You gotta read this
Vote fraud? Enron started out as a conspiracy theory, too. As did Watergate, and Iran-Contra, and October Surprise, and election 2000 and...
Straight from the horse's mouth: a Republican spills the beans and explains how the voter fraud was perpetrated. No, really!
Ohio is the new Florida.
Vote fraud gold mine here, good stuff!
Buy blue, a nifty guide for the boycott-inclined. Details about which major corporations supported which political parties.
How does $130,000 bucks sound? It could be yours, if you can prove the World Trade Centre buildings crashed the way the Government says they did. Good luck ;)
Child prostitution... in the White House? You betcha. It gets worse, too: don't miss the very last link on the page. These are the people we're dealing with.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Sunday, December 05, 2004
A viable strategy
I've said before that all of us progressives need to be reaching out to the sleepwalkers; that the closer you get, the harder it becomes to hate; that all we need to do to win is close the emotional-geographic gap and show them that their fears of us are unfounded.
That's a tactic. Here is a viable strategy. Excellent bit from an ex-conservative. We have two years.
Remember: they're sleepwalking, so rouse them gently.
That's a tactic. Here is a viable strategy. Excellent bit from an ex-conservative. We have two years.
Remember: they're sleepwalking, so rouse them gently.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Ohio and the UN
A UN for this century, not the last one. Very interesting article from the Guardian, about the place of the UN in politics. Surprising.
Things are getting hot in Ohio. Rep. John Conyers and a number of other Representatives have sent a strongly-worded letter to Ohio Sec. of State Ken Blackwell, asking that he explain a number of irregularities and incidents of apparent fraud or gross incompetence. Sweet!
Things are getting hot in Ohio. Rep. John Conyers and a number of other Representatives have sent a strongly-worded letter to Ohio Sec. of State Ken Blackwell, asking that he explain a number of irregularities and incidents of apparent fraud or gross incompetence. Sweet!
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Let's get small
Well, with the election mostly over, I've had time to get back to thinking. My other priorities had been sitting quietly, patiently, taking orders even, while my social conscience and consciousness held court in my effort to help defeat the impostor president. We fought the good fight, and that was our downfall: we played fair, presented evidence and empirical support, and they responded with spin, propaganda, and threats. It's apparently not over yet, and I'm glad of that, but seeing as how I'm in Kansas, and the trouble is in Ohio, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Florida, I came to the conclusion that this issue is pretty much out of my hands.
I started this blogthing as an email habit- I thought too much US-related news was only being covered in less-prominent international news sources, and I wanted my friends to know. As the election approached, I focused on Kerry because the mainstream US press wasn't giving him fair time, or fairly representing his record. Alas, it wasn't about facts at all. Silly me!
Damn the elections. They provide such a seductive story-line. So reassuring, so convincing, that we continue to look for storylines in the news after the big show is over, but The News is not a story in the storybook sense, so there's almost never any real resolution. Enron? 911 investigation (don't even show me the Warren Report Jr.)? Valerie Plame? Diebold? You get the idea.
"There is only one thing bigger than a very big thing, and that is a thing so very small that it can be seen and understood. " -Sinclair Lewis.
I started this blogthing as an email habit- I thought too much US-related news was only being covered in less-prominent international news sources, and I wanted my friends to know. As the election approached, I focused on Kerry because the mainstream US press wasn't giving him fair time, or fairly representing his record. Alas, it wasn't about facts at all. Silly me!
Damn the elections. They provide such a seductive story-line. So reassuring, so convincing, that we continue to look for storylines in the news after the big show is over, but The News is not a story in the storybook sense, so there's almost never any real resolution. Enron? 911 investigation (don't even show me the Warren Report Jr.)? Valerie Plame? Diebold? You get the idea.
"There is only one thing bigger than a very big thing, and that is a thing so very small that it can be seen and understood. " -Sinclair Lewis.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Fraud?
Probably, yeah, but as they say, "if an election can be rigged, it will be." In other words, yes there was probably fraud, and yes it may have been perpetrated on a scale we've never seen before (thank you, electronic voting. What was wrong with paper? Too inexpensive? Too effective? Too ...transparent?? how ironic), but there is always election fraud. So no, this fraud du jour will probably not be the un-doing of this administration. Coz we're dealing with something more insidious still.
What we're really dealing with is racketeering. Gang tactics, Godfather style. It goes like this:
Karl Rove has connections in organized religion and business. He tells them to do what you can to help us out. You scratch our back, and we'll scratch yours, he says, and those well-placed connections call up their connections and say, hey, do what you can to help out The Cause. Those connections in turn tell the ministers and managers, editors, priests, and pundits on their payrolls to do whatever it takes, or whatever you can do; win one for the Gipper, or whatever, and pretty soon we have hackers tinkering with voting-machine code because W has values,because Bill O'Reilly said so, and people who have never cared about politics their entire lives spending the day at the polls challenging other peoples' right to vote, because my minister said God loves Bush, etc.
I have no doubt -none- that this election was tampered with. Suspicious results in Florida, Ohio and New Mexico -all states which used electronic voting tabulation, often without a paper trail- and Republican party-sponsored activities designed to spread disinformation and confusion about the issues and polling dates, are enough evidence for me to cry "foul."
I'm sure there was fraud in some places (tell us, Governor Bush: why did you refuse to allow voting technology with a paper trail?); I'm sure there was voter intimidation, active disinformation campaigns, out-and-out lies, and fear-mongering. Overall, I'm sure most people were doing what they thought was 'right,' but they got those ideas from someone else because it's all so complicated. Unfortunately, those people whose ideas they're adopting, aren't looking out for their interests.
Think for yourself. Stay vigilant. Keep informed. Reach out.
Peace.
What we're really dealing with is racketeering. Gang tactics, Godfather style. It goes like this:
Karl Rove has connections in organized religion and business. He tells them to do what you can to help us out. You scratch our back, and we'll scratch yours, he says, and those well-placed connections call up their connections and say, hey, do what you can to help out The Cause. Those connections in turn tell the ministers and managers, editors, priests, and pundits on their payrolls to do whatever it takes, or whatever you can do; win one for the Gipper, or whatever, and pretty soon we have hackers tinkering with voting-machine code because W has values,because Bill O'Reilly said so, and people who have never cared about politics their entire lives spending the day at the polls challenging other peoples' right to vote, because my minister said God loves Bush, etc.
I have no doubt -none- that this election was tampered with. Suspicious results in Florida, Ohio and New Mexico -all states which used electronic voting tabulation, often without a paper trail- and Republican party-sponsored activities designed to spread disinformation and confusion about the issues and polling dates, are enough evidence for me to cry "foul."
I'm sure there was fraud in some places (tell us, Governor Bush: why did you refuse to allow voting technology with a paper trail?); I'm sure there was voter intimidation, active disinformation campaigns, out-and-out lies, and fear-mongering. Overall, I'm sure most people were doing what they thought was 'right,' but they got those ideas from someone else because it's all so complicated. Unfortunately, those people whose ideas they're adopting, aren't looking out for their interests.
Think for yourself. Stay vigilant. Keep informed. Reach out.
Peace.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Let's be brief:
Voter turnout was incredible, something of which we should all be proud. For a minute.
Ok, enough pride.
We (American progressives) simply didn't mobilize as well as the religious right. We got out the vote, we raised consciousness, we drove new registration numbers through the roof, but the other guy just did a little better. Did I say 'enough pride'? Yeah, and enough hand-wringing, too. Time to learn from our mistakes.
Clearly, web- and blog-activism didn't work. Further, I spent days searching the web for Democratic leadership following the election ("what now?" I wanted to know-), but only found that the Liberal/Progressive arm of American politics has too many heads to follow. We cannot depend on the internet anymore. It is a tool: nothing more, nothing less. We were seduced into thinking that it would solve our electoral problems, but instead we built a leadership hydra with a thousand heads. Surfing and blogging is not communication, it is not community; it is a path to isolation and social death. Put down your keyboard and hit the streets.
We need to organize. They won, because they go to church. They won, because the majority of their mobilized voters congregate every week, and talk about what matters to them. They won, because they have leaders -locally, regionally, and nationally- who determined for them what the important issues were. We lost, because we think for ourselves, and more importantly, to ourselves.
What to do now (pick one and ride it into the ground):
1) Religious extremists will have control of our federal government for the next two years. Our progressive representatives and Senators will need to be reminded to act as the opposition, and ideally thanked when they do. Contact them, to tell them what you think. Phone calls are most effective, they say themselves, followed by hand-written mail, petitions, and emails, in that order (I got that from a letter from Dennis Moore, I think). Call 'em every week. That's what they're there for, after all.
Who's my Representative? Who are my Senators?
2) Resist electronic voting, by whatever means possible. Demand a paper ballot! There is NO REASON whatsoever, to use electronic equipment to vote. Reasons NOT to:
1. Using a computer to vote amounts to handing your vote to someone you don't know, to deliver it by a secret route to a secret place at a secret time. While this might be acceptable in principle, the facts remain that elections are divisive and prone to corruption, and that the equipment is only as reliable as its -inevitably partisan- handlers, designers, and programmers.
2. Computers are expensive, and prone to technical problems that cost money to fix. No system is foolproof, but paper ballots offer numerous advantages, including easy verification, absolute security that the vote you cast was the one recorded, a paper trail, and no possibility of undetectable advance tampering, not to mention they don't cost much and the maintenance cost is very low. Counting paper ballots by hand could be performed by a board drawn from the voter rolls, as volunteers (or perhaps paid like jurors?). Participation of this kind would increase voter confidence in the process, and be a huge step toward rebuilding local communities, as people who might not ever cross paths, would be required to work together toward a common goal.
3. Voting is an act of participation; for many of us the only way we actually get involved in government. Electronic voting only promises to shuffle us through the system quicker, to reduce our involvement by making the process faster and more convenient. This is the last thing we need.
These are just my ideas. See www.blackboxvoting.org for more, especially constructive legal action.
3) Socialize and organize. Yep, this is easy: just be yourself, all over the place. We lost because we trusted everyone to think for themselves, because the corruption and incompetence of this administration is so self-evident. "How can anyone not see this?" we wondered. And, "how can anyone be so mean?"
They can only be like this, because they don't know us. They've allowed themselves to demonize the liberals, when we all really agree on most of what's really important. Who likes abortion? No one is pro-abortion, but many of us are pro-choice, believing that Life starts with the first breath.
Organize your neighborhood, or if your social circle is more spread-out, organize your circle, and encourage them to organize too. Find an excuse to get together every week, regularly, and give yourselves time to talk about what's important to you. Reach out and bring new people into your circles, your organizations; try to reach out to people you might not think of as "your kind." We have been demonized by sleepwalking religious extremists. We need to wake them up, slowly and gently.
Go on, git!
Ok, enough pride.
We (American progressives) simply didn't mobilize as well as the religious right. We got out the vote, we raised consciousness, we drove new registration numbers through the roof, but the other guy just did a little better. Did I say 'enough pride'? Yeah, and enough hand-wringing, too. Time to learn from our mistakes.
Clearly, web- and blog-activism didn't work. Further, I spent days searching the web for Democratic leadership following the election ("what now?" I wanted to know-), but only found that the Liberal/Progressive arm of American politics has too many heads to follow. We cannot depend on the internet anymore. It is a tool: nothing more, nothing less. We were seduced into thinking that it would solve our electoral problems, but instead we built a leadership hydra with a thousand heads. Surfing and blogging is not communication, it is not community; it is a path to isolation and social death. Put down your keyboard and hit the streets.
We need to organize. They won, because they go to church. They won, because the majority of their mobilized voters congregate every week, and talk about what matters to them. They won, because they have leaders -locally, regionally, and nationally- who determined for them what the important issues were. We lost, because we think for ourselves, and more importantly, to ourselves.
What to do now (pick one and ride it into the ground):
1) Religious extremists will have control of our federal government for the next two years. Our progressive representatives and Senators will need to be reminded to act as the opposition, and ideally thanked when they do. Contact them, to tell them what you think. Phone calls are most effective, they say themselves, followed by hand-written mail, petitions, and emails, in that order (I got that from a letter from Dennis Moore, I think). Call 'em every week. That's what they're there for, after all.
Who's my Representative? Who are my Senators?
2) Resist electronic voting, by whatever means possible. Demand a paper ballot! There is NO REASON whatsoever, to use electronic equipment to vote. Reasons NOT to:
1. Using a computer to vote amounts to handing your vote to someone you don't know, to deliver it by a secret route to a secret place at a secret time. While this might be acceptable in principle, the facts remain that elections are divisive and prone to corruption, and that the equipment is only as reliable as its -inevitably partisan- handlers, designers, and programmers.
2. Computers are expensive, and prone to technical problems that cost money to fix. No system is foolproof, but paper ballots offer numerous advantages, including easy verification, absolute security that the vote you cast was the one recorded, a paper trail, and no possibility of undetectable advance tampering, not to mention they don't cost much and the maintenance cost is very low. Counting paper ballots by hand could be performed by a board drawn from the voter rolls, as volunteers (or perhaps paid like jurors?). Participation of this kind would increase voter confidence in the process, and be a huge step toward rebuilding local communities, as people who might not ever cross paths, would be required to work together toward a common goal.
3. Voting is an act of participation; for many of us the only way we actually get involved in government. Electronic voting only promises to shuffle us through the system quicker, to reduce our involvement by making the process faster and more convenient. This is the last thing we need.
These are just my ideas. See www.blackboxvoting.org for more, especially constructive legal action.
3) Socialize and organize. Yep, this is easy: just be yourself, all over the place. We lost because we trusted everyone to think for themselves, because the corruption and incompetence of this administration is so self-evident. "How can anyone not see this?" we wondered. And, "how can anyone be so mean?"
They can only be like this, because they don't know us. They've allowed themselves to demonize the liberals, when we all really agree on most of what's really important. Who likes abortion? No one is pro-abortion, but many of us are pro-choice, believing that Life starts with the first breath.
Organize your neighborhood, or if your social circle is more spread-out, organize your circle, and encourage them to organize too. Find an excuse to get together every week, regularly, and give yourselves time to talk about what's important to you. Reach out and bring new people into your circles, your organizations; try to reach out to people you might not think of as "your kind." We have been demonized by sleepwalking religious extremists. We need to wake them up, slowly and gently.
Go on, git!
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
win their hearts and minds
It is 2:30, the day after the election. I've been searching Democratic websites since 5:30 a.m., looking for intelligent analysis of the election, the process, the future. Where are our progressive leaders?
We have two short years until our next chance to gain a little electoral ground. Time's a-wasting! Stop the hand-wringing already!
This happened because the regressives are organized, and they reacted emotionally. Dividing lines are clear: the rational vote went for Kerry, the emotional vote went for Bush. Emotion will almost always win out over reason.
What's important for us to do now, is to reach out. We're all humans here, we're all wanting the same things, basically: love, security, respect. Smile at a stranger, open a door for them. Be nice to someone you don't know. We need to win their hearts and minds. The rest will follow.
We have two short years until our next chance to gain a little electoral ground. Time's a-wasting! Stop the hand-wringing already!
This happened because the regressives are organized, and they reacted emotionally. Dividing lines are clear: the rational vote went for Kerry, the emotional vote went for Bush. Emotion will almost always win out over reason.
What's important for us to do now, is to reach out. We're all humans here, we're all wanting the same things, basically: love, security, respect. Smile at a stranger, open a door for them. Be nice to someone you don't know. We need to win their hearts and minds. The rest will follow.
Monday, November 01, 2004
dirty work
Spread this one around-- it'll be interesting to see if this gets out in the US press.
What if it's a tie?
What if it's a tie?
Thursday, October 28, 2004
electionanigans
Greatness. Not for the timid. John Kerry kicks ass. This man went after the Reagan and Bush41 administrations like a friggin' pit bull. Yeah, that was the Kerry commission that brought over 30 indictments against Reagan and co. for the Iran-Contra scandal, including dozens of convictions. And yeah, that was Kerry behind the investigation into the Bank of Credit and Commerce International investigation, which entailed numerous prominent members of both the Bush41 administration, and the Bush family. I repeat: John Kerry kicks ass. And I haven't even mentioned VietNam.
Just like Nintendo, only you die. hard-hitting humor.
I love this site.
Kerry rally draws almost 10,000 in Las Cruces, while Cheney draws about 1,600 in Farmington
electionanigans continue here and here
Michael Moore: "If Kerry's the biggest flip-flopper how has he maintained his No. 1 liberal ranking in the Senate?"
This is really disturbing. I used to mention disappearances like this a year or two ago, but no-one seemed particularly interested. Maybe I was just sounding like I had gone around the bend. It may not be too late yet.
good to the last...
Really good short video
is this the beginning of a positronic brain? If you haven't read the brilliant I, Robot, find it and check it out.
This just in: platypuses are weird!
Holy chao... is this for real?
Just like Nintendo, only you die. hard-hitting humor.
I love this site.
Kerry rally draws almost 10,000 in Las Cruces, while Cheney draws about 1,600 in Farmington
electionanigans continue here and here
Michael Moore: "If Kerry's the biggest flip-flopper how has he maintained his No. 1 liberal ranking in the Senate?"
This is really disturbing. I used to mention disappearances like this a year or two ago, but no-one seemed particularly interested. Maybe I was just sounding like I had gone around the bend. It may not be too late yet.
good to the last...
Really good short video
is this the beginning of a positronic brain? If you haven't read the brilliant I, Robot, find it and check it out.
This just in: platypuses are weird!
Holy chao... is this for real?
Friday, October 22, 2004
"Sovereignty. S-o-v-e-r-n-t. Sovereignty."
Electionanigans already -and you thought Florida was going to be a mess...
Who do you hate enough, to make you vote for Bush? great satire from The Bean
Return of the King XE preview thanks Bran
W on sovereignty Listen close, and you can hear the crowd laughing! Too bad he's not trying to be funny.
Hunter S. Thompson is a force of nature.
Coal-mine canary 2.0 *gulp*
Wow. Very interesting approach...
Who do you hate enough, to make you vote for Bush? great satire from The Bean
Return of the King XE preview thanks Bran
W on sovereignty Listen close, and you can hear the crowd laughing! Too bad he's not trying to be funny.
Hunter S. Thompson is a force of nature.
Coal-mine canary 2.0 *gulp*
Wow. Very interesting approach...
Monday, October 18, 2004
Kiss my what?
Amazing. Er, I mean humiliating. Thanks out to Kensor for that link.
Kiss my what? What's that cute little thing Catholics say when you want something you can't have... oh yes- "People in Hell want ice water." Not that I care much for church politics, but this is just beyond the pale.
Kiss my what? What's that cute little thing Catholics say when you want something you can't have... oh yes- "People in Hell want ice water." Not that I care much for church politics, but this is just beyond the pale.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Wal-Mart vs History
Wal-Mart must die
It's for your own good ... Big Brother is here to help you ...
well, they promised us a new world order: This seems so much like the build-up to a cheesy James Bond flick on the really big screen. Picture this: al Qaeda -aka SPECTRE- get their mitts on some nuclear devices and threaten the world unless [insert terrorist demand here and blah blah blah] then Bush -aka Bond- comes to the rescue and doesn't play by the rules and charmingly confounds M and Q and Moneypenny et al -aka Koffe Annan, Congress, and Taxpayers- but kicks ass anyway and gets the chick and blah blah blah. Haven't we seen this movie before?
Be prepared! What will you do if:
...the election is cancelled, or 'postponed'?
...you're asked/required to use computer terminals to vote?
...and it doesn't appear to respond?
...or responds incorrectly?
...or the computer crashes?
...or the power goes out?
...you're asked for more ID than you normally carry?
...you get intimidated or harrassed going to the polling station?
...Bush wins?
Please don't forget to vote. In many places, including Douglas County, KS, you can already vote. This should help you find your local election officials for details.
It's for your own good ... Big Brother is here to help you ...
well, they promised us a new world order: This seems so much like the build-up to a cheesy James Bond flick on the really big screen. Picture this: al Qaeda -aka SPECTRE- get their mitts on some nuclear devices and threaten the world unless [insert terrorist demand here and blah blah blah] then Bush -aka Bond- comes to the rescue and doesn't play by the rules and charmingly confounds M and Q and Moneypenny et al -aka Koffe Annan, Congress, and Taxpayers- but kicks ass anyway and gets the chick and blah blah blah. Haven't we seen this movie before?
Be prepared! What will you do if:
...the election is cancelled, or 'postponed'?
...you're asked/required to use computer terminals to vote?
...and it doesn't appear to respond?
...or responds incorrectly?
...or the computer crashes?
...or the power goes out?
...you're asked for more ID than you normally carry?
...you get intimidated or harrassed going to the polling station?
...Bush wins?
Please don't forget to vote. In many places, including Douglas County, KS, you can already vote. This should help you find your local election officials for details.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
How do you like your Soma?
Edwards-Cheney debate tonight. The Rude Pundit is hot.
Jimmy Carter is on fire.
Oh, the hypocrisy! Staggering.
Holy shinola. Fascism here we come: watch for Mr. Redstone to be named head of the FCC in the next Bush administration. Mark my words. I wonder if he'll do us the favor of resigning from Viacom/CBS to accept the position?
Another prominent Republican for Kerry
CBS has now publicly abdicated the position of Journalistic Authority, as surely as FOX News or Leni Riefenstahl ever did. Dan Rather is still The Man -his only problem was that some of the evidence that supported his otherwise-rock-solid conclusion may have been forged- but Sumner Redstone (in charge at Viacom, which owns CBS) is a Bush supporter, so his news department is going to pretend that Rather was all wrong, when in fact he was quite correct in spite of one false lead. Worse yet- as a result of Sumner Redstone's desire to rim White House ass and perhaps get invited to the Inaugural coke-fest, CBS will not be running another story critical of the W because it would be "inappropriate," so close to the election.
Yes, God forbid the voters are informed.
No, the revolution will not be televised. Because that would allow each of us on our couches to see that we're not alone in our despair, that there are people actually fighting the power. But the power we're fighting would rather that each of us believe we're alone. Divided we fall.
VOTE. Vote early, vote often! Vote early; your vote counts. Voting early means you will have a paper record of your vote, in case of wierdness. Voting often means using your dollars to support people who support you and your causes. CBS does not support you or your causes, or your town, or your neighborhood, or hell, even your damn country. By bowing to political pressure, CBS has accepted the role of Pravda in this ongoing passion play. Turn it off, and tell them.
Kill your television while you still can. It's soma.
Jimmy Carter is on fire.
Oh, the hypocrisy! Staggering.
"Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Republicans in Congress are stacking up a record of election-year folly so gross it staggers even veterans of legislative debacles. First, they let the assault weapons ban lapse, despite the fact that 70 percent of the American people want it kept in place. They had to pass a simple $5 billion corporate-tax plan because we are in violation of tariff laws. This has bogged down in a $150 billion pork-off, while American products are losing billions of dollars in retaliatory sanctions.
Even worse, Congress passed a $145 billion extension of tax cuts. To cover the resulting debt, we are borrowing money from the Bank of China, to be paid off by our children. Showing a fine sense of fiscal restraint, the R's declined to extend minimal credits for millions of children in working-poor families. Instead, they gave another $13 billion in tax cuts to the corporations."
-Molly Ivins
Holy shinola. Fascism here we come: watch for Mr. Redstone to be named head of the FCC in the next Bush administration. Mark my words. I wonder if he'll do us the favor of resigning from Viacom/CBS to accept the position?
Another prominent Republican for Kerry
CBS has now publicly abdicated the position of Journalistic Authority, as surely as FOX News or Leni Riefenstahl ever did. Dan Rather is still The Man -his only problem was that some of the evidence that supported his otherwise-rock-solid conclusion may have been forged- but Sumner Redstone (in charge at Viacom, which owns CBS) is a Bush supporter, so his news department is going to pretend that Rather was all wrong, when in fact he was quite correct in spite of one false lead. Worse yet- as a result of Sumner Redstone's desire to rim White House ass and perhaps get invited to the Inaugural coke-fest, CBS will not be running another story critical of the W because it would be "inappropriate," so close to the election.
Yes, God forbid the voters are informed.
No, the revolution will not be televised. Because that would allow each of us on our couches to see that we're not alone in our despair, that there are people actually fighting the power. But the power we're fighting would rather that each of us believe we're alone. Divided we fall.
VOTE. Vote early, vote often! Vote early; your vote counts. Voting early means you will have a paper record of your vote, in case of wierdness. Voting often means using your dollars to support people who support you and your causes. CBS does not support you or your causes, or your town, or your neighborhood, or hell, even your damn country. By bowing to political pressure, CBS has accepted the role of Pravda in this ongoing passion play. Turn it off, and tell them.
Kill your television while you still can. It's soma.
Friday, October 01, 2004
The morning after
Here's a transcript of the debate. My impression: W was pathetic. All he seemed able to do was whine, "I'm trying. It's hard." Kerry simply kicked ass. He turned his boat straight into the fire and charged. I didn't see it -I listened on the radio- but I understand W rushed off the stage afterward, broke away early from the closing handshake to quiver in the corner with his daughters while Kerry glad-handed with Teresa and Pickles and the press. Go man, go!
Monday, September 20, 2004
Friday, September 17, 2004
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
What's wrong with this picture?
Why is this a big deal? It's 2004 already. In 2001 we were told that Mark Bingham or whoever called their moms and spouses etc from airplanes-in-flight as though it was routine, so why would airlines like American (as in American Flights 11 and 77) announce in 2004 that they might be allowing their use as early as 2006?
Am I missing something?
Very good short essay: Bush's lies cause untold pain
That one was good, but this one is excellent. A collection of good interviews with American writers, about the election.
This sounds like a fun read: Colin Powell calling Dick Cheney, et al., fuckin' crazies
Am I missing something?
Very good short essay: Bush's lies cause untold pain
That one was good, but this one is excellent. A collection of good interviews with American writers, about the election.
This sounds like a fun read: Colin Powell calling Dick Cheney, et al., fuckin' crazies
Monday, September 06, 2004
Gee, thanks W!
George W. Bush, a drunken liability.
He presided over the greatest security failure in the history of our country, he played politics with the investigation after trying -and failing- to prevent it, and now he's trying to milk it for votes. He failed. He froze like a deer in the headlights. Thousands died because he panicked, for seven minutes, until his advisors told him what to do.
But that's all in the past.
This guy is shafting your future, your children, to get your vote. Those neat 'tax cuts' you got? Try to remember that 'generosity' after you retire, when you're forced to choose between keeping the electricity on, or keeping your health insurance, coz Medicare ain't gonna cut it for long. Try to remember that generosity when you get laid off, and you have to choose between keeping the electricity on, or going to see the doctor about that cough.
Yeah, thank W for those 'tax cuts' when your property taxes go up (because the local government can't get the help from D.C. anymore). And thank him again when your sales taxes go up -again- and your kid has to get bussed miles to school because the school district had to 'downsize' because gosh, schools just can't seem to turn a profit gol-durnit, so they just have to close.
And thank W yet again when a TB/hepatitus/meningitis/smallpox/polio/flu epidemic fires up among the growing number of homeless, coz those 'tax cuts' could have gone toward a public health program instead of your 'insurance waiver.' So be sure to remember to thank him again, when you have to get immunized against all those lovelies.
And while we're on malaria, thank W again when it comes to your neighborhood, because it probably will. In spite of what W says, our planet is undergoing some serious climatic changes, and W's plan is to ignore it. We really have little idea what to expect, but we know that glaciers are melting at a demonstrably alarming rate, and species once relegated to the Tropics are spreading.
A vote for W is like maxing-out your credit cards at a video arcade: Immediate gratification, to be paid for ...um... later *wink.* He doesn't care about what happens after he's got his share- remember what he said about his place in history? Doesn't matter, he said: "we'll all be dead."
*blink blink*
You are being robbed.
You are being lied to.
You are being conned.
Think about this: without concern for his own safety, John Kerry asked to be sent into hell, to serve his country. Then he came back and told us all just how hellish it was, and asked that his brother soldiers be brought home safely too. Christ, how cool is that? I wish I had balls like that.
After that, he went on to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusets, and then as Senator of that state for eighteen years. Eighteen years. This guy has given his entire adult life, to serve his country. His state has re-elected him again and again, because up close, they can see that he means what he says, and he's trying to be fair.
The core of the Republican ideal is noble: that anybody can get ahead, if they work hard. The problem arises because the people who get ahead, forget about those who did not.
We are not islands, none of us. No gated community, no security system, no Department of Fatherland Defense will protect you or your loved ones, from disease or poverty.
And they'll come.
Coz the core of the Republican ideal is that anybody can get ahead. And that means others get left behind. And in a competetive social climate like that, it's dog-eat-dog, baby. You're a winner or you're a loser. But when things get tight, as they will more and more in coming years (considering environmental degradation, water and fuel shortages, hotter summers, colder winters, less predictable weather, etc), more and more people have to get left behind.
One day it's gonna be you.
Vote Democrat in November. Bring some balance back to Washington.
He presided over the greatest security failure in the history of our country, he played politics with the investigation after trying -and failing- to prevent it, and now he's trying to milk it for votes. He failed. He froze like a deer in the headlights. Thousands died because he panicked, for seven minutes, until his advisors told him what to do.
But that's all in the past.
This guy is shafting your future, your children, to get your vote. Those neat 'tax cuts' you got? Try to remember that 'generosity' after you retire, when you're forced to choose between keeping the electricity on, or keeping your health insurance, coz Medicare ain't gonna cut it for long. Try to remember that generosity when you get laid off, and you have to choose between keeping the electricity on, or going to see the doctor about that cough.
Yeah, thank W for those 'tax cuts' when your property taxes go up (because the local government can't get the help from D.C. anymore). And thank him again when your sales taxes go up -again- and your kid has to get bussed miles to school because the school district had to 'downsize' because gosh, schools just can't seem to turn a profit gol-durnit, so they just have to close.
And thank W yet again when a TB/hepatitus/meningitis/smallpox/polio/flu epidemic fires up among the growing number of homeless, coz those 'tax cuts' could have gone toward a public health program instead of your 'insurance waiver.' So be sure to remember to thank him again, when you have to get immunized against all those lovelies.
And while we're on malaria, thank W again when it comes to your neighborhood, because it probably will. In spite of what W says, our planet is undergoing some serious climatic changes, and W's plan is to ignore it. We really have little idea what to expect, but we know that glaciers are melting at a demonstrably alarming rate, and species once relegated to the Tropics are spreading.
A vote for W is like maxing-out your credit cards at a video arcade: Immediate gratification, to be paid for ...um... later *wink.* He doesn't care about what happens after he's got his share- remember what he said about his place in history? Doesn't matter, he said: "we'll all be dead."
*blink blink*
You are being robbed.
You are being lied to.
You are being conned.
Think about this: without concern for his own safety, John Kerry asked to be sent into hell, to serve his country. Then he came back and told us all just how hellish it was, and asked that his brother soldiers be brought home safely too. Christ, how cool is that? I wish I had balls like that.
After that, he went on to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusets, and then as Senator of that state for eighteen years. Eighteen years. This guy has given his entire adult life, to serve his country. His state has re-elected him again and again, because up close, they can see that he means what he says, and he's trying to be fair.
The core of the Republican ideal is noble: that anybody can get ahead, if they work hard. The problem arises because the people who get ahead, forget about those who did not.
We are not islands, none of us. No gated community, no security system, no Department of Fatherland Defense will protect you or your loved ones, from disease or poverty.
And they'll come.
Coz the core of the Republican ideal is that anybody can get ahead. And that means others get left behind. And in a competetive social climate like that, it's dog-eat-dog, baby. You're a winner or you're a loser. But when things get tight, as they will more and more in coming years (considering environmental degradation, water and fuel shortages, hotter summers, colder winters, less predictable weather, etc), more and more people have to get left behind.
One day it's gonna be you.
Vote Democrat in November. Bring some balance back to Washington.
Friday, August 27, 2004
"Miscalculation." In other words, they didn't think it through. They didn't have a Plan B. They just didn't stop to consider that they might be wrong.
"Ohh yeah, the future! We forgot about that part. Again."
Speaking of the future, it looks wet.
Oh, the hypocrisy... it makes my head spin.
"Ohh yeah, the future! We forgot about that part. Again."
Speaking of the future, it looks wet.
Oh, the hypocrisy... it makes my head spin.
"Twenty years of votes can tell you much more about a man than twenty weeks of campaign rhetoric. Campaign talk tells people who you want them to think you are.--Zell Miller, 2004, "America's Most Discredited Senator"
How you vote tells people who you really are deep inside."
"John Kerry has fought against government waste and worked hard to bring some accountability to Washington…He fought for balanced budgets before it was considered politically correct for Democrats to do so. John has worked to strengthen our military, reform public education, boost the economy and protect the environment."--Zell Miller, praising Kerry's voting record in a 2001 speech
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
the effort it takes
Fourteen of the rescue dogs that were on duty on 9-11, have already died of cancer. The article mentions that no one thinks that the cancer was caused by the chemicals used at the site. Humans who helped out there will be dying of cancer shortly, though, we can presume. Perhaps when that starts to happen, someone will start to investigate the strange seismic activity and the pools of steel at the base of the foundations that were still glowing weeks after the event. "Anomalous" levels of radioactivity at ground zero might have had something to do with this.
Weird. Shades of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End...
More weirdness, but this is more like Michael Crichton...
Weird. Shades of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End...
More weirdness, but this is more like Michael Crichton...
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Monday, August 16, 2004
allied 9
Don't miss this.
Hugo! Not everybody in politics is in it for the money. This will spell trouble if Gee Dubya and the tricky Dick remain in office.
Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush. Excellent.
Coincidence theory central. This is REALLY good.
Hugo! Not everybody in politics is in it for the money. This will spell trouble if Gee Dubya and the tricky Dick remain in office.
Shame on the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush. Excellent.
Coincidence theory central. This is REALLY good.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Short Memories edition
This could be exciting. We had good reasons to impose pacifism on Japan after WWII. Between 1894 and 1945, they had fought two aggressive wars with China, including a successful invasion of Manchuria, a war with Russia, conducted later action against Russia during WWI (from which Russia had to pull out early, due to certain troubles at home) in Siberia under the guise of the war effort, they withdrew from the League of Nations, and finally attacked us at Pearl Harbor. I'd say those are pretty good reasons to tell someone to put down the guns, yeah.
I expect our turn is coming, too.
In other news, try the swordfish.
The latest from President Neveradullmoment of Turkmenistan
And like rats fleeing a sinking ship, the American media confesses to spit-polishing GeeDubya's Folly, just in time for the election.
Kurt Vonnegut knows what's what.
Oh, now I get it: the subtle difference between charisma and animal magnetism, explained.
I expect our turn is coming, too.
In other news, try the swordfish.
The latest from President Neveradullmoment of Turkmenistan
And like rats fleeing a sinking ship, the American media confesses to spit-polishing GeeDubya's Folly, just in time for the election.
Kurt Vonnegut knows what's what.
Oh, now I get it: the subtle difference between charisma and animal magnetism, explained.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Message from the Mad One
Blogs: the ultimate in fatuous self-indulgence, or the new journalism? I struggled with this for a long time. Ok, honestly, I still do.
If you're reading this, then you've probably been getting heavily-link-laden emails from me for a while (some longer than others). I started sending news links out around January of 2002, when I saw that the U.S. press was not reporting on what I thought was important. At that time, it was the Enron collapse, and the willfully-blind eye the Bush administration was turning toward 9-11. I just wanted to shine a little unwelcome-but-necesssary light on some stories that our news sources didn't want us looking at. So, if you're one of those people -the ones no longer getting my big fat emails- thanks. Thanks for reading along, and not telling me to shut up or lay off or whatever (even if your silence was because you stopped opening my emails). And if you're still with me, thanks even more.
As for my opening comment: No, I do not think that I am a journalist because I keep a blog. I have tons of respect for good journalism, but I am a mere messenger. They report, I deliver. Stay tuned. Coming soon: drugs!
If you're reading this, then you've probably been getting heavily-link-laden emails from me for a while (some longer than others). I started sending news links out around January of 2002, when I saw that the U.S. press was not reporting on what I thought was important. At that time, it was the Enron collapse, and the willfully-blind eye the Bush administration was turning toward 9-11. I just wanted to shine a little unwelcome-but-necesssary light on some stories that our news sources didn't want us looking at. So, if you're one of those people -the ones no longer getting my big fat emails- thanks. Thanks for reading along, and not telling me to shut up or lay off or whatever (even if your silence was because you stopped opening my emails). And if you're still with me, thanks even more.
As for my opening comment: No, I do not think that I am a journalist because I keep a blog. I have tons of respect for good journalism, but I am a mere messenger. They report, I deliver. Stay tuned. Coming soon: drugs!
Friday, August 06, 2004
Twisting in the wind
Bush/Cheney campaign showing its true colors
I think some swift boat vets need a swift kick in the ass. Democratic Underground does a pretty good job of deconstructing the ad, but I, for one, am not done:
No one, ever, anywhere, can feel someone else's pain. This is elementary: if you did not sustain the injury, then you do not know how it felt. Period. And as if that weren't enough to shut anyone up: medals, even the purple heart, are not awarded on the basis of self-recommendation. Someone Not-John-Kerry had to tell a third, uninvolved party, that Kerry deserved recognition. To imply that his medals are undeserved, is either to imply that you were there in his skin when he was injured, or that the military system itself is the problem.
Good essay here
Never a dull moment in Turkmenistan
I think some swift boat vets need a swift kick in the ass. Democratic Underground does a pretty good job of deconstructing the ad, but I, for one, am not done:
No one, ever, anywhere, can feel someone else's pain. This is elementary: if you did not sustain the injury, then you do not know how it felt. Period. And as if that weren't enough to shut anyone up: medals, even the purple heart, are not awarded on the basis of self-recommendation. Someone Not-John-Kerry had to tell a third, uninvolved party, that Kerry deserved recognition. To imply that his medals are undeserved, is either to imply that you were there in his skin when he was injured, or that the military system itself is the problem.
Good essay here
Never a dull moment in Turkmenistan
Thursday, August 05, 2004
You can't un-see it!
Weird. Hard to believe, I know, but...
As if this wasn't bound to be the most-covered speech of the week anyway: Our president, George W. Bush, actually said,
Ok, I'll be generous, and assume the best: He is simply not connecting the sound-bites that are given to him, as the rest of us connect our thoughts. He is a bad actor, playing a part he does not understand. That's still not good.
Harrison Bergeron is a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. I think of it every time I read a reporter coddling our oratorially-handicapped president.
* * *
It's just terribly interesting that the only time we catch 'terrorists' trying to get weapons, is when we're setting them up.
This is Gee Dubya's 'Mer'ka
This is disturbing. What does "freedom" mean to John Ashcroft, anyway? geez.
Fortean event: falling stones
Briefly, the Kerry economic platform. Also deals with his health-care plan.
As if this wasn't bound to be the most-covered speech of the week anyway: Our president, George W. Bush, actually said,
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful - and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people - and neither do we."Couldn't have said it better myself.
Ok, I'll be generous, and assume the best: He is simply not connecting the sound-bites that are given to him, as the rest of us connect our thoughts. He is a bad actor, playing a part he does not understand. That's still not good.
Harrison Bergeron is a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. I think of it every time I read a reporter coddling our oratorially-handicapped president.
* * *
It's just terribly interesting that the only time we catch 'terrorists' trying to get weapons, is when we're setting them up.
This is Gee Dubya's 'Mer'ka
This is disturbing. What does "freedom" mean to John Ashcroft, anyway? geez.
Fortean event: falling stones
Briefly, the Kerry economic platform. Also deals with his health-care plan.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Prozac loaf
Prozac: It's what's for dinner! ...Ohhhhh, I guess she meant they should take it for their moods. Yeah, I bet Marie Antoinette said she was joking, too. I can just hear her ladies-in-waiting, tittering: "'Cake,' she said! 'Let them eat cake!' It is to laugh."
This would probably turn the tide in the election. Stay tuned.
Kerry/Edwards vs Bush/Cheney:
Kerry: 18 years as Senator, plus two years as Lt. Governor under the most fiscally-responsible administration in his state's long history. Term in Senate includes his leading the Kerry Commission on the Iran-Contra scandal, which landed more indictments and convictions of appointed officials than any investigation before or since. Additionally, John Edwards has served five years of a Senate term after leaving a successful law career to serve in government.
Bush: Served five years as Governor of Texas, his first elected position. Governorship of Texas is widely recognized to be a figurehead position, in which the Governor largely presides over dedications and executions. After going AWOL from the National Guard, Bush spent the next twenty years failing at every single business venture he touched. Cheney served ten years as Representative from Wyoming after getting started as an aide in the Nixon White House. His term in the House was unremarkable except for its inconsistency, and included no original legislation.
What's behind that snarl, Dick? Maybe it's a sneer of contempt for the democratic process or the Rule of Law (scroll down a little to Day 86). Or maybe he's still mad that Nelson Mandela got to walk free, or that South Africa's apartheid government got the boot (he voted against measures designed to free Mandela and to eliminate apartheid six times. Six times).
Interesting. Senator Dayton (D-MN) actually read the 9-11 report, and even more interesting: he found a discrepancy between NORAD's version of the events, and the FAA's version. Even more interesting is that the discrepancy involves what NORAD and the FAA say they were doing at the time:
"During the hearing, Dayton told leaders of the Sept. 11 commission, that, based on the commission's report, a NORAD chronology made public a week after the attacks was grossly misleading.
"The [NORAD] chronology said the FAA notified the military's emergency air command of three of the hijackings while those jetliners were still airborne. Dayton cited commission findings that the FAA failed to inform NORAD about three of the planes until after they had crashed."
So, NORAD says that the FAA told them about three of the hijackings while the planes were still in the air, but the (c)Omission found that the opposite was true. Senator Dayton's assessment of the situation is pretty tame: he says that had there been better communication, the fourth plane might have been saved.
No, Senator: the 9-11 Commission found that someone fudged the truth. Maybe the FAA did notify NORAD? That would mean that someone at NORAD lied to the 911 Commission, presumably to cover their ass and protect their job, but for this investigation to be complete, this person must be found and investigated. On the other hand, maybe the FAA did not, after all, notify NORAD. Why, then, would NORAD have published a report stating the opposite?
Publishing such a report, and using that report to publicize a lack of adequate equipment, smecks of bureaucratic budgeteering and blame-shifting. "Oh we just couldn't do our jobs, because the FAA fell down, and our equipment is too old to be able to cover for the FAA...." This is a possible scenario, but equally possible is that the FAA did indeed tell NORAD everything it needed to know, while NORAD operated on Orders from Above.
Too many questions remain.
* * *
Unsubstantiated reports on NPR over the weekend suggested that some European heads of state were in attendance at the DNC, to indicate support for Kerry/Edwards. The talking-head in question actually went so far as to suggest that Italy had said that it would re-deploy troops to Iraq if Kerry wins the election.
This would probably turn the tide in the election. Stay tuned.
Kerry/Edwards vs Bush/Cheney:
Kerry: 18 years as Senator, plus two years as Lt. Governor under the most fiscally-responsible administration in his state's long history. Term in Senate includes his leading the Kerry Commission on the Iran-Contra scandal, which landed more indictments and convictions of appointed officials than any investigation before or since. Additionally, John Edwards has served five years of a Senate term after leaving a successful law career to serve in government.
Bush: Served five years as Governor of Texas, his first elected position. Governorship of Texas is widely recognized to be a figurehead position, in which the Governor largely presides over dedications and executions. After going AWOL from the National Guard, Bush spent the next twenty years failing at every single business venture he touched. Cheney served ten years as Representative from Wyoming after getting started as an aide in the Nixon White House. His term in the House was unremarkable except for its inconsistency, and included no original legislation.
What's behind that snarl, Dick? Maybe it's a sneer of contempt for the democratic process or the Rule of Law (scroll down a little to Day 86). Or maybe he's still mad that Nelson Mandela got to walk free, or that South Africa's apartheid government got the boot (he voted against measures designed to free Mandela and to eliminate apartheid six times. Six times).
Interesting. Senator Dayton (D-MN) actually read the 9-11 report, and even more interesting: he found a discrepancy between NORAD's version of the events, and the FAA's version. Even more interesting is that the discrepancy involves what NORAD and the FAA say they were doing at the time:
"During the hearing, Dayton told leaders of the Sept. 11 commission, that, based on the commission's report, a NORAD chronology made public a week after the attacks was grossly misleading.
"The [NORAD] chronology said the FAA notified the military's emergency air command of three of the hijackings while those jetliners were still airborne. Dayton cited commission findings that the FAA failed to inform NORAD about three of the planes until after they had crashed."
So, NORAD says that the FAA told them about three of the hijackings while the planes were still in the air, but the (c)Omission found that the opposite was true. Senator Dayton's assessment of the situation is pretty tame: he says that had there been better communication, the fourth plane might have been saved.
No, Senator: the 9-11 Commission found that someone fudged the truth. Maybe the FAA did notify NORAD? That would mean that someone at NORAD lied to the 911 Commission, presumably to cover their ass and protect their job, but for this investigation to be complete, this person must be found and investigated. On the other hand, maybe the FAA did not, after all, notify NORAD. Why, then, would NORAD have published a report stating the opposite?
Publishing such a report, and using that report to publicize a lack of adequate equipment, smecks of bureaucratic budgeteering and blame-shifting. "Oh we just couldn't do our jobs, because the FAA fell down, and our equipment is too old to be able to cover for the FAA...." This is a possible scenario, but equally possible is that the FAA did indeed tell NORAD everything it needed to know, while NORAD operated on Orders from Above.
Too many questions remain.
* * *
Unsubstantiated reports on NPR over the weekend suggested that some European heads of state were in attendance at the DNC, to indicate support for Kerry/Edwards. The talking-head in question actually went so far as to suggest that Italy had said that it would re-deploy troops to Iraq if Kerry wins the election.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Too late for the 4th of July,
and a damn shame, that: I'll bet the fireworks show will be out of this world. Maybe it'll happen in time for the Republican convention, that would be suitably ironic.
What happens when a whole country "implodes," anyway? It sounds messy.
The Bush junta can (and will) blame this on the "failure of allies to provide troop support," til we're blue in the face, but the fact remains -and history will record- that George W. Bush diverted resources from a hostile war zone to aggressively invade a third country, unrelated to the conflict at hand. By any standard, this is irresponsible leadership. By any standard, it was a serious tactical and strategic error.
By any standard, the war in Afghanistan is a complete and utter failure. That is, unless you're a poppy farmer.
* * *
Just have to tip my hat to this guy.
* * *
Crikey! If Afghanistan collapses, is it going to fall over on top of Turkmenistan or something?
* * *
What happens when a whole country "implodes," anyway? It sounds messy.
The Bush junta can (and will) blame this on the "failure of allies to provide troop support," til we're blue in the face, but the fact remains -and history will record- that George W. Bush diverted resources from a hostile war zone to aggressively invade a third country, unrelated to the conflict at hand. By any standard, this is irresponsible leadership. By any standard, it was a serious tactical and strategic error.
By any standard, the war in Afghanistan is a complete and utter failure. That is, unless you're a poppy farmer.
* * *
Just have to tip my hat to this guy.
* * *
Crikey! If Afghanistan collapses, is it going to fall over on top of Turkmenistan or something?
* * *
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Let them eat television!
Screw the poor seems to be the Bush battle-cry.
The difference between contemporary 'conservatives' and 'liberals' is that conservatives say "I, Me, Mine!" while liberals say "Us, We, Ours." So when Massa Jeb sez he "won't allow an independent examination of voting machines because he has "every confidence" in his handpicked election officials," you know he's not thinking of the integrity of the election process as much as he's thinking about how to make sure his side wins.
Just to clarify: that kind of behavior is antithetical to Democracy, and -yeah, I'll say it: un-American.
And in light of all this hoo-hah about the elections, I keep wondering: at what point, under what circumstances, would our elections no longer be considered valid? Serbia recently had to re-do their Presidential elections because the turnout was too low. What if apathy gets so pervasive here that voter turnout dips below 50%? 30%? 15%? Is that still "representative" government? What if a state like Florida or California or New York was somehow eliminated from the vote count? What if it was Kansas? Or a Dakota? Or D.C., Puerto Rico or Guam? These are all legitimate questions, and I think we should be discussing them before they have a chance to happen. I am not in favor of any kind of federal plan B, and that's exactly why I think we should be talking about this personally, locally: before it has a chance to happen and the feds have to step in.
Vote early, vote often!
* * *
Public service announcement, so that you don't make the same mistake some newspaper columnist made *ahem*:
It's "toe the line," not "tow." As in "stand at attention, toes on the line," like "march in step," or as Webster's puts it, "to conform rigorously to a rule or standard." 'Coz why would anyone "tow" a line? Link to original article suppressed out of respect for the author.
The difference between contemporary 'conservatives' and 'liberals' is that conservatives say "I, Me, Mine!" while liberals say "Us, We, Ours." So when Massa Jeb sez he "won't allow an independent examination of voting machines because he has "every confidence" in his handpicked election officials," you know he's not thinking of the integrity of the election process as much as he's thinking about how to make sure his side wins.
Just to clarify: that kind of behavior is antithetical to Democracy, and -yeah, I'll say it: un-American.
And in light of all this hoo-hah about the elections, I keep wondering: at what point, under what circumstances, would our elections no longer be considered valid? Serbia recently had to re-do their Presidential elections because the turnout was too low. What if apathy gets so pervasive here that voter turnout dips below 50%? 30%? 15%? Is that still "representative" government? What if a state like Florida or California or New York was somehow eliminated from the vote count? What if it was Kansas? Or a Dakota? Or D.C., Puerto Rico or Guam? These are all legitimate questions, and I think we should be discussing them before they have a chance to happen. I am not in favor of any kind of federal plan B, and that's exactly why I think we should be talking about this personally, locally: before it has a chance to happen and the feds have to step in.
Vote early, vote often!
* * *
Public service announcement, so that you don't make the same mistake some newspaper columnist made *ahem*:
It's "toe the line," not "tow." As in "stand at attention, toes on the line," like "march in step," or as Webster's puts it, "to conform rigorously to a rule or standard." 'Coz why would anyone "tow" a line? Link to original article suppressed out of respect for the author.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
"American" is a state of mind
and we're the neurons. Of course I'm mixing metaphors; that's the point.
I guess not everybody can have huge cojones, but thankfully someone in Congress does. Henry Waxman (pit-bull Democrat, CA) probably needs some extra room in his pants- check out his latest letter to the chairman of the House Comittee on Government Reform. He's a forceful writer, and has some shocking facts on his side regarding the current double-standard in D.C.
* * *
"It's pretty funny how we use the word socialist to try to smear people these days. The guy who started the religion I grew up with said you'll be judged by how you treat the least among us. He said you're to love your enemy. He said the poor and meek shall inherit the earth. Was he a socialist? He went into the temple and turned over the moneychangers' tables because he didn't like that the have-nots were suffering. He felt the pie should be divided up a little more fairly. That's the fundamental basis of my upbringing in an Irish Catholic household. I still live by those principles. To try to smear me with the word socialist is anti-Catholic.... Call it liberal, socialist, whatever--I don't care. It's about responding from a good place in your heart."
-Michael Moore, interviewed in Playboy.
* * *
Steady leadership. President Bush's leadership is about as steady as Tricky Dick's heartbeat.
Some Bush junta lies laid bare here and here
How close do you live to a Superfund site? Do you know? According to this report, "One in every four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund toxic waste site. More than 1,200 Superfund sites – the most dangerous toxic waste sites in the nation – poison our land, water, and air with toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects, liver, brain and nerve damage, as well as other health problems."
And further, and worse, "the Bush administration has dramatically undermined the Superfund program. The rate of cleanups has fallen by half compared with the late 1990s. Funding levels have decreased by 34 percent in constant 2003 dollars from 1993-2004. Today, ordinary taxpayers – not polluters – are bearing the full burden of paying for the cleanup of abandoned Superfund sites. This is the first administration in the history of the cleanup program to oppose the polluter-pays principle."
* * *
This is shocking. This is like Gandhi raising his fist. Twenty-four years in a hostile war zone- that was OK. Caught between Soviet forces and US-supported Taliban and allied clans: they persevered; they survived. But now this imperially-imposed governance there seems to have angered the governed to such an extent that they'll lash out at anything not-them. Afghanistan is out of control. And that's why it's out of the news.
Oh, but "the world is safer with Saddam Hussein in custody." I forgot.
I guess not everybody can have huge cojones, but thankfully someone in Congress does. Henry Waxman (pit-bull Democrat, CA) probably needs some extra room in his pants- check out his latest letter to the chairman of the House Comittee on Government Reform. He's a forceful writer, and has some shocking facts on his side regarding the current double-standard in D.C.
* * *
"It's pretty funny how we use the word socialist to try to smear people these days. The guy who started the religion I grew up with said you'll be judged by how you treat the least among us. He said you're to love your enemy. He said the poor and meek shall inherit the earth. Was he a socialist? He went into the temple and turned over the moneychangers' tables because he didn't like that the have-nots were suffering. He felt the pie should be divided up a little more fairly. That's the fundamental basis of my upbringing in an Irish Catholic household. I still live by those principles. To try to smear me with the word socialist is anti-Catholic.... Call it liberal, socialist, whatever--I don't care. It's about responding from a good place in your heart."
-Michael Moore, interviewed in Playboy.
* * *
Steady leadership. President Bush's leadership is about as steady as Tricky Dick's heartbeat.
Some Bush junta lies laid bare here and here
How close do you live to a Superfund site? Do you know? According to this report, "One in every four Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund toxic waste site. More than 1,200 Superfund sites – the most dangerous toxic waste sites in the nation – poison our land, water, and air with toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects, liver, brain and nerve damage, as well as other health problems."
And further, and worse, "the Bush administration has dramatically undermined the Superfund program. The rate of cleanups has fallen by half compared with the late 1990s. Funding levels have decreased by 34 percent in constant 2003 dollars from 1993-2004. Today, ordinary taxpayers – not polluters – are bearing the full burden of paying for the cleanup of abandoned Superfund sites. This is the first administration in the history of the cleanup program to oppose the polluter-pays principle."
* * *
This is shocking. This is like Gandhi raising his fist. Twenty-four years in a hostile war zone- that was OK. Caught between Soviet forces and US-supported Taliban and allied clans: they persevered; they survived. But now this imperially-imposed governance there seems to have angered the governed to such an extent that they'll lash out at anything not-them. Afghanistan is out of control. And that's why it's out of the news.
Oh, but "the world is safer with Saddam Hussein in custody." I forgot.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Changing the terms of the debate,
Rep. Barney Frank (D, Mass.) kicks ass. Cheney yourself, Dick. Don't mind the santorum, it cleans up.
*ahem*
I am not "covering" the Democratic Convention. Bloggers on the floor? Sounds like a personal hygeine problem. But President Clinton- damn, the man can speak (excerpt):
"We Americans must choose for President one of two strong men who both love our country, but who have very different worldviews: Democrats favor shared responsibility, shared opportunity, and more global cooperation. Republicans favor concentrated wealth and power, leaving people to fend for themselves and more unilateral action. I think we're right for two reasons: First, America works better when all people have a chance to live their dreams. Second, we live in an interdependent world in which we can't kill, jail, or occupy all our potential adversaries, so we have to both fight terror and build a world with more partners and fewer terrorists. We tried it their way for twelve years, our way for eight, and then their way for four more.
By the only test that matters, whether people were better off when we finished than when we started, our way works better-it produced over 22 million good jobs, rising incomes, and 100 times as many people moving out of poverty into the middle class. It produced more health care, the largest increase in college aid in 50 years, record home ownership, a cleaner environment, three surpluses in a row, a modernized defense force, strong efforts against terror, and an America respected as a world leader for peace, security and prosperity."
He not only trashes Gee Dubya, he trashes him in style, like a cheneying gentleman, and how often do you see that anymore?
* * *
Welly welly well! And you thought Nixon was a tricky Dick- check out what Cheney was up to as CEO of Halliburton: sleepin' with the enemy " ...BUSTED!
AMErica first," right Dick?
* * *
...and I know it's somewhat twisted of me, but I'm glad to say that the Abu Graib torture scandal is still making headlines, as Brigadier Gen. Karpinski is implicated.
*ahem*
I am not "covering" the Democratic Convention. Bloggers on the floor? Sounds like a personal hygeine problem. But President Clinton- damn, the man can speak (excerpt):
"We Americans must choose for President one of two strong men who both love our country, but who have very different worldviews: Democrats favor shared responsibility, shared opportunity, and more global cooperation. Republicans favor concentrated wealth and power, leaving people to fend for themselves and more unilateral action. I think we're right for two reasons: First, America works better when all people have a chance to live their dreams. Second, we live in an interdependent world in which we can't kill, jail, or occupy all our potential adversaries, so we have to both fight terror and build a world with more partners and fewer terrorists. We tried it their way for twelve years, our way for eight, and then their way for four more.
By the only test that matters, whether people were better off when we finished than when we started, our way works better-it produced over 22 million good jobs, rising incomes, and 100 times as many people moving out of poverty into the middle class. It produced more health care, the largest increase in college aid in 50 years, record home ownership, a cleaner environment, three surpluses in a row, a modernized defense force, strong efforts against terror, and an America respected as a world leader for peace, security and prosperity."
He not only trashes Gee Dubya, he trashes him in style, like a cheneying gentleman, and how often do you see that anymore?
* * *
Welly welly well! And you thought Nixon was a tricky Dick- check out what Cheney was up to as CEO of Halliburton: sleepin' with the enemy " ...BUSTED!
AMErica first," right Dick?
* * *
...and I know it's somewhat twisted of me, but I'm glad to say that the Abu Graib torture scandal is still making headlines, as Brigadier Gen. Karpinski is implicated.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Let's be clear about the 9-11 (c)Omission:
As Bartcop sez, "George W Bush doesn't get involved in anything that's not fixed up-front."
That's right: Fixed. From the beginning. Bush, after forbidding investigation for nearly three years, acquiesced to the idea -but only if he could determine, in advance, the questions that were, and were not, to be addressed. The (c)Omission's mission was to find out what went wrong with U.S. intelligence and security, in regards to the events leading up to 9-11.
They were not allowed to investigate:
-the suspicious stock market activity regarding 'put' options on United and American airlines, made just days in advance of the event and cashed-in just days afterward, which made some as-yet unidentified person or party many millions of dollars.
-why the steel from the twin towers was rushed off site within days, before any forensic investigation of the greatest engineering failure in history could take place. Or, as a matter of fact, why that steel was shipped immediately -directly- to be melted down in foreign foundries.
-why WTC7 came down at all, when it was not struck by any plane or debris, and in fact was not even in the same block as the rest of the WTC plaza. (Well, truth be told, we know that owner Larry Silverstein ordered the building to come down, but that just opens new questions: why? and how did he manage a controlled demolition so quickly (that very afternoon!) in the midst of such a state of emergency. Passing strange!)
They were not allowed to investigate who really benefitted. The most fundamental question of all, blocked.
And still:
-no one has taken responsibility, on either side: no terrorist group stood up and said "Hey, how'dya like that? Do what we say or we'll do it again!" -as is characteristic of terrorism, as we're seeing with the bi-weekly kidnappings in Iraq ("get out or we'll kill this guy"), and no US Government official, air-traffic controller, airline security director or officer or grunt, has even been rebuked, not to mention fired or prosecuted or apparently even reprimanded for anything even as insignificant as neglect.
And still:
-the president would not testify under oath about what he knew in advance. To agree to testify but not under oath, is to say "I maintain the right to lie at will." Because of course, if you're not under oath, God ain't really watchin.'
Fixed. Rigged: the terms of the investigation were proscribed by the people who were being investigated.
Excellent resource for 9-11 research Well-organized, reasonably presented information, data, and some very interesting evidence. Take a sandwich: it's huge, but it's worth the trip.
That's right: Fixed. From the beginning. Bush, after forbidding investigation for nearly three years, acquiesced to the idea -but only if he could determine, in advance, the questions that were, and were not, to be addressed. The (c)Omission's mission was to find out what went wrong with U.S. intelligence and security, in regards to the events leading up to 9-11.
They were not allowed to investigate:
-the suspicious stock market activity regarding 'put' options on United and American airlines, made just days in advance of the event and cashed-in just days afterward, which made some as-yet unidentified person or party many millions of dollars.
-why the steel from the twin towers was rushed off site within days, before any forensic investigation of the greatest engineering failure in history could take place. Or, as a matter of fact, why that steel was shipped immediately -directly- to be melted down in foreign foundries.
-why WTC7 came down at all, when it was not struck by any plane or debris, and in fact was not even in the same block as the rest of the WTC plaza. (Well, truth be told, we know that owner Larry Silverstein ordered the building to come down, but that just opens new questions: why? and how did he manage a controlled demolition so quickly (that very afternoon!) in the midst of such a state of emergency. Passing strange!)
They were not allowed to investigate who really benefitted. The most fundamental question of all, blocked.
And still:
-no one has taken responsibility, on either side: no terrorist group stood up and said "Hey, how'dya like that? Do what we say or we'll do it again!" -as is characteristic of terrorism, as we're seeing with the bi-weekly kidnappings in Iraq ("get out or we'll kill this guy"), and no US Government official, air-traffic controller, airline security director or officer or grunt, has even been rebuked, not to mention fired or prosecuted or apparently even reprimanded for anything even as insignificant as neglect.
And still:
-the president would not testify under oath about what he knew in advance. To agree to testify but not under oath, is to say "I maintain the right to lie at will." Because of course, if you're not under oath, God ain't really watchin.'
Fixed. Rigged: the terms of the investigation were proscribed by the people who were being investigated.
Excellent resource for 9-11 research Well-organized, reasonably presented information, data, and some very interesting evidence. Take a sandwich: it's huge, but it's worth the trip.
Friday, July 23, 2004
Given a choice,
viewers prefer to choose for themselves. Or might, if they were in fact given a choice.
Did interest in Kerry slip because news channels gave him less air time, or did the networks give him less air time because of a lack of interest? We would not even have to ask this very important question if there was some kind of equal time provision in the media. I wrote my congressmen about that, of course, and they collectively sighed wistfully and promised to contort my words and meaning even more in their response to my next letter, thank you.
No, really.
Did interest in Kerry slip because news channels gave him less air time, or did the networks give him less air time because of a lack of interest? We would not even have to ask this very important question if there was some kind of equal time provision in the media. I wrote my congressmen about that, of course, and they collectively sighed wistfully and promised to contort my words and meaning even more in their response to my next letter, thank you.
No, really.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Say it. SAY THE WORD, or I'll...
Torture. Such an ugly word. So un-American. Little wonder, then, that the American press rushed to scuttle it in favor of the much-more-palatable "abuse," before anyone had a chance to latch on to it for a sound bite. "Prison torture scandal" would scan much less favorably among the consuming public than the more-compassionate-sounding "prison abuse scandal."
But that's what it was, -torture- and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People's lives were threatened. People -guilty or not doesn't matter- were robbed of their humanity, their dignity, their hope, their faith, their lives ...and at some point it no longer matters how the torturers justified their actions, because they were just that wrong. Someone needs to hang. The integrity of 200+ years of American history is at stake.
We cannot be too plain about this, and if anything I am being irrationally calm: President Bush, on the advice of his counsel, held himself and his agents to be above the reach of Law. Think about that a moment if you need to, and if you find that you aren't completely outraged, slap yourself and think again. Nothing is more important to a civil society than the Rule of Law. Everyone is subject to Justice. President bush must be held accountable for the torture of innocent Iraqis. Good GOD, even the Washington Post agrees with me:
There is no justification, legal or moral, for the judgments made by Mr. Bush's political appointees at the Justice and Defense departments. Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of "national security." For decades the U.S. government has waged diplomatic campaigns against such outlaw governments -- from the military juntas in Argentina and Chile to the current autocracies in Islamic countries such as Algeria and Uzbekistan -- that claim torture is justified when used to combat terrorism. The news that serving U.S. officials have officially endorsed principles once advanced by Augusto Pinochet brings shame on American democracy -- even if it is true, as the administration maintains, that its theories have not been put into practice. Even on paper, the administration's reasoning will provide a ready excuse for dictators, especially those allied with the Bush administration, to go on torturing and killing detainees.
Here's another look at it, which includes a link to a .pdf of the Pentagon memo itself http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=0Shrzgi8q7&Content=385
Some twenty years ago, after four years of Reagan, I started to think that maybe, if things here in the states got too conservative for my well-being, that I'd leave for friendlier parts. Time passed of course, and I remembered how slowly things change in politics. Today, I'm worried about my country again, but now I'm more inclined to stick it out and fight for what's right. But if I see them coming my way with electrodes and a hood, I'm outta here.
But that's what it was, -torture- and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. People's lives were threatened. People -guilty or not doesn't matter- were robbed of their humanity, their dignity, their hope, their faith, their lives ...and at some point it no longer matters how the torturers justified their actions, because they were just that wrong. Someone needs to hang. The integrity of 200+ years of American history is at stake.
We cannot be too plain about this, and if anything I am being irrationally calm: President Bush, on the advice of his counsel, held himself and his agents to be above the reach of Law. Think about that a moment if you need to, and if you find that you aren't completely outraged, slap yourself and think again. Nothing is more important to a civil society than the Rule of Law. Everyone is subject to Justice. President bush must be held accountable for the torture of innocent Iraqis. Good GOD, even the Washington Post agrees with me:
There is no justification, legal or moral, for the judgments made by Mr. Bush's political appointees at the Justice and Defense departments. Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of "national security." For decades the U.S. government has waged diplomatic campaigns against such outlaw governments -- from the military juntas in Argentina and Chile to the current autocracies in Islamic countries such as Algeria and Uzbekistan -- that claim torture is justified when used to combat terrorism. The news that serving U.S. officials have officially endorsed principles once advanced by Augusto Pinochet brings shame on American democracy -- even if it is true, as the administration maintains, that its theories have not been put into practice. Even on paper, the administration's reasoning will provide a ready excuse for dictators, especially those allied with the Bush administration, to go on torturing and killing detainees.
Here's another look at it, which includes a link to a .pdf of the Pentagon memo itself http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=0Shrzgi8q7&Content=385
Some twenty years ago, after four years of Reagan, I started to think that maybe, if things here in the states got too conservative for my well-being, that I'd leave for friendlier parts. Time passed of course, and I remembered how slowly things change in politics. Today, I'm worried about my country again, but now I'm more inclined to stick it out and fight for what's right. But if I see them coming my way with electrodes and a hood, I'm outta here.
"Jeez, finally..."
Welcome, welcome! Yes I finally gave in and joined the bloggers, like the last monkey to come down out of the trees (or was it the last dolphin to come out of the sea?)
More soon.
More soon.
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