Scaramouche Doesn't Do The Fandango!

That said, you might wanna check this outVegetarian Rhapsody


(via Flabbergasted)

Who has an ATM receipt like this?

Holy shit! The Republicans are in town... 

Who leaves an ATM receipt like this for the next customer to read???

Could it be someone who wants to have sex with their Actress/Model Wife? Could it be someone who needs a lot cash on hand if there is a bet to be had? Could it be someone who exploits charitable funds for Aids so they can throw a parties at the RNC Convention?

All I know that it is not mine, nor probably yours...

Who leaves that kind of cash in a low-interest checking account. Probably someone who opened it with their Bush tax refund. Show off!

But I'm only guessing...



(Via Fuck that job which I found thru grow-a-brain who has just been added to my blogroll. Check it out- definitely mind expanding...)

Techie Tuedsay: Apple - iMac G5

Portable Video Editing!?! 

Just anounced today at the Paris Apple Expo is the sleek iMac G5 or as one commenter over at Engadgetsaid, "It's a laptop on a stick."

For quite awhile I have desired a Mac for video editing. I wanted a highly portable solution but the laptops seemed too expensive, costly to service, or upgrade.

For $1,499 the new 17 inch iMac G5 1.8GHz system comes with these specs:

17-inch widescreen LCD
-1.8GHz PowerPC G5
-512K L2 cache
-600MHz frontside bus
-256MB DDR400 SDRAM
-NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
-64MB DDR video memory
-80GB Serial ATA hard drive
-Slot-load SuperDrive

More than enough for my DV needs at the moment. Oh by the way, did I mentioned my birthday is coming soon? On September 11th, to be exact...

Is God a Republican?

Mark Fiore set us straight on this timeless question!


(Via The Sideshow)

Why Did the Party of Lincoln Turn to the Darkside?

Have you ever thought that half the people you know are below average? Or that you belong the half that's above average. Sometimes this is referred to as the Lake Wobegon Effect. Which why I find this article by Garrison Keillor very revealing.

We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

How did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?

Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican Party. Once, it was the party of pragmatic Main Street businessmen in steel-rimmed spectacles who decried profligacy and waste, were devoted to their communities and supported the sort of prosperity that raises all ships. They were good-hearted people who vanquished the gnarlier elements of their party, the paranoid Roosevelt-haters, the flat Earthers and Prohibitionists, the antipapist antiforeigner element. The genial Eisenhower was their man, a genuine American hero of D-Day, who made it OK for reasonable people to vote Republican. He brought the Korean War to a stalemate, produced the Interstate Highway System, declined to rescue the French colonial army in Vietnam, and gave us a period of peace and prosperity, in which (oddly) American arts and letters flourished and higher education burgeoned—and there was a degree of plain decency in the country. Fifties Republicans were giants compared to today’s. Richard Nixon was the last Republican leader to feel a Christian obligation toward the poor.

In the years between Nixon and Newt Gingrich, the party migrated southward down the Twisting Trail of Rhetoric and sneered at the idea of public service and became the Scourge of Liberalism, the Great Crusade Against the Sixties, the Death Star of Government, a gang of pirates that diverted and fascinated the media by their sheer chutzpah, such as the misty-eyed flag-waving of Ronald Reagan who, while George McGovern flew bombers in World War II, took a pass and made training films in Long Beach. The Nixon moderate vanished like the passenger pigeon, purged by a legion of angry white men who rose to power on pure punk politics. “Bipartisanship is another term of date rape,” says Grover Norquist, the Sid Vicious of the GOP. “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” The boy has Oedipal problems and government is his daddy.

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.

My grandparents were of different political parties, one Democrat, one Republican. They loved each other and teased other. But they did not belittle the others politics as stupid or un-american. They were average folk.

In my travels I found that average people around the globe share the same desires: Work just enough to live well, have good vacations, and enjoy time with with their families. They usually share distrust of people who act if they are superior or are on orders from a superior power.

Here in 2004, George W. Bush is running for reelection on a platform of tragedy—the single greatest failure of national defense in our history, the attacks of 9/11 in which 19 men with box cutters put this nation into a tailspin, a failure the details of which the White House fought to keep secret even as it ran the country into hock up to the hubcaps, thanks to generous tax cuts for the well-fixed, hoping to lead us into a box canyon of debt that will render government impotent, even as we engage in a war against a small country that was undertaken for the president’s personal satisfaction but sold to the American public on the basis of brazen misinformation, a war whose purpose is to distract us from an enormous transfer of wealth taking place in this country, flowing upward, and the deception is working beautifully.

The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good.

Our beloved land has been fogged with fear—fear, the greatest political strategy ever. An ominous silence, distant sirens, a drumbeat of whispered warnings and alarms to keep the public uneasy and silence the opposition. And in a time of vague fear, you can appoint bullet-brained judges, strip the bark off the Constitution, eviscerate federal regulatory agencies, bring public education to a standstill, stupefy the press, lavish gorgeous tax breaks on the rich.

There is a stink drifting through this election year. It isn’t the Florida recount or the Supreme Court decision. No, it’s 9/11 that we keep coming back to. It wasn’t the “end of innocence,” or a turning point in our history, or a cosmic occurrence, it was an event, a lapse of security. And patriotism shouldn’t prevent people from asking hard questions of the man who was purportedly in charge of national security at the time.

Rather than seeking unity or communality of the divided country...

This year, as in the past, Republicans will portray us Democrats as embittered academics, desiccated Unitarians, whacked-out hippies and communards, people who talk to telephone poles, the party of the Deadheads. They will wave enormous flags and wow over and over the footage of firemen in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and bodies being carried out and they will lie about their economic policies with astonishing enthusiasm.

What we need is a turn about in this country; a stand down from this false sense of superiority on both sides of the political fence. For a brief moment we had a sense of unity in this country, along with the rest of world, shortly after 9/11 which was then squandered by the Bush Administration. They lacked the sensitivity needed...

This is a great country, and it wasn’t made so by angry people. We have a sacred duty to bequeath it to our grandchildren in better shape than however we found it. We have a long way to go and we’re not getting any younger.

(emphases added are mine)


(Via grow-a-brain)

WMDs for the Republican Convention

Sometimes you have to wonder about the paranoid right-wing and their thinking processes and how much their theories are affected their crainial fecal matter.

Which bring us to this gem of hysteria by Bernadette Malone:
NYC errs in playing nice with protesters

NEXT WEEK, people who hate Republicans plan to release swarms of mice in New York City to terrorize delegates to the National Republican Convention.

Republican-haters plan on dressing up as RNC volunteers, and giving false directions to little blue hair ladies from Kansas, sending them into the sectors of New York City that are unfit for human habitation.

They plan on throwing pies and Lord knows what else at Republican visitors to the city. Prostitutes with AIDS plan to seduce Republican visitors, and discourage the use of condoms, according to liberal journalist Ted Rall.

She is referring to what Ted Rall wrote in NYC to GOP: Drop Dead

Rejecting ex-mayor Ed Koch's call to "make nice" with the party that used the deaths of 2,801 New Yorkers--most of them Democrats--for everything from tax cuts for the rich to building concentration camps at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib to invading Iraq to enrich Dick Cheney and his fellow Halliburton execs, some groups are encouraging liberal-minded New Yorkers to volunteer for the city's squad of official greeters. Creatively altered maps of streets and subways will be handed out to button-clad stupid white men. Other saboteurs wearing fake RNC T-shirts will direct them to parts of town where Bush's policies have hit hardest. Rumor has it that prostitutes suffering from sexually transmitted diseases will discourage the use of condoms with Republican customers.

So that's where she gets the concept of Whores of Massive Disease (maybe Mr. Sun should have warned us about that). Yet the idea of the of Weapons of Mice Dispersion is her own pied pipe-dream. But wait she goes on to push the Protestor=Terrorist meme.

New York City is a place renowned for coddling no one —tourists, babies, old people. And yet, its new mayor, a Boston transplant, plans to coddle these junior terrorists.

And,

Mayor Bloomberg overlooks this basic truth: The kind of protestor who is going to report to headquarters to pick up a button, and who is dorky enough to wear such a button, is not vicious enough to release rodents or toss urine on well-groomed Republican men and women in golf shirts and khaki pants.

Bloomberg mistakenly thinks he can engage the protestor-terrorists in rational discourse, encouraging them to speak their mind in an orderly way, and rewarding them if they do.

Then,

New Yorkers understand — and respect — one thing: strength. That’s why Rudy Giuliani, a New York City native, did so well as mayor. He flexed his muscles early, arrested petty criminals, and turned a deaf ear to cries that he was violating the civil rights of squeegee men and other vagrants who terrorized residents and tourists. He didn’t try to make nice with them. Did he go to excess? Probably. But because of his successes, New York City is at least a destination worth considering again — for Republican delegates, families and protestors who prefer not to get mugged while on the job.

I thought the rigth-wing message was, "The only thing Arabic people understood is strength." Now it's New Yorkers. Or is it squeegee men and other vagrants? Could it be the only thing right-wingers understand is strength? Or maybe that's their only insensitive solution...

She finishes with this statement:

Bloomberg is calling for a sensitive war on protestor-terrorists, the way John Kerry is naively calling for a more sensitive war on international terrorists. Instead of manufacturing smiley-face buttons to pin on potentially unruly protestors, Bloomberg should be manufacturing plastic handcuffs.

Bernadette Malone is confused about the proud history of American dissent. She seems confused about many things. So, being in a charitable mood, I offer her this refresher course on the Difference Between Shit and Shinola...


(Via Corrente)

How to score at the convention.

In strange way I understand the need to pass along information like Mr. Sun's sure-fire scoring guide on:
How to score at the RNC convention.

Print it out and stuff it in that leather briefcase next to your Halliburton check -- here are Mr. Sun's foolproof instructions on how to score with the ladies at the Republican convention:

• Tell her that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge isn't the only gorgeous, white thing you'd like to see drilled immediately.

• Warn her that, "No disrespect to W. but if a pretzel makes you gag, then maybe we shouldn't go up to my room and let loose The Monster."

• "I've been a bad boy, Lynndie ..."

• Tell her your life is a real Fellatio Alger story. If she nods in ageement and excitedly replies that Atlas Shrugged is her favorite book, you're in, Chief.

• Slap on the "If this Buick Park Avenue's Rockin', Don't Come Knockin'" bumper sticker.

• Let her know you're going to rock her boat, but it won't be swift.

• Serenade her with Let The Eagle Soar. You are guaranteed to score.

• "Extremity in my extremities is no vice."

• Whisper you've got the keys to Dick Cheney's undisclosed location and he's away getting a total blood transfusion for the weekend.

• Say it's part of an effort to stop Barak Obama. Nothing you say before or after matters as long as you are against Barak Obama. (Alan Keyes only.)

• Before sex, spin it as a preemptive strike motivated by an imminent threat of not getting your freak on. After sex, point out that it turned out good, so what the hell is she whining about?

• Explain you just scored some good shit from Bob Dole, if she knows what you mean.

• Propose to marry her and state your intention to have intercourse for purposes of procreation.

I think Mr. Sun missed the one that will most used, "How much for that?"



(Via Kottke)

PARIS HILTON CALLS FOR END TO SWIFT BOAT FLAP

C'mon, how can you argue with that?

Distracting Attention Away From Her, Heiress Says

Hotel heiress and reality TV star Paris Hilton today called for an end to the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam War service, warning that the continuing swift boat flap was distracting attention away from her.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, Ms. Hilton told reporters that the controversy “has overshadowed the issues that really matter to the American people, such as my messy break-up with Nick [singer Nick Carter of The Backstreet Boys].”

Ms. Hilton also said the she had experienced “a significant and troubling decline” in ambushes from paparazzi ever since the swift boat brouhaha began.

In an effort to blunt the controversy stoked by the group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Ms. Hilton announced today that she and her sister Nicky had founded a new political action committee called Hotel Heiresses Against Swift Boat Veterans For Truth.

Ms. Hilton picked up an important backer later in the day when actress Lindsay Lohan voiced her support for the tabloid princess's decision to take on the swift boat veterans.

“Before the whole swift boat thing came up, people were obsessed with whether or not I had my breasts augmented,” Ms. Lohan said. “I'm deeply concerned that the nation seems to have lost focus on that.”

“If these swift boat veterans were really for truth, they’d want to know the truth about my breasts,” she added.

In other political news, the Republican National Committee announced today that President George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the convention next week would be simulcast in English.

(via Other Crap)

Shifty Swiftees Swipe Gonzo's Playbook

It seems that the Republican Swiftboat vets lifted an idea from Hunter S. Thompson who tells of such tactics:

And his sense of the bizarre knows no bounds, as in this 'ancient and honourable' story of how Lyndon Johnson first got elected to Congress in 1948 when his opponent was a wealthy and politically favoured pig farmer: 'Lyndon was running about 10 points behind, with only nine days to go... He was sunk in despair. He was desperate... he called his equally depressed campaign manager and instructed him to call a press conference at two or two-thirty ( just after lunch on a slow news day) and accuse his high-riding opponent (the pig farmer) of having routine carnal knowledge of his barnyard sows, despite the pleas of his wife and children... His campaign manager was shocked. 'We can't say that, Lyndon,' he said. 'It's not true.' 'Of course it's not,' Johnson barked at him, 'but let's make the bastard deny it.'

The War Medals of George W. Bush

I think we all should be taking a closer look at the War Medals of George W. Bush

(Via The Presurfer)

Republican Swiftboat Vets Rewriting History.

Over at The Gadflyer, Paul Waldman captures what has been infuriating me about the Republican vet's attack on Kerry's war service.

Their refusal to face facts are plain in this timely post called, Revisionist History :

Now that the campaign to undermine John Kerry's Vietnam service has moved from "John Kerry's a liar" - charges that got plenty of attention, but were ultimately discredited - to "John Kerry hates his country" - equally ridiculous, but that won't stop them - there seem to be a series of rather odd claims underlying the attacks. Among them:

1. There were no atrocities committed by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. No innocent civilians were killed, no rapes took place, no villages were burned.

In his 1971 testimony before the Senate, Kerry related a series of claims made a few months before at the "Winter Soldier" investigation. It later came to light that some of these specific claims were unsupported. But the essence of Kerry's argument - that Americans had done some terrible things to civilians in Vietnam - hadn't been challenged by anyone in a long time. But now some of the veterans opposing Kerry seem to want to make that case, that by saying atrocities took place, Kerry is falsely accusing every Vietnam veteran of being a war criminal.

2. The Vietnam War was a great idea, and if you opposed it, you must just hate America.

This would represent a reversal of the rather (dare I say it) nuanced view that Americans have come to over recent years: that the war was a tragic mistake, but the responsibility for that mistake does not lie with the men who did the fighting. But the key point about Kerry's anti-war activity is this: he was right. The war was a mistake, the people who planned it should have been held to account.

3. And perhaps my favorite: John Kerry was personally responsible for the United States losing the Vietnam War...

-Click through to see that last accusation debunked.

These Republican veterans are proud of the Vietnam War. They refuse to accept that ii was a just a shitty-war and we did shitty-things during that time. Many people understood it back then. People like John Kerry.

Most of the country understands that now. Vietnam was not our proudest moment. In one generation we went from fighting Nazis and Fascist war-criminals to killing people of inderterminate age, friend and foe - since we couldn't tell 'em apart. Somehow criticism of that war diminishes them. They're obviously disgruntled.

Just like this administration, with many Nixon White House left-overs. They want to prove their belief in how war should have been prosecuted was correct and the only right answer:

If we only stayed the course. If we only had unquestioned resolve. If we only ignored the rest of the world, and sizable portion of our society that believes war is not the only solution...

If only!

Then maybe the sacrifice, the horrors of war would have been worth it.

Personally, I like the idea of a candidate that personally saw war, up close and personal, and disapproves of it rather than a candidate that personally never saw war, up close and personal, and approves of it...

Techie Tuesday: GPS for the Pooch

For your bitches too... 


Fearful of loosing your pet? This sleek soon-to-berealesed, rechargeable, and water-resistant device may be the answer:

GlobalPetFinder is the world's only satellite assisted pet location device that sends your pet's location directly to your cell phone.

It is ABSOLUTELY HARMLESS to the pet.

With its proven patented, cutting-edge technology, the GlobalPetFinder will pinpoint the exact location of your lost pet with the touch of a button. You may choose to have location information sent to your cell phone, pager, PDA or computer in text or map form. You may choose to have the alert and location sent to more than one person.
GlobalPetFinder will fit onto ANY standard collar, harness or halter.

Actually, this could have many uses, such as, keeping track of philandering partners, or errant and wayward children...


(Via Endgadget)

Medals Like Candy

A few months ago, Bush gave the Pope and the Leader of the Church of the Latter Day Saints the Congressional Medal of Freedom. This raised questions of how Bush was using these awards for political purposes.

Now he wants to give Tony Blair the Congressional Medal of Honor, but Blair does not want to play along:

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is refusing to fly to the US to receive a medal bestowed on him by the nation for his support over last year's Iraq war, a London newspaper reported today.

US President George W. Bush has put huge pressure on his closest ally to pick up the Congressional Medal of Honour in person, the Sunday Mirror said, quoting a senior British government source.

Mr Blair is immensely popular with large sections of the American public for his staunch support of the Iraq war and the White House believes a visit by the prime minister now would provide a much-needed boost to Mr Bush's re-election campaign, the weekly said.

"There has been a lot of telephone traffic between the White House and Downing Street over the medal in recent week," the Sunday Mirror quoted a senior government source as saying.

"George Bush wants the prime minister to come to Washington and pick up the medal, which is the highest honour America can bestow on a foreigner.

"But he has refused for more than a year now and for good reason. He cannot possibly accept an award for the Iraq war when British and American troops continue to risk their lives there."

Mr Blair is concerned also that a trip to the US now would effectively be giving a boost to Bush ahead of November's presidential elections.

Blair is also worried that his trip would be tantamount to a political endorsement for Bush. My guess is he does not want to alienate the upcoming Kerry Presidency...

Update: Contrary to many articles, Blair did not receive the Congressional Medal of Honor but rather the Congressional Gold Medal the firtst Brit since Churchill. (Thanks to alert readers Byan and William)

Maybe the FBI should be talking to Jon Carroll...

Potential protesters at the Republican Convention in NYC are getting visits from the FBI. They are asked if they will break the law or if anyone the know plans on breaking the law while visiting the Big Apple.

For the chilling effect this may have on contstitional protected dissent, or travel plans (as if, after being singled out like that you can expect not to be on a no-flight list) Jon Carroll takes note:

You may already have had your visit from the FBI. What rollicking good fun it must have been. Two large men may have already stood on your doorstep and informed you that you were a designated troublemaker. The trouble you were making: being associated with some person or organization that planned to demonstrate at the Republican National Convention.

Of course, it's not illegal to exercise your free speech rights by demonstrating. No one is saying that. Heaven forfend. "No one was dragged from their homes and put under bright lights," said Joe Parris, a spokesman for the FBI. "The interviewees were free to talk to us or close the door in our faces. "

Oh right. We all feel ever so comfortable closing the door in the face of an FBI agent. I usually like to couple the rejection with an example of my Churchillian wit. "I bet you think you're a big shot, don't you?" I will barb.

And the FBI never sees a briskly closed door as suspicious. "Well, Mac, I guess this citizen doesn't want to talk to us. Well within his rights, of course. Let's just cross him off the list." Yeah, that happens.

The FBI wants to prevent violence, it says. It is asking people whether they are planning to be violent. It is asking them whether they know anyone who is planning to be violent. What a marvelous investigative technique! I'll bet that works real well with al Qaeda cell members. And it sure helped catch the guy who mailed that anthrax. No, wait, we don't have him yet.

Only a suspicious person would say that this wasn't an investigation at all; it was the government delivering a face-to-face warning. "Why not stay home this year?" it suggests. "Why not dissent in the privacy of your own home?"

The FBI: once again preserving the peace of mind of the plutocrats.

Meanwhile, left-leaning troublemaking groups are debating about the most useful level of protest. Some are arguing that mass arrests, blocking doors, breaking windows and other acts of semi-civil disobedience are counterproductive; every news photograph of a screaming leftist means a vote for George Bush. Others say that extreme times demand extreme action and that we have to show the world that not all Americans believe in the unilateral invasion of foreign nations.

I myself am in the first camp -- I remember that the Chicago demonstrations in 1968, while cathartic, did end up with Richard Nixon as president. But I am not here to argue that point. I am here to propose a Third Way.

Carrol goes on to suggest a third way that is illegal and one I do not endorse, eventhough I adore Robin Hood...

How Would Jesus Vote?

Religion Experts Ask How Jesus Would Vote

Just a few miles from George W. Bush's former office at the state Capitol, a panel of religious experts weighed a question with relevance to many people of faith: How would Jesus vote?

It's a complex topic that can't be boiled down to simple political terms, said religious leaders who attended a Texas Faith Network conference in Austin on Tuesday. Many at the conference voiced concerns that the religious right dominates discussions of faith and morality in politics. They complained that issues such as abortion and gay marriage seem to take priority over hunger, corporate crime and even the war in Iraq.

James C. Moore, co-author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George Bush Presidential," drew laughter and applause when he offered his view to the moderate to left-leaning crowd of about 250 clergy and lay leaders.

"If ever there were a bleeding-heart liberal, it was Jesus Christ," Moore said at Congregation Agudas Achim synagogue. "I think the carpenter from Galilee was the original Democrat."

Normally I find these kinds of debates rather useless but I like this quote by the Rev. Timothy Tutt:

As I read the Scriptures and as I understand faith, God's side is the group that's feeding the poor, caring about children, making sure that people have enough food to eat - not killing others,

The reason I think this is useless is because it reminds me of the story of The Grand Inquisitor from, "The Brothers Karamazov," by Dostoevsky. Furthermore, it seems farfetched that a middle-eastern Jesus would be allowed to get citizenship or, let alone, register to vote under the current climate of fear that grips our country. Hell, he'd mostly likely be on a terrorist watchlist...

Techie Tuesday: Desert Cooler

Just add water! 

No wires or electricity just a good use of evaporation and the laws of thermodynamics make this a life altering technology for some.

Muhammed Bah Abba is the inventor

The idea he hit on was that of putting his grandmother's traditional craft, pottery, to a new use. If you put two pots one inside the other and insulate the space between them, then vegetables in the inner pot can be kept cool and last longer. This is the desert cooler.

It took him two years to develop the idea and answer related questions. Where were the pots best kept and what lasted best inside them? What was to be the insulator between the two pots? He tried foam out of an old mattress but finally decided on wet river sand. This not only insulated the inner pot the evaporation of water from the sand also cooled it.

This would perfect for Burning Man or to replace the ol' Styrofoam cooler. Just a trip to the garden center for some pots and some sand...

Finding the right response : Ten Words

Luis makes a good point about the game of Ten Words

"There it is. That's the ten-word answer my staff's been looking for for two weeks. There it is. Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns. They're the tip of the sword. Here's my question: What are the next ten words of your answer? Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Give me the next ten words. How are we going to do it? Give me ten after that, I'll drop out of the race right now. Every once in a while... every once in a while, there's a day with an absolute right and an absolute wrong, but those days almost always include body counts. Other than that, there aren't very many unnuanced moments in leading a country that's way too big for ten words."

--President Bartlet, in the West Wing episode "Game On"

In the game of "Ten Words," Bush has been winning the game.

Luis goes on to point out a few missed opportunities of the Kerry Campaign where they could have retorted to latest GOP smear without a non-nuanced response, i.e. many more words than ten.

Atrios details the upset many of us feel, the spokesmen for our side come across weak, ill- prepared to counter spurious charges.

...Okay, first, the short version of what they're doing wrong - a crappy job of dealing with the beltway journalists/cable news bobbleheads/talk radio set>

I think us bloggers can come up with those (please, don't call 'em slogans or memes) compact 10-word nuggets, those 10-word rispostes to counter those right-wing thrusts.

Do this in the spirit of shorter style, as long as we can avoid that problem that plagued Ovid: Brevis esse laboro obscurus fio, I try to be brief, but only become obscure.

I agree it is a lot like fencing - recognize the attack and craft the perfect response to quickly score home and draw blood. First touch or first blood? Yet be aware we are not dealing with gentlemen.

The problem is, Bush's great skill with the ten-word sword and the perception of Kerry unconditionally approving of what Bush did have been wounding Kerry in the media and in public perception recently.

Sometimes it is painful to know that your guy is right and the other guy is not only wrong, but also a lying, deceptive bastard, and yet you can still clearly understand how people can see it the other way around.

I think I will fight this ten words at a time...Want to join me?

I'm gonna' wash that man right out of my hair...

Clean up your act with Presidential Dope On A Rope.

Add it to your other memorabilia like Billy Beer.

Slamming Bush the Hip Hop way.

This clip of George W. Bush and Wordsworth, Writtens and "Freestyles" political debate is da bomb...

Camping Amongst the Sequoias

My big brother's birthday is today, Friday the 13th. I know that is a screwed up birth date but mine is actually a bit worse, September 11th, (but that is a story for another day).

So for his present I took him camping out at Samuel P. Taylor Park which also allows dogs. So I brought the dog, Roxi Blu, who was incredibly well behaved on her first camping trip. The peaceful setting under a canopy of old giants must have brought out the best behavior in each of us.

The last time my brother camped there was about 10 years ago. For me, it was about 30 years ago on my last Boy Scout campout, the time when a Girl Scout troop was fortuitously placed over in the campsite next to ours much to the mutual pleasure of all us kids. The leaders of both troops threaten expulsion to any scout, of either troop, not in their own sleeping bag by 9:30. No one got kicked out.

Although, many of us did get up at 5am to meet up…And make out.

What I remember as being kind of weird is that these Girls Scouts had all these cakes, brownies, and those square things made from Rice Krispies they wanted us to taste before the making out. Aaahh, the memories…

However, I was surprised that park fees had risen so much in the last handful of years. Nowhere in the neighborhood of inflation. Could it be the $$ squeeze caused by the Bush tax cuts? The need to make up for the cut-backs in state and federal funding? When higher fees are added onto to the taxes everyone already pays for these national treasures it makes it more difficult for the least fortunate in our society to partake in what belongs to all of us.

Sleeping outdoors, building a fire, and getting soiled by clean dirt are integral parts on the camping experience. Whether you drive, hike, or bike to your overnight resting place, the building of a fire is central to the evening's entertainment. I have always imagined that watching fire slowly burn, the glowing coals, was mankind’s first multimedia experience. Like Laserium for the last of the Neanderthals. Lightshow for the guitar player. Mood lighting for the story teller.

I prefer delving into the dying embers of a fire to construct fanciful images, much more so than laying on my back watching clouds (or connecting the dots on the Celotex tiles in the ceiling).

Somehow I feel recharged by getting away from the news and the net. Now we are all home and have collapsed in our favorite spots.

Techie Tuesday: Bionic Dolphin

Peggy Noonan get onboard... 


The idea of flying underwater like a dophin sounds like fun. This unusual craft had a brief appearence in the last Austin Power film. Instead of Dr. Evil at the helm, I picture the dolphin lady Peggy Noonan.

Anyhow take a look at the specifications.

Bush on Sovereignty- The Video

Watch how Bush attempts to respond to a question about what tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century.


(via Other Crap)

Hastert on Keyes: I Was Out of Town...

Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert- master of the sport analogy, gave one of weakest endorsements of Alan Keyes during this revealing exchange with "little" Russ on this Sunday's Meet the Press.

MR. RUSSERT: Alan Keyes of Maryland is going to be the Republican candidate for the Senate from Illinois. Why should, why did the Republican Party of Illinois say, "We can't find any Republicans in our state to run for the Senate. We had to go to Maryland to find somebody"?

REP. HASTERT: Well, it's kind of like New York going to Arkansas, I guess, to find a U.S. senator, but anyway, let's--look, look, look.

MR. RUSSERT: But it's interesting you said that because Alan Keyes...

REP. HASTERT: Well, let me...

MR. RUSSERT: ...was asked to run for the Senate in New York the same year Hillary Clinton ran in 2000 and this is what Alan Keyes had to say. "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it." If it was the destruction of federalism for Hillary Clinton to do it, why is it not the destruction of federalism for Alan Keyes of Maryland to run in Illinois?

REP. HASTERT: You know, I reminded Alan when I talked to him for the first time the other day about that statement, and I said, "You know, I guess we all regret things we've said in the past." And I think he probably will, too. But, you know, the fact is Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in New York, and now she's talked about being a potential U.S. presidential candidate in the future. So it really hasn't hurt her too much or New York, from what I see. The point is: How do we get there?

You know, I liken it as an old coaching philosophy, I guess. Here's a story. As a head coach, you know, you put together your football team, and you got your starting quarterback and your best running back and your line and your defense. You're all ready to go. Season starts, and your running back has an infraction with the law and does something wrong, and he's gone from the team. And then you got to go down to the second and third and fourth levels. I spent five weeks trying to find good people, everywhere from a good state senator that we had by the name of Steve Rauschenberger, who I thought he could have...

MR. RUSSERT: But you're drafting someone from another state.

REP. HASTERT: But wait. Wait. Well, let me go down through the process. And, you know, he didn't have enough money. I talked to Mike Ditka, and I decided maybe he made a good decision. I talked to a guy name Gary Fenzig, who was a great star, Harvard-Yale, star for the Chicago Bears. He couldn't. And the problem in Illinois, you've got to have $10 million to run; $6 million or $7 million of that has to be done for name I.D. I got down last week to interviewing a 70-year-old guy, who was a great farm broadcaster in Illinois. He decided since his health problems--he couldn't do it. You know, we were down--we needed to find somebody to run, somebody who wanted to run. And, you know, Alan Keyes wants to run, and I hope he's a good candidate.

Hastert has to hope he is a good candidate since he had go so deep into the bench to find him. So to deconstruct the sports analogy: Running back Jack "trying to screw in public" Ryan gets busted; they turn to 2nd-string Steve "not enough cash" Rauschenberger; next to refuse is 3rd-string Mike "I got a business to run" Ditka; then on to Gary "I couldn't" Fenzig; not to forget the 70-year-old "I don't even have a name" Radio Guy; finally Allen Keyes seems acceptable.

Doesn't that make him the sixth-string player. Thank God they have such a deep bench although what is Hastert thinking by alluding to Ditka as third-string? Even so, Russert wonders about Keyes as the match up to Obama.

MR. RUSSERT: He has obviously a much different view on those issues. But it gives the impression that Barack Obama, a black state senator from Illinois, Democrat, you went to Maryland to find a black to run against the Democratic black.

REP. HASTERT: Well, I tell you what, I was out of town when that happened. That--sure. But I went five levels. I've been working for five weeks trying to find a candidate. Here we are.

I was out of town...And here we are. It just bears repeating.

On this day in history...

Thirty years ago Richard M. Nixon became the first president to resign from the highest office in the land. And so he said to the nation:

Good evening.

This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest.

In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best for the Nation. Throughout the long and difficult period of Watergate, I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me.

In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future.

But with the disappearance of that base, I now believe that the constitutional purpose has been served, and there is no longer a need for the process to be prolonged. (more)

Direct from the Conservative Books for One Dollar Club

South Knox Bubba informs us of a new pro-Bush group publishing a new book hot on the heels of the Swifty Vets against Kerry.

Alabama Mail Room Veterans for Bush

WASHINGTON D.C., Aug. 6th, 2004, For Immediate Release -- Regnery Publishing today announced publication of a new book, "Alabama Mail Room Veterans for Bush". This explosive new blockbuster reveals the truth about Bush's service in the Air National Guard, and puts to rest once and for all questions about his attendance.

Through interviews with a courageous band of brothers, the Alabama Air National Guard Mail Room veterans who served alongside Bush, the book portrays the heroic duty and sacrifice that shaped a young Bush's future and made him the leader that he is today.

Here's my favorite excerpt from Lt. Eugene Overholder, AANG :

"It's still hard to talk about, but I was there when Lt. Bush went down. I still have nightmares. He was opening this envelope with an urgent message to the base commander about potato rations for next week. The sharp edge of the envelope flap caught him right under the left thumbnail. Nasty f***ing paper cut, man. I'll never forget it. There was blood all over his in-box. He was really f***ed up.

But he was one tough hombre. Didn't even holler out for a medic. His first instinct was to get that potato ration memo over to base HQ. Complete disregard for his own personal safety. Not me, man. No f***ing way. We finally got him down and rushed him over to the infirmary. They patched him up, shot him full of morphine, and he was back on duty that afternoon.

Later when they offered him a Purple Heart, he said 'Naw, it was just a scratch. Give it to that fellow who stapled his thumb to that packing crate.' See, that right there is all you need to know about the difference between Lt. Bush and that coward Kerry who took a Purple Heart and a ticket home for a scratch and a Band-Aid."

This is only a taste to wet your appetite. There is so much more revealing insights to be found...

Better Late Than Never

Ridge Issues Alert For U-Boat Attacks On Northeast Coast

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge issued a security alert for the potential of German U boat attacks on the Northeast coast of the United States.

“Certain secret documents were discovered that reveal Germany’s intent to target our shores by this class of submarine. I therefore ordered our military and coast guard to extreme heightened patrol,” Ridge said at a Washington news conference.

Though the documents date from over 50 years ago, Ridge emphasized that this didn’t diminish their importance and cited the need for the alert as another example “of the extraordinary leadership of President Bush in protecting our homeland as only he and he alone is capable of doing at least through this election unless wisdom prevails.

Ridge denied that the presidential election played any factor in declaring the alert. “It’s cynical and preposterous to even suggest politics had anything to do with this. I know our superb president wouldn’t stand for this while he is solely focused on decisive leadership to ensure you, your family and loved ones are secure in safe homeland only made possible by his decisive leadership,” Ridge said.

(Via BuzzFlash)

Antichrist of the day: Barack Obama

I guess I should have seen this coming. Give one good speech and the next thing is you have some "End of Days" type worrying you are The Antichrist

Did anyone catch this guys speech at the Democratic Convention? This guy bothers me, and here is why. First of all, Barack means blessed. This is from his bio:The lanky candidate speaks with grace, often without notes; strangers greet him enthusiastically on the street.

Even Republicans are complimentary. He exudes confidence and finesse Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois told USA Today.

And yet, in the middle of reporters' scrums and enthusiastic greetings from strangers, Obama has remained preternaturally calm (exceeding what is natural or regular).

"The rich guy flamed out, and Obama was right there," said Mendell. "He ran a really smart primary campaign. He waited until the ninth inning to score all his runs. ... It was masterfully done. (His running mate Jack Ryan withdrew from the race because of sexual activity claimed by his wife.)
He was introduced by longtime Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who referred to Obama as a man who can help heal the division in our nation.

This guy just sounds to perfect to me. He came on the scene vertually unheard of except in Illinois. I looked at the polls this morning, and Burack Obama had more of a percentage rate then anyone giving speeches at the Democratic Convention...INCLUDING KERRY!!!

The idea is Obama is too well liked, speaks well, and is a Democrat. Not everyone on on this christian forum thread of 17 pages agrees with the premise.

One poster states:

If anyone in public office is the Anti-Christ...it's BUSH.

To which the reponse is:

Bush has about as much "charisma" as a brick!!! He is ARROGANT!!!! His popularity has hit the skids, and as of a few days ago, Kerry was 5 points ahead in the polls.

Go read it yourself. I'd like to point out that it took 11 pages before it went Godwin. Also AC does not stand for air-conditioning...


(via Everlasting Blort)

Why do we need an Intelligence Czar?

Intelligence Czarina 

When we already have a position something like that?

John Moltz notes the painfully obvious, "Is it because she sucks?"

Novak to run against Obama?

An iteresting proposal for the GOP candidate in Illinois popped up today on Crossfire:

BRAZILE: Now, the most unusual name being mentioned is two-time presidential candidate and talk show -- former talk show host Alan Keyes.

That would be fine, except one little detail. Keyes lives in Maryland. And, apparently, he has no connection to the land of Lincoln. Tucker, can't you all find somebody to run in Illinois?

CARLSON: You know, I don't speak for the party, Donna. I have to say, Alan Keyes is a compelling speaker. He actually speaks a lot like John Kerry. Both of them have about 90 independent clauses in each sentence.

I personally would like to see our own Robert D. Novak run. He's from the state of Illinois. He's a talk show host, though not a failed one, unlike Alan Keyes. I think he would be a great candidate.

BRAZILE: Well, that remains to be seen, whether or not Bob Novak will leave his home here in the Washington, D.C. area to go back to Illinois to run on the ticket, the land of Lincoln ticket, when most Republicans have abandoned what Abraham Lincoln preached.

An so the trial balloon is floated...

Guantanamo Chaplin Resigns from the Army

Last year for the September 11th anniversary we were treated to the arrest of possible terrorist spies working for the Army at Guantanamo. The pro-war faction in the country was ready to believe we were infiltrated and that we should string these guys up, or torture them for information. In the end the was no, nada, zilch, terrorist connection.

Muslim Chaplain Once Accused Of Spying Resigns From US Army

A Muslim chaplain once accused of espionage says he is resigning from the U.S. Army.

Captain James Yee says in a statement that the Army's handling of his case has "irreparably" harmed his reputation and destroyed his prospects for an Army career.

Captain Yee was detained for 76 days last year while Army prosecutors tried to link him to an alleged spy-ring at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The chaplain was charged with mishandling classified documents after returning from the camp, where he ministered to Muslim detainees.

The Army eventually dropped the criminal charges and convicted him on lesser administrative charges, which were later overturned.

Mr. Yee says he has waited for months for an apology -- in vain.

U.S. military officials have not commented on the resignation.

I wonder if Yee will be able to write a book or if he still has a gag order against him.

(via dangerousmeta)

Techie Tuesday: Electric Off-Road

Battery powered 

This fun eviro-friendly little beauty comes fromElectric Moto Corporation and, for speed and weight, stacks up nicely against the Honda XR250. Just think 0-30 MPH in 4.1 seconds and it will do big air in the jumps.

Since it's battery powered it's totally silent and can be used on mountain bike trails or local bike paths, where gas engines are prohibited. However, it probably is not a good commute bike as it may not be street legal in some states and the battery life is not unlimited. Other than that, it looks like hella' fun...

(Via Metafilter)

Bush: The missing years

According to August's GQ, Bush was part of a super-secret and clandestine military unit: the Special Undercover Missions Service (SUMS).

Here are a few newly discovered acts of espionage by elite agent Bush in the interest of national security while supposedly attending National Guard drills in Alabama:

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when Bush's service with SUMS began. Almost all the offcial documentation on the agency remains classified by the Department of Defense, and SUMS personnel are required to sign lifelong confidentiality agreements. But Bush is believed to have completed his SUMS training in March 1972, not long before he disappeared from Guard duty in Texas.

Several sources with knowledge of SUMS's operations during that period say Bush was immediately dispatched on a string of low-level training missions to build up his experience in the field. First was Russia, where Bush worked with CIA operatives to break up a gunrunning operation orchestrated by disgruntled Soviet troops. From there he moved to India, where he helped train a mounted brigade assembled to kidnap the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (a mission that would fail due to an untimely monsoon). Next for Bush was New Zealand, where he assisted officials with helicopter surveillance of sheep poachers, and then Monaco, where he taught the crown prince's bodyguards how to fire assault rifles while waterskiing in tuxedos. He then returned to the United States for several weeks in the spring.

This led to more important duties in fighting the culture wars.

Bush was assigned to the Stones' 1972 North American tour. He was asked to infiltrate the band's inner circle and report on any illegal or possibly un-American activities.

This time Bush chose to take on the identity of a roadie named Bo Bannister, an itinerant concert-business employee. Though cleaner-cut than most of the Stones' crew, Bannister enthralled his fellow roadies with tales of life on the road with acts that included Chuck Berry and Mel Tormé. Soon, he was given a position of great honor at the Stones' shows: inflating an enormous, forty-five-foot pink plastic penis at the beginning of "Honky Tonk Women."

After tackling the Stones and then Andy Warhol, brave Bush was sent on more dangereous missions.

Meanwhile, Henry Kissinger was concerned that Bush was spending too much time in the domestic culture war. In late 1972, he ordered Bush to the White House's most urgent battleground: Vietnam.

Aware of Bush's history as a college prankster, Kissinger wanted Bush to travel to that country with the specific mission of disrupting Vietcong activities using fraternity-style gags. Guns and mortars hadn't worked. Kissinger theorized that perhaps the best way to defeat the Vietcong was to humiliate them.

Bush's mission was code-named Operation Goldfish Swallow. He received clearance from the White House to bring along a former college chum, Pinky Buhrman, who had nearly been kicked out of Yale for painting the flags of the fifty U.S. states on the penises of all the statues in the New Haven school's art museum. Pinky was the best, Bush thought—and the country needed the best.

Operation Goldfish Swallow commenced on Christmas Eve, 1972. Over a series of weeks, Pinky and Bush engaged the enemy numerous times. They TP'd enemy installations in Haiphong and Hanoi. They sneaked into VC barracks and short-sheeted beds. They made repeated phony phone calls to enemy leaders in the field.

There is much more to be learned from this dossier and justice cannot be done here, in such a brief time, to all the un-thanked service that formed Bush as a young man.