Happy Amateur Drunk Night

"Time won't leave me as I am, but time won't take the boy out of this man." -Bono, City of Blinding Lights

Ok, change the gender, you have my attitude towards mankind's (womankind?) arch nemesis- Time. Why do we celebrate a new year? Shouldn't we lament another year's passage, another year of time we can never get back, one step closer to learning the answer to the Big Question? Ahh, but why should we lament, when the precious few seconds of life we are given on this strangely spinning Earth should be a cause for celebration? If we must lament, it should only be to wonder why we didn't grasp more of it, hold onto it with all our might so that we may never say 'what if' again. Never let go of the wonderment of life!

Humans live by symbols- they help us to understand all that surrounds us, all that cannot really be understood. New Year's Day is a symbol- it symbolizes how time affects us all, gop or Dem, black or white, Bono worshipper or Mozart fan. You can't simply shrug off the New Year; even if you try, it is still in your mind. January 1 stands as a stark reminder of our mortality.

We are all different, yes. Some of us are so different we find it difficult to understand each other, be it language, customs, habits, lifestyles... but why do some people reject difference? We should embrace it. Just think of how freaking boring it would be if we were all the same. Imagine, for example, a Christian theocratic town, where everyone loved Jesus and there were no questions asked. Where, can I ask you, would you be able to find the joy of Christ? Without bad, there is no good. Without sorrow, there is no joy. For how do we know what is good or joyful if we have nothing to compare it to? Joy takes you up to a higher place, and to be that high, you have to start out somewhere lower.

Even in the dead of winter, I cannot forget the joy of the sunshine and the warmth that spring brings. I cannot forget wearing shorts and grilling hamburgers and watching baseball and being with friends and just breathing the outside air. There are so many little things, more little things than big things, that make Life worth living, despite all of the hardships, the sorrows, the deaths... even the most destitute of us all have celebrations, have loves, have things that get us through the day. Everyone feels better when the sun shines, everyone has a special song, everyone has a special memory that they will forever cherish.

The older we get, the more time runs together. I guess we get slower as we age, but time is forever young, isn't it? Everyone loses the race, and it doesn't matter if we are the wealthiest bastard on the planet or the poorest wretch. In death, yes, we are truly equal, are we not? God does not judge us based on our possessions, or maybe He does, for it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, isn't it? Do you think they have immigration laws in Heaven? If so, fat-walleted Americans are going to have a difficult time getting in. Do you think they'll erect the Berlin wall in Heaven, too? I wonder if Lucifer will personally answer the door when Pat Robinson's dead soul comes knocking. Dobson? Perkins? Baker? Ashcroft? O'Reilly? Bushie? Or will St. Peter open those Pearly Gates and say, "Why do you deserve to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?" He'll look at ole' Bushie and say, "Weren't you responsible for the deaths of 100,000 people?" "Oh, yes, sir, but it was all in the name of democracy." "Ohhhhh, I understand. Well, then, we have a special place for you." "I knew it!" Bushie exclaims like a kid. Boot. Tumble. Ahhhhhhhhhhh...Fire. "Oh, look, there's Joe Stalin, Addy Hitler, good ole' Pol Pot...why does it feel like I'm on fire?"

I'd think if you did not believe in God, Allah, Yahweh, or some higher power, you'd feel a greater sense of urgency to live life to the fullest. Go do it! Live! Whatever second passes now, you will never get back again! None of us will! Breathe! Let the blood pump through your veins!

How often do we go to work on on Monday morning with only the weekend as a goal? What can we do to embrace more of the week, even if we feel like we are enslaved by the office and the necessity of earning a living? We have to remember the difference between a living and a wanting, don't we? If we took a bit more time, gave up some of the wanting, we could actually make a better living, a better life. Forget that DVD you want. Go out for a happy hour with your friends. Spend an extra five bucks to eat a better, tastier dinner. Learn about the essence of life, stimulate your senses! THAT is living, not getting a plasma television when a 13" will more than suffice. Don't watch so much television- you are wasting your life away. Do something fun, do something creative, strive to make a mark on the world. Change someone's life. It's your world, you can change it. It's my world, I will change it.

Ten days from now, I will enter the last year of my twenties. After this year, I will never again have that 2 in front of my age. My body no longer grows- it will be in decay until my heart stops beating. It's quite humbling to think, to realize, to acknowledge that all of our hearts stop beating. You don't have to dwell on it, but if you have the "it's not gonna happen to me" attitude, you can never fully appreciate how fragile life is. And really, if you don't see that fragility, you can never fully appreciate how wonderful it is as well.

As I look back on the last year, I find many great things that unfortunately I will never be able to experience again. I will have to rely on that faulty camera in my mind to recall the events of 2005.

My highlights for 2005:

1. U2 Vertigo Tour- saw them in Philly and twice in DC. Getting to see my Cincinnati Reds on the same weekend in Philly was awesome.
2. Nationals debut in DC and have a decent season. Home opener was a blast, even with Bushie throwing out the first pitch.
3. Reconciled with a dear friend after three years of estrangement.
4. Family came to visit me in DC.
5. Went to NYC for first time ever. Loved it as I knew I would.
6. Went to Jordan.
7. U2 is inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
8. Saw Green Day in concert.
9. Finished first draft of first novel and wrote half of second one.
10. Tim Kaine's victory in Virginia.

Happy New Year!

War on Hannukah

ACLU challenges menorah display at Capitol

The Tennessee ACLU is using a menorah display at the state Capitol to advocate for a forum for other groups and individuals to express their beliefs and opinions.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of ACLU-Tennessee, sent a letter to Gov. Phil Bredesen Dec. 12 suggesting the annual menorah display and candle-lighting ceremony would violate the separation of church and state unless it occurred in a public forum where other displays could take place. The menorah has been displayed at the state Capitol since 2003, at the request of the Center for Jewish Awareness.

Oh my! There is a War on Hannukah! What an outrage! [/sarc]

New blog

Democracy is more than just elections, contrary to what the wingnuts are saying about the Iraq situation. Democracy needs stable institutions to support it; simply voting does not make a democracy. If that were the case, Iraq under Saddam would be considered a democracy.

When building democracy, you can't just try reforming a political system without reforming the economic system as well. The private sector must undergo extensive reform, meaning that the governance systems of private organizations and corporations must be modernized. If a corporation practices good governance, it is much more difficult for corruption to occur, and it makes it easier to reform the public sector.

The Center for International Private Enterprise has started a blog. I would encourage anyone who is interested in democratic development, market-oriented reform, anti-corruption, and governance to register on the site. Please check it out.

Because freedom is slavery...

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior

A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

Is it not ironic that the US government uses commie tactics on a guy studying communism? I think we need to get the beam out of our eye...

Patriot Act used against former Black Panthers

Former Black Panthers Still Paying a Price

An all-star cast of Black activist stood with former Black Panthers last week opposing what they consider continued harassment... pleading for peace on behalf of former Black Panthers, who have, since 9/11, been subpoenaed and penalized for refusing to answer questions.

They compared the recently enacted Patriot Act, passed as part of the United States’ War on Terrorism with COINTEL PRO, used to dismantle the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. “This seems to indicate a return of COINTELPRO,” Ogletree said in a press statement. “The Black Panther Party was targeted for destruction by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI with the COINTELPRO program, and this was confirmed by the Church Senate report in 1976. It seems clear that it continues under an anonymous name now - different operating system, but the same program.”

The former Black Panthers being protected include John Bowman, Hank Jones, and Ray Boudreaux. In recent months they each have been held in contempt of court and jailed for refusing to testify before a San Francisco grand jury investigating a police shooting that took place in 1971. Bowman, Jones, and Boudreaux were among 13 alleged “Black Militants” who were arrested in 1973 in New Orleans and tortured for several days.

In 1974, a court in Los Angeles ruled that San Francisco and New Orleans police had engaged in what amounted to torture to extract a confession from one of the men and threw out the tortured statement. In 1975, a San Francisco grand jury indicted three suspects, all of whom had been tortured in New Orleans, in connection with the 1971 shooting.

However, in 1976, a San Francisco judge dismissed the indictments finding that the prosecution had failed to tell the grand jury that the men’s confessions had been coerced... the New Orleans police would proceed to torture the men with the following methods: stripping them naked and beating them with blunt objects, blind folding them and throwing wool blankets soaked with boiling water over their bodies, placing electric probes on their genitals and other parts of their bodies, inserting an electric cattle prod in their anus, punching and kicking them, slamming them into walls while blindfolded.

Such a lovely story, isn't it? But- the United States doesn't torture! I mean, that's what Das President told us.

Can you believe this bullshit, harassing former Black Panthers for a crime they didn't commit that happened 34 years ago using the (un)Patriot(ic) Act as a justification? How can the Land of the Free act so soviet? Sweet land of liberty? I think not.

Mr. Conservative, Tear Down That Wall!

House Moves to Banish Illegal Immigration

The House called for construction of a fence along parts of the U.S. border from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Mexico as a bill aimed at shutting down illegal immigration moved forward Thursday.

The two-layered fence, about 700 miles long, would be built in parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The provisions, passed 260-159, put priority on construction near Laredo, Texas. The city is across the border from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where warring drug cartels have been blamed for more than 140 murders this year.

Supporters said the fence would cut down on crime and drug smuggling, but Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas, said it would create "the largest gated community in the Western hemisphere."

From history, we never learn. Well, SOME of us can see the irony in this.

Мое имя красно

Trial of Turkish author adjourned

The trial of Turkey's bestselling novelist, Orhan Pamuk, was today adjourned almost as soon as it opened.

Mr Pamuk is on trial for "denigrating" Turkishness, and faces up to three years in jail if found guilty. His case has attracted international concern over freedom of expression.

The presiding judge ordered a halt to the proceedings while the ministry of justice decides whether a new law making it a crime to insult the national identity could be applied to the novelist's case.

Every now and then the Turkish government does something utterly repressive that reminds you exactly why Turkey will never be a member of the EU. Hey Turks, your government is a repressive semi-authoritarian regime, and Pamuk is right to point out that 30,000 people had died in the Turkish military's ongoing conflict with the Kurdish insurgency in the south-east of the country.

When truth is supressed at the hands of a government, we have a few names for that government: fascist, authoritarian, dictatorship, communist.

You know, it isn't any different than flag burning. There are people in this country who would make it a crime to burn the American flag. So what does that say about the United States?

Pamuk's book My Name Is Red is a good one.

Is Castro still alive?

Cuba can't send team to WBC

Cuba won't be allowed to send a team to next year's inaugural World Baseball Classic, the U.S. government told event organizers Wednesday.

The decision by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control was conveyed to Major League Baseball on Wednesday, according to Pat Courtney, a spokesman for the Commissioner's office.

A permit from OFAC is necessary because of U.S. laws governing certain commercial transactions with Fidel Castro's communist island nation.

LEAVE THE POLITICS OUT OF BASEBALL!

This is a bonehead move by a bonehead administration. They're BASEBALL players, for chrissake, not terrorists! It's doubtful they're even communists, you know, those evil people who used to be the bad guys before the terrorists started using planes as missles? And is denying the Cuban team the right to come and play in this international tournament of superstars going to force Castro out of office?

Even if the US rationale behind the decision is to prevent players from defecting, that is morally wrong. Why shouldn't these players be granted asylum from Castro's regime? I mean, if Castro is as bad as the US government says, why won't they grant asylum? And frankly, the Nats need pitchers. (Why are the defectors mostly pitchers?)

Our historical Major League Baseball heroes may not have been the best ever. How many players would have beaten Ruth's record far sooner than Aaron had they been allowed to play in the Majors? Josh Gibson was the greatest baseball player to ever live, but he isn't a household name. Why? Because he had to play in the Negro Leagues on account of his skin color. Gibson hit over 900 career homeruns to Ruth's 714. Longtime Cuban shortstop (best ever?) Omar Linares hit a career 404 homeruns and .368 batting average, but he never saw the inside of a Major League Ballpark. Which is worse, denying play due to skin color or denying refuge from a dictator?

This is another example of a government using people as a political punching bag, and frankly, the one who made this decision is no better than Castro.

Oedipus in the 21st Century

MAN DATES GAL ON INTERNET FOR SIX MONTHS -- AND IT TURNS OUT SHE'S HIS MOTHER

MARSEILLES, France -- Skirt-chasing playboy Daniel Anceneaux spent weeks talking with a sensual woman on the Internet before arranging a romantic rendezvous at a remote beach -- and discovering that his on-line sweetie of six months was his own mother!

"I walked out on that dark beach thinking I was going to hook up with the girl of my dreams," the rattled bachelor later admitted. "And there she was, wearing white shorts and a pink tank top, just like she'd said she would.

"But when I got close, she turned around -- and we both got the shock of our lives. I mean, I didn't know what to say. All I could think was, 'Oh my God! it's Mama!' "

Quelle horreur!

Today's Evangelical Hypocrite

Teacher/pastor caught lying

A Bronx teacher was yanked from his classroom yesterday after admitting he lied about needing time off to join his National Guard unit to aid New Orleans flood victims, officials said.

Special-ed teacher James Thomas, also the pastor of a Bronx church, actually spent those October days at a religious conference in Brazil, said Special Schools Investigator Richard Condon.

Thomas, 55, told the Daily News last night that his troubles began when he fell off a ladder last year in his church, St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran, and didn't get mental health care afterward.

Schwarzenegger has blood on his hands

Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.

Schwarzenegger Denies Clemency for Williams

All crime has ceased to exist...

"Redemption is tailor-made for the wretched." - Stanley Tookie Williams

Corporate Greed, Part Million

Talk about needing legal reform!

Starbucks verses Sambucks

On the coast of Oregon where the Columbia River meets the Pacific, sits the small town of Astoria, population 10,000. Up here, when people want their coffee they often head to a little shop run by Sam Buck. Buck grew up here, went to the local high school and bought a tiny coffeehouse and named it Sambucks, using her name for the store.

You can guess what happens next. Charmucks sues, of course, and sadly, wins. You see, in Corporateland, you need the masses to be dumb so they will buy your senseless and useless junk. When someone comes up with something creative and cute, you need to sue them back into submission. It's all about power.

It's difficult to fight back when the sheep keep going to Charmucks. Sometimes, there is little choice, as Charmucks has chased the little guy away. And why? What is it about Charmucks that makes people go there? It certainly isn't the coffee, which tastes burnt and is of low quality. You might as well stay at home and drink Maxwell House. It isn't for free wireless access, because wireless is not free at Charmucks. It isn't because Charmucks uses Fair Trade coffee, although they claim you can ask for it, which defeats the purpose. Why would someone who only drinks Fair Trade coffee buy it from a place that mostly sells slave-grown coffee? It's still supporting the slave-grown coffee.

So why do people frequent Charmucks? It's our culture- the one that rips down old buildings and forests for something called "development." Development simply means building everything to look exactly the same, so that no matter where you go in America, you see the Applebee's, Olive Garden, and whatever other microwavable food chain goes with them. The American masses have been brainwashed into thinking in terms of brands. Indeed, so many of our words for things are actually brandnames. Do you say kleenex or tissues? Vasoline or petroleum jelly? Legos or interlocking building blocks?

I just read Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, and I am contemplating what people will think thousands of years from now when they uncover the ruins of our society. What will they think about a society who is so insecure with itself that it has to make its cities look identical, as change and difference are too scary? What will they think about our obsession with possession, mounds and mounds of useless junk thrown about in heaps, unable to decompose because of its chemical composition? What about all of the signs? God, our eyes are polluted with signs, reds and blues and greens and neon and flashing and littering nature. As I sit in this local coffee shop looking through the windows, there is not a single place I can rest my eyes from words. It's rather dizzying if you think about it.

We can fight back by avoiding Charmucks. Support the little guy! To find local coffee shops without the corporate connections, visit the Starbucks Delocater. I don't care how much money the corporation gives to Democrats, the fact is that it is a bullying company that needs to be kept in check.

Now I must stop. I just remembered that the Vice-President of Charmucks is on our board. ;)

Tu papa es estupido y otras observaciones

In most countries, speaking a foreign language is an asset, and in many countries, it is simply normal or even necessary to know more than one language. Here in the United States, a nation whose people can barely speak their native language, speaking a foreign one is grounds for punishment.

Spanish At School Translates to Suspension

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Dec. 8 -- Most of the time, 16-year-old Zach Rubio converses in clear, unaccented American teen-speak, a form of English in which the three most common words are "like," "whatever" and "totally." But Zach is also fluent in his dad's native language, Spanish -- and that's what got him suspended from school.

"It was, like, totally not in the classroom," the high school junior said, recalling the infraction. "We were in the, like, hall or whatever, on restroom break. This kid I know, he's like, 'Me prestas un dolar?' ['Will you lend me a dollar?'] Well, he asked in Spanish; it just seemed natural to answer that way. So I'm like, 'No problema.' "

If he should be punished for anything, it's that hideous English. Like, like, like...

Where do people like Michael Savage and the principal of this school develop their aversion to foreign languages? Is it racism? Is it American arrogance that says everything that is not American is wrong? Is it that they are just too stupid to learn languages, so they have to take it out on everyone who knows another one?

Of course, I agree that if you are going to live in a country, you should learn the language of that country. I don't understand how you could live in a country and NOT learn its language unless you never come out of your house. To not learn is simply laziness. But it should not be forced. That goes against the spirit of America, a nation that was built by immigrants who spoke all different languages.

Chalk this one up to another Kansas idiocy.

But he did it, too!

Latest word on the Hill is that the NRSC plans on attacking some Dems for taking money from Abramoff to take the heat off the gop party. Nice. Instead of addressing the issue of corruption within their own party and having the balls to stand up for ethics, they are just going to try to make the other party look bad. These people are despicable. The American public is already disgusted with Congress- BOTH parties, and playing this juvenile blame game is going to further alienate Congress from the American people.

While it is obvious that the American people are sick of the negative attacks that pollute politics in this country, the gops run a great risk of having their vile plan backfire. Look at what happened to Jerry Kilgore. A liberal with a positive message stole his double digit lead and won Virginia's Governor's race. The gop slime has got to go, and go it will in 2006, as it is completely out of touch with the American people who elects it. Only Diebold can save them now.

If your friend jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?

I'm not sure I would pay for language training at this school

It should say Imad Scientific Institute for Foreign Languages. I'm pretty sure that Imad is just the name, as I can't find any decent translations for it otherwise. (What can I say? I'm a language geek who finds humor in bad translations.)

Nothing surprising here

No Questions

President Bush will deliver the second in a series of four speeches on his Iraq strategy tomorrow in Washington to several hundred members of the Council on Foreign Relations -- an august group of scholars, policymakers and journalists whose Web site is an Internet hotspot for intellectual foment about foreign policy in general and Iraq in particular.

But rather than probe the group's expertise or even respond to its concerns, Bush is just using it as a backdrop.

'Nuff said.

Seig Heil to the US Government

FDA approves injecting ID chips in patients

The computer chips, which are about the size of a grain of rice, are designed to be injected into the fatty tissue of the arm. Using a special scanner, doctors and other hospital staff can fetch information from the chips, such as the patient's identity, their blood type and the details of their condition, in order to speed treatment.

K-Gramps is a drug shot calla

I don't know what is sadder- that 87 year old ladies are being thrown in jail for selling their meds or the fact that they have to sell their meds to survive.

In Appalachia, senior citizens charged with selling drugs

Since April 2004, the anti-drug task force Operation UNITE has charged more than 40 people 60 or older with selling drugs in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. It's a recent trend that Webb said has been growing over the past five years, since police began their crackdown on illegal sales of prescription drugs.

By the way, has anyone seen Osama? I mean, with these old people selling drugs and half of Congress under investigation for corruption, law enforcement really doesn't have time for Volkland Security.

Shame on you Jean Schmidt and Lamar Advertising Company

The DNC had begun working with Lamar, an ad company with billboards in the Cincinnati area, and signed a contract to place two billboards near Jean Schmidt's district office in Portsmouth, Ohio. Seven thousand Democrats contributed to raise the money to put up the billboards, and there was enough to put up additional billboards in several other locations in the Cincinnati market.

Lamar called the DNC and refused to work with them, despite the fact that the contracts were already signed! This reversal came more than 24 hours after the DNC had signed the contract with Lamar, and 48 hours after they had accepted the artwork for the billboards.

Here is the contact info for the company's Chairman and CEO:

Mr. Kevin P. Reilly, Jr.
Chairman & CEO
Lamar Advertising Co.
5551 Corporate Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Please let him know the company's actions are deplorable and are anti-democratic. You can also sign the DNC petition here or by clicking on the image.

At the risk of sounding like McCarthy, I think we need to start spreading the names of the anti-democracy elites of this country. This country is about pluralism, and silencing the voices of those who disagree with you endangers your freedom to speak as much as it does your opponent's. Kevin P. Reilly, Jr, you are on my anti-democracy list. Only a reversal of your company's decision can take you off.

Combating extremism without bombs

Saudi TV: New weapon against extremism

Saudi state-run Channel One TV broadcasted the first episode of a new series aimed at dissuading young Saudis from following in the footsteps of many of their contemporaries to join the jihad (holy war) earlier this week. "Jihad Experiences, the Deceit"” is a five part series which will tell the stories of several young Saudis who left to Iraq to fight alongside Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

Zayd Asfan, Abdullah Khoja, and Walid Khan narrated their journey from ordinary Saudi youth to mujahideen and discussed the recruitment and brainwashing techniques used by al Qaeda.

Interesting- going to the root of the problem rather than bombing the hell out of a place or arresting and detaining someone who "has the potential" to become a jihadist. No secret detention camps needed if you stop the problem before it starts.

All crime has ceased to exist...

...because we reached the glorious milestone of 1000 people executed. What a proud day in our luminous history! It goes right on up there with those other awesome feats of ours like torture and white phosphorous. Culture of life! America is God! God is America! America can choose who lives and who dies! Screw morality!

What is Justice? The American Heritage Dictionary defines Justice as:

1. The quality of being just; fairness.
2. a. The principle of moral rightness; equity. b. Conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness.
3. a. The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law. b. Law. The administration and procedure of law.
4. Conformity to truth, fact, or sound reason: The overcharged customer was angry, and with justice.
5. Abbr. J. Law. a. A judge. b. A justice of the peace.

The great philosopher Plato gives prominence to Justice in society. He was highly dissatisfied with the prevailing degenerating conditions in Athens and viewed the Athenian democracy as on the verge of ruin. [He was right. Athens had become a strong military state whose interest in empire (called the Delian League to make it sound democratic) led to the Peloponnesian War and the ultimate downfall of Athenian democracy.] Plato was disgusted by societal meddling and excessive individualism of Athenian society, and Justice was the means to correct these wrongs. According to Plato, Justice is a human virtue that makes a person self-consistent and good; socially, Justice is a social consciousness that makes a society internally harmonious and good.

The division in our society shows there is no internal harmony in our country, and how could there be, when we have some people who advocate killing others? What is Justice NOT? Vengeance. Revenge is not Justice. Killing someone to show that killing is wrong is ridiculous.

If America wants to claim to be a morally superior country, or even a country with morals, for that matter, it would make taking a human life illegal, regardless of how heinous a person's crimes. It never ceases to amaze me how so many of the loudest proponents of the death penalty also claim to be Christian. If those advocates of the death penalty truly believed in God, they would leave it up to Him to pass Final Judgment rather than playing God here on Earth. But, as I saw on someone's blog, they aren't Christians, they just play them on television.

By the way, the photo is from an Iranian execution. The United States is in great company when it comes to states where capital punishment is legal, isn't it?

At least some Americans are starting to get it.

Update: "Redemption is tailor-made for the wretched." - Stanley Tookie Williams

Another update: Only China, Iran and Vietnam held more executions in 2004 than the US, according to rights group Amnesty International.

Today is World AIDS Day

Better late than never. Please take time to visit World AIDS Day and DATA to find out how you can help.

This is Mideast "democracy"

Violence mars Egyptian elections

Egyptian opposition activists and police have clashed during the final round of parliamentary elections. An Egyptian human rights group said an opposition supporter was shot dead and another wounded north of Cairo. Reports say riot police have blocked entry to polling stations in Muslim Brotherhood and opposition strongholds.

Mubarak's thugs are out and about, as he didn't like the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood received such strong support in the first round of elections. These elections were supposed to be a test on Mubarak's commitment to reform, and now we see how strong is that commitment. So much for all that gibberish about Egyptian democracy coming from the mouths of the bushies, although anyone with half a brain could say that Mubarak has no intention of bringing democracy to the people.

Democracy is about inclusiveness. Despite the fact that I find the Muslim Brotherhood ideology horrifying and oppressive to women, they cannot be excluded from the political process, especially in light of the strong support they have in the country. Mubarak isn't the only one excluding them. American NGOs that work in the democracy realm are not allowed to even speak to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, let alone participate in democracy building training.

Let the people vote for whom they would; history is on the side of democracy. When Jordanians and Turks voted Islamic governments into power, they governed so poorly that they were voted out. It is one thing to have an ideology, but when it comes time to do the actual governing part, if you've done nothing but spout out rhetoric, the people won't stand for it. It is a universal trait of democracy.

Governor Taft's approval rating at 6.5%

No, that is not a typo. 6.5% How is that even possible?

Ohio is getting what it deserves for voting for the bumbling emperor.

Seriously, how is that possible?

HT: Politics 1

Speaking of Arab press...

U.S. military secretly pays Iraqi newspapers for running stories trumpeting U.S. mission

As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by U.S. troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.

The articles, written by U.S. military "information operations" troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Iraqis will never trust us. Americans shouldn't trust us, either.

I am too young to ever have known when integrity was an admired quality in people, as I was born 2.5 years after Nixon resigned. I came into this world after truth was no longer relevant to life, when lying was just another SOP, and when deceit and corruption were encouraged and applauded. And now, we've become so uncivilized that arguing over children's books is standard American political "discourse."

Will America ever return to sanity again?

Ignorance is litigious

From NY Times:

On Dec. 12, the Federal District Court in Los Angeles will hear a lawsuit filed by a consortium of Christian high schools against the University of California system for refusing to credit some of their courses when their students apply for admission. Here are excerpts from the disputed texts.

Slavery, which most historians look at politically or economically, is seen as "an excellent example of the far-reaching consequences of sin."

The sin in this case was greed - greed on the part of African tribal leaders, on the part of slave traders and on the part of slave owners, all of whom allowed their love for profit to outweigh their love for their fellow man. The consequences of such greed and racism extended across society and far into the future. It resulted in untold suffering-most obviously for the black race but for the white race as well. ... The Lord has never exaggerated in warning us of sin's devastating consequences - for us and for our descendants (Exodus 34:7).

The book also criticizes the progressive movement championed by Theodore Roosevelt, and the Progressives themselves.

On the whole, they believed that man is basically good and that human nature might be improved. ... Such a belief, of course, ignored the biblical teaching that man is sinful by nature (Ephesians 2:1-3). Progressives therefore also ignored the fact that the fallible men who built the corrupt institutions that they attacked were the same in nature as those who filled the political offices and staffed the regulatory agencies that were supposed to control the corruption.

Physics for Christian Schools," by R. Terrance Egolf and Linda Shumate (Bob Jones University, 2004), addresses the question, "What is Christian about physics?"

Some people have developed the idea that higher mathematics and science have little to do with the Bible or Christian life. They think that because physics deals with scientific facts, or because it is not pervaded with evolutionary ideas, there is no need to study it from a Christian perspective. This kind of thinking ignores a number of important facts to the Christian: First, all secular science is pervaded by mechanistic, naturalistic and evolutionistic philosophy. Learning that the laws of mechanics as they pertain to a baseball in flight are just the natural consequences of the way matter came together denies the wisdom and power of our Creator God. ... Second, physics as taught in the schools of the world contradicts the processes that shaped the world we see today. Trying to believe both secular physics and the Bible leaves you in a state of confusion that will weaken your faith in God's Word.

Yes, these are actual passages the schools use to teach their children. They are so cracked out on God that they can't understand why a university would deny credit for the courses? What are the people like who go to these schools? Do they end up becoming psycho killers? Child molesters? Drug addicts? It isn't healthy.

Circles of life

East-to-West Migration Remaking Europe

Since Latvia and nine other countries joined the European Union in May 2004, almost 450,000 people, most of them from the poorest fringes of the formerly communist east, have legally migrated west to the job-rich economies of Ireland, Britain and Sweden. Germany, France and other longtime E.U. members have kept the doors closed for now but promise to open them in coming years to satisfy the bloc's principle that citizens of all member states share the right to move to any other.

Perhaps nowhere is this feeling stronger than in Ireland, a country of 4 million people with one of Europe's fastest-growing economies and memories of how the world took in destitute Irish migrants in generations past. About 150,000 new workers -- mostly Poles, Lithuanians and Latvians -- have registered with the Irish government in the past 18 months, statistics show, although officials say that some may have already been there.

I wonder how the Irish are taking it. I remember when I lived there (has it been six years already?) there were some problems with North African immigrants and racism, but I don't think they have forgotten the signs saying "Irish Need Not Apply" in store windows here in the States. The Irish have come amazingly far in their development of prosperity. How wonderful is it that they can return the favor of giving opportunity to those seeking better lives from Eastern states? Evolution at its finest.

I do not believe it is wrong to criticize

I missed this story yesterday, as I don't make a habit of reading Rat Drudge's site, but it is too good not to spread the word.

Vice President Dick Cheney had his face covered by a mysterious giant "X" during CNN's live coverage of his speech from the American Enterprise Institute yesterday.

The TVNewser website obtained a statement from a CNN spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg, explaining: "Upon seeing this unfortunate but very brief graphic, CNN senior management immediately investigated. We concluded this was a technological malfunction, not an issue of operator error. A portion of the switcher experienced a momentary glitch. We obviously regret that it happened and are working on the equipment to ensure it is not repeated."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aren't four-day weekends grand?

Spotlight: Saqib Ali

Democratic candidate for District 39 Maryland House of Delegates (Montgomery County)

Website: http://www.alifordelegate.com

Bio: Current Co-Chairperson of the Longdraft Road Coalition.

First elected President of the District 39 Democratic Club.

Legislative District 39 Co-ordinator for the Howard Dean presidential campaign in 2003 & early 2004.

Worked full-time for Congressman Chris Van Hollen's General Re-election campaign in 2004.

Co-Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Spring Ball in 2004 which raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Montgomery County Democratic Party.

Please contribute to Saqib's campaign here.

No words necessary

Bud Selig: Worst Commissioner Ever

Selig shows no sign of thaw in Rose's final year of eligibility

The Hall of Fame's doors will remain shut to Pete Rose, who won't appear on the baseball writers' ballot in his final year of eligibility.

Commissioner Bud Selig will not rule on Rose's application for reinstatement before the 2006 ballot is released Nov. 29, according to Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer.

September 11, 1985. I was an eight year old celebrating my grandfather's birthday with my family. Eric Show was pitching for the Padres. Ty Cobb was about to become #2. Cheers erupted from the Cincinnati crowd, fireworks exploded, and the game was stopped for more than ten minutes as a red Corvette was driven out to the field. Pete Rose, a.k.a. Charlie Hustle, had just hit #4192.

Cincinnati fans forgave Pete long ago. Baseball fans forgave him during the All-Century team ceremony, when he stepped onto a Major League Baseball field for the first time in a decade and received several minutes of a standing ovation. But Selig can't forgive him? Why? Because Selig blames him for the death of his friend, Bart Giamanti, who died of a heart attack in the midst of the gambling investigation.

The guy had 4256 hits in his career. He played the game harder than anyone who ever played the game. So he had personal problems? Everyone does. Remember Steve Howe? He was banned for life for his personal problems, but he was forgiven and reinstated. People make mistakes. Pete has paid more than enough for his.

Join the O'Reilly Blacklist!

From HuffPo:

Bill O'Reilly recently put the city of San Francisco on notice:

"If Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it."

O'Reilly insisted that this statement was "not controversial" and blamed the uproar on "far left Internet smear sites."

Then O'Reilly promised to publish a blacklist to publicly intimidate his "enemies":

"I'm glad the smear sites made a big deal out of it. Now we can all know who was with the anti-military Internet crowd. We'll post the names of all who support the smear merchants on billoreilly.com."

In this case, being on O'Reilly's enemy list is an honor. Join Bill O'Reilly's blacklist by entering your name below. I'll collect the names and hand deliver them to Mr. O'Reilly the next time I'm on the Factor (and if he won't have me back, I'll bring them to his studio anyway).

Become a proud member of the O'Reilly Blacklist here. Go ahead, add your name to the list!

35,281 words

Only 14,719 to go.

Another quandary from which W can't escape

Locked Doors Thwart Bush's Bid to Duck Question

BEIJING (Nov. 20) - Irked by a reporter who told him he seemed to be "off his game" at a Beijing public appearance, President George W. Bush sought to make a hasty exit from a news conference but was thwarted by locked doors.

"Respectfully, sir -- you know we're always respectful -- in your statement this morning with President Hu, you seemed a little off your game, you seemed to hurry through your statement. There was a lack of enthusiasm. Was something bothering you?" he asked.

"Have you ever heard of jet lag?" Bush responded. "Well, good. That answers your question."

Jet lag or jet booze?

God to be on tonight's 60 minutes

Bono And The Christian Right

(CBS) When he’s not piquing their ire by using profanities on the air, U2 front-man Bono is enlisting the help of America’s Christian Right to get drugs to African AIDS victims.

The activist rocker tells 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley that getting conservative Christians on his side was the best way to push the Bush administration to send more aid to Africa. Bradley profiles the Irish super group this Sunday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Please support these Maryland candidates!

Saqib Ali for Delegate D39





Heather Mizuer for House of Delegates




Craig Rice for Delegate D15





John Mahoney for Senate D19

Democracy in Palestine

Palestinians protest over poll delay

Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in the southern West Bank town of Hebron to protest against the postponement of local elections by the Palestinian Authority.

On Friday, speakers in mosques throughout the largest town in the West Bank denounced the Palestinian Authority (PA) decision, describing it as "an expression of dictatorship and despotism".

"No to dictatorship, no to robbing the people of Hebron of their right to elect their representatives," shouted thousands of people, many carrying the green banners of the Islamic movement, as they marched through the streets.

Anyone still wonder why the riots happened in France?

Hijab costs woman French residency

A Moroccan woman living legally in France for eight years has been refused a long-term residence card because she covers her hair with an Islamic head scarf, says her lawyer. El Khamsa has lived legally in France - where her four children were born - since 1997, employed by her husband's business. To replace her current residence card that must be renewed annually, she wanted a residency permit that is valid for 10 years, like the one accorded her husband.

But in a 2 November letter refusing her the 10-year card, Francois Praver, sub-prefect in the town of Raincy outside Paris, noted that during her interview, El Khamsa wore a head scarf "entirely covering your neck and the roots of your hair, comparable to a hijab, sign of belonging to a fundamentalist Islam".

As someone who loves Europe and works with the Middle East, I have taken a keen interest in the relationship between France and the Maghreb states, particularly Algeria. There is something barbarically romantic about the history of that relationship. The history only goes back to 1830, but it feels like forever. The discrimination goes back, too, and was not more evident than when Northern Algeria was declared part of France in 1879. Europeans living in Algeria could receive full citizenship, but Algerians could obtain this only after renouncing Islam. Algerians were considered French subjects but were not allowed to hold public meetings, carry weapons, or move around the country without permission.

The Algerian Revolution, as it should be called, was fought from 1954-1962, a bloody, heroic struggle against the idea of colonialism itself. One million Algerians and 100,000 Frenchmen are estimated to have been killed during these eight bloody years. In 1959, Charles De Gaulle, who had chosen Algiers as his seat of government while exiled during WWII, surprised the Europeans of Algeria by declaring that he would allow Algeria to chose between independence or continued association with France. This pissed off those who wanted Algeria to remain part of France, and for the next two years, unsuccessful revolts against de Gaulle were carried out by army generals. In 1961, 70% of Algerians and 76% of French voted for independence, and in 1962, 90% of the electorate voted to ratify the Evian agreement (I think of water, too), giving Algeria full independence. French nationalists, NOT Islamic fundamentalists, resorted to terrorist attacks as a result.

Unfortunately, French colonial rule had destroyed the stable and mature Muslim society that had been Algeria prior to France's subjugation. After independence, Algeria was ravaged by one of the bloodiest civil wars in the history of manevil.

It seems like the two countries are destined to be forever entwined. The struggle is not over, and as long as France continues to blatantly discriminate against Muslims, the violence is not going to go away. The relationship was born from violence, and it will live in violence for as long as oppression continues.

One small step

Army to Halt Call-ups of Inactive Soldiers

Despite intense pressure to fill manpower gaps, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey said the Army has no plans for any further call-up of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) beyond the current level of about 6,500 soldiers. The IRR is a pool of about 115,000 trained soldiers who have left active-duty or reserve units for civilian life, but remain subject to call-up for a set period.

Now if they would just end stop-loss, thousands of soldiers who have basically been drafted would not have to suffer from the Army's broken promises.

Yesterday I received an email from a former roommate of mine at DLI who spent 2004 in Iraq and who is now trying to decide whether to reenlist to get the bonus or to take the chance and hope her contract is honored. She is in misery working around the clock all of the time, but she expects, as an Arabic linguist, that she will not be allowed to leave when her time is up, so she might as well take the money if she's going to be stuck in the Army.

Need more soldiers? Some advice: treat soldiers with respect, honor their contracts, fight better wars, and don't invade countries!

34%

So says the Wall Street Journal. I wonder when these numbers are going to bottom out.

Update: Waspjerky points out that Slacktivist has a brilliant theory on the bottom.

Don Young Way

Rep. Young is yammering about not getting the $$ for his bridge to nowhere, a bridge that has become symbolic for the pork that is fattening this country's deficit and has morphed the dignified institution of the United States Congress into the contemptuous body of wankers that we see today.

Instead of attacking anti-poverty and education programs, libertarians and fiscal conservatives should be working on cutting the pork out of Congressional bills. Taxes wouldn't seem so evil, nor would they be so high, if more money was spent on healthy, effective social programs rather than pet projects of Congresspeople who care more about votes than the good of this country. The money for that bridge could and should be going to such projects as education reform or health care reform. Or strengthening levees.

Before Hurricane Katrina breached a levee on the New Orleans Industrial Canal, the Army Corps of Engineers had already launched a $748 million construction project at that very location. But the project had nothing to do with flood control. The Corps was building a huge new lock for the canal, an effort to accommodate steadily increasing barge traffic.

Except that barge traffic on the canal has been steadily decreasing.

What a damnable waste.

Failure to appropriate resources to necessary projects like levee construction are a big reason for the negative perception most Americans have about Congress. Instead, they are misallocating funding for bridges to nowhere, parking garages, salmon paintings on airplanes, and municipal swimming pools. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, "appropriators stuffed 13,997 projects into the 13 appropriations bills, an increase of 31 percent over last year’s total of 10,656" during 2005 for a total of $27.3 billion. (CAGW is a whiny rightwing group who wants to buy more SUVs instead of paying taxes, but they do their homework and are a good source for information about pork.)

If we didn't have such a Congressional culture of misuse, we might be able to build a stronger social fabric, one where giving money to help others in need wasn't viewed with contempt by such a large chunk of the right.

Scalito verses Roe

Alito rejected abortion as a right

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, wrote that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.

I suppose the coat hanger industry will boom with this confirmation...

WaPo article

Go ahead and buy that SUV, moron

Kuwait's biggest field starts to run out of oil

It was an incredible revelation last week that the second largest oil field in the world is exhausted and past its peak output. Yet that is what the Kuwait Oil Company revealed about its Burgan field.

The peak output of the Burgan oil field will now be around 1.7 million barrels per day, and not the two million barrels per day forecast for the rest of the field's 30 to 40 years of life, Chairman Farouk Al Zanki told Bloomberg.

He said that engineers had tried to maintain 1.9 million barrels per day but that 1.7 million is the optimum rate. Kuwait will now spend some $3 million a year for the next year to boost output and exports from other fields.

However, it is surely a landmark moment when the world's second largest oil field begins to run dry. For Burgan has been pumping oil for almost 60 years and accounts for more than half of Kuwait's proven oil reserves. This is also not what forecasters are currently assuming.

Peak oil- no longer so "moonbatty," is it?

I'm sooo sleepy!

From the pen of Bob "I'm the one who started Plamegate" Novak:

WASHINGTON -- President Bush was furious with the staff preparation for last week's inter-American summit in Argentina where his trade proposals ran into unexpected opposition.

The president was reported as particularly unhappy with the work by his National Security Council staff in getting ready for the meeting. That added to Bush's distress in Buenos Aires, dealing with violent street demonstrators and hostile fellow presidents led by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and including Argentina's Nestor Kirchner.

The crowning indignity for Bush was the Friday night state dinner starting at 10 p.m., an hour when the president normally is in bed. He left the dinner early, but it was midnight by then.

Aww... poor baby.

What a loser.

Robertson warns Pennsylvania voters of God's wrath

And here's to you, Mr. Robertson
Jesus hates us more than words can say (eh eh eh)
God bless you please, Mr. Robertson
Heaven holds no place for Darwin's aides
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

You'd like to say a little bit about the Dover case
They'd better learn to help themselves
Don't turn to God when disaster strikes
He won't be there 'cause they ousted Him

And here's to you, Mr. Robertson
Jesus hates us more than words can say (eh eh eh)
God bless you please, Mr. Robertson
Heaven holds no place for Darwin's aides
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Life is too complex to say that God did not design
There's no way our ancestors were apes
Natural selection is a blasphemous affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mr. Robertson
700 Club is righteousness (yes, yes, yes)
God bless you please, Mr. Robertson
Heaven holds no place for those who stray
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Sitting on a church pew on a Sunday afternoon
Screaming 'bout Darwinian debate
They lost their place in Heaven
When they went to choose
Ev'ry way you look at it, they lose

Where have you gone, Johnny W.
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mr. Robertson
Jesus C. has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Robertson's nonsense here.
Simon and Garfunkel's real lyrics here.

Walmart employee fired for telling the truth

But this time, it isn't really Walmart's fault, but the fault of some wacked out hyper Christian who knows nothing about her religion and who has no sense of tolerance. Wal-Mart Defends 'Happy Holidays' Greeting

"The colors associated with Christmas red and white are actually a representation of the aminita mascera (sic) mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses (sic), mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world," said the e-mail, from a customer service worker identified only as Kirby.

All of this, of course, is true. Christmas traditions come from pagan holidays. Those people who absolutely refuse to learn the facts about their religion drive me to madness. Get a clue! Do you really think Jesus decorated a pine tree every time his birthday came around? Did Santa bring Jesus presents when he was a little boy?

"Ho, ho, ho! Have you been a good little boy?"
"Oh, yes, Santa, I have been the bestest boy in the whoooole world throughout all of history!"
"And what do you want for Christmas, bestest boy in the whoooole world?"
"Santa, I don't need anything for Christmas. If I want something, I can just make it out of clay."

And Kudos to Walmart for defending "Happy Holidays," although the whole uproar is utterly ridiculous. Is Christmas even a religious holiday anymore? If I were from a part of the world that knew nothing about Christmas, and I saw all of the green and red junk in the store windows, I'd never guess it was a religious holiday, unless, of course, if was for one of those people who worship the Market.

This week's sign the Apocalypse is upon us

Kos and RedState.org are teaming up to say NO to H.R. 4194 and YES to free speech. Visit the Online Coalition to protect free speech and tell your Congressperson to say NO to H.R. 4194 and YES to H.R. 1606. Pass it on.

Here's their letter to every Member of Congress:

November 9, 2005 Dear Member of Congress,

As bloggers from the right and left, we don’t often agree on much. But when it comes to free speech online, we couldn’t agree more. We urge you to oppose H.R. 4194, the Shays-Meehan "Internet Anti-Corruption and Free Speech Protection Act of 2005". We oppose H.R. 4194 primarily because despite claims by its supporters - it does not in fact offer adequate protections for speech and political activity online. In particular:

• It would stifle technological innovation. H.R. 4194 would not adequately protect Internet activity which is not “blogging”, such as already-widely used technologies like podcasting, wikis and peer-to-peer networks, let alone the technologies of tomorrow. In the face of regulatory doubt, no one will want to invest in emerging technologies to enhance citizen participation not clearly protected by the law; and

• It offers no guidance as to the treatment of group political activity, potentially treating all group websites that discuss federal candidates as political committees, with voluminous filing and disclosure requirements, so long as members spent $1000 on server and other costs, an easily-reached amount;

• Its alleged protection to incorporated bloggers offers no real protection. In comments filed before the FEC, supporters of H.R. 4194 have stated explicitly that those websites which endorse, expressly advocate, and urge readers to donate funds to the election of preferred candidates do not qualify for protection under the law. In other words, rather than protecting popular sites like DailyKos.com or FreeRepublic, H.R. 4194 would actually force them to seek counsel and comply with voluminous campaign finance law requirements, stifling and chilling grassroots political activity across the Internet. For those members committed to extending the BCRA rules and regulations to the Internet, it would be preferable to pass no bill at all rather than H.R. 4194, which would only chill free speech and technological growth, and instead wait for the Federal Election Commission to complete its current rulemaking process.

Better still would be to pass H.R. 1606, the Online Freedom of Speech Act. H.R. 1606 would preserve the status quo which governed the 2004 election cycle, during which none of the fears now trumpeted by H.R. 4194’s supporters came to pass. Moreover, as FEC Vice Chairman Michael Toner has stated, the charge that H.R. 1606 would somehow allow federal candidates to coordinate with corporations and unions to spend soft money funds to purchase Internet banner and video ads on behalf of candidates “has no legal foundation.” As he has explained:

The FEC's regulation exempting the Internet was based on its interpretation of the statutory definition of “public communications” in the McCain-Feingold law. However, neither the FEC's regulation, nor the Hensarling bill, in any way touches the broad statutory prohibition found at 2 U.S.C. Section 441b that bars corporations and unions from making expenditures in connection with federal elections.

The purpose of campaign finance law is to blunt the impact of accumulated wealth on the political process, but this is does not occur online. While wealth allows a campaign or large donor to dominate the available space on TV or in print, there is no mechanism on the Internet by which entities can use wealth or organizational strength to crowd out or silence other speakers. Any citizen who wants to establish a website that discusses political matters can do so within five minutes, and their words are instantly available to hundreds of millions of users on an equal basis with every other site.

Moreover, one need not invest millions of dollars to reach people on the Internet. The most popular Web sites are often the cheapest ones, many using the free Blogger.com service to publish their thoughts at no cost at all. Content is king on the Internet, and the idea that accumulated wealth could have a corrupting influence online demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of how the medium operates or how citizens approach it. In sum, the Internet now fulfills through technology what the rest of campaign finance reform attempts via law – and this occurred under the legal regime which H.R. 1606 seeks to codify. We urge you to proceed cautiously, and steer clear of additional restrictions like H.R. 4194 until real corruption becomes evident. At that point, Congress and the Federal Election Commission will still be around, and can prevent actual problems, and not merely hypothetical ones. Before considering support for H.R. 4194, ask yourself this question: if everything its supporters are saying is true, why did no one take advantage of these “loopholes” in 2004? We urge you to oppose H.R. 4194.

Sincerely,

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga
DailyKos.com

Michael Krempasky
RedState.org

Bye bye, world!

Five cities to be destroyed Friday

A Farragut man says he's only the messenger, claiming his personal relationship with god has revealed to him, five cities in the United States that will face economic collapse Friday, November 11, 2005.

"But I want people to know that I'm perfectly sane, that I'm at peace with what's going to happen," John Gilmore says he's just a messenger and living by it. He says people in New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and San Francisco face some form of serious destruction on Friday.

So long, it's been a nice life!

His God is Crack.

UPDATE: The Farragut guy was fired from his job. I didn't know that being an idiot outside of work was grounds for dismissal.

Happy Veteran's Day

Some Veteran's Day fodder, courtesy of the guys at Al Faw and Firend. Watch it, it's funny. Those poor guys. The boredom must be suffocating.

Dreaming in the new world disorder

I had this horrifying dream a couple of days ago which made me a bit late to work. I couldn't wake myself from it, even though I could consciously hear my alarm. I just couldn't move; it was terrifying.

I was riding the Metro, although it was nothing like the regular Metro, because the ends of the cars were like trolleys. There were still the Metro doors, but the ends of the cars were open. Outside looked a lot like Ohio, but in the dream it was supposed to be the DC suburbs. At one of the stations, a guy on a bicycle rode up to the armed guards and told them a bomb had been "found in the tunnel." Somehow, the Holland Tunnel was in DC, though in the dream we did not go through any tunnels. A bomb squad was dispatched, but the train kept going anyway. I told my friend next to me that we should get off, but she said I was just being paranoid, which makes sense, because paranoia is a common fear on the Metro these days, and anyone who tells you they haven't felt it is lying.

We chugged along and stopped at a strip mall. I kept saying we should get off, we should get off, and she kept saying, no, there's no way back from here if we get off. We chugged along, and then I noticed another friend of mine get off the train while it was still moving, so I convinced her to get off the train to go say hello.

We were all standing there talking, and bomb squad members were running all over the place. There was a small baseball souvenir stand where we had stopped, so I went inside and bought a Cincinnati Reds jersey (I think this represents some childhood comfort in the face of danger, for it makes no sense otherwise.) My two friends and I were talking about how we were really nervous about riding the train, and as we watch it pull away, I started hoping it really would blow up so that my paranoia was warranted, because I didn't want to live my life in constant fear.

Somehow, the train had to take an elevator to get from the suburbs to the actual city (weird, I know). We watched it go up in the distance, when suddenly, it exploded. Shards of glass and fire rained from the sky, and we ran to take cover in the baseball shop. I sat in a corner, rocking back and forth, unable to fathom what I had just witnessed.

I think subconsciously, all of us in DC have some sort of fear or paranoia about what is probably inevitable- a terrorist attack on the city. It isn't called terrorism for nothing, you know.

They found Cheney!

Read it here.

I hope this is not true

Israelis evacuated from Amman hotel hours before bombings

A number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel.

The Foreign Ministry stated Wednesday that no Israeli tourists are known to have been injured in the blasts. Representatives of Israel's embassy in Amman were in contact with local authorities to examine any report of injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit Wednesday.

Israel's counter-terror headquarters on Wednesday recommended Israeli citizens not travel in Jordan. Travel warnings regarding Jordan were tightened a few months ago, but many Israelis still visit the country. Many also visit other regions such as the Jordanian Arava and the ancient city of Petra.

Did they know? Did they let it happen? Did they not care if dozens of Jordanians would die as a result of the attack? Did they not care if the Jordanian economy was going to suffer severe economic consequences as a result of this attack? Ten percent of the Jordanian economy is fueled by the tourism industry, but who will go to Jordan now? When I visited back in January, I marvelled at the hospitality of the Jordanian people and the economic boom that was evident in all corners of Amman. I wish them a speedy recovery.

If they knew, and they got their own people out but left the others to die, then they are no better than Al-Qaeda.

Update: Haaretz is claiming that it is not true. I hope for the sake of humanity that it is not.

...And there is hope for the world!

Palestinian's organs go to Israel

The parents of a Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have donated his organs for use in Israel, in the hope of promoting peace.

Twelve-year-old Ahmed Ismail Khatib was shot in the town of Jenin by troops who mistook his toy gun for a real one.

His organs were transplanted into five Israeli children and a woman aged 58.

Lay down your guns all your daughters of Zion, all your Abraham sons.

Update: WaPo has the story.

Galileo's Rising

There is hope for this country yet!

School board that backed intelligent design ousted

Challengers unseated eight out of nine Dover Board of Education members yesterday in a tight race that centered on the issue whether the theory of intelligent design has a place in science classes.

The ninth member of the York County school board was not up for re-election.

The eight board members unseated were all are proponents of a policy -- now the subject of a federal court case -- requiring high school freshmen to hear a statement about intelligent design before biology lessons about evolution.

Let's hope the same happens to these folks: Kansas Education Board First to Back Intelligent Design: Schools to Teach Doubts About Evolutionary Theory

On Thursday, Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican, said that "the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason." Maybe the "born-agains" should take a hint from those who only needed to be born one time and start respecting science. York County residents certainly have done so. Isn't democracy grand?

Good morning!

Every once in awhile you wake up and things just seem to be good. Today, I open WaPo, and what do I see?

Kaine Triumphs Over Kilgore for Va. Governor

Alito Signals Reluctance on Roe

Senate Drilling into Oil Industry

There were many lessons the Dems can take from the Kaine campaign; some of these are positive campaigning is much more effective than negative, Dems don't need to be afraid of religion, and Mark Warner is a strong presidential candidate for 08.

We have the momentum now. The question is whether or not we can keep it up for next year. I feel good about it, though, especially in light of the Pew Research Center's poll that came out yesterday with Bushie's approval rating down to 36%. 2006, here we come.

Virginia's governor's race

WaPo has declared Kaine the winner! Kaine wins! Woohoo! Finally, my string of supporting losing candidates has been broken!

84% reporting- this is looking pretty good!

Timothy M. Kaine (D) 830,055 51%
Jerry W. Kilgore (R) 751,647 46%
H. Russ Potts Jr. (I) 36,628 2%

67% reporting

Timothy M. Kaine (D) 662,474 52%
Jerry W. Kilgore (R) 585,139 46%
H. Russ Potts Jr. (I) 29,060 2%

52% reporting- we're past the halfway point!

Timothy M. Kaine (D) 483,537 51%
Jerry W. Kilgore (R) 437,669 46%
H. Russ Potts Jr. (I) 20,146 2%

35% reporting

Timothy M. Kaine (D) 338,949 51%
Jerry W. Kilgore (R) 311,752 47%
H. Russ Potts Jr. (I) 14,939 2%

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

Va. Day Laborers Being Photographed, Followed

Representatives of the Herndon chapter of the Minuteman Project, a national group that fights illegal immigration, began showing up last week at the site. On three mornings, including Friday, Minuteman members arrived about 6 a.m. with video and still cameras and walkie-talkies to document the activities of Lopez and other day laborers as well as the employers hiring them.

Hey, Minutemen, why don't you take the jobs that these day laborers do? Your racist "cause" would hurt this country, you know. Who would do these shitty jobs for less than minimum, no benefits, and no guarantee you'll get work or get paid for the work you do? What ever happened to your "security" mission, you know, sitting on your asses at borders patrolling for "illegals?" Didn't you say that the terrorists were getting in through the unguarded borders? Last time I checked, Lopez wasn't an Islamic name... I guess you were lying when you said you were keeping the country safe from terrorists, huh?

I visited New York City for the first time in my life this past weekend. It was quite something to see the Statue of Liberty from across the water and contemplate the millions of people who came to this country seeking a better life, including the ancestors of those Minutemen. They didn't have stringent immigration laws designed to keep most people out of the country back when boatloads were coming over in search of freedom and prosperity. If they had been, those Minutemen hicks would have been kept out.

Hey, Virginians, vote Kaine!

Kaine official website

(I can't WAIT until these campaign commercials are no longer on... one more day!)

Update: Do you really want this dork as Governor (snicker)?

Americans see the Bushies as dishonest (finally!)

Bush's Popularity Reaches New Low

Or his unpopularity reaches a new high!

Beyond the leak case, Americans give the administration low scores on ethics, according to the survey, with 67 percent rating the administration negatively on handling ethical matters, while just 32 percent give the administration positive marks.

What's wrong with you 32%? Don't you read the papers? It seems like a new gop is in trouble every day...

Digging his own grave

Iran Removes 40 Envoys in Shake-Up

The moves give the new government of ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the chance to purge pro-reform figures brought in by his predecessor, moderate Mohammad Khatami, and install its own supporters... Ahmadinejad's victory in June elections sealed the decline of Iran's reform movement and solidified the control of hard-liners over the government. Some Iranians fear Ahmadinejad _ a longtime member of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards _ will bring back the policies of restrictions at home and confrontation abroad seen after the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

What a shame. The "election" of Ahmadinejad was a major setback to reform in Iran. He's digging his own grave, though. The demographics of Iran, especially the exploding youth population, are going to destroy any grip he has on the country. Iranians are great people, and they aren't going to sit around waiting for their government to feed them when they're starving.

Unless Ahmadinejad is planning on nuking Israel knowing full well that he will be nuked back, I can't see his "rationale" in his political suicide. This is a bonehead move.

cross posted at In Search of Shamash

"The town was abuzz the next day with news of the Jesus bun and the Mexican."

Intrigued? Chapter One of Lester Barry Speaks Out is posted! 5000 words down, 45,000 to go!

Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are highly appreciated!

As Ohio goes, so goes the nation

Chris Cillizza at WaPo writes about Ohio's importance for 2006 in today's The Fix. With all of the crooks running around in Ohio, there will be sweeping changes in the state whose governor has a 17% approval rating. The good news is that there are six House seats that the Dems can take from the gops in the state, and when I think about how the Dems need 15 seats to take over, little pangs of excitement jump up within me. No, the Dems are not going to take back the House in 2006, unless a miracle happens, but 2008 doesn't look so far away these days. Of course, with the Dems recent track record on picking candidates, this nervous excitement could once again be transformed into that bitter November 3 feeling.

It's interesting to note that convicted criminal Governor Bob Taft is related to Bushie through at least three different marriages, ranging from eighth-cousin-once-removed to 11th-cousin-once-removed, as well as being a ninth cousin of Vice President Dick Cheney. Talk about royalty. They may not be allowed to have formal titles of nobility, but they have informal ones, alright, the titles of Taft, Bush, etc... But, I digress. Or do I?

Paul Hackett is new blood, not coming from the ranks of American nobility. It's time to circulate these guys through our political system, sweep out the dinosaurs and take back the government from the crooks and liars. Vote Hackett for Senate!

Imagine a President named Newt

Newt's in Iowa exploring... Good or bad for the gops? Good or bad for the Dems? Who can tell? I feel like everything about American politics right now is flying around like those money booths, you know, the ones people win a chance to go in and grab as much money as possible.

I would hope a presidential candidate would have more qualifications than this:

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), who came to Congress as part of the Republican revolution of 1994 that Gingrich led, said, “I think Newt would love to be president. I don’t think there is any question about it. He’s already met the criteria; he’s already written a book, or several books. This is right up Newt’s alley.”

Writing a book is a presidential qualification?

Newt's a smart guy, no doubt about it, and though I do not like his ideas, I do like the idea behind the "Contract with America." Nothing like having a plan.

So who's in the gop field now? Gingrich, McCain, Barbour, Warner, Hagel, Allen, Brownback, Frist (hopefully he'll be in a jail cell), Giuliani (fat chance), Romney, Condi? The list is as long for the Dems.

It's going to be a strange 2008 primary season. It'll be the first time since 1928 that primaries were being held for both parties (with no VP incumbent running.) By the time November 2008 comes around, the American people are going to be sick to death of politics, but it's going to be great fun for those of us who like campaigning.

World Net Daily wrong again

This has been bothering me for a couple of days: On October 29, WND reported that Al-Jazeera had taken to calling suicide operations "paradise operations."

In a story about the Russian foreign minister criticizing the Palestinian Authority for failing to combat terrorist movements, a paragraph reads: "Ariel Sharon ordered the defense minister Shaul Mofaz previously to undertake wide attacks on the movement of the Islamic Jihad, whose military wing yesterday undertook (||am-ma-li-a al cha-deer-ra) operations of paradise, which killed five Israelis and injured tens of Israelis – or whoever was standing around."

Previously suicide bombings have been called "ammaliat in-ta-har-i-a" – suicide operations.

Arabic is a very flowery language, and Arabs like to use different terms for the same concept to spice things up a bit, but, contrary to wingnut opinion, Al-Jazeera is not a terrorist channel. They are no worse than Faux News in terms of objectivity.

There is no word "ja-deer-ra" in Arabic that means paradise. (Iraqis and some other Arabs pronounce the j as "ch," but there is no letter "ch" in the Arabic language.) There is a word "jidri" (جذري) which means "radical" as in extremist, but it is not in widespread usage. Since "operations" is plural, the word would take on a feminine ending and would be "jidria," which is quite similar to "jadeera," isn't it? It is possible that this or some mutation of the word was used, but the word does NOT mean "paradise."

It is interesting to note that the English word "paradise" comes from the Persian word "pairi daeza", meaning a walled garden.

(If you wingnuts want to badmouth my credentials to talk about this, take a look at my resume and then shut up.)