Molly Ivins

One of the most courageous columnists in the United States is gone. Molly Ivins spoke up about George Bush while most media denizens were slobbering all over his posturing posterior.

I will certainly miss her clear vision and straight talk. We could do worse than to follow the advice in her last column.

Hilarious

The White House has a new pastry chef. He's the author of Desserts for Dummies.

Yes, really.

Thanks to Moon of Alabama.

Winning

The main thing wrong with the Republican discussion of "winning" in Iraq is that there is no set definition of what "win" looks like. If it was getting rid of Saddam, it's done. If it is the big PNAC plan of building another stable democracy in the Middle East, it's lost.

If it is making sectarian violence go away, that is not going to happen.

I want to see each person who claims we can "win" define what win is, and how the resources we have in place will accomplish that. Otherwise, it's time to bring the troops home.

Wahhhh!

Wahhhh!

The House GOP feels left out! I suspect that no Democrat has held a vote open all night; that no one has been bribed or threatened; that no one has withheld copies of legislation; and that no legislation that has come out of committee has been summarily changed without any discussion.

I can see why the Republicans feel left out. All their favorite tricks have gone by the wayside. Quelle dommage.

Health Options

CNN had an article today on workers who go to work even if they are sick, calling such attendance "presenteeism". The last line was that Democrats wanted to legislate to make businesses give employees at least seven sick days.

Heh. My former employer was pushing to become a billion dollar corporation, and one of our main complaints about them was that they only allowed 6 sick days, and they did not want to permit us to use vacation for sick time. It would be amusing if legislation forced them to give more sick time.

The "health care" options Bush was pushing in his SOTU message were, as usual, ignorant of the reality of poverty, taxing to the middle class, and gifts to his wealthy buddies. It is as if "not enough money to pay for health insurance" is not a concept he can deal with. He would probably be amazed that loaves of bread are sold pre-sliced instead of as whole loaves that the servants then slice.

Exception?

CNN has an article asking if women should be paid for eggs harvested for stem cell extraction.

My first question is why anyone would trade half their reproductive capacity for fertility treatments. This article cited a British doctor as proposing such a plan. It's highway robbery. A woman should be compensated by getting half the income of any procedure that uses the derivatives of her cells. Yes, paying for this kind of body part is an exception, but the use that such cells will have is also exceptional.

In the US, companies have managed to copyright the cells taken from patients. That is robbery, as well. This kind of thing should be stopped before it becomes a norm for the stem cells from eggs to garner bonanzas for developers while leaving donors out.

Enumerated Rights

It's just amazing how Mr. Bush seems to find appointees who never took basic US History as taught in high schools all over this nation. Take Mr. Gonzales, for example. Last Thursday, while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he stated that there was no right to Habeas Corpus in the Constitution.

AUGH!

It is for people like him that the states demanded a Bill of Rights when the Constitution was written -- just in case anyone dared to say that certain rights did not belong to the people. Amazing -- it's as if the colonials foresaw the pack of scoundrels appointed by Bush as a real possibility. The Bill of Rights belongs to that group of Constitutional items known as "enumerated rights" -- those written out explicitly so that no one could claim that they were *not* rights. I wish someone would tattoo that on Mr Gonzales's boy parts so he could hold onto principle with some regularity.

The Bush administration has many partisans and followers who are chewing away at the enumerated rights, and pretending that rights not assigned belong to them rather than to the people -- which is, of course, the thing that the Ninth Amendment forbids. Chewing away at the Ninth Amendment is one of their most common recreations. Most of them have enough room for a tattoo of the Ninth Amendment. It gives all rights to the people, or to the states, that are *not* enumerated rights.

Mr. Gonzales is condemned out of his own mouth, because if something is not in the Constitution, by its absence it is in the Ninth Amendment. This is the Catch-22 for Liberty and Individual Rights. Bless the paranoia of the colonials. A bas Abu Gonzales.

Trends in Spam

The trend in Spam over the last two days has been to headline the e-mail with "Chinese Missile Shoots Down ..." every darned thing except what a Chinese missile recently shot down.

The Chinese destroyed one of their own old satellites. Yes, it was definitely a warning shot. Only a Bush could construe it to be anything else. Only a Bush could be drumming up war on another Middle Eastern front while there are more immediate matters that need attention. No, no, George! That was not a suggestion that you invade China!

Winter

Yes, despite having 50 degree weather into January, we are now having winter. A couple of inches of snow have fallen, and at least two cars have come down the hill just east of my house out of control. One flattened the No Parking sign at the curb of the yard next door. I think they are waiting to give an accident report, because they are still fetched up on the lawn over there.

I am amazed that a mere two inches of snow can bring on such havoc -- or such horrible driving.

Taking the Easy Way

After laboriously adding links for my blogroll, I finally got smart and went into the HTML code for the old blog and grabbed the blogroll links wholesale. Now I can start visiting other web sites from my new page, and think about what other things I want to grab off the old page.

Move in Progress

OK, I have five sets of archives logs set to edit over here, and the move is coming along nicely, I can see that a lot of my early posts were quite substantial. I earnestly despise the Bush administration in all its parts. At some point last year, however, I seem to have become extremely wiped out. It is not that the Republicans have become less treacherous -- I don't think that any group with such a high disregard of the law can be left to its own devices for even a minute, no less a month.

But this had been a hard year. I hope that things improve.

Archives 10/15/2006 to 01/13/2007

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: New Spam Headers


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Web/Tech

DATE: 10/15/2006 07:12:43 AM
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BODY:

This morning all my spam headers were about being laid off, about company closings, and about otherwise being unemployed.

A couple of weeks ago, a major company laid off their employees by e-mail.  It is sick to see all this spam with headers designed to upset people into opening their junk mail.  Of course, all of mine landed in my junk folder, and seen in a mass the headers were obvious.  I'm also unemployed already, which makes them ludicrous.  But I feel for the folks who will get this garbage today.  It would be nice if someone could source these spammers so people could send them the tons of real junk they deserve.

Anyone?

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: My First Invitation


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Weblogs

DATE: 10/15/2006 07:29:49 AM
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BODY:

Mimus Pauly of A Mockingbird's Medley will be going on vacation later this month, and he has invited me, your friendly neighborhood scopion, to guest blog in his absence.

Considering the illustrious company he has lined up, I feel flattered, indeed.  So you will see some of my posts appearing in the Medley.  I hope he has a fine vacation, too.  Getting away is so satisfying sometimes.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: No Takeoffs


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 10/15/2006 05:23:57 PM
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BODY:

Hawaii had a couple of sizeable earthquakes in the last day.  The part of the news story that got me was this part:

Airports were functioning despite the power outages, though slowly.

Heraga said that inbound flights were being allowed to land, but outgoing flights were not taking off because the TSA doesn't have enough power to screen passengers.

That just gets me.  The TSA is helpless without x-ray machines and wands.  What a disgrace!  What amazingly poor planning and downright incompetence!

In the 1970's I had to get on a Lufthansa flight that was connecting with an El Al flight during a time of hijacking and terrorsim connected to Arab-Israeli conflict.  The Germans did a patdown of all passengers for their inspection.  No tech, just human inspection.

But of course, the TSA isn't up to the standards of Germany 30 years ago.  Oh no.

It's not that TSA hasn't enough power -- it's that they have too freakin' much and not enough competence. 

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Fun!


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Weblogs

DATE: 10/17/2006 12:05:47 AM
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BODY:

I just made my first post at A Mockingbird's Medley. 

I'll link to it and not repeat it here, though I may save it somewhere.   

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Another First


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Weblogs

DATE: 10/18/2006 02:51:36 PM
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BODY:

I had to close comments on a particular post I made because comment spammers kept choosing it to dump their fewmets.  Any time I get a post that gets comment spam, I'm going to close it off.  It is just too much of a hassle to clean a post over and over.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Almost the Right Question


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 10/19/2006 05:09:57 PM
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BODY:

Today Riverbend made a new post from Iraq.  She discussed how the weight of distress took its toll every time she started to write.  She also discussed the Lancet estimate of Iraqi casualties.  Toward the end, she poses this:

Everyone knows the 'official numbers' about Iraqi deaths as a direct result of the war and occupation are far less than reality (yes- even you war hawks know this, in your minuscule heart of hearts). This latest report is probably closer to the truth than anything that's been published yet. And what about American military deaths? When will someone do a study on the actual number of those? If the Bush administration is lying so vehemently about the number of dead Iraqis, one can only imagine the extent of lying about dead Americans…

I don't think that the military has done anything to cover up deaths.    If they were doing that, web sites that independently record deaths would be hearing from a lot more people who were left off the count, and that just is not happening.  Where I think they are slithering around the truth is in the casualty counts.   If we had a grasp of how many youngsters were maimed and brain damaged as a result of Iraq, I think the howls of fury would be loud and long.  And if the number of youngsters with PTSD were counted, we would find that almost everyone who had been dropped down into Iraq suffered from the sheer randomness of trying to keep order in a place that has become a synonym for random violence.

It's not the dead I worry about.  It's the veterans.  It's the troops who continue to be rotated into a place that is deadly and insane.  Support your troops?  The best way to support them is to donate to Fisher House.  Magnetic ribbons are a way to pat yourself on the back -- donations to Fisher House go to some wounded individual or his family, but they don't show your right-wing self-congratulation. 

The next best way to support the troops is to try to throw the warmongers and contractors out of office.  All of them.  If you live in Ohio, don't hold your breath.  In other places, shun the letter 'R'.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mimus Pauly
EMAIL: MockMed@aol.com
IP: 172.163.13.108
URL: http://mimuspauly.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/21/2006 04:47:44 AM
Even if the Republicans manage to retain control of both congressional houses, they won't be in the clear. They'll still have this civil war in Iraq to contend with, Bush will still be "staying the course," and the next Lancet story dealing with this disaster will have casualty figures even more heinous and outrageous than the current one.

Sooner or later, the truth will come to light. And no matter how hard they try, the Republicans and all the people who continue to endorse this senseless slaughtering in a country that never attacked us won't be able to look away...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 67.64.42.28
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 10/21/2006 10:23:17 AM
Oh, I definitely think that there will be war crimes trials eventually. As I spoke of veterans, so the entire population of Iraq has been living under terror and abuse -- three sided, at least. I can't imagine how bad it is for them people of that country, who mostly did no more than live in a place targeted by the current administration.

Slaughter isn't too strong a term for it.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: A Nice Question


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 10/20/2006 12:50:16 PM
-----
BODY:

I was re-reading the very beginning of Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein, which Baen is reprinting this month.  I came across this quote:

Farnham twisted in his chair. "I mean it, Duke. America is the best thing in history, I think, and if those scoundrels kill our country, I want to kill a few of them. Eight side boys. Not less. "

So.  If Heinlein were working on that paragraph today, what "sideboys" would he be considering?  It's a nice question.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Is Riverbend Right?


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Television

DATE: 10/22/2006 08:42:01 PM
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BODY:

There are stories coming out on the web that suggest that the ammunition dump explosion of October 10 killed 300 US troops and contractors and 100 Iraqi nationals.  If that is true, then US news outlets are suppressing information that should, in all honesty, be reported.  Yes, even if it means that Republicans lose radically this election.

Is Riverbend right?  Are they lying to us?  Everyone who would be surprised, raise your hands. 

Right.

[crossposted at Mockingbird's Medley]

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lord Patel
EMAIL: myopicgoldfish@btinternet.com
IP: 86.133.224.176
URL: http://www.postmanpatel.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/23/2006 10:33:07 AM
Judging by this video see massive explosion at 4 mins 50 secs
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7753921336651131261
Whatever caused THAT explosion (and it was a big muth fucka but not a tactical nuke as the commentary suggests) never mind the fires and explosions for hours there must be heavy casualties at least, and some deaths.

An interesting comparison is the Buncefeild fuel depot that exploded in the UK this year - the devastation it looked like WWIII but as it was the weekend there were no hospitalised casuaties.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 66.142.228.194
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 10/23/2006 12:37:51 PM
CNN claims there were zero casualties here, too. With those rockets and other pyrotechnics randomly firing, that is especially hard to believe.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.118.172
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 10/23/2006 06:01:11 PM
If everyone was med-evaced to Germany the casualties will take a long time to show up on the war casualties list.

First they will be charged against European Command, because they will be sent to facilities in Germany, and it could take up to three months to show up on the Iraq war list.

This is how the system has always worked, not something new for Iraq.

If they die at a US facility after being transferred from Germany, it takes even longer to appear.

A local Airman didn't show up in the official list for 6 months.

The local figures that are reported are those that die in Iraq, with those that die later reported by the Pentagon after the paperwork gets processed.

The other problem with the ammo dump disaster is that it may take an extended period to identify the remains of anyone nearby. Women and minorities are easier to identify than white males because there are fewer of them.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Keith Thompson
EMAIL: kst@mib.org
IP: 132.249.65.157
URL:
DATE: 10/26/2006 05:20:24 PM
The common misuse of the word "casualty" adds to the confusion. The word means "one injured, killed, captured, or missing in action through engagement with an enemy", but it's commonly used to refer only to deaths.

The article says:

Over 300 American troops, including U.S. Army and Marines, CIA agents and U.S. translators were casualties and there also were 165 seriously injured requiring major medical attention and 39 suffering lesser injuries 122 members of the Iraqi armed forces were killed and 90 seriously injured members of same, were also evacuated to the U.S. military hospital at al-Habbaniyah located some 70km west of Baghdad.

which seems to imply 300 American troops killed. If that's really true (and I have no idea whether it is or not), they're not going to be able to cover it up indefinitely.
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PING:
TITLE: Another Iraqi Cover-up?
URL: http://www.rooksrant.com/2006/10/another_iraqi_coverup.php
IP: 216.239.136.21
BLOG NAME: Rook's Rant
DATE: 10/23/2006 12:18:31 AM
TBRNews.org Over 300 American troops, including U.S. Army and Marines, CIA agents and U.S. translators were casualties and there also were 165 seriously injured requiring major medical attention and 39 suffering lesser injuries 122 members of the Iraqi...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Ready...Hats On!


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 10/25/2006 03:14:56 PM
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BODY:

Today's subject is one I look upon with wonder -- and with my foil hat at the ready.

The Bushes have purcased over 98,000 acres in Paraguay?

My goodness!  If this is real...the best speculation has it that Paraguay does no do extraditions ... and that the Bushes expect to be charged with war crimes by the Red Cross.  I wonder if, with that many acres, they plan to sublet to Rummy, Condi, Dickie, and the whole crew.  Rumor also has it that some 500 US troops have been sent to Paraguay.  Engineers and laborers?  Seabees in the grand old tradition, to build air strips and infrastructure?

The mind boggles. 

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PING:
TITLE: Rush Limbaugh Verse (Updated)
URL: http://www.madkane.com/madness/2006/10/26/rush-limbaugh-verse/
IP: 216.104.160.84
BLOG NAME: Mad Kane's Political Madness
DATE: 10/26/2006 03:10:15 PM
I usually avoid writing about (or listening to) Rush Limbaugh. But Limbaughs outrageous attack on the ailing Michael J. Fox, followed by his non-apology apology, inspired me to write this pair of poems. First, my Rush haiku:
Limbaughs...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: How Odd

ALLOW COMMENTS: 2
CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: War

DATE: 10/25/2006 05:19:49 PM
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BODY:

For October 10, the day of the ammunition dump explosion in Iraq, the DoD page of confirmed casualties lists no deaths at all.

I didn't think there was a single day this month that there were no casualties.  How very odd.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Madison Guy
EMAIL: letterfromhereblog@yahoo.com
IP: 172.190.45.11
URL: http://letterfromhere.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/27/2006 01:08:49 AM
I wondered at the time how there were so few, if any, reported casualties when the ammo dump went up. You'd think some of that flying ordnance would hit something or somebody. Like you say, how very odd.

Things may get odder yet. Although weâ€(tm)re going down to the wire on Iran and that October Surprise thing, itâ€(tm)s not over till the Fat Man sings. Naval exercises in Persian Gulf on October 31st. No kidding. October surprise as Halloween nightmare? It couldnâ€(tm)t possibly happen, could it? Can you spell LBJ?

http://letterfromhere.blogspot.com/2006/10/october-surprise-as-halloween.html
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: So Which Is It?


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Humor
CATEGORY: Remembering
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 10/27/2006 01:23:17 PM
-----
BODY:

George Bush said he would stay the course in Iraq even if his only supporters were Laura and his dog Barney.

So.

Which one of them told him no?

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 65.216.12.130
URL: http://www.dmariemart.wordpress.com
DATE: 10/27/2006 03:35:21 PM
I think Barney has probably abandoned his master. Dogs are smarter than most people. Poor Dubya, his only supporters are likely his mother and wife.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Voting Machines


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 10/27/2006 01:32:02 PM
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BODY:

Avedon Carol at The Sideshow reports on a voting machines article at Seeing the Forest.

And she focuses on the important problem -- that a company whose ATM technology is mature has  -- purposefully? -- degraded their product to market a voting machine that is less secure and less competent to provide means of checking its function.  ATMs are not unreliable in any of the ways that voting machines are -- they do not open with hotel bar keys, they do not have chips that can be switched with ones that will skew the figures, they cannot be reset, disabled, and left with no checks on their integrity.

How did cities and states get lured into buying machines that are that incompetently made?

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.163.153
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 10/29/2006 11:09:39 AM
There was an old saying in the computer business that you could never get fired for buying IBM. The same applies to Diebold - it has to be a great machine because Diebold is the biggest name in ATMs and they are secure.

Well, Diebold didn't design its voting equipment, they bought a small start-up. They are selling their corporate "good will" and reputation, not this piece of equipment. Financial people know the name and reputation of Diebold, so buying from them was a guarantee of something that didn't exist: a reliable product.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: What To Do


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 10/28/2006 02:08:42 PM
-----
BODY:

I have just been wondering what I will do if Bush decides to bomb Iran.

Sitting silently won't be right.

I was just reading a Kansas web log, Fighting Cock Flyer, about the buildup of US Naval forces in the Persian Gulf.  The thrust of this article, and the Kos article it points to, is that Bush may be planning an exercise on October 31 that will become a full-scale attack -- and that the forces gathered can potentially do more damage than the bombing of Baghdad did in Iraq.

It is also suggested that this will be a cover to make sure that the elections go to the administration, and that inquiries into irregularities will be suppressed.

So.  Am I going to go stand in the public square with a sign that says "Honk for Impeachment" ?  Or "Die, Cheney, die!"?  Am I going to call my senators once an hour until they get the message that they need to get behind a move to remove the warmakers?

Doing *something* will be necessary.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Goodies


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Weblogs

DATE: 10/29/2006 11:06:08 AM
-----
BODY:

Today's rant is posted at A Mockingbird's Medly.

It's about the court decision on the Abu Ghraib photos that was handed down at the end of last week.

I also posted a short bit about the elections and Social Security over there, and about a push poll by the Democratic candidate for Attorney General in Kansas.

See?  I've been busier than I look.  :)

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: By Fiat


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Law

DATE: 11/01/2006 11:15:15 AM
-----
BODY:

How is it possible for Bush to just change a law with no fanfare and no public discussion?

Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."

It looks like the House passed this with no publicity at all.  If I look back on the record of  my  congressman, I see that he insanely voted in favor of this atrocity.  It was passed September 29.  My congressman used to be a Democrat, but lately he has been voting for every oppressive piece of insanity to come before the House -- he also voted in favor of torture.

Ugh.  This sits very badly with me. 

Bush in charge of all troops, and allowed to deploy them in the US.  If you don't find that ominous, there is no hope for you.  One thing this means is that he is getting ready for a Congress that does not grovel for his every whim -- he now has the power to pretty much do anything he wants to do, and the citizens of this country can now be found to be in the wrong on almost every debatable issue.  Demonstrations can become the reason for martial law -- even if the troops fire first and create disorder thereby.

If you aren't worried, you aren't thinking.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mimus Pauly
EMAIL: MockMed@aol.com
IP: 152.163.100.204
URL: http://mimuspauly.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/01/2006 09:53:54 PM
I am sooo campaigning against John Warner when he's up for re-election -- assuming he's too stupid to retire. That man's a Marine, and this is the shit he comes up with? He'd look fine standing next to Oliver North...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mad Kane
EMAIL: madkane@madkane.com
IP: 71.255.58.105
URL: http://www.madkane.com
DATE: 11/01/2006 11:51:20 PM
The outrages just keep mounting up, and this one is especially egregious.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: When You Know


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Courts

DATE: 11/05/2006 03:41:07 AM
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BODY:

When you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what a verdict will be before a trial begins, is a fair trial possible?

That is a question the individuals of the Bush administration should keep in mind.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Voting Irregularity Help


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/05/2006 05:05:04 PM
-----
BODY:

Commenter danjite on Scalzi's Whatever:

Tuesday, everyone keep this number with you:

1-866-OUR-VOTE

"If you see ANYTHING that looks like an irregularity -- step away from the polling place to the legal distance (generally something like 100 feet, but you can look this up), call this number, tell them clearly which polling place you're at and what's going on, and let them know that you need someone there RIGHT NOW. They'll have lawyers *driving around* waiting for this kind of call.

Also, if you're in a place where this is legal (again, look this up), and you have any issues with machine voting, and you have a cellphone with camera, DOCUMENT the problem you're having -- with video if possible, but still shots if not. DO CHECK, however, if this is legal in your state/county/district. It's not everywhere."

(Please repost aggressively)

Crossposted at Mockingbird's Medley.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: What a Great Idea!


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/06/2006 10:50:34 PM
-----
BODY:

I think New Hampshire has a wonderful idea!  Banning political robocalls to those on the do-not-call list is wonderful.

I wonder if we could get Kansas to eliminate the use of all autodiallers for those on the list.  My number seems to be a favorite of way too many robots.  I usually find out who the culprits are and start bombarding their executive offices with random nuisance calls -- but it would be so much better if they would just leave me alone!

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.163.33
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 11/07/2006 07:19:04 PM
How about a law that made robo-calling of any nature, except by emergency officials, illegal.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 64.123.236.131
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 11/07/2006 11:28:58 PM
My workplace used to do its emergency calling tree via robocall. I suppose one could sign a specific workplace contract making that acceptable even with a law against such calls. My workplace was not staffed by "officials" -- but they did rely on a lot of technology.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Strange Ballot


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/07/2006 04:56:12 PM
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BODY:

I went and voted.  The ballot had contested races for Congress, Governor, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner ... and then it had Democrats.  Not a single Republican was running for judge.  No Republican for Board of Education.  Just Democrats.

I was glad to see that there were no peculiar ballot initiatives.  Nothing about declaring anyone a second class citizen.  No strange ways to spend money.  But then, Kansas actually has a balanced budget. 

For Kansas, theoretical Republican hotbed, it was a most peculiar ballot.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dragonet2
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.26.97.216
URL:
DATE: 11/13/2006 08:43:19 PM
Wowie zowie. Hot the fark did that happen?

Ain't gonna make me move back to Kansas but hey. Progress? (especially getting rid of that Connie bitchwad...)
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Dear Riverbend


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 11/07/2006 05:02:52 PM
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BODY:

Dear River --

     Like you, I find the idea of using politics in Iraq to shore up the Bushies appalling and disgusting.  I also have hope that it will no longer work.  Since, like you, I thought it was evident that the trial of Mr. Hussein was anything but fair, the "verdict" was no surprise.  That being the case, I don't think it made much of a political ripple, either.

  I have hope, even with the election evils and frauds perpetrated this year by the Ghastly Old Poops, that there will be some roadblocks put in the way of Mr. Bush and the rest of his cronies.  Oh, the Democrats are not going to suddenly grow a spine, but maybe there will be enough of them to block his more inhumane notions.

Sigh.  Sorry -- that just sort of slipped out.  We should not hope, but rather grit our teeth and carry on.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Dean


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/11/2006 11:54:21 AM
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BODY:

Today, Natasha at Pacific Views has a long post on why Dean should (and will!) remain chairman of the DNC.

Dean may be the most intelligent man to stand for office in tens of years.  I will say that after Dean's straight talk and record of accomplishment, it was very disappointing to have to back Kerry against Bush.  Dean has done a masterful job of making the party ready to fight all the myriad Congressional battles that took back the House and Senate.  It would not have happened without his strategy of regrowing the party from the bottom up.

James Carville wants to see him gone.  Whose interests is he representing?  Not those of the thousands of people who have turned the tide for the Democrats.

OK, if Dean were not DNC chairman, perhaps he could become a candidate for President again.  He'd be a great president -- I have no doubt of that.  I would love to see him there.  But somehow, I don't think that's what Carville has in mind.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mark H
EMAIL: biomes_@cox.net
IP: 68.1.189.106
URL: http://biomesblog.typepad.com
DATE: 11/20/2006 06:25:17 PM
Dean has done a great job at the DNC. I'd love to have him as a presidential candidate, but I think he's most valuable right where he is.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Ack!


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Random Events

DATE: 11/17/2006 07:43:33 AM
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BODY:

I have taken almost a week off.  Whether it was the spectacle of immediate 2008 presidential nomination announcements or the series of medical tests doesn't matter.  My head has just been gone.

No, I can't really thinnk about 2008 yet.  I belong to the Clark/Edwards/Dean/Gore axis more than to any other.   I think James Carville should be declared a venerially-infected  Republican  so he can be cheerfully ignored.  Steny Hoyer?  Are they just a bunch of great choosers, or what?

Gah ... I'm going off to hide again.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Pseudo Celebrity Festivities


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Random Events

DATE: 11/18/2006 11:03:47 AM
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BODY:

Ah, the fun of it all.  Tom Cruise is marrying Katie Holmes, the mother of his child -- in Italy. 

Well, it figures that nowhere in the USA would this event become a local festival.  But I have some little questions lingering in my mind.  Did they have to bring their own Scientology Shaman with them?  Italy is such a hotbed of Catholics that finding a Scientologist must be a chore.

And what kind of person could *become* a Scientology Shaman?  When they get to talking about the Space Aliens, does anyone ever break out laughing hysterically?  Must be a hard job.

Anyway, pretty soon the only publicity stunts left for the happy pair will include more births and the inevitable divorce.  Underwear with Swarkovsky crystals ....

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Is This a Joke?***


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Economics
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/18/2006 10:32:14 PM
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BODY:

Or is someone crazy?  Slavery?  Legal enslaving of Africans? 

I can't think of anything that would be more open to abuse than slavery.  These people must be crazy.  I know -- every person responsible for reinstituting slavery should be compelled to experience it first-hand, don't you think?

[via PNH's Sidelights at Making Light]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** YES.

 

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Teresa Nielsen Hayden
EMAIL: tnh@panix.com
IP: 72.225.217.252
URL: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/
DATE: 11/19/2006 12:53:53 AM
That thing had me going for a bit, too. Eventually I realized that it was an inspired and appallingly accurate parody.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 66.142.229.250
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 11/19/2006 02:11:25 PM
OK -- sometimes massively tasteless jokes look too realistic. Sometimes The Onion looks like straight reporting, too! "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity" was especially apt.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rebekah
EMAIL: rpo5289854@ao.com
IP: 64.12.116.11
URL: http://www.eastoforegon.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/19/2006 09:28:55 PM
enjoyed reading your blog!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 66.141.254.233
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 11/20/2006 11:57:41 AM
Thank you!
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Rarely Mentioned


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 11/20/2006 12:23:07 PM
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BODY:

One of the largest pieces of national stupidity that the US has allowed is the outsourcing so much steel production.  The US imports from one-quarter to one-half the steel used in this country -- and half the steel that is produced comes from small mills.  The large steel industry of the past just isn't there any more.

Between that and the oil imports we use, some of our most important capacities are actually on loan to us from foreign nations.  The erosion of our abilities has been gradual.

The fall is going to be sudden.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: A Good Idea


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 11/21/2006 02:47:27 PM
-----
BODY:

Dave Lindorff at OpEdNews.com has a great idea.  The first thing that a Democratic Congress should do, before any of Pelosi's 100 hours of agenda, is repeal the September 18, 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which Bush has cited for almost all his excesses in pursuing his wars -- and which he has used to justify trashing the Constitution.

Getting rid of that would be a useful means of suppressing Bush's all-encompassing usurpation of civil rights, and it would provide the basis of withdrawing from the excesses he plans in the near future.  That would be a Good Thing. 

That would provide some room to concentrate on the other agenda items the Democrats favor.

[via Fightin' Cock Flyer]

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Anniversary


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Remembering

DATE: 11/22/2006 03:28:11 PM
-----
BODY:

JFK was assassinated on this day when I was a sophomore in high school.  The band director told me as I was coming through the little hall to the classroom.   Sure, if you are old enough to remember, you are old enough to also remember where you were and how you heard.

43 years ago.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.118.175
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 11/22/2006 04:42:47 PM
On my way to a high school chemistry class.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ron
EMAIL: rvanraaphorst@san.rr.com
IP: 66.27.106.214
URL:
DATE: 11/22/2006 06:12:31 PM
On my way to the Ohio State - Michigan football game with my older brother and mother. The game was cancelled and played the following weekend...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Happy Thanksgiving


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Food and Drink
CATEGORY: Remembering

DATE: 11/23/2006 05:26:56 PM
-----
BODY:

I hope all of you have a fine holiday.  I took a friend's mom from her nursing home while he got his wife out of hers, and the four of us went out for dinner.  "Three seniors and one adult."  Right.  I was the only adult present, so to speak.  Very disconcerting.

I guess I'm doing what we traditionally did for years -- I had a dinner with one helping of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, a biscuit, broccoli with cheese sauce, and carrots.  One cup of coffee and four glasses of water.  Then tonight for dinner I'll have a piece of pie.  The only way to do this holiday and not have it be an evil orgy of gorging is to have one plate at each meal -- period -- and only two meals.  I've really kept to my resolve never to overeat on this or any other holiday.

I hope all of you get to see people you like and do thing you enjoy today.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Bad Choice


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 11/24/2006 04:17:40 PM
-----
BODY:

I'm on the Do Not Call List, of course -- most reasonable people either are on it or get on it as soon as they figure out how.  The list has three exceptions.  One, for places where you give out your phone number.  Because of this exception I had to get *rid* of the alarm on my house since the A$$#0!3 Doofus Twits corporation gave our number to five hundred independent dealers to telemarket. 

Political parties can still call.  Sigh, if only all the states were like Rhode Island, forbidding even the exceptions from using robo-calls!  This fall was a nuisance as many autodiallers annoyed us.  I hung up on all of them ASAP.

Last, but hardly least, charities can still call.  Unfortunately, the local sheriffs have outsourced their begging calls to an Indian call center.  Ugh.  The new ploy is for all these nice inhabitants of Bangalore to take firmly Anglo names (Mark, Jim, Steve, Rick) and after introdicing themselves by these unlikely monikers, go into their pitch. 

You'd think the sheriffs would know better.  They don't.  :: *click* ::

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Slidin' Down


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 11/27/2006 10:34:27 PM
-----
BODY:

In the three blocks north of where I live, there are 16 apartments for rent.

This is on a street with 4-unit apartment units.  Usually they are all rented in August because there is a university medical school just six blocks south of us. 

Of course, last year there was a real crime wave in the neighborhood -- about 30 apartments were broken into and robbed in a six week period.  It was bad enough that the police went door to door telling us to lock up and be careful.  At that time my place was inhabited 24 hours a day by someone armed and awake, so I was not terribly worried.

I don't know whether that made people reluctant to rent over here, or whether the landlords suddenly got greedy and jumped the rents a bit too high.  Whatever it is, there are a lot of empty places right now.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Bleah

ALLOW COMMENTS: 2
CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 11/30/2006 02:37:35 PM
-----
BODY:

We are currently getting our first snowfall, following the short ice storm of yesterday.

Bush is still appointing unqualified wingnuts to administration positions.  These are appointments that do not require a vote from Congress.  From the appointments, one gathers that the Decider doesn't think they need any experience or education, either.

This weekend is a local convention.  I'll show up, but I don't plan to stay in the hotel where it's being held. 

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Hilarious


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Books

DATE: 12/01/2006 02:17:41 PM
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BODY:

OK, you have to have an incredibly inventive imagination to write a novel about Progressives in armed globes-with-legs, supported by sharpshooters in hovercraft, taking over the government of New York.

I mean, really!

No matter that it was developed for a gaming scenario, Orson Scott Card has chosen one of the most unlikely concepts.  Progressives ... with hovercraft.  *Sharpshooter* progressives.  Haaaahahaha!

[hat tip: No More Mr. Nice Blog]

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouchebog@gmail.com
IP: 68.124.79.216
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/02/2006 05:40:24 PM
Have you seen the hilarious 6th chapter over at Sadly, No! ?

I use to like Card. I loved Ender's Game and reread it recently, but lately his writing (not just his subject matter) has become atrocious.


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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouchebog@gmail.com
IP: 68.124.79.216
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/02/2006 05:41:59 PM
Here is the link: http://sadlyno.com/archives/4465.html
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 65.69.71.199
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 12/03/2006 12:04:12 PM
Alvin Maker may be Card's last good work.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Heinlein Centennial News


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/01/2006 02:28:22 PM
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BODY:

"Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin to Appear at Heinlein Centennial



In all of human history, only twelve men have ever set foot on another
planet - our neighbor, Luna, the moon. We are proud to announce that one of
these distinguished gentlemen will be present at the Heinlein Centennial in
July of 2007: Buzz Aldrin, one of the first pair to set foot in lunar soil
with the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969.



As one of its most distinguished members, Dr. Aldrin has kindly consented to
represent the corps of astronauts whose careers, efforts and hardware were
so strongly influenced by Robert Heinlein's realistic and challenging
writings about spaceflight and space exploration in the 1940s and 1950s.
Many of the legions who worked on the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo projects
have credited Heinlein and his colleagues with inspiring them to go into the
field and make fiction into reality; several of the original astronauts, and
many of those who came later, have also acknowledged Heinlein's inspiration
and influence.



Buzz Aldrin joins an already shining list of special Centennial guests,
including NASA Administrator Dr. Michael Griffin, X Prize founder and 2006
Heinlein Prize winner Dr. Peter Diamandis, X Prize pilot Brian Binnie,
science fiction author and posthumous Heinlein collaborator Spider Robinson,
the newest Science Fiction Grand Master award winner (to be presented in May
2007) James E. Gunn, and many more special attendees from science fiction,
literature, and government and commercial spaceflight.



Registration for the Centennial is open, as are rooms in the two host
hotels, the Hyatt Regency Crown Center and the Westin Crown Center, both
part of the downtown Crown Center entertainment complex in Kansas City, Missouri.



Complete information, registration forms and ongoing updates can be found on
the event web site at www.HeinleinCentennial.com.



The Heinlein Centennial is a presentation of Heinlein Centennial, Inc., a
California nonprofit corporation unaffiliated with any other organization or
entity. Inquiries may be directed to Info@HeinleinCentennial.com, or to PO
Box 4313, Citrus Heights CA 95611."

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: And So It Goes


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/06/2006 03:16:41 PM
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BODY:

I am sorry that I haven't posted anything really interesting lately.

Hunting for a job can be very discouraging.  My hunt has been slow and subject to abrupt discontinuities...possibilities going from enthusiastic to nonexistent with no particular interchanges to create a difference.  I wonder if employers keep changing either their specifications or their plans.  In any case, the hunt has been particularly tedious this time.

I sent in a registration to be a temporary.  I need to talk to the IT branch first, but I may end up doing general things that are almost unclassifiable instead -- that is what happened last time I did temp work with this company. 

I have to start doing something pretty soon.  Sigh.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: The Star


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/09/2006 02:54:07 PM
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BODY:

The star of the Administration, Barney, is the feature dog in Barney Cam 5.  I went looking for it about a week ago and it had not yet appeared.  Got to admit, Barney is a captivating dog.  And he improves the image of his owner as nothing else could.  Let's face it, Barney has the greatest charm of any member of Bush's family or administration.

It was also interesting to see who was absent from this year's effort.  Tsk!  I probably shouldn't snark.

If you haven't seen the Barney videos before, do go to www.whitehouse.gov and click on the kid's page.  Watch all the Barney cams in order.  He's one cute dog.

[hat tip: Skippy]

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Over at Mockingbird


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 12/10/2006 04:43:46 PM
-----
BODY:

I have written a post called Percenting Ourselves to Death.  I really think that the only solution to the minimum wage problem is to tie the minimum to the Congressional pay scale.  Those Congresscritters make sure their own nests are feathered, and I think that their vigilance should do some good for the least of their constituents, too.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Advertisements


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Weblogs

DATE: 12/13/2006 07:16:59 PM
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BODY:

One thing I have started to do habitually.  If an advertisement offends me, I click on it.  Sometimes several times!

I figure this will  cost the offensive ones money without bringing the income to support the outgo.  One blogger complained that people he did not like targeted his site for their ads.  He was encouraging folks to click on those ads for a similar reason.  I never saw one of those he was complaining about, but I took the idea for my own. 

When I visit a site that has ugly ads, I click on them.  Ka-ching!

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Dragging Along


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/16/2006 12:48:11 AM
-----
BODY:

The employment search is dragging along.  I found a couple of places that actually wanted the experience I have, and I put in applications for those places.  I also checked back with some of the temporary and contracting companies that I've talked to.

All in all, the end of the year is  getting in the way.  No one wants to start a project the third week in December, as most companies move into their year-end routines.  the company I used to wrok for will go into high gear at the close of business on 12/29 -- and since the first is a Monday, this year they will get a whole two days up on year end processing as the market closes on Friday.  Since they send out year end statements for many 401(k)s and mutual fund accounts, then need to process tax forms for all those accounts while keeping up with the normal daily work load, January is their insane month.

This year I am going to sleep late and think of them, by golly.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: A Waste


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 12/19/2006 03:16:22 PM
-----
BODY:

Pentagon mulling show of force to Iran.

Well that will be useless.  Why don't they just unzip and start stroking instead?  It would be cheaper, and mean about as much.

The army is in no shape to take on another country.  We have enough bombs to flatten any place in the world, and have had them for almost 50 years.  Whoopee.  That, of course, is contraproductive.  Who'd want to iradiate oilfields, kill thousands ... what would that solve or make better?  Iran is not the country most dangerous to us  in the world.

You have to wonder at any organization that complains it is out of money that then goes on to feckless and useless displays of "might".

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: What Were They Thinking


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
CATEGORY: Religion
CATEGORY: Reproduction

DATE: 12/20/2006 06:11:42 PM
-----
BODY:

I read an article about a survey that surprised researchers,  that concluded 95 percent of Americans surveyed had premarital sex.  What were they thinking?  Women born in the 1940's were maturing sufficiently right about at the time when the birth control pill became available.  Women born in the 1940's were likely at the spearhead of what was called "the sexual revolution."
Just check with the insane Christianist cultists -- about the only thing that really makes chastity a necessity is unwanted pregnancy -- and this is why there is currently an assault not only on abortion and post-coital birth control, but down at the bottom on *all* birth control.  The only way to control women is via disastrous consequences -- and one of the most disastrous in an unplanned pregnancy -- especially in the modern world where a child is likely to impose high costs on the parents in terms of raising and education.

In a rural-based country where a child works on a family enterprise almost as soon as he is able, the economic equation works differently.  In many ways, it is likely that Christianists are still thinking in those terms rather than in the terms of educating and providing for kids in an environment where health care is expensive and a higher education is ruinous.

In any case, it is no surprise that as soon as there was reliable birth control, 95 percent of Americans slipped the leash of enforced chastity.  It stuns me that researchers expected some other result.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mimus Pauly
EMAIL: MockMed@aol.com
IP: 172.146.167.241
URL: http://mimuspauly.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/21/2006 04:52:37 PM
Conservative Christians may likely have conniptions upon learning this. And it will just reinforce their conviction that they are the virtuous ones while the rest of us are too immoral for words -- when they're not buying crystal meth from gay hookers or trolling for underage boys, that is...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Happy Solstice


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/21/2006 05:05:59 PM
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BODY:

After tonight, the sun starts to return.  In odd ways, this year it hasn't really *gone*.  It was over 50 degrees out today, and too hot for my light jacket.  In Kansas.  In December.

I hope that all of you who follow astronomical holidays have a wonderful and relaxing season.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Gasp!


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 12/23/2006 10:06:24 PM
-----
BODY:

I got a bill today, and my health insurance this year is 11 dollars a month *less* than it was last year.  I am amazed.  I didn't think the numbers ever went down.   Astonishing.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Christmas


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/25/2006 05:22:06 PM
-----
BODY:

The holiday is sliding past.  Soon I shall go put my nose into one of my Christmas gift books and read. 

Our kids, coming along, may hardly be able to spend the way we once did.  And for us, heading into retirement -- I think some of are finding out the contentment of not spending hugely, not demanding hugely, and being happy with what there is.

It feels very odd.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: And Onward


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 12/26/2006 02:44:14 PM
-----
BODY:

I actually made a couple of trips to the Great Satan of Big Box Stores in the last two weeks -- mostly at 10:30 PM or 2 AM, because I am not a fan of crowds. 

I suspect that they are praying hard for a big week this week, because they were massively overstocked with small appliances and other kinds of merchandise.  Too many gift packs.  Too much holiday stuff.  Lots of people buy gift cards, and I think that today is another day I'd not go near a retail establishment.  I suspect, however, that such places are holding their breath, hoping that the huge piles of stuff will go out the door.

I noticed that one of the stores actually had an *entire aisle* of coffee machines, plus end caps and spare piles of the same.  Insanity.  I suppose that they will sell eventually, but I will bet that by the end of this week, the aisle of said machines will still be full.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Suicide by Cop


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: War

DATE: 12/27/2006 05:00:26 PM
-----
BODY:

He'd been to Afghanistan.

He had orders for Iraq.

It was too much.

James Emrick Dean, age 28, barricaded himself in a house and threatened to kill himself.  Police tried to get him out, so he took some pot shots that did not injure any of them.  When he showed himself to fire again, a police officer shot and killed him.

He chose the method that a police officer friend calls "suicide by cop".  The technique includes doing things police are likely to shoot you for.  Mr. Dean did those things. 

He is as much an Iraq statistic as someone who actually went there before killing himself or otherwise doing something to end his life.  Iraq has caused many US citizens to kill themselves -- maybe more than any previous war.

It is not surprising.  The reasons we are there frustrate those with both patriotic intentions and the clear ability to reason.  I am so sorry for the use this President has made of our military. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Dean.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Uncomfortable


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: War

DATE: 12/29/2006 04:37:55 PM
-----
BODY:

It is being reported that Saddam Hussein will be executed tonight, which is Saturday morning in Iraq.

The US is sure in a hurry to kill him, and that makes me very uncomfortable.  The process that was used to judge him was so flawed that it was sickening.  Sure, he was a pretty awful excuse for a human being.  I am not sure that this entitles us to be unjust, in a hurry to hang him.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like.  I don't think it will be better.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: thethinker
EMAIL: theoryofthought@gmail.com
IP: 24.167.85.130
URL: http://theoryofthought.blogspot.com
DATE: 12/29/2006 09:41:47 PM
Perhaps they think that killing him will solve their problems. There is no quick or easy solution for all that's wrong with the world today, not even killing this man.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Rumbling Out


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs

DATE: 12/31/2006 09:17:00 PM
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BODY:

End of the year.  It snowed in little flurries earlier today, and now we are getting thunder -- likely that 50 degree weather pushing away the ice bits.

I hope that for all of us, the year upcoming is better than the one just past.  It was pretty much a waste for me.  I'd rather make some progress next year.

Be well, be happy, happy New Year.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.163.176
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 12/31/2006 10:49:55 PM
Happy New Year, Scorpio.

You were right about Susie, but she needs a new hosting service.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Oh Yes, Poor


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 01/01/2007 06:22:26 PM
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BODY:

I read John Scalzi's discussion of his year-end statistics.  The most-visited piece he did was called Being Poor.  He skipped a few things, but this is a pretty comprehensive list.

I even did some of them during the time after my first divorce, until I moved to a better paying job where I took home 600.00 a month.  That was better-paying, yes, because my previous one had a take-home of about 450.00 if I didn't spend any of it at work.  Yes, I've been poor.   And I did some of those things.  I did not need toys or any more clothes, and I used the library for my book habit -- but we all have to pay rent and utilities,  so I scrounged.

I went back to school and changed careers, which eventually fixed the persistent poverty, but I still remember *always* looking down as I walked in case there was money on the ground -- and inevitably there was, especially when I was most desperate.  Sometimes it made me believe in magic.  When I drop money, sometimes I leave it there as a remembrance.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mimus Pauly
EMAIL: MockMed@aol.com
IP: 172.129.192.63
URL: http://mimuspauly.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/01/2007 08:56:14 PM
Confession time: I still rely on libraries for most of my books.

And it's a little comforting to know that someone other than me has cried over spilled mac 'n cheese at least once in life. That's hard to explain to those who just don't know.

I don't consider myself poor anymore, but I am usually a few paychecks away from being homeless. And one of the reasons I don't have network or cable TV is because I don't care to see all those stupid-assed ads for $30,000 SUV gas hogs I'll never own, and those fancy cooking shows peppered with ads about how African children are starving to death -- why can't Rachel Ray and that fat prick with ugly rubber shoes go to Ethiopia and whip up some soup and sandwiches? Instead, they're making throwaway dishes so exotic that even the French have never heard of them for fussy and prissy food critics whose sole purpose in life seems to be making poor and desperate working-class people in Kansas and elsewhere vote Republican out of spite. (I had the misfortune of seeing an episode of "Iron Chef" while I was on Christmas vacation. My freakin' God, Scorpio -- no wonder rural people hate the rest of us so much! Baloney and cheese on white bread will always be good enough for me if I'm hungry -- the hell with its texture, color, balance, and ambience! Just thought I'd let you know.)

And some people wonder why I drink...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 67.64.42.85
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 01/02/2007 05:47:27 PM
Yes, I've spent months of my life living on PB&J, soup, rice.

I have spent since April jobless, and while I still have enough to string me along for a bit, I am having to apply for jobs way out of my main area to find *any*thing, and I may yet hit the wall before I do. Yes, I actually had made it far enough out of poverty to manage a whole year unemployed -- but it's going to turn into a crisis if it doesn't change *soon*.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: pissed off patricia
EMAIL: nesters@bellsouth.net
IP: 70.146.31.78
URL: http://morning-martini.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/04/2007 02:41:23 PM
I grew up poor and I'm not talking kinda poor I mean the real thing. Now we are very comfortable but I still pick up a penny when I see one on the ground. It's a reminder to me to take nothing for granted.

On, I think it was my 11th birthday, my parents didn't give me a present, they couldn't afford it. I went somewhere in the car with my mother and when I got out of the car there was a dollar bill on the sidewalk. That was my magic and that was my birthday present from somewhere.

What kind of work do you do and what kind of job are you looking for?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 67.64.42.85
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 01/04/2007 03:42:05 PM
I was a programmer these last 16 years. Cobol, for which almost no one is hiring. I can also do technical writing and proofreading. The Kansas City area went from being a good job market to being a pit some time in the last 8 to 10 years. Sprint made a disaster area of employment here, laying off three to five thousand people. The parent company of the company I last worked for still hires Cobol programmers -- but I don't seem to fit into their corporate culture.

I'm now registered with temporaries, and I've even applied to a government job or two, which I thought would never happen. But I really need to work another 7 or 8 years, and it's getting to be "any port in a storm" time.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Signing Statements: A Perspective


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Rants

DATE: 01/05/2007 07:52:41 AM
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BODY:

And so if The Little King adds a signing statement to a voting rights bill saying "This is all moot anyway because I am King and we won't be having any more of these 'election' thingies." everyone will suddenly obey this delusional f**k??

I don't think so.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: pissed off patricia
EMAIL: nesters@bellsouth.net
IP: 65.8.123.243
URL: http://morning-martini.blogspot.com/
DATE: 01/05/2007 10:17:14 AM
Do you think he might be like way paranoid or something? This is so freakin' bizarre. Guilty people often become super paranoid because they have so much to hide. I think this might be his case as he fears the Dems are coming after his crooked ass.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 67.64.42.85
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 01/05/2007 12:57:59 PM
He's not normal, that is almost certain.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dragonet2
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.26.97.216
URL:
DATE: 01/05/2007 11:53:20 PM
Since that's exactly what I think is going to happen ("I'm the emperor and I can't be dis-elected") I despair.

I don't think anyone has the balls to do anything about it, especially our Congress and Senate... nor the Supreme Court. It's supposed to be a tri=partate system of checks and balances, but it isn't now, it's all broken.

However, if the military leadership put their foot down, refused and said 'this is all fucked, you are so done."

but that ain't going to happen either. The ones that could make a difference are too intent on keeping their jobs and pensions. Oh, well.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Snickering


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 01/07/2007 05:17:56 PM
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BODY:

At Captain's Quarters I read how the perfidious Al Gore would not permit the press at lectures he was giving.

I rather look forward to Captin Ed linking to the posts he wrote about how "Mr. Justice" Scalia did  not permit journalistic coverage when he spoke to various groups.  Seems *Scalia* should know the Constitution even better than Al, but let me guess that Captain's Quarters offered no criticism of the most facist "justice".

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Minimum Wage


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
CATEGORY: Politics

DATE: 01/10/2007 01:59:25 PM
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BODY:

More important than just moving the minimum wage upward, it would behoove Congress to tie the fortunes of the minimum wage to the raises they keep giving themselves.

That would make it easier to keep the minimum wage in balance, for if there is anything Congress does well, it is looking out for its own income.  And since Congressional income is paid for by citizens, it would be good if those being charged made a sufficient amount to pay the higher wage without being shorted themselves.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Big Lie


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Economics

DATE: 01/12/2007 03:41:57 PM
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BODY:

Deficit falls to the lowest level in four years only because the Publicans cheat on what is included in the deficit numbers.  No war spending, for example, and that is such a huge cheat the rest of their paring doesn't matter.

They lie.  Over and over.

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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Iraq Plan


CONVERT BREAKS: 0

CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War

DATE: 01/13/2007 05:56:10 PM
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BODY:

What's yours?

Mine is that you should follow a Pentagon-devised plan for withdrawing. 

During the time the military wanted a troop increase, Bush lied and lied, claiming that they did not want one.  Now that the decision is that withdrawing is in order, Bush wants to increase troops. 

If there ever was a case of obtuseness bordering on insanity, we have heard it these last six years.  It is time to get out and quit poking at Middle Eastern countries.  The Bush  "legacy" is trash no matter what, so limiting loss of life now becomes the highest priority our military can follow in the absence of intelligence from the White House.

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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.207.11
URL: http://whynow.dumka.us/
DATE: 01/13/2007 07:21:41 PM
The military knows how to execute a strategic withdrawal and we have two carrier groups in the area to provide air cover right now.

You build up a air tanker fleet for refueling and start moving south. The troops push the civilians and contractors ahead of them.

You blow up anything you can't take with you.

It's past time to do this.
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