Lester Barry Speaks Out

November is National Novel Writing Month. I am participating in NaNoWriMo, a monthlong writing contest in which we must write 50K words by November 30. My story is called "Lester Barry Speaks Out." The story is about Lester Barry, a senior in a very fundamentalist Christian high school in a very fundamentalist Christian town. If you are a fundamentalist Christian, you may not like this story, for it makes fun of the excesses of the people whom I like to call "Christian crackheads." They are so cracked out on God that they have no sense of rationality, much like a drug addict, hence the term "crackhead." Now, mind you, this is not an anti-Christian story. In fact, it may turn out to be very spiritual. Who knows where the characters will take us?

Lester rebels against the stringent social restraints placed on him, taking some friends with him and losing some in the process. It is a story of awakening, loyalty, betrayal, and identity formation.

I am posting my story over at Daedalus' Notebook. If you have some time, I would appreciate some comments, critiques, criticisms, and whatever else you would like to say.

Stand up!

As I look out my office window at the police cars, news crews, and gawkers below, I think about the hoopla that has surrounded the death of Rosa Parks. I watched as they brought her body to the church around the corner from where I work with busloads of people following her, and I can hear a choir singing in the church, whose back I can see from my desk.

When I contemplate the meaning of this woman's life and the events taking place in DC today, I recall reading the stories about her in primary school. I never really understood the significance of her action as a child. I suppose that is because I couldn't fathom a world where people were legally kicked out of their bus seats because of their race. Rosa Parks did that. She gave me and all future generations the luxury of never knowing such legal bigotry. She isn't just a figure in a text book, she was a real person, and what she did ended one of the most heinous and shameful chapters of American history and in world history. (Al Sharpton is speaking now, I can nearly hear every word from his boisterous voice.)

As us human beings struggle to promote and protect human rights on this lonely, single planet we all must share, Rosa Parks is a shining example of what us common folk can do to change the world. She was the spark that set the flame. Those of us who sit complacently while continuing to let human rights abuses go on are the ones who should be sitting in the back of the bus. We need to be out there condemning the hatred of the Moldy Footballs folks, those wingnuts who would sit comfortably while legal discrimination went on and who advocate the death of entire ethnic groups. It is only when the last shred of bigotry and hatred are wiped from the face of this small globe that we will be truly free.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History

More here.

Scalito's Way

Bush Selects Alito for Supreme Court

President Bush today named appeals court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito, 55, serves on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where his record on abortion rights and church-state issues has been widely applauded by conservatives and criticized by liberals.

Sounds like were heading for a bitter fight.

Remember these? Planned Parenthood vs Casey, ACLU vs Schundler

Mind your Qs and Ws

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court fined 20 people for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish new year celebration, under a law banning characters not used in the Turkish alphabet, rights campaigners said Tuesday.

The court in the southeastern city of Siirt fined each of the 20 people 100 new lira for holding up the placards, written in Kurdish, at the event last year. The letters Q and W do not exist in the Turkish alphabet, but are used in Kurdish.

Under pressure from the European Union, Turkey lifted bans on teaching and broadcasting in Kurdish in 2002, but bureaucratic resistance has delayed implementing the reforms. State television and radio began limited broadcasts in Kurdish last year, but local television channels have yet to receive permission to start programs in Kurdish.

The 1928 Law on the Adoption and Application of Turkish Letters changed the Turkish alphabet from the Arabic script to a modified Latin script and required all signs, advertising, newspapers and official documents to only use Turkish letters.

Many shops and companies in Turkey have names, signs and advertising using the letters Q, W and X which are not used in Turkish, in apparent violation of the 1928 law, but have not been prosecuted.

Well, that's a bit of creative oppression for you. Pressure from the EU to actually respect human rights? Enforce archaic laws as a means to continue to oppress your minority groups in your country!

W is a bad letter anyway.

Stupid design

School board member didn't investigate "intelligent design"

Heather Geesey, a Dover Area School Board member, said she came to believe intelligent design was a scientific theory based on the recommendations of Alan Bonsell and William Buckingham- both members of the board's curriculum committee.

"They said it was a scientific thing," said Geesey, who added that "it wasn't my job" to learn more about intelligent design because she didn't serve on the curriculum committee.

Apparently, there was no intelligence involved in the creation of her. She hasn't quite evolved, either.

Where is the common sense?

Q: If it is illegal to sell beer to minors, then why would a company market a beer to minors?

A: It doesn't market the beer to minors, stupid state of Connecticut.


Connecticut Wants to Ban Beer With Elf Label

A constitutional battle is brewing over a holiday beer that state officials are trying to ban because they say its label might entice children to drink.

The nanny state strikes again. The evil ACLU is on the case, because, you know, they're commies who don't believe in free speech.

Please buy Seriously Bad Elf if you see it to support freedom. (A beer that is 9.0% alcohol can't be bad.)

Fun with legal reform

From the Smoking Gun:

Lenny Kravitz's leaky toilet has sprung another lawsuit. The rocker is being sued, for the second time, in connection with an overflow incident last August in his swanky Manhattan penthouse. In a New York State Supreme Court complaint filed Monday, Allstate Insurance contends that Kravitz owes it $9387, the amount the firm paid to policyholder Daniel Pelson for damage to his 4164 square-foot, third-floor loft (purchased in 2001 for about $2.5 million, Pelson's apartment sits a few floors below the star's Soho penthouse). Allstate charges that Kravitz is guilty of "negligence and carelessness" for allowing the loo to become "blocked, clogged, and congested." Last October, the Kravitz commode triggered a lawsuit by an insurer that paid a $333,849 water damage claim from businessman Joel Disend, whose fourth-floor apartment is directly above Pelson's pad. That six-figure complaint is pending.

What did we hear last year during the campaigns about legal reform? It was all tortreform, tortreform, tortreform, triallawyers very bad, John Edwards ambulance chaser, tortreform, tortreform. These "tortreform" efforts were spearheaded by the [organization I technically work for that is the largest business lobby in the country] and by the Bushie cronies who are trying to institute a corporatocracy in this country. Yet, where is the outrage at corporate lawsuits like this one? These people don't want to give citizens the right to sue corporations for faulty products and negligence, but corporations are allowed to sue citizens for overflowing toilets? Come on.

The [organization I technically work for that is the largest business lobby in the country] has partial ownership in a newspaper on tortreform in Illinois that you can read at wwwdotmadisonrecorddotcom. The [organization I technically work for that is the largest business lobby in the country] does not have its name anywhere on the paper. See this for more info.

Yes, we need serious legal reform in this country. One only has to look at the Stella Awards for evidence. But! Legal reform must not benefit only one side or the other. Allstate is suing Kravitz for an overflowing toilet. That is as ridiculous as it would be for Kravitz to sue the manufacturer of the toilet for its overflow.

Merry Fitzmas everyone!

A Fitzmas thought...



God bless us, everyone.

A revealing poll

Poll shows Iraqis back attacks on UK, US forces

LONDON (Reuters) - Forty-five percent of Iraqis believe attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, according to a secret poll said to have been commissioned by British defense leaders and cited by The Sunday Telegraph.

Less than 1 percent of those polled believed that the forces were responsible for any improvement in security, according to poll figures.

Eighty-two percent of those polled said they were "strongly opposed" to the presence of the troops.

The paper said the poll, conducted in August by an Iraqi university research team, was commissioned by the Ministry of Defense.

Britain has more than 8,000 troops stationed in the south of Iraq, and has had 97 soldiers killed, the most recent the victim of a roadside bomb on Tuesday night.

Nearly half say the violence is justified against us, yet we will "stay the course." Doesn't this administration say this war is for "democracy" in Iraq? I know the rationale has changed so many times that it's difficult to keep track, but I have this vague recollection of purple fingers and ballot boxes. If that's the case, why aren't the people, of whom an overwhelming majority want us out, getting their wishes?

Democracy- from the Greek "demos" meaning "people" and "cracy" meaning "on crack." At least, that's the way the bushies act around it.

HT: Zach

Bye, Harriet!

The only thing I'll miss about Harriet Miers is her blog. (snicker)

At least we have Fitzgerald's blog for another few days.

No smoking here, comrade

Let me state for the record that I am not a smoker. I can't stand smoking. It stinks. It makes me cough. And it leaves my clothes smelling long after I've left a smoke-filled room. But- banning smoking in bars is just wrong. If a bar owner wants to allow his customers to smoke, he should be allowed to let them smoke. The government should have no say in this matter.

D.C. Panel Approves Smoking Ban

Oh, I'm so excited for Fitzmas, I can hardly wait!

Twas the night before Fitzmas, and in the White House
Every one was scared shitless, and Bush was quite soused
The indictments were hanging like Damoceles' sword
As verminous oxen prepared to be gored

The perps were all sleepless, curled fetal in bed
While visions of prison cells loomed in each head
And Dick in his jammies, and George in his lap
Were sweating and swearing and looking like crap

When out on the web there arose such a clatter
The blogs and the forums were buzzing with chatter
Away to the PC Rove ran like a flash
He booted his browser and cleared out his cache

The rumors that flew through the cold autumn air
Made Dubya shiver with angry despair
When what to his horror-filled eyes did he spy?
A bespectacled man with a brown suit and tie!

With an impartial manner that gave Bush the shits
He knew in a moment it must be St. Fitz!
With unwavering voice, his indictments they came
He cleared out his throat and he called them by name:

Now Scooter, Now Libby,
Now Blossoming Turd,
Now Cheney, dear Cheney,
Yes, you are the third
To the bench of the court
Up the steps, down the hall
Now come along, come along,
Come along, all!

He then became silent, and went right to work
He filed the indictments and turned with a jerk
And pointing his finger at justice's scale
Said, "The people be served, and let fairness prevail."

He then left the room, to his team gave a nod
And the sound could be heard of a crumbling facade
And we all did exclaim, as he faded from sight
"Merry Fitzmas to all, and to all a good night!"

- © 2005 Daryl W (t3poh)

Big Brother Watch

U.S. Passports to Receive Electronic Identification Chips

Technology experts have said that the data on the chips, which will be read at a short distance by electronic devices in a passport-control booth, could be electronically intercepted and potentially misused.

Some privacy groups also fear that the chips could be a prelude to tracking individuals' movements.

Other security experts said the system is not robust enough, noting that digital photographs can have high error rates compared with actual faces. These experts said the system should instead use a biometric identifier such as fingerprints.

I'm glad I renewed mine last year so I still have nine years of freedom from being tracked in my every move.

Where have all the flowers gone?

2,000th Death Marked by Silence and a Vow

Mr. President, how do you sleep at night? Two thousand, sickening silence for those who've died for a lie, the deadly steel still hot as the ground goes cold around them. Wartorn flags, covered with the guilty blood of a nation, drape the shoulders of those who elected you, God rest their consciences. The Earth rattles, a firestorm rages through the desert sky, and mortality reigns over fragile young bodies, all like some morbid game with no discernable consequences to you. But you are dead wrong; there are grave consequences. You are not God. Life is not your toy, Mr. President. Life is not something you can replace when you break it.

Oh, boy... here we go!

Lawyers see charges this week in CIA-leak case

Who will it be? I wonder what the odds are.

Turdblossom?
Scooter?
Dick?
Some little nobody who will be used as a scapegoat?

Can you see me smiling through your screen?

Sox win, go up two games to zero

Podsednik hits game winning HR.

And the best part about this guy? Elevation plays when he comes up to bat. ;)

Americans are humans, too!

Quake Aid Helps U.S. Alter Image in Pakistan

"Obviously, this is the other side of the United States," said Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Shujabadi, a prominent religious scholar in the port city of Karachi. "For the first time in so many years I have seen the American planes dropping relief and not bombs on the Muslim population."

Oh yeah? What about the tsunami?

It's nice that we get to play the role of the good guys for once. It gets old being the bad guy all the time.

A victory for human equality

Bias Ruled in Law On Same-Sex Rape

The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday struck down a state law that penalized same-sex statutory rapes by 18-year-olds much more harshly than heterosexual cases, ruling that the law unconstitutionally discriminated against gays.

And this happened in Kansas?

The Last Night on Earth

It's Friday night. It's cold. It's raining. I feel physically sick and am staying in this evening. My neighbor is gone for the week, and the house on the other side of me is empty for another couple of weeks, so I can blast U2 at deafening levels, unconcerned that my already sufficient level of hearing loss (thanks to being a member of the Walkman generation) took another hit over the past two nights. It's ok. The only thing I need my hearing for is U2, and by the time the hearing is completely gone, the band will be retired or beyond.

I'm suffering from a severe bout of writer's block, or perhaps worse: thinker's block. I don't know if it's U2 on the brain or what, but I have plenty of projects I need to be working on, and nothing is coming out. See, the problem is that I have since birth wanted to be a writer of fiction. I'm nearly there- about 30-40 pages short of a novel. The biggest issue is that I can't fill in the middle. One of the main characters, I have come to realize, is me and not some fiction, and writing stopped once I came to that realization.

I opened up some old travel journals to try to get to know myself. Oh, it is great fun to relive those moments trekking through Europe without a care in the world, as free as a person can ever be in life! I was reading about the time I traveled from Prague to Krakow on an overnight train, getting absolutely no sleep because a group of Japanese tourists got drunk in the next cabin and were extremely obnoxious all night, and because I have problems sleeping on all modes of transportation.

I ended up taking a nap in a park in Krakow along the river because our hotel rooms weren't ready at 7am. When I woke, I walked the river's edge as the sun scintillated across the calm of the water's flow. I just wanted to see what was around the bend, but the bend kept bending as I kept walking. I was about to turn back when, what's this? I had to explore a picture of serenity that passed before my eyes. As I was looking through a large grassy yard at a church, I noticed a bunch of men in white robes who were running and came to the conclusion that I was standing at a seminary and these guys were late to class. Further down, I saw the corpse of an old church, no doubt the victim of a murderous Soviet regime. I tried to go up to the church, but large fences kept me out. I left the yard and walked through a residential area and was saddened by the obvious economic problems of a crumpled nation. I felt at the time as if something had called me to this area for a reason, though I never found out what that reason was.

The next day I went to Auschwitz, and the irony of the beautiful blue day was not lost on me. That was six years ago, but it feels like a lifetime.

Bill wanted to take a guided tour. Guided tours are disgusting at a place such as this; I'm glad we didn't take one. At the entrance to the camp were the infamous words "Arbeit Macht Frei." Bill chose to clear the phlegm from his throat about this point, leaving a large puddle of mucus on the ground. Long live America. Disgusting... The horrors woke up within me upon seeing the same sight that was the last sight from outside the camp's barbed wire that most Auschwitz Jews ever saw. The experience was frightening as I searched for an emotion within the same ballpark that could imitate what those brought here felt as they awaited their dooms. It proved to be impossible for me as life's ironic sunshine tanned my skin and birds provided sweet music, perhaps as a part of a calming peace that seemed to hang over the green pastures of the cemetery for the living. The picturesque mountains and the breezy trees took my sense of historical reality time and time again, but I only had to step into a bunk room in solitude to remind myself that the tales I had heard so many times had actually happened. The most telling and fascinating remnant of the ordeal was a painting on the ceiling by an unknown artist. "Koenigsgraben" was its title. It will forever remain in my mind as strong and vibrant as it did the first time I saw it. The most important lesson I received from the visit was the realization that the more I know, the less I understand. Perhaps it's not meant to be understood. But the sheer existence of such an idea is enough to make me wish I hadn't the capacity to contemplate it.

I was so much smarter then than now.

Perspective- it gets lost sometimes in the pettiness of quotidian existence. The last night on Earth- perhaps we all should live like it is.

On maps and gops

Arctic Map Vanishes, and Oil Area Expands

Maps matter. They chronicle the struggles of empires and zoning boards. They chart political compromise. So it was natural for Republican Congressional aides, doing due diligence for what may be the last battle in the fight over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to ask for the legally binding 1978 map of the refuge and its coastal plain.

It was gone. No map, no copies, no digitized version.

The wall-size 1:250,000-scale map delineated the tundra in the biggest national land-use controversy of the last quarter-century, an area that environmentalists call America's Serengeti and that oil enthusiasts see as America's Oman.

The map had been stored behind a filing cabinet in a locked room in Arlington, Va. Late in 2002, it was there. In early 2003, it disappeared. There are just a few reflection-flecked photographs to remember it by.

These people will stop at nothing for $$$. They will circumvent any law, any moral, any ethic to line their pockets. If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Arctic Refuge, but no oil execs are around, does it still make a sound?

I fought a homeless guy today- and won

Yes, it is true. You see, it all began around 6pm. I went to the U2 concert extremely early because I was afraid that the tickets I got from Craig's List were fake. I had the same feeling yesterday, but this one was far worse. The show didn't even begin until 7:30, and I knew U2 wouldn't come on stage until 9pm, so if there was a problem, at least I'd know early and could do something about it, right?

Well, turns out my feeling was right. My tickets were fakes. Now, usually here's the point where I freak out when something goes wrong, but see, this is U2, and somehow everything always works out when it comes to them. At least it had until this point. I hopped back on the Metro to go home, wondering how I was going to get a ticket with only $15 in my pocket and none in my bank account until payday next week. On the train, I thought perhaps I would write a bum check at the grocery for a couple hundred and pay the bank fee when it bounced. Then in desperation, I contacted a friend to borrow $150, which she graciously lent me. I drove over to pick up the money and then drove back to the MCI Center and paid $20 to park. I didn't have time to search for a parking space, or so I thought, so I just went into the garage. So I'm down to $145 for a ticket.

Now, I've purchased tickets from scalpers many, many times, including U2 shows, so I thought this would be no problem. Apparently, so did everyone else, because after wandering around the outside of the MCI Center for an hour and a half looking for a ticket, I could hear the opening chords of City of Blinding Lights. Shit! They're on stage! What few tickets there were available from scalpers were going for $300, and no one would take my $145.

I thought I was going to cry, as there is nothing in the world I'd rather do than go to a U2 show. Nothing. When I say nothing, I am dead serious. NOTHING. Still, I didn't give up hope, and I kept circling. I honestly contemplated snatching tickets from someone's hand and running. I'm pretty fast, so I could have gotten away with it, but my damn morals got in the way. Next, I tried bribing a guard at one of the doors. He accepted, but as he was letting me in, a supervisor caught him and asked him what he was doing. I still had the fake, so he wasn't going to get fired because she thought I was just trying to enter through the wrong door.

At this point, I had missed City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, and Elevation. I decided to try my luck with bribing on the other side of the Center. No luck with the guard. He was kind of an ass when I showed him the money. I guess he didn't need my $100. Out of Control was playing, and we had a decent view of the stage from outside, and when Bono crossed we could see him, and we could hear him, so I thought I was going to be stuck there for the night. However, a guy on the inside kept going to the door and looking out. I didn't understand what he was doing, but then I found out he had an extra ticket! He was looking for someone to give it to.

He showed it to me through the window. It's face value was $163. I did not have the money, and a group of worthless homeless jerks who were obviously wanting to make some crack money swarmed the door when he opened it. I asked him how much he wanted for it and told him I only had $145. The homeless jerks had wads of cash from scalping earlier and were trying to get the ticket as well. Then the guy points to me, and I try to get up to the door to hear what he wants for the ticket. He says I can have it. I can HAVE it. No charge. Zero. I guess I just didn't comprehend, because I was a little slow in grabbing it from him. One of the crackheads did instead.

I was not going to have it. I attacked the guy. I grabbed his arms and kept at it until he finally said here, take it. Then as I looked up at the guy and thanked him. I began to run to the front of the center so I could go inside. The homeless guy was just like, "aren't you going to give me anything for it?" Jerk.

The high I felt as I entered the arena to the beginning of Beautiful Day was indescribable. It never went away, as the set list and the music was kick ass tonight, much, much better than the disappoint from last night. I still feel the high now, nearly two hours later. They ended with an amazing, breathtaking Bad, the best I'd ever heard the song, which is already unbelievable live. Oh, wow, I still am blown away.

Thank you, Jamie Lenieux, for the ticket. I can't say it enough.

Politics is Poop

Big Piece of Poop Withdraws from Mayoral Race

VICTORIA, British Columbia -- Mr. Floatie, a community activist who dresses up in a feces costume to decry the pumping of raw sewage into the waters off British Columbia's capital, has withdrawn his name as a candidate for mayor.

Those crazy Canucks! How dare they make a mockery of politics!

Apocalypse Now!

Katrina, other disasters fuel doomsday predictions

It’s been 10 months of epic disaster. First there was the tsunami that killed some 250,000 people in Southeast Asia. Then came Hurricane Katrina with its devastating toll on the Gulf Coast, followed by an earthquake that took tens of thousands of lives in South Asia. Now, Hurricane Wilma, one of the most powerful storms ever measured in the Atlantic Basin, is stalking the Florida coast, and experts are warning of a deadly avian flu pandemic.

Today's Rapture Index reading: 159.

What are we supposed to do for the apocalypse- stock up on canned goods? Run and get your duct tape now! Cough, cough, snicker...

Tom DeLay's mug shot

No, really, it's the real thing. The Smoking Gun has the scoop.

What kind of ass do you have to be to grin like this for your mug shot?

"It's your song now"

Says Bono while playing in DC tonight. He's giving us Americans "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" because the Irish don't need it anymore; the IRA has disarmed, and the Irish have for the most part put their war behind them, God willing.

How long must we sing this song?

Bono for President

Bush, Bono Lunch At White House

"They had a very good discussion about some of our common priorities," McClellan said. "Both share a deep commitment to combating AIDS, preventing malaria and expanding trade to lift people out of poverty."

They put this in their entertainment section. Why? Are AIDS, poverty, and malaria of entertainment value?

I am pumped for the show tonight! Uno, dos, tres, catorce!

A brief documentary on Bush's Speechalist. Watch it, it's funny.

Thinking of the future already?

Hillary Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500-0030

Pirro hits up Clinton for money to battle Clinton

In an Aug. 19 fundraising letter, Jeanine Pirro told potential supporters of her race to unseat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, "I cannot win without your support." Pirro sent one of those appeals to Hillary Clinton [at the White House address.]

The Pirro letter came to light just three days after the Westchester County district attorney reported raising $438,555 for the three-month period ending Sept. 30 in her bid for the GOP nomination to challenge Clinton's 2006 re-election effort. Clinton reported raising $5.3 million.

"No wonder Ms. Pirro raised so little money," quipped Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson on Monday.

Oops! Looks like they should update the campaign address book.

ADD Nation

The Gift of ADHD

Studies suggest that many of the traits kids with ADHD exhibit can be expressions of deeper gifts: powerful imagination, searching insight and unusual intuition.

I know that if I were growing up in this day and age, I'd be on ritalin. I was constantly getting in trouble for talking and messing around in class. Back then, school psychologists and administrators had some sense. They knew when kids were bored and often recommend students skip a grade to combat the "problem." They didn't seek to deprive kids of their creativity by feeding them chemicals.

Today, we think we can cure all of life's problems with pills, thanks to pharmaceutical companies constantly telling us that we can. Every time I have seen that Lunesta commercial during the baseball games this week, I am disgusted by the part implying that if your life is stressing you out, you should just take a pill and sleep it away. Forget about changing your lifestyle or addressing the problems that are preventing you from sleeping!

We are creating a generation of zombies by curing children of creativity and imagination. God, just think of all that would be lost had Ritalin been around throughout history. Our lives would be as dull as those of people who sit around watching reality television shows every night.

Important Safety Information: Lunesta should only be taken immediately before bedtime. Be sure you have at least eight hours to devote to sleep before becoming active. You should not engage in any activity after taking Lunesta that requires complete alertness, such as driving a car or operating machinery. You should use extreme care when engaging in these activities the morning after taking Lunesta. Do not use alcohol while taking any sleep medicine. Most sleep medicines carry some risk of dependency. Do not use sleep medicines for extended periods without first talking to your doctor. Side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, drowsiness and dizziness. For more information, please see important product information.

Just a thought on terrorism

Disclaimer: Simply a thought on terrorism, nothing too serious, definitely not something academic. Just a thought.

Terrorism is everywhere, and it has been for a long time. It has taken its place in many different societies, cultures, and religions. What is it, really? How is it different from war? Is it because in war there are uniforms and weapons produced by corporate interests? F-16s and bombs are legitimate, and rocks and suicide bombers are not? What if Hamas was able to purchase some MiGs and bombed Tel Aviv under the name “Palestinian Army?” What if an Israeli boy blew himself up in a crowded market in Ramallah? Would we change our definitions of terrorism? Is it not like when we call a war a “revolution” if the rebels win and a “civil war” if they lose? So, if we don’t like the rebels, we call them terrorists?

Modern terrorism is the byproduct of revolutions. After the French Revolution, whose ideas form the basis of American democracy, France experienced the “Reign of Terror,’ in which the rebels executed all of the nobility it could find, plus some others. This was all in the name of “Liberté, égalité, et fraternité.” The Reign of Terror was so awful that Napoleon was able to rise to power from its chaos. Dictatorship overcame France as Napoleon tried to take over the world. Some liberty, equality, and fraternity.

The next great revolution was the Bolshevik endeavor, more than a century after the French. That revolution was enshrouded in terrorism, both before and after it. The turn of the century was marked by rebellion against morality itself, as Russian Nihilism spread across Europe and to the United States. It was not communism that made murder cool; it was simply the social constraints place on individuals by the ruling class who used morality to restrict the thoughts and actions of its subjects. The youth finally became sick of this moral imposition and began killing for pleasure. The Russian tsar, the King of Italy, the Empress of Spain, and William McKinley, US President, were all murdered by nihilists, and attempts were made to assassinate the German and Austrian emperors. There were assassinations of diplomats and government officials all over the world until finally one fateful June day in 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Serbia, which began the horrific slaughter of men that we call World War One, “The Great War,” “The War to End All Wars,” except it was neither great nor did it end all wars; it only set the stage for the bloodiest war in the history of humanity (or lack thereof), the war against fascism, the war against genocide, the war that killed millions of people. By then we had Communism and Stalin, the byproduct of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The last of the three great modern revolutions was the Islamic Revolution, currently underway. You see, revolutions don’t occur in one year- it takes many years. The French revolution had to suffer through Napoleon and his heirs before it was successful. The Bolsheviks, though never successful in implementing a truly communist state, succeeded in ridding Russia of its tsars, the main reason the revolution happened in the first place, but they had to suffer through decades of dictatorship. The Islamic revolution was also based on ideas of equality. The Pavlah Shah was a pompous asshole supported by the US who treated his people like shit. The people got sick of him and overthrew him in the name of equality. They have yet to get it, but the Revolution is far from over.

Three revolutions, all in the name of Equality. Men have treated each other like animals since the first dawn, and enlightened men have strived toward equality of all men for millennia. Jesus of Nazareth preached about equality, too. He was killed for it. Here we have a repetitive theme in history. Men slaughter each other because some have more than others and everyone wants what the other has. You can call it war, you can call it terrorism- it’s all horrific violence and stupid.

Kaine verses Kilgore: ads no comparison

From the campaign ads for the Governor of Virginia, you'd think that Jerry Kilgore was as mean-spirited and unconscionable as Karl Rove. Not even for Hitler? I've seen the anti-death penalty commercials. There are several reasons I have a problem with the Hitler commercial. The first is the obvious reference to making Tim Kaine seem worse than Hitler for opposing killing as a punishment for killing. The second one is expecting him to make exceptions to his moral belief that the death penalty is wrong. So, he doesn't believe in the death penalty, but he's supposed to make exceptions to it based on popular opinion? Do these people even know what principles are? You don't "believe" something only part of the time.

What makes people so ignorant as to believe that the death penalty is justice? The death penalty is REVENGE, pure and simple. Revenge is not justice. Killing someone to show that killing is wrong is absurd. Most of you death penalty folks are the ones who are bitching about taking down Ten Commandments displays in courthouses. What part of "Thou shalt not kill" don't you understand? It doesn't say, "Thou shalt not kill except..." You are not Christians. Real Christians don't pick and choose what parts of the Bible to believe. Is Virginia a state full of hypocrites? Only an election will tell.

Kaine's response ads are pretty good. He simply says that he will uphold the death penalty because it's the law. Have we lost faith in the rule of law? Kilgore's campaign must believe the populous is so stupid as to think that the Governor makes laws. People who don't understand the separation of powers shouldn't vote, because they obviously have no clue what they are voting for.

I don't feel sorry for that woman in the ad whose husband was murdered. She is using his death for political gain. I don't feel sorry for that guy who lost his son and is doing the same. These ads are offensive and appalling. Virginians would be foolish to vote for Kilgore, who apparently has fewer scruples than anyone had realized.

Rummy goes to the land of the next "enemy"

Rumsfeld to Make Official Visit to Beijing Maybe he can sell them chemical weapons so we can go to war with them decades later.

Bird flu and beyond

Near the end of my time in Basic Training, we had a 10K road march that began a three day field exercise, complete with war games and camping and no sleep. I had been feeling pretty lousy for a couple of days, but when I woke up at 4am that day, I was so weak and feverish that I felt like I was going to pass out while I was dressing. I was determined to go on despite my illness, because graduation from Basic was less than two weeks away, and I sure as hell didn’t want to stay any longer.

Before we left, they threw MREs at us, but I couldn’t eat. I tried to eat a packet of pineapple, and I stuffed the rest in my rucksack. I hoped it was one of those illnesses that grew better as the day went on, because I didn’t think I would make it through the day like this. My nose was a faucet, probably because it couldn’t run down the back of my throat, as it was swollen shut. The chills were awful. I was freezing though it was 80 degrees. We started off, and it didn’t take long to realize I had a problem. The soldier behind me gave me a packet of tissues, and I was grateful. Soon, the sun was up, and I was already having trouble keeping pace.

The sun and the now 90 degree heat pounded the other soldiers, but I was still freezing, especially because the cold sweat had made all of my clothing drenched. The soldier in front of me took my rucksack from me to carry in a gesture of real generosity. The soldier behind me offered to carry my rifle, and I graciously accepted. When we stopped to take a break, a drill sergeant came over to me. He had noticed steam pouring off of my head. He took my temperature- it was 104. He suggested I go to the hospital, but I refused.

After an agognizing eternity, we reached our destination. Fortunately, it was lunch time, so we had a decent break. I ended up throwing up the pineapple I had eaten in the morning. I took out the snotty tissues from my pocket and threw them on the ground next to my rucksack, where I proceeded to pass out. The drill sergeants left me alone.

When I woke up, soldiers were doing drills at various stations. I looked on the ground next to me to see my snotty tissues covered with dead or dying ants. Whatever I had was bad enough to kill them! What did that mean for me? I freaked out. One of the drill sergeants noticed that I was awake and came over to me. I showed him the tissues. He took my temperature again, but it had not gone down.

He rounded up a driver and a truck to take me to the hospital. I stayed there for three days. Fortunately for me, I was allowed to make up the exercises I missed over those three days and graduate on time. When I got to California, I found out that the Army releases diseases into the air over its posts to build up soldiers' immune systems. A bunch of new soldiers had come in sick. Apparently, someone screwed up and released too much disease at once.

My question is this: if the military can do this to its soldiers, does the government do this to its citizens? What if it decides to immunize the population to bird flu? What if it releases too much? Something to think about.

Eat my dishdasha

D'oh! Arabized Simpsons Aren't Getting Many Laughs

"Omar Shamshoon," as he is called on the show, looks like the same Homer Simpson, but he has given up beer and bacon, which are both against Islam, and he no longer hangs out at "seedy bars with bums and lowlifes." In Arabia, Homer's beer is soda, and his hot dogs are barbequed Egyptian beef sausages. And the donut-shaped snacks he gobbles are the traditional Arab cookies called kahk.

Many Arab blogs and Internet chat sessions have become consumed with how unfunny "Al Shamshoon" is. "They've ruined it! Oh yes they have, *sob*. ... Why? Why, why oh why?!!!!" wrote a blogger, "Noors," from Oman... "It was just painful....The guy who played Homer Simpson was one of the most unfunny people I ever watched. Just drop the project, and air reruns of Tony Danza's show instead."

Few shows have more obsessed fans than "The Simpsons," and their vast online community is worried about whether classic Simpsons dialogue can even be translated. One blogger wrote, "'Hi-diddly-ho, neighbors!' How the h -- are they going to translate that? Or this great quote: Mr Burns: Oooh, so Mother Nature needs a favor?! Well maybe she should have thought of that when she was besetting us with droughts and floods and poison monkeys! Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing. Well I say, hard cheese."

Bond, Daniel Craig Bond

Daniel Craig Unveiled As New James Bond I'm still wondering about the choice for Casino Royale as the new movie. Is it going to be like a prequel? I was hoping they'd do a story set in the Middle East. I know The World is Not Enough was about oil and terrorists, but it was set in Central Asia. Imagine how cool it would be to shoot in Cairo. Think about it: M sends Bond down to investigate a terrorist cell in Cairo that is plotting to blow up the British Embassy... maybe it's too real to be a movie. But it was ok when the Soviets were the bad guys.

Personally, I was hoping they'd bring Pierce back for one more go.

Mi6

Class issues on the battlefield of the "War on Terror(TM)"

Terror tip for rich

The city's rich and well-connected were tipped off to last week's subway terror threat days before average New Yorkers, the Daily News has learned.

I guess we got one thing out of this hoax: a healthy dose of reality. When real terrorism strikes, us pawns of society won't know until after it happens, when our mangled bodies are pulled from the wreckage, bleeding and broken and cursing about how misfortune continues to strike the lower classes in a disproportionate manner. Will those without health insurance be forever in debt to the hospitals, owned by the rich and powerful like Frist, because they weren't tipped off about the attack? Let us suffer equally, rich and poor alike, if we are to suffer at the expense of the "War on Terror(TM)", because next time, it might not be a hoax.

This information was classified. The people who leaked it to the rich and powerful should be punished accordingly.

Victory of good over evil for 2006?

Democrats See Dream of '06 Victory Taking Form

Suddenly, Democrats see a possibility in 2006 they have long dreamed of: a sweeping midterm election framed around what they describe as the simple choice of change with the Democrats or more of an unpopular status quo with the Republican majority.

That sense of political opportunity has Democratic operatives scrambling to recruit more candidates in Congressional districts that look newly favorable for Democratic gains, to overcome internal divisions and produce an agenda they can carry into 2006, and to raise the money to compete across a broader field. In short, the Democrats are trying to be ready if, in fact, an anti-incumbent, 1994-style political wave hits.

But for Democrats to step into the void, many strategists and elected officials say, they must offer more than a blistering critique of the Republicans in power, the regular attacks on what Democrats now describe as a "culture of cronyism and corruption."

What they need, many Democrats acknowledge, is their own version of the "Contract With America," the Republican agenda (tax cuts, a balanced budget, a stronger military and an array of internal reforms) that the party campaigned on in the 1994 landslide election, when it won control of the House and the Senate.

Who's writing it? Any takers? We can't screw this up. We need details, not another document of crap like that Stronger blah that the Dems put out as a platform last year. People want to know what will be done about the problems, not just what the problems are. Dems can do things now to set themselves up for later. For example, why not try to push a bill giving tax breaks for gasoline or something along those lines, even if it has no chance in hell of passing? That way, a candidate can say next year, "I tried to give you a break on gasoline, but the Republicans said no!" Think outside the beltway for a second.

A message from John Cleese to the citizens of the United States of America

I couldn't resist posting this:

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy). Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise.
Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to Acceptable levels. (look up vocabulary).

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.
Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) ^ roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 21% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 PM with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

Thank you for your co-operation.

I don't think so

Dream on, Santorum

NewsMax, a conservative online news site, reported Monday that Senator Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) is hosting a fundraiser at a U2 concert on Sunday, October 16. The story, originally headlined "Bono, U2 in Fund-Raiser for Senator Rick Santorum" implied that U2 was playing specifically to raise money for the senator.

Jamie Drummond, a spokesperson for Bono, issued a statement denying the report: "U2 concerts are categorically not fundraisers for any politician." The band is playing in Philadelphia on Sunday, but not to raise money for the senator.

CNN's "The Situation Room" picked up the story yesterday, reporting Bono and "his legendary group U2 are set to perform in Philadelphia on Sunday at a $1,000 a seat fundraiser for Senator Rick Santorum's reelection campaign," but later retracted the story.

Just because you have tickets for a concert doesn't mean the concert is being held for you. I have tickets for the DC shows next week, but is the concert being held for my campaign? No. That Newsmax rag doesn't spin- it just flat out lies. Typically rightwing.

Official statement here

Heil, heil to the Police State!

Single Glass of Wine Immerses D.C. Driver in Legal Battle

Debra Bolton had a glass of red wine with dinner. That's what she told the police officer who pulled her over. That's what the Intoxilyzer 5000 breath test indicated -- .03, comfortably below the legal limit.

She had been pulled over in Georgetown about 12:30 a.m. for driving without headlights. She apologized and explained that the parking attendant must have turned off her vehicle's automatic-light feature.

Bolton thought she might get a ticket. Instead, she was handcuffed, searched, arrested, put in a jail cell until 4:30 a.m. and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

I don't see the cops arresting idiots for driving! Seems to me that idiots are far more dangerous than a woman who's had a glass of wine for dinner. And there's no law against falling asleep at the wheel, yet people wreck all the time because of it. Sure, getting behind the wheel when you've had more than a few is a bad idea, but a couple of drinks is not going to impair one's driving, unless of course the person is a moron. In those cases, the people shouldn't be driving anyway.

Our country has been brainwashed by the teetottlers of this country into thinking that every sip of alcohol makes a person wasted. There's no common sense when it comes to alcohol policies. There have been studies that have shown that a drink or two actually makes a person MORE aware of what's going on. Anyone who has ever worried if a rent check was going to clear of if a deadline would be met knows that stress isn't exactly conducive to concentration, and a beer can help take a bit of the edge off. Kind of like yoga for lazy people.

Smurfs getting bombed, part 2

I just couldn't resist posting this smurf y picture to go with the earlier post. It's un- smurf- ibelievable!

Crooks and Liars has a slideshow video of the smurf commercial. Sorry, but I couldn't help but laugh at the smurf y images of the smurf mushroom houses suffering from shock and awe. What a smurf erific way to die, isn't it?

It seems so absurd, yet so is war.


Tag: Technorati

Jesus is coming (or He's already left the building)

Recent natural disasters point to return of Jesus Christ: US evangelist Robertson

"What was called the Blessed Hope of the Bible is that one day Jesus Christ would come back again, start a whole new era, that this world order that we know would change into something that would be wonderful that we'd call the millennium," Robertson said.

Hope- probably the best thing about being human is hope. But there is a difference between hope and just being wacko.

How do people like Robertson, Dobson, and Tony "Psycho" Perkins have such a voice in policymaking? Why is Dobson getting inside info on Harriet? Why are our legislators, especially those who are in trouble with the law, showing up to Christian advocacy events? Why are this country's Christian leaders nothing like Christians?

Robertson is the godfather of the neo-Christian movement, a movement where lying, cheating, and worse are Christian things to do. I mean, people in his cult have been accused of molestation and connected to the Abramoff/Choctow scandal, so really, what's so Christian about that coalition? Makes me think that Robertson's more wacko than hoping for a true end to human suffering.

Although, with events like this happening, it makes you wonder what's going on with the world:

THE HISTORICAL RECORD SHOWS NO TROPICAL CYCLONE EVER MAKING LANDFALL ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA. BASED ON SURFACE REPORTS FROM FARO PORTUGAL...THE CENTER PASSED JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE COAST OF PORTUGAL...BEFORE BECOMING THE FIRST TROPICAL CYCLONE TO MAKE LANDFALL IN SPAIN.

Democracy in Action

Liberians Vote for First Postwar President

With U.N. tanks and troops standing guard, Liberians waited in long lines Tuesday to vote for the country's first postwar president, who many hope will bring stability to one of Africa's most turbulent countries.

Liberia, a country founded in liberty and later enslaved by civil war, is voting for peace. Hopefully.

A history of the country can be found here.

Corporatism at its lowest

Delphi proposes bonuses to executives for staying

Under its proposed key employee compensation program, 486 U.S. executives would receive cash bonuses of 30 percent to 250 percent of their salary, totaling $87.9 million, upon Delphi's exit from bankruptcy or sale of the company.

Meanwhile, the workers who are laid off get squat. What a country we live in.

Aren't the executives the ones who drove the company to bankruptcy in the first place? I mean, mismanagement usually plays a big role in the failure of companies.

Shock treatment

Smurf Village bombed in anti-war TV commercial

The people of Belgium have been left reeling by a public service commercial featuring the Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes.

The ad pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs.

Julie Lamoureux, Publicis' account director for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down.

"We wanted something that was real war -- Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -- but they said no.''

That's just smurfy!

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

Bye, bye, A-Rod. See you next year. Have a nice flight back to NYC!

Angels defeat Yankees, 5-3 to advance to the ALCS.

The absurd and the redundant

Shield Law Sponsor Lugar: Bloggers 'Probably Not' Considered Journos

Bloggers would "probably not" be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.), told the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Monday afternoon.

According to the first draft of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2005, the "covered person" protected by the bill's terms includes "any entity that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means and that publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical in print or electronic form; operates a radio or television station (or network of such stations), cable system, or satellite carrier, or channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier; or operates a news agency or wire service." The legislation also covers employees, contractors or other persons who "gathers, edits, photographs, records, prepares, or disseminates news or information for any such entity."

Isn't this a bit redundant? I mean there is all ready another law on the books that protects these people. It goes something like this: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

What about the blogs written by journalists? I mean, if you don't count some blogs as journalism, you don't count all blogs. And if you count one, like the ones on a newspaper's website, for instance, you have to count all of them.

I forgot to say...

Happy Mistaken Explorers Day! Three day weekends are lovely.

For a timeline on the history of Columbus Day, go here. I like the author's description of this day as a celebration of conquest and genocide. I wonder if the Iraqis are celebrating this day as well? Ah, no, only the conquerers get to celebrate.

I vote to keep this holiday but change it to a memorial for those who've died at the hands of imperialism.

More ranting against the Yankees (sorry)

I can't state my hatred for the Yankees enough, even though I like some of their players, namely Bernie Williams, who may have played his last game at Yankee Stadium last night, and Derek Jeter, who, despite years of playing in NYC, still doesn't have the inflated ego that befalls so many who play for His Heinness. The rest of them can take their inflated salaries and @*#&...

I suppose I'll root for the White Sox and the Ass-tros now, the Sox because they never get in, and the Ass-tros for two reasons: Craig Biggio and Roger Clemens. Clemens is the very last piece of my childhood left. May he never retire.

Dems are smiling now

Sweeeeet! Not that I haven't been excited about the demise of the gops for the past couple of months, but it's always nice to see an article about it on the front page.

Republican politicians in multiple states have recently decided not to run for Senate next year, stirring anxiety among Washington operatives about the effectiveness of the party's recruiting efforts and whether this signals a broader decline in GOP congressional prospects.

The Senate's looking good, let's go for the House. Come on Rahm, let's pick some good candidates!

Progressives getting their acts together

Dean Camp's Tactics Applied to Colorado

So, we are finally starting to consolidate the left. It has started in Colorado, where a

small advocacy group in Colorado is betting that it can take one state-of-the-art Web site, add half a million dollars or so and end up with a potent tool that will enable it to organize the state's entire community of liberal activists.

The group is called ProgressNow. Let's hope the idea spreads.

Regarding the new title graphic, I'm trying to teach myself how to make graphics and design sites, so there will be a lot of tweeking going on within the next few weeks. I apologize for any hideousness that may come up during that time!

If everyone else jumped off a cliff...

Well, I took the politics test, just like most of the blogosphere. The results:

You are a Social Liberal (78% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (13% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test

This test is not all that accurate. I do, after all, work for an organization that builds free market institutions. In fact, I am less liberal on economic matters than most of the left. Where'd they even get those questions?

Today's inane observation

Why is it that everytime there's a rain delay in a network-televised baseball game, M*A*S*H is put on television? Today, the Angels-Yanks game was postponed, and Fox has played 3.5 straight hours of the show while waiting for the Ass-tros-Braves game. (Actually, I hate the Braves more than the Ass-tros- I guess as equally as I hate the Yankees.) Go Angels.

You know, until this year, I don't think I had ever seen a full episode of M*A*S*H, but for some reason this season, I watched some of the episodes. There's some powerful stuff in that show, showing humor as a means to deal with the atrocities of war... I remember one episode where I actually had a tear thinking about the big picture. It's sad we learned nothing from the first battle of the Cold War- Korea.

UPDATE: I am updating this post based on a typo I made in the original post, substituting Vietnam for Korea. I was thinking about how fighting ideologies rather than enemies really make victory impossible. And we are doing it again when we fight Islamo-fascism, or whatever Bushie chooses to call it today. Communism isn't dead. It's thriving in China. And Russia isn't exactly the bastion for democracy. In fact, one could argue that the USSR under Gorbechev was more democratic than Russia today, what with opposition to Putin sitting in prison because he had a chance to defeat Putin and his powermongering.

I find myself rooting for the Ass-tros for the first time in my life.

Damn rain. I wanted to see Juan Rivera! Sigh... tomorrow.

Iraq: Denial and Deception

I did a google search for a transcript of Bushie's Iraq speech the other day, and I came across the speech he gave in Cincinnati before the invasion of Iraq. It was a press release on the official White House website. The above graphic was the header. I thought someone must have hacked into the website and changed the graphic until I realized that the denial and deception was supposed to refer to Saddam, not the Bushies.

This speech was the original official justification for going to war. In Thursday's speech, Bushie used the word "freedom" 18 times and "democracy" or "democratic" 15 times. He told us we had gone in for the "freedom" of the Iraqi people. Yet, in his Cincinnati speech, he only used the word "freedom" 3 times in the following contexts:

protect our freedom, and help others to find freedom
People everywhere prefer freedom

Democracy is not found in the Cincinnati speech.

I am surprised someone from the administration has not rewritten the Cincinnati speech or taken it down altogether, since it is proof that the justification for going to war has changed. I guess Winstead isn't around to change the chocolate rations.

Why the Yankees should lose: Reason 9,999

Juan Rivera- OF, Angels

How could the Nationals/Expos let him get away? Just look at him. Drooool...


Juan Rivera slides home safely in the sixth inning on a hit by Adam Kennedy. (Kathy Willens/AP)

"We pulled out one man by cutting off his legs."

Hundreds Dead in Pakistan-India Earthquake

Death comes once again to break humanity's heart, but we've used all of our money on bullets and bombs. Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes... all weapons of an enemy we will never defeat.

On this day, a month's worth of rain tumbles from the sky, spreading its gray gloom and emptying the streets of the capital of the world. How appropriate for reflecting on the times we live. It's no wonder that so many people in this country believe these are the end times, for when you open the newspaper, all you see is death and mayhem. It's exhausting, depressing, disheartening...

I was going to write about how it sucks that the Red Sox were swept out of the playoffs, but it's just so petty. Or is it? For me, baseball is one of the diversions from life's seriousness that keeps me going day in and day out. Some people watch movies, others run, and others collect stamps. All of these things are petty, but they keep us occupied while awaiting that final day. Death gives us a definition for life. This catastrophic quake reminds me to find joy in what few breaths we are given in this world. Today, I am going to watch two baseball games and take pleasure in rooting against the hated Yankees. It's all one can do to keep from falling into an abyss of despair over the world's tragedies.

Tag: Earthquake Pakistan India

When he saw me I wasn't clapping

Bush Accuses Islamic Militants of Trying to Intimidate World

A transcript:

Freedom! Democracy! Evil terrorists! Communism! Freedom! September 11th! Nucular weapons! Evil enemies! Freedom! Al-Qaeda! Victory! Iraq! Elections! Constitution! Freedom! Democracy! September 11th! Weapons of Mass Destruction! Murderers! Terror! Evil! Progress! Freedom!

The biggest problem with Bushie's speech wasn't so much the repetitive rhetoric that he's always spewing, but the fact that this speech, which addressed the National Endowment for Democracy and its core institutions, did not once mention how critical institution building is to a stable democracy. We can even speculate that the whole reason for the mass chaos in the aftermath of Bushie's Iraq debacle is that there was no emphasis put on building the institutions vital to democracy. If we would spend half as much money on building these institutions as we do dropping bombs, the whole world would be a much more stable place.

When Condi and Rummy entered the room before he came out, they looked so small, so frail, so normal, like they weren't partly responsible for the mayhem that blankets the planet. They certainly were surprise guests, but they didn't bother to show up on time to hear Vin Weber, Dick Gephardt, and Chris Cox speak about the work the NED does.

I was sitting in the last row- there were 13 in front of me- and I was directly in the middle, the focal point for a speaker. It was nothing we haven't heard before, nothing we haven't played the Bush drinking game to. I stood when he took the stage, respecting the Office of the President of the United States, not the guy personally, but I wouldn't clap. He had to see me not clapping- he looked directly at me several times. How could he not? I was in his direct line of sight. Oh, I took such joy in not clapping when everyone else was patting their hands together. It was such pleasure to feel the high of revolt!

A Russian colleague of mine, who grew up in the Soviet Union, put it best when he said, "When they were all clapping, it was like Communism."

Beautiful

Go Sox!

(Red, that is.)

Oh, the lovely Bill O'Reilly

What did old Bill do yesterday, you ask? Well, it seems that Mr. Smut Novel advocated murder on national television. From Media Matters:

On the October 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly called for the assassination of Syria's leader, Bashar al-Assad, if Assad does not help promote stability in the Middle East by maintaining Iraq's borders. O'Reilly claimed that "we could take his life, and we should take his life if he doesn't help us out." O'Reilly was responding to Fox News contributor Gen. Wesley Clark's suggestion that the United States use diplomacy to bolster regional support for the Iraq war among uncooperative neighbors.

I vote that O'Reilly be drafted and shipped to Iraq. See how he'd survive in the real war, not his macho-fantasy version of what he thinks war is.

Violence perpetuates violence. O'Reilly perpetuates hated. Hatred perpetuates violence. Violence perpetuates O'Reilly. O'Reilly perpetuates O'Reilly. What a vicious cycle of maleficent nonsense.

Tags: Bill O'Reilly, Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Fox News, Faux News

Oh, the joy!

Republicans' 2006 Senate prospects sour If only we could trust the Dems to not screw it up.

The Persistence of Memory

I've been reading (or rereading) a lot of fifties/sixties lit these days, you know, 1984, Clockwork Orange, Slaugterhouse Five... there were some fantastic stories that came out of the Post WWII Commie era. It makes me wonder what kind of lit we're going to get out of our own time, this current state of perpetual war we have going against whoever is "against us." Whereas those books dealt with authoritarian governments oppressing the masses, we have authoritarian religions seeking to oppress the masses, not only in fundamentalist Islam, but equally as much in fundamentalist Christianity. I suppose the great lit of our time will be that which explores the theme of modernity verses tradition, as we are certainly seeing a clash of eras in the world today. Much of the "War on Terror(TM)" is based on past events (the rest is just based on corporate greed.) There is a difference between remembering history and being governed by the past, but contemporary political discourse in many parts of the world is falling into the latter category, even here in the United States. The result is that we have people turning to extremism to cope with global advancement.

Authoritarianism is not only found in fundamentalist religion, but it is also found in today's corporatism, what some fundamentalist Muslims believe is modernity. It's not. It's good old fashioned exploitation. Modernity is progress. Progress is eliminating poverty and disease or cleaning up the air, not building a bigger bomb or a faster bullet. Burgess' theme of automation in Clockwork is certainly relevant to today's corporate world. We are all cogs in the corporate machine, even if we try to avoid it. I can't even get Verizon to send me a modem for the DSL I ordered in July! Our products have become institutions. Indeed, such words like Kleenex, Vasoline, and Coke (in some parts) have supplanted tissue, petroleum jelly, and soda/pop in American lexicon.

I suppose books that could have Magritte's Son of Man on the cover are even more in tune with today's human condition than in the sixties, for rampant proliferation of corporatism has made revolt all the more important if we are to fight this automation and salvage the soul of man. We've let this leviathan take over our lives, this thing with no moral conscience that will destroy anything in its path as it pursues its profits. Leading the way are the Halliburtons and Booz Allens of the world, the ones who drive US policy and seek conflict to line their pockets. The Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about has taken over our government, and the people no longer matter. Old conflicts are renewed as a justification for war by both sides. Bin Laden (remember him?) and Co. tells us that the US is waging a religious war and sends kids to their deaths, while our corporations play on our thirst for revenge by pushing for a fight. The human subject has been depersonified. The enemy is known as a "target." The soldier is ID'd by his SSN. Sheehan is criticized for putting a face on the war. The media is restricted in what it can show.

Dali painted Persistence in between the two World Wars. He painted his Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory after the second one, after atomic bombs destroyed life as we knew it at that time. People said the A-bomb was enough to stop war forever, that its destructive force was so great as to deter anyone from fighting again for fear of its use. Sixty years later, we are still fighting the same damn fights, struggling to overcome wrongs that are centuries old, all because some people can't forgive and get over the past.

An Army of Many

Six Democratic War Vets Seek House Seats

Lawyer Patrick Murphy and five other veterans of the Iraq war are asking questions about President Bush's policies in Iraq as part of their broader Democratic campaigns to win congressional seats in next year's elections.

Excellent. Let's see those conscienceless gops rip apart these war veterans. The American people will not stand for it.

And other good news:

On Monday, with support from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other party leaders, Hackett decided to seek a higher office, the Senate seat now held by two-term Republican Mike DeWine, said spokesman David Woodruff.

DeWine is extremely unpopular in Ohio these days, making Hackett an excellent choice to run against him. And now, my quest to get a job with his campaign begins...

You know you're going to have a good day when...

...you open the Post and see this:

DeLay Is Indicted on Two New Charges
Money Laundering Alleged in Texas

How to pay for Katrina clean-up

Don't spend federal money on painting giant salmon on airplanes.

Alaska Airlines takes flying fish to a whole new level

$500,000 grant from federal funding pays for custom paint job on company's passenger jet

My two cents on Miers

And then I won't say much more about her.

The major difference between Rehnquist not having been a judge before his appointment to the Supreme Court and Miers not having been a judge is that Bush's record is much, much worse when it comes to appointing qualified people. Need I say Katrina and pony show judge to remind you?

Miers was instrumental in covering up Georgie's AWOL story back in the day.

With our spineless Dems and the gop majority, it's pretty much a wasted breath to say any more. Unless some juicy story comes out. Pick the battles you can win, like DeLay's corruption, Frist's corruption, Ney's corruption...

I HATE THE YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yankees 8, Red Sox 4, Yankees clinch the AL East. Damn.

Tim Kaine catches up to Jerry Kilgore

A Rasmussen poll shows Kaine and Kilgore in a dead heat in the Virginia governor's race:

April 36%-44%
June 40%-46%
July 21 38%-37%
September 1 40%-43%
September 15 40%-41%
September 30 45%-45%

If you are a Democrat in the DC area, I encourage you to get involved in Kaine's campaign.

Now that things are falling apart...

...the gops are getting spines.

Republicans See Signs That Pentagon Is Evading Oversight

Republican members of Congress say there are signs that the Defense Department may be carrying out new intelligence activities through programs intended to escape oversight from Congress and the new director of national intelligence.

The warnings are an unusually public signal of some Republican lawmakers' concern about overreaching by the Pentagon, where top officials have been jockeying with the new intelligence chief, John D. Negroponte, for primacy in intelligence operations. The lawmakers said they believed that some intelligence activities, involving possible propaganda efforts and highly technological initiatives, might be masked as so-called special access programs, the details of which are highly classified.

So here we have a case where the legislature of this country is actually doing its job rather than working from a checklist corresponding to the gop agenda.

The caffeine from a Saturday morning coffee is making me a bit dizzy, but it isn't the kind of dizziness that American politics makes me feel. Only a few months ago, I had completely lost faith in the American political system. I was convinced that the neocon fascists had won. Now I am not so sure.

See, Americans don't like liars and thieves. They may ignore what goes on inside the Beltway for most of their lives, but when it comes down to the wire, they aren't going to let the political mafia get away with their unethical behavior. We are a markedly divided country, yet the division is not Moldy Footballs verses Democratic Underground. The vast majority of citizens falls into the middle, something like the size and extent of the Great Plains between the Rockies and the Appalachians. It is the Valley of Indifference.

Indifference is not the same as ignorance. Sometimes indifference is caused by ignorance and sometimes indifference causes ignorance, but they are two distinct concepts. There are several cures for indifference. One is a great leader, who can convince the people to care about things that matter. Another is war casualties, and we can see that attention is expanded as our Iraq casualties mount. A third is a bad economy (funny how a good economy spreads indifference.) And then there is corruption.

The gops are scared. They are hastily trying to clean up the mess that they've made of this country, and they've caught the attention of the residents who live in the Valley of Indifference. The reverberations of their actions can be felt throughout the entire country, and the waves are reaching the Military Industrial Complex. They tried to use Katrina to strengthen themselves, but that backfired.

My faith in this country is a little stronger each day.