Well, I don't post here anymore. That's obvious. Thanks for all the faithful readers. I've decided to revamp the whole operation, so I'm taking up residence at theInner Cog. It's just me right now, but we'll see about some other folks. Anyhow, Bolo was fun, but I'm moving on. Come see me in the new digs.
Yahoo.com > DemoUnder
The news that brought me back. I'm on super secret undercover assignment right now, but Frist's unbelievable sense of personal entitlement drew me back into blogging. If I blog in the future, it will be quite sporadic; I don't get into port much (oops! I'm spilling the beans). But I've been watching Katrina coverage with pretty much blind outrage at the Bush Administration once again finding itself "learning the lessons" of being prepared. George, these are the Majors. If you don't already have the basics down, you screw up the pennant race bigtime.
But of course, they have the basics down. They demonstrated that during the election year in Florida. New Orleans in an off year? Fuck 'em.
I mean, seriously. Don't you know they just looked at Katrina heading for New Orleans with all its oil business and said, "Hey - great way to get gas prices up - hold off. And Rush and O'Reilly stocking up on poor (read black) degradation material is just icing on the cake."
Oo, don't get me started.
Anyway, I saw that Frist got his doctor props together and went down to do triage in New Orleans. I was giving him credit for that, but now the truth comes out: he needed a moral high ground approach to head off criticism about this blatently illegal stock trade. And the crap about his "conflict of interest" should be branded onto his corrupt backside. That rat bastard. Horsewhipping's too good for him.
I really should blog more often. Holding it in like that gets toxic.
Here's a sceen shot of a blog article listed on Google News. It's the one titled [url=http://www.americandaily.com/article/7895]NBC, Wolf Should Apologize Without Delay[/url].
Sure, it's in Entertainment, but that's still right there on the front page, the top headline in that grouping of stories. So our news is going to be subject to Googlebombing as well? Is there anyone else that thinks that's a bad idea?
Clark Community Network || CCN Home
General Wesley Clark announced at the Figueroa Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles that he will run once agian for President of the United States. It was, for the most part, a small gathering. The only notable that I saw there was Lt. Governor of CA, Cruz Bustamante. As the General was addressing the growd he said, 'some of you have been asking whether I am going to run in 2008' (not an exact quote) and the crowd went wild and started chanting 'Go Wes Go'. Clark said 'I am'. Somewhere in between he cracked a joke about how he was drafted late '03 and blamed us. Then Clark said that he thought if he ever got drafted again he would make sure to get an early start and then followed with THIS TIME he wants to make sure that he gets enough funds, so he won't be in '04 situation. Clark 08!Very good news. I'll be backing the General again.
 | Wesley Clark has just opened up his new website. Give it a looksee, will ya? |
MSNBC - Teen protests Pledge said in foreign languages
A ninth-grader is protesting his school’s decision to broadcast the Pledge of Allegiance in foreign languages as part of National Foreign Language Week.Sources tell me that Townhall.com has offered this bright shining American boy his own triweekly column.
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Patrick Linton said he and other students at Old Mill High School sat down rather than stand Wednesday when the pledge was read over the school’s public address system in Russian. Linton’s teacher told him if he had a problem he should leave the room.
He did, and did not plan to return this week.
“This is America, and we got soldiers at war,” the 15-year-old said. “When you’re saying the Pledge in a different language which nobody understands, that’s not OK.”
Charles Linton, Patrick’s father, said the use of other languages is disrespectful to the country. “It’s like wearing a cross upside down in a church,” he said.
This is weird. Just found this new blog: The Shortcake Chronicles. Marty's a strange little fella, but anybody who likes strawberry shortcake can't be all bad.
Shlonkom Bakazay?
It really must be seen to be believed. Some kid brought his camera to a Men's Service at his local Baptist church, which turned out to be a military recruitment service.
The reproduced program is chilling:
Men,I'm just amazed at the cognative dissonance that these people are able to contain in their brains.
It is a privilege for Porter Memorial Baptist Church to be hosting this event. This is the fifth year that our Men's Ministry has put this on and we are excited about how we have seen God provide for us to make this night possible.
This is a night to honor the men and women who serve our God blessed nation, and for those who have served in previous conflicts and wars. Porter Memorial Baptist Church wishes to say "Thank you!!!" for making our nation free to worship God.
We hope you enjoyed the BBQ meal and will enjoy some of our most talented men singing praises to God this evening. Most of all, we hope you are challenged and inspired by the testimony that Capt. Jeff Struecker gives tonight as he shares his experience in battle and his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Our mission statement is "To worship God, globally lead people to faith in Christ, and grow together to be like Him."
Most of all, on behalf of our pastoral staff and men, we want you to know that Porter Memorial Baptist Church is a Home for your Heart.
Cincinatti Post
Nick Clooney (yes, I believe that's George's dad) recalls how Carson staged a black wig protest on his own show when Clooney and two other grey-haired newsmen were let go from the local LA NBC news program that led into Carson's show.
LA Times
George W. Bush: enemy of the United States of America.
What else can we believe when reading about this incredible deficit? If you had hired someone to watch over your finances, and then discovered the person had wasted your entire growing surplus and sunk you even further into debt, you would fire him.
This person is not looking out after our common interests. The best way to destroy someone is to ruin them financially, and this mass deficit is ruining this country financially. Why does George Bush hate America so much that he must spend it into oblivion?
I'm really getting serious about this. Try to think of some better way to destroy this country, outside of outright treason, than to destroy its government economically. The Bush deficit spending is holding a knife to this country's throat.
And this, my fellow Americans, is what you voted on. Enjoy.
The Smirking Chimp
Paul Krugman explains why the latest push to dismantle Social Security is a scam. He's saying that if the economy grows as expected, the trust fund will last through this century, which is what I gather Bruce Webb was saying in a comment below.
Meaning that nothing needs to be done to Social Security, probably.
And then this section of the interview caught my eye:
If you really want to get scared about something that can happen between now and 2052, you should talk about Medicare and Medicaid. The entire system of private health insurance is gradually collapsing. And as the share of people getting medical insurance through their employers continues to decline, the number of people who have to rely on the government for health insurance keeps going up. At the same time, medical costs keep on rising, because doctors keep on figuring out new stuff to do -- procedures that didn't exist ten or twenty years ago.So if Medicare and Medicaid go bellyup, the people who rely on both programs will die, and end the pressure on Social Security!
Couple of additions to the blogroll today. First off, an new boldfaced entry: Conceptual Guerilla's Strategy and Tactics. You should read this fellow before you come looking at my wee blog.
And also a new e-zine: Commotion.
Have fun storming the castle.
I've been using one of my trackers here for 500 days today. It lists 19487 unique visitors. Thanks for dropping by.
A friend from Middle Earth, Ron Beasley, is posting some pictures at a new blog he started, Just Pictures. The guy's got a knack with the shutter - I particularly like the iris photo.
His news blog, Middle Earth Journal, is over in the blogroll. Go say hi.
Media Matters for America
An elementary school teacher was using handouts in his class that excerpted several references to God in the Declaration of Independence, along with other statements that emphasized the singular importance of Christian faith in U.S. history. Several parents complained that the handouts were crossing the line into evangelism, and the principal began supervising the teacher's lesson plans. Here's an example of one of the handouts that the principal blocked from usage:
Looks like that violates California code to me:
The California Education Code allows “references to religion or references to or the use of religious literature…when such references or uses do not constitute instruction in religious principles…and when such references or uses are incidental to or illustrative of matters properly included in the course of study.”Teaching kids that the Christian Bible is the only right and proper way to live is kinda outside that line, wouldn't you say?
The Smirking Chimp > Boston Globe
A forthcoming request for additional funds to continue waging war in Iraq will not begin to address the "hidden cost" of the conflict, according to Pentagon officials and other government authorities who say that tens of billions of dollars more will eventually be needed to repair or replace heavily used equipment and to compensate for the wear and tear on members of the armed services.Well, well, well. Can't you see the Carlyle Group and Halliburton lining up at the trough?
I've been a one-trick hobbit here recently. The only thing that works me up enough to post is this outlandish Social Security debate we're having in this country, thanks to Our Georgy Boy. He wants us to imagine a Social Security "flat broke", the same way we imagined that international terrorism could never pull off an attack on America. The same way we imagined that Saddam helped plan 9/11 and had weapons of mass destruction.
Think about that "busted" Social Security. Think about it hard.
I was just watching Green Acres the other day, and Our Everbeloved Leader reminds me more and more of Mr. Haney. Why the hell would Jeb ever buy anything from that greasy salesman? Because Jeb is a simplehearted knucklehead, that's why.
And that's what Bush is after - the knuckleheads. He's already got the mainstream media clucking around, looking for cracks in the Social Security sky. Get enough knuckleheads in the fold and maybe we can put Reagan on the dime in the same bill that fatally wounds Social Security. Who'd vote against Reagan? Who'd want to run against that headline next election?
The truth is: Social Security is like a car with a slow leak in the tire. We've taken it to the shop and Bush the mechanic is telling us that we need to replace the transmission. "You see," Bush says, wiping his greasy hands on a red rag, "if you drive this car for an infinite number of miles, that transmission's gonna grind itself into tooth fillin's. Think about that transmission snarling around your axle at eighty miles a hour while you got the baby in the car. Let's go 'head and pop you a new one in there, 'kay?"
There's a simple fix to the minor problem in funding Social Security: eliminate the ceiling on payroll taxes. Currently, Social Security taxes are only paid on the first $90,000 you make in a year. Most Americans don't know this, because most Americans don't make $90,000 a year as individuals.
But I started wondering: How many Americans would be affected by eliminating the payroll tax ceiling?
According to these latest figures from the IRS (Excel file), there were 110 million individual tax returns filed in the year 2002.
101 million of these returns had an adjusted gross income of under $100,000.
That means that over 90% of all Americans will see no increase in payroll taxes if we lift the payroll tax ceiling.
Some will ask: "How do you figure that, Bolo? The payroll tax ceiling isn't $100,000; it's lower. And adjusted gross income is after a lot of deductions have been made, so that number's inaccurate."
I understand that. I also know that we should be hauling in the next higher bracket to account for double income returns (married) whose combined income exceeds $90,000, but whose individual incomes would never have hit the ceiling. So I think the number of "over 90%" is fair and accurate.
We can fix the slow leak in Social Security with one simple proposal that will not burden the vast majority of individual Americans with one single cent more in tax. But this common sense solution isn't being discussed by anyone in Washington or on our public airwaves because they'd be seeing an increase in the tax they're currently paying.
If anyone's got a more charitable motive for why this solution is off the public table, I'd be happy to hear it.
Daily Howler
Scene: Talking heads at a roundtable discussion of Social Security
How many people at this table make over $90,000 in a year? All of us do, right?Hey, a hobbit can dream, can't he?
Well, we know something that a lot of Americans watching us don't: after the first $90,000 in a year, we stop paying Social Security tax.
That means the payroll tax is regressive. Poor people pay a greater percentage of their income than we do. If this ceiling were eliminated, there would be no problem with Social Security. It would be fully funded.
Now why do you suppose we aren't talking about that?
Smirking Chimp > Democracy For Virginia
Imagine the following scenario.This isn't law yet, it's the latest attack on women coming from the prolific pen of John A. Cosgrove, a Virginia state legislator.
You are at home alone at 8:00 on a Friday night. You are 8 weeks pregnant. You are excited about the pregnancy, but being cautious, you haven’t told anyone about it yet except your partner, your best friend, your parents, and your doctor.
All of a sudden, you begin to experience heavy cramping. Bleeding ensues. You realize with shock and sadness that you are probably experiencing a miscarriage. You leave a message with your doctor’s service. The on-call doctor calls back, offers sympathies, and advises taking pain medication or going to the hospital if the bleeding gets worse. She offers you the next available appointment for a follow-up exam - Monday at 3PM. You accept. You are overwhelmed with grief and surprised by the intensity of physical pain involved. You call your partner and ask him to come home from his “boys night out”, sparing him the reason over the phone. You call your best friend. She offers to come over immediately and make you cocoa. You cry.
You decide not to tell your parents yet; let them sleep through the night before delivering the terrible news. Your partner comes home and you break the sad news to him. He holds you on the couch and you both cry together. Your best friend comes over with cocoa. You cry some more. Over the next few hours, you suffer pain, cramping, and intermittent bleeding. Exhausted, you finally fall asleep in your partner’s arms around 4 AM. You sleep until noon, and then gird yourself for the difficult call to your parents, who were so eagerly anticipating their first grandchild.
Guess what? You just earned yourself up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Why? Because you failed to call the cops and report your miscarriage within 12 hours.
Report of fetal death by mother; penalty. Provides that when a fetal death occurs without medical attendance, it shall be the woman's responsibility to report the death to the proper law-enforcement agency within 12 hours of the delivery. Violation of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.Cosgrove really gets off on these types of laws - he formerly sponsored an amendment to make the failure to report a birth without doctor's care a Class 1 misdemeanor as well.
Any woman who, without the assistance of a health care professional, gives birth after more than 24 weeks have elapsed since the beginning of her last menstrual period and who, though she is reasonably able to do so, fails to report the birth, whether a live birth or stillbirth, within 12 hours of the event, to the local sheriff, police department or fire department is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.I don't know if this is law or not - it doesn't seem to have passed.
Feticide. Provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation kills the fetus of another is guilty of a Class 2 felony. The bill also provides that any person who unlawfully, willfully, deliberately and maliciously kills the fetus of another is guilty of a felony punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than 40 years. This bill is identical to SB 319."Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, the sponsor of the feticide measure, said the bill has nothing to do with abortion; he called the proposal 'a murder bill, pure and simple.'"
Just before his helicopter lifted off, Frist and aides took snapshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.I've got your back, Senator.
"Get some devastation in the back,'' Frist told a photographer.
