BixLogs

put on your seatbelts...

2008-10-06T01:28:00.000-07:00

"these are difficult times.." is the oft-repeated sentence from the political survivors of the 2008 season of "The Big White House". With the last two remaining contestants, what remains is how does the jury (the people) vote. The fact that we cannot state it clearly still is a ringing endorsement of the jury!

In the meantime, lets see what's been going on lately .. the $700 billion bailout (which has ballooned to an official $840 billion, and unofficially is thought to go over a trillion) of the banking industry, bailout of the 3 automakers, who have been unable to sell their giant SUVs and other gas-guzzlers, because of the price of gas. Of course, you recall that in the beginning of 2001, Cheney helped introduce a measure where if you were to buy a heavy vehicle (a big SUV, a hummer, big pick-up truck etc- essentially Bush-Cheney voters.) you could essentially take a giant tax deduction. This was done to encourage the consumption of these gas-drinkers, and now treasury is being raided to rescue these irresponsible car makers that perpetuated the obscenity in the first place. $25 billion was the amount granted to them just earlier this month.

On a personal note, a lot of my friends are losing jobs. They have no idea where they are going next. Guys who used to make nearly $200,000 are looking for jobs that pay $85,000... or less.

you bet, " these are difficult times.." and what are you going to do about it?

Bogey-man..

2008-07-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

Helms died today .. Make of it what you will.. I was not a big fan of his politics, he represented an America that was afraid of new things, new people, and the non-whitebread America that the country might become.. one thing that I do respect him for over all of today's "Beltway conservatives". He was genuine. He was representing what he truly believed .. which is not saying a lot...

talking points ..

2008-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was at a pub the other day in what could be generally thought of as a liberal bastion .. in Rockville, Maryland. I was sitting, sipping a Marzen and minding my own business, when this middle-aged gray haired fellow sat next to me and I don't know how we got talking but we did .. and before long he was reading off a list of talking points .. Ugghh .. Limbaughesque..
The whole time he was claiming that he is actually a moderate Republican, and with that same pair of stupid lips was castigating Clinton for his "reprehensible" behavior while trying to say that the Iraq war was ... you know, moronic crap..
So, since I wanted to go back to my beer and the ball game on TV, I told him, he was right. That he has actually convinced me to vote for McCain. I further told him, that we should have Republicans for the next 4 terms for all I care (.. because by that time the country will more likely resemble some third-world Junta economy than this proud sea to shining sea platitude.. ) plus it will make them shut up !! Now, he was a little miffed at me - he said I was being condescending .. Uh??
So you know what - if you want to vote Republican, go the ***k ahead, I couldn't care. I am tired of this whole patriotism-flag-pin-waving-homophobic-xenophobic crap! Go ahead. Vote for McCain, see if I care !!! I've actually seen people living in slums, and defecate on the streets, eat from garbage dumps .. I think you are also entitled to such reality, and the Republicans can make it happen - Go ahead, vote for Rove, whatever ..

Some returning thoughts ..

2008-07-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

Okay - Just as I thought it might happen -
Obama went to the left of Hillary to win the primary, and is now going to the Center for the general election.. this might be dangerous. Kerry tried this, and got his finger burnt.
I still think Obama might win, it will depend in large measure on who is the VP. General Clark?

our public health and education crisis ..

2007-05-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a lot about public health lately. And in doing so, ran into this essay contest for children.
The entry I have here is winner in the 7th and 8th grade category. I had to stop reading when I got to this,

"Why is Public health so important?

Well, first of all, it plays a huge roll in our lives."

roll? Isn't that a factor in a more urgent public health crisis these days? childhood obesity? I am amazed a 7th or 8th grade student cannot spell the word correctly. You can thank 'phonics' for that!

Of course it gets better when you get to the end,

"Now you know all you need to know about public health. So the next time you discern it, you won’t over look it. Instead, you’ll recognize that it’s public health! "

I have no idea what that means! But she surely got an iPod for this essay, discern that! I know, I feel bad picking on a 7th/8th grader. But really, this is quite pathetic!

Not Responsible..

2007-04-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

As I was driving into work today I saw this sign on the back of this truck carrying large rocks..

I bet the Bushies would love a sign like that. Not responsible for civil wars started by us by destabilizing your government. To be fair, that is something the western world in general has been doing for a long time, toppling regimes that end up in civil wars. Maybe that's what is meant by 'civilizing' the world one country at a time ..

Firing Range..

2007-04-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

This whole crazy-man-goes-on-a-shooting-rampage nth sequel that we witnessed, and 24-hour networks spent, well, 24 hours covering was tragic. The usual knee-jerk reactions also happened as predicted. No, not from the liberals, but from the gun-runners regarding the 2nd amendment. The two favorite amendments, if you are a wingnut or Bushie (I know, tautology), are the 2nd and 5th. But, I digress!
If you are not left scratching your head about how a college student could walk into a pawn shop, put down 600 bucks and get a 9 mm glock and 50 rounds of ammo, and the shop owner is not remotely curious, then you are not thinking with your head. I am sorry!
NRA that wants to protect our rights to bear arms, because hunting is part of our family values, still cannot explain to me why a hunter (family that hunts together, .. ) would need an automatic handgun. I just don't see it. Now, the NRA's stand has been that letting the government regulate any weapon, even an AK-47, will make them come after my hunting gun is asinine. The fact is that in some states, like South Dakota, using automatic weapons to hunt is a misdemeanor! Why we can't regulate some weapons, while letting bear some that they use to go out to shoot unsuspecting animals, I don't understand.

"I've had enough" says Iacocca

2007-04-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

When you start to lose corporate tycoons like Iacocca, you know that as a Republican administration your game's up. Here's an excerpt:

"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!"

i mus' be jivin'...

2007-04-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

I really did not want to waste any more space on the Imus thing, but I had to say a couple of things. I was one of those who tuned into Imus in the morning daily for about 10 minutes before some boorish commercial about re-doing my windows or roof tiles interrupted me. I used to tune in because typically some political figure or a well-known journalist would be discussing the political issues of the day. Other than those few minutes, most of the show was rather juvenile, with some impersonator, and Imus calling somebody fat and ugly. His comments for Bill and Hillary were particularly uncharitable. He had unkind things to say about a lot of public servants. This from a guy who made money "talking" when he was not snorting or shooting it up.
A lot has been said about his charitable ranch etc. I am not very impressed. How sure is one that it is not just some tax write-off? Good riddance Imus !

Obamania ..

2007-04-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, you check out this clip from the Letterman show and tell me you are not in love with this guy. He is awesome. It actually feels like we've been ripped off all this time (for the past 6 years). And look, if Hillary does win the nomination (yea right!), I'll vote for her in the general election. But really, the Clintons (I love Bill), have had 8 years to do good and they have in large respect. So why not give our brother Obama and Edwards the chance ! I think they will be a GRRREEEAT ticket.

Doonesbury 'Support the troops, W-style'

2007-04-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

Goodling profile...

2007-04-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Someone who has been making the news a lot lately is Monica Goodling, the DOJ's WH liaison. She was instrumental in making decisions in who gets a US attorney job. In case you were wondering which year she passed out of Harvard or Yale, you wouldn't find her name on those alumni list. She is a graduate of Messiah College and has a law degree from Pat Robertson's Regent University, both evangelical institutions. I found this profile in the Legal Times quite stunning. She comes across as quite the right-wing brownie scout, implementing the Robertson, Falwell world view into our daily lives.

Excerpts:

"As White House liaison, Goodling was part of a small cadre of senior Justice officials responsible for vetting U.S. Attorneys, a position that became far more significant after the 2006 reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, which gave Justice authority to install interim U.S. Attorneys without congressional approval. She played a central role in the appointment of her one-time boss J. Timothy Griffin, who replaced ousted U.S. Attorney H.E. "Bud" Cummins III in Arkansas. Beyond that, she wielded significant power in determining which U.S. Attorneys would go -- or stay."
"Her tenure at Justice, which began in 2002 in its press operations under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, tracked what some have seen as a growing politicization of the department, from the purge of career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division to the appointment of young party loyalists, often with little or no prosecutorial experience, to Justice's top levels."

"Goodling graduated in 1995 with a degree in communications and a minor in politics, then started law school at American University. But she quickly transferred to Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., a school founded by Pat Robertson. (The motto: "Christian Leadership to Change the World.") There, she enrolled in a joint public policy master's and law degree program. The school, which was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1996, has a standard law school curriculum, but also encourages students to talk and think about how law interacts with their faith and values.

Susan Richmond Johnson, who attended Regent at the same time, says Goodling already had her sights set on moving to Washington. She was idealistic, motivated by a strong belief against abortion and for equality and justice, Johnson says. "She lives a very faithful and religious life," says Johnson, who later served as White House liaison under Ashcroft, an unapologetic Christian who has taught at Regent. "She doesn't necessarily talk about it. She just lives it."

After graduating in 1999, Goodling landed a job at the D.C. headquarters of the Republican National Committee just as the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign was ramping up. Goodling's position put her inside the newly created war room for political opposition research. There, she worked alongside a crew of party faithful who would later shepherd her through the ranks at Justice."

And of course, a way into the heart is through brownies.

"Goodling often traveled with Ashcroft on tours promoting neighborhood safety and the Patriot Act. Former colleagues say Ashcroft also had a particular taste for Goodling's brownies. She was meticulous and a perfectionist. She was the point person on judicial nominations, often working in the Office of Legal Policy with then-Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh, says a former colleague."

Buyer's Remorse...

2007-04-01T04:58:00.000-07:00

Matthew Dowd who was a democratic campaign strategist was swayed over by W in the early years in Texas, and disgruntled with Clinton, switched parties and made W's image appeal to the democrats. As a reward for his successful enabling of the W regency, he was made political strategist by W in 2004. Now 2 years after having enabled the renewal of this dysfunctional and disingenuous enterprise, he is doing a mea culpa.
Excerpts from NYT article,

"..Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

In a wide-ranging interview here, Mr. Dowd called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s leadership.

He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.

“I really like him, which is probably why I’m so disappointed in things,” he said. He added, “I think he’s become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in.”

In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him..."

Yea, too bad buddy. Could have told ya. It is shocking how many of these guys are learning what we knew already, but unfortunately at a very high cost for the nation.

Just remember this...

2007-03-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve" said George Bernard Shaw. When you look over the past six years, this government has lied about the WMDs (.."yellowcake from Nigeria.."), exposed a covert CIA agent as retribution because someone spoke truth to power, lied about how easy it would be to win this war ("the insurgency is in its last throes.." ), lied about firing US attorneys who did their job ("..poor performance ratings.."), mis-managed the Katrina recovery.. etc, etc. And they impeached Clinton for lying about his dalliances.

What will it take..?

2007-03-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Garrison Keillor said one time, that, " it is exhausting to be angry all the time.. at this administration.." I agree, I have a certain fatalist, karmic sense about it. When I was younger, and would go out in the ocean, if a particularly big wave would bowl me over, I would grit my teeth and hope and wait for it to pass, so I could come up for air. That is what I carry around these days.
All this time, I used to get very upset trying to make my case to people who perceived me as catatonic and plain mad. I have been saying for so long that this war is wrong, and that there were no WMDs, that it was a ruse invented by this cabal to get us into the war. But they would never believe me, they thought I was being a left-wing blog-reading liberal.
But lookie now, who was right all this time? The american people got punk'd (Ashton Kutcher's contribution to the world!). And mostly, the poor, and trusting are the ones that got most cheated. Their sons, daughters, husbands, wives volunteered to go off fight for what they were told was a righteous war, and this disingenous cabal not only lied to them about the purpose, but left the wounded, and maimed without the care they needed. 300 billion dollars later, there are still IEDs in Baghdad, and no healthcare for the soldiers who have come back. The defense contractors made all the money.
This Republican party is not Lincoln's party. This party is a unique cocktail that has subsumed the values of the bigoted, segregationist dixiecrats, combined with the skills of an accomplished con-man. So come 2008, if you still think the Republican party is the patriotic party, and the party of values, I have a piece of land in Chernobyl to sell you. There is no point in getting angry at them, you have to wake up and open your eyes. Don't get mad, get even, vote Obama, or vote any democrat!

iRack funny ...

2007-03-15T03:48:00.000-07:00

Check out this Apple's new product release iRack!!

House of Cards...

2007-03-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ah, there is something to be said about having two separate branches of governmnent operate as such. Welcome back Capitol, the House of the People!
Have you been keeping up with the house of cards (and by that I mean the White House) that seems to be coming down crashing?
Boy, March has been a busy month for this WH hasn't it ? and its only the third week yet. Less than two weeks ago, Scooter was convicted, followed by a series of heads rolling on the Veterans Adminstration for their "support" for the troops at the mold and rat-infested Walter Reed Hospital! And now the Gonzo-firing-US Attorneys scandal is speedin' down like a train headed off the cliff...
Actually, the situation has gotten so bad, what with Sununu (R-NH) being the first Republican Senator to call Al (as W calls him, also answers to 'the legal house boy') to be, check this, fired!! Elections around the corner always seem to inject a bit of accountability doesn't it? Sununu is up for re-election in 2008. If that name rings a bell, his father John Sununu Sr. was chief of staff to Reagan the Rigtheous (as compared to Bush the Elder)
Anyway, getting back to the house of cards, we might soon have Rove testifying (that is worth Tivo-ing) under oath. Democracy is a bitch ain't it!!

I like Obamania

2007-03-10T06:02:00.000-08:00

A friend recently emailed me and asked if I was getting ready to support Hillary. While, I'll support her in the general election compared to the line-up in the GOP, I have been for a while now, and still am excited about Obama! I like John Edwards. I'll be happy with a Obama-Edwards ticket or vice-versa. They'll try to throw mud at Obama and Edwards, but we have to keep the focus on the issues.
Consider this, Gingrich, of the party of family values has cheated while he was still married (we've known for sometime buddy!) and has pulled a mea culpa. And when questioned about his hypocritical stance on making Clinton's transgressions a big deal, he said, that its not the cheating but the lying about it. He then goes on to say, .."You cannot accept felonies and cannot accept perjuries in your highest officials". And now, he is in the minority of Republicans to ask for a pardon for Libby, the perjured high official, now.
Oh, and Republicans who have had a pride in their family values, please note that the top 4 contenders of the GOP nomination have had 8 wives between them, and one even has a gay sister. Enjoy the circus!!

Update:
I am referring to the hypocritical Newt Gingrich who although his sister is gay has been married multiple times, even divorced one of his wives while she was in her sick bed in the hospital, is the darling of the right wing conservatives. If false prophets and presidents are what they seek, then they are a plenty. Gingrich is no better than Haggard!!

Beg your pardon..

2007-03-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

These are, likely, the words Libby is practicing in front of a mirror as he is conjuring up the next racy man-on-dog novel. One thing is for certain, at least his cellmate will not find any dirth of imagination in his new roomie. Could this week get any worse for this administration? First, the revelation of the abject apathy and contempt they hold for the soldiers who have sacrificed their body and soul in what they were told was a righteous cause (the Walter Reed story), and then this, the unraveling of hubris that marks this regime, who truly thought they could get away with tarnishing and slandering of a citizen (Plame-Wilson)who had sacrificed her life and family for this country for over 20 years.

Only one thing could top this, and that was revealed in a picture, where the VP spoke at the 103rd VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). He's neither a veteran nor has he fought in a foreign war, unless starting one counts. Now, the odds of that happening should be like that of Larry Flynt speaking on the "ills of pornography" at Liberty University (Falwell's wet dream) commencement. Wasn't this, Veep, the man who took 5 or 6 deferrals to avoid going to Vietnam ? His reasons were, "I had other priorities.."

Anytime I bring some of these things up in an argument, the best I get back from a conservative is, "Well, at least W didn't get a BJ in the oval". They are still pissed about that, can you believe it? I have decided that the average conservative is a BJ-deprived, bitter old white man or the wife of one who did get one!

What can I say, I do beg your pardon?

Support the troops ..

2007-03-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

For a while now, as evidenced by the paucity of posts, I have been mostly paralyzed by utter helplessness. The kind you feel when a giant python has you wrapped, and really, you have to wait till he's done, either eating you or uncoiling himself because he finds you not tasty. I was really playing the waiting game, if still alive, then to pick up the pieces and try to stagger out of the morass. The python seems to have finally caught up with the lower extremities, non-cerebral, part of the organism (the country), and the pain is really being felt down there - if you get my drift.

All I can say is, Galatians VI. If you voted for this again in 2004 - you don't get to complain. If you are easily swayed by false promises, fake bravado, and disingenuous claims of supporting the troops without looking at the credibility of the person saying those things - then you are what Honest Abe referred to when he said "You can fool some people all of the time".

Count on Coulter to be Conservative ..

2007-03-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Something most of us thinking people have known for a long time, Ann Coulter is basically Anna-Nicole without the breasts - that is, famous for being famous. But she embarassed even the conservatives last week, when she used language that you don't say publicly but only talk wearing hoods and around campfires with burning crosses.

But really, the conservatives PAC, what are they conservative about? They endorse this Prez who has spent money like there is no tomorrow, undertaken nation-building outside of our borders while still ignoring residents in New Orleans, or the new one - Walter Reed Hospital. If conservative translates in some language to be 'Daylight Robbery' then fine - Coulter can be the skinny blonde distraction while the thief is emptying the contents of your safe - US Treasury.

What irks me is that something like this has to happen to get these idiots to wake up. All this time when liberals (translates to - thinks freely) said don't break Iraq, its going to be handful to put it together - the conservatives, brushed off their Sunday best, and stood bible in hand behind Conman-in-Chief. You know, I take consolation in the words of Garrison Keillor.

The sad thing is while this has been a disastrous-drunken-party of an administration, we are the ones who have to stay back and clean up the vomit!

Like shooting fish in a barrel ...

2006-04-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

Been away sometime, busy, but back now.
And all I am reading is how low is the Bushman's approval rating going to go. Sean Wilentz writes about Bush being the worst president in history. He starts out thus,

"George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history."

E.J Dionne today in Washington Post talks about why Rove's wings got clipped, and that is not a form of disciplining but really a survival mechanism, that the Republicans are hoping that the mud-slinging Rove can do one more for the gipper,

"Here's the real meaning of the White House shake-up and the redefinition of Karl Rove's role in the Bush presidency: The administration's one and only domestic priority in 2006 is hanging on to control of Congress."

And Neil Young's latest album "Living with War" expresses on behalf of a lot of us, the agony, and betrayal we feel about being dragged into an illegal war, and the bankrupting of our country with it.

Well, get ready, the latest approval numbers for the Bushman is at 32% (CNN-Gallup) and 33% (Fox).

While I feel that a nightmare is probably coming to close, can't still feel being violated, and dragged down through a hell-hole.

This your mama's rock and roll ..?

2006-03-24T15:37:00.000-08:00

I was watching the VH1 rock and roll hall of fame 2006 induction ceremony and had this strange feeling that I was being cheated, duped. When the Metallica guys came to lavish praise on their idols, Black Sabbath, the lead singer of Metallica was talking something about a 9-year old kid inside him. Now, when I was growing up, all around me folks scared the heck out of me about following this kind of hard-metal stuff, that it will brainwash you and you will become a crack-head etc. But these, Metallica guys were sounding like American Idols, talking mushy-squishy stuff - that is - until they started playing - then I knew, that these were the real guys. Phew ...

Continuing on the mushy-squishy stuff, the Lynrd Skynrd band came on, and boy could they be any more trailer-trash and sentimental ? Goodness gracious, the veteran keyboard player was thanking his wife and grown children, What ?????? You ain't supposed to have no wife and kids man, just groupies lying naked on your kitchen floor ...

What really got me was that this was the kind of music the "conservatives" kept away from us. But they happily embrace the guys who gave you the Abu Ghraib-mass-naked-men-pyramid ? Go figure !

Anyway, when Lynrd Skynrd started playing 'Sweet Home Alabama' it was sweeeetttt..... Boy, I miss "real" rock-and-roll.

Of Huckabirds and Huckabees ...

2006-03-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

Every parent/teacher has to get to a point in life when they have to teach their kids about the birds and bees ... that's why we send kids to school where they get taught facts right ?
Not in Arkansas .. uh-huh

Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, yeah the one who famously lost so much weight he could be on the "Biggest Loser". He visited with the school students in his state in a TV show of his called Arkansans Ask, where an intrepid kid challenged him that Arkansas schools are not teaching evolution, here goes,

Student: Many schools in Arkansas are failing to teach students about evolution according to the educational standards of our state. Since it is against these standards to teach creationism, how would you go about helping our state educate students more sufficiently for this?

Huckabee: Are you saying some students are not getting exposure to the various theories of creation?

Student (stunned): No, of evol … well, of evolution specifically. It’s a biological study that should be educated [taught], but is generally not.

Moderator: Schools are dodging Darwinism? Is that what you …?

Student: Yes.

Huckabee: I’m not familiar that they’re dodging it. Maybe they are. But I think schools also ought to be fair to all views. Because, frankly, Darwinism is not an established scientific fact. It is a theory of evolution, that’s why it’s called the theory of evolution. And I think that what I’d be concerned with is that it should be taught as one of the views that’s held by people. But it’s not the only view that’s held. And any time you teach one thing as that it’s the only thing, then I think that has a real problem to it.

Now, clearly Huckabee is the biggest loser for reasons other than stated above. This man is thinking of running for the Prez in '08. Yeah, the talibanization of this great country continues ...

Scooped this one .. I did ...

2006-02-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

Well, this is not much of a breaking news, but was tickled when I saw this in Yahoo News. Don't know if you remember, I had said a few days ago, that each time Scott McLyin' gets in a tight spot he goes to this strange Indian correspondent who asks the silliest questions ..
I had said in my blog entry -

The odd thing I wanted to point out that happens later in the briefing is, anytime Scotty is in a tight spot, he calls on this guy Goyal, who he went to again today as he was being hunted down by the Press Corps, and just as expected Goyal asked a completely stupid question that no one cares about ... It starts with Scotty saying,
Go ahead, Goyal.

Now there is a story saying the exact same thing by some correspondent called Ela Dutt, the Yahoo link for that news is here. Excerpts,

Goyal has been a White House pressperson for many years and is often ridiculed for his softball questions that deal exclusively with India and for which he has been labelled the 'Goyal foil' - or a way out for White House spokesman Scott McClellan when he is in a tight spot.

Iraqqing my brain ...

2006-02-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

Its been a very depressing week. The Iraq situation seems to have a hit new low, what with the holy site in Samarrah blown up, and that followed by sectarian violence. All that many of us feared are looking like more than possible, more like inevitable ..
When I am in despair like this, I turn to, as do many others, Juan Cole the ME expert. Here's a link to an interview he gave to the Metro Times. and some excerpts from it ...

1. On the issue of American dependence on Oil:

Cole: Most people don't understand the structure of the world energy market, or the petroleum market in particular. Some 83 million barrels a day or so — it fluctuates — of petroleum are produced in the world. The United States consumes about 20 million barrels a day, about a fourth of the total — although it has only about 6 percent of the population. It produces, I believe, 5 1/2 itself — uses all that and imports the rest of the 20. Two-thirds of the proven petroleum reserves in the world are in the Persian Gulf region. If you don't have the Persian Gulf production — Kuwait and Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia — then you really would have to think about walking to work.

2. On the mainstream media:

There’s a lot of criticism of the media, but the way the media is used is the objectionable thing. I think it is outrageous that Fox Cable News is allowed to run that operation the way it runs it. It is a highly ideological, explicitly ideological operation, and it is polluting the information environment. You have anchors who attack guests for simply stating the facts; you’ve got anchors who show an attitude to spin stories in a particular way. Frankly, I think in the 1960s the FCC would have closed it down. It’s an index of how corrupt our governmental institutions have become, that the FCC lets this go on. Of course, part of the argument for the FCC regulating these things was that broadcasting was through the air and it’s therefore public and the public has an interest. Now that you’ve gone to cable for so much of it, there is an argument that the public doesn’t really have a right to regulate it, that the cable companies may provide us with whatever they want to provide us with, and that we have no choice in the matter. I think that the information environment in the United States is polluted, and I think it’s very difficult to find out from the mainstream media what’s really happening in the world.

On the response in the Muslim world to the Danish cartoon/caricatures:

If you look at this as a matter of religious people demanding that people not say things, then, of course, one's first instinct is to side with the caricaturists. And, certainly, as a general principle, people should be free to express themselves on religious issues.But if one looked upon it as a matter of racism, I think the American public could understand it better. If someone did a caricature of Martin Luther King as Steppin' Fetchit, do you really think that would pass without remark, that the cartoonist, that the editor, that the newspaper would face no public reprisals whatsoever?

Actually these caricatures were racist.

Worst-case scenario in Iraq:

Cole: There is a problem, and I don't think people have any idea how much of a tightrope we're walking in the Gulf region. If Iraq did go to a conventional civil war; if it drew Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey into it; if you have generalized guerrilla war among countries; and if they started hitting pipelines the way they're hitting pipelines in Iraq, you could really send the world into another Great Depression.

MT: We were going to ask you about the worst-case scenario.

Cole: That's the worst-case scenario. The three of us standing in a breadline.

Absolution .. leads to resolution ?

2006-02-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

So the man trigger-happy Dick felled, who was within a hair's breadth of losing his wits (harry witnearlygone) got on the horn today and said,

"accidents do and will happen" and apologized for the trouble the incident had caused the vice president.

"My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with," Whittington said, his voice a bit raspy but strong

Now, if only trigger-happy Dick and his grenade-flinging buddy Rummy can get the Iraqi women and children who were blown to smithreens, and the American military personnel (and their families) who went to fight and put themselves in danger for a cause that they were lied about to say that. "Mistakes do happen, just because there are no weapons of mass destruction or that there was no connection between Atta and Saddam does not mean that we have to jump all over the Vice-President. Accidents do and will happen."

Now, if only trigger-happy Dick could get the United Nations to say, "That's Ok mate, sure, we believed you when you said there are mobile trucks bearing bioterrorism agents, but that's ok, accidents do and will happen."

Now, if only trigger-happy Dick could get CIA agents to say, " that's Ok, while we don't expect to have our identities revealed considering the dangerous job we are doing, but accidents do and will happen."

You get the point. The reason all these folks might not absolve the Veep is because not all of them are multi-millionaire buddies he hangs out with.

Scotty peppered again ...

2006-02-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

The whole shooting incident is all over the blogosphere. There is also a Harry-watch. I am still reading squirmy press briefings, and relishing every bit of it. Ok, you can read the briefing here, it is very entertaining ! I give you a sample of the ongoing saga of David and Golly-iath ..

Q Okay. And then the third issue related to this is, we know and established yesterday through you that the President heard about it on Saturday evening. Could you explain to us why it is this piece of information was important enough for the President to hear about relatively quickly, within three hours of the event --

MR. McCLELLAN: David, as I --

Q -- but in your view, it was not important enough --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- as I indicated, there are some pressing priorities before the American people and they want us to spend our time on that, and that's where we're going to keep our focus today.

Q It's our briefing, we get to ask the questions.

MR. McCLELLAN: You do, but I've indicated to you where I am today, and that's where I'm going to continue to focus.

The odd thing I wanted to point out that happens later in the briefing is, anytime Scotty is in a tight spot, he calls on this guy Goyal, who he went to again today as he was being hunted down by the Press Corps, and just as expected Goyal asked a completely stupid question that no one cares about ... It starts with Scotty saying,

Go ahead, Goyal.

Q Two questions. One, lately the former two President George Bush and President Clinton both getting along well and they have been traveling together and also have done a lot of humanitarian work --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let's go to the question.

Q The question is, recently President Bush said that, I have a third brother, President Bill Clinton. What he meant by that? Is he getting some advice from him --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, what comment?

Q He said that I have a third brother, which is President Bill Clinton --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he was in a lighthearted way referring to President Clinton's relationship with his father.

The good news is that, that wasn't a long enough stupid question, and was only a brief respite, and the pit-bulls were back on Scotty .. Ah, such good entertainment ! Somebody asked him if it was the Rove-ster's idea for Armstrong to put out the news instead of it coming directly from the WH. and Scotty said,

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think Mrs. Armstrong has said how that idea came about.

Q So did they discuss it while they were on the phone?

MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I know of, no.

Q Could you find out for us?

MR. McCLELLAN: I just said I don't believe so.

Of course this guy also said he didn't believe, actually was dagnamit confident, that anyone in the WH had anything to do with the Plame leak. Credibility is a finite currency ! And you ran out bro !

Fireworks at the press briefing ...

2006-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

Its a pity this won't be on TV, but the screenplay sounds like it will make good drama. A handsome, dashing TV reporter mauling the slightly portly, squirmy spokesman,
From the Chicago Tribune:

Why was the White House relying on a Texas rancher to get the word of Cheney's hunting accident out over the weekend, asked Gregory, accusing McClellan of "ducking and weaving.''

"“David, hold on… the cameras aren't on right now,'' McClellan replied. "You can do this later.''

"Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,'' the newsman said, his voice rising somewhat. "Don’t be a jerk to me personally when I’m asking you a serious question.''

"You don't have to yell,'' McClellan said.

"I will yell,'' said Gregory, pointing a finger at McCellan at his dais. "If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that’s wrong.’’

‘’Calm down, Dave, calm down,'' said McClellan, remaining calm throughout the exchange.

"I'll calm down when I feel like calming down,'' Greogry said. "You answer the question.'

Shoot, did I just do that ......?

2006-02-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

You can read all about the hunting accident and the summarized view of expert hunters at Josh's website. But this is what I am left thinking about. That our VP was out shooting innocent birds at the ranch owned by a major fund-raiser, with a multi-millionaire real estate lawyer. No wonder campaign finance is one of the biggest ills of our day !
Can't resist this funny but true comments from James and Sarah Brady,

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 /U.S. Newswire/ -- James and Sarah Brady made comments today related to Vice President Cheney's reportedly accidental shooting yesterday in Texas.

"Now I understand why Dick Cheney keeps asking me to go hunting with him," said Jim Brady. "I had a friend once who accidentally shot pellets into his dog - and I thought he was an idiot."

"I've thought Cheney was scary for a long time," Sarah Brady said. "Now I know I was right to be nervous."

The cartoon controversy ...

2006-02-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well, you knew I had something to say about the cartoon controversy. I condemn the violence that has taken place. Nothing justifies the destruction of people and their possessions. And I will not rationalize it in any way. But, honestly people, have you seen the cartoons ? They were specifically meant to inflame passions, and provide just the kind of fuel the extremists need to further their agenda.
And this is the thing. People in the west are saying that the Arab world does not appreciate the importance of free speech. While that may be true (or not!) in this case, to use that as an argument, is a bucket of hogwash. Freedom of speech does not mean that you use it to mock other people's beliefs, whether you share them or not. And I have spoken to some Danes, and they feel the same way, that the Jutland Post unnecessarily provided fuel to the extremists. If you don't see a Dane be overly apologetic, its because they are a society that is mostly non-religious, so they can't quite appreciate what religious people are going through. But they do feel complicit in sparking these world events.
Of course, the Wikipedia stub I provide link to, goes into the history of the controversy a little more, and that in large part the antecedence of the crisis is also rooted in the recent discomfort and confusion prevailing in Denmark on the sudden waves of immigration from Arab countries. Imagine yourself standing at a crosswalk in Copenhagen waiting to cross a road, and you see a procession of bicycles (people use them to commute to work everyday here!), tall blonde, and nordic looking, and contrast that with a group of conservative Moslems at a nearby Shwarma grill. It is quite anachronistic.
And then again, one has to appreciate that the Danes are a welcoming people, who vote social democrats into power and pay over 60% of their salary in taxes, have a social security net that will put the American one to shame. What irks the Danes is that the immigrants while happily enjoy the hospitality of the Danish people, are reluctant to partake of any of the 'lifestyle' of the Danes. They still behave in a xenophobic fashion, following religious ways strictly and not assimilating in any way.
More recently, even mainstream and liberal Danes (they are all leftist compared to the Americans!) are re-thinking having opened the doors to these, what they consider, less than grateful newcomers.
All this is happening in a time of great trial and tribulation in Denmark and Europe. Europe in general is contending with these immigrant issues. As this Businessweek article describes,

" High unemployment among immigrants and young people isn't limited to France. Joblessness in Germany's Turkish immigrant community is an estimated 25%, and 14% of British Muslims are unemployed. Youth unemployment tops 20% in Italy, Spain, and Belgium. Mix in racial discrimination, crumbling education systems, and scant representation of ethnic minorities among the political and business elite, and it's easy to see why young immigrants are alienated"

This cartoon controversy was ill-timed, insensitive and unnecessary. And instead of condemning the provocation and the violence that followed it, to justify the provocation as freedom of speech and to tauntingly reprint the inflammatory cartoons in more European newspapers was clearly in the view of this author, plain stupid. All I can say is, don't come crying to mama !

There is hope ...

2006-02-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

Read this bio of Barack Obama in the American Prospect.

"Supporters in Illinois say Obama represents something of a Rorschach test: people project their viewpoints onto him. Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend and the treasurer of his political action committee, said that people see something of themselves in him. The danger, she said, is that they assume Obama will do what they would do, vote the way they would vote. That could backfire on him, but it hasn’t yet. “He has the ability to touch diverse crowds and there’s a sense of clicking,” Jarrett said. “And because he can click with so many different kinds of people, the expectation is that because I clicked with him, he’s going to agree with me.”

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr. still hasn’t gotten over a scene he witnessed the day he accompanied Obama on a campaign swing in the predominately white, southern part of the state. “A little old lady said to me, ‘I’m 86 years of age. I hope I live long enough because this young man’s going to be president and I want to be able to vote for him.’ It was a little old white lady! It was astounding,” says Jones, who was something of a mentor to Obama in the state Senate. “There were 3,000 people there. There were three blacks: him, me, and my driver. People are drawn to him. He talks to people on the same level … It resonates more.”"

Must read list ...

2006-02-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, I finished reading Khaled Hoseini's 'Kite Runner' . Its a chilling yet tender book. Its also a sad great reminder of what people can do in the name of religion .. there is a term for it - Talibanization. This brings me to this RollingStones article I just finished reading about God's Senator. A member of the Judiciary committee, this republican senator from Kansas is someone you should know about and learn about. These are the folks that are walking through the corridors of power that run your country !
Some excerpts from the article,

"Back in 1994, when Brownback came to Congress as a freshman, he was so contemptuous of federal authority that he refused at first to sign the Contract With America, Newt Gingrich's right-wing manifesto -- not because it was too radical but because it was too tame. Republicans shouldn't just reform big government, Brownback insisted -- they should eliminate it. He immediately proposed abolishing the departments of education, energy and commerce. His proposals failed -- but they quickly made him one of the right's rising stars. Two years later, running to the right of Bob Dole's chosen successor, he was elected to the Senate."

Compassionate conservatism...

2006-02-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post reports that," ...the House yesterday narrowly approved (216-214, along party lines) a contentious budget-cutting package that would save nearly $40 billion over five years by imposing substantial changes on programs including Medicaid, welfare, child support and student lending."
So this is what they have been doing the whole time .. racking up huge budget deficits, handing out no-bid contracts to friends, cutting taxes on the top 1%, and now finally for dessert, screwing the poor.

More on the narrowly passed House bill, with its Presidential signature all but assured,

"..Women on welfare are likely to face longer hours of work, education or community service to qualify for their checks. Recipients of Medicaid can expect to face higher co-payments and deductibles, especially on expensive prescription drugs and emergency room visits for non-emergency care. More affluent seniors will find it far more difficult to qualify for Medicaid-covered nursing care.... College students could face higher interest rates when their banks get squeezed by the federal government. And some cotton farmers will find support payments nicked. State-led efforts to force deadbeat parents to pay their child support may also have to be curtailed."

And if that weren't enough of an injury, here is some salt to add to it,

"..The impact of the bill on the deficit is likely to be negligible, slicing less than one-half of 1 percent from the estimated $14.3 trillion in federal spending over the next five years. As the House debated the budget-cutting measure, the Senate moved to begin final negotiations with the House on a package of tax cuts and extension of expiring tax cuts that could cost up to $60 billion over five years, more than negating the savings from the budget bill."

SOTU sorta ...

2006-02-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, for those of my few readers who were expecting some commentary on the state of the union from moi .. i didn't watch it. I'd rather clean the toilet bowls. But the next morning, I read that the Mr.OilMan and Mr.ReallyOilMan are going to wean us from mideast oil. I know its like a peddler promising to wean you from your addiction.
I'll tell you the state of the union -

1. quagmire, quagmire, quagmire.

I do wish though that I had seen this part.

Update:
Just as I thought Kos informs us that the Bush administration backs off the MainMan's empty promise about weaning you off 75 percent of middle-east oil dependence.

Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports
By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

Freedom in Middle-East, kinda ...

2006-01-29T16:38:00.000-08:00

So, this is the part that has me confused a little. We want freedom and democracy in the Mid-east right ? So, lets say in one of those territories that had terrorism raging, if there were to be held free elections that UN monitors, the Carter Center etc. would call legitimate, we would not only recognize it, we would laud it and welcome it as the new spring growth of freedom in a region run by terror and violence, right ? We would even offer financial aid if necessary to help them along, right ?
No, not exactly. Condoleeza "mushroom cloud" Rice ruled out any American financial aid to a Hamas government in the Palestinian territories and said Washington wants Arab nations and others to cut off money as well. This is despite the fact that the elections had record turnout, where the Israeli government laid out limits on how many people can vote in Jerusalem, and the elections were deemed legitimate by most accounts.

"Election observers with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and The Carter Center today said that under the difficult circumstance of the ongoing conflict and occupation, yesterday's elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council "can be an important step on the road to greater democracy for the Palestinian people." The delegation's preliminary assessment of the parliamentary election, noting the high turnout at the polls yesterday and in the presidential and local elections over the past two years, concluded that "Palestinians have clearly demonstrated a commitment to democratic elections." It now falls upon the Palestinian political leadership to continue strengthening democratic institutions and addressing critical issues facing the Palestinian people, the observers said."

I don't understand it, the stance of the Administration. This election result was not a surprise to me, as it is supposedly in many Western quarters. While Arafat was dining with the Clintons and non-deal-making at Camp David, Hamas was running health-camps and working with the battled in the trenches. Granted, their mission statement was inflammatory, but they were with the people, while the Palestinian Authority was out depositing checks in Swiss bank accounts. So it is a little weird that in the same press release, Mushroom Cloud Rice said, that the Bush administration would follow through on aid promised to the current, U.S.-backed Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Tell me what you think ! By the way this is all ironic, seeing that we lied our way into a war !

This ain't no pat on your back ...

2006-01-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

While you may have some consolation that you are not one of those suckers that calls Pat Robertson's TV show and pledge money, you may be rather miffed to realize that you are still funding Pat's hate-mongering ! Viva Faith-based grants !

If you want to know what is in that link above, this should get you interested,

"$14 million in federal faith-based money goes to Pat Robertson
Televangelist's claim that Ariel Sharon's stroke was an act of God may have cost him the friendship of some Israelis, but it hasn't prevented his charity, Operation Blessing, from garnering faith-based grants from the U.S. government"

Let's NOT play Hardball ...

2006-01-21T06:05:00.000-08:00

Chris Matthews has been showing evidence of being a Bushie stooge for sometime now, for example when he went out of his way to say that the Jack Abramoff scandal is bipartisan which it is not. Jack Abramoff is a Republican and gave money only to Republican legislators. And we know his relationship with JackA. But, this time he has really gone overboard !

On Hardball today, Chris Matthews compared Michael Moore to Osama Bin Laden while discussing the newly released tape with Joe Biden.

Matthews: I mean he sounds like an over the top Michael Moore here, if not a Michael Moore. You think that sells...

He has equated Michael Moore with OBL ! This has gone beyond by any yardstick of journalistic integrity. I am NOT watching Hardball anymore, Mr. Mathews, you republican shill, Let's NOT play Hardball ! And move over to Fox, you'll fit right in !

For more on this read: DailyKos

Go Gore !

2006-01-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already read or heard the Gore speech, you have to, because it is important that you follow the debate on what is affecting your freedom that your predecessors have fought hard to earn and have reposed to you this awesome responsibility. To give you a brief snippet of what Gore talks about,
"..As we begin this new year, the Executive Branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress precisely to prevent such abuses. It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored in our country..."

Of Course, the administration in their patented mud-slinging ways tried to discredit him by having the Atty. General go around peddling the non-factual statement that Clinton/Gore also did that. It is far from me, a non-lawyer, to point out that "he did it first" is not a legal defense. To quote,

"Gonzales: I would say that with respect to comments by the former vice president it’s my understanding that during the Clinton administration there was activity regarding the physical searches without warrants, Aldrich Ames as an example....

Ames was a traitor, a spy, and regardless, the whole allegation, phrased carefully as "it's my understanding" is wrong. Gore rebuts.

"There are two problems with the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.

Second, the Attorney General's attempt to cite a previous administration's activity as precedent for theirs -- even though factually wrong -- ironically demonstrates another reason why we must be so vigilant about their brazen disregard for the law. If unchecked, their behavior would serve as a precedent to encourage future presidents to claim these same powers, which many legal experts in both parties believe are clearly illegal."

Game, Set, Match.

A tale of two ironies ...

2006-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

I was stunned today to see the Supreme Court ruling today that they Okayed the Oregon Physician Assisted Suicide law. The part that stunned me was the 6-3 margin. Phew ! there is still some hope for us who are depressed of getting Scalito'ed. In response to being clubbed on the head so, the delightful McLellan (aka McLyin) said, ""The president remains fully committed to building a culture of life, a culture of life that is built on valuing life at all stages."
It was ironic in the sense that the same day, early in the morning, California put to death the oldest person in their death row, with the wannabe prez Arnold "I'll be back with 16-stitches in my lip" Schwarzwhatever, a Republican and a vociferous advocate of the death penalty, has refused to endorse a moratorium on death penalty proposed by the democratic legislative assembly. Makes you wonder if culture of life means making someone live against their wishes, and killing someone against their wishes. As a matter of history in Texas, under then Governor GW Bush, the state's death machine killed far more people annually than any other state in the Union.

Genetic Code of the Administration ..

2006-01-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a hilarious article on trying to use the letters in the names of the various administration personae, like Bush, Cheney etc, in an attempt to find what biological organism are they most similar to. It is using BLAST, a pattern finding algorithm. Read the whole article here,

"Interestingly, the top two matches for "CHENEY"are Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera, as well as Vibrio speldidus, a nasty intestinal pathogen known for inducing vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

5. Finally, in an effort to further demonstrate my impartiality, I begrudgingly entered "PRESIDENTBUSH." In this case, the best non-hypothetical match—one that can actually be assigned a biological function—was from the genome of Entamoeba histolytica. The organism is a single-celled, parasitic protozoan known for infections that sometimes last for years, which may be accompanied by vague gastrointestinal distress or dysentery—complete with blood and mucus in the stool."

Funny, don't you think ?

Is the Shiite about to hit the fan ...?

2006-01-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

Dealing with Iran a Conundrum for West writes George Jahnn of the AP. Seems like a sequel is coming into play. The clouds are gathering, dark and nasty. It is good though when our elected leaders learn geography and also use spell-checkers, for example, at the daily press briefing today McLellan pointed out that the Prez knows Iran is not Iraq,
" MR. McCLELLAN: I think the President was actually starting to get to it in his comments. But these are different situations. Iraq and Iran are not the same situations, and I think the President previously has talked about that. When he was in Europe he said Iran is not Iraq."
When asked more pointedly, if the military options are off the table, the always straight- shooting press secretary said,
"Of course the President has talked about how we never take options off the table."
Of course any sanctions on Iran might cause oil supply problems, or at least thought this reporter who asked,
"Scott, did the administration have concerns about the potential economic impact of the removal of Iranian oil from the world market?"
Sounds like the oil stocks are going to go up some more, buy some XOM and better fuel up your SUVs. And yes, get out those flags and polish them. This ain't over yet !

If you want more proof on if this is shaping be a "Unprovoked War- The Sequel" check this out.

Opera man takes on Scalito ..

2006-01-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a littl' cantata that I wrote up. Note: Must read in the voice of OperaMan (Adam Sandler)

There was a judge named Scalito
who was from the college Princeto
belonged to a group that was concernedo
that too many minorito
not good for princeto
a littl xenophobo
maybe homophobo
how can you let him get into
Supreme Courto
FILIBUSTOHHH ! Crescendo)

Thank you, I am Opera ManOh !

Mother of all contests ..

2006-01-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

I bet you'd enjoy this, the mother of Scott McLellan (also referred to as Puffy McMoonFace by some liberal talk show hosts) is running for Governor of Texas. If you didn't already know, her other son was previously commissioner of FDA and is now the Administrator of the Medicare and Medicaid Services (Honey I Shrunk Medicare !). More cronyism !

Doing the Alito Shuffle By MAUREEN DOWD

2006-01-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

donkey o.d.: Doing the Alito Shuffle By MAUREEN DOWD

This ScAlito's gotta go ...

2006-01-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

I've been watching/listening to the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Alito for Associate Justice on the SCOTUS now and then, and the one thing that I can tell rightaway is that this man does not want to be pinned down and will not come out with anything definite or substantial. Too squirmy !
I understand that the nominee's coaches have told him to take a lesson from the recently confirmed Chief Justice Roberts, and evade answering the question by abstaining, circumnavigating but not outright rejecting or accepting .. a weave and duck strategy. But the difference here is Judge Roberts did not have the paper trail that Judge Alito has. And moreover, Judge Alito is decidedly more conservative than Judge Roberts (at least to this observer).
This whole Concerned Alumni of Princeton debacle is less than over. That is only one thing though. There are a whole other litany of things.
His published views are unequivocal in his less-than admiration for the Roe v Wade decision. He is performing lip-service and throwing around the term of stare decisis (which Judge Roberts used a lot in his confirmation hearings), but will not accept that Roe v Wade is settled law of the land, which the CJ voluntarily granted. I found it particularly worrisome that in two different instances, he granted that while Roe is an important precedent, and that while stare decisis asks us to respect precedent, it is not an inexorable law of the land. I don't know how much clearer he could come out and say I will help overturn Roe v Wade.
The negligence in not recusing himself while in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals from the case where Vanguard was an interested party, although Judge Alito had 400,000 dollars in Vanguard Mutual funds. He decided in favor of Vanguard which was subsequently voted down by the other judges in the Circuit. From Washington Post,

In 1990, during the confirmation process on his nomination to the 3rd Circuit, Alito disclosed that his largest investment was in Vanguard mutual funds. To avoid possible conflicts of interest, he promised us that he would recuse himself from any case involving "the Vanguard companies." Vanguard continues to be on his recusal list, and his investments in Vanguard funds have risen from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands. Nevertheless, in 2002 he failed to recuse himself when assigned to sit on a case in which three Vanguard companies were named parties and listed prominently on every brief and on his own pro-Vanguard opinion in the case. In this case, he and the White House have floated many excuses, but none provided any sensible explanation for his failure to keep his promise or follow his "personal practice" of recusing himself whenever there was any possible ethical question about his participation in a case.

And that brings up another point. So many of the decisions he has written, he has been often a lone dissenter or has been overruled by his own colleagues on the bench or by the Supreme Court. Is it not of concern then that his views may not be mainstream and that they are out there on a limb ?

If the Dems don't filibuster this what will they filibuster ? Will they show any backbone ever ?

When it rains, it pours ...

2006-01-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

More DeLay news ! Yippeee !
From Yahoo:
"Texas' highest criminal court on Monday denied a request by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay to toss out criminal money laundering charges against him or grant him a quick trial. The denial of the two legal motions by the Court of Criminal Appeals came just two days after the former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader announced he would not try to reclaim the post."

Justice Delayed ...not denied !

2006-01-09T08:23:00.000-08:00

I have been beaming a lot today .. ever since Tom Delay quit his bid to be majority leader this past weekend, and throwing the House Republicans in complete disarray .. I never thought this would happen. I remember when Trent Lott gave up his throne just a year or so ago, thinking I wish Delay would get dethroned too .. and here it is. Ah ! How sweet it is !
Now my next wish is for the Dems to control the House and Senate ! Are YOU listening up there ?

Letterman tells O'Reilly off ...

2006-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

This is one of the best things I have seen today on the blogosphere. To quote the Dave - "Letterman to O'Reilly: "60% of what you say is crap""

the abramoff story ...

2006-01-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have to confess that I have been absorbed by this Abramoff guilty plea. In times such as this when things look just so hopeless and like everything is going down fast, this guilty plea makes one feel better.
But just be cautious, I am reading that the Asst. Attorney General who made the plea deal with Abramoff, Alice Fisher is a recess appointee of this administration. And this might be a case of where the big boys want the tumor excised. So if you follow the rest of the game plan now, the White House will try to distance itself, the Republicans in the congress will introduce legislation to "reform ethics rules" in preparation for the '06 mid-terms. I know this sounds far too "fantasmagoric", but unless the Dems Stand up NOW and Speak up Now they cannot take advantage of this situation. It would seem that far too many of the Dems (Jane Hasher calls them "neutered") are still silent. They should be out on every show, morning, afternoon and evening news castigating this Republican culture of corruption. Instead paid news anchors like Chris Matthews is calling this a general culture of corruption, and that it afflicts both Dems and Repubs.

Sound of freedom

2006-01-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

In 2006, as the mid-term election year opens, I was recounting this funny but sad story to someone the other night. We were visiting one of the beach towns on the coast near a base, and we stopped off at a shop to pick up utilities. In striking a polite conversation I asked, since I had just driven past it, if it was too loud at nights living next to a firing range. The clerk at the cash register appeared mortified and chided me saying, "it is the sound of freedom !" I knew better than to question that and walked out politely after thanking her for my transaction. I wanted to tell her that the sound of freedom is the chirping of birds, the ripple of water, the prattle of babies not bullets flying past your ear. That would more classify as sound of war. What saddens me is in part that the poor, and under-educated masses have been brain-washed sufficiently into thinking that questioning the need to go to war is un-patriotic and mocks freedom. These are the folks that are sending their brothers, sisters and children into battlefield having been sold a bad bill. They have been masterfully and deviously fooled/duped into voting and co-opting against their own interest. For more on this, read What's the matter with Kansas ? As this mid-term election year opens, consider these issues: Nicholas Kristof of NYT wrote a nice article on this.

Happy New Year !

2006-01-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

May the ringing of this year bring new hopes, new beginnings and new dreams to you and yours !
Here's what I am hoping for, ... again, this year,

1. more compassion for man towards one another;
2. more re-distribution of wealth, and not the concentration of it in a people, land or continent;
3. conflict resolutions through reason not violence;
4. less conflicts to have to resolve;
5. more love, less hate
6. more love

Lighting the Xmas Tree !

2005-12-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the decorations and lights are Up ! We have an eclectic collection of ornaments spanning several theistic symbols including Hindu, Islam and Christian. This also behooves me to address one of my pet peeves, something that has bothered me lately. This whole thing about the War on Christmas, and put the Christ back in Christmas etc. On CNN, Sam Seder rightly told Bob Knight (of Culture and Family Institute), that this whole War on Christmas is another red herring, a fake war contrived to do fund-raising from among the Religious Right!
In that spirit, I appropriate this pagan ritual, this celebration of Winter Solstice in the name of the Hindus. So Come all ye faithful, to you I wish a Merry Krishnamas, and Happy new year. As they say put the Krishna in the Krishnamas ! Aalaikum Salaam my friend !

The Tree is Up !

2005-12-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Could not resist sharing the tree that is up ! 'Tis the season to be jolly Ho Ho Ho ! Decorations will go up tonight ..
This is the tree as it just came from the farmer dude ! Fraser about 6.5 Ft. He also threw in a wreath and a bow to go with it ..
Putting the 'Holi' back in Happy Holidays ! Get it ?
Seriously, good fellowship, happy tidings to all !

Here's a rosy 2006 forecast/fantasy !

2005-12-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

I just got this email from my confidential sources,
"roving" around the west wing.

Subject: OUTSOURCING STARTING AT THE TOP

Congress today announced that the office of President
of the United States of Amecica will be outsourced to overseas
interests as of December 31st. The move is being made to save not only a
significant portion of the President's $400,000.00 yearly salary, but also a
record $521 billion in deficit expenditures and related overhead.

"We believe this is a wise move financially. The cost
savings should be significant," stated Congressman Thomas Reynolds
(R-Wash.). Reynolds, with the aid of the Government Accountability Office,
has studied outsourcing of American jobs extensively."We cannot
expect to remain competitive on the world stage with the current level of cash
outlay," Reynolds noted.

Mr. Bush was informed by email this morning of his
termination. Preparations for the job move have been underway for
some time. Gurvinder Singh of Indus Teleservices, Mumbai, India
will be assuming the office of President as of January 1st. Mr. Singh
was born in the United States while his Indian parents were vacationing at
Niagara Falls, thus making him eligible for the position. He will receive
a salary of $320 (USD) a month but with no health coverage or other
benefits.

It is believed that Mr. Singh will be able to handle
his job responsibilities without support staff. Due to the
time difference between the US and India, he will be working primarily
at night, when few offices of the US Government will be open.

"Working nights will allow me to keep my day job at
the American Express call center," stated Mr. Singh in an exclusive
interview. "I am excited about this position. I always hoped I would be
President some day."

A Congressional spokesperson noted that while Mr.
Singh may not be fully aware of all the issues involved in the office
of President, this should not be a problem. Mr. Singh will rely upon a
script tree that will enable him to respond effectively to most topics of concern.
Using this tree, he can address common concerns without having to understand
the underlying issues at all.

"We know these scripting tools work," stated the
spokesperson. "Mr.Bush has used them successfully for years."

Mr. Bush will receive health coverage, expenses, and
salary until his final day of employment. Following a two week waiting
period, he will be eligible for $240 dollars a week unemployment for 13
weeks.

Unfortunately he will not be eligible for Medicaid as
his unemployment benefits will exceed the allowed limit.

Mr. Bush has been provided the out placement services
of Manpower, Inc. to help him write a resume and prepare for his
upcoming job transition. According to Manpower, Mr. Bush may have difficulties
in securing a new position due to limited practical work experience. One
possibility is re-enlistment in the Air National Guard. Should he
choose this option, he would likely be stationed in Iraq,a country he has
visited.

"I've been there, I know all about Iraq," stated Mr.Bush, who gained invaluable
knowledge of the country in a visit to the Baghdad Airport's terminal and gift shop.
Sources in Baghdad and Falluja say Mr. Bush would receive a warm reception from local Iraqis.
They have asked to be provided with details of his arrival so that they
might arrange an appropriate welcome.

Happy Holidays !

Ooweey .. its been a while !

2005-12-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Yea, its been a while, heck, I was even told by a friend and occasional reader that, what-the-heck-hey, cat got your keyboard ? Well, I've been away, and I don't mean the big house or anything, but just away, traveling. To Europe specifically and also around this vast land of ours. And I bring you back, not great tidings. And particularly not for the faithful and the ones who have been lately getting betrayed a lot, the Bushies.
Heck, I even heard a cabbie in Europe tell me what a great country he thinks America is, but he says in a thick accent, " ..I don't like your President.." Get in line buddy. Which brings me to what has recently been touted a lot, that the prez's poll numbers are improving because, apparently the economy is doing well. As the church lady would say, Well, isn't that Special ? What is neglected often is that the economy first tanked, and then digging from underneath. And the economy is doing better for some folks more than most. But what confounded me is that the approval vis-a-vis handling the war went up from 41 percent to 47 percent ? Well, somebody has been drinking a lot of eggnog. Feliz Navidad buddy!

Oh and the other thing that has been irking me lately is John Kerry. Yes, he is irking me ! His rebuttal to the Path to Victory speech by the Shrub was lame at best. And now he has made the enlightened comment that the new extremist in Teheran is wrong to have rejected the holocaust, well, what else did you expect from an extremist.

Oil hits $64 ..

2005-08-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've been moping around a bit today .. my stock portfolio which has been up around 39% (and that's a 3 year cumulative, mind you) has suffered a setback. Has lost 3% to dip to +36%, and all because of the new high in oil prices - $64.
But of course over the next couple of days or so, I hope the oil price dips a little, after Bush/Cheney make calls to their buddies in Saudi to pump more oil. I have read that the oil price might hit $100, as we get close to December, so before long I will sell my positions and keep in cash I think. Who would have thunk that oil would set new highs in price when Oil Inc, is running the country ? (wink, wink, ).
The new energy bill will only ensure that we are more dependent on foreign oil. While most renewable energy sources are far away (and we've been saying that for some time now !) the least the energy bill could have done is to raise the gasoline efficiency of cars by 3 or 5 miles. But Oh no, how can we do that when there is so much profit to be made. Actually, the contrary, if I buy a Hummer today, I can write the whole thing off in taxes (or something close).
This is all very depressing to me. I (and am sure, a lot of folks in the US) are feeling quite helpless, as this administration and this party machine has diabolically used people's fears and insecurities to keep themselves in power and running us more into ground.

Press conferences British style ..

2005-07-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

In my usual quest to find something interesting to watch on TV earlier tonight, I first found Dr. House MD, a CSI-meets-ER kinda show. Its like Julia Roberts marrying Brad Pitt or Cindy Crawford marrying Richard Gere (you are going .. they did. I know, I too taw dat putty cat, but that's the irony). So halfway around the Dr. House show I figured out that with only 11 minutes left in the show, and that is including adverts, the ending was going to be predictable, I began surfing. I was wondering what the old senile bag Larry King (of What ?, right Kingdom of Boredom) was upto and saw that he was talking to some Crocodile Dundee guy. So I switched to CSPAN2 where they were interviewing the British PM Blair (Witch Project). Usually, I would have continued to surf or settled on some QVC channel to see a woman sell fake toe-rings, but what made me stop was the irreverant questioning of this fearless leader, who had recently vowed again to not give up One INCH (I thought they used Metric system) to terrorists. This reporter from Guardian, was pummeling the PM, but was not carried out by the Secret Service or shot by Police, or his wife's credentials were not leaked by Rove. I won't spend much time on what the Blair said, because honestly, he seems to keep on saying the same thing, just more eloquently than his trans-Atlantic twin. But here is the other thing, after the Guardian guy was finished, another dude from the paper Independent asked another tough question. And he wasn't man-handled either !

You have to admire the British Press, they are not just chasing the crazy monarchs (and I don't mean butterflies), but also seem to actually do their job sometimes. Of Course, the frustrating thing is the Blairman continues to paint this picture of how they always knew all this was going to happen and that they are working to stop it .. Bla Bla Blah...

Living life to the fullest ...

2005-07-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's a confession to make ..people, when they hit the big FOUR-0, get all whigged out .. I, for some bizarre reason, am living to the fullest. Here's a recipe how, if you want to try it ...
I am taking swimming lessons, yea, little hard at first having never learnt swimming before, but actually getting the hang of it. I am doing rock climbing, got my shoes at the best store in town. Did a bit of the appalachian trail in bitter sub-zero temperatures earlier this year. And just when you thought that was over .. I went and got a new bike.. Oh yea, now I am training for a half-marathon. Its like life is just beginning all over.
Oh, and we are having another baby ! I need to have my head examined ... :-)

Workshop on “Living Wills – End of Life Issues” hosted by Indian American Forum for Political Education - NC Chapter

2005-06-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

By Me (this was published in a local newspaper)

On a crisp Sunday afternoon, on June 26^th, 2005, over 50 people crowded into a cozy room, in the Morrisville Community hall of the Hindu Society of NC, to listen to four nurses and a doctor speak on issues surrounding end-of-life and dying with dignity. The event was a workshop titled “Living Wills – End of Life. Terri Schiavo and You” organized by the by the Women’s forum, a wing of Indian American Forum for Political Education, NC Chapter.

The panelists included Medical Oncologist Dr. Janak Choksi, Ginny Ward, RN Nursing Supervisor at ARMC and EOL Coalition Founder. She was joined by EOL Coalition members Rita Agnew, RN Triage Nurse, Sheila Parnell, RN Critical Care Nurse at ARMC. Panelist Kathy Watson is the Hospice Home Nursing Director, which houses many of the terminally ill patients. All the panelists were from the Alamance Cancer Center in Burlington NC. Jack Crater, CSW, Social Worker/Case Manager, also attended and helped to draft living wills for several of the workshop participants.

The news surrounding the state of Terri Schiavo, a terminally ill patient who recently died in Florida, was paramount in the audience’s mind as the experienced physician and nurses described the various terms that have pushed their way into our vocabulary. Terms and phrases like, Persistent Vegetative State, CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) and Dying with Dignity. Specialist Nurse Rita Agnew described some of the extraordinary measures that medical practitioners are required to take by law to keep people alive even if they were in a vegetative or comatose state in the absence of clear instructions or advance directives. Dr. Janak Choksi cited the statistic that “Significant amount of Medicare dollars are used in the last six months of a very small percentage of patients' life. It neither prolongs nor improves the quality of their life and the country cannot afford that.”

The silence in the room was palpable, as the audience learnt about procedures like intubations, and ventilator-assisted breathing. The medical practitioners each of whom has worked as a care provider for 15- 20 years, for a combined experience spanning over a century, peppered their presentations with personal stories, of how they had to make difficult choices and decisions when time came for their aged parents to pass away. The audience reciprocated with their own personal questions and comments and when the seminars ended, everyone came away with a sobering idea of what is involved in issues surrounding end-of-life. Many even acted on what they learnt by having their living wills prepared and notarized by a Notary person who was present at the workshop.

The last presentation on “Aging Gracefully” was made by Sudha Srinivasan, a professor from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This was a much more interactive session where the audience eagerly participated in the True or False questionnaire that purported to get rid of common myths surrounding aging and provided tips on how to take better care of oneself by staying healthy and active and thus age gracefully.

To lighten the mood all around, and as an antidote to a hot Sunday, the event was followed by an ice-cream social where clearly the winner was the Neapolitan flavor.

Berlusconi is looking for a Silvio lining !

2005-03-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

I have been negligent in posting recently as I have been, well, what else busy at work. And while driving back and forth from work have been hearing a lot about this Italian Sgrena taking the US-Italy relationship hostage (pun intended!). Okay, this woman who was rescued because her government decided to pay over a million dollars to a bunch of thugs/murderers is endlessly on every radio and TV show here and in Europe singing her song. Now, I am very mortified at the various innocent hostages who have been tortured, dismembered or killed in Iraq. Yes, truly. But getting a hostage released by paying those murderous thugs 1.5 million dollars (that is what I heard, if it is wrong someone tell me) only ensures that a 1000 or more people will die. These murderous hijackers are going to use that money to buy more explosives and kill more people. I support our administration's position that we SHOULD NOT negotiate with the hostage-takers, the unapologetic, insensitive terrorists who are killing their own kind, their own country-men, brothers and sisters. How can anyone negotiate with such people who inflict such mindless violence is beyond me. So Ms. Sgrena, while I empathise and deeply feel for what traumatic episode you have gone through, by paying money to these hijackers, you have just ensured that 1000s more are killed while you are giving interviews to every TV and radio station.
And unfortunately, Mr. Berlusconi, who I don't particularly care for is stuck between a rock and a hard place and probably wishes he hadn't coughed up the money for rescuing his compatriot who is becoming a bit of an embarassment for him.

Where is Branagh ?

2005-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

I finished watching "Dead Again" again after a long time. I remember the first time I saw it the story was quite chilling. Kenneth Branagh had a string of movies then, like in the mid-90's or a little before that. Another movie of his I liked very much was 'Henry V', based on the Shakespeare. Actually I got most of my Shakespeare by watching Kenneth Branagh movies. I didn't have to read Shakespeare in school, and now I can't be bothered. I have too much else to read and too little time. But I just wanted to pop in quickly and say "Where the hell is Kenneth Branagh?" Haven't seen anything from him at all in a while. And he is a talented actor/director. Ever since he and Emma Thompson broke up,(they were married) the man has gone incognito.

They're stealing my Vonage

2005-03-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Robert Cringley speaks from his pulpit, telling us of the orchestrated attack by the CableTV and Phone companies to virtually steal our Vonage service.
Thus spake Cringley,

"It has always rankled the telephone companies, especially, to be carrying over their Internet backbones the seeds of their own telephonic destruction. Protected from both regulation and most regulatory fees, VoIP phone service providers have been able to easily undercut the long-distance prices of the Regional Bell Operating Companies and still make good profits. The phone companies -- always slow to react -- did not pay much attention at first to these outfits they collectively refer to as "parasites," but now, with several million lost customers, they are paying VERY close attention indeed.

The other big broadband Internet provider is typically your local cable TV company. Not sharing the values of phone companies, they ignored VoIP, too, until they realized that it could become a new source of revenue. With so many things available for free on the net, finding a service people are willing to actually pay for is thrilling to companies like Comcast. Now they just want to make sure that the VoIP service you use is THEIR VoIP service."

I, for one, am mad about this, because we have been noticing that our Vonage calls have been getting dropped lately ...

But there might be a solution, as Cringley notes later in the article. Check out Switchboard

That is one fine movie, Mr. Eastwood

2005-03-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, it is not like me to review movies. I am very seldom impressed by popular flicks, actually the more popular a movie is, the less likely I will go see it. But, I wanted to go and take a look at the Best Picture of the year, Million Dollar Baby. And I have to say, it is well done. Yea sure, it has some american pie, tear-jerker stuff to it, but I was watching for the artistic components in it. And I found it to be understated, well-acted movie, with lots of boxing. It was nothing like Rocky. Take a lesson Sly. It is a human story but not a TV movie like the crap they show on networks. And best of all, Clint Eastwood was simply impressive.
That Hillary Swank is also a very talented actress.
If you have not seen it, this one is actually worth paying 8 bucks for or whatever you pay in your town.

Syriously we are pulling out !

2005-03-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

"We are pulling out of Lebanon'" say the Syrians. Much commentary has been going around that it is due to the W's words at recently concluded European jaunt. While that may have been part of it, this step and the handover of the SadDAMN's brother to Iraq are all progressive steps the younger Bashar Assad has been wanting to do for some time. He could not do it in a categorical fashion immediately after the old man died, because that would have showed him as weak in the macho Middle-eastern world, but he has certainly used the prevailing circumstances to jump at moving Syria away from the way his dictatorial father ran it. After all, the younger one has been trained abroad as an Opthalmologist, hopefully he sees the wisdom in changing the Syrian way and bring about progressive reform to that country.
Like I said in my earlier post, like it or not, the W might have unbeknownst started a domino effect for the positive transformation of the Middle East.

Break down that Wall !

2005-02-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Okay here is my prediction post-revisionist history to come ! By that I mean once all this is done, and by that I mean these 4 years, there will be books and articles saying how the W caused a huge freedom- rally around the world. I am referring to today's news that the pro-Syrian Lebanese government has been dissolved. From pictures on the NYT it looked like the Orange revolution in Ukraine, with folks on the street with flags etc. So prepare yourselves you Bush-haters, he will become as revered as Reagen who said to Mr.Gorbachev (according to post-revisionist historians), "Bring Down that wall, Mr. Gorbachev !"

Change from within ...

2005-02-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

So I have been giving this a lot of thought lately. I have been wondering what I should register as - Democrat or Republican. Now friends who know me think the choice is obvious. But no, not really, its not that simple.
I am thinking of registering as a Republican because I think there is room for folks like me who share some of the values of the old GOP. These values were fiscal conservatism, environmental conservatism. Not many of you might remember this but environment protection was a Republican or Conservative value not so long ago. But over time a small band of people have hijacked the Republican party and reset the agenda.
What has happened because of this is that the folks who care about taking care of the poor, weak and needy have increasingly been pushed to a corner as "bleeding heart" liberals.
If it is liberal to care for the poor, old, needy and the down-trodden then what is compassionate conservatism ? Just lip service ?
I am not letting a bunch of Sean Hannities and Bill O'Reillys and other pseudo-conservative hacks hijack the party. These are fundamentalist demagogues, and as Christine Whitman says they don't own the party. So if you share values of human freedom, compassion, sensible government join the Republican party and re-build it and don't sulk off to a corner afraid of the bullies.
The party of Abraham Lincoln will not be bullied by a mob boss from Texas or anywhere. Instead of moving left, move the Republican Party to the center. Change from within, Don't whine from outside. And don't be bullied.
Vote for the moderate Republicans in Primaries and don't vote just party line in the general election. Vote for the one who will serve the people instead of their deep-pocket friends.

McCarthyism ? or Anachronism ?

2005-02-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Did you know that if you went up for your citizenship test at the US immigration center, you still get asked the following question. Have you ever been or are you a member of the Communist Party ? Wonder what Nadia Commenici answered to that question ...

Rino or Dino, don't be an ANO

2005-02-14T17:09:00.000-08:00

The other day I was watching Jon Stewart's Daily Show and they had Christine Todd Whitman on. And something she said came back to me today. As some of you may already know, she has a new book out called, "It's my Party Too", making a claim for the moderate side of the Republican party (Waaaaht ?). She said at that time, that she has been getting lots of threatening phone calls etc from the establishment calling her a RINO, Republican In Name Only. It occured to me that hardly so, Republican Party is the party of Abe Lincoln and a party of freedom and exclusion, and all she was saying was that that party was being threatened and encroached upon.
It occured to me that Kerry in the same way was confused as a DINO during the campaign, as he was continually (probably due to the Shrums of the party) putting out his finger to check the winds of popular opinion. But this is what it comes down to whether you are a RINO or a DINO, just don't be a ANO - American in Name Only. America stands for freedom, free expression, inclusion and is the country of Patrick Henry who said, "Give me Liberty or Death!" It has stood like a beacon for at least the 20th century, as a ray of hope for millions of people around the world. Let not the beacon grow weak and dull !

Byte This !

2005-02-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, after procrastinating all this time, i have bitten the proverbial bullet and joined the scores of folks producing reams of blogs. And of course I was stumped (briefly !) by the need to come up with some smarty blog name and this is the best i could come up with. (for now !) .. there is some tongue in cheek attempted here bix stands for byte information exchange, yea i know kind of tacky, but never judge a book by its cover. i might have some smart things to say a little later ..