bald eagle

amazing the life one can find in the back yard. was just hanging out, ignoring the angry crows that divebombed it. 

In Denial? Laugh It Off!

Torture got you down? Lack of body armor? No viable exit strategy? Had your enlistment extended by 2 or 3 years? Seen your buddy blown away by an Improvised Explosive Device? Got a letter from your spouse about this? Haven't seen your husband, wife or children in too long? About to go back to Iraq or Afghanistan and put yourself in the line of fire? Lost a limb? Lost a lover? Suffering from Post or PreTraumatic Stress Syndrome? Depressed by a burning urinary tract or organ failure due to exposure to Depleted Uranium? Husband's semen has a burning effect in your uterus due to his exposure to Depleted Uranium? Children are acting like a really bad episode of Spouse Swap without the swap? Feeling suicidal because of any or all of these things? Well, if you're in the military or are married to one of its members or are the offspring thereof, then you're in luck.
It used to be that you went to the VA and waited in line and received subpar medical treatment (if at all). Sometimes you would be told it was all in your head and you'd be referred to a shrink who told you it was all in your head and to take these little pills and try to live the brave life. But now...
Now, you can beat the blues with laughter, officially recognized and sanctioned by the Pentagon. Gone will be the blues from the wind of your guffaws. Gone the nasty, empty feeling that would normally accompany reintegration into civilian life. Gone the pre- and postpartum symptoms of losing a loved one to de- or redeployment for all concerned. Huzzah!
Necessary no more will be the psychiatrists, support groups and medical staffs who would belittle you, baffle you and bullshit you.
It's new, it's brilliant, it's shiny! And it can only be found at Pentagonco!
From the same people who brought you Abu Ghraib Jenga (stack 'em up and pull 'em out one by one). And the Original Iraqi Christmas Tree (complete with wires, tree topper in the shape of a hood and 12 volt battery). And Bunker Busters (for the complete 4th of July fireworks party). And Operation: Secret Rendition (don't land too close to the air control tower or it will buzz!). And The Laugher (for those lonely nights when only laughter can turn those lights back on).

But seriously...forced laughter IS good medicine for the sick soul. Much better than honest tears or rightious anger. So, turn that frown upside down and be a happy camper. And know that your president is doing everything he can to bring our troops home safely and in one piece. Oh, oh gosh, I'm making myself laugh now. Ha ha. Wow, I feel way better. Thanks, Pentagonco!

Another Way For My Mom To Track Me

Americablog just bought three days worth of Wesley Clark's cell phone records. Not to out him, but to out the law that allows anyone to buy anyone else's records. Stunning.
And quite the bargain I must say.
However, the question leaps forth: why Clark? Why not Bush or Cheney or Rove or Rumsfeld or Rice? My uneducated guess is that those phone records are "protected for national security reasons".
No matter. This is unacceptable.

The Problem With Internet Porn

from today's sitemeter here at Dyerama, reader #22:

Visit 22


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Blame My Sister

I've been reading Kurt Vonnegut's "A Man Without A Country". My sister gave it to me as a Christmas present. There's irony there, folks.
And while reading I came across the section wherein V talks about a book he's been trying (unsuccessfully, so far) to write. It stars Gil Berman. Gil is a stand-up comic at the end of time aka as the world is at the end of being slowly (or not so slowly) destroyed by its evergrowing demand for the very things that make the world self-sustaining.
And V muses:
"What about God? If He were alive today? Gil Berman says, "God would have to be an atheist, because the excrement has hit the air-conditioning big time, big time."
And it made me wonder:
Does God have a God? Is there anything in the Bible that speaks to God's Father? Yes, we all know that God is All Powerful, All Knowing, Omniscient. But does He have a Boss? Does He answer to anyone other than Himself? If He doesn't, then oversight stops there.
And if God doesn't have Management, then (in a sense) He IS an atheist. He has only Himself to worship.
And He is the Ultimate Authority on all things Godly and no one is there to take Him to task for anything and He is worshiping Himself as the Final Arbiter...
Then why get so pissed off about Jonestown, which would seem like a tea party gone bad?
Or the gassing of Jews, which would look like a frat prank gotten out of hand?
Or even Iraq, which could be just infantile hazing?
Or our delicate democracy as it slides downhill? Most petri dishes fail.
If God has no Father (or Mother or Wood Nymph with a lazy eye), then God MUST be an atheist. And that would be the ultimate irony. Worshipping a deity who doesn't believe in deities.
And damn funny, to boot.
Then again, I think God's a chemist and He's about 500 tests away from getting it right. Or close enough to publish.

Smart Car

Yesterday I went to my office's Holiday Party. I guess it was our Christmas party, just two weeks late. I wasn't too sure that I wanted to go. I'm not big on parties or other social gatherings. I can usually find a "reason" to not go or to slip away early. Perhaps I'm a bit people-phobic. Perhaps I'm a bit of a social claustrophobe. And I know I always drink too much in these settings. Probably because of what I just wrote about myself. Alcohol does seem to make other people (and me) more interesting and easier to put up with for more than 15 minutes.
But that's not what I was writing about. Yesterday was the Office Party. And I was iffy on the whole thing. Do I go, because I'm new to the office and it would look good to the established rank-and-file? Do I not go and make it known right out of the gate that I'm neither goer nor joiner? Do I show late (so the gig is in full swing and my arrival goes mostly unnoticed, thereby sidestepping the possibility of forced small talk) and leave early (before most of the others thereby sidestepping forced small talk with the hardcores)? What to do?
After a not inconsiderably amount of mental discussion with the voices in my head, I chose to attend as if I was myself. I was late, but not because I intended to be. Mapquest took that decision out of my hands.
The party took place at a bowling alley. We had about 10 lanes reserved for us. The pizza was free as was the beer. The one person in the office who matches my mental oddities was there and watching the the strikes and gutters. When I showed, he looked at me and asked, "grab a lane?". Of course. He entered the names and became "Dude". I was "Donnie". We quickly found that we could order pitchers of real beer from the waitress and it was on the company tab. We quickly found that bowling politically had its downs (we're both liberal and I was hooking to the left, but he was opening to the right) which could not be rectified by listening to either Lewis Black or Rush Limbaugh. We, also, found that we bowled better with the gutter railings up. When the environmental engineer and her husband showed up, they wanted to play with the Rail Bro's. We monickered them "Walter" and "Quintana". By the middle of the party it seemed everyone else had given up on looking competent and had raised their railings, too. Tip to the uninitiated: don't actually aim at the railings thinking that they might be useful ala billiards (you may end up knocking down your neighbor's pins).
So, four pitchers of beer, four games and lots of jokes (and a $25 Target giftcard via raffle) later, it was time to go. I had stayed longer than planned and had more fun than expected. Who knew the whole shebang would be just bowling? I had become so used to being stuck at a dinner table with folks I had no interest in and being forced to listen to how great the company was and was doing and being given a "present" that had nothing to do with who I am (one ticket to a Roger Rodka's Dinner Theater musical without the dinner...oh well, at least I wouldn't have to pony up for my date...right, Rosie?) and being told that I would have to provide for my own alcohol and wearing a nametag (in case the lab manager from another office I'd pissed off three months earlier was looking for me) that I assumed no office could know how to have a good time and let the office stay at the office.
But I was talking about how it was time to go. Walking to the car and by no means not in control of myself I found that my remote unlocker wasn't working. Dead battery? I unlocked the car with key and sat down to wait for the "kill switch" to disable. 15 minutes later, I headed over to the drugstore to buy a new battery. That didn't work. In fact, the remote still didn't work. I was parked right next to a Midas center, so I went over to see if they could do an emergency diagnostic. They agreed to loo at it to make sure it wasn't a blown fuse or dead battery, but if it was the wiring the car would have to stay until Monday. As soon as the manager called out to a guy to look at it, the guy yelled back "you mean the one that had its lights left on?". Now, my car dings at me when I'm leaving the car and the lights have not been turned off. Smart car, don't you think? Looking out for itself. The best technology our generation has to serve up. Won't let you mess up. Looks after you. Allows you to think about other, more important things. But I got out, locked the car up and walked off regardless. Why didn't the car yell something at me like Bill Cosby's doorbell? Can a car fall into a snit so quickly?
Anyway, I was talking about leaving. So, Midas jumped the battery and that's all it was. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if the car's snitting had not turned into wanting to teach me a lesson and provide an involuntary sobriety check. I feel I was in control from the get-go, but who knows? The car may have known better. It could truly be a Smart Car. Of course, if that's the case, why did it let me drive to the trading card shop and buy $160 worth of baseball cards?

P.S. Did I mention how out of shape I am? My hips are damn sore from bowling. Long ago I learned proper form, but not how to be talented. And today I'm hurting from swiveling them hips. Who'd athunk that bowlers might be athletes?

View From The Front Porch

Okay, so I used the zoom lens and it's a bit unfocused. What's your point? Whatever. That's what I see on a clear day. The Cascades (Mt. Rainier out of picture to the right). Life's rough, I know. And I didn't get a shot of the bald eagle cruising over the city. This area is so ugly I don't see how anyone could live here. Oh well, I'll survive somehow. 

yeah, this is what I see in my backyard at night...tree "house" in the apple tree. ripe set for a dramedy that includes ghost children, psycho neighbors and canning jars. and stars snadra bullock (not that i'm still obsessing on her...if you want, you can substitute Samanthat Motron for Sandra and I'll be okay with that).

Bush Declares He's Telling The Truth This TIme

"I'm not making this up,"
Oh well then. I guess I've gotta go with Bush now. He's telling the truth. How do I know? Because he said so. What, ain't good enough for you? Dirty little Commie. You dare to question the integrity of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES? Might as well put a turban on your head and eat the rest of those children you got hanging in your sandhut.

Scooter "Free" Ride

Scooter scoots from potential felon to perenially fraudulent. Honestly, how does a person under indictment for crimes against the country get a job offer? Yes, I know I sound naive, but I'm not. Really. Doesn't it strike you as almost inevitable now that no matter what the administration pulls at our expense to enrich theirs they will somehow come up smelling like right wing roses? This man is under indictment by a federal Special Prosecutor. He is no longer working for the White House. He is supposed to be disgraced merely by being touched with the indictment wand. Had Clinton been offered a job by the ACLU (he's a lawyer after all) in the event that he was actually kicked out of office the Right wuld have been apoplectic and denouncing the ACLU as commies, reds, pinkos, terrorists sympathizers and everything that's wrong with Liberal Media. Scooter gets an offer and I'll bet not one Republican (and few Democrats) will stand up and say this is completely unethical, immoral and downright not too cool.
Of course, the unspoken message here is this: the Heritage Foundation expects Scooter, if he's convicted, to be pardoned by Bush on Bush's way out. And they would be right.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby , chief of staff and national security adviser to Vice President Cheney until that indictment unpleasantness a few months ago, has found a new perch as he awaits trial.

Polls Lie, But You Know I Never Will

Hmmm...JBS couldn't stand for the John Birch Society, could it? Could it?!? Why, yes indeedy. It could. Click the red thingy if you don't believe me. The Birchers are either being hit hard by the left wing version of Freepers (may they rot in New Jersey) or the trend of right wing loonies getting more and more disgusted with our Imperial Idiot is growing.
(Hey George, God called. He said to move 10 feet farther away from Dick "Grounding Rod" Cheney the next time you see a cloud. He's getting tired of having to actually aim.)

JBS POLL
Should George Bush be impeached and removed from office?

Yes, because he lied us into war, has used the NSA to eavesdrop on the conversations of Americans without a court order, and has violated the Constitution in other ways. 59%

No, because George W. Bush was justified in going to war and continues to do a good job. 18%

No, because even though he has made mistakes those mistakes do not rise to the level of impeachment. 20%

I don't know. 3%

Hot Off The Press (Generik Should Like This One)

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! What the hell is this? NATO is 'unreliable'? What, because they weren't necessarily so giggly about invading Iraq? David Sirota finds this item buried in a UK paper, but nowhere in the US journals:
"The Bush administration says it wants to be able to form 'coalitions of the willing' more efficiently for dealing with future conflicts rather than turning to existing but unreliable institutional alliances such as Nato. 'We ad hoc our way through coalitions of the willing. That's the future,' a senior State Department official said in a briefing this week."
It wasn't oh so long ago that our beloved White House was telling us just how unreliable and obsolete the UN and the Geneva Convention were. So, what's the message here? No matter what the law is we'll find a way around it or just scrap it altogether? No matter what the majority of people and countries believe? If that's the case, then the Bible is way overdue for a burning. But, then, Bush does have God's ear (or the other way around). He's also a horse's ass and a monkey's nephew. Not that even I know what I meant by that. Doesn't relly matter, though. If Bush can read "Pet My Goat" to children I can make shit up.

Happy Birthday Lecram

NBC is checking into whether Christiane Amanpour was wiretapped by Bush. If this is true, that a journalist was spied on in the course of her journalistic duties, then we have us a whopper of a scandal that no one can ignore. Eavesdrop on a CNN reporter? We would be entering into Nixonian territory in terms of flagrant disregard for the law. Felony and high treason all the way, baby. Just think of the prominent Americans she has spoken to over the past four years that this wiretap gig has been in business. Who knows? Bush may have dirt on many biggie politicians without their knowing it. Who knows? Bush (and Cheney) may have been using overheard info to silence their critics across the aisle.

Oh yeah. David Letterman, on his show no less, tells Bill O'Reilly that he's 60% full of crap. Finally, a late night talk show host is doing something other than glitterati spooge and sponge-off.

Cherokee Nation, Cherokee Tribe! Evidently, this nation finally remembered that they have always held gay people in high regard as mystical people.

Considering that the Bush group refused to listen to Clinton holdouts about the Bin Laden threat prior to 9/11 it's amazing to read that Cheney claims if we had been wiretapping before then we could have stopped 9/11. How much more did they need to know about the threat before doing anything at all about it? They knew Clinton tried to target bin Laden with missiles. They knew of the reports about bin Laden planning on attacking us with hijacked planes. So, basically they needed a burning bush to point the way? Without big fat arrows pointing to the intended targets there was no way for them to even get close to an inkling of a suggestion of a whisper of a rumor that bin Laden had a hankering to get at us? Puh-leeze.

And a big happy birthday to that uber-maestro of demonic maestros: lecram.

New Year's Musings

Just pisses me off when I'm not allowed to post because of questionable content.
I read the Daily Kos today and clicked on the "boy are they stoopid" link. the link's writer asked for submissions to name a convention in contrast to 'Kosyearly". So, I did.

"Since it's Cheney who really runs the administration, how about:
Dick's Dicks in '06
and for the women:
Dick-WAC Heart Attack."

What's questionable about that? Quite catchy if you ask me and I know you did. What's that you say? The website probably didn't want suggestions that might in any way disparage our Commander-In-Thief? Oh. See, I didn't read it that way. I thought it was an honest and open environment for everyone. Not just the brainwashed...huh. Go figure.

Hee hee. Scott McClellan reads about as much as Bush:

Q Scott, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption and tax evasion here in the federal court in Washington. Already the DNC has put out a statement essentially saying that this is another example of what they are calling the "culture of corruption and abuse of power" that has been the hallmarks of the Bush administration. Any response?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I've seen press reports that indicate that he has -- he and his clients have given to both Democrats and Republicans. So that's the first thing that I would say.Secondly, I'm not sure if he's actually entered a plea at this point, but the wrongdoing that he apparently now is acknowledging he was involved in is outrageous. And if he broke laws, he needs to be held to account and he needs to be punished. And beyond that, I think we'd just be speculating about things at this point, and I'm not going to engage in speculation.

You can read the links to find the lies, but I'll tell you now that it looks as if Abramhoff gave not one dime to any Democrat in quite some time and lots and lots to Republicans. As for his clients, they're not on trial at this point, so it seems that Scottie (good doggie) is already in smear mode. The first thing he would say is "he and his clients have given to both Democrats and Republicans"? Wow. That is as political and partisan a statement as I've ever heard come out of Scottie's (good doggie) mouth. Flat-out saying "it ain't just us". Not even a denial. Straight to the smear. Do I think that Dems are just as greedy as Reps? You bet. However, the Reps are in power and suffering the slings and arrows of folks who realize Reps are terrible at balancing greed with running a country. The Dems got very good at it. They learned to share some of it with us little people. The Reps can't quite get the hang of it. That's why all of the scandals. They don't understand that as the rich get richer, so must the poor and not as poor rise as well. Do they really think that someone like me is going to be swayed by a recitation of the Clintons' wealth? I know they're filthy rich. I, also, know that the very people pushing Bush and Cheney make the word "filthy" smell like baby's breath (which, to be honest, we all know can be somewhat offputting right after a good burping). Democrats accepting cash, favors, trips? Gasp. Ya think? But who is it getting caught? It ain't the Dems. At least, it ain't the Dems en masse. It's those idiot Reps who claimed the higher moral ground and then ground it under their heel. Almost as if they felt they were owed their due. Almost as if they felt a few trillion or so into the pockets of them and their backers was an acceptable butcher's bill for wiping out those devilish Dems. No mention of the fact that the trillions would be taxpayers' money, taxpayers' retirement, taxpayers' medical coverage, taxpayers' children's future, taxpayers' social security net, taxpayers' children's military deaths. No mention of the fact that they would be dispersing radioactive waste in Iraq. No mention that help would be scaled back to Asia in time of tsunami crisis, because one government wouldn't allow us military fly-over privileges while our aircraft carriers idled offshore. No mention that genocide is not cool if the victims aren't white (and therein can we blame both parties and most of America). Not a word about torture, carpet bombing, collateral damage, 100,000+ Iraqi civilians dead. No mention of a CIA agent's outing by the administration.
So much to condemn as an enlightened 21st century American. And so little to defend.

Jack Abramoff. Will he or won't he?
Scott (good doggie). Should he or shouldn't he?
The usual suspects. Did they or didn't they?

New Year's Resolutions

I feel the urge, nay the need, to make some New Year's resolutions. I don't know why. I don't know why. Perhaps, it's because I'm living in a new state and working a new job. Perhaps, it is truly time for new beginnings and an end to old habits. In my life I've always cast off the old when moving, like a worn cloak in need of too many darnings.
Perhaps, too, I am of an age now when one begins to think of death and the fact that I have well and truely passed into the downward arc of my life expectancy. And I look at my accomplishments so far and wonder if I've really done anything worthy of note. I look at my past and wonder how I lived to be this age. I look at my family and friends and wonder what they would have to say as my pall was lowered from shoulders and placed onto the ground awaiting final internment. And I think, "Not enough".

So, with this in mind, I make the following resolutions:

1. From now on I will fire only warning shots from my rifle unless it's being done in self-defense.

2. As of tomorrow I will not drink before noon unless I began the night before.

3. Starting tomorrow, I will show my friends all of the respect I think they are due.

4. From this point on I will no longer leave the blinds open when I masturbate to internet porn.

5. Tonight is the last time I will call George Bush a bitch-ass knob goblin.

6. Tomorrow I will begin calling George Bush many other things.

7. I resolute that next year I will stop obsessing about Sandra Bullock having sex with someone other than me.

8. Be it resolved for 2006 that I will go back to obsessing about Liv Tyler, Uma Thurman, Penelope Cruz, Paz Vega, Samantha Morton, Joan Cusack, Milla Jovovich, Chinese chicks, Audra MacDonald, Bernadette Peters, Laura Dern, and Fay having sex with men other than me.

9. I will never again (from midnight on) say "never again" again. I promise. Never again.

10. I will work to love those around me who love me first.

11. I resolve that I will never resolve to do anything that I am not capable of resolving while sober.

12. I will try to be sober more often.

13. In about an hour and a half I will beginning calling the cat Wetto and that will be that.

george bush is a bitch-ass knob goblin. bitch-ass knob goblin. bitch-ass knob goblin.

sandra, you two-timing bad boy bitch hussy. i coulda made you happy...in an anne heche coming to fresno in a drug hazed sort of way.

never again.

UPDATE: (10;26 PM)

Resolutions For 2007:

1. 12 and 13.

Common Goals

whoopsie. it seems that the house of representatives is at it again. unhappy that the president's illegal wiretapping has not led to any uncovering of real live bona fide terrorists other than a catholic school group and a box of Quaker Oats, it has decided to try and make it a federal crime (punishable by up to 5 years in prison) for...well, feeding the poor. nourishing the sick. clothing the children. all of those things that Jesus yada'd about.
you remember Jesus. he was that kind of homeless guy with no paper identification, he roused the rabble, sometimes depended on the kindness of strangers, spoke out against tyranny and foreign occupation, loved his brother, talked of camels being more flexible than rich folks. you know...yada. communist crap. evil-doer pap. enemy comforter stuff.
so, now our elected representatives are banding together and making sure that no one of his ilk can get to us real Americans and poison our minds unless he was born here and has an SSN number and can be tracked in the event that another law is passed letting us excommunicate the homegrown variety.
because it's the illegals that threaten our democracy. all of those brown skinned undocumented aliens out there in the field pretending to pick lettuce and grapes, but really passing along secret plans about overthrowing our way of life. keeping their backs and eyes lowered in false humility as we drive by in our cars, but really fingering their vest bombs and sawed-off uzis. thinking bloody thoughts and waiting to eat our young once they've gotten their daily quota of oranges picked.
i sleep better knowing i'm safer than i was yesterday. i walk taller now that i know only a real American is allowed to kill me legally. now i can rest in the comfort of only fearing real Americans. i now only have to fear my neighbors. and the meth dealers. and the white supremicists. and the ultra-religious. and the bigots. and the narrow-minded. and the haters. and the government.
but it's all good, because if this bill passes all of my fear will be associated only with real Americans. and that is a relief. because real Americans are much easier to recognize. we're the ones waving real American flags. we're the ones driving SUV's. we're the ones supporting our troops. we're the ones processing household chemicals into addictive substances. we're the ones spreading democracy around the world while shaving away civil liberties at home. we're the ones who see innocent humans as collateral damage. we're the ones who create kill-em-all video games and then rate them M for Mature so only mature people can play. we're the ones who offer death bonuses to soldiers and the balk at paying off. we're the ones who promise armor for bodies and humvees and then don't do anything. we're the ones who speak of compassion for all, but excoriate the poor for being poor. we're the ones who break the law and then say that it's okay, because God's on our side. we're the ones who punish the dissenter and reward the sinner.
we're the ones who think a 70-year-old man has a natural right to an artificial erection. we're the ones injecting ass fat into our faces, because there's nothing worse than looking one's age. let alone acting it.
we're becoming the Romans. not that the enemy is becoming Jesus. i don't think that Jesus or God would want any part of what we as a world are becoming.
but we're becoming the Romans as we (more and more) fear ourselves and our ability to make rational, informed, common sense decisions about the immediate world we live in. so long as we blindly follow and do what we're told we will always live in fear. and that's exactly what our leaders and their enemies want.
i love being an American. i just wish i could be a better one.
"Churches, social service agencies and immigration groups across the country are rallying against a provision in the recently passed House border-security bill that would make it a federal crime to offer services or assistance to illegal immigrants."
"America is a nation built on the rule of law, and this bill will help us protect our borders and crack down on illegal entry into the United States," Mr. Bush said after the House passed the measure. "Securing our borders is essential to securing the homeland."

Anus Horribilus?

"it is the very nature of a democracy that it not only does, but should, fight with one hand tied behind its back. It is also in the nature of democracy that it prevails against its enemies precisely because it does."
i love that quote. the rest of the article is here.

Have A Cracking Good New Year

(best of? not so sure about that. but then most of mine are dubious. so, i will leave you to greet the new year with my special smile. in hindsight, it makes sense.)
so, i work in an engineering lab. i've been doing this for 5 years now and have become way too proficient in the knowledge of soils and concrete (what it is, does, doesn't want to and shouldn't under any circumstances). if you land safely on an airport runway or arrive safely after a long or short road trip; if you survive an earthquake, because your building didn't collapse...you can thank me in part).
but it wasn't until i came to my current employer that i began to really learn about the black stuff your wheels grip. with that in mind, i present to you this pictorial tribute to my current passion. the stuff that keeps you safe. the road of happy returns: Ass-Fault. because no man should drive there alone.
HNT is a good thing. visit all of them. now, dammit!

Heidi-Ho

Rep. Norm Dicks gets an introduction from me to let him know that i live in his neighborhood now:

Dear Mr. Dicks, I write to you in a state of confusion. It's always been my understanding that no one is above the law. That is supposed to include the president of the United States. Perhaps, that should especially include the Prsident. And not too many years ago we proved that to former President Clinton. He was impeached for lying about an extra-marital affair. This time around, however, President Bush seems to be skating away from a much bigger lie. To wit, he had been approving unwarranted wiretapping in secret even as (and long before) he issued the following quote: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires - a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so"- George W. Bush April 20, 2004. This is not sex in the Oval Office. This is not parsing the definition of "is". What Bush has done is lie baldfaced to all of America about breaking a federal law. And he then continued to break it up until the present. He didn't just state the law, he told us he was following it. My confusion stems from the fact that you call the Republican party the Moral Party. Remember when your party said it was going to bring morality back to the White House? Why aren't you now going after Bush and holding him accountable for his lie? Democrats and Liberals (and, yes, there is a difference)alike would applaud you for sticking to your higher agenda. To not do so will bring you back down to where you were before gaining control of our government. As a representative of the people, you either stand firm for what makes our country great or you hide behind the colors of your party. You can choose to be an American or you can choose to be a party liner.It's your choice, but voters like me will remember your actions or lack thereof.

(this is not part of the letter)
also, Sen. John McCain wants high school students to decide whether Intelligent Design should be taught in their schools. Normally, this type of thinking would be considered an extremely liberal way of life. those colleges that let this happen tend to not be taken seriously by any other. evergreen state college comes to mind. but, if we let them decide on this, then i think it only fair that we allow them to vote on the drinking age, the voting age, the driving age, letting military recruiters on campus or not, condoms in the cafeteria...well, you see where i'm going with this. in short, it sounds like a political move by mccain to continue straddling the fence until he knows for sure who he needs to truly appease when it's voting time. not that i don't think children can't make an informed decision. i just don't see how the parents will stay out of it.

Oh. Did We Tread On Your Italian Loafers?

oh wow. the chicago tribune is reporting this. a serious mainstream newspaper is telling us just how bad the CIA fucked up. i mean, this is bad. i knew about the operation. i knew about the indictments. but this is the first time i got to read exact details of how it went down and just HOW BADLY THE CIA SCREWED IT UP. unfortunately, it could lend credence to the white house when it says it relied on the CIA for pre-war clearance. all in all, a mesmerizing read. almost straight out of a bad james bond book.

MILAN, Italy -- The trick is known to just about every two-bit crook in the cellular age: If you don't want the cops to know where you are, take the battery out of your cell phone when it's not in use.Had that trick been taught at the CIA's rural Virginia training school for covert operatives, the Bush administration might have avoided much of the current crisis in Europe over the practice the CIA calls "rendition," and CIA Director Porter Goss might not have ordered a sweeping review of the agency's field operations.

and this one made me laugh out loud. huzzah for harry holimas!

THE good news today is that the great 2005 war on Christmas, the conflagration that launched a thousand op-ed pieces and nearly as many battles on Fox News, is now officially over. And yes, Virginia - Christmas won.

and then i find this article on a major corporation trying to whore in on street taggers and graffiti artists. evidently, t.v., billboards, newspaper flyers, junk mail and random spam mails just earning the bread for Sony investors. now, the giant is tagging walls in violation of local law. to declare that the target consumer is too busy playing Grand Theft Auto to pay attention to its newest toy is basically saying that Sony sells to morons. however, what Sony is trying to sell us is that its consumer base is the street tagger, the hip guy on the street, the next wave in fashion. and this is the very guy who would tell Sony to stick its "lollipop" up its ass and call him/it a fag based on the imagery.
"gee willikers, beav, i think the retard's fallen in love with his dad's swat stick."
also, the kid on the wall looks positively stoned out of his mind. perhaps the gameplayer was swabbed with one of those mayan toads for visual enhancement.
by the way, has anyone else noticed that the more mature rating a game has the lower i.q. it takes to play it?
"Marketers are desperate to find ways to reach people," Garfield said. "Especially young men, who are far too busy playing Grand Theft Auto to notice, say, a 30-second TV commercial."