Boston Battles Beelzebub

So it begins- the battle of Good verses Evil.

Aside from my diehard alligience to my ever underachieving Cincinnati Reds and my new hometown team the Nationals, there is no team that I root for more than the Sox, who are duking it out for one of the last remaining playoff spots tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday. Every game matters. Should they fail in their quest, the only teams I could really root for are the Indians, since I have rooted for them as an Ohioan, and the Padres, since I saw my first ballgame at age one in that town where I was born. The other teams I hate, starting with the Yankees, then the hated Braves, the hated Cardinals, and the hated Ass-tros. I am indifferent to the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim, or whatever they are called today.

A baseball fan couldn't wish for a better last weekend than this. Go Sox! Go Tribe! May the baseball gods send the hated Yanks home.

"Even if it upsets me, we want peace."

If only more people in this world had this attitude.

Algerians overwhelmingly approved a peace plan that provides a broad amnesty for Islamic extremists but which critics denounced as a whitewash of crimes committed during a bloody internal war, official referendum results showed Friday.

When Algerians were ripping each other apart, that wasn't front page news. Nevermind that there were massacres where whole villages were slaughtered. What did make the front pages was when some sunbathing Western tourists got their heads chopped off. Maybe it's time to look at Algerians, see what they have done, see if this democratically elected peace can hold. A nation voted for peace. A nation voted for forgiveness. A nation VOTED to move on with its life. The insurgents have to live with their crimes just as the country must live with them. You don't see an army running in to "liberate" the Algerians from the Islamic Salvation Front.

We in America are stuck with warmongers, mouths foaming with desire for revenge. Revenge on what? Because someone broke New York for awhile? Far, far more people have died in the Iraq war than did in the Towers. Can we choose peace? The Shiites and Kurds could take a page from the Algerians, too. The Sunnis did atrocious things to them under Saddamn, we know. Forget the past, look to the future. It's all that matters now.

Anthony Williams 2008?

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams announced today that he will not seek reelection next year, telling supporters he feels "it's time for a change" and for "new challenges."

The mayor, who still has 15 months left in his term, did not say exactly what he plans to do next. "Stay tuned," he said in response to a question after his 20-minute speech. He would say only that he plans to remain in the District and to buy a house after years of living in a rented apartment.

In 1998, DC was a mess, not a place where one would feel totally comfortable walking the streets at night. Today, it is one of the most prosperous cities in the country. Obviously the guy is a competent administrator. Williams has spent a lot of time abroad in the last couple of years, perhaps on diplomatic missions?

I know, I know, it'd be completely surprising if he went for the Oval Office, but it is interesting to think about. I'd support him. A totally competent politician is an endangered species in this day and age.

"War is not necessary for peace."

Turks Challenge Hughes On Iraq

"You're concerned about war, and no one likes war," Hughes said. But "to preserve the peace, sometimes my country believes war is necessary," she said. She also asserted that women are faring much better in Iraq than they had under the rule of deposed president Saddam Hussein.

"War is not necessary for peace," shot back Feray Salman, a human rights activist. She said countries should not try to impose democracy through war, adding that "we can never, ever export democracy and freedom from one country to another."

Quite a tough trip for Karen Hughes- first she gets slammed by the Egyptians, then by the Saudis, and now by the Turks. The Orwellian nature of her comments (indeed, her speech writer should be charged with plagiarism) shows the mentality of this administration. One would think the Right would be able see the striking and frightening parallels between 2005 and 1984, but no. It isn't to be. WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

Women are better off now than under Saddam? What the hell is she sniffing? Is she really that naive? Iraqi women have enjoyed secular, western-style equality for more than 40 years. They didn't have acid thrown in their faces. They were allowed to come outside. They didn't have to wear a hijab. They were allowed to divorce their cheating husbands. It's not like Iraq wasn't a functional society before this war, but this administration paints Iraqis as a backwards people whom we "saved" by regime change. When we went in there, we took no steps to ensuring women, who are so often victims in those oppressive cultures, were not enslaved by male superiority. But who really cares, right? After all, as Reuel Marc Gerecht (Director of the Middle East Initiative at the Project for the New American Century and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute) says, "Women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they're there, I think they will be there, but I think we need to keep this perspective."

As for the exporting democracy comment from the Turkish woman, she is quite wrong. Democracy CAN be exported, but it can't be imposed, and there is no one-size fits all version of it. Democracy comes to nations by exposure to it. It creeps in at first, maybe with a few brave writers questioning an authoritarian government in the press, maybe with a small gathering of people in a minister's office asking why the regime doesn't do something about conditions in the country. It isn't something that can be forced- it's an evolution. Underground democratic movements have been brewing in the Middle East for years now. They were certainly underway when Rabat and Arafat signed the peace deal. We may very well have set democracy back in the MENA region by decades with our irresponsible God-playing behavior.

Public diplomacy is a good idea, but not when you send an ignorant woman like Karen Hughes to do it. How about sending someone who knows the Middle East, who understands the cultural idiosyncrasies of the region? When will this administration stop sending pony show judges to do its work?

1925 Revisited

Intimidation Alleged On 'Intelligent Design'

The only explanation I have for our regression to 1925 is that the "Intelligent Design" creationists are so insecure in their faith that they feel threatened by the introduction of scientific evidence that refutes their beliefs. I suppose if there was significant evidence that everything you believed in was wrong, you'd be wacko and paranoid, too. When they start to think about how ridiculous it is that there's some guy on a cloud hitting homeruns for ballplayers, putting food on people's tables, and driving cars so people get to their destinations safely, it is only natural to start questioning these beliefs. What's he doing? Reaching down with a giant invisible hand? The natural response is denial. Nooooooooooooo, everything I know is NOT wrong!

Why is it so inconceivable to these people that evolution and God can co-exist? There is nothing in the Bible that says evolution DIDN'T happen. Sure, there are some who look at the seven days metaphor and then blind themselves forever so they don't see the overwhelming proof that the Earth is millions of years old, but for a majority of folks, the capacity for thought and reason is not lost on them. I never realized until recently that there really are people, and a lot of them, who literally think the world was created in seven days. It's quite frightening that people can be so irrational, that they can believe in something without ever having contemplated it. Without doubt, there can be no faith, for the very definition of faith implies that doubt must exist. If Truth is that the world was created in seven days and that man came from mud, then the monkey preachers will get what's coming to them in the end. Why not let faith run its course? If you truly believe in the mud man, does it even matter if someone else talks about a monkey man?

I am not an atheist. I only say that "God" is a concept that we cannot ever pretend to understand, something vastly superior to our meager existence and intellects. Just as we cannot fathom the concept of infinity, we cannot grasp the concept of metaphysical existence. Perhaps they are one and the same. Life is a labrynth of circular logic; it is the very reason I created this blog and chose the moniker Daedalus (as in Joyce's Stephen Daedalus, who is based on Icarus' father.)

Man has been trying to put a face on existence since he stopped being a monkey (and who's to say that apes don't believe in some sort of higher being?) I just read a book by Arthur Phillips (of "Prague" fame) called "The Egyptologist." I highly recommend it. It's about an archaeologist with an absurd quest for immortality. (I can't say anymore about it because I might give away the ending, since the book is full of twists.) The ancient Egyptians are fascinating to study- imagine a people who thought that wealth and power were "proof" that the gods favored you and that you had a guaranteed ticket to the afterlife... oh, wait, that sounds familiar. Ancient history is full of civilizations who thought gods were walking among them- Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians... the list goes on, but the religions do not.

The solution to this debate, in my opinion, is simple. We need to start teaching philosophy classes in high schools. We are the only developed nation on Earth that does not teach our kids the fundamentals of philosophy, a science that teaches people how to think. Within this course, we could include religion. Somewhere in there, we could squeeze in different religious theories, like "intelligent design." By sticking it there, we can have it taught in schools while keeping it out of the science room. By calling it philosophy and teaching several different ideas, we can avoid the problems of "religion in school." Most importantly, though, is that by teaching philosophy, we can teach kids how to think for themselves rather than telling them what to believe.

Bottom line: Science is not something you "believe in."

Tags: Evolution, Intelligent Design, Egyptologist, Arthur Phillips, James Joyce, Stephen Daedalus

A moral test

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. No one else will know, so you won't be fooling anyone but yourself if you give anything but a truthful answer.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Please read slowly and thoughtfully, giving due consideration to each line.

Here's the situation:

You are in Florida; Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of Biblical proportions. You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water. He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer... somehow the man looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is....

It's George W. Bush, President of the United States!!

At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him under... forever. You have two options - you can save the life of G.W.Bush, or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world's most powerful men.

So here's the question, and please give an honest answer ......... (in comments)

I just want to celebrate!!!

Finally!

The Kevin Bacon game- Mafia style

Dead Guy and Old Owner of SunCruz Casinos: Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis

Police picked up Anthony Moscatiello, 67, Anthony Ferrari, 48, and James Fiorillo, 28, last night and this morning in connection with the ambush slaying of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was killed in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, 2001.

Killer: Anthony Moscatiello

In October 2000, in the midst of the infighting with Boulis, Kidan turned to a friend of 15 years, Moscatiello, who began visiting Kidan's condominium and golfing with Kidan and Waldman.

New Owners of SunCruz Casinos and Indicted of Fraud Charges: Adam Kidan and Jack Abramoff

Abramoff used contacts with Republican Reps. Tom DeLay (Tex.) and Robert W. Ney (Ohio) and members of their staffs as he worked to land the SunCruz deal, interviews and court records show.

Congressmen: Republican Reps. Tom DeLay (Tex.) and Robert W. Ney (Ohio)

Ney twice placed comments in the Congressional Record at key points while Abramoff and Kidan were wrangling with Boulis over the purchase and control of the company. Ney first sharply criticized Boulis and later praised the new ownership under Kidan.

Full story

A good old fashioned who-dun-it with a political twist.

The pornography of war

From the Nation:

On November 15, 2004, a report on CNN.com briefly described a clash in the Iraqi city of Baquba, including an insurgent attack with rocket-propelled grenades on members of the First Infantry Division, in which four American soldiers were wounded. CNN did not post any images of the battle, and the incident wasn't given much attention in other media.

But visitors to the amateur porn website nowthatsfuckedup.com were given a much closer view of the action: "today in baquba we got into the shit again and got some of it on vid.....this is me and my wingman fuckin some shit up when these fucks shot 3 rpg's at us so we took down the whole spot.....look for yourself...the fight lasted like 85 mins total and they are still counting up the bodies."

The poster, an anonymous soldier identified only as "Stress_Relief," uploaded two videos of the clash onto the website, drawing enthusiastic responses from patrons: "nice work, guys. Keep blasting those mujadeen [sic] bastards."

Nihilists see life as void of meaning, purpose, truth ,or value. The nihilist movement at the end of the 19th century sparked a period of insanity in Europe which culminated with a World War. The nihilism that is inherent in modern jihadism has sparked what could turn out to be a similar conflict if it is not contained soon. Just as Nietzsche described Christianity as a nihilistic religion because it removed meaning from this earthly life and focused instead on a supposed afterlife, so, too, is fundamentalist Islam. Indeed, suicide bastards seek to skip the whole living part altogether, opting for the shortest route to “afterlife” which, I hope, is Hell.

The psychopaths who enjoy watching faces being peeled off bodies fail to see any value in life. The fact that both US soldiers and insurgents are using the site proves that there is no difference between these sick fucks, and only by a fortunate coincidence of birth are they relegated to the ranks of lowly, expendable foot soldiers, mere pawns in the game of destiny. Heaven shutters at the thought of monsters like these ever obtaining power, for this sick voyeurism in princes is the make of tyrants and terrorists.

They are right about one thing: their lives are worthless, and when they expire, they will forever be forgotten. Humanity doesn’t need to remember such loathsome barbarianism.

Update:

On Tuesday, U.S. and Iraqi officials announced that Iraqi and American security forces killed the No. 2 al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abdallah Najim Abdallah Muhammad Juwari, also known as Abu Azzam.

Have fun in Hell, Juwari!


HT: Jesus Politics

Iraq is full of Gremlins

Civil war, anyone?

A group of armed men burst into a primary school in a town south of Baghdad today, rounded up five teachers, marched them to an empty classroom and executed them, a police official said. All of those killed were Shiite.

While Iraqis are tormented by daily attacks, teachers have rarely, if ever, been the targets. The killing was particularly cruel as it took place while some children were still at the school, called al-Jazeera, and raised fears that schools, largely unprotected here, could become a new target. full

Mission accomplished.

I have an Iraqi bank note with Saddamn's picture on it hanging up on my board at work. The artist's rendition of his likeness is not like him at all. Absent are the flames of evil in his eyes, the psychopathic gleam of hatred that shone light onto his barbaric lust for power. I only keep the bill because it is something foreign, not just from another country, but from another world, one with dictators and War and fear of dark corners.

Despite it all, children were safe in schools in Saddamn's Iraq. Women were free to come outside without having acid thrown in their faces. Bombs didn't mutulate scores of innocents every day. Terrorists didn't multiply like a wet Gremlin. We created these things. Bushie's pals loved the bangs and the booms like a Siren's song, but they became enraptured and incapable of doing anything once they had destroyed everything.

The neocons had no right to do this to the Iraqi people. Tolstoy said that death provides the individual with a definition of life. For Iraqis, it seems to be THE definition of life.

Baghdad Neighborhood's Hopes Dimmed by the Trials of War

Tag: Iraq civil war, terrorism, Iraq, teachers killed

The powers of baseball

BOSTON (AP) - When the Red Sox heat up, the ERs cool down.

According to a study published Monday in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, traffic in Boston-area emergency rooms significantly slowed during last year's Red Sox championship games.

"I have no idea where the patients go, but they don't come into the emergency room," said Dr. Alasdair Conn, the ER chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, which was included in the study.

Ben Reis and John Brownstein, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, compared Neilsen television ratings with hospital traffic at a half dozen hospitals in metropolitan Boston.

They discovered that during the championship games, fans in three of every five households were watching. At the same time, emergency room visits dropped by about 15 percent when compared with trends for ER visits on fall evenings.

Doctors and the study's authors suspect that when the Red Sox are in the playoffs, patients who can defer an ER visit will do so.

"The heart attacks, the strokes, they will come no matter what's going on," Conn said. "The patient with pneumonia, the patient with an asthma attack will say, 'Maybe I can ride this out at home."'

Go Sox, crush the Yanks!

You have the Governator, we have the Benator?

Picture This: Ben Affleck, Senator From Va.

That's the hot new idea being tossed around by Virginia Democrats, who are desperately searching for a big name to challenge the reelection bid of rising GOP star Sen. George Allen next year, now that outgoing Gov. Mark Warner has ducked out.

You can't see it, but my eyes are rolling.

This week is banned books week

The pen is mightier than the sword, isn't it? It has caused many segments of society to fear intellect and crave ignorance. Banned Books Week 2005 is September 24–October 1. Pick up your favorite book that has been banned and read it with pleasure. Is any freedom greater than intellectual freedom, the freedom to think and feel and discern truth from propaganda?

The American Library Association has audio readings from books that have been banned here.

“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” -Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Texas v. Johnson

The list of most frequently banned books during the 90s, according to ALA:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman So let's treat the kids of gay parents like they are aliens!
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger It's all phony.
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker Because abuse doesn't exist in this country.
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Because women really should be slaves to men.
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras Because we wouldn't want girls to know why they are bleeding!
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley So neocon secrets aren't exposed.
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume Because menstration is a bad word.
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding Don't give the kids any ideas.
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle A stork dropped you off. He was sent by baby Jesus.
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford All of those stripes cause epilepsy?
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell Because jocks who beat up dorks have feelings, too.
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Tag: Banned Books Week

More character is set to be destroyed

Woodward Building Pushes Out Eclectic Tenants

"I love this old building," Corrigan said. "I have 16-foot ceilings, big showcase windows; there's no standard awnings, and I can put my own sign outside. You can be unique here."

That will all end at the end of the year, after tenants will be forced to leave so the owner can gut it to create a property more in line with its upscale neighbors.

What a shame that greed and a lack of creativity are destroying this country! Our nation's cities cry as character is ripped from their hearts, replaced with neo-marxist consonance, that utterly ugly trait of materialism that asphyxiates our nation. What? Impossible, you say? Traces of Marxism to be found in the worst of capitalism's follies? Marx looked at Art as a commodity rather than something metaphysical. So do the capitalists who tear down old buildings because they don't make as much money as they could. Modern day corporatists would be appalled to discover how many things they have in common with old Karl.

More about Abramoff

From Politics 1:

The Miami Herald reported Sunday the FBI is investigating whether Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) abused his position in office to improperly help DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Abramoff business partner Adam Kidan get a better deal in 2000 when they purchased the Suncruz gambling ships operation in Florida from company founder Gus Boulis. Abramoff -- a close DeLay confidant -- and Kidan were indicted this summer on federal corruption charges in Florida related to the purchase. Boulis was later murdered in a still-unsolved mob-style hit as he drove home from work at night in 2001, when his bitter dispute with Abramoff and Kidan went public. To date, nothing has tied Abramoff and Kidan to the killing. Ney admittedly inserted damaging info about Boulis into the Congressional Record and allegedly attempted to get federal regulators interested in Boulis while Abramoff was actively negotiating the controversial purchase. Ney denies any wrongdoing.

When murder is involved, it's a whole new ballgame. It's one thing to trade stocks illegally, but when your little ring of power starts seeing dead bodies in the middle of it, it's time for a serious investigation.

Iraq is a mess- it's time to go home.

US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed

US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.

Conclusion: Maybe they should be better shots? Ha, ha. But seriously, Juan Cole writes an excellent article arguing for withdrawal. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the world on Saturday to say with signs and voices what Cole does much better with a pen.

Gop crooks getting caught

Ethical investigations soiling GOP's image

Remember, these people aren't minor figures in their party. They are the leaders. Bunch of crooks.

A sense of justice is starting to creep into politics.

Please pay cash at the pump

Frustrated by gasoline prices? Here's one way you can help. Credit card companies are making a killing on the high prices and are charging gas station owners more for the use of plastic. Solution: PAY CASH AT THE PUMP.

Corporations who profit off of disaster should pay price gouging fines that wipe out their existence.

Card Companies Are Filling Up At the Station

Since last year, the fees that gas stations paid to credit card companies have risen 64 percent, right along with the price of gasoline.

Taking back democracy

I ambled down 15th Street today as a trickle of people turned into a flood. The freaks were out, of course, but most of the protestors could be mistaken for "normal" by even the staunchest wingnut. (Normal? What is normal? Isn't it normal to value life over death?) I had decided to wear an Army t-shirt to "support the troops but not the President." (-Tom DeLay, 1998) I think the shirt confused a few people, as I saw a look of alarm followed by a visible sense of relief as people came closer and saw the buttons I was wearing: "Wanted for Terror and Murder: Osama Bush Laden" and "No blood for oil." It was strange (no it wasn't), but I received no "baby killer" comments or dirty looks for wearing the Army shirt, although wingnuts are always spouting off about how lefties want our troops to die.

As I approached the White House under the gloom of a foreboding sky, I entered the realm of the police state, as sirened cars lined the streets where weekday workers would normally park their cars, and uniformed officers with leering eyes looked ready to pounce on anyone who committed the smallest infraction of our fledgling fascist-nanny state law. I boldly crossed the street on a don't walk light, leading a trail of others, and I was happy to see no handcuffs or tickets.

I rode the flow down to Pennsylvania, staring at the White House in awe as I have done countless times since I've moved to DC. We were all heading to the rally point, and I snapped photos of worthy signs and people, forever capturing the images of strangers I will never meet but with whom I could very well be friends. The streets were swirling with dancing colors, mocking the ominous gray of the rain wrapped sky.

A sample of the signs:

"I served in Vietnam, my son served in the Persian Gulf, and Bush serves for oil."
"Send the twins!"
"Osama bin Forgotten"
"Make levees, not war!"

There was a slate of speakers, all scheduled, that the organizers were trying to force upon people. There was some delay with starting the march having to do with too many people in the street and the police just being a pain. The organizers could have moved people to Constitution rather than making them sit through a bunch of hippy poets we've never heard of, which was causing confusion, a sense of disorganization, and a loss of interest, albeit briefly. What ever happened to spontaneous passion? (Was it killed by the death of our First Amendment right to peaceably assemble without infringement? Were there this many police at the Vietnam rally? It was difficult to leave the crowd once you were there.) The pre-march rally was as scripted as reality television, and some of the speakers strayed off message to condemn random tragedies. For the most part, however, they stuck to Iraq. I grew bored with these speakers at the Ellipse and decide to wander the Mall.

The irony of walking through the mall in the midst of another antiwar protest is striking. The new granite of the World War II Memorial retains its shine from a May opening as we add names daily to the ever growing list of victims of senseless conflicts. We will never learn as long as there are profits to make from War, will we? As I turned away from the site with thoughts of tragic deaths on my mind, I caught a view of Jefferson's memorial, its majestic dome sheltering him from the drops now falling out of the gloom. Were they his tears?

A mother who spoke described a trip to DC that she took with her son before he deployed to Bush's Blunder. As they were reading the names at the Vietnam Wall, he turned to her and said, "Mom, I wonder how many names will be on our memorial." Goddamnit. Enough memorials! Haven't enough men died throughout history to brutal and pointless violence? What is it that makes man think he should continue to slaughter others? Killing people to show that killing is wrong is absurd, yet that is what this "War on Terror(TM)" precisely does.

I didn't march. I was interested in the music, so after I had spent a significant amount of time and film among the marchers, I headed over to the stage. I was particularly excited to see Steve Earle, and he did not disappoint. It was nice to be close enough to the stage to see his face, and I didn't even have to strain my neck to watch.

Bush wasn't IN the White House, of course. He took off so he didn't have to see 300,000 people telling him to fuck off. I felt like we-the-people for the first time in a long while, and I felt a sense of faith in the system. We do have the power, we just need to get off our asses and do something about it. As Steve says (forget the damn Chevy crap):

I was walkin' down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin' to a beat
That I'’d never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written '‘cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin' standin' around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered '‘round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing

The revolution starts now


Tags: DC protest, Operation Ceasefire, Steve Earle

Operation Ceasefire

I'm glad they're letting us sleep in tomorrow for the day's activities. It is, after all, Saturday. What shirt should I wear? Kerry? Faux News? Army? Maybe my old BDUs? It's time to surround the White House and tell the Emperor he has no clothes. The march begins at 12:30 on the Ellipse. At 3pm, Joan Baez, Steve Earle, and others are giving a concert near the Washington Monument. 100K+ are expected to be there.

More details at United for Peace and Operation Ceasefire.

Tags: Operation Ceasefire, protests in DC, anti-war rally

Daaaaamn...

Floodwaters Pour Into New Orleans Again
Katrina-Weakened Levees Fail in Two Places Today

And we are just hitting peak season. As I sit in a nearly empty house that I rent, I have come to appreciate even more my lack of thirst for possessions. I've seen how devastated people have been after losing everything they owned, and I am glad I don't have a material dependency. I simply don't own much, nor do I want to.

I think the devastation has made a lot of us in this country think about what is really important. I've seen unbelievable generosity and compassion, something that has been conspicuously absent in the last several years of American discourse. I think we've been forced to reevaluate our priorities in life. It's too short and too precious to waste. (Of course, if can't wait to go straight to the Pearly Gates or a place with 72 virgins, you probably don't appreciate how delicate real life is.)

Is it that Mother Nature, God, Allah, Yahweh, Atum, Shiva, Insertgodhere wanted to show that she/he/it/they have more power over all of us? The Higher Being has succeeded in sewing our country back together by ripping it apart. Will the threads last, or will we go back to the same irrational discourse that has plagued this country for the past few years? Are we so helpless? All of the bombs in the world can't fight Nature.

Of course, there are those people whose ideologies are still blinding them to reality, but those people will never be saved. Their hatred burns deep and shows in their "they deserve it" attitude that I've seen splashed all over cyberspace. Those people have been shouting for too long, making it seem like there were more of them than there actually were. Their voices have grown weak, and the din of reason has finally begun to drown them out.

I bought a hot dog and a beer yesterday at the Nationals game. I wasn't going to do it because I didn't want to spend the money, but I sat there watching a meaningless game, burning with a passion for the sport and the joyful days of summer that it represents, and those things are the taste of the game. One's eyes are doused by the verdant field as it dances from fence to fence, forcing every color in the stadium to compete with it for the brightest spot, while the outside summer air allows you to breathe and forget the stifling atmosphere of everyday life. We were programmed at an early age to see summer as a season of play, and baseball represents that sense of carefree youth. I watched desperately with a fond nostalgia for another summer gone, and I contemplated the erasure of time that plagues a mortal soul. I foolishly and romantically longed for the days of innocence. Only in innocence are we truly free.

Is it ludicrous to talk about trivialities such as baseball in the same post as disaster? At first, it may seem that way. But- my point is that we need to learn not to take life and freedom and joy for granted, because at any senseless moment, it could be gone.

Lester Crawford Resigns

FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford Resigns and it's about time!

Does he have a Plan B?

Tag: Lester Crawford

Reverse colonialism

This image, which you can see all over the blogosphere, always makes me laugh, because I often joke about how the UK is the 51st state of the US. For a Brit to have it on his site is a mockery of his country.

(For any Brit who may read this, I love your country. I just think your government, especially the conservative side, is on a leash held by Uncle Sam. Cheers.)

Jetblue incites irrational fears

I felt (and still feel) a sickening anxiety in the pit of my stomach and shortness of breath as I watched this video showing that Jetblue landing at LAX. I could only begin to imagine the fear while circling around for 3 hours before descending into uncertainty. Kudos to the pilots for doing an excellent job at landing the plane, whose front wheels were stuck sideways.

I have an irrational fear of flying that grows stronger with every year that passes. It sucks, too, since I love to travel. I have to put up with days of sickening anxiety before I go on a trip. Last year as I was traveling from Cairo to Frankfurt, we hit a storm over the Balkans that made me so tense I was sore the next day. When I looked out the window, I could see the horizon bouncing up and down- one minute I could see only the ground, the next, only the sky. To top it all off, they were playing that horrible Garfield movie, so there was nothing to take my mind off of it. Even the flight attendents were buckled up.

That isn't the worst flight I've been on. That would be my flight down to Basic Training at Fort Jackson. I had flown from Columbus, Ohio to Raleigh-Durham, and I switched to a tiny 20-seat prop plane to go to Columbia. Since the flight was less than an hour, we couldn't fly very high, and we flew directly through a storm cloud the whole time. It was one continuous flash of lightening that I saw out the window. One strike to one of the two propellers- ack. I don't even want to think about it.

Irrational fears are a strange human trait. Everyone is afraid of something, even those people who say they are afraid of nothing. I don't know how I developed my fear of flying, but it wasn't when I was going back and forth to Europe during and after college. I remember feeling a bit nervous making my last transatlantic flight to Dublin in 2000. Some people believe that fears like this are leftover from something happening to you in a past life. I wish I could believe that, because then, statistically, my chances of dying in a plane crash are drastically reduced to nearly nonexistent. Sadly, I don't believe in that, so I must put up with my irrational fear every time I buy a plane ticket.

Tag: Jetblue

Support Belarus

Belarus is falling backwards towards Stalinism. So many dictatorships in the world, so little time. The whole world is moving backwards, and the democratic progress made in some countries is so fragile that a single event can steal liberty away. I wish them luck in crushing their depraved dictators so that they may enjoy the fruits of freedom, but here is some advice: don't let it get away from you once you have it. It is difficult to get and easy to take for granted.

With Simple Tools, Activists in Belarus Build a Movement

On Saturday, July 9, Belarusan special security forces burst into the home of Uladzimir Kishkurna, an opposition political leader. Neither he nor his wife was home.

They arrested Kishkurna's 22-year-old son, Anton, and claimed later that he had drugs and ammunition in his possession. But the real target of their raid appears to have been a printing press, a potent weapon in the hands of those seeking to topple the country's autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko. The press, confiscated by the authorities, was one of fewer than 10 of professional quality outside control of the state and was useful for printing tracts and posters against Lukashenko, opposition leaders said.

The authoritarian president has shut down so much of civic life that the opposition has been forced to use tools that are primitive in comparison with those of democratic movements elsewhere. Cell phones, satellite television, the Internet and instant messaging -- all of which played a role in popular uprisings in Ukraine, Lebanon and Georgia -- are too closely monitored by the government to be reliable, opposition figures said. The Belarusan upheaval, if it comes, will be built on printing presses, shoe leather and face-to-face campaigning, they added.

But I thought Reagan ended all of this! {cough}

Fascism has a new fuehrer, and its name is Halliburton

Scott Parkin, a peace protestor who flew to Sydney on a valid visa to protest in front of Halliburton's Sydney corporate offices, was forcefully deported back to the US after doing nothing wrong. Nothing. It isn't illegal to strap a fake pig snout onto your face and criticize a corporation for its greed. At least, it never used to be. I guess dissent is pretty much illegal these days, and no one seems to care, as long as they have enough "reality" crap on their television sets.

US corporatism is a virulent disease threatening to kill what is left of something called human reason. It has attacked all aspects of our precious lives, rendering them meaningless in so many ways. What joy is there in slaving away for some corporation, exhausting one's self so there is only enough energy to go home and sit on the couch for a few mindnumbing hours, force feeding imaginations with scripts that pretend to show what your life could be like if you were better-looking, uglier, thinner, fatter, poorer, richer, smarter, dumber...? Why is it that so many people's goals in their worthless little lives are to make enough $$ to buy things rather than striving to invent something amazing or to solve one of the world's infinite number of problems?

Life is a sweetness too dear to lock up in a prison of oppression, bound by chains of ignorance and silence. You can look at the changing degrees of light in a crisp September sky and ponder the quandaries of living your alloted time on this ever twirling Earth, screaming silently at the brevity of your meager existence and vowing to make the most of it, or you can continue your vapid stare through the window as a commercial break tries to buy your soul. Why waste it? Why not use your little voice to roar out against oppression, make your life worth something? We are still in control of our destinies- we don't have to watch liberty drift away to some desolate island of corporate greed.

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of corporate slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.

HT: In the Outer

Tags: Scott Parkin Halliburton

Sanity in a gop world

Bill Clinton, Beyond the White House

The White House doesn't seem to realize it yet, but we are entering a post-spin era in public life. The shift has long been underway in the business world, propelled by the Enron catastrophe and the collapse of the dot-com bubble. Process, not perception, is king in boardrooms today. After so much corporate malfeasance it all got too dire to put up with fake CEOs anymore.

Now after the Iraq debacle, the ballooning deficit and the aftermath of Katrina, Americans are pining for grounded leaders in public office, too -- leaders who have moral conviction, yes, but also the gnarly, dexterous ability to think things through.

The irony is that no one would have believed that Clinton -- the king of spin, who went out under a cloud of indecency five years ago -- could climb back to such credibility. Monica is fading and he's backlit now by his disciplined handling of the economy, the unsought comparisons of how well FEMA used to perform under his watch and the enlightened nature of his global activism.

A weird reputational exchange has taken place between Clinton and President Bush. After so much dishonest reasoning it's the vaunted "CEO president" who begins to look like the callow, fumbling adolescent. And it's the sexually incontinent, burger-guzzling, late-night-gabbing Bubba who is emerging as a great CEO of America.

March of the Dimwits

March of the Penguins Supporting Intelligent Design Theory

As I already stated in many earlier posts, evangelical wingnuts are cracked out on god, and the Penguin thing is the latest of their completely tripped out walk though fantasyland, but this article compels me to say it again.

If anything, the movie shows Stupid Design, not intelligent. I mean, how do you call the extremely difficult mating and survival conditions "intelligent?" Come on, now, sober up! Get back to reality. It's a documentary about how penguins are struggling due to, among other factors, global warming. It even has a reference in it to evolution and how the penguins have been around for millions of years.

A minilesson: Reason- an underlying fact or cause that provides logical sense for a premise or occurrence.

Intelligent design- impossible to prove. Evolution- has already been proven. Which is the more rational of the two?

Reason- an ancient concept that used facts and causes to provide logical sense for a premise or occurence. Its North American variety is endangered.

Tags: Evolution, Intelligent Design, March of the Penguins

Ludicrous eminent domain b.s.

School's need outweighs bar's operation?

Can Jersey City use its power of eminent domain to force a property owner to sell to a private, Catholic high school?

The question has become more heated since the U.S. Supreme Court's [stupid Court!] controversial June decision reaffirming the government's power to take property as long as the owner is compensated.

The private school wants to take over the bar to put up new athletic fields. The old ones aren't good enough? What the hell is this greedy country coming to?

Price gouging- try the banks

There is no reason that banks need to be charging gas station owners more for credit card use. But, they are.

But we can't cut anything- not even those 6,000 pork projects in the "energy" bill

Martha has a buddy

Senator Sold Stock Before Price Dropped

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, sold all his stock in his family's hospital corporation about two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the price fell nearly 15 percent.

I hope there is a real investigation into this matter. You know, so much of the wealth of the ruling class is from unearned income. The stock market is legal gambling, you know. You put your money on 7 and hope the dice roll the way that makes a profit. All in the name of "growth". Another way to say "growth" is fattening the wallets of the fat-walleted blokes. Or "sprawl" is another way to put it, as in an expanding Walfart means more stores which means more sprawl. It's like neo-Marxism for the business elites- you know conformity, everything looks exactly the same, no matter which burb you are in.

Of course, I am simplifying things, but I get tired of the anti-regulatory mouths out there crying because "their" money is being taken from them and then mumbling something about inciting class warfare every two seconds when you call someone out for cheating. Money gained from stocks is money unearned; it is money gained by gambling. Yes, just as people can be skilled in the art of poker can they be skilled in the art of stocks, but if you lose, you lose. Why do those with so much wealth feel inclined to cheat to get more of what they don't need? (And why can't they ever be happy with what they have?)

Keep in mind, I am not saying I oppose the stock market; it's quite the contrary. I just think those who only have one interest in life, business, need some perspective. Just like cheaters get what's coming to them in gambling, so should insider traders.

A little bit of justice

Even the cons are saying this administration is finished.

...at this stage of the game, barring some imaginative political moves that bear some resemblance to the Bush Administration circa 2002, Republicans on Capitol Hill and even some longtime Bush team members in various Cabinet level departments say this Administration is done for.

(From the conservative American Spectator)

My inner child is rejoicing with harmonious melodies of "We told you so, we told you so!"

Diplomacy can be so cute

Video of the panda cub during his sixth exam. He goes to China in a couple of years. Strange that we lend animals to other countries as a diplomatic gesture. Politik can be so weird.

It was a bright cold day in September, and the clocks were striking thirteen

British Soldiers Clash With Iraqi Police

Heavy clashes erupted Monday between Iraqi police and British soldiers based in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, witnesses said.

The clashes are the latest in surging tensions in Basra, a Shiite-dominated city that had long been one of Iraq's calmest. Attacks have targeted Britons and Americans there.

So, are we fighting against insurgents or against Iraqis? Which is it? Who is the enemy? Is it Oceania or Eastasia?

Where are you, H2O?

WATER COULD BECOME MAJOR CATALYST FOR CONFLICT

It is difficult to imagine not having water, but the shortage is serious in many countries.

Throughout history, access to water has spawned and escalated both domestic and international conflicts. In recent decades, population growth and global warming have both played a major role in raising the demand for and availability of potable water. The US government has predicted that by 2015 almost half of the world’s population will be "stressed" for water. Water -- rather than oil -- could become the world’s next biggest catalyst for conflict.

Good thing global warming is a lie, huh? I am sure the right doesn't "believe in" the fact that

by the year 2015, "nearly half the world’s population -- more than 3 billion people -- will live in countries which are ’water stressed.’" According to the [CIA] report, that means their populations will have less than 1,700 cubic meters each of water per year, generally considered the minimal threshold for acceptable living standards.

Some randomness

Cool:

Ruins of the parliament in Patara, considered the world's first elected government. Its semicircle of seats became a model for the Capitol.

A Congress, Buried in Turkey's Sand:

PATARA, Turkey - Alexander the Great was here, and so was Saint Paul, on his way to Ephesus.

Centuries later, the drafters of the American Constitution took the ancient Lycian League, which was based here, as an early example - in fact, it was history's earliest example - of the form of republican government they envisaged as well.

Gross: McDonald's cheese is made of plastic.

Unlikely to last: T.O. getting married? Does the woman have ANY self respect?

No winner in German election

German coalition struggle begins

Germany's political rivals are making moves to build a coalition - but both main parties claim the right to lead after Sunday's inconclusive election.

There is speculation about a possible "traffic light" coalition - never tried before - between the SPD, Greens and the FDP.

A coalition deal must be reached before 18 October, the deadline for the new parliament to sit and choose a new chancellor. If there is no deal, the only way out would be a fresh election.

No winner gives Schroeder something to cheer about. SPD was down by 20% in polls several weeks ago, but in the end, most people realized they didn't want CDU to lead again. That, and CDU kept making stupid campaign mistakes. An interesting development is the strong showing of the new Left Party, which should show all of those righties who say Liberalism is dead in Europe that they are wrong.

The traffic light coalition is an interesting idea. I doubt it happens. My bet is on new elections next month.

Russia and Oil

The wars of the future will be about oil. Indeed, we have already reached the future in Iraq. What is frightening to think about is how much oil and influence over the oil of others that Russia has.

The Sheikh in the Kremlin

Want to make a former KGB colonel's day? Simple. Climb into your SUV and cruise your city. Turn up your home or store air conditioner on a warmish day. Or choose another way to waste energy. You will bring a smile to Vladimir Putin's face and a bulge to Russia's national wallet.

I thought "Reagan won the Cold War." It's not over, we're just taking a break. Now go fill up your SUVs and drive someplace that would only take you 15 minutes to walk.

Me, me, me!

Our Lost Community

Americans of a certain age like to remember when there was a thing called community. Not community as in such political blocs as the "gay community" or the "Hispanic community," but community as in neighbors who could count on each other in time of trouble.

But it isn't just partisan advantage that erodes community. So does inequality of sacrifice. Franklin Roosevelt might have had a tougher time preparing America for war if he had appeared unseemly eager to help his pals in the armaments and munitions business. (A Halliburton subsidiary that already has been criticized for its reconstruction work in Iraq has landed a fat contract to do repair work at Gulf Coast Navy and Marine facilities damaged by Katrina. 'Tis an ill wind . . .)

Don't blame it all on government, however. Part of our loss of community may be explained by the simple fact that we don't put down deep roots as individuals and families because we don't stay put the way we used to. How many of your friends live in their parents' home towns?

While this is definitely true, what he does not mention is that Americans are more selfish than they were back in the FDR days. It's all about "me, me, me." You have "libertarians" out there trying to disguise their selfishness as an inherent right. You have people out there buying SUVs despite the fact that those gas guzzlers are driving up the prices for the rest of us more responsible folk. Americans have to have "things" they don't need, like breadmakers and gadgets and cheap junk from China. Corporatism is what has destroyed the community, making people think they need crap to keep up with the Jones. The right is always blubbering about the "war on individualism," but they declared war on the community years ago.

The most common reason I heard from people helping the Katrina victims was "I'd want people to do the same if it happened to me." That's not altruism. That's selfishness. Community is dead. Long live community.

Time to fix the system

Flops Are No Fluke in the Annals of Political Payback

Administrations of both political parties have long track records of appointing cronies who are out of their depth to key executive branch positions, only to see them disappoint or fail, sometimes spectacularly. Such patronage is an artifact of the "spoils system" that President Andrew Jackson brought into office in the 1830s, in which government jobs were doled out as rewards for partisan loyalists, regardless of whether they were qualified.

I say political fundraisers should be barred from presidential appointments. Do we really want to risk another Katrina situation?

Just plain dumb:

And so it was that in 2001, Bush nominated as ambassador to France Howard H. Leach, a San Francisco financier who raised $100,000 for Bush's presidential bid but did not speak French. (The French noticed.)

Saudi women to get first taste of polls

From Al-Jazeera:

Saudi Arabian businesswomen will be able to stand for election to a local trade and industry chamber in the first vote of its kind for women in the Kingdom, a top executive has said.

It's a step in the right direction. I wonder, how are they going to get to work if they are elected? They can't drive.

I sure am glad I live in the 21st century rather than the 10th like they do.

A Tale of Two Cities

As I was going to the bank this morning, I saw several ambulances near it. This guy beat a woman today and sent her to the hospital. The thing is, the guy's picture is on the front page of WaPo's Metro section today as part of a story titled The Other Side of Charity's Coin. If you see him, call police. He's too dangerous to be roaming around.

It's been a strange day for me. Vladimir Putin is eating lunch downstairs right now, and Secret Service men are all over the place. They set up a tent so that the car could drop him off and he could enter the building without being seen. They've closed the entire block to traffic. He's an untouchable, the furthest from a homeless nobody. Why is his life more valuable than the beaten homeless woman's? If anything, he's done more harm to the world than she ever will. It'd be nice to run into the bastard with an orange scarf on.

It's a full moon on Saturday, and it's starting to feel like it.

Design your own Lego model

You can design your own model and buy the bricks to make it here.

Penguins are evil

Americablog has a great post about how ridiculous the notion is that March of the Penguins is a Christian movie, which is how the Christian Crackheads view it. Some highlights:

What's truly hilarious is their assertion that emperor penguins represent a lovely example of monogamy. Here's what you actually see/learn in the film:

*Emperor penguins mate once, guard the egg until the baby is hatched and then -- once the season is over -- never see each other or the child again.

*Emperor penguins stand by and don't raise a flipper when their children are attacked by a predator -- one baby penguin is killed and taken away (survival of the fittest, kiddo!), a scene that makes the movie a tad too graphic for young and sensitive children.

*An emperor penguin who loses her egg is seen trying to steal the egg of another.

*Emperor penguins take a different lover every mating season.

I think someone spiked the Communion grape juice.

Bush talked

...but was anyone listening? I only watched a bit of it before growing bored. He said nothing that was surprising. Business blah blah, oil blah blah blah. The video is here.

WaPo was listening.

The main text of President Bush's nationally televised address last night was the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but the clear subtext was the rebuilding of a presidency that is now at its lowest point ever, confronted by huge and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad -- and facing a country divided along partisan and racial lines.

The question is, has he fallen too far for Americans to trust him again? (I mean the fools who did in the first place.) He waited for the polls to come out before talking- did he think he wasn't going to take a hit for his massive failures?

Joel Achenbach has some humorous things to say about it.

Last night, the president sampled so many Democratic riffs he ought to send a royalty check to Ted Kennedy. Bush even mentioned racial discrimination, which the Republicans have long claimed is a myth, like global warming.

Bye, bye, Georgie. America is done with you.

History repeats itself 2

The Bulldog Manifesto has a great post on Andrew Jackson's impeachment. Hint: It has to do with race riots in New Orleans.

Personally, I don't want Bush impeached. I don't want Cheney to be the one to take over. He's far more dangerous.

This is a hoot!

Watch the video of Virginia governor candidates Kaine and Kilgore. Tim Russert, the moderator, gets Kilgore good on his abortion blabber.

Slavery in the USA

Relief workers victims of job mix-up- Would-be humanitarians sent to clean up casino

When Dalton and Tucker of Lawrence and others from the Kansas City area said they wanted to leave Biloxi, they were told there was no transportation for them and if they tried to walk away they risked being shot by National Guardsmen enforcing martial law.

It all began when Dalton, 20, and Tucker, 23, joined with a couple of other friends from St. Charles, Mo., and responded to fliers and postings offering $7.50 per hour for 500 people willing to help with disaster relief cleanup in New Orleans. The postings stated that workers should expect to stay a minimum of six weeks and be willing to work 40-plus hours. Travel would be by bus, and hotels, meals and equipment would be supplied.

On Friday, Sept. 2, Dalton and Tucker found themselves on one of three nonair-conditioned school buses headed south with what they estimated to be about 130 people. There also had been a change of plans. Instead of New Orleans, the buses were going to Biloxi. About 7 a.m., the group was addressed by one of the drill sergeant-like foremen, who said they were to march in a file to the work site, which turned out to be the $800-million Beau Rivage casino, owned by MGM Mirage, where they began clearing debris. During the lunch break, the workers were given bologna sandwiches and a few Oreo cookies, Dalton and Tucker said.

Workers also were told their work days would be up to 16 hours long and then they would be bused to a hotel two hours away, allowed to sleep four hours, and then sent back to work.

Potty break

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005.

I don't know if this is legit, but it was on Yahoo news.

Hollywood's effect on the Vatican

On Wednesday, Pope Benedict greeted Italian exorcists who are currently holding their national convention. No sign of Emily Rose.

Don't get sick!

Workers' Family Coverage Reaches $10,880 Average

Small employers are dropping plans as costs rocket another 9%- even fewer people covered. The pro-business party won't do anything to help small businesses, which are the backbone of this country.

Once again, I am asking Democrats to develop a plan for small businesses, one which includes some help in providing employee health insurance.

Ellen DeGeneris caused Katrina

Robertson's latest idiocy here.

Pat Robertson on Sunday said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s way of expressing its anger at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its selection of Ellen Degeneres to host this year’s Emmy Awards. “By choosing an avowed lesbian for this national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s wrath,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club” on Sunday. “Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”

Robertson also noted that the last time Degeneres hosted the Emmys, in 2001, the September 11 terrorism attacks took place shortly before the ceremony.

Oil is more important than people

Power crews diverted- Restoring pipeline came first

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

Buy these stamps

ALRIGHT EVERYONE, lets do this!!!!!! We need those of you who are great at forwarding information to your e-mail network (and posting to their blogs). Please read and pass this on. It would be wonderful if 2005 were the year a cure for breast cancer was found! This is one e-mail you should be glad to pass on. The notion that we could raise $35 million by buying a book of stamps is powerful!

As you may be aware, the US Postal Service recently released its new "Fund the Cure" stamp to help fund breast cancer research. Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland designed the stamp.
It is important that we take a stand against this disease that affects so many of our mothers, sisters and friends.
Instead of the routine 37 cents for a stamp, this one cost 40 cents. The additional 3 cents will go to breast cancer research.
A "normal" book costs $7.40. This one is only $8.00. It takes a few minutes in line at the Post Office and means so much.
If all stamps are sold, it will raise an additional $35,000,000 for this vital research.

Just as important as the money is our support. What a statement it would make if the stamp outsold the e lottery this week.
What a statement it would make that we care. I would urge you to do two things TODAY:

1. Go out and purchase some of these stamps.

2. E-mail your friends to do the same. We all know women and their families whose lives are turned upside-down by breast cancer.
It takes so little to do so much in this drive. I think we can all afford the additional 60 cents the new book costs.

Please help and pass this on.

HT: Weird Wally

A good idea

A suggestion from a Virginian:

With gasoline prices going through the roof for no real reason, I would like to suggest ways of combating oil companies.

Of course we can slow down and combine our errands to reduce trips. We can also insist that our children ride the school bus where available.

But one of the best ways to fight gasoline prices is for consumers to boycott gas stations' convenience stores. Pay cash where possible; do not use an oil company credit card, because you are paying an even higher price when the interest rate is figured in at the end of every month.

At convenience stores, purchase gasoline only and avoid shopping inside--no cigarettes, sodas, chips, beer, candy, lottery tickets, or any item we can buy at local grocery stores.

Gas stations have a tremendous mark-up on all aforementioned items, and that's where they make 100 percent profits.

By boycotting gas stations' convenience stores, we can force them into competition among themselves and therefore make them lower prices to attract our business.

People don't need that junk anyway.

Farrakhan levee breach blown up nonsense

Farrakhan, shut up.

"I heard from a very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry," Farrakhan said.

Idiot.

Conservative wants Bush impeached

Conservative columnist Paul Craig Roberts is calling for Bush's impeachment. Seriously.

We'll wait until we take back the Senate next year, Mr. Roberts, and then hopefully the Dems and the tolerable Gops will do just that.

EU: Swan Swamp

Flying swans are UK vision of EU
One would think that with the problems the EU is having as an organization, there would be far more important things to discuss rather than the logo of the Presidency. It seems a bit absurd to think about how much time and money was spent on developing it. I can imagine a bunch of Brits sitting around a table and talking about how swans are a metaphor for life. It's a pretty comical image.

The start of the UK's presidency of the EU means the swans on this logo are going to become pretty familiar over the next six months.

"The idea is a metaphor for leadership, teamwork and efficiency, which is particularly appropriate for the EU, given the system of rotating leadership," says Kate Thomson of the Cabinet Office's European Secretariat. "Migrating birds fly in a V formation. This is highly efficient, because all the birds in the formation, except for the leader, are in the slipstream of another bird. Periodically the leading bird drops back and another bird moves up to take its place."

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Grahame Madge, said it was "very appropriate" because migrating birds, such as the Bewick's swan, united Europe.

At least one guy has some sense about it:

But John Williamson of brand consultants Wolff Olins was scathing about what he said was a sugarcoated image of countries "flying in harmony, shoulder to shoulder".

"This presidency is about re-writing the rules of Europe," he said.

"The difficult decisions that have to be made, the tension, the debate - that's what has to be symbolised somehow.

He's right, you know.

What planet has he been on?

From that other Washington paper:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Umm... really, this is one of the most idiotic things that gop leaders have said, and there have been plenty of stupid quotes from these people. Here's a sane gop:

"This is hardly a well-oiled machine," said Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican. "There's a lot of fat to trim. ... I wonder if we've been serving in the same Congress."

Ha, ha.

American Conservative Union Chairman David A. Keene said federal spending already was "spiraling out of control" before Katrina, and conservatives are "increasingly losing faith in the president and the Republican leadership in Congress."

"Excluding (emphasis mine) military and homeland security, American taxpayers have witnessed the largest spending increase under any preceding president and Congress since the Great Depression," he said.

Mr. Keene said annual nonmilitary and non-homeland security spending increased $303 billion between fiscal year 2001 and 2005; the acknowledged federal debt increased more than $2 trillion since fiscal year 2000; and the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill is estimated to increase the government's unfunded obligations by $16 trillion.

Speaking of DeLay, two more of his pals were indicted.

Update: Here's WaPo's story on the indictments.

Uzbekistan- Information Cleansing

From EurasiaNet:

Eyewitnesses present in Andijan’s Babur Square on May 13 say Uzbek security forces unleashed a "military operation" against civilian protesters who had gathered to call for economic and social justice.

Two journalists – Galima Bukharbayeva of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Marcus Bensmann, a German freelance reporter – were present when Uzbek armored vehicles opened fire a little after 5 pm. During testimony given in June before the US Helsinki Commission and elsewhere they said the scene at the square after the shooting began was like that of a "slaughterhouse."

The Uzbek government is engaged in a far-reaching effort to convince domestic and international opinion that the testimony of Bukharbayeva and Bensmann -- along with all the other eyewitness accounts of the Andijan massacre -- are either a big lie or a wild dream. In the months since Andijan, Uzbek authorities have quashed all potential sources of independent information inside the country, and conducted a media campaign designed to portray the Uzbek government not as the perpetrator of an atrocity, but as the victim of a global Islamic radical conspiracy.

At the heart of the Uzbek government’s strategy is an effort to create an alternate reality -- completely at odds with reliable eyewitness accounts. In this alternate reality, the Andijan horrors were perpetrated by a local Islamic militant group called Akromiya, with alleged backing from international radical and terrorist organizations including Hizb-ut-Tahrir and al Qaeda. Tashkent insists the Islamic militants were attempting a coup designed to topple President Islam Karimov’s administration.

You know, Karimov kicked us out of the country. We have no reason to not engage in diplomatic war with this asshole. I hear echoes of the Cold War in this nonsense- we spent most of last century competing with the Soviets, yet we have totally forgotten about this part of the world. Perhaps the gops are so busy spitting out their "Reagan won the Cold War" b.s. that they fail see that many of the former Soviet states have fallen back to their Soviet ways. There is even a glimmer of empire in the eyes of the Russians, who are continually trying to regain their sphere of influence. I, for one, am sick of the "War on Terror(TM) excuse that allows the rulers of these countries to justify any human rights abuse for the sake of "security." I am also sick of Washington types ignoring the plight of these people.

America disapproves of Bush (where were you in November, Common Sense?)

Bush's Approval Rating in ABC-WaPo poll is the lowest of his presidency at 42%. That compares to 38% in the latest Newsweek poll and 36% in the Gallop-Ipsos poll. 57% disapprove of Bush, a significant majority of Americans. Even Republicans are waking up:

The president's overall approval rating among Republicans has declined from 91 percent in January to 78 percent in the latest poll.

In related news, Limbarf's vile mouth is wrong again...

The Democrats... were dancing on the graves of the dead in New Orleans. They were celebrating, they were happy.

No, Limbarf, the left is not rejoicing at the destruction, you asshole. We have been saying all along that Bush is an incompetent, bumbling idiot, and he has proven it in his appointment of a horse show director to run an agency responsible for disaster response. He says, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job to a guy who is forced to resign a week later due to incompetence. Bush has proven it in his refusal to skip the birthday party and respond immediately to the destruction. He says, "Nobody could have foreseen a break in the levees," when countless reports published over the last several years said exactly that. Bush, why were the helicopters that were actually available dropping sandbags to try to prevent a levee breach before they broke?

Limbarf, if you can't discern the difference between criticizing a guy for his failures and a celebration, you have a real problem. In addition, if you think that finding a silver lining in a huge disaster, that being the exposure of poverty and racism in this country, is rejoicing, then you should probably lay off the happy pills. Limbarf, Americans don't agree with you. The proof is in the numbers.

By the way, Bush had a "sense of relaxation" after the hurricane hit, and there were no identifiable shortcomings! Plus, he did not know that Brown had resigned until reporters told him. How the hell does anyone trust this guy to run the country? What's wrong with you approx. 40% of Americans?

Blinky in the Bayou

"With what's in there, we'll probably be catching fish with three eyes and a tail."

A Painful Reality for Returnees
I hope some money will be spent on environmental cleanup down there, since fishing is a way of life for so many people in the Gulf. Apart from the obvious property destruction, there are other not-so-visible aspects of life that have been and will be affected for a long time to come.

Where are our priorities?

Katrina Pushes Issues of Race and Poverty at Bush

$72,812,416,000. That is the total amount appropriated for education in this country this year.

$401,700,000,000 That is the discretionary budget for defense in this country this year.

Imagine for a second what schools could do with $400 billion. Even if we spent half as much on education as we do on war, we could pull a lot of people out of the vicious cycle of poverty. Imagine if teaching was a high paying position, and only highly qualified individuals were instructing children how to think. Imagine if the salaries of administrators were lower, and the money saved could be spent on books and computers. What if we stopped spending the money on new football uniforms and started taking field trips? Why is the United States consistently ranked near the bottom of quality of education in the industrialized world?

Teach a man to fish...

Lobbyist gets a conscience

Katrina Leads a Lobbyist to Reevaluate His Priorities

Frederick L. Webber, a longtime denizen of Washington's lobbying corridor, showed up at work one day last week and found on his desk a dozen fundraising requests from members of Congress.

He threw them all in the trash.

In a self-described epiphany, Webber, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, drafted a large check to help families displaced by Hurricane Katrina and decided that an imperative of his vocation -- political giving -- had finally gone too far.

How could lawmakers be asking for money for their reelections, he asked himself, when thousands of Americans were desperate for aid along the Gulf Coast?

I hope there are more to follow. Only when we break this pernicious cycle of political perversion that swirls inside the Beltway will Americans learn to trust their government again.

Bush's f**king war

Mississippi guardsmen in Iraq refused leave time

BAGHDAD - Scores of Mississippi National Guardsmen in Iraq who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina have been refused even 15-day leaves to aid their displaced families, told by commanders there are too few U.S. troops in Iraq to spare them, according to guardsmen.

About 600 members of the Mississippi Guard's 155th Brigade Combat Team, posted south of Baghdad, live in the parts of southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana hit hardest by Katrina, Maj. Neil F. Murphy Jr., a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, said by e-mail Saturday. The brigade is attached to the expeditionary force.

Guard members and relatives said in e-mails or telephone interviews that virtually all of the roughly 300 soldiers of the 155th Brigade's B and C companies had their homes destroyed or severely damaged in the hurricane. Eighty Mississippi Guard members have been granted emergency leave, Murphy said. The rest have been refused leave, told by their brigade command that all other forward operating bases "are tapped out and cannot send troops," one Mississippi Guard member wrote in an e-mail that was shared by a family member.

When are we going to start taking care of our own citizens? Can you imagine coming back from a pointless war and having no home to return to?

Newsweek poll shows 38% approval rating

A Newsweek poll shows a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with Bush

In Katrina’s wake, the president’s popularity and job-approval ratings have dropped across the board. Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is doing his job overall, a record-low for this president in the NEWSWEEK poll. (Fifty-five percent of Americans disapprove of his overall job performance.) And only 28 percent of Americans say they are “satisfied with the way things are going” in the country, down from 36 percent in August and 46 percent in December, after the president’s re-election. This is another record low and two points below the satisfaction level recorded immediately after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal came to light. Fully two-thirds of Americans are not satisfied with the direction of the country.

Riots in Belfast

How long? How long must we sing this song?

A mob of around 700 people have taken to the streets of Belfast in a new wave of loyalist rioting, police said.

Ireland, both parts of it, is a place near to my heart. I spent time there working with grassroots politicians and community leaders from both sides of the conflict. I was fresh out of college and still full of that youthful idealism that comes with a good education, and everything I saw there gave me hope for the world. I saw women forgiving men who had been responsible for the deaths of their sons. I saw once bitter enemies singing drinking songs over countless pints of Guinness in the pubs of Dublin. I saw many tears, but what I saw most was hope for the future.

A couple of years earlier, I had been in Belfast when the peace treaty was signed. As I was walking around the empty streets on Easter Sunday, the silence that leaked from the closed shops and restaurants was oddly comforting, as if it were a reflection of better times to come.

The times have been mostly good. I hope this is just a case of indigestion on the island. As Colcom says, the orange they are waving in the streets is the color of terror. May the hatemongers burn in hell.

Senate OKs Restrictions on Cold Medicines

How come the only time we get bipartisan cooperation is when they decide to draft some asinine bill like making it difficult to buy cough medicine? This is going to make it easier to get meth than medicine for a cold. Ludicrous.

Sales of over-the-counter cold remedies used to make methamphetamine would be restricted under a measure approved by the Senate on Friday.

The bill would require stores to sell Sudafed, Nyquil and other medicines only from behind the pharmacy counter.

Consumers would have to show a photo ID, sign a log, and be limited to 7.5 grams — or about 250 30-milligram pills — in a 30-day period. Computer tracking would prevent customers from exceeding the limit at other stores, according to the bipartisan bill.

Here's a clue- Why not use those resources the feds waste on arresting harmless potheads on solving the problem of a drug that is actually harmful and deadly? If they spent half as much time looking for meth dealers as they do busting college students for pot, we wouldn't need absurd restrictions on buying the sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine.