Back to Most Recent Archives 2002, 2003, and early, mid, late 2004, and Q2-2005.

---

"They that can give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- Benjamin Franklin

March 31, 2005 - Can we talk about important things now?

Don't call me a non-caring bastard, but since I didn't know the lady, I have no actual feelings about the fact that Terri Schiavo died this morning. If anything else, the vultures who used her situation for political gain are the miscreants who should bear the blame that a private moment has turned into a chest-beating farce. Ars Technica actually covers the case up until her passing better than all news agencies combined.

Now, unfortunately, the fight will erupt over her funeral, as explained here.

There's another sordid side to this story I just found out about a few days ago. Apparently in Texas, an 6-month old resident of Delay's district was born with some type of birth defect that kept him in the hospital unable to breathe. His name is Sun Hudson, African-American and of a poor family. Between Delay's apparent disdain for the people he's supposed to represent and a law signed by then-Governor Bush, the hospital was able to decide that it didn't want to foot the bill for young Sun and, over his mother's stringent objections, the plug was pulled on this baby's life on March 15th.

In case I didn't clarify that enough: Bush's law and Delay's concern over a white woman in Florida whose personal body image choices destroyed her brain pan led directly to the death of a young black boy in Texas with a birth defect he had no control over having. That's the GOP for you on so many levels.

EvilNed sends along an opinion piece that I can get on board with. Plus a screed on Delay in general and one covering how he had no problem allowing the plug to be pulled on his father when faced with a long, unrecoverable illness. Culture of life indeed. Only when their families don't have to suffer.

March 27, 2005 - A sigh of relief

First off, I still am having a hard time believing Illinois managed to pull together a win against Arizona. That was beyond a close call. And Michigan State somehow kept their composure in double OT to beat Kentucky. Yeah, that weak Big 10 conference has half the final four. And that's not including Wisconsin's efforts at trying to stop North Carolina.

Not much to report today other than some conservative bashing. Why? Because they make it so easy. To start off, let's run the congressmen out of D.C. who vote for a tranportation bill that allows for a $37 million road improvement for the WalMart headquarters. As if these guys don't have enough tax breaks and freedom to break small businesses, we have to build their corporate expressway too?

Then there's the NRA, who wants to give guns to our nation's schoolteachers. Which, if we still deign to think we should teach citizenship and democracy, kind of makes it hard to do with a straight face when you have a gun to the student's heads.

We follow with these miscreants who are overloading the Florida family and child service phone lines with calls concerning Terri Shiavo. Yeah, conservatives are literally eager and willing to let a child or wife get beat to death to "save" a person in a 15 year coma whose case they really have no business getting in the middle of. If you aren't a raving, hatemongering, flat-Earther Republican, you can read this story on the science behind this case.

More on that POS Tom Delay and the branch of GOP zealots called the neo-cons...or X-Cons as this article proposes to call them.

Culture news. Racism on the rise in southern California suburbs. As to be expected, all quoted officials call it "no big deal." A story on Native American living conditions on the heels of the Red Lake murders.

The BBC does a good story on the next technological advances online for those who don't keep up with that kind of thing. An interesting article about phishing from EWeek.com. Those of you who worry about weird emails should read up on that one. And one article from Jim Rapoza, who I occasionally link, concerning the planned overuse of RFID tags.

In entertainment news (yes, I am aware Hollywood exists, just don't comment on it often), Sandra Bullock somehow rates a star on the Walk of Fame. I mean, come on, even Keanu Reeves knew to walk away from Speed 2. Who's next? Carrot Top? Some American Idol idiot?

March 26, 2005 - Dickie V's humble pie and Bush's lies (redux)

We'll start off with some sports news for this weekend update. First off, this must have been particularly hard for Dick Vitale to write since he's the first of a long line of proponents that the ACC is the best basketball conference in the nation. Too bad they can be slapped out of the tournament by "mediocre" Big 10 teams. I myself am still hoping the Illini can find a way past Arizona, who somehow always seems to have their number. Even possibly facing North Carolina down the line would be an easier task than getting past this mojo hump.

The revelations and innuendo of the steroid problem in baseball may have future Hall of Fame ramifications. First, and somewhat inexplicably, some Hall voters will exclude Mark McGwire but not Barry Bonds. Maybe it has something to do with Bonds being some kind of freakish character actor trying to blame the media for his 'roid problems.

Now onto the social-polito spectrum of my attention this week. First off, a comparison on the wisdom of Washington versus the idiocy of Bush when it comes to prisoners of war. Also, accusations that Bush must be a fan of giving children autism when it comes to keeping mercury levels safe (basically, he doesn't care).

While busy trying to violate the sanctity of marriage in the Shiavo case, Bush has been singled out by Minnesota tribal leaders for completely ignoring the school shooting incident in Red Lake, the second-worst in this nation's history. Which, given that he only cares about the wealthy, pseudo hate-filled "Christians" and corporate goons, would be an accurate assessment. A quote from the article: "The fact that Bush preempted his vacation to say something about Ms. Schiavo and here you have 10 native people gunned down and he can't take time to speak is very telling," said David Wilkins, interim chairman of the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the North Carolina-based Lumbee tribe.

Other news and opinion regarding the GOP dictatorship. Mixed reviews on No Child Left Behind (dogma - adequate funding = poor results). Sellout John McCain still backs the Iraq war decision despite its premise being utterly false. Has anyone told him that loyalty to Bush doesn't actually help you? You can still support our armed forces without agreeing that invading Iraq was done for any good reason. A little strong on the propaganda, but one writer questions whether we have entered a Dark Age of history with Bush leading the barbarian charge. More on using God as a political tool by the GOP, from the Ten Commandment statues to Shiavo to end-times lunatics related murder sprees. Plus, a look at Republican sleaze masters.

In these days where violence is advocated as a foreign policy tool, it is no surprise that even the Easter Bunny can receive a beat-down by a 12-year old. But fear not, for $8.95 you can make your TV free from the lies of FOXNews. Too bad I can't put it on the TV sets of the small restaurants I go to on the road and the oil change place I take the truck too. From the same site, a list of GOP-proscribed Acts of Patriotism you can perform for Prelate Bush.

March 20, 2005 - Playing (Politics) With Our Lives

Apparently, to the GOP, you should have free reign to ravage the environment, invade other nations, be ruthless and unethical in business as long as you turn a profit, but for God's sake, do NOT make decisions concerning your personal life or the lives of your loved ones without checking in with the US Congress or Bush. Wasting away the beginning of Holy Week by imposing politics into a family's terrible ordeal, Bush signed a mockery of democracy bill that forces Terri Schiavo alive because of their supposed respect for life.

Let me get this straight. These asshats ramrodded a bill through to interfere with the life of one person who apparently did not want to stay alive this way at the same speed they went to war with Iraq two years ago, not caring how many soldiers their faulty intelligence and poor planning would kill. And they have the audacity to say they value life.

Who. The. Hell. Do. These. Idiots. Think. They. Are?

More importantly, why do we accept these lies, especially on Palm Sunday? They should be ashamed of themselves, not emboldened to destroy personal freedom even more. And those who vote for this type of ilk should be publicly apologizing to the rest of us.

March 19, 2005 - Wish I Were There

Special Welcome Home greetings to all the soldiers in Foxtrot Battery as they return to Galva and the surrounding towns. Now its official: your tour is done. Talked to Tom a bit yesterday and hope to later today as well. Also hope to see him soon too. I think I speak for everyone when I say how proud I am of all you guys and that it's good to have you back.

I would like any taped coverage or news stories I don't catch online you all may wish to send my way. If I can't be there myself, I'd at least like to catalogue what's out there and see at least that side of the day's events.

---

That said, I'm back in town and back in rant mode I suppose. There was so much to comment on lately and I will likely cull out stuff that's old news, but I was going to start off with a rant on gas prices. After pumping in some $2.29 a gallon 87 octane, I repeated my ongoing inner conversation on how - despite having two oil guys in office who invaded an oil state and are in bed with most of the other big oil countries - the American consumer pays so much for a gallon of gas. I was going to, and then realized Ted Rall makes the argument more humorously:

And what IS your government working on during this time of war and economic disruption? The answer is easy: they are sticking their noses into your private lives and screwing the less fortunate while protecting their blindly loyal supporters. Let me explain.

The GOP, instead of trying to actually solve problems, is having hearings on Major League Baseball players' use of steroids. Which, come on, while obvious when you look at Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and that cretin Jason Giambi, does not constitute a national issue. Neither is injecting the federal government into the Terri Schiavo case, wherein her husband thinks she has suffered long enough but the pro-life GOP can't handle people making decisions for themselves and their loved ones. No, no, they have to politicize what should be a private decision.

Here's a hint folks: if I've been in a vegetative state for 15 freaking years with no chance of a cure, feel free to pull the damn plug and live your lives as I can't mine. Seriously. Use this page as evidence if need be. At some point you are ending one life to allow many over lives to be freely lived without constant guilt and remorse.

Meanwhile, while trying not to cut the money we pay farmers to grow...well, nothing, the GOP has decided to cut food aid to our poorest citizens. Yep, led by Saxby Chambliss, who got into office by questioning the patriotism of an honest-to-God decorated Vietnam vet (seriously, who votes for this type of scum anyway), Republicans want to cut the WIC program and food stamp benefits. This is literally taking food out of the mouths of babies. It is despicable and emblematic of the entire Republican Party.

I used to just think it was Bush and the neocons and racists in the party. Now I'm pretty sure its most of the party members who are spiteful, hateful despots-in-training. Speaking of the Deluder-in-Chief, he's taking credit for the recent events in the Middle East that have nothing to do with out invasion of Iraq. I mean, sure, the Lebanese probably feel emboldened knowing Syria might have to fight our troops if they re-invade the country, but it is an unintended consequence, not a battle plan or foreign policy strategy. Wait a minute, do we even try to plan our foreign policy anymore?

And this from a guy who acknowledges his "fix" for Social Security won't even work. Listen, seeing as I'm apparently one of those "young investors" he says really wants to have private accounts, let me put my two cents in. First, I realize something the Head Numbskull doesn't. My deductions today pay for retirees payments today. Its not MY retirement money, it is THEIRS. Saying otherwise discredits the entire Social Security system, which, I imagine is Bush's entire strategy here.

So, let's put this another way. He wants me to basically steal my payment back and invest in in a speculative market his corporate buddies (Ken Lay, et al) control, spin, pollute, and profit from. Can I get a HELL NO!? Look, if I want to open a 401K, buy into a money market, get some bonds and stocks, I'll do that out of my own pocket. Which I already do with some of my after-tax monies. I'm not going to rob from current retirees to invest for my own retirement. Telling me I should is unethical, immoral, and quite likely illegal. Too bad all our judges are either too cowed or co-opted to say so.

That's enough for today.

March 13, 2005 - Welcome Home Guys

I've been following news of my brother's unit as they've travelled from Taji to Kuwait and over the past day, from Kuwait to Germany to Maryland and now enroute to Oklahoma for a few days before heading back home to Illinois.

I've only got one thing to say: Welcome Home! Sorry I won't be able to make it to be there in person when you step off those buses.

It's been a long year for us here at home, I doubt we can imagine what it has been like for all of you. Thanks for doing a great job in difficult conditions. One hopes it was appreciated by those in Iraq as it was by the rest of us here. Best of luck to all of you as you reunite with family and friends and take a well-deserved rest.

Tom, I've got that aforementioned fifth of rum. Fly on out to Vegas whenever you can bro.

February 28, 2005 - Out of Pocket

Kind of an exciting time to be going off to work, but I think life can go on just fine without me. The long and short of it is this: my job is sending me off to Puerto Rico for a couple weeks so I may or may not have access to online resources. You'll just have to hunt up your own news stories I imagine.

In any case, best wishes to Chris Doherty for getting out of Iraq. Don't stay too long in Kuwait and get back to your wife. Say hey to your folks for us too. Sometime in the coming days Tom's unit F Battery 202 ADA will get their marching orders south as well. All of you stay safe and I'll track your progress as best I can. Since I won't be able to be there myself, a heartfelt and pre-emptive "Welcome Home" to all you guys as well. Bro, I'm picking up a nice bottle of rum while I am out there and I expect you to make it out here to Vegas to help me kill it someday.

In a much less serious vein, I am also quietly watching the Illini as they wrap up their regular season this week, hopefully with wins against Purdue and Ohio State. Then March Madness begins. I'm not trying to put the hex on anything but I hope for the best for that team. And heck, the OK State Cowboys as well. Too bad they couldn't hold on and spank Kansas as they were fully capable of doing.

That's it. No links, no ranting. Have a good one folks.

February 25, 2005 - Wolves in the Henhouse

Just a whole lot of news concerning the people allowed into government with Bush in office. First off, adware and spyware executives have joined a Homeland Security privacy advisory board. What a minute: we are letting people whose job it is to sneak unwanted privacy-destroying software onto our computers determine our nation's privacy policy? What the hell is that about?

Meanwhile, at the FDA, drug company consultants put drugs back onto the market that the FDA was concerned would create severe and possibly fatal heart ailments and had previously pulled from the marketplace. And these guys are presumably on the consumer's side. Give me a frigging break.

Meanwhile, Halliburton is getting bonuses for their work in Iraq. Granted, they may have worked hard to earn them, but at what cost? Overcharging the American taxpayer and working in collusion with Dick Cheney? This is not a democracy anymore folks, not if this kind of stuff is allowed to happen in plain sight.

Speaking of things in plain sight that are not discussed, just some more on the Guckert/Gannon thing. I know I said I was going to stop bringing this up, but since the regular news media won't, why should I stop? Here are two stories about how both FOXNews and the so-called Christian right are studiously ignoring the issue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't gay-bashing one of these fascists' major pasttimes? They would be all over this one if their boy George wasn't at the center of it all.

The GOP Kansas Attorney General is on a witch-hunt to find out who has had abortions in his state. Yeah, so much for that personal privacy the Constitution guaranteed. Not with Republicans running around.

More on the possibility Bush is planning to assassinate Hugo Chavez. Plus, social faux pas in Slovakia during the Deceptor-in-Chief's visit there, plus why he doesn't understand what his visit there actually means.

Some spooky photos and a sad tale of a Canadian couple caught up in the tsunami.

February 24, 2005 - Brave Soldiers and the Scumbag Politicos who put them in harm's way

Farewell Ukraine, we hardly knew ya. That's right, after choosing democracy over a repressive dictatorship, the Ukrainians have decided that they no longer need to lose troops while kissing up to Bush. They can kiss up to Western Europe with less risk to their lives.

While I can respect their opinion (though really wish our troops get some support from someone), I really can pour some loathing into the miscreants behind the following two stories. Some morons have started an email campaign targetting those who have lost family in Iraq and posing as Homeland Security personnel. And this piece of crap in human form actually had the gall to go to a woman's door and tried to convince her that her husband had died in combat. I imagine there's a special place in Hell for this idiot.

In contrast, many states - realizing their citizen soldiers will be taken for federal use more often than not - are working to back their troops with improved benefits and privileges. It may not be all they deserve, but given the belt-tightening states have had to do since the Feds started slapping down unfunded mandates over security, its a lot. This is not to say the military itself hasn't tried to react to the situation by offering higher bonuses to keep people in uniform. I mean, Bush eventually has to leave office someday, right?

More on Bush's mania to be right even when he's wrong, and an article concerning Guckert/Gannon and the implausibility of an unknown rogue reporter flitting about in the most paranoid and secretive administration in U.S. history.

I saw a Frontline episode entitled "A Company of Soldiers" the other night. Thanks to Mike at the Galva Armed Services Page for the lead on that. I would encourage you all to watch it the few times it will still be on TV, plus online starting Friday night. Here's a story concerning PBS' need to censor itself thanks to Michael Powell's dictatorial reign. Not a real free speech advocate despite his delusions.

One more story (just an excerpt really) via Maxim written by Col. David Hackworth (ret.) and the worst case scenario approach to terrorists in the coming years.

Culture change and how conservatives are on the wrong side of it. One story focuses on USA Next, who have teamed up with the Swift Boat goons to tarnish the reputation of the AARP and demean our seniors in an effort to scare us into killing Social Security. The other is on Ahnold and how he's managed to piss off most major women's work associations in the state of Kahlifornia due to his disdain for women in general. Herr Groppenfuerher is emerging from the shadows once again. The last is on Bush and how most of us, and large percentages of other parts of the world, aren't onboard his "democracy-by-brute-force" plan.

Other social news. Studies show parents now don't get so bent out of shape if their kids smoke pot. One story concerning Civil War battlefields losing to suburban sprawl. Hey! We're not just forgetting our history, we're paving it over too! Some of the Enron weasels may - finally - get their day in court. I'll believe that when I see it. I still say our "fair and just" legal systems lets these criminals walk. That or Bush just outright pardons them.

Just for fun, a couple links concerning the top 100 gadgets of all time according to MobilePC magazine and an old pre-election link to a "presidential global test " I wish I had found to link when still current.

February 22, 2005 - Blowing Smoke

First off, I'm not going to wait for the "moral outrage" from hypocritical conservatives when hear about their boy Bush being a pothead in his teens. With Clinton (who, admittedly, handled it like an idiot), they were sharpening the pitchforks and lighting the torches and rushing to run him out of town. With Bush, its one more thing to attempt to sweep under the rug. How the heck anyone still trusts a pack of deceitful jerks (yeah, PG-13 rules apply) is beyond me. Bush, for the record, refutes the story despite evidence to the contrary, which at least makes him consistent. A consistent liar that is.

Here's a consistent track record example. Bush called the idea of invading Iran "ridiculous" just before making an oblique reference to threatening said invasion. For comparison, refer to this story from March 2002 where Bush told Gerhard Schroeder, "I have no war plans on my desk." So...how clean is his desk today? And what's in the file cabinet?

Other foreign affairs. Hugo Chavez has it on good authority from Fidel that Bush is out to assassinate him. Given the treatening language from Condoleeza's filthy mouth these days, I would tend to believe the guy at this point.

This article begs the question, "Why aren't editors getting fired for pumping out propaganda for the government?" With Bob Novak still walking the street, I'm not surprised.

Speaking of foul play, conservative idiots are targetting the AARP as anti-military and pro-gay in its efforts to discredit the group from its stance against Bush's plan to destroy Social Security. Alright, go ahead, question the patriotism of our nation's seniors and resort to ugly gay-bashing to push your "moral agenda." I would like to think people are seeing these miscreants for what they are, but I doubt anyone is watching anymore.

BlockBuster is being sued by the state of New Jersey for deceptive practices. Wow, that's a suit that's been a long time coming. Sticking with New Jersey, the Borgata Casino is initiating a weight policy for its floor employees, specifically cocktail waitresses and bartenders. Maybe because Vegas is jading me a bit, but I'm not seeing the counter-argument to this. If you are hired for a job because of your looks, perhaps you are entitled to keep up that look if you want to keep your job. Its not like NASA is hiring based on weight or build.

Remember when we had a president that gave honorable service to his country? Okay, George H.W. Bush did a good job there to be sure. But I wanted to discuss a man who also served the world after his term as president, and not a pack of shady Saudi royals. The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) was commissioned this past Saturday at the New London facility in Connecticut. This Seawolf-class sub, the last of its kind, is an example of the high-tech vessels we are capable of building for multiple-use duty. More on the submarine here at its official site.

February 19, 2005 - Fresh Deception

There's a lot of press about this "Jeff Gannon" clown. Which, while I realize the whole thing stinks of conspiracy, I hope no one loses sight of the fact that our rights to sue companies for wrongdoing is being sold down the river by a GOP congress. Nor that Bush is still out to kill Social Security, though his crap apparently doesn't sell well in New Hampshire.

In any case, "Gannon" had access to the White House prior to joining his fake news agency, and knew about the Iraq attack hours before Bush announced it. Not to mention being an attack dog trying to discredit Tom Daschle and outing CIA agent Valerie Plame. Desperate to look credible, the junta is dusting off Ari Fleischer to save McClellan and Bush's cookies. Yeah, good luck with that. Not bad work for the Bush Administration's chosen prostitute.

Alright, I already knew Bush was lying, I just wasn't aware of the depths of it. And, honestly, probably never will know for sure. As much fun as I'm having reading it, I'll try to focus on the actual harm he's planning to cause us, not so much on the trail of destroyed careers and honorable dead soldiers those lies are responsible for. Though you should always keep that in mind.

Speaking of destroying careers and outing our spies, this article questions why Bob Novak is still walking around free after basically committing treason.

Bush is trying to force Democrats to sign on with taxing the rich to back his plan to destroy Social Security. That's pretty demeaning, assuming Democrats live to tax the rich. I mean, the only reason we're even in this supposed mess in the first place is that Bush is trying to make it impossible to tax rich people at all anyway. Seriously, most of these folks make money on investments and rarely deign to work outside of a random board meeting. Since he's made capital taxation pretty much illegal, suddenly we have a "crisis." Yeah, one of your own making, moron. Paul Krugman takes Alan Greenspan to the woodshed for being complicit in all this.

Incidentally, the Democrats have a Social (In)Security calculator where you can try to project how much financial ruin Bush has in store for you.

Shocking and ironic science news. A portion of HIV's genetic code can possibly kill cancer cells. Urine can reduce spinal cord injury. Hey, I don't make this up and am as weirded out as you probably are. Also, women who use the Pill choose male partners with healthier faces. No wonder pasty, tobacco-chewing in-breeds join George Bush in hating birth control.

What else? Oh yeah, the Portuguese are leaving Iraq soon. Just doing some quick math here, I've got the running total on Bush's push for democracy in the world. So far, Afghanistan has had free elections, but Bush's pal Karzai still holds power (that is, wherever the warlords are not). Iraq has finally had free elections at the cost of 100,000+ lives and hopefully not a Shi'ite theocracy on the horizon. Though that hope does look good. In Europe, backing Bush hasn't helped. Spain now has a Socialist government, Portugal is about to have one. Who knows what will finally happen to Blair. Musharraf in Pakistan is able to hold onto his military dictatorship because of Bush. North Korea has the bomb. Russia is more restrictive than ever.

So, that's two-nascent democracies, with two conservative governments going socialist, one dictatorship supported (at least) for helping out, one more nuclear power, and anti-democratic movements gaining strength in Russia, China, Iran, and other fun places because people fear our brand of dictatorial democracy. Oh yeah, that's great work.

And now France wants to fight Google because they fear our literature. Granted, they were going to probably do that anyway.

February 16, 2005 - Pointing out the hypocrisy

Shameless plug moment, both high-brow and low. First, I read Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr's War and the American Presidency awhile back and found it to be a fantastic read and absolutely demand you go pick it up/check it out to get an actual background to why the Bush administration is anti-American. By that I mean, it is against our freedoms, history, and common sense as a nation and an examples of the worst excesses that we previously have been able to keep the lid on.

The other prop goes to David Cross' It's Not Funny. Josh at work clued me into this (sorry Ned, you just didn't quite get me to follow Bob & David as much as you wanted) and on top of being political to a vein I agree with, its so wrong its right.

The one thing I'll give Dick Cheney credit for is for being honest and open enough to support his daughter Mary despite what he may think of her sexual preference. It proves that, at least under his own roof, he's a fairly decent human being, or at least a good parent. The same, however, cannot be said for Alan Keyes when it comes to his daughter Maya. Despite defending him and working for his carpetbagger Illinois Senate campaign, he has since kicked her out of his apartment, fired her, and cut her off from his funds which left her no way to pay her college tuition. Nice guy.

Rehashing the "reporter" the Bushites let into the White House press room, apparently there's more evidence he is a gay prostitute (WARNING: site has some kinda graphic pics). Also, he also managed to sneak in long before his purported news agency existed. Now granted, I really don't care what anyone's sexuality is, but I find it weird that such as gay-bashing administration would allow a prostitute, much less a gay one, be their mouthpiece for, well, among other things: further gay-bashing, outing CIA agents, and furthering their ridiculous (and false) motives for war. I can't see any of this as "moral values," "family values," or "compassionate conservatism."

The GOP is also out to destroy Harry Reid, which is weird as he's probably one of the more middle-of-the-road Democrats out there. But he's against that fun nuclear waste pit they want to build in my backyard so I guess they consider him fair game. Anyway, here's the crap they are saying about him; and here's Harry calling Bush's bluff to stand up for decency. So far, no answer from "Mr. Integrity."

Other discouraging words from a former Bushite who questions Bush's commitment to faith-based initiatives. And let's be honest here. Everyone talks about how much "loyalty" Bush inspires but there's a freaking parade running out of the executive branch full of people who loath the man and can't vouch for him having any scruples. Seriously, you can't write ALL of them off as disgruntled.

Greenspan, after years of being a simpering dolt to Bush, begins to grow a spine and questions the plan to abolish "reform" Social Security.

Laura Bush "asserts her political capital" by firing the White House chef. Must not have catered enough BBQ dinners for her liking. Well, at least she didn't treat him like an ex-boyfriend and kill him. Apparently eleven years of exemplary service to two presidents and hundreds of foreign leaders can't save you from a bored former librarian with a rap sheet.

I finally found the level of audacity that would turn even Matt Drudge against Bush, if only temporarily. Apparently Bush thinks it is "uniquely American" for a single mother to be forced to work three jobs...and then laugh to her face about it. What an ass.

Dave from work reminds me of a site I should just make a permanent link: the Cost of War.

Incidentally, thanks to Zed the Ant and Jason DeSmit for the kind links to the site. Always nice to get new readers, if only just to freak them out so they never come back again. Oh well. Zed, good luck getting your stuff out of Malaysia. Be safe and see you soon.

February 14, 2005 - Happy Valentine's Day

It has been pointed out to me that I "forgot" what should be a huge sports story to me. I haven't forgotten; I'm just afraid to put the hex on 'em. I got to watch my old alumni Illinois deliver a smackdown to Wisconsin on Saturday, making them 25-0 on the season. They're doing so well that even Dick Vitale has looked beyond his myopic pro-ACC spectrum to compliment the team. But like I said, I'm not gonna get too (publicly) excited...yet.

More random weekend leftovers, beginning with anti-Valentine's Day movements in India and Saudi Arabia.

While we hope for the best in Iraq given all they've had to put up with lately, Turkey is first in line to dispute the results of the recent elections. Look, it was as open and participatory as possible, so quit flapping your jaws if you happen not to like the results. They had a hard enough time just getting the damn thing together. Hell, that vote looked more honest and open than what I went through in November, that's for sure.

Texans unleashed with fatal enemas and ludicrous-sized trucks.

Racism on the rise online and in Germany.

Republicans now have to deal with reality, which includes confronting Bush on his ludicrous budget and Social Security and Medicare scams. Seriously, good luck to them because unfortunately they are our last defense against this lunatic. As Paul Krugman points out, Bush's budget is nothing but class warfare with a thin veneer of fiscal responsibility slapped on.

Rumsfeld must be learning something after all. He now sees our military as the last resort to solving problems. There is hope for him not sacrificing all our troops in some Republican fantasy crusade after all. That's not to say he isn't hiding billions of dollars from the budget to fund his goals. Hopefully proper equipment for our forces is in there somewhere.

Meanwhile, our military is more tolerant by default as fewer servicemembers are expelled for being gay. Apparently when the shooting starts, the hatemongers pushing the policy need every warm body they can grab with both fists. Once again, the military is stuck between necessity and a political witchhunt they would be better off not being a part of. I don't envy them this as all they want to do is their jobs, no matter how weird the orders are.

A couple more articles. One on Nevada's efforts to stand up to the Feds and stop them from opening up some horrific nuclear pit just outside of town. An one more concerning cultural change as universities wonder what to do with all the unused landlines they offer their cell-phone addicted students.

February 13, 2005 - Random Pickings

Still fighting a bit of illness, so this post will be about as random as all my thoughts have been over the past week. Um, enjoy.

First off, sports news. You all know I love baseball, though lately its been hard with Sosa being a spoiled sellout (and now Oriole); Schilling emerging as, yes, a champion Red Sox leader, but also some punk Bush loyalist; and most regrettably, Randy Johnson becoming a - shudder - Yankee. But I've got a couple months left to worry about all that.

Hey, let's cover the highlights on a couple true low-lifes in sports. Scumbag 'roidhead Jason Giambi of the Yankees attempted to apologize the other day for being a juice-head, but never got around to actually saying he did seroids. Yeah, class act just like the rest of his teammates (damnit Randy, why?). Meanwhile, in the NBA, all-around jerk Karl Malone stopped trying to be a mercenary long enough to realize he's never going to get a championship ring. If you weren't such a pompous twit, I would pretend to feel sorry for you. Not! Happy retirement and stay off my television.

What's a day without me picking on Bushheads? I dunno, let's not find out right now. Alright, aside from earlier reports, Bush's budget gives the axe to Homeland Security programs, job training, Perkins loans, airport repair funds, literacy programs, and police. But Halliburton payouts, corporate welfare, and gazillionaire tax cuts are still full speed ahead.

Freedom of religion? Not with these guys in office.

There's nothing more I hate than an overcommercialized but otherwise benign holiday than activists using it for a political agenda. And that goes for all parties, fascist or democrat, gay or straight, "moralists" and freethinkers. For Valentine's Day, I'll just be enjoying the concept of love, thank you very much.

Sidney Blumenthal weighs the hazards Bush faces of selling us a domestic agenda we don't agree with like a war we didn't think we had to fight until we were scared into it.

Anti-malarial drugs and the dangers they may pose to our soldiers.

Since I've been trolling the local western Illinois papers for news on Tom's unit, which hopefully will get to come home with the end of their year in service rolling around, I have a couple tidbits to pass along. The first, from the Quad City Times is as fine as tribute to the later Ossie Davis as I've seen written through the week since he's passed. The other is an article concerning the ridiculous and arbitrary response (and excuses) stores make to keep us away from "dangerous" substances. Yeah, um, can I have the America back I grew up with that WASN'T moronically psycho?

February 11, 2005 - Useful Distractions

From the party that brought you the concept of character assassination, the GOP is SHOCKED!, no, OUTRAGED! that "journalist Jeff Gannon," the ringer they let into the White House press corps, was outed - in more ways than one. Apparently the tactics used to find him out were harsh and possibly rude. But, you know, coming from guys who use Willie Horton, Linda Tripp, and said Kerry was in bed with bin Laden, it loses pretty much all authenticity to me. Anyway, what's the commotion you ask?

In a nutshell, some meathead posing as a journalist, using a fake name, was able to get access to the White House (needed his real name for that) and ask softball questions to Bush's mouthpiece and the Great Deceiver himself. And hey, they gave him access to CIA documents just for fun too. Basically, it turns out that a) he's not a reporter, b) he likes gay prostitution, and c) he's a liar to all of us and his supposedly hardcore (no pun intended) conservative belief system. Just one more example why this administration's words aren't worth a bucket of warm spit.

Taking a cue from her bosses, Condoleeza Rice, after bossing around much of the northern hemisphere, took what appeared to be a risky Q&A session at a French university in front of a crowd of 500. Well, it only seemed risky before all but 150 tickets were reserved for French and American government types, leaving only a few students to ask - get this - pre-screened questions. Oh yeah, she's really gutsy. No word on whether people had to sign loyalty oaths to the junta to get in. Hell, even one conservative reporter blanched at this obvious chickens**t move.

But hey, let's focus on what these clowns and their disciples are really up to. First off, there's the Big Brother driver's license plan. They'll train you to be tracked like a milk cow by forcing you to wear RFID-tagged badges in schools. The idiot superintendent at this particular school thinks kids hate the idea of being tracked better than we do convicted murderers because of "fashion." That only counts if you consider individual freedoms out of fashion; which despots like him and his president apparently do. And let's not even get into the fact that the tech guys in charge of this are double-dipping from taxpayer funds. Yeah, real conservative heroes there.

Other GOP morons are found in Virginia as they forced through a law allowing "Traditional Marriage" license plates and a bill that allows for $50 fines for people who wear their pants too low. Now granted, I don't care for the look myself, but unlike our non-government-interference-talking Republican friends, I really don't feel a need TO INTRUDE ON PEOPLE'S PRIVATE LIVES. They do, and until people wake up and realize they can't turn on the TV without checking in with the GOP, we're stuck with the fascists.

In Alabama, the legislature is forcing kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance and schools to display the Ten Commandments. In case you think this is a good idea, remember that the Pledge should come from the heart, not at the point of a gun (or at least a threat of no access to education). As for the Commandments, I still insist cramming religion down people's throats doesn't do any good either. Here's a novel idea: how about educating our kids about rights and freedoms and let them come to their own conclusions?

Meanwhile Bush talks about stuff he obviously won't do anything about, like ending racism and combatting gangs. Things he is apparently working on are invading Iran, lying to us about the cost of his Medicare "reforms," and forcing scientists to change their findings to better suit his business pals. Amongst other things.

February 8, 2004 - God told me he had nothing to do with you idiots

Quote of the week from Condoleeza Rice as she addressed European leaders, "I don't think we came to change the subject....We came to move to a new phase." Which is BushSpeak for "I know we called you irrelevant and blatantly lied to you, but could you please not rub our faces in it and bail us out anyways?" Yeah, that's class.

In cultural news, Michael Jackson apparently believes he has "God's approval" to sleep with little boys. Yes, helping underprivileged children is noble; abusing that trust with sexual relations is not. Not even soiled priests have sunk so low as to blame God for their failings.

Speaking of people who refuse to admit fault and use the "God made me do it" defense, Bush is out there trying to kill off the good favor of the GOP's favorite constituencies. It is bad enough he considers anyone who didn't vote for him a traitor and hell-bound, but now he's decided to cut veteran's benefits and farm subsidies, not to mention cops and education. On top of that, he's helped kill the Hubble telescope in favor of some Jetsonian moon base. The last one makes sense though as he's gonna need an off-Earth location to run to once he's done pissing over the last 50 million Americans who are still deluded into thinking he's a decent person.

Incidentally, none of these budget cuts will stop Medicare from paying for Viagra and other "boner pills." This from the same administration that doesn't want to provide birth control to women.

More reporters are correctly assessing that Bush wants to destroy Social Security. One economist gets to the obvious point when Little Bush, like his Dad and Clinton, is robbing the Social Security surplus. Unlike 41 and Bill, he promised not to do so. Once again, Jr. is lying and is trying to talk his way out of it by fearmongering.

More head-in-the-sand news. As reported the other day, our children are being led to believe the government should censor free speech by a party that says government shouldn't be involved in our lives. That is, only our economic lives apparently as these guys want to intrude on EVERYONE'S private lives. They are backed by creationists trying to take over our schools when they aren't out to underfund and destroy them.

But hey, focus on that and not how Texans had gone hog wild for Food Stamps since Bush started trashing all 50 states and not just their's. And how Sheriff Joe in Arizona now wants to fingerprint you for a mere traffic stop. Or that the record industry is allowed to sue dead grandmothers. Not to mention that we are losing the "hearts and minds" campaign with world Muslims. How about that despite the evidence, our leaders insist that Iraq won't become a Shi'ite theocracy. I give those odds a mere 60/40 and you pick the majority.

And if all that isn't enough to try to ignore, how about FOXNews trying to goad us into invading Venezuela?

Twisted justice. As we drop charges from troops involved in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal (or give then light sentences), we demote and punish soldiers who mud wrestle. That'll show the world we mean business. HELLO! Is anyone home?

In closing, I watched the Super Bowl the other day. Aside from the Eagles losing, there were other duds. For one, the commercials just plain sucked. And the first person who argues that point will be the first I've heard from. They even censored the one, slightly racy one there was from reappearing in the second half. And Paul McCartney? Granted, that was a wonderful rendition of "Live and Let Die" and far better than some pre-teen slut or some gangbanging rapper who would be pumping out license plates without a record deal and 40 lawyers, but come on. Poor Sir Paul was thrown out as the poster boy for a country too scared to think for itself.

You all should have worried about THAT back on November 2nd and not the terrorist Bush told you was under the bed.

February 6, 2005 - A jumble of stupidity

Sorry about being off the updates lately. I'm a tad under the weather but I'm well enough to give you some ranting and links...I think. Let's dig into it and see what we can collectively learn to shake our heads in bewilderment at.

First off, the Iraqi elections are more likely than not going to the Shi'ites. Which, the hope goes, they wouldn't use as a vendetta against Sunnis or we Americans. Don't bother closing the box Pandora, hope just left the building. The man slated to be the next PM, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, wants to include serial killer and all-around degenerate Moqtadr al-Sadr in the new government. Run a gang of thugs and get a cabinet appointment. Genius!

Cabinet news. Rumsfeld apparently offered to quit twice last year, so at least he has a soul, if not a conscience. Condoleeza Rice has the audacity to question Russia's commitment to democracy. Um, ever hear of "Physician, heal thyself," Dr. Rice? Alberto Gonzales got confirmed as AG this week and everyone is chatting about how great it is a Mexican-American got into that office. Well, you know, other than the fact the GOP is blatantly playing the race card, I guess the whole issue of our top legal eagle being a fan of thumbscrews and electroshock really takes the rah-rah BS out of me. Indeed, one pro-Bush conservative commentator finally takes a moment to admit the limits of his support for such felonious behavior.

Much, much more on the Social Security reform debacle. Other than the government only harping on the charms of Bush's plan, people are beginning to question the economics of it. Like the part where if you don't beat a flat rate of 3% growth, you don't actually get any money.

Tom Delay, in the Oxford Dictionary now for as a synonym for snake, has kicked off the last Repubican on the House Ethics Committee who dared question his nefarious deeds. He's now stacked the committee with people who give his legal defense fund money. Yeah, now that's honesty in government folks. Though, not the kind some of you misguided fools voted for I imagine.

One more shot for the day from a technologist wondering why everyone is praising Michael Powell for defending personal liberties as he leaves the FCC. I would agree as I believe he uses the Constitution as bum wipe just as much as Ashcroft, Cheney, and Bush do.

January 31, 2005 - I fear for the future

There are a lot of important reasons to resist the conservative agenda. They are trying to destroy Social Security, place our troops into wars based on fairy dust predictions, kill social programs that help our citizens. The most sobering and frightening, however, is that we must stop them from brainwashing our children. The worst sign is from a study that says 1 in 3 kids think the First Amendment gives too much freedom.

Considering that school boards across the country are stacked with fundamentalist hatemongers and that every textbook is geared so it will sell in Texas, it is no surprise our children hate freedom. I don't imagine a legion of Gloria Steinem and Malcolm X clones serving as our schoolteachers could counter that much insidious bigotry and misdirection.

Speaking of Social Security, here is a copy of the GOP playbook. Know the propaganda they are about to use to frame the discussion. The AARP officially weighs in against the administration's lies, even as Bush promises to protect GOP senators and congressmen who do his dirty work for him. Hey guys, last time this clown promised anything it was that we'd have bin Laden by Christmas and find a small mountain of nukes in the Sunni Triangle. I'd be careful if I were you.

Bush also said Social Security was a bad deal for African-Americans. As usual, actual facts prove him wrong.

In outsourcing news, Bush is getting a new fleet of helicopters for his use...and they won't be American built.

As Republicans are now able to buy their KKK robes at auctions (put a whole new spin on "white sale," doesn't it?), German courts debate banning racist political parties. Seriously, how far off track IS this country?

January 29, 2005 - Freedom is just another word...

At any minute, polls will begin opening across Iraq and the citizens there who are not sitting this one out will attempt to muddle through lists of hundreds of candidates in hopes of a better tomorrow. I sincerely wish them all the best.

And face it, despite all the race baiting, rigged electronic machines, fearmongering, insufficient resources to Democratic-leaning precincts and outright lying, the GOP never got as bad as threatening to shoot those who voted for Kerry. At least, the party didn't; I've had a few joyful emails pertaining to how I would put my life in my hands if I voted against Bush. And yesterday in Minnesota I saw one of those fascist "If you vote against Bush, the terrorists win" billboards still up. Even so, even folks in the Ukraine (who had to almost revolt to get a fair election) would stand back and recognize the long odds the Iraqis have.

That said, as I also notice the ubiquotous "I Voted" stickers beginning to fade/peel off of many vehicles, I thought maybe we could do something for our Iraqi friends that best symbolizes the mix of hope and danger as they go to the polls. And yes, I know this is REALLY crass.

I'm going to lay off any other subjects for the rest of the day as I rest up, do laundry, and let you all deal with more important things. For all those troops who read this site, keep your heads down. You, too, have a very rough day on the horizon and I wish you all the best as you get down to helping others, something our administration only uses as an excuse when their lies are revealed for what they are. You soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen and women truly know that serving our country means defending rights and offering hope to others. I only wish our leaders could embrace the rhetoric they espouse as well as you serve our nation.

UPDATE: I thought I was running some tongue-in-cheek stuff concerning the election. Slashdot has topped me with its latest poll. Go there and vote accordingly.

January 23, 2005 - A side of religion with your evil?

Two things. Ever since being on the road during the tsunami, I've been listening to a lot of NPR. NPR and Howard Stern. How's that for variety? Also, I have been utterly flabbergasted at the way this country has allowed hatemongers to take over Christianity. Today, I'm going to Focus on the Fanatics. Hey, it was funny to me when I thought it up last night.

First off, a slew of audio stories covering the growth of James Dobson's media empire, the need for scientific proof of religious prayer, and one on charitable works at the point of a cross. What have these "Talibangelists" created? A nation increasingly less tolerant of others. And on that borders on the insane. In Utah, where over 70% of people voted for Bush, a state senator is defending polygamy. (Surprise, they are moving to Texas and Colorado as well.) If you are a Christian who, for who knows whatever reason, supports Bush, is this the kind of crowd you want to run with? I didn't think so.

And let's not forget the gay bashing, the race segregating, the hatred of public education and of government provided social services, of freedoms of religion and expression. I want no part of it and I'm surprised so many otherwise good people out there do.

One more. This site quotes some scriptures that makes one wonder what twisted form of Christianity Bush says he abides by.

Women and the war. Though very Ward Cleaver in how he treats the "little ladies," Bush's condescension does not mask the fact that he needs soldiers on the ground in Iraq. So, Pentagon policy is now resulting in mixing women into units that are known to be going into dangerous areas. Case in point, the Shoshanna Johnson and Jessica Lynch situation. Without meaning to, the Bush administration is doing what no Democrat could ever get away with: namely, putting women into combat units.

There is a problem with all this equality however. No one is ready for it. As we saw with scumbag Charles Graner, who had slept with one unit member and impregnated another, no strategy is in place to cope with mixed sex units. I'm all for equal access in our culture, but let's stem the tide or at least acknowledge the issue of the high rate of pregnant soldiers and sailors out there.

Mixed notes. I keep forgetting to link Richard Clarke's article in the Atlantic Monthly. I consider it a must-read. A visual link to how low we've allowed our country to fall when it comes to prisoners. Fallout from the inauguration as various writers discuss not wanting Bush's form of Freedom by Invasion, while others discuss how large said task is. We move on to the unsavory risk of invading or even just bombing Iran and how the British will not be with us on that one. A story on how Alberto Gonzales hid Bush's DUI conviction, and the myth of Bush's tort reform nonsence.

Before I head onto a plane tomorrow, a reminder that I should NOT drink the water.

January 22, 2005 - Barbie says, "Math is hard"...

...which might explain why Bush keeps reminding us his job is "hard work."

Some inaugural math (compiled by various sources online):

$40 million: Cost of Bush inaugural ball festivities, not counting security costs.

200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

2,500: Number of U.S. troops used to stand guard as President Bush took his oath of office

26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

$290: Bonus that could go to each American solider serving in Iraq, if inauguration funds were used for that purpose.

$6.3 million: Amount contributed by the finance and investment industry, which works out to be 25 percent of all the money collected.

66: Percentage of Americans who think this over-the-top inauguration should have been scaled back.

Speaking of fuzzy math, Maureen Dowd questions Condoleeza Rice's math skills.

An honest translation of the inaugural address. Or at least, what he probably meant to say. Plus, how free was it after all the talk of freedom? If you were a member of the press, not free at all.

More on the Social Security scam, from a site appropriately called There Is No Crisis. Plus, think Bush is on the side of the elderly? Think again. Remember that "voluntary" prescription drug card he was pimping for the last couple years? It has received so little response, the poorest Medicaid recipients are now being forced to join the plan, with absolutely no choice involved. The wealthy, of course, are allowed to do whatever they damn well please. Compassionate conservatism my ass.

Oh, we're scaling back our relief efforts to the tsunami victims. No reason why, but probably because they aren't white and can not (and, more importantly, would not) vote for the GOP. Nothing like abandoning people in the face of tragedy to make our country look good. Meanwhile, the German people - all 82+ million of them - have given more than $500 million to relief efforts, which is far more than our government had to be strong-armed into promising. We should just be totally ashamed.

Conservatives in the news. FAUXNews tries to shut up someone pointing out the obvious. Bill O'Reilly tries to pretend he is a military combat veteran and then tries to shut someone up pointing out that he wasn't. Junkie Rush Limbaugh wants his soiled medical records back. Apparently he didn't think how the PATRIOT Act and other privacy-killing laws might affect him.

More anti-American than I like to put up with in the sake of discourse, but reasons why we aren't as much a top dog as we'd like to believe. Plus, conservatives think SpongeBob SquarePants is gay. And here's their frightening, hate-filled Bizarro World take on it. I've got some more on this general topic coming up soon. Maybe after I get back from my business trip next week.

We're ending with something nice today. I just got done reading Long Way Round, which details a trans-Europe/Asia/North American bike ride by actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. One, it's a great read. Two, apparently film from it is airing on Bravo. Three, they are working to provide coverage for UNICEF's work with children in some of the worst places in the world. Follow the links, read the book, enjoy.

My current read is History Lessons, which basically shows how history textbooks in other countries portray US events. It would probably bore the rest of you to death, but we'll see how it goes.

January 20, 2005 - Bonus Hypocrisy Post

WARNING: I've been generally complimented about not using blatantly partisan news stories to make a point. But given today's bile-inducing rhetoric, I'm going to take a moment and vent a bit.

A picture is worth a thousand words:

Notes from the annointing of Damien. Let's see: talking about freedom after a) invading a country not at war with us nor actively threatening us, b) restricting civil rights through the PATRIOT Act and other suppressive means (aka, calling any and all detractors "traitors"), and c) generally being more secretive than the Gestapo. Also, bemoaning racism after catering to bigots for four years. Case in point? Trent Lott gave an introductory speech.

This is the part I really loved from his speech though:

"For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny -- prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder -- violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders and raise a mortal threat."

Now was he talking about al-Qaeda and the Middle East or the GOP and the South? I got confused there.

A picture of Jenna Bush throwing up the horns for the University of Texas got me curious. What is this family's fixation with throwing up a sign otherwise used to signify allegiance with Satan? Is there a hidden meaning? Probably not, but given his policies and that weird laugh he has, I'll let you decide.

To clarify, George and Laura never went to UT. He went to Yale and had to get into Harvard Business School on the strength of his family's legacy there (couldn't get into UT Law School on his own merits...TIS TRUE!) and Laura went to SMU. Jenna, at least, has the credentials.

Rumsfeld, as always, misses the point:

January 20, 2005 - Let's Celebrate Fascism!

As most of you know, today is the inauguration of Bush (made extra special as this time he actually scared enough people to vote for him to win; and Diebold lost the rest of the votes against him). Security is deemed unprecedented, with missiles being deployed, and attendees being shaken down and treated like perps after a high speed chase. Then again, I'm all for it if Bush gets away from his veil of isolation and deception and actually sees some real Americans for once. Instead, he'll probably just focus on the fawning hypocrites and bigots that worship him like a false god.

Unfortunately he still thinks the actual God speaks directly to him and that he is working on all American's behalf. To which I say, "Are you completely off your rocker?" Then again - and this is frightening - maybe he believes his own lies now.

In the end the real question, asked by this article, is whether or not Bush will even take a moment to honestly measure all the dead soldiers which his lies and failed policies have created. I doubt it, other than to pimp their memory for his wretched agenda.

Condoleeza Rice hit a small bump on her way to ousting, err, replacing Colin Powell, who slinks his way out of Washington as the loyal soldier he is. For better or worse, depending on your point of view. In any case, after deftly avoiding, deceiving, ignoring, spinning and otherwise distorting the questions of Democrats (particularly Barbara Boxer and John "Where the hell have you been?" Kerry), she seems to be on her way to Foggy Bottom. Once there she promises to try that icky "diplomacy" thing she's been so against all these past few years.

Other decrepit news. The Saudis are off the hook and can no longer be sued for basically doing everything but giving the 9-11 hijackers neck pillows for their final rides. A man who complains about email spam is being sued by the spammers. And you thought movie houses and record companies suing over perceived losses after making record profits was evil ambition. The latest Muslim fundamentalist conspiracy theory? We caused the tsunami and were able to save our base in Diego Garcia from harm. It is called geography morons. I know, its science and it scares you. We have the same problem with our pigheaded so-called religious fundies.

January 18, 2005 - Utterly clueless

Bush says winning the election means the entire country is behind his policies; enough so that his goon squad can't be held liable for anything they could have *gasp* possibly did wrong or even illegally. Ted Kennedy and a few other Dems who found some stones stood up to let the dictator-in-training that this is not the case. Even Kerry has something - finally - to say about the whole debacle.

Disturbing news that we may be already sending in special forces to Iran to set up bombing targets. That's according to a story by Seymour Hirsch.

More on the Social Security "crisis" that Bush is creating with his tax cuts to gazillionaires. Hey, here's a concept: while the rest of this country is committing their families in the military to chase after George Bush's live action game of Risk, why don't you punks do something, like, say, PAY YOUR DAMN SHARE!

We are lowering our expectations for the Iraq election. Now that's a shocker.

Don't look now, but Laura Bush is pulling a Hillary. I mean, everyone else around her husband has assumed authority they didn't deserve. I guess she felt lonely.

Speaking of hypocrites and the power structure, Bush spent yesterday praising two African-America men he obviously never listens to nor reads the writings of: Martin Luther King Jr. and Colin Powell.

While the White House is busy trying to pretend Bush is FDR - and that's got to be the most ambitious asinine plan I've ever heard - they forgot to re-create his wartime inaugural. Instead of stoically honoring the fallen, these clowns are throwing a party which includes fighter jets and enough cops and troops to probably fill the Mall all by themselves.

And don't tell me all this crap is being covered by corporate sponsors. Last I checked, the armed forces were still paid by the US taxpayer. Not to mention that Washington D.C. is being told to use $12 million of its homeland security funds to subsidize this pack of fascists. Mark Cuban - yeah, that Mark Cuban - weighs in on the idea of a respectful and austere inaugural.

Troop news. Our soldiers and Marines will get a chance to watch the Super Bowl. Hey, let's give them every comfort we can, right? Plus, the Army vs. Rumsfeld, a continuing saga.

From the Biting The Hand That Feeds Department, Fox has to edit out a cartoon butt on a replay of a Family Guy episode so it does not run afoul of the FCC. Hey, you guys did it to yourselves. Morons.

January 15, 2005 - Justice Served (for the minions)

Charles Graner Jr., the soldier that was implacated as one of the Abu Ghraib torturers, was busted down to private and given 10 years in prison today. Which I totally approve of. As Americans, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard, which would include not torturing people or throwing their rights away like a dirty diaper. Our national goal should not be to emulate Soviet Russia, China or the Khmer Rouge.

What blows my mind is that the people behind this twisting of American ideals are still in power. Bush got re-elected for lying to all of us and then endorsing torture (not to mention encouraging people to kill our soldiers). Cheney and Rumsfeld (who still has a job despite being wrong more often than a weatherman) are also still out there screwing up our nation with malicious intent. And hell, Alberto Gonzales, who conceived this notion of an America that tortures people, HE is getting a PROMOTION to Attorney General. I thought I was angry when Martha Stewart was doing time for being a crappy investor when the Enron/WorldCom scum were still walking the street after purposely bilking their investors; but this is far worse.

Though, to be (slightly) fair, Bush almost apologized for all his blundering speech recently. Well, he "regrets" saying them; which is more like saying "Oops! Ya caught me." rather than "I'm sorry." It still doesn't bring back all those dead soldiers from your "Bring it on!" crap. In a slightly related story, Bush has stopped using a nickname for a Senator that said legislator didn't like. It only took three plus years to make Shrub stop doing it.

In the DoubleSpeak and Deception Department are the following stories on Administration comments about Iraq WMDs both before and after the invasion. Also, a judge has stopped the government from funding a faith-based group that used our money to go ahead and prostheletize regardless of the rules.

Speaking of religion, one story about religious tools and the inauguration and one story about an anti-religious fool. Speaking of fools and religion, apparently most so-called Christians know little or nothing about their religion. One example from a poll, 12% think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Oh yeah, these clowns have the right to claim moral authority. Uh huh.

As far as the aforementioned inauguration goes, were you aware it will cost upwards of $40 million? That's a lot of lives saved in Southeast Asia, or body armor for our troops in Iraq, dontcha think? Here are some of the companies sponsoring this annointing of the cheater king: shop (or more importantly, do NOT shop) accordingly. Speaking of inaugural events, anti-Bush protestors manage to get a spot (probably the first time he's seen someone who doesn't fawn over him in many years), but proud Bush supporter Kid Rock gets cut out of the festivities (now that they got your vote, you don't matter anymore - the rest of you ponder that one). And, this is jacked up, parade viewers are asked not to look directly at the gomer-in-chief. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. Heck, Mark Twain couldn't make this up.

Two more articles to leave you with, both good reads. One is an article in the New Yorker that discusses the challenges of Army unit leaders in Iraq. The other is with writer Tom Frank about how to challenge the GOP's empty promises of the Great Backlash. If you can get to a library that has it, this month's Atlantic Monthly carries a great article from Richard Clarke concerning a bad-to-worse case scenario for our fight against terrorism. Only subscribers can read the on-line version though I am pondering finding a PDF of it for ya. In the meantime, a brief write-up is here.

January 13, 2005 - Chasing Phantoms (or not even bothering)

Well, just like last month when we decided to stop looking for bin Laden (not sure I linked that, but I should have), apparently we ended the search for WMDs in Iraq three weeks ago. Give those ideas a couple moments to sink in. One of the reasons we invaded Afghanistan can't be found, and THE reason we invaded Iraq has been proven absolutely, unequivocally invalid.

And half this country voted for the moron who can neither orchestrate a plan to find one man nor one that involves using solid intelligence instead of fairy dust to consider whether or not to invade a sovreign nation. Idiots.

On to Social Security. While Bush and the GOP establish fearmongering, it is discovered that the program, if left alone, won't even tap out its trust fund until at least the 2040s. And sometime in the late 2050s the system will take in more than it pays out even given mediocre projections (aka not the fake Bush ones). So, in short: THERE IS NO PROBLEM OTHER THAN BUSH GETTING AWAY WITH LYING AGAIN.

And why would he do this in the first place? Even his pack of flying monkeys insists that their "fix" won't even solve the problem they have conjured out of thin air. It's simple: the GOP wants to destroy Social Security. They've even gone as low as trying to pretend FDR would be actually for this crap. His family, of course, rejects this defamation of a American legend's character. David Hackworth asks the question: why don't we worry more about our military security (which IS in shambles) than Social Security?

By the way, my next update will be from a mental institution if Bill Frist has his way. Apparently, he's pushing a bill to make "political paranoia" a clinical mental illness that can, presumably, take your rights away and put you into a totalitarian-controlled environment where your every thought and action is closely monitored. Its like the PATRIOT Act with clean sheets, Lithium, and restraints on the bed. But hey, its all for your own good.

More on conservatives trying to take over our schools and discredit evolution. Their new tactic is called "intelligent design," which is like alchemy except for instead of making gold from mud, it is about feeding crap to our children. Look, if these guys hate public education so much, why don't they stay out of it?

Not all is bad news though. Cobb County, GA has been told to take off the anti-evolution stickers it's religious zealots put on their district's biology books. Limbaugh and other hate mongers are off the air in liberal parts of Vermont. The state also comes up prominently - and positively - in this article on how the citizens there has gotten used to, and protective of, the civil unions there.

More on racist cops, and on Fox responding to charges of Muslim stereotyping. GOP sore losers in Washington trying to invalid an election on charges of voter fraud they probably instigated, and the unethical actions of the GOP in Kentucky causes one of the state senators to quit the party in protest. Tennessee decides it doesn't want to act like France when it comes to headscarves. Good call seeing as this country was actually founded on religious freedom.

Also, Jon Stewart wins...sorta. CNN has let go that pompous nitwit Tucker Carlson and is out to cancel Crossfire, which has become more bully than bully pulpit.

An update from the tsunami zone. Scientists are concerned that the rush of salt water will make many of the affected islands uninhabitable for the near future. Plus, Leslie linked me to another place for before-and-after overhead images of devastated regions.

One more. Remember when Bush kept unfairly getting on Kerry for treating the War on Terror as a judicial problem rather than a military one? Guess who the numbskull picked for his second chance at a replacement for Tom Ridge the Wooden Man? A lawyer. Not just any lawyer, but one that can actually pass a Senate confirmation hearing. Wow, great credentials. Never mind he's never run a major operation, or a big budget, or anything similar to the details and personalities he'll have to manage. Some thoughts on that from Slate.

January 10, 2005 - Lies for Everyone

The Democratic party is trying to figure out where to go from the recent election debacle as it considers a new party leader. One of the arguments is whether the party should go to an attack dog strategy, something the "moral" and "character-driven" Republicans have no ethical problems doing. Its hard to know where to stand on this. Do you want to run a clean campaign and lose, or be president knowing you are there based on lies you told morons who watch Fear Factor and Jerry Springer, who think Rush Limbaugh is not an utterly decrepit hypocrite junkie? Then again, as this article states, fighting back is not a bad thing. It beats coddling torturers, like newly-elected Senator Salazar has.

Speaking of lies, Bush basically lied to the Pope about Iraq. Hope all you Catholics who voted for Bush choke on your breakfast. And then maybe fall down a flight of stairs for good measure.

Lying to the American people. The junta paid conservative pundit Armstrong Williams a quarter million dollars to push its No Child Left Behind policy. While they aren't apologetic for it, hopefully Williams feels a modicum of shame for taking public tax dollars to be a willing tool of the GOP. That, and his column has been dropped from various newspaper because, well, because he's an unethical shill. More on the White House's stealth nomination of Alberto Gonzales as they refuse to release any of the papers they have from him. Ten bucks says they're either already shredded or hiding to Bush Senior's library along with Dubya's DUI, military records, and that case where Laura killed her ex-boyfriend.

Speaking of lies, Bush gets a new speechwriter as, presumably, his old one just couldn't look at himself in the mirror anymore without bursting into inconsolable weeping. Meanwhile, his brother picked up a speechwriter once accused of plagiarism in his editorials. Nice.

Mahmoud Abbas won the Palestinian election in what was apparently a clean, fairly efficient process (though the voter rolls might be suspect, a la Florida and Ohio). Not that I expect anything from a guy who cuddles with masked bombers; but hey, a bunch of Arabs held a democratic election without violence, and we didn't have to invade them for it to happen. Think about it.

Meanwhile snivelling GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi wants a new election because he didn't like how the last one turned out. Hopefully, this gets rejected as handily as fellow fascist Viktor Yanukovych's attempt to subvert democracy was in the Ukraine.

Last scary political story: Newt Gingrich wants to be president.

Military news. Here's an idea, let's put together hit squads and start taking out the brains behind the insurgent movement. Not sure why it took so long for us to consider this option. Best of luck to you guys in those units. I really hope this helps the situation.

The army is actively working to provide marriage counseling for returning troops. Yet another excellent idea.

January 5, 2005 - Waking to Reality

Well, Colin Powell and Jeb Bush are in Southeast Asia and are suddenly realizing that "Hey, this is worse than a hurricane." Welcome to the real world morons. Too bad Powell thinks this is a great opportunity to combat terrorism by showing people how swell the Americans are. It is supposed to be a mission of mercy, not a proganda tour. We can't even do the right thing when we're doing the right thing anymore.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bush has the audacity to say,"The greatest source of America's generosity is not our government; it's the good heart of the American people." While true, it does not explain away ignoring the problem for three days then sending your brother to go fix it.  All it does is make you more of a target of ridicule.  Pity you have to have your daddy and the statesman you can't replace pick up the pieces of your failed attempt at compassion. Noticeably absent? Jimmy Carter. Even a global disaster can't stop Bush from being a jerk.  I know, its hard for you to care about anyone who isn't: a) white, b) rich, and c) American.  Too bad that's part of the job description.

Congrats, our currency has fallen into such disregard even drug dealers won't carry it. Thanks George.

Even more bad news as our administration's "leadership" has led to a culture of racist fear and a desire to restrict the rights of Muslim America, with a solid 44% of our misguided fellow citizens on board with plans to be as un-American as they can be.

Feeling a flashback to the 60s? Our troops will when the see the "new" armored vehicles they are getting. Hey, at least it'll stop a bullet and that's the most important part. Even if we look like we're retaking Da Nang instead of Mosul.

Tomorrow, Alberto Gonzales, the man who thinks the Geneva Convention is "quaint" is due on Capitol Hill for confirmation hearings. The torture master is bound to be approved by the Reichstag (err, Republican Congress) though not without reservations. Since we can't deal with real issues; like, for example, why the hell an advocate of torture will be in charge of our law enforcement agencies, we can instead wonder if he's as scared of a naked statue as Ashcroft is.

Who makes those yellow ribbon magnets(and those reprehensible piggybacking ones that do everything BUT support the troops) and where does the money go? Terry Bibo at the Peoria Journal Star tackled this awhile ago (with an recent follow-up as well).

Horrid news from the tsunami area as Sri Lankans are refusing to eat fish for practical reasons. In India and Japan, this is apparently not an issue, though Hong Kong residents worry about the contaminants their fish have swallowed.

Bob Cringely considers the option of a low cost tsunami warning system for the region.

January 2, 2005 - Clean Slate

Going over the year's stats on the website, it is amazing how much traffic I get now. I mean, not like major sites or anything, but it isn't a shabby total. For example, in January '04 the site got 40.12 MB of traffic; which, for a personal site, is not bad. In December, we peaked out at 663.65 MB of pages pulled.

Annual stats are the following:

Number of visits: 6602 (1.85 visits/visitor)
Pages: 19573 (2.96 pages/visit)
Hits: 163082 (24.7 hits/visit)
Bandwidth: 3.89 GB (618.32 KB/visit)

Now, granted, that includes a lot of repeat visitors and a lot of missed searches (a picture of our cake from the wedding draws a strange amount of traffic, for example). But about 5% of visitors have added us to their favorites/bookmarks, so that's not shabby in the great scheme of things, and 95% use either a direct link or bookmark to get to the site, also a sign you actually intend to visit.

Without boring you too much more, where the visits are coming from is also interesting to me. Granted, most traffic is US or at least uses .com, .net. Earlier on in the year the stats missed where about 2 GB of traffic originated but they got better, though they also changed the way they recorded stuff too. In any case, here, just for fun are some odd stats on location, excluding that mess:

Country	Domain	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
United States	?	4580	43641	1.25 GB
Commercial	.com	1249	12717	576.93 MB
Network	.net	555	4268	55.47 MB
US Educational	.edu	194	1182	16.20 MB
European Union	.eu	97	572	11.17 MB
Canada	.ca	67	321	8.24 MB
Great Britain	.gb	98	562	7.40 MB
Germany	.de	56	177	5.83 MB
Australia	.au	62	333	5.34 MB
Mexico	.mx	87	312	5.30 MB
France	.fr	19	108	5.14 MB
USA Military	.mil	55	225	5.13 MB
Sweden	.se	56	301	3.35 MB
Old style Arpanet	.arpa	29	563	2.55 MB

Followed closely by Singapore, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Japan, Italy, Saudi Arabia and so on. Really weird, especially since the worldwide traffic didn't start getting reflected until the last 5 or 6 months of the year.

Anyway, now that I've bored you with stats, some stories to pass on.

Linkin Park is coming to the aid of tsunami victims, as our government slowly gets the idea that this is a major world problem. Too bad the "compassionate conservatives" don't even recognize the problem exists; at least, according to their websites.

But hey, its not just our false Christians who are to blame. The insurgent morons trying to turn Iraq into Anarchyland haven't stopped killing civilians even as more than 100,000 of the tsunami dead are likely Muslims. And though Jerry Falwell hasn't (to my knowledge) said that those who died deserve it, this writer questions whether the hate-ridden Muslim brethren to Falwell, Dobson, Robertson, et al have anything to say about it.

Also, fake religion brings fake "faith-based" groups. Hey, at least these bozos are funding HeadStart. Rehnquist wondering how judicial criticism has gotten out of hand. Well, I can answer that. It involves a combination of sticking your nose into an election you shouldn't have touched at all and the ungrateful conservatives you put into power deciding you're next on their hate list feeding frenzy.

In Iraq dealings, torture is again illegal now that we gotten all the use out of it we could have. Violence is up, way up, which bodes ill for our troops there. And our combat medics are having to learn how to juggle combat and saving lives to deal with the realities on the ground.

And for fun, the list of banished words for 2005.