Approaching an Independent Voice and Mind.

Hibernation

2006-02-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well, what a dry spell. Good thing I gorged myself during the summer/fall in order to store up enough fat to cover me during my long hibernation.

So, as I'll try to pick this back up, I want to put my money where my mouth is.

I have $5 on this sad wager: U.S. will carry out bombing/warring in Iran by Dec. 31 2006.

This was actually my New Years revelation. I'm sticking to it, not because it is something I want to see, but because in my opinion it is inevitable.

Funny thing though about these "cartoon riots." I, however, have the perfect solution. Let's take any one of the daft Clerics that declared Fatwa against the Denmark paper that printed the cartoons 1 YEAR AGO! and pit them against Pat Robertson.

We'll call it The Holy Battle of the Wingnuts. Broadcast it live, no punches, scratching or physical contact. The two "chosen" will fight eachother by telling the people what God/Mohammed/whatever will do to their opponent.

I would imagine there will be a lot of dead airtime, so to fill in the dull moments, we'll pan to the audience. The audience will be split 50/50. Those on Islamic Cleric's side and those on the Right Wing Christian's side. Panning to the audience, we'll do one-on-one interviews with all the followers. Then finally, the populations of the world (assuming enought translators are available) will finally see that extreme religion can be just as lucrative/enjoyable as extreme sports. To be taken at face value and for observational/learning purposes only.

Armies of Confliction

2005-11-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

It is time for Americans to realize that the 'greater than thou' attitude that some express can only be supported by a concious effort by such a country to uphold rights, responsibilities and respect for humanity.

The three R's we are taught in school have somehow not been put to use. Nevermind 'rithmetic and 'riting were a bending the rules anyway. Usage of at least the first two, by the Americans atop the 'pedestal,' would lead to an epiphany. We have reached a state where we are no longer the shining light on the hill, cliche as it sounds. If this were true, then how does one who is informed (that is using all three of the R's) justify inhumane treatment of others?

Someone finds information that we may still be abusing people and 'rites about it. We as the consumers we are, read this information. Then those who use what they learned in school excercise the 'rithmetic and realize that it doesn't add up. Freedom has no subset of abuse. In fact, abuse is the product of nothing, zero, null, notta damned thing.

I find it heartening to see that Senator McCain, a man who was abused in Vietnam, is listening, reading, 'riting, and following through with the 'rithmetic that abuse just doesn't fucking add up. After all, he should know full well since he has been there. Senator McCain has vowed to add anti-abuse laws to every bill that hits the Senate floor, until the amendment has passed.

A head nod is in order to Senator McCain for taking back the basic principles of human rights, and Geneva Conventions. What seperates people from eachother are location, and cultural beliefs/principles. If we as Americans turn a blind eye to what is being carried out and commanded/condoned by this administration than how can we consider ourselves as spreading freedom? That sounds more liking spreading bullshit.

What is important for us, as Americans, is that as we come to this realization, we must hold the policy makers responsible. Soldiers are trained to follow orders and we should not hold the soldiers as the sole people responsible for these activities. Rather, when a problem is institutional, one must hold the institution responsible. While doing so, maybe we'll even allow them some of the remaining R's, rights and respect. Well, minus the respect.

So as this administration courts the "armies of compassion," nevermind the paradoxical phrase, such groups must ask themselves... "Am I supporting this?"

Psuedo-tradition:

"Abuse is the weapon of the vulgar"

Samual Griswold Goodrich

Abu Ghraib, Underground Beatdowns

2005-10-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

DemocracyNow.org has an interview with Col. Janice Karpinski. She is talking about Abu Ghraib, which she was in control of until General Miller took control of the interrogations at Abu Ghraib. Col. Karpinski was previously a General, however she was demoted because of her resistance to the violations of the Geneva Conventions carried out by trained and untrained interrogators.

The important and pertinent information here is that there are subordinates that are going to jail for the abuse practices, scapegoating if you will. However, these scapegoats were ordered and maintained from the top down. General Miller brought these techniques from 'Gitmo' and this is an institutional problem, not a few 'bad apples.' Even as the privates that are going to jail, such as Lyndie England, Rumsfeld and the lawyers, that OK'd these Geneva Convention guideline violations, are not going to jail.

We as the American public need to shocked into an awakening. The photos due to come out, supposedly worse pictures, are the only way for us to wake up. The whole argument that the release of the pictures will endanger our soldiers lives is Bullshit. The abuse that is/was carried out is the what adds to our woes. The picture suppression is not about troop safety, it is about administration safety. If a national conversation is started about "we" as distributors of freedom via sick sexual perversions, deprivations and sadistic mind games, I dare say that the public wouldn't agree as such.

Blind followers will only trip and fall, blindly.

Limbaugha ha ha.

2005-10-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

O' dear, I just had one of the best laughs I've had in a long time. I feel so much healthier because of it, thanks Rush! Yesterday, Rush took it upon himself to be the one man bipartisan debate. I suppose this is possible if he has multiple personalities, which for the record could be plausible :). I mean, there is G.I. Junkie Limbaugh, G.I. Neo-Con Limbaugh, G.I. (Republican) White House Spokesman Limbaugh... all of which can be purchased at his website, however, before you can purchase anything you must register your soul and pay the premium of approaching his enlightenment.

But I digress, Limbaugh had this to say:

LIMBAUGH: Moving onto the audio sound bytes. Yesterday, Michigan State University. A forum on the state of news journalism. ABC's Sam Donaldson says, "How important is objectivity?"

DONALDSON (audio clip): If you listen to Rush Limbaugh, you don't hear a lot of the other side. I try to --

LIMBAUGH: Stop the tape. Sam, you don't listen to Rush Limbaugh. Otherwise you wouldn't have said that. What do I do on this program? I set up exactly what the other side's position is. I'm the only one who'll do it honestly. If I have a liberal guest on this program, I'm not guaranteed the liberal guest is going to be honest about what he believes. So in order to establish what I believe and what I think, I set myself up by presenting the liberal point of view on whatever issue it is I'm talking about. So he's wrong about that.
(source)

Let me get this straight, as an honest man (hahum Oxycontin can be attributed to this delusional view) he feels that he is the "only one who'll do it honestly", referring to himself laying out the 'liberal' point of view (POV). Let us follow this junked logic:

Let:
self = "Limbaugh"
A="liberal POV"
A2= "Conservative POV"
B= True
C="belief"
D="a external liberal"

Since D AND A = ~B
Therefore (( self AND A) = B )
If A != A2
Then (self AND A) < (self AND A2) since (self > D) AND D != B therefore AND self=self
Else:
D < style="font-weight: bold;">AND (D AND C) in the subset of (self AND C)
Therefore self = B

Translation:
Since an external liberal POV is not True, Limbaugh vocalizes the liberal POV as truth. If the liberal POV is not the same as conservative POV then Limbaughs vocalization of the liberal POV is lesser than Limbaughs vocalization of the conservative POV since an external liberal is not True. Therefore one must conclude that only Limbaugh is True. If the liberal POV is the same as the Conservative POV then the external Liberal belief is a subset of Limbaughs belief and therefore the external liberal is lesser than Limbaugh.

Of course, for anyone to have the patience to work through this logic, logic properties aside, one would have to most certainly be on some Oxycontin in order to settle down enough in order to analyze it. That or just have something to prove, which in the case of the latter, only goes to show you that the liberal mind seeks to understand the opposition in order to justify what kind of crazy good pills ones must swallow in order to take a specific stand.

Interestingly enough, the forum that Sam Donaldson put the question to was about media bias. What better bias does one need with a one-man show!?!?

In holding true to my most recent trend of posting interesting tidbits, I submit as evidence this from the French:

"Two quite opposite qualities equally bias our minds - habits and novelty"
Jean de la Bruyere quotes (French satiric moralist, 1645-1696)
(source)

Rumours Amuck.

2005-10-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

While I don't hold much to the possible VP rumoured resignation. The only way this could happen is if Cheney is directly responsible for the outing of Valerie Plame, which has sparked the rumour mill today. Supposedly a Cheney top Aide, John Hannah, on loan to the VP office via John Bolton is cooperating with, AKA 'rolled', special prosecutor Fitzgerald. This, though, is interesting because George Stephanapolous dropped a bombshell, a couple weeks ago, saying this went all the way to the top of the Bush administration, according to his sources.

QT: video
WMV: video
via crooks and liars

Upon reflection of the possible repercussions from this, I wondered the process for who gets the VP position, of course assuming Cheney would resign. I headed to wikipedia to find information on the process and found that the most recent example was ... ... Watergate, as a note look at the Succession and the 25th Amendment Section.

This similar to when Ford was put in as VP after Spiro Agnew resigned during Watergate and ... ... Nixon himself then resigned. If I recall correctly, this would put the Senate majority leader as the "acting President" which currently is Bill Frist (R) from TN. Who incidentally has also been subpoenaed by the SEC so such a unlikely scenario could put anyone into the office, of course this is based on huge assumptions.

Funny enough though, is that this is strikingly similar to Watergate, via situational dominoes. However, let there be no mistake outing a CIA NOC is treason, and in my opinion, out performs spying on an opposition party.

As a signoff, I'm noticing that I tend to post something of interest to me, for this post I'll post this quote:

"In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly."
---- Coleridge
(source)

auto-manic for the people

2005-10-16T23:01:00.000-07:00

Along the lines of my previous post, news came out this past week regarding the big US automakers sales have slumped. Where sales fell as follows:

Ford: down 45%
GM: down 57%

Overall US automakers sales: down 33%

I am not so sadistic that I would consider this a good thing for America, especially to the employed individuals. I hope that such people find jobs and can 'weather' the storm.

The article goes on to reason that the decline in sales is due to the interest rate frenzy having been played out and mopped up. I would have to agree in part. True that the zero percent financing may/is waning, however, the article does not delve into the energy crunch most Americans have been recently put into. The single difference between the big US autos and the 'Asian' import autos is one common denominator, gas mileage.

In fact, in the beautiful NW, consumers are yelling, screaming, ?yodeling? for better fuel efficient vehicles, even asking for better metrics in measuring standard mpg for vehicles. I hope that automakers wake up to the fact that when the people have empty pockets they have choices to make. Choices are made between fast/beefy or efficient/dinky. The genius that the engineers should be approaching is, how can we have both!

That is, how can we satisfy the soccer mom and the hippie? How can we satisfy the redneck and his/her mudden' truck as well as the commuter with their traffic dodger? If they can address these issues, then the ole big US automakers of the past will return to their once righteous glory.

Incidentally, I would like to see the automakers stand up to the energy giants. That would prove to be a battle royale. It is time for automakers here in the US, which by the way only means they originated here since now they probably have their bank assets somewhere in the Cayman Islands :) , to wake up to the consumer. The consumer that when shit hits the fan, realizes that high gas prices translate into not going out and buying that soccer mom Ford Extinction.

An interesting note is the relation of automakers average mpg for their fleet and the price of gasoline over the past few years. Notice the increase of SUVs/Trucks approaching 2005 and the mpg average. Of course, then looking at the sales dropoff of these same vehicles now, one can only wonder when the automakers themselves will cut a backroom deal with energy monopolists and plead for lower prices for their own bottom line.

I do hope to see in the future that we wake up as U.S. consumers to the effects of our actions. Cause and effect is supposed to be the cornerstone of a responsible and intelligent person. It seems to me the time has come for a effective-ass-swat on U.S. consumers in order to pull them from their TV sets and see that our dependency on fossil fuels. Actually, they should be pulled toward their TV sets with enough information to decipher what is being gascast into their eyeballs. The situation we are in right now in the Middle East, has everything to do with energy. The sooner one realizes that, the sooner a consumer can help affect the cause and change the effect of the situation.

If it were not for my tiring eyelids, I would at this point dive into the global warming issue but alas, twill have to wait for another time. I did find this funny t-shirt though...

I am at a loss for words....

2005-10-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

I ran across this story today. I am at a loss for words. Cars are being stolen from the US and used for suicide car bombings in Iraq!?!?!? Are you freakin serious? How in the world could this happen?

The inquiry began after coalition troops raided a Falluja bomb factory last November and found a Texas-registered four-wheel-drive being prepared for a bombing mission. Investigators said there were several other cases where vehicles evidently stolen in the US wound up in Syria or other Middle Eastern countries and ultimately in the hands of Iraqi insurgent groups, including al-Qaeda in Iraq.

So, as an argument, we as Americans should drive fuel efficient, hybrid, SMALL cars in order to avoid aiding the terrorists. Wow. You won't see that extrapolated for any headline scrolling news.

The 'Gore'y Details of Democracy.

2005-10-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

I just read the most practical and well reasoned synopsis of our current state of affairs here in the US. Prepare for a long read, but it is absolutely amazing. Here are some of the most notable portions that caught my attention from this article.

On the eve of the nation's decision to invade Iraq, our longest serving senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor asked: "Why is this chamber empty? Why are these halls silent?"

The decision that was then being considered by the Senate with virtually no meaningful debate turned out to be a fateful one. A few days ago, the former head of the National Security Agency, Retired Lt. General William Odom, said, "The invasion of Iraq, I believe, will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history."

But whether you agree with his assessment or not, Senator Byrd's question is like the others that I have just posed here: he was saying, in effect, this is strange, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to have full and vigorous debates about questions as important as the choice between war and peace?

Those of us who have served in the Senate and watched it change over time, could volunteer an answer to Senator Byrd's two questions: the Senate was silent on the eve of war because Senators don't feel that what they say on the floor of the Senate really matters that much any more. And the chamber was empty because the Senators were somewhere else: they were in fundraisers collecting money from special interests in order to buy 30-second TVcommercials for their next re-election campaign.

Interestingly enough, I myself have swayed away from the lure of the TV. I dare say any 'boob tube' I watch are movies that I've rented and the occasional Jim Lehrer News Hour/BBC. Gore goes on to describe the history and emancipation of ideas associated with democracy and movable type machines. How the national debate moved ideas around in print. However, the move to TV and Radio had been a mostly one sided conversation... a form of propaganda. A one sided conversation where you are told, take it or leave it. There are of course exceptions, such as talk radio with people calling in and such, hahum Air America :) and to be fair, Rush Limbaugh (that took a lot of courage to say :( ) .

People realized that they no longer had a voice in the matter and the 60's revolution took shape.

Soon after television established its dominance over print, young people who realized they were being shut out of the dialogue of democracy came up with a new form of expression in an effort to join the national conversation: the "demonstration." This new form of expression, which began in the 1960s, was essentially a poor quality theatrical production designed to capture the attention of the television cameras long enough to hold up a sign with a few printed words to convey, however plaintively, a message to the American people. Even this outlet is now rarely an avenue for expression on national television.

This, quite obviously, resonates true even today. We seem to be caught teetering on this balance even today. Just two weeks ago, ~1 million people marched around the world in rejection of the war in Iraq. Corporate media saw it as a blip on the news radar, they were written off as extremists, and crazies. For the people marching, however, it was they only thing they felt they had left to do was participate in solidarity for a common cause. Yes, of course there were "strange", a relative term, people marching and some even crazy (again relative.) But, they felt this was the only way to be heard. Well I heard them and it is a shame that the 'powers that be' didn't, atleast in part.

I do not have the perspective most 'older' Americans do as I've only grown up as a child to the baby boomers (not sure what generation title I carry.) However, this doesn't mean that I haven't already seen changes within the timeframe of my being aware and conscious of a "national consciousness."

I am trying to deny the urge to point out the ridiculousness of the current administration, but cannot resist.... Read Gores speech, after you are blown away, picture anything fractionally coherent coming from the vile lips of our current resident president.... Exactly my point. The just of a logical argument from this administration is. We must "A" because we are "A'ers," so just let us do our "A'ing." I've said this before, and actually saw it in a Daily Show skit too. Obviously, you can replace "A" with any verb, and it fits the anti-rhetorical pattern of any single Bush speech. Enough said.

Imminent Eminent Domain or the Plushroom Cloud.

2005-10-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Get ready for for Corporate Arm 'exorcising' , with a little help from government, you from your house/community so that private interests can do something grandiose with it.

link

Implosion.

2005-10-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

It seems the conservative/neo-con administration is unraveling from it's base. Rush Limbaugh conservatives are up in arms regarding Bush's latest Supreme Court nomination. To the point that the elusive Dick Cheney came out of hiding, the sly-fox-hole, and talks with Rush (according to Michelle Malkin)

130pm EDT. Dick Cheney just finished an interview with Rush Limbaugh. Cheney pleads for Rush to "trust" him.
(Michelle Malkin again)

I normally find it morally reprehensible to quote someone of her "stature", although some Conservative beliefs are not at the opposite spectrum of my own, but her is quote strange. After all, she went out on the stump for Bush Jr. on the campaign trail, calling into question whether Kerry shot himself to get out of his Active Duty status while in Vietnam.

It seems to me that the fabric of the conservative base is coming unraveled! I would normally applaud this but it seems a bit unnerving. Yes, unnerving is the right word. They are turning on their own leader, which means ( and I'm moderately hopeful) that soon the administration is going to have to do some serious anti-energy conservation ( aka photo ops) or ( I'm least hopeful) find/create/push a pressing matter to recoup the base. I fear more the reaction of the administration than the actions of it's base. After all, if they feel that after they put the administration into office, and the administration is not holding up to the promises received w/ campaign contributions, then well, they can fight amongst themselves. It makes for a great show, good ratings, and marginally makes Rush Limbaugh bearable to listen to.

Crazy times call for crazy measures, which is just crazy, right?!?

Slow news week ehh?!?!

2005-10-02T18:01:00.000-07:00

There was barely any news this last week. I find it unbearable as I am quite the news junky these days. Scouring page after page for something that sparks my interest.... and nothing. Seriously, has everyone gone to hibernate for the coming winter?

I kid of course. I actually have refrained from jumping on the Delay, Frist (evidence of possible innocence), and of course Miller having had enough of the 'slamma.' Really, though, other than that a slow week :). I just about flipped my lid when I heard Bush approach an unlikely message of 'energy conservation.' This blew me away.... All along this administration has told us to go on w/ our lives, keep shopping, go about your usual business, go to Disney Land/World! Well, to hear something as rational as conserve energy, now, is mind boggling.

This of course is taken with a huge grain of oil covered Gulf Coast salt. I dare say 1000 people who take a few trips around town for necessary errands amounts to anything near as 'consumptuous' as the photo ops in the Rita after math. Really, he can do nothing but get in the way. He doesn't even have command of the english language, why would anyone assume he has command of the country?

Looting

2005-09-25T00:17:00.000-07:00

I had a discussion with a friend of mine the other day. We got onto the subject of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. His quote is:

"How hard is it to walk 10 miles out of there...." and "I really do feel sorry for them but they were stealing stuff."

Biting my lip as hard as possible, I explained that he was misguided, misinformed and missing the point.

The misguided/misinformed part was that the poor, predominately black, population of New Orleans were not allowed to leave the Superdome, were not allowed to leave the Convention Center. If you are so poorly informed and stay the course of blaming the victim, then I'm wish peace and bliss as you spiral down your life in complete ignorance. There are plenty of reports of neighboring Parish police on the bridges and roads out of New Orleans not allowing people to flee the area because they did not want "Looting" over here. That is so perfect, let's blame looting for their situation. That is perfect that any amount of looting they did was for survival. If not, how far do you think they got with that TV set?

ALL of the looting that was done in that city is a fraction of a fraction that has been looted over/in the Iraq war. Go ahead, google for "Billions missing in Iraq." Follow that up with "Trillions missing in Pentagon." Then you tell me what true looting is. Then you tell anyone who is willing to listen what constitutes criminal behaviour in public appointed positions. You know how many/much helicopters, water, levee re-engineering, boats, planes, trains, automobiles that would have purchased..... Do you know how many Flat Panel HDTV LCD TV's that would have purchased for nearly every citizen of any given state in this United States?!?!

Why do we so easily claim a Zero Tolerance policy for the poor when their exists no Zero Tolerance party for the rich and powerful. Why are "looters" who are stealing meager things shot at, and no one cares about exponentially greater sums 'disappearing.'

It pains me to see intelligent people not take responsibility for their future. I'm not talking about stuffing the spaces in between the cotton lining of your own pockets. I'm speaking of taking control of a society of/for the people. An informed citizenry is a progressive and thoughtful citizenry.

I, however, am emboldened to see that damn near a million people in the world this weekend let their leaders know, bad form! In closing, I ran across this quote from George Galloway:

Galloway, speaking to a huge crowd of activists, said, "There is an absolute need for your country and for my country to stand shoulder to shoulder against the war criminals -Tony Blair and George W. Bush. It is also important to demonstrate to the peoples of the world, particularly the people of the occupied world, that these criminals are not acting in our name. This is not any clash of civilizations! This is not a war between the people of the West and the people of the East. This is not between Christianity and Islam. George Bush does not represent any civilization! George Bush and Tony Blair certainly don't represent Jesus Christ and the great religion of Christianity. Christians believe in the prophets, peace be upon them. Bush and Cheney believe in the profits and how to get a piece of them. Money is their religion! And, that is what they are fighting for." (source)

With him the force is.

2005-09-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

QT: debate between Phil Donahue and Bill O'reilly.
WMV: debate between Phil Donahue and Bill O'reilly.
And to be fair, the (source)

Let me say, that I think that debates are an integral part of a democracy. It helps to inform and balance a social consciousness. Admittedly, when I was a child, I saw a Phil Donahue talk show where they paraded these gorgeous, scantily clad, woman out. I was glued to the TV, my adolescent hormones pumping etc. Then he dropped a bombshell on me, they were all men. Ohh man, I lost it. So, ever since then I've had a reservation towards Phil... well because he challenged my fragile adolescent manhood :).

Anyway, that aside, he is now my new hero. I rarely watch O'reilly because I think anyone whose eyes point in different directions are aliens from MIB. However, Donahue held his own like none other. It takes a certain amount of huevos to talk with Bill, he is like that snake that spits venom in your eye, IMHO. Anyway, enough of my ranting, watch the video.... Like you haven't already :).

Double Speak

2005-09-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Words of wisdom from Donald Rumsfeld:

"We have to obey the laws with respect to security classifications," Mr Rumsfeld told reporters.
(source)

When asked about why the group known as "Able Danger" had pinpointed 4 of the hijackers more than a year before the 9/11/2001 attacks.

I sure wish this same 'respect to security classification' was held by the rest of the administration. Oops, except when it involves Valerie Plame/Wilson. Shucks, gosh derrnit. We just toppled a huge oil corporation, that was a CIA front company investigating Oil revenue and where the revenue was ending up. If that isn't double speak, I don't know what is. Well, actually spreading freedom and liberty, and then abusing detainees would be too, but I won't even go there. That is until the judge finally allows the public to see what is/has/was really going on.

But I wanna play the blame game, mommy said I could. I gotta go pee-pee.

2005-09-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

We don't want to play the blame game. We won't be blame gaming. We are 'A' because 'A'ers. And we got a lot of 'A'ing to do. Alright, so it crept first with blame trickling to local officials. Which I do not argue with so long as they aren't made into scapegoats because responsibility does reside with them first and foremost. However, no argument could be made that when they were in over their heads, figuratively and metaphorically. Even still, arguably before the storm even hit Blanco requested for a federal state of emergency. Regardless of the mishap/mismanagement on a local level. Regardless of the poverty stricken areas most affected by the levee breech. Regardless of all of this 'blame gaming.' Bush supposedly took responsibility.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at a White House news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. "And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong."
(source)

As well as here:

"When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as president, am responsible for the problem and for the solution."
(source)

Interestingly enough, he says he takes responsibility. But just saying it and then not allowing for an independent commission to investigate what happened is irresponsible. Saying it and putting Rove in charge is insane. That is like appointing a horse stable manager to director of FEMA... oh wait, that did happen. Responsibility is not blaming others for things that are within your own control. I exhibit to the masses exhibit A.

E-mail sent to various U.S. Attorney's offices:

SUBJECT: Have you had any cases involving the levees in New Orleans?

QUESTION: Has your district defended any cases on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers against claims brought by environmental groups seeking to block or otherwise impede the Corps' work on the levees protecting New Orleans? If so, please describe the case and the outcome of the litigation.

District: __________
Contact: _________
Telephone: ________

Seemingly similar to the reimbursement letters sent out by FEMA during the hurricane season last year. Of which, some purport, was the equivalent of buying old rich white peoples votes in Florida during an election year. Now, instead of playing the blame game their fishing for someone to... umm... well, BLAME! This is starting to sound eerily like a Rove-attack.

As a side note/pic:
(source)

I would like to point out that if we are going to play the blame game like stupid little snot nosed, can I go potty, children. Then, my mom can be more racist than your mom and TAG your it. Let the blame game ensue. Let the ignorant, sheep section of America eat it up. Let all the bleeding heart liberals fight for the little guy. Let us do away with huge government and replace it with an even bigger sand castle. Cuz I was here first.

Well Duh!

2005-09-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

Well, all I had suspected regarding the 2004 elections has been validated at least in theory by a whistleblower from DieBold.

Statistical anomalies

So, what should come of this. Really, nothing will until a change of guard happens. However, if one controls the voting machines, how can there be a change of guard? Nothing will come of this, however, for the sake of what we like to call 'democracy,' this issue should be addressed before anyone votes again on a diebold voting machine. Period.

Insurance Woes.

2005-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I read today that insurers are considering the events in New Orleans and vicinity as two separate events. This simply breaks down to wind/rain damage and flood damage. However, I would like to throw in a third category. How about some insurance for lack of FEMA response. Let it be brokered and implemented by the Canadians, they seem to be 5 days sooner in response time than FEMA and from at least twice the distance.

Given recent happenings, I'd buy it. Well, that is if I could afford it. I've heard that there are good prices for donating testicles and ovaries to science. I wonder if I have any stem cells. They must be worth a hefty price. I could help in curing people of their woes in an effort to insure against federal response timeliness. That is, if I ever was to get caught in a natural disaster up until 2008.

Dog Kennels, Equations and Life.

2005-09-09T19:43:00.000-07:00

In what could become a serious b-line from a Lt. General to Dog Kennel duty, Lt. Gen. Steven Blum speaks his mind and the truly amazing thing is CNN publishes it.

"Had that brigade been at home and not in Iraq, their expertise and capabilities could have been brought to bear," said Blum.
(cnn reference)

Despite this message resonating throughout the liberal, err I mean, progressive blogs and newsfeeds, it is amazing to hear someone speaking their mind, as such, via a large coporate news network. I give the Lt. General 5/5 stars, a salute, and a pat on the back because unfortunately when 'Rummi' hears about this... ohh man. However, rest assured that it will not be for atleast 3-5 days before the news reaches them and atleast a couple more before they react. Let this phenomenon now be known as the "yes man effect." Because, when one surrounds themself with "Yes wo/men" and naturally the 'surrounders' do the same. It takes a amazingly long time for a "Oh no" to reach the top.

As a side note, I would like to bring to any/everyones attention that we no longer have a Natalie Holloway clock. I'm not ragging on her death, may she and her parents find peace, but it is sad it takes 259 approaching 10,000 lives to replace her on the news. I'd like to see some kind of social equation it takes for something along these lines:

lim x^(days missing)
1 blonde -> in the drink

lim x^(days FEMA missing)
'poor' -> the drink

and solve for x. Only then will we have a clearer picture as well as a metric value for a rich persons life versus some arbitrarily large life amount of the 'poor'. Also, it makes it damned convenient to use as any type of cost-benefit analysis in the future.

Next time, creating such an equation with fetuses.

Awesome Pic.

2005-09-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Fitting. If only the colon was removed everyone else might realize he is full of shit...

(source)

Interesting Indeed.

2005-09-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

I was reading Huffington Post today and came across a piece about Pat Robertson. For those of you who do not know of him, he is the guy who called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. He later denied it, violates 'thou shalt not bear false witness.' Now he has sent a letter to Hugo Chavez apologizing for, well , his stupidity. Granted, I'm all for freedom of speech, in fact I have no problem with people speaking their mind at all.

With exception of the letter of apology, this is all old news. However, this segways as a character sketch of Pat Robertson, albeit only one piece pulled from the heavily burdened bag-o-gaffes this man seems to produce. The real news is how he is associated w/ FEMA.

FEMA, as you know is under the umbrella of DHS. They are carrying out the daunting, yet belated, task of rescue and evacuation in NOLA. FEMA's own website was asking Americans to give their money to a list of organizations. On that list resides an organization called "Operation Blessing" which is the relief organization of Pat Roberts.

Here is the kicker, if you go to the FEMA site now, you won't find Operation Blessing on the list. This is because some bloggers questioned whether donating to someone who calls for assassination of a democratically elected leader should be receiving the publics money in aiding in relief efforts. However, thanks to the magic of google, here is a cached page with the aforementioned receiver of your aid donations, as directed by our federal government!

I would love to stop writing, but it doesn't end there. According to National Jewish Democratic Council website as well as PoliticalAffairs.net that he was using the majority of Operation Blessing flights to Africa to explore the diamond industry in Zaire. Hmmm, Kanye West's criticism and song about blood diamonds suddenly seems to be ringing true.

To bring this all down. Pat Robertson is the host of the '700 Club', family organizations, and is essentially leading the charge of unison of church and state. Yet, he is a dirty, dirty man speaking and doing separate things.

With a dose of his biblical medicine

²⁶ "Among my people are wicked men
who lie in wait like men who snare birds
and like those who set traps to catch men.
²⁷ Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful

²⁸ and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it,
they do not defend the rights of the poor.

²⁹ Should I not punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?

³⁰ "A horrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land:

³¹ The prophets prophesy lies,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 5:26-31

The icing on the cake are these quotes pulled from Lyn Davis Lears' piece on Huffington Post that Pat Robertson said:

THE POOR

700 Club, 3-8-95 "It really isn't compassionate to take somebody's money and give it to somebody else. That's not compassionate. The Democrats say 'We're compassionate.' That isn't compassion...And I don't think there's anything in the Constitution that says the government owes anybody welfare or a job or anything. The government does not owe grants of money to any group in our society."

700 Club, 2-6-92 on President's Bush health care voucher proposal, "You are guaranteed the poor will be stealing from it like they do food stamps and everything else."

I've yet to find anyone from the face of the Christian community issue whatever the equivalent of a fatwah is towards such outright indecency and unchristian behaviour. It is fully within his right to say whatever he likes. However, he is leading people as the head of a religious organization. That, despite calling for assassination of Hugo Chavez etc, is being touted by FEMA as a receiver of donations for disaster relief in areas of huge poverty. What gives?

More weirdness.

2005-09-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure about the validity of these claims, but apparently there is reported frequency jamming. Frequency jamming, which is not done by your regular joe schmo. Especially accross a huge area such as Souther LA. Some could say, 'well there was a huge storm and cell phones might be down." However, this doesn't apply to ham radio and CB radios as used by garage techies, disaster relief and especially truckers. Call me a conpsiracy theorist, call me crazy, call me jumping the gun. But, it just doesn't add up and given what Aaron Broussard said about FEMA cutting their communication lines, I'm beginning to becomes concerned about some serious foul play.

Taking a step back, let me theorize as to the possibilities of such activities.

This is to control reporting of what is happening in the region. Reasons for such could be:

Public opinion control.
A cleansing of news that might upset the general public.

Listening for communications for help. I would hope this is the actual cause since this could be a method for listening to people trying to call for help. Although, I highly doubt that jamming could be used for such a purpose.
hmm, I'm out of ideas.

Anyone else have any ideas on how allegedly jamming could be used as a search and rescue op? Is it even possible, because from my understanding, the purpose of jamming is to knock out communication. Doing so would be more treasonous than the connotations of that awful word liberal. huhummm open mind.

Ok, maybe, perhaps, genocide is a little strong, how about democide.

2005-09-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

Democide

Something/one has got to give.

2005-09-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Pulled from here:

3:32 P.M. Ben Morris, Slidell mayor: We are still hampered by some of the most stupid, idiotic regulations by FEMA. They have turned away generators, we've heard that they've gone around seizing equipment from our contractors. If they do so, they'd better be armed because I'll be damned if I'm going to let them deprive our citizens. I'm pissed off, and tired of this horse$#@@."

It is interesting that this is the second Mayor/Official that has said that FEMA has hindered some aspect of the rescue efforts. Is it just pure incompetence of a few people or is it much more institutionalized than that? Hard to say, atleast from my POV from this far away.

Nonetheless, the administration is quick to point out that we should not be playing "Politics" at a time like this. Tell me exactly how photo shoots with victims such as the one on the left are nothing more than political spin that offsets allegations of racism?!?! So, as it stands only the administration can do it's political hemorrhage recovery plan A. But anyone else with a voice of dissent is playing politics?

(picture source)

Kudos to Kenye West for saying what no other 'pussified' person would. Kudo's to Indy Media writer Kirsten Anderburg for calling the situation in NOLA what it is, genocide. Look up the definition, especially on disaster relief agencies defintion. If our Fed. Gov. denies this, then like Ricki Ricardo often said, "Lucy, you got alot of esplainin' to do."

The time has come for us to seriously consider what happened here. I read that Hillary Clinton is calling for an commission similar to the 9/11 commission, dubbed the Katrina Commission, she is also talking introducing legislation that would move FEMA out from under the DHS and back to it's previous placement as a "cabinet-level agency."

The truth finally comes out. In midst of Katrina mess.

2005-09-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

The truth will succeed. This time directly from the horses mouth, strike that, from the puppets mouth. Check this out.
Hmm, we need to defend the oil there from the terrorists. Yea, I buy that line of BS. It is time that the President apologize to all of the Warriors lost, their parents, their family and friends. It is time that he apologize as to his mistakes, the Intelligence communities' mistakes the utter spin B.S. and for the constantly evolving arsenol of excuses and weak justifications.

Regarding Katrina disaster.

Donate if you can, this is the boingboing group who are going down with tech gadgets in hand to help connect dislocated and displaced people with loved ones. Armed with Wifi, and technology to get the word and truth out.... enough said.

Aaron Broussard interview on NBC by Tim Russert

2005-09-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was driving home from Pig out in the Park in Spokane, WA. When I heard a clip on the Laura Flanders show on Air America Radio. I froze in the middle of driving!

Found links to vid on boingboing.net:
bradlog
here
here
here
torrent 1
torrent 2

Also, here are partial transcripts of the portion that freaked me out, thanks to BushWatch.com:

September 4th, Interview
Host: Tim Russert
Station: NBC

MR. RUSSERT: And we are back. Jefferson Parish President Broussard, let me start with you. You just heard the director of Homeland Security's explanation of what has happened this last week. What is your reaction?
MR. AARON BROUSSARD: We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. I am personally asking our bipartisan congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin congressional hearings to find out just what happened here. Why did it happen? Who needs to be fired? And believe me, they need to be fired right away, because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy. We have months to go. We have years to go. And whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off and we've got to start with some new leadership.
It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now. It's so obvious. FEMA needs more congressional funding. It needs more presidential support. It needs to be a Cabinet-level director. It needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around America. FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to do. It needs to come somewhere, like New Orleans, with all of its force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with common sense and leadership, and save lives. Forget about the property. We can rebuild the property. It's got to be able to come in and save lives.
We need strong leadership at the top of America right now in order to accomplish this and to-- reconstructing FEMA.
MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Broussard, let me ask--I want to ask--should...
MR. BROUSSARD: You know, just some quick examples...
MR. RUSSERT: Hold on. Hold on, sir. Shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility? Couldn't they have been much more forceful, much more effective and much more organized in evacuating the area?
MR. BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The cavalry's coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming." I have just begun to hear the hoofs of the cavalry. The cavalry's still not here yet, but I've begun to hear the hoofs, and we're almost a week out.
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis.
But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she's done and all her leadership. She sent in the National Guard. I just repaired a breach on my side of the 17th Street canal that the secretary didn't foresee, a 300-foot breach. I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National Guard and local parish workers and levee board people. It took us two and a half days working 24/7. I just closed it.
MR. RUSSERT: All right.
MR. BROUSSARD: I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees...
MR. RUSSERT: All right.
MR. BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses. And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" [starting to cry] And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.
MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...
MR. BROUSSARD: [continuing to cry] Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.

Heavy stuff there. I have no idea of the validity of his claims, but then again I do know he is there. He is currently helping, and has been since the beginning of this crisis.