Thursday, January 31, 2008

When Someone Tries To Tell The Emperor That He Has No Clothes

He is laughed at, ridiculed, threatened and told to move elsewhere. I’m proud of the people of Brattleboro, Vermont. I think that I’d like them and it makes me consider moving there.

I do not understand how people can like and support George W. Bush. It seems that they put their fear above everything else, including their own freedom. It makes them uncivil and nasty. How sad their lives must be.

And something is seriously wrong with Brit Hume.

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

Mom: Britney Spears resting at L.A. hospital

So Much For Originality

For some reason after I wrote the previous post Let Congress Waterboard Bush And Cheney I decided to Google, “waterboard Bush”. Here is some of what I found:

  1. WATERBOARD BUSH AND CHENEY
  2. Waterboard Bush, make him fess up
  3. waterboard bush PIN
  4. Waterboarding Republicans vs. Supporting Our Troops
It is disappointing to discover that what I thought was an original idea has already been thought of by others. It is, however, heartening to think that others think the same as I do.

Let Congress Waterboard Bush And Cheney

George W. Bush says, “We do not torture”. We do waterboard however, or at least we used to. Is waterboarding torture? Some people like Tom Ridge say yes and others like Michael Mukasey say no (or is that maybe, well if it’s done to him it is.) I guess it’s not if it’s done to somebody else. Porter Goss says he doesn’t know, yet John McCain describes it as a "very exquisite torture". Confused yet? I have a solution. Let Congress waterboard Bush and Cheney. Then ask them if they think it’s torture.

Then let’s waterboard New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who voted FOR Mukasey, who is now “disappointed” in the attorney general’s responses about waterboarding. Please, please, please, Senator Schumer, stop caving in to the Bush administration and let’s have some accountability. Enough with the nice words, let’s have some action!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The State Of The Union Is Troubled

From the New York Times:

Six years ago, President Bush began his State of the Union address with two powerful sentences: “As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger.”

Monday night, after six years of promises unkept or insincerely made and blunders of historic proportions, the United States is now fighting two wars, the economy is veering toward recession and the civilized world still faces horrifying dangers — and it has far less sympathy and respect for the United States.
America is moving forward at such a rapid pace I just can’t keep up. Things just keep getting better and better. The progress we are making is simply astounding. What will George do next to top all of this?

Seriously, has this man done anything good for this country?

Where Oh Where Did Osama Go?

His 2004 documentary was called Super Size Me. His new film is entitled Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

American filmmaker Morgan Spurlock:

…added that the movie showed how US foreign policy and socioeconomic forces in US-backed regimes created a hatred that certain factions could exploit. "I met so many people who want the same things for themselves and their families that we want. These moderate voices are not represented in the media. All we hear about are the extremists, the terrorists, because it's all about fear and scare tactics. I wanted to give these people a voice," he said.

Tax Cuts Over And Over Again

It happens in Canada too:

After years of convincing, governments began to act and social spending was cut, doing great damage to our health-care system and our investments in infrastructure. However, the yearly federal deficit was ultimately eliminated and we would then go on to build big yearly surpluses. Perhaps the children would be freed from the burden after all.

Of course, many people never bought into the hyperbole over the deficit and debt. They pointed to the studies that showed social spending was not the cause of the debt and that as the economy grew we could eliminate the deficit with little pain. They also said it wasn't fair that the people who had done the least to cause the debt – the poor – were going to pay the most to fight it.

And once the nation started to turn a surplus those people would have preferred that our national government use the surplus to return health and education funding to previous levels. Also in a nation with water, sewer and road systems in rapid decay, some quick investment in maintenance might also be in order.

But that side lost the battle for people's minds. We democratically decided as a nation to wrestle the deficit to the ground by cutting programs, and fully restoring spending was out of the question. After all, it was for the good of the kids.

So what happened, Canada?

Even if you don't agree with spending tax money on programs or infrastructure, why are we doing the tax cut thing? The national debt after nearly 10 years of surplus, especially if you include all levels of government, has barely been dented. Sure, the feds pay a little off the top but why isn't the entire surplus going to pay down the debt and save our children from paying for our past spending?

Market economies go up and down. We may be up now but at some point we will be down. If we don't pay down the debt when times are good we will never get it paid off and that will limit our options in the next recession.

But once the deficit was gone, Stephen Harper, Preston Manning, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, the Fraser Institute and the Canadian Taxpayer Federation stopped worrying about the poor children of the future and began to champion tax cuts now. And Canada has voted for tax cuts over and over again.

Another War President?

Do we want another war president? Was the last one any good?

Also, let's make sure we do all we can to keep the dumb blond stereotype alive while we're at it.

It's Almost Always About Money

Ever wonder about those security questions that password protected web sites ask you about? Well Josh Levin at Slate has:

Why are secret questions so popular? For one thing, they're cheap. Gaffan says that the lost souls who call in to get their passwords reset cost a company between $10 and $15 a pop; if that customer can reset the password himself using a secret question, the company pays nothing. The IT research firm Gartner claims that a large U.S. beverage producer saved $600,000 in one year by dumping help-desk calls in favor of an "automated password reset" system.
Follow the money, and it all goes to the CEO.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The State Of The Union

The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools. Peter Sinfield
How can anyone in his or her right mind stand up and applaud George W. Bush? Over and over and over again, for all the world to see. It is simply disgusting and disheartening. The man is guilty of war crimes and should be impeached and locked up, not lauded. The spectacle of The State Of The Union address last night sickens me. Congress should be ashamed.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Just Say No!!!

He's just going to want more tomorrow. When will it stop? Who will stop him?

Memo to Congress:

Start saying NO to all of the Bush requests for more money. Start saying NO to ANYTHING he wants.

Can We Impeach Him Now?

Pretty please…

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Article 2, Section 4 of The Constitution of the United States of America

Unreasonable Searches And Seizures

Does Dick Cheney have more than one expression? If he does, I’ve never seen it. I think he has purposely had nerve surgery on his face so that he can say thinks like: “…wise decisions by the President of the United States…” without smiling or laughing. How else can you explain it?

Will Bush's illegal wiretapping be made legal?

Thanks to The Real News Network.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment IV of The United States Constitution

The Inane Ramblings Of David Brooks

If David Brooks doesn’t have to listen to himself talk then why should we? This also applies to his writing. A recent opinion piece of his for The New York Times Two Cheers for Wall St. certainly shows that he pays no attention to his own writing. Otherwise, how can he possibly write things like this:

There is roughly a 100 percent chance that we’re going to spend much of this year talking about the subprime mortgage crisis, the financial markets and the worsening economy. The only question is which narrative is going to prevail, the Greed Narrative or the Ecology Narrative.
In the very first sentence he claims that he can see into the future. If the economy improves will we still be talking about “the worsening economy”? Also, I’m sure that in the year 2008 I will have more than one question. And even if I only had one question it would not be, “which narrative is going to prevail, the Greed Narrative or the Ecology Narrative”, it would be, “Why is George W. Bush still in the White House after he has screwed everything up so much?”

Mr. Brooks then goes on to say something that I happen to believe is true:
The Greed Narrative goes something like this: The financial markets are dominated by absurdly overpaid zillionaires. They invent complex financial instruments, like globally securitized subprime mortgages that few really understand. They dump these things onto the unsuspecting, sending destabilizing waves of money sloshing around the globe. Economies melt down. Regular people lose jobs and savings. Meanwhile, the financial insiders still get their obscene bonuses, rain or shine.

The morality of the Greed Narrative is straightforward. A small number of predators destabilize the economy and reap big bonuses. The financial system is fundamentally broken. Government should step in and control the malefactors of great wealth.
I don’t think he thinks this is true, however. He goes on to describe something he calls The Ecology Narrative:
The Ecology Narrative is different. It starts with the premise that investors and borrowers cooperate and compete in a complex ecosystem. Everyone seeks wealth while minimizing risk.
Sounds kind of Pollyannaish to me. Yes, investors and borrowers compete, but thinking that they cooperate sounds a little naive to me. Finance is a winner take all cut-throat game at the very least. Has he never seen traders in the pit?

Brooks says:
The United States has generally opted for financial innovation. This has worked out pretty well. The U.S. has enjoyed 25 years of strong economic growth, in part because capital has been efficiently allocated to companies that can use it well.
This has worked out pretty well for the rich, but not for everyone else. Has “capital been efficiently allocated to” people who have lost their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their healthcare over the last 25 years?
Financial instruments like adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages have allowed millions of people to get homes they could not otherwise purchase, and research shows that most of these tools have been used intelligently.
Yes, millions of people were able “to get homes.” Now millions of people are losing those homes. “...most of these tools have been used intelligently”? Does Brooks have his head in the sand? How can he possibly write this at a time of financial crisis that was caused by… oh wait a minute, it’ll come to me… ADJUSTABLE-RATE AND SUBPRIME MORTGAGES.
Hedge funds have proliferated to help investors manage risk. These things exist precisely because investors want to smooth out volatility. In the old days, a blow to, say, the Texas economy could have dried up lending in Texas, but now funds flow globally, and money from one part of the world can shore up weakness in another.
Mr. Brooks flunks Capitalism 101 if he thinks that the primary reason for hedge funds is to manage risk. Like any business the primary reason for its existence is to make money for its owner. And hedge funds are making some of their owners incredibly rich at the expense of others. In financial markets there are winners and losers, we don’t all win. Money is not created and money doesn’t vanish, it just goes to the winners. In the old days when banks were locally owned, mortgages stayed with the bank and were not sold many times over. In the old days when banks were locally owned, a bank failure did not threaten the ENTIRE world economy, just that one bank. It was like a built-in safety net of containment. Now we need foreign investors to come and rescue us from ourselves. Brooks thinks this is a good thing?
…time and again hedge funds have dampened market instability. If a currency, a company or a stock market starts to spiral downward, deep-pocketed funds, smelling bargains, will come in and stabilize its assets. If a company’s price is rising to unsustainable levels, contrarian funds bet against the hype.
Except for the time when the largest hedge fund of its time had to be bailed out by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with $3.625 billion to avoid a total collapse in the financial markets. To David Brooks I say: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Then Brooks goes on to explain that financial innovation requires an “adolescence” and we all should just learn to live with it because in the end everything will just be hunky-dory. He doesn’t mention how much money this “adolescense” will cost us.
The lesson of the Ecology Narrative is that, in most cases, the market corrects itself.
Then why does the government always have to step in to appease Wall Street? Why can’t the market just correct itself?
The Ecology Narrative is not morally satisfying. I wouldn’t bet on its popularity as a backlash against Wall Street and finance sweeps across a recession-haunted country. But the Ecology Narrative has one thing going for it. It happens to be true.
This is how David Brooks closes his column. Let’s not do what is morally right. For what reason? I don’t know. Brooks probably doesn’t know either. The proof that the Ecology Narrative is true? If wishes were horses…

Perhaps David Brooks is one of the main reasons that the New York Times stock price has gone from around $50.00 to $15.00 over the last five years. Perhaps if the New York Times fired him…

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Politics

(with apologies and thanks to John Lennon)

Politics is a Concept by which
we measure our gullibility

I won’t say it again

I don't believe in Bush
I don't believe in Cheney
I don't believe in Clinton
I don't believe in McCain
I don't believe in Obama
I don't believe in Romney
I don't believe in Edwards
I don't believe in Giuliani
I don't believe in Huckabee

I just believe in…

We the people…

Occam's Razor

The simple solution for what ails America: Stop rewarding incompetence and start holding people accountable for their words and deeds. Especially in the business, financial, and political communities.

That’s it.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Change Means Whatever You Want It To Mean

What does Barack Obama's "change" mean?

Thanks to The Real News Network.

Musicians Of Note - Jimmy Thackery & Tab Benoit

It’s time to kick back and enjoy some great music. I wish the sound and video were of better quality, but I’m not complaining. I’m just glad this video exists and that I can share it with you. Here are Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit performing These Arms Of Mine at Bluescruise 2006:

Thanks to marothhel and Youtube.com for making this video available.

These Arms Of Mine was written by the late, great Otis Redding who hit the charts with it way back in 1962. What a great song!

I can’t find words to describe Tab Benoit’s voice, I just love it. If you enjoy this performance, I recommend Whiskey Store Live by Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit on the Telarc Blues label. The recording quality is superb and so are the performances. Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit are both great guitarists and along with Jimmy Carpenter on saxophone and Ken Faltinson on the Hammond B3 they are given ample solo time on Whiskey Store Live! How can you go wrong with all these great musicians, including TWO drummers and a FEZ…

God's Will

Some time ago there were a couple of Doonesbury strips that deserve a second look, or a first if you’ve never seen them before:

…The Complete Collapse of Christianity…

…Everything Else That Happens…

The Pretended Causes Of War

From The Federalist Papers, Number 4, Here are the words of John Jay:

…there are pretended as well as just causes of war.

It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people. But, independent of these inducements to war, which are more prevalent in absolute monarchies, but which well deserve our attention, there are others which affect nations as often as kings; and some of them will on examination be found to grow out of our relative situation and circumstances.
John Jay wrote these words on November 7, 1787. What would he think of George W. Bush if he were alive today? What would he think of our current crop of presidential candidates?

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Bush Stimulus Package

Now, be honest, when you hear the phrase “The Bush Stimulus Package” what is the first thing that pops into your head? Does it involve sex? If you are me it does. Also if you are Barbara Ehrenreich:

With all the talk about how to stimulate it, you'd think that the economy is a giant clitoris.
I greatly admire Barbara Ehrenreich and her article Desperately Seeking Stimulus in The Nation (web only) is a worthwhile read.

Memo To America…

Put down your bibles for a while and pick up a copy of The Federalist Papers and learn what America is really supposed to be about. To help get you get started here is some of what James Madison had to say:

"A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance...."

"A standing army is one of the greatest mischiefs that can possibly happen."

"All power in human hands is liable to be abused."

"Conscience is the most sacred of all property...."

"Every word decides a question between power and liberty." (Speaking about the Constitution)

"I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse."

"America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat."

"Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

"Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression."

Bush's Legacy

Do Bush Voters Owe Americans An Apology?

Nearly 4000 dead American soldiers because of a lie.
Nearly 40,000 seriously wounded American soldiers because of a lie.
The ignoring of Osama Bin Laden.
China owning our debt.
Foreign policy being dictated by Saudi Arabia.
More terrorism than ever before.

But there's more.

What Would Jesus Do?

Tom Tomorrow ponders the good old stimulus package:

I’m no economist, but isn’t this the very textbook definition of “throwing money at a problem”? We’re essentially going to drop $150 billion from airplanes and hope somebody spends it. Couldn’t the same money somehow be invested in a more sustained program to counter the increasing economic malaise, maybe some sort of WPA for the new century? As a wise man is purported to have once said, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him to fish …

Compassionate Conservative

"What I have to do is make sure that my anger with a guy like Romney, whose teeth I want to knock out, doesn't get in the way of my thought process." Ed Rollins

Ed Rollins is the national campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Dennis Kucinich

I must say that in terms of policy and his voting record Dennis Kucinich would have been my first choice for president, at least out of the people who were running. I also wish that he wasn’t the butt of so many jokes. However, when I first saw this: Kucinich’s Exit Stuns Lone Supporter, it made me laugh.

Can The Almighty Fed Really Save Us?

Rich people on Wall Street sure do like to complain about the Federal Reserve. How it doesn’t do enough, and it isn’t fast enough to save them from themselves. Maybe the Fed isn’t all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful. From a Fortune article entitled The darker side of interest rate cuts:

Compelling as it may be, a rate-cutting policy may not always have the desired salutary effect; after all, Japan effectively had interest rates of near-zero percent for years without emerging from its economic gloom. And it carries its own costs. Lower rates boost the economy by making big purchases such as houses more affordable. They can also help banks rebuild their balance sheets, by enabling them to borrow at lower rates and lend at higher ones. But lower rates also tend to reduce the value of the dollar, which has already fallen sharply in recent years amid a surge in U.S. consumption funded by overseas borrowing. Further declines in the dollar raise the risk of boosting inflation, which hurts consumers by reducing their purchasing power.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Quote Of Note - Alexander Hamilton

"A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust." Alexander Hamilton

Impeach Dick Cheney

Join Congressman Wexler’s call for Cheney impeachment hearings. You know it’s the right thing to do.

Why is impeachment important?

Thanks to
The Real News Network.

George W. Bush Is A Socialist

According to Mr. Practical at Minyanville.com it appears that George W. Bush is a socialist:

By its nature an economy and its markets are tied together: controlling them is socialistic and will always slow growth.
According to Mr. Practical Ben Bernanke is a socialist also:
The Great Moderation that Mr. Bernanke spoke of in 2004, which smacked to me right away by the way of a very socialistic remark, was merely the growing and looming debt fostered by central banks being spent. Now the process of that debt being either paid back or destroyed is revealing the Great Moderation as the Great Debacle.
Mr. Practicals’ article entitled The Great Moderation of Debt is a worthwhile read. Here is another excerpt:
So the Fed being under great pressure collapsed yesterday and gave the economy not medicine but drugs. It gave it just what ails it: the sickness of debt. Mr. Paulson and Mr. Bernanke want banks to lend and people to borrow what they can’t afford to, more debt, to correct the problem. But if successful they will only exacerbate and prolong the inevitable. But I don’t think they will be successful. All the debt they just made cheaper will only go to two places: those that can afford to borrow it and thus don’t need it and directly to banks that can’t lend it. The rich will use it to again speculate or cheapen their debt. Banks will use it as capital to finance their ever declining asset values. Neither use will do any good to the real economy.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Quote Of Note - Wendell Phillips

“Debt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing and the mightiest to undermine governments and corrupt the people”. Wendell Phillips

Bush Stimulus

Actually, I don’t think that George W. Bush can stimulate anyone or any thing, let alone the economy.

Since the nation is up to eyeballs in debt who is going to pay for the 150 billion dollar stimulus package proposed by the president? Probably foreign investors. Add interest payments to 150 billion and who knows how much this will cost us. Yes, the American taxpayer will get stuck with the bill eventually. How does having a little money now help us, when we will owe a lot of money later? Bush wants to push us further and further into debt. Isn’t that what caused the problem in the first place?

A better plan would be to raise the minimum wage which would add a stronger and more steady stream of revenue into the economy than one check would. This would not add to the country’s debt since the money would not come from the government. It also does not have to add to the cost of goods, just take it out of the CEO’s greedy little hands. Take a look at Bill Gates’ net worth, or Warren Buffett, or any overly rich CEO or business owner and tell me that they aren’t overcharging for their products. And that they haven’t been for years. If Bill Gates had been selling Microsoft products for 5 or 10 percent less than he has been all these years wouldn’t he still be a multibillionaire? You can’t convince me that raising the minimum wage has to lead to higher consumer costs.

Raising the minimum wage as economic stimulus would also solve the problem posed by the Democrats about lower income citizens receiving a part of the stimulus. By its very nature raising the minimum wage would take care of this.

We could also stop sending so much money to Iraq and use a little of it for some stimulation here at home.

Recession Fueled By Low Wages:

Thanks to The Real News Network.

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

Spears' photog pal's wife files for separation

Both Can't Be Right

New Mountain Vantage Advisers: "NFG's performance has been extremely poor when compared with its appropriate peers."

5 Dynamic Dividend Stocks by Matt Koppenheffer: "Or consider National Fuel Gas (NYSE: NFG), which has returned 53% since August 2005, atop a current 2.9% yield."

53% return = extremely poor performance?

My Crazy Spell Checker…

…thinks that “Dubya” should be “Dubai”.

Chris Matthews Looks Like A Big Weenie

Don’t pick on me. I didn’t say that Chris Matthews looks like a big weenie, it was Jon Friedman at Marketwatch.com. Matthews is despicable though:

It all started when Matthews said of Sen. Hillary Clinton: "The reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner, is her husband messed around."
By this logic, shouldn’t there be several million women running for president?

Up Is Down

Apple’s computer business is doing extremely well. You might think this is a good thing for Apple. Nope, in the crazy world of business it is a “problem”. Now, if Apple could just figure out a way to sell less computers…

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Jesus Will Come And Then You'll Be Sorry, Atheist Dog

PZ Myers on Intelligent Designers:

“…they'd rather just whine that they don't understand something, so we must not, either.”

I outright stole my title from the second comment which was by Glen Davidson. I hope he doesn't mind. I just couldn’t resist it.

Some Of What's Wrong With Hillary Clinton

I agree with Greg Saunders on Hillary Clinton:

Even if she was able to claim Bill’s experience as her own, what is there to brag about? NAFTA? Welfare reform? Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell? The Communications Decency Act? Easing media ownership laws? Defense of Marriage Act? If she wants to run on her husband’s record, then it’s worth pointing out that the Clinton Administration wasn’t the progressive paradise that she’s promising.

During the Clinton years, there was one big “accomplishment” that she can claim…her failure to enact universal healthcare. Considering that one of her biggest promises on the stump has been universal healthcare, I’d expect the “most experienced” candidate to have a better pitch in this regard than “second time’s the charm”. If Hillary can learn from the mistakes she made in 1994, who’s to say the other candidates can’t also learn those lessons?

Yet once Hillary became a Senator, for all of her talk about the “vast right-wing conspiracy”, she was foolish enough to give the benefit of the doubt to people who have proved themselves to be untrustworthy. She voted for the Iraq war, the bankruptcy bill, declaring Iran’s revolutionary Guard a Terrorist organization, etc. She’s obviously not as bad as the Republicans in this regard, but for somebody who’s been through the bullshit she’s been through, I’d expect a little more skepticism.

George W. Bush Is Secretly Raising Taxes

I haven’t seen anything in the news about this, but it must be true. George W. Bush is raising taxes. How else can one explain the current state of the economy? When 200% of pundits and economists and post office workers say that we are in a recession, we are in a recession, right? At the very least, we know that my hairline is receding. And ever since Saint Reagan came down from the mountain with the wisdom of the “Holy Tax Cut” we have known that the “Holy Tax Cut” provides us with the “Good Economy”. Now we have the “Bad Economy”. You do the math. Satan has spoken to Dubya and he has decided to listen. The terrorists have won.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Mike Huckabee Thinks That Bad Actors Are Sinners

"Let's understand what sin means -- sin means missing the mark, missing the mark can mean missing the mark in any area. We've all missed the mark. ... How we miss the mark is less important than we all miss the mark. Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee On The Proper Way To Fly The Confederate Flag

He wants the flag to fly upside down, while dragging on the ground:

"In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do." Mike Huckabee

It’s the Christian thing to do.

Does this mean that if someone came to Arkansas and said, “Fly the confederate flag at the capital”, he’d still tell them what to do with the pole? How considerate of him.

Quote Of Note - Martin Luther King

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Mike Huckabee Admits He's Stupid

“Jesus Was Too Smart to Run for Public Office” Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee Admits That The Word Of God Can Be Changed

"I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that's what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than trying to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family." Mike Huckabee

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Frank Morgan

I was saddened to hear that Frank Morgan has died. For those of you unfamiliar with him you can read about him at NPR and the New York Times and check out his recordings at Amazon.

Thanks to postbop at youtube.com we have this footage of a Frank Morgan concert in Toledo, Ohio. It was taken in March of 2006. Claude Black is on piano, Clifford Murphy is on bass, and Sean Dobbins is on drums.

Tim Russert's Balls

Matthew Yglesias has this to say about Tim’s balls:

Actually, the balls Russert favors may be hard, but the pitches he throws aren't curveballs, which go someplace useful. They're sillyballs, which go somewhere pointless.
You can read more of what Matthew thinks about Tim by going here.

One Thing Leads To Another

My word processor thinks that I misspelled Cheney. It wants me to change Cheney to Cheyenne. If only I could. A better choice for my spell checker would have been Casper. Then I could change Cheney to Casper and he’d be invisible. On second thought I don’t think I’d want that, he’d probably be more dangerous that way.

Anyways, in trying to find if the Dickster had anything to do with Cheyenne, Wyoming I stumbled upon this on Wikipedia:

In 1986, Cheney, along with 145 Republicans and 31 Democrats, voted against a non-binding Congressional resolution calling on the South African government to release Nelson Mandela from prison, after the Democrats defeated proposed amendments that would have required Mandela to renounce violence sponsored by the African National Congress (ANC) and requiring it to oust the communist faction from its leadership; the resolution was defeated. Appearing on CNN, Cheney addressed criticism for this, saying he opposed the resolution because the ANC "at the time was viewed as a terrorist organization and had a number of interests that were fundamentally inimical to the United States."

Cheney also served as ranking minority member of the Congressional committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair — a scandal involving members of the Reagan Administration who illegally sold arms to Iran, using the proceeds to fund the Nicaraguan Contras. He promoted Wyoming's petroleum and coal businesses as well, and as a result, the federal building in Casper, a regional center of the oil and coal business, is named the "Dick Cheney Federal Building."
He really is a despicable man, isn’t he?

Friday, January 18, 2008

You Talk Too Much

Yesterday: Bernanke Speaks, Investors Listen, the Market Plunges.

Today: The Market Goes Up, Bush Speaks, Investors Listen, the Market Plunges.

Imagining Dubya Twenty Years Ago

Jenna falls down and scrapes her knee and Dubya tells her, “Don’t cry Jenna, my tax cuts will make it all better”.

The Song Remains The Same

Hoodoo Voodoo. What if all of Bush’s tax cuts are what got us into the current economic mess in the first place? Does anyone really know? Just last month Dubya was saying that the economy was just hunky-dory. Why didn’t Jesus forewarn our fearless leader of where we were headed?

Look at it this way. For nearly eight years Bush has been cutting taxes. How’s the economy doing? Maybe if we cut them to zero, or a negative number? Oh, I forgot, Bush believes that the best way to get out of a hole is to keep digging. His views on the economy are the same as his views on Iraq. We are “Waist deep in the Big Muddy! And the big fool says to push on!”

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

Lindsay Lohan's new job to be in morgue

Exploitive Invasion Of Privacy

I like to think that I am a rational person. I don’t know how much rationality I might retain under a situation where I felt the need to call 911. Probably not much. If I did remain rational under such circumstances I would probably think twice about calling 911 because I know that I would not want a transcript and recording of my call broadcast all over the media. This seems to be very commonplace these days and I find it to be an appalling practice. It shows no respect for the privacy of the individuals involved and is extremely exploitive on the part of the media.

I Feel Unsafe

The politicians and the media have let us down. No longer do I see flag pins on every lapel. No longer do I know what color the “Terror Alert Level” is. This can mean only one thing. The terrorists have won.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Something I Did Not Know About Henry Ford

Last Night I watched a small portion of The Jewish Americans on PBS and learned something about Henry Ford that I did not know. I remember the program mentioning that Ford was an anti-semite and was mentioned by name in Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

I do not seem to be able to find transcripts of The Jewish Americans using Google, so I offer you this from 3QuarksDaily:

Yet Ford, genius or no, was a disreputable character. He was a vicious anti-Semite. He personally published a newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, whose attacks on Jews were circulated worldwide, particularly in prewar Germany, according to Robert Lacey in Ford: The Men and the Machine (Ballantine Books, 1986). He reprinted millions of copies of the fraudulent Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a pamphlet apparently authored by the Tsar’s secret police that claimed to reveal a secret Jewish conspiracy to destroy Christianity and take over the world. Textual analysis of Mein Kampf suggests that Hitler may have used Ford’s anti-Semitic articles in its drafting. Ford’s bid for national power via a presidential run foundered, as his incapacity in public speaking eventually did him in.
You can read more about this at Wikipedia, if you wish.

More Of What's Not In The Constitution

Memo to Mike Huckabee:

Hey Mike. If you ever become the president, remember you have to swear that oath. You know, it says that thing about “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." People forget about it because of that Bush guy, but that oath is still there, and so is the rest of the Constitution too.

Also Mike, these words and phrases are NOT in the U.S. Constitution (And we don’t want you changing it and putting them in):

  1. god (even if it’s capitalized as in: God, it’s still not there, and you can’t use that argument that god is everywhere, he’s still not in the Constitution, sorry Mike).
  2. abortion
  3. gay
  4. marriage
  5. gay marriage
  6. God's standards
  7. pray
  8. homosexuality
  9. bible
And a reminder of what IS in the Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… The First Amendment
Your good ol’ buddy,
Paul T.

This Made Me Laugh

While googling to write What IS In The Constitution I typed: “bush democrocies evil enemy enemies” without the quotes into the search engine and it returned: “Did you mean: bush democrats evil enemy enemies”. Yes, I realize that I misspelled democracies.

What IS In The Constitution

From Article III, Section 3:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
It could be argued that that the Saudis are our enemies. After all fifteen of the attackers on September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia. Isn’t George W. Bush now giving them “Aid and Comfort”? Is George W. Bush committing Treason against the United States?

According to George W. Bush tyrants (like Saddam Hussein) are bad and should be replaced by a democracy. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a tyrant and is not a democracy. Why are they not part of his “axis of evil”?

What's Not In The Constitution

Everywhere you turn you find news of the need for tax cuts, the fed to stimulate the economy (sounds a little dirty to me), for a “stimulus package” (sounds really dirty to me), and other things that some people think the government should be doing to “help” the economy because it’s fallen and they think it can’t get up again on its own.

Is it the governments role to “help” an abstraction?

These words and phrases are NOT in the Constitution:

  1. economy
  2. economics
  3. fed
  4. stimulus
  5. tax cut
  6. wall street
  7. federal reserve
  8. stimulus package

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

George W. Bush And The Price Of Oil

Could the current high price of oil be because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq? The U.S. invaded Iraq on March 18, 2003. If this chart is accurate the price of oil (adjusted for inflation) in 2001 was $27.09 per barrel, in 2002 was $26.42 per barrel, and in 2003 was $31.39 per barrel. Steady increases since then have pushed the price to the $100.00 per barrel range in 2007 and 2008. Let’s remember that the “decider” who made the decision to invade Iraq was George W. Bush. If only we could push back the clock to 2002 and stop the Iraq invasion.

Now we are supposed to believe that George W. Bush can do something to lower oil prices by dealing arms with Saudi Arabia. This is absolutely reprehensible. Let’s remember that fifteen of the attackers on September 11, 2001 were from Saudi Arabia. Do you feel as angry as I do that George W. Bush still occupies the White House?

Detroit Auto Show vs MacWorld

The annual Detroit Auto Show gets a lot of television news exposure every year around this time. Every year there is lots of flash and hoopla and cars rotating on platforms with music and bright lights. The cars look really cool and there are all sorts of promises about how great they are and how much they can do. The problem is that all the cars that look and are really cool are not for sale. They are “concept” cars and you can’t buy them. Well, “maybe in five years”, we are told.

Contrast this with the MacWorld show where every year Steve Jobs of Apple (while not rotating on a platform with music and bright lights), says “Oh, and one more thing” shows you something that looks really cool, tells you how great it is and how much it can do. Oh, and one more thing, you can buy it NOW! If Steve Jobs showed the newest “concept” computer at MacWorld and said: “Five years from now you might be able to buy this”, he would probably be laughed off the stage.

The media puts the auto industry on a pedestal (along with its spinning cars) with no criticism about the reality of how bad it is that you can’t actually buy the cool stuff. Mr. Market sees things differently and that’s why Apple stock has been hovering around 200.00 lately, while Ford has been hovering around 7.00. Perhaps, if Ford made a hover car…

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

Traveling with Bush: Bling, strawberry juice and goat brains?

Just Wondering

Last night I watched part of the American Experience program entitled “Oswald’s Ghost” which aired on PBS. The program was about President Kennedy’s assassination. It also talked about the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Ahh, the 60’s, what a time to grow up in America. One day you're happily playing baseball, the next you're in a jungle killing people.

Watching the program I started wondering about the statistical probability of four (if you include Malcom X) prominent political figures of similar political leaning all being assassinated. All within the span of five years. All were for civil rights. What are the odds of this happening?

Perusing This Weeks Barron's

I bought a copy of this weeks Barron’s at the local news-stand on Sunday. Yes, an actual print copy of what seems to be a vanishing medium. Literally shrinking, Barron’s is an inch or two shorter than it used to be.

The cover story is their annual “Roundtable” where they ask a bunch of financial people (“a bunch of financial people” is one of those technical economic phrases that no-one understands, look it up on Wikipedia or consult Alan Greenspan, if you don’t know what it means) to predict the future. Of course, no-one can predict the future so I don’t know why Barron’s does this every year. I also don’t know why I shelled out five dollars for the magazine, either.

Can you say “conflict of interest”? Sure you can. One of the bunch of financial people that was asked to predict the future is Pimco’s Bill Gross. You know, the big “bond guy” (another technical term). Bill Gross recommends that you buy two corporate bonds and three closed-end funds. Now, out of these three closed-end funds two are from Pimco. Yes, the company that Mr. Gross works for. If I buy the funds Mr. Gross recommends I might make some money, I might lose some money. Mr. Gross, however, will certainly make money, BECAUSE HE WORKS FOR PIMCO. Smells fishy to me. Barron’s should lay down some ground rules for these guys and gals, like, YOU CAN’T RECOMMEND YOUR OWN STUFF!

Last year Mr. Gross had three picks. One made money, one was even, and one lost money. The one that was even was a Pimco fund. If you had bought this fund you would have lost money, due to inflation. If you had bought this fund Bill Gross most certainly became richer.

By the way, Alan Greenspan works as a consultant for Pimco now. Also, Bill Gross doesn’t need your money more than you do since he is worth about 1.2 BILLION dollars. Now, that’s not Pimco I’m talking about, Bill Gross personally is worth 1.2 billion dollars.

One of the full-page advertisements located near this article also does not inspire me to part with any of my money. The ad is for Gorilla Trades. The spokesman for this ad is none other than 60’s heart-throb Davy Jones. Yes, the former Monkee. He says: “Even after all these years, I still like to monkee around, but when it comes to my finances, I invest like a Gorilla! After all, why trade like a monkee, when you can invest like a Gorilla?” Me? Well, I think I’ll just continue to invest like a human being. OK, Davy?

Barron's this week: Investment advice from Bill Gross AND Davy Jones. On reflection, maybe the five dollars was worth it. I never knew that reading Barron’s could be so much fun.

Monday, January 14, 2008

A Selective Crusade Against Evil

From Bloomberg.com:

Donning a royal blue, Jewish skullcap, Bush, employing language he often uses to describe world threats, called the Holocaust museum a “sobering reminder that evil exists and a call that when evil exists we must resist it.”
The concept of evil is a recurring theme with George W. Bush, however, he must have blinders on when he looks for evil in the world. If George W. Bush is truly trying to rid the world of evil, then why does he ignore some of the most horrendous examples of evil in the world today? Saddam Hussein is gone, can he not focus some of his attention on this? Also, notice the date on this Nation article.

If Only He Were Curious

Clueless George:

"If I were running for office at this point I'd be saying, 'Vote for me, I'm -- I'm gonna be an agent of change.'" George W. Bush

Sunday, January 13, 2008

BYOB

BYOB = Bring Your Own Bag. The statistics on grocery bags are truly mind-boggling:

  • To make all the bags we use each year, it takes 14 million trees for paper and 12 million barrels of oil for plastic. The production of paper bags creates 70 percent more air pollution than plastic, but plastic bags create four times the solid waste — enough to fill the Empire State Building two and a half times.
  • Plastic, because it's cheaper to produce, is the overwhelming choice of grocery stores across the nation — the average family of four uses almost 1,500 of these a year.
  • It can take up to 1,000 years for a high-density polyethylene plastic bag to break down in the environment.
  • The Center for Marine Conservation based in Washington D.C. recently completed a five year study into ocean debris. Their National Marine Debris Monitoring Program recorded that plastic bags accounted for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the U.S. coastline.
  • The Chinese use up to 3 billion plastic shopping bags a day.
If you like, you can read more here, here, here, and here. We should all try to BYOB.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Can You Say "Incongruous"?

Some highlights from an article on Bloomberg.com:

  • President George W. Bush called it "amazing'' to walk in the footsteps of Jesus as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas during which he outlined a framework for peace talks between the two sides.
  • After his tour of Capernaum, Bush was given a crystal inscribed with his name and the Biblical passage: "Blessed are those who are peacemakers for they will be called children of God.''
  • After the tour, officials at Yad Vashem told reporters that Bush was moved to tears by the museum and even told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz to stop the killings during the Holocaust. Rice later clarified that Bush asked her during the tour why the American government decided against bombing the site.
  • Bush has proposed $11 billion in arms sales to Gulf allies to strengthen their defenses. In his radio speech on Jan. 5, Bush said one reason for his visit to the Arab nations was to "assure them that America's commitment to the security of our friends in the region is strong and enduring.''
No comment.

Pandora.com

It’s the weekend. You deserve a little time to relax and enjoy life. Listening to music is one of my favorite ways to do this. Go to pandora.com, sign up (it’s free), and enjoy the ride. It’s one of the best things to happen to music since sliced CD’s.

It’s radio on YOUR terms, you define what you hear. Best of all it’s not static. Tell them what you like and you will eventually hear something you’ve never heard before; that in some way is similar to the criteria you specified. Just try it and you will see what I mean.

As the music is playing you can click on the artist name, song title, or album title; and learn more about what you are listening to. This is a nice feature and can be very informative.

Here’s some of what I like about my custom radio stations at pandora.com: no Rush Limbaugh, no Britney Spears, no obnoxious DJ’s, no audio commercials (there are, of course, other ads on the site); just lots of great blues, jazz, rock, and more.

Head on over there, and enjoy!

I’m Paul Thoureau and I approve of this message.

Christian Said, Christ Said

Christian Glenn Beck said: Hang on, let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong? I stopped wearing my What Would Jesus -- band -- Do, and I've lost all sense of right and wrong now. I used to be able to say, "Yeah, I'd kill Michael Moore," and then I'd see the little band: What Would Jesus Do? And then I'd realize, "Oh, you wouldn't kill Michael Moore. Or at least you wouldn't choke him to death." And you know, well, I'm not sure.

Jesus Christ said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." John 14:15
The Sixth Commandment reads: Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13

Friday, January 11, 2008

Two Good Posts By Sam Husseini

“It's like a slick salesman congratulating a naive customer on the wisdom of buying from him.”

"If we talk to other countries, then the only boom will be in our pants."

Bun, Whackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot

Possible names for the democratic candidates? I like the names, but the candidates aren’t subversive enough to be associated with Monty Python. I don’t think the candidates would want to be associated with a group that said: "Our message was: don't believe anything people say." See my previous post here.

Let's hope for continued good health for Terry Jones.

Peace Is Just Around The Corner

Our fearless leader:

"I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there needs to be—hold hands."—on how he can contribute to the Middle East peace process, Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2008

Thanks to The Complete Bushisms.

Oh Boo Hoo, Part Two

It sure is tough to be a white Christian male in America:

The majority of humans don't like whites. I mean, I just can't win. You can't win. And why is it? Because if you are a white human that loves America and happens to be a Christian, forget about it, Jack. You are the only one that doesn't have a political action committee for you.
Yup, another choice Glenn Beck quote for your perusal. By the way, he’s also employed, has written best-selling books and makes a lot of money. I’d like to know his definition of someone who has it hard.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

The Bungling Bush Government At Work

Maybe those of us concerned with the government illegally tapping our phones and spying on us don’t need to worry so much. The buck doesn't stop at Bush's desk and it doesn't pay the phone bill. It's just on a fast track to Iraq.

More On Moron Glenn Beck

In retrospect I realize that I have left out several points in my previous posts on Glenn Beck:

  • That ultra-conservatives like him are against gun-control laws, and that one of the reasons emergency rooms are overburdened is because of dealing with gun-shot wounds.
  • That ultra-conservatives like him are against universal health-care, and that one of the reasons emergency rooms are overburdened is because poor people use them in place of going to a general practitioner.
  • He is right that our health-care system could use some improvement, but he's picking on the wrong people. He should try working in an emergency room for 12 hours straight and see if dealing with people like himself makes him feel all chipper and happy, not to mention "compassionate and caring".
He really is a self-centered jerk. And I'm not the only one who thinks he is a moron.

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

"What are you doing here?": man asks wife at brothel

Oh, wait a minute, it’s NOT cnn.com but reuters.com. My mistake, when I saw the headline, I just assumed it must be CNN.

Oh, Boo Hoo!!!

Simply, unbelievable. Glenn Beck is still whining:

  • “The only thing I cared about was finding someone who actually cared about me.”
  • “It had to do with compassion. It had to do with respect. It had to do with treating people the way you'd want to be treated when going through something unfamiliar and frightening.”

Does he not know the meaning of the word irony? For more on this see my post “Karma”.

And here is more of the compassionate, caring Mr. Beck.

Thoughts On The Hollywood Writers Strike

As I write this the television writers are still on strike. Their demands do not seem unresonable to me. Especially when you consider the following:

  • Disney (parent of ABC) CEO Bob Iger - $24.9 million pay package for fiscal year ended September 2006.
  • GE (parent of NBC) CEO Jeffrey R Immelt - 19.23 million pay package for 2006.
  • CBS CEO Leslie Moonves - 20.04 million pay package for 2006.
However, when you look at the quality of the writing on television, I think that 90% if the writers should be fired. Also, 100% of them should probably seek psychiatric help. What kind of twisted mind comes up with some of the crimes and criminals that populate the shows that are watched by millions of people? Now, the previous sentence shows that I must watch these shows. Maybe I should be first in line at the psychiatrist.

Quote Of Note - Henny Youngman

“When God sneezed - I didn’t know what to say.” Henny Youngman

A Blast, Of Descriptive Wonderfulness, From The Past

I have been reading some of the old magazines that have been laying around the house for years. My goal is to eventually get rid of them and try to have a house more like this. Today I was looking at an old Forbes magazine from May 13, 2002. I enjoyed this paragraph on Alan Greenspan from the Yes, But column by James Grant and I want to share it with you:

Alan Greenspan--whose refusal to starve the boom was instrumental in turning a bull market into a stampede--seems to communicate to the public in disappearing ink. Because he speaks in forgettable phrases, what he says is usually forgotten. He himself seems not to recall the details.
The column itself is about Eliot Spitzer. The paragraph on Mr. Greenspan just sort of jumped out at me. You can read the entire column, if you want, at this location here.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

George W. Bush, Compassionate Conservative

Scientific research never helps the economy, only tax cuts do, right? Things like the automobile, computers, the electric light bulb, nanotechnology… all came about because of tax cuts, not scientific research, right?

God Cares About The Vasocongestive State Of Your Pelvic Floor!

Reading this made me wonder. Did Jesus ever get an erection, and if so what did he do about it? I hope he didn't do anything sinful. Maybe Mike Huckabee knows the answer. If not, I’m sure he could find out from his good buddy Chuck Norris.

Quote Of Note - Thomas Jefferson

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories." Thomas Jefferson

What Would Jesus Do?

Would Jesus join an army?

Nothing To See Here, Move Along

What is there to say about the New Hampshire primary results? Politics as usual? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? Why do the New Hampshire voters not want change? Oh well, let’s just keep shredding the Constitution while we bomb Iran back to the Stone Age.

Where In The World Is Dubya?

Yes, I know he is somewhere in the Middle East on a “peace” mission, but the presidential horse-race seems to have displaced him from the front page. This is a scary thing, not knowing what he’s up to. By the way it is costing Israel $25,000 for every hour Bush is there. There has got to be a better way to spend all that money! It also costs a lot of money whenever Bush travels and speaks in the United States. Check out this, this, and this.

Bush on a “peace” mission seems like the ultimate definition of oxymoronic irony. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a lie. A note to Nancy Pelosi: Clear off your table and put impeachment on it as soon as possible. This country desperately needs accountability. If Bush can get away with war crimes and all his affronts to the Constitution, what will the next President be able to get away with. We are tired of waiting. Impeach him now, right after impeaching Cheney.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

CNN.com Headline Of The Day

Did Dr. Phil step over line with Britney?

If There Really Is A God…

…George W. Bush would not be President of the United States of America. Therefore, there is no god.

Karma

I saw CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck and his wife being interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning. Beck told the story of how he had recently had hemorrhoid surgery and was sent home. Later on there were complications and Beck and his wife went to the emergency room. Now Beck is whining about how poorly he was treated there. He is complaining about the lack of care and compassion given to him and his wife.

OK, A few thoughts:

  • Hasn’t he ever been to an emergency room before? Most Americans know first hand how overtaxed they are.
  • Perhaps some of the hospital staff recognized him and hate him.
  • Perhaps some of the hospital staff recognized him and were just treating him the way he treats other people.

For those of you not familiar with Glenn Beck, here are some quotes:
  • Beck (to Hillary Clinton): OK. When you see statements like that, be afraid. Be very, very afraid. It's not a bad dream for me; it is a nightmare. Hillary, thanks, but no thanks. 1993 wasn't that long ago. I remember all too well that confused, nonsensical mess you tried to make of the greatest health care system in the world. Your universal health care is only universal in one way: It stinks for everybody. Imagine getting your health care from the DMV. I don't think so. It will also, more importantly -- and here's how it ties into the real story -- will cripple us financially.
  • Beck: "Cindy Sheehan. That's a pretty big prostitute there, you know what I mean?"
  • Beck: "Blowing up Iran. I say we nuke the bastards. In fact, it doesn't have to be Iran, it can be everywhere, anyplace that disagrees with me."
  • Beck: "You know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year."

Perhaps Glenn Beck should be glad that none of the hospital staff disagreed with him and decided to nuke him. Perhaps if Glenn Beck learned and practiced the Golden Rule his karma might improve.

Also, I just discovered this. Maybe ABC needs to learn a thing or too about karma and The Golden Rule, too.

With God On Our Side

"We are doing God's work now, in my opinion, by keeping al Qaeda and Hezbollah from establishing a safe haven." Mitt Romney

Quote Of Note - John Maynard Keynes

"I'd rather be vaguely right than precisely wrong." John Maynard Keynes

Boring Morning Television

I watched some of the beginning of the Today Show this morning. Matt Lauer and Tim Russert nearly put me back to sleep. Talking over and over again about the same thing is just boring. Why is the news media so obsessed about who is first, who is second, and who might win this and who might win that? Matt Lauer and Tim Russert should change jobs and become sports commentators, since statistics and who is winning seem to be all they care about. Someone who was talking about the issues and the candidates positions on the issues might just keep me awake and interested in the morning while watching the Today Show.

Hillary Breaks Down And Cries

First I read about it, then I saw the clip on television. My first reaction to Hillary Clinton “crying” the other day was that it was not good for her campaign. Even if it makes her look more human, mostly it just makes her look weak. My second reaction was after seeing the clip on television. I thought she was faking it. I’m not sure what to make of my reaction, but that’s what popped into my head.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Sarge, Wrinkles, Bunny Ears, Oily, Beagle Eyes, and Carrot Face

Just in case you haven't seen this yet. Now I want some nicknames for the Democratic candidates.

Is It Just Me?

Why is it that the presidential candidates that currently work for the government can ignore their current jobs and run around the country campaigning all the time, and still get paid? Don’t they have more important work to do as senators, congressmen, and governors? How many votes have they missed during these crucial times? Can you imagine telling your boss that you will be taking some time off, about a year or more, just to go around the country trying to promote yourself so that you possibly might get another job? Oh, and you still expect to be paid for your current job while you’re gone. Would this ever happen in the real world? Why can politicians get away with it? Oh, and by the way, remember that WE are paying them with OUR tax dollars.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Thoughts On Last Nights Debate

I watched some of the Democratic party debate last night on television. I don’t believe I could ever make it through the whole thing. I agree with Barack Obama that words can make a difference. His reputation for being articulate seems undeserved to me. He is a good public speaker, but not so good in debates and interviews. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton elicited negative responses from me during this debate. Too much pettiness and attacking each other. I am very weary of this sort of thing. Please talk about the issues. Hillary Clinton seemed to demonstrate that she deserves some of the more unflattering characterizations of her. She did seem cold and even angry. I could understand being angry about the issues, but she seemed mostly angry at Barack Obama. John Edwards, on the other hand, seemed passionate about the issues of big corporations and big money on politics. Hillary Clinton seemed to get an awful lot of airtime, while Bill Richardson seemed to get next to none.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Quote Of Note - Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks to Bruce A. Jacobs for this:

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Mahatma Gandhi

Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers is an outstanding journalist. I wish all Americans would tune into his PBS show, Bill Moyers Journal, at least once in awhile. At the very least, his show is an example of civil discourse. We could use a lot more of this on the airwaves, since it is virtually nonexistent. Why Americans tolerate the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly is a mystery to me. Their views could be expressed without all the meanness and yelling, and name-calling. Where is the responsibility of the stations’ owners? Don’t they have a civic responsibility to some sort of broadcasting standard? Do they let their young children or grandchildren listen to Rush Limbaugh or someone similar? Would they like their children to speak to them as Rush Limbaugh does to his audience? Or, worse yet, Ann Coulter?

On the Bill Moyers Journal broadcast on January 4, 2008, two of the guests were Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. How refreshing to see Mr. Moyers give these two gentlemen the respect they deserve. When Mr. Moyers does an interview he does not shout at his guest, he does not interrupt his guest, he actually listens to them and asks pertinent follow-up questions. This is in sharp contrast to someone like Matt Lauer who seems to have to mock everyone within hearing distance of him.

Beam Me Up Scotty, Not Sideways!

I saw Mike Huckabee on television talking about this, too. I think I saw him on a different show, and his explanation was even more bizarre than the clip from Meet The Press that Josh Marshall shows. I had the same reaction as Josh.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Huckabee-"Dangerous Guy"

I find that I usually am in agreement with Tom Tomorrow. This being just one example. His blog is one of my my favorites. I check it out daily.

Iowans Like Huckabee Because?

"The negatives feel good. It's like being a boxer when you're young. To me, hitting somebody, knocking somebody down, is a great feeling. Firing out a negative ad just feels amazing."
-- Huckabee campaign chairman Ed Rollins

Oh No! Not Huckabee!

Mike Huckabee has won the Iowa caucus.This scares me very much. Do we really need another “good-old boy” uninformed idiot in the White House? One who hears the sweet voice of Jesus in his head, no less. Lord, help us.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

No To Hillary, Maybe To Barack, Yes To John

Michael Moore nails it here. He pretty much sums up what I don’t like about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as summing up what I do like about John Edwards.

A Step InThe Right Direction

This seems like a good thing to me.

Have They No Shame?

Whatever happened to things like honor, integrity, ethics, responsibility and shame? If you ran a company into the ground wouldn’t you feel guilty about accepting a reward for doing so? How many more times will we hear this familiar story?

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Marshall Loeb On Our Rich And Disparate Choice

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Loeb.

Americans do not have “a rich and disparate choice for 2008”. Unless what he means is that all the candidates are rich, each with a different net worth.

“The candidates are better than you might think”. No they are not. Just because you say so, doesn’t make it so, Mr. Loeb.

The Iowa Caucus

Does it seem like the citizens of Iowa have too much of a say as to who will be our next president? What is this mysterious caucus thing all about? Truthdig has some answers.

Is There Anybody Out There?

Is There Anybody Out There?