Stufftbox

Bravo Senator Feingold, Bravo

2006-03-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

Thank you Senator Feingold. It was refreshing to hear someone important, who was democratically elected say what people are saying all across this country:

I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide. … Too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2000 and 2004. In the face of this, they’ll say we’d better just focus on domestic issues. … [Democrats shouldn’t] cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question the administration, you’re helping the terrorists.

If this is the response by Senator Allard of Colorado, we are in truly sad and pathetic times.

Since Republican Senators kowtowed to the President again, we needed someone, anyone to stand up and say what needs to be said. With numbers like Bush's approval, currently around 36%, give or take a few points, what political capital does this guy have? From what I pick up, Bush is a divider, not a uniter. One man does not make a country of laws and rules.

Why does the President of the United States believe that he is an exception to the rule of law? At this point, what exactly is the position of this administration? First they say you need a court order to tap an American citizen, and then they say the law is too old. There are rules for oversight. This 109th Congress has not done their job of oversight, just like members of the 108th Congress failed to provide leadership.

People everywhere need to understand that the Republicans have ruled with an iron fist from 2002 on. They have invoked fear and used ignorance to divide and conquer their opponents and critics. Much of what they have said has not come true. Not a crack team of people I believe can get the job done. Most of the Republicans have acted like little pantywaists and bowed to the President's agenda. Unfortunately their agenda and execution have sucked. My friend keeps reminding me that it is not any kind of conspiracy; it's just really bad ideas and even poorer execution of them. I think my friend is right.

When you have people like Rumsfeld trying to answer questions about the violence in Iraq and the ensuing civil war that has been going on for close to two months, it is simply ridiculous to receive an answer like this:

Rumsfeld: ...I think until I've had a chance to think more about it and-and-uhh-I-I will say I don't think it'll look like-ahh- the United States's civil war.

No shit, Sherlock. Thanks for the information. Wow, it is unbelievable that an administration could hold the citizens of this country in such contempt and feel as though they don't need to answer questions about where my money goes. About $5.9 Billion a month right now to fund Iraq. Throw in Afghanistan and the total per month reaches $6.9 billion a month.

From the Wall Street Journal a few days back:
Monthly expenditures are running at $5.9 billion; the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan adds roughly another $1 billion. Taken together, annual spending for the two wars will reach $117.6 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 -- 18% above funding for the prior 12 months.

To date, the war has cost nearly $400 billion ($400,000,000,000.00)

From a senate hearing a week and a half ago, Senators questioned the ever increasing costs of "the global struggle against extremism" as it is called by some, at least until people said: what!?

The Senate Budget Committee rebuked Pentagon officials Thursday for continued use of emergency spending to fund wars, and their high cost. "What you send up here for a defense budget has no relevance to the real budget because you're 15, 20 percent off on what you're actually spending every year," said Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "How do we get out of this process of budgeting by emergency, which basically means we're not budgeting at all, we're simply (giving) you an open-ended check, subject to your sending up the supplemental."

We are looking at a conflict that could cost $1-2 Trillion dollars. That's a lot of dough that can be spent on schools, infrastructure, homeland security, healthcare for the poor and disabled. Just plain good old-fashioned American prosperity. Now there's a concept for you. Politicians working for the greater good of its citizens.

With the list of the damned growing by the day (oh so many REPUBLICANS), you start to see the pattern. Some of these people are robbing our country blind. LOOK AT THE LIST OF NEARLY 30 INDICTED AND CONVICTED FELLAS, GOOD FELLAS, of the REPUBLICAN PARTY. It comes courtesy of the great folks at a site called Talking Points Memo. It's great to see folks like these and thousands upon thousands more who are working to expose the lies and deceits of people who rob from are country, REPUBLICAN or the occasional Democrat. I don't want to be partial; I want them all in jail.

The Grand Ole Docket tracks trial dates, court appearances and sentencing hearings for players in the current array of national political scandals. But not just any crook can make it on the Docket - it only tracks perps who've been named by prosecutors in indictments or plea agreements.

They even have a subdocket for the state of Ohio. I guess they are so corrupt; they got their own page!

You have people from Washington DC, California, Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Ohio, the country of Greece, New York and even from that little place called the White House. That's right from the house that brought you moral values. They are people like JACK ABRAMOFF, formerly a "super lobbyist", Congress people like DUKE CUNNINGHAM, convicted congressman, TOM DELAY, indicted House Majority Leader (aka the "Hammer"), MITCHELL WADE, a defense contractor, DAVID SAFAVIAN, chief of staff for the General Services Administration within the White House. The list goes on and on. Of course, in fairness to all the corrupt REPUBLICANS out there, I don't want to be unfair. There are a couple of "bad apples" as Senator Frist of Tennessee would say who are Democrats. By my count, that's about 35 REPUBLICANS and 2 or 3 Democrats. Like I've been telling people for a while. This is a REPUBLICAN scandal. I have no doubt that the percentages won't skew off the 90/10 scale that I have set as the bar for measuring the corruption across this country. That being said, I'm being generous and leaving plenty of room for error.

Ladies and gentleman, when will someone stand up and say the emperor is naked? Thanks again Senator Feingold. Your efforts are truly appreciated.

The budget deficit for the past fiscal year was $760 billion

One of the startling revelations of the 158 page report, titled “Financial Report of the United States Government 2005”, was the admission from Secretary Snow that the U.S. deficit under practical business accounting methods in 2005 was $760 billion – more than double the more widely reported $319 billion.

The national debt ceiling will need to raised again to accommodate our already $8.2 trillion dollar national debt. ($8,200,000,000,000.00)

Today, around 45 million citizens do not have access to affordable healthcare coverage.

The federal government has increased spending by nearly 40% since George Bush took office in 2001.

As of March 11, 2006, -- 2,463 U.S. soldier have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. For every day in Iraq so far, 2.1 soldiers die for everyday of this war. Every day 2.1 soldiers die.

Each individual’s share of the national debt has grown from around $21,000 before Bush took office to nearly $28,000 today. That is a nearly 33% increase in just 5 years.

Number of funerals of fallen soldiers attended by President Bush: 0 (zero).

At least 20,000 U.S. soldiers have been injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The President has allowed the torture of people. These are the pictures of what torture is under American occupation.

The army lied about Pat Tillman's death to make him into a hero, all for political gain to win at any cost.

Are you getting the idea yet?

Make 2006 the year of the Democrats. Bring a little sanity back to these United States of America.

Here is the Muslim version of Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity in the Middle East. In a nutshell, the man on the tape is a fucking idiot. Quite similar to some of our very own American versions who call themselves informative. They spew hate just like this guy.

Dissention on your part is complicity with the terrorists. Yeah, okay.

Lying Cheats

2006-01-10T00:18:00.000-05:00

With all the recent scandals and more to come, why shouldn't people believe that the Republican party is the party of corruption?

Just another fine example of the Tom Delay-Jack Abramoff scandal.

They're all running for as much cover as possible. Funny how all that lobbying money keeps funneling back to the same people.

Tom Delay's appeal in a Texas court was turned down by 9 elected REPUBLICAN judges.

It's not about cheap partisan politics anymore, it's all about breaking the law and thinking you can get away with it because your above the law. You're not!

Some of these folks are about as Christian as my chances are of wiping my ass with sandpaper rather than tissue paper.

Oh, and as I side note. You would have to be mentally retarded to think George Bush doesn't know Jack Abramoff. He or his associates visited the White House some 200 times just in the first 10 months of the Bush administration.

Jack Abramoff was a Pioneer fundraiser for the Bush2004 campaign. That means he raised at least $100,000.oo. Little favors like that are hard to forget. People like that always get a handshake and a personal thank you from the President. Anything less would be insulting.

Coincidence? I doubt it. Just remember Susan Ralton's name. She worked for Jack Abramoff and then went to work at the Whitehouse for Karl Rove. She was the "gatekeeper". That's where lobbyists get access to high order officials within the Whitehouse.

The Republican Party is the party of corruption.

For 2006, the theme is set. The choices become easier by the day. Hopefully, Santa put some spines in the stockings of good little Democrats this year.

Torture is not an American value

2005-12-30T02:05:00.000-05:00

Recently released memos from Craig Murray, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Read the above link. This ain't "24" and Jack Baurer saving the world. This is the actual torture of other humans to gather information for "the global struggle against extremism", as it is called.

If true, it is against the Geneva Conventions.

What makes people who torture other people any better than the terrorists?

We know terrorists are scum.

What do you think of the people who condone the practice of torture? Are they really any better?

This is not an American value, nor a Christian value, nor many others for that matter. This must stop.

Executive power does not need to be extended in this country, it needs to be curtailed. 535 people are elected to make the laws of this country. When will they flex their elected power and stop the continual fear mongering that persists under this administration. It is just lie after lie after lie.

Life is inherently a risk. You are no safer in George Bush's America today than 4 years ago. In fact, we are less safe because this administration is so inept at actual diplomacy. We are more hated because of this. Inherently, we are less safe.

Electronic Voting and Diebold - Hack that vote!

2005-12-14T18:02:00.000-05:00

Just released-- Diebold machines can be hacked pretty easily. Just how safe is our democracy?

Right in my own backyard of Florida (Leon County, FL). This really sucks since the CEO of Diebold promised to deliver the state of Ohio for President Bush in last year's presidential election. Pretty damn shady if you ask me.

What's wrong with using machines that incorporate open source code for verification? Anyone?

I can only come to one simple conclusion: voting has become a for-profit venture. Not only is this wrong, but people are just getting plain screwed over!

Wake up America. Stop letting crooks steal your tax money for their benefit.

Wikipedia, the next Google?

2005-12-01T18:23:00.000-05:00

Back in August I had read an interesting article about Wikipedia and what it was doing to change how information is posted for people to use. It is an open environment format that allows people to continually edit and improve information.

Here is my posting from back in August.

Here's a is a little bio information on Steve Rubel who runs a PR firm in NYC.

Widely viewed as an expert on citizen's media and marketing, Rubel is often sought out as a speaker and appears frequently in the press. He has been named to several prestigious lists, including: Media Magazine's Media 100, the AlwaysOn/Technorati Open Media 100 and the CNET News.com Blog 100.

Here is Mr. Rubel's take on why Wikipedia has the ability to be the next Google.

Take it for what you want, I just think it is amazing how much technology has changed over the past decade and at that, just the past couple of years.

It's almost like tech overload, but the potential seems unlimited right now.

In my opinion, data mining will be the future. How we use it is another matter. If we are thinking forward, "idea capital" should be the driving force of what will keep the United States the continued leader of our ever growing global society. In simple terms, it should be a move from 20th century technologies to a growth into 21st century information technologies.

If it isn't, the United States will continue to fall while other countries continue to become more efficient competitors.

Just a little something to chew on for the evening.

Morals, money and the Grand Old Party, oh and Democrats too

2005-11-29T22:40:00.000-05:00

One down and 534 more to check out in this 209th Congress. (With so many other individuals involved also!) Remember all the promises of a new America last election? The promise of solutions for health care, the promises of money for job retraining and college, the promise of a more secure future. Poof, all gone, all with the help of guns, butter and tax breaks in a time of war for the richest 1% of Americans. We were lucky enough to get our 5th tax break under George Bush last week before Thanksgiving. I bet those folks at GM couldn't have been happier. It's all about policies for growth and prosperity.

Now its rough and tumble, arm twisting, mean spirited control by one party (Actually, its been that way since 2002), -- 9/11 had that kind of affect on our nation. Our democratic legislators have been literally locked out of the process of crafting legislation. Sure, they get to see it, but usually it is only a couple of days before they vote on it. Think of all the great legislation that has come out this year and the past few.

The Executive, legislative and judicial are under one party control and if you ask them, they don't want to give up any form of power. You'll be hearing and I of course had the pleasure of listening to the #1 waterboy for the GOP, Rush himself. Of course in his world, reality seems so far away in plush Palm Beach. Yeah he bitches about all the high snafoo of the area, but I bet he doesn't bitch about the golf, it's pretty damn good. I digress, he probably likes it better for how easy it is to score Oxycotin at late night restaurants in the area.

Sure, this culture of corruption isn't all one person or party's fault. It involves people from both parties, but lets try to keep it in this decade Rush! When you break it down it seems more like a 95/5 split. 95% Republican and 5% Democrat.

With over 16,000 lobbying firms registered in the Washington area, the stakes are high. Imagine the money that goes into something like that. Think about a federal election cycle last year that had over $4,000,000,000.00 to run all the federal races for congress and the presidency. That's alot of dough. I think maybe I should get into "consulting", it seems to be a lucrative business. Who knows how much more flows in for the people's bidding and process of democracy.

The party with the culture of life, morals and all the good stuff seems to have strayed from the path of rightousness. They have been binging on the excesses of the spoils of victory; almost too drunk with power. Mean drunks at that.

Yesterday Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty to accepting bribes influencing votes in the people's house. How many more will follow? If I had to take a guess, one thing is for certain, I'd start with Black Jack Abramoff. Talk about networking, he sounds like the king of K Street.

Abramoff is at the center of both a Justice Department-led investigation and a probe by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee into his dealings with Indian tribes and other lobbying clients. The Senate panel is looking into more than $80 million the casino-owning tribes paid Abramoff and partner Michael Scanlon.
Scanlon, 35, pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to one count of conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with a Justice Department probe of Abramoff's alleged efforts to buy off public officials.
Abramoff and another former business partner were indicted earlier this year for wire fraud in a case involving their purchase of a Florida casino boat company.

Oh, and don't forget about one dead former owner of Sun Cruz Casinos, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. He mysterously was gunned down in Ft. Lauderdale after things went sour between Abramoff, Kidan and Boulis in 2001.

Boulis agreed in principle to sell SunCruz to Abramoff and Kidan for $147.5 million. The deal closed in the fall. But Abramoff and Kidan failed to make good on a $23 million payment owed to Boulis, court records show.

Three people have been charged in the killing.

Will have to see where things go with Congressman Ney (R-OH) . (He was kind enough to give remarks on the House floor, extolling the many virtues of Mr. Abramoff and his purchase of Sun Cruz Casinos.) My guess and hope is the same as it's going for some of his other colleagues in Congress, like good old Bug Man, Tom Delay. Not the Terminator, no, no, the exterminator. He's under indictment right now too.

A Texas grand jury indicted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) yesterday on a charge of criminally conspiring with two political associates to inject illegal corporate contributions into 2002 state elections that helped the Republican Party reorder the congressional map in Texas and cement its control of the House in Washington.

Commonly known as the "Hammer" for his tactics, he's they guy who holds votes in Congress open until he twists enough arms to pass his brand of legislation. Think Medicare, the program about to overwhelm seniors when it comes to helping them select the "best" health care options. Apparantly the experts don't know how it exactly works, but hey, what the hell. The insurance, health and pharmacuetical companies should do great. That's what matters most right?

The antics of right-wingers on the House floor today mirrored their previous strong-arm tactics in passing CAFTA and prescription drug legislation – bills that, like today’s, favored large corporations. In July 2005, the House passed CAFTA with a slim two-vote margin after holding the vote open for an hour and 45 minutes.

In November 2003, in the dead of night, the House leadership passed the Medicare prescription drug vote by five votes after holding the vote open for three hours.

Medicare, CAFTA and the energy bills all held open, breaking the rules to get the desired result.

CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports there was chaos on the Hour floor as Republican leaders passed the bill by holding a five-minute vote open for almost 50 minutes until they could convince two Republicans to change their votes. They buttonholed lawmakers for last-minute lobbying as Democrats complained loudly that the vote should be closed. Finally two GOP lawmakers switched from "no" to "yes," giving the bill's supporters the margin of victory. "Is this the House of a Banana Republic?" Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., shouted at one point, expressing his frustration about the GOP holdup of the final tally.

Who next? There's just so many right now. Oh wait, lets go back to the current Governor of Ohio, with a stellar 6.5% approval rating. He might be the only elected person in America who has a lower approval rating than Dick Cheney.

Taft, who cooperated with investigators, issued a public apology after being convicted on four misdemeanor counts for failing to report 52 golf outings, dinners and other entertainment gifts. He was fined $4,000, the maximum. Taft, who by law cannot run again, said he will not resign.

Have they no shame at all? At least Mr. Cunningham had a shred of dignity left and resigned. Hopefully people in Ohio will wake up and demand the same.

Man, muckraking is hard work, especially when it is how our current government operates under Republican control.

I haven't even delved into Katherine Harris (R-FL). Yes she's the lady at the heart of the 2000 election, but that's water under the bridge. I'd rather we get into her involvlement with "magic water". Maybe this is just the boost she needs to win a senate seat in Florida.

Think about all the possibilities when it comes to people in and around our government and what the line is when it comes to ethics. Just think about all the people that have not even been mentioned. -- Tom Noe of Ohio, think Coingate. Congressman Doolittle (R-CA), Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Jeff Gannon (everybody's favorite manwhore/white house reporter), Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed. The list just seems to go on and on. It's really very sad.

If I were a democrat running for office, I'd always carry a handy list of all the ethically challenged people in Washington, democrats too. Republicans say Democrats don't have any ideas. Here's one real simple idea:

Voting out lying, cheating and stealing Republicans out of office will be beneficial to the health of our country and our democracy. It will help to ensure that your tax dollars are not given away and stolen from your communities. The concept shouldn't be that hard to wrap around some of the mentally challenged people who purport to represent the true values of America.

All it takes is just a little spine to call a spade a spade.

Federal Reserve Policy

2005-09-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

An interesting article from Investor's Business Daily today from their editorial page:

Like an automaton that can do only one thing, the Fed nudged interest rates up another quarter-point Tuesday. We still think this is a mistake.

In the market meltdown that started in early 2000, the economy took a $6 trillion hit. It took another megahit after 9-11, which plunged us into a global war on terror. Now we're reeling from the worst hurricane disaster in at least a century and an unprecedented run-up in the price of oil.

Why Greenspan & Co. feel obligated to make things worse is beyond us. The Fed itself reckons that 100 basis points of tightening reduces economic growth by 1.1% after two years. By that rule of thumb, expect the 275 basis points that the Fed has cranked in to result in a 3% hit to GDP next year. Add in oil and Katrina, and the economy is facing, in Fed jargon, significant head winds.

How much can our engine of economics sustain? Hurricane Rita has strengthened to a category four and is barreling towards the Texas and Gulfport Coast. The fear of an oil shortage and run up is very real.

Crude oil prices rose again on concern that Rita would smash into key oil facilities in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from offshore oil rigs, less than a month after Katrina damaged some installations. Texas, the heart of U.S. crude production, accounts for 25 percent of the nation's total oil output.

I am not old enough to remember the stagflation of the 1970s, but I do worry about the key economic indicators of today. We are simply on an unsustainable path that can and will cripple this country for years and decades to come.

Here is a good article from Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek.

This would be funny if it weren't so depressing. What is happening in Washington today is business as usual in the face of a national catastrophe. The scariest part is that we've been here before. After 9/11 we have created a new government agency, massively increased domestic spending and fought two wars. And the president did all this without rolling back any of his tax cuts—in fact, he expanded them—and refused to veto a single congressional spending bill. This was possible because Bush inherited a huge budget surplus in 2000. But that's all gone. The cupboard is now bare.

Whatever his other accomplishments, Bush will go down in history as the most fiscally irresponsible chief executive in American history. Since 2001, government spending has gone up from $1.86 trillion to $2.48 trillion, a 33 percent rise in four years! Defense and Homeland Security are not the only culprits. Domestic spending is actually up 36 percent in the same period. These figures come from the libertarian Cato Institute's excellent report "The Grand Old Spending Party," which explains that "throughout the past 40 years, most presidents have cut or restrained lower-priority spending to make room for higher-priority spending. What is driving George W. Bush's budget bloat is a reversal of that trend." To govern is to choose. And Bush has decided not to choose. He wants guns and butter and tax cuts.

People wonder whether we can afford Iraq and Katrina. The answer is, easily. What we can't afford simultaneously is $1.4 trillion in tax cuts and more than $1 trillion in new entitlement spending over the next 10 years. To take one example, if Congress did not make permanent just one of its tax cuts, the repeal of estate taxes, it would generate $290 billion over the next decade. That itself pays for most of Katrina and Iraq.

Of course, you would hardly think anything is wrong when you listen to the words of the Bug Man, Tom Delay, House Majority Leader of the United States Congress.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget . . . Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."

Even if you are not a big fan of those damn Democrats, at least ask yourself this question:

What fucking planet is this guy from? Is being born in Texas a requirement for having such hubris towards the American people? American citizens deserve better than these dishonest liars. That is what they are. It should not be suger coated and watered down. These people represent one thing and that is big tax cut favors for wealthy friends.

Our Republic is in big trouble. America as we know it has taken a turn for the worst. Now is the time and the place to make real change to save our Union. The idea of serfdom doesn't rub me the right way.

When will hard working folks in this country wake up and see the shenanigans for what they are? This is not compassionate conservatism, more like highway robbery!

Insurance, a definition

2005-09-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

..........
insurance or assurance, device for indemnifying or guaranteeing an individual against loss. Reimbursement is made from a fund to which many individuals exposed to the same risk have contributed certain specified amounts, called premiums. Payment for an individual loss, divided among many, does not fall heavily upon the actual loser. The essence of the contract of insurance, called a policy, is mutuality. The major operations of an insurance company are underwriting, the determination of which risks the insurer can take on; and rate making, the decisions regarding necessary prices for such risks. The underwriter is responsible for guarding against adverse selection, wherein there is excessive coverage of high risk candidates in proportion to the coverage of low risk candidates. In preventing adverse selection, the underwriter must consider physical, psychological, and moral hazards in relation to applicants. Physical hazards include those dangers which surround the individual or property, jeopardizing the well-being of the insured. The amount of the premium is determined by the operation of the law of averages as calculated by actuaries. By investing premium payments in a wide range of revenue-producing projects, insurance companies have become major suppliers of capital, and they rank among the nation's largest institutional investors.

Weiss Ratings: Insurers' profits up, but rates may follow

The Jupiter-based financial analysis firm said the first quarter profits for the property and casualty insurers reached $17.6 billion, up from $13.6 billion for the same period last year.

Pretty damn cool!

2005-09-20T21:45:00.000-05:00

I love listening to Rush Limbaugh whine. What a tool. Each day his sorry ass makes up another bullshit excuse for what the GOP party stands for when it comes to the grand old party. Values I tell you, just values.

More than a few times in the past few weeks have I have listened to Mr. Limbaugh opine to the uselessness of the blogs. Fuck you Rush, they are coming right smack at you and you can't stand the fact the someone is questioning your ill informed, commercialized and twisted messages. It's quite an empire you have built at the EIB Network. The American dream of fame. You are quite popular across the airwaves. From what I've heard, we are talking about 4,000,000 listeners a day, ditto heads as you call them. Non-readers for the most part in my opinion.

The blogs are coming and courtesy of google. Very popular, very commercial. It's like the extra icing on dessert. I love dessert. I'm sure you never leave your plate with many scraps of that sweet, sweet sugar.

http://blogsearch.google.com/

I thought this was really cool. If you go and search google with the following :

us senate in florida

You will find my website at #5, out of 17,200,000 hits. Pretty damn cool! How exactly does that happen? I'm not even getting into the google beta, go find out for yourself.

Just pure spin when it comes to the facts and truth, you can't hide the truth when it is so blatently obvious.

The blogs are leading the way.

You can't stand it and it shows.

You are fairly classless and it shows.

You will hear from me again, count on it.

Karl Rove and Voter Registration

2005-09-07T01:25:00.000-05:00

First a link to some charities and organizations that are helping our fellow citizens who have been devastated by hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast. Thanks to Billmon.

What is it about Karl Rove that rubs so many the wrong way? I suppose it could be his 30 plus years of hatchet, scorch and burn style of politics, why yes, that's it! Aah, what it means to be a true christian warrior. Karl, just the guy I want to sit next to at church as we sing along with the choir.

Here is an interesting press release from Citizens for Repsonsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW):

According to a recent Washington Post report, Mr. Rove and his wife, Darby, registered to vote in Kerr County in 2003 after they sold their Austin, Texas home. County property records show that Mr. Rove and his wife have owned two tiny rental cottages in Kerr County since 1997, the largest of which is only 814 feet and is valued by the county at $25,000. In contrast, the Roves Washington, D.C. home is valued at over $1.1 million. Local residents have stated that they have never seen Rove in the area.

Now if Karl is having so much trouble figuring out where he should vote legally, it's only stands to reason that the Bush administration, on vacation, might have missed the boat when it came to the impending disaster that struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. I mean, how could have one been able to deduct the impending damage from a Category 4 storm?

I mean hell, what were the papers printing the next day besides Labor Day sales fliers for the upcoming holiday weekend?

It's a little unfortunate that we weren't preparing as well the Saturday and Sunday and Monday and Tuesday for hurricane Katrina, as the task didn't seem as difficult last year when Florida was pounded by four seperate hurricanes. Last year the help was loading up, stocking up and positioning to move in immediately after the hurricanes passed through. Were talking days here. Why was FEMA ready last year, but not this year?

I hope not for politics. It is going to be really fucking shocking when people find out there might be 40,000 dead souls in the Gulfcoast and especially in the New Orleans area.

It really sucks when vacations have to come to such a quick end after five weeks.

A revolution is coming to America!

2005-09-03T01:19:00.000-05:00

Our democracy is in dire need of courageous people to put up or shut up. The very fabric and idealism of America depends on it.

All people of good faith must come together with one voice as our republic demands no less in this hour of need.

The 21st century revolution is coming, and it is going to hit with a ferocity that will be so rude when the truth spreads. Liars beware, you can't escape the truth.

If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. - Albert Einstein

Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross and what we can all do to help

2005-08-29T00:05:00.000-05:00

Even if your not a deeply religious person, please take a moment to remember our brothers and sisters in Lousiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida as one of the largest and potentialy lethal hurricanes in recent history bears down and is poised to strike New Orleans.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of this disaster and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Long hot summer in Crawford, TX

2005-08-21T23:39:00.000-05:00

Actually, all over, it's just hot as hell this summer. Hotter for some than others.

How many people watched Inside 9/11 on National Geographic Channel? I haven't watched it yet, but it should be interesting to hear the chatter. It has been almost 4 years since that fateful Tuesday morning when America, startled and confused, woke up energized and intent on fighting, hunting down and killing terrorists. More than 2 years and over 1,860 dead U.S. soldiers, are more Americans realizing the distinction between the attacks of 9/11 and the current war in Iraq?

When you start looking more and more at the bill of sale from the President and his administration, you feel a little more shortchanged each and every day. Another day, another dead soldier, and for what exactly?

Frank Rich, from the New York Times, gets it right when he talks about one fallen soldier's mother:

When the Bush mob attacks critics like Ms. Sheehan, its highest priority is to change the subject. If we talk about Richard Clarke's character, then we stop talking about the administration's pre-9/11 inattentiveness to terrorism. If Thomas Wilson is trashed as an insubordinate plant of the "liberal media," we forget the Pentagon's abysmal failure to give our troops adequate armor (a failure that persists today, eight months after he spoke up). If we focus on Joseph Wilson's wife, we lose the big picture of how the administration twisted intelligence to gin up the threat of Saddam's nonexistent W.M.D.'s.

The hope this time was that we'd change the subject to Cindy Sheehan's "wacko" rhetoric and the opportunistic left-wing groups that have attached themselves to her like barnacles. That way we would forget about her dead son. But if much of the 24/7 media has taken the bait, much of the public has not.

At nearly $6,000,000,000.00 (thats billions) a month on the U.S. Treasury credit card, you would think the President and his administration would have a clearer direction and vision for their invasion, occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, but apparantly that would be too much to ask.

But don't take my word for it, listen to the President at work:

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."

That's President Bush from a Social Security Conversation in New York, on May 24, 2005.

Just because you repeat something over and over and over, doesn't make it true.

What is PLAN?

2005-08-19T16:35:00.000-05:00

PLAN stands for the Progressive Action Legislative Network. What is the purpose of PLAN? Quite simply, as stated by one of its founders and co-chairman David Sirota:

"For too long, conservatives have been able to use huge sums of money to push the most radical right-wing policies through state legislatures. PLAN is committed to putting together the necessary resources and necessary coalitions to help progressive legislators stop this unchecked extremism, and start passing legislation that makes state governments work for ordinary citizens, not just monied special interests."

Government is meant to serve all its people, not just those who can afford to purchase access. A really novel concept when it comes to democracy for citizens.

To me personally, it sounds like a great fight to pick with republicans, especially in their own back yards.

More to come.....

Wikimania!!!

2005-08-11T22:27:00.000-05:00

Knowledge is said to be power and the "Wiki way" of sharing knowledge is very powerful. Perhaps its time for those who would change the world consider adopting the participatory process that the Wikipedians are using to great effect and with a measurable impact.

A very cool article for those who are striving to tell the most accurate possible picture through the eyes of many people who work in conjunction to produce a continually and evolving product about knowledge and information. Pick a subject, any subject.

Undercover at the National Young Republican Convention

2005-08-02T15:33:00.000-05:00

This is a funny and yet an enlightening account of one person's traverses to the young GOP kid's gathering this past July in Las Vegas. Thanks to Jesus' General. He is no doubt, a frenchman at heart.

Here is the actual link over at Dailykos.

It will take you a 20 minutes or so to read through the posting, but well worth it.

In light of the convention, the big GOPers don't seem to be too hip on the idea of Operation Yellow Elephant. That is not too big of a suprise. War is pretty cool until your ass is actually on the line and then the excuses just flow.

There is a word for that -- it's called chickenhawk!!!

Ask our Vice President, Dick Cheney, he managed 5 deferments during the Vietnam War.

Engaging in a 50 state strategy to win in 2006 and beyond.

2005-08-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

There are 435 seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives for 2006. Will the democratic establishment wake up and respond to the challenge of winning America back?

Will people engage and challenge Americans to think big for the future of our nation? Will democrats respond to the challenge?

A good article from Jerome Armstrong on MyDD.

--- A couple of months ago, I was in a DCCC meeting with their blogger Jesse Lee, and the new Executive Director, John Lapp, among others. Sitting around the table with them, it felt decidingly different then the last gang-- that this crew actually read blogs and was engaged in what we've been trying to do, and would work with the efforts out here to win.

Well, here is to not only hoping, but to taking action to make sure it does happen! Democrats should expect to continue losing if they don't have the backbone to stand up and fight when it counts.

It is time to take the fight to the backyard of each and every Republican district in America.

Winning is not always about winning a particular seat, it is about formulating messages that connect with communities. It is about a long term strategy to keep a healthy balance and hold politicians accountable to the people.

It is time to start talking about our values. This is a battle of winning not only votes, but the hearts and minds of good Americans.

For starters, Democrats need to make it a matter of economics and globalization. The world isn't getting any smaller and the pace of growth will continue to grow exponentially.

Ask yourself, are we preparing the children of today to be the competitors of tomorrow?

Is the war on terrorism getting a shiny new name?

2005-07-31T22:24:00.000-05:00

Analysis: Administration updates its war-on-terror rhetoric

As the world spins and spins along, have we figured out how far and deep we are into this whole terrorism thing? How many generations deep does this line up go? Three, maybe four?

How many countless people in numerous countries stop in at the local madrassa and pick up some bomb making experience? Maybe a little western hate? How about some hate courtesy of our "allies" in Saudia Arabia? Remember 15 of the 19 terrorists? Why does it seem that we as a nation are unprepared for the can of worms that is now open and crawling in Iraq? The Bush administration sold the U.S. people a poorly planned war and we are now seeing the results of this short sighted strategic planning.

How many humvees still don't have the proper armor for our soldiers? Sitting ducks? That's a pretty sad thought.

Maybe the President will work a little harder from the ranch. Will the 50th time there be a charm? Of course, then again, I am sure Karl Rove and friends have plenty to talk about over "summer break".

Pieces of the puzzle........

2005-07-22T23:25:00.000-05:00

Daily Kos has an interesting post from Friday the 22nd about Valerie Plame, formerly of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the center of a current grand jury investigation by independent counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into her possible outing as a covert agent for the U.S. Government.

It will probably take you an hour or so to go through the different links from the past couple of week's stories, but it offers a wide variety of investigative reporting by diverse informational outlets. There is no doubt that Mr. Murdoch of Fox News Corporation has the right evaluation of where reporting and the internet are heading. He's a pretty keen guy, even is you don't necessarily like or agree with him.

Happy Birthday to the Apollo 11 moon landing!

2005-07-20T22:52:00.000-05:00

July 20, 1969 - The Moon Landing

Thanks for thinking out of this world! Your imagination carries on in so many ways.

Keep thinking of the impossible and ask what if. Imagination is the creation of good.

I'm looking forward to the first broadcast over the internet, live from the moon.

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space and not be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

John F. Kennedy
May 25, 1961

I hope we have set our goals just as high.

What say you Mr. Clifton?

2005-07-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

Oh, poor Mr. Clifton, he still hasn't been heard.

What does Mr. Clifton, Editor of the Plain Dealer know? Does it serve the public interest to know? From Editor and Publisher:

Judith Miller is in the slammer, and the consensus among journalists and news agencies is that her jailing represents a dangerous assault on press freedoms. Most commentators rightly note that confidentiality is essential to effective investigative reporting, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer's decision to kill two stories over fear of legal retribution is offered as evidence that the nuclear winter is upon us already.

Meet Mr. Clifton, he has something to say......

2005-07-10T01:07:00.000-05:00

Mr. Clifton is the editor of the The Plain Dealer, a Cleveland, Ohio newspaper. He has a story to tell, --- "As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands. The public would be well served to know them, but both are based on documents leaked to us by people who would face deep trouble for having leaked them."

Editor and Publisher have picked up on the story along with the New York Times. I actually found the NYT article on Drudge Report. (I'll get back to Drudge later today.)

I for one am very curious about these two stories. If I were a betting guy, I'd put some coin on it being about Ohio's latest and greatest escapade in GOP politics, "Coingate", as first reported by The Blade, of Toledo, Ohio. (And really trumpeted by the nice folks over at Americablog.)

I guess some pretty big fundraisers for Bush '04 seem to have a lot of explaining to do as to why millions of dollars of state pension money seems to be unaccounted for at this time. Stranger thing is that poor old Governor Taft never found out about it until after the election. Somehow the governor never got the message. Hopefully those staff employees have practiced up on their communication skills in order to better serve the citizens of Ohio. It can't be easy to do your job for the taxpayers, when staff are forgettting to tell you important shit about this or that or $225,000,000.00

To those over at the lounge, sorry for not posting for a few days. I'm really just starting to have fun with my new noisebox. Oh, and do I like to have fun!

What is treason?

2005-07-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

Treason
n. Criminal act of betraying one's country as defined in Article II section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: "Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." The act of treason requires overt acts, including disclosing government security secrets to other countries, friendly or unfriendly, when the information could cause harm to American security. Treason may also include revealing secrets to an unfriendly country, such as the design of a bomber a private company for the Defense Department is building. It also includes spying for a foreign power or doing damage to the government's operation and its agencies, particularly those involved in security. This differs from "sedition," which involves a plan to upset a government's operation.

TREASON - This word imports a betraying, treachery, or breach of allegiance. The Constitution of the United States, Art. III, defines treason against the United States to consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid or comfort. This offence is punished with death. By the same article of the Constitution, no person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

Is this treason by Robert Novak exposing a CIA agent in the field during a time of war? Who leaked this vital government information?

Treason in a time of war is punishable by death in the United States and Texas is does it damn fast. It is sickening to think that these actions could have helped Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.

Kentucky - Red state molestation?

2005-07-06T19:58:00.000-05:00

Judge gives preliminary approval to nation's largest church abuse settlement.

It's an unsettling reality that must be stopped, it must end. As a Catholic and a Christian, I beg, no I plead, no I scream and will continue to scream. Stop this abuse of children around the world. These horrors are not just confined to the Catholic Church, it stems from all kinds of evil people and organizations. These heinous crimes know no boundaries when it comes to community, town, city, state, or country.

Pope Benedict, come out, come out and expel the pedophiles. You know who some of them are; Pope John Paul II knew also. It saddens my heart to have so much pride in our polish pope who did so much, who spoke so bravely, and yet allowed children and teenagers to be molested by pedophiles.

I must admit as a Catholic, I hoped for the exuberance and hope of young pope who thought more about the 21st century than the 10th. Needless to say, I am disappointed.

If you do not have the courage to stand up and speak and act out against these
atrocities, then to hell with you and every person who stands silent and complicit in these acts against humanity.

You along with others have the power, the resources and the audience. Do what is right.

The Costs of War

2005-07-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in a final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed—those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending its money alone—it is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." —Dwight Eisenhower, Speech (1953)

http://icasualties.org/oif/ByState.aspx

Who outed Valerie Plame at the CIA?

2005-07-02T14:11:00.000-05:00

The story is getting jucier! Could it have been someone within the current administration who outed an undercover CIA agent? This is a high crime against our government and it's citizens.

By the way, why isn't Novak in jail yet?

I love all those great folks out there working their tails off to get to the bottom of some pretty suspect situations within our own government. Something smells pretty fishy.

Have a great 4th of July weekend! More to come on our nation's 229th birthday. Thanks Americablog and Kos.

Congress gets another raise, did you?

2005-06-29T17:12:00.000-05:00

It's only a small nominal raise of 3%, but somehow you would think that people who are asking others to sacrafice in a time of war and tax breaks would turn such an item down, but you would be quite mistaken.

Congress people will now make $165,000.00 a year.

I make no bones about it, I want a job as a U.S. Representative!

They work hard, but I think they aren't working hard enough. Have you ever seen the vacation and off time of these folks? They have more breaks than a college student.

Stop watching so much TV and start reading a bit more!

2005-06-29T16:07:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I as anybody else love a great C-span evening, commercial free and educational or PGA tour golf on a Saturday afternoon, but I thought this was an interesting article about news coverage of some of our sensationalistic, newsworthy stories. Thanks to Arianna Huffington for doing a little research.

Really very telling of the reality we live in today. More often then not, if it was not on TV, it doesn't seem as though it ever happened. Of course this is ridiculous, but who doesn't want to be a Hilton or live the Simple Life? Did I mention that I could give a shit less about Michael Jackson and his life in Neverland? He's a freak, just leave the guy alone and don't let your kids sleep over his house!!!

How many times have you seen this on TV in the past 2 months?

Why did we go to war in Iraq again?

More to come....... I'm just getting started.

I was just thinking.......

2005-06-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday morning and I'm just so fired up about the Bushman's big speech later today. I know that he thinks about Iraq all the time, he told us so.

What if the President takes the time to address the issue of nearly $8,800,000,000.00 (Thats $8.8 BILLION dollars!) that seems to be unaccounted for in our war effort in Iraq and our continuing war on terrorism. Wouldn't that just be peachy, almost actually responsible and respectable?

Now I know that such investigations take lots of time and money and congressional effort, but what if they actually recovered some it, I know not all of it, but some of it? Where are all those Republican hawks who believe in fiscal restraint? Come out, come out, wherever you are!

The only reason I was thinking about that money was mainly because I was disturbed by the fact that some of our domestic programs were going to have take a hit, really just pennies on the dollar, but a big pile none the less. It's not actually a cut per se, but there will be cuts to certain programs . Overall the domestic budget passed by the Senate on Friday June 25th will actually increase spending by 1%. Not quite up with inflation, but in times of war and deficits, sometimes you have to tighten the buckle on your belt and suck it up. That's what Americans do, right? That's why we gave large tax breaks and greatly expanded our spending in such things as homeland security and defense. Maybe a little fiscally irresponsible, but hey, you don't want Rove calling you a liberal do you? I mean if that's the case, then hell you must want our soldiers to die. You bastards, how could you be thinking such thoughts?

Seriously, can we find maybe some of this cash? Just for two little things; armor for our soldiers on their humvees and a little extra cash for things like job training for some of those 25,000 workers who are losing their jobs at GM.

Just a thought. I sure hope their putting that in his speech right now. That would make me proud of the President and his staff.

Why the Stufftbox?

2005-06-22T18:10:00.000-05:00

I have been putting this off for a long time, but the time has come to get off my lazy ass and say what I need to say. I guess it just can't wait any longer.

With the current state of affairs, I think my expertise is just as good as some of those other hacks out there, if not slightly better, funnier, sharper witted and to the point.

This blog is about me and my opinions. Don't worry, I have plenty of them and I don't suspect they will run out anytime soon. I'm just that kind of guy.

I suppose much of this will be dedicated to politics and things of that nature, but that doesn't mean I will limit my ranting to just that. There is so much more out there and I guess it is just one small part. Unfortunately that one small part has so much to do with our everyday lives. It practically affects everything in our little world, whether or not we believe it or not.

To think how much our world has changed over the past decade is almost mind boggling. Internet technology has and will forever change who we are and how we communicate. It's all about messages and how we convey them to others. It's not always nice, but hey, sometimes you just need to get rude. Anywhere in the world one person can post images, audio, video or text almost instantaneously and inform others globally. Pretty neat!

My goal is to educate those who are ignorant and uneducated to the current state of affairs. It's not all bad, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate from the state of Florida in 2004, I had the first hand experience of learning of some of the sad state of affairs when it come to politics, therefore I will speak out and let my opinions be known. I like my free speech and I won't let anybody quiet my voice!

And so without further babbling, I introduce you to the Stufftbox.

Testing, Testing

2005-06-22T17:33:00.000-05:00

More to come.....