Where the Hell is my job George??-The Yobo Report

status update

2010-01-25T18:54:00.001-05:00

Check out the wilderness blog for most current entries :) we're live again!!!

check out my new blog-

2008-09-10T13:39:00.001-04:00

a lone voice in the wilderness- there is a link on the side bar

its a great time to be an american

2006-11-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

all of a sudden I was hit by a wAve of blue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YaHoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Helllllooooooo

2006-11-12T22:22:00.000-05:00

Hey its been awhile-

finally!!!!!

2006-05-17T03:03:00.000-04:00

So they finally fixed the archive feature

here

2006-02-08T23:31:00.000-05:00

Funeral speakers hammer W

BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

LITHONIA, Ga. - President Bush changed his schedule at the last minute to attend Coretta Scott King's funeral. It might have been a mistake.
Not only was he overshadowed by the Bill and Hillary show, but several speakers, including former President Jimmy Carter, aimed sharply pointed darts at the commander in chief as he sat squirming on the dais.

"We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here," chanted the Rev. Joseph Lowery, an 85-year-old King compatriot who drew the massive audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation.

"For war, billions more - but no more for the poor!" he added, to more cheers.

Bush, who rarely hears criticism to his face, wore a tight grin as he sat behind Lowery. When Lowery finished, however, Bush shook his hand with a big smile.

Carter brought the audience to its feet again at Bush's expense when he mentioned the "secret government wiretapping" of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a clear reference to the current snooping controversy.

And the megachurch erupted once more - first with gasps, then with applause - when Carter brought up the worst moment in Bush's relationship with the black community.

"The struggle for equal rights is not over," Carter said. "We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, those who were most devastated by [Hurricane] Katrina, to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans."

Bush and his wife, Laura, received a warm welcome, but it paled next to the explosion of joy when Bill and Hillary Clinton took the stage.

"Got my vote!" yelled out a woman in the rafters as applause and hoots rose in a wave.

In an unusual bit of theater, the Clintons stood together at the podium as first he, then she, addressed the crowd. The New York senator spoke of leadership, and of Coretta King continuing her husband's legacy.

"As we are called, each of us must decide whether to answer the call by saying 'send me,'" she said. "When I think of Coretta Scott King, I think of a woman who lived out her calling."

The crowd got the point.

When Bill Clinton said he was honored to be in the presence of "my President, and my former President" - he was interrupted by someone down front yelling out: "and your future President!"

Originally published on February 8, 2006

i told u all

2006-01-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

U.S. saving at Depression-era nadir
The Associated Press, Reuters

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2006

WASHINGTON The personal savings rate of American fell into negative territory in 2005, something that has not happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted savings to finance the purchases of cars and other large items, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

The savings rate was minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing, the report said.

The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before - in 1932 and 1933 - both years of the Depression, a time of wide business failures and job layoffs.

Analysts said different factors were at play now, with employment growth strong. Americans feel they can spend more, given that the value of their homes, the biggest asset for most families, has been rising sharply in recent years.

Still, analysts cautioned that this behavior is risky at a time when 78 million Americans are near retirement.

"Americans seem to have the feeling that it is wimpish to save," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "The idea is to put away money for old age, and we are just not doing that."

The Commerce report said that consumer spending for December rose by 0.9 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent increase in incomes last month.

A price gauge that excludes food and energy rose by a tiny 0.1 percent in December, down from a 0.2 percent rise in November. This inflation index linked to consumer spending is closely watched by officials at the Federal Reserve.

The central bank will meet on Tuesday, when it is expected to raise interest rates again. Many economists maintain, however, that the current series of rate rises is drawing to a close as the Fed is starting to see the impact of the previous rate rises in a slowing economy.

The 0.5 percent negative savings rate for the year followed a 1.8 percent rate of savings in 2004. The negative rate for 1932 was 0.9 percent and for 1933 a record 1.5 percent.

Some economists are sanguine about the lack of savings.

"Consumer spending growth will moderate, but it won't impede the current pace of economic expansion," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

WASHINGTON The personal savings rate of American fell into negative territory in 2005, something that has not happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted savings to finance the purchases of cars and other large items, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

The savings rate was minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing, the report said.

The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before - in 1932 and 1933 - both years of the Depression, a time of wide business failures and job layoffs.

Analysts said different factors were at play now, with employment growth strong. Americans feel they can spend more, given that the value of their homes, the biggest asset for most families, has been rising sharply in recent years.

Still, analysts cautioned that this behavior is risky at a time when 78 million Americans are near retirement.

"Americans seem to have the feeling that it is wimpish to save," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "The idea is to put away money for old age, and we are just not doing that."

The Commerce report said that consumer spending for December rose by 0.9 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent increase in incomes last month.

A price gauge that excludes food and energy rose by a tiny 0.1 percent in December, down from a 0.2 percent rise in November. This inflation index linked to consumer spending is closely watched by officials at the Federal Reserve.

The central bank will meet on Tuesday, when it is expected to raise interest rates again. Many economists maintain, however, that the current series of rate rises is drawing to a close as the Fed is starting to see the impact of the previous rate rises in a slowing economy.

The 0.5 percent negative savings rate for the year followed a 1.8 percent rate of savings in 2004. The negative rate for 1932 was 0.9 percent and for 1933 a record 1.5 percent.

Some economists are sanguine about the lack of savings.

"Consumer spending growth will moderate, but it won't impede the current pace of economic expansion," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

WASHINGTON The personal savings rate of American fell into negative territory in 2005, something that has not happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted savings to finance the purchases of cars and other large items, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

The savings rate was minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing, the report said.

The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before - in 1932 and 1933 - both years of the Depression, a time of wide business failures and job layoffs.

Analysts said different factors were at play now, with employment growth strong. Americans feel they can spend more, given that the value of their homes, the biggest asset for most families, has been rising sharply in recent years.

Still, analysts cautioned that this behavior is risky at a time when 78 million Americans are near retirement.

"Americans seem to have the feeling that it is wimpish to save," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "The idea is to put away money for old age, and we are just not doing that."

The Commerce report said that consumer spending for December rose by 0.9 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent increase in incomes last month.

A price gauge that excludes food and energy rose by a tiny 0.1 percent in December, down from a 0.2 percent rise in November. This inflation index linked to consumer spending is closely watched by officials at the Federal Reserve.

The central bank will meet on Tuesday, when it is expected to raise interest rates again. Many economists maintain, however, that the current series of rate rises is drawing to a close as the Fed is starting to see the impact of the previous rate rises in a slowing economy.

The 0.5 percent negative savings rate for the year followed a 1.8 percent rate of savings in 2004. The negative rate for 1932 was 0.9 percent and for 1933 a record 1.5 percent.

Some economists are sanguine about the lack of savings.

"Consumer spending growth will moderate, but it won't impede the current pace of economic expansion," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

WASHINGTON The personal savings rate of American fell into negative territory in 2005, something that has not happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted savings to finance the purchases of cars and other large items, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

The savings rate was minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing, the report said.

The savings rate has been negative for an entire year only twice before - in 1932 and 1933 - both years of the Depression, a time of wide business failures and job layoffs.

Analysts said different factors were at play now, with employment growth strong. Americans feel they can spend more, given that the value of their homes, the biggest asset for most families, has been rising sharply in recent years.

Still, analysts cautioned that this behavior is risky at a time when 78 million Americans are near retirement.

"Americans seem to have the feeling that it is wimpish to save," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "The idea is to put away money for old age, and we are just not doing that."

The Commerce report said that consumer spending for December rose by 0.9 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent increase in incomes last month.

A price gauge that excludes food and energy rose by a tiny 0.1 percent in December, down from a 0.2 percent rise in November. This inflation index linked to consumer spending is closely watched by officials at the Federal Reserve.

The central bank will meet on Tuesday, when it is expected to raise interest rates again. Many economists maintain, however, that the current series of rate rises is drawing to a close as the Fed is starting to see the impact of the previous rate rises in a slowing economy.

The 0.5 percent negative savings rate for the year followed a 1.8 percent rate of savings in 2004. The negative rate for 1932 was 0.9 percent and for 1933 a record 1.5 percent.

Some economists are sanguine about the lack of savings.

"Consumer spending growth will moderate, but it won't impede the current pace of economic expansion," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

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Sen. Kennedy Speaks on the Nomination of Samuel Alito

2006-01-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

JANUARY 19, 2006

KENNEDY: Well, thank you, Melody, for that generous introduction, and thank you for your vision and effective leadership on so many issues of such paramount concern to the nation. Our Judiciary Committee in the Senate today just isn't the same without you.
I'm grateful to the Center for American Progress for hosting us here today, and I commend you for the difference you've already begun to make. Keep up the great work.
It's an honor to be here to address all of you on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. As you know so well, the stakes for our nation could not be higher. This is the vote of a generation. If confirmed, this nominee will have an enormous impact on our basic rights and liberties for years and even decades to come.
The Alito hearings, as well as those for Chief Justice Roberts before them, show the need for change in the way that we learn a nominee's views on our laws and the Constitution. Instead of a free and honest exchange of ideas, our hearings have become stylized and choreographed appearances in which the nominees are coached to say as little as possible.
And when it comes to lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land, surely the American people deserve better. After all, the Supreme Court is the guardian of our most cherished rights and freedoms. They are protected by the most solemn promises of the Constitution and symbolized in four eloquent words inscribed above the entrance to the Supreme Court: "Equal Justice Under Law. "
Those words are meant to guarantee that our courts will be an independent check against abuses of power by the other two branches of government. It is a commitment that our courts will always be a place where the poor and the powerless and the underprivileged can stand on equal footing with the wealthy and the powerful and the privileged. And the Senate has a constitutional duty to ensure that any person confirmed to the court will uphold that clear ideal.
The nomination of Judge Alito is particularly significant because it comes at a time of new challenges for the nation and for the court.
Suddenly, in this new century, we are faced with unprecedented claims by the White House for sweeping expansions of presidential power that are grave threats to the rule of law.
Despite progress in recent decades, we continue to face serious inequalities and injustices in our society, as demonstrated so clearly by the immense tragedy a few months ago in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
We face new controversies over governmental intrusion into people's private lives -- from the interference with personal medical decisions on how long a loved one should be kept on life support, to new attempts to limit or even deny a woman's reproductive decisions.
KENNEDY: We face new attacks on the progress that we have made in civil rights. The signs proclaiming "whites only" may be gone, but we know that discrimination and bigotry in countless other manifestations still blights our societies and limits opportunity.
One of the most important of all the responsibilities of the Supreme Court is to enforce the constitutional limitations on presidential power. A justice must have the courage and the wisdom to speak truth to power, to tell even the president that he has gone too far.
Chief Justice John Marshall was that kind of justice when he told President Jefferson that he had exceeded his war-making powers under the Constitution.
Justice Robert Jackson was that kind of justice when he told President Truman that he could not misuse the Korean War as an excuse to take over the nation's steel mills.
Chief Justice Warren Burger was that kind of justice when he told President Nixon to turn over the White House tapes on Watergate.
And Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, was that kind of justice when she told President Bush that a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens.
We need that kind of justice on the court as much as ever. For today, we have a president who believes that torture can be an acceptable practice despite laws and treaties that explicitly prohibit it; we have a president who claims the power to arrest American citizens on American soil, jail them for years without the benefit of counsel or access to the courts; we have a president who claims that he has the authority to spy on American citizens on American soil without a court order.
KENNEDY: The record of Judge Alito is clear and ominous. Examine his writings. Read the transcript of the hearings. Consider the cases he's decided. The record demonstrates that we cannot count on Judge Alito to blow the whistle when the president is out of bounds.
Judge Alito is a longstanding advocate of the expansion of executive power, even at the expense of individual liberty. His statements show that he favors a far greater role for the president than is currently recognized by the Supreme Court.
In his now notorious job application to the Justice Department, he cast doubts on the role of the courts as well. He said, "I believe very strongly ... in the supremacy of the elected branches of government."
He never explained his reason for advocating such an extraordinary departure from the basic understanding of the Constitution, that the courts are intended to be co-equal with the president and the Congress. And when asked about the extreme statement, he said only that it was "inapt." That's certainly true, but it does not begin to tell the American people why he would make a statement so at odds with basic system of checks and balances that have guided our democracy for two centuries.
Judge Alito's testimony gave us no clue, but one thing is clear. If the elected branches become supreme, the Supreme Court will not be able to fulfill its historic role of enforcing constitutional limits on presidential power. His statement may have been music to the ears of the Reagan Justice Department, but it was a shock of a thousand volts to all of us who care about our democracy and the rule of law.
Judge Alito's consistent advocacy of what he called "the gospel" of the "unitary executive" is just as troubling. Professor Steven Calabresi, one of the originators of the unitary executive theory and a co-founder of the Federalist Society, has acknowledged that if the concept is implemented, it would produce a radical change in how the government operates.
As he wrote in the Harvard Law Review in 1992, "The practical consequences of this theory is dramatic: It renders unconstitutional independent agencies and counsels to the extent that they exercise discretionary executive power."
Independent agencies, such as the Federal Election Commission, created to see that our voting laws are properly enforced and interpreted, would be subject to the president's control.
KENNEDY: The same is true of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charged with preventing corporate abuses such as we recently saw in the case of Enron, with tragic consequences for American workers.
It would compromise the historic independence of the Federal Reserve Board, giving the president unprecedented and dangerous power to manipulate the economy.
It would compromise the mission of every agency created to protect hardworking Americans from the exploitation of those who care only about profits, not the health and the welfare and the very safety of their employees.
Nor is the impact of this bizarre theory limited to the independence of administrative agencies. It has a major effect on other assertions of presidential power as well.
Discussing President Bush's aggressive claims for unprecedented executive power in the field of national security, even Professor Calabresi stated recently that without accepting such a theory, there would be no way that President Bush's anti-terrorism policies could be constitutionally justified.
During his confirmation hearing, Judge Alito attempted to downplay his extreme view of executive power. But he did not disavow them. He refused to candidly discuss his current views of the constitutional limits on presidential power. Instead, he pointed to the Supreme Court's rejection of the unitary executive theory. He cited the court's decision affirming that independent agencies who investigate executive branch abuses can be removed from the presidential control.
But a speech he gave in 2000 to the Federalist Society provides an insight into his real view. He stated that he believed that the theory of unitary executive best captures the meaning of the Constitution's text and structure.
He went on to strongly criticize those rulings rejecting the theory of the unitary executive.
KENNEDY: He then outlined a strategy for bypassing the court's precedents, including the same independent counsel case he claimed to support in testimony before the Judiciary Committee last week.
When Judge Alito made that speech, he was not applying for a job in the Justice Department. He'd already been serving as an appellate judge for 10 years.
The timing of the speech to the Federalist Society may be significant. In November 2000, the Florida recount was on and the right wing was salivating over the prospect that George Bush would prevail in that close election. Judge Alito may well have been submitting his application for a Supreme Court nomination.
Judge Alito also failed to satisfactorily explain his controversial advice as a Justice Department official that "the president's understanding of a bill should be just as important as that of Congress."
He recommended that when the President signs a bill passed by Congress, he should issue a signing statement announcing his own interpretation of the law in the hope of influencing the way courts would construe the law.
That proposal was clearly the recommendation of an activist seeking to reduce the power of Congress and expand the presidential power beyond its traditional boundary.
The fundamental role of Congress is to pass laws and define what those laws mean in the text of the statutes themselves or in their legislative history. That power is exclusively for Congress, not the president.
As Justice Hugo Black wrote in the steel seizure case, "In the framework of our Constitution, the President's power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker. The Constitution limits his functions in the lawmaking process to the recommending of laws he thinks wise and vetoing of laws he thinks are bad."
Some years ago, the Supreme Court rejected the line item veto as unconstitutional.
KENNEDY: It reaffirmed Justice Black's view that presidents may either veto or sign bills that Congress passes. They cannot pick and choose the provisions they will enact. But the kinds of signing statements that Judge Alito advocates amount to a back-door line item veto of congressional actions.
President Bush showed this with his recent signing statement on a bill that contained Senator McCain's ban on torture. In that statement, the president reserved the right to ignore the McCain requirements and even asserted that in certain circumstances his actions are beyond the reach of the courts.
These views exalting presidential power are troubling enough on their own. But they are also reflected in Judge Alito's decisions as a judge. His record on the bench only reinforces the deep concerns raised by his broad expressions of support for executive power.
His deference to executive power is especially clear in cases where persons claimed the government violated the privacy and security of their homes. He refuses to enforce core constitutional standards protecting individuals against low-level government officials in routine situations, and there is no reason to believe he will say no to a president who violates individual rights under the cloak of national security.
Time and again in cases involving claims of privacy, security, and freedom from unjustified searches and seizures under the Bill of Rights, he has accepted the government's defense. That was true in his dissent defending a strip search of a 10-year-old girl without a warrant. Even now, when asked about the decision, Judge Alito repeatedly refuses to admit that he was wrong.
Michael Chertoff, the former head of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, who is now President Bush's secretary of homeland security, served with Judge Alito in that case, and he sharply criticized Judge Alito's view as threatening to turn the requirement of a search warrant into little more than a rubber stamp.
In still another case, Judge Alito ruled that it was reasonable for marshals carrying out an unresisted civil eviction to pump a sawed-off shotgun at a farming family sitting in their living room. The family had committed no crime.
A fellow judge on the case dissented in calling the marshals' conduct "Gestapo-like," since "seven marshals had detained and terrorized a family and friends, and ransacked a home, while carrying out an unresisted civil eviction." Yet Judge Alito's decision meant that the family never got a trial before a jury of their peers.
KENNEDY: In another area of controversy, his views on issues of particular concern to women should give every woman pause, from his role in striking down the key provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act, to his opposition to the privacy of women's reproductive decisions.
He was unwilling to accept the constitutional right of privacy recognized by the current Supreme Court. Judge Alito's testimony failed to resolve the very serious concerns that he's itching to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said that he will keep an "open mind" on the issue.
But there is no comfort to those who know his record. The record includes his 1985 memo to the Reagan administration's solicitor general. And in that memo, he advised that the best way to undermine Roe was by gradually chipping away at its protections, and we have every reason to believe that he will do exactly that if confirmed to the Supreme Court.
On the court of appeals he was required to follow Supreme Court decisions, but as a member of the Supreme Court, he'll be free to overrule those precedents when he disagrees, no matter how well- established and longstanding.
A third area of major concern is Judge Alito's record on civil rights. He has a 15-year record on the court of appeals, and the facts are inescapable.
The weight of his record in job discrimination cases is against the victims of discrimination. Time and again, he voted to make it more difficult than the law intended for victims to prevail in court or uphold a verdict in their favor.
His written opinions on racial discrimination in employment have consistently ruled against African Americans on the merits of claims alleging such discrimination.
During the hearings, his supporters pointed out that he joined opinion by other judges supporting such claims in two cases and issued procedural opinions supporting such claims in several other cases.
But on opinions he has authored, he has issued no less than 30 decisions dismissing job discrimination claims.
KENNEDY: And in many of the cases where he voted against the victim, his fellow judges ruled that they had a valid claim of discrimination.
In one case, a hotel worker claimed that she was denied promotion because she was an African-American. The 3rd Circuit held she was entitled to a trial because the employer had falsely stated that she was unqualified and evaluated her qualifications differently compared to white applicants.
But Judge Alito would have denied her the chance to prove her case. His colleagues -- his colleagues -- on the court wrote that his dissent would have "eviscerated" the employee's statutory right to be free from job discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In another case, in which a disabled person sought physical access to medical school under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the court's majority wrote that "few if any Rehabilitation Act cases would survive" if Judge Alito's view prevailed.
In another case, a jury ruled that a woman had provided enough evidence to show she had wrongly lost her job because of sex discrimination. Ten members of the 3rd Circuit who heard the case on the appeal agreed. Only Judge Alito argued that she hadn't proved adequately the discrimination -- only Judge Alito.
In still another dissent, Judge Alito voted to deny a mentally retarded young man the chance to challenge severe abuse. In his very first job out of high school, he had suffered vicious sexual harassment -- held down in front of a group of workers, subjected to sexual touching, feared he would have been raped.
The employer didn't dispute the facts. Yet Judge Alito would have denied him a trial.
Judge Alito even dissented from a ruling prohibiting the removal of African-American jurors because of their race. It's unbelievable in today's America, in a case involving a minority defendant, that Judge Alito was willing to ignore overwhelming evidence that the government insisted on an all-white jury.
These cases are not isolated instances. It's all in the record.
Law professors at Judge Alito's alma mater, Yale Law School, analyzed more than 400 of his published opinions and concluded: "In the area of civil rights law, Judge Alito consistently has used procedural and evidentiary standards to rule against female, minority, age and disability claimants..."
"In the context of these civil rights cases, Judge Alito seems relatively willing to defer to the claims of employers, the government, over the individuals advancing civil rights claims."
KENNEDY: And other objective observers who have examined Judge Alito's record have reached a similar conclusion. According to an analysis by the respected University of Chicago law professor, Cass Sunstein, said, "when there is a conflict between institutions and individual rights, Judge Alito's dissenting opinions argued against individual rights 84 percent of the time. In almost all of the cases in which Judge Alito dissented in order to reject an individual rights claim, he was sitting on a court with a majority of Republican appointees."
A comprehensive review of Judge Alito's published opinions by Knight-Ridder similarly found that Judge Alito has "seldom sided" with "an employee alleging discrimination" and "almost never found a government search unconstitutional..."
An analysis published by The Washington Post found that "routinely, he defers to government officials and others in positions of authority" and has "very little sympathy for those asserting rights against the government."
In sum, in case after case, Judge Alito's decisions demonstrate a systematic tilt toward the powerful institutions and against individuals attempting to vindicate their rights. He cites a few instances in which he has decided for the little guy, but they are few and far between.
Justice Lewis Powell captured the spirit of America best when he said: "Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring idea of our society. It is one of the ends for which our entire legal system exists."
In evaluating Supreme Court nominees, there are no more important questions than whether they are dedicated to equal justice under law. Judge Alito is a highly intelligent man, but his record does not show a judge who is willing to enforce the constitutional limitations on executive power when government officials intrude on individual rights.
His record does not show a judge who is open to the claims of vulnerable individuals asking only justice against powerful institutions. His record does not show a judge who upholds the liberty and privacy of citizens seeking to protect their fundamental rights.
His record just does not show a judge who is committed to equal justice under law.
That is why I oppose his confirmation to the Supreme Court, and I fervently hope that the Senate will do so as well.
Thank you very much.
END
Source: CQ Transcriptions© 2006, Congressional Quarterly Inc., All Rights Reserved

I'm sorry- the archive links don't work again

2006-01-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

it seems everytime there is an upgrade I lose the archive links a the side of the page. I've sent an email to the folks at blogger. THey are usually very helpful and so I hope to have it repaired soon.

Go Al Go!!

2006-01-17T01:53:00.000-05:00

Gore launches attack on Bush over wiretapping
17 January 2006 07:39

Former United States vice-president Al Gore launched a withering attack on the White House on Monday for authorising wiretaps without court oversight, and accused President George Bush of repeatedly breaking the law.The strongly worded speech makes Gore the most prominent political figure in the US to weigh in on the wiretapping scandal. Gore, who lost the 2000 election to Bush following the intervention of the Supreme Court, also went further than other Democratic critics in accusing the president of wrongdoing.The revelation last month in The New York Times that Bush signed secret orders in 2002 authorising the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor the e-mail and telephone calls of thousands of Americans has outraged members of Congress and the judiciary.Gore said on Monday that the decision to bypass the courts was part of a pattern of behaviour from the Bush administration of "indifference" to the Constitution. "We still have much to learn about the NSA's domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently," Gore said in a speech delivered to mark Martin Luther King Day."A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government," he said.Since the 2000 presidential elections, Gore has occasionally used his peculiar position in American politics -- he was defeated by Bush despite winning more votes -- to advance an agenda that is more liberal than the Democratic party leadership. He has been a far more outspoken critic of the Iraq war than most senior Democrats.In Monday's speech, Gore also called for an independent counsel to investigate the secret wiretap programme. He ranked the operation with other controversial decisions by the administration in the war on terror, including its holding of "enemy combatants" indefinitely without trial, and its justification of harsh interrogation techniques."The disrespect embodied in these apparent mass violations of the law is part of a larger pattern of seeming indifference to the Constitution that is deeply troubling to millions of Americans in both political parties," he said.Bush insists that he acted within the law and that Congress implicitly authorised the eavesdropping when it allowed the use of force in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. However, Monday's broadside from Gore increases the pressure on the White House to offer a fuller explanation of its decisions.The Senate judiciary committee plans to hold hearings next month into the legality of the NSA eavesdropping, and the Republican chairperson, Arlen Specter, has indicated that he is sceptical of the Bush administration's assertions that it acted within the law. -- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

The making of Africa’s first female president

2006-01-16T01:40:00.000-05:00

The making of Africa’s first female president
Posted to the Web: Monday, January 16, 2006

Today, 159 years after the first modern nation in Africa was established by freed American slaves, Ellen Johnson_Sirleaf will be inaugurated as its first woman president. She will also be the continent’s first female elected head of state. The challenges she will face are immense. Liberia has just emerged from 15 years of civil war, in which its people have been butchered and demoralised; there is no electricity in parts of the capital, Monrovia; water_supply systems have been almost universally destroyed, and schools looted or burned down; and hospitals and clinics exist in name only.
Johnson_Sirleaf has spent most of her working life with international organisations, such as the World Bank and UN development programme, and private financial institutions, including Citibank in New York. She intends to use her experience to negotiate finance deals that can put the Liberian economy back on its feet. She will also encourage the million Liberian refugees dispersed across west Africa to return home and help create an efficient government.Johnson_Sirleaf was imprisoned in the 1980s by one of Africa’s most brutal dictators, Samuel Doe. Doe’s successor, Charles Taylor, charged her with treason and jailed her. After her election victory last November, she told me: “I have been kept going all these years by my irreversible commitment to democracy and the social and economic development of Liberia.”
One of her tasks is to bring on board George Weah, the football superstar she beat in the presidential run_off. He had attracted the support of many of the young and jobless who, in the civil war, acted as hired guns. They have now been disarmed by the UN, and some look to Weah to fill their pockets with his football dollars. Johnson_Sirleaf recognises the danger they could pose to the nation’s rebuilding. “My priority will be to educate our young people and provide them with opportunities for reintegrating,” she explains.
She has calmed the disappointed Weah, whose election petition against Johnson_Sirleaf _ claiming fraud in some areas _ nearly rekindled violence in the country. It is expected that Weah will have a seat in her new cabinet.
Johnson_Sirleaf is aware that her performance will be used as a marker that will either push or halt the progress of women throughout Africa. A Unicef report a month ago estimated the number of young women who undergo genital mutilation in Africa and the Middle East at about 3 million a year. Worse still, their traditional child_rearing role often prevents African women from entering politics in large enough numbers to change such odious practices.
Only Uganda and Mozambique have set aside seats for women in parliament, but even there men try to manipulate the process so that they can keep out “strong” women. And because it is men who control the budgets, health services throughout Africa are still inadequate _ even in Nigeria, an oil_rich country, one in every 18 women is likely to die from pregnancy_related causes.power, because she had begun to fight corruption from within the finance ministry.
She will need firm principles to withstand the international carpetbaggers who will flock to Liberia, ostensibly to help resuscitate the economy but in reality to pocket huge profits. She will also have to use her financial expertise to balance Liberia’s need for massive overseas investment against the tendency of donor organisations to dictate the national interests of recipient countries.
And there is serious concern in Liberia that, with her background, Johnson_Sirleaf’s economic policies will be wedded to free_market principles. Charging school fees, demanding an “economic” price for water, electricity and phones, as well as neglecting the poor, would be disastrous. She must not devote herself to the interests of the few in the vain hope that the benefits of their wealth will trickle down to the huge numbers who wallow in poverty.Can she do it? I believe so. She is 67 and has six grandchildren whom she adores and whose presence will always be a reminder that her country can’t be plunged into another political debacle that could threaten their young lives.

Michelle Bachelet- Chile's 1st female president

2006-01-16T01:32:00.000-05:00

SANTIAGO, Chile Jan 16, 2006 — A socialist doctor and former political prisoner was elected Sunday as the country's first female president, defeating a conservative multimillionaire opponent in a race that reflected Latin America's increasingly leftward tilt.
The victory of Michelle Bachelet a political prisoner during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and defense minister in the current administration extends the rule of the market-friendly, center-left coalition that has governed since the end of Pinochet's 1973-90 rule.
"Who would have said, 10, 15 years ago that a woman would be elected preident!" Bachelet told thousands of supporters.

The president-elect on Sunday also recalled her imprisonment and torture under Pinochet, saying that "violence entered my life and destroyed what I loved."
With more than 97 percent of some 7.2 million votes counted, Bachelet had more than 53 percent of the vote to just over 46 percent for Sebastian Pinera, who congratulated his opponent on her victory but vowed "to continue to fight for our principles, which do not die today."
Sunday's runoff was necessary after a Dec. 11 election involving four candidates failed to produce a winner with a majority.
Her political success has baffled many Chileans who thought a left-leaning single mother jailed during Pinochet's dictatorship stood little chance in this socially conservative country.
Current President Ricardo Lagos made her his health minister, then in 2002 named her defense minister. She won praise for helping heal divisions between civilians and military left over from the dictatorship.
Bachelet had expected resistance from Chile's conservative military establishment when appointed defense minister. "I was a woman, separated, a socialist, an agnostic … all possible sins together," said Bachelet, who nonetheless became a popular figure among the admirals and generals.
Bachelet's gender still prompts questions she does not like.
"You wouldn't be asking that question if I was a man," she once chided a Chilean reporter who asked if she would marry again.
But she did answer: "The truth is that I haven't had the time to even think about that. My next four years will be dedicated to work."
Bachelet will be only the third woman directly elected president of a Latin American country, following Violeta Chamorro, who governed Nicaragua from 1990 to 1997, and Mireya Moscoso, president of Panama from 1999 to 2004.
However, Bachelet, unlike those two women, did not follow a politically prominent husband into power.
Bachelet's father was an air force general who was arrested and tortured for opposing the 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power. Alberto Bachelet died in prison of a heart attack, probably caused by the torture, Bachelet says.
A 22-year-old medical student at the time, Bachelet was also arrested along with her mother and later forced into five years of exile, first in Australia, then in communist East Germany. She married a fellow Chilean exile while in East Germany. Back in Chile, they separated, and she had a third child from a new relationship.
Lagos, the mentor she is following into power, has deftly balanced his socialist ideology with market-oriented economics and enjoys an approval rate above 70 percent. Lagos is constitutionally prohibited from seeking immediate re-election, but as he voted, his backers chanted "2010," referring to the next election.
The 54-year-old Bachelet made clear she intends to maintain the free-market polices that have turned Chile's economy into one of the stroingest in the region.
"We will continue to walk the same road," she said
In a speech to the nation after congratulating Bachelet on the phone, Lagos said, "We now have a new Chile, we have for the first time in our history a woman president."
In spite of their different political backgrounds and ideologies, both Bachelet and Pinera outlined similar goals, promising to continue the two-decade-long free-market policies that have made Chile's economy one of the healthiest in the region.
Both said they would fight to lower the 8 percent unemployment rate, improve public health, housing and education services and curb rising urban crime. They also promised to reform Chile's 25-year-old private social security systems to ensure better pensions for retirees, though neither has given details of how.
"By the end of my government in 2010 we will have consolidated a system of social protection that will give Chileans and their families the tranquility that they will have a decent job," Bachelet said Sunday.
Lagos and Bachelet belong to the same Socialist Party as Salvador Allende, whose leftist policies prompted Pinochet's bloody coup. But the party allied with other major left-center parties in 1990 to oust the right wing, and their coalition has held while leading Chile into a free-trade pact with the United States, cutting inflation and fostering growth of about 6 percent a year.
Chile's next president will be inaugurated on March 11, joining the ranks of Latin American leaders including leftists such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and newly elected Evo Morales of Bolivia.
Bachelet indicated she would work with all the region's leaders. "We shouldn't take Latin America back to the Cold War. Chavez, Morales, they are presidents elected by their peoples. Chile must have relationships with all of them."
Pinochet was not a factor in the campaign, and his spokesman, retired Gen. Guillermo Garin, said he paid little attention to it. At 90, Pinochet is ailing and was only recently freed from house arrest. He faces charges of human rights abuses and corruption stemming from his 17-year rule.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Angela Merkel German Chancellor

2006-01-16T01:28:00.000-05:00

Profile: Angela Merkel

Mrs Merkel could forge closer ties with Washington
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel has become Germany's first woman chancellor, despite only scraping a victory in the 18 September election.
Her campaign team had worked hard to banish the "dowdy" image which was said to have made her less charismatic than her rival Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
She spruced up her appearance, wearing bright colours and sporting a new hairstyle, while the Rolling Stones hit "Angie" was played at her rallies.
But Mr Schroeder's skilful campaigning eroded her early poll lead.
As a Protestant east German woman Angela Merkel, 51, broke the leadership mould in the CDU, traditionally dominated by Catholic west German men.
She wants fundamental reforms to pull Germany's economy out of the doldrums - especially reducing staff costs and red tape for employers and raising sales tax.
Observers say she will need all her reputed toughness to push them through while holding a potentially fractious "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats together.
Break with Kohl
She first came to prominence five years ago during a CDU party slush fund scandal.
KEY DATES

1954: Born Hamburg
1978: Earned physics doctorate
1990: Joined CDU
1994: Takes environment job
2000: Becomes CDU leaderShe had strongly denied allegations that bribes were paid for the supply of tanks to Saudi Arabia, describing them as "totally absurd".
But as the crisis deepened and the full scale of former chancellor Helmut Kohl's role in it became apparent, she was the first former Kohl ally to publicly break with the man who brought her into the cabinet.
The move paid dividends and she was chosen to lead the party in April 2000.
Yet she was not popular enough to be selected as the party's candidate for chancellor in 2002, and was beaten by Edmund Stoiber, leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
The Merkel-Stoiber relationship is said to be still difficult - and was not helped by Mr Stoiber's controversial remarks about east Germans during the campaign.
German Thatcher?
Some sections of the press have labelled her as Germany's Margaret Thatcher.
But according to Ulrich Klinkert, her deputy when she headed the environment ministry in the mid-1990s, comparisons with the "Iron Lady" are mistaken.
"She is a little bit Margaret Thatcher and a little bit Tony Blair," he says.
She castigated Mr Schroeder on the economy, pointing to Germany's record post-war unemployment rate.
The CDU wants to ease the rules for dismissing workers and limit sector-wide wage deals - but Mrs Merkel had to make compromises on this to secure the coalition deal.
Role model
She has played down the gender issue and brushed off media gibes about her plain appearance.
Some CDU members see her as something of a role model.
Katerina Reiche once said Mrs Merkel stood for family values, but not as the party has known it before.
"In former times, being married was important - now we talk of families being important, but not necessarily the marriage as an institution."
Science background
Born in Hamburg, Angela Merkel was only a couple of months old when her father, a Lutheran pastor, was given a parish in a small town in East Germany.
She grew up in a rural area outside Berlin in the communist east, and showed a great talent for maths, science and languages.
She earned a doctorate in physics but later worked as a chemist at a scientific academy in East Berlin.
In 1989 she became involved in the burgeoning democracy movement, and, after the Berlin Wall came down, she got a job as government spokeswoman following the first democratic elections.
She joined the CDU two months before the reunification of Germany and within three months she was in the Kohl cabinet as minister for women and youth.
In her political career to date she has outlasted four political bosses, in the east and west, and is the only prominent Ossi (easterner) to have survived in the CDU leadership.
She is married to a chemistry professor from Berlin, Joachim Sauer. The couple do not have any children.

condi for pres?

2006-01-16T01:16:00.000-05:00

I'd back Condi for the White House, says Laura BushPhilip Sherwell in Washington(Filed: 15/01/2006)
Laura Bush has revealed for the first time whom she would like to see replacing her husband in the White House: Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State.
"I'd love to see her run. She's terrific," Mrs Bush said during an interview in which she predicted that for the first time a woman would soon be elected president of the US.

Laura Bush and Condoleezza Rice
The First Lady, a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in American politics, is the most influential voice to speak in favour of a presidential bid in 2008 by Ms Rice.
Her comments indicate that the Secretary of State would have backing at the highest level if she were persuaded to change her mind and run on the Republican ticket.
Asked about the prospects of a female president, Mrs Bush told CNN: "I think it will happen, for sure. I think it will happen probably in the next few terms of the presidency in the United States."
She said her choice for that ground-breaking role would be "of course, a Republican woman" and then gave her endorsement to Ms Rice.
Mrs Bush is normally extremely guarded in her pronouncements, so her expression of support carries added weight. It is unlikely that she would have adopted such an overt position if her husband were opposed.
The unmarried Ms Rice is a close confidante and long-standing friend of the Bush family, having previously advised George Bush Snr on foreign policy when he was president.
She played a key role in preparing the current President Bush for his first White House campaign and has worked closely with him ever since.
As the president's brother Jeb, the Florida governor, has ruled himself out of the 2008 race, she could emerge as the de facto "legacy candidate" for the powerful Bush political dynasty.
With Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, the frontrunner for the Democrat nomination, America could witness a showdown between two women for the nation's highest office in 2008.
The First Lady was speaking on the eve of a trip to Liberia with Ms Rice for the inauguration of the first female leader in Africa, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
There is a renewed buzz in Washington that the Secretary of State might be named as vice-president if the incumbent, Dick Cheney, were forced by his health to stand down.
Mr Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, was briefly admitted to hospital last weekend after breathing problems but later insisted that he was fine.
The recommendation of Mrs Bush has delighted the self-styled Condistas of the Americans For Rice grouping. The movement of grassroots Republicans has been running a campaign building support for a possible Rice presidential run at conservative gatherings across the US.
"We're delighted by Mrs Bush's comments," Jessie Jane Duff, the group's national chairman, told the Sunday Telegraph. "You don't get much closer to the President and we think her opinion carries enormous credibility.
" The Condistas are running a "draft campaign" to persuade their heroine to run by demonstrating a ground swell of public support for her candidacy.
Despite her closeness to George W. Bush, Ms Rice would not be universally acclaimed as a candidate within Republican ranks.
A former foreign affairs academic and expert on Russia, she has no record on domestic issues. Most notably, the neo-conservatives who in effect ran foreign policy during Mr Bush's first term are dismayed by her more conciliatory approach and would campaign to prevent her winning the nomination.
For her part, Ms Rice has insisted she has no plans to run for office. Indeed, the sports fan has often said her ideal job after stepping down would be to head the National Football League.

Why are we continuing to beat this War Drum?

2006-01-15T14:21:00.000-05:00

OK, i now I said I wouldn't write in here for awhile. But I can't help myself. What is this rush to war?

What the hell now? -US senators say military strike on Iran must be option-

2006-01-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

US senators say military strike on Iran must be option

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic senators said on Sunday the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort.
"That is the last option. Everything else has to be exhausted. But to say under no circumstances would we exercise a military option, that would be crazy," Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Illinois, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there are sensitive elements of Iran's nuclear program, which, if attacked, "would dramatically delay it's development."
"But that should not be an option at this point. We ought to use everything else possible keep from getting to that juncture," he said on CNN's "Late Edition."
A growing nuclear fracas exploded last week when Iran, defying the United States and major European powers, resumed nuclear research after a two year moratorium.
Iran says it aims only to make power for an energy-needy economy, not build atom bombs. But it hid nuclear work from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency for almost 20 years before exiled dissidents exposed it in 2002.
On Sunday, Iran said that only diplomacy, not threats to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, could defuse a standoff over its nuclear work and warned that any Western push for sanctions could jack up world oil prices.
The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany planned talks in London Monday on a common strategy to tackle the controversy.
McCain called the nuclear standoff "the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole war on terror."
"We must go to the U.N. now for sanctions. If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us then we will have to go with the (states that are) willing," he said.
While acknowledging that President George W. Bush has "no good option," McCain said "there is only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option, that is a nuclear armed Iran."
"If the price of oil has to go up then that's a consequence we would have to suffer," he said.
Iran is the world's fourth biggest exporter of crude oil and the second biggest in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Experts and officials say it may be impossible to destroy Iran's nuclear program because much of it is underground and dispersed at numerous sites.
In addition, they have said an attack on Iran could further inflame anti-Americanism in the Middle East and prompt Tehran to interfere more in Iraq and encourage Islamist fundamentalist groups to launch new attacks on the West.
Another Senate Intelligence Committee member, Republican Trent Lott of Mississippi, said that despite a massive military commitment in Iraq the United States has the capability to strike Iran but it would be "difficult" and other options must be tried first.
Bayh accused Bush of undermining the U.S. national interest and creating this "dilemma" by ignoring the problem of Iran for four years.
AlertNet news is provided by

So will Alito at least wear a dress?

2006-01-14T03:25:00.000-05:00

Who wants to bet that Alito's wife has been taught to cry on cue?

ok ok I know I said I wasn't going to write

2006-01-14T03:20:00.000-05:00

I know I said I wasn't going to write about politics for awhile. But i can't resisit. It jsut the man Pat Robertson. Poor man he has obviously lost his mind. Critisizing Sharon on his death bed, then taking it back when his holy land theme park was in jeapordy?

I swear I'm goimg to start a new blog and call it- theatre of the absurd- a commentary on American politics.

I'm with Harry Belafonte. Bush is a terriorist and he is terrorizing the American people. Harry for vice prez. How would that sound Hillary and Harry in 06?

heads up

2006-01-10T02:31:00.000-05:00

I'll be posting alot to one of my other blogs-the yobo report. the link is to the right.

I really don't know what to say

2006-01-08T02:52:00.000-05:00

well I've grown tired of getting upset about these bush people. I am very glad the press seems to have found it's voice since Hurricane Katrina. They lost it, in my opinion, since 9-11. It is good to see them asking the questions that need to be asked again.

So where does this leave a frustrated and tired blogger? Time to turn to a general blog I think. I mean all my " what they hell are they thinking" muscles are tired.

I think it is time to change focus here. At least for me anyway. I still think that this country has in the past four years had gone though a silent depression. Silent because 1/2 of the country went through it while the other half continued to party.

If you have been a person who has had the same job for over the past 5 years, you really don't know what's been going on with the rest of us. My family will probably never recover what we lost.

Do I think God sent the hurricane to New Orleans on purpose? No. But somewhere back in that crazy brain of mine I'm thinking- any coincidence that it took a force of nature to get this country back in a critical thinking mode? To point out the flaws in the Bushes and to ask that all important question about the emporer's new clothes? You know the story. No one would say the that emporer had no clothes on. Everyone pretended he was dressed. And no one would speak the truth. except one little child who spoke the truth and told us the emporer had no clothes on at all.

And after all, who may contol these forces of nature. Just a crazy thought.

There is no excuse or forgiving the fact that people in this country went without food or water for days by the side of the road in New Orleans. While we all sat in the comfort of our homes and watched. I can easily say it is the worst thing I have ever experienced. And I was sitting in my living room screaming at the tv for 3 days.

the bushes will go. and someone will replace them. And the only hope we have is in upcoming generations that they will learn from this somehow and not let it happen again.

update

2006-01-08T02:28:00.000-05:00

not much time to keep these blogs updated. I am considering consolidating them into 1 blog again. stay tuned

Cheney resigning? Say it isn't so!

2005-10-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

What will they think of next? I think I just saw a pig fly by my window.

Come on George, go ahead and try...

2005-09-28T23:45:00.000-04:00

Yeah George, go ahead and try to spin the pictures of the people in front of the convention center. And the people outside the Dome and out on the interstate in New Orleans for three days without water. Pictures don't lie, but you do.
Go to hell.

Spoke too soon. Archive still not working

2005-08-22T23:30:00.000-04:00

Can't pull up the most recent archive links.

Hey it works

2005-08-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

I'm back from vacation and the folks at Blogger have saved the day! they fixed the archive on this blog. thank you Thank you Thank you!

Back to slamming Bush tomorrow. Meanwhile back at the ranch- hasn;t Cheney made enough money yet? More tomorrow!

Until I hear back from blogger...

2005-08-07T00:11:00.000-04:00

I've sent several emails requesting help with my issue that I can see none of the info from the side bar in the archive area. And still no answer or help. So until I get help I'm posting all of my posts for this blog on the front age. Takes awhile to load, but it will have to do for now.
Sorry for the inconvience.

This is a test entry

2005-08-06T23:43:00.000-04:00

I'm having trouble with the template and posting

The Archive feature on the sidebar is not working

2005-08-04T16:58:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to get some help to fix it.

Roberts is like filler on the shuttle, we need to pull him out!!!

2005-08-04T00:04:00.000-04:00

What is going on in this world??? We got Uncle Snuffy installed in the UN by King George, foam still falling off the shuttle, now its 20 Americans a day dying in Iraq, ( Do you have enough money now Mr Chaney???) That's it! I'm going stop being nice, and start slamming. George Bush is Satan. And an Alien. There. I said it. I didn't want to. My mom raised me to say nice things about people. But I've had enough.

The politics of division

2005-07-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

Ever look at what Bush spends his time doing? Visiting Boy Scouts who discriminate again gays, talking to conservative black religious groups. I can't begin to imagine what his life wil be like after his presidency. Jimmy Cater- Habitat for Hummanity, Bill Clinton- Aids clinics in Africa. What happened to Gerorge Bush Sr, oh yeah he is still running the country. Maybe shrub will help disadvantaged Baseball teams or something.

Email from friend

2005-07-28T18:20:00.000-04:00

This about psalms up the situation!

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's
sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war, I will find
no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and Thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of Thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of
Thy term, And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

Christian Extremists = Muslim Extremeists, an Extremist is an Extremists, is an Extremeist

2005-07-20T14:09:00.000-04:00

My response to this artclie below was: Glad to see someon else using the term Christian Extremist. Its proper use in a sentence is as follows: There are Christian Extremist as well as Muslim Extremists and we are being terrorized by both.

Christian Extremists Threaten American Way of Life
By Daniel J. Webster
Monday, May 16, 2005

I think I'm becoming a member of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Events appear to be propelling me toward a public stand that many of my brother and sister Christians are doing all they can to change the way religion and government have gotten along in this country. They are doing more than just blurring the line that's supposed to separate the two. They really are bent on imposing one brand of Christianity on all Americans.

Recently I was introduced to the PresidentialPrayerTeam.org website. It has a weekly prayer request allegedly direct from the White House. It is a private, nonprofit enterprise but seems to have very close ties to the White House. Official White House photographs regularly appear on the site.

Don't get me wrong. I see nothing wrong at all with praying for the president and those in government. We do that in my church all the time. We recognize the power of prayer. "For our President, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in authority, let us pray to the Lord," reads one of our Prayers of the People in our prayer book.

There's another website, Bushfish.org, that doesn't appear to have a White House connection but it is disturbing nonetheless. For centuries, a symbol of Jesus was the Greek Icthyus, or fish. It has been used countless times to show one's belief in Christ. The symbol on this website is the standard fish symbol but inside the outline is the name of the president. Written on the top and bottom outlines of the fish is "One Nation . . . Under God."

Events appear to be propelling me to toward a public stand that many of my brother and sister Christians are doing all they can to change the way religion and government have gotten along in this country. They are doing more than just blurring the line that's supposed to separate the two.

This site just points up how some who claim to follow Jesus will do anything to impose Christianity on our government. That includes misstating facts to fit their idyllic (or ideological) view of the U.S. as founded on Christian principles. Last year, I wrote here about an artist in Utah who sculpted a scene of the founding fathers praying together on bended knee. It is a scene most respected historians say was unthinkable.

Now a book, The Myth of Separation by David Barton, emerges apparently trying to rewrite history. Mark Lilla's essay in The New York Times Book Review (May 15, 2005) calls the book "schlock history" and the author a "religious propagandist." Lilla says Barton's book uses "selective quotations out of context to suggest that the framers were inspired believers who thought they were founding a Christian nation."

They weren't. (See my July 2004 article, "A Christian Nation?".) But if enough people write about it, say it, preach it, claim it, eventually there may be a majority of those who vote who believe it.

Case in point: the cover story in the May/June 2005 issue of Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) is a window into the power of Christian media to shape public opinion. "Stations of the Cross, The Rise of Faith-based News" by Mariah Blake chronicles the explosive growth of Christian media.

"Thanks to Christian radio's rapid growth, religious stations now outnumber every format except country music and news-talk," writes Blake. She reports an 85% growth of religious radio stations since 1998, and most of them are evangelical Christian stations. The CJR assistant editor also cites one, just one, Christian radio news network that is heard on seven times the number of National Public Radio stations.

If we are to keep the freedom of speech the framers envisioned, we'll need to fight for it. Not in Iraq, Afghanistan or Colombia, but we'll need to fight for it here at home on the public airwaves, the internet, Congressional elections, and in newspaper letter-to-the-editor columns.

Many of these Christian radio and TV outlets themselves have news-talk programs. They routinely present "lopsided" reporting of the facts, says Blake. One egregious example was during the Terri Schiavo story. One religious broadcaster said Schiavo was "sitting up and talking." Other evangelical broadcasters, reports Blake, were labeling Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, and a federal court judge "murderers."

What may be the most telling part of Blake's article are the words from Frank Wright, president of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). "We don't just tell them what news it," she quotes Wright. "We tell them what it means. And that's appealing to people, especially in moments of cultural instability."

The NRB appears to have amazing access to the White House. Blake tells us that not long after the 2000 election NRB brass were invited to the White House for a meeting with President Bush and John Ashcroft, then-U.S. attorney general. Since then, there have been regular meetings and monthly conference calls, according to CJR, some attended by the president. Very few enjoy such direct access to the country's highest office.

Both Lilla and Blake are providing important information for anyone interested in preserving the separation of church and state. If we are to keep the freedom of speech the framers envisioned, we'll need to fight for it. Not in Iraq, Afghanistan or Colombia, but we'll need to fight for it here at home on the public airwaves, the internet, Congressional elections, and in newspaper letter-to-the-editor columns.

Our children and their children deserve to practice any religion, or no religion, if they so choose. They do not need a government that is so influenced or dominated by extremist Christians that some hold them in suspicion because they don't hold to a certain set of religious beliefs.

Barry Lynn is the executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. He's got the biggest uphill job in this country. Barry is also an ordained minister. I'll pray for him and his work, too. It is critical to the future of our country and ultimately our faith institutions.

Get this- I'm getting steamed again

2005-07-16T23:37:00.000-04:00

I read a newspaper articale today in the St Pete Times that indicates a Christian Adption agency called New Hope or New Life or somthing (federally funded with my tax dollars) won't approve an adoption by Catholic couples because their religious beliefs do not match closely enough to their own Christian extremist beliefs. CHRISTIAN EXTREMISTS are ON THE MARCH!!!! BEWARE!!!!!

Christian extremists- Evangelicals are coming and they want you!

2005-07-11T23:49:00.000-04:00

I told you...
Here it is in the New York Times:

Evangelicals Are a Growing Force in the Military Chaplain Corps

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: July 12, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS - There were personal testimonies about Jesus from the stage, a comedian quoting Scripture and a five-piece band performing contemporary Christian praise songs. Then hundreds of Air Force chaplains stood and sang, many with palms upturned, in a service with a distinctively evangelical tone.
Gordon James Klingenschmitt, an evangelical, says he was warned that he was not inclusive enough.
Brig. Gen. Cecil R. Richardson said, "We will not proselytize."
It was the opening ceremony of a four-day Spiritual Fitness Conference at a Hilton hotel here last month organized and paid for by the Air Force for many of its United States-based chaplains and their families, at a cost of $300,000. The chaplains, who pledge when they enter the military to minister to everyone, Methodist, Mormon or Muslim, attended workshops on "The Purpose Driven Life," the best seller by the megachurch pastor Rick Warren, and on how to improve their worship services. In the hotel hallways, vendors from Focus on the Family and other evangelical organizations promoted materials for the chaplains to use in their work.
The event was just one indication of the extent to which evangelical Christians have become a growing force in the Air Force chaplain corps, a trend documented by military records and interviews with more than two dozen chaplains and other military officials.
Figures provided by the Air Force show that from 1994 to 2005 the number of chaplains from many evangelical and Pentecostal churches rose, some doubling. For example, chaplains from the Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministries International increased to 10 from none. The Church of the Nazarene rose to 12 from 6.
At the same time, the number of chaplains from the Roman Catholic Church declined to 94 from 167, and there were declines in more liberal, mainline Protestant churches: the United Church of Christ to 3 from 11, the United Methodist Church to 50 from 64.
Other branches of the military did not make available similar statistics, but officials say they are seeing the same trend.
The change mirrors the Air Force as a whole, where representation is rising from evangelical churches. But there are also increasing numbers of enlistees from minority religions as well as atheists. It has all created a complicated environment and caused tensions over tolerance and the role of the military chaplain.
Some conflicts have already become public. A Pentagon investigation into the religious climate at the Air Force Academy here found no overt discrimination, but it did find that officers and faculty members periodically used their positions to promote their Christian beliefs and failed to accommodate non-Christian cadets, for example refusing them time off for religious holidays.
Other conflicts have remained out of the public eye, like the 50 evangelical chaplains who have filed a class action suit against the Navy charging they were dismissed or denied promotions. One of the chaplains said that once while leading an evangelical style service at a base in Okinawa he was interrupted by an Episcopal chaplain who announced he was stepping in to lead "a proper Christian worship service."
There is also a former Marine who said that about half of the eight chaplains he came into contact with in his military career tried to convince him to abandon his Mormon faith, telling him it was "wicked" or "Satanic."
A Complex Religious Environment
Part of the struggle, chaplains and officials say, is the result of growing diversity. But part is from evangelicals following their church's teachings to make converts while serving in a military job where they are supposed to serve the spiritual needs of soldiers, fliers and sailors of every faith. Evangelical chaplains say they walk a fine line.
Brig. Gen. Cecil R. Richardson, the Air Force deputy chief of chaplains, said in an interview, "We will not proselytize, but we reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched." The distinction, he said, is that proselytizing is trying to convert someone in an aggressive way, while evangelizing is more gently sharing the gospel.
Certainly, the religious environment encountered by the chaplains is complex. Statistics on enlistees provided by the Air Force show there are now about 3,500 who say they are either Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, pagans, druids or shamans. There are 1,600 who say they are atheists and about 50,000 who say they have no religious preference, out of a total of 280,000. Roman Catholics number about 60,000.

More on the Politics of Distraction

2005-07-11T23:25:00.000-04:00

I responded to a blog where they were asking people from the far left and the far right to take a pause before they started commenting about the bombings in London. Here's my response:

OK so you want a truce. While we're all sitting quitely think about this- do you really think it is coincidental that these things are happening at the same time: Polls show people increasingly disapprove of us being in Iraq. George gets to pick a new Supreme court judge, and Karl Rove is named as the leaker? Time for a distraction. Shake everyone up, scare the hell out of everyone and once again take the focus off what is really happening in this country. In Watergate it was "follow the money". In our time it should be "follow the current events" and notice a pattern of when these "attacks and threats" happen and look at what else is happening in the country at the time. I believe this is "the politics of distraction" at work here. After all, who's father is an ex CIA agent? Don't believe me. OK. John Kerry's campaign. Was it or was it not derailed by the amount time we spent discussing UBoats in Vietnam instead of George's ineptitude? I'm just saying lookat the patterns.

Karl Rove is a slug

2005-07-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

Ever notice its the women who go to jail?

Martha Stewart, Judith Miller? Lets throw the book at the girls while the boys who have done much worse get off scott free or with lesser penalties. Double standard, I think so. I'm thinking there is some strategic political move going on by having a Bush kid working in Africa and Laura going there to see her. Try to take some of the heat and attention off of IRAQ are we? Can't help but think there is something just too fishy about the timing of the London bombings. Read Bill Clinton's book were he talks about the power of George Bush senior. One time, he writes, he had trouble getting something accomplished with in the government in regards to something in the middle east. He finally placed a phone call to George Bush senior. And magically it was done. The catch phrase of the Watergate era was "follow the money". I say we don't even have to do that now. Just monitor what's happening in different parts of the world and you can see patterns emerging. Its too spooky for me! George needs a new bike!

Can you understand this?

2005-07-08T23:28:00.000-04:00

Can you get how I can support the troops, but be against the war?
How I can be gay, but believe in God and think I'm a good person?
How I can be a Democrat, but admire Bob Dole?
How I can not like people in the KKK but defend their right to free speech?
Because the same right that allows them to speak, allows me to speak?
How I can be uber patriotic and speak out against the government?

I'll stop now, so those that have a brain cramp can let disburse, before your brain explodes from holding contrasting ideas at the same time.

Thoughts and prayers for people in London

2005-07-07T23:44:00.000-04:00

Not good. Terror attacks in London The G8 summit in Scotland, Olympics being awarded to London, Helicopters down in Afganistan, people being killed in Egypt, support for George Bush's war in Iraq waning...support for Bush's war in Iraq waning.

Thoughts and prayers for people in London.

I'm back... Kinda

2005-07-02T23:39:00.000-04:00

No rest for the weary I'm working on acouple of blogs now. So I might adda comment tothis now and then. You might want to check out my more active blog, the YoboReport, and my friend's blog from Sri lanka. She quit her job, sold her house and went to volunteer to help them build houses. Alwys knew Sue was cool, but this puts her in the "way cool" category

Where have all my posts gone?

2005-07-01T00:16:00.000-04:00

The final post

2005-02-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

Well its been awhile and I think it is time for a change. I disconnected from Politics for awhile to give myself an emotional break.
Now that I'm refreshed I'm going to change the focus of this blog. Actually, I'm going to stop posting to this blog and begin a new blog called- The Yobo Report.

You can find my new blog at TheYoboReport.com. My hurricane blogs will be active this season as well. Thanks for your support. My new blog is about many things including the possibility of a woman being elected president. See you there.,

Something to think about

2004-11-27T17:26:00.000-05:00

"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me."
-- George W. Bush, 11-21-01, summing up the year, a little
more than three months after September 11.

"I'm worried about the state of education in America when 51% of
the country fails a 1-question multiple-choice test after having
4 years to study."
-- Anonymous (this quote sent to me by my good friend Steve)

2004-11-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays

An interesting quote- definately reflects christian values

2004-11-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

"Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate."
-- Grover Norquist, Bush advisor and president of Americans for Tax Reform, cited in the Washington Post and on Meet the Press

A few things...

2004-11-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

My response on a message board.

A comment made by a high schooler about being depressed and wanting to move to Canada.
A Response was made by a Bush cultist who told her inso many words not to worry her "pretty little young head about it"-

I wrote:
You're young but not stupid, don't listen to this Bush cultist.
You are old enough to know your own mind and to know crap when you see it.
Stay true to you gut feelings-Bush doesn't give a crap about you and me.
He is an elitist money grubbing Christian extremist who taken over control
if this country by exploiting loop holes in the law. Not very moral if you ask me.
Keep the faith and don't listen
to rabid Christian lulantics.

This is a funny email I recieved today from a friend-

CDC Warns of Gonorrhea lecthim

The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new
virulent strain of sexually transmitted disease. This disease is contracted
through dangerous and high risk behavior. The disease is called Gonorrhea
lecthim (pronounced "gonna re-elect him").

Many victims who have contracted this claim to have gotten it by being
screwed by the Bush-Cheney-Rove-Ashcroft administration for the past 4 years
and failing to have taken adequate measures to protect themselves.

Cognitive sequellae of individuals infected with Gonorrhea lecthim
include: Antisocial personality disorder traits; delusions of grandeur with
a messianic flavor; cognitive perseveration; inability to incorporate new
information due to a rigid idée fixe complex; xenophobia; inability to
accept responsibility for actions; and a strong propensity for categorical,
all-or nothing thinking.

And finally a quote from my hero on his newly dedicated library website. That's a library. Bush's library will have one book. My Pet Goat.:):)
Congrats President Clinton. Here's to you. Now get some rest please.

"Because we want to live in a world which is not dominated by a division of people
who live on the cutting edge of a new economy and others who live on the bare edge
of survival, we must be involved..." - William J. Clinton

My reply to a questionnaire from the DNC

2004-11-15T01:32:00.000-05:00

1.-How did you participate in this election?

I created and maintained a web blog Where the hell is my job George-The Yobo Report.
I talked to my friends and family and made them discuss the election and the issues.
I drove family members to the polls.

2.Is this the first time you participated in election activism?

Yes and no. I marched in the March on Washington in 1993 and been involved in
gay pride marches over the years. I also attended pro choice rallies.

3.How would you like to continue to stay involved?
(Volunteering, phonebanking, fundraising, local organizing, etc.)

I would like to offer the Dems assistance in creating and maintaining a viable
web presence for communication and organization. There is nothing like the
immediacy of the web. Could be used on the local and national level for a ongoing
communications tool to be utilized as part of a long term strategy to defeat and "conquer" the Republicans once and for all.

I had a friend who delivered pizza part time for cash. He said he would go into
the poorest home. They would have no air conditioning, older looking clothes. But
there they were on a computer surfing the net. We've only begun to tap this resource. As a multimedia designer and web hack I'd like to help anyway I can.

4. Did you feel the actions you took were effective?

Yes and no. I think it helped. I think we need to realize as I say below that the Repubs have successfully aligned themselves with God. And that the church is the second largest organization in this country next to the federal government itself.
We need mass media marketers using the web and TV to overcome their advantage.

5. Was it a good experience for you?

Yes, frustrating because we lost. Fascinating because we lost. George Bush lost more jobs than any other president in history, yet he was reelected. They kicked our butt by being able to successfully bury the jobs issue and draw the attention to Swift Boats and Vietnam. Unfortunately kudos to them, and a lesson for us.

6. How would you make it better?

I observed a real shift and disconnect between the Kerry campaign from before he became the nominee and after he was declared the official nominee. Grassroots feel before, "official and unreachable" after. I could send an email to the Kerry campaign before, but could not after he was awarded the nomination. For contacts we were directed to our local parties.
I liked the feeling, even if it wasn't true, that John Kerry may actually get to
read my email. And I liked getting a response, even if it was scripted. It was a
feeling like they were listening. Post "nomination" I didn't get that feeling.
You guys need to market the candidate so hire a marketing team . Not a political one.

The local and national democratic party needs to utilize the web more for communication.

Starting now, the democratic party should hold local fundraising and social events for local dems to gather and network and build relationships that can be utilized in 2008 and beyond.

7. Please share other thoughts and comments you have about the 2004
election and what Democrats and the Democratic Party should do going forward.

Want to know the real reason we lost? Because Kerry and the powers that be in the Democratic party have spent too much time trying to out "Republican" the Republicans. Same mistake Al Gore made.

You think the party would have taken a clue from the outrage that immediately appeared when Hillary wasn't initially invited to speak at the convention. The Democratic Party is still led and driven by old white guys (no offense intended).

We need a different outlook, a different look, a different strategy and that's because we are different not the same as the Republicans.

Also look at the "exit polls" to get an indication of what really happened in this election. The surveys show that the number one issue in this election people who answered exit polls said was "sting moral character". Hello!!! Its the Republicans who turned out in record numbers. Cause that's a damn Republican answer. If is was a democrat they would have said the top issue was jobs or security.

Also the Repubs have aligned themselves with the church and God. So if you are anti Repub you're anti God?The church is probably the number one organized structure in this country next to the government itself. Dems used to have unions, but they have lost their effectiveness. And they never were much in existence in the south.

Time for us Dems to do a complete overhaul, afterall we're not the party of the old white guys, we're supposed to be the party of everybody else. So lets start with leaders who look like everyone else.

Also the national Democratic party didn't show up here in Pinellas county Florida until August. Three months before the election. I can bet you the Republicans were meeting last year on how to win the 2008 election and beyond. We won't win until the leadership of the Democratic party reflects the makeup of its members and until we can create a long term strategy. You think that the "moral majority" just disbanded and went away. They went underground and have been creating Newt Gingrich types of long term strategies.

Hillary and Obama in 2008? Lets do it and lets start now.

Also use celebrities like the Repubs, instant name recognition, you don't have to spend millions of dollars letting people know who they are.

Hear me. Oprah, Oprah, Oprah. You laugh. People laughed at Arnold. Think about her angel network and the thousands of Republican women who love Oprah. That is a group that will become swing voters by 2008.

That's the problem I've been talking about. Democratic men need to drop the stereotypes, get the youth and the women as the face of the party and we'll kick the repubs butt. We have nothing to lose cause all we've been doing is losing. Can't get any worse, so why not try?

So start now. Let's not waste our time quibbling about miscounted votes or voting errors. The Repubs have rightly figured out that a close election can't be disputed. And so the only way we'll win is to make sure that the election is a landslide. Start now, but lets not show our hand to the Repubs until the time is right.

I sent this additional response.

I already submitted a questionnaire. But one more thing.
Its' so not about raising money at this point. Take the organizing focus off fundraising and onto gathering with people who support your ideas and beliefs. Patriotism is about our rights, liberty and justice for all. I got the impression that you didn't want to talk to me,if I didn't have money to contribute. Bad message, even if it is true. Marketing marketing marketing. Think about the impression the Democratic party makes.

Thanks for listening.

Can I get an Amen for sister Robyn???

2004-11-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

Backward, Christian soldiers

By ROBYN E. BLUMNER, Times Perspective Columnist
Published November 14, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it possible to be both backward and forward at the same time? Take a look at Cobb County, Ga., where a retrogressive court battle over teaching evolution may be telegraphing the future.

In 2002, in a nod to more than 2,000 parents who complained that the public schools were teaching evolution as fact, the suburban Atlanta district slapped a sticker on science textbooks proclaiming evolution as "a theory, not a fact." Another group of parents sued to get it removed, in hopes of returning their community to the ranks of the scientifically literate. The trial was last week.

Real scientists get exasperated when talking about the evolution teaching skirmishes that occasionally flare up in the redder parts of this country ("redder" as in embarrassments).

"That sticker in itself shows (ignorance)," said Michael Howell, an associate professor of marine geology at the University of South Florida, who is also a biblical scholar. "Because to say that evolution is a theory and not a fact shows that you don't understand what a theory really is. It is an explanation of phenomenon, not a hunch or guess.

"Evolution from scientific standpoint is the only scientifically valid theory. (It is based on) a tremendous preponderance of evidence from all kinds of different disciplines. Whereas something like intelligent design (which says divine intervention directed the origins of life) is nothing more than an unsupported hypothesis."

Now normally Cobb County's errancy wouldn't merit all that much attention. The church-state issues are so extreme that the courts should be trusted to dispense with them, as they generally have in the years since John Scopes was convicted.

But the last election demonstrates that a core of Americans want the very concept of church-state separation back on the table and they are now firmly in charge of two branches of the federal government and a majority of the states.

To see what this side is thinking, I recently spent a day watching Christian broadcasting. What struck me most was the emphasis the preachers and talk show hosts placed on the need to get religion into government. They were positively obsessed with it.

These Christian leaders were far less interested in discussing Jesus' teachings than how to get prayer back in public schools. It wasn't good enough that granite statues of the 10 Commandments could occupy every inch of Christian-owned private property; they wanted hulking renderings in courthouses and other government buildings. These shows were not about building better Christians. They were about building a Christian nation.

We used to worry about the so-called stealth candidates of the Christian Right - candidates who would run for public office and hide their fundamentalist views in order to appear electable. Well, the last election proves that those views can be fully unfurled without risking voter flight. The 2004 Texas GOP platform audaciously stated: "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States is a Christian nation."

What we are experiencing is the rise of Dominion Theology. This ideology says Christians must begin to take over all secular institutions of government, reclaiming them for Jesus Christ. It is seen as a readying for the Second Coming. See www.theocracywatch.org for more information.

"Our aim is to gain dominion over society," Pat Robertson told a gathering in 1984. He later described how this would be accomplished: By gaining a working control of the Republican Party.

And they've succeeded.

In 2004, 41 out of 51 Republican senators were given 100 percent ratings by the Christian Coalition for their votes on behalf of fundamentalist issues. Meanwhile, 31 out of 48 Democrats scored zero. Similar splits can be found in the House, where Minority Leader Tom DeLay expressly uses dominionist language.

During a "Worldview Weekend" conference in 2002, he said: "(God) is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for a biblical worldview in everything that I do."

It is only the judiciary that is not completely overrun. For now, that means the antievolution forces can be held at bay. But changing the judiciary is the issue for dominionists, and President Bush has been happily accommodating. Already he has appointed more than 200 judges, some, such as William Pryor and J. Leon Holmes, elevated primarily due to their fringe fundamentalist views.

No wonder the Christian Right went bleary-eyed crazy when Sen. Arlen Specter, who is on tap to be chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dared suggest that judges seeking to overturn Roe vs. Wade will have trouble getting confirmed. He is a rare Republican who hasn't bought into the master plan, and for that Christian Right forces want his chairmanship blocked.

Cobb County school officials may soon be directed to scrape off a bunch of antiscience stickers, but unless this country wakes up soon it won't be too long before a different judiciary welcomes them back, and more.

[Last modified November 13, 2004, 01:02:05]

Can I get an Amen for brother Howard??

2004-11-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

The Pharisees line up to cast their stones at gay partners

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Columnist
Published November 14, 2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This past Tuesday in Jacksonville, the Florida Baptist Convention voted to support a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The Baptists want the Florida Constitution to state that marriage is "the union between a man and a woman and is the God-ordained building block of the family and the bedrock of society."

"The church is the voice of morality," declared the sponsor of this resolution, the Rev. Jay Dennis of Lakeland.

The voice of morality!

I have no quarrel with the Baptists being the voice of morality, even though I was raised a Methodist. (Actually, a Wesleyan - so see, I already know how this whole thing is gonna turn out anyway.)

My only question is:

Why just this morality?

Why just this sin?

Why is this now the moral crisis that deserves to be singled out in our Constitution, the civil law of Caesar, so we can create a lesser class of citizens who don't have the same rights of civil contract?

Could it be because this is an alleged "sin" that only Those Kind of People commit, instead of equally serious sins that Decent People (even Baptists) commit every day?

If we are going to start ranking the "sins," marriage between two gay people who love each other and seek a lifelong commitment doesn't even make the Bible's best-known top-10 list.

Sure, homosexuality is called an "abomination." The Bible says so, not too far from where the Bible also says it's okay to stone your headstrong son to death, and that you'd better stay away from menstruating women.

And yes, the topic of homosexuality really freaked out St. Paul, no question. But so did a lot of stuff.

On the other hand, you know what IS right smack in the Ten Commandments?

Adultery.

Adultery! Now, that's a threat to the institution of marriage. You bet.

Half of heterosexual marriages in our society end in divorce. We heterosexuals are doing a lousy job of "defending" marriage. Adultery is a big part of the reason.

So if we're going to rewrite our Constitution to "protect" marriage from sin because it is the "God-ordained bedrock of society," then I would think that adultery would be a much better target.

The Florida Constitution should be amended to say that there can be no marriage licenses for anyone who has ever had sex outside marriage.

But wait, don't stop there.

Adultery is not the only marriage-threatening sin.

There's coveting.

That's in the Ten Commandments, too. Coveting your neighbor's wife can get you in big trouble.

Bearing false witness is one of the Big 10, too, if I recall. Lying is a pretty big threat to marriage.

No legal rights for liars! God created Adam and Eve, not Adam-You-Can't-Believe.

So, you see, there are the sins that the majority of us Decent People commit, such as lying, coveting, failing to keep the Sabbath, worshiping the wrong things...

And then there is the Really Bad Stuff that God hates even more and wants us to punish and fight by rewriting our Constitution.

I don't believe it.

I am just a poor layman, but I do not recall anywhere in the book seeing instructions to rank what we consider to be sins, and to judge only the ones we find in other people.

In fact, irresistibly, Matthew 7:5 keeps coming back to me:

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Of course, Jesus said a lot of other stuff, too. Rich people almost certainly won't go to heaven. They should give away their money. We should turn the other cheek to those who seek to hurt us. We should clothe the naked and feed the poor and house the homeless.

We also should pray in private, without beating our breasts loudly and rending our garments in the streets like hypocrites.

Jesus' words, not mine.

Maybe he meant we were supposed to just pick and choose the parts we liked.

[Last modified November 14, 2004, 12:04:30]

What the hell?

2004-11-13T01:04:00.000-05:00

"Courts are not equipped to execute the law. They are not accountable to the people," Ashcroft said.

Think about this...

2004-11-12T23:31:00.000-05:00

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
That is why right, temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
MLK 1964

In response to the suggestion of Hillary and Obamma in 08

2004-11-09T23:40:00.000-05:00

Now there's a real alternative. Want to know the real reason we lost? Because Kerry and the powers that be in the Democratic party have spent too much time trying to out "Republican" the Republicans. Same mistake Al Gore made.

You think they would have taken a clue from the outrage that immediately appeared when Hillary wasn't initally invited to speak at the convention. The Democratic Party is still lead and driven by old white guys (no offense intended).

We need a different outlook, a different strategy and that's because we are different not the same as the Republicans.

Also look at the "exit polls" to get an indication of what really happened in this election,
The surveys show that the number one issue in this election people who answered exit polls said was "stong moral character". Hello!!! Its the Republicans who turned out in record numbers. Cause that's a damn Republican answer. If is was a democrat they would have said the top issue was jobs or security.

Also the Repubs have aligned themselves with the church and God. So if you are anti Repub you're anti God?The church is probably the number one organized structure in this country next to the govenment itself.
Dems used to have unions, but they have lost their effectiveness. And they never were much in exsistance in the south.

Time for us Dems to do a complete overhaul, afterall we're not the party of the old white guys, we're supposed to be the party of everybody else. So lets start with leaders who look like everyone else.

Also the national Democratic party didn't show up here in Pinellas county Florida until August. Three months before the election. I can bet you the Republicans were meeting last year on how to win the 2008 election and beyond. We won't win until the leadership of the Democratic party reflects the makeup of its members and until we can create a long term strategy. You think that the "moral majority" just disbanded and went away. They went underground and have been creating Newt Gingrich types of long term strategies.

Hillary and Obama? Lets do it and start now. Lets not waste our time quibbling about miscounted votes or voting errors. The Repubs have rightly figured out that a close election can't be disputed. And so the only way we'll win is to make sure that the election is a landslide.
Lets start now, but lets not show our hand to the Repubs until the time is right.

Where do we sign up?

2004-11-06T19:13:00.000-05:00

Its a thought...

Living the American Dream�in Canada ... an Advocate.com exclusive

Another posted comment on Bush, for old times sake

2004-11-06T18:57:00.000-05:00

Its really a vote against Bush more than anything else.
Bush is a Born again extremeist who is bankrupting this country
by creating laws that funnel all of our tax dollars into his friends pockets.
aka privitazation.Halliburton and the Carlyle group.

A far as foreign policy, we used to be respected in the world,
now no one wants to have anything to do with us because our pres is apt
to decide any country has evil doers and bomb the crap out of them.
Great way to make friends.

The Soviet Union didn't fall because of Reagan, it fell because it was bankrupt.
That tree was hallow from years of no money, Reagan just leaned on it and it fell.

If we're not careful that will happen to us. And how good is the climate of
uncertianty fro our stock markets, not very.

There may not be many profound reasons to vote for Kerry but I can
list reasons all day to vote against Bush and to make sure he doesn't get re-elected,
we need to vote for Kerry.

A post from the past

2004-11-06T18:54:00.000-05:00

I posted this on a website encouraging Mary Cheney to come out.

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells-
And pretty maids all in a row.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
Doesn't your father know?
With cover ups and living hell-
lying to us as you go?

Mary Mary quite contrary
When will you ever know?
A Life that is your own and not your dads-
A life not just for show.

Mary Mary quite contrary
Its time for this farce to go.
You say you're out and then you're not-
Just who are you trying to snow?

Mary Mary quite contrary
The answer is quite simple
Say who you are, live your own life-
For that we will be thankful!

"The origins of the original nursery rhyme (1st stanza)are steeped in history...
The Mary alluded to in this traditional English nursery rhyme is Mary Tudor,
or Bloody Mary, who was the daughter of King Henry VIII.
Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden referred to
is an allusion to graveyards which were increasing in size with
those who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestant faith.
The silver bells and cockle shells were colloquialisms for instruments of torture.
The 'maids' were a device to behead people similar to the guillotine."

The 2- 4 stanzas I wrote and are steeped in history as well.
the Mary I allude to is Mary Cheney, or Lesbian Mary who is a daughter of
Dick Cheney pro war vice president. Mary is a staunch republican and the garden she looks over
is an allusion to growing number of gay people who's lives are taken or ruined
because they choose to speak out for the life they deserve.
The torture and guillotine, her father Dick can speak for as well.

postings

2004-11-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

My posting on pandagon during the election:

Here in Florida,
Voted this am took 2 hours. The electronic touch screen voting machines
wouldn't select Kerry or Castor unless you pushed the area six or seven times.
If you weren't paying attention by the time you get to the summary page,
you would have voted for Bush and Martienz, or even not at all.

Nice to see the Human Rights watch people observing there were two at our precinct.
We need to have all the help we can get making sure this election isn't stolen as well.

And why do we vote in churches? It could be a little imtimidating for some people,
having to cast their ballot with a huge picture of Jesus looking over their shoulder,
as I did this morning.
We should have polling places in schools so that we can teach the kids civics-
like how to vote and how important it is.

Also I hear reports of people here in Pinellas County being required to get
their hand stamped after they signed in to vote. Only problem, the stamps were
red and blue, depending on the party you are affiliated with.
One other precinct here had some elections officals calling out people's name and
whether they were democrat or republican. What can I say folks, this is FLorida.

Stay vigilant and for people who vote on the touch screen machines,
make very sure your vote is registering.

Why it is so much more than just electing a president

2004-11-06T16:40:00.000-05:00

This is a response I wrote to an NBC poll asking who I voted for and why.

John Kerry and John Edwards.

It is so important to realize that we not just elect a man,
we really select the path that we think this country should take.

Should we have an awareness that we live in the world with other countries,
that we are not just on this planet alone?
Do we really have an obligation to take care of our brother and sister human beings,
to help the less fortunate among us, not just get all we can for ourselves?
Do we have an obligation to lead by example and not by force?
Should we care about those who come after us and not leave a mess for them to contend with?
Is it right for each able body person in this country who wants to work
and make a contribution-to have opportunity to do so?

I believe that when you consider these questions,
the choice of who to vote for becomes crystal clear.
Only John Kerry supports a positive vision for the future
for all of the people of the United States of America.

Its was so much more that just an election...

2004-11-06T16:35:00.000-05:00

As the election is over I started to take off this blog the things about Kerry. I don't think I'll continue doing that. I think it time for a new blog.

While I decide if I want to start a new one, here's a response I wrote to someone in one of my online yahoo groups when they suggested a ticket for 2008. Enjoy

Hillary and Obamma.

Now there's a real alternative. Want to know the real reason we lost? Because Kerry and the powers that be in the Democratic party have spent too much time trying to out "Republican" the Republicans. Same mistake Al Gore made.

You think they would have taken a clue from the outrage that immediately appeared when Hillary wasn't initally invited to speak at the convention. The Democratic Party is still lead and driven by old white guys (no offense intended).

We need a different outlook, a different strategy and that's because we are different not the same as the Republicans.

Also look at the "exit polls" to get an indication of what really happened in this election,
The surveys show that the number one issue in this election people who answered exit polls said was "stong moral character". Hello!!! Its the Republicans who turned out in record numbers. Cause that's a damn Republican answer. If is was a democrat they would have said the top issue was jobs or security.

Also the Repubs have aligned themselves with the church and God. So if you are anti Repub you're anti God?The church is probably the number one organized structure in this country next to the govenment itself.
Dems used to have unions, but they have lost their effectiveness. And they never were much in exsistance in the south.

Time for us Dems to do a complete overhaul, afterall we're not the party of the old white guys, we're supposed to be the party of everybody else. So lets start with leaders who look like everyone else.

Also the national Democratic party didn't show up here in Pinellas county Florida until August. Three months before the election. I can bet you the Republicans were meeting last year on how to win the 2008 election and beyond. We won't win until the leadership of the Democratic party reflects the makeup of its members and until we can create a long term strategy. You think that the "moral majority" just disbanded and went away. They went underground and have been creating Newt Gingrich types of long term strategies.

Hillary and Obama? Lets do it and start now. Lets not waste our time quibbling about miscounted votes or voting errors. The Repubs have rightly figured out that a close election can't be disputed. And so the only way we'll win is to make sure that the election is a landslide.
Lets start now, but lets not show our hand to the Repubs until the time is right.

Where do we sign up?

Respectfully,
Julie

Get your drink, its time to go to the loser's lounge

2004-11-03T16:16:00.000-05:00

What can I say, only 1,517 days left in the Bush regime. And I thought I could quit this blog and have a life again. Oh well.

This is the reason I created this blog

2004-10-28T22:03:00.000-04:00

Here is one of my original posts. Please read it. It is the reason I created this blog. I now have a meanila job at 10.00 an hour, still live with my sister in her living room of a one bedroom apartment. I'm still not able to make headway on my old bills or repairing my credit. PLease read below and go vote for John Kerry on Tuesday. If you don't need the help and are ok, or are doing ok and are really undecided, read below and find it in your heart to make an effort to go vote tuesday for John Kerry so that my family and I might have a chance at a life again.
We would really appreciate the help. Thanks and GOd BLess you all, Go Kerry!

Friday, May 14, 2004
So the problem is this. I have been looking for work since July 2003. I have sent a couple of hundred faxes, even more email, called many offices personally. I had about 6 interviews. And still no job. I've done the online resume posting, I've done the industry networking meeting thing, the unemployment job searching interviewing training thing, the outplacement services resume writing thing, the temp agency job ad in the newspaper when we really don't have them thing and finally the sign on the street corner will work for food thing. (Just kidding about the last one) That's next week's plan.

I've lost my house, my credit, my faith my hope and my reputation.
My cobra and my unemployment has run out. Several times.
I've always been the Pollyanna in my life and my friends and family can attest to that. Well no more. I say today- Life sucks. Big time. And I wear this chip on my shoulder with pride.

And my final conclusion is this.

I hate George Bush. He and his runny snot nosed brother Jeb. And their daft "I don't know how much a pair of socks is at Penny's" father George Sr Bush. Barbara looks like she's a man in drag and its no wonder Laura or the girls have not been seen around George in months. Would you be associated with someone as stupid as all that?

The thing about them is this. Just when I think he's said or done the most stupid thing I can think of, he goes and outdoes himself. Who the hell would admit to not reading a newspaper on national TV when your wife the librarian is sitting right next to you? I though I saw her actually flinch when he said that.

Now I know he comes from the land of "we're proud we're stupid" but come on people. Get your stinkin' noses out of the damn Nintendo and off the porn websites long enough to see what the hell is going on!

We're so afraid that either the terrorists are going to get us or the George Bush John Ashcroft Gestapo is going to- if we open our mouths, that we won't stand up and say "Enough!. Well I am not afraid and I and saying that this is enough. I hope you will too.

But, you say, what can we do? I don't have a job or money or prestige or connections? I say you have something more powerful than all those. You have a voice and a vote. And if we put those together and bug everyone we know starting now to start talking and getting ready to vote, we may have a chance.

Think about this before you vote

2004-10-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

"Naturally the common people don't want war... But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy,
and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament,
or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism,
and exposing the country to greater danger." --Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg trials

We're in the home stretch...

2004-10-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

Please please let George Bush speak more on television , but without his teleprompter and earpiece which allows Cheney to talk to him.

I wonder how much rent is in Canada???

2004-10-23T22:38:00.000-04:00

It all boils down to this. How sad. This picture is the direct result of apathy by the American voter. If this doesn't make you get off your couch and vote the bastard out, nothing will. God help us if John Kerry loses.

Abu Aardvark: The Election Made Simple

Stopped by George himself in Saint Pete

2004-10-23T01:39:00.000-04:00

I must protest. I had to wait for 20 minutes tonight on my way home from a long day at my 5.50 an hour menial labor job (listening to people scream at me about not getting their counter tops installed in their kitchens) wasting several gallons of my $2.10 a gallon gas, because his damn motorcade had to drive across Saint Petersburg on his way to a multimillion dollar chicken dinner on Snell Isle. He should have thrown money out the window to pay us for the gas we wasted. What a jerk. A lady was walking down the street with a child and I mischievously asked her who was in the motorcade and she said with a smile " the president". I said that's too bad. She made a chimp face.

Bush go home. Get the hell out of Saint Pete.

Then again when I was at the beach for dinner we were blocked from driving down the beach by a blockade of police and secret service people. There were even boats out in the gulf with blue light flashing. Apparently he was staying at the Don Cesar hotel on the beach, Who knew? I think I wasted another $20.00 in gas trying to drive around the blockades.

I'm going to send the idiot the bill. I have to work 4 hours to make enough money for the ten gallons of gas I wasted today.

Please George-get the hell out of Saint Pete and leave us alone, you've done enough damage already.

2004-10-18T00:12:00.000-04:00

and again I can't resist

I've resisited until now

2004-10-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

I've tried to resist the easy jokes, to stay on the intellegent side, but as time goes by I find myself slipping, its sooo easy. And once you go there, its tough to get back to the serious rhetoric.....

2004-10-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

right...

Its about so much more than just abortion...

2004-10-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

It wasn't until recently that I began to realize that when I was growing up in the 70's we really we living in a unique and radical time as far as women's rights go. And coming from the land of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas, I am just beginning to realize that I have a pretty unique view of the world. I thought everyone else was as much of a feminist and a liberal.

Moving into the south was a wake up call to me, but what was even more of wake up call was hearing young women talking about the right to choose and not understanding how it is about so much more that just the choice of whether to have a child or not.

The reason that the right to choose is some important is because it is really about the right of women to have a say about their own bodies. It wasn't too long ago that women were considered chattel. That means they were property of the men they married. They were considered the same as land and as cattle that a man owned.

And the laws of this country have not progressed very far from that concept at all. The idea behind the right to choose, is that if women doesn't want to have childern that she should have a right to say no. And that no man, not even her husband should have a right to make her.

Think about this, how many courts in this land are willing to prosecute a husband for marital rape, let alone rape by a stranger? So what protection does a women have against an abusive spouse who insists she continue to have sex and babies, even though her children are being abused? How can she gain control and power in her life, if she has no recourse?

People say she should leave and go away, but think about this. She has children and no job and money to support herself or her children away from her husband. You really think she is going to leave, where would she go with no money and children to feed and what if her spouse is abusive and chases her and or threatens to kill her and the children?

Lets talk about single women. Women carry the child. Men, after they have sex, suffer no other physical consequences. They can choose to walk away of a women becomes pregnant. Women do not have that luxury.

So it was in this enviroment of inequality that feminisim and Roe v Wade and the right to choose came about.

I say the current situation and the current debate is partically our fault as women. After we gained the right to choose, we sat back on or laurels, we did not continue to carry the torch for equality. We have not done the work neseccary to keep our right to choose protected. We also did not finish the job, by ensuring we have equal pay, equal access to health care, and equal time and effort spent on medical research. Did you know that most medical tests for new drugs and new medical procedure are still done on men? Hey did you know that they study and men and using those results they make their best guess from there how women and children will be effected.

Now, contrary to popular beief, because I am a feminist I do not hate men. I just wonder why when we stand up and asked to be treated on par with men- that all of sudden we hate men? All we want is fairness.

Remember the people in the majority often don't think there is a problem. Of course not, they don't have any problems so ther must not be any. GO figure. What even happened to equalilty and fairness? Or does that only apply to men?

So it was in this climate that the women's right to choose became and continues to be such a significant thing for the rights of women and the future of those rights.
It is a tool and I believe what Bill and Hillary say- that abortion should be rare safe and legal. For those women who absolutley have no other alternative.

And one more time- please don't forget George Bush is a born again evangelical Christian who will stop at nothing to over turn our right to choose.

Think of those who came before us

2004-10-17T22:24:00.000-04:00

I come from the land of Susan B. Anthony and Fredrick Douglas. How can we forget that we not so long ago didn't even have the right to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King. Lucrica Mott. Nelson Mandella. Look what the people can do if they join together and fight for what is fair and right and true.

Power to the People

2004-10-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

So here we are, 10,000 feet in the air. Come in we're doing the dishes.

So here's my take on where we are.

two weeks from now, we're all going to run to the polls and vote. And then if you think that we are going to go home and sit in front of our televisions and get a result that evening, you've got another thing coming.

Most elections in other countries take days even weeks to figure out. I maintain the problems that occurred in the last election, have always occurred. Its just because the election was so close that we got out the magnifyig glass and started looking at how the votes are counted.

And you know what, its going to happen again. I predict that all of our elections from now are going to end up like that last one. We won't know for months, or until someone concedes who the next president will be.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm very wary.

Its all a mess, but the only thing we can do is to vote. Becaue the alternative is pretty grim. And people in other countries wait for hours in lines more that a mile, just to vote.

The only power that the little guy has is the power of the vote. Because as long as we can still walk into the voting place and cast a vote, we must. No one can buy my vote. It is not for sale and we all need to vote, because even though there may be problems and controversy a tide of votes can not be turned back. One or two may fall by the wayside, but many many votes can not be denied. Our voices together can be heard but only if we stand together. The power of the many can prevail over the rich and powerful, if we join together.

"Power to the people" is even more important now than ever before.

to debate, perhaps perchance to vote

2004-10-13T21:42:00.000-04:00

All I can say now, is VOTE VOTE VOTE.
George Bush is living in a different reality.
One more question George. How much is a pound of manure?
You should know cause you deal in a hell of a lot of it.

We've been a little distracted...

2004-09-26T01:13:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted in here in awhile. We've been a little distracted here in Hurricane Alley aka Florida. I have one political comment, Bush and the Republican congress voted to cut the funding for the Hurricane Hunter Program.
Thanks again George, for all your support.

Sorry for the delay, no power due to Frances

2004-09-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

Whoooosh!!!!!Take cover, we're getting a big wind!
(its over, but it is fun to goof off.)
We almost got stuck in an elevator when the power went out in our complex.

Later in the day...
Our power is back on now, but family in West Palm has no power and backing up sewers.
No good.

Are we there yet???

2004-09-05T22:34:00.000-04:00

Are the elections here yet? Are we there yet?? Are we huh? are we???
I think that I am tired of hearing about this election. I know how I am going to vote. Now I just want to get this over. I have family members who are actually thinking of moving out of the country if Bush wins. Not a bad idea. Hum I wonder how one would do that??
No Bush, no huricanes. How bad could that be???

Mired in the Minutia; Focus on the economy

2004-08-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

With all due respect to the vietnam vets and all other vets, the Republicans have succeeded in pulling us Dems totally off message with this Swift boat issue. While it is an important issue, the average person here is Florida see Kerry as caring more about what went on 20 years ago than what is happening right now.
And the more the Repub's can drag this issue out, the more the focus stays on this issue and not the issue of how bad Bush's performance has been.The economy is worse that we we have ever seen, and the lack of attention on the economic issue makes it seem like Bush's claims of a recovery are correct. And they are not.
If Kerry focuses back on the ecomony and asks the American people if we are better off now than 4 years ago I predit we will see Kerry take a lead in the polls. We need to start beating this drum more loudly and not stop until the election.
If we stay on this Swift boat issue and keep playing into the Republican's strategy of pulling us off message by distracting us and making us focus on an issue of 20 years ago, they win.
They do this every time, they get their opponents "Mired in the Minutia" and they win.So with all respect to the Vets- lets get the focus back on Bush terrible record of no jobs and no health care. We are afraid, but we're afraid we aren't going to be able to provide for our families.

Its the economy, stupid

2004-08-28T09:33:00.000-04:00

Rewarding Hard Work
“Hardworking Americans are tired of hoping that this week’s paychecks will cover last month’s bills. They are tired of working full-time and still struggling to make ends meet. And they are exhausted of a President who has turned his back on them for nearly four years. With John Kerry in the White House, we’ll build an economy that creates opportunity, opens doors and rewards hard work.” - John Edwards, August 27, 2004

It is a shame that this message is not getting out here in Florida. All I see on the TV are ads about Bush critizing Kerry for not voting and this Swift Boat issue. I only saw one ad late last night about jobs.
The job issue is much more severe that even Edwards comments indicate. They say fear motivates people tp vote. How about a lot of advertising that shows what happens when people fall into poverty. A few images of some homeless people might help.
The truth of the matter is that while we used to talk about the shrinking middle class, there is no middle class anymore.
With only 20% of the population making over 100,000, and an average house costing 150,000that indicates to me the middle class is pretty much a memory.
Less emphasis on swift boat and more economy and I predict you'll see Kerry start to take the lead against Bush in the polls.

About the last post, the poverty rate

2004-08-28T09:05:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has held a job for more than the past three years is oblivious to this. They still have their salary coming in, so to them nothing's changed.To anyone who has been laid off and has been unable to find work, this is our reality.
I have been saying for about a year now, our economic condition in this country is worse than it was in the depression our grandparents went through.Why do we not see this? Because right now we are afraid to appear to other countries as weak.So we see no news coverage of these issues, even the Kerry campgain glosses over it by trying to stay positive. There is nothing positive about having no job, no health care,no food and moving in with relatives to keep from living on the street.There is a complete media blackout about what is relly happening to the majority of American people. Recovery? That's propaganda.

Ranks of Poverty Rose

2004-08-28T09:01:00.000-04:00

My Way News

No kidding...

Ranks of Poverty, Uninsured Rose in 2003

Aug 26, 10:36 AM (ET)

By GENARO C. ARMAS

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

It was the third straight annual increase for both categories. While not unexpected, it was a double dose of bad economic news during a tight re-election campaign for President Bush.

Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002.

The rise was more dramatic for children. There were 12.9 million living in poverty last year, or 17.6 percent of the under-18 population. That was an increase of about 800,000 from 2002, when 16.7 percent of all children were in poverty.

The Census Bureau's definition of poverty varies by the size of the household. For instance, the threshold for a family of four was $18,810, while for two people it was $12,015.

Nearly 45 million people lacked health insurance, or 15.6 percent of the population. That was up from 43.5 million in 2002, or 15.2 percent, but was a smaller increase than in the two previous years.

Meanwhile, the median household income, when adjusted for inflation, remained basically flat last year at $43,318. Whites, blacks and Asians saw no noticeable change, but income fell 2.6 percent for Hispanics to $32,997. Whites had the highest income at $47,777.

Even before release of the data, some Democrats claimed the Bush administration was trying to play down bad news by releasing the reports about a month earlier than usual. They normally are released separately in late September - one report on poverty and income, the other on insurance.

Putting out the numbers at the same time and not so close to Election Day "invite charges of spinning the data for political purposes," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

Census Director Louis Kincannon - a Bush appointee - denied politics played any role in moving up the release date. The move, announced earlier this year, was done to coordinate the numbers with the release of other data.

"There has been no influence or pressure from the (Bush) campaign," Kincannon said Wednesday.

Official national poverty estimates, as well as most government data on income and health insurance, come from the bureau's Current Population Survey.

This year the bureau is simultaneously releasing data from the broader American Community Survey, which also includes income and poverty numbers but cannot be statistically compared with the other survey.

The figures were sure to generate attention regardless of when they were released since they typically serve as a report card of sorts for an administration's socio-economic policies.

Partisan debate figures to be more heated now, when the economy and health care are big issues in the tight presidential election race between Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry.

Since job growth was slow until the second half of 2003 and wages were relatively stagnant, it was likely the report would show an increase in the number of people in poverty, said Sheldon Danzinger, co-director of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan.

William O'Hare, a researcher with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private children's advocacy group, expected increases in the number of kids in poverty and without health insurance. He called the changes in the way data is being released "bothersome."

"It makes me wonder whether this statistical agency is being politicized in some way," said O'Hare, who has studied the poverty and health insurance data for over two decades.

---

Officer accused of threatening president bush

2004-08-28T08:31:00.000-04:00

Its the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Should we start thinking Gestapo, Hitler and the thought police?
Look closely, wasn't this guy off duty?
Maybe hysteria and fear have reached a new level??
Thanks to who??

Officer Accused Of Threatening President BushBy VALERIE KALFRIN vkalfrin@tampatrib.com Published: Aug 28, 2004
TAMPA - Joseph Mazagwu served in the U.S. Army for 11 years before he passed the background checks and psychological testing required to become a Tampa police officer.
But something he is accused of saying while off duty and picking up his uniform from a Tampa dry cleaner put the Secret Service on his trail, derailed his police career and on Friday landed him in a federal courtroom.
Mazagwu, 35, surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday morning after his indictment Thursday on charges of making a threat against the president and making a false statement to a federal agent.
According to police and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill, Mazagwu stopped at the dry cleaner July 15, the day before President Bush visited Tampa.
The dry cleaner's owner asked Mazagwu whether he would be part of the president's security detail. Mazagwu said he ``would not work that under any circumstances,'' O'Neill said, and ``went on a lengthy tirade'' against U.S. policies in Iraq and Africa.
During the outburst, O'Neill said, Mazagwu said words to this effect: ``The president needs to be shot. His father needs to be shot. If someone gave me bullets, I would do that. I would shoot them in the head.''
On July 16, the day Bush visited, the dry cleaner reported Mazagwu's alleged remarks to another Tampa police officer, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. On July 17, that officer told a lieutenant, who asked the officer to get more details.
On July 19, police Chief Stephen Hogue suspended Mazagwu with pay and took his gun and badge, McElroy said.
The same day, the Secret Service questioned Mazagwu. He denied making the comments, O'Neill said. Confronted with additional information July 30, he apologized, O'Neill said.
Hogue said Mazagwu will be fired.
``I'm highly disappointed,'' he said. ``That is not the conduct we expect of a Tampa police officer, nor will it be tolerated.''
Mazagwu entered the police academy in the spring under the city's scholarship program, which paid his tuition, about $6,500, McElroy said.
He graduated from the academy and was assigned to a four-month training period on the night shift in District 3, which covers downtown Tampa and Ybor City, when he made the alleged comments.
During his visit, Bush spoke at a conference on human trafficking at the Tampa Marriott Waterside and bought Cuban sandwiches in Ybor City.
The alleged comment concerned officials because Mazagwu was a police officer licensed to carry a firearm at all times, O'Neill said. He is also an Army reservist.
Hogue said Mazagwu would not have been part of the president's security detail because of his rookie status. Even so, Hogue said he plans to review the officer's hiring ``to see if we missed anything.''
Mazagwu's personnel application shows he attended high school in Nigeria. His father was a police officer in that country, McElroy said.
If convicted, Mazagwu faces five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each charge.
He was released on $25,000 bail Friday after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III.
McCoun ordered Mazagwu's passport confiscated and told him he cannot possess or own firearms before his trial. He must have legitimate employment and maintain his residence, the judge said.
Mazagwu did not speak to reporters.
His niece and a friend attended his court appearance but also declined to speak to reporters.
His attorney, Deeann Athan, told McCoun she doubted there was any intent behind the comments.
``I really do think it was a huge misunderstanding,'' she later said.
Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

Please no more Swift boat

2004-08-22T04:13:00.000-04:00

OK That's enough about the Swift boat and Vietnam.

Bush's game is to pull Kerry off message.Is the election about Vietnam and Swift boats?No it is about no jobs, getting out of Iraq and no health care.

It is still the economy and what we should be hearing from John now is -Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? That's the message we should be hearing but I can't hear it hear in Florida over the swift boat story.

My sister works at Barnes in Noble in Tampa. People screamed at her all day today because they don't have the book put out by the anti Kerry swift boat people. They accused Barnes and Noble of being liberal and not carrying any pro bush books. Bush and the Republicans have got the christian people down here whipped into a feeding frenzy.

When Kerry responds by calling for Bush to call off the dogs on this issue it does 2 things.

1 The news cycles have all been about that and not how bad Bush is for the economy.
2. It makes Kerry seem like he's asking for Bush's help like a kid on the playground asking for an adult to help him becasue the bully is picking on him.

Have faith in the American people that we know crap when we see it and most people I hear from know that this swift boat stuff is the politics of distraction and Bush trying to get us off messege. We know Bush is telling them what to do. We don't care about them- Kerry is a vet and that's good enough for us. Don't get stuck in the past. Right now we care more about how to pay the rent and feed our kids.

Repeat after me: Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago???
Most people will identify with that not the nut heads.
Please no more Swift boat.

Sorry for the delay, Charley Evacuation

2004-08-16T00:49:00.000-04:00

Been outta commission for a few days as we evacuated for Charley.

After being in Miami for Hurricane Andrew, every time we get a storong wind here- we throw the cats in the car and leave. ( Only kidding) Actually we live in an area of Pinellas County (Saint Petersburg, Florida) that was a mandatory evacuation area.

So at 11pm Thursday night we moved all of our valuables away from the windows, threw some clothes, three people and three cats into a very small car and took off for Orlando. At midnight in Orlando we quickly found no hotel rooms available. Now normally that would be understandable, but this was Orlando, home of Mickey Mouse and the land of a million hotel rooms. Well, they were full. So we got on the FL turnpike and headed south. I have family in West Palm, so we went toward that way. I had no intention of driving 300 miles to West Palm, but many stops and no hotels later, we arrived at my relatives home at 6 am.

We are very blessed that our home and family are all safe, and our prayers are with the people who did get hit in Ft Meyers and the rest of the state. There are no words to accurately describe going through a hurricane and surviving the aftermath.

We returned home to Saint Petersburg this morning, tired and sore from the drive, but no worse for the trip.

Please say a prayer for the people of Southwest Florida and if you have cash to spare, the Red Cross is a great place to put some of it right now. Look around your house and just think how you would feel if suddenly in a flash one day it all disappeared and you no food or clothes or shelter.

Back to politics tomorrow.

My response to him

2004-08-09T22:58:00.000-04:00

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own interests of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity. THOMAS JEFFERSON

Frugal government? From a budget surplus to a Three trillion dollar debt in four years?

We should refrain from injuring one another? But it is OK to go and kill innocent people in Iraq just to get back at someone who threatened to kill your daddy? Its great idea, lets have all our poor people got to Iraq and get killed so our rich friends can put in an extra pool.

Leave us free to regulate our own interests? But it is OK to legislate your personal version of morality? I got news for you, women are not taking off their shoes and going back to the kitchen, and gay people are not going back into the closet. God created us all equal in his eyes, not all equal except the people George Bush disapproves of.

Shall not take from the mouth of labor, but it is OK to take public money "privatization"; and use it to line the pockets of your rich hypocritical elitist friends?

The sum of good government is one that listens to all the people not just a few rich elite who care only about themselves and not anyone else.

Don't speak about what you don't know. George Bush what military service did he do? Besides play golf for a few months in the US? At least Kerry left the main land USA. And he can form a coherent sentence.

George Bush? Can he form a coherent sentence? He's a dry drunk born again with a God complex. He had embarrassed us and ruined our reputation in the world. And no matter what they say, born agains think of the rest of us as the "to be converted." No thanks!

Here's something most Republicans can't do-hold two opposing thoughts in their head at the same time. It is possible to be patriotic with support for our troops and be against war. No, I don't expect you to understand that. War is not good. People who believe so are war mongerers.

And excuse me, since when can you wage war on a concept? War on Terrorism, sounds too damn much like the War on Drugs. Another infinite money sucking political black hole, and a great excuse to take away people’s freedoms and liberties. Just what your damn war is supposed to be fighting for-freedoms and liberties.

As a "writer" you know that it is all spin. "Facts" can be twisted to say or mean anything. And the documentation of an event is the opinion of the writer, as the experience is always seen through the eyes of the documenter.

That's right, build your big huge house in the suburbs that you never use because you are never there. All you do is consume things with no consideration as to how it effects others. I've got a secret, its not who gets the most toys wins, because its not about winning. We're all dust when we're done on this earth, and the toys don't go with you, not matter you think. And that is the one "fact" that fortunately, not even you can dispute.

No thanks to the your propaganda email list for the closed minded.I rather hug my kids and open my mind to learn about people who are not like me, not go to other countries and shoot people that I know nothing about.

Real reason for 911? Christians were in Afghanistan handing out Christian literature(against their laws) so they could “convert the heathens”.
Real reason for Columbine, religious groups in school that made fun of people who didn't believe like they did.

Extremists are extremists whether they are Muslim or Christian.

We Americans need to be proud of who we are, but stop acting like we know everything and admit there are things we still need to learn about. We need to be citizens of the world and give and gain respect.

This final thought, Ronald Reagan (I’m sure your hero) brought about change through strength and diplomacy, without firing a shot. Bush just created a mess that someone else will have to clean up after. Kerry may not be the best, but Barney could run against Bush and win. At least Barney can form coherent sentences. Look, I see Kerry and Edwards with some brooms and mops now.
Julie

His email to me

2004-08-09T22:55:00.000-04:00

Subj:
Re: Why you are wrong
Date:
8/9/04 7:35:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:
Adamstyle@aol.com
To:
He would damn you to hell.

America has never elected a candidate, like Kerry, who is a self-confessed War Criminal.
That's another reason, he'll lose. The left only knows name calling. They're short on ideas.
Quick, will Kerry put more or less ground troops in Iraq? You're wrong. Check out the video link below and hear Kerry tell you in his own words.Also please make sure you click the link in the column to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Here it is: http://www.swiftvets.com/index.phpThe mainstream media has buried these testimonies, in favor of the testimony of the few vets that he had on stage. Most vets who are not senile remember that he called himself and his brothers "war criminals". See Kerry's Flip-Flopping on Iraq on video here:http://www.kerryoniraq.com/Cheers,Adam Sparks "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own interests of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity." THOMAS JEFFERSONp.s. To subscribe to my once a week mail list send an email to this address, simply write "subscribe" in the subject line and email: Laundryroom-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

My email to him

2004-08-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

To:
Adamstyle@aol.com

You are deluded if you think Bush is telling the truth. You are a hate mongering piece of crap. What would Jesus do? He would damn you to hell. Go Cheney yourself. Why don't you get yourself some education and so you can have some real opinions instead of Republican propaganda.Where are the 1.1 million jobs we had 4 years ago? 32,000 jobs paying 4.35 an hour sure are a hell of a replacement for them. Go get a real job if you can find one, you sure as hell can't write anything original.

ADam Sparks says what????

2004-08-09T22:50:00.000-04:00

Read this and then check the email/response I sent him and his response.

Why Kerry Will Lose The Election VIEW FROM THE RIGHT
Adam Sparks, Special to SF Gate
Monday, August 9, 2004
John Kerry will lose this election, and he will do so decisively. The defeat will go down as perhaps the only thing this candidate has ever done decisively.
We've just seen a four-day infomercial called the Democratic National Convention, where everyone put on his or her smiley face; Democrats were having a love fest. It was a sea change from their previous campaigning: For starters, they wouldn't even directly criticize the president -- all that vile Bush bashing of the last few months turned into gentle speeches with nary a mention of him. Secondly, the vehemently pacifist and rabidly anti-war party did a 180 degree turn around and created the most militaristic show since Eisenhower landed in Europe.
Kerry, saying he's "reporting for duty," greeted Americans in the most macho, Republican kind of way with a crisp salute. Then Kerry's fellow Vietnam veterans, who, like him, served on the U.S. Navy's "swift boat" patrol craft, swarmed the podium. Finally, Kerry's war-hero service was retold to make sure Americans know he's really fit for service as commander in chief.
Yet the casual observer could see through the cracks in the veneer. That tired old huckster, the Rev. Al Sharpton, of Tawana Brawley hoax fame, was given a prime-time speaking spot in which to share his insight. He was a tough act to follow, but radical propagandist filmmaker and all-around hate monger Michael Moore, seated beside former President Jimmy Carter, was given the place of honor.
Not Much Bounce
Let's be serious; the convention was a grand flop. Following the event, polls were all over the place: Some showed no postconvention increase for Kerry at all, and others had a bounce so small it was within the margin of error. But the most seriously devastating of all them all was the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. In that survey of likely voters, President Bush led Kerry 50 percent to 46 percent. Ouch -- that's gotta hurt. A Newsweek survey did show some good news for Kerry, who picked up a few points in that vote. The bad news? It was the most dreadful showing of any postconvention bounce in the decades since the newsmagazine began measuring such shifts.
The Associated Press reported that its analysts say Bush is leading in electoral votes today. The weeks following the convention should be the high point of any candidate's campaign, so that's another sad marker.
Liberal New York Times syndicated columnist Maureen Dowd said it best: Kerry's nautical theme made the convention look like a goofy scene from "Gilligan's Island." You know you've got problems when you can't shore up the Left.
A Convoluted Message
This was Kerry's moment in the sun to introduce himself to Americans and talk about issues. Yet it was quite difficult among all his rhetoric to figure out what he was for or against, or what he would do differently. If he has not defined himself by now to the American people, any new self-definitions revealed as Election Day nears will be a day late and a dollar short.
During the primary campaign, Kerry joined running mate John Edwards in opposing Iraq liberation. They were both influenced by the Deaniacs, or, more accurately, former presidential contender Howard Dean's formidable fund raising and momentum, which he earned primarily by declaring how much he just hated the liberation of Iraq. The fact that both of the "me-too"s, Edwards and Kerry, voted for military intervention in Iraq was a minor detail to be papered over: They were misled. But do we really want folks in the White House who are so easily duped?
Kerry has clearly indicated he was always against the war, but that was after his vote in favor of the war, but not for war funding, which should not be understood as support, and in any case he would have done it much differently. His concern is now a lack of any real coalition and U.N. support, but when the United States had the backing of the United Nations and a real international presence in Desert Storm after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Kerry voted against that intervention. That information should clear it up for all those undecided voters who really wanted to know.
On abortion, he's about the same: He's voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion, but he has recently declared his belief that life begins at conception. That pronouncement should get everyone on both sides of the issue to vote for him. At least we all know he's a man of his convictions, and not just poll driven, like those other big-haired, arrogant-looking politicians. Bush once characterized Kerry's popularity by saying, in effect, of course he's popular, adding, "He's been on every side of every issue." Kerry has no cohesive message.
A Confusing Vietnam Record
Kerry has been using his "hero" status as one of his finest achievements. But, as with much of what he does, he sends mixed messages. He proudly brings out his handful of Vietnam veterans and recalls his heroics, but, earlier, he testified before Congress and wrote in his book, "Tour of Duty," that he committed war crimes, and so did most of his comrades.
On swift-boat missions in Vietnam, Kerry wrote, "we established an American presence in most cases by showing the flag and firing at sampans and villages along the banks. Those were our instructions, but they seemed so out of line that we finally began to go ashore, against our orders, and investigate the villages that were supposed to be our targets.
"We discovered we were butchering a lot of innocent people, and morale became so low among the officers on those swift boats that we were called back to Saigon for special instructions from Gen. Abrams," he added. "He told us we were doing the right thing. He said our efforts would help win the war in the long run. That's when I realized I could never remain silent about the realities of the war in Vietnam."
Pity the poor guy who has to reach back 35 years to show America just how great he is. And he does so very selectively: There's no mention of all his medal ribbons tossed with contempt over the White House fence for the same war he now fondly remembers. He brought a cast of sailors out with him on the convention podium and keeps a contingent with him at all times while campaigning, either to show Americans just how patriotic he is or to remind us incessantly that he served a grueling four months in Vietnam. For whatever reason, it's pathetic. The peaceniks know all about his antiwar theatrics; he needn't highlight those attributes. He's now going after the swing voter who respects America military strength and may have or have had family members in the service. In Kerry's world, you really can be all things to all people.
Forget the showboating -- no pun intended -- let's look at the record. Kerry received three Purple Hearts, and, after four months of duty, he requested permission to get the heck out of there. However, retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, who ran the swift-boat campaign in Vietnam and now leads a group of fellow officers calling themselves the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, countered Kerry, saying, "I do not believe that John Kerry is fit to be commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. This is not a political issue. It is a matter of judgment, truthfulness, reliability, loyalty and trust -- all absolute tenets of command.
"Only one of his 23 fellow officers in charge from Coastal Division 11 supports John Kerry," he added. "Overall, more than 250 swift-boat veterans are on the record questioning Kerry's fitness to serve as commander in chief. That list includes his entire chain of command -- every single officer Kerry served under in Vietnam. The Kerry game plan is to ignore all this and pretend that the 13 veterans his campaign jets around the country and puts up in five-star hotels really represent the truth about his short, controversial combat tour."
You needn't go back 35 years to Vietnam to see what Kerry's all about. Just check out his voting record in the Senate, where he's been for the past 19 years. Can you name one piece of legislation he carried? Don't worry; neither can anyone else.
As Bush said following the convention, "After 19 years in the United States Senate, my opponent has had thousands of votes, but very few signature achievements." That's not leadership. Where's his big health-care initiatives, or his education or environmental improvement? Talk is cheap. What has he done that's so memorable, besides marry two extremely rich women?
Making Health Care Safe for Trial Lawyers
A centerpiece of Kerry's campaign is to make access to drugs and medicine affordable, but, when you hear the word affordable, hold on to your wallets. It means a health-care system that will rely on billions of dollars of tax increases to prop up. But, taking a page from John Edwards' "two Americas," as far as Kerry's concerned, only the rich should pay the taxes. But don't relax yet; "the rich" includes anyone with a job. Increasing taxes for just the wealthiest 1 percent, or even the richest 10 percent, will not pay for a singe-payer health-care system, which would cost several trillion dollars annually and would federalize one-fifth of the economy.
Edwards has a lot of experience in the health-care industry. He became one of the nation's richest trial lawyers by winning record jury verdicts and settlements in cases alleging that botched treatment of women in labor caused infants to develop cerebral palsy, a brain disorder that causes motor-function impairment and lifelong disability. In these trials, Edward would often rely on junk science before North Carolina juries, claiming that a doctor's momentary hesitation in deciding whether to perform a cesarean section on a mother caused the brain damage. Edwards sometimes channeled a child's thoughts in the courtroom, saying, in the case of a fetus about to be born, "I'm having problems. I need out." This would be touching showmanship for the Psychic Friends Network, but not for the White House.
The real damage was not to babies such as that one, but to taxpayers, who now have to foot the bill in higher medical costs due to increased premiums or who find that, because of prohibitively expensive malpractice insurance, there are now far fewer practicing obstetricians. To add insult to injury, we have to suffer through Edwards, one of the richest senators, lecturing us on how there are two Americas, and "ain't that a darn shame?" Just what America needs -- a trial lawyer just a heartbeat away from the White House.
History on Bush's Side
No war president has ever lost an election in the United States, and it's unlikely this will be the case now. Until recently, the Democrats uttered a great deal of rhetorical propaganda about their contention that Bush "lied" about the war of liberation in Iraq: He lied about intelligence; he lied about WMDs. He lied, lied, lied. Everyone from the head of the Democratic Party to Michael Moore has delivered this mantra for the last three years.
Now that the bipartisan 9/11 Commission has come out with its final report, which vindicated the president, you don't hear that much about lies anymore. The report says there were no lies. Bad intelligence, yes; lies, no. Unfortunately, much of the damage has been done, as Bush's "lies" have now become an urban legend, ingrained in the minds of many.
The 9/11 Commission's report, which involved the investigation and review of tens of thousands of pages of secret documents and interviews of hundreds of key witnesses, found not a single lie.
Now that Kerry can't rely on Bush as liar, he will need to come up with a novel new game plan. It'll be hard, but maybe he could have Edwards channel the baby Jesus telling people whom to vote for. Short of that, nothing will work.
Adam Sparks is a Bay Area writer. He can be reached at adamstyle@aol.com.

If the market is stunned someone has not been paying attention

2004-08-07T14:09:00.000-04:00

Stunned????
Check this out. No kidding. This is what I have been saying and screaming and bloggin about.

U.S. stock indexes close at 2004 lows

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The major indexes all tumbled to new 2004 lows Friday after the Labor Department stunned Wall Street with a July jobs report that showed growth far below expectations.
Stocks slammed by employment data
July jobs growth about 200,000 below expectations
The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged below 1,800 for the first time since October to its lowest close since Aug. 26, 2003. The Nasdaq ($COMPQ: news, chart, profile) finished down 44.74 points, or 2.5 percent, at 1,776.89.

Farm jobs?? They gotta be kidding

2004-08-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

ZAMAN DAILY NEWSPAPER (2004080711241): "Employment Rate in USA Under Performing

The US Labor Department announced yesterday that the 32,000 jobs added to the US economy in the month of July did not meet the expectation of any job sector except agriculture. Consequently, the Department of Labor decreased its estimate of new jobs for the months of May through July down to 61,000."

I told you guys!!!!
Now I've got to apply for farming jobs? Anyone know anything about milking cows?????

Stop George, stop!! My sides hurt from laughing!!!!

2004-08-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ...

"If you don't stop laughing, you'll laugh yourself to death!"
Judge Doom, Roger Rabbit, 1988

Aug. 7 - It didn’t sound like a hard question. After George W. Bush delivered a tepidly received address to a convention of minority journalists, a Native-American editor from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer asked, “What do you think tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century?” As president and a former governor, the journalist said, Bush had a “unique experience, looking at [the issue] from two perspectives.” The president fumbled. “Tribal sovereignty means that—it’s sovereignty,” he stammered. “I mean, you’re a—you’re a—you’ve been given sovereignty and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity.” As Bush rambled, looking like a schoolboy unprepared at the front of the class, many of the hundreds of Asian, black, Native American and Hispanic journalists gathered before him…well, snickered

Ah, the media circus

2004-08-05T02:38:00.000-04:00

No link just a comment. I think that we will in this country get what we deserve. Growing up in upstate New York I thought the rest of the world was enlightened and educated- aware of our common history and civic responsibilites and duties ( sounds like a text book) But just as I realized and have been reminded of lately, Common sense is not so common.

I think that we now have wonderful grounds to examine the agrument that we are the victims of the dumming down of America. We are a country that is proud to be stupid. Born of brave and daring explorers we have become a nation of inbreeding narrow minded, I don't care what happens out side of my 4 block area around my house- idiots.

God forbid we might step outside of what we think we know and experience a little of what we truely don't know. How the hell have we exisited as a people so far? Because someone actually was interested in something other than themselves???

I can understand a desire to live a simple life, I think we all yearn for that from time to time, but do we really desire to have a simple mind??? I hope not.

The day I stop wondering about this fascinating and mysterious world and the varied and interesting people in it who are not Just like me, the day I stop being curious about life all around me and beyond what I know now, the day that happens, will someone please put me into my original packing material and ship me back? Cause as far as I'm concerned, life isn't worth living if you reach the point where you know it all, or if you even think you do.

2004-08-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Fabricating Terror

Can you believe them? like people aren't watching or paying attention to what they hell they are doing. They just think they are above the rest of us and everyone else. Its increadible. They just keep getting deeper and deeper into the muck

2004-08-03T02:21:00.000-04:00

HoustonChronicle.com - Recent terror alert based on old intelligence

WTF? That is enough! THis is pure politics and the DEMS are going to have a field day with this. Sic em!!!

2004-08-02T17:06:00.000-04:00

Capitol Hill Blue: Nancy Reagan to Bush: 'We Don't Support Your Re-Election'

Here's another reason that we need to get rid of Bush. Why doyou think Nancy Reagan planned Ronnie's funeral down to the last detail, they didin;t want Bush to use it for political reasons.

This is serious serious stuff folks.

2004-08-02T17:01:00.000-04:00

Capitol Hill Blue: Sullen, Depressed President Retreats Into Private, Paranoid World

If you don't think we are in serious shit if Bush gets re elected- you better think again.

2004-08-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer | The Arizona Daily Star �

What has race got to do with photographing the vice president?
Reason number 897 to vote Bush out of office!

Convention Night #4 and Beyond

2004-07-31T11:55:00.000-04:00

Well, I think Kerry gave a good speech. Very good. Now we can only vote and hope. I would like to be able to make a wonderful statement about Kerry's talk. I think it was good. But I still think Bill Clinton is the best speech giver. I would use the word orator, but that might turn some people off.

Do I think Kerry will be a good president?, Yes I do. I only hope that we get to see him in the job. There are alot of people who would like to see that and a lot of people who wouldn't. I was working at the pizza factory when the speech was on, so I got the taped version of it. I just hope that he and Edwards can pull this off.

I get a strange feeling about it all. I wish I could say it was euphoria or extreme happiness, but it is not. It is extrememe caution. It is not over till its over.

The one image that I have left in my head from the last night of the convention, is an interesting one. As John Kerry was making his way through the crowd to get to the stage to speak, he was surrounded by dark jacketed secret service men. It was the first time I had seen him with secret service and I was surprised at my response to seeing that. I became aware of just how serious this all is, and how serious the threat of someone actually wanting to harm him ( and all the other people, john edwards etc) and how serious this election is for the country.

The commentators kept saying, this pro miltary stance is important, but if it was necesary to become president, Bill Clinton wouldn't have become president. You know I think the Kerry people got this one right and I think it boils down to this. We need to feel safe again. George Bush scares the hell out of the citizens of this country. The economy is in the toliet, he has made enemy's out of all of our friends, he doen't give a crap about protecting the country, it its like all he ever wanted to do was "get Saddamm" because he tried to kill his daddy. Beyond that the guy doesn't have a plan or a clue. Its like we're asking, who the hell let this guy in the door of the party after he's drunk all the booze and embarrassed the guests.

The people of this country are terrified and we want an intellegent ,strong battle tested
leader. You know I've been writing emails to the Kerry campagain for many months now. And at one point they sent a response that said "we hear you" . I didn't believe them, but after Kerry's speech and this democratic convention, I do believe that they did hear.

I belive they heard the dismay and dispair of alot of people who have lost everything in an attempt to survive, the 401k the job, the health insurance, their self respect in having to apply and take a 7 dollar an hour job. In my last email to them I told them I did't know what we were going to do, if George Bush got relected, and I believe John Kerry answered me in that speech when he said "help is on the way."

I think we are in fear every day of another terrorist atttack. I think we don't talk about it much but is is there, where will they hit, how would we react, is is safer to stay in your home or head out for parts unknown? It is like we have been waiting for the other shoe to fall since 9/11 and George Bush has done nothing but take advantage of the current state. When it is his poltical need, he stirs up fear by making a terrorist threat announcement.

And based on all I've read and heard and viewed, I'm thinking that any politico that was power hungry enough and money hungry enough could have dreamed up 9/11 for their own purposes. Now I'm not a conspiracy theory person, but just imagine if you are the president of the United States and you have knowledege that terrorists will hit New York City , A city that represents all the evil of your little good verses evil mind, and since you are the president, you have the ability to act or not act on the infromation you have-to stop this tragedy from happening.

But you pause and you think to yourself, now if I stop this, no one will know because we stop thousands of attacks on the US every day and we don't tell everyone because we don't want them to be afraid. And no one will know and itiwill be harder for me to make a case to go into Iraq and revenge the attempt on my daddy's life.

On the other hand, if I don't do anything and these terrorists attack I get:

1. A symbolic hand of God punishing the big liberal capital of New York and sending a message from God to redeem their evil ways.

2. The chance to alter the makeup of the United Sates so that the government, me, has the power to detain and question people I don't like, I can shut down critiscim because if I don't like what they say I can lock people up.

3. I have a great reason to now wage war on Iraq and get revenge for my daddy.

4. Uncle Dick and his friends can become trillionaires rebuilding Iraq and then take care of me for the rest of my life.

5. No one I know personally will be at risk because I don't know or care about any of the poor people who will die and fight in the war.

6. We can go into the middle east, dictate to the nations there that they need to come to jesus and if they don't agree it will just bring on Armeggdeon, which is prophesied anyway and we'll all get to heaven, (me and my born again friends)

Cause remember God told me I was going to be president and redeem the world.

How tempting is all of that??? And to a smug weak born again elitist? Who thinks that he knows everything anyway? And who believes that he is better that everyone else? I say it was too tempting. The opportunity to wield an amount power and political control never before granted to anyone, let alone the ruler of the free world? To have within his grasp the opportunity to move America in "his " direction as no other one person has ever before? Come on people. For someone of the greatest character it would have been a deep personal struggle.

But for Bush/Shrub/Chimp this was a no brainer. Because he is a smug pompus ass with no character or integrity. I submit, he jumped at the chance. I say that he knew about the 9/11 attacks before they happend and he let them happen. When faced with an opportunity to rule the world, such as this one was, a stronger man may stood the test, but our spineless friend, he was no match.

I submit again that he was responsible for 911 because he could have stopped it if he wanted.

Pray to God Kerry gets elected.

Convention Night #2 and Night #3

2004-07-29T03:09:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night was good, I had to work a the pizza factory so I missed OBama, but I saw it later on the web.
I like what he said and he is good speaker.
I was thinking.
This convention format allows us to see how well they speak and tells us a little about how they think. Where's the test to see how well they play with others??
Teresa Hinez Kerry was good, a little edgy but remember we have June and Ward Clever in the white house now.
I noticed that we Democrats are now labeling ourselves as progressive instead of using the old "liberal" word that the Republicans have successfully turned into a four letter word.
Someone was asking Dean about calling himself a liberal and he said "Look I'm fiscally conservative and socially progressive and I don't care what label you use. If you want to call me a liberal go ahead."
Yeah team!

Wednesday night, Al Sharpton- good job! Democrats are really united here more than I thought. The trick will be to keep up this energy after the convention.
And then John Edwards. He did good, but I found my self distracted at the end by a strange sinking feeling. These speakers were good, but is it enough? As I wrote in an email to the Democratic Party, I don't know what we'll do if George gets re-elected in November.

This is all well and good, but I can't help but wonder if it is enough. I guess time will tell. All we can do now is lister to John Kerry tomorrow night and pray. Pray alot.

Convention Night #1

2004-07-27T00:13:00.000-04:00

Well here we go. It was a great night. We still live in the dark ages here and so we watched on network TV by candlelight. If the commentators would just shut up. And if the coverage would just start earlier like at 7:00pm. We were able to catch some on the local PBS station and then switched to Dan Rather, but more and more I just want the commentators to shut up.

I was reading a blog the other day where they were debating the revelance of the Democratic Party. I have a tendency to believe the role of the party is changing and I think this is due in part to the creation of independent fund raising organizations, like MoveOn and the effect of blogging on fundraising. You see on the political blogs they have the ability to let people know across the nation when a local polititican needs financial help. And then people send it, online and otherwise. One blog. One place easy to use. Who needs the party? That's what the party used to and is supposed to do. It is a whole new day in the political fundraising world.

So as the conventions become more and more polished and pre scripted, they become a giant pep rally, instead of a place where party platform is hammered out. The platform as the candidate was determined months ago. Yes I do believe the role of the political party has changed drastically. And I do believe what I read somewhere today, that because of these changes we are ripe in the country for the rise of a third party, if only because of the advent of the internet and the ease of fundraising throught its use.

2004-07-22T02:04:00.000-04:00

ARIANNA ONLINE - July 21, 2004 - In Praise of Unruly WomenWho would have thought this would be good, but Arianna's got a brand new bag, check it out!

2004-07-21T22:04:00.000-04:00

Boston.com / News / Nation / Washington / GAO: Army bungled Iraq contract management
All together now, can you say HALLIBURTON!!!!!

DNC sent email asking for our story, here's what I sent

2004-07-21T20:55:00.000-04:00

I have been laid off twice in the last 5 years. I am a technical writer with a college degree. I have sent out over 2000 resumes and been on several interviews. The only techical writer jobs are 1 about every 6 months in our area.The interviewers all say that I have too much experience. And the temp agencies are a joke, where you used to go in and they would have 5 or 6 opportunities for you at a time, I got one interview for a 7.50 hr receptionist job that 8 other people were interviewing for and I didn't get the job. Recruiters just want to show they are signing people up. They really have no or few jobs to offer.

I've spent my serverence, my 401k, all the unemployment I am entitled to, I've lost my house, my credit is ruined, I'm three months behind on my car payment, I beg them not to take the car every month. And I am a diabetic with no health care.I've had to move in with my sister, we're three people and three cats in a one bedroom apartment.Most of all I've lost my self respect, I've taken my (self paid for)college degree off my resume,so that I might get a 10 dollar an hour job, but still no luck.If someone tells you the ecomony is improving, they are lying. There are no jobs.

My grand parents had to move in with their folks and that was during the Great Depression in the 1930's, well this is the great depression of 2004.People who are lucky enough to still have a job and have had it for more than 3 years, don't have a clue what is happening.3 out of 5 members of my family are also out of work.

I can't explain to you how demoralizing this has been. I am 43 and to think at this point in my life I can't provide for my family is distressing for me. I finally took a part time job at Dominoes pizza for gas money so I could keep looking for work.
I know politics is about alot of well to do people running around saying they are going to fix things. The first thing we need to fix is to change the administration. George junior has nothing but contempt for the average person. You can tell the way he sneers his responses to questions. We need to wipe the smirk off Bush's face.
Kerry and Edwards are the only hope for this country. If Bush gets relected, I can't imagine what my family will do to survive.This is not the American dream, its the American nightmare.
Please, please vote for Kerry and Edwards, my family will be very grateful.
Regards,
Jules

You know every day we start fresh again...

2004-07-21T20:19:00.000-04:00

That's what I get from watching 6 hours of Anne of Green Gables videos... as never mind.

Where were we? The Democaratic National Convention next week, Hillary and Bill on Monday Night, Ron Reagan Jr on Tuesday Night, and the rest of the gang the rest of the week. Whooo Hooo Here we go!!! Boston here we come!