August 2007 Archives

Well, figured I might as well get a MySpace account since half of everyone I know is on it.

I'd give you the URL but there's an issue with creating a custom one that should be fixed by tomorrow or somesuch thing. When I *do* get that fixed, I'll provide linkage.

Thanks to all of you who are already hitting me with your bulletins and the like.

Hey, since I mostly did this to check on Tom and Jason's bands and to catch up with people in general, let me give you the band links right now.

Tom's band The Doods

Jason's latest project, 99 Souls

Incidentally Tom, I linked you to the Vast Empire crowd and a lot of them send their appreciation. So, you know, if you ever get some downloadable distribution going, I think you've got yourself an audience in a few countries.

All Louisiana wants is to be treated fairly. But that hasn't happened....

We are Americans who have suffered a great tragedy. We have worked tirelessly for two years to revive this beloved place and reconstruct our lives. And we ought to get no less help from our government than any other victims of this disaster.

- Editorial entitled Treat Us Fairly, Mr. President, in today's Times-Picayune

It has been two years since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Covered at the Times-Picayune and NPR, with links to other media here.

The recovery is going slow and Bush is still selling empty promises. No big surprise there.

I don't have much to add to this other than I've been there a couple times recently and on each visit I keep hoping for monumental improvement.

I, and those who actually live there, are still waiting.

Delusional quote o' the week:

"It's sad that we live in a time that a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeding [sic] from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political purpose."

- Bush, on losing his Renfield and obviously not realizing irony

Ari Fleischer continues to live in Bush's Bizarro World. Apparently it is the Democratic members of Congress who politicized the Justice Department. Apparently, they and not Alberto Gonzales called the Geneva Convention quaint and obsolete, advocated torture and illegal detainment, fired judges for political purposes, spied on Americans illegally and generally took a steaming crap on the Constitution and the rule of law.

Actually, Gonzales is compared to Fredo in this article, which amused me.

Republican and vehement anti-gay Senator Larry Craig, from Idaho, was arrested recently for trying to pick up a guy in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. More .

Oh, and up until last night, he was working for the Mitt Romney campaign. I'm sure the Mittster will be preachifying later today about how Craig is such a good family man caught up in a smear campaign or some such GOP nonsense.

Oh, and that concept of free elections in the Middle East? You know, the ones that gave us a Shi'ite in love in Iran in Iraq, and a terrorist group in charge of Palestine (though just Gaza these days)? Well, yeah, now an ardent Muslim fundamentalist is in charge of Turkey. I mean, it is pretty bad when the frigging military is the most liberal and rational movement in that country. And the military likes butchering Kurds for kicks.

I'd wag more of a finger at them but our rednecks and Rapture bunnies stole an election for Bush once and voted him in the other time.

Well, Alberto Gonzales resigned this morning. That's one less member of Bush's Legion of Doom still employed. So, the bastard that loves to torture people and twist our justice system for dirty political ends is now headed back to Texas instead of being hauled off in chains. Seriously folks, what is it going to take for us to wake up and make these fascists felons?

He didn't give a reason for leaving in his speech (analysis here, then again Rumsfeld's resignation letter didn't even mention the word "Iraq". Lots of heads in the sand there in the Executive Office.

Speaking of ignoring the obvious, Bush swears his didn't know that we aren't putting up much of an effort to hunt for bin Laden, despite the fact that I'm sure I've linked to stories about our anemic search at least a couple times. I mean, I know I'm smarter than George Bush, but I shouldn't know more about our nation's efforts than he does. You know? Guess all he keeps up on are what brown people are reading, who they are talking to, and what version of God they're praying to. Catching the figurehead of a fundamentalist psycho cult just doesn't seem to jibe with him. Seeing as, you know, he actually consults with heads of fundamentalist psycho cults.

The Governor of Puerto Rico recently pushed for the withdrawal of US troops in front of a crowd of thousands of National Guardsmen at the 129th National Guard Association general conference. He received a standing ovation.

And so it goes.

Just wrapping up the week here on the work lappie with a clearing o' the tabs. The box is running sluggish and all these Firefox tabs aren't really helping.

Rob Riggle from The Daily Show went to Iraq recently and reported back some choice comedy bits. Watch them here.

The Supreme Court recently reinstated segregation and schools across the country have reasons to worry.

Suggested Reading: NPR spent some time this week covering Iran and its influence and effect on its neighbors.

Also from NPR, a segment concerning the history of the New Deal that I enjoyed.

Bush is screwing children over by fighting to diminish a government insurance program created specifically for them. But George, if the children aren't healthy, how will they fight the GOP's War Without End?

Congress may have at least attempting to reduce the influence of lobbyists and general scumbags, but no sure illusions exist for the executive branch, which is openly sucking at the teat of big business. Now you know.

I'm not sure if I linked it or not, but awhile back a Chinese reporter issued a story about people using filthy wet cardboard to make baozi, or steamed buns, for sale as street food. He was jailed and confessed to admitting he made it all up. This coming from a country that poisons our pet food and gives our kids lead-laden toys. A country that poisons its own people to make a buck? Or a yuan or remimbi or whatever? Riiiiight. Sure it was a sham.

Anyways, now there is a report that a Chinese chopstick factory is "recycling" over 100,000 chopsticks a day. And no, no attempts at actually sanitizing them are done. Yecch.

"President Bush failed to adequately address many of the urgent issues facing veterans today. The last thing these veterans needed was a history lesson. They remember America’s wars because they actually fought them. Instead of making references to previous conflicts, we need the President to take more seriously the myriad of issues facing veterans and their families right now."

- Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director, IAVA, on Bush's VFW speech this week

Received my copy of Chasing Ghosts today in the mail. Order your copy here and support the IAVA.

Recently a Navy veteran was told to go buy his own Purple Heart as we apparently seem to be out right now.

Police officers across the country are short on ammunition because of the Iraq War and conflict in Afghanistan. Some cannot qualify on their weapons; other practice using paint ball guns. And Bush calls this defending America?

Our troops continue having trouble combating IEDs, getting enough mine resistant vehicles, and getting the Iraqis to finish the reconstruction projects we started.

Bush's "War Czar" is concerned about the stresses being placed on our troops. Too bad his boss doesn't seem to have the same sense of urgency.

The Guardian covers this issue since the president won't. And, given the lack of

More thoughts on what it would take to pull our troops out of Iraq. For the time being, the military looks to reduce its role - and presumably its exposure to violence - in Iraq.

Last, but not least, the military has a growing problem with gang members in the ranks. With the increasingly lax recruiting standards, this problem isn't getting any better. Hell, train EVERY gang member in this country and then drop them off in Baghdad to occupy Iraq and let our actual law-abiding citizen soldiers come home to their families. I think every decent American can sign off on that idea.

My hard drive is in, thus I'm about to wipe out this install and get back to proper operations. Thus, I feel compelled to post some more links before taking the PC down for renovations.

First off, Bush finally compared Iraq to Vietnam, apparently forgetting how bad of an idea that probably is. Then again, he spent the Vietnam War doing blow in Alabama and refusing to fly planes even though he was, you know, a pilot. And that's when he bothered to show up.

Referencing Graham Greene's The Quiet American was also an idiotic move.

Then again, remember Bush wants to be thought of as literate. Too bad really, as all we remember him doing is reading a kid's book and ignoring the fact that we were attacked by terrorists. I mean, before he spent 9/11 running away on Air Force One. That, and strumming a guitar at a birthday party while New Orleans drowned.

Conservative pieces of crap have magically found $15 million to spread their message of fearmongering to keep our troops in Iraq for presumably forever.

Anyway, more on that reading poll that shows that conservatives won't - or can't - read. Also, seems like American is slowing turning away from conservative values. I presume they mean hate, fear, racism, ignorance, and all-around "being-an-asshole" tendencies. If true, welcome back American!

Speaking of illiterate southerners, Arkansas recently screwed up and passed a law that allows an adult to marry an infant. And now they can't easily change the law to what it intended to be. So, let's review. The same type of people who won't let gays marry, sniff at people who marry outside their race, and think they have to intrude on your personal life in every way possible now have allowed pedophiles to get hitched to a 5-year old.

But don't blame just the conservatives here. In Atlanta, the NAACP stands behind dog killer Michael Vick and would love to see him play football just as soon as he gets out of a penitentiary. The same group is fighting a law that bans baggy jeans that show your boxers or thongs. Instead of concentrating on the "our kids are idiots and apparently need to be taught how to look respectable", the Atlanta NAACP thinks the law is a slap in the face to black culture. And hey, maybe they're right. Then again, black culture may want to take a moment to decide whether or not they want to present themselves as morons who can't dress right and not look like deadbeat skanks, too.

Oh, wait, the Bushites DO read some things besides their Jesus for Dummies paperbacks. There is apparently a manual on how to "deal with protestors". Essentially what we are talking about is a government document on how to suppress free speech. Very democratic, no?

Feel like you are earning less than you were before Bush took office? You're right. Sorry about that. Then again, I didn't vote for the SOB.

Our military and our treasury are not unlimited resources. The war in Iraq is breaking our fine Army and Marine Corps, and we are perilously close to doing damage that will take more than a decade to fix. Our brigades and divisions in Iraq today are at near full strength because the rest of the force has been gutted. We cannot place America in a position of weakness as it just begins its long war against world-wide Islamic extremism. The Republican administration is bleeding our national treasure in blood and dollars with little to show for it.

- Major General John Batiste, US Army (ret.)

If you read one thing I link this week - hell, this year - read this. Seven soldiers, fresh out of Iraq with the 82nd Airborne give a realistic view of the war. It doesn't jive with the Bush Administration, their pet General Petraeus, or with whatever Admiral in charge of soldiers and Marines they've had to dig up to justify their sorry excuse for a war plan. More on them here.

Apparently they still have enough rights to speak openly like this. Which is good I suppose, given all the lies coming out of Washington.

Recently retired Major General John Batiste, no liberal by any stretch of the imagination, has posted an editorial on ThinkProgress that fires a volley at the incompetence of Bush and his lackeys.

Meanwhile, the Army Secretary wants to limit the length of deployments, something the administration is completely oblivious to. This is response to news that we are burning out our military.

Things aren't going so well in Iraq, despite Bush's claims. Militias are taking over the power grid there.

Plus there's already major doubts that Petraeus' report won't be hijacked and politicized by the Bushites.

This sucks. Some guy shows up at a Giants game and catches Bonds' 756th ball and now has to auction it off. Matt Murphy wants to keep the ball but since it is a souvenir it gets taxed. And consider it's worth at least a half million to a million and a half, he obviously can't keep it.

So, we've got a president who keeps cutting taxes for the rich, gets rid of inheritance taxes, wants to remove taxes from investment profits, and generally let every company get off the hook tax-free for selling American jobs overseas, but some schmoe catches a historic piece of sports history and the IRS gets ready to feed on him like hungry vampires. Seriously?

Bush has a presidential statement to allow torturing and imprisonment of random brown people. He rules like a dictator, his people can't be questioned, his decisions can't be challenged in court, he kills Americans in a silly war like we're going out of style. You'd think he'd jump in and give this guy a pass this one time.

But that would require a respect for America, Americans, and our best traditions. Which he obviously does not have. His idea of tradition is letting KKK members parade around the desert hunting down Mexicans as "Minutemen" and letting modern day robber barons rip off American citizens.

Oh well.

In related baseball news, Ari Fleischer, Bush's former talking head, is now a talking head for the aluminum baseball bat cabal in the face of bans of bats on some fields. Look, I love my baseball, but I loathe aluminum bats. It is a way of making everyone a home run hitter. Which, if you aren't, you shouldn't be. He says it doesn't make the game as "fun" as it should be.

Just like a Bushite, wanting a cheat to make things look easier than they are.

I'm dinged a lot for being opinionated but not really forthcoming personally on the site. That's probably true. I'm vaguely private, which is a bad thing for a blog I guess.

So, I'm giving a few moments for some guilty pleasures o' mine. Many have recently been in the news, others I just like and have for quite a long time.

First off, Robot Chicken. This isn't exactly fringe comedy since it's on cable and gets good press. Seth Green and pals come up with utterly insane plot lines that usually hit funny right on the nose. I reference this season's immigration crackdown skit. It is part of the Adult Swim lineup, which is an increasingly mixed bag of sheer genius and utter crap. Sometimes really wretched crap. Yes, I'm talking to you Saul of the Molemen and Tom Goes to the Mayor.

Another fun thing is watching Craig Ferguson's show. We don't always catch it, but damn is he awkward, amusing, and smart all at the same time. Read this, check your local listings for the Late Late Show and watch.

I've mentioned Walter Mosley's Futureland before - I think - and if you haven't picked up a copy, I'd still encourage you to do so. Here is an interview with Mosley concerning the book if you want more info.

More to come I imagine.

According to a recent study, over a quarter of Americans did not read a book last year.

Of those who do read, men read about five books a year. Hell, I think I'm reading five books RIGHT NOW!

And, inevitably, religious books and romance novels are what get picked up by the average reader. I don't what to say to that.

I *finally* got the comment form working on the main site. So, yeah, Jeff, you can hit me with messages from there now. I was having issues with the CGI (don't know why, it's the easiest thing on earth) and finally went with some other form of scripting. Then found out my MX records were reset on the domain...again. Got *that* fixed, and now here we are.

Send me a message. See if I reply.

The IAVA and the band Drowning Pool have gotten together to push an agenda called This is for the Soldiers. In a nutshell, it is an online petition to Representative Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, yes, a Democrat, to encourage him to push for the passage of HR 1354, the Lane Evans Bill. The bill would improve benefits for our veterans and require regular reports on our wars overseas. There is also a Senate version called S 117.

As those of you back home know, Lane Evans is a vet and was our long-serving US Representative from Illinois' 17th District. With my grandparents being involved in local politics back in the day, I got to meet him a few times and was very supportive of the Galva Guard during their deployment in Iraq recently. He decided not to run for re-election in 2006 due to complications with Parkinson's, an illness exploited by his evil witch GOP opponent in 2004.

More on him here for those who don't know him, and the text of Senator Dick Durbin's tribute to him on his retirement.

Basically, good man, and a good bill in his name. Get a hold of your congressman and senator to get them to vote on this bill.

IAVA also has a petition you can sign that goes to the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs to increase mental health staffing at VA hospitals. Let your voice be heard.

Hell, I'm McLovin it. By the way, go see "Superbad". If you aren't convinced, read this review. Then go see "Superbad" and thank me later.

That said, I'm not covering movies or McDonalds today. Basically, I'm just hitting the highlights of recent Obama news. Yeah, I'm still pulling for him, and, no, nothing recently has convinced me otherwise, though when did Joe Biden get funny?

The recent news cycle started, of course, when Barack said he would insert troops into Pakistan to fight terrorists there since the current government isn't. He got a lot of flak for this, but take a moment to dissect it. We have a general in charge there running a military dictatorship, who was friendly with the Taliban. The alternative is an fundamentalist Islamic state that would be highly pro-al-Qaeda. Hell, they've got Musharraf to cut deals with the terrorists and fundies hiding bin Laden.

Don't get me wrong. Bin Laden is just a figurehead; but wouldn't it be nice to see a platoon of Wisconsin guardsmen surrounding his shot up corpse? I'd feel some sense of accomplishment.

Obama has had to defend some of his positions against his fellow Democrats. But hell, world opinion is on his side, as are some conservatives. Then again, the latter's leaders have only had the "let's bomb the brown people" strategy to go with so anything sounds better to them.

Today, he called for us to ease up on how we allow Florida Cubans to interact with their folks back in Cuba. Bush has been punishing families to pick a fight with Castro and Obama wants to change that. And seriously, the old guy is gonna die any day now; do you really want the US government coming off like more of a pack of tools than we already have since the late 50's.

Inexperienced? Maybe. Doesn't mean he doesn't have some good ideas.

Still removing tabs prior to my hard drive coming in. Yeah, I know, I could probably be doing something else.

Giuliani continues to pimp his "leadership" in the aftermath of 9/11, even as we found out he only spent a total of 29 hours at Ground Zero. Funny, isn't is, that he pretty much bills himself as the guy who single-handedly restored New York City and spent barely over a day at the attack site. No wonder the actual rescue and recovery workers are pissed off.

Bush has declared that you cannot challenge his illegal wiretapping in court. He is invoking the "states secrets privilege", whatever that is. You ever get the feeling he's just making this up as he goes along?

Also, he's close to passing Reagan's record for most vacation days taken by a sitting president. Wow, these Republicans sure are lazy people. Evil, but lazy.

Tired of fighting both us and the Shi'ite militias, the Sunnis in Iraq are joining up with us against a common enemy. Not sure that picking fights in a civil war should be our thing, you know, but it probably means less people shooting at our guys.

NPR reports that minority-majority counties are on the rise. The NYT covers it as well.

Russia is selling new sniper rifles to Venezuela. No word on when Bush is going to challenge Chavez to "bring it on" to start shooting Marines at our embassy in Caracas.

Meanwhile, the World Junior Baseball Championships have been cancelled because Chavez refuses to recognize the Taiwanese team and the tournament was supposed to take place in Venezuela.

Look, keep your damn politics out of sports please.

We're creating a database in Iraq that includes such things as tribal affiliation, address, fingerprints, etc. Basically, something that would make it very easy for you to pick out whoever you want to kill in a random crowd. Helpful of us, isn't it?

I was really psyched about seeing the Cubs play the Cards on Sunday Night Baseball tonight, but then the game got rained out in the third, which really sucks because Zambrano had it going tonight.

I love baseball, and anyone who knows me knows that. There's no asshole joke bully business like in football, or glory-hogging gansta BS like in basketball. And though I like soccer, I really like the idea of bathroom breaks a bit better. Hockey? Fun to watch in person, and usually minor league. Golf is a skill and NASCAR is glorification of redneck moonshiners, i.e. felons. None of this is news to anyone whose had a beer or two with me and discussed this topic.

So baseball is my game. And through Bud Selig, the '94 strike, interleague play, Barry Bonds, the frickin' Yankees, and all other ways the major league game has tried to destroy itself, it is still here and I'm still watching.

That said, as much as everyday yahoos want to see everyone hit a dinger over the wall, I really like pitching. And lately, we've had that, and even a touch of the hitting too.

For example, John Santana today fanned 17 batters and won 1-0. The other side wasn't doing too shabby either so I guess he needed to pull an all-star performance out of his back pocket. I like Johan, and he wants to play for a contender. Hey! Whoever ends up owning the Cubs: pay attention!

Even cooler is rookie Micah Owings, who the other night struck out seven batters and won his sixth game of the year, 12-6. Even cooler than *that* is he hit two home runs, was four runs, and batted in six RBIs, and he left in the seventh inning. Talk about helping your own cause.

He's not alone in shining on the mound for the D-backs. Ace Brandon Webb has pitched 42 scoreless innings of late and is closing in on Orel Hershiser's record of 59. Long odds of him overtaking that with the late season battles coming up, but very impressive.

Just a month and a few left in the season and I'm enjoying myself. I'm also 20+ games up in my fantasy league, so you gotta like that. If you haven't been watching, please do. Plenty of good games and good stories around the league, including the rebirth of Rick Ankiel. Sure, he's a Cardinal, but seems like a nice guy regardless.

More on retiring Republicans who need time to atone for their sins before meeting their maker. Personally, they probably should have started earlier.

The Commerce and Treasury departments apparently diverted public funds to help pay for Republican candidates' campaigns. So yeah, it seems the government HAS become part of the GOP. Think I could avoid paying taxes because I'm not a Republican? It is only fair. I don't want to pay to have racists, bigots, and Rapture bunnies elected.

More concerns about Congress bending over willingly and giving Bush more power to spy. Oh gee, maybe someone should have thought about that before giving it to him. Oh wait, the courts had already ruled it illegal. Twice.

And hey, we've freaked out the Russians enough that they are reinstituting bomber patrols.

Well, my hard drive is going to pot and I'm going to clear out my tabs and hope I can backup everything I can before the new HD comes in. Seriously, I can't find the drive I want at Fry's, CompUSA, or random office supply store. And no, I'm not going to Best Buy. Remember, moving parts and Best Buy equal disappointment and lost money.

NewEgg will save the day. But not until early next week. So now I limp along with a half-ass configured XP load. Lost my Vista and Ubuntu. It is a dang good thing I just bought an external hard drive a few days ago and dumped a lot of my data on it. For now I just have to do a lot of reinstalling.

The Economist covers the Republican collapse as well as comments on Rove's wussing out ahead of Congressional lynch mobs.

ThinkProgress lists the rats jumping off the sinking ship since November, with Tony Snow already packing his last piece of cheese.

But, hey, Bush ain't worried. Wanna know why? His girlfriend Condi is sticking by her man until the end.

Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, is helping his pals get rich off of Katrina contracts. And who says corruption is dead in the GOP?

McCain, apparently realizing that sucking at Bush's teat isn't going to get his elected, is now casting himself as an opponent of the Iraq War. Apparently, he's confused opposition with cheerleading. Read more here.

Gingrich is "at war" with illegal aliens.

Rove thinks anyone who hates him is a "snob" who hates "common sense". Or, you know, maybe its because we hate racist scumbags. Go figure.

Ted Stevens, corrupt Alaskan Republican (is that redundant?), swears that a newspaper is trying to "assassinate" him as it covers his nefarious deeds.

FAUXNews' John Gibson says he's also "at war" with other media groups, who frankly just report and correct his lies.

Know what REALLY pisses Bush off? Fashion writers who accuse him of playing rancher dress up (go halfway down the page). Seriously, of all the thinks we say about the Asshat-in-Chief, his clothing choices are what piss him off? Someone has their priorities out of whack. Or hell, maybe he's gay?

Do you ever get the impression that all these Republicans are just a pack of whining little bitches? Seriously, go look over that list again. They cry, moan, complain and make up boogeymen who are "out to get them" whenever they are caught lying, stealing, cheating, and destroying our democracy.

They never go to war but lust for death. They never seem to work hard but make it so working people have to suffer under unfettered, corrupt corporate goons. They cut taxes for their pals and then let other of their pals overcharge us for gas, energy, and everything else under the sun. They say they are for families and freedom and aid in destroying both. They call upon God but let their pedophile colleagues hunt for prey and their racist and sexist low lifes change the laws, subborn the good, start wars of religion.

Why the hell do you Republicans vote for such scumbags. I mean, I'm not a Hillary fan but you demonize her because she's pushy? Is that all you've got? Really?

One last scumbag, and his fans. Idaho Congressman Bill Sali has stated the following recently:

We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes — and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

Basically, we're apparently a theocracy run by Awlmawty Gawd and his boy Jeezus and all other religions need not apply let Gawd shall surely strike us dead. Look, when will normal, rational, sane, and caring Christians remove these vile representatives from our sight? Seriously. When?

It gets worse. Check out this site that reports the same incident, but also read the comments. Seriously, al-Qaeda is the least threat to our democracy, and if you read the thoughts of these idiots, you would agree wholeheartedly with me.

I needed this.

I pick up a copy of The Economist ever so often just to catch up with the world. This week's issue however, had a wry little piece on how our modern life does not serve many of our old cliches well. Check it out.

So, Karl Rove is resigning. Apparently he decided that he'd done enough evil without oversight and accountability and didn't even want to fight the spineless back of idiots that the Dems have in Congress. You know, turning politics even dirtier than ever before, starting an illegal war, shitting on the Constitution, and being the best and only friend of a moronic faux-Texas asshat must be wearing on the soul.

That said, I'm sure he's not done been a nefarious prick. But for now, good riddance to bad garbage.

Of course, he's playing himself off as some kind of martyr being pursued by people who - gasp! - expect him to be responsible for his dirty deeds. Oh no! Really?

An unfortunately short list of his failures.

That said, Bush is not alone in the world without his admirers. While we know he's joking when he states he's spreading democracy, he recently picked up a new fan: Evil Dictator Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The Asshole of Africa recently signed a new domestic spying law into effect, using Bush's plans as a template and example.

Great, we're now held up as an example by Third World scumbags. Thanks Bush!

Meanwhile, Al "Torture is Fun!" Gonzales is in Iraq helping them design their legal system. Yet another milestone towards democracy!

Bush keeps talking about his "culture of life", which is odd coming from a guy who killed a woman even the Pope forgave and started a war that has killed thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

As Texas comes near to executing its 400th inmate in the modern era, a look at how religion and "hang 'em high" Old West mentality has made Texas Murder Inc. A few more factoids here.

A Texas church scrapped plans at the last minute to have a funeral service for a former Navy member. Gee, turns out he was gay. Too bad, he's not one of God's children in their eyes.

Now THAT is supporting the troops fundamentalist style.

Meanwhile the White House is trying to block a move to give our veterans more educational support. Considering my brother is 24, still in college, and can't get his GI Bill bennies as it is, you know where I stand on this. And he only pulled one tour. Think of some of those other guys and gals.

Oh wait, one more insult to injury. Some of our foreign-born servicemen, who signed up partially to earn their citizenship, have to worry about more than car bombs and suicidal religious fanatics: their government is deporting their families even as they "fight them there so we don't have to here." Some support, huh?

"Freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."

This is "America's Mayor" from back in 1994 (linky).

Somehow I doubt the Founding Father's envisioned 1984's "Freedom is Slavery" slogan to define what they meant in the Declaration of Independence.

"The good news is that we have a volunteer Army and that's the way we're going to keep it."

- Mitt Romney, on why his five sons are not in the military, despite him being a warmongering zealot and supporter of Bush's war

Never mind the fact that their names are Tag, Biff, Zip, Bud and Lex. Seriously. Nevermind the fact that they dad never served either. Where the hell does Romney get off blowing off family members of servicemen in Iraq with such bullshit answers as to why he willingly and fanatically supports other people's children being put in harm's way in Iraq when he has the equivalent of a basketball starting roster sitting on the sidelines. No, wait. Sitting on the sidelines implies they actually suited up. The Romney boys aren't even in the stadium.

Next up...

"I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. ... I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

- Rudy Giuliani, scumbag, on how he's even more of a 9/11 hero than the firefighters or rescue workers who actually worked in the rubble

Not much to say here beyond this: why the hell doesn't someone call out this jerk about how awful of a mayor he was and why pimping 9/11 for political gain is the mark of a cretin?

Get this. Bush yesterday ranted like mad against the idea of raising the price of gas 2 cents to help pay for infrastructure repairs so we don't - for example - have more bridges falling apart.

He says Congress should be more careful how it spends the money it already collects for this work. And I'm not saying he's wrong on that. Government waste is always going to be an issue.

That said, what a hypocritical piece of crap he is. The price of gas when Bush got into office was about $1.40 or so. Prices are now about $2.88, down from over 3 bucks earlier in the summer.

So....

Bush hates the idea of a 2 cent tax to keep America on a sound infrastructure foundation, but is totally cool with more than doubling the price of gas due to his Arab oil hand-holding despots and criminal fat bastard US oil execs ripping off American citizens. Not to mention his hand in this scam by starting an illegal war because, well, he felt like it.

Republican priorities folks. If you haven't learned it now, you just aren't paying attention.

Incidentally, Bush is on vacation. So is Congress, but only after it sucked up to Bush and let him spy on Americans some more. And while our soldiers roast in 130 degree heat, the Iraqi parliament is on vacation too and the White House is apparently cool with that idea. Hell, Maliki is hanging out in Iran again, though Bush took a nanosecond to condemn the Iran-Iraq lovefest before heading off to daddy's house.

And, though I don't think anyone really deserves a kid like George W. Bush, I had to laugh over the sappy BS about Bush Sr. You know, if you'd raised your kid right, maybe he wouldn't be this way.

Speaking of asshats, meet Robert Murray, who owns the mine in Utah that collapsed this week. What a jackass.

The Army is spending more on bonuses and offering more bennies to new recruits. I feel bad for them in a way.

That said, here's a reservist trying to fight off being shipped out for the fifth time. Yeah, a reservist. Good luck to him too.

The continuing problems of Katrina survivors and their government trailer parks.

And one last story from Ray about a Rush Limbaugh fan who lives in his car outside his house and craps in his yard. Classic.

Let's get this straight: Barry Bonds is a cretin. A massive pimple on the backside of mankind.

That said, he was allowed to juice up and is now baseball's homerun champion. Damnit.

Here's a nice article on how a class act like Hank Aaron treats his usurper.

That said, here's one a little closer to my heart.

I can't believe I have to pull for A-Rod now. Damn you Bonds.

At work, on the phone and listening to hold music. Fun!

Anyways, some items that interested me this morning.

Our troops in Afghanistan are dipping into the local heroin stash as their service grows equally more dangerous and more dull.

The richest guy in the world is a Mexican. Now, if we can get him to hire more people, we could stop worrying about the border.

Some Republicans aren't all about destroying civilization as a few stand up to Tancredo and his jones about bombing Mecca.

That said, the Westboro Baptist Church is thanking God for killing people in the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Joy. Meanwhile, Bush is offering to help rebuild the bridge. Hope that goes better than reconstructing New Orleans. If I were those folks, I'd say thanks, but no thanks.

The Democrats, for some inexplicable reason, has given Bush the power to spy on Americans even moreso than before. So much for having privacy in this country, and so much for all the rhetoric of stopping this dictator. A sampling of editorials on the issue.

Here in the US, we are running out of places to bury all our vets. We're also going soft on our new recruits. Because, you know, the soft touch goes well when training people to fight people who behead their prisoners.

In England, they are simultaneously taking better care of their troops and thumbing their noses at Muslim fundamentalists.

By contrast, we've found out the Iraqis have lost about 200,000 weapons we gave them, and Republicans like Tancredo want to tie a terrorist event to bombing Mecca.

So much for tolerance.

Meanwhile, even including the fact that it is Arkansas, who the hell needs seventeen kids in this day and age?

I've been out of it almost all day. The earlier post was just mostly something I'd written up last night. Aches, small fever, random chills, upset stomach, I'm really loving life right now. Figured I'd try to clear off some of these tabs and add to the collective discussion if I can get a thought through my brain.

So, I've been noticing that Bush has resorted to having an admiral run Central Command, even as the Army and the Marines take it on the chin for his idiotic policies. And now he's got another admiral up to be the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs. And, not too much disrespect to the navy, but aren't the ground pounders in the shit right now? I wonder why Bush is going to the navy for his leadership positions? I mean, hell, even this Admiral Mullen isn't rosy about our prospects in Iraq. How would a general actually involved in that mess speak in public?

The Senate passed an ethics bill today. It, of course, doesn't go as far as it should, but is at least progress. The Republicans denounce it for not going far enough. That said, it isn't like they passed any ethics rules when they were in charge. Nice move scumbags.

Some perspective on the issue of casualty figures from Iraq. In short, don't believe the hype coming from the White House.

Bush is screwing over small business owners in Louisiana when it comes to reconstruction contracts. Perhaps they object to those owners paying their employees decent wages and benefits.

Meanwhile, the Third Circuit Court has screwed Louisiana homeowners from claiming "flood" damage against their hurricane insurance. So that's two branches of the federal government against those folks.

Speaking of Louisiana, if you hear a Republican tell you racism is dead in America, quickly refer the idiot to this awful story. Makes you wonder why people fought so hard to keep the South in the Union.

Want an America without torture? There's a pledge for you to sign if you wish. More importantly, see if you can get your political candidate of choice to step up.

"It's easy being the hunter, to chase somebody. It's hard being the one that's hunted. We've just got to keep playing hard and doing the things we're doing. There's a lot of confidence in here."

- Cubs reliever Ryan Dempster, on Wednesday's win and what it means

First things first. Statistically, as of this morning, the Chicago Cubs are in first place in the NL Central. This is as it should be, and a remarkable achievement considering how they started this season.

And yes, they are the feel-good sports story of the moment. That said, there is still a lot of work for them to do. But getting here isn't half bad all things considered.

That said, the Red Sox loaded their considerable bullpen up just a bit more with the addition of Eric Gagne.

Could this be my dream series? Stay tuned.

It has been a week and a half with no good A/C here in the office. Currently it is a mere 79.3 degrees in here with 56% humidity. You think that isn't bad, but consider the following. It is 80 degrees outside, cloudy, and raining and the A/C works in some parts of the building. Two, I live in a desert; we aren't used to even 30% humidity. And, like I said, it has been like this for days in here.

Apparently the CEO in Australia had to sign off on getting someone to actually fix this mess so we now have one guy popping his head into the ceiling tiles and/or laying on the floor prostrate looking at blueprints with the fervor of someone on a prayer rug. That, I guess, is supposed to be making us feel better about the situation.

More on the Republicans Hate Technology (and the Common People) meme.

Rumsfeld went to Capitol Hill to try to cover his ass over the fragging of Pat Tillman. Actually, someone help me out here: can you frag a Corporal? If that's only for officers, what do you call this then?

The Iraqis are accusing the Brits of unleashing killer badgers in Southern Iraq. There are so many places to go on this that I'm just going to leave it alone.

Speaking of evil old men, it seems to take Cheney about two years to sort of apologize for lying to us. At least, on the small stuff. I doubt we'll ever get any actual remorse out of that husk of darkness.

Interesting tidbits:

- The top 5 reasons to own a pet

- NPR covers the concept of online avatars. Look! The news people are starting to catch on!

- This one is from Josh and on how with just Rupert Murdoch, the lie of the concept of "liberal media" is laid bare

- This is from Schoffy, a game to waste your time. I'm stuck on level 50 and going insane.