McCain's bad decision

From the NYT:

Candidate McCain’s Big Decision

More often than not, the role of a vice president is a minor one, unless some tragedy occurs. But a presidential nominee’s choice of a running mate is vitally important. It is his first executive decision and offers an important insight into how that nominee would lead the nation.

If John McCain wants voters to conclude, as he argues, that he has more independence and experience and better judgment than Barack Obama, he made a bad start by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska .

Mr. McCain’s supporters are valiantly trying to argue that the selection was a bold stroke that shows their candidate is a risk-taking maverick who — we can believe — will change Washington . (Mr. Obama’s call for change — now “the change we need” — has become all the rage in St. Paul .)

To us, it says the opposite. Mr. McCain’s snap choice of Ms. Palin reflects his impulsive streak: a wild play that he made after conservative activists warned him that he would face an all-out revolt in the party if he chose who he really wanted — Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

Why Mr. McCain would want to pander to right-wing activists — who helped George W. Bush kill off his candidacy in the 2000 primaries in a particularly ugly way — is baffling. Frankly, they have no place to go. Mr. McCain would have a lot more success demonstrating his independence, and his courage, if he stood up to them the way he did in 2000.

As far as we can tell, Mr. McCain and his aides did almost no due diligence before choosing Ms. Palin, raising serious questions about his management skills. The fact that Ms. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is irrelevant to her candidacy. There are, however, very serious questions about her political past and her ideology.

If Mr. McCain wanted to break with his party’s past and choose the Republicans’ first female vice presidential candidate, there are a number of politicians out there with far greater experience and stature than Ms. Palin, who has been in Alaska ’s Statehouse for less than two years.

Before she was elected governor, she was mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb, where her greatest accomplishment was raising the sales tax to build a hockey rink. According to Time magazine, she also sought to have books banned from the local library and threatened to fire the librarian.

MY COMMENT She’s a book burner…no wonder the GOP claims to love her.
For Mr. McCain to go on claiming that Mr. Obama has too little experience to be president after almost four years in the United States Senate is laughable now that he has announced that someone with no national or foreign policy experience is qualified to replace him, if necessary.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who has been one of Mr. McCain’s most loyal friends, said Tuesday that he was certain that Ms. Palin would take the right positions on issues like Iraq , Russia ’s invasion of Georgia and Iran ’s nuclear weapons ambitions. That seemed based largely on his repeated assertion that Ms. Palin would be tended by Mr. McCain’s foreign policy advisers. That was not much of an endorsement.

Some of the things Ms. Palin has had to say in the recent past about foreign policy are especially worrisome. In a speech last June to her former church in Wasilla, Ms. Palin said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.” Mr. Bush made similar claims as he rejected all sound mortal advice on how to conduct the war.

Mr. McCain, Mr. Graham and others also claim that Ms. Palin is a fearless reformer who is committed to fighting waste, fraud and earmarks. Ms. Palin did show courage taking on some of the Alaska Republican Party’s most sleazy politicians. But she also was an eager recipient of earmarked money as a mayor and governor.

Mayor Palin gathered up $27 million in subsidies from Washington , $15 million of it for a railroad from her town to the ski resort hometown of Senator Ted Stevens, now under indictment for failing to report gifts.

The Republicans are presenting Ms. Palin as a crusader against Mr. Stevens’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” The record says otherwise; she initially supported Mr. Stevens’s boondoggle, diverting the money to other projects when the bridge became a political disaster. In her speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God in June, Ms. Palin said it was “God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska .
Mr. McCain will make his acceptance speech on Thursday, and Ms. Palin will speak on Wednesday. Those two appearances will go a long way to forming voters’ views of this Republican ticket.

As Senator Graham noted, Mr. McCain has to reach out beyond the party’s loyal base. “We’re going to have to win this thing,” he said. “This is not our race to lose.”

Mr. McCain’s hurdles are substantial. To start, he has to overcome Mr. Bush’s record of failures. (The president addressed the convention Tuesday night and now, McCain strategists fervently hope, will retire quietly to the Rose Garden.) That record includes the disastrous war in Iraq , a ballooning deficit, the mortgage crisis — and the list goes on.

To address those many problems, this country needs a leader with sound judgment and strong leadership skills. Choosing Ms. Palin raises serious questions about Mr. McCain’s qualifications.

sounds like a real Republican...trying to game the system and use power to her personal advantage

The woman was obsessed with getting her ex-brother in law fired. Hardly the behavior becoming a governor, a mayor of a town of 5000 maybe, but surely not a governor.


Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but last month she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which Palin appoints.

Cynical Pandering

Pathetic. This might be the most obvious showing of the GOP's complete lack of anything resembling principles in the years.

After months of accusing Michelle Obama and Hilary of tokenism now they embrace this unqualified token female. Shameful pandering that is an insult to women b/c this horrible choice is based solely on the idea that Hilary supporters are going to vote for McCain now b/c his VP has a vagina and ignore that she's a right wing hack. But apparently, it's only black women that are "tokens"?

Here is a woman who has been governor of a state with more reindeer than people for all of 20 months. Before that the mayor of a town of 9000...What a joke. If leading a governmental agency of a population of 600,000 for a little over a year and a half makes you qualified to be President that would open it up to about 20,000 mayors, County Executives, governors.

You are honestly telling me that she is the BEST and most qualified member of the GOP to be VP? Really? She's not even the best female candidate, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is infinitely more qualified than her if you must have a woman candidate. Elizabeth Dole?

Please, Executive experience. Her big ethics controversy is so freakin' quaint as to be right out of an Andy Griffith episode. Using her influence to get her sister's ex-husband fired. That is so precious and it shows how small time she is. She's so ill-equipped to be VP that only a few weeks ago she didn't have enough information to form an opinion on The Surge in Iraq.

George Bush had been an executive for years and he let 9/11 happen. So, I'm not sure the Governor card is a strong one.

Finally, can you imagine the firestorm created by Malkin, Coulter and the comments by the Right if Obama's 17 year old daughter were pregnant…OMG the double standard. And of course the absolute SILENCE about Cindy McCain. If Michele Obama were a drug addict, that would be all you'd hear about. (let me be perfectly clear, I don't think someone's family issues disqualify them and I really like Cindy McCain she is a class act and seems to have a very good heart. But the GOP has been making fun of Obama's family for 2 years, so I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy, not condemning Cindy)

Media Bias toward the GOP in this country is sickening.

Bolt is amazing

I know Phelps is getting all the love, but this guy dominated in a way that Phelps didn’t. Yes, Phelps broke lots of world records (and having 97 swimming events and relays helps) but not by this margin and he didn’t dominate like Bolt did (someone can do the math on the percentage improvement in the records and the percentage of his margin of victory). Phelps may have broken a record by a crazy 4 seconds but that’s in a 2 minute race. Oh yeah, and 2 or 3 other guys also broke the record). Bolt is sick.

Guitar Hero ...saving Rock n Roll?

I was talking with another dad at football practice last night about this very subject. The other day in the car, Iron Maiden came on the Sirius and my 10 year old pointed out that it was indeed Iron Maiden. I asked how he knew that and he said “Guitar Hero” and he recognized his voice. It was a proud moment for me. Mostly b/c, despite my efforts, most of the time he seems to believe that Lil Wayne (and his contemporaries) invented Rap and most music for that matter.



And speaking of ROCK. I bought a 3 disc set of Journey at Costco on Sunday. I’ve been rockin’ it ever since…and if “Feelin that way/Anytime” and “Wheel in the sky” don’t get your heart apumpin…you have no soul.

anyone else tired of the phelympics?

I'll give you that Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer ever. Sure. But this bullshit that he is the greatest athlete of all time must come to an end. Phelps does one thing better than anyone, but he swims. Just swims. Bo Jackson played 2 sports at a professional level and was a great track athlete. Dieon Sanders was one of the best football players of his era and a damn fine baseball player. He also ran track in college. Again, Phelps does one thing, yes he does different strokes, but that allows him opportunities to pile up medals. If track had four different racing styles, I'm sure Michael Johnson or Carl Lewis could have had another 10 or so. Imagine if there was a backwards 200M, or a sideways event. Additionally, many of Phelps medals were in relays. Again, track doesn't have so many events at such close distances.
This doesn't even bring up athletes with crazy diverse skills like Jim Thorpe or even Babe Didrickson. Jim Brown who was the greatest running back in NFL history and was supposed to be the greatest Lacrosse player of his era. So, as NBC is forced to talk about someone besides Phelps, lets restore some integrity to this discussion of ATHLETES. Phelps is the greatest swimmer, maybe the greatest Olympian, but once the hysteria subsides we'll all realize he is NOT the greatest athlete of all time.

and from Darkness...light shown again

Maybe, JUST MAYBE, rule of law is shining it’s head again after years of darkness…(I think it might have been under the drapery that Ashcroft put over the statue of Justice).



No man, no matter how much Divine Authority he believes he has, is above the law in America .

Federal judge rules Bush's aides can be subpoenaed

A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.

WASHINGTON —

A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.

More American media hypocrisy

i read this and it seems like another case of media hypocrisy. America choses beauty over talent every day, but we're supposed to be outraged when China does it? Paris Hilton anyone?

Why do we condemn the Chinese and spin it that they replaced the "ugly girl", when isn't it just as much the case that the girl that was to perform couldn't sing well enough and someone else with talent was used instead.

Does that make it better or worse? Not sure.

As for the "controversy" over the digital fireworks...are you freaking kidding me? it was a performance, did you realize that the ships on that screen and all the other images were not real...GASP. They were actually digital images, OMG the horror.

American media is a bunch of tools.

Where is the Bush name calling now? or Is this Bush's "Chamberlin Moment"?

Is this Bush’s “peace in our time” moment? Is bush going to defend our friends in Georgia or is he just going to say “ Russia is a bully”?

Sanctions? US Troops in Georgia ? Why doesn’t Georgia deserve half as much as Iraq , after all they are being invaded by another nation? Or does Bush still believe that Putin still has a pure soul?

I’m ask for the neo-con take on this, I don’t know that I have the answers, but consdiering all the chest thumping about freedom by the Bushies I would figure you’d have some pretty strong positions on defending our allies from Russian agression.

After all, Bush called Obama an appeaser while he stood in the Knessett, but isn't he doing just as Chamberlin did with Hitler? Again, the Neocons are the experts on that b/c they love to trot out Chamberlin about once a week to prove how tough they are about freedom (even if NONE of them ever saw a minute of combat)

what a joke

I've read this twice now:

As probable bioterrorists go, Bruce Ivins was a near perfect suspect. Among the hundreds of pages of evidence that the FBI had mounted against him (which were released last week), there were electronic records documenting Ivins' late-night sojourns in the lab, e-mails revealing a mind wracked by paranoia and an inventory of a November 2007 FBI search of his home, which turned up a paperback copy of Albert Camus's novel The Plague.

Seriously? That book's presence is some sort of proof of guilt? Any well read person might have that book, does that make everyone a terrorist? I have a book infectious diseases too, LEVEL 4 is the title, should I toss that? I also own 5 bibles, the Communist Manifesto, Milton Friedman, and dozens more. I wonder what case could be made of me (OR ANYONE) if the FBI pulled one book from me bookshelf.

Idiots

American Media's hypocrisy re: Olympic athletes

The other day MSNBC.com had a story about Chinese gymnasts and the implication was the state forced kids and families to make all kinds of sacrafices and that that it was just horrible. Forgetting of course that American kids do the exact same thing. But as I'm watching this evenings Synchronized Diving, NBC plays one of those vingettes they love to produce. In it, this America girl explains how she left home at the age of 16 to train full time in Indianapolis, how she has NO friends, how she didn't go to high school, about how her whole life is diving. NBC presented this as some noble cause for her to give up her childhood.

Yet last week, when the Chinese kids did it it was sad. Hypocrites.

More of the GOP lawlessness

I can't wait to hear the "law and order" Republicans (who believe the most pressing problems in the world are that two men might obtain a marriage license or that the guy washing dishes or mowing a lawn doesn't have a visa) tell us how it's really ok to LIE about the BRIBES you've been taking.

How more indictments you think will happen after the Bush administration leaves office, unless of course he just pardons the entire cabal for all their crimes as he leaves office. Can he do that? Well, he has proven his disregard for the Constitution, US law and international treaties (not to mention any sense of morality) so why wouldn't he just do it anyway...

Shameful.

Only a Bushie agency could believe a monopoly is in the public interest

Forgetting for a moment that when the Satellite services were established they were forbidden explicitly by law from merging, but how in God's name can the Federal Government claim that when the only two companies in a market merge into one that is GOOD for the public. They even claimed it will lead to more choices and lower prices, when has that ever happened?

What a horrible decision?

Someone on the government even claimed that Sirius and XM don't even compete against each other b/c their customers are loyal...WOW.

yet this is the same government who is going after Intel depsite numerous competitors in every market...

ONLY THE BUSHIES

Bush is now an appeaser like Chamberlin?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/16/us.iran/index.html

Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.
George W. Bush May 15, 2008

I find it interesting that 2 months ago, when Obama suggested the US talk to Iran it was like letting Hitler loose on the Jews, now it's a good idea. Shameful pandering, especially that Bush made this attack while standing in the Knesset.

I'm glad he's decided to at least talk to Iran, after all diplomacy worked with N. Korea and Iraq hasn't turned out so well now has it? So, maybe the grown ups have told the little boys to put their little willies away and act like adults and talk to them. It don't cost nothing to talk and it often provides better results for a hell of a lot cheaper (see N Korea).

I wonder if Bush will be apologizing to Obama for his ridiculous slam or if he will be apologizing to the Bushie faithful for his "appeasement"?

Hilary Clinton proves the worst about herself

For years before Hilary officially ran for the Dem nomination, I contended that her negatives were too high with the radical right for her to win a general election. (that is of course before the "other choice" became a black man and the far right GOP and Bushies embraced Clinton b/c apparently she's better than a black man in office). When they hated Hilary they claimed she was power hungry and didn't care about making America better as much as she wanted the power and in her efforts to win the Delegates of Florida and Michigan, this side of her has come out.

She and the other candidates agreed not to campaign in Mich/Fla b/c they knowingly broke the rules of the DNC and were warned of the consequences. By not running there, she agreed that they broke the rules, so she can't claim ignorance. The fact that she didn't remove her name from the ballot while others did, is now used by her to claim she has some right to all the delegates and that is extremely distasteful and shows a lack of principle on her part.

She is shouting about disenfranchisement, when she knew in January that this was going to happen when the states violated party rules. Now, that she is losing she has decided that the rules should be changed now to benefit her, even though she agreed to them when she looked like the winner and that is very sad and shows a thirst for power over principle.

I've always liked Hilary, but in this campaign she has reinforced to me what the Clinton-haters used to say...she is power hungry. It appears that she will pander(shots anyone?) and change her principles when it's politically expedient. We've had 8 years of abandoning principle for the sake of securing power, we don't need that any longer.

Michigan and Florida Dem Parties "disenfranchised" their states, not the DNC, not Obama. And lets not forget this isn't "an election", the selection of a nominee is a party matter. The use of Super Delegates, Caucuses and various backroom deals through the years in all parties should make it clear that this is not "an election", it's a party matter. Directly electing the nominee is probably a good thing for the party, but they don't even do that today. The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the nomination, which is why there are delegates and super delegates. No one is "disenfranchised" in Florida or Michigan and if Hilary had class and principle she would stop claiming that is happening.

Frankly the DNC should stick to their guns and not seat a single delegate from either state. That is what was threatened, that is what was agreed to and the rules of the game shouldn't change because your team is losing.

America is great IN SPITE of fundementalism and fear of change

This was sent in response to an email about some guy who wishes he lived in the 1950's. Specifically about the California same sex marriage decision.

Everything great that America ever achieved happened by the force of will of free-thinkers challenging the status quo. The Bushies would have you believe in these supposed "American values" of hating change and social evolution (as well as being educated). Fortunately this desire to preserve the status quo has been overridden by those willing to make change happen.
It's those Intelligent open-minded challengers of the status quo that have made America great, while the GOP wants to claim that "real Americans" are those that embrace stasis and hate education. Again, fortunately it's the stupid, lazy and closed-minded that are cast to the dustbin of history.

In a word, "Progress".

Myth of Voter Fraud

The whole political philosophy of the Bushies is based on these myths. The myth of illegal immigrants voting en masse, the welfare mother who has 8 kids so she can get more money, Mexicans stealing jobs from hard working Americans (doing the jobs you wouldn’t do when you lose your job), gay people “recruiting”, suppression of a vast Christian majority in America…on and on it goes.

Just because you continually claim “everybody knows” to make yourself feel less detached from reality, doesn’t make it real. Saying that “people are smarter than this” is another of your rhetorical ticks. “Most people” don’t read newspapers, most people don’t know where Canada is on a map. Most people don’t know shit about voter fraud. But they believe the lies spread by politicians.

They are the imagined bogeymen of the fear mongers and you eat it up. I guess it makes sense b/c the Bushies have spent nearly 8 years trying to scare you into every single thing they want to have happen. Living is fear is a hell of way to live, especially when the fears are not based on the real world.

Chad Johnson is a tool

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23782681/

I hate these prima donna’s who bitch and moan for a long term deal then they complain a year later they want to renegotiate or want to be traded. Let them all rot on the bench. Or better yet, tear up the contract AFTER the player returns all the money under the contract and then the team can pay them at the league minimum for those seasons. Then let them go wherever they want.

America...devolution

Last week some folks ("Christians") were bitching about the attention that the Dalai Lama received in Seattle, they made the claim that Christianity was responsible for ALL of the good of Western Civilization and that NO OTHER religion advanced civilization. I think I blogged about that bullshit at the time, but here's the latest.

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-04-22-voa57.cfm

I’ve been informed by "Christians" that AMERICA RULES in healthcare and yet large parts of America ’s population is getting WORSE in life expectancy? Especially ironic that the geographic areas mention are those in the most “Christian” parts of the country. I believe last week we were informed how Christianity made people live longer and have better everything. So, this can’t be true. Stupid Facts.

Over the last 20 years, life expectancy has either declined or stagnated for one
of out every five women compared with four percent of men. Ezzati finds this a
grim statistic for an industrialized nation. "We don't associate worsening of
health, worsening of life expectancy with something that happens in a developed
high-income country."

Christianity RULES Part III

Did anyone note the irony of these comments with the Pope’s comments at the same time? Is this the “level of civilization” he spoke of?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080417/ts_nm/pope_usa_dc_27

For the third consecutive day of his trip to the United States , Benedict
mentioned the scandal that rocked the Church in 2002 and cost U.S. dioceses $2
billion in damages, demonstrating his resolve to deal with the issue and make
sure it does not happen again.

"No words of mine can describe the pain and harm inflicted by such
abuse," he said in the sermon of a Mass at Nationals Park , a new stadium
hosting its first non-baseball event.

Christianity RULES Part II

Western society advanced DESPITE Christianity. Christian superstition led to Galileo being imprisoned for defying the “God-given truth” that the earth was the center of the Universe. Yet, science advanced despite those impediments imposed by Christianity (both cultural and legal). Even today, as “Christians” try to stop medical research on religious grounds, science marches on.

Western Civilization didn’t thrive b/c of Christianity, it prospered in spite of it.

I did get a chuckle after work when I thought about how much your disdain for the rest of Western Civilization faded away during this here attack on non-Christian societies. You’re always going on and on about how much Canada , France , Germany , etc. all suck.


And South America ? That’s just about as poverty-stricken as N. Africa and the Middle East . What’s up with that?

I guess that goes to show (considering oil-rich Arab countries incredible wealth and “progress”) that economics drive societal prosperity, not religious doctrine. And a few hundred years of colonialism doesn’t do a society any favors either.

Christianity RULES

My Bushie friend hit me with this:

North Africa and the Middle East were part of the Greco-Roman world
and yet did not develop with the rest of Western Civilization.
Explain.

My response:

Saying Western Civilization is Western Civilization b/c it is Christian isn’t an argument.

As for North Africa and Middle East . Have you ever been to Egypt ? Abu Daubi?

How about Gary , Indiana or Detroit , Michigan ? Seems like Christ must hate the Midwest and love UAE.




More eye-rolling at the Dalai Lama from newly merged social-conservative groups...

Given who's on the board, expect to hear more from the newly merged Family Policy Institute of Washington and the Spokane-based Washington Family Foundation.
The two groups will now be known as the Family Policy Institute of Washington, which describes its work as "to introduce and influence Washington state laws and public policy in support of human life and the institutions of marriage and the family." The group will keep its Spokane office and staff, as well as an Eastern Washington Advisory Board.
The group, which is unhappy with the attention the Dalai Lama is getting in Seattle this week, is no stranger to politics. Its board members include:
The group yesterday criticized as "the very height of absurdity" the notion that the visiting Tibetan Dalai Lama should be seen by "liberal Seattle elites, media, politicians and educrats" as a source of spiritual guidance and real-world solutions:
"Never in history has this part of the world achieved a fraction of the sustained level of civilization and prosperity as is commonly found in the Christianized West,"
said the group's executive director, Larry Stickney. He maintains that: "Wherever eastern religions have taken hold, superstition, backwardness, abject poverty and misery has been a common denominator of its practitioners and peoples."

McCain and Clinton call Obama "elitist"

I especially love it when multi-millionaires are calling Obama an “elitist”. McCain sits in his $4 million dollar house (one of 4 they own) and calls Obama elitist. His wife is one of the richest women in Arizona …you can’t buy those kinda balls.

That Bush Magic

My Bushie friend likes to say that “Everyone knows” that things are better now, and we all know that for them “everybody” means those who lives in his house, but apparently America (and the individuals who comprise America that he has little use for) disagree:

Stories below are hyperlinked for your viewing convenience:

We’re worse off than 4 years ago, voters say

WASHINGTON - Are you better off now than you were four years ago?
This has become a fundamental question in presidential elections. And for the first time since 1992, a plurality of voters heading into November’s election answer that question with a resounding no, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Forty-three percent say that they and their families are worse off, compared with 34 percent who say they’re better off; 21 percent respond that their status is the same. By contrast, strong pluralities or majorities answered that they were better off before entering the general elections in 1996, 2000 and 2004 — when, with the exception of the extremely close 2000 race, the incumbent party held onto the presidency
.
February retail sales worse than expected

Feb. foreclosures up 60 percent over year before
Oil prices touch a new high of $111 a barrel
Stocks tumble as commodity prices soar

Vile

The Bush extortion of American continues.

Bush appears to be saying that the Army’s behavior “could cost American lives”. How’s that for supporting the troops? It should be horrifying that while the Military of America refuses to engage in torture, the civilian executive believes that he should be able to torture. WOW.

Bush: Limiting CIA Interrogations "Could Cost American Lives"

By Paul Kiel - March 8, 2008, 10:33AM

From President Bush's radio address today, where he announced that he'd
vetoed the Senate authorization bill, which would have effectively outlawed
waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques for the CIA by
limiting the CIA to the Army's guide for interrogations, the Army Field
Manual:

Interesting discussion of "experience"

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/17/Worldandnation/Presidential_experien.shtml



http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1717926,00.html?xid=rss-topstories


"there's no such thing as presidential experience outside of the office itself."
James A. Baker III


Wouldn't it be nice if time on the job and tickets punched translated neatly into superior performance? Then finding great Presidents would be a simple matter of weighing résumés. Take a Democrat like Bill Richardson — experienced in Congress, in the Cabinet, as a diplomat and governor — and have him run against Republican Tom Ridge, a former soldier, governor and Director of Homeland Security, with the winner chosen by a blue-ribbon commission of all-purpose elders. The Danforth-Mitchell commission, perhaps, or O'Connor-Albright. But it has never worked that way, which is why Lincoln 's statue occupies a marble temple on the Mall in Washington , while his far more experienced rival William Seward has a little seat on a pedestal in New York City .

…

Richard Nixon served as a Congressman, Senator and Vice President; he watched from the front row as Eisenhower assembled one of the best-organized administrations in history. When Nixon's turn came, though, his core character — insecure, insincere, conspiratorial — led him to create a White House doomed by its own dysfunction.

Lawless

Yeah, but our secret police, spying on our own citizens and general disregard for the law is better than when China, Cuba, and Russia, etc use their secret police, spy on their citizens and have a general disregard for the law. We’re George W. Bush’s America . When our leader says he must violate these laws to protect our country, who are we to argue? After all, when has a leader claiming the violation of laws and the abuse of civil rights is justified by “protecting the state” ever gone wrong? If laws are in place to specifically guard against these types of abuses, what is a leader to do, but ignore them? That behavior has never had bad consequences in the history of the world.

George Bush was elected our leader by nearly a majority of Americans, how can he be expected to be bound by laws established by Congress or a Constitution created by the mental midgets of the 18th Century? It’s not like they knew anything about threats to our nation. They only fought a war for independence and then watched a foreign country burn down the Nation’s capital, what would they knew about threats to the homeland?



More FBI Privacy Violations Confirmed

By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer

The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone
records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year
of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and
spies.

The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March
2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was
caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private
businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested.

Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mueller raised the
issue of the FBI's controversial use of so-called national security letters in
reference to an upcoming report on the topic by the Justice Department's
inspector general.

An audit by the inspector general last year found the FBI demanded
personal records without official authorization or otherwise collected more data
than allowed in dozens of cases between 2003 and 2005. Additionally, last year's
audit found that the FBI had underreported to Congress how many national
security letters were requested by more than 4,600.
The new audit, which
examines use of national security letters issued in 2006, "will identify issues
similar to those in the report issued last March," Mueller told senators. The
privacy abuse "predates the reforms we now have in place," he said.

"We are committed to ensuring that we not only get this right, but
maintain the vital trust of the American people," Mueller said. He offered no
additional details about the upcoming audit.

Senators Clinton and Obama

Senators C and O:

GROW UP!. You’re running for the highest office in the land, show some dignity. We’ve had 7 years of partisan bickering and name-calling and the Democrats have the best opportunity to win the WH in decades and you two are going to ruin it with your petty sniping and bickering over little irrelevant junk. Senator Clinton, tell me why I should vote for you instead of Senator Obama because you call him a plagiarist. Honestly, do you think that is the kind of stuff that is going to win you the election? If so, it tells me you don’t deserve it.

Stop the negative name-calling and focus on WHY WE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU. I ask Senator McCain to do the same.

And as for you, the “media” you too could serve America well but not taking these comments and blowing them out of proportion. Look at the headlines you write, why do you sensationalize these comments. Those of you running and those of you reporting owe it to America to grow up. Try to return civility and dignity to American politics. You’re the only ones that can do it, so why don’t you step up and serve America and it’s citizens.

Congress and steroids in sports

Is it any wonder that America holds Congress in such low esteem? Steroids and HGH in baseball? Is this even in the top 100 most pressing issues in America? The Bushies will soon be leaving an intractable war, huge deficits, mortgage "crisis" and the specter of stagflation, does whether Roger Clemens took HGH impact anyone's life? Or what Roger Godell did with the tapes the Patriots created?

No one cared when 80% of MLB was taking speed in the 70's. Steve Howe was a walking drug cartel, but reinstated 6 or 7 times after getting busted for coke.

What a waste of time and resources…

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS ASKED THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO
INVESTIGATE WHETHER BASEBALL STAR ROGER CLEMENS LIED DURING HIS
TESTIMONY TO CONGRESS ABOUT PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS

STOP SAYING that a BILLION PEOPLE Watch the Oscars (or any American Television Event)

So, about 30 million people watched the Oscars last night about 1 in 10 Americans. This is America's award show (even if all the awards went to people from other countries) and CONTINUALLY people on the show talked about the "HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS" or even "a BILLION" people watching the telecast.

So, 1 in 7 people in the world watched the Oscars, but only 1 in 10 Americans did and IT WAS ON IN AMERICAN PRIME TIME. Forget that it was middle of the night in Europe and during the work day in Asia, yet somehow everyone with a television in the rest of the world watched our movie award show...JAYSUS I'm so sick of that lie.

How many televisions are out there? Do you really think that half of China and half of India watched our award show?

I am so sick of that lie every single year...THERE SHOULD BE A LAW

Movies about "injustice"

My brother sent me a note from Netflix about "Rules of Engagement". A doc about Waco and the Brand Davidians. His note was somewhat sympathetic to the Davidians, I responded.


I think i may have seen this, but I have seen a bunch of stuff on this and the thing that is often downplayed is the Koresh and his followers killed 4 Federal agents weeks before the government moved in and burned the place. Koresh was a nut job, pedophile and murderer who did EVERYTHING he could to ensure that he and his followers died martyrs (even if it meant shooting them himself or making sure they didn't leave). this wasn't about religion or even about guns. Once you kill multiple federal agents ...I'd say all bets are off. He was given a month and a half to surrender.

If you want to really see a true abuse of Federal Power, check out the Randy Weaver case in idaho.

Everyone groups these two incidents together, but in my mind they are vastly different. They get grouped in the same way Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal get grouped. The Davidians and Weaver grouped by groups who try to prove that the government hates religion and guns, the militia types. And Mumia and Peltier get grouped by the far left who try to prove the government hates minorities.

Peltier, I think is innocent. Well at least not guilty of what he's been accused of. I've seen the research and there is definetly reasonable doubt there. As for Mumia, and I know you're a fan, all the evidence supporting his "innocence" is that the cops, judge, the world is racist. No shit, but I don't know that I've ever heard him or his followers show that he was somewhere else or actually innocent. Only that the trial was racist. Just like Mark Furman being a racist doesn't mean that OJ is innocent, a racist system doesn't prove you didn't kill someone.

Iraqi's think things were better before

I didn’t ask, but the BBC did: And once again, the Bushie's are wrong:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6451841.stm

MOST IMPORTANTLY read the first set of Charts on the top, specifically the one on the right.

In 2007 about 63% of Iraqis said things were about the same or worse than they were under Saddam. Less than 40% of Iraqis feel that things are somewhat or much better than they were before the war. That is NOT even close to MOST. (about 60% said their own lives were about the same or worse)


Since the end of the war in Iraq , thousands of civilians have died in violence on the streets. Support for the coalition forces based in Iraq is low - with 82% expressing a lack of confidence in them and 69% thinking they had made the security situation worse.

Security remains a key concern. Asked whether they felt safe in their own neighbourhoods, 40% said yes in 2004, 63% in 2005 but only 26% in 2007.

A strong leader is more popular than democracy to 58% of the Sunni population, although most accept Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time. Shia respondents were split 41% to 40% in favour of democracy over an Islamic state, but 52% think Iraq will be a democracy in five years' time.

Why do the Republicans get credit for "keeping America safe"???

It never fails to amaze that Bush allowed 2 terrorists attacks, didn’t bring anyone to justice for either and he’s some superhero. And now that terrorists are only killing American’s overseas that is some vindication of a horrible foreign policy. Since there is no way of knowing if bin Laden (who is still alive remember) had any intention of attacking again, how can the Bushie's say he "kept us safe"? It’s like saying that Bush stopped car theft in America because my car hasn’t been stolen in the past 7 years.

I suppose by Bushie logic Bush has also prevented Tsunami’s from hitting America and kept America safe from Asteroids.

This has got to piss off all those dudes still "fighting" the cold war

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/02/19/castro/index.html

The fact that he’s leaving on his own terms must have Jesse Helms rolling over in his grave …wait, he’s not dead.


I sent this to my Bushie friend. He responded with some mumbo jumbo as expected. I responded:

That’s funny coming from the guy who feels that a couple hundred thousand dead Iraqi’s (or a million Sudanese) is no big deal. Now you get all righteous despite the fact that the US is holding people in Cuba without trial, without lawyers, without charges, in a made up “legal” status b/c they are “enemies of the state”. (which seems to be the same stuff we hate Castro for doing)

Castro could have been ousted 30 years ago, if we had sold Cuba Levi’s and Fords. The far Right’s (led by pissed off Cubans in Miami who liked their dictator better) irrational fear of Castro empowered him for decades. (for an example of how to stay in power using a common enemy of the state, look at Bush’s more subtle efforts to subvert the Constitution over the past 7 years).

Also ironic since Castro came to America for help when first in power before he ever went to Russia, but because he was a socialist all those lives were lost in a senseless pissing contest.

Vista blows or why Microsoft Developers are like Jazz Musicians

So, I bought a Vista laptop 4 months ago and I think I finally have all the patches installed to make it work most of the time. Although I've come to expect a routine editing of the registry that is requried to make Vista recognized that this computer does actually have a CD/DVD drive.

I'm not a supergeek, but I know enough about PCs and MSFTs products, after all I've been using Windows and MS Office daily for 15 years or so. But Vista has been pretty much the worst transition ever and I didn't even upgrade...I bought this PC with Vista on it.

Office 2007 has been a chore. In their infinite wisdom of changing the UI every god-damn time Bill Gates donates another million dollars, the tool bars are completely foreign. I still use Word and Excel (and Visio and PowerPoint and Project and SharePoint) daily at work, but at home I've got this new UI for WOrd and Excel and I can never find anything. (Where the hell is the button to center text? Save As...what the F, where is it?...don't worry i found them).

I just realized that Word now saves files (by default) in a format that is unusable to anyone without Office 2007. That's a neat trick. It doesn't even really make this .docx clear when you save. Look, as I mentioned I use Word daily, so I can't imagine the hassles that my parents would have using this, trying to learn the new UI.

I have a good friend at MS, he's a developer and he will inevitably tell me these are improvements that people want or NEED. And I understand security issues and the need to makes changes for that, but changing the UI serves no purpose other than to say "look how cool we are". Although, it is quite tedious to have to give my computer permission 4 times to open up the progam I clicked to run. I get the reason for that.

I've told my friend that every time MS comes out with new crap, they simply add bloat and features that 98% of users will never use. macros are great, but I'll bet you 95% of Excel users have never heard of a macro let alone written one.

I've heard it said, and belive it to be true that Jazz Musicians are just playing for each other. it's a very self-indulgent music. I think Microsoft Developers are at the same point. They don't develop for their customers. They develop for each other so they can show off how big their programming skills are. in the meantime, you and I have to learn where the damn "Delete Table" button while Vista and Office take up 20 gigs of Harddrive.

And much like Jazz fans (and I like some of it, much like I enjoy the basics of MS's products) I will be told "I just don't get it". Maybe not, but I don't want to. I want to write a party invitation (thanks for the new templates) I don't want to relearn how to use Office every 3 years anymore than I want to hear a 25 minute free-form jazz exploration.

Saudi's kill "witches"...is this what Huckabee has in mind?

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2008/02/15/verjee.saudi.witchcraft.cnn

These are our "best" friends in the middle east?

Is this what we'd see in Mike Huckabee's America? after all he did say that we should change the Constitution to agree with his version of the Christian Bible (just saying there are many versions of the "sacred Word of God" out there). There are lots of "crimes" in the bible that are also punishable by death like eating shellfish and working on the sabbath. Would Huckabee's vision also include beheading witches?

Just askin'

People who can't speak should get punched Vol 1

2 All time pet peeves:

1)People who say

"Samwich"...there is NO M in Sandwich.

2) People who say "literally" when they mean the exact opposite. No asshole, your head did NOT "literally explode". Anyone who does this should get a punch.

Also,
People who say "Pitcher" when the are talking about a Photograph.

I hate "It is what it is". What a lame statement. It means nothing. Generally said when the speaker has nothing intellegent to say. It's the ultimate verbal punt. You might as well say "blah blah blah".

The use of the word "Surreal" is WAYYYY out of hand. Not everything new is surreal. "I went to the DMV and i went to the front of the line, it was so surreal" NO IT WASN'T dumbass. It was unusual, but it wasn't surreal. Meeting a famous person is not surreal, neither are thousands of other things claim are surreal that are no where near it.

There are more, I'm sure.

Jeb more like George than I thought

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/11/prison.boss/index.html

I always thought Jeb was the more competent one, but considering his regime’s oversight of Florida ’s Child Welfare system and the Prison system, it’s clear that it’s a genetic pre-disposition toward lawlessness, corruption and incompetence. I don’t remember hearing about how the former head of the Prison system is in Federal Prison for 8 years, but that’s seems appropriate for the Bush family no? Especially after I go back and read the Jeb defended Crosby repeatedly and claimed the initial claims of his improprieties were politically motivated attacks.

Refuting a Bushie or why "experience" doesn't necessarily matter too much

Recently my Bushie friend claimed that "no white candidate with as little experience as Barack Obama had ever been remotely considered" for the office of PResident of the USA. I pointed out that Eisenhower had never held an elected office, but obviously had great leadership skills. Also pointed out various other presidents with no political experience. But then I did some serious research and I came up with the follow.

To be clear, I am comparing nothing but EXPERIENCE of these two men PRIOR to their “consideration” for the nomination of President. I’m not making predictions of what type of President Obama might be nor any judgments of either man’s character, I’m basing this SOLELY on experience prior to consideration.

So, I did this comparison because the parallels are so striking.

Enjoy

Facts

Lincoln, considered by most historians as one greatest Presidents in US history, never attended college or law school, served two more years that Obama in the Illinois Legislature, but fewer years in the US Congress. Professionally, they are probably a wash considering they both worked as lawyers for about the same amount of time.

So, it’s obviously untrue that “No one with Obama’s experience has been remotely considered” when Lincoln, who has the same level or experience (or LESS), was not only considered, but was elected and then saved America.

I’m going to save you some time now , so don’t respond with “you’re comparing Lincoln to Obama?” response. Just like you did with Eisenhower. You’re claim was about experience, I’ve disproved your claim with 5 Presidents now(a couple of guys were only nominees), and proven to you that Lincoln PRIOR TO BE ELECTED President had the same or less experience than Obama has.

Who to vote for?

So it's the day after SuperTuesday and I'm not sure what I think about out next President. I've always liked McCain, but I lost respect for him after he ate all the shit that the Bushies forced on him in South Carolina 8 years ago. He wanted to be Prez so badly that he didn't defend himself or point out the dirty tricks that the Bushies were guilty of. There is that and that he's getting pretty old...oh yeah and he seems to be campaigning on a dead end issue..."let's stay in iraq". What is that? we have one the war didn't we? Saddam is dead, there is no WMD, they held elections. now we're just in the middle of a civil war, excecpt both sides hate us.

Hilary. Never had much against her, but not a lot of love either. I always said she had too many negatives and that if she were the Dem nominee that she would bring out every redneck, evangelical and anyone who lives in the 1930's and think a woman should know her place. Would the Dems affection for her be able to over come that?

It seems that I'm currently rooting for Obama. I was disappointed that yesterday was such a "draw". I think his ideas are very similar to those of Hilary, but he brings a passion and an eloquence that this country desperately needs.

So...at this point, I've got nothing.

Open Letter to Entertainment Weekly

I don’t write letters to magazines and I’m not sure that my comments are worthy of writing this time, but I just had to write after reading another love letter to “Juno”. Let’s get this out of the way. I LOVED the movie; I loved Ellen Page and every other major character. I loved the soundtrack (I bought it the day after I saw the movie). I loved the screenplay. But I must wonder if EW’s incessant cheerleading for Juno has to do more with validating the hire of Diablo Cody as a “columnist” or the quality of the movie. (Do I have to insert the required allusion to Ms Cody’s past as a stripper and sex phone operator or can we stop doing that now?)

I was pretty shocked when I saw that Ms Cody was going to be a columnist, but again after the near weekly references to her in your pages even before Juno hit screens maybe I should have seen it coming. I was also skeptical after months of reading, what amounts to Stephen King’s blog on your last page. But at least Mr. King has decades of cred and is the most famous and successful master of his genre. Ms. Cody has one credit, but her deal with EW pre-dated the arrival of Juno. Hmmm.

So, I must wonder if the constant cheerleading is to drum up legitimacy for your new columnist. Just because someone can write a screenplay doesn’t necessarily mean they can write a column on culture and entertainment. No more than being the world’s best horror writer makes one an entertainment columnist. There are two legitimate culture and entertainment columnists out there while these two cross professional boundaries. I don’t blame EW for this as in America in recent years we’ve come to believe that the only way a person can be an expert on anything is to be a famous participant in what they comment. Honestly, does anyone think Terry Bradshaw provides better analysis of sports than Bob Costas or Mike Tirico? The same goes for EW columnists. Celebrity has replaced competence/merit in America. And EW is no exception. And maybe that should be expected in an entertainment magazine.

The article I just finished (EW #977) made it sound as if Juno is the first strong female character in the history of film, even while your sidebar points out strong young female characters in recent years. Of course Ms Page couldn’t relate to The Breakfast Club, but neither could I and I was in high school at the time it came out. I went to a tiny semi-rural school in, which was a million miles away from the preps and stoners of Hughesian fantasy.

The point of all this? While Juno is a fantastic movie, it didn’t invite the strong female lead. While Diablo Cody has written a fantastic screenplay, she isn’t Orson Welles (or Walter Winchell) yet. I wish her well; in the meantime EW should exhibit a little critical detachment.

Thanks

Movie Review: Devil and Daniel Johnston

Ok, I watched this last night. A good documentary, not great. But I think Mr. Johnston is an example of when self-important hipsters deem someone as the greatest thing ever and that momentum just carries on strictly by word of mouth and legend. If this documentary was supposed to show me his genius…it didn’t. I would assume his finest music was featured but the comparisons to him and Dylan or that he was better than Dylan were laughable. His music is incredibly basic and his lyrics are childish in their simplicity. The rhymes were so often forced, but reminded me of the lyrics of an awkward teen. There was no genius in the words. Sorry. Musically he doesn’t hold Dylan’s jock (listen to Dylan’s guitar instead of the words some time)

I’ve said this before but the guy from DiG (Brian Jonestown Massacre) was a genius. A very similar documentary on the descent into madness that creates great art, but just b/c you’re crazy doesn’t make you great. When the claims that Johnston ’s work are better than “Pet Sounds” are made people lose credibility. Daniel Johnston ain’t Brian Wilson.

At one point, his manager compared his early work to that of Dylan’s first five albums. That’s where they lost me. Dylan’s early work is possibly the greatest streak of music in rock history. (this conversation came about with a former co-work as we tried to come up with a string of albums by any artist that was better than the Stones streak of Beggar’s Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street . Other than Dylan, the Beatles, there really wasn’t anyone else in that neighborhood). Sorry, songs about Casper the Friendly ghost just don’t approach “Highway 61 Revisited” or a “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”.

Sharpton doing his best to fan the flames, not finding solutions

Reason 213 why Sharpton’s an idiot:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22556443/

If the guy she said it about is ok, then Sharpton should shut the hell up. Apparently, not enough people were paying attention to Al, so he’s got to make sure he gets in the news. I would think he would serve his constituency better by working at the local Rescue Mission as opposed to getting “outraged” over a poorly chosen phrase about a multi-millionaire. Obviously real racism exists in this country, but every time he makes up these “issues” it diminishes instances of real racism. It does a disservice to his cause for the sake of his vanity.

I propose a lifetime moratorium on the phrase “it is what it is”. it si WAY overused these days and often adds nothing to a conversation, often used when the speaker has nothing else to say. A verbal punt, if you will.

This joins “surreal” (the reigning overused/misused phrase for the past 3 years) and “samwich” , among others, on the all time list of annoying.

"best" medical care in the world...if you can get it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22357873/

When actuaries overrule the medical decisions of doctors at UCLA, what chance to any of us have?

Romney gets all Clintonesque or "when seeing is not seeing".

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/20/528873.aspx

The questioning did not relent. "I'm an English literature major," he insisted
at one point. "When we say I saw the Patriots win the World Series, it doesn't
necessarily mean you were there." (He meant the Super Bowl, of course.)

OH YEAH AND WERE IS ALL THE REPUBLICAN OUTCRY THAT THE GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS DOESN’T KNOW THAT THE PATRIOTS PLAY FOOTBALL. THEY GAVE ALL KINDS OF SHIT WHEN KERRY MISPRONOUNCED LAMBEAU FIELD. THIS IS A MUCH BIGGER MISS.

Cafeteria Christianity to justify prejudice (and of course pander)

To those who hold to this ridiculous view that our founding fathers were Bible-thumping Baptists in the vein of Pat Robertson, et al.

You need to go back and look at the various religious beliefs of the presidents. Deists and Quakers and Presbyterians don’t share a lot of dogma with Southern Baptists or what passes for “Christian” these days in America . (I’m not going to prove to you again how un-Christian the small but very influential and vocal group of southern Baptists are, nor how unrepresentative they are of Christianity in America ).

And for your very irrelevant shout out to your obsession with gays…the gay marriage issue is a fake issue that you and your sloganeering buddies like to trot out to avoid REAL issues. (I’ve been waiting for you to tell me for years now, why you care who I marry, without trotting out incest and goats, but you’ve got nothing…PROVING how little of an issue it really is).

Did Truman and Kennedy talk about gay marriage? Nope. But then again, Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson didn’t talk very much about Civil Rights, does that mean that rights for blacks are not consistent with “Traditional Values”? The point: you can’t live in the past. Tradition doesn’t make it right. The world moves on. You and your gay-fearing buddies will be tossed on the scrapheap of history along with people who opposed a heliocentric system, suffrage for women and civil rights for blacks. Picking and choosing obscure biblical passages while ignoring the ones right next to it, doesn’t really seem like a “value system”, it seems like cherry-picking to support your prejudice.

"For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him." (Leviticus 20:9)

"Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27)

"...and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you." (Leviticus 11:7)

"...do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear material woven of two kinds of material." (Leviticus 19:19)

"But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you." (Leviticus 11:10)

"They (shellfish) shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination." (Leviticus 11:11)

Deja Vu all over again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/ts_nm/iran_usa_dc_3

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new U.S. intelligence report says Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and it remains on hold, contradicting the Bush administration's earlier assertion that Tehran was intent on developing a bomb.

Bush disappointed?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071203/ts_nm/venezuela_referendum_dc_32

Now he can’t invade, at least not right now ( I kid, but you know Bush likes to invade countries on little more than a leader saying mean things). But did you read the Constitutional Changes that Chavez wanted to institute, they are the exact type of executive Powers that Cheney has been pushing for. I’ll bet Bush sees a kindred spirit in Hugo. After all he did see into Putin’s soul and look what a good guy Putin turned out to be.

One of the things the Chavez wanted to do was remove legal controls on his actions when a state of emergency exists, one that he would declare. Just like Bush did with his “we are at war” stuff (which we are not b/c only Congress can declare war and that has not happened). Not that it’s a new idea…all executives/royals that wanted to expand their powers did so in “defense of the state/country/homeland”.

The Venezuelans voted AGAINST giving more power to the executive. Too bad America didn’t get to vote before Bush decided he was above the law.

Bloomberg/Hagel?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/29/hagel-criticizes-arrogant-bush-white-house/


he’s been saying what’s needed to be said for years, but now that he’s not running again he’s really saying what he feels…like every other person that has left this administration.

question about zealotry

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071129/ts_nm/sudan_prophet_dc_21

So, it’s an “insult” to name the bear Mohammed, but aren’t there millions of guys walking around the world of Islamic faith that also have that name? Why isn’t it an insult for a mere mortal/non-prophet to have that name? In fact, isn’t Mohammed the most common name in the world, or maybe that’s just urban legend? If it’s the “most common” wouldn’t it lose its sanctity? Or if its use is honorary, why wouldn’t naming something else also be honorary?

So many questions about religious zealotry…

On the topic of religion, just finished reading a book called “Misquoting Jesus”. Maybe you’ve heard of it, but it’s about how the current version of the bible came to be. Written by Christian biblical scholar, an interesting read telling the story of how the current version went from oral history, through good and bad translations, good and bad copying, and intentional changes supporting various agendas. A little dry in spots, but might be worth a read if you’re so inclined.

Remember this when Fox "News" is losing its mind over "Happy Holidays"

Obviously the degree is different, but the religious zealotry is the same. So, when Gibson and O’Reilly are decrying the end of civilization because the Wal-mart greeter says “Happy Holidays” (which we all know means Thanksgiving, New Years and Christmas and maybe even GOD FORBID, Hanukah) recall what religious zealotry begets.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1687755,00.html?cnn=yes


Or should I just lump this act with those of the Church that goes around to soldiers’ funerals and celebrates their deaths and lump them all together as the “Logical outcome” of Conservative thought?

Bush style Democracy taking hold in Pakistan

A friendly partisan Supreme Court upholds the "election victory" against the will of the people...and I worried that Bush couldn't export his version of Democracy, boy was I wrong:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21925944/

Happy Thanksgiving

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse...fully supported, encouraged and covered up by the Bush WH

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1681265,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

Bushies, I would imagine that being former Conservatives, you’d be appalled at this blatant disregard for the effective use of our tax dollars, but your blood should be boiling that those tasked with rooting out this fraud and abuse have been thwarted by the current administration, which leads to even more waste, fraud and abuse.

Shameful

It’s always the guys who never put their own lives in danger by actually entering the military that have such a love for torture and those who’ve actually put their lives on the line for America oppose torture.

I guess it’s easy to support the methods of Stalin, the Gestapo and Pol Pot if you never had to worry about them being used on you. (In 1947, the US tried a Japanese soldier for war crimes for using waterboarding…he was sentenced to 15 years hard labor)

How the hell does Bush claim that America represents democracy, morality and freedom for the world when he directs his minions to behave like a barbarians? The military code still forbids waterboarding explicitly which is why Bush has to make civilians (or goons from other countries who we have on our terrorism list). Oh yeah…and physical torture doesn’t work.

A New Low 07 Nov 2007 09:21 am "Waterboarding is
something of which every American should be proud," - Deroy Murdock, National Review. Have you noticed
that the pro-torture right has gone from saying that torture is abhorrent to
saying that torture isn't occurring to saying that torture is not torture to now
saying that torture is "something of which every American should be proud". And
why not indeed? The Cheney logic is impregnable: the president is not bound by
the law or the Geneva Conventions; torture reveals information that allows the
government to seize individuals who might at some point commit terror attacks;
the president's job is to prevent terror attacks. Torture is thereby a good.
Alas, the American constitution clearly does not say that the president is above
the law; the Geneva Conventions do apply to all captives in wartime and the bar
on mistreatment far less than torture is clear; the only source we have for the
fact that these terror suspects were terrorists is the government that uses
torture against them; torture itself has no way of determining what is true or
what is false and was designed in the first place to produce false confessions.
And the president's first job is to uphold the Constitution.

Then, of course, there is the question of morality. But if you follow
Murdock's reasoning that torture saves lives, and your moral rubric is entirely
utilitarian, then torture itself is obviously an active moral good. I have no
idea why more "conservatives" don't aggressively propose expanding it. And
here's a prediction: after the next terror attack, they will.

More of that Bush restoring ethical behavior to the executive branch

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21589678/

It’s a good thing that Bush was going to restore ethics to the Executive Branch; I can’t imagine how much further they’d extend their unethical behavior if he hadn’t promised to do that.

It’s been lucrative to work for the King in other countries throughout history. Fortunately for the Friends of Bush, he restored Royalty in America (Divine Mandate and being above the law of the land and all) and now all his buddies are really cashing in. It’s not only great to BE the King, it’s great to KNOW the King.

According to our President...this isn't torture

This is not torture, it’s “Aggressive Interrogation” as these techniques would not bring about organ failure or death. So, it’s all good. Nothing illegal here.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21659520/

George W. Bush…Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East since 2001…

George W. Bush…Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East since 2001…

At least 28 killed in attack on Afghan lawmakers
5 parliamentarians slain; doctor says toll could be much higher
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21650763/

Pakistan protests met with violent crackdown
Bush calls on Musharraf to relinquish army position, restore democracy
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21609019/

2007 becomes deadliest yet for U.S. in Iraq
Military announces deaths of soldiers and sailor, raising year’s total to 853
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21650614/

Oil prices soar past $97, setting new record
Concerns about bombings in Afghanistan , inadequate U.S. supply
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/

More Bush Lies?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/25/quds.force/index.html

Considering the Bushies are doing the same thing with Iran that they did with Iraq (ignore the war they are fighting to start another one without finishing the first; Afghanistan) I'm pretty skeptical of anything they say. Now that they have a hard-on to invade Iran, they will say anything, just like they did with Iraq.

Even without the Bush WH's inability to tell the truth about ANYTHING, you must also consider some facts. Iran hates the Taliban, Iran helped the US overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan, Afghanistan said they have no evidence that Iran is supplying the Taliban AND 4 months ago the General leading the NATO forces in Afghanistan said there was no evidence that Iran was helping the Taliban.

Oh yeah, and the Bushies lie about everything and they have a hard-on for Iran right now, so let's just say given all the evidence and their pathological aversion to the truth, I would bet this is NOT true. (that's a consequence of lying about everything, even if you are telling the truth NO ONE believes you)

Rudy talking out of his ass

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/25/giuliani.immigration.ap/index.html

Talk about making promises you can’t keep.

I used to like Rudy, but the more he panders, makes ridiculous claims and continues to run solely on 9/11 the less I like him.

War with Turkey?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/10/23/turkey.kurds/index.html


If Turkey invades Iraq (Kurdistan), which was predicted 5 years ago, would the US have to defend Iraq against the invasion. Bush DID disband their army and obviously the Iraqi Army that exists today can’t even keep the country from descending into civil war and chaos (as all you Bushies and Neo-Cons continue to tell everyone is the reason we can’t leave), so it SURELY can’t defend itself against a foreign invasion by a well-armed neighbor.

Does America have to go to war with Turkey or does the US let the Iraqis and Kurds go it alone?

Bush ruining "conservatism"

http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/10/23/conservatism/

Someone asked this question the other day, can’t remember who and it’s probably been said by others: Wouldn’t it be ironic if for all the efforts Bush made (and Bushies whole-heartedly supported) to make the American President above the law and beyond the reach of Congress’s oversight made Hilary Clinton the most powerful President in US history?
Just a thought.

From Esquire

Great (and scary) article from Esquire

This is on Turkey...all of it

It’s well-established that Turkey tried to annihilate the Armenians in the early 20th Century, but Bush doesn’t even want America to acknowledge because of political reasons. Doesn’t that prove that EVERYTHING about his war is political? It’s a meaningless gesture by the Congress, but the WH still opposes it. Turkey opposes it b/c they don’t want to be seen as murderers even if the shoe fits.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21221278/

The proclamation is pretty useless, but for Turkey to be threatening to stop supporting the US in the Middle East is so lame. If you can't do the time don't do the crime.

Also notice how Turkey is working to invade Kurdistan, just as I mentioned here about 5 years ago.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21111931/

Of course Bush wouldn’t want to provide medical care for Children, he has to spend all that money trying to keep the Iraq war going until Jan 2009 so Bushies can blame the inevitable civil war on whoever follows him.

$30 Billion to make children healthy or three months of killing people in Iraq ... obvious Choice for the Compassionate Conservative.

And Bushies…no need to comment, we all know what you’re going to say. Something about Germany in 1939, keith hates America , I love children except if it costs me a nickel, yada yada yada.

"Baseless"? I don't think so

A baseless allegation would be me claiming that you kick puppies. Given what the Iraqi Government, Iraqi Police and Congress have shown to be evidence of what Blackwater has done, these allegations seem to have some “BASE”.

The CEO may dispute the allegations, but to say they are “baseless” is just crap.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21095964/

should Bush be helping?

Oh yeah, I forgot. They have the same problem as Sudan .

Sorry citizens, God didn’t bless you with natural resources the West needs, so you’re freedom and democracy is less important to us. (Oh yeah, I said it)

If we stand for democracy and freedom, shouldn’t Bush be doing something to help these people who are taking up arms against one of the most brutal regimes in the world? These people are fighting for their freedom right now, rising up will result in a certain death for them, shouldn’t America help?

Just asking…

Rush hates soldiers

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Where is the President’s condemnation of Rush? He is actually attacking soldiers, attacking them. MoveOn.org attacked the political show man for the Bush war, while maybe not the right thing to do, let’s not pretend that Patreaus is anything but a Bush Spokesman now, as never before has a US Military leader been trotted out for such a dog and pony show. Anyway, this is about Rush attacking soldiers. Disgusting, but typical of all the Chicken Hawks.

The sham that is the "sanctity of marriage"

I was looking for an article that caught my eye when I was browsing some news site. Couldn't find it again, but I came across this story from June where the Vatican REVERSED the annulment of Joe Kennedy Jr.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/21/vatican_reverses_kennedy_ruling/

It's old news, but this goes to the sham that the sanctity of marriage (and all that tradition and Godly grace CB keeps putting on it) is. You can get married by the Church, then if you're rich and/or powerful enough you can get it "annulled", meaning it was flawed in some way and then they wipe the slate clean. Then they can change their minds again. Seems like if it was such a holy union human beings wouldn't be able to break it and unbreak it so easy, not to mention that such a sacred institution could be "flawed" in some way even with the sanction of the Church.

Proof how little control the Iraqi government has over Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/21/blackwater/index.html

This goes to show how very little influence and control Iraq ’s so-called government has over Iraq . I'm sure Condi straightened them out after they tried to ban Blackwater. I'm sure she let them know who is REALLY calling the shots in Iraq and that those in "power" shouldn't delude themselves with thinking they are actually governing Iraq themselves. (not that a handpicked and approved slate of politicians "governing" a country that is being policed by the army of another country is really sovereign anyway)

more of that Bush magic

For all of the bitching they do about “the media” not reporting good things, you have to seek out columns like this to understand the truth depth of their incompetence, arrogance and immorality.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20892483/site/newsweek/

Chrisitian-Correctness...always more forceful than Poltical Correctness

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20888502/from/ET/



And before someone points out how under siege straight white Christians are (while their religious doctrine is being put into law all over this country) think about the following and tell me it’s not true. This country will elect a woman, an African America, a Muslim and maybe even a gay person to be President before it EVER elects an Athiest.

The irony of all of this is Griffin was pointing out (in her special way) the very Unchristian way that people ostentatiously thank Jesus for their Emmy, Grammy, Touchdown or Homerun.

As I’m sure you are well aware, the Bible is pretty clear on this ostentatious display of religion/faith:

Matthew 6:1-16

Concerning Almsgiving

6‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*

Concerning Prayer

5 ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*

Concerning Fasting

16 ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.*

Now what?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/17/iraq.main/index.html

If Blackwater is banned from Iraq , how will Bush keep his troop counts low and more importantly since the death of Blackwater employees don’t count, keep his death toll of American soldiers lower?

That MBA comes in handy ...again

I recall someone going on and on and on about how our President had that very valuable MBA from the Ivy League and how that would be put to good use. Well, once again Bush's administration fails the most basic requirements for running a business. (Although, borrowing extensively so you can spend more while causing a decrease in revenue is the most anti-business thing you can do, but fortunately he's done that too.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20780840/

Ten years after Congress ordered federal agencies to have outside auditors
review their books, neither the Defense Department nor the newer Department of Homeland Security has met even basic accounting
requirements, leaving them vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse.

And for those people that feel that welfare and social security are so rife with abuse and fraud, like the horrors of paying $1.65 to feed poor kids on the East Side of Seattle, I would think this mismanagement and failure to maintain the most basic of business fundamentals would be appalling.

"miracle" or science?

Bills TE Kevin Everett may very well walk again thanks to quick thinking doctors, the fact that the injury occurred with some fantastic Emergency Responders and trainers literally feet away and due to years of scientific research.

Now, Kevin's mom claims it could be a miracle and I don't begrudge her that. If her son walks again, she can claim whatever she wants.

But what I find most interesting (and ironic) is that the very same people who would claim that his possible recovery is the hand of God, are the very same people who will do everything they can to halt the very types of research that gave him the chance to walk again. Much of the research into spinal cord injuries has occurred in recent years and thanks to the work and focus of Christopher Reeves. A man who called for more money, more research including research into stem cells.

So, don't you find it ironic that those who would claim incredible advances in medical science as "miracles" are the very same people who are doing everything they can to stop medical science progress.

I for one would prefer to rely on medical science and not wait for the miracle if I'm ever in need of medical care. I'll accept any miracles that come my way, but it seems like a better bet to focus on medical research.

The GOP...restoring integrity every single day since 2001

This isn’t a big deal to me, but it just shows how just about every single day a member of the Republican Party that ran on “restoring integrity” is involved in some immoral, illegal, unethical behavior and that they can’t even follow even the lowest standard and that is to abide by House/Senate rules.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-wellersep07,1,83079.story?track=rss

Weller, a southwest suburban congressman with a fondness for Latin America, has
sunk a large share of his investment capital into a land development in
Nicaragua . But he didn't declare the extent of his holdings on his required
congressional disclosures, and he indicated dramatically different purchase
prices for the land in American and Nicaraguan
records.

…

What he didn't say was that, while he
publicly pushed CAFTA, Weller privately was pursuing his land development, some
2,000 miles away. The House approved the trade pact in July 2005 by only two
votes, 217-215.Besides not mentioning his Nicaraguan investments during the
CAFTA debate on the House floor, Weller did not give anywhere close to a
complete accounting of them in his required 2005 financial disclosure statement.
House ethics rules require representatives to disclose all property they own
except for their personal residences.

…

The
congressman listed only one Nicaraguan property purchase on his 2005 disclosure
form, but property records in Nicaragua show that he bought or sold at least
eight pieces of land.
…
For example, Weller's first disclosed
purchase in the coastal town of San Juan del Sur appeared on his 2002 financial
filing, listing a lot with a purchase price of between $50,001 and $100,000. But
in property records at the Registrar's office in Rivas, the department seat for
San Juan , Weller is reported paying 78,000 cordobas, or about $4,333, for
four-tenths of an acre in a transaction on Dec. 7, 2002.Records indicate that
Weller sold the same property in February 2005 for about $95,000. That sale does
not appear on Weller's 2005 House disclosure.

SUBJECT: And all along I thought things in Iraq were not going so well.

My response to a friend's email:

SUBJECT: And all along I thought things in Iraq were not going so well.

Now I see how wrong I was.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/


Subject: RE: And all along I thought things in Iraq were not going so well.
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2007 15:31:51 -0700
FROM:

Well, you see. If you had your head up your butt, you might think things were going well. But those who actually look at the real situation may disagree with this assessment.

The best part of being him, is that he’s never proclaimed what “success” is in Iraq , so that he can just walk around one day and say “we’ve been successful” and call it a win. Even if global terrorism continues to rise, Iraqi’s have no government, no police, no army, no electricity, no water, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s are dead, there is a full scale civil war taking place, 3000 Americans are dead, the middle east is more unstable now than it has been since the 70s, Iran is now unchecked, bin Laden is still alive, the Taliban controls 90% of Afghanistan and the war that was going to cost America a few million dollars is going to cost a TRILLION.

For all we know, that may have been his definition of success, and therefore we ARE indeed “kicking ass”.

Lobbyists and Puritans win...children lose

I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone, especially Bushies, who would fully support politics over science and lobbyists determining US policy even if it’s to the detriment of America ’s children. (the GOP’s concern for children only extends to election cycles)

The funny thing about this story (and it’s not really in the story, but we all know it’s there) is the GOP’s fear of a women’s naked breast is so overwhelming that they would prefer to ban breast feeding even though it’s better for children. Which is MOST ironic since this same faction that is so fearful of a breast are the same people who use “nature” to defend their hatred of gays. “It’s not natural” they will say about boys kissing, but as soon as a boob comes out, they turn into the Taliban to make sure no one sees a nipple. I’m pretty sure that Nestlé’s formula wasn’t mentioned in the Bible…

I wonder why

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/31/craig.arrest/index.html

is the GOP abandoning him because of: ?
A) He might be gay
B) He appears to have solicited sex in a public restroom
C) He pleaded guilty to a charge he is innocent of without advice from a lawyer (which makes him dumb)

Just wondering. What is the Bushie take on this?

Some more of that GOP morality...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20467347/



I love how the Good Senator, who is a member of the most august body in our land, wasn’t smart enough not to plead guilty even though he was innocent. I think if you’re that dumb you shouldn’t be in the Senate.

Unbelievable.

Strange what the Bushie's new definition of "Victory" is

My Bushie friend saw a report today that claimed Baghdad was safer than it was a few months ago, you would have that it was V-J day from his cheering. So, I posed this to him....he of course ignored me pointing out his obvious low standard for victory here in 2007.

I said:

If I said to you 4 years ago that "In the summer of 2007, nearly 4000
America soldiers will be dead, Iraq as a whole will be near anarchy, there will
be NO oil flowing, no consistent electricity and water in Baghdad, we will spend
nearly a TRILLION dollars and there is no functioning government in Iraq AND the
US is willing to allow ANY form of government as long as Bush can say it’s
“secure enough”, global terrorism will be increasing, bin Laden will still
alive, the Taliban will control most of Afghanistan” You would have said
that was absurd and that we were idiots.

Now, you call that
victory.

Well this clear's up Rudy's contention...he was by no stretch at ground zero very much AT ALL

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/18/rudy_yankees/

Obviously, Rudy is running totally on 9/11, which is sickening to me. Because of most of the GOP he's probably the most likely to get any of my support.

"Conspiracy of Fools"

Currently reading "Conspiracy of Fools"

It sat on my shelf for a long time and I don't even remember buying it, but at over 700 pages it seemed too daunting. Anyway, I started it on my trip to Texas and it is really hard to put down. I think it's the somewhat annoying way the author tells the story, with various anecdotes of things that are happening concurrently. So, each little snippet may only be a half a page, maybe a whole page. Again, while annoying, its hard to stop reading it.

I am surprised to find myself less harsh of Kenny Lay (but some people have said the author is too easy on Lay). Although he was VERY guilty of failing in his fiduciary duty to stockholders (including employees) for being clueless, I'm much more convinced of the guilt of Fastow and Skilling, especially Fastow. That guy was sleezy. As for Arthur Anderson, I used to wonder if they took too much flack, but they weren't just negligent, they were co-conspirators in much of Fastow's schemes.

There were many people who tried to raise flags, but when the CFO is the criminal and has all the power, it's hard to stand up to that. But you have to wonder why NO ONE had the balls to do anything more substantial (maybe it was the rising stock price??)

Does God Love America best?

I recieved this email today showing an American flag with what appears to be a cross in it created by sunlight. It stuck me a bit offensive that this email was saying that God Loves America more than others. Here is my response



Sorry, I had to speak up. This message seems to say that "God Loves America best". Which seems like a short-sighted and possibly a very unChristian thing to say.

Actually, this photo is quite believable and to be expected (see this article on the subject http://www.snopes.com/photos/patriotic/azflag.asp)

1- the cross is a symbol that was created by man to represent Christianity, although some Faiths don't celebrate the cross as much as others. (Not to mention the debate that has been going on in Christianity for 2000 years on what the 10 COmmandments say in regard to "Graven Images". (For an interesting look at just how much man has played a hand in the "Divine Word" read the 2nd commandment as it appears in various versions of the Bible, say King James vs. New Revised...). My point, would God show his existence to the world by tricks of fabric and sunlight? Would God show this in the form of a Cross (a man-made device)?

2- The more offensive part of this email, at least for Christians, should be...that God loves America best. Why would God show a particular allegiance to one country over another. Are Americans better than Canadians? Are Americans better than Italians? Are Americans better by virtue of the location of their birth??? These country affiliations are, again, man-made political boundaries. it would seem that God, having existed for all time, wouldn't have "a favorite team", especially one that has only been around 225 years. For an interesting read on God and Politics, here's a quote from the book of John:

Likewise, the Christian does not become involved in the affairs of earthly governments but represents the heavenly kingdom to them. He is in this world but is not of this world (John 17:16).



-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 10:59 PM
To:
Subject: FW: FW: UNBELIEVABLE PHOTO!!!!!!!]

This is a beautiful photo of a giant American flag in Arizona The photo is authentic, UN-Touched and was taken on regular Kodak 35mm film. The person who took the picture couldn't believe the image created by the suns rays.
Nice of them to share it with the world!
Read what is says under the picture....

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us...pass this on.

More stuff that must stop

I've spoke of my disgust for people who can't say the word "Sandwich" without putting an "M" in the middle. (SAMWICH) but I've yet to discuss these two other gems.

1- STOP USING THE WORD "SURREAL" TO DESCRIBE EVERY GODDAMN LITTLE THING THAT IS A BIT STRANGE.
Every time some 3rd tier celebrity gets interviewed every thing in their life is "So Surreal". No! It's NOT!. Just b/c the time you walked into the Burger King and Lindsey Lohan was there doesn't make it "Surreal".
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9379935

"Surreal" - (Mid-20th century. Back-formation surrealism])>from Merriam Websterke



2 - WORLDWIDE BAN ON BANDS WITH NUMBERS IN THEIR NAMES.
The world has had enough. Using a number in your name is just lazy and it's beyond STUPID now. Blink 183, Maroon 5, Three Doors Down, Sum41, and on and on and on. STOP it. Get a real name like "Brian Jonestown Massacre" or hell, even "the Monkees".

The Worst Nightmare

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/20/bush.colonoscopy/

CHeney to run the world for 150 minutes...do you know how much damage a man that evil can do? WOW.

Comedy at the Texas Capital or "That's right, you're not from Texas"

Just returned from Austin and visiting my brother, but there was a little something that happened on our tour of the Capital Building that I must share with you.

We were walking around the building just taking in the history and when we went into the Senate Chamber we came upon a tour group. The guy leading the tour looked very Texas (whatever that means) , about mid 40s, dressed in a suit and quite authoritative on the building and Texas history. So, he going through his stuff about the Senate and then he points out the portraits on the wall. Sam Houston, Stephen F Austin, etc. various state senators. And he points out the HUGE painting of LBJ on the wall. Explains that LBJ is there b/c he was the only President who TRULY called Texas his home and he goes on and on. Finally, he says "you know there are 4 Presidents with ties to Texas, do you know who they are?" Someone says "LBJ and the Bushes". The guy says, "right...of course LBJ, who always called Texas home and was very proud of Texas. And the Bushes, but they were born and raised and educated in New England, not in Texas. They just have had homes here, that's why their portraits are not hung in this room".

DAMNNNNNNN

It was quite obvious that this guy, this expert on Texas and proud Texan was pointing out the fallacy the Bushes are "Texans". And when the guy leading the tour of the building where the former governor's portrait hangs points that out, it was PURE COMEDY. Delicious. I don't think it was a comment on either of their political legacies, it was just that they are not considered Texans by Texans.

btw- turns out Dwight Eisenhower was born in Texas, but moved to Kansas when he was there, so he ain't no Texan either.