Friday, October 31, 2003

Please welcome Interstellar Comedy Club to the blogroll.

In addition, please welcome Wesley Clark Weblog to the blogroll.
This apparently is me. I don't really agree with it ( I mean, I did answer AGREE to the death penalty question) but eh well. I kinda think I'm closer to the center on the libertarian side but it's possible my distrust of multi-national corporations pulls me in the other way. I'm down in that square with Gandhi. I do like this site, as it destroys that retarted singular Left-Right line which is wholly inaccurate, archaic, and stupid.

This is the same site, incidentally, that places all of the Democrats except Sharpton and Kucinich (both of whom I really don't like as candidates but are good at the rhetoric that they throw down) in the same box (authoritarian right) with the President. Surprisingly, it's John Edwards who was closest, not Joseph Lieberman like everyone thinks. Or maybe not surprisingly, I don't know much about Edwards. It does confirm my cynical observation: there's not much difference between the two main parties. I've read that Australia has a similar problem. I suspect if we put all the Republicans and Democrats who are in Congress, and a few past Presidents too, we'd be shocked. On that chart, I'd put Nixon to the left of John Edwards, merely for some of the social policies that he did sign and his opening of relations with China. Clinton (both of them) and Gore would probably be around where Wesley Clark is. Ron Paul of Texas would be in that right-libertarian box.

This chart also puts to rest all that annoying fascism talk...you know...Hitler being a leftist (he's at the very top of the chart, to the right of the social scale line) and Bush being a fascist (he's in the area that'd be considered traditional conservative, in my book).

I need a nap 'cause these State Schools run ya ragged (parents, save money and give your kids a REAL higher education. Send them to a State School...you WORK for every single A...no prestige, but you do EARN what you get...none of that grade inflation here) , and it's Halloween, so no more posts till tomorrow afternoon.
cynicism

I've noted, and you've probably noted too, a deep and growing cynicism on this site. It's not just on this site. I've noticed it in my general life as well.

I believe it started around July 2002, when the war talk began to leak out of Washington. I knew, right then and there, that we were going to war with Iraq. September confirmed it. October solidified it. The debate got ugly and people left and right (i'm not talking politically left and right, however) were screaming "Un-American! Un-American!" at each other. And I started to get turned off.

It was nearly impossible to tell people otherwise. People---liberals AND conservatives---had fallen under the spell. Saddam was responsible for 9/11. Saddam has nuclear weapons. Etc. Etc. Etc. If you dared mention that we spent the better part of the 1980s allied with Saddam against Iran you got stares, if you were lucky. It was Orwell's 1984 in reality. If you made the Orwell reference you got stared at, or worse---and I know Pennsylvania high school students DO read 1984, in quite a few districts it's required reading for contemporary literature classes. And then we went to war.

And then, adding to my cynicism, the President himself confirms what people with sense already knew: Saddam had no role in 9/11. And that was that.

Since then I've just taken a "why bother" attitude to it. A kid in class one day wanted to argue with the professor that everything that FoxNews ever said was right and everyone else was wrong because, and I quote, "They all annoyed him." The professor, to his credit, said all the news was wrong and if you just follow one network you're essentially going to get that one network's bias. I could have layed the rhetorical smackdown, but I didn't. I said "Why bother. He's not gonna listen anyway, and he'll probably call me un-American."

Lately it's been increasingly hard to get excited about causes. Having been bullied in the past, I champion underdogs. I tried to get a group interested in helping out with modern human slavery--one of my hot buttons. Got no interest. I was crushed. I really want this National Museum on Slavery built before I turn 35. But I'm getting so drained with this cynicism I feel like....this is beginning to drag on.

Fox was all giddy over the 7.2% growth rate yesterday. I was too. But what's the bigger issue? Does that erase a $500 billion dollar deficit?

I've noticed home sales are up? Good? or bad? Are people selling their homes 'cause they can't afford them because they've been out of real work for so long? Noone reports that, so it fuels my cynicism.

You know, I used to wake up and want to do something...cause I'd read the headlines and get pissed off. Now I just go, "Eh. Coulda seen that comin'." All I hope for is some karma to work its way back around.


Anyone else suffering? We could start a support group!


I know I'm not alone. I've detected the same cynicism in nearly every left-of-center to center site I read these days. The couple liberatarian sites I stop by are beyond cynical, I think.
whenever condi talks i get sado-masochistic visions of leather


She's talking again.

President Bush's national security adviser said on Thursday that the Clinton and other past administrations had ignored evidence of growing terrorist threats and that despite repeated attacks on American interests, "until Sept. 11, the terrorists faced no sustained, systematic and global response" from the United States.

"They became emboldened," the adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said of Al Qaeda, "and the result was more terror and more victims."

With these comments, in a speech in New York on Thursday evening to the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, Ms. Rice waded into what has become a central theme of the early days of the 2004 presidential race.


Lying. AGAIN. Because not only is it not true, there's a shitload of documentation (including a BEST SELLER, damnit....Age of Sacred Terror? Hello?! I read the damn book five times, I know who was concerned and who was not like the back of my friggin' hand.) that says previous administrations WERE concerned with terrorism. Very. Reagan was (sorta). Bush I certainly was. Clinton had two major attacks in his first administration, granted one was home-grown so his certainly was. And this one is too. BUT. . . they DID have that 9 MONTH POLICY review that ended with the now infamous August ranch trip (and that infamous August 6, 2001 memo) . . .

She has to be the most evil woman in the world. And I bet she knows it, too.

And I'm pissed as hell because the debate has now been framed. All previous evidence to the contrary is now false. 2+2=5. Red is really blue. Up is down. Black is white. Water runs uphill and shit really doesn't stink.

Happy Halloween!

(I'm going as a cowboy. Film at 11.)

Thursday, October 30, 2003

This is news I like to hear. 7.2%! w00t!

Now, I am hoping that this continues for the long term. I am also hoping tha this growth wipes out that horrible federal deficit that I don't want to pay for in 10-15 years.

I also hope those 9 million lost jobs come back too, and I don't mean at Wal-Mart.

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Someone is a thin-skinned little baby...and he's a stalker too...

Atrios gets threatened to be sued by a really creepy stalker. Go give him moral support.


(and Donald Luskin, bring it, biatoch! SLAAP suits always get tossed because they're retarded bitchy little suits designed to waste the courts time. All you're trying to do is chill free speech. You're an absolute coward. You can't handle that people don't like you so you sue them. Like those idiots at FoxNews. Biaotch.)
Please tell me this is fake. Please?


Oh...I'm gonna have bizarre dreams tonight. . .and not the fun kind. *shudder*

Nope, it's real. Eyesoap, please.
an update to the pax americana post

For the short term, what I'm saying is we need to stay the course. We fucked the place up, now we have to fix it back up. Sean-Paul says the same thing, and he's right. This war was a grave miscalculation. Perhaps Saddam was going to launch WMD at us. So far, the evidence is to the contrary. Of course it's good that a psychopath is gone (while one is appeased in Northeast Asia, but I'll stay away from that hot button tonight).

It's good that someday in the medium future, a democracy could develop (although the global trend toward fundamentalism of all shapes, sizes, and forms seems to make this a pipe dream ...at least to me). However the cronyism, the chaos, the attacks on our soldiers (who come home to find out they don't have health care...fuck you Bush), all that lost money (right into coporate pockets), and the burden placed upon the American taxpayer who already doesn't want to pay for the nice services they enjoy at home is bad. I don't give a fuck about what FoxNews says or even CNN. Bad things are happening over there because we've fucked it up beyond all recognition. Honest people need to sit down, state this, and make a plan on how to fix this place up.

Simple philosophy. If you break something in a store, you buy it. We broke it. Now we have to "buy" it.

Later on this week sometime I'm going to have talk about the cronyism, because it makes me fucking sick.

Oh, and I'm over the flu, finally.
Finally, someone sees it my way. Let's get behind this, okay?
Help!

Okay gang, I need a little bit of help.

I want General Wesley Clark to make a campaign stop here at Millersville during the Primary Season. I think it'd be a great idea. I think he'd appeal to a large number of people in Lancaster County---even those who tell me I'm evil for not watching Fox News.

My question is: how do I go about doing this? Should I leave it up to the local party who is busy enough as it is? Who do I talk to? Should I write Govenor Rendell? (we did get Rendell to stop here before--and he had written off Lancaster County. He ended up winning the district Millersville is in.)

So, in short, help!
13,000
zinger number 5

THE SHORTER US FOREST SERVICE

In order to save the trees we must burn them.

The Shorter Trent Lott

In order to save the Iraqi's we must mow them down.


Lovely.
Pax Americana

I didn't go to the DC protests Saturday. I was actually doing community service which is probably why I have this flu-like illness. While I commend anyone who exercises their rights as an American, I have to question their idealism. I was idealistic. . . once upon a time. . .

I think we need to face a difficult fact. We are in this for the long-haul. Those soldiers aren't comin' home soon, despite the ever-increasing expense and burden upon the United States. I've come to realize that 9/11 was the opening salvo in what later history will probably remember as the Pax Americana. And with bases all over the globe, America truly is "an Empire where the Sun never Sets."

It is generally American force, money, and knowhow that seems to go into most of the world's police actions. Peace is enforced in the world with American power. When America cannot do it for whatever reason, other "sheriffs" are called to task. Note Australia's recent intervention in the Solomon Islands, and the President's recent statements about Australia being the US's "sheriff."

Also note that it was the threat of American power that caused Charles Taylor to vamoose from Liberia. Also note that the threat of American power has made Iran much more cooperative. I don't know about North Korea yet. I honestly wouldn't trust their recent overtures, but again, power seems to be playing a role.

We need to be realistic, regardless of where in the politcal spectrum you lie. These years are the opening of the Pax Americana, whether you like it or not. We can't just cut and run. We also need to be realistic and honest and say as much: This is the Pax Americana. Personally, I'd have to say I don't like it. The previous two "Paxs" ended fairly badly.
Framing the Debate

There's been some discussion of "framing the debate," and I thought I'd jump in.

Debates are easy to frame, if you get to them first. Once that debate has been framed, it becomes very difficult to unframe it.

For example: We can use the "You're either with us or you're against us" rhetoric used right after 9/11. In that context, the debate was simple: You are either for civilization or you're for chaos and terror. Simple right?

That debate seems to have been re-framed. We saw this with the extremely poisoned pre-war rhetoric that was thrown back and forth all over the world. I've heard at least two country anti-Dixie Chick songs. Lots of people still hate France, which is ironic, because our ruling party and their ruling party are ideological cousins. Okay...second-cousins. At least it's not Front National. And as we occasionally rattle our sabers at Iran or Syria (or both) that debate is still framed in the "You're either with us or against us." Once framed, it becomes difficult to unframe.

Other examples? "Reporting on troop casulties lowers American morale." That debate has been framed blaming media for all that's wrong with the occupation. Even FAIR, which is notoriously left-leaning, sent out an action alert this week on this very subject. Yes, there's good things happening in Iraq. At the same time, guerillas are still blowing the hell out of our troops and international organizations.

(did you notice I just framed a debate?)

Once framed, it becomes difficult to unframe.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

As soon as I'm over this disease I'm getting a flu shot. And...I think everyone else should too. Ok?

Monday, October 27, 2003

i mean this in the most sarcastic of terms

Ahh yes, that old Us-Versus-Them argument. It's done wonders for the world ever since it was invented.


(found at Prometheus Six. Thanks dawg.)
What did the Australians do in the Solomons that we can't seem to emulate in Iraq?

At anyrate, the Australia/New Zealand intervention in the Solomon Islands shows how humanitarian intervention can work. I've been following it since it began in July. Good job, guys.
Wow, California. This is really bad.


The Red Cross is taking donations. Even though California amazes us with its near-constant bizarreness, they still deserve our help, as they are Americans too.
zinger number 4


The Lord...She works in mysterious ways. . . .


She also does not like hypocrites. Snicker.
I really hope Fox News's lawyers don't think their viewers are this stupid.

During an interview broadcast today on NPR's Fresh Air, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed that the Fox News Network had threatened to sue The Simpsons over a parody of the right-leaning news channel. The highly sensitive news organization, which is headed by Roger Ailes, made headlines this summer with an ill-starred lawsuit against humorist Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. The Fox suit was thrown out in court and only succeeded in making Franken's book a bestseller. According to Groening, the Simpsons team refused to cut out the segment, which Groening told Fresh Air he "really liked," figuring that Rupert Murdoch wouldn't allow the Fox News cable network to sue the Fox Broadcast Network, which carries The Simpsons. The Fox News Network did back down on its threat, although it has told The Simpsons creators that in the future, cartoon series will not be allowed to include a "news crawl" along the bottom of the screen, which might "confuse the viewers."


These guys are starting to remind me of those whiny, humorless freaks who cannot take a joke. Thin-skinned? Oh hell yeah.
Having whatever it is I have (it's like the flu, but not the flu) is like the worst thing ever. I feel like I'm dying or something. And yes, I've already been to the doctor.

Sunday, October 26, 2003

This is a good cause, so sign this petition please.
9/11 Commission Watch

I smell a stinky, traitorous Grover all over this shit.


The chairman of the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks said that the White House was continuing to withhold several highly classified intelligence documents from the panel and that he was prepared to subpoena the documents if they were not turned over within weeks.


I still do not understand all the opposition to this investigation, who only has till this coming Summer to do its work. Maybe one of the cool kids can tell me.

Cynical Prediction: Nothing will get done/reported. Under the table. Under the rug with the others. Nothing to see here, move along. Look there! Kobe! He's doing something!


I don't even want to talk about it. Political discourse in this country at the Federal level is starting to disgust me. Media already disgusts me. No wonder I'm foul-mouthed.
I am cynical today.
zinger number 3

At least we'll win in the end.
zinger number 2

Well, appeasement worked for Chamberlain.


Indeed.
you have to click the link to participate in the zinger

You know...the Wahabbis have a thing just like this.

Heh.

Indeed.
Endorsements

We're in the last 10 days of this current Election Cycle. It's time for some endorsements.

This blog endorses:

Bill Saylor for Lancaster County Commissioner. I've had the immense pleasure of meeting him on many occasions, and doing fundraisers for him. He's well-established in the local community and I feel he'll do a great job working in nearly one-party rule Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He's well liked by both Republicans and Democrats. Mrs. Saylor is a nice lady too.

For Millersville Town Council and mayor, I endorse all the Democratic candidates. I have a reason that for some is partisan, but for me, is not. You see, for many years the amount of cars on the main street leading into campus has grown. The Boro has tried to plow through the town's (and the county's) only remaining patch of decent riparian forest bordering the Conestoga River. The effort failed years ago. It's back, sadly, and the University seems to be backing it...thus adding to the Los Angelesization of Millersville and Lancaster County. One of the reasons I chose Millersville was for the immense natural beauty of the campus and town. This is in danger of being erased beneath some asphalt that won't alleviate the traffic problem. The Democratic candidates all want to preserve the open space. The Republicans don't. Very simple for me.

I'm not from Philadelphia, so I'm staying out of that mayor's race. I do predict that skin color will play a huge role in how the vote comes down...it's how it worked last time, and people of a certain skin color dominate within the city of Philadelphia due to that phenomenon that causes people of the other skin color to flee to the Main Line and other suburbs like South Jersey. For what it's worth, Katz isn't your typical Republican (he's pro-gay) and Street isn't your typical Democrat (he's pro-faith based initiatives...the President himself has praised Street's programs from time to time). Honestly I don't like either of them, but as I said, I'm not from Philadelphia. Just the Philadelphia area.
PA DEMS PAY ATTENTION


The Crystle for US Senate Campaign needs your help. Donate what you can.

Saturday, October 25, 2003

It's not the Cubs-Red Sox, but I'll take what I can get.


Penn State football remains riduclously pathetic, however.
All-inclusive GOP?

Yeah fucking right.


Lewis hits The Nail on the head, though. Beautiful.

Friday, October 24, 2003

Oh....My....God...


LOFTUS: Well, you know, it’s a funny story. About a year-and-a-half ago, people in the intelligence community came and said-guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren’t being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them, because there were being funded by the Saudis and a political decision was being made at the highest levels, don’t do anything that would embarrass the Saudi government. So, of course I immediately volunteered to do it and I filed a lawsuit, against al-Arian charging him with being a major terrorist for Islamic Jihad, most of his money came from Saudi charities in Virginia.

Now, Alamoudi’s headquarters were in the same place, he was raided the same day, on March 20. An hour after I filed my lawsuit, the U.S. government finally got off its butt and they raided these offices. And, the stuff that they’re taking out of there now is absolutely horrendous. Al-Arian has now, finally been indicted, an along with Alamoudi, today.

But, who was it that fixed the cases? How could these guys operate for more than a decade immune from prosecution? And, the answer is coming out in a very strange place. What Alamoudi and al-Arian have in common is a guy named Grover Norquist. He’s the super lobbyist. Newt Gingrich’s guy, the one the NRA calls on, head of American taxpayers. He is the guy that was hired by Alamoudi to head up the Islamic institute and he’s the registered agent for Alamoudi, personally, and for the Islamic Institute.

Grover Norquist’s best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things. He got extreme right wing Muslim people to be the gatekeepers in the White House. That’s why moderate Americans couldn’t speak out after 9/11. Moderate Muslims couldn’t get into the White House because Norquist’s friends were blocking their access.
OLBERMANN: How does this tie back into the thing that apparently pulled the stopper out of the drain, if you will-The developers at Guantanamo bay? How rotten is the system of the interpreters and the chaplains-the Muslim Chaplains that Alamoudi was involved in setting up?

LOFTUS: It’s as rotten as it gets. Think of the Muslim chaplain’s program that he set up as a spy service for al-Qaeda. The damage that’s been done is extreme. It wasn’t just sending home mom and dad messages from the prisoners. These guys, this network in Guantanamo, stole the CIA’s briefing books. Everything that the CIA knew about al-Qaeda is now back in al-Qaeda hands. That’s about as bad an intelligence setback as you can get.

OLBERMANN: John, how does this end up? How far will the investigation into this necessarily have to go to get to the bottom of it?

LOFTUS: There’s a lot more to go. Norquist had a lot of other clients. There’s a whole alphabet soup of Saudi agencies that funded terrorism in this country. They had an awful lot of protection. And, one of the things we may find about 9/11 is that people out in the field weren’t allowed to connect the dots and questions will be asked whether guys like Grover Norquist were part of the problem?


Read the entire transcript. I have no words.


UPDATE: Time for research into John Loftus.

Start here. I'll have more later. *hattip from chunkstyle at Atrios*

Loftus has a website.

UPDATE II: I'm still shocked beyond belief. Someone else is filled with a rightheous rage...

Kip actually has two posts... Read 'em.

Thursday, October 23, 2003



I found this at this website. It's a British Website, so their "center" and their "Left" is a little more to the left than what the United States is.

At any rate, it's interesting.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Fun with Nuclear proliferation.

(this is not the first time I've heard this story.)

UPDATE: A Lexus-Nexus search dates facets of this story to early-to-mid-September 2003, including pieces from The Irish Times and The Guardian of UK. The Times of India is also carrying the UPI story reported today in the Washington Times.

The Saudis have denied it, but to be perfectly honest, I think it's true. Pakistan is complicit in sending nuclear aid to North Korea and neighboring Iran. I am concerned by these developments by an "ally," and I continue to allege that Pakistan is named in those 28 redacted pages. I'm also beginning to suspect that Senator Graham (D-FL) was really referring to Pakistan and not Saudi Arabia when he made cryptic claims of a state actor in the 9/11 Attacks. I have no proof, just a sinking suspicion, and a theory as to why we haven't laid them waste yet.

I'd also like to know who gave Pakistan its nuclear technology?

Also from the Associated Press in May, there are concerns that Iran's program may touch off an arms race. Too late it seems, but Pakistan seems to be behind it all. Seems. My tinfoil cap may be on too tightly though, but things just aren't adding up to me.

I have an off-the-wall completely lunatic theory as to what the fuck is up: What if, we found out in the initial chaos and aftermath of 9/11, that elements of the Pakistani military, intelligence services, or governement (or all three) were 90+%complicit in the 9/11 Attacks. What if, when we called them on it, they said, "sure, we did it, but if you come after us, enjoy seeing your cities nuked...or enjoy seeing Indian cities vaporized, or we'll tell our clients in NK to do the same to Japan and South Korea. You can get rid of that pesky Taliban, they're costing us money with all the refugees." Then, what if, we took left them alone as we attacked Afghanistan (and later Iraq) and so on. I have absolutely no proof of this particular what-if...just things don't add up as they should to me. It's insane, I know, but there is some scant evidence of the Pakistani ISI being complicit in 9/11.

I'm just thinking off the wall on this one, seriously. I don't even believe it myself: it's too far out there. But what-if?

Just trying to garner some comments...
Hey, media whores, idiots, and Instahacks everywhere?


RUMSFELD GAVE THE INFORMATION OUT PUBLICALLY! IT WAS NOT LEAKED! IT WAS NOT LEAKED!

My theory as to why: He's pissed that Condi is getting the glory.

Question:

When are the reporters who received the Plame leak going to be subpeonaed?

And yes, I know reporters have to protect their sources. However, there are exceptions, and because this is A. a criminal investigation, and B. it'll likely come from a Grand Jury, the reporter has less protection. Yes, the 6th and 1st protect reporters, but that protection is not totally absolute.


I want to see more coverage of the Plame leak. It really is that serious, to me.
Random Observation

There's going to be a major and nasty little reaction when the Baby Boom Generation realizes it can't get the same social security and medicare benefits that their parents got. Bummer for them. What bought this on? Take a wild fucking guess.
The Shorter Terry Pinder on David Brooks


David Brooks is weird. And syurpy sweet in a really, really creepy way. Like the little blond Welches' Grape Jelly girl.
We ought to thank the Agonist for providing us with updates on the Plame case, even though the national media, like a kitten fixated on a shiny object, has moved on to Kobe Bryant.
I'm not quite sure what to say about this little gem. . .

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld questioned whether the United States was doing enough to win the war on terrorism, citing "mixed results" in the fight against al-Qaida in a pointed memo to top Pentagon (news - web sites) officials.

Rumsfeld said the U.S.-led coalitions would win in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), but not without "a long, hard slog." He wrote that the United States "has made reasonable progress in capturing or killing the top 55 Iraqis" but has made "somewhat slower progress" tracking down top Taliban leaders who sheltered al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

"My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?" Rumsfeld wrote


USA Today has this on its front page, by the way.

I will say this: he's asking questions that are totally legitimate. How can we win this? In the origional case of Afghanistan, removing the Taliban was the right step. I think more aid toward that country is needed too. I'm not quite sure what he means by "bold moves." I thought "Shock and Awe" was supposed to be that "bold" move, considering they want us to think that Iraq was just another step in the War on Terror.
There's a particular commenter cover at Atrios who is REALLY PUSHING MY BUTTONS.

I shouldn't feed the trolls, but if he happens to be reading this, and he wants to take me up on my offer to "bring it," I can be found on the campus of Millersville University of Pennsylvania seven days a week. It's a small campus. I generally eat in the same dining hall, at the same table (I'm a creature of habit.) I generally get my morning paper at the same time every day (10am) in the Student Union. I'm in the Student Union most nights after 6pm till it closes doing work, going to meetings, or whatever. I'm also doing a lot of strength training these days and I'm going to start wrestling soon. So . . . if he wants to spout the spew behind his little "egg" name, he should bring it on. I'm willing. I'll even find the venue for it. Or he can continue to be a disgusting little faceless coward. Bring it on, bitch, or shut the hell up.


(This will be the only time you'll see me sink this low.)

Sunday, October 19, 2003

Okay, busy few days. Lots of work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Two birthdays Thursday and Friday. Sparse posting this week.
More on Gaullists here.
Matt has an interesting post up about French politcs.

Now, for some reason, when I bring up that France's current government is center-right and fairly close to what our current center-right- to way-right Republican government is (which is bought up in Matt's comments by the way) I get laughed at like I'm stupid. Which is sad, 'cause I'm right and Fox News has addled those people's brains.
As someone with considerable Native ancestry...posts like this disturb me to no end.

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Okay...who else had that jaw-dropping experience when they read this little ditty? Seriously... my jaw is still down there on the floor.
They really need to catch these fucking cowardly bastards and stop raising my friggin' blood pressure.

I'm a little cranky today.
They are always pregnant on the Weather Channel it seems. I've never seen this on any of the other 24-hour information networks. Interesting...
...but at least someone cares about the CIA leaker, even though idiots out there say it's "too complex" or "it's not that big a deal."

No, it really is a big deal. This woman worked on WMD. You know, those bad things we went to war over? Yeah, those baddies. Got it now?
This is so fucking disgusting I want to puke.

Hundreds of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers including many who served in the Iraq war are languishing in hot cement barracks here while they wait -- sometimes for months -- to see doctors.

The National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers' living conditions are so substandard, and the medical care so poor, that many of them believe the Army is trying push them out with reduced benefits for their ailments. One document shown to UPI states that no more doctor appointments are available from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11 -- Veterans Day.

"I have loved the Army. I have served the Army faithfully and I have done everything the Army has asked me to do," said Sgt. 1st Class Willie Buckels, a truck master with the 296th Transportation Company. Buckels served in the Army Reserves for 27 years, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Gulf War. "Now my whole idea about the U.S. Army has changed. I am treated like a third-class citizen."


Two things to note: UPI is owned by that Moonie nut that owns the Washington Times. So this isn't some lefty liberal news outlet. Second thing, it pisses me the fuck off the way veterans and even active duty soldiers are treated. We allegedly went to war to protect our freedoms and they get treated like absolute shit. And of course, some asshole troll hack or fascist bitch commentator will say "Liberals don't care about the troops. They hate America." Well FUCK THEM and the FUCKING HORSE they RODE IN ON. I SHOULD NOT be reading about our forces living in squalor. That's fucking disgusting. It's an absolute disgrace.

Friday, October 17, 2003

This study is bullshit.


Fuckin' Yankees....


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!


(Don't expect any posts Friday, I'm pissed off. My inner wrestler seems to be coming out...)


And if PSU and/or the Eagles lose this weekend, I might have to go on hiatus.

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Oh lawdy lawdy, they done gone and done it.


WASHINGTON - Pentagon (news - web sites) leaders on Thursday spoke up in support of a top general who has told church audiences that the war on terrorism is a battle with Satan and that Muslims worship idols.



Hmm...let me go see how much land in the mountains away from civilization costs.....I'll build a cabin...

I mean seriously. This "my God is better than your God, neener neener neener!" talk starts wars, right?
Youse all probably already knew this . . .

half empty


Do you see the glass half empty or half full?
brought to you by Quizilla

Heh. Indeed.

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

I want everyone to read this article and tell me what you think. It was published a couple weeks ago in The Snapper (the paper I'm Opinion Editor of...) and has caused quite the backlash. Also contained in that issue was a very controversial and implicitly anti-Hispanic commentary that has gotten me into some trouble although I didn't write it...i'll address that one soon.

(login name: terry6, password on6mq2. I set this up specifically because this article is important. It's also posted below because it is...well..important. After the article, I'll explain.

The quotes to pay attention to are bolded.


The first few weekends of the semester were not good ones for those living in Brookwood Apartments. They were especially rough for a couple of MU's wrestlers.

It was the same weekend as the shooting at Brookwood, the same night as the BSU dance in the SMC. Two of Millersville University's wrestlers, who wish to remain anonymous, were walking home that night. As they were walking toward the 1600 block, they noticed a police car pass by them.

It was about 2 a.m., and both wrestlers were unaware of the shooting that had occurred earlier that night. As the police car was pulling by, a group of people who were walking around the apartment complex started running, and one ran into one of the wrestlers.

The police car was out of sight, and the runner turned on the wrestlers. "About 10 of them started beating the crap out of my roommate," said one of the wrestlers. Then, about 10-15 more turned on him and started beating both of them. Luckily, they were in front of their teammates house, and he came out to help them. Then a couple of guys from the basketball team came out and pulled them out of trouble.

Although both wrestlers were very banged up and bruised, they did not go to the hospital. They did not even go to the police that night; they pulled up their hoods and walked on because there was still a bunch of people walking around Brookwood.

They went to the police station the next day, but the police could not do anything because they could not identify the subjects as more than African-Americans wearing jeans and baggy white t-shirts. "Nowadays, everyone's wearing baggy white t-shirts and you can hardly identify them, especially in the dark."

The wrestler also commented, "They let anyone go to these [dances in the SMC], whether they attend the school or not."

He thinks that these events should be closed to the public in order to avoid more incidents like those that have been occurring off campus on the weekends. "They have to stop letting outsiders in. They don't card anyone; they should have to show an ID or be at least 18 and older. The cops said, [the crowd that goes to these events who aren't MU students] go to the apartments to look for parties and trouble afterwards."

With all the citations for open containers, breaking into the local pool, the recent shooting incident, and now this, it's hard for them to feel comfortable coming out of their apartment.

"There are so many people walking around [who don't belong here]," the wrestler stated. "The cops don't care because they know they're just leaving soon anyway. I want something to be done about it." The two didn't have to miss any classes since the incident happened on the weekend. Wrestling season started last week, and since both weren't feeling up to par, they had some trouble keeping up with the running and other activities they were expected to do to get in shape.

Although they are still getting over the bruises, they hope to be back in full swing soon.


note: the wrestlers, like 90% of the campus, are white. This fact added just for context.

In the classes I've had on Communication Theory, we learned about "message" and "receiver." An individual, or groups of individuals, may, in their heads, have a message they want to get across. The receivers may get a completely different message than what the messagegiver may be trying to state.

The messages in bold, to me, came off as ignorant--to me. Also I got the feeling that the wrestlers were not telling the entire story. I did hear about this incident shortly after it occured (it was a bad weekend, that one...) in a class where we were discussing White Privilege and some argued that there was no such thing. I said nothing, and wish I had. I don't know the individuals involved. I saw the article when it came in to the office when it raised my hackles. I mentioned that people would take it the wrong way--instantly seeing the message-receiver disconnect. I wish I had explained why.

I didn't have to say anything. Dozens of students did it for me and we've been in trouble ever since. Some staffers, all of whom are people I'm friends with, still don't see what I see (overly-sensitive was the word used...overlooking the fact that I cringed too, and said so). Some of the students think the staffers are a bunch of bigots and that's not true. Guess who is stuck in the middle because I see and understand both views.

I've talked about this before: my disconnect with nearly everyone. It makes me confused, tired, and sometimes very angry. There are days where I absolutely fear/worry/dread going to class or into the newspaper office, or being seen with my fraternity (who are not officially chartered at the school, but they're not one of the Five...that was the controversy I alluded to a few days ago...all quiet so far... that'll change i suspect because of the bidding process) because I'm the only black face in the crowd. I really should be used to this--I spent K-2 in private school and 2-12 in a public suburban district whose demographics were fairly similar to Millersville's. It still gets under my skin sometimes. It gets under my skin because in class, all the eyes stare at me when a racial issue comes up. It gets under my skin because in nearly every organization I belong to I'm the only black kid there. It gets under my skin because I always have to be the go-between guy between different groups of people who often don't want to see the other groups concerns...or even listen to me.

I just deal with it as best I can. I wish there were more people like me who try not to give a shit about skin color. But as the discourse shows (I read through the comments over at S-Train....my thoughts are with his family...may they recover well from their ordeal, and reading those comments got under my skin and inspired this post), and this article indicates, we've still got a long fight.

note: While I thought the comments in the article were ignorant and probably stupid, I didn't think they were bigoted unlike the rest of the black community here on campus. I felt they weren't telling the entire story (they probably provoked that fight), and I felt they came from individuals who probably grew up in one of the small towns of Lancaster County which has almost no minority population other than the occasional migrant worker outside of Lancaster city. There are black athletes on the wrestling team, and none of them have given me any indication that the team is a bunch of bigots. Another note, the BSU (black student union) did NOT sponsor the dance party...that was a mistake that was publically corrected in the October 8th issue. One of the sports teams and one of the Sororities hosted it, I believe. I also think that ignorance about one another is an issue that needs to be addressed here on campus, as I've heard of this sort of thing before in the past, and I'll probably devote my entire Opinion section to it very, very soon, as soon as I get approval...or I'll just do it anyway without approval and get fired, I don't really care.





North Korea may have already produced the bomb.


New intelligence estimates that North Korea may have produced one or two nuclear weapons in recent months — or perhaps more — have immersed the administration in another internal debate about the quality of intelligence about illegal weapons.

With President Bush just days from embarking on his longest foray in Asia, some of his advisers say it is possible that North Korea is telling the truth about having turned 8,000 nuclear fuel rods into enough weapons-grade plutonium for several warheads.


No fucking shit.

There's a rebuttal, though.

If you're on the West Coast, I'd advise you to start building those bomb shelters. Okay, so I'm being paranoid, but so are they. I understand the caution the United States is taking with this by "downplaying" it, however, this is one case where I wouldn't err on the side of caution...much in the way we did with Iraq. North Korea is sick, wounded, and starving. They need the money. What happens when they sell their nukes on the black market to the highest bidder, say a rouge state or a terrorist group? We need to consider these options and their consequences.

The UN's silence on this matter is somewhat disquieting. To be honest, the entire world's silence on this matter is disquieting, but it seems the entire world is distracted at the moment.
I'll also have an APSCUF strike update soon.


(aside: the 14 schools of the State System of Higher Education are all slightly right-of-center to centrist schools, as Pennsylvania is a slightly right-of-center state. Not one post about "liberal academia" bilking America out of cash, please.)
I'm doing some minor site-redesign today and tomorrow. Let me know what you think.

Before anyone tries to "draft" me the way they're trying to for the ever-annoying Virgin Ben, let it be said that if called, I would likely serve.

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

I'm back!

I had a great time, drank more than I should have, took lots of pictures, and help stimulate the Canadian economy by spending more money than I should have. It seems a lot happened down here in the States while I was up there. Gimmie a bit, I'll have to go figure it all out.

Thursday, October 9, 2003

STUFF

I'm busy Thursday. Maybe I'll post Friday. From Saturday through Tuesday, I'll be in Toronto, Ontario; Canada. SARS be damned, I'm gonna have fun!

I'll also be 22 on Sunday. Man, it feels weird saying that. (wish list is on the left...no, i'm kidding. I don't really want anything for my birthday.)

Laters.

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

Whatever's going on in Philadelphia is rather big apparently. No link yet---I'm watching NBC10.
Open Thread Poll Type Thing

Which state is the Creepiest state?


(I'm torn between my home state of Pennsylvania, California, and Florida.)

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

I've been punching a lot of walls lately.

(you have to read to find out why, I'm not going to explain it because I'm pissed the fuck off.)


When you're done that go read Sean-Paul on Orwell.
Graham will make a hell of a national security advisor in a Clark Presidency.

Good shot, Senator Graham.
I'm in the process of doing something here at Millersville that will make a lot of people angry I think. Or maybe it won't. We'll see how it turns out.

Yes I'm being vague.

I think it will piss people off because research suggests it has at other schools, including Penn State, but mainly at southern schools.

Yes...ethnicity/race is involved.

I'll just leave it at that, for now. I gotta go float some trial ballons.

Monday, October 6, 2003

Shut up, Kennedy...

Normally, I agree with him on nearly most things. Just not this one.

I was gonna say something about Edwards, but I'm not gonna.
Bigots are so fucking stupid.

(no, Atrios isn't a bigot. He's just sarcastic. The individual he's linking to is a bigot. And yes, Pat Robertson can eat a ***t and go to Hell. If that makes me bigoted against Pat Robertson, then oh well. Actually I'll just say it 'cause I'm sure someone will make the argument. I'm bigoted against all bigots. Bummer. As if they were worthy of my sympathy.)

Not that I'm surprised about this particular bigot, Jennifer Graham. She once wrote a column titled "What Would Ann Coulter Do."

I could violate Godwin's Law, but this time I'll just let that one stand.
Sean-Paul's Agonist has been following a story that probably should get more airtime. It's about Diebold and their voting machines.

I rather like the lever machines my county uses. It really is too bad no one makes them anymore. The lever machines, while they have their problems (mainly because they're older than dirt), have a paper trail. The electronic machines do not. One well-placed magnet could wipe out tons of votes, or someone could easily change votes (which the state of Maryland seems to have found out even though they're using them anyway).

Diebold also makes credit card machines. My school uses Diebold credit card swipers. I just noticed that Saturday.
Bad idea.


U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage pledged on Monday to deepen Washington's ties with Pakistan, dismissing talk of cracks in the relationship after meeting President Pervez Musharraf.

Last week Armitage said some in Pakistan's security community were less than enthusiastic about working with the United States, especially in tracking down Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the Afghan border.

Pakistan has also expressed deep reservations about Washington's decision to allow Israel to sell an advanced early warning radar system to India, saying it would create an arms imbalance in South Asia.

"We are very interested in having a full relationship with Pakistan, not simply one based on the global war on terror, the one that covers the entire gambit -- economic, social, political as well as of course security," Armitage said in Islamabad.

Armitage said he had never questioned Musharraf's sincerity or effort in the war on terror, but said he had only questioned some individuals with the security services.



Pakistan is in those 28 redacted pages. I'm sure of it.

Time is right to question the "seriousness" of Pakistan.
For some reason, Free Republic is showing up in my trackbacks and referral logs. I have no idea why. I don't even want to know why.

Given the fact that most of the denizens of that site, at least the ones I've encountered (save maybe one or two) are not nice individuals, I must lay out the rules. The same goes for anyone coming from Free Republic's liberal cousin, Democratic Underground (another site with a lot of strange, not-so-nice, people.) DU hasn't shown up in my referral logs yet, though.

Short version: This blog is my private property (I pay for this service) in much the way that Free Republic is the property of that sites owners. I reserve the right to delete posts that are personally offensive or threatening to me. I haven't done it yet, and I hope I never have to, although it takes a lot to personally offend me. Haloscan's frequent crashes generally seem make posts disappear all on their own.

Sunday, October 5, 2003

This is getting on my nerves

I've stated how I feel about this in the past: NO REPERATIONS. Want to divide a nation? Give a bunch of people free money. I think a far less divisive issue would be a federal museum in the Smithsonian complex in DC. Educate people about the history of slavery in this country. Perhaps others. It's obvious that the wounds haven't quite healed, and haven't done so because people don't want to hear about it, learn about it, read about it, et cetera. Build the museum and the people can educate themselves. We have a museum dedicated to the horror of the Holocaust. I think that's helped with people's understanding of that horrific period and probably shown people why the United States intervenes in humanitarian actions around the world. One dedicated to human slavery could show people that horrific period, and perhaps, end human slavery in our current day.
Didn't we impeach the last guy who couldn't keep it in his pants or keep his hands off the boobies and butts?


Amnesia. I suspect it's 'cause he's a big Hollywood star. And all those muscles, well, he's a 'roid freak. Or was.


At anyrate, he's a nasty slut.
Interesting. . .


Australian researchers said on Sunday they had conducted a successful experiment using two hormones to suppress sperm production, which they said could lead to the first injectable male contraceptive.



. . . . yes. Interesting.

Saturday, October 4, 2003

I think everyone can agree that this sucks. It really, really sucks.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Jerry Wilmouth moved to Galesburg, Illinois, five years ago, everyone told him to get a job at Maytag Corp.'s (NYSE:MYG - news) refrigerator plant. Maytag paid the best, they said, and the 50-year-old factory was the lifeblood of the city.

Now, Wilmouth and 379 others are spending their first week of life after Maytag -- the first of 1,600 workers to be laid off between now and the end of 2004, when the plant closes for good and Maytag moves the work to Mexico.

The 46-year-old father of three said he has little hope of finding work in Galesburg to match the $15 an hour he made on the assembly line, and now his 17-year-old daughter is thinking about joining the army to pay for college.



Very depressing too.
If AhNold becomes govenor, California won't get their money back from the Enron Scandal. Bummer.


From Greg Palast.
WTF!?

It's been a long two-and-a-half years, and I may be suffering from severe outrage overload... but this made me punch a fucking wall.


The leak of a CIA operative's name has also exposed the identity of a CIA front company, potentially expanding the damage caused by the original disclosure, Bush administration officials said yesterday.

The company's identity, Brewster-Jennings & Associates, became public because it appeared in Federal Election Commission records on a form filled out in 1999 by Valerie Plame, the case officer at the center of the controversy, when she contributed $1,000 to Al Gore's presidential primary campaign.


Know who did it? A certain troll-faced freak at CNN. Fuck you, Robert Novak.

The name of the CIA front company was broadcast yesterday by Novak, the syndicated journalist who originally identified Plame. Novak, highlighting Wilson's ties to Democrats, said on CNN that Wilson's "wife, the CIA employee, gave $1,000 to Gore and she listed herself as an employee of Brewster-Jennings & Associates."

"There is no such firm, I'm convinced," he continued. "CIA people are not supposed to list themselves with fictitious firms if they're under a deep cover -- they're supposed to be real firms, or so I'm told. Sort of adds to the little mystery."


I want the severed heads of these fucking traitors on pikes. Now. This is not a request.


Are they trying to give a certain segment of the population convulsions? I do not understand this.

The convulsions will be entertaining, though.


UPDATE: not real. Idiot freepers will still have convulsions, but that's because they're idiots with no brains. And it'll still be funny to me, especially 'cause it's not real.

Friday, October 3, 2003

Comedy of Errors

While we continue to dither with the international community over whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction or not, North Korea ramps it up a bit. Actually, they've been ramping it up. They seem to be saying "Bring it on, bitches."


Duck and cover. Those civil defense drills in the '60s had it right.


I'm also willing to bet the farm this country was/is involved, as they're complicit in lots of recent horrors.

Oh yea, that nation that's complicit in lotsa horrors just tested a nuclear capable missile. Fantabulous.
I get the distinctly odd feeling that this week really is a really good dream, and none of it is real. It's just too weird.

Especially this (via Billmon.)


Thursday, October 2, 2003

The Skeptic has retired. It was a very good blog...I hope he sticks around.
Could this week get any more bizarre?


Not that I'm complaining...he IS a nasty fat ass-cysted bastard who deserves worse.

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

Some Thoughts


All this talk the Republicans are doing...saying "no special counsel".....for some reason...seems kinda cowardly.

I don't understand.

A special prosecutor investigated Clinton's penis and its indescretions.

Yet, no special prosecutor can investigate someone or someones treason?

Bizarre.
As a Philly sports fan, I feel that Rush Limbaugh should be invited to sit in the 700-level (or it's new equivilant) at Lincoln Financial Field and spout off his . . . ideas to the crowd there.

Remember, these are the people who threw ice balls at SANTA CLAUS.

It'd be a bloody end, that's for sure.
You know it's big news when the Washington Times is out for blood.

Or, as the French say, Le merde a frappé le ventilateur.


(Please feel free to correct my french, it's been almost 5 years since I've had any instruction.)
Wonderful news.


Just wonderful.


Wonderful. Absolutely fantabulous.