Bush's 2006 Sorry State of the Union

Click here for a translation of George W.'s SOTU speech (just chock full of facts).

Check back later today for my SOTU list of buzzwords to watch for tonight.


File this under: The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct. Marcus Tulius Cicero

It's Official: Bush Supporters Are Dumber Than Bush

Paul Craig Roberts, Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Treasury, has analyzed the polling data and finds ignorance of BushCo cause & effect rampant.

Two recent polls, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll and a New York Times/CBS News poll, indicate why Bush is getting away with impeachable offenses. Half of the US population is incapable of acquiring, processing and understanding information.

That half would be the backside of the Bell Curve, Paul.

The inherent barrier to the truth: the media.

Much of the problem is the media itself, which serves as a disinformation agency for the Bush administration. Fox "News" and right-wing talk radio are the worst, but with propagandistic outlets setting the standard for truth and patriotism, all of the media is affected to some degree.

Simply baffling polling results:

64% of the respondents have concerns about losing civil liberties as a result of anti-terrorism measures put in place by President Bush. Yet, 53
percent approve of spying without obtaining court warrants "in order to reduce the threat of terrorism."

Only 43 percent said they approved of Bush's performance as president. But a majority believe Bush's policies have made the US more secure.

And then there are those pesky facts, ignored by the press and the pollsters:

The law permits the president to spy first (for 72 hours) and then come to the court for permission. As the court meets in secret, spying without a warrant is no more effective in reducing the threat of terrorism than spying with a warrant.

95 percent of all Muslim terrorists in the world were created in the past three years by Bush's invasion of Iraq.

Here's a little factoid to add to your list, Paul:

Only 11% of Americans rank terrorism as a major issue affecting their lives.

But that question was polled a few days before Hamas won the Palestinian election in a landslide... an event the Bush administration "never saw coming."


File this under: The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct. Marcus Tulius Cicero

Snarky Sermon on the Blog

From the Book of Dribbleglass:

My Favorite Biblical Top Five Lists

By Scott E. Roeben

Top Five Unimpressive Miracles of Christ

5. Walked on watermelon.

4. Cured leper of a headcold.

3. Got out of Christmas shopping his entire life.

2. Ascended into heaven without losing luggage.

1. Turned water into urine.


Top Five Quotes that Never Made it into the Bible

5. Thomas: "Aliens? Bigfoot? Sure, I believe it."

4. A Wise Man: "All of us can't bring myrrh. I hope you kept your receipts."

3. Satan: "Is it hot, or is it just me?"

2. Mary: "Yeah, that's it. The Holy Spirit. Who else would it have been?"

1. Isaiah: "Trust me, I know which hand it's in."


Top Five Novelty Items of Biblical Times

5. The Squirting Shroud

4. Moisture-Proof Chinese Cookware (For woking on water.)

3. Insta-Locust (For the rebel without a plague.)

2. Burning Bush Birthday Candles

1. Rubber Crown O' Thorns


Top Five Bands of Biblical Times

5. Goliath and the Migraines

4. The Blue Brothers (Cain and Abel on keyboards)

3. The Drummer Boyz

2. Peter and the Denials

1. The Rolling Tombstones


Top Five Atheists In Heaven

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.


Top Five Best Pieces of Advice of the Biblical Era

5. Jonah: "Use lemon juice to get that fishy smell off of your hands.

4. Daniel: "Stay very, very still."

3. John The Baptist: "Don't invest in too many hats."

2. Methuselah: "Life begins at 900." (He was supposed to have lived to be 969, by the way.)

1. Jesus: "Always eat a good breakfast before a resurrection."


Top Five Recipes of Biblical Times

5. Delilah's Angelhair Pasta

4. Solomon's 50/50 Split Peas

3. Judas' Eggs Benedict

2. Noah's Rootbeer Float

1. Satan's Hot Cross Buns


Top Five Most Popular Self-Help Books of Biblical Times

5. Moses: "Freeing Your People With No Money Down."

4. Noah: "Sink or Swim: The Drowner's Guide to the Deluge."

3. Adam: "Smart Men, Foolish Choices."

2. Herod: "Finding and Eliminating Your Inner Child."

1. God: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Everything." (Length: Infinite.)

Thus Endeth Today's Sermon.

Go forth today and find something to laugh about.

And pay no attention to the zealots who would suck every bit of the joy out of your life.

I mean it, damn it!


File this under: Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket. Then, donate it to the nearest university astronomy department.

It's out! Bush's 2006 State Of The Union Preview Video!

Crank up the volume and pass the popcorn!




Click Here
To Watch


File this under: Fear? Check. More fear? Check. Reminder to be afraid? Check. Reminder to be very afraid? Check. God bless The United States of Fear America!

This Week's Backside Of The Bell CurveWinners!

The Women at Free Republic. Com
(Freeperettes)

Freeper women at
Ronald Reagan's funeral.

What happens when freeperettes discover that their male counterparts object to changes in the world of freeper foreign-bride buying? Come on, it's a good change, which now requires men to reveal their criminal records on the application forms. What's so bad about that?

While freepers howl, freeperettes finally figure out how low on the freeper food chain they really are.

The news story that lit the fuse inspired this...

An international broker cannot provide contact or general information on a foreign woman to an American man unless that broker first collects and discloses to the woman the following information about the man:

* Every state of residence since the age of 18;
* Current or previous marriages as well as how and when they terminated;
* Information on children under 18;
* Any arrest or conviction related to controlled substances, alcohol or prostitution, making no distinction on arrests not leading to conviction;
* Any court orders, including temporary restraining orders, which are notoriously easy to procure;
* Any arrest or conviction for crimes ranging from "homicide" to "child neglect";
* Any arrest or conviction for "similar activity in violation of Federal, State or local criminal law" without specifying what "similar" means.

I guess supplying criminal background information violates the freeper right to abuse (and murder) the women they purchase.

And the freepers are off!

'Mail-order bride' law brands all American men abusers (Feminazis at it, again!)

A few of my favorite freeper fellas' responses:

I guess the feminists don't want American men to marry traditional ladies from the Philippines, Russia, etc. I thought they were 'pro-choice'!!
posted by Deepkimche
***
To: Deepkimche

As hard as the MSM tries to get us men to link up with an American feminist, many of us are wise enough to ignore that route, and thus marry a women who hasn't been corrupted (i.e., one not born in the US).
posted by MediaAnalyst
***
To: Deepkimche

I spent some time in the Far East, wished I would've married a gal from there; but I was stupid and held out for a 'traditional' American woman. What a joke! If you hit some of the feminists sites on why men marry foreign brides you'll see every excuse under the sun. Everything but the truth: Some of us guys are sick and tired of women trying to be men; they aren't good at it.

On the flipside I've known a few strong American gals (very few). They know like any other strong person knows: responsibilty rests with the individual. Feminists haven't glommed onto this yet.

posted by samm1148
***
I have two buddies who'd probably have never gotten married and had families without getting overseas wives (one Japanese, one Philippina). (America gals wouldn't give them the time of day.)

Now the radical feminists are going to try to not only stop this possible route to marriage...they are going to add the extra disincentive in that they'd require you to turn lots of personal info. over to foreign entities.
Sounds like The National Promotion of Identity Theft Act of 2005 to me.

posted by VOA
***

The freeperettes respond to the freepers:

To: AirForceBrat23
Didn't you get the memo...? All American women are corrupted feminazi's looking to steal a man's children and money. Oh and we don't age as well as them foreign gals.
posted by SouthernFreebird
***
To: MediaAnalyst; Dashing Dasher

So you think all women born in the U.S. are corrupted? And you don't want to divulge your police and psychological record to your prospective mail-order bride? hmmm...is there a connection here? LOL

posted by ladyjane
***
To: SouthernFreebird

Also, apparently American women are trying to be men (see the post directly below yours). Oh, we also have this nasty habit of being able to support ourselves if necessary, being able to speak out when we disagree with something or someone, and omigosh, we have our own interests and hobbies outside being a doormat for the man we married! Yuck! No wonder these studly, strong American men buy brides from foreign countries. American women are just too much too handle. /sarcasm

Sorry, these female bashing threads tick me off. Seems to me that these guys LOVE America, but resent (or are just plain scared of) half the population. Makes no sense to me.

posted by coop71 (Being a redhead means never having to say you're sorry...)
***
To: MediaAnalyst

and thus marry a women who hasn't been corrupted (i.e., one not born in the US).

What is your definition of corruption? A women that doesn't think you are some kind of love god?

posted by LoudRepublicangirl (loudrepublicangirl)
***

Politics aside, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the freeperettes in the picture (above); however, freepers with small penises obviously do.


File this under: If you lie down with freeper dogs, you'd better have some freeper flea powder handy, ladies.

This Week in the Blogosphere

Don't forget to read The Blog Box this morning...

Here's the intro:


January 27, 2006 · Bob Ney has the Ohio party chair under his thumb, Roy Blunt has bloggers up his sleeve, the WHIG group is having Fitz, and Brokeback Bush hasn't seen the #1 movie in the country. By Delilah Boyd


I'll be back later today with this week's Backside of the Bell Curve winner.


File this under: Never trust the media to tell you the whole story.

Soldiers Die and Media Crickets Chirp.

I guess troop deaths are only big news now if scores die at one time.

Twelve U.S. servicemembers killed in Iraq since Friday
Tuesday 24th January, 2006

U.S. military officials confirmed six soldiers, 4 Marines, and two airmen died in a spate of incidents. Ten of the 12 deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices.

Insurgents kill seven troops in Iraq
UPI

--snip-- n other developments, combined forces detained two suspected terrorists in connection with recent improvised-explosive-device (IED) attacks in Diyarah during a raid Tuesday morning. Iraqi soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army Division, and U.S. soldiers from the 8th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Infantry Division, raided two houses suspected of harboring terrorists, the American Forces Press Service reported. --snip--

Soldiers from the 7th Iraqi Army Division, and Coalition forces found six caches and capture three insurgents during patrols of various cities Monday.

How sad that our media can't be bothered with reporting even just the number of our weekly war dead. (Oh, I forgot the Republican talking point: That information might give aid and comfort to the enemy.) And how sad that the president's poll numbers are obviously more important than the lives of our soldiers.

File this under: Who will sit beside you at church this Sunday? A grieving family?

Eisenhower Predicted BushCo

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are...Texas oil millionaires and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
November 8, 1954

File this under: When the cat's away, the mouse will reproduce and take over the house... and the senate and the White House and the Supreme Court and the press.

Ford: "What's more important, your job or our profit margin?"

Dumping 40,000 workers is good for business:

Bloomberg: Ford gained 11 cents to $8.01 in Germany. The second-largest U.S. automaker was projected to post a profit of 1 cent a share, the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. That's down from 28 cents a year earlier.

The company today announces plans to eliminate jobs and close plants in North America as it tries to stem losses at its largest automotive unit. Ford reports earnings at 7:30 a.m. Detroit time.

Ahem.

Ford Motor Company Reports 2005 Net Income of $2 Billion, Profitable for Third Consecutive Year

PRNewswire
All PRNewswire News

- Third consecutive year of profitability. Full-year net income of $2 billion, or $1.04 per share.

Hm.















File this under: Never trust the corporate-owned media to tell the whole story, damn it!

Laura, Ted, & Trent: Notable Quotes

Let's face it. Republicans have three well known qualities...

Cluelessness

"One of the songs on my iPod that I love is
Dolly Parton singing 'Stairway to Heaven.'"
First lady Laura Bush,
explaining that she prefers a
pop-country mix in musical selections

Heartlessness

"The pimps...the whores, the welfare brats, the crybabies, and the bloodsuckers would be completely cut off from society’s teat."
Ted Nugent,
the politically conservative
rock-and-roll star, on what would happen
if he’s elected governor of Michigan

Egotism

"We’re going to cut meals to $20 a meal.
Where are they going to eat? McDonald’s?"
Sen. Trent Lott,
sneering at some
reform proposals capping the price of
lobbyist-paid lunches

Sources: AP, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN

File this under: Ignorance can be fixed. Stupidity is forever.

Ford's "Way Forward" (Did Ford spend its $250 million Jobs Creation dollars on that new tagline?)

30,000 jobs today
+ 10,000 jobs last year
= Ford Motor Co. sheds 40,000 workers but keeps Bush's $250 million "Jobs Creation" dollars
+ Ford keeps $850 million in overseas (US tax free) profits from last year

From Allan Sloan, the WaPo biz columnist...

It's almost enough to make you laugh -- bitterly, of course. Here was Ford Motor Co. announcing yesterday that it had cut 10,000 jobs last year and that it will cut up to 30,000 more. But shedding jobs at muscle-car acceleration rates didn't stop Ford from pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars courtesy of the American Jobs Creation Act.

Think Ford execs will blame the unions for the job losses?

Of course, they will.

By the way, Ford's new tagline: "The Way Forward"

Not exactly original.

I wonder how much Ford paid for their new product branding POS.


File this under: Never trust the corporate-owned media to tell the whole story, damn it!

In Memoriam: The Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

It was a good run, 4th Amendment!

But that whole "Probable Cause" part has outlived its BushCo usefulness, hasn't it?

In fact, General Michael Hayden, Director of the NSA domestic spying cabal when it began in 2001, said this yesterday:

I didn't craft the authorization. I am responding to a lawful order. All right? The attorney general has averred to the lawfulness of the order.

Just to be very clear -- and believe me, if there's any amendment to the Constitution that employees of the National Security Agency are familiar with, it's the Fourth. And it is a reasonableness standard in the Fourth Amendment. And so what you've raised to me -- and I'm not a lawyer, and don't want to become one -- what you've raised to me is, in terms of quoting the Fourth Amendment, is an issue of the Constitution. The constitutional standard is "reasonable." And we believe -- I am convinced that we are lawful because what it is we're doing is reasonable.

Let's back up to the reporter's question that inspired the general's reichwing answer...

QUESTION: Jonathan Landay with Knight Ridder. I'd like to stay on the same issue, and that had to do with the standard by which you use to target your wiretaps. I'm no lawyer, but my understanding is that the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution specifies that you must have probable cause to be able to do a search that does not violate an American's right against unlawful searches and seizures. Do you use --

GEN. HAYDEN: No, actually -- the Fourth Amendment actually protects all of us against unreasonable search and seizure.

QUESTION: But the --

GEN. HAYDEN: That's what it says.

It also demands "Probable Cause," which means you get a warrant, BushBot!

You don't skate around the frozen Probable Cause pond, thumbing your nose at the judges who are there to issue the warrants based on constitutionally-sound precedence, without inflicting irreparable harm to the US Constitution, the citizens of the United States, and the to entire world.

And if you don't think this will ever affect you and yours, I have 2 famous Republican words for you...

Trickle Down.

Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

File this under: Big Brother is definitely here, Cousins. The question is: Do you care?

Why Spying On You Is A Good Thing

Never mind that it's illegal. Never mind that it's immoral. BushCo has used the American media to turn a simple fact (Spying on you is illegal and wrong) into a debatable issue...

Where public opinion-- like choosing an American Idol winner-- will prevail.

But only if you let them, Americans.

If it's OK to spy on Quakers & grandmothers, it had better be OK with you to spy on fundamentalist churches, conservative front groups, and Republican Party machines.

How else can BushCo learn enough about your group to control what your focus is, how effective your message is, and whom you should choose to follow?

White House on PR path over domestic surveillance

By James Gerstenzang, Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times; Times staff writers Peter Wallsten and Greg Miller contributed to this report

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is launching an aggressive effort to convince Americans that a National Security Agency program of domestic eavesdropping is legal and justified.

Think we won the Cold War? Think again.

The Bush Politburo thanks you for your stupidity!

File this under: Who sat beside you at church yesterday? A visitor?

Today's Sermon: Jesus Has A Website!

Yes, the Light of the World is just a mouse click away!




Wait a minute. Tucked inside Jesus' website is this little gem:

Yours with PRAYER, the WORD of GOD, LOVE and UNITY as FELLOW MEMBERS of the "BODY of CHRIST"

Rev. J.M. Byron Whitney, OCO, OMD; Christian II, Successor in WORD and UNITY to Christian I, Archbishop Patriarch of the American Orthodox Catholic Church.

1. MEGA LIFE

710 E. 47TH St
Austin, TX 78751

ARE YOU PRO-GOD or ANTI-GOD?

If you are PRO-LIFE JOIN with us & UNITED under GOD we will TRIUMPH with JESUS, the DIVINE WORD (LOGOS) OF GOD,
and RE-ESTABLISH both CHURCH and STATE
according to the WILL OF GOD.
THEY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.
Hm.

The God of Abraham must really work in mysterious ways...

To choose Byron as his site designer.

Pro-God or Anti-God, Byron?

Re-establish both Church and State, Byron?

Thus Endeth Today's Sermon.

Go forth today and remember what happens to free thinkers like Jesus in a State Church society..

And ask Byron how that whole "Jesus' website" gimmick is working out for him.

I mean it, damn it!


File this under: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

About those Abramoff emails...

Hm. Makes you wonder what was "redacted."

Foul mouth

Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to corruption charges in a scandal sweeping Capitol Hill. These excerpts from heavily redacted documents recently posted online by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, at indian.senate.gov, show Abramoff enjoyed talking trash.

• "Hey bitch, I am ready fo yo ass, but yu a big time faggot and afraid of a real man!" -- Jan. 7, 2003, e-mail from Abramoff challenging his business partner, Michael Scanlon, to a game of racquetball

• "We'll find out who they are and make sure our friends crush them like bugs." -- Nov. 12, 2003, e-mail from Abramoff to former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, who was curious about unknown American Indian lobbyists

• "BN had a great time and is very grateful, but is not going to mention the [golf] trip to Scotland for obvious reasons. He said he'll show his thanks in other ways, which is what we want." -- Aug. 10, 2002, e-mail in which Abramoff apparently references Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who this week stepped down from his post as leader of the House committee controlling disclosures of lobbying practices

• "The f'ing troglodytes ..." -- Dec. 17, 2001, e-mail from Abramoff to Scanlon referring to members of Michigan's Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribal council

• "I think he could fuck us a lot worse than we could fuck him" -- Feb. 23, 2002, e-mail from Abramoff regarding Deputy Interior Department Secretary James Griles, who allegedly worked inside the department to advance Abramoff's aims

• "You iz da man! Do you hear me?! You da man!! How much $$ is coming tomorrow? Did we get some more $$ in?" -- March 18, 2002, e-mail from Abramoff to Scanlon

• "I'm just surprised I am not under 'dead, disgraced or in jail.'" -- June 26, 2001, e-mail by Abramoff to an associate noting the release of an alumni guide for a law firm where he once worked

File this under: You're either "with" Abramoff, or you're "against" him.

This Week's Backside Of The Bell CurveWinner!

The Washington Post's Ombudsman
(Who needs an ombudsman of her own!)

Deborah
Howell

Paper Shutters Blog After Ombudsman Post

Jeez! No wonder smart people are abandoning the Washington Post in droves.

Paper Shutters Blog After Ombudsman Post Jan 19 7:28 PM US/Eastern Email this story

WASHINGTON

The Washington Post shut down one of its blogs Thursday after the newspaper's ombudsman raised the ire of readers by writing that lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave money to the Democrats as well as to Republicans.

At the center of a congressional bribery investigation, Abramoff gave money to Republicans while he had his clients donate to both parties, though mostly to Republicans.

In her Sunday column, ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote that Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties," prompting a wave of nasty reader postings on post.blog.

There were so many personal attacks that the newspaper's staff could not "keep the board clean, there was some pretty filthy stuff," and so the Post shut down comments on the blog, or Web log, said Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com.

And that last paragraph is chock full-O-lies, y'all.

Here's the latest crap Howell has bagged, lit, and left on the WaPo's front steps:

Deborah Howell Responds

I've heard from lots of angry readers about the remark in my column Sunday that lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave money to both parties. A better way to have said it would be that Abramoff "directed" contributions to both parties.

Directed?

Come on, Deb! Hire a damned fact checker, Hon!

A wave of nasty reader postings on the Post's blog? Since the WaPo has deleted the comments, I guess we just have to believe the Post when they say that the comments were "nasty."

Wait!

Nothing "deleted" from the internet is ever really deleted.

As for that "shuttering the blog" deal...

Don't you just love being able to capture and archive web pages?

Read all of those blog comments, which the WaPo thought it had deleted, and make up your own mind.

Here's a typical response:

This doesn't seem that complex. There is one statement in the ombudsman's original column, another in her clarification, and the flap with MediaMatters.

The ombudsman wrote Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties."

You wrote it, so how it's worded is not only the meaning, it's solely your responsibility. It isn't true. He gave more than $127,000 to Republicans, and none to Democrats. Was this something you knew, but didn't consider important? Or was this something you didn't know?

You tried to clarify your original error by saying "A better way to have said it would be that Abramoff 'directed' contributions to both parties."

But there is no "better way" to say something false.

What you said in the first place was WRONG -- not something that would have been true if you'd said it some other way. You said Abramoff made contributions to both Democrats and Republicans. He did not.

Say so.

It is not clear what you meant by "directed". There is a question of fact involved. Make it central -- did Abramoff's clients contribute to Democrats BEFORE they hired him? If they did, it is false to say that contributions to Democrats were at Abramoff's "direction".

He could not have been 'directing' what they did BEFORE they hired him. So the only 'direction' he could have given regarding contributions to Democrats would have been to maintain prior levels, increase or decrease them. Which was it?

Write your stuff by stating plain facts, please.

Finally: I read Media Matters and your reply. They called you on a one-sided approach that was also factually wrong.

You replied that the Post's reporting wasn't exactly wrong, because it was necessary to include both sides. If that commonplace had been a sound defense of the Post's reporting, it would have been sufficient.

But they pointed out that the original passage did NOT include both sides, which you had not even addressed when you announced you wouldn't respond further to Media Matters.

The facts are simple: Abramoff contributed only to Republicans. His clients had been contributing to Democrats before they hired him, and their contributions to Democrats went down (and up, to Republicans) after they hired him. You flat out mis-stated the first, and your writing continues to be misleading on the second.

The original reporting on this did NOT include the simple factual observation that the whole purpose of the K Street project was to skew all lobbying, campaign contributions and policymaking toward Republicans and Republican clients.

If someone thinks there is another side to that factual reporting, it can be tested by the facts which you did not print, on which your writing is misleading. It is consistent with both the facts and the K Street project that Abramoff would have (as he did) contribute only to Republicans and directed his clients TO CONTRIBUTE LESS to Democrats than they had before: isn't that the only way to make your misleading statement about what Abramoff "directed" into an accurate one?

So, why didn't you write to be accurate?

If the Post's ombudsman had scrupulously written ONLY the facts, none of this flap would have been necessary.

So -- what are you going to do about it now?

Ah, the internet!

Just imagine where this Howell crapfestpalooza would be if we were still snail mailing letters to the editor.

Down the newsroom's cylindrical gun metal grey rabbit hole, of course.

Shame on you, Deborah Howell!

And shame on you, Washington Post!

File this under: Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light. Joseph Pulitzer

Boondocks Rocks!

Click Here
to enlarge.

File this under: Oh, the things kids say these days! Thwack!

Are Your Medicine Bottles Bugged Tagged?

I find this bugging (Sorry! "Tagging") of medicine bottles deeply disturbing.

And my first question: Cui bono?

Who benefits from this technology?

Viagra Tag Could Be
Bitter Pill

By Randy Dotinga

Those little tracking tags that infuriate watchdog groups are taking hold in yet another place of business -- your local pharmacy.

Last week, Pfizer announced that it will combat counterfeiters by sticking radio-frequency ID tags on large bottles of Viagra. Pfizer follows on the heels of Purdue Pharma, which began tagging every 100-tablet bottle of the painkiller OxyContin in 2004.

RFID supporters downplay the prospect that you'll take home a tracking device with your heart medicine or birth-control pills. But no restrictions are in place to protect consumers from such situations, and Pfizer acknowledges in an FAQ that "it's possible but not very likely" that some RFID tags will leave pharmacies with Viagra users.

Combat counterfeiters? More like "counter-fitters" to me.

I'm so sure that drug dealers keep and use the original pill bottles, aren't you? Since the bugs (Sorry! "Tags") can only be read 6 to 18 inches away, what's the point, anyway?

Then, there's the possibility that other consumer items will be "tagged" without your knowledge or implied consent.

RFID tags wirelessly transmit information from a tiny chip and attached antenna to help manufacturers and retailers track products through the pipeline to consumers. Several stores, including Wal-Mart, already use them.

As far as I can tell, the only way to figure out if the things you buy have been bugged (Sorry! "Tagged"), is to buy your own reader.




Prices range from $4324.00 to $5600.00.

Of course, there's no reason whatsoever to question the possible uses of this technology... if you trust Wal-Mart and the big pharmaceutical companies, that is.

Truly heavy sigh.

File this under: Big Brother is definitely here, Cousins. The question is: Do you care?

Lost In Translation

Yes, CNN, there is a difference between "nuclear energy" and "nuclear weapons."

You'd think CNN would hire a certified, experienced simultaneous translator to cover Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's news conference, wouldn't you?

Iran bans CNN journalists after presidential misquote

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Monday banned CNN journalists from working in the country after the broadcaster misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Iran wanted nuclear weapons, the ISNA students news agency said.

CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right."

In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy," the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later clarified in an apology on Sunday night.

See, Iran? CNN later clarified in an apology on Sunday night.

What a crock! I'm sure CNN will soon be able to report on Iran's nuclear energy program, but for now the "translation mistake" will keep CNN's Christiane Amanpour from reporting the facts inside Iran right now.

One of those things that makes you go hmmmmm, isn't it?

File this under: You simply can't make this stuff up, can you?


This just in! CNN can return to Iran today. And it only took 4 days for them to figure out how to apologize effectively. Sounds like the Bush administration's diplomacy level, doesn't it?

I have a $10 Dream today...

Did you catch the oh, so subtle language used in yesterday's Washington Post "pity party for the poor deprived school children" crapfest about Martin Luther King's speech?

King's Fiery Speech Rarely Heard
Tapes Are Copyrighted; Schools Often Use Text

By Valerie Strauss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 15, 2006

It is the time of year when students are taught about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, so passionately delivered that his call for freedom changed U.S. history. Once heard, it is impossible to forget.

But many students won't get to hear it -- and most who do will hear only snippets, educators and historians said.

Valerie Strauss explains that the King family owns the rights to Dr. King's speeches, and she even manages to link Dr. King and Richard Nixon in the same paragraph!

The King family is not alone in its decision to control the use of his work. Former president Richard M. Nixon sold his papers to the U.S. government for $18 million.

Strauss continues by pointing out that President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address is in the public domain.

So what? How many people filmed, recorded, and photographed JFK's speeches?

And how many people filmed, recorded and photographed MLK's "I have a dream" speech? Not very many, obviously.

Way down in paragraph 11, however, Strauss admits that the cost of the "I have a dream" video is only $10. She doesn't add that the King family isn't getting rich off of the royalties. Or that they don't live like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. Or that they work tirelessly to keep Dr. King's dream alive. Does she?

How much Pure D crap is purchased by school libraries every year? And how much of that crap costs only $10? Answers: tons; and hardly any. Bought any books lately?

Interesting that Valerie Strauss chooses to focus on the King family's ownership of their birthright and not on the piss poor decisions of school administrators, librarians, and classroom teachers to buy one more crappy Disney book...

And not buy the video of one of our country's most important speeches and treat it like gold.

To her credit, Strauss does note one classroom teacher who purchased the $10 King speech video for her classes. (Typical. The teacher sees the value and buys it for her class.)

$10.

I'm going to call my neighborhood school tomorrow and ask if they have a video of Dr. King's speech in their library. If not, I'm going to buy them 2 or 3. How about you?


File this under: Does your local school have one or more copies of Dr. King's speech? If not, why not?

Today's Sermon: Ecclesiastical Abstention

The last time I looked, Ecclesiastes was an Old Testament book.
GENESIS
EXODUS
LEVITICUS
NUMBERS
DEUTERONOMY
JOSHUA
JUDGES
RUTH
1 SAMUEL
2 SAMUEL
1 KINGS
2 KINGS
1 CHRONICLES
2 CHRONICLES
EZRA
NEHEMIAH
ESTHER
JOB
PSALMS
PROVERBS
ECCLESIASTES
SONG OF SOLOMON
ISAIAH
JEREMIAH
LAMENTATIONS
EZEKIEL
DANIEL
HOSEA
JOEL
AMOS
OBADIAH
JONAH
MICAH
NAHUM
HABAKKUK
ZEPHANIAH
HAGGAI
ZECHARIAH
MALACHI

So why is a Christian Academy citing Ecclesiates as its basis for expelling Jessica Bradley?

Did Jesus say that Christian schools could go all Old Testament on its students? I don't think so. In fact, I don't think Jesus ever said anything about girls kissing girls at slumber parties.

And of course, that's why the More Righteous Than Thou Brigade has cited Ecclesiastes in its defense.

School defends expulsion over kiss
Academy faces student lawsuit

By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A private Christian academy is defending its right to expel a female student for kissing another girl off campus.

In court documents filed Jan. 4, attorneys for Covenant Christian Academy in Loganville say the school has a constitutional right to expel students for "sexual immorality." --snip--

The school cited a defense of "ecclesiastical abstention," which prohibits courts from interfering in the internal politics of a church.

Hm. What would Jesus say about this? Do Christians believe that Jesus's church is merely a branch of Judaism and not a separate religion?

Or do their self-proclaimed learned Buckle on the Bible Belt school leaders simply pull Old Testament citations out of their asses, secure in the knowledge that most lay Christians don't know the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament?

I'm just asking.

Meanwhile, Jessica Bradley is caught in the middle of an ugly struggle. I'm glad her parents are fighting for her right to privacy. But what were they thinking when they enrolled her in a private Christian academy in the first place?

Thus Endeth Today's Sermon.

Go forth today and research exactly why Jesus felt compelled to start a new religion ("Upon this rock-- Peter-- I will build my church").

And contemplate the future of kids like Jessica Bradley, who will probably figure out at some point that their religion and their biological make up are like oil and water.

I mean it, damn it!


File this under: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Al Quaeda Application Forms?

Cue Rod Serling and that Twilight Zone theme song.




Imagine, if you will, the surprised attorney defending accused American citizen, José Padilla, when he learns that prosecutors have what they claim is his client's "Al Quaeda application form."

The only thing possibly weirder than that would be... oh, say... authorities just happening to stumble upon the passport of one of the 9/11 terrorists buried in the rubble.

We found Padilla's al Qaeda application, U.S. says
Prosecutors said the U.S. government discovered alleged terrorist José Padilla's written application to join al Qaeda.

BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com

After the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan to oust its Taliban rulers, authorities found a locker full of applications to join al Qaeda's holy war overseas.

Among the alleged applicants: José Padilla, the former ''enemy combatant'' who once lived in Broward County.

Applications?

Al Quaeda had an HR department?

Where did this "evidence" come from?

(Justice Department lawyer Stephanie) Pell said Padilla's July 24, 2000, application was authenticated by a ''cooperating government witness'' convicted in an unrelated case who had once filled out the same Arabic ''mujahadeen data form.'' She said Padilla's date of birth, Oct. 18, 1970, was on his application along with his adopted Muslim name, Abu Abdullah Al Mujahir.

What's a defense attorney to do?

Padilla's attorney, Michael Caruso, questioned the authenticity of Padilla's alleged mujahadeen application, saying there was ''no direct evidence'' he filled out the form.

He asked (judge) Garber three times if he could call an FBI agent to the witness stand to ask about the document. Garber rejected his requests.

Why did the judge reject such a simple request?

Because he could, of course. Because there's no fear of the decision in this case being overturned at a future date by any politically-savvy judge.

Meanwhile, our long national dependence on evidence and credible witnesses is finally over. All hail our new & improved Kafkaesque courts, brought to you by BushCo, Inc.!

File this under: There's a sign post up ahead. Your next stop...

Pat Robert$on: This Week's Backside of the Bell Curve Winner!

What's that on the step behind you, Pat?
Fishing with Jack Daniels again?

Radical cleric, Pat Robert$on claims he'$ apologized for claiming that God smote Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon for dividing up the promised land.

Does this read like an apology?

“I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for remarks I made at the time concerning the writing of the holy prophet Joel and his view of the inviolate nature of the land of Israel.”

Ahem.

Could this "apology" have anything to do with the Israelis smiting Pat'$ $50 million Jesusland Theme Park On The Mount deal?

Angered by Pat Robertson’s suggestion that God punished Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke, Israel has booted the religious broadcaster from a group of American evangelicals it is working with to establish a Christian tourism center in Galilee. “The minister of tourism has decided that the center will go ahead, the project will go ahead, but it will go ahead with other parties and not Mr. Robertson."

Hm.

Take the Public Eye's Pat Robertson Quiz:

1. Pat Robertson usually wears:

(a) LL Bean boots
(b) penny loafers
(c) Western boots
(d) sandals

2. Who once said of Robertson, "I'm a nurse. I recognize schizoid tendencies when I see them, and I think you're sick."?

(a) his mother
(b) Billy McCormack
(c) his neighbor
(d) his wife

3. Pat Robertson raises:

(a) Arabian horses
(b) poodles
(c) alligators
(d) tropical fish

4. Robertson prophesied that the former Soviet Union would invade:

(a) the United States
(b) China
(c) Israel
(d) Saudi Arabia

5. What popular pair formerly had an act on "The 700 Club"?

(a) Sigfried and Roy
(b) Jim and Tammy
(c) Amos and Andy
(d) Click and Clack

6. What kind of demon does Robertson claim once attacked him in a Seattle motel?

(a) a demon of suicide
(b) a demon of lust
(c) a demon of greed
(d) a poltergeist

7. What historical event does Pat Robertson hope to televise?

(a) the Second Coming
(b) the big California quake
(c) the first manned landing on Mars
(d) the exorcism of Ariel Sharon (my bad!)

8. According to Robertson, Mormon religious beliefs are:

(a) confusing
(b) wrong
(c) scandalous
(d) sound

9. According to Robertson, Jehovah's Witnesses are:

(a) lazy
(b) obnoxious
(c) highly spiritual
(d) not Christians

10. To what does Robertson attribute India's overpopulation, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and suffering?

(a) the Prime Minister
(b) Hinduism
(c) the weather
(d) British colonialism

11. In Robertson's ideal taxation system, proceeds from a flat 10% tax would go toward:

(a) paying off the national debt
(b) feeding the poor
(c) building highways and bridges
(d) religious instruction

12. According to Robertson, the best form of government is:

(a) theocracy
(b) constitutional monarchy
(c) limited democracy
(d) dictatorship

13. Robertson thinks oral sex is:

(a) disgusting
(b) against nature
(c) unsatisfying
(d) exciting

14. Who did Robertson once fine $100 for insubordination?

(a) Ben Kinchlow
(b) Luciano Pavarotti
(c) Jim Bakker
(d) Donald Wildmon

15. Jamie Buckingham, the late coauthor of Robertson's autobiography, Shout It From the Housetops, wrote that Robertson looked for all the world just like:

(a) Ed Meese
(b) Howdy Doody
(c) Ernest Hemingway
(d) John F. Kennedy

I'll post the answers either later today or tomorrow.

As for Pat'$ obvious motive:




File this under Matthew 24:11: And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

When Presidential Backdrops Backfire

File this under: You simply can't make this up, can you?

Doonesbury Readers Are Second-Class Citizens

Of course, in Bush's Amerika, we already knew that, didn't we?

From the Bloomington, IL, Daily Pantagraph (sic):

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Get 'Doonesbury' out of Classified ads

Pantagraph Editorial
Get `Doonesbury' out of Classified ads

"Experienced Bartenders - apply in person'' ... not there! "Great Dane - free to good home'' ... no, not here! "Looking for a Porsche? Or a piano? Need to clean out your garage?'' No, not there either! My daily search for "Doonesbury'' begins again.

It rankles that because my societal and political outlook tends to the independent side, even though I have been a "Pantagraph'' subscriber for 30-plus years, I am relegated to second-class reader status. Dragged daily through the want-ads on a search to read a column that should be on the Op-Ed pages.

When the familiar irritation passes, it occurs to me that perhaps this isn't personal. Maybe I'm incorrect in my perception that I'm being regularly chastised for my interest in "Doonesbury''! Perhaps it's positioning in the want-ads is really a very savvy marketing tool! But you know, if the readership of "Doonesbury'' is as small as you seem to think we are, maybe this plan isn't serving the paper as well as it could. Your strategy would be better served by selecting a comic to search for in the want-ads that reflects the interest of the majority of your readers. I vote for Beetle Bailey!

Remember when wingnuts complained that "Doonesbury" belonged on the editorial page because of its purely political content-- and not where children could find it on the comics page?


File this under: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, y'all!

The NSA Spied On Me. Really.

Shades of 1973... when we college protesters knew in a heartbeat when an FBI agent pretended to be one of us. They didn't exactly blend in, you know?

Fast forward to today...

National Security Agency mounted massive spy op on Baltimore peace group, documents show

Kevin Zeese
January 10, 2006

Click here to see NSA documents

The National Security Agency has been spying on a Baltimore anti-war group, according to documents released during litigation, going so far as to document the inflating of protesters' balloons, and intended to deploy units trained to detect weapons of mass destruction, RAW STORY has learned.

According to the documents, the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, a Quaker-linked peace group, has been monitored by the NSA working with the Baltimore Intelligence Unit of the Baltimore City Police Department. --snip--

The NSA, established in 1952 by President Truman, is the largest and most secret of U.S. intelligence agencies. Headquartered between Baltimore and Washington, DC, the agency has two principal functions: to protect U.S. government communications and intercept foreign transmissions. However, the NSA's United States Signals Intelligence Directive 18 strictly prohibits the interception or collection of information about "U.S. persons, entities, corporations or organizations" without explicit written permission from the Attorney General. --snip--

The Baltimore Pledge of Resistance is part of the national Iraq Pledge of Resistance, which works with the Baltimore Emergency Response Network and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) -- part of a national group committed to nonviolent civil resistance to stop the war in Iraq. The Pledge lobbies Maryland congressmembers via letters, phone calls, faxes, emails and face-to-face meetings; members of the group are periodically arrested for peaceable protests. --snip--

Two of those demonstrators, Max Obuszewiski and Ellen Barfield, are still scheduled for trial in Baltimore federal court Jan. 25. The defendants have filed a motion for discovery and included the letter from the NSA acknowledging spying on the Pledge.

I know Max and Ellen. In fact, Ellen and I attend the same church. And I'm on Max's weekly email list. I've joined them in several peaceful protests against George W.'s Iraq war during the last couple of years. I even held a BUSH LIED banner with Max during an ice storm protest at Baltimore's War memorial Plaza, warmed by the number of drivers' thumbs up and honking horns of solidarity.

The NSA is an independent agency, but it's run by the Pentagon. The US military. The military is not supposed to spy on American citizens inside the USA. Period. And It's definitely not supposed to spy on Quakers and Unitarians.

If the NSA is spying on little old me, you could be next. The NSA's current director is Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander of the US Army. You can contact the NSA by emailing
nsapao@nsa.gov... if you don't mind being monitored for whatever sleazy Nixonian/ Bushesque political reason they can pull out of their fascist asses.


File this under: Spying on Quakers and Unitarians will not win a war on terror. And violating the Constitution is unamerican, George W.!

Don't laugh!Bush says Americans need to learn languages

That's right. He said that.

Wait for it...

Here it comes...

President Bush said Wednesday that he will ask Congress for $114 million to teach Americans little-taught languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and Farsi. The initiative is vital, he said, because "we need intelligence officers who, when somebody says something in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu, knows what they're talking about." Diplomats also need to speak the local language.

4 1/2 years after the dumbest smart people figured out that language and culture study might have served US foreign policy initiatives prior to a terrorist attack on our soil, Republican George W. High School Spanish I & II C- Student has had an epiphany.

$114 million.

$114 million more than we're already spending on the Defense Language Institute:

The U.S. Air Force met most of its foreign language training requirements in the 1950s through contract programs at universities such as Yale, Cornell, Indiana, and Syracuse and the U.S. Navy taught foreign languages at the Naval Intelligence School in Washington, D.C., but in 1963 these programs were consolidated into the Defense Foreign Language Program. A new headquarters, the Defense Language Institute (DLI), was established in Washington, D.C., and the former Army Language School commandant, Colonel James L. Collins, Jr., became the Institute’s first director. The Army Language School became the DLI West Coast Branch, and the foreign language department at the Naval Intelligence School became the DLI East Coast Branch. The contract programs were gradually phased out. The DLI also took over the English Language School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, which became the DLI English Language Center (DLIELC).

Bush's rationale:

The new funding, he told the U.S. University Presidents Summit on International Education, is needed to "defeat this notion" that the United States is "bullying" people.

Hm. Americans should learn languages in order to make the US look good?

Asshattery of the first order.

My favorite part of Bush's little language study idea:

"When somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate the Texas culture.

"I mean, somebody takes time to figure out how to speak Arabic, it means they're interested in somebody else's culture," he explained.

Ahem.

Native Texan here (born and raised), and I can tell you from personal experience that anyone who professes to be proficient in "Speaking Texan" is bragging about his/her ability to make fun of one or more regional dialects inside the Texas state borders.

For the last damned Texas Two-Steppin' time, George W. Bush is not a Texan. When he "speaks Texan," he gives away his Connecticut/ Massachusetts/ Maine cultural background (he says "rawther," instead of "rather"), and native Texan Republicans with dollar signs where their pupils should be either make excuses for him or pretend not to notice.

As for that $114 million request...

Where's the money going?

And don't forget Bush's bizarre little gem: "Diplomats also need to speak the local language."

It doesn't take an additional $114 million to STOP APPOINTING USED CAR SALESMEN and other assorted idiots WHO RAISE TEXAS-SIZE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN FUNDS AS AMBASSADORS AND ATTACHES, YOU DUMBER-THAN-DIRT CARPETBAGGER!


File this under: If I thought $114 million could be spent to train George W. Bush well enough to pass his 8th grade NCLB English tests, I'd be all for it, y'all.

Mouse Exacts Revenge; Clutter Kills; Evil Elmo Asks, "Who Wants To Die?"

Cheney's hospitalized, Sharon responds to pain, and Bush makes a fool of himself after breakfast with Alito.

But what are local papers and TV hairdos serving up to Joe & Jane America?

Mouse Thrown Into Fire Sets Home Ablaze

January 8, 2006

FORT SUMNER, N.M. -- A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature ran back to the man's house and set it on fire.

Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it.

"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a motel room Saturday.

Village Fire Chief Juan Chavez said the burning mouse ran to just beneath a window, and the flames spread up from there and throughout the house.

No was hurt inside, but the home and everything in it was destroyed.

Woman Suffocates Under Piles Of Clutter In Home

January 9, 2006

A woman in Shelton, Wash., who was reported missing by her husband, was found dead under piles of clutter in their home, where she suffocated to death, according to police.

Shelton Police Chief Terry Davenport said the home was so cluttered that police officers' heads touched the ceiling as they climbed over the clutter.

Authorities found the body of 62-year-old Marie Rose buried under clothes after 10 hours of searching. She reportedly suffered from a condition known as hoarding. --snip--

And the home was so cluttered that police didn't see the woman until their second search of the home.

"This is without a doubt the most cluttered residence I've ever been to," Davenport told KIRO-TV.

It was estimated that several tons of debris remained piled up inside the house.

Toddler's Talking Elmo Book Asks 'Who Wants To Die?'
Company Receives Several Complaints

January 3, 2006

A mother in Dallas is one of several parents complaining about a new interactive book for toddlers in which Sesame Street character Elmo asks "who wants to die?" according to a Local 6 News report.

Truly heavy sigh.


File this under: Rod Serling, who died on June 28, 1975, was unavailable for comment.

News From Planet Oh Right Sure:Bush doesn't like Delay

Relying on "people who know Bush well," an "official close to both men," and various other unnamed sources, Time Mag's MATTHEW COOPER & MIKE ALLEN have teamed up to spew these White House talking points, which could've been filed under "Bush Hardly Knows Tom DeLay! Really!"

White House Talking Points on Tom DeLay:

Never A Texas Two Step

Privately, Bush questioned his fellow Texan's mojo

There's a longtime chill between the two pols

The two conservative Texans' relationship is professional—an alliance, not a friendship

The President's inner circle always treated DeLay as a necessary burden (That must be why Bush told Fox News' Brit Hume that DeLay is innocent and "I like him.")

DeLay is not the kind of guy—in background and temperament—the President feels comfortable with. Of the former exterminator, a Republican close to the President's inner circle says, "They have always seen him as beneath them, more blue collar. He's seen as a useful servant, not someone you would want to vacation with."

Hm. Bush didn't know Kenneth Lay, doesn't know Jack Abramoff, and now doesn't either now or really like his personal "hammer," Tom DeLay.

That talking point (bolded) about DeLay being "beneath" Bush in background and temperament should send chills down the spines of BushCo water carriers across the nation...

Especially right after Bush proclaimed DeLay's innocence.

Wow! Beneath Bush in background and temperament.

Question: What exactly does one find beneath a bottom-dwelling flounder like George W. Bush?

Answer: Contaminated sediment, of course.


File this under: Without sediment, contaminated or not, how would bottom-feeders like George W. Flounder survive?