": Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, nearly 16,000 have come from Iraq.
Last month, 23 percent of those were casualties from combat, slightly higher than most months; the rest had either accidental or disease-related complaints.
Thirteen have died at the hospital.
Each day, an average of 30 to 35 patients arrive on flights from Iraq. The most on a single day was 168.
More than 200 personnel have come in with either lost eyes or eye injuries that could result in sight loss or blindness.
About 160 soldiers have had limbs amputated, most of them passing through the hospital on their way home to more surgery.
And it's not just their bodies that come in needing fixing. More than 1,400 physically fit personnel have been admitted with mental health problems.
Then there are the Pentagon's figures that touch on all casualties from the war in Iraq: 1,042 dead; 7,413 injured in action, including 4,026 whose injuries have prevented them from returning to duty. In Afghanistan, there have been 366 injuries and 138 deaths.
One other number tells a slightly different tale, a story of selflessness in the face of suffering: one third. That's about how much money surgeons at Landstuhl make compared to what they could make if they chose to work in the civilian world.
"There is nothing more rewarding than to take care of these guys," said Place, the skin around his eyes reddening with the tears that he failed to hold inside. "Not money, not anything."
...
Col. Earl Hecker sat outside the room where nurses were applying the white antimicrobial cream to one of the burned soldiers. Twenty-seven-years-old, Hecker remarked, looking at the patient's notes.
Hecker, at 70, is a few generations older than his patient. A surgeon who had retired from the Reserves but recently rejoined, he has forsaken his private practice in Detroit for now to help at Landstuhl, working past his assigned 90-day tour to stay nearly 150 days.
This experience "has changed my whole life," he said, his jovial demeanor fading to introspection. "I'm never going to be the same."
The day before, Hecker had been taking care of an 18-year-old soldier who, thanks to an Iraqi bullet, will forever be quadriplegic.
Hecker sat gazing through the window at the burned soldier and thought of the kid he had sent off to the States the day before. "Terrible, terrible, terrible," he said, staring into the distance. "When you talk to him he cries."
...
"I just want people to understand - war is bad, life is difficult," he said.
Maybe it was the stress, maybe it's because Hecker has no military career to mess up by speaking out of line, but it just came out: "George Bush is an idiot," he said, quickly saying he regretted the comment. But then he continued, criticizing Bush as a rich kid who hasn't seen enough of the world. "He's very rich, you'd think he'd get some education," Hecker said.
He's Got A Lot Of Pretty Pretty Boys That He Calls Friends
While having cocktails beer at the local outdoor tiki bar last night, I couldn't help noticing how crowded it was and how many really really pretty young men were there in the neighborhood wateringhole. Yes, this is unusual for the place. I was curious. There were older men with them too and I thought maybe it was a n@mb@ meetup (because I am a smartass) but I was informed by the waitress that it was a reception for the local magician who is Siegfried and Roy's only protege. He has performed all over the world. Wow, a real celebrity in my local bar who is from the hood. I didn't hear him whining about what a terrible thing it was to grow up around here like Billy O does all the time. Siegfried and Roy want to make this young man into a household word. That's cool.
Monday, September 27
This Island Long
I took pictures of the east end of Long Island over the weekend. This is the north fork of the island. Farms and harbors. Peaceful, tranquil. Nothing like where I live.
But then again I found a clam bar and had too many beers.
But then again I found a clam bar and had too many beers.
Zinn in 1976
Beyond Voting
by Howard Zinn, 1976
from The Zinn Reader
publisher - Seven Stories Press
632 Broadway, 7th floor
New York, NY 10012
Gossip is the opium of the American public. We lie back, close our eyes and happily inhale the stories about Roosevelt's and Kennedy's affairs, Lyndon Johnson's nude swims with unnamed partners and, now, Nixon's pathetic "final days" in office.
The latest fix is administered by reporters Woodward and Bernstein and the stuff is Nixon's sex life with Pat, Nixon drunk and weeping, Nixon cradled in the arms of Kissinger (who did it, we presume, for national security).
So we get high on trivia, and forget that, whether Presidents have been impotent or oversexed, drunk or sober, they have followed the same basic policies. Whether crooks or Boy Scouts, handsome or homely, agile or clumsy, they have taxed the poor, subsidized the rich, wasted the wealth of the nation on guns and bombs, ignored the decay of the cities, and done so little for the children of the ghettos and rural wastelands that these youth had to join the armed forces to survive-until they were sent overseas to die.
Harry Truman was blunt and Lyndon Johnson wily, but both sent armies to Asia to defend dictators and massacre the people we claimed to be helping. Eisenhower was dull and Kennedy witty, but both built up huge nuclear armaments at the expense of schools and health care. Nixon was corrupt and Ford straightforward, but both coldly cut benefits for the poor and gave favors to rich corporations.
The cult of personality in America is a powerful drug. It takes the energy of ordinary citizens which, combined, can be a powerful force, and depletes it in the spectator sport of voting. Our most cherished moment of democratic citizenship comes when we leave the house once in four years to choose between two mediocre white Anglo-Saxon males who have been trundled out by political caucuses, million dollar primaries and managed conventions for the rigged multiple choice test we call an election. Presidents come and go. But the FBI is always there, on the job, sometimes catching criminals, sometimes committing crimes itself, always checking on radicals as secret police do all over the world. Its latest confession: ninety-two burglaries, 1960-66.
Presidents come and go, but the military budget keeps rising. It was $74 billion in 1973, is over $100 billion now (the equivalent of $2000 in taxes for every family), and will reach $130 billion in 1980.
Presidents come and go, but the 200 top corporations keep increasing their control: 45 percent of all manufacturing in 1960, 60 per cent by 1970.
No President in this century has stopped the trend. Not even FDR.
Yes, Roosevelt took steps to help poor people in the '30s. Minimum wages. Social security, WPA jobs. Relief. But that didn't change the basic nature of the capitalist system, whose highest priority has always been profits for the corporations and to hell with the rest.
Roosevelt was humane and wise, but, also, he had to react to signs of anger and rebellion in the country. He had seen the Bonus March of veterans to Washington under Hoover. In his first year, mass strikes- 400,000 textile workers out in the South and New England. Longshoremen tied up the whole city of San Francisco. Teamsters took over Minneapolis. The unemployed were organizing, the bootleg miners taking over coalfields, tenants gathering in the cities to stop evictions.
Roosevelt was a sensitive man. But something big was happening in the country to sharpen his sensitivity.
1976: the multiple choice test is here again. Sure, there are better candidates and worse. But we will go a long way from spectator democracy to real democracy when we understand that the future of this country doesn't depend, mainly, on who is our next President. It depends on whether the American citizen, fed up with high taxes, high prices, unemployment, waste, war and corruption, will organize all over the country a clamor for change even greater than the labor uprisings of the '30s or the black rebellion of the '60s and shake this country out of old paths into new ones.
by Howard Zinn, 1976
from The Zinn Reader
publisher - Seven Stories Press
632 Broadway, 7th floor
New York, NY 10012
Gossip is the opium of the American public. We lie back, close our eyes and happily inhale the stories about Roosevelt's and Kennedy's affairs, Lyndon Johnson's nude swims with unnamed partners and, now, Nixon's pathetic "final days" in office.
The latest fix is administered by reporters Woodward and Bernstein and the stuff is Nixon's sex life with Pat, Nixon drunk and weeping, Nixon cradled in the arms of Kissinger (who did it, we presume, for national security).
So we get high on trivia, and forget that, whether Presidents have been impotent or oversexed, drunk or sober, they have followed the same basic policies. Whether crooks or Boy Scouts, handsome or homely, agile or clumsy, they have taxed the poor, subsidized the rich, wasted the wealth of the nation on guns and bombs, ignored the decay of the cities, and done so little for the children of the ghettos and rural wastelands that these youth had to join the armed forces to survive-until they were sent overseas to die.
Harry Truman was blunt and Lyndon Johnson wily, but both sent armies to Asia to defend dictators and massacre the people we claimed to be helping. Eisenhower was dull and Kennedy witty, but both built up huge nuclear armaments at the expense of schools and health care. Nixon was corrupt and Ford straightforward, but both coldly cut benefits for the poor and gave favors to rich corporations.
The cult of personality in America is a powerful drug. It takes the energy of ordinary citizens which, combined, can be a powerful force, and depletes it in the spectator sport of voting. Our most cherished moment of democratic citizenship comes when we leave the house once in four years to choose between two mediocre white Anglo-Saxon males who have been trundled out by political caucuses, million dollar primaries and managed conventions for the rigged multiple choice test we call an election. Presidents come and go. But the FBI is always there, on the job, sometimes catching criminals, sometimes committing crimes itself, always checking on radicals as secret police do all over the world. Its latest confession: ninety-two burglaries, 1960-66.
Presidents come and go, but the military budget keeps rising. It was $74 billion in 1973, is over $100 billion now (the equivalent of $2000 in taxes for every family), and will reach $130 billion in 1980.
Presidents come and go, but the 200 top corporations keep increasing their control: 45 percent of all manufacturing in 1960, 60 per cent by 1970.
No President in this century has stopped the trend. Not even FDR.
Yes, Roosevelt took steps to help poor people in the '30s. Minimum wages. Social security, WPA jobs. Relief. But that didn't change the basic nature of the capitalist system, whose highest priority has always been profits for the corporations and to hell with the rest.
Roosevelt was humane and wise, but, also, he had to react to signs of anger and rebellion in the country. He had seen the Bonus March of veterans to Washington under Hoover. In his first year, mass strikes- 400,000 textile workers out in the South and New England. Longshoremen tied up the whole city of San Francisco. Teamsters took over Minneapolis. The unemployed were organizing, the bootleg miners taking over coalfields, tenants gathering in the cities to stop evictions.
Roosevelt was a sensitive man. But something big was happening in the country to sharpen his sensitivity.
1976: the multiple choice test is here again. Sure, there are better candidates and worse. But we will go a long way from spectator democracy to real democracy when we understand that the future of this country doesn't depend, mainly, on who is our next President. It depends on whether the American citizen, fed up with high taxes, high prices, unemployment, waste, war and corruption, will organize all over the country a clamor for change even greater than the labor uprisings of the '30s or the black rebellion of the '60s and shake this country out of old paths into new ones.
Now they're not going to get anyone to enlist in the military:
Hookers may be off limits to GI's.
Courtmarshalled for visiting a prostitute?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not condoning prostitution. But isn't visiting prostitutes better than GI's raping local townsfolk?
Hookers may be off limits to GI's.
Courtmarshalled for visiting a prostitute?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not condoning prostitution. But isn't visiting prostitutes better than GI's raping local townsfolk?
What do you make of this article?
Bush still master of debating game (Times of India)This article is in the India Times. Is this for Indians living in the US or Indians living in India? And what is the point? Bush has a touch of alzheimers but he might win the debates anyway? Who says who wins? CNN and Fox? I don't even have to watch the debates to know who will be declared the winner though.
WASHINGTON: George W Bush doesn't like debating, but he is good at it, and that deceptive reluctance will be part of his arsenal when he goes toe-to-toe with John Kerry.
Republicans are still trying to paint the incumbent president as the outsider, as in the comment by Bush communications advisor Karen Hughes who recently remarked that the Democratic presidential contender, a veteran senator, has "spent his life preparing for these debates."
But Bush is actually a formidable debate opponent, as he demonstrated against Al Gore four years ago, thanks to his simplicity of expression and an instinct for when to attack. "Bush has been far more skillful in his debating career than is generally appreciated and his successes in that realm put his widely noted lack of eloquence in a different light," journalist James Fallows observed in a recent article in The Atlantic Monthly magazine.
The biggest danger for Bush is no doubt his own syntactical slip-ups and factual vagueness. Several times during a press conference with Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi on Thursday, he referred to the "Afghan army" when he meant "Iraqi". He confused terrorists Abu Nidal and Abu Abbas and even spoke of the "Soviet dinar" as the currency in Saddam's Iraq.
Election disruptions
NY Times reports today that al Qaida is perched on the Afghan border ready to disrupt their elections.
Al Qaeda is present along the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan and is encouraging Afghan insurgents to disrupt presidential elections scheduled in just two weeks, on Oct. 9, the commander of American forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, said Saturday.WaPo contends that the US will not allow any al Qaidan disruptions at our elections:
"We see indications that Al Qaeda is encouraging a disruption of elections,'' General Barno said.
Counterterrorism officials concede they do not have new or specific intelligence outlining plans for an attack, but they say they remain alarmed by indications that al Qaeda and other terror groups might seek to influence U.S. elections as they did in Spain last spring by setting off bombs on commuter trains in Madrid. By publicizing the government's disruption efforts, which will begin in earnest later this week, authorities say they hope to forestall any plans for similar attacks here. And also from WaPo:
"The information that the federal government has tells us the prudent thing is to make sure we do everything we can to reduce anxiety, and to make sure the process of democracy goes on uninterrupted," said George W. Foresman, homeland security adviser to Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), chairman of the National Governors Association.
We have other problems besides international terrorists disrupting our elections. We have the BushCrimeFamily to deal with. We have international election inspectors checking out our upcoming elections. These are the people who observe fledgling democracies: Miami Herald:
The international team - among five visiting swing states Missouri, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Ohio - next month expects to report its findings, offer suggestions and assess whether they'll monitor in smaller groups the November elections in the selected locales.Use bugmenot.com to get log ins for the above websites.
The four local visitors - from South Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Philippines - were part of a 20-person contingent organized by Global Exchange, a San Francisco human-rights group.
Four years after Florida's recount exposed weaknesses in U.S. election systems, the international group from 15 countries and five continents hopes global pressure helps boost voter confidence and head off potential headaches.
Jon Stewart: My Hero
Story today in Newsday about Jon Stewart's Daily Show book.
Excerpt from article:
Bill O'Reilly, who recently interviewed Stewart on his show in connection with the book, expressed a perhaps-envious awe: "You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary" - though, O'Reilly said, Stewart's audience consists of "stoned slackers." Stewart, not mentioning the slipped-disc theory, denied any influence.
But young people, slackers or not, are big fans of the show (about half the viewers are 18 to 34, according to Nielsen, and the vast majority are younger than 50). And that should, indeed, translate into big book sales, says American Booksellers Association Vice President Suzanne Staubach, general books manager at the UConn Co-Op in Storrs, Conn.
O'Reilly must be jealous because he doesn't have the ratings that Stewart has. Randi Rhodes beats him in NY for ratings and she just got here! Honestly, if Bill O'Reilly has anything important to say, he should calm the hell down, quit lying and stop being a bully. He is so hung up on the fact that he wasn't rich growing up here on Long Island one block from my present home. It's quite lovely here. My house overlooks a golf course. So the hell what if he wasn't rich? Howard Stern and Eddie Murphy grew up in Roosevelt a few miles from here. Now that was and is still a very lower middle class and poor neighborhood with lousy schools. Billy O went to private schools. oy. Get over it! Did you see his house and dock on the north shore of Long Island on 60 minutes last night? He's doing fine. Grow up Billy O.
Everytime I read another story about the Daily Show audience of young stoned people, I write to the newspaper or author immediately. It seems that most of people I know, and a lot of them are in their 40's and 50's, watch the Daily Show regularly. It's not our only source of news but there is a lot more truth in analysis of the news at the Daily Show than on say CNN or Fox. If young people are only getting their news at the Daily Show, I don't think it's a bad thing at all. At least they are getting some and it's more balanced than Fox.
As a matter of fact, Daily Show and late night talk show viewers know more about the news than those who don't watch it among young people:
What was terrifically ironic is that a journalist who was talking to Stewart on the Daily Show recently told Stewart that he didn't ask hard enough questions to Kerry. How did Stewart respond? He said, "I'm a comedian!" Brilliant.
Polling conducted between July 15 and Sept. 19 among 19,013 adults showed that on a six-item political knowledge test people who did not watch any late-night comedy programs in the past week answered 2.62 items correctly, while viewers of Late Night with David Letterman on CBS answered 2.91, viewers of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno answered 2.95, and viewers of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart answered 3.59 items correctly. That meant there was a difference of 16 percentage points between Daily Show viewers and people who did not watch any late-night programming.
The campaign knowledge test covered such topics as which candidate favors allowing workers to invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market, the income range at which John Kerry would eliminate the Bush tax cut, and which candidate is a former prosecutor. read more
There's a Jon Stewart Webring!
Here's a link to the Daily Show website in case you are out of the loop or don't have cable.
This Thursday night, the Daily Show will cover the debates. oy. This should be good.
Real Live Redneck
I spent the weekend outdoors as it was gorgeous. Had the top down on my car the whole time. I traveled around and spoke to people and observed what was happening all around me.
It turns out that a fellow musician I know is a real live redneck. It's not the first time I have come across redneck musicians on Long Island. Some actually do migrate here for one reason or another. You can usually tell them by their too tight cowboy boots that makes them walk funny and their rotten teeth. Most of the rednecks who come here are ok though and I can be friends with them. It's just unusual to find an independent musical artist to be a radical right winger. Most are pretty darn smart, well educated and quite liberal.
I had a gig yesterday at a music festival and the redneckery of this particular young man was appalling. He explained to me how Saddam overthrew the good government in Iraq back in the 80's with no ones help. Not even America's. He explained how all Muslims are bad, how great the US is doing in the war on terror, how great our troops are doing in Iraq and how well they are equipped with bullets and body armor, how all Muslims should be eradicated as their religion is wrong and most of all, he would be more than happy to kick Muslim ass if he were called up for the draft.
He also had his facts wrong about depleted uranium and explained that it's the only way to pierce tanks. That's right but do the Iraqi's have tanks? He told me that the Iraqi's are bad for the most part, but at least they are a democracy now. He explained that the elections there will prove that. I asked what would happen if the free Iraqi's voted for someone who is not approved by the American Imperialists and he assured me that there won't be anyone on the ballot who is not approved by the American government. That sounds very democratic and free.
He ranted on and on with "Facts" about depleted uranium, weaponry, the complete evil of the United Nations and the like. It was all completely opposite of the truth. He explained that this is a hobby of his. I am not quite sure where he gets his information though. He is from the south and I suppose that his school district might be one of those that taught creationism rather than evolution as a theory. He was not a practicing Christian or any religion for that matter though which is in keeping with typical independent artists. He was full of hatred and wanted to kill people. He explained that it is the job of the US to take out every dictator in the world. He thinks that we need to invade these countries. I explained that most Americans do not agree with that as we have to take care of the poor and the oppressed without WMD's unless we are attacked first.
His completely wacko argument about John Kerry is that since John Kerry claimed to believe Bush's rationale for going to war that John Kerry is a liar. I am not sure when believing a lie made a person a liar but apparently the neocons have changed the meaning of lies. Truth=Lies in neocon land. I am used to that stuff though. I guess what really appalled me was his outright hatred for "liberals".
I find it funny that political moderates are now considered radical leftist liberals by the fringe right. Everyone to the left of them is clumped into one group and labeled. It's interesting because one thing about moderates and liberals is that there is no 'group think'.
I speak to everyone I meet about the political climate and so do a lot of my friends. The consensus on Long Island, population: millions ethnicity: everything, is to boot Bush. The Jews and Catholics are overwhelmingly voting for Kerry here. The rich protestants are sometimes apt to vote Republican across the board however, those who are my age (middle age) are voting for Kerry. The older protestant republicans will probably vote for Bush. Obviously the Muslims will not vote for Bush, the blacks are voting for Kerry and I am not sure about the Latinos. I have to talk to more Latinos to get the feel. There are a lot of Latinos around here. I'll see what the story is. The military people are mixed. My son says that at his college, the kids seem to support Bush. Just wait until there is a draft. Everyone will wake the hell up.
It turns out that a fellow musician I know is a real live redneck. It's not the first time I have come across redneck musicians on Long Island. Some actually do migrate here for one reason or another. You can usually tell them by their too tight cowboy boots that makes them walk funny and their rotten teeth. Most of the rednecks who come here are ok though and I can be friends with them. It's just unusual to find an independent musical artist to be a radical right winger. Most are pretty darn smart, well educated and quite liberal.
I had a gig yesterday at a music festival and the redneckery of this particular young man was appalling. He explained to me how Saddam overthrew the good government in Iraq back in the 80's with no ones help. Not even America's. He explained how all Muslims are bad, how great the US is doing in the war on terror, how great our troops are doing in Iraq and how well they are equipped with bullets and body armor, how all Muslims should be eradicated as their religion is wrong and most of all, he would be more than happy to kick Muslim ass if he were called up for the draft.
He also had his facts wrong about depleted uranium and explained that it's the only way to pierce tanks. That's right but do the Iraqi's have tanks? He told me that the Iraqi's are bad for the most part, but at least they are a democracy now. He explained that the elections there will prove that. I asked what would happen if the free Iraqi's voted for someone who is not approved by the American Imperialists and he assured me that there won't be anyone on the ballot who is not approved by the American government. That sounds very democratic and free.
He ranted on and on with "Facts" about depleted uranium, weaponry, the complete evil of the United Nations and the like. It was all completely opposite of the truth. He explained that this is a hobby of his. I am not quite sure where he gets his information though. He is from the south and I suppose that his school district might be one of those that taught creationism rather than evolution as a theory. He was not a practicing Christian or any religion for that matter though which is in keeping with typical independent artists. He was full of hatred and wanted to kill people. He explained that it is the job of the US to take out every dictator in the world. He thinks that we need to invade these countries. I explained that most Americans do not agree with that as we have to take care of the poor and the oppressed without WMD's unless we are attacked first.
His completely wacko argument about John Kerry is that since John Kerry claimed to believe Bush's rationale for going to war that John Kerry is a liar. I am not sure when believing a lie made a person a liar but apparently the neocons have changed the meaning of lies. Truth=Lies in neocon land. I am used to that stuff though. I guess what really appalled me was his outright hatred for "liberals".
I find it funny that political moderates are now considered radical leftist liberals by the fringe right. Everyone to the left of them is clumped into one group and labeled. It's interesting because one thing about moderates and liberals is that there is no 'group think'.
I speak to everyone I meet about the political climate and so do a lot of my friends. The consensus on Long Island, population: millions ethnicity: everything, is to boot Bush. The Jews and Catholics are overwhelmingly voting for Kerry here. The rich protestants are sometimes apt to vote Republican across the board however, those who are my age (middle age) are voting for Kerry. The older protestant republicans will probably vote for Bush. Obviously the Muslims will not vote for Bush, the blacks are voting for Kerry and I am not sure about the Latinos. I have to talk to more Latinos to get the feel. There are a lot of Latinos around here. I'll see what the story is. The military people are mixed. My son says that at his college, the kids seem to support Bush. Just wait until there is a draft. Everyone will wake the hell up.
Saturday, September 25
More on CBS
The thing I was talking about recently... that CBS delayed an important story they were working on for 12 weeks that had new information about the forged Niger documents in order to rush air the magically convenient forged Killian memos which were magically debunked not 10 minutes after they aired by someone who watched the documents on tv. Now you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to see what was happening there. I am not advocating CBS or anything, but it sure looks like when one network dares to attempt to tell the truth that disastrous things happen to it.
The episode that was delayed had an interview with Elisabetta Burba, the Italian journalist who was given the false documents that we talked about here a couple of days ago... that France was behind it in order to hopefully stop the war before it started...
Well guess what? Now CBS isn't going to air that episode about the forged Niger Uranium documents which Bush used accidentally on purpose to sell the war on freedom in Iraq.. oh no.
Suddenly CBS says, "We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election." -ny times
Whaaaaaaa? I'm sorry... but if this were Clinton and the story was about a blow job, this Niger uranium story would be all over the front pages of every paper and covered on every 24 hour news channel right up to and including election day.
I have a question. Why are wingnuts so angry? They got it made in the shade. WTF is their problem?
The episode that was delayed had an interview with Elisabetta Burba, the Italian journalist who was given the false documents that we talked about here a couple of days ago... that France was behind it in order to hopefully stop the war before it started...
Well guess what? Now CBS isn't going to air that episode about the forged Niger Uranium documents which Bush used accidentally on purpose to sell the war on freedom in Iraq.. oh no.
Suddenly CBS says, "We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election." -ny times
Whaaaaaaa? I'm sorry... but if this were Clinton and the story was about a blow job, this Niger uranium story would be all over the front pages of every paper and covered on every 24 hour news channel right up to and including election day.
I have a question. Why are wingnuts so angry? They got it made in the shade. WTF is their problem?
Israel Gets Smart Bombs... bunker busters
This is very manly stuff, these bombs and things. It's a bit much for a simple blonde lady to comprehend, so please help me figure it out, won't you?
In Haaretz it says this: "The United States will sell Israel 5,000 smart bombs for $319 million, according to a report made to Congress a few weeks ago."
Oooh does that mean that the US will make some money to help pay off the deficit that will burden future generations of Americans even though they will thank our generation for making them safe and free while erasing the countries that irritate the Saudis?
Haaretz goes on: "The funding will come from the U.S. military aid to Israel, and the bombs range from airborne versions, guidance units, training bombs and detonators. "
Oh so we are selling stuff to Israel and will be paid back with our money? See? This is why I am a bit confused. Why don't we just give them the damn thangs and tell them to shoot Iran?
Then it says, "Among the bombs the air force will get are 500 one-ton bunker busters that can penetrate two-meter-thick cement walls; 2,500 regular one-ton bombs; 1,000 half-ton bombs; and 500 quarter-ton bombs."
Bunker busters for the Palestinians? Seems like a bit much to use on occupied territories. Oh wait, I get it... then it says that Iranians are wondering if this is some sort of "psychological warfare" to test them. Bunker busters seem like a bit more than psychological warfare, but I could be wrong. Maybe they are cardboard fakes.
The article also says that despite Israel's illegal use of some of the other cool bombs, planes and stuff on the Palestinians, there were no political difficulties getting this sale through. Well here I would have to say: Duh. If we are selling them this stuff and they are paying for it with our money, it's pretty obvious even to a blonde like me that there is more to this story.
cough Iran cough Iran cough Iran
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Today I am going to go out to start to take some pictures of my fabulous island for those who have been asking me to show more pictures of what it's like here on Lawn Guyland, the land of Joey Buttafuoco, Jessica Hahn, Amy Fisher, Son of Sam, Billy Joel, the Amityville Horror and the Baldwin brothers.... (More about Long Island here) I'm doing the north fork today.
Daily News
They found mass graves in Iraq. The bodies seem to be of foreign military men and not Iraqi's. They look freshly buried too. It's pretty gross. There is also another mass grave in Ramdi. Did Allawi forget to mention the mess over there too? Probably.
I was thinking that if the WH had listened to the Marine Commanders or any military commanders, they wouldn't be in this mess in Fallujah, but then again, Smirky McPretzeldong probably wanted to exercise his commander in chiefism and override any smart or experienced ideas about how to deal with certain cities.
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I feel kind of robbed by congress. Not that I don't appreciate the tax cuts for the middle class, but they really let down the poorer people. They didn't do much for the greater good of the country except allow the country to get closer to bankruptcy as I see it. I don't know if they were forced to fuck us over or what but it just seems that there were more important things for them to be dealing with than their greatest perceived threat to civilization as we know it: gay marriage and other wastes of time.
Shrubya urged congress to extend the tax cuts and congress did so. You mean that they just did it? Even the Dems? Wasn't Kerry trying to get the tax cuts for the rich to end so that more money could go into the coffers? I don't get these people. What else was going on behind the scenes?
I would have felt better if they did something positive for the greater good of Americans that have to do with schools, getting people out of poverty so the rest of us won't have to worry about being mugged, homelessness, hunger (there is hunger in the fattest country in the world? oh my), oh that ban on assault weapons that got ignored... I dunno... they just seemed like a bunch of jerks collectively. Don't re-elect any of 'em.
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You know, I'm glad Michal Moore wrote this and finished it. I have been working on it too and I am going to scrap that research project now. There were so many changing reasons for going to war in Iraq that it was hard to keep track. It was pretty obvious to Americans who think that Bush is the all time major flip flopper and that his projection of Kerry as a flip flopper was exactly that... a projection. I love Michael's opening paragraph in his letter to mr shrub"
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John Kerry was nice enough to hire the lady who got fired for having a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker on her car. Turns out the asshole she worked for also worked for guess who? The Bush administration. She gets medical benefits with Kerry, something she didn't get working for the asshole.
I was thinking that if the WH had listened to the Marine Commanders or any military commanders, they wouldn't be in this mess in Fallujah, but then again, Smirky McPretzeldong probably wanted to exercise his commander in chiefism and override any smart or experienced ideas about how to deal with certain cities.
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I feel kind of robbed by congress. Not that I don't appreciate the tax cuts for the middle class, but they really let down the poorer people. They didn't do much for the greater good of the country except allow the country to get closer to bankruptcy as I see it. I don't know if they were forced to fuck us over or what but it just seems that there were more important things for them to be dealing with than their greatest perceived threat to civilization as we know it: gay marriage and other wastes of time.
Shrubya urged congress to extend the tax cuts and congress did so. You mean that they just did it? Even the Dems? Wasn't Kerry trying to get the tax cuts for the rich to end so that more money could go into the coffers? I don't get these people. What else was going on behind the scenes?
I would have felt better if they did something positive for the greater good of Americans that have to do with schools, getting people out of poverty so the rest of us won't have to worry about being mugged, homelessness, hunger (there is hunger in the fattest country in the world? oh my), oh that ban on assault weapons that got ignored... I dunno... they just seemed like a bunch of jerks collectively. Don't re-elect any of 'em.
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You know, I'm glad Michal Moore wrote this and finished it. I have been working on it too and I am going to scrap that research project now. There were so many changing reasons for going to war in Iraq that it was hard to keep track. It was pretty obvious to Americans who think that Bush is the all time major flip flopper and that his projection of Kerry as a flip flopper was exactly that... a projection. I love Michael's opening paragraph in his letter to mr shrub"
Dear Mr. Bu$h, I am so confused. Where exactly do you stand on the issue of Iraq? You, your Dad, Rummy, Condi, Colin, and Wolfie -- you have all changed your minds so many times, I am out of breath just trying to keep up with you!
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John Kerry was nice enough to hire the lady who got fired for having a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker on her car. Turns out the asshole she worked for also worked for guess who? The Bush administration. She gets medical benefits with Kerry, something she didn't get working for the asshole.
Rose Colored Glasses Worn in Rose Garden in La La Land
Dr Evil and Mini Me swiped from Doomocracy
Question: ... very strong majorities do not see the United States as a liberator, but as an occupier, are unhappy with American policy and want us out. Don't the real voices of the Iraqi people, themselves, contradict the rosy scenarios you're painting here today?
President Bush: First of all, the Iraqi people now have got Iraqi leadership. Prime Minister Allawi and his cabinet are making decisions on behalf of the Iraqi people.
That is frightening. This guy was installed by the occupying country and making decisions on behalf of the occupees. I am sure that they are very relieved. I can tell by the pictures coming from Iraq that everyone seems very optimistic.
President Bush: Secondly, I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It's pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future.
We just bombed the shit out of a country and they are supposedly happier than we are? Does he have a clue what he is inferring here?
President Bush: Talk to the leader. I agree -- I'm not the expert on how the Iraqi people think, because I live in America, where it's nice and safe and secure.
Preznit better check his meds and re-read old scripts. We are supposed to be attacked in NYC, remember? We have these guys all over the place here in NY with these big guns. We don't feel safe. We don't feel secure. Sure they're cute guys but they aren't gonna save us from another 9/11.
President Bush: But I talk to this man. One reason I'm optimistic about our ability to get the job done is because I talk to the Iraqi Prime Minister. I'm also optimistic that people will choose freedom over tyranny every time. That's what I believe.
And that is yet another reason I am not voting for Dumya. I will always choose freedom over tyranny. He got that right.
Choosing Life Unconstitutional
Well a judge in Tennessee said that license plates with "choose life" written on them is unconstitutional unless you offer an opposing view point license plate. The "choose life" people claim this is a violation of free speech and I would have to agree with them since this is a specialty plate for which one has to pay $35. It's not the official state license plate and I can see the Dr Kevorkian fans freaking out if it were.
And what is the opposing view point to "choose life" anyway? Choose death? or Choose Bush? How about New Hampshire's famous license plate: Live Free or Die, brought to you by the NH prisoners? I always loved the irony there.
And what is the opposing view point to "choose life" anyway? Choose death? or Choose Bush? How about New Hampshire's famous license plate: Live Free or Die, brought to you by the NH prisoners? I always loved the irony there.
Friday, September 24
Learning To Kill for Dummies
Hey guess what we paid for? A video game put out by the US Army marketed to kids from 13-21 so that they will want to join the army and kill people. Well actually only 41% of the game simulates actual combat and the rest teaches army values.
Maybe they can take those recruiters off the high school campuses and send them to fight for my big fat ass in the middle east since over 16 million kids have already downloaded the game from the internet and kids will be signing up in droves.
What is more manly and empowering than learning how to kill? It doesn't matter that the game glamorizes killing and combat because it is a recruiting tool. Recruiters always bend the truth anyway. So what if kids sign up, go to a bushwar and then find out that combat isn't all that fun and glamorous and that killing people isn't all it's cracked up to be? They got you and they own your ass.
There are a few minor differences between the game and real life:
- In the game, you have unlimited ammo unlike the real war in Iraq where there is an ammo shortage
- The game isn't really gory enough to simulate real combat.
- In real life the paid contractors get the good body armor and the armored vehicles. In real life the army dudes get vietnam flakjackets if available and sand bags are used to armor army dude's vehicles assuming they don't get stuck in the sand and blown up.
- In the game you take orders from military commanders and not paid contractors.
- Your commander in chief is a nincompoop in real life.
- You can't put real combat on pause to use the potty.
- You won't get VD in the game.
- And don't forget kiddies in real life, if you die, you're dead. No do-overs. No extra lives.
Rovian Odor
I'm listening to Air America and this is about the 4th AAR show that has been talking about 60 Minutes. It seems that CBS was duped into believing that the Killian memos were true, but what is even more interesting is that CBS actually put aside a more important groundbreaking story about the TRULY FORGED NIGER URANIUM DOCUMENTS!
This really reeks of Rove.
This really reeks of Rove.
Dubya in '72
RollingStone.com: - Alabama Getaway: "'George had one story he told a lot,' Archibald says, 'and the story was about how he was always getting picked up by the police in New Haven during his time at Yale, and how they would always let him go when they found out his grandfather was Prescott Bush. When he told this story, George would always laugh as if it was the funniest joke. The first time I heard it, I said, 'Who's Prescott Bush?' And he said, 'My grandfather - the United States senator from Connecticut.' I thought it was stunning. He knew he was bulletproof because of his family. I had never seen someone with such a well-defined sense of being 'above it.' And it was not so much because of his money as his family.'"
Thursday, September 23
If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?
by Juan Cole
President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists
and implied that things are improving in that country.
What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The
population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of
statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.
Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent
proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in
car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial
bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on
September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or
monthly toll.
And what if those deaths occurred all over the country, including in the
capital of Washington, DC, but mainly above the Mason Dixon line, in
Boston, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco?
What if the grounds of the White House and the government buildings near
the Mall were constantly taking mortar fire? What if almost nobody in the
State Department at Foggy Bottom, the White House, or the Pentagon dared
venture out of their buildings, and considered it dangerous to go over to
Crystal City or Alexandria?
What if all the reporters for all the major television and print media
were trapped in five-star hotels in Washington, DC and New York, unable
to move more than a few blocks safely, and dependent on stringers to know
what was happening in Oklahoma City and St. Louis? What if the only time
they ventured into the Midwest was if they could be embedded in Army or
National Guard units?
There are estimated to be some 25,000 guerrillas in Iraq engaged in
concerted acts of violence. What if there were private armies totalling
275,000 men, armed with machine guns, assault rifles (legal again!),
rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar launchers, hiding out in dangerous
urban areas of cities all over the country? What if they completely
controlled Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas,
Denver and Omaha, such that local police and Federal troops could not go
into those cities?
What if, during the past year, the Secretary of State (Aqilah Hashemi),
the President (Izzedine Salim), and the Attorney General (Muhammad Baqir
al-Hakim) had all been assassinated?
What if all the cities in the US were wracked by a crime wave, with
thousands of murders, kidnappings, burglaries, and carjackings in every
major city every year?
What if the Air Force routinely (I mean daily or weekly) bombed Billings,
Montana, Flint, Michigan, Watts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Anacostia
in Washington, DC, and other urban areas, attempting to target "safe
houses" of "criminal gangs", but inevitably killing a lot of children and
little old ladies?
What if, from time to time, the US Army besieged Virginia Beach, killing
hundreds of armed members of the Christian Soldiers? What if entire
platoons of the Christian Soldiers militia holed up in Arlington National
Cemetery, and were bombarded by US Air Force warplanes daily, destroying
thousands of graves and pulverizing the Vietnam Memorial? What if the
National Council of Churches had to call for a popular march of thousands
of believers to converge on the National Cathedral to stop the US Army
from demolishing it to get at a rogue band of the Timothy McVeigh
Memorial Brigades?
What if there were virtually no commercial air traffic in the country?
What if many roads were highly dangerous, especially Interstate 95 from
Richmond to Washington, DC, and I-95 and I-91 up to Boston? If you got on
I-95 anywhere along that over 500-mile stretch, you would risk being
carjacked, kidnapped, or having your car sprayed with machine gun fire.
What if no one had electricity for much more than 10 hours a day, and
often less? What if it went off at unpredictable times, causing factories
to grind to a halt and air conditioning to fail in the middle of the
summer in Houston and Miami? What if the Alaska pipeline were bombed and
disabled at least monthly? What if unemployment hovered around 40%?
What if veterans of militia actions at Ruby Ridge and the Oklahoma City
bombing were brought in to run the government on the theory that you need
a tough guy in these times of crisis?
What if municipal elections were cancelled and cliques close to the new
"president" quietly installed in the statehouses as "governors?" What if
several of these governors (especially of Montana and Wyoming) were
assassinated soon after taking office or resigned when their children
were taken hostage by guerrillas?
What if the leader of the European Union maintained that the citizens of
the United States are, under these conditions, refuting pessimism and
that freedom and democracy are just around the corner?
Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan
Copyright 2004 Juan Cole
Published on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 by Juan Cole
President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists
and implied that things are improving in that country.
What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The
population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of
statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.
Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent
proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in
car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial
bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on
September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or
monthly toll.
And what if those deaths occurred all over the country, including in the
capital of Washington, DC, but mainly above the Mason Dixon line, in
Boston, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco?
What if the grounds of the White House and the government buildings near
the Mall were constantly taking mortar fire? What if almost nobody in the
State Department at Foggy Bottom, the White House, or the Pentagon dared
venture out of their buildings, and considered it dangerous to go over to
Crystal City or Alexandria?
What if all the reporters for all the major television and print media
were trapped in five-star hotels in Washington, DC and New York, unable
to move more than a few blocks safely, and dependent on stringers to know
what was happening in Oklahoma City and St. Louis? What if the only time
they ventured into the Midwest was if they could be embedded in Army or
National Guard units?
There are estimated to be some 25,000 guerrillas in Iraq engaged in
concerted acts of violence. What if there were private armies totalling
275,000 men, armed with machine guns, assault rifles (legal again!),
rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar launchers, hiding out in dangerous
urban areas of cities all over the country? What if they completely
controlled Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas,
Denver and Omaha, such that local police and Federal troops could not go
into those cities?
What if, during the past year, the Secretary of State (Aqilah Hashemi),
the President (Izzedine Salim), and the Attorney General (Muhammad Baqir
al-Hakim) had all been assassinated?
What if all the cities in the US were wracked by a crime wave, with
thousands of murders, kidnappings, burglaries, and carjackings in every
major city every year?
What if the Air Force routinely (I mean daily or weekly) bombed Billings,
Montana, Flint, Michigan, Watts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Anacostia
in Washington, DC, and other urban areas, attempting to target "safe
houses" of "criminal gangs", but inevitably killing a lot of children and
little old ladies?
What if, from time to time, the US Army besieged Virginia Beach, killing
hundreds of armed members of the Christian Soldiers? What if entire
platoons of the Christian Soldiers militia holed up in Arlington National
Cemetery, and were bombarded by US Air Force warplanes daily, destroying
thousands of graves and pulverizing the Vietnam Memorial? What if the
National Council of Churches had to call for a popular march of thousands
of believers to converge on the National Cathedral to stop the US Army
from demolishing it to get at a rogue band of the Timothy McVeigh
Memorial Brigades?
What if there were virtually no commercial air traffic in the country?
What if many roads were highly dangerous, especially Interstate 95 from
Richmond to Washington, DC, and I-95 and I-91 up to Boston? If you got on
I-95 anywhere along that over 500-mile stretch, you would risk being
carjacked, kidnapped, or having your car sprayed with machine gun fire.
What if no one had electricity for much more than 10 hours a day, and
often less? What if it went off at unpredictable times, causing factories
to grind to a halt and air conditioning to fail in the middle of the
summer in Houston and Miami? What if the Alaska pipeline were bombed and
disabled at least monthly? What if unemployment hovered around 40%?
What if veterans of militia actions at Ruby Ridge and the Oklahoma City
bombing were brought in to run the government on the theory that you need
a tough guy in these times of crisis?
What if municipal elections were cancelled and cliques close to the new
"president" quietly installed in the statehouses as "governors?" What if
several of these governors (especially of Montana and Wyoming) were
assassinated soon after taking office or resigned when their children
were taken hostage by guerrillas?
What if the leader of the European Union maintained that the citizens of
the United States are, under these conditions, refuting pessimism and
that freedom and democracy are just around the corner?
Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan
Copyright 2004 Juan Cole
Published on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 by Juan Cole
Left, right, the US out of step in Iraq
Asia Times - Asia's most trusted news source for the Middle East: "Many American leftists seem to know little about their Iraqi counterparts, since understanding the role of the Iraqi left requires a nuanced approach. Unfortunately, the knee-jerk, anti-imperialist analysis of groups such as International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has wormed its way into several progressive outlets. Dispatches and columns in The Nation magazine as well as reports and commentary on the independently syndicated radio program Democracy Now have all but ignored the role of Iraqi progressives, while highlighting, if not championing, the various factions of the Iraqi-based resistance against the US-led occupation without bothering to ask who these groups are and what they represent for Iraqis."
Interesting article.
Interesting article.
Voting While Black
If I was black and lived outside of NY, I would register as a Republican.
Joke 'em if they can't take a fuck.
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election:
This is how a fascist dictatorship gets started. Observe.
Bastards.
Joke 'em if they can't take a fuck.
Millions Blocked from Voting in U.S. Election:
"There are individuals and officials who are actively trying to stop people from voting who they think will vote against their party and that nearly always means stopping black people from voting Democratic," said Mary Frances Berry, head of the U.S. Commission on Human Rights.
(...)
"In elections in Baltimore in 2002 and in Georgia last year, black voters were sent fliers saying anyone who hadn't paid utility bills or had outstanding parking tickets or were behind on their rent would be arrested at polling stations. It happens in every election cycle," she said.
(...)
Minority voters may be deterred from voting simply by election officials demanding to see drivers' licenses before handing them a ballot, according to Spencer Overton, who teaches law at George Washington University. The federal government does not require people to produce a photo identification unless they are first-time voters who registered by mail.
This is how a fascist dictatorship gets started. Observe.
Bastards.
Bush Lie on Video
I'm late catching up on my blog reading. Big bush lie comes to light via Oliver Willis's Blog via Elementropy.
ABC news caught a bush lie on tape and didn't let it go for a change. They called him on it. It is about time. They pulled a Daily Show. They showed what Bush said and then showed what Kerry actually said. Oh baby!
Here is the link to the quicktime video and if that doesn't work, try to cut and paste the URL into your player: http://www.oliverwillis.com/stuff/abc-bushlie.mp4
If you can't view it, here is the dialogue from the clip via Liberal Oasis.
UPDATE: BUSH ATTACKS KERRY WHILE COZYING UP TO DICTATORS
President Bush earlier this week attacked his opponent, saying "It's hard to imagine a candidate running for President prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy."[1] Yet, it is President Bush who regularly declares his personal friendship and gratitude to some of the world's most oppressive dictators, often wining and dining them at his
ranch in Texas.
In June of 2004, Bush referred to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as "my friend,"[2] even though the Saudi Arabian government has been investigated for its financial ties to the 9/11 terrorists[3] and is listed by the U.S. State Department as one of the world's most oppressive regimes on the planet.[4]
In April, he referred to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as "my friend" and welcomed him to the Crawford ranch by saying "I always look forward to visiting with him."[5] Bush gave this praise to a dictator, even though Human Rights Watch notes that government "torture in Egypt is widespread and systemic"[6] and the State Department says Mubarak has passed a Constitution in which the electorate is barred from being "presented with a choice among competing presidential candidates."[7]
In 2002, it was Bush who said "I want to welcome the President of China to our ranch, and to Texas."[8] Bush was inviting into his home a dictator who, according to the U.S. State Department, presides over a government that regularly engages in the "arbitrary or unlawful" murder of its own citizens, kidnappings of political dissidents, and repression of religious minorities.[9]
Sources:
1. "President's Remarks at Victory 2004 Rally in New York City," The White House, 9/20/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57525.
2. "President Bush Holds Press Conference Following the G8 Summit," The White House, 6/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57526.
3. "Saudi Government Provided Aid to 9/11 Hijackers, Sources Say," Truthout.org, 8/02/03, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57527.
4. "Saudi Arabia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57528.
5. "President Bush, Egyptian President Mubarak Meet with Reporters," The White House, 4/12/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57529.
6. "Egypt: Human Rights Background," Human Rights Watch, 10/2001,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57530.
7. "Egypt: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57531.
8. "President Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin Discuss Iraq, N. Korea," The White House, 10/25/02, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57532.
9. "China: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57533.
ABC news caught a bush lie on tape and didn't let it go for a change. They called him on it. It is about time. They pulled a Daily Show. They showed what Bush said and then showed what Kerry actually said. Oh baby!
Here is the link to the quicktime video and if that doesn't work, try to cut and paste the URL into your player: http://www.oliverwillis.com/stuff/abc-bushlie.mp4
If you can't view it, here is the dialogue from the clip via Liberal Oasis.
PETER JENNINGS: We were struck today by a very pointed attack by President Bush on John Kerry.
First of all, this is what Mr. Bush said.
[begin video clip]
BUSH: We agree that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell.
And that stands in stark contrast to the statement that my opponent made yesterday, when he said that the world was better off with Saddam in power.
I strongly disagree.
[end video clip]
JENNINGS: And this is what Mr. Kerry actually said. [emphasis original]
[begin video clip]
KERRY: Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in Hell.
But that was not...in and of itself, a reason to go to war.
The satisfaction...that we take in his downfall does not hide this fact:
We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure.
[end video clip]
UPDATE: BUSH ATTACKS KERRY WHILE COZYING UP TO DICTATORS
President Bush earlier this week attacked his opponent, saying "It's hard to imagine a candidate running for President prefers the stability of a dictatorship to the hope and security of democracy."[1] Yet, it is President Bush who regularly declares his personal friendship and gratitude to some of the world's most oppressive dictators, often wining and dining them at his
ranch in Texas.
In June of 2004, Bush referred to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as "my friend,"[2] even though the Saudi Arabian government has been investigated for its financial ties to the 9/11 terrorists[3] and is listed by the U.S. State Department as one of the world's most oppressive regimes on the planet.[4]
In April, he referred to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as "my friend" and welcomed him to the Crawford ranch by saying "I always look forward to visiting with him."[5] Bush gave this praise to a dictator, even though Human Rights Watch notes that government "torture in Egypt is widespread and systemic"[6] and the State Department says Mubarak has passed a Constitution in which the electorate is barred from being "presented with a choice among competing presidential candidates."[7]
In 2002, it was Bush who said "I want to welcome the President of China to our ranch, and to Texas."[8] Bush was inviting into his home a dictator who, according to the U.S. State Department, presides over a government that regularly engages in the "arbitrary or unlawful" murder of its own citizens, kidnappings of political dissidents, and repression of religious minorities.[9]
Sources:
1. "President's Remarks at Victory 2004 Rally in New York City," The White House, 9/20/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57525.
2. "President Bush Holds Press Conference Following the G8 Summit," The White House, 6/10/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57526.
3. "Saudi Government Provided Aid to 9/11 Hijackers, Sources Say," Truthout.org, 8/02/03, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57527.
4. "Saudi Arabia: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57528.
5. "President Bush, Egyptian President Mubarak Meet with Reporters," The White House, 4/12/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57529.
6. "Egypt: Human Rights Background," Human Rights Watch, 10/2001,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57530.
7. "Egypt: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57531.
8. "President Bush, Chinese President Jiang Zemin Discuss Iraq, N. Korea," The White House, 10/25/02, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57532.
9. "China: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003," U.S. Department of State, 2/25/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1941297&l=57533.
Bitchin' and Saying Good-Bye For Now
by pissed off patricia
Just a quick note to let you guys know that since another hurricane is headed for southeast Florida, we have to bug out. Our house was so damaged from Frances and repairmen are so scarce and with Jeanne coming, we can't stay here. Even tropical force winds and rain will do us in. We will put the shutters back up, pack up and take with us what we can, then we're outta here in the morning.
I feel so sad this morning as I look around my house and realize what may be about to happen to all my things, but you can only take so many things with you. I have the memories and the storm can't rob me of those. I feel like I am living inside a nightmare and inside another one. Here's the killer part. I just called our insurance company and we'll have to pay another deductible after this storm hits. In other words it will be starting all over with a new claim etc. How much does that suck?
See, in the middle of all this sad shit, I'm still bitchin' about something.
I have no idea how long we will be gone and I dread what we may come home to. With that said, it could be a while before I'm on the net. Until then, I'll be thinking about you guys and missing every single one of you.
Be good to each other.
patricia
Just a quick note to let you guys know that since another hurricane is headed for southeast Florida, we have to bug out. Our house was so damaged from Frances and repairmen are so scarce and with Jeanne coming, we can't stay here. Even tropical force winds and rain will do us in. We will put the shutters back up, pack up and take with us what we can, then we're outta here in the morning.
I feel so sad this morning as I look around my house and realize what may be about to happen to all my things, but you can only take so many things with you. I have the memories and the storm can't rob me of those. I feel like I am living inside a nightmare and inside another one. Here's the killer part. I just called our insurance company and we'll have to pay another deductible after this storm hits. In other words it will be starting all over with a new claim etc. How much does that suck?
See, in the middle of all this sad shit, I'm still bitchin' about something.
I have no idea how long we will be gone and I dread what we may come home to. With that said, it could be a while before I'm on the net. Until then, I'll be thinking about you guys and missing every single one of you.
Be good to each other.
patricia
U.S. Not Interested in Fighting World Hunger
So I was reading Italian news and I see that the vatican honchos are really pumped about what happened at the UN on Monday with the world leaders. Hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a meeting with representatives of 110 countries, committed themselves to accelerate the campaign to reduce the number of poor in the world by half, and to allocate funds for the struggle against hunger and misery. The vatican says that they have to come up with innovative ways to fund the struggle against hunger and misery in the world and much more must be done to achieve the target of $50 billion annually to cover the Millennium Worldwide Goals for 2015.
You know that since President Bush took office that there are more homeless people, more hungry people and more poor people in the United States. So what has the U.S. pledged to do to fight hunger in the world? To help the 1 billion people worldwide who live in abject poverty?
Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. According to an article in the Scotsman, "...the US poured cold water on the project, with the leader of the American delegation, agriculture secretary Ann Veneman, dismissing it.
"Economic growth is the long-term solution to hunger and poverty," she told the meeting. "Global taxes are inherently undemocratic. Implementation is impossible.""
Hmmm. Economic growth? We are doing a fine job of that here at home and in the countries we are liberating aren't we? Can you imagine the guys at the U.N. rolling their eyeballs? Know what one of the things that was suggested that might be taxed? A tax on the sale of heavy arms. Wow, a lot of money would be raised for poor people if heavy arms were taxed these days. Weeee Doggy! Actually the 100 or so world leaders were throwing out ideas as to how to raise money to feed people and nothing was written in stone. They were brainstorming.
Some at the U.N. had the audacity to suggest that hunger and poverty are breeding grounds for terrorism. Some even suggested that it's immoral for most of the world to be well fed while others starve especially since we can feed them. Imagine that the U.S. home to the fattest people on the planet (not to mention home to starving people as well) didn't want to help.
I wonder how many homeless people the world leaders and Ann Veneman saw on their way to the UN? Or did the NYPD drag net the streets before they arrived?
UPDATE: I wrote the above last night before I went to bed. This morning, only the Miami Herald had a story on this. It starts off:
UPDATE AGAIN; Dear God, we really need a god. People suck.Bid to Save Tax Refunds for the Poor Is Blocked Tom DeLay of course is one of those who is fighting to keep poor people in America down.
You know that since President Bush took office that there are more homeless people, more hungry people and more poor people in the United States. So what has the U.S. pledged to do to fight hunger in the world? To help the 1 billion people worldwide who live in abject poverty?
Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. According to an article in the Scotsman, "...the US poured cold water on the project, with the leader of the American delegation, agriculture secretary Ann Veneman, dismissing it.
"Economic growth is the long-term solution to hunger and poverty," she told the meeting. "Global taxes are inherently undemocratic. Implementation is impossible.""
Hmmm. Economic growth? We are doing a fine job of that here at home and in the countries we are liberating aren't we? Can you imagine the guys at the U.N. rolling their eyeballs? Know what one of the things that was suggested that might be taxed? A tax on the sale of heavy arms. Wow, a lot of money would be raised for poor people if heavy arms were taxed these days. Weeee Doggy! Actually the 100 or so world leaders were throwing out ideas as to how to raise money to feed people and nothing was written in stone. They were brainstorming.
Some at the U.N. had the audacity to suggest that hunger and poverty are breeding grounds for terrorism. Some even suggested that it's immoral for most of the world to be well fed while others starve especially since we can feed them. Imagine that the U.S. home to the fattest people on the planet (not to mention home to starving people as well) didn't want to help.
I wonder how many homeless people the world leaders and Ann Veneman saw on their way to the UN? Or did the NYPD drag net the streets before they arrived?
UPDATE: I wrote the above last night before I went to bed. This morning, only the Miami Herald had a story on this. It starts off:
You may never have noticed if you read most U.S. newspapers, or watch American television, but 113 countries -- not including the United States -- teamed up at the United Nations this week to demand a tax on arms sales to fight world hunger.and ends with this:
Rather than dismissing the proposal out of hand -- and, once again, coming across as the world's evil superpower -- the Bush administration should have embraced the tax on arms sales with a twist: that its proceeds only go to democratic countries that pursue responsible economic policies.UPDATE AGAIN: I was just looking at pictures from Haiti and reading about the thousand people or so who drowned in the floods from Tropical storm Jeanne. They are digging mass graves. Bodies are everywhere. 30,000 are homeless. Oh my god. Found an article Deadly flooding blamed on poverty
Barring a ban on arms sales -- which would be even better, but has little chance of getting support in Washington -- it's an idea whose time has come.
UPDATE AGAIN; Dear God, we really need a god. People suck.Bid to Save Tax Refunds for the Poor Is Blocked Tom DeLay of course is one of those who is fighting to keep poor people in America down.
Bitchin' For Patricia
by Blondesense
Patricia's house took a lot of damage after hurricane frances. She has been waiting and waiting to get her roof fixed but to no avail. Her gas had to be turned off due to a leak and she has been waiting patiently for the gas company to come and fix it.
As some of you may know, hurricane Ivan which devastated Florida and the southeast over a week ago, then swept through the northeast last weekend and ripped siding off houses and ripped branches from trees while causing major flooding in my neck of the woods, which is really rare except for on the coast swirled around and went back down to Florida again causing even more damage to Patricia's neck of the woods, still reeling from previous storms and hurricane frances. Ivan is in the gulf again reeking havoc.
Now tropical storm Jeanne which may turn into a hurricane is headed for Patricia whose house is not safe for another hit. This morning's official forecast showed the core of a Category 2 hurricane, with 110 mph winds, coming dangerously close to the area between Palm Beach and Vero Beach -- the same region struck by Hurricane Frances early this month -- veering north and making landfall around Cape Canaveral.
Patricia and her husband are evacuating their home today. It has no roof except for some wood and tarps which leak and blow off in regular thunderstorms. They cannot remain in their home for safety reasons. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Florida placed on alert for hurricane Jeanne
Login:
user: iread@davebarry.net
pw: andmetoo
courtesy of bugmenot.com
Patricia's house took a lot of damage after hurricane frances. She has been waiting and waiting to get her roof fixed but to no avail. Her gas had to be turned off due to a leak and she has been waiting patiently for the gas company to come and fix it.
As some of you may know, hurricane Ivan which devastated Florida and the southeast over a week ago, then swept through the northeast last weekend and ripped siding off houses and ripped branches from trees while causing major flooding in my neck of the woods, which is really rare except for on the coast swirled around and went back down to Florida again causing even more damage to Patricia's neck of the woods, still reeling from previous storms and hurricane frances. Ivan is in the gulf again reeking havoc.
Now tropical storm Jeanne which may turn into a hurricane is headed for Patricia whose house is not safe for another hit. This morning's official forecast showed the core of a Category 2 hurricane, with 110 mph winds, coming dangerously close to the area between Palm Beach and Vero Beach -- the same region struck by Hurricane Frances early this month -- veering north and making landfall around Cape Canaveral.
Patricia and her husband are evacuating their home today. It has no roof except for some wood and tarps which leak and blow off in regular thunderstorms. They cannot remain in their home for safety reasons. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Florida placed on alert for hurricane Jeanne
Login:
user: iread@davebarry.net
pw: andmetoo
courtesy of bugmenot.com
Bitchin' Because I Can Too
by Blondesense
Message to trolls: This is an anti-war website. Being anti-war is not a female issue. It is a human issue. It is not an anti-god website although it may seem like that when we are satirizing the god of the bushcrimefamily which is not viewed by us as the creator. One or more of the women who write on this site have admitted to being sarcastic smart asses at times. Deal.
Feel free to debate issues, but if you make nasty comments about the intelligence of the blondes who post on this site, then your comments will disappear... like magic. Or if I feel particularly bitchy (and only women may use that term here), your comments will be edited so that you appear to be a log cabin republican.
Message to trolls: This is an anti-war website. Being anti-war is not a female issue. It is a human issue. It is not an anti-god website although it may seem like that when we are satirizing the god of the bushcrimefamily which is not viewed by us as the creator. One or more of the women who write on this site have admitted to being sarcastic smart asses at times. Deal.
Feel free to debate issues, but if you make nasty comments about the intelligence of the blondes who post on this site, then your comments will disappear... like magic. Or if I feel particularly bitchy (and only women may use that term here), your comments will be edited so that you appear to be a log cabin republican.
Wednesday, September 22
Bitchin' Because I can
by pissed off patricia
The next time you hear someone say that because of bush's war we haven't had another attack on America since 9-11, remind them of the two Americans who were beheaded this week by terrorists. Yeah, do that!
The next time you hear someone say that because of bush's war we haven't had another attack on America since 9-11, remind them of the two Americans who were beheaded this week by terrorists. Yeah, do that!
Taking Pride in America's Gluttony
I was in the Home Depot Expo store today. That's the high end version of Home Depot if anyone hasn't seen one. They had a big ass hot tub for $25,000 with a built in widescreen plasma TV, CD/DVD player and 4 marine speakers. It was quite a sight to behold. It appeared to entertain about 4 people.
I inquired as to whether it could be installed in the back of an SUV and the man looked bewildered. Then the man asked if I was interested but I told him I would like to wait to see if they came out with one that also had a bar, a small refrigerator, a hibachi grill and water volleyball net. I added that I wasn't sure if my Ford Land Destroyer was large enough though.
When I got home and was reading my email, It was a huge coincidence to read that Mark Morford's new column, Kiss My Megatruck, Dude, featured the biggest, ultra macho, 9 foot tall, 14,500, mega truck called the International CXT. It's made in Garland Texas. Where else? This thang makes the Hummer look like a child's toy. This thing makes the Ford Excretion look like a girlie man truck. Now I would bet that the big ass hot tub with all the accoutrements would fit on this baby. This would have to be a custom job though. Who to call? Who to call?
A few years back, I attended an antique truck show in New Hampshire with my brother in law. He insisted. What the hell. The tooth to head ratio was about 3:1 at the event. No lie. There was a guy with a hot tub in the back of his pickup truck. He said the whole thing cost him about $100,000 to set up. He was very impressed with himself and impressed that so many of us stopped to look at his creation, wondering how much use he got out of it in New Hampshire. I couldn't stop remarking to everyone that I found it odd that he and his wife didn't think to get a couple of dentures to wear in their high falutin' pick up truck.
Mark Morford says, the new CXT is "designed for the "discriminating" blue-collar redneck with $115,000 to spare". Oh Baby! Yee hah!
Fuck the poor!
I inquired as to whether it could be installed in the back of an SUV and the man looked bewildered. Then the man asked if I was interested but I told him I would like to wait to see if they came out with one that also had a bar, a small refrigerator, a hibachi grill and water volleyball net. I added that I wasn't sure if my Ford Land Destroyer was large enough though.
When I got home and was reading my email, It was a huge coincidence to read that Mark Morford's new column, Kiss My Megatruck, Dude, featured the biggest, ultra macho, 9 foot tall, 14,500, mega truck called the International CXT. It's made in Garland Texas. Where else? This thang makes the Hummer look like a child's toy. This thing makes the Ford Excretion look like a girlie man truck. Now I would bet that the big ass hot tub with all the accoutrements would fit on this baby. This would have to be a custom job though. Who to call? Who to call?
A few years back, I attended an antique truck show in New Hampshire with my brother in law. He insisted. What the hell. The tooth to head ratio was about 3:1 at the event. No lie. There was a guy with a hot tub in the back of his pickup truck. He said the whole thing cost him about $100,000 to set up. He was very impressed with himself and impressed that so many of us stopped to look at his creation, wondering how much use he got out of it in New Hampshire. I couldn't stop remarking to everyone that I found it odd that he and his wife didn't think to get a couple of dentures to wear in their high falutin' pick up truck.
Mark Morford says, the new CXT is "designed for the "discriminating" blue-collar redneck with $115,000 to spare". Oh Baby! Yee hah!
Fuck the poor!
"After all, this is the BushCo era, baby. This country is all about excess and earthly abuse and Texas-sized faux machismo masquerading as true patriotism. Why even try to hide your gluttony anymore? Be proud of it, says the GOP -- er, the CXT."- Mark Morford
Bitchin' About the Insanity, but With a Touch of Humor
by pissed off patricia
You know, maybe we're taking this terrorist deal a little too far. I mean refusing to let a guy enter our country just because he sang some pretty sucky songs in the seventies? That really doesn't rise to the level of a serious threat to the country, does it? If it does, I bet there are some popular country singers who are feeling a little nervous this morning. They too have recorded some damned sucky stuff. If Ray Charles were still alive he wouldn't be nervous at all. Ray never did anything sucky.
Okay, now that we are safe from Cat Stevens, when are they going to crack down on the television preachers? That's what I want to know. These guys tell their viewers that all sorts of wonderful things will happen to them if they will just write a big check and send it to "God Needs Your Bucks if You Want to Go to Heaven"
These poor gullible people follow the instructions, and donors, thy name is fleeced.
This is fraud in every single sense of the word. These phonies promise people something they cannot deliver and the contributor loses his or her money forever. I think protecting Americans from the crooked charlatans on TV is a lot more important than protecting Americans from Cat Stevens and his old sucky songs.
You know, maybe we're taking this terrorist deal a little too far. I mean refusing to let a guy enter our country just because he sang some pretty sucky songs in the seventies? That really doesn't rise to the level of a serious threat to the country, does it? If it does, I bet there are some popular country singers who are feeling a little nervous this morning. They too have recorded some damned sucky stuff. If Ray Charles were still alive he wouldn't be nervous at all. Ray never did anything sucky.
Okay, now that we are safe from Cat Stevens, when are they going to crack down on the television preachers? That's what I want to know. These guys tell their viewers that all sorts of wonderful things will happen to them if they will just write a big check and send it to "God Needs Your Bucks if You Want to Go to Heaven"
These poor gullible people follow the instructions, and donors, thy name is fleeced.
This is fraud in every single sense of the word. These phonies promise people something they cannot deliver and the contributor loses his or her money forever. I think protecting Americans from the crooked charlatans on TV is a lot more important than protecting Americans from Cat Stevens and his old sucky songs.
Blondesense
There's an old law on the books from the 1970's supposedly written in light of the famous assinations of the 1960's, but more likely written to protect Nixon and his minions when they conspired to overthrow the democratically elected government of Chile, Title 18, Section 1752(a)(1)(ii) of the U.S. Code which makes it a federal crime to "knowingly and willfully" enter an area restricted by the Secret Service during a presidential visit. Now it is being used against citizens who want to exercise their right to free speech.
There is a very good article called Thou Dost Protest Too Much , By Jonathan M. Katz at Slate about these arrests of protesters. He cites example of arrests by citizens who wear anti-Bush shirts or hold anti-Bush signs. Obviously these people are exercising their first amendment rights and apparently it upsets the pretzeldent of the united states to be criticized.
Of course the excuse is given when people who wear anti-bush shirts or carry anti-bush signs are thrown into jail or taken away that the secret service is only concerned about the well being of the leader against terrorists.
People who do not wear anti-bush shirts and carry pro-bush signs can get close to the president. No one questions those who line up on streets or at rallies if they wear pro-bush buttons and have pro-bush signs.
Bush is not afraid of terrorists. He is afraid of dissenters getting on the news. If there were any terrorists in this country who were out to get him, I think it would be pretty easy to figure out how to do it.
UPDATE: When Bush came to my town, if you were pro-bush, you could stand right on the edge of the road as he went by. Not one single cop or SS person checked the pro-bush people. Not one.
Those who had anti-bush signs were relegated to a different area.
By now, don't you think that the terrorists would have figured this out, if there were any who wanted to hurt our leader? They like our leader!!! If there are terrorists in this country, they appear to be pro-Bush.
So far the people who have been arrested from the anti-bush gatherings have turned out to be regular tax paying citizens and not international or domestic terrorists!
Patricia sent me these links to the following stories that just seem ridiculous in light of the fact that just about anyone can crash a Bush rally as long as they pretend they are pro-bush....
Here's one: "American citizens face the prospect of having to submit fingerprints to the government to make it easier to fight terrorism, former CIA director James Woolsey says."
And worse: "The latest proposed legislation -- "Tools to Fight Terrorism Act of 2004" (S. 2679) -- would increase the government’s powers to secretly obtain personal records without judicial review and limit judicial discretion over the use of secret evidence in criminal cases. It would also eliminate important foreign intelligence wiretapping safeguards and allow the use of secret intelligence wiretaps in immigration cases without notice or an opportunity to suppress illegally acquired evidence.
The legislation would also grant the Department of Justice expanded administrative subpoena power -- the authority to seize records and compel testimony in terrorism cases without prior review by a court or grand jury. This would erode already diminished judicial oversight, and would allow access to confidential records without individual suspicion of wrongdoing."
*************
So far AssKKKroft has not arrested any terrorists or made any charges stick. There have not been any life threatening attacks on Bush. I am not saying that NYC isn't going to be attacked any time soon... but I am not saying what you think I'm not not saying either.
Figure it out.
There is a very good article called Thou Dost Protest Too Much , By Jonathan M. Katz at Slate about these arrests of protesters. He cites example of arrests by citizens who wear anti-Bush shirts or hold anti-Bush signs. Obviously these people are exercising their first amendment rights and apparently it upsets the pretzeldent of the united states to be criticized.
Of course the excuse is given when people who wear anti-bush shirts or carry anti-bush signs are thrown into jail or taken away that the secret service is only concerned about the well being of the leader against terrorists.
People who do not wear anti-bush shirts and carry pro-bush signs can get close to the president. No one questions those who line up on streets or at rallies if they wear pro-bush buttons and have pro-bush signs.
Bush is not afraid of terrorists. He is afraid of dissenters getting on the news. If there were any terrorists in this country who were out to get him, I think it would be pretty easy to figure out how to do it.
UPDATE: When Bush came to my town, if you were pro-bush, you could stand right on the edge of the road as he went by. Not one single cop or SS person checked the pro-bush people. Not one.
Those who had anti-bush signs were relegated to a different area.
By now, don't you think that the terrorists would have figured this out, if there were any who wanted to hurt our leader? They like our leader!!! If there are terrorists in this country, they appear to be pro-Bush.
So far the people who have been arrested from the anti-bush gatherings have turned out to be regular tax paying citizens and not international or domestic terrorists!
Patricia sent me these links to the following stories that just seem ridiculous in light of the fact that just about anyone can crash a Bush rally as long as they pretend they are pro-bush....
Here's one: "American citizens face the prospect of having to submit fingerprints to the government to make it easier to fight terrorism, former CIA director James Woolsey says."
And worse: "The latest proposed legislation -- "Tools to Fight Terrorism Act of 2004" (S. 2679) -- would increase the government’s powers to secretly obtain personal records without judicial review and limit judicial discretion over the use of secret evidence in criminal cases. It would also eliminate important foreign intelligence wiretapping safeguards and allow the use of secret intelligence wiretaps in immigration cases without notice or an opportunity to suppress illegally acquired evidence.
The legislation would also grant the Department of Justice expanded administrative subpoena power -- the authority to seize records and compel testimony in terrorism cases without prior review by a court or grand jury. This would erode already diminished judicial oversight, and would allow access to confidential records without individual suspicion of wrongdoing."
*************
So far AssKKKroft has not arrested any terrorists or made any charges stick. There have not been any life threatening attacks on Bush. I am not saying that NYC isn't going to be attacked any time soon... but I am not saying what you think I'm not not saying either.
Figure it out.
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