Just kidding... sort of.
I really thought I'd spend some good on-line time during my two weeks vacation - reading the news and blogging about everything and anything. Hasn't happened. My blogging desire was there - no doubt - but so many other things came along to fill up the time. Last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, drinking eggnog, family, reading (ah... the joy!!), a little television, baking, cooking. Everything but blogging.
Somehow, in the swirl of the holidays and family and other crises (maybe I'll blog about that later), getting on-line and getting my thoughts and opinions written just seemed to take a back seat.
I hope those few regular readers will forgive me a little indulgence.
In that same vein, I'm off to a New Years Eve party this evening with my wife. The weather is supposed to be cold and clear. It will be a nice way to end the year and start the new one.
Happy New Years to all of you who drop by here. Health and happiness to you all!
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003
A Steak in the Heart
Normally a "stake in the heart" gets you thinking about vampires and young, vulnerable women in low-cut lingerie screaming in old, black and white horror movies. Lately, though, the horror has been at the thought of BSE infected beef making its way into the American food system.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is a brain wasting disease in cows that can, on rare occasions, be passed on to humans in the variant Creutzfeld-Jacobs disease (vCJD). This disease basically eats holes in your brain - causing it to appear, in later autopsies to appear like Swiss cheese - until you lose all sense of self. And then you die. Nice, huh?
But we were told our meat supply was safe.
Earlier this week, when BSE, better known as "Mad Cow Disease," was discovered in a single cow in Washington state, the government at first said that the animal had been restricted in its eventual distribution; that it had all been recalled. And yet, many in the blogosphere had wondered whether the Bush administration - already shown to be rabidly averse to telling the truth about anything - might be understating the case. After all, only one tenth of one percent of beef is inspected... if one case had been found, how many others might be out there awaiting discovery? But no, the president was still eating beef in the White House.
Again, we were told our meat supply was safe.
Now we know that the original story was not complete. Of course, these stories take time to develop. The FDA had to try to trace the beef back to its source. But the cattle and beef industry had long ago decided that laws requiring traceabilty back to birth herds were too cumbersome and restrictive. So there was no easy way to determine where this one cow - then said to be a heifer (no offspring) - had come from. Then they said it was from Canada. Now we know that this cow had had at least two calves and its meat had been distributed far beyond what was originally stated.
And still we are told that our meat supply is safe.
I've always had great confidence in government agencies like the FDA. Sure they were over extended (much like our military), but they'd always done a masterful job of keeping our food supply among the safest in the world. But this maladministration has shown itself to be not beyond trying to spin even scientific evidence to fit its predetermined agenda - witness the disappearance of global warming from its reports and web sites, despite the fact that it has become "truth" in the scientific sense.
So, I have to wonder, what of the safety of our food supply under Shrubby and company? Surely everything they eat is well tested. The same with the new aristocracy of the well-moneyed. Why should they concern themselves overly with the slop left for the peasants? Keep the rest of us - including those overseas - from questioning the one thing that would likely get us all up in arms - food - and we will all remain, literally, fat, dumb and happy.
Until we begin to see cases of vCJD among the general public. And then it will be too late.
Is this just paranoia? It's hard to say from this point. It could be a general unease about such a horrible disease. It could be BushCo's past record of dissembling and outright lying. It could be the two glasses of wine I had with dinner. Regardless... you just have to wonder.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is a brain wasting disease in cows that can, on rare occasions, be passed on to humans in the variant Creutzfeld-Jacobs disease (vCJD). This disease basically eats holes in your brain - causing it to appear, in later autopsies to appear like Swiss cheese - until you lose all sense of self. And then you die. Nice, huh?
But we were told our meat supply was safe.
Earlier this week, when BSE, better known as "Mad Cow Disease," was discovered in a single cow in Washington state, the government at first said that the animal had been restricted in its eventual distribution; that it had all been recalled. And yet, many in the blogosphere had wondered whether the Bush administration - already shown to be rabidly averse to telling the truth about anything - might be understating the case. After all, only one tenth of one percent of beef is inspected... if one case had been found, how many others might be out there awaiting discovery? But no, the president was still eating beef in the White House.
Again, we were told our meat supply was safe.
Now we know that the original story was not complete. Of course, these stories take time to develop. The FDA had to try to trace the beef back to its source. But the cattle and beef industry had long ago decided that laws requiring traceabilty back to birth herds were too cumbersome and restrictive. So there was no easy way to determine where this one cow - then said to be a heifer (no offspring) - had come from. Then they said it was from Canada. Now we know that this cow had had at least two calves and its meat had been distributed far beyond what was originally stated.
And still we are told that our meat supply is safe.
I've always had great confidence in government agencies like the FDA. Sure they were over extended (much like our military), but they'd always done a masterful job of keeping our food supply among the safest in the world. But this maladministration has shown itself to be not beyond trying to spin even scientific evidence to fit its predetermined agenda - witness the disappearance of global warming from its reports and web sites, despite the fact that it has become "truth" in the scientific sense.
So, I have to wonder, what of the safety of our food supply under Shrubby and company? Surely everything they eat is well tested. The same with the new aristocracy of the well-moneyed. Why should they concern themselves overly with the slop left for the peasants? Keep the rest of us - including those overseas - from questioning the one thing that would likely get us all up in arms - food - and we will all remain, literally, fat, dumb and happy.
Until we begin to see cases of vCJD among the general public. And then it will be too late.
Is this just paranoia? It's hard to say from this point. It could be a general unease about such a horrible disease. It could be BushCo's past record of dissembling and outright lying. It could be the two glasses of wine I had with dinner. Regardless... you just have to wonder.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Merry Christmas/Happy NODWISH
Whoever happens to do a little blogabout today, I hope that you are well, safe and happy in your holiday celebrations.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
1,000 Visitors!
Sometime last night I got my 1,000th visitor to "The Fulcrum!"
It took a while to get there - since the end of July when I added a site meter - but there it is. Thanks to everyone who's visited and especially to those who've left their comments; like applause to an actor, it's what has kept me blogging all this (short) time.
I hope I've at least gotten some of you to think about things in a different way or to see a slightly different viewpoint. I know that I've learned lots from all of you.
What a great NODWISH present!
It took a while to get there - since the end of July when I added a site meter - but there it is. Thanks to everyone who's visited and especially to those who've left their comments; like applause to an actor, it's what has kept me blogging all this (short) time.
I hope I've at least gotten some of you to think about things in a different way or to see a slightly different viewpoint. I know that I've learned lots from all of you.
What a great NODWISH present!
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
More Flying
Here's a photo of the helicopter I used to fly. It's not much to look at; the usual military olive drab, no weapons of any sort, it was underpowered and demanded a deft touch to keep out of trouble. But I loved every minute I spent with it strapped to my back!
U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter.
U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Shopping Alert Level Orange
On my way back from Canada yesterday, the border guards had us open the back of our SUV to have a look inside. "Odd," I thought, "they don't usually do that." It wasn't until much later, when we'd lost the Canadian radio station we were listening to, did my wife and I discover that we'd come back to the US during an "Orange" threat level. But there was no more than that, just a quick look in the back window, the usual innocuous questions, and we were waved through. There didn't seem to be more than the usual number of cars pulled over for further inspection. But there it was; Orange Alert.
When I got home, we turned on the news to see if there had been something in particular that had caused the change - but all we saw was the mayor of New York City doing his, apparently standard, civic duty: Christmas shopping. Tom Ridge and Rummy have their vacations interrupted, they talk about al Qaeda pilots potentially flying for foreign airlines, and attacks as big as 9/11 - but their only advice to us is to shop, to go about our business. Apparently they have it all under control.
Of course, they still don't know where Osam bin Laden is. They won't say exactly what kinds of threats they are taking care of for us. But they do know that we should be shopping. We're no longer concerned citizens, no longer voters in a democracy; no, we are now strictly consumers. The engine of our economy. To be protected - to a certain point. To work as hard as we can - as long as we're needed.
But under no circumstances are we to be told any real information.
If you haven't listened to the Bare Naked Ladies latest CD (this really isn't off topic) you should. There's a great song on it called "Shopping." It was written with their typically wry humor specifically about Shrubby's exhortation since 9/11 that "everything will be alright, when we go shopping."
So, I'm back. Back to earthquakes in California. Back to Libya being our friend (didn't we just celebrate 10 years since Lockerbie?). Back to an Orange alert.
Back to shopping.
When I got home, we turned on the news to see if there had been something in particular that had caused the change - but all we saw was the mayor of New York City doing his, apparently standard, civic duty: Christmas shopping. Tom Ridge and Rummy have their vacations interrupted, they talk about al Qaeda pilots potentially flying for foreign airlines, and attacks as big as 9/11 - but their only advice to us is to shop, to go about our business. Apparently they have it all under control.
Of course, they still don't know where Osam bin Laden is. They won't say exactly what kinds of threats they are taking care of for us. But they do know that we should be shopping. We're no longer concerned citizens, no longer voters in a democracy; no, we are now strictly consumers. The engine of our economy. To be protected - to a certain point. To work as hard as we can - as long as we're needed.
But under no circumstances are we to be told any real information.
If you haven't listened to the Bare Naked Ladies latest CD (this really isn't off topic) you should. There's a great song on it called "Shopping." It was written with their typically wry humor specifically about Shrubby's exhortation since 9/11 that "everything will be alright, when we go shopping."
So, I'm back. Back to earthquakes in California. Back to Libya being our friend (didn't we just celebrate 10 years since Lockerbie?). Back to an Orange alert.
Back to shopping.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Minimal Blogging
We're heading up to Canada tomorrow morning - way too early for a weekend - to visit my wife's parents. There'll be no blogging until I get back; probably Sunday evening or Monday. The good thing is that today was my last day of work for the rest of the year. Until January 5, in fact!!
Everyone out there have a great weekend!!
See you when I get back!
P.S. In celebration of getting upgraded and to counter all the Friday Cat Blogging, here's a picture of my wife's Yellow Lab, Baylea, during warmer days here.
Everyone out there have a great weekend!!
See you when I get back!
P.S. In celebration of getting upgraded and to counter all the Friday Cat Blogging, here's a picture of my wife's Yellow Lab, Baylea, during warmer days here.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
The Wrights and Me
It's been 11 years since I last strapped myself into a helicopter; but I can close my eyes and it all comes back to me.
These were, of course, Night Vision Goggles; NVGs we used to also call them. Fabulous little tubes stuffed with high-tech stuck to the front of our flight helmets that turned night into a green-tinted ghost of day. With them on, I could fly, not through the clouds, but through the trees. Rotors spinning only feet or inches away from branches and leaves, rock and earth. My adrenaline would be pumping, sharpening my reflexes and my sight; my head would turn from side to side while my eyes picked out the least dangerous way.
And I was completely and absolutely alive.
Unless you've flown - and despite all the various kinds of pilots out there, there aren't really that many of us - you will never know that feeling. It's a feeling that I think about every day. Many times a day. Nothing can take its place, nothing will make it go away. (I won't go into all the reason here that I haven't flown in so long - although I will say that within the next year or so I will start again.)
This feeling, this love, for it is that, is what connects me to the Wright Brothers. And to every person who has ever left the solid earth in controlled, powered flight since that day, 100 years ago. More than any other group of people (save astronauts, gods to us mere demi-gods), pilots feel a sense of brotherhood. These are bonds formed between even people who have never met; forged in rigorous training, in self-discipline in the pure joy of flight. And that brotherhood, that camaraderie extends, in an unbroken line, from Wilbur and Orville to me.
If you've ever taken the controls of an aircraft, you know what I mean. If you never have you are poorer for that.
The smell of jet fuel and of hydraulic fluid. The smell of the plastic and metal inside the cockpit. I can still feel the smooth leather of my flight gloves, worn so often that they fit more like my skin than a piece of clothing. With my eyes closed I can reach out and know just where certain instruments and radios would have been, switches and knobs and circuit breakers. My hands know where to go to start the engine, to lightly hold the controls.When most people think of flying their impressions are born of trips on an airliner; lumbering up through the clouds into the blazing blue and white of the stratosphere. When I think of flying, I see everything in shades of green. My favorite time to fly was at night; little or no moon was best - with just the stars bouncing their feeble light off the landscape and into those incredible, almost magical, bits of technology we used to call merely "goggles."
If I sit very still, I can hear how the turbine engine used to spin up in a high-pitched whine before roaring to life when I opened the throttle. And I can remember the exact cadence the aircraft used to bounce while the blades spun up to idle.The smell of burned jet fuel brings a smile to my face.
Finally - and most heart wrenching of all, even after so many years - my limbs and my brain still remember the tiny, coordinated movements it took to make the small helicopter I used to fly lift gently from the ground. I remember what it felt like to hang there, suspended below the main rotor, totally in control of a machine trying desperately to go in a hundred different directions; held there in one piece seemingly by main force of will. My will.
With the merest thought (or so it seemed after 1,200 hours of flight time) I could make 3,500 lbs of metal and plastic dance.
These were, of course, Night Vision Goggles; NVGs we used to also call them. Fabulous little tubes stuffed with high-tech stuck to the front of our flight helmets that turned night into a green-tinted ghost of day. With them on, I could fly, not through the clouds, but through the trees. Rotors spinning only feet or inches away from branches and leaves, rock and earth. My adrenaline would be pumping, sharpening my reflexes and my sight; my head would turn from side to side while my eyes picked out the least dangerous way.
And I was completely and absolutely alive.
Unless you've flown - and despite all the various kinds of pilots out there, there aren't really that many of us - you will never know that feeling. It's a feeling that I think about every day. Many times a day. Nothing can take its place, nothing will make it go away. (I won't go into all the reason here that I haven't flown in so long - although I will say that within the next year or so I will start again.)
This feeling, this love, for it is that, is what connects me to the Wright Brothers. And to every person who has ever left the solid earth in controlled, powered flight since that day, 100 years ago. More than any other group of people (save astronauts, gods to us mere demi-gods), pilots feel a sense of brotherhood. These are bonds formed between even people who have never met; forged in rigorous training, in self-discipline in the pure joy of flight. And that brotherhood, that camaraderie extends, in an unbroken line, from Wilbur and Orville to me.
If you've ever taken the controls of an aircraft, you know what I mean. If you never have you are poorer for that.
Bring Your Hardhat
If you visit here regularly - not that there are that many of you - you'll notice some changes happening. I'm making some minor adjustments to my blog; making sure that it stays "clean" and visually appealing.
I haven't decided whether to upgrade my account to allow me to upload pictures and graphics, so for now it's going to stay pretty basic. If anyone sees this blog doing anything odd, please let me know - I'm viewing it with both IE and Netscape (and probably pretty soon with one or more Mac-only browsers as well) and it looks okay; but you never know.
So, watch the dust and all the heavy equipment; and continue to visit and comment.
I haven't decided whether to upgrade my account to allow me to upload pictures and graphics, so for now it's going to stay pretty basic. If anyone sees this blog doing anything odd, please let me know - I'm viewing it with both IE and Netscape (and probably pretty soon with one or more Mac-only browsers as well) and it looks okay; but you never know.
So, watch the dust and all the heavy equipment; and continue to visit and comment.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
The Sock Puppet Speaks
I got to see a little bit of Diane Sawyer's interview with aWol this morning. Three things struck me about his "performance."
I came away from the segment of interview that I watched more convinced than ever that this man has been an absolute disaster for the US and that there is nothing more important than ensuring that he is voted out - along with his coterie of ass-kissers, boot-lickers, handlers, snake oil salesmen and puppet-masters - next year.
1.That damned smirk; when it wasn't actually on his face it seemed he was having a hard time keeping it in check. Either he can't control himself or he really is an arrogant, uncaring bastard.Of the three, the last is the most serious in terms of implications for the future of our country. But the other two, to me, indicate that we really are, all partisan BS aside, saddled with an incurious, unintelligent, born with a silver spoon mamma's boy. He barely hides his contempt for the average person - not only in his smirking demeanor but in the policies he allows to be promulgated in his name. And he is so unintelligent that he can only parrot those key phrases that are placed in his head by his handlers; any attempt to speak off-the-cuff are consistently disastrous and only serve to make him look even less intelligent.
2. He sounds like there's a little tape recorder inside him, or a pull string on his back; he keeps repeating the same thing over and over - in exactly the same tone of voice, in the same order and seemingly without knowing what was coming out of his mouth. Saddam was bad, the world's better off without him, rape rooms. And it's his always including the "rape rooms" accusation that is the scariest - like it's the one thing he can definitely remember.
3. He admitted he lied. Not quite so baldly, but Diane asked him about the WMD claims and tried to get Shrubbie to distinguish between Hussein actually having had WMDs and there being the threat that he might acquire them. Bush said something that just chilled me:"What's the difference?" Now, either he really doesn't know the difference - a possibility I'm increasing likely to believe - or he does and is unwilling, in the context of the reason for invasion, to admit to there being a difference. I'm not sure which is worse.
I came away from the segment of interview that I watched more convinced than ever that this man has been an absolute disaster for the US and that there is nothing more important than ensuring that he is voted out - along with his coterie of ass-kissers, boot-lickers, handlers, snake oil salesmen and puppet-masters - next year.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Star Spangled Wingnuttery
Would you eat ice cream with names like these?
Now these are all worthy things to give to. But the flavor names; even if the company claims that they are targeted at Adults (which I don't know if they do), ice cream is eaten by kids primarily. What kind of ideas are they promoting to the next generation? Well, the company's web site carries the tag line: "Ice cream with a conservative flavor" (no link-love from me on this one). So that would be: hate people who give you good advice, rape and pillage the environment, government can do no good, guns are sacred.
Well, we are talking serious wingnuts here.
Have another ice cream cone.
My head hurts.
I Hate the French VanillaA small ice cream manufacturer in Washington, DC makes these flavors. The last of which, "Gun Nut" was developed in "concert" with Ted Nugent and the company, Star Spangled Ice Cream Co. promises to donated a dollar for every quart sold to the Gun Owners Foundation Gun Safety Project. Some proceeds from the other flavors are donated to charities that help soldiers.
Nutty Environmentalist
Iraqi Road
Smaller Gevernmint
Gun Nut
Now these are all worthy things to give to. But the flavor names; even if the company claims that they are targeted at Adults (which I don't know if they do), ice cream is eaten by kids primarily. What kind of ideas are they promoting to the next generation? Well, the company's web site carries the tag line: "Ice cream with a conservative flavor" (no link-love from me on this one). So that would be: hate people who give you good advice, rape and pillage the environment, government can do no good, guns are sacred.
Well, we are talking serious wingnuts here.
Have another ice cream cone.
My head hurts.
A Quick Bite of Apple
Just this (from the WSJ):
Apple also made their iPod mp3 player Windows compatible. These are truly drool-worthy gadgets; with the largest capacity player holding 40 Gb or 10,000 songs in a very small package.
Ah... every day brings another reason I'm so glad to be using a Mac. Now if only I could use one at work!
In a sign of strong demand for online music and related gadgets this holiday season, Apple Computer Inc. says it has sold more than 25 million songs through its iTunes Music Store, and some retailers are having a hard time keeping Apple's hot iPod portable music player stocked on store shelves.While others are still trying, Apple has done what other on-line music stores and computer makers have failed to do: make buying music on-line easy and fun while giving the music buyer very good rights-to-use. It also didn't hurt that Apple made a version of its iTunes jukebox-and-music store-in-one for Windows. Not only does this enable Windows users to access the music store, but it also shows off Apples excellent software and graphic design as well.
Apple also made their iPod mp3 player Windows compatible. These are truly drool-worthy gadgets; with the largest capacity player holding 40 Gb or 10,000 songs in a very small package.
Ah... every day brings another reason I'm so glad to be using a Mac. Now if only I could use one at work!
Koufax Awards
I wasn't really familiar with the Koufax Awards over at Wampum so I was quite surprised when I received an e-mail from Dwight Merideth of Wampum. He let me know that I'd been nominated for Best New Blog and that he needed some representative posts.
When I went to Wampum to see who had nominated me, there was a name and an e-mail (but no web site) of the person who nominated me. I didn't recognize either bits of identification; so all I can say is thank you to Rod. I have no illusions about getting the nod for this award as I'm up against some really good blogs, but I have to admit that it was great being nominated.
Additionally, The Liberal Coalition was nominated for Best Group Blog.
So, while I really have no hope of winning this, it was very cool to get the nomination. Sort of makes all this writing seem just a little more worthwhile if someone I don't know thinks this blog is worth the award.
When I went to Wampum to see who had nominated me, there was a name and an e-mail (but no web site) of the person who nominated me. I didn't recognize either bits of identification; so all I can say is thank you to Rod. I have no illusions about getting the nod for this award as I'm up against some really good blogs, but I have to admit that it was great being nominated.
Additionally, The Liberal Coalition was nominated for Best Group Blog.
So, while I really have no hope of winning this, it was very cool to get the nomination. Sort of makes all this writing seem just a little more worthwhile if someone I don't know thinks this blog is worth the award.
Now... Where Was I?
I took a bit of an unplanned break from blogging this past weekend. Other than my Sunday morning post about the capture of Saddam I just didn't get the chance to do any serious writing.
My wife and I had a great time at our company NODWISH party on Friday night, Saturday was spent in a mostly fruitless search of the mall for good NODWISH presents, and then Sunday... Sunday. Sunday we got about 14 - 16 inches of snow and it was one of those days where it was just much more fun to do a lot of nothing than it would have been to do anything in particular.
Anyway, Monday I spent catching up at work from being sort of unmotivated last week.
So.
Back to hopefully more blogging for a while. At least until this weekend when we'll be heading to Canada to visit my wife's parents. I probably won't get to do any blogging there; they have a computer, but it's old and slow and connected via 56k modem. I think I'll skip it.
Time to go have a look around the world and around my blogroll to see what's happening. Time to get motivated and inspired.
Time to blog!
My wife and I had a great time at our company NODWISH party on Friday night, Saturday was spent in a mostly fruitless search of the mall for good NODWISH presents, and then Sunday... Sunday. Sunday we got about 14 - 16 inches of snow and it was one of those days where it was just much more fun to do a lot of nothing than it would have been to do anything in particular.
Anyway, Monday I spent catching up at work from being sort of unmotivated last week.
So.
Back to hopefully more blogging for a while. At least until this weekend when we'll be heading to Canada to visit my wife's parents. I probably won't get to do any blogging there; they have a computer, but it's old and slow and connected via 56k modem. I think I'll skip it.
Time to go have a look around the world and around my blogroll to see what's happening. Time to get motivated and inspired.
Time to blog!
Sunday, December 14, 2003
"We Got Him!"
All the majors are reporting that Saddam Hussein has been captured in a basement on a small farm outside of Tikrit.
This is excellent news. Iraqis who were fearful of participating in the new government because they were afraid of Hussein coming back to power will no longer have that to fear. Those who were fighting the "coalition" because they wanted to reinstall Hussein at some future point no longer have that possibility; those who fought just because they didn't want to be on the wrong side when he returned are also free of that threat.
It remains to see how BushCo treats this momentous event. If they have learned anything from their experiences in the Middle East - doubtful from their actions so far - they will treat Hussein with dignity and ensure that he is not roughed up by soldiers nor paraded before Iraqis in a humiliating way. Then they must - against all desire, I'm sure - put him before The Hague to be tried by an international court with as little American "taint" (to the Arab street) as possible.
A plan of action like that would go a long way to restoring all the good that could have come from aWol's excellent adventure. To do otherwise would be a further disaster.
This is excellent news. Iraqis who were fearful of participating in the new government because they were afraid of Hussein coming back to power will no longer have that to fear. Those who were fighting the "coalition" because they wanted to reinstall Hussein at some future point no longer have that possibility; those who fought just because they didn't want to be on the wrong side when he returned are also free of that threat.
It remains to see how BushCo treats this momentous event. If they have learned anything from their experiences in the Middle East - doubtful from their actions so far - they will treat Hussein with dignity and ensure that he is not roughed up by soldiers nor paraded before Iraqis in a humiliating way. Then they must - against all desire, I'm sure - put him before The Hague to be tried by an international court with as little American "taint" (to the Arab street) as possible.
A plan of action like that would go a long way to restoring all the good that could have come from aWol's excellent adventure. To do otherwise would be a further disaster.
Just a Reminder
If you're a non-Liberal Coalition member and you're reading this, I'd like to ask you to do me a favor.
It's very easy; no shopping through an Amazon link, no donations to anyone. I'd just ask you to check out a fellow member's blog: It's Craptastic! and his entry "What is the Point?" If you like the entry, please write a short post with a link to that entry so that it will be counted as a vote in the New Weblog Showcase at Truth Laid Bear. This post is just one vote out from first place - he could use the help.
Thank you for your support.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
It's very easy; no shopping through an Amazon link, no donations to anyone. I'd just ask you to check out a fellow member's blog: It's Craptastic! and his entry "What is the Point?" If you like the entry, please write a short post with a link to that entry so that it will be counted as a vote in the New Weblog Showcase at Truth Laid Bear. This post is just one vote out from first place - he could use the help.
Thank you for your support.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Friday, December 12, 2003
The Big Dog is in the House!
Okay, not that Big Dog...
If you like the commentary and the doggerel of Steven Bates over at the Yellow Doggerel Democrat, then this is great news.
Steven has joined the Liberal Coalition as a part-time contributor!
He will bring a lot of class to what is surely a motley band of blogging liberals. Seriously though, make sure to check in with the Coalition as we have a growing group of very talented writers with some divergent and often pointed views all of which serve to further the liberal and progressive voice on the web.
We look forward to having the YDD joining our adventure.
If you like the commentary and the doggerel of Steven Bates over at the Yellow Doggerel Democrat, then this is great news.
Steven has joined the Liberal Coalition as a part-time contributor!
He will bring a lot of class to what is surely a motley band of blogging liberals. Seriously though, make sure to check in with the Coalition as we have a growing group of very talented writers with some divergent and often pointed views all of which serve to further the liberal and progressive voice on the web.
We look forward to having the YDD joining our adventure.
What Planet Is the Wall Street Journal On?
Here's the headline from one of the WSJ opinion pieces today:
Did I miss something?
WTF?
Keeping the Bush Boom AliveBush boom?
Did I miss something?
WTF?
Halliburton Gouging the Government
Please, tell me it isn't so! [mock horror]
I blogged about this more than a month ago but it seems the Pentagon and congress is just now figuring it all out(WSJ link, subscription required).
I blogged about this more than a month ago but it seems the Pentagon and congress is just now figuring it all out(WSJ link, subscription required).
The Pentagon has launched a sweeping investigation of Halliburton Co. activities in Iraq and found evidence of "substantial overcharging" in $1.2 billion of fuel sales by the company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney.While these allegations have been out in the open for quite a while, with the Pentagon and congress involved, the story may just get more traction in the press and in the public mind. Some of the Democratic presidential hopefuls are already making political hay from this - hopefully to good effect.
An audit of fuel costs, which still isn't complete, found that the company may have overcharged by as much as $61 million for gasoline in Iraq, a claim that Halliburton denies.
In a foreshadowing of the political uproar likely to erupt around the Halliburton allegations, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean accused President Bush of standing by as "campaign contributors ... continue to overcharge the American taxpayers." Halliburton gave $708,770 in political contributions between 1999 and 2002, 95% of it to Republicans, according to the contributions monitoring group OpenSecrets.org. Of that, $17,677 went to support President Bush.It is issues like this that those hoping to oust aWol from the Whitehouse have got to use, to get into the voters' minds. The deep rooted cronyism and wide ranging corporate connections inside the administration, the constant lies about everything from WMDs in Iraq to just how great the so-called Medicare drug coverage will be for seniors. These are issues that will resonate with voters, but they have to be put out there by the candidates in a forceful manner. The usual soft peddling will not work - the right has become too loud, too shrill for that to work.
Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, another presidential contender, said "Vice President Cheney's former employer ... proceeded to bilk the American taxpayer for tens of millions of dollars."
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Blogabout
The farmer, at Corrente, has had enough of the Democrats' love of circular firing squads. Haven't we all?
Republican "astroturf" has got NTodd up in arms at Dohiyi Mir. Just above this post is an appeal from Dean's campaign to help negate said astroturf. Check it out.
Speedkill's Jeff has a hard time swallowing the fact that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are training US soldiers on tactics to use to put down the revolt in Iraq. These happen to be the same tactics IDF are using on the Palestinians. Seems to have worked for them, no?
And finally (I really should get back to work) is the by-now almost-famous "Stranger's Law" from blah3:
Republican "astroturf" has got NTodd up in arms at Dohiyi Mir. Just above this post is an appeal from Dean's campaign to help negate said astroturf. Check it out.
Speedkill's Jeff has a hard time swallowing the fact that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are training US soldiers on tactics to use to put down the revolt in Iraq. These happen to be the same tactics IDF are using on the Palestinians. Seems to have worked for them, no?
And finally (I really should get back to work) is the by-now almost-famous "Stranger's Law" from blah3:
"As a discussion of US politics grows longer, the probability of a liberal or progressive being called a 'Bush-Hater' approaches one. Once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever called someone a Bush Hater has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress."And so ends my first - but not last Blogabout!
And renato's corollary (from the discussion thread):
"As a discussion of US domestic and foreign policy grows longer, the probability of a right-winger saying, '9/11 changed everything!' or otherwise using 9/11 as an excuse for the US to do anything it damn well pleases including killing thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, approaches one. Once this occurs, that thread is over, and whoever used 9/11 as an excuse for the Bush regime's innumerable lies, civil rights violations, and war crimes has automatically lost whatever argument was in progress."
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