Writing your Senator gets results

Dear Mr. Levenberg:

Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for a new courthouse complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I appreciate hearing from you. As you know, the Pentagon had announced in November that it intended to invoke a National Emergency Construction Authority Executive Order, which President Bush signed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, in order to obtain the $125 million needed for this project. This announcement sparked controversy throughout Congress, prompting the Pentagon to rightly abandon this irresponsible attempt to bypass the Congressional approval process for defense spending. I am pleased that the Pentagon will now seek this funding through the appropriate process, and I look forward to having the opportunity to review this proposal should it come before the full Senate for consideration. Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely, Ken SalazarUnited States Senator

Statistic

40% of Americans believe that the world will end within their lifetime.

At least that many believe that Anna Nicole's death was newsworthy, apparently.

Another Corrupt Republican

Beautiful

An excerpt from the article:
Among the dozens of e-mails is one allegedly sent days before Trepp and his wife prepared to set sail on a Caribbean cruise with Gibbons and his wife. In it, Trepp's wife allegedly wrote to her husband: "Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn."
Trepp's reply, according to the Journal report, was: "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!"

The US Further Solidifies its Opposition to International Standards of Legal Warfare

Delegates from 49 countries gathered in Oslo, Norway last Friday to hold a conference on the use of cluster bombs. These bombs have been the subject of controversy because they spread hundreds of "mini-bombs" over a large area, many of which do not explode, but lay dormant for years until stepped on or handled by someone, making them, in essence, land mines. The use of land mines is already outlawed by the civilized world.

46 of 49 countries at the conference ratified a ban on the weapons. The US failed to attend.

If there was any doubt...

that John McCain has any reluctance to pander to right wingnuts...

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned,"

Scumbag.

Cemetery where Anna Nicole to be buried likely to draw tourists

That is mind-blowing.

But perhaps even more so is the fact that the judge who made the ruling about the future whereabouts of her carcas was "tearful".

No TV for Kids Under 3

It does the same thing to people over 3, but to a lesser extent.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2285035.ece

Green Burial

Obviously, a burial in which the deceased is pumped full of formaldehyde, dressed in new clothing, slathered with make-up, placed in a $10,000 coffin, and put in the ground, is one of the dumbest things humans have ever come up with.

Cremation hardly seems a much more reasonable alternative. Especially for baby-boomers whose cavity fillings are made of mercury which is vaporized in the cremation process and sent into the atmosphere.

It always seemed to me that organic matter, of which the human body is composed, decays quite readily when exposed to environmental elements. Bacteria and fungi are also graciously willing to facilitate the decomposition process for free, as opposed to the thousands of dollars charged by funeral homes for a traditional American funeral.

Thankfully, there is a growing Green Burial Movement taking place in the US and elsewhere, wherein the deceased are simply placed in the ground without any preparation or coffin. A Google search of that term will yield plenty of info.

Please note that this is not an "Alternative Funeral practice". Embalming people is "alternative" in the sense that it is a new idea in history and is not widely practiced in the world.

Let this post serve as notice that if I am embalmed, I WILL come back from the grave and eat the brain of the responsible party.

Do We Need a Law Against Retards in Government?

Georgia State Legislator Ben Bridges recently sent a memo that states that teaching evolution in schools is part of a vast Jewish plot to discredit Christianity.
Bizzare? Yes, but it gets better. The website that he references in the memo as having "indisputable evidence" that the theory of evolution is false and is part of a vast conspiracy, also claims that the Earth does not rotate on its axis or orbit the sun, but that everything in space rotates around the Earth.

Incredible, but true.

Depressing.

People are still talking about Anna Nicole.

How depressing.

Devolution

Devolution: Not like the geeks, DEVO (awesome that they are). This is the Scotland, Wales, Basque variety that I'm talking about. Could it happen here? In parts of the country it would be a positive. But, I am afraid to say, I hate to think what the South and Mid-west would become. For example, this could create a 21st century Confederate States, but on the other hand it would create the Republic of California or a Republic of New England and fulfill the hopes of a Cascadia Secession. To be honest, I like living in ATL, and if this happened, we would have to become a city-state. Not a bad idea, but leaving the perimeter might be a bit more dangerous. Anyway, the story from the NY Times OpEd page: (I would put a link, but NY times makes you pay for OpEds after a couple of days).

Read More....

Small Animal Rights Victory

Smithfield Farms, the nation's largest pork producer, recently announced that they are no longer using gestation crates in their pork factories. This is a bit like Hitler announcing that he will no longer kick his dog, but its a hard-earned victory nonetheless.

Smithfield claims that the decision is not a result of pressure from animal rights groups.

Yeah, right! I initially decided not to publicize this news because I didn't want to make people feel that is is more okay to eat pork now, because its not. But then, it is a great example of the fact that things can change for the better if some people think about the consequences of their actions.

Time to Pay Up!

Jonah Goldberg is a rightwing pundit who writes for the National Review Online. Two years ago he challenged a Prof. of history from the Univ. of Michigan to a bet about Iraq. Basically, not being able to win his argumnet against an expert on the Middle East, he pulled the typical rightwing argument of, "let's just see how history will judge this, because even though things are not great now, they will be worth it in the long run." Unlike most people who have used this, "you just wait and see," argument against me (i.e. "Just wait, they'll find the WMD's, and then you'll see we needed to invade."), his has been documented. He wrote the following 2 yrs. ago yesterday.

"Anyway, I do think my judgment is superior to his when it comes to the big picture. So, I have an idea: Since he doesn't want to debate anything except his own brilliance, let's make a bet. I predict that Iraq won't have a civil war, that it will have a viable constitution, and that a majority of Iraqis and Americans will, in two years time, agree that the war was worth it. I'll bet $1,000 (which I can hardly spare right now). This way neither of us can hide behind clever word play or CV reading. If there's another reasonable wager Cole wants to offer which would measure our judgment, I'm all ears. Money where your mouth is, doc.
One caveat: Because I don't think it's right to bet on such serious matters for personal gain, if I win, I'll donate the money to the USO. He can give it to the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade or whatever his favorite charity is." The whole piece is here.

Hmmmmmmmm.....Did things turn out as Goldberg pridicted or was the "dashboard saint of lefty Middle East experts" right? Score one for the lefty academic elites! Time to pay up Goldberg.

Priorities

Must empty myself of angst before going to see.... Donna the Buffalo!

Angst: I very rarely watch TV, and when I do, i realize that my opinion of American culture, as being hopelessly superficial and deranged, is spectacularly optimistic. Anna Nicole Smith died today, freeing up some otherwise useful space in the world. I am ashamed to say I know who she is. Apparently, many other Americans do as well, and, get this, they also apparently CARE who she is! She is most notable for her inability to form complete sentences and for impulsively bouncing her boobs around whenever a camera is nearby. While I was involuntarily watching TV, CNN, by God, spent at least 30 minutes talking about Anna freaking Nicole Smith. During that time, several dozen legitimate humans died in Iraq. That will not be covered on CNN. Also, there will be special coverage of Anna's death later tonight on CNN and probably several other channels.

Angst dumped successfully... I'm out!

America Further Solidifies it's Opposition to International Human Rights

In keeping with the administration's hostility toward traditional protections of fundamental human rights, and its continued commitment to evade accountability, American officials declined to sign an International Accord on Secret Detentions on Tuesday.

Basically, the Treaty sought to prevent its signatories from "disappearing" citizens of other countries without informing their government of their circumstances and the charges against them.

The Accord also called for the immediate release of all child-soldiers serving in the military around the world, and put forth measures to stop the recruitment or abduction of children for military purposes.

I guess the U.S. just couldn't quite swallow that one.

Defense of Marriage

This is a ballot initiative in Washington State. Awesome.


"What we are about
The Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance seeks to defend equal marriage in this state by challenging the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling on Andersen v. King County. This decision, given in July 2006, declared that a “legitimate state interest” allows the Legislature to limit marriage to those couples able to have and raise children together. Because of this “legitimate state interest,” it is permissible to bar same-sex couples from legal marriage.
The way we are challenging Andersen is unusual: using the initiative, we are working to put the Court’s ruling into law. We will do this through three initiatives. The first would make procreation a requirement for legal marriage. The second would prohibit divorce or legal separation when there are children. The third would make the act of having a child together the legal equivalent of a marriage ceremony.
Absurd? Very. But there is a rational basis for this absurdity. By floating the initiatives, we hope to prompt discussion about the many misguided assumptions which make up the Andersen ruling. By getting the initiatives passed, we hope the Supreme Court will strike them down as unconstitutional and thus weaken Andersen itself. And at the very least, it should be good fun to see the social conservatives who have long screamed that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation be forced to choke on their own rhetoric."

Bottled Water

I've always found bottled water a little silly, unless you are out and just really want water to drink and there is no water fountain around. But, now I will prob. have a hard time buying it even in those situations. Apparently, the production of bottled water (bottle, transport., etc..) is ridiculously bad for the environment and this is really bad considering that in most places in the US, we have access to perfectly fine drinking water straight out of the faucet, or the tap water is at least fine after being filtered at home. Now, the stats below concern Fiji water, so the transport. costs will be higher than some brands.

What it takes to produce and ship 1 liter of imported (Fiji) bottled water:

• 26.88kg of water
  
• 562 grams of green house gasses released

I got this info here.

Ted Haggard is an Unbelievable Bastard

Apparently, after 3 weeks of "intensive counseling", the Rev. Ted Haggard is now convinced that he is completely "cured" of his homosexuality.

What an Unbelievable Bastard.

Haggard is full of shit and he knows it. Homosexuality isn't curable in the same way that heterosexuality isn't "curable". Just ask any homosexual. Rev. Ted's message to young people (with whom he has considerable influence) struggling with sexual confusion is "You need to be cured".

So maybe they try. Maybe they grow up and marry an unfortunate person of the opposite sex. Maybe they procreate with this unfortunate person and have some unfortunate kids. Then, one of two things can happen. 1) They eventually stop lying to themselves, go spit on Rev. Ted's grave, and leave their family broken and sad. 2) They live a sad, twisted lie for the rest of their lives and deny themselves and another person a chance at a real loving relationship in the one life they have.

There is no shortage of people making jokes about what a ridiculous buffoon Ted Haggard is being. Humor isn't really my strong point. I'd like to point out that in addition to being a ridiculous buffoon, Haggard is also an Unbelievable Bastard. He blew a chance to make a real change for the better.

The Obama Theme Song Challenge

To begin with, the premise of this is inspired by the greatest political blog ever, wonkette.com. The initial info came from a post there.

So at the DNC thingy in DC today, all (almost) the current Dem Pres. candidates for '08 came out with theme music. The list (stolen from wonkette) is as follows:

• Chris Dodd: The Temptations — “Get Ready”
• Barack Obama: No music.
• Wesley Clark: Johnny Cash — “Won’t Back Down” (by Tom Petty)
• John Edwards: Inaudible
• Dennis Kucinich: “America the Beautiful”
• Hillary Clinton: Bachman Turner Overdrive — “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”

As of now I am supporting Barack. I am half way through his most recent book and generally like his voting record and recent speeches on the Senate floor. So......
Given the other choices, I am glad that Barack does not have any music yet. But, he needs some. OK, I admit that Clark's choice is pretty cool. But, Clark is not. So, I am choosing to ignore it. So, this is the challenge; choose what Barack's theme song should be. Put your choices in the comments. If I have the time and am not too lazy, I may actually do something with the responses (maybe make a poll and then do something with it). That is assuming that 1.) anyone reads this blog and 2.) if so, they actually chose to comment.

To get it rolling, here are some of my ideas:

• Ride the Fence- The Coup
• Don't Call Me Nigga, Whitey- Ice-T w/ Jane's Addiction (org. Sly & the Family Stone)
• Kill the Poor- Dead Kennedys
• White Minority- Black Flag
• The New American Way- Dropkick Murphys
• My Congressman- Fifteen
• We Will Win- Fifteen
• Middle America- JFA
• Leaving Jesusland- NoFX
  

Boston Terror Guys

This is hillarious... listen to the audio

But really, what can they be charged with? Vandalism? Littering?

The NPR Dilema

That's a term I coined. It refers to the fact that NPR gets accused of being liberal because of their annoying habit of trying to be objective. So what is NPR to do? Present both sides of an issue, or present objective truth? Too often, they do the former. Such an approach does not serve the purported function of public media in our society, but I can sympathize. As Tom Brokaw said, "there is fear in the newsrooms."

But sometimes, NPR might as well be Fox News.

And sometimes, their reporters might as well be Jeff Gannon. Could Williams have given Bush a better PR platform? How pathetic.