The Wilson's go to War

In what is the most American of all legal processes, Joe and Valerie Wilson AKA Valerie Plame are suing Dick Heney, Rove, Libby, and 10 other unnmamed officials in the 'outing' of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Maybe we'll finally get to the bottom of all this after-all. I am not holding my breath.

New sponsor: visit Audio Cabs for your speaker building needs.

'Shrooming, Stossel, the Indian Bombings, and a heartfelt message from w

I'd first like to axpress my deepest sympathies and solidarity with the the Indian people a series of alleged terrorist bombings in Mumbai.

My thoughts are with you all.

Next, 'Shrooming: The new generation.

As if anyone that has ever taken more than few grams of dried cubensis needs to be told, psilocybin opens 'spiritual' doors, and can be the most profound of experiences.

Five grams of good, dried psilocybin mushrooms can, and will, open up your mind. I've had a few experiences that I was certain would leave me a paranoid, shriveled, lump of dung. But with good set and setting, these VERY difficult times always subsided and I enjoyed the rest of the trip even more than usual.

The fact that any pschedelics are finally being tested for any practical mecidal use is heartening.

Try the Erowid Mushroom vault for non-judgemental information, and really good links to onsite and off-site resources.

No kiddies, I am in no way suggesting that you try and pull a Terrence McKenna 5 gram dose. I am not suggesting that you do anything illegal. Playing around with hallucinogens is a fool's errand. Know your limits.

Finally, John Stossel.

What a whore. Via email from Media Matters comes Stossel.

On Fox(see video at provided link), Stossel states:

"Global warming is happening. Is it a big problem? Probably not. Many scientists do not agree, despite what you hear in the Al Gore movie. And Kyoto wouldn't make any difference even if we did sign and if the countries that did obeyed, which they're not.

Many scientists do not agree? Not the vast majority of those with enough information to have a working knowledge of global warming; i.e. climatologists. Anyone that doesn't study either current climate conditions, or paleo-climate conditions(or closely related fields) isn't equipped to even have a defensible side in what is now not even a debate.

Kyoto is red herring. If Kyoto was signed on to by all parties, it is logical to expect that new more restrictive treaties would be in place even now.

Using Stossel's logic...

I, John Stossel, am proposing to the panel(NAS), an experiment in which I will dump millions of tons of atmospheric carbon and other known greenhouse gases into the earth's troposphere. I will increase this amount annually because I don't think it will cause much of a problem.

Imagine how that would go over at that National Academy of Sciences. That is, in essence, what we are now doing, and Stossel doesn't see it as big deal. Of course....

...Stossel is shlepping his new book, "Please Don't be as ill-informed as I am," or some similar title, and I sincerely hope that the book is at least researched, and objectively. In the book it is reported that Stossel lays waste to, I presume what he sees as American mythologies. However, given Stossel's penchant for aggrandizing John Stossel, I for one will not be holding my breath regarding objectivity.

An Ann Coulter in khakis?

Okay, one more.

Try to believe Reuters went with this headline: Bush's style of diplomacy: Texas plain talk.

Pretty scary. There is a precious 'compassionate conservative'(when was the last time you heard that?) moment in the article. This is Bush after biking with some SS agents.

"I made some kind of noise, or something startled him out of his walking shoes, you know," Bush said. "My point is, there he was. He was a guy who I felt comfortable enough roaring by on a mountain bike, three Secret Service agents spewing up sand."

He added: "I feel comfortable talking to him. He may not agree with me. But the fundamental question I think you're searching for is, can you still have a good relationship even though you disagree on issues? And the answer is, yes."

I'm sure that the Wilson's(Joe and Valerie), Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, and essentially two-thirds of Americans might take umbrage with Bush's declaration.

Oh well, fuck 'em.

Red Sox win, Coulter steals, and the Pope isn't hip to gay marriage

First of all, congrats to the Red Sox for going into the All-Star break with the AL East.

Being an engineer, I know stuff about probability and other archane stuff that most Americans get glossy-eyed over. I don't know what the probability is that Ann Coulter conjured the same 20 plus words from a given article, or publication once might be....it has been said to be between 50 million and 100 million to one.

Let's use the worst case scenario for Annie.

Now, when you have multiple instances of the same variety of word usage, with each usage you multiply thusly: 100,000,000*100,000,000 or 10,000,000,000,000,000 to one.

For each ensuing duplicated passage, the probability that this is coincidence goes up 10⁸...ad infinitum.

I don't expect Ann to understand this simple math, given that in her latest work(?), she attempts to disprove evolution. Not likely. Evolution is an established fact. The only real debate amongst evolutionary biologists and others with a working understanding of the subject matter is what mechanisms are involved.

Not too clever.

Finally, the Pontiff was in Spain where it has been reported that whilst 80 per-cent of the adult population considers themselves Catholic, only 42 per-cent profess to believing in God. Not surprisingly, Bene The Umpteenth denounced gay marriage, stating that marriage was a holy union between a priest and his choir boys.

Okay, so the choir boy bit isn't exactly factual, but I'm simply trying to conform to the level of public discourse in GWB's 'Murrika.

WaPo seems to get it

The headline is a gem: A Driven President Faces a World of Crises

I would have worded it somewhat differently, but the baffled boy blunder has a lot on his plate, and precious little mental resources with which to consume this meal.

Okay, I'm being too harsh, 'too little observed or evidentiary mental resources.....'

Moving right along, here's a snippet:

From deteriorating security in Afghanistan and Somalia to mayhem in the Middle East, confrontation with Iran and eroding relations with Russia, the White House suddenly sees crisis in every direction.

North Korea's long-range missile test Tuesday, although unsuccessful, was another reminder of the bleak foreign policy landscape that faces President Bush even outside of Iraq. Few foreign policy experts foresee the reclusive Stalinist state giving up the nuclear weapons it appears to have acquired, making it another in a long list of world problems that threaten to cloud the closing years of the Bush administration, according to foreign policy experts in both parties.

"I am hard-pressed to think of any other moment in modern times where there have been so many challenges facing this country simultaneously," said Richard N. Haass, a former senior Bush administration official who heads the Council on Foreign Relations. "The danger is that Mr. Bush will hand over a White House to a successor that will face a far messier world, with far fewer resources left to cope with it."

Instead of smearing Joe Wilson(and countless others), maybe this White House could have done something constructive in the domain of foreign policy.

Nahhhhhhhh.

Meanwhile, that ever elusive phantom, 'the liberal media' continues to give Bush and the GOP brownie(you're doin' a heckuva job!) points whilst actual evidence points to a ship of state rudderless in a stormy sea. Harrrrrrr!

As is the norm, Media Matters sets the record straight.

Tis all fer now...I gotta eat.

Kristof seems really pissed off, and is anyone paying attention to Murray Waas?

E & P has some dirt. Of course now that the NYT has gone to a subscription model, it sometimes takes a bit to get all the story from some shameless website.

Here is some of what Kristof is reported to have penned:

...When I was covering the war in Iraq, we reporters would sometimes tune to Fox News and watch, mystified, as it purported to describe how Iraqis loved Americans. Such coverage (backed by delusional Journal editorials baffling to anyone who was actually in Iraq) misled conservatives about Iraq from the beginning. In retrospect, the real victims of Fox News weren’t the liberals it attacked but the conservatives who believed it.

Historically, we in the press have done more damage to our nation by withholding secret information than by publishing it. One example was this newspaper’s withholding details of the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy himself suggested that the U.S. would have been better served if The Times had published the full story and derailed the invasion.

Then there were the C.I.A. abuses that journalists kept mum about until they spilled over and prompted the Church Committee investigation in the 1970’s. And there are secrets we should have found, but didn’t: in the run-up to the Iraq war, the press — particularly this newspaper — was too credulous about claims that Iraq possessed large amounts of W.M.D....

I'll see if I can get a link to the whole Op-Ed later.

On another note, National Journal muckraker, Murray Waas has written another gem. I'm waiting for anyone in the MSM to pick this up. So far, it seems only lefty blogs are commenting on Waas' revelations. At this juncture, what Waas reports seems credible.

All the parts of the key players seem to be acted out in accord with known information.

In case you haven't seen the piece, the essential point is that Bush personally directed Cheney(ordered?) to lead the charge in the efforts to discredit Amb. Wilson's Niger claims.

It will be interesting to see if this gets any real network time.

'Merikun Independence Day!

Yes, here we are at 4 July again.

As much as I love explosions, I don't celebrate the day.

I'll celebrate our independence day when we are independent from:

1) All forms of inequality

2) Environmental degradation

3) Useless military spending

4) Imperial conquest

5) People without healthcare coverage

6) Neo-liberal trade policies

7) OUR weapons of mass destruction

8) Religion is fancied over reason...get the fucking church out of my government!

9) Fox News

(okay, so number 9 is taking it a bit too far, but it is time for people to act boldly)

In related news, the CIA's bin Laden unit that has been hunting bin Laden for a reported decade.

I guess "dead or alive" is pretty much 'wutevah!'(yeah, I know it was a non-sequitur, that's the point)

Now go show your patriotism and blow something up..

WTO Talks Fail, and Filler, too!

Whole Lotta Links..I am not for fucking the poor. "Trade liberalisation" sounds so nice, doesn't it? It has the air of something everyone would want. George Carlin where are you?

Hey! Whilst I was in my long convalescence, I had a chance to do some RF(radio frequency) work for a new client. It felt really good to be back in the field. So good in fact, that I'm slated to go to China and work with some engineers there on the company's tab. The bonus is that I'm going to work on a fledgling company I've started..and they know it. Sweet deal.

I'm going to the Guang Dong Province..there's a lot of emerging tech. there. In March or so of next year, when I start producing on my own, I will command you to buy my stuff!

Sort of a slow news day, so you get filler ;)

Now go and read something important!

(and my going to China is not to exploit the cheap labor force, it's to teach..Ha! And you thought I was a hypocrite!)

Cable TV

At the request of my ill mother I had cable TV installed yesterday.

I went to work and came home pretty tired. So, I decided to see just how low the level of what passes for political discourse in America has sunken.

I prepared for the worst. That wasn't preparation enough.

In rapid succession I saw Hannity, Coulter, BlowReilly, and Chris 'turn the gain down on my mic' Matthews.

This was too much for my fragile little mind.

Jeebus.

I need some tranqs and a bottle of gin in order to feel sane again.

These people are seemingly insane. Partisanship cannot entirely explain the behaviors I saw on display.

News Hounds has the recap.

Since I got home at 1:30AM, I was blessed with all of the shows in unbroken succession. I have nary a clue if this is the same scheduling as during primetime.

I feel all dirty. I must bath now. In lye. ;)

Maybe more later, but I'm pretty exhausted. Living in the flooded Eastern US, I have spent way too much time either baling water, or trying to mitigate water damage.

Limbaugh and the American flag

Well, well. It seems that the right-wing comedian; Oh-Wut-A-Rush Limbaugh has been caught with a prescription of Viagra that wasn't prescribed to him.

Nice role model. Let's see if he gets prosecuted for this..I can understand GOP hacks not being able to get wood without assistance, but Rushbo hasn't been especially soft(no pun intended..really!) on drug users in the past. I would think that this wood, or rather 'would' extend(damn it!) to those possessing another's prescription.

In other news, the Senate prevails and the Flag desecration amendment will not go out to the states for a vote.

I'm neutral on the issue.

An observation: Having traveled more than a bit, American's have a very curious relationship with the flag. I don't. And yes, I am an American.

However, the fetishizing of the flag seems to be unknown to the rest of the Western countries I have visited.

In the post 9/11 era, I'll take whatever liberties those infinitely wise in Washington seem fit to allow me to retain.

One more thing.

It seems like the environmental disaster that we are likely to have as our true legacy seems to really, finally, sinking into the public mind.

Admittedly, I have nothing but anecdotal evidence for this, but hey, that's a helluva lot more than most Faux News commentators and right-wing blonde 'bookshleppers' offer as proof.

If I was loony enough to enter the political world as anything but a critc of everything, I'd make the environment my number one issue. I'd hammer it into people's skulls that terrorists and the economy can cause us great pain, but the environment will cause the downfall of 'civilization' if we do not act courageously today.

Word to the right: The 'tree huggers' are the true prophets.

Leaks and Their Leakers

Okay, so the right-wing hypocrisites have been decrying the NYT's disclosure of the non-secret tracking of international money transfers.

The left meanwhile, have been crowing about the loss of privacy. I tend to agree with this view. I'm a privacy advocate.

But I digress. The leaker was GW Bush. Way back in September of 2001, in that "Churchillian"*cough* speech given to a special joint session of Congress he said something on the order of, 'we're working with foriegn and domestic financial institutions to cut off the terrorists' money supply.'

If the rules have been changed in the intervening years, I haven't heard of it.

Real historians will tell you that we Americans have no collective memory.

Bush should only be angry with himself for stating this in front of the entire nation, and everyone else should take it upon themselves to make certain Bush places the blame right on his pretzel scar.

I'd like to know why the hypocrisites haven't bashed the WSJ for also reporting on this only hours after the Times. Nevermind. I know that objective reality isn't part of their agendas.

GWB should ask his favorite philosopher about this one. Maybe the J-Man could jog his alcohol addled mind....and Cheney, too.

I'm back!

Hello fellow 'netizens! I am back after a long, painful absence.

Rather than detail my recovery from my vehicle wreck, I'll get right back to posting stuff.

Ann Coulter is a lousy comedienne. From Pharyngula we learn that Coulter believes that evolutionary biology is the product of a "cult" mentality. Ann also bashes women, hence she displays mysogynistic tendencies.

From her latest book(I'm sure you know which one) comes the following:

Their grandiose self-conceptions to the contrary, the cult [the "evolution cult"] members are rarely scientists at all.

[...]

They're almost always biologists—the "science" with the greatest preponderance of women. The distaff MIT "scientist" who fled the room in response to Larry Summers's remarks was, of course, a biologist. While I'm sure there have been groundbreaking discoveries about the internal digestive system of the earthworm, biologists are barely even scientists anymore. They're classifiers, list-makers, like librarians with their Dewey decimal system. Except librarians don't claim the Dewey decimal system holds the Rosetta Stone to the universe. There were once great biologists, but the morally vacuous ones began to promote their own at the universities. It was sort of intelligently designed devolution. Like Marxists gradually dominating the comp lit department, biologists will only be given tenure today if they foreswear any doubts about the evolution pseudoscience. Consequently, "biologist" almost always means "evolutionary biologist," which is something like an "ESP biologist."

This isn't funny.

It isn't remotely accurate.

It is my hope that Ms. Coulter actually go to a library and research the field of biology. I don't think it necessary to detail the fact that all the sciences are interdisciplinary.

Let us hope that Ann is the one that gets true religion, and instead of bashing straw-men(and women), does some actual research should she ever get published again.

To Ann: Please continue with your terrific insights. I'd expect nothing more from a person claiming that a book with talking animals and other nonsense holds ultimate truth.

In other news, it looks like the Godless librul scientists were correct about the rate of global warming. The link is to a page with lots more clicky links.

Maybe this will be the wake-up call that drives our elected - and un-elected - officials kicking and screaming into doing something about global climate change now that it's too late.

Next, a directive!!!

Being the all-out authoritarian that I am, I command you to get email alerts from Media Matters.

Finally, I found out precisely what my political philosphical bent is... I am a...get ready...I am a 'post-left anarchist with primitivist leanings.'

I was thusly dubbed by the Green Mountain anarchist collective.

I fail the big test of primitivism by not rejecting technology, yet embrace most of the ideology's other tenets.

(that's what I get for going to Vermont :) )

There are a lot more things that I've found noteworthy; I'm still angry even with the flood of prescribed meds.

I figured I'd wade back into the water slowly. No need to dive into the deep end after a long hiatus.

It's good to be back!

Sorry 'Bout the Lack of Updates

I was in a car wreck and spent some time in hospital. Not a good time at all. I'm broken, but alive.

An elderly gentleman crossed into my lane and hit my door(I was driving), and the left side of my body is pretty much screwed up.

Time to call James Sokolove ;)

You know the aphorism: "It's always darkest before the dawn?"

Well, it's not true. It's always darkest before pitch black.

I've been following events from the sidelines. I now really know why I don't watch network television.

I'll update regularly in a week or so. I'm still in quite a bit of physical pain. I'm also left handed, so typing is a one finger, on my right hand, at a time affair.

Thanks for your patience,

todd

Bush: Clueless on Iraq?

No. It's a serious question. In inviting various former defense and state to the White House yesterday, it can be viewed in a bunch of different ways.

Of course the spin is that Bush is reaching out to those on both sides of the issue. That's only a sliver of the truth. The rest of the truth is that the guests were almost certainly going to adhere to the White House line that we need to stay in Iraq now that we've thoroughly screwed the country.

Colin Powell's not uttering a single word speaks volumes.

So, was it just a PR play and photo-op? Yup. Would Bush have altered his course if some dissenter(s) had a far better plan than we currently are pursuing? Not too difficult to answer. His record is abysmal in this area.

Meanwhile, in real serious news, the US State Dept. has some detail of a study of how global warming can cause extreme climate change. How this one got by the censors is beyond me.

Bah. Those 'high-dome boys'(old Popular Science writer's favorite phrase) at the NSF don't know what the hell they're talking about anyway. Too much math involved.

I say screw 'em. Let's keep on accelerating our use of fuels that produce greenhouse emissions, whilst deforesting the planet! We'll find out soon enough if any of this so-called 'scientific' mumbo-jumbo has any merit.

And if these science people are shown to be right, we'll just hop into our hyper-drives and using the nearest wormhole, go and colonize another planet and rape it into inhability.

Jesus Man, I Need A Hit

"Don't bogart that joint, my Lord..."

I knew it. The "J" man was a j-man!

We Broke It..Fu%& 'em

I presume WaPo reported on this yesterday, but I missed it.

According to the Independent, the US may be making plans to cut off monies promised to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.

Boy, these neo-cons are sure neophytes at winning the hearts and minds game.

Even Baghdad is still without electricity for most of every day.

This is how democracy is spread. No. I think that's incorrect.

This is how terrorism is bred. Yes, I think that closer to the mark.

Where's The Love?

A new Military Times poll shows that support for Georgie and the Excellent Iraq Adventure is slipping amongst the military.

A Pew Research poll taken in November 2005 showed that amongst military "opinion leaders" - senior guys and officer types - showed about an even split on the question whether it was right to invade to Iraq, and 45% responded believed that advocating democracy in Iraq was "a good idea that will not succeed."

Nineteen percent responded it was a bad idea.

Does This Jump Suit Make Me Look Fat?

Abramoff plea bargains

Predictions 2006

Here are my totally unsupported predictions for calendar year 2006. I'll keep it to five, as I have a very short attention spa...uh, where was I going with that?

Without further ado(and in no particular order):

1) Economy

Definite cooling off of the US economy. There are a number of factors for this, but the main contributors are:

A: The housing market, which has shown an accelerating slowing trend. Most of the metrics have peaked and are now either in stasis, or outright decline.

B: The inversion of the bond yield curve. For some background listen to this All Things Considered show of Dec. 28

C: The Copper Indicator. Although it's too early to tell, the price of copper may have peaked, and this is a good indicator of future usage expectations. The price trend is flattening for the first time in over four years.

D: More expensive capital. The Fed seems far from done regarding rate hikes. With the Fed making money more expensive to loan, it is reasonable to assume that GDP will slow, and that doesn't bode well for businesses in particular. Expect more business failures in 2006.

Am I predicting a second Bush recession? Not yet. But the underlying trends that tend to signal an economic slowdown are already in place.

This ends prediction number 1 for 2006.

2) Global climate change will emerge as the sleeper issue of the mid-term elections. Main Street is finally waking up to the strong likelihood that global climate change and ecosystem degradation is the most important long-term issue facing humankind.

Although people tend to vote in accord with their stance on much shorter term issues, this will change. Most Americans are now aware that this is a real issue, much to the chagrin of naysayers on the right.

In the US, the southeast must surely be aware that the weather has been whacky. In Alaska the tundra is thawing and glaciers are receding.

On a bigger scale, the record hurricane/tropical Atlantic storm season won't soon be forgotten.

I'd add much more to this, but my point is essentially made.

This ends prediction 2 for 2006

Russia gets Gas, and Other Stuff

The CS Monitor is reporting that glasnost is officially dead as the Kremlin assumes (rather re-assumes) control of roughly 30% of all Russian petro-assets.

How much more will they grab? Hard to say, but given the West's and the burgeoning Chinese and Indian markets for black gold, no matter how you slice it, it's a damned good business for the state to be involved in.

Russia is the currently the second largest petroducer(new word!) and the Russian state is likely eager to futher 'tap' into this highly lucrative field.

The Monitor reports that:

[...]

A long-delayed law on subsoil resources, to be passed by the Duma next year, is expected to ban foreign-owned companies from exploring or developing Russian oil fields and other key mineral resources.

"Amazing changes are happening swiftly, because Putin has understood that energy is Russia's key card to play at the international table," says Michael Heath, a political analyst with Aton, a Russian brokerage. "Instead of the military force the Soviet Union used to project its power, Russia is using oil as a major tool of foreign policy."

[...]

Much like the US gov't. is heavily involved with the 'defense' industry, Russia is playing to its strength.

While this will be seen as a gigantic step backward from the Russian's particular form of democracy, it is more an evolutionary one.

We've got double secret wiretapping going on in the interest of national security.

Are not Russia's oil reserves a matter of national security?

I'm certainly not condoning either activity. I just bring this up as a countervail to the Right that will pounce on this as a talking point that the Kremlin will simply ignore.

When all is said and done, the US government only really cares about the flow of oil. If the Russian state gives the world a good market rate, we'll be more than accepting of the takeover of the Russian petro-assets.

The US doesn't seem to really concerned about truly open markets, and much less so about democracy, but we need cheap SUV juice dammit! Open markets for the US, and the US only is the true prize.

Capitalism without democracy is okay.
Democracy without capitalism is cause for invasion.

Condemning the Russians for reclaiming their oil assets is not likely to happen in the circles of power where these things are really decided.

The talking heads will continue to parrot Russian civil rights violations, and a return to the Soviet Union's way of conducting the show(our own record in these two areas has been less than exemplary as of late). This has absolutely nothing to do with the real issue.

We need cheap oil. The Russians have oil. The deals are done.

Damned shame, really.

George Makes The News

WaPo is reporting that Bush has been attempting to tailor the news more to his liking.

What a shock!

I'll only give you the first couple of paragraphs:

President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security.

The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics.

Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosing the existence of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe used to interrogate terror suspects. Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, would not confirm that he, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and Washington bureau chief Philip Taubman had an Oval Office sit-down with the president on Dec. 5, 11 days before reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau revealed that Bush had authorized eavesdropping on Americans and others within the United States without court orders.

(much more at link)

Well, when you're engaging in all manner of legally grey area activities, it ought to concern you. However, coming clean on these issues rather than attempting to quash reporting on them is the noble thing to do. No one ever accused Bush of nobility.

These articles have nothing to do with national security, and everything to do with White House damage control.

Given the past and present behavior of this White House, it can hardly come as a surprise that a surprise that The Gang is yet again trying to manage the news.

Bush had a fawning press after 9/11. Apparently he still thought that this was the case - and I'm certain that in many instances this is still true - but now it seems that a glimmer of a working democracy is rearing its head.

Can there be any doubt that 'access' was discussed at these meetings?

How disappointing this must be to the reigning monarch.

Add'l: There's a lot more good stuff in the article. a couple of other topics, and of course added color regarding Bush's tactics.