A Girl And Her Dog

My pug is the love of my life. Shai Shai is my best friend and companion and even though she's my baby, she is not my child. She is an individual personality all by her little compact self and seldom has difficulty conveying her wants, needs or desires. She is manipulative, cute and adorable, while at the same time, uncomplicated. Chances are that she will never change. I like that. If someone deliberately harmed her, it would hurt me beyond belief.

Quite a few pet owners feel the same way. When you have made a true commitment to another being, be it a significant other, child or pet, your heart and soul are changed in deep and sometimes profound ways. Some people have pets because it occupies their time, they always had pets or some other superficial excuse. These are the same people, that when they move or it becomes inconvenient in any way, will dispose of the animal any way possible. From having the animal put to sleep, to giving it away, to simply abandoning it. There are those who train their animals to be vicious or they ignore and abuse them. I don't count them as being real pets, more like innocent substitutes for misplaced aggression and rage.

After Katrina, people were concerned about the pets of New Orleans and many people opened their hearts and homes to the animal refugees. Americans that didn't care about the people who were suffering, were willing to risk life and limb to save the animals. And that's sort of okay because those animals deserved to be saved. They shouldn't have been left at home to ride out the storm in the first place. How stupid do you have to be to leave a living, breathing animal when you have been given the order to evacuate? If it's dangerous for you, it is even more dangerous for them.

Retailers have been quick to jump on the animal bandwagon. From the rhinestone collars (yes, she had one) to designer clothing (a coat to keep her warm, she's black and doesn't have a double coat) to pet food and everything in between (Doggles), something is for sale. And it's almost always expensive. What people won't do for themselves, they might do for their animals.

This is one of the reasons why the pet food recall is so bad. People don't expect their animals to be suffering and dying from the food that they're being fed. The commercials make it look like you are doing the best for your pet and now it turns out that with every meal, people have been accidentally killing their best friends and companions one loving mouthful after the next. Which makes this LA Times story's timing so interesting. What is my dog's life worth? Quite a bit actually.

Would I expect to be compensated for my dog if she was harmed by a manufacturer or my neighbor? You bet I would. And handsomely. Even if you got your dog from the pound (I didn't, she cost me a thousand), there are vet bills, toys, and the ever popular food. Some people pay for obedience training and other courses for their pets. There is time, love and energy that has been devoted to these little bundles of joy and amusement. The unconditional love they give in return is almost priceless. Almost.

This pet food recall is a horrible situation for all involved, but it reflects a deeper problem with the food system. Filler not food, which goes a long way toward expanding the waistline. As ingredients are imported from other countries, we no longer have any idea what we are eating, macrobiotics and health food people will be most affected by this latest wrinkle.

An old rule of thumb for me used to be; if it couldn't be pronounced, it didn't need to be eaten. If it isn't recognizable as a a vitamin or mineral, it didn't need to be eaten. If it involved some torturous process to make it digestible, it didn't need to be eaten. The same goes for my dog. How about you?

Crossposted at If I Ran The Zoo.

Pets, Martians And Marginalization

The pet food recall has been a tragedy for many families and my heart goes out to them. Shai Shai has been on a no wheat, corn, soy, chicken or beef (except bones that I boil) for many years due to a skin condition, but she eats very well, better than your average dog or cat. My friend L decided to switch to a higher quality cat food for his two ladies. He started with the wet food and was planning to switch the dry food soon. This might help him go a little faster. Makes you wonder if a recall would help improve the quality of pet food. Something has to change.

Why doesn't the Department of Defense have one computer system that works? Why are the troops forced to endure bureaucracy for every, little thing? Why, after almost six years of constant warfare, is there not a unified system for medical records?

The Defense Department’s inability to get all hospitals to use the system has routinely forced thousands of wounded soldiers to endure long waits for treatment, the officials said, and exposed others to needless testing.

Inability or incompetence? Given the track record of the crew without a clue, it isn't hard to believe that it's incompetence, and willful at that. Supporting the troops has never been a high priority with this administration. Bush has yet to attend a funeral, but he will visit Walter Reed. To explain his side of the story because the buck never stops there.

Charles Krauthammer wants to bring in an objective observer, a Martian, to help us understand why Iraq is more important than Afghanistan in the war on terror while completely missing the point that WE started the battle in Iraq. No one else. Not even that Osama bin Forgotten guy that he was so hot for teacher for six years ago.

Thought experiment: Bring in a completely neutral observer -- a Martian -- and point out to him that the United States is involved in two hot wars against radical Islamic insurgents. One is in Afghanistan, a geographically marginal backwater with no resources and no industrial or technological infrastructure. The other is in Iraq, one of the three principal Arab states, with untold oil wealth, an educated population, an advanced military and technological infrastructure that, though suffering decay in the later years of Saddam Hussein's rule, could easily be revived if it falls into the right (i.e., wrong) hands. Add to that the fact that its strategic location would give its rulers inordinate influence over the entire Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf states. Then ask your Martian: Which is the more important battle? He would not even understand why you are asking the question.

Probably because if this mythical creature were to suddenly appear, it wouldn't be a war against terror anymore, it would be the Earth against the Martians as Reagan so helpfully pointed out in the eighties. On the other hand, our military is so worn and depleted that we might have a little difficulty contributing to the world effort. You regard it as abandoning Iraq. No we abandoned New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We actively screwed up Iraq and every day we make it worse. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and we should use our discretion to try and return the country to what's left of their rightful owners.

It's nice that colleges are teaching financial literacy classes, but they should be taught in high school, before all that debt is incurred.

Cool, a new tactic to force people into a lower wage bracket. Fire them for making too much money and then offer them their old job at half the rate. I worked at Universal when they went to a two tiered pay system. Within months they had laid off most of the top tier and a few months later, they slowly rehired us. You get what you pay for. If you let your more experienced workers go and your company is dependent on service ...well, the repercussions could be painful. And executives are never overpaid. Nope, no hypocrisy there.

Twofer Thursday

When I was twelve, I used to sneak out of bed and sit in the hallway directly behind my dad's chair so I could watch the Dick Cavett show. Things would be going well for a while and then he would say something that made me laugh too hard and my dad would hear me and send me back to bed. Sometimes, depending on who the guests were or how Arthur Treacher was behaving, I would get back up. I loved Dick Cavett (behind the paywall) for his urbanely sly wit and I still do.

In New York’s most recent case of law officers pumping a half gross of lead into an unarmed citizen, a prosecutor, of all people who should know better, urged press and public to remind themselves of the presumption of innocence “that governs us all.”

In the Enron case, a top-flight and expensively-suited lawyer, a goodly, portly fellow looking a bit puffed from having walked a few yards, expressed his anger on the 11 o’clock news about a columnist who wrote something unfavorable about his client. He snorted something like, “Whatever became of the presumption of innocence?”

What do all these good folks have in common? All of them — Tonya’s strident fan, the district attorney, and his tubby eminence the attorney— are all, to put it less strongly than one might, dead wrong. The presumption of innocence has nothing to do with any of the above.

I don't think he likes lawyers.

Why do you suppose so many of us have had it so wrong for so long? See if your lawyer answers correctly. If the answer is wrong, be magnanimous. Lawyers work hard and, like us, they’re human, many of them. Should you feel you’re losing the argument, toss in, “How come the jails are full of people awaiting trial if they’re presumed innocent.”

I knew the answer, my American Government teacher was very clear about it, when he wasn't throwing darts at a picture of Warren Burger. The phrase used to be "innocent until proved guilty", not "presumed innocent" That was a book and then a movie starring Harrison Ford.

The rats are deserting the sinking ship and administering a painful bite on the way out.

Under questioning by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sampson said Gonzales also was wrong when he said other senior Justice Department aides gave Congress inaccurate information because they hadn't been fully briefed about the firings.

"I shared information with anyone who wanted it," Sampson said. Asked by Schumer if Gonzales' statement was false, Sampson replied, "I don't think it's accurate if the statement implies that I intended to mislead the Congress."

Not if it meant getting caught, which is something the crew without a clue never thought would happen. I'm starting to believe all of the "nobody could have foreseen" excuses we've been given for every national setback. They really don't other people's actions into account when they plan the future.

Somehow I don't think The Secret is working for them anymore. Sounds like they need to talk to Oprah.

I'm out running around today, mandatory meetings and other such nonsense. TTYL

No Highway To Heaven

So Bernanke thinks that the US will grow at a moderate pace this year. What is this guy smoking? Talk about your rose colored glasses. Let's see, we dropped from first to seventh in technological innovation in one year due to, how did they put it?

A deterioration of the political and regulatory environment in the US prompted the fall, the report said.

Nice. Now, how is that housing market doing? Oh, not so well, it seems that there has been some "turmoil". If things are going to get better, how come he used the phrase "many families" instead of a few? I'm a little uncertain as to what he means.

So the Catholic church is resorting to fear in order to get the people back. The Pope says that the fires of hell are real. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion but this is one that should only be classified as real if you have been there and have come back to tell the tale. If true, I'm going to have a lot of company. Maybe we could have a barbecue.

According the NY Times, the Saudi King condemns the "US occupation of Iraq", but they don't print a quote to go with the headline and the focus of the article is on the Palestinians. Is the editor smoking the same stuff as Bernanke?

The Veterans Administration has dropped the ball. Again. Just like other federal agencies, it is beset with incompetence, indifference, cronyism, mismanagement and fraud. The computer system doesn't do what it's supposed to. Sigh.

A five year sentence for shoving. The punishment definitely doesn't fit the crime, under any interpretation of the circumstances. Punishing the child because the mother didn't take the plea bargain is shortsighted and foolish and something that I actually expect from the state of Texas. If she is technically an adult at 18, holding her in juvie until she's 21 smacks of something besides justice.

Bush thinks Americans will hold Congress accountable if the funds dry up for supporting the Iraq war. Dude, you need to get a grip on reality and quit hanging out with Bernanke, I think the smoke is getting to you. The majority (that means more than 51%) of Americans want us out of Iraq and sooner rather than later. Nobody but the 30% of Americans that just can't bring themselves to think logically or objectively, supports you. Nobody.

Wednesday Observations

When I read the story that the younger generations were trending to be more socially liberal, I wasn't impressed. You can do anything you want with stats and how they are presented. Mark Morford feels pretty much the same way.

I always assumed it might actually be a good thing that conservatives breed so mindlessly, because all those unhappy neocon kids, all those repressed misled tots grow up and eventually begin to (well, sometimes) think for themselves and ultimately do what any good kid does: rebel against their parents' silly dogma and become a bit more open-minded and hopeful, right?

Not exactly. Apparently, according to the research, four out of five kids actually stick with the political affiliation of their parents, generation after generation, with religious conservatives far more unlikely than their liberal brethren to allow their kids to develop the capacity for independent thought (given how it's so, you know, dangerous to America). Also, one word: homeschooling. I'm just sayin'.

When I was about twelve or thirteen, I was talking politics with my dad (lifelong Democrat) and I don't remember what we were discussing, but he looked at me and said "you are going to be a Republican when you grow up." And for a long time, I was. Then they lost their minds trying to impeach Clinton and I quickly grew tired of the hypocrisy. I'm still not a true Democrat, but I am a liberal. I would register as Libertarian but the choices are never viable. Hopefully the internet will help to mitigate the closed thinking of the red state parents and allow them to develop their own minds. But that homeschooling bothers me also.

If I start my morning with Lifehacker, I get wrapped up in all the goodies and forget to post, which is what happened this morning. I have the same problem with Lifehack, a similar by different site.

Every year my favorite radio station, KFOG, sponsors a wonderful fireworks display with a synced soundtrack. It is usually the day before Mother's day which makes it one week before my birthday. I love fireworks, but watching them on the Fourth of July is always hard because that's what I was doing when my father had his heart attack and died. KaBoom! had no such memories for me and I could relax and enjoy the day and the show.

They always have three bands, and one of them is usally pretty big. Over the years, I have seen Robert Randolph, Steve Winwood, Train, Zero 7, K.T. Tunstall, etc. It has always been free and a great way to spend Saturday in the Bay area. Yesterday I got an email stating that due to circumstances, etc. they would be charging and limiting admission. For a free event, it usually costs me between 40 to 60 dollars between transportation, parking, food and drink.

This has always been a family event, the crowd usually ranges from toddler to geriatric with everything in between. Well, not this year. At $10 a head, it costs a family of four the forty dollar admission and a service charge to TicketMaster. Plus, you have to buy the tickets ahead of time and we don't even know who the bands are. Now, ten dollars doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm not going to pay it. They usually have about 50,000 people on the pier and you can see the fireworks from many places besides that. I could see charging one or two dollars per head, but to start off at ten (taking it from free to an obvious profit maker) is something I'm not going to support and I bet that quite a few other people will feel the same way. So I wrote a letter to express my dissatisfaction, something I usually can't be bothered to do and here it is with the response.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am. I live in the South Bay and
no matter how I slice it, it costs me at least 30 dollars to attend, before your "modest" charge of ten dollars. I then spend a minimum of twenty dollars at Kaboom. I would be willing to pay for the video and soundtrack download. I am not willing to spend an additional ten dollars just to hear bands that I don't normally care about, especially without knowing who they are. I went for the atmosphere and companionship, not the music. I can watch the fireworks from
many places besides piers 30/32, or I can just download it and avoid the travel and parking hassles.

Considering the amount and breadth of people who attend, limiting the event to people who can afford to take a family of four for forty plus dollars, has made this rather elitist and that has never been an attitude that I associate with KFOG. Democratic, yes. Hoity toity, no. I am so disappointed and will more than likely miss you this year.

Sorry.

And their response.

Thanks for your email. I can assure you that this is a decision that we here at KFOG did not take lightly. The rising costs of producing KFOG KaBoom forced us to either cancel the event or ask Fogheads for help.

Once it was determined that charging admission was our only option, it was a major concern to keep the ticket price and fees as low as possible, which we have done to the best of our ability. These days, there aren't any concerts featuring 3 nationally touring acts charging only $10 per ticket.

The fireworks show is still free, of course, and can be viewed from numerous locations on the Bay, not just from Piers 30/32. We will also be posting the entire show on our website shortly after the event.

Thanks for understanding.

Brian Comstock
KFOG Promotion Director

Oh well, I guess I won't be seeing live fireworks again. Man, I'm disappointed.

Update: Musical entertainment will be provided by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (him I want to see!), Ozomatli and Guster. Aarrgh! Maybe I can win some kind of ticket. Sigh.

Listing To The Right

This week's winner in the "so not a surprise" department, is ...soo not a surprise. How could anyone have foreseen that landlords, car dealers, mortgage lenders and exercise equipment salesmen would use the Office of Foreign Asset Control's list (expanded by executive order) to screen applicants? And then deny honest Americans their services because something extremely ordinary and definitely arbitrary, matches something or someone on the list and they just want to be "safe"?

"The way in which the list is being used goes far beyond contexts in which it has a link to national security," said Shirin Sinnar, the report's author. "The government is effectively conscripting private businesses into the war on terrorism but doing so without making sure that businesses don't trample on individual rights."

Who the heck needs individual rights? This is America and she's scared. People must give up everything for safety, even liberty. Eek. the terrorists might prevent American Idol from being broadcast. Eek, eek. Your identification papers, please.

Americans are giving up everything that made us a country to be admired, to be emulated, to be a place where you can hope for a better life. We have operated with a might makes right approach to the rest of the world, while forgetting that the meek are supposed to inherit the earth. Not only do we not care for the least of us, we care not for ourselves. We are willing to believe that the government (that was supposed to be made small enough to drown in a bathtub, remember that line?) will make us safe from terrorists by making it difficult for suspicious people to conduct their lives legitimately. Sounds good until you realize that the definition of suspicious includes everyone not in the inner circle. Everyone. And the inner circle is secret.

This is the same government that was incompetent on September 11, incompetent in finding Osama bin Laden dead or alive, incompetent in planning for Iraq after they deposed Saddam Hussein, incompetent in helping the citizens of their own country who were stranded during Katrina, incompetent in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, incompetent in taking care of their wounded veterans, the list goes on.

This is the same government that the average person, terrorized by their government with colorful alerts and by the media with its concurrent blaring of the latest fear propaganda, is trusting to determine the ability of Americans to travel, own or rent property, purchase equipment, attend school and possibly buy food. We won't catch terrorists, but we will destroy lives and create a true underclass. Sort of like being an illegal alien from Mexico, except that it will consist of blackballed American citizens who have done nothing wrong, but part of their name matches someone who might be a problem or any other spurious excuse that can be spun at the moment.

All the lists, all the illegal spying, all the cameras, all of the sharing of information has nothing to do with combating terrorism and everything to do with controlling the populace, all of this is going to come back and haunt us.

We are so screwed and nobody notices. Until they show up on a list.

America, land of the free, I.D. cards please, and home of the brave scared.

Crossposted at Big Brass Blog

Monday Morning Musings

The woman has been dead for a month and is still garnering headlines. How many G.I.'s lost life (over 100) and limb in the same time period? Does anybody care besides their families and those of us who blog or are they so distracted by the latest blond experience that nothing else matters? Have we become such a superficial society that we care more about a woman who spent her life occupying the tabloids in life and death, and very little for a man who gave up fame and fortune to defend his country and then lost his life due to friendly fire and had that covered up for years? Hey, I hear Britney's giving interviews.

How to get your nap on, which is a rather active phrase for such a restful activity.

My idea of Homeland Security is just that, protecting the homeland. This means beefing up the Coast Guard, not losing lives across the world to insurgents that we helped to create. Thank goodness someone else is finally supervising this forgotten branch of defense. Drugs are not all that they search for and they need quality working equipment to accomplish their mission.

So, good cholesterol drugs don't work as well as hoped. Heaven forbid that people should exercise and change their diet. And as Elizabeth Edwards pointed out on 60 Minutes last night, we all die of something. And to really cheer you up, if you don't die of a heart attack or stroke, which is the most likely statistical possibility, Alzheimer's is liable to get you.

All alone at the top. Why don't I feel sorry for him? Well, when you decide to be the Decider, why should anyone else feel like participating in the decision making process? Every body is so focused on running for the next office that they aren't doing the job they were hired for. Serving the American people. Something that seems to fly right past the party of mismanagement. It wasn't just the trifecta of Walter Reed, the FBI abuses or the obvious political over and undertones of the US Attorney firings, it was the six year record of incompetence and cronyism that has made the American people weary and cynical towards their "representatives". Lonely, oh so lonely. And what do infants do when they are left alone too long? They destroy things. Look out for the fallout.

Random Flickr Blogging

IMG_6236.JPG, originally uploaded by tomglennie.

I'm not a donut, quit dipping me! What's with the death grip? This isn't the kind of water I remember and what is that thing hanging in the front? I wanna go home. Waah!


Random Flickr Blogging explained here.

Sunday Nibbles

Bite me. That goes for both insects and George Will.

Wood notes that there is a "vagueness and elasticity of the grievances" that supposedly justify today's almost exuberant anger. And anger is more pervasive than merely political grievances would explain. Today's anger is a coping device for everyday life. It also is the defining attribute of an increasingly common personality type: the person who "unless he is angry, feels he is nothing at all."

That type, infatuated with anger, uses it to express identity. Anger as an expression of selfhood is its own vindication. Wood argues, however, that as anger becomes a gas polluting the social atmosphere, it becomes not a sign of personal uniqueness but of a herd impulse.

Explain that to the kids who cut themselves in order to feel something. I don't luxuriate in my anger toward the man who destroyed this country and all it stood for. Bush deserves that and more. I ache with sadness and despair. And George, Krugman is not the equivalent of Coulter. There is no equivalent for someone as vile, vicious and vituperative as she who will never be linked or quoted again on my blog. Except for one instance and you can find that category listed in my sidebar. At least the insects will provide some protection against parasites.

Space Mountain was one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. This is a virtual ride, which can be done traditionally or with the work lights on.

Oops, forgot to hit publish, I've been out gardening for hours.

Power Run Amuck

Now when you hear the phrase "he's on an FBI watchlist", you realize it means absolutely nothing since it seems that everybody and their brother can be on any one of numerous lists for any reason. Once on, it requires the act of some deity to be removed. Almost half a million people. And counting.

The 80 TIDE analysts get "thousands of messages a day," Travers said, much of the data "fragmentary," "inconsistent" and "sometimes just flat-out wrong." Often the analysts go back to the intelligence agencies for details. "Sometimes you'll get sort of corroborating information," he said, "but many times you're not going to get much. What we use here, rightly or wrongly, is a reasonable-suspicion standard."

Why does that not give me comfort? Maybe because the New York police spent so much time, money and manpower tracking innocent Americans who planned to protest at the Republican Natiional Convention.

From Albuquerque to Montreal, San Francisco to Miami, undercover New York police officers attended meetings of political groups, posing as sympathizers or fellow activists, the records show.

They made friends, shared meals, swapped e-mail messages and then filed daily reports with the department’s Intelligence Division. Other investigators mined Internet sites and chat rooms.

From these operations, run by the department’s “R.N.C. Intelligence Squad,” the police identified a handful of groups and individuals who expressed interest in creating havoc during the convention, as well as some who used Web sites to urge or predict violence.

But potential troublemakers were hardly the only ones to end up in the files. In hundreds of reports stamped “N.Y.P.D. Secret,” the Intelligence Division chronicled the views and plans of people who had no apparent intention of breaking the law, the records show.

These included members of street theater companies, church groups and antiwar organizations, as well as environmentalists and people opposed to the death penalty, globalization and other government policies. Three New York City elected officials were cited in the reports.

Those officials made the mistake of endorsing a Martin Luther King day event, which is how they got on the list. The oversight committee consists of a high (!) police official who must determine that there is at least an indication of illegal activity, which in this case was the date and an event that was cosponsored by several charities that included some of them turban people. Like it is every year. Common sense was obviously never considered but profiling was.

Well, what happens to all this information?

By searching the Internet, investigators identified groups that were making plans for demonstrations. Files were created on their political causes, the criminal records, if any, of the people involved and any plans for civil disobedience or disruptive tactics.

From the field, undercover officers filed daily accounts of their observations on forms known as DD5s that called for descriptions of the gatherings, the leaders and participants, and the groups’ plans.

Inside the police Intelligence Division, daily reports from both the field and the Web were summarized in bullet format. These digests — marked “Secret” — were circulated weekly under the heading “Key Findings.”

Hmm, circulated? We all know that once it gets into one report, it finds its way on to others, such as one of the aforementioned lists that the Washington Post mentioned.

President Bush ordered the intelligence community in 2003 to centralize data on terrorism suspects, and U.S. agencies at home and abroad now send everything they collect to TIDE. It arrives electronically as names to be added or as additional information about people already in the system.

We know from earlier in the article how some of it is processed.

Every night at 10, TIDE dumps an unclassified version of that day's harvest -- names, dates of birth, countries of origin and passport information -- into a database belonging to the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. TIDE's most sensitive information is not included. The FBI adds data about U.S. suspects with no international ties for a combined daily total of 1,000 to 1,500 new names.

Whew! I feel safer already, don't you? Is human nature so predictable that a man who's been dead for sixteen years (my dad) correctly foresaw the rise of a police state? And that the populace would sit back quietly and let it happen? No wonder people believe that Nostradamus stuff.

Fight or flight? That's the question, though I might have to walk if I'm on one of the many lists.

BBB

I Am Not Three Fifths Of A Person

But that does seem to be what the crew without a clue would like to make my vote. Or make it count for nothing. Only well to do white people are allowed to vote without hassle? Wouldn't want the majority to have a say, they might vote to change things so they can have a chance to get ahead. Wouldn't want that. No way, Jose. Or Shaniqua.

People are going to be very surprised by what the Oval Nursery considers to be Executive Privilege. We call it a dictatorship in other countries, especially if they are people of color. There is no bridge too far that the current administration won't seek to destroy. Or Constitution.

I'm adding cool links to Google Reader this morning and this is such a cool site. Wise Bread, Living large on a small budget. Really cool articles. Did I use the word "cool" enough?

Then there's Home Ec 101, things you wish your mama had taught you.

DC deserves full representation in Congress. Period. Oh wait, isn't the District populated predominantly by people of the three fifths variety? Never mind. Shameful, just shameful.

C'est La Vie

The wails from the Oval Nursery (stole that from JollyRoger!) are increasing in both stridency and frequency. The First Enfant Terrrible either needs a bottle or his diaper needs to be changed. Probably both. Crying about partisan politics, he has no shame. No memory of his own behavior or the last six years. Whatever happened to that mandate? Oh yeah, the American people said they had had enough and elected other people to do their bidding with a prime directive of getting us out of Iraq. Scooter, Shooter and Pooter, the three stooges of arrogance, insolence and stupidity.

The Pat Tillman story continues. Every time I revisit it, my heart breaks. What a waste of life and talent. And Osama (anybody remember him?) is still running free. What a clusterf**k. They just don't make officers like they used to. So many have been held accountable for one disaster after another that pretty soon a butter bar (2nd Lt) is going to be in command of the whole thing.

I rather think these kids got “a legitimate instructional experience". It's called hypocrisy and censorship. People act like you're a kid and need to be protected until you're 18 unless you are poor and commit a violent crime, then you must be punished like an adult. The day they turn 18 we expect them to be fully responsible adults even though they have been protected from reality for the their whole lives. We aren't doing this generation any favors.

In the "it's about time" category, we have the Starbury from Stephen Marbury. A more than reasonably priced sneaker from an NBA star. One question. Does it have a girls model?

All the way through this article (Salon, worth watching the commercial) on Battlestar Galactica I thought they would refer to Babylon 5 as some sort of inspiration for how you pull off a serialized drama. It has a beginning, middle and end. The storyline from the first season was reflected in the last season and the middle fit right in. Not one word did I see written about B5, but Star Trek got plenty of mentions. While I have always been a Star Trek fan, and am currently rereading an old novel, that is like comparing apples to oranges. Now that I have DiSH I was hoping to get caught up except no new episodes until January 2008. Thank goodness for NetFlix.


Liar, liar, pants on fire. Not that it seems to matter. Actually it seems to be endorsed and encouraged. Office of Professional Responsibility. What a hoot. No evidence? Bigger hoot.

That's the way it goes.

Friday Morning Quickie

As if my opinion matters, but should John Edwards continue to pursue the Presidency with his wife suffering from terminal cancer? Yes. No one can predict the future, Elizabeth Edwards could live for many years and giving up now and watching someone else occupy the White House because you didn't continue, could be devastating all by itself. If she does lose the battle early, work has always been a wonderful distraction from grief and we might get a President who would focus on working and not vacationing. Besides, I'm still not fond of the other candidates.

I can believe that tobacco and alcohol are worse than marijuana, but ecstasy at the bottom of the list? As if anyone is going to listen to reason on the drug issue.

What the heck is rat poison doing in pet food? I pay good money for my dog to eat healthy, fortunately none of her food is on the bad list. I can't tell, but most people would think that Shai Shai's tail wags to the right. She loves people.

Thursday Morning Nibbles

My guess is that military women in Iraq really aren't drinking enough water during the day so they don't have to go to the latrine at night. It would be interesting to know where the sexual assaults are being committed.

A backwards timeline of the US Attorney firings. They knew there were going to be problems, that what they were doing was probably going to invite scrutiny. What gets me is that they were able plan this since they hadn't previously exhibited the ability to plan anything and every new situation was something that "no one could have anticipated". Too bad they put it in writing.

Six of eight were top performers and five of the eight fired attorneys provided most of the convictions. So much for the stated excuse of incompetence. When you are incompetent in the Bush administration, you get promoted, not fired. If you have difficulty following the party line, you get booted.

Why is it that when a financial problem is discovered, one that had more to do with previous administrations cutting the funding source than ineptitude, that the response is to contain costs by cutting the operating budget, reducing administration and maintenance at a time when logic tells you that the services provided are going to be needed more than ever? The VA retirement home has been under financial siege since the end of the Cold War. Meanwhile veterans of Korea and Vietnam are getting older and need the services. The result? Another shameful example of what not to do when you want to support the troops. From the GAO, not the press. Why did it take two years to get to the mediation table for a situation like this?

So not a surprise. It was obvious that the government's case had been tampered with. The powers that be weren't going to let their compadres lose their jobs or any the companies lose any monies in fines. Exxon still hasn't paid up from the Valdez spill eighteen years ago while managing to have $2 billion shaved from the original award. There's a pattern here, and it isn't pretty.

Less than two years old, plays a mean game of tennis. Wii, that is.

I work with an autistic gentleman and a Downs syndrome woman. Absolutely fascinating people. And yes, they do have their own prejudices. While being deaf was listed as the most preferable disability, blindness wasn't mentioned. Interesting. Oh well, to quote my autistic friend,"okay, bye!"

Wednesday Observations

Ever since I was a little girl I've had difficulty understanding why the people of Washington D.C. don't have a vote that matters. They have to pay the same taxes, as well as house the President, Congress, the Supreme Court and various world dignitaries on a daily basis. But when push comes to shove, they have very little say in local or national government. They weren't eligible to vote for President until 1961 and didn't have their own mayor until 1973. Isn't it time for one of the largest slave trading cities in America to let its citizens have an equal say in government? No taxation without representation, as the old saying goes. And isn't it a little hypocritical to for the White House to use the Constitution as an excuse for not changing?

So the crew without a clue have their very own 18 something time gap. Except for them it is 18 days, not minutes. This would be almost funny except for the fact that this is my government and representative to the world.

Her feet must be pretty big considering the size of her mouth, the woman should be ashamed of herself. But then the people reelected her, so I guess supporting the troops isn't a big thing in her district.

Finally! Progress and innovation at NASA. If we don't manage to blow ourselves up, we might make it into space. Again.

An Unprecedented Window

I admit it, I like to mess with my brain, just to see what it can do. Jump out of a perfectly good airplane or take some wild physical risk, not so much. I enjoy taking tests, practicing being incapacitated in some way, patting my head while rubbing my tummy, speaking in front of larg crowds, that sort of thing. Trying to fool my senses fascinates me. Visual stuff isn't very effective since my depth perception is practically nonexistent, but hat leaves touching, hearing, smelling and tasting. All of which work extremely well as discussed previously.

One of the problems I have with pesto, is that the color isn't normal for a sauce. Or meat, and you could totally forget the ketchup. A green fruit somehow makes me think of sour or immature. Green vegetables? Yum! Does color influence my taste perception? Yes it does, but not as much as texture. I love green beans in any form except French cut. They taste slimy. I'd rather eat chocolate covered ants.

Do you know the ten horniest presidents? The twentieth century certainly enjoyed the more physical satisfying perks of the position.

Since when has being able to effectively serve the president, been a requirement with this administration? I thought they were supposed to serve the country, at the pleasure of the president. Oops, my mistake.

George's last stand. It used to refer to Custer. Likely to have the same outcome.

Tuesday's Oddities

My problem with student loans is that they recognized my program and authorized student loans. This enabled the school to charge ridiculous amounts of money, under the guise of tuition, that can't be recovered in the real world. There is no way that a majority of the people who graduate, can pay their student loans back successfully and still be able to live and eventually get ahead.

I paid for a medical school education that once I got the degree, I might as well have graduated from Bryman College, except that people hire them and there is the possibility of job placement. A Master's in Traditional Oriental Medicine? Not worth paper it's printed on. Since you don't get hired at hospitals or clinics right out of school and the school's idea of business management consisted of 27 hours, this leads to lots of knowledge, very little real business world application. Because when you graduate you are starting a business, not starting a practice. Surprise! Doesn't sound like much but when they want $872 a month to pay back the loan...

As I snuggled into bed the other night, I noticed I had a big smile on my face which isn't all that unusual but has been rarer lately. I do so love being warm and comfortable. Add good food, alcohol, internet access, clean air and a beautiful view and I'm a very happy camper. Yes, I am a Taurus, the astrological sign, not the car. If it looks good, smells good, feels good or most especially, tastes good, I'm all over it. I'm a very simple creature and as long as those basic needs are met, I'm happy. No fancy cars, no big house, no artificial friends, just the creature comforts. What makes you happy?

Baghdad: Mapping the violence. Wow! Fip back and forth between pre-2006 and current. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Iraq by the numbers. Sobering. Hopefully, stats will do what reason doesn't seem able to accomplish.

Riding With The Decider

Careening down the road with a wicked left turn ahead, the guardrail is shattered, the driver has his eyes closed and the wheels are coming off the bus. Honestly, these guys really are clueless. Nixon had his tapes, Reagan tried to shred his stuff and the current Bush administration used email. Stupidly. What person in their right mind would put in writing incriminating gems like these?

“I’m still a little skittish about Bogden,” Mr. McNulty wrote to D. Kyle Sampson, then Mr. Gonzales’s chief of staff, noting that Mr. Bogden had never worked outside of government and was counting on a longer tenure.

“I’ll admit have not looked at his district’s performance,” Mr. McNulty added.

Won't be long before he falls on his sword.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney in Chicago who recently led the successful prosecution of I. Lewis Libby Jr., who was a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, was on a list of prosecutors whose performance was ranked as “not distinguished” on a list Mr. Sampson sent to the White House in March 2005, Justice Department officials say.

I wonder, do they consider him distinguished now? And it isn't as if they didn't realize that there might be problems with their methods.

Mr. Sampson responded: “I don’t think so,” explaining that he could be asked all kinds of questions, including: “Did you resign voluntarily?” and “Were you told why you were being asked to resign?”

Mr. Sampson also said it could be troublesome if Mr. Cummins were asked about his knowledge of his successor. “Did you ever talk to Tim Griffin about his becoming U.S. Attorney?” was one possible question he mentioned, as well as whether Mr. Griffin had talked about getting the job by avoiding Senate confirmation.

Well, did he? I'm sorry that I didn't have more faith. I should have known that since I, and quite a few others, considered the crew without a clue to be inept, incompetent and arrogant, that it would be just a matter of time before events became too much for them to juggle. Previously, the Decider's one trick pony policy was working Then the press (with a little help from some friends) woke up.

From Brown to Miers to Gonzales, the bar was set ridiculously low. And they still tripped over it. You get what you pay for, which is one of the reasons why cronyism always backfires. From the debacle that is Iraq, to the rubble of what was New Orleans to the moldy halls of Walter Reed, these guys have shown a complete lack of respect for the country, her people and the values that once made her great. Politics before competence, cronies before qualified candidates.

Did I mention that the brakes were out?

Guns, Mayhem and Murder

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I was talking with some senior citizens the other day and mentioned that for the second time in their lives, they would see a Great Depression. Failing to follow that thought to a complete conclusion I completely disregarded the fact that as the economy fails, violence rises. Then I read the news this morning.

I have been so focused on the Iraq debacle, the Afghanistan forget-me-not, and the daily trials and tribulations of the crew without a clue that I (and the rest of America) have ignored the quickly growing problem of our very own sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing.

The police are still treating peace demonstrators like terrorists. How power mad do you have to be to drag a 76 year old woman, who walks with a cane, across a street and rip her leg open? How much time does it take to ask someone for a permit before resorting to violence? Since when is peace too controversial for a parade?

The NRA is preparing for the coming ...whatever. These guys are certifiable. They embrace and are doing their best to spread their apocalyptic view of the world. If only they would devote that energy to something a little more helpful, like regulated gun control. I have no objection to emotionally stable people owning a personal weapon or hunting rifle. AK-47s and Ouzis are more than you need to defend you, your property and your loved ones. Unless we are being physically invaded by an organized army, in which case something along the order of a tank will be required.

Random Flickr Blogging

IMG_0088.JPG, originally uploaded by Lucian Teo.

How many of these rolls do I have? Where's my innie? I know it's here somewhere. Everybody pokes me and giggles, so it has to be here. But where?


Random Flickr Blogging explained.

Back In The Saddle

So, employers and insurance companies want employees to shoulder even more of the burden of healthcare. A high deductible will ensure that many people wait until it is an emergency, which always costs more. And that cost is not always restricted to money. Rent, gas, food and other basics have continued to increase and salaries have not kept up. Now an even larger portion of an employee's salary must go to an overly bloated system that generates paperwork, wastes time and offers very little health care for the prices charged. Plus, they need to save for retirement, save to put their kids through school and help out their aging parents. Why not just declare us all workers (the have nots) for the collective (the have way more than they need but a little extra is always appreciated) and quit messing around with the illusion?

You know, I almost feel sorry for the President. The operative word being almost. Gloria Borger of US News comes out swinging and connects for a home run.

It's tough, but somehow the Justice Department managed to do the impossible: complicate a very simple matter and then turn it into a losing battle.

The West Wing is not a comfortable place these days. "The White House used to be like an iron wall," says David Frum, a former speechwriter for this president. "They maintained a united front against the whole outside world . ... Well, now events have burst their wall, and ... suddenly, no one inside the White House knows what the rules are anymore." It is disorienting, to be sure-particularly for a White House known more for its arrogance than for its skills at reaching out and making nice. "When you are in trouble," Frum adds, "every little pebble becomes a giant rock." Then, a boulder, heading downhill.

The White House is even alienating its friends. The scandal about the conditions at Walter Reed makes enemies of veterans. The incompetence at the Justice Department regarding the firings of U.S. attorneys angers prosecutors. "It's hard to imagine two more core Republican groups than veterans and prosecutors," says Frum, smiling. "I mean, at this point, they have to start going after evangelicals, so, at some point, there is absolutely nobody left." He's only half kidding.

I guess the saying "no honor among thieves" blew right past them.

Never having had my own personal rugrat, I can't say that I miss what I never had. My dog is my best friend and companion. Currently she's snuggled up against my leg, snoring away. Nothing is too good for her. I made a commitment when I got her and she will never be abandoned by me. I don't think I would have bought a new house just for her convenience, but she is pretty cute. Me loves her.

Why Programmers Drive People Nuts

A few days ago while trying to link to one of my own posts, I noticed that when I clicked on the title from the Dashboard or from Archives, that it would only show the most recent post. While the page was loading, you would see the post you asked for and then it would disappear and be replaced by the most current post.

Now, I bought this template for a whopping ten dollars because I like the idea of not having to reload the whole page every time one wanted to see a post. I was extremely pleased with it ...and then he updated it.

When I tried to load a post, it sucked up so much memory that the computer literally couldn't complete its task. And I don't even have Microsoft! No matter what I did, any posts older than a month were inaccessible except for a very time consuming method of clicking backward on an "older" link. This is my exchange with the designer.

From March 6 when I first noticed it.

I don't know if it is a blogger problem or not, but the post feed is constantly updating and my comments aren't showing up. I don't get a whole lot of them, but I had just responded and then both disappeared. It happened yesterday also.

Is there a glitch somewhere? It worked great before the upgrade but it seems a little slower now. It could be my connection, but it's very strange.

Thanks

Then on March 12th, I started in earnest.

This has happened to me several times and today was extremely inconvenient. Whenever I try and only when I load one of my archives, Firefox hangs. It ties up 100% of my CPU. Firefox freezes in that I can't switch tabs. The title changes, but not the screen. The only way out is to quit and start again. I just lost a really long post that I was very proud of and am having difficulty recalling it.

Is there a glitch?

His reply.

I don't see why firefox would hang. But even if does, how can you lose a post by just viewing the archives?

My response and explanation.

Because if you can't change tabs, move the page up or down, if you are stuck on the page, you have to force quit, thereby losing all unsaved work. I was checking my archives for a post that I had written and couldn't get back to save my work. This has happened to me three times. and it only happens when I ask it to load a month. I asked it to load last November which had 45 posts and as I scrolled down the page, it froze. the mouse moved but had no effect on firefox, as I said before, the title of the tab will change but not the focus. Also, I'm trying right now to load a post through the edit posts page. I click on view, it loads the page, I see the post I'm looking for, for about two seconds and then it shows the current post. I cannot access individual posts.

I tried going in through the archives again, it was still loading from feeds.feedburner.com and www2.blogger.com, for over two minutes. The title I was looking for was near the top of the page, I clicked on the title, it loaded the post, for two seconds and flipped to the current post, again.

Do you think there is something wrong with the feeds? Also, would it be possible to just load the titles from the archives with the peekaboo option instead of the whole post? I was able to access old posts by going through the older link in the feeds post. It is the only way I've found so far. I don't really want to click back two years but that way does work.

No response so I sent this.

My readership has dropped tremendously in the last few days with only one page view. I opened it in Safari and have the same problems, plus sitemeter didn't record more than one page view, no matter how many I looked at. If people are unable to search my site, what good is it for me to maintain an archive? After all the hard work I've put into it, I would hate to take it down but I'm going to have no choice if this continues. This is very frustrating.

His response.

This is expected because page is not reloaded for every post with Neo, as I have told repeatedly in my blog. But, it doesn't mean that your readership has gone down. People may be reading several of your posts but without reloading the page. If you are highly concerned about the statistics and not the speed of your blog, you can revert back to your previous template. I will refund $10. let me know.

Now, I'm steamed. I was getting a lot of referrals for the Walter Reed stuff but nobody could access the posts because it was flipping to the most recent post. So I sent this.

It has to do with the fact that my archives could not be accessed. Period. As I said repeatedly. There was no way to access older posts except to go through your new "older" link. Most people aren't that savvy. I have wasted my whole day trying to repair the damage. I have taken the Neo template down. I had made some changes and am trying to convert my old template and having extreme difficulty.

And I knew the pages weren't reloaded for every post, that wasn't the issue. Whatever change you made on March 6, affected archive access.

This morning I received this.

I don't think you told me about this archives issue. there's no way neo could affect archives. did you add archives widget to Neo (it doesn't come with one by default)? anyways, if you don't like neo, you can go back to previous template.

This is my reply to that brilliant piece of customer service.

I don't appreciate being treated like an idiot. Of course I had Archives, I had labels, I had widgets, I had formatting, Ii had no problems until your update.

I've gone back to an older template, and I am not happy with the hours of work involved. I had better things to do than to try and fix something that wasn't broken until the update. If you had checked before I took it down, and gone through the steps below, you would have known what the problem was.

Thanks for the irritation.

The amount of work that I had to put in to recover the old template and fix the additions to bring it up to speed was tremendously time consuming. It isn't about the ten dollars, it's about someone avoiding responsibility and then being patronizing and insulting when the customer needs help.

I'm up and running again, albeit rather slowly in comparison to the Neo template. The lesson here being to do everything myself if I'm going to spend that kind of time tracking down errors. Now the question is, should I link to someone who treated me this way? I linked to him and have recommended him to several people already. I hope they are happier with the service than I am.

3bs

Template Crisis

I am going back to my old template since I discovered that my archives were inaccessible and I'm really frustrated by the situation. Today will be a work in progress, please bear with me. I'll get it looking neat in a few hours.

Thanks.

Update: I'm still at it, I can't tell you how irritated I am, so I have to take a break. Will continue later. Sorry.

Rationalizing After The Fact

Why is it that with all the high tech gadgets that the military likes to play with, that the best way to clear a room is with a grenade? They leave no room for error, innocents are killed along with the guilty or just by themselves. Will the police in America be taking up this tactic? It's awfully hard to ask questions of the dead.

Another decision Wuterich made that day was to lead an attack on two houses. That attack killed three women and six children. The Marines attacked the first house with the permission of a superior officer because they thought two or three shots were fired at them from it. Wuterich says the Marines tossed a grenade into a room in the dwelling before determining who was inside. They pressed the attack with a charge through the door and gunshots to kill any survivors. According to Wuterich, this was the best way to clear a house safely, and he has no compunction about doing it. "You can't hesitate to make a decision. Hesitation equals being killed, either yourself or your men ... That's what we do. That's how our training goes."

Wuterich says he saw that the attack on the first house had killed women and children. But he did not stop the assault, because he says he saw a back door open in the house and assumed the sniper had gone through it to the next house. "My responsibility as a squad leader is to make sure that none of the rest of my guys died ... and at that point we were still on the assault, so no, I don't believe [I should have stopped the attack], he tells Pelley.

"We went through that house much the same, prepping the rooms with grenades, going in there, and eliminating the threat and engaging the targets," says Wuterich. In the second house, a man, two women and four children who ranged in age from 2 to 14, died. "Did we know that civilians were in there? No. It would have been one thing if we went in those rooms and looked at everyone and shot them," Wuterich tells Pelley. "We cleared these houses the way they were supposed to be cleared."

They're still dead, killed in their own homes, a place where most people expect to be safe. What exactly are we supposed to be fighting for? No wonder the vets can't sleep at night and see horrible visions during their waking hours. Let's send more troops over so they can suffer and come back emotionally, spiritually and physically damaged for life.

I don't use instant messaging, mainly because I was tired of being interrupted while surfing or typing and my life just isn't that interesting. It was constantly disrupting my train of thought, so it had to go. Cellphones and email are enough tracking for me. Privacy matters, at least to me.

Low energy density with a high water content to make you lose weight. Volumetrics. Interesting concept that makes sense and is easy to follow. Healthy too. I just need a chart, not a whole book. Most Americans don't eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, which would go a long way to improving general health.

The Republicans in the Senate continue to spit in the face of their constituents. They are so proud of themselves because they made it clear that a majority of the Senate opposes a deadline for the withdrawal of troops. Just because nearly 60 percent of their employers, that would be the citizens of the United States, want a complete withdrawal from Iraq within a year is no reason to vote the way their constituents want. Not much has changed since the election. Except that now there are more troops in Iraq with a request for even more. Sigh.

The crew without a clue doesn't do anything very well, including damage control as Howard Kurtz helpfully points out this morning while the National Review goes so far as to say that it was mishandled into a scandal. Why is it that Republicans think that lying is only for them? From Watergate to the Iran Contra scandal to a myriad selection of missteps from the current administration, they keep lying to the American people and believe that they have the moral high ground. The only high ground that they have is populated with the lives of the innocents that got in their way.

Thursday Morning Nibbles

Ben Stein does snark so well. I do believe he's left the dark side and rejoined reality. He had to write an article but he wasn't allowed to complain about the rich. This is the result.

Starting MBA's at hedge funds, which are basically gaming enterprises, get paid multi-six figure sums. Starting teachers in the state of Florida get paid $28,000 a year.

Here's what else is new and exciting (or terrible) in money: there is real poverty among the soldiers who fight our wars. There are fist fights to get children into $30,000 a year kindergartens and pre-schools in the right neighborhoods in Manhattan. There are 40 million Americans without health care insurance. There are almost 40 million baby boomers with no savings for retirement. There is a long waiting list for Bentleys at the dealership in Beverly Hills.

There are soldiers' wives selling blood to buy toys for their kids. There is a man selling non-functioning body armor who threw a $10 million Bat Mitzvah for his daughter.

In Brentwood, where the houses start at $3 million, the housewives complain about what a terrible country America is. In Clinton, South Carolina, where the textile mill closed fifteen years ago and there is real hardship, the young men still believe in America and their fiancees at Presbyterian College wait for them while they fight in Iraq.

When I was in school, you had A,B,C,D and failing students. That's just the way it was. We were allowed to be individuals and find what we were good at. People's brains work the same, but different. Some people were good at math, some at English, some at science, some at automotive and some just hadn't found what their purpose in life was. The leader of the across the street gang (they smoked pot and cigarettes, dressed dirty and had bad attitudes) became a conservative lawyer in Houston. Meanwhile, our class president cracked under the pressure and had to drop out of the Air Force Academy. He's also a lawyer in Houston.

Rushes to judgment and an inability to perceive a positive alternate future have doomed more kids to a life of poverty and desperation, as if that were the plan. We need to spend more time, money and attention on kids in the early grades if there is ever to be equality in high school. Expecting kids who were passed along because it was easier than teaching them to suddenly know how to read and study just because they are in high school is foolish and doomed to fail. The discrepancy in achievement scores will not change unless the school system treats all elementary students fairly by ensuring that everyone gets the same education. If parents want more for their little one, they can pay a private tutor. It shouldn't be that the poor should have to hire a tutor to equalize the playing field.

Sick, sick, sick. Absolutely, totally sick. Along with disgusting, immoral and inhumane. There is no punishment that will ever fit this crime.

Wednesday Observations

It's hard to figure out what's saddest about this story. Is it that he died alone, that nobody missed him, or that it took eighteen months to find his body. If it wasn't for the tax man ...

I don't smoke and I find this offensive. Perfume has the same effect on me, what about banning it?

Now it occurs to people that no money down wasn't a good idea? The bottom is falling out and it's a long way down. Since these types of things tend to snowball, when everything shakes out there will probably be quite a few less individual homeowners for a substantial period of time.

Uh oh, the President was disturbed with a problem while he was outside the country and he's not happy about it. As I noted yesterday, Harriet Miers is going to be the fall girl in this scandal. So much for loyalty. Plus, she's a girl and that equals expendable to the crew without a clue.

I remember this joke from when I was in, now it has an extra paragraph for a disease that wasn't common at the time. Found on a blog from a patient, excuse me, Wounded Warrior, at Walter Reed. Good stuff.

10 Ideas to Get You Exercising

Photo proof that men like to look at crotches and they don't really care what or who it belongs to.

Mistakes Were Made

Has the NY Times declared war on the Bush presidency? When you open an editorial with all guns firing, it make one wonder.

We wish we’d been surprised to learn that the White House was deeply involved in the politically motivated firing of eight United States attorneys, but the news had the unmistakable whiff of inevitability. This disaster is just part of the Bush administration’s sordid history of waving the bloody bullhorn of 9/11 for the basest of motives: the perpetuation of power for power’s sake.

Time and again, President Bush and his team have assured Americans that they needed new powers to prevent another attack by an implacable enemy. Time and again, Americans have discovered that these powers were not being used to make them safer, but in the service of Vice President Dick Cheney’s vision of a presidency so powerful that Congress and the courts are irrelevant, or Karl Rove’s fantasy of a permanent Republican majority.

Wow! Don't hold back, say what you really mean.

Mr. Gonzales, who has shown why he was such an awful choice for this job in the first place, should be called under oath to resolve the contradictions and inconsistencies in his story. Mr. Gonzales is willing to peddle almost any nonsense to the public (witness his astonishingly maladroit use of the Nixonian “mistakes were made” dodge yesterday). But lying to Congress under oath is another matter.

These guys lie to themselves all the time, the FBI, Congress and the American public are no biggie at this point. Even after having one of their own convicted for perjury they will persist in thinking that it was a fluke or that they can prevent prosecution in the future.

Have you ever noticed that this administration uses the most obscure, little noticed, provisions to achieve their goals, but presidential daily briefs that warn there is an imminent attack blew right past them? Or that they could conjure and execute a plan to expose a CIA agent, lie about it and that nobody would notice or object? Add to that being unable to anticipate problems that people with no access to sophisticated information can see from a mile away (Katrina and the Iraq debacle spring to mind), a faulty interpretation of the separation of church and state and let's not forget their deliberate misunderstanding that their branch of government can override the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and you have a full kettle of hubris.

You bet mistakes were made. We weren't supposed to find out.

Health And Welfare

There's a part of me that wonders why it is so important to force autistic kids to be "normal" instead of learning how to interact with them on their level.

But after four months of intensive daily therapy, Chloe's behavior improved significantly.

"She is talking now," Landa said. "She looks to the teacher and shares enjoyment. She looks to others to know what she should be doing."

They must become mindless robots, willing to follow others in order to be considered healthy. Why does everybody have to be "normal" and exactly who determines what that is?

Members of my family have always loved Jeopardy! and it had been suggested many times in my life that I should be a competitor. I should have done it a few years ago, now the categories are more pop instead of educationally oriented. Then I saw Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. My, my, how far we've fallen. I don't know if it can all be blamed on young people, it was the generation before them that made sure schools taught rote memorization not critical thinking. A little joke to put things in perspective.

Yeah, yeah, we know that someone in the White House wanted to fire all the prosecutors. Why is anybody surprised that someone wanted to put the fix in? And now Harriet Miers gets to be the fall girl. Again.

Weight loss surgery isn't as safe as most people think. Which can be pretty difficult if you develop a vitamin B-1 (thiamine) deficiency. Makes me wonder what other vitamins people could be missing since they aren't able to eat as much and you haven't changed their approach to food, just the size of the receptacle.

Since dad died at 60 from a massive heart attack, this doesn't look good for me. His parents lived to 74 for his dad and 86 and there were even longer lived relatives. Mom is 76 and still smokes, but she walked all her life and except for about two years, is on the thin side. We'll see how it works out. Eventually.

BooHoo

I forgot my Blogaversary, it was yesterday. I'm two years old, plus one day.

Old age makes you forget things, or so I hear.

Random Flickr Blogging

IMG_6534.jpg, originally uploaded by Coolmitch.

And then what happened? You have my complete attention.




Random Flickr Blogging explained here.

There's That Word Again

Morality. And last night on 60 Minutes it was used in a sentence that leaves no doubt that the US no longer defines the word the way the rest of the world does. To us morality is no sex before marriage, no gay marriage, no abortion, no immigration unless it's physically obvious that you aren't one of them, no accidental flashing of mammary glands on television, no dirty words on the radio. The crew without a clue have ignored global warming, as well as severe poverty and hunger, excuse me, low food security, health care has become a joke and they want to export our moral values to other countries. There shouldn't be that many since our words never match our actions unless it's to cause death and destruction.

But Taft says, "Some of these people lives are in jeopardy. You don’t wait around for months and months and months to try to find out if a former translator whose life has been threatened is gonna be a threat to the United States. You’ve already vetted this person. You know this person."

Retried General Paul Eaton worries about the message all of this is sending to America’s other allies in the world. "Anybody who threw their lot in with the Americans deserves an opportunity for a future. And the loyalty has got to be in both directions. If we do not take care of these people, then the signal to anybody else in the future is a bad signal. And if you throw your lot with the United States, they'll use you for a while and then they will – they'll just cut you off," he argues.

Asked if he thinks it's a matter of honor, Eaton says, "I believe this is a matter of morality."

I guess he didn't get the memo. Morality = No Sex. Nothing else. Returning the loyalty shown to us is completely out of the question. People tend to feel that others will react the same way they do. To the power hungry cowards currently in charge, fear and revenge is what motivates them, therefore everyone not personally known to them is an enemy,

Our circle of friends is getting smaller and we just don't care. After the world saw how the citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast have been treated, it's a wonder that anyone would think that our present government is interested in helping anyone but themselves.

The rest of us are disposable, expendable or prison worthy.

Fantasy Vs. Reality

The NY Times has decided to join the same fantasy world as the rest of us. They ran an editorial, not asking Gonzales' resignation, but for him to be fired. Considering how long it took to get Rumsfeld removed from his position of power, I don't think this is going to work immediately. If at all. The crew without a clue is not going to give up power voluntarily.

No, no, no. No, they didn't. Oh, yes they did. Just when you think the powers that be can't sink any closer to inhumane behavior, they wade in with both feet. Truly disgusting. I guess because the workers were dying already, they just don't deserve any help. Even if it makes dying quicker and more painful. We haven't had the moral high ground for so long, we've forgotten what it is.

Another actor for president. He's one of the reasons I quit watching Law and Order, I'm definitely not interested in him running the country any further into the ground than it already is.

Take the money and run. Have your cake and eat it too. Screw you, we got ours. And yours, so now we're leaving the scene of the crime.

8,200 more troops. Yup, definitely listened to the wishes of the American people. At least the ones surrounding the Oval office, not the ones who voted last November.

Reality wins.

Modern Life

Why doesn't the dictionary in Firefox 2.0 recognize its own name or the words internet and blog? Just wondering why they couldn't have thought just a wee bit further into the future and realize that those words would become commonplace?

While I'm wondering about things, I got DiSH installed on Friday. The picture rocked! Until I turned it on again on Saturday morning and it wanted to be hooked up to an active phone line and nothing could change its mind. So I called tech support from my cell phone and said that was all I had. They said it would be five dollars more per month. I said something unprintable and then asked "just out of curiosity, how much is my monthly bill?" "$45.97" he replied. I said that was unacceptable. They transferred me to an account rep.

I explained to her that I had ordered the basic service for $19.99 a month for ten months, that I didn't really need Showtime but had been given it for three months, a PVR and local channels and that my installation fee would be refunded on my first months bill. She told me that program was no longer available. That I now had the America's Top 100 instead of 60 and if I wanted to reduce my bill I could get rid of the PVR and the local channels. I said "That's called bait and switch, for crappy service like that I could go back to Comcast." She explained to me that the company who did the installation had made a mistake and was using old paperwork. I'll say. After looking at it carefully, I spotted the letters SBC, which was the incarnation of AT&T before it became Cingular and after it was AT&T. All in the space of six years.

They are going to swap out my dual PVR that I didn't ask for and give me the single, in 8-10 weeks I'll receive a coupon in the mail and once I send that back in, they will take ten dollars a month off my bill for ten months. I feel used and abused, with no idea if I'm getting my installation fee back. They reset the satellite signal and I had tv again.

So later I'm watching Comedy Central and the screen goes black. What now? After reading the manual I realize that I have a V-chip in the tv, whose remote is missing. I finally get into the proper menu and sure enough, TV-MA was blocked. Not any more.

Mom set the only manual clock before we went to bed, the cell phones and Mac sprung forward by themselves and I pushed the DST switch on the iHome. All done. Just like Y2K, much ado about nothing. How come the dictionary didn't object to Y2K?

3Bs

Don't Stop The Dance

Need. More. Troops. Fresh, but with experience. All applicants (who aren't gay) welcome. Many positions available. Overseas travel included.

The lead singer, Brad Delp of seventies rock group Boston, has passed away at the relatively young age of 55. Their first album really rocked, even though it was played way too much. Rest in peace.

Another predictable consequence of legislating in panic. Some of us warned that this would happen, but we were just barking moonbats. Now Bush wants this fixed.

"My question is, `What are you going to do solve the problem and how fast can you get it solved?'" the president said.

I'll just bet he does. Solved so that we don't hear of it again but Americans can still be spied on for no reason other than they just don't like us and they have the power and are more than willing to use it.

No wonder everything is falling apart for the US. Our president is displaying to the world his vast grasp of human interaction and is displaying typical kindergarten playground behavior by playing "If I don't mention your name, you don't exist." Guaranteed to win friends and influence people. Touring South America must make him feel like he's touring New Orleans again. Except that the average skin color is a little lighter.

I would have loved to have seen Stephen Hawking, that must have been fascinating. A Briefer History Of Time? I read the original, don't know if I want to wade through all that again, even if it is the condensed version. The disrespect showed to the other lecturers is unbelievable. Those kids who did attend will be remembered by those professors and will probably be reflected in their grades and extra help. Respect works both ways. Dissing a Nobel laureate, who do these kids think they are?

Color Me Unsurprised

Who would have thought that the FBI would abuse the authority given to them under that wonderful Patriot Act? And break the law when they did it. Tsk, tsk.

Newt, Newt, Newt. So morally compromised you just have to be a Republican. And so are those two other shining examples of marital fidelity, McCain and Giuliani. Why is it that the Mormon candidate is the only one with one wife? I'd also like to point out that the Clintons are still married. To each other. Preach on about those Republican family values.

What difference does it make if you are National Guard, Reserves or active duty military and were injured in Iraq? Unfortunately, quite a bit. It seems that where you live and how many in your area were called up with you, determines whether or not you qualify for adequate benefits and how quickly. What a load of crap. Once you serve, once you are injured, there is and should never be, a difference in care or compensation. Why should someone who had a $60,000 a year job, be forced to wait to live on less than $10,000 because they were injured in the service of their country? Keep on supporting those troops, they're doing so well. Aren't you proud to be an American?

Karl Rove believes that so-called "Bush doctrine" will be embraced by future presidents. So, lying to the American public, faking intelligence, an inability to anticipate, profligate spending, destruction of the Bill of Rights, ignorance of the Constitution, landing the country in a quagmire, incapable of properly supplying the troops that are sent off under false pretenses and then ignoring them when they come back are supposed to be embraced by future Commanders in Chief? Why not just call it a dictatorship and make it official that the average citizen no longer matters to those in power?

Well, I Beg To Differ

Why am I not surprised? Seriously, we should have known this was coming. And he doesn't think he's a hypocrite.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

Somehow I don't think that word means what he thinks it means.

No matter how much you try to hide them, secrets will out. And he has many, all involving sex with women who weren't his wife. Until after the divorces. As in more than one. He and Giuliani are poster boys for the Republicans in 2008. Nice showing of respect for women.

How many candidates do there have to be in the ridiculously overcrowded race for the presidency, before he decides to be one of the many?

This N' That Thursday

Cowardice would be the term. Also, illegal and immoral. Using children as human shields. How manly. World support is slipping away because the Israelis do not have the moral high ground, as they show time and time again.

Different year, different tune, at least for the cameras. Of course the credit card companies are gouging the consumer. Why not, everyone else is doing it and Congress made it difficult for people on the unlucky end of the spectrum to ever work their way out of debt. Credit card companies keep sending me offers, and I don't even qualify for cable at this point. It's a racket that's designed to keep the little guy on the hamster wheel of life.

The rubber stamp brigade of the crew without clue, stamps again. Because they say so, that makes it alright. I wish I could use that logic to justify my actions. And get away with it.

The crew without a clue feels that the Libby conviction is the first scandal in six years. I have got to get some of whatever they're smoking. Per Tim Grieve at Salon's War Room (subscription or watch a commercial, required):

The 2000 election. Katherine Harris. Bush v. Gore. Halliburton. The Aug. 6, 2001, presidential daily briefing. Jack Abramoff. David Safavian. Ken Tomlinson. The manipulation of terror alerts. The suppression of science on global warming. The case for war in Iraq. The Downing Street memo. Ohio in 2004. Voting machines. Claude Allen. Jeff Gannon. The lack of planning for "postwar" Iraq. Dusty Foggo. Katrina. Michael Brown. Enron. Wiretaps. Bank records surveillance. The $8.8 billion that went missing in Iraq. The neglect of wounded soldiers. The politicization of the Justice Department.

It may be International Women's Day (how special, not!) but it doesn't look good for our least favorite shemale pundit. Papers are dropping her column over the "faggot" statement. She might have been better off if she had said she was comparing him to a cigarette and meant to say fag end, but that would require a real command of the English language.

It seems that there was even more to the death of Capt. America than I thought. Still nailed the symbolism, which really is a shame. Just when he was needed the most. Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

My brain is definitely clueless to the amount of excess blubber that I carry around, but that isn't why I carry a few extra pounds. The brain may be clueless, but the mirror (and the jeans that won't button) never lies. I don't overeat, I oversit.

Affirm This

Sigh. How can so many people be so clueless? Actually it's more like being deliberately cruel and obtuse. Forty years of affirmative action and they feel the need to outsource racial diversity at the university level? Twenty five percent of black students are immigrants. Great, just great. Maybe if people hadn't been in such a hurry to dismantle the public education system while enjoying their tax breaks and concentrating the wealth in upper class suburban neighborhoods, blacks from outside the country wouldn't be considered "more polite, less hostile and more solicitous".

Aah, it becomes clear. Having recent interactions with gentlemen from Kenya and Sierra Leone, I can say that the reason they are more polite is because they have real news outside of the US and these men are more than aware that they can be shot at any time. No questions asked. Until later.

Less hostile? That's easy. If people haven't been suspicious of every move you made all your life, it's easy to be less hostile. If you grew up in a world where people didn't cross to the other side of the street, hold their purse tighter or follow you around in a store, you are much less likely to feel like you are being judged with every breath you take.

Solicitous. Probably on a par with other students from outside the US.

If we spent more time and money on the elementary school system, the college problems would take care of themselves. Knowing the basics enables you to learn the more complicated stuff. Teaching rote memorization does not develop critical thinking but it does keep the class quiet. We have a looming crisis in this country and it won't be noticed until it's too late. Just like the outsourcing of valuable middle class jobs, this is another way to keep the populace under control.

So, I guess Obama is black, at least according to the racial diversity requirements for college.

3Bs