February Week 3, 2005

Monday  February 14 , 2005

I was put on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I'm so far behind I will never die.

Calvin

I discovered a new columnist, Karen Kwiatkowski, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.) She is very good and all of her articles have links to corroborating information on her comments... The link will take you to her Bio and an archive of her columns...

I went to the early show at Cinemark, I wanted to see Million Dollar Baby in the theater before it closes... I am sure glad I did, it is a wonderful movie, another movie where I had to sit in the dark for a few minutes to be sure my eyes would stay dry... damn.

I was listening to the news and apparently there is a Conservative talk radio & TV push to see to it that that Clint Eastwood doesn't win the Oscar... and are playing it for all it's worth. .The Uber-Con and Fundamentalist Blogs and other rags are all slamming it. They have deemed it to be a Moral Values rallying point they can feed off for a week or so to promote more hate and discontent among their rabid constituencies.  They are so far off base it's pathetic, they think they have found another chink in the "Hollywood Liberal Elite's armor. The movie was about love, emotional torment and compassion and they are trying to convince their gullible listeners it's about promoting euthanasia.

The conservative right wing ideologues are foaming at the mouth, and what is really scary is that it might work. They are trying to dictate their stultifying vision of Moral Values to the rest of the country. Hypocritical self anointed pundits like Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, O'Riley, Hanity and all the rest of the whores that form the mucus that holds the soul of the Ultra Conservative branch of the Republican Party together are going to get a lot of mileage out of this.

I have no idea how to fight these people, they have a huge following of knuckle-dragging thugs hanging on every word and, what's more frightening, they have legions of frightened middle and upper class drone-like self proclaimed Dittoheads on their side too. I have many friends who cite that fat doper Limbaugh as though he was the sole oracle of sanity in America... I don't understand it. He spews out hate to them like a pedophile spews candy to unsuspecting children and they follow him adoringly like the Pied Piper.  It's like they have too much invested in their faith in him to be willing to consider for even a minute that he might be a self serving entertainer fanning the flames of hatred and intolerance to ensure that his bank account stays in the black.

Conscious-less intellectual mercenaries like Limbaugh and his ilk are in the business of stoking the ovens, they are feeding the fear, bias, and preconceptions of otherwise rational people with half-truths, innuendo and outright lies. One truly telling thing is that they are having their feeding frenzy by attacking one of their own, Clint Eastwood is the Republican ex-Mayor of Carmel, California.

Who can wrest the country from their influence... there is no one on the horizon with enough clout and credibility to joust with those bastards?

Howard Dean?... I hope he still has some fight left in him...

This is part of a rant from Smirkingchimp responding to a column by Sheila Samples, a little raw and a little crude but he expresses himself clearly, I like it:

I'm a Democrat because people are rotten, stinking, thieving apes who will steal the gold from your teeth and break every rule on the books, but they live in societies where a few own and control everything everyone else needs, and only the Democrats care about getting the necessities of life to the poor and the sick and the old and the homeless and the groups that are regularly discriminated against. Only the Democrats care about the conditions of workers or the wages they earn or the benefits for their families if they get sick or injured. Hell, only Democrats seem to care if there are jobs in America at all ! Only the Democrats care about what's in the water or the air, only Democrats care if the meat you buy is safe to eat, if the drugs you take work without killing you, and that you can afford to buy them when you're sick. Only Democrats care what your life will be like when you're too old to work or need a hospital. Only Democrats care if women or minorities are educated or housed or promoted or have the right to vote. Only Democrats care, apparently, that a woman have complete control over her reproductive options, or if she earns as much as a man in the same job. Only Democrats care that the churches stay out of government and fund their own operations, that our public schools teach real science and critical thinking, that our courts are free from influence, or that we go to war only to protect our country or stop genocide (see rotten, stinking apes) not to protect business investments and make money.

And yes, the Democratic party is a mess. It is a stitched together shambles of a party, full of impossible people with an impossible mission - to address unquenchable human needs with limited resources. The only result can be failure to solve the problem - what's new ? The Republicans say social programs don't work - bullshit ! People are helped every day, lives are made better, human suffering is addressed, not eliminated, but addressed - by Democratic programs. Democrats know a strong, federal government is the only vehicle capable of doing anything to channel resources, enforce regulations, and do anything to accomplish any of the lofty goals in those slaveowners' crap documents.

That's why I'm a Democrat. I have no illusions, no hope for success. It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I believe that the Democratic party is the only viable hope for the disillusioned and desperate, we can't surrender it to the conciliators. We have to convince the leaders that their only hope is to stand up to the status quo Ditto Brains.

Tuesday  February 15 , 2005

There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth.

Chinese proverb

I took "B" to the INS building in Van Nuys today, 47 miles one way, we had from 0800 to 1400 to get his fingerprints done... we got there at 0900 and tried to park but the people standing in front said that e couldn't, I looked at the sign three times and It looked like we could because it said No Parking 0700 - 0900. I went up to the uniformed guard and asked, what are they trying to tell me about the parking. The guard said, a bit disgustedly, "Why don't you read the sign sir." I looked closely and made note of the small print:

 "No Parking 0700 - 1000 Tuesdays, Sweeper"

We got back in the car and parked a block and a half away... We walked back to the building and the guard said "Why are you here." I said "Fingerprints" He said "Where's your papers?" I showed him the only paper we had, he said, pointing at some fine print in the middle of the form: "Where's his picture ID? He needs a picture ID, Green Card, Birth Certificate, School ID < Drivers License..." I said we got an expired School ID, that's it. He said "Well you can go up and try it... we showed the guard what we had and she said it wouldn't cut it...

We got back in the car and went home, picked up his Temporary Green Card and went back... it is now 11:15. I showed her the card and she gave me a form to fill out. When I gave her back the form she gave us the number 8 and told us to sit. She called us in about 20 minutes... that allowed us to go into the next room to stand in line to wait to be given another number... we got #17... We went in the room, sat down and I looked up at the Next To Be Called number sign, it said 573... it took me a while to see that they were using the last two digits and that we were only forty-four people from the front of the line. It was now noon, so the technicians were taking turns going to lunch...

There was a TV tuned to some old stuff, Perry Mason... there was no sound... there was a big sign on the stand that read "DO NOT TOUCH THE TV. That pissed me off, they provide a TV to watch but won't let you turn up the sound so that you can enjoy it. It would be better to have no TV than to have the not so subtle reminder that; "We make the rules, and there's nothing you can do about it." The people that work there appear to have surrendered their souls to their job. Humorless, impatient, intolerant and void of any outward displays of compassion. 

"B" got in to see one of the technicians at 13:00 we left at 13:30. Back in the bad old days before we got computers to help us we could get our fingerprints taken in less than 5 minutes, now it takes a half an hour.

I look at the SmirkingChimp whenever I can, I find that lately I have already read over 50% of the articles posted there... I also notice that http://militaryweek.com posts many of the same articles...

The most downloaded segment on NPR was this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4498757 cool... we are not alone.

Wednesday  February 16 , 2005

Let the gods avenge themselves.

Roman law maxim, on blasphemy

Nothing to write about today, just sort of tired and uninspired... It was a beautiful day, starting off with a rainbow in the mist and ending with sunshine and early wildflowers... I will wonder around with my cameras tomorrow...

Thursday  February 17 , 2005

 "Democracy, to crush fascism internally, must...develop the ability to keep people fully employed and at the same time balance the budget.  It must put human beings first and dollars second.  It must appeal to reason and decency and not to violence and deceit.  We must not tolerate oppressive government or industrial oligarchy in the form of monopolies and cartels."

A bit of advice from sixty years ago, from Roosevelt's Vice President, Henry Wallace. 

I have just read several articles by a Texan named Jim Hightower, he is very entertaining, says some things I, for what it's worth, agree with. I have also been impressed with Karen Kwiatkowski clothes.

It was a beautiful morning, bumping up about 70, I decided to go for a ride and took the cover off my bike. I went into the house to change clothes and when I went out... it was raining... bummer.

Friday  February 18 , 2005

The boys are off today and all the kids are off school on Monday...

Weather report:

This is going to be a long weekend...

Saturday  February 19 , 2005

When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.

Peter O'Toole, The Ruling Class

It'd been raining all night... hard.. I am anxious to see if the road is passable

Big Bang theory's hardest question is "What went bang." The theory was originally offered by "the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître In 1927. He was the first to propose that the universe began with the explosion of a primeval atom. His proposal came after observing the red shift in distant nebulas by astronomers to a model of the universe based on relativity. Years later, Edwin Hubble found experimental evidence to help justify Lemaître's theory. He found that distant galaxies in every direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance.

St Augustus was asked "What was God doing before he created Heaven and Earth", he is reported to have answered; "He was creating Hell for people who ask questions like yours."

Mike and I went out to try and stop the erosion of the driveway... we worked about 2 hours and managed to get very disappointed... period, we accomplished absolutely nothing. It was about 58 degrees when I was out this morning it is now 32... damn, there are two fronts one from the north and one from the south.. apparently the northern one has arrived...

The Twelve to Twenty Talent show is on the Prairie Home Companion this afternoon... six acts, there are usually two that are really excellent... this time it was the Lovell Sisters, a bluegrass group... they were really good, the singer had a beautiful but unique voice...

Sunday  February 20 , 2005

I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing.

Johnny Carson

Those Unintended Consequences by Karen Kwiatkowski, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.)
The Importance of Being Earnest
Historically Incorrect Canoodling By STEPHANIE COONTZ
The new US century is over Michael Lind
THE APARTMENT BOMBING MYSTERY  Copyright: Eric S. Margolis
Why We Must Lose This War  by Jack Lessenberry
How dare some say, 'Support our troops'? J. Kamilewicz
Tilting at Windmills By Bill McKibben  
'Secret rightwing agenda unearthed & The liberal resurgence' By Bernard Weiner
'The new McCarthyism' By Jack Lessenberry,
'Conservative sycophants lose credibility' By Paul Craig Roberts
Howard Dean takes the reins E.J. Dionne, Jr. -
THE MADNESS OF GEORGE W. BUSH: by Paul Levy
BUSH, BY THE NUMBERS
BUSH'S COVERT PROPAGANDA MACHINE
We Need the Oil, Right? So What's the Problem? By Ray McGovern
Shiites and Stereotypes Iraq Policy's Critics Could Use Some Discernment  by Robert Kagan
The Price of Low Prices By Eugene Robinson Three-Card Maestro By PAUL KRUGMAN
Our Friends, the Torturers By BOB HERBERT
Drudge Takes The Oscar For 'Clueless' By Donna Britt
Bush's Budget Battle By George F. Will