TITLE: A Good Answer
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/01/2005 06:11:31 PM
-----
BODY:
Neil the Werewolf posting at Ezra Klein has a wonderful answer that Democrats should give when asked what their plan for Social Security is: balance the budget.
As he points out, if the budget is balanced we will have more than enough resources to take care of whatever problems arise, and it is the perfect segue into the topic of Republican fiscal irresponsibility, which is at the root of the financial problems we have now.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: New Redactions Coming
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/02/2005 07:07:27 PM
-----
BODY:
NEW YORK -- A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to turn over dozens of photographs and four movies depicting detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
"These images may be ugly and shocking, but they depict how the torture was more than the actions of a few rogue soldiers," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "The American public deserves to know what is being done in our name. Perhaps after these and other photos are forced into the light of day, the government will at long last appoint an outside special counsel to investigate the torture and abuse of detainees." [via Blah3]
I wonder what, besides faces, the military will redact from these videos and photos. This release should include the stuff that made Rummy turn white. I hope it is enough to unseat him, his boss, and all the boyz in between. I also hope that it brings Sanchez and his boys club down.
You know, if you don't allow torture -- if you follow the Geneva Conventions -- then there is nothing that can't be photographed. Instead of banning cameras, perhaps the military should demand that its members act like civilized captors.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 65.41.154.131
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/04/2005 09:35:36 PM
The Feds actually tried to convince the judge that the pictures shouldn't be released because that would be a violation of the Geneva Conventions that the Bush Administration claims doesn't apply to these prisoners.
It's nice to know the government's lawyers have absolutely no shame.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Apologize for the Apology
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/04/2005 05:45:49 PM
-----
BODY:
Newsweek should apologize for retracting their story under administration pressure. Part of Friday's news dump was a discussion of problems with Korans in US prisons.
Administration pressure is used to silence dissent and to cover up the misdeeds of its minions. It is time for news agencies to stop apologizing for reporting news.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.177.72.78
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 06/07/2005 08:46:43 PM
They've shown their cowardice. No retraction will eliminate the YELLOW. Going forward they need to stick to their guns!
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Seduced
CATEGORY: Food and Drink
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 06/05/2005 04:03:36 PM
-----
BODY:
One of the most entertaining posts I've read in a long time was Cory Doctorow's account on BoingBoing of being seduced by the chocolate side of the force. A young man who did not generally indulge in sugar or in desserts was taken to Venice and given the food and drink of the gods.
Lucky man.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: No Sympathy
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/06/2005 06:26:01 PM
-----
BODY:
Over the weekend, one of the guys at the convention who had told me he voted for Bush said something that made me really angry.
He said that he thought it was terrible that Congress had passed a bankruptcy bill that allowed United Airlines to essentially steal the employee pension fund. Someone else pointed out that the bill was passed two years ago.
I, on the other hand, snarled "you hate it that this bill was passed and then you voted for the criminals that were responsible for it. You voted for Bush, so this is definitely on your head, and you get to live with that."
It stuns me that people who acknowledge the damage of this administration still voted for them a second time. You know, I don't have to live with the ignominy of having approved of class warfare, theft, cronyism, pork, and war crimes.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.177.72.78
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 06/07/2005 08:44:56 PM
I'm with you!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Josh Canel
EMAIL: quicksauce@yahoo.com
IP: 69.81.151.20
URL: http://quicksauce.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/14/2005 03:50:41 PM
I'm all about the pork, as long as every district gets a piece of it.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: More Storms
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/08/2005 08:55:59 PM
-----
BODY:
And hail! I hear it hitting the roof. The power has kicked a couple of times, so I'm going to log off.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Book Tag
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 06/09/2005 04:30:48 PM
-----
BODY:
Tagged by The Biomes Blog.
Number of Books I own: thousands, and that is after several thinnings.
Last book I bought: Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia [oops!]
Last book I read (for the first time): Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
Comfort Reading: Most of Bujold's work.
Five books that mean a lot to me: Dune by Frank Herbert, Digits and Dastards by Fred Pohl, The Roots of Modern English by Louis McCorry Myers, People in Quandaries by Wendell Johnson, A Touch of Strange by Theodore Sturgeon.
Three New Victims: Simbaud of King of Zembla, Pudentilla at Pudentilla's Perspective, John-Paul at everythingsruined.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Simbaud
EMAIL: simbaud@att.net
IP: 67.101.209.37
URL: http://simbaud.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/09/2005 06:35:46 PM
Hey, wait a minute. This is practically the same frickin' meme we had to suffer through back in April! -- http://simbaud.blogspot.com/2005/04/library-of-zembla.html
Number of Books Owned: 1 houseful; 1 basementful; 1 garageful; 1 car-trunkful.
Comfort Reading: Chandler, Highsmith, Richard Stark. Bunch o' science fiction writers; they know who they are.
Last Book Bought (updated, and we're not going to do this every 2 mos., dammit): Tosches, King of the Jews. Allende, Zorro.
Last Book Read (updated, and ditto): Bound to Please, Michael Dirda.
Do we have to pass the new meme on if we already passed the old meme on? Aren't we inoculated?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL:
DATE: 06/10/2005 08:55:37 AM
I think it's like the flu -- certain strains don't keep you from getting the next, though I did look to see if you'd been stricken recently :)
Ah, if it trickles down to me, it must have hit almost everyone.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: I Guess
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/11/2005 09:52:22 AM
-----
BODY:
that these little posts have been a way of not railing at current events.
The "compromise" on judicial candidates was a laydown. The lying and weasling language about the Downing St. Memo is real typical Bush Admin jive. All polls point to the idea that no one likes these people on most topics. They have done enough things that there should be a real and serious move to impeach the lot of them -- and yet the Congress is still filled with brown noses rather than purple fingers.
The midterm elections will be a disappointment if the machines are fixed, and there is no real move to make us go back to paper that can be counted against any machine count.
I wonder if the members of the Supreme Court are hanging on against the next Presidential election.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Good Idea
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/12/2005 01:11:08 PM
-----
BODY:
Monkeyfister at Blah3 had a great idea.
I think a mass letter-writing campaign to Dean would be a good thing.
Something along the lines of asking him to open up a "horse-race" donations site. The money would go into the general DNC fund, but, we could click on the congress-critter of our choice and "giv them turkee". Thus, encouraging them to not only speak, but speak with wisdom. And we'd reward their good behaviour, as Atrios says.
The click is basically a vote of grassroots confidence. Several good thing things would come out of this:
1. It would encourage Democratic Congress-Critters to grow a spine and get in front of a camera or a microphone.
2. It would allow us "grass-roots Dems" down here to show immediate approval or disapproval of what they say.
3. Eventually, it would define exactly what "True Democratic Values" really means.
4. It would encourage a bit of competition amongst Representatives and Senators to be the first to connect with the real party, you know... US.
The best part is that those who are seen as the most courageous nationally would then get the financial backing to stay in DC and ride herd on business without having to sweat over fundraising. A rain of dollars would be the most convincing way of telling a Senator or Congressman that they have done us proud.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: A Detailed Testing Plan
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Food and Drink
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/13/2005 09:00:13 PM
-----
BODY:
Is it just me, or does this story smack of unreality?
The only confirmed U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was found in December 2003 in a Washington state dairy cow. The discovery halted billions of dollars worth of American beef exports.
Clifford said USDA scientists were drawing up a detailed testing plan for the suspect animal. A decision on exactly how many tests, and what types, was expected by late next week, he said.
"We want to make sure that everybody agrees on the tests that should be done," Clifford said in an interview.
A key first step, he said, is for the USDA to conduct additional analyses on the animal's remaining brain sample to ensure that enough tissue was still available for testing in England. Only 12.5 grams (0.4 ounces) of the animal's brain remained, he said.
Detailed testing? A fear that other countries will shun US exports? First, just how many tests does one need to confirm this? Why send brain tissue to England?
And let me remark that since the US has approched the possibility of BSE like a terrified ostrich, any country that is importing US beef without testing it is asking for problems. I would wager that part of this administration's unwillingness to deal with health care ties in to its unwillingness to permit even cattle growers who want to test their cows from doing so.
Until the US requires testing of every cow before it goes to market, we can pretty well consider the beef supply contaminated. That is reality.
Anything else is faith-based administration blather.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 209.26.189.196
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/13/2005 10:35:39 PM
The Brits have more experience and better facilities for testing for BSE, and, frankly, no one would believe US testing.
Many specialty producers have been trying for years to be allowed to test all their animals for BSE so they can ship overseas, but federal agriculture officials have refused to permit it.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouche@gmail.com
IP: 165.247.201.22
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/15/2005 11:27:31 AM
The bovines from Texas (that also includes the two-legged variety)are gaining quite a deadly reputation.
Remember back to investigation of the Anthrax Attack? The source of the anthrax strain was traced to a Cow in Texas.
Weird, huh?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouche@gmail.com
IP: 165.247.201.22
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/15/2005 11:40:16 AM
(Odd it didn't take the link)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-292197,00.html
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Obstruction
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/15/2005 08:38:22 PM
-----
BODY:
Oh, Democrats really must position themselves as "doing patriotic opposition" rather than permitting themselves to be painted as obstructionists.
After all, standing against this regime is going to be seen as a moral and just thing. And it should really be seen as patriotic. This opposition does not have a loud and ad hoc slime machine. The American people expect the opposition to *oppose* -- and that should be brought up and hammered home day after day.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouche@gmail.com
IP: 209.86.241.240
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/15/2005 10:28:55 PM
I don't think our party does slime very weel due to our natural sense of empathy. But I can't understand how they lack the emphatic repeating of a message and bluntly calling a lie a lie.
Maybe it sounds defensive but it is harder to protect oneself from an invented slander.
On the other hand, derision is a fine tactic if done with wit...
-----
PING:
TITLE: BlogViews: Iraq hits close, patriotic dissent,
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/06/blogviews-iraq-hits-close-patriotic.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 06/16/2005 01:14:30 PM
Around the blogs...
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Not Quite Perfect
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/18/2005 10:52:26 AM
-----
BODY:
via Suburban Guerrilla is another quiz:
American Cities That Best Fit You: |
65% Miami |
55% Atlanta |
55% Austin |
55% Chicago |
55% Honolulu |
This left out at least one crucial question: "Would living under a Bush give you hives?" There is no way I could get near either FL or TX -- they are territories that do not operate under democratic principles. I love Chicago. I'd like to see Honolulu, but I bet getting my kind of job there would be difficult. Georgia is a lot better than I expected, but I 'm not sure I'm up to the traffic in Atlanta anymore. Oh well.
Susie also had a gruesome article about cats carrying parasites that infect people. It's one of those things you hope is a hoax. Getting parasites in the brain does not sound at all good.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paula Helm Murray
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.30.12.11
URL:
DATE: 06/18/2005 02:35:39 PM
See my email, it includes a brochure pdf about the illness. There ARE a lot more people walking around that are immuno-compromised than there used to be (10 years ago they would have died...). I'm so not sure because I haven't seen the studies about personalilty change, but I have reason to doubt it.
my 2ï¿1/2, ymmv.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: The Fixer
EMAIL: WoodRH@optonline.net
IP: 24.186.36.58
URL: http://alterx.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/18/2005 06:05:49 PM
Getting parasites in the brain does not sound at all good.
Oh, it's not so bad . . .
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 65.41.154.79
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/19/2005 12:36:04 AM
If you ignore the Reich and can yell louder than they do, you can exist in peace in Florida. Their are pockets of liberals around the state, but they aren't advertised like the Republican areas.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Every Day
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/19/2005 10:35:27 AM
-----
BODY:
There are three questions that the press should ask every day at White House briefings, at Pentagon briefings, at Presidential appearances -- every day until there are answers:
How many troops have died enroute to Germany from Iraq? How many troops have died in US military hospitals in Germany from wounds acquired in Iraq? How many troops have died enroute to the USA and in US hospitals from wounds acquired in Iraq?
Every day, at every public event. Pass the questions around. Draw straws on the way into press conferences so that the people speaking never know who will ask. Do something brave for a change -- start uncovering the lies. Press -- it has more than one meaning.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: iCasualties.org
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 06/20/2005 04:14:24 PM
-----
BODY:
A member of the Daily Kos community runs a web site that tracks Iraq casualties. According to this person, Pat K, the 1700 + figure is accurate.
The last thing to consider is this: the Bush administration isn't GOOD ENOUGH to hide that many deaths. They haven't managed to hide Halliburton's over-runs. They haven't managed to hide the troop equipment shortages. And they haven't managed to hide their own ineptness in the whole occupation. Somehow the truth has a way of seeping out between the cracks.
And me and Michael and Lynn and Evan watch those cracks like hawks.
So maybe the questions below would get small numbers.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Avedon Says It All
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/20/2005 04:23:49 PM
-----
BODY:
Avedon Carol at The Sideshow has written a fine article outlining exactly when it is appropriate to draw a parallel between currently observed behaviors and practices of the Third Reich.
And she distinguishes clearly that there are two kinds of countries -- those that practice torture and those that do not. I agree with her that I preferred it greatly when the United States belonged to the second category. That it has sunk into the first is a great sorrow to me. As she puts it:
You know how it feels to think of yourself as a citizen and resident of a free country. You know that you read about torture and abuse in other countries, about freedoms that do not exist there, about outrages against the citizenry, and a little voice in your head says, "I'm glad I'm not there. I'm safe here. I'm an American." As I've said before, that is a feeling, a reaction, an instinct, I was privileged to feel for my entire life. And for my entire life, I was able to read of such abuses and know that I was absolutely not reading about the United States.
Until now. And that's what Dick Durbin was saying. And if anyone does not feel that loss, I wonder what special thing you must think America has that is worth defending.
It's home, but it's not the home I grew up in -- or the one I wanted for my children.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Josh Canel
EMAIL: quicksauce@yahoo.com
IP: 69.81.151.20
URL: http://quicksauce.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/22/2005 03:55:41 PM
"And for my entire life, I was able to read of such abuses and know that I was absolutely not reading about the United States.
Until now."
Until now? Hey, as bad as this situation is, to believe that the U.S. and its citizens haven't engaged in torture before was naive. Even if you don't believe the accusations against the School of the Americas, or the CIA in general during the course of the Cold War, a good 10% of the population had reason to fear torture within our own borders. Torture: the other apple pie.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Going fo a Million
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 06/21/2005 06:51:36 PM
-----
BODY:
Skippy would like to reach a million hits by July 10 -- or actually, on July 10 which will be his blog's third anniversary. How can we deny the ambition of the marsupial who coined "blogtopia"? Go hit the kangaroo.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: skippy
EMAIL: skippybkroo@aol.com
IP: 207.200.116.135
URL: http://www.xnerg.blogspot.com
DATE: 06/22/2005 06:34:15 PM
thanks, scorpio!
i added you to my blogroll!
-----
PING:
TITLE: The Million Hit Skippy-A-Thon
URL: http://www.rooksrant.com/archives/2005/06/_the_million_hi.html
IP: 216.239.142.2
BLOG NAME: Rook's Rant
DATE: 06/21/2005 09:41:25 PM
The ol' coin termer himself is holding a blog-a-thon to reach one million hits by his 3rd Anniversary. Go give him and his stable of bloggers some love. Oh, and though skippy may have coined the term Blogtopia, the staff...
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Crocodile Tears
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/22/2005 04:46:11 PM
-----
BODY:
PC is a method of applying guilt to people who do not express sentiments in a way that pretends to tiptoe around a hot button topic.
PC is a weapon that Republicans have taken to using on Democratic legislators in the last several years with increasing vitriol and baying. If someone with a D next to their name criticizes this administration, the howls of Republicans with pitchforks and torches is loud in the village square.
"Apologize! Apologize"
Well, fuck no.
When you torture people, the apt comparisons are to other regimes that torture. If you don't like being compared to them, stop acting like them. If you bully and threaten, don't be surprised if someone calls you a bully or a thug. If you take money to pimp a corporate agenda, don't be surprised if people say you are bought and paid for. If you accept gifts, don't be surprised when people call you corrupt.
The current administration is all those things and more. The level of Congress is just as bad, if not worse.
Remember, war crimes have no statute of limitations.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouche@gmail.com
IP: 165.247.201.167
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/23/2005 01:03:19 PM
I sometimes think that Geneva Convention and our own anti-torture laws are not there so much to protect the prisoners as to protect the captors from turning into monsters.
The people who commit such atrocities in our name are bound to be affected by their actions. If not, then they are pyschopaths and should have those resposibilities.
Anyway, these people will return to civilian life some day. Who knows if they'll be traffic cops or prison gaurds but that alone should scare the shit out of most people.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 65.172.221.114
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 06/23/2005 05:02:46 PM
I am completely annoyed by people who state the obvious and factual, and then do an about face and apologize. The GOP has a lot of apologizing to do in my opinion. And, the Democrats need to stop being cowards and stick to their guns. What a bunch of pussies.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: teh l4m3
EMAIL: erniepook00@yahoo.com
IP: 64.57.108.44
URL: http://tehl4m3.blogspot.com/
DATE: 06/23/2005 10:57:09 PM
Hmmm...Widespread cheering of torture and bloodshed...An amendment to ban flag desecration (sure, good luck getting it ratified, but still)...The Supreme Court essentially extending the right of eminent domain to corporations...
If it looks like fascism, and seizes private property like fascism -- Ooh, ooh, look! A white girl gone missin'!
I'm sorry, where was I?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 06/24/2005 07:15:57 PM
okay I'm a bit slow and drink alot, but.................
it wasn't that long ago a Republican speaking in the House compared Democrats to Nazis. I'm thinking it had to do with the recent judicial appointments and such. But I do not clearly remember any apology.
But what do I know. I drink alot.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Fly on the Wall
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/24/2005 04:52:48 PM
-----
BODY:
Flies aren't really good at knowing what room they are in, but somewhere in the West Wing, one listened in:
"Tee hee hee -- they want Karl to apologize or *resign*!!!"
"Haaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" [rolling, pounding choking].
"Yeah. But they are Democrats, and they believe in equality."
"Oh ho ho ho... ho ho ho... stop it! stop it!"
"Yeah, well to business. Let's get the story right. Karl was referring to some group -- who will they fail to stand up for? Who was first in line to go easy on some ay-rabs?"
"Clinton! Clinton!!"
"Not this time, guys. Clinton is becoming Poppy's best bud, and we don't really want Poppy to get mad or he'll call Dick who will ... well, who will dick with us but good. Someone else."
"Oh I know! How about moveon.org. They let those Hitler videos get online and we have already stomped them into apologizing, and we have made Democrats want to edge away. Obviously, it was moveon.org that Karl was taking about."
And that, my children, is how the lie machine did its work.
The End.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Reminder
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 06/26/2005 01:53:03 PM
-----
BODY:
Visit Skippy. He needs lots and lots of hits to make his million.
And now Eccentricity is on his blogroll -- another good reason to go visit the kangaroo.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Insanity
CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/26/2005 01:58:45 PM
-----
BODY:
Last week the Supreme Court gave local government sweeping powers of what is laughably called "eminent domain". This is the power to condemn property.
Due to this decision, property can now be condemned any time that local government sees potential profit in it, and they can then sell it to private developers.
So now, your home and business have been endangered. They can be taken from you for whatever the government wants to pay, and then sold to Target or other private firms for *their* profit -- and screw you.
Write to your Senators and congressmen!
Tell them that this outrage must be halted through a home and business owners' protective act that prevents eminent domain for being used for any private purpose. Do it now!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Joel
EMAIL: joeld@u.arizona.edu
IP: 128.196.23.200
URL: http://eventhorizon.typepad.com/
DATE: 06/27/2005 11:54:49 AM
I agree that this ruling invites abuse and some kind of legislation is now needed to protect private property from the depredations of greedy developers and corrupt local offials. Is there any home in the America that would not bring in more tax revenue for a municipality if it was converted to a business? Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-business or anti-development, far from it, but this ruling places in danger all private property, because someone can always come up with a more profitable use for a home.
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: A Good Turnabout
CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 06/28/2005 06:30:52 PM
-----
BODY:
[via Silflay Hraka]
There is a move afoot to condemn Justice Souter's home by eminent domain and build a hotel on the site where it stood. That sounds like justice to me. Click and read all about it.
-----
PING:
TITLE: Souter, Recruiter, Funeral Crashing, Bono Vox
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/06/blogviews-souter-recruiter-funeral.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 06/29/2005 04:33:52 PM
At Eccentricity, the Supremes giving the OK to eminent domain gets a thumbs-down, but taking Justice David Souter's home gets a thumbs-up.
* Scrutiny Hooligans smells something stinky when Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers says the Army...
--------
AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Tagged Again
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 06/28/2005 10:45:07 PM
-----
BODY:
By WordWhammy, who has a list that should be a Friday Five:
1. What were three of the stupidest things you have done in your life?
Got married. Got married again. Failed to appreciate my mother sufficiently.
2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?
An old friend -- I think.
3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to only pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick? ***
4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?
Win a good-sized lottery.
Is a good exit from the Mideast supernatural?
How about weaning the USA off oil? Is that supernatural? I suppose it presupposes the abolition of the current administration, that's for sure!
5. Someone is visiting your hometown/place where you live at the moment. Name two things you regret your city not having, and two things people should avoid.
I'm surprised -- I would pick the same things as WW lists for where I live now:
Regret not having:
A decent mass transportation system, and a large body of water.
Avoid:
Any outdoor festival in the summer. It's too damn hot. And avoid discussing how to get places -- such discussions here are interminable.
6. Name one event that has changed your life.
Leaving home.
7. Tag 5 people. Well, we can hit Side Salad again, but other than that I'll call for volunteers.
__________________
*** Postscript: [as I figure them out] Thomas Jefferson
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.177.72.78
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 06/29/2005 06:52:28 PM
I too have not appreciated my mother enough. I'm old enough now that she doesn't annoy the hell out of me.;-)
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: FEC Fallout
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 06/29/2005 10:57:24 PM
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BODY:
Go look at the banner at Eschaton. Atrios has declared himself to be an online magazine so he can editorialize in safety. There is no more blog there -- just a magazine to take the place of what used to be a blog.
Following in the footsteps of Talent Show we can expect the internet to break out in online magazines -- especially during the perpetual political campaign.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 65.41.8.55
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/02/2005 01:28:24 AM
Blogs? What are those? Nobody here but us on-line magazine editors.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 07/02/2005 05:42:20 PM
I'm pushing for Wags being short for web magazine and the wagoverse to speak about all of the players.
Then I can be ever so famous for coining the term wagoverse which will later be chuckled at because it brings to mind thousands of tounges wagging at once ect.
Long live the WAGOVERSE!
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Typepad
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/02/2005 02:03:41 PM
-----
BODY:
They did something that made the fonts for the Type Lists huge.
To change it back, go into each Type List and click on Edit Configuration. Scroll down and hit save. When they are all done, go back and refresh your site.
Sigh.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: CNN Polls
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/02/2005 10:53:39 PM
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BODY:
CNN changes its poll several times a day, but it does not collect a most crucial piece of information. Whether there is a poll about an actor, a sports figure, an entertainer -- almost all the CNN questions should have an answer box for "Don't Care."
The questions are almost always incredibly trivial, or do not contain answers a reasonable person would make. It would be interesting to see the results with a week of including "Don't Care" as a choice.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: C'mon!
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/03/2005 02:29:41 PM
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BODY:
Click on Skippy!
After all, we little publications must help one another increase circulation.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Annotated Declaration
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/04/2005 02:53:18 PM
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BODY:
Julia at Sisyphus Shrugged has posted a most thoroughly Annotated Declaration of Independence. The third George to be president of the US has done a stunning job of mirroring the high-handed repressiveness of George III of England. This annotated edition of the Declaration shows how far the administration of the country has gone in repeating behavior that our founders fought against.
It's time for the other "I" word -- the one that will rid us of these scoundrels.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Rockets Red Glare
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 07/05/2005 08:48:23 PM
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BODY:
Yesterday was the first 4th of July I ever spent in the USA without seeing even one shiny airburst, one shell climbing to flower against the night dark sky.
I think it got to me -- there are too many bombs bursting, taking the lives of volunteers in our military, taking the lives of men, children, women -- Iraqi civilians who have happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just couldn't stand to spend time recreationally admiring bombs manque.
I spent some time reading the Declaration, especially the one annotated by Julia. I read some Jefferson. And while I see that our flag is still there, I also note that it has become a wrapping for scoundrels. So no airbursts this year, thank you. It would have been too sad.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jeff
EMAIL: sidesalad@gmail.com
IP: 12.5.1.207
URL:
DATE: 07/11/2005 10:17:52 AM
Too many bombs killing civilians in London, the Philippines, Bali, Madrid, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: London
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 07/07/2005 04:07:46 PM
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BODY:
Sympathy to the families of the dead, and to the injured and their families. Today isn't a day for assigning fault, but for standing together to send help and condolences to our friends over there.
We have always had a family relation with England, and today we sorrow with them.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramouche@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.57.237
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/07/2005 07:54:16 PM
Bless you for your human compassion.
I agree this is not a 'this proves me right' kind of day.
That would mock those who died and were injured.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Heel-dragging
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 07/09/2005 02:17:06 PM
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BODY:
Weren't the redacted Abu Ghraib videos and pictures supposed to be in the hands of the ACLU by now? I do believe the court gave the Army two weeks to turn them over -- and that was quite awhile ago.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Framing
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/09/2005 03:33:54 PM
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BODY:
It comes as no surprise that the US frame is beginning to warp.
Perhaps instead of calling them terrorists, they should be called Mad Bombers.
After all, hardly anyone is traumatized the way CNN wants them to be. CNN wants drama queens, PTSS personal stories, people hungering for 15 minutes of fame, and other people with breathy or sobbing stories to reinforce their terror stance. And while one might take fright briefly, living in terror is about *the* worst thing one can do to oneself. Wasn't it one of the WWII baddies who thought that terrorizing groups was a great way to manipulate people into giving up their civil liberties?
I certainly have had enough. Anyone else tired of the cable drama queens?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: blue girl
EMAIL: lmarefka@apk.net
IP: 69.173.225.120
URL: http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/
DATE: 07/10/2005 01:23:01 PM
I, for one, am also tired of it.
Have you read the NYTs "Week In Review" today? Many good articles and columns related to the "fear factor."
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Happy Roo Day
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/10/2005 02:43:03 PM
-----
BODY:
Wishing Skippy a Happy Third Year in Blogtopia (y!sctp!) -- and many, many more.
Team Skippy has been one of my favorite reads for a long time, and I wish them well.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: cookie jill
EMAIL: cookies4clark@yahoo.com
IP: 68.164.54.133
URL: http://www.xnerg.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/12/2005 04:29:04 PM
Thanks for your kind thoughts! (and linkage...)
You just might get some cookies! ;-)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 65.66.153.166
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 07/12/2005 05:18:52 PM
ooooh! cookies!
One of life's great things.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Scottie
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/12/2005 05:16:45 PM
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BODY:
So many people follow the statements of Scottie McClellan. Daily, he pretends to know the putative mind of the President. Daily, he blathers around in circles. The one thing his boss says that he has picked up on is "Let me finish..." -- as if what he is going to say is any different from the last statement he made on a topic, or as if he is going to say something with informational content.
It's absurd, and it's insane.
I'd be interested to hear the answer to "When was the last time you talked about policies to Mr. Bush or took our questions to him?"
How can newswriters sit there day after day and listen to this joker, hoping to get information?
It's beyond me.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: blue girl
EMAIL: lmarefka@apk.net
IP: 69.173.225.120
URL: http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/
DATE: 07/13/2005 07:31:03 AM
You are right. It is absurd. And they know that most people will just tune out -- that is, if they were *tuned-in* to begin with.
But your idea of the question: "When was the last time you talked about policies to Mr. Bush or took our questions to him?"
Boy, I would love to hear that asked -- and then the answer. Although we know the answer would just be blah, blah, blah.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: One More Day
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/12/2005 07:29:33 PM
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BODY:
And 28,000 more hits for Skippy to get to a million.
Click on Skippy!
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Following the Plame News
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/14/2005 07:56:13 PM
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BODY:
I'm following the Plame news without making comments because almost everything I read is speculation.
I'll be very interested to see who gets charged with what, and I certainly hope that charges are forthcoming.
Meanwhile, the Defense Department has not made its report to Congress on progress and benchmarks for Iraq; and they have not released the photos and videos of Abu Ghraib to the ACLU as ordered by the court. Time to fire Rummy, I say.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: cookie jill
EMAIL: cookies4clark@yahoo.com
IP: 68.164.56.94
URL: http://www.xnerg.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/15/2005 02:33:05 AM
I say "time to fire the whole lot of them!"
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Time Out
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 07/16/2005 06:49:42 PM
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BODY:
Got to read Harry Potter before the plot is spread all over the net by those who stayed up all night.
:)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.31.88
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/17/2005 09:49:55 AM
Please don't keep us in suspense...
Who dies?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Still Reading
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 07/17/2005 08:48:23 PM
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BODY:
With time out for naps, dinners with people, a party or two, and other such weekend activities. I'm more than half done, and if I make it march I can finish the book tonight.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogpsot.com
DATE: 07/18/2005 03:10:20 PM
Please soldier on. My partner won't let me buy it until all our friends' kids have had a chance to read it (she's afraid in my excitement I'll spoil it for them). Reviews to date are quite encouraging. I love to read yours.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.177.72.78
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 07/18/2005 09:14:40 PM
I still have to read the Order of the Phoenix. So far my favorite has been The Prisoner of Azkaban.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 07/21/2005 08:30:51 AM
I sent a review to your e-mail address. It does not have spoilers.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: South Knox Bubba
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/19/2005 04:53:54 PM
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BODY:
SKB's blog is gone. I am very sorry that he has decided to stop writing.
The wretch who tracked him down and outed him has destroyed one fine and informative online reading source.
SKB was one of the first to blogroll Eccentricity when I started it. I'm going to miss him a lot.
OK, then.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: With Gritted Teeth
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 07/19/2005 05:07:50 PM
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BODY:
I have been thinking about Judith Miller's decision to go to jail.
I've concluded that it is the only decision that a reporter who promised to keep a source confidential could make. Most promises like that are likely made before information is revealed. If what is told to you then contains criminal behavior, are you released from your promise? Does a lawyer go to the judge and rat on his client? Knowing what a client did does not make a lawyer party to a crime.
Likewise, reporters are not necessarily a party to Rove's machinations. If any one is, Novak is the one. Miller wrote no story and told no tales.
Time is finding out that turning over notes makes news hard to come by. It looks like reporters may have to keep anonymous sources secret from employers who may spread the information around. Much as it grates, I think Miller is doing the right thing. Yes, getting the leakers is important. I would love to see this administration go down for the illegal things they have done, especially with regard to the Geneva Conventions.
But those who go to jail have the right to do it, and if they see jail as their duty, then more power to them.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paula Helm Murray
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.30.12.11
URL:
DATE: 07/19/2005 08:57:23 PM
But if it's one of the shrub's buddies, they'll just get a bitty pat on the hand and an "awww shucks, it was jist a bit of fun to get even with the guy." And since I'm guessin' it'd be Mr. Rove, I doubt much is going to happen over it. Which is why I hate our president. (I know, get in line.) again, he reminds me of those snotty frat boys I hated in college. Always trying to get away with stuff even if it's hurtful to others.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.33.179
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/20/2005 11:55:47 PM
Scorpio,
I'm not sure you thought this all the way through. I believe the key phrase is, "if they see jail as their duty,"
Please try to imagine what Judith Miller's rational and thoughts are like. Think like her.
She's deeply involved, the mouthpiece for selling the WMD threat that 'necessitated' this war in Iraq. She had the goods from the Chalibi 'please-put-us-into-power' faction. She was read by the White House and the public, acting as a funnel for pro-war crowd.
So any comment that challenges her oeuvre, her sales job, someone like a heroic former-Ambassador, has to be discredited.
Wilson was a threat to her credibility, after all she was a playa'. Not that she was heroic, nor deserves the honorific.
Most victims I've know claim heroic status. That's how they cope.
Miller did not go to jail to protect journalism or the 1st Amendment, but, rather to protect the world-view she was heavily invested in and help create in the last 3 years.
Hero, no. Introspective, not very. Journalist or co-conspirator, to be determined.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 07/21/2005 08:29:13 AM
:) Thinking like her is not possible, but in a stretch I think she might consider it thus: "I are a journalist and journalists don't talk."
Like you, I want to see the baddies charged and jailed (though I betcha Bush has the pardons already written). Still, from her perspective she may be operating within her code, even if it is the code of the street gang.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.33.179
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/21/2005 06:07:28 PM
Sad day, when one operates under the idea that a presidential pardon will be forthcoming.
Hell, mother-of-christ-on-toast, we might as torture someone for the helluv' it!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 07/27/2005 12:53:03 AM
I am a killer. I kill a family. The mom the dad the kids the dog and the little kitty cat too. I tell you a reporter that I have done it. The only way the police can find the proof, the bodies, is through your testimony.
It would seem to me that the real reason for a reporter being able to keep a source secret is to protect the source from others who would do them wrong. Such as whistelblowers in government or corporations.
In this instance I feel it is more protecting a possible criminal who may or may not have had criminal intent. If there was no criminal intent the grand jury should have a chance to work it out. But with the continued silence by Ms Miller on the issue I suspect more criminal intent than not.
And no matter what else happens this can only be good for her career and standing in those elite Washington groups that truly appriciate silence and taking one for the team.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Today
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 07/20/2005 08:04:35 PM
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BODY:
Today Looka!'s top two entries are what I would have written about, but done better than I might have. They are about the death of James Doohan and about the anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing. Go visit.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Dumb Headline
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/21/2005 04:21:41 PM
-----
BODY:
Today's Dumb Headline Prize goes to a Reuters story:
London Bombings Fail to Damage Blair ... Yet
Yep. Bush has proved over and over that catastrophes tend to make people want to keep the status quo. Not wanting to change horses in mid-apocalypse probably accounted for 3 or 4 percent of the votes he legitimately collected. Of course, Diebold accounted for at least as many, but it still stands that his poll numbers go up when alerts are manipulated upward.
So. Why should Blair's numbers be any different? I don't think there is something special about our cousins that makes them more rational in the face of terrorism. Reuters needs to rethink their expectations.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 10.30.0.134
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 07/22/2005 04:42:03 PM
Let's hope that when things unravel here for Rove and Bush, they'll unravel in London for Blair.
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PING:
TITLE: My London Underground T-shirt
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/07/my-london-underground-t-shirt.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 07/22/2005 11:55:27 AM
We visited about two years ago & I was quite taken with the simple yet well-designed logo of the London Underground, aka the subway, aka the Tube. So I bought a T-shirt on my way out of the country that is simply a big Underground logo.
I really l...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Just No
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/23/2005 11:21:43 AM
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BODY:
OK, the administration is at it again. Is there no power in the USA that can put a stop to the insane shenannigans perpetrated by Bush and his cronies?
White House threatens veto on detainee policies.
Big figgin whoop -- the monkey at the top of the pyramid hasn't vetoed anything yet. So let him have his little tantrum. It is the duty of congress to provide oversight, not to overlook. It is time and past time for them to rein in the torturers. the administration has decided to try to block the release of the rest of the Abu Ghraib material. Bush says releasing it will harm fighting terrorists.
Yes -- domestic terrorists, rapists and sodomites, if reports by Rummy and others are correct. I am afraid that Bush's plea about "fighting terrorists" has worn terribly thin -- if he wanted to fight those who would harm us then he'd have found the Plame leaker.
Bush is defending rape. He is defending sodomy. He is becoming a US version of Saddam Hussein. It's time for congress to draw up a bill listing "high crimes and misdemeanors". Shielding rapists is crime. Shielding leakers is a crime.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 07/27/2005 12:40:41 AM
Think America has had enough yet?
Maybe 2006 polls will give us some indication.
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PING:
TITLE: Even GOP Senators Dislike Torture
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/07/even-gop-senators-dislike-torture.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 07/26/2005 10:58:32 AM
This would force Bush to either sign it, agreeing that these standards are necessary given past events, or to veto it and deny that torture has been used in interrogations -- even though the evidence is overwhelming that torture has been used.
If ...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: OK
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/26/2005 04:19:51 PM
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BODY:
It has been hot enough to inspire major grouchiness. Today large rain storms came through and lowered the temperatures 30 to 35 degrees. That helped a bit. But the news is still full of the same fights continuing into another chapter.
The administration's pet maggots have refused to release the pictures and videos of Abu Ghraib -- whining their "secret" whines on the day they were due, of course. These are people who want everything to be secret. And they want their transgressions, especially, to be secret. No, not for any real reason except to hide the guilty, guilty, guilty.
Like the hijackers, may they face demons in their afterlives. See the 9/11 Onion for details.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Vulgar?
CATEGORY: Humor
DATE: 07/28/2005 06:41:10 PM
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BODY:
Moi?
Well, I got the results that other bloggers longed for.
| the Prankster |
| CLEAN | COMPLEX | LIGHT Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not pretentious, but neither are you into what some would call 'low humor'. You'd laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer something clever to something moist. You probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways, yours is the most entertaining type of humor. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Conan O'Brian - Ashton Kutcher |
 |
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid |
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.177.72.78
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 07/28/2005 10:09:13 PM
This was cool. I think it was exact for me. My humor style:
CLEAN | SPONTANEOUS | DARK
People like me: David Letterman and John Belushi.
Thanks for pointing me to some web fun.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.40.104
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 07/28/2005 10:50:16 PM
I got:the Wit
(78% dark, 30% spontaneous, 16% vulgar)
your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK
PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais
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PING:
TITLE: Say It Ain't So, Rebranding, Other Bloodsucking
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/07/blogviews-say-it-aint-so-rebranding.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 07/29/2005 10:53:07 AM
I always love some Bushisms. Go to Crooks and Liars for a few you may have forgotten.
* Thanks to Eccentricity for pointing out this humor quiz from OK Cupid. My humor style: CLEAN SPONTANEOUS DARK, which means:
Your humor's mostly innocent and...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Hackett
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/30/2005 01:30:46 PM
-----
BODY:
Is Hackett a good candidate? Is he a bad candidate? Since he is running in Ohio does it make any difference?
Ohio is the place where election corruption has grown totally out of control -- or perhaps into the control of thoroughly corrupt people. As Avedon Carol reports at The Sideshow:
Just for me, Arthur Silber alerts us to the fact that Matt Taibbi has finally stopped refusing to acknowledge the story of the Ohio election - and like most people who do look for real, he's starting to see why some of us are so alarmed: "Here's the thing about Ohio. Until you really look at it, you won't understand its significance, which is this: the techniques used in this particular theft have the capacity to alter elections not by dozens or hundreds or even thousands of votes, but by tens of thousands."
So anyone running in Ohio is at major risk of being defrauded. It's a sad thing.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: I Suppose
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 07/31/2005 05:50:09 PM
-----
BODY:
These must be what folks refer to as the "dog days" of summer. I certainly am missing any sort of drive.
I read the Steve Gilliard post on the Deanofcorn@aol.com link to both Jean Schmidt's campaign web site and to a BDSM profile. I just shook my head. jabbausaf on Daily Kos had a post on the same topic that was pretty straightforward, saying that the Kos poster was after the hypocrisy, not the behavior. After all, Schmidt's campaign manager, Joe Braun, had written public screeds against gays for putting their sexual practices out on the web, making them -- in his estimation -- fair game.
So when he put his own out there, what did he expect? What he got is screen shots.
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PING:
TITLE: What Does Paul Hackett Represent?
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/08/what-does-paul-hackett-represent.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 08/01/2005 10:43:10 AM
If Hackett wins, no doubt bloggers, their readers and other activists who've given this story play will feel like they made a real difference. And I will agree.
But what if Hackett loses? On Friday, Democracy Guy predicted that Hackett will lose, ...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Police State
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/01/2005 05:31:27 PM
-----
BODY:
Between an article by Simbaud at King of Zembla that pinpoints spying by the California National Guard and others where military units are being used to contravene the rights of citizens (Padilla and various other "detainees" around the world), it occurred to me that the term "police state" was a misnomer for all the abuses of the military-industrial complex.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We are seeing that now. Eisenhower discribed his relations with Congress thus:
In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.
I doubt the words "interim appointment" ever occurred to President Eisenhower. I doubt he spent his time threatening to veto any piece of legislation loudly and persistently. Which of you thinks that Bush will declare gratitude without partisanship?
Most police I know are inclined to be helpful. If one is reasonably polite, they don't even write tickets very often. On the other hand, most of the military folks I know are completely appalled by the violation of the Geneva Conventions, by the open-ended insanity of Guantanamo -- I think they too readily envision being on the captive end of such crimes to approve of Bush. And on the gripping hand we have this administration.
And so the question is, how does this administration manage to concentrate the bad apples into its fold? How do they find the spies, the liars and slime, the wacko-to-go-to-war (as-long-as-they-get-to-stay-home). Anyway, the evil brew that we are seeing is not quite what I would call a police state. So many get bent out of shape at a hint of brownshirt terminology, but to me it is the most appropriate language of all.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: PusBoy
EMAIL: pusboy@virtualp.us
IP: 209.214.169.65
URL: http://www.virtualp.us
DATE: 08/01/2005 11:12:15 PM
I think you really hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the troops who could see themselves in the torture victims' shoes. This Administration does not appeal to those people.
This Administration appeals to the intellectually retarded segment of society (52% and growing!) that cannot feel empathy, and even if they can, it's just bullshit, because we're the good guys, they're the bad guys, and we'll never be tortured, because we love Jesus, he loves us, and the brown people deserve what they get.
It's good vs. evil, black vs. white, etc. There's no room for gray/grey/greigh.
Our best bet is that more people start thinking critically. I think we're screwed.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Snerk Snerk
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/02/2005 06:00:09 PM
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BODY:
I point you to an online paper on the topic of language by Gail Davis. It is the language companion theory to "Intelligent Design".
The condensed version? When God knocked down the tower of Babel he instantly created all languages including their grammars and vocabularies in that instant. There ya go. Linguistics is a godless lefty trick.
[via Ozarque]
More serious is the discussion of weaving religious vocabulary into court dialog. Yes, I know that much of what happens in court is based in word choice. I once actually helped a lawyer write a brief for a state supreme court, and he asked me to do so specifically because he knew I understood manupulative word choices.
There really isn't enough dissection of verbal choices.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: By the Typepad Counter
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 08/02/2005 08:41:59 PM
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BODY:
I am 3 hits from 25000. I was at about 4500 when I signed into SiteMeter.
It has taken me quite awhile to get here -- it's amazing that my class is Adorable Rodent, I got so used to being something that flapped or slithered.
Thanks to all of you who have visited -- and to all of you who have linked and blogrolled Eccentricity.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 65.64.103.222
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 08/02/2005 09:46:42 PM
Visitor 25,000 was from the site at the top of my blogroll -- amylangfield.com !!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogpsot.com
DATE: 08/03/2005 07:51:27 AM
hey - mazel tov!
in a perfect world, you'd be at least at a million.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 08/03/2005 08:38:15 AM
Thank you -- as would you!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.19.2
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/05/2005 01:47:58 PM
Congrats,
Now if you had a nickle for everyone of those 25K visitors you could buy a lot of beer...
;)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BZTV
EMAIL: bztv@aol.com
IP: 63.194.27.156
URL: http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/
DATE: 08/05/2005 10:59:12 PM
What's your secret? Besides provocative writing? Did you publicize your blog any special way? How long did it take?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 65.64.103.222
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 08/07/2005 07:15:38 PM
There's no secret. Read other web logs, comment, link. It actually took me a lot longer than all sorts of others, although I don't post many times a day, which seems to be the hallmark of the high-traffic web log.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Joel
EMAIL: joeld@u.arizona.edu
IP: 128.196.23.200
URL: http://eventhorizon.typepad.com/
DATE: 08/11/2005 02:10:26 PM
Congrats, I'm sill a slithery amphibian and thinking it will take some time for me to evolve to a higher form.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: About Time
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Television
DATE: 08/04/2005 07:32:19 PM
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BODY:
CNN has suspended Robert Novak:
CNN suspended commentator Robert Novak indefinitely after he swore and walked off the set Thursday during a debate with Democratic operative James Carville.
The exchange during CNN's "Inside Politics" came during a discussion of Florida's Senate campaign. CNN correspondent Ed Henry noted when it was through that he had been about to ask Novak about his role in the investigation of the leak of a
CIA officer's identity.
Uh huh.
Gee, it was a rather timely outburst. OK, so Carville has Novak coming and going when it comes to debate -- but really!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogpsot.com
DATE: 08/05/2005 07:47:31 AM
So they benched him for saying, "bullshit" and leaving work early, but not for endangering national security.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: I Believe Them, Don't You?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 08/05/2005 10:37:39 PM
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BODY:
Both Tony Blair and Donald Rumsfeld are saying that they do not believe that British presence in Iraq had anything to do with the bombings in London.
Right. Sure. And as long as no one can prove anything, they are entitled to their wrongheaded opinions. And after what has been wrought on Iraq, even the end of ocupation is unlikely to smooth over the situation. The US is once again threatening group punishment in the west, holding out electrical and water services to force people to hand over insurgents. It is a fond wish that, as 31 crash landings were read to the troops in Starship Troopers, US regulations would require reading condensed Geneva Accords to the officers of the US military.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: It Reads No Better Today
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/06/2005 07:14:48 PM
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BODY:
This is the quote that made me furious yesterday:
GRAPEVINE - Roads were shut down Wednesday and residents living in nearby apartments between Dooley and Ruth Wall Roads were warned not to look out of their windows Wednesday. School busses from Grapevine-Colleyville ISD formed a perimeter around the site where President George W. Bush was scheduled to land. No one was going to get a glance of the president on his way to the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.
Does Bush think he is The Lord God Almighty, upon whom no one is permitted to gaze?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rook
EMAIL: rook@rooksrant.com
IP: 66.41.149.220
URL: http://www.rooksrant.com
DATE: 08/07/2005 03:18:05 PM
Personally, I think it was because he was drunk and they didn't want any photos of him inebriated.
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PING:
TITLE: My Eyes! My Eyes!
URL: http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/blue_girl/2005/08/my_eyes_my_eyes.html
IP: 66.151.149.17
BLOG NAME: blue girl
DATE: 08/07/2005 12:46:48 PM
A few weeks before the election (I've tried to erase that time from mind, but certain events remain), *someone* and by *someone* I mean the Republican Mayor of the little town we live in, put a flyer in everyone's mailbox
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: The Phelps-a-Thon Catches On
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Religion
DATE: 08/07/2005 08:18:47 PM
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BODY:
Today Julia reports that the family of a serviceman will be the beneficiaries of a Phelps-a-Thon as Fred the Hater and his Demon Spawn picket the funeral of Sgt. Christopher Taylor.
If you wish to make a pledge, you can contact Yoannon at (706)366-0945. To e-mail your information, send it to sgt.taylorfund@hotmail.com.
If you wish to make a flat donation, you can do so by stopping by or sending it to any Charter Bank location. In Opelika, you can call (334)742-0266. The mailing address is:
Charter Bank
114 S. 7th Street
Opelika, AL 36801
Make your donation to the Sgt. Christopher Taylor Fund.
Do as we do in Kansas -- donate or pledge so that Fred'n'Spawn are defeated by their very presence. He doesn't picket much at home any more because he likely finds it humiliating when a barker publicly calls for pledges for AIDS charities and thanks them for raising the charity funds ever higher.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: blue girl
EMAIL: lmarefka@apk.net
IP: 69.173.225.120
URL: http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/
DATE: 08/11/2005 02:00:22 PM
Hey there!
We went to the memorial service a couple of nights ago for the marines who were killed in Ohio -- and I think this group was out front protesting.
Their signs were bizarre -- like, "Thank God soldiers are dying.." We didn't know what to make of it. Now we do.
Creeps.
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PING:
TITLE: Who Owns GodHatesAmerica.com
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/08/who-owns-godhatesamericacom.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 08/08/2005 10:15:33 AM
The Web site includes some songs that your church might want to incorporate into their Sunday services, including (of course) "God Hates America" and "America the Burning".
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: National Security as a Tool of Facist Oppression
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/08/2005 05:25:56 PM
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BODY:
If Cindy Sheehan suddenly becomes a "threat to national security" Thursday -- if Texas law enforcement comes to arrest her -- it will be a live, in color rendering of using national security as a tool of oppression.
This is the reason most patriotic Americans despise the USAPATRIOT Act. Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, the right to hold an opinion contrary to that of officials -- all these things are endangered when law enforcement makes threats against citizens for their viewpoint and for their peaceful activities on public roadways.
Cindy Sheehan's web site is down right now because it has been overwhelmed with visits. It should be back later.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: CNN, At It Again
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 08/08/2005 05:39:31 PM
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BODY:
Are you worried gas prices will keep going up?
That is their question, and yes and no are the only choices. Idiots.
Don't they know what *finite* means?
If they had a brain there, they would want to know if we are *sure* gas prices will keep going up. The answer to that is also Yes.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Coming Up
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/10/2005 07:36:35 PM
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BODY:
One of the rants I need to write one day soon is the one about the Ninth Amendment and the rights it guarantees.
I have mostly spent time reading others and commenting. The general who has been relieved for having a girlfriend before his divorce became final (three days ago) is the most bogglesome. I suppose they needed room for Sanchez at the top and this was a way to open a slot. Bet the poor guy admitted somewhere that he once voted for a Democrat. After all, torture is policy. Christianity is mandatory. So some people are going to suffer.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Marchin' to Commemorate WHAT?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/11/2005 06:10:22 PM
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BODY:
The Pentagon wants to change 9/11 into a celebration.
Well, I suppose that indirectly 9/11 has given them the upper hand like they haven't had for ages, but really! In principle, it's like celebrating the torching of the White House during the War of 1812 or the slaughter in Lawrence during the Civil War.
And if you click on that link above, you will find that they want you to sign up, they want to screen you, they want you to get in lines and be checked through before you are free to walk -- And of course there is a list of things you can't carry, and a backpack/bag search clause .... Such fun! A good time for the whole family!
And sponsored by the Pentagon. Who could resist such blandishment?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.46.15
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/11/2005 07:35:56 PM
For the life of me I don't understand why your shirt size is a required field to sign up when they're only giving out lapel pins.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.119.112
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/12/2005 09:30:00 PM
Why is the Pentagon building a mailing list? Are they going to ask for donations? Why are taxpayers and media companies funding this? What does this have to do with the mission of the Pentagon?
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PING:
TITLE: Party on 9/11
URL: http://alterx.blogspot.com/2005/08/party-on-911.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Alternate Brain
DATE: 08/13/2005 02:30:40 PM
All I can say is that they're damn lucky they're not doing this in NYC. They'd have to deal with me. Motherfuckers.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: He Keeps Doing That
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/13/2005 03:13:38 PM
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BODY:
Bush Ties War in Iraq to Fight on Terror.
So? Does he really think that most of us are going to buy this? None of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi. 15 of them were Saudi. You know Saudis, the guys Bush holds hands with.
He can tie it every day for the rest of his time in office, and that isn't going to make it true.
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PING:
TITLE: Angry Readers, Angry Voters, Angry Mothers
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/08/blogviews-angry-readers-angry-voters.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 08/15/2005 11:54:39 AM
Eccentricity notes that Bush is again equating the war in Iraq with the war on terror. I've always admired his boldness and unwillingness to back down from falsehoods. And his cowboy boots. And the way he rolls up his sleeves when he's working on the...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Leave the Veggiemobile in the Garage
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/15/2005 05:04:04 PM
-----
BODY:
Yesterday Billmon brought up a good point:
There's more going on here, though, than just the usual seasonal news drought and a bunch of bored-out-their-skulls reporters marooned in the Texas outback. Cindy Sheehan has touched a raw nerve (both with the media and with the GOP propaganda machine) less because of who she is than because of who she isn't -- Jane Fonda.
The wing nuts have been salivating for weeks over the news that Jane plans to hit the anti-war trail again -- this time in a vegetable-oil powered bus. (You really think I could make something like that up?) For pro-war conservatives, this is roughly the same as hearing that the Democrats have decided to put Zippy the Pinhead and Timothy Leary's corpse on the ticket in 2008. From the right's point of view, you couldn't invent a better caricature of a New Age Hollywood zillionaire to be the public face of the anti-war movement. Which is why my own personal reaction to Fonda's plan was: "Why the hell can't she be on their side for a change?"
I went looking on Snopes to see if old rumors were true, and while Jane Fonda did not give notes from captive Americans to their unsympathetic North Vietnamese captors, she certainly shot off her mouth loudly, unjustifiably and rudely. So the vision of her firing up a bus powered by burning cooking oil is enough to give me heartburn. She is the one person who has the capacity to make George Bush look less stupid, petty and self-centered than he actually is.
Jane should leave the anti-war questions to Cindy Sheehan, a woman far more capable of asking the right questions quietly, persistently and plainly.
Help from Jane is like help from Zell Miller -- better avoided.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: It Never Rains But it Pours
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 08/18/2005 09:17:00 PM
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BODY:
Cindy Sheehan's mother had a stroke today, so Cindy has to go to CA to be with her. May her mother make a full recovery and may Cindy return to her vigil without having to watch behind her for more unfortunate events.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Buyer Remorse on a Grand Scale
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/20/2005 11:54:00 AM
-----
BODY:
Yesterday I was talking to someone who had supported Bush. "I hate him, he's wrecking the country" said the veteran.
It seems that there are many people who bought the Bush line, or who rejected the Kerry line, who are now experiencing buyer remorse daily.
Remember the election, when "fairness" was contorted to mean fixing camera angles so Bush looked as tall as Kerry -- and magazines chose stills to actually make him look *taller*? And fairness meant that truth could be "balanced" by lies -- I guess that is why FOX uses "fair and balanced" -- fairness and balance are not the same thing in their lexicon?
And now the sorry piece of work is on vacation again. He's going to go campaigning for his war in Idaho, and perhaps he will be doing focus groups to see what will fly as a "noble cause". Of course, if he does that it will be "hard work" instead of "vacation". The Poor Thang!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.173.221.221
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 08/22/2005 07:10:57 PM
I hope there is enough buyer remorse to put many more Democrats in office in 2006.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Deadline
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 08/20/2005 02:15:07 PM
-----
BODY:
I've heard all week that the Iraqi congress has "missed the deadline" for ratifying a Constitution.
Excuse me? Who has stuck a deadline on this process? Is it a term paper for a school? Is it an assignment that the Overlords have made? Is it something that doesn't deserve every bit of discussion and input that the parties writing it care to have?
Who imposd this "deadline" and what purpose does it serve?
Vacation Boy? His ass-kissers?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Monstrous Bullshit
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 08/21/2005 07:57:12 PM
-----
BODY:
That is my reaction to this quote:
"Consumers ought to be able to make the choices of options they want on their vehicle, and not have those choices made for them," says Eron Shosteck of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C.-based auto industry group.
Choices? Is this lobbyist joking?
Where can I buy a Stanley Steamer? Where can I buy a plug-in electric? And where, oh where, can I buy a car that hasn't been turned into a microchipped monster?
Choices? I had a Ford Escort that tried to kill me. If you stepped on the accelerator, nothing happened except racing-enging noises. I-70 was a terriffic place to find this out. For 275.00 a dealership tried to fix the problem. Didn't work. It was going to take giving it up for several days and buying a new speedometer/odometer to fix it -- hundreds more because their idiot engineers put a chip into the speedometer to feed back into the accelerator, of all monkey tricks.
I called and had a special chat with their engineering design folks. Then I talked to another Ford place. After hearing the same tune, I said "I know how to fix this!" "How?" said the service guy. "Get rid of this sucker and buy a Jeep!" "Oh. That's what I did" said the Ford mechanic. So now you know.
Choice is not something provided by US automakers.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/22/2005 05:50:00 PM
she nods - she recalls her own rage in comparable circumstances - she wishes she could find something comforting to say - other than "we share your pain." if you don't mind people thinking you might be a lesbian, we lesbians have had better luck with subarus than with fords - except for the girls out west who swear by the f-150s, but as a general rule, the gay girls recommend subaru.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 65.64.103.222
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 08/22/2005 05:57:25 PM
My Subaru got totalled by a drunk driver while it was parked in front of my house many years ago. I never worried about being thought a Lesbian. One thing that got me riled -- I used to have lunch in a Federal cafeteria, and one day a lady was hunting a spot to sit, so my friend and I told her to sit with us.
She sat and thanked us and said she never assumed she could sit with women because she didn't want to ruin their reputations by giving them an association with a Lesbian. I told her that people who think that way- that think being a Lesbian is bad - just deserved to wallow in their own dirty minds, and that she could sit with me any time. My friend reacted the same way.
It just struck me as so awful to have to worry about peole's reputations, and not be able to just sit somewhere at lunch without worring about the implications that the insane might draw.
OK, I'll stop now.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Christainist Fatwa
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Religion
CATEGORY: Television
DATE: 08/23/2005 04:49:26 PM
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BODY:
Pat Robertson is a Christianist -- a hate-spewing person who should be banned frm CNN news rather than featured.
He is not a Christian. Nowhere did Jesus suggest that assassination was a tool of His kingdom, and if Robertson were anything like a Christian, he would not be suggesting it.
I tend to agree with the Venezuelans -- let's see how the US government deals with someone who makes terroristic threats throught the broadcast medium. Let's see if they are really anti-terrorist, or only against brown terrorists.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: banana
EMAIL: american.victim@gmail.com
IP: 24.92.139.240
URL: http://liarparadox.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/23/2005 08:10:37 PM
IF YOU ARE OUTRAGED BY PAT ROBERTSON'S COMMENT CALLING FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF HUGO CHAVEZ, LEADER OF THE DEMOCRATIC VENEZUELA AND WANT THE 700 CLUB TAKEN OFF THE AIR, CONTACT ABC AT 212-456-1000
I'm not spamming or shouting, but I copied and pasted the above from my blog.
ABC's phone needs to be ringing off the hook til Pat Robertson is kicked off the air.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: w00t!
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 08/25/2005 09:24:32 PM
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BODY:
Tomorrow at 5 starts vacation -- yessss! I will be away from the keyboard pretty often, since I plan to go out and about instead of staying home all day sleeping :)
So for the next two weeks, if you hardly hear a peep from me, it's because I'm planning to put my fingers in my ears and sing la-la-la-la-la. Then I'll stick my head up in a week or two and see if we survived.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.21.242
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 08/26/2005 11:25:15 AM
Enjoy the time off and try not to get involved with any home constructions projects - they tend to really ruin a vacation:)
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 08/26/2005 03:30:01 PM
Ohhhhhhh! So your gonna act like a Republican for a week because "you" have a vacation.
LaLaLaLa my ass. The revolution never sleeps or takes vacations. And for the deity of the days sake stop looking at all that porn. No really. I mean it.
Enjoy your time off. Have no regrets. And if you're really going over the edge get one of those little tape recorders so you can capture rough outlines of sick ideas you have on the fly.
Beer. It's whats for breakfast.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.173.221.221
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 08/26/2005 08:25:16 PM
Enjoy yourself! My vacation is the week following Labor Day. I can't wait!!!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogspot.com
DATE: 08/28/2005 05:36:09 PM
Party hardy my friend. For our part, it is the sad season of syllabi.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: blue girl
EMAIL: lmarefka@apk.net
IP: 69.173.225.120
URL: http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/
DATE: 08/31/2005 03:47:37 PM
"Then I'll stick my head up in a week or two and see if we survived."
It's now Wednesday and it seems that we may not survive!
Hope you enjoy your vacation while you can!
I liked the line above: "Beer. It's what's for breakfast!"
:)
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: And We Are What?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: War
DATE: 08/27/2005 12:24:07 PM
-----
BODY:
An AP story out of Baghdad:
The U.S. command said the prisoner release "marks a significant event in
Iraq's progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law."
And what does that make us with reference to Guantanamo? Why does the US Command use one standard for Iraqis and a different one for themselves?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: "Still Here" is Relative
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 09/10/2005 12:08:16 PM
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BODY:
I only saw headlines for 12 days. That was likely enough.
My first thought on hearing that refugees were in a stadium was that they were going to get hungry and thirsty by and by. A pity the FEMA director didn't think about it, too.
The entire Homeland Security scam has focused on enemies lists, drug busts, and hooker patrols -- that is, righty federal law enforcement at its most common. I kept wondering when they were going to make supply dumps against disasters -- MREs, water bottles and purifying kits, tents, cots, medical supplies. You know, the kinds of things one needs for a disaster.
And I started doing imaginary planning -- put one each in Idaho, Colorado, the Smoky Mountains, the central Appalachians, the Adirondacks. Then get the Post Office to dump mail for the affected areas and pick up supplies as part of disaster management. The same for UPS and FedEx. Those would supplement the other means of transporting supplies to a disaster.
It makes me crazy when a political appointee isn't even sensible.
So New Orleans is there but uninhabitable. Same with other cities to the east.
And I can't help but think that rebuilding is a sparrow in a rain spout kind of thing to do -- because the chance that this will happen again is 100 percent. Drain Pontchartrain if you have to rebuild. Doing the exact same thing all over is a recipe for future disasters.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.163.160
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 09/10/2005 09:37:58 PM
You have to have Lake Pontchartrain because they have destroyed the wet lands south of the city and without the lake there would be no filtration of the runoff from the mainland.
The levees broke on the canals into the city from the lake not on the lake front.
What they need are flood gates at the opening to the lake from the gulf to keep the storm surge out.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paula Helm Murray
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.30.12.11
URL:
DATE: 09/13/2005 12:18:15 AM
The parts that flooded the deepest could be raised, like they did Galveston after the 1909(not positive about year) flood that caused so much death. Obviously the Vieux Carriere (French Quarter) is on a high point, most of the relatiely minor damage there is from the wind, etc. But if current political trends continue, what's likely to be rebuilt is industry and nothing else. Homes and folks' habitation doesn't pay Hallibuton and the like enough. Not sure how the're going to give the 'help' (people like casino workers and maids) any place to live after this....
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: This Is News??
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/11/2005 04:25:53 PM
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BODY:
CNN:
Firms with White House ties get Katrina contracts
FEMA taps Halliburton subsidiary, Shaw Group, Bechtel for cleanup
Saturday, September 10, 2005; Posted: 1:26 p.m. EDT (17:26 GMT)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.
One is Shaw Group Inc. and the other is Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.
Bechtel National Inc., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp., has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing for people displaced by the hurricane. Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his Export Council and put the former CEO of Bechtel Energy in charge of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
These groups have had their snouts so deep into the war profiteer's trough it is amazing that they have the resources to line up at the disaster trough so quickly. But here they are, vultures ready to feast on the dead.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 209.26.22.87
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 09/12/2005 08:59:34 PM
They don't have any resources, they are going to have to line up subcontractors for the people and equipment. They manage contracts, not resources.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: On The Scene
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/13/2005 06:57:23 PM
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BODY:
As usual, CNN asked one of Those Questions -- the kind that don't seem to recognize their own internal contradictions.
This one was about whether Bush should have been on the ground in New Orleans earlier.
Considering what his travelling bubble does to disrupt air travel, traffic, and work, and one could argue that he should be barred from any place where work needs to be done, anyplace supplies need to move in and out, and any place ordinary folks need to have a free flow in order to rescue others.
Mr. Bush is a downright menace to rescue work. Firemen who are an entourage so he can feel like one of the guys are firemen not fighting fires. People showing him sights are not doing work. People who are props find themselves unhappy later.
So should he have been on the scene earlier? No, nor should he go to any disaster scene while someone needs to do work.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Dave Bell
EMAIL: dbell@zhochaka.org.uk
IP: 88.110.32.166
URL:
DATE: 09/15/2005 05:33:44 AM
It's also arguable that US Presidents are now over-protected, provoking people to think that a part of the process is essentially political.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Weekend
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 09/16/2005 04:26:05 PM
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BODY:
Another weekend, another convention. I'll pop in when I can, but it may not even be for my usual reading session.
OK, so is Bush really a Democrat, or are we actually in for a Reconstruction Surprise?
Your tinfoil-hat correspondent assumes the second.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Signs of Aging
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Random Events
CATEGORY: Remembering
DATE: 09/18/2005 06:42:44 PM
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BODY:
One sign of aging is that you think two conventions in two weeks is too much.
Gak. In my youth I did 3 in a row or more without wearing out. No more. The one today was odd because there were sessions on disaster planning. Yes, science fiction fans have been doing disaster planning for ages. They have a game that includes things like earthquakes and tidal waves as possible events to mess up your convention, and you are expected to cope.
I suspect that FEMA could have used their skills.
But meanwhile, some of us had to recall old disasters -- family deaths, committee deaths and incapacitations ... things that required someone to step up and cope. It made today pretty long; and me subject to fits of remembering.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Under God Under 35
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Education
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Rants
CATEGORY: Religion
DATE: 09/20/2005 05:27:33 PM
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BODY:
Most of the people I have talked to about the Pledge of Allegiance who are under 35 have stated categorically that "it was originally written with 'under God' in it." And then I snarl at them.
It changed the year I was in Kindergarten, and we learned it both ways on the first day of school, with the teacher telling us it would change when we got back after Christmas vacation. And so it did. Even when I was 6 I observed the clunkyness of the change. Why did our congresscritters have such tin ears? "One nation, indivisible, under God" would have been slightly less clunky. Leaving it alone and practicing piety on Sunday would have been even better, but this was the era of the Cold War, and God was the thing that separated "us" from "the godless commies."
I wish that every child would get the same political lecture we got in Kindergarten about the pledge changing. At least then I wouldn't have to individually lecture the under-35s.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 209.26.29.244
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 09/21/2005 08:00:34 PM
They tried it on me when I was in third grade and I drove people nuts refusing to change. My first grade teacher, Miss Smith, taught me how to say the pledge and she knew everything, so any change had to be a mistake.
They ended up getting Miss Smith to explain that Congress had changed it because I made a point of reciting the "true version" loudly.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Poverty
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/21/2005 04:46:40 PM
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BODY:
I was looking at a news story that mentioned tying the minimum wage to congressional salaries, so I did some searching and some math. It turns out that a congressman or senator who is not in a leadership position makes $158,100 per year [* ].
If you divide that by ten [15,810] and divide that by 2080, which is the number of hours in the work year, you get an hourly wage of $7.60.
Objecting to paying a someone 1/10 of what congressmen make seems really oppressive. After all, even the munificence of 10 percent would be poverty -- just not poverty as bad as we currently have. And if the minimum were permanently pegged to congressional salaries, maybe it would make thinking about money more of a congressional priority.
As it is, too many of them act too busy to consider the problems of the poor. Imagine a family of four with a minimum-wage person doing the support. Imagine a congressman with 39 dependents -- no one but Santorum has a problem nearly that big -- but perhaps congressmen could adopt people until their total is that high so they can start to grasp what poverty means. Or perhaps it would be easier if they just peg the minimum wage to their own income and then ignore the problem thereafter as if it is solved.
Gee.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Empowerqueen
EMAIL: klaw2top@yahoo.com
IP: 64.223.180.214
URL: http://www.economicengine.blogspot.com
DATE: 09/27/2005 08:16:49 AM
Perhaps in our National hour of need Congress should sacrifice their healthcare coverage, then they can understand what trials the uninsured face.
Grace be with you.......
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Sin
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/21/2005 07:54:14 PM
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BODY:
The US government is as close to committing a sin as I ever want to see. Food shipped from England for Katrina's victims is being incinerated as unfit for consumption -- and likewise a gift plane from Germany was refused.
Our leaders are ungracious if not downright insane. Why not let the things through and let our poor decide what *they* want to do? Big brotherism that stonewalls aid is downright criminal.
Of course, "criminal" and "Bush regime" are almost interchangeable, aren't they?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Some Kind of Whoop
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Random Events
DATE: 09/22/2005 09:02:20 PM
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BODY:
While on vacation I was exposed to someone who had whooping cough. Last night about an hour before bed, all of a sudden I started coughing up a storm and I developed a very sore throat.
Today I left work and went to the doctor. He said culturing for whooping cough was about 250.00 in lab work, and just treating someon for it was much cheaper -- so I am taking drugs for the next several days. He also thought I might have strep -- so I'll be monitoring how I feel for a few days. I am so glad that the weekend is coming!
The amazing thing he said was that the new antibiotics are so good that a few hours after taking the first dose, one is no longer contagious. I'm glad that I won't be giving it to everyone.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Well?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/24/2005 04:17:40 PM
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BODY:
Would Al Gore make a good candidate for President?
Would it be good if the Senate actually looked at the qualifications appointees have?
Would we be in better shape if the government functioned as it is supposed to?
Would we be better off if the press were free instead of chained to advertising, and the prejudices of the class that places advertisements?
Would the Frist family be better off if it were poorer but honest?
Would the storm-wracked be better off if Karl Rove stayed in Washington and someone whose main job wasn't smearing were appointed in his place?
Would Harry Reid be a good Presidential candidate?
Who will bell the war-crimes cat?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mark H
EMAIL: biomes_@cox.net
IP: 68.226.93.72
URL: http://biomesblog.typepad.com
DATE: 10/01/2005 09:20:01 AM
Yes. To all.
Except for the Reid part. Let's keep him in the senate where he belongs.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Predictable
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/24/2005 04:28:36 PM
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BODY:
| You are a Social Liberal (65% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (30% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid |
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Endemic
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/25/2005 10:48:45 AM
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BODY:
It seems that torture is really institutionalized in the US Army -- at least to the extent that sadists are being given a free hand in many units across the organization. Now comes a US Army Captain and West Point graduate, telling of widespread prisoner abuse in the 82nd Airborne.
He is considered a credible source. I have no doubt that he is telling about what he saw -- as are the two sergeants backing up his report.
Isn't it time we got rid of the war criminals who are breeding the conditions under which this is happening? The Army has stalled on releasing the rest of the Abu Ghraib material. I suspect that they are doing this to avoid the righteous wrath of those who believe that humans have rights that should not be trespassed upon.
It is time and past time to take these folks down and make them prisoners rather than information gatekeepers.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.17.39
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 09/25/2005 05:17:41 PM
I think it's important to hammer home that the Geneva Conventions are to stop people from becoming monsters, maybe much more so than protecting captives/prisoners/detanees.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Blind Trust
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/27/2005 04:20:13 PM
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BODY:
That is what Frist's constituents have, right?
It has to be something like that. He didn't seem to have one, did he?
If Martha Stewart served 6 months for her IMClone sale, then Frist deserves that or more for getting reports on his trust and giving a sell order of any kind. His securities were not supposed to be under his control at all. Violating that made him a party to conflict of interest.
It's time for some people who hold office to be charged with the things they have done that violate laws. Public office should not be a refuge that excuses -- or expedites -- criminal behavior.
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PING:
TITLE: In No Particular Order
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/09/in-no-particular-order.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 09/28/2005 09:53:44 AM
Things I've seen today of note...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Diplomacy
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 09/29/2005 04:18:39 PM
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BODY:
According to the few news bits I have read, it sounds like Karen Hughes is getting an earful on her trip.
I wonder what she will tell her boy when she gets back. Is there a kind way to say that someone understands nothing about the people whose lives he is affecting with his policies? I suppose it is her job to sell him to other people, not sell him on their points of view. I wonder how she is going to do it without bearing false witness in one direction or the other.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: The News
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/02/2005 09:13:04 AM
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BODY:
I don't get my news by audio or video -- I only read it.
Lately at least one source has been -- whiny is the only word for it. If I read the "toxic-soup-and-mold" story one more time I may get overwrought. You know, anyone who considers what floodwaters are covering knows that they will contain an overload of disgusting stuff. Wringing hands about people who may not have considered mold a problem is *crazy*. People who live near rivers live in the constant presence of more mold than inlanders ever consider. Every time we visit a city with a bigger waterway than the one at home, we sneeze. It seems that people who live in LA probably have a clue -- a bigger clue than the authors of these "news" stories.
The next most whiny story comes as our sources tell one from the administration/military point of view. "Oh woe! The Abu Ghraib pictures will give aid to the enemy!"
No. It will give aid to those who want to prosecute the wrongdoers, and y'all don't want *that*, do you?
"The enemy" got its aid and comfort when prisoners were raped, beaten, and murdered. There is a lot of evidence that the enemy has grown tremendously because of misconduct by those prosecuting a war against a vague enemy who can blend right in with the good citizens whose freedom was at issue.
Six hillbillies weren't the problem -- but those crying "oh woe" are part of the problem, indeed.
It is amazing to read "news" stories that only carry vague whining by government spokesmen over and over. These stories appear repeatedly. Bird flu is another. You know, most of us can't do a thing about it. It may become airborne. OK, fine, it may. The author of this story must know that the US is doing very doggoned little about protecting citizens.
They screwed up last year's distribution of flu vaccine, and many thousand doses were wasted. Would they do better if there were bird flu? Are you kidding?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paula Helm Murray
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.30.12.11
URL:
DATE: 10/02/2005 09:17:21 PM
no, they'll just throw another nasty blamestorm. When we went there for Nolacon, I felt an almost overwhelming urge to go buy all the lysol I could for our hotel room. In the Sheraton. Everything smelled mildewy. Hey, bayou country smells like cabbage farts so it could be worse.... (Jim and I went to a wedding in Monroe, LA. Went down through middle of Mo., Ark., and La. As we neared the La. border, we both started smelling something like one of us had been bad.... then we stopped for a soda, opened the door and found out the AIR smelled like someone ate cabbage and farted.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: G. D. Frogsdong
EMAIL: gdfrogsdong@verizon.net
IP: 151.198.120.185
URL: http://frogsdong.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/03/2005 06:05:55 PM
The notion that the Abu Ghraib pictures will aid "the enemy" only works if you assume that "the enemy" doesn't know about what has happened in Abu Ghraib and hasn't heard the stories. "The enemy" has already heard the stories because Abu Ghrab isin their midst and they have been talking to each other. Withholding the photos is simply an attempt to keep them from the American people.
Or maybe the American people are the enemy that the wingnuts have been discussing.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Posse Comitatus? Wazzat?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/04/2005 09:58:26 PM
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BODY:
About the last thing the citizens of this country need is a grave emergency coupled with GWB in charge of a military that is newly permitted to operate on US soil. Bush wants his tame Congress to "debate" the relaxing of an old and iron tradition -- that of keeping the US military from acting as police. "Debate" is his term for "screw up" if the short history of his maladministration gives us any clues.
We need the Army to quarantine citizens like we need a Cat5 hurricane aimed at New Orleans. Yes, even if there is bird flu, Bush cannot be trusted with an army. Ask the citizens of Iraq.
Oh. Right. First he would have to bring the troops back to the US, wouldn't he? Gee, a rock and a hard place. To trample the US, I do believe he would bring them home, tout suite.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: ghostdancers_way
EMAIL: ghostdancers_way@hotmail.com
IP: 138.230.48.18
URL:
DATE: 10/05/2005 04:54:57 PM
I just sent off a LTE to my hometown newspaper that asks many questions about this issue. Why does Presnit need to eliminate P C and why doesn't he strengthen the National Guard who has a long history of providing assistance in times of national emergency. Could it be that Presnit has dreams of theocratic/corporate/fascism?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 10/06/2005 02:32:54 AM
Now now now folks. Before long you'll be agreeing with those folks on the very far fringe right that suggest we may soon need to protect ourselves from big gooberment.
Once we learn to cross that aisle and learn what we all agree on will be the day we actually stand a chance in what is to come.
Fer Scorpio. Today's horrorscope.
The Moon is in magnetic Scorpio today, reflecting our need for intensity. Emotions are more powerful but aren't necessarily expressed outwardly. The inner pull is offset, however, by a conjunction between mental Mercury and expansive Jupiter in social Libra. Our thoughts lead us out of Scorpio's watery world of feelings and into the realms of intellect. A more philosophical perspective moves us beyond self-interest, toward a more global perspective. Optimism can surely help us make positive changes, but we must be careful not to suppress our deeper feelings.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/06/2005 08:46:19 AM
we like the strengthen the national guard suggestion. perhaps with a contractual committment limiting overseas deployments?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: ghostdancers_way
EMAIL: ghostdancers_way@hotmail.com
IP: 138.230.48.18
URL:
DATE: 10/14/2005 10:31:48 AM
I agree with the contractual commitment limiting overseas deployment. Only in the event of a DECLARED WAR against an Enemy that has the ability to actually make war against us. Say like Russia, China, India, EU or someone of that military stature.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Inventive Headlines
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 10/06/2005 05:06:26 PM
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BODY:
Oh, but the Associated Press is being inventive!!
"Low Retail Sales Suggest Consumer Anxiety"
I'm almost speechless. You know, low retail sales suggests "broke" to me. Yes, lack of disposable income. Why doesn't this sort of deduction occur to the Associated Press writer? How did "anxsiety" enter into the sales equation?
And news agencies wonder why sales of their own product are dropping? Well, if I want to read speculative fiction, I go visit the SF section at Barnes & Noble. Much better stuff there.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.162.71
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 10/06/2005 08:58:35 PM
Well, there is a certain level of anxiety that occurs when you look at your check book and figure out that your income is not going to cover your expenses any a given month.
More and more people get this feeling when they factor in the cost of the gas to get them to work.
The number of people who are late with a credit card payment has spiked and will probably continue after they double the minimum payment.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Cory
EMAIL: punningpundit@gmail.com
IP: 69.227.122.80
URL: http://www.punningpundit.com/
DATE: 10/07/2005 07:53:31 PM
"consumer anxiety" is the usual way of expressing it. The idea is that you may not be "broke" yet, but could be heading there. Of course, when you stop buying books at Barnes and Noble-- any section-- I go broke...
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Using the Military
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/08/2005 10:23:16 PM
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BODY:
Bush's desire to use the military in the event of a pandemic makes me very angry, especially when he continues to indicate a desire to keep torture on the table as a military tool.
Someone decided to "explain" to me that strangers have an easier job imposing quarantine than friends -- although why he thought I'd believe that a Guardsman was my "friend" beats me. Never heard of Kent State, I guess. In any case, I understood where he was coming from, and disliked it thoroughly. In my estimation, Federals imposing themselves on the states is revolting, pure and simple.
I always wonder that those who think these things never seem to consider that they want to put their own families directly into the Cold Equations that they so favor. They always seem to think that theirs will receive special consideration.
The start of this post at The Sideshow tells what it could become for all of us. The military does "unreasonable search" all the time -- and in force -- just as police often do.
The only spot of light recently is that the Senate has enough votes to override a presidential veto on the torture issue. So let bushie stamp his little feet and declare that they are hampering him, the torture-monger. And let the Senate override him.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: G. D. Frogsdong
EMAIL: gdfrogsdong@verizon.net
IP: 12.3.164.87
URL: http://frogsdong.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/14/2005 03:27:53 PM
Strangers also have an easier time torturing you, shooting you, robbing you, pushing you to the ground because you didn't obey their commands quickly enough for their taste, raping your family members. There are a lot of things strangers would do more easily than friends would do if they were given the orders.
You think those tools who took the whole fall for Abu Ghraib (because they were taking orders) were bestest pals with the prisoners?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Perspective
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/10/2005 04:04:07 PM
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BODY:
Here is a photo and caption from today's CNN online:
Kashmiris remove food from collapsed shops in Muzaffarabad.
I have the horrible feeling that if this picture represented post Katrina individuals of this hue or darker, the caption would have used the word looted in place of remove.
After a disaster of huge magnitude, food can only really be had by methods that don't really include money -- not when banks are gone or access is removed, not when the places that store food have no means of taking and storing payment.
We are already hearing that aid is slow. I have no doubt that is true. But are people there a lot worse off than our poorest? We need to contribute, even though our contribution reflexes are slowing down.
I still have the sneaking suspicion that the US government is trying to cover up the death toll from Katrina -- out to sea, out of sight. We may never find out.
_______
Afterword: AOL has the same picture, but the activity called "looting" is associated with pulling food out of ruins. You know, sometimes I wonder about journalists. It would be interesting to observe them as they became very hungry.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 10/11/2005 02:23:41 AM
Freedom fighter. Terrorist. Insurgent. Patriot. Looter. Forager. All depends on who you're talking to I guess. Or what news agency your reading. Or which government is reporting.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Common Beliefs
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 10/13/2005 06:29:14 PM
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BODY:
I suppose that part of the reason there are continuous online polls is simply to sample common attitudes. The question on CNN today is:
Is mercy killing ever justified?
At the moment, 80% of respondents are saying yes. I have to stretch pretty far to say yes, but I suppose it is possible. I'm just not comfortable with choosing circumstances for someone else. I've made a living will to tell people when I think I should be left to die. The line between that and mercy killing would have to do with suffering during the intervening time.
I suppose I thought that leaving Schiavo to die and watching all the time was a bit barbaric. But she didn't leave written word about seeking death if flatlined. I also thought that the overly histrionic demonstrators were beyond barbaric.
Like the humorist said in one of those net pieces, if anyone in Congress ever intervenes to prolong my life and I am flatlined, I promise to come back and haunt them.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Life
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Books
CATEGORY: Random Events
DATE: 10/16/2005 01:52:53 PM
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BODY:
It would be easier to keep up if I weren't trying to become a bear. Both last Saturday and this Saturday basically didn't exist -- I slept all Friday night, all Saturday, and all Saturday night. OK, it's fall, but this is ridiculous.
I also read both Princess of Wands and Ghost by John Ringo. I'm not sure I want to post opinions about them, but I'd recommend that you go out to Amazon and read Ringo's own comments about Ghost in the reader comment area before you buy it in hardback. It's not science fiction and yes, I knew what I was buying -- or was pretty sure, anyway.
I need to get back to 3 or 4 other books I started. I may be able to finish them now that those two are off the table. I have to admit that I buy books 6 or more at a time and I gulp down the primo ones and sometimes let the others languish until boredom drives me to finish a bunch of them.
Maybe I should get back to the vampire books for Halloween. It's already too late to do a daily reading of Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, but it might be worth it to get it out and catch up. That is one of the all-time best October books to read.
As long as I *can* read instead of falling asleep the second I put my self horizontal!
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Bless TypePad
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
DATE: 10/17/2005 12:26:45 PM
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BODY:
I just love the TypePad facility for banning IPs and deleting comment spam! Easy to use, thorough -- these folks are just great.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: With Forks and Hope
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/18/2005 04:27:54 PM
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BODY:
That is how I await Fitzgerald's announcement. After all, abandoning hope is just not possible quite yet, even though the folks in this administration are as slithery as eels about escaping the consequences of their actions.
It was Seeing the Forest that had Cheney Resignation Rumors. "Ow wouldn't it be loverly?" Mr. Sneer, replaced by Ms. Sullen. At least as VP she could disappear into the bunker and have nothing left to screw up in the short run.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mr. Natural
EMAIL: joetruck@gmail.com
IP: 205.134.202.107
URL: http://leftedgenorth.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/19/2005 08:45:08 PM
Wooden ya just LOVE to see ol growleyguts in the grey bar? I hope I don't CHOKE with all the "holding my breath" I have been doing waiting for the good news!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogspot.com
DATE: 10/20/2005 10:42:42 PM
2 pints of ben and jerry's in the freezer (chocolate chip cookie dough). oh, it could be so lovely.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Pardon?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/19/2005 06:04:21 PM
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BODY:
Doesn't one have to actually be found guilty to obtain a pardon? After all, giving a pardon in advance of a verdict implies that the person giving it *knows* that the recipient is guilty, guilty, guilty, doesn't it?
The times are about to get more interesting for some people. Let's hope that a pardon isn't used as weapon to cover up the presentation of evidence. After all, if someone is innocent, he hardly needs a pardon, and if he is guilty, it is up to his jurors to so declare.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Andrew Cory
EMAIL: punningpundit@gmail.com
IP: 69.227.122.80
URL: http://www.punningpundit.com/
DATE: 10/19/2005 08:05:05 PM
Who is this about?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL:
DATE: 10/20/2005 10:16:21 AM
"What" is more likely than "who" -- it's about the coming Plame investigation wrapup -- up against the historical Iran-Contra affair. Poppy avoided becoming an unindicted co-conspirator by the pardons that kept Iran-Contra from the judicial process. I hope that does not happen this time.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Target in Missouri
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Rants
CATEGORY: Religion
DATE: 10/21/2005 05:16:56 PM
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BODY:
A woman went to fill an emergency contraception prescription at a Target Store in Missouri. The pharmacist refused to fill it on "moral" grounds.
AmericaBlog has the letter that the Target representative wrote to the spurned potential customer. Since Target is so set on letting their employees trample on customers, I have written to them:
Target.Response@target.com
Since Target is now hiring pharmacists who can refuse to do their jobs, I guess Target will have to live without the custom of those who prefer a competent staff instead of a moralistic one.
I hope your next quarter reflects the thought that perhaps it would have been better to serve your customers than to hire those whose little feelings get in the way of doing the job.
I really think that pharmacists who pull this kind of crap should be fired immediately. They can find nice positions in Catholic hospitals where their lettle feelings and the institutional goal match. But if your institutional goal is customer service, these jerks should be weeded out as soon as they show above the dirt line.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: The Day Has Come
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Film
DATE: 10/22/2005 03:15:05 PM
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BODY:
I have to go see a movie. I think the last one I went to was ... Farenheit 911? Or something over at the casino theatres -- maybe Shrek II?
Today's the day for "Serenity". I want to see it before it disappears. There is one theatre in town that is adults-only all the time, and that is where I plan to go. I rather look forward to it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 10.30.0.134
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 10/24/2005 02:53:58 PM
I saw Serenity this weekend. On a scale of of 1 to 10, I give it a 6.5. What did you think?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL:
DATE: 10/25/2005 08:45:39 AM
7 -- mostly because the villains of the TV series were much scarier -- and absent.
I've concluded, also, that obligatory chase scenes eat too much of a film's resources.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.173.221.221
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 10/26/2005 09:39:53 PM
I didn't know there had been a TV series.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 172.16.58.52
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 10/27/2005 09:00:16 AM
Oh yes -- "Firefly" -- and it was excellent. Of course Fox dumped episodes, showed them out of sequence, and cencelled the show. But get the DVDs and see them -- in order.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Time for a Reminder
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 10/23/2005 10:22:05 AM
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BODY:
It is time to remember that impoverishing labor is a "conservative" policy, and has been for many years now. Concerptual Guerilla wrote a piece on the topic that is unmatched for homing in on the principle.
President Bush's repeal of the Davis-Bacon wage rules was a blatant example of this principle in action. Facing South had a post on several "conservative" newspapers running identical unsigned editorials in praise of this act -- and they were not happy to be caught.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Some Days
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 10/26/2005 04:21:50 PM
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BODY:
Some days are just good ones to sleep. I managed to actually lock myself out of Typepad for several days. That is what I get for making comments in some places.
I'm watching the news. I still think the slither-guys could manage to escape -- unless Fitzgerald gets a new Grand Jury with a different scope. Now that would be very interesting.
Maybe he will wait to make charges public until he knows what the future holds for further investigation. That would be even more interesting.
Tomorrow.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Turnabout
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 10/26/2005 06:04:07 PM
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BODY:
The White House turned around its decision on Davis-Bacon. People working on restoring the hurricane damaged areas will have laws regarding prevailing wages applied to the jobs they do.
I am actually stunned that the Bush White House made such a reasonable decision. Who could have guessed?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Loupy
EMAIL: louper41@yahoo.com
IP: 12.73.70.23
URL:
DATE: 10/26/2005 11:51:23 PM
Flip-floppers? Wow! What's next, indictments? Impeachment? Resignation? The End of the World? The Second Coming? This must be hard to get down Rush's narrow little pink throat.
Bastards.
As me old mama used to say, "The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine."
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: IXLNXS
EMAIL: incubus52@comcast.net
IP: 68.34.159.132
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~incubus52/index.html
DATE: 11/02/2005 09:57:30 PM
Oh puhlease.
They do it to maintain a highly taxed hidden option. Undocumented and illegal workers may get jobs, fill out paper work, and have fake social security numbers, but they do not claim their benefits at the end of fiscal years. That and the keeping American wages down is a win win for them.
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PING:
TITLE: head cheese, ten twenty-seven two thousand five
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/10/head-cheese-ten-twenty-seven-two.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 10/27/2005 11:10:17 AM
Eccentricity on the Davis-Bacon do-over.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Watch Your Credit Cards
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 10/29/2005 10:37:27 AM
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BODY:
Be careful. Recently one credit card company has raised all its rates to over 20% -- from any rate that was ever contracted, up like a rocket.
I deal with three, and one in particular has decided that it is entitled to two tithes and a tip every month on your outstanding balance. Watch for those mail offers and bail out from dealing with these guys as fast as you can.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: He's Back --
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 10/29/2005 11:01:12 AM
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BODY:
For those of you who have missed him, our friend who wrote as South Knox Bubba is back to blogging under his real name.
You can find his entries, including Friday Bird Blogging, at Facing South.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Oh Gee, Great Idea
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 10/31/2005 06:44:53 PM
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BODY:
via King of Zembla --
The solution to this new nomination, depression over the direction of our country -- the answer to everything.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Eye of the Beholder
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/01/2005 05:56:48 PM
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BODY:
My, but Bill Frist is whiny. He called the closed Senate session today "an affront to the United States of America" [CNN]. Now I don't think that the entity called "the United States of America" is capable of affront. Most citizens would like the opposition party to call for investigations and counter the Republicans -- the poll numbers for this kind of behavior are well over 60%, which is more than a "mandate" in the estimation of certain people currently in office.
Moreover, since a closed session can be ended with 51 votes, there must have been some support for it, or else Frist could have ended it almost as fast as it began.
Actually, now, wasn't it nice of the Democrats to call the Intelligence Committee to heel behind closed doors instead of right out on the floor for the TV cameras?
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PING:
TITLE: actors on a stage
URL: http://nowthatsprogress.blogspot.com/2005/11/actors-on-stage.html
IP: 72.9.234.70
BLOG NAME: Now That's Progress
DATE: 11/02/2005 09:16:41 AM
...act out their roles with contrived furiousness, disbelief, shock and awe, disappointment and other emotions that most of us feel occassionally but politicians seem to be able to muster every fifteen minutes.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Go Visit The Blue Girl
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 11/02/2005 07:04:00 PM
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BODY:
Today the Blue Girl is running two pictures -- she wants to know which has more visual impact -- at least I think that is the question she asks.
Now me, I gave the credit to the picture that told the story I wanted to tell -- which may not have been the same thing. But go see for yourself.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Once Again
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 11/04/2005 05:13:39 PM
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BODY:
It's a convention weekend. This one is just across town, so I'll be there this evening and through to the end of the weekend.
I hope all of you have a good one - looks like we will have nice fall weather.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Not Debatable
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/06/2005 06:48:19 AM
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BODY:
I am glad that Body and Soul is watching the torture topic. More and more it looks like Cheney is the one who is puppeteering the administration, and leading the way to try to legitimize torture as a tool of policy.
There are several books by Patricia Matthews which deal with state-sponsored torture in a science-fictional universe. I don't think I'd like to see my country enshrine "judicial torture" as an instrument of state.
More and more, it looks like Cheney is a major influence in the moral disintegration of our nation. I wonder what Poppy was thinking when he let this shark loose to run his idiot son.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: House Overrules Kelso
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/07/2005 08:41:44 PM
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BODY:
Well, not overrule so much as spoil the game for those governments that want to steal private property in order to turn it over to someone else who promises a higher-tax use:
Private Property Rights Protection Act
http://capwiz.com/y/issues/votes/?votenum=568&chamber=H&congress=1091
Vote Passed (376-38, 19 Not Voting)
The House voted to prohibit state and local governments that have used
eminent domain to seize land for economic development purposes from
receiving federal funds.
My congressman voted in favor of this. If the Supreme Court goes very right wing, a lot of Congress's time may be spent legislating to block the agenda of the religious right.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Feast for Crows
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Books
DATE: 11/08/2005 04:29:33 PM
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BODY:
George RR Martin's Feast for Crows has arrived in bookstores and is due to be shelved today or tomorrow. Evidently he had the Book that Would Not Stop on his hands, so he divided his work in two -- Feast for Crows takes place in the north and follows characters who are there. The other half that takes place in the South was split off, and it is a work in progress that parallels the same period as Feast for Crows. It may come out in the spring, or it may take longer.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Real Yellow Elephants?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/09/2005 06:25:41 PM
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BODY:
I started thinking today about how roundly the Brits smacked Tony Blair in his attempt to hold prisoners without charges for a longer time.
And then I thought of the terror litany that underlies the USAPATRIOT act. You know, I'm purely tired of yellow elephants and the intrusive laws they justify in the name of their bogeymen. Especially when said laws are used against drug dealers and prostitutes, and have done nothing to restrain the activities of Al Quaida.
Maybe congress is getting a clue. Today there was a report that instead of rubber stamping USAPATRIOT provisions into the indefinite future, there is a move afoot to restrict some of them once more.
Scardey elephants, whiney elephants -- lots of us are tired of all of them.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Anniversary
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 11/10/2005 07:13:37 PM
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BODY:
Today is the 230th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps.
To my friends in the Corps, and to my friends who have left it but who are still attached, thank you.
And since tomorrow is Veteran's Day, a thank you to all my friends, relatives and acquaintances who have served. You are our shield in time of need. I would see you used sparingly, and only if our lives depend on your gift.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: He Doesn't Get It
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/13/2005 06:44:47 PM
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BODY:
John McCain was quoted as saying that passing the anti-torture amendment was necessary for our image.
Beg to differ -- it seems to be necessary for our national soul since we currently have a vice president whose emphasis seems to be on the "vice" part, and who thinks torture should be policy. Those who argue the "blow up New York" scenario are not dealing with reality. No one pulls tht kind of eleventh-hour, before-the-event capture, requiring heroic torture to save the millions. Such people merely show what kind of fantasy world they live in.
Likewise, I want to see the re-election efforts of those legislators who vote to limit Habeus Corpus: "He voted to put you in jail without representation or charges -- Do you really want to re-elect him?"
That would be good to mail all over every state where someone has voted for the most rotten, unconstitutional piece of crap to be proposed in a long time. But wait! On its heels is the proposal that children born here to non-citizens be stripped of their native born rights, too. Why, when was the last time that so many flatly unconstitutional things were proposed back to back? Do you suppose they are using the document to wrap fish or line birdcages?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dragonet2
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.26.97.216
URL:
DATE: 11/14/2005 09:26:10 PM
Since I'm starting to think the whole administration is smoking more crack than the entire east side of Kansas city, you have a point. 'let's not look for the truth, if someone tells a true thing let's hunt them down and discredit them to pieces!"
Wow. and Yikes! and sigh.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Let Him Not Fool Us Twice
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/15/2005 04:25:24 PM
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BODY:
No matter what the Bush regime suspects -- no matter who they designate as the next enemy -- I hope that no Congress will give him the OK to use his discretion about invading another country.
The only grounds for invading is after we have been directly assaulted. After. Not on suspicion of gas, or germs, or nukes. Not because they are bad people, not because the Bushistas think that knocking over several Middle Eastern countries is the road to a stable world order of some sort. None of their fantasies or lunacies should persuade our representatives to give them any discretion at all. The only legitimate reason to make war on anyone is because they struck the first blow.
Do you think that if I made this simpler, I could convince my senators?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: "Lindsay Graham Is Not Our Friend"
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 11/15/2005 05:00:39 PM
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BODY:
A friend on mine just posted letters to our Senators. Let's look at what she said:
The Constitution lists Habeas Corpus as a right because it is something tyrants despise. Accountability is a cornerstone of our freedoms.
Lindsay Graham is not our friend. He is not a champion of liberty. He wants to destroy the ability of the accused to face their accusers.
A couple of reasons for the French Revolution were the oubliette (Guantanamo) an the Lettre de Cachet ("enemy combatant"). These were the devices of tyrannical kings. Our Constitution is meant to keep that from happening here, and I would personally appreciate it if you would do so.
Just so.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Cynical?
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
DATE: 11/18/2005 05:31:11 PM
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BODY:
Today I started to wonder whether New Orleans has had less clearing effort applied to it than the area hit by the tsunami last December. I was lunching with a friend in law enforcement, and he was telling me about pictures he saw of the devastation that were taken by someone he knew who went to Mississippi to work with FEMA. He said they were still unbelievable.
Bodies in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans? There was evidently no concerted effort to check every single dwelling. I would guess that despite reports, such an effort still has not been organized.
I heard tales of state obstruction by people in power who just seemed to hate whole towns, and who flatly rejected their aid requests until workers couched the requests by -- other names so that the officials didn't realize that those on the bad list were getting help.
There are crazy, malicious people in power all over the place. How do we make it stop?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Thanksgivings
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Food and Drink
DATE: 11/19/2005 12:08:34 PM
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BODY:
Today is the second of three Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, it is good to have gatherings -- but three? Our household is doing two desserts and a side dish for the one today, and the second dessert is baking right now.
The first one was excellent -- and lunch was so filling I had to skip dinner Thursday night. I probably skipped blogging, too -- an overdose of tryptophan will do that. The one today is being held in a church across town.
And the last will be the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day we plan to go out to the nursing home to collect our friend and do dinner in a restaurant. We had many, many years of wonderful gatherings, but age and disability have taken their toll.
So younger people will do a dinner the day after. And I will go to work, even though it would be a good day to sleep.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: An Invitation
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 11/20/2005 04:07:34 PM
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BODY:
Today at Hoffmania I read a very nice invitation to George Bush.
Unlike George Bush, Michael Moore responds to provocation in a gracious and soft-spoken manner. George Bush could do worse than to hire someone who knows Moore's techniques to be his speechwriter. Of course, that would not supply his base with red meat and manly sneers and threats, but it would enable him and Cheney to do "good cop, bad cop", a game impossible to play when everyone (including Condi) is fighting it out to be the bad cop.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dragonet2
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.26.97.216
URL:
DATE: 11/22/2005 11:47:43 PM
And Remember, Shrub doesn't have the brain so he can't play the game. "Tactics? What tactics? I certainly do whatever Mr, Cheney tells me is right." Stupid people can't play games they don't understand. It's no fun.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: I'm Sleeping In
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 11/23/2005 07:09:09 PM
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BODY:
I just saw an awful little offer on the net. Target is offering wake up calls so you can go shopping there at 6 AM on Friday. That's right. Give them your phone number and you, too, can participate in the great sale scramble -- if you have any money this year.
I just don't seem to have any to spare. Not for spending at a place where a pharmacist's little feelings are more important than my doctor's orders.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.28.245
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 11/24/2005 12:17:14 AM
And some people think Philip K. Dick is is is dead.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Here We Go
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 11/24/2005 05:39:25 PM
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BODY:
It has been an interesting Thanksgiving. I went out for lunch with my friends. My roommate has the flu -- either a relapse or a continuation of the evil thing I had Monday, and is still asleep. When I came home I made a pie, and it is baking. Ah, that will improve things at home.
And tomorrow starts the season where I will stay far away from all malls; not that I normally visit them, but staying out of them in November and December has become almost a religion with me. There was a small mall a few miles away that had odd stores, but someone bought it and has evicted almost everyone. They plan to tear it down at the start of next year and remake it as strip-mall property. Just what we need! More retail space! So the only mall I visited with any regularity is about to be history -- so a pox on all of them.
Overpriced, exhausting traps for those who no longer have neighborhoods. Malls are almost a measure of how alien the country has become.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.172.221.156
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 11/25/2005 11:24:21 PM
I so totally share your dislike of malls!
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Over the Counter Stupidity
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 11/26/2005 07:05:49 PM
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BODY:
Oh me oh my. Tom Cruise has purchased an ultrasound machine so he can look at the child he put into the easily-converted Katie Holmes.
I hope that his excessive amateur investigation does not damage the child. No one experiments on unborn children or pregnant women, so there is no data on what might constitute too much exposure to ultrasound. Its dad has obviously had too much exposure to something.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 209.26.26.126
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 11/26/2005 11:09:54 PM
Somewhere I have an ultrasonic device for cleaning jewelry and small parts. Why would anyone believe that causing vibrations in a fluid environment, like the womb, would be a good idea.
Bones haven't hardened so the pressure in the fluid can flex them before they are ready. Shaking babies is not a good idea. Using a device that can polish silver on babies is just not wise.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 66.140.72.211
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 11/27/2005 11:34:57 AM
This is the normal method of doing a sonogram -- but it's usually done once or twice and no more. having your own private machine for fetus-gazing is perverse.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Bryan
EMAIL: bryan@dumka.com
IP: 207.30.162.55
URL: http://wnbld.blogspot.com/
DATE: 11/27/2005 03:09:42 PM
X-rays are often used, but the people who use the equipment wear protective equipment because of the risk involved.
People take courses to learn how to use this equipment safely because there's a danger.
Tools are dangerous in the hands of the untrained. We have more serious injuries from chainsaws after the hurricane passes than from the hurricane itself.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: CmdrSue
EMAIL: cmdrsue@gmail.com
IP: 137.54.145.141
URL: http://cmdrsue.blogpspot.com
DATE: 11/28/2005 04:29:01 PM
Am I the only one to think... maybe there is something Darwinian to be had in all this? And in what way would that be a bad thing...?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Housing
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 11/28/2005 07:39:55 PM
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BODY:
I don't own a house. I watch the person who sits next to me at work, and I think of how close to the edge the house makes his budget. When taxes rose a bit this year he went totally frantic trying to cut other expenses so that he could continue making house payments.
When the property bubble bursts, cities are not going to want to lower assessments on properties that are currently ever-ballooning cash cows. As Clusterfuck Nation mentions today, the cost of heating large houses with two-story foyers and cathedral living rooms is going to get pretty steep -- and these houses are located far out from jobs so their inhabitants have to drive long distances to work. Housing is already sliding slowly, with fewer houses sold in October than anticipated. Once heating bills climb on top of rising mortgage costs, the slide will intensify.
I think I am going to be glad that I do not own a house.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Pudentilla
EMAIL: mimberat@atbatesdot.edu
IP: 72.12.64.75
URL: http://pudentilla.blogspot.com
DATE: 11/29/2005 10:42:30 PM
Here in the chilly land of drafty uninsulated farm houses we wear layers and never set the heat above 60 unless companies coming.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Paula Helm Murray
EMAIL: dragonet@kc.rr.com
IP: 65.26.97.216
URL:
DATE: 12/01/2005 11:39:25 PM
I'm thankful for Seantaclaus because it gives an extra voice of economy (Roh has been known to lose her mind and set the thermostat up to something stupid, then get gobsmacked when the bill gets enlarged -- we pay level pay). two reminding her that we need to watch it (and Dr. P adds to it because his office pretty much stays warm unless it gets Sincerely Cold(tm), like less than 10 deg).
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Media Week
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Film
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Television
DATE: 12/02/2005 06:39:12 PM
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BODY:
This week I went to see the new Harry Potter movie, I saw Pirates of the Carribbean for the first time, and I also saw OutFoxed -- the expose of Fox News techniques that was sponsored by moveon.org.
I wondered, as I watched the latter, how anyone can stand to actually look at Bill O'Reilly for any length of time. And I wonder how it is that no one has flatly called him a rude old man to his face on the air. Never mind. If someone watches his show and then consents to join him, far be it from me to make excuses for any of the participants.
The other two were a deal more pleasant, even with dead creatures, close calls, monsters and madmen. Yes, I'd rather see the mouldering skull of a pirate than Bill O'Reilly. Does that make me his enemy?
Only as I am a patriot and a believer in the first amendment. Bill is corrosive to American values. All his enablers and co-conspirators are likewise corrosive. How we have permitted someone who is not even a citizen to corrupt our political system is one of the sorry tales of recent history.
We need to restore the fairness doctrine. If the Democrats ever get back to a place where they can successfully shepherd legislation through to a conclusion, that is one of the first things that needs to be restored.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: nigress
EMAIL: nigress@hotmail.com
IP: 24.126.195.47
URL: http://nigress.com
DATE: 12/04/2005 06:36:10 PM
My son (29 yrs old) loved to watch O'Reilly during the 2004 campaign, just to feel the rush of righteous contempt. I had to beg him to change the channel. He also enjoys Hannity for the same reason, but that guy could give me a stroke: I hate him even more than O'Reilly.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scorpio
EMAIL: eccentric_00@hotmail.com
IP: 66.140.72.211
URL: http://scorpio.typepad.com/eccentricity/
DATE: 12/04/2005 06:53:50 PM
I can well believe that. Hannity looks like a squashed-and-then-polished thug. :: shudder ::
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Bully Time
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/03/2005 06:40:04 PM
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BODY:
Condi Rice is expected to tell European leaders to back off on US rendering of detainees.
IOKIYAR. This is a lefty web log way of saying It's OK If You Are Republican. It is my sincere hope that Europe will not buy Ms Rice's arguments, and will not be moved by her bullying. Claiming that US use o European airstrips implicates the Europeans in the appalling behavior of the current US government is a kind of blackmail. I don't buy it, and I hope that no European will buy it, either.
I am not sure what disgusting piece of theatre ths adminnistration will try next. This piece should be spit out like the garbage it is.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Ah, CNN
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 12/07/2005 04:35:36 PM
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BODY:
The CNN question of the moment is:
Can Iraq be rebuilt even as the insurgency continues?
Well, the folks who are there and who are responsible for electricity, water and other infrastructure tasks seem unable to get the country in working order. Web logs written there report very spotty service for both. Counting the runny noses of the USA for opinions is not going to change reality on the ground in Iraq.
After all, what difference would it make if every CNN viewer said yes? Or if every viewer said no? Would it make a difference in kilowatt hours? Would it provide safe and fresh water? Would it clean up depleted uranium shells?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Leadership
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
CATEGORY: Religion
DATE: 12/10/2005 01:23:16 PM
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BODY:
It seem that historically, a dying culture is led by someone of the Bush ilk. He may be the signal that the generation after the Greatest has led directly downhill into cultural putrefication.
It is absurd for an all-Republican government to blame Democrats for their problems, their errors, and their corruption. It may be a gift to the country that Denny Hastert wants to delay the reopening of Congress, even though his motive seem to be that he wants DeLay to be reinstated. How he expects Mr. Corruption himself to be speedily declared innocent is one of the wonders of Republican thought, but all of a piece where the Secretary Of State won't even deny that this country now uses torture as one of its means of doing business.
And they think a child, born in a manger, died so that they could do all of this with perfect freedom?
________________________
The scorecard.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Secret Laws
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/12/2005 05:43:06 PM
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BODY:
You know, the term "secret laws" comes really close to being an oxymoron on the order of "I'm from the government -- I'm here to help you."
Secret laws are not made to be obeyed -- they are made to entrap. Reminds me of an old guy at a University housing department who once said to me "We're not going to make a rule out of it, but you can't kill goats in student housing." Yes. A Secret Law of student life.
I suppose that secret laws are just the thing for declaring citizens to be non-persons. Just the thing for jailing them without representation and without charges. Just the *right* thing for sending them offshore for torture. Just the thing for the current administration. It's of a piece with the rest of the destruction of freedom, fairness, and an open society.
It's also the refuge of the insane. I know a guy who pretends he went to VietNam. His wife says he was reachable every night during the entire war, and never got near Asia. He says no one knows because it was "secret". What's secret is that he's a nut case.
That is something that is becoming less secret about the Bush administration. He is a raving bully and a thoroughgoing coward. Secret laws. You people disgust me.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Cory Maye
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Courts
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 12/13/2005 05:22:59 PM
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BODY:
He was asleep when the men burst into his house. They were wearing regular clothes and had guns. He killed one of them. [via Radley Balko]
Unfortunately, they were cops on a no-knock drug bust.
Leave aside that Cory Maye didn't have any drugs. If you were awakened by armed men coming into your bedroom at night and you had a gun, would you shoot at them? I sure would.
Battlepanda is leading the charge to see how many will report this. Corey Maye is on death row for defending his home against an unannounced intrusion. He should not be eligible for the death penalty, even if he shot every darned one of them dead. Unannounced thuggery in the middle of the night is reprehensible, and police should be barred from doing it.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Ford Gets It
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Economics
DATE: 12/14/2005 05:33:19 PM
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BODY:
Fundamentalists of The American Family Association threatened Ford with a boycott if they advertised in gay and lesbian publications. Last week Ford announced that they would stop said advertising -- even though the group that threatened them is notorious for attempting to boycott companies to no effect whatsoever.
And today, Ford got smart and declared that they will continue to advertise.
I am sure that the AFA will be outraged, but since that is their permanent state of being, who cares?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Friday Fun
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Games
DATE: 12/17/2005 12:41:23 AM
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BODY:
You are The Devil
Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession
The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.
Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: And Once More
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/17/2005 05:19:06 PM
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BODY:
Who shall bell the cat?
Who is going to bring charges against the criminal who spends his days sitting in public housing and drawing money from taxes to support him as he breaks the law and specifically violates his oath of office?
The oath is not about "fighting terror" -- it is about supporting the Constitution. Yes, that "piece of paper". Maybe he thought that "execute the office" meant "kill it". So who is going to bring charges? First on the Evil Dick, and then on this parasite on the Federal payroll who is not doing the job he falsely swore he would do?
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Bush: WINO
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/21/2005 05:02:22 PM
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BODY:
The "War on Terror" is a war in name only, and that is how Bush wants it -- as a stalking horse, an excuse to abuse the Constitution and become a tyrant.
He's well over the line into tyranny, and our congress is so spineless that the articles of impeachment have not been drawn up.
It was nice having a free country. Perhaps we'll have one again someday.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Not Jumping
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 12/24/2005 05:21:06 PM
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BODY:
I tend not to jump right on every story where it seems unjust or illegal things are happening. Lately there was a rumor that HS came and talked to a student who allegedly was trying to borrow Mao's Little Red Book on interlibrary loan.
It was a hoax.
I sort of ignored the story because I've seen this book out on the shelves in stores before, and I could not imagine that HS would be so moronic as to care if anyone read it. The words of Mao have little or nothing to do with the overthrow of the US, and almost nothing to do with terrorism, either. It's rather passe in the annals of protest literature.
Sure, there are some people who never get over their youth -- who still think there are hippies, and who think those hippies are out to get them. Strange.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Scaramouche
EMAIL: scaramoucheblog@gmail.com
IP: 66.245.29.148
URL: http://scaramoucheblog.blogspot.com/
DATE: 12/24/2005 10:20:13 PM
Here's the talking point:
"Most people will buy into the the big lie, especially professors."
I remember one of my college teachers explaining how he got taken in by a story (and tears) about a late paper that was lost because a sailboat sank. He vowed that we'd need better stories than that.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Seven Things
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Weblogs
DATE: 12/24/2005 07:43:38 PM
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BODY:
Mark at The Biomes Blog tagged me for this:
Seven things to do before I die:
Try not to run out of money.
Get rid of more stuff.
Possibly get out of the US again.
Keep making friends.
Good stuff.
Better stuff.
Win the lottery, solving #1.
Seven things I cannot do:
Solve a Rubik's Cube.
Be thin.
Run.
Vote Republican.
Like Bush.
Like Cheney.
Like Condi.
Seven reasons why I blog:
So I don't talk back to machines.
Because I have stuff to say.
Because the more people who criticize the criminals in office, the better.
Because the administration infuriates me.
Because if we are all quiet, they win.
Because I don't want to go quietly into a tyranny.
Because if there are millions of us, it will be more difficult for them.
Seven things I say most often:
Stay out of trouble.
I'm not gonna believe that stuff.
Guess what those assholes in the administration did this time?
Hm. What day is this?
How nice for you.
Hi sweetie.
I need to go get a book.
Seven books I love:
Memory (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Paladin of Souls (Bujold)
The Mote in God's Eye (Niven and Pournelle)
People in Quandaries (Wendell Johnson)
The Roots of Modern English (L. M. Myers)
Rethinking Systems Analysis and Design (Gerald Weinberg)
Seven movies that I watch over and over again:
Uh. Sorry, I don't do that.
Seven victims who I pick to continue this meme:
Any seven of you -- have fun!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Donna
EMAIL: dmariemart@aol.com
IP: 67.172.221.156
URL: http://www.wordwhammy.com
DATE: 12/28/2005 10:21:56 AM
Good answers for why you blog.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: Almost a Guarantee
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/28/2005 07:00:24 PM
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BODY:
I can almost guarantee that Hillary won't be among the first to call for impeachment of the incumbents.
She's trying to look "moderate", and although people who are fond of the law, and who respect the Constitution are outraged by the machinations of this administration, people who are already running for re-election or election are ignoring the goings-on. Hillary. McCain. Anyone else who lusts after high office.
I'd definitely campaign against either of those people for the Presidency, because their main stance is for expediency rather than for principle. One could not trust them.
As a matter o9f fact, if Bush gets away with his current crimes it would be pretty nutty to elect either of these folks. MS and PhD. Just what we need.
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: The Reality IS
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
CATEGORY: Politics
DATE: 12/30/2005 04:21:34 PM
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BODY:
that the "Justice Department" should change its name to either the "Persecution Department" or the "Vengeance Department" in light of its latest investigation.
Since when is it justice to investigate those who reveal wrongdoings? Why have charges not been laid against the administration which has been breaking the law for well over a year? Why are those who claimed that the President was not above the law while Clinton was in office suddenly become mute when the law that is being broken is, among other things, that document that they have all sworn to protect?
We will soon find out whether there are any patriots in government -- or only cowards.
And as Laura Ingalls Wilder had one of her characters say: "God hates a coward."
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AUTHOR: Scorpio
TITLE: And Blair Is No Better
CONVERT BREAKS: 0
CATEGORY: Corruption
CATEGORY: Current Affairs
DATE: 12/30/2005 05:32:06 PM
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BODY:
Speaking of criminals, here is the lowdown on the British Uzbekistan torture memos, brought to you by Blairwatch:
Background:
The UK government has been quick to deny that we practice, or tolerate the practice of Torture. So it is perhaps not suprising that they are determined that you should not see the following documents:
http://users.pandora.be/quarsan/craig/telegrams.pdf
http://users.pandora.be/quarsan/craig/npaper.jpg
Craig Murray was the UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, untill his complaints and protest at the use of intelligence gained by torture got too much for Jack Straw and the Foreign Office, who set about attempting to unsuccessfully smear him, and to successfully remove him from office.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3750370.stm
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2005/04/timeline_of_cra.html
I am going to quote them in full here, as in "publish", as requested -- because I don't like this stuff when Saddam does it, or Blair, or Bush -- becoming the thing you fought is unpardonable.
Letter #1
Confidential
FM Tashkent
TO FCO, Cabinet Office, DFID, MODUK, OSCE Posts, Security Council Posts
16 September 02
SUBJECT: US/Uzbekistan: Promoting Terrorism
SUMMARY
US plays down human rights situation in Uzbekistan. A dangerous policy: increasing repression combined with poverty will promote Islamic terrorism. Support to Karimov regime a bankrupt and cynical policy.
DETAIL
The Economist of 7 September states: "Uzbekistan, in particular, has jailed many thousands of moderate Islamists, an excellent way of converting their families and friends to extremism." The Economist also spoke of "the growing despotism of Mr Karimov" and judged that "the past year has seen a further deterioration of an already grim human rights record". I agree.
Between 7,000 and 10,000 political and religious prisoners are currently detained, many after trials before kangaroo courts with no representation. Terrible torture is commonplace: the EU is currently considering a demarche over the terrible case of two Muslims tortured to death in jail apparently with boiling water. Two leading dissidents, Elena Urlaeva and Larissa Vdovna, were two weeks ago committed to a lunatic asylum, where they are being drugged, for demonstrating on human rights. Opposition political parties remain banned. There is no doubt that September 11 gave the pretext to crack down still harder on dissent under the guise of counter-terrorism.
Yet on 8 September the US State Department certified that Uzbekistan was improving in both human rights and democracy, thus fulfilling a constitutional requirement and allowing the continuing disbursement of $140 million of US aid to Uzbekistan this year. Human Rights Watch immediately published a commendably sober and balanced rebuttal of the State Department claim.
Again we are back in the area of the US accepting sham reform [a reference to my previous telegram on the economy]. In August media censorship was abolished, and theoretically there are independent media outlets, but in practice there is absolutely no criticism of President Karimov or the central government in any Uzbek media. State Department call this self-censorship: I am not sure that is a fair way to describe an unwillingness to experience the brutal methods of the security services.
Similarly, following US pressure when Karimov visited Washington, a human rights NGO has been permitted to register. This is an advance, but they have little impact given that no media are prepared to cover any of their activities or carry any of their statements.
The final improvement State quote is that in one case of murder of a prisoner the police involved have been prosecuted. That is an improvement, but again related to the Karimov visit and does not appear to presage a general change of policy. On the latest cases of torture deaths the Uzbeks have given the OSCE an incredible explanation, given the nature of the injuries, that the victims died in a fight between prisoners.
But allowing a single NGO, a token prosecution of police officers and a fake press freedom cannot possibly outweigh the huge scale of detentions, the torture and the secret executions. President Karimov has admitted to 100 executions a year but human rights groups believe there are more. Added to this, all opposition parties remain banned (the President got a 98% vote) and the Internet is strictly controlled. All Internet providers must go through a single government server and access is barred to many sites including all dissident and opposition sites and much international media (including, ironically, waronterrorism.com). This is in essence still a totalitarian state: there is far less freedom than still prevails, for example, in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. A Movement for Democratic Change or any judicial independence would be impossible here.
Karimov is a dictator who is committed to neither political nor economic reform. The purpose of his regime is not the development of his country but the diversion of economic rent to his oligarchic supporters through government controls. As a senior Uzbek academic told me privately, there is more repression here now than in Brezhnev's time. The US are trying to prop up Karimov economically and to justify this support they need to claim that a process of economic and political reform is underway. That they do so claim is either cynicism or self-delusion.
This policy is doomed to failure. Karimov is driving this resource-rich country towards economic ruin like an Abacha. And the policy of increasing repression aimed indiscriminately at pious Muslims, combined with a deepening poverty, is the most certain way to ensure continuing support for the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. They have certainly been decimated and disorganised in Afghanistan, and Karimov's repression may keep the lid on for years â€" but pressure is building and could ultimately explode.
I quite understand the interest of the US in strategic airbases and why they back Karimov, but I believe US policy is misconceived. In the short term it may help fight terrorism but in the medium term it will promote it, as the Economist points out. And it can never be right to lower our standards on human rights. There is a complex situation in Central Asia and it is wrong to look at it only through a prism picked up on September 12. Worst of all is what appears to be the philosophy underlying the current US view of Uzbekistan: that September 11 divided the World into two camps in the "War against Terrorism" and that Karimov is on "our" side.
If Karimov is on "our" side, then this war cannot be simply between the forces of good and evil. It must be about more complex things, like securing the long-term US military presence in Uzbekistan. I silently wept at the 11 September commemoration here. The right words on New York have all been said. But last week was also another anniversary â€" the US-led overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile. The subsequent dictatorship killed, dare I say it, rather more people than died on September 11. Should we not remember then also, and learn from that too? I fear that we are heading down the same path of US-sponsored dictatorship here. It is ironic that the beneficiary is perhaps the most unreformed of the World's old communist leaders.
We need to think much more deeply about Central Asia. It is easy to place Uzbekistan in the "too difficult" tray and let the US run with it, but I think they are running in the wrong direction. We should tell them of the dangers we see. Our policy is theoretically one of engagement, but in practice this has not meant much. Engagement makes sense, but it must mean grappling with the problems, not mute collaboration. We need to start actively to state a distinctive position on democracy and human rights, and press for a realistic view to be taken in the IMF. We should continue to resist pressures to start a bilateral DFID programme, unless channelled non-governmentally, and not restore ECGD cover despite the constant lobbying. We should not invite Karimov to the UK. We should step up our public diplomacy effort, stressing democratic values, including more resources from the British Council. We should increase support to human rights activists, and strive for contact with non-official Islamic groups.
Above all we need to care about the 22 million Uzbek people, suffering from poverty and lack of freedom. They are not just pawns in the new Great Game.
MURRAY
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Letter #2
Confidential
Fm Tashkent
To FCO
18 March 2003
SUBJECT: US FOREIGN POLICY
SUMMARY
1. As seen from Tashkent, US policy is not much focussed on democracy or freedom. It is about oil, gas and hegemony. In Uzbekistan the US pursues those ends through supporting a ruthless dictatorship. We must not close our eyes to uncomfortable truth.
DETAIL
2. Last year the US gave half a billion dollars in aid to Uzbekistan, about a quarter of it military aid. Bush and Powell repeatedly hail Karimov as a friend and ally. Yet this regime has at least seven thousand prisoners of conscience; it is a one party state without freedom of speech, without freedom of media, without freedom of movement, without freedom of assembly, without freedom of religion. It practices, systematically, the most hideous tortures on thousands. Most of the population live in conditions precisely analogous with medieval serfdom.
3. Uzbekistan's geo-strategic position is crucial. It has half the population of the whole of Central Asia. It alone borders all the other states in a region which is important to future Western oil and gas supplies. It is the regional military power. That is why the US is here, and here to stay. Contractors at the US military bases are extending the design life of the buildings from ten to twenty five years.
4. Democracy and human rights are, despite their protestations to the contrary, in practice a long way down the US agenda here. Aid this year will be slightly less, but there is no intention to introduce any meaningful conditionality. Nobody can believe this level of aid â€" more than US aid to all of West Africa â€" is related to comparative developmental need as opposed to political support for Karimov. While the US makes token and low-level references to human rights to appease domestic opinion, they view Karimov's vicious regime as a bastion against fundamentalism. He â€" and they â€" are in fact creating fundamentalism. When the US gives this much support to a regime that tortures people to death for having a beard or praying five times a day, is it any surprise that Muslims come to hate the West?
5. I was stunned to hear that the US had pressured the EU to withdraw a motion on Human Rights in Uzbekistan which the EU was tabling at the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. I was most unhappy to find that we are helping the US in what I can only call this cover-up. I am saddened when the US constantly quote fake improvements in human rights in Uzbekistan, such as the abolition of censorship and Internet freedom, which quite simply have not happened (I see these are quoted in the draft EBRD strategy for Uzbekistan, again I understand at American urging).
6. From Tashkent it is difficult to agree that we and the US are activated by shared values. Here we have a brutal US sponsored dictatorship reminiscent of Central and South American policy under previous US Republican administrations. I watched George Bush talk today of Iraq and "dismantling the apparatus of terror… removing the torture chambers and the rape rooms". Yet when it comes to the Karimov regime, systematic torture and rape appear to be treated as peccadilloes, not to affect the relationship and to be downplayed in international fora. Double standards? Yes.
7. I hope that once the present crisis is over we will make plain to the US, at senior level, our serious concern over their policy in Uzbekistan.
MURRAY
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Letter #3
CONFIDENTIAL
FM TASHKENT
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 63
OF 220939 JULY 04
INFO IMMEDIATE DFID, ISLAMIC POSTS, MOD, OSCE POSTS UKDEL EBRD LONDON, UKMIS GENEVA, UKMIS MEW YORK
SUBJECT: RECEIPT OF INTELLIGENCE OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE
SUMMARY
1. We receive intelligence obtained under torture from the Uzbek intelligence services, via the US. We should stop. It is bad information anyway. Tortured dupes are forced to sign up to confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the US and UK to believe, that they and we are fighting the same war against terror.
2. I gather a recent London interdepartmental meeting considered the question and decided to continue to receive the material. This is morally, legally and practically wrong. It exposes as hypocritical our post Abu Ghraib pronouncements and fatally undermines our moral standing. It obviates my efforts to get the Uzbek government to stop torture they are fully aware our intelligence community laps up the results.
3. We should cease all co-operation with the Uzbek Security Services they are beyond the pale. We indeed need to establish an SIS presence here, but not as in a friendly state.
DETAIL
4. In the period December 2002 to March 2003 I raised several times the issue of intelligence material from the Uzbek security services which was obtained under torture and passed to us via the CIA. I queried the legality, efficacy and morality of the practice.
5. I was summoned to the UK for a meeting on 8 March 2003. Michael Wood gave his legal opinion that it was not illegal to obtain and to use intelligence acquired by torture. He said the only legal limitation on its use was that it could not be used in legal proceedings, under Article 15 of the UN Convention on Torture.
6. On behalf of the intelligence services, Matthew Kydd said that they found some of the material very useful indeed with a direct bearing on the war on terror. Linda Duffield said that she had been asked to assure me that my qualms of conscience were respected and understood.
7. Sir Michael Jay's circular of 26 May stated that there was a reporting obligation on us to report torture by allies (and I have been instructed to refer to Uzbekistan as such in the context of the war on terror). You, Sir, have made a number of striking, and I believe heartfelt, condemnations of torture in the last few weeks. I had in the light of this decided to return to this question and to highlight an apparent contradiction in our policy. I had intimated as much to the Head of Eastern Department.
8. I was therefore somewhat surprised to hear that without informing me of the meeting, or since informing me of the result of the meeting, a meeting was convened in the FCO at the level of Heads of Department and above, precisely to consider the question of the receipt of Uzbek intelligence material obtained under torture. As the office knew, I was in London at the time and perfectly able to attend the meeting. I still have only gleaned that it happened.
9. I understand that the meeting decided to continue to obtain the Uzbek torture material. I understand that the principal argument deployed was that the intelligence material disguises the precise source, ie it does not ordinarily reveal the name of the individual who is tortured. Indeed this is true â€" the material is marked with a euphemism such as "From detainee debriefing." The argument runs that if the individual is not named, we cannot prove that he was tortured.
10. I will not attempt to hide my utter contempt for such casuistry, nor my shame that I work in and organisation where colleagues would resort to it to justify torture. I have dealt with hundreds of individual cases of political or religious prisoners in Uzbekistan, and I have met with very few where torture, as defined in the UN convention, was not employed. When my then DHM raised the question with the CIA head of station 15 months ago, he readily acknowledged torture was deployed in obtaining intelligence. I do not think there is any doubt as to the fact
11. The torture record of the Uzbek security services could hardly be more widely known. Plainly there are, at the very least, reasonable grounds for believing the material is obtained under torture. There is helpful guidance at Article 3 of the UN Convention;
"The competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the state concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights." While this article forbids extradition or deportation to Uzbekistan, it is the right test for the present question also.
12. On the usefulness of the material obtained, this is irrelevant. Article 2 of the Convention, to which we are a party, could not be plainer:
"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
13. Nonetheless, I repeat that this material is useless â€" we are selling our souls for dross. It is in fact positively harmful. It is designed to give the message the Uzbeks want the West to hear. It exaggerates the role, size, organisation and activity of the IMU and its links with Al Qaida. The aim is to convince the West that the Uzbeks are a vital cog against a common foe, that they should keep the assistance, especially military assistance, coming, and that they should mute the international criticism on human rights and economic reform.
14. I was taken aback when Matthew Kydd said this stuff was valuable. Sixteen months ago it was difficult to argue with SIS in the area of intelligence assessment. But post Butler we know, not only that they can get it wrong on even the most vital and high profile issues, but that they have a particular yen for highly coloured material which exaggerates the threat. That is precisely what the Uzbeks give them. Furthermore MI6 have no operative within a thousand miles of me and certainly no expertise that can come close to my own in making this assessment.
15. At the Khuderbegainov trial I met an old man from Andizhan. Two of his children had been tortured in front of him until he signed a confession on the family's links with Bin Laden. Tears were streaming down his face. I have no doubt they had as much connection with Bin Laden as I do. This is the standard of the Uzbek intelligence services.
16. I have been considering Michael Wood's legal view, which he kindly gave in writing. I cannot understand why Michael concentrated only on Article 15 of the Convention. This certainly bans the use of material obtained under torture as evidence in proceedings, but it does not state that this is the sole exclusion of the use of such material.
17. The relevant article seems to me Article 4, which talks of complicity in torture. Knowingly to receive its results appears to be at least arguable as complicity. It does not appear that being in a different country to the actual torture would preclude complicity. I talked this over in a hypothetical sense with my old friend Prof Francois Hampson, I believe an acknowledged World authority on the Convention, who said that the complicity argument and the spirit of the Convention would be likely to be winning points. I should be grateful to hear Michael's views on this.
18. It seems to me that there are degrees of complicity and guilt, but being at one or two removes does not make us blameless. There are other factors. Plainly it was a breach of Article 3 of the Convention for the coalition to deport detainees back here from Baghram, but it has been done. That seems plainly complicit.
19. This is a difficult and dangerous part of the World. Dire and increasing poverty and harsh repression are undoubtedly turning young people here towards radical Islam. The Uzbek government are thus creating this threat, and perceived US support for Karimov strengthens anti-Western feeling. SIS ought to establish a presence here, but not as partners of the Uzbek Security Services, whose sheer brutality puts them beyond the pale.
MURRAY
Second Document - summary of legal opinion from Michael Wood arguing that it is legal to use information extracted under torture:
From: Michael Wood, Legal Advisor
Date: 13 March 2003
CC: PS/PUS; Matthew Kidd, WLD
Linda Duffield
UZBEKISTAN: INTELLIGENCE POSSIBLY OBTAINED UNDER TORTURE
1. Your record of our meeting with HMA Tashkent recorded that Craig had said that his understanding was that it was also an offence under the UN Convention on Torture to receive or possess information under torture. I said that I did not believe that this was the case, but undertook to re-read the Convention.
2. I have done so. There is nothing in the Convention to this effect. The nearest thing is article 15 which provides:
"Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made."
3. This does not create any offence. I would expect that under UK law any statement established to have been made as a result of torture would not be admissible as evidence.
[signed]
M C Wood
Legal Adviser
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