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Joseph Raymond
Odds & Ends Archive--Volume 1 (March 2005-September 2005)
- The French Quarter Lives! New Orleans's 287-year-old French Quarter has reopened. It's got power but is without clean drinking water and sanitation. When exactly did the French Quarter ever have sanitation? It should be like cleaning up after Mardi Gras ... pick up the trash, hose down the stench, good as new! 9-29-2005. Comments (0)
- DeLay Indicted!. "A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep.
Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme." Story. BOOYA!!! One down, Karl Rove and Bill Frist to go. As a side note, Rep. David Dreier, a reportedly gay individual whose lover is said to be his chief of staff, is set to take over DeLay's GOP leadership post. 9-28-2005. Update: Hasert was forced to dump Dreier for Blunt as majority leader. Comments (0)
- NASA--Better Late Than Never. "The space shuttle and International Space Station — nearly the whole of the U.S. manned space program for the past three decades — were mistakes, NASA chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday." 30 years, $200 billion, 14 dead astronauts and now the guy tells us! Chalk it up to research and development. 9-27-2005. Comments (0)
- Google Maps Finds Roman Ruins. Google is by far the largest source of traffic for my commercial site--MedLawPlus.com®--so I cheer every time they have another success. But the technology Google has recently been rolling out goes way beyond traditional search. Take Google Maps. Here is a satellite view of the exact location (i.e., my house) from which I am typing this message. A dude in Italy was playing around with Google Maps checking out the area around his home and stumbled upon a 2000 year old Roman villa beneath a nearby river bed. Very cool! 9-27-2005. Comments (0)
- Iraq Style No Bid Contracts Coming to America. After the loss of life and the evisceration of a society all for no WMDs, the next biggest tragedy of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has been the raping of the American taxpayers by American contractors. Surely things would be different when the Government signed contracts for Katrina and Rita cleanup / reconstruction? Wrong. See New York Times and OpEdNews.com. And who is one of the major lobbyist for corporations seeking reconstruction dollars: Joe M. Allbaugh, Bush's former campaign manager and former FEMA director. This is also the guy who hired Mike Brown at FEMA and promoted him as its head. So after screwing up FEMA, he gets a share of the windfall. 9-26-2005. Comments (0)
- Gore Won! Former President Jimmy Carter, speaking at American University in DC, said: "There’s no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president" in 2004 and a partisian Supreme Court unfairly stepped in to the settle the issue. Amen Mr. Carter. Listen here. Thanks for saying publicly what many of us knew privately (and the press is in denial about). 9-23-2005. Comments (0)
- Sex Sells. Read recently that Sarah Jessica Parker makes $38 million per year, which I assume mostly comes from "Sex In The City" rerun royalties and CD sales. Link. Not bad for a short, skinny pale chick with giggly hips. 9-22-2005. Comments (0)
- What's Richard hiding from the IRS? The "fat naked guy" from CBS's Survivor, aka Richard Hatch, was indicted this month allegedly for filing false tax returns omitting income from the reality show, $327,000 he earned as co-host of "The Wilde Show" on WQSX-FM and other income. Link. Is there anyone on reality TV you would rather see plagued by the IRS? OK, that would be Janice Dickinson. 9-22-2005. Comments (0)
- In case you have not heard about the cops from the city of Gretna, LA firing over the heads of evacuees to turn them back over the bridge to New Orleans, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! did an interview with an eye witness. Link to Slonsky interview. It's a very sad incident which I previously mentioned in this article. 9-18-2005. Comments (0)
- How Renee lost her groove. In court papers filed in Los Angeles, Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger listed “fraud” as the reason for her divorce from country music star Kenny Chesney whom she married 4 months ago: story. What "fraud" was perpetrated upon Ms. Zellweger that caused her to file for divorce? That he was already married? No, that's called bigamy. Might Mr. Chesney have neglected to mention that he's gay? If so, must have slipped his mind. Ask Terry McMillan about that one. 9-16-2005. Comments (0) Update: Renee now says the split was about him not wanting to have children ... hum, he could still be gay!
- Gen. Musharraf, the Pakistani dictator, was asked about the case of Mukhtaran Mai, who was gang raped on the orders of a tribal council in 2002 as punishment for her brother's alleged love affair with a woman from another tribe. His response: "This has become a money-making concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped." Link. So women are running around the streets of Karachi begging to be gang raped? It's scary to think that the leader of a country with nuclear weapons is this ignorant. 9-16-2005. Comments (0)
- A story in USAToday touts the progress of women in Afghan society under American occupation. Buried farther down in the story are the following stats: "[S]tatistics from UNICEF show that one in six Afghan women die in childbirth and 87% of those deaths are preventable. The illiteracy rate for Afghan women over 15 is 86%. In Afghanistan's seven conservative southern provinces, less than 10% of girls go to school." It will take several generations to change the plight of women in such a society. Will America care a few years from now? 9-15-2005. Comments (0)
- Shaq's on the case! According to this report, Shaquille O'Neal was cruising the streets of Miami 3 a.m. Sunday morning when he saw a guy throw a beer bottle at a gay couple on the street. Shaq Daddy tailed the assailant and flagged down a police office to make the arrest. Reportedly, Mr. O'Neal intends on becoming a Miami Beach reserve police officer. Imagine getting pulled over by a 7'1" / 350 lbs.+ brother, he's carrying a gun and wearing a badge. Has to be a redneck's worst nightmare! 9-14-2005. Comments (0)
- Check out this urban assault vehicle: Link. This Army concept vehicle is built on the skeleton of a Ford F-350 truck and is called the ULTRA AP (Armored Patrol). Story. The troops desperately need a vehicle for urban partols that can withstand a direct blast from an IED. Let's get production on this thing ramped up pronto! 9-14-2005. Comments (0)
- Bush and Katrina. As much as I'd love to continually pile on the Bush Administration for it's Katrina response (or lack thereof), I think fairness dictates that plenty of blame should also be spread to state and local officials. Here is an article that makes this case. Link. The best argument against the locals: Did the Governor of Louisiana really need the federal government to round up a bunch of school buses to get those people out of the Superdome? Here's Gov. Blanco's lame defense: Link. 9-12-2005 Update: Excerpt of WSJ article on FEMA screwup of Katrina relief effort. Comments (0)
- Is Colin Powell positioning himself for a presidential run in 2008? In an ABC interview, he said that he regrets his United Nations speech making the case for the US-led war on Iraq. Bush's people never admit error. In the same interview, to be broadcast today, Powell also criticized the government response to Katrina. I am hearing Colin Powell subtly distance himself from the Bush Administration. 9-9-2005. Comments (2)
- Cheney receives the bronx greeting. Remember Dick Cheney telling Senator Leahy on the senate floor to "go fuck himself"? Link. Well an enterprising citizen in Gulf Port, Mississippi has returned the greeting to the Vice President (on live television). Link. What goes around comes around Dick. 9-8-2005. Comments (0)
- Interestingly, some members of the Republican media machine--former Republican Cong. Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, Christopher Hitchens contributing author at Slate and numerous other publications, and Shepard Smith of Fox News--have been hard on the administration for its disaster response to Katrina or, at least, not regurgitating the normal White House spin like lap dogs. Might the pundits be sensing the weakness of this administration and, therefore, let slip just a small dose of honesty? Too early to tell but would be refreshing if true. 9-8-2005.
- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed suit this afternoon against InternetDonations.org which purports to collect donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The site is operated by "Frank Weltner, a St. Louis resident and radio talk show personality with ties to neo-Nazi organizations and the notorious Web site JewWatch.com." New York Times story. Go get 'em Jay. 9-7-2005.
- Classic Rove driven response to an administration crisis: i.e., don't admit a mistake has been made, call out the critics for politicizing a national emergency. The net result is always the utter refusal by Bush to take responsibility for titanic screwups of his presidency. Story 1 and Story 2. Fitzgerald, indict this guy Rove already! 9-7-2005.
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Bonci Bounce. 38-year-old Caterina Bonci said Church authorities in Italy decided she was just too attractive and dressed too sexy to teach religion classes to children. She was fired after 14 years on the job. Link. With the advent of pedophile priests, you'd think the Church would have bigger things (sorry for the pun) on its mind than well-endowed female teachers in miniskirts. Here is an article from an Italian publication with another pic of Caterina and, apparently, the priest who fired her. 9-6-2005. Comments (0)
- I didn't expect the most racist comment of the whole hurricane disaster to come from Barbara Bush, the President's mother, but she gets the prize hands down (speaking at the temporary refugee center in the Astrodome): "so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them." link to story and Link to audio clip. Yes Barbara, you dingbat, certainly these poor, overwhelmingly black, individuals from New Orleans are just thrilled to be living on cots in the Astrodome. 9-6-2005.
- Sen. Landrieu calls out George Bush. Apparently the day he visited New Orleans, lots of equipment was on hand to help repair the 17th Steet Canal levee (the major source of the flooding in the city). The next day, "the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment" according to Sen. Landrieu. Link. 9-4-2005.
- Haki, Justice Rehnquist finally kicked the bucket. Story. 9-3-2005.
- This story reminds me of the old Ray Charles song--"If It Wasn't For Bad Luck, I'd have no luck at all": One dead after busload of hurricane evacuees overturns. 9-3-2005.
- The former head of the Army Corp of Engineers (a Republican) who was forced to resign in 2002 for his opposition to Bush Administration budget cuts said he warned the Administration that they were underfunding water control projects on the Mississippi. Link. 9-3-2005.
- Typical Condi Rice: Story. 9-1-2005.
- It has long been known that the levees around New Orleans, especially those facing Lake Pontchartrain, were settling into the ground and, thus, badly needed raising and reinforcement. The Bush Administration drastically cut funding to the Corp of Engineers in the Louisiana District in its last two budgets redirecting the money to the war in Iraq and homeland security. What about the security of the 1000+ people estimated to have died in New Orleans as a result of the broken levees? Story 1 and Story 2. 9-1-2005.
- When my wife and I first dated, I was 40 years of age and, by American standards, an old dude in the dating world. She told me that in Kenya, I would be considered a "senior bachelor". I liked the sound of that, "senior bachelor", an air of respectability, heightened status. Apparently the Kenyans also have a Swahili word for a senior bachelor who has lost his mojo (is no longer in game shape): "budaa". Literally, it means lumpy. Damn glad I got out of the dating scene before turning into a budaa! 8-30-2005.
- "Eva Longoria recently added some spice to her already-sizzling persona. In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine she was asked, '(What was the) best sex you had all year?' Longoria’s steamy response: 'Probably with my vibrator. I own two. I have one rabbit and a Pocket Rocket.'" Link. Is Eva auditioning to be the next Sue Johanson (of the Oxygen Network)? I think she is still a bit young for that gig. 8-30-3005.
- For you David Brancaccio fans out there (yeah wife, I know you are one!), check out this interview with an Army veteran for the PBS show NOW: Link. The retired sergeant from Texas whom is interviewed does the best job I've seen of framing the current issues relative to America's course of action in Iraq. 8-30-2005.
- Army Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland died in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq on August 15, 2005. He was a poet and observer of life. Ironically, his blog was titled "One Foot In the Grave". Check out his 2nd to last entry entitled "Rant" posted 2 days before his death. The entire blog is a good read ... if one can get past the fact that it comes to us from beyond the grave. 8-30-3005.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said "his government would take legal action against Pat Robertson, stressing that 'to call for the assassination of a head of state is an act of terrorism.'" Link. I'd fly to Caracas to see Robertson in a Venezuelan jail. But can an insane person be a "terrorist"? Tough case for the Venezuelans IMHO. If the FCC went ballistic due to Janet Jackson's boob jumping ever so briefly out of her outfit, where's the mega-fine for Robertson suggesting assassination of a democratically elected president? 8-30-2005.
- I'd like to recommend the site hybridcars.com. As this article from AlterNet states, sites like this are important: i.e., they are vehicles (excuse the pun) for driving the public to band together and make demands upon automakers regarding features for the next generation of cars. 8-25-2005
- The President and his propaganda machine is full speed ahead with the swiftboating of Cindy Sheehan. Today in Idaho they rolled out an anti-Cindy: Tammy Pruett, a mother who has a husband and five sons who are serving, or have served, in Iraq (but none who have been killed). Link. Tammy, would you grant the point that the death of a son in Iraq tends to dampen one's enthusiasm for war? 8-24-2005.
- Ok, I know you heard about the Jude Law penis pictures and, while no man wants to have his penis laughed at, I have a hard time feeling sorry for Jude so here's the link. 8-23-3005.
- The Dirty Dancing Nun. A Belgian nun's wild dancing with a missionary at the Pope's Woodstock a/k/a "Catholic World Youth Day" in Germany has earned her a reprimand from her mother superior. Did she get whacked with a ruler or what? "Daily Het Laatste Nieuws showed pictures of a dancing Johanne Vertommen being held up in the air by the missionary, and then clinging to him with her legs wrapped around his body." Link to story. My, how nuns have changed! Those missionary guys get lots of booty. 8-23-2005. Comments (0)
- On his "700 Club" TV show, conservative Christian broadcaster (and one-time Republican presidential candidate) "Pat Robertson urged the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is a 'dangerous enemy'". Link. Pat, step away from the microphone, these gentlemen in the white coats are here to take you some place where you can get help. Yes, I'm sure Jesus wants you to kill Hugo Chavez. 8-23-2005.
- The Sheehan assault on the President's Crawford ranch just got reinforcements: folk singer Joan Baez. I don't know how much more female angst the President can withstand. If Cher shows up, Bush is toast! Link. 8-22-2005.
- According to Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter of California speaking on CNN's Late Edition, the only people that deserve attention on the issue of the Iraq War are "military families". The Congressman described Cindy Sheehan's core supporters as "aging Hippies" who, in his opinion, should be ignored ... say what?!?! So if you are an American who doesn't belong to a military family, especially aging hippies, our beloved Republicans have no time / interest in what you have to say. What a tragedy! 8-21-2005. Irene
- Here is a good one from Alton Brown (the mad scientist, chef from the Food Network): "Dear Tom Cruise, Your lack of belief in the existence of clinical depression tells me one thing: you didn’t spend $10 to see War Of The Worlds. If vitamins can possibly help me out of this spiraling funk, please let me know which ones. Dinos? Pebbles? Freds? Please, I’m crying out for help. Alton Brown" Link See, July 11, 2005 entry. 8-18-2005.
- "An Army intelligence officer yesterday publicly charged that the unit in which he worked had indeed identified two al Qaeda cells — and 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta — more than a year before the terrorist attacks. Properly handled, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer says, that information might have prevented the terror attacks." Link. 8-18-2005.
- The young Brazilian man shot 7 times in the head by London police for no apparent reason is back in the news. The police claim they thought he was a terrorist (although later facts clearly prove he was not). Video footage has surfaced contradicting the police version of events. Link. 8-18-2005.
- Check out this post from someone claiming to be a Republican who works inside the White House (second entry on page, entitled "The Voice of the White House"). The poster alludes to former male prostitute Jeff Gannon as having been George Bush's sexual companion. 8-15-2005.
- Cindy Sheehan watch, the drama grows: "More than 350 war protesters rallied at the site Saturday afternoon, hours after some 250 Bush supporters waved American flags in a counter rally across the street, holding signs that said Sheehan was unpatriotic and was hurting troop morale. While about 60 in Sheehan's group held a religious service Sunday morning, a nearby landowner, Larry Mattlage, fired his shotgun twice into the air." Link. Cindy has said she is taking her protest to DC when Bush decamps from Crawford at the end of the month. 8-15-2005.
- "Automakers have spent millions of dollars telling motorists that hybrids don't need to be plugged in" but a few innovative souls are not listening. They've independently converted their hybrids for overnight pluggin and, then, use the extra electricity to dramatically boost fuel mileage. With gas prices soaring like an F-15 on takeoff, people shall demand that their hybrids have the plugin feature. Detroit better get on the ball before Japan beats them to it ... again. 8-14-2005.
- Check out what young Saudi men and wowen must go through to flirt with one another. And I thought Catholic boys high school was bad. 8-11-2005.
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- Where does your city rank on the list of the bluest blue and redest red cities? Note that STL checks in at #20 on the blue list, ahead of NYC and Boston! 8-11-2005.
- Cindy Sheehan continues her vigil outside of W. Bush's ranch as the President still refuses to meet the woman. "By Wednesday [the 10th], about 50 people had joined her cause, pitching tents in muddy, shallow ditches and hanging anti-war banners." Link. This thing is brewing into a 60s-style war protest (with associated counter-protests). I wish my occupation did not tether me to this computer as I'd love to jump in the car and bolt on down to Crawford. 8-11-2005.
- Some in the world of conservative talk radio see parallels between Iraq and Vietnam and, also, believe that Rumsfeld and the Pentagon are trying to make us drink the cool-aid (my words, not theirs). 8-11-2005.
- A promising and innovative proposal for ending the nuclear crisis with Iran has been put forth by South Africa. Link. 8-10-2005.
- One reads many accounts from soldiers wounded in Iraq but this young man is mature beyond his years. Link. 8-10-2005.
- A funny thing is happening en route to John Roberts' coronation as a Supreme Court justice: the ultra-right doesn't find this Federalist Society member conservative enough! What crime has Roberts committed? First, he lent legal assistance to individuals challenging an anti-gay Constitutional amendment in Colorado (a law the Sup. Ct. eventually struck down). Second, he had the temerity to suggest it had not been wise for Congress to jump into the Terri Shaivo saga. Link. Oh, how the flaming red-staters despise reason. The nerve of this man Roberts! 8-10-2005.
- "A highly classified military intelligence unit prepared a chart showing likely al-Qaeda cells in the summer of 2000 [with] the names and photographs of four" of the 9/11 hijackers including Mohammed Atta. They identified these four individuals as a US based al-Qaeda cell; however, the information was not passed along to the FBI until shortly before the 9/11/2001 attack. Link. Bureaucratic incompetence or did somebody at the Pentagon turn a willful blind eye? 8-9-2005.
- Doctor assisted suicide is lawful in the Netherlands. A recent study conducted of 2,658 patient requests for suicide found the following: 44% resulted in euthanasia; 13% request was granted but the patient died before the act; 13% patient died before the decision-making process was completed; 12% the physician refused the request; 13% patients changed their minds; 5% act not performed but doctor did not detail reasons. Interesting. 8-9-2005.
- Robin Cook, the lone dissenters in Tony Blair's cabinent who quit when Blair made the decision to join Bush in invading Iraq, died recently of a heart attack at age 59. Blair, who is on vacation, shall miss Mr. Cook's funeral Friday. Decisions like this show the character of the man. 8-9-2005.
- I'll miss Peter Jennings, dead at age 67 of cancer. He carried an aura of gravitas without displaying an outsized ego. There also was a sense of objectivity and fairness about the news he reported. Novel concept in today's world of partisan journalism, eh? 8-8-2005.
- In 2004, Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in Baghdad five days after he arrived. His mother, Cindy, is camped out near the entrance to W. Bush's Crawford ranch waiting for an audience with his excellency. Mrs. Sheehan said, "I plan on staying here the entire month of August or until he comes out to talk to me.” Is it too much to ask that the president take 10 minutes from dicking around on his ranch to speak with a grieving mother? Link. 8-8-2005.
- Although 130 people died in riots following the death of VP John Garang, things have calmed down in Sudan. Salva Kiir, Southern Sudan's leader after John Garang, is due to be sworn in as Sudan's vice-president this week. Mr. Kiir is vowing to fully implement the peace agreement Mr. Garang had signed before his death. Link. 8-7-2005.
- Did the US Military let Bin Laden slip away when he was trapped at Tora Bora, Afghanistan in December 2001? Gen. Tommie Franks has said in a NYT article "We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora." However, the CIA commander on the ground at Tora Bora has a new book ready for publication stating definitively that the US knew they had Bin Laden trapped but the failure of Rumsfeld's Pentagon to allocate sufficient resources to the operation resulted in failure. Not surprisingly, the CIA has refused to clear the book for publication and the x-CIA agent, Gary Berntsen, has sued. BTW, Gary Berntsen is a registered Republican. 8-7-2005.
- "In the past 10 days, 43 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. That brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the war to 1,820, according to U.S. military reports." Link. Very sad. 8-2-2005.
- FWIW, I have posted a review of Chalmers Johnson's book, "Blowback". 8-2-2005.
- John Bolton got booed upon his entrance into the United Nations building in Manhattan Monday after a face-saving (but, ultimately, meaningless) recess appointment by Pres. Bush. So glad the TV cameras were there to record Bolton's receipt of NYC hospitality. Link to video. My fondness grows for the people of New York. 8-2-2005.
- Had to share this quote from an article in Salon about Marfa, Texas which has become a haven for artsy, monied elites: "Observes one local cattle rancher, who asked to remain anonymous: 'We're filling up with triple A's -- artists, assholes and attorneys.'" Link. I take it the rancher uses the terms artist, attorney and asshole interchangeably. Must be a Texas thing. :o) 8-1-2005.
- If the death of Sudanese Vice President John Garang in a helicopter crash was an accident, then God has surely forsaken Sudan. Garang, the rebel leader of the separatist southern forces (mainly Christian), personally championed and signed a peace deal with the Muslim dominated government of the north that ended 22 years of north-south civil war. He was sworn in as VP only 3 weeks ago. As the crisis in Darfur (Western Sudan) still rages, the north-south conflict could easily rekindle as a result of Garang's death. 8-1-2005.
- US Army fines and disciplines a blogger, Spc. Leonard A. Clark, who speaks out against the war. Link. 7-31-2005.
- Senate Majority Leader Frist today announced his support for expanding federal financing for human embryonic stem cell research, thus, breaking with Bush and religious conservatives who equate killing an embryo to killing a child. Frist, a medical doctor, declared "It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science", which has the religious right in a lather but drew praise from Ted Kennedy. Link to story. Stem cell research is a Republican wedge issue. Standard Republican doctrine is to pamper the religious right upon its irrational social issues such as gay marriage and stem cell research. Nancy Reagan and Sen. Specter are two who have broke with the party on this issue. Dr. Frist has now joined them. 7-29-2005.
- Interesting article in Salon today about the killing of an innocent Iraqi journalist at a US Military checkpoint. The Salon reporter, who knew the dead Iraqi journalist, tracked down the US sniper who pulled the trigger to get his side of the story. Here is a summary from Editor & Publisher. Here is a link to the full story in Salon. 7-27-2005.
- Tony Blair's wife Cherie, a noted civil rights lawyer, had some interesting things to say about the proper government response to terror: "It is all too easy for us to respond to such terror in a way which undermines commitment to our most deeply held values and convictions and which cheapens our right to call ourselves a civilized nation". She further said courts should be "guardians of the weakest, poorest and most marginalized members of society against the hurly-burly of majoritarian politics". Link to Cherie's comments. Cherie, you mean like when the London police shot an unarmed Brazilian man six times in the head because they mistook him for a terrorist? Link. 7-27-2005.
- The best discussion I've seen upon the root problem in Africa today--Professor George Ayittey of American University discusses African development with Bill Moyers on PBS. Link to video (click on "Anchor Interview"). 7-26-2005.
- Life does not appear to have been all bad for Salman Rushdie since being condemned to death in a 1989 fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomein of Iran. Check him out in these pics with his fourth wife Padma Lakshmi, a model: one pic and another pic. Go Salman! 7-23-2005.
- I've tried to touch only lightly upon the Plame-Rove controversy because it has more twists than a pretzel and more subplots than "Desperate Housewives" ... but I'm being sucked in by the story's tractor beam. Here's is my timeline of the saga. 7-22-2005.
- The appointment of John Roberts to the Supreme Court is not going to be filibustered (at least successfully) by the Senate Democracts. The centrist senators have already met and decided to give this guy a pass. Link. This is a polite and scholarly man who, although he most likely holds conservative views upon the breadth of protections contained in Bill of Rights, is discreet enough to refrain from saying anything controversial during his confirmation hearings. Roberts is no Bork, an arrogant elitist who had a long trail of controversial writings before his nomination. 7-21-2005.
- The ministers, bishops, and ayatollahs of the world not infrequently have some crazy utterances spilling from their lips. Here's one from Rev. Willie Wilson of Washington, D.C.: "Sisters making more money than brothers and it’s creating problems in families … that’s one of the reasons many of our women are becoming lesbians." Let me get this straight Rev., in your world, the reason women are becoming lesbians is because they make more money than men? He has some even sicker stuff to say as quoted in the article. How exactly do insane people get a pulpit to preach from? 7-19-2005.
- American English is such a fluid, dynamic form of expression. Here is a new one: "chewbacca defense". Their definition: "When you use a totally bullshit argument that has absolutely nothing to do with the case." Link. My definition: "any sentence flowing from RNC Chairman Mehlman's mouth containing the word 'Rove'." 7-17-05.
- Yes, I'm digging how the press smells blood in the water around Karl Rove but, in a way, it is counterproductive as the MSM is missing the real story. First, the whole debate is currently centered around "what did Rove know and when did he know it?" (the Nixon cover-up conspiracy thing). But it misses the true importance to the underlying story: (a) who fabricated the fraudulent Niger yellowcake documents that the President relied upon in his State of the Union speech? and (b) the magnitude of the damage done to all ongoing undercover operations that Valerie Plame was connected to over her years at the CIA. Here is a link to analysis given by a former CIA agent to MSNBC on the issue: The ripple effect. 7-17-2005.
- Quoteth Former Sen. Bob Kerry of Nebraska: "Santorum, that's Latin for asshole." Senator Asshole from Pennsylvania had the following to say about the scandal of Catholic priests sexually abusing children: "It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm." Link. What a genius Santorum is! He has surmised that liberal Bostonians caused Catholic priests to rape kids. 7-13-05.
- We now know without a doubt that Rove outed Valerie Plame. The best summation of what this means, IMHO, is at the LA Times: "If you can't shoot the messenger, take aim at his wife." What's more galling to me is the fact that White House spokesman Scott McClellan has not had the common decency to retract his prior statement that the mere suggestion Rove was invovled with outing Ms. Plame is "totally ridiculous". What a carnival barker this dude is. 7-12-2005.
- Sen. Hillary Clinton, in reference to the president's Iraq policy, likened him to a comic book idiot. This from a senator who voted to authorize the war in Iraq and for the Patriot Act. In the introduction to my book Neocons, I call Bush "a walking cartoon character". Do you think Hillary has read my book? :o) 7-12-2005.
- Survey says Missouri #1 in workers who slack. It's nice to lead the nation in something. 7-12-2005.
- "A production company co-owned by Morgan Freeman, the actor, with backing from Intel, is forming a new venture to sell movie downloads on the Internet." Link. Very savvy Morgan! 7-7-2005.
- It appears Prince Albert of Monoco likes his women dark ... you go Albert! Here is a link to the only picture I could find on the net of Albert with the mother of his newly acknowledged child, Alexandre Coste. 7-6-2005
- The word from Florida is that the criminal case against Rush Limbaugh for abuse of federally restricted prescription narcotics is heating up. Link. What a week. First, federal prosecutors zero in on Karl Rove, now Florida prosecutors have tub of goo Limbaugh in their sights. 7-6-2005.
- Here is a map created by the Palm Beach Post graphically plotting all US war deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. It helps give context to the country's loss. 7-6-05.
- Karl Rove finds himself in a predicament as his name appears upon subpoenaed documents in the Valerie Plame investigation. Rove previously denied he had any involvement in exposing an undercover CIA agent (which is a crime). In light of the latest revelations, Rove is back peddling. Lawrence O'Donnell calls Rove's new position the "I did not inhale" defense popularized by William Jefferson Clinton. Nice. 7-5-2005.
- New study: "you are either gay, straight or lying". Link. I guess former Gov. McGreevey of New Jersey found this out the hard way. 7-5-2005.
- "Washington's charlatan-in-chief, Cheney, has boasted he stands by his statement that Iraq's insurgents are in 'their last throes', because it all depends on what the meaning of 'throes' is." Link. Cheney's arrogance knows no bounds. He's refused to back down from his statement that the insurgency in Iraq is nearing its end. This despite the fact that the number of US military fatalities in Iraq increased from 2003 to 2004 and is on a pace in 2005 to again beat the previous year. Cheney believes the Bush Administration can create its own reality. 7-4-2005.
- A judge in Spain has authorized a group of nudist to protest the killing of bulls during the traditional running of the bulls in Pamplona. Link. The whole running in front of the bulls thing never really did much for me. Now, if we have attractive young naked Latin ladies protesting while these idiots run in front of the bulls, the deal starts to get interesting. 6-29-2005.
- Anybody been following the implosion of the Ohio Republican party? If the Ohio Democratic Party were not itself dysfunctional, the stage could be set for a wholesale change of state level power as happened in Illinois in 2002 due to the legal troubles of then governor Ryan. Link. If the Dems can pull their collective heads out and at least capture the Ohio Secretary of State's office in 2006 thus gaining control of the election system, it could turn out to be crucial for the presidential election in 2008. 6-28-2005.
- The story of Walter Jones, Republican congressman and former Iraqi war hawk, growing a conscience: Link. He is now calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. If this country only had a few dozen more Republican congressmen and senators like Jones ... but that's merely a dream. 6-22-2005.
- A "poll released Tuesday showed Schwarzenegger's job approval rating at a new low, 37 percent. The drop continued a slide that began in January when he announced plans for a 'great battle' with the Democrats who control the state Legislature." Washington Post. The Governator shall learn one day that "kicking ass" (as he said he would do to the California nurse's union) is not necessarily proper action for an elected official in a democracy. Good to see some sanity left in the American electorate. 6-22-2005.
- A few weeks ago, I was moved by this article telling of a group of Harvard students who put on a play concerning the abuses at Abu Ghraib and, for their efforts, were attacked by the mega-mellon head, Rush Limbaugh: "These people hate the country." The article was written by one of the Harvard students, Ms. Valarie Kaur, who has a compelling story. She was arrested and detained for peacefully protesting the war at the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. Just after the 9-11 attacks, she spent four months traveling the country with a cameraman chronicling the civil rights abuses of Sikh, Muslim, and Arab families in America. The resulting documentary is Divided We Fall. Here is a direct link to a trailer. Seeing such activism from a young American gives me hope for our country's future. 6-17-2005.
- Today in the car, I heard on local public radio news that the Hardees commercial with Paris Hilton in a bikini shall be shortly airing in the midwest. Oh the joy of it! Must every crass thing this woman does be broadcast in the media? In the beginning, her baseless celebrity (famous for being famous) was amusing. Now it is majorly annoying. Enough with Paris already! 6-15-2005.
- The White House announced today that Philip Cooney (former oil industry lobbyist with no scientific credentials that Bush installed on his Council on Environmental Quality) shall be going home to the oil industry, specifically, Exxon Mobile. Cooney, while on the Council, altered US government scientific reports on the issue of global warming by, essentially, watering down the wording. In the Bush White House, putting oil lobbyists on the Council of Environmental Quality must make perfect sense. 6-15-2005.
- The Rev. Johnnie B. Wilson II of Centralia, Ill. is holding a 200 year old oak tree hostage on his church's property. Either the people of Centralia pay $75,000 ransom or Rev. Wilson vows to kill the tree. Got to hand it to the Reverend; I would never have been creative enough to come up with this fundraising scheme for the church. 6-14-2005.
- Kenya was handed the short end of the debt relief stick. The G8 countries (in an effort spearheaded by Britian) completely wrote off the debts of 18 very poor countries, many of which are African. Kenya is a poor nation whose debt equals 57 percent of annual GDP; however, it was judged not poor enough to qualify for debt relief. The "all or nothing" criterion used by the G8 to determine which countries qualified for debt relief was cruel. Maybe Kenya is economically better off than many of its neighbors but the country is clearly in need of some level of debt relief to free up necessary resources for education, health care, modernization of infrastructure, etc. Add in the fact that Kenya's debts were largely accumulated by the undemocratic regimes of past dictatorships and the snub becomes all the more difficult for Kenyans to accept. 6-13-2005.
- The death toll of US military personnel in Iraq has reached 1702 (with another 13,000 estimated as wounded) since the start of the second Iraq War in 2003. Link. When will our troops come home? Neither Rumsfeld nor Bush will offer an estimate. Two years after the war commenced and the leaders of this disaster cannot even give the country a timeline for when the carnage shall end. 6-13-2005.
- Col. David H. Hackworth was buried at Arlington National Cemetary Tuesday. He was one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the US military. Link. Col. Hackworth was also an outspoken critic of the Rumsfeld regime. He'll be missed. 6-2-05
- Vanity Fair has a story out that W. Mark Felt (the former #2 official at the FBI) was Woodward and Bernstein's secret source for their Watergate stories. He had the code name "Deep Throat". Apparently, he has been somewhat ashamed all these years at having leaked information that brought down the Nixon Presidency. As a career FBI man, being put in a situation that to uphold the law he had to break it was hard on Mr. Felt. I believe his actions in this instance were heroic. Had he not kept the Watergate story alive long enough for Congress to get involved, American democracy would be a much weaker institution than it is today. Unfortunately, Mr. Felt also found it necessary to break the law when the FBI was investigating enemies of the US Government such as the Weather Underground. It took a Reagan pardon to keep Mr. Felt out of jail in that instance. Few heros lack a dark side. 5-31-05
- Amnesty International has issued a report which calls the U.S. Military's operation of its prison at Guantánamo Bay a human rights scandal. In their words, "evidence of torture and widespread cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment mounts". In response, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that the U.S. has done "a good job" of humanely treating prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Link. Is this guy in touch with reality or does lying come easily to him? 5-29-05
- I've written a dark political comedy called Neocons which is intended as something of a 'Dr. Strangelove' for the current US administration. Our President is a walking comedy sketch so it was fun material to work with. 5-29-05
- On this memorial day, I thought it appropriate to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrafice while serving in our armed forces during our country's most recent war. Faces of the Fallen. 5-29-05.
- Ok, I busted a gut on this one and had to share. I read the following description of Paris Hilton on a web site: "it’s like watching a pair of toothpicks impaled on a macaroni noodle stalking down a runway". 5-19-05.
- "In Baghdad, a senior officer said Wednesday in a background briefing that the 21 car bombings in Baghdad so far this month almost matched the total of 25 in all of last year." Link. I thought we were promised things would get better after the Iraqi election? Oops. 5-19-05.
- The Republican wolves on capital hill are won't to howl at the UN moon. Their particular whipping boy of the moment: the UN oil-for-food program. The fact is that, whatever corruption occurred during the UN oil-for-food program, it pales in comparison to the mother of all larcenies that occurred during the 14 month life of the US lead Iraqi Provisional Authority. Sen. Coleman of Minnesota had the temerity to take on British Parliament Minister George Galloway in sworn testimony yesterday during a senate hearing. Sen. Coleman and his right-wing brethren have been barking about Galloway's alleged profiteering from the UN oil-for-food for some time.
It all backfired. Galloway ripped Coleman a new a-hole and, judging from the quotes
contained in this article, it was a thing of beauty, bravo Mr. Galloway!
5-18-05.
- Newsweek has retracted a short story by Michael
Isikoff stating that US guards at Guantánamo Bay flushed a Quoran down a
toilette. Isikoff is a well-known and respected investigative reporter. He is
the guy who broke the Clinton-Lewinsky affair and, last month, won an award from
the Society of Professional Journalists for reporting on the scandal at Abu
Ghraib prison. Newsweek retracted
the story based on pressure from the Pentagon but has not, more importantly,
admitted any error in its reporting. Given all the crazy shit our military has
been doing to detainees in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib coupled with our president
stating that we are on a "crusade", is it any
surprise that a few knucklehead troops would flush a Quoran down a toilette?
The problem isn't Newsweek but, rather, the abject failure of the Bush
Administration to retain proper disciplinary control over its military prisons.
5-16-05.
- Yesterday a small plane strayed into the airspace
around the White House causing an evacuation of both the White House and US
Capital. The Vice President was working away at his desk and was evacuated
along with the First Lady. Meanwhile, our president was out biking at a park
oblivious to the calamity. Reu
ters Article. I see a parallel here to an incident that happened early in
W's first term: X-IRS agent fires shots at the White House, president was at the gym while VP
working at his desk. 5-12-05.
- Here's one soldier's
take on the Iraqi occupation; not encouraging. 5-10-05.
- Wasn't it strange how the vote totals in Florida and Ohio didn't come close
to the exit polling numbers, that these two states use touch-screen computer
voting with no paper backup (thus no ability to have a manual recount), and that
the company which supplied the computer voting machines to Ohio and Florida
(Diebold) is controlled by a life-long, active Republican--Walden O'Dell.
Makes a person scratch his or her head and wonder. We'll start scratching that
noggin even harder. A computer programmer in Florida, Clinton Curtis, has
stepped forward to state that he was asked by an individual who is now a
Republican Congressman from Florida to build a prototype of a program capable of
manipulating voter counts by a touch-screen computer voter system and be
undetectible. See Affi
davit. Here's a blog that contains additional info on the subject, link. Here is a
link
to video of Clinton Curtis testifying before the Florida legislature, very
compelling. 5-3-05.
- Had to pass this one along from
Afromusing about the First Lady of Kenya and her 5 minute hunger
strike (along with various other persecution delusions). Another link. 5-3-
05.
- This should add gris to the Terry Shaivo mill: A brain damaged
Buffalo firefighter who had been unable to see, verbally recognize loved
ones' voices or carry on any kind of meaningful conversation after an accident
10 years ago, suddenly became conscious and began speaking. He recognized and
was able to communicate with his family members. Another link. 5-3-05.
- I intended to
write a quip about the runaway bride in Georgia but this story about a giant
burrito attacking a middle school which necessitated a SWAT team to subdue
it took today's prize. USAToday. 4-30-05.
- Finally, the
truth about John Bolton: "Bolton has none of the qualities needed for that job.
... On the contrary, he has all the qualities needed to harm the image and
objectives in the U.N. and its affiliated international organizations. If it is
now U.S. policy not to reform the U.N but to destroy it, Bolton is our
man." Frederick Vreeland, a former U.S. ambassador to Morocco, emphasis added.
USAToday. 4-26-05.
- "Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday, for the first time explicitly, that he
expects tax increases to be part of any eventual agreement to reduce the federal
budget deficit." Washington Post. If you are expecting a Republican congress
and president to raise taxes then, Mr. Greenspan, I'm sure you'll also see that
pigs can fly. 4-21-05.
- Apparently there is a black panther
roaming the Ozarks near Branson, Missouri. Animal control officer Jeff McRoy
has used chicken and beef as bait attempting to trap the large cat. When asked
specifically where the panther was last spotted, McRoy refused to divulge the
information stating: "I want to be the only redneck trying to catch this thing."
That makes two of us Mr. McRoy. Link<
/a>. 4-21-05.
- The legend of Ron Mexico. A suit
recently filed against Atlanta's quarterback Michael Vick alleges he gave a
woman genital herpes several years ago. The woman further alleges that Mr. Vick
used the alias "Ron Mexico" when seeing her. Since the allegations came to
light, there has been a rush of people trying to buy an Atlanta Falcons #7
jersey with the name "Mexico" on the back. Unfortunately, the NFL is unable to
find humor in the situation and has refused to allow sales of the Mexico #7
jerseys. Link. Said Michael Vick when interviewed
about the allegations contained in the complaint, "It's all good." link. 4-21-05.
- The Catholic world got
a new pope today, German Cardinal Ratzinger (aka Benedict XVI). "Ratzinger has
made clear in recent speeches that he will brook no dissent and will block
debate on issues such as women priests, priestly celibacy, [contraception,]
abortion and homosexuality. But friends and colleagues said the world had yet
to see the warmer side of a man who has been dubbed in the Italian press as the
'panzer cardinal' and 'God's Rottweiler'." Link. Long live Pope Rat!
The Church is heading back to the dark ages, God help it. 4-19-05
- A minor miracle happened today--a Republican Senator defied George
Bush. The nomination of John "Don't Call Me Michael" Bolton to be UN
Ambassador, although attacked by democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, looked safe. All 10 Republicans on the Committee had said they would
vote for the nominee. The most moderate of this group, Senator Lincoln Chafee
of Rhode Island, said he personally disliked the Bolton nomination but that he
would support the President and give him the UN Ambassador he sought. Recall
that Mr. Bolton is a long-time critic of the UN as an institution and had stated
that, if the UN building lost 10 of its 38 stories, "it wouldn't make a bit of
difference." Just at the moment the Senate Committee was to approve Mr.
Bolton's nomination and move it to the entire Senate, George Voinovich of Ohio
(a Republican) changed his mind and stated that he no longer supported the
nomination. This left the committed deadlocked at 9-9. Then another Republican
Senator, Hagel of Nebraska, joined Voinovich in saying that he no longer
supported Bolton! The nomination looks dead. Me thinks the Democrats have some
additional dirt on Bolton that has not yet been made public but that Sens.
Voinovich and Hagel became aware of. It's not just that Bolton hates the UN,
there are also questions about his bullying subordinates and manipulating
intelligence. See stories here<
/a> and here. 4-19-05.
- The Pope has died but, IMHO, the damage has been done. He has
stuffed the Church hierarchy with reactionary, right-wing cardinals who can be
counted on to carry forward his anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-progressive
philosophy. Here's a solid commentary of
the path down which Pope John Paul II has lead the Church. 4-7-05
- George Bush can invade a country and kill thousands of Iraqis yet
his popularity rating perseveres. But try and stick a feeding tube back into an
unconscious woman and his approval rating promptly hits an all-time low--45%.
Not sure what the morale of the story is; however, here is a link to an
article I wrote on the Terri Schiavo case for my commercial site. 3-26-
05.
- Ever wonder what happened to John Edwards? Well you can
download his first podcast (or in MP3 format) from this site. You can hear an
update on his wife's battle against breast cancer and his thought on a couple of
current issues. My take: this guy is a nice man but a political light weight.
It's a testament to the paucity of capable political leaders in our country that
this guy made it onto the presidential ticket for a major party. 3-23-
05.
- Young adults who take "virginity pledges" have similar
rates of sexually transmitted diseases as their non-virginity pledging peers
according to a new study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Link. These kids must be utilizing the Bill Clinton
definition of "sexual relations". 3-19-05.
- Here is the
site for Iraq Veterans Against The War, a
group of US military veterans turned anti-war activists. Yes, there is sanity
left in our nation. The site notes an interesting fact I was not aware of:
there was an election in Vietnam in 1967 with 80% voter turnout but it did
nothing to end the war. Fairness dictates I note that the 1967 Vietnam election
was held only in the South, not the entire nation. I'm encouraged to see
veterans working to recruit members of the military to oppose this war. It
reveals the lie of the stereotyped anti-war activist as California hippie.
3-15-05. Update: Looks like anti-war groups of military veterans
and their families have a big rally planned at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
3-18-05.
- Our president is a listener. I surmise he caught
a few segments on al jazeera and deduced that America is not very popular in the
Arab world. W has come up with a quick answer for this problem: appoint a
political crony from Texas--a white Christian lady, with no diplomatic
experience--to the State Department charging her with improving the US image
abroad paying special attention to the Muslim world. Link. Brilliant! 3-12-05.
- Interesting article from the NY Times today about Africa's premier film festival in
Burkina Faso. This quote comes from Baba Hama, the festival's secretary
general: "Cinema is at the heart of African culture, and one cannot choose
between food and culture - you need both to live." I had no idea Africans took
their cinema so seriously. Unfortunately, the infrastructure for such events is
sorely lacking in Burkina Faso. Calling all Kenyans, here's an industry just
begging for an African leader. Is there an undiscovered Quentin Tarantino
rooming the streets of Nairobi? 3-10-05. Update: Apparently
Kenya does have its share of budding Tarantinos. Link<
/a>. Props to Irene for
finding me the story. 3-12-05.
- It has come to light that
recently fired Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher was days away from stock poentially
worth $27 million due him through an executive bonus
plan when his affair with a lower level executive first came to light and,
in short order, lead to his dismissal. No $27 million, no job. That must have
been some booty Harry! 3-9-05. Updat
e, Harry's wife files for divorce. That booty better have been world class!
3-12-05.
- It's a good thing my boss is me (although there
are days me contemplates firing I). It seems employers are taking offense to
their employee's blogs and have gone so far as fire some employee-bloggers.
Such is the case of Ellen Simonetti, a former Delta flight attendant. Ms.
Simonetti's transgression was the posting of supposed sexually suggestive
pictures of herself in her flight attendant uniform online. Check out a sample
of the offensive pics for yourself. Who exactly did these pictures offend,
Mother Teresa? Wait, she's dead. 3-8-05.
- Arnold
Schwarzenegger (aka "the Governator") is at war with the California Nurses
Association over his attempts to roll back state mandated nurse-patient ratios.
"As the nurses barracked him during a speech, he denounced them as one of the
'special interests' and said, 'I'm always kicking their butt.'" Link. The
Governator just doesn't seem to get it. He's no longer an action figure in a
movie, these are real people and real lives are at stake. 3-8-05.
- I guess it was too much to ask that W. Bush name a new UN
Secretary as respected and capable as outgoing Secretary John Danforth (former
Senator from Missouri). But the selection of John Bolton is insulting to
Americans and the world community. Here is a past quote from the combative Mr. Bolton: "The (U.N.) Secretariat building
in New York has 38 stories. If it lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of
difference." Our girl, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has given her stamp
of approval to Mr. Bolton's appointment (surprise). 3-7-05.
- There is a new documentary out on the life of the grunts in Baghdad: Gunner Palace (check out the movie
trailer). It's currently in limited release but I hope it gets to STL soon.
3-6-05.
- The US is a great proselytizer on the world stage
for free trade and the elimination of government subsidies ... except, that is,
when it comes to US farm subsidies. The WTO recently ruled against the US on
its cotton subsidies, see article: African cotton states
cheer ruling on US subsidies. What's good for the goose is good for the
gander. 3-6-05.
- I was moved by this story of a powerful
friendship between two homeless men in the City of St. Louis: one black, one
white; one educated, one not; one with a caring family, one with nobody; both
drunks but too proud to beg. They were content, some would say happy, to be
free on the streets rather than confined like children in a shelter. 3-5-
05
- Odds & Ends Archive--
Volume 3 (December 2005 - April 2006)
- Odds & Ends Archive--
Volume 2 (October 2005 - November 2005)
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