Can't --- Resist ---

[crosspost Medley]

Sounds of Silence

Articles of Impeachment against Dick Cheney were presented to Congress last week by Dennis Kucinich.

"Echos in the well
of silence."

[via Fightin' Cock Flyer]

Monsters

The US government at its highest level is staffed with lying monsters.

This time it is Karen Hughes.

The Messenger

I just read Digby on Truth's Consequences. It contains a speech that Ashleigh Banfield gave at Kansas State University. In the aftermath of that speech, she was no longer a foreign correspondent, or any sort of news reporter.

Breaking network omerta results in becoming a professional nonentity.

So. Is it the producers? The advertisers?

Who is degrading the "news"?

We know who beat the war drums as messengers. Who made the policies? Who outlined the lockstep?

One commenter wondered of Olberman could or would report on this. I suspect not. It's one thing to criticize the administration, even extremely. It is quite another thing to point out that the news media are corrupt. Even for Keith Olberman, that would be biting the hand that feeds him.

[via Eschaton]

His New Thing

Over at the Whatever, John Scalzi is taking his first-ever vacation from the news.

He is on a book tour. A few days ago he noticed that on his first tour day, he had no time at all to listen to news or read any. He polled his blog readers: should he continue to ignore news while on his book tour?

The answers (including mine) were an overwhelming "yes". Most of his readers go to conventions that last ten days to two weeks including travel time, and most of them have had a news-free experience during one or more of those vacations.

It's interesting to go without news, and to experience the process of hooking back in after the vacation is over.

More Fraud

Gordon at Alternate Brain is doing some heavy voter fraud posting.

As soon as the polls closed in 2004 I declared that FL and OH would, through fraud, put Bush over the top. Looks like the scum in the Ohio pond is getting visible -- finally.

Auuuugh!

I'm already burned out on everyone who is running for office. Clinton, Guliani, Obama, MCCain, Edwards, Brownback -- I don't really want to hear another word from any of them. Maybe ever.

Every current event gets an entire raft of campaign statements. Then the fighting starts.

I think I am going to join Mimus and declare this a No Campaign Zone until a year from now.

Evil Tease

I read two articles yesterday about the fossilized rainforest that has been found in a coal mine in Illinois.

The evil tease is that both articles referred to one picture, and only one.

I want more! Dozens more!!

Old Cliches

"Never chalk up to malice what can easily be explained by stupidity."

Is that why so many characterize Bush as slow? Because they do not want to think he acts on purpose?

I don't misunderesitmate* him. I honestly think that if Congress tries to impose a deadline on the administration, that it would either be ignored (Abu Ghraib picture method of dealing) or that the administration would take Congress to court over what duties the Constitutionally outlined role of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces gives the President in terms of a free hand.

With the current Supreme Court, do you want to take bets on how such a decision would fall out?

________________
*joke

Others

I certainly hope that all of you have been reading things off my sidebar this week.

I have been thinking a lot, but not expressing myself online. The things I might say about the Supreme Court Justices going on a hunting trip with Cheney might suggest that I am still annoyed with the state of the world. Gosh, I do wish Big Dick would plan an outing. Nino hasn't been reported as going out with Dick for way too long.

And then there is Gonzales. My favorite news item mentioned that there was a man with USMC tattoos with a sign protesting the Iraq war -- but after a few hours of Alberto's testimony he made two signs, one with "I don't remember" and a second with tick marks by five counting Gonzales's repeat of that phrase. I love Marines.

See? Back to thinking.

Hear Hear!

Teresa Neilsen Hayden has links to two graphics today. One is a Moderator Certificate:




The other link is to a Moderator Seal. I tend to agree with her. The world will not return to civility until the uncivil are firmly trounced.

[crosspost to the Medley]

Web Scam

The IRS says there are scammers who have intercepted the tax returns of people who think they filed online, and redirected the refunds into their own accounts as they file the stolen returns with the IRS.

How? Imitation web sites that offer free filing are sent to people with a link -- and the link takes the victim to a web site that looks like a real IRS site, but actually leads to a place that the scammers can take the information.

The way you avoid getting scammed? Never, never, never click on a e-mail link that will be recording any personal information. If you want to file free, use Google, find the IRS web site, and start there. Do not use the tempting link in e-mail. Just don't.

So

Disclaimer: I own a gun and I know how to use it.

President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia. "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

There are laws against shooting people. If all people followed laws, why would one need to bear arms? The president wouldn't understand a logical fallacy if it smacked him in the chops.

Someone bearing arms might have shot the gunman -- or might have hit more bystanders. Someone shooting the gunman would also have been disobeying the law 1) for being armed on campus 2) for shooting someone. Oh, such a person might have been commended for stopping something bad --yet even a cop would have been put on leave and investigated for it, and likely said helpful-shooter might end up as a defendant in court. There is a high chance that such a Samaritan might end up doing life in prison. Witness the case of Cory Maye, who is spending the rest of his life in jail for shooting the armed people who broke into his home.

Today the "arm everyone" morons are in full cry. Go read Radley Balko's The Agitator before you join them.

Lightening Up

It is the weekend, and I have been amusing myself by looking at e-Bay auctions. I don't know which terminology cracks me up the most "Goth Celtic" or "Hippie Goth Boho" -- talk about taking your adjectives out of a hat for clothing items!

e-Bay may be the only remaining venue that uses "hippie" as a constant adjective. I thought that a guy I knew who used the word in the 1980's was evading the real world -- the people who write these headlines are living in an alternate universe. There are no hippies left. None. Most of them grew 0lder, moved from the communes, and got jobs in Corporate America.

The only thing that might bring communes back with a vengeance is the graying of the Boomers. A lot of folks are going to find themselves on very reduced incomes very soon, and sharing utilities and vehicles is one of the few ways to really reduce outlay.

Freedom of Speech

"Freedom of speech" has to do with governmental suppression, not with some philosophical "freedom" that allows all comers the right to spew anything they want.

Just try to do a liberal show on Fox, if you think there really is "freedom of speech".

Imus found out that advertising dollars rule. Just how naive was he, anyway?

It seems that if someone gets away with something once, twice, dozens of times, that there is an expectation that said person has the *right* to get away with whatever-it-is. Serial killers just go on. Thieves just go on. Drug dealers just go on. Racist hatemongers just go on.

Until caught -- or caught out. There is no inalienable right to call women whores. None. There is no inalienable right to pick on the color of skin someone has, to pick on where he or his parents were born, to pick on his size, or his limp, or his reluctance to punch another guy out.

Bullies do that kind of thing. Some people are really well-paid bullies, too. This one has just been cut off at the funds, where it hurts, and where it counted. Aw.

**************

And to the anonymous ***k who commented -- oh yes I can.

And on the Left

We could live without "Bitchez!", too.

It started with Atrios commenting on Bush and the goal of a manned mission to Mars. For about five minutes it was mildly amusing. Then it got old. Now it's all over, and not at all either funny or cute. I've seen it on TBogg, on Shakesville. It's a Lefty thing and it still uses a term for denigrating females.

Can't you pricks cut it out?

Inaccurate

An Associated Press story on MSNBC online stated:

Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern departed for satellite radio. The program is worth about $15 million in annual revenue to CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station WFAN-AM and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show across the country.

But that isn't accurate any more. Earlier the story even stated:

...outrage continued to grow and advertisers bolted from his CBS radio show and its MSNBC simulcast.

When advertisers bolt, the "worth" drops drastically -- as well it should have. So it is particularly disingenuous on the part of AP to hold that "worth" at the level it was before the storm of protest.

I think the sexist part of the remarks offended me even more than the racial parts. This "ho" shit has got to go. It isn't cool, and it's indecent. What if women started referring to guys as "pricks" in all public venues? Would that be cool?

Another Great Gone

Kurt Vonnegut died today. I read so many of his works over the years.

Among his writing were some fine short stories. While most memories will contain the titles of his novels, I am always going to remember "Harrison Bergeron", "Welcome to the Monkey House", and "Report on the Barnhouse Effect." I wish he'd done more short fiction.

So it goes.

Iran Could Be

Iran could be training commandos to takeover the ISS!!

Iran could be enriching uranium for dirty roadside bombs!

Iran could be planning to blow up oil tankers!

Iran could be raising the anti-Christ in a madrassa!

Iran could be Bush's bogeyman, the new war-drum villian.

***************
Note: AP/MSNBC's headline has changed. It previously read "Iran may be Helping Iraqis Build Bombs". I took a screen print of the original :)

Thankless Job

Bush is trying to find a general willing to oversee both wars. Generals so far have not been ready to hop right into Bush's mess. Three have declined to take the job.

Actually, any intelligent general will shun this unless Bush has (or wants) a plan to withdraw from Iraq. Iraq is eating the military alive. It has run the Army, the Reserves and the National Guard into rags; and it has had a notably deleterious effect upon the USMC as well.

Who would be deluded enough to take this job?

Tips

I was reading the money-saving tips on Kos by Kath25 that Mark at The Biomes Blog mentioned. I read along, and realized that the trick of putting a brick in the toilet tank was sort of a waste of bricks.

I save jars. One empty Prego sauce jar, washed well, sits in my toilet tank, open side up. It works just as well as a brick, and I did not have to go to any effort to find it.

With an ice chipper or a blender, I whip frozen coffee cubes into slush, and add Splenda and milk for a drink that Starbucks charges lots of money to serve. I make trail mix from Best Choice granola cereal with raisins, adding dried cranberries, carob chips, and almonds. I make my own fried rice.

I'm on a budget because I've been unemployed most of a year. It is a tight budget, but I'm still managing to get along.

Hilarious

The person who made the comment about Midwest Airlines paid me a visit from ... guess which ISP? The link may not work for long -- it depends on Sitemeter.



I'll try to get a picture of it, but take it from me, the ISP belongs to Midwest Airlines [IP Address 12.145.174.# (MIDWEST EXPRESS AIRLINES)]. I guess someone stands to make a lot of money out of the hostile takeover, and they resent my opinion heartily.

Gods, that makes me laugh.

Comments

Comments may now take a bit of time to appear, because I've started getting comment spam, and this way I can filter it instead of having to go back and delete stuff.

Wheat Gluten

Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. Ltd. has been cited as the company that provided wheat gluten to the pet food producers whose products have killed cats and dogs. If you run the company name through Google, the page for the United Kingdom is still listing Wheat Gluten. The US page has been removed or changed.

Sadly, No! has the take on the likelihood of the FDA taking any steps to check the human food supply.

The Problem With Funding

The problem with allocating funds supposedly for Iraq is that the Executive Branch can't be trusted to spend the money to take care of the troops, to use the money solely for Iraq, or to oversee contractors so that the money is not spent for sailboat fuel or for mercenaries posing as guards.

Other than that, is there a problem?

Since when have veteran's benefits been "strings"?

Wouldn't it be great if the next round included and equal allotment to use for interest free loans for individuals to use in rebuilding New Orleans?

Ugly News

AirTran Airways is trying to eat Midwest. This is bad, maybe worse than bad.

AirTran is such a crappy airline it does not even have luggage forwarding agreements with major airlines, so if you have to connect to an AirTran flight, you have to claim your baggage and then get it searched again when you check in to your AirTran Flight.

Midwest, on the other hand, is the last airline operating domestically that still feeds passengers real food with real forks and spoons (the knives went after 9/11, alas). Midwest is almost the best airline operating in the US, and AirTran is possibly the worst.

Why is it that the crapful airlines eat and deface the best?

Rule of Law

Today, Avedon Carol at The Sideshow has items relating to the necessary task ahead -- restoring the rule of law in the United States.

Restoring the rule of law is only part of the job. Other parts should include a Constitutional amendment explicitly forbidding the acts that led to its erosion in the first place.

Inventing language to circumvent the Geneva Conventions certainly falls under "high crimes and misdemeanors" in my book. Equally horrible is the fact that the guidelines for the military have been stripped of rules that enforce the Geneva Conventions.

Stopping Congress from changing judicial nominating criteria every time the political balance in Congress changes would be a Good Thing.

It would also help if the Attorney General was someone who knew how to read -- and someone who was not spending all his time reinforcing a corrupt and cynical Executive. I surely hope that something takes these criminals down -- and if necessary, let rendition to a country with more guts than the USA be the vehicle that puts them away for their crimes. Germany would do very nicely -- they could use Nuremberg rules and lock up the war criminals.

Heating Up

There are certainly a *lot* of earthquakes happening, especially on the Pacific rim. The usual week shows 135 - 145 earthquakes. This week there are 220, and the numbers have been high for several days.

All the really big ones have been on the far side of the Pacific from us, but that is unlikely to continue. Tectonic balance is going to be affected by increasing water weight. We're going to be in for a rough ride.