AtB: April 6, 2005 Tan Lucy Pez asks "Is this guy running the country? Who IS?"

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles. (Some of us are. Some of us just do the puzzle...no reading.)
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents once ran the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country ... or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all for which they stand. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped-minority-feminist-atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. None of these are read by the guy who is running the country into the ground. I'm not so sure he can read.)

Hussman: The economy is basically a big karma train

As a sidenote, the gross domestic investment - plant, equipment, capital spending, real estate, etc - in the economy is exactly equal to saving in the economy (including imported savings from foreigners). So for instance, the savings that people create through their 401K programs and so forth do finance real investments, but those savings need not increase the value of stocks and may not even be of benefit to stock-issuing corporations at all, even if the savings are invested in stocks. For instance, if Mickey (who is a construction worker) invests new savings in a stock mutual fund through his 401K, the fund goes out and buys stock from Ricky, who gets Mickey's cash and invests it in a money market fund, which buys debt securities issued by a government agency, which purchases mortgages made by Nicky's bank, which lends the cash to Nicky, who uses it to pay construction workers to build a house. Though that route was more direct than most, savings really do equal investment for the nation as a whole. The economy is basically a big karma train.

Hussman

From this week's Hussman report.

The risks of a shift in Chinese currency policy are heightened by the still-polite but increasingly palpable tension between China and the U.S. revolving around Taiwan's hints at independence. It doesn't help that the Administration is filling important international finance and diplomatic posts with judgment-impaired political hacks rather than individuals with suitable talent to address the risks.

In short, international interest rate spreads are useful to watch here. In addition, credit spreads (corporate minus Treasury or low grade corporate minus high grade corporate) are also important. At this point, a further deterioration in credit spreads would be a very strong signal to batten the hatches.

The information is always in the divergences.

AtB: March 24, 2005:The Unintended Consequences of Laws...

An interesting tidbit from Crosblog

The Law of Unintended Consequences...
Ohio passes a gay marriage ban that bars "creating or recognizing a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals."

Ohio also has a domestic violence law that makes it a felony for someone with a previous domestic violence conviction to assault a family member.

Correction - that may be "had" a domestic violence law. Since "legal status for relationships..." is now barred, a judge reduced a felony assault on a repeat abuser's live-in girlfriend to a misdemeanor, finding that the new language barred giving the unmarried couple any additional benefits.

Prosecutors are appealing. From the hip analysis from someone who's never read an Ohio statute or case - call it a longshot.

If it's said boldly and without a hint of shame then...

From the final paragraph a NYTimes story about the popular uprising in Kyrgyzstan:

"In Washington, meanwhile, a State Department spokesman, Adam Ereli, said Wednesday that the United States had urged the Kyrgyz government to avoid violence and open a dialogue with the opposition. The message being sent by the United States and other nations, he said, was that 'violence is not an acceptable means for resolving differences.' "

Around the Bloggosphere(AtB): March 22, 2005

In my continuing time crunched effort to keep content flowing here at TCA I provided you with another installment of “Around the Bloggosphere”. Since being a dad is a brand new job for me I think I will continue to do these AtB posts for a little while.

Ken

Subject: Campaign finance reform.
Blog: Toehold

I have an idea.

• Individual Americans (and corporations too!) will contribute to a single fund for all campaigning.
• Legitimate political parties (with some fair definition of "legitimate") will draw equally from the fund and distribute what they draw equally to their candidate(s).
• No campaign spending except from this fund.
• All private campaign ads will be funded as if they were a political party.

Keep holding fund raisers, and keep getting those fat checks from fat cats, but share with your opponents. How do you like them apples?

Problems:

• The legitimization of the Party party leads to the public funding a campaign which enjoys itself thoroughly without doing any campaigning.
• The most popular candidates don't want to raise funds.
• J. Random Billionare has a free speech problem if the private ad fund is short. On the other hand, J. Random could contribute enough money to make up the difference and think of it as a tax on "free" speech.

My original idea was to pay for campaigns through a poll tax. Each candidate would account for all campaign spending, and there'd be a number next to the name on the ballot. That number is how much the voter will pay in taxes to fund the campaign if it wins. Slick Politician can run a huge campaign, but the voters may vote for the cheap guy instead. The collected taxes first pay for the accounting and then go to repay the campaign's donors. The result:

• Cheaper campaigns are more appealing to voters.
• Donors prefer to donate to the candidate who wins, but only because they get a refund.
• Candidates still end up with an obligation to the donors because of the risk they took, but an increase in "campaign tax" could eliminate that too (in which case, "donating" to the winner becomes an investment that produces a return).
• How does this account for independent advertising? Maybe it doesn't.

What to do if the candidate spends less than what was given for the campaign? Take the remainder of the pool and distribute it evenly among the donors. This encourages many small donors and discourages individual large donors. If one donor gives half the total pool, and that amount is spent, that donor gets back the money donated, divided by the number of donors. People who donated the least could get back more than they originally put in.

There are probably lots of odd situations I haven't thought of, so I've designed toward behavior that's bad, and it's possible that behavior I think is desirable really isn't. Ultimately I'd like a system in which politicians are "paid for" by a majority (e.g., everybody) rather than any minority. I'm tired of our elected officials being beholden to monied interests instead of the people who elected them. I want to disconnect their funding from the funders. Make all donations anonymous? Easy to defeat.

Maybe someone has solved this problem, and I just haven't seen it. Unfortunately, I suspect a real working solution would never be implemented.

permalink posted by Kyle : 7:39 AM

Around the Blogosphere

Here is an alternative perspective on the world...

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Are We Sinners In Need Of Salvation Or Not?

I am always impressed what deceived men will do for a lie. This afternoon I had two guests who are of the Jehovah's Witness persuasion. They talked and talked and (I know, we've all experienced it) and talked. Yet, if I had not forced the conversation into the direction of Paul's letter to the Romans, we would never have talked about salvation.

What are the issues in evangelization? Are Tim LaHaye's books the main way to convince people to come to Christ? How about rock'n for Jesus at a concert? How about throwing a party at church to show that men need to repent? That seems to be the method today. We could have a Super Bowl party for Jesus.

I am not saying there are not different ways to evangelize. We all use different methods to "springboard" our conversations into the Gospel message. I am simply wondering if we often compromise or miss the message altogether. Have we become like the JWs and missed how the Spirit of God commands us to proclaim God's Word faithfully? Just a thought.

Here is one of the most powerful sermons I have heard in a long time. John Piper preaches on Romans 9. How should we proclaim the Gospel? Click Here.

posted by Howard Fisher | 5:19 PM

American Jobs Blog By Greg Spotts

This is the kind of stuff that Walmart depends on... only it ain't Walmart anymore: it's coming up the food chain.
You can also find him on a report on PBS NOW.
Here's a good book, one that goes way back. You don't even have to read it, you just have to read the title: "Small is Beautiful: economics as if people mattered."
The book is written by a hardbitten, real life economist. Minister of Mines, I think, in the UK. No bleeding heart, he.

Big oil won: we're paying the price in dollars, time and lives

Plan A: end Opec
The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas.

Plan B; (the industry plan) keep prices high
Privatisation blocked by industry
Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA who took control of Iraq's oil production for the US Government a month after the invasion, stalled the sell-off scheme.
Mr Carroll told us he made it clear to Paul Bremer, the US occupation chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that: "There was to be no privatisation of Iraqi oil resources or facilities while I was involved."

Activist Judges Rule!

"Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County's trial-level Superior Court likened the (gay marriage) ban to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be 'no rational purpose' for denying marriage to gay couples."

China is Wal-Mart to the world

In the same way Wal-Mart sends the small local retailers packing, China is putting entire countries out of business. They undervalue their currency and undercut the rest of the world. With their hundreds of millions eager and hungry for low paying factory work, they can win at this game.

Wal-Mart is not the problem here. They are just the most noticeable symptom here in the U.S. (and increasingly in other countries) of China's strategy.

China needs to play fair with international trade, or they should face restrictions.

TiVo.com | The TiVo Homepage

If you have a TV and you don't have Tivo, you are wasting your time, your money, and letting TV run your life.
NOT having Tivo is, in a word, silly. It costs $100. There is a monthly subscription fee: it is well worth it.
Oh, you can transfer Tivo recordings to your computer. You can print them to VHS or DVD, whatever.
For those who do NOT watch TV, that's fine: you'll never watch "TV" again. You will only watch Tivo: you will watch what you want when you want, and if you've found you've "caught a fish" you don't like: you throw it back. Better yet, your kids never watch TV again: they watch Tivo and you get to say what's on Tivo: end of story.
Phone rings? hit pause: the machine goes into record mode immediately. Continue watching tomorrow if you feel like it.

saddam capture: staged?

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.
Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.
"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.
"We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said.
Interesting. He's a US Marine. And he is of Arab descent. He's an American citizen (probably, but not necessarily) but where do his loyalties lie: with the US, with the Middle east, or maybe it's just the truth? Of course, one thing for certain: he is a volunteer: that could cut both ways.

response to query: Your Uncle Sam wants to know what you want to know.

OK: I did the search on fertilizer and diesel fuel. Just like that. No quotes.
This is what google said. (I had tried A9 .com: it said there were NO results. (When did you even do a search, without quotes, that came up with NO results???))
Google gave me the following page, saying the site violates our policy.
So, we know that the government IS looking at our queries and is most certainly recording them.
403 Forbidden

Terror Suspects Buying Firearms, Report Finds

Official comments from the world-of-reality dept:
1) so what: the shit is mostly harmless and no more than what is available to any citizen, resident, or sidewalk shopper. Fertilizer and diesel fuel? Hmmm, have to google that.
2) ummm, why are they "suspected" and by whom and for what?
3) Catch 22, in particular the character of Milo Minderbinder is a must read for economics, politics, policy, philosophy, humor, anthropology.

Derelict Plants Are Crippling Iraq's Petroleum Industry

"And with the petroleum sector crumbling, Iraqi officials must soon decide whether to invest in time-consuming repairs and upgrades, or try to extract everything they can from the creaky equipment, as Saddam Hussein did. It is a tricky decision: Because the rebuilding effort is financed from oil revenues, shutting down the system for desperately needed repairs cuts back on the money available for further repairs."
oh oh
Free at last, free at last, thank god I'm.... poor at last????
See, the good news was that President Bush was really tight in the oil business. The bad news: he (personally) utterly failed at it. His friends, of course, did not.

Brain Research Raises Boggling Issues

"Terry Harrington had served more than two decades for the 1978 murder of a Council Bluffs night watchman when the court reversed the conviction. Something called 'brain fingerprinting' convinced the court that the 'records' in Harrington's brain did not match the scene of the crime or the details of the case."
Ummm, this is something that one would like to know a little more about... it could go either way, no?

Scientist Build a 'Brain' From Rat Cells

The cells learn how to fly an F-22
"Usually, within 10 to 15 minutes, it's pretty much flying the plane," DeMarse says.
And then, after about 15 minutes, it's all over. The neurons can't remember how to fly the plane anymore, so the next time the experiment is run, the neurons have to be taught all over again."
The technology of intelligence may become mundane, which is probably as it should be.
What about consciousness... a notion of self. Maybe that is more narcisism than anything else, that we reserve to ourselves in a rather unconscious manner.

ABC News: A New Take on Human Intelligence

"Briefly put, Hawkins thinks intelligence is nothing more than memory, and the ability to predict."
This makes a lot of sense to me. And it's pretty much the path that google is taking.

Where is the intellligence?

Lewis Thomas, in Lives of a Cell, observes a colony of mindless ants that behave quite intelligently. Here, McLurkin is getting robots to behave like an any colony: when you have enough, they start working.

McLurkin, 32, a graduate student in computer science at M.I.T., the young scientist is on the forefront of developing "swarmbots"—packs of dozens of small robots that communicate with one another and work in harmony to complete an assignment. They have no centralized command system and can cover vast terrain; if one is destroyed, others fill in.
McLurkin's machines were inspired by nature. As an undergraduate at M.I.T., he became interested in ants and kept a terrarium full of them on his desk. The decentralized nature of ant colonies gave him a model for his robots. "I worked on the notion of using virtual pheromones [the biochemical scents that some animals use to communicate]," he says. "As one robot gathers knowledge, it spreads it to its neighbors, and they spread it to their neighbors."

Leninism, Trotskyism, and the American Right

Have you noticed that on the right there is a blind adherence to the party line?

Have you noticed the use of collectivist forces to steer debate (mob protests against the Florida recount for example.)

The Trotsky Hour: A consrvative talks of the Trotskyite takeover of the conservative movement.

ACHIEVING A “LENINIST” STRATEGY: From the "capitalist" CATO institute

This fits in with my philosophy that many of our leaders today do not so much fear communism, as much as they are, fundamentally in their hearts, communists. They understand and believe in Marxist-Leninist ideology (much more so than the middle or working class) and either are doing what they can to prevent it by using its means OR actively propagating it (since, in Marxism, the mature capitalist state¹ is the only state that is ready for communism. This, some argue, is the reason for the failure of the 20^th century communist revolutions, they all occurred in relatively poor nations that did not have the industrial capital to maintain a workers paradise).

1
Mature Capitalism

• In mature capitalism, there are three main classes:
1. The capitalist class: own the means of production.
2. The workers: who are exploited for the surplus value produced by their labor.
3. The petit bourgeoisie: who work providoing their own labor. EG: Shopowners and small-holding farmers who own their own land.
• Because of economies of scale, the petit bourgeoisie is eventually absorbed into the working class.
• Economy of Scale: industrialization permits reduced cost in production because of repetition for large production orders (unit costs are less).
• The close proximity of urban workers permits them to organize themselves into unions. This forms the embryonic form of class consciousness.
• The political organizations that sustain that consciousness: unions and revolutionaries.

Modern disclaimer: I am not now nor have I even been a communist, terrorist, islamist, jihadist, or anti-american.

"A fiscally profligate government cannot help but sabotage the growth prospects of the nation."

John Hussman

The one-year budget deficit will be so large in the next fiscal year that if the government stopped funding everything except defense, homeland security and entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the nation would still be $75 billion in the red.
WaPo's Talking Points

For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.
After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon

Bush to Request $82B for Military Operations

LP: Heads Roll At The Veterans Administration: Mushrooming Depleted Uranium (DU) Scandal Blamed

"a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret..."
ummm, not at all clear why this person is an "eminent scientist"... she is an activist. As to published and reviewed papers? I don't see much at all.
Deplete Uranium could be very very dangerous, but I do NOT know of any respected work in the field that says it IS dangerous. The US government has said categorically it is NOT dangerous. It has NOT been corrected by the press, academe, etc... but little has been (nothing yet on the bluge in the Bush shirt during the debate..)
The book The Tipping Point talks about the "broken window" theory of crime... well, of social behavior in general, crime in particular. People are sensitive the their environments and move into those openings. Unrepaired broken windows say that something is untended, not watch, un owned, and says there is a vacuum of public or private overship of the space, and in move the vandals, followed by... etc.
The Bush administration has broken many many "windows" of civil liberties and democratic governance, legitimate business practice, conflicts of interest, and the effect is not only widespread in the United States but abroad... who are at once attracted by the vacuum, and see too that the US would be harder put to criticize, being a bad example and making political gain into national interest and wanting support more than thoughtful laws and processes

On the ground in Iraq

Today's News!

Bush's Popularity Jumps

Nearly two-thirds of Americans satisfied with war on terrorism!

Charles, Camilla to Wed

North Korea declares it has nuclear weapons; cancels talks

FAA Was Warned of 9/11 Attacks

Previously undisclosed report by 9/11 commission revealed 52 warnings.

2004 Trade Deficit Hits All-Time High

President Explains Strengthening Social Security

In case you didn't already understand the details of his plan, the president is clarifying things very clearly with explanations like the following:

__________________________________________________________
Q -- (I want to) really understand how is it the new plan is going to fix that problem (the "notch" issue)?

THE PRESIDENT:
Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

Okay, better? I'll keep working on it. (Laughter.)
__________________________________________________________

Note: There is a video of this speech somewhere that I have not been able to find. If you have a link to it, please post to comments.

Should Tax Dollars Fund Bush's Bubble?

"Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

"Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.

"Okay, better? I'll keep working on it."

Google Maps

Will the internet become the googleNet?

On the Making of America

SLAVERY AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA is a four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. Drawing on a wealth of recent scholarship, it looks at slavery as an integral part of a developing nation, challenging the long held notion that slavery was exclusively a Southern enterprise. At the same time, by focusing on the remarkable stories of individual slaves, it offers new perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.

Denver area:
KRMA Analog
CHANNEL 6
8:00pm

Other areas

More Churchill Letters

Usual suspects say usual things

The angry flailing of Ward Churchill has provoked predictable reactions from the usual suspects. Conservatives have tried to silence him, while liberals have raised the free speech issue. This paper has taken its typical position that, while we find his statements outrageous, he has the right to speak and shouldn't be fired.

Nowhere in all of this does anyone address the substance of Churchill's essay. OK, the Eichmann analogy was stupid, but what about the underlying message? Do we bear a collective responsibility for the actions of our government? As functionaries for transnational business and banking, do we endorse, even promote in some way, the foreign policies of our government — policies designed to make our businesses easier and more profitable? An interesting social question, but lost under the 500-pound red herring of the Eichmann remark.

Churchill made the point that we were attacked because of our foreign policy. He was merely stating the obvious, but his point was lost when his ramblings came close to implying we deserved it. And that is what everyone locked on to. It's unfortunate, because the lie that we were attacked because "they hate our freedom" will likely get us attacked again. Churchill is angry, as am I, that certain things about 9/11 are off limits for debate. Like why we were attacked. On Sept. 13, 2001, this paper went so far as to editorialize that there was "no reason" for the attack. Surely that meant there was no justification, because there was certainly a reason.

I have a hunch that the flap over Churchill's essay has more to do with fear of the underlying message than offense at the ridiculous way it was presented. But we won't talk about that.

DAVID DAVIS
Longmont

Local Boulder Paper: Letters to the Editor: Ward Churchill

[link requires free (other than the cost of tracking cookies) subscription]
CHURCHILL

Professor's critics should read essay

I wonder how many people out to crucify Ward Churchill have actually read the offending article. Among the clumsy analogies and over-the-top polemics — it comes across like the first draft of a man in heat — is a message which this Establishment reader finds somewhat affecting.

It taps into my own long-suppressed anxiety about the possible consequences of our increasing we're-No. 1 cultural hubris. I felt it after the gratuitous Highway of Death strafing at the end of Gulf War I. I feel it with the Crusade undertones of today's Iraq War. I often feel it when I regard a foreign policy backed by a military might that is big and powerful and often dumb as a fist.

I read Mr. Churchill's essay as an Edvard Munch scream. Read the entire article — including the unfortunate references — in context. If nothing else it provides a perspective on the part of those that we fear. That in itself counts for a lot. To suppress this point of view would also support Mr. Churchill's notion that we may be suffering from a "delusional pathology."

STEVE SMITH
Boulder

"money for war and nothing else" Bush and McCain agree

"President Bush today unveiled a $2.57 trillion budget that eliminates dozens of politically sensitive domestic programs, including funding for education, environmental protection and business development, while proposing significant increases for the military and international spending."
"With the deficits that we're now running, I'm glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on ABC's "This Week." "I hope we in Congress will have the courage to support it."

Pentagon threatens to target journalists in Iraq. | Metafilter

Today on Hard Ball, the section "tell me something I didn't know" included a prediction: the news will break at 12 journalists were killed by the US"
Doing a google on "us kills journalists" brought this up: 3 were killed in 2003.
This president has changed the rule book: institutions we called sacrosanct are not. Any journalist has to know that IF you cross the US, you can get killed.
Jounalists have been reduced from professionals to salaried employees. Thus, you act nice at press conference, of you and your employer cannot come back. You talk nice to Tim Russert even when he asks bullshit questions to get the answer he wants, or you can't come back.
NPR remains free, except it is painted with a brush more broad: be "fair and balanced" or we will cut off federal and state funds. We will toss you into the public arena, where you will NOT be safe: you may be "publicly" funded, but you might be called MCI public radio, or Coors public radio... and it's over.
Assuming invoking Christ invokes the man of the kindness, the parables, redemption and courage, Bush is the anti-Christ.

The Balding President?

Say it aint so?

Blue Light Special

Fractal Dimensions 

Boulder Morning 

Great vote turnout in vietnam! 1967. Democracy!

"'United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 percent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam.'
- Peter Grose, in a page 2 New York Times article titled, 'U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote,' September 4, 1967."
I dunno, but I look through the editorial pages, the letters to the editors. See for yourself. See how much trouble, mismanagement, intrustion, noise, and objection is generated by democracy. If the least government is the best government, that's not democracy.
The European Union refuses entry to countries not up a certain standard. They are not allowed to enter to vote. No such standard applies to any person or group of persons in a democracy.
We'll have means testing for medical care. Why not some kind of means testing for the vote? There is no substitute for personal strength and power. Delieverance.

Sage Francis

... both a super ego created in the shadows of Paul Francis,
and a disembowled head on a stake as a warning to all who seek to find answers to the great abyss.

Great people
aren't born through handouts,
and don't kiss ass

to get to the top.

Real people know that
the top is the bottom...

Tri30up Triathlon Club

Learn how to make triathlon training part of your lifestyle.

Chinese Language Center

A cool site for Chinese languages, Pinyin, etc. If you can't get the character fonts to display, see here:

Here is how you can input Chinese characters in Windows XP.

Ward Churchill's Essay

This is a link to an essay that Ward Churchill, a University of Colorado professor, wrote on the evening of September 11th 2001. He is now getting a considerable amount of heat for the essay and there are mounting political pressures for him to be fired. Have a read at some point.


Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens
http://passionbomb.com/words/push_roost.htm

Tests Said to Tie Deal on Uranium to North Korea

"WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 - Scientific tests have led American intelligence agencies and government scientists to conclude with near certainty that North Korea sold processed uranium to Libya, bolstering earlier indications that the reclusive state exported sensitive fuel for atomic weapons, according to officials with access to the intelligence."
1) What if a limited number of nuclear attacks could slow/stop/reverse global warming? Perhaps the limited destruction of industrialization and reduction of population very very quickly would actually save the planet (well, of a while, of course).
2) Will an asteroid hit hit us before global warming? What if preparing for asteroid defense is linked to global warming :-)
Ah, I have constructed problems I cannot possibly solve, let alone influence. Time to relax and play.

New Speak

Up is down
Left is right
Black is white

If you think otherwise, make sure to watch the "State of the Union" speech tonight and get with the program. Because you are either with us or you hate freedom.

Social Security: Out with "private accounts" in with "personal accounts".

From TPM,
The media falls in line: Chris Matthews stumbles, then tries to get right with the president's Social Security Speech Code. From last night's Hardball: "All these programs, one which will privatize this, personalize, to some extent, Social Security."

Collage Graduate 

Center for American Progress

From Talking Points Memo
The latest from the Center for American Progress ...

From the people who bring you The Progress Report – the daily electronic newsletter the National Review calls "the most aggressive, most energetic opposition research in politics" – comes Thinkprogress.org, a new blog ready to revolutionize the world of research-intensive rapid response. Debuting in tandem with the State of the Union address on Feb. 2, Thinkprogress.org will give journalists and the public real-time access to American Progress’s highly regarded rapid response operation for the first time ever. And in honor of the launch, American Progress CEO John Podesta will be a guest blogger, providing live commentary throughout the entire State of the Union address.

Under the Radar

HALLIBURTON – FLEECING THE PENTAGON: Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), the massive subsidiary of Vice President Cheney's former firm Halliburton, is estimating that costs for the basic services it provides in Iraq for U.S. troops "could exceed $10 billion." But even if it seems that President Bush is willing to hand over a blank check when it comes to the war in Iraq, the Army initially only budgeted $3.6 billion for these same services. Labeling the difference "an 'unaffordable' budget gap," Army officials have had to slash various troop services from their list, but the disparity still stands at about $4 billion, and the Army is not sure how much more can be cut "without causing significant disruptions." There was seemingly no discussion as to whether the notoriously wasteful KBR, which has yet to be fully investigated by Pentagon auditors, was just up to its old overcharging tricks once again. Whatever the compromise, hopefully this time the Army will get all that it pays for.

On The Ground In Iraq - Pre Election On the Ground From Iraq

I am priviledged to know this woman personally and do a little computer stuff once in a while. Adam, the guy that does her web site, now HE'S good!
Loran is local, and is NOT owned by anyone! She is her own person, has HER feet on the ground, writes exactly and only what SHE sees and smells and touches. She is real, she talks, can be touched, and has spend months, on the ground, sharing the life from before the invasion to now and will continue.
Here is an absolutely pristine source for world information.

"Ommar is an Iraqi American who left Iraq at the age of 20, not because of feeling threatened or disenfranchised by the Saddam regime, but to strike out on his own. A stellar student under the regime, he wanted to explore the world, to see whatever he could see and learn as much about the world as possible. He ended up in California but moved back to Baghdad in May 2003, bringing with him an American entrepreneurial attitude and a strong sense of Iraqi nationalism.

The result was the birth of the American Iraqi Chamber of commerce, which has a list of services, offered to members – both international and domestic – that is a virtual soup to nuts cornucopia of services. The fee of $250 for Iraqi nationals, and $500 for foreigners gets the 5000-plus members access to such services as ESL classes; free Internet training and usage; various trainings on how to run a business; information on how to create a website, make business cards and stationary; help with visa applications for those whose business needs might necessitate travel outside of Iraq, connections to others in their fields and/or to potential clients; and instruction on computer software programs such as Quickbooks, word processing or layout and design. There are services for the small father/son businesses as well as for major corporations."

World Reacts to Free Iraqi Elections

"The jubilant mayor of this beleaguered city called for the construction of a monument to George W. Bush. The Democratic Party's standard-bearer in the 2004 presidential election questioned the legitimacy of Sunday's elections here. From the unbridled optimism of the president of the United States to the cynicism of his political opponents, voices were heard around the world on Monday as leaders and average citizens alike registered their opinions of Sunday's elections in Iraq."
When you see what one man has to gain from victory, you can understand why his opposition, loyal or no, are willing to fight so very very desperately for his defeat.
But, still now: who is this man to whom victory has been given? What man, risen above the rest on a perceived good deed, proceeds to tunnel quickly and deeply and dismantle the pillars of society? It is hard to separate means from ends: they may be only the very same thing.
Disturb a man while he is celebrating, while he is euphoric by whatever means, and he will fight you. Take away the bottle of the alcoholic, he will attack. Stay the bladed hand of the crusader from the path to a conquered heart, save him his soul: he will not thank you, but turn on you at his first convenience.
Wait. Be careful. "For Ceasar was an honorable man"

Tetons in the mist 

The Bottom Line

Financial security does not require extraordinary income or investment "home runs." It requires, first and foremost, that you start saving and investing early, and add to your investments consistently.

Iraq: Good news for a change

Turnout Higher Than Expected in Iraqi Elections

I'm not saying that this is an excuse for an illegal and immoral invasion. But it is still good news.

Democrats want political gains from privatization battle

for immediate distribution:
from the it's-ok-to-shoot-this-person dept.
Interesting framing of the issue in the headline. The body of the article explains the the Democrates are opposing the Social Security Plan.
There is no notion in the headline that there is any national service being formed by our elected officials. Simple stated, the headline is willfully destructive propoganada, not merely of party but of country.
What is a resonable response to the exercise of paid speech that knowingly and with disregard weakens the nation for personal gain?

Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World

"I encourage the Iraqi people to overcome their fear. It is important. It will preserve the integrity of Iraq," spokesman Thaer al-Naqeeb said. "If you vote...the terrorists will be defeated."
Pity the people. If they vote, they will be killed. If they don't vote, they will be killed. The can die moving forward, or die standing still.
Was there any other way? Is there any other way? Who will be next? Will it be the same?
Maybe the outcome of Israel and Pallestine will show what is, or is not, possible.

Individualism

(From our fishing trip in Marathon, FL, December 2004)

Night Train by Bruce Cockburn, from The Charity Of Night (1996)

Not a knife-throw from here you can hear the night train passing
That's the sound somebody makes when they're getting away
Leaving next week's hanging jury far behind them
Prisoner only of the choices they've made
Night Train

Ice cube in a dark drink shines like starlight
The moon is floating somewhere out at sea
I'm an island in the blur of noise and colour
Alcatraz, St. Helena, Patmos and the Chateau d'If
Night Train

Everyone's an island edged with sand
A temporary refuge where somebody else can stand
Till the sea that binds us like the forced tide of a blood oath
Will wear it down -- dissolve it -- recombine it

Anyone can die here -- they do it every day
It doesn't take much effort tho it goes against the grain
And the ultimate forgetfulness of violence
Sweeps the landscape like the headlight of a train
Night Train

Ice cube in a dark drink shines like starlight
Starlight shines like glass shards in dark hair
And the mind's eye tumbles out along the steel track
Fixing every shadow with its stare
Night Train

And in the absence of a vision there are nightmares
And in the absence of compassion there is cancer
Whose banner waves over palaces and mean streets
And the rhythm of the night train is a mantra

Pelican - Marathon Key, Fl 

Number 3

How many more?

From WashPo's "White House Briefing"

Eric Boehlert writes in Salon: "One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.

Bush Administration to World: Fuck You

Showing Cheney Level Respect

Parka, Ski Cap at Odds With Solemnity of Auschwitz Ceremony

"Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood. It is embroidered with his name. It reminded one of the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp. And indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults.

"Like other attendees, the vice president was wearing a hat. But it was not a fedora or a Stetson or a fur hat or any kind of hat that one might wear to a memorial service as the representative of one's country. Instead, it was a knit ski cap, embroidered with the words 'Staff 2001.' It was the kind of hat a conventioneer might find in a goodie bag.

"It is also worth mentioning that Cheney was wearing hiking boots -- thick, brown, lace-up ones."

Organizations amplify the personalities of their leaders.
Aphorism of Zen Master This

Read My Ears (Friedman on Bush going to Europe)

"Let me put this as bluntly as I can: There is nothing that the Europeans want to hear from George Bush, there is nothing that they will listen to from George Bush that will change their minds about him or the Iraq war or U.S. foreign policy. Mr. Bush is more widely and deeply disliked in Europe than any U.S. president in history. Some people here must have a good thing to say about him, but I haven't met them yet."

But we Americans, we know how to solve that. Hell, we already did it with French Fries... we renamed them, since the French, disagreeing with our going to war, were obviously wimps, fops, twits and cowards. Its easy to extend that to Europe. But then, there aren't that many French here. Lots and lots of Italians, a goodly number of Germans, Irish... I think we had best tread lightly before we criticize the green, annoy a German or speak badly about a pizza and that guy behind the counter.

On a more serious note, the world sees the US as a people who have sanctioned war and murder on a holy crusade, and have re-elected a neo facist. A very very well protected neo facist.

Presently we go into an imaginary future of present moments. An endless stream of constant now. We dream and project some other place and call it future with the hopes that it may, one day, be now.

Propaganda

A second syndicated columnist has admitted being paid by Bush's government to promote Bush agenda.

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," Gallagher wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal.

The achievement of great material success requires an unlimited capacity for self-delusion and rationalization.
Aphorism of Zen Master This

... Aint A River In Egypt

From WashPo's "White House Briefing" blog.

As Guy Dinmore recounted in the Financial Times on Jan. 13: "According to Chas Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and head of the independent Middle East Policy Council, Mr Bush recently asked Mr Powell for his view on the progress of the war. 'We're losing,' Mr Powell was quoted as saying. Mr Freeman said Mr Bush then asked the secretary of state to leave."

What is $80 billion?

A breakdown of $80 billion

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Here's another way to look at $80 billion a year, including per-hour costs and a comparison to total U.S. Civil War costs.

How $80 billion breaks down:

- $6.7 billion a month

-$1.5 billion a week

-$219 million a day

-$9.1 million an hour

- $152,000 a minute

- $2,500 a second

That's more than the cost of the entire Civil War: It was $5.2 billion in then-dollars, $64.1 billion in 2004 dollars.

Source: U.S. Civil War Center at Louisiana State University

Did Gonzales get Bush off?

"In public, they were making a big show of how he was prepared to serve," said Crain. "In the back room, they were trying to get him off."

Geez, remind you of any other time in Bush's life? As in Vietnam?

Bush Inauguration Speech: A "Vacuous Sermon," A "Global Crusade" Against "Defenseless States"

"If the speech was to be taken literally, then clearly it would imply commitment to some sort of a global crusade vis-a-vis a variety of states with many of whom we have all sorts of mutual concerns, even if we don't like their practical policies."
Finally! My god, finally someone speaks out!
The speech is the documented ravings of a mad man.
If you wonder how great murderers came to power, ask yourself the question: what are you willing to do? What are you waiting for?
"And when they came for me, there was no one left to call to for help"

The Speech Misheard Round the World

"Yet while these inconsistencies may not bother the president's followers or harm his standing in America, they matter to the rest of the world. Few foreigners are even aware of America's hybrid conception of freedom, much less accepting of it. In most of the rest of the world, the president's inaugural address was heard merely as hypocrisy."
Heard as hypocrisy? Heard?
Well, if that's the case, then I think Hitler was misunderstood, and the media really did him in.
This kind of reasoning makes me a bit shamed to use words at all.

Daily Kos :: The people speak: 100% Dean endorsements at DNC/CDC meeting

"Al Sharpton endorsed vice chair candidate Marjorie Fields-Harris with a rousing speech (his best line: "Condoleeza Rice is my color, but Barbara Boxer is my kind!"), and as you might expect, he got the room jumping."
Three cheers for Al.

Fair and Balanced

Check out the video linked to above.

Fair And Balanced

On Fox News Channel, you're free to speak about the coronation of George W... unless you've got the nerve to criticize Dear Leader. Then you get a Fox News Meltdown^TM.

Bush Pledges to Spread Freedom (washingtonpost.com)

Bush has no shame: the man is delusional.
He will say anything, and read anything (as if they were his own throughts) by whatever his writers give him.
Bush might be thinking of making the entire world Christian? That's more consistent with his thinking.
He has 4 perfect years of total bullshit.
Bush has NO credibility

Richard Armitage

I'm disappointed that Iraq hasn't turned out better. And that we weren't able to move forward more meaningfully in the Middle East peace process."

Then, after a minute's pause, he adds a third regret: "The biggest regret is that we didn't stop 9/11. And then in the wake of 9/11, instead of redoubling what is our traditional export of hope and optimism we exported our fear and our anger. And presented a very intense and angry face to the world. I regret that a lot."

Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage

"There's big money in helping people avoid facing reality."
Aphorism of Zen Master This

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Four (or Two) more years

Now a few days shy of the inauguration of the president let us look into the crystal ball and see what the next four years (if Bush is not impeached in two years) has to offer.

War: There is some talk of what the next battle will be. The Bush administration has taken the election results as a sign that the American public agree with their actions in Iraq. Of course 48-49% of Americans voted against them, but I suppose that means nothing to them.

There is a reason why the founders of the nation tried to build in protections for minorities (the tyranny of the majority the old Republican types used to call it, but now that they have power, so I guess it is now “who cares about that”).

I am not sure about what you remember from the election but I do not recall that the president ran on the platform of the Iraq War being a good idea. If Bush had said, a vote for me is a vote for the Iraq War then maybe, just maybe he could say that there is some support… Yadda yadda yadda, we know that reality has no bearing on what they do. Just claim what you want, you have the media on your side.

But the Haliburton Administration has its eyes set for the next war. Even before finishing this one. The next war is likely with Iran. I am not sure how they will be able to get it started. Maybe we could come up with a little contest; how will the Iran War start? My guess is attacks by Iranian Army regulars on U.S. service men (years later it will be shown that the U.S. service men were sent into Iranian territory where they were attacked) or maybe it will be Iranian agents found in Iraq ready to blow something up? Who knows but take your best guess now and in a year or two be the winner of the Prophesy Award!

Domestically there will remain an effort to reverse the gains of the last 70 years made by everyday people (social security, a flatter tax rate (we basically have one now) etc) under the guise of shrinking government. You might recall that Republicans have been shrinking government since the days or Reagan, that is 24 years, and it has done nothing but grow. And it was not Clinton who grew it either. Bush has been responsible for the largest growth of government in the period of time. We can go into the benefits or the problems of the growth under Bush but it sure seems to me that Bush see government as a solution to some problem.

It sure will be interesting to see how all this will add up. One has to admit that Bush is quite bold in his actions. I cannot tell whether he really understands what he is doing though. I know he is a smart man but his arrogance and power lust are likely fooling him and his inability to brook any disagreement from staff pushes him further from reality. Are there no checks left in the system? Is there no one of power who is willing to take the risk of coming out against this despotic rule? Now is the time for true leaders. Where are they?

Social Security

Bush: "Social Security headed for bankruptcy"
Bush: Wrong on Iraq, Wrong on Social Security

Q&A on Social Security

By Bill Straub, Scripps Howard News Service
January 16, 2005

Q: Is there a Social Security crisis?

A: No. There is no imminent threat to Social Security as the word "crisis" might indicate. Even if nothing is done to change the system, the Congressional Budget Office predicts retired people can expect to receive full benefits to 2052 — 47 years hence. Social Security trustees, meanwhile, using more conservative data, said the system will be able to pay 100 percent of promised benefits until 2042.

Thereafter, if no changes are made and money continues to flow into the system through the payroll tax, recipients can expect to receive about 75 percent of their anticipated benefits.

Q: Is Social Security going bankrupt?

A: Hardly. As a result of reforms adopted in the early 1980s that increased payroll contributions, Social Security trust funds presently maintain more than $1.4 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds and the assets are growing. About 154 million people are paying into the system. More money is entering than is being paid out.

Q: So what's the problem?

A: Beginning in 2018, Social Security will start paying out more than it collects, forcing the system to dip into the trust fund. The baby boom generation, the largest in the nation's history, born between 1946 and 1964 starting right after World War II, begins collecting its benefits. Today, there are three workers depositing money into the system for each beneficiary. Within a few years, the ratio will drop to 2-to-1. The 77 million boomers present an obvious strain to the system, leading the president and groups like AARP to address the issue.

Q: What does President Bush recommend?

A: The details remain unclear — the administration has yet to offer a proposal — but basically he wants to permit younger workers to take a portion of the payroll taxes targeted for Social Security and invest the money in personal savings accounts. Meanwhile, older Americans will receive full Social Security benefits.

Q: What are personal savings accounts?

A: Basically, they are government-approved investment plans. Currently, excess funds in the Social Security system are invested in U.S. Treasury bonds, which on average earn lower interest rates than stocks. Workers under the Bush plan would have a range of investment options and the money accrued from these investments would go into the individual's personal account, not into the system.

Q: What's the advantage there?

A: President Bush maintains the personal investment accounts will earn a better rate of return than that realized from the U.S. Treasury bonds.

Q: Are there any drawbacks?

A: It certainly isn't a cheap solution. Analysts predict the transition costs — the price for moving from the current system to the hybrid system — could hit $2 trillion.

Q: Anything else?

A: Among those opposing the plan is AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, which maintains the president's plan is too risky. The genius behind Social Security, AARP says, is that it provides retirees with a guaranteed, defined payment that they can count on month-to-month. The White House plan likely will reduce any guaranteed payment and there are no assurances that beneficiaries will earn more money through personal savings accounts. Basically, opponents assert the Bush plan would shred the safety net provided by Social Security.

First Image from Titan

14 January 2005
This raw image was returned by the ESA Huygens DISR camera after the probe descended through the atmosphere of Titan. It shows the surface of Titan with ice blocks strewn around. The size and distance of the blocks will be determined when the image is properly processed.

Huygens lands on Titan

Huygens lands on Titan

14 January 2005 ESA PR 03-2005. Today, after its seven-year journey through the Solar System on board the Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe has successfully descended through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and safely landed on its surface.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

My favorite Republican president of the 20th century (Really a draw with TR)

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Bush Plans Sharp Cuts in HUD Community Efforts (washingtonpost.com)

"Bush Plans Sharp Cuts in HUD Community Efforts
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 14, 2005; Page A01
The White House will seek to drastically shrink the Department of Housing and Urban Development's $8 billion community branch, purging dozens of economic development projects, scrapping a rural housing program and folding high-profile anti-poverty efforts into the Labor and Commerce departments, administration officials said yesterday."

Who IS this man!?

Quelle surprise!: Iraq Is a Terrorist Training Ground, Study Shows

We can bypass all the "nobody expected this or could see this coming" excuses from the Bush administration straight to "this report shows that the invasion of Iraq was justified".

Group Says It Relocated 300 Orphans (washingtonpost.com)

"A Virginia-based missionary group said this week that it has airlifted 300 'tsunami orphans' from the Muslim province of Banda Aceh to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, where it plans to raise them in a Christian children's home."
Tis an ill wind that blows nobody some good.
I am proud to say there will be no new Jews.

WHFS Changes Its Tune to Spanish (washingtonpost.com)

WHFS Changes Its Tune to Spanish
Alternative Rock Pioneer Targets Latino Audience
By Teresa Wiltz and Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 13, 2005; Page A01
WHFS-FM, the Washington area radio station that was a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock to generations of young music fans, did a programming U-turn yesterday by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, pop-music format that transforms it into the largest Spanish-language station on the local dial.

In an abiding interest in low wages, lawn care, car washing at low low prices, the Republican party leads the way to the sale the the United States. keeping the borders open (at the same time billions are spend to, ummm, close the borders to terrorists?) We can only hope that a revitalized Democratic Party under Howard Dean will end the pandering to cheap cheap cheap.
No, I don't think the latinization of the United States is a good thing. I do think the growing strength of South America thumbing its nose at the world bank is a good thing. Oil in Cuba! What else is next?

Why radio is dead

Why radio is dead.

I just read this afternoon of the demise of a grand old alternative rock station, WHFS in Washington. As it stands, almost nobody cares that it’s gone.

Why is that? Because, that once great alternative radio station eventually morphed into just another vehicle for the promotion of future sneaker commercial soundtracks. The same has happened in Colorado as well with KBCO and KTCL both becoming mere shells of their former selves. What has happened is that “alternative radio” has been taken and crushed by corporatism. It is all mindless crap that the stations are playing now. All formula, payola crap.

Think about this: people are switching to listen to Christian radio since they like the music better. Yes, Christian radio is now playing better music than the staid tired regurgitated crap that the corporate masters allow to be played on the airwaves.

You’d think that the decision makers at these media giants were all members of the Democratic National Committee they way they are afraid to take chances and be real. There ARE alternatives out there, great music that is fresh.

You won’t find it on your radio though (well ok, there are STILL some alternative radio stations out there. Radio1190 (http://www.radio1190.org/) here in Boulder is one, but AM sucks! At least they have a live feed.)

For new music check out

http://music.for-robots.com/

http://www.fluxblog.org/

and the links listed therein

Also

Check out podcaster or search the word podcast on google.

Please post your suggestions for netcasts, music blogs, podcasts, even radio.

Ken

Pandas are Bears

A mature Giant Panda

Just in case there was any confusion on this point, I thought I'd post this.

From Wikipedia

For many decades the precise taxonomic classification of the panda was under debate as both Giant Pandas and Red Pandas share characteristics of both bears and raccoons. However, genetic testing has revealed that Giant Pandas are true bears and part of the Ursidae family. Its closest bear relative is the Spectacled Bear of South America. Disagreement remains about whether or not Red Pandas belong in Ursidae or the raccoon family, Procyonidae.

Democracy For America

Dean's running: read it here

So what was it?

What was it that brought the tsunami victims into the forethought of Americans and others around the world? There are crises in Africa, Central America, the Caribbean, why did this disaster really provoke a response (one that surprised the media and the vacationer-in-chief) Any ideas?

Dean: "I'm Running"

That word -- 'values' -- has lately become a codeword for appeasement of the right-wing fringe. But when political calculations make us soften our opposition to bigotry, or sign on to policies that add to the burden of ordinary Americans, we have abandoned our true values.

Hating George Bush

Reconsidering that hate is just a poor choice of words: disgust is totally appropriate.
Let us also consider that Mr Bush fully qualifies as a tyrant: carrying the name of President of the United States says nothing about his behavior: it is simply tyranical.
(In case you don't know, the city of DC is being forced to pony up 11 million dollars for the presidential inauguration: here's hoping that there are many many who will "turn their backs" on the president as he passes.
Remember how sweet and full of good humor were Stalin, Hitlet, Pinochet, Idi Amin, Pot Pot... sure, these people define the limits, but they also make clear the principle for those who cannot comfortably distinguish right and wrong when couched as nuance. You remember nuance, yes? That's what the Democratic party was guily of: nuance.

meme of the day

Republicans Lose Wars

Hail to the Suite (washingtonpost.com)

"The week of the inauguration could easily be coined the week of the fabulously rich and famous. Several of Washington's luxury hotels have set their sights on the biggest of big spenders. Cue Robin Leach: 'Hey travelers, how would you like your own private jet service, butler-drawn baths and a 3,500-square-foot hotel suite? You'll be wearing the finest custom couture as you emerge at the inaugural ball in your chauffeur-driven limousine!'
The price range: $5,000-$200,500 for a four-night stay."

This shit does not belong in newpapers that are for people. These prices are obscene. A person could get shot in a place like this and I would not feel bad: they have no business being there.
Ethically, it is absolutely fair to rob these people. And it would be a blessing.
The only thing that sucks is that there are not carrying cash. So, I guess the only thing is to get the name and address. I mean, if they are willing to play 200K for a weekend of pleasure, what would they pay for the pleasure of having a family member returned to them? Not to mention the wonderful lesson in value they would get.

Framing the issue: Hiraba, NOT Jihad!

Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs: Hiraba versus Jihad
"The term hirabah refers to public terrorism in a war against society and civilization. In legal terminology it is defined as "spreading mischief in the land," but its precise meaning, as defined by Professor Khalid Abou el Fadl, is "killing by stealth and targeting a defenseless victim in a way intended to cause terror in society." This is the Islamic definition of terrorism. It is the very opposite of jihad."

Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge

From the "Places Not To Visit This Lifetime Department"

Of course, this guy could be making all this up.

It's a Girl

More later

For the second time

since 1877 an electoral college election is contested by a Senator. Check out how the WaPo.com covers it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

2005 Caption Contest #1

A spending diet

Americans are addicts. They are addicted to one thing. Spending money.

Most people don’t even know they are addicted. But go a week without spending money. Plan out your meals, go to the grocery store on Sunday evening and buy everything for the meals that week. Then don’t spend another dime until the following Sunday evening. That means no trips to the mall, no little “I deserve a little break/treat/etc” pastry, no Starbucks. You can pay your bills (gasoline/transportation too) but pay for nothing else.

Now some people are saying, “Oh that’s easy.” Fine, try it out. If you can do it without a problem then you win and we can move on to the next step. But try it. You need to try this and you need to start this Sunday. If you have never gone on a spending diet, a spending vacation, then this coming week is the week to do it. Don’t worry when you find yourself midweek jonesing to spend. Just see it as a sign that this is going to require more attention. If you fall off the wagon, just get back on.

OK, How do you do that?

Down and Out in Discount America

This is a very good article. Even if you do not subscribe to some of the ideology it none-the-less paints a good picture of the situation. Let the Wal-Mart discussions ensue.

Wal-Mart knows its customers, and it knows how badly they need the discounts. Like Wal-Mart's workers, its customers are overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet.

The network is the computer

More users than ever use broadband connections at home these days. Though it will take time, these connections will do nothing but get faster. With companies figuring out seemingly every day how to cram more information down the same pipes, and new options like fixed wireless and fiber to the door becoming available, connectivity options for the average consumer are ever-expanding, and with them, the speeds available.
This spells the doom of the modern computer, and the modern operating system as we know it – and this is not a bad thing.
GMB: the revolution was stopped, dead in its tracks, during the Clinton administration, the superhighway was Gore-d, they cozied up to the telecoms, bandwidth choked and the internet bubble, which was a bet on bandwidth, popped, and all roads on the superhighway lead to nowhere. With lightning speed, it came almost to house, where it was delivered fresh and wet to your lawn by the bicycle propelled news boy.
Yep, Clinton. On the one hand, he got picked on. On the otherhand, he got cut way too much slack because he was picked on. Gore? shit, he had more weak spots than a badly patched innertube.
I should mention that Howard Dean wants to be the DNC chairman. They'll find somebody else, like Kerry, who can continue to loose, instead of Dean, the last kick ass Democrat standing

Creationist Museum in the Heartland: Yep. Kentucky.

Take yours kids.
Lots of Heartland shit. Is there no Headland? Brainland? Mindland?
Hmmm: Texas would be perfect for Dickland.

Ways to fix your life: Quit your job

I agree with the message here although I don't think the dilemma is as much
a personal need to "search for purpose" in life as it is a general dissatisfaction with the corporate culture of excessive wealth, mindless exploitation of resources, and indifference to humanity.

"Some people say" I should protest corporate greed and corruption by not shopping at Wal-Mart, but this is like the jaws of a shark - a new tooth springs up whenever one falls out. The people who work there would not be thankful if you put them out of work either. Besides, I love Wal-Mart. I will have more of an impact by simplifying so I don't need to work for a greedy corporation. RV here we come.

Americans for Growth Through Trade

These are the guys that are paying for those pictures of Bill Clinton and support free trade and write your congressman: its basically an arm of the Cato Institute (no friends of Clinton, but, if you want to catch a rabbit, hide and make sounds like a carrot)
Trade is that process that wipes away human organization and culture and substitutes product, production and money. These are basically modern day gypsies with no alliance to the land or the country or the people, economic bastards with obscure and doubtful lineage.
You are truly better off buying locally produced drugs.
Free trade is unsound scientifically and biologicallt, in addition to the false promise of economic benefit.
This is NOT free exchange of goods: it is free trade of the means of production, the manpower and the financial and natural resources of peoples and countries. It is the absentee landlord, the owner of the tenant farmers land replete with company store, the Pied Piper and the "Friends of Pinocchio".
You should do everything in your power to engage in localized commerce: let your own actions be your guide.