It looks like the terror alerts we endured during the election were actually politically motivated and not based on actual intelligence. As if those of us with a brain didn't already know that. How many have you seen since last November? Yeah me either.
Tom Ridge says that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or "high" risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled. I wonder if the administation officials he referred to were Ashcroft and Rove. Probably both with a little Cheney mixed in for good measure. The asses of evil.
So all the Dubya voters who thought he would keep them safe got played by the GOP. The propoganda of fear was, and is, alive and well. Somewhere Joseph Goebbels is smiling.
Ridge reveals clashes on alerts
5.11.2005
Photography
I thought it might be fun to share one of my passions. I've always loved viewing and creating interesting photographs. Here is one I took about 6 years ago in Warm Springs, GA. Winter home of FDR. I remember it was a very cold December day but this scene seemed warm to me. I hope you enjoy it.
Red Door
Red Door
Am I missing something?
I just read an article about a Senate bill that just passed that bars illegal immigrants from getting a driver's license. The bill would require anyone applying for a driver's license to confirm his or her legal status in the United States.
In the article Senator Ted Kennedy, who I've always admired, said the measures were pushed by "anti-immigrant extremists" and were "highly controversial, harmful and unnecessary." Why do I find myself on the conservative side of this issue? I don't have a conservative bone in my body. Since when do we embrace people who sneak into our country illegally?
I have no qualms about legal immigration. If we didn't allow legal immigration, most of us wouldn't be here today. It's what our country does best. We've always opened our collective arms to welcome people who want to come here for a better life. I fully agree with "Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses..." as long as they go through the process like my grandparents and great granparents did. Otherwise what's the point of having borders?
In the article Senator Ted Kennedy, who I've always admired, said the measures were pushed by "anti-immigrant extremists" and were "highly controversial, harmful and unnecessary." Why do I find myself on the conservative side of this issue? I don't have a conservative bone in my body. Since when do we embrace people who sneak into our country illegally?
I have no qualms about legal immigration. If we didn't allow legal immigration, most of us wouldn't be here today. It's what our country does best. We've always opened our collective arms to welcome people who want to come here for a better life. I fully agree with "Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses..." as long as they go through the process like my grandparents and great granparents did. Otherwise what's the point of having borders?
5.10.2005
Military service becoming increasingly unpopular
It's no wonder people are staying away in droves what with Dubya's illegal and unjust war. Not to mention the sleazy tactics being used by some recruiters lately. I wouldn't be suprised if they don't start using the shanghai method of recruitment. If recruiters don't start making their quotas soon, can the draft be far behind? Of course not. Dubya campaigned on the promise that he would never reinstate the draft. If you have kids in their mid to late teens the last link should be of particular interest to you.
Army Recruitee Tells Of False Promises
Army, Marines miss recruiting goals again
Name Withheld Pending Notification
Opt Out!
The Dems finally point out the hypocrisy
One thing is for certain: On the filibuster, Democrats aren't taking it lying down.
As Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) works to negotiate with Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Democrats circulated a document Monday detailing each of the Republican senators who had ever filibustered or blocked a nominee.
The filibuster is a process by which 40 senators can veto a bill or nominee. Democrats have 44 members in the Senate, and are thereby able—when unified—to prevent a Bush judicial nominee from being confirmed.
Some senators, like Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), have filibustered as many as 13 nominees.
Republicans contend that Democrats have sought to block nominees based on their faith. Democrats have allowed for the confirmation of more than 200 of about 240 nominees put forth by President Bush.
The document follows.
Read more...
As Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) works to negotiate with Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Democrats circulated a document Monday detailing each of the Republican senators who had ever filibustered or blocked a nominee.
The filibuster is a process by which 40 senators can veto a bill or nominee. Democrats have 44 members in the Senate, and are thereby able—when unified—to prevent a Bush judicial nominee from being confirmed.
Some senators, like Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), have filibustered as many as 13 nominees.
Republicans contend that Democrats have sought to block nominees based on their faith. Democrats have allowed for the confirmation of more than 200 of about 240 nominees put forth by President Bush.
The document follows.
Read more...
Bush in 30 years
Winner of the MoveOn Social Security "Bush in 30 Years" Flash animation contest
"If It Ain't Broke, Don't Privatize It"
"If It Ain't Broke, Don't Privatize It"
A GOP Plan to 'Fix' the Democrats
In this case they mean "fix" as in neuter. This is a great column that illustrates just why the current Democratic leadership is becoming increasingly uncomfortable in their minority status and why they are reluctant to bend over and accept the buggering from the right.
E.J. Dionne Jr. via The Washington Post
Username: wildsects@gmail.com
Password: 12345
E.J. Dionne Jr. via The Washington Post
Username: wildsects@gmail.com
Password: 12345
5.09.2005
Pat Robertson: Watch This Clip
You probably won't be shocked or even surprised at what you see in this video. It just illustrates just how christian-like the religious wrong really is. I wish they would have broadcast this segment.
Via Crooks and Liars
Via Crooks and Liars
From the "Why Do I Bother?" Department Part II
I had almost forgotten that I wrote to my slimey Senator regarding the national ID system the Republicans want to put in place. Not one mention of my concern for the hemorraging of illegals across our southern border. I suppose it's ok for terrorists to come in as long as we identify them at the DMV. Note the Freudian misspelling of United States. Don't our senators have spell check?
Saxby's latest response:
May 9, 2005
Mr. John Xxxxx
XXX Xxxxx Drive
Xxxxxxxx, Georgia XXXXX
Dear Mr. Xxxxx:
Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts on the creation of a national identification card. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
In the wake of the tragedies of September 11, 2001, renewed debate has arisen regarding the effectiveness and the legal implications of a national identification card, a form of identification that would be more comprehensive than a driver's license, a Social Security card or a passport.
The idea of a national identification system with centralized repositories and tracking capabilities has long stirred controversy. I believe we must seek an appropriate balance between maintaining personal freedom and protecting national security. Those who oppose a national identification card cite the loss of privacy and fear of misuse, and others argue that a national identification card is unnecessary as citizens already have de facto identification cards in the form of social security cards and driver's licenses or state identification cards. They believe that these cards could be used as national identification cards with modification.
Conversely, advocates of a national identification system assert that such a system would serve as an invaluable tool to track the movement of known or potential terrorists, thus thwarting a terrorist attack. They also argue that such a system would facilitate the tracking of immigrants as they move in and out of the Untied States and would facilitate more accurate accountability of the number of immigrants in the U.S. Importantly, a national identification system would help ensure whether a person applying for a job is a legal visa holder, resident or American citizen rather than an illegal alien.
You may be interested to know that the recently passed S. 2845, the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004," did indicate that States would have to follow uniform national standards for what documents they accept in issuing driver's licenses and determining who is eligible to receive a license. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should such legislation come before the United States Senate in the 109th Congress.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. As always, I appreciate hearing from you. In the meantime, if you would like to receive timely e-mail alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Saxby Chambliss
United States Senate
Saxby's latest response:
May 9, 2005
Mr. John Xxxxx
XXX Xxxxx Drive
Xxxxxxxx, Georgia XXXXX
Dear Mr. Xxxxx:
Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts on the creation of a national identification card. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
In the wake of the tragedies of September 11, 2001, renewed debate has arisen regarding the effectiveness and the legal implications of a national identification card, a form of identification that would be more comprehensive than a driver's license, a Social Security card or a passport.
The idea of a national identification system with centralized repositories and tracking capabilities has long stirred controversy. I believe we must seek an appropriate balance between maintaining personal freedom and protecting national security. Those who oppose a national identification card cite the loss of privacy and fear of misuse, and others argue that a national identification card is unnecessary as citizens already have de facto identification cards in the form of social security cards and driver's licenses or state identification cards. They believe that these cards could be used as national identification cards with modification.
Conversely, advocates of a national identification system assert that such a system would serve as an invaluable tool to track the movement of known or potential terrorists, thus thwarting a terrorist attack. They also argue that such a system would facilitate the tracking of immigrants as they move in and out of the Untied States and would facilitate more accurate accountability of the number of immigrants in the U.S. Importantly, a national identification system would help ensure whether a person applying for a job is a legal visa holder, resident or American citizen rather than an illegal alien.
You may be interested to know that the recently passed S. 2845, the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004," did indicate that States would have to follow uniform national standards for what documents they accept in issuing driver's licenses and determining who is eligible to receive a license. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should such legislation come before the United States Senate in the 109th Congress.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. As always, I appreciate hearing from you. In the meantime, if you would like to receive timely e-mail alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Saxby Chambliss
United States Senate
From the "Why Do I Bother?" Department
Growing up I always heard "write to your representatives if you want something done". I've made a habit of doing just that. I estimate that I write AT LEAST 10 or 15 letters a year. Some of my favorite responses in terms of double talk and gobbledygook were from Newt Gingrich.
Recently I've had several occasions to write to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. Phil Gingrey. Chambliss is the guy who never served in the military but won his election by trashing a true military hero, Max Cleland, as being in line with Bin Laden. Yes Saxby is truly scum.
My most recent letter urged Sen. Chambliss to refuse the nomination of John Bolton. Saxby always writes back but it's always the same. In short he says "It really doesn't matter what your opinion is. I'm in Washington now an I know what's best." If you've never had the pleasure of receiving a response from a slimey southern red state politician, I'm sharing mine with you.
Here is his response:
Recently I've had several occasions to write to Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. Phil Gingrey. Chambliss is the guy who never served in the military but won his election by trashing a true military hero, Max Cleland, as being in line with Bin Laden. Yes Saxby is truly scum.
My most recent letter urged Sen. Chambliss to refuse the nomination of John Bolton. Saxby always writes back but it's always the same. In short he says "It really doesn't matter what your opinion is. I'm in Washington now an I know what's best." If you've never had the pleasure of receiving a response from a slimey southern red state politician, I'm sharing mine with you.
Here is his response:
May 6, 2005
Mr. John Xxxxx
XXX Xxxxx Drive
Xxxxxxxx, Georgia xxxxx
Dear Mr. Xxxxx:
Thank you for your letter of concern regarding President Bush's nomination of John Bolton to be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.). I appreciate hearing from you.
On March 7, 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the nomination of John Bolton to be the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his congratulations and has said he looks forward to working with him. Mr. Bolton's nomination awaits confirmation by the Senate.
I support Mr. Bolton for several reasons. First, Mr. Bolton believes in a strong and more effective U.N., and has consistently argued that the U.S. must take the lead in helping to reform the U.N. I believe this is the only way the U.N. can fulfill its original promise of promoting international peace and security. Second, Mr. Bolton has promoted effective multilateral solutions to real world problems. He was President Bush's point person in designing the Proliferation Security Initiative. He also served as the principal U.S. negotiator for the Treaty of Moscow, and was a pioneer in helping to construct the G-8 Global Partnership to secure dangerous technologies and stop the spread of dangerous weapons. Finally, John Bolton believes in frank and honest diplomacy. He has not shied away from naming rogue states that violate their international commitments to treaties -- not calling attention to these violators is too dangerous in a post 9-11 world.
In an organization that has been riddled in scandal and corruption, John Bolton will help reform the U.N. and make its mission more effective. I am confident John Bolton is the right man for the job.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. If you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if I may ever be of assistance to you.
Sincerely,
Saxby Chambliss
United States Senate
Bizarre sex habits of ultra-conservatives
Anti-abortion extremist Neal Horsley (not making this up) was a guest on The Alan Colmes Show on FOX News radio. The topic was an interesting one - whether or not an internet service provider should allow Horsley to post the names of abortion doctors on his website. Horsley does that as a way of targeting them and one doctor has been killed. In the course of the interview, however, Colmes asked Horsley about his background, including a statement that he had admitted to engaging in homosexual and bestiality sex.
At first, Horsley laughed and said, "Just because it's printed in the media, people jump to believe it."
"Is it true?" Colmes asked.
"Hey, Alan, if you want to accuse me of having sex when I was a fool, I did everything that crossed my mind that looked like I..."
AC: "You had sex with animals?"
NH: "Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule."
AC: "I'm not so sure that that is so."
NH: "You didn't grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?"
AC: "Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?"
NH: It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed from the reality... Welcome to domestic life on the farm..."
Colmes said he thought there were a lot of people in the audience who grew up on farms, are living on farms now, raising kids on farms and "and I don't think they are dating Elsie right now. You know what I'm saying?"
Horsley said, "You experiment with anything that moves when you are growing up sexually. You're naive. You know better than that... If it's warm and it's damp and it vibrates you might in fact have sex with it."
In addition to Horsley, Colmes has recently interviewed Randall Terry another radical anti-abortionist and anti-gay activist. In the middle of an otherwise serious interview, Terry began joking that he and Colmes were ex-lovers.
Another extremist interviewed by Colmes not too long ago was Rev. Fred Phelps who stated on the show that he thought the death penalty should be given for those who engage in "sodomy." When Colmes asked Phelps if he had ever engaged in gay sex, Phelps blustered but never said no.
I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. Come to think of it,Ann Coulter the shrill blonde harpy is reputed to have an unusually wide-ranging sex life, too, though as far as I know it's just confined to men. Still, it doesn't exactly match the profile of an ultra-conservative.
At first, Horsley laughed and said, "Just because it's printed in the media, people jump to believe it."
"Is it true?" Colmes asked.
"Hey, Alan, if you want to accuse me of having sex when I was a fool, I did everything that crossed my mind that looked like I..."
AC: "You had sex with animals?"
NH: "Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule."
AC: "I'm not so sure that that is so."
NH: "You didn't grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?"
AC: "Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?"
NH: It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed from the reality... Welcome to domestic life on the farm..."
Colmes said he thought there were a lot of people in the audience who grew up on farms, are living on farms now, raising kids on farms and "and I don't think they are dating Elsie right now. You know what I'm saying?"
Horsley said, "You experiment with anything that moves when you are growing up sexually. You're naive. You know better than that... If it's warm and it's damp and it vibrates you might in fact have sex with it."
In addition to Horsley, Colmes has recently interviewed Randall Terry another radical anti-abortionist and anti-gay activist. In the middle of an otherwise serious interview, Terry began joking that he and Colmes were ex-lovers.
Another extremist interviewed by Colmes not too long ago was Rev. Fred Phelps who stated on the show that he thought the death penalty should be given for those who engage in "sodomy." When Colmes asked Phelps if he had ever engaged in gay sex, Phelps blustered but never said no.
I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. Come to think of it,
Quote of the day
"With an alternative paper there's another voice - an alternative voice - for the community to partake of. With the consolidation of mass media today by vast corporate interests, these independent voices are all the more necessary if real knowledge and accurate information is to flourish. Without them, the world would be a poorer place."
-Steve Moss 1948-2005, publisher of the San Luis Obispo New Times
-Steve Moss 1948-2005, publisher of the San Luis Obispo New Times
I 
Maureen
What Rough Beasts?
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: May 7, 2005
WASHINGTON
I love chimeras.
I've seen just about every werewolf, Dracula and mermaid movie ever made, I have a Medusa magnet on my refrigerator, and the Sphinx of Greek mythology is a role model for her lethal brand of mystery.
Read on...
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345
The Final Insult
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: May 9, 2005
Hell hath no fury like a scammer foiled. The card shark caught marking the deck, the auto dealer caught resetting a used car's odometer, is rarely contrite. On the contrary, they're usually angry, and they lash out at their intended marks, crying hypocrisy.
And so it is with those who would privatize Social Security. They didn't get away with scare tactics, or claims to offer something for nothing. Now they're accusing their opponents of coddling the rich and not caring about the poor.
Read on...
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345
Published: May 9, 2005
Hell hath no fury like a scammer foiled. The card shark caught marking the deck, the auto dealer caught resetting a used car's odometer, is rarely contrite. On the contrary, they're usually angry, and they lash out at their intended marks, crying hypocrisy.
And so it is with those who would privatize Social Security. They didn't get away with scare tactics, or claims to offer something for nothing. Now they're accusing their opponents of coddling the rich and not caring about the poor.
Read on...
Username: wildsects
Password: 12345
Imagine the uproar...
...that would occur if, while questioning Eric Robert Rudolph, they had flushed a bible down the toilet. But it's ok to flush the Koran 'cause they ain't like us. I'm beginning to believe that them not being like us is a good thing.
Dismay at US Koran 'desecration'
Dismay at US Koran 'desecration'
Church signs
I'm sure many of you have seen this. If you haven't, you're in for a treat.
Try it here: Church Sign Generator
Try it here: Church Sign Generator
Dubya's fiscal irresponsibility
The Republican promise of smaller, less-intrusive government is getting harder and harder to believe.
A report just released by the libertarian Cato Institute that relates just how out-of-control spending has gotten under The Horse Wanker.
Cato finds that:
* Bush has presided over the largest increase in federal spending since Lyndon Johnson.
* Even excluding defense and homeland security spending, Bush is the biggest-spending president in 30 years.
* The federal budget grew from 18.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product on President Bill Clinton's last day in office to 20.3 percent at the end of Bush's first term.
* Add to that Bush's massive Medicare prescription-drug benefit, expected to cost $720 billion-plus over the next 10 years. (The money for that new entitlement, the first created by a president in a generation, will start flowing this year.)
Bush may have cut taxes, but that's not the same thing as shrinking government.
A report just released by the libertarian Cato Institute that relates just how out-of-control spending has gotten under The Horse Wanker.
Cato finds that:
* Bush has presided over the largest increase in federal spending since Lyndon Johnson.
* Even excluding defense and homeland security spending, Bush is the biggest-spending president in 30 years.
* The federal budget grew from 18.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product on President Bill Clinton's last day in office to 20.3 percent at the end of Bush's first term.
* Add to that Bush's massive Medicare prescription-drug benefit, expected to cost $720 billion-plus over the next 10 years. (The money for that new entitlement, the first created by a president in a generation, will start flowing this year.)
Bush may have cut taxes, but that's not the same thing as shrinking government.
Top 10 Conservative Idiots
It's not surprising that the number 1 spot is filled by Chan Chandler, the NC pastor who decided to rid his church of all the "sinners" who voted for John Kerry in 2004. The rest of the slots are taken by the usual gang of idiots.
Via Democratic Underground
Via Democratic Underground
USA based on Christianity, not science
"We can't ignore that our nation is based on Christianity — not science."
- Kathy Martin, a member of the Kansas state board of education
Simply amazing that in this day and age superstition reigns.
Evolution Isn't a Natural Selection Here
- Kathy Martin, a member of the Kansas state board of education
Simply amazing that in this day and age superstition reigns.
Evolution Isn't a Natural Selection Here
Touch my monkey
It's sad to see the Toledo Catholic Diocese stepping up its efforts to defeat a bill that would rewrite Ohio's statutes of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse. In a letter to diocesan priests, Bishop Leonard Blair said that the bill "should be of serious concern to all of us," and urged them to contact their state representatives to voice opposition to the legislation. It seems that Blair and the state's other Catholic bishops strongly oppose the amendment that would set a one-year "look back" period during which victims could file civil suits over abuses that occurred as long as 35 years ago.
Sounds like somebody has a skeleton or two in their closet. Anyone who still thinks that the Catholic church is the moral institution it makes itself out to be is fooling themselves.
Story here
Sounds like somebody has a skeleton or two in their closet. Anyone who still thinks that the Catholic church is the moral institution it makes itself out to be is fooling themselves.
Story here
5.08.2005
5.06.2005
Burka Blue
Leave it to GREATSCAT! to find interesting music. The Burka Band is a group of Afghani women taking part in a music workshop in the state music school ‘Institute of Learning Music’ in Kabul in October 2002. This is great!
Listen here
Dubya sez...
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."
-George W. Bush, 2 Nov 2000, speaking in St. Charles, Missouri
Borrowed from RANTZILLA
UNBELIEVABLE!
Church members were thrown out of a NC church for not supporting Dubya. Yeah real Christian-like.
Former Church Member: "He told us if we didn't support George Bush that we need to resign our position and get out of the church."
Go watch the video
Former Church Member: "He told us if we didn't support George Bush that we need to resign our position and get out of the church."
Go watch the video
Blair wins 3rd term
When Dubya pranced his way to a second term, the Brits called us idiots. Now that his lap dog, Tony BLIAR, has been re-elected to a third term it's our turn to return the favor. British voters are idiots! How could they re-elect BLIAR knowing what they know now? Especially since the damning memo came to light just before the election. At least the Labour Party majority will be slashed from 167 to 70. Shades of Clinton's 2nd term?
Blair secures his third term - but how long will he last at No 10?
The Vent from the AJC
Friday's best...
North Korea test-fired a missile in Bush's second term; do we blame Carter or Clinton for this?
Traditional and Roth IRAs are private retirement accounts and every working American has access to them. Private accounts for Social Security would be redundant.
There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a bottle of wine and an eBay account.
Ethical politicians should be placed on the endangered species list.
I can't stand anymore news about the runaway bride. Can't we just go back to picking on Alabama?
We have American soldiers dying at record numbers in Iraq..and all the media cares about is a stupid bride-to-be and her jilted fiance'!!
North Korea test-fired a missile in Bush's second term; do we blame Carter or Clinton for this?
Traditional and Roth IRAs are private retirement accounts and every working American has access to them. Private accounts for Social Security would be redundant.
There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a bottle of wine and an eBay account.
Ethical politicians should be placed on the endangered species list.
I can't stand anymore news about the runaway bride. Can't we just go back to picking on Alabama?
We have American soldiers dying at record numbers in Iraq..and all the media cares about is a stupid bride-to-be and her jilted fiance'!!
Please send a letter...
..it just takes a click.
The last 24 hours has exposed further confirming proof of the way that intelligence was deliberately twisted to mislead our country into a disastrous and unnecessary invasion of a country that posed no real threat to us. According to a no longer top secret memo from nearly three years ago, "facts and intelligence were being fixed around policy" because there was "no patience with the UN route", in other words DIPLOMACY
Which brings us directly back to the John Bolton problem. Even leaving aside his pathological pattern of abusive, loose cannon behavior unbecoming a diplomat, it is precisely because this intimidation was employed so often to DISTORT our intelligence that he must be finally rejected. Indeed, his fingerprints are even on the phony Niger yellow cake casus belli. If there was ever a poster boy for malevolently cooked intelligence, he's the guy.
According to Scott Ritter (who hasn't missed a call yet), Bolton's mission at the UN would be to abort any possibility of diplomacy with Iran, so as to force a military confrontation. Unless we SPEAK UP NOW to reiterate our strong opposition to this nomination, it would set in motion events leading to the use of nuclear weapons, both by us and ultimately and inevitably then against us.
Send a letter to your Congressmen
The last 24 hours has exposed further confirming proof of the way that intelligence was deliberately twisted to mislead our country into a disastrous and unnecessary invasion of a country that posed no real threat to us. According to a no longer top secret memo from nearly three years ago, "facts and intelligence were being fixed around policy" because there was "no patience with the UN route", in other words DIPLOMACY
Which brings us directly back to the John Bolton problem. Even leaving aside his pathological pattern of abusive, loose cannon behavior unbecoming a diplomat, it is precisely because this intimidation was employed so often to DISTORT our intelligence that he must be finally rejected. Indeed, his fingerprints are even on the phony Niger yellow cake casus belli. If there was ever a poster boy for malevolently cooked intelligence, he's the guy.
According to Scott Ritter (who hasn't missed a call yet), Bolton's mission at the UN would be to abort any possibility of diplomacy with Iran, so as to force a military confrontation. Unless we SPEAK UP NOW to reiterate our strong opposition to this nomination, it would set in motion events leading to the use of nuclear weapons, both by us and ultimately and inevitably then against us.
Send a letter to your Congressmen
5.05.2005
Letters to the Editor - The Orlando Sentinel
Feel the pain
Mind you, normally I'm not a mean-spirited person. However, lately one of my fondest wishes is for George W. Bush to wind up a farthingless octogenarian totally dependent on Social Security.
Now that would be real and poetic justice!
Priscilla Black
Orlando
Creating instability
President Bush, in his recent news conference, proposed radical change to the Social Security system. Such changes would create unknowns and instability, exactly the opposite of what Social Security is about.
The president's "fixes" -- privatization of the public Social Security Fund and indexing benefits based on income -- are fiscally irresponsible. The second "fix" is just a solution to a problem created by the first.
Our president wants to sink us deeper into debt, and pay for it with reduced benefits for the middle class. The truth is that Social Security is currently strong, with record surpluses that are increasing yearly, and that projections of insolvency are almost four decades into the future and therefore very uncertain. George W. Bush, by using scary talk about "collapse" and "bankruptcy," has chosen to confuse and divide us.
Alan Levi
Orlando
Root of problem
Government spending of Social Security surpluses was begun by Lyndon Johnson in order to decrease the deficits incurred by the Vietnam War. Subsequent presidents continued this inappropriate sequestration. The fact remains that this program was intended to be funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. The ordinary annual surpluses used to range from $80 billion to $100 billion. In 2003, the surplus amounted to $165.5 billion. The estimate for 2004 is $150 billion. Some crisis!
If the Bush plan should become law, then billions of dollars shall fall into the hands of the brokerage houses. Cui Bono?
No one mentions the British example of private, oops, personal accounts that have been a disaster. Paeans to private vs. government management ignore the fact that the administrative cost of Social Security is slightly more than 1 percent, whereas private insurance firms average about 20 percent. For the working stiff, it is a fool's paradise to believe that he may gain, not lose, in view of the business cycle and of brokerage fees.
True reform must first prohibit government from diversion of these monies to other purposes. Second, the ceiling of $90,000 must be abolished so that millions earned (?) must also be taxed. Thus the present payroll taxes may be reduced to possibly 2 percent or 3 percent, but then the brokerage houses would lose the prospect of great profits.
Walter Tegnazian
Orlando
Mind you, normally I'm not a mean-spirited person. However, lately one of my fondest wishes is for George W. Bush to wind up a farthingless octogenarian totally dependent on Social Security.
Now that would be real and poetic justice!
Priscilla Black
Orlando
Creating instability
President Bush, in his recent news conference, proposed radical change to the Social Security system. Such changes would create unknowns and instability, exactly the opposite of what Social Security is about.
The president's "fixes" -- privatization of the public Social Security Fund and indexing benefits based on income -- are fiscally irresponsible. The second "fix" is just a solution to a problem created by the first.
Our president wants to sink us deeper into debt, and pay for it with reduced benefits for the middle class. The truth is that Social Security is currently strong, with record surpluses that are increasing yearly, and that projections of insolvency are almost four decades into the future and therefore very uncertain. George W. Bush, by using scary talk about "collapse" and "bankruptcy," has chosen to confuse and divide us.
Alan Levi
Orlando
Root of problem
Government spending of Social Security surpluses was begun by Lyndon Johnson in order to decrease the deficits incurred by the Vietnam War. Subsequent presidents continued this inappropriate sequestration. The fact remains that this program was intended to be funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. The ordinary annual surpluses used to range from $80 billion to $100 billion. In 2003, the surplus amounted to $165.5 billion. The estimate for 2004 is $150 billion. Some crisis!
If the Bush plan should become law, then billions of dollars shall fall into the hands of the brokerage houses. Cui Bono?
No one mentions the British example of private, oops, personal accounts that have been a disaster. Paeans to private vs. government management ignore the fact that the administrative cost of Social Security is slightly more than 1 percent, whereas private insurance firms average about 20 percent. For the working stiff, it is a fool's paradise to believe that he may gain, not lose, in view of the business cycle and of brokerage fees.
True reform must first prohibit government from diversion of these monies to other purposes. Second, the ceiling of $90,000 must be abolished so that millions earned (?) must also be taxed. Thus the present payroll taxes may be reduced to possibly 2 percent or 3 percent, but then the brokerage houses would lose the prospect of great profits.
Walter Tegnazian
Orlando
Quote of the day
“I feel quite strongly that as long as we have our military in the Middle East fighting so that we can continue to purchase oil from that region, we have an obligation to find alternatives to foreign oil. It is difficult to justify the death of even one soldier when we are not doing everything in our power to explore options for oil within our country.”
-Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) all but admitting that the Iraq war is about oil
What the hell!? I'll bet he loses his clubhouse priveleges and decoder ring for this one.
Story here
-Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) all but admitting that the Iraq war is about oil
What the hell!? I'll bet he loses his clubhouse priveleges and decoder ring for this one.
Story here
Bush, Blair and the Town Hall Meetings
If you missed The Daily Show last night you have to see this!
Via Crooks and Liars
Via Crooks and Liars
CURSE YOU, BLOGGERS!
This is funny. Thanks to Benjie for sharing with the class.
...they ‘still don’t know how to handle the bloggers’
...they ‘still don’t know how to handle the bloggers’
Wanted: Guinea Pigs
Via GreatScat!
WASHINGTON -- Government-funded researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children over the past two decades, often without providing them a basic protection afforded in federal law and required by some states, an Associated Press review has found.
The research funded by the National Institutes of Health spanned the country. It was most widespread in the 1990s as foster care agencies sought treatments for their HIV-infected children that weren't yet available in the marketplace.
The practice ensured that foster children -- mostly poor or minority -- received care from world-class researchers at government expense, slowing their rate of death and extending their lives. But it also exposed a vulnerable population to the risks of medical research and drugs that were known to have serious side effects in adults and for which the safety for children was unknown.
Read on...
The Vent from the AJC
Thursday's cream of the crop:
Raising the age for Social Security is like painting another stripe on I-285 so it can hold more cars.
Laura Bush has become a stand-up comedian like her husband, only she's trying to be funny.
When we run out of gas, we can do what we did in the Great Depression when we ran out of money: Take the wheels off the cars and make carts. Then we called them Hoover Carts. Now we can call them Bush Buggies.
If Bush hadn't squandered the surplus, we would have the money to fix Social Security. Put the money back, and the problem is solved.
Isn't it ironic to have two runaway brides from Georgia? Julia Roberts from Smyrna and Jennifer Wilbanks from Duluth.
In Georgia, anytime you marry outside the family you get cold feet. It makes people nervous.
5.04.2005
How bad will it be?
Dubya wants massive cuts to Social Security benefits that would effect the middle class the most. Want to know how much? Check out this state-by-state report to see exactly how many people would see their benefits slashed if the Dubya plan were adopted today, and exactly how much their Social Security checks would drop.
It's down to the wire...
(HA! Tony BLIAR - for a split second I thought it was a typo)
It's election time in the UK. Time to hit the polls. I used to be an admirer of Tony Blair. After John Major and Margaret Thatcher he was a breath of fresh air. His support of Clinton and our war in Bosnia was the ultimate show of friendship and unity.
In light of the recent news about his conspiracy with Dubya concerning Iraq, he needs to hit the road, Jack. The show of unity with Bush doesn't transfer well when the reasons were fabricated to fit the desire to invade.
I don't profess to know too much about British politics but in this case I'm leaning toward Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy. Hmmm, I wonder why?
Here's an amazing fact:
In 1992, turnout was 78% on a generally dry and sunny day. Turnout was 71% in 1997, when again it was again dry, sunny and very warm.Why can't get that kind of turnout in the US?
Time to vote in election campaign via BBC News
5.03.2005
“IMAGINE…NO…HUNGER”
I suppose it's time to move back to Florida in spite of the fact that the residents there elected a Bush for Governor. You can now get a John Lennon Imagine license plate for your car. Yoko Ono has authorized the use of the John Lennon self-portrait image to help the Florida Association of Food Banks in their fight to end hunger in the state of Florida. How cool is that?
Here's the link announcing the plate.
Many thanks to Jim "jimbob" McPherson for sharing this!
Christmas in May - A new Jules Shear song!
In April I posted a few paragraphs about Jules Shear. One of the best,and most underrated, songwriters on the planet. It had been a while since I had heard anything about him and decided it was time to find out if he was planning anything new.
Today, out of the blue, I got an email from his manager, Peter Lubin, thanking me for the kind words about Jules. It's easy to be kind when you're talking about a musical genius whose work you've admired for decades. Anyway, Peter shared a new Jules song with me that will appear on his new CD as soon as they find a suitable outlet for it.
Here's Peter's email:
Hey Wildsects:I wrote back to Peter and thanked him profusely for the song. I don't care if it's exclusive to Wild Sects or not. I GOT TO HEAR A NEW JULES SONG BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED! And I LOVE it! Just as I was coming down from that high, Peter sent yet another song. Unfortunately I can't share that one as he stipulated that it was not to be circulated. He did, however, give permission for me to share the first song he sent. I asked Peter to keep me up on the progress of the new CD. When I know, you'll know.
I just found your page about Jules Shear. Thanks for the kind words! I'm attaching an mp3 for you of a demo of a song that will appear on Jules' next album once we find a suitably appreciative outlet for it. Parenthetically, I also sent this to a site called Songs: Illinois, who did a write-up on Jules recently, so it's not completely exclusive.
He's alive and very well and writing profusely. Feel free to get back in touch if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Peter Lubin
For your listening pleasure and hopefully to entice you to explore more Jules Shear, here is Bad Connection (4.2mb - be patient)
UPDATE: I hang my head in shame. In the April post I mistakenly credited Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" to Jules. I have since edited the earlier post. Jules also composed "If She Knew What She Wanted" recorded by The Bangles.
"The nice thing about true hopelessness is that you don't have to try again."
-Jules Shear, Convict, from Got No Breeding - Jules and the Polar Bears
The 15 pound hamburger!
America has to be the only country where we are committing mass suicide by food. Is it me or that just insane? And where are the religious nutcases? I thought gluttony was a sin.
Pa. Eatery Offers New 15-Pound Burger
Pa. Eatery Offers New 15-Pound Burger
Do as I say, not as I do
Republicans just can't leave well enough alone. When Gore won in 2000 and they hijacked the Florida recounts they all said "get over it." When Ohio was a hotbed of voting shenanigans in 2004 they all said "get over it." Now that the Democrat governor of Washington state, Christine Gregoire, won due to a hand recount, they just can't get over it. Those bastards!
Via YAHOO! News
Via YAHOO! News
This is bad. Really bad.
This is outrageous. The Republican head of PBS basically spied on Bill Moyers (did they do similar spying on Tucker Carlson for his short-lived show?) They used White House staff to help do their dirty work, paid them with PBS money while they were still working at the White House - hello? There's got to be a violation of law there. And now the Republican running the place is thinking of bringing in WHO to be the new head and ensure that PBS is no longer partisan? The former head of the Republican National Committee.
Read on via AMERICAblog
Read on via AMERICAblog
I got another Vent printed in the AJC
Here's my submission:
To all the religious right pharmacists: The birth control pill you deny today could easily be the abortion of tomorrow. Which would you prefer?
To all the religious right pharmacists: The birth control pill you deny today could easily be the abortion of tomorrow. Which would you prefer?
Quote of the day
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
-Oscar Wilde
Republicans would do well to heed these words.
-Oscar Wilde
Republicans would do well to heed these words.
5.02.2005
Sen. George Allen (R-VA) has really gone off the deep end. He was on Meet the Press on Sunday discussing Dubya's Social Security debacle when he stated (with a straight face) that Americans might have to sell their homes to survive in retirement. But, that would be a good thing, because they wouldn't have to trim hedges and cut grass, he noted.
Via Sunday Morning Talk
Via Sunday Morning Talk
Quote of the day
It sounds as if someone from the left infiltrated the booth and got control of Dubya's wire. Either that or he is mindful of his horrible standing in the polls and will say anything to boost them. If only he could get the rest of his party to embrace this ideal.
"Well, I can only speak to myself, and I am mindful that people in political office should not say to somebody, "you're not equally American if you don't happen to agree with my view of religion." As I said, I think faith is a personal issue, and I get great strength from my faith. But I don't condemn somebody in the political process because they may not agree with me on religion. The great thing about America, David, is that you should be allowed to worship any way you want, and if you choose not to worship, you're equally as patriotic as somebody who does worship. And if you choose to worship, you're equally American if you're a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim. That's the wonderful thing about our country, and that's the way it should be."
-Bush during the press conference last week
"Well, I can only speak to myself, and I am mindful that people in political office should not say to somebody, "you're not equally American if you don't happen to agree with my view of religion." As I said, I think faith is a personal issue, and I get great strength from my faith. But I don't condemn somebody in the political process because they may not agree with me on religion. The great thing about America, David, is that you should be allowed to worship any way you want, and if you choose not to worship, you're equally as patriotic as somebody who does worship. And if you choose to worship, you're equally American if you're a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim. That's the wonderful thing about our country, and that's the way it should be."
-Bush during the press conference last week
Big Brother comes knocking in WV
This is a disturbing story. Renee Jensen of Elkins, West Virginia, has put up as many as a dozen signs in her yard over the past year, protesting the war in Iraq, Bush and Cheney, and the erosion of civil liberties.
In the fall, the Secret Service gave her a call. "They said they wanted to ask me some questions," she recalls. "I said sure. They said someone called them and said I had signs up in my yard that were threatening the President. I said I did have some signs in my yard, but I wasn't threatening the President.
Then on January 11, she had some unexpected visitors.
Read on via The Progressive
In the fall, the Secret Service gave her a call. "They said they wanted to ask me some questions," she recalls. "I said sure. They said someone called them and said I had signs up in my yard that were threatening the President. I said I did have some signs in my yard, but I wasn't threatening the President.
Then on January 11, she had some unexpected visitors.
Read on via The Progressive
Dubya's "Pozen Plan"
Notice that Bush's idea of equitable means "cutting almost everyone's benefits severely." Also notice that Bush defined "people who are better off" as everyone making over $20,000/year. I suppose they are technically, "better off" than someone living in a refrigerator box, eating cat food.
Via The Washington Monthly
Via The Washington Monthly
Asinine Quote of the Day
"The Republican Party is a permanent majority for the future of this country. . . . We are going to be able to lead this country in the direction we've been dreaming of for years."
-Tom DeLay election night 2004
-Tom DeLay election night 2004
5.01.2005
UN finally approves Cambodian Khmer Rouge trials
Geez! No time like the present. 30 years after Pol Pot and his maniacs took control of Cambodia the UN is jumping right in and giving the go-ahead for the trials. Good thing they didn't rush into it or anything. I wonder if those Reagan-lovers out there are still proud of ol' Ronnie and his preference for supporting Pol Pot in the UN.
Read more here
Read more here
4.30.2005
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.
4.29.2005
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.
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
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
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.
Here is the column that Cloyce is referring to:
Bookman off-base on BushThis 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.
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
Here is the column that Cloyce is referring to:
The numbers crunch Bush into a failureMakes sense to me but then I live in a populated area :-)
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.
4.28.2005
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
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!
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:
The original letter:
Bush's plan bestRebuttal:
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
Missing the pointAny comments?
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
4.27.2005
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
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!
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
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...
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.More here
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.
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
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
Bush Wants Refineries at Ex-Defense Bases
4.25.2005
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
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
4.24.2005
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
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