Wednesday, November 29, 2006
guilt-free
While this sounds good, I really have to object to Yahoo's homepage headline, "Mac n'cheese without the guilt". I never feel guilty about eating macaroni and cheese. Ever.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
The return of common sense
I havent had much to say lately, and I've had very little time in which to say it anyway. But I've got a bit of time now, so I'll pass along this article (courtesy of Dante Lee) about the Democrats already attempting to restore my faith in America by amending the deeply flawed (and unconstitutional) Military Commission Act. They propose to restore Habeas Corpus, disallow "evidence" obtained under duress, and limit Presidential powers to "define" the Geneva Convention rules, among other things. Will they succeed in getting the bill through? Hard to say. Will King George veto it? Yeah, probably. Will he look bad doing so? You betcha!
Monday, November 13, 2006
quickie for the messiah
Just a quick link here, containing an interesting idea about the Second Coming that'd make Jerry Falwell shit his drawers.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
build your own trebuchet
Saturday, November 11, 2006
tripping thru memory lane
Remember when you were in college, and you'd go to party and get soooo wasted, duude. I thought I did, rather fondly, actually. Oh, not the hangover part, but the blurry fun that my memory seems to indicate I had.
Then, last night, The Brother calls from a beach on the southern Atlantic coast. Drunk, and a bit stoned.
He is totally Duded Out.
You know what I mean, when everything someone says (maybe it's you), is drawn out a bit, your words sliding along the solid (or perhaps just slushy) ice of your mind. That was The Brother.
"Heeyyy Brrooo! Hooww yaa dooing? Iii'm onn the beeach, annd Ii gott fourteeen beeers, maan."
Actually, it turned out to be 8 beers, plus three more in his pockets, a fact he related to me four or five times.
Now, it was funny listening to him, because he was really, really trashed. But at the same time I was struggling between worrying that something would happen to him (silly, I know, but my God is Murphy, and listening to your drunken brother get washed out to sea while he chats on the cellphone with you would be quite an offering, n'est pas?) and a kind of squirmy embarassment as I realized, once upon a time, I might have sounded just like that. Okay, so I gave up my frat boy ways by the time I was in my mid-twenties, and haven't been intoxicated for nearly a decade. I couldn't even tell you when my last good buzz was. Still, he really sounded dopey.
Of course, he also sounded like he was having unbridled fun, something I haven't done in quite a while either.
Anyway, the lesson of this post, Brother, is this: After midnight, don't call anyone who blogs and ramble at them foolishly, or they may come out of their self-imposed silence and write about it for the whole world (theoretically) to see.*
* note: this post was originally on "dave's evil twin" where I hadnt posted for 4 months and nobody read it anyway. Now, Brother, you've got a wider audience.
Then, last night, The Brother calls from a beach on the southern Atlantic coast. Drunk, and a bit stoned.
He is totally Duded Out.
You know what I mean, when everything someone says (maybe it's you), is drawn out a bit, your words sliding along the solid (or perhaps just slushy) ice of your mind. That was The Brother.
"Heeyyy Brrooo! Hooww yaa dooing? Iii'm onn the beeach, annd Ii gott fourteeen beeers, maan."
Actually, it turned out to be 8 beers, plus three more in his pockets, a fact he related to me four or five times.
Now, it was funny listening to him, because he was really, really trashed. But at the same time I was struggling between worrying that something would happen to him (silly, I know, but my God is Murphy, and listening to your drunken brother get washed out to sea while he chats on the cellphone with you would be quite an offering, n'est pas?) and a kind of squirmy embarassment as I realized, once upon a time, I might have sounded just like that. Okay, so I gave up my frat boy ways by the time I was in my mid-twenties, and haven't been intoxicated for nearly a decade. I couldn't even tell you when my last good buzz was. Still, he really sounded dopey.
Of course, he also sounded like he was having unbridled fun, something I haven't done in quite a while either.
Anyway, the lesson of this post, Brother, is this: After midnight, don't call anyone who blogs and ramble at them foolishly, or they may come out of their self-imposed silence and write about it for the whole world (theoretically) to see.*
* note: this post was originally on "dave's evil twin" where I hadnt posted for 4 months and nobody read it anyway. Now, Brother, you've got a wider audience.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Dave's Top Ten thoughts after the election
10) I think that Republican-linked corruption in this administration is huge, especially as regards the Iraq War. Congressional investigations are going to turn up abuses that will make Teapot Dome look like someone stealing office supplies. Assuming, of course, the Dems do their job.
9) No more blank cheques for Georgie Boy (or rather, there damn sure better not be!)
8) Okay, so the Democrats are in control of Congress. We're still not going to be quit of Iraq anytime soon, it's just not that easy (and anyone who thinks it is is fooling themselves). Congress needs to also focus on Who's Responsible? and What Were They Thinking?
7) Whatever else happens, let us all pray that Halliburton be revealed as the War Profiteers that they are, and that all connected with them are held accountable for that. Incidentally, I think that war profiteering (or, at the least, the more egregious cases of it) should be held as treason.
6) The GOP did a hell of a job poisoning Pelosi for me. Or did I just not care much for her to start with? I'll try to withhold judgement, and be objective about her, but it wont be easy.
5) Did anyone else notice gas prices going up? The day after the election, gas prices along my 20-mile drive to work went up an average of 5¢ a gallon. Imagine that! You'd think they'd have the subtlety to wait a few days, at the least.
4) All the worries about electronic voting fraud seems to have been for naught. NOT! Dont get comfortable. Two possibilities occur to me: 1) most of the time, the alterations seem to hit in the 3%-ish range, which could mean that the Democrats won even with electronic fraud, but now it looks like they didnt win by as great a margin and so have less of a "mandate" (there's an abused word if there ever was one). 2) Republican cheaters are waiting until 2008 to impliment vote-rigging; in a long term sense, it's better to loose in 2006 than in 2008, and a fraud-free election now makes it easy to steal the election later.
3) Despite all the excitement, let us not forget, these are still the same Democrats who offered little besides whining, hand-wringing, and enabling for the last 6 years.
2) Another reason not to get comfortable: Despite the sweep of Democrats into power, it really doesnt represent a major shift. This year the country voted a couple of points to the left, but without being given good reason to stay there, the country could easily swing back.
1) Thank God that's all over. I was really getting sick of all this political crap. It's important, I think, but damn I'm tired of it. I may just spend all of November posting only about frivolous stuff. Woo-hoo!
9) No more blank cheques for Georgie Boy (or rather, there damn sure better not be!)
8) Okay, so the Democrats are in control of Congress. We're still not going to be quit of Iraq anytime soon, it's just not that easy (and anyone who thinks it is is fooling themselves). Congress needs to also focus on Who's Responsible? and What Were They Thinking?
7) Whatever else happens, let us all pray that Halliburton be revealed as the War Profiteers that they are, and that all connected with them are held accountable for that. Incidentally, I think that war profiteering (or, at the least, the more egregious cases of it) should be held as treason.
6) The GOP did a hell of a job poisoning Pelosi for me. Or did I just not care much for her to start with? I'll try to withhold judgement, and be objective about her, but it wont be easy.
5) Did anyone else notice gas prices going up? The day after the election, gas prices along my 20-mile drive to work went up an average of 5¢ a gallon. Imagine that! You'd think they'd have the subtlety to wait a few days, at the least.
4) All the worries about electronic voting fraud seems to have been for naught. NOT! Dont get comfortable. Two possibilities occur to me: 1) most of the time, the alterations seem to hit in the 3%-ish range, which could mean that the Democrats won even with electronic fraud, but now it looks like they didnt win by as great a margin and so have less of a "mandate" (there's an abused word if there ever was one). 2) Republican cheaters are waiting until 2008 to impliment vote-rigging; in a long term sense, it's better to loose in 2006 than in 2008, and a fraud-free election now makes it easy to steal the election later.
3) Despite all the excitement, let us not forget, these are still the same Democrats who offered little besides whining, hand-wringing, and enabling for the last 6 years.
2) Another reason not to get comfortable: Despite the sweep of Democrats into power, it really doesnt represent a major shift. This year the country voted a couple of points to the left, but without being given good reason to stay there, the country could easily swing back.
1) Thank God that's all over. I was really getting sick of all this political crap. It's important, I think, but damn I'm tired of it. I may just spend all of November posting only about frivolous stuff. Woo-hoo!
Monday, November 06, 2006
channelling skywalker
Well, it's the day before the Election, and I gotta say, I've got a bad feeling about this. Oh, not that the Democrats wont make gains; they will, some, unless the Republican Vote Manipulation Machine is much bigger than most people think. But, well...
Here is my prediction, and may I please be wrong: The Democrats will take the House, barely. Beyond that, maybe a few states will swing marginally blue, but dont expect miracles. Maybe I've just been swayed by the propaganda, but I dont think people are pissed enough yet, and the Republicans will do everything in Karl's power to blame every bad thing that happens in the next 2 years on the Democrats, thereby transferring our anger to them (not everyone will be fooled , of course, but they dont need to fool everyone, just 51%)(or 48%, with Deibold's help thrown in). And bad things will happen. Considering the mess that 4 years of absolute Republican rule have created, bad things cant not happen.
The only way for the Democrats to save themselves is investigation, investigation, investigation*. They have two years to show both the nation and the world that the problem is not America, the problem is Republicans (however much Americans, and especially the Democratic Party, may have enabled the Republicans). Quite frankly though, I dont think that the Democrats have got what it takes to do that. Nancy Pelosi has already been clintonized**, and you can bet that's going to make her cautious, because as any politician will tell you, it's more important to retain power than it is to do the right thing***. So, after two years of being hammered by Rovian Propaganda, and having everything they do challenged by the Republicans, and catching much of the blame for the morass that Iraq will continue to sink into, expect the Republicans to retain the White House in 2008, and possibly regain House control.
And yes, I do think that we're that stupid.
* If they are very lucky, Raed's rumored coup will occur before the innaugurations in January, which will make it hard to blame on the Democrats and provide a beautiful starting point for an investigation into the whole Iraq mess.
** As in, she's been demonized the same way that Bill and Hilary have been. Maybe she deserves it, maybe she doesnt, but it wouldnt matter to the GOP propagandists, now, would it?
*** Because if you're not in power, the arguement goes, how can you do the right thing? The answer is one that any soldier could tell you, you throw yourself on the grenade and save your fellows, because otherwise you're all going to get blown up.
Here is my prediction, and may I please be wrong: The Democrats will take the House, barely. Beyond that, maybe a few states will swing marginally blue, but dont expect miracles. Maybe I've just been swayed by the propaganda, but I dont think people are pissed enough yet, and the Republicans will do everything in Karl's power to blame every bad thing that happens in the next 2 years on the Democrats, thereby transferring our anger to them (not everyone will be fooled , of course, but they dont need to fool everyone, just 51%)(or 48%, with Deibold's help thrown in). And bad things will happen. Considering the mess that 4 years of absolute Republican rule have created, bad things cant not happen.
The only way for the Democrats to save themselves is investigation, investigation, investigation*. They have two years to show both the nation and the world that the problem is not America, the problem is Republicans (however much Americans, and especially the Democratic Party, may have enabled the Republicans). Quite frankly though, I dont think that the Democrats have got what it takes to do that. Nancy Pelosi has already been clintonized**, and you can bet that's going to make her cautious, because as any politician will tell you, it's more important to retain power than it is to do the right thing***. So, after two years of being hammered by Rovian Propaganda, and having everything they do challenged by the Republicans, and catching much of the blame for the morass that Iraq will continue to sink into, expect the Republicans to retain the White House in 2008, and possibly regain House control.
And yes, I do think that we're that stupid.
* If they are very lucky, Raed's rumored coup will occur before the innaugurations in January, which will make it hard to blame on the Democrats and provide a beautiful starting point for an investigation into the whole Iraq mess.
** As in, she's been demonized the same way that Bill and Hilary have been. Maybe she deserves it, maybe she doesnt, but it wouldnt matter to the GOP propagandists, now, would it?
*** Because if you're not in power, the arguement goes, how can you do the right thing? The answer is one that any soldier could tell you, you throw yourself on the grenade and save your fellows, because otherwise you're all going to get blown up.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
last one today, I swear
Len may be on sabatical, but the Existentialist Cowboy continues to rock. This tidbit from Damien:
Addendum: I've been thinking about it, and this approach to getting rid of this bill is probably not going to work, because he did, after all, sign it seven days after Congress gave it to him. Recess or not, he signed it. So if we want to restore any sense of American moral high ground at all, we're going to have to repeal the legislation, and even if the Dems take over Congress, they havent got the balls to do that.
Welcome to America, take your banana and do as you're told...
or are you a terrorist?
"The U.S. Constitution [Art 1 Sect 7] requires the President to sign or veto any legislation placed on his desk within ten days (not including Sundays). If he does not, then it becomes law by default. The one exception to this rule is if Congress adjourns before the ten days are up. In such a case, the bill does not become law; it is effectively, if not actually, vetoed. Ignoring legislation, or “putting a bill in one’s pocket” until Congress adjourns is thus called a pocket veto.How cool is that? Too bad we'll have to depend on the legal stylings of the Bush Cabal to actually enforce such a veto, whether it was intended or not.
Congress passed 6166 on September 29th, presented it to the President on October 10th, and adjourned on October 13th. Bush signed it on October 17th, the week after Congress had adjourned, thereby rendering it “vetoed” by constitutional standards."
Addendum: I've been thinking about it, and this approach to getting rid of this bill is probably not going to work, because he did, after all, sign it seven days after Congress gave it to him. Recess or not, he signed it. So if we want to restore any sense of American moral high ground at all, we're going to have to repeal the legislation, and even if the Dems take over Congress, they havent got the balls to do that.
Welcome to America, take your banana and do as you're told...
or are you a terrorist?
cartoon fun
The Daily Scribble quit new cartoons last March, apparently, but that doesnt mean they arent still relevant. One of the beauties of "staying the course" is that you can recycle your criticisms... not that we should have to.
Does it strike anyone else odd that Bush holds on so tight to Rumsfeld, despite nearly universal criticism? I mean, I know that Big Daddy Dubya cannot admit a mistake unless it's giving him a swirly, but surely by now that toilet suction's gotta be pulling his hair off. So, the question is begged here, who's the boss? (To which Lord Bush would say, I'm the Decider!)
crininality is in the eye of the beholder...
BEHOLD!
Bushies always talk about the "corruption" of the Clinton administration, but oddly enough, even after 9 months of investigating before 9-11 (rumoured to be taking up a lot of FBI investigative hours at the time, if you catch my drift, ahem ahem) and in the 5 years since, the Justice Department has come up with nothing but the Sandy Berger thing. Before that I recall something about Henry Cisneros and his mistress (1999, or pre-Bush), but were there any other Clinton Administration busts? I'll take any and all links, but I'm willing to bet that it wont match this list of Republican ne'er-do-wells. Dont forget to watch the video.
Thanks to sadbuttrue.
Thanks to sadbuttrue.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Our pointy-haired leaders
Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else seem to have a mini-George Bush as a boss? Not that your average boss has ever been short on cruelty, arrogance or/or stupidity (in some professions it seems to be a requirement), but does it seem worse lately? As if somehow Dubya-Bubble has made it okay for bosses everywhere to ignore reality in order to impose their vision of the world on the rest of us, however badly it may work in real life. My wife's last boss was Lord Bush in heels, a petty, vindictive, cronyist who valued "loyalty" over performance and is continuing to destroy her school despite the opposition of the entire neighborhood around her. My own boss shrugs off complaints with his mantra of workers having to become more "adaptable", while ignoring the problems of the here and now.Or is it just me? Maybe I'm missing some crucial element here... hair gel, maybe?
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