Got pulled off my on call to go to a casino near the Salton Sea in California. Now, there may be some attractive draws to the place, but I didn't see it in the time I was there. I *did* get to cross the border into Mexicali for a good dinner but that may have been the highlight of the trip.
So I got back home and immediately got back on-call. So yeah, much joy this weekend.
Anyway, while getting called at two in the morning or waiting for remote connections to open up, I've found a few choice Republican idiots out there. Plus, being Veteran's Day, a few sobering observations on the state of how we treat our military vets.
"I am concerned with the Bush administration's assault on American liberties ... how the administration deals with habeas corpus and the administration's posture on electronic surveillance. This administration has gone farther than any other."- Barry Richards, the guy in charge of Bush's recount lawsuit suddenly having a change of heart. Too little, too late, I think.
Bush has authorized an increase in the debt ceiling, and for the first time in US history we are over $9 trillion dollars in debt, despite Bush walking into office with a surplus that was going to get us out of debt in the near future. And don't give me that 9/11 is the reason for everything crap. This guy hasn't found anything he doesn't want to spend money on other than children, education, and equipment for our troops.
The government is doing extensive spying on our travel habits. Considering I went out of the country a few times last year and constantly have last second travel changes, I am positive this has absolutely no silver lining for folks like me.
Tom DeLay is back in the news and is even more of an imbecile than he was before, if that's at all possible. He was in the UK recently and declared that, despite the fact that at least 47 million Americans have no insurance, no one is forbidden medical treatment in the US. He was openly laughed at, mostly because he's flat wrong. Oh, for comparison purposes, the estimated population of the UK is 60 million plus and they all seem to have health care, insurance, and access to both.
The Iraq War is now costing us $720 million a day. The site has a whole lot of ideas how that money could be better spent.
Former interrogators consistently say torture does not work, even in those "you've-been-watching-too-much-24" type ticking bomb cases.
That is, when said former interrogators are *allowed* to testify, such as one fellow who underwent waterboarding, found it to be torture, and was blocked from expressing his findings.
And this is how we're gonna to get yet another Attorney General who gets a hard-on thinking about torturing people. Such moral people, no?
The GOP must have figured out they have finally locked the racist, xenophobe vote since they are now planning to attend a Univision-sponsored debate. A little secret for you guys, you locked down the racists and bigots back in the 60s when the Democrats last showed a spine by choosing the moral stance on equal rights that you asshats wouldn't.
Turns out that one quarter of all homeless are vets. And apparently the number of homeless from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is growing faster than in any previous conflict.
More news regarding the decline of African-American recruitment, with a focus on vets and the community at large. Here's a hint: with Bush only getting 9% of African-American support (probably 1% if you exclude people related to Rice, Clarence Thomas, and JC Watts), I don't think there's much of a rallying cry to go fight and die for George Bush's war.
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