It's all over the news. Brilliant politicians are blaming the Iraqi's. They say that if only the Iraqi's would standup for their country, then the Americans could go home. The inference is that the Iraqi's are cowards. They are not "standup guys."
"Stand up, Iraqi's!"
Of course, such talk is little more than standup comedy when it comes out of the mouth of U.S. politicians of either party. Such talk belongs on a stage in Second City when proffered as part of a serious political debate.
How dare they blame the Iraqi government for the blantant failures of U.S. policy.
Afterall, it wasn't the Iraqi's who plummetted their own country into anarchy by removing the figure head dictator.
It wasn't the Iraqi government who disbanded the Iraqi military.
It wasn't the Iraqi people who drove the literate baathists (read, Iraqi civil servant class) underground, leaving a huge administrative hole for the new government to try and fill.
Many times more newly recruited Iraqi police and Iraqi Army troops have been killed than U.S. soldiers. In fact, 300 Iraqi soliders have died just this month, as opposed to 90 U.S. soldiers, according to WSJ.
To suggest that the Iraqi's simply needs to "Stand up" and all of our problems would be solved, may sound great in a TV soundbite. But it discourages the Iraqi people by blaming the Iraqi Government for what's going on.
Such talk attempts to shift the blame for blatant mis-execution of the Iraq War away from where it belongs, which is on the stand-up comedians and liars posing as politicians in Washington, DC.
The Iraqi's are standing up. But the Americans who are making all of the decisions in this "war on terror," who continue to deny that Iraq is engaged in a civil war, have blundered along every inch of the way.
Excuse the Iraqis if the want to sidestep such incompetence.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
I ran over a cat today. Or was it a dog?
So far, this hasn't been my best day.
It was my turn to take the kids to school. The oldest is now in second grade, and the middle child in Kindergarten. Because of Republican cuts to education in Minnesota, my school district had to cut back on bus service, and so I am in a car pool with other parents who have to drive their kid school (but that's another blog). Today, though, it was just me and my kids.
At 7:50 in the morning, its still quite dark here in Minnesota. I was driving down 11th street, dutifully keeping an eye on the car in front of me, when I heard something bouncing beneath the car. It sounded like it might have been a small cardboard box. I had seen nothing, and thought nothing of it, and so I kept driving.
"Dad!," said the oldest who was on the left side of the car. "You just hit a cat!"
The thought was too terrible to contemplate. "No," I said. "It was just a piece of cardboard."
"No Dad! I saw it darting across the street, and then you hit it!"
Then the kindergartner, who was sitting on the right side of the car, said, "Dad, I think it was a dog! I saw it bounce out!"
So now what do I do?
Do I swing around the block to check on the damage, making the kids late for school? And what if the dog or cat was mortally wounded, bloodied with entrails spilling out. Do I scoop up the injured animal and lay it in the car, and rush all over town looking for a vet that is open at this hour? What if the injured animal is still mobile, and freaks out in my car? What would the kids think, seeing all this? Or what if the animal was completely dead? What do I do with it? Should I go door to door in the neighborhood at 8 am with my kids, inquiring about the owner of the animal?
Although the actions one takes if you hit a person are clear to me, there seemed to be no good options after hiting an animal. Exactly what should one do? Call an ambulance?
I wondered what I would want the offending driver to do if it had been my cat (or dog). I guess I'd like to know that the person stopped. It would comfort me to know that my pet didn't suffer, that it was an accident and not intentional.
But then I wondered to myself, do I have the right to insist that others behave responsibly when I myself was irresponsible with my pet's life by allowing it to run wild in the city?
In the split seconds that it took to discuss with my kids what had happened, we crossed the railroad tracks. Mercifully the crossing gates dropped behind us, and a horn was heard from a slow moving train. I was cut off from my problem, at least for ten minutes or so. Traffic was flowing on the one way, and returning to the scene was no longer a practical option.
In my fatherly wisdom, I ruled that the responsible thing would be to take the kids to school, and try to distract them from the realworld pain of am injured (or dead) animal.
"Nah," I said. "I'm sure it was a box. I think I saw a box on the road."
And I kept on driving with a sick feeling deep in my stomach.
It was my turn to take the kids to school. The oldest is now in second grade, and the middle child in Kindergarten. Because of Republican cuts to education in Minnesota, my school district had to cut back on bus service, and so I am in a car pool with other parents who have to drive their kid school (but that's another blog). Today, though, it was just me and my kids.
At 7:50 in the morning, its still quite dark here in Minnesota. I was driving down 11th street, dutifully keeping an eye on the car in front of me, when I heard something bouncing beneath the car. It sounded like it might have been a small cardboard box. I had seen nothing, and thought nothing of it, and so I kept driving.
"Dad!," said the oldest who was on the left side of the car. "You just hit a cat!"
The thought was too terrible to contemplate. "No," I said. "It was just a piece of cardboard."
"No Dad! I saw it darting across the street, and then you hit it!"
Then the kindergartner, who was sitting on the right side of the car, said, "Dad, I think it was a dog! I saw it bounce out!"
So now what do I do?
Do I swing around the block to check on the damage, making the kids late for school? And what if the dog or cat was mortally wounded, bloodied with entrails spilling out. Do I scoop up the injured animal and lay it in the car, and rush all over town looking for a vet that is open at this hour? What if the injured animal is still mobile, and freaks out in my car? What would the kids think, seeing all this? Or what if the animal was completely dead? What do I do with it? Should I go door to door in the neighborhood at 8 am with my kids, inquiring about the owner of the animal?
Although the actions one takes if you hit a person are clear to me, there seemed to be no good options after hiting an animal. Exactly what should one do? Call an ambulance?
I wondered what I would want the offending driver to do if it had been my cat (or dog). I guess I'd like to know that the person stopped. It would comfort me to know that my pet didn't suffer, that it was an accident and not intentional.
But then I wondered to myself, do I have the right to insist that others behave responsibly when I myself was irresponsible with my pet's life by allowing it to run wild in the city?
In the split seconds that it took to discuss with my kids what had happened, we crossed the railroad tracks. Mercifully the crossing gates dropped behind us, and a horn was heard from a slow moving train. I was cut off from my problem, at least for ten minutes or so. Traffic was flowing on the one way, and returning to the scene was no longer a practical option.
In my fatherly wisdom, I ruled that the responsible thing would be to take the kids to school, and try to distract them from the realworld pain of am injured (or dead) animal.
"Nah," I said. "I'm sure it was a box. I think I saw a box on the road."
And I kept on driving with a sick feeling deep in my stomach.
Friday, October 20, 2006
George W. Bush Flashback
"There are some who, uh, feel like that, you know, the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is: Bring 'em on. We got the force necessary to deal with the security situation. “ - George W. Bush, July 2, 2003.
Is Mark Foley Redeemed? The Victimizer as Victim.
By God, Mark Foley really WAS molested as boy. Read about it here. Just weeks before the U.S. mid-term elections, a Catholic priest admitted that he took certain liberties with a young Mark Foley. The Catholic Church has appoloigized to Foley.
And so begins the redemption of Mark Foley, or more accurately, the Republican Party. No doubt that House leadership was aware of Foley's personal demons, and a loving, caring Hastert wanted to give Foley every opportunity to fight off the terrible demons of his childhood. How sad they were when he let them down.
The lesson we can gather from this announcement today is that a) if you were molested as a child, it provides you license to molest others in your old age, and b) if you were molested as a child, you can't be held responsible for your actions because society has let you down.
Make no mistake of my intentions. I am not making light of pedophiles or children that have been victimized. On the contrary, as the father of three children I strongly believe pedophiles should receive the most extreme (and painful) punishments that the Spanish inquisition can devise.
But we can't turn our back on the children (i/e the Capitol Hill pages) who were victimized by Foley, simply because he is a victim himself. While there certainly may be a cause-and-effect cycle of violence that is perpetuated by being victimized, pedophiles like Mark Foley must be held accountable.
The fact that Mark Foley was sadly a victim of molestation himself is regrettable and repugnant, but the fact in no way redeems Mark Foley, nor the Republican Party for covering up his disgusting behavior.
And so begins the redemption of Mark Foley, or more accurately, the Republican Party. No doubt that House leadership was aware of Foley's personal demons, and a loving, caring Hastert wanted to give Foley every opportunity to fight off the terrible demons of his childhood. How sad they were when he let them down.
The lesson we can gather from this announcement today is that a) if you were molested as a child, it provides you license to molest others in your old age, and b) if you were molested as a child, you can't be held responsible for your actions because society has let you down.
Make no mistake of my intentions. I am not making light of pedophiles or children that have been victimized. On the contrary, as the father of three children I strongly believe pedophiles should receive the most extreme (and painful) punishments that the Spanish inquisition can devise.
But we can't turn our back on the children (i/e the Capitol Hill pages) who were victimized by Foley, simply because he is a victim himself. While there certainly may be a cause-and-effect cycle of violence that is perpetuated by being victimized, pedophiles like Mark Foley must be held accountable.
The fact that Mark Foley was sadly a victim of molestation himself is regrettable and repugnant, but the fact in no way redeems Mark Foley, nor the Republican Party for covering up his disgusting behavior.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
From Kazakhstan, to Borat, with Love
According to BBC, a top official from Kazakhstan has invited comedian Sacha Baron Cohen - who pokes fun at the country as his character Borat - to visit the country.
A Borat movie will be released soon, but don't plan on seeing it in Kazakhstan. "We consider this movie offensive, a complete lie and nonsense," Ruslan Sultanov told Reuters. Sultanov is the distribution manager for Otau, the largest cinema chain in Kazakhstan.
A Borat movie will be released soon, but don't plan on seeing it in Kazakhstan. "We consider this movie offensive, a complete lie and nonsense," Ruslan Sultanov told Reuters. Sultanov is the distribution manager for Otau, the largest cinema chain in Kazakhstan.
"It's a shame that some Americans will probably believe what they see there," he added.
You may be right, Mr. Sultanov. I wish you could guarantee me, though, that that Kazaks won't watch the Hollywide tripe that you show in your theaters and not come away thinking worse about Americans.
Of all of the injustices that have ever been done to the American reputation and false depictions of the American people, I would credit most of it to Hollywood. Wouldn't it be great if the entire cinematic world could only produce and distribute PBS-style documentaries? Then we would all just have truthful insight into each others cultures.
Hollywood is not America. It has its own lifestyle, its own royalty, its own culture. The rest of America, just like the rest of the world, can count on being subjected to a regular onslaught of offensive falsehoods, lies, half-truths, and rewritten histories.
I hate Hollywood, what it stands for, how it degrades and dehumanizes us all, how they are so damn self-congratulatory, how full of themselves they are. With few notable exception, you can count on just about every Hollywood story being set either in New York (yawn) or Los Angeles (snooze). If you live in the midwest or deep south, any depictions of your local will involve some enlightened outsider (usually from NY or LA) sweeping into a small town to rescue a beautiful maiden from a life of small town drudgery. Either that, or some beautiful people (usually from NY or LA) being terrorized in a small town or other rural location by a psychotic rube.
So Mr. Sultanov, don't worry about Borat. You're in good company.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Bush on Energy: keep us addicted to oil for another hundred years
Did you catch Bush's comments to the Renewable Energy Concerence on Oct. 12? Here's the transcript.
It bears reading, because it's incredibly naive. Incredibly too little. It shows just how little grasp this puppet of the oil industry really has on the issue.
Here he is, speaking at a conference about renewable energy. And as much as I agree with Bush that America is "addicted to oil" and as much as I want to believe that he is on board with renewable energy, his comments are so.... cliche. So obvious. So behind whats going on.
If you are the President of the United States addressing leaders in the field of Renewable Energy, don't you think you should have something to say? Don't you think comments like those I'm about to qoute are just a little too benath the people to whom you are addressing:
"You can't grow your economy without energy."
we got to change our habits if we want to remain the economic leader of the world
"I think it is interesting that when we -- we got an energy conference going on here."
"We've got a really strong economy, and in order to make sure it's strong tomorrow we need to make sure we work on how we use energy."
Energy is -- look, let me just put it bluntly: We're too dependent on oil.
"We need to diversify away from oil for economic reasons."
"We live in a global world."
"We get oil from some countries who don't particularly care for us. They don't like what we stand for."
"Reliance upon oil and hydrocarbons has created some challenges when it comes to the environment."
Overall, his speech was long on future potential, short on immediate action. That's right Mr. Bush. Just keep pushing it out into the future.
When Bush joked...
"Some day, some -- the 56th President will be standing up here saying, I appreciate the fact that there was some pioneers back in America in those days; I can't spent too much time because I've got to go get my limousine filled up by hydrogen -- (laughter) -- but I appreciate the fact that the solar panels are working so you can see me."
...I don't think he was kidding. I think that's his goal. To pay a little lip service to renewable energy right before the election, but secretly he hopes to keep us "addicted to oil" for at least another hundred years.
It bears reading, because it's incredibly naive. Incredibly too little. It shows just how little grasp this puppet of the oil industry really has on the issue.
Here he is, speaking at a conference about renewable energy. And as much as I agree with Bush that America is "addicted to oil" and as much as I want to believe that he is on board with renewable energy, his comments are so.... cliche. So obvious. So behind whats going on.
If you are the President of the United States addressing leaders in the field of Renewable Energy, don't you think you should have something to say? Don't you think comments like those I'm about to qoute are just a little too benath the people to whom you are addressing:
"You can't grow your economy without energy."
we got to change our habits if we want to remain the economic leader of the world
"I think it is interesting that when we -- we got an energy conference going on here."
"We've got a really strong economy, and in order to make sure it's strong tomorrow we need to make sure we work on how we use energy."
Energy is -- look, let me just put it bluntly: We're too dependent on oil.
"We need to diversify away from oil for economic reasons."
"We live in a global world."
"We get oil from some countries who don't particularly care for us. They don't like what we stand for."
"Reliance upon oil and hydrocarbons has created some challenges when it comes to the environment."
Overall, his speech was long on future potential, short on immediate action. That's right Mr. Bush. Just keep pushing it out into the future.
When Bush joked...
"Some day, some -- the 56th President will be standing up here saying, I appreciate the fact that there was some pioneers back in America in those days; I can't spent too much time because I've got to go get my limousine filled up by hydrogen -- (laughter) -- but I appreciate the fact that the solar panels are working so you can see me."
...I don't think he was kidding. I think that's his goal. To pay a little lip service to renewable energy right before the election, but secretly he hopes to keep us "addicted to oil" for at least another hundred years.
Sad Day for America. Bush rolls back fundamental, hard fought American rights in his foreverlasting War on Terror
The president signed into law yesterday the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This law clears the way for the CIA to resume aggressive interrogations in secret prisons and denies suspected terrorists the right to challenge their detentions in civilian courts. It also allows the use of evidence obtained through coercion. It lets the president draw the line between acceptable interrogation techniques and unpermitted torture.
Essentially, this law suspends Habeas Corpus. Ironically, this occurs 135 years to the day that the last President U.S. Grant, suspended Habeas Corpus.
This legislation now permits President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld to declare anyone — US citizen or not — an enemy combatant, lock them up and throw away the key without a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. Every thing the Founding Fathers fought to free themselves of from the British Empire was washed away with the stroke of a pen, idefinitely, with no sunset provision, all under the premise of a foreverlasting War on Terror.
You may be the biggest George W. supporter on earth. You may think that President will only use this amazing power to "pertekt Americuns." But what about the next President? Can you be so certain that the American democracy is so fool proof that this is a good thing for you, your children, and your grand children?
Of course, you'll never know, because there is no accountability. No checks and balances built in.
With George Bush, America embarked on climbing a slippery slope. With this bill, Bush rolls back hard-won American rights and we have lost our footing. We're now skidding on our asses down the slope.
When Bush was sworn into office, he promised to uphold the constitution of the United States. He has not done this. While he may be "pertekt'in Americuns," he is not protecting their rights.
Pray for the judiciary, that they may be enlightened and roll back this horrible law that shows the world, once again, that George Bush's America is not to be trusted nor taken seriously on matters of civil rights.
Essentially, this law suspends Habeas Corpus. Ironically, this occurs 135 years to the day that the last President U.S. Grant, suspended Habeas Corpus.
This legislation now permits President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld to declare anyone — US citizen or not — an enemy combatant, lock them up and throw away the key without a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. Every thing the Founding Fathers fought to free themselves of from the British Empire was washed away with the stroke of a pen, idefinitely, with no sunset provision, all under the premise of a foreverlasting War on Terror.
You may be the biggest George W. supporter on earth. You may think that President will only use this amazing power to "pertekt Americuns." But what about the next President? Can you be so certain that the American democracy is so fool proof that this is a good thing for you, your children, and your grand children?
Of course, you'll never know, because there is no accountability. No checks and balances built in.
With George Bush, America embarked on climbing a slippery slope. With this bill, Bush rolls back hard-won American rights and we have lost our footing. We're now skidding on our asses down the slope.
When Bush was sworn into office, he promised to uphold the constitution of the United States. He has not done this. While he may be "pertekt'in Americuns," he is not protecting their rights.
Pray for the judiciary, that they may be enlightened and roll back this horrible law that shows the world, once again, that George Bush's America is not to be trusted nor taken seriously on matters of civil rights.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Advice to Mark Kennedy in Minnesota Senate Election Campaign
The Minnesota blogosphere is ripe with speculation that the National Republicans are packing their bags and moving on to senatorial races in Missouri or Tennessee. Afterall, there's still a chance to win in those elections. But with Mark Kennedy polling 15% or more behind opponent Amy Klobuchar, why spend more national bucks in this election.
That's good news for Kennedy.
The national money coupled with national advice to run a negative campaign has all but done in Mark Kennedy's campaign. I've said it before --- this kind of politicking plays horribly in Minnesota, and Minnesotans take it out on the offender. It just doesn't work here. This is the state, after all, that that has 4 "major" political parties. The state that elected Jesse Ventura governor. The state where MPR will actually give state-wide airtime to minor candidates. The state where people turn out to vote.
The national republican strategists probably had all kinds of studies culled from races elsewhere that suggested Kennedy should run a negative campaign. It probably should have worked, and probably would have worked if this were not Minnesota.
Mark, you're gonna lose this race. But I'll do you huge favor and tell you how you can at least pull a little closer in the next couple of weeks.
First, stop the attack ads now. They're killing you, buddy!
Second, replace attack ads with ads that actually address the issues. I honestly don't know what you standfor.
Third, stop speaking in toungues. No more of that shit that I heard on TV on Sunday. You're not a democrat, so stop trying to be one. Just tell us openly, honestly what you stand for. Spend less time talking about Amy, and more time talking about MARK!
Fourth, do not listen to the national strategists. Just stop. They are so completley out of touch with America, that they cannot advise you credibly on your Minnesota strategy.
Good luck, Mark. You're gonna need it.
That's good news for Kennedy.
The national money coupled with national advice to run a negative campaign has all but done in Mark Kennedy's campaign. I've said it before --- this kind of politicking plays horribly in Minnesota, and Minnesotans take it out on the offender. It just doesn't work here. This is the state, after all, that that has 4 "major" political parties. The state that elected Jesse Ventura governor. The state where MPR will actually give state-wide airtime to minor candidates. The state where people turn out to vote.
The national republican strategists probably had all kinds of studies culled from races elsewhere that suggested Kennedy should run a negative campaign. It probably should have worked, and probably would have worked if this were not Minnesota.
Mark, you're gonna lose this race. But I'll do you huge favor and tell you how you can at least pull a little closer in the next couple of weeks.
First, stop the attack ads now. They're killing you, buddy!
Second, replace attack ads with ads that actually address the issues. I honestly don't know what you standfor.
Third, stop speaking in toungues. No more of that shit that I heard on TV on Sunday. You're not a democrat, so stop trying to be one. Just tell us openly, honestly what you stand for. Spend less time talking about Amy, and more time talking about MARK!
Fourth, do not listen to the national strategists. Just stop. They are so completley out of touch with America, that they cannot advise you credibly on your Minnesota strategy.
Good luck, Mark. You're gonna need it.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Why Even Republicans will Dump the Republican Party in this Election
Read why Republicans are dumping the Republican Party this election. An excellent and honest editorial appeared recently in the Johnson Cty (Kansas) Sun.
Although I'm normally an Independent voter, Republican radicalism has pushed me solidly into the Dem camp this election. Whether I stay here or not depends on the Dems. Will they truly become the party of fiscal responsibility? Will they truly safeguard American's rights to privacy? Will they truly fund our schools and keep our kids safe? Will they truly plot us a course out of Iraq that doesn't leave the Iraqi people hanging at the end of a rope?
What's clear to me this election is that staying the course is not an option.
Every time I hear a Republican talk about "cutting taxes," I laugh. They really continue to think that they can bribe me with my own money. They truly think we are idiots.
I want to cut taxes as much as the next person, but not on the backs of my children. Not at the expense of my country. We've borrowed enough from the future. Our national debt spiraled out of control years ago, and is now $8.5 TRILLION freakin' dollars. America can't stand another two years of a Republican controlled congress and their stupid "tax cuts."
Read the Sun's editorial and tell me what you think. I say they're right on.
Although I'm normally an Independent voter, Republican radicalism has pushed me solidly into the Dem camp this election. Whether I stay here or not depends on the Dems. Will they truly become the party of fiscal responsibility? Will they truly safeguard American's rights to privacy? Will they truly fund our schools and keep our kids safe? Will they truly plot us a course out of Iraq that doesn't leave the Iraqi people hanging at the end of a rope?
What's clear to me this election is that staying the course is not an option.
Every time I hear a Republican talk about "cutting taxes," I laugh. They really continue to think that they can bribe me with my own money. They truly think we are idiots.
I want to cut taxes as much as the next person, but not on the backs of my children. Not at the expense of my country. We've borrowed enough from the future. Our national debt spiraled out of control years ago, and is now $8.5 TRILLION freakin' dollars. America can't stand another two years of a Republican controlled congress and their stupid "tax cuts."
Read the Sun's editorial and tell me what you think. I say they're right on.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Mark Kennedy - "Minnesota Mean". Kennedy is "Dr. Jekyl" Candidate.
Minnesotans pride themselves on being "Minnesota Nice." We like to think of ourselves as being friendly folks, more interested in the issues than the bickering (don't take my word for it. Read it the NY Times).
That's why its so baffling to see Senetorial candidate Mark Kennedy's mean spirited ads. Sure, mean ads may be statistically more effective than actually speaking to the issues. Yet, in Minnesota, Mark Kennedy should expect a backlash.
Kennedy comes across as a jerk. By speaking down to them in ridiculously short soundbytes, Kennedy must think that Minnesotan's are stupid. Such ads may work in Wisconsin, but here in Minnesnowta, I'll have none of it. If Senior citizens aren't upset about the latest insulting "park bench" ads, they certainly should be. Using a senior proxy to deliver Kennedy's lies is just too much.
There was a time that Mark Kennedy's ads were amusing and interesting. His first ads introduced us to him in a very color, clever and fun way. For Kennedy to go from "nice guy" to "huge jerk" in about 10 seconds was just too much. By running the mean-spirited anti-Amy ads right next to the nice-guy ads starring members of his family, Kennedy comes across as two-faced, unpredictable. Kennedy has become a"Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde" candidate.
Kennedy has yet to speak to the issues that are important to Minnesotans, instead preferring to paint Amy Klobuchar (a very successful public prosecuting attorney) as a criminal lover and a senior-citizen hater. This is absolutely ludicrous, and is contemptuous of, and insulting to Minnesotans.
Mark Kennedy, you should be ashamed.
That's why its so baffling to see Senetorial candidate Mark Kennedy's mean spirited ads. Sure, mean ads may be statistically more effective than actually speaking to the issues. Yet, in Minnesota, Mark Kennedy should expect a backlash.
Kennedy comes across as a jerk. By speaking down to them in ridiculously short soundbytes, Kennedy must think that Minnesotan's are stupid. Such ads may work in Wisconsin, but here in Minnesnowta, I'll have none of it. If Senior citizens aren't upset about the latest insulting "park bench" ads, they certainly should be. Using a senior proxy to deliver Kennedy's lies is just too much.
There was a time that Mark Kennedy's ads were amusing and interesting. His first ads introduced us to him in a very color, clever and fun way. For Kennedy to go from "nice guy" to "huge jerk" in about 10 seconds was just too much. By running the mean-spirited anti-Amy ads right next to the nice-guy ads starring members of his family, Kennedy comes across as two-faced, unpredictable. Kennedy has become a"Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde" candidate.
Kennedy has yet to speak to the issues that are important to Minnesotans, instead preferring to paint Amy Klobuchar (a very successful public prosecuting attorney) as a criminal lover and a senior-citizen hater. This is absolutely ludicrous, and is contemptuous of, and insulting to Minnesotans.
Mark Kennedy, you should be ashamed.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
New Allegations of Abuse at Gitmo
ABC News Reported today:
"The Pentagon says it is fully cooperating with a brand new investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay.
George W. Bush is reducing America to a hypocritical police state. No wonder America has absolutely no credibility in the world today, and no wonder that Bush increasingly has no credibility with Americans. You simply can not trust a word that this administration says.
Is this really the America you want to give to your children? An America that's more evil than Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire?" An America that talks of peace and freedom, and than bastardizes those values by torturing, imprisoning without trials, shuffling prisoners off to secret prisons, not allowing them to contact their families, exporting prisoners for torture, getting our soliders involved in a civil war...
Lets use this election to put America on a different course. Bush must be stopped.
"The Pentagon says it is fully cooperating with a brand new investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay.
"The allegations come from a Marine Corps sergeant, 23-year-old Heather Cerveny, who spent a week at the base in late September as a legal aide to a military lawyer representing detainees."
I won't lay any more gruesome details on you than this. You'll undoubtedly hear more about it in the days ahead.George W. Bush is reducing America to a hypocritical police state. No wonder America has absolutely no credibility in the world today, and no wonder that Bush increasingly has no credibility with Americans. You simply can not trust a word that this administration says.
Is this really the America you want to give to your children? An America that's more evil than Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire?" An America that talks of peace and freedom, and than bastardizes those values by torturing, imprisoning without trials, shuffling prisoners off to secret prisons, not allowing them to contact their families, exporting prisoners for torture, getting our soliders involved in a civil war...
Lets use this election to put America on a different course. Bush must be stopped.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
National Debt: $8.5 Trillion and counting
It's been almost exactly one year since I wrote about America's out-of-control debt, thanks to our compulsive spending president. At that time, the debt clock had just clicked over the $8 trillion mark.
I know hardly anyone is paying attention to the debt, so I'll beat this dead horse. One year later under majority Republican rule, the debt continues to careen out of control, growing more than $500 Billion.
How much longer will the flow of foreign capital continue to support our insatiable spending spree? Without it, America's ability to continue to influence global affairs will be greatly diminished.
Mr. Bush, stop spending my children's future!
I know hardly anyone is paying attention to the debt, so I'll beat this dead horse. One year later under majority Republican rule, the debt continues to careen out of control, growing more than $500 Billion.
How much longer will the flow of foreign capital continue to support our insatiable spending spree? Without it, America's ability to continue to influence global affairs will be greatly diminished.
Mr. Bush, stop spending my children's future!
SearchAtHand removal, part ii.
That has been a lot of traffic to my SearchAtHand post. Apparently lots of people have contracted this DNS pirate.
Finally, one of the "big boy" anti-virus companies has stepped up to address this threat, months after I first contracted searchathand.
XoftSpy by Parreto Logic will now remove a SearchAtHand infection. I just received an email verification of this from their support dept. You can download it here.
Finally, one of the "big boy" anti-virus companies has stepped up to address this threat, months after I first contracted searchathand.
XoftSpy by Parreto Logic will now remove a SearchAtHand infection. I just received an email verification of this from their support dept. You can download it here.
Google Page Rank Heaven. PR=0 to PR=5 in 1 week.
I started a website awhile ago to sell some software products, and now I'm consumed with traffic stats, SEO, and Google Page Rank.
With some effort, I've managed to get my site listed in the Google front page for the terms that covet. Yet, for some reason, I could not get my Page Rank (or PR) to budge from zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. You get the idea.
It just wouldn't move. No matter how much I improved the site, no matter how much I updated it. Fearing that some of the sites I was linking to were in a "bad neighborhood," I even went through all of the links in the site and used the new rel="no follow" tag. Apparently that's supposed to tell the Googlebot not to follow the link and therefore, not to penalize me for where it leads to.
Still, PR was zero.
"Screw it," I said. I was tired of worrying about PR. Google can stuff themselves.
Last week I went through my website and was updating the product blog, when I noticed something that I had not noticed before: there were thousands of comments to my blog entries. Literally, thousands.
I decided to clean up the comment spam, but there was so much of it, and the tools in b2Evolution were so poor (or at least my knowledge of it was so poor) that I just decided to nuke the entire blog and start over.
I manually copied a few of my favorite entries, reconfigured the blogging software to never allow comments, and pasted in my entries.
Then I went to out Google and summoned a bot to my site.
Now in less than a week, after nearly a year of being online, my PR has jumped from zero to five.
I know... That and a dollar will buy me a sticky French Vanilla capucino at my local gas station. But I just thought you'd like to know, in case you might be having the same problem.
With some effort, I've managed to get my site listed in the Google front page for the terms that covet. Yet, for some reason, I could not get my Page Rank (or PR) to budge from zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. You get the idea.
It just wouldn't move. No matter how much I improved the site, no matter how much I updated it. Fearing that some of the sites I was linking to were in a "bad neighborhood," I even went through all of the links in the site and used the new rel="no follow" tag. Apparently that's supposed to tell the Googlebot not to follow the link and therefore, not to penalize me for where it leads to.
Still, PR was zero.
"Screw it," I said. I was tired of worrying about PR. Google can stuff themselves.
Last week I went through my website and was updating the product blog, when I noticed something that I had not noticed before: there were thousands of comments to my blog entries. Literally, thousands.
I decided to clean up the comment spam, but there was so much of it, and the tools in b2Evolution were so poor (or at least my knowledge of it was so poor) that I just decided to nuke the entire blog and start over.
I manually copied a few of my favorite entries, reconfigured the blogging software to never allow comments, and pasted in my entries.
Then I went to out Google and summoned a bot to my site.
Now in less than a week, after nearly a year of being online, my PR has jumped from zero to five.
I know... That and a dollar will buy me a sticky French Vanilla capucino at my local gas station. But I just thought you'd like to know, in case you might be having the same problem.
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