The bugman of Sugarland Texas sure knows how to talk about money, especially when it's about congressional pay. Rep Tom DeLay (R-TX) , House majority leader, speaking about the $3,100 pay raise congress just gave itself, opined this," "It’s not a pay raise, it’s an adjustment so that they’re not losing their purchasing power."
The Bull Moose suggests congress and the executive branch take pay cuts deep enough so that they are forced to take parttime jobs back in the district. How about Speaker Hastert working as a greeter at an Illinois Wal-Mart or Rep. DeLay working for Orkin back in Houston? I'm sure Rep Ney (R-Ohio) would love to get a job at an Indian Casino, too.
Come on, find some jobs for the others, and post 'em here.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Straight Talk vs. Pep Talk
I watched and listened to the President's speech last night.
He missed a great opportunity to level with us all. Instead of being forthright and honest, he treated me like a mushroom, trying to keep me in the dark and feeding me bullsh*t. Worse yet, he may have less credibility the next time he speaks to us all, even if he decides then to come clean about Iraq.
In his speech, Mr. Bush tried often to tie the September 11 tragedy to our invasion of Iraq. Maybe Karl Rove will discover "that dog don't hunt" with most Americans anymore.
He mentioned "September 11" five times, "freedom" twenty one times, and "mission" eleven times. He never mentioned "WMD", "exit strategy", or "mission accomplished". The president spoke the word "mistake" only once and that was in context of withdrawing from Iraq.
The most disingenuous part of his rhetoric was his claim that the insurgency in Iraq is mainly fueled by foreign Al-Qaeda fighters who want to destroy America. He also claims we are fighting them there to keep from fighting them in the streets here at home.
Contrary to Mr. Bush's assertions, there is a widely held view among retired military veterans who have been to Iraq, that the insurgency is primarily a nationalist movement simply trying to kick an oppressor out of their country. They openly admit that this is a simplistic analysis and there are all kinds of factions involved, including foreign Al-Qaeda members.
But consider this; right now we are building permanent military bases in Iraq, like Camp Anaconda, north of Baghdad. How does this resonate among the populace? Are they tossing flowers and chocolates to us, or mortars and hand grenades at us?
Bush's claim that they ALL are Islamic terrorists hell-bent on killing Americans and hating freedom, is an insult even to my limited intelligence. I don't think the president with no clothes has a clear idea of their makeup or size.
If the President and his "duo of darkness", Cheney and Rumsfeld, are so sure of the makeup of the insurgency in Iraq, then they should at last come clean about what they know and don't know. But as the Downing Street Memo illuminates, this administration will pervert the facts to fit their aims. Remember, before the invasion Rumsfeld said on TV, there were WMD in Iraq and "we know where they are."
Their track record dealing with facts and truth is not encouraging.
Here are two links I highly reccommend; Informed Comment and Tom Dispatch.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell.
He missed a great opportunity to level with us all. Instead of being forthright and honest, he treated me like a mushroom, trying to keep me in the dark and feeding me bullsh*t. Worse yet, he may have less credibility the next time he speaks to us all, even if he decides then to come clean about Iraq.
In his speech, Mr. Bush tried often to tie the September 11 tragedy to our invasion of Iraq. Maybe Karl Rove will discover "that dog don't hunt" with most Americans anymore.
He mentioned "September 11" five times, "freedom" twenty one times, and "mission" eleven times. He never mentioned "WMD", "exit strategy", or "mission accomplished". The president spoke the word "mistake" only once and that was in context of withdrawing from Iraq.
The most disingenuous part of his rhetoric was his claim that the insurgency in Iraq is mainly fueled by foreign Al-Qaeda fighters who want to destroy America. He also claims we are fighting them there to keep from fighting them in the streets here at home.
Contrary to Mr. Bush's assertions, there is a widely held view among retired military veterans who have been to Iraq, that the insurgency is primarily a nationalist movement simply trying to kick an oppressor out of their country. They openly admit that this is a simplistic analysis and there are all kinds of factions involved, including foreign Al-Qaeda members.
But consider this; right now we are building permanent military bases in Iraq, like Camp Anaconda, north of Baghdad. How does this resonate among the populace? Are they tossing flowers and chocolates to us, or mortars and hand grenades at us?
Bush's claim that they ALL are Islamic terrorists hell-bent on killing Americans and hating freedom, is an insult even to my limited intelligence. I don't think the president with no clothes has a clear idea of their makeup or size.
If the President and his "duo of darkness", Cheney and Rumsfeld, are so sure of the makeup of the insurgency in Iraq, then they should at last come clean about what they know and don't know. But as the Downing Street Memo illuminates, this administration will pervert the facts to fit their aims. Remember, before the invasion Rumsfeld said on TV, there were WMD in Iraq and "we know where they are."
Their track record dealing with facts and truth is not encouraging.
Here are two links I highly reccommend; Informed Comment and Tom Dispatch.
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
A Ruse by Another Name . . .
The Rethuglicans don't seem to get the message about privatizing Social Security. With approval ratings of Bush's plan for private accounts sinking through 35%, they just keep trying to sell us a sow's ear by telling us it's a silk purse. The latest attempt is to fund private accounts with the current surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund.
This variation is doomed to failure because of several false assumptions.
Because of the Iraq invasion and the Bush tax breaks to the URPDC (ultra-rich political donor class) our government is spending billions of dollars beyond tax revenue and must borrow the deficit. The trust fund is using all of the surplus to buy treasury bills to keep the nation fiscally afloat. So to implement this proposal, we'd just have to borrow the money somewhere else, increasing dramatically our debt owned by foreigners.
Secondly, the trust fund surplus will start declining in a decade or so to cover the shortfalls between contributions and disbursements. What then? The only way to continue funding the private accounts then would be to drastically increase contributions, or go further into debt, or to dramatically reduce benefits. None of these options are politically viable.
So we come back to square one, where many speculate the private account scheme is not really designed to enhance the system for beneficiaries, but is a subtle ruse to incrementally destroy Social Security.
This variation is doomed to failure because of several false assumptions.
Because of the Iraq invasion and the Bush tax breaks to the URPDC (ultra-rich political donor class) our government is spending billions of dollars beyond tax revenue and must borrow the deficit. The trust fund is using all of the surplus to buy treasury bills to keep the nation fiscally afloat. So to implement this proposal, we'd just have to borrow the money somewhere else, increasing dramatically our debt owned by foreigners.
Secondly, the trust fund surplus will start declining in a decade or so to cover the shortfalls between contributions and disbursements. What then? The only way to continue funding the private accounts then would be to drastically increase contributions, or go further into debt, or to dramatically reduce benefits. None of these options are politically viable.
So we come back to square one, where many speculate the private account scheme is not really designed to enhance the system for beneficiaries, but is a subtle ruse to incrementally destroy Social Security.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Confounded and Conflicted
We recently had a new roof put on our house because of a spring time hail storm. The experience changed some of my perceptions and left me even further confounded about the issue of undocumented workers crossing our borders illegally.
The workers who did the job were four men who spoke little, if any English. They arrived at 7 AM one morning and stopped at around 7 PM that night. They returned the next day, working 12 hours again, and finished the job to my satisfaction. These guys worked hard all day, rarely taking a break except for lunch. It just dawned on me, I don't recall them taking a pee break, either. Anyway, these guys were hard workers who were determined to do a good job, and they did.
I brought this up with the owner of the roofing company after the job was done, telling him that the experience had change my attitude somewhat toward these non-citizens who were now doing almost all of the construction labor jobs that do not require certification or licensing.
The contractor's sympathy lies with the workers, of course, and he asked me how I felt about the governments policy of not enforcing immigration laws. His position is; these people can make the same amount of money in one day in the US that it takes 30 days to earn in Mexico or other Latin American countries. So, if the US government takes a blind eye approach to the southern border, can you blame these impoverished people for seeking a better life?
He readily admits he doesn't have the solution but feels the US should adopt a policy that charges these people a fee similar to what they pay 'coyotes'to smuggle them across the border. At these government run access points, the workers would also get a Social Security number for his entry fee.
There are obvious holes in this proposition and I'm not sure of the sincerity of the proposer. I'm sure many construction contractors don't pay workmen's comp insurance on illegals they hire nor is there any advantage for them to deduct and pay SSI contributions for these workers. Today's tax laws and lax enforcement encourage contractors to pay these foreign workers in cash, and launder their books so as to hide their actions.
So I'm back to where I began. . . . conflicted.
And to add misery to woe, my committed congressman recently patted himself on the back to his constituents for introducing a resolution offering Congress's full support of fatherhood.
God, is he busy or what!
The workers who did the job were four men who spoke little, if any English. They arrived at 7 AM one morning and stopped at around 7 PM that night. They returned the next day, working 12 hours again, and finished the job to my satisfaction. These guys worked hard all day, rarely taking a break except for lunch. It just dawned on me, I don't recall them taking a pee break, either. Anyway, these guys were hard workers who were determined to do a good job, and they did.
I brought this up with the owner of the roofing company after the job was done, telling him that the experience had change my attitude somewhat toward these non-citizens who were now doing almost all of the construction labor jobs that do not require certification or licensing.
The contractor's sympathy lies with the workers, of course, and he asked me how I felt about the governments policy of not enforcing immigration laws. His position is; these people can make the same amount of money in one day in the US that it takes 30 days to earn in Mexico or other Latin American countries. So, if the US government takes a blind eye approach to the southern border, can you blame these impoverished people for seeking a better life?
He readily admits he doesn't have the solution but feels the US should adopt a policy that charges these people a fee similar to what they pay 'coyotes'to smuggle them across the border. At these government run access points, the workers would also get a Social Security number for his entry fee.
There are obvious holes in this proposition and I'm not sure of the sincerity of the proposer. I'm sure many construction contractors don't pay workmen's comp insurance on illegals they hire nor is there any advantage for them to deduct and pay SSI contributions for these workers. Today's tax laws and lax enforcement encourage contractors to pay these foreign workers in cash, and launder their books so as to hide their actions.
So I'm back to where I began. . . . conflicted.
And to add misery to woe, my committed congressman recently patted himself on the back to his constituents for introducing a resolution offering Congress's full support of fatherhood.
God, is he busy or what!
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Saving Our Flag
The US House of Representatives passed a constitional amendment this week, banning the burning of the flag of the United States. The amendment must now be passed by the Senate and ratified by two-thirds of the states.
Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif) a sponsor of the measure, typically invoked the 9/11 tragedy victims in a sordid attempt to enlist support for this ill-conceived proposal. The sponsors and those who voted for it seemed to miss the point that there is maybe one flag burning protest here in America each year. There have been 12 reported instances since 1989, hardly a national disgrace.
If Cong. Cunningham and his shills were serious about stamping out the burning of our flag, they would focus their rhetoric on countries where it’s an epidemic, like Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Oh, and isn't the official doctrine for retiring torn, worn and tattered flags by, . . . . burning! Hmmm, have the self righteous Rethuglicans thought about this ironic conflict?
Well, Jon Stewart of the Daily News on Comedy Central has come to the rescue. He says we should keep those torn and tattered flags in service by using, you guessed it, a feeding tube!
Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-Calif) a sponsor of the measure, typically invoked the 9/11 tragedy victims in a sordid attempt to enlist support for this ill-conceived proposal. The sponsors and those who voted for it seemed to miss the point that there is maybe one flag burning protest here in America each year. There have been 12 reported instances since 1989, hardly a national disgrace.
If Cong. Cunningham and his shills were serious about stamping out the burning of our flag, they would focus their rhetoric on countries where it’s an epidemic, like Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Oh, and isn't the official doctrine for retiring torn, worn and tattered flags by, . . . . burning! Hmmm, have the self righteous Rethuglicans thought about this ironic conflict?
Well, Jon Stewart of the Daily News on Comedy Central has come to the rescue. He says we should keep those torn and tattered flags in service by using, you guessed it, a feeding tube!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Their Darkest Instinct
This is from the Cunning Realist and it speaks for itself.
"The words of two men separated by almost sixty years, submitted without comment:
"The words of two men separated by almost sixty years, submitted without comment:
Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.
-Karl Rove 6/22/05
Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.
-Hermann Goering 4/18/46, when the gig was up"
Thursday, June 23, 2005
How Fair is Legal?
In 2002 the maximum payment to the poor through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) was $4,140. Yet the recipients of the EITC were audited at a rate (1 in 47), slightly higher than those with incomes of $1 million - $5 million (1 in 49). The audit rate for subchapter S corporations, favored by the rich political donor class is 1 in 233.
These figures are from the book, "Perfectly Legal", written by David Cay Johnston and published in 2003. It's available in paperback and I urge you to pick up a copy (around $10) and prepare yourself for an eye opening read. Johnston is also a contributor to an ongoing series, "Class Matters", in the New York Times. The series explores how class influences destiny in America.
"The point is you can't be too greedy." -- Donald Trump, real estate developer.
These figures are from the book, "Perfectly Legal", written by David Cay Johnston and published in 2003. It's available in paperback and I urge you to pick up a copy (around $10) and prepare yourself for an eye opening read. Johnston is also a contributor to an ongoing series, "Class Matters", in the New York Times. The series explores how class influences destiny in America.
"The point is you can't be too greedy." -- Donald Trump, real estate developer.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Another Indictment
Last night I watched the Frontline program “Private Warriors,” on public TV. CPB chairman Ken Tomlinson won’t be happy because there was no political bias in the program and it’s revelations should be devastating to the White House, the object of his fealty.
The program showed the enormous impact that private contractors have on the US’s occupation of Iraq. Rarely does this subject make it to the Lame Stream Media (LSM). According to Frontline, there are almost as many civilian contractors in Iraq as there are GIs. The producers estimate there are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and close to 20,000 private security personnel. The services provided by this private civilian army can be broken down into four broad categories;
The private security operation is the murkiest of all.There are at least 50 different security companies in Iraq under contract to a host of military and governmental entities. There is almost no coordination between the security firms, much less with the military. The most widely known is Blackwater Associates. They were the employer of the four security agents who were ambushed and their bodies mutilated in Fallujah on March 31, 2004.Almost 15 months later, nobody can be found who assigned these security guards to escort a small convoy through this dangerous territory.The military didn’t even know they were in the area.
The private contracting aspect of the US presence in Iraq is another big complicating factor of the continuing descent into the Iraqi quagmire orchestrated by George Bush, Dark Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
The program showed the enormous impact that private contractors have on the US’s occupation of Iraq. Rarely does this subject make it to the Lame Stream Media (LSM). According to Frontline, there are almost as many civilian contractors in Iraq as there are GIs. The producers estimate there are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and close to 20,000 private security personnel. The services provided by this private civilian army can be broken down into four broad categories;
The contracting companies have no difficulty so far recruiting employees as they pay $400 to $600 per day for workers and some security guards are paid $1000 per day. Kellogg, Brown & Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, and its civilian army has 50,000 employees in Iraq and Kuwait that run U.S. military supply lines and operate U.S. military bases. KBR is also the largest contractor in Iraq, providing the Army with $11.84 billion dollars in services since 2002. The military commander of Camp Anaconda said each meal served in the dining hall cost the Army $20.
- Logistical support, like moving supplies from staging bases in Kuwait to Iraq,
- Providing support services like running the giant Anaconda base north of Baghdad,
- Security for a whole host of activities from supply caravans to high profile American officials,
- Reconstruction personnel who are trying to re-build Iraq’s infrastructure like power grids, bridges, etc.
The private security operation is the murkiest of all.There are at least 50 different security companies in Iraq under contract to a host of military and governmental entities. There is almost no coordination between the security firms, much less with the military. The most widely known is Blackwater Associates. They were the employer of the four security agents who were ambushed and their bodies mutilated in Fallujah on March 31, 2004.Almost 15 months later, nobody can be found who assigned these security guards to escort a small convoy through this dangerous territory.The military didn’t even know they were in the area.
The private contracting aspect of the US presence in Iraq is another big complicating factor of the continuing descent into the Iraqi quagmire orchestrated by George Bush, Dark Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
It's not the Truth Until You Believe It.
The furor and outrage induced by the FBI report of prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay military prison has prompted former president Bill Clinton to remark, "clean it up or shut it down," to a British newspaper's question about Gitmo. The prison population now is estimated to be around 500 inmates, mostly from the Afghan operation, more than three years ago.
Now we learn that a division of Halliburton Corp, a familiar name in the Vice-President's family, has received a $30 million contract to build a new cellblock at Gitmo, containing 220 cells. If my math is correct, that's $136 thousand per cell. To put this into perspective, $136 thousand is more than the median price for a single family home in most of America.
As the story fed to us about the invasion of Iraq unravels via the Downing Street Memos and other related disclosures, the president claims we're marching toward victory and democracy in Iraq is just around the next corner. VP Dark Cheney claims the insurgency is in it's "last throes" as American soldiers and Marines are killed every day. And as the generals report that 50 insurgents were killed in a given day, 100 more spring up in their place.
Finally, not only do the American people begin to believe they were fed a lie about the invasion of Iraq but our exit strategy is wrong or non-existent. National polls show the majority of Americans do not believe the president and his administration is going in the wrong direction. The most telling of the change in attitude is that Sen Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) in an interview with a national magazine, said the White House was "disconnected from reality."
Ironically, I remember this quote from a White House staffer shortly after the 2004 election
Now we learn that a division of Halliburton Corp, a familiar name in the Vice-President's family, has received a $30 million contract to build a new cellblock at Gitmo, containing 220 cells. If my math is correct, that's $136 thousand per cell. To put this into perspective, $136 thousand is more than the median price for a single family home in most of America.
As the story fed to us about the invasion of Iraq unravels via the Downing Street Memos and other related disclosures, the president claims we're marching toward victory and democracy in Iraq is just around the next corner. VP Dark Cheney claims the insurgency is in it's "last throes" as American soldiers and Marines are killed every day. And as the generals report that 50 insurgents were killed in a given day, 100 more spring up in their place.
Finally, not only do the American people begin to believe they were fed a lie about the invasion of Iraq but our exit strategy is wrong or non-existent. National polls show the majority of Americans do not believe the president and his administration is going in the wrong direction. The most telling of the change in attitude is that Sen Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) in an interview with a national magazine, said the White House was "disconnected from reality."
Ironically, I remember this quote from a White House staffer shortly after the 2004 election
"we create our own reality."Unfortunately their reality wreaks havoc on us who live in the real world.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Citadels and Dungeons
I was impressed, depressed and perplexed by Russell Shorto's piece in the New York Times Magazine yesterday. He revealed in stark terms, from the personal interviews he conducted in small town Maryland, the intensity of the ant-gay movement present in the countryside.
I understand that there are people who will not accept proven facts that are contrary to their beliefs, but I have a hard time understanding how some people will accept notions and allegations that have no scientific basis, as iron-clad truths. As Ellen Goodman pointed out in a column I referenced yesterday, the autopsy report on Terri Schaivo swayed NO one from their preconceived beliefs that she was not in a vegetative state.
Consider former NY Gov. Mario Cuomo's indictment of President Bush's stance on embryonic stem cell research. Bush, he says refuses federal funds for such research because he believes it's murder based on his religious beliefs. However, Bush won't introduce legislation banning commercial embryonic stem cell harvesting, even though he has stated publically it's murder. Therefore, the president condones murder as long as it's not done with government money!
How stupid.
The scary thing is that the central beliefs of these extremists about abortion, homosexuality, and creation are being gradually fed into our national psyche and accepted as rational. The future this mindset will deliver is the US isolated from other nations who have become decades ahead of us because they have no misplaced moral blinders limiting their study of science and physics. Think about it, could America, once the citadel of freedom and exploration become a dungeon of repression and ignorance? Is this what these people want?
We may be making the choice right now.
I understand that there are people who will not accept proven facts that are contrary to their beliefs, but I have a hard time understanding how some people will accept notions and allegations that have no scientific basis, as iron-clad truths. As Ellen Goodman pointed out in a column I referenced yesterday, the autopsy report on Terri Schaivo swayed NO one from their preconceived beliefs that she was not in a vegetative state.
Consider former NY Gov. Mario Cuomo's indictment of President Bush's stance on embryonic stem cell research. Bush, he says refuses federal funds for such research because he believes it's murder based on his religious beliefs. However, Bush won't introduce legislation banning commercial embryonic stem cell harvesting, even though he has stated publically it's murder. Therefore, the president condones murder as long as it's not done with government money!
How stupid.
The scary thing is that the central beliefs of these extremists about abortion, homosexuality, and creation are being gradually fed into our national psyche and accepted as rational. The future this mindset will deliver is the US isolated from other nations who have become decades ahead of us because they have no misplaced moral blinders limiting their study of science and physics. Think about it, could America, once the citadel of freedom and exploration become a dungeon of repression and ignorance? Is this what these people want?
We may be making the choice right now.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Views with Clarity
The other day, I read two very insightful and reasoned opinion columns. I want to share them with you.
The first is "Onward Moderate Christian Soldiers," by the former Senator from Missouri, John Danforth. He is also an ordanined Episcopal minister and fomer UN ambassador. Not that either qualifies one for the other. Many may recall Danforth as the minister officiating former President Reagan's funeral.
There is a lot to glean from Danforth's piece; here are two diamonds.
This column is about the results of Terri Schaivo's autopsy and the muddling of science in our government and society. The underlying current in this national saga she exposes should cause us all to reflect on how we reach our opinions and conclusions. Here are a couple of her salient comments.
The first is "Onward Moderate Christian Soldiers," by the former Senator from Missouri, John Danforth. He is also an ordanined Episcopal minister and fomer UN ambassador. Not that either qualifies one for the other. Many may recall Danforth as the minister officiating former President Reagan's funeral.
There is a lot to glean from Danforth's piece; here are two diamonds.
"Aware that even our most passionate ventures into politics are efforts to carry the treasure of religion in the earthen vessel of government, we proceed in a spirit of humility lacking in our conservative colleagues."The other is, "Views that Facts Can't Shake," by Ellen Goodman. She is an award winning writer and columnist for the Washington Post. Her columns are syndicated all over the country, appearing in hundreds of newspapers.
"American politics has been characterized by two phenomena: the increased activism of the Christian right, especially in the Republican Party, and the collapse of bipartisan collegiality. I do not think it is a stretch to suggest a relationship between the two."
This column is about the results of Terri Schaivo's autopsy and the muddling of science in our government and society. The underlying current in this national saga she exposes should cause us all to reflect on how we reach our opinions and conclusions. Here are a couple of her salient comments.
"This case was never solely about medicine. But the question on the TV screen illustrated the times we live in -- times when facts can exist in a separate universe from opinions."Take the time to read both pieces.
They link birth control pills with infertility, and HIV with French-kissing. But when they are debunked, "Does This Change Opinions?"
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Tulsa Zoo Billboard
Letters continue to pour into the Tulsa World railing about the idiocy of placing a Creationism display in a place devoted to animals and science.
I have a suggestion for a new billboard for the entrance of the zoo.
It would show large picture of a chimpanzee with ones of Mayor LaFortune and Dan Hicks on each side of the chimp. The caption underneath the pictures would say, "You may debate their relative intelligence, but the fact that 98% of their DNA is identical is not debatable."
I have a suggestion for a new billboard for the entrance of the zoo.
It would show large picture of a chimpanzee with ones of Mayor LaFortune and Dan Hicks on each side of the chimp. The caption underneath the pictures would say, "You may debate their relative intelligence, but the fact that 98% of their DNA is identical is not debatable."
Friday, June 17, 2005
Who's Reality?
In today's Washington Post, E. J. Dionne calls for apologies from congressional leaders who politicized the Terri Shaivo tragedy after Senate majority leader Dr. Bill Frist (R-TN) appeared on the Today show on NBC-TV and deliberately lied about his statements made on the Senate floor about Mrs. Shaivo's condition. "Hey Senator, C-SPAN has the video tape." I guess the Senator is saying, "don't believe your lying eyes!"
Now that the autopsy of Mrs. Schaivo has proven beyond a doubt that she was blind and in a vegatative state, those who were saying she was talking and laughing, are now themselves, dumbstruck! Not a whimper or whisper of error from the bugman from Sugarland, Rep. Tom DeLay(R-TX), the House majority leader, who engineered legislation to override the courts in this dark episode.
Rising to paint another ill-conceived smear, Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla) has written Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe instructing him to now investigate the circumstances surrounding Michael Shaivo's 911 call fifteen years ago. That's right, the governor, brother of the president, is scrambling for any bits of dirt to somehow offset the humiliation of the facts, now proven, of Mrs. Schaivo's state.
The governor states in his FAX to McCabe that after Schaivo found his collapsed wife, "Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay," Bush continued, "In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."
Michael Shaivo's attorney claimed Govenor Bush's assertions are ridiculous because a 40 to 70 minute delay would have been fatal to Mrs. Schaivo.
When will these people learn they cannot change facts. They still live in a world disconnected to reality.
"It is the property of fools, to always be judging." -- Thomas Fuller (1608 -1681) English clergyman and historian.
Now that the autopsy of Mrs. Schaivo has proven beyond a doubt that she was blind and in a vegatative state, those who were saying she was talking and laughing, are now themselves, dumbstruck! Not a whimper or whisper of error from the bugman from Sugarland, Rep. Tom DeLay(R-TX), the House majority leader, who engineered legislation to override the courts in this dark episode.
Rising to paint another ill-conceived smear, Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla) has written Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe instructing him to now investigate the circumstances surrounding Michael Shaivo's 911 call fifteen years ago. That's right, the governor, brother of the president, is scrambling for any bits of dirt to somehow offset the humiliation of the facts, now proven, of Mrs. Schaivo's state.
The governor states in his FAX to McCabe that after Schaivo found his collapsed wife, "Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was made, and I am aware of no explanation for the delay," Bush continued, "In light of this new information, I urge you to take a fresh look at this case without any preconceptions as to the outcome."
Michael Shaivo's attorney claimed Govenor Bush's assertions are ridiculous because a 40 to 70 minute delay would have been fatal to Mrs. Schaivo.
When will these people learn they cannot change facts. They still live in a world disconnected to reality.
"It is the property of fools, to always be judging." -- Thomas Fuller (1608 -1681) English clergyman and historian.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Give 'em an Anvil
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is the quasi-government entity that provides funding to and oversight of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). If not already discernable PBS is public TV and NPR is public radio.
CPB's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson is creating an unnecessary firestorm at CPB that spotlights his partisan actions and incomptence. Tomlison is a Republican and former editor of Readers Digest. He was appointed to the CPB's board by President Clinton in 2000.
Tomlinson's first goof was paying a consultant $10,000 to monitor PBS's program, "Now with Bill Moyers." Tomlinson was concerned about Moyer's liberal bias and wanted someone to 'watch' the program to get the goods on Moyers. When this became public, Tomlinson became the focus of ridicule and scarcasm from some of the media and earned a scathing rebuke from Moyers in a speech delivered in St. Louis to the second annual Conference on Media Reform. Moyers said that Tomlinson could have picked up the phone and called him if he was so concerned. Moyers also tried to get an appointment with Tomlinson, to no avail.
Tomlinson, on the recommendation of administration officials, hired a senior White House aide to draw up guidelines to review the content of public radio and television broadcasts, according to a report in The New York Times on May 2. Tomlinson has denied that he was carrying out a White House mandate.
Tomlinson's next partisan move was to appoint two ombudsmen for CPB, one conservative and the other progressive. Again, this move drew dirision and sarcasm from the media and now some of the public because an ombudsman is non-political by the very nature of the job. And as if to pour salt into Tomlinson's wounds, the Organization of News Ombudsmen, which represents nearly a hundred print and broadcast ombudsmen from around the world, more than half of them in the United States, voted last week to change its bylaws to allow full membership only to those who work for news organizations. The newly appointed CPB ombudsmen had applied for membership. They were granted a restricted semi-membership with no voting priviliges.
The latest Tomlinson screw-up just came to light yesterday. Tomlinson and his Republican predessor hired two lobbyists without telling the board of their actions or getting prior board approval. The amount, $15,000 is not as significant as the actual act, which is further proof that Tomlinson's mission is to politicize the public networks. The lobbyist were hired to thwart a bill in congress last year that would have given local PBS and NPR stations more representation on CPB's board. Tomlinson was opposed to the stations having more of a say in CPB's operations. One of the lobbyists, Brian Darling, is a former staffer for Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla). Darling resigned from Martinez's staff after a memo he wrote to his boss, outlining how to take political advantage of the Terri Schaivo debacle, became public.
Comedy Central couldn't do much better writing a script like this, except this is a deadly serious attempt by the administration and the congressional majority to squelish dissent on the airwaves, whether its PBS or CBS. I hope the inspector general is not thwarted in his investigation of the antics of Tomlinson and the board at CPB.
In the meantime, give 'em an anvil and let's see if he can screw it up!
CPB's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson is creating an unnecessary firestorm at CPB that spotlights his partisan actions and incomptence. Tomlison is a Republican and former editor of Readers Digest. He was appointed to the CPB's board by President Clinton in 2000.
Tomlinson's first goof was paying a consultant $10,000 to monitor PBS's program, "Now with Bill Moyers." Tomlinson was concerned about Moyer's liberal bias and wanted someone to 'watch' the program to get the goods on Moyers. When this became public, Tomlinson became the focus of ridicule and scarcasm from some of the media and earned a scathing rebuke from Moyers in a speech delivered in St. Louis to the second annual Conference on Media Reform. Moyers said that Tomlinson could have picked up the phone and called him if he was so concerned. Moyers also tried to get an appointment with Tomlinson, to no avail.
Tomlinson, on the recommendation of administration officials, hired a senior White House aide to draw up guidelines to review the content of public radio and television broadcasts, according to a report in The New York Times on May 2. Tomlinson has denied that he was carrying out a White House mandate.
Tomlinson's next partisan move was to appoint two ombudsmen for CPB, one conservative and the other progressive. Again, this move drew dirision and sarcasm from the media and now some of the public because an ombudsman is non-political by the very nature of the job. And as if to pour salt into Tomlinson's wounds, the Organization of News Ombudsmen, which represents nearly a hundred print and broadcast ombudsmen from around the world, more than half of them in the United States, voted last week to change its bylaws to allow full membership only to those who work for news organizations. The newly appointed CPB ombudsmen had applied for membership. They were granted a restricted semi-membership with no voting priviliges.
The latest Tomlinson screw-up just came to light yesterday. Tomlinson and his Republican predessor hired two lobbyists without telling the board of their actions or getting prior board approval. The amount, $15,000 is not as significant as the actual act, which is further proof that Tomlinson's mission is to politicize the public networks. The lobbyist were hired to thwart a bill in congress last year that would have given local PBS and NPR stations more representation on CPB's board. Tomlinson was opposed to the stations having more of a say in CPB's operations. One of the lobbyists, Brian Darling, is a former staffer for Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla). Darling resigned from Martinez's staff after a memo he wrote to his boss, outlining how to take political advantage of the Terri Schaivo debacle, became public.
Comedy Central couldn't do much better writing a script like this, except this is a deadly serious attempt by the administration and the congressional majority to squelish dissent on the airwaves, whether its PBS or CBS. I hope the inspector general is not thwarted in his investigation of the antics of Tomlinson and the board at CPB.
In the meantime, give 'em an anvil and let's see if he can screw it up!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Pause and Effect.
The constant advice from the beltway pundocracy and bloviators to the Democratic party to move to the center, warrants serious investigation. There are plenty of Democrats outside the beltway offering the same advice, too. So, I offer a challenge to those advocates on a number of issues.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -- Mark Twain
- Is the center on the 50 yard line or has it been moved to the right and is now at the 35 yard line?
- Healthcare. This is a crisis so severe that even the president is afraid to talk about it. General Motors, who last week announced the layoff of 25,000 workers, is now asking union workers to accept cuts in their healthcare benefits. General Motors spends $6 billion per year on healthcare costs. Add to that, there are nearly 40 million Americans without any kind of healthcare insurance and the number is growing. What's the centrists solution?
- The wages for working Americans have grown in real dollars by a whopping 2% from 1973 till 2001. That's total, not per year! This happened as we worked longer hours and more days as congress and presidents worked against organized labor. The majority of Democrat Senators recently voted for a Banckruptcy Bill that restricts real relief for those who incur financial calamities while providing loopholes for the rich. What's the centrist position on this?
- Taxes. Since 1981 the tax burden has been dramatically shifted by congress onto middle income families while the taxes on the ultra rich political donor class have been nearly eliminated. Government now takes money from Joe Lunchpail and put it in the silk purses of the ultra rich. our system of taxes has created a "trickle up effect." Does a centrist call fair?
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -- Mark Twain
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Poor Wal-Mart
Skiatook, Oklahoma grocer Super H sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the county District Court yesterday, for reportedly stealing its private pricing information. Wal-Mart sent workers into the Super H to use scanners to read private information from bar codes on it's shelves. Super H's bar codes contain a whole lot more than just item price. They include wholesale cost, inventory, and other proprietary information. In a Tulsa World article, Super H manager Greg McNeil called Wal-Mart's behavior "corporate espionage stealing sensitive information from a competitor," and an underhanded war.
Super H shares a parking lot with a conventional, non-grocery Wal-Mart store, but a Wal-Mart supercenter is being built close by that will compete directly with Super H.
The paper states that Super H wanted to file criminal charges against the Wal-Mart worker caught totting a scanner through the store on June 1, but the county district attorney decided not to follow through on the criminal complaint. So, Super H filed the civil suit, alleging that Wal-Mart trespassed and stole proprietary information.
Super H also asked the judge not to return the scanner to Wal-Mart because it contained it's proprietary information obtained by the scanner. The judge agreed and refused to return the scanner to Wal-Mart.
This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has been caught stealing private information from a competitor. In 2000, Crest Foods in Edmond, Oklahoma kicked five Wal-Mart employees out of its store for the same reason, an action that eventually led to a federal lawsuit accusing Wal-Mart of predatory pricing. A big surprise in that incident was one of the employees apprehended was David Glass, the long time CEO of Wal-Mart.
Glass, outraged by the way he was treated, ordered Wal-Mart to lower its prices below costs to ruin Crest Foods. Crest and Wal-Mart mutually dropped the lawsuit, a move seen as more than a hint that a financial settlement favorable to Crest, had been reached.
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for my country . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow." -- Abraham Lincoln
Super H shares a parking lot with a conventional, non-grocery Wal-Mart store, but a Wal-Mart supercenter is being built close by that will compete directly with Super H.
The paper states that Super H wanted to file criminal charges against the Wal-Mart worker caught totting a scanner through the store on June 1, but the county district attorney decided not to follow through on the criminal complaint. So, Super H filed the civil suit, alleging that Wal-Mart trespassed and stole proprietary information.
Super H also asked the judge not to return the scanner to Wal-Mart because it contained it's proprietary information obtained by the scanner. The judge agreed and refused to return the scanner to Wal-Mart.
This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has been caught stealing private information from a competitor. In 2000, Crest Foods in Edmond, Oklahoma kicked five Wal-Mart employees out of its store for the same reason, an action that eventually led to a federal lawsuit accusing Wal-Mart of predatory pricing. A big surprise in that incident was one of the employees apprehended was David Glass, the long time CEO of Wal-Mart.
Glass, outraged by the way he was treated, ordered Wal-Mart to lower its prices below costs to ruin Crest Foods. Crest and Wal-Mart mutually dropped the lawsuit, a move seen as more than a hint that a financial settlement favorable to Crest, had been reached.
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for my country . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow." -- Abraham Lincoln
Monday, June 13, 2005
Global Warming in the White House
From the beginning of his campaign for President George Bush's constant mantra on global warming has been, "we need to study this further" or "this issue needs more study." Many maimed GIs wish Bush had given the Iraq invasion the same amount of study he requires of global warming. Instead, scientific facts must demur to his convictions based on Big Oil money.
Again, at his meeting with Tony Blair last week, the president equivocated on the global warming issue, refusing to admit the potential adverse effect on the world.
Adding hubris to arrogrance, Phillip A. Cooney, chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality got caught doctoring environmental documents produced by the Council prior to being released to the public. This wasn't an isolated event. In a fourteen page memo to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program principals, Rick Piltz, former Senior Associate in the CCSP Office detailed the deliberate alteration of scientific reports to reflect the president's political viewpoint, not science.
Mr Cooney, is a lawyer not a scientist. Prior to joining the White House, he was a lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.
After Mr. Cooney's actions were reported in the national press last Wednesday, he resigned three days later.
Here, Agence France Presse gives the story a global political context missing from most news accounts:
The troubling thing about this story is how fast it disappeared from the Lame Stream Media.
Again, at his meeting with Tony Blair last week, the president equivocated on the global warming issue, refusing to admit the potential adverse effect on the world.
Adding hubris to arrogrance, Phillip A. Cooney, chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality got caught doctoring environmental documents produced by the Council prior to being released to the public. This wasn't an isolated event. In a fourteen page memo to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program principals, Rick Piltz, former Senior Associate in the CCSP Office detailed the deliberate alteration of scientific reports to reflect the president's political viewpoint, not science.
Mr Cooney, is a lawyer not a scientist. Prior to joining the White House, he was a lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.
After Mr. Cooney's actions were reported in the national press last Wednesday, he resigned three days later.
Here, Agence France Presse gives the story a global political context missing from most news accounts:
"The disclosure [of the White House's manipulation of the climate change report] turned into a diplomatic embarrassment for the White House because it came hours after President George W. Bush assured visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair that his administration was viewing global warming as a "serious long-term" problem that it was determined to solve.
But just as Blair was telling reporters about "a common commitment and desire to tackle the challenges of climate change," the US civic organization Government Accountability Project made public documents showing the White House trying to gloss over the problem's severity. The papers included a draft of a 2002 report by the US Climate Change Science Program that had been sent to Cooney for review and still contained his edits and remarks in the margins.
It showed the White House official taking out a whole paragraph warning about higher temperatures resulting in melting glaciers and snow peaks in polar regions and having "serious impacts" particularly on Native American tribes that rely on fishing and hunting for their livelihood.
In a remark on the margins, Cooney, who has no scientific background, appeared to upbraid scientists for "straying from research strategy into speculative findings."
The troubling thing about this story is how fast it disappeared from the Lame Stream Media.
"What's the use of having a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on."
Henry David ThoreauMaddening Media Redux
Here's a story you haven't seen on CNN, MSNBC, FOX nor any of the majorTV networks. It's also about the disappearance of a young woman who's pretty but not the right color for the media to obsess over.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Who's in the Army Now?
Things aren't going well for the Army and Marines. They aren't meeting their recruitment goals and grumbling in Iraq is getting more pervasive.
As a veteran from past decades, I remember that duty as a recruiter was a plum assignment. Not today. Military wives complain that their recruiter husbands are under intense pressure to meet their monthly "sales" objectives and receive withering criticism from superiors for missing the mark. Both the Army and Marines are missing their recruiting goals so far this year.
In an attempt to reverse the decline in enlistments, a new report says the Army directed recruiters to start accepting more recruits who are ranked in Category4 on the military's standardized aptitude test - those who score between the 10th and 30th percentiles on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. So far this year, the Army has accepted twice as many of these recruits as it did in all of 2004. Some would speculate that recruiters are questioning whether these recruits could handle the increasingly technical sophistication of being a GI and wonder if the Army brass only care about filling holes at the expense of qualifying potential recruits.
Other incentives the Army is offering are:
The Baltimore Sun quotes a retired Army general who says that he found it "disturbing" that the Army would waive offenses. The retired general also said the "seemingly endless" U.S.-led military mission in Iraq, with repeated deployments for soldiers may be starting to have an effect on officers. "Now that we're in the third year, we're starting to see some fissures in our long-term professional officer corps," he said.
Maybe Barb and Jenna could hold recruiting pep rallies .
As a veteran from past decades, I remember that duty as a recruiter was a plum assignment. Not today. Military wives complain that their recruiter husbands are under intense pressure to meet their monthly "sales" objectives and receive withering criticism from superiors for missing the mark. Both the Army and Marines are missing their recruiting goals so far this year.
In an attempt to reverse the decline in enlistments, a new report says the Army directed recruiters to start accepting more recruits who are ranked in Category4 on the military's standardized aptitude test - those who score between the 10th and 30th percentiles on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. So far this year, the Army has accepted twice as many of these recruits as it did in all of 2004. Some would speculate that recruiters are questioning whether these recruits could handle the increasingly technical sophistication of being a GI and wonder if the Army brass only care about filling holes at the expense of qualifying potential recruits.
Other incentives the Army is offering are:
- offered a new 15-month enlistment, instead of the previous minimum two-year term.
- considering plans to double the top cash enlistment bonuses for recruits in some specialties to $40,000, and to begin a pilot program to provide up to $50,000 in home mortgage help to recruits who enlist for eight years of active duty.
The Baltimore Sun quotes a retired Army general who says that he found it "disturbing" that the Army would waive offenses. The retired general also said the "seemingly endless" U.S.-led military mission in Iraq, with repeated deployments for soldiers may be starting to have an effect on officers. "Now that we're in the third year, we're starting to see some fissures in our long-term professional officer corps," he said.
Maybe Barb and Jenna could hold recruiting pep rallies .
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Them's My Marbles!
Yesterday, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-MBNA, Wis) angrily slammed his gavel down to abruptly end the hearing he was conducting on renewing questionable portions of the US PatriotAct. Sensenbrenner, known for his intemperate and arrogant ways, is heir to a paper fortune.
The chairman conducted the hearing with decorum during the testimony of the first four witnesses, picked by the majority to shower the administration with glowing words of admiration and pushed for retaining the contentious parts of the Patriot Act. However, when witnesses selected by the Democratic minority of the sub-sommittee, started complaining about abuses at Guantanamo empowered by the act, Sensenbrenner got his feathers ruffled and sought to end the hearing.
In another congressional hearing, Sen. Craig (R-MBNA - Idaho) and Sen. Durbin (D- Ill.) testified no abuses of the Patriot Act have been documented because the law itself makes congressional oversight and investigation, "nearly impossible"
After Sensenbrenner's abrupt departure, the Republicans on the sub-committee followed suit and their staffers cut the power to the microphones. Undeterred, the witnesses continued their testimony without the sound system and C-SPAN 2 continued to televise the event, showing the stunned audience in the hearing room to it's viewers.
The chairman conducted the hearing with decorum during the testimony of the first four witnesses, picked by the majority to shower the administration with glowing words of admiration and pushed for retaining the contentious parts of the Patriot Act. However, when witnesses selected by the Democratic minority of the sub-sommittee, started complaining about abuses at Guantanamo empowered by the act, Sensenbrenner got his feathers ruffled and sought to end the hearing.
In another congressional hearing, Sen. Craig (R-MBNA - Idaho) and Sen. Durbin (D- Ill.) testified no abuses of the Patriot Act have been documented because the law itself makes congressional oversight and investigation, "nearly impossible"
After Sensenbrenner's abrupt departure, the Republicans on the sub-committee followed suit and their staffers cut the power to the microphones. Undeterred, the witnesses continued their testimony without the sound system and C-SPAN 2 continued to televise the event, showing the stunned audience in the hearing room to it's viewers.
"Calling this the Patriot Act is quite a dangerous action within itself, because the implication follows: If you speak against the Patriot Act, well, you aren't being a good citizen in our country's time of need. When Bush labels his actions as the model of patriotism, he then classifies all dissent as un-American." Michael Moore.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Maddening Media
Eugene Robinson excoriates the media in the Washington Post today for it's love affair with white damsels in distress. From Aruba to Iraq, from Natalie Holloway to Jessica Lynch, the cable news channels especially, are obsessed with trim, attractive, middle class, and exclusively white twenty-somethings who tragically and occasionally comically (the runaway bride) are drummed into the national conciousness. I certainly don't make light here of the horrible tragedies that happened to most of these women nor the indescribable grief their families are forced to bear.
However, do you remember the name of the African-American woman also wounded with Jessica Lynch's outfit?
I didn't either . . but it sure makes the point.
While the electronic media has been salavating over these lurid stories, it failed to give the Coingate scandal in Ohio nor the Downing Street Memo hardly any notice.
The Ohio Workers Compensation Fund invested in 'rare coins' through a company owned by a highly connected Republican operative and fund-raiser. Somehow, the coin investment company 'lost' $225 million in coins owned by the fund and entrusted to the insider's company for safe-keeping. George Bush was there yesterday but forgot to bring this up with Governor Taft.
Do you kow many state officials have lost their job over this? Again, that's the point.
The Downing Street Memo is a document leaked to the Sunday Times in Britain. It is a report from a British intelligence official to the Prime Minister, of a meeting he had with White House officials. In it the officer states,
However, do you remember the name of the African-American woman also wounded with Jessica Lynch's outfit?
I didn't either . . but it sure makes the point.
While the electronic media has been salavating over these lurid stories, it failed to give the Coingate scandal in Ohio nor the Downing Street Memo hardly any notice.
The Ohio Workers Compensation Fund invested in 'rare coins' through a company owned by a highly connected Republican operative and fund-raiser. Somehow, the coin investment company 'lost' $225 million in coins owned by the fund and entrusted to the insider's company for safe-keeping. George Bush was there yesterday but forgot to bring this up with Governor Taft.
Do you kow many state officials have lost their job over this? Again, that's the point.
The Downing Street Memo is a document leaked to the Sunday Times in Britain. It is a report from a British intelligence official to the Prime Minister, of a meeting he had with White House officials. In it the officer states,
"There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." (emphasis added)Also included in the report is this sentence.
"There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action."So, here's the final question. In what year was this memo written? The answer 2002!
"Americans are the best entertained and least informed people in the world."
Neil Postman (1931-2003)educator and writer.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
One Trick Pony
Comedienne Rita Rudner's story about her birthday party rung a bell with me this afternoon after reading the comments Dubya made today about Social Security .
Rudner reminisces that as a child her parents gave her a birthday party and hired a pony to give all the kids a ride. She recalls that at other parties she attended the ponies always seemed feeble or sickly.
At her party, the worst happened. The pony actually dropped dead! She says the party was pretty much downhill from there because all they could do is, "sit one kid on the pony while the rest drug it around the circle."
What a metaphor for George Bush's Social Security Privatization plan!
While he sits on the 'plan' knowing it's dead, he has his lackeys in congress and the media drag it around pretending it's still alive.
Can you imagine a photo-op from Crawford with Bush sitting on a dead horse labeled "SS Privatization"?
Rudner reminisces that as a child her parents gave her a birthday party and hired a pony to give all the kids a ride. She recalls that at other parties she attended the ponies always seemed feeble or sickly.
At her party, the worst happened. The pony actually dropped dead! She says the party was pretty much downhill from there because all they could do is, "sit one kid on the pony while the rest drug it around the circle."
What a metaphor for George Bush's Social Security Privatization plan!
While he sits on the 'plan' knowing it's dead, he has his lackeys in congress and the media drag it around pretending it's still alive.
Can you imagine a photo-op from Crawford with Bush sitting on a dead horse labeled "SS Privatization"?
The Revenge of Baghdad Bob
"The revenge of Baghdad BobThis is the first paragraph in a piece written by Juan Cole for Salon Magazine. Dr. Cole is an expert on middle eastern affairs and a professor of history at the University of Michigan. Cole also posts daily to his blog, Informed Comment, a must read, in my opinion.
Bush's ludicrous statements about Iraq are increasingly reminiscent of the propaganda spouted by the former spokesman for the Iraqi regime -- except that they're not funny.
The sheer dishonesty of the Bush administration whenever it speaks about the situation in Iraq was on display again during Bush's Tuesday press conference with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In recent weeks Bush has repeatedly expressed wild optimism, utterly unfounded in reality, about the political process in Iraq and about the ability of the new Iraqi government and army to win the guerrilla war. He has if anything been outdone in this rhetoric by Vice President Dick Cheney. This pie-in-the-sky attitude, which increasingly few believe, degrades our civic discourse, and it endangers the national security of the United States."
The "Make Congress More Corrupt Bill"
Yesterday, the House Administration Committee passed H.R. 1316, which should be titled the "Make Congress More Corrupt" bill, on a straight party line vote. And would you believe Tom DeLay, arguably the most corrupt Majority Leaders in modern time, supports this bill. At a time that Congress is working under an ethical cloud, we don't need weaker campaign finance laws. We need to strengthen them.
Federal candidates raised more than $2 billion in the 2004 elections from individuals and political action committees. Under current law, individuals are limited in how much they can give per election cycle to $101,400.
But legislation passed by a congressional committee on a 6-3 straight party line vote (chaired by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), a member being investigated for his connections to lobbyists) would remove that total limit on donations from individuals so that someone could funnel as much as $1 million to federal candidates.
Wealthy donors have too much influence, not too little. Congress shouldn't be weakening campaign finance laws, they should be strengthening them by adopting comprehensive public financing like what is working well in several states around the country.
The post is excerpts of an email from Public Campaign Action Fund.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Sad Day for T-Town
Under a big headline in today's Tulsa World, "Zoo will display creationist views," is a picture of Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune holding up a rough draft of a planned creationism display he voted for in a 3 -1 decision by the Parks and Recreation Board. Board member Dale McNamara voiced the opinion that the zoo is dedicated to animals and science, not the religious beliefs of humans. McNamara voted against the creationist display.
Kathleen Buck-Miser, zoo curator, worries that the decision by the park board will start a slippery slope into theology, an uncharted realm for the zoo.
This is not the first time religion has been thrust upon the Tulsa Zoo. Spoksperson Marnie Ducato said it started back in 1995 with a petition by Dan Hicks, who is the same person leading this attempt to put his religious views in the citizens zoo. In the January1996 issue of 'Acts and Facts', a newsletter published by the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), Hicks claimed two-thirds of Tulsans opposed references at the zoo to evolution, and claimed the Park Board acceded to his demands. The newsletter publisher, ICR claims it is a Christ Focused Ministry, not a group of peer reviewed scientists and academics.
Anyway, Mr. Hicks was challenged about the poll and the action of the park board. The Park Board had the SUPPORT of the mayor, back then. Hicks nor ICR never produced any proof of a city-wide poll on the subject nor the zoo's acquiescence to his demands. Obviously, Mr. Hicks ardor for creationism doesn't include his religion's commandments about truth. Now he's claiming this sham as a big victory.
This is a slap in the face to the Zarrows, Zinks, Schustermanns, and others who have given plenty to the enrichment of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Zoo, but don't embrace Mr. Hicks brand of religion.
Unfortunately, this LaFortune has tarnished his family's name in order to garner political support from the radical religious regressives. I hope it back-fires at the next election.
Kathleen Buck-Miser, zoo curator, worries that the decision by the park board will start a slippery slope into theology, an uncharted realm for the zoo.
This is not the first time religion has been thrust upon the Tulsa Zoo. Spoksperson Marnie Ducato said it started back in 1995 with a petition by Dan Hicks, who is the same person leading this attempt to put his religious views in the citizens zoo. In the January1996 issue of 'Acts and Facts', a newsletter published by the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), Hicks claimed two-thirds of Tulsans opposed references at the zoo to evolution, and claimed the Park Board acceded to his demands. The newsletter publisher, ICR claims it is a Christ Focused Ministry, not a group of peer reviewed scientists and academics.
Anyway, Mr. Hicks was challenged about the poll and the action of the park board. The Park Board had the SUPPORT of the mayor, back then. Hicks nor ICR never produced any proof of a city-wide poll on the subject nor the zoo's acquiescence to his demands. Obviously, Mr. Hicks ardor for creationism doesn't include his religion's commandments about truth. Now he's claiming this sham as a big victory.
This is a slap in the face to the Zarrows, Zinks, Schustermanns, and others who have given plenty to the enrichment of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Zoo, but don't embrace Mr. Hicks brand of religion.
Unfortunately, this LaFortune has tarnished his family's name in order to garner political support from the radical religious regressives. I hope it back-fires at the next election.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The Tale of Two Car Worlds
General Motors Corp. announced today it plans to cut 25,000 jobs in the United States over the next three years by closing various assembly and component plants. the Chairman and CEO Rick Wagner blamed it on slumping sales in North America and 'spiking' health care costs. I tend to believe the former more than the later reasons.
From Green Car Congress
The REAL World
Japan-based Toyota has used the capacity at its plants so efficiently it enjoys a $500 cost advantage for every car and truck it builds in the U.S. compared with GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit, Ronald Harbour, president of Harbour Consulting, said.
Hybrids
From Green Car Congress
US Sales of Full-Size SUVs in May Drop 25%
Combined sales of full-size SUVs in the US dropped 25% in May, compared to the same period last year.
According to company reports, combined sales of full-size SUVs (models longer than 193 inches) dropped to 135,137 units during May 2005, down from 180,808 the year before. Excluded from this are the sales for Isuzu’s Ascender, which were not available. Given that Isuzu is in steep decline, the sales of the Ascender represent a rounding error in this calculation.
For the first five months of the year, sales of full-size SUVs have dropped 20% compared to 2004.Chrysler to Introduce New Full-Size SUV Next Year
The Detroit News reports that Chrysler plans to introduce its first sport utility vehicle as part of a major rollout of new models in 2006 aimed at building on the automaker’s recent successes.
“Thaw in demand” is an interesting phrase to describe a 25% drop in industry sales of full-size SUVs in May and a 20% drop for the first five months of year.The SUV will be based on the current, seven-seat Dodge Durango but will be more upscale and is expected to debut at the Detroit auto show in January, said a Chrysler official familiar with the plan.
The project signals Chrysler remains bullish on the large SUV market despite a recent thaw in demand for big, truck-based SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition and Toyota Sequoia.
Redesigned in 2004, the Durango has been a brisk seller. For the last two months, however, sales of the model have dropped to or below levels in 2003—i.e., prior to the redesign. From May 2005 to May 2004, Durango sales dropped 41%. That noted, the SUV is still a strong seller, and Chrysler has been performing the best, in terms of increasing sales, of the traditional big three automakers.
So it will be interesting to see how the market responds to this new luxury full-size SUV. My guess is not well—certainly not by the time next January rolls around.
__________________________________________The REAL World
Japan-based Toyota has used the capacity at its plants so efficiently it enjoys a $500 cost advantage for every car and truck it builds in the U.S. compared with GM, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit, Ronald Harbour, president of Harbour Consulting, said.
Hybrids
Led by Toyota, which alone accounted for 13,690 units sold, combined sales of hybrids in the US reached 20,974 in April, more than triple the number sold in April 2004 (6,832).
The Prius had its best month ever, posting 11,345 units. The Lexus Rx400h, which came to showrooms in the middle of the month, racked up 2,345 units.
Demand for the Honda Civic Hybrid pushed sales of that model to its strongest showing of 3,466 units. The Accord Hybrid climbed to 2,023—its best to date. Sales of the ultra-efficient Insight also benefitted, climbing up to 90 units, the car’s best performance in a year.
Nissan Targeting Sales of 50,000 Altima Hybrids per YearAuto Week reports that Nissan is targeting sales of 50,000 Altima hybrids per year, starting next year with US production of the car.
Nissan unveiled its 2007 Altima hybrid prototype in June 2004. The company is partnering with archrival Toyota for the hybrid system components, combining those with Nissan’s own four-cylinder gasoline engine technology.“Thay’s the number we’re looking at,” says Tadao Takahashi, Nissan’s executive vice president in charge of global manufacturing. “We’d like to catch up” with other automakers.
Religion and Faith
While browsing through a couple of forums yesterday, I found that people had posted an article written by a AP religious writer, Rachel Zoll based on a poll of 1000 people each in the US and in several European countries. The poll was conducted by Associated Press-Ipsos in late May.
To me the article was pretty bland and broadly generalized the poll results. Nevertheless, some of the posters on the forums were pretty adamant in advising Democrats to embrace religion at every turn, citing 98% of Americans were people of faith and if Democrats didn't own up to this, they would get killed at the election box. I responded with this;
To me the article was pretty bland and broadly generalized the poll results. Nevertheless, some of the posters on the forums were pretty adamant in advising Democrats to embrace religion at every turn, citing 98% of Americans were people of faith and if Democrats didn't own up to this, they would get killed at the election box. I responded with this;
"My post had two purposes. First was to poke some fun at this languid article and second, to see if anyone read into my post their own biases. You be the judge.
I read the survey data sets for US citizens on which part of the article was based. That data set was quite interesting in that it found:There was no data for right-wing radical conservative Christians. As a matter of fact, Christianity wasn't even mentioned in the US data set survey questions.
- 61% of US citizens surveyed, think that religious leaders should not try to influence government decisions.
- 62% say that religion, not faith, is very important in their life and slightly more (70%) say they know their God exists and they have no doubt about it! There is a big difference between religion and faith. Ask an evangelical.
- 49% claim a religion other than Protestant, Catholic or Jewish.
- And most important, if the election were held today 45% said they would vote for the Democratic presidential candidate and 29% said they would vote for the Republican candidate.
Nothing in the survey indicated that 98% of American citizens shared a common religious viewpoint. I submit the data presents the opposite; that religious viewpoints of US citizens are more diverse than their eating habits. IMO, should progressive populists, stand up straight, repeat their unequivocal principles loudly and clearly, and walk their talk, religious Americans will respond with their votes."
Monday, June 06, 2005
On Bulls**t
Congressman John Sullivan (R-Okla CD-1) recently told a meeting of constituents that Social Security is "a ponzi scheme" and that the current surplus in contributions were "thrown into the general fund and spent." He also said the system "is going to be broke. There is no question about it." Sullivan goes on to say that "Nobody wants to privatize Social Security, but younger people would have an option to place part of their retirement account into a private pension fund." Huh?
Sullivan's no dummy but based on this report from the Tulsa World, maybe he should look in the mirror to see if his nose looks like it's on steriods!
Does he think Oklahomans are that stupid that they would swallow the "ponzi scheme" crap? A ponzi scheme is set up to swindle dupes. Who's been swindled, Congressman?
On top of that, he has the gall to claim the surplus is thrown into the general fund and spent, but not mentioning the spenders are the Republican majority that includes him. The congressman knows the Trustees invest Trust Fund surpluses in government bonds, and he and his cronies spend the proceeds.
As for going broke, the Congressional Budget Office projects Social Security will be able to pay all benefits through 2052. That's for the next 47 years. Sullivan implies it's going broke for sure. His own CBO also states that simply taxing wages earned over $90,000 would virtually close the projected shortfall.
The irony in all this is that, according to a recent CBS poll, 62 percent of the public disapproves of the way George Bush and his surrogates are handling Social Security. Even more telling is the same percentage, 62 percent approve of taxing wages over the current $90,000 cap to close the projected shortfall.
John Sullivan needs to read Professor Harry Frankfort's book right away.
Sullivan's no dummy but based on this report from the Tulsa World, maybe he should look in the mirror to see if his nose looks like it's on steriods!
Does he think Oklahomans are that stupid that they would swallow the "ponzi scheme" crap? A ponzi scheme is set up to swindle dupes. Who's been swindled, Congressman?
On top of that, he has the gall to claim the surplus is thrown into the general fund and spent, but not mentioning the spenders are the Republican majority that includes him. The congressman knows the Trustees invest Trust Fund surpluses in government bonds, and he and his cronies spend the proceeds.
As for going broke, the Congressional Budget Office projects Social Security will be able to pay all benefits through 2052. That's for the next 47 years. Sullivan implies it's going broke for sure. His own CBO also states that simply taxing wages earned over $90,000 would virtually close the projected shortfall.
The irony in all this is that, according to a recent CBS poll, 62 percent of the public disapproves of the way George Bush and his surrogates are handling Social Security. Even more telling is the same percentage, 62 percent approve of taxing wages over the current $90,000 cap to close the projected shortfall.
John Sullivan needs to read Professor Harry Frankfort's book right away.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
What's NOT on TV.
Chuck Dupree post on Bad Attitudes :
The most interesting querry done on this database created this result.
Read the whole article. You may wonder who's blinded by what!
"Robert Pape, an associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, has put together a database on worldwide suicide attacks since 1980, “using”, as the article says, “Arabic, Hebrew, Tamil and Russian-language sources.” Pape believes this to be the first comprehensive database on every such attack."He goes on to say that our intelligence community with a $40 billion budget couldn't come up with a database like the one created by an obscure academic in Chicago.
The most interesting querry done on this database created this result.
“Islamic fundamentalism is not the primary driver of suicide terrorism,” Pape said. “Nearly all suicide terrorist attacks are committed for a secular strategic goal — to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory the terrorists view as their homeland.”
“Yes, it’s true we’re killing terrorists day by day, but the real measure of suicide terrorism is simply the number of attacks,” said Pape. “The problem with suicide terrorism is that it’s not supply limited, it’s demand-driven.”Dupree goes on to say that the suicide bombers are not the militant fighters the administration and media report, rather they are first time volunteers whose suicides are their first and only act of violence. This desperate group of everyday people include technicians, waitresses, nurses and ambulances drivers. They are not hardened terrorist fighters the talking heads make them out to be.
Read the whole article. You may wonder who's blinded by what!
Friday, June 03, 2005
It Couldn't Get Any Better
Rock the Vote, the organization devoted to registering young voters, is holding it's 15th Year Celebration with it's Annual Awards gala Wednesday June 8. Among the honorees are John McCain, Barak Obama, and Bill Clinton. RTV has played a vital role in registering 21 million new young voters since it's inception
As a fund-raiser, RTV sells T-Shirts and other items with the logo "I ♥ Social Security".
This morning, the headquarters of RTV received a box of T-Shirts mimicing "I ♥ Social Security" shirts from the astroturf group, "Americans For Prosperity Foundation", who is organizing a youth protest at the RTV Awards dinner.
Enterprising staffers at RTV discovered the shirts from Americans For Prosperity were actually made in Guatemala while RTVs "I ♥ Social Security" shirts are UNION MADE IN THE USA!
Not hard to tell just who is for American prosperity, is it.
As a fund-raiser, RTV sells T-Shirts and other items with the logo "I ♥ Social Security".
This morning, the headquarters of RTV received a box of T-Shirts mimicing "I ♥ Social Security" shirts from the astroturf group, "Americans For Prosperity Foundation", who is organizing a youth protest at the RTV Awards dinner.
Enterprising staffers at RTV discovered the shirts from Americans For Prosperity were actually made in Guatemala while RTVs "I ♥ Social Security" shirts are UNION MADE IN THE USA!
Not hard to tell just who is for American prosperity, is it.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Take Back America 2005
I've been engrossed for the last two days with this conference sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future, and simultaneously reading "Perfectly Legal" by David Cay Johnson. So, my posts will be somewhat fragmented but follow a pattern.
One of the things I learned is that the "Minimum Wage" initiative won by such a large majority in Florida in 2004, that if John Kerry had endorsed the referendum, it's easy to extrapulate he would have carried the state and thus be our president.
More later, today.
One of the things I learned is that the "Minimum Wage" initiative won by such a large majority in Florida in 2004, that if John Kerry had endorsed the referendum, it's easy to extrapulate he would have carried the state and thus be our president.
More later, today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
