shut up dude, already!

Since I'm sure everybody is so enamored of my recent propensity to post the writings of the not-so-bad late 19th century writer Ambrose Bierce, I thought i'de kick ya down a few more of his perspicacious definitions. So why shouln't i be " a chronic pain in your ass"? ... This was, after all, a somewhat pygalgic posting endeavor but ole Ambrose and his musings... seems a bloke to share a pint or two with!
"ACCORDIAN:n an instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin.
BASILISK:n the cockatrice. A sort of serpent hatched from the egg of a cock. The basilisk had a bad eye, and its glance was fatal. Many infidels deny this creature's existence, but Semprello Aurator saw and handled one that had been blinded by lightning as a punishment for having fatally gazed on a lady of rank whom Jupiter loved. Juno afterward restored the reptile's sight, and hid it in a cave. Nothing is so well attested by the ancients as the existence of the basilisk, but the cocks have stopped laying.
CERBERUS:n the watch-dog of Hades, whose duty it was to guard the entrance- against whom or what does not clearly appear; everybody, sooner or later, had to go there, and nobody wanted to carry off the entrance. Cerberus is known to have had three heads, and some of the poets have credited him with as many as a hundred. Professor Graybill, whose clerky erudition and profound knowledge of Greek give his opinion great weight, has averaged all the estimates and makes the number twenty-seven- a judgement that would be entirely conclusive had Professor Graybill known (a) something about dogs, and (b) something about arithmetic. "
(now would be a good time for ya'll to grab a beer or take a piss or just let out a very long sigh)
"INFIDEL:n in New York, one who does not believe in the Christian tradition; in Constaninople, one who does. A kind of scoundrel imperfectly reverent of, and niggardly contributary to, divines, ecclesiastics, popes, parsons, canons, monks, mollahs, voodoosm presbyters, hierophats, prelates, obeah-men, abbes, nuns, missionaries, exhorters, deacons, friars, hadjis, high-priests, muezzins, brahmins, medicine-men, confessors, eminences, elders, primates, prependiaries, pilgrims, prophets, imaums, benificiaries, clerks, vicars-choral, archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, preachers, padres, abbotesses, caloyers, palmers, curates, patriarchs, bonezs, santons, beadsmen, canonesses, residentiaries, diocecesians, deans, sub-deans, rural deans, abdals, charm-sellers, archdeacons, heirarchs, class-leaders, incumbents, capitulars, sheiks, talapoins, postulants, scribes, gooroos, precentors, beadles, fakeers, sextons, reverences, revivalists, cenobites, perpetual curates, chaplains, mudjoes, readers, novices, vicars, pastors, rabbis, ulemas, lamas, sacristans, vergers, dervises, lectors, church-wardens, cardinals, prioresses, suffragens, acolytes, rectors, cures, sophis, mutifs and pumpums.
MISERICORDE:n a dagger which in mediaeval warfare was used by the foot soldier to remind an unhorsed knight that he was mortal.
TOPE:v to tipple, swill, booze, guzzle, lush, bib or swig. In the individual, toping is regarded with disesteem, but toping nations are at the forefront of civilization and power. When pitted against the hard-drinking Christians, the abstemious Mohammedans go down like grass before the scythe. In India one hundred thousand beef-eating, brandy-and-soda-guzzling Britons held in subjection two hundred and fifty million vegetarian abstainers of the same aryan race. With what an easy grace the whisky-loving American pushed the temperate Spaniard out of his possessions! From the time that the Berserkers ravaged all the coasts of western Europe, and lay drunk in every conquered port, it has been the same way. Everywhere, the nations that drink too much are observed to fight rather well, and not too righteously. Wherefore the esteemable old ladies who abolished the canteen from the American army may justly boast of having materially augmented the nations' military power.
TSETSE FLY:n An African insect(Glossina morsitans) whose bite is commonly regarded as nature's most efficacious remedy for insomnia, though some patients prefer that of the American novelist(Mendax interminabilis)
WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH:n in Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.

Oh! what would Mr. Bierce have to say of our current world?

Dylan hears a who

This is too cool. No wonder everybody's linking to it. OK, Sweaterman (who does a great Dylan), I expect you to have these songs down in time for the next river trip.
Dr. Suess ala Dylan (with free download):
http://www.dylanhearsawho.com/home.htm

frankalmoigne

Ambrose Bierce, a great writer of the late 19th century, was fond of defining obscure terms with a slant quite cynical, saturnine, and hilarious. Here is one he penned I'de like to share-

"FRANKALMOIGNE :n The tenure by which a religious corporation holds lands on condition of praying for the soul of the donor. In mediaeval times, many of the wealthiest fraternities obtained their estates in this simple and cheap manner, and once, when HenryVIII of England sent an officer to confiscate various vast possessions which a fraternity of monks held by frankalmoigne, "What!" said the Prior, "Would your master stay our benefactor's soul in Purgatory?" "Ay" said the officer, coldly, "an ye will not pray him thence for naught he must e'en roast." "But look you my son," persisted the good man, "This act hath rank as robbery of God!" "Nay, nay, good father, my master the King doth but deliver him from the manifold temptations of too great wealth.""

Blogroll notes

I've been slowly expanding the blogroll, and it's been kind of haphazard. I link to blogs that I like, and that deserve more attention. If readers (both of you) have other blogs that you'd like to see added, please leave a link in the comments. Hell, just leave a comment in the comments.

Bluefooted Boobie added in a shameless attempt to get more traffic.

Your lying eyes

This story boggles the mind. I think the message is that we shouldn't believe in reality.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/10/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-US-Censorship.php
Censor the video, because it could give the wrong impression.

"When untrained people take photographs or video, there is a very real risk that the images or videography will capture visual details that are not as they originally were," he said. "If such visual media are subsequently used as part of the public record to document an event like this, then public conclusions about such a serious event can be falsely made."

These people think 1984 was a manual.

Pre-war predictions

There's a blog meme going around asking whether pre-war predictions were right or wrong on Iraq. While this blog didn't exist in 2003 (or even two months ago), Sweaterman and I (and Captain Dave, another of our friends) repeatedly predicted just about every thing that would go wrong. I was so deeply distressed at the impending war that I hid out on the San Juan river when it became clear that shrub was about to invade, because I couldn't bear to watch the news. I thought it was obvious that defeating Saddam would be easy, and the aftermath would be terrible. I knew that the whole WMD thing was a sham, based on the inspection results. I have enough knowledge of the middle east to know that sectarian violence would follow, and that occupation would never be greeted with flowers. The whole disaster has been making me crazy ever since. I've had to hear and read way too many rightwing pundits continue to be mind numbingly wrong, and yet their idiocy is still respected.
One of the best posts I've read on this meme is by Badtux, one of my fav bloggers:http://badtux.net/2007/03/what-did-i-get-right-and-what-did-i-get.html#links
I especially like his end statement:

So, given that I was right and every single right-wing pundit, politician, blogger and commentator was wrong, why should I listen to them? More importantly, why should *anybody* listen to them? How can anybody listen to someone who has been proven wrong so many times? This penguin has no idea, other than that monkeys are stupid. But that's hardly a satisfying answer, given that monkeys rule the world...

More on the Baghdad conference

There's not a lot of media attention on the Baghdad conference, but I'm seeing some interesting developments. Unfortunately, the US has focused on confrontation rather that compromise. For example, US envoy David Satterfield pointed to a briefcase that he said "contained documents proving the Iranians are arming insurgents" (though he refused to show anyone these 'documents', only the briefcase). Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi strongly denied the accusation:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/11/MNG2GOJ9A31.DTL

"Your accusations are merely a cover for your failures in
Iraq," Araghchi said

The conference included representatives of 13 countries, but the US focused on accusing Iran, rather than a positive multilateral exchange.
Another interesting exchange came with the Syrian envoy Buthayna Sha'ban ( a woman, just to break some American stereotypes of Arabic culture). Via Juan Cole:http://www.juancole.com/

Sha'ban begins by saying: "In fact, from the very beginning of the war on Iraq, Syria has been working with Iraq's neighbors in order tofind solutions for this occupation and for the hefty price that the Iraqi people are paying as a result of this illegitimate US occupation. However, the problem lies in the fact that the United States rejected to hold any talks with neighboring countries and wanted to be solely responsible for any solutions."

We really should try to engage in diplomacy, listening rather than accusing. Maybe asking for help and offering something in return. But shrub only knows how to rattle sabers. I wonder if they even want a more stable Iraq?
p.s. Ever notice how spellcheckers react to Arabic names?

Positive Vibration

I needed this. Otherwhise, I'd feel like this:

Try to make it work

I wrote an earlier post about the multilateral talks regarding Iraq, and while I said I wasn't optomistic, I felt this was the only answer that might (maybe have a chance) work. All the other options will be failures. So leave it to Shrubs people to screw up basic diplomacy:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070311/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_conference

Reza Amiri, a senior official at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, dismissed American claims that Tehran was destabilizing Iraq by arming Shiite militias.The U.S. military has insisted that Iranian weapons, including a new generation of powerful roadsidebombs, have killed more than 170 U.S. and coalition troops here since mid-2004. "They're lying because it is just not true," Amiri told the AP. "Iraq's borders with Iran are the most secure of Iraqi borders. The Iraqi government has not even once said Iran is interfering in its affairs."

Why is this man still alive?

Today is OBL's 50th birthday, which is at least 5 more birthdays that he would have seen if we had a competent president. Thanks to Shrub's Iraq fixation we gave up on Bin Laden, the person who actually attacked us. While it is unclear whether Osama is actually still leading Al Queda, his ability to inspire jihadi's remains unchecked. If you read Bin Laden's fatwas (especially in the original Arabic), he clearly states his plan to destroy America by slowly bleeding us to death. By invading Iraq, Bush has played into his plans perfectly. I find myself outraged that he is still alive to see this day, while our troops are getting killed in a country where he isn't.

"I want you to invade Iraq!"

What Xerxes said to the Winslowsions.

Wierd day. Somebody that used to be my boss, years ago, in another context, is now a new guy, in a current context. i have to show him how to do stuff. A bit daunting, indeed,-to train a fella whose wisdom, in both contextuals, fairly supercedes my own. It's like... i asked him for guidance in that other context, -today he asked me for instruction in this current context. Yep. Contextual synchronous occurances, that is.; current ones,,,
Methinks i find this to be the sort of thing ; metaphysical enigma, if you will, to make one raise his proverbial eyebrow, eh? As to what context shall insue, i dunno. In my humble opinion, God is synchronous occurences , superceding all context. If God exists, and he probably doesn't, It's probably wasted on Xanax- a constant new guy, in OUR context, flowing through all the answers to all our superfluous endeavors, but nothing left in the bag.

Cheeseburgers for Cheney

OK, this is a funny, creative, and sick idea...so I like it.http://cheesburgersforcheney.blogspot.com/2007/03/lets-buy-dick-cheney-cheeseburger.html

I say that March 30, 2007, is National Buy Dick Cheney a Cheeseburger Day.
That's a Friday. We all should be in a festive mood. We should all be thinking
of happier days, before the world hated us, before we were wasting (yes, I dare
use that word) American lives in Iraq to prove Dick's personal infallibility and
make his fantasy world view into reality. Let's dig in to a good old American
cheesburger and send Dick Cheney the
receipt.

I say we rub it in.

And if not rub it in,
encourage this bastard to indulge. That's right, Dick, feed feed that fat
fucking face of yours. Chow down. Every ounce of 80/20 ground chuck you down
gets us a few platelets closer to a true national holiday, the day your fucking
worthless, fascist, racist, corrupt, death-dealing, loathsome, lying purely evil
soul slips the surly bounds of your face and boards the 2/3 Express straight for
fucking hell.

Not subtle.

SweaterMan! Now with More Sweater!

Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick, but I'm back. DELL finally got the replacement laptop to me this morning, but it's been such a clusterfuck today that I just now swapped hard drives and booted the sucker up. So far, we've been up for 11 minutes and some change, and zee monitor, she is still going.

Unfortunately, duty calls and I must return to my humble job of systems administrator. But wherever something is awry, whenever the Bush administration fucks up, whenever there needs a comment or post about truth, justice, and the American way, know for certain you can count on a snarky post from SweaterMan!

Cue symphonic music. Fade to black. Roll credits.

Finis.

Bush in Brazil

Gee, if you watch the news ol' Shrub is welcomed in Brazil. Funny thing though. Some photos you won't see on faux news:

All photos from AP, on the protests in Soa Paulo.

"FBI misuses patriot act"

I'm only amazed by the fact that the Justice Department is now admitting this. I've come to expect the administration to ignore laws, lie about everything, and try to create a more authoritarian state. Is the tide starting to turn?http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070309/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/national_security_letters

WASHINGTON - The FBI improperly
and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain
personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department
audit concluded Friday.

Rolling Stone on Iraq

Wow. This is a great article on Iraq. The bottom line is that there are no good outcomes. Take a look at the panel- some of the brightest and best informed people around. Great job by a magazine that normally reports on pop culture:http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13710030/leaving_iraq_the_grim_truth
I see this was also noticed by our pal, Monkeyfisterhttp://www.monkeyfister.blogspot.com/,
who is a much better blogger.

The war in Iraq isn't over yet, but -- surge or no surge -- the United
States has already lost. That's the grim consensus of a panel of experts
assembled by Rolling Stone to assess the future of Iraq. "Even if we had a
million men to go in, it's too late now," says retired four-star Gen. Tony
McPeak, who served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War. "Humpty
Dumpty can't be put back together again."

As someone else says, read the whole thing.

Friday "not a cat" post

Atrocia:

Toy of the day

The George W. Bush conspiracy theory generator:http://www.buttafly.com/bush/index.php

I Thought So

My father was a big student of genealogy, and I know my ancestry back 14 generations. Most of it traces back to Scotland, but there is always a mix. Now we have some science that confirms what I always thought:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/science/05cnd-brits.html?em&ex=1173416400&en=ff46b035b5b117b1&ei=5087%0A

But geneticists who have tested DNA throughout the British Isles are edging
toward a different conclusion. Many are struck by the overall genetic
similarities, leading some to claim that both Britain and Ireland have been
inhabited for thousands of years by a single people that have remained in the
majority, with only minor additions from later invaders like Celts, Romans,
Angles , Saxons, Vikings and Normans.

In Coins We Trust?

I want one...or more.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17501178/:

An unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins were mistakenly
struck without their edge inscriptions, including “In God We Trust,” and are
fetching around $50 apiece online.

The whole god-money thing always freaked me.

added: if taking "in god we trust" off the coin makes $1 worth $50, could we eliminate the deficit by secularizing all currency?

Drinking Liberally

Sweaterman and I had talked about starting a chapter of Drinking Liberally in Flagstaff (our home town, motto: "poverty with a view"), but it appears that someone (named Andy Stevenson) has started one. Guess where I'll be tomorrow?

Flagstaff, Arizona

• Beginning March 8
• Second Thursday of each month, 6:00-8:00 pm
• Flagstaff Brewing Company, 16 East Route 66 (map)
• Hosted by
  Andy Stevenson, flagstaff
  (at) drinkingliberally.org

Irony? is that like steely?

To follow up on my favorite sleazeball, Sen. Pete Domenici:http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002700.php

What a small world. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) has nabbed Lee Blalack, best known as Duke Cunningham's lawyer, to represent him in the Senate ethics investigation,
The Washington Post reports.

Attacks

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The right-wing attack machine is going to throw everything they can at any Democratic candidate. Even if they have to make shit up. Today's target: Barack Obama, who apparently owned some stock and lost some money on it. Scandalous, right?http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_el_pr/obama_investments

"Obama owned stock in two companies which he did nothing to help — an
investment that lost him $13,000," Burton said in a statement Wednesday. "It's
apparent that his dealings were completely above board and his decisions were
proactively made in the interest of avoiding the potential for conflict."

This is only the beginning.

Added:

In one eight day stretch in 1988, Obama was cited seven times for parking violations and was fined $45. Thirteen of the 17 violations occurred within one month in 1988.

The guy got PARKING TICKETS!

Masked Boobie

cuz I wanted a masked boobie.

human history as severely scratched disc.(part 3038)

What I do for"frogskin", (a penobscot/iroquois term, betraying their shock at being rudely introduced to the insanity of Western currency) doesn't really matter. Okay, well I transmogrify various carcasses into delightful sandwiches. For frogskin. But I like to read the local paper during morning smoke-breaks.
One thing I learned today in today's local paper was, quite recently, USA soldiers, a few of 'em, were ambushed and mutilated by some embittered chap in Afghanistan. So our militia, not welcome there in the first place, became quite upset, and terrifically irrational, - thus spraying lethal bullets oer an entire Afghani villlage. Soldiers representing our country panicked and lost their shit, and slew innocent persons. Our troops are not trained in Arabic, Urdu or Pashtu. Should be, in my opinion...
Anyway, of course that's a gloomy thing to read on the front page of a newspaper
on yer first coffee-break of a long working day,. But the next page talked about the Boston Massacre, of 1770. Happened the same day.
Get it? Okay maybe not- how to put it...!- some colonial "insurgent" in 1770's Boston, tossed a rock at an occupying, unwelcome militia. The red-coats became quite upset, and terrifically irrational...
IRAQTIONAL
All about frogskin.
Get it now, y'all? In'shAllah?

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

Scooter found guilty on 4 of 5 counts. Now if we could get that kind of treatment for his boss.
*Dammit, Sweaterman! Get that damn laptop fixed.

Not even trying

I've been interested in alternative energy since I was in my teens, and that interest has grown with the awareness of global warming. I see so many potential steps that can be taken toward addressing the problem. But the easiest, cheapest step is simple increasing efficiency. So my head nearly exploded when I read this article:http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030507P.shtml

All told, the Department of Energy has missed
every one of 34 mandatory rule-making deadlines for setting minimum energy
efficiency standards involving 20 products including refrigerators, dishwashers,
freezers, pool heaters, furnaces and central air conditioners, analysts at the
Government Accountability Office reported.

(snip)Analysts at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory calculated that the missed
deadlines for just four of the more popular appliances would ultimately cost
consumers at least $28 billion in forgone energy savings - equivalent to the
annual primary energy consumption of about 20 million households.

This isn't rocket science or super-duper new technology. This is easily
achieved with equipment already on the market. It's not politically
difficult (as opposed to raising CAFE standards for automobiles), so where
the hell is the accountability? Where the hell is the enforcement?

Follow Up on Walter Reed

I posted earlier on the situation (see "This is Appalling"), but the whole horrid story keeps expanding. Paul Krugman (behind the NY Times pay wall) nails one of the core reasons that the situation deteriorated:

Yet even now it's not clear whether the public will be told the full story,
which is that the horrors of Walter Reed's outpatient unit are no
aberration. For all its cries of "support the troops," the Bush
administration has treated veterans' medical care the same way it treats
everything else: nickel-and-diming the needy, protecting the incompetent and
privatizing everything it can. But as with FEMA, the Bush administration has done
all it can to undermine that achievement. And the Walter Reed scandal is
another Hurricane Katrina: the moment when the administration's
misgovernment became obvious to everyone.We know from Hurricane Katrina
postmortems that one of the factors degrading FEMA's effectiveness was the
Bush administration's relentless push to outsource and privatize disaster
management, which demoralized government employees and drove away many of
the agency's most experienced professionals. It
appears that the same thing has been happening to veterans' care.

While some thing work well under private management, there is a reason why we have a government. The care of our soldiers shouldn't be based on profitability. Responding to disasters shouldn't be based on "the bottom line".

Historically, societies form governments to collectively address the greater needs of said society. After all, the average disaster doesn't ask how everybody will pay for it.

Let's Investigate

The whole fired U.S. attorneys issue smelled of Republican corruption, and with hearings starting tomorrow the focus seems to be on New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4603161.html

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that Republican Sen. Pete
Domenici called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputy four times
to
complain about a U.S. attorney who claims he was fired for not rushing a
corruption probe

This could get interesting, as Republicans no longer have the majority that made them immune to investigations. Sen. Domenici has always had questionable ethics, but the Bush justice department has not cared to pursue members of their own party. Watch for fallout over the next few weeks.

River pic

Mood improvement time:

Looking for positive news

Reading the news this morning seemed almost too depressing. I felt like an un-medicated mortician as I slogged throughout Afghanistan and Iraq news. But I did find one story that may (but only may) lead to some progress:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030400403.html

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Following their first official talks in Saudi
Arabia, the Iranian and Saudi leaders on Saturday pledged to fight the spread of
sectarian strife in the Middle East, which they said was the biggest danger
facing the region.

If Iran and Saudi Arabia truly work together toward reducing sectarian
violence, perhaps some stabilization could come to Iraq. I realize this is a
long shot, but it's a better shot than Shrub's escalation. Given all the bad
options, I've gotta cling to any hopeful idea.

Added: Also worth reading, Cernig at Newshog:http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/

That Explains a Lot

Quote of the evening:

"I was Humpty-Dumpty in my kindergarten play" (said by a person who shall remain nameless).
Everyone in the room had a smartass line of response.
Blue-billed boobie added, because blogs get more hits when they show "boobies".

Alert the CIA

OK, maybe the CIA is already involved. Tehran, here we come:http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12317

Rare Iranian Cheetahs Get Tracking Collars

March 02, 2007 — By Reuters

NEW YORK -- Scientists said
Thursday they have for the first time collared a pair of Iran's rare cheetahs
with tracking systems which they hope will provide invaluable insights into the
movements and range of the highly endangered animals.

The Asiatic cheetah once roamed the whole continent but is now confined to
the harsh edge of Iran's Kavir Desert. Information on their movements is crucial
as there are believed to be only 60 to 100 of the big cats left in the wild.

For Zymurgian

Thought of the day.

This Matters?

Nedra the Pickler takes a short break from her usual job of reporting Clinton crotch rumors to give us this important news: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_el_pr/on_the2008_trail

Obama's ancestors may have owned slaves

Really. I wonder why any sane person would ever run for president as a Democrat, given that the righties will do everything that they can conjure up to smear Democratic candidates. I only hope Barack fires back.

This time, Edwards fights back

Apparently, professional skank and all around idiot Ann Coulter called John Edwards a "faggot". Normally I ignore this kind of rightwing nuttiness, but I was happy to see that Edwards actually fought back:http://johnedwards.com/
Better than his wimpy defense of Amanda and Melissa.

Added: pic of harpy and mittens, just for the record.

Obscenities

Apparently, there's a big controversy about the use of foul language on liberal blogs. So I checked on my own usage, and this blog looks pretty tame. I realized this is because I don't swear a whole lot. Not because I find it offensive- I really don't give a fuck- but because that's the way I talk. I tend to save swear words for special occassions, like whenever Shrub speaks. But I think that's normal.
p.s. I'm inviting commenter Ghandisxmas to post here. This place could start to get crowded.
added: for more on obscenities, see the Editors at:http://www.thepoorman.net/

Meanwhile, in Liechtenstein

"a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring
Liechtenstein."http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_fe_st/mistaken_invasion

Response to Zymurgian

I guess I must be getting old. I've been through at least a dozen predictions of doom, gloom, and rumors of booms. I was part of the generation that got drilled to hide under our desks in grade school in case of nuclear war. While a disaster scenario may happen, I've grown to fear the slow steady decline. The general malaise that allows our lives to slowly be whittled away into bland consumerism. Yes, the Roman Empire fell. But it happened over hundreds of years. The American Empire is falling, but the process may fill decades. So develop skills, but above all else: LIVE!

happy thoughts!

At some point, this civilization is going to crash. Bitching about this "administration" and such seems to me incredibly sophomoric. I am sick and tired of hearing and reading about how malicious many of our politicians are. Corrupt politicians are a given in any society. They are a symptom of a deeper malaise; that being, the fundamental manifestations of human greed.
I am not a pessimist. Nor, an optimist. I am a realist. And the history of humanity has always been-"my war-hammer is bigger than your war-hammer." Please, anybody, tell me I am wrong!
I can't wait for this "civilization" to crash! It's a bunch of crap! Does nothin but breed sheep!(besides you and me, dear reader, of course) Meanwhile, I, Zymurgian, am a homebrewer. Mind you, chances are, our economy is certainly destined for unprecedented gloom. Convenience stores will be vacant. Liquor stores all boarded up... I will be pleasantly buzzed when USA takes a shit. Perhaps I will have some grog to share. You better be nice to me, when civilization goes dry! Ha ha!
It is not going to be at all pleasant, when it all crashes. So glean some skill "off the grid", like brewing or gardening. Your computer-programming knowledge shall be rendered superfluous, not to mention yer college credits... Maybe learn self- defense, which is another topic altogether...

Dividing my loyalties

Blow for beer as biofuels clean out barley

Aargh! I'm a big fan of biofuels...but I'm also a big fan of beer. Please don't make me choose:

"One consequence, he said, could be a long-term shift upwards in the price of
beer. Barley and hops account for about 7-8 per cent of brewing costs.

Barley, which is used for making beer, whisky and animal feed, has seen
prices prices soar over the last 12 months."http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7f533724-c507-11db-b110-000b5df10621.html

Spring Training

Cactus League games begin. This is a good thing:

Sweaterman is down

(click to enlarge)

Sweaterman is having issues with his laptop. Issues that confound the geek squad. He will be back.

Dutch Laser Graffiti

found at:http://www.streetmemes.com/

Phuquetard Buddha

One of my favorites, Driftglass, posting at The News Blog during Steve Gilliards illness (get well soon, Steve) , has put up a masterpiece:

"Peace comes from
within. Which is why we need bunker busting nukes to get at it." -- sayings
of
the Phuquetard Buddha (Also known as the Guantanamo
Buddha.)

http://www.thenewsblog.net/2007/02/driftglass-phuquetard-buddha.html

Dang, wish I wrote that.

Renzi

Hey, locals! It seems that our own representative Rick Renzi recieved campaign donations from an indicted terrorist:
http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/005688.html
Let's remember this next year.

Can we get out of Iraq?

Short answer: not anytime soon.
While the public wants out, and Congress is trying to come up with passable legislation, the administration is hell bent on staying and expanding our presence in Iraq.Because of our congressional structure, even if the house passes the Murtha resolution the senate won't. Due to the filibuster, it takes 60 senators to pass any controversial legislation, and there aren't 60 senators who oppose the war. We'll get speeches and rhetoric, but no effective legislation.
The filibuster is one of those rules that can be a safeguard or an obstacle. I was discussing the history of the filibuster with a friend, and she came to accept that as a procedure it's still needed but annoying.
The public anti-war sentiment hasn't spilled into the street yet. While the DC protests have been much larger than the media portrays them, they aren't overwhelming. One reason that the Vietnam protests got so much attention was the massive, nationwide scale made them impossible to ignore. We aren't there yet. And the corporate media will continue to downplay anti-war sentiment for a variety of reasons (profit).
It's hard to predict what would happen in Iraq if we withdraw, but it's hard to see anything being much worse than what we have now. And we will have to withdraw someday. The attrition that increases as we prolong our occupation will slowly bleed us dry.
I was anti-war before the war even began, and one of my main reasons was the aftermath question. Simply put, if you take down Saddam what takes his place? The "flowers and democracy" theory of the administration was delusional at best, arrogant and ignorant at the very least.
So I'm left with the depressing conclusion that we're stuck with this disaster for the remainder of this administration, and no good options for the next one. I don't see any possibility of a positve outcome.
Damn You, Bush and Cheney.

pizza sutra, part 1

Comparing Rome to the United States of America , is like comparing Led Zeppelin to the Stone Temple Pilots.
The U.S. A is an imperial force , today. Right? For what- a coupla decades or so? Well hey, before us England ruled most of the world. Deutschland tried. Napolean and his minions gave it a go. And so. Hiitites, Egyptians, Mongols, twas the Romans had the best run!
Romans invented highways(sic.AppianWay), bathtubs, parliametary governance ,decent sandals and seige strategies and provocative recipies like "Lark tongues in aspic." Did they invent fast-food as well? Probably, though i doubt it would favor our modern palates...Mind you, terrorism during 1 AD was something to be contended with! For example- Huns, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Gauls, Picts, Britons, Teutons, Vikings. These chaps put Al-Queda to shame!
Did they have pizza delivery in ancient Rome? Probly not, but I do! -as i am of hunnishvisiostrogallicpictishteuto-viking ancestry. My ancestors sacked Rome. And thanks to their battle-hammers and swords, we have pizza-delivery today.

More on Liberals

I needed to put up something lighter.

Yup, I sure seem like that kind of liberal...not.

Seymour Hersh

The Seymour Hersh piece in the New Yorker should be mandatory reading for every member of Congress. Hersh details the massive screw-up of our changing loyalties amid sectarian violence and the push for war with Iran, and it's enough to make me scream. Basically, we're going to aid Sunni's who are killing our troops in order to oppose the Iranian Shia who aren't:

"To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration
has
decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In
Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government,
which
is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken
Hezbollah, the
Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also
taken part in
clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A
by-product of these
activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist
groups that espouse a
militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America
and sympathetic to Al
Qaeda.

One contradictory aspect of the new strategy is that, in Iraq, most of the
insurgent violence directed at the American military has come from Sunni
forces,
and not from Shiites. But, from the Administration’s perspective,
the most
profound—and unintended—strategic consequence of the Iraq war is
the empowerment of Iran.

"http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

Hersh has a long history of accurate reporting on the middle east, so I recommend reading the whole article.

Paying for wars

Watch what you eat, people. Amongst today's bad news I read this:

"The federal agency that’s been front and center in warning
the
public about tainted spinach and contaminated peanut butter is
conducting just
half the food safety inspections it did three years ago.

The cuts by the
Food and Drug Administration come despite a barrage
of high-profile food
recalls.

“We have a food safety crisis on the
horizon,” said Michael
Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the
University of
Georgia.

Between 2003 and 2006, FDA food safety
inspections dropped 47
percent, according to a database analysis of federal
records by The Associated
Press".

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17349427/

Are you feeling safer yet?

Cheney and the Taliban

But I'm sure he'll explain how well things are going in Afghanistan. Will the idiots leading us ever realize that the debacle in Iraq has detracted from real American security?

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber attacked the
entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday during a visit
by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20. Cheney
was unhurt in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban and was the closest
that militants have come to a top U.S. official visiting Afghanistan. At least
one U.S. soldier, an American contractor and a South Korean soldier were among
the dead, NATO said.

Cheney said the attackers were trying "to find ways to
question the authority of the central government." A Taliban spokesman said
Cheney was the target.

AP story here:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_EXPLOSION?SITE=TXMID&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Maybe this will be a wake-up call for the evil one.

added thought: Cheney's visit was "secret", so it
appears that the Taliban have infiltrated base security.

More on Cellulosic Ethanol

While this is a small start, the idea is quite sound:

ALCOHOL FUEL:
Celunol, based in Cambridge, MA, tests its cellulosic-ethanol process in this
pilot-scale plant, which converts biomass such as switchgrass into ethanol.
Biomass is stored and handled in the building to the right. From there it’s fed
into the four black tanks in the center, which contain enzymes for breaking down
cellulose and other complex carbohydrates to form simple sugars that can be
fermented in the “beer” tank below. There, the liquid produced has the same
alcohol concentration as beer. Next, the beer is distilled in the tall column
left of center before being stored in ethanol tanks at left. Celunol started
construction on a much larger cellulosic-ethanol plant this month.
Credit:
Courtesy of Celunol Corp.

article here:http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=18227&ch=energy

also, from NPR's "Living on Earth", a story about termite enzymes and the role they might play:http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=07-P13-00008&segmentID=2

From TPRS

A matter of perception

I have this pair of sunglasses. Good enough shades, but one of the lenses keeps popping out. "Well that sucks, get better ones," you might say to me, but avast! how now! - hear me out; behold my tale, dear person perusing obscure blogs today...
I don't wanna nother pair of sunglasses, because the lense that periodically pops out of its frame is always hopelessly lost, only to present itself again, not in a pocket or the like, but in a preposterous format. Perpetually.
Please understand, one of the lenses of my cheap-ass pair of gas station shades has a mind of its own. Once, I found it 'neath a downtown turkey-smoker. Coupla days ago the lens was nestled in the fronds of my pet rabbit-foot fern. Last tuesday it had crept into the shower stall. It has even been known to manifest under my pillow. Who knows the agenda of an errant sunglass lens? Thing is, I always discover it somewhere, and it snaps gingerly back into its frame. Snugly, securely, for awhile. Reminds me of a husky dog I once knew...
Hi! My name is Zymurgian and I am honored to have been invited to post on Pygalgia's blog.
Now that I have you gently twirling your snifters of cognac in anticipation, I could be a real bastard tyrant and tape or crazy-glue this vagabond lense to the frame of my sunglasses, thereby inhibiting its annoying periginations (The other lense is quite docile and servile; proleteriat to the core) but who am I to inhibit a gas station lense's free will? It agrees to let me find it, so far. It agrees to guard my eyes from slush and wind and ultraviolet maelstrom, sometimes. Where I live now, at this latitude and elevation, sunglasses are efficacious, as I am amore interested in what the ravens have to say, i.e. ardent cyclist.
To digress, I gain understanding from them that go on tour, -husky dogs and sunglass lenses and friends, relatives, sleeping bags, lovers. I accept that most of this world is busted, and duplicarious. Touracious.
Simultaneously, the only way through this busted frame of a life is to pop out of it and go on tour. But if through that, you do not realize yer tru purpose is to be of service to another's maelstrom, well, hey, get a better pair of shades!

Bragging Rights

Surfing the intertubes, I see a lot of blogs out there. And if I may say so, this humble little blog is doing okay. After all, we can boast that we've been blogging longer, and have put up more posts than Pete Townshend:http://www.petetownshend-whohe.blogspot.com/.
Now if I could only play or sing or show any other talent.
Added: Yes, it is THAT Pete Townshend. Most people my age might have heard of him. Younger folk can look him up.
Added x 2:http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ConcertDetail.aspx?id=4267962

A Diplomat

While I haven't picked a Democratic candidate yet (it's way too early), Bill Richardson's WaPo editorial expresses a level of diplomatic wisdom that our current administration lacks:

"No nation has ever been forced to renounce nuclear weapons, but many have
chosen to do so. The Iranians will not end their nuclear program because
we threaten them and call them names. They will renounce nukes because we
convince them that they will be safer and more prosperous if they do that than
if they don’t."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301595.html

An Oscar Party Dinner

OK, so my blogging resume said that I'd post a recipe now and then, and, as a favorite recipe blogger of mine is down and out, I thought I'd post a dish I made the other night. Given that it's a wee bit cold here in Flagstaff, a hearty meal does one good, and it fills you up enough to just veg on the couch and suffer the acceptance speeches without any damage. It should serve 4 folks with some leftover for lunches during the week, and it'll run you about $15 for all the ingredients (not counting the wine - have your guests bring that!), depending on your cupboard status.

I call it the Meaty Italian Pasta Dish. My girlfriend just likes to hear me say 'Meaty Italian'.

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of pasta (I prefer a penne and mostaccioli mix; rigatoni is good too)
• 1 package of mild or sweet italian sausage (5 sausages or so)
• 1 package of proscuitto (about 5-6 slices or so; or more if you love it)
• 1/2 - 3/4 package of pre-cut shrooms (yes, I'm lazy)
• 1 - 3 tablespoons of garlic (to your taste)
• 3 - 4 tablespoons of white, yellow, or green onion (again to your preference)
• About 2/3 of a six-ounce can of tomato paste (so 4 ounces)
• About 3/4 of a half-pint of heavy whipping cream (to mix)
• 3/4 cup red wine (and a good one, dammit!)
• Spices: sweet basil (1 Tbsp), crushed anise (1/2 Tsp), a sprinkle of oregano, 1 bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese for topping (your choice).
• Olive oil. As needed, just to keep the sausage from sticking to the pan.
  

My girlfriend cut up some sopprassetta into small chunks which we also incorporated into this meal; however it's optional unless you want this dish to be the Italian Pork Extravaganza...


Prep (15 minutes unless you're screwing around):

• Slice the proscuitto into about nickle-sized pieces (I know it's difficult to do because the proscuitto's so thin, but quit whining)
• Slide the sausages out of their casings, so you have a big skillet of snausage.
• Chop the onion. Don't cry. Be an Iron Chef.

Cooking (25 minutes):

• Start cooking the sausage in all the spices in olive oil (low to medium) and add the garlic after about 5 minutes. This should cook for 10-12 minutes.
• Simultaneously, start boiling the water for the pasta.
• After 10-12 minutes, start cooking the pasta (follow package directions, but usually about 10-11 minutes for al dente pasta from a box).
• After about six minutes (of pasta time) add the proscuitto, shrooms, onions and wine to the sausage. Turn the heat up to med-high or high depending on your stove. Let simmer for 5 minutes, and turn heat to warm.
• Add tomato paste and whipping cream to the sausage mix. Stir well, until creamy.

Immediately toss all the meat with the cooked pasta and the cheese. Bag lettuce and some garlic bread go very, very well.

Wines: Decent red table - Two Brothers, Big Tattoo Red is perfect. Or, if you're a whitey, a crisp and very cold Chateau St. Michelle chardonnay.

Remember to add/vary any of these for even more taste: eggplant, zukes, chicken/veal/even seafood is possible.

Bon appetit, and here's hoping the best actor(s) win!

Why I Love Robin

Who else would write like this?

"At one point I had over a dozen wasps crawling on me (probably enjoying
the salty sweetness of my skin, a novel array of smells that they were
interested in exploring) and I felt love and appreciation for them. One of the
group members was highly agitated from the beginning of our time at the tree,
and after a few moments, the wasps began to swarm around him."
http://www.robinflynn.blogspot.com/

p.s. to Robin's Dad, I mean this in a GOOD way.

This key

I need this key on my keyboard.

Coalition of the dwindling

(click to enlarge)

demeur has a blog

Hey, one of my fav commenters now has a blog! Go say "Hi" to demeur.http://demeur.blogspot.com/

Huh?

All the news you need for a Saturday:

"Farmers in Liechtenstein can no longer feed cannabis
to their herds under new rules in the small Alpine state."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4257255.stm

River Trip Thread

Ok, now I'm getting comments on river trips. Anyone else?

(pic of trip gear about to be loaded on boats)

Oh, and I've added another poster. Zymurgian should be posting here soon. He's a very creative writer who should add a different flavor to this humble blog.

Satire

"Declaring that Iraq had stabilized with an average of only 98 dead civilians
per day, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced his intention to redeploy
all Iraqi troops — completely out of Iraq."

Read the rest here:http://satiricalpolitical.com/

Debating Debates

I see where a lot of the political blogs are upset about the proposed Nevada Democratic debate being hosted by FOX. MoveOn even has a petition up against the debate. Why? Because FOX is hostile toward Democrats.
I have a very different thought. Yes, FOX is hostile to Democrats, and they will be hostile throughout the campaign. So let's have the debate, and see how well each candidate handles the attacks. The attacks will happen, so let's face them head on. Into the lion's den.
In my younger years, I found myself in too many street fights. The first rule of a street fight is go right at the biggest, toughest, meanest bastard first. This campaign IS going to be a dirty, nasty street fight. So let's see who's tough enough to fight back!
Added: There is a risk of a circular firing squad. As the latest media frenzy over the Obama/Clinton/Geffen flap shows, the talking heads love it when Democrats hurt Democrats. Instead of attacking each other, how about everybody attacking the attackers? Fight your enemies first, then you can squabble with your freinds.

Wondering

If a war did begin between the U.S. and Iran, which side would Iraq be on?
Feel free to comment.
Added:http://americanfootprints.com/drupal/

Zbigniew Brzezinski

His name destroy spellcheck, and his words destroy idiots:

"If the United States continues to be bogged down in a protracted bloody
involvement in Iraq, the final destination on this downhill track is likely to
be a head-on conflict with Iran and with much of the world of Islam at large. A
plausible scenario for a military collision with Iran involves Iraqi failure to
meet the benchmarks; followed by accusations of Iranian responsibility for the
failure; then by some provocation in Iraq or a
terrorist act in the U.S. blamed on Iran; culminating in a “defensive”
U.S. military action against Iran that plunges a lonely America into a spreading
and deepening quagmire eventually ranging across Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan."

Mike Gravel

He's one of the Democratic candidates that have no chance, but I thought I remembered something positive about Gravel. I had to go read his bio to remember what:

"In 1971, [Gravel] waged a successful one-man filibuster for five months
that forced the Nixon administration to cut a deal, effectively ending the
draft
in the United States. He is most prominently known for his release of
the
Pentagon Papers, the secret official study that revealed the lies and
manipulations of successive U.S. administrations that misled the country
into
the Vietnam War."

Okay, it was a long time ago, but maybe he'll bring a little of that fire to the current campaign.
And yes, I'm old.

Religion and Politics

I see where Atrios and Kos and Digby and Booman have all been talking about "faith" and it's place in politics. I'm a proud Athiest who loves to study the history of religion.

I like when I get to make fun of certain Christians by knowing the Bible. I also have read the Koran. In Arabic.

I'm among the few who would vote for an Athiest. But, I'm a LIBERAL!

When the going get's weird

The weird turn pro. Hunter's sendoff

Doc Thompson

Sweaterman motivated me to talk about my Friend Doc Thompson. I got to know Doc back in 1994. It's an accidental connection, based on getting divorced. When I got divorced, I decided to look up a woman who I had been attracted to through multiple Dead tours. She was a bartender at the Woody Creek Tavern. I was newly single, and she was attractive, so I went to Colorado.
So I show up, around 10:00am, and there is Doc. I briefly expressed my admiration for his writing, and proceeded to hit on the bartender. But I ended up talking with Doc. He was reading his mail and drinking bloody mary's. We had a debate about Clinton (Thompson's book Better than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie was coming out) and the end of the Reagan/Bush administration. Doc insisted on buying a bloody mary for me. I hate tomato juice, but I drank one anyway. Doc was about as smart and crazy as I thought he would be. We drank and talked for a few hours, and then he invited me back to Owl Farm for "a feeding". This meant food and drinks and some other things.We had passed the legal limits, so I'm going to be discreet about what follows.
Doc showed me his gun collection, and offered to go target shooting. I grew up with guns. but also with gun safety. The thought of shooting with someone who I knew was drunk when I was drunk felt unsafe . But I did it anyway.
We shot a bunch of rifles and pistols into an old 50 gal. drum. And we became Friends.
It was a few years later that I got email. Doc Thompson was a main email contact. He never failed to amaze me with his wisdom, cynicism, and biting wit.
When Doc quit this life, I felt a huge hole. One of the smartest, most unique people I have ever known was gone.
Oh, and the bartender? We spent two weeks finding out that we really weren't meant for a long term relationship.

Riverbend

Riverbend has 2 new posts up (first in almost two month's), and her writing is just as heartbreaking as ever. For those unfamiliar, Riverbend is a woman in Baghdad who is well educated who's blog (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) tells about life in Iraq. She was somewhat pro-American in the beginning, but time has not been kind to her (or us). Reading this:

"And yet, as the situation continues to deteriorate both for
Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.

Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s
worse. It’s over.

You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad
to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated.

You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets.

You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government.

You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment.

You lost the respect and reputation you once
had.

You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America.

I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile."

Good job, George.

If you read what Riverbend wrote and your reaction is something like “Merciful
Christ. How will we ever be forgiven for what we have done to that country? How
will we atone? And how can we still be debating this? How can anyone with a
sliver of conscience still be invoking God and Homeland, Freedom and Faith, 9/11
and 'Fight Them Over There' to keep us trapped in this hell we sired?” you’re a
Liberal.

From Driftglass: http://driftglass.blogspot.com/

Hope You're Still Raising Hell, Hunter

"The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over." - Hunter S. Thompson

Today is the one-year anniversary of the death (by suicide) of the great Hunter S. Thompson. I figure Uncle Scott may chime in here, having met the man, but I think it beehooves everyone to look back on what a gigantic presence he was, both in the literary landscape, and in the the world at large.

Now, I should state that I enthusiastically support the idea of assisted or self-induced death, assuming you want to go that route. Although it is really an utterly final option, it is a measure of one's complete ability to control their life until the bitter end, and, believing, in general, that one should be able to have that capability to control, or one cannot truly call themselves free, means that I have to believe you if you say you want to off yourself and you pull it off. Still, though: be responsible enough towards yourself that you realize what you are doing and how it will affect others. Short version: write a decent suicide note. Apparently even Clippy knows that.

I first read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "The Great Shark Hunt" back in early high school, back before having any real adult experience in the world. Reading those two books (back-to-back, BTW), was, for me, kind of a religious experience. It was all a part of learning about how the real world works, one of those kind of things that really affects how you view society and your role in it.

I can only wonder at the demons HST must have been wrestling with a year ago, and why he took his own life. But, he certainly left a furious mark in the world, and we are all the better for it, even if he's gone and we miss him. Plus, having Johnny Depp shoot your ashes out of a cannon is just too cool.

Well Done

Go check out Sandy Underpants (great name) at http://ristocrats.blogspot.com/, for some fun. Lines like:

"Bush: Iraq is like a cold beer on a hot day at a nude beach with
supermodels who have the day off because it's Presidents Day!"

Today's comic

shrub

Stolen from Kos, but too good to pass :

"you know, George Bush was born about 300 miles north of here in the year 1946. As a young man, he was an average student, became a cheerleader and developed a taste for alcohol. As he grew older, he became convinced that he didn't want to go to Vietnam, avoided serving both there and in the Texas Air National Guard and discovered cocaine. At age 32, he ran for Congress and lost. At age 40, he failed in the oil business. At age 43, he bought a baseball team and traded away Sammy Sosa. At age 48, he became the Governor of Texas. At age, 54 the Supreme Court named him President of the United States. And now 60 years old, having waged two losing war efforts
that has cost America its moral standing in the world, hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars, he is the
obvious and only choice to be the worst President of the United States."

You call this a society?

I've been thinking (but not very deeply) about what is wrong and right about our society. Here's a bit of my thoughts:
Humans are social. Thus, we need social structures. The idea of government came from a basic tribal principle that by working together, we could do more than any one individual. Education became a way to train people to meet societies needs. We gained all kinds of new technologies. Now, we have forgotten that primary infrastructure. College now is so expensive that only the successful can pay for it.
We need a major paradigm shift.

Appalling

The lack of adequate medical treatment for veterans returning from Iraq is all over today's new. This Washington Post article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/17/AR2007021701172.html, followed by this one http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021801335.html will make you scream, cry, and feel ashamed. Can we impeach now?
Added: from The Army Times:http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/tnsmedboards070217/

"Soldiers go to VA to try for more benefits, but the department had a
staggering 400,000-case backup on new claims in fiscal 2006, according to
VA."

Opposing the war is important. But we must also demand proper treatment for those who have served. How can Bush advocate escalation if we can't even take care of the vets we have now?

Sums up some ego problems nicely...

From driftglass, who modified one of Larson's all-time greatest cartoons, to explain Dubya's narcissism to a T.

Sunday

No more football. Not yet baseball season. Too cold for boating. NBA? Not interested. What to do...oh, yeah. There's always:

Confirmation

I finished the last post, and went to read some other blogs. Wow, Mustang Bobby at http://barkbarkwoofwoof.blogspot.com/ has a great post regarding the upcoming attacks on Hillary Clinton, sighting this article in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hillary18feb18,0,6942519.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Well worth reading, including this notable paragraph:

"Conservative admirers of the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth media blitz that
helped torpedo Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential candidacy in 2004
are now agitating to "Swift-boat" Clinton."

Looking toward '08

Because it's a frequent topic of recent conversation, I'm throwing my 2 cents out on the main candidates for '08 here. Sweaterman and I are known as political junkies amongst our circle of friends, so we've spent a lot of quality beer time discussing the merits and weaknesses of each candidate. The opinions here are mine, and maybe Sweaterman will weigh in later.
It should be noted that a lot may change as the campaigns proceed, and I will end up supporting whoever is the Democratic nominee. My sanity couldn't survive another Publican president.


(in alphabetical order).

Hillary Clinton:http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
She's a very tough, savvy politician, and she'll have to be. The right-wing attack machine is already gearing up to throw everything they can at her (anybody remember Vince Foster?) and there is a large group who viscerally hate her. She has the baggage of her Iraq and Iran positions, but she has remained steadfast in the face of criticism. She has a lot of money behind her, so she's likely to last through the early primaries. While I think that Hillary could be a decent president, I fear that she'd likely be rendered ineffective by a barrage of constant media manufactured scandals.

John Edwards:http://johnedwards.com/
A very good public speaker, his "two Americas" message has been well received so far. Short on experience. He responded way to weakly to the whole blogger flap, and that bodes ill for when the right-wing starts getting really nasty (and they will). The early primaries favor him, but the schedule could change dramatically. Edwards may be hurt most by Obama, who should be able to trump him on the charisma/charm front. I think Edwards could be a reasonably effective president, but he'll need to assemble a really strong foreign policy team to get elected.

Barack Obama:http://www.barackobama.com/
Already the media darling, the man has charisma by the bucketload. Gives the kind of inspiring speeches rarely seen in modern politics. Lack of experience will be highlighted repeatedly. Has already shown a lot of savvy in fending off the right-wing attacks (try again, Mr. Howard). Forget the whole "black enough" question, Obama will have to overcome the "what have you actually done" question. I'm unsure how effective Obama would be as president, because of his inexperience. On one hand, his inspirational talent could lead to greatness. Or, he could end up unable to implement any real change.

Bill Richardson:http://billrichardsonforpresident.com/
He's got a resume no other candidate can touch. A very smart intellectual, his speaking style is uninspiring compared to the field. He hasn't been the target of the righties yet, but I'm sure he will be if he has any early success. May benefit by being the western candidate, but will have difficulty with fundraising compared to the rest. While I think Richardson is the most qualified to BE president, I'm not sure he has what it takes to get elected. Let's face it, American voters tend to focus on image over substance.

I don't see any of the other candidates having a realistic shot, but time may prove me wrong. Should Gore enter the race, I don't see anybody beating him. Also, we'll see how much mutual destruction occurs during the primaries.

Your thoughts?
added: I may post something later on the Publican candidates, but I'm oppossed to all of them.