I saw this and wanted to zip off a quick word about it before slipping into a food coma from a fantastic omelette from The Daily Grind down on Washington. The jalapeno cheese grits were delectible as well...
Looks like the slimy fingerprints of the brain behind the curtain weren't erased as completely as desired in the case of the US attorney firings . The machinations of Rove have leeched their way into every nook and cranny of our government and it's high time for him to be called to account before Congress to testify about his actions. They've done as much, if not more, damage to our country and the World than W could ever dream of doing...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Good Morning... Do you know what time it is (and where your civil liberties are)?
There is a new Inspector General's report about how the FBI has been blatantly ignoring the guidelines outlines by the Patriot Act regarding the acquisition of phone and financial records. I wrote about it after hearing an interview with Paul Craig Roberts last Sunday.
Hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back!
Hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Surging the... Surge?
Just got back from some late night card slingin'... Walked away from a $.50-$1.00 cash game of No Limit Hold 'Em with $16 more than I started with. Any night where you walk away up is a good night...
Unlike this leap of faith that the Shrub is taking, possibly in response to the Dems finally showing some cojones when it comes to committing more forces in Iraq...
Unlike this leap of faith that the Shrub is taking, possibly in response to the Dems finally showing some cojones when it comes to committing more forces in Iraq...
Love your Boston Terrier? Better get a bumper sticker...
In the hairballs section of this week's Houston Press, the latest cutting edge tactics employed by the HPD were profiled much to the chagrin of yours truly and many others throughout the City who want to express their patriotism, support their favorite team or sports figure, espouse their love for their pet, or just communicate whatever personal message they choose.
I remember back when your friendly neighborhood officer had to find something else to pull you over for before giving you the third degree about a frame or cover or anything obstructing any part of the license plate on your car. I remember it clearly because I got pulled over, in front of the theater, for having a headlight out. Ironically, I had the purchased new headlight that morning and had not had a chance to install it before the show call. Now here I was, with a suspicious cop asking to see my hands, pulling me out of my truck, patting me down, and loading me into the back of the cruiser, all because my Pennsylvania license didn't have a handy dandy easily computer readable magnetic strip, therefore necessitating the manual entry of the information.
The initial suspicion was due to the fact that I had a clear plastic cover over my license plate in order to thwart miscreants in Philly from snapping off the end of the plate which had the current registration sticker on it so as to sell said sticker illicitly. I tried to explaining this to the officer, and he grudgingly bought it. However, after typing in my info and waiting for it to be read and processed, the screen that came up on the computer in his cruiser had the word 'suspension' in it somewhere, resulting in the aforementioned search and placement in the back of the car.
Meanwhile, time is creeping by, time that I, a newly hired sound engineer at a major regional theatre in the country, need to be using to get ready for the show and do a sound check... The information finally came back, there were no suspensions or outstanding warrants on my record, I think to the disappointment of the officer, and he had to settle for giving me the $50 ticket for the headlight. I zipped into theatre, did the fastest power up and sound check I think I've ever done in my life, and had a slightly surreal story to tell all my co-workers (some of whom can be quoted as saying "that was YOU?!? I wondered who that loser was who got pulled over right in front of the entrance to the garage..."
So, now the HPD doesn't need to wait and spot something like a burnt out headlight. They can pull you over for the frame or anything else covering any part of the plate. Another form of self expression falls victim to the Man...
I remember back when your friendly neighborhood officer had to find something else to pull you over for before giving you the third degree about a frame or cover or anything obstructing any part of the license plate on your car. I remember it clearly because I got pulled over, in front of the theater, for having a headlight out. Ironically, I had the purchased new headlight that morning and had not had a chance to install it before the show call. Now here I was, with a suspicious cop asking to see my hands, pulling me out of my truck, patting me down, and loading me into the back of the cruiser, all because my Pennsylvania license didn't have a handy dandy easily computer readable magnetic strip, therefore necessitating the manual entry of the information.
The initial suspicion was due to the fact that I had a clear plastic cover over my license plate in order to thwart miscreants in Philly from snapping off the end of the plate which had the current registration sticker on it so as to sell said sticker illicitly. I tried to explaining this to the officer, and he grudgingly bought it. However, after typing in my info and waiting for it to be read and processed, the screen that came up on the computer in his cruiser had the word 'suspension' in it somewhere, resulting in the aforementioned search and placement in the back of the car.
Meanwhile, time is creeping by, time that I, a newly hired sound engineer at a major regional theatre in the country, need to be using to get ready for the show and do a sound check... The information finally came back, there were no suspensions or outstanding warrants on my record, I think to the disappointment of the officer, and he had to settle for giving me the $50 ticket for the headlight. I zipped into theatre, did the fastest power up and sound check I think I've ever done in my life, and had a slightly surreal story to tell all my co-workers (some of whom can be quoted as saying "that was YOU?!? I wondered who that loser was who got pulled over right in front of the entrance to the garage..."
So, now the HPD doesn't need to wait and spot something like a burnt out headlight. They can pull you over for the frame or anything else covering any part of the plate. Another form of self expression falls victim to the Man...
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The Feline Felon's 15 minutes of fame
Divine Providence was apparently looking in on me yesterday and dropped a pair of tickets to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo into my lap. A friend of mine and I had been talking about going to see Sheryl Crow when she appeared last night, but all it turned out to be was talk until the email hit my in box and I called the ticket donator within three seconds to claim them. So after rushing home to pull on a pair of boots and grab a decent shirt, it was off to South Houston for a night of good food, good music (her vocal mix was slightly harsh in a bright kinda way, but that's just me being a sound guy, a hat I will always be wearing to some degree for the rest of my life, I imagine) and general merriment.
Poputonian has some thoughts about how the coverage of and wailing over the conviction of my cat's namesake is as relevant to the larger picture of what's happening in the country as I write this as the frantic coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death and the ensuing custody scramble for her daughter was to the other news last week, namely the emerging Army Hospital Scandal, which continues to grow in leaps and bounds (but is also starting to fade away in the mainstream media...) with the help of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Poputonian has some thoughts about how the coverage of and wailing over the conviction of my cat's namesake is as relevant to the larger picture of what's happening in the country as I write this as the frantic coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death and the ensuing custody scramble for her daughter was to the other news last week, namely the emerging Army Hospital Scandal, which continues to grow in leaps and bounds (but is also starting to fade away in the mainstream media...) with the help of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
My Cat is a Felon!
The Libby verdict has been known for less than twelve hours, and the volume of material written and distributed about it boggles the mind slightly. Arthur has a slightly giddy post written while listening to Limbaugh spin the results of the trial's outcome for the conservative nation, John has coverage of it here and here, and Fire Dog Lake has extensive coverage of the entire day, from the reading of the verdict to the courthouse steps press conference of the prosecution. John has the video of the Fitzgerald press conference here. Commentary on the verdict can also be found here and here.
Coupled with the escalating Army Hospital Scandal (I've stopped calling it the Walter Reed Scandal since it's a situation that is rife throughout the entire system) and the emerging machiavellian maneuvering behind the dismissal of multiple Federal Prosecutors, things are looking progressively more bleak for the Bush administration. One thing that concerns me greatly is the propensity of these neo-conservatives to lash out in a blindly defensive manner when backed into a corner--in this case, possibly by starting a new war to deflect attention away from all of the current political firestorm.
Coupled with the escalating Army Hospital Scandal (I've stopped calling it the Walter Reed Scandal since it's a situation that is rife throughout the entire system) and the emerging machiavellian maneuvering behind the dismissal of multiple Federal Prosecutors, things are looking progressively more bleak for the Bush administration. One thing that concerns me greatly is the propensity of these neo-conservatives to lash out in a blindly defensive manner when backed into a corner--in this case, possibly by starting a new war to deflect attention away from all of the current political firestorm.
Monday, March 5, 2007
The Walter Reed Snowball Keeps Growing...
but fear not, it'll melt pretty quick...
A quick update on the Walter Reed Military Hospital fiasco, then on to something much bigger. Hearings began today, with testimony from former and current patients. John has it posted here. Jack Cafferty returns to his segment during The Situation Room on CNN with some withering commentary on the scandal:
"Another glaring example of the Bush administration's lack of ability to deal with the consequences of its actions. Four years after invading Iraq, we're finding out that many of our returning wounded soldiers are being treated like garbage. And the government is quick to sing the chorus of, well, we didn't know."
Evidently there were some congressional members who tried to take some action to protect the government employees that were imperiled by the privatization of the hospital and have since left the facility in the wake of the mismanagement. They were dismissed by the Department of Defense and the Army, of course.
Here's the bigger item from the same folks that brought you the mess detailed above and also here, here, and here. The Guardian (NOTE TO SELF--NOT A MAINSTREAM AMERICAN MEDIA OUTLET) has received a memo out of the Pentagon that warns of dire consequences resulting from global warming affect that would political and economic stability world wide:
"The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.
'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'"
I have to believe that this is legit. The Guardian is one of Great Britains' most reputable news periodicals. And so, I find it scary as Hell. It was co-authored by one of the most respected advisors in the Pentagon, Andrew Marshall, along with Peter Schwartz, a CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network.
When a former head of planning for Shell and the ranking (30 years of service) strategist in the Pentagon both sign on to an indictment of Global Warming such as this, one should tend not to look upon it a another episode of the proverbial Environmentalist boy crying wolf in order to garner attention...
John has more on it here.
A quick update on the Walter Reed Military Hospital fiasco, then on to something much bigger. Hearings began today, with testimony from former and current patients. John has it posted here. Jack Cafferty returns to his segment during The Situation Room on CNN with some withering commentary on the scandal:
"Another glaring example of the Bush administration's lack of ability to deal with the consequences of its actions. Four years after invading Iraq, we're finding out that many of our returning wounded soldiers are being treated like garbage. And the government is quick to sing the chorus of, well, we didn't know."
Evidently there were some congressional members who tried to take some action to protect the government employees that were imperiled by the privatization of the hospital and have since left the facility in the wake of the mismanagement. They were dismissed by the Department of Defense and the Army, of course.
Here's the bigger item from the same folks that brought you the mess detailed above and also here, here, and here. The Guardian (NOTE TO SELF--NOT A MAINSTREAM AMERICAN MEDIA OUTLET) has received a memo out of the Pentagon that warns of dire consequences resulting from global warming affect that would political and economic stability world wide:
"The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.
'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'"
I have to believe that this is legit. The Guardian is one of Great Britains' most reputable news periodicals. And so, I find it scary as Hell. It was co-authored by one of the most respected advisors in the Pentagon, Andrew Marshall, along with Peter Schwartz, a CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network.
When a former head of planning for Shell and the ranking (30 years of service) strategist in the Pentagon both sign on to an indictment of Global Warming such as this, one should tend not to look upon it a another episode of the proverbial Environmentalist boy crying wolf in order to garner attention...
John has more on it here.
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