Quote of the Day:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington, DC, August 28, 1963

Revisionist SCIENCE

According to an EPA Report on its response to the WTC collapse released on August 21, 2003, it told the public that the air at "Ground Zero" was "safe to breathe" even though it did not have "sufficient data...to make the statement." It also says that the White House "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones." (page 17, EPA Report No. 2003-P-00012) They knew that there were cancer-causing asbestos particles in the air yet they announced to the public that the air was "safe to breathe."

^{© 2003 Tribune Media Services, Inc.}

God Bless the US of A

Quote of the Day:

"Look, the primarily difference -- to put it a little too simply -- between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options with Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil."

-- Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Saturday, May 31, 2003

My Afternoon on a Bus

My doctor's office is about two miles away from me, or about a five minute walk and a 10 minute bus ride away. Usually I like to be a few minutes early but the bus only runs once per hour so I would either be an hour early or right on time; I chose the latter.

When I got to the bus stop I saw the bus about two blocks away at the bottom of the hill. It was running right on time. I waited a few seconds and moved out to the curb so the driver could see me. Still the bus was at the same spot. After about five minutes it came up the hill and I boarded.

So now we are running about five minutes late but the doctor is usually farther behind than that, so no big deal. About half a mile later a passenger in a wheelchair wanted off so the driver put the lift out and it got stuck. He tried a few things to get it working with no success so he called for assistance. About twenty minutes later some mechanics showed up and they managed to get the passenger off but the lift would not stow properly. Now an hour behind schedule, a second bus finally showed up to get us.

I walked in to the doctor's office an hour and fifteen minutes late. I explained what happened and they mercifully fit me in.

I was surprised how calm everyone was, especially since it was so hot. Nobody was screaming at the driver. A few passengers even tried to assist. I guess people ride busses don't feel as self-important as some other people.

Quote of the Day:

He is richest who is content with the least.
— Socrates (469 BC - 399 BC)

Propagator of the Faith

I watched Life is Worth Living with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on EWTN today. This Roman Catholic bishop had a hit television show in the fifties on the Dumont network up against Milton Berle.

Whenever I flip across EWTN and Sheen is on I always find myself drwn in. He was so dramatic and had such a stage presence. He was also a spiffy dresser. I want a cape. I just love how he always ended right on time and with a flourish. He would wave his right hand and end with it above his head. As Sheen lectured he would stride across the set and stop with his body at a 45 degree angle to the camera, he would look into the camera and grab his garment at the chest with both hands. Then back to the chalk board where he would write "JMJ" at the top and then write key words and phrases as he went along.

He was just a lot of fun to watch. He was not always a popular guy at the Vatican but I believe that John Paul II reconciled with him shortly before Sheen's death.

Site of the Day:

Iraq Coalition Casualties

I hope Dubya is enjoying his vacation...

and raising lots of money at those GOP fundraisers. Meanwhile, the sons of the working class are still dying in Iraq.

26 American Soldiers Have Lost Their Lives in Iraq Since President Bush Began His August Vacation

August 23, 2003

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY by Barbara

As I write, 26 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq since President Bush began his August vacation.

The President has been busy during his vacation. He's traveled to several fund-raising events, for example, and played a lot of golf. However, he has yet to attend a single funeral or speak to even one widow or orphan or mother of our dead soldiers.
As I write, on August 22, President Bush is in the northwest. He's making a couple of speeches in Burbank, WA, and attending a private fundraising luncheon at the Seattle home of cell phone magnate Craig McCaw.

While in Washington, Bush might have made time to contact the family of Army Specialist Justin Hebert, 20, of Arlington, WA. A rocket-propelled grenade killed Spc. Hebert, serving in Iraq, on August 1 as President Bush traveled to Crawford to begin his vacation. (read more)

Al Franken 1, FoxNews 0

Franken explained that even if people (right-wing whackos) don't find his humor funny it is still protected by the First Ammendment. Yes, it still exists. Ashcroft has been doing his best to eliminate that pesky thing but it is still there.

Hey maybe THIS will be "The Al Franken Decade." Congratulations to you...Al Franken.

Fox loses battle to block entertainer's 'fair and balanced' book

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- A federal judge Friday denied Fox News Channel's request for an injunction to block humorist Al Franken's new book, whose title mocks the Fox slogan "fair and balanced."

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the book -- "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right" -- is a parody protected by the First Amendment.

"There are hard cases and there are easy cases," the judge said. "This is an easy case. This case is wholly without merit, both factually and legally." (read more)

Quote of the Day

Socrates is a doer of evil, who corrupts the youth; and who does not believe in the gods of the state, but has other new divinities of his own. Such is the charge. — Plato

Site of the Day:

JobForJohn.com

John, who was recently "down-sized," did his own Economic Reality Tour in response to the Monsters of Government Tour.

Propaganda Tour under scrutiny by Congress

At least one Democrat in Congress has the guts to stand up to Generalissimo Ashcroft. Rep John Conyers of Michigan has called for the Attorney General to stop with his rah-rah tour to promote the USA PATRIOT Act (UPA) because it violates a ban on the use of Department of Justice (DoJ) money for "publicity or propaganda purposes not authorized by Congress."

The DoJ must know how much opposition there is to UPA because they are doing this tour and they also felt the need to create a new website with the sole purpose of defending the UPA.


See the New York Times story: Ashcroft Criticized for Talks on Terror by ERIC LICHTBLAU

"Stand up for your right to sit back down again!"

Happy National Slacker Day!

We need a holiday like that in the US.

The average Amercian worker gets 9.3 vacation days¹ while the average German worker enjoys 30 vacation days. ² In fact, workers in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France and Spain are by law guaranteed 30 paid days of leave. Canadian workers are legally entitled to two weeks of paid leave. But American workers are not legally guaranteed any paid holidays or vacation.³


Holly Sklar, co-author of Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All Of Us, points out

Since Congress last raised the minimum wage in 1997 to $5.15, it has raised congressional pay from $133,600 to $154,700, an increase of $21,100 – nearly the pay of two minimum wage workers. ⁴

So while Dubya is enjoying his month-long vacation at his ranch in Texas, the waitress at the coffee shop that he and Colin Powell visited probably gets no paid vacation. And, compassionate conservatives look at the brown-skinned workers in the nearby fields and think that they should be grateful to be working at all, how dare they want a living wage and paid leave.

Anyhow, take the rest of the day off.



¹ _{U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics}

² _{Brouwer, Steve, Sharing the Pie: A Citizen's Guide to Wealth and Power in America . (3rd ed., Henry Holt, 1998)}

³ _{Jorgensen, Helene, Give Me A Break: The Extent of Paid Holidays and Vacation. Table 1
Legally Mandated Paid Leave in Europe and United States, 2000.}

⁴ _{Sklar, Holly, Poverty Wages Are Toxic}

Good News

Anne Garrels reports that Hilma Al-Saadi, the wife of an Iraqi science adviser in US custody, has been found alive. She had been evacuated to a field hospital an hour and a half south of Baghdad.

** Listen **

Dear Mr Ashcroft:

Please read the US Constitution. Particularly the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,....

The so-called USA PATRIOT Act clearly violates this basic right by allowing the government to search and seize one's property and records without probable cause. The FBI only has to say that the records or items are sought for an authorized investigation. That's not all. They can come and take stuff from your home and they don't need to tell you that they did it--ever. Nor can anyone from whom they requested records (library, hospital, university, video store, membership organizations, etc.) reveal that the FBI seized those records.

see: http://www.libraryprivacy.org

Take Action

Hey Arnold...

Gratuitous Republican full frontal nudity
at Brian Flemming's Fair and Balanced Weblog

Another victim of Dubya's War

Sometimes it takes an articulate English speaking person to make Americans care about things beyond our borders. Listen to this report by Anne Garrels called Love and War. It is the story of a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. The German-born wife of an Iraqi scientist who is in US custody was at the UN headquarters when it was bombed and now is missing and presumed dead. Hear her story in her own words as she was interviewed by Garrels just days before her presumed death.

** Listen ** (7:17)

Quotes Lies of the Day:

"I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons."
—Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at a hearing of the Senate's appropriations subcommittee on defense, May 14, 2003

"We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."
—Vice President Dick Cheney on NBC's Meet the Press, March 16, 2003

'tis the season...

Summer is ending and school is starting, that means that is that time of year again--shopping season. See the link below and organize or participate in a Whirl-Mart in your community.

WWWD?

Photo from GQ Magazine

Ashcroft takes his show on the road..

...to try to "sell" the P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act to Americans. Obviously this is a political ploy by the Bush Administration to get their story out to the people. Ashcroft will tell us that we are all safer now because the act gives the feds the tools to catch the evil-doers. This tour comes in the wake of numerous localities passing resolutions denouncing Ascroft's beloved P.A.T.R.I.O.T Act.

Ashcroft Kicks Off Patriot Act Campaign

By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft defended the Patriot Act on Tuesday, saying the anti-terrorism measure passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks has been key to the nation's efforts to thwart attacks against Americans.

In a speech to the conservative-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute, Ashcroft sought to counter critics who say the act gives law enforcement unnecessary and overreaching powers that threaten the privacy rights of innocent people.

Ashcroft said the law has given police and prosecutors the tools needed to thwart would-be terrorists within the parameters of the Constitution. He gave several examples where the act allowed law enforcement officials to bring charges against suspects thought to be plotting attacks or supporting terror groups. read more

Hypothesis

I just got an email from a professor friend of mine who just returned from Detroit and was excited all summer about going see Iggy and the Stooges:

p.s. Iggy and the Stooges had just finished their sound check when the power failure struck: a connection?????a better explanation than the radio talking heads were dilating on during our escape home on Friday ("If we don't know what caused it, why couldn't it be TERRORISM?")

The Tiger Lillies

If you are looking for some different music check out The Tiger Lillies (try this link if the previous link doesn't work). They are an ecclectic trio that is unlike anything else that is happening now. The group includes drummer, acoustic bassist, and accordianist/countertenor vocalist. Their music is hard to describe but polka-punk-caberet-chanson-folk will give you an idea.

They are only playing three dates in the US this year. In October and November they will be in LA, Boston, and New York then back to Europe.

The other thing that I like like about them is that they are totally independent, no record companies involved. Their independently produced CDs are only available at shows and online.


From their website:

Farmyard Filth contains possibly the most extensive collection of songs dealing with zoophilia in recorded history. Flies, Sheep, Hamsters, German Shepherds, Giraffes, Pigs and Calves, a veritable Noah's ark of beasts are paraded before the listener. Other subjects include amputees, pensioners and transsexuals. You have been warned.

listen to Hamsters (0:35)

listen to Roll Up (0:24)

listen to War (2:11)

"George Bush - he ain't no pussy" -- Bill Maher

Why? I just want to know why we need this, and why is it sold out?

President Crybaby by Matt Bivens

Deford on Bush and Baseball

Sports Illustrated's Frank Deford had a good commentary on Morning Edition a couple weeks ago. He talked about two of my favorite topics: baseball and the incompetence of Dubya. He speculates how things would be different if Bush would have gotten the job that he really wanted--baseball commissioner.

"You know baseball has reached rock bottom when the good people of Cincinnati give up on the Reds and start following the -- ugh -- Bengals in training camp. " -- Frank Deford

*listen* (3:23)

Read it here

More on blackout...

All of those Wall Street Republicans complaining about 4-12 hours without electricity shoud listen to Anne Garrels's report about the Iraqi reaction to America's blackout.

*listen* (3:25)

The New York City Blackout

What? The blackout affected more than NYC? I heard on BBC World that there was a power outage in New York so I turned on the television. MSNBC had shots of New York City streets flooded with pedestrians, so did CNN and ABC. The anchors were giving us play-by-play of people walking across NYC bridges and negotiating signalless intersectectins in Manhattan.

After a while they started interviewing people on the streets. So we were treated to New Yorker after New Yorker congratulating themselves for making it through such an ordeal. One guy suggested that the people in Detroit were probably freaking out but New Yorkers were calm because they can handle anything. The New York reporters were patting themselves on the back later in the evening. Someone said that New York City was calm while Cleveland had to impose a curfew.

I don't know how we non-New Yorkers manage live out here. We are all unsophisticated rubes out here in the hinterlands. Or that's what they think.

Another Wedding

I was at another wedding last weekend. It was a regular church wedding with a lot of attendants and a big white gown and tuxedos. Usually they choose the same music for the ceremony--Pachelbel, Wagner, Schubert, Mendelssohn. But this wedding--Page/Plant. That's right Led Zeppelin! The song was Thank You from Led Zeppelin II (one of my favorite albums). It is actually a good wedding song although barely recognizable when sung in a glee-club-showtune fashion.

**update**
I found a midi of Thank You **listen** at http://home.nordnet.fr/~gleroy/home300.html (I'm sure John Bonham is spinning)

Viruses, Technology, and the Elderly

I spent most of yesterday on the phone with one or both of my parents trying to help them fix their computer. I ordered a new computer for them about a month ago and I convinced them that should get broadband. So finally the cable guy showed up yesterday to hook up their cable modem. I should have known their was going to be trouble when my father called and handed the phone to the cable guy.

Anyhow, he hooked up the modem and got them connected but the computer would shut down every few minutes. He told them to call Gateway and left. So my dad called Gateway and after an hour he got to talk to someone who told him to call Microsoft. Well, he finally found out what the problem was--he had some virus and needed to download a patch from Microsoft. So he called me and read what they told him and I had to try to explain to him how to download and install the patch. The problem was that he had to read every single word in every box before he clicked on something AND his computer kept shutting down every few minutes. We gave up after about an hour and a half.

So my mother called around 10:45 pm and asked me to help her try to fix it. I found the patch that she needed and IMed the link to her, she downloaded it, installed it, rebooted and it only took about fifteen minutes.

Then she asked me if she should minimize the internet at night or close it. :-| Huh? Then I had to explain broadband to her.

I don't want to get old.

The Awful Truth

I borrowed a DVD of the 2000 season of Michael Moore's The Awful Truth and watched it yesterday. When it originally aired I did not get the Bravo channel but three years later it is still relevant and funny as hell.

Some of my favorite segments include The African American Wallet Exchange, Holiday INS, and of course Bush Bowl '00 in whih Moore sent someone to Florida to cheer on Jeb to catch up to little brother Dubya in executing prisoners.

Another good one is his show on Iraqi Sanctions. Moore took over a small-town gas station and started his own Gasoline for Food Program to help Iraqi civilians. He put an ad in the local paper and invited people to bring food for the Iraqis in exchange for gasoline at $0.60 a gallon. The gas station had a life-size cut-out of Saddam to greet the patrons and big paintings of the dictator on the walls of the gas station. The signs at the station said "Our Misery = $aving$ for You" and "Undercutting the Infidel Since 1999."

I don't know how this show stayed on television. I was a regular viewer of his NBC show TV Nation but that show did not last long.

Birdies Update

The baby birds have left the nest! I watched as one strayed away, out on a branch by himself. He sat there until mom returned with a mouthful of food for him and then he spread his wings a few times and jumped. I feared the worst but he made it to a nearby tree.

His siblings then wandered away. The Momma and Poppa Cardinals were busy keeping an eye on them and trying to distract the neighborhood cat from an easy meal.

Bird Picture

New Birdies

When I got back from my trip I noticed that there was a bird's nest right outside of my window. Three baby cardinals are now squeaking and trying to get more food than their siblings. The nest is about a foot and a half from my window and about five feet off of the ground.

Here is a picture of the birds. You can see the open beak of one of them right in the middle of the picture.

Living Legends: Ernie Harwell on ESPN

Ernie Harwell, the long-time voice of the Detroit Tigers, will be on ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball tonight. Harwell retired at the end of last season after more than 60 years behind the microphone. Listen to Don Gonyea's report from 1993 about Mr. Harwell after he was fired and then re-hired by the Tigers.

Tom Toles on marriage

What a long strange trip it's been...

I'm back! I know you missed me.


Trains..

Travelling around by train is an experience. We had to change trains in Washington's Union Station, which looks more like an airport than Philly's 30th Street Station or Pennsylvania Station in New York. We got sandwiches and brought them back to the waiting area to eat. As soon as we opened them and were ready to eat we heard a voice say "could you move that purse." And my female companion picked up her purse, which was on the seat next to her and put it with the rest of our bags. The man then sat down next to her.

This would not be surprising or annoying if the waiting area was full, but it wasn't. In fact we were sitting at the end of row of about ten or twelve seats along a wall and we were the only ones in those seats. Not only were there ten other seats for him to sit in, but the seat he wanted was behind a column that was about four feet in diameter and about one foot in front of the chair.

As soon as he sat down my friend looked at me in disbelief. I told her that we should move, so we started packing up our lunch. Then the kook said "Don't move on my behalf. Just because I have half a leg you don't have to leave." This guy was in his mid-thirties wearing wrap around mirrored sunglasses, jeans, boots (yes two of them), and he was mumbling. So we moved to two of the fifty or so available seats and ate our lunch and he sat there staring at the column that was right in front of him.


Wrigley Field...

I went to the Cubs - Giants game on Thursday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was my first time there and I loved it. It is a beautiful ballpark and I now know why it is know as "The Friendly Confines."

What a difference from Fenway. Both are great old parks but the Chicago experience was much more pleasant. The fans were nicer, the employees were friendlier, the food was less expensive, and the beer was cold. That's right, cold beer! And only $4.50-$5.00 compared to $6.25 at Fenway. The sausage is better in Boston.

The game was another one-sided affair--the Cubs won 9-4. I got to see Sammy Sosa hit a homerun and Barry Bonds go hitless. :-)

Anyhow, I am happy to be home again.