Matt Stoller's On To Something ...

That is exactly what I saw in New Jersey as well. Blogs, far from being fever swamps, are discussing ideas and policy in a way that far surpasses the cynicism of the media cartel. Bloggers and the people who read and comment on them connect politics to our lives, even if there is sometimes vulgarity or a certain rawness to our expressive medium. We're filling a demand for normalcy in politics, for anti-elitist open discussion. And now the new politicians like Lamont who are actually providing real political leadership are like catnip to us, and as a result we're becoming a very powerful megaphone for them. Lamont doesn't have to ask anyone to 'get his message out'. He simply has certain values, and because his values are our values, we're talking about about and supporting him. With no TV in the way.

Which brings me back to a certain sense of, well, freshness in the air. There's something changing, new winds in our political system, and we're all a part of it. It's called hope, idealism, or maybe just plain honor. You see, I blog because while I am a pessimist, I am also an idealist. I believe in the power of ideas, in the healing power of discourse, and in the ability of all of us to work towards our own sense of community and personal responsibility. Ultimately, America is what we make of it, and all of us, by reading this blog, by participating in door-knocks, or even by the simple act of declaring oneself responsible for what one's country does instead of being a passive consumer of other's royal actions, are becoming better citizens.

Good post ... go read.

King Bush To America: What Constitution?

President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.

Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.

Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.

[snip]

Bush is the first president in modern history who has never vetoed a bill, giving Congress no chance to override his judgments. Instead, he has signed every bill that reached his desk, often inviting the legislation's sponsors to signing ceremonies at which he lavishes praise upon their work.

Then, after the media and the lawmakers have left the White House, Bush quietly files ''signing statements" -- official documents in which a president lays out his legal interpretation of a bill for the federal bureaucracy to follow when implementing the new law. The statements are recorded in the federal register.

Why none of this scares the bejeebers out of that 30+% that still thinks he's "doing a heckuva job" is beyond me.

I know we never elected Bush, but by now, even that 30+% must realized they installed a king.

Thank You, Neil Young

Funny, it takes a Canadian singing a bang-up protest song, to make me feel truly American again.

Marc Cooper's Take On The $100 Bribe

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have come up with their own farcical plan. They want to send taxpayers a $100 gas rebate check. But with a greasy string attached: the same bill that would provide the niggardly rebate would also open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Hell, why not go all the way
and offer the American people a more robust bribe: say $500 for each family in exchange for the rights of oil companies to drill in any and all ecologically sensitive areas for the rest of eternity?

I never really can tell if I am with Cooper or against Cooper, half the time. But on this, I'm with Cooper.

P.S., anyone that works niggardly into contempory political commentary, correctly, has some cajones, in my book.

FRT

1. Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
2. My World Is Empty Without You - Diana Ross
3. Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
4. Love To Love You - Donna Summer
5. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas
6. I Should Care - Modern Jazz Quartet
7. (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep - Fifth Dimension
8. We Are One - Mike Phillips
9. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word - Elton John
10. Ya Ya - Lee Dorsey

Bonus Track:

11. I Met Him On A Sunday - The Shirelles

Tonight's Random Ten is not via a media player or my 10,000 song titles on my hard drive. Tonight's songs are courtesy of Yahoo's Launchcast music center. With a deeper catalogue of music, I find myself listening more to music randomly selected by this service than from my own collection. It's free, but you can upgrade (with more categories of music) for about $36.00 a year. I'm not interested in satellite radio, and I have to listen to music at work, so this has been quite beneficial. Most of the radio streams have buffer problems, and this has not been a factor in Launchcast.

Isn't There A Party Hillary Won't Attend?

Another reason Mrs. Clinton will not be getting my vote.

There was a buzz when Dick Cheney walked into the "Fox News Sunday" 10th anniversary bash Wednesday night, but it was another guest -- arriving fashionably late -- who really got heads turning. Hillary Clinton ?!!? Here?

"Having the clear frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination show up at a Fox News party created a lot of excitement, and makes a statement about how we're regarded in top Democratic circles," said host Chris Wallace, who invited her to the celebration.

Clinton spent an hour at Cafe Milano schmoozing with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch (very chummy since last year's truce), Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes , and most of the Bush administration, including Karl Rove, Josh Bolten, Karen Hughes, Dan Bartlett and former Fox host Tony Snow, just hours after he was named the new Bush spokesman. "Ten years ago we could have never gotten the White House press secretary to come to this party," joked Ailes.

More than 300 VIPs crammed into the Georgetown hot spot, passing a gantlet of security to make the cut. Much jockeying for face time with Brit Hume and Bill O'Reilly, and once-and-future power brokers such as House Speaker Dennis Hastert , Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Sens. John McCain and Ben Nelson, Rep. Tom DeLay , Newt Gingrich, Ken Duberstein, Ted Olson, Vernon Jordan and former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe. Yes, that flashy redhead was Georgette Mosbacher. Mike Wallace, Chris's dad, was on hand for the festivities. "Stop following me, Mike," Ailes told him. "This is it! The kid already got the job!"

The mood was conservatively expansive, with only playful jabs at CNN and MSNBC, and appropriately lush: Open bar, lots of food, cigars aplenty. The veep actually smiled when we interrupted his chat with Murdoch to ask about Snow. ("He'll do a superb job.") The new press sec starts briefings on May 8 and said he was rested and ready: "I was sleepless while I was trying to decide," Snow said. "I slept like a baby last night."

One Year, 705 Posts, 4,800 Hits

It has been one year now since my first entry into the blogosphere. What prompted me, it’s hard to say. An overall dissatisfaction with politics, in general, and with the Bushites, in particular would rank in the top three. Mostly, it was wanting simply to keep a few friends of mine politically informed without inundating their email boxes with countless links to stories I felt had relevance.

Once I had decided to blog, I concentrated on what would be my very first post. After Bush was installed in the White House in 2000, my relationship with my best friend started to sour. He became more and more openly bigoted and extreme, and it alienated me. When I had the audacity to feel hope that the 2004 election would vindicate those of us who believed Bush was in the White House illegally, he mocked me, and took personal pot shots at me. It was sort of like being swift-boated by my own friend. So, I had to end the friendship, and I did my first post (as well as my first diary at MyDD) about the ending of that friendship over political partisanship.

I did not dream in the slightest that any of my diaries or blog entries would garner the attention of more than a handful of friends, and it was with extreme surprise and excitement that my first diary was selected as a feature diary that day at MyDD. That resulted in my blog’s very first day receiving nearly 500 hits!

It is now one year later, 705 posts later, and 4,800 hits later, and in looking back, I am pleased with the effort, and still have the drive to continue this blog. There were absolutely zero low lights, and the high lights include being been nominated for a Koufax for best post, a nomination that came from MyDD, for that very same post about my best friend, and being a featured blog at the Daou Report courtesy of The Carpetbagger. My favorite postings, though, are the Friday Random Ten, especially cross-posting over at feministe.

So, thank you to all who stop by occasionally (and I know there are a few), and to those that just found their way here by blog browsing. Step up to the bar and browse the menu. I’m sure there’s something here that will whet your appetite.

Damn, That Legal Fees Provision!

I thought this little tidbit was noteworthy. Seems Sprint is refusing to let a GI over in Iraq out of his cell phone contract, causing him to worry about this stupid bill while on duty. A law has been proposed to, hopefully, eliminate this problem. Sprint, of course, indicates it supports the new bill, with reservations, as follows:

Telecom lobbyist Chris LaRowe offered a similar line.

We're not saying we're perfect," LaRowe said. "We're confident it's a case of the right people not talking to each other."

However, LaRowe says that while his his people support the proposed bill in principle, they have a small problem with it as it's written currently. They're unhappy with the provision that requires phone companies to cover the legal fees of anyone who has to hire a lawyer to get a phone cancelled.

Ha ha. Duh. If these people would have to pay the legal bills of those that find themselves forced to get legal representation just to get out of stupid, stupid, contracts such as cell phone contracts, they would be letting them out of their contracts, hand over foot!

"... the negro surcharge ..."

I really wasn't going to comment on the Dillard hair thing, but this comment over at Pam's House Blend cracked me up.

So, if Paris Hilton and Tyra Banks both walked into Dillards, Tyra would get the negro surcharge for the same extensions? Nice.

When In Doubt, Just Make Shit Up

No. The ad shows how far we are from decent people running the country. The ad shows that Republicans will lie constantly, relentlessly and without conscience to keep themselves in power because that's all they respect. Certainly not the truth or decency or fair elections. They are simply the party of liars. There was a time when that actually meant something, shame. Now it only means a path to power. How sad.

Crankyboy's take on a recent NRCC ad playing in the San Diego area attacking Busby.

Democratic candidate Francine Busby is finding out firsthand how the well-oiled slime machine built by Karl Rove works.

Well put, and definitely worth a read.

World Bank accused of lying

The world's largest foreign aid organisation is accused today of deception and medical malpractice that has contributed to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of children from malaria.

The World Bank, which has a $20bn (£11.2bn) budget and a mission to reduce poverty, is alleged to have published misleading financial claims and false statistical accounts and wasted money on ineffective medicines for treating the disease, which kills more than a million people a year, 90 per cent of them children.

And this is surprising? A financial institution, albiet an international one under the umbrella of the United Nations, lying, cheating and killing people? After all, isn't Paul Wolfowitz its president? Need I say more?

What's That Taste In My Mouth? Oh, Yeah, Consumer Confidence!

Consumers shrugged off higher gasoline prices in April and sent a widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to its highest level in almost four years, a private research group said Tuesday.

[snip]

"Improving present-day conditions continue to boost consumers' spirits," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center in a statement. "Recent improvement in the labor market have been a major driver behind the rise in confidence in early 2006. Looking ahead, consumers are not as pessimistic as they were last month."

I just don't buy this shit, so I looked up The Conference Board. Yeah, another conservative think tank headed up by CEO's from major consumer, insurance, and finance companies with a vested interest in creating the illusion of consumer confidence.

With the way this governmnet cherry picks research reports and findings, one has to read between the lines very carefully these days.

Take A Bus, It's Cheaper, Or Holy Shit, Batman, Look At The Price Now, Continued

4/27/06: Up to $3.35 now. Forty-four cent increas in two weeks.

How long will Americans put up with the endless excuses and Republican blame game? About as long as it takes for a GOP screw-up to impact their own pocketbook or lives. And that's exactly what is happening right now with energy prices. Understandably then, Republicans are terrified that their jig is up. High gas prices knocked Jimmy Carter out of office, a hardworking and intelligent man, despite being perhaps a little too ineffective at solving some serious problems that got thrown his way. You can imagine Republican anxiety over voter backlash on gas prices when the man-child at the helm is an incompetent, messianic, ex-oil man afraid to hold those in his confidence accountable--but all too happy to lovingly hold hands with his Saudi petrol-baron sweetheart. So I guess no one should really be surprised that the wingers are squealing like a stuck pig that it's not their fault.

4/26/07: Gas price now up to $3.27. The above quote, courtesy of DarkSyde at the Kos.



4/20/06: Up to $3.23 now. It's even higher in Beverly Hills.

4/18/06: Smack me upside the head, but didn't I just see the man change the price from $3.03 to (gasp) $3.17? Hell yeah, I saw that. A fourteen cent jump in one day. And wasn't the Preznut just today saying he'll look into possible price gouging? And Pigs Will Fly, Right Batman?

This little tidbit, just in:

Increases in the "spot" market price of crude oil -- which is the highest price a major oil company would pay for crude oil -- accounted for only 12 cents per gallon. California's percentage sales tax increased fuel prices by another four cents per gallon. More than 40 cents of the 60-cent increase in gasoline prices over 3 1/2 months is attributable to increased refinery and marketing profit margins for the oil companies.

The profit increase of 42 cents, on top of record profits last year, means California gasoline will cost consumers approximately $546 million more in April 2006 than in April of last year.

"Oil companies are opportunistically using the rising world price for crude oil as an excuse to excessively raise gasoline prices and pump up their profits, even though the spot market price for crude has gone up far more slowly than gasoline prices," said FTCR President Jamie Court. "In addition, the spot price is higher than most oil companies pay, since they either harvest their own crude or pay more stable and often much lower contract prices.

"This study should be a wake-up call for California voters who will vote in November on a ballot initiative to tax windfall profits by oil companies so the state can develop alternatives to the petroleum economy."

4/13/06: Only one day later, and the price jumps another two cents, to $3.03. Stay tuned.

4/12/06: Gas stayed relatively at the same level through most of February and March. However, in the last week or so, the price started inching up. Yesterday I left for work and the gas price at the pump across the street was at $2.91. When I got home, it had jumped to $2.97, and by the time the station had closed, it was at $3.01. Ten cents in one day, not to mention an additional twenty-four cents over the two month period from the end of January through March. Spring break, and the prices just soared through the roof. And there is all this talk about the prices going up even further. At it's peak, in October 2005, the price was $3.07. I'm sure we will see it top that over the summer.

1/27/06: Two weeks later, and the price of gas is $2.67, up another 16 cents. 38 cent increase in 20 days. That is an increase of more than a penny a day.

1/11/06: Well, gas prices are jumping again. Today the price across the street is up to $2.51. That would make this latest increase 22 cents in just four days.

UPDATE WHATEVER: 1/9/06 - Gas dropped a bit more. Office station went down to $2.15 and the one across the street down to $2.29. Then, in the span of two days, the one across the street jumped to $2.45, a whole 16 cents in two days. The office station jumed to $2.35, up a whole 20 cents in two days. Stay tuned.

UPDATE XVIII: 12/20/05 - Gas prices dropped considerably this month, with the station across the street down to $2.31 and the office gas station at $2.17. Today, however, they started the increase. Across the street up four cents to $2.35, and at work, up four cents, to $2.21.

UPDATE XVII: 11/29/05 - Just before Thanksgiving, the gas station across the street dropped to $2.55 (with the one at the office down to $2.35). Today, it dropped to $2.49 (with the office gas station down to $2.31).

So, we are almost back to the exact prices that were in effect just prior to the fourth of July holiday weekend. Obviously, Bush's favorite oil companies reaped extremely high, billion dollar profits, for that quarter, where they raised the price of gasoline 60 cents, kept it over $3.00 a gallon retail, and then dropped it back down...all for no apparent reason other than to create those huge billion dollar profits.

This from the oil companies that denied participating in any meetings with the oily veep of this country (oh, let's not look at THAT leaked memo!) and who didn't have to testify under oath. I am truly amazed at the audacity of these oil companies. And there are those that deny this Iraq war is about oil? Ha ha ha ha. Idiots.

UPDATE XVI: 11/18/05 - While the gas station across the street from the residence dropped to $2.67 two or three days ago, it just went down to $2.59 this evening. At the same time, the station near my office, dropped to $2.49, then to $2.47, then to $2.45, then to $2.41.

UPADATE XV: 11/8/05 - Another six cent drop, to $2.71, with the local station at work down to $2.55. How low can it go?

UPDATE XIV: 11/6/05 - News Flash! Gas prices have been dropping like flies in the last two weeks. Yesterday, the local station dropped it another six cents, to $2.79, and the station near my office is down from $2.69 to $2.59.

From the July 4th weekend, through September 4, 2005, the gas prices rose over sixty cents, approximately a penny a day. And, now, in that quarter of earnings for the oil companies, they have reaped in unheard of billions in profits. So much money has been made in the last quarter, thanks to that sixty cents increase in price, that there has begun to be talk up on the Hill of a windfall tax on the oil companies.

I am relatively certain that this sudden sharp decrease in price is to try to steer the talk away from a windfall tax.

UPDATE XIII: 11/01/05 - Dropped from $2.89 to $2.85. On an aside, the station near my office is down to $2.69.

UPDATE XII: 10/29/05 - Dropped again, to $2.89. August 16, 2005 was the last time it was at that price.

UPDATE XI: 10/24/05 - Dropped again - my, my. Now it is at $2.93, a drop of six cents. However, at the work station, it has dropped to $2.75.

UPDATE X: 10/17/05 - Gas at my local station dropped again, four cents to $2.99 on 10/14/05.

As an aside, I have noticed that the station near my workplace not only is cheaper at $2.87, but drops more dramatically than the one near my home.

UPDATE IX: 10/10/05 - Post-Rita price of gas, dropped two cents to $3.05. Hmmm.

UPDATE VIII: 10/5/05 - Post-Rita price of gas back up to the $3.07 it was about ten days ago. So much for the reprieve.

UPDATE VII: 9/30/05 - Post-Rita price of gas went back up, four cents, to $3.03. I guess that drop was short lived, and I expect it to go up another 30 to 60 cents over the next two months.

UPDATE VI: 9/27/05 - Post-Rita price of gas dropped. First, it dropped from $3.07 to $3.05 the day Rita hit. It stayed that way until yesterday, when it dropped to $2.99. The last time the gas companies reduced prices was back in June 2005, just prior to the July 4th holiday. After that, the prices jumped a full $.60 (sixty cents) over a two month period. Does this foretell a gigantic price increase (cough, gouge, cough) in the near future?

I'm bumping this up from my August 10, 2005 post, to the front page. I've been tracking the price of gas in my area for about two months, now, and the current four-day increase of 18 cents leaves me flabergasted.

MIAMI -- More than 600 truckers gathered in their big rigs Wednesday to protest the rising gas prices in South Florida, NBC 6's Hank Tester reported.

Speaking of higher gas prices, and having zero ability to affect said prices, the corner gas station has successfully raised the price over a one month period a total of thirty-four cents. The price over the July 4th weekend was $2.47 for regular. Today, the price is $2.81. A penny a day.

Where are the angry Americans? For that matter, where are the angry world citizens? Fuck the oil fat cats. This is just absurd.

UPDATE: The price today, 8/11/05 is $2.85. It went up another four cents since I first posted this.

UPDATE II: The price today, 8/16/05 is $2.89. I went up another four cents.

UPDATE III: 8/29/05 - Katrina hits the Gulf, and the price of gas went up four cents, to $2.93.

UPDATE IV: 8/31/05 - Post-Katrina, and the price of gas jumped six cents, to $2.99.

UPDATE V: 9/1/05 - Post-Katrina, and the price of gas jumped eight cents, to $3.07.

Come Fly With Me (Standing Up, Of Course)

The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class?

A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."

Sheesh. How stupid does stupid get along the way to making a buck?

The Report Was Too General To Serve As A Warning

When Robert Sanders was sent by the Army to inspect the construction work an American company was doing on the banks of the Tigris River, 130 miles north of Baghdad, he expected to see workers drilling holes beneath the riverbed to restore a crucial set of large oil pipelines, which had been bombed during the invasion of Iraq.What he found instead that day in July 2004 looked like some gargantuan heart-bypass operation gone nightmarishly bad. A crew had bulldozed a 300-foot-long trench along a giant drill bit in their desperate attempt to yank it loose from the riverbed. A supervisor later told him that the project's crews knew that drilling the holes was not possible, but that they had been instructed by the company in charge of the project to continue anyway.

A few weeks later, after the project had burned up all of the $75.7 million allocated to it, the work came to a halt.

The project, called the Fatah pipeline crossing, had been a critical element of a $2.4 billion no-bid reconstruction contract that a Halliburton subsidiary had won from the Army in 2003. The spot where about 15 pipelines crossed the Tigris had been the main link between Iraq's rich northern oil fields and the export terminals and refineries that could generate much-needed gasoline, heating fuel and revenue for Iraqis.

For all those reasons, the project's demise would seriously damage the American-led effort to restore Iraq's oil system and enable the country to pay for its own reconstruction. Exactly what portion of Iraq's lost oil revenue can be attributed to one failed project, no matter how critical, is impossible to calculate. But the pipeline at Al Fatah has a wider significance as a metaphor for the entire $45 billion rebuilding effort in Iraq. Although the failures of that effort are routinely attributed to insurgent attacks, an examination of this project shows that troubled decision-making and execution have played equally important roles.

The Fatah project went ahead despite warnings from experts that it could not succeed because the underground terrain was shattered and unstable.

It continued chewing up astonishing amounts of cash when the predicted problems bogged the work down, with a contract that allowed crews to charge as much as $100,000 a day as they waited on standby.

The company in charge engaged in what some American officials saw as a self-serving attempt to limit communications with the government until all the money was gone.

And until Mr. Sanders went to Al Fatah, the Army Corps of Engineers, which administered the project, allowed the show to go on for months, even as individual Corps officials said they repeatedly voiced doubts about its chances of success.

The Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, formerly Kellogg Brown & Root, had commissioned a geotechnical report that warned in August 2003 that it would be courting disaster to drill without extensive underground tests.

"No driller in his right mind would have gone ahead," said Mr. Sanders, a geologist who came across the report when he arrived at the site.

KBR defended its performance on the project, and said that the information in the geotechnical report was too general to serve as a warning.

That should be the slogan for this administration ... the report was too general to serve as a warning.

It is the American people's money that this administration is pissing away daily. Why none of this is making the general public very angry is beyond me. Perhaps they are waiting for the inevitable bankruptcy that is around the corner for it to actually sink in.

Perhaps.

Playoffs .. gotta love April

Denver yes; Denver no.

That's a problem when you are a sports pig. I'm rooting for the Colorado Avs to beat the Dallas Stars in the hockey playoffs, at the same time I'm rooting against Denver and for the Clippers in the bball playoffs.

It's good to be April.

Hillary Will Not Get My Vote

A barrier at parts of U.S. borders is "obviously important" as part of dealing with illegal immigration, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

Well, that about does it for me. Move over, Hillary, for you will not be getting my vote.

I live in Los Angeles, and I've lived in San Diego. The thought of putting up a fence along the border with Mexico is just completely stupid, and puts us in the same boat as the Israeli government putting up fences to keep out the Palestinians.

Hillary, you are no bubba Bill.

Friday's Random Ten, 1960's Era

I clicked the link on AMERICAblog to give a listen to Pink's "Dear Mr. President." Wow. I've been a fan of Pink's since her debut album. The tenor of the song really took me back to the early stages of the '60's counter-revolution when being against the war was looked down upon just as it is today. It reminded me of when the tide turned, and more and more pop artists were protesting via music.

Tonight's Friday Random Ten is dedicated to the 1960's protest era, as well as to just the whole generational music genre itself:

1. Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley
2. The Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
3. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane
4. I Feel Fine - The Beatles
5. Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash
6. California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas ("... if I was in L.A.")
7. Runaround Sue - Dion & The Belmonts
8. Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles
9. Crossroads - Cream
10. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan (sigh, ah, the old days)

Bonus Track - cuz, it ain't over yet:

11. Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf


Now, one really has to bear in mind that in the '60's, there were no specialty radio stations. So, all of the above songs would have been heard in circulation on one of the local pop stations. Here in Los Angeles, it would have been either KRLA, KHJ or KFWB. All AM of course. FM was still to come, and that would change the face of radio.

"Bizarre Public Discussion" Over Marijuana

... "no sound scientific studies" supported the medical use of marijuana ...

As a toker for over 25 years, and as a valid member of the legal profession, I really get ticked when having to deal with this government's unrealistic stance on marijuana.

Congressional opponents and supporters of medical marijuana use have each tried to enlist the F.D.A. to support their views. Representative Mark Souder, Republican of Indiana and a fierce opponent of medical marijuana initiatives, proposed legislation two years ago that would have required the food and drug agency to issue an opinion on the medicinal properties of marijuana.

Mr. Souder believes that efforts to legalize medicinal uses of marijuana are a front for efforts to legalize all uses of it, said Martin Green, a spokesman for Mr. Souder.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for Mr. Walters, hailed the food and drug agency's statement, saying it would put to rest what he called "the bizarre public discussion" that has led to some legalization of medical marijuana.

Bizarre public discussion?

So, discussing whether pot should be legal or not is categorized as bizarre? That's a good one. Dipshits.

The Food and Drug Administration statement directly contradicts a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific advisory agency. That review found marijuana to be "moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting."

Dr. John Benson, co-chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee that examined the research into marijuana's effects, said in an interview that the statement on Thursday and the combined review by other agencies were wrong.

The federal government "loves to ignore our report," said Dr. Benson, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "They would rather it never happened."

Of all the bizarre ideology that comes from the goverment, this is the most bizarre. This is not a Bush thing, either, for the government since the inception of the drug rating system impelmented by Nixon, has always disavowed any legitimate purpose for pot. And the government has refused and refused and refused over the past 30 years to allow any sort of controlled growth and study of pot. The reason that it is so hard to get any professional reports from long term studies is because the goverment refuses to grant use of the only goverment grown pot for such a study, and if you use your own grown pot, the study will not count. Therefore, for the last 30 years, the goverment has effectively muzzled any real studies that deal with any benefit whatsoever of pot.

Pardon me while I fire up a joint and take a sip of my coffee. Ah, what a way to start out my day!

"To honor both his memory and his wishes..."

The family of the late investigative newspaper columnist Jack Anderson rejected an FBI request for agents to search his files for any classified government documents, according to a letter made available on Wednesday.

"The family has concluded that were Mr. Anderson alive today, he would not cooperate with the government on this matter," the family said in a letter sent this week by Washington lawyer Michael Sullivan.

High five on that one, bro.

So, How Big IS Your Hard Drive?

Well, the grandkid's (Zaire) hard drive took a shitter today. My four year old computer has two 40 gig hard drives (yeah, don't shout at me), and I'm looking at having to purchase a new hard drive ...

Like there is not going to be an inexpensive 40 gigger for the grandkid's puter. So, I'm thinking of getting this 200 gigger for about a hundred bucks, and giving the kid one of my kidneys, I mean, one of the 40 gig hard drives. He's only 3-1/2. How much space does he really need?

"I'm A Decider, And I Decide What Is Best."

Reporter: What do you say to the critics who believe that you are ignoring the advice of retired generals and military commanders who say there needs to be a change?

Bush: I say I listen to all voices but mine's the final decision and Don Rumsfeld is doing a fine job. He's not only transforming the military, he's fighting a war on terror - He's helping us fight a war on terror. I have strong confidence in Don Rumsfeld. I hear the voices and I read the front page and I know the speculation but I'm the decider and I decide what is best and what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of defense.

Sigh. You get led by the leader you voted for. Dumb and Dumber at the helm.

Is Your FEMA Trailer Leaking Propane?

The blast, which followed the January explosion of another Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer, appeared to have been sparked by a lit cigarette igniting propane gas that had seeped into the travel camper, fire officials said.

[snip]

In January, another FEMA trailer exploded in Harvey from an apparent propane gas leak, inflicting second- and third-degree burns on two contract workers who were checking it before delivery, the newspaper reported.

Sheesh. They can't even get the friggen trailers right. There is always something wrong with the government contractors. Pay them the big bucks, of course, and to maximize their profits from an already bloated profit margin, do shoddy work and use defective parts and equipment, bought on the cheap. People's lives be damned! It's all about the profit.

Nuke This

Be the first family on your block to be the last family on your block.

Ok, that seriously made me laugh. And, spill my drink, damn it!

Bio Hazardless

If you hold the truth back long enough ...

Those pesky bio labs found in Iraq, you know, the two trailers, had been the pride and joy of the NutJobs as proof, actual and damning proof, that Sadam was in possession of WMD. At the time, there were rumors that these labs were nothing of the sort, but an "official" report of that was not made public. And so, the impression made by the Bush administration has held sway with the minions.

That is, until today. It appears that the reports were conveniently shelved in order to allow the Bush lie about WMD and the bio labs of terror to, you know, propagate.

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

A secret fact-finding mission to Iraq -- not made public until now -- had already concluded that the trailers had nothing to do with biological weapons. Leaders of the Pentagon-sponsored mission transmitted their unanimous findings to Washington in a field report on May 27, 2003, two days before the president's statement.

So, how do ya like dem apples?

National Archives Signed Deal w/Air Force to Disguise Re-review of Open Files & Mislead Researchers on Reasons for Withdrawing Previously Open Records

I know most people have been aware that the Bush administration has been reclassifying tons of documents that were already declassified. It has bothered a number of government employees as well as some on the Hill. It did not make sense when it first started coming out, and it continues to not make sense. But, what are you going to do, right?

Now, I read this, which reallly pisses me off.

Washington D.C., 11 April 2006 - The National Archives and Records Administration secretly agreed to a covert effort, led by the Air Force, the CIA, and other still-hidden intelligence entities, to remove open-shelf archival records and reclassify them while disguising the results so that researchers would not complain, according to a previously secret Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The secret agreement, made between the Air Force and the National Archives, was declassified pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Security Archive and posted on the NARA website yesterday.

[snip]

"This secret agreement reveals nothing less than a covert operation to white-out the nation's history, aided and abetted by the National Archives," said National Security Archive executive director Thomas Blanton.

IRS Seeks PayPal's Aid Finding Hidden Cash

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue won approval from a federal court to ask PayPal to turn over information about people who might be evading taxes by hiding income in other countries, officials said Tuesday.

[snip]

The request for information is an outgrowth of an IRS effort, begun several years ago, to trace money that American taxpayers hold offshore to avoid paying taxes. The IRS said many of those taxpayers access their money through credit and debit cards. The tax collectors have already obtained information from some credit card companies, merchants and payment processors.

Well, another reason for the cancellation of my PayPal account. I sure hope the IRS is also actively pursuing corporate money that is held offshore to avoid paying taxes. NOT.

Drinking With The Daffodils

ITHACA, New York (AP) -- For home gardeners who don't want their daffodils to tip over, a Cornell University horticulturist thinks he has the answer: Get the flowers a little tipsy with some hard liquor.

Giving some potted plants diluted alcohol -- whiskey, vodka, gin or tequila -- stunts the growth of the stem but does not affect the blossoms, said William Miller, director of Cornell's Flower Bulb Research Program. As a result, the houseplant does not get so tall that it flops over.

Ah, the old stunted growth routine! Cheers, and here's to another round for the house. :-)

(hiccup) Oooops!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Thanks to DJ Rix for the birthday e-greeting!

I Got Your Objection, Right Here

Federal energy officials are opposing new rules by Montana to force companies that extract methane gas from underground coal beds to clean up the water pollution caused by drilling operations, even as state officials cite an unreleased 2003 federal report that says cleanup costs are relatively inexpensive.

Figures. But, then it's Montana, and that is Gov. Brian Schweitzer's state, so I doubt the feds will get a "gimmie" from him. Stay tuned. Perhaps Sirota will have more on this.

"discredit, punish or seek revenge against"

Fitzgerald said the grand jury has collected so much testimony and so many documents that "it is hard to conceive of what evidence there could be that would disprove the existence of White House efforts to 'punish' Wilson."

And yet, they keep denying it. Unbelievable. Read the full Wapo story.

Bang, Bang

A Ross County jail inmate hid a gun so well that not even the guards who did an extensive pat-down found it.

The Cleveland woman hid a loaded handgun inside her body and smuggled it all the way to her jail cell, where it accidentally fired when she was trying to hide it.

"While in the holding cell, she removed a .25-caliber semiautomatic from her vaginal cavity," Chillicothe Police Capt. Tom Hewitt said yesterday.

Victoria Lundy, 41, hid the gun in the toilet-paper holder. It fell to the floor and discharged.

Ok, this made me spill my coffee this morning! Courtesy of Shakespeare's Sister.

Reality, Reality, Who's Got The Reality?

This story and others have presented this issue similiarly... that President Bush "leaked classified information to undermine a war critic," when in reality, the situation was more like, Joe Wilson, a critic of President Bush, made false claims to undermine Bush's call to go into Iraq, and intelligence information supporting Bush's claim was declassified to show Wilson was full of it.

I do believe their alternate universe is shrinking.

"If this is Homeland Security, I think we ought to be a little afraid"

"I walked up to him and said, 'Sir, you need to move.' That's when he said 'I'm a police officer. I'm with Homeland Security ... I'll move it when I want to.' That's when he started grabbing me on my arm," Pickett said.

However, Homeland Security tells a different story.

The department said the only reason the officers were at the school was because they pulled over to look at a map.

The department also said it's looking into what happened, and that Pickett's version is wrong. It claims he was antagonizing the officers.

Several people were outside of the school, watching the incident take place, and those witnesses agree with Pickett's story.

"Mr. Pickett asked the guy blocking the bus loading zone to move, and the guy told him he would move his car when he got ready to move it," said Englewood coach Alton Jackson.

"At that point I intervened and I went up to the gentleman and said, 'Mr. Pickett is an employee here,' and they said that didn't matter," said Englewood media specialist, Terri Dreisonstok.

"'We're with Homeland Security,' and on and on they went, and pretty soon, before you know it, he's handcuffed and slammed against a car," Brinson said. "All the children are watching, they're all upset."

After about 30 minutes, the men released Pickett.

"The part that really upsets me is all these students were watching, and that and it isn't good," Jackson said.

Pickett said he plans to sue.

"You now you hear these stories everyday and say, 'This will never happen to me,' but yesterday it happened to me," Pickett said.

"If this is Homeland Security, I think we ought to be a little afraid," Brinson said.

Kind of reminds me of L.A. cops, circa the Gates era.

They Should Not Have Come!

He added, "They shouldn't have come to Baghdad."

It appears that the powers that be in Iraq were not impressed by Condi and her bitch's (Straw) visit to their country.

The visit by Ms. Rice and Mr. Straw appeared to grate even on politicians who oppose Mr. Jaafari. "They complicated the thing, and now it's more difficult to solve," said Mahmoud Osman, an independent member of the Kurdistan Alliance, speaking Wednesday about Ms. Rice and Mr. Straw. "They shouldn't have come, and they shouldn't have interfered."

But they will always interefere! This administration is all about interference.

Boo Booooooo Booooooooooooooooo

"If you like, I will leave,"

Oh, if only he really meant it.

Sleazy, Until The End

So the GOP candidate will be selected by party chairs. And a main reason for DeLay to stay in the race this long was to raise legal fees under the guise of raising money to run a political campaign. -- Josh Marshall

Sleazy, until the end. And this is family values?

Hip Hip Horay, No More DeLay!

Washington Post just reported that DeLay will probably retire rather than face a LOSING ELECTION!

Breaking News:
Report: Delay Won't Seek Reelection Texas Republican and former House majority leader weighs his retirement rather than face a fight that appears increasingly unwinnable. More details to come soon. –Staff Reports 10:25 p.m. ET