I wonder...how do folks who subscribe to the "Culture of Life" paradigm reconcile someone like Eric Robert Rudolph?
Slice:
"Because I believe that abortion is murder, I also believe that force is justified and in an attempt to stop it."
"Practiced by consenting adults within the confines of their own private lives, homosexuality is not a threat to society. Those consenting adults practicing this behavior in privacy should not be hassled by a society which respects the sanctity of private sexual life. But when the attempt is made to drag this practice out of the closet and into the public square in an "in your face" attempt to force society to accept and recognize this behavior as being just as legitimate and normal as the natural man/woman relationship, every effort should be made, including force if necessary, to halt this effort."
"The plan that I finally settled upon was to use five low-tech timed explosives to be placed one at a time on successive days throughout the Olympic schedule, each preceded by a forty to fifty minute warning given to 911. The location and the time of detonation was to be given, and the intent was to thereby clear each of the areas, leaving only uniformed arms-carrying government personnel exposed to potential injury."
"After the disaster at Centennial Park, I resolved to improve my devices and focus the blasts upon a very narrow target. Toward this end I acquired a quantity of high explosives (dynamite). I shaped the charges in order to minimize the potential range of their destruction. However, I was still using clock timers which put the detonation outside of my control, thus leaving room for the same kind of disaster that occurred at the Park."
"Two attacks were carried out in the winter of 1997. The first in January was an abortion mill (Northside Family Planning). The second was a homosexual establishment (The Otherside Lounge). The abortion mill was closed that day but occasionally there was staff on hand to clean their blood-stained equipment, and these minions and the facility itself were the targets of the first device. The second device placed at the scene was designed to target agents of the Washington government."
"Despite the inherent dangers involved in timed devices, all of these devices used in both of these assaults functioned within the parameters of the plan, and I make no apologies."
"I really do not understand the psychological process that goes into the making of an abortion mill worker. "
"And now after the agreement has been signed the talking heads on the news opine that I am "finished," that I will "languish broken and unloved in the bowels of some supermax," and but I say to you people that by the by the grace of God I am still here — a little bloodied, but emphatically unbowed."
End slices:
Perhaps Rudolph should have looked more internally at the elevation of his own muderous intent and fixed that first?
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Bully Pulpit Promotes Bullies
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised about Bolton's pending confirmation for our rep to the UN. It smacks of the typical cronyism that has taken on mythic proportions in the W, Rove and Co.
Slice:
The longer John Bolton's Senate hearing for the post of United Nations representative went on, the more outrageous it seemed that President Bush could have nominated a man who had made withering disdain for that world body the signature of his career in international affairs. Some fear that the aim is to scuttle the United Nations. It's more likely, but just as disturbing, that this is another example of Mr. Bush's rewarding loyalty rather than holding officials accountable for mistakes, especially those who helped build the case for war with Iraq.
Slice:
The longer John Bolton's Senate hearing for the post of United Nations representative went on, the more outrageous it seemed that President Bush could have nominated a man who had made withering disdain for that world body the signature of his career in international affairs. Some fear that the aim is to scuttle the United Nations. It's more likely, but just as disturbing, that this is another example of Mr. Bush's rewarding loyalty rather than holding officials accountable for mistakes, especially those who helped build the case for war with Iraq.
Whatever the explanation, the hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee only added reasons for denying the job to Mr. Bolton. It turned up a third incident (we already knew of two) in which Mr. Bolton tried to have an intelligence analyst punished for stopping him from making false claims about a weapons program in another nation, notably Cuba. Trying to tailor intelligence is enough to disqualify Mr. Bolton from this job. But the hearings also provided a detailed indictment of his views on the U.N., multilateral diplomacy and treaties.
...Some of Mr. Bolton's Republican allies tried the "no harm, no foul" ploy, saying his misbehavior shouldn't count because he had ended up giving an accurate speech. Others said the issue was just a question of management style. But they are wrong. With America's credibility as low as it is, the last thing the nation needs is a United Nations envoy who tries to force intelligence into an ideological construct.
End Slice:
The bigger question for us should be was Bolton a source for the WMD scare mongering about Iraq?
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Two Quotes
I'm a fan of clicking to an Email's bottom to witness the interesting things people value as stipulated in a person's signature tag. If it is worthy of putting at the close of every email you send, that's saying something.
I'm also big on clicking to read a blogger's first post. If s/he can't say something profound in his/her first post, then perhaps the rest of the blog is not worthy of attention going forward. That said, in juxtaposition, the difference between a person's first and most recent post is also a good indicator of improvement.
Here are two quotes from a email signature I recieved the other day:
"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand---melting like a snowflake." ---Marie Beyon Ray
"Time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician!"
Two quotes deserve two questions:
1) Do you have a favorite signature tag quote? Share, if so.
2) Do you have a favorite first blog post? Give us the link so we can follow it.
I'm also big on clicking to read a blogger's first post. If s/he can't say something profound in his/her first post, then perhaps the rest of the blog is not worthy of attention going forward. That said, in juxtaposition, the difference between a person's first and most recent post is also a good indicator of improvement.
Here are two quotes from a email signature I recieved the other day:
"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand---melting like a snowflake." ---Marie Beyon Ray
"Time is a great healer, but a lousy beautician!"
Two quotes deserve two questions:
1) Do you have a favorite signature tag quote? Share, if so.
2) Do you have a favorite first blog post? Give us the link so we can follow it.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Street Protests are Folly for the Disenfranchised
I had another one of those moments - surfing different blogs and came up with a comment that would be a suitable post. Check out Moxie Grrrll for a post relating a interview with someone who was posted at Abu Ghrab for a bit.
Here's my comment:
Thanks for the update. I hadn't seen the interview, but frankly, I am not surprised in any way. The atrocities of the actions of war criminals are always hienous. But if those folks happen to be on the winning side, they never get prosocuted for their crimes.
As to the disaffected youth, make that all of placated, plump, supersized America. The folks who protested the Vietnam Conflict are still alive, but they remain silent.
The downside is that protest really doesn't work. If we all really didn't believe in the work of W, Rove and Co. we would just simply not send in our taxes. Or just staple our tax returns together with short note to the President saying, "Dear Mr. Bush. Don't use my tax money to kill innocent Iraqi citizens. Thank you."
That aught to snarl up the works a bit.
Here's my comment:
Thanks for the update. I hadn't seen the interview, but frankly, I am not surprised in any way. The atrocities of the actions of war criminals are always hienous. But if those folks happen to be on the winning side, they never get prosocuted for their crimes.
As to the disaffected youth, make that all of placated, plump, supersized America. The folks who protested the Vietnam Conflict are still alive, but they remain silent.
The downside is that protest really doesn't work. If we all really didn't believe in the work of W, Rove and Co. we would just simply not send in our taxes. Or just staple our tax returns together with short note to the President saying, "Dear Mr. Bush. Don't use my tax money to kill innocent Iraqi citizens. Thank you."
That aught to snarl up the works a bit.
Revolutionary Movements
These words by James Connolly (1907) are painted on the wall of the Starry Plough in Berkeley California:
No revolutionary movement is
complete with out its poetic
expression. If such a movement
has caught hold of the
imagination of the masses,
they will seek a vent in song
for the aspirations, fears, and
hopes, the loves and hatreds
engendered by the struggle.
Until the movement is marked
by the joyous, defiant singing
of revolutionary songs, it lacks
one of the most distinctive
marks of a popular revolutionary
movement; it is the dogma of the few
and not the faith of the multitude
complete with out its poetic
expression. If such a movement
has caught hold of the
imagination of the masses,
they will seek a vent in song
for the aspirations, fears, and
hopes, the loves and hatreds
engendered by the struggle.
Until the movement is marked
by the joyous, defiant singing
of revolutionary songs, it lacks
one of the most distinctive
marks of a popular revolutionary
movement; it is the dogma of the few
and not the faith of the multitude
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Mean Kids
Interesting question from my three year old son: "Daddy, why are some kids mean?"
Anyone have a good reply?
Anyone have a good reply?
Judicial Supremacy?
Is "Judicial Supremacy" the new form of bigotry (Like White Supremacy)? DeLay must be preparing the courts for when he is brought to trial for his malfeasance.
Slice:
"Judicial independence does not equal judicial supremacy," DeLay (R-Texas) said Thursday. Congress, instead of just complaining about federal courts that "run amok" in defending the right to abortion and banning school prayer, must set limits and "make sure the judges administer their responsibilities," he said, according to a report Friday in the New York Times.
He spoke by video to a conference titled "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith." Its sponsor was the Traditional Values Coalition, social-issue reactionaries who back legislation to restrict federal courts from ruling on anything involving God or basing any rulings on the precedents of foreign courts (for instance, in death penalty cases). Its so-called Constitutional Restoration Act is sponsored in Congress by Sens. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), Zell Miller (D-Ga.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.).
...Judicial independence is one of this nation's distinguishing traits and a hallmark of our constitutional scheme. To endure, our democracy requires that legislators respect the independence of the judiciary, even when it comes to decisions they don't like.
End slice:
By the way, the Constitution needs "Restoration" like marriage needs "protecting."
Slice:
"Judicial independence does not equal judicial supremacy," DeLay (R-Texas) said Thursday. Congress, instead of just complaining about federal courts that "run amok" in defending the right to abortion and banning school prayer, must set limits and "make sure the judges administer their responsibilities," he said, according to a report Friday in the New York Times.
He spoke by video to a conference titled "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith." Its sponsor was the Traditional Values Coalition, social-issue reactionaries who back legislation to restrict federal courts from ruling on anything involving God or basing any rulings on the precedents of foreign courts (for instance, in death penalty cases). Its so-called Constitutional Restoration Act is sponsored in Congress by Sens. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), Zell Miller (D-Ga.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.).
...Judicial independence is one of this nation's distinguishing traits and a hallmark of our constitutional scheme. To endure, our democracy requires that legislators respect the independence of the judiciary, even when it comes to decisions they don't like.
End slice:
By the way, the Constitution needs "Restoration" like marriage needs "protecting."
Windsurfing Report
Great day today. Started out on the 5.4 launched from Crissy Field. Headed up wind surprisingly well with my new 25 cm fin (Freewave, prepreg carbon fiber) from Maui Fin Works. Even against the flood tide. Got to the bridge and the waves were fun and mild at Fort Point. Then started the usual flukiness at the turn of the tides, so I headed back to the beach. Sure enough with the ebb came super wind. Of course, I was too tired to hang on for very long with gusts above 30 knotts. And, I had rigged too big a sail for that kind of wind. Really, I got blown off the water and had to pack it in for fear of getting my butt kicked on the outside. Better to sail safe so I can sail another day.
Yesterday was a bit of a downer, comparitively. Had the same set up, but the wind never cranked up. Got off the water in under an hour, which is not a good day in my book. But the wind came back today and I am thoroughly whooped. Off to bed for this happy camper.
Yesterday was a bit of a downer, comparitively. Had the same set up, but the wind never cranked up. Got off the water in under an hour, which is not a good day in my book. But the wind came back today and I am thoroughly whooped. Off to bed for this happy camper.
Another point from my personal philosophy of life
Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. And those things that are easy are seldom, if ever, worthwhile.
The Taxman Cometh
The heavy burden of taxes paid by the middle class let the rich stay rich. And W, Rove and Co. are all about improving the status quo to futher line the pockets of the tax evading wealthy class.
Slice:
Too bad you did not get a job as a hedge fund manager. If you had, you would not owe any taxes come April 15 on your share of the hedge fund's profits.
Hedge funds are unregulated investment pools open only to rich individuals and big institutions. They operate offshore. And for their managers, some of whom earned a half-billion dollars last year, taxes are deferred as long as they keep the hedge fund open and the profits offshore, while you get taxes deducted from your paycheck. And, thanks to our government, their tax avoidance is perfectly legal.
...For more than a decade, Congress has steadily eroded the capacity of the IRS to enforce the tax laws, with one exception. Since 1997, Congress has approved more than $1 billion in extra funds to audit the working poor. In recent years, parents who work full time at the minimum wage have been as much as eight times more likely to be audited than millionaire investors in partnerships.
The wealthy who mine the tax system face little risk of getting caught. Only 1 partnership in 400 gets audited, and agents say many audits are superficial and closed quickly to make statistical reports create the appearance of toughening enforcement.
...Bush says he wants a new tax system that will lower taxes on savings and investments and on "risk takers." He said a new system must be revenue neutral, meaning it will bring in the same amount as the old system.
If those with significant assets are going to pay less, there are only two ways to make up that revenue. One would be tremendous economic growth. The other would be to subtly shift more of the tax burden onto those Congress already watches closely: wage earners.
Slice:
Too bad you did not get a job as a hedge fund manager. If you had, you would not owe any taxes come April 15 on your share of the hedge fund's profits.
Hedge funds are unregulated investment pools open only to rich individuals and big institutions. They operate offshore. And for their managers, some of whom earned a half-billion dollars last year, taxes are deferred as long as they keep the hedge fund open and the profits offshore, while you get taxes deducted from your paycheck. And, thanks to our government, their tax avoidance is perfectly legal.
...For more than a decade, Congress has steadily eroded the capacity of the IRS to enforce the tax laws, with one exception. Since 1997, Congress has approved more than $1 billion in extra funds to audit the working poor. In recent years, parents who work full time at the minimum wage have been as much as eight times more likely to be audited than millionaire investors in partnerships.
The wealthy who mine the tax system face little risk of getting caught. Only 1 partnership in 400 gets audited, and agents say many audits are superficial and closed quickly to make statistical reports create the appearance of toughening enforcement.
...Bush says he wants a new tax system that will lower taxes on savings and investments and on "risk takers." He said a new system must be revenue neutral, meaning it will bring in the same amount as the old system.
If those with significant assets are going to pay less, there are only two ways to make up that revenue. One would be tremendous economic growth. The other would be to subtly shift more of the tax burden onto those Congress already watches closely: wage earners.
Feasting on Decomposing Bodies
Interesting Frank Rich article in today's NYTimes. Perhaps the most troubling quote Rich points out is that Fox News "Rehearsed" for the "breaking" of the Pope's death...and still got it wrong. Another reason not to watch the Main Stream Media Propaganda Machine.
Slice:
Slice:
Mortality - the more graphic, the merrier - is the biggest thing going in America. Between Terri Schiavo and the pope, we've feasted on decomposing bodies for almost a solid month now. The carefully edited, three-year-old video loops of Ms. Schiavo may have been worthless as medical evidence but as necro-porn their ubiquity rivaled that of TV's top entertainment franchise, the all-forensics-all-the-time "CSI." To help us visualize the dying John Paul, another Fox star, Geraldo Rivera, brought on Dr. Michael Baden, the go-to cadaver expert from the JonBenet Ramsey, Chandra Levy and Laci Peterson mediathons, to contrast His Holiness's cortex with Ms. Schiavo's.
As sponsors line up to buy time on "CSI," so celebrity deaths have become a marvelous opportunity for beatific self-promotion by news and political stars alike. Tim Russert showed a video of his papal encounter on a "Meet the Press" where one of the guests, unchallenged, gave John Paul an A-plus for his handling of the church's sex abuse scandal. Jesse Jackson, staking out a new career as the angel of deathotainment, hit the trifecta: in rapid succession he appeared with the Schindlers at their daughter's hospice in Florida, eulogized Johnnie Cochran on "Larry King Live" and reminisced about his own papal audience with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.
...This agenda is synergistic with the entertainment culture of Mr. Bush's base: No one does the culture of death with more of a vengeance - literally so - than the doomsday right...
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Onward Christian Soldiers
Got this email and link from a friend and I thought the bloggisphere would be interested in the view point:
"Bush's visit to the Pope's funeral is out to find solidarity with bigots of all stripes. The tragedy is that it's too easy to assemble a majority of know-nothings, they know so little of the contradictions that exist among themselves. This is what the founders were against, the tyranny of the majority. That's why we have a republic and not a democracy."
"Bush's visit to the Pope's funeral is out to find solidarity with bigots of all stripes. The tragedy is that it's too easy to assemble a majority of know-nothings, they know so little of the contradictions that exist among themselves. This is what the founders were against, the tyranny of the majority. That's why we have a republic and not a democracy."
You Thought You Were Tough
I challenge anyone to keep up with Dean Karnazes. This man is insane...I used to windsurf the same beaches with this guy and met him on a number of occasions.
The bigger question is this: Is he running away from or toward something? Or is it, like old Doc Sheehan used to say, that he runs becuase he is an Animal, and a Child...
Slice:
Why? Why would a healthy, professionally successful, happily married father of two volunteer to run for 75 hours straight, putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again, for 262 miles?
...In his memoir, Karnazes does make an attempt to address the big "Why?" and to try to find rationality in his behavior. But there is no simple explanation.
He loves running, adores the simplicity and solitude of it. He's wild for a challenge — the more difficult, the better. He savors suffering, relishes escape and thrives on his obsession. He admits that his dedication "borders on psychotic," but he believes his addiction to pushing himself to tackle increasingly longer distances is overwhelmingly positive.
The bigger question is this: Is he running away from or toward something? Or is it, like old Doc Sheehan used to say, that he runs becuase he is an Animal, and a Child...
Slice:
Why? Why would a healthy, professionally successful, happily married father of two volunteer to run for 75 hours straight, putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over again, for 262 miles?
...In his memoir, Karnazes does make an attempt to address the big "Why?" and to try to find rationality in his behavior. But there is no simple explanation.
He loves running, adores the simplicity and solitude of it. He's wild for a challenge — the more difficult, the better. He savors suffering, relishes escape and thrives on his obsession. He admits that his dedication "borders on psychotic," but he believes his addiction to pushing himself to tackle increasingly longer distances is overwhelmingly positive.
Typical! Sub Title: We Get What You Voted For
Unfortunately, not all of us voted for the current administration, and the "majority" (however infinitesimal the margin of victory was) opinion left us with W, Rove and Co.
Typical opperating proceedure for W, Rove and Co = Say one thing, and then do everything to undermine the ability of anyone to move positively on it.
Slice:
The Bush administration pays lip service to the goal of "ending chronic homelessness" - while undermining the very programs that keep poor people from ending up in the streets. The Housing and Urban Development Department is proposing unreasonable cuts in federal subsidies, which would make it harder for underfinanced housing authorities to keep their developments livable and safe. And a proposal in Congress would make it harder for the poor to get rental subsidies from Section 8, the public-private partnership that underwrites rents for nearly two million of the country's low-income families and encourages builders to develop affordable housing.
Typical opperating proceedure for W, Rove and Co = Say one thing, and then do everything to undermine the ability of anyone to move positively on it.
Slice:
The Bush administration pays lip service to the goal of "ending chronic homelessness" - while undermining the very programs that keep poor people from ending up in the streets. The Housing and Urban Development Department is proposing unreasonable cuts in federal subsidies, which would make it harder for underfinanced housing authorities to keep their developments livable and safe. And a proposal in Congress would make it harder for the poor to get rental subsidies from Section 8, the public-private partnership that underwrites rents for nearly two million of the country's low-income families and encourages builders to develop affordable housing.
This meat-ax approach has to stop. Congress needs to understand that poor people won't just disappear when the housing that serves them dries up.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Admonishment
This may have pertained to whaling, and written over 100 years ago, but still rings true today.
From page 205 of my copy of Melville's Moby Dick:
For God's sake, be economical with your lamps and candles! not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of a man's blood was spilled for it.
From page 205 of my copy of Melville's Moby Dick:
For God's sake, be economical with your lamps and candles! not a gallon you burn, but at least one drop of a man's blood was spilled for it.
Jeff Gannon Exposes Himself
Found an interesting article by clicking through Wonkette (who was actually on a panel with Gannon). Here's a quote by the Jeffster that about sums up his character:
Gannon replied: "I was about the only news source providing that information without a filter. There is nothing wrong with reporting what the administration says about a particular issue. ... Why does everything have to be looked at through a lens that represents every point of view?"
End slice:
Humm, that just about sums it up.
Gannon replied: "I was about the only news source providing that information without a filter. There is nothing wrong with reporting what the administration says about a particular issue. ... Why does everything have to be looked at through a lens that represents every point of view?"
End slice:
Humm, that just about sums it up.
The Pope's Coffin
Do we really care what materials the Pope's coffin is made out of? I mean, really, I have read and heard numerous reports about the funeral service and a large number of them point out where and what the Pope will be burried in. Why?
P.S. saw another news report replete with photo of the tomb at 3:36 pm. Is it morbid curiosity that drives people to want to know this or will it be the next trend for the fashionistas?
P.S. saw another news report replete with photo of the tomb at 3:36 pm. Is it morbid curiosity that drives people to want to know this or will it be the next trend for the fashionistas?
Hey, Everybody Does it (Wink, Wink)!
If I cheat on a test, is it okay becuase everybody does it? No. So, why is this okay for DeLay and his ilk?
Slice:
Allies of Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas have finally gotten around to the "everybody does it" justification of the ethical lapses of their guy, the No. 2 Republican in the House. It's the excuse used after more specific defenses, such as "he couldn't have known where the money was coming from," begin to sound hollow.
In response to one recent discovery, the $500,000-plus paid by DeLay-controlled political committees to DeLay's wife and daughter, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri (the No. 3 Republican in the House) said, "The things that Tom has been criticized about in one way or another every member of Congress could be criticized about…. I think he's taking arrows for all of us."
Let the arrows fly where they belong, then. If all members are shoveling that kind of special interest money to their kin, the voters would like to know the specifics.
...Over the last several years, The Times has exposed family/lobbyist ties among many lawmakers, notably Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), former Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.), and Reps. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), and Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). Instead of improving its self-regulation, Congress has weakened its ethics rules to help DeLay, who is also facing possible indictment for political activities in Texas.
"Everybody does it." When children say that, their mothers ask: "Would you jump off a cliff if everyone did it?" Maybe Republican defenders of DeLay are thinking, "yes."
Slice:
Allies of Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas have finally gotten around to the "everybody does it" justification of the ethical lapses of their guy, the No. 2 Republican in the House. It's the excuse used after more specific defenses, such as "he couldn't have known where the money was coming from," begin to sound hollow.
In response to one recent discovery, the $500,000-plus paid by DeLay-controlled political committees to DeLay's wife and daughter, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri (the No. 3 Republican in the House) said, "The things that Tom has been criticized about in one way or another every member of Congress could be criticized about…. I think he's taking arrows for all of us."
Let the arrows fly where they belong, then. If all members are shoveling that kind of special interest money to their kin, the voters would like to know the specifics.
...Over the last several years, The Times has exposed family/lobbyist ties among many lawmakers, notably Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), former Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.), and Reps. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), and Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). Instead of improving its self-regulation, Congress has weakened its ethics rules to help DeLay, who is also facing possible indictment for political activities in Texas.
"Everybody does it." When children say that, their mothers ask: "Would you jump off a cliff if everyone did it?" Maybe Republican defenders of DeLay are thinking, "yes."
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Your Living Will
Got this via Email from a friend...falls into the spam catagory, but I had a good laugh:
Living Will
Living Will
I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood ethically challenged politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.
If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a Bombay on the rocks ; cold Pinot Noir, etc.(substitute your choice), it should be presumed that I won't ever get better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.
Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of the Legislature (State or Federal) enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.
Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case.
I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.
I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf.They should mind their own business, too.
If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.
Signature _______________________________________
Witness _______________________________________
DATE__________
DATE__________
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Using Academics as a Tool to Screw the Public (yes, that's us)
Looks like it is no just PhillipMorris that is cooking research to support their nasty business. Cheveron Texaco is in the act as well (let's not get started on the pharmaceuticals).
Slice from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Slice from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Texaco drilled in the Ecuadorean Amazon from 1964 to 1992, and residents have sued the company in Ecuador's courts, saying that the pollution left behind has caused cancer and other illnesses, spoiled the environment, and destabilized communities. They argue that the oil company, which in 2001 merged with Chevron, should pay $6-billion to clean up the mess.
But ChevronTexaco insists that the pollution is not nearly as widespread as claimed, and that other factors are likely to have caused the health problems. Backing up those assertions are reports produced for the company by six scientists whom the oil company hired as consultants, including faculty members at Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas School of Public Health.
Other scientists cried foul when quotations from the consultants' reports appeared in February on Texaco's Web site and, they say, in full-page advertisements in newspapers in Ecuador. The online statements criticize earlier studies, some of them published in the scientific literature, that showed connections between oil pollution and disease. The Web site, for instance, quotes Lowell E. Sever, a professor of epidemiology at Texas, as saying, "There is little or no evidence that would support a causal relationship between oil contamination and health effects."
...
Their concern extends to the actions of Texaco's consultants. In the letter, the researchers respond to some of Texaco's scientific criticisms and assert that "the place to air legitimate scientific concerns about the quality of published research is in the research literature itself."
"The original authors then have the opportunity to respond to the critiques in an environment of open scientific dialogue and scrutiny by scientists internationally," the letter says.
Several of the letter's signers told The Chronicle that they objected to the academic scientists' lending their prestige to Texaco -- "epidemiology for sale," according to Arthur L. Frank, a professor and chairman of the department of environmental and occupational health at Drexel University. "Why didn't they publish differing science and let the scientific community critique it?" he asked.
Joseph LaDou, the journal's editor, said he was happy to throw a spotlight on the consultants' practices. "What I thought was significant about this letter was the broad international signatures that it elicited," said Dr. LaDou, who is director of the International Center for Occupational Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco.
"The scientific community," he went on, "is getting a little bit impatient with these hired guns who are willing to have quote after quote of criticism of the scientific literature appear in corporate-sponsored Web sites, while at the same time ignoring a scientific process that reviews articles and generates scientific truth."
End slice:
Hey, if it gets another dollar in to the Big Oil Capitalists' wallet, you can pay many scientisits to say just about anything - just ask "Four out of Five Dentists..."
Scared Yet? Sub title: Congressional Reichwingers excuse murderous behavior
This is almost as heinous as the "Twinkie Defense."
From Today's NYTimes:
It was appalling when the House majority leader threatened political retribution against judges who did not toe his extremist political line. But when a second important Republican stands up and excuses murderous violence against judges as an understandable reaction to their decisions, then it is time to get really scared.
It happened on Monday, in a moment that was horrifying even by the rock-bottom standards of the campaign that Republican zealots are conducting against the nation's judiciary. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, rose in the chamber and dared to argue that recent courthouse violence might be explained by distress about judges who "are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public." The frustration "builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in" violence, said Mr. Cornyn, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which supposedly protects the Constitution and its guarantee of an independent judiciary.
...Echoes of the political hijacking of the Terri Schiavo case hung in the air as Mr. Cornyn spoke, just days after the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, vengefully vowed that "the time will come" to make the judges who resisted the Congressional Republicans' gruesome deathbed intrusion "answer for their behavior." Trying to intimidate judges used to be a crime, not a bombastic cudgel for cynical politicians.
End Slice:
From Today's NYTimes:
It was appalling when the House majority leader threatened political retribution against judges who did not toe his extremist political line. But when a second important Republican stands up and excuses murderous violence against judges as an understandable reaction to their decisions, then it is time to get really scared.
It happened on Monday, in a moment that was horrifying even by the rock-bottom standards of the campaign that Republican zealots are conducting against the nation's judiciary. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, rose in the chamber and dared to argue that recent courthouse violence might be explained by distress about judges who "are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public." The frustration "builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in" violence, said Mr. Cornyn, a former member of the Texas Supreme Court who is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which supposedly protects the Constitution and its guarantee of an independent judiciary.
...Echoes of the political hijacking of the Terri Schiavo case hung in the air as Mr. Cornyn spoke, just days after the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, vengefully vowed that "the time will come" to make the judges who resisted the Congressional Republicans' gruesome deathbed intrusion "answer for their behavior." Trying to intimidate judges used to be a crime, not a bombastic cudgel for cynical politicians.
End Slice:
When do we get to impeach these bastards?
What Makes a Good Christian?
More from page 81 of my copy of Melville's Moby Dick:
"...for I cherish the greatest respect towards everybody's religious obligations, never mind how comical, and could not find it in my heart ot undervalue even a congregation of ants worshipping a toad-stool; or those other creatures in certain parts of our earth, who with a degree of footmanism quite unprecedented in other planets, bow down before the torso of a deceased landed proprietor merely on account of the inordinate possessions yet owned and rented in his name.
I say, we good Presbyterian Christians should be charitable in these things, and not fancy ourselves so vastly superior to other mortals, pagans and what not, because of their half-crazy conceits on these subjects...
...let him be, I say: And Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly in need of mending."
"...for I cherish the greatest respect towards everybody's religious obligations, never mind how comical, and could not find it in my heart ot undervalue even a congregation of ants worshipping a toad-stool; or those other creatures in certain parts of our earth, who with a degree of footmanism quite unprecedented in other planets, bow down before the torso of a deceased landed proprietor merely on account of the inordinate possessions yet owned and rented in his name.
I say, we good Presbyterian Christians should be charitable in these things, and not fancy ourselves so vastly superior to other mortals, pagans and what not, because of their half-crazy conceits on these subjects...
...let him be, I say: And Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly in need of mending."
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Too bad the Curve wasn't thrown before the Election
Would W, Rove and Co had won the election if the information about WMD was not suppressed?
Cheats usually get expelled from shcool. If they are in public office, they just get promoted by W, Rove and Co, it seems.
When are the impeachment proceedings going to begin?
Slice:
Last October, just weeks before the presidential election, I wrote a column stating that the acting director of the CIA was suppressing a report to Congress that was potentially embarrassing to President Bush's campaign. The report had been completed by the CIA's own independent inspector general four months before the election, yet the agency rebuffed Congress' request that it be made public.
Now, thanks to last week's release of another report, that of the Bush-appointed Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, we learn that the embargoed CIA report centered on the outrageous case of the now-infamous Iraqi informant known by the code name, "Curveball."
...To squelch the exposure of such widespread incompetence and deadly manipulation of national security intelligence is a betrayal of democracy.
Cheats usually get expelled from shcool. If they are in public office, they just get promoted by W, Rove and Co, it seems.
When are the impeachment proceedings going to begin?
Slice:
Last October, just weeks before the presidential election, I wrote a column stating that the acting director of the CIA was suppressing a report to Congress that was potentially embarrassing to President Bush's campaign. The report had been completed by the CIA's own independent inspector general four months before the election, yet the agency rebuffed Congress' request that it be made public.
Now, thanks to last week's release of another report, that of the Bush-appointed Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, we learn that the embargoed CIA report centered on the outrageous case of the now-infamous Iraqi informant known by the code name, "Curveball."
...To squelch the exposure of such widespread incompetence and deadly manipulation of national security intelligence is a betrayal of democracy.
If the Judge decides against you, is he or she an Activist?
What is up with the reichwing "Activist" label for judges that decide against them?
Is it bad to be an Activist?
If so, what do you call some one who shoots and kills a clinic doctor in the name of the "right-to-life?"
Slice from the NYTimes:
Last week, Judge Stanley Birch Jr., a conservative member of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, declared that in the Schiavo case, "the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our founding fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution."Judge
Birch is right, but he should not be such a lonely voice. The founders established a system of government in which the three branches - legislative, executive and judicial - act as checks and balances for one another. Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration, unhappy with some rulings of the judiciary, are trying to write it out of its constitutional role. The courts will not always be popular; they will not even always be right. But if Congress succeeds in curtailing the judiciary's ability to act as a check on the other two branches, the nation will be far less free.
Is it bad to be an Activist?
If so, what do you call some one who shoots and kills a clinic doctor in the name of the "right-to-life?"
Slice from the NYTimes:
Last week, Judge Stanley Birch Jr., a conservative member of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, declared that in the Schiavo case, "the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our founding fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people - our Constitution."Judge
Birch is right, but he should not be such a lonely voice. The founders established a system of government in which the three branches - legislative, executive and judicial - act as checks and balances for one another. Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration, unhappy with some rulings of the judiciary, are trying to write it out of its constitutional role. The courts will not always be popular; they will not even always be right. But if Congress succeeds in curtailing the judiciary's ability to act as a check on the other two branches, the nation will be far less free.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Hey, What's another 80 or so Billion Amongst Friends
More proof the ROI (Return on Investment) is not worth the initial outlay in Iraq (Death Toll Reaching close to 1600 GIs).
Slice from the latest Move On Message.
Congress has barely debated the war in Iraq or its aftermath since it voted to authorize the use of force in October 2002. Now, the Bush administration is skipping the normal budget process to ask for an additional $82 billion to fund the American presence in Iraq. Among the big-ticket items, a $600 million embassy and some 14 "enduring" bases.[1] Those bases, and the absence of an exit strategy, will worsen, not improve the situation in Iraq.
And, remember the last $87 billion Congress authorized for the war: a whopping $9 billion of it is missing because of corrupt contracting.[2] We must root out the corporate corruption that has undercut the rebuilding efforts and lost billions of taxpayers' money.
As it considers another $82 billion for Iraq, Congress needs to insist that America has an exit strategy from Iraq with a timeline, that we do not construct permanent bases in Iraq and that we end war profiteering by corporations. Please sign our petition urging Congress to act today.
Slice from the latest Move On Message.
Congress has barely debated the war in Iraq or its aftermath since it voted to authorize the use of force in October 2002. Now, the Bush administration is skipping the normal budget process to ask for an additional $82 billion to fund the American presence in Iraq. Among the big-ticket items, a $600 million embassy and some 14 "enduring" bases.[1] Those bases, and the absence of an exit strategy, will worsen, not improve the situation in Iraq.
And, remember the last $87 billion Congress authorized for the war: a whopping $9 billion of it is missing because of corrupt contracting.[2] We must root out the corporate corruption that has undercut the rebuilding efforts and lost billions of taxpayers' money.
As it considers another $82 billion for Iraq, Congress needs to insist that America has an exit strategy from Iraq with a timeline, that we do not construct permanent bases in Iraq and that we end war profiteering by corporations. Please sign our petition urging Congress to act today.
The Niceties of Abstinence Education
Humm, it must be working...
Slice:
One in five U.S. teenagers say they have engaged in oral sex, an activity that some adolescents view as not sex at all and certainly less risky than intercourse, a report released Monday said.
The survey of 580 children with a mean age of 14-1/2 found 20 percent said they had engaged in oral sex, compared to 14 percent who said they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
In addition, one-third of the multi-ethnic 9th graders surveyed said they intended to have oral sex within the next six months and nearly one-fourth planned to have intercourse during the period. It was more common for boys to have performed oral sex on girls than vice versa, the report said.
Found a nice related link via The Crankster at a location called the Iron Hymen. Enjoy the link, I did.
Slice:
"Take it from me, girls – there's no good reason to rush into S-E-X. That's why I hope these scientific facts help you choose abstinence, so you need never know the heartbreak of being trapped in a loveless marriage just because you drank too many margaritas one night and gave up your honey pot to a pushy young cokehead from a so-called 'good family.'"
Slice:
One in five U.S. teenagers say they have engaged in oral sex, an activity that some adolescents view as not sex at all and certainly less risky than intercourse, a report released Monday said.
The survey of 580 children with a mean age of 14-1/2 found 20 percent said they had engaged in oral sex, compared to 14 percent who said they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
In addition, one-third of the multi-ethnic 9th graders surveyed said they intended to have oral sex within the next six months and nearly one-fourth planned to have intercourse during the period. It was more common for boys to have performed oral sex on girls than vice versa, the report said.
End Slice.
Found a nice related link via The Crankster at a location called the Iron Hymen. Enjoy the link, I did.
Slice:
"Take it from me, girls – there's no good reason to rush into S-E-X. That's why I hope these scientific facts help you choose abstinence, so you need never know the heartbreak of being trapped in a loveless marriage just because you drank too many margaritas one night and gave up your honey pot to a pushy young cokehead from a so-called 'good family.'"
Sunday, April 03, 2005
More Great News for Big Oil, and the Arabs
Well, bad news for us as the price per gallon cranks on up to three bucks here. Halliburton, W, Rove and Co. family members all win big when we pay more for gas.
This is another reason to green, clean, lean and mean on the fossil fuel industry.
As another blogger would stipulate - reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Slice:
By Joanne Collins MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil prices raced to a new all-time peak on Monday, climbing toward $58 a barrel as OPEC signaled it would discuss a second output rise to try to quell the market's relentless rally.
U.S. light crude hit a record $57.79 a barrel, surpassing Friday's high of $57.70, which was triggered by a forecast that prices could spike above $100 due to robust global demand and tight spare capacity.
This is another reason to green, clean, lean and mean on the fossil fuel industry.
As another blogger would stipulate - reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Slice:
By Joanne Collins MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil prices raced to a new all-time peak on Monday, climbing toward $58 a barrel as OPEC signaled it would discuss a second output rise to try to quell the market's relentless rally.
U.S. light crude hit a record $57.79 a barrel, surpassing Friday's high of $57.70, which was triggered by a forecast that prices could spike above $100 due to robust global demand and tight spare capacity.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
A Divider from the Outset and to the End
W, Rove and Co. and their cronies work the system to futher cleave the country as is their want...and just because they don't like the decision of the courts.
There is a system of Checks and Balances in Place and separation of the Courts from the Exec and Legislative Branches for a reason...a very good reason.
Besides, the legislature is a bit side tracked at this point, don't you think? MoxieGrrrl points us to another great Mark Fiore video clip.
Slice:
House Republican leader Tom DeLay's threat of retaliation -- even impeachment -- against federal judges for failing to do Congress' bidding in the Terri Schiavo case was just the latest manifestation of hostility from Capitol Hill toward the courts.
In the last year, the House has passed bills to divest federal judges of jurisdiction over legal challenges to the phrase "under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance and to the federal law that allows states to refuse recognition to same-sex marriages performed in other states.
A bill has also been proposed to prohibit federal courts from considering suits over government displays of the Ten Commandments, a case recently argued before the Supreme Court.
No such court-stripping measure has become law since at least the 1860s.
There is a system of Checks and Balances in Place and separation of the Courts from the Exec and Legislative Branches for a reason...a very good reason.
Besides, the legislature is a bit side tracked at this point, don't you think? MoxieGrrrl points us to another great Mark Fiore video clip.
Slice:
House Republican leader Tom DeLay's threat of retaliation -- even impeachment -- against federal judges for failing to do Congress' bidding in the Terri Schiavo case was just the latest manifestation of hostility from Capitol Hill toward the courts.
In the last year, the House has passed bills to divest federal judges of jurisdiction over legal challenges to the phrase "under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance and to the federal law that allows states to refuse recognition to same-sex marriages performed in other states.
A bill has also been proposed to prohibit federal courts from considering suits over government displays of the Ten Commandments, a case recently argued before the Supreme Court.
No such court-stripping measure has become law since at least the 1860s.
Windsurfing Report: Clasisc Day at Crissy
Today qualifies as a full blown Classic Crissy Field day. If you didn't have fun out there today, you had your carbon fiber mast stuck too far up your rear end.
Wind is still cranking with gusts to 29 as I type. I rigged my 4.7 square meter sail, but could have used the 4.2 up underneath the bridge (Golden Gate). Strapped it onto the 85 liter board (small 21cm fin) and went for it.
All the way up at the North Tower, very large rollers (rolling waves), about the size of a small sized fry shack (or a sugaring house for those of you in maple sap season). Breaking near Ft. Point. Got there, and was too tired to risk the breakers, so I stayed in the rollers for a while. Surfed em. Spent an hour on the water, and as I was pulling back into the beach, lots of folks were still rolling in from prior obligations to rig and go.
Big smiles all around as this cowboy has been sicker than a dog for almost a full week. Second Day on the water for yours truly.
Wind is still cranking with gusts to 29 as I type. I rigged my 4.7 square meter sail, but could have used the 4.2 up underneath the bridge (Golden Gate). Strapped it onto the 85 liter board (small 21cm fin) and went for it.
All the way up at the North Tower, very large rollers (rolling waves), about the size of a small sized fry shack (or a sugaring house for those of you in maple sap season). Breaking near Ft. Point. Got there, and was too tired to risk the breakers, so I stayed in the rollers for a while. Surfed em. Spent an hour on the water, and as I was pulling back into the beach, lots of folks were still rolling in from prior obligations to rig and go.
Big smiles all around as this cowboy has been sicker than a dog for almost a full week. Second Day on the water for yours truly.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Doing
I was trying to come up with some kind of snappy fools post today. Something like, "I had lunch with Terri Schiavo's Ghost and the Pope." But, I couldn't get past the title. So, I am going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Angels In America:
"It's what comes after the doing that makes the doing hard to do."
"It's what comes after the doing that makes the doing hard to do."
Pregnancy and the Christian Teen
Found a nice post over at the Cranky Liberal. He points out the prevention first act. Just wondering what happened to all the high quality sex ed programs that W, Rove and Co put the quash on.
If we talk about sex in schools, does this mean that girls will get pregnant? Discourse is not an invitation for intercourse. Unless of course, you talk about sex and STDs to a Christian Teen, it seems.
If we talk about sex in schools, does this mean that girls will get pregnant? Discourse is not an invitation for intercourse. Unless of course, you talk about sex and STDs to a Christian Teen, it seems.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Found a good scapegoat
Oops. Sorry, Iraq. Can we get a do-over?
Slice:
"We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," the commissioners wrote.
Slice:
"We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," the commissioners wrote.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Sick
Got the crud that is going round. I haven't managed to keep abreast of anything going on at this point. Don't expect much, but perhaps I may have a will to post in the delerium of my fever.
Have a wonderful day whilst you can.
Have a wonderful day whilst you can.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Is College Worth it?
According to Melville, and he may well be right, not really. From page 110 of my copy of Moby Dick:
And, as for me, if, by any possibility, there be any as yet undiscovered prime thing in me; if I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, a man might rather have done than to have left undone; if, at my death, my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious MSS. in my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory to whaling; for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.
And, as for me, if, by any possibility, there be any as yet undiscovered prime thing in me; if I shall ever deserve any real repute in that small but high hushed world which I might not be unreasonably ambitious of; if hereafter I shall do anything that, upon the whole, a man might rather have done than to have left undone; if, at my death, my executors, or more properly my creditors, find any precious MSS. in my desk, then here I prospectively ascribe all the honor and the glory to whaling; for a whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard.
Blogger Comment Posting SNAFU
Okay, I have recieved word that blogger comments are not functioning. I have also had trouble commenting on some friends' blogs who also use Blogger.
Sorry. I am working on fixing it. Sent an Email to blogger support but no reply. I did republish the entire blog, which sometimes takes care of it.
I do apologize. I love getting comments. Please don't be discouraged and come back to comment often.
Thanks
Windspike
Sorry. I am working on fixing it. Sent an Email to blogger support but no reply. I did republish the entire blog, which sometimes takes care of it.
I do apologize. I love getting comments. Please don't be discouraged and come back to comment often.
Thanks
Windspike
Monday, March 28, 2005
The Right Kind of Flip Flop
Humm,Why is no one calling DeLay a murderer?
Slice:
LOS ANGELES -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has helped lead a congressional effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive, joined members of his own family nearly 17 years ago in allowing doctors not to take extraordinary measures to extend his father's life, a newspaper reported Sunday.
DeLay had just been re-elected to his third term in Congress in 1988 when his father, Charles DeLay, was severely injured in an accident. As the elder DeLay's vital organs began failing, the family chose not to connect him to a dialysis machine or take other measures to prolong his life, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday, citing court documents, medical records and interviews with family members.
"There was no point to even really talking about it," Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old mother, told the Times. "Tom knew, we all knew, his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way."
"Tom went along" with the family's decision, she said.
Slice:
LOS ANGELES -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has helped lead a congressional effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive, joined members of his own family nearly 17 years ago in allowing doctors not to take extraordinary measures to extend his father's life, a newspaper reported Sunday.
DeLay had just been re-elected to his third term in Congress in 1988 when his father, Charles DeLay, was severely injured in an accident. As the elder DeLay's vital organs began failing, the family chose not to connect him to a dialysis machine or take other measures to prolong his life, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday, citing court documents, medical records and interviews with family members.
"There was no point to even really talking about it," Maxine DeLay, the congressman's 81-year-old mother, told the Times. "Tom knew, we all knew, his father wouldn't have wanted to live that way."
"Tom went along" with the family's decision, she said.
Let's take our Social Security Bux to Vegas!
Any one who plays the markets (NASD, NYSE, and others) realize and know that such "investing" really is just legitimized gambling. Short, long selling. Buy Low, Sell High, if you can. I have said this before: The folks who really stand to win big in the privitization of SS accounts are the money managers who will work the funds - Buy Low, Sell High. Or, Buy High, oops, Sell for a loss (may be down 100%). It doesn't matter. When you make a trade, the managers take their cut.
Anyway, the professionals are saying this about the W, Rove and Co plan to privitize accounts:
In case you are wondering, yes, I do invest my own money in securities. Just so you know, I am not talking out my rear end on this one. My single best investment stil has to be Starbucks. It is well over ten times the value I put in. My single worst (and I have had many more losers than winners) investment is a net loss of 100% in WebVan (I can still sell the paper stocks on Ebay for fun - I wonder what they would be worth if I did that). I thought they were going to go long. Who knew they would bankrupt themselves?
Anyway, the professionals are saying this about the W, Rove and Co plan to privitize accounts:
March 28 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, promoting his plan to set up private Social Security accounts, is betting that stock returns will remain strong even as economic growth slows. Economists and equity strategists aren't so sure.
Bush is using forecasts from the Social Security Administration that say the economy will expand less than 2 percent a year -- the slowest sustained rate since the 1930s -- after 2020 as population growth eases. At the same time, the agency projects that stocks will return an annual average of 6.5 percent after inflation.
Thirty-nine of 58 economists and strategists surveyed by Bloomberg News say that if the economy slows that much, Bush's stock outlook is too optimistic. Over the last 50 years, as the U.S. economy grew 3.4 percent a year on average, almost twice as much as the agency is forecasting, the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index returned only 6.8 percent after dividends were reinvested.
``A 6.5 percent real equity return is not realistic'' at the growth rates being projected, says Thomas McManus, chief investment strategist in New York at Banc of America Securities LLC. ``If it were, we will not have a Social Security problem in 2050 because shareholders will be so wealthy they could easily fund the shortfall.''
End slice:In case you are wondering, yes, I do invest my own money in securities. Just so you know, I am not talking out my rear end on this one. My single best investment stil has to be Starbucks. It is well over ten times the value I put in. My single worst (and I have had many more losers than winners) investment is a net loss of 100% in WebVan (I can still sell the paper stocks on Ebay for fun - I wonder what they would be worth if I did that). I thought they were going to go long. Who knew they would bankrupt themselves?
Who is President, Really?
Found an interesting quote today in the Times:
"All roads lead to Karl."
KENNETH J. DUBERSTEIN, a Republican lobbyist, on Karl Rove's policy and political roles in the White House.
Don't you think that this person, who was not elected at all, has a bit too much power in the Whitehouse?
Slice:
WASHINGTON, March 27 - Jack Kemp was causing problems for President Bush's drive to overhaul Social Security, and it naturally fell to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's strategist, enforcer and closet policy expert, to take him on...
...But as the confrontation with Mr. Kemp suggests, Mr. Rove is assuming a more expansive role, bringing the same intensity to the big issues in Mr. Bush's second-term agenda that he brought to the president's re-election campaign. In naming Mr. Rove deputy White House chief of staff for policy last month, on top of his continuing catch-all title of senior adviser, the president formally recognized Mr. Rove's affinity for the nitty-gritty of governance and publicly acknowledged his influence over whatever deal might emerge on Social Security, his No. 1 domestic priority....
...But the intensity of Mr. Rove's involvement in politics and policy makes his current status unusual and gives him remarkably broad authority inside the White House and out. And in giving Mr. Rove his new title, Mr. Bush, freed from the need to think about re-election, seemed to acknowledge what everyone in Washington knows: that in this administration, as in all others, politics and policy are inextricably intertwined.
"Karl Rove is the crossing guard at the intersection of policy and politics," said Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, who previously observed Mr. Rove for years as an aide to Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, and as legislative director of the Christian Coalition.
"He blends political hack and propeller head in a way no one has ever achieved," Mr. Wittmann said. "No one is going to question his political expertise or his policy expertise. The question for him is always one of hubris."
"All roads lead to Karl."
KENNETH J. DUBERSTEIN, a Republican lobbyist, on Karl Rove's policy and political roles in the White House.
Don't you think that this person, who was not elected at all, has a bit too much power in the Whitehouse?
Slice:
WASHINGTON, March 27 - Jack Kemp was causing problems for President Bush's drive to overhaul Social Security, and it naturally fell to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's strategist, enforcer and closet policy expert, to take him on...
...But as the confrontation with Mr. Kemp suggests, Mr. Rove is assuming a more expansive role, bringing the same intensity to the big issues in Mr. Bush's second-term agenda that he brought to the president's re-election campaign. In naming Mr. Rove deputy White House chief of staff for policy last month, on top of his continuing catch-all title of senior adviser, the president formally recognized Mr. Rove's affinity for the nitty-gritty of governance and publicly acknowledged his influence over whatever deal might emerge on Social Security, his No. 1 domestic priority....
...But the intensity of Mr. Rove's involvement in politics and policy makes his current status unusual and gives him remarkably broad authority inside the White House and out. And in giving Mr. Rove his new title, Mr. Bush, freed from the need to think about re-election, seemed to acknowledge what everyone in Washington knows: that in this administration, as in all others, politics and policy are inextricably intertwined.
"Karl Rove is the crossing guard at the intersection of policy and politics," said Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, who previously observed Mr. Rove for years as an aide to Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, and as legislative director of the Christian Coalition.
"He blends political hack and propeller head in a way no one has ever achieved," Mr. Wittmann said. "No one is going to question his political expertise or his policy expertise. The question for him is always one of hubris."
Sunday, March 27, 2005
A Powerful 100 Year Old Notion
Saw Harley Granville-Barker's "The Voysey Inheritance" last night at the ACT. Free tix from a friend with season seats - nice ones - Row B, center.
Although this play was writen 100 years ago, there are many quotes salient for today. Here's one I recall:
"It's strange the number of people who believe you can do right by means which they know to be wrong."
Although this play was writen 100 years ago, there are many quotes salient for today. Here's one I recall:
"It's strange the number of people who believe you can do right by means which they know to be wrong."
Saturday, March 26, 2005
More Empty Boots
Unfortuantely, there are more empty boots to place in the display.
Found these posted in the SF Chronicle web location. Will have to try and make it and snap some of my own images. But, like the AIDS Quilt, no doubt it is not altogether a happy location.
Another dissapointing slice:
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb struck a U.S. military patrol Saturday in the Iraqi capital, killing two American soldiers and injuring two others, and a Marine died in action in a restive central province, the military said.
Tears for Tinkerbell
This is a sad day for fans of the San Francisco Zoo. We have been there a number of times, and the older son loves the place, the animals and the elephants in particular. I am not a lover of zoos out of principle. However, it is one of the most educational locations to bring kids and a lot cheeper than going to Africa or Asia to see the real deal in the wild.
Anyway, I thought, given the whole Schiavo situation, that people would like to know that it is possible to euthanize in a humane fashion and it is appropriate to stop the suffering. Tinkerbell was the first elephant my son heard trumpet. Scared the pants off him, but he became enamored with her.
While the notion that Tinkerbell has any equivalence to Terri Schiavo is debatable, and many will argue that it is not even close, but Tinkerbell had great personality. And, with little or no protest, and certainly no governmental intervention, Tinkerbell was celebrated and put to death.
Slice:
In the final moments, she had a chain to play with and sugar cane to eat.
And then Tinkerbelle was put to sleep -- a sad and quiet end to the life of an Asian elephant who had charmed San Francisco Zoo visitors for more than three decades before turning into one of the most political animals in the country.
The 39-year-old pachyderm was euthanized early Thursday afternoon after collapsing at the Sierra foothills sanctuary she moved to in November. "We've all known that her condition was what I guess you'd call terminal, " said Pat Derby, founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which runs the Ark 2000 refuge in San Andreas.
"I had hoped that she'd have a year or two." Bob Jenkins, director of animal care and conservation at the San Francisco Zoo, said Tinkerbelle was suffering from degenerative joint disease and chronic problems with her feet.
Anyway, I thought, given the whole Schiavo situation, that people would like to know that it is possible to euthanize in a humane fashion and it is appropriate to stop the suffering. Tinkerbell was the first elephant my son heard trumpet. Scared the pants off him, but he became enamored with her.
While the notion that Tinkerbell has any equivalence to Terri Schiavo is debatable, and many will argue that it is not even close, but Tinkerbell had great personality. And, with little or no protest, and certainly no governmental intervention, Tinkerbell was celebrated and put to death.
Slice:
In the final moments, she had a chain to play with and sugar cane to eat.
And then Tinkerbelle was put to sleep -- a sad and quiet end to the life of an Asian elephant who had charmed San Francisco Zoo visitors for more than three decades before turning into one of the most political animals in the country.
The 39-year-old pachyderm was euthanized early Thursday afternoon after collapsing at the Sierra foothills sanctuary she moved to in November. "We've all known that her condition was what I guess you'd call terminal, " said Pat Derby, founder of the Performing Animal Welfare Society, which runs the Ark 2000 refuge in San Andreas.
"I had hoped that she'd have a year or two." Bob Jenkins, director of animal care and conservation at the San Francisco Zoo, said Tinkerbelle was suffering from degenerative joint disease and chronic problems with her feet.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Help! My Marriage Needs Protecting
I was listening to NPR's "Your Call" this AM. One of the commentators mentioned that not very many people have made the link between the Terri Schiavo case and the denegration of the institution of marriage. Lets think about this a bit.
Aparently, the sanctimoneous prophelactic the reichwingers have been trying to wrap around heterosexual marriage has been ruptured inseminating words of hatered and venom toward all those who believe contrary to their "right-to-life" extremist views. Every dagger slung toward Michael Schiavo makes a bigger hole in the argument for protecting marriage and the sanctity of the institution between a man and a woman.
Why hasn't the government pushed the position of protecting Michael Schiavo's rights as a Husband to know what the wishes of his wife are? Every move made in this whole sad case of Terri Schiavo works to further kill the movement to protect marriage in general - between man and a woman, or any other permutation it takes.
Aparently, the sanctimoneous prophelactic the reichwingers have been trying to wrap around heterosexual marriage has been ruptured inseminating words of hatered and venom toward all those who believe contrary to their "right-to-life" extremist views. Every dagger slung toward Michael Schiavo makes a bigger hole in the argument for protecting marriage and the sanctity of the institution between a man and a woman.
Why hasn't the government pushed the position of protecting Michael Schiavo's rights as a Husband to know what the wishes of his wife are? Every move made in this whole sad case of Terri Schiavo works to further kill the movement to protect marriage in general - between man and a woman, or any other permutation it takes.
Another Somber Post
I was out with the guys last night (a once a month thing) and found out that our friend with Breast Cancer is going to need Chemo-therapy. Her husband said, "its a good news, bad news thing." He proceeded to explain that the tumors they took out were small, and hadn't traveled at all, but (here's the bad news) the work up on the lumps exposed them to be a particularly bad form of cancer.
Thus, she is going to have to endure a month and a half of the stuff. Up side is that, if you can believe this, it won't hurt the fetus. Their daughter is begining to suspect that something is wrong. She said to her dad a few nights back,"Why isn't it Mommy's turn to put me to bed?" They take turns, but lately, Daddy has been doing it a lot to give Mommy her rest.
In the long run, she is going to beat this cancer, but what hell.
Thus, she is going to have to endure a month and a half of the stuff. Up side is that, if you can believe this, it won't hurt the fetus. Their daughter is begining to suspect that something is wrong. She said to her dad a few nights back,"Why isn't it Mommy's turn to put me to bed?" They take turns, but lately, Daddy has been doing it a lot to give Mommy her rest.
In the long run, she is going to beat this cancer, but what hell.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Knowing Grief
From page 35 of my copy of Melville's Moby Dick:
Oh! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass; who standing among flowers can say - here, here lies my beloved; ye know not the desolation that broods in bosoms like these. What bitter blanks in those black-bordered marbles which cover no ashes! What despair in those immovable inscriptions! What deadly voids and unbidden infidelities in the lines that seem to gnaw upon all Faith, and refuse resurrections to the beings who have placlessly perished without a grave.
Oh! ye whose dead lie buried beneath the green grass; who standing among flowers can say - here, here lies my beloved; ye know not the desolation that broods in bosoms like these. What bitter blanks in those black-bordered marbles which cover no ashes! What despair in those immovable inscriptions! What deadly voids and unbidden infidelities in the lines that seem to gnaw upon all Faith, and refuse resurrections to the beings who have placlessly perished without a grave.
Proper Checks and Balances or is it a Supreme Court packed with Activists?
Given that this is the same court full of Activists that put W, Rove and Co in the Whitehouse, I'm just wondering what the reichwing spin will be on the latest Supreme Court decision not to intervene in the tragic Terri Schiavo situation.
Seems to me, the legal route being exhausted, that the fair extent of justice has been meted out. Time to grieve, if you must, and get on with life.
Life is, after all, for the living.
Slice:
"That is not an exercise of legislative power, but trial by legislature. ... Any law that suspends, nullifies, or reverses a final court judgment is an exercise of judicial, not legislative power," the filing said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Republican Sens. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Mel Martinez of Florida filed a friend-of-the-court brief late Wednesday siding with Schiavo's parents.
"This is not about Terri anymore. This is all a political view," Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother, told CNN on Thursday. "They're being bullied, actually, by these right-for-life people, basically telling them, `If you don't go our way, you won't get our votes.'"
Seems to me, the legal route being exhausted, that the fair extent of justice has been meted out. Time to grieve, if you must, and get on with life.
Life is, after all, for the living.
Slice:
"That is not an exercise of legislative power, but trial by legislature. ... Any law that suspends, nullifies, or reverses a final court judgment is an exercise of judicial, not legislative power," the filing said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Republican Sens. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Mel Martinez of Florida filed a friend-of-the-court brief late Wednesday siding with Schiavo's parents.
"This is not about Terri anymore. This is all a political view," Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother, told CNN on Thursday. "They're being bullied, actually, by these right-for-life people, basically telling them, `If you don't go our way, you won't get our votes.'"
Yahoo! Windsurfing Season has Hit
Finally, the wind gods are with us and the rain has stopped. By the sychronicity of it, I managed to wrangle my dear Mother-in-law to sit the kids and the wind cooperated.
Out for the first time this season: Crissy Field luanch. Winds SW about 18 or so, gusts to about 21 with stronger on the outside. Rigged the 5.4 North XXX, slapped it on the Exocet 85 liter Original Wave. Ripped it up on the outside for about an hour. That's about all I can handle until later in the season and I have burned off the Winter Excess.
I always forget how much fun it is to participate in life and get out on the water rather than be a spectator...which is hard not to be given that the College Hoops sesaon is winding down.
Remember: Shred Until your Dead.
Out for the first time this season: Crissy Field luanch. Winds SW about 18 or so, gusts to about 21 with stronger on the outside. Rigged the 5.4 North XXX, slapped it on the Exocet 85 liter Original Wave. Ripped it up on the outside for about an hour. That's about all I can handle until later in the season and I have burned off the Winter Excess.
I always forget how much fun it is to participate in life and get out on the water rather than be a spectator...which is hard not to be given that the College Hoops sesaon is winding down.
Remember: Shred Until your Dead.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Ah, Those Silly Bush Boys
Finally have another new vid published on GNN. Check this out if you need a break from pointing to the the hyporcicy of the Schiavo Situation:
How can their women stand living with them?
Copy of the Intro page:
Director/Producer: Alex Motlagh, POP Films
Submitted by Franklin Lopez, Submedia TV
How can their women stand living with them?
Copy of the Intro page:
DJ Danger Mouse's video assault on the first family
GNN is proud to publish the first of many videos from independent video group subMedia TV.
In early 2004, DJ Danger Mouse became world famous for his “Grey Album,” the Jay Z/Beatles mash-up that sent hundreds of lawyers into convulsions. Months earlier, Danger Mouse had dropped his acclaimed hip-hop record Ghetto Pop Life. “Bush Boys,” an anti-Bush anthem with lyrics by MC Jemini, was part of that masterpiece. The video for “Bush Boys” is a collaboration between Danger Mouse and his longtime friend, video producer Alex Motlagh, who had access to CNN’s vast library. The video was first seen in “Under the Influence,” a compilation DVD by Atlanta’s film collective YETI. subMedia put the video online on April of 2003 and since it has been downloaded over 100,000 times. “Bush Boys” will be included in subMedia’s upcoming DVD/Zine “Molotov.”
Links:
Credits
Music: Danger Mouse and JeminiDirector/Producer: Alex Motlagh, POP Films
Submitted by Franklin Lopez, Submedia TV
The Search for The Right Kind of Activist Judge Continues
Terri's parents and team of well healed lawyers are, if nothing else, tenacious. Still searching after 15 years for their brand of Activist Judge. Not requited by the many layers of legal proceedings already pursued, and not content with the amount of taxpayer buxs already spent on their daughter.
Slice:
The parents also have vowed to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida legislature. They have long battled their son-in-law over whether their daughter's feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
End slice:
Why does this particular family warrant such special treatment and attention when there are so many others hanging on by a simliar or thinner thread?
And, once again, the hypocracy is so self-evident, even the Republicans are pointing it out:
"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing."CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Republican congressman of Connecticut, on the Schiavo case.
P.S. By the way, if you haven't looked at Terri's husband's viewpoint on the matter, perhaps you should. I found this article via BE and another blogger (tiny grain of sand):
Slice:
...Instead of worrying about my wife, who was granted her wishes by the state courts the past seven years, they should worry about the pedophiles killing young girls," Schiavo said, referring to a local case. "Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance? Or the budget? Let's talk about all the children who don't have homes."
Slice:
The parents also have vowed to take their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida legislature. They have long battled their son-in-law over whether their daughter's feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
End slice:
Why does this particular family warrant such special treatment and attention when there are so many others hanging on by a simliar or thinner thread?
And, once again, the hypocracy is so self-evident, even the Republicans are pointing it out:
"My party is demonstrating that they are for states' rights unless they don't like what states are doing."CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Republican congressman of Connecticut, on the Schiavo case.
P.S. By the way, if you haven't looked at Terri's husband's viewpoint on the matter, perhaps you should. I found this article via BE and another blogger (tiny grain of sand):
Slice:
...Instead of worrying about my wife, who was granted her wishes by the state courts the past seven years, they should worry about the pedophiles killing young girls," Schiavo said, referring to a local case. "Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance? Or the budget? Let's talk about all the children who don't have homes."
He said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is leading a charge to extend Terri Schiavo's life, is a "little slithering snake" pandering for votes.
"To make comments that Terri would want to live, how do they know?" Schiavo said of the members of Congress who want to keep his wife alive.
"Have they ever met her?" Schiavo said. "What color are her eyes? What's her middle name? What's her favorite color? They don't have any clue who Terri is. They should all be ashamed of themselves."
Schiavo said he was going to stay at his wife's side through the entire ordeal and said he wouldn't back down in his fight to have her wishes carried out.
"Terri died 15 years ago," Schiavo said, referring to the collapse and cardiac arrest that doctors say virtually destroyed her brain. "It's time for her to be with the Lord like she wanted to be."
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
The Sanctity of Life
Since when has human life been considered sacred to the degree that people in positions of supposed authority are allowed to purport themselves as representatives of god and move people to action simply because they believe in the "sanctity of life?"
Furthermore, why is it that people who hold human life in the sacred continuously disregard the reciprocal sacredness of other lives that they would and do willingly sacrifice for their cause (e.g. military deaths in
Actions speak louder than political hot air. The constant elevation of issues through litigious means simply because you don't agree with the outcome is tantamount to going to the mob to inflict real justice on one's enemies. The trotting of Terri Schiavo through the courts over the last 15 years and the rolling of her corpse out through the House and Senate is plain and simply, appalling and at the same time embarrassing.
Assassination is final, yet death is a fact of life. If you truly believe in a benevolent god, perhaps euthanasia would be less of a sin and more of a kind and humanitarian action. Certainly, it is much more humane than murder by lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad, or for that matter Carpet Bombing an entire City (just ask the folks on Death Row and the fine upstanding citizens in Iraq).
Why is it that the moral outrage is on flagrant display for one poor, unfortunate political football? Where is the outrage for the innocent children in
Monday, March 21, 2005
W, the Texas Baby Killer
Found this post on DailyKOS on a tip from a friend:
Slice:
By now most people who read liberal blogs are aware that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that expressly gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother's wishes in Texas just this week. A 68 year old man was given a temporary reprieve by the Texas courts just yesterday.
End slice:
We also know that W, presided as Governor of Texas during a period of numerous executions. We also know the horrendous record he has of being pro-life for innocent individuals in Iraq.
So, in action, W, Rove and Co are certainly in favor of murder (justified or not), and killing innocents. In words, they espouse a pro-life agenda. This is stupefying if anything else.
I am sure others have better words to explain this. Please comment to this post.
Slice:
By now most people who read liberal blogs are aware that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that expressly gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother's wishes in Texas just this week. A 68 year old man was given a temporary reprieve by the Texas courts just yesterday.
End slice:
We also know that W, presided as Governor of Texas during a period of numerous executions. We also know the horrendous record he has of being pro-life for innocent individuals in Iraq.
So, in action, W, Rove and Co are certainly in favor of murder (justified or not), and killing innocents. In words, they espouse a pro-life agenda. This is stupefying if anything else.
I am sure others have better words to explain this. Please comment to this post.
Activist Judging: In the Eye of the Beholder
With the latest punt by Congress regarding their favorite poor, unfortunate, political football, Terri Schiavo is being used as a shuttle to root out and find Activist Judges that the Reichwingers enjoy.
What it means to be an Activist Judge and whether it is bad, is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Like art and pornography, will we know it when we see it? Or, will the politicos bucking for reelection keep searching about until they find a judge that decides the way their constituents feel?
More tax payer dollars have gone to waste bringing our congressional reps to the fore on a rare and unusual Sunday Session. You would think we were going to war with North Korea.
What it means to be an Activist Judge and whether it is bad, is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Like art and pornography, will we know it when we see it? Or, will the politicos bucking for reelection keep searching about until they find a judge that decides the way their constituents feel?
More tax payer dollars have gone to waste bringing our congressional reps to the fore on a rare and unusual Sunday Session. You would think we were going to war with North Korea.
More Domestic Terrorists We Can't Predict
Another tragic day for America's schools. Lessons from Colombine didn't help the folks in Minnesota.
Slice:
Eight people were shot dead on Monday by a student who killed his grandparents and opened fire at a school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota before killing himself in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in six years, authorities said.
Slice:
Eight people were shot dead on Monday by a student who killed his grandparents and opened fire at a school on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota before killing himself in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in six years, authorities said.
General George Patton Knew More About War Than Most
Had this to say about war:
"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning"
& "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his."
Others also knew more about war that those of us sitting in our comfortable homes tiptapping away on the blog
Bertrand Russel also had a point:
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
Douglas MacArthur:
"The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
Questions ring for me:
1) Are we gaining anything by fighting the Iraq war?
2) Were we right to go in?
3) Was there another alternative?
4) Are people praying for peace?
5) When & how will it end?
"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning"
& "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his."
Others also knew more about war that those of us sitting in our comfortable homes tiptapping away on the blog
Bertrand Russel also had a point:
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
Douglas MacArthur:
"The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
Questions ring for me:
1) Are we gaining anything by fighting the Iraq war?
2) Were we right to go in?
3) Was there another alternative?
4) Are people praying for peace?
5) When & how will it end?
Guilt by Association
Aparently, the Marines are having a PR problem with their Dress Uni.
Slice:
With the toll of Marines killed in Iraq mounting, the Marine Corps is no longer requiring the Marines notifying families of such deaths to wear the Corps' distinctive dress blue uniform.
The change, authorized by Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, was made because the public was beginning to associate the blue uniform, usually worn during ceremonial or joyous occasions, with death and tragedy, officials said...
...But Gunnery Sgt. Cindy Grubb, operations chief for the Corps' casualty branch, said wearing the dress blues while notifying families had begun to associate the uniform unfairly with bad news.
"We want to keep that positive image of the blues," she said.
The latest casualty count shows 1,513 members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq, including more than 460 Marines. Most of the Marines were part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.
End slice:
I know many a military family dreads the silent approach of a men in dress uniforms.
Slice:
With the toll of Marines killed in Iraq mounting, the Marine Corps is no longer requiring the Marines notifying families of such deaths to wear the Corps' distinctive dress blue uniform.
The change, authorized by Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, was made because the public was beginning to associate the blue uniform, usually worn during ceremonial or joyous occasions, with death and tragedy, officials said...
...But Gunnery Sgt. Cindy Grubb, operations chief for the Corps' casualty branch, said wearing the dress blues while notifying families had begun to associate the uniform unfairly with bad news.
"We want to keep that positive image of the blues," she said.
The latest casualty count shows 1,513 members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq, including more than 460 Marines. Most of the Marines were part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.
End slice:
I know many a military family dreads the silent approach of a men in dress uniforms.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
The Aging Commie Pinko
Lately, certain slang terms used primarily in a derogatory manner have been recycled (like W, Rove and Co. judge appointees) by the reichwingers in their atempts to discredit otherwise insightful commentary. Like the use of the suffix -gate to indicate scandal (e.g. watergate, fajita-gate, etc..) it is time to put these tired old aphorisms to rest. They simply don't apply nor did they really hold any water when it comes to discrediting individuals.
Two of my favorites are "Hippie," and "Commie," or "Pinko Commie." These tired old terms simply don't apply to folks in this Millenium. Moreover, using such slang to attempt to discredit an argument doesn't work. Try for a change, calling things as they are, and using logical rhetoric and factual references to tell us that you think we are wrong.
Slinging hate, and in partucularl, using out-dated words and phrases to do it is just plain unoriginal. Let's put these terms to rest, and invent some new ones.
List your favorite terms that should be retired in a comment below.
Thank you
Two of my favorites are "Hippie," and "Commie," or "Pinko Commie." These tired old terms simply don't apply to folks in this Millenium. Moreover, using such slang to attempt to discredit an argument doesn't work. Try for a change, calling things as they are, and using logical rhetoric and factual references to tell us that you think we are wrong.
Slinging hate, and in partucularl, using out-dated words and phrases to do it is just plain unoriginal. Let's put these terms to rest, and invent some new ones.
List your favorite terms that should be retired in a comment below.
Thank you
Saturday, March 19, 2005
What is a Patriot?
Have you ever been blogging and have an urge to comment, but then find your comment actually might make a fine post on your own blog? This happened to me this evening. I was reading Ken Grandlund's Common Sense - which really do have to slice out some time to read as his posts are very well thought out and lengthy - not your usual blog fodder....
So, I came up with in interesting angle on his recent post as I found myself thinking about how to become a better Patriot.
First off, I know that there is a difference in how people define it and what it means to each person can vary. So, my first question naturally flows:
1) What's the definition of Patriot?
Here's one: One who loves, supports, and defends one's country.
But that is a fairly broad definition, so, as we have the www at our fingertips, I thought I would google it. "What is a patriot" provided numerous hits, and at the top of the list was the USA Patriot Act.
Now, for the life of me, I scanned the thing, and couldn't find any definition of the term patriot. There was a lot of talk about terrorists, and what is terrorism, but missing was a good, clean, definition of Patriot.
Unrequited, I copy and pasted it into word and did a search, and did you know that the word "patriot" only appears three times in the whole of the 132 pages? And each time, it was to name the act.
This left me empty on what it means to be a patriot, except to turn in suspicious individuals.
Looking further, I found references to football teams, and the movie the Patriot, and finally hit on an "official" White House page where you can actually register yourself as a Patriot. Did you know you could do that? I didn't. This is something like the "do-not-call list, but better (if you take a look at the page, it really is a satirical piece, as in funny, ha ha):
Looking further, I found a self proclaimed watch dog group called the Patriot Watch.Interesting.
Slice from their page:
"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." Justice William O. Douglas
Before my eyes blured over, I found the Fallen Patriot Fund, perhaps the most worthy of your review and spare cash/time to volunteer - interestingly, located right next to the Rightwing e-rag, the Federalist Patriot.
Still, I have not come away from my search with a fantastic definition of Patriot. So, I thought I would pitch it to the blogiverse - What are your thoughts about being a Patriot?
Before I leave this post, let me give you the preface - I was commenting on the environmental post on Common Sense and got to thinking how one could be Patriotic - read further if you like as here's the salient portion of my comment originally posted on Common Sense:
Anyway, I think the solution has to start with the individual. If we each pledge to go as green as we can and reduce consumption, we would do well.
Keep in mind, this simple thought - the most strategic reserve of oil sits parked in the driveways and parking spaces of America. Every time you make a decision to fire up the combustionable, you burn up another chance to save and increase our reliance on OPEC oil. So, perhaps the most Patriotic thing one can do is ride a bicycle, or walk or take public transit to work....or use only clean/efficient vehicles....
That's my idea on where to start. We can all do our part, now isn't that Patriotic?
So, I came up with in interesting angle on his recent post as I found myself thinking about how to become a better Patriot.
First off, I know that there is a difference in how people define it and what it means to each person can vary. So, my first question naturally flows:
1) What's the definition of Patriot?
Here's one: One who loves, supports, and defends one's country.
But that is a fairly broad definition, so, as we have the www at our fingertips, I thought I would google it. "What is a patriot" provided numerous hits, and at the top of the list was the USA Patriot Act.
Now, for the life of me, I scanned the thing, and couldn't find any definition of the term patriot. There was a lot of talk about terrorists, and what is terrorism, but missing was a good, clean, definition of Patriot.
Unrequited, I copy and pasted it into word and did a search, and did you know that the word "patriot" only appears three times in the whole of the 132 pages? And each time, it was to name the act.
This left me empty on what it means to be a patriot, except to turn in suspicious individuals.
Looking further, I found references to football teams, and the movie the Patriot, and finally hit on an "official" White House page where you can actually register yourself as a Patriot. Did you know you could do that? I didn't. This is something like the "do-not-call list, but better (if you take a look at the page, it really is a satirical piece, as in funny, ha ha):
Looking further, I found a self proclaimed watch dog group called the Patriot Watch.Interesting.
Slice from their page:
"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." Justice William O. Douglas
Before my eyes blured over, I found the Fallen Patriot Fund, perhaps the most worthy of your review and spare cash/time to volunteer - interestingly, located right next to the Rightwing e-rag, the Federalist Patriot.
Still, I have not come away from my search with a fantastic definition of Patriot. So, I thought I would pitch it to the blogiverse - What are your thoughts about being a Patriot?
Before I leave this post, let me give you the preface - I was commenting on the environmental post on Common Sense and got to thinking how one could be Patriotic - read further if you like as here's the salient portion of my comment originally posted on Common Sense:
Anyway, I think the solution has to start with the individual. If we each pledge to go as green as we can and reduce consumption, we would do well.
Keep in mind, this simple thought - the most strategic reserve of oil sits parked in the driveways and parking spaces of America. Every time you make a decision to fire up the combustionable, you burn up another chance to save and increase our reliance on OPEC oil. So, perhaps the most Patriotic thing one can do is ride a bicycle, or walk or take public transit to work....or use only clean/efficient vehicles....
That's my idea on where to start. We can all do our part, now isn't that Patriotic?
The Fallacy of Abstinence
Humm, it is rather spurious that some group called the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, located in Sioux Falls, S.D is being given federal dollars to support their work (read: tax payer bux), when abstinance doesn't actually lead to the holy grail of chaste lives until "marriage."
This cherished "christian" result is misleading and again been poven a lofty, unobtainable goal. In fact, yet another emperical study shows that those who pledge abstinence are more likely to have anal sex. Hummm, is that what they Clearinghouse wants?
Of course, they say, these folks who pledge abstinence had not pledged "true" abstinence. So, now there are qualifications to the term abstinence?
Slice from the article:
The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain their earlier findings that teens who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.
The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens pledging virginity until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than other teens who have not had intercourse. That behavior, however, "puts you at risk," said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale and one of the study's authors.
Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the study. Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.
President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools. Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.
"If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs," Brueckner said, echoing President Bush's remarks in last year's State of the Union address. "
But the majority of adolescents don't live like that. They do have sex." Last year, the same research team found that 88 percent of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99 percent of teens who do not make a pledge.
End slice:
Sounds like another Spend and Spend program (the kind that grows the National Debt) sponsored by W, Rove and Co. that doesn't work, and in fact, would actually work better if it didn't exist.
This cherished "christian" result is misleading and again been poven a lofty, unobtainable goal. In fact, yet another emperical study shows that those who pledge abstinence are more likely to have anal sex. Hummm, is that what they Clearinghouse wants?
Of course, they say, these folks who pledge abstinence had not pledged "true" abstinence. So, now there are qualifications to the term abstinence?
Slice from the article:
Teens who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to take chances with other kinds of sex that increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, a study of 12,000 adolescents suggests.
The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain their earlier findings that teens who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.
The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens pledging virginity until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than other teens who have not had intercourse. That behavior, however, "puts you at risk," said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale and one of the study's authors.
Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the study. Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.
...Millions of teens have signed written pledges or verbally promised to abstain from sex, part of a church-led effort to discourage premarital sex and the spread of disease.
President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools. Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.
"If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs," Brueckner said, echoing President Bush's remarks in last year's State of the Union address. "
But the majority of adolescents don't live like that. They do have sex." Last year, the same research team found that 88 percent of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99 percent of teens who do not make a pledge.
End slice:
Sounds like another Spend and Spend program (the kind that grows the National Debt) sponsored by W, Rove and Co. that doesn't work, and in fact, would actually work better if it didn't exist.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Wrong War and Vice Versa?
A good thought for the weekend, from page 97 of my copy of Melville's Moby Dick:
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
Slice from Iraq:
By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - When U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq two years ago, Adnan al-Eiby was thrilled. He thought that once Saddam Hussein was toppled, Iraq would become a flourishing Western-style democracy.
"But now, I walk down the street and all I see is death — innocent people blown up by terrorists and others shot by the Americans," said the 32-year-old chauffeur. "I'm fed up with life. We pinned our hopes on the Americans but they let us down."
End slice:
Is W, like Ismael, weaving his own tourniquet and tightening it about his neck and eyes?
"But when a man suspects any wrong, it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter, he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself."
Slice from Iraq:
By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - When U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq two years ago, Adnan al-Eiby was thrilled. He thought that once Saddam Hussein was toppled, Iraq would become a flourishing Western-style democracy.
"But now, I walk down the street and all I see is death — innocent people blown up by terrorists and others shot by the Americans," said the 32-year-old chauffeur. "I'm fed up with life. We pinned our hopes on the Americans but they let us down."
End slice:
Is W, like Ismael, weaving his own tourniquet and tightening it about his neck and eyes?
No More Lumps for now
Good news from the Cancer Battle front. Our friend's second surgery went well, and she is feeling good and the fetus is doing great. So, the non-invasive eradication of the two lumps last friday is over. No lymphnode traveling. And, yesterday's removal of pre-cancerous cells is done and hopefully we are done with it. Now, it is recovery and watching carefully.
Cronyism, Nepotism, and Narcisism, Oh, My.
W, Rove and Co. are at it again. Hey, let's give some folks we know a no-bid contract and hope the public won't find out. We are all deeply familiar with the modus operandi re: Halliburton.
This just in from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
This just in from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Mercyhurst College, a small Roman Catholic institution in the hometown of the former secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, has been awarded a no-bid contract to train intelligence analysts for the department.
A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department said on Wednesday that Mercyhurst, a liberal-arts college in Erie, Pa., was the only institution qualified for the job. Mercyhurst began training a class of 20 analysts last week at a department facility in Northern Virginia.
"The college was the one able to meet our time lines and bring their established program to a local training location at no additional cost," said Thomas P. Burke, the spokesman. He said the department had consulted with other colleges before making its decision. Mr. Ridge did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
But the $90,000 deal has raised eyebrows at the Center for Public Integrity, a government-watchdog group based here. The nonprofit group says the department should have conducted an open review that would have allowed larger, local programs to compete.
Mercyhurst's Institute for Intelligence Studies has been around only since 2004, although the 4,000-student college has been training undergraduates for intelligence jobs since 1992 and has offered a master's degree with an intelligence concentration since 1995. Georgetown University and George Washington University, both located here in Washington, have had security-studies programs in place for at least two decades.
Officials at Georgetown and George Washington said they had not been approached by the department but would have been interested in applying for the contract had there been a competition.
"There may be legitimate reasons why Mercyhurst was a better candidate, but you're not going to find that out without an open competition," said William A. Allison, a spokesman for the Center for Public Integrity. "This does create an impression that there is some favoritism" at play.
End Slice:
Humm...Georgetown, GW? Don't we know these institutions a bit better than Mercyhurst? Let's see, a program that is less than three years old, versus, well established programs at very substantial institutions that have been around a lot longer?
The way this administration works, no wonder they went with Mercyhurst. Regardless whether it is cronysim or nepotism, the narcisistic boys and girls of W, Rove and Co don't see the wrong (as in hear no, see no, speak no). Ah, but we do! For shame.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
The big Dick Cheney Rubber Stamp - Sub title: Activist Judges on the Right wing are called? What?
Found this via Move On. Any one have $ 25K to get this thing aired?
Also, the text of Robert Byrd's speech at a recent rally can be found at Move On.
Slice:
An ill wind is blowing across this country. That wind blows the seeds of destruction. Our Constitution is under attack. We must speak out and kill this dangerous effort to rewrite our precious Constitution.
Our freedom of speech is in jeopardy. Some in the United States Senate want to “bully” the American people and the Senate and force feed us far right wing judges.
End slice:
If folks on the reichwing think judges who rule in favor laws that they don't agree with are "activist judges." Well, turnabout is fair play. What shall we call the rejects from the last term that W, Rove and Co. are trying to shove down our necks? Any suggestions?
Also, the text of Robert Byrd's speech at a recent rally can be found at Move On.
Slice:
An ill wind is blowing across this country. That wind blows the seeds of destruction. Our Constitution is under attack. We must speak out and kill this dangerous effort to rewrite our precious Constitution.
Our freedom of speech is in jeopardy. Some in the United States Senate want to “bully” the American people and the Senate and force feed us far right wing judges.
End slice:
If folks on the reichwing think judges who rule in favor laws that they don't agree with are "activist judges." Well, turnabout is fair play. What shall we call the rejects from the last term that W, Rove and Co. are trying to shove down our necks? Any suggestions?
Blue Sky Above
Image Copyright Windspike 2005.
I do apologize for those of you still frought with winter, but I took this shot mid-day on the Ides of March. Thought some might like a dose of cherry blossoms to brighten the otherwise mundane repetativeness of St. Patrick's salubriousness.
Letting Terri Go
Found this quote via blogexplosion: "Please Pray forTerri Schindler-Schiavo,she only has one day before she is to be murdered"
It is rather interesting that those who claim to be "for" Terri Schiavo only advocate that she be artificially fed and kept alive. Don't you think that one could also be "for" Terri and advocate for her to be let go in a humane way?
Those who advocate keeping her alive artificially invariably argue that her husband has no legal basis for making decisions for her or that she couldn't have indicated that she didn't want to be kept alive artificially. In the end, how could the general public know the wishes of this poor, unfortuante woman? They don't; nor is it their business.
Let her go, and grieve if you must, but is long time for people to stop using Terri as a political football.
For those who disagree, would you trade places with her?
"Please Pray forTerri Schindler-Schiavo,she only has one day before she is to be murdered"
It is rather interesting that those who claim to be "for" Terri Schiavo only advocate that she be artificially fed and kept alive. Don't you think that one could also be "for" Terri and advocate for her to be let go in a humane way?Those who advocate keeping her alive artificially invariably argue that her husband has no legal basis for making decisions for her or that she couldn't have indicated that she didn't want to be kept alive artificially. In the end, how could the general public know the wishes of this poor, unfortuante woman? They don't; nor is it their business.
Let her go, and grieve if you must, but is long time for people to stop using Terri as a political football.
For those who disagree, would you trade places with her?
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Another Bad Day for Scott Peterson
Well, no doubt, you have already heard. Scott Peterson gets the State sponsored (and tax payer dollar supported) trip to the chemical drip.
That is, until he exhausts the appeals process.
I'm wondering: Do you think the good Christians in favor of artificially feeding Terri Schievo are jumping for joy on this news?
That is, until he exhausts the appeals process.
I'm wondering: Do you think the good Christians in favor of artificially feeding Terri Schievo are jumping for joy on this news?
Got Job?
Found a nice bumber sticker slogan on the following url:
"Osama still has his job, do you still have yours?"
This is paradoxically funny and sad given that the jobs created underneath W, Rove and Co. is unacceptably low. Not only that, but W, Rove and Co have setting new records: 1, 2. The cost of oil is making them richer, and us poorer at the gas pump. How nice - so much for your 400 dollar tax credit/rebat courtesy of W, Rove and Co. - ours went right into the gas tank several times over - and right into the big oil pockets.
"Osama still has his job, do you still have yours?"
This is paradoxically funny and sad given that the jobs created underneath W, Rove and Co. is unacceptably low. Not only that, but W, Rove and Co have setting new records: 1, 2. The cost of oil is making them richer, and us poorer at the gas pump. How nice - so much for your 400 dollar tax credit/rebat courtesy of W, Rove and Co. - ours went right into the gas tank several times over - and right into the big oil pockets.
Hemingway was No Dummy Either
The Only Thing to Fear
Dusting off some high quality '80s tunes, I came across REM's Life's Rich Pagent album. Clicked play on the RioPlayer. Turns out Michael Stipe isn't always just pretentious, but can be insightful.
This set of lyrics from Hyena is rather powerful:
The only thing to fear is fearlessness
The greater the weapons the bigger the fear
This set of lyrics from Hyena is rather powerful:
The only thing to fear is fearlessness
The greater the weapons the bigger the fear
Two Lumps Eradicated
For those of you who follow my posts, you know that a close friend's family was confronted by breast cancer earlier this monthg. Good news.
She had two, small millimeter sized lumps removed this past Friday. No traveling down the lymph system that they could find. However, they did find some pre-cancerous cells lingering about that also need to be removed. She goes in for more surgery tomorrow. This should eliminate the immediate threat of malignancy, but she will have to be under constant survelance and vigiliance.
Her Mother-in-law is in town to support, so they have family about, which is great.Hopefully we will get over there for a play date for the kids this afternoon, post nap, to insert some normalcy to their otherwise disrupted situation.
She had two, small millimeter sized lumps removed this past Friday. No traveling down the lymph system that they could find. However, they did find some pre-cancerous cells lingering about that also need to be removed. She goes in for more surgery tomorrow. This should eliminate the immediate threat of malignancy, but she will have to be under constant survelance and vigiliance.
Her Mother-in-law is in town to support, so they have family about, which is great.Hopefully we will get over there for a play date for the kids this afternoon, post nap, to insert some normalcy to their otherwise disrupted situation.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Who da April Foo?
Found another great link via SheaNC. 1 April 2005 is going to be a special day: I love my country, but I am still embarrassed by the President Day.
Don't forget to wear your brown ribbon.
Don't forget to wear your brown ribbon.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are aggressively taking care of their own, while screwing the rest of us
This just in from the Move On email list serve:
The Republican budget that's on the table cuts gives huge tax breaks to the rich, cuts education and health care for middle class folks and the poor, and sends the debt burden for future generations through the roof....
The Republican budget that's on the table cuts gives huge tax breaks to the rich, cuts education and health care for middle class folks and the poor, and sends the debt burden for future generations through the roof....
- Republicans are pushing through the budget this week before critics and the media can point out huge program cuts and corporate giveaways.
- The Republican budget explodes the deficit—adding more than $400 billion to our national debt, when you include the extra money requested for the Iraq War. According to the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit is due mostly to the gigantic tax cut legislation and Iraq spending—two things Congress and the president want to make worse, not better.
- The Republican budget gives the wealthiest Americans permanent tax breaks, while cutting programs for the middle class and poor.
- The Republican budget would make gigantic cuts in health care—especially for Medicaid—which are unconscionable. Medicaid principally serves two groups: senior citizens and the working poor. Most seniors in nursing homes count on Medicaid.
- The Republican budget slashes education funding, especially funds for middle class and low-income Americans. The budget leaves out the needed funding for No Child Left Behind and funds to help moderate-income Americans afford college. Pell Grants are dramatically hurt in the budget.
Batter up
Now that they spanked Bernard Ebbers, it is time to go after Kenny Boy Lay.
Let these capitalist pigs cook till they are super crispy.
Let these capitalist pigs cook till they are super crispy.
Biased Treatment
While not original, this quote has been bouncing around my brain for the AM.
"There is nothing more inherently unequal than the equal treatment of unequals."
Lots out there if you google the phrase (eg. 1, 2, you get the idea)
Would the PC world have us believe that this is an overly biased simplification of many a complex problem?
"There is nothing more inherently unequal than the equal treatment of unequals."
Lots out there if you google the phrase (eg. 1, 2, you get the idea)
Would the PC world have us believe that this is an overly biased simplification of many a complex problem?
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