January 2006 Archives

Well, later today Bush will come on TV, lie a lot, use the victims of 9/11 for political gain, tie Saddam and bin Laden together, and obscure the fact that he's destroying democracy at home. Or as the White House calls it, the State of the Union address.

So let's cover some recent events just to clarify where our dictator-in-chief has been taking our nation lately.

Conservative religious groups who say AIDS is God's punishment to homosexuals have earned a quarter of the money slated to combat AIDS. So, basically, hatemongers who refuse to make practical actions like advocating condom use and instead shove their religious beliefs on people worldwide are squandering $15 BILLION dollars that should be saving lives.

Meanwhile, over 50,000 troops have been "stop-lossed" and kept in uniform after fulfilling their terms of service. The backdoor draft is back in full force. In the meantime, Bush is looking to cut the Army Reserves and National Guard, silently acknowledging that neither force can meet its recruiting goals. Remember kids, when you can't succeed, Uncle George just lowers the bar for you, like his Daddy has done for him all his life.

Scientists are under attack again by BushCo, including this climatologist who NASA tried to silence.

More lies from Bush and inaction on rebuilding and restoring the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

And what of Bush supporters? Are they as committed to freedom, democracy, and equality as Bush's rhetoric states? In short, no.

Ann Coulter wants to poison Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. If I said such a thing about, say, Justice Scalia, I'd be doing 900 years in Guantanamo. But no, she gets to call that a joke.

Speaking of obscene gallow's humor, Exxon has posted a $10 billion PROFIT for the fourth quarter, with annual profits 42% higher than 2004, earning more than 125 out of the 184 countries the World Bank tracks. The absolute total insult to injury here? Exxon wants to have the $5 billion it still owes for the Valdez oil spill to be forgiven. As if they don't have the cash or something. Screw them. Make them pay ten times the amount for even asking for something so insidious.

Religious zealot pharmacists are suing Walgreens for trying to make them sign a statement saying they would prescribe any damn drug a doctor wished to give his or her patient, even birth control. To these morons and their allies, I have only this to say. You know what? You joined a profession to help people. You want to be a fundamentalist? Go join the frigging Taliban. Otherwise, shut your pie hole and dispense drugs that help people.

The Muslim counterparts to Bush and the Talibangelicals have taken over the Palestinian Authority. Hamas won the recent parliamentary elections, making a terrorist group the legal authority for the Palestinians. Two items of note here. One, they still refuse to recognize Israel and want to eradicate it from the map, presumably with everyone inside it's borders dead as well. To do this, they want to merge the PA's security forces with their armed militant terrorist thugs. I'd say, only in the Middle East; but then I'd be forgetting Bush is using the US military to conduct some psychotic crusade of his own making.

Sigh.

With the big game coming on Sunday, I just wanted to point out a few stories of interest. Quite a few critics are saying there isn't a lot of interest in this game, but I beg to differ. What you have are two underestimated teams looking for a win. One to validate their history, the other to put it's mark on it. So Peyton Manning is out, as is Tom Brady. They didn't earn the right; that's why they aren't going to Detroit. It really is that simple.

Working with a few folks from Washington state, I'm getting the feel of the average Seahawks fan. To be quite honest, they really ARE the "12th man" you've heard so much about.

Not to be outdone, Washington, PA has temporarily renamed itself to Steeler.

"I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you....I truly am not that concerned about him." - Bush on bin Laden, March 13, 2002

"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it....I take it seriously, and the people of NSA take it seriously." - Bush on bin Laden, January 6, 2006

Let's set the table: Bush's poll numbers are abysmal. Three out of five Americans think we are on the wrong track. Seventy percent disagree with the idea we should be spying on ordinary Americans. And 61% of us have a negative view of Congress. If the GOP's goal is actually to destroy all government, they're doing a fantastic job.

Now, what does Bush usually do when things are going south? Blame it on someone else. Or, at least, give us a name and make us fear it. The more we fear the unknown, the less we concentrate on the crap coming out of Bush's mouth. So now, Osama's back. God forbid bin Laden dies of kidney failure and Zarqawi gets flattened by a carpet bomb; the Bushites would have to create brand new boogeymen for the simple-minded to piss themselves over the mere idea one of these fundamentalist idiots would strap on a bomb and walk into their Sioux Falls Wal-Mart.

I blame a lot of this on our American fixation on having a target for our ire. "If we could just kill bin Laden, this would all be over." Come on. World War II in Europe ended after Hitler was killed, sure, but the Soviets had occupied half of Berlin and we were knocking down the western half of the country and Austria too. It didn't take one man's death alone to solve that problem, so why do we con ourselves into believing it in this instance?

You want to know what makes these guys tick? Look at the Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells, Tom DeLays, and Rick Santorums of the world. These guys hate everything. They hate popular culture, they hate people based on race, religion, sexuality, gender, and so on. Except here, they are increasingly in charge.

In the Middle East, we are allies with places like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. These governments stop their citizens from having free speech. Want to blame the powers that be for something? You can't. But you CAN blame it on America. And the press does. Repeatedly. And so do the psycho mullahs preaching hate, just like our fundamentalist ministers do. Between the religion you love and the government you hate, you get one message: Blame America. And you wonder why they're so damn hard to kill.

So, the next time some billionaire sheik is strolling hand-in-hand through the Rose Garden with Bush, realize one thing: he's contributing to a lack of democracy in the nations we are supposedly allied with. He's aiding and abetting the creating of discontent that makes the terrorists we fight.

Think of that the next time he stands there like some old West lawman promising to "kill 'em all." And remember one other thing. Pat Garrett was seen as a weasel, a traitor who turned on his friend. Billy the Kid became the folk legend. Please, let's not get our nation seen as the asshole here.

Hey, I finally figured out why you couldn't post comments. I didn't have it configured right. Sorry. I do hope you use the option though. Thanks to those of you who pointed out my oversight.

Let's start off with some financial news. Looks like we can afford tax cuts for billionaires, but unfortunately we can't provide medical care to our military veterans. it's all about priorities I guess and you should know what Bush's are by now.

This of course is the same White House that refuses to hand over documents and transcripts detailing how it fumbled the Katrina disaster. Figures. You know, not admitting you're wrong when everyone knows it is not leadership or courage, it's being a frigging imbecile. Not that we don't know that about the drunk in chief either.

You want to know what's wrong with Kansas and other red states? Well, look no further than this therapist who enslaved his patients. Yeah, good job doc.

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points last week and now has a < a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-lakers-bryant&prov=ap&type=lgns" target="_blank">nickname of 81. Granted, that's not very creative, but I'm sure he likes it a lot more than his old nickname, Rapist.

The top US general in Iraq agrees that our forces are stretched thin, but there's nothing he can do about it. Which is nice to hear him at least admit it, even though Bush, Rumsfeld, et al refuse to believe it. Then again, they live in a fantasy world.

West Virginia has decided to combat obesity by making their students play Dance Dance Revolution. Now, I know I rip on West Virginia and basically much of the South for their wild ideas, but I think this one is potentially crazy enough to work.

Apparently Syria is in love with KFC. Go figure. Yeah, when they're not assassinating Lebanese nationalist leaders or sending mad bombers to blow our soldiers up in Iraq, the average Damascus dimwit likes to chow down on a three-piece meal. And who says globalization doesn't work?

Bush keeps running around swearing that illegally spying on Americans is essential to democracy. That's like saying cocaine snorting is a requirement for taking aspirin. Or hell, you choose a better metaphor. I'm tired of this idiot's crap. He's even got Chief Torture Bitch in Charge of Subverting Freedom Gonzales out there, saying we are being "misled" by those who call these Gestapo tactics illegal. Misled? You mean, the "compassionate conservative" you call a boss who doesn't believe in nation building who is a "fiscal conservative" who turned a $5 trillion surplus into a $5 trillion deficit and who creates fictions to invade nations is NOT the one misleading us? Oh, my bad.

Hey, you can actually agree with Saddam on something. He wants Iran to stop "meddling" in Iraqi affairs. That makes about all of us, pal.

Bad news from a military analyst who says our army is near a breaking point. Can someone in charge please pull their head out of their butt long enough to support our troops by doing more than buying Chinese-made-profits-direct-to-the-Red-Army magnets for their SUVs? Just a thought.

Ah well. At least the Olympics and Super Bowl are coming to distract us. Yay, bread and circuses!

Bush says he just takes money from scumbags like Abramhoff; he doesn't actually speak with them. The photo evidence, not to mention his cabinet, proves him wrong, as usual.

The Bushoviks are after your online activities. So far, only Google has resisted the administration.

Bush and Co. have also tried to smear Rep. John Murtha, a veteran who has stood against Bush's war fetish. Conservative "news" sites question his medals, not to mention his dignity and patriotism. You know the drill. Being an ex-military man, soldiers have more readily come to Murtha's defense.

As for Halliburton? They are busy giving our troops and civilian workers contaminated water. I'm sure they double-billed us for it too.

Because Bush, Rumsfeld, et al. refuse to fund our military, said military cannot provide our troops with proper protection. That said, even the asinine bureaucracy at the Pentagon has found a way to avoid blaming the president and has, instead, threatened to revoke the life insurance of any soldier buying his own armor. The Army, at least, has stepped up plans - plans laying dormant for months - to provide a proper supply of armor.

More bad news on the electonic voting system debacles. I've been following this without commenting on it a lot. One, I like technology and wish it to work for us and not against us. So, I'm really disheartened to keep finding out that a bunch of GOP supporters have subverted this field entirely. Two, I just assume Republicans cheat and you have to outvote the rednecks, hatemongers, and rich bastards two-to-one just to break even.

Tom Cruise has gotten the South Park scientology episode banned in Europe. You can still watch it here though. Here are two folks who dared to enter a scientology center.

Here's a neat trick and perhaps ties in to the earlier story about Google vs. Bushites mentioned earlier. Go to Google Maps and type in "terrorist threat" (or follow this handy link) and check out the results. Interesting.

This requires no further comment from me.

As you've noticed, haven't been posting much lately. Worked a very long week in northern Nevada last week and just basically didn't have the time to post. I'm 75 miles northeast of Fargo this week and freezing my butt off again. Actually, it's not too bad. That said, I woke up on the flight in and was surprised to see both earth and sky a pale white shade. It's beautiful in it's own way; though something I definitely haven't seen for a very long time. Nice to step out of what's "normal" and remind myself of what winter looks like. Then again, I'm nowhere near acclimated for this anymore so, yeah, I'm pretty cold.

Anyway, I haven't been keeping up with the news much. Have a few links to speak about, but that will be at a later date. This time around I just wanted to cover some books I've been reading. Being on the road, waiting for planes, riding on them, catching cat naps and calling them a good night's sleep leaves me time to kick back and read. I figured I have this books topic and never use it. So here goes. And, hey, don't forget to use the comment feature. I know a fair amount of you visit. The traffic is there. Don't be afraid to contribute.

First off from It Came from the Library is Bread and Roses (yeah, I know I'm using bookstore links. look at your own library). It's the story of a 1912 textile strike and paints a picture of a working world far and away worse than what we live it. Books like this really remind you of how much we owe those who came before us.

I can't say I've ever read a Walter Mosley mystery, but I love his sci-fi work. His latest, The Wave is no different. A good interesting read for those who want to check it out. I won't give away the plot but you could definitely curl up with this one for a night or two.

Next up are a couple books I'm still working on. One of them coming via Ray at work. He saw a PBS special called Alone in the Wilderness, about a guy who moves into the wilds of Alaska, builds a cabin and tries to live off the land. The book, One Man's Wilderness, is a book based on the same subject. So far, a good read.

Last, but not least, is My War, a book by milblogger Colby Buzzell. Once again, so far, a good and fairly from the heart and gut read.

That's all I've got. The Salton Sea is on and I've got some flurries falling outside the window. I'm going to make some cocoa and enjoy the both of them. Then, of course, read a few pages and head off to sleep.

Apparently BushCo has illegally made previously available IRS audit records banned to the public for viewing. Gee, what could they possibly have to hide? Maybe the fact that they are letting the ultra-rich get away with outright theft.

It was "Justice Sunday III" yesterday, where Talibangelicals slap each other on the back and idiots like Rick Santorum say that Democrats are "destroying traditional morality, creating a new moral code and prohibiting any dissent." You know, like asking for equal rights for women, acknowledging the existence of other religions, and...wait a minute. Isn't the GOP the party that censors television, radio, the internet and calls anyone a traitor that doesn't agree with them?

In related news, conservative ministers broke into the Capitol to annoint the furniture with oil before Samuel Alito's Supreme Court hearing this week. Somewhere in heaven, teeth are grinding over the concept of B&E by supposedly moral community leaders. This, of course, is the same logic that those who assassinate doctors who perform abortions use. And, yes, Pat Robertson.

On the same topic of conservative censorship, MySpace, recently bought out by Rupert Murdoch's GlobalHateCorp, is full of users suddenly realizing that the new management is editing, censoring, deleting, and generally screwing over their posts.

The GOP, the party of corruption. Use it like a campaign slogan kids.

More on Tom DeLay stepping down officially as House majority leader. I mean, he isn't right now, but apparently he couldn't bribe the judge enough to throw out his case so he could return to the post. Oh come on, you thought of it too.

I never liked the Utah Jazz much myself - mostly because of crybaby Malone I guess - but now I can dislike their owner too. A movie theater decided to pull "Brokeback Mountain" after agreeing to show it. Look, if you want to be censoring, non-free will, group think bigoted asshats, you do apparently have the right to do it under the reign of W the First. That said, once you agree to something, have the actual stones to follow through with it.

In related news, how conservatives talk about the gay "threat" like Nazis did for Jewish folk. Scary comparisons, even if potentially taken to an extreme. Fascist pseudo-Christians: look people, if you can't handle raising your kids to acknowledge that people are just different in a myriad of ways, maybe you don't need to have children, ya know? You don't have to hate everything and everybody you don't understand. I mean, I don't even know what the hell I'm thinking most days, but I don't blame it on someone's race, gender, or religion to make me feel better.

Speaking of religious zealots, in England and Scotland it is apparently the law to pray in school every day. I know a lot of folks in the UK and have never heard of this. Why? Well, here's a reason: a recent study found that 81% of schools don't get around to fulfilling the obligation.

Contrary to what Cheney thinks, most Americans don't want to be illegally wiretapped by their president. What's scary is that 42% apparently don't mind. Idiots.

I'll be in northern Nevada this week freezing my toches off. Have a good week if I can't post from the road.

"How unqualified do you have to be that the President is too scared to put your nomination before a legislative body that his very own party controls?"
- Wonkette, on Bush's latest crony appoinments

As if you didn't have to worry about what you said to your overseas friends, now you have to worry about what you write them. Apparently, DHS is opening your mail.

Reports now question whether Bush can actually defend his spy games legally, as we find out more about the NSA's rabid determination to expand spying on American citizens.

This should be intuitive but apparently the government is just getting around to realizing that providing armor to Marines would have saved more of their lives.

Some good news. Tom DeLay has given up trying to be a felonious majority leader. However, he still remains a punk fascist.

Another story on the business of the CEO President's cronyism.

Just for fun, I'm passing on a viral meme for you: Future Conan and Future Conan demands loyalty. Look, sometimes I just pass this stuff along to you. I don't pretend to understand it.

"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself—not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch."
—Bush, visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006

What do you expect from an idiot who equates fighting a tree with getting seriously wounded in an illegal war? Well, I can give you an idea. Not getting the point that violating privacy and civil rights is actually un-American, Bush keeps fighting for the PATRIOT Act to get renewed. Not to mention that he slid in a loophole that will allow him to authorize torture, even after signing McCain's pet bill. In addition, he made a bunch of crony-loving appointments, bypassing Congress as they are in recess. After Harriet Miers and Mike Brown, not to mention UN-hating UN Ambassador Bolton, you'd think he'd have some humility. You know, Christian humility. Guess his abridged bible has none of the Beatitudes in it.

Molly Ivin on Bush's spy games.

Speaking of games, Bush is returning $6,000 of Jack Abramhoff's tainted and corrupt money. This of course, is a small drop in the at least $120,000 the influence peddler gave Bush directly.

They say we're progressing in Afghanistan. If so, how do you explain this story of a teacher getting beheaded for teaching girls?

The GOP, after lengthening the year-end session to cover all the issues they couldn't railroad past actual conscientious politicians (I know. Gasp!), now want to extend the break so they can maybe make Tom DeLay Majority Leader again. You know, provided he can shake his felony charges.

Pat Robertson says Ariel Sharon is being punished by God. Then again, Robertson is the same sick bastard who wants to build a theme park on the sea of Galilee.

Bush says Arab media doesn't portray America in a good light. Then again, the Army isn't writing their headlines. That, and he's used to FOXNews kissing his butt. He can't shut them down like the military does soldiers' blogs, and he can't count on his pals who own TV stations to censor shows his religious fanatics find unsavory.

Speaking of the religious wrong, here's an Oklahoma pastor who hates homosexuals and engages in some self-loathing by propositioning an undercover cop.

TSA. Saving America from four-year olds on the terrorist watch list.

Letterman takes it to Bill O'Reilly and an English pilot does what I wish our pilots would do to unruly passengers. Wired gives a list of the 50 best robots ever.

Want a small taste of freeware? Download the Google Pack. Nowhere near as complete as it could be, but something to give you food for thought.

Speaking of food, for you anti-globalization readers, the story of a baker who fought McDonalds...and won.

"(C)an we change the use of the word conservative too? The last time a saw a so-called conservative conserve anything, it was his tax break as he sped by me in his late-model SUV on his way to drill for 4000-year-old oil in a nature preserve."
- comment on a WSJ legal blog by poster Fraser

I was going to lay off the idiots in charge this week. Unfortunately, they just won't quit being themselves. So here goes.

First off, a quick rant. Someone tell me why we call these fools the right wing? They aren't for anybody's rights. No civil rights, no equal rights, no reproductive rights, no technology or fair use rights, not even the Bill of Rights. The only rights they actually conceivably support are the rights to pillage the Earth to it's demise and to be racist, bigoted, hateful pricks that wrap themselves falsely in the flag and cross while doing it.

Anyways, just so you know where I'm coming from as this year begins. As if you had any doubts.

So, we close 2005. A year of disasters man-made and not. A couple of numbers to share with you. The Dow closed below the amount it started the year at. This is the third year since BushBoy got into office. Say, even if you give him a free pass for 2001, isn't 50% failure rate in the stock market a bad thing for a party known for its economic policies? Just checking. Worse news? The government is apparently about to hit the debt ceiling...again. In plain speech? The most powerful nation in the world is about out of money...again.

The Independent reviews Bush's 2005. Meanwhile Bush is moving ahead, still defending his illegal use of wiretapping Americans, still smugly insisting we should just drink the damn kool-aid and trust him. HA! And he swears he never, ever lied to us when he said - repeatedly - that all wiretapping incidents were brought before a judge first. Look, this is a guy who hates the Constitution, calls it a piece of paper. This is also a guy who considers anyone who disagrees with him a traitor. An unrecovered alcoholic and drug abuser who calls himself a Christian but resorts to bombing anyone he can't frighten, coerce, or deceive. And we're supposed to trust this man? No thanks.

Beyond all that, the "limited" collection of this information has been shared to every other government agency; probably even handed over to Mary Kay for all I know.

At HuffPo, other villians of the Republican Party are listed. Both parents didn't come over on the Mayflower? The GOP isn't done trying to strip your citizenship. Partisan bloggers and payoffs to Iraqi TV stations. The CIA and it's many failures of late. Homeland Security failures beyond being incapable of aiding American citizens in times of crisis. And 9/11 funds given to people and businesses in NO WAY affected by the attacks.

Bushoviks are circling the wagon for the new year as they try a new message. I don't imagine telling the truth and apologizing for screwing everything up is on the drawing board? Meanwhile, their boss (and cult leader?) is still trying to coerce newspaper editors to quit printing things like, say, the truth.

A couple of military stories. We don't hear much from the troops directly these days, especially as the military cracks down on soldier's blogs. That said, two recent stories caught my attention. One reports, thankfully, that morale is still high overseas. Also, support for Bush is falling, though not in overwhelming numbers...it is still the military we're talking about. I don't know why I'm linking you to a Ralph Nader article, maybe to balance out the links I give to FAUXNews, but here's his take on the military vs. Rumsfeld.

The latest enemy of the "Christian" zealots? Barbie.