Where've All The Good People Gone?

Comics

2007-03-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

From CNN:
Shocking event for Captain America
Story Highlights
• Captain America a victim of Marvel Comics' "Civil War"
• Storyline plays off War on Terror, 9/11, says Marvel

Let the countdown clock begin for the Rightosphere to begin their, "The elitist comic book industry hates Amerca" rant....now. 3...2...1...

Bush...

2007-02-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

Bush screwed our troops.
Bush screwed up the war.
Bush is screwing the future for our children and grandchildren.

Support our troops.
Support your country.

End the war.
Bring the troops home, now.

Peace is patriotic.

Polar Bear Plunge - Benefiting the Special Olympics

2007-01-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

Kevin's Freezin' His Rear Off for the Special Olympics

Hello My Dear Readers (all 2 of you),
On January 27th of this year, I will be setting my sanity aside to jump into the freezing waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Not because I'm an idiot, but because the money I help raise will benefit the Special Olympics. Please take a moment to click on the link and drop a few dollars into the bucket. Hey, you couldn't put any money in the Salvation Army buckets this year because they're pretty much banned from every storefront in the state...so send some love my way. Plus, think of the joy you'll receive my knowing that the money you give me will contribute to the act of sending my family jewels in too my stomach for a few brief moments on an early Saturday morning, while you sleep soundly in your warm, comfortable bed.

Thanks for you time,
Kev

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support the Special Olympics Maryland!

The Polar Bear Plunge - To Benefit the Special Olympics

2007-01-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

Kevin's Freezin' His Rear Off for the Special Olympics
Hello My Dear Readers,
On January 27th of this year, I will be setting my sanity aside to jump into the freezing waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Not because I'm an idiot, but because the money I help raise will benefit the Special Olympics. Please take a moment to click on the link and drop a few dollars into the bucket. Hey, you couldn't put any money in the Salvation Army buckets this year because they're pretty much banned from every storefront in the state...so send some love my way. Plus, think of the joy you'll receive my knowing that the money you give me will contribute to the act of sending my family jewels in too my stomach for a few brief moments on an early Saturday morning, while you sleep soundly in your warm, comfortable bed.

Thanks for you time,
Kev

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support the Special Olympics of Maryland!

Support our troops...

2006-12-01T12:34:00.000-05:00

Soldier's body flown with bags, no honor guard.

Is this what the Republicans and 101st Fighting Keyboarders mean by supporting our troops?

I've touched on the faux "support our troops" rhetoric from this bunch before. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of these kids, these heroes, being shit on constantly by our current administration. Let's REALLY support our troops. Bring them home now.

The war against fiction...

2006-11-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

Via Crooks & Liars, the conservative right apparently has waged war on fictional animated movies for telling a story...or as they put it "Promoting a far left message". MediaMatters has some video of some of their tirads and battle cries. Sound absurd...well it is.

First off...Glenn Beck, you're an asshole. I don't promote name calling, but Glenn deserves this special attention. If you haven't watched the video yet, check it out now. I'll wait...

Done?

Good. Glenn, let me start off with some of the basics. First, IT'S A FUCKING CARTOON! To call Happy Feet anything less is utterly ridiculous. What exactly is the "far left" message here? He drops labels like "propoganda" and comparisons to An Inconvennient Truth. Glenn, maybe they didn't teach this in your journalism classes (or maybe they did, and you were to otherwise predisposed with admiring the size of your own ego), but fictional cartoons AREN'T propoganda. By that logic, EVERY movie is propoganda...animated or not. Glenn, it's a story...that's all. The "left wing" isn't out to brainwash your kids. We're to busy transforming the human race into homosexuals and making "GO TERRORISTS!" bumper stickers in our sparte time.

Next, Neil Cavuto and Holly McClure (you may remember her from such movies as...) engage in the most idiotic converstoin I have ever observed. Holly is quite distressed about the movie going overboard when they show a penguin with "plastic rings around the guys neck". First off Holly, I'll tell you what I told Glenn. It's a fucking movie telling a fictional story...THAT'S IT. Secondly, this crap about plastic rings around birds' necks happens to be true. It's real and it happens, a lot.

Sometimes even intentionally.

So what is this "left wing propoganda" Holly? Glenn? Neil?

Is it to clean up after ourselves? How about thinking about what the results of our actions will be before we perform them? The left wing clearly has no concept of that one. Maybe it's that we only have one earth so we better take care of it? How about respect for other inhabitants of said planet, not to mention respect for each other? We DO share it with other creatures you know. So maybe teaching our kids to share is the "propoganda" the left wing is trying to teach children. Global warming isn't exactly propoganda either. It's happening as we speak. While you can debate the human role in the earths climate change, you cannot debate the the earth's temperature is increasing. As a result, the polar caps are melting:

So maybe the "left wing propoganda" is simply...education?

November 8th, 2006

2006-11-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

CNN: Dems take House; Senate hangs on 2 neck-to-neck races.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Fed up...

2006-11-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

TBogg makes a great point about the Republican response to John Kerry's slip up, verus reality. Check it out here.

Here is my response to both the Air Forces' request for more funds, and confirmation of TBogg's point:

"Look, I vote Democrat (except in cases of Lie-berman and Zell Shriller) and I want these kids home from war now.

But, THEY are the ones who keep voting for these idiots who leave them over there like sitting ducks, with no plans to finish the war, no money, no armor, no way to transport the fallen soldiers home, extended tours, and sending soldiers with PTS Disorder back to the front lines. THEY (and by "they", I mean a large percentage...not all) vote for the same dumb fucks who are pro-war...as long as they don't have to go (See Colbert's "Better Know A District" from 11/1/06 episode). The same hypocrites who cut troop salaries and benefits after preaching "Support Our Troops", then give the difference to Halliburton and whoever else gives the Repubs a bent over lubed ass to fuck whenever they want.

And some how, John Kerry is the enemy because he slipped up on a joke about George Bush.

So if they want to stay there...let them. Let them vote Republican. I'm getting to the point where I could care less. I'm sick and fucking tired of being called a terrorist because I fear for our troops safety and well being. THAT'S PATRIOTISM...sticking up for your fellow Americans and questioning totalitarianism rule. I'll vote Democrat and continue to speak out against the atrocity we call "Bringing Democracy to Iraq", but if these people ultimately want to stay in Iraq as human target practice for the insurgents, with no help from their government...it's their choice. Have fun.

All Incompetence, All The Time...

2006-09-25T12:18:00.000-05:00

CNN - 9/25/06:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Part of a classified intelligence report that says the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat against the United States has fueled calls by congressional Democrats for a new direction in the nation's war on terrorism.

U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials Sunday confirmed to CNN the contents of the leaked portion of the National Intelligence Estimate, which was first reported in the Sunday editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Washington Post - 9/17/06:
After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade. "Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration's gravest errors. Many of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation, which sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the reconstruction effort.

Washington Post - 9/10/06 (via TBogg):
On the videotape obtained by the CIA, bin Laden is seen confidently instructing his party how to dig holes in the ground to lie in undetected at night. A bomb dropped by a U.S. aircraft can be seen exploding in the distance. "We were there last night," bin Laden says without much concern in his voice. He was in or headed toward Pakistan, counterterrorism officials think.

That was December 2001. Only two months later, Bush decided to pull out most of the special operations troops and their CIA counterparts in the paramilitary division that were leading the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for war in Iraq, said Flynt L. Leverett, then an expert on the Middle East at the National Security Council.

"I was appalled when I learned about it," said Leverett, who has become an outspoken critic of the administration's counterterrorism policy. "I don't know of anyone who thought it was a good idea. It's very likely that bin Laden would be dead or in American custody if we hadn't done that."

Several officers confirmed that the number of special operations troops was reduced in March 2002.

Worlds Apart

2006-07-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

Exeperpts from "President Discusses Stem Cell Research Policy" - July 19, 2006 - 2:08PM EST

Bush vetoes embryonic stem-cell bill

"Each of these human embryos is a unique human life..."

"...with inherent dignity and matchless value."

"We see that value in the children who are with us today. "

"These boys and girls are not spare parts." (Applause.)

"They remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed in the name of research."

"...they remind us that in our zeal for new treatments and cures, America must never abandon our fundamental morals. "

"...They are living proof that effective medical science can also be ethical."

"We must continue to explore these hopeful alternatives and advance the cause of scientific research while staying true to the ideals of a decent and humane society..."

"America was founded on the principle that we are all created equal, and endowed by our Creator with the right to life."

"And we can ensure that science serves the cause of humanity instead of the other way around. "

"Thank you all for coming and may God bless." (Applause.)

Like I said, this guy lives in another world. He just doesn't get it.

Most photos courtesy of: www.mediamusicstudies.net/.../IraqChildren.html

FYI...

2006-07-25T17:35:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of speculation that one can read the book of Revelation and determine that the current events in the Middle East are signs of Armageddon.

As a life-long Catholic, I can tell you this:

Looking to the Bible as a source of "things to come" is the equivalent of reading the Farmer's Almanac for the next year's weather report...with the exception that the Farmer's Almanac may be a little more accurate.

I don't know how many times I can say this...the Bible is not meant to be taken literally.

That is all.

The joke that isn't funny...

2006-07-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

CNN: BOMBS AND TEARS

Meanwhile in D.C. - President Bush has issued the first veto of his presidency, rejecting a bill to expand federal research on stem cells obtained from embryos.

Bush's priorities couldn't be more fucked up. He is an utter disgrace to our country and our fellow human counterparts around the world. Never before have I seen a wolf act so well in sheeps clothing...

Friday Random 10

2006-02-24T10:52:00.000-05:00

Ugh..hungover Fridays. Awful.

1) Pillars of Eternity - Down
2) Punk Rock Billy - Slightly Stoopid
3) Loud Neighbor - 2 Skinnee J's
4) F-Stop Blues - Jack Johnson
5) Pictures of You - Lit
6) Rehab - Down
7) Let Go -Frou Frou
8) Touch From Your Lust - Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
9) Guns (are for pussies) - 311
10) Lost & Found - 2 Skinnee J's

Seriously, I have 2 days worth of music on my new iPod...and I get two group repeats?

For those wondering...yes, the Lit song "Pictures of You" is a cover of the Cure. For the record, I'm not really a fan of cover songs. But this is one of the best covers I have ever heard. I loved the original, but I could listen to Lit's version 100 times and not get sick of it.

I was happy with the 2 Skinne J's repeat. I just got my 2$J Farewell Show DVD in the mail yesterday and have already watched it twice. This was one of the funniest alt/rock/rap bands of all time. I was very fortunate to get to see them this summer on a brief reunion tour. Go download "Horns of Destruction" and "Pluto" now. Then buy every CD they have put out. You won't regret it.

Don't Worry?

2006-02-23T11:35:00.000-05:00

CNN:
Bush: 'People don't need to worry about security'...regarding the UAE port deal.

Let me get this straight. The federal terror alert system has been in place for 1,469 days...zero, that's right, ZERO of which have been at terror alert level Green or Blue. Yet, somehow, we don't need to worry about our security?

Now remember, the Coast Guard is still responsible for securing out ports. However, a fair estimate is that only 5% of all containers shipped into this country are inspected. Now we are handing over these ports to the UAE, where two of the 9/11 terrorists originated from, and a country that is lukewarm on democracy..at best?

There is a clinical term for Bush's mental state: retarded.

Doug makes a great point over at his blog, Hey Jenny Slater:
"But here's the thing: While I don't think this deal is an automatic disaster, there are clearly some security issues that need to be addressed. You've got people all over the country decrying this deal as a security risk; if the deal is really such a fantastic idea, why not do an investigation, make sure everything checks out, put their fears to rest? Why not indeed: A 1993 law mandates a 45-day investigation in cases like the one we're talking about -- and not only has this investigation not occurred, nobody in the Bush administration even knows why it didn't occur."

...
"If it turns out that this deal has some kind of tie back into Halliburton or KBR or some other company that Bush and/or Cheney has family ties to -- and at this point, I would not be at all averse to laying some money that it does -- then I don't see how anyone can say this isn't some impeachment-worthy shit. The thing is, I really hope Democrats and lefty bloggers can figure out a way to make this case without jumping on the Republicans' OMG they're Arabs so it must be bad!!11!!1! bandwagon. Let the Repubs and wingnuts tear themselves to pieces over the fact that they're Arabs; the real issue here, the one that the Democrats need to take the lead on, is that Bush seems to be in a real hurry to get this thing passed without the necessary investigations and seems prepared to use what, for him, has been a nuclear option if anyone stands in his way."

Conservative Republicans hate our troops...

2006-02-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

...Even more so than sending them off to a war based on lies and mis-information, to attack a country that posed no threat to the U.S., and not giving them enough body armor to defend themselves or a plan to leave...

CNN:

[Rev.] Phelps believes American deaths in Iraq are divine punishment for a country that he says harbors homosexuals. His protesters carry signs thanking God for so-called IEDs -- explosives that are a major killer of soldiers in Iraq.

God bless Ameri....wait, how does that go again?

Friday Random 10

2006-02-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

And away we go...

How You Feel - Unwritten Law
A Bid Farewell - Killswitch Engage
With You Here - Finch
I Want My City Back - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (I hear rumors of a reunion bitches!)
Cold December - Matt Costa
Loco - 311
Don't Give A F#ck! - Suicidal Tendencies
New Beginnings - Finch
Taylor - Jack Johnson
She's Famous Now - Reel Big Fish

President's Day Extended Weekend Bonus - Diamonds On The Inside - Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals

I can dig it. What's up with the Finch re-deux though?

Here I come Federal Hill Pub Crawl....YeEeAaAhHh!!

Laughable

2006-02-16T09:04:00.000-05:00

For those of you who missed Brit Hume's ~~hard-hitting interview with~~ rub 'n tug of Vice-President Cheney, allow me to summarize:

Brit Hume: Mr. Vice-President, are you sad?
VP Cheney: Yes Brit, I am.
Brit Hume: Are you sorry about all of this?
VP Cheney: Of course.
Brit Hume: Would you like me to kiss you on the cheek, hold you, and tell you everything is going to be ok?
VP Cheney: Would you?
Brit Hume: Mmmm. {smooch} Come here big guy. {snuggle} Everything is going to be ok. I promise. Yes I do. Yeees I doooo. Mmmm.

Ok, ok. He didn't really kiss him on the cheek. But they did snuggle. I swear.

Don't Believe the Hype...

2006-02-12T17:21:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what you may hear on the national news, the northeast wasn't exactly "crushed" by the most recent storm. The 20 inches was more like 10 in Baltimore and surrounding areas, and most major roads were clear as a bell by noon. Being hit over the weekend made things much easier. Although for many Baltimoreans, who unlike me, have to drive to work..rush hour will probably be a bit of a bitch tomorrow. Have fun suckers.

In the meantime, my lovely girlfriend and I took a stroll through lovely Patterson Park (coincidentally, NOT the park where Dick Cheney accidentally shot his friend) today. I am very lucky to live right next to a beautiful park in the heart of downtown Baltimore. Similar in many ways to Central Park...although on a much, much smaller scale. For those of you who may not know (I didn't until this past summer)...Patterson Park was partly designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who was one of the designers of Central Park. 20,000 Baltimorean volunteers at Patterson Park on September 12, 1814 also rallied to hold off the British and prevent the overtaking of Fort McHenry...thus saving us all the horror of speaking in those dreadful accents.

Enjoy some of the pics from our walk today...

Pretty soon we'll be back to warm summer days and I'll be able to chill on my deck...

Friday Random 10

2006-02-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

The Been Gone A While, Finally Got An iPod, So Now I'm Cool Again...But Why The F#@k Does My iTunes Keep Freezing When I'm Ripping Certain CD's, This Thing Is A Piece Of Crap...Edition.

Heading Home - Donavon Frankenreiter
She's Alone - Five Way Friday
Big Beat Evangelists - 2 Skinny J's
Bleed For Me - Black Label Society
Symbol In My Driveway - Jack Johnson
88 - Sum 41
Because of You - Unwritten Law
Times Like These - Foo Fighters
Devil In the Water - matt pond PA (props to TBogg for the heads up)
Closer - The Urge

Being as I only have 2 gigs in my iPod which amounts to about 1/15th of my music collection, not a bad first Friday Random 10...worthy of busting my cherry on.

So I've been MIA for a while, huh? Due to an enormous amount of things going on in my life, I just haven't had time to blog lately. Laid off of a job where I was completely miserable, job hunting, freelance projects, and finally being hired for a job that is perfect for me. I guess everything DOES happen for a reason. I'll be eagerly re-joining the full-time workforce on the 27th.

As for politics, here is your daily dose (The Baltimore Sun):

Steele apologizes for stem cell remarks
At meeting with Jewish leaders, lt. governor likened controversial [stem cell] research to Holocaust

Right, because the performing a medical procedure with a tiny cell that could produce a cure for an innumerable amount of maladies for millions of human beings around the world is just like genocide...what a douche.

Our "liberal" media at work...

2005-11-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

In their immediate coverage of the November 1 closed session of the U.S. Senate forced by Democrats under Rule 21 to discuss pre-war intelligence, CNN and Fox News largely omitted statements by Democrats explaining the reasoning behind this rare action, focusing instead on Republican complaints over the invocation of the closed-session rule.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m.,* Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called to close the Senate. In a prepared statement on the floor, Reid detailed questions -- each of which concerned the Bush administration's use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq -- that the Senate Intelligence Committee had failed to adequately address in its 2004 report on the intelligence community's pre-war assessments of Iraq. Reid's statement concluded:

Unfortunately the Senate committee that should be taking the lead in providing these answers is not. Despite the fact that the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee [Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)] publicly committed to examine many of these questions more than 1 and ½ years ago, he has chosen not to keep this commitment. Despite the fact that he restated that commitment earlier this year on national television, he has still done nothing.

At this point, we can only conclude he will continue to put politics ahead of our national security. If he does anything at this point, I suspect he will play political games by producing an analysis that fails to answer any of these important questions. Instead, if history is any guide, this analysis will attempt to disperse and deflect blame away from the Administration.

After reading his statement, Reid declared:

There have been letters written to the committee, a press release was issued even saying that they were going to go forward with this [intelligence investigations]. Mr. President, enough time has gone by. I demand on behalf of the American people that we understand why these investigations aren't being conducted, and in accordance with Rule 21, I now move that Senate go into closed session.

Immediately after his motion was carried, from 2:27 p.m. until 2:41 p.m., three Democratic senators, Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Charles D. Schumer (D-NY), and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), held a press conference to explain the rationale for the closed session. A Republican press conference featuring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Sens. Trent Lott (R-MS), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Rick Santorum (R-PA), followed, from 2:47 p.m. until 3:01 p.m.

Neither Fox News nor CNN covered the event before 2:43 p.m., and in their initial coverage, both networks disproportionately featured Republican comments condemning Reid's move. Fox News, which initially reported on the event at 2:44 p.m., cut away at 2:45 p.m., returning to display Frist's remarks at 2:47 p.m. Fox News aired the Republican press conference uninterrupted until 2:57 p.m. and ended coverage at 3:00 p.m. Fox News did not broadcast any of the Democratic senators' comments.

CNN, which began coverage at 2:43 p.m. and did not cut to other news until 3:16 p.m., did not do much better. CNN aired two Democrats: Reid on the floor of the Senate as he invoked Rule 21 and Schumer during the press conference. Comments by all four Republicans (Frist, Lott, Kyl, and Santorum) also appeared on CNN. Overall, CNN granted Republicans 11.5 minutes of airtime and Democrats only 2 minutes.

*Press conference timestamps from C-SPAN. All timestamps are approximate Eastern Time.

Red-flags...

2005-10-31T16:14:00.000-05:00

Via DailyKos and Think Progress, here are just a few of the early snippets we discover about what one Samuel Alito would do:

Overturn Roe v. Wade. About 2/3rds of Americans would oppose overturning Roe.
Allow race-based discrimination and discrimination based on disabilities.
Opposes the Family and Medical Leave Act. In fact, he doesn't just oppose it, he struck down the law in 2000. The Supreme Court reversed his decision. For Alito, workers shouldn't be able to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave to take care of newborns or loved ones.
Has no problem with unauthorized strip searches.
In Doe v. Groody, Alito agued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when they strip searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his home.

That awkward sound you here is America's sociological evolvement grinding to a halt.

White Sox

2005-10-27T14:04:00.000-05:00

Last night the White Sox tied Bobby Brown's record by beating Houston 4 times in one week...

2005-10-14T10:43:00.000-05:00

16 kids, 2 bathrooms; mom explains the math

2 - piss in the two toilets
4 - piss in the sinks
2 - piss in the front lawn
2 - piss in the back lawn
1 - Jinger still wets his sheets
5 - share and piss in the bathtubs

This woman's uterus should have friggin' toll booth....

Do you have this in a 9 1/2?

2005-10-14T10:41:00.000-05:00

I'm running in a 4-person relay in the Baltimore Marathon on Saturday. So I run to the mall during my lunch break today to grab a new pair of running shoes.

The first two "running" stores I walked into didn't have much of a selection. They were catered more towards a younger crowd. They sold lids, jerseys, over the top basektball shoes. Nothing for running.

However, I did notice something...well, not surprising. Both of the stores had and African-American Army recruiter right up front...as soon as you walked in. I couldn't help but laugh.

So I finally make it to Athlete's Feet and got a nice pair of New Balance running shoes. On my way there, I noticed that there were no other stores with Army recruiters. Not that I expected to see any.

I made my way back to the first store and walked up to the recruiter, "Hey GNC was pretty busy too. Those folks would be perfect. You know..fit, strong, young, healthy....oh shit, but they're white. Probably not the type you were sent out to sign up today, huh?"

I didn't get a response....

"There's a dog trapped in my guitar..."

2005-10-11T14:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, this isn't political...it's just plain weird.

Watch it and let me know what you think. Click on the plus sign in the top right hand cornder to start the movie.

The power of profit...

2005-10-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

As expected, the house voted (229-193) to all but dismantle the Endangered Species Act this week. Many people believe, as do I, that we are in the midst of a mass extinction.

It is quite evident that the Republicans, and some Democrats, are more concerned with protecting profits than protecting life on this precious planet.

Just a quick check on reality for everyone:

There are about 500,000 species left on earth...only 4,629 of which are mammals. For every species that becomes extinct, we take one step closer to our final farewell. A permanent date with the Wooly Mammoth so to speak.

To be honest, I for one agree with Kurt Vonnegut that the world will be a better place when we're gone. Can anyone name another form of life that has gutted this planet for it's own benefit and given nothing back in return? I mean, we can't even put our metals and plastics in a separate trash bags for fear of missing 2 minutes of American Idol. We see the effects of the destruction of natural habitats that are there to protect us (see: marshland in Louisiana), yet we continue to make the same choices in exchange for the Almighty Dollar....and we continue to vote in the politicians who allow it. Will we ever learn? Will we ever wake up? Or are we just another tick closer to joining the dinosaurs?

Scientists Discover New Element

2005-09-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium". Governmentium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311.

The 311 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes a reaction to take over 4 days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but, instead undergoes a re-organization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact Governmentium mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of the moron promotion leads scientists to believe Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass". When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element which radiates just as much energy, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

I can't stop laughing...

2005-09-15T16:01:00.000-05:00

What happens when you Gizoogle conservative sites like Little Green Footballs or NRO's Krugman Watch? Oh, it's just too damn funny...

Shawty Green Footballs - Anti-Idizzles Heezeequarters

Don't forget to Registrizzle...

Third Time's Not A Chizzarm

I never would have guessed...

2005-09-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

CNN:

Companies with ties to the White House among the first awarded reconstruction deals.

Should we really be surprised??

Are you kidding me?...

2005-09-09T12:04:00.000-05:00

Yahoo News (exerpt):

Dems Assail White House on Katrina Effort
By JENNIFER LOVEN and DAVID ESPO:

At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of theFederal Emergency Management Agency had 'absolutely no credentials.'

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.'

He said 'Why would I do that?'' Pelosi said.'' I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?''' Oblivious, in denial, dangerous,' she added."

...I mean...this guy just doesn't get it. HE DOESN'T FUCKING GET IT!

Memo to Anytown, USA: You're town is next. It could happen anywhere and at anytime....and you're president couldn't give a FUCK about you.

2005-09-08T09:06:00.000-05:00

The Daily Reckoning:

A friend writes from New Orleans...

"... one of the greatest tragedies in the history of our nation has been visited on my little corner of the world."

Don't let the shrieking headlines fool you - the vast, vast majority of the people being affected by this disaster are good-hearted, hard-working people. The salt of the earth, as they say. A small number of hoodlums have tarnished the reputation of the greater, better whole, and this has only been made possible by the treasonous inaction, utter disregard and disdain of the federal authorities.

"Imagine if you spent a harrowing day or two trapped in an attic or, if you were lucky, baking on your roof, in 95 degree heat and 95% humidity. And this after losing everything you owned. Now you're corralled with hundreds of others on a hot street, and told to wait because buses, boats, food and water were on the way. One day passes. Then another. And nothing comes.

"In the meantime, people are literally dying around you. Bodies are floating by. Your children's cries are growing more faint. And, somewhere beyond your little hell, politicians are elbowing each other for face time in front of the cameras, figuratively standing on the bodies of your friends and loved ones to further their petty ambitions."

Responsibility...

2005-09-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

Dan Rodricks
September 4, 2005

AFRIEND writes: "Poor, mostly black lives are not valued in America. The Katrina victims' plight is being played out for the world to see on CNN. The neglect, the incompetence, the slow motion to help are all an outrage. Our government looks very, very bad. I'm angry. You?"

I guess that's what I feel. I hope that's what I feel. I don't think I've become part of the ambivalent, eye-glazed, TV-doped masses yet.

But it's not just "our government" that deserves ire.

Who do you suppose is responsible for "our government"?

In 2004, the American people -- or a little more than half of those who took time to vote -- re-elected a president who got us into a costly war on an apparent lie, ran up huge budget deficits, gave tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, dismissed the science that informs environmental policy and, relevant to the current matter of the New Orleans devastation, cut the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for flood control there.

And the Democrats have pretty much taken a nap through all of this. They don't appear to have the stomach for a fight any more.

In this age of expanding population, wealth and consumerism, neither Democrats nor Republicans will speak with truth and honesty about where we are and where we're headed as a nation. We're vigilant about terrorism, but not much else.

Conservation, shared sacrifice, saving money and borrowing less, living and working smarter? There is no clear, pronounced leadership on any of those fronts.

Smart men and women, once called to public service because they believed in working for the common good, have found other things to do in an age of diminishing government regulation, shrinking social services, extreme ideology and cynical politics.

Young people don't consider a career in public service because it's not held up, as it once was --by, for example, the Roosevelts (the Republican, and his Democratic fifth cousin) -- as something that can actually move mountains and improve lives.

So, with no real leadership, we cruise along in our SUVs at top speed, through the state of denial, as the national debt gets larger ($7.9 trillion, as of Sept. 1), the public infrastructure and social safety net weaken, the military is stretched to its limits, and the cost of energy goes through the roof.

In July, ExxonMobil announced a 32 percent increase in second-quarter profits, the third-largest jump in company history, while Americans were paying record-high prices at the gas pumps. There was no discernible outrage from elected leaders of either party.

And not even allegedly liberal Democrats will force automakers to build more fuel-efficient vehicles, or make public transportation, conservation measures and smart-growth land management matters of national urgency.

So, I look around at all this -- this monsoon of events we've been experiencing since 9/11/2001, along with everything else on or below the surface -- and I guess I'm angry.

But, as George Bernard Shaw put it, "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

It's time to wake up and to stop arguing on partisan grounds. Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House have all failed us in some way during this critical time in American history. The Republican president promised a war to end terrorism and nothing close to that has happened; in fact, the war in Iraq appears to have made the United States and its allies even more appealing targets for terrorists. The Democrats have been there, right along, barely uttering a peep of challenge to the president's war.

The war is costing the nation billions, so much so that money previously designated for domestic needs (such as the Army Corps of Engineers' plan for holding back Lake Pontchartrain) has had to be diverted to Iraq. And as the Congress and president abide the starving of the government's resources and its ability to serve human needs, where is the leadership to challenge them?

The Green Party? Howard Dean? Ralph Nader? Al Sharpton?

They all get dismissed as marginal, or fringe, or nutty.

But, at times like these, almost anything looks better than what we have in place. Relief for the Katrina victims -- and the next election -- can't come soon enough.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Baltimore Sun Get Sun home delivery

Dear Mr. Bush....

2005-09-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

Friday, September 2nd, 2005

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

2005-08-22T08:22:00.000-05:00

Via CNN:

"They said the president also will invoke the September 11, 2001, attacks, arguing once again that the insurgents battling American troops in Iraq share the same ideology as the al Qaeda operatives who crashed hijacked jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field."

As long as Bush continues to invoke 9/11 in reference to the war in Iraq, I think the conservatives need to shut the hell up about Cindy Sheehan...

I've got gas...

2005-08-12T14:52:00.000-05:00

CNN reports on the soaring gas prices and it's effect on the economy:

"Those most likely to be worried about the financial impact are people with low incomes, the unemployed and minorities."

Duh.

Journalism at its finest.

Does anyone vacation as much as our president??

2005-08-03T11:36:00.000-05:00

From an article in The Washington Post (thanks to TBOGG):

"The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening for a stretch of clearing brush, visiting with family and friends, and tending to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years."

Now, quick quiz for all of my readers. Can anyone tell me what happened after President "Has Anyone Seen Him Lately?" took his last extended vacation?? I'll give you a hint. How about another hint?

Let's just hope he doesn't get any important memo's from Condi to ignore this time....

This is friggin' awesome...

2005-07-30T16:43:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to rub in the fact that I am posting from the Dave Matthew's concert in NYC. I am outside at Randall's Island, Robert Randolph is on stage, I have a beer in my hand, and I'm looking at the Hudson River...right now.

Sucks to be all of you.

Vote Democrat.

Peace

-me

Republicans & terrorism...

2005-07-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

From Atrios:

Washington, DC - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement regarding U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-CO) refusal to apologize for comments suggesting that the United States should bomb Muslim holy sites, including Mecca.

"Tancredo's statements go against the very message America is trying to send to the world, that the war against terrorism is not a war on Islam. Remarks threatening the destruction of holy sites akin to the Vatican or Jerusalem do nothing to win the hearts and minds of Muslims in the United States and abroad.

Congressman Tancredo certainly owes Muslims around the globe an immediate apology for his offensive remarks. At the same time, he also owes Americans an apology for projecting a message that goes against our values. With these remarks, Tancredo has been utterly careless with his responsibility for shaping our foreign policy. Tancredo's continued refusal to apologize poses a very real danger to our troops. President Bush should strongly condemn Tancredo's statement."

Ruminations on the desirability of nuking Mecca because of the actions of some Muslims somewhere presumably might piss people off a bit more than ruminations about the improper treatment of Muslim prisoners. But, up is down people! SAY IT LOUDER! UP IS DOWN!

All the Republicans who went after Dick Durbin care nothing for our soldiers or even national security. They only care about preserving the power of the Republican party.

Nor will our press put the Republicans through the disassociation gauntlet as they did Democrats. Collective punishment based on religious association using the ultimate weapons of mass destruction is certainly a-ok for our media.

Note, of course, that Tancredo is advocating terrorism against civilian populations. His reasoning is exactly that of those who bomb targets in London and Madrid, only he potentially has a bigger arsenal available to him.

2005-07-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

A great blurb taken from the folks over at Johnson City Forum. It definitely goes to show what kind of morons are over at the conservative site, FreeRepublic.

The next time you think that your blogging doesn't impact the world, remember Andy Stephenson.

Andy was an election fraud activist, working tirelessly for paper ballots and hand counts.

Andy suddenly became sick after attending the Nashville Election Fraud Convention.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and was told he needed a procedure that could only be done John's Hopkins, and that his insurance would not cover. He needed $50,000 and he needed it QUICK in order to start the procedure in a timely fashion.

Folks at Democratic Underground RAISED THE $50,000 IN A WEEKEND and he was ready to go. Except for one thing. Folks over at The Free Republic didn't want "the liberals" to get away with raising money so quickly. Here's what one freeper wrote on the subject:

"Even if Andy was sick, it's important to stop scams before they happen when Liberals try to raise money. The bad thing about the Andy situation is that now the DUmmys know how to raise money quickly. If Andy was scamming people (and I think he was) then it would have been MUCH EASIER to nip future Liberal fund-raiseing efforts in the bud."

Here is a link to their conversation. Read for yourself.

They began a concerted effort to INTERFERE WITH THE FUNDRAISING EFFORT AND DELAYED HIS SURGERY. They did this by stopping PayPal from releasing the funds that hundreds of DU'ers had selflessly given to save his life.

He died Thursday at 9:30 p.m.

Eating their own...

2005-07-14T09:15:00.000-05:00

It' so funny how quickly Republicans turn on each other.

Nevada's chapter of the Young Republicans has basically imploded, leaving its chairman with up to $25,000 in personal debt and allegations that he mishandled money.

All but three people have resigned from the statewide group, but the fallout could prove increasingly embarrassing to the entire state Republican Party.

Today, the chairman of the group, Reno resident Nathan Taylor, plans to hold a press conference attacking three of the state's party leaders -- Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Jim Gibbons and Rep. Jon Porter.

Taylor argues that the state's Republican delegation should have helped him fund the national Young Republican convention held last week at Mandalay Bay.

"I've got bills at the hotel I can't pay," said Taylor, a 29-year-old political science senior at UNR who said he had to quit his food service job and drop classes to plan the convention.

I say blame it on the bible...that should take care of everything. Psalms 23:47 - "And the good Lord said, "Thou shalt place $25,000 on thine square which is red, for thout is God's chosen hue."

It's about time the media started demanding answers...

2005-07-11T15:48:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of Rawstory.com and Basket Full of Puppies, I bring you this rather...errr...uncomfortable grilling of Scotty McClellan. He must have taken some serious ballet lessons as a kid in order to dance around the questions like he did here. Still, it was nice to see the media and reporters grilling this guy and demanding answers. If only they had pushed half this hard before the war in Iraq......

QUESTION: Scott, can I ask you this: Did Karl Rove commit a crime?

MCCLELLAN: Again, David, this is a question relating to a ongoing investigation, and you have my response related to the investigation. And I don't think you should read anything into it other than: We're going to continue not to comment on it while it's ongoing.

QUESTION: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003, when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby, and you said, "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me they are not involved in this"?

QUESTION: Do you stand by that statement?

MCCLELLAN: And if you will recall, I said that, as part of helping the investigators move forward on the investigation, we're not going to get into commenting on it. That was something I stated back near that time as well.

QUESTION: Scott, this is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us, after having commented with that level of detail, and tell people watching this that somehow you've decided not to talk.

You've got a public record out there. Do you stand by your remarks from that podium or not?

MCCLELLAN: I'm well aware, like you, of what was previously said. And I will be glad to talk about it at the appropriate time. The appropriate time is when the investigation...

QUESTION: (inaudible) when it's appropriate and when it's inappropriate?

MCCLELLAN: If you'll let me finish.

QUESTION: No, you're not finishing. You're not saying anything.

You stood at that podium and said that Karl Rove was not involved. And now we find out that he spoke about Joseph Wilson's wife. So don't you owe the American public a fuller explanation. Was he involved or was he not? Because contrary to what you told the American people, he did indeed talk about his wife, didn't he?

MCCLELLAN: There will be a time to talk about this, but now is not the time to talk about it.

QUESTION: Do you think people will accept that, what you're saying today?

MCCLELLAN: Again, I've responded to the question.

QUESTION: You're in a bad spot here, Scott...

(LAUGHTER)

... because after the investigation began -- after the criminal investigation was under way -- you said, October 10th, 2003, "I spoke with those individuals, Rove, Abrams and Libby. As I pointed out, those individuals assured me they were not involved in this," from that podium. That's after the criminal investigation began.

Now that Rove has essentially been caught red-handed peddling this information, all of a sudden you have respect for the sanctity of the criminal investigation.

MCCLELLAN: No, that's not a correct characterization. And I think you are well aware of that.

We know each other very well. And it was after that period that the investigators had requested that we not get into commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation.

And we want to be helpful so that they can get to the bottom of this. Because no one wants to get to the bottom of it more than the president of the United States.

I am well aware of what was said previously. I remember well what was said previously. And at some point I look forward to talking about it. But until the investigation is complete, I'm just not going to do that.

QUESTION: So you're now saying that after you cleared Rove and the others from that podium, then the prosecutors asked you not to speak anymore and since then you haven't.

MCCLELLAN: Again, you're continuing to ask questions relating to an ongoing criminal investigation and I'm just not going to respond to them.

QUESTION: When did they ask you to stop commenting on it, Scott? Can you pin down a date?

MCCLELLAN: Back in that time period.

QUESTION: Well, then the president commented on it nine months later. So was he not following the White House plan?

MCCLELLAN: I appreciate your questions. You can keep asking them, but you have my response.

QUESTION: Well, we are going to keep asking them.

When did the president learn that Karl Rove had had a conversation with a news reporter about the involvement of Joseph Wilson's wife in the decision to send him to Africa?

MCCLELLAN: I've responded to the questions.

QUESTION: When did the president learn that Karl Rove had been...

MCCLELLAN: I've responded to your questions.

QUESTION: After the investigation is completed, will you then be consistent with your word and the president's word that anybody who was involved will be let go?

MCCLELLAN: Again, after the investigation is complete, I will be glad to talk about it at that point.

QUESTION: Can you walk us through why, given the fact that Rove's lawyer has spoken publicly about this, it is inconsistent with the investigation, that it compromises the investigation to talk about the involvement of Karl Rove, the deputy chief of staff, here?

MCCLELLAN: Well, those overseeing the investigation expressed a preference to us that we not get into commenting on the investigation while it's ongoing. And that was what they requested of the White House. And so I think in order to be helpful to that investigation, we are following their direction.

QUESTION: Scott, there's a difference between commenting on an investigation and taking an action...

MCCLELLAN: (inaudible)

QUESTION: Can I finish, please?

MCCLELLAN: I'll come back to you in a minute.

QUESTION: Scott, (inaudible) president spoke about war on terrorism and, also, according to India Globe report there is bombings in London and also bombings in India. And at both places, Al Qaida was involved.

According to the India Globe and press reports, Pakistani television said that Osama bin Laden is now alive and they had spoken with him. And his group is (inaudible) terrorism around the globe is concerned.

Well, now, the major bombings after 9/11 took place in London and (inaudible) fighting against terrorism is concerned.

Where do we stand now? Really, where do we go from London as far as terrorism is concerned? How far can we go after Osama bin Laden now to catch him, because he's still in Pakistan?

MCCLELLAN: What occurred in London is a grim reminder that we are at war on terrorism. We are waging a comprehensive war on terrorism.

You heard the president talk earlier today to the FBI personnel and others who were at Quantico. And the president talked about our global war on terrorism. He talked about our strategy for taking the fight to the enemy, staying on the offensive, and working to spread freedom and democracy to defeat the ideology of hatred that terrorists espouse.

And the president pointed back to the 20th century. He pointed out that in World War II, freedom prevailed over fascism and Nazism. And in the Cold War, freedom prevailed over communism.

MCCLELLAN: Freedom is a powerful force for defeating an ideology such as the one that the terrorists espouse. And that's why it's so important to continue working to advance freedom and democracy in the broader Middle East. And that's what we will continue to do.

And the president also talked about the great progress we've made at home to protect the home front.

The families and friends of those who lost their lives in London continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. We know what it's like to be attacked on our own soil.

And that's why the president made a decision that we were going to take the fight to the enemy to try to disrupt plots and prevent attacks from happening in the first place. And that's exactly what we are doing.

But we're also going to work with the free world to support the advance of freedom and democracy in a dangerous region of the world. For too long we ignored what was going on in the Middle East. We accepted and tolerated dictatorships in exchange for peace and stability, and we got neither.

As the president said, free nations are peaceful societies. And that's why it's so important that we continue to support the advance of freedom, because that's how you ultimately defeat the ideology of hatred and oppression that terrorists espouse.

QUESTION: Does the president continue to have confidence in Mr. Rove?

MCCLELLAN: Again, these are all questions coming up in the context of an ongoing criminal investigation. And you've heard my response on this.

QUESTION: So you're not going to respond as to whether or not the president has confidence in his deputy chief of staff?

MCCLELLAN: You're asking this question in the context of an ongoing investigation, and I would not read anything into it other then I'm simply going to comment on an ongoing investigation.

QUESTION: Has there been any change, or is there a plan for Mr. Rove's portfolio to be altered in any way?

MCCLELLAN: Again, you have my response to these questions.

Op-Ed piece o' the day...

2005-06-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

Karl Rove is a fucking dick.

That is all.

Hmmm....

2005-06-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Another great piece from The Daily Reckoning:

At the risk of boring long time Daily Reckoning sufferers and annoying new ones, we offer a two-sentence explanation of the world economy, circa 2005, under the reign of George W. Bush and Alan Greeenspan:

Asians make things and sell them to Americans, who borrow money from their suppliers (on the inflated value of their houses) in order to continue living beyond their means. Asians take their profits and either relend them to Americans...or use them to buy more productive capacity, in America and elsewhere.

For those who wonder where this trend will lead, we offer a guess: The average American will be left with a shoeshine kit and instructions on how to say "please" and "thank you" in Chinese.

Ouch...

"New U.S. envoy to Iraq 'horrified' by attacks"

2005-06-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

A report from today's AP Wire:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - America's new ambassador to Iraq expressed horror yesterday at the violence racking the country and said Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists are trying to start a civil war.

I believe this falls into the "No shit, Sherlock" category.

Also,

"I am horrified by the daily suffering of the Iraqi people. The terrorists attack ordinary people, teachers, doctors, newly trained police and others who are assisting the people of Iraq," Khalilzad added.

My question to conservatives, or anyone who still stands behind this war is...how is this better than before we invaded Iraq? Don't get me wrong, Saddam was a jackass. But it seems like every day we get more confirmation of how we have fucked these people, royaly.

Thought of the day...

2005-06-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

Why do we kill people who kill people, to teach them that killing is wrong?

Discuss....

Hot idea...

2005-06-17T12:45:00.000-05:00

"Ford gives employees cash to sell cars."
"In effort to lift sales, automaker will give employees up to $1000 for referring someone to buy car."

Of course, it may burst into flames once they buy it.

The Ford PR guys will probably be working through the weekend...

Today's Economic / Real Estate Lesson...

2005-06-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

An interesting e-letter from the folks over at The Daily Reckoning:

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
by The Mogambo Guru

It was a week of extraordinary excess (WOEE) everywhere you looked in the shadowy world of modern money. At least, that is the way that it looks to me, as I nervously peer out of the periscope of the heavily fortified Mogambo Bunker, cowering in abject overpowering fear.

First off, the Federal Reserve has apparently started down the dismal path to economic hell of Ultimate Money Debasement (UMD), namely the last-ditch desperation move classically known as direct monetizing of debt. They have now sunk so low that they are now engaging in the worst behavior that a central bank can engage in, namely creating money to buy government debt, which is commonly known as "monetizing" the debt.

In effect, the Federal Reserve (which is, I hasten to point out, a private bank) creates money - poof! - for itself and buys government debt with the money. It's that simple! Magically, money has appeared out of nowhere! The total, aggregate debt load has not, unfortunately, changed, but the total amount of money sloshing around is greater!

If you keep a close eye on your finances, you realize that you do not have more money. Likewise, I do not have more money. So if YOU do not have more money (I point to you) and I do not have more money (I point to myself) then, (audience shouts in unison) "Who the hell DOES have more money?"

The answer is, of course, that the BANKS have more money! I know what you are thinking: "Wow! What a racket, huh?" This brings us to today's timeless gem from the Mogambo's Famous Treasure Trove of Valuable Lessons In Life (MFTTOVLIL), and this lesson is that when you get a chance to make a wish, maybe by wishing upon a star, or blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or rubbing a magic lamp and a genie pops out or something, you should wish to own a country's central bank. You can create money out of thin air, anytime you want, and buy anything you want with it! Cool!

But so much money has already been created, so achingly much money, so damnably impossible much money, has been created and borrowed. Reluctantly, I rise up from my chair and stagger over and look out the window, and I cry out in horror as I note that MORE money and credit are STILL being created right now, every minute of every day, all around the freaking world! And a lot of that the money is being used to buy some of everything, sometimes a LOT of everything, including stocks and bonds and houses and government, which drives prices up. And when a bond goes up in price, then that automatically means that the imputed yield goes down. Thus, interest rates are low! It's as simple as that!

And so long-term rates, which are most affected by market forces, have gone down, but short rates, which are more affected by Fed actions, stayed up. The difference in interest rates between the short and long terms narrows, and thus the yield curve flattens.

Now, if long-term interest rates keep falling and falling, and eventually fall below the interest rate on short-term debt, you get the famous inverted yield curve. That means you have achieved the absurd condition where you are getting paid less money for loaning your money for a longer term, and at higher risk! Hahahaha!

Of course, Alan Greenspan thinks that this is not necessarily bad, according to Reuters, which reported that the Federal Reserve chairman said that an inverted yield curve was not necessarily an indicator of a recession these days. He admitted that it USED to mean exactly that, back before the Federal Reserve got into Permanent Liquidity Mode (PLM), when he said, according to Reuters, "It's ... certainly the case that history suggests that it's usually, or has been, an indicator - a forward indicator - of softening economic activity." See?
He actually admits that an inverted yield curve always has been an indicator of what he calls "softening economic activity!"

He went on to say, "I suspect, however, that we have changed the structure of flow of funds and relationships amongst the various interest-rate tranches by maturity such that I'm not sure what such a configuration, should it occur, would mean."

You are going to be surprised that I agree with him 100%. He is exactly right. Interest rates are no longer the result of a tug-of-war between borrowers and savers. There are no savers anymore. Savings have been replaced by instant liquidity, as part of the Federal Reserve's new Permanent Liquidity Mode (PLM) philosophy and practice. What the Federal Reserve has done is to produce more "liquidity" all the time, which gets borrowed by someone like you, although not as good-looking as you, and the borrower (you) uses the money to play the spread between different pieces of debt, in effect borrowing money short-term at low rates, and lending the money long-term at higher rates. You then pocket the difference! What a racket, huh?

And when it comes time to make a payment on that first loan, you merely saunter into a bank, and borrow some more just-created "liquidity"! You then use this second, bigger loan of instant liquidity to do the interest-rate spread thing TWICE more; once to pay the interest on the first loan, and the other one to provide some more pocket money for yourself! Sweet!

And this can, theoretically, go on, and on, and on, forever. So therefore the actual interest rates are immaterial! The only important thing is that there is a difference between short-term interest rates and long term interest rates! That's it!

The only difficult thing is that it takes massive amounts of leverage to make it worthwhile when the yield curve is flat. Borrowing a million dollars at 4% to buy a bond that pays 4.0001%, resulting in a cash-flow of a measly $100 a year, is hardly worth the trouble. But let me leverage up, maybe putting up only $10 as my part of this deal, and suddenly I have made ten times my initial investment! I only put up ten stinking bucks and made a hundred! All it takes is a bank that is willing to do it.

That, sadly, is how it is nowadays. And to everyone who thinks that this can work out in the long run, I say, "Look at my face to see my contempt for you, and hear my mocking ridicule echo in your ears as I say hahahahaha!" because, and you might want to write this down because it seems to be some big secret or something, eventually the money gets to be SO huge that it starts going into those things OTHER than stocks, bonds, houses, and government, and they start showing up as price inflation, and everybody gets all crazy, and it gets worse and worse, and people are screaming bloody murder, and the nightly news is full of people rioting because prices are so high.

Or perhaps you would rather listen to Eric Fry, of the Rude Awakening column, who writes, "For starters, throughout the ages, bond yields and commodity prices have tended to move up and down together - not at every single moment, but over long sweeps of time. Over the last few years, however, bond yields have strayed from commodity prices like an unfaithful spouse. But we expect this philanderer to return home fairly soon, in which case, bond yields would rise." Which means bond prices would fall, handing a lot of people some hefty losses, losses so big that not even Superman could lift it.

Stephen Roach, on the same subject, writes, "Real interest rates - both short and long - are still far too low for sustainable growth in the global economy and for stable conditions in world financial markets. Yet central banks - especially America's - have been reluctant to lead the charge in normalizing the rate structure. The best we have gotten from the Fed is a policy rate that has gone from negative to zero in real terms over the past year. I continue to believe this is ultimately a recipe for disaster."

Nevertheless, he reluctantly acknowledges, "At some point over the next year, I wouldn't be shocked to see yields on 10-year governments test 3.50% in the US, 2.50% in Europe, and 1% in Japan."

Whew! After all that, and notice how I am drained and winded from the ordeal, to make matters even worse, the Treasury printed up and issued more actual dollars. How much? I will wait until you are seated. Comfy? Okay, two weeks ago they printed up another $6 billion in actual cash! Where in the hell is $6 billion in cash going all of a sudden? I have no idea, personally, but I am sure that it is due to government corruption, and it also adds to the overall money supply, which will, once again, cause just that little bit more inflation down the road. It just never stops.

Regards,
The Mogambo Guru

Thought of the day...

2005-06-14T13:21:00.000-05:00

I think that every guy who drives a Hummer should have a bumper sticker that reads "Small Penis On Board". I can't think of any other reason why someone would buy those pieces of shit. Just a random thought...not really sure where that came from.

Fair & Balanced

2005-06-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Fox News no longer finds updating the casualty report from Iraq relevant.

Big Brother Is Watching....I'm mean, a blurb on the Patriot Act

2005-06-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

I came accross this on CNN today.

"President Bush today credited the Patriot Act with helping to convict more than 200 terrorists and dismissed accusations that the law has violated civil liberties. "For the state of our national security, Congress must not rebuild a wall between law enforcement and intelligence," he said to an audience that included roughly 100 uniformed state troopers at the Ohio Patrol Training Academy."

I know we have convicted a few terrorits since 9/11, but I do not recall anything near the 200 number. I may be mistaken, but I also don't believe any of the convictions owe credit to the Patriot Act. If I AM incorrect, please let me know. Back-up to your claims is required.

Stolen, not stirred....

2005-06-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

The real-estate bubble is something that has been of great concern of mine lately. My father and I have had several discussions about how it can't last and how long I should wait before I consider buying a house. Currently in downtown Baltimore...Canton to be more specific...two bedroom townhouses are selling for anywhere from $350,000 to $550,000. Here is an example.

Last summer and well into the late winter months, houses were selling just days after they were put up for sale. But now, such is not the case. Several houses have been up for sale for 2-3 months now. The open houses aren't drawing many people (not that I can see anyway) and the "take-one's" in front of the houses aren't being taken.

So what gives? Is the bubble about to burst? In my humble opinion...yes. The market simply cannot sustain these prices. No recently married couple can afford a two bedroom townhouse with one-and-a-half baths for a HALF-A-MILLION DOLLARS!!! Especially with average household incomes falling! Even if they could, what kind of stupid morons would they be? (Did I mention that because of the proximity to the Inner Harbor and over 100 bars/restaurants in a one square mile radius, that the area is infested with RATS?)

Anywho, enough of my rant. I stole the next portion of this entry from Jane Hamsher over at firedoglake. (You can buy her book here.) I disagree with SOME of her views of the cast on CNBC, but a very good blog entry on one man's (Julian Robertson) view of the economy, including the real estate market. It also ties in well with my previous Nixon post:

I know I'm probably boring the crap out of everyone with my Chicken Little Economy Series, but there actually is method to my madness. Just bear with me.

I always keep one eye on the business news, because despite the fact that the gang at CNBC are a pack of inveterate liars who slavishly shill for their corporate masters, money has a preference for following craven truth no matter how base or amoral. So every once in a while somebody will pop up with a clear-eyed estimation of things with a greater frequency than you are likely to find, say, on the NBC evening news.

And the other day in between fluffing CEOs, human ashtray Ron Insana (who will always go down in my memory as he appeared on the Today Show set on 9/11, with a big pile of soot on his head...who thought that was a good idea...) interviewed a famous fund manager named Julian Robertson, who has worked on Wall Street for 53 years and manages the Robertson group of funds. As Al Martin recounts it:

They used to call him, still do call him 'Never Been Wrong' Robertson. He has predicted every economic cycle, every debacle, every bull market, and every bear market.

Of course, he's a very old man now. But his reputation on the Street is like nothing you could imagine. When the segment of his interview was through, his comments alone took the Dow Jones down 50 points. Just on his comments alone. That's how powerful this man's reputation is.

Robertson was actually a teary-eyed, an old man. When Ron Insana asked him about his predictions, he said that he's worried about the speculative bubble in housing and the fact that more than 1/4 of all consumer spending is now sustained by that bubble, plus the fact that 20 million citizens could lose their homes in a collapse of the speculative bubble in housing, and that the Fed and, indeed, central banks worldwide would act in concert out of desperation to reinflate the global economy in the process, creating an inflationary spiral unheralded in the economic history of the planet.

Insana then asks, "Where does it end?" And he said, "Utter global collapse." Not simply economic collapse; complete disintegration of all infrastructure and of all public structures of governments. Utter, utter collapse. That the end is collapse of simply epic proportion.

In 10 years time, he said, whoever is still alive on the planet will be effectively starting again.

(my emphasis)

Why do I bother recounting these stories? Because I applaud all the bloggers who are working to publicize the Downing Street memo, I really do. I'm one of them, and people need to know. But ultimately it will have more of an effect on history than elections, because people in this country do not care. I just got finished watching The Trials of Henry Kissinger, which if you can get past the omnipresence of Christopher Hitchens and just focus on the Seymour Hersh part is a pretty interesting documentary. People did not care that Nixon was a crook, they knew it and they re-elected him anyway, they just wanted him to be a crook for them. As long as it insures American hegemony, they just don't care what kind of evil mutant father-raping shithole has his finger on the bomb.

The only thing that is going to bring about regime change is if people fear that America No More Number One, and that the bunch in charge is leading them down the path of economic calamity. It bounced both Carter and Bush I out of office. When people begin to believe that their prosperity is in jeopardy, then and only then are they going to vote to change the course of the country. In the mean time, bless John Conyers for making the Sith lords take even a moment away from charting our destruction to deal with him, 'cos it's a pure labor of love.

Their vision for the economy was Iraq. Well that didn't fucking work, did it. Greenspan is trying to keep the housing bubble alive until the next bubble comes along -- and that was supposed to be a Wall Street boon from raping Social Security. Doesn't look like that's going to work, either. They have no next best plan. Their next best plan was the bankruptcy bill, which insures that when the shit does hit the fan that working class people will have no escape, and Corporate America can still get theirs.

When and if that message finally gets across in the public consciousness, nobody is going to give a rat's ass about activist judges or Girls Gone Wild or Gay Pride floats in the middle of the Easter Parade. Let's just hope it gets out there before the collapse of epic proportions arrives and there's no turning back.

Op-Ed...

2005-06-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

A great op-ed piece from Bob Herbert in the NY Times last Thursday (courtesy of, thanks, and a big shout-out to Aunt Dottie). Just a small snipet:

"Just last month we had the disclosure of a previously secret British government memorandum that offered further confirmation that the American public and the world were spoon-fed bogus information by the Bush administration in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

President Bush, as we know, wanted to remove Saddam Hussein through military action. With that in mind, the memo damningly explained, "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

That's the kind of deceit that was in play as American men and women were suiting up and marching off to combat at the president's command. Mr. Bush wanted war, and he got it. Many thousands have died as a result."

Gives new meaning to the phrase "blowing shit up".

2005-06-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

I know this isn't political, but I can't read this without laughing hysterically. I may not know where all the good people have gone, but I DO KNOW where all the dumb people have gone.

"Man Sues for $10 Million after Toilet Explosion."

Man Sues for $10 Million After Toilet Explosion

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (June 3) - A man who says he was severely burned when a portable toilet exploded after he sat down and lit a cigarette is suing a general contractor and a coal company, accusing them of negligence.

John Jenkins, 53, and his wife, Ramona Jenkins, 35, of Brave, Pa., filed the suit Tuesday in county circuit court seeking $10 million in damages from Chisler Inc. and Eastern Associated Coal Corp.

The lawsuit claims Jenkins' face, neck, arms, torso and legs were severely burned last July after the cigarette ignited methane gas leaking from a pipe underneath the toilet unit.

"When I struck the lighter, the whole thing just detonated - the whole top blew off," said Jenkins, a methane power plant operator with North West Fuels Development Inc. "I can't tell you if it blew me out the door or if I jumped out."

Eastern Associated owns the Blacksville property where the explosion occurred. Jenkins alleges that heavy equipment from Chisler Inc. ran over the pipelines before the explosion, causing the methane gas leak.

A call to the Charleston office of Peabody Energy, the parent company of Eastern Associated Coal, was not returned.

A man who answered the phone at Chisler's office in Fairview said the company would have no comment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...I mean really, a Spot-A-Pot is the last place I would think of to light up a cig. I don't even drop a deuce in those things unless it's a dire emergency. Even then, I am in and out as quickly as humanly possible.

Alas, my blog has already stooped to the level of "toilet humor".

Abuse? What abuse?

2005-05-31T21:56:00.000-05:00

I think by now we've all read the reports that Dick Cheaney was "offended" by the Gitmo reports of prisoner abuse, and that the Pretzeldent considers the report "absurd."

{pause} {sigh}

Who are they trying to kid? Do they really think the rest of the world is buying the "Dur...I uh disagree" approach? Especially after this? Or this? Or these? Do they really think that the rest of the world, or even a large percentage of the American people, believe these to be "isolated incidents"?

Of course, the folks at Fox News, in their hurry to bring us the "Fair & Balanced" version, pull the old "Hey look! Closing arguments in the Michael Jackson trial!" bluff.

Quote of the day...

2005-05-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

This may even be the quote of the week...

In response to Tom DeLay's crybaby act over having his name mentioned in passing on NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", the show's executive producer and creator, Dick Wolf had this to say:

"Every week, approximately 100 million people see an episode of the branded 'Law & Order' series. Up until today, it was my impression that all of our viewers understood that these shows are works of fiction as is stated in each episode.

"But I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

Bill O'Jury

2005-05-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

.
-Greg Beato

Picture, courtesy of Wonkette.

O'Reilly is such an idiot....

Well hello there...

2005-05-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

A big hello and welcome to my new political blog. I figured this post would be the best way to start out. I don't know who wrote this originally...but it's f'ing brilliant. If anyone knows who wrote it, please send me a message so I can post a link to their site, or at least give them credit for their masterpiece. My appologies to my fellow red state liberals such as Doug and Ann (also known as his Baby Sis), as I do realize not all red-staters think this way...and that a lot of blue-staters actually do. However, it is brilliant nonetheless. With that said....enjoy.

The concession speech Kerry should have given:

I concede that I overestimated the intelligence of the American people. Though the people disagree with the President on almost every issue, you saw fit to vote for him. I never saw that coming. That's really special. And I mean "special" in the sense that we use it to describe those kids who ride the short school bus and find ways to injure themselves while eating pudding with rubber spoons. THAT kind of special.

I concede that I misjudged the power of hate. That's pretty powerful stuff...and I didn't see it. So let me take a moment to congratulate the President's strategists: Putting the gay marriage amendments on the ballot in various swing states like Ohio... well, that was just genius. Genius. It got people, a certain kind of people, to the polls. The unprecedented number of folks who showed up and cited "moral values" as their biggest issue, those people changed history. The folks who consider same sex marriage a more important issue than war, or terrorism, or the economy... Who'd have thought the election would belong to them? Well, Karl Rove did. Gotta give it up to him for that. [Boos.] Now, now. Credit where it's due.

I concede that I put too much faith in America's youth. With 8 out of 10 of you opposing the President, with your friends and classmates dying daily in a war you disapprove of, with your future being mortgaged to pay for rich old peoples' tax breaks, you somehow managed to sit on your asses and watch the Cartoon Network while aging homophobic hillbillies carried the day. You voted with the exact same anemic percentage that you did in 2000. You suck. Seriously, y'do. [Cheers, applause] Thank you. Thank you very much.

There are some who would say that I sound bitter, that now is the time for healing, to bring the nation together. Let me tell you a little story. Last night, I watched the returns come in with some friends here in Boston. As the night progressed, people began to talk half-seriously about secession, a red state / blue state split. The reasoning was this: We in blue states produce the vast majority of the wealth in this country and pay the most taxes, and you in the red states receive the majority of the money from those taxes while complaining about 'em. We in the blue states are the only ones who've been attacked by foreign terrorists, yet you in the red states are gung ho to fight a war in our name. We in the blue states produce the entertainment that you consume so greedily each day, while you in the red states show open disdain for us and our values. Blue state civilians are the actual victims and targets of the war on terror, while red state civilians are the ones standing behind us and yelling, "Oh, yeah!? Bring it on!"

More than 40% of you Bush voters still believe that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. I'm impressed by that, truly I am. Your sons and daughters who might die in this war know it's not true, the people in the urban centers where al Qaeda wants to attack know it's not true, but those of you who are at practically no risk believe this easy lie because you can. As part of my concession speech, let me say that I really envy that luxury. I concede that.

Healing? We, the people at risk from terrorists, the people who subsidize you, the people who speak in glowing and respectful terms about the heartland of America while that heartland insults and excoriates us... we wanted some healing. We spoke loud and clear. And you refused to give it to us, largely because of your high moral values. You knew better: America doesn't need its allies, doesn't need to share the burden, doesn't need to unite the world, doesn't need to provide for it's future. Hell no. Not when it's got a human shield of pointy-headed, atheistic, unconfrontational breadwinners who are willing to pay the bills and play nice in the vain hope of winning a vote that we can never have. Because we're "morally inferior," I suppose, we are supposed to respect your values while you insult ours. And the big joke here is that for 20 years, we've done just that.

It's not a "ha-ha" funny joke, I realize, but it's a joke all the same.