New Blog

I finally took the time to install Movable Type yesterday. I will leave this blog up but new posts will be at:

http://www.conniptions.net

come visit.

Bush's America...

where the rich get richer...

Internal Revenue Service statistics as presented by Steve Brouwer in Robbing Us Blind: The Return of the Bush Gang and the Mugging of America, Common Courage Press, 2004

Redistribution of Income	1970s	2000s
Richest 1%	9.3% of all US income	20.8% of all US income
Bottom 90% (the rest of us)	67% of all US income	52% of all US income

...and the rest of us pay for it.

BushCo admits no WMD

From nytimes.com:

White House Shows Less Certainty Now on Iraq's Arms

By JAMES RISEN

Published: January 27, 2004

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 — The White House began to back away on Monday from its assertions that Iraq had illegal weapons, saying it now wanted to compare prewar intelligence assessments with what may be actually found there.

The evolving position followed criticism of the intelligence reports about Iraq from the C.I.A.'s former chief weapons inspector, David A. Kay, comments that increased pressure on the C.I.A. and intensified the political debate in Washington over who was responsible for shaping the prewar intelligence that President Bush used to justify toppling Saddam Hussein.

While Republican leaders have focused on the C.I.A. and how it gathered intelligence, Democrats have called for a close look at how the White House used that information.

On Monday White House officials were no longer asserting that stockpiles of banned weapons would eventually be found.
more

Vincent Simmons

I watched part of a documentary called The Farm on Sundance today. One section struck me. It was about a man, Vincent Simmons, sentenced to 100 years of hard labor for two rapes that he denies committing. There is nothing unusual about an inmate claiming that he was wrongly convincted but I believe him.

The scene is of Mr. Simmons's first parole hearing after 20 years in prison. He is brought in before the board, they ask him a few questions, he presents them with new evidence--the line-up photo in which he is the only one handcuffed, a doctor's report that states that the accuser was a virgin, and more--that was not revealed during his trial. As soon as he left the room the men on the board said that they had no doubt that he is guilty. They also tell his accuser that she doesn't have to worry about them letting him out.

He was also shot in the police station while he was handcuffed and he said that the officers who transported him to the prison stopped along the way and told him to get out and run. Imagine how many black men have been unjustly accused, arrested, convincted, and even executed in this country.

There is a whole film about Mr. Simmons and his case that I want to see. It is called Shadows of Doubt: The State Vs. 85188 Vincent Simmons.

Judge rules part of USA PATRIOT Act unconstitutional

Part of the USA PATRIOT Act has been ruled unconstitutional.

Part of Patriot Act Ruled Unconstitutional

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a portion of the USA Patriot Act that bars giving expert advice or assistance to groups designated foreign terrorist organizations.

The ruling marks the first court decision to declare a part of the post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism statute unconstitutional, said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who argued the case on behalf of the Humanitarian Law Project.

In a ruling handed down late Friday and made available Monday, U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins said the ban on providing "expert advice or assistance" is impermissibly vague, in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.

John Tyler, the Justice Department attorney who argued the case, had no comment and referred calls to the department press office in Washington. A message left there was not immediately returned.
(read more)

Katrina on Dubya's SOTU

"In a time of revolutionary despair, during the Great Depression and World War II, President Roosevelt gave America a vision of hope, confidence and courage and told us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Instead, Bush just reminded us last night that this Administration has nothing to fear but the end of fear itself."
-- Katrina vanden Heuvel, Thoughts on the SOTU

Howard Dean Remix

From NPR's Day to Day:

* Listen *

State of the Union

Dubya's State of the Union Address sounded to me like a one hour campaign ad.

We've not come all this way -- through tragedy, and trial and war -- only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same from us. In their efforts, their enterprise, and their character, the American people are showing that the state of our union is confident and strong.
- as read by G.W. Bush

He told senior citizens that they will get free prescription drugs, he told small businesses that they are getting tax breaks, he said that the economy is recovering. Someone who didn't know better would think that we are better off now than we were four years ago. It just isn't true.

Activist judges have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives. If judges insist on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative left to the people would be the constitutional process.
- as read by G.W. Bush

Huh? Now we're going after those scary men in long black robes--judges. Well, only "activist" judges.

I had to go and find Kennedy's Inaugural Address from January 20, 1961. *listen* Of course the world was different then, the bogeyman then was Communism and now it is Terrorism. But listen to that speech, that is what a statesman sounds like. That speech helped to inspire a generation to public service. Has anything that Dubya said inspired anyone besides CEOs and millionaires?

Iowa Caucuses II

C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 were each televising precinct caucuses. I watched them as if they were NFL playoff games. People from non-viable groups were trying to convince others to join them in order to become viable while members of already viable groups were trying to get the non-viables to join them to get more delegates.

Pretty sad, isn't it, that I can get excited about such things. Just wait until November. In 2000 I was watching coverage until 5am. I hope that this time it isn't quite so exciting.

Iowa caucuses

I predict that John Edwards will win Iowa tonight, followed by Kerry, Dean, and Gephart.

Academic Freedom?

Now I it looks like you have to watch what you say even in the halls of academia. A professor at Penn State's Altoona campus is facing termination because she dared to speak out against the University. Welcome to John Ashcroft's America.

Professor battles to keep tenure
By Gwenn Miller
gmiller3@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK - A tenured associate professor of theater arts at Penn State Altoona is in the midst of a private battle to keep her job.

In a rare move by Penn State, closed hearings are being held this month at University Park to determine whether Nona Gerard will be given the ultimate penalty -- unemployment -- for her vocal criticisms of a Penn State program.

Gerard received a letter Aug. 11 from William Cale, dean and CEO of Penn State Altoona, outlining the charges of "failure to perform" and "grave misconduct."

The letter states that in numerous e-mail messages to various faculty members, Gerard has refused to "work positively to develop and promote the IA (integrative arts) program."

Gerard, who earned tenure in 1994, admits that she criticized aspects of Altoona's four-year integrative arts degree but said it was within her First Amendment rights and rights as a tenured faculty member to do so.
(read more)

I pledge allegiance to GOD...

I am still amused by the jesussave.us website. Today's highlight: A Godly U.S. Flag with certified vexillologist "Diamond" Jack Holgroth.

Who are these people? Why do they insist on forcing their religion on us? They can't even agree on one version of their religion. Even different groups of Baptists fight among themselves, how do they expect to unite an entire country when they cannot even get along with other christians.

Abstinence Shorts?

I was checking out a "youth rock ministry" site and found these cool abstinence shorts.

I think that are trying a bit too hard to be hip or cool or whatever "the kids" are calling it these days. But Pastor "Skeet" Hoskins does have that rockstar look.

Look at some of the phrases on the site:

• Joyful praise rocks da house!


• Rocking the world with the word!


• Jesus can rock too!


• Radically Abstinent, Saved & Saving it!

This site is almost a parody of itself. Check it out. http://objective.jesussave.us/index.html

Health Update

My doctor's office called today with my blood test results. He wants me to come back in two weeks for another blood test. One of the liver function tests (ALT) was high (64). Until then I am not allowed to have any aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Aleve, or alcohol.

My First Mister

I watched the film My First Mister the other day on Sundance. I enjoyed it. It is not the best movie I've ever seen, but I enjoyed it.

Albert Brooks plays a 49 year old "square" and Leelee Sobieski plays a pierced and tattooed 17 year old with a strange family. The two of them become unlikely friends.

Also in the film are Michael McKean as "Bob" the stepfather, John Goodman as the pot-smoking-aged-hippie dad, and Carol Kane as the mother.

Sobieski as "J" needs to earn some spending money so she gets a job at Retail Slut. She is soon fired for having a bad attitude, so she heads to the mall to look for another job. After being denied many times she sees Brooks (as Randall) dressing a mannequin in a conservative clothing store. She finds him amusing and heads in to ask for a job. He tells her to leave because she is scaring the customers, but adds that she should go home and remove the "silverware" from her face and return in a week. She does and their relationship begins. He buys her clothes for work and she takes him to her favorite coffeehouse called Bourgeois Pig.

Powell on Iraq-Al Qaeda link:

"I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection"
-- Secretary of State Colin Powell, January 8, 2003

No WMD.

No link to Al Qaeda.

Iraqis are no safer than they were a year ago.

Who me?

Yeah, I took some time off. But, now I'm back!

Not much to report. I got a new computer. I went from a PII 350Mhz to a P4 2.66Mhz. After six years it was time for an upgrade.

I still have my doctor peplexed. I was there yesterday and he ordered more blood tests. It was actually pretty painless, but I'm a wuss. I am still hyperreflexive (?) on my left side, my left leg kicks spastically when he taps my knee. I still have a tremor and occasional fatigue that lasts for days. He said he's pretty sure that it is not MS or ALS but he's sending me back to the neurologist.

So that's about it. I know that there has been lots of news to comment on but I haven't had the energy to post anything lately--maybe later this week.

Phils lose a reliever

Tug McGraw
1944-2004