Funnies from sunny Florida

Thanks to Jim McPherson

JimmyJeffGannonGuckert answers, well, nothing

Bill Maher was headed in the right direction in questioning JJGG but he didn't go far enough in my opinion. When he did ask a series of tough questions he allowed JJGG to skirt the issue and not answer fully and sometimes not truthfully. The worst letdown was when JJGG made, what he thought, was a clever remark "Usually reporters prositute themselves AFTER becoming reporters." As if being a prostitute before becoming a fake journalist was somehow better. Bill responded with "Touche" as if the remark was actually clever. JJGG needs no encouragement. All in all I came away disappointed with the exchange.

JOE PERRY ROCKS!

As I mentioned back in March, Joe Perry is releasing a new solo DualDisc CD/DVD on May 3. I also mentioned that I had preordered it through SONY Music. When I got home from the salt mines today THERE IT WAS IN MY MAILBOX! Complete with the free bottle of Joe's own hot sauce but I doubt I'll ever open it. I tend to collect weird things like that. I think I even have a can of Billy Beer somewhere. Maybe it's with my bottle of Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale (Tempered over burning witches).

Anyway, the first two songs didn't grab me right away but after that Joe rocked my world. Excellent stuff. He does a pretty darn good cover of Crystal Ship by The Doors as well as Vigilante Man by Woody Guthrie. All the other songs were written by Joe. If you appreciate the guitar work on Aerosmith albums you'll love this self titled DualDisc. What a way to end a long week!

I haven't delved into the DVD side yet. I'll update this post when I do.

38 Repugnant Senators and 1 DemocRAT voted against Humvee armor for our troops

The Republican Party: an organization that supports sending U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq without providing them the means to defend themselves.

Paying for Humvee Armor

How many Bushies does it take to change a light bulb?

1. one to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed

2. one to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed

3. one to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb

4. one to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for darkness

5. one to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to haliburton for the new light bulb

6. one to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing ona step ladder under the banner: lightbulb change accomplished

7. one administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how bush was literally in the dark

8. one to viciously smear #7

9. one surrogate to campaign on tv and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light-bulb-changing policy all along

10. and finally one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country

Excellent take on Smirky's ramblings last night

Via Democratic Underground

Bush on Social Security: Sharing is BAD!
Posted by Plaid Adder
Added to homepage Fri Apr 29th 2005, 08:30 AM ET

I'm glad he doesn't give press conferences very often. I can't take much more o' this.

Oh my GOD, it is PAINFUL! The disconnect between the questions and the answers, the rambling, the leaping from talking point to talking point as if they are ice floes giving him temporary shelter from the black and turbulent waters of ignorance and incoherence, the first-grader vocabulary, and the BULLSHIT! Just the BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT, BULLSHIT!!!

Social Security, for instance. It's not fair! It's not fair because if you are paying into it and then you die before you're 62 your spouse can't inherit both your benefits and her benefits! The money you paid in just DISAPPEARS!

No, it doesn't disappear, asshole. What happens is that it goes into the common pot out of which other people are drawing their benefits. In other words, it gets SHARED. That is the whole principle of Social Security: that people share their money. We are putting in money now from our payroll taxes; well, that money is not going to 'come back' to us when we retire. That money is paying for peoples' benefits right now. Our benefits will be paid by the taxes of the people who are working when we retire. And so on. Everyone pays into the kitty and the kitty pays out to everyone. And that is how, if you hit retirement age but you have blown your whole wad on the ponies or single malt scotch or Enron or college tuition for your kids, you can still survive--because even though 'your' money has gone up in smoke, the kitty into which everyone has been paying will still take care of you. That's what a safety net is.

The private account thing is based on the same logic: I don't want my money paying for some other bozo's benefits! I want MY money to pay for MY benefits! Mine mine mine all mine! And somehow he never ends up explaining that if, for instance, I decided right now to invest some of my social security taxes in my voluntary stock market account, that would mean that the pool of money available for people who are retired *right now* would decrease by that amount. And if everyone was doing it, then the pool would decrease significantly. OK, so when we fire up these 'private accounts,' basically we are refusing to play along and put into the kitty. Nevertheless, the number of people drawing from the kitty does not change. So how does this help make the system solvent?

It doesn't. That's not the point. The point is: You get to keep YOUR MONEY! Fuck everyone who's retired right now! Why should THEY get YOUR MONEY?

If you take what Bush said about the unfairness of Social Security at face value, it boils down to this: Sharing is bad. And of course, that is why they hate Social Security, isn't it, because it's sharing. Sharing...you know, it's kind of one of them Communist things.

@#$!,

The Plaid Adder

Dubya sez...

In honor of Smirky the Chimp's press conference last night, here are a few gems for your enjoyment:

"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 20, 2005

"Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the facts is what you're going to do about it."
—George W. Bush, Kirtland, Ohio, April 15, 2005

"I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the Mother in me."
—George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

"We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will make — it would hope — put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 14, 2005

"I want to thank you for the importance that you've shown for education and literacy."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2005

"I understand there's a suspicion that we—we're too security-conscience."
—George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

Speaking of bat-shit crazy conservatives...

Here's a letter to the editor of the AJC that is so absurd it's almost funny. The writer is referring to a column by Jay Bookman. An excellent liberal leaning columnist who writes for the AJC.

Bookman off-base on Bush

I continue to be amazed, but no longer surprised, at articles like Jay Bookman's column ("The numbers crunch Bush into a failure," issue, April 28).

It is always the polls. What I do not understand is that not a single person I know agrees with Bookman, and between work and other activities, I know a lot of people.

President Bush has made mistakes --- everyone does. But overall, he has done better than his predecessor.

CLOYCE LAMB, Suwanee

This guy truly lives a sheltered life if every person he knows thinks Dubya is doing a great job. Not to mention the fact that Suwanee Georgia is smaller that a pimple on a gnat's ass.

Here is the column that Cloyce is referring to:

The numbers crunch Bush into a failure

Published on: 04/28/05

History may record that the Bush presidency, and the Republican revolution that he hoped to lead, reached its high water mark on March 21, 2005, the day that President Bush signed a bill authorizing federal court intervention in the Terri Schiavo tragedy.

By overreaching so badly in that case, Republicans gave many Americans a fresh appreciation of the dangers of unchecked government arrogance, not to mention a renewed respect for the checks and balances needed to restrain that arrogance.

And for Republicans, that realization came at the worst conceivable time. Once that insight had taken hold, voters could see that same kind of arrogance at work in the GOP's move to protect House Majority Leader Tom DeLay by rewriting House ethics rules. And when Republican leaders began to attack federal judges as part of their holy crusade against the only government branch beyond their control, what had been a vague and growing unease began to coalesce into a deep distrust.

In fact, according to pollsters, Americans have come to reject both the premise and the tactics of the GOP's crusade. In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, just 26 percent said federal judges are too liberal; 18 percent said they're too conservative; and 52 percent think they're about right.

In that poll, an astounding 66 percent opposed the Republican effort to make it easier to ram even the most extreme judges through the Senate confirmation process. Like the change of ethics rules in the House, that proposed change is seen as an effort to remove all impediments to raw power.

That sea change in public perception has coincided with another dangerous trend for Republicans. On critical issues from Iraq to energy to the economy and Social Security, enough time has now passed to see the results of Bush's ideology-driven policies, and it isn't pretty.

The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen almost 800 points from its high in early March, and respected figures such as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his predecessor, Paul Volcker, are warning about dire consequences if the federal deficit is not addressed in a serious manner. Bush, however, has made it clear that he has no intention of changing course.

As a result, a Gallup poll last week found that only 31 percent of Americans rated the economy as good or excellent; 68 percent called it fair or poor. Back in early March, 50 percent of Americans told Gallup they believed the economy was getting worse; by last week, it had jumped to 61 percent.

Reality is rearing its ugly head in Iraq as well. More than three months after elections that were supposed to transform the country, Iraqis may only now be overcoming the ethnic feuding that has frustrated formation of a new government. U.S. military recruiting is falling, soldiers die, and this week, the CIA officially abandoned its search for weapons of mass destruction.

More telling still, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked in a press briefing Wednesday whether we were winning or losing in Iraq. It's a straightforward question, but Rumsfeld responded by saying that "winning or losing is not the issue for 'we,' in my view, in the traditional, conventional context of using the word 'winning' and 'losing' in a war."

In the ABC-Washington Post poll, 56 percent of Americans said they disapprove of Bush's policy in Iraq, and 54 percent said the war is not worthwhile. According to a Gallup poll earlier this month, 50 percent of Americans recognized that the Bush administration deliberately deceived them into war, up from 31 percent less than two years ago. That number will grow.

Pick your area, and the results are the same. Failed policy, and poll numbers that reflect it. Energy? Only 31 percent in a recent Associated Press poll said Bush was handling our energy problems effectively. Social Security? Bush has traveled the country trying to unite Americans on Social Security, and polls indicate that he's succeeding, if not quite in the way he had in mind. Opposition to Bush's handling of Social Security jumped from 56 percent to 64 percent between March and April. In a CBS poll earlier this month, only 25 percent said they were confident in his handling of Social Security.

Those poll results can't be explained by Democratic attacks or a liberal media. It's just the cold, hard recognition of failure setting in.

Makes sense to me but then I live in a populated area :-)

It looks as though being a scumbag, bat-shit crazy turncoat is hazardous to one's health

Zell Miller falls ill during speech in Gainesville

JimmyJeffGannonGuckert will be on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday 4/29/2005

There is no mention of it on the Real Time web site but take Atrios' word for it. I can't wait to see this guy torn to shreds. If Bill doesn't take him to task for everything including being a prostitute and being on the receiving end of special access to the White House I'll be VERY disappointed.

Doonesbury Triple Header

Doonesbury strips don't reduce real well so I had to provide links instead. Enjoy!

04/26/2005
04/27/2005
04/28/2005

Ann Telnaes 04/27/2005

The American Taliban strikes again!

Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. As CBS news correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters. "I don't look at it as censorship," says state representative Allen. "I look at it as protecting the hearts and souls and minds of our children."

Sorry Gerald. Everyone else with a brain sees it as censorship. It's very simple. If you make something unavailable to me because you don't agree with it, that's censorship.

Just to give you an idea, here is a short list of those whose works and stories would be excluded from Alabama school libraries:

Socrates (469-399 BC) Greek philosopher Practiced educational method using analytical cross-examination, emphasizing self-knowledge and rejection of received opinion. Dialogues with his pupils recorded by Plato. Sentenced to death for "corrupting" the youth of Athens.

Plato (c.427-347 BC) Greek philosopher Key figure in Western philosophy, founder of the Academy in Athens, pupil of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. Dialogues The Symposium and Phaedrus celebrated the spiritual love of youths, but tolerated backsliding. Love poems to Aster.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) King of MacedonConquered most of Greece, Persia, Asia Minor, India & Egypt (founded the city of Alexandria), transmitted Hellenic values across the civilized world. Mourned the death of his lover Hephaestian with extravagant funeral rites.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian painter, scientist, inventor Renaissance "universal genius", studied art, anatomy, aeronautics, architecture, engineering, hydro-dynamics. Mona Lisa and The Last Supper have come to symbolize the essence of art. Imprisoned for sodomy.

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British lawyer, scientist, philosopherKing's Counsel and Lord Chancellor under James I. Advocated empirical science in The Advancement of Learning and New Atlantis. Wrote pithy and penetrating Essays; "Of Friendship" celebrates male love.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) Italian painter His style of dramatic realism had a wide impact on European painting. Voluptuous homoerotic figures, incl. saints modeled on his boyfriends. A hot-tempered man, often involved in street violence.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet Lived a very private life, secretly writing more than a thousand poems, charcterized by lyrical intensity and paradoxes. Intimate relationship with Susan Gilbert Dickinson, to whom she wrote many passionate love letters.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish playwright, poet, critic Aesthete, witty conversationalist, used subversive paradoxes in his plays (The Importance of Being Earnest). Imprisoned after losing libel case against father of his lover Lord Alfred Douglas for calling him a sodomite.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) British novelist, essayist Archetypal Bloomsbury Modernist (To the Lighthouse, 1927). Feminist advocate (A Room of One's Own, 1929). Androgynous heroine of Orlando (1928) is modeled on her lover Vita Sackvile-West. Motto: "Women alone stir my imagination."

Sir Noel Coward (1899-1973) British actor, singer/songwriter, playwright Plays with satirical dialogue (Hay Fever 1925, Private Lives 1930), revues with memorable songs ("Mad Dogs and Englishmen" 1932) mocking pseudo-sophistication. Frivolous cabaret entertainer in the 1950s.

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) American playwright New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for The Glass Menagerie (1945), Pulitzer Prize for A Streetcar Named Desire (1948) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). Gay themes in Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and Night of the Iguana (1961).

Truman Capote (1924-1984) American writer Gay Southern Gothic (Other Voices, Other Rooms), portrait of a playgirl (Breakfast at Tiffany's), invented "non-fiction novel" (In Cold Blood). Books became successful films. Became a celebrity, petted then dumped by socialites.

James Baldwin (1924-1987) African-American novelist, writer Brought up in Harlem, lived mainly in Paris. Autobiographical gay novels Giovanni's Room, Another Country. Campaigned for black civil rights in USA (The Fire Next Time). Exemplifies revolutionary spirit of the 1960s.

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) American poet, activist The Beat Generation, with Jack Kerouac & William Burroughs. Major notoriety with Howl (1955), defiantly gay. Anti-establishment speaker at universities 1960s-1970s. Poet of drugs, Buddhism & gay liberation. Many literary awards.

Andy Warhol (c.1928-1987) American pop artist, filmmaker Pioneer of pop art (Campbell's Soup Cans), silk-screen portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Mao Zedong. Underground films from his "factory" with Paul Morrissey, mostly gay, starring Joe Dallesandro (Flesh, Trash).

Mind you this is a short list compiled from a much longer list found here. They may as well plan to remove about half of the literary works from their libraries.

Nevermind the kids being exposed to literature of and by gay people. I wouldn't want my kids to be exposed to Gerald Allen!

Dubya desperate to downplay energy rip-off

Over lunch I heard that Exxon (oil spill anyone?) is making billions in profits this quarter alone. Specifically 44% more over last year at this time. After that comes news that Dubya is expected to tout his "long-term" energy "solutions" in his press conference tonight. He is talking about nuclear power, and he's talking about drilling, and he's talking about every other asinine idea except the one that could make a difference to middle class people - cracking down on oil companies who are literally price gouging the American people.

GOP tries to manipulate the Vermont senate race

This is priceless. Republicans are desperate to manipulate the open-seat 2006 Vermont Senate race. They are trying to embarrass the national Democratic leadership into putting a candidate into the race against Independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, who votes with Democrats and is by far the strongest candidate. Why would the GOP want a serious Democrat in the race? Because it could split the vote and throw the race to the Republicans.

David Sirota says:

The National Review is the latest place where this attempted manipulation is taking place. Their columnist asks "Isn't it at least a little bit embarrassing for DNC chair Howard Dean that he can't get an official Democrat to run for the Senate in his home state?" No, actually, it's not. In fact, it's on purpose, as Sanders and Dean have been colleagues for years. Polls show that Sanders is the most popular politician in Vermont. He has been a longtime thorn in the GOP's side both at home and nationally. This kind of rhetoric from the GOP is nothing more than a transparent Karl Rove-esque ploy - and the national Democrats aren't having any of it. Already, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Democratic Senate campaign chairman Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have indicated that Sanders is their candidate. And I'm betting Vermonters aren't going to like Republicans trying to manipulate their elections.

Talking Points vs. Lucid Reasoning

A letter to the editor of the Orlando Sentinel spews Dubya's talking points about the supposed superiority of Social Security privatization accounts. The rebuttal to that letter is right on the money and obviously written someone with gray matter in their skull as opposed to Dubya mush.

The original letter:

Bush's plan best

If the polls are correct, it is hard to believe that most Americans do not want more money for retirement or to have control of their investments.

President Bush's Social Security reform is the best idea that has been recommended since Social Security was initiated. Here are some important facts that everyone should consider:

The return on your Social Security taxes is 1 percent at best, and you have to live to retirement to receive it. The return on a small percentage of your Social Security taxes invested in mutual funds would be between 3 percent and 10 percent. The funds could be invested in bank CDs and would earn about 3 percent to 4 percent.

These investments in personal accounts would be accessible to the worker at retirement or to their family upon the death of the worker. If a worker dies before retirement in the present Social Security system, the Social Security taxes are kept by the government.

Today's Social Security system is known as the world's largest Ponzi scheme; the first enrollees get paid by the funds contributed by later enrollees.

Yes, there is a cost for the conversion to the new system. As the old saying goes, "Pay me now or pay me later." The government will have to pay the cost of the changeover now or pay a larger amount to cover the cost of benefits to retirees later.

Do not believe the propaganda of AARP and the Democrats. They believe government is the answer to every problem, and you are not smart enough to plan for your own future and the future of your family.

Harry Paddon

Lady Lake

Rebuttal:

Missing the point

Harry Paddon's Monday letter to the editor on Social Security privatization echoes Republican talking points quite nicely. Sadly, such points miss the point.

Social Security is social insurance, not an investment scheme. Less than two-thirds of Social Security payments are made to retirees; significant amounts are paid to children, surviving spouses and the disabled. The purpose of these insurances is to prevent destitution in the event of tragedy or old age.

It was founded as a reaction to the misery of millions, and it intentionally includes a generational compact: We all pay a little bit as we work, and we all receive benefits when we get old, or (God forbid) are struck with disabling illness or injury, or lose a family member we depended upon. Now, if Republicans want to debate the wisdom of these intentions, I say great, let the battle be joined.

Instead we are deluged with gobbledygook about "investment returns." It's hogwash. The simple facts are, if the economy performs as well as privatization backers contend when they invent their estimates of stock returns, Social Security will never go insolvent, period. Alternately, if the economy does so poorly that Social Security is at risk of exhausting its trust fund, then the last place you want your money is the stock market.

Gregory M. Shimkaveg

Oviedo

Any comments?

Luckovich 04/28/2005

Whenever you see this Post Title Graphic you'll know that the subject of the post did something that just makes you wanna say "Dude, WTF?"

THIS IS FUNNY!

O|Harmony

Via Mixter's Mix

By the way Tommy... THAT'S ILLEGAL!

Tom DeLay, ever the hypocrite, is seen in a Time magazine photo smoking a big 'ol CUBAN stogie. The trouble is that Tommy is supposedly against anything that puts money into Fidel Castro's "blood-thirsty" hands.

The photo in question is in the same issue which has Ann Coulter the shrill blonde harpy on the cover. I can almost hear Tom now. "Ethics? We don't need no stinkin' ethics!"

But Did He Inhale?

Anti-Castro Majority Leader Tom DeLay enjoys a fine Cuban cigar

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, according to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a cigar is an economic prop to a brutal totalitarian regime. Arguing against loosening sanctions against Cuba last year, DeLay warned that Fidel Castro "will take the money. Every dime that finds its way into Cuba first finds its way into Fidel Castro's blood-thirsty hands.... American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor."
Read on... (w/ photo)

Advanced Performance Art

I've long been a fan of dark/sick humor. Benjie shared this with me so I'm sharing it with you.

Enjoy!

GOP to Reverse Ethics Rule Blocking New DeLay Probe

One would think that there was an election or something coming up next year.
Story here

A Dubya sez... Double Header

"I was a prisoner too, but for bad reasons."
—George W. Bush, to Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, on being told that all but one of the Argentine delegates to a summit meeting were imprisoned during the military dictatorship, Monterrey, Mexico, Jan. 13, 2004

"One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor — the president — governor — president. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him—get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq — and at that same — right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States — a Mexican citizen, now a United States citizen."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2004

Christian right goes nuclear

by: Molly Ivins

Republicans attack media outlets in battle over Rule 22

AUSTIN, Texas -- I was all set to write a column about the nuclear option -- the proposal to change the rules of the Senate in order to get President Bush's most questionable judicial appointments through -- when, lo, word came that there is no nuclear option anymore. It is now called "the constitutional option."
Read on...

I Maureen

Published: April 27, 2005

Why are they picking on poor John Bolton? Everyone knows the man is perfect for the United Nations job.
U.N.leash Woolly Bully Bolton
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345

When fiction fortells the future

Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here" has just been reissued, after being out of print, as a Signet paperback classic.

In 1935, Sinclair Lewis penned the cautionary tale, It Can't Happen Here, chronicling the fictional rise of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, who becomes President against the protests of Franklin D. Roosevelt and America's saner citizens.

A charismatic Senator who claims to champion the common man, Windrip is in the pocket of big business (i.e. Corpos), is favored by religious extremists, and though he talks of freedom and prosperity for all, he eventually becomes the ultimate crony capitalist. Boosted by Hearst newspapers (the FOX News of its day), he neuters both Congress and the Supreme Court, before stripping people of their liberties and installing a fascist dictatorship.

More here

New term that says it all

Fristianity.

Reid just engaged Frist in a game of chicken, and Frist blinked first

Reacting to a Democratic offer in the fight over filibusters, Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn't interested in any deal that fails to ensure Senate confirmation for all of President Bush's judicial nominees.

Via Daily KOS: Reid outmaneouvers Frist again

Bush gives yet another bone to big oil

With the oil companies enjoying record profits it's not like they can't afford to buy their own property for their refineries but Bush is now offering up closed military bases for that purpose. I can only imagine the nice deal that they would be getting on those properties. Wouldn't we be better served if these bases were used to research alternative energy sources? Of course we would but the Bushkoviks aren't interested in what would better serve America.
Bush Wants Refineries at Ex-Defense Bases

Luckovich 04/27/2005

Great cartoon. It can be taken more ways than one.

I Arianna almost as much as I Maureen

It looks like Arianna Huffington will soon have her own blog and it will bring blogging from the realm of the anonymous individual to the realm of the celebrity collective. Say hallelujah one time. I can't wait. It'll start May 9.
A Boldface Name Invites Others to Blog With Her
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345

The Oblivious Right

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: April 25, 2005

According to John Snow, the Treasury secretary, the global economy is in a "sweet spot." Conservative pundits close to the administration talk, without irony, about a "Bush boom."

Yet two-thirds of Americans polled by Gallup say that the economy is "only fair" or "poor." And only 33 percent of those polled believe the economy is improving, while 59 percent think it's getting worse.

Is the administration's obliviousness to the public's economic anxiety just partisanship? I don't think so: President Bush and other Republican leaders honestly think that we're living in the best of times. After all, everyone they talk to says so.

Since November's election, the victors have managed to be on the wrong side of public opinion on one issue after another: the economy, Social Security privatization, Terri Schiavo, Tom DeLay. By large margins, Americans say that the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Mr. Bush is the least popular second-term president on record.

Read on...
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345

Sunday Funnies

(click images for larger view)

Are you a good christian?

(click picture)
This is a great ad. It's amazing that the clip of the guy talking is 25 years old. Not much has changed since then.

Ding Dong the scheme is dead

Harry Reid told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board that he had enough votes in the Senate to block Bush's proposal to introduce private savings accounts as an alternative to the existing federal retirement plan. "It's dead," Reid said. "The president just hasn't acknowledged it yet."

Here's the article

Sargent 04/21/2005

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

This is without a doubt the most beautiful planet I've ever lived on.
(This post will remain at the top all day)

Try the "Belief-O-Matic" right in your own home!

Here is a fun little test via Mixter's Mix. Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows.

Apparently I lean more toward Unitarian Universalism. I like the sound of that. The ironic thing is that even though I was raised Catholic, Catholicism came out on the bottom. I was even an altar boy. Go figure.

TAKE THE TEST

Here are my results:
1. Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2. Secular Humanism (91%)
3. Liberal Quakers (78%)
4. Theravada Buddhism (77%)
5. Nontheist (74%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
7. Neo-Pagan (60%)
8. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (46%)
9. New Age (46%)
10. Mahayana Buddhism (43%)
11. Taoism (40%)
12. Bah�'� Faith (38%)
13. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (38%)
14. New Thought (36%)
15. Jehovah's Witness (31%)
16. Hinduism (31%)
17. Reform Judaism (29%)
18. Jainism (27%)
19. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (27%)
20. Scientology (27%)
21. Orthodox Quaker (26%)
22. Sikhism (20%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (11%)
24. Orthodox Judaism (9%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (6%)
26. Islam (6%)
27. Roman Catholic (6%)

Pope condemns Spanish gay marriage bill

Pope Benedict XVI has responded firmly to the first challenge of his papacy by condemning a Spanish government bill allowing marriage between homosexuals.

Excuse me if I don't take the Pope or his minions seriously because:

A - He was a Hitler Youth. I know. It was compulsory and he was against it, blah blah blah. The fact that he is an ultra-strict uber-conservative shows that he is right in line with that way of thinking.
B - He made the statement that homosexuals bring violence upon themselves.
C - He made the decision to sweep the pedophile priest problem under the rug.

So again, excuse me if I refuse the moral lectures of an immoral jackass.

Here's the article.

What Happens When Dems Run Things?

David Sirota has the rundown.

Beeler 04/22/2005

WAR COST USA OVER $300,000,000,000

Just look around our country and you'll see many ways we could have better utilized $300 billion. Oh well. At least the Iraqi's can vote now.

Senate OKs $81B for Iraq, Afghanistan
Apr 21, 6:59 PM (ET)

By LIZ SIDOTI

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved $81 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a spending bill that would push the total cost of combat and reconstruction past $300 billion.

Read on...

GOP over the cliff

Henry Hyde said the Clinton impeachment was retaliation for Nixon

Now we know why they were so relentless. They had a bone to pick and it didn't matter which Democrat ended up in their crosshairs. Someone was going down (pun intended).

When asked by Andy Shaw if the Clinton proceedings were payback for Nixon's impeachment. Hyde replied:

"I can't say it wasn't, but I also thought that the Republican party should stand for something, and if we walked away from this, no matter how difficult, we could be accused of shirking our duty, our responsibility."

Read on: Clinton impeachment was retaliation for Nixon, says retiring congressman

Yet another conspiracy from the christian right wing nutjobs

"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse,"
-Tom DeLay, April 13, 2005

WASHINGTON — Evangelical Christian leaders, who have been working closely with senior Republican lawmakers to place conservative judges in the federal courts, have also been exploring ways to punish sitting jurists and even entire courts viewed as hostile to their cause.

An audio recording obtained by the Los Angeles Times features two of the nation's most influential evangelical leaders, at a private conference with supporters, laying out strategies to rein in judges, such as stripping funding from their courts in an effort to hinder their work.

2 Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds

Dubya sez...

"John Thune has got a common-sense vision for good forest policy. I look forward to working with him in the United Nations Senate to preserve these national heritages." —George W. Bush, Aberdeen, S.D., Oct. 31, 2002

Sweet equine harmony

Luckovich 04/22/2005

Quote of the day

"Nobody sees a conspiracy after joining it. Then it's a project."
-Jim Schutze, Dallas Observer.com, 7/1/04

John Bolton - Psychopath

In 1994 Melody Townsel was stationed in Kyrgyzstan on a US AID project. During her stay there, she became embroiled in a controversy in which the oh-so-diplomatic John Bolton was a key player. She described the incident in a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee members (who have thus far responded with a yawn).

Dear Sir:

I'm writing to urge you to consider blocking in committee the nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the UN.

In the late summer of 1994, I worked as the subcontracted leader of a US AID project in Kyrgyzstan officially awarded to a HUB primary contractor. My own employer was Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly, and I reported directly to Republican leader Charlie Black.

After months of incompetence, poor contract performance, inadequate in-country funding, and a general lack of interest or support in our work from the prime contractor, I was forced to make US AID officials aware of the prime contractor's poor performance.

I flew from Kyrgyzstan to Moscow to meet with other Black Manafort employees who were leading or subcontracted to other US AID projects. While there, I met with US AID officials and expressed my concerns about the project -- chief among them, the prime contractor's inability to keep enough cash in country to allow us to pay bills, which directly resulted in armed threats by Kyrgyz contractors to me and my staff.

Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began.

Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel -- throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats.

When US AID asked me to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in advance of assuming leadership of a project in Kazakstan, I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth.

He indicated to key employees of or contractors to State that, based on his discussions with investigatory officials, I was headed for federal prison and, if they refused to cooperate with either him or the prime contractor's replacement team leader, they, too, would find themselves the subjects of federal investigation. As a further aside, he made unconscionable comments about my weight, my wardrobe and, with a couple of team leaders, my sexuality, hinting that I was a lesbian (for the record, I'm not).

When I resurfaced in Kyrgyzstan, I learned that he had done such a convincing job of smearing me that it took me weeks -- with the direct intervention of US AID officials -- to limit the damage. In fact, it was only US AID's appoinment of me as a project leader in Almaty, Kazakstan that largely put paid to the rumors Mr. Bolton maliciously circulated.

As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there.

John Bolton put me through hell -- and he did everything he could to intimidate, malign and threaten not just me, but anybody unwilling to go along with his version of events. His behavior back in 1994 wasn't just unforgivable, it was pathological.

I cannot believe that this is a man being seriously considered for any diplomatic position, let alone such a critical posting to the UN. Others you may call before your committee will be able to speak better to his stated dislike for and objection to stated UN goals. I write you to speak about the very character of the man.

It took me years to get over Mr. Bolton's actions in that Moscow hotel in 1994, his intensely personal attacks and his shocking attempts to malign my character.

I urge you from the bottom of my heart to use your ability to block Mr. Bolton's nomination in committee.

Respectfully yours,

Melody Townsel
Dallas, TX 75208

Food for thought

When some folks sell a car or some other high ticket item, they sometimes inflate the asking price over what they really want so that a prospective buyer will talk them down to their desired price.

I believe Bush may be pulling the same trick concerning his nomination of John Bolton. He chose someone so polarizing, so pathological that the chances of making it through the process is slim. Now with the Bolton nomination almost dead, Bush is likely to nominate another anti-UN uber-conservative who isn't quite as nasty. The new nominee will be only slightly more desirable and will be seen as a lesser of two evils. So it goes.

DeLay - Yesterday and Today

Tommy seems to have done a complete 180 in his thinking over the past decade. Another case of "do as I say, not as I do."

"The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know...I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation."
-U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, 11/16/95

Regarding Tom DeLay

In light of DeLay's constant bleating about this judge or that judge ad nauseum to deflect attention away from his many scandals, this African Proverb hits the nail on the head.

"It is the dying man who screams the loudest."

Delay's caustic rhetoric seems to indicate that his political career is over, and he knows it.

The Vent from the AJC

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a daily feature called The Vent. There are often some very funny submissions by people in the Atlanta area. Then there are responses to earlier vents. I'll post some of the best from time to time. Enjoy!

04/21/05

Tom DeLay is the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party in several years.

Whenever you hear "liberal media," it usually means some Republican is whining about not getting his way or he got caught doing something wrong.

My girlfriend demanded that I take her to someplace expensive, so I took her to a gas station.

The new bankruptcy laws are similar to the street laws for illicit drugs: Predatory lenders make millions hooking working-class people into debt way over their heads.

When you're making that list of traitors, don't forget Ollie North.

Party symbolism more accurate than we thought

How appropriate that the elephant in the symbol for the GOP. After years of hearing Republicans say that the donkey is appropriate for Democrats because Democrats are jackasses, this story comes out.

It seems that in Seoul, Korea 6 elephants went on a rampage. After the elephants were rounded up a zoo official said

"...one was apparently startled and bolted. The five others followed because they have the tendency to do that."

Closely parallels the Republican party in America doesn't it?

New pope intervened against Kerry in US 2004 election campaign

Yet another reason to dislike the man.

Read it here

Dubya sez...

"It's very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America."
—George W. Bush, Dakar, Senegal, July 8, 2003

SHOCKING! Supreme court justice utilizes the internets

Tom DeLay criticizes Justice Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, for doing his own research on the internet.

"And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous."

I suppose DeLay wants the justices to get their info from the only outlet sactioned by the GOP. FAUX News.

As if that weren't bad enough DeLay went on to say

"judges can serve as long as they serve with good behavior. We want to define what good behavior means. And that's where you have to start."

I assume that the definition will begin with something like "All decisions handed down by the Supreme Court must first be considered by Tom DeLay."

Read the article: DeLay Criticizes Supreme Court Justice

I'm very disappointed...

...in the name Ratzinger chose for his papal identity. I assumed that after Pope John Paul he would have chosen the only logical name. Pope George Ringo.

Karl Rove comes up with a new symbol for Republicans

By combining the "peace symbol" and "the finger" he gets the new "fuck peace" symbol. Or maybe he intended it to be a "W". At any rate it means the same thing.

Sad Anniversary

Ten years ago today, at 9:02 a.m. midwestern time, terrorist Timothy McVeigh murdered 168 people in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Among the victims were 19 children attending day care in the building.

Ann Coulter The shrill blonde harpy had this to say:

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."
-Ann Coulter as quoted in the New York Observer, Aug. 20, 2002

How about regretting that 168 Americans were killed you bitch!

New Pope is an Uber-Conservative

Kind of like having Karl Rove as Pope. As I pointed out in Heil Jesus! Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was once a Hitler Youth. That really doesn't mean much anymore. Some kids in those days saw it as kind of "Boy's Club" until they saw what was going on then they ran for the hills. I'm not sure if Ratzinger was one of those or if he embraced it for all it was worth.*see UPDATE

One thing is for sure. Ratzinger, or Pope Benedict XVI, sends shivers down the spines of liberal Catholics and Catholic thinkers. He's been the head of the inquisition in the church, literally. He's called dozens upon hundreds of theologians and priests to the carpet and put a chill through free speech and debate in the church. John Paul's legacy was of spreading democracy in eastern Europe but not tolerating it inside the church. Ratzinger was the main instrument for killing free speech in the church. Ratzinger also helped quash democracy and intellectual thought inside the church. He believes the church always knows what's right and is never wrong. Sounds a little too much like the Bush administration if you ask me. Time will tell if he can live up to his successor. Not John Paul II but Benedict XV.

UPDATE: Mixter points out that Ratzinger was one of those who "ran for the hills".

In his memoirs, Ratzinger wrote that he was enrolled in the Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He said he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood.

Two years later he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit as a helper, a common taks for teenage boys too young to be soldiers. A year later he was released, only to be sent to the Austrian-Hungarian border to construct tank barriers.

He deserted the Germany army in May 1945 and returned to Traunstein — a risky move, since deserters were shot on the spot if caught, or publicly hanged as examples to others.

When he arrived home, U.S. soldiers took him prisoner and held him in a POW camp for several weeks. Upon his release, he re-entered the seminary.

Duly noted. He is still an Uber-conservative who bears watching. We'll just have to wait and see where he takes the Catholic church in this new era.

White House Ad Encourages Teen Use of Addictive, Cancer-Causing Drug

New Campaign Directly Contradicts Data on Tobacco, Marijuana

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new White House ad campaign encourages teen cigarette use by falsely telling parents that tobacco is far less dangerous to kids than marijuana, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project charged today. "By inaccurately portraying cigarettes as relatively harmless, the White House is condemning thousands of young people to a life of addiction and early death from cancer and emphysema," said MPP Director of Government Relations Steve Fox.

The new ad, which started running this week in papers such as USA Today and The New York Times, claims, "Quite a few people think that smoking pot is less likely to cause cancer than a regular cigarette. You may even have heard some parents say they'd rather their kid smoked a little pot than get hooked on cigarettes. Wrong, and wrong again. ... One joint can deliver four times as much cancer-causing tar as one cigarette."

But the ad's claim is directly contradicted by extensive research, including the 1999 White House-commissioned Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base." While marijuana smoke does contain tars, the IOM concluded, "There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use." While multiple studies have confirmed that tobacco smokers have far higher lung cancer rates than nonsmokers, no such correlation has been clearly documented among marijuana smokers who don't use cigarettes. In a 60,000-patient, 10-year study, marijuana smokers who didn't smoke cigarettes actually had a lower lung cancer rate than nonsmokers.

The IOM noted that marijuana smokers generally smoke far less than tobacco smokers, and considerable research has now confirmed that marijuana's active components, called cannabinoids, stop cancer cell growth. Copies of studies related to marijuana, tobacco, and cancer are available from MPP Director of Communications Bruce Mirken.
More...

Tom DeLay, the Bug Spray Man

Excellent article by Chuck Muziani who is a contributor to BuzzFlash

Which part of the United States Constitution 'separation of powers' concept do Tom Delay and his fellow republicans not understand? Or, better yet, choose not to understand?

Read the rest...

House Energy Bill Increases Tax Breaks

By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 19, 2005; Page A04

The House this week will consider $8 billion in tax breaks targeted to the energy industry at a time when some of those companies are enjoying soaring profits from high consumer prices.
Read on...

Luckovich 04/19/2005

Nobody expects...

...the Spanish Inquisition!

Right on the money!

First of all, the "war for oil" argument has never been, "The U.S. only wants lots of oil." That's strawman-making with a vengeance. The charge -- fully substantiated by the Bush gang's own copious writings about their geopolitical ambitions ("Project for the New American Century," et al) -- is that a group of elite interests in the U.S. want to control access to world energy resources in order to maintain and expand their own power and privilege (which they equate with "American interests"), and to put the squeeze on any potential rivals for geopolitical predominance in the coming decades, such as China and India. Whoever has their hand on the oil spigot -- or controls, by threats and bribes, those who do -- can shape the future to their own ends. This power is what the Bushist elite wants, not just the actual black stuff under the ground.

Second, it's ridiculous to imagine that Bush could have gone to Congress and the American people and asked for $280 billion to buy oil futures. And even if he had, what if Saddam, or OPEC, or Hugo Chavez, or Putin, had refused to sell them? Why on earth would any of them have mortgaged their futures and guaranteed their subservience by selling one country "all the world's oil for the next 50 years"? This is a ludicrous assertion.

No, the only Bush way could grab such enormous loot from the public treasury for his cronies was by frightening and manipulating the American people into war. And McEwan's strawman reductionism also overlooks the fact that war is not only profitable for Bush's oil allies (who are now pulling in unfathomable profits), but also (as mentioned in the previous post), the arms manufacturers, giant construction and servicing cartels like Bechtel and Halliburton, the "private equity firms" and investment houses like Carlyle, and so on.

Indeed, the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Which is, of course, why the U.S. is making plans to create the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world in Baghdad: we're there for the long haul, and not by accident. Remember, this was all laid out by the Project for a New American Century back in 2000

Via Empire Burlesque

Rall 04/14/2005

Asshat of the week

With an assault weapon in each hand, Ted Nugent had this to say to a gathering of National Rifle Association members in Houston:

"Let's next year sit here and say, 'Holy smokes, the NRA has 40 million members now.' No one is allowed at our barbecues unless they are an NRA member. Do that in your life. Remember the Alamo! Shoot 'em! To show you how radical I am, I want carjackers dead. I want rapists dead. I want burglars dead. I want child molesters dead. I want the bad guys dead. No court case. No parole. No early release. I want 'em dead. Get a gun and when they attack you, shoot 'em."

UPDATE: Jim McPherson in FL writes:

Love the "Asshat of the Week" postings. The one with Ted Nugent was a hoot. What a dork! Ol' Ted will feel right at home here in sunny FLA if they pass the "Wild West" law that's currently under consideration. It would basically give you the right to blow away anyone you feel is threatening you. Of course, what constitutes a "threat" has not been defined yet---as it stands, I could look at you the wrong way and you could bust a cap in my ass with no fear of reprisal! The lawyers must be salivating like Pavlovs'dogs!

Whoever thought this was a good idea definitely needs an Asshat award. I think all winners should receive a pair of the WildSects classic thongs, (Available here). Tell them it's protective headgear--- so that their stupid thoughts don't leak out and contaminate the rest of us !!! :-)

Quote(s) of the day

"Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found."

"Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent that in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter."
-Bertrand Russell

It's a tie! Asshat of the week part deux

"Marriage is not about affirming somebody's love for somebody else. It's about uniting together to be open to children, to further civilization in our society."
-Rick Santorum

I can't even comment on how stupid that remark is.

Bush administration eliminating 19-year-old international terrorism report

By Jonathan S. Landay

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.

Further down in the article

"Instead of dealing with the facts and dealing with them in an intelligent fashion, they try to hide their facts from the American public," charged Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and State Department terrorism expert who first disclosed the decision to eliminate the report in The Counterterrorism Blog, an online journal.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who was among the leading critics of last year's mix-up, reacted angrily to the decision.

"This is the definitive report on the incidence of terrorism around the world. It should be unthinkable that there would be an effort to withhold it - or any of the key data - from the public. The Bush administration should stop playing politics with this critical report."

Read on...

Bolton Often Blocked Information, Officials Say

Iran, IAEA Matters Were Allegedly Kept From Rice, Powell

By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 18, 2005; Page A04

John R. Bolton -- who is seeking confirmation as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations -- often blocked then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and, on one occasion, his successor, Condoleezza Rice, from receiving information vital to U.S. strategies on Iran, according to current and former officials who have worked with Bolton.
Read on...

But of course none of that matters. He'll still be confirmed and it will be business as usual.

Dubya sez...

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
—G.W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

Freudian slip much?

Jules Shear

Don and I were discussing one of the most underrated songwriters ever. Many of you have heard a Jules song and never realized it because so many people have covered them. A couple that come to mind are "If She Knew What She Wants" by The Bangles and "All Through The Night" by Cyndi Lauper. They did great jobs on those songs but to hear Jules do them will give you an eargasm. He not only writes great songs but performs them with passion. My first exposure to Jules was when I was caring for a friend's record collection he had both "Jules and the Polar Bears" records. One listen and I was hooked. They remain among my favorites (Don, I have to add them to my WORJ list for the desert island). Don was also instrumental in keeping an eye out for anything Jules realted for me. He found a compilation Christmas CD that Jules' band Reckless Sleepers is on called "Just in Time for Christmas" that my family listens to every year. My wife doesn't think it's Christmas without it.

What prompted this post was Don asking for any news on Jules. I immediately Googled him and came up with a few items. Rather than respond to Don personally I decided to share with everyone. Check out some Jules. You won't be disappointed.

Bands Jules was in:
* Funky Kings
* Jules & The Polar Bears
* Reckless Sleepers
* Raisins in the Sun


Concerted Efforts - Jules Shear
Jules Shear
MP3.com

Kerry was right: plundered Iraqi weapons are surfacing in black markets

John Kerry was correct in his assertions that, due to Bush's initial blundering, large quantities of unsecured Iraqi arms were stolen and possibly sold to god knows who.

Arms Equipment Plundered in 2003 Is Surfacing in Iraq
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345

Heil Jesus

Papal hopeful is a former Hitler Youth

Magna Carter?

Were the arrests during the RNC in NYC a plot?

The mass arrests seem as if they were part of an elaborate scheme concocted by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other high-ranking Republican officials to thwart demonstrators from upstaging the RNC "Crowning of Bush" Convention. Considering that the cases of somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% of those arrested have been dismissed this seems highly likely.
Via The Capitol Times

Iran liberalizes abortion law (while Tom DeLay moves the U.S. in the opposite direction)

It's amazing isn't it? We criticize middle eastern countries for their strict religious standards and we're becoming exactly like them. Theocracy is bad no matter which religion it bows to.
Via The Washington Monthly

I Maureen

F.D.R.'s 'Gorgeous Hussy'
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345

Do as I say, not as I do

Republicans: thy name is hypocrisy. They are now in a huff because Howard Dean accused congressional Republicans of "grandstanding" in the Terri Schiavo case and plans to use it against the GOP in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said "It's disturbing that Howard Dean would plot to use the life of Terri Schiavo for political gain." Excuse me but isn't that exactly what DeLay and Frist did?
Read this

Mel Martinez

Florida's new Senator, Mel Martinez, is quoted as saying this about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

"The people of Florida don't want it. The people of Alaska did."

I have one question: Does Martinez represent the people of Florida or the people of Alaska?

Saturday funnies

Dubya sez...

I would have said yes to abortion if only it was right. I mean, yeah it's right. Well, no it's not right -- that's why I said no to it.
-George W. Bush 14 Feb 2000 Attempting to speak in South Carolina

Borrowed (stolen?) from RANTZILLA

U.S. UNDER ATTACK BY MEXICO

What else would you call it when a nation's military, at the encouragement of their president, escorts their own citizens up to the border of another nation with the intent to send them across the border? The sad but not surprising part of it is that Bush will do nothing about it. Which begs the question "Is Bush a traitor to his own country when he allows an attack to go unanswered?" Bush encourages Mexicans to cross our borders illegally for the cheap labor they provide to his "base".
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Happy Tax Day!

Submitted by Wild Sects' Orlando Correspondent Jim McPherson