Lies...

• "The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff ..." -- President George W. Bush, 10/28/2003



• " they asked if we could help take care of the production of the banner. And we more than happy to do so" -- White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, 10/29/2003

So the White House made a huge banner that read "Mission Accomplished" and some crew members of the Lincoln put it up. McClellan claims that it was the crew's idea and the White House was just happy to help. Oh yeah, the banner just happed to be right over Flyboy's shoulder in the televised address. Hmmmm....okay...I believe that.

FREAKS

I watched Tod Browning's Freaks on TMC last night. I've seen it about three times now and it is disturbing and moving each time.

The 1932 film is a tragic love story set in a travelling side show. It turns out out the the real freaks in this film are the "normal" people.

There is an excellent scene where the "freaks" are stalking in the night rain. I really like the shots from beneath the wagons.

It is a short film (66 minutes) with a long history. If you get a chance to to see it, especially this time of year, you should.

First Franken then...

... The Simpson's?

Strange but true. Apparently Fox wanted to sue itself over a parody of itself.

Doh! Murdoch's Fox News in a spin over 'The Simpsons' lawsuit
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington

29 October 2003

Serious news is no laughing matter. Especially at Fox News Channel. That, at least, is the allegation of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, who has accused Rupert Murdoch's "fair and balanced" news channel of threatening legal action after a particularly pointed episode poked fun at Fox.

The episode in question featured a "Fox News Crawl" at the bottom of the screen, which parodied some of the more unlikely items featured by the right-wing news channel.

The cartoon ticker read: "Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent ... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com ... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer ... Dow down 5000 points ... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay ... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party ... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple ..." (read more)

Listen to Matt Groening on Fresh Air

On life and death...

A couple of life and death issues have been in the news over the past week or so. These are some complicated and divisive issues but my view is pretty simple: the government should not be in the business of making medical decisions.

The easier (for me) is the abortion ban passed by both houses of Congress. Although I probably could not advise any woman to opt for an abortion, I do not think that the federal government can outlaw medical procedures and once again make women second class citizens.

If I had to make a choice between

1. deliver a baby that will have no chance of survival and at the same time putting my wife's life risk; or
2. opt for a late-term abortion to ensure the life of my wife

the choice would be easy for me. I would choose to have a healthy, living wife.

If abortion is outlawed women will continue have them, as they always have. Does the christian right think that before the US Supreme Court ruled that abortion is legal women did not get them? Well they did.

The right-to-die issue in Florida is more complicated for me. I would find it very difficult to stop feeding someone and starving her death. However, this is not a decision for the state. If I knew or felt very strongly that my wife would not want to "live" in a persistant vegetative state I would try to do as she wished. But, if I did not know and her family felt strongly about keeping her alive I would try do what they wanted, even if that meant divorcing her and giving them custody.

Let's hope that none of us ever have to make such decisions, but if we do let's hope that we have a decision (within the law) to make.

Pastor Fred is at it again...

In a show compassionate conservatism Pastor Fred Phelps, of GodHatesFags.com fame, wants to erect a monument celebrating the murder of Matthew Shepard.


From AP:

Ten Commandments Debate Draws Anti-Gay Preacher

Fred Phelps Building $15,000 'Matthew Shepherd In Hell' Monument

POSTED: 2:25 p.m. MST October 27, 2003

CASPER, Wyo. -- An anti-gay preacher known for his fiery protests over slain University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard has thrown a wrench into another emotional issue in Shepard's hometown.

The city of Casper -- like other communities across the country -- is debating the fate of its Ten Commandments monument, which has sat in the corner of a city park for nearly 40 years.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation last month asked Casper to remove the monument, citing recent legal decisions against similar monuments in Alabama and elsewhere.

Two weeks later, city officials got another letter, this one from the Rev. Fred Phelps, whose Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas has led protests in Casper and Laramie on the anniversary of Shepard's death since the gay college student was murdered in 1998. (read more)

Speakers at yesterday's march were good...

...for me to poop on.

I saw some of C-SPAN's coverage of the March on the White House yesterday. Actually I was doing something else but had the television on and I was listening to it. Every time the "Free Palestine" guy introduced a new speaker I thought that it was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

The Birth Tax

10/23/2003 @ 2:46pm by Matt Bivens

American Nobel Prize-winning economist George Akerlof says President Bush's government is the "worst ever" in US history, and describes its budget policies as "a form of looting." New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman argues that since he has borrowed the money for his feed-the-rich tax cuts, "George W. Bush is like a man who tells you that he's bought you a fancy new TV set for Christmas, but neglects to tell you that he charged it to your credit card, and that while he was at it he also used the card to buy some stuff for himself."

We already owe a monstrous amount of money. As of Wednesday, the US federal debt was $$6,834,787,133,873.25.

So divide $6.8 trillion by the estimated US population of about 292.4 million, and it turns out every American, right down to those in hospital nurseries, inherits an obligation to cough up $23,372. For a family of four, that's a debt of more than $93,000.

Remember when Bill Clinton was president, and instead of adding to that national debt we were paying it off? (read more)

Late-night TV...

I was flipping through the channels at two o'clock this morning and came across Life is Worth Living with Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on EWTN.

The show was from 1956 and he was speaking about economic systems. He started by defining the two extremes of monopolistic capitalism and authoritarian communism. Being at the height of US anti-communism, I thought that this would be a rant about the evils of communism and praise for capitalism. Instead, Sheen explained that every person is entitled to property enough to live and care for his family, anything beyond that he owes to the poor.

It was a very interesting lecture.

Our right-wing conservative Christian Republican friends today believe that each person should amass as much wealth and property as possible and that the poor are poor because they are lazy. Not only do they think that they don't owe anything personally to the poor they also think that society owes nothing to the poor. These people like having a big strong military and it takes tax money to support the military, yet they are outraged that a tiny fraction of the amout of the tax money spent on bombs and tanks is spent to feed poor children.

Movies

I saw Sofia Coppola's new film Lost in Translation on Friday. It is one of the best films that I have seen in a while. Bill Murray once again shows the world that he is not only funny but yes indeed an actor. The film is filled with funny moments yet tragic at the same time.

In addition to wonderful acting by Murray and Scarlett Johansson, there are some visually stunning shots of Tokyo and the opening scene of Miss Johansson certainly grabbed my attention.

I watched Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen again this weekend. I love that film. One of my favorite scenes is when the handyman is trying fix a spring on a woman's bed. The two of them sit on the bed bouncing as Hawaiian music is playing on a black and white TV. And last night after the ballgame got out of hand I watched another of Jeunet's films -- Amélie, delightful film and the colors are beautiful.

Leaves...

This is what it looks like in my yard when I look up. It is beautiful right now but in a few weeks all of those colorful leaves will be covering the ground. That means lots of raking for me.

I spent much of the weekend on the first round of raking and pruning. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will all blow away.

A Nation Under the "Real" (Christian) God?

Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Lt. Gen. William Boykin has been giving speeches to evangelical church groups and making statements like this:

from Top terrorist hunter’s divisive views By Lisa Myers and the NBC Investigative Unit
During a January church speech in Daytona, Fla., Boykin recalled a Muslim fighter in Somalia who bragged on television the Americans would never get him because his God, Allah, would protect him: “Well, you know what I knew, that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.”

I just wanted to remind everyone that Dubya, while Governor of Texas, proclaimed Jesus Day in Texas. Is this an evangelical christian theocracy in disguise?

You gotta have heart

This man played for the Yankees, the Knicks, and the Rangers -- all in the same season! And, after the World Series he is retiring - after 38 years with the Yankees.

Who is he?

Why Eddie Layton, of course.

Bush ignored warnings

President Clinton warned Dubya about the threat of al Qaeda during the transition but in typical Bush cowboy fashion he didn't want to listen to "the enemy." We all found out eight months later who the real enemy was. Bush's advisors had told him that Iraq was a threat to world peace because they already had a plan to take over that country. They could go in and use their multimillion dollar toys to blow up things. It was a lot simpler to invade Iraq and declare "Mission Accomplished" than to defeat an oscure entity like al Qaeda.

Clinton warned Bush of bin Laden threat
Thu 16 October, 2003 03:27 BST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton says he warned President George W. Bush before he left office in 2001 that Osama bin Laden was the biggest security threat the United States faced.

Speaking at a luncheon sponsored by the History Channel on Wednesday, Clinton said he discussed security issues with Bush in his "exit interview," a formal and often candid meeting between a sitting president and the president-elect.

"In his campaign, Bush had said he thought the biggest security issue was Iraq and a national missile defence," Clinton said. "I told him that in my opinion, the biggest security problem was Osama bin Laden."

The U.S. government has blamed bin Laden's Al Qaeda network for the September 11 attacks.

Time magazine reported last year that a plan for the United States to launch attacks against the al-Qaeda network languished for eight months because of the change in presidents and was approved only a week before the September 11 attacks. (more)

Marlins get a hand...

With Prior on the mound pitching a three-hit shutout through seven innings the Cubs just saw everything turn around in the eighth. A Cubs fan failed to get out of the way to allow Alou to catch a foul ball that would have been the second out of the inning, Alex Gonzalez made an error on a routine ground ball, and the Marlins went on to score eight runs in the inning.

I feel bad for the fan. He will take the blame for the loss but the Cubs lost it on the field.

It should be an exciting one tonight. Kerry Wood will be pitching for the Cubs and he has been pitching very well in the post-season.

Also, anyone who is tired of listening to Tim McCarver on the AL games should do like I do and turn down the sound and listen to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on ESPN Radio.

Red Sox vs Yankees -- MLB or WWE?

Home video of Zimmer vs Pedro:

copy and paste into RealPlayer

rtsp://necn.mirror-image.com/media/video/101203_pedro_12p.rm

Codrescu on Texas History

Andrei Codrescu gives us his version of Texas history in 3 minutes 35 seconds:Andrei Codrescu Commentary: Messing with Texas
(from NPR's All Things Considered 10/10/2003)

To your health...

If there are any doctors or other health professionals who read this I would appreciate anything you could tell me about these symptoms:

• tremors - started about one year ago, get worse under stress
  
• constant ringing in ears
  
• occasional weakness in lower left leg/foot
  
• occasional tingling in last two fingers on both hands
  
• fatigue
  
• hyper patellar (and other) reflexes
  
• occasional dizziness
  
• MRI shows two small bilateral lesions in brain
  
• currently on zoloft 100mg
  
• VEP, BSAEP, and other evoked potentials tests were all normal
  

October Baseball

Wow! There were some exciting games over the past week. Of course I am looking forward to a Cubs vs Red Sox World Series.

Kerry Wood looked great in his two starts against the Braves. I just love to see a good knee-buckling curve ball. He also had a game-winning hit in one of those games.

The Red Sox had some wild games and I thought that they were going to blow it last night but they held on to win.

The Marlins have just been unstoppable in the second half of the season. Ivan Rodriguez almost single-handedly won the series for them against the Giants.

I did not watch any of the Yankees games. Baseball just was not meant to be played indoors on Astroturf and who can get excited about a team that can afford to buy any player that they want.

More Lies...

10/6/2003 - The Times / UK
Blair 'Knew Iraq Had No WMD' before Bush attacked Iraq
By David Cracknell

TONY BLAIR privately conceded two weeks before the Iraq war that Saddam Hussein did not have any usable weapons of mass destruction, Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, reveals today.

John Scarlett, chairman of the joint intelligence committee (JIC), also "assented" that Saddam had no such weapons, says Cook.

His revelations, taken from a diary that he kept as a senior minister during the months leading up to war, are published today in The Sunday Times. They shatter the case for war put forward by the government that Iraq presented "a real and present danger" to Britain. (read more)

What the heck happenned...

Well I got this email:

As you may or not be aware, we suffered a catastrophic failure on the
24-7
net server yesterday (September 30)

For updates please use the following links:
http://247webs.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11

Everything was gone. I had to change nameservers and upload everything again.

I am still working on it.

Aaaarrrgggghhh!