Do-Nothing (but hate) Congress
They've lost their marbles. Of course, I'm assuming that they ever had marbles. But, if they once did, they are now gone. Kaput.
The "they" I'm talking about is, of course, the republicans in Congress. It seems that there is a new agenda item for which they are fighting for, now that they've lost the flag burning debate. Seems today, that they're attempting to unleash
another pile of dung upon the American people:
“The American Values Agenda is a collection of legislative initiatives that speak to the values many American citizens hold dear,” said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). “Freedom to display the American flag. . . freedom of religious expression. . .the right to keep and bear arms. . .respect for the sanctity of marriage, and the dignity of all human life. These are values that have defined the American character, protected our families, and shaped our society.
This is really quite the pile of elephant dung. It's a collection of useless, discriminatory, self-serving, santimonious, pandering and otherwise destructive bills before Congress. It makes
Gingrich's 1994 Contract With America pale in comparison. Following are a few of the items that this do-nothing-but-hurt Congress is trying to foist upon the American People:
Pledge Protection Act (HR 2389; Rep. Akin)
Pledge Protection Act of 2004 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any Federal court, and appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of the Pledge of Allegiance or its validity under the Constitution. Makes this limitation inapplicable to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Seems the repukes want to bring back the 1950's McCarthy era insertion of the God thing back into the pledge, and prohibit any future challenge to that challenge in any local or federal jurisdiction. I've previously written about the God/Pledge issue in my article
Pledge Deemed Unconstitutional. Obviously, my stance has not changed.
Freedom to Display the American Flag Act (HR 42; Rep. Bartlett)
States that a condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association may not adopt or enforce any policy, or enter into any agreement, that would restrict or prevent an association member from displaying the U.S. flag on residential property within the association with respect to which such member has a separate ownership interest or a right to exclusive possession or use. Seems that maybe some condo association took issue with someone who may have displayed a flag in a manner that caused some duress to the association; like maybe the flag was so big that it maybe obscured someone's views out their windows, maybe. I dunno. Like we need Congress to be debating this crap when our soldiers have become casualties in an illegal war, 50K Americans don't have health insurance, and the environment is being rapidly poisoned.
The Public Expression of Religion Act (HR 2679; Rep. Hostettler)
To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to eliminate the chilling effect on the constitutionally protected expression of religion by State and local officials that results from the threat that potential litigants may seek damages and attorney's fees. This is really important. If a public entity gets sued for unconstitutionally displaying some religious artifacts and icons and other religious symbols, the defendent will not be responsible for shouldering the court costs, even if they lose. In other words, you sue and you win, and you pay the court costs. This piece of shit is intended to accomplish one thing only: prevent litigation against unconstitutional religious displays. Unfuckingbelievable
Marriage Amendment (HJRes 88; Rep. Musgrave)
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. Of course, this heap o' dung is that same old repuke assertion that marriage only be between a man and a woman, wherein this proposal would be the first amendment, if passed, that would actually serve to restrict rather than protect individual pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. And, what the hell for? Nothing, except to pander to a bunch of scumsucking demagogues who have nothing better to do than hate.
Human Cloning Prohibition Act (HR 1357; Rep. D. Weldon)
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from knowingly: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; (2) participating in such an attempt; (3) shipping or receiving an embryo produced by human cloning or any product derived from such embryo; or (4) importing such an embryo or derived product. Fact is, cloning and stem cell research will proceed regarless of whether these dirtbags pander against it, and very likely produce very significant desease-modifying and recuperative protocols for diseases and injuries that are presently both horrific and incurable. Therefore, I do hope that all the repukes who advance this ban, albeit fruitlessly, will be forever prohibited from benefiting from any medical advances derived from this science. May these dispiccable repuke hatemongers suffer immensely from these dumbass displays of selfishness and self-righteousness.
These are but a few of the bills that comprise this pile of dung called The American Values Agenda. These are not American values. These are not bills that are trying to ensure safety, protection, and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, as otherwise described in our Constitution. In fact, this hooey is nothing but the opposite. And, all this crap accomplishes is preventing any real substantive work being accomplished by Congress, like figuring out how to get health care and educational opportunities to all citizens, reversing the scourge of poverty and diseases and environmental degradation that is plaguing this country and the world, and protecting citizens from real terror here at home, rather than some pre-emptive, illegal war that is
doomed to failure. This collection of garbage bills is guaranteed to muck up the works in Congress, resulting in election year devisiveness and ultimate failure of Congress to accomplish anything substantive and worthwhile.
Up In Smoke
Oh miggod! Congress has failed us. Shall we never be able to recover? The Flag Burning Amendment has been defeated this week. Oh miggod! The country is now goin' to pot (did someone say "
pot"?). As is so deftly pointed out in the
WashingtonPost:
The Citizens Flag Alliance, a group pushing for the Senate this week to pass a flag-burning amendment to the Constitution, just reported an alarming, 33 percent increase in the number of flag-desecration incidents this year.
The number has increased to four, from three.
Well, I'm gonna wait for some other really important debates coming from Congress now (maybe like the marriage amendment or somethin' equally pressing and urgent to salvage what's left of this country), given that this majorly important piece of legislation, one that would have vastly affected
NOT this country and its problems went to pot. Hmmmmmmm............ I wonder if there is something pot related that this congress can wrap its brain around now that the flag amendment is now ...poof!!... up in smoke.
Read on the Blogosphere......
Dubya is turning the big
6-0 this week. It's really quite the milestone in history. It's the first time that his age will surpass his IQ.
Neocons and Islamists and War, oh my!
This is a rather shocking graph that I stumbled upon this morning at a site called
Opinio Juris. If this is what Muslims really believe, then clearly their countries, their regimes, their governments, whatever, are refusing to allow people to know the truth. And very likely, most of the people are too poor to have personal computers to view the web and read for themselves what really happens. It's a very troubling commentary on Arab societies.
Carried a step further, it's a troubling commentary on what any government can accomplish by keeping its citizens in the dark about its programs. It's a way to manipulate masses, by essentially lying and scheming and repressing the truth. Kind of reminds me of the jingo idiot who blindly follow the dubya regime into a crooked, corporate war. Jingism, blind patriotism, and nationalism are what led the German people down the road to its Nazi conclusion. America is not there, yet, and hopefully will never get there, but no thanks to the neocons who are doing their damnedest to get us there. They will be defeated. They are already going to jail in record numbers. There is hope.
This graph to the right is from the
same site. It's also very troubling, as it indicates that many Muslims believe that it's acceptable to target civilians for suicide bombings to protect the Islamic religion. Wow! See what an absense of knowledge can do to society; how it can manipulate people to believe such crap, particularly when I really do believe that most of the victims of such suicide bombings very likely were no threat whatsoever to the Islamic religion, and frankly, the suicide bombing itself is the biggest threat to Islam, in that it actually is a self-defeating mechanism to protect something that was not initially being threatened. Suicide bombing is an evil construct invented by evil people to use political patsies willing to kill themselves to advance a misguided and evil notion of bettering the world. I find the practice to be unconcionable, without any redeeming qualities, and nothing short of crimes against humanity, both in its planning through to its bloody end.
So, what am I trying to say here? I dunno. I hate Islamists, which are not the same as Muslims. Islamists are the radical terrorist faction of Islam who advance suicide bombings and dictatorships in the name of self-righteousness. I hate neocons, not necessarily republicans. Neocons are the radical terrorist faction of the Republican party who advance illegal war, killing and occupation in the name of self-righteousness. Both groups, Islamists and neocons, are liars, intent on duping their followings into believing whatever it takes to advance their own selfish interests.
This chart, also from
Opinio Juris, shows that Muslims, as a people, do believe that democracy can be achieved for themselves, that there is some hope. Am I the only one who sees the contradiction here? They want democracy, but they support suicide bombings, and they don't believe that Arabs were involved in 9-11. The author of the article felt optimistic by this latest chart, as do I. But, until people start getting the knowledge they need to achieve commendable societal goals, until governments stop duping and lying to their citizens, such a goal will not happen. The neocons seem to maintain the lies to keep the Islamists infuriated and perpetually suicidal, and the fictitious war on terror just keeps on going and going and going........... And, all people really want is to live free, feed their kids, and work. It's all that simple. They want democracy, but will never get it with the neocons and the islamists fighting for oil and superiority.
Keeping Up, or not, In the Blogosphere
I have taken another hiatus from blogging, not because I'm injured or sick, but just because I've not spent a whole lot of time on my computer. This past week, I've been working hard, coming home, and vegetating in front of he TV, usually watching dumbing-down things, like reruns of
CSI or
Animal Planet. Don't get me wrong. I love CSI, the original series. It's sharp, the characters are great, and the writing is superb. Not true, however, for the spin-offs, in my opinion. CSI Miami is dumb, boring, and the lead, David Caruso, makes me sick, as he plays this arrogant, holier-than-thou cop. I cannot watch the show. CSI New York isn't as bad, but I guess I just always prefered Law and Order in that time slot.
As for Animal Planet, I really get sucked in to the stories about saving desperately abused animals, Jeff Corwin's experiences (damn, he's good), and a few others. Nothing that will change the world, but my mind just needed some down time. Down time is good. It's regenerative, I believe. I sure hope so, because I've been completely uninspired in the blogging universe.
I think I've been lacking inspiration because there is just so much out there. So goddamm much shit hitting the fan these days,
so many people dying for nothing more than a corporate war, vast amounts of money being sucked from social programs to both support this corporate war, otherwise known as the Iraq Debaucle, in a manner that not only will not cost the corporate interests any money, but instead allow them to profit beyond a normal person's comprehension. If you don't believe me, check out the
Haliburton war profits.
Money has been siphoned away from social programs to pad the
obscene profits of the pharaceutical industries, thank you very much, dubya and your fucking cronies. Interesting that as soon as the Medicare changes went into effect, making it illegal for the government to negotiate prices with pharmas over drug costs, those same drug costs skyrocketed. Our neocon repukes paved the way for that financial scam.
Mr. Schondelmeyer said one clear indication of the inflation's impact could be seen among the six million low-income elderly and disabled people who previously received drug coverage through Medicaid but were automatically switched to the Part D program when it began in January.
That shift was a windfall for drug makers, he said. "Medicaid would have paid 25 to 30 percent less under the old system, including rebates from the manufacturers, than the new Medicare Part D program is paying."
One story that really caught my attention this morning is the piece about the neocon cockroach proposal to develop a
Sunset Commission. Their assault on this country, the United States, is so patently appalling, and there is no ability by the democrats to fight it, if voted along party lines, that it really does signal the unraveling of our environmental and social protections that were adopted by previous administrations. Very scary stuff.
Apparently rushing to lock in a long-sought goal before the fall elections, GOP congressional leaders may bring to a vote within weeks a proposal that could literally wipe out any federal program that protects public health or the environment--or for that matter civil rights, poverty programs, auto safety, education, affordable housing, Head Start, workplace safety or any other activity targeted by anti-regulatory forces.
....snip.....
If such a bill should become law, the sunset commission could be packed with industry lobbyists and representatives from industry-funded think tanks, and could conduct its business in secrecy. Two of the sunset proposals under consideration would mandate that programs die after they are reviewed, unless Congress takes action to save them.
This last paragraph means that if the commission decides to "review" an existing program, all they really have to do is say they are reviewing the program. Period. It would now have entered the commission's system. Unless affirmative actions are taken to maintain this particular program, the program could conceiveably die a quiet death. Corporate interests would laugh their obscenely greedy asses all the way to their banks. I'm really heartsick over this proposal. I really am. This from the
Rolling Stone:
In practice, however, the commission would enable the Bush administration to achieve what Ronald Reagan only dreamed of: the end of government regulation as we know it. With a simple vote of five commissioners -- many of them likely to be lobbyists and executives from major corporations currently subject to federal oversight -- the president could terminate any program or agency he dislikes. No more Environmental Protection Agency. No more Food and Drug Administration. No more Securities and Exchange Commission.
With such corporate interests running our government policies, and the sanctimonious Religious Right advancing the Christainization of our country, coupled with neocons demanding that the press be jailed for publishing stories that they don't want the public to know (i.e.,
Cheney Assails Press on Report on Bank Data), we are truly headed towards becoming a
fascist country.
Yes, boys and girls,
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE.
Priceless Colbert
This is priceless. Go to this
Colbert interview of Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), and listen. This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen. Westmoreland is obviously missing a few brain cells. Maybe an entire brain. Freakin' amazing that people actually voted for him. Miggod..............
Dubya's National Marine Sanctuary
Ever since the news broke that dubya created the world's largest marine sanctuary,
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, June 15, 2006, I've been trying to make sense of it. On its face, it sure is a good thing, however admittedly, I have not read the small print. Call me a skeptic. This from the
Seattlepi:
President Bush's creation of a huge sanctuary in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is something you don't see everyday.
He created the world's biggest marine protected area. He earned rare praise from environmentalists for saving the home of whales, large coral colonies and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Native Hawaiian groups said they can now hope for proper protection of a sacred area.
It was also Bill Clinton-like. By creating only his second national monument (vs. 19 for Clinton), Bush avoided second-guessing by Congress and periodic reviews of the protections. Big, bold and lasting: that's a fine combination.
Being the skeptic that I am, I've been searching and searching for why dubya did such a commendable and altruistic deed. It's so not like him. Really. Then, I found
it:
Bush Establishes World's Largest Ocean Reserve; areas northwest of Hawaii to remain protected until oil is discovered.
Now, it all makes sense. I feel better now.
Israeli Law and Order
I invite my readers to please read this article,
And Justice For All (Jews), that is posted at my good friend,
desertpeace' blog. I've heard both sides of the argument regarding Palestinian/Israeli confict, and frankly, I'm just so perplexed at the gross inhumanity that is perpetrated by both sides. I am also greatly heartened by the humanity that flourishes in spite of these inhumanities. Read this article. Read about truth and justice not for all. Read about some of the roots of hate and anger. I really don't know what else to say........
Gardasil and the Fight for Womens' Lives
When I read in the news that researchers came up with a 100% effective vaccine against the human papilloma virus (HPV), I considered it a major advance. HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer, as I understand it. It's a great advance, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it for market. This from
Alternet:
The pharmaceutical giant Merck produced the vaccine, known as Gardasil, which will be nothing short of a lifesaver for countless women. Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer killer among women in America, striking nearly 14,000 each year. Of those, nearly 4,000 die. Poor women and women of color will benefit the most from the vaccine, as Latino and black women suffer the highest rates of cervical cancer. Lower-income women typically lack the funds and health insurance necessary to have regular screenings for HPV.
According to the article at
Alternet,
Family Research Council,
"opposes it on the grounds that it might encourage promiscuity among adolescent girls. Now that the FDA has approved the vaccine, conservatives are already working feverishly to limit or even prevent its use." Interesting, and really sick, in my opinion. So, I took a gander over at the Family Reseach Council's website, and there is nothing whatsoever about Gardisil, the vaccine, except some video of
ABC and NBC newscasts about the vaccine, and some rather minor hesitation articulated by the FRC. But, hesitation nonetheless. What is wrong with these people?
I would bet, dollars to donuts, that if prostate cancer was considered to be an STD, a vaccine for it would be approved so fast, the FDA's collective head would fly off as they spin it to market. But no, this is a vaccine to protect women from cervical cancer. Women. They are worried that girls will become more promiscuous if given the vaccine. What about the boys? Nothing about the boys, of course, because they are not the ones who would benefit from this vaccine. A sicker bunch of moronic thinkers as those found at the Family Research Council would be kind of hard to find.
According to Katha Pollit of The Nation, in her column
Virginity or Death:
Not so fast: We're living in God's country now. The Christian right doesn't like the sound of this vaccine at all. "Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful," Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council told the British magazine New Scientist, "because they may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex." Raise your hand if you think that what is keeping girls virgins now is the threat of getting cervical cancer when they are 60 from a disease they've probably never heard of.
Peace Corpse
This is kind of an update to my previous post. I was watching
John Stewart's The Daily Show last night, when one of his "Bagdad correspondents" did an update of the death of al Zarqari. Along the banner at the top of the segment was the phrase
Peace Corpse. I thought that was hilarious, and felt like sharing.
Peace Corpse. Yeah, that's it, for sure.
Act of War???!!
There have been alot of baseless contentions regarding the Iraq debaucle, starting from its initial assertion that Iraq had WMD's and the Niger documents proved it, and the latest, greatest of course is that we're beating down the insurgency, and winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, particularly because we were handed
Zarqawi's head on the proverbial and almost literal platter. However, the most bizarre contention coming out of the White Wash, which I first heard this morning on CSPAN's Washington Journal, was that the Gitmo suicides are considered to be an "Act of War." Huh??!!!
After searching on google using the search phrase "suicides act of war", the first hit was from an Australian news service,
NEWS.com.au.
Inmate suicides 'were an act of war'
From: Reuters
June 11, 2006
Gitmo / AFP
Deaths ... inmates found "unresponsive and not breathing" / AFP
THE commander of the US Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Rear Admiral Harry Harris has described the overnight suicide of three inmates "as an act of war".
Three foreign prisoners were found dead overnight after hanging themselves with clothing and bedsheets in the first deaths at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since the prison opened in January 2002, US defence officials said.
....snip....
Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris, commander of Guantanamo, described the suicides were an act of warfare.
"They are smart. They are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us," Rear Adm. Harris said.
....snip....
Facing indefinite detention with none of the rights afforded formal prisoners of war or criminal suspects in the US justice system, dozens of the detainees have undertaken hunger strikes and attempted suicide.
Apparently, suicide attempts at Gitmo are not new. But, now that a few succeeded, it's being called an
"act of war??" To me, this sounds like a desperate statement made by a desperate man, trying to arouse some kind of hatred against some otherwise desperate people.
If I'm missing something, please dear readers, fill me in. In the meantime, I'll do some more searching around. And, I'll try not to get too nauseous from the dispiccable politicizing of these suicides. That might be hard, though.
Short Hiatus From Blogging
I'm back. I took a minor hiatus this past week because I had no desire to sit at my computer for more than two minutes at a time. Ya see, I had this really dumb and embarrassing accident at work. I've not followed much news or read any good books, or anything constructive. I did play quite a bit of solitaire on my PDA as I laid in bed in a painkiller-induced stupor. OK, the details........
As I was getting ready to disembark from the boat, I took my life jacket (we're required to wear them) off. Then, as I was stepping off the boat, a 25-foot Boston Whaler, onto the dock, apparently the wind (it was a very windy and rough day) blew the boat away from the dock, which was tied, by the way, but with enough slack in the line to accomodate tides. So, there I was, I guess in a momentary lapse of judgment, given that I've embarked and disembarked a zillion times to/from boats and docks, betwixt and between. Down I went, into the drink, between the hull and the dock. Needless to say, that is a rather scary place to be.
At first, I couldn't breath because the water was cold, and I was a bit in a panic. However, as soon as I gathered my senses, a few seconds later, I realized that the bottom was reachable, so I could just stand. Then, another panic set in.
My camera!!! Oh shit, my camera was completely submerged. Only after I handed it up to my co-worker who was on the dock, did I then begin the joyous effort of figuring out how to get out of the water. There wasn't a ladder to be seen, neither on the dock or the boat. My boss, who was in the boat, also panicked. He threw me a line, bless his heart. So, I stood there in water up to my chin, holding both ends of the line. "Mike?????? Thanks a freakin' bundle", I said. He then tried to haul me over the gunnel, but that wasn't gonna happen. I told him to stop, so I could climb up the horizontal structures of the dock, which I succeeded in doing. I think we all need to work on our rescue protocols.
By the time I got out, needless to say, I was akin to a drowned rat. I have some of the most severe bruising I've ever had in my life on both upper arms, my right hip and right knee, and my left lower arm. But, the worst is what is possibly a cracked rib on my right side. That hurts. Alot. It hurts to cough, to laugh, to sneeze (oh miggod) and to just breath. I had x-rays done yesterday, because my doctor wants to be sure I don't have a pneumo or hemothorax. "Wouldn't I know that already?", I asked. She said, not necessarily. And, of course, I get to file all the workers compensation bureaucratic crap, which is necessary to recover lost work time, and most importantly, to replace my camera.
My camera!!! Waaaaaaaa...........................
So, I'm back in business, rather sore and the biggest bruise, I think, is to my ego. Fallin' in the drink is rather hard to live down here at work. It's kind of funny, actually, and when I tell it, which I have numerous times, I always include the part about how my boss tossed in an entire unattached rope to me. He's a great guy, and there's nothing to really do now, but laugh. But, it still hurts to laugh.
SEE UPDATE Dusty Doggie Now at Eponym
UPDATE - As of today, June 10, 2006, I'm back at Blogger. The deal-breaker is the ability to post images inline with text, and on the fly. So that's that.I've been in a little hiatus from blogging lately, as far as you all can tell. But, in fact, I've been doing blog stuff like crazy. I'm a blogoholic, ya know. I had read an article,
Eponym Blog Host Review, wherein the author was saying that he feels that this new blog hosting site,
Eponym, is really good. I figured I'd give it a try.
I like
Eponym alot. I like that I can easily create a 3-column blog, that it has categories, that it's very configurable, though template tampering is something I have to investigate further. But, it does provide the ability to import your own template. Image posting is easy. And, it's neat and clean and comfortable to use. In fact, there are quite a few services that Eponym provides that none of the other major free blog hosting sites provide, as indicated on their
Comparison Chart.
My new blogsite is still named
Dusty Doggie, and I invite you all to take a look. I was able to migrate all my posts from my this site, but I left the comments behind, because that was a huge effort for which I saw no purpose.
I'm looking for comments, opinions, constructive criticism, gut feelings, etc. Should I abandon Blogger for Eponym? Should I not? One thing I am asking is that you post your comments there, rather than here. Unless I get a really compelling reason to stay here, consider me
there.
I'm going to leave this Blog alone, and post new articles and images to Eponym, so please bookmark the page and go there instead. If all goes well, I'll just stay there. If not, I'll come back here, and of course let you all know over there.
They've lost their marbles. Of course, I'm assuming that they ever had marbles. But, if they once did, they are now gone. Kaput. 
Pledge Protection Act (HR 2389; Rep. Akin)
The Public Expression of Religion Act (HR 2679; Rep. Hostettler)
Human Cloning Prohibition Act (HR 1357; Rep. D. Weldon)
